i'm just me

I'm moving on!

2007-06-26T13:14:00.001+08:00

After using this blog for a good 2 years or so, I'm finally moving on. Perhaps this is a difficult change to make because I'm so used to Blogger already, but I'm willing to take up the challenge and I hope you who read my blog will follow me over to where I currently am at.

The new link is http://jotwein.livejournal.com and this blog won't be updated anymore, though it will still be up. You'll also notice that I don't have a tagboard because either Livejournal doesn't allow one, or I don't know how to put one up yet. So to those who linked me, please relink me! And to those who read, I hope you'll continue reading.

For the last time,
-joshie

Spare me the psycho-babble, wouldja?

2007-06-25T15:35:00.000+08:00

Jet lag's still getting on my nerves. Here's the story.

I went to bed at 12 last night hoping for sweet deliverance. It never came. At 2, I was still hopping awake and -get this- hungry. I left the comforts of my room to go outside for a snack when I found Mum sitting on the sofa in front of the TV. Hm, it seems I'm not the only one affected by this.

Radio was by far the dumbest of all the lessons today. Ask any 1.2 MCM-er and they'll tell you the same. No disrespect to Mr Lionel Wong, but I mean, if it's a computer programme we should probably explore it ourselves yeah? (We were being taught how to use ProTools by the way) But I don't know, maybe it's just me.

What's worse, Katie B. died almost half an hour from the end of the lesson. As if things couldn't get any worse...

To top it all off, I got a rather nasty email from my WritComm teacher Mr Sharpe. Shan't post any details here, but it didn't leave me with a very good feeling in the end. Details are on a want-to-know basis only. That'll give you an excuse to talk to me on MSN.

Gahh, I wish there were some medicine that'll instantly cure me of my jet lag. Come to think of it, there might be. I probably just don't know what it is or where to find it. I want to snap out of this daze. It's eating me alive!

Somebody save me.
-joshie

Wa-Hoo!

2007-06-24T23:18:00.000+08:00

In the town where I was born,
Lived a man who sailed to sea,
And he told us of his life,
In the land of submarines,

So we sailed up to the sun,
Till we found a sea of green,
And we lived beneath the waves,
In our yellow submarine,

We all live in a yellow submarine,
Yellow submarine, yellow submarine,
We all live in a yellow submarine,
Yellow submarine, yellow submarine.

Sad to say, I didn't go to church again today. Gah, I probably should've gotten off the bed first time my alarm rang. Ended up waking at 2pm. Jet lag's getting outta control. Down boy!

Spent a good bit of time wondering where to go for a lunch-dinner. Eventually decided to go to Din Tai Fung at Paragon because of some extra reasons (Oh fine, I wanted to go change my handphone plan. There, you happy now?!)

Lunch-dinner was good. You seriously don't get food like that in London. Come to think of it, we were really pretty satisfied with the Fish n' Chips shop around the corner.

I'm still without a camera because I lent it to some classmates for them to do their IAC video. Feel rather -well I wouldn't say empty- handicapped without it, though I'm getting it back tomorrow. Don't think there'll be much batt left in it though.

Anyway I'd better get off soon. Long day ahead of me tomorrow, and I'd better not wake up late. Hold on a minute, maybe I should go get tomorrow's lecture notes off MeL first. Yeah that's right. Let's do that.

To infinity and beyond!
-joshie

It's all in the plan man.

2007-06-23T20:06:00.000+08:00

Yesterday
All my troubles seemed so far away
Now it looks as though they're here to stay
Oh I believe in yesterday

Haha I love this song.

Last night went terribly. I wanted to sleep at 12 so I went to bed. As it turns out, I'm still jet lagged so at 2am I was still awake. Tossing, turning, tossing and turning.

After a while, I got sea-sick and couldn't take it anymore so I went outside to watch TV. Wasn't really a bad idea though, because Legend of Zorro was on and I got to talk to Han Lin who was studying math. Surprisingly, some of you weird, demented people were online. But I only talked to Han Lin.

Digression: I'm suddenly feeling really vulnerable about WritComm. Sigh.

I finally managed to sleep around 4 somewhere towards the end of Legend of Zorro. This time I fell asleep. Go figure.

Waking up this morning was such a tiresome struggle too. Not only were my alarms (yes, alarms) bugging the hell outta me, I couldn't bear to tear myself from the cheap yet comfy mattress that lies nicely on my bed frame (fine, maybe not so nicely). I finally did so though, around 10.25am (Not bad eh? That's 3.25am in London. TAKE THAT JET LAG!) Hm.. I might get over this jet lag sooner than I thought after all.

After slacking for more hours than I probably should've, I went out for lunch with Cabe just around 3 after watching this interesting Hong Kong movie. Can't recall the name of it, but it was about some gangster thing (as most Hong Kong movies are), which makes me wonder, are there really so many gangsters in Hong Kong? If so, maybe they should start recruiting members from Singapore. I hear being a gangster in Hong Kong's much more profitable (at least that's what the TV says though I'm not entirely sure myself). Plus, you probably get to carry a gun too. Now how wonderful is that? No more BB guns in the back pocket. No, now you get the real deal! But I digress. (This is meant as a joke. Laugh!) Just goes to show you that I've been watching too much TV.

Anyway, back to the story. While we were happily enjoying our food, I got a call from Keef. He said he was bored and in town and whatnot, and asked if we wanted to join him for a bit of pool. Seeing as I had nothing remotely more productive to do, we agreed.

Keef seemed a little more distressed than usual. It was because of some personal issues but I'm not authorized to divulge that piece of classified information. It's on a need-to-know basis only. Gosh, I'm beginning to feel like I'm in the military already. It must be Keef shaving his head that got to me. Damn it, I told myself I wouldn't crack. Ah well.

After meeting up with him at Park Lane, we hit up the pool place but were turned away because Cabe was under the minimum age of 16. Like hello? He's never been refused entry into anywhere before because of his age. And I've never seen any place turn down business like that before. They must have plenty of unsavoury people around there. Listen kiddies, never play pool at Park Lane. This is precisely why the other pool place at Park Lane turned into a pub (that's what Keef said anyway; it could've turned into a strip club for all I care :o am I not supposed to say that on the web?).

So we decided to head off to Cineleisure to play pool at my favourite spot. We should probably get membership or something. Or not.
Because of the rude refusal, we had to walk to Dhoby Ghaut MRT to take a train down. About 10 minutes of "it's gonna be okay" later, Keef still wasn't feeling very good because he had to take a pee. We finally did arrive at Cineleisure though, and he relieved himself much to his own delight.

The pool place way above on the 8th floor (inaccessible by escalators, mind you) was as crowded as ever (Well okay not ever. They're genuinely quite empty on weekdays). We even had to be put on a waiting list which really seemed unnecessary as we were gonna hang around the join until we got a table anyway. I even left my number. But I'm sure I would've smacked the guy if he called me to get me to "come back" seeing as I was probably 2m from the guy.

So the match up was as follows:

Me vs Keef (Me the winner)
Me vs Cabe (Cabe the winner)
Cabe vs Keef (Cabe the winner)
Me and Cabe vs Keef (Me and Cabe the winners)
Me vs Cabe vs Keef (Me the winner)

Somehow I feel I played better today compared to the time I played (and lost to) Han Lin. Maybe it was the fact that... hm... scratch that. I can't think of a reason.

We stopped by for an ice cream on the way back. Keef got it and he was eating it in the MRT station. He had missed his train so we were the ones waving as our train departed from the station. Still seemed rather upset though, poor guy. I remember at last sight, he was being targeted by one of the MRT staff for eating in the station and just as he was being approached, he put the last mouth of it in his mouth. Wiley one he is.

Upon reaching home, we found that there was nobody in. Concerned though not alarmed, I gave a ring to Mum to find out where they were. Turns out there was a family event tonight at my 2nd Uncle's house that I conveniently forgot (I really forgot by the way). They brought back food from the party though, which made for quite an appetizing mean partially because it was still warm.

Wow, this post turned out to be quite a bore. Sorry for the lack of graphic imagery. I couldn't find any pictures of severed limbs in my photo library.
-joshie

The consequences of waking up at 4 in the afternoon.

2007-06-22T18:07:00.000+08:00

No, this isn't some catchy title to some punk rock song. I really did wake up at 4pm. It's scary, I know. It shouldn't happen ever. ~~Not even~~ Especially if I had slept at 1.30am.

So let this be a lesson to all you kiddies out there. NEVER try to combat jet lag with work.

Me: But why? I obviously got a whole lot of work done in that 12 hours spent in school.
me: Well you're regretting it now aren't you?
Me: Well... yeah.

Reason number one: You start typing interior dialogues to yourself on your blog post which clearly isn't a good thing.

Well I also couldn't meet Jeremy because when I we were supposed to meet at 11.45 for whatever brief moment so he could pass me this DVD with our IAC project burnt onto it. For whatever sad, miserable reason, I woke up at 11.43. Go figure.

So I smsed Jeremy to tell him (which he reacted pretty badly to) and went back to sleep. Then I woke up a few hours later and started thinking about what a dead-weight I've been. Regret set in when I realised he didn't really need me in the group. And I'm pretty sure he could've done everything on his own (as if he hasn't already). Gah, what a crappy feeling.

Reason number two: You start feeling like crap (even though it's probably voluntary)

(By the way, I already apologised to Jere and he said it's okay. I just have to blog this)

Reason number three: You waste an entire day doing absolutely nothing (which I've done)

Ah crap, today sucked.
-joshie

[Edit]: I know what I've gotta do but why do I feel so lost?

A dream horribly dashed and broken.

2007-06-21T01:02:00.000+08:00

You know it's bad when it's 1am and you can't sleep (shh Charmaine). So here I am on the deep, thought-provoking labyrinth that we know to be the internet, hoping to inspire some wisdom into all you readers of my blog.

(Who am I kidding. I just want to wile the time away so I can bring myself to sleep and wake up to go to meet Jeremy in the library for IAC)

So here's the picture blog entry I promised. I hope it doesn't disappoint (and please keep it to yourself if it does).

I went to England somewhat eagerly hoping to see quite a few Lamborghinis. I was disappointed. Instead, I saw a host of other cars in the UK, seemingly more popular than the great Lambo created by a disgruntled Ferrari customer.

The Mini Cooper was most popular.

Then came the Audi TT. I like this car quite a bit actually. In fact, the British are quite into Audi's as well.

Saw a couple of Ferrari's too. Not the ones above of course. Those are too sexy to be on the road. YET.
Unfortunately, no Lamborghini's. Sore disappointment at that. The trip though, was quite good I must say. But I wonder if the sad disappointment above would ruin the mood of this post. It hasn't? Alrighty then, on we go.

I'd describe the UK in a few ways. Historical, cultural, old and full of churches, ruins, graves, scenery and flowers. Believe me it's not a place one would shop. For the first time, none of us felt like buying anything and everything we saw (we couldn't even if we wanted to anyway). The exchange rates get to everyone. It's really quite remarkable.

But there were many feelings I felt while on holiday in the great Empire.

I was aimed at,
on top of a wall,
piped at,
and boxed in, just to name a few.
But the greatest feeling of all was yet to come.
Boredom kicked in once we had seem one too many cathedral (believe me they all look the same) but it didn't come till the end, which was good.

One place which helped to kill the boredom momentarily was Madam Tussaud's. If you've been living under a rock and don't know what/where Madam Tussaud's is, then let me tell you. It's probably the biggest (if not the only) wax museum in the world.

Many celebrities and famous people get their full body portraits done in wax by Madam Tussaud's, and foolish tourists like us go in and make complete fools of ourselves by posing for pictures with them.

I have met with the Dalai Lama,
rubbed shoulders with Former China Premier Jiang Zemin,
and almost went over to Hitler's dark side.
I also caught scruvy from Jack Sparrow,
talked tactics with Jose Mourinho,
taught Jamie Oliver how to cook,
and even took time out to jam with the Beatles.

So I'd say this was a good holiday, wouldn't you?
-joshie

Back in London, all ye souls.

2007-06-17T02:25:00.000+08:00

Well this is really just a reply to all tags seeing as I'm too caught up with chatting to write a new entry. The time now is 7.31pm here in London but it's still bright as if it were 3pm in Singapore. I actually sweat for the first time today. It's much warmer in London than in other parts of the country. Closer to the equator? That's my only explanation for it. Anyway, on to replies to tags.

Char: Lol, how bout Shrekaye darling?

Mark: YAY good friend! 30 June's coming soon. I'll get Ling to give you something on my behalf. Hm.. Good time for a bit of shopping here in London. Just don't expect anything expensive.

Yam: We must pay homage to the Empire! Our great Over-Lords will be so pleased with our servitude that they'll reward us with a customary slap on the cheek! Oh joy.

Ling: Aww.. I miss you too kay! =D

Anyway, I'd better get back to my chatting. I think I'll be online again tomorrow, though probably in the wee hours of the morning so if you can stay up, please do!
Cheers!
-joshie

A great big YO-HO to you!

2007-06-16T03:38:00.000+08:00

I'm sustaining on a £5.99 an hour internet connection so this probably won't be as long as I'd like. The time now is 3:39am, Saturday in Singapore but it's 8:41pm Friday in Bristol (where I am).

I came online today only to be bombarded with a string of 20 emails in my hotmail account and several more in my NP mail account. This is pretty alright so far I reckon.

It's rather difficult to say with words what I've seen and experienced here in the fair country of Britain. As such, I'm going to try to do with it photos, and then reply your tags at the bottom.

Here I thought I was going to 2 countries, but I really went to 3.

England

Scotland

and Wales (sorry, no pic. haha)
It's been a really good trip so far. Pretty much all we've seen though, is church after church after church (yeah it seems they're really big on churches).

Westminster Abbey

Jedbrugh Abbey

Melrose Abbey
There hasn't been a whole lot of shopping either because everything's really expensive here. Like I said, everything's times 3 for the GBP and I can't really bear to part with my money. The £60 Mum gave me didn't help either because I decided to give it back and collect my $200 in Sing Dollars instead. Anyway, I think I'm pretty much running outta time and I don't feel like blogging anymore.

One last photo for all of you,
Interesting place. This blacksmith shop's found in Gretna Green, Scotland. Haha, Charmaine might wanna take note here :p They've got an old tradition eh?

Oh yeah before I forget, replies to tags!

Cedric: I miss you too babe! LOL

Cheryl: I checked! I'm going for debates! =D

San: London's great! But I'm not in London now. Haha.

Ling: Boo!

Rizzy: Soon! =D

Char: Lol, I'm still looking for Harry Potter for you! Haven't found him yet. Heh.

Yam: It's okay! Haha glad you haven't missed me much.

Grace: I'm having a great time! Lol. Hope it finishes on a great note and I'm a Chinese boy in a Western country so naturally everyone's staring. Lol.

Heh, to all of you back in Singapore, don't worry, I'll be back soon! And I miss you all. Gah, wish I brought my phone.
-joshie

Greetings from the UK!

2007-06-10T23:57:00.000+08:00

Hello hello! It does feel rather strange to be blogging from a foreign land but it seems like the only way to keep in contact with all people back home so I've gotta give it a shot.

I've only been here for about 12 hours and I'm already pooped. Perhaps it's the time difference. Like right now, it's 12am in Singapore but it's 5pm here in London.

Tomorrow I'll be leaving this hotel to start my tour of London and Edinburgh. It should be pretty good but I won't be able to get a connection till I get back to London. I'm hoping to be able to get a wireless connection soon so I can upload the Informative Essay outline to MeL.

Anyway, I'm doing more chatting than blogging so I'd better stop here. Just letting you all know that I'm safe and pretty jet-lagged. Other than that, no harm done.

=D
-joshie

Replies to tags.

2007-06-09T12:58:00.000+08:00

These are just replies to the recent few tags.

Joel: Haha thanks!

Nicolette: Thanks! Ahhhhh... the exchange rate is killing me.

James: Lol I'll be online if there's a wireless connection. But it'll probably be at 4am or something like that. Might be super jet-lagged too.

San: Nope! Wireless is free what. It should be a free service. Anyway I won't use the wired one. Maybe you can come online at 4 and we'll talk.

Anyway my blog will still be open though I won't blog as often. Probably will if I can get an internet connection. I'm sure you all won't miss me that much.

[Edit]
Time now is 3.45pm and it still doesn't feel like I'm going away. Gosh. Okay I need to go pack. Interesting holiday it shall be. Hope you (and I) won't be disappointed.

-joshie

Reporting live, once again, from the Atrium.

2007-06-08T11:09:00.001+08:00

[Edit]
I just noticed that this is the 400th post on my blog. A far cry from Chelmin's 700 and Adriel's more-than-666, but I'm quite happy at this landmark. Heh.

Well seeing as I'm leaving tomorrow night, I think it'd be best that this remains as my supposed last post for now. I may be (but only maybe) posting while in the UK but I am really not sure if I should. At the moment, I'm simply trying to finish up all my work before we leave so that I can have a nice, relaxing holiday away from all the pains and restraints of work. (Dream on Josh)

Sadly enough, today's is a pursuit of all things finished i.e. I'm trying to finish everything by today. Perhaps though, it isn't as realistic as I'd like. Maybe I should change my goal to tomorrow afternoon. Yeah, that sounds about right.

Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures for you today. Haven't been using my camera a lot lately, though I suppose it's because there isn't much reason to. But know this: there will be many many photos when I get back. That's a promise, a guarantee and you can probably take it to the bank too.

So as I sit here enjoying my lovely toasted bacon cheese sandwich, I suppose there really isn't much to say. Hopefully my trip will go well (if it doesn't it's gonna be so wasted) and I come back more refreshed and ready to do work. Oh damn, there's a huge Socpsy test coming up. Gahh I've been doing badly in Socpsy. Things are just getting better and better...

And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life
-joshie

Addicted to Starbucks and Peach Tea.

2007-06-06T18:57:00.000+08:00

Wow, posting twice in a day. This is a first for the month. I suppose 2 rather short posts should more or less add up to a long post.

I think I have no life. Do you all agree? I mean I'm in school everyday and even though there was no class today, I still went to school. I think I have no life. The sad thing is, I didn't use to be this way. Poly changes a person. Gahh.

Anyway, I went to school to meet Jere for IAC project. It was kinda fun, though we spent a bit of time securing a room because we hadn't booked one and the library was pretty packed. We got evicted from the room we were occupying once today. Unlucky stuff.

Did some filming, a bit of recording, blah blah blah, so it's all progressing perfectly. We should be able to finish a good week or 2 before the whole thing's actually due. Like Jere said, we're work machines. Gah I'm turning into a robot. Somebody save me.

Went to meet Becks to buy cables after that. I officially hate Funan now. I've been there 5 times in the past 5 days. I hate Funan. I hope I don't have to go there again for the next 2 or 3 weeks. I hate Funan.

So we did buy the cables in the end which is good. Now I just need everyone to pay me and I'll be happy. Oh well, there's tomorrow for that. Gosh. SocPsy test tomorrow. Maybe I should go revise one more time. Or not.

We're the therapists pumping through your speakers,
Delivering just what you need.
-joshie

This is a Public Service Announcement: I've changed my blog layout!

2007-06-06T11:05:00.000+08:00

Hurray! My layout! At last it's more personalised. I've been putting it off for so long (and for good reason too) but I've finally found some motivation to get this blog looking spiffy (haha Joyce) again!

Well now, let's see what's on my agenda for today.

I'm meeting Jere in school at 1 to do IAC (we're efficient people according to Jere) and at 4, I'm meeting Becks to go to Funan to buy cables for all you lovely T107 Thursday Radio class people who ordered from me.

Oh and on a side note, Ms Cordelia returned my email. I won't be participating in the debate, but am feeling much better now that things are sorting out by themselves. Thank God!

By the way, here's an interesting joke that I heard.

Q: Have you heard the one about the constipated accountant?
A: He couldn't budge-it

YOW-ROO!

When they see us coming, the birdies all try an' hide,
But they still go for peanuts when coated with cyanide.
-joshie

Meaningless idle in the land of 70ft tall Chihuahuas.

2007-06-05T11:22:00.000+08:00

Don't ask me how I came up with that title 'cos I honestly have no clue. Am currently waiting for Mel at the Atrium so we can study together in the hallowed library: the place of infinite knowledge for all us NP-ers (or "ies" if you'd like) Perhaps the fact that I'm writing an entry can give you a clue as to how -well I wouldn't say bored- alone I am.

Given my perfectionist and neat-ist (if there's even such a thing) tendencies, I have, in a span of about 16 hours, organized, album art-ed and sexified my entire iTunes library. Yay go me! And for all those of you who would at this point call me bo liao, well you all can just go fly kite because I'm immensely satisfied with the level of professionalism and determination with which this seemingly mundane task was completed. SO THERE!

I see many people rushing around, going to the library to study for exams. Well I feel very fortunate to be in MCM 1.2 because WE HAVE NO EXAMS! Whee. Unfortunately though, I do have 2 upcoming tests this week, and plenty of assignments. Which reminds me, I have to email Ms Cordelia later. Hope I don't forget.

This London trip (as fun and relaxing as it may be) is turning out to be a rather untimely break in my academic calender. Sometimes I think it might actually be better if we weren't going on the trip (of course I don't mean that) because it'll cause me to miss many many things. Things that could potentially affect that which I've been so painstakingly trying to keep up for the first time in my rather short 16 and a half years: my studies.

Here's vaguely a list of what I'll be missing while on holiday in the great United Kingdom:

1) Debates training
Ms Cordelia has enlisted a bunch of us (me included) to participate in an inter-school debate (between the many schools in NP). Unfortunately, I'll be away for all the training dates and the compulsory meeting date which means I'll either be really really handicapped or I'll be completely unable to take part at all. Essentially this is the reason I'm emailing her later.

2) WritComm Assignment Consultation
Though the schedule for this isn't out yet, I'm pretty sure (though praying hard that it won't clash) that I'll be overseas on my scheduled date. Can't really be bothered much about this as Mr Wong said it's easily postponed, but I still am going to feel bad about not doing any work this holiday (WHAT'S HAPPENING TO ME!)

3) 3 Paragraphs Deadline
It's on the 11th. I'll be away then so I'll have to submit my assignment BEFORE I leave which means... more work this week!

Man, never again will I leave the country during a 2 week break. It's waaaay too risky. Anyway, I have a feeling I will be bringing my laptop on this trip after all. It seems I'm far too attached to it to leave it behind (on top of the fact that every single assignment and announcement will be up on the internet)

I hope I don't get screwed after coming back from this holiday. A lesson well learned (the hard way). Damn it.
-joshie
P.S. Mel's still not here. Gahh I think I shall go surf ebay.com.sg to kill time. Toodles!

The great Papaya in the sky.

2007-06-04T11:10:00.000+08:00

Oh man I'm sleepy now.
But I can't sleep.
Damn don't-sleep-in-class mentality.

Patrick Wong's talking about germs. Whoop-dee-doo! Well perhaps I feel a little sleepy and my eyes hurt now. Perhaps I think Patrick Wong rocks but what he teaches sucks.

Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps.

Alright enough of that.
I finally got my toy of choice (the iPod Video) yesterday. Upon receiving this rather exciting bit of information, Ling called me a rich kid (again), both Yam and Melly called me a lucky bugger and Han Lin, well he wasn't at all surprised.

As many of you would know, I get really jumpy about new toys and I'm generally open to new technology. Well what d'you expect! It was the same way with the new Poddy (YAY!) But I had to be all cool about it because my bro didn't get anything (except a 4Gb memory stick and also because he didn't want an iPod Video but kept calling me a "bitch" for getting one). I could tell though that he was really excited and so I left it out on the table. Pap though, thinks we're way too spendthrift and for the first time in 4 months, probed me on how much my Crumpler cost. But he was probing a brick wall so I didn't flinch. Not at all.

Anyway, I was quite disappointed that the Apple Shop didn't have the black iPod vid (yes, I got it in white). Hey, it was on sale okay. 20% off! So really, I (but I really mean my mum) paid $342.40. Awesome isn't it. Down from $428! Too bad yesterday's the last day of promotion. Let's all say HURRAY for immediate action!

Well I shall leave it at there for now. Am kinda fixed on watching Shannon play Pac Man in the seat diagonally in front to my left. But remember, the great Papaya in the sky is yummy and juicy. Whee. Oh wait hold on, let me find a nice bit of lyrics to plop here.

Let's conspire to ignite
All the souls that would die just to feel alive
-joshie

Simply because I had no time to post yesterday.

2007-06-01T17:23:00.000+08:00

I'm posting a 2-in-1 post today (insert above title here)

Don't blame me. That's just the way it is.

Hm, so yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away. Well it was a good day by my standards. Due to some rigourous partying and some late night Russell Peters watching, I woke up a tad bit off 12. A special occasion it was indeed, because it was MY MUM'S BIRTHDAY! *HURRAY!*

We decided to have a full-fledged lunch because of the luminous situation we then found ourselves in. Unfortunately, the area around Suntec/Marina Square/Millenia Walk was so jam packed with people in cars and well, people in general that there was simply no way we could get a parking spot to get a whiff of the wonders that lay within the confines of the Marina Mandarin Hotel. Pap being the rather-finicky-about-being-around-too-many-people type, decided we were better off looking for other means of replenishment.

And so we ended up at the Holiday Inn. Curious how that happened, though no regrets whatsoever.

Sugar and butter on a plate. One of the more random photos I took, along with these next few beauties.

1) Bro and I. 2) Ha! Take that you teabag!
3) Now THAT'S fine dining! 4) All smiles!

After lunch, Cabe and I slipped off to go to Cineleisure to play pool. Now I didn't know that the pool tables were so expensive on Saturdays, Sundays and Public Holidays so we went ahead anyway and played for a good 1 and a half hours before leaving. I quite enjoy the pool place at Cine so it was a good bargain as far as I'm concerned. Not only is the place not as cramped as that Marina Square place, the tables and cues are in good condition. And since I couldn't get the pool pics from Jere from the last pool session, I decided to take a few of my own.

Well I think the pictures speak for themselves. Heh. Notice the beige-y colour of the playing surface. It's simply magical and oh-so-smooth to the touch! Splendid.

After spending a whopping $18 on pool and losing 3-2 to Cabe in pool, we went to Citylink Mall to get a birthday present for Mummy dearest. After a short amount of browsing time (we only went into one shop), we settled for a pink bear that says "Love to Mom" on it and a card with a butterfly cartoon-y pic on it. Splendid. Bought a rose for her too. She was real touched. Doubly splendid!

