Last Day of The Year

Went to Pastamania at Cineleisure for dinner together with Min Li and Nicole. Had a rather nice one hour threeway conversation over Vongole (Clams and Pasta) in cream sauce and garlic bread too. Eating slowly indeed does make you sated faster and as a side bonus, you don't put on as much calories =P. Hung around Hereen to do some window shopping and trying on of bling-bling accessories. I winded up buying a black punk bracelet on a whim; it complemented the rest of my outfit pretty well.
Follwing that, we took the MRT to Esplanade and almost missed our stop. Funny how Raffles City shopping mall is at City Hall MRT. There was a continous stream of people from the MRT all the way to the Esplanade, bringing to mind unpleasant memories of getting stuck in a crowd of foreign workers along Orchard Road. Witnessed a mini-stampede that occured at the mouth of the escalator because it was moving too fast. We had to walk a LOOONG way to reach the Esplanade in a light drizzle and many detours because the roads were cordoned off and some pathways were only for exits.
Due to the swarming mass of humanity at the bayside, we intended to go the rooftop terrace for a picturesque view of all the luminous floating spheres but it was closed for a private function. Caught a glimpse of the fireworks from one of the buildings and felt initially cheated since the display was rather miserable but the grand finale of fireworks, a spectrum of lights dancing across the canvass of black, was truly a spectacular sight to behold. We almost missed the first display of fireworks as we were rushing to one of the cafes for a much-needed ice blended treat. Photowhored lots and like many of the revellers, sprayed foam on unsuspecting individuals. This is one of the rare times when deviant behaviour is grudgingly condoned so we tried our best to play the rebels =P.
Decided to leave after the crowds had largely dispersed and we walked for quite a bit, eventually ending up at Suntec City Starbucks for a rest and some more ice-blended treats. At around 2, Nic called her dad, who very nicely gave all of us a lift back home.
It's been a good year. Relentless Time allows no pause however, so on we move aboard the carousel of Life.

Bball match

Played bball with Minli, Jing Yi, Nicole and Pam at one of the estate courts. Was severely out of touch not having played in months so I didn't get to touch the ball much. Nicole saved the day as usual with her accurate long shots that were puled off despite heavy blocking. Maybe I should get back to shooting some hoops.

Late night Spins

Spins are fun. You don't go anywhere but that's not really the point. It's interesting to see certain places shrouded in the sultry night time gloom through raindrops pearling the mist-tinted windows. The entertaining companion beside me provides an informative commentary on the army camps dotting the roads and interesting conversation. Amazing how some people can do so many things while driving. I think I must ask my dad to drive faster than 60km/h, it makes going at 100km/h seem like the bullet train. Saw buses plying for hire on roads so devoid of vehicles that one could lie down in the middle and sleep, unharmed so long he woke up by first light. Lim Chu Kang area (though to its credit, it retains a rustic, idyllic charm) is incredibly ulu in the day, and in the night is incredibly ulu and spooky. We passed by the row of low-lying flats which appear incongruous in the tapestry of nurseries, farms and vast expanses of greenery. It remindedme of the times when my mum used to bring me and my sis to visit her friend, who owned a frog farm nearby.
Thanks for the nearly 2 hr ride and everything else =).

Chats

Church for service followed by stoning at Orchard for about 3 hours before I met Eug at the Orchard Library. He had church in the morning and lunch with his friends later on. Did buy a black rasorback and sale from Mango so it wasn't entirely fruitless. We walked up and down Orchard Road and I was angsting over whether I should cancel my fencing appointment with David cus I was feeling tired and the cooling, rainy weathre was just right for curling in bed. Eug kept trying to sway me from one choice to the other (evil person :P) and I almost decided to go home and call it off when I asked him, seriously, what he would have done in my shoes. He said he would go for the lesson so the responsible part of me, after a long hiatus, finally kicked in. I gallivanted at Far East for a bit while Eugene waited to pick up his gf from Orchard Mrt.
The lesson past, I took 190 home and promptly fell asleep, exhausted. Met Eug again and we chatted about all kinds of issues, ranging from elitism in Singapore to daydreams of ours. It's wonderful to talk to neighbours every now and then, to catch up and bring yourself back into the loop. I might not be as close to my basketball mates as compared to last year, but I certainly hope if we were to meet by chance along the street, we could stop what we're doing for a moment, say hi and perhaps even more...

