NJC-NP Joint Comminuty Service Project to Dumaguete City, Philippines-Part 3

Alright, here's the longest post. Day 3. The day that was filled with the most number of surprises, both good and bad. That day, left the greatest impact on us.

3. Day Three
On the third day, after breakfast, some of us went on a venture to the farm behind the centre. Although it was meant to be a visit to the farm, some of us decided to go further. We wanted an adventure. We walked up stream along the side of the river behind the farm. However, due to time constraints, we had to return to the centre shortly after reaching the side of the damaged dam. Later on upon returning to the centre, we were greeted with a surprise. We were going to the beach! We took about 20 minutes to travel there. On the way we passed the Airport which serves the domestic flights from Manila. The runway looked decent, but the fence was similar to that of a private house. How good it would be, if terrorists never existed, and Singapore’s Changi International Airport had fences like those? The waters at the beach were crystal clear, not the very salty, bitter water we have back at Sentosa’s beaches. One could wade more than 20 metres away from shore, but the waters were no higher than just above the waist. The houses there were mainly attap, with only one or two modern-looking bungalows lining the backdrop of the beach. When some of us went to wash up, the tap we used was something that was extinct in Singapore. We had to pump up water from a pipe into a pail!

In the afternoon after lunch, we met up with students from Candau-ay Elementary School, who brought us on a short tour around the village. Firstly, we visited a dumpsite serving the city. Once there, it was not the majestic hills of refuse that shocked me. It was the people who did. There were scavengers, young and old, scavenging for recyclable items among the hills of refuse! Some of the young were still children, and were students from Candau-ay Elementary School! It hit me that the families who were hit with poverty had a key to help them escape the poverty cycle. The key was their children. The community gave out scholarships to top students who deserved to carry on with their studies at high school or college. If the children were able to move on with the help of a scholarship, there would come a day when the child of an affected family helps the family to break free of the poverty cycle.

Next, we walked back to the centre, and along the way we explored an avenue, looking at the extent of the damage done to the area, caused by a very serious flood on 7th February. Once back, we decided to continue the adventure from where we left off earlier in the morning. This time, John, our teacher in-charge decided to come along with us. We went further up stream this time round, with the aid of our guide and young host, Elaine. Many of us discovered something about ourselves during the short expedition. We had the intention of reaching a waterfall, which Elaine said she knew of. However we had to turn back once again as we were running out of time to go any further. During the journey, we met with many dangers. However, with us working closely as a team, we overcame every obstacle and everyone returned safely. Along the way, we observed the immense damage caused by the flood on 7th February. It was shocking to see the amount of damage caused. Even the rock wall which protected the village from flooding was badly damaged.

Dinner that evening was very special. We were going to have dinner under the stars! On a side note, almost all of our dinners at the centre was candle-lit, including the dinner we had that night. The guys also had a pleasant surprise, when we were given a bottle of local beer to drink. It tasted very different from the local brands we have back here, and it was better, in fact, although the alcohol content was similar.

That night after dinner, Mr Saceda invited us over to his residence for a sing-along session. He taught us two songs, Seasons of Love, and If We Hold On. Those songs showed me the spirit of the people of Dumaguete City, nicknamed The City of Gentle People. Although it was just the second day of the trip, we were already feeling the warmth of the people there.

Upon returning to the centre, we had our preparation for the first of three days of lessons for the students of Candau-ay Elementary School. That evening, we also managed to clear the grey areas in our purposes for the trip. After we were done with the planning of lessons, some of us decided to integrate a small campfire with our rehearsal for the Cultural Night which was to be held on Tuesday evening. We managed to set everything up quickly, but there was only one problem. We were unable to get the fire started! I even used a can of deodorant spray in hopes of increasing the intensity of the fire, but that failed as well. Mr Chan was surprised that, with us using the whole bottle of kerosene to fuel the fire, we were still unable to get it started. A bottle of kerosene was enough to start two to three fires larger than the one we were having that evening. Although we failed miserably, we decided to try again the next evening. I felt that, although it was a failure, it was good that we admitted our failure to the group, and decided to not give in and try to have the campfire again the next evening when we were having our rehearsal again. The night ended with our very first debrief session in the trip.

Today, I had a great dream. We were back at the centre on a follow-up trip, and this time, there were 2 other schools with us! So that makes 4 schools in all. We were all missed by the people there, and they were so glad to see us all back as well! The centre had been through an upgrade, and it now has 2 storeys! Facilities were better, and it sure looked like a small school with modern facilities! Sadly, for today, I had not started on the research for my part of the presentation, but I'll be doing it as soon as I post this up.
Anyways, the next few posts from tomorrow would be a little short, for I had forgotten the flow of activities we had planned in advance. Hopefully I might be able to recall as I go through the day's events one by one.
Three more days to the end of my first module in the first semester of my second year!

NJC-NP Joint Comminuty Service Project to Dumaguete City, Philippines Part 2

Today's going to be on the second day itself. Anyways, have decided to just do one posting for each day, so as not to bore people who dislike reading stuff more than 8,000 words long in one shot. So, there you have it, the second day of the trip:

2. Day Two
Early in the morning the next day, I felt surprised that, although it was only 5.45, the sun was already out! I soon figured that though Singapore and the Philippines share the same time zone, the time which the sun rises and sets are different! The sun rises early, and sets early in the Philippines.
After breakfast, we visited Malaunay Elementary School. We were presented with a warm welcome ceremony shortly after arrival. After Joey led everyone in the warm up, the group of 80 children was broken down into eight groups of 10, each group accompanied by two facilitators from the team. Soon, we were underway with our games planned for the children.

We were led to a classroom for lunch before we carried on interacting with the children through singing and dancing with them, talking to them and playing games like volleyball and soccer. The day at the school ended in torrential rain, and we had to return to the centre to prepare for the next activity in line for us that day.

During the facilitation of the station for Scissors Paper Stone, one of the four game stations, I realized that although the children wanted to have fun, they were rough as well. It was the same for the Captain’s Ball station. Although it made us facilitators and station masters worry for the safety of the children, the children took things in their stride. Even when a child fell and hurt himself during the game, he just took it lightly, and went on with the game. Back home in Singapore, one would expect the child to break down in tears upon falling, whether or not he was injured. During the lunch break, while some of us stayed behind for a game of Captain’s Ball, the children joined in as well! We also had a hard time keeping up with their pace when we ran with them. It wasn’t very surprising to see them being very physically fit as well, for there were numerous steep slopes that led up to the school. That’s nothing to the people who live on the hill, the students and teachers who go to school on foot daily. Wow.
What touched most of us, was when the buses we were on left the school, there were children running after our buses, as though they wanted to continue the day of fun with us and did not want us to leave so soon. It was a painful, yet memorable experience.

At 4pm that afternoon, we visited the urban city area of Dumaguete City. The pace of life there is very fast, with much life and vibrancy, compared to the neighbourhood where the centre was located, where things were very laid back, and where there was lots of peace and quiet. For a short moment, it felt as though I was at Singapore’s Orchard Road. We went shopping and exploring the area for about an hour. It was 6pm when we had our dinner at a Chinese fast food restaurant. Although the food did not taste like the original from Singapore, I felt back at home just by looking at the menu.


Anyway, today was a rather short day. Had the best sleep since the second night spent at the centre. No dreams, which were a good thing, but at the same time, ito me, it's a signal that something bad might happen the next day. Today, woke up after 11 hours of sleeping at 1pm. Went for brunch, and stared at the computer screen for practically the rest of the day. A day of relaxation after finishing the first part of the module the night before at 11.28pm, approximately 31 minutes before the deadline. Hopefully I would not annoy anyone when I say that, I completed everything without final checks at 3pm, at the new cineplex near Bugis with Joel and Gerald. We had wanted to go to the National Library, firstly to experience the G force of the lifts followed by intensive study. The moment we entered, the female guard asked us why were we at the library. Ironic, for people obviously went to the library for educational purposes. The library's closed on public holidays. So, I'm back to enjoying a day of holiday with nothing in mind, only pure relaxation. Did nothing, except doing random stuff and gaming. Of course, I got bored halfway. Great thing it's almost a new day, and it will soon be time to restart my engines after letting them run for 40 hours since Thursday morning without rest. Tomorrow, it's going to be more research and compilation, though not as intense as what was done over the past week. So, that would mean more opportunities to make detours while heading to the destination in mind.
I'm so looking forward to the next day, for without much to do, I'm as good as an aimless wonderer.