At 8, Mum and I went to watch Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. The review will be up shortly, and maybe even on another blog because I've been contemplating doing a blog on my so-called serious writing. Do read that one too if it comes up! Come to think of it, I think I shall put it up. Perhaps a Livejournal or a Wordpress.

Ah, so we finally move on to today. [Take a breather here, feel free to go get a glass of water or something before we continue. I'm in no rush really]

I woke up pretty on time today. To be honest, the alarm clock that Mum gave me is really useless. It rang before my handphone did but still failed to wake me up. It's still good to have it there though.

Surprisingly, I managed to get a lift from Pap today all the way to school. He dropped Cabe at Barker too. Along Dunearn Road, Pap accidentally knocked down this pigeon that was flying around. As it was landing in Pap's car's direction, I think it was pretty much a goner. Reminded me slightly of that video I happened to see of the suicide at one of the Singaporean MRT stations. Gory stuff. We even heard a knock from the bottom of the chassis. In other words, GOOD GAME! Pap felt really bad about it though. I, as usual, felt no more than sorry for the bird-brained bird (well what can you expect really).

Arrived in school just in time for Speech Comm. Impromptu speeches were the highlight of today's tutorial, and I really can't be more pleased that they're over. Honestly, a speech that I can't prepare for? Now that's just scary. But I think I did okay. My speech seemed really unsure and unprepared though. Sigh, hopefully at least a B+ this time. At least? Come on!

Seeing how Speech Comm ended an hour early, we decided to go to KAP for lunch albeit w/o Jiande that pangseh kia. Writhing from all the graphic imagery in Fast Food Nation, we all refrained from eating the beef burgers and decided to keep to a clean, shit-free meal of fish and chicken (you must watch the movie to understand). Along the way, there was a lot of laughter and poking, slapping and pinching, and we've established that Cheryl Choy is an innocent girl (don't worry Cheryl, that's not always a bad thing! :D)

WritComm, as usual, was nothing worth mentioning. But now, it's time for some pictures. (Everyone say YAY!)

1) And that's how you poke Becks! 2) Shrek and Fiona: After Marriage
3) Ronald rubbed me the wrong way. 4) Just being his old Shrek-y self!

And that, ladies and gents, concludes my excruciatingly long post.

Byebye!
-joshie

By the way, those who still wanna do the survey, the link in my previous post is now defunct. The new links are as follows:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=AGjBEjKxTkto1%2f36x9Ve3g%3d%3d

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=ob8tqd8uI2qfyenyGqnL6w%3d%3d

Do help!

2007-05-30T22:45:00.000+08:00

Here's a survey that I need done for my IAC project so all of you, do help! Thanks!

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=0Sin9jibi7%2fMnRIgrvS5IQ%3d%3d

Looking for a new face.

2007-05-29T15:11:00.000+08:00

My blog is getting boring because I keep using other people's skins but yes, I'm looking for another blind stab in the dark at plagiarism. Perhaps though (as always), I will personalize the layout to make it my own. Frankly I'm sick of black and white. How's about a little grey now..

So this is a shout out to anyone who can make/find* me a nice layout. There are no rewards though (except maybe coming to my blog and finding a way nice layout that YOU recommended/made* to/for* me and feeling warm and toasty inside) because after all, what are friends for?

Hopefully, all of you will see a different layout soon (fingers crossed)
-joshie
*delete where applicable

An evening with friends indeed.

2007-05-29T00:33:00.000+08:00

Another Monday, another theme. Today's theme was supposedly smart casual/formal (according to Cara on the class blog). It did seem a tad bit messy though, with different people dressing to a different style. So basically those who wanted smart casual dressed smart casual, and the formal dressed formal.

Hence, the mixed scene we see below.

Still, it was an interesting day. Didn't take a whole lot of pics during lunch though. Frankly because we were all feeling rather bored and moody from Pat Wong's lecture on APA Citations. I too was a little bored, but I guess it's a topic that they have to cover if not they can't shirk responsibility. But I reckon it's pretty easy to understand so no problems there.

Radio class after that was pretty shocking because Felix announced that 90% of us failed the Radio Production Script & Cue Sheet assignment. It was such a huge blow to me that I started convulsing uncontrollably and my friends had to strap me down with long strips of beef jerky. But seriously, I was quite upset to hear that. I hope I didn't fail. No! I can't afford to have a black mark on my record. Damn perfectionist tendencies.

After all classes ceased to operate, I went to the library (again) with a bunch of lovely people to slack out. Bought my first ever cup of bubble tea from Each-A-Cup too (which I'm particularly proud of for some strange unnamed reason). Amidst some strange compelling feelings to arm wrestle and numerous attempts to complete a certain commercial script, we took some photos that pretty much showed us up for the normal, fun-loving people we are (well Mel and I anyway).

Ha! Take that all you people who think I'm crazy (though you're probably right).

So after that picture perfect moment, we realised the time and after dilly-dallying a little, we rushed all the way down to Esplanade Theatres on the Bay for "An Evening With Friends" by the ACJC Choir.

The concert was really great, though I didn't enjoy all songs, especially that one written by local composer Kelly Tang (he's a guy by the way). But overall, I thought it was a great performance by the choir and they didn't deserve the Gold award for SYF that they got. They should've gotten Gold with Honours! (Hope's so gonna start jumping when she sees this) All in all, it was good to see all my old ACJC compadre's once again.

Here's a pic that I took there. (Guess what! I'm not in it)

It's Ling and Mark! Lookie, all smiles! SAY CHEESE!

After the concert, a bunch of us went to Makansutra to have dinner/supper. The char kway teow there is tres bon man. Mr Yam, we ought to go there together one day. You'll be so happy *Choir starts singing*

On the way back at Citylink Mall, we happened to come across something we thought was rather amusing. Here's a before and after photo.

Wow man, people sure do love peeling stuff off walls. coffee & toast -> ee toast. Brilliant, simply brilliant.
-joshie

Like a City of Angels, I'm walking towards the light.

2007-05-27T11:24:00.000+08:00

I bleed it out
Digging deeper just to throw it away

Yesterday I saw the most amusing thing and my trusty camera was around to capture the deciding moment. Here's a pic, and you be the judge.

Care for some TERRIYAKI?
Comedic genius that one. Anyway seeing as how I didn't go to church today, I'm going to narrate my entire day for you. From the very first stir to the very last pin-drop, this is about that fateful day, 26 May 2007. Oh may it be distant in my memory..

It started off well enough I'd imagine. I met Mel at City Hall at 1.45pm to do some work (HAHAHAHAH what a joke! HEY! Shut up you! We actually did work okay!) And this, ladies and gentlemen, is called intrapersonal communication. But I digress.

After grabbing some Starbucks (YAY!) and getting a seat, I really didn't know what work to do because:

(a) I had no materials to do my Radio Commercial Script
(b) I had no idea what to do for my 3 paragraphs
(c) I was just feeling hell-a lazy

But eventually, I just figured the most appropriate thing to do would be to study for my Grammar Test. So I did. After embarking on the great book-writing project that is "The Whole She-bang of Grammar", things started to go really smoothly. I even understood what I was typing (which is always a plus point in my books.) HAHA get it? In my BOOKS. 'Cos I imagined myself writing a book? Haha? Ha? Never mind.

Mel was writing the outline for her 3 paragraphs and silently tearing at the methods people use to acquire real/authentic/off-the-poor-dead-animal fur. I d'know, I wasn't all that affected by it. But I guess I'm not that much of an animal lover (though I'd kick someone's ass for burning a cat with hot water)

Sherwin joined us a little later which pretty much marked the end of our work session because we were headed off to go play pool. Decided, inevitably, to go (once again) to Marina Square to 'shoot some stick'. Why we keep going back there I'll never know because the place is cramped, the table prices are remarkably exorbitant ($9.60 an hour) and well, the tables, pool cues and balls aren't all that spectacularly maintained. Not to mention the fact that the counter staff ain't half as friendly as Mother Teresa.

The pool game was fun, but somewhere towards the end Sherwin and I started bugging Mel which meant that she was more than a little upset at the end. Ah, my playful, inconsiderate side gets the better of me sometimes. (Down boy!)

I took the train down to Lavender to meet Cabe and go home. On the way, I got my ass whupped by Mum who was waiting for me to reach home so we could go for dinner. It was already 8+ by then, which meant she was already excessively hungry and really pissed off. So she said that I should eat before going home, and then hung up.

So I did meet up with Cabe, and then we went home. Ate the beautiful Western food from across the street (still the best I've found in a while since the Western stall at the food court at Shaw Plaza that sadly, closed down a few years back).

While we were eating, this group of 6 or 7 big fat British people arrived and sat at 2 tables to my left (Cabe's right). They were loud, obnoxious and it seemed to me that they were making fun of the standard of "Western food" we have on our tiny independent (HA TAKE THAT BRITISH) island state. Needless to say, I was a little bit peeved when we finally did leave. Perhaps I shouldn't have been since we always make fun of the state of Chinese food in Western countries. Still, HA TAKE THAT BRITISH!

That's about it for yesterday. I just finished my Radio Commercial Script this morning (GO ME!) and I will be heading over to Jere's place later to discuss our IAC project. Oh boy, more work. It's never gonna end! Just wait till holidays come and I go to London and Edinburgh. Boo-yah! Scenery camwhoring time!

-joshie

This empty feeling.

2007-05-26T21:07:00.000+08:00

I feel like such a cad it doesn't even make any sense. So, this is public apology to Ng Yin Ling and Melissa Ng for being such an ass yesterday and today respectively. I'm truly sorry.

You are the masking tape to my FedEx box.

2007-05-25T19:45:00.001+08:00

I think Cedric and I can write a book full of lame love lines. Here's one I came up with earlier:
"You are the element Helium to my rubber balloon."
You can just smell the cheese can't you. Yes, feel it surround you like air in the atmosphere. It's there. Don't deny its presence.

Anyway as promised, here's the picture of the headline in the Business Times today titled "Monkeys are a lot more elitist". Enjoy.

Well you truly haven't seen a good example of journalistic genius till you've read this article by Jamie Ee I believe. I especially liked the last paragraph. I still don't fully understand what an article like this was doing in the Business Times, but it sure caught my attention. Don't even ask why I was browsing the Business Times.

I do believe today is the first time I've taken a cab to school. Not only that, it gloriously robbed me of $10.90 and denied me my first concession-filled bus ride. What made it worse was that I had to direct the driver in order to get to NP. Oh joy. Just picture this: you get into a cab at 8.45am, visibly flustered and in a hurry, in order to get to a class that begins at 9 and this taxi uncle asks you to teach him how to go the way you want to, because he's a new driver.

Initially it irritated the hell outta me, but I got there in one piece so it's all good. Noted though, he almost ran over a student near Canteen 1.

Miraculously, I wasn't late for class. In fact, the entire class was still sitting outside the room waiting for Ms Cordelia when I arrived (at about 9:08am, phew) She came a couple of minutes after I arrived and we all entered the deep, dark domain that is room 03-01 largely unscathed (except for the fact that the taxi driver forcefully cut out $10.90 from my flesh with a blunt, rusty swiss army knife)

We started class with some phonetics quiz thing which really wasn't so bad. After that came the speeches.
I thought everyone did quite well. There was no timing done so I really don't know how long I took to get it over with, but I thought mine went quite well too. Dramatic as a horse after it's been prod with a hot poker I always am, so it seemed I got quite a response from my audience with my key line "All of you can be late but I CAN'T BE LATE". What d'you reckon?

We had a break before we embarked on a much deeper level: exploring the inner depths of your soul and childhood.
Ms Cordelia had us close our eyes and think about some things throughout our short lives which really got me in tune with my inner Joshie. We then had to put some stuff on paper and share it with the rest of the class. Now, details of that session shall not be divulged for fear of intense punishments at the hands of T107 for deliberately blurting out certain things. So my lips are sealed. Full stop.

Writcomm after lunch really isn't much to mention because it was all work and stuff, and not much play. Writcomm always is rather serious. Maybe because it's the last lesson after a string of classes stretching from Moody Monday to Flatulent Friday.

Printed the Contemp Issues essay at the library and then hung out with a cool bunch of people. It was at this time that I picked up a rather amused looking copy of the Business Times and flipped to the back, discovering (no, not its backside) the article on monkeys being elitist. Stayed on chatting and listening to music until 6 when I left finally on my merry way home.

Wow that was a long post wasn't it. Reckon I don't need to post for a while. My deepest, humblest apologies. I'm just feeling really high tonight so if some of the adjectives and descriptions in the post don't make sense to you, WELL TOO BAD!
-joshie

Many spanks, many spanks.

2007-05-25T17:14:00.000+08:00

This is the month of May-ing
The merry lads are playing

An upward struggle is being fought in the form of plucking rambutan hairs.

Okay, maybe not. Well today I saw the best headline in the Business Times (don't ask) It reads: "Monkeys are more elitist". I took a photo but I'm in school now so shall post it up a little later.

Today was filled with cream peas and blue fluffy popcorn.

Yuxian says HELLO!!

Okay this is so not like my usual writing style but it's okay. Perhaps I'll still post later. Finally today's over. Will post in detail a little later.
-joshie

Thank God it's over.

2007-05-24T21:54:00.000+08:00

Finally the day of reckoning has come and gone, and I frankly couldn't be happier. I know lots of people were stressed this week (as was I) so I'm glad that the week of disaster's finally coming to a well-deserved end.

But before we get to that, let's start with today. Thursday, 24th May 2007.

The day started off interestingly with me getting up around 8 to do some research before hopping down to school to finish up the until-this-morning incomplete SocPsy project (haha, iTeleport)

Ran into Ced and Joyce at Cheers! It seems everyone was doing last minute work. They even stayed up till 4 just to complete the videos. Mel looked like a panda today. Unfortunately, no pic.

We hung out at the library near the cafe for a while before I went up into the room that I booked yesterday. Just a word of advice: if you wanna book a room at NP's library, do it the day before you need it. If you wanna book on the day itself, you won't be able to. At all.

So we managed to get the room, and rehearsed our presentation. It all went well, but I was still nervous. And eventually the big moment came...

I'd say the presentation went fairly well and all my group members presented well. Generally well rehearsed and executed so we should get an above-average grade. YAY! Finally it's over! Phew, no more stressing, no more rushing videos, no more rushing presentation. For now anyway.

After lunch, I helped Mel carry her bag and lappie to class and did my whole X-man with the straps across the chest and everything. Sherwin dared me to jump into radio class saying 'I AM CYCLOPS. CYCLOPS LOVES RP' so I did. Felix seemed a little confused as to what was happening, but I did and Sherwin gave me 3 bucks for drinks. The things I do for petty cash.. Next time if you want me to do stupid stuff, bribe me. Gosh.

Radio class was real fun because we were doing cutting and splicing of open reels. Basically first thing we had to do was record this sequence of audio recordings onto this open reel, leaving silences in between each recording. We did 4 recordings.

After that, we were taught how to cut the reels in order to eliminate the silences. It was real fun cutting and stuff, and real easy too. This despite the fact that we probably aren't ever gonna use the machines, but that's beside the point. After all that, Felix told us to erase the recordings by de-magnetising the reels. Fair enough, did that.

The last portion of class was rather traumatising. Basically, release of Radio Reports. When Felix said that he was giving them out, I got a little worried and stressed. It seems all in vain though, cos I got an A, but yeah. But it's my first A! Whee. I reckon though I shouldn't rest on my laurels if not it's gonna be my last A. Couldn't really be that happy though, what with my friends around me getting Cs and Ds. I suppose I'm really better at writing. Journalism isn't a bad career then.

Oh, I finally got my concession pass for my EZ-Link card today. Finally! Oh and before I end, I'm just gonna show you a picture.

Now that's destruction.
-joshie
P.S. Happy Birthday Felicia Chua!

Mad encounter at the library.

2007-05-23T19:20:00.000+08:00

Today while doing SocPsy project, we ran into some trouble. Allow me to illustrate.

We were doing our project and some of them were eating. We had a feeling some dude walked past and saw us eating and probably told the wrong people and we got in trouble. This dude came and pretty much confiscated all our food (which I personally thought was a stupid thing to do) and told us to collect our food afterward.

Finally though, the guy left and we attempted to continue doing our work.

Somehow, this mean looking man-ish lady came to bother us after that. She spent roughly 20 minutes speaking to us in broken English about why we couldn't eat or drink the library. It was just really a whole bunch of psycho babble we all had a good laugh after that.

Talk about passion for your work.
-joshie

There and back again.

2007-05-21T22:06:00.000+08:00

I don't understand why every time I meet Lee to go to school together, I always wake up late. Once again, got a call from our dear Mr Lee at 7.50am asking me where I was. Stupidly, I was still in bed and hence rushed the whole way down from home to meet him. We weren't late though, and thankfully he was gracious enough to forgive me (yet again).

Our 2nd class theme day was today. Emo day. Now as many of you probably know, I can't dress emo. I'm terrible at it. Still, gave it a shot and here are the results (this means pictures)

The Hanky Boys featuring Stanley

Ouch, just realised how many photos we took. Never mind! This is probably the more interesting few. Heh.

Anyway, after school went down to AC for a visit (yeah again) Han Lin wasn't there b'cos of nationals but I ran into quite a few other friends including Kian Yong, Bernard, Bryan Choong and the like. Quite a few photos as well. The power of photography!

Great fun at AC! Left around 7+

What Grace said is true. The atmosphere in AC's changed and I guess I really don't feel that welcome anymore (probably because I'm not a student there) but it's still nice to catch up with old buddies.

-joshie
P.S. This post was started on Monday but finished on Wed. Damn, I'm real short for time aren't I?

In WritComm

2007-05-21T11:21:00.000+08:00

Laptop's dying, Justin's oogling at this Perth girl.

Enough said.
-joshie

2nd test

2007-05-21T00:13:00.001+08:00

Create your own Friend Test here

"How well do you know me" test

2007-05-19T23:48:00.000+08:00

Create your own Friend Test here

Destress by pushing a guy down the stairs.

2007-05-19T08:43:00.000+08:00

My title is not a lie. It's a huge stress relief! See... James sent me this game last night while we were at KFC and it was such a huge relief. I think I really needed that. Play during lecture! Hm.. note to self: find more Mac games. Ooh I saw Jarrel playing Pokemon too.

Oh so okay, more about yesterday. Well, we didn't have Speech Comm so class only started at 1 (I love this week!) Saw Joyce, ShiJia and Sherwin as I walked into school, and then met Rebecca and Andra. Rebecca was hungry (as was I) so we went to the Campus Deli to grab a sandwich. It was SOOO crowded there so we grabbed a cold one and just left before we got trapped in that huge mess of bodies.

Class was alright. Some outrage of modesty here, a little laugh there, typical class if you ask me, but if some of my other classmates wanna make a huge hilarious fuss of it, shan't stop them.

After class, hung out at the Atrium with Mel and Sherwin. Had lunch too. Black Pepper sauce is hot. Ke-stang~!
After a while, we relocated to the bench area outside Cheers! (that's the name on the sign okay. with the "!") Met some new people, this Bryan dude and this other girl from Mel's IS class.

I left at 6 to go meet James and Jarrel at Canteen 1. At around 6.15, we went over to Blk 52 Level 9's Preview Theatre for this Sg New Wave meeting. Movie screening! We watched 'Exiled' starring Hong Kong actors Anthony Wong and Francis Ng.

[Movie Review Time]
The movie started off with a knock on the door. Francis Ng (Tai) and Anthony Wong (Blaze) are both triad members in this film. Their friend Wo (played by Nick Cheung) returns to Macau after fleeing for offending the triad boss, Boss Fay (Simon Yam).

The movie is full of action and completely unbelievable gun fight scenes. The part that most bewildered me was the fact that whenever a bullet hit someone, there would be a mist of blood that spewed out from the wound. I mean, wow, their blood can vapourize! They must be some aerosol can or something.

Other than that, the movie was really good. It showed the close brotherhood between 5 childhood friends (Blaze, Tai, Wo, Fat and Cat), and the way they stuck together in such adversity. During the door scene, it is revealed that Anthony Wong's character Blaze was sent to kill Wo for what he did to Boss Fay. And after another gun fight in a restaurant all of them, they become fugitives hiding from the extensive reach of Boss Fay. Boss Fay gets shot in the balls during the gun fight, and really screams in pain (OUCH!)

Wo gets shot twice too, and the other 4 rush him to an underground clinic for treatment. The doctor is seen as a horny bastard who was having sex with this prostitute when the 5 men came knocking. A deal is made and the doc starts work on Wo. Half way through though, who should turn up but Boss Fay to get treatment for his wounded genitals.

A lot of screaming and another gun fight later, Wo is thrown out the window as the other 4 watch on, helpless. Wo is killed by Boss Fay who discharges bullet after bullet into him after he hit the ground (credit short Macau buildings for this) The 4 manage to claim Wo's body and take him home to his wife and son. Visibly distraught, Mrs Wo (her name not stated lah!) fires rounds at Tai and Blaze (though amazingly none of them got hit) which causes the 4 to flee in their commandeered red Saab.

Now being on the run, they flip coins to decide which way to go, and eventually end up at Buddha Mountain where they found out earlier, contains 1 ton of pure gold. They decide not to steal it (because the coin said so) and move on, but find later the convoy of trucks being ambushed.

Sergeant Chen (Richie Ren) who's in charge of the gold convoy shows off his superior marksman skills and kills many enemies while the rest of his men are falling around him like in a moving target game at a carnival. The 4 men decide to help him kill off the baddies (oh the irony) and eventually make a deal with him to split the gold 5 ways.

They got a boat at some place that I can't remember the name of, and load the gold into the boat. Along the way, Blaze gets a call from Boss Fay who has Mrs Wo in his possession. They go to this hotel that they were at earlier for one final face off, leaving Sergeant Chen at the dock (he said he'd wait till day break before setting off)

They bring a whole lot of gold to appease Boss Fay, who lets all of them go except Blaze (talk about holding a grudge) After giving Mrs Wo the keys to the Saab, telling her to go to the dock to find Sergeant Chen and pushing her out the door, another gun fight erupts which is really accentuated by a Red Bull can that is thrown up into the air. Bullets fly and blood mists appear again (which really was very confusing because you don't really know who the blood came from) and remarkably, everyone is down on the floor even before the Red Bull can hits the ground (talk about cinematic effect)

So yeah, everyone died in this one. Wonderful isn't it? It's a really thrilling and exciting movie so if you have the chance, please do catch it! I give Exiled 4.5 out of 5 stars.
[End of Movie Review]

Went to have dinner at KFC after that. Jarrel was meeting his friends too whose names I can't really remember (except that ACJC guy Jay) It wasn't bad. Laughed a whole lot while playing the sadist game of the year. Even took a video of one particular fall I did which got me and James laughing like deranged hyenas. Quite a good day if you ask me. Heh.

Now to go find more Mac games!
-joshie
P.S. A Happy Happy Birthday to Keef and Bing!

Think about it man, there's a greater plan.

2007-05-17T23:03:00.000+08:00

It all starts with a crump, crump, crump!

Today wasn't half bad. I think toward the end of the school day I got pretty random and camwhore-ish and started snapping whatever I thought was interesting (including Jiande, Mel and this amused looking snail)

So the day started off rather well. I was early to meet the SocPsyc group so I sat on the steps at the Atrium until the rest of my group came.
We were slightly late to meet Ms Thomas kinda because we couldn't find the place. Some nice gentleman at the counter pointed out that we should probably give her a ring on the phone at the counter, so we did and out she came.

She was really helpful in helping us clear our doubts and clarifying some things regarding the project. Quite confident in saying that we should be able to pull through this one.
The 4 of us hung out at the atrium for a while. I saw this booth for NP Street Soccer and so felt like joining, but I didn't at that time as I had to rush off.

Joel came down all the way from RP to have lunch (well meet another friend as well) It was pouring by the time he arrived, but by the time we parted ways, the rain had calmed some. I was rather early to get to my radio class, but met Cheryl Chia, Shwu Yueh and Grace at the door. Mr Felix came to open the door for us a little later.

Radio class today wasn't bad. We did news scripting which really is quite okay. Ms Cordelia came into the class too to teach us, which is why we don't have Speech Comm tomorrow (say YAY for starting school late!)

I hung out with Mel and Jiande at the library after classes ended. It was a rather random moment because Mel had to print out the V for Vendetta forum thingie for Contemp Issues. Half way through, Mel got on the phone and Jiande and I were simply making a fool of ourselves (that's the way I see it anyway)

Smile for the cam!

This is the snail Jiande and I saw while we were climbing the stairs to Canteen 1. It looks so amused doesn't it! Mel and JD ate there but I didn't because I thought I had dinner at home, which as it turned out, I didn't. I had to buy my own dinner in the end which wasn't bad because I got to post Rizzy's letter and pay my handphone bill. Good stuff. Cabe also bought a custom trucker which I really like so I might get one for myself too. Dang, looks good. No pics up though.

Oh yeah before I forget, here's a pic of the kitten Pap picked up. We've named him Nano for some strange reason that I'm fully aware of but completely reluctant to publicise. Ask me if you want.

That's all for today! Until tomorrow...
-joshie

A taxing day it's been.

2007-05-16T22:05:00.000+08:00

Today I saw the most depressing things I've seen in a while. And to think it was all in the name of good grades.

Jere, James and I embarked on our IAC project (well James simply tagged along) today. It all started after Contemp Issues with going to the Cage to see if we could book out a camera for filming. Turned out we couldn't, so we just stuck with my camcorder instead.

Bus-ed down to Sixth Avenue to meet Pap to get the camera from him. He found this little kitten in school and took it to the vet to get it cleaned up and stuff. It's a cute little thing, but we're still contemplating keeping him (yeah it's a him). Pap gave us a lift to Ghim Moh after that.

We didn't find the kind of HDB flat we wanted at Ghim Moh, so we decided to call a cab and see if the cabbie could point us in the right direction. Turns out, he pushed us straight to the place. We ended up somewhere at Tiong Bahru/Redhill area.

Our whole objective was to see how the poor live, and do a documentary/interview on some residents. We took some scenes of some old people sitting around before going up to the actual block itself.

The lift was really old and smelt of smoke.
It was a really old block, y'know the type with one lone corridor and flats on both sides. We took videos and all.

We tried knocking on various doors but I honestly was a little apprehensive because I'm not the type to walk up to a stranger and say 'hey'. My lack of proficiency in Chinese probably reared its ugly head today. For that, I'm truly apologetic.