Little India

Lest, Ash, Nava and me went to Little India for a culinary experience today! Firstly, 3 of us had our eyebrows threaded at some beauty parlor. Using her teeth and those deft, quicksilver fingers, the beautician managed to shaped our eyebrows into more pleasing appearances. I was a little apprehensive because Nava told me it could be quite painful but it turned out fine, even though the stinging sensation was rather intense at the start.
Nava brought me to Designs Today to tailor my sari she brought from India. While I was being measured, Lestari bought some colorful bangles for her friends. Think my sari will be kept in pretty good condition as I don't have many opportunities to don it, Racial Harmony Day and Deepavali aside.
We headed to Komala's Sweet and Savouries to buy Indian candy. Instead of the usual jalebi (sweet and sour), I opted for a milk beva (is that how its spelled?) and something like a jalebi, except that it only tastes sweet. The milk beva was like eating condensed milk whereas the jalebi-thingy flooded my mouth with sugry goodness with each bite. Lunch was on the cards and we left for Muthu's Curry, a posh Indian restaurant.
Nava's dad gave her $100 to spend so she very generously gave us a treat! Thank you so much Nava =)! We had Black pepper chicken, Fish cutlets, Cheese Naan, Rice, Lassi, Strawberry Kulfi and some other delicious Indian dessert. Indian cuisine truly engages the tastes, be it sweet or sour, spicy or salty, the tastebuds are given a tantalising time. At the end of it all, Lestari , who had been taking photos all day, took a picture of the bill, drawing muffled laughs from several waiters.
Our bellies sated, we trained to British Council, where Ash and Nava could find out more information about studying in the UK. I did flirt with the idea of studying abroad but most likely, I am destined for a local uni cus my Papa has not enough moolah to send me over. And scholarships are for brainiacs, which I am not.
Stayed there for quite a bit, before going to Tekka Mall to get a drink and visit That CD shop. Browsed randomly till 6-ish and the 4 of us were on our way home.

Settler's Cafe

Shall resume blogging after a 2 days hiatus due to extreme exhaustion. Went to Settler's Cafe on the fringe of Holland V with Xh, her 2 friends. Denise and Pei Jie. At the Mrt station, Xh tried to dupe us into thinking her friend Brandon Kwan was from Mongolia and required talking to in Mandarin to facilitae easier communication. Unfortunaely, no-one believed her :P. We walked up and down the stretch of road for nearly 45 minutes before resorting to asking for directions. One of the shop at Blk 15 had an eviction notice from the police and for some reason, sent me and Denise into peels of hysteric laughter, before Bk and Pei Jie finally found the cafe.
Settler's cafe has a cosy ambience, replete with warm lighting and pop music playing in the background. The best part of it was the many different kinds of board games patrons could choose to enjoy while dining. We played Cranium Basher initially, a game which incorporated humming, acting, verbal skills, general knowledge, drawing and sculpting. Dee, PJ and me emerged victorious, mostly thanks to Dee's drawing skills and our wild guesses. Next, we played Acquire, in which players had to build conglomerates and eat up small companies to win. Wit the exception of the chess players (Bk, Xh and Tim Wee), the rest of us were clueless and kept on turning to the helpful and friendly supervisor for advice and tips. Xh ultimately won!
PJ, Bk and Tim Wee left so the 4 of us (supervisor included) played Blockus. I really liked the game beause of the simple learning curve, lack of complex rules and brain power needed. We also played a card game "Ugly", where players had to try and snatch cards when 3 of the same pictures appeared. If 2 players were tussling for a card, the one who said "Ugly, Ugly, Ugly" the fastest won.
Since it was raining outside, the kind supervisor very nicely let us stay behind till it reduced to a feeble drizzle. We'll probably come here again sometime considering the wonderful experience we had that day.
Rented "Perhaps Love" to watch at home that night. Decent songs, visually rich sets, emotive acting, an a somewhat cliche but still believeable storyline was marred by poor vcd quality.

The end of Raffles Invits!