NJC-NP Joint Comminuty Service Project to Dumaguete City, Philippines Part 1

It's the longest report I had ever written. In 5 days, I wrote 35 pages, an estimated 12,000 words and inclusive of 2 days of research and reflection. Oh yes. This is not the actual report that I submitted to the school as part of a module. Some parts have been removed due to content sensitivity and confidelity. However, some parts have been added as well. On the final post, I'll post up all the posts as one single post. Anyways, here goes the first segment:

1. Day One
On the first day, we gathered at Terminal Two of Changi International Airport, before checking in our bags, clearing the immigration and finally, boarding the plane that would take us on the first step of our trip. On board the plane during the three-hour flight, everyone was enjoying ourselves and taking time off to get to know one another better and break the ice.

We landed safely at Cebu’s Mactan International Airport after the three hour flight. We took three buses, each looking like vans, to transport our bags and us to the SYL centre. The students and teachers from NP and NJC took two buses, while our bags took the third. Once ready, we embarked on a bumpy, four-hour bus ride to the ferry terminal, while enjoying the sights along the way.

Compared to the orderly traffic and inconsiderate drivers we have back here in Singapore, traffic rules at Cebu are nearly non-existant. Traffic is unregulated and not all traffic lights are in operation at many road junctions. If the drivers back home in Singapore are known to be inconsiderate, how would fellow Singaporeans rate the drivers we met over at Cebu? The long, exhilarating ride was tough, but was an eye opener to many of us that afternoon. Although it might have caused some of us to feel frightened when the bus we were on seemed to be on a collision course with another vehicle travelling in the opposite direction while overtaking a slower vehicle on a narrow road, it felt as though I was inside a video game. There were many near-misses with other vehicles and to add to the excitement, we were travelling at high speed!
We arrived at the ferry terminal shortly before 6pm, and the sun was setting! At 6pm, we boarded the ferry bound for Dumaguete City. The sun was setting as we sailed toward the Island, and it was definitely a sight not commonly seen back in Singapore.Upon arrival at the ferry terminal, our journey had not ended. Some of us were directed to a jeepney, a public bus, to a bus as well as the car of Mr Saceda. It was pitch black when we travelled the final kilometer to the centre, though it was not yet 8pm in the evening. When we finally arrived, we were warmly welcomed by a banner. I felt at home once again.

Well, that's all for tonight, the second day will be up tomorrow!

Back into the Ordinary

So sorry it's been way too long! At 3pm on the 23rd of March, I got the best birthday gift ever! And, it was also from my laptop! Yes! It gave me a Damaged C Drive with all my data still inside. How sweet! Anyway, I had it repaired, and in one week, I got it back from the service centre, to find it as good as new. So now, I have to go look into my external hard disk for some of the backup files. I happened to have lost all my presentations, assignments and projects, all worth more than a millions bucks. Good thing I kept my personal files safe, for those are priceless.

Moving on, I have completed 95% of my trip report and reflections, of which it would be posted up here for all, well at least most of it. Some contents from forbidden to be released. Everything should be compiled, completed and submitted by Thursday at 2pm, if everything goes fine. I had wanted to submit it tomorrow, but it seems that there are missing details that need to be filled in. I'll be releasing them in parts, before posting the report and reflections as a whole. The first post is expected to be up on Friday.

Right now, I guess I'll be taking a break from writing the report tonight, and would continue it tomorrow evening. Thursday's my self declared deadline. Although I had a good sleep from 5am till 11am this morning, I am regretful of my return to dream land after I managed to wake at 9am. I had dreamt of something extremely terrible. So terrible that it would be thousands of times more terrible if it were to happen in real life. By the way, it's got nothing to do with the desturction of the world, so there's nothing to fear. I'll just let you know about the time and setting of the dream then. It's set in the month of January at a new shopping complex. I have no idea of the exact year and date. Time wise, it was either in the evening, or in the afternoon. In case you're wondering how terrible the terrible was, I felt a kind of fear that I have never felt before, the one that occurs when you did something that you should not even have thought of doing.

Next, tomorrow I'll be having an NYAA meeting in school, but I have doubts that the outcome of the meeting would be good. Lots of stuff to confirm and prepare, and lots of adminstrative work to be done as well. In the afternoon, I'll be rushing down to the Driving Centre for the first basic theory practice. Hopefully nothing goes wrong there. And, heaven seems to be on my side this semester, for I have Tuesday and Wednesday mornings to take care of my driving lessons. Afternoons are reserved for classes in school.

Thursday, it would be pretty much the same, minus the NYAA meeting in school. Friday's Good Friday, a public holiday. I'm so going to use that day to catch up on sleep, play some games, and slack the day away.

NJC-NP Joint Community Service Project to Dumaguete City, Philippines

This is just a prelude to a 7 to 10 part series of the days I spent on a Community Service Project organised by National Junior College and Ngee Ann Polytechnic. I'll briefly review the main things that happened during the trip in this post. The remaining posts would cover the daily breakdown of events and stuff, followed with the pictures.

Very early on the morning of Friday, 13th March 2009, woke up at 4.30am(nearly went back to sleep thinking there was one day before the actual trip), did some final baggage checks, changed, had breakfast and left. Travelled to Dumaguete City. That's Day 1.

Next day we had a Games Day at the school on the hill(forgot the school name, but I'll check it up before the next post is up). Went shopping later in the evening.

Third Day. Beach in the morning, Dump site in the afternoon, Team NP expedition shortly after that.

Day four. The day EVEYTHING really started and got into place. Walked to school, got to know three handsome boys. Planned for the next day in the evening, not to forget the campfire!

5th Day. Most memorable day of the trip. The very first time things went very smoothly. Life's full of surprises! Had a mini Cultural Night concert at the centre.

Second last day of the trip. The flame started dying. That might be the last time I got to see my three 'sons', but looking back to the past, I know that somehow, we will definitely meet again. Had the grandest dinner, with the best closing ceremony I had ever attended and was part of. Saw the first shooting star in my life(let's just say, I would know whether the wish would come true only during our post trip meeting cum gathering).

Last Day. Sadness engulfed us.not many people slept the night before, so it was a peaceful, silent journey filled with some reluctance to head home. Everyone landed safely at Terminal 2,Singapore Changi International Airport on an A320-200.

The trip may have ended, but I believe that the real challenge has just begun.

All Set and Ready to Go

Less than 10 hours before I set off for the airport, I have finished all the packing, but, there's something I have not checked.Is my baggage within limit? I was left with no choice when I forgot the combination code to the luggage, so I had to use the large, navy blue trolley bag instead. You might be in for a good laugh when you see it. Anyways, this would be my last post before the trip ends next Thursday.



Will talk about it more after the trip, so don't bother to hope for another wordy post till next Friday or Saturday.Today went out to school in the afternoon to settle some stuff, before going to the new shopping complex at Clementi. It's really small! Took a shuttle bus to the new West Coast Plaza to get a lockand adpater before taking a bus back to the interchange(missed a nice chance on the way back). Bought a box of mosquito coil before heading home, spent 5 minutes to drop off the items before taking a straight bus ride to City Hall MRT Station to meet Jon and WM. Went to Suntec for the IT fair, as we all had plans to get something there, but ended up we did very little due to the lack of variety of IT stuff there this time round. Went to the foodcourt for dinner, before we embarked on our tour.

First we took the train straight to Joo Koon, the new station, before going to Jurong Point as I wanted to get a spare XD memory card for the camera, but turned out it cost 43 bucks, thus I gave up purchasing it. We walke around till 9plus before we went home. So, reached home at 10.15pm, rested a while, and did the final checks for the bags. Done at 11pm, and went to take a bath. So now, just making some final minor adjustments here and there to make sure everything's in place, before going off for the last night in an air-conditioned room before I downgrade to a cosy little hut for the next 6 or so days. See you till then!

End of the Storm

Actually, it has ended quite some time ago, just that, I'm breaking the news late. Finally found time to update, so here I am posting(of course). This is so going to be one extremely long post.So, ya, do read if you think you have got the time and interest to.

Last weekend was the very first time I fought in a Inter Varsity-Polytechnic championship(IVP). Went to NTU on Saturday to gain some first-hand experience of full-contact sparring at the tertiary level. The difficulty of each match varied greatly, depending on the amount of experience each side had, as well as the expectations of the judges and referee.

On Sunday, I experienced my first match. That, was the third time I wore the head gear since I first joined the sport as a CCA. Was extremely afraid before the day started, but as time passed, I found myself becoming someone very different(I wasn't that quiet self, my confidence level was very high, and I forgot the meaning of fear). However, the match was fast paced. We were both very fast, but he was just faster. 2 moves by me would be equal to 3 of his.

