Labels: choir, New Year, School Days

It's a week to school. I don't want to go back to waking up at 5am and chasing after the train in the mornings and evenings. Ah.

Homework's still incomplete. I better hurry.

Labels: School Days

Labels: Christmas

Labels: 6906

Since (nature) has fitly planned the other acts of life's drama, it is not
likely that she has neglected the final act as if she were a careless playwright.

-Cicero, De Senectute

Labels: Extracts; anecdotes; quotes

Labels: 6906, choir, Crez chorale, guitar

Labels: guitar, School Days

Labels: choir, Christmas, Crez chorale, Movies

Labels: classouting

Labels: Birthdays, choir, Crez chorale, Movies

Labels: Mhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifovies

*For accessories, they must be unique, funky and cute. :D

** I don't like soft toys with coarse fur. Don't give me those snake stuff toys too.

Hint: I like TY and NICI

Please don't get me food unless you're treating me since I can be quite fussy.

Today's sectional was more or less focused on the Secondary Ones' singing techniques. They are improving and making good progress. In fact, I'm proud of them for making the effort to do so. :D

Lunch at Shokudo Food Bazaar at Raffles City with Rosi and Anna was fun and the saiyaki bento set was absolutely filling and delicious albeit a little pricey. We then browsed around the shops on the basement level. Papermarket is filled with lots of interesting, uncommon art materials. I would definitely go there again.

I haven't started on my actual holiday homework yet. I've only been doing the additional homework given during the lessons this week which are due within the same week too. D:

Let's hope I will be able to make good progress in my singing for choir and my homework... ...

Labels: Birthdays, choir, Crez chorale, School Days

Labels: Kpop, School Days

Labels: guitar, Kpop

I've already posted once today but I wanted to post about this:

I finally pierced my ears. I went to the Goldheart branch at Tampines Mall this evening and got it done. It hurts though. Oh well, Yimin said it should stop hurting that much after a week.

Labels: Birthdays, Kpop, School Days

A little more...

Today; Ring Ding Dong's digital release...

Tomorrow; one more paper...

Two more days for SHINee's comeback stage...


Five more days to SHINee's 3rd Mini-Album, 2009, Year of Us release...

End of this month, F.T. Island's Double Date [One Date and Two Date]

Labels: Kpop, School Days

Exile in a Cold Land

In a winter air when bare trees
inlay calligraphics in the sky,
snow flutters perhaps
from a grey distance,
and trailed by his own voice,
a lone man walks,
afraid of being smothered,
immured in a white universe.

Night by night he threatens
to jettison the stars,
evict them in tumbles
as snow from a frozen sky,
else dreams the thin-sheeted ice
cracks beneath his feet,
fragile as a brief handshake.

-Goh Poh Seng
From The Girl from Ermita and Selected Poems: 1961-1998, 1998

Labels: Extracts; anecdotes; quotes

Labels: choir, Crez chorale

I've just changed my blogskin...it's been a long time since I changed it...

It's three weeks left to the final exams...
I must reduce the time I spent on reading entertainment news on the net and watching videos TT T TT T TT

It's been eons since my last post.

Up till now, the new choir committee has not been chosen yet. We will only know the new positions for certain people next week. And we are the last CCA in school which has not done so. The new committee will only have to work till April next year then...I don't really think my position will change much though D:

My guitar playing has been really bad this few weeks. I honestly dislike playing the solo version of Canon in D. The guitar examination will be held this coming Saturday. Good luck to those taking it. I, for one, am relieved that I'd chosen not to apply for it. I don't have any confidence in my guitar playing - it's much easier to sing instead.

The past two days of choir practice were spent on learning Ant's Summer / Ari no Natsu / 蟻の夏 by Ko Matsushita. I think it's quite a quirky and lively song. It's a difficult piece though. Much tougher than Salve Regina by Kocsar Miklos , which we are also singing currently. Still, it seems that these are hyperactive and complex ants we are singing about here. I find it kind of catchy and likeable though.

Labels: choir, Crez chorale

It sure is good that Common Tests are over now. However, the workload does not drop in any way.

With eLearning in the way, there's a whole lot of lesson packages to be done online and synchronised lessons to endure. I've never been able to figure out the effectiveness of these lessons...Everyone will try to type at the same time and it's a big mess in the end. In some ways, iMedia seems like a Facebook look-a-like although there are no games and very much less interaction. VGLF can seem like Windows Live Messenger at times too - however, teachers are able to check our screens and lock them.

I just changed my mobile on Wednesday. Since my Nokia 6300 model is really old and the side is breaking apart, my mum encouraged me to change it too. And my contract had already finished three months ago. So now, I have the phone which I was eyeing at the start of the year: LG Ice Cream KF350. It's not as new but at least it's not as expensive as the LG Crystal model which costs a whopping $400 plus which is over my so-called budget for phones.

It's a pity though, that they didn't have any blue in stock. I got the white model since pink seemed too common. And the mobile's pretty =DD

I'm still wondering if I should buy SHINee's second Mini-album which has six songs. But I really want the songs Romeo+Juliette and Senorita. Those two are lovely. Or maybe they will come out with another full album at the end of the year since they will be doing promotions in Japan this time. Anyway, I'm most likely to buy SMTown 2009. SHINee, SuJu, DBSK!! Hahahaha.

Labels: School Days

I miss the holidays.

And I wish to continue watching my Korean dramas!!! D:

I find that this year's batch of Secondary three students are quite unlucky. Our seniors had to cover the topic of Mandarin MVs and illustrate some points in in. However, this year, our dear Mother Tongue department decided to subject our batch to a more challenging project: Getting to be a news anchor. I know this can be beneficial to us since it forces us to practise our oratorical skills. But, Mandarin news anchor? D:

Labels: School Days

It's just a one day holiday, but it's much better than nothing. I suddenly feel thankful for Youth Day this year.