At long, long last, the Raffles Invitationals has finally come to a close. Despite the frayed tempers, increased cortisol levels and other adverse health effects, I think it has brought the exco together and allowed me to know the national fencers better. Many thanks to the referees, helpers and all those who made this possible in one way or another =). I feel under the aegis of Joanna and Darren, this Raffles Invitationals has been the most sucessful one up to date.
We won gold for women's sabre (only 3 teams >_<) and gave the bronze to the women's epee team behind the scenes so it wouldn't seem unfair. I sucked as anchorman despite my individual ranking. Instead of pulling the team ahead, I actually lost to Balpreet due to her immensely long reach and my poor technique and Joanna was the one who saved us all. Against Ruth, I conceded 10 points before scoring 5 and thank goodness we were fencing up. Charmaine and Joanna totally rocked and mostly managed to reach the point cap beforethe other team. The SJC girl were really sweet and we took a group photo after everything was done. The SJC girls also fenced the women's epee team for fun and won 45-43.
Clearing up and then prize pesentation followed after. The referees, exco and some of RJC fencers went for Sakkae Sushi for a buffet. Several plates of sushi later, we got so sick of the rice, we attempted to conceal it by hiding it between the hollow bottom of one plate and the other. This measure was undertaken beacuse of the surcharge for food wastage. It worked for a bit, except when I stacked it for four consecutive plates and realised it was kinda conspicuous cus 4 empty plates should not be that heavy. Our seat also happened to be right next to the kitchen exit. Ou attempt was foiled when we gave this staff member a whole stack of our plates, and she in a brilliant moment of serendipity, took a smaller stack, thus unveiling the exposed rice. Jun Hao was so embrassed even though the woman did not appear to notice anything was amiss. I was trying hard to stifle my laughter and Bern and Joanna had the same experience as I related the discovery to them. Joanna was duped by the group of pranksters (Darren, Reub Foo and Yeo, Balpreet and Noelle) into eating sashimi that was in reality ginger slices on top of sushi. What a laugh they had at her expense...
Went back with Darren and Alvin to RJ to help Juliana load her equipment into the car before going home.

100th post

Day 1:

Fenced in women's sabre event and clinched the gold medal. Hooray! I was initially rather worried about the Youth Developement Squad Girls but as it turned out, they weren't that intimidating. The epeeists (Sophie and Ruth) turned sabreurs did very well, clinching sixth and seventh position. Joanna was third so I hope our combined points is good enough to give us a bi.
Thanks to all supporters (RJC fencers), my coach David and all others who were there!
Watched Darren eat dinner at KFC while I sipped milkshake and chattered inanely. Returned home and watched the Professional later that nightand decided that Natalie Portman had the makings of a beauty at the tender age of 12. Pity about the bittersweet ending though.

Day 2:

For Men's Sabre, after thrilling matches with multiple parries, blade clashes, shouts of victories and near misses, the J1 beat the J2s 45-33. The J2s still managed to get the silver medal after beating TFC 45-44. Wing, JX and Alvin, for the hell of it, decided to fence in epee teams. Alvin fenced foil style, JX fenced sabre style and Wing attempted to fence epee style with highly amusing and sometimes effective results. They beat the eight seeded team and predictably lost to the strongest team with half their score. There was an intensely thrilling epee bout between SMU and VJC; with 10 second to go, VJC was up 42-43, inducing the SMU fencer to run straight at the VJC one the moment the signal was given. The VJC fencer scored the point and there was only one second left and the SMU fencer did something rather unsportsmanlike. He turned his back and took off his mask.
Did the usual scorekeeping, "cheerleading" and timekeeping and fenced epee with Darren. Didn't fare too well cus I'm too accustomed to slashing rather than poking. Played some warped version of captain's ball with VJC, jsut that the ball was replaced by masking tape and the captain had to catch it with a blade. They won 3-4 due to the overwhelming number of guys (7 to our 3) and I really enjoyed myself running back and forth, in the thick of the action. Better sleep early and fence nicely for womens' sabre team.

Thanks again Darren for being so understanding even though it wasn't you at all. Just lapsing into my petty, emo side once more.

