Drama Feste, NDP

The last two days have been spent for relaxing and enjoyment. On friday was drama feste. Went to watch the matinee show because I lost my night show ticket. silly me. Thought hullett was quite ok while the other two, buckley and moor were very emotional. However we won, somehow. lol. Saturday was National Day Parade prievew. Quite fun, except that this year's was not as good as the previous years. Have been to NDP for 7 times in the past 10 years, 6 previews and 1 NE show. Havn't actually been to actual day before, but have sat in all four sectors of the National Stadium before, including the grandstand. Have only been to padang once or twice, all others in the National Stadium, which is going to be demolished this year.

Hmm... maybe they could replace fireworks with money dropping from the sky?

SMO

Surprise. Surprise
I actually got 17th for SMO, beating people like NicChee and Ivan. I didn't even expect to make it past the first round.
And yes, NicChee has alreaddy pressed me on going to Maths Club.
Ivan was 'smart'. He ponned the special round because he woke up late which ended his chance of getting into the top 30. If he had gone for the special round, he sureyly would have gotten into the top 30.
IMO training is hmmm....boring? Stuck in a room doing maths for 3 hours with only a 10 to 15 minute break in the middle. And I'm sitting next to NicChee and Ivan, who rolls his chair all around the class. lol
RI got top (team) for both junior and senior sections, beating HCI and NUS high, which makes it even sweeter:)

Money and Spending

Many people think that I don't really spend a lot of money when shopping and that I am thrifty. But I tell you that's not the case. If you ever know what toys, items and gadgets I have at home, you would surely change your mind. Some of my gadgets are like my $600 train set, an I have a few of them, and other expensive stuff. Still think I don't spend a lot of money...

WC 2006 Ouarter Finals: Ger vs Arg

4-2 to the Germans on penalties. Simply fascinating.

Mid Year Review

Half a year has already been gone and I think it's been quite sastifying , if not good. Mid year GPA was 3.73, above what I expected. I think they moderate the marks a lot. Anyway I got 4.0 for History, Geog and Science, 3.6 for Maths and English, and 3.2 for Chinese. Luckily German wasn't counted; I'd probably get 2.8 or 3.2 for that. Anyway the holidays were spent slacking, playing and watching football from 9pm-5am, or at least to 2 am. School started today and there was a little wierd feeling, the feeling I always get when I go back to school on the first day. Everything turned out ok except that I got 65.5/100 for German. Argh...watever

SI 2006

We had some RE (Research Education) competition at HDB Hub yesterday and today about some Resource Management. We presented our half completed RE project which was about a green building yesterday and we were surprised to get into the top ten. Then we did another round of presentation before I rushed to church on bus 145 and reached there just on time. Could not lead worship yesterday. Then today wen't back again to showcase our project and there was prize presentation, where we got a consolation award and 100 dollars. I think we got 5th, jsut one spot away from a trophy, but it's just a 'think'. Enriching experience and I think the 100 dollars prize exceeded the effort we put in for the project.

MM

Ayiah, I've decided to scrap my blog post about what happened at Malaysian Montage, just look at the itinerary below.

Day 01 Tue 23 May 2006 (L & D)

0700hrs: Pick-up from RI and transfer to JB Second Link
0830hrs: Depart Second Link for Melaka.
En-route, stop briefly at Tangkak.
1130hrs: Visit to Mini Malaysia at Air Keroh.
1300hrs: Lunch (local style).
1400hrs: Cultural show showcasing ensemble of Malaysian culture.
1500hrs: Traditional games
1600hrs: Depart for Tiara Beach Resort, Port Dickson.
1730hrs: Arrive Resort and check-in.
Group Debrief
1900hrs: Group briefing for Day 2 Activities
1930hrs: Buffet dinner at hotel with traditional mock wedding.
2030hrs: Briefing by FRIM official at Tiara, Garden Terrace.

