Stray Bolts

Women Rule The World

2009-10-06T19:10:00.003+08:00

What evidence is there that women rule the world? Take a look at the world now and ask yourself how different it would be if men were REALLY in charge. Think about what men want, and whether the world provides them or limits them. Of course, logically, if men ruled the world, the world should be organised to give them what they want. And is it? See the following points below.

Relationships
If a man wanted a woman to notice him, he'd have to hold doors open, buy flowers and diamonds, stay polite, lift heavy objects, kill spiders (shudder), pretend to be interested in things he most likely isn't, and generally try to be a sensitive person. Men do most of the date asking and trying to get into women's good books, and women everywhere are able to squash our fragile egos easier than raw eggs. Do you think men designed that system? If it were really up to men, all women would have some form of hormonal-display-monitor thingy on them so men could tell when was the best time to win them over and when they should just smile and stay clear. But NOOOOOOO, no one asks the men how they think courtship should work.

Manners
Manners are essentially rules, which must be followed in the presence of other people. Therefore, whoever invented 'manners' is controlling our behaviour without even being there. Do you think men invented manners?? Here's evidence that women created manners.

Elbows must not be put on the meal table. This is definitely not a male idea. The table is exactly where elbows should go. Why put a table as high as the elbows if not to put them on it? A lot of tables in family homes have flowery centrepieces, but no elbows. Now, who do you think thought of that?

Certain words are considered impolite. Imagine a room where men discuss what words should be considered impolite:

"The next word for consideration is 'shit'. "
*GASP*
One man faints.
'Shit' is added to the forbidden words list.

If you can't imagine such a scenario, I rest my case.

Fun
Ever encountered a woman who got angry at you because you were having fun when there were heavy objects to be moved somewhere? Now, if men really ruled the world, those heavy objects would be just fine where they were. But of course, since women are in charge, those objects are ALWAYS in the wrong place and must be moved, at the expense of your TV show or your game.

Money
On average, a man earns more than a woman. People might say this is good, but think about it. Given the choice, assuming one has enough money in the first place, people would rather spend money than earn more. And who, I ask, WHO, is doing more spending? If you have been living in a cave and don't believe that women do most of the spending, just walk into any mall and see what kind of shops there are. If you're a male, you walk into a bookstore, get a book, and get out. Or you walk into a hardware store, get a 15-variable-bit screwdriver, and get out. That's all you want, that's all you buy. But clearly, someone is buying everything else. How else could the other shops stay in business. SOMEONE is buying flowery notebooks. SOMEONE is buying a Louis Vuitton bag every week. SOMEONE is buying shoes every day.
Who could it be?
Kids have no money. Animals aren't even allowed in malls, let alone buy stuff. Therefore, by process of elimination, it's the women who are buying everything else.

Mothers
Do you see fathers anywhere ordering their wives around, or do you see them whispering to their kids, "Don't argue with your mother." ? 'Nuff said.

Survival
Now, I know this is not always the case, but ON AVERAGE, women do more life-saving stuff than men. More women cook so the human population can survive. More women are able to sew and as such save the dignity of the person who has a rip in his jeans at the crotch area. More women are not beneath cleaning, so they enjoy the benefits of better hygiene. So THERFORE, WHO do you think controls life on the whole?

Life expectancy
You know why the life expectancy of women is so much higher than men? Think about it. A pretty woman is held at gunpoint by a random robber or something. 50 men come to her rescue just when she bats her eyelashes. A woman is able to go about life LIKE NORMAL even while bleeding God-knows-how-much blood EVERY MONTH. A woman can endure pains of childbirth!
It logically follows, then, that if women are tougher generally, able to get men to take bullets for them, and thus are able to survive longer, WHO is the superior one here? And continuing this train of thought, the superior ones should logically dominate the inferior ones. So WHO rules the world?? D'uh.

Fashion
Now, if men ruled the world of fashion, they would act as if no one would notice women at all unless they wore some uncomfortable shoes which were akin to balancing on thier toes and a stick, or wore garments that were transparent in certain areas, or enhanced their looks with chemicals that hid blemishes and unsightly features. Thus, they would have the power to make women insecure and keep them that way unless they improved their look.
Oh wait, men DO rule the world of fashion. But it's about the only thing they control. And let's face it, you can't throw the cloth of men's superiority at the iron wall of women's superiority elsewhere and hope that the cloth brings the wall down.

On The Air

2009-08-24T19:05:00.000+08:00

"There are better things to do with your life than finding that perfect man. Nailing green Jello on the ceiling, for instance." ~ Heard on the air by the radio announcer for 98.7 FM

An Interesting Situation

2009-07-29T15:50:00.001+08:00

My blog has been dead for quite some time, so what better way to resurrect it than with one of the interesting things that seem to be such a common occurrence in my life?

On our 'interview skills' handout we got today for Civics:

"Questions you can ask in response to the interviewer's question 'Do you have anything you would like to ask us?' "

And one of those questions was "Would you like me to answer any other questions?"

Imagine the fiasco at the interview room.

"So, before we finish this interview, would you like to ask us anything?"

"Well, I was wondering if you had anything else you wanted to ask me."

"We just did. That's our last question: Would you like to ask us anything?"

"I know. So my question is: Do you have anything else to ask me?"

"Are you trying to be funny with us?"

"Hey, no way man, I honestly want to know."

"But we're giving you an opportunity to find out what you want to know about us!"

"Yeah, and what I want to find out from you is whether you have anything else to ask me!"

"Sir, this is a serious interview."

"I'm aware of that. And I'm being serious."

"By asking us whether we want to ask you anything?"

"Well, yeah."

"Out."

Of course, interviewers won't be THAT unprofessional. But it'd be interesting, wouldn't it?

So This is the Power of A'Levels

2009-07-09T21:07:00.003+08:00

If the JCTs are any indicator (and I think they are), the Prelims and the A'Levels may prove to indeed be the most demanding piece of **** that we'll ever face.

At this rate, it's no wonder the school is rapidly going into super-revision mode. And giving us 'protected time' later on in the term. And bemoaning our abysmal performance in the JCTs. And stressing to us that Prelims are only 10 weeks away. And... well, you get the idea.

Methinks that for the eventual hell that is to come, prayer and divine intervention (some might say luck), will be just as crucial as the actual work we do in preparation.

On the bright side, though, once it's over, it's over for good. There won't be any Z'Levels or anything like that. I hope.

JCT Woes

2009-07-01T10:54:00.002+08:00

The only thing I want to say about the Lit paper on Monday is: "I never want to see the word UNACCOUNTABLE ever again!" My God, I must have been rambling on and on and on without even doing anything significant. But the other two essays seemed ok, so overall it was fine, I guess.

As for GP yesterday, I'm starting to wonder if I'm way too predictable. I mean, every single person I came across managed to guess which essay I wrote on the first try! I guess my selection range really is that narrow. And the compre was ridiculous. Could they have given a more difficult-to-paraphrase passage? Just when I thought I'd figured out what to say, I spot the same phrase two lines down. Grr.

And WHAT was the Bio paper all about? Bloody difficult. I don't think I've ever taken that long for a Bio paper before. Ran out of time near the last essay question. So in total that's like 10 marks gone. And who knows how much of the nonsense I wrote would be accepted?

I think I sound very angsty. I shall shut up now.

2009-06-28T10:31:00.000+08:00

JAI

HO

FOR

JCTS!!!

H1N1 Woes

2009-06-26T14:06:00.002+08:00

I have been freaking kicked out of my room because my floor has been turned into a quarantine zone. Since when do the healthy people get more inconvenienced?

And I find it incredibly scary that in the 10 days I was out of Singapore, the number of infected increased twenty-fold.

And to top it all off, TJC seems to have reached the pinnacle of kiasu-ism and is not extending the holidays NOR postponing the Common Tests for any reason whatsoever. So of course, that means a lot more travel declarations to sign, more temperature-taking times, and a hell lot more inconvenience.

What to do? It's a pandemic.

And totally not related to H1N1, my condolences to friends, family and fans of Michael Jackson, whose heart mysteriously failed for strange and undetermined reasons.

And I officially love transforming alien robots!!

Revelation of my Subconscious Self?

2009-06-08T22:30:00.001+08:00

I do believe that most of the time, dreams are a manifestation of our hopes, dreams, fantasies, desires and fears.

So the 3 consecutive dreams I had two nights ago raised a lot of questions about my true self.

Dream #1

My whole class was condemned by one of our teachers for injuring his right heel (don't ask me why the right heel specifically.) and because of this, our class' reputation fell really badly and everyone shunned us and treated us like crap. Now, we knew that no such thing had happened, but we couldn't say anything against a teacher (according to the logic of my dream-self, anyway). Still, a few classmates had this teacher's car-washing event under the guise of making up for our misdeed but actually waiting to ambush this teacher. Once they did, they ripped off his right shoe and revealed absolutely no wound.

Not having recorded the evidence, this teacher's word still stood firmer than ours and he used the wounding of his heel and the 'assault' on him at the carpark to throw three of us in jail. And not the "jail" jail, but rather, a prison cell that mysteriously was located in the school somewhere. Three of us were imprisoned, me, because this teacher said the CG rep should bear the class' sins, and two others who allegedly caused the heel injury.

For some strange reason, the three of us had street clothes with us in the cell and we made a plan to break out of the cell. Our dream selves knew that there would be a celebratory event in the school soon, at which point the cell would always be unlocked (don't ask why). We planned to change into the street clothes and slip out when none of the teachers were looking. When we executed the plan, my two classmates succeeded in getting away, but just as I was about to escape, a teacher came by and started to scold me really heavily. My dream-self was finally overwhelmed by the injustice of it all, and snapped. My dream-self screamed back a defense at the teacher, attracting the attention of all the other teachers, and bringing my 2 classmates back to my side to back me up. In my dream-self's fury, I dragged the 'wounded' teacher to the fore and yanked off his shoe, all the while screaming and crying tears of fury as the three of us yelled our defense.

And just like that, the dream blacked out.

Dream #2

I was at home, and my parents were in a very-disappointed-with-me mood, the kind where everytime they looked at me, they felt so shamed they would cry. And all because I had gotten my dad coffee instead of tea (because he likes tea way better). I was trying to explain myself, but everytime I tried, I would choke on my words halfway through, mainly because my main consciousness was put in control of my dream-self and I had no idea what I was supposed to do. Just when I thought I had something to say to placate my parents, my dream blacked out again.

Dream #3

No picture. Just a dismembered voice which I later realised was mine reciting every single Bio fact I had studied over the past few days in a rather desperate voice. And when the voice had run through the whole lot of notes I had finished, I woke up.

When I thought about all of this, I realised that maybe, just maybe, these three dreams had a lot to say about my subconscious self that I had never realised in my conscious self before, namely:

I'm not dealing with the high expectations of me well, and it has only worsened with all the people over the past six years highlighting that I'm not fulfilling my potential.
The two friends who were 'imprisoned' with me are probably the two I rely on a lot to keep me sane.
As far as my feelings are concerned, all the teachers who've been giving me the scholar speech over the years are probably doing more harm than good.
I have not forgiven myself for my crime five years ago.
I live in constant fear that I'll do something my parents will be disappointed about.
The only way I think I can prove my worth is through academics.

Which is all very worrying, because my conscious self was never more than just barely aware of all these things until now, and to top it all off, my conscious self's personality is completely antithesis to my subconscious'. Could I have been just subconsciously suppressing my true self all along ever since I fell short of expectation five years ago? I can't say.

2009-06-03T22:44:00.001+08:00

"I don't need to be a hero, I just want to help someone out."

What an interesting statement to live by.

I'll make a special effort to acknowledge all my unsung heroes I come across from now on, because every little thing they do that helps me makes them a hero in my eyes.

And I'll also make a stronger effort to help people out not for the sake of 'being a hero', but just because I can help.

Why?

2009-05-30T21:43:00.001+08:00

One month till the JCTs.

The JCTs are part of determining the continuation of the scholarship to uni.

Ergo: The JCTs are SHIT important.

Of all the times to have my confidence drop.

I'm screwed.

Midnight Musings

2009-05-30T00:00:00.001+08:00

Life is like a blog. If you don't update it regularly, people are going to get bored of yours.

Life is like reading. It's an adventure for some, a chore for others.

Life is like speaking a language. You can try to bluff your way through it, but you'll just end up making a fool out of yourself.

Life is like a shadow. It's always there, but we usually take it for granted.

Life is like a computer. Just when you think you've figured it out, some idiot changes something.

Life is like a catchphrase. People instantly recognise you because of your usage of it.

Life is like virginity. You never know how important it is until you're on the verge of losing it.

Life is like a dynamo. The more energy you give it, the more energy it gives others.

Life is like a roller coaster. Not only are there ups and downs, sometimes there are these really scary parts, but it's all just part of the fun.

Life is like a guillotine. It looks daunting, but it can't do squat until you let somebody release the blade.

Life is like gravity. Everyone experiences it similarly and yet differently to some extent.

Life is like fat. The more you have, the higher the likelihood you'll encounter problems.

Life is like doing a GP essay. You can just sit there and be passive, but it's not going to earn you any marks.

Life is like a teacher. You know its lessons are important, but you still ignore them anyway.

Life is like sleeping. You hardly notice the time go by, you appreciate it most when it's ending, and you spend a lot of time wishing it lasted longer.

Life is like paper. You can fold or decorate it any way you like, but when it boils right down to it, it's still paper.

Life is like the chime of midnight. You can choose to welcome the start of a new day, or you could complain about how late it is.

Post-production Blues

2009-05-25T20:26:00.001+08:00

Well, it's over. Paper Boats left port yesterday afternoon, and I helped break the set with a great deal of wistfulness. It happens after every production. It was an incredibly fun cruise, not without its challenges, and like every production I've helped out in, I'll miss all the experiences. I'll dearly miss:

The shock of realising that there was YET another thing to do for publicity.

The hours I spent on my computer designing shirts, tickets, the poster, and the programme booklet.

Getting my designs vetoed by Ms Nansi (hey, rejection is a real part of the working world. It's a valuable experience.)

Liaising with people I'd never even known existed.

Folding a small fraction of the 5 million paper boats we used for the set.

Seeing the finished product of all my designs.

Trying to convince people to come for Paper Boats.

Watching the rehearsals and all the hilarious debriefs.

Waking up early on weekends just to help out with rehearsals.

Searching for sounds to use in the plays.

Tweaking the sounds so they would be appropriate for the plays.

Lunches and dinners and in-between snacks during rehearsal breaks.

All the wiring stuff I had to re-learn from our godlike Production Designer.

Stepping gingerly over the fluorescent tubes.

Screaming at people not to step on the fluorescent tubes.

Replacing the broken fluorescent tubes.

Catching up with my wonderful alumni friends.

Visiting the otherworldly "up-there" where all the spotlights and wires and speakers and hidden tricks were.

Getting excused from classes.

Hiding in the sound booth during every show.

The butterflies in my stomach just before every show.

The satisfaction of a good show.

The realisation that every show was a constant reminder that there was still something that could be done better.

Testing the sound system before every show.

Checking volume levels every 3 minutes just because of paranoia.

The litres of Root Beer I consumed in the effort to stay alert all the time.

The wonderful audiences!!!

Man, I've got the post-production blues real bad. Maybe it's because I was so heavily involved this time. Whatever the case, even though it wasn't perfect, it was still a satisfactory show, and the paper boat has finally left port.

An Amusing Coincidence

2009-05-17T21:10:00.001+08:00

From the TJC students' online portal:

"Sign up at Outreach Notice Board for Youth Environment Envoy (YEE) Programme Workshop, conducted by professional regional consultant. Date:16-18 Jun 09 Venue Environment Building YEE programme seeks to develop, promote & encourage the students to take ownership of the environment. Through the workshops, YEEs will gain deeper insights into environmental issues & improve their communication & project management skills, to take on proactive leadership roles."

A programme named after me. I feel so touched.

Mistakes

2009-05-12T09:57:00.003+08:00

Now that it's a new day, and I've had a good sleep, and my pains have subsided, and I'm able to think more clearly, I have realised, to my endless dismay...

That I said a lot of stupid things last night to all the 15 people I was talking with.

Time to punch walls and scream. Oh wait, can't do that with my bad hand. Ok, I'll just scream.

Hoo boy. What a week.

Friction

2009-05-11T22:00:00.001+08:00

Damn it.

Never have I felt so ambivalent about friction before.

If friction didn't exist, then I wouldn't have gotten such crazy abrasions and my sprains.

But if friction existed (a bit more), then I wouldn't have slipped and fell in the first place.

AARGH RAIN!!!

ANOTHER QUIZ LOL

2009-05-09T23:58:00.001+08:00

1. What was the highlight of your week?
My highlighter.

2. Whose car were you in last?
Eh... Eugene Lee's, I think.

3. When is the next time you will kiss someone?
The time I want to, and that someone lets me. Duh.

4. What color shirt are you wearing?
Pure black.

5. How long is your hair?
Short-ish, but it'll get WAAAY shorter on Monday.

6. Are you good looking?
No idea. Ask other people.

7. Last movie you watched?
Fellowship of the Ring. Again. This morning.

8. Who were you with?
My roomie, all the bacteria in the room, and my pillow.

9. Last thing you ate?
Food.

10. Last thing you drank?
Water.

11. When was the last time you had your heart broken?
Ah, when my poster (which took 9 hours to do) was rejected and I had to try make a new one. Oh well, rejection is a part of life.

12. Who came over last?
Surya. He's still here, actually.

13. Are you happy right now?
Kinda, but not up to my usual level.

14. What did you say last?
Huh?

15. Where is your phone?
In my other hand.

16. What color are your eyes?
Pale brown on the absolute outside, white on the outside, dark brown on the inside, and transparent on the absolute inside.

17. Are you left-handed?
No, but I wish I was.

18. Spell your name without vowels:
MTTHW Y CHN YNG

19. Do you have any pets?
My roomie.

20. Favorite Vacation?
KOREAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!

21. What do you dislike currently?
Badminton shuttlecocks.

22. What are you listening to?
Surya singing "At The Beginning"

23. If you could have one thing right now what would it be?
MORE TIME!!!!

24. What is your favorite scent?
I'm not sure how to describe it, but I know how to gain access to it. And it involves swine flu. Heh Heh.

25. Who makes you happiest?
Good question. It really depends on the situation.

26. What were you doing at midnight last night?
Sounding the Hunter's Horn.

27. When is your birthday?
14th November 1991

28. Who has the same phone as you?
Oh a crapload of people. Wahidah, for one. And a whole horde of other people I don't know.

29. Last time you went swimming in a pool?
Last Sunday.

30. Do you read your horoscope?
Just to laugh at its inaccuracy.

31. Where was the last place you bought something?
Fairprice Express.

32. How do you feel about your hair right now?
Ah, I shall cut it on Monday. AND ALL WHO SEE ME AFTER THAT WILL COWER IN FEAR AND TERROR MWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

33. Do you bite your nails?
No. Yuck.

34. Do you have any expensive jewelery?
Yeah. My uncle paid a crapload of money for it.

35. Do you want to get married?
I guess so...

36. Myspace or facebook?
FACEBOOK. Myspace where got Mousehunt?

37. How fast have you driven a car?
750 km/h. I saw the speedometer on the computer screen for the game.

38. Have you ever smoked?
Countless times during Lit papers. I smoke answers.

39. What was or is your favorite subject in school?
Close fight between GP and Bio.

40. Do you have Verizon?
If it's something good, yes. If not, no.

41. What type of boy or girl do you usually fall for?
A person whose laugh I like.

42. Do you have any hidden talents?
The question is in itself a paradox.

43. Favorite Song?
Too many to choose from. But for now, I think "Moments That Matter" by Corbin Bleu.

44. Do you like to sing at all?
Yup.

45. Dream Job?
Forensic scientist. NO THIS WAS NOT INSPIRED BY CSI!!!

46. Where does most of your family live?
Immediate family, Brunei. Whole family, scattered everywhere.

47. Are you an only child or do you have siblings?
Have one brother.

48. Would you consider yourself to be spoiled?
Honestly, a bit.

49. What was the first thing you thought when you woke up?
DAMN WHAT DAY IS IT??? (Coz it was 11 am)

50. Do you drink?
Water is essential for human life.

51. Know any other languages?
Latin (kinda), Malay (even more kinda), Bahasa Indo (yet more kinda) and Blabber

52. Ever write a coded message?
Yup. I'm a Lit student what.

53. Have you ever been IN a wedding?
As in doing something which affected the ceremony? No.

54. Do you have any children?
A brainchild called "The World Ends With You" novel.

55. Did you take a nap today?
Forced myself not to.

56. Who has the same birthday as you?
Beethoven's father.

57. Ever met anyone famous before?
Yup. Mr Tong is way famous around my circle.

58. Do you want to be famous one day?
I'm already famous. Kinda. Infamous, more like. No, notorious.

59. Any pet peeves?
Yup.

60. Are you multitasking right now?
Yeah. It's hard sms-ing while typing.

61. Do you like Britney Spears?
Before she went crazy.

62. What is your least favorite chore?
Tidying up.

63. Last place you drove your car?
On someone else's com.

64. Ever been out of the country?
I AM CURRENTLY OUT OF THE COUNTRY.

65. Where were you born?
Some clinic which now looks extremely dubious and made me wonder how I ended up a healthy kid.

66. Could you handle being in the military?
GO AND DIE ARMY.

67. What is your average cell phone bill?
$25.68. That's what my plan says, and I doubt I exceed anything.

68. Who are you thinking about right now?
Surya. Coz he's muttering to himself right now and I'm trying to ignore him.

69. When was the last time you laughed REALLY hard?
2.293847 seconds ago. At Surya.

70. How many pairs of shoes do you own?
2.

71. Are your toes always painted?
With transparent paint.

72. How many piercings do you have?
None.

73. What are you doing today?
Things that have no benefit whatsoever towards my progress towards academic excellence.

74. Have you ever been gambling?
With Monopoly money. Oh, and once, in Malaysia during CNY, where I cleaned out my friends' wallets and purses.

75. When is the last time you updated your page?
As soon as I post this.

76. Do you like rollercoasters?
YEAH MAN WOOHOO!!!'

77. Have you ever been to disneyland or world?
Sadly, no.

78. Do you have a favorite cartoon character?
They're mostly Japanese.

79. Last thing you cooked?
Instant noodles.

80. How's the weather?
Humid.

81. Do you e-mail?
Does anyone NOT?

82. What's the stupidest thing you ever did with your cell phone?
Think it was my wallet.

83. Last time you were sick?
Two years ago.

84. What states have you lived in?
Singapore, Sentosa, Brunei, Sarawak, Kuala Lumpur

85. Do you wish you could move?
ONWARD, MARCH!! TO THE TOILET!!!

86. What's your blood type?
A.

87. What is your dream car?
Something that moves smoothly without any hitches.

88. Have you ever wanted someone you cant have?
The MOE never fails to remind the scholars of this everytime.

89. If you could be anywhere right now where would it be?
Dreamland. But I'm waiting to send a midnight birthday message.

90. Are you happy with your life?
Refer to question 13. But in general, YES INDEEDY!!

It's been a while since I did these random posts.