Raffles Invitationals

It went smoothly, with hardly any hitches (the fiasco of the missing money when it was really right beneath our noses >_<). As an added bonus, we ended 3-4 hours earlier than our projected time (which means either our estimation sucks or we are very efficient. I should think, the latter :P) We actually had more helpers than necessary, so people were playing Uno, talking or gaming on their laptops. RJC SWEPT the Men's Sabre but ot of the 7 fencers, 6 were from Raffles family so no real surprises there. For Men's Epee and Women's Foil, RJC didn't quite fare as spectacularly and no-one got a medal. The initial registration of participants was pretty annoying and thankfully we had 3-4 people manning the table. Thanks to all helpers who have spent their Saturday at Raffles Invitations instead of stoning at home or whatever. Bernice did a great job sorting out the poules and ranking of the fencers; lunchtime aside, no piste was left unused for more than 5 minutes. We're off to a rousing start and I think I speak for everyone when I say that the rest of the days should proceed without incident :). Gonna sleep soon cus I will be fencing and doing administration work after I finish/get kicked out as early as 8 tmr.

Tekkan Session

After a long November break that has reduced our little muscles to mere mush, the fencing coach just had to give us a tekkan session. The footwork was fine initially, broke out into a light sweat but didn't feel too much of a strain. Then, Joanna, who wasn't feeling too well ran off to the loo and the rest of us were mae to hold lunge position for the duration she was away: 7 minutes. And we only understood WHY we were doing this when he sarcastically made us thank her. It wasn't like she was skivving or changing her shoes or something. She was SICK and puked in the toilet. In the 6 minute or so, my arm was screaming from the stiffness and the nigh unberable strain of being held upright. Epee coach is a sadist!!!
I did my year's worth of push-ups today too. Certainly not 365 of them or else I wouldn't have the strength to type this entry but 75++. David made us fenced off with half the piste's length to a point cap with the loser doing 25-50 pushups dependig on the point cap. Needless to say, thanks to fencing the guys, I did my share of 50 pushups. For fencing camp next year, now we know what to give the J1s...

Church of The Holy Cross

On the way to church, I met Eugene, who was coincidentally, on his way to church too! Talked for a bit till he got off at CCK and I spent the rest of the journey reading. The trip from Clementi MRT to the church took a while despite instructions from Eugene, because I ran to the wrong bus-stop initially, and when I went to thr interchange, the bus just left -_-.
The church hall was spacious and I like the stained glass windows which adorned it, although there are probably prettier and more intricate ones elsewhere. There was a great number of people in there and they all seemed to behave as a collective consciousness, knowing the appropriate prayers and gestures. I probably stuck out like a sore thumb as I was silent during the verbal recital of prayers but I did pray during the quiet time. The sermon was suprisingly short since I expected a 45 minute or longer one, but it clocked only 10 minutes or less. I'm not sure if I felt God then but I believe if I persevere long enough, eventually I will find Him. I embarassed myself in front of this girl; when she was trying to push the prayer seat down, I pushed it back up, before realising what everyone around us was doing O_O.
I met Veronica, who was assisting in collecing donations, and we were both pleasantly surprised to see each other. After the service, she answered my numerous queries on the Catholic faith and church services, clarifying most doubts and reservations of mine. Still, I find the rituals slightly intimidating but I think this mental hurdle will be overcomed with more visits to the church. Veron's parents very nicely gave me a lift to the MRT and from there, I took a bus to Orchard.
Shopped around a bit till 4 and went to Juliana's place for the last sabre intensive lesson. David was late and maybe that was why he didn't force us to wear britches (we were short on time anyway). The lesson was rather interesting; we had to score 8 points in 8 different ways and because of that quirky rule, me and Harold were stuck on the 7th point for a while, before I took the plunge and attempted a failed alein that somehow scored. More fencing and home I went.
Later tonight, Eugene burned Borat for me! That's sweet of him considering his exams aren't over yet :). Talked again about Christianity and other stuff before we both headed to our homes.