Day 02 Wed 24 May 2006 (B, L & D)

0700hrs: Morning PT
0730hrs: Morning briefing at Garden Terrace.
0800hrs: Breakfast at Garden Terrace.
0900hrs: Depart hotel for Putrajaya Tour.
1030hrs: Tour of Putrajaya.
1200hrs: Proceed to FRIM.
1315hrs: Arrive FRIM and proceed to lunch.
1415hrs: Canopy Walk.
FRIM Museum.
Group Debrief
1730hrs: Depart FRIM for Chinatown – Petaling Street.
1900hrs: Steamboat and buffet dinner at Nelayan restaurant.
2045hrs: Return to Resort.
2300hrs: Arrive Resort and Rest.

Day 03 Wed 25 May 2006 (B, L & D)

0700hrs: Morning PT at Bus Level.
0730hrs: Morning briefing at open-air theater.
0800hrs: Breakfast at hotel.
0900hrs: Team Building practical at Telok Kemang beach.
1230hrs: Lunch at Tiara.
1400hrs: Transfer to Casa Rachado Lighthouse trek start point.
1430hrs: Conduct of Lighthouse trek.
- Team Building & Leadership
1730hrs: Return to resort
1930hrs: Dinner at resort.
2100hrs: Post dinner activity

Day 04 Fri 26 May 2006 (B & L)

0700hrs: Breakfast at Resort.
0745hrs: School briefing.
0830hrs: Check-out resort and depart for D-Paradise, Alor Gajah.
1000hrs: Arrive D-Paradise and briefing by D-Paradise Resort official
1030hrs: Final Team Challenge
1300hrs: Buffet lunch at resort. Final briefing.
1400hrs: Movement to Singapore with rest stop at Pagoh.
1830hrs: Arrive at Raffles Institution.

End Of Tour



Updated 5 May 2006
(B-Breakfast; L-Lunch; D-Dinner)

I was in group 12, Terengganu with Mr Tan (CLE head), Ms Quah (Our Bio Teacher) and Ms Koh (school councillor). The trip was fun, except the resort (Tiara Beach Resort) which was like in the middle of nowhere, and the toilet was worse. There was no way we could bathe at night with the drips of water from the shower, for 3 nights. Port Dickson was cool. We could build moats (the real one) around castles with water not flowing out, and we dug many pools at the beach. There was the 200-300m canopy walk in FRIM which was cool. Then I got the silver heart at the end of the trip. Oh yeah, I only spent 13 RM (S$6) on the trip. On 2 Ramly burgers (4 RM each), one cup noodles (3 RM), arcade (1 RM), and one icy grape and 2 bubble gum (1 RM).

Back

Finally back from Malaysian Montage after 4 days. Had a good, hot shower and think of going to bed soon. Yawn... Will blog about the trip later.
(Tau gay sucks)

Joga MaMa

Tommorow, or rather today morning will be when I finally get to play competition football this year. Joga Bonito, or Joga 3 futsal will be held in our school tommorow, inter house. I'm playing with Vince and TYE but I injured my leg on Saturday while playing captain's ball in church after injuring someone else. She's better now. After today will be Tuesday where the whole Sec 2 cohort (abt 400 people) will be going to Malaysia till Friday. I haven't packed my bag. Argh. Must rush.

Mothers' Day

Today was cool. Morning and afternoon was the usual except I didn't go for music and so went home to slack. Then went to Church at about 3.45 with my Grandma where we had the comanders from outpost 11 to teach us about hiking. Saw a few commanders from ATC camp, like our patrol commander and junior commander (junior guide. haha). Quite fun except for the horrible amount of copying. Then had mothers' day celebration where we presented a modified version of 'Living Spring My Home' to the mothers. Quite happy with my and the group's performance, luckily we dodn't screw up. The girls pulled out becasue they were not confident (shalln't laugh at them even though I feel like). Then after service, I went to play soccer with the youth and the younger RR kids until 8 something where we went home.
Happy Mothers' Day

Post CT

CTs are over and today's the first day back to school. It was pretty boring, starting off with a rugby match with RI vs OFS. We won (of course). The Sec 4 had their soccer tournament whivh was very boring;90% of the games ended in 0-0 draws. Yawn. Then there was a mime skit, or rather, a play qhich was quite interesting before we went back to class for the Malaysian Montage admin stuff. Then went to 3rd lang where after waiting for 10 minutes after the bell rang, our german teacher still hadn't come. She always used to come early and so we thought she wouldn't be coming today. Then when we were just about ot leave, she came. Argh, cannot ponn.