2009-05-02T22:46:00.001+08:00

1. ONE OF YOUR SCARS, HOW DID YOU GET IT?
HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW THERE WAS A GLASS DOOR THERE??

2. WHAT IS ON THE WALLS IN YOUR ROOM?
Paint, bacteria, dust, my badminton racket, my roommate after a nightmare, and a Kingdom Hearts jigsaw.

3. DO YOU SNORE, GRIND YOUR TEETH, OR TALK IN YOUR SLEEP?
Used to sleeptalk. Not anymore. I think.

4. WHAT TYPE OF MUSIC DO YOU LISTEN TO?
Music that has a tune and proper lyrics, not like heavy metal and "Ella, ella, ella, e, e, e."

5. DO YOU KNOW WHAT TIME YOU WERE BORN?
0241 hrs

6. WHAT DO YOU WANT MORE THAN ANYTHING RIGHT NOW?
Straight A's for A Levels. That beats anything else I could wish for right now.

7. WHAT/WHOM DO YOU MISS?
Me family. And me best friend. And all the other friends I'm not with now, for that matter.

8. WHAT IS YOUR MOST PRIZED POSSESSION(S)?
I would say my life, but that isn't REALLY mine. So I'll stick with my pillow. (Yes, I cuddle up with a pillow.)

9. HOW TALL ARE YOU?
Tall enough to call people short.

10. DO YOU GET CLAUSTROPHOBIC?
Nah. Love enclosed spaces. They give you a 'secret base' kind of feeling.

11. DO YOU GET SCARED IN THE DARK?
Not generally. But this one time, after I had watched Saw IV with this crazy person who kept on screaming. . . (YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE)

12. THE LAST PERSON TO MAKE YOU CRY?
One particular person who brought back memories of a painful incident, on purpose.

13. WHAT'S YOUR WORST FEAR?
SPIDERS WAAAAAAAA!!!

14. WHAT KIND OF HAIR/EYE COLOR DO YOU LIKE ON THE OPPOSITE SEX?
Doesn't really matter. Any colour that's natural. Like, no green hair, please.

15. WHERE CAN YOU SEE YOURSELF BEING PROPOSED TO?
Stereotypes demand that I be the one proposing.

16. COFFEE OR ENERGY DRINK?
Energy drink!! Can't stand the brown/black stuff. Root Beer's more my thing.

17. FAVORITE PIZZA?
Pizza.

18. IF YOU COULD EAT ANYTHING RIGHT NOW, WHAT WOULD IT BE?
Food.

19. FAVORITE COLOR OF ALL TIME
Bright red. Although Hot Pink comes in a close second.

20. HAVE YOU EVER EATEN A GOLDFISH?
A chocolate fish with a golden wrapper. Does that count?

21. WHAT WAS THE FIRST MEANINGFUL GIFT YOU'VE EVER RECEIVED?
Life from God.

22. DO YOU HAVE A CRUSH?
Too many variants of this question are going around right now. And I've answered all of them. So pay attention to all the previous quizzes I've done.

23. ARE YOU DOUBLE JOINTED?
I think I'm 1.5 jointed in my thumbs.

24. FAVORITE CLOTHING BRAND?
Can't say for sure. I just buy shirts that feel nice.

25. WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE FEMALE/MALE CELEBRITY?
Corbin Bleu ftw!!

26. DO YOU HAVE A PET RIGHT NOW?
My roommate.

27. WOULD YOU FALL IN LOVE KNOWING THAT THE PERSON IS LEAVING?
Put me in such a situation first, then I'll give you an answer.

28. WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE SCENT?
Too many to choose from. I'd say any smell that's not disgusting.

29. SAY A NUMBER FROM ONE TO A HUNDRED.
7.

30. BLONDES OR BRUNETTES?
Absolutely no idea.

31. FAVORITE QUOTE?
"I haven't failed. I just found 10000 ways that don't work!" ~ Thomas Alva Edison

32. FAVORITE PLACE?
CR111. Some of my best friends 'live' there.

33. HAVE YOU BEEN OUT OF THE USA?
When did I ever go to the USA? In my dreams, perhaps?

34. YOUR WEAKNESSES?
A smile.

35. MET ANYONE FAMOUS?
Mr. Francis Tong.

36. FIRST JOB?
Son.

37. EVER DONE A PRANK CALL?
I've had better upbringing.

38. DO YOU THINK EVERYONE OUT THERE HAS A SOUL MATE?
No. Then a significant percentage of the world will never be married.

39. WHAT WERE YOU DOING BEFORE YOU FILLED THIS OUT?
Hunting enchanted mice that want to enslave a parallel world.

40. HAVE YOU EVER HAD SURGERY?
The answer's rather complicated.

41. WHAT DO YOU GET COMPLIMENTED ABOUT MOST?
Good question. I'm usually not around to hear them, I think.

42. HAVE YOU EVER HAD BRACES?
*bares teeth in all their shiny pink glory*

43. WHAT DO YOU WANT FOR YOUR BIRTHDAY?
The knowledge that people care that it's my birthday.

44. HOW MANY KIDS DO YOU WANT AND THEIR NAMES?
No idea. But at least 2. Coz I think twins are cool.

45. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?
St. Matthew.

46. WHAT IS THE BIGGEST TURN OFF OF THE OPPOSITE SEX?
Giggling secretively.

47. WHAT IS ONE THING YOU LIKED ABOUT HIGH SCHOOL?
Everything except my timetable.

48. WHAT KIND OF SHAMPOO DO YOU USE?
The kind that cleans hair. There are other types?

49. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING?
Yup. Because it's unique in the sense that it's totally untidy and perfectly legible.

50. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT?
Meat.

51. ANY BAD HABITS?
Hmm. . . Sarcasm, laziness, general disregard for copyright laws.

52. ARE YOU A JEALOUS PERSON?
Not really.

53. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON, WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU?
Most likely.

54. DO YOU AGREE WITH FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS?
I not understooded.

55. DO LOOKS MATTER?
Yup, but they're not the only thing.

56. HOW DO YOU RELEASE ANGER?
Scream in a secluded corner, and then go find some way to help someone.

57. DO YOU HAVE ANY SIBLINGS?
The embodiment of laughter himself.

58. WHAT'S YOUR MAIN GOAL IN LIFE?
To continue living.

59. WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE MEMORY AS A CHILD?
Watching TV shows I cannot find anywhere now.

60. HOW MANY NUMBERS ARE IN YOUR CELL PHONE?
114.

61. WERE YOU A FAN OF BARNEY AS A LITTLE KID?
WTF???

62. DO YOU USE SARCASM?
NOOOO.

63. MASHED POTATOES OR MACARONI AND CHEESE?
Both.

64. WHAT DO YOU LOOK FOR IN A GUY/GIRL?
That special something. Vague, I know, but how else do you explain it?

65. WHAT ARE YOUR NICKNAMES?
Matt, Matt Matt, Yee, Yeeeeeeeeeee and recently christened as Matt Yoo.

66. IF YOU HAD A SUPER POWER WHAT WOULD IT BE?
Electric generation and manipulation.

67. WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE TV SHOW?
For now, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.

68. WHAT'S THE BEST WAY TO DEAL WITH YOUR ENEMIES?
Totally ignore them.

69. WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR?
Anything that's not durian.

70. DO YOU HAVE ALL YOUR FINGERS AND TOES?
Hmm, let me count. NOOOO.

71. DO YOU HAVE A COMPUTER IN YOUR ROOM?
NOOOO.

72. PLANS FOR TONIGHT?
Finish off this quiz, play cards, then sleep.

73. WHERE DO YOU WANT TO LIVE WHEN YOU ARE OLDER?
A house.

74. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS?
I'm very interested in seeing the answers.

75. LAST THING YOU ATE?
Ruffles Cheddar flavour.

76. LAST THING YOU DRANK?
Water.

77. LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE?
Ms. Nansi, I think.

78. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE IN THE OPPOSITE SEX?
That she's a girl. Hello. . .

79. WHAT DO YOU LIKE TO DO IN YOUR SPARE TIME?
Study while playing MouseHunt. Before you condemn me, Mum, I must tell you that all is not what they seem.

80. FAVORITE THING TO HATE?
Spiders.

81. FAVORITE SEASON OF THE YEAR?
Winter!!! WAAAAA OBK!!!

82. WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE TYPE OF CANDY?
Frutips. Three cheers for Lit lessons!

83. HAVE YOU EVER REALLY HAD A BEST FRIEND?
A few. Which kinda makes me wonder which is the BEST friend.

84. WHAT IS YOUR HAIR COLOR?
Hazel brown that's one shade away from black.

85. EYE COLOR?
Hazel brown that's more obvious than my hair.

86. SHOE SIZE?
Same size as my feet.

87. FAVORITE FAST FOOD PLACE?
Subway FTW!!

88. FAVORITE RESTAURANT?
Ayam Penyet Waroeng.

89. DO YOU LIKE SUSHI?
Who doesn't? Wait, don't answer that.

90. WATCH TV TODAY?
Nah. Watch everything on my computer.

91. FAVORITE DAY OF THE YEAR?
Friday.

92. PLAY ANY MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS?
Used to. All those lessons went to waste. But at least I kept the ear for music.

93. REPUBLICAN OR DEMOCRAT?
Democrat, methinks.

94. KISSES OR HUGS?
Depends on who's offering.

95. RELATIONSHIPS OR ONE NIGHT STANDS?
Relationship.

96. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU BOUGHT?
A drink.

97. WOULD YOU EVER BE A HOUSEWIFE?
Check in in a few years to see if I got a sex change.

98. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING?
X-Men and Philosophy. Most absorbing non-fiction book I've ever had.

99. DESCRIBE YOUR LOVE LIFE
Non-existent. Jacob (and a few others) suspect I'm asexual.

My Total Opposite

2009-04-23T18:28:00.001+08:00

[CHORUS]
Estuans interius                        
ira vehementi                           
Estuans interius                        
ira vehementi                           
Sephiroth!!!                               
Sephiroth!!!

[REPEAT CHORUS]

Sors immanis                            
Et inanis                               
Sors immanis                            
Et inanis

[REPEAT CHORUS]

Veni, veni, venias,                     
Ne me mori facias                       
Veni, veni, venias,                     
Ne me mori facias

[REPEAT VERSE]

Veni, veni, venias, (Gloriosa)
Ne me mori facias   (Generosa) 
Veni, veni, venias, (Gloriosa)
Ne me mori facias   (Generosa)

[REPEAT VERSE]

Sephiroth!!!                              
Sephiroth!!!

My name is Mattina

2009-04-23T15:10:00.001+08:00

Of all the interesting things that happen to me on the streets at random times, today's one had to take the cake. So Conk, Duy and I were going back to the the hostel after school, and after the crowd on the bus lessened, the other two ended up sitting, and I standing right in front of them. Now, there was this guy, who peered very closely at their phone/mp3s when they took them out. They didn't notice, but I did, and while I was puzzled, I didn't think anything of it. Maybe he was just another of the random tech-swakoos you see sometimes.

Imagine my surprise when he taps Duy's head after a while and begins talking to the two of them. I was plugged in, so I didn't hear, but the two were looking directly at me so the guy couldn't see their faces and they were trying earnestly to suppress their laughter. Of course, to reassure the guy, they occasionally turned back to look at him and smile. I was planning to just ignore this until I talked to them, making the guy realise that I was part of their group. So he starts talking to me.

He said a lot of random things, but this one stuck in my head:

"Eh, you know ah, you really look like girl ah! Yes, yes, you really look like girl! You know what you call your kind of people? COWBOY GIRL AH! Yes, yes, COWBOY GIRL!! I think next time I see you I call you like this, 'Girlgirl! Come here! Daddy want to take you to cinema! Daddy carry you to school!' "

At this point I was thinking he was clearly out of it, but I had no idea if he was a prejudiced whacko, or just plain whacko. Not that it would have mattered. Thanks to the trainings of the Drama Club, I maintained my composure better than Conk or Duy, but by this point it was too much for me. And I was looking right at the guy. So I forced myself to pretend to be busy sms-ing. But I made the STUPID mistake of saying this to Conk:

"Eh, like that I should have a twin sister who looks like a guy! Then there'll be balance!"

The guy started ranting again. "You know why you look like girl? Because you don't take care of your sister!! You don't take care of your sister, so she don't like you then you look like girl!"

"I don't have a sister." I couldn't help retorting.

"Then since you look like girl, you can be like a sister to these two guys here lah!" said the guy, pointing to Conk and Duy.

All three of us rolled our eyes and totally ignored the guy until we reached the hostel. In the background, though, I could still hear his:

"Aiyah, I trying to give you all this wisdom and then you don't listen! Listen to me lah! I giving you wisdom!"

When we finally reached the hostel bus stop, we resoundingly said goodbye to the whacko uncle before stepping out and laughing our butts off.

Do I really look like a girl????

Is this testing my Music Library?

2009-04-21T18:22:00.001+08:00

1. Write down every letter of your name.
2. Then type a song that pops up in your mind in each letter of your name as the first letter.
3. Count the letters of your name, and tag people you know in that number.

M: Moments That Matter - Corbin Bleu
A: Absolutely Everybody - Vanessa Amorosi
T: The 13th Struggle - Shimomura Yoko
T: The Answer to Our Life - Backstreet Boys
H: Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride - Jump5
E: Extraordinary - City Harvest Church
W: Where Is The Love? - Black Eyed Peas

Y: You - Switchfoot
E: Everyday - Delirious
E: Everyday - Vanessa Hudgens and Zac Efron

C: Crush - David Archuleta
H: Humuhumunukunukua'Pua'a - Ashley Tisdale and Lucas Gabreel
E: Eternal Story - Shimotsuki Haruka
N: Never Stop - Planetshakers

Y: You Got Game - Kimeru
U: Under The Sea - A*Teens
N: Nobody - Wonder Girls
G: Gee - SNSD

God works in mysterious ways

2009-04-20T16:54:00.001+08:00

Who would have thought it? A monistic philosophical idea strengthening the faith of me, the theist. A great deal of all that was discussed in the philosophy lecture today has corroborated all that I believe in, and strengthened it.

Then Moses said to God, "Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they say to me, 'What is His name?' what shall I say to them?"

And God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And He said, "Thus you shall say to the people of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.' "

Language cannot be used to define the ultimate reality because language is a finite concept whereas divinity or the ultimate reality is supposedly infinite. To try and define it would be to limit it. So here's to my ultimate reality, my God who is transcendent of all human definition, the God WHO IS!!!

The random things you see when you wander around on a weekend

2009-04-19T17:09:00.001+08:00

Takashimaya. Orchard Road. 4 thirsty scholars rush down the corridor, knowing that there's a McDonald's 100 metres ahead, that sells DRINKS!!! We crowd around the cashier, order our drinks, and while waiting, stare in amazement at the worker who turns on the Ice Lemon Tea tap at the drinks' dispenser, and WASHES HIS HANDS UNDER THE FROTHING DESCENDING SUGAR WATER!!! Thank goodness I ordered Green Tea.

Borders. Orchard Road. One scholar, eyes sparkling, dances from bookshelf to bookshelf, looking for the, no, THE catalysts towards achieving that greatest joy in life that is reading. 2 scholars follow the first, keeping the first only just within view. After all, they don't want the people around them to think they know this book maniac. But something happened that could stop even MY book-browsing frenzy. As I was darting to and fro the bookshelves in Borders, I bumped into Agung and Juan, after a year of scarce contact. And just 5 minutes after, I bumped into Sing Hun. You want to find your scholar seniors? Look around Orchard Road during the weekend.

You also see the occasional megalomaniac trying to take over the world, the occasional dark monsters that appear out of nowhere only to be defeated by two noble superheroes, the occasional freak accident that causes dimensional rifts, the occasional magical artifacts that grant great knowledge, and of course, the ravenous wolves that prowl the streets.

Think I live in an imaginary world? It's true. I DID see uniformed men screaming orders, a child opening his mouth to throw a tantrum only to be silenced by his parents, the fusion of the world's cuisines in Food Republic, the philosophy books at Kinokuniya, and of course, the people begging for donations.It's all just how you choose to see it. I have chosen the more colourful way.

Dystopic Parenting and a random thought

2009-04-12T16:09:00.001+08:00

H2 Lit came alive today in Parkway Parade, as I saw elements of dystopia with my own eyes.

There was this father-son duo in Popular. Of course, I didn't know at first they were such, for the boy (who couldn't have been older than 13) was standing right in front of a bookshelf doing nothing but staring at the books, with his father quite a distance away, picking up assessment books, critically examining them with the eye of the trained kiasu Singaporean parent. Every now and then, the man's eyes shot around, looking at the boy, with a dangerous expression on his face. I, the innocent bystander, then concluded that if the man wasn't the boy's father, he was some kind of paedophile, so I stuck around, just in case.

A sudden movement. The boy reaches out and touches a book. The father immediately flares up, stomps up to the boy, and starts scolding him silently. Now, having my own things I needed to attend to, I couldn't utilise my eavesdropping skills to their fullest ability. Besides, music was streaming through my ears. So, having assured myself that the man was the boy's father and therefore had divinely (and earthly) ordained rights to stalk the boy, I continued picking up stationery for my soon-to-be-resurrected pencil case.

Coincidentally, as I approached the counter to pay for my stuff, I realised that I was right behind the father-son pair. And the father was still scolding him, with the boy standing cross-armed with the Stance of Teenage Rebellion, utilising the Teenage Skill of Rolling Eyeballs. Naturally, my hand surreptitiously wormed its way into my own pocket with the inconspicuousness of a retired pickpocket, and stealthily disconnected my earphones from my phone, stopping the music. Instantly, the melodious tunes of High School Musical were replaced by an angry gruff voice.

"...I told you to stand there and wait for me to finish! Why the hell did you pick up that book?"

"Eh, I was waiting there for you just like you.. ."

"I don't give a damn what your excuses are! Why did you pick up that book? Huh? Why?"

"I don't know."

" 'I don't know'? What do you mean, 'I don't know'? "

*Silence from the boy*

"Ok, I don't care. If you're gonna be like that, after I pay, we're going home. Straightaway. I don't care."

In true Russell Peters style, the boy threatens to call his mother, and takes out his phone, furiously punching in the numbers. I notice that his phone model is the same as mine. Now, some background knowledge. My phone model has the unique capability to be remotely locked, once a secret preset message is sent from any other handphone is sent to my phone model.

The father takes out his own phone and types out an sms, his fingers a blur. I half wonder whether he used to be a pickpocket too, or he's training to get a job at the IR when it opens. But anyhow, midway through patching the call through, the boy's phone locks itself as it receives the secret message. The boy jams his phone back into his pocket, glaring venomously at his father all the while. Payment is made, and the father drags his son out of Popular.

I'm all for firm parenting, but that was way overboard. Sure, I may not know the full story, but I'm pretty sure no extenuating circumstance could justify that kind of parenting. But who was I to declare that the guy was a dystopic whacko?

And now for the random thought:

Why is it that in modern times, when we see a boy and girl arguing, one of our comments or rebukes to them is: "Aiyah, you two can get married already, lah!"

Why do we associate a married couple with constant bickering? Is this how the stereotypical married couple behaves? Society has really changed.

Green Porno

2009-04-12T00:27:00.002+08:00

Ayto: EY MATTHEW go see this video!!!

Matthew: *strange confused noise*

Ayto: Yeah, it's damn cute one!

Matthew: What video?

Ayto: Green Porno.

Matthew:*disbelievingly* Green... Porno...

Ayto: Yeah, go watch go watch!!

Matthew: Uh, what the fish is it about?

Ayto: Uh, yeah, it's a porno movie.

Matthew: WHAT THE FISH NO WAY I'M GONNA WATCH A PORNO MOVIE!!!

Ayto: No, but it's not porno per se!

Chi Yung: WAH what the hell does that mean, man!! What "not porno per se"?

Matthew: Ya lor I mean like what sia!! (I know this doesn't make sense, but hey, Singapore slang...)

Ayto: No no no, it's not a human porno movie...

Matthew: ???

Ayto: Yeah, it's about animals!

Matthew: !!!

Chi Yung: ZOMG you watch animal porn??? Human porn not enough ah?

Matthew: No way man. I already got watch an elephant give birth before and that was disgusting enough without porno being put into it.

Ayto: But it's educational!!!

Chi Yung: WTH MAN!!!

Ayto: Besides, it's not animal porno!

Matthew: Then what is it?

Ayto: It's human doing animal one!

Surya: (looks up from my DS) WTH AYTO YOU'RE INTO THIS KIND OF PORNO???

Ayto: Nonononononono it's not porno!

Surya: Heh? Didn't you just say it was porno?

Matthew: So what, it's some kind of documentary?

Ayto: NO it's much more cuter than that!! *reaches for my com*

Matthew: Ok, now I'm scared. NO WAY ARE YOU INFECTING MY COM WITH YOUR PORNO CRAP, MAN!!!

Ayto: NO BUT IT'S NOT PORNO!!!

Everyone except Ayto: ...

Turns out, the 'Green Porno' was actually a series of short films of animal sexual behaviour, acted out by humans in ridiculous costumes. So it WAS a documentary!!! The kind of documentaries that are meant for kids because they censor things without censoring things. Trust America to come up with this.

Epilogue:

*5 mins later*

Matthew: WALAU WHAT IS THIS SITE??? SO WEIRD!!

Ayto: Eh play play play I wanna watch again! I'm addicted already!

Matthew: ...

For Ayto's version of the story, visit his blog at http://babikotak.blogspot.com.

*Disclaimer to Mum and Dad* It's REALLY not porn. Trust me. And my roomie isn't in the dark side yet.

C for PW

2009-04-09T21:46:00.001+08:00

All things considered, it's actually quite a great achievement, considering the majorly-scary incident that happened during the Oral Presentation, moderators who were biased against us, and a useless PW teacher who seemed to be concerned only about the small details than the overall project itself. I'm quite thankful, really, that it turned out this way, because it could just as easily have gone further south. I'm quite surprised I got higher than D, to tell the truth.

But I overestimated my own emotional tolerance levels, and severely underestimated how great the emotional drain would be heartily and honestly congratulating all those who got A, and those who got the results they're happy with. I mean, after all, after the hurlyburly's done, the fact remains that I'm in the bottom 4% of the school. I guess the only way out now is to work like mad for A Levels and get straight A's. Which is a daunting task in and of itself.

But I won't work now. I'm tired.

The Face of Evil

2009-04-07T20:46:00.001+08:00

Bio used to be my favourite content subject. Until today. Nothing against the subject, or the teachers, but rather, the 'learning aura' has been disrupted for me by the arrival of an unlikely new transfer student in LT2 today.

A freaking huge (and I mean huge) spider on the bl**dy ceiling. It was like this big:

Yes, as big as my outstretched palm, which is insanely big for a spider. Just in case my previous photo didn't fully show the size of the beast, here it is right next to my palm, to give you a better idea.

Actually, it's a surprise I managed to take a photo at all. Due to my intense arachnophobia, it was all I could do to scream like this:

The Sound Of Music

2009-04-07T17:07:00.001+08:00

Interestingly enough, it has been proven that people who like singing tend to be happier than those who don't. It doesn't even matter which kind of songs they like singing. As long as they like to sing, and frequently let their vocal chords strut their stuff, they statistically turn out happier people. Actually, it's not just singing. It's anything to do with music, be it singing, playing an instrument, or dancing to a tune.