The very first counter that was dealt was a direct hit. It was a very nice score, though it left me stunned for a couple of seconds. The intensity of the blow was similar about 10% of Adrian's. to Each time I attacked, it would only end up with me being countered. I tried to retreat to time my counter, but that, too failed. So, I sort of gave up, and decided to take the blow when he attacked, go close(close enough that it seemed as though we were hugging), and try to make my move once he forced me away. The first part ended with a devastating 4-0 score( I knew I had 2 hits, though they were not very clear to the judges).

In the second round, I tired the same thing, except that I attempted to aim for his head this time round. It proved fatal. Two attempts met with two swift, direct counters. I gave up, decided to buy time, so that even if I lost, it would be about 30 seconds or so into the second round before I lost. Everything ended in the evening, so went to Jurong Point for dinner before going home.

After that match, the storm ended. Relaxation here I come! So the next day, went back to school for an hour of briefing on the general outline of the trip, before going to the Alumni Club House for the first time to accompany them for lunch, before going off at 12.30 for Sentosa for class outing. The moment I reached, it rained. Sad. That day, was the first time I sent the most messages. And it seemed to my friends that I had a partner. Well, I'm still not attached, and I'm proud of it!

Tuesday, was spent slacking and sleeping at home.

Wednesday, was the first time I stepped into National Junior College. The atmosphere, was well, different. It was about 4.20 when I arrived, and everyone was about to enter the school. There, both sides of the team met each other for the first time, and we also knew, for the first time, the whole backbone of the plans.

Thursday, was back to training, and I seemed to have gotten worse, and my stamina had dropped.

Friday, another day to slack and sleep.

Saturday, that's yesterday. Reached the TV room at 8.30am to find that the place was still locked. At around 9am, everyone had arrived and we went in shortly after the doors were opened. Played a few ice-breaking games, and I still found it hard to remember everyone. Forgot the names of almost everyone 30 seconds after the games were played. Anyway, we got down to our groups real quick, and we successfully came up with the complete list of things to do and bring for most, if not all our activities in just 3 hours? After that, we learnt one of the college's mass dance, and it was easier compared to the one I learnt last year back at MI. Mostly hand movements which made it easy. Went for our first group lunch, and we learnt lots os stuff about the difference in our education systems. we left at 3pm. Had a minor infatuation that morning, but, I'm just glad it's gone.

Today, it's slacking and sleeping again, only that I decided on the bags to use for the trip this coming Friday.Alright. I'll say it now. I'm part of the 30-member team comprising of 2 teachers and 28 students from National Junior College and Ngee Ann Polytechnic. We're going on a 7-day trip from this Friday(Friday the 13Th) till next Thursday(19Th March...4 more days) to Cebu, the Philippines for a Community Problem Solving Project, where we will be visiting two schools for activities, and after that, we'll be back in Singapore to complete our research, report and present on the trip( definitely for some of us at NP, but not so sure about the NJC side). This would be the second time I'm going on a joint Overseas Programme. The first time was to China back in secondary school.

And, here's the plans for the up-coming week. Tomorrow, go to Grandma's place in the morning, before going to Dhoby Ghaut MRT Station to meet Jian Hui and the others for a movie, change some money if there's the time, and head back to school for taekwondo training.

On Tuesday, it's the one day where I'll slack, sleep and pack up.

Wednesday, it's back to school to pay the 400 bucks for the trip and to NJC for the second and maybe, the last time. We'll be there to learn the mass dance as well as finalise some plans for the trip on Friday.

Thursday I'll be out with WM and Jon on a tour around Singapore I guess? One of the stops is a visit to the IT fair, post my NYAA application and also to change some money if I have not done so tomorrow.

Friday, it's plain simple. Get myself and my bags to Changi International Airport Terminal 2 by 6.45am and everything else will fall into place over the next few days till the 19Th. I can't wait!

Alright, here's something random. Was interesdted in thsi quiz found on Amanda's blog, and went to try it out. Surprisingly, it's very accurate! I'm still unsure about the commitment part and the one on death seems interesting.

What is your True Fear? Your Result: Losing Someone You love affection and the people in your life more than anything. Your greatest fear is that one day someone you care about won't be there anymore. You are a very friendly and inviting person, who draws in a lot of friendships with your kind, considerate, and loyal nature. However, deep down you are slightly insecure and unsure of yourself. You couldn't deal with it if you didn't have one of your loved ones in your life anymore. You don't have too much to worry about though, because with a friend like you, no one will want to lose you either!
Disappointment
Where Your life is Going
Being Alone
Commitment
Looked down on
Death
What is your True Fear? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Mixed Feelings

The storms gone, but still, there's nothing to feel great aboutas yet, though the holidays have arrived.I'm still in a prety bad mood for some reason. Nothing much has been happening these few days, except on Friday. Had a bad start to the first and last paper of the examination, when we entered the room just on time, I sat at the wrong table, and nearly got a confirmed B grade for Math. Finished the paper in an hour and 50 minutes, and managed to solve all but 3 questions. The best I can get for the paper is 85 marks, if the marker is lenient. Anyways, as usualy, went to Orchard to celebrate before going home. Went back to school later on to collect the gear a week in advance. That's all for now, I guess?

What's in, what's not
Who's it, who's not
When's time, when's not
Why, is it that, one finds it so hard
To avoid becoming a total tard?

Things don't evolve, people do
Time doesn't speed up or slow down, people do
Why, is it that, one still bothers to look back
And swear 'what the heck'?

Times change, People change
Why, is it that, one can adjust
so that things can be just?

Things, Times, People
Included, or not
Changed, or not
One shall always change,
as surroundings continue to age.

4 Days to the End of Year One

It's just 4 days away. Time really went by like a rocket. Just for more days to the final examination of the first year, but so far, I haven't really done much to prepare for it. Definitely a pass even if I do not study, but the best I could get without hitting the books for Engineering Mathematics this time round would only be a B+ grade. No A, no hope for a 4.0, no placing on the Director's List of Students. Simple as that, end of story.

Alright. I'll start on it tomorrow afternoon, 2pm. End at 5pm, try out the new route again if there's time and if I still have the energy for it. If all goes well, I might start running the combined route (old + new) this coming March, after I have gotten used to the new route. The combined route would provide an estimated distance of between 5 to 10 kilometers(I don't have the proper equipment to calculate the exact disance, so I'm depending on my speed and time to do the math).

Saturday, was Valentines' Day. So, here's wishing everyone a belated Happy Valentines' Day! Compared to last year, which was the best so far, that day was slightly more than just normal. Nope, I did not become emotional. Woke up at 9am, used the laptop for awhile, and left for Boon Lay MRT station at 10am. Seems like the MRT system really became more efficient. In the past, it took me between 30 to 45minutes to get to school by bus and train from Clementi MRT station to Lakeside MRT station.That day, it took me only 20 minutes in all, from home to Clementi MRT station by bus, and by train from Clementi to Boon Lay. That's the second time I went to the new Jurong Point shopping complex. I spent a little more time walking around this time, and it took roughly 20 minutes to go round the entire place once. At 10.40, went to meet up with the group, before we all left for NTU's Sports Complex at 11.30am. From 12pm, the whole process took only 50 minutes, and we were free to go. Went to Jurong Point again for lunch, before leaving for City Hall later on at 2.45pm. Went to Funan to get myself a Hard disk drive as my laptop was running danreously low on memory. About close to a hundred gigabytes of a maximum of 250Gb of memory left. Sunday was a whole day out with family. Today, I practically did nothing at all, just slacking around, doing whatever came to mind.

Storm's Subside

It's been 2 weeks since the storm hit, and finally, it's beginning to make its exit. Just a few more days or weeks and it will be gone for the academic year.Just 7 more days. After that, I can bid farewell to Level 1, and welcome Level 2 in April.

Let's see.. seven pojects assigned in January 2009, all seven completed before February 13th. Sadly, as I had forgotten the dates of submission, I'll just go on to the 7 projects. The first is the Engineering Drawing Project, which was really challenging. Managed to complete it just in time.


Second, I had my Communication Toolkit 2-minute impromtu speech, of which I had a high B grade.

A week later, we had our IAC group Presentation in the morning. Wegot an overall B grade for the presentation.

5th in line is the German Culture Presentation, which saw Eugene and I presenting on some food found in Germany. This project took us 2 days to preapare though. We did decently for that, but it was definitely not the most well prepared presentation of all my projects.

In sixth place we have my Economics assignment. This was the only assignment that interest me the most, probably due to the amount of content that I was able to come up with. I wrote a total of 1380 words outof the maximum of 2000 words. This assignment was submitted on Tuesday.

Finally, last but not least, was the Engineering Materials E-learning assignment. Jian Hui, Jenere and I decided to work on the Exhuast Pipe of a car. Well, this projct certaily won the 'extremely-last-minute-work' prize. We completed this project in 3 hours.I'm just expecting a boderline pass for this. If we received an A grade, it would certaily be a miracle. This project was submitted on Wednesday.