It was really tough for me watching the residents open their doors and looking at the states of their houses. We even met one guy who opened the door, and was nice and all but refused to be interviewed by us. Instead, he gave us this really long cynical talk about how people are all baddies. Really got me thinking, but he finally let us go.

Good thing though, we met some nice Ah Ma's who let us interview them and all. But after that ordeal, we were really mentally drained. It was such an indigestible sight. Just couldn't wait to get out of there and back to civilization.

This just goes to show how much we try to cover up our rather unattractive sides. It's really difficult to witness these remnants of our society first hand, but honestly, I truly appreciate my situation now, despite how I may think my situation blows.

Anyway, pictures of the kitten would be up tomorrow. Until then, think about what I've just written. Poverty really is a self-perpetuating cycle. Don't get caught in it.

-joshie

I can see clearly now, the rain has gone.

2007-05-15T10:31:00.000+08:00

Hello, hello! I'm so thankful for all of you who tagged my board and encouraged me and stuff, so I'm gonna thank each of you right here on my blog. =D

Melly: For being the first person I told about my unhappiness, you come first! =D Thanks for iChatting with me though I was really upset and didn't really talk much. Much love ma homie!

Nic: Thanks for that coincidental SMS that just so happened to get me to talk 'bout my trouble. And for listening too.

Valval: Thanks for all the assurance from way, way before, like even after RHW said no. You rock Valval!

Wow, all girls. I wish Han Lin came online last night. I woulda told him. He's so busy now. Need to get him out for Starbucks or something. Just grab him away from the evils of Physics, Computing, Math and GP and throw him into a Starbucks outlet.

Finally,
Thanks to all the people who tagged my board to tell me it's okay. People like Grace, Mr Yam, Jiande, Twin and Sammie! And also to Jere cos he was concerned for me even if I did put up a front. Thanks to all you sexy people! =D

Fly a plane or eat a shark,
Take a muffin to the park,
Get some wood and build an ark,
Turn the light off. Gosh that's dark!
-joshie

Another one bites the dust.

2007-05-14T17:20:00.000+08:00

and another one down
and another one down
another one bites the dust.

What was it about today that totally blew for me? If you're confused because you thought I was actually quite cheery today, then I'm sorry to have led you on.

It wasn't the long lectures, or the fact that my battery was running low (despite charging). It was disappointment.

Just a note of warning: this post should be pretty emo so if you're uncomfortable with that, please deviate

Today's release of the list of people enlisted for Ambassadors didn't make me say 'Whoop-dee-doo'. To be honest, I had to lie to myself to make me feel better. I was with Jere at the time and I have a feeling he knew I was feeling crappy about it because he kept asking me 'are you alright?' and I kept telling him I was cool (which I was at the time so technically I didn't lie. Thanks though Jere) Oh and if you haven't already guessed by now, I didn't get in.

I reckon there must've been something that I did wrong because I thought the interview went well. But just now, I just didn't see my name there. I even checked the list multiple times. I don't know what could've gone wrong.

I saw Grace's name so I smsed her to tell her that she got in (congrats to you! =D)
Didn't really feel the disappointment kick in until I went back for lecture. I chat with Mel on iChat and told her 'bout my disappointment. She tried to reassure me that I'm not really that bad (which my friends always do, thanks guys) but I (as usual) didn't listen. Still, I had to put on a face for the world to see. I even laughed at Ms Cordelia's jokes.

It'll take a while for me to get over this double-whammy. I guess I'll really have to get into Sg New Wave now if not who knows what it'll do to my self-esteem. Congrats to all those who got into Ambassadors though, especially to Jere who got into both Radio Heatwave and Ambassadors! Oh and for all NP-ers, Jere will be hosting this show called 'In Da House Yo' with Khurshed every Tuesday starting tomorrow. Do support him!

Screaming inside but nobody hears. Sorry to lead all of you on.
-joshie

At the end of a long but great day.

2007-05-12T23:34:00.000+08:00

First of all,
Happy Birthday Mel!
Yes, today is Mel's 17th. Feel glad for her that she's made it thus far. Never take a day for granted. More importantly, wish her if you haven't already! (only applies to those who know her) I have already wished her. (this time on my blog makes 3)

We all love Starbucks! Today was really an all-out busy day for me. Oh, and be warned: there would be plenty of pics on this blog. But, I digress.

I got up at about 9 this morning to go to NYP to support Jon and his team in the tournament. They didn't do too badly. Won 2, lost 2. Overall, they got 5th out of 11 teams so they were really quite satisfied with the result. I think they should be too, considering they're Year 1s and don't have a wide range of talent to choose from in their course (Food Science) Sadly though, I don't remember all their names. I'm bad when it comes to that sometimes. By the way, their team name was 'Rojak'.

Still gotta send the pics to Jon to send to the rest of the team. They're a fun bunch really. See, soccer brings people together. My point stands after all.

All of them left to go eat somewhere, and I changed into my jeans before walking toward YCK MRT to take a train down to town. Along the way, I ran into a guy who I felt kinda fleeced me. He spoke to me in Chinese about how he's jobless and going for interview and what-not so I gave him $6 to make him go away. Damn, next time irritate me to get me to give you money.

Almost all of us were late for the Murder Trail gang outing. Ivan the GL couldn't make it so I had no opportunity to convince him I'm actually not gay. It was a fun outing together though. Bill came up to about $90 for 6 of us. Shall say though, that I'm never gonna eat at Bistro Delifrance ever again (without my parents being there to foot the bill) At least it was a cool time hanging out with the peeps: Yi Chee, Hui Ting, Hui Ming, Ray and Jarrel.

The things Jarrel does with a knife when he's done with his food: mess with Ray's food.

Hui Ting left after lunch and the rest of us went to walk around. Somehow, we ended up at Wheelock Place as Yi Chee claimed he had never been there before. (we're such nice accommodating people aren't we?) Hit up Borders first. Couldn't really believe how many people were there. Eventually ended up browsing Borders' CD Section which completely convinced me to buy Michael Buble's new album. Note to self: Do that soon.

We also drifted into the Apple Shop to look at some funky merchandise. I reckon I'll buy some cool Mac Stuff in the future. Jarrel also pointed out that the Final Cut Express HD that we got for free costs $588 in retail. Damn, I love being a Poly student. Discounts are so sweet.

Yi Chee left us after that to go get his Mum a Mothers' Day Present. Aww.. so sweet right?

The remaining 4 of us started floating around and finally ended up at Far East Plaza's Subway where we basically went nuts and probably scared off some of the customers. I can't really begin describing what havoc we wreaked, so just view the pictures and judge for yourself.

Left: Our masterpieces. Right: Jarrel reduced to tears (savour the moment!)

L-R: The process of de-constructing a Subway cup.

After a while, we all got bored and left. Headed toward Orchard MRT to take a train down to Plaza Sing to meet Yam (I know it's only 2 stops damn it)
It was good to see him again. I was a little worried we wouldn't have anything to talk about because we hadn't met for so long, but I really worried in vain. I mean after all, it's Mr Yam! He's one of my best friends. Why would I run outta things to say?

Met him and this classmate of his at this shoe shop on the 1st floor. His classmate left a while later, and the 2 of us went up to the food court to have dinner. Upon finding that I had a slight lack of money, Mr Yam carefully slipped me a $2 note and then conveniently forgot about it.
Dinner was good. I was really satisfied even though it was cheap and everything. Food court still is a good eat.

We went down to Starbucks as we had planned, and got 2 Banana Java Chip Fraps. Ran into Roy Tong there, but we didn't talk much as he had company. I sat with Yam there until about 10.30pm when we decided to leave.

It was really good to talk to Yam and catch up on things. I shan't divulge what we had been talking about though. There's such a thing as friend-to-friend confidentiality and I don't want to be in breech of any friendship laws lest the Moral Police knock on my door (headed by Yam no less) Did take a few pictures as well.

It's rather difficult to take a picture together with him though. I'm quite happy with the way my day turned out, and it's almost 1am now so I'm going to end here. Really a very long and tiring day, but I'm far from bummed out about it. In fact, completely satisfied.
-joshie
P.S. Sorry for this unnecessarily long post. And I know I've never said this openly before, but Ng Yin Ling: YOU NEED A TAGBOARD!

Here comes the weekend. May we all be appeased.

2007-05-11T21:50:00.000+08:00

The week's been so hectic and I'm just glad it's over. Come to think of it, weekend ain't gonna be much better. Damn it.

Tomorrow's gonna be really busy for me. First, I'm going to NYP for Jon's soccer tournament thing, then going to meet the Murder Trail gang at Taka's Delifrance for lunch. Probably will hang out a little with them too. After that, dinner and coffee with Yam probably at Plaza Sing. I probably won't post tomorrow. Would bring cam to take pics though, so watch out for that!

To add insult to injury, I have quite a fair bit of homework to do this weekend. They're mostly not due till next week, but being the changed man I am now, I find it much less taxing to do my homework way in advance to avoid last minute work. Take today for example: I clear forgot to complete 2 assignments. Call me absent-minded or what-have-you, but I just clear forgot. Not only me lah, other T107 people forgot too. That sparked off discussions about a class blog. Reminded me greatly of Yam's great contribution to 4A4, the class blog that was updated regularly by the man himself. It provided great information not only for homework, but also for tests and admin stuff we were supposed to do. Yam's SO the best monitor ever.

So anyway, I was so panicking throughout the day because I had forgotten to do various assignments. The Speech Comm one wasn't that bad because we went through it in class. The more severe one that got me really frustrated was the IAC one. I went to the library after school with some friends and got it done, but the stupid printer on Level 3 couldn't bloody respond. I got rather pissed off with it, but eventually got it working after 3 (or more) tries. Then walked all the way over to Blk 53 to drop off mine and Cedric's work, before returning to the library.

The bunch of us then went down to the Student Plaza to watch the dance performance. Grace and Shijia were in it so we were there to support them. It was quite cool actually. Spent quite a lot of time dilly-dally-ing but finally left school at around 6. Took 154 with Joyce. Yay! I've finally found a go-home buddy! For the first time in.. 10 years! Hurrah! Heh.

Gosh, tomorrow's gonna be a killer huh. Someone call the police.
-joshie

Excursion to a foreign land.

2007-05-10T09:17:00.000+08:00

Seeing as how I've expended all my photos in the previous blog entry, this post shall be photo-less (Boo-hoo~! Oh shut up)

Been noticing people aren't updating as much as they used to. Completely understandable for JC people (may you return from battle unscathed) I s'pose. Reading blogs is a hobby of mine. Yeah perhaps I should put that down next time I fill out an "All About You" form.

My Favourite Hobby Is... blog reading.

Don't call me nosy okay I just like finding out how my friends are doing without having to ask each and every one of them "Hi, how are you?" in an MSN convo. Some people are just too busy to chat on MSN and I don't blame them (though I spend most of my time on MSN, so you all have no excuse!) Once again perfectly understandable for JC folks. You all are such a pitiful bunch.

Okay so yesterday I paid a visit to Nanyang Poly to play soccer with Jon and his guys (hm.. I don't know about you but it sounds a little wrong to me: kinda like a pimp and his guys)
It was raining when I arrived, which really pissed me off a little. It wasn't a good thing that Jon refused to answer any of my SMSes and calls (okay I get it, he's using prepaid) Well, screw prepaid.

Braving the wind, rain and other various flying objects aimed at me (an NP-er in NYP? Unheard of!) I made my own damn way to the Sports Complex where I got lost and Jon found me. Here's the bit that really pissed me off. See, the only reason for me being there was so I could play. It was still raining when Jon and I reached the astro-turf (astro-turf!! Jumps around in excitement) only to find....

HIS ENTIRE TEAM WAS MISSING

An SMS (with Jon's phone) and 2 calls (with mine) later, we made our way to find the team at the sheltered walkway (don't ask me which one)
I told Jon not to start playing so early because I would only be around at 4+. Still, he insisted on starting play at 1.30, a full 2 and a half hours before I was scheduled to arrive (haha sounds like a flight plan)
The reason why the team relocated themselves to the walkway was because they were tired after playing a game (SEE JON I TOLD YOU) So there I was, wet, slightly peeved and itching to play soccer, watching 8 guys sitting on the floor in a circle. Garr! I know Jon's always been very bad at planning these things, should've expected it I reckon.

We finally started playing when the rain lightened. It stopped a while later too. Jon wanted me to "train" his guys. The idea was good, though I had no previous training and he basically looked to me for a miracle (why do I keep getting into these situations?!) It wasn't long before we got to play a match and I understood the problem of the team (shan't relate here, they know their flaws already) I did manage to score a goal though, and after various shouts of instructions, got the team to work the way they really should.

I planned to go down on Sat to watch them play but I realised I have 2 prior engagements that I have to attend so I guess I'd SMS Jon later to tell him.

Crap, time now is 9.39am and class only starts at 12. Darn it. What am I gonna do now? Oh yeah that's right, read other people's blogs.
-joshie

What does it take to out 'Dr Phil' Dr Phil?

2007-05-08T18:32:00.000+08:00

Lol I got this off Valval's blog and thought it was interesting. Heh.

Your EQ is 147

50 or less: Thanks for answering honestly. Now get yourself a shrink, quick!
51-70: When it comes to understanding human emotions, you'd have better luck understanding Chinese.
71-90: You've got more emotional intelligence than the average frat boy. Barely.
91-110: You're average. It's easy to predict how you'll react to things. But anyone could have guessed that.
111-130: You usually have it going on emotionally, but roadblocks tend to land you on your butt.
131-150: You are remarkable when it comes to relating with others. Only the biggest losers get under your skin.
150+: Two possibilities - you've either out "Dr. Phil-ed" Dr. Phil... or you're a dirty liar.

What's Your EQ (Emotional Intelligence Quotient)?

First ever "be a nerd" day.

2007-05-07T21:22:00.000+08:00

For the many people who think T107 are crazy people who have nothing better to do than wear our sec school uniforms to a tertiary institute, well you're wrong. It'll do you better to control your judgements next time.

The sole purpose of our "be a nerd" day was to bond better as a class through an interesting attempt at uniformity. I know there were many out there who assumed that we're all nutjobs, but it really was a fun time today.

Met most of T107 at the bus stop outside NP in the morning. We were all rather... intrigued to see our classmates in uniform. A few even said I look different in uniform which I'm not really sure why. Just take a look at me in NPCC uniform.

I'm sure many were bewildered when we all walked into the LT together and announced our arrival with a resounding "Good Morning Ms Thomas". Thankfully, we didn't elicit a very huge response from the other normal-clothes dressed people. Some comments here, estranged glances there, but not very much.

Lunch was a huge camwhoring event and I put my camera to full use. For the benefit of all T107 people, all the photos are going to be put on this post so they can click and drag (for macs only) onto their desktop.

That's all from me for today! I think the pictures are a testimony to how well our class has bonded. I think all classes should follow our example.
-joshie

Web-slinged and tear jerked.

2007-05-05T21:00:00.000+08:00

I've just gotten back from probably the most anticipated movie of the year (together with Pirates of the Carribean: At World's End) I'm talking of course, about Spiderman 3.
Prior to my first-hand viewing of the movie, I had been given 2 different reviews of the movie: the first being that it was like every other Spiderman movie (from Adriel Chioh's blog) and the second being that it was a good show. The Straits' Times only gave the movie 3 stars out of 5, so I was eager to see how it rated in my books.

I shall very happily say that both descriptions of the movie are completely accurate. Comparatively, it bears striking similarities to its 2 predecessors, and not only because they showed scenes from Spiderman 1 and 2 in the opening. It has a very similar storyline to the other 2. Certain scenes resemble those in Spiderman 1 and 2, and the story was once again about a superhero learning and changing to make himself a better crime fighter and person at large.

This third installment in the Spiderman series introduces 2 new characters: Eddie Brock Jr (the eventual Venom) and Flint Marko (the Sandman)

It's the typical Spiderman storyline all over again: new villain, struggle to fight the villain, makes a mistake with the girlfriend, overcomes difficulties, ONWARD TO VICTORY! To be very honest, the storyline still stuck with me and I didn't even look at my watch once during the entire movie that lasted a grand total of 2 hours and 20 mins.

I'm not going to give too many details, so please catch it yourself in cinemas nationwide. For girls with tendencies to cry during sad parts, please bring tissue paper, or a guy who you can cry on.

I give Spiderman 3 9 out of 10 stars. (No there aren't any visual aids)
Note: the next movie I review will probably be Pirates of the Carribean: At World's End so look out for it!
-joshie

Scissors: a deadly tool in the wrong hands.

2007-05-05T15:51:00.000+08:00

I got sheared like a sheep today. Compared to my old hairstyle, my current head of hair is considerably shorter (but I don't look like a convict yet)
Okay lah so I don't look so bad. Hopefully not anyway. I guess I'll stick it out with this hairstyle until my hair grows back. Didn't know I had so much hair lah. The hairdresser was like snip snip snip away and I looked down at the sheet only to see a huge patch of hair there. Hm, can you really feel naked without any hair? I'll let you know as soon as I experience it.

Barker boys keep popping up.

2007-05-04T22:11:00.000+08:00

I've recorded the highest number of Barker boy encounters today. In one school day, I saw (in no particular order) Michael Davies, Jie Huan, Charles, Jerald Tham, Lee, Marcus Tang, Poo Siang, Siang Koon and Yiu Ming Yiu. One person I've yet to see though, is Peter Kuang. It's like he's disappeared.

Ever been in a situation where you're stuck in a traffic jam, and you're almost late for class... but you somehow make it in time? I was in that situation today. Imagine tons of cars packed too close for comfort. Sounds like Bangkok? Thankfully, not nearly as bad. To make matters worse, I was standing for the entire bus ride, jam and all, and had an air con fan blowing directly at my neck. Now that's strategic placement.

No, I wasn't late for Speech Communications. Somewhere during the brisk walk to Blk 56, I ran into ShiJia, my tutorial classmate and we gave each other mutual support while we brisk walked in an attempt to beat Ms Cordelia to class. Didn't work unfortunately. We were a little later than her to reach class, but it was all good in the end anyway.

Assessed speech went a little differently than I had hoped, but still rather decent I would say. The usual few great speakers stood out with colour among a plot of grey and basically stole the show (no I'm not talking about myself)
We were then joined by T106 for some reason that's almost completely obscure to me. It was an interesting combined class though, that I must say.

I honestly hate lunch hour. Everywhere was crowded as usual. Perhaps I should get into the habit of bring a packed lunch (in Japan that's called a bento so it's damn cool okay)
The whole class was late for Written Comm which really wasn't a big deal for both tutor and students. The ball started rolling with the first presentation, and my group went next (Faulty Parallelism) I honestly don't think I'll need to know the technical terms for anything other than the grammar test that's coming up, but I guess it's good to learn. Here's the good bit: we finished all our presentations within 1 hour, so we got released 2 hours early. Splendid, isn't it?

Hung out with Mel, Cedric, Grace and Cara at the library before my Ambassadors games thing. The latter 2 left earlier to go for Ambassadors, but mine was at 6-7pm so I stayed. Around 5, Mel and Cedric wanted to leave so I left with them. Somehow wound up at Canteen 1 slurping down a bottle of Iced Lemon Tea and stealing a couple of Mentos from Cedric. They left around 5.20 though, but thankfully Jeremy came along a couple of minutes later and we decided to head over to the Atrium where we met James.

Ambassadors games day thing wasn't as fun as I expected basically because it was the end of a really long day and I pretty much wasn't in the mood for anything hyper and exciting. All the better I guess.
Jeremy, James and I (3 Js) pretty much hung out together throughout the entire thing. It was basically a whole lot of talk, with the seniors grading you on how you carry yourself and more importantly, carry forward and advertise the name of the school. I think I did quite alright. My interview is on Thurs 10 May at 6.20pm. Oh joy, it's after a long day with Socpsyc and Radio class. I'm gonna be so spunky. Woo-hoo~

Hope I'll have a great weekend ahead. Goodness...
-joshie

The beginning of a long, hungry, tiresome night. Oh joy.

2007-05-03T20:14:00.000+08:00

I don't think I can begin to think about the work I should be doing tonight. No, I do believe I shan't. So shoot me (like I could begin to give a crappity crap about what you think)

Haha, that was a wonderful start to the post. Honestly, today was.. I suppose average would be appropriate in this case. A post then in such a case, would be completely picture-less (also because I couldn't capture a good picture of that dying fish)

I'm really hungry now so pardon my meaningless banter. I do assure you my post tomorrow will be much more fun and perhaps full of photos. Oh, I haven't even begun on the stress that's gonna pile up on me before tomorrow. Shall get to that later.

Now, after my (long and absurd) introduction, I shall (finally) begin my post proper.
Can't seem to get used to 12pm school. We've been so effectively programmed to believe that school must start in the morning up to the fact that school starting at 12 just seems.. well "wrong" is the word that pops up here. At the moment, everybody's thinking "so what's your point, damn it?" Hold your horses, I'm getting there.
When people are leaving school at 12 and you're really only arriving, it feels a tad strange. It's even stranger to reach the lift lobby of Blk 56 to find half your class on their laptops studying for the imminent Socpsyc test. I, being the turn-over-a-new-leaf hard working kid I now am, had already studied in the morning, not well though, I might add.

The test wasn't bad. It was actually a fill-in-the-blanks kinda thing. It really just makes me wonder what the purpose of the test is (I know the answer to that, but I just have to say it) One thing though, a tip if you like, to people who haven't taken the test yet: READ UP. Read now, ask questions later.

After the test, we had this activity where we had to raise money for the FMS Pocket Money Fund. I shall say for a fact, that this didn't go as well as I would've liked. Singaporeans are stingy when it comes to buying things for high prices, especially students. Our entire class though, did manage to raise a commendable $136.85 from packages of things that were worth only $1.60 each. From things valued at $6.40, we produced a profit of $130.45. Kudos to that!

Radio was after the break. Our elusive Mr Felix Tan finally returned from serving our country, and came back with a bang he did. The lecture on Monday didn't really give me a good picture of what he's really like, but this tutorial class pretty much painted the Mona Lisa for me.
I'm really glad to say I don't have any boring/lousy/incomprehensibly boring lecturers/tutors, and I'm very thankful for that, and that's as far as I'll go.

The bus ride home fleeced me of $1.18: the most expensive bus ride I've ever taken. But I reckon this will help me use up the outstanding amount of money I have left in my loyal blue EZ-Link card so it can retire from service officially. It's about time anyway.

Tonight should be a working night for me. Guess OT's pretty much considered normal time for me now, but I'll lament on that probably tomorrow. I've got Assessed Speech and WritComm Presentation tomorrow, and oh, I have my Ambassadors games day thing tomorrow too. It should be fun, yeah. Finally feeling myself immerse fully in campus life, what with Radio Heatwave and joining Ambassadors. I'm just a whole lot of spunk with a whole lot of funk! (I can see you rolling your eyes)

-joshie
P.S. Happy Birthday to Lee and Cheryl Chia!

Feels weird to pay adult fare.

2007-05-01T22:49:00.001+08:00

My 45 cent student fare service expired today, so I'm currently paying adult fares on the bus (and this is for my Sec School EZ-Link card) Unfortunately, I have to tap both when I board the bus, and when I alight. Such inconvenience has never before presented itself to me in such an honourable fashion.

Labour day's just a bundle of joy and laughter. First thing in the morning, Mum and I went to Novena Square for lunch. Cabe stayed home.

We had Pepper Lunch which Cabe deeply dreads now. I was pretty okay as long as I didn't think about it that much. Food was still good, and I redeemed my free drink so I was in a good mood.

Went to the MRT station to see if I could transfer value from my blue EZ-Link card to my red one. Counter lady said they didn't offer that service there, so I turned my back on her and left. Intended after that, to top up my red card at 2 different machines, but both refused to let me top up. Evil machinery. Upset at all the walking around, I returned to the lady behind the counter to see if I could procure a nice answer from her with regards to activating my red card. She seemed to reply with glee that I could activate it there and then. After relieving me of my $3, she proceeded to activate my card and return it to me, smirking to say the least. Service with a smile, no?

I walked back over to Mum to tell her that I had seen the light of EZ-Link card activation and she said we should top it up for future use. So we did.

Before too long, we were on the bus home. Another initial plan was to catch Spiderman 3 but it seems even an obscure place like Shaw Plaza can attract a crowd willing to kill a herd of buffalo to watch the latest web-swinger flick. Mum and I decided we should watch another day lest one of them mistake us for a grass-eating, methane-producing buffalo.

Adriel's Dad and Mum dropped by to picked up the FAT shirts, and left me $200 richer. I later donated that money to Pap cos he paid for the shirts. Ah, giving to charity does leave you with a warm tingly feeling.

Left for an early dinner.
Dinner was good. Apparently I eat more during weekends and public holidays so I say please limit public holidays to at most 5 a month. If that's not possible, well maybe we should all eat at home on public holidays. That'll work to turn Singapore into a ghost town.

We visited Plaza Sing after dinner for some walk-walk. While gallivanting around B2 near Carrefour, I chanced upon this poster which really left me amused at the standard of Singaporean English. I took a photo and here it is! Just for YOUR viewing pleasure.

Honestly, if I knew the person who typed this message I'd report him to the grammar police (Mr Patrick Wong, WritComm Lecturer) for bad spelling and grammar before smacking him up-side the head with a rather surprised looking French goose.

"Day (they?) skilful (skillful?), patient, safety (safe?) and hygienic." Oh my goodness I almost died typing that out *rolls around on the floor due to epileptic fits*

And that, in short (well never mind that) is the way my Labour Day went. Hope it was as lovable and full of grammatical mistakes for you as it was for me.
-joshie

Don't need to see me, just listen to my voice.

2007-04-30T23:40:00.001+08:00

First of all,
Happy Birthday Grace Yeoh!
Would I really talk about class? No, because there's nothing much to talk about. It was normal. Carrying on...

I had not previously written this on my blog, but today was my audition for Radio Heatwave, NP's campus radio station. I was so so nervous the couple of hours between the end of lessons and the audition. Tried my best not to think about it so much, though it was difficult.

Around 6, I went over to canteen 1 to meet up. Turns out, only 5 people went for the auditions today. It seems everyone else has either backed out, or postponed their audition to another day. No matter though, it's nice to be one of the first (though I was the last one to go today) to go for auditions.

Bought a plastic cup full of watermelon juice to calm down my tender jumpy nerves just before the auditions started. Well, it actually tasted like water with watermelon-flavoured sweetener, but that's probably a story for another day, another time.

The people who auditioned before me all seemed pretty good. Well, all 4 of them anyway. First was Shannon, but I didn't really listen to what he was saying. Next was this girl I met whose name I didn't really catch, but I do know she was talking about Spiderman 3. For all you hide-from-the-world type people, Spiderman 3 officially comes out tomorrow.