Most likely, this is due to the fact that music is cathartic. Music captures the heart and emotions of the person creating the said music, and this catharsis is released to the surroundings. If the musician is feeling sad, the sadness is dispersed. If he feels happy, he declares it to the world, which, due to some reason not fully understood yet, makes him even happier. And when one sings the song again, plays the notes, or dances to the beat of it, they themselves take in the emotions locked in the song, relate to it, and release it for the same effect.

So sing more! Clear the dust of that old piano and strike a few bars! Let your body dance naturally to the beat of your favourite songs! If you're embarrassed to strut your stuff (or the lack of it), heck, do it when you're alone! The long term effects are way worth it. Music is one of the world's miracles that is often taken for granted. And if you can relate to a song, or an instrumental piece personally, all the better! As I posted a long way back, Positivity is not innate, it's a trained thing. And the catharsis of music can surely help you get there.

Maybe I should let my roommate go on his tone-deaf singing sprees more often. It's the effect that counts, anyway.

2009-04-05T14:19:00.002+08:00

ALOE VERA: THE MIRACLE PLANT
-Cures sunburns
-Moisturizes skin
-Removes body odour
-Tastes damn good in a drink
-Has multiple essential vitamins
-Reproduces quickly, so all the above benefits can be mass produced!

A Crazy Day

2009-04-03T19:50:00.003+08:00

This morning, my view that girls are better than guys was proven right yet again. We were walking from the hostel to the bus stop like everyone's average TJC scholar, and once we reached there, since the bus hadn't arrived since, well, 9 years before or something, the bus stop was congested with people. No, it was more like the molecules of a solid particle.

But anyway, there was this narrow lane for walking which we provided for the other members of the community to walk through, since after all, our school's core values include integrity and care for others. So, there was this random scholar who walked through the lane to get to the even-more-congested center of the bus stop. With two cyclists right on his tail ringing their bells madly.

Of course, he didn't hear. Why? Because like almost every member of our relatively anti-social generation (I can hear the parents say "HAH!" around now), he was plugged into his iPod. So we gesture to him like wild monkeys and he finally gets the hint and avoids the cyclist behind him. And wedges himself back in the lane, not noticing the second cyclist.

We gesture again. He doesn't notice. The second cyclist patiently follows behind him until the lane gets wider, and then he shoots after his friend. After witnessing this saga, the group of us start chattering. About what? D'uh. But you should see the difference.

Girls: "OMG OMG OMG He could have died! Or, like, gotten seriously hurt!"
Guys: "OMG OMG OMG Did you SEE the Mercedes Benz T-shirt the second guy was wearing??"

The girls have their priorities right, man.

Today was the day of the school's annual track meet, and as an official, I had a hell of a time (literally) standing in the swelteringly hot sun checking that the baton-passers passed that insanely shiny stick properly, and holding up green and red cards to signal Mr. Sim as if I was some soccer referee. I was sunburnt like crap, but I do thank God for the clouds that prevented it from becoming sunstroke or something. What's more, tomorrow, I'm an official at the Duathlon Challenge. I'm gonna get more sunburnt.

To my dear classmates: At flag-raising on Monday, you will see a brown-eyed, red-boned skeleton standing in front of your line. Fear not, for I have not become an undead, I am merely a victim of the scalding powers of our own star Solaris.

I recently met up with one of my best female friends, who strongly recommended this song to me. I agree wholeheartedly with it (Sorry, guys...)

Never Underestimate A Girl
by Vanessa Hudgens

It takes a girl to understand
Just how to win
She knows...She can
I think it's clear
Who wears the pants
What boy...could stand...a chance

[Vamp]
She makes it look easy
In control completely
She'll get the best of you...every single...time
Thought by now you'd realize you should

[Chorus]
Never underestimate a girl
Gets anything she wants
She's never gonna stop
(You know it...we know it)
Never underestimate a girl
She's always got a plan
The world is in her hands

She got the lipstick
Puts it together
Boys have it good
But girls have it better...(watch out)
Your secretary might
End up your boss
Whether you...really like it...or not

[Vamp]
She makes it look easy
In control control completely
She'll get the best of you... every single...time
That's right...no no no you should

[Chorus]
Never underestimate a girl
Gets anything she wants
She's never gonna stop
(You know it...we know it)
Never underestimate a girl
She's always got a plan
The world is in her hands

She might be the president
Make all the rules
Don't try to win the game
You're only gonna lose
Now girls you know we got it
Got it goin on
We've been tryin to tell them all along
Listen up guys
Take a little sound advice

[Chorus]
Never underestimate a girl
Gets anything she wants
She's never gonna stop
(You know it...we know it)
Never underestimate a girl
She's always got a plan
The world is in her hands

The Storyteller's Creed

2009-04-01T16:57:00.001+08:00

I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge -
That myth is more potent than history -
That dreams are more powerful than facts -
That hope always triumphs over experience -
That laughter is the only cure for grief.
And I believe that love is stronger than death.

Robert Fulghum

The Last (Maybe) MCT Post

2009-03-27T11:06:00.003+08:00

It seems that although I have been confined to the hostel for this last day of the MCTs, the interesting events keep on happening, and why shouldn't they? After all, a boring life leads to......well...... boredom, I guess.

BUT ANYWAY!!! Today's interesting event involved my particularly over-jubilant roomie, who evidently was so happy from the Physics paper's end that his mind started to play tricks on him, making him absolutely 128% sure that yours truly was a Physics student. Now, I know that I know the definition of potential difference and that V=IR and that I surely want the rate of change of momentum to be with me, but that clearly isn't enough to qualify me as a Physics student. But anyhow, his addled mind conjured up the illusion anyway.

Since we had planned out a bowling outing, he frantically searches the Physics crowd for me, and upon being not able to find me, grabs Tirta's phone (because his can't be used to call) and places a call.

Meanwhile, in DHS Hostel...

*"The 13th Struggle" ringtone plays*
Matthew-the-pirate-who-already-finished-MCTs-before-them: Hello?
Ayto: HEY MATT WHERE ARE YOU???
Matthew: Erm... hostel.
*2 split seconds of stunned silence*
Ayto: OH YEAH!!! *laughs like a maniac*
Ayto (before pressing 'End Call')(to Tirta): ADUH, I FORGOT HE NO PHYSICS!!!

Ayto, get some depressants. Now.

MCTs Addle The Mind

2009-03-26T16:43:00.004+08:00

I kid you not. I have scientific evidence that proves that MCTs damage brain cells to the point where they leave their victims in a state of catatonic blurness. See the proof below.

Exhibit A: Kaizen sleeping on Ayto's bed

Exhibit B: Tirta sleeping on Kaizen's bed

Exhibit C: Ayto sleeping on Tirta's bed

THIS IS THE POWER OF MCTS!!! Kinda makes you wonder what's going to happen for JCTs. Maybe five people will go catatonically insane. Or maybe we'll have guys thinking their rooms are in the female block. Or something.

Thank God It's Over

2009-03-26T14:12:00.003+08:00

At least, I'm able to say that, though for the notably relatively large population of Physics students who read my blog, I'd better not say more on the subject.

Maths. Well, what can I say? Just when we think we're prepared, just when we feel at our most confident, just when the night before we put down our notes and said with a flourish: "I'm finished!", the Maths Department exceeds all our expectations. Except for the few gifted students out there, I'm sure everyone would heartily agree with me that the Maths paper was hell. Although honestly, maybe we really didn't study enough. But 87% of the cohort couldn't have not-studied to the same extent, right?

Oh well, at least there was ONE funny incident today. My dear classmates Ting Hui and Zhenyu, being swamped with exam stress, believed with their whole being that we would be seated in the hall, as far back as our class was on the cohort list. Ting Hui, seeing the rest of us were doing some last-minute frenzied preparations outside the auditorium, was peer-pressured into going to the correct place. However, Zhenyu, who has always been somewhat of a loner, really went to the hall and tried to kick away the person sitting at 'his seat'. Luckily, he came to his senses before the paper started...

Transcript of Doom

2009-03-25T20:50:00.003+08:00

Recently, it seems like there is starting to be a wave of dreams about our dear friend Kelvin Senjaya. A few days ago, I had a vaguely vivid dream of Kelvin spying on me for strange reasons. And just a few hours ago, Kar Yong had a dream about Kelvin too.

*DISCLAIMER* This transcript of the conversation concerning Kar Yong's dream has no ulterior motive but to entertain. Any person offended by the following transcript is purely unintentional.

Matthew: So, Conk (Kelvin), what was that dream about?
Kelvin: Kar Yong had this dream that I was getting stabbed by a mad woman.
D**X**n (looking away from PC): Huh? Huh? What's this about?
Matthew: No, I was just noting that lately got people dreaming about him one.
D**X**n: Huh so Kar Yong got dream about Conk also?
Kelvin: No lah, it's like the mad woman was stabbing him and me lah, so I'm like a side character.
Matthew: So like, both of you kena stab by a crazy woman?
Kelvin: Yeah, and the woman got short hair like Indora!
Matthew: Huh how come suddenly got the Imba Woman?
D**X**n: EH EH I KNOW I KNOW! So she stabbed Conk because she say, "YOU HAD AN AFFAIR WITH HIM [Kar Yong]" and she stabbed Kar Yong because she say, "YOU WERE UNFAITHFUL!!!"
*120dB laughs pervade the room*

Indora, good luck trying to find a person to kill.

The Third Day

2009-03-25T13:24:00.002+08:00

Walau, having a title like that, it feels like I'm scripting the Kingdom Hearts II tutorial...

BUT ANYWAY! With the Chem paper, quite a few people, notably me and Kaizen, have realised and experienced the true meaning of despair. What made it so bad for me was most probably the fact that it was DOABLE, and I studied harder, or practised more, or made an effort to stop all the knowledge from desorbing away from my brain, or was as imba as the Imba Woman, I would have probably done okay. But due to one or a combination of the above four factors, or rather the lack of them, 27 moles of marks have flown away just like that.

It's times like this I wish I was the Imba Woman, or at least had her brain.

The Saga Continues

2009-03-24T20:54:00.003+08:00

Interestingly, but not unpredictably, my efforts for the Bio paper paid off today, and I found the paper more than doable.

The weirdness came in during the Lit paper. We were seated and ready to start, and when Ms Nansi told us she could start, and we turned the page, she LAUGHED. Yes, I kid you not. Although the other students were busy concentrating on the paper, so I doubt they looked up to notice. But I was freaked out of my skin. The H2 essay, being a topic paper, couldn't be screwed up that badly, but the H1 essay was impossible. I think the Lit department didn't take the MCTs seriously, and so for fun just purposely set an undoable paper. I mean, see the transcript of the conversation we had just after the paper.

Ms Nansi: Guys, I apologise in advance for the H1 essay!!!
Every Lit student's thoughts: WTH WHAT WAS THAT MAN???
Ms Nansi: Really, really, I apologise!
Some girl in front: MS NANSI I'M GONNA FAIL!!!
Ms Nansi (calling out): Ok, so how many of you think you're gonna fail?
*Like, two-thirds of the hands go up*
Ms Nansi (laughing): Walau, cannot like that one! Self-confidence is the way to go! Can pass one!
*Ms Nansi laughs evilly*

I just hope that the Chem paper tomorrow isn't as crazy. It's already worrying enough that a rumour is being spread around that the Chem department extrapolated that any student would be lucky to get more than 42%.

Oh, speaking of studying for Chem, evidently, the stress is getting to some people. Check out this transcript.

Context: Before this, Ayto Faiz had done a quiz on Facebook which told him he had qualities similar to Asmodeus, the demon of lust.

Kaizen (talking about a friend): And he damn bad eh, insult her like that. ('Her' is a girl Ayto knows)
Ayto: HUH HOW DARE HE INSULT HER LIKE THAT??
Matthew: Huh, you are attracted to her?
Kaizen: Walau eh, and he asks why he got Asmodeus...
Ayto: What?? True what, how come I get Asmodeus???
Matthew (to Kaizen): Eh, true leh, you know, just now I performed a test on Ayto. I asked him if suddenly one of you all came into the room and said, "Eh, I downloaded porn, let's go watch!", how would he react? And his answer was "I WANT!!!"
Kaizen: YA LAH ASMODEUS LAH!!!
Ayto: Eh, I joking only lah!
*Kaizen makes to go away from the room*
Ayto: Eh, Zen, Zen, wait wait. Come, you test me now, see whether I fall for temptation or not.
Matthew: WALAU EH YOU ALREADY PREPARED LOH!!!
Ayto: Aiyah, nevermind lah. Come on, Zen!
*Kaizen utilises the skills he got from the SJI Drama Club*
(Translated from Bahasa Indo)
Kaizen: Eh, Ayto, I downloaded porn! Wanna watch?
*Ayto pushes up his glasses and looks at him patronisingly*
Ayto: No man, must study for Chem.
*120 dB laughs pervade the room*

"We must study Chem". Coming from the guy who, two hours ago, didn't know the difference between an alcohol and a carboxylic acid ("Both got OH what!!") and just tried to confirm with me what else was under carbonyl compounds besides carboxylic acids.

MCTs Begin

2009-03-23T16:21:00.003+08:00

I think TJC must be the only JC in the entire country who starts Common Tests on the day after the holidays. VJC had it right, man. They had the CTs the week before the holidays so the students could actually have a holiday, unlike the study break we had. And to make matters worse, they just HAD to play ominous music this morning before assembly and ruin the atmosphere for all of us. All right, fine, Ting Hui and I laughed like maniacs. But still!

But anyway, if I've learned one thing from today's GP paper, it's to never go to sleep after you finish double-checking. Because the friends you have in the exam venue who can see you sleeping without being considered a cheat will confront you after the paper and scold you for demoralising the whole lot of them, even if that wasn't your intention in the first place.

Come on, man! I'll have my own heavy day just like you tomorrow. And is it my fault I have a legendary mother who gave me a headstart?

Mwahahaha!!! But to all the Econs students reading, I hope you did well.

A Thought

2009-03-15T12:54:00.002+08:00

"Often the hands will solve a mystery that the intellect has struggled with in vain."

We tend to be of the mindset, or at least subconsciously think, that "mysteries" are most efficiently solved through hard thinking. However, oftentimes we realise that some things just have to be learnt intuitively and cannot be memorised from any textbook. Sports illustrate this. You can read about perfect form and strategies and teamwork all you want, but when you try to translate this to the playing field, it takes much more than just elucidation from a textbook to guide you through. It takes practice, practice, and more practice. Hence, the "hands" are more useful here than the "intellect".

But the hands and the intellect need not work exclusively. They work together for a myriad of situations. The unsung heroes known as construction workers utilise both their mind and muscles to do their job; pushing, lifting, moving objects while using their experience to think of where the said objects go. Some may defy the notion, saying that construction is hardly a "mystery" but rather a mundane menial task. I ask you then, could you possibly tell me of the calculations that lead to pillars being placed at oh-so-specific locations? If you can, then haven't you learnt a thing or two about physics or architecture? What we usually classify as a "mystery" in this aspect is nothing more than a lack of knowledge concerning the topic.

But it is not just the hands and the head which are required to illuminate mysteries. The heart also plays a role. Sometimes, we find ourselves at a point where logic fails, and there is no choice but to go along with instinct. Take emotions as an example. We can explain the logic of why some emotions lead us to do some things, but we are nowhere near explaining why we have emotions in the first place. And we act on our emotions, without even understanding how they come about. Our brains "struggle in vain" to rationalise what we do, but in the end, we sometimes act without thinking anyway. This 'follow your heart' phenomenon is the reason why we grasp things sometimes without even knowing why. It is also the reason why there are such people as Literature students.

My Old Self

2009-03-10T08:59:00.002+08:00

I had never noticed it myself before, but based on everything I have found out thanks to my spying skills, it seems I haven't totally thrown away my old self yet.

Maybe it's a good thing; I have a constant reminder of how I used to be, so I can appreciate the changes.
On the other hand, it shows that the changes are not complete yet.

Too Much Exposure To My Thesaurus

2009-03-08T16:28:00.004+08:00

Meticulously
Arranging
Tidy
To
Horribly
Entrancingly
Wacky

and

Absolutely
Yearning
To
Offer
Frenzied
Arrangement
In
Zest

are

Really
Obviously
Outlandish
Meritorious
Men
Abstaining
Tidiness
Extraordinarily
Superbly

No wonder our room looks like a nuclear wasteland.

An Interesting Note Going Around Facebook

2009-03-07T19:49:00.004+08:00

Instructions:

Go to urbandictionary.com and type in your answer to each question in the search box, and
write the FIRST definition it gives you. You're going to find some pretty funny results. Try not to take offense to some of them! Then tag 20 people!

1. your first name: Matthew

a sexy guy that liked the women and has a nice tooth brush

(SEE!! Even Urban Dictionary thinks hot pink is nice!!!)

2. your last name: Yee

You say Yee if you're hella hyped off what you do..For instance, IN THE BAY AREA! It's poppin pills of the block, it's like you're hella hot off something you're not even on.

(So now my family are drug addicts...)

3. your birth month: November

The best month of the year! Snow, getting ready for Christmas, celebrating thanksgiving & having thanksgiving break.

4. your age: 17

When you have more responsibility than at 16, but without all the fun of 18.

(How interesting...)

5. your favourite animal: Cat

The definitive pet.
Cleans self. Knows how to catch it's food.
Probably gave humans the idea for a "vaccum." Is intelligent and curious.
Likes to lay around alot, sort of like a couch potato. That's cool though.

They are usually quiet and know where to use the bathroom, unlike dogs.

Cats rule, dogs drool. Remember that.

6. your current location: bed

a matress on a stand or on the floor (lol) that has a blanket and pillows on it and u got to sleep on it coz sleep is so good

(Yeah, SLEEP FTW!!! ZZZ!!!)

7. your favourite number: 9

A number which was eaten by 7.

[Why are all the other numbers afraid of 7? Because 7 8 9 (seven ATE nine..)]

8. your favourite movie: Matrix Reloaded

1. a bad ass film which normally lame Keanu Reeves kicks some major ass.
2. A film in which you find out Zion and the "real world" is just another matrix outside the internal matrix and that everyone is still in pods under the machines control.
3. Bad ass special effects

9. an object closest to you: mouse

The protrusion into our dimension of a vastly hyperintelligent pandimensional being. The mice run the Earth, and it was they who paid for the Magratheans to build it.

(Which is why we need games like MouseHunt to kill off the invaders.)

10. the last person you talked to: Roommate

The reason I'm not getting any sleep right now.

(And so we stay up all night...)

11. your nickname: Matt

An attractive, smooth-talking, charming young man. When you're with him, he makes you feel like a princess; when you're not, you know he is making another girl feel the same and not even thinking of you.

(Riiiiiiiight...)

I'm Thankful

2009-03-07T13:06:00.003+08:00

I'm thankful to whomever has helped in my passing Malay and forever freeing me from the subject.

I'm thankful that TJ Drama is moving to higher places.

I'm thankful on my seniors' behalf that so many of them have achieved results they can be happy with.

But mostly, I'm thankful that finally, finally, after four and a half years of suspicion, doubt, pain and suffering, I have, at long last, proven myself, been forgiven, and earned the trust I lost that painful night. It means so much to me, more than any words can express. Thank you.

Singapore Is The Golgi Apparatus Of The World

2009-03-02T16:14:00.002+08:00

Golgi Apparatus (by JC definition): An organelle present within a cell that has the purpose of accepting proteins synthesized by the rough endoplasmic reticulum, and sorting them out, processing/modifying them and packaging them before sending them out to places that need them.

Singapore: A country which, to make up for lack of natural resources, started an entrepot port business, buying raw materials or unfinished products from outside, processing/modifying them and selling them out to other countries.

Sound familiar?

Can The Econs Students PLEASE Explain This To Me?

2009-02-28T23:50:00.004+08:00

The Balance Sheet Of Life

Our Birth is our Opening Balance!

Our Death is our Closing Balance!

Our Prejudiced Views are our Liabilities

Our Creative Ideas are our Assets

Heart is our Current Asset

Soul is our Fixed Asset

Brain is our Fixed Deposit

Thinking is our Current Account

Achievements are our Capital

Character & Morals, our Stock-in-Trade

Friends are our General Reserves

Values & Behaviour are our Goodwill

Patience is our Interest Earned

Love is our Dividend

Children are our Bonus Issues

Education is Brands / Patents

Knowledge is our Investment

Experience is our Premium Account

The Aim is to Tally the Balance Sheet Accurately.

The Goal is to get the Best Presented Accounts Award.

AN IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT

2009-02-27T22:14:00.001+08:00

Tomorrow shall be the moment of truth. To all people in my Facebook network who also read my blog: Please check for status updates tomorrow after 1330 hrs.

2009-02-23T16:05:00.000+08:00

Aku tak bisa musnahkan

kamu dari otakku...

A Thorn In My Side

2009-02-19T18:54:00.003+08:00

It's never been proven, but it DOES seem like everytime we relive significant events in our past, even if just a small aspect of it, we subconsciously start reverting back to the person we were during that time.

Like this Tuesday. I had never been so irritated in four years, and I think only four people on the planet (and one in Heaven) would know what would get me so riled up.

And, God help me, it's getting to my head. I claim the promise right now, in Jesus' name.

"The past shall not bother you anymore." Amen.

Facebook Friends Asked Me To Do This

2009-02-17T19:12:00.004+08:00

One Hundred

001. Real name - Matthew Yee
002. Nickname(s) - Matt, Matt Matt, Matt Matt Matt, Mootz (four years ago), Yee
003. Star sign - Scorpio.
004. Male or female - Male. Just barely.
005. Kindergarten - I skipped kindergarten HAHA.
006. Primary School - St. Andrew's School Brunei.
007. Secondary School - SJI WOOHOO!!!
008. Hair color - Really really really really dark brown.
009. Long or short - Hair? Short.
010. Loud or Quiet - DEFINITELY LOUD.
011. Sweets or Chocolates - Food.
012. Phone or Camera - Don't mock me just because I lost my phone.
013. Health freak - *ROFL*
014. Drink or Smoke? - I drink water and smoke BBQ.
015. Do you have a crush on someone? - They love asking this question, don't they? *sigh* Yes...
016. Eat or Drink - Why can't I do both?
017. Piercings - One. Had an accident with a needle.
018. Tattoos - Temporary.

HAVE YOU EVER?
019. Been in an airplane - Too many times to bother to count.
020. Been in a relationship - Unfortunately, no.
021. Been in a car accident - No, but I still wish it had been me rather than my brother and father.
022. Been in a fist fight - When I was really young. A rather stupid decision, really, seeing how weak I am.

FIRSTS:
023. First piercing - Two seconds ago.
024. First best friend - Joel Ting. He just joined Facebook.
025. First award - First in English. I sense my classmates throwing a dictionary at me tomorrow...
026. First crush - You wouldn't believe it if I told you.
028. First vacation - I can't remember. Thank God for my parents being photo maniacs.