Next up, I have finally uploaded the pictures of the apartment we stayed in during the trainng camp last week. The pictures are aranged in order, from the moment one enters the main door, till the last room, which is also the largest of the apartment(Oh, and for the last two pictures, try to see if you can identify which is my former Primary school, and which is the schoo that I am currently studying in. Should nto be too hard or anyone I guess?):




Finally, a short re-cap for the week. On Monday, went to school solely for CCA, and we did basic self-defence techniques as well as basic fall-breaking techniques, before we were dismissed at 8.30pm(the earliest dismissal time so far this semester).

On Tuesday, went to school for the computeried practical test(I got killed instantly when I submitted the answers). I scored a pathetic 8 out of a possible 25 points. This was the first test which I totally did not study for due to the lack of time. Completed my last practical lesson fr th semester. Had lunch, went to take a look at the German Day exhibition at the library till 2.50pm before going for the Economis Final Test. A pass is definite, but I'm not confient of a good score.

On Wednesday, went to school only for our Engineering Mathematics E-learnin assignment submission, had lunch, took sme photographs, and slacked a little before heading home. Went back to school latr in the afternoon for trip briefing, collect some frms, made new friends, and headed home.


On Thursday, left home at 2.30pm for Marina Square to buy some guards for the up-coming competition. Spent more than 100 bucks on everything. Reached school at 5pm to submit the paperwork for the trip in March(What trip? Details coming your way soon!). Bought snacks at the Cheers! kiosk before heading to the sports complex for CCA. Training that day sure was tough. Finallyback to the expectations of most of us who were down for training, but guess I was not on top form that day.


Today, went out at 9.45am with my mum to SGH for her check-up, and we came back at 1.30pm. Slept from 2 till 5, befoe I went to try out a new route for running. In all, I sent 25 minutes, passed 9 road crossings, of which 6 had traffic lights. Total distance and average speed would be calculated on the next trail run somewhere next week when I replace the batteries on my pedometer(Got a feeling that by this point, some might think that I'm pretty organised huh).


Tomorrow I'll be at NTU for the weigh-in for the competition in 2 weeks' time. In the afternoon, maybe after lunch, I'll head down to Funan to get a 500 or 620 GB External Hardisk Drive. It's going to be stationed at home, so I wouldn't other gtting one with all the less important high-tech data protection features. If time permits in the evening, might be going to get a new pair of sandals as well.


That's all for the week, and next week, I'm only looking forward to Wednesday and Friday.

Start of the End of Level One

After today, it's going to be 2 final tests, followed by the submission of 2 final assignments, followed by one final examination, and then, I can declare that I have done my best for the semester. I'm not expecting a GPA which is said to be beyond 'godlike', which was like my previous semester where I missed the bulls-eye by a mere 0.06 points. This semester did make me feel the crunch of last minute studying which has always been a habit that I had been trying to kick. At least there is some progress.I'm expecting a GPA as low as 3.5 for this semester.

Last week I had a 2-day and 2-night training camp in school. It was suppossed to be a training camp. Yes, but I guess only the second day can truly be considered to be the most intense day of training, which left all, if not most of us, instructors and coaches included, with muscle aches(if anyone did not have any muscle ache during those trainings, something might not have been right). The lodging was great. I was expecting to be bunking at a stuffy hostel room, lined with double-decked beds and overhead fans. The rooms that we were allocated to, was an exact opposite of what I expected all along. Our dormatory was comparable to an executive suite in a 4-star hotel!Wow. Thinking of what it's like to stay in there over the night? Pictures would be up soon enough, of course, if no one stops me from putting them up. On the first day(night, i mean), we had stretching sessions. Full splits, side splits, you name it. We even had practice sessions for a couple of kicking stunts from movies! That night, was the first time I managed to hit the target with such force that the sound produced by the impact was able to echo around the corridor. Went for supper together before heading back to our rooms.

Second day we experienced a physical training session more intense than what most of my friends at the JCs are experiencing. Lots of stretching, running about, and yes, that's only half of the explaination to how all of us went home with muscle aches. We went for our campus run after that. The distance covered was definitely more than the 2.4km run, but I felt little strain from my legs. Perhaps all that stretching has made my legs so much lighter that I no longer felt much pain, at least during the half hour run. Had breakfast, then we had the highlight of the camp's training. We went training for stamina, strength and endurance. Had the best training, though it was also the toughest. After lunch, went to take a nap till 2.30pm. That was where danger set in. I dscovered I was coming down with fever later on at 3pm, when I suddenly felt I was getting weaker and weaker by the minute. Drank lots and lots of water before perspiring lots and lots during the training later on. Time really flew during that part of the training. In the evening, we went for a video session after a great dinner, probably the most exciting of all the camps I had attended. I also had the first MST(Mental Skills Training) session. It's basically about boosting self confidence and being mentally prepared before taking on a major challenge. Learnt lots during the session, but won't elaborate here though.

Went out again in the evening, before sleeping through the night. In the morning, I was back to normal again. The temperature's gone down. Had full contact sparring later on, and that was the second time I put on a headgear for sparring. Here's what happened. Went up, put on the head gear, and got into position, nothing different. Perhaps, what caught the attention of many friends was the loudest shout I gave since the first day I stepped into the club? Anyways, all I did was simply recalling as many things learnt as possible back during the days of training after the incident at TP. Footwork, taking risks, waiting for the perfect chance, making full use of the time window. I still don't know whether I had improved alot, though I know that I did improve on my footwork. Still have much work to be done on perfecting my evasive techniques and counters though.

Today's training was extremely relaxed. Learnt some self defence techniques and fall-breaking techniques, before heading for dinner with the committee. Now, I'm back home, stomach feeling queasy from drinking too much water, and I have lost the mood to study for the computerised practical test tomorrow. Only one word is in my mind. Bed. Tomorrow's going to be one long day, so hopefully I can return to sleep at 1am.

First Final Test for 1.2

Today's paper was another killer. It did not kill me, but it denied me the chance of getting an A grade for the module. It's pretty much expected since the day I joined the school. I will definitely pass every module in the main academics career, but the only question I would be asking myself is "What are the chances of me getting an 'A' grade for the module?"

Nonetheless, fate's almost already sealed. This semester, my grades would be plunging by as much as 0.9 points. If everything goes well, it would be a dip of about 0.3 points at the best. I'm really on the verge of giving up hope. Good thing, it's just 3 more weeks, and it will all be over for this semester and my first year. Almost time to hit the next level.

Reached home, got down to rest, ended up oversleeping, and started revision only from 5pm. I did not do much today, and tomorrow, I'll be up all night, at least till 2 or 3 in the morning. And, I'll be sacrificing posting time as well, so that I can have 6 to 7 hours of continuous memorisation, perhaps, with some time to chat as well, if things go well tomorrow. Tomorrow night would see me covering 3 quarters of what's going to be covered for the test on Friday. Thursday I'll go through everything once more, and start on the first part of my Economics assignment. Friday evening till Sunday, I would be away, so most likely I would not be doing much updating, and might even spend time on my economics assignment on the second night of the camp.

The storm has finally arrived once again, hitting home real hard this time round.

Many complicated thoughts run through this complicated mind of mine.
I find that I have gotten more selfish,
I find that I have become worse than the seas' fish.
Wanting freedom, yet not seeking for it.
Striving to to well,but still trying to get started.
Regret, agony, sorrow?
Those emotions would soon be a thing of the past.
It's time to wake up from that dream,
And start working towards it.
It's still not too late, there is still time.

I'm still wondering if what I did two months back was the right thing. To return to something that I had left alone for months. Come to think of it, maybe I am experiencing a story, one that never ends. Anyway, what meant to be, will be. I'll just leave it to time to do the telling. I'll just sit back, and listen. I just can't find the focus that I used to have since two years back. After nurturing it for so long, it's gone for now. I'll just have to depend on myself, till the day I can regain it. Patience and hope is the key.

CNY Round-up'09

Although it's only the seventh day of the new year, it feels almost as though it's already the end. Yesterday was the last day of visiting for me, when relatives came to visit in the afternoon. In the evening, went over to the residence of my father's friend for dinner, had a great time listening to opinions, before heading home to finish up on the backbone of the Economics assignment. If not for the email, I might have ended up burning oil up till as late as 4 or 5am after midnight. So, unfortunately, I would be skipping training for two Mondays straight to complete the assignment, and also to prepare for 3 tests, each with a weightage of not less than 30% of the final mark. I seriously need those 'A's.