So it's back to school once more:
Homework, projects and lessons are piling up. Free time has been greatly reduced. Sleep deprivation has started to make its presence felt. The scheduler is getting filled again.

Ohhh, how I miss the holidays.

One of my tablet batteries is spoilt. It can only last up to thirty minutes. And I don't think I can get the faulty battery replaced anytime soon since a lot of people have the same problem. The TAs just asked me to write down my particulars and the battery's serial number. D:

Yesterday's guitar lesson was per usual, everyone was pretty quiet. It was pretty amusing when it came to Kai Ming's and Cheng Meng's turn to play though. I think all of us have pretty much forgotten how soft Kai Ming plays since he had to stop playing due to his right hand injury last month. The teacher then said that his fingernails are too short to play that's why the sound produced is so soft. But the thing was: Kai Ming's fingernails are quite long. It was only when the teacher came nearer to inspect his nails did he understand why we were giggling. Kai Ming was also staring at his nails, thinking how much longer and sharper must they be. That was when the teacher corrected himself and asked him to play with more strength.
As for Cheng Meng, he forgot to bring his book, so he had to share with Owen. But because the song we were playing is a revision for the exam, he could memorise part of it. Till he had to stop halfway just to see what is the next bar. And he had to stick his head out to read from Owen's stand. It looked pretty comical.

After my class, my mum and I went to take a look at the annual Hokkaido Fair at Tampines Mall atrium. I bought a melon bun, Hanami dango, and Kinako kushi dango. It was quite a mistake though since I felt really full after eating all of them. My mum refused to eat them because they were too sweet for her. Sheesh.

Oh, in a bid to improve my Chinese language skills, if it is of any help at all, I have decided to have a Mandarin blog. Hahahahahah, let's see how long it can last!

Labels: guitar, School Days

'Dance, Subaru!' is a touching movie about a woman's passion for dance and the many obstacles in her path. It may sound cliche but I think the characters were portrayed very well in all aspects.

I vaguely remember a younger me pleading in vain with my mother in my bid to become a ballerina. Pity the only response I got from her was that I was too fat. I stopped any valiant attempts at unleashing my inner dancing self since then. Dancing is still an enjoyable activity when I get the rare opportunity to do it though.

Saturday's lunch at Shokudo thereafter ended on a sour note unfortunately. My mother was displeased with the staff's serving etiquette. I could only smile sympathetically while the poor guy listened to my mother's complaints. Her complaints were not totally unfounded however. It took them twenty-five minutes to take our orders and another twenty minutes to serve us. The waiter also forgot to give us our cutlery and we did not get any serviettes. Most appalling fact was that they forgot to serve us our dessert after the main course. Which was why I did not try to help or argue with my mother while she unleashed her frustrations onto the poor soul. It was the wrong person she scolded though. The one who 'promised' to serve us vanished after that and we had to get another person to take our order. That poor guy had many other orders and if I'm not wrong, he'd asked his colleague to take over. Someone who displayed a suitably unprofessional working etiquette that caused my mother to start fuming. The least they could do was to apologise profusely and deduct the service charge from the total cost of our meal. At least their food was good.

Guitar lesson yesterday was alright I guess. I somehow managed to miss that 'F' note in the last few bars though. The teacher also taught us how to tune our guitars by the ear even though he went through that two years ago if my memory serves well enough. This was the first time he tested us on it though. I took some time because I kind of got mixed up and ended up tuning to the wrong string although I got it sorted on my own in the end.

I immediately proposed for us to start from the other end of the class instead so that I could buy some time before my turn. Cheng Meng's rasgueado was really good. And Gabriel was also pretty good at it and could play it at the normal tempo. He really is good I guess, since he is supposed to be one grade above all of us. I did alright at my turn although I got lost halfway and had to start all over again. Tammy had a little difficulty with the 'aggressive' sound thing that applies to all flamenco pieces. Somehow, Soon Yee and I could not stop laughing once Ji Xuan (I think that's his name) played. It was such a contrast. He was playing it too aggressively in my opinion. I was a little afraid that the strings would snap. I felt kind of bad for laughing though.

I also went to Bugis after this morning's classes with Mandy and Jolene. With more than two hours to kill before the movie, we went to Takashimaya after buying our tickets. Also, due to the limited choice of movies to watch, we ended up watching 'Monsters VS Aliens'. Lunch at Mos Burger was going along pretty much normally until Mandy almost threw down the plastic basket that Mos Burger provides for its set meals. She didn't know they were not disposable and were reusable, much to our chagrin.

A huge portion of time was spent at Kinokuniya, whereby Mandy held a great internal debate as to whether she should buy the new manga.

Although we were initially shocked at our choice of movie too, it must be said that the movie was nice to watch. There was a great sense of humor in the plot and the dialogue between the characters. Especially the last part whereby the blue blob was confused as to who Derrick first dated. Pfft.

Labels: guitar, Movies

Yesterday's concert was good. ACJC choir has always been good from what I heard therefore it was not surprising that they performed well last night. And their concert booklet's cool! With the cover being lightly embossed at the side, it looks really stylish.

I spent the day doing homework at a snail's pace while chatting on MSN. Dinner at TCC with Yibin and Claudia was nice. The sandwich was really delicious albeit a tad too filling.

As for my guitar lessons, I was prepared to be relieved when we finally finish the entire Romance D'Amor piece - only to be intimidated by the new flamenco song we are required to learn. Rasgueado has always been my weakness. I am also dreading learning tremolo since it seems even more difficult to muster than rasgueado. And after doing rasgueado in most pieces, my fingernails are all scratched from the strumming since we are using the back of all our fingers instead of our index and thumb in normal strumming. I have a feeling that after this Sunday, we are going to move on to tremelo, finally, after one year. I must must must try my best for my rasgueado. It's the main reason why I always dread flamenco pieces. Hopefull my rhythm will be alright since I always get thrown off at each new bar. Good bye, my pink, flawless nails. Hello, scratched torn nails. My fingernails have always been my sacrifice for classical guitar playing and I think it's pretty much the same for the rest of those who are learning too.