LASTS:
029. Last person you talked to - Ayto.
030. Last person you texted - SHADDUP I KNOW I LOST MY PHONE.
031. Last person(s) you watched a movie with - Kaizen. A pirated movie.
032. Last food you ate - Dinner. What exactly it comprised of, I didn't bother.
033. Last movie you watched - I shall not say, for fear of getting attacked because 1) they want the movie or 2) they think I'm crazy.
034. Last song you listened to - A Little Too Not Over You by David Archuleta
035. Last thing you bought - Lunch. What exactly it comprised of, I didn't bother.
036. Last person you hugged - Dunno.

FAVES:
037. Food - Food.
038. Drinks - Used to be Root Beer, but recently converted to H Two O.
039. Clothing - Anything Dri-Fit, really.
040. Books - Books.
041. Music - Mostly Jap music.
042. Flower - Chrysanthemum. It's the November Baby's flower.
043. Colors - Red, Pink, Black. In that order.
044. Movies - Most non-gory ones.
045. Positions - Hmm... don't play many sports, and the ones I do play don't have positions. Except basketball. But I can be anything there.
046. Subjects - Hmm... Lit and Bio. AND GP FTW MWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

In 2008..... I

047. [ ] Kissed in the snow
048. [ ] celebrated Halloween
049. [] had your heart broken
050. [] went over the minutes on your cell phone
051. [ ] someone questioned your sexual orientation
052. [ ] came out of the closet
053. [ ] gotten pregnant
054. [ ] had an abortion
055. [x] done something you've regretted
056. [] broke a promise
057. [x] hid a secret
058. [] pretended to be happy
059. [x] met someone who changed your life
060. [x] pretended to be sick
061. [x] left the country
062. [x] tried something you normally wouldn't try and liked it
063. [ ] cried over the silliest thing
064. [ ] ran a mile
065. [x]went to the beach with your best friend(s)
066. [x] stayed single the whole year

CURRENTLY:
067. Eating -Nothing.
068. Drinking - Water.
069. I'm about to - Do the next question.
070. Listening to - The MSN alert tone.
071. Plans for today - Do tutorials, watch a bit of anime, and sleep.
072. Waiting for - This quiz to be over.

YOUR FUTURE:
073. Want kids? - If I get married, yeah.
074. Want to get married? - I guess, but see what God wants me to do.
075. Careers in mind - Forensic scientist, novelist, game scriptwriter

WHICH IS BETTER WITH GIRL/BOY?
076. Lips or eyes - Eyes.
077. Shorter or taller? - Preferably not taller.
078. Romantic or spontaneous - Spontaneous, I guess.
079. Nice stomach or nice arms - Dude... what kinda question is this???
080. Sensitive or loud - No idea, really.
081. Hook-up or relationship - Relationship.
082. Trouble-maker or hesitant - Another weird question...

HAVE YOU EVER:
083. Lost glasses/contacts - I have perfect eyesight.
084. Ran away from home - For around three minutes.
085. Hold a gun/knife for self defense - Nope.
086. Killed somebody - Nah. Don't have the will to do that.
087. Broken someone's heart - Hope not.
088. Been arrested - Hmm... What counts as 'arrested' exactly?
089. Cried when someone died - Yeah.

DO YOU BELIEVE IN:
090. Yourself - Indeedy.
091. Miracles - Definitely. I witnessed one first-hand, and witnessed quite a few happen to my family.
092. Love at first sight - No.
093. Heaven - Of course.
094. Santa Claus - Yeah. We see him in enough games.
095. Sex on the first date - NO WAY MAN.
096. Kiss on the first date - Hmm... no.

ANSWER TRUTHFULLY:
097. Is there one person you want to be with right now? - You have no idea, man.
098. Are you seriously happy with where you are in life? - Yeah. POSITIVITY RAWKZZZ!!!
099. Do you believe in God? - I believe in Iesou Christos Theo Yios Soter.
100. This is the 100th and last. - Err is this a question?

Quote of the Day

2009-02-17T19:09:00.000+08:00

"I destroy my enemies when I make them my friends."

How fitting with my philosophy of life! XD

The Worst Valentine's Day

2009-02-15T13:15:00.003+08:00

I trudged through the doors of my room. Ayto, ever telepathic with his roomie, sensed the despondency in my stride immediately. However, in the manner of typical boys, he knew not how to phrase his concern in a masculine way. But he needn't have asked anyway. For I, ever telepathic with my roomie, sensed his intentions and provided the answer.

I had just, but not more than an hour before, had the most heart-rending breakup in history. The notice came suddenly, and there was no warning. No lawyer came pounding at my door to tell me of the intended divorce. She herself provided no hints that she was leaving. Even my most perceptive friends could not tell she was going to leave me that fateful dark night.

But she did. Without a word, she left my side.

My heart was torn by the event, knowing deep in my heart all the things I would miss about her. And in the clarity of sardonic thought and cruel vividness of memory that only comes with tragedy, I did without any difficulty call to mind all the things I would miss about her.

To think she would never again stay so close by my side.
To think she would never again slip her hand in mine when I least expected it.
To think she would never again buzz sweet nothings into my ear, when she was seemingly silent.
To think she would never again share in the laughter of our combined communion with our mutual friends.
To think she would never again playfully try to distract me from my work.
To think she would never again sing to me the loving lullabies, or the rock rhythms.
To think she would never again caress my hands as I was blissfully sleeping.
To think she would never again wake me up in the morning for school, waiting so patiently for me to prepare so we could go to school together.

But alas, all good things must come to an end, and I have lost a treasure. A gem. A diamond like no other. I mourn the loss of my beloved.

My handphone.

A Special Valentine's Day

2009-02-14T21:40:00.004+08:00

"Dearly Beloved, we are gathered today here in this holy place in the presence of God to bear witness to this union of man and woman..."

Such was the beginning of the Valentine's Day surprise our dear Pastor Kong had planned for all the married couples in the church building. In line with his Valentine's period's sermon series on relationships, Pastor Kong got all the married couples to renew their marriage vows.

And so every married couple in the church at the time (which made up a freaking significant percentage of the whole church) re-exchanged their marriage vows in a ceremony that I'm sure was as wonderful as their initial wedding ceremony. They exchanged new rings (which were a rather expensive gift from the church), and the whole thing culminated in a 15-second kiss (Pastor's orders) that sent the rest of the hall into tumultuous applause. I'm sure Pastor Kong was having the time of his life up there on stage.

"For what God has joined together, let no man or woman separate."

Nothing to Do

2009-02-13T12:07:00.003+08:00

Now I have a four hour break until my next mode of business, which is timing the male staff for the Road Run (my money's on Mr Heng to finish in 14 mins...). In my incredible boredom, I shall now do what I have been asked to do for a long time for the every 2 out of 10 people who appreciate my humour: answer Chain Blog Posts!

#1
Rules:
Use the first letter of your name to answer each of the following questions. They have to be real...nothing made up! If the person before you had the same first initial, you must use different answers. You cannot use any word twice and you can't use your name for the boy/girl name question.

1. What is your name : Matthew

2. A four Letter Word : Many

3. A boy's Name : Mark

4. A girl's Name : Mary

5. An occupation : Money-grabber

6. A color : Mysterious-shade-which-cannot-be-defined

7. Something you'll wear : Myclothes

9. A food : Mee goreng

10. Something found in the bathroom: Moustache-remover

11. A place : McDonalds!!! YEAHHHHHH XD

12. A reason for being late : Money lack

13. Something you'd shout : My God!!

14. A movie title : Madagascar II!!! *my sacrifice goes into the volcano... the friendly gods eat up my sacrifice... they are grateful...*

15. Something you drink : Milo

16. A musical group : Maximum the Hormone!!! WASSUP PEEPEL!!!

17. An animal : Marsupial

18. A street name : Mango street. I swear it exists, go to Sarawak and check.

19. A type of car : Mercedes. $$$$$$

20. The title of a song : Me Like Hockey

#2
TEN ARE YOUS
1. Are you single - There can only be one single me.
2. Are you happy - YEAHH WOOHOO XD
3 Are you bored - What do you think???
4. Are you fair - I got sunburned during Orientation. Does that count?
5. Are you Italian - Sono non Italiano
6. Are you intelligent - I'm a scholar mwahahahahahaha...
7. Are you honest - Thou shalt not lie, man.
8. Are you nice - Ask my adoring public or my hateful critics, whichever you prefer.
9. Are you Irish - NOOOOOO the translator doesn't have Irish English!!!
10. Are you Asian - Wo shi hua ren.

TEN FACTS
1. Full name - Matthew Yee Chen Yung. You know, if you type this name in Google search, all the results point to my blog.
2. Nickname - Matt, Matt Matt, Matt Matt Matt (I am starting to hate this...), Mootz (by one of my friends), Yee (by SOME people ahem ahem...)
3. Birthplace - Malaysia. YES PEOPLE IT'S NOT BRUNEI!!! I do not lie.
4. Haircolour - Brown, although it's so dark people all think it's black.
5. Natural hair style - I-just-woke-up, I-just-toweled-my-hair and windswept.
6. Eyecolour - Brown
7. Birthday - 14 Nov 1991
8.Mood - High
9. Favourite colour - Red, pink, black. In that order. YES I'M A BOY and YES I LIKE PINK.
10. One place you'd like to visit - Israel. Unfortunately, the Malaysian passport forbids that.

TEN THINGS ABOUT YOUR LOVE LIFE
1. Have you been in love? - I'm still deciding that myself.
2. Do you believe in love at first sight? - I have answered this question before. New readers check my archives.
3. Do you currently have a crush? - I guess so.
4. Have you been emotionally hurt? - Yeah, a long time ago.
5. Have you broken someone's heart? - Yeah, a long time ago, about the same time as the previous answer.
6. Have you ever had your heart broken? - By a friend. Nothing more.
7. Have you ever liked someone but never told them? - Isn't that the reason why I'm single?
8. Are you afraid of commitment? - No.
9. Who was the last person you hugged? - Sean, methinks. No, I'm not gay.
10. Who was the last person you said 'I love you' to? - I don't remember. Now that I think about it, maybe I should say it more often.

TEN THIS OR THAT
1. Love or Lust - Love.
2. Hard liquor or Beer - ROOOOOOT BEEEEEEER MANNNNNN!!! WAAAAARGH!!!
3. Cats or Dogs - (Hot) dogs.
4. A few best friends or Many regular friends - I'm sure I can have both.
5. Creamy or Crunchy - Creamy waffles and soup, but crunchy potato chips.
6. Pencil or Pen - Pencil! Nothing beats being able to erase your mistakes in the tiring process of novel-writing.
7. Wild night out or Romantic night in - I'll get back to you once I experience both. With a girlfriend.
8. Money or Happiness - Hey, I'm poor and happy. Doesn't that say something?
9. Night or Day - NIGHT, MAN!!!
10. IM or Phone - Both lah.

TEN HAVE YOU EVER
1. Been caught sneaking out? - *nervous laughter*
2. Seen a polar bear? - In the zoo, and in cartoons.
3. Done something you regret? - Too many. I beg for all your forgivenesses.
4. Bungee jumped? - Wildest ride of my life. I still wonder, even as light as I am, how the cord stayed whole and did not snap.
5. Eaten food that fell on the floor? - Yes. And I'm proud to proclaim it.
6. Finished an entire jaw breaker? - My braces are un-finishable.
7. Been caught naked? - Hellooo, I was in Korea? Where there are communal baths?
8. Wanted an ex bf/gf back? - Get back to me if I get attached and break up.
9. Cried because you lost a pet? - Yeah. My mum did such a good job of describing its last woes that I cried. WAAAAA SNOOPY!!! T_T
10. Wanted to disappear? - Never. I'm an attention seeker.

TEN HAVE YOUS
1. Ever performed in front of a large crowd? - I'm in the drama club, man.
2. Ever talked on the phone for longer than an hour? - Yup, but I doubt I can accomplish the same feat anytime soon. Maybe.
3. Ever tried walking on your hands? - Yup, and failed miserably. Why do you think I'm a hunchback?
4. Ever been to a rock concert? - Yuck.
5. Ever been on a cheerleading team? - OGLS MAN!!! DAEKARON BAIK!!
6. Ever been on a dance team? - Kinda yeah. By a technicality.
7. Ever been on a sports team? - Only for stuff like the SJI interclass games.
8. Ever been in a drama play/production? - Understatement of the year.
9. Ever own a BMW, Mercedes, Escalade, Hummer or Bently? - See my Sims save file.
10. Ever been on a rap video? - Yup, surprisingly. It was hilarious.

TEN LASTS
1. Last phone call you made - That would be Ayto. My container was left thrashed from his vicious slobbering. (Haha Ayto, revenge!)
2. Last person you hugged - Sean. Hasn't this question been asked?
3. Last person you hung out with - Ayto and Pratnya.
4. Last time you worked - I'm still on the job. A scholar's hours are 24-7.
5. Last person you talked to - Xi Nan.
6. Last person you IM'd - Jon Yeo.
7. Last person you texted - Me roomie. Asking him where he was. Lol.
8. Last person(s) you went to the movies with - I don't go to the cinemas all that often. I pirate movies instead mwahahahahahaha.
9. Last thing/person you missed - MY PILLOW and... erm... I shall not say who.
10. Last website visited - Blogger.com. D'uh.

#3
Rules: Once you’ve been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it’s because I want to know more about you! =)

1. I am currently designing the flowers I shall give out tomorrow for Valentine's Day.

2. I am helping 4 people with their computer problems right now. Since when did I become an IT consultant?

3. I am thinking about my novel's progress right now.

4. I summon Blue Eyes White Dragon, in attack position!!! (Hi, Surya!)

5. I still miss Orientation.

6. Later, during the Road Run, when I time the male staff runners, I'm going to pass the time by estimating the timing of all the teachers.

7. I love the Spacebar key.

8. I'm wondering if the flowers I send out tomorrow will be interpreted wrongly.

9. I love the scripts for the plays the drama club is doing this year.

10. I hope I get the part I want. If not, anything's fine, but my second-favoured spot will be Tech Support of the crew.

11. I HUNGER. ROAR.

12. I waved Hi to 15 of my OGMs and 4 of my fellow OGLs in the last 6 seconds.

13. I'm sane. I can just about hear your horrified disbelieving gasps.

14. I'm really scared of spiders.

15. Methinks my body is compensating for the lack of Root Beer by getting hooked on H Two O. And I don't mean water. The OG16 OGLs should know what I mean.

16. I'm hungry. Have I mentioned that?

17. I'm behind schedule for my novel. Which is worrying, because deadline is drawing closer.

18. Oh, and I'm starting to have doubts about how interesting my novel is gonna be.

19. I think Stephen King sucks.

20. If my hair suddenly turned completely white, I'd be absolutely ecstatic.

21. I'm not looking forward to the March hols. Because a study break like that cannot be called, under any circustance, a holiday.

22. I have realised that ever since the J1s came in, the library personnel have bought soundproof headsets.

23. I'm eagerly awaiting March 22 for the completely wrong reason.

24. I want to go back to the hostel. Go figure.

25. HUNGRY!

It Was Kinda Uncalled For

2009-02-11T21:55:00.002+08:00

I'm sorry, guys. I really appreciate the compliments. Really. You guys made my day, and for that I am eternally grateful.

But seriously, how in the blazes does a:-

-Tan gotten from the sunburns I suffered during Orientation
-New hairstyle obtained from the fact that my hair was too long to put it up AND that the wind blew it all to the left
-Sudden 'Glowing' aura (which, by the way, is an adjective used most commonly for pregnant women by friends who have no idea what other adjective to use)

... contribute to a conclusion that I fell in love, or that someone fell in love with me? Besides, even if the latter was true, me not knowing about it, how would I know to look a bit better? Psychic powers?

Again, guys, not meant to be pessimistic or critical. I just find it interesting that that would be the conclusion you guys all jumped to.

It's Over

2009-02-07T13:55:00.004+08:00

Akash tired out after Orientation

Ya Guang smiling at the camera before he also falls asleep from tiredness

OG13 proclaiming the greatness of Xcion to all who dare to ask

Half of OG16 after successfully finishing 'Toxic Ground'

OG16 trying earnestly to grab cups in 'Rush Hour'

Success is achieved when one utilizes all parts of his body effectively

Running around in circles in enthusiasm

Waiting impatiently for the next Mass Dance song

A relic of the past: Mr Tong's school handbook (1st Edition!!!)

ORIENTATION IS OVERRRRR!!! T_T T_T T_T

Now I suffer from post-Orientation blues, remembering:
- All the times we screamed "*insert thing here* BAIK!!!"
- All the times we cheered our hearts and souls out
- All the times we laughed at each other
- The Mass Dances, especially the surreal-ness of dancing the girl part of the couple dance
- Seeing weird messages at the Fountain of Wealth like "TJC-ians please don't forget to bring your thermometers tomorrow LOL!"
- Meeting my wonderful OGMs everyday!!!
- Helping to run the Orientation and contribute to its success
- Skipping lessons ;P

Sigh... But all good things must come to an end, and here I am now, waiting for the next thrill in life.

The Way God Works

2009-01-31T22:23:00.002+08:00

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." ~ Galatians 5:22-23, The Holy Bible

A common prayer we make, whether as a Christian to our God, or a Muslim to Allah, or as a practitioner of any religion to the relevant divinities, is for us to receive the gifts mentioned above.

But do we really expect to be changed overnight? Maybe we say we don't, and are sincere in saying this even, but subconsciously, it is indeed what we expect. But like Morgan Freeman has said in 'Evan Almighty', which I expand on here, God doesn't work like that.

When you ask God for love, does He fill you with warm fuzzy feelings, or provide people in your life to love?
When you ask God for joy, does He snap His fingers to turn your frown upside down, or remind you to count your blessings?
When you ask God for peace, does He take all your problems away, or just reassure you of His presence and constant support?
When you ask God for patience, does He just directly increase your patience levels, or does He place more and more irritating people in your life so you can learn to be patient?
When you ask God for kindness and goodness, does He alter your brain just like that, or provide you with instructions on how to be kind and good so you can decide to or not?
When you ask God for faithfulness, does He shut down all thoughts of betrayal, or does He provide you with opportunities to be faithful?
When you ask God for gentleness, does He soften you, or does He place abrasive people in your life to soften to?
When you ask God for self-control, does He bolster your control, or does He put your temper to the test?

God places opportunities. Whether we make use of them to improve ourselves is our prerogative. Make the right choice today.

I Look Damn Old

2009-01-24T09:40:00.003+08:00

Even on the way to the airport, I am not spared from interesting events.

The taxi driver asked whether I was going to the airport and flying off for business. Business! The dude thought I was a working adult! I only just barely made this out. He was talking as fast as Mr. Chan Cheow Wee...

An Incredibly Dangerous Chemical Compound

2009-01-22T16:32:00.003+08:00

Dihydrogen Monoxide (DHMO) is a colorless and odorless chemical compound, also referred to by some as Dihydrogen Oxide, Hydrogen Hydroxide, Hydronium Hydroxide, or simply Hydric acid. Its basis is the highly reactive hydroxyl radical, a species shown to mutate DNA, denature proteins, disrupt cell membranes, and chemically alter critical neurotransmitters. The atomic components of DHMO are found in a number of caustic, explosive and poisonous compounds such as Sulfuric Acid, Nitroglycerine and Ethyl Alcohol.

Each year, Dihydrogen Monoxide is a known causative component in many thousands of deaths and is a major contributor to millions upon millions of dollars in damage to property and the environment. Some of the known perils of Dihydrogen Monoxide are:

Death due to accidental inhalation of DHMO, even in small quantities.
Prolonged exposure to solid DHMO causes severe tissue damage.
Excessive ingestion produces a number of unpleasant though not typically life-threatening side-effects.
DHMO is a major component of acid rain.
Gaseous DHMO can cause severe burns.
Contributes to soil erosion.
Leads to corrosion and oxidation of many metals.
Contamination of electrical systems often causes short-circuits.
Exposure decreases effectiveness of automobile brakes.
Found in biopsies of pre-cancerous tumors and lesions.
Given to vicious dogs involved in recent deadly attacks.
Often associated with killer cyclones in the U.S. Midwest and elsewhere, and in hurricanes including deadly storms in Florida, New Orleans and other areas of the southeastern U.S.
Thermal variations in DHMO are a suspected contributor to the El Nino weather effect.

Despite the known dangers of DHMO, it continues to be used daily by industry, government, and even in private homes across the U.S. and worldwide. Some of the well-known uses of Dihydrogen Monoxide are:

as an industrial solvent and coolant,
in nuclear power plants,
by the U.S. Navy in the propulsion systems of some older vessels,
by elite athletes to improve performance,
in the production of Styrofoam,
in biological and chemical weapons manufacture,
in the development of genetically engineering crops and animals,
as a spray-on fire suppressant and retardant,
in so-called "family planning" or "reproductive health" clinics,
as a major ingredient in many home-brewed bombs,
as a byproduct of hydrocarbon combustion in furnaces and air conditioning compressor operation,
in cult rituals,
by the Church of Scientology on their members and their members' families (although surprisingly, many members recently have contacted DHMO.org to vehemently deny such use),
by both the KKK and the NAACP during rallies and marches,
by members of Congress who are under investigation for financial corruption and inappropriate IM behavior,
by the clientele at a number of bath houses in New York City and San Francisco,
historically, in Hitler's death camps in Nazi Germany, and in prisons in Turkey, Serbia, Croatia, Libya, Iraq and Iran,
in World War II prison camps in Japan, and in prisons in China, for various forms of torture,
during many recent religious and ethnic wars in the Middle East,
by many terrorist organizations including al Quaeda,
in community swimming pools to maintain chemical balance,
in day care centers, purportedly for sanitary purposes,
by software engineers, including those producing DICOM programmer APIs and other DICOM software tools,
by popular computer science professors, and
in animal research laboratories, and
in pesticide production and distribution.

What you may find surprising are some of the products and places where DHMO is used, but which for one reason or another, are not normally made part of public presentations on the dangers to the lives of our family members and friends. Among these startling uses are:

as an additive to food products, including jarred baby food and baby formula, and even in many soups, carbonated beverages and supposedly "all-natural" fruit juices
in cough medicines and other liquid pharmaceuticals,
in spray-on oven cleaners,
in shampoos, shaving creams, deodorants and numerous other bathroom products,
in bathtub bubble products marketed to children,
as a preservative in grocery store fresh produce sections,
in the production of beer by all the major beer distributors,
in the coffee available at major coffee houses in the US and abroad,
in Formula One race cars, although its use is regulated by the Formula One Racing Commission, and
as a target of ongoing NASA planetary and stellar research.

One of the most surprising facts recently revealed about Dihydrogen Monoxide contamination is in its use as a food and produce "decontaminant." Studies have shown that even after careful washing, food and produce that has been contaminated by DHMO remains tainted by DHMO.

You may not always recognize that you have been a victim of accidental DHMO overdose, so here are some signs and symptoms to look for. If you suspect Dihydrogen Monoxide overdose, or if you exhibit any of these symptoms, you should consult with your physician or medical practitioner. The data presented here is provided for informational purposes only, and should in no way be construed as medical advice of any sort.