To IMM

At 1, went to Raffles Place to watch Nava and her friends just finish lunch. Got introduced to some of them, XH's boyfriend included =P. We proceeded to Marks and Spencers to disturb one of Nava's classmates who was working there. After many women's lingerie and men's underwear jokes, Nava and me saw them off at the MRT and stopped at Starbucks for a drink, while we waited for Nadiah. Not only did I accquire the wrong beverage, I think I was conned into paying FIVE TWENTY for what tastes like lukewarm Milo dinosaur. Someday, I will open up a cafe called SCAMBUCKS and give my concoctions exotic names like Expresso Latte Chocolate when in truth, it is merely Milo with foam. Had some girly talk with Nava till Nadiah came and we trained to Jurong East Station. We all got annoyed with waiting for the eternity to arrive shuttle bus and walked there instead. Drank mushroom soup as Nadiah and Nava enjoyed tauhu goreng and some char siu mee dish. Shopped for a bit before heading to Secret Recipes to eat salad which I shared with Nadiah. And I think I got scammed again. Mayhap I should start learning how to prepare and cook my own dishes. Was going to walk to the bus-stop with them when we noticed it was pouring outside. Nadiah kindly showed me to the shuttle bus pick up point and I waited for another 45 minutes before the JE bus came. Ironically enough, the buses to Clementi and Boon Lay came before it.

Casino Royale

Wasted the day sleeping and then...CASINO ROYALE! Joseph came late (as usual); perhaps I should buy him a timepiece for his birthday the next time. Entered the cinema late and was a little to surprised to see the sparse audience peppered randomly. Could have chosen better seats but decided to sit back and relax the show. It had all the ingredients of a James Bond Movie: hot girls, cool gadgets, thrilling chases, stylish villians and an added bonus. A Bond who can actually act! I watched Goldeneye the day before yesterday to conclude that Pierce Brosnan is but a handsome face. The free-running sequence at the construction site was explosive! Try picturing a guy climbing up a construction beam with his bare hands several stories high, and traversing an "obstacle course" with the ease of walking. Wish the ending tied up more of the loose ends instead of finishing with "Bond. James Bond", but I guess, it leaves room for a sequel. Maybe I can emulate Sebastian Foucan and attempt jumping over railings and stuff...

More CIP

gOpen up box with penknife. Retrieve wares. Pack wares into Goody Bag. Make Goody Bag Compact. Pack Goody Bag into Box. Seal Box. Shift Box.

Repeat 1012 times.

But this is meaningful, because I'm doing it out of the kindness of my own bleedin' heart =P.

CIP

Sort of got lost at the Singapore General Hospital Campus before I came to the packing place. I saw Ash's brother for the first time! They didn't really alike save for the eyes but it was sure as hell amusing to see them interacting. Met some new RJC people but didn't really talk to them much cus I was thrown into the thick of counting satchels of chocolate drinks. Hek Bing and Joshua seem like nice, easily amused fellows so I think there shouldn't be much of a problem talking to them. My lethargy and semi-conscious state was clearly not conducive for counting purposes and I lost the numbers when Wei Yi arrived. Together, we counted the 400 satchels TWICE and I reliquished saying the numbers altogether as I was beginning to forget. Lunch followed and then. it was back to packing, packing and more packing. Puva and me were hauled up to the office to cut coupons by Mrs Teo, the SNEC person in charge. It was a mind-numbing job and when the silences were drawn out thin and long, I had to interject some witty comment before I suffocated in it. Wei Yi came over despite the rain to deliver the T-shirts just as we finished cutting the coupons. Had a while to discuss about JC life and our plans for university before Mrs Teo returned and hustled us back to the packing place to double check the number of T-shirts. Mrs Teo is a patient, kind woman but I would appreciate if she was more decisive. She kept on oscillating from one decision to the next, keeping us on tenterhooks and wearing our patience thin. At 4.15 it was time for some briefing which I skipped due to persistent lassitude and low levels of awareness of surroundings. On the way home, I bought a T-shirt and got my hair layered. My head feels so much lighter now and no, its not the alcohol working its magic :P.