I was overjoyed upon learning that we are learning 'You Raise Me Up' by, one of my favourite singers, Josh Groban!! Of course, we are singing the choral and not the pop version and hence the rhythm is quite different. But it is indeed a much better song to sing than 'Kalinka' since we still have problems with the dynamics for that song.

Labels: choir, guitar, School Days

Day One

I was the third to arrive in school as I took a taxi there. Everyone was in a mess at first since we didn't know where to assemble, according to our watch numbers. After gathering into our respective groupings, it was temperature taking, before we all set off for the Outward Bound Singapore Reception Centre. There, we were separated into Camp1 and Camp2. Camp 1 got to leave first.

After letting us know our watches' names, we split up and gathered with our respective instructors. Our watch is Columbus and Jasmine had us take a photo together after introducing ourselves and then taking the boat to Pulau Ubin.

I was one of the few to stay behind to share the boat part of another watch: Hilary, since there must be at least one instructor on board. Faisal then told us that Columbus, Cheng Ho and Hilary will be buddy teams and commented on the landmarks on the shoreline. However, I couldn't hear what he was saying over the sound of the boat's engine and I was also sitting the fartherst from him.

After meeting Jasmine at the jetty, we went to put our bags down at Block 5 and did a few ice breakers. There was this game whereby we had to link arms and transfer the loop of rope one round within the time limit. After that, we counted the equipment from our store and dumped our bags inside too. We then changed into longs for kayaking. Jasmine brought us to the tri-yaks area and showed us the paddling strokes. After making sure that we got the correct paddles, it started to rain heavily. We had to wait for a while before heading out since there was lightning.

When we first entered the water, I was really scared even though we were wearing life vests. Everyone got into a circle, held hands and went down, till all of us were wet. After that, we got into our tri-yaks. Since there are six out of fifteen non-swimmers, our tri-yak had only one swimmer: Lim Min; and Vidya and me. Capsize drills were done twice, once near the shore and another time further out. Each time we needed to do the capsize drills, our tri-yak just wouldn't capsize till the fifth or sixth try. And when we didn't need to capsize, we capsized. That was because we had to grab on to everyone's tri-yaks and align ourselves together, and stand up one by one on our tri-yaks. We did manage to do it actually, just that after a minute things start to get really wobbly and my tri-yak was the first to capsize since we were right at the side. Since we didn't hand over our water bottles and spectacles like what we did for our capsize drills, we had to struggle to find our paddles, yet hold on to our stuff. My shoes also posed a huge problem since the left side is too loose. Jasmine had to pull my shoe out of the water and search for the other one for me.

After that, we got back and hauled the tri-yaks up again and stack them up, with our life vests on top. We then had to cook our dinner after a quick shower. There were many insects in the bathroom but I guess it was quite fine since it was clean. After dinner, we had to wash up and clear the trash. Then Jasmine asked us all to gather at the multi-purpose hall to learn how to set up the tent for the night. Midway, there was a fire drill and we had to rush to the sea parade to assemble. However, we forgot to report our watch strength to the one in charge- this guy called Andy. And he was a little disappointed that all of the watches took eleven minutes, which is too long, just to assemble there. I think we were one of the last few watches to go down to pitch our tents at the bottom of the slope behind the instructors' area since Hilary and Cheng Ho were much faster. I kind of went to sleep after a long while. I was too lazy to take out my sleeping bag.


Day Two

Throughout the night, I could hear music and maybe a wild boar. Pearly and Charmaine are sound sleepers so it was alright sleeping in between them. I could sense Liping tossing and turning at the other end of the tent though. Our watch decided to take only three tents so that it will be more convenient for us to carry when we go for our sea expedition and land expeditions for this day till Thursday. Therefore, five people had to share a tent. Of course, it can get squeezy sometimes. After waking Pearly, Charmaine, Liping and Jia Ren, we went to brush our teeth and wash our face before going back down the slope to unpitch our tents. Columbus ate breakfast at the parade square once done with the tents parts and waited for Jasmine there. Jasmine, Faisal and Evan taught us the Dodo Dance, the Morning Greeting Game, and the Mingle Game. It was really fun playing with the people there. Cheng Ho, Columbus and Hilary form a mobile and they called us Camp 2 D.

After morning activities, we broke up into our separate watches again. We had our morning circle for our reflections. Columbus also had to pack our backpacks for our next three days since we have our sea and land expeditions. When we finally separated the tent parts, food bags and into everyone's bags so that no one has to be so pitiful as to carry one whole tent bag on her own (like what Raffles did to Deborah), and the Food I/Cs carried all the mess tins plus utensils and some had to carry all the ponchos in their bags. Therefore, most of us had to share bags. Like Lim Min placed all her personal tiems in my bag so that she can carry all the food. In the end, I think everyone's bags were really heavy. When we were loading our bags onto the boat later that afternoon, I heard someone complaining that mine was super heavy.We then moved on to the high elements once Jasmine ensured that we brought sufficient water and food supply.

The first activity we did was the Trust Fall. Everyone except Jia Ren had a go at it. I was kind of scared actually, since it was after all, falling backwards. But it seemed alright after falling: I mean, there were fourteen watch mates watching your back for you (literally). However, I think Jia Ren was really scared and just could not do it. We waited for her for about thirty to forty minutes. She still didn't in the end. Ah well. We then climbed up further to the other height elements stuff since time was running out.

First of all, we had to learn belaying. Wearing the harness, helmet and the belaying were not foreign to me since I remember what I did for Primary five. It was pretty much the same actually. Cheng Ho was already finishing up their rock-climbing by the time we reached the area. They got to leave first and went to sleep at block five with their backpacks. Lucky souls.