Watch for these symptoms:

Excessive sweating
Excessive urination
Bloated feeling
Nausea
Vomiting
Electrolyte imbalance
Hyponatremia (serum hypotonicity)
Dangerously imbalanced levels of ECF and ICF in the blood
Degeneration of sodium homeostasis

A recently noted medical phenomenon involves small amounts of DHMO leaking or oozing from the corners of the eyes as a direct result of causes such as foreign particulate irritation, allergic reactions including anaphylactic shock, and sometimes severe chemical depression.

An Interesting Observation

2009-01-22T16:14:00.003+08:00

My classmate made this observation today, and when you think about it, while not 100% accurate, is quite true and rather funny at that.

As of the end of February, the road to the A Levels is much like a pregnancy. It lasts for around nine months, although we don't really know when the terror will officially start until it's too late. The papers themselves are much like the labour pains, and once they finish, we will involuntarily breathe a huge sigh of relief, while a wave of unexplainable euphoria washes through our entire being, and some wish that the moment would never end.

However, before birth, we must go through a period of nine months, divided into three trimesters, that being the March Common Tests, the June Common Tests, and the actual A Level's themselves. (For the sake of simplicity, the prelims are not counted haha) All our time will be spent getting ready to deal with the end of the trimester, and no matter how much we eat (study) and try to nourish our growing baby (repository of knowledge), we will always feel that it's never enough.

When the baby grows large enough to kick us gently from the inside (encourage us to study more), we try to calm him down and reassure him that what we've done for him so far is enough. We start planning all the things we'll do with our baby once he's born (TYS), and excitedly compete with our other pregnant friends as to who has the better future planned out for the baby (testing each other).

Then, the labour pains kick in. Well, and you know the rest. And I'm sure the girls know about it better than me...

Unsung Heroes

2009-01-19T20:22:00.003+08:00

Actually, I had wanted to publish this post for a long time already, but for some reason, I never got around to it. So............................. HERE IT IS IN ALL ITS GLORY NOW!!! ^_______^

You know how the Singaporean authorities always ask people to give their seats on the bus or the MRT to the people who really need it like the elderly, the pregnant or those with infants or young children? Well, once, I saw a person get complimented by the elderly Caucasian he offered his seat to. That same Caucasian said that Singaporeans (or by extension, those living there) should all end up as polite and considerate as him.

That got me thinking. People are unable to read minds, so obviously, they wouldn't know, but what about those people who stay standing up on purpose even after a seat has been vacated, just so other people can sit? Isn't that also consideration, in a way? If such people exist, they deserve to be lauded just as much, if not more, than those who sit all the way until someone who 'fits the criteria for giving up the seat' comes along. So, in the event that such people are out there, know that if you have stumbled across my blog by accident and are now curiously wondering what this crazy guy is talking about, I acknowledge your sacrifice as well as your hidden, unrevealed consideration.

Similarly, what about backup performers? Think about it. Let's say you attend a Britney concert. As we all SHOULD know, when Britney performs for her audience live, she doesn't do it alone. Even when she is skillfully lip-singing 'Womanizer', a lot of the 'oomph' from her performance is because of similarly wonderfully performing backup dancers. And yet, it is Britney alone whose fame is enhanced, Britney alone whom everyone goes to the concert and downloads the video for. Never do you see the backup dancers acknowledged for their contribution, at the very least they are given 7.12398 seconds. Hardly any big producer says "Wow, this person has talent, let me think about getting him/her a contract." And despite this, whether or not they mind it or not, they still don't ruin the concert for Britney.

We should really learn to acknowledge such unsung heroes. They are what add colour to the otherwise mono-coloured palette.

The Terrors of JC2 Life

2009-01-19T20:18:00.001+08:00

Who would've thought it? There is actually a great difference between J1 and J2. Maybe it's just me, but I feel that even now before the mad rush for A Levels, the business of the J2s is way more than the J1 year used to be. I mean, within the first two weeks of school, I've received my first GP essay assignment of the year, done two Maths tutorials, gone crazy trying to keep up with the Chem syllabus, done my processing for an entire Bio topic, and to top it all off, I have extra stuff like the Mazarin commitments, the Drama Club's preparation for CNY and of course, last Saturday, Go Green Day.

Whew. I'm beat.

Blessings Must Be Worked For

2009-01-16T20:25:00.003+08:00

Well, with all the work Group 14 has put into our Mazarin project, it is indeed a blessing that it has Mr. Aziz's approval as well.

Now that this is done for the moment, there are other things to be urgently worked for, namely the CNY production which definitely needs fine-tuning, Go Green Day tomorrow, MCTs, and of course, not to mention, my long-term project, of which the deadline is drawing nearer and nearer.

Septumdecim dies subsisto.

A Sigh Of Relief

2009-01-15T15:45:00.003+08:00

Considering the circumstances, although it was an adrenalin-pumping experience, I'm just thankful that it's over, and also thankful for all the little itty-bitty pieces of groundwork that was laid out for me so as to make it easier, whether they were there on my intentional design or not.

Whew.

An Eventful First Day

2009-01-12T18:10:00.001+08:00

Day one of the first term.

Mr Tong comes up with something new to add to the school rules that he wants the CG Reps to implement.

I find out that Ms Wong wants me to handle the organisation of the class for Go Green Day.

The teachers in the TRC call me to take the yearbooks for the class.

I help the Drama Club prepare for Open House tomorrow.

I go for the TJ Ambassadors briefing, which is important for the events tomorrow.

I have to present my OBK experience from 1500 to 1600.

I have to inform ALL JC2 scholars that there's a scholar meeting on Wednesday.

My Mazarin project proposal is due this Friday.

I'm a busy person.

Some Secret Code I Cannot Break

2009-01-10T03:17:00.002+08:00

It's some cipher, or some secret code, or whatever. It boggles the mind, baffles the understanding and I can't figure out for the life of me what it means.

14367ILEYUIATN

I was asked to decode this and declare it to everyone I met. Based on the look on the dude's face as he was telling me this, I doubt it's anything good. But I at least want to know what it means, because my curiosity is killing me right now... And I also want to know precisely what I'm going to be screwing the guy for.

Drunken People

2009-01-09T23:18:00.002+08:00

Ting Hui's birthday was celebrated with a OBK-class-others chalet, and during the BBQ, some decided to drink to the birthday boy's health.

*Dramatic voice* Some didn't make it out ALIVE...

We had freaking drunk people, and the semi-drunk like the birthday boy himself. Me, I found out my threshold, kinda. If already start to feel hot and get headache after 3/4 cups of 11.9% champagne, then one cup would surely push me over the edge.

Now excuse me. I must deal with my first ever "hangover".

A Joke For All You Computer Junkies

2009-01-06T20:11:00.002+08:00

Dear Tech Support,

Last year I upgraded from Boyfriend 5.0 to Husband 1.0 and noticed a distinct slow down in overall system performance, particularly in the flower and jewelry applications, which operated flawlessly under Boyfriend 5.0.

In addition, Husband 1.0 uninstalled many other valuable programs, such as
· Romance 9.5 and
· Personal Attention 6.5, and then installed undesirable programs such as
· NBA 5.0,
· NFL 3.0 and
· Golf Clubs 4.1.

Conversation 8.0 no longer runs, and Housecleaning 2.6 simply crashes the system.

· Please note that I have tried running Nagging 5.3 to fix these problems, but to no avail.

What can I do?

Signed,
Desperate.

DEAR DESPERATE,

First, keep in mind,
· Boyfriend 5.0 is an Entertainment Package, while
· Husband 1.0 is an operating system.

Please enter command: ithoughtyoulovedme.html and try to download Tears 6.2 and do not forget to install the Guilt 3.0 update.
· If that application works as designed, Husband1.0 should then automatically run the applications Jewelry 2.0 and Flowers 3.5.

However, remember, overuse of the above application can cause Husband 1.0 to default to Grumpy Silence 2.5, Happy Hour 7.0 or Beer 6.1. In most severe cases, Husband 1.0 might reboot with the Divorce 1.0 OS.
· Please note that Beer 6. 1 is a very bad program that will download the Farting and Snoring Loudly Beta.

Whatever you do, DO NOT under any circumstances install Mother-In-Law 1.0 (it runs a virus in the background that will eventually seize control of all your system resources.)

In addition, please do not attempt to reinstall the Boyfriend 5.0 program.These are unsupported applications and will crash Husband 1.0.

In summary, Husband 1.0 is a great program, but it does have limited memory and cannot learn new applications quickly. You might consider buying additional software to improve memory and performance. We recommend
· Cooking 3.0 and
· Hot Lingerie 7.7.

Good Luck Babe!

Tech Support

An Interesting Point

2008-12-31T10:48:00.004+08:00

I was reading a Christian fiction book one day when something really jumped out at me. You know how some Christians get challenged by others in ways similar to this:

"I will believe in your God if He saves you from jumping off that building."
"If your God is real, I challenge Him to strike me with lightning now. Oh? I'm still alive? Your God isn't real after all!"

Not just Christians, but people of all faiths (that have gods) get challenged this way, and the perfect response was illustrated by one of the characters in this book I was reading. Some may say it's an evasive answer, and while I don't blame them, I still maintain that it's perfectly true.

"What kind of a God would He be if He felt compelled to act on your timetable?" - Dr. Chaim 'Micah' Rozenweig, fictional character in "Desecration", book 9 in the Left Behind series

Brunei's Not Boring!!!

2008-12-31T09:18:00.002+08:00

Well, not when you're me, anyway.

If you ever needed proof that the Chinese were piracy masters (it's a good thing, mind you), you should have been with me yesterday in a supermarket I shall not mention for fear of getting arrested. The Sean Kingston song 'Beautiful Girls' tune had been violently adapted into the tune for some Chinese New Year song of which the only words I understood were the ones that meant 'Happy New Year'. It was funny, freaky and disturbing all at the same time.

And just this morning, I dreamt that I was back with Ayto as my roomie again, and it all seemed so real and vivid until I realised that it had to be a dream since the surroundings showed MY ROOM. *shudder*

I repeated the above paragraph, word for word, maybe except the first word, to my friends in the hostel at the dining hall during breakfast, and it was only after I woke up that I realised that THAT WAS A DREAM TOO. I'm clearly hostel-sick. Blame it on the lack of Internet over here.

What Christmas Means To Me

2008-12-25T11:02:00.003+08:00

Call it whatever you what, but I prefer the term 'divinely inspired'. For some reason, suddenly I was reminded of a song I liked when I was young, but had forgotten all about until a few days ago. And this Christmas, I want to share it with you.

We come to celebrate the birth

Of Jesus Christ our King

To thank Him for His special gift of love.

'Cause the greatest gift God gave to me

Was the gift of His own Son.

Now that's what Christmas means to me.

Christmas is Jesus!

He's alive! He lives today.

Christmas is Jesus!

He's the Truth, the Life, He is the Way.

Christmas is Jesus!

How I love to shout and sing

At Christmas time and all year round

Singing praises to my king.

A very happy Christmas to all my regular readers and those who stumbled across here by the site's random access point, especially all my friends whom I couldn't send any sms-es to for want of more credit.

Outward Bound Korea Winter Leadership Training Camp Experience

2008-12-22T14:42:00.000+08:00

I'm finally back from South Korea, and it was one hell of a ride, especially with the unexpected disaster that happened along the way, but I'm back, alive and warm. So I'm gonna give a rundown of the 11 days, but sadly, there won't be any pictures, since the connection's too bad to upload too many, and besides, the group is still in the midst of collating the whole stack of photos.

Day 0.9 to Day 1 (10/12 to 11/12):
We arrive at Changi, and typically of strangers meeting each other, we gather together in our groups and talk quite a lot of cock about how we think this person and this person and this person will probably be like. The TJC group did it much more than the HCI group, most obviously because Jacob was in our group. But yeah, anyway, we checked in, and got on the plane. And displayed the kiasuism of Singaporeans to the Korean stewardesses. I immediately asked for a pack of cards. The stewardess ran around flustered for a while, and finally found a pack of cards to give me. Seeing this, Ting Hui and Shanmin asked for packs of cards from different stewardesses (of course! They had to conceal their true objective of draining the stocks...) and they got the packs. Then Darryl asked for a pack from a particularly observant stewardess, who said, "My colleagues have given to all your friends already." Nuts. We knew we shouldn't have all listened to our OBS instructor and all worn the same shirt. And so, we started a new conspiracy, one they couldn't probably refuse us. We started bombarding them with requests for water, coke, orange juice, peanuts, etc. In hindsight, it was rather cruel to the poor ladies, but we sadly were too caught up in the kiasuism moment. I would have asked for root beer, but then again, I was banned. I doubt they had it on board anyway. We took off, I plugged in their headphones and listened to some classical music to help me sleep and I slept pretty darn well, too, until Bach's I-don't-know-which concerto was interrupted rudely by the PA system to say a passenger was in need of medical care, and so they called for any medical practitioner on board to render his or her services. Immediately, the TJ group looked expectantly at the Bio student. Me. I groaned, and waved them off.

At around 0428, Korea time, we were woken up to breakfast, at which point it was obvious who knew what were the names of Korean dishes and who didn't. We had a choice between scrambled eggs and bibimbap, a Korean rice dish. The people up front had no idea what bibimbap was, and so they chose the familiar and reassuring scrambled eggs. Down the line somewhere, the stewardesses realised this, and started to say "Korean rice dish" instead of bibimbap. But even so, because of the headstart the scrambled eggs had, they ran out by the time they reached our rows, at which point the stewardesses started proclaiming the scrambled eggs were "out of service". Those in our group who were already eating started choking on their bibimbap in laughter. Too bad the dudes in front weren't adventurous, though. The bibimbap was delicious. We touched down at 0543, and Dicky stood up and banged his head on the overhead baggage compartment. He wallowed in shame for a few minutes, then stood up................................................................................................. and banged his head again.

We got on a bus outside the airport that was bound for the OBK base camp, and stopped by at a petrol shop cum convenience store along the way. After we had bought a lot of snacks and gone to the toilet, we returned to the bus and grimaced at the sight of Dicky banging his head again on the overhead baggage compartment of the bus. After trundling down the road some, we stopped by at a restaurant to eat lunch and rendezvous with Ji Ho, the chief instructor for our course. He impressed us with his english which was even better than the air stewardesses, and also his moustache, not to mention his monotonous "What. The hell." that would become famous over the next few days. He said we would be served kimchi, kimchi and vegetables. Liar. It was more like kimchi, kimchi, kimchi, kimchi, veg, veg, veg and rice.

After that, we trundled all the way to base camp and were introduced to our instructors (In Sook, Chol Dong, Chong Hon, Hana, with Jimmy and Chong Hun in the support team) and winter equipment, and split into two groups for the course. After a crash course in tent-pitching, we did so. Or at least, endeavoured to do so. During the tutorial, I had said it was idiotproof, and yet we still managed to get it wrong. We set up our sleeping bags that the instructors demonstrated would wrap us up like mummies or burritos, depending on how hungry you were. We surrendered our valuables to the instructors and immediately some started to suffer from withdrawal from handphones and iPods. We washed our cooking equipment for use and all swore as one at the cold air beating on our wet hands. Still, we managed to get to dinner, where my hypermetabolism proved useful in generating warmth instantly and also finished all leftovers, a feat which would later make me the prime choice for food dustbin, since the culture of the Koreans is to finish every last morsel. After we had washed the stuff (and swore again), we had our first night session, where we introduced ourselves formally to each other and the instructors, and revealed our reasons for signing up. I did my own introduction and gave my reasons for coming, those being to push my limits, and to see the wonder of nature from the summit of the mountain. My right knee twinged at that moment, and little did I know that would later turn my whole OBK experience upside down. We also settled a lot of group administrative stuff, like the leaders' cycle and our group name, to which we provided a lot of weird suggestions like: The Persimmons (in honour of the first fruit we were introduced to in Seoul), Somebody, Undecided (ironic and dramatic), Sesame Oil, Chicken Breast (needless to say, we were still hungry). However, we finally decided on Nobody, because that was the name of the #1 KPop song in South Korea at that point, and also because it was symbolic of how we all came to the course as nobodies in a sense, to be trained to be somebodies. Oh, and because it was funny. Of course, that was the primary reason why I suggested it in the first place. Then, after thinking about it, we thought it would be good. We ended the night session there and burritoed ourselves up to sleep.

Day 2 (12/12):
It was incredibly entertaining to be woken up by a resonant "Nobody wake up!" by In Sook at 0530. Ting Hui and I made it to the PT grounds the fastest and we spent some time passing a soccer ball between ourselves and Chol Dong, at which point I was sorely reminded of the reason why I never started playing soccer before. After a while of kicking, my right knee started protesting, so I stopped and rested until PT started for real, with 10 laps around the circuit, which I completed, but uneasily, because my right knee was starting to hurt, but I forgot about it once the pain subsided when we played Frisbee Soccer or whatever they called it.

For breakfast, our cooks whipped up a huge omelette with ham and mushrooms, and we were introduced to basic mountain hiking skills by hiking up a nearby hill-mountain hybrid. We grabbed branched here, pushes branches there, kicked roots here, swept leaves there, and finally made it to the top, only to eat some granola bars and hike down. On the walk back to base camp, my knee finally gave way, and I was struck by an incredible pain in my right knee and had to grit my teeth and hobble back to base camp, where Ji Ho said if it did not subside by the next day I would have to go to a doctor.

We had lunch (when I say lunch, I really mean a pathetic handful of dry rations with surprisingly enough sugar to last us until dinner), and Ting Hui taught me that it is important never to bite down hard on Mentos when it first enters the mouth in South Korea, due to its frozen nature.

The post-lunch activity was rappelling and a Flying Fox lesson, which I had to forgo because of my knee (the activity itself would be no problem, but the rocky steep way to the place would be a huge one), but I had a lot of fun watching them scream in exhilaration.

Ting Hui had an idea for dinner which involved frying the rice we had and mixing in kimchi. It was a damn smart idea, so he went ahead with it, and we were treated to a great meal. The group accidentally cooked too much, so Jacob and I finished a whole pot in one sitting. And my hypermetabolism growled for more, to which I refused. I had to tame this wild animal.

Our night session involved drawing (rather pathetically, I must say, but then again, we all weren't Art students) symbols of our pasts, present and hoped futures, mostly to bond the group together by knowing a bit more about the person. Ji Ho then revealed the schedule for the next 2 days, which would be a mini expedition up another small hill-mountain hybrid as a simulation of the main one up Mt.Soeraksan. Which I wouldn't go for if my leg was still KO'ed the next day.

Day 3 (13/12):
Woke up, moved my leg and my resulting whimper woke the rest of the tent up. Yup, leg still KO'ed. The group woke up and we all got a jumpstart on packing for the mini expedition, even me, since it would be easier to move my equipment as one big chunk wherever they were going to put me while they were off mini-'expediting'.

Needless to point out, I skipped the PT. The cooks cooked instant ramyun for breakfast, of which there was too much, so much that even Jacob and I left leftovers. We ran around (Ok, so i hobbled) begging people to help us eat it, but to no avail. In the end, some of Nobody's members decided to all eat one chopstickful. Which was quite unfair because some people have a better grip than others. Anyhow, the group prepared for the mini expedition, and Chong Hun and Jimmy, accompanied by Mr. Lim, whisked me to the hospital in the meantime.

Hospitals in South Korea are crazy. Walk in, pay a registration fee, walk to the related specialist, pay ANOTHER registration fee, then pay for all the treatment. Burn money only... An X-ray was done and a lot of muscular testing by the doctor who could have applied to be a masseur, and it was concluded it was not a bone problem but most likely a problem in a particular ligament. He recommended an MRI in Singapore or Brunei and called for a splint to be applied to my leg. A piece of quick-set plaster was applied to my leg and molded to it, after which, when I had gotten up, I immediately realised that bathing and sitting cross-legged would be slightly difficult. And it was crazily obvious that there was no way I could follow the main expedition up the mountain.

We ate at the hospital food court, and my eyes were opened to the huge portions the Koreans ate. I was in food paradise. The fact that I liked kimchi helped greatly. After we had finished, Jimmy told us how the Koreans always clear their trays after their meals and asked the same of us (that is, Mr. Lim and I). We did so without hesitation, smirking with the realisation that Koreans would probably be infinitely disgusted with Singaporeans.

After returning to base camp, Mr. Lim took off after the mini-expeditioners, and I was placed in the heated room nearby for the night. It was ok, since Mr. Lim left me a good book, and Jimmy told me stories of his 5 year time in London (which was the reason why his English was even better than Ji Ho's). He was a fun person to talk to, and he reminded me of me (even all the instructors said I looked like his younger brother), especially in the way he was so crazy. A bee attacked the heated room and he went ballistic, swearing and shooting flames at it with insecticide and his camping lighter. He failed to burn anything, even the surroundings. His aim sucked. He produced a damn good kimchi dish for dinner. It was at that point I knew you could do anything with kimchi, fry it, boil it, eat it, use it for decoration, appetizer, you name it. But we had more than just dinner. We ate a freaking lot of stuff at random times. Of course, to the support team with me, it was normal. The Koreans eat 5 times a day. I knew I was in food paradise.

Day 4 (14/12):
Woke up at 1035. I was sure the rest would have to wake up at 0530. Well, that was ONE perk of having a screwed up leg. The support team already had a meal at 8, so I joined them for their 2nd meal of the day, kimchi porridge (told you you could do anything. Kimchi is the miracle veg.). Read the book until lunch, which was just a mix of assorted breads.

The group came back from the mini-expedition all complaining, after I had reunited with them. They experienced ice on the tents in the morning, colder than usual temperatures and going to the toilet utilising the tools of nature, something I had already went through during OBS and had no desire to repeat again. They all told me of Darryl's 'treasure bag', given to him because he was the one who had to shit the most (obviously they couldn't leave toilet paper in the mountain). Later on, we would keep count of the number of times he had 'Darryl-ed', since he became so famous for it. They all envied my heated room experience, and it was made even worse when Jimmy LIED to them and said I had kimchi pizza. I assured them I would have rather suffered along with them.

I helped Ting Hui cook the fried rice (his kimchi fried rice had already established him as THE cook), cutting garlic and Spam for the rice, and found out something dearly important that a lot of us do not know. EVEN WHEN you are SITTING, you still need BOTH YOUR LEGS for balance. I'm serious. With my incapacitated leg, a few morsels dropped when I lost my balance and tipped over. I felt like one of those paperweights that wobble from side to side. During the night session, we talked about what we would expect to get out of the next day's CIP (we were going to do CIP for poor people).

Before we slept, we stared up at the sky at the stars which appeared so visibly due to the lack of all the obstructions we have in Singapore, and also because it was in the Northern Hemisphere of the world (the stars are the least abundant in equatorial countries). We caught views of three shooting stars at different times, each one punctuated by an ear-splitting scream of joy from the girls. To the guys who still had no idea I had a splint (it was concealed by the pants), I challenged them to hit the back of my leg as hard as they could. And being guys, they all tried. And tried to trick the others into whacking it as well. We had a good laugh about all the disguised grimaces. No lasting injuries to their fists, though, which was good.

Day 5 (15/12):
The morning game after the PT was quite interesting. It was one of those "All those who have *insert whatever here* run into the hula hoop" games. It was interesting because of all the things people were calling, like "All with beanies" (everybody), "All with thermals" (to which everybody ran, although some might be debatable) and the surreal, like "All who shit yesterday" and "Nobody".

