spurs finally won a match!

and returning of papers is tomorrow ohnooo.

but at least i enjoyed enough over the last week to make up for all the pain over the next two days.

sentosa (cove) ftw! had lots of fun there especially. =)

spotlight and grad night coming up real soon so still lots to look forward to after scripts! it sure won't be the end of the world by wednesday, 3.6 or no 3.6.

Two roads diverged,and I-
took the one less taken...

yay feeling better now.

so it was a fever (thursday night fever!... doesn't quite have the same ring.) of almost 39.0 degrees, which caused me to loosen a few more screws than maybe i should have.

some people just always have a few screws loose though, no matter what their state of health is.







the guy has got to be mental, honestly.

more videos if you search "will it blend" on youtube! especially if you like to see things being destroyed. =)

Two roads diverged,and I-
took the one less taken...

there's a mountain of thoughts in my head
it's making my head spin around and around
like a merry-go-round of blame and unsound
sentences swirl about like a water hose spout
which just gives out - squeal and shout
troubles galore in my "survival" lore
where the game's no more than how to outscore
problems so brittle - with a honey wasp's nettle
i don't know how to settle this lack of a title
it's quite rubbish! how just won't i finish
writing this devilish ode to a silver dish
loaded with honey and supported by money
the eggs looking sunny and oh so runny
away from being broke, not a typical bloke
whose egg-shell spokes go by none broke
hearts you feel, so warm and --- surreal?
here again i squeal, by the words' deal...

wait.

did i mention a title i lack?
troubles abound in my survival sack?
what with the brain's connections, i say -
the only connection is from Z to A -
from sweet beehive to stinging-stung nettle
to surviving alive - to finally settle
this little dainty rhyme once and for all,
see your funeral faces filled aplomb with appall!





that's all for now, folks. will be back once i've settled my headache. (figurative? literal? who knows!)

Two roads diverged,and I-
took the one less taken...

it strikes me how fast things are changing sometimes.

ri has been changing ever since we sec 4s came in. from being the last batch to use the old canteen (which was sadly underutilised by me) to having a revamp in our curriculum (with ra and the change to a deadly single-paper-at-the-end-of-the-year format, giving rise to incredible levels of mugging and armathgeddon in those last few weekends.

change is the only constant. "A", "B", "c" and "k" are also very popular i hear.

(lame aren't i.)

but seriously the world is changing.

and i'm pretty sentimental and get all teary-eyed and boo-hooish when i see the old guard changing sometimes.

(if you're a golf fan and jack nicklaus waving on the swilcan bridge on the 18th at the home of golf while playing his last hole as a professional golfer with the sun shining down on him for that instant, and going on to make a birdie at the ripe old age of 65 doesn't arouse any feelings, you don't deserve to be one any longer.)

the change was evident as i went for dinner with my aunt.

we went to a small restaurant just away from the bedok town centre called segar, and although it was only a 10-minute walk, it looked different.

for one the area was undergoing a huge upgrading project to install lifts on every floor of almost every block in the estate (yes, the estate is old enough to warrant it) and so hoardings were up everywhere.

but two things rather struck me most.

two conflicting things.

as i walked through the estate with my aunt we went past garden hill park (something we don't do too often. it's been 4 months since we last went out for dinner together.) which has pretty much stood the test of time. still as serene as ever at the top of a small raised hill, sandwiched by 2 blocks of flats.

it brought back some memories - i still remember when i was young and restless (pun not intended) i used to come here once in a while.

running down the slopes to the end of the park (but not running out of it down to the flats - that would be way too steep and dangerous) was pretty nice.

it's always nice to run where your feet want to take you.

then later in my life my feet didn't want to take me anywhere. so i ballooned to a nice mini snowman-like figure in my later primary school years.

so during the holidays, in my vain attempts to slim down i resorted to getting more regular exercise. badminton, swimming, up and down flights of stairs... and running in garden hill park.

the name really tells you all you need to know about it. well, almost.

then after passing through the estate and going into the outskirts of the town centre on the way to the restaurant something felt different. like something had changed, but i couldn't tell what it was intuitively.

after a while i realised what it was - signs of construction work in that little carpark next to the restaurant. temporary kerbs, hoardings, minor rerouting, and a lack of greenery which had once silently embellished the area.

reminds me a little of the urban heat island we learnt about in geog for sec 2. concrete on many sides and a lack of trees (resulting in lots of light reflecting and shining down to ground level - which is what i felt was different at the start) is not the best way to go.

and the food at the restaurant, for the record, was pretty good and cheap ($30 for 2 people isn't too much to ask for). and the atmosphere just felt rather homely.

who says you need expensive food to be contented.

and one last thing i noticed as i returned to my aunt's house was that the kindergarten at the void deck of the block near the restaurant had been converted into an elderly care centre.

when i was passing by on the way to dinner there was an old lady sitting all by herself at the door of the centre, looking out at the world outside zoom past. one of her companions was just leaving the centre to be picked up by her children. the tv was on, but she wasn't really watching it - she was looking more outside the centre than inside. as i looked at her, she looked at me - and beyond me.

i couldn't decipher that look and what was behind it, but i felt (more in retrospect that anything to be honest) that it was a good photo-taking opportunity.

but i guess it was good i didn't. it would have been rather "幸灾乐祸".

more about the other things that have been occupying my mind another time.