Val went in after Ms Un-named. I thought she was pretty good too, except some parts that indicated pretty obviously she was reading off a piece of paper. Her audition was good too though. Serena went in after Val, and was talking about FHM's top 100 sexiest women, top of which is Jessica Alba. I still feel there are hotter women out there, but don't get me wrong, Alba's hot too.

Up till then, I was shaking both inside and outside (probably as a result of my pounding heart) All nerves seemed to loosen once I stepped into the studio though. The seniors (Afiq, Ashley, Azhar and Valerie) were really nice and stuff, and taught me how to use the control board and everything. Azhar even changed the CD for me to Snow Patrol's CD (Thanks Azhar! :D)

Before too long, it was time to start and I just burst forth like a high pressure cooker. What I was saying didn't seem all that funny to me, but I guess I was just caught up in the moment cos all around me, people were laughing (I noticed Val most prominently) I have no idea how long I took, but the time seemed to pass really quickly. Unfortunately, nerves got me a little bit and I sort of stumbled on some of my words. At the end of all that though, the seniors said they like my personality so I guess I didn't do so badly after all =D

Went out with a bunch of people after auditions for dinner in town. Played a little bit of pool too, but nothing worth mentioning I guess. I'm still only mediocre at pool.

Another season, another reason, for making whoopee.
-joshie

Wandering through the land of the living undead.

2007-04-29T17:42:00.000+08:00

It's been a while since my last bout of emo-ness and it's at a time like this that I'll reflect on my life and write something like this:

End of the day, close to night
Tendencies to become emo rise like the ensuing tide
and all but sand is washed away

I didn't attend church again today because frankly, I couldn't get up. That's no excuse, it's the truth.

Paid a well-overdue visit to Choa Chu Kang Christian Cemetery (the 5 Cs) today. Despite it being planned roughly 3 weeks ago, today presented itself a prime target.

We started talking about graveyard maintenance during the visitation (well I really shouldn't say ordeal) and both consciously and unconsciously compared the difference in maintenance between Singaporean and Taiwanese graveyards. I felt myself bow out of the conversation so it was mainly Pap and Mum talking. And all of a sudden, I began to miss my maternal grandmother quite a bit.

Thinking back on that year she went, it wasn't a bad year for me I guess. I remember leaving for Taiwan somewhere during term to go for her funeral, and I took pictures too. Not a fantastic trip, but paying respects are a must.

Periodic emo-ism is really annoying. Gahh I can't even think straight now. Sorry for this rather depressing and totally un-humourous post.
-joshie

Remember, remember the 5th of November, the gunpowder treason and plot.

2007-04-28T22:18:00.000+08:00

I guess I will blog about yesterday since today wasn't much of a fun day.

Busy busy day yesterday. I was quite early for class actually. Started with Speech Comm. We had to present our non-assessed speeches for that particular class. Somehow I became first to go, and I almost completely screwed it up (well if you know my standard you understand).

First of all, I completely burst the timing wide open. If someone were to take the cake for excessive speech, it'd be me. Time frame was set at 2 and a half minutes +/- 15 sec. I spoke for a blistering 4 minutes 48 sec before I finished. Perhaps I really ought to rethink this verbal diarrhoea.

Some of my classmates spoke really well and I'm slowly beginning to feel the pressure to do well. Everyone else is as good if not better than I am. Ms Cordelia seems really positive about our class though, which is good.

Lunch was a harrowing affair. We really didn't have much time even though our break was for an hour.
I met up with James and Jeremy at the lobby of Blk 56 to go to sign up for Ambassadors together. We all signed up for the Friday 4th May 6 to 7pm games slot. I also had to sacrifice my printed timetable and a passport photo.

The guys actually wanted to print their timetables at the SSIC but couldn't as the server was down. We rushed to eat at Canteen 1 which was predictably crowded. Shall not elaborate.

WritComm was informative yet crappy at the same time. We went to the Venus Room at the library to learn how to do research, and filter the good research from the bad. T107 also made a nice card for Grace during that time.

Honestly, I think Poly has changed me drastically. Let me explain.
I stayed back in school with Stanley, Jiande and Yuxian to rent MD players for our radio capsule homework. The work is only due next Thursday, but we went to rent the MD players for fear of being unable to rent when it's down to the crunch. That was when I posted my last post.

Since then, I not only finished my radio capsule today, I also finished my radio report, assessed speech prep and V for Vendetta Contemp Issues discussion. And get this, all before their deadlines! I'm turning into a model student and I'm not afraid to say it out loud. Oh, I also collected my tertiary education EZ-Link card yesterday (it's awesome cos it's red). Just like my NP Student Card, the picture is skewed. Oh bugger.

Now, what kinda mental picture does that paint for you?
-joshie

The millions of tiny, stupid, inconvenient things you do when you're bored.

2007-04-27T16:18:00.000+08:00

I am currently in a short, cold corridor with only one entrance waiting for the MD players to return to their motherland. At the moment, the future seems bright as the students from the other class are returning the MD players to their rightful homeland. Simply waiting now for the rest to return them, then I shall be able to do my homework and return the MD players next week. Until next time, toodle-loo.

P.S. Yuxian's ballet music's coolio-oolio.

Cheers for now.
-joshie

V for very very cheem.

2007-04-25T23:23:00.000+08:00

Might I say today's rather boring? Yes I might, oh yes I might. Gosh, sounds like some rhyming cheering rapping thingie. Booyah.

I'm staying up rather late tonight because I want to watch EPL Highlights. Hee.
Wow, lots of declarations today eh. Beginning to wonder if my blog's one huge freewriting column.

I actually use my Compaq this morning. No harm backing up info right? All my school stuff is also backed up on a thumb drive. I shan't bother to be kiasu and back up 7 times in 7 different places. Don't blame me. I like the number 7.

Popped by Barker to collect my "O" Levels certificate. It was.. troublesome... to say the least.
In all my years at Barker, this is the first time I've needed a Visitor's Pass to get in.

Here's the little chat I had with the nice security guard.

Guard: Yes boy?
Me: Collecting O levels cert.
Guard: at orvice? (I'm serious he said it that way)
Me: What?
Guard: at orvice?
Me: I'm sorry, what?
Guard: at ORVICE?
Me: Oh yeah at office.

I concede the fact that I wasn't really paying attention to what he was saying, partially also because I think my loud iPod playing has silenced-out my ears some.

Trudged confidently toward the office. Pretty much jumped up the stairs to go upstairs. Barker boys would know that the office is on the 2nd floor. Now, I've always known my school office has some pretty bad management, but the kinda service I got was pretty atrocious.

When I got to the office, I rang the bell to get the counter staff out because there was nobody there. The lady that came out told me that the O Levels cert guy wasn't there so I had to wait. So okay, I waited. When a guy finally came out, he was with this Indian woman that I've seen before around Barker. She merely said "aiyoh." That almost totally annoyed me.

A little writing and some signing later, I got my pale-green nicely laminated certificate of achievement. It was already quite late so I quickly left to go to school for class (yes you read right. CLASS)

I braved the wind and the rain to meet James at the Atrium... only to find out that he wasn't there. He claimed he smsed me to tell me (which he realised later he actually didn't) that he was going over to the site of our movie screening. No matter.

The movie screened for our IS class Contemporary Issues today was V for Vendetta. Before and even during the screening, Joshua Simon was sort of pleading with us not to sleep because it's a -quote- "very nice movie."

The movie would've been nicer if the LT we watched it in were better. Honestly if you're going to screen something like a movie, don't screen it at LT73. The elevation is terrible so the people at the back would be blocked by the people in front. Obviously the planners didn't take that into consideration. As a result, I had to change the position of my body every 5-10 mins lest I stiffened up (apologies to people sitting behind me who were blocked as a result of my almost constant shifting)

Now, on to the actual movie review. I didn't think it was a bad movie, I simply thought the circumstance in which it was played totally destroyed my viewing pleasure. Initially, the colour of the picture was a little screwed, but they played it again together with the subtitles so I actually knew what was being said. For the record, the whole movie is situated in London. The main character, V (yes that's his name) is a guy in a mask who plays terrorist against the government of England. He rescues this girl Evey Hammond from being attacked by Fingermen (I gather they're the policemen of sorts) In a rather disconcerting moment, V explains his actions with a rather confusing, extensively long sentence containing many words starting with the letter "V." I didn't manage to get the entire quote, but I managed to get the ending part courtesy of imdb.com.

I quote: "The only verdict is vengeance; a vendetta, held as a votive, not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous." From this sentence, basically our eloquent Mr V is justifying his acts of terror.

The movie's pretty good by my standards, but it would've been better if there was less talking and more action. I'm still not a big fan of jibber-jabber, though I'm generally becoming more tolerant of looming, dangerous and mind-boggling rants. Gosh, I do so love adjectives. Hee.

A bunch of us embarked on a daring adventure toward the part of Bukit Timah less travelled (by me of course) in order to have some dinner. They planned to go to this place called Al-Azhar restaurant or something to that extent. It's actually a little further up than Bukit Timah Market. Food there's not bad, though some of the guys seemed to imply (well they said out loud) that the food elsewhere is better. At that point, felt all of a sudden that my family's stick-to-our-familiar-eats plan doesn't work so well when it comes to recommending food to others or finding a common topic when it comes to food.

The trip home was quite a hazardous one. I couldn't figure out which bus stop to take a bus from, so I walked toward the direction from whence we came. Didn't turn out to be that ingenious an idea, but I lived with it. Serena, James and I walked together, while the others got a lift from Welson's colleague. We came to the junction where we supposed to split, but none of us were going with Serena so we escorted her to her bus stop before leaving for our own. Unfortunately, the nearest bus stop for me was the one near KAP. See what I mean by "didn't turn out to be that ingenious an idea"?

Classes start at 12 tomorrow which warrants my late night, but I think I should finally get my ass into bed. Till I post again, au revoir!

-joshie

Say goodbye to poddy!

2007-04-23T19:59:00.000+08:00

No, my pod didn't die. I'm simply not listening to it for a while because I have to do a radio report on a station which means I have to listen to radio, which I hardly do anymore. I still chose Class 95 though, because I quite like the morning show Morning Express with the Flying Dutchman and Glenn Ong. Would like to find out if the other shows are the same way. Basically, I quite like the style of the Class 95 crew. More updates later after I listen to the station more.

I find waking up quite a chore nowadays. No matter what time I sleep, I tend to be unable to wake up in the morning. Perhaps it's just me who should consider sleeping earlier. Oh man, I've gotta get used to the early mornings. Darn.

Had only lectures today. Nothing really much to say about all that I guess, though I did get a little bored toward the end. Perhaps I just enjoy tutorials more. Taking notes with my laptop is still fun, though I reckon the yawning in class pretty much can be attributed to my late nights. Crappity crap crap.

I'm watching The Legend of Zorro now on HBO. I still don't get how a single person can defeat so many trained guards. If we had a robot it'd say that the chances of survival are like... 10:1 against or something like that. Preposterous. Don't blame me, there's nothing better to watch.

I made a nice song today with GarageBand. I've sorta been "influenced" by Cedric's enthusiasm. Couldn't really find a nice way to link it all up and make it longer though. I think maybe I'll continue on that song, or simply create a new file.

I think I shall end here. Somehow my writing's become more and more... frivolous and I think I'm really just posting for the sake of posting. Once or twice a week from now on? Yeah sounds good to me.

Till next time.
-joshie

The beautiful weekend.

2007-04-22T17:48:00.000+08:00

Seeing as it's a Sunday and not much really happens on Sunday, I've decided to post up something I wrote in written communication class on Friday.

Disclaimer: The in-class exercise is called 'freewriting' where you basically write down all your random ideas on a topic and grammar and spelling is no factor. Which is why my writing isn't in perfect English. The topic here is smoking. Enjoy! Oh, it's also in one huge paragraph.

I’ve never smoked. People in Singapore smoke too much I think. Somehow all us non-smokers are gonna die of second-hand-smoke related diseases. Wait a minute, what are second-hand-smoke related diseases? Oh well, I have no clue. Maybe they are smoking diseases that don’t have anything to do with smoking? Okay that sounds stupid let’s scratch that idea. Hm, that would be interesting eh? Having a smoking diseased completely unrelated to smoking. Is that even possible? Let’s go ask some doctor but probably he wouldn’t even know. I wish I could read doctor’s handwriting. They all look like they’re writing some scribble to me. Oh wait, we’re talking about smoking here. Okay, so more about smoking. I wonder why people buy tobacco to roll up. All cigarettes should have filters. But then again, people who receive second hand smoke don’t have any filters. Not unless we hold up giant filters made of like cotton or something. That’d be a good idea for the future. Let’s see which A-star student picks up this sudden spurt of genius. So anyway, yeah filters are good. Not like they help much, but yeah they’re good. Gosh this is going on and on and I’m kinda running out of ideas. It sounds really hard to quit smoking. I think I wouldn’t wanna die of a smoking or second-hand-smoke related disease. Old age sounds nice to me. Y’know, go peacefully in your sleep? That sounds nice. I think that’ll be a nice plan for the future. Unless someone stabs me with a blunt cake knife in my sleep. Then that’ll just suck the fun out of life. Oh poo. Hey wait a minute, off topic here again. Maybe I’d be concerned about friends who smoke. Perhaps I’ll buy someone nicorette gum for their birthday. Even if they’re a non-smoker it’d still be okay right? I mean that’s the only gum that’s allowed in Singapore. But if tastes like tobacco perhaps people that don’t smoke won’t wanna chew it. It’s so gosh-darn expensive too. Damn chewing gum ban. Speaking of gum, swallowing gum isn’t that fun either. That’s 2 things I won’t wanna do in my life.

You can comment on my tagboard! Now, more about today.

I'm very happy to say that I went to church today. Really glad to say I woke up on time, and took the bus down to church. Unfortunately though, I didn't have money to buy sweets. Heh anyway, I met some nice people today.

I first met this guy also from NP named Wai Liang (maybe I spelt it wrongly). He's from School of ICT's Mobile Business Solutions. (everyone who doesn't know what that is, say 'huh?') I was told anyway, that it's basically games programming which I honestly think is pretty awesome. He's quite a cool guy too. Might see him around campus.
I met this other guy also from NP named Melvin (maybe I spelt it wrongly). He's from Aerospace Technology (I think?) Didn't talk to him so much.

Had Gospel Sunday today so it was pretty alright. Kinda not much to say about this, but I'm glad I went to church today. Yeah.

I went to Novena Square today to collect the 'FAT' shirts, and create 3 more. Will collect the rest of them on Thurs. Should be cool. They all look good to me. Pretty simple layout I reckon, but it looks sweet. I mean for $30, should be great.

Oh family was planning to go to the graveyard for Qing Ming but it started raining really really heavily, so we didn't go in the end. All in all, I think I've had a good day. At least today's post is longer than yesterday's. Now, onward to tomorrow!

-joshie

God's last name isn't dammit.

2007-04-21T11:42:00.000+08:00

I took my title from this guy's shirt. I saw him last night on the last train home. Thought it was a rather interesting way to look at it. Cool stuff.

I actually reached home at around 12.30am last night. It was quite harrowing. Half the time, I was so paranoid that I'd miss the last bus (which I did anyway) This is the story of how I ended up on the last train home.

We were having Dare Night in school, and I was put (well not really put, it was by choice) in Team A with new friends Atiqah and Apple and GLs Shereen and Peggy (yeah me the lone male) It wasn't bad though. Despite several strange and unusual tasks we had to do, we overcame it all and got.... 2nd place! We haven't gotten our prizes yet though. Soon!

I have no idea why I decided to go to Clementi Central with Chelmin, James, Jeremy and Hui Ming to meet Jarrel. I just drank a cup of hot tea (yummy!) with 3 sugars. Left at 11.30 to go home. So here links to the paranoia and stuff. In fact, the linking train at Raffles Place MRT was shocking. When I looked at the electronic board thing, it said 'train arriving in 12 minutes' My goodness.

Dropped off at Novena so I could take a cab home. Cost me $4.50 too. Now I'm broke. Darn.
-joshie

Like talking to a bean bag filled with peanuts and randomly coloured M&Ms.

2007-04-19T09:17:00.000+08:00

There's something wrong with the picture uploader thing today, so this post will be picture-less. Boo hoo, nothing I can do anyway.

So anyhoo, last night was Murder Trail. Basically the game is a life sized Cluedo (I think I've posted this before but never mind) It was all in all pretty fun, and my team won 2nd place in the end. Cool right? We only got like, $30 worth of Delifrance vouchers though. Lol.

Our fun night started way before that, and I've got some stuff to report anyway.
Jeremy and I were hanging out in the library like I wrote in my last post, and were invited to dinner by (let's see...) Valerie, Serena, Isaac, Justin, Welson and Zai Hong (this guy we met during Induction Day). So we packed up and left the library. (note to self: think of a way to make bag less packed)

After a bit of fooling around and going the wrong way at times, we finally made our way to the SIM University canteen, which was nearby where we had to go for Murder Trail anyway. Food there was alright. I'm not particularly fond of the watermelon juice though. Not pulpy enough. Somewhere toward the end of our meal, we noticed Zai Hong was sleeping. Val the meanie gestured for us to start leaving so we did in quick succession. Eventually, we all got out laughing and stuff, and then someone gave Zai Hong a call to wake him up. Heh. Oh by the way, Jeremy got it all on video!

Shall not carry on with that.Reached LT50.. well I'd say early. Put our bags down before going out to have some snacks. I drank tea. Wonderful stuff. Anyway, we had a little chat that resulted in a huge uproar because Joshua Simon was talking about something like guys don't wank and watch porn, blah blah blah, talking about fingering himself in order to get into class (what he was actually talking about was the biometric access thing to get into class) and basically it all turned pretty nasty. I can hear thank-yous all around.

Pretty soon, the actual event started and we watched the starting video. Basically, here's who's playing who:

Daphne was playing the victim, Regina.
Jay was playing Regina's boyfriend, Nick.
Joshua Ang (my senior!) was playing Regina's stalker (go figure), Jeffrey
Laureen (I think?) was playing Regina's best friend, Kimberly.

Okay so this is the rough outline of it:
Regina was doing a project with Jeffrey and they were sort of fooling around and got caught by Nick. Nick got angry after his anger-filled one liner "what the.." which we all loved and laughed at.
Jeffrey's a perverted stalker who stole Regina's underwear and secretly video tapes her buying drinks from the vending machine (demented much?) He confesses his love for her but she slashes his wrist to get away from his deadly grip.
Laureen and Regina fell out because of some newscaster selection thing, and there's anger and jealousy between them. Typical friend versus friend scenario you often see in movies.

Because there's no way to put up the photo, I'll just have to tell you who my group members were. It was Ray, Hui Ting, Hui Ming, me, Yi Chee and Jarrel in one group, with this guy Ivan our GL.

The whole thing was really short but I'm not going to outline every detail because I have better things to do. Our group was the 3rd group to arrive back at LT50. We sat and discussed our clues and came up with the answer that Nick did it with the Heineken beer bottle.

More and more teams came back, and I got a call from Audrey telling me that she got her project approved. Congrats Aud! I also got a call from Mum because I called her earlier to ask if she was lecturing at SIM. She wasn't, but she told me to be careful.

They played the final video and guess what? It was Nick! With the beer bottle! Anyway, my team got tied 2nd place. Yay for us! We're going out for a meal together sometime soon I reckon.

Ugh, my lessons start at 12 today. Only SocPsy and Radio workshop. I end at 6 so I'll be back rather late. Oh well, I should probably go now to do my QT and iron my bulldog shirt that I'll be wearing today. Until next time, it's like talking to a bean bag filled with peanuts and randomly coloured M&Ms. They melt in your mouth, not in your hand!

-joshie

Reporting from school, baby.

2007-04-18T15:28:00.000+08:00

Alright peeps, I'm in the library right now, I guess to do some research for an upcoming project. Classified info, strictly on a need to know basis. Just enjoy the knowledge that I'm actually looking forward to doing work. That's quite rare if you know me well (except for English).

Today's IS classes were a tad boring. Only 2 lessons today though, so I guess it didn't do me that much harm..? Anyway had Jeremy with me in class so not much damage.

Met Jian De (new classmate) at the canteen where I had my customary (at least right now) bottle of ice lemon tea to start my day. Jeremy came along a little later and we made our way to Blk 53 around 10. Was almost late too. Darn it.

Contemporary Issues was somewhat interesting. We had this get-to-know-you thing that I thought was quite -what's the word I'm looking for here- amusing. Didn't really do much, though I did do this FMS FOC survey thing that said 'Congratulations! You're a winner!' after I clicked 'Submit'. Go figure.

Lunch was cut super short because we had to wait for 大姐大 Chelmin to meet us at FMS block. Also contributing to the delay, we credit the long preparation time for noodle orders at the Jap stall. I wasn't late for the next class though, thank God.

IAC wasn't spectacular, but I thought it was okay. We had 2 groups put together this week so it was quite crowded in the room. One group was from FMS (mine) and the other was from BA. Didn't seem like we clicked that well, and one member of my group seem a little pissed at the other group's reaction to the 'introduce yourself' section of the class. At least, we won't really be meeting again.

I have to go for Murder Trail tonight to avenge Daphne's murder. It's all hypothetical of course. I'd be quite sad if a friend of mine died, wouldn't you? Okay, so I digress. The font on the blogger post thing here looks really horrid. Hope it doesn't carry over. Oh I downloaded Mozilla Firefox today so it looks slightly different. I like Firefox though.

Anyway, back now to work. Toodles!
-joshie
Oh my, I just realised why the font looks so strange... But that's a story for another day!

The hard-hitting truth.

2007-04-17T13:07:00.000+08:00

The morning of Tuesday, 17th April 2007 brought me many surprises (duh that's today). Well, here goes. I have a feeling this will be short.

Surprisingly, I didn't wake up at 10 or 11. Thank God that hasn't become a recurring habit. So anyway, I woke up at 9+. Read newspaper, washed up, yadda yadda yadda, you know the drill.

As some of you might know, I've been rather... I'd say detached from church recently. I still read the daily devotions that Rev Seet emails to all the subscribers, and I still read the prayer request mails that come to my email box, but sad to say I haven't been to church in just about a month. (Boy I see this repeating from last year.) I myself don't do QT often, save that rough 5 minutes I spend reading the devotion email. That itself, is a tad of an achievement. There was once I regretted subscribing to it. But that notion's gone from me now.

That QT session during FMS camp really helped me some. I wanted to get involved in church again, or at least, try to attend. I have not yet gone back to church, but I'm feeling more urges to go and hopefully they don't die out before the week is up.

Anyway, I picked up my Bible today for the first time in a while. The interest sparked off after I read James' post on his blog about the verse Matthew 5:29-30 (linked on my blog under 'James Ho', post dated Sunday, April 15, 2007). I read the passage, and it goes like this.

29. And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
30. And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.

I have seen myself backsliding much in the past few years. I can only suppose that God is calling to me, but I've been too busy to hear Him, or I just plain refuse to, and it saddens me. When I read the verse, I had paused the song I Don't Love You by My Chemical Romance. A line hit me hard. It goes like this:

'I don't love you, like I did, yesterday.'
*I didn't continue listening to the song after reading the passage.

And I realised, I really don't love God like I used to. I keep telling myself that I should try to press on for God. But maybe I have somewhat of a problem, a sort of stumbling block if you will. I've seen many a Christian spouting profanities like a water fountain spraying water, and it really disturbs me that there are Christians out there like that. Should we not keep our tongues clean? I don't want to conform to the language of the world, so I guess I must stay strong, and encourage others to do the same.

So I've finally come out into the open about my plight. In church, it does seem like nobody really cares. Even my buddies, Seth and Jon, whom I've known for a good number of years, haven't called me to ask me if something's happened. Even considered changing church at one point, but I've never really gotten a good grip on that idea. Perhaps I'm really stuck to Life Church's doctrine.

The one solution to this: pray.

You remember that time when....

2007-04-16T21:53:00.000+08:00

Everyone meet Katie B!
Aiyah, I named my Mac okay! Everyone did it anyway.

So, it's the first day of school! Let's see what I've been up to!
Basically I sort of made a date with Lee to meet up at this bus stop to go to school together. We were supposed to meet at 7.40am. At 7.40, he called me to ask me where I was. That phone call coincidentally woke me up, and flustered and frantic, I jumped out of bed like Spiderman and rushed out of the house after packing my bag and washing up.

When I arrived at the bus stop, Lee was sitting patiently there waiting for my arrival. He didn't really say much, but politely informed me that we had just missed the bus. Another one came soon enough though, so it didn't make much difference. We still reached school half an hour early anyway, so no harm done. Hung out at Canteen 1 with a few other Barker boys before leaving around 9 to go to my lecture venue. Met my classmate, Jian De, on the way in, so we sat together for the whole time.

I've decided to heed seniors' valued advice, and not blog about lecturers. I shall say though, that the time seemed shorter than it really was. Lectures were much more fun than those at ACJC. Looks like I'll be having fun this year (on top of hard work of course. The cherry on top of the ice cream!)

After lectures, I went to the library with Val, Serena and Justin to meet James. No idea why we went really, because James was just sitting there with his friend doing some FSV homework. The bunch of us MCM-ers went over to the recommended books section to look for books we're supposed to read up before tutorial. Not much of a read I must say, but informative? But yeah, let's leave it at that.

Justin left shortly after to go watch the rugby finals match between St Andrews' School and ACS(I). Just for everyone's info, SAS lost to ACSI 17-3. Um, no comment on this one.

Hung around in the library (!!!!!!) for quite a while with Val, Serena and these 2 guys I just met, Bryan and Welson. Quite an interesting hang out time. My Katie B. was dying, so I turned her off and just stoned for a while until 6 when we all got up off the carpeted library floor and left.

Outside the library, I ran into my NPCC senior, Ban Maximillian. He said he's the President of some NP ACS Alumni group. It's to "gather all barker ppl and spread the msg of love peace and joy." According to Ban, it's a CCA group because they give out CCA points. So he's trying to get all the Barker people in NP to come together and stuff. Barker people in NP, please contact Ban Maximillian at his email ban_is_not_bun@hotmail.com!

All in all, quite happy with my first day. As most of you already know, I don't have school on Tuesdays according to my timetable. Anyway, I'll be busy tomorrow. Usual stuff. Boo.

-joshie

Once you go Mac, you don't go back.