I chose to be the first climber for rock-climbing as I wanted to get it done and over with as soon as possible. It is really a fact that I am hopeless at rock-climbing. Utterly hopeless. I could only manage a little before I slipped and fell, shocking my belayer and even managed to slam into the rock wall many times. I only gave up after the third or fourth failed attempt though, since I really wanted to try. I also had to give up since I already had bruises from the rock wall and there were many people waiting down there too. I really think I do much much more better as a belayer. The roles anchorman and assistant belayer are kind of alright too.

Since we had to meet the rest of the mobile for our sea expedition, we went down after a while and packed our helmets and harnesses back into the store. Lunch was eaten at Block five with Cheng Ho asleep and Hilary being busy packing some stuff. Right after lunch, everyone helped to laod the bags onto the boat at the jetty. We also loaded our water bottles onto the tri-yaks, carried our paddles and launched the tri-yaks. I exchanged places with Jia Ying on the second day though. Since there were two non-swimmers, therefore we switched people and I shared another tri-yak with Yimin and Ting Hui from Hilary.

I found kayaking really fun actually. We had to make sure we don't go too near the coast line and rocks though. And we could not go past the channel as it was dangerous. The big waves sometimes threatened to capsize us but I got pretty used to it after a while. The big waves come in after ships by pass us. I really loved the teddy bear I saw on Evan's life jacket. I wonder where he got it. It's cute. We reached Kekek in the evening. It was tough carrying the tri-yaks up the steep slope to the clearing. There were also our bags to be sorted. I could not find my bag at first and had to walk around with Jasmine just to find it. First of all, we had to pitch our tents. We also changed into dry clothing in the tent. Our tent put our wet clothes atop the tent, hoping that at least, our pants will be drier the next morning.

Cooking was alright and quite an experience: we had to search for three stone slabs for our cooking fire. Only Cheng Ho brought their own solid fuel burner to cook. But that meant that they had to carry more stuff.

Eating was quite scary. We sat on some ponchos that were on the ground. Actually, come to think of it, those didn't seem to be our ponchos...they were Cheng Ho's. But at least they didn't notice, I hope. We ate while sitting on the ponchos and ants started coming fast once they saw food. That day's dinner was curry chicken instant noodles and some canned food I think. While we were eating, there were a few suspicious noises coming from the tall grass behind me. Lim Min said it could be a rattlesnake. That triggered quite an alarm in everyone. I decided to finish my food quickly although I burned my mouth in the process. Since I was too lazy to search in my bag for Lim Min's utensils, we shared my fork and spoon that night.


Of course, we had to clear up and wash our mess tins, cans and utensils in the sea. I was in charge of providing my torchlight. My torch was one of the brightest anyway. Going down and up the steep slope was still scary but it was kind of easier since I more or less knew how to maneuver myself. We then had to crush the cans with the stones since no one was wearing shoes. I realised that the cans with the brand Campbell needs a lot more effort to crush than the rest.

The instructors came over after the time we said we will finish up and ensured that our trash was disposed in the correct manner. We had to tie our plastic bags containing our trash to the fencing at Kekek. They pretty much left us alone before that - all of them went over to the other side where we can't see anything. Jasmine got us to arrange our bags on the tarp and wrapped all the bags up like a piece of popiah while the other two watches went on to their nightwalk first.

We were asked not to switch on our torches or say anything during the nightwalk. Unfortunately, I didn't see anything because I was so focused on keeping my eyes on Jac's slippers in the dark. We by-passed the other two watches in silences and just went back like that. Everyone was so afraid to get lost inside - especially Liping, since she was the last.

Once we got back, we could just go to sleep whereas the other watches had to cover their bags with their tarp - like what we had done. But there was still Faisal's bedtime story. It was about this guy, who went to the Mama shop. He saw this cocoon on his way and wanted to wait for the butterfly to emerge. However, because no butterfly emerged after he waited forty minutes- he even went into the Mama store and got what he wanted, he decided to help the butterfly out by force. The butterfly's wings were shriveled up when it came out and was eaten by a bird almost immediately. I heard this story before but I don't remember it including the Mama store part. Sometimes when we want to help someone, it doesn't help to make the party overly dependent. Therefore they wanted to make us more independent, lest we end up like the shriveled up butterfly.


While he was telling us the story, the captains in charge that day were discussing on which shift each watch and tent should take for sentry duty. Hilary got to go first followed by Columbus, and then Cheng Ho. Our tent's duty was from 0100am to 0150am. Cool, huh? Throughout the night, there was Malay disco slash karaoke music blaring from the Malaysian side. It didn't take much to ponder over the strength of their eardrums. I heard that they only ended the music at three plus in the morning. I also had my first experience pee-ing in the open during my night duty. Liping and I went together. It was scary actually, since you're not sure what animals there are out there. But I guess it's alright after all and there were two of us. I also had to wake the wrong tent after our shift. Oh well.

Day Three

Morning came and every tent was woken on time by Yibin's tent mates since they had the last sentry duty shift. I saw the same spider that I spotted on Cheng Ho's tarp during the sentry duty on the bag pack next to mine. Somehow, it travelled to our side. And it's pretty big, thereby inducing screams from those who saw it with me included. Breakfast was taken from our own food supply and everyone changed into their wet clothes once more after brushing their teeth.

We had morning games again. Such as the Earthquake, Forest, Hunter game, the Captain game and once again, the Dodo dance for our forfeit. Everyone had fun together. After the games, we separated into our watches for our usual morning circle whereby we wrote down the previous day's reflections onto our journals. It was quite nice, sitting on the ground, under the sun and trees. I had gotten used to the insects by then. I got bitten by a red ant while writing though.