When we returned to the main tent area, Chol Dong decided that my exposed sock from the slipper supporting my splint would not be enough in the cold and lent me one of his down puffy socks, which felt damn good on. We had cup noodles for breakfast, and took a bus down to the place we would be doing the CIP. We had already been subdivided into three groups, one for the catering center to old people, one for cleaning a kids' home, and one for carrying charcoal to the poor. I was put in the catering center along with a few who were also feeling a bit woozy from the mini-expedition, since it seemed to be the easiest of the three. Despite that, though, I tried to work hard, cutting the Jab Che (noodles) for the kitchen aunties and scooping up servings for the old people. The kitchen aunties, with incredible unheard-of perceptiveness, guessed I was hypermetabolic and forced me to eat a plate of Jab Che before I started serving. It shocked me to no end.

I, wanting to make sure I was useful despite my leg, served as much as I could, from food to chopsticks and goodie bags. The three groups all came together after the old people left and we had lunch. I ate two people's portions even after the Jab Che earlier and acted as food dustbin again, alth0ugh I failed to finish off everyone's leftovers. It turned out that the charcoal delivery wasn't completed yet, so we all set off after lunch to complete it. We tried to compete with the old man who was unloading the charcoal along with us, but just couldn't. He had the strength to carry four at once while we could at most manage two. We went through the delivery, and made it an enjoyable experience for ourselves, even me, who had to suffer through an itchy back all the way and couldn't scratch for fear of blackening my down jacket.

From there we hiked to a communal bath to soak away the previous four and a half days of terror. It was funny going in because over at the guys' side, we were all reluctant to strip and had to resort to tactics like waiting for the first guy to strip, and negotiating a mass simultaneous strip, which we did eventually after Mr. Lim, Mr. Kau and the instructors just whipped off their clothes and ran to the tubs. There was every form of bathing imaginable. Showers, ground showers for those who preferred to sit, a jacuzzi-ish hot seawater tub, a freaking cold ice water tub, a tub with jets of water for massaging and two saunas. Ji Ho helped me take off my splint for the bath and I enjoyed a sudden ecstasy that came with the freedom, and my leg felt fine, although I conceded that that was most probably because I hadn't moved it for so long. After the bath, Chol Dong put the splint back on, although I was incredibly reluctant to do so.

We were provided fried rice for dinner in a nearby restaurant, a pretty uneventful dinner, after which we went back to the base camp to plan the food to bring for the main expedition. I was quite irritated that I wouldn't be going, but I surpressed that, so I wouldn't ruin the others' experience by insisting they worry about me. Ting Hui had a toothache running for quite some time, so he would be going to the dentist the next day and miss the first day of the expedition. Apart from the rest, Clayton, our OBS instructor, told me he would let me go for the lesser part of the expedition if I really wanted it, and Ji Ho seconded it, and they told me to sleep on it and give an answer the next day. On the way to the tent to sleep, I was bombarded with questions of whether I would follow the expedition. And when I heard them, all I could choke out was that I didn't know, and went to the tent for the most tormenting night of the whole trip.

Day 6 (16/12):
I woke up to a freezing morning with ice on the tent (so I experienced something they had after all). I spent the time they had for PT and packing deciding on what I should do. The winter wind blew, and with it the peace of God. He whispered the truths I had to hear, no matter what. He whispered He was in control all the time. He whispered what a worse condition of my leg would make my parents feel. So I made my decision, and walked to Clayton's tent, my steps getting stronger with every metre closer, the Spirit of God as my crutch, and told him I wasn't going for the expedition. Ji Ho and Clayton asked if I was sure about this. When I replied in the affirmative, they assured me I had made the right decision, and told me what would be happening to me while they were up the mountain. I packed my equipment for my own 'expedition', gathered books from the teachers (interesting foresight they had), bequeathed all my hot chocolate to Nobody and wished them luck on the mountain from the entrance gate. Chol Dong said "see you tonight" to Ting Hui, which made him a bit scared of how fast exactly he would be walking to catch up with them. Ting Hui and I left for the dentist then in the support vehicle with Ji Ho and Chong Hun.

We arrived very early, so we walked around for a bit in that town, eating a freaking cheap lunch at a popular hangout for high school students mostly. I think we spent only the equivalent of $12, and we had kimbab (the Korean sushi which they claim the Japs copied), ramyun, ddukbokgi, kimchi, and you get the idea. After that we went for Ting Hui's appointment, where they sucked all the pus out of the inflamed area. They must have sucked out a whole root beer bottle of the stuff. Yeech. While waiting, Ji Ho revealed an interesting fact: the Outward Bound personnel all around the world were supposed to come to OB Brunei for the regular conference but it was cancelled because a lot of them COULD NOT GET A VISA TO BRUNEI. What was that all about?

We went back to the base of the mountain and Ting Hui went up with Ji Ho the imba chionger, who said "I'd like to hike without stopping". Explained Chol Dong's "see you tonight". Chong Hun and I went to a nearby camping ground and set up a tent there within range of walkie-talkie in case support was needed. We went to a nearby mart to buy supplies for dinner and the whole group (now I knew how our food was replenished...) and I was interested by the trolleys that only needed 100 won (12 cents) to unhook, as opposed to Singapore's $1, as well as the Christmas music that was translated into Korean.

Chong Hun cooked rice and ddukbokgi for dinner and we fell asleep quite quickly after that. Before I drifted off, I noted sardonically to myself that with all the bending I had to do with the stiff leg, my sit-and-reach was probably becoming quite pro already. It was colder there than base camp, so I had to curl up as best as I could with that irritating splinted leg.

Day 7 (17/12):
Woke up at 0927 and ate a huge breakfast of really oily and eggy French toast. It was needed in such cold weather. We all needed something good to metabolise, not just the hypermetabolic. I had a rather boring morning, reading while Chong Hun stayed in contact with the instructors up on the mountain.

Hana came back down in the afternoon to join Chong Hun in a support capacity and we ate instant noodles for lunch, before they took me around like a tourist, always in walkie talkie range of the mountain, though. I wasn't complaining. I went to Shokso Beach, where the winds were so strong that there was a sandstorm right there after some point, and walked through Shokso Fish Market, bustling with activity and very interesting. It was drizzling all this while, but it was quite negligible until that point, where it got heavier and alternated between snow and rain, so they then brought me to Yangyang Osan-ri Prehistory Museum, a very detailed museum with artefacts from the people living in the area during the Neolithic Period all the way to the Bronze Age.

After that, they drove to a field full of shamanic carvings and told me to roam around while they waited there for 3 hours waiting for contact from the mountain to confirm that they need not be in range anymore. After they received that message, they then drove back to base camp where I would be deposited in the heated room again. Chong Hun used pancake mix to create kimchi pizza so I could finally see some truth to the lies that Jimmy had been passing around. He fried around 15 pancakes, and the three of us finished off every single one.

Day 8 (18/12):
Woken up by Hana at 8 to eat something so we could get a move on at 0930. We were going to drive to the Buddhist temple where the expedition group was going to stay the night on the way down the mountain, and the road was much longer and winding than the hiking trail, so we needed a really big headstart. We drove and drove and drove and drove, and I saw snow litter the mountains along the side as my ears popped from the difference in air pressure. We stopped at a mountainside restaurant to eat lunch, where the road was slick with ice and I needed Hana's hiking stick to make sure my slipper didn't slip, or at least to make sure I could stay upright. As it was, I was straining my right hand (that was holding the stick) and my left good leg to support all the weight my right leg was supporting, so it was quite tiring. I had bibimbap and a snowball, courtesy of Chong Hun, who was determined that I should experience as much as I could despite my leg. Needless to say, I replied his snowball with my own barrage, needing numbers since I could not produce the quality of his snowballs.

We arrived at the Buddhist temple, where I unpacked in one of the rooms they had loaned to us and waited a long long long long long time for the teachers, who arrived half an hour before the 2 groups, who arrived 10 minutes before the instructors, who made sure there were no stragglers. After the guys had unpacked, they all started telling me stories of the vicious snowstorm they had at the same time I had rain the previous day which even blew away a thermos flask and seating mat, as well as reduced visibility to around 3 metres. Then there were the other complaints, like blisters and the cold, and the fact that it took 2 hours to walk 0.2 km at the last stretch, and the way they slid down 2 steps for every 3 steps they took, and how they were all slipping and falling on snow and ice even with the spikes on their shoes, not to mention cooking in that weather. At that point they all said they were wondering why they had come. Of course, the feeling passed by the time they had finished, although the complaints continued.

We had dinner courtesy of the monks, who, although I was grateful for their intentions, I could not bring myself to swallow the food. Everyone seemed to share my feelings, and pretty soon we had people having a Fear Factor match with one particular kimchi which no one could stomach, not even the instructors, though of course, the instructors had perfectly straight faces. After the night session, where they reflected upon the expedition and me upon my incapacitation, we played Bridge all the way until Clayton stomped to our room and ordered us to sleep. So we did, Jacob's snores resonating loudly like an earthquake through the room.

Day 9 (19/12):
Our breakfast that morning wasn't as disgusting as the dinner the previous day, although everybody shied away from the kimchi, a first for our group. The group then finished the hike down the mountain while I waited for them at the bottom, having reached there first by support vehicle, and Jimmy teasing me about kimchi pizza. Ting Hui then took the support vehicle for his final dentist appointment while I went along with the rest by bus to the base camp for the trademark of the Outward Bound courses: Solo time.

We were given 3 hours, in which we could do anything provided we didn't disturb anyone else (staying out of sight was recommended). I was in a grass patch in an open field, wheat stalks swaying above my head while the clouds and the mountains were perfectly visible. As they had asked, I wrote a letter to myself which I would receive in 6 months from the OBK staff. Now as I look back on the time, I can hardly remember what I wrote there. All I remember is that I had asked God to guide my hand to write whatever He wanted me to read in 6 months. And as I sealed the envelope, I knew that He was the one writing, not me. I spent the rest of the time reflecting on my situation, and I realised something. I had said on Day One that I had come to test my limits and see the wonder of nature from the summit of Mt. Soeraksan. However, as usual, God worked in mysterious ways and made it such that what was tested was not my physical limits, but the limits of my positivity and my dependence and faith in the God who has great plans for all of His children. Also, I was so focused on the view from the summit that I had failed to realise that God's wonderful creation is everywhere, and I enjoyed the view from my spot on the ground.

I shared that during our final night session, adding that it was important to keep an open mind in every situation, because every experience has something to be drawn out of it. Everyone delivered their reflections as well and we ended off with the certification, giving a cert each to another teammate, my 'certifier' assuring me that I deserved it as much as the rest did, even if I had not climbed the mountain. We ended the night with performances, of which both were hopeless parodies of everything that had happened on the mountain.

Day 10 (20/12):
Some of the group went to take a hot shower in the morning, a privilege granted by the instructors. I, however, forwent the bath to concentrate on packing my luggage, since I didn't want to take off my splint and put it on again. By now, all the pain wasn't coming from my knee, but the blisters the splint was giving me.

We packed up all our equipment and returned it, although certain mysteries will never be solved, like how we ended up with an extra pot lid and triple the number of ladles we were supposed to have, while losing forks and chopsticks and whistles. Clearly some transmutation was at work here. Maybe the Koreans had heard about the new Full Metal Alchemist remake coming out soon.

We got on the bus and went off to Seoul downtown, shopping for a while (and getting souvenirs, of which I lost a small bag of them the next day) before we hotfooted (or coldfooted?) to the Imperial Palace to sightsee, which we didn't really enjoy because we would have rather continued shopping. What was worse, the palace was buffeted by high speed cold winds from the surrounding mountains, which made it almost unbearable, even to those with a lot more layers on. Our tour guide, while earnest about his job, and quite professional, had a bit of a pronunciation problem, as to be expected, I guess, and a large portion could not listen to him because they were too busy laughing at his pronunciation of "phoenix" and "breathtaking", among other words.

We then walked to the place we were going to have dinner, a barbeque-y kind of place like Seoul Garden, except better and more authentic. The kimchi went back to its usual nice-ness, the appetite for it of almost all not very much whetted by the horrendous experience at the temple. After that, In Sook and Hana gave us free rein, and we shopped and shopped and shopped. All of us went quite overboard with our spending, which for the guys meant we actually bought something on impulse, and for the girls meant they used up all their money and had to change more at the money changer or borrow from the guys. As it was, I had 30000 won whisked away from my wallet.

Satisfied with our purchases, and purring with happiness following the release of endorphins because of the satisfaction, we went to the hostel we were going to stay the night, passing along very interesting things along the way, like a road sign which pointed to Dreamland and a petrol kiosk with the petrol guns hanging from the ceiling (Singapore should do that to save space). The place was in such an obscure location that even the bus driver's GPS got him lost. I suspect we stayed there because the instructors overheard Jacob saying he wanted to go clubbing all night. Anyway, it was a great place, almost like a mini hotel (to me anyway, the rest are more picky than me), and I took off my splint with great relish, needing to do so to bathe and also in preparation for the airplane (because I couldn't sit on a plane with my leg sticking out like that, could I?) We took that bath we so badly wanted, by now not caring about the fact the baths were shared.

We played cards for very long, Bridge, Indian Poker, Slapjack all having some role in our fun, along with the food we had bought, until we decided to sleep.

Day 11 (21/12):
We slept in (kinda, considering that 0730 is late compared to the times everyone woke up at 0530...) and after breakfast, wasted time at Nam San National Park (going to the airport would be dumb at this point). It was a hill from which one could see the whole of Seoul, which, may I remind, is really really big. On the way up, needless to say, I was left behind since I could only utilise one of my legs for climbing. But it was ok, since the gaming dudes stayed behind and took my mind off my knee with constant chatter about different games. We made it to the top, where we saw the whole of Seoul, took pictures, bought a LOT of snacks (what can I say? Climbing up so many stairs is tiring) and visited what they called the Teddy Bear Museum.

After that we went to the airport, and after we cleared immigration, all the people dispersed looking for ways to finish spending their money before boarding. I just had lunch with some of the guys and then boarded the plane. On the plane, since there wasn't a need for sleep, we were much more rowdy than we were on the coming trip. I pity the stewardesses, and silently praised their professionalism. I copied a list of KPop songs to try and find, realising by that point that KPop was every bit as good as JPop (to me, anyway). We landed in Singapore, and I don't think I've ever been so homesick before for a country that wasn't even my own. We met up with Gideon, the OBS instructor who had been briefing us all the while when we were still in Singapore, and after our final debrief and certification Singapore-side, we were dismissed. We said our goodbyes and the group all went to their parents complaining about the mountain hike and the cold.

As for Dicky and me, we faded into the distance and made for a taxi, our reunions going to come a bit later.

Another Music Random Post

2008-12-10T18:25:00.004+08:00

Put your MP3 player on shuffle, and write down the first line of the first twenty songs. Post the poem that results. The first line of the twenty-first is the title.

I Hung Up the Phone Tonight (Crush)

Running, running and running, running (Let's Get Retarded)
In this farewell, there's no blood (What I've Done)
Mwahahahahahahahahaha!!! (Larger Than Life)
Hakuna Matata! Hakuna Matata! (Hakuna Matata)

It's 10% luck, 20% skill (Remember the Name)
Looking forward from center stage (High School Musical)
Let's sing a song for the broken hearted (It's My Life)
It's you and me moving at the speed of light (Forever)

All I wanna do is stay right here on the floor (Dance Like There's No Tomorrow)
If I could escape (The Sweet Escape)
Do you remember that day? (Where We Started From)
For all the years that I've known you, baby (Don't Love You No More)

It's our last chance to share the stage (Spring Musical)
I shouldn't love you, but I want to (Just So You Know)
Sitting here staring at the wall (Not Ready For Goodbye)
Take my hand, take a breath (Can I Have This Dance)

Soon, I will be going to...

2008-12-10T09:49:00.001+08:00

KOREAAAAAAAAA!!!

A Surreal Day

2008-12-05T17:23:00.005+08:00

All you Singaporeans out there have good reason to be proud of yourselves. Seriously. I mean, I have never seen any other nation where the citizens are so alert in the hunt for terrorists. Ever since that 'Do your part to prevent terrorist attacks' video (which, by the way, had a supreme lack of acting talent), you Singaporeans have been faithfully following the recommendations of the video, all to save your fellow countrymen (and yourselves, no doubt) from an early death to terrorist attacks.

Then again, you might be classified as a slightly jumpy people. Here's how my morning went down.

I was going to the hospital in the early morning to do what I usually do there around every one and a half months. I had a gear check for Outward Bound later on in the afternoon, so I thought I'd bring my gear along to the hospital so I could go straightaway to school after I had finished. Big mistake. I should have known that the people on the bus would react to the bag.

The moment I stepped on board, there was a tangible tensing in the atmosphere, as if......... well, as if I had a bomb inside my bag. The people near me decided to follow the instructions given in the anti-terrorist-attack video, which was to:

1) Watch discreetly
2) Pay attention to the dude's clothing and appearance
3) Note if he seems agitated for some unknown reason
4) Be quick to stop him if he leaves that heavy bag behind

And boy, did they follow the instructions to the letter. This is the basic breakdown of how it went.

1) At least 8 people were staring unabashed directly at me without blinking. There were at least 4 others who were stealing glances at me now and then very obviously but still apparently priding themselves on being very discreet. Maybe they were, but I'm especially observant, so they weren't to me.

2) Oh yeah, they paid attention all right. In addition to the stares, I had people trying their utmost to memorise my clothing. Imagine the fiasco. I overheard somebody muttering to herself, "Red shirt, gray pants, running shoes...... Red shirt, gray pants, running shoes..." while another couple noticed that my shirt was a TJC shirt and one asked the other, "Eh, do you know TJC's office number? I think we need to be ready."

3) Ok, this one was entirely my fault. There is a direct bus from my hostel to the hospital I go to but I hardly ever take it. Thus, I'm not very familiar with the route. So, as you can imagine, I kept on looking outside in the worry that I might have accidentally overshot my stop. Hence the increased tension.

4) I sure as hell didn't leave my bag behind, but with every little movement I made (fidgeting) away from my bag, everyone on the bus would start, only to relax when I fidgeted back to the bag. It was subtle, but I picked it up. One old woman in particular was incredibly dramatic about it. She called someone on her handphone (her relative?) and started to apologize for all the bad things she had done to them and how much she loved them, just in case.

I, at one point, took out my DS, which also acts as my MP3 player, to listen to music. I must have had a concentrated look on my face, because I could lip-read one passenger telling his friend, "His intructions, maybe?" By this time, I could already imagine what I must look like in their mind's eye. Some gangster dude with no life and no future, probably, all ready for the juvenile detention center.

It didn't help that I received a call from one of my friends that, in hindsight, must have sounded pretty scary, especially since they only heard what I was saying and not my friend's words. Here's the conversation, roughly, with my friend's words in italics.

"Hey, Matt!"
"Yoyo. You need something?"
"Just calling to check something."
"What?"
"You know the Red Alert 3 CD I lent you to install? Did you manage to install it?"
"No, 'cause I couldn't understand the instructions."
"Ok, I'll sms you later."
"Why not just tell me now?"
"Cause it's better if you see it in words so later you can go back and refer. You're outside, right?"
"Yeah, in 196, on the way to the hospital. It's full like anything. I can hardly move."
"Haha... nevermind lah, imagine the relief when you get out."
"Yeah, that'll be good."
"I hope you manage to install the game properly. Then you and I can race to see who finishes the game first."
"Yeah, you know I love blowing things up with rocket launchers and bombs. Hey, but you had a headstart!"
"Too bad! Haha... I'll send you the sms later?"
"Ok."
"Yup. So bye then."
"Bye."

The moment I took my phone off my ear, I saw the startled faces which were trying very hard to look natural. I ran through the conversation in my head and smacked myself mentally when I realised what had just happened. I saved them the heart attack by getting off WITH MY BAG very noticeably, so they could relax. Wonder what they would tell their friends and family over the next few days?

Singaporeans seem to be a very jumpy people. And I think I know what I can blame this on. They're all hyped-up on absurdly copious amounts of sugar and caffeine in Coke. I reached Bedok Interchange, where I had my lunch before I would proceed to school for the gear check. I saw this family buy a large Coke and surreptitiously pour its contents into their baby's milk bottle, before taking the leftovers for themselves. A BABY! DRINKING COKE! What's the world coming to? Hasn't anybody ever heard of milk and water???

I Got A Laugh Out of This One

2008-12-04T17:48:00.003+08:00

NEW ELEMENT IN THE PERIODIC TABLE
Element : WOMEN (pronounced wih-mern)

Symbol : WO

Atomic mass : Accepted as 53.6 Kg; isotopes may vary from 40-200 kg.
Atomic radius: Variable, differing at three major locations on the atom.
Electronic configuration: Cannot be confirmed, as energy levels fluctuate too dramatically to ascertain original energy levels of electrons. The lowest energy state is achieved approximately once a month (at which point some mass is lost) and highest energy state is achieved at completely random times.
Occurrence : Copious quantities in all urban areas.

*PHYSICAL PROPERTIES*
1. Boils at room temperature.
2. Freezes without any known reason.
3. Melts if given special treatment.
4. Bitter, if incorrectly used.
5. Sweet as Honey if given proper treatment.

*CHEMICAL PROPERTIES*
1. Have great affinity for gold, silver and a range of precious stones and absorbs great quantities of expensive substances.
2. May explode spontaneously without prior warning and for no known reason.
3. Insoluble in liquids, but activity greatly increases by that.
4. Most powerful money reducing agent known to man.

*COMMON USES*
1. Highly ornamental, especially in sports cars.
2. Can be great aid to relaxation.
3. May act as a catalyst to speed up or drag on arguments.
4. May react with MEN to produce the compound HAPPINESS. Amounts of HAPPINESS produced depends on compatibility of the isotopes of MEN and WOMEN reacting.

*DISTINGUISHING TESTS*
1. Pure specimen turns rosy pink when happy.
2. Turns green when placed behind a better specimen.
3. Turns black or bright red when exposed to irritating environments.

*POTENTIAL HAZARD*
Illegal to possess more than one, although several can be maintained at different locations as long as specimens do not come in direct contact with each other.

*!! WARNING !!*
NOT RADIOACTIVE, BUT PROLONGED EXPOSURE TO THIS ELEMENT CAN CAUSE SEVERE FINANCIAL HEMORRHAGING AND MENTAL DISTRESS. APPROACH WITH EXTREME CAUTION.

*NOTE*
Above properties are shown by all existing isotopes worldwide.

New Layout

2008-12-04T17:45:00.002+08:00

Now that was quite irritating.

Had to use trial and error to change the template code to get the blog to look like how I wanted it to be, since the code wasn't organised very well so I had absolutely no idea which part was referring to what. What's more, I'm more familiar with the p-class line of coding rather than div-class.

Oh well, at least it's done now, although the larger size fonts tend to group together like the heading and the post where I scold my roomie (haha). No way I know to fix that...

Second Transition

2008-12-03T13:26:00.002+08:00

JC1 passed by so fast I had no idea it was finished until I got back my promos results.

And today, when I got back from the airport after seeing Surya and Truc off, I saw the attendance paper had changed. It read:

Matthew Yee Room to be decided TJC/JC2

So another year begins, eh?

