2 years ago, everytime i received one of those computer generated letters from CMPB, i would feel annoyed, slightly harassed and even a little fearful. Now i actualyl look forward to it a little, there is always that hint of apprehension behind the excitement. Will it tell me when I enlist??? What do they want from me this time?? Today i received a green letter. "You are hereby required under the Enlistment Act (Chapter 93) to report for Vocation Assessment" at Sembawang Navel Base. I think one of my schoolmates got a purple letter asking himt o go for a commandos assessment. Well anyway, apparently, this is an assessment of my aptitude to be a naval diver. Jonathan had to undergo the same thing. I find this quite exciting, i would not mind being a naval diver. Diving is a very useful skill, especially for water loving creature like me. I'd definitely like to be a naval diver. If they think i am up to it or want me at least.
I had dinner at Thiong Bahru last night after the cell culture exam. OH, i simply must mention that along the way out of school, i flogged a delicious swissroll from the Design School Opening thingymajiggy's buffet. I just felt a bit cheeky, so i just took one when the lady when one of the buffet staff wasn't looking. Anyway, after dinner i actually went to chill and just relax by the fountain outside Thiong Bahru Plaza with some of my classmates. Strange how in the relatively short span of year, i have changed my attitude towards them. I now even enjoy their company. It has placed me in a position where i have come to regret the strong words condemning i had written in an entry from what seems like ages ago. I was unfair, and my general emotional health at that time wasn't the healthiest at all. I was bitter and resentful, i hated everything.
I'm still thinking about my naval assessment thing...i always kinda wanted to be in the navy. Blame bloody JAG....
The atmosphere was bloody amazing, the sheer crowd size reminded me of the national day parade celebration itself. 55, 000 people packed themselves into the Kallang Stadium to witness the final battle between Malaysia and Singapore to take place in the old stadium which has held for millions of Singaporeans, so many bitter and sweet memories. Once again, my respect goes out to Sameer for managing to start the kallang wave once again! This time, i did not shy away, and lent all the support i could. Boy was the feeling incredible to watch 55 000 people respond with gusto. After that showing...the lions had better not get careless with this opportunity to win the tournament for the second consecutive time. I finally saw what our chinese import Shi Jiayi was capable of and i must say that i was suitably impressed with his work rate, passing and clever control of the ball.
I watched the Drama Appreciation assessment today. It's always lovely to see Simone again. The two plays by the friday class were comedies strangely enough. Normally we see one drama and one comedy. Anyhow, i think the first play was entitled something like "A very strange honeymoon". I thought they did alright, even if some of the acting could have been better. But then when i read the script after they had finished performing, i felt that they did not do justice to what could have been a very entertaing play. The interpretation and comedic timing could have been so much better, and i also felt that they could have personalised it a little more in order to make it easier and more natural to perform, by changing the few spanish phrases they were forced to belt out into perhaps...chinese.... The second play was The Taming of The Shrew. Shakespeare. They attempted to squash a Shakespearean Comedy into a 20 minute period. If they had succeeded...pure genius...they didn't however and pretty much mangled it. The scenes were badly linked because they had to cut out many parts, and they failed to make use of the facilities available to them to set theme and mood. They really should not have made such an ambitious attempt.
I seem to have lost some confidence in my ability to pull off an A for any of my last exams. I am starting to doubt my own ability. I think this may have something to do with studying in too big a group. 4's a crowd. I very much prefer studying with just the company of one person. Less distraction yet sufficient company to make the atmosphere less oppressive.
I studied today at Moberly block. This block is T11 in SP, and was only recently renovated to cater to the more recreational needs of the students. Unfortunately, the marketing of the facilities has been so poor that i only learned of the existance of a Cafe there today.
The biggest drawback that comes with studying in the company of friends is that, more often than not, they pose tempting distractions for conversation. Shahid in particular loses focus very easily, and i think Dickson felt it very heavily today. Ah well, it's just for a little bit more, and i must push myself even if it saps me of my energy on a daily basis. I'm sure that concentration would be much easier if i had my bloody MP3 player.
Sue came, and we had a chat for about half an hour. We basically caught up and spoke about Graham a little. It seems that Graham Pegg is going to be leaving CQU and taking his hurricane like presence along with him. The staff at the uni, small as their campus may be will feel his loss quite significantly because he also leaves with his geyser of ideas and innovations which often keeps everyone on their toes.
In studying, i have found that one of the most important factors that contribute to success would have to be nutrition. If you don't feed your body well, your mind will not serve you at peak performance level. I had to eat a very early lunch today, and because i was not hungry, i chose to eat what must have been half the quantity of a normal meal. It was needless to say quite insufficient. When dinner time came, i could taste the foul hint of bile and gastric juices in the air from my stomach. I was so famished i gobbled down my plate of food in 5 minutes. I am honestly still a little hungry right now. I think i shall go get a few energy bars soon, so that i should have something to knaw at as my brain works.
Alright. Exam preparations begin pretty much the day after tomorrow. I've completed two modules already, bioinformatics and oral communication. Just another 4 to go. I am armed, i've downloaded all the past years's exam papers from the blackboard. Quite a lot to do, but i'll do what i have to in order to ace these last 4 papers. Damn it if i fuck it up this final time.