2007-04-13T23:58:00.000+08:00

Emo Boys at work.

I'm honestly very sleepy right now so I'll try to make this as brief as possible, for both yours and my sake. Basically today was induction day over here at Ngee Ann Poly (NP not NAP, Rizzy).

Hawks and Eagles met at Atrium between 8.55 and 9.20am. We made our way to LT24 for the talks and stuff. Basically a whole lot of talking and video presentations from then on, shall not elaborate. I still don't socialize that well with my class. Well, at least the other ACJC first-3-months-er is in my class. Groovy. Suppose we'll warm up to each other eventually?

Anyway before too long, Raptors ushered off to go to play the telematch against the other schools. We gathered at this room on the 6th floor before going off toward the sports complex to play games. Before I write about it, let me just say that FMS has never won anything before. In fact, they were last place last year.

A bunch of 10 of us went to play the first game called 'Moon Raker' (like the James Bond film?) It went really really well, and we got first place. Felt pretty awesome about that. We didn't get anymore 1st places, but we got top 3 places for all the games we played. All in all, FMS got 3rd position for the telematch. I don't care what you say, that's good enough for all of us.

We went to wash up before leaving to go to town to celebrate Serena's birthday. Followed Yi Chee all the way to Fullerton where he was working at Starbucks, and we all supported him by buying some coffee from him. Banana Java Chip Frap is nice! And like, I'm not affected by caffeine at all. I think I've been drinking too much Coke Light. Darn.

Safe to say, all of us got a little high after we left Yi Chee at Starbucks to go to Marina Square to have dinner. Started singing along the bridge and all the way to Sakae Sushi where we had our dinner. The queue to get in was quite long, but we could stand the wait I suppose. Our meal was pretty good. Met this really nice floor manager named Michelle and we tried to bribe her into giving us a discount by giving her Mamee. Didn't work, but we did get a discount for it being Serena's birthday. Somewhere towards the end, Jeremy and I mysteriously disappeared to go buy a cake and a gift for Serena. We came back with candles lit, and sang the birthday song for the birthday girl. Took a group pic with floor manager Michelle and all of us.

L-R: James, Jeremy, Michelle, Isaac, Serena, Valerie, Me, Jarrel

On the train, I think Jeremy brought up a very good point. He said that it's amazing that we managed to become so close in less than a week. I honestly thought I wouldn't be able to find such a school spirit other than in AC. I was seriously wrong. FMS people are so united and I'm sure Eagles and Hawks are totally united now. These are the people I'll hang out with for a long time to come.

On a rather strange side note, here's a short conversation I had with my brother a little earlier.

Me: Bro, you rock. Don't ever change.
Cabe: Ai'ght.

Anyway, eyes and brain failing. Time to take out my shotgun and catch some pesky Zs.
-joshie
P.S. HAPPY BIRTHDAY SERENA!

Macs are friends.

2007-04-12T19:08:00.000+08:00

I quite enjoy taking that rather long trip to and back from school everyday. I tried napping on the way to school this morning, but didn't really succeed. Napping is awesome.

I was early so I bought a Coke and sat down at The Atrium. Set up my Mac, but couldn't get any internet connection so I decided to sleep my Mac, and just chill. After a while, I realised my other friends were behind the wall on the other side so I moved over to join them. Not a good idea sitting behind a wall when you're supposed to meet friends.

James (new friend from FMS) had a connection so I set up again to try and get one. Jeremy (from my tagboard) also couldn't get, but we eventually managed to get. By then, it was time to go for the training so we left. Oh, I met some new friends too. There's this guy named Yong Ming (I think?) who acted as one of the guys in I Not Stupid 2 so we effectively have 2 celebrities in FMS. Awesome yeah.

When we walked in, there really weren't that many available seats (at least not for all of us to sit together) so some of us sat in the middle while a bunch of us went right down to the bottom. Well, most of us anyway. Everyone just set up their Macs again and fiddled around. Couldn't really get a sound connection to MSN though. Kept getting signed out. I blame the firewall.

Duly enough, the 'lecture' started and we were taught some really awesome little tricks for our Macs. We learned how to use all the software and we were taught some neat shortcuts. I downloaded a couple of widgets for my dashboard too. We were taught how to use the command key and everything, so really insightful and stuff. I'm now aware how to use all the stuff in iLife. (Windows users can say 'HUH?' now)

The entire training ended at 12.30 as stated on the note we were given. We then had 2 things to do.

1. Register our biometrics (basically fingerprint) so that we can gain entry to facilities at our FMS block, and
2. Go to Blk 46 to install some Adobe software on our Macs.

There was some super long queue to do the biometric scanning, so the bunch of us went to Blk 46 first. Walked in the rain by the way. There weren't really many people at Blk 46. We pretty much got in just in time to get the last few seats. Plugged in our battery-drained Macs to the power points and just charged and installed for the next hour or so.

*pause for a while to go have dinner*

Okay I'm back. Dinner was fulfilling. Somewhat. Anyway, on about today. We went to do our biometrics after installing stuff. Oh and I realised today there's another person named Joshua Tan Wei En in Mass Comm too, but different class. Man, how coincidental! I hope he's a nice dude. May not even meet him.

Anyway, after the whole thing we went to play pool at Bukit Timah Plaza. Um, nothing special there. I'm always playing pool recently. Strange. Tomorrow's induction day! Get high!

-joshie

Now, what did you say again?

2007-04-11T17:59:00.000+08:00

Hello dear readers, it's been a while hasn't it. Well, you all know what I've been doing don't you. That's right, let the information sink into your heads... I was at FMS camp..! As you've probably predicted, this probably long post will be about all that happened. Don't complain okay or I'll smack you with my awesome telepathic powers. Hoosha.

Day 1; The beginning

I actually had breakfast that morning at Loy Kee. Chicken porridge and barley drink! Yum. I was pretty pressed for time though, because I underestimated the time needed to slurp down that bowl of steaming hot porridge. Stupid Josh.
I was so rushed that I forgot to pay for my meal, and the elderly shop attendant ran out to call me back. Profuse apologies and a generous payment of about S$4 later, I was on my way to school.

On the bus, I panicked a little because I missed both the 151 and 154 buses that I could take. I usually hate waiting for buses, but I had NO CHOICE. The bus finally came and thankfully, I wasn't really that late. I didn't even get lost in school. Made my way to Blk 18 easily, registered and settled down with my family. RAPTORS!

The first person I met is this guy called Yi Chee (yeah I know how it sounds). Somehow started talking to him after I sat down with my family. I honestly thought his name was 'itchy' but decided not to pursue the matter regarding his name. He wasn't in my group though, and I initially thought that was rather sad.

We broke up into our sub-groups. EAGLES! Eagles rock. We didn't really warm up to each other that much initially, but we slowly got to know each other as the day progressed, which really reminds me of Valkyries! Hurray!

Gathered as a group near the sports complex to do some cheering. I just couldn't help myself, I had to contribute something, but my cheer wasn't picked up in the end. It was kinda complicated, heh. Anyway, The Group Leaders (GLs) had a meeting after that so I led cheers together with this guy named Jeremy, who I also befriended later, from the group of Hawk.

The first game we played was the Amazing Race game. This game brought us all over campus looking for stations and using clues to find the stations' locations. We ran a whole lot for this game, and because the campus is so big, didn't finish doing all the stations before we had to return to home base.

Showering after that really wasn't so bad. I didn't even mind showering with other guys in the mass shower cubicle because all the singular cubicles were taken. Showering together with guys for once doesn't seem so bad. Will be doing a lot of that in army anyway. Not like they have something I don't have, right? Okay don't answer that.

That night, we watched The Shining starring Jack Nicholson. It was quite anti-climatical because it kept building up to a dramatic point that never came. We didn't finish watching the movie though, as we had to go trudging into the dark unknown on the night walk.
First station was at this LT79. It was dark inside and all, but not really scary. The 'ghost' even hit his head on the lecture benches as he jumped out to scare out. Poor ghosty.
Basically the in-between stations aren't really anything to mention, but there were a few where the ghosts didn't show themselves. They were merely camping so they weren't really scary at all.
The final station was the best of all of them, I (along with certain others) feel anyway. Basically it was at this toilet at the FMS block. The seniors turned off the motion sensor so it wouldn't turn on the light as soon as the door opened. We had to go in pairs to this cubicle and press the button behind the ghost to flush the toilet. I went with this girl named YC clinging to my arm because she was scared (no comments please. Thank you.) Anyway, I pressed the button the first time and it didn't flush. So I was a little confused, but decided to try again. This time, it work and the nasty ghoul grabbed my arm, and YC screamed. Quite interesting actually because I was expecting something to happen. That was quite a good one.

We slept a peaceful night that night despite all the scary things. Well, I did sleep in a guys' bunk so I guess the abundance of testosterone helped to calm scary situations. Also the fact that some guys were talking about Paul Twohill until about 4 in the morning. Geniuses. Oh by the way, Mr Twohill is going to be a freshman in Mass Comm with me (well the other mass comm-ers too lah). Quite interesting isn't it?

Day 2; Not the starting but not the ending either

Day 2 started off quite interestingly because most of us started waking up at around 7 mumbling 'why the hell is it so cold!' Somehow, the temperature must have been like 10 degrees C or something. Everyone was dying to get out of the room to go brush our teeth. The air con was eventually turned off after a while.

Our first game of the day was this game called 'Search Party'. We had to go as a group to designated stations, and acquire certain items from the station masters by doing some tasks. Eagles were very united in this one, and we got all the items before returning on time to Canteen 2 where we started. We were next given the task of dressing up one of our GLs in the items we had gotten from the station masters. After some thought, we dressed him up as a rather disgusting looking Paul Twohill. I don't really understand why the whole camp was sort of focusing on him quite a bit, but it's okay. I hope he doesn't take it to heart because I might actually get to know him personally when school starts.

All the groups had a showdown for best costume. When our GL Khurshed went up, we all screamed 'Paul Twohill' and ran onto the stage. After a bit of a scuffle, I knocked off Khurshed's hat and his 'hair' fell off. Sort of really mocking. Feel a little bad now actually. Bother. We didn't win anyway.

After lunch, we combined with Hawk to discuss and rehearse our performance item. After much deliberation, we decided that we'd do a sort of TV thing, with props and the whole shebang. It was a little shaky initially and we didn't have it properly timed. Anyway, it was time for our next game so we left the place we were at, and headed back to Canteen 2.

We headed to the field near the main entrance into Ngee Ann. We played this game called 'Final Clash' between the 3 families and the GLs (all against each other, not 3V1). The game was really fun. Basically each team has a standing lollipop that's made of newspaper. If the team's newspaper gets broken through, they're eliminated.

First round:
Raptors and Wild Cats teamed up against the GLs. Raptors took the kill and GLs came over to Raptors' team, along with all their water bombs.

Second round:
Raptors and Wild Cats teamed up once again against the Mystics. However, Raptors back stabbed Wild Cats and started attacking them too.

Third round:
Mystics were eliminated and Raptors and Wild Cats turned their attention on each other. Not a deciding round though.

Fourth round:
Dirtiest round yet. It was really rough and everything, but after many attempts, neither side got a kill.

Fifth round:
Wild Cats played dirty and started throwing water bottles and pails at the Raptors' lollipop, and the pail hit a member of Raptors (and I know her too). They even jumped and used their hands to claw at the newspaper. Bloody animals.

Sixth round:
After much battle, both teams were sufficiently bombarded and there had to be a verdict called for the winners.

And the winners are....
RAPTORS!

Haha, anyway we're going to represent FMS at the Induction Day telematches this Friday. All the best to us!

Before going to shower, Hawk and Eagle decided to rehearse our skit once again. It worked out pretty well, but we still had to drag it. We did as much as we could, before going to shower.
We met up again after dinner to fine tune our skit. We were pretty confident with it, and then it was go time.

Glad to say the performance went really well. The entire campfire-like thing went well too. At the end of it all, they put on the music and we were kinda clubbing. It was quite fun actually, but really hot and tiring. So, we decided to abandon it and go down to buy a drink, before going back up to the bunk.

We met up with some of the other guys and we did QT as a group of Christians. We first prayed by ourselves, and then each of us took turns to pray. It was really a very edifying time and I thank God that I met this group of Christians so early into my experience at Ngee Ann. It's also very timely because I haven't been going to church for 3 weeks because I haven't been able to wake up. It's a stupid excuse I know, but at least I now am spurred on toward the ultimate goal and that is in Heaven. =D

A whole lot of us decided to take a nice walk around campus. The whole group of us went to the ISCT block and sit down to chat. After a while though, we sent one of the girls back to her bunk before going to the sports complex to slack once again. Lay down on the track staring at the stars and gazing at the brilliant dark navy blue night sky. We too were getting sleepy, so we went back to bunk at about 3. But not before taking a whole bunch of photos!

The guys in our bunk were hit by invaders in the night. Those that stayed awake were not harmed, but people like me got Colgate on their faces. I was told that I got marker drawn too, but I must've rubbed it off. None of it stayed though, so I'm glad.

Day 3; Final Day

This morning wasn't so cold. After washing up, we headed downstairs to meet up and had our breakfast. Then we packed up our stuff, and went to LT68E for prize presentation and camp break. Raptors got the best family and some other awards to. GO RAPTORS!

After the whole thing was done, we took pictures as Eagles, and took pictures as Raptors.
The bunch of about 12 of us decided to go to KAP to have some food before going our separate ways toward home.

It's been a fun 3 days and 2 nights. I've enjoyed myself thoroughly andF I'm pleasantly surprised at how fun FMS is. This definitely compares to the experience I had at ACJC's Orientation 1 and 2. I LOVE FMS! =D

Here's to the next 3 years in FMS!
-joshie
P.S. Sorry about this really long post. Peace out!ƒ

Carpe Diem - Seize The Day.

2007-04-08T21:57:00.000+08:00

I can't even begin to express how relieved I am to go to school tomorrow, even though it has been a fruitful (and I mean this sincerely) month of rest for me and the next major holiday I'll get is in June. But who's counting anyway.

Today was really a day of finishing up whatever ironing I had not done. But before I get to that, let's talk about the night I had last night.

Well, Pap bought Dead Poets Society on DVD yesterday and we watched it starting 11+ to around 1 when I finally did sleep. Slept quite soundly too, and that I'm proud of because of my tossing and turning in bed for the past few weeks. Can be really irritating at 1.30 in the morning when everyone except Mum is sleeping.

Dead Poets Society is a really good movie. Robin Williams is really the person to go to when you need someone to act as somebody who's challenging the system, and doing so passionately. I think his part in Dead Poets Society was really a great one. He just has this twinkle in his eyes when he talks about something he's passionate about. He makes you want to love what he loves.

I woke up today at around 11. I sleepily got out of bed and went outside to see Pap ironing.

First thought: Hey! That's MY job!

He said he couldn't wait for me so he just started ironing. Ah well, no arguments there. I just read the paper and took over from him a little later when he started vacuuming. Mum left home at about 1 to go to Takashimaya for her massage. Get this: she makes appointments to go. But she really enjoys the massages. Pap and I left a while later to go to Novena Square to eat. Mm, not much there. We went to Cold Storage to buy some groceries before headed home. Bought Peel Fresh Apple w/ Aloe Vera! Yummy =D

Came home pretty much to slack, and a while later, started ironing again because Pap passed a comment that I "wouldn't be able to finish ironing all that by tonight." So I set out to prove him wrong. He was right though, I didn't finish ironing tonight. The only reason being there weren't enough clothes hangers. I think I could've, if I had the resources. I did manage to iron all those that didn't require hangers. I thought that was the least I could do seeing as today's the last day I'm doing housework full time.

I'm on to bigger and better things! Watch out Ngee Ann Poly. Hi! My name is Joshua and I'm here to rock your world!

-joshie
P.S. Did I mention I won't be home for 3D2N? Heh. Expect severe shortage for a while, then verbal diarrhoea when I get back on Wed. Cheerio!

Scars remind us that the past is real.

2007-04-07T17:06:00.000+08:00

The rain beats down on an otherwise rather charming day. At least I'm glad I didn't put out any clothes today. My work is almost done. Soon, I'll get my pay and HELLO IPOD VIDEO! My wonderful 3 year old gold iPod Mini's been giving me some troubles lately. As far as I know, the battery now only lasts for an hour which is bad because I have long trips to make every day. Boo.

We got a field to play on this morning. Unfortunately, it was at Jurong East. Very terribly organised (seems familiar doesn't it?). Basically I was informed of the game a few days ago by Jek who wanted to have a last game before he goes to Australia on Thursday.

So anyway, I was informed at 1.15am this morning that we were to meet at 8am at Jurong East. I only managed to sleep at 2.30am because Cabe was watching Heroes on his computer and he always has to turn up the volume because he's damn deaf, and my bed is right next to his computer. That's really crappy because not only can I not sleep, I usually am unable to hear the music playing on my own computer, and I'm not a big fan of his music.

I only managed to wake up because Pap came into my room and caused me to stir. It was already 7.20am though, and I called Bingy to get him up before leaving home at around 7.30. An incredibly mundane and boring MRT trip faced me ahead, as I took a 47 minute long trip from Novena to Jurong East.

Met Bingy at Jurong East MRT at around 8.30. He had been there since 7.45 so I felt quite bad about it. Leong called me to tell me how to get to the field, and we set off from there. Spent quite a bit of time finding each other because Leong was trying to push us in the right direction, but we couldn't really understand. Jurong's just not my area. We soon found out that we were the only 3 guys there at that time, and the rest were late or having breakfast. Genius. THEY tell US to meet at 8am, we're not exactly early, but not so bad, and they only all arrive at 9! Unbelievable. Bingy didn't get to play much because he had to go to SP for squash training.

We played quite a bit of street soccer, but got our asses kicked by the locals. Pretty sad really, and I pretty much burned my feet on the ground. Should've worn my shoes. Damn. I think I need to play soccer more often. Just really unfit and everything. Man I'm bored. So glad Poly starts soon.

-joshie

Yay Sir Ian!

2007-04-06T12:22:00.000+08:00

Dusty bids you a warm welcome!

Okay it's official, I'm not going to watch West Side. Lol, am I bothered by it? Not really. After all, I've watched it before at Esplanade when the Austrailian group came over to do it. Oh and for all those of you who care, I'm going to watch King Lear on the 21st of July, Saturday at the Esplanade Theatres on the Bay, starring Sir Ian McKellen. The tickets are so expensive that it burned a hole in my pocket just watching Pap pay for it. Cabe's not going, though I think he should.

Why's he always leaving himself out of the family?

Anyway, even the soccer match on Saturday looks a little shaky. We're still unable to book a field for our game and it's really quite un-postponable because Jek Chieh's leaving for Australia on Apr 12. By then, the poly students would probably have embarked on their Orientation Programmes, especially those in NP (and there are a lot). Aw well, not playing soccer bums me out more, though it might be okay considering what happened to me yesterday.

Here are the series of unfortunate events as they unfolded:
I woke up at around 11, and considered my surroundings. Sunny, so I decided to go for a swim. This was in a pretty futile attempt to get fit before my soccer game on Saturday.

I adjusted to the cold water quite quickly, and set off to do laps. It was pretty uneventful really, until I stopped for a rest one time, and felt this awful pain in my neck. My swimming was affected after that, so I took a rest under the fountain for a bit of a falling-water massage. Didn't help, so I decided to head up for a bit of a rest. Properly. I still had no idea of the extent of my injury. Then again, I should've expected it.

My injury got worse and worse as my day progressed. Basically, I blame not resting (which also means I blame myself). First, I went to iron as Mum complained a couple days ago that I haven't been ironing her work clothes (which I hadn't, hehe) so I decided to comply and iron some things so she could look professional and boss-like at work. Bad idea. I did manage to iron a few pieces of clothing though, before I eventually stopped because I couldn't take the sudden shots of pain I felt when I moved my neck into an otherwise normal position.

I decided after that, to take a nice walk to St Wilfrid's Sports Complex to see if I could book the field for Saturday. Wincing in pain every 2 minutes during the 20-25 minute walk, I eventually reached the rather empty St Wilfrid's Sports Complex, only to be informed that there were no more slots open for the field on Saturday. Ah, the only thing great about St Wilfrid's field is that it's astro turf. Crikey, the field's a beaut. So I left St Wilfrid's and walked another 20-25 minutes to Shaw Plaza to grab some lunch and go home.

Reached home and helped Han Lin with some stuff for his PW, then just slacked, and slacked, and slacked. Gosh I did a lot of slacking. Oh and I was helping Jek to call the stadiums and fields to find out if there were any slots for Saturday. All came back nil. Goodness.

Anyway, I'm feeling much better today after resting my neck. Hopefully, it'll get better soon and we'll get a field for soccer tomorrow. Fingers crossed.

-joshie

Just because.

2007-04-02T20:58:00.000+08:00

This is Valkyries at the Esplanade watching Muse! Kinda notice how some members are never with us in the photo. Oh well. Valkyrians who want the pics from last night can ask me for them! Mostly Melodie camwhoring though.

Hanging out with Valkyries is probably the most fun out of most other groups I've gone out with. They're all just a bunch of fun loving people who, like me, are often incapable of being serious. It seemed that way yesterday at least, when we went out yesterday before the annual ACJC concert Muse.

We agreed to meet up at City Hall MRT Station at 2pm (or 1.59 as Yufei said). Predictably yet unfortunately, only one great timekeeping fellow was on time, and that fellow is Ji Xiong. In fact, he was early. I was a very measely 3 minutes late, and well Ling was there same time I was. The rest came quite a fair bit later, and we devastatingly waited another 20 odd minutes for the rest to come before we boldly set off into the vast unknown.

So the many of us went off together toward Marina Square. We really didn't do much there, but since we were hungry, we went to KFC to eat first. Just sat and chat for a while before deciding to go upstairs to 'shoot some stick'. We soon found out that none of us are really that good at pool, except Leonard. He just swept all competition away, though I did win a game against SK against all odds. I felt rather unfortunate though as I kept missing straight and easy shots. Darn.

Sort of planned to have dinner together so we wanted to go to Swensen's for a good time. We went the wrong way though, so we decided to have Subway instead. However, hunger had not yet gripped my stomach in its deadly fist, so I only had a 6-inch sub. Joel joined us a little later too. Heh, good fun.

We walked over to Esplanade and sat along the river before we went into the theatre to watch the concert. The concert itself was really good. The guest bands were good, and the ACJC band itself was great. No matter what you say though, my favourite part was the performance of a medley of songs from the Phantom of the Opera. I loved that part especially. I was so looking forward to that part.

Today was boring beyond words so I shan't elaborate. My days now only last about 10 to 12 hours. Oh man, my life is sad.

-joshie

Happy April Fools' Day everybody!

2007-04-01T11:11:00.000+08:00

I thought it's about time I put up some pictures on my posts to make my blog a little more interesting. Humans can evolve? Definitely! Okay I know this is some wacky Heros reference, but my bro was telling me about Heros last night and saying how cool it is and everything, and I only got to sleep at 1:40am after I smacked him upside the head with a cucumber and told him to sleep. Good move Josh. Got home pretty late last night too, which kinda sealed my fate. Yes you guessed it, I missed church again today. Such a genius. Why do I keep doing this to myself!

Here we go, Reporting from the Ukulele Zai Jian [Bye Bye] Concert, Joshua Tan!
Disclaimer: Yes, the name of the group is spelt Ukulele. U-K-U-L-E-L-E.

We arrived rather early because Pap was being his usual if-we-go-late-we-can't-find-a-parking-lot self so we easily found a parking lot. Yay for Pap! Just for the benefit of everyone, the concert was at Expo. Yes, Singapore Expo.

We had some nice dinner (I just drank watermelon juice and some Coke Light because Pap couldn't finish) at the Select Foodcourt there. Food's not fantastic, but I'm not a food critic here, I'm not wearing the right pants.

The concert reminded me of a Fei Yu Chin concert basically because of all the middle-aged people that attended. Pap pointed out that I was probably one of the youngest people there, and the other people must've thought 'What's this kid doing here sia..' in typical Singaporean kaypoh fashion. Well, at least compared to everyone else I was young. -Except for that 4 year old girl sitting 7 seats away.- Go ahead, shatter my miserable dreams. Lol.

The concert was actually pretty good, despite its dismal venue. Basically when you're sitting in Singapore Expo Hall 1 waiting for the show to begin (and it started 20 mins late), you start noticing your warehouse-like surroundings and start to wonder to yourself 'I paid 100 bucks a seat for this?' Then again, there isn't much to see at the indoor stadium either.

When the dynamic duo came onto the stage, the 20,000 strong crowd gave a roaring cheer. I, not knowing the group so well, sat in my seat wondering what happened. It was pretty apparent that they had come on stage though, and the concert was well worth waiting an extra 20 minutes for. The backdrop reminded me a litle of Vivocity though, with it's different shapes and blue back lighting. Ukulele, made up of now-solo artiste Lin Zhi Xuan and Li Ji, made some 20,000 fans very happy by singing all their famous songs, and (typically) leaving the best song for the encore. The concert wasn't as stoned as I predicted it would be.

*imagine just sitting in your seat listening to music and not doing anything else.*

Instead, it was very interactive. At one point, we were coerced into taking out our handphones and waving them with the light on to simulate an electric powered night sky. Even the usually-unspontaneous Mum took out her phone and sang along to some of the songs she knew. All in all, this concert reminds me how much adults need to relive their childhood and gain some joy in the 150km/h society that we live in.

Einstein and Aristotle had another little tustle yesterday. It happened once again after supermaid instincts kicked in and I had put out the clothes to dry. This time, the sun lasted longer.

I had put out the clothes for a while now, and was already on to ironing. It was about 3+ at that time, and I remember I was watching Crash of the Century on Discovery Channel (that was the only good thing on). The show is about a huge plane crash in the late 70s between a KLM B-747 and a Pan Am B-747 at a small airport on the Spanish island of Tenerife, in the Canaries (At this point, take a panadol to cure that headache caused by this long sentence). Anyway, the show isn't important.

The sky turned an annoying shade of grey again anyway, and I was contemplating taking the clothes in. They were already semi-dry at this point. Sticking to their points once again, Einstein suggested I take them in asap to prevent the rain from getting to them. Aristotle told me to wait for the rain, as it wasn't certain that the rain would come. At this juncture, I left the clothes outside first for a while.

Einstein 0, Aristotle 1

After Pap came home with my lunch, there was a booming thunder. I took Einstein's advice and took in the clothes.