Interesting Life I Lead...

2008-11-29T22:03:00.004+08:00

Uhuh. So my com has been resuscitated again, and I have traced the problem to a faulty RAM chip. Easily replaced. Especially since the IT fair is going on now. I guess that's why it crashed the last time, too. Hopefully, it won't do that anymore, now that my com has new RAM chips.

Yesterday, I overheard a rather interesting conversation when the OBK group (or part of it, anyway) was eating at McD between these two guys.

"You don't agree with me?"
"Of course not. You're talking nonsense."
"Like that lah! Just disagree with you only then already so angry!"
"Where got angry? You stupid lah!"
"Wah, now call me stupid! If you wanna fight just say so lah!"
"For what? I confirm win one..."

I figured it out. It's all testosterone's fault. If it wasn't for testosterone, guys might be pretty bearable. Then again, it was because of testosterone that we completed the hellish trek yesterday, since we didn't want to lose to the rest.

On a side note, these two scenes really interested me.

The Salvation Army must be very powerful. They even got stormtroopers and clone troopers to manage their Christmas donation fund.

Now, for some reason, this looks familiar. I passed by this shelf in Carrefour and couldn't figure out for the life of me why this was so familiar. And then I heard the voice in my memory telling me, "I know the picture is very out of point, but I was hungry..." Haha... Thanks a lot again for the card!

Stuck In My Head

2008-11-26T13:23:00.001+08:00

Curse you, roomie. Why did you play that David Archuleta song so many times until I can't get it out of my head even now?

What Happens When All You Have Is OBK Training

2008-11-25T22:00:00.005+08:00

Despite the boring-ness and monotony of training for Outward Bound and only being able to interact with the few scholars left during the night because of this, life still, for some reason, throws entertaining things into my path from time to time. Like all the examples below.

I was thinking at one point about creating the perfect drink. And I had a sudden flash of inspiration. I thought, "Hey, since the sarsaparilla root extract tastes so good in root beer, why not make another soft drink totally devoted to the noble root?" And I proceeded to think up the ingredients for such a drink. Of course, carbonated water was a must. As well as sarsaparilla root extract. Maybe additional ingredients should include copious amounts of sugar, perhaps caffeine, and all the seemingly compulsory (for soft drinks, anyway) flavourings and preservatives. As for colour, I decided on a rich caramel brown, very close to black colour. Yes, I decided. This would truly be the ultimate soft drink. Then it hit me. I unknowingly had repeated the ingredients list for root beer. I think the training for that day had been too much. Haha.

Another day, after a round of shopping for winter clothes with my fellow scholar and OBK mate (I came along to play devil's advocate, since he would probably buy everything in his indecision), we went to Pastamania to eat. There was a family sitting at the table right next to ours and the three kids there (all boys) decided to show off to the other two.

The oldest, who couldn't have been older than 13, decided to demonstrate his wide knowledge of the world. He pointed to the bottle of Tabasco sauce on the table and said very knowingly (and snobbishly, in my opinion), "This sauce arh, actually, it's made from the hottest chili in the world one!" Just for knowledge, this is slightly inaccurate as the bottle's tagline reads "The hottest SAUCE in the world. Besides, spiciness is subjective. I think some sambal belacan is worse. But enough about my thoughts.

The second boy, who decided that his older brother clearly had the advantage in smarts because of his greater age, made to demonstrate his incredible tolerance for spiciness. He grabbed the bottle of Tabasco sauce and drenched his pizza slice in it, folded it into a piece that could fit into his mouth and chowed it down, mumbling "SEE? SEE?" almost incomprehensibly due to his full mouth.

The youngest boy, who clearly had already realised that he could not beat his older brothers in smarts or tolerating power, demonstrated the only talent he could. He totally ignored them. In my opinion, this cute dude looking the other way drinking his second brother's ice lemon tea was the smartest and most tolerating of the three, although you're free to decide for yourself.

Then, upon reaching the hostel after training one day, I was forced upon a particularly disturbing scene, as shown by this video.

I think they were stressed out. Must have been the Chemistry Olympiad they were going to do the next day.

And, as with my usual (but not very frequent) pastime, I shall endeavour to answer random questions!!!

1. Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 18, and find line 4.
"Slow." Apparently, Bella Swan is a woman of very few words. Anybody can lend me Breaking Dawn?

2. Stretch your left arm out as far as you can.
Ouch. *Training takes its toll*

3. What was the last thing you watched on t.v.?
Is You Tube tv? If so, then 'Hu is the new leader of China'. If not, then my memory doesn't stretch that far back.

4. Without looking, guess what time it is.
2240 hrs.

5. Now look at the clock.What is the actual time?
2239 hrs. Nice.

6. With the exception of the computer what can you hear?
Tirta, Truc and Surya screaming. Truc and Surya are screaming like the video above, while Tirta is screaming in laughter.

7. When did you last step outside? What were you doing?
Half an hour ago. We were walking to the Indoor Stadium and back for fun. Shouldn't have done it in slippers. Blisters are irritating. Some more got training soon.

8. Before you started this survey, what did you look at?
Truc and Surya. With quite an incredulous look.

9. What are you wearing?
My basketball outfit. Not that I actually play nowadays, but what's the point of having clothes if you don't wear them?

10. Did you dream last night?
Yeah, a particularly interesting dream about me leaping from bottlecap to bottlecap of giant floating root beer bottles trying to escape the imba woman who just happened to have invented a jetpack. Weird.

11. When did you last laugh?
5 minutes ago. At the video.

12. What is on the walls of the room you are in?
Bacteria, paint and Surya.

13. Seen anything weird lately?
Didn't I just illustrate that it has happened a lot of times recently?

14. What do you think of this quiz?
I love random questions.

15. What was the last film you saw?
Wall. E!!! Cutest movie I ever saw. *AWWWOOOOOGAH* Caution. Rogue robots.

16. If you became a multi-millionaire over night, what would you buy?
A new laptop, for starters. My com crashed again. I can restore it anytime, but that's not the issue here. After that, a root beer factory? Then I'll give the rest to whomever asks.

17. Tell me something about you that I don’t know.
Depends on who's the 'I' who's reading now. I doubt any of the SJI scholars or the imba woman don't know anything about me. They might even know me better than me.

18. If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do?
I would change it such that I could change more things about the world.

19. Do you like to dance?
Mass dances are cool. Then there's the dance we're performing to the Koreans. Ahn young ha se yo!!! Na nun Malaysia saram imnida. Na nun go dung hak kyo il hak ryun hak seng imnida.

20. George Bush:
Is gonna be replaced soon!!!

21. Imagine your first child is a girl, what would you name her?
Sarah, probably. ''God's princess''.

22. Imagine your first child is a boy, what would you name him?
Too many names to consider that mean the same thing.

23. Would you ever consider living abroad?
I didn't really have a choice, now, did I?

24. What do you want God to say when you reach the pearly white gates?
"Well done, thou good and faithful son."

25. 6 people who must also do this in THEIR journal:
Nah, I'm not that evil.

Three names you go by:
1. Matthew
2. Matt
3. Matt Matt (Do you sense a pattern here?)

Three screen names you have:
1. WthameXt
2. yamato24651
3. yugi24651

Three parts of your heritage (the 3 most important parts XD):
1. SJI
2. My book collection
3. Can I include my friends? Coz they're an essential important part of my life...

Three things that scare you:
1. SPIDERS!!!
2. Imba woman in anti Root beer mode (I think I've stressed this quite a few times already)
3. Saw I, II, III, IV and V

Three of your everyday essentials:
1. God's recharging energy
2. Books
3. Friends

Three things you're wearing now:
1. Shirt
2. Shorts
3. Underwear (Hello, kind of a stupid question, much?)

Three of your favourite songs:
1. I Will Bless The Lord
2. High School Musical
3. Womanizer (for its comedic value)

Two truths and a lie in no particular order:
1. I am eagerly awaiting our climb up Mt. Soraeksan (Is that how it's spelt?)
2. I don't detest romance novels.
3. I haven't been sleeping well for the past four days despite the tiredness from training.

Three of your favourite hobbies:
1. Singing
2. Reading
3. Talking

Three things you want to do really badly now:
1. Get Breaking Dawn. It's tough being a speed reader. The easy reading-ness of Twilight, New Moon and Eclipse don't help.
2. Watch some new anime.
3. Bathe. I'll get right down to it as soon as I finish this bottle of root beer. Wait, I shouldn't have said that.

Three careers you're considering:
1. Forensic Scientist
2. Novelist
3. Teacher (this just popped up in my head one day, for some strange reason)

Three places you want to go on vacation to:
1. Nippon
2. Israel (the non war zones, wherever possible)
3. Dreamland (been there so many times, but still not bored)

Three things you want to do before you die:
1. Go to Israel!
2. Memorise my namesake's book verse for verse.
3. Make an impact on everybody I meet.

Three things that make you stereotypically a boy:
1. I can do 11 pull-ups.
2. I'm quite blur at times.
3. I can like a girl without being called a homo.

Three things that make you stereotypically a girl:
1. I take Lit.
2. I talk like my mouth would explode if I stopped.
3. I don't need to solve my problems to feel better, just talk about them to people.

Exhilaration

2008-11-19T17:21:00.001+08:00

Finished learning the Korean hip-hop dance for our visit to the random Korean village during OBK.

IT'S DAMN FREAKING COOL!!!

Exhaustion

2008-11-17T19:28:00.000+08:00

OBK training started in earnest today.

AND I AM DAMN FREAKING TIRED!!!

My 17th Birthday

2008-11-14T02:53:00.001+08:00

Septumdecim. It seems like just last week when I was a 12 year old kid about to embark on an education journey only relatively few people get to experience first hand, with a lot of expenses paid for. And now, I'm seventeen years old. It's unbelievable, really. Time has passed by so fast, and I've changed from a goofy kid who makes lame jokes, to a taller and lankier goofy teenager who amkes lame jokes in a not-so-sqeuaky voice.

This past year, what exactly have I accomplished? How much exactly have I changed? And most importantly, how can I better myself in anticipation of my 18th birthday? These were the thoughts that were occupying my mind for the past 20 days. To those who had no idea what was going on and got *slightly* paranoid (especially ONE person in particular...), I honestly apologize for the sudden 20-day sullenness and warn you with all my normal energy levels that it's going to be EXACTLY THE SAME NEXT YEAR MWAHAHAHAHA!!! But seriously, to think I had gone suicidal is overindulging the imagination just a bit, don't you think? Oh well, I'm back to normal for 345 days.

Friendship is a tender thing, it's every joy that life can bring.
A bit of hope, a heart so true, so much another shares with you.
It's courage when life brings a frown, to lend a hand when you are down.
It's loyalty and peace serene, remembering to share your dream.
A comforter when things are wrong, a guiding light to the throng.
A faith, a hope, a bright new day. Friendship is a chosen way.

Have I walked this way for my 17th year? How can I walk this way more fully during my 18th?

SUCCESS is speaking words of praise, in CHEERING other people's ways.
In DOING just the best you can, with every task and every plan.
It's SILENCE when your speech would hurt, POLITENESS when your neighbour's curt.
It's DEAFNESS when the scandal flows, and SYMPATHY with others' woes.
It's LOYALTY when duty calls, it's COURAGE when disaster falls.
It's PATIENCE when the hours are long, it's found in LAUGHTER and SONG.
It's in the silent time of PRAYER, in HAPPINESS and in DESPAIR.
In all of life and nothing less, we find the thing we call SUCCESS.

So, in my 17th year, have I succeeded in the way I have been living?

Take time to laugh - it is the music of the soul
Take time to think - it is the source of power
Take time to play - it is the source of eternal youth
Take time to read - it is the fountain of wisdom
Take time to pray - it is the greatest power on earth
Take time to love and be loved - it is a God-given privilege
Take time to be friendly - it is the road to happiness
Take time to give - it is too short a day to be selfish
Take time to work - it is the price of success

In my 17th year, have I taken enough time for the things that matter?

The more you give, the more you get.
The more you give, the less you fret.
The more you do things unselfishly, the more you'll live abundantly.
The more you love, the more you'll find, that life is good and friends are kind.
For only what we give away enriches us from day to day.

Has my 17th year been one of abundant living?

I leave my answers unpublished, since they are for me and God alone to know and understand. But whatever the case, here ends my 20 day introspection. I trust that God will lead me on to my 18th birthday just as closely and lovingly as he did to my 17th, and help me become the person I was meant to be. Meanwhile, according to my birth certificate, I was born on 0253 hours on the 14th November 1991. Now is 0253 hrs on the 14th November2008. Here begins my 18th year. I am seventeen years old.

What Are You?

2008-11-10T12:37:00.003+08:00

So what are you? Are you one of them, or one of the others?

No idea what I'm talking about? I'm gonna break it down for you. Are you a robot, or an alien?

Because everyone on earth is one or the other. Robots do what they're told, stick with the herd. Now aliens, on the other hand, do their own thing. You don't need to choose, but most people do.

I. Am. A.............

Robotic alien. *gasp*

Weirdness

2008-11-08T21:35:00.003+08:00

I was in Cineleisure today for a movie. And before that Dicky convinced me to try and smuggle outside food into the theatre. Ok, I admit it, I agreed.

But get this: I walked up to the service dude.

"Good afternoon, ma'am, may I help you?"

Granted, I could have taken it somewhat as a compliment, since I'm the one who's always been ranting on and on about how girls are way superior to guys. But still, some remnant pride inbred into the members of my kind rendered me indignant. I was just called "Ma'am" !!! Yeesh. Is my voice that squeaky? Am I that bimbotic?

But that's not all. There's more.

"So, what veg would you like with your sandwich?"
"Um... Chili, onions and olives, please."
"Ok, so that's all veg except chili, onions and olives?"
"Er... No, I said only chili, onions and olives."
"Ok, everything except chili, onions and olives."
And the dude started spamming the veg.
"Sorry, I said only chili, onions and olives."
"But the veg is free!"
"I know! But I only want the chili, onions and olives!"
" (disbelieving tone) Ok, then... What sauce would you like?"
"Southwest."
"Er... only southwest, nothing else?"
"Yup. Only the southwest."
"Are you sure? The sauces are also free, you know."
"Please, just give me the southwest sauce and give me my sandwich."

Is kiasuism so inbred into Singaporean society that people just cannot understand it when someone DOESN'T want one of everything? For Subway, Singapore must be the ideal market, then. The Singaporeans get lured to the fact that you can order ALL the veg on your sandwich (for free, too...) when actually, it's all already covered in the price of the sandwich, anyway. People might say, making full use of what we paid for it, but that's another issue and besides the point.

One last observation. The person who ordered after me asked for all the veg available to be put on his sandwich. He brought his meal to his table with his two friends, unwrapped the sandwich, and painstakingly removed all the chili.

"Hey, you don't like chili?" enquired his friend.
"Nope, hate the stuff." came the reply.
"Then why'd you ask for it, man?"
"Wanted my money's worth."
As if that didn't sound stupid enough, his friend actually accepted that! I almost dropped the drink cup I was filling.

I've been in Singapore for almost 5 years now, but every now and then, I walk along the streets, and am totally amazed...

More Stray Thoughts

2008-11-07T23:29:00.002+08:00

Responsibility. Someone once told me that only a fool actively wants to chain himself to responsibilities. Now I see that person was the fool.

As I approach my 17th year, I have signed up for a lot of responsibilities. I have strived, ever since I was scolded so harshly for irresponsibility THAT fateful day, to learn to take responsibility for myself, and also for others (that being in the case of being in charge of something).

I just hope that I've become a more responsible person.

A Stray Thought

2008-11-06T10:40:00.002+08:00

After being in Singapore for almost 5 years, meeting new people and forging lasting friendships along the way, as a scholar who has no problems getting along with people of different nationalities, I suddenly thought of something.

All the talking, the laughing, the joking, the teasing, the things we all do together...

I feel as if they're all my precious family, my brothers and sisters. From all the blessings God has given through the scholarship, my 'extended family' surely is the greatest.

Return of the Random

2008-11-04T22:49:00.003+08:00

In the spirit of getting my computer back, I shall answer another random questionnaire!!! Mwahahahahahahaha!!!

DO YOU SNORE? - No. If I did, I would find a pillow shooting from my roomie's bed to mine. Then again, he could probably sleep through a hurricane.

LOVER OR A FIGHTER? Lover. I have not the physique nor convictions to fight.

WHAT'S YOUR WORST FEAR? Spiders. No question. Although surveillance cameras are a close second. Who knows? The imba woman might just be imba enough to hack into the camera archives that show me drinking root beer...

AS A KID, WERE YOU A LEGO BUILDER? Nope. Had plenty of imagination, but my parents deemed writing as a more constructive (and cheaper) outlet for my imagination.

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF "REALITY TV"? Yeah, right. Say, for example, Fear Factor. They only "really" dare to eat stuff like bull's testicles because if they do, they'll be that much closer to a huge wad of money.

DO YOU CHEW ON YOUR STRAWS? Toothpicks for me. Straws are too long, and if there's still a drop of root beer on it, the imba woman will sniff it out and murder.

WERE YOU A CUTE BABY? I wouldn't know... But I can direct you to someone who can tell you: my mum. Although she's bound to be biased.

HOW IS THE SINGLE LIFE FOR YOU? Can't say. I can only give a biased answer since I've been single for all *almost* 17 years of my life.

WHAT COLOR IS YOUR KEYBOARD? Black. I'd like pink, but I'd get murdered for going against the spirit of masculinity. As it is, the guys are only just tolerating my pink braces, toothbrush, pencil, pen, file...

DO YOU SING IN THE SHOWER? No. I have faith that my singing isn't bad, but others may not have that faith. I'm trained to try and be considerate.

HAVE YOU EVER BUNGEE JUMPED? Once. Thought I was going to die until the cord pulled me back up. Even though I knew it was there all the time, human survival instinct always kicks in somehow...

ANY SECRET TALENTS? Secret? Nah... They're all known. Talking cock, techno stuff, imagination, gaming, speed-reading, guzzling root beer...

WHAT'S YOUR IDEAL VACATION SPOT? Home. After you've been away for so long, nothing beats where your family is.

HAVE YOU EATEN SUSHI? Yeah. I'm an Asian, yo! Sushi must be, like, an integral part of an Asian's life. Nothing like raw fish and/or rice with seaweed! (I bet the Westerners are squirming now...)

HAVE YOU SEEN THE MOVIE "DONNIE DARKO"? The crap is that? Some guy called Donnie who can turn off the lights?

DO YOU GIVE A DARN ABOUT THE OZONE? Yeah. It's one of the reasons why I dream of having lightning powers. Lightning produces enough energy to create ozone, you know... Make lightning, save the world.

HOW MANY LICKS DOES IT TAKE TO GET TO THE CENTER OF A TOOTSIE POP? Erm... What in blazes is a Tootsie Pop?

CAN YOU SING THE ALPHABET BACKWARDS? Lemme try now! Z Y X W V U T...

HAVE YOU EVER BEEN ON AN AIRPLANE? It's all I can do not to stare at the screen with one of those looks. If only they knew...

ARE SPEEDOS HOT? Depending. Normally, swimming pool water sucks all the heat out of Speedos. Unless it's a hot day.

WHAT'S YOUR STAND ON HUNTING? Hunting what? Endangered animals, no. But I myself am a hunter of sorts. He entered the 7-11, his hand fingering the weapon on his hip, ready for any attack. With superhuman speed and agility, he wrestled the refrigerator door open, and grabbed the Root Beer by the throat. Then, drawing his weapon, he fished $2 out of it to pat for it and make a run for it before it's mother, the imba woman, came after him.

IS MARRIAGE IN YOUR FUTURE? See where God takes me.

DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? Oh yeah. Never saw any reason to hate it. Perfectly untidy, but wonderfully legible.

WHAT ARE YOU ALLERGIC TO? Conceit and narcissism. *Ahem ahem*

WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU SAID, "I LOVE YOU"? In a story I had written.

IS TUPAC STILL ALIVE? Who's Tupac? Tu pac or not tu pac, zat eez ze qweschiawn...

DO YOU CRY AT WEDDINGS? Not until recently. A Walk To Remember was a touching movie...

HOW DO YOU LIKE YOUR EGGS? Cooked.

ARE BLONDES DUMB? Nope. Cloud's a war genius.

WHERE DOES THE OTHER SOCK END UP? On the other foot. Or on Ayto's, depending. He seems to like to borrow my socks.

WHAT TIME IS IT? Summertime! It's our vacation! What time is it? Party Time! That's right, say it loud! What time is it? The time of our lives! Anticipation! What time is it? Summertime! School's out, scream and shout!!!

DO YOU HAVE A NICKNAME? Many. WthameXt, Math, Matt, Mootz, L, Yee and Matt Matt.

IS MCDONALD'S DISGUSTING? The food isn't. The clown is. *shudder* Freaky...

WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU WERE IN A CAR? A long long long long long long long time ago. In Singapore, they mainly do buses. Or trains.

DO YOU PREFER BATHS OR SHOWERS? Showers. After I turned 10, for some strange reason, baths lost their appeal for me.

IS SANTA CLAUS REAL? Saint Nicholas, from whom the legend was derived, was real. However, otherwise, Santa is about as real as we want him to be. I'll see ol' Saint Nick in heaven, though, and ask him what he thinks of his legacy.

ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK? You know, I've been indirectly asked this question millions of times by the imba woman. And I still say no.

WHAT ARE YOU ADDICTED TO? Root Beer. Although I haven't been drunk or high on it for 6 months.

CRUNCHY OR CREAMY PEANUT BUTTER? Scrap peanut butter and eat Nutella.

HAVE YOU EVER RIDDEN IN AN AMBULANCE? That's a story for another time.

HOW MANY TIMES HAVE YOU BRUSHED YOUR TEETH TODAY? Once. Going to again as soon as I publish this.

IS DRUG FREE THE WAY TO BE? Drugs should not be free. Don't even do drugs.

ARE YOU WEARING SOCKS? Now? Nope. I will be in 6 hours. The final stretch, and PW will be overrr!!!

HAVE YOU EVER HITCH HIKED? On a bus. Not really counted.

WHAT COLOR ARE YOUR EYES? Brown. But I think my classmates (or some of them, anyway) plan to make them red in one and a half weeks. Or was it lightning bolts, guys?

WHEN'S THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? Last Saturday.

DO YOU LIKE YOUR LIFE? Subarashiki Kono Sekai. It's a wonderful life.

WHOSE LIFE IS BETTER? Compared to whom? Seriously, these incomplete questions...

ARE YOU PSYCHIC? I'm a Lit student. I'm always mistaken to be psychic. And I have roomie telepathy with all who have been my roomies.

HAVE YOU READ "CATCHER IN THE RYE"? Sadly, no. Ah, I found another book to read. *eyes sparkle*

DO YOU PLAY ANY INSTRUMENTS? Used to. Piano. Now, it's only the computer (O2Jam) and the accordion (incredibly badly)

CAN YOU SKATEBOARD? Tried to, but failed miserably. I have the scar to prove it. Although you can't see it, since it's near a portion of my anatomy not generally displayed to the public...

DO YOU LIKE CAMPING? Yup. Outward Bound did it for me.

DO U SNORT WHEN U LAUGH? I can do anything when I laugh. Except snort. I'm not a pig.