GE 2006

The 2006 GE has just ended and as expected, PAP won again (sigh) with 66.6% of the votes. 666 seems like a bad number so hope that PAP will lose the next election. He he. Anyway I went down to the SDA rally at Potong Pasir on the day before polling day by myself to see Mr Chiam speak. I got there at about 8.30pm and there werquit some people (more than PAPs) and some SDA guy talking (forgot his face). Then was Mr Vincent ..... before Steve Chia. He's very pro, only 35 years and has gone for 3 elections already. Lost all 3. Sad. Then Mr Chiam came and everyone cheered for him. Then Mr Chiam gave his short 15 to 20 minute speech jus before the rally ended at 10pm. Then all his supporters carried and cheered him through the coffee shop and then thousands of them followed him all the way to his town council (I don't know if they were carrying him) which was about 500m away shouting "Potong Pasir, Chiam See Tong" It was very heartening. Then they all gathered round the town council and cheered him for about half an hour before the police asked the crowd to leave. Then I walked home.

I thought that the PAP tatics were pretty negative. Giving the residents $80 and $100 million if they voted for them and won the constituency. The PAP were using the gahmen's funds and not their own party funds which were contributed by the people. And when they provide the expensive upgrade, the residents also have to co-pay, which is quite a sum. They didn't win.

So Chiam and Low Thia Kiang won the two opposition seats, which was no better or worse than GE 2001. However, the Workers Party are getting stronger with their big crowds and high amount of votes while SDP are sinking into obscurity and trouble.

Go WP and SDA.

CT

Yay. It's (CTs) over.
(Actually it ended long ago)

RR worship

The RR worship roster is out and i'm not very happy with it. My name only appears once in the schedue which is right at the end of the next month. I don't know what my mom said to her (the person who did the roster) but it was something along the lines that I cannot make it every week and stuff because of this and that... Anyway the fact is that I only can't lead this week because of my CCA (Gym tramp) competition. For subsequent weeks, I can do makeup for my English classes.
There is also this wierd thing to the roster which has all the names spelt wrongly and people put in 2 positions on the same day. There are also a few younger kids doing the worship too.
I dun know, but I think this roster needs some changes.
Please add my name to more worship sessions. What my mother said is "crap"

Take My Son

I came through this when looking at a blog. I felt that this is interesting and talks about Jesus who died on the cross for us. Read it