We then started on rafting after the other two watches joined us at the quarry. Everyone helped out to shift the pipes, barrels and ropes for the rafting. Then they taught us the basic necessary tying techniques for the ropes and then left us to design and built our own raft within an hour. I had to ask Jasmine to take a look at my feet first though. Because my wet shoes creates a lot of friction inside due to its material and also because of the sandfly bites and blisters, my feet hurt to the point that they were numb. Turned out to be nothing serious, just that the bites and friction caused the severe pain. Faisal and Evan helped their watches a lot. Whereas Jasmine gave us minimal help. Although our raft was only just barely floating in the quarry later, while the other two rafts were actually floating in the right way, we still felt proud since it was our own creation and it was unique. Everyone wanted to swim in the quarry since it was freshwater - like an oasis in a desert since we didn't bathe. It took courage to take the giant step into the quarry at first as I do know that quarries are way deep. I really love life jackets now. Without them, I would never have a chance to do all these fun activities.

After getting clues to the next destination after Kekek which were hidden in a plastic bottle tied down by rocks in the quarry, we were allowed to submerge ourselves for three more minutes before dismantling our raft parts in the water. We had to watch out for the ropes as they were the only things that didn't float. Yibin then had to drag me back to shore since I really can't remember how to swim. We had to shift most of the things back to the equipment store once more and the bottoms of our wet attire turned dirty once more but I didn't really mind it as much after the refreshing dip. We met Juniper's watch by chance at Kekek's quarry when we returned to eat our lunch which we were told to put inside our life vest pockets. She was doing trekking I think. We didn't chat much and Camp 2 D had to plan our route for our next destination in our sea expedition. I let the other captain besides me, to do the job of the leader.

I think Jac really wanted to have the job anyway. They needed a navigator, who was Megan, and then two more leaders to guard the sides so that no one crosses them. Two more tri-yaks were selected to stay at the back with Jasmine to push the others onwards too. We had to launch the tri-yaks again with our water supply. It was lucky that I remembered to wear a cap since it was really sunny that day. We had to turn left and right through the mangrove swamps instead of the open sea this time. The first portage was this really muddy small, narrow trail. A few slipped on the mud. Once Yimin, Ting Hui and I reached the other side to launch our tri-yak yet again, Faisal helped to pull us down into the water. Maybe it was unintentional, maybe it was deliberate. But he actually pulled us to one side instead of just plainly pushing us down. We almost capsize and the thought of swampy water didn't really appeal to three of us. And we screamed. Evan could still lounge in his kayak and remarked to us that screaming will not help.

We didn't capsize in the end as we managed to regain our balance in time. We then had to go through a series of even narrower streams through the meander and tri-yaks collided frequently. The next and last portage we came to was a road. We had to once again, pull the tri-yak up. But this time, we pulled it under the road barricade, and climb over that road barricade, drag it in line with other tri-yaks on the other end before launching it again. It was quite fun. After that portage, it was mostly just the channel and the open sea once more.

Ting Hui wanted very much to give up and Yimin and I kept pushing her on. I think she got a tad fed-up with us. But once she saw Camp 2, she decided to push onwards.


Once we reached Camp 2, we had to wait for our turn to go up and carry our tri-yak. I volunteered immediately to wash the tri-yaks as my feet hurt too much to walk around carrying them. Another girl from Cheng Ho helped to hold on to the hose while I sprayed water at the tri-yaks. Besides me, Faisal and Evan were doing the same too and Jasmine was directing the others at the tri-yaks store area. After that, there was this long while whereby no one came back to carry any tri-yaks to us. Evan then sprayed at the girl and me. We didn't mind it at all though since we were already pretty wet.



It was a relief to use the toilet facilities in Camp 2 although we did not have any electricity except for the toilet and the instructors' area. That was why we had to cook in the dark. There were two cockroaches seen creeping around when we were cooking at Block 5 if I'm not wrong.

That was also the night Sabrina had an asthma attack. It was pretty scary because we could not find her inhaler in the dark at first. After that, we gave her some biscuits to eat at the side. The sardines triggered the attack, it seemed. Eating was done with our one hand occupied with the utensil and the other with the torchlight.

Camp 2 was not our campsite and destination for our expedition though. We were supposed to continue trekking a few more kilometres after kayaking before pitching our tents in some other place. However, due to a rule about not having any kayaking or trekking after 10pm, the instructors were given the no-go from their superiors. It was already ten plus at night by then so we just had to pitch our tents at the grassy area behind the instructors' area. Camp 2 D were the only ones at the whole campsite. Everyone was tired albeit a little happy about the toilet facilities. However, the instructors were not happy since it meant that we had to trek faster and more the following day. Like Faisal said, "This sucks."

Day Four

Morning was the usual, just that once again, there was actually a toilet to use. Columbus separated everything so that our bags were made lighter. However, Liping and I did not have ponchos. It was lucky that it didn't rain that day. I still remember asking Hilary and Cheng Ho if they have any more ponchos.

Cheng Ho and Hilary left first after their morning circle stuff and breakfast. Columbus arranged our bags first while Jasmine made sure we brought enough water. We also had to wait for Sabrina to come back from the medical centre since she was feeling better already. I wasn't feeling well in the morning though. Just after I climbed out of the tent that morning, I just flopped down on my tent. I couldn't help my watch mates arrange the tent parts properly after that because I was too dizzy to even stand and walk properly. It could be due to the fact that I didn't drink much the previous day since my temperature was only 35.9 degrees Celsius.

We welcomed Sabrina back and started on our Morning Circle while the rest of Camp 2 D left first. It was nice to have her back. We also went to the 100m mark near the toilet area to see our pace. My 100m was 78 paces and I volunteered to be the pacer since no one seemed to want the job. I didn't really want it too but I guess it was alright after all. I just counted when our two navigators, Jac and Lim Min needed me. Liping kept count with me at the beginning and then Wan Yu helped to keep track for me while I counted after Liping moved to chat with Natalia I think. We passed the German Girl Shrine and went to the top of the quarry. Yimin told me that their watch was faster because Faisal really guided Hilary along, whereas Jasmine pretty much left us alone during the land expedition and we had to find our own way. But it was really fun trekking I guess. There were several cyclists along the way. There was this guy who kept passing by us throughout the expedition as he was cycling with his group of friends around the island. He kept encouraging us: "Jiayou!", " You can do it!", "You all can do it!" and "Don't give up!"