That's yesterday. And so, for today, I spent the whole afternoon on revision after lunch at 1pm. I was only able to increase my focus on revision from 20% to 80% after 3pm today. I did some revision as well in the morning, mainly the final online quiz for the practical and some background research for the Economics final assignment. In the afternoon, gamed and revised for the final Engineering Drawing test and Engineering Materials Final Test. Both carry a weightage of 30% each. I must get at least 25% for each test in order to greatly increase my chances of clinching the 'A' grade for both modules. Later in the evening, it was back to revision for the Engineering Drawing Final Test after dinner till now.

There's going to be a raging storm over the next two weeks, starting tomorrow, and subsiding as early as next Friday. The week after that, would see the storm's end on 20Th February, when I'll have the Final Examination for the Engineering Mathematics 2 module.

[Blog Update]
-Added new link:
Amanda[restricted access??](NP)

This week, I have changed the play list once again. This song was recommended and introduced to me by someone of whom I have never met before(intriguing eh?). River Flows in You, by Yiruma, was picked as a candidate for the thriller-romance movie Twilight(This I did not know until she told me about it), though I don't really know what's the story behind how they went about selecting the piece to be played as Bella's Lullaby.

Storm ahead

A storm is coming. It would hit home this coming Monday, and the earliest it would subside could be as early as next Monday. The latest, it would be around the 20Th of next month.

Next week, it's going to be a week of chaos, with the arrival of 3 final tests and 1 final assignment. The week after that would be more or less the same thing, except that it would be for different modules. Next Monday there is the Computer Aided Design Final Test, followed by the Economics final open book test and on Friday, the Engineering Materials Final Test. The Economics final assignment is due next Friday as well, and I have found almost everything I need to go about completing my 1000-word report. If all goes well, I can submit it on Thursday. The only thing that's worrying me for now is the Engineering Materials Final Test. It covers 5 chapters, most of which are relatively light chapters, but there's lots to cover, and there's only 6 days left to effectively revise everything. Together with the damage I received during yesterday's training, hopefully it would be reason enough for me to skip just one day of intensive training on Monday, so that I can get as many things done as possible by Wednesday to make way for more revision time. Oh, and I regained my drive to study this morning, which is late, but just in time for the final hurdle of the year.

Next up, let's head back to the past couple of days. Starting with Tuesday, nothing much happened, other than relatives visiting, and going to my cousins place for dinner in the evening, and ending the holiday by visiting my grandmother. Yeah, collected red packets as well, and as expected, each year the takings would increase by between 50 to 100 bucks. This year was a big jump although times were bad, so I did not really expect it. Nonetheless, would be saving up the money as usual for use over the next 11 months.

On Wednesday, went to class as usual, and covered polymers for Engineering Materials. One of the heavier chapters for the up-coming test, and it could be my weakest as well, as it covers a little on organic Chemistry.

Yesterday, had our Individual and the Community presentation, and we did well, meaning to say that we were awarded at least a B grade. It's over, so I won't be mentioning it until the day when the results are released. In the afternoon, had Communication Toolkit again, and was made the time keeper once again, although I was preparing to sleep through the lesson mentally. In the evening, I went full force during the 'live' sparring session, ending up with partial disability in my right leg and both arms, though I only felt the effects of the injuries today.

Finally, we're at today. I managed to do the mock test paper with little help, and it's definitely easier to draw the views using the computer. Saves time and trees. So, my hopes are high for the final test held this coming Monday, that's if I make the effort to revise for the test for at least 2 hours tomorrow and on Sunday. After that, went for lunch, before going to Our Space, where we had a small party before the Engineering Mathematics 2 lecture started at 2pm. For the first hour, I was definitely studying, only up till the final 40 minutes, did I take out the computer once again. At first, it was just to check the examination timetable, but gradually, as I went through the rankings for the electives, did I start to make things difficult for the lecturer(very sorry). Started chatting online, and others started checking and doing their elective rankings as well. That was during the last 20 minutes of the lecture, so, hopefully not much damage was done. Went to the library later on to slack, finish up the project for class later in the evening, and chat once again. Later in the evening, during the presentation, we did fine, though many of us were doing last minute work, due to lots of tests and projects coming up. Today also marks the last lesson of German level 102. So, if I somehow manage to pass this module, I would definitely sign up for the next level, and study for it during the holidays.

As for next week, well, I don't wish to think about it, except to prepare for the worst, in case things don't go the way I expect them to be.

Happy 'Niu' Year

Hey! It's that time of the year once again! How time flies. Here's wishing all young and old,whether Chinese or not, A Happy 'Niu' (New) Year! It's 'niu' (cow in English translation) as, in Chinese, it sounds similar to the word 'new' in English.

This year's new year celebrations so far, we, quite the tradition as well, though there are only a few differences compared to last year's. Last night, I was on the computer all the way till 4am in the morning, rushing though 2 projects that were due this coming Thursday and Friday. After that, I slept till 9am, before having a vegetarian breakfast, went to the temples to pray, came home for an hour before going off to catch the movie, Red Cliff 2 with my cousins at Lido.

Heard that the movie was better in terms of action compared to the previous one, as I had not watched the first part. The only sad thing was, I was able to predict what would happen next, for I had already read the comic version of the story. It occured that, in life, one of the things that makes life interesting is not-knowing what would happen next, and the anxiousness one feels while waiting to find out what would happen next, that makes that wait worthwhile. Oh, yes, and here's one quote that I found rather cool,"where there's faith, there's hope". The scenes were almost about the standard of movies rated NC16, which might attract an even larger audience given its PG rating.

After that, at 7pm, we left to visit relatives till 10pm, having dinner at Holland Village before heading home.Oh, and my uncle, aunt and cousins got me a watch as reward for my performance in the first semester, and not just that. It's the watch that I had wanted to save up for last year! Thanks lots!! Well, they also adviced me to join the Adventure Seekers, a CCA which I had been considering of joining till my parents asked me to join the Taekwondo Club. I had heard lots about the club, and had been thinking of joining, except that, right now, I'm just confused.

Tomorrow, it's going to be another long day, though it's going to be worse. We might be staying at home most of the day tomorrow, but I have to get 2 projects completed in time for the final presentation stage by Thursday and Friday respectively. I'm really starting to hate January, although it has the best public holidays of the year. Finally, if you would like to help me in my project and would not mind to spare me just 5 minutes of your time, kindly help me complete this short survey. This survey is about the stress students face at the Secondary, Pre-U and tertiary levels.Your help is greatly appreciated.Thank you!

Gloom

This week was a rather dark week for me. This week was pure crap. Nothing really went well. Anyways, the week is over, and I cleared another 2 projects this week. Tests are starting to come up next week and the weeks after that together with more projects being due, up till the end of the second semester and the end of my first year in a polytechnic.

Today, nothing much happened. Don't really know what's been happening to me these few days as well. Lots of projects coming in, lots of revision that needs to be done, but I am as good as a sitting duck as of now. I have not even touched a single book, or maybe I did go through some notes since I reached home.

Tomorrow and Sunday, it's going to be lifeless studying, so in case I do not reply to your messages either online or through phone, I'll apologise in advance. Monday and Tuesday, not so sure about how things would be like as yet, for I have been extremely busy these few days, rushing through projects and the sort. For the first time, I am starting to hate the month of January. Oh, and maybe tomorrow, I might be done with the composition, hopefully so, if I got the time. However, I got the feeling that it would not be as good as before.

Let's say that, the 3 hour walk from the esplanade to Clementi would be materialised into how my life would be like for the year 2009. At the start, I would turn into many dead ends, walking in large circles around things, noticing that I am lost only after a while. Then, what about the places that I should not have passed through? I don't even want to think about the worst case scenarios that might occur along the way. Prevention is still better than cure. However, all that only reflects on the first quarter of the year. The second quarter was simply quiet, Occassionally I would get lost, but I would still manage to find my way. The thrid quarter would be rather quick paced, yet tiring, perhaps in the same way which I am currently experiencing mentally?The fourth quarter would see me receiving help, which would give me that strong, final boost toward the end of the year.
If that were true, what should I do? Get help? What kind of help? Share my troubles? With who(I find myself drifting away from many people whom I used to call 'brothers' and 'sisters')? Run away? I have had my fair share of running.It's time to stand up and face it. But how, and through what means? Please, I don't want to go back into that forest and get lost in there again. It's a fear that I am still unable to overcome, but I know that it would be definitely be gone. The question is, how long will it take? Someone, please help...

Slacked as it is

Today I'm pretty much relaxed, perhaps due to the fact that there's nothing much to do for today. today's post is going to be a little short due to time constraint. Anyways, was late for the second time for class this semester for Engineering Materials as we waited for everyone to arrive before coming to class. And, it was pretty much expected that I would get a mini lecture for being late(it's rare for a academically stronger student to be late).