A wealthy man and his son loved to collect rare works of art. They had everything in their collection, from Picasso to Raphael. They would often sit together and admire the great works of art.When the Vietnam conflict broke out, the son went to war. He was very courageous and died in battle while rescuing another soldier. The father was notified and grieved deeply for his only son.About a month later, just before Christmas, there was a knock at the door. A young man stood at the door with a large package in his hands.He said, "Sir, you don't know me, but I am the soldier for whom your son gave his life. He saved many lives that day, and he was carrying me to safety when a bullet struck him in the heart and he died instantly. He often talked about you, and your love for art." The young man held out this package. "I know this isn't much. I'm not really a great artist, but I think your son would have wanted you to have this."The father opened the package. It was a portrait of his son, painted by the young man. He stared in awe at the way the soldier had captured the personality of his son in the painting. The father was so drawn to the eyes that his own eyes welled up with tears. He thanked the young man and offered to pay him for the picture. "Oh, no sir, I could never repay what your son did for me. It's a gift."The father hung the portrait over his mantle. Every time visitors came to his home he took them to see the portrait of his son before he showed them any of the other great works he had collected.The man died a few months later. There was to be a great auction of his paintings. Many influential people gathered, excited over seeing the great paintings and having an opportunity to purchase one for their collection.On the platform sat the painting of the son. The auctioneer pounded his gavel. "We will start the bidding with this picture of the son. Who will bid for this picture?"There was silence.Then a voice in the back of the room shouted, "We want to see the famous paintings. Skip this one."But the auctioneer persisted. "Will somebody bid for this painting. Who will start the bidding? $100, $200?"Another voice angrily. "We didn't come to see this painting. We came to see the Van Goghs, the Rembrandts. Get on with the real bids!"But still the auctioneer continued. "The son! The son! Who'll take the son?"Finally, a voice came from the very back of the room. It was the longtime gardener of the man and his son. "I'll give $10 for the painting." Being a poor man, it was all he could afford."We have $10, who will bid $20?""Give it to him for $10. Let's see the masters.""$10 is the bid, won't someone bid $20?"The crowd was becoming angry. They didn't want the picture of the son.They wanted the more worthy investments for their collections.The auctioneer pounded the gavel. "Going once, twice, SOLD for $10!"A man sitting on the second row shouted, "Now let's get on with the collection!"The auctioneer laid down his gavel. "I'm sorry, the auction is over.""What about the paintings?""I am sorry. When I was called to conduct this auction, I was told of a secret stipulation in the will. I was not allowed to reveal that stipulation until this time. Only the painting of the son would be auctioned. Whoever bought that painting would inherit the entire estate, including the paintings. The man who took the son gets everything!"God gave His son 2,000 years ago to die on the cross. Much like the auctioneer, His message today is: "The son, the son, who'll take the son?"Because, you see, whoever takes the Son gets everything.FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON, WHO SO EVER BELIEVETH, SHALL HAVE ETERNAL LIFE...THAT'S LOVE.

From: http://3i4christ.blogspot.com/

'Virus'

Yesterday I downloaded some Block Checker thing from the internet after a 'recomendation'. Then when I installed the block checker thing it worked fine, but each time when I opened a msn conversation an advertisment on the block checker would always appear. How frustrating. I asked my friend about how to get rid of it and he said there would be no way. Sigh. So I went to the block checker website and went to the help section to find out if there was a way to get rid of the 'virus'. I finally managed to download a program that would erase the virus. I erased the virus and introduced it to my friend. He managed to erase the virus too, eventually.
I thought that God wants to tell us that if your friends are bad and sin, they will affect you and you too will sin, but when you believe and recieve God into your lives, you will be forgiven of your sins and you will become a new person, someone who is God loving and fearing. And besides that, when you introduce God to your friends, and if they believe in him, they too will be changed.

