PW Dry Run and the surprise...

Had almost 7 hours of PW straight today. Repeated rehearsals then the actual dry run itself. It didn't go too badly partly because we were the last group and most of the audience were too numb-minded to think of deviously wicked questions. With some illegal prompting from Amelia, I was able to answer Jordan's question in what I hoped was a convincing enough manner. The questions on the acutal day better be as easy to answer O_O. Presenting was fine but I need to maintain more eye contact and sound less jerky.
Fencing training was almost a relief from the stultifying tedium of PW presentations. The weather was cool as it bordered on raining so David split us into teams and we had a relay sort of competition. People were cheating as in their urge to outdo their counterpart, lapsed into sloppy footwork, stopping before the midpoint line and breaching instructions altogether. The score was close with both teams reaching 4-4. The make-or-break match would later be decided to be a series of fencing bouts. We did footwork drills and acceleration drills and suprisingly, I wasn't as worn out as I would have been during most trainings. Must be the low temperature and more sleep =). We had the team bouts after that; first team to win 5 matches would win. I beat Charmaine but lost to Darren and Sun Lu, even with a 5 point lead. The gaps in fencing standards between guys and girls certainly is pulling larger :S. Reuben pretty much saved the team from an early demise by winning all his bouts but I lost the final bout to Darren and thus our entire team lost >_< (The score was 4:4). Proceeded to pack up when suddenly everyone, the coaches and my fellow sabreurs burst into the "Happy Birthday Song". Was initially puzzled and wondered whose birthday it was when the oh-so-sweet realisation dawned upon me. They were singing the birthday song for ME! I was incredibly touched. Thank you SO much for such a delightful surprise! Reuben then gave me the present Darren and him got for me, a Death Note with birthday wishes written inside. Felt all warm and glad inside as I leafed through the pages. And I finally understood why some of them were acting so secretive and why Charmaine was so insistent in getting me to the water cooler. I don't think I'll ever write in the Death Note, firstly since I don't wanna end up killing anyone =P (kidding!). But really cus I want to keep it in its pristine state and no words could probably describe my fuzzy feelings at that moment. Gosh, didn't think I was such a sentimental sap... Anyway off to mug Chem Spa now!

Threesome

Went to Vivocity to watch the Prestige with Nava and Nadiah 'cus the rest had something on or another. Although Vivocity is the largest mall in S'pore, it didn't quite seem it due to the large open spaces between the shops. As we walked to the cimena from the foodcourt, we spotted many little groups of RJ people. The Prestige was an intriguing film; narrated in a series of initially confusing flashbacks. I still wasn't too sure what the ending boded, but the remaining bits of the film were mostly comprehensible. The movie chronicles how two rival magicians endeavour to steal each other's secrets and hence become the greatest magician ever even as their actions tear their love lives and ruin their physical health as a result. The tragic flaw in both protagonists would be their hubris and unhealthy obsession with besting one another. To those who haven't caught it yet, hurry to do so! We gallivanted at Vivocity for about a couple of hours or so before I saw off Nava and Nadiah.
I headed to Giants to buy a box of chocs for the RP people as Nadiah sold me her ticket for threesome. Must be fate considering the deep disappointment over the revoked tickets =P. I coincientally met some 3Q people, some of which were ushers and the rest were fellow viewers.
Here are the synopses for the three plays:
Three Fat Virgins: It explores the roles and identites of modern women and also touches on a range of theme such as sexual harassment, lesbianism, male chauvinism, the school system .etc. The acting was generally up to par save for minor stumbles over the lines but the transition from theme to theme was so rapid that at certain moments of the play, I was well and truly lost.
Kevin's Birthday Party: My favourite play! Partly because Lestari, Reuben, Darren and Noddy are acting in it. A light-hearted piece showing how Kevin's birthday party escalates from sparks of mischief to absolutely mayhem. The insane antics and temper tantrums of the cast had the audience in stitches almost throughout the play; the case themselves appeared to be having a whale of a time. Indeed, the scene was so wild that a packet of chips accidentally burst and dirtied the flaw. And Cheng Yi, you LIED! The play isn't about the human condition or the political situation in Singapore or whatever else, its just about having fun plain and simple!
Caged Birds: Probably the most artsy and deep of all the 3 plays. A newcomer to the cage, freshly caught bird, attempts to free its companions from the pervading control of the mistress and the bars of the cage, to devastating results as their fear of freedom and change drives them to murder the maverick who threatens all they have ever known. A disturbing play which leaves the viewer much food for thought despite being a bit abstract.
When the plays were over, I gave Lestari the box of chocs for her to share with her RP mates. Reub, Darren and Lest wished me "Happy Belated Birthday!" and what followed was a photo-taking and hugging session. Stayed and spoke till they were called in for debrief, which was my cue to be setting off for home.