After that, was lunch, and due to my weak, but recovering stomach, I was unable to finish my food. Took out the computer to take a look at the Diploma Plus Preferences that I could apply for. I'm so tempted to place Advanced Engineering Mathematics as my first choice, followed by Physics and Workplace Safety and Health. However, I ended up chatting online instead.

Went for Engineering Mathematics 2 lecture, and instead of helping my friends and putting 100% into studying, I was messaging on my mobile, chatting online again, and did some questions in the book. However, somehow I managed to be ahead of the lecturer by about 2 to 3 pages. I really wonder when was the first time I became so daring.

Then there was the usual Engineering Materials and Engineering Mathematics 2 tutorials classes, and we left for home at 3.45pm. Went for a run at 5.45pm, and I really regretted it. Guess I won't be able to go for training again tomorrow, and my stomach seems to have gotten worse. Since 7pm, I had been working on the final touches of the presentation due tomorrow, which would bring to a close another project, which takes us a step closer to the end of the semester and the first year. I'm going to become a Level 2 soon!Anyway, there's going to be lots of time to do some revision and studying tomorrow evening again.

The personality I possessed today, was definitely not me. I was never so daring, and I seldom had the courage to start conversations. Am I really starting to change after so long? If it is, great! But if it is not, perhaps I could reflect on today to improve.

Spurts

Nostalgic title? Well, tonight, the thought of fountains came to mind, so just decided to use the word. I was rather down today, for some reason, but it did not seem to affect my day at school. Reflected on many things today, but still, I was not able to regain the drive that I possessed during the first semester.

Finally, after the long break, I finally got to touch a machine again. So, we're on to the last 4 weeks of school, and I'm attached to the milling machine for the next three lessons. I thing that I enjoyed most, was the spraying of the waste metal. It was, hot, small, and looked like silver droplets of water being shot from the nozzle of a fountain. This is the most challenging practical session yet, but the way the metal was being cut makes you want to go on till the work was done, even though it gave a short, stinging pain upon landing on your skin. Wanted to take a photograph, or maybe even a video, but did not dare to, as the safety officer was strict, thus I did not dare try something like that in case I incurred a penalty of 5 marks.

Went for lunch, but drank just a can drink before going for the second last Economics lesson today at 1.20pm. I guess my stomach is still as weak as before. Well, at least I could save some cash for the holidays(got a feeling the 2 month March vacation's going to be filled with many things). I slept for the first time during the lecture today, as I had finally run out of pages to copy the slides during the final lecture, and had to use 3 pieces of fullscap paper instead(sorry, really had no choice). At 4pm, we had the third quiz on competition. I finished the quiz in 10 minutes, but spent the next 8 minutes checking it again. The final result was 75 out of 100 points. I did not really study as intensively as I did for the common test, but today's quiz was definitely easier than the common test. let's take a look at my grades for the tests so far: first quiz 80, second quiz 65, common test 61, third quiz 75. Quite a nice curve if the scores were plotted on a graph. There's going to be the final test the following week and the assignment would be due the week after that. Very soon, but somehow, I see months in between the weeks. At 4.25pm, went to meet the others before going for the Diploma Plus Programme briefing. Man, I'm so going to have a hard time trying to explain it tomorrow if there was a need to.

Tomorrow's going to be a long, but relaxed day. Engineering Materials and Engineering Mathematics 2. Class ends 4pm tomorrow, and I'll see if I have recovered enough to see how much I have improved since I started training at the start of the semester.Oh, and I have decided, I'll either go for the Diploma Plus Certificate in Advanced Engineering Mathematics or the Certificate in Economics and Financial Applications.

If it's mean to be, it will happen.

New Week, New Hope?

I feel lost. Really lost. Exactly what in the world am I doing? Damn, I got myself into such mess, and yet, I have no idea how to tidy it up once again. It's been only 19 days into the start of the year, and it seems as though I am living on false hopes. Nevermind about that. I'll just have to take things one at a time, step by step, and it will turn out fine. Just 4 more weeks and the burden will be greatly reduced. Who knows, things might even get better once the holidays are here.

Anyway, today, was a really bad day. In the morning, woke up extremely early from a very weird dream. Looking back, that was the first time I dreamt of something for 4 consecutive nights. I really hope tonight would not be the fifth, especially when the 4th resulted in me experiencing a very strong deja vu. The something that I least expected to happen, happened. How I wish I was never given such an ability.

Later on in class, I was wrong to think that my drive to study was back again, when I suddenly lost the mood to complete the last part of the exercise. So, went with Jenere, Jian Hui and Amanda for lunch at 11am.

Many things went wrong during lunch, one of them was the silly me, who bought an extra sanwich for lunch, but it became my meal for the day when I felt very uncomfortable after awhile. So, had no choice but to skip training for the day, meaning that I would be returning for training only next Thursday.

Things got worse again back in school, when we found out at the last minute that an interview could not be held due to reasons citing privacy as an issue. Hopefully we could come up with something fast. Went to the library after that for about 45 minutes to discuss about the upcoming presentation on Thursday, and also learnt a couple of stuff from Hong Peng.

At 2.45pm, went home with him an another friend. So, I took 963 home from school(via transfer) for the first time since I first entered the school. Nice.Slept for quite some time before evening, did a little on the presentation and revision for tomorrow's Economics quiz, before slacking off. Right now, I'm lost, as a result of the whole day's happenings. Nevermind. Tomorrow, I'm sure something exciting would happen, so exciting that I might even be on overdrive for the rest of the term for studying till the last paper is held in 4 weeks' time. Oh yes, and before I forget, after a long, long time, I am finally getting inspirations for a poem. Once I got it, I'll post it up.

I am lost, once again. Yes, after a long time indeed. Just 9 months later, I find myself about to break the promise I made. It might occur to you that everything's going according to plan, but hey, that's just the tip of the iceberg. There's more than meets the eye. Like what the others have said. Don't bother making plans for such stuff. Just let the events unfold before you, and take your time. There is one question that I am still pondering over after so long: Why do girls dislike boys?

JAE 09 Day 4

Today's JAE duty, was not really a duty afterall, it seems. Today, would definitely be the most relaxed day for me over the week.

I overslept, waking at 7.40am this morning. However, I was in luck for I managed to arrive in school at 8.40am. The lessons for today had a rather light schedule, allowing me to get some rest before 3pm.

However, it turned out that all that was uncalled for, as when I arrived at the convention centre for the final slot of the JAE duty, the place was very empty, and people were already starting to clear the area. Signed my attendance, and within minutes, I too, found myself helping to clear some of the exhibits there. I got the best job of all today, helping to carry the gigantic plane model(a scale which you would not find at the usual plane model stalls). The feeling was simply great! Comparing it with the A380 model I have at home(I sort of forgot the scale), I must say that this one is about 2 times its size! I'm still regretting that I did not take a photo of the model(although it might not be allowed).Guess someone's starting to get jealous. Along the way, it seems that others knew about my performance during the last semester, even though I tried to keep a low profile. It's almost the end of the second semester, so I guess even if they knew now, it's fine, as I have gotten over it, and I doubt it would affect my performance for this semester(extremely high times almost always spell really low times for me).

Throughout those four days, even if there was no cash to claim, or no points to be awarded, I would say it was a rare experience, to get to know more friends and lecturers, as well as gain greater insight about the course that I am currently pursuing. Apart from that, I have met students from all over the country, and perhaps, maybe even from around the world, although it was only for four days. It sure was interesting and fun, as well as a pleasure, to work with lecturers from the academic schools, although I do not know the majority of them. With that, I am so coming back to help again next year in 2010!

After that, I forgot to pack my texztbook for the next lesson, so, with the remaining time, I rushed home to repack my stuff, and headed back to school once again with a lighter load. Class was fun today, and at 8.10pm, we left for home. Looking forward to waking late again tomorrow, slacking the morning away and working myself to sleep from 2pm to 6pm over the weekend.

JAE 09 Day 3

*Before I begin, some parts of the post might not be allowed to be posted in here(I'm not sure if everything I have posted here is allowed), so, if there is a certain segment of the post which you might not wish to be included in here, please do leave a tag. Thank you.*

Today, for the first time this term, things seemed to be coming back onto the right track, at least academically. CCA wise, I'm still on the downside.

Today was the day for interdisciplinary Studies modules, and I'm still taking up the modules Individual And the Community and Communication Toolkit. Our survey questions and interview questions were great, meaning that for now, we're on step closer to the coverted 'A' grade for the module, thus, the need to carry on at the current pace.