ATC Camp

Hey, I haven't been blogging for 3 months already. So far 1 term has been gone and it's been quite ok. The holidays are almost ending but there are still 2 more extra days of holiday because the teachers have to go for some meeting or training.
Meanwhile, during the holidays, I went for the Adventure Training Camp (ATC) by Royal Rangers from Wednesday to Saturday (15 to 18 March). The camp was simply wonderful. The Holy Spirit really blessed the camp and the spirit there was really wonderful, the patrol spirit, the camp spirit and even the spirit of the commanders. We started off with creating our patrol name and we called ourselves Holy Bears. Then we pitched our campsite and our patrol was very lucky to have the largest campsite. Our team spirit was evidently present and we completed our requirement within the first day and got a bronze the next day during flag raising. I then cooked dinner which was packet noodles, egg, vegetables and luncheon meat. The food turned out to be nice. We then had evening classes before a campfire at night which was like most other campfires, except of the Christian element which we had. The council fire a.k.a. campfire consisted of cheers, campsite songs, acts, stories and after that, there came the Christian element. We had worship and a sermon by pastor Rachel (was it?). It was something like a revival. Then we went to bathe in the toilets where we only had a bucket of cold water and a scoop to bathe in (imagine if you run out of water). After that we went to sleep at 12. I managed to finally sleep at 12.30am, praise the lord. The next morning we woke up at 5am. We then had devotion and breakfast and then flag raising. It was followed by morning lessons such as firecraft, toolcraft, ropecraft, etc. Then we cooked our own food which was tin foil cooking which consisted of chicken, carrots and potatoes. It was quite disastarous as the charcoal fire was not strong enough and the food took a long time to cook. However we manager to eat some food and it was yummy. We had some water games and got people wet before having more classes. Then we had dinner which was sausage buns with vegetables and baked beans. The dinner turned out well and then we had more evening classes before having another campfire, just the same as the day before, except the boy patrols had to light the council fire and the girl patrols having to perform a stunt (skit). Then we bathed in the horrible toilet again and went to sleep in the tent at 1am. The next day we woke up at 6am and the morning was the same as the day before's. We got our silver medal during the flag raising and I was the patrol guide on that day. In the afternooon, we had tin foil for lunch, except this time it was fish, potatoes and carrots. It was as disastarous as yesterday but the food was nice again. We then had water games the whole afternoon. Observation: The girls always are the losing teams in the water games. Inference: The girls... (no offence). Then we had dinner which was supposed to be claypot chicken rice but ended up to be claypot chicken porridge. However, time and time again, even though I still don't know why, the food turned out to be nice again. Dinner was followed by evening lessons before the council fire. During that council fire, I managed to be baptised by the holy spirit. Praise the Lord. Then we stayed up until 4am to do our workbooks and I decided not to go to bed after that which meant not sleeping. I managed to not sleep without really feeling tired. However during devotion I got too comfortable and dozed off, hitting my head on the wall 3 times. After devotion, we had breakfast and then packed up our campsite before having a McDonalds burger for lunch before having the ceremony. Our patrol got the gold medal which other patrols got too, not only from the ATC, but also the patrols from the JTC and AJTC. Every patrol got the gold medal. I still wasn't feeling tired then. I went home after the ceremony and bathed and came back for RR. I still wasn't feeling tired eventhough I didn't sleep (minus the 1 or 2 minutes where I dozed off during devotion). Then for RR the people who went for ATC (including me) had to do worship. The worship was a little shaky, but it was ok considering that it was our first time. I saw and compared the spirit of our outpost rangers with the rangers in the camp, there was a big difference; the spirit in the camp was high, everyone would be singing, cheering their hearts out, everyone would be enthusastic, reply a question with all our voices, but in our outpost the rangers would all stand there, see you sing and reply like half-dead, totally no spirit at all. The ranger class ended early without lessons, only a sharing of pictures about the ATC camp. After the class, me and Ji Heng were playing the guitar and singing while the other ATC graduates went back to sleep in the room we had most of our lessons in during ATC. Then after church I went home and suddenly got very tired. So I slept for about 1hour and woke up half alseep. I couldn't really remember someone sending me an sms and I replied to it, all half alseep. Then we went to the airport to send my dad off while I was very sleepy and after a drink, it was time for my dad to leave. We did the normal stuff everyone would do when a loved one would leave. Then we went home and I slept at 1am.
I don't know why I didn't feel tired even though I didn't sleep the last night. Maybe it was just that I was too excited, maybe it was just that I had enough energy. Or it could have been Jesus who was there for me. God Rocks.

Some interesting stuff I experienced in the States

1. I got lots of static shocks in Las Vegas. Once I touch something metal, I will get a static shock. A big one. For example, a telephone or a water cooler.
2. I found four 1 cent coins during my trip.
3. I always wake up at around 3.30am almost every morning.

Try to think of some more. Will update it soon.

Best of the West

Ok, it's been one week since I came back from the States and it's time to blog before I forget about it.