Back from Beijing

Out of 5 stars, I would give this trip 3 and a half. Gorged myself on dirt-cheap dumplings, sweet and sour fish, Peking Duck, gelato, bird's nest and other delicious food stuff. The places of interest were rather disappointing, with the exception of the Great Wall and Temple of Heaven. The Summer Palace, like most of Beijing, was undergoing renovation or reconstruction in preparation for the 2008 Olympics. Btw, the mascots (Bei, Jing, Huan, Ying, Ni) are ugly. But cute. And can you believe it, the guy who designed them was paid lump sum of one yuan or his efforts. So I looked ahead, expecting to see glittering red ceramic tiles, ornately adored with lifelike dragons. And behold! I see a lot of scaffolding. Bleh. I'll stick with the picturebooks. I sort of noticed Chinese Structures have a distinct pattern for names: Noun -of - Adjective -Noun/Adjective. For example, Hall of Supreme Harmony or Sty of Muddy Tiles (I'm kidding).
Beijing is larger than 2 Singapores; a journey from the North to South can clock 2 hours worth of travelling time on a bad day. You can see bicycles everywhere you turn and on an unrelated note, I think everyone who drives can try stunt driving. It would be nice to see more greenery though but that's just the Singaporean in me feeling jingoistic. Didn't get to buy any T-shirts because all the clothes stores, from the wholesalers to the fashion boutiques seemed to be selling coats, jackets, sweater (winter wear). My mum da-baoed leftovers from our meals to give to the poor and spoiled the moment by saying we should learn to be compassionate like her -_-. The daylight in Beijing is fast fading by 5ish so we were usually back in our situated in the middle-of -nowhere hotel by 6 plus. At least I can comprehend the TV programmes even if I don't quite enjoy them. Though when you're utterly bored, anything goes. Our tour guide lost her purse and with it, all her tips from our fellow tourist companions O_O.

Fencing Chalet

Day 1 or 3 depending on how you look at it

At 7 ish, the mahjong khakis were still awake, not that they actually slept though. They left in Pet's car and there were only 3 people left. Kaye, Pok and me settled for a snooze and for the first time in several days, we had a truly quiet moment. I told Kaye and Pok to go off at 12-ish if they wanted to since Darren said he would come at 2. As it turned out, I spent 2 and a half hours watching a mind-numbing mixture of Kids Central cack and Channel NewsAsia. No wonder they say kids have no creativity these days... A tirade of doorbell rings heralded the arrival of Terence and JX. I had some zzzz time again while they went to the Yatch Club to attempt to steal a boat (not kidding here). Was roused by some loud tapping on the window and guess WHO? It was JX and Terence. Darren came at FOUR and together we watched more Guiness Book of Records. Before that, I showed him the kitchen which smelt as though someone or something died inside. In case you wonder why the turnout was so dismal, it was cus not many people knew about it. In fact, the turnout was so dismal I didn't bother to take photos. Took bus to Tampines Mall and along the way, everyone save me was plagued by Alvin's phone calls and queries. Maybe he was trying to set a world record for most number of phone calls in an hour. Dined at Aijisen and was disturbed verbally by almost everyone excluding Darren. Even two small kids sitting to the tables front and behind had to join in. But JX stole the toy car of one for a moment :P. Played air hockey and decided I really suck at arcade games. Felt lethargic and oddly melancholic hence I left the arcade bunch for home.

Class Chalet: The BBQ

Day 2:

Awoke to see the trio returning and Phil watching TV. Not much action from then till 12ish as after breakfast, everyone but Phil went to sleep, leaving her to play O2 Jam. Phil left around noon as she had been stoning for the past 2 hours with no conscious human company. We watched TV till Larissa,Yun Lin came and in their wake, Zinc, Pok, Balpreet and Jeremy with bags of skewered chicken wings, sting rays and bbq-able food. We split up then, as some stayed behind to watch TV or play console games while the rest travelled to Ubin to cycle.
The Ubin trip was pretty fun; we encountered RI Red Cross (I randomly shouted out to some guy if he was from RI) and someone flipped over in a mishap. Zooming down the slopes was thrilling although the mad, sweaty peddling before that was not. But I reckon it made the descent all the more sweet :).
When we touched down on the mainland, JH and Kang Rui ran to the light the fire as the rest of us strolled leisurely back. I managed to get some candid photos of certain individuals ;). At the chalet, the rest of the lot with several other arrivals were watching the Guiness World Records featuring a man drilling nails through his nose. The DDR was set up soon after and to escape the humiliation of looking like a flurry of arms and legs, I went out to the BBQ area to help out. Caught up with Wu Chien and was glad to see he was still the friendly, carefree guy I knew. Cooked some of the skewered meat and as the daylight waned, people streamed out from the chalet to socialise, eat, drink beer or feed the cats which had been loitering around the area for some time. The SRP people came at 8-ish and Mr Lee still hadn't arrived so I gave him a call to find he was lost in the wilderness of Changi. We ate some DELICIOUS cheese cake which Pet made and as if on cue, Mr Chan and Mr Lee had their grand entrance. With them sated, we dragged them to the dance floor for a DDR show down. They were both sporting and despite the failed attempts, continued dancing gamely. Mr Lee got the hang of it rather fast and outclassed Mr Chan during the VS mode. Played mahjong, DDR (I got Suat to play!!!) and watched the kitchen folk busy preparing more food. The teachers left at 9-ish cus Mr Lee had been invited to the 3M chalet at Tanah Merah.
We headed to Changi Village, leaving behind JH as he was down with fever. Poor chap. Code named "Hersheys" (meant to sound like he-shes and for the more innocent readers, transverstites), they were the targets of our curious eyes. We toured Changi Village for twent y minutes or so. Next up, was pyrotechnics on the beach! With our jar of poppers, we had Kang Rui singing to some National Day theme and the rest of us popping in an imitation of the 21-gun salute. We played with sparklers and wrote 3Q in the sand! All the bright lights brought out pyromanic tendencies in Pok who wanted to pop into the sparklers. Although he did so, with us standing a 3m distance away, there was scarely an additional spark. Another long stroll back to the chalet... Zinc and me HOGGED the DDR and did 30 minutes of workout non-stop! We both did a lot better than before, partly because workout mode was easier and we had learnt to track the beat somewhat. I bathed and chilled out to the clacks of the mahjong tiles and was lulled to sleep by them.

Class Chalet: The Arrival

A Chronological Account

Day 1

The chalet was nice, big and spacious! Extremely conducive for noise making and tom-foolery! It was more of a group chalet as only Kang Rui, Ching Ting, Philana, Jung, Jun How and me were present. We alternated from playing bridge to watching TV to bumming on the king size bed while the laptop hoggers shot aliens and exercised their fingers with O2 Jam. Later, Pam and Kaye came, bringing with them, more glorious food (Packets of Instant Mee and M & Ms)! We watched TV for a bit before watching "My Sassy Girl" on Jung's laptop. It was pretty funny but the sleepy me couldn't quite take it and so went to crash. I realised how thin the chalet walls were when I slept in the furthest bedroom with the door shut and I could hear the characters speaking as clearly as though they were in the same room. Woke up in the evening to the smell of boiled instant mee and clearly, it was dinner time! Played more bridge, watched more TV and I decided to make up for the lack of house work I do; I washed most of the dishes! Pam, Kaye and Jung left later in the night so the remaining 5 of us bummed on the bed, getting into mini-pillow fights, playing Truth or Dare and talking about anything under the sun. Phil got really zonked halfway and went to bed and I followed suit shortly after. The 3 of them played Monopoly an made such racket that Phil shooed them out of the room with a gracefully raised index finger. While we were slumbering, they went to Changi Village and that is all I can say because I did not go with them and so I will let the pictures speak for me :).

What They Did


Romantic Sunrise....

Sabre lessons

There's nothing more annoying than sleeping at 3am, expecting to get a wholesome and well-deserved rest of about 8 hours, but instead getting roused by the strains of the Great Singapore Workout because your condo is conducting some mass exercise day. I'm cool with people getting exercise really, however it does not warrant a wake-up/morning call for the ENTIRE estate. Not like one day of exercise will cut down the obesity rate of Windermere anyway :P.
Cut to sabre lesson later at Juliana's salle. Ate cold lasagne and warm brownies! Did distancing and use the whole piste drills, which I hope I am starting to get a hang of. Fenced pools with my fellow sabreurs. Darren would have pwned everyone but he wasn't there so phew! Fenced Direct Elimination and wrangled wins for all my bouts although the one with Audrey was rather close. Would have had a smaller winning margin for Harold's bout if he had not attempted the newly taught moves that often. Still need to keep on working on disengage, distancing, acceleration and I hope I can muster the willpower to practice them everyday should the weather and my schedule permit.