MacRitchie Reservoir Trail

Although the PSI was low, the trail was a lot less enjoyable then it could have been becasue sleep deprivation rendered me with the consciousness of a drug addict on OD. There was chartered bus given the proximity of the reservoir to RJC, so we had to endure a not-that-long but still uneventful enough walk to and fro. I didn't really managed to see many of the species in close detail but not that I cared too much about it; most of the specimens were plants (not remotely exciting). I had more fun gazing at the tilapias in the muddy shallows and the lazy tortoises basking in the sun. Mr Chan was an informative guide and his little tidbits of triva probably saved me from sleepwalking altogether. We didn't finish the trail since it was blocked by a fallen log and thus retraced our steps instead. Took a couple of photos but none of them nice enough to warrant posting up here.

Death Note

Went to watch Death Note at Cathay Woodlands with Joseph. The movie took liberties with the manga , which might have offended purists and hard-core fans, but the alterations served to accentuate the near unbelievable genius and Machevellian ruthlessness of Raito. I thought they could have chosen someone else to play Raito; not that the acting was horrendous or wooden, the guy just seemed a little too chubby. The actor playing L was almost perfect; the lanky build and the permanent slouch. the wide-eyed unflinching stare and the penchant for sweet things. The makeup artists could have tried to make his eyebags look less like ebony eyeshadow around the eyes though. The CGI for Ryuku, the shinigami, while decent, was not particularly astounding. Its movements were clunky and cantankerous at some parts and its facial expressions appeared rather fake. Pity the 2 hour long movie stopped when L and Raito met for the first time. The second installment of Death Note is already out in Japan so it'll probably be out in Singapore early next year.
As an early birthday present, Joseph bought me a belt and treate me to lunch on my request =P. He can be incredibly nice so no harm in capitalising :). I hope he enjoys the book (The Divide, Nicholas Evans) I got for him.

Somnulence

I must have irritated Morpheus with the sheer number of jaunts to his realm. I will not visit it again till the night ages deep.

PW Presentation Preparation

After 420 minutes or 7 hours, ok probably less than that, of hard work, I'm proud to annouce that our group script and presentation is finally DONE! *does a little jig of joy* And now, we must all live, breath and eat our allocated sections of the script so we will be able to sing like nightingales and impress our presumably bored out of theirs, oh-no-not-another-lacklustre-presentation judges. On a more serious note, our presentation doesn't quite clock 20 minutes and isn't exactly that close to that number too. Guess we have to read more s-l-o-w-l-y but at the same time avoid sounding patronising. Susie and Kaye can take a bit more time to emerge from the back of the laptop table into the "spotlight". I do hope the actal presentaion goes well or all these hours would have been for naught.