At the highest point of the quarry, you could hear the echo of your shout vibrating throughout the whole island. The echos were amazing!

Also, Jac and Lim Min had this mosquito fanclub. For those who chose to wear their wet track pants from the day before, the mosquitoes were swarming to them. It was really a cloud of mosquitoes around their legs. However, those wearing shorts were bitten too, since they attacked us after we walked behind them.

Altogether, we had to trek around 14km and reached Camp 2 in the late afternoon, at five plus, after reaching the two checkpoints in the map. By then, the other two watches had already completed their land expedition.

Right after we finished our trek, Jasmine asked us to ask no questions and just follow her to the jetty for our last ever wet activity after putting down our bags at the toilet area. We got to do the jetty jump since we didn't get to do it on the first day due to the rain. Like the quarry jump, it did take courage to just jump once more. As I was really nervous at that time, I actually forgot to bless my watch for the last time before jumping off. You see, Jasmine has us all bless our watch every morning and for the jetty jump, we had to do the same before jumping off. But since I was so scared, I forgot all about it and just had to make do with declaring my love for Columbus in the sea.

It was high tide and there were many non-swimmers in our watch. As such, it was pretty difficult for the swimmers to pull all the non-swimmers around. Natalia and I did the heart-shaped thing for Marilyn in the water when she didn't dare to jump down at first. Afterwards, once everyone was down, we made a circle around Jasmine and hugged her in one go. We had to form a human chain to go up because the waves were strong and everyone was drifting further and further away.

The chain was broken once Sabrina felt fishes around her body and she clung to Shona like a koala bear to its mother. It was really funny and although everyone was scared that they were drfiting away once more, we were laughing too. Poor Jasmine had to drag us back and everyone held tighter after that. When it came to my turn to go up the ladder, a wave came up behind me and I got slammed against the barnacles on the ladder. My left shin was bleeding by the time I went up. It was sad once up on the jetty as it was the last water activity and the evening air was chilly.

Everyone hurried to bathe and started on our celebration dinner - also our last dinner together. Till now, I don't understand why Hilary and Cheng Ho always sit so tight with each other while Columbus is at one corner, isolated. Oh well. Our food wasn't as good as theirs but it was fun nevertheless. We had to make do with orange fondue which isn't really yummy as the combination tasted all wrong. Jasmine made the fondue out of all our milo packets. She used my spoon so I got to lick all the chocolate off my spoon afterwards. Our soup had too much garlic. It was seriously garlic overload.

Shona and I were fooling around while the others cook. We were calling each other vain. I was teasing Shona about how she wants to attract attention from the wrong gender while she teased me about attracting attention from the other side of the multi-purpose hall. Tsk, tsk. Because we were fooling about, I lost my balance and my slipper strap came off for my right foot. Shona fixed it for me before that but it still came off. Jasmine was really nice, she helped me fix it back after she cleaned my wound from being scraped against the barnacles with some antiseptic cream.

After washing up, we pitched our tents at the high elements area, which was around a hundred steps higher than the parade square. Before that, Evan and Faisal were lying on the ground at the Parade Square looking at the sky while everyone tidied their stuff. I understood why when I stared at the sky after pitching the tent. It was clear that night and the sky was strewn with stars. It was the first time I saw so many stars in the sky. It was lovely. Really.

A lot of people shouted for everyone to keep quiet that night since there were a few who could not stop talking in their tents. Some said it was Armstrong and not our three watches. Who knows. But it was quite sad: Our last night together.

Day Five

Everyone got to to see our instructors sleeping in hammocks. It was really cute, seeing those cocoon-like things hung in front on the instructors' area. We proceeded to unpitch the tents after washing up our faces and brushing our teeth. Jasmine asked us to shift our bags out to the old rock wall in the Parade Square after breakfast. We split the duties between us and I was in charge of the helmets, lifevests and whistles plus the map and compasses. In the end, we lost a camping and had to beg for a compass from Armstrong. As for the map...Well, it was really lost.

Cheng Ho actually lost their cooking pot cover. I found it lying on some random place - I think it was the washing area - on the first night. I just washed it, put it into our watch's store and forgot all about it until I realise that the cover should be theirs. Alas, Columbus had to pay for two missing items: the map and a camping stick which cost a total of $10. Everyone had to pay sixty-five-cent.

The last activity we did was the dive thing. We had to climb up and dive to reach the bell while fourteen others held the sheet below for us to fall onto. Jac was the only one who could touch the bell though. The rest of us just touch it afterwards although it could be cheating I guess. We were supposed to say our goals before leaping forward. Mine was to be braver in facing challenges.

Morning circle was sad and we had to throw this ball of cotton twine around our circle. Once we had the ball, we had to state our best experience and worst experience, together we what we'd learnt from OBS. I love kayaking and trekking the most. I learned so much that it seems difficult to list everything down in one shot.

To end off, I really love OBS. It brought new experiences to me. In fact, I really love the outdoors now. It's just magical. Discoveries about one's self were made there and from the camp, comes the willingness to strive.

There's something about OBS that stays with you for life!

Labels: Outward Bound Singapore

The examinations are officially over. However, I don't feel anything except dread. In ten days we are getting back our papers. And I foresee my failing grades. This is bad. Very bad.

Within these ten days, five will be spent on the younger brother of our island city, Pulau Ubin. Whereby your dearest writer of this blog will be freaking out with the scary unknowns. Apprehension had started to built up since the previous year and it did not help to see a particular picture of a girl in midair, doing the 'Jetty Jump'. Towards which the trainer started on a short story about character traits that every teenager hears too often. No hesitation nor embarrassment was felt to be able to admit the fear of doing that item.