Hatred

They say blood is thicker than water. I spit on that. I hate her, honestly I do. I don't think I've loathed anyone so much in my entire life. My family is not happy. She makes it worse. I wish on her things I've never wished on others. I wish she was just dead. I hope I'm saying this in a paroxysm of emotional turmoil. Happy families are or is a card game. In reality, they just don't bloody exist.

The Unalloyed Disaster

What you see up there, is an apt and succinct description of my ACTUAL PW Q and A. The presentation was fine I suppose; I didn't stumble or speak too fast and the audience seemed to be engaged. I mean, not like they could be up to any hanky panky right under the noses of the judges. I just hope the judges were looking my way when I was looking theirs, instead of the script. Its an utter shame none of the questions we painstakingly combed the report for and anticipated were asked. Murphy's law at its finest there. The judges clearly didn't take a shine to our project; our solutions were branded as naive and not addressing the crux of the issue. I think I mangled my question.

Q: How would you reconcile the fact that adolescents are likely to create a disturbance if they are attracted to parks and older people go to parks to relax and enjoy the serenity?

A: I think it is a generalisation to say that adolescents necessarily disrupt the peace and serenity... (downhill from then on)

The other group's members said I sounded confrontational and almost dismissive of the judge's opinion. BAAAADDDD. Towards the end of my answer, I began repeating my phrases and "yeahs" and "ums" started to flavor my sentences. I was rather thankful when the judge told me I could stop talking. My classmates said I bordered on the hysterical throughout the course of the presentation, smiling brightly and smothering oh-no-we're doomed giggles.
Went to enjoy MacDonald's breakfast meal with groupmates and classmates after we handed up our file. Submerged my 1 and a half pancakes in hot syrup to take away the bitterness of PW Q and A. I hope I don't die of diabetes in future.
For the rest of the day, it was SLEEP, then fencing training. Fencing as always, was fun.

Sabre Intensive Lesson 1

Only person from RJC till JX came but anyway he's assistant coach -_-. Did the usual warm up and lunge drills but in a deviation from the normal, we didn't do footwork exercises but bladework instead. We did drills to help us judge our hitting distance and it was through such drills I found my lunging was haywire in many ways: speed, order of movement and timing. David then explained to us the key to winning simultanni, which was taking 2 slow and small steps to access the opponent's reaction, before reacting to it. Practiced that drill with Harold, a brand new sabreur, and then decided I needed a LOT more drills before I get the hang of it. While I managed to garner the points sometimes, it was probably because he was slow in his extending his arm, rather than me employing the strategy. Fenced Sivi and clinched a win with a score of 15-12. Must have been rather lucky considering I am worse in her in all aspects. Fenced David and predictably lost even though he was fencing like a novice. Was thankful he was trying to show me the different possible scenarios that could ensue in a bout. My reaction was probably less than up to par..:(. Think I better religiously do lunge drills, footwork and bladework before the next lesson on Sunday.

Lunch at Mad Jack's

After a disastrous Chem SPA I will not go into further detail about, I went to Mad Jack's at Bukit Timah with Nava, the Siaus, Ash and Puva for a well-deserved lunch. We dallied at J8 for a while as people went off to buy bread, visit the loo, enjoy the aircon so I was rather hungry by the time we reached the place. Ash's and mine inital order of baked rice was rejected as they didn't have any more :(. Pity. Have never tried baked rice ever before. Mistakenly ordered a bottle of mineral water as I didn't see the difference between the aforementioned and plain water. We shared a plate of fish and chips that was worth the $6.90 as the fish portions were quite big and defintely crispy and succulent. The fries were just fries. I drenched the entire dish in tartar sauce which we then eagerly attacked. Even the salad, stuff I don't normally consume because I hate vegetables was much more edible then usual. Ash and I were certainly messy eaters as the plate was strewn with food remnants and dollops of tartar sauce.
We split up after the meal; the Siaus to collect their specs, me to home and the rest to Jurong Point for yet another makan excursion =P.

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.