Esplanade Band Performances

Mr Lee had his last lesson with us today; I hope he teaches us next year because he's a rather ept teacher, but it seems like the KI department has poached him. Accompanied Suat Ying to Raffles Florist (No discount there despite the "affiliation".. lol) to purchase flowers for her mother's birthday. Think the orange and pink carnations would be nicely complemented with the hand-drawn birthday card, isnt it so sweet?
Went to Bishan Library and window shopped till Rebecca and her friend, Hong Yi came over from H3 Chem. Together, we trained to City Hall and from there, headed for Suntec City Shopping Mall. After a long walk, we reached the food court and I bought cold gingko nut dessert. While Rebecca and Hongyi were tucking in, I decided to explore the shops in the vicinity. There were shops selling movie paphernalia, weapons for display, collector's figurines, golfing equipment and other specialised items. We finished dinner at 7-ish and proceeded to the Esplanade to watch a dance performance by Jitterbugs at the Powerhouse. Rebecca made a mistake and it turned out to be a jazz dance workshop. It wasn't any less interesting to watch as I spotted several RGS girls, one of them a CCA junior, gamely dancing away despite having just learnt the steps. They were also sporting enough to execute their rapidly improvised moves even though the people surrounding them were probably experienced Jitterbug members who were carrying out their own dances.
Next, we left for the outdoor theatre to watch Rolle, a rock and roll band perform and attempt to bring the house down. Response was lukewarm, with the audience applauding and whooping at appropriate moments but they lacked the feverish enthusiasm characteristic of large-scale rock concerts. Rolle's lively renditions of Jailhouse Rock and other songs I don't quite recognise were enough to send me swaying a little. The vocalists had strong, throaty voices polished with a dash of hoarseness and proficient with their respective instruments, at least to me. A slightly more than a minute drum's solo had the spectators screaming for an encore that was eagerly delivered.
Following the concert, we strolled to the underpass to marvel at the various groups of preformers turning their tricks. Stunt bikers, hip-hop dancers, club jugglers, hoop throwers, break dancers unabashedly practising their routines for their big days took up different spots of the sprawling basement. 15 minutes of ogling up, we opted for home as the final destination for the day.

Singapore Biennale: Belief

I am no geat lover of the arts so getting the Singapore Biennale for learning journey wasn't exactly my idea of an enriching experience. Further dampening the situation was the fact that less than half of the class could attend and the point of learning journey was to foster class bonding.
I was pleasantly surprised to find myself interested in the exhibits and a lot of that interest comes from the two Art Club students giving commentaries. Without their two cent's worth on the artist's intentions and the meanings behind the art work, an unispired dullard like me from the Science stream would merely have seen a photograph as well....a photograph. Many thanks to the students whose palpable passion for the artworks infected our class as well.
Apart from admiring the artworks and mulling over the thought-provoking questions that they posed, there were freebies in the forms of badges to collect. I collected a grand total of 24 and there are still more to collect at the rest of the venues where the Biennale is being held, namely Tanglin Camp, SAM and national Museum. When school ends, I'll probably head down for a visit.
The artworks came in video installations, paintings, photographs and presented their messages, sometimes obscure, to the audience. Art I guess, is a little like Literature. The art piece can be interpreted in a multitude of ways by different people as each person has their own experiences and memories which would make the art work appeal to certain aspects of them. Some art pieces had a touch of the macabre and the displays actually had a PG warning!
I spent my time on the train back pinning the badges I had amassed to the badge cloth. It resembled a half-done mosiac, unfinished but still replete in its own right.

RJ Open House

There were many people, clad in their respective jerseys or T-shirts, holding their CCA equipment and trouping around the school. RJ has never seemed so alive! The RP people had their faces painted in what I thought were stylish and classy masks. I came late but no big loss there because most of the demo people were no where to be found. I hardly fenced during my shift and only fenced in the afternoon when my shift was technically over. I went to the amphi to watch the befrienders mass dance and the CCA performances. The fencing performance while rather cool in my opinion, did not seem to elicit as much response as CCAs like judo. But at least we managed to show a demonstration of fencing whereas some CCAs just sent representatives to greet the crowds. I really enjoyed the dance performances; the music and nifty moves certainly send the crowds into a mood to groove. Giving out souvenirs was an embarassing experience and it was really weird because I didn't feel so self-conscious when I was doing flag day. Around lunch time, I met a teacher for a chit chat session. I felt he was rather frank and candid about his own experiences which made me feel less awkward when relating my situation to him. Thank you for your advice and guidance =)! Went to the KI and TSD booths to take a look; the design for the TSD booths was highly interesting. I especially liked the dolled up mannequin sitting in the corner of the room.
Reub and Darren did theatric fencing in the afternoon, starting at first with the grass patch between Block A and B. But since the ground was too slippery, Mr Ng, in a stroke of brilliance, asked them to fence in LT 2!!! Reub nearly knocked into the vice-principal but apart from that potentially school life ruining hitch, the amusing somewhat haphazard performance acheived its intended effect. People were awestruck and curious. I fenced and RI foilist for 2 15 point bouts and lost 14-15 and 9-15 on both counts. Still, it was a good practice and I reckon JX was right after all. There is nothing much to be afraid of. My Ng very nicely bought us sweets and lots of drinks! Am I glad fencing has such thoughtful and sweet teachers =)! At 4 ish, we commenced packing up and throwing away all the rubbish. People were leaving in dribs and drabs so by 5 plus there was only me, Darren, Joanna and Bernice. We played several games of Bridge with Uno and me being the NOOB, was generally the last to figure out who my partner was. Darren left when Reub and someone with him rudely cut short our bridge game and so we did dummy bridge for a bit. Lincoln joined in and we played a last game before going home.