Einstein 1, Aristotle 1

I realise now though, that it didn't actually rain yesterday. As a result, I could've left the clothes out, and it wouldn't have mattered because there wasn't any rain anyway. I think they're dry now though. Good stuff.

Final Score:
Einstein 1, Aristotle 2

*commentators J and J2*
J: Wow J2, a sneak victory by Aristotle! He shoots, he scores! What are your thoughts?
J2: Yes J, wonderful teamwork by Aristotle to clinch the victory here today. The coach must be very proud.
J: Thanks for that J2, well Aristotle claims a well deserved 3 points here today against Einstein. This is J and J2 reporting live from 20 Pegu Road. Back to you at the studio.

Hm, that was quite an interesting post. Was trying to keep up the randomness of my blog.
Disclaimer: 3 points is the amount you get after you win a soccer match, 20 Pegu Road is my address, J and J2 are imaginary characters. What a crazy imagination this kid has.

Anyway,
When there's something strange in the neighbourhood, who you gonna call?
GHOSTBUSTERS!

-joshie

When Achilles went into the Trojan War, he wanted to be remembered. All we remember now is his heel.

2007-03-30T23:20:00.000+08:00

We brave the sun and the rain to give you what you need. Haha, sounds like FedEx. Maybe they should use that line in their next advertisement, and perhaps give me some commission. Heh.
It is regrettable that I woke up at 11am this fine Friday morning (okay maybe not). After much putting off and many counts of looking at the clock, I (finally) decided to pull my slightly groggy self off the bed that I love. Thank God it's Friday? Hm, everyday's just like Friday to me.

Remembering Mum's notice, I hung out the sausages to sun again this morning. Mum informs me that it's to keep them from turning mouldy, but somehow I don't find 8 sausages dangling from a clothes line even remotely appealing (but that's just me).

Around 12, supermaid instincts kicked in once again, and I hung the wet clothes I just washed out to dry in the scorching March 30th 2007 sun. Alright, there wasn't much of a sun today.

While putting out the articles of damp clothing, I noticed the sky had turned a slightly annoying shade of grey. For once, it wasn't the angel and the devil who fought for control in my mind. Instead, it was between Albert Einstein and Aristotle.

*Imagine a guy with really frizzy grey hair, and a guy in a toga debating, with my head separating the two of them*

Albert argued that it would be smarter to stop what I was doing and pull whatever I had put outside in to throw into the dryer. Aristotle insisted that I should just continue doing what I was doing and take everything in later when it actually did rain.

I'm glad I listened to Albert because just after I chucked all the damp clothes into the dryer (and rescued the sausages), it started to rain.

Einstein 1, Aristotle 0

I closed the sliding glass doors and sat rather satisfied in front of the television while it started to rain more and more heavily. I got into my room to use the computer as well. Meanwhile, I got a call from Keef.

Keef: Hey dude, are you free now?
Me: Yeah, why?
Keef: Can you call me?
Me: Yeah okay.

So I did call him and we chatted for a good 17 minutes about the joys of waiting. He graciously accompanied his girlfriend Joanne to Singapore Polytechnic to claim her Tertiary Education EZ-link card. What a sport. By the time he called me, he was bored out of his wits and had been sitting at the SP canteen for more than an hour (or maybe he was just exaggerating). So he started talking to me about my academic calender, and just as it was turning into a good moment for old buddies to catch up, Joanne showed up and shattered my miserable dreams. Oh bother.

I got bored and went outside to watch TV again, Discovery Channel no less. It seemed sunny, so once again, I hung the sausages out just like Mummy wanted. After no longer than half an hour, the sky once again turned a slightly annoying shade of grey. Aristotle, slightly fuming after his loss to the German powerhouse Albert Einstein, once again suggested that I should wait for the rain to come before rescuing all the precious sausages. Albert on the other hand, said once more that I should take them in before the rain comes.

I stood behind my chair for a good 5 minutes before deciding once again to support German ingenuity. History repeats itself, as they often say (whoever they are), and it certainly did here. Once I took in all the sausages and placed them into the fridge with tender loving care, it started to pour.

Einstein 2, Aristotle 0

After it finally stopped raining, I embarked on a quest with my sexy baby blue umbrella to face the elements (okay, okay, I was just going out for lunch). I reckoned that I needed some good quality refuelling after that mental battle, so I leisurely took a bus down to Burger King at Novena Square to munch down.
Burger King, the food of champions.
Armed with my trusty umbrella of no escape, I took a bus back home. It seemed I was indestructable. At least for today.

Haha, that was a rather amusing post wouldn't you say? Perhaps the most whimsical one I've done in a while. If Albert Einstein and Aristotle knew what I was doing, they'd probably jump out of their graves and sue me for using their great names to argue such a trivial matter.

My answer therefore would be, "Well, it seemed funny at the time."

-joshie

Fix me in 45.

2007-03-29T22:33:00.000+08:00

Boo, it rained today. That meant laundry couldn't dry, and I had to rush out into the rain to get the clothes, and more importantly, the sausages Mum were sunning (I grabbed them first). Those things were so troublesome. I hope they didn't leave the smell of sausage on the clothes I washed. Ugh.

Taking this path of going to Poly doesn't really leave me in a good position to make conversation with my friends. It seems they're often doing homework and that simply underscores the fact that I'm currently not participating in the activities of an educational institution. Oh well, at least I do housework! Homework isn't everything!

I realise now that I'm going to tons of ACJC concerts, which is ironic considering my current circumstance. The first one that's coming up is ACJC Band's Muse concert on April Fools' Day. As it is, we're having a Valkyries reunion before the concert. Going to have dinner before the concert too. Ahh, good fun. It's a good opportunity to hang out with the OG again for the first time after O2. I'm rather looking forward to it.

Once again it is the eve of Friday. A little birdy told me I won't be doing anything remotely productive tomorrow. Instead, I'll spend the day watching out for rain while Mum's sausages bake in the afternoon sun, and go to sleep at 1am feeling rather restless. I shall end up tossing and turning in my bed while my brother lays fast asleep in the bed next to me, oblivious of what I'm going through. Oh, did I mention I woke up at 9am this morning?

-joshie

The vodka is good but the meat is rotten.

2007-03-27T16:47:00.000+08:00

I'm so happy that my school's starting soon. It's devastating to note that my life is becoming more and more routine, which as many of you might know, isn't exactly my style. Oh man, I probably have to play soccer more. This is definitely not my life in the long run. Only problem is, most of my friends are in JC. Oh bother, I should probably get a hobby. I wonder if ironing counts as a hobby.

It just had to rain today. Haha, not that it affected my laundry cycle that much, I just popped the wet clothes in the dryer to whizz away all that annoying moisture. It comes out warm and fuzzy too, heh. There's a sort of static charged layer around all the clothes too after you get them out of the dryer, just like on a TV screen after you turn it off.
Anyway, I've been doing quite a fair amount of ironing lately, because I'm sorta in charge of putting clothes of the backs of my family members. This important responsibility has enabled me to iron basically any piece of clothing I'm given. Yes, even the fragile satin blouses my Mum wears. Learning on the job, no?
I wouldn't exactly say I've done a lot though. I probably do some stuff here and there, but I won't say I have the drive to be a full time maid. Thankfully this is only a short stint. Soon, it'll be back to my studies!

Discovery Channel is a frequent sight on my living room TV. I really like watching Discovery Travel & Living because of the shows that they broadcast, especially the Jamie Oliver cooking shows, and Miami Ink. Still not going to get a tattoo though. I doubt my parents would let me anyway. Pain upsets me greatly.
Cabe's been playing bass quite a bit lately, and he's getting pretty good. Wonder if I'll be able to learn guitar as quickly. Heh, I doubt I'll be able to once term starts though. I intend to take my education seriously since Pap and Mum paid so much for it. It's only right that I do my best, become a great success and then use filial piety as an excuse to lavish my by then elderly parents with stuff I'd be able to afford. Ah, plans for the future.

Anyway, here's a question for all my dear readers. The word flour: is it pronounced 'flar' or 'flau-er'? If you'd like to give me an answer, you can tag my tagboard, and I'll put up the right answer let say.. in a week. I like this touch. It's about time my blog got more interactive.

-joshie

The man in the white plastic mask.

2007-03-25T18:34:00.000+08:00

Yes people, I watched the Phantom of the Opera today! It was awesome beyond words! I totally think Andrew Lloyd Webber is a genius now. He's just great. To be able to write and compose something as grand as that, I think that's worth praising.

I found myself waking up late this morning so I didn't go to church. I should really start sleeping earlier again on Saturday nights. I shouldn't start skipping church again. Bad boy. I shall sleep at 11pm next Saturday night! I'm resolved. Man, I didn't even hear my alarm ring this morning. Irritating.
I finally got up around 10:40 and went outside to read newspaper. Nothing really special today, though they did an article on the "crab pricks old guy's finger, old guy gets rare virus, old guy dies" story. This virus seems pretty scary (well it's a flesh eating virus, go figure), and I feel quite sad for the guy who got pricked by the crab (get this) on his finger. Now that's just unfortunate. Moral of the story: if you want to eat crab, don't prepare it yourself. Go to a restaurant. Sure, you might lose that wonderful home-cooked flavour that comes with self-preparation, but at least you'll keep your life! I'm sure that's some consolation (self-flagellating emos please don't answer).

I finally got down to installing the Final Cut Express HD software that I got free with my MacBook (okay, I know I only got it yesterday). It took surprisingly long to install, though I probably should've expected it when I saw the number of discs needed to install the programme fully. I did most of it before I left for Phantom, but couldn't quite complete it so I left my MacBook on and left the house. Oh and did I mention, I got my MSN to work today? I'm so pleased.

Phantom of the Opera was really great. Words can't really express how much I enjoyed the whole thing. As Pap aptly pointed out, the story is rather silly. The plus point of the musical is that the songs are so haunting (Pap's word, not mine). The songs make you wanna sing along, or even if you don't know the words, simply hum along. Simply put, they're beautiful. The melodies and the words fuse together so exquisitely. It was really an enriching experience to watch Phantom. It just makes me appreciate the arts so much more. Haha, I'm really gonna enjoy musicals much more in future.

We had dinner at Thai Express after watching Phantom. It was still very early because we caught the 2pm matinee show and didn't really have time to eat before the show. We pigged out at Thai Express and called quite a bit of food. Even had dessert. Food was good, and at least we weren't hungry anymore.

All in all, i'd say this weekend's been very good. At least I got my MacBook, and I watched Phantom. In fact, the whole week's been very good. What with soccer and buying my MacBook (which I named Kate by the way, Kate for Kate Beckingsale) and watching Phantom of the Opera. Heh, one more thing to cancel off my list! Oh and I'm watching another concert on the 31st of March. It's this chinese singing duo that has quite a nice sound, and I'm pretty looking forward to watching the concert. Nothing will be as good as Phantom though. Oh, poo.

-joshie

It just takes a little getting used to... right?

2007-03-24T18:26:00.000+08:00

Okay folks, I've gotten my hands on the MacBook and I must say it looks really good. It's pristine white, and all the features are clean and neat, just the way I like it. I have to say though, that I'm undeniably very used to the Windows operating system. So, I'll have to take a while to get used to the Mac OS X system. It's all pretty much looking up though! And did I mention, it looks good?

This morning, I was almost desperately trying to make time go faster so I could get my hands on this baby. I eventually got off the bed at around 10, and couldn't help notice how sunny it was. So, I threw some laundry in the washing mashine, and started ironing whatever I could (proud to say, Cabe's set for school until Tuesday).
Pap came home quite early (around 11+) so we set off earlier. We went to Novena Square to have some brunch. Pap went to make some new specs too because he started having a little bit of blur vision. After testing, he was told that the degree of one eye actually DROPPED. Yes people, you read right! Anyway, he picked out a new frame, and got some discount seeing as how his specs are so expensive anyway.

We headed straight for NP after that. There was a little bit of a traffic jam along the expressway, but that's not unusual for a Saturday afternoon I reckon. We had some trouble finding parking, but after we were directed by this nice guard at the NP convention centre, we got a spot easily.
Walked over from the car park and took the lift up to the main area. I saw the booth for Film and Media Studies so I jumped at the chance to sign up for the camp. Heh.
Pap realized he didn't take his cheque book along, so he went back to the car to get it while I went into the exhibition area to look at the MacBooks on display. I didn't really explore there much as I already had one in mind, and didn't need any explanation from the dude at the display area either. I just checked out the MacBook and filled up the order form while I waited for Pap to return. The dude brought us to the collection and payment room after Pap arrived.

I think we were the only ones paying by cheque since the laptop was over $2K and the limit for Nets per day is only 2K. After quite a bit of waiting, we (or should I say I) finally got our hands on the MacBook and left NP for home. Pap dropped me at home before going out to run some errands, and I carried the MacBook box, with this plastic bag full of stuff upstairs. They gave me this laptop bag, this movie making programme and some wire that I apparently need. I was informed of a Mac training on the 12th of April too. Judging from my first-time handling of my new MacBook, I reckon I need it. We're all so used to using Windows that we become inflexible and adjusting to Mac becomes difficult (even for me!). The most major complaint that I have of my Mac though, is that I can't seem to find a way to sign in to MSN. I reckon I'll need to sort that out soon, or I'll have to keep switching between my Compaq and my MacBook. Inconvenient, that. I also can't seem to install things I download off the net, including the upgrade for the MSN already installed in my MacBook, and the Firefox web browser I downloaded.
The small screen also makes all the words very small. Website fonts also become really tiny. Mm, not good at all for Pap.

I think this was a good investment though. However, I must say that unless you're an adventurous computer user, you would rather stick to Windows because everyone's been using it, and it seems much easier to use (but that's because I'm used to Windows).

-joshie

I'm not stupid. I just need to apply myself.

2007-03-22T18:38:00.000+08:00

Plopped like a huge sack of bricks after coming home from soccer yesterday and so, didn't feel like blogging. I did however, find the energy to take a shower and bathe. I took my weight yesterday, and BAM! found out that I lost 3kg! Yes ladies and gentlemen, I kid you not! I now weigh a very sexy 73kg!

I can see the look on your faces now, one of disbelief and gobsmacked-ness. I was pretty shocked too. I mean, yeah I played soccer for 4 hours, but 3kg? that's just madness. That's like 3/4 of a kilo per hour! Now THAT is just plain sexy.

Anyway, more about soccer. We told the guys 4pm, but hardly anyone was there at 4. No matter anyway, some people were having netball training, or some jazz like that. They ended around 5, and we quickly took the court. Bing came shortly after. By then, it was only SK, me, S'rooms and Bing. We couldn't really play though because it was only 4 of us. Took some shots at the open goal, but didn't really play much.
This ang moh kid came a little while after we did, and started taking shots at the goal. His friend came along after a while too. Bing and SK then went to get drinks. We got 'challenged' to a game, and we agreed but only played after the ang moh kid's other friend came, Andrew Lee came and Bing and SK came back with the drinks.

I must say we were all playing pretty weakly. Bing was on their team, and even though they were outnumbered, we still got whupped. I came so close to scoring on so many occasions but kept hitting the post. Man, how unlucky!
Leong came a while after, and we started playing with these older guys who are really really good. Ian Chew came after a while too. The older guys' friends started coming too, and that's where our friends started leaving. S'rooms and Andrew left first, followed by Leong. SK, me, Bing and Ian stayed until about 8 when we left for home. My muscles were exhausted and my whole body stiff by that time. Didn't even bother to change. Merely bought a drink and slow walked my way to the bus stop, which by the way, was crowded with CJC people after their Track and Field training.

I woke up somewhere around 11 this morning after hitting the sack at around 10 last night. Sheryne called me to tell me she'll arrive at 2.30pm. She smsed me a couple of days back asking if she could drop by to 'sample' some of the food we have here at Balestier. She's in CJ by the way.
So anyway, I did some housework first, along with some cleaning up of the house to make it look presentable and what not. Watched quite a bit of TV and came online for a bit before leaving to go find Sheryne. Turns out she stopped one stop too late, and ended up in Whompoa.

So I went to redeem her from her treacherous surroundings, and brought her to the temporary Whompoa Food Market for some grub (the food kind, not the worm kind). Had some nice fishball noodles before heading to my place.
She wanted to print some things that she has to print by tomorrow, but the documents had so many pages I couldn't let her print. Lecture notes are so thick. She gave up on trying to print stuff, and is just going to print tomorrow in school.
We talked quite a bit, and then she left for home. We went to the corner to eat popiah, which I insisted she eat before she left Balestier. We then went to the bus stop and she made me buy some Catholic Welfare Draw ticket from her.

I bought some popiah back for Cabe. Pap also called back to say he wasn't coming home for dinner, so we had pizza today. Bought this new meatball pizza thing this time, which really wasn't half bad. Oh and I realised we actually had popiah left over from yesterday when I wasn't home until quite late. Oh well.
I found out I'm watching Phantom Of The Opera this Sunday. It's gonna be a blast!

-joshie

A new look for a new chapter in life.

2007-03-20T14:48:00.000+08:00

Finally got the motivation to change my plain blog layout into a nicer, more fulfilling one. I thought this was pretty cute so I decided to use it. Not that my other blog skin wasn't nice, and I still thank Adeline for helping me with that one.
Once again, this one is in white, with some black here and there. Had to make a few adjustments as its size and stuff didn't really suit my style. Spent quite a substantial amount of time getting it just right. Oh, the perfectionist that I am (when it comes to things I actually care about).

Moving on from that, I finally sent my first letter back to NP. Yep, I sent back the Form E together with my photo this morning, making it my first step to enrolling successfully in the institution of learning. At last I can say I know what I'm supposed to do from now on regarding mailing back of forms and everything. Can really say I'm embarking on a new journey, eh?

Staying at home has made me realise... I'm really good at ironing! Anyway that's pretty much what I've been doing most of the time at home the past few days. I've done a little vacuuming too, and intend to continue later today. But first, lunch calls my name and I should head out right after posting this.
I've been watching quite a lot of TV too because of the ironing. I like a little entertainment as I push and pull that hot iron across the various surfaces and materials. It makes life a tad more interesting, though there really isn't a great host of shows for my viewing pleasure during the afternoon. I reckon they think most people are at work or in school. (BUT WHAT ABOUT ME?!)

I'm really looking forward to Saturday because that's possibly the day I'll get my MacBook. Pap's going to bring me down to get it from poly either on Saturday or Monday. Either way, I'll (try to) be patient and wait for the days to come. They're only 2 days apart anyway.
Oh, I'll be playing soccer at CCAB with some old friends tomorrow at 4pm. It'll be a good opportunity to get out into the sun and get some exercise (something I greatly need). Good chance to catch up with some Barker buddies as well, and find out how they're doing and where they're going. It should be good fun. Soccer's pretty much the only sport I play anyway, which is actually pretty sad (though I do swim).

I hope all of you like my new layout. Oh and thanks to all the people who have read my blog right from the beginning. Your patronage is really appreciated (though you don't pay me to read my blog, which you should!)

-joshie

Hidden agenda.

2007-03-18T14:49:00.000+08:00

Now that I'm over my depression (momentarily anyway), I can happily say that I got my course package yesterday. I was a little impatient regarding the course package because I'm generally excited by new things and things arriving in the mail. I got 3 letters in total, small, A4 size and one of those huge brown envelopes with the looping string secure mechanism. So official.

I opened the smallest letter first, and it was basically a letter from Ngee Ann's School of Film & Media Studies which my course is under, sort of like my faculty. It just congratulated me on 'winning' a place in quote "Singapore's foremost Film and Media School." I'm going for the orientation camp too from 9-11 Apr, before term officially starts. There's going to be quite a few events happening too, like some induction day and the poly laptop convention thing.

I opened the A4 sized letter next (notice a pattern here?). It had all the info on the laptop purchases and stuff, but since I already own a laptop, I didn't spend too much time looking at it, until I saw a vital piece of information.

"Students enrolled in Mass Communication, Film Sound & Video, Digital Visual Effects, Multimedia & Animation and Audio-Visual Technology are required to own Apple Notebook Computers."

The first thought that crossed my mind went something like this: "OH MAN THIS IS SO COOL!"
The second thought that crossed my mind went something like this: "OH NO! PAP AND MUM AREN'T GONNA LIKE THIS."
Third thought: "WHATEVER LAH! I'M GETTING A MACBOOK! WHOO!"

Pap took it quite well, Mum not as well, but I'm still going to get one. My school fees per semester are pretty crazy as well. For the first semester, I'm paying $1162.30 as listed in my enrolment package. There are also a whole bunch of forms that I have to fill out and mail back to NP within the stipulated time frame. I didn't really care though, all I could think of was MACBOOK. I opened my course package numerous times after that to look at the Apple brochure. I also went online to take a look at the pictures. My conclusion: IT'S SO SEXY!

I won't get it yet though. I'm intending on going for the laptop convention thing which is about a week and a half from now. Probably will order it online though, but I'd like to see it in the flesh (or metal if you'd like). That's my main motivation right now, but I do like the course modules that I'll be undertaking during my 3 years. You can click on this handy link to take a look at some of the wonderful things I'll be doing.

Positive outlook at poly life now? Most definitely. Oh and I'd recommend reading today's Straits' Times, Gen Y regarding JC potentials choosing poly. It's a good read, though my comments wouldn't be as extreme as to say 'tough luck', but then again, I think it really is tough luck. Only problem is, what am I going to do with the spare laptop?

-joshie

Regretting a big change?

2007-03-16T23:07:00.000+08:00

The same feeling overtakes me again. The last time I felt this was in P6 when I dropped from 5D to 6B. Ugh, I hate this feeling.

I'm sort of beginning to regret going to poly. I wish again that I had done well enough to get into AC, then I would've been able to share the joy that my friends feel, instead of having to stand by the sidelines watching, though I bet many of them won't notice I'm gone. Familiar feelings. Just wish people didn't look down on me for being second grade.

Before this post, I had a whole plan of what I was going to write, but I find that plan gone right now. I honestly don't know what to say.
Once again, I'm second-class. I wish for once, I got what I planned to get. I'm sure people won't even give a hoot about what I'm typing at this very point in time. They'll just tell me to stop being emo. They'll probably laugh about it later. But I won't. Not even a smile.

Here's to the most depressing post I've done in a while,
-joshie

Lying idle.

2007-03-15T11:54:00.000+08:00

As I expected, I didn't get the call from ACJC, which means I'm destined for poly, heh. Either way, I've been having some great fun the past few days.

On Tuesday, I went out with Ji Xiong, Ling and Han Lin. We met at Orchard MRT, and went to Cine to play some pool. It was fun while it lasted, even though Han Lin was the best player among us. It was fun though, and maybe we could play more often.
We left around 2, and took a train down to Clarke Quay. Went to Settlers Cafe to eat and play some games. For all of you who don't know, Settlers is a place where they serve food, and you can play board games and card games there. We ordered our food, and we got this package where we get a free flow of drinks. We played Cash Flow first, which is sort of like The Game Of Life, but with a bit of a twist. We played Bang! next, and Citadels after. Had a really good time there, and we pretty much agreed to do that again, except at Holland V where there's another outlet. Really cool franchise in my opinion.

Yesterday, I went out to Plaza Sing to watch Letters From Iwo Jima with Yam, Adrielch and Kai Jun. Left home rather early, and met Yam at the ticket booth. We bought the tickets first, and went to get some food to snack on. We bought Ji Dan Zai from the Kopitiam, and we bought octopus balls at B2. Met up with Adriel and Kai Jun, and went back up to catch the movie.
The movie was quite good I feel. If you're sort of into the whole war movie with a deeper meaning type thing, I reckon you'll enjoy it too. Pretty gory at some parts, though not exactly blood and guts. It was more of blood gushing from various body parts.
We went to the Kopitiam to have dinner, and then walked around before deciding to go to Starbucks for a cuppa. I didn't order anything, though I took a few sips from Yam's cup. We sat and chatted all the way to 10.30pm when we decided it was a good time to leave. Reached home at around 11.15pm, and slept earlier because I wasn't feeling well.

I'm still not feeling very good at the moment, but I guess I'm quite okay. Nobody's at home now with me, but I think I should go out for lunch soon. Did a little bit of housework this morning, but I stopped because I had a headache. I don't really like doing nothing. Work keeps me occupied and stops me from thinking too much.
Anyway, I'm going for my 4A4 reunion dinner at The Village at Heeren tonight. Not sure how many people will be turning up, but I'm quite sure it'll be a good time (and an expensive time too). Quite looking forward to seeing the guys again. Oh, and Eric Loh will be going. Never pass up a good meal eh? Maybe it's a good time to start camwhoring again. My cam's been lying idle too.

-joshie

The whole idea of doing well.

2007-03-12T14:43:00.000+08:00

I refer to the article 'Average students losing out as JC-qualified kids head for polys' in today's edition of The Straits Times Home Section page H3.
I'm sure everyone can tell from the headline that the article is basically about people who can get into JC opting for the poly option instead. According to the person interviewed in the article, this is, quote "not fair... because while the higher scorers can choose to get into polytechnic, the average student cannot get into junior college."

Okay, given people who do well traditionally go to JC. Okay, given JC's the well trodden path. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't having more options the whole idea of doing well? People like to have a wide array of choices to choose from. Furthermore, people have to do even better if they have only one choice they fancy, so as to ensure they get into the institution/course of their choice. So is it wrong for people who qualify for JC to choose poly instead? I think not.

The example cited in the article is the Mass Communication course in Ngee Ann Polytechnic. According to the article, the cut off for mass comm this year was 11, as compared to 13 last year. Now if you recall, that's the course I was posted to.
I don't deny that I was one of those who could make it to JC. I don't deny that I consciously chose to go to mass comm, and I probably took some poor person's place as a result.
All I have to say is, that was one of the options open to me, and I had every right to take it. There's absolutely nothing to say that since I could qualify for a JC, I should definitely apply to one. That's just preposterous.

I'm not trying to be elitist because I've never been an elite. On the other hand, I think I should be able to make full use of my choices as they're laid in front of me. That is the privilege of doing well. For instance, if someone who gets 6 points for O's chooses go to to a poly, I'm sure that poly will welcome him or her with open arms, rather than saying 'No, you have to go to JC instead.' Same principle here. Truth is, most people are pragmatic and they want results.

All in all, that is the way society is. It's a society where the fittest survive. My dad didn't grumble about people who got 6 points and chose to stay in ACJC instead of going to RJ, depriving me of a place in AC in the process. It's always going to be a dog-eat-dog world, and we should all stop harping on it because it's not going to change. Instead, take this timely advice: make use of your own options and make something out of your life instead of staying sore about not going to some college or some poly. It's not unfair. Life's a bitch sometimes and as soon as you learn to deal with it, the better.