DO YOU BELIEVE IN MAGIC? Yes, but not the conventional kind. Miracles.

IS A DOG A MAN'S BEST FRIEND? Nope. You can't possibly call all my best friends dogs, now can you? If they don't get you first, I will. Grr...

YOU BELIEVE IN DIVORCE? No. What God has joined together, let no man separate.

CAN YOU DO THE MOONWALK? Nope, but I know a Vietnamese who can. Better than MJ.

DOES YOUR MOM KNOW YOU HAVE A MYSPACE? I don't have MySpace.

WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? Asam Laksa. Mmmmmm...

DO YOU WEAR NAILPOLISH? It's a special nail polish consisting of everything that's present in air.

DO YOU LIKE SOMEONE RIGHT NOW? Yeah. Not saying who, though.

WHAT'S THE MOST ANNOYING TV COMMERCIAL? One I saw in Jakarta. Bukan 'big', tapi BIIIIIIIIG...

DO YOU SHOP AT AMERICAN EAGLE? Singapore don't have one, yo.

FAVORITE BAND AT THE MOMENT? High School Musical cast!! WOOHOO HSM FEVER!!!

High School Musical Fever Continues...

2008-11-04T22:42:00.002+08:00

Well, between trying to fix my computer and being too busy to derive lyrics, it took a long time, but the lyrics posting shall resume, in the spirit of High School Musical fanaticism!!!

Right Here, Right Now
Zac Efron & Vanessa Hudgens
High School Musical 3: Senior Year

[Troy]
Can you imagine, what would happen
if we could have any dream?
I'd wish this moment, was ours to own it
and that it would never leave.
Then I would thank that star,
that made our wish come true (come true)
Oh, yeah
Cause he knows that where you are,
Is where I should be too.

[Chorus]
Right here, right now
I’m looking at you, and my heart loves the view
Cause you mean everything
Right here, I promise you somehow
That tomorrow can wait, some other day to be (to be)
But right now there's you and me.

[Gabriella]
It feels like forever, what could be better?
We've already proved it was.
That two thousand words, twenty three hours, have blended the universe.
Its gonna be, everything (everything)
In our whole world changed
(it starts changing)
and do know that when we are, (when we are)
our memory's the same
oh no,oh no

[Chorus]
Right here, right now (right now)
Im looking at you, and my heart loves the view
Cause you mean everything (everything)
Right here, I promise you somehow (somehow were gonna)
That tomorrow can wait, some other day to be (to be)
But right now there's you and me.

[Bridge]
Oh we know its coming (coming)
And its coming fast
Its always you and me, oh yeah
So lets make this second last
make it last...

[Troy]
Right here,
[Gabriella]
Ooohh Right now.
[Troy]
Yeah I’m looking at you,
[Gabriella]
And my heart loves the view
[Troy]
’Cause you mean everything

[Troy & Gabriella]
Right here, I promise you somehow.
That tomorrow can wait, some other day to be (to be)
But right now there's you and me
You and me
You and me
Ohh You and me
But right now, there's you and me...

A Reason to Laugh Maniacally

2008-11-03T18:37:00.001+08:00

My!!!

Laptop!!!

Is!!!

Alive!!!

MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Words of the Prosecution III

2008-10-23T19:35:00.003+08:00

"Humans are fragile, fickle beings. Our hearts change with the shifting of the tides." - Prosecutor Godot

What makes the difference between the resolve of one person against the resolve of another? We all know that different people have different levels of determination as well as decisiveness. Otherwise, there would be no need to even invent the words 'indecisive' and 'undetermined'.

There are many reasons why one's resolve would falter. Perhaps the two sides of a choice are equally important to the one making the choice. Perhaps one is threatened by external forces or circumstance to change his mind. These are but two of the many reasons why someone may appear to be fickle. It also implies human fragility as it shows that humans can be influenced to some extent to abandon their convictions and change their minds on the fly. In this case, then in boils down to the strength of one's convictions. If one firmly believes in something, and this belief is unshakeable, then getting such a person to change his mind would be akin to trying to wear down a mountain by whacking it with your fist.

Or you could say that it shows versatility and adaptability. After all, not all changes of heart mean a person is fragile. Take for instance, the student doing a maths question. Upon realising that a particular method of solving a question will result in a tedious and long-winded solution-making process, the intelligent student immediately switches to a method of solving which not only gets the answer faster, but is also easier on the marker's eyes. In some cases, the ability to quickly change one's mind can actually help the situation. We applaud this kind of 'fickle-mindedness'.

I believe that inherently, humans are fickle beings, and to some extent fragile as well, because we can be influenced. But unlike Godot seems to believe, this nature is not undefeatable by us humans, nor is it always a bad thing. While it is true that in some cases, some people deserve to be condemned for a change of heart, sometimes, they deserve to be lauded. Then we must decide for ourselves how to distinguish between the two.

If we think of it this way, Prosecutor Godot is not completely right, then.

Delay

2008-10-22T18:41:00.003+08:00

Crud. There'll be a delay in the lyrics posting because I'm too busy to take time off to derive the lyrics everyday. I'd take the lyrics from the internet, but then again, most people who post what they THINK are the lyrics are incredibly hopeless.

I mean, how can someone mishear "Don't be afraid" as "To be afraid" and not realise that anything's wrong???

What with PW, CG Rep problems, the continuing of the syllabus, the Mother Tongue A Level Exam, OGL worries, H3 Bio worries and regrets for not having the capacity to cope with Mazarin, it's a wonder I can actually try to derive lyrics in the first place...

High School Musical Fever

2008-10-21T18:44:00.004+08:00

It started with "Now or Never", and as the release date for the movie draws near, I shall post the lyrics in order for one song everyday from now until I go through the whole song list. Mwahaha...

Can I Have This Dance?
Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens
High School Musical 3: Senior Year

[Gabriella]

Take my hand,
Take a breath,
Pull me close,
And take one step.
Keep your eyes
Locked on mine
And let the music be your guide.

Won't you promise me (Now won't you promise me)
That you'll never forget (We'll keep dancing)
To keep dancing
Wherever we go next

[Chorus]
It's like catching lightning:
The chance is of finding
Someone like you
It's one in a million:
The chance is of feeling
The way we do
And with every step together
We just keep on getting better
So can I have this dance? (Can I have this dance?)
Can I have this dance?

[Troy]
Take my hand,
I'll take the lead.
And every turn
Will be safe with me
Don't be afraid,
Afraid to fall.
You know I'll catch you
Through it all

And you can't keep (even a thousand miles)
Us apart (can keep us apart)
Cause my heart (cause my heart)
Is wherever you are

[Chorus]
It's like catching lightning:
The chance is of finding
Someone like you
It's one in a million:
The chance is of feeling
The way we do
And with every step together
We just keep on getting better
So can I have this dance? (Can I have this dance)
Can I have this dance?

[Bridge]
Oh,
No mountain's too high enough
Ocean's too wide
Cause together or not
Our dance won't stop

Let it rain, let it pour,
What we have is worth fighting for
You know I believe
That we were meant to be...
Yeah....

[Chorus]
It's like catching lightning:
The chance is of finding
Someone like you (Like you)
It's one in a million:
The chance is of feeling
The way we (we do) do
And with every step together
We just keep on getting better
So can I have this dance? (Can I have this dance?)
Can I have this dance?

Can I have this dance?
Can I have this dance?

An Amazing Love Story

2008-10-21T18:26:00.003+08:00

He met her during a party.

She was so outstanding, with many guys chasing after her, while he was so normal, that nobody paid attention to him. At the end of the party, he invited her to have coffee with him. She was surprised, but for purposes of being polite, she accepted.

They sat in a nice coffee shop. He was too nervous to say anything, so much so that she felt uncomfortable.

She thought, "Please, let me go home..."

Suddenly, he asked the waiter. "Would you please give me some salt? I'd like to put it in my coffee."

Everybody stared at him, he was so strange! His face turned red, but still, he put the salt in his coffee and drank it. She asked him curiously, "Why do you have this liking?"

He replied: ''When I was a little boy, I was living near the sea, and I liked playing in it. I could feel the taste of the sea, just like the taste of salty coffee. Now, every time I have salty coffee, I always think of my childhood, think of my hometown. I miss my hometown so much, I miss my parents who are still living there.'' While saying that, tears filled his eyes. She was deeply touched, and she could tell, this was his honest feelings, from the bottom of his heart. This was a man who was not ashamed to reveal his homesickness. He was a man who loved home, cared about home, and felt responsible for home. Then she also started to speak, she spoke about her faraway hometown, her childhood, her family.

That was a really nice conversation, and also the beautiful beginning of their story. They continued to date. She found that he was a man who met all her needs. He had tolerance, was kind hearted, warm, and careful. He was such a good person but she almost missed him, but didn't, thanks to his salty coffee! Like every beautiful love story, the princess married the prince, and then they lived happily ever after. And, every time she made coffee for him, she put some salt in the coffee, as she knew that was the way he liked it.

After 40 years, he passed away, and left her a letter which said:

''My dearest, please forgive me for my lie. This was the only lie I said to you---the salty coffee. Remember the first time we dated? I was so nervous at that time. Actually, I wanted some sugar, but I said salt. It was even more embarrassing for me to correct myself, so I just went ahead. I never thought that could be the start of our communication! I tried to tell you the truth many times in my life, but I was too afraid to do that, as I promised not to lie to you for anything, and I was scared of what you would think once I told you."

"Now I'm dying, and I'm afraid of nothing, so I tell you the truth: I don't like salty coffee. What a strange bad taste. But I have had that salty coffee for my whole life! Since I knew you, I never felt sorry for anything I did for you.. Having you with me was my biggest happiness for my whole life. If I could live a second time, I would still want to know you and have you for my whole life, even if I had to drink the salty coffee again. After all, it was the salty coffee that brought us together."

Her tears made the letter totally wet. One day, someone asked her, "What's the taste of salty coffee?"

"It's sweet," she replied.

Love is not to forget but to forgive.

Not to see but to understand.

Not to hear but to listen.

Not to let go but to hold on!

Magnets

2008-10-21T18:23:00.003+08:00

For all I have said about loving electricity and therefore by extension, electromagnets, it seems that my feelings are not reciprocated. The magnet Pontianaks are clearly out to get me. I was just walking out of the 7th floor this morning. I released the magnetic lock, and as I pushed open the door, the magnet fell right on me. And while it hurt like hell, the wound was nothing at first. I only started bleeding around two hours later. So take heed, young Padawans. Electricity is very very powerful.

What You Need Is Positivity

2008-10-20T22:04:00.002+08:00

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up; she was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.

Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil; without saying a word.

In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, ' Tell me what you see.'

'Carrots, eggs, and coffee,' she replied.

Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled egg.

Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, 'What does it mean, mother?'

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity: boiling water. Each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.

'Which are you?' she asked her daughter. 'When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?

Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart?

Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you. When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest do you elevate yourself to another level? How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human and enough hope to make you happy.

The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way. The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; you can't go forward in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches. In other words, embrace the spirit of Positivity!!!

When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling.

Live your life so at the end, you're the one who is smiling and everyone around you is crying.

This goes to those who have touched my life in one way or another; to those who make my smile when I really need it; to those who made me see the brighter side of things when I was really down; to those whose friendships I appreciate; to those who are so meaningful in my life.

May we all be COFFEE!!! Let's all have ENERGEEE!!! And POSITIVITEEE!!!

Memories

2008-10-20T21:55:00.003+08:00

I think that when one gets older, it becomes increasingly entertaining to walk down memory lane and look upon your life and laugh good-naturedly at all the fun you had, all the mistakes you made and all the blessings and trials that came your way.

I leave a message to my 40 year old self (that is, if my blog still exists then...). 40 year old Matthew, can you crack the code you yourself placed for you 23 and a bit more years before this?

Fourty-one.

Here's a hint: Evocem vos magister fulguralis.

If you crack it, here's a few questions. Can you laugh at this memory? What happened to it? Have you managed to make it apply to yourself, 23 and a bit more years later?

English Jokes

2008-10-15T21:30:00.003+08:00

You don't need to be particularly good at english to understand these jokes. I mean, what are dictionaries for, eh?

The Shortest Essays
This is a story of a 16 year old boy from New Hampshire , England who
won the World's shortest essay competition. He was awarded a
scholarship at the University of Harvard for his imagination and
humour ...Here's an example of absolute brilliance....

An English university creative writing class was asked
to write a concise essay containing the following elements:

1) Religion 2) Royalty 3) Sex 4) Mystery

The prize-winner wrote:

'My God,' said the Queen, 'I'm pregnant. I wonder who the father is.'

Similarly, a girl from a secondary school in Singapore wrote for the essay component of the English O Level Exam on the question 'Courage'. It went like this:

"This is courage."

I forgot what her grade was, but she didn't fail.

Message from the Queen

To the citizens of the United States of America from Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II:

In light of your failure in recent years to nominate competent candidates for President of the USA and thus to govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your independence, effective immediately.
(You should look up 'revocation' in the Oxford English Dictionary.)

Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will resume monarchical duties over all states, commonwealths, and territories (except Kansas, which she does not fancy).

Your new Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, will appoint a Governor for America without the need for further elections. Congress and the Senate will be disbanded. A questionnaire may be circulated next year to determine whether any of you noticed.

To aid in the transition to a British Crown dependency, the following rules are introduced with immediate effect:
-----------------------

1. The letter 'U' will be reinstated in words such as 'colour,''favour,' 'labour' and 'neighbour.' Likewise, you will learn to spell 'doughnut' without skipping half the letters, and the suffix '-ize' will be replaced by the suffix '-ise.' Generally, you will be expected to raise your vocabulary to acceptable levels. (look up 'vocabulary').
------------------------

2. Using the same twenty-seven words interspersed with filler noises such as ''like' and 'you know' is an unacceptable and inefficient form of communication. There is no such thing as U.S. English. We will let Microsoft know on your behalf. The Microsoft spell-checker will be adjusted to take into account the reinstated letter 'u'' and the elimination of '-ize.'
-------------------

3. July 4th will no longer be celebrated as a holiday.
-----------------

4. You will learn to resolve personal issues without using guns, lawyers, or therapists. The fact that you need so many lawyers and therapists shows that you're not quite ready to be independent. Guns should only be used for shooting grouse. If you can't sort things out without suing someone or speaking to a therapist,then you're not ready to shoot grouse.
----------------------

5. Therefore, you will no longer be allowed to own or carry anything more dangerous than a vegetable peeler. Although a permit will be required if you wish to carry a vegetable peeler in public.
----------------------

6. All intersections will be replaced with roundabouts, and you will start driving on the left side with immediate effect. At the same time, you will go metric with immediate effect and without the benefit of conversion tables. Both roundabouts and metrication will help you understand the British sense of humour.
--------------------

7. The former USA will adopt UK prices on petrol (which you have been calling gasoline) of roughly $10/US gallon. Get used to it.
-------------------

8. You will learn to make real chips. Those things you call French fries are not real chips, and those things you insist on calling potato chips are properly called crisps. Real chips are thick cut, fried in animal fat, and dressed not with catsup but with vinegar.
-------------------

9. The cold, tasteless stuff you insist on calling beer is not actually beer at all. Henceforth, only proper British Bitter will be referred to as beer, and European brews of known and accepted provenance will be referred to as Lager. South African beer is also acceptable, as they are pound for pound the greatest sporting nation on earth and it can only be due to the beer. They are also part of the British Commonwealth - see what it did for them. American brands will be referred to as Near-Frozen Gnat's Urine, so that all can be sold without risk of further confusion.
---------------------

10. Hollywood will be required occasionally to cast English actors as good guys.Hollywood will also be required to cast English actors to play English characters. Watching Andie Macdowell attempt English dialogue in Four Weddings and a Funeral was an experience akin to having one's ears removed with a cheese grater.
---------------------

11. You will cease playing American football. There is only one kind of proper football; you call it soccer. Those of you brave enough will, in time, be allowed to play rugby (which has some similarities to American football, but does not involve stopping for a rest every twenty seconds or wearing full kevlar body armour like a bunch of nancies).
---------------------

12. Further, you will stop playing baseball. It is not reasonable to host an event called the World Series for a game which is not played outside of America. Since only 2.1% of you are aware there is a world beyond your borders, your error is understandable. You will learn cricket, and we will let you face the South Africans first to take the sting out of their deliveries.
--------------------

13. You must tell us who killed JFK. It's been driving us mad.
-----------------

14. An internal revenue agent (i.e. tax collector) from Her Majesty's Government will be with you shortly to ensure the acquisition of all monies due (backdated to 1776).
---------------

15. Daily Tea Time begins promptly at 4 p.m. with proper cups, with saucers, and never mugs, with high quality biscuits (cookies) and cakes; plus strawberries (with cream) when in season.

God Save the Queen!
PS: Only for those who have a good sense of humour (NOT humor)!

Now or Never

2008-10-15T21:18:00.004+08:00

This song really struck home with me, and I'd like to share it with all those whom I think will be struck the same way I was, including but not limited to those taking the A Level Mother Tongue Exams this year, the seniors as they prepare for the A Levels and the scholars on probation. The song may not apply exactly, but I think you'll get the drift.

Now or Never
High School Musical Cast (a great number of them, anyway)
High School Musical 3: Senior Year

[Team]
Sixteen, sixteen minutes left better get it done...
Sixteen, sixteen, sixteen more minutes, get ready, game on!
Sixteen, sixteen, sixteen minutes left running out of time!
Sixteen, sixteen, sixteen more minutes till it's on the line!
Sixteen, sixteen, sixteen minutes left gotta get it done
Sixteen, sixteen, sixteen more minutes till we're number 1!

[Coach Bolton]
Let's go team!
[Troy]
Gotta get it together
Yeah, pull up and
Shoot, Score!
Are ya ready? Are ya with me?
[Wildcats]
Team! Team! Team! Yeah!
[Troy]
Shake 'em with the crossover, (Crowd: Wildcats!)
[Troy]
Tell me, what are we here
For? To win!
[Troy & Chad]
Cause we know that we're the best team
[Coach Bolton]
Come on boys, come on boys, come on!

[Troy & Chad]
The way we play tonight
Is what we leave behind (that's right)
It all comes down to right now
It's up to us (let's go)
So what are we gonna be?
(We're gonna be...)
[Wildcats]
T-E-A-M TEAM!
[Troy]
Gotta work it out
Turn it on!
[Wildcats]
Come on!

[Chorus]
This is the last time to get it right
This is the last chance to make it our night
We gotta show what we're all about
(Team: WILDCATS! )
Work together
This is the last chance to make our mark
History will know who we are!
This is the last game, so make it count, it's
Now or never!

[Crowd]
W-I-L-D
[Coach Bolton]
'Atta boy
[Crowd]
Wildcats
You know you are!
W-I-L-D
Wildcats
Come on, Come on
[WHK]
West High Knights,
[Crowd]
Yeah
[WHK]
Yeah, we're doin' it right
[Crowd]
Oh yeah
W-I-L-D
Wildcats
Now's the time!

[Troy]
Gotta get it inside, down low
In the pin, now shoot, score!
(DEFENSE)
Gotta work it together
Gimme the ball (x3)
Let's work
Get the ball in control
Get it flop from downtown
3! More!
[Chad]
Show 'em we can do it better (no way)
Go Go Go!
[Coach Bolton]
Come on Boys
[Crowd]
Wildcats!

[Troy & Chad]
The way we play tonight
Is what we leave behind
It all comes down to right now
It's up to us
So What are we gonna be?
(We're gonna be...)
[Wildcats]
T-E-A-M TEAM!
[Troy]
Gotta work it out
Turn it on!
[Wildcats]
Come on

[Chorus]
This is the last time to get it right
This is the last chance to make it our night
We gotta show what we're all about
(Team: WILDCATS! )
Work together
This is the last chance to make our mark (HOOPS! )
History will know who we are!
This is the last game so make it count, it's
Now or never!

[Troy]
Right now I can hardly breathe
[Gabriella]
Ohh, you can do it
Just know that I believe
[Troy]
And that's all I really need
[Gabriella]
Then come on
[Troy]
Make me strong
[Troy & Wildcats]
It's time to turn it up
Game on!

[Crowd]
Wildcats!
Gonna tear it up
Go Wildcats!
Yeah, we're number one
Hey Wildcats!
We're the champions
Go Go Go Go Go Go, Team OH!
[WHK]
Yeah, West High Knights
Hey, we're puttin up a fight
[Crowd]
Wildcats!
We never quit it (what)
Gonna win it (what)
Let me hear ya say
Hey Hey Hey Hey Hey

[Troy]
This is the last time to get it right (Oh)
This is the last chance to make it our night (Yeah)
We gotta show what we're all about
(Team: WILDCATS! )
Work together
This is the last chance to make our mark
HIstory will know who we are!
This is the last game, so make it count, it's
Now or never!
Yeah
[Crowd]
Go Go
[Coach Bolton]
Go!
[Crowd]
Gooooooooooooooooooooo!

PW Woes (Not Mine)

2008-10-15T21:07:00.002+08:00

In the rare event that one of the members from THAT PW group stumbles across this and understands what I'm talking about, I just want to say that you're treating your member very harshly.

He's been working his butt off because of the demands of the project. He may have not always been this way, but he's working hard now. I've seen him. I've even seen the fruits of his efforts. He genuinely wanted to contribute to the group effort. But undeniably, life sometimes throws you into a pinch. All traces of his efforts disappeared. Through circumstances he could not control. Before you could witness his efforts. And what then? You don't even give him a chance. You don't give him the benefit of the doubt.

You insist (rather tactlessly) that he rummage through garbage over and over again like some slave in search of the items that disappeared. You send him all around Singapore to do jobs even when you know he lost his wallet, his EZ-Link card along with it. Heck, you even ask other people behind his back whether he really did his job. I say hell, yeah, he did.

I know that despite the fact that he's disadvantaged and had strokes of bad luck, it's still PW, and results must be produced no matter what the obstacles are. But if you're going to scold him, don't scold him for lack of effort, nor irresponsibility, nor for lack of caring about the project. After all he's done for your (and his) project, it is a damn insult to scold him for those reasons.

Musings of the Underperforming

2008-10-09T20:55:00.003+08:00

Barring death, tragic events happening to you or people you care about, and love problems, the worst possible feeling one could possibly have is having hope dashed to bits.

'The past wouldn't bother me anymore'? I want to believe, but it seems that I can't let it go just yet. How could I, with the past continuously sneering in my face and taunting me, telling me that even though I threw away my past, it's not as if life became better. No, it did, but it's still tainted.

I don't need reminders that I'm underperforming. THAT painful truth, I know too well. It breathes down my breath every time our academic prowess is tested. And being in the land of high standards and expectations doesn't help either.

Do I know I'm in danger? Yup. Do I care? Infinitely. Am I doing anything about it? Not enough, it seems. The promos were an indicator of that. Can I reach where I need to in time? God willing, I pray so.

Just when I thought I had it worked out.

Ok, enough. Breathe. God, ignite my Positivity again, please. I want to smile, and smile honestly at that, not the guarded sad smile, but the easy-coming infectious smile. Please, Father. Now, without Your joy, it's all I can do not to cry more than is healthy. But the tears just keep coming.