Fencing at the Salle

Shall keep this entry short and sweet because I'm whacked at one plus and typing this. Went to Juliana's salle to fence. Realised my footwork has gone to hell and my bladework is as rusty as my blade after weeks of lack of practice. Need to train, train, train if I want a medal for Novices. Everyone's improving so fast so keeping up is an imperative.

Lateral thinking

Chemistry lecture was rather interesting. Instead of Mr Wong going on and on about organic chemistry or wtv, we watched a video which had methylene blue chemical clocks and cryogenics in it. I didn't fall asleep unlike in Maths Lecture where I was knocked out 5 minutes into it. Grabbed the wall seat so I could lean on the wall for support. Don't like putting my head on the desk; it strains my neck unnecessarily. GP lessons was fun! We had a competition to solve lateral thinking puzzles and in the end, we beat 3S 4-2. I guess Miss Soh is never going to hear the end of it from Mr Lee =P. Kudos to Sei Kiat and Jun How for solving the questions! The catch with lateral thinking questions is that there can be a myriad of possible explanations to fit the given scenario. So its partly up to luck as well.

Fencing JC 2 Farewell

I was the earliest to come and waited for almost an hour before the next person, Bernice came. Good thing I had a paperback thriller to accompany me or I would certainly have died of boredom. The farewell was already beginning to seem like a Chinese wedding dinner, very tardy arrivals and the food served very late. Lol.
Half of the J1 exco and some foilists were assembled by 2 and the J2s had returned from their arcade gallivanting. Since the turn out was so few, with many of the unknown people reneging on their promises to come, we skipped the outdoor games segment and headed to the pool place for several games. Am really rusty from months worth of lack of practice; could hardly hit any balls into the proper holes. But not many were people, J2s even, appeared to have much experience playing pool so I managed to win 2 games =P.
We went to 7-11 next to procure our bbq supplies and more food before heading to Pit 33, which was a 15 minute stroll away from Area C. Everyone stoned for a bit and the JC 2 guys threw my boomerang around for fun. It didn't actually fly straight back into my waiting hands but I blame it on the weather conditions, spatial constraints and lack of strength on my part.
Next, most of us went cycling while some of the foil guys played touch rugby. We cycled a long, long way at a slow, slow speed that was certainly not enough to burn rubber and stopped at Bedok Jetty because Balpreet and Joanna, who were slower to start had yet to catch up. Funnily enough, we failed to meet them along the biking track as at the same moment, we took different paths in a fork and went past each other. Lol. Back at the pit, Darren and some others had arrived and were engaging in a game of touch rugby. Despite the 1 hour plus we had left to ride our bikes, we returned them an hour earlier.
As the cloak of the evening descended upon the beach, we got the fire going and prepared the food. Balpreet was dashing charcoal to little bits on the floor and we were all trying to duck from the flying bits of shrapnel O_O. Jun Hao's mum brought along bee hoon and curry which served as sumptuous additions to the cooked meat. Faii's mum called and Joanna decided to play a prank, claiming she was Faii's gf. Guess who got short shrift after that =P. Darren taught me how to skewer the chickens, but I was a hopelessly inept pupil and mangled my sole skewered chicken. The food was delicious and I gorged on the many sticks of satay and chicken. The burnt marshmallows were pretty decent too, in a carcinogenic kind of way. Better start counting those calories =P. Sophie,JX and the J2s came to join in the fun somewhere in between. Darren, inspired by Joanna's trickery, duped Balpreet into believing he had thrown her camera into the bin by mistake. She chased him around and round the pit but there's no way you can outrun an ex-rugger =P. The J2s were drinking some alcoholic beverages and playing cards while the J1s cooked and bantered idly. It's hilarious listening to the irreverent jokes of Jing Xun, experiences of Darren and crazy antics of Balpreet. The slightly tipsy J2s almost tried to dump one of their own into the trash bin but stopped when the guy struggled so violently till they almost lost hold of him. JX, Alvin and another J2 got further inspired by Darren and attempted to bluff me into thinking they had lost my boomerang. I didn't believe it for one second =P.
We ended the night with a session of phototaking and clearing up of the unsightly and oily mess of strewn paper plates and bones. Thanks to the Indian guy for helping us despite the racist comments we were making about you. And bigger thanks to Jun Hao for co-ordinating all this; it wasn't easy and the turnout might not have been as large as we hoped, but everyone who came had a swell time and that was wonderful!