I will say though, that I did do well enough to make it to both JC and poly, and I chose to go to poly in the end. If somebody wants to tell me where I should go and what I should do, well he or she can just go fly kite.

-joshie

We're all a part of a great big family.

2007-03-10T11:26:00.001+08:00

Perhaps people would question why I went for Orientation 2 since I'm technically not in ACJC. Fact is, people don't really understand why we (meaning ACS people) love our school so much. To be honest, when we talk about the AC spirit it's not just talk. We can't fully explain the way we feel, but I'm grateful to have been an ACS boy for 10 years. There's just something about ACS that makes you feel like you belong. I was talking to Shaun yesterday, and we both agreed that once you join the ACS family, you really join a family. That's why orientation in AC is so important. If there's no spirit, there's no ACS. It's not just a school where you come in and go out without feeling anything. Even 1 term in AC can make a difference in your life.

Despite our OG being slightly dismembered, this 2nd orientation was really very very fun. We had 8 new members this time round, with 3 people (me, Chin Keat and Sheryne) crashing. Not all the new members came for orientation though, which was a little upsetting.
The whole orientation started off well. Surprisingly, many others crashed along with me, which made the experience much more fulfilling. On a side note, less than 10 Barker boys made it back on merit.

On Thurs, I went to school and sat with my class. I got a message from my form teacher, Mrs Sui, saying that she wishes me all the best and that I should be happy wherever I go (Note: I was at AC at that time). When she arrived at the hall, I waved and said 'Hi madam! I got your message!'

I wasn't intending on being OGA actually, because Weijian said it'd attract too much attention to me (because I crashed). Regardless, I still went up during mass rally with Yin Ling and SK to be core group with the other OGLs. Well, they said if we wanted to go up we could, so I went along =D

Didn't really get that dirty on Thurs. Merely got soapy at worst. We were on quite a winning streak too. Won 3, Lost 1. That lost was quite unfortunate, but we had never played that game before. I'm also proud to say we won all the games we lost in during the first orientation. Heh, new people make a difference!
We headed to lunch after playing. It's strange to note that despite the change in people, we still split girls-guys. Perhaps it's something we should work out, but I guess Valkyries is just quirky that way.

Started dancing after lunch. Oh we taught them the school song too.
We split up girls-guys again for the singles dance. The girls learnt faster, though I must say the guys did quite well. We then partnered up for the couples' dance. Some of them weren't very good learners, but I reckoned they all just needed some practice just like us when we first learnt the dance. At least we finished the entire dance before the day ended. After all, we still had another day to shake our booties senseless!

Yesterday was rather slackish because we really didn't do much. In the morning, assembly was annotated with the principal, Mrs Kelvyna Chan's report on the A's results, and the VP, Mr Joel Mak's presentation regarding the Centre for Performing Arts (CPA). Those 2 took up quite a substantial part of the day, and we had to cut short mass rally in order to fit in the rest of the activities planned for the day. They cut out clan rebuttals :(

We started off with dancing. I was glad to see that most of them could catch the dance with the music, and those that weren't so okay clarified and got the hang of it.
Had a quick breakfast after that, and then went to play games. We didn't really play many games, but we played this starch frisbee game. I got starchy all over, and even got some in my hair. It solidified afterwards, and I had quite a hard time getting all the white, dandruff-looking flakes out of my hair. We lost that starch game though.
We played the water bomb captain's ball game that we lost last time round. This time, we won hands down, though we didn't get any water splashed on us as a forfeit to the other team. Threw plenty of water bombs at each other though, and I did get pretty wet from the water bomb sittings.

Went for one last mass rally before cleaning up and heading to West Mall for Sakae Sushi. We were a little later than our booked timing, but our seats were still empty so we took them. Really really overate. That's the problem with buffets, but oh well, our money was well spent! Took a whole lot of photos too, and Weijian and Melodie came with us. We had to leave all too soon to head back to school because we were late. It wasn't so bad though, because other OGs were also as late, or later than us.
Dumped our bags in the hall, then headed to the basketball courts for campfire.

The campfire this time was pretty entertaining as well. Not as boring as last time because the programme was more compact and ended earlier too. We reckoned they didn't want us to miss the public transport.
Before we knew it, we were dancing again. Danced quite a few times too, with different people, and even just by myself once. Ran around the basketball courts quite a bit. We decided to leave the courts around 9.30, and gathered in the hall one last time to do one last Valkyries trademark cheer.

I've been really blessed to meet this bunch of fun loving people. Valkyries is the best OG ever, and I wouldn't have liked to have any other OG. No matter where we all go, we'll still be one Valkyries forever.
Here's to all the people in Valkyires,
Tiffany, Hope, Chloe, Clarissa, Wan Qi, Justine, Kelly, Chanel, Nicole, Yin Ling, Sheryne, Wei Xin, Wei Xiang, Yufei, Mingle, Chin Keat, SK, Shaun, Joel, Melodie, Weijian, Kai, Ning, Seng Chuan, Ji Xiong, Teck Yang, Leonard, Chye Aik, Tanvi, and Shu Wen (though we didn't meet you).

And In the immortal words of Weijian, the sexiest man alive,

WHO ARE WHO ARE WHO ARE WE?
WE ARE VALKYRIES!
(hit chest twice with fist and place a V-shaped sign on lips, lifting hand sign up in the air)

-joshie

Red Blue Gold no more.

2007-03-06T21:01:00.000+08:00

We got a day off today because the JAE posting came out today. I got posted to Ngee Ann Poly's Mass Communication course, but I'm going to appeal into ACJC. Hopefully, my appeal will be successful. However, I won't be too upset if I eventually don't make it back to AC. I just hope I can.

I went to appeal today, but didn't have some important documents. As a result, I couldn't appeal today, and will be going down again tomorrow. I suppose I've gotta go early since many people have already appealed today. Perhaps my appeal won't be accepted, but then I wouldn't be able to say that I didn't try. Moreover, so many others want me to return to AC.

Met San at Orchard MRT at 2.15pm. We first went to Paragon where she tried to submit her piano exam form, but realised her cheque was for the wrong amount. Also drifted into Crumpler time and again to see some stuff. They've got some new limited edition Crumplers that look pretty awesome, but I probably can't get any of them (LOL).
We then went to Heeren, but left shortly after to go to Plaza Sing to eat lunch. We walked around there for a while, before Sarah K joined us. We went to Park Mall for Sarah K's dental appointment, then went to Junction 8.
Ran into David Woon at J8. We chatted a little bit, before he left and I went somewhere else. Got a drink from NTUC before leaving. San and Sarah K went for their tuition.

I'm going to ACJC again tomorrow to try to appeal my way back to ACJC. After that, perhaps I'll go support Joanne in her singing audition thing. As of now, I think I'll be happy whether or not I end up in AC. Oh man, I'll have to wake up early tomorrow.

-joshie

Sweeping weekend.

2007-03-04T20:31:00.000+08:00

Friday

Went to Adeline's party on Friday. It's technically almost a month late, but she's been busy so I went nonetheless.
Transport was difficult because it was raining the entire day. Rained cats and dogs just before I left. Was still raining when I left home too, unfortunately. I took a bus down to Novena Square to get some stuff for the party. I dropped by Cold Storage to pick up some Kinder Bueno and a pack of cards but couldn't find the cards so I settled for the Kinder. While there, I picked up a sunflower for Adeline too. Heh Heh.

I walked over to the 7-11 at United Square to get the cards. On the way, ran into Jon Heng. He said he was heading back to college but had a pack of cards on him (isn't that coincidental!). So I borrowed his cards, and left for the party. Returning them on Monday.

The train ride was pretty boring, not to mention the train was way crowded. It got pretty empty after a while though, and I got so engrossed with playing PSP that I missed a stop and had to take a train back to Tanah Merah where I got off.
Planned to take a cab to NSRCC where the party was, but I couldn't get a cab until about 7.30pm when I finally hopped on a cab to take a $7.50 ride to the club in the middle of nowhere. I met Adeline there, and after a while, this guy called Fukuan.

Truth be told, we really didn't do much at the party. Spent quite a bit of time eating compared to other things. We also watched some TV and played daidee. Only a couple of rounds before they started watching the 9pm Channel 8 show. Don't see what's so great about it though.
After a while, they all started leaving to go on walks so I changed the channel to watch soccer. It was a repeated telecast of the Blackburn v Arsenal match where Blackburn won 1-0. It was pretty uninteresting to say the least.

We hung out a little bit more before Fukuan and I had to leave. We left the rest at the clubhouse and we went to take the shuttle bus that dropped us at Tanah Merah MRT. Took a train home and crashed around 12.

Saturday

I really didn't do much on Sat. Pretty much slacked the entire day. I woke up rather late cos I slept later than usual on Friday night after the party.
There wasn't much to read in the paper, though I did glance through to read about the A's results. Seems like people generally did well this year. My future beckons.

All in all, a pretty slack-erific day. Did a little bit of Chem though.

Sunday

Went to church today (as usual). It was pretty cool. We celebrated March birthdays today. Got to eat some Bengawan Solo mango cake. Yummy.
Seth wasn't in church today though.

I waited for Jon to make up his mind about going to Newton to take a bus, and left after he said he wasn't going. After I reached home, found Pap watching TV and Mum doing some work. I heated up some Macs breakfast and ate that. Went to United Square to get some lunch with Pap at around 2.30. Finished by 3 and came home full.

Pretty much spent the next few hours chatting online and watching TV. I love having a laptop. Did a little bit of ironing too, not regretted. Went out to buy dinner with Pap, and then came home after. Didn't eat much for dinner though, was still full from the late lunch.

I hate that my weekends are so aimlessly spent. I probably should find some fruitful things to do. Oh well, gotta think about that soon.
I've got another long day tomorrow because I've got OGA meeting again. I suppose we'll be doing the cheers and dancing again, why am I not surprised? Anyway, Yin Ling's taken over from Kelly so she could use some training. I don't mind the extra activity anyway, I can't be left alone with my thoughts and my imagination. It's simply not healthy.

-joshie

Happy birthday to ACS!

2007-03-01T20:50:00.000+08:00

It's been 121 years since ACS was founded in that small shop house at 70 Amoy Street with 13 students.

HOLD UP! Why the history lesson? Oh! It's Founder's Day! (okay lame)

I don't really like celebrating Founders' Day because honestly, it's really really boring. I thought it was boring at Barker, but it's worse at ACJC. The whole thing is so draggy. I remember at one point, there were 5 speeches in a row. We were dying. Han Lin even left somewhere in the middle to go to the toilet, and didn't come back till after the celebration was over. In fact, so many people disappeared from the celebration. The celebration officially ended at around 11.25am.

We finally managed to celebrate SK and Yin Ling's birthdays. I bought each of them a chocolate cupcake and we stuck a candle into each of them. Lit the candles and sang away!
At least we finally got it out of the way. We've pretty much been putting it off for a while, so I'm glad we managed to do it. Pretty cool actually. I'm glad they enjoyed what was done for them. Too bad not everyone went to celebrate.

Yin Ling and I went to Bukit Timah Market to eat lunch after that. Hope joined us there afterward. We took a bus ride together with this ACSI guy named Alex to Plaza Sing where we intended to watch a movie. Actually, we wanted to watch the movie at the Cathay, but didn't in the end.
Yin Ling, Hope and I hung out at Barang Barang until Han Lin came. Hope bought some stuffed toys. I rather like the furniture selections at Barang Barang. Well, perhaps you can say I'm a little old-fashioned, but my house furniture is pretty woody.

We decided to watch Pan's Labyrinth because Yin Ling couldn't get to watch it in the past, and it's an Oscar winner. It's not bad really. Pretty much a fantasy movie, but it was pretty nice, in terms of cinematography and set design. Overall, liked it quite a bit. I understand why it got all those Academy Awards. Yeah, I like the show, and the rest did too.

Before we watched the movie, we ran into guess who.... MR YAM!
While we were taking the escalator down past the food court, I heard someone shout 'JOSHUA TAN!' I turned and saw Mr Yam running toward me. He ran for me! SO TOUCHING!
It was really good to see him again today. We chatted for a while until I had to go watch my movie. So glad that he's coping well for himself. Kinda miss the big guy (in a total non-gay kinda way).

After the movie, we went down to the basement for the girls to buy tako pachi. They ate and then we went our seperate ways at the MRT station. I got off first at Toa Payoh, and made my way home.

Today was really fun. Unfortunately, I don't do these things so often, so hopefully this will become more of a norm for me. It's looking up with me going out more recently and stuff. Heh, the future will bring new things.

-joshie

Reporting from Planet Earth.

2007-02-24T17:09:00.000+08:00

I need sleep. To be honest, I didn't get as much sleep as I would've liked. I remember pressing snooze on my phone's alarm once this morning, and changing the alarm time to 7am the second time. Unfortunately, I had to hurl myself from my not-as-comfy-as-a-King-Koil bed and straight into the depths of the bathroom.

I chose not to bring my Crumpler today. It's far too big for whatever we were doing. Just right for school though.
Sleepily rode the train all the way down to BV and walked into the institution of learning that I (and many others) call 'ACJC'. As far as I was concerned, school seemed pretty deserted at 8.25am. I felt a light breeze as I strolled to LT2 for the OGA briefing. Hm, no sign of Kelly, yet.

Sat with Darren for the briefing. Kelly walked in a while later.
We were told stuff about our duties, responsibilities, etcetera. OGLs are being cut by more than half, which is why they're in such dire need of OG assistance. Valkyries got assigned this new OGL named Leonard. I met him, seemed quite pai at first, but I'm pretty sure he's alright once I get to know him (got to get down to that). Didn't talk to him much.

Sang some campfire songs to familiarise ourselves. I wish everyone didn't have different variations of the same song. Subtle differences no doubt, but nonetheless a little annoying. I'm sorry, NPCC's all about standardisation, and I've been infected. Like a strange gotta-be-all-the-same strain of permanent flu.
We went down to the Concourse for cheers and mass dance (oh yeah, we have to do that again). Something I have to point out about our clan (Aldaron), we LOVE to insult other clans. This was apparent during the mass rallies that we had during the first orientation. Once again, we insulted everyone and anyone during our cheering session. Too bad we couldn't cheer so loudly (DEP people had Prelim Exams).

This would probably be one of those times where my good memory comes in handy. When we started dancing, I still remembered most of the steps of the singles' dance. Needed a bit of tune up no doubt, but generally pretty snazzy if I do say so myself (and I do).
The couple dance was more screwy. I didn't remember most of the steps, and so I had to be helped a bit. Got the hang of it though, and ended up cueing Kelly and my new found friend named Benjamin (another OGA from Aldaron). We all steadily improved our dancing so I'm quite happy about that. Just hope I don't forget my moves before Orientation 2 (O2).

Went out for lunch with Kelly and some friends after the training. We went to Bukit Timah Market for some chow. The food there's not bad actually. I'm now beginning to explore other premium venues for some good ol' pigging out. Of course, a car is essential.
I didn't know the people that well, but I must say I did put in genuine effort to make conversation. Imagine this picture: 3 ACS boys and 2 MGS girls, and you've roughly understood what happened.

There might be a case where Kelly won't be attending O2 as an OGA. Somehow (and I don't know why) she doesn't want to be OGA, and is trying to find a replacement for her. If anyone from Valkyries (who reads my blog) wants to volunteer to be OGA, please let me know. I'm sure Kelly doesn't mind giving up her spot to you (if she has that option). This is Joshie signing off.

You stay classy, Planet Earth.
-joshie

P.S. HAPPY BIRTHDAY LING LING! :D

Raining like there's no today.

2007-02-23T16:52:00.000+08:00

I know I haven't been posting much. I don't intend to post more regularly unless I get some positive response (or any response at all) from people who read my blog (HINT HINT). Anyway I don't think I'll have anything to write about if I continue posting everyday. Unfortunately, I don't have roaring fans like Adrielch does. Just my luck eh? Sometimes I feel like I'm just posting to satisfy myself.

It's been pretty killer since school started after CNY holidays. The whole issue with mass PE is giving me some problems. Suppose I really ought to be doing some working out by myself. There's something difficult about getting off my ass and going for a run, but I'm beginning to take off. My ass is halfway off the sofa already. Jia you!

I've kinda been watching quite a bit of TV lately. Maybe I really don't deserve to relax since I'm not exactly on par with my work, but I don't think I should let that stop me, should I? Yeah, I'm almost sure.
I keep reiterating this and I still don't think I've emphasised on it enough; next term's going to get so much worse. I can honestly say I'm getting more with the system now that term's almost over (a little late is it not?).

The 'Lost In Translation' trailer doesn't seem to make any sense to me. If they're in Japan but don't know how to speak the lang, why'd they go in the first place? But it's an Oscar winner, so I might watch it just to see what's the hoo-haa about. Anyway, it looks like a nice show. The whole underlying 'I'm in Japan and I don't understand what anyone is saying' story seems rather lost to me.

Oh I forgot to mention, our GP project went by fine. Despite the fact that I did most of the work presentation wise, everyone presented and it was a whole lot of fun and stuff. After all that, Qien and Almeric thanked me and said sorry for not doing anything. Haha, it feels nice to be appreciated once in a while. :D

Unfortunately, I can't afford to sleep in tomorrow morning. I've got to head down to school for OGA training. It's at 8.30am so I've got to wake up at the usual time and go down to school by myself. Okay, maybe I can afford to wake up later than usual. Still gotta leave home by 7.15am though. Pap can't send too, because he's going to gym.

Oh well, it should be fun to have the OGA training if it wasn't such a waste of time. Wei Jian told me that it's only to rarr us up and to do some admin work. Wei Jian also told me that both him and Melodie won't be our OGLs anymore, and we're getting a new OGL. It won't be the same, so I'm rather upset about that. I guess Kelly and I will have to step up the Valkyries spirit! I wish they'd let us keep one of our OGLs, even if not both, but both together make the Valkyries spirit so much better. Upset much.

-joshie

Luke, I am your father.

2007-02-20T21:02:00.000+08:00

How appropriate that I should post just before school starts again. To be honest, I've really enjoyed the long weekend. I've pretty much achieved everything I set out to do (R&R, homework, GP project, catch up on lectures). Here's how my weekend went.

It felt really good to be able to wake up late every single morning. Sleeping in is a beautiful thing, and I must admit that I don't get to do it often enough. Only on Saturdays, and maybe not even on Saturdays once Term 2 starts.

Managed to get quite a lot of work done because (as many of you already know) I don't go visiting during CNY. I've done more or less everything I wanted to do. I've also done my GP Project so my group is pretty much set for the presentation. Only thing left to do is figure out what I'm supposed to do for the class worksheet thing. Gotta ask my teacher tomorrow.

Probably need to exercise more now though. I've been eating so much, with little exercise in between. No doubt though, I'll be able to lose the weight again soon. At least I went for a swim today so I don't feel so bad.
All I've been able to do this holiday is work and chat online. Pretty much everyone was busy this holiday (which is expected) so I couldn't get many people online to talk to, let alone get out for a game of soccer. No matter though.

Amazing how time flies when you're on holiday isn't it. Inevitably, it's time to go back to school. In the very least, I can say that I've adequately used this holiday. Now, time to look forward to the next holiday: March Holidays. Why can't we have 15 days of holiday like in Taiwan?

-joshie

Still fresh after 10 years!

2007-02-16T14:29:00.000+08:00

I had a little bit of problem with my laptop last night so I gave up on posting. These past week has been really tiring and everything, and I've yet to find a balance between work and play so I'm suffering in a sense.

Yesterday

I was almost late for school. Woke up a little late and all so I was quite flustered. Took the train all the way down to Buona Vista and ran almost the entire way from the station to school. At the gate, the DM was saying "You'd better run. If you don't, I'll see you all in the library at 4.30." Thankfully, I made it just in time before the doors closed.

Mass PE wasn't as bad as I expected. It was quite all rounded actually, rather than the PT-like mass PE we're used to. I much prefer this new one actually, basically because the stretching helped our muscles to ease up after running the initial 2 laps for warm up. The teacher-in-charge was pretty encouraging too, which I think is good, though the PTIs in the army won't exactly be a push-you-forward kind of sunshine-y character.

Yesterday was a pretty long day. Ended at 4.10pm after Chinese class. I figure I really need to take the initiative to catch up on my work. I couldn't understand the Redox Tutorial, so I asked my Chem teacher for some help after class. At least I get it now, so that's not so bad.

Today

I was earlier than I usually am in reaching school today. We actually ended school pretty early because of the Chinese New Year celebrations.
The performances were pretty cool. Apart from the usual Performing Arts performances that are usually pretty boring, there were some pretty interesting (and even fun) performances by some groups. Better than the ones at Barker by far.

A group of us went back to Barker after we were dismissed. Ate at Waffletown first, before going back to our alma mater. It wasn't very fun, basically because I went back with a bunch of guys from A1 and I was from A4. They all went to find their own teachers so I couldn't exactly participate. I was there with Caine though.
I went to visit Ms Fong too. Heh she seemed really glad to see me though I don't know why. Maybe she was having a bad day.

I'm pretty glad for this upcoming 4 day CNY holiday. I need some much needed R&R and I need to catch up on my work. Intend to watch a movie tonight.
I've been really busy and tired lately. Anyway, running out of things to type. Perhaps I shouldn't take too much of a rest. My work calls me.

-joshie

Happy Valentine's Day!

2007-02-14T22:30:00.000+08:00

This year was the first time I've actually taken V-day seriously. I think it's also because ACJC takes V-day really seriously. When we were walking into school, there was this whole group of J2s giving out mini roses to everyone. People were giving flowers to each other today in school too. I didn't get any flowers though, I only got food. Heh, I sure got lots of sweets.

School today wasn't really much, except there were rose petals everywhere we went. Met up with my OG after school. Melodie and Wei Jian made a card for each of us, with a picture of our OG on the cover. It was so sweet! Oh and they nominated me to be orientation group assistant (OGA) for the 2nd orientation for the 2nd intake of students. It's on the last week of Term 1, so we're all gonna have a 2nd run as an OG. It should be fun!

A few of us hung out at the bleachers to watch the V-day performance. The songs were all pretty nice and it was quite fun singing along to the songs and stuff.
Yin Ling and I went to the gym a little later. Didn't really do much because I have mass PE tomorrow and I don't want to strain myself. I"m just hoping I got enough of a work out to prepare me for tomorrow's mass killing.

Yin Ling, Dillon and I went to Vivocity for dinner after gym. Ate at Carl's, and I gave Yin Ling a treat (not my best idea). Fortunately, I have enough money to last the week (I hope). Nonetheless, it was a fun outing. We chat a lot and everything.

I'm pretty tired now so I should probably sleep soon. I should still be okay tomorrow. I think I won't die so badly because of the gym session. Tomorrow's going to be one long day. Goodness...
Oh, and in case I don't post any time soon, Happy Lunar New Year! I'm going to head down to Barker just for fun. Heh.

-joshie

We're going to see the wizard, the wonderful Wizard of Oz.

2007-02-10T20:59:00.000+08:00

Today was such a slacker-ific kind of day.
Woke up pretty late and slacked all the way to 12+ when I went out with Cabe to Vivocity. He wanted to go buy some double-flap Converse shoes, and I wanted to see if I could still get my Nike bag.
We took a nice hour long train ride to HarbourFront MRT station (I don't know why it's spelt like that). Arrived at Vivocity to find that it was pleasantly empty. There aren't as many people as there were last time, which means for once, I can actually see the floor I'm walking on.

We went to the Converse shop to see the shoes, but didn't see any nice colours so we left. Had lunch at Carl's Jr for the first time this year. Wasn't crowded either so we could get seats. Wonderful, isn't it?
We went to both Nike shops in Vivocity but couldn't find my bag. I was pretty upset too, because I really liked that carabiner. Too bad I couldn't find it.
Ended up playing foosball with Cabe in the Adidas store. Initially, we were looking at the new Predator and +F50 boots, but our attention quickly swayed toward the foosball table. I didn't think they would actually leave the ball there, but they did so we started playing. Foosball is surprisingly difficult to play. We took a while to get used to it, and once we got better, the real match began.

I think he won, though we didn't really keep count. We must've been standing there reliving our youths for nearly half an hour until some small kid came to play with us. It was getting late so we left after a couple more goals.
Since I couldn't get my Nike bag, I decided to go to Raffles City to look at Crumplers. Saw some nice ones, though I really didn't have any money to get them. We then went back to the MRT station because Cabe had to go to church (yeah he's going back to church now =D).

I called Mum to find out where she was, and guess what? She was just 3 storeys above me. Haha, so I went to meet up with her. She was buying some handbag on the 2nd floor. We went to the Paragon Crumpler shop after that because I wanted to see if there were any other designs. My Mum taught me the value of comparison.

While at Paragon, I realised the bag that I was eyeing is actually very small. My Mum was actually very keen on one of the laptop bags. She said if I wanted to use it for school I should get a big one. She then said she'd get me one as a gift for doing well enough to get back to ACJC. Was actually going to get the laptop bag, but then I switched to another one which was bigger but not as expensive. Anyway, I have 'The Fux Deluxe' now. Blue base with singular red stripe. I only realised how big it is after I bought it. I'm glad everything can go in comfortably though.

Just came back from my family reunion dinner a while back. We had it at Pu Tien Restaurant. It's this snazzy little Hing Hwa place down at Kitchener Road. We were an hour late though, because Pap thought the timing was 6:30 instead of 5:30.
Everyone was already there when we arrived. We squeezed together at some table. Chatted a little here and there with relatives and all that. I find I'm more easily social now. Before we knew it, it was time to exchange greetings and ang paos. I like the fact that I get my money much earlier than most other people. Not a great haul this year, though I really shouldn't expect much. Oh and good news, only ONE relative asked me how I did for O's. I think most of them don't remember that I'm doing O's. They prefer to ask me which school I'm in. In a couple of years' time, the answer to that question will be 'OCS'.

All in all quite a good day. I'm greatly encouraged by my friends and family who have told me that my results aren't that bad and that they're proud of me. Thanks to all! Now, let's take on the A's.

-joshie

Underachiever.

2007-02-09T16:39:00.000+08:00

Attended assembly at Barker today. We formed a new class called 5A1. It was quite nice to be back in Barker, but we soon got a little more depressed than we'd like. Basically we heard some things that weren't very smooth.

I went home after a while to pick up a camera and some black socks for Cabe. Mum was home at that time, and I helped her post some letters. Went to school after that. It got all emotional from there.
Time seemed to pass really slowly while we were waiting for results to be released. We also got some news that our class didn't do that well.