Two roads diverged,and I-
took the one less taken...

yippee the bio/lit doublewhammy/doublebill/doubleplay/doubletrouble/doubleup/doublewhateverelseicanpossiblythinkof is OVER.

bio was rather unnerving. my lack of knowledge really showed through. laboured through the mcqs and really don't feel confident about that. 25/35 if i'm lucky.

on the other hand (and contrary to almost everyone else), i found section b much easier and fairly sailed smoothly through that. then again everyone thinks it was hard and i know i definitely have some mistakes so maybe a 35-40?

and section c was fairly straightforward no big issues there. YES i can *almost* sense a 3.6 for bio. wootz.

quite glad most of it was applied knowledge and all so i didn't have to rely on my knowledge, which is shaky to say the least.

i didn't even know the plumule from the radicle!!!!!!!! (that's pri sch stuff.)

lit was pretty ok, answered the first question pretty well and so that should boost my essay a bit and give the marker good impressions. =)))))

second part was really shaky and poor though. not enough quotes, lack of clear reasoning, poor paragraphing (5 paragraphs in a 2.5-page essay? ouch. ><) and more or less rushing it most of the way and occasionally writing on impulse.

although a 3.6 should be locked up. so overall it's looking good!

NOT. not yet at least.

you know even though i've sat through 5 eoys (yes, 5 only) none of them is going to give me a realistic chance at boosting my gpa. i'm sitting more them to maintain my gpa.

what's really important has to be my last paper(s) doesn't it? math.

95% to get 3.6 isn't out of reach, but it's a dreadfully high standard to be aiming for. 1 mistake per paper at most, 2 if i'm lucky.

whether i'm in math ra doesn't really stand for anything now. if i mess up on monday, byebye 3.6 dreams (now you know why i always say anything about 3.2 is fine). 3.3-3.4 is where i'll probably be.

this has to be my most study-oriented post of the year, seriously.

and despite all this i'm actually helping some people. and i really mean help, like commitment which can be measured in hours.

oh well i don't really want to feel anything about math and exams anymore.

just a few more days and we'll be free so add oil people! oil prices have fallen below US$70 so it's a good time to dump oil into your fire by the barrelful.






update: just received news that i have gotten 15 questions out of 35 wrong for bio mcq. byebye 3.6?

in case you were wondering about the answers to the mcqs:

BCCBA DBABD CBBAB DBDCB CDDDC ACBCC AABAD (apparently according to pros who are definitely not me. (i am really lousy at bio - that's been verified.)

Two roads diverged,and I-
took the one less taken...

i know this is not the best time to be blogging.

but i must say that even though i had no papers today (yes, shoot me if i suanned you inadvertently or otherwise) it was pretty eventful.

lit discussions with the 4k lit people really really helped to enhance my understanding of the texts (and i'm sure it had the same effect on the others present) so i'm really thankful for that.

it was the right way to spend a day before 2 stressful papers back to back so yeah, i think i'm much more at ease now.

now it's really all about quotes. must remember to QUOTE QUOTE QUOTE. quotes are the lifeblood of any lit student.

and yes, i do have bio and lit tomorrow, so if i suanned you today, you may return the favour, free of charge. (reminds me of mad tv! ><)

Two roads diverged,and I-
took the one less taken...

why does my pencil case have to go missing/be stolen (hope not ><) 2 days before eoys? =(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((

haha but at least now i don't have to be asked any question and be under any pressure to provide a stupid answer. =P

good luck to all taking any exams in the next few weeks!

Two roads diverged,and I-
took the one less taken...

i think it's a sign i've been a little bit more than busy in ri when i realised yesterday that for the first time in about a year (dating back to the previous year's eoy period, what ho) that i was leaving school for home immediately after school ended.

on the way out i also met a plethora of ri students at the bus stop, and a teacher (mr kelvin yap!) and managed to get a nice (albeit brief) chat in before we went our separate ways so that was a nice little way to end the day (ooh it rhymes).

today was prometheum day.

won't say too much. just that it was immensely different from prometheum day a year ago (well what a surprise).

it feels different when you know who's on stage and what they did.

the year almost passed too quickly. (who am i kidding? of course it did.)

sadly i don't think too many other people appreciated the ceremony.

oh and prometheum day also signalled something else (other than being symbolic of the drawing to a close of the sec 4s' lives):

30 days (a month) left before we're formally out of here.

it surely doesn't seem so long ago now that mr lim and mr jee were busy bullying (suanning) each other during the times in between lessons (in those days there was no protected interaction time, but we had the time all the same. all the more amazing given mr lim was prefect master. food for thought about the enforced protected interaction time we have now?)

ok i'm really starting to go wonky(-tonky) so i think this should be it for blogging before eoys.

yes i know i break promises more often than i keep them, but i think this is one promise i can't (be) afford(ed by my parents) to break.

ciao and goodluck for eoys!

ahhh math! ><

and bio and chem and lit and ss and english. >< spam! ><






edit: thanks michael! talking to you really helped to clear my mind. =)

Two roads diverged,and I-
took the one less taken...