Making Souvenirs

Went to school to make souvenirs for JC 2 farewell. Firstly, we unpacked all the bottles from their protective boxes and ripped off all the price tags (so the J2s won't realise how cheapo we are =P). Junhao's wire model of the fencer, replete with blade and mask, was quite cute but sadly, too big to fit into the smaller bottles. Hence, we decided to put blades for all the small bottles and fencers for the bigger ones. Given my terrible handwriting, Bernice wrote "RJC fencing" with fabric paint on all the bottles, while I laboriously twisted cloth-covered wire into what I hoped were blade-looking objects. My fingers were red from all the effort of twisting and turning in no time, and I half-wished I was making the fencer, which would require less direct contact with the wire and more with the pliers. 15 blades and mini-fencers later, we dripped glue into the bottom of the bottles and threw tiny stones to give the illusion that the bottles were filled up. The blades slipped into the bottles rather easily but there was some trouble trying to squeeze the mini-fencers in. Their metal appendages were probably distorted even further after entry :S. Alvin came over to help us and thanks for that =). I hope the J2s like the farewell pressies we made, even if they don't look that aesthetically appealing or professionally done, we did put in quite a bit of effort, time and money. Oh well...I'll see how it goes tomorrow.

The PW outing

ARGGH! What is it with some teachers?!? They make unreasonable requests and change their fickle-as-the-wind minds, only to make you realise you have wasted half an afternoon chioniging PW oral presentation FOR NOTHING.
Anyway...after the wasted PW outing at Macs, I went to Orchard to shop for clothes and whatever would fit my change. Bought 2 tops and coincidentally met two groups of RJC accquaintances. Shared the cost of buying earrings with Priya and her friend. They were having a clearance sale with 7 at $8 so it was quite a steal! Got a pair which of silver "F's and another pair designed as short metal chains. Watched Miami Vice with Joseph at West Mall in the evening. It was a relatively interesting show, with a complex plot peppered with intimate scenes and brief moments of violence. The NC-16 rating was fair warning that certain scenes would be brutal but I could not help cringing on seeing some unlucky sod's head get blown off. And yes, Gong Li is attractive, in an odd sort of way. Off to read manga....

The Banquet

After Bio paper. went out with CT, Shu Yi, Phil and Wei Lu to chill. Headed to Lido area where we coincidentally saw Suat, Liling and Jay who were going to watch Little Miss Sunshine. Enjoyed a meal of cheese fries over light banter and laughter.
We bought our tixs and went to Far East Mall to windowshop. Looked at all the bling stuff: bags, bracelets, trinkets, earrings, dresses and others. Tempted to buy a pair of dolphin earrings but controlled the urge and departed with a relatively heavy wallet.
When we got ourselves cosy and comfortable in our seats, we were highly surprised to see Larissa, Zinc and Yun Lin arriving later! Talk about coincidences. The Banquet, loosely based on Shakespeare's Hamlet, although no less tragic, was a rather worthwhile watch. The cinematography was excellent; the lush, vibrant colors of the palace decor setting the splendorous mood for the film. Depictions of violence were done tastefully instead of gore-splattered. Every line of the character seemed to have a double meaning or something to ruminate about.
Most of the characters had their own complexities and failings, rendering them more human, rather than an embodiment of a certain trait. I actually felt quite sorry for Ge You, the throne usuper, as the story moved inexorably to its devastasting climax. Zhou Xun was certainly brilliant as the innocent, devoted lover of the Prince Wu Luan. I really wouldn't mind watching it again...