Well good news, our batch did pretty well as a whole. Screwed SS/H though, and Chinese of course. I was too worried to think about the details, but from what I remember, we didn't really do too badly.

I wish I could say I got what I wanted, but I didn't. I didn't get 8 pts.

Here's my results (Prelim results in brackets):

English - A1 (A2)
Combined Humanities - B4 (B4)
Geography - A2 (C5)
E Maths - A1 (A1)
A Maths - B3 (B3)
Physics - B3 (B3)
Chemistry - B3 (B3)
Chinese - B3 (A1)

L1R4 : 10 (9)
L1R5: 13 (14)

Okay Chinese was quite good for me because I got C6 for Mid Year O's. I'm still a little disappointed because I didn't get what I wanted. Furthermore, I'll have to appeal into ACJC Science again. Same story all over again, so I hope I can make it back to ACJC Science. And to think all I need is 1 point.

-joshie

Que la grasa te acompane, quiero ser mas gordo

2007-02-08T20:10:00.000+08:00

First of all, let's say a very big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to ADELINE TAY!
Happy 16th birthday goodiegoodiefriend!

Tomorrow's finally the day and I'm trying not to think about it. I just hope I won't be depressed in 24 hrs time.

Haven't really posted lately because I've really been too busy. There isn't much to say anyway, basically I've been going about my usual routine. The only thing worth mentioning happened yesterday anyway.

We had Cross-Country after school at Turf City. I was pushed into competitive run because I'm in a sports CCA. It was a 4.5km run. I'm glad to say I finished the run, even though I was one of the last to finish. I don't really care though, since I've never run 4.5km before and the fact that I finished was commendable enough (at least for me it is).

We went to have steamboat at Turf City after the run. We were giving Justine from my OG a farewell dinner because she's going to Australia this Sunday. It was quite a fun affair, and I really enjoyed myself with my OG. They're really the best people in ACJC (to me at least). Hopefully, all of us make it back to AC. It would be really sad if some of us can't stay.

A bunch of us Barker boys have decided that we would attend Barker's assembly tomorrow and play soccer thereafter. That would mean that I'll be skipping 2 hrs of school at ACJC though, but I can live with that. I've got an excuse in mind anyway, and all Pap has to do is sign the letter. Simple as pie.

Anyway, all the best to all those getting their results tomorrow! May everyone (that I know) get what they deserve.

-joshie

Say Hello! to Nan Hua boy.

2007-02-02T22:51:00.000+08:00

Playing dress-up brings people together. Today in SB10, we went nuts with switching uniforms. It sparked off with Hann Bin switching with Joel. All of a sudden, all of us started switching around. I actually wasn't intending on switching, but ended up switching with Xue Zhe and that's when I turned into.....

NAN HUA BOY!!

Haha, anyway the class was very sporting today regarding exchanging uniforms. Almeric and Caine even created some hybrid uniforms. Let me explain.

Almeric wore a Barker shirt with RV shorts and went around telling people he's a Barker-V-ian.
Caine wore a RV shirt and Barker long pants.

The girls got into all of it too, and started switching around and all that. I still have the uniform by the way. I think we're switching back on Monday. Sophiana said I could blend in as a Nan Hua guy. But for all of those who know me, I'm ACS through and through. It's just for a day. Anyway, many Barker boys who saw me had quite a shocked reaction. I don't really understand why, but that's the way it went. Han Lin didn't say much though. He said he wanted to switch to SJI uniform but didn't. Oh well.

As of now, nobody knows for sure when the results are coming out. I'm a little anxious to find out, and can't wait for that day (even though I know I won't be able to sleep the night before). I guess I'm just looking for a little affirmation that my efforts have paid off. At least I hope it's coming.
At least it's finally the weekend. I can't begin to express how tired each week makes me. It's totally unfair that we work for 5 days and rest for only 2. There should be a more balanced week like for example 4 weekdays and 3 weekends (wishful thinking on my part).

Here's what's coming up for the weekend:

I'm playing soccer with Keef tomorrow. I hope he doesn't back out at the last minute because I've been dying to kick a ball for a while now. My feet are itchy and I'm putting on weight.

Sunday will be pretty busy for me because not only do I have a class outing, I've got to celebrate Han Lin's birthday too. Also, the ASEAN Cup Final 2nd Leg in Bangkok is on Sunday so we'll probably be watching at Han Lin's place. I'm still rooting for Singapore to win. I think the Thais were really unsporting to walk off the pitch like that. I remain faithful to the notion that Singapore will have to put up a great fight though. But that's only because their defence leaves much to be desired sometimes. The Thais are very penetrating and they're fast on the ball, so we'll just see what comes of the match. I'm still hoping that Singapore protects its title, and hopefully the referee will be at least competent (unlike that Malaysian Indian dude in the 1st leg).

-joshie

Yay for national pride.

2007-02-01T21:11:00.000+08:00

Argh my com hanged and I lost the post I was typing previously so I'll try to recall what I was typing.

I remember something about the national stadium being crowded with crazed fans in red (which it was) and saying something about sitting behind the Thai goal post (for first half). I had a full upfront view of the first goal that Noh Alam Shah scored, and I can definitely say that the crowd went NUTS. It was a terrific moment and we were all so happy that Singapore was leading.

Half time came and went without any further advancements. All the action was in the 2nd half anyway. In the 50th minute, the Thais equalised. I had an upfront view of that too. There was this huge gap in the centre of the Singaporean defence and the Thais just slotted the ball through to score the goal. It was so unnecessary.

The 86th minute brought along plenty of spice. As many of you probably know, the Malaysian referee awarded Singapore a penalty. The Thais were furious about that as they (along with some Singaporeans) thought that the penalty wasn't meant to happen. I didn't see what happened though, because I was at the other end of the pitch. I just saw some guy in blue drop and suddenly a penalty was awarded.

Next thing I knew, the Thai players walked off the field and stood by the side to protest the penalty. It was such a huge waste of time. 20 minutes later, the players walked back onto the field and Mustafic scored the winning goal to make it 2-1.

I reached home at 12am last night. Was very very tired by the time I got home, and almost slept in class a few times today. Pretty bad.
Glad that Singapore won the first leg and I'm hoping we can win the 2nd leg too. One thing though, we probably shouldn't go to Thailand this year.

-joshie

Lying idle.

2007-01-28T21:33:00.000+08:00

After going offline last night, I tried to sleep but I couldn't. I was kept awake by Cabe's DotA spree up to 1:30am. And believe me I wouldn't have slept if he wasn't talking on the phone at the same time.

I couldn't wake up for church this morning. Feel bad about it and all.
We went out for lunch at Rendevous and dropped by Plaza Sing to pay the SCV bill. Walked around Cathay too, and bought some luscious Ben and Jerry's. Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough is the best flavour EVER!

Set off for home, but made a couple of detours along the way. First, we took a stop at Caltex to pump petrol and wash the car. That took quite a while, so Pap dropped me off at Novena MRT and I took the train down to Boon Lay to meet Yin Ling, Sk and Kelly. I honestly dislike long train rides. Oh well, better than taking the bus.

Reached just after 4pm. We changed the timing to meet everyone's schedule.
I only remember going to Jurong Point once in my life, and that was when we dropped Mum off at NIE for some meeting (as posted on 27/11/2006). My second impression of the place was definitely much different.
First of all, the last time I went it was at 10 in the morning when nobody was awake, and no shop was open (except food). As such, this second trip brought maybe eye-opening adventures for me.
It was very very crowded this time round. All the shops were open and in full fledged fighting for business. We walked to Toys R Us to look for Shaun's present. Didn't find a fitting one though, because they were all so expensive. We figured we'd set the standard of presents for our OG members with this one. Settled with this gun keychain from FF7 Advent Children. Cost less than $10 so I guess that'll be the budget for future presents. Should be fun.

Kelly left straight after getting the present. Sk, Yin Ling and I walked around for a bit more, having some snacks along the way. Jurong Point's a nice place to walk around (provided it's not too crowded). Sk left to walk home, while Yin Ling and I walked around some more because she hadn't finished her ice cream yet. We finally got on the train around 6:15pm. She got off at BV and I trained all the way back to Novena where I cut my hair.

Not a lot of difference to my hair actually. I just cut the sides and thinned the rest. Didn't even cut my fringe much. I think it should be fine for now. I don't really mind this hair style.
Came home for dinner then came online straight away. Oh yeah, my outside TV died today. So I've currently only got one working TV in the house. Already feeling a little weird not watching TV. There really isn't much to do online. Dang.

-joshie

It's time once again to question my readership.

2007-01-27T22:57:00.001+08:00

My life's been dull. Pretty much been school all this while. If I remember correctly, the last time I posted was on Wednesday, which means I have yet to talk about the mass PE session we had. It was pretty rough, basically because we didn't stretch prior to the death workout. Here's what we did in order of appearance.

First, we ran 1 round of the track. Then we did 20 reverse push ups, 30 crunches and half squat for half a min. Then we ran 2 rounds with timing of 5 min or less. 20 reverse push ups, 30 jack-knife crunches and half squat for half a min. Finally, we ran 2 rounds with timing of 4 min 30 sec. For all of you curious to know, a reverse push up is well, the reverse of a usual push up. You're still facing down, but you start lying down, and then you push up and go down again. It's more difficult basically because your arms start in a bent position rather than straight.

My whole upper body's been hurting starting from Friday. It's not as bad now as it was yesterday, but I'm still feeling the side effects of the 'treatment'.
Anyway, Friday was Shaun Tay's birthday. I took a cab to school on that day because I had to be in school by 7am. We had a celebration for him at the bleachers (that was meant to be a surprise). However, somebody thought it was fitting to HINT to Shaun that we were going to celebrate his birthday. Let's call this person Uzanga.

We had decided that we were going to tell Shaun that we're meeting to discuss Justine's farewell. I told Uzanga that we were celebrating Shaun's birthday and told him to come along, and more importantly, not to tell Shaun what we meant to do.
Apparently the night before, Uzanga told Shaun that we were 'definitely not going to discuss Justine's farewell'. Shaun suspected that we were going to celebrate his birthday, but we still managed to surprise him by discussing the farewell first, before sneaking up on him and singing (screaming) the 'Happy Birthday Song'. Shaun told us that he suspected we would do something like that because of what Uzanga said.

When I asked Uzanga about it, he said that all he wanted to do was give Shaun a
hint of what we were doing. Obviously he doesn't fully understand the concept of a surprise. I was thoroughly disappointed in him for that dumbass move.

Moving on, I stayed at home the entire day today. Went out in the afternoon to buy lunch, but realised I didn't have enough money so I came home shortly after. Decided to do some Chem homework, so I did the rational thing to do. I did it in front of the TV (don't give me that look, I did quite a bit okay). Somewhere in the middle, Mum came home and then went out to buy lunch for me and Cabe. I continued doing my homework all the way till evening when I finally gave up while stuck on Question 14 of the tutorial. Anybody willing to help is greatly welcome.

Had steamboat for dinner tonight. Mum reckoned we should have a home cooked meal for once. She said something about it being healthy too.
Went inside to watch the Singapore-Malaysia 2nd Leg ASEAN Cup match at 7:50pm. It was a disappointing match at best, and really slow moving with both sides putting in lacklustre performances. Basically, 90 mins ended with the teams drawn at 1-1. Extra time passed and the score remained. By then, I was really getting bored with the match. Penalties aren't exactly the most exciting part of a match (unless it's in regular time).
My laptop died somewhere at the start of the penalties. Hence, I had to put in some effort to keep my attention on the game. Anyway, Singapore won the penalties 5-4 to go through to the ASEAN Cup final against either Thailand or Vietnam. Last thing I heard, I think Thailand was winning 2-0 so they'll probably advance in place of Vietnam. Thailand is a tough team so I won't say that Singapore will win the finals. Hoping for the best though, and a win against Thailand would be cool. Probably will watch the match.

I'm going to Jurong Point tomorrow after church with Kelly, Yin Ling and Siew Kwong to get Shaun's present. Unfortunately, that's pretty much the best place to get the thing that we want, so I have to make the arduous journey all the way into the west. Bummer. Meeting them at 2:30pm at Boon Lay MRT. I hope Shaun appreciates this gesture.

Now, I wonder where all my readers went.
-joshie

Why say expensive when you can say exorbitant?

2007-01-24T21:06:00.000+08:00

To be honest, I'm not so much a Singlish guy despite the fact that I'm Singaporean. I don't really type in short forms as well. Though I'm not condemning those who do the above, I like to do things the best way I can.

Today wasn't really that hot, but I think it wasn't half bad. At least we ended early today. Classes finished at 1:50pm, plus I didn't have any training today. I'm not sure why I sat at Buona Vista MRT waiting for Han Lin for almost half an hour, but I did anyway. I guess it paid off, though my iPod died off before Han Lin arrived. The trip home was pretty alright. At one point, we were sitting on the floor of the train reading the Newpaper. How many people can I actually keep a going conversation with? (And I don't mean on MSN) I'm glad for a friend like Han Lin though.

Came home to do homework and take a nap. I felt a little bit sick today, so the nap worked really well. The Hong Kong serial I was watching ended today with all the bad guys getting their comeuppance. It was quite a good ending I feel.

Not really much to say today actually. Um, I guess I'll post again tomorrow. Heh
-joshie

Happy birthday!

2007-01-22T21:17:00.000+08:00

Today's San's and Becky's birthday, so HAPPY BIRTHDAY SAN AND BECKY!

I normally dislike Mondays, but today was quite alright. Classes today were in 2 main blocks. Actually 3, but the first block was basically Assembly, Chapel and Contact Time.
I think the class bonded better today because we played some ice breaking games and all that, plus almost every tutorial class was a 'get-to-know-each-other' kind of class. Basically we had the first tutorials today, so the teachers just wanted to get to know us all better in some strange way.

Not really much to say about today, I'm having my first PE session tomorrow. Hope it's not killer. I heard the PE at ACJC is pretty tough. I'll die.
Relatively short post today. I really don't know what to say because today was entirely a class day. But I had to write a post because it's San's and Becky's birthday today.

-joshie

A fond goodbye.

2007-01-21T22:13:00.000+08:00

Started off the day well by going to church. I felt really bad in church though, because somehow I wasn't really listening to the sermon. Mm, not good. I need to consider my ways.

Went for lunch after church to celebrate San's birthday. Went with San, SarahK, SarahC, Ryan, Tim Loe, Tim Leow, Stella and this cool RI dude named Bob.
It was quite a cool outing really. We had quite a hard time deciding where to eat, but finally settled on Pastamania at Plaza Sing. Ate a pizza like last time I was there (which was like, almost a year ago). Walked around Plaza Sing after that. Went to Trumpet Praise first, which is this Christian shop located at the basement level of Plaza Sing. We then went to Yamaha on the 6th floor and stayed there for quite a while. I left with Tim Leow and Stella. They dropped at Novena, and I dropped at... well you know where I dropped.

Left home again at around 6 to go to the airport (again) to meet Adriel. He's leaving on the 1am flight to Perth.
Reached the airport nicely at 7. Met up with Adriel, Colin, Harresh, Colin's girlfriend and Han Lin. We went to Swensen's to eat, and totally busted our wallets there. We even had a Giant Earthquake to mark the occasion. Bill came up to $113+ and the change went to Adriel.
This girl he likes (named Sandra) came to meet up with him. Adriel took the change and they went to Starbucks while the rest of us went home. Didn't want to be a light bulb, know what I'm saying?

We took a train to Expo where we caught a cab back to civilisation (Expo area is like super ulu lah). They dropped me off first and I walked home from Toa Payoh.
Adriel's still here right now, and will only be leaving after I go to sleep (which is at 1am). Wishing him all the best in his studies, and may the FAT be with him always. At least he'll be back in April.

-joshie

A sickening stereotype.

2007-01-19T19:56:00.000+08:00

After reading the Newpaper for a few days in a row, I have notice that there's a certain image that Malaysians have of Singaporeans. Each and every time a Singaporean gets robbed and/or attacked in Malaysia, the robbers always assume that since they're Singaporean, they're naturally rich. Like for example, there was this article a couple of days ago which reported that a man got threatened in JB. The attacker asked him for RM1 (S$0.45), and when the Singaporean refused, the attacker took out a syringe (containing blood allegedly tainted with the HIV virus) and demanded the money from him. He gave, of course.

About a day before that, I read an article about another Singaporean who got attacked in Malaysia. This time, the man was ridiculed for only having RM10 in his possession. The robbers even ridiculed him by saying 'You drive and dine well, why don't you have more money?' or something to that extent.
These two articles tell me two things. One: there seems to be a big gap between the financial status of Singaporeans and Malaysians. Two: Malaysians are getting the wrong idea that ALL Singaporeans are rich. I wonder if it's the inability of Malaysia to keep on the same level as us, or if it's the haughtiness of the typical Singaporean that causes such an idea to be etched on the minds of everyday Malaysians. Either way, they've seriously got the wrong idea here.

Moving on, it's been rather difficult socialising with my classmates (maybe I'm just an anti-social bugger). I've still been hanging out mostly with my OG mates. It seems we've bonded quite a lot over the past 2 weeks, though I'm pretty sure we're the only OG where the girls and guys are separated most of the time. It's a little disturbing though, and hopefully we'll be able to sort all of it out soon. We're not getting much OG together time anymore though, probably will stick in classes most of the time starting next week.
The rest of my classmates are pretty much that way too. See some of them hanging out with their own OGs mostly. Nobody's really made a move to socialise in my class just yet. Maybe I'll find the drive to start the ball rolling.
Despite the fact that there are 9 Barker boys in SB10, I don't find myself talking to any of them. Probably because I never really mixed with many Barker boys (not those in SB10 anyway). So I reckon it's about time I opened up and started talking to the other people in my class. We all seem pretty disjointed at the moment though, but speaking from experience, classes will bond people together. Hopefully I'll be in AC long enough to make some good friends in whatever time I have.

I've got some tutorial assignments due on Monday. It's time to get down and dirty doing some good old fashioned homework. Okay not exactly.
I think I've been getting a little lazy with my work lately. I'm not as sharp as I used to be regarding work. I guess there's this 2 month old dust that's settled on my brain after O's. Oh man, I better not do badly. Grave consequences lie ahead should I fail.

-joshie

One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter.

2007-01-17T21:13:00.000+08:00

I'm not sure if joining both soccer and debates was a very good decision. Somehow I'm not sure if I have what it takes to balance both CCA and studies well. I'll try my best though, and we'll see how it goes. Hopefully everything turns out fine. Ah, God will provide right?

I only had 2 lectures today. Basically my days are totally free. Slacked quite a lot during the long break. Didn't really do much today because I think we've basically run out of things to do. Decided to go swimming tomorrow though, so we'll definitely do that. Probably my last day hanging out with my OG mates in school. It'll be classmates from now on.

We got our classes today too. I'm in 1SB10. This class is practically dominated by Barker boys. There are 13 ACS boys in total (including ACSI), so this is an ACS dominated class (yes I realise we're all in ACS now).
From Barker: Samuel Chow, Nicky Phua, Darren Seah, Bryan Lim (Swimmer), Kenneth Lee (Ke Lin), Caine Liew, Tan Kian Yong, Peter Isaac Chan and me. That's 9 in total. The class is also a boy-dominant class. There are only 7 girls in this class (including one girl from Valkyries). My form teacher seems quite nice. She teaches GP so it should be fun being taught by her. I think GP is cool.

Finally had soccer trials today. It was pretty sunny today so the field was pretty dry.
We started with a 3 round run (which didn't really kill me). Stretched and got on the field. Didn't really do much today, just some drills and all that stuff. Played a match too, but we lost 1-0.
Most of us got fielded into the development team, which means we'll probably be in next year's school team after the J2s graduate. That's fine with me for now. Anyway, I didn't really think I was that good. After all, I've never had any formal training (unless you count that soccer school I attended). Unfortunately, none of the training had any lasting impression on me. Playing for fun is still the best joy of all.

-joshie

Economics is the study of scarcity.

2007-01-16T21:33:00.000+08:00

I'm pretty proud of myself for doing a little revision work before going for lectures today (I was bored, but you can say I'm a good boy too).
I'm feeling particularly worried at this point of time. Just got a link to an announcement on JAE (Joint Admissions Exercise). There's nothing particularly frightening about the link, it's just that anything remotely linked to the O's results makes me really jumpy now. It's like seeing a ghost in my bathroom mirror after bathing (which I hope not to experience). Here's the link, in case anybody's interested http://www.moe.gov.sg/esp/schadm/jae/

Today was one of the rare days that I was able to go home straight after school. Treasured every minute of my time at home. Didn't sleep, but lazing around sure has its benefits. Life's good with technology, but that's probably a discussion for a different time.
School's not really worth mentioning now, but I just realised today that we start at 8.10am every Tuesday. Now this is a funny story, I left home early today because I thought school starts at 7.30 as usual. Reached BV to find it strangely (and eerily) empty. Walked to school early too along a generally deserted path. Reached school to realise that school actually started at 8.10am. Maybe I should've payed attention during assembly.
Chatted with Colin for a bit until assembly started.

Surprisingly short post for me. I don't presume to understand how my life is going. God has a plan though, and I don't intend to question it. I'm going to be informed of my class tomorrow. Wonder how that'll go. Soccer trials tomorrow afternoon as well. Wish me all the best (luck is for suckers).

-joshie

Efforts must be doubled.

2007-01-15T21:18:00.000+08:00

I've decided that I'm going to try my best for the first 3 months (or part thereof). It sure seems like it pays off to put in effort and pay attention during lectures. Either way, I think it's time to take my education more seriously. After all, the only reason I'm in JC is to ultimately end up in the university.

I have one piece of advice for everybody. DON'T ever say a girl is fat. It's not a very smart thing for you to do. Here's what happened today. Some friends of mine were sort of 'teasing' a girl about her legs (being fat). What happened in the end? Initially she was fine, laughing along and smacking them and all that. However, she cried in the end. It's not a very nice thing to do especially if you unknowingly hurt a person's feelings. Please, don't be an insensitive bugger. I will hate you.

Moving on, I went to the gym again today. I've got to slowly build up toward my fitness level. I'm not very fit now (as I have discovered, to my dismay) and so I have to try my best to lose the fat that has accumulated over the years. I hope I'll be in acceptable shape soon. Once again, soccer should help.

I want to get a feel of my boots tomorrow. If it isn't raining, I might play soccer somewhere near home, or maybe with Keef if he decides to pick up my calls. Pretty much just need to get a feeling of my boots. I guess I'll call Keef later then.

Went to town with Bryan Choong and Yin Ling today. We were actually out to get some stationary and stuff like that, but ended up not buying much.
Met up in school at the Cafe. We left pretty late actually, and reached even later because Yin Ling wanted to go home to change and all that. Bryan and I stayed downstairs by the pool waiting for her.
Bryan's a really nice person to hang out with. He's so lively and all that. As most of you already know, I'm not much of a conversation starter so it makes good sense to have a friend like him who makes up for my shortcomings.
We took a long bus ride down to town and went to the Popular at Orchard MRT first. Didn't really do much there, but bought some index cards for my debate trials (whenever it is). Bryan left after that, and Yin Ling and I went to Takashimaya's Kinokuniya to look for some stuff. I bought a notebook there. Pretty fancy one if you ask me. Pretty!

It's nice to go out with friends just to hang out. Haven't done that in a while. Should probably do it more often if I have the time. Anyway, I've got to start sleeping earlier and earlier. It's not my fault I live far away from school. Yin Ling, you've got it so good.

-joshie

I want my 150!!!

2007-01-14T09:47:00.000+08:00

It's actually grammatically wrong to put 3 exclamation marks in a row (you never see it in English essays anyway) but often it shows the level of exclamation so I'm just going to leave it there.

Many apologies for the days of blogging lack. I sort of started doubting my readership, but that's a thing of the not-so-distant past. Anyway, I came across an article in today's Straits' Times which called to me, so to speak (Me, Myself and Mine by Sumiko Tan on page L12. Go read if you have the chance). I found that a lot of the things I feel are encompassed by this article, so in an attempt to get to know me better, you might want to read this article (or not).

I'm facing a potential physical burnout (I'm sick actually). Okay maybe it's not so serious, but I come home tired everyday (should that be the norm?). I would like to think that most (or all) people in JC go home tired at strange hours of the night (and I might actually be right). Ah, I've come to the conclusion that I'm just not used to the long hours and I should shut up and stop whining.

Okay so here goes, happenings in the week (in no appropriate order).
We had our first real lectures on Friday. Actually had quite a lot of breaks in between periods. Some lectures were really boring (like maths) but all in all, I'm just not used to having lessons again. To be honest, my brain's sort of deteriorated (along with my body) to a level of decadence I don't really admire.

I finally got my cheque on Friday thanks to Cabe who got it for me from Barker. The only problem now is how do I cash it? I suppose I'll have to go to a bank or something to get the money, but Pap should know better than me how it goes about. I will buy a new bag soon. Not exactly a decision that my parents would like, but it doesn't matter to me.

So I really must thank all my readers (if there are any) for tolerating my life's whines and wants for the longest time I could possibly imagine. But you've got to admit this, my posts have gotten a lot happier. See? Life isn't that bad once you get to know it.

-joshie

A second chance.

2007-01-11T21:53:00.000+08:00

At least we're starting classes for real tomorrow. My day would probably be more filled up etc etc. Anyway, today wasn't that bad. Felt pretty good about the day that I had. It was pretty boring though.

We started with some talk. It was a little boring because there really wasn't much to listen for. The talk ended quite quickly, and we had some height and weight measurement.
Oh my goodness, I'm overweight! By 1kg! My height is now 179 but my weight's 80! Man, I need to lose weight. Soccer's going to help, of course.

My appeal was successful today. As a result, I'm now taking H2 Physics, H2 Chem, H2 Maths and H1 Econs. Good combination. Oh and excuse my lacklustre typing. I'm really tired now, but I've still got to finish up my debate preparation. Guess I should go now. Hopefully, my trial works out fine.

Oh not forgetting, I bought new boots today. Tiempo Natural FG. Found out that Grace was working at Sportslink, and she served me today so it was quite fun. Bought socks too. Should be quite fun tomorrow. Lectures for the first time and all that. New experiences.
Went to the gym today with Han Lin. It was quite fun, but I hope I haven't overworked myself.

Sorry if my post is a little disjointed today. My thoughts are very mixed up and all over the place. Hopefully, you still get a rough idea of what my day was like.

-joshie