Dec 03. First day, reached the airport at 7.30am, flight 9.40am. Delayed for about an hour. Left at about 10.30am. Stop-over at Tokyo Narita, second time I've been there this year. Then to Los Angeles. Slept about 2 hrs on the plane. Reached LAX at about 11.45am local time. By the time we cleared customs, about 1.30pm. Then went hotel in Fullerton, near Anaheim. Wyndham Hotel Anaheim Park. Then went shopping for some water and foodstuffs at the nearby Henry supermart. Then went for dinner at a Chinese Restaurant. Untypical Chinese food.
Second day, Disneyland Park Anaheim and California Park. Hopping Pass. Went for some famous rides, such as the Indiana Jones. Then went over to California Park, another theme park by Disney but not about Mickey Mouse and friends, but about other stuff like Bugs Life and anoynmous stuff. More rides. Then went back Disneyland for more rides and the Fantasmic + fireworks show at 9pm. Got there at about 8.40pm. People waiting there since 7pm. Then they cancelled it. Because of strong winds. No show. Nothing. Then went back hotel.
Third Day, Universal Studios Hollywood. Not much, Jurassic Park water ride, Mummy Ride, some other rides, shows and 4D shows. Everyone's favourite was either the water show or the Shrek 4D. Other stuff, nothing much. Then another Untypical Chinese Dinner in Los Angeles Chinatown.
Fourth Day, Sea World San Diego. Two hour ride there. Reached there 11.15am. Saw the Shamu show and some other water animals shows. Cool. Hyped up over Shamu. Went for some rides which were outright boring. The only nice ride was a 4D show about the Haunted Lighthouse by RL Stine. Left at 5.15pm back for LA. Slept.
Fifth Day, bus to Las Vegas. Left at 8am, stopped over at Barstow for 1 hour to shop. Reached Vegas at about 2pm. Stayed in Stratosphere Hotel. Walked into casino first thing I reached there. Big one. Smelly one with cigratte and cigar smells. Open Concept. Had to walk past casino to get into hotel.vRested the whole afternoon. Night went for dinner at a so called food court but when we got there, there was only a McDonalds, Mexican food (Cali Cantina), some pizza and a prezel shop (Wetzels Pretzels). Ate the Mexican. Not to my liking. At night, went night tour where we looked at free shows from 8 to 10.30 at all the hotels cum casinos. Short ones, about 4 to 7 minutes only per show.
Sixth day, woke up at 4am to go to Grand Canyon. Got to a private Scenic Airlines airport and took the 6am flight. 19 people (all from our tour group, thankfully) squeezed in a small plane. Took 1hr10 or 20 min to get there. About -8 degrees C there. Then got onto bus and went to Grand Canyon. View was magnificant but the wind made it very cold. Had hot chocolate. Then went to another place for another view before having buffet lunch. Then took the same flight back. Reached Vegas about 1pm. Then went hotel to rest for a while. Then went casino hunting to look at the different hotels. Took a bus, the Deuce, runs along Las Vegas strip. Whole day ticked for 5 dollars. Expensive compared to Singapore's. Then came back to hotel and sleep.
Seventh day, Took Southwest Airlines dimestic from Las Vegas John Mc Carran airport to Oakland. Reached there, crossed the Bay bridge into San Francisco. Went to Chinatown for lunch. More typical Chinese food. Went for some sightseeing (Fisherman's Wharf, Golden Gate, where I walked on the bridge, Twin Peaks, Civic Centre, went past the Gay and Lesbian street (I think Castro) where had lots of 7 colours flag)and then went hotel and then took a walk along Market Street and nearby. Then went for dinner (at Chinatown again) and then, I got fever. No choice but to walk and so went shopping a Macy's and more shopps before going back to the hotel and sleep.
Eighth day, took the cable car for 5 dollars a way (Powell and Hyde line) and got sick (stomach problems, fever) on the tram. Stopped at Lombard (crooked street), then walked down to fisherman's wharf. Didn't take bay cruise. Had clam chowder in a sourdourgh bread bowm before taking a F trolley (tram, name is F) back to hotel. Slept on a very comfortavle couch in the hotel lobby and slept from 3.30pm to about 5.30pm. Then woke up and went for dinner at a Thai restaurant in O' Farrell road. Food was nice, had soccer showing on the TV. Then went to di last minute shopping and then went back to the hotel and left for the airport at 7.30pm. Reached San Francisco International Airport at about 8pm and then checked in, had a small snack at the food court (proper) and then went inside for duty-free shopping before heading back to Singapore via Hong Kong. Reached Singapore at 11.30am (around there) on Dec 12. Had a nice trip.

Back

Finally back from the States yesterday late morning. Couldn't wait to eat Chinese food again, so wolfed down a bowl of laksa from the airport canteen. Got sick in the States, especially the last part. Ultra tired, slept from 6pm yesterday to 8am today. Woke up not long ago. Updates about my trip in the next post or two.