After the talk on our five-day camp in Pulau Ubin, the island of nameless scary unknowns, it was on to the NACLI training talk. Due to the teacher's ranking and the quota of I'm-not-sure-what-since-I-cannot-remember, I am now one of the students that are placed on the waiting list. It's never a good feeling of course. And I'm not willing to go through the show of being totally alright. I do think that it's a little weird. Why do you nominate if the quota has been exceeded? And a few are angry as it seems that the teachers hand in the forms later than the others who are going deliberately.

I think I got my wish of having someone from the uniformed groups in my watch for OBS camp. However, I didn't wish for so many of them! There are at least three to four of them. Hmm, I shall leave the setting up of tents to them. MUAHAHAHA.

Labels: School Days

I was disappointed and sad. That is true.

After thinking about it though, I feel that I should just put it behind me. Which was why when many asked me if I was okay, I was honestly feeling fine. In fact, somehow, I just feel even more determined to do my part in choir and push everyone to better standards. We will also make all our seniors proud of us. I know that they are sad therefore I do think that we should be even stronger so that they will come back and feel a sense of pride in us.

Homework is piling up each day. There won't be much time for me to post often. However, there will at least be a post each fortnight.

Oh, how we will miss the seniors after they graduate...

I mean, (we) should keep up with...modern times, you know!

And (the security guard) went like, "BEEEEEEP"!!!

I'm from 4C3. AHHHHHHHH! Sorry!! I'm from 4C2, wrong class. Not 4C3!

And they are such a rip-off! I mean, it's really expensive for it to be priced at forty cents ...and it's wingless! Most of the time, nothing comes out of the box and I really need it frantically at that point of time!!

Girl, don't think I don't know that you're gonna climb over the gate! (which is kind of impossible to do so and it's unlikely for anyone to have such a weird inclination to climb the school gate.)

During a certain Elementary Mathematics lesson...

Girls, don't use a chopper to...?
(chorus) To chop ourselves.
NOO! I meant, don't use a chopper to chop the ants on the ground. Don't make things difficult for yourself!
(chorus) OH.

Labels: choir, Crez chorale, School Days

I'm scared of letting myself down. I never cared about the gold. I just want to be able to express myself through my voice. That is all I want. However, why is it that I just can't feel the songs anymore? I felt so numb during the Speech Day's performance. Each time someone tells me to sing softer, I really want to scream out. How much softer can I get? I really can't go any softer. That's my volume. I can't even feel anything now...I can only concentrate on the volume of my voice and trying so hard to blend in. What am I suppose to do?

I have decided to let everything go tomorrow. Whether or not my feelings come back, let it be known and heard tomorrow. This void: I shall let it be filled with my emotions and passion for choir.

Labels: choir, Crez chorale, School Days

I realise that even with just a competition, it sure does reveal the bias nature of certain people.
Maybe it's just prejudice. However, I am really disappointed in the childish and ugly perception of those who just think of themselves and would rather put the progress of the whole group of us onto shaky ground just weeks before the competition. Things like that should be solved with some good talks and serious faces.

If only it were to be that simple.

I do understand the reasons that were given for their ugly behaviour. However, I wonder is it because I do not understand or that I cannot pardon the perverse rational behind the reasons, which led to my immense disappointment in the people in question.

What good will it do to affect a performance with such malice just for the sake of spite. Yes. I reckon it is spite which led to such ugly, shocking words and feelings. How childish and narrow-minded a person can be when they are so blinded with spite is shown almost everyday. Alas, I doubt I will want to step in - it will only backfire. I did so once, and was lucky that it was effective as I tried my best to shake her awake and open her eyes. It wasn't very effective though, seeing that she was once again influenced as easily by another person and has affected even more people with her words once more. I have no courage to speak to the one who really is the one who started it (although she did it without the knowledge of doing so) and am too tired and disappointed to speak to the other who is my friend, whom I've stated her responsibilities to just a month ago.

All these distressingly petty 'politics' will not end soon I expect and I'm really afraid that if neglected, will just portend some sort of internal dispute, thus affecting our performance.

I don't think getting a gold is the most important thing. Of course, it is really important to those who had taken part in 2007's SYF and I wouldn't understand the sadness they'd felt. But, I definitely do not want to have any regrets as this is my first and last chance to partake in SYF with my beloved Crescent choir, which is my sole outlet for my voice. I just want the choir to put in their best, do their best, think their best, show their best, and achieve the best. Who cares about gold with honours when the choir will be happy with their efforts anyway. I understood that part already.

It's funny. How the effects of WYCF last so long. Usually, when you attend some course, you wouldn't think so much about it. But I feel that it's a life lesson instead. Learning under so many conductors, learning their styles, studying their different gestures and facial expressions just so that you can understand them. Those conductors all left an impression on me and they made me realise something: The conductor, whoever it is, is the one who guides you and not makes you sing. Neither does the conductor need to make an extra effort to make you like the him or her. After all, the mutual passion for singing alone is enough to make up for anything. They are never our enemies, instead, I'd rather see them as the pillar of support a choir leans on during performances and the one who connects the sections in terms of singing.

Another thing about WYCF will be the choristers. Someone said it's because they are all committee members of their own choirs, that's why we never had any problems. Well, maybe that's the case. But for it to be the only reason...well, I beg to differ. The main reason is obvious. Even each conductor saw it, felt it, heard it and praised us for it. That is, our common love for music. We did have the usual problem of not being able to blend our voices for the first day, as it is for new choirs. But we did it in the end. Sure, all the choristers were strong and were all leaders. But never once did they act all authoritative - in fact, they did not hesitate to learn from anyone.

But of course, that is too much to ask for when it comes to this matter. I do understand that in every school's choir, at least 60% of the people who join were just interested in CCA points. And at least 20% of these people will rarely be seen taking part in the activities or they refuse to sing. With some hope, another 40% will learn to love choral singing and treat it as an actual art form.