As for Communication Toolkit, things were getting better, as I got damn close to the targeted 'A' grade. I got a B+ grade instead for the 2 minute impromtu speech, which I guess I did put in some effort. I lacked the courage, as well as the proper pronunciation which has always been my weakness. I can still remember parts of the speech, though it might not be the actual or complete version of what I presented in class today:

"Well, before I begin, I would like everyone to imagine. You are on a plane, which is already in line with the runway, and is about to land. Suddenly, you feel the aircraft land on the runway. Next, you hear the steward's announcement," Ladies and Gentlemen, we have landed at Terminal 3 of Singapore Changi International Airport. Thank you for travelling with our airline and have a nice day!" Everyone, we are now in Singapore.

Well, my topic for today is on Tourism in Singapore, and I would like to inform you about the up coming tourist locations in Singapore, as well as give a brief introduction about the nightlife of Singapore.

Firstly, Singapore has many upcoming tourist locations, such as the Integrated Resort at the Marina area, which would be completed in future. The Integrated Resort would provide 10000 jobs for the people in the tourism industry, and it also houses one of the first two casinos in Singapore. Next, at Singapore's island resort, Sentosa, there are resorts and golf courses, as well as three beaches there. I'm sorry, but Australian women are not allowed to move around topless at the beaches. Next, There are also new shopping centres coming up along Orchard Road in the near future.

Moving on to my second point, I would now introuduce briefly the nightlife in Singapore. There are nightclubs mainly at Harbourfront and Clarke Quay, and once there, you would hear the frequent exclaimations of 'Cheers' among merrymen after they are served their alcoholic drinks.

Finally, in summary, I have informed everyonr about the upcoming tourism locations in Singapore, as well as given everyone a brief introduction about the nightlife in Singapore. I believe that, as long as the Singapore government could overcome obstacles like the Singapore flyer incident where visitors 'enjoyed' five and a half hours of free flight without any air conditioning, and of course, without the wheel moving at all, in future, at the rate Singapore is proressing, the tourism industry in Singapore would definitely prosper.Thank you."

For now, my current grade should be around a C grade. Just have to do well for the remaining 3 weeks for both modules, and I would be able to gain at least a decent GPA of 3.5 just for these 2.

After class today, went to the convention centre for the JAE once again, but today, it was a little boring. There were nto many people of whom I knew who were there today, though I managed to make a couple of new friends along the way. After 5.30pm, I was mentally and physically drained once again, and left for CCA, which left me even more mentally and physically drained. For now, I just hope that I would be able to wake in time for school tomorrow, which would be my fourth and final day at the convention centre for the week and the last day of JAE.

JAE 09 Day 2

The third day of the JAE is my second day on duty. I could not take time off the day before due to the Economics lecture that I could not bear to miss. Speaking of yesterday, it seems that I was so tired after the meet that I was feeling sleepy all the way, although I slept through the night. Today's post might put some people to sleep, so try not to read this before doing anything boring if you don't wish to fall asleep just yet.

Here's briefly what happened. We arrived at Tampines MRT Station very late, and by the time we arrived at Temasek Polytechnic, the sun was already setting. It was about 8 when the first round started, and many things happened after that. I did not really keep track of the time throughout. It was my first time taking part in a friendly match, and I definitely did not know what to do, only until advice came in at the break in between matches. It was definitely the same feeling I had, 2 years ago while taking the Additional Mathematics paper. Mainly thoughts and worries about failure, little about what should be done to make everything go on the right track.
It was about 10.30pm when we all left for home, by bus, then by train. As expected, I was going to miss the last bus from Marina Centre if I alighted from City Hall MRT Station, and even if I managed to reach Bukit Batok Station at 12 midnight, i would miss the last bus home by mere seconds. So, the last option was, take the bus from Clementi Station(not much of a difference actually, but I was tired of climbing the stairs to get to the bus stop).

And, with that, we're on to today. I reached home at 12.20pm, and went to bed at 1, waking at 7.40am this morning. Although the feeling of sleeping through the night was damn nice, I still left home half awake at 8am.

I managed to reach class just in time today, which was unexpected. The Materials lecture was somewhat manageable, and at least the writing kept me awake through most of the lecture. Lunch was fine, but I guess I overdid it by eating a little too much, which made me even more sleepy after that. I was practically dead during the Engineering Mathematics lecture, struggling to listen to the first example before I gave in to sleepiness. That's the only module that I do not mind slacking, but still there is the need for revision, which proved to be true during the tutorial later on at 2pm. For the first time, I required help to answer all the questions. Got to ask about the remaining three questions on Friday again.

At 3pm, left for the convention centre for duty. Today was definitely more busy as compared to Monday. I don't really know what to say here, for many things happened during the 2 and a half hours. I guess everyone there went home with something today. The moment I reached home, only 1 thing was in my mind. Sleep. Took a bath, felt more refreshed, had dinner, felt tired again, and finally took a 30-minute nap before doing some revision(definitely not mathematical nor analytical stuff). Hopefully, tomorrow, I would not feel so dead.

JAE 09 Day 1

Today's the first day of the JAE for 2009, and it's also the day where the 'businessmen' get to relax the most. Instead of telling the 'potential customers' or potential students about the course, we ended up talking about lots of stuff during the first 2 and a half hours of the JAE week, which started at 3pm, although the results were released at 2pm. We came up with a couple of theories about why on the first day of JAE, or rather after the results are released, there are usually few students who visit the polytechnics or take part in the online posting. One was that the students are out celebrating or have broken down after knowing their results. Next was the students already know exactly which path they want to take, so there was no need to visit the polytechnics to undergo course counselling or seek advise from the students and lecturers there. During the time there, I did manage to notice a few schools today at the convention centre, such as MI, Bukit Batok Secondary, St. Margaret Secondary and a student from a CHIJ school. There were others as well, but I was unable to identify the schools by the uniforms.

Today's post is going to be short as well, for this week is one busy week, and I'm giving myself only an hour to post this up.

Next up, was CCA at 6pm. Trained a lot today, and it ended pretty early as well. I guess it's been confirmed. I will be going to Temasek Polytechnic for the friendly match tomorrow evening, and it will also be the first time I'm there(do expect some photographs, if I can remember to take them). So, tomorrow, I'm expecting myself to fall asleep during the journey home, and risk falling asleep again in class on Wednesday. Good thing I'm not down for duty tomorrow, for I might consider skipping the lecture on Wednesday morning if I'm too tired after a day's work tomorrow night.

On Saturday, I can gurantee that I will make full use of the time to sleep and slack in the morning and evening, while having 6 hours to revise my Engineering Mathematics 2, Engineering Drawing and Economics. By the way, the same goes for Sunday, except that I would be going to bed a little earlier at 11.30pm, if there's no one to talk to online.

Great, at least I can control myself a little for now. Just hoping that it does not get out of control, for doing so simply equates to me doing badly in my studies,the same way I did badly after Secondary 1.

Another New Start, Perhaps?

I just have one thing to say about myself over the weekend. Pathetic. I was supposed to be doing revision and project since Saturday, but i ended up getting very little done. Economics, I ended up getting stuck, not knowing how I should go about with the assignment. Mathematics, I must stop slacking as soon as possible, before I fail the the final test in slightly more than a month's time. So far, I am only glad that I managed to make some progress in the project under IAC. Alright. Let's stop all the nonsense talk that not studying carries chances of getting straight As. That was only possible as I had the so-called beginner's luck with me during the first semester. Now, it's coming to the end of the second semester and I'm still living in the sea of beliefs. If I do not navigate out of there soon, I might just get drawn into the whirlpool of failure.

I know I have to get my drive up and going soon, but it's not this week, due to the Joint Admissions Exercise. Damn. Just as much as I want to help others, I want to help myself get the grades and make the mark once again. Alright. I hate to say it, but if nothing goes well this coming week, I might consider suspending myself from CCAs all the way till when the exams are over.

[Blog Update]
Anyways, I have updated the playlist on the blog. This time it's from the game, DJ Max. The song sounds a bit like the one you hear in one of the maps in MapleSEA. I have forgotten which map though, as I seldom play games nowadays.

Please, don't let it happen again. I have made a promise, and I'm trying very hard to keep it. Please, even if it must be broken, at least allow it to be broken in March during the holidays. Just not now. It's still too early and I'm still in the first year.

