We are still masters of our fate.
We are still captains of our souls.
-Winston Churchill

Warning: Kpop mentioned in post.

I feel a little guilty for neglecting to update this blog as frequently as I used to. Homework, assignments, projects, mock examinations and timed trials are taking their toll on me though.

The Singapore Entertainment Awards event was fun.

I was browsing through the shops in Raffles City shopping mall before meeting Rosi for dinner. Somehow or rather, I managed to get mistaken for a tourist again. A girl near my age spoke to me in Korean and English. I was in Papermarket and there was this container full of cute pencils, and I automatically held one up and debated whether I should buy it as a gift or for myself. Suddenly the girl popped up on my right and immediately took another pencil of a similar design and stated, "Pencil." and smiled widely at me. I honestly did not know how I should react and just smiled and nodded at her. That action alone seemed to get her even more excited and after I placed back a sharpener I have been holding onto the shelf, she picked it up and stated, "Pencil sharpener!". I then wondered if she was a tourist. In the end she started to speak to me in Korean. Once she realise I didn't understand a single bit of the one-sided dialogue though, she walked back to her group of friends in one corner of the shop with a disappointed look. Throughout the whole scene, I could not think of anything to say at all. It was just too surprising.

When I went into That CD Shop, one sales assistant could not stop recommending albums for me to buy. It was really amusing. I made it clear to her the first time she asked that I was only browsing through and do not intend to buy anything from the shop. But she did not give up and continued suggesting CDs to me and after a while she decided to pester a few tourists instead. I felt a little bad for the lady beside me who was ignored by the girl the whole time. She wasn't a tourist. Then again, does it really matter if the customer is a local?

I found people glancing at me in the shopping mall too. Maybe the sight of a girl shopping alone seemed odd to them. Or maybe it was because I was just walking around the whole mall. Seeing Winny at the entrance while waiting for Rosi at six in the evening was surprising - I didn't expect to see anyone familiar.

Dinner with Rosi and Yitong at Shokudo was really good. My plate of cold noodles were tasty albeit a tad too filling. We then met Sarah, Jia Wen and her family afterwards. Our group walked a the way to the Marina Floating Platform. We nearly went in the wrong direction if not for the large crowd walking to the venue - they were also going for the event.

We managed to find our seats without too much difficulty and had a mini photo snapping session of each other. Everyone went wild when SHINee made their entrance. In fact, I realised that a good half of the audience were Shawols. The girl sitting in front of me had a SHINee light stick.

All the artistes performed well although 小鬼's voice sounded a little hoarse - I suspect he was sick. When SHINee performed, the crowd went absolutely wild. Everyone either stood on their seats or rushed forward to the barricades. And the screaming was a huge indication of the number of Shawols present. Even the emcees were surprised.

Of course, SHINee didn't disappoint and pulled off a great stage performance. However, once they left the stage, people started to leave, even though the singer, Eason Chen, was still performing on stage after SHINee. It was a little awkward and I felt a little sorry for the poor singer on stage even though I never really knew how to appreciate his songs. Sometimes, fans can be insensitive unknowingly.

I met my mum after the event and unfortunately, we could not catch the last train home. We had no choice but to try for a taxi which took ages to come because everyone was queuing up for taxis too.

These days school life has been pretty exhausting. I can't wait to step down because it's getting more difficult to manage all three leadership positions in one go, with my studies included. Hopefully, I will be able to focus more on my academics when I let go two of my leadership positions. I am getting a little worried about choir though - the seniors are not doing as well as they should. I'm just praying that they will be able to guide the juniors when the time comes.

I have way too much to post about, but too little time to note every detail.

Directly after my last paper ended, we had a little break before setting off for our Learning Journey field trip to the Singapore Discovery Centre. I managed to play a bit of Foosball - wonder who made that orange newspaper ball.

After setting off for the place, I got a little groggy on the bus, but no, I did not puke. I think I'm getting better at controlling my headache and pains nowadays. Who knows, maybe I will not even have the problem of motion sickness in the future (is there a cure for it anyway?)

The trip was fairly interesting. They gave us a talk in an auditorium and showed us a video which revealed some gruesome acts committed during war. There was also another video showing a little of how NS life is like for the boys in their first three months. I have always been grateful that the boys are serving the nation through their national service but after watching the videos, I think my admiration just increased.

Right after the talk, they let us taste a bit of the standard Army rations and let us hold the two rifles placed on the table in front. I now know that holding a rifle is definitely no joke - not when it weighs a tiring five kilogrammes...just how do the guys carry it while they run in their trainings? Oh and I really like the biscuits and the rice dumpling!

We had lunch after that but I was really full from eating the biscuits. Somehow the biscuits were really filling. I shouldn't have eaten the biscuits though because I could have bought the pizza in the cafeteria. I remember buying the pizza from the cafeteria over there a few years back and it was delicious. Ah well. Angela didn't eat much too. I was trying to find a water cooler in that place, but to no avail,

"Hey, have you seen any water coolers anywhere?"
"Have. There!" *Points to the water fountain thing in the middle of the pond/lake/water body outside*
How typical of Yimin to be so smart.

Our SAFTI tour then started. Charmaine TTT helped me take a few photos from her side of the bus. While we were walking to the tower, I spotted this little scooter which had a basket in the front! And there was this rear mirror in the plastic cover of a 'Victory' sign hand. It was super cute! Rosi and I went back to take a picture with it afterwards.

Despite having gone to SDC thrice before, I have never gone up the tower - the previous three times always ended with heavy rain and the guide never let us out of the bus because of the bad weather, so I'd always settled for staring at the tower from a distance. Finally, I got to go up the tower and the view is magnificent, although the height is a little scary when you look down. I think my mum would be freaking out if she went up. When we went down, everyone in the lift greeted the two guys waiting outside with a "Good afternoon, sirs!"
I think they were really amused by us. We also took a class photo at the grassy slope at the bottom of the tower.

We then went to the Army museum. Where everyone took lots of photos. But because the guide moved too fast and didn't really give us much time to take them, I took more photos of people and plants than artifacts.

After the trip I fell asleep on the bus and woke up with an ache in my neck. Somehow I felt really tired.

Right after that day, we had our "I Am Gifted, and So Are You!" programme in school. It starts at 8am and ends at 9pm. When I first got to know the schedule, the first thing which entered my mind was: Wow, are we able to camp in school secretly instead so that we can get more sleep?
But yes, the programme was fun. There was a session whereby the trainers listed scenarios which made us question ourselves about how much have we done for our parents despite their unconditional love. Everyone cried really hard. I started crying way before that though. Somehow, when I watched the video of this guy who remained really positive despite having no legs, I couldn't stop my tears from flowing. The rest of the night was spent with our eyes red and tired from all the crying.

And thanks to Jolene's dad, I got to arrive home on both nights in less than an hour. Because she lives in Simei, her dad was really nice to let me take a lift from them. Thanks!
On the last day there was also the Parents' Seminar where most of our parents came and learnt a portion of what we did from the programme. I think I was the only one who didn't cry when I spoke in front of the whole crowd to my mum. Maybe it's because both of us are close, I guess. I thought I would've cried too, but somehow I managed not too. And I actually needed the toilet, but was afraid to leave the place because the atmosphere was really sombre. Ah well.

My guitar teacher just gave us the song Mary Had a Little Lamb and wants us to finish re-arranging the piece by the next lesson. But he spelt the title wrongly: Merry Had a Little Lamb. Well, Merry sure is a nice name anyway. I'm sure it is a cheerful name. Anyway, I really ought to start on the task!