I'm so sorry that this post isn't light-hearted as my other posts. I promise to post something light-hearted tommorow if I can find the time. Till then.

Labels: choir, Crez chorale, School Days, SYF

This time, the English language holiday homework consists of a composition titled 'An Educational Visit' and a comprehension passage. The school had organised a Learning Journey field trip for our level recently. The Battlefield Tour includes places like the Changi Chapel, Bukit Chandu, Labrador Park, Kent Ridge area, and other places that are related to the past Japanese Occupation in our native land. Since each class will visit only two places, every three classes will visit two places that are classified by their locations such as the eastern part and the southern part as such.

It was good that we got to visit the Ford Factory and the War Memorial place. I've been to the other places more than once before but never been to these two. However, there wasn't much time spent in the Ford Factory since we'd set off late. I'd actually screamed when I saw Yimin's 'friend', the fisherman. One minute I was busy staring at this wedding dress from the WWII period and the next I turned to my right and see a fisherman bust staring straight at me.

The two short films we watched on WWII showed how cruelty and fear was used for control over the different races in Singapore. Propaganda was a term frequently used and due to a desperate lack of resources, it was no surprise that the economy then was terrible.

When we went to visit the next location, the Kranji War Memorial, I saw many tombstones, each in the memory of someone who had so gallantly served the people. It'd seemed a little different. The weather was pretty sunny that day and it made the place seem like a world on its own. I felt that the place was so peaceful and extremely different from the usual hubbub of the cosmopolitan city. Such that, the place appeared to be wrapped in a bubble and protected as a fragile reminder of a past that had spurred our forefathers on to worked so hard for a better lifestyle for the present generation.

As it has been written above, a person can tell that the trip has left an impression on me. Our guide for that day was also excellent, giving us all the facts and stuff. His facial expression after realising that our class do not take History was quite amusing. He seemed aghast. However, we did have a rather sketchy idea of the whole picture due to our shallow Social Studies syllabus which was covered in our Primary school education. His enthusiasm for spreading horror stories however, isn't really ideal to me. I dislike listening to such stories when told with such conviction. It just seemed, scary. I do know about the Bukit Chandu story though. Since my first visit there, I'd always felt a little apprehensive about that place. Oh, and Fort Canning Park too.

The March holiday has never been a good holiday to start with. Humans are never content with what they have aren't they? Therefore, I must try to appreciate the little things that this week will give me. Although I need to go back to school, I get to wake up half an hour later which still counts as more sleep. I don't need to be as worried about my hairstyle too.

I feel a little sad that I still can't sing after a week. Sure I can speak normally, however, once I try to sing, my voice just comes out as a pathetic croak. SYF is coming soon. Oh please, let me be able to sing once again. I want to sing at my normal standard or if not better. Without singing everyday, it just seems empty.

Labels: choir, School Days

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
That is a three-hour long movie that was screened for the last day at the cinema at Tampines Mall today. It can easily be named as one of my favourite films and I understand just how it had garnered nominations so effortlessly ( with the information about those awards from the guy manning the ticketing counter. )

When my mum and I entered the movie cinema, we asked the staff to recommend a few movies to us as it was common for us to do that. However, I suspect the guy is new as his answers were somewhat amusing and I had to pull at my face to keep from erupting with laughter; which could have severely injured his self-esteem, thus leaving a permanent scar in his life as a staff at the cinema. The dialogue between my dearest mum and him went as follows,

"What movies do you recommend?"
"Oh, what type of movies do you prefer, ma'am? There is comedy, romance, romance-comedy, drama."
(Towards me)"Which do you like? Do you want to watch drama?"
"Oh ma'am, currently, the more popular ones are: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Marie and Me, He's Just Not That Into You."
"Oh, they have a new movie Marie and Me? That's cute!"
"It was just released recently."
(I whispered to my mum)"He meant Marley and Me..."
"OH. Well, I think we shall just go along with The Curious Case of Benjamin Button then."
"Alright. Today is the last day for this show. A lot of people watched it already and for the past few days it has been almost full house."
"What's the show about?"
"It's drama. It has got many awards."
"Yeah, but what's it about?"
"It's drama."
"As in the plot."
"It's like a drama."

We then realise that it was futile trying to prod him for any details. Maybe he didn't know that there is this file that I'd seen the staff showing to us many times that contains the summaries of each movie that is screened. Oh well.

The film showed the different aspects of life. Unlike the usual story lines that you see in other shows, this has a heart-wrenching plot. Told in the form of Benjamin Button's diary, the emotions of the characters are clearly depicted. Lessons from life in a general form are shown with such ringing clearness that it could let the viewer identify with or learn from. It shows how people change over time and in the end, nothing really matters in death. Life is just about letting go.

What made an impression on me too were the stark similarities and differences there are in the complicated and vastly diverse human race. Contrasting personalities, or those who can click, all our lives are interlinked in some way. Supporting this view was this article from a magazine I read. It really is a small world. If you try to map out all your acquaintances in your various social networks, your map will branch out to such an extent that it's almost impossible to contain everyone. Maybe it's because we are the same species, that's why there are so much similarities. However, if you label everyone you know as a character, you realise there are different types of people out there. The motherly kind, the dancer ecetera. Most of the time, the most distinctive factor would be the individual's passion, if you have realised. But there are various ways to classify people, of course. Their personality for one.

Benjamin's life was backwards. A mourning father who made clocks set his most magnificent workpiece to wind backwards in memory of his son, hoping to turn back time, when the people were all happy and unaffected by war. However, this last display of paternal love may have just represented Benjamin's destiny. I wonder how he felt in his last moments, in the arms of Daisy as a sweet innocent baby.

I also bought a new novel this morning, with the Times voucher that my aunt gave me for my birthday last year. The novel's pretty interesting and it was nice finishing it in the evening. I still have my Literature novels to read though. Maybe I can finally finish them after doing my homework. Hopefully.

Labels: Movies