First week of school in Calendar Year 2009

The first week of school this year was the most chaotic week since I first stepped into a polytechnic. In the first 5 days alone, lots of things happened. First was the common test results. On Monday, the first shock came. 62 for the Engineering Drawing test. Actually, I could say that I did well for the paper, as I have never gotten more than 60 marks for drawing after secondary 1. On Tuesday, I did up to my expecatations for the Economics paper, at 61.5. I was expecting something worse, like 55 out of a total 100 marks. Really could have done better if I had not misread the last question and scored there. Wednesday was the best day of the week, seeing me getting As all the way for the Engineering Materials test and Engineering Mathematics 2.
Here's the summary for all the commom tests in the last term:

Engineering Drawing 62/100
Economics 61.5/100
Engineering Materials 88/100 (my favourite grade)
Engineering Mathematics 91/100
(could have done better, for I lost a total of 9 marks due to carelessness. Damn)

Next up, we have got projects. Note the 's'. This time, I have got 5 projects due in just 4 weeks time. And the best part of it is that, I have not started on a single one! I'm going to be so dead, but anyway, there's still time to change the results of that. First up, we got the very first project presentation that was held on Thursday. That, was purely 100% last minute effort. So all I could say is that, we deserved the C grade. The presentation on that day was a total disaster. I won't elaborate more on that, but I will definitely come back with at least a decent B+ grade, or if better, an AD grade at the end of the semester for the module, Individual And the Community.

The second project would be the Engineering Drawing project that has been going on for some time now, it's still going well, and I'll definitely contribute more the next time we meet up to do our drawing.

The third, is my Economics assignment, which is the only one that requires me to do alone. I have yet to even look at the question for the assignment, which I plan to start on tomorrow afternoon, and complete by Sunday if it's possible.

The fourth, is the first and last official group presentation for the module, Communication Toolkit. Somhow, I have been made the leader of the group when the lecturer wanted a change of leaders. Guess now I have the chance to make a difference for our group, to help all of us get at least an 'A' grade. I still want my 4.0, even if it might seem an impossibility this semester.

The 5th, is the Engineering Materials presentation on an automobile part. We plan to present on the exhaust pipe of a car. I'm still not sure how we're going to do our research and presentation as yet, but I'm sure over the next couple of days, something will come to mind.

Next, on to number 6. There's going to be a 2 minute impromtu speech next week, and I'm hoping that it would not eat into 3pm, for that's the time when I'm helping out at the School of Engineering section at the Convention Centre for the Joint Admissions Exercise. I'm confident of doing well for the speech, and I'm aiming for at least a B grade. Just have to have a good attention getter, interesting points and other stuff to craft out a nice speech that would interest everyone.

Finally, last but not the least, project number 7. This project just came in today. I have to come up with an historical event in Germany, and present it to the class. Actually, for the module, it's not the project that is making me afraid. In fact, it's the class size that's making me afraid. Well, you see, there is a small number of us taking the German language module in the polytechnic, and if the class size falls to below 10, we will not be able to take the module at a higher level in the next semester.

Well then, that's all for the week, and the coming week is going to be worse than this week, for each day, I will be going home very late in the afternoon, or even late in the evening. But I am sure that it's going to be one of the busiest days of the final weeks of the first year, of which I'm starting to gradually lose the confidence of getting a Grade Point Average of 4.0 out of the maximum 4 points for the semester. Oh, and I'm updating the Links List again soon, if I have the time for it.

Simple Goodbye to 2008, Challenging Introduction to 2009

Hi there again! It's been some time since I updated. Alright, first up, the top 15(decided to bring down the number as I felt it might be a little irrelevant).

15. 1 Month long PAE(provisional Admissions Exercise) at MI, from 2nd January till mid February.
Although it was just a month-long stay, I sure made many friends from all over the country, and till today, I still keep in touch with some of them.

14. Many long breaks and holidays.
School life up till the third quarter of last year was pretty slacked, with breaks lasting from as short as 2 weeks to the longest ever of 7 weeks. Even during the school terms during the first semester, the lessons were easy to understand, compared to the second semester where things gt tougher.


13. JAE(Joint Admissions Exercise) posting results

At first it came as a big blow, but over time, I gained much interest in my current course, ME(Mechanical Enginering) although I had very much wanted a place in AT(Aerospace Technology) before that.

12. Combined Toastmasters meeting with RJC and students from Hong Kong.
1 word to describe that 1 reason: Memorable.

11. 4E1-07 Class gathering at IMM.

That was definitely not a night to miss, when we invited Mr Liew to dine with us to celebrate Teachers' Day.


10. 42km runway cycle.
That was the first time I ever cycled such a distance, and on a heavy bike as well. I successfully cycled the distance, but with a couple of stops along the way for breaks.

9.Cycling the East Coast Park- Changi Village route twice in a year
The first time I travveled that route with friends from the Cycling Club, it was one tough challenge, with a short stop over at Changi Village to stock up on water and have lunch. Instead, I went to buy chocolates to eat while cycling back, which made things a little worse on the return part, as I could not cycle at the normal rate while eating. On the second time with a couple of friends, this time, we were able to cover the distance over a much shorter period of time, even though we stopped quite a number of times to watch planes landing an taking off from an active runway of Changi Airport, not too far from the cycling track.

8. First birthday celebration organised by friends
Earlier in March this year, it was a single sms that made me realise that I was actually noticed in class(I used to be so quiet that I always had a nice, cosy corner to myself). Really have to thank them once again for the gifts, dinner and cake, so thank you guys! So, getting a year "younger" to 17 was great I guess?

7. No Camps in 2008.
If I remember correctly, I did not attend a single camp in 2008, although I did attend orientation programmes organised by the Mechanical Engineering Society, Cycling Club and the Student Toastmasters Club.

6. Collection of 'O' Level stuff from YCSS
Decided to fill in this spot with something different, so ya. I guess that might be the last time I went to the school's office to collect a document that belonged to me, unless, in future I return as a teacher(which I'm still considering if I have not made up my mind on what I really want to do in future).

5. 08S6(PAE class) gathering at East Coast Park
This was the very first class gathering that I organised, which turned out very well, except that the weather was not in our favour that day.

4. 08S6(PAE class) second gathering
That day was the first time I brought girls home(please notice the 's'). Yes, that was the first time. Usually I brought only guys to my place for projects and the like, but that day, was solely to slack, just one day before the posting results were out. That, was the first successful barbeque for the class, and I hope it might not be our last.

3.Earned a place on the Director's List of Students
I had expected to be in the list, but never to claim the top position for the first semester. For the second semester of the academic year, I guess i might not be so lucky, for to date, I have quite a number of B and C grades, and possibly failure grades as well.

2.New Computer
The third laptop that I owned since 2003. This time, it's a Windows Vista operated Fujitsu S7211. At first during the first term, I used it purely for studying, but over the months I started installing games to kill time. Now, it's become such an asset that I don't really know what to do should I lose it.

1. 2 day 1 night stay at Downtown East Resort.
Learnt many things during the night of the stay, some of which came in handy when I walked the longest distance ever back home from the Marina Countdown.

So, now that you have the top 15 of 2008, let's head off into 2009! HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!

The first minutes of 2009 was welcomed with a big bang. Met up with a few friends at city hall at 6.30pm on Wednesday, 31st December 08,and we ate quite a lot at Swensen's, before going to the esplanade, to slack, before going to Merlion Park to find a place, stay there for 2 hours and watch the fireworks at 12am, on the first second of 2009.

The next part is practically about madness. After the event, there was a large crowd moving toward the City Hall MRT Station and the Raffles Place MRT Station. I got lost after they went to take the train home from Raffles Place MRT Station. So, somehow, I ended up at Tanjong Pagar after 30 minutes of walking at 1am. Over the next hour, I set off for Raffles City via Clarke Quay and Chinatown(somehow I managed to do that, though i did not know exactly where I was headed). That was the worst part of the journey, but I won't go on with the minor details(it's going to be one long story). At 2am, I found myself back on the route home when I arrived at Raffles City. So, from that point on, it was mainly the physical part of the journey. For the next 2 hours, I continued traveling on foot from Raffles City to Clementi, with 3 breaks of 10 minutes each. The toughest part was at Holland Village, where I had to take a slightly different route due to the on-going construction works there. I still enjoyed the 10 minute bus ride home though I had to pay $3.50 just to cover the last quarter of the journey. It was very difficult to complete the last part of the journey without transport, as although I had passed that area many times over the years, I still do not find it safe to walk there, as it's an industrial site.

At 4.40am, I reached home. After waking up at 10am, I did some calculations, estimating that I covered a distance of at least 14 km from Raffles City to Clementi, taking my average speed to be 6 kmh and total time spent of walking as 2hours(excluding resting time).

Anyways, I just hope that this year would be a better year than last year, though this time round, it just felt as though the digit 8 in the calendar was simply replaced by the digit 9. Since the journey home, I had been thinking of some resolutions, though I have not come up with the list yet(don't worry it's not as long as you think it is).