My gamble with the OC presentation paid off today. I was at first extremely fearful that my presentation would be a bore to my classmates. Turns out they appreciated it very much, especially Lily, the OC lecturer, she felt that it was meaningful. I took a gamble yesterday, and changed my presentation topic from "Animal Mating Strategies" to..."The Band" I presented the Titans to my classmates, and in the end it was the Titans Spirit which came through for me. I basically gave them a brief introduction on that which has kept me away from school for since i year 1. Then i presented their achievements of 2006. And i had time to show them the sob video in order to conclude the presentation in as sentimental a way as possible. My classmates felt it, felt the achievement, felt the passion and felt so many other things that we felt through watching that video. It basically gave the presentation an edge. For the first bloody time in my polytechnic education, the Titans have reached out from the depths and have played a direct role in aiding the course of my studies. Hopefully that presentation has given me a B+. I need the boost. I must now shift my focus to the more important issues at hand...
The presentation and quiz today have left me drained mentally. I drank a can of beer to remedy that. I suppose i am renewed now, my body invigorated with the refreshing effects of a lovely can of Stella Artois.
Ahh, for all that i have experienced...which may not be a great deal when placed in contrast with a person twice my age...but which i think is still considerable, i can still behave and think like a foolish little boy. My mind is not populated with clouds of doubt, so all is as it should be. What an intricate web it is that has been woven.
Jonathan has always said that "humans are creatures of habit". Indeed, i cannot fault that logical statement. Most living things are creatures of habit. The plantlets have shown good progress in terms of growth and vitality. I have observed that the best plants for transplant and acclimatization would seem to be those that are rather young and lacking a substantial amount of leaves through which transpiration would lead to excessive water loss. Furthermore, it would seem, that because of their tender age, they may be more adaptable to environmental changes as a young person is generally more adaptable to changes than an old person who has developed deep rooted habits and routine.
Sue Ferguson is coming to Singapore. She was one of the people who treated me so well while i was working in Australia. I do look forward to meeting her again. Although i do not know if i should go out of my way to do something for her. I shall have much to ask her, and i certainly hope she remembers me. I think she should remember having to open the door to the lab everyday so that i could get in and start work.
I read a few days ago, greg's blog entry about a stressful day and how an accumulation of several factors was leaving him down in the dumps. Not lowest in the list was the suit his father...my uncle is currently facing. I wish it would be appropriate for me to ask for more information about everything and how everyone is holding up.
The rain has kept me in the house all day. It feels weird having work to do yet not lifting a finger to complete it. I've all but given up on completing a proper essay for greg poi. Stupid topic i chose...brownfields...should have known better. And then there is Jinkai's bloody report thingy. Funny how the worst assignments come from the same module. I've been listening to Vangelis. I did not know, till i borrowed the CD from the library, that his compositions were all electronic. It creates quite an amazing effect honestly.
I've got my roses plantlets growing, i transplanted them on friday night, and its sunday and they look to be doing alright. No wilted leaves due to excessive transpiration yet. I guess i have to be grateful for this awful weather, because the moisture in the air has been of help to the acclimatization process. The coming week will be the most telling for the wee ones. I do think however, that this more organic soil which supposedly contains fungicide will greatly aid the process. Already shoots are growing... I quite appreciate the recent changes kenrick has been introducing to the band. The new timings, the more regimented approach during certain times, the addition of physical exercise. A healthier band will obviously have a healthier i suppose. I very much look forward to journeying with them into new territory. To be specific...the SYF indoor. This year will be most eventful...there will be many milestones. Entering the army, finishing polytechnic, syf indoor, turning 20. Who knows what else lies ahead...
This evening, i boarded bus 222 for the journey back home and was indescribably delighted to chance upon Joanna and her beau. A very pleasent surprise it was, because before i had boarded the bus, i was just thinking about her and how i had bumped into her more than once in that area on the way home. It left a smile on my face as i walked the 50 metres home from the bus stop...only to have to return home and enter into an argument with my mother about the way she questioned me about certain things. I'd brought home some nice fish from Janice and a bag of soil for my roses and she immediately asked me if i bought the fish and the rose plants. I was quite offended because i interpreted it as offensive. I thought she was implying that i was spending money needlessly. I need these things for recreation, i have this urge to nurture and grow things with tender loving care so to speak. I told her as much, well without explaining the urge of course, and she told me i was having too much recreation. GOD DAMN IT~! She dares to say such a thing. I require a balance for the amount of god damned study stress i endure. She accuses me of being hard and of asking questions in an unkind and insensitive manner when she does not realise that that part of my nature was either nurtured through being her son or inherited genetically! It left me fuming as i pondered the irony of it all.
Chen Pei has disappointed us again... well i could see it coming very early on. Once again, she decided not to meet up with Farzana and I for dinner. It was such a disappointment as i really did look forward to it. Of course i made the best of it, by purchasing the soil and spending the time in the library studying for the cell culture test tomorrow.
I was just thinking about the female vampire characters in Dracula as i walked to the bus stop at bedok, when a minah walked across me. I immediately saw the similarities between the two...voluptuous and wanton. I'd say that voluptuous minahs embody the character of a female vampire.
I've stopped working on the dumbells. Reason: Pointless. I should focus on doing push-ups instead. Assuming this works, i'll get silver for NAPFA and i'll have kenrick to thank. Last day of the the first holiday of last year and the first holiday of this year...I didn't quite get a holiday last year you know, was on attachment and all. I've sort of studied for a third of the day, trying to keep things going so that i won't straggle behind when school starts tomorrow. Have a presentation to do as well. Not looking forward to that, i basically really dislike talking to groups of people, big or small. In spite of that, i still get forced to do things like emceeing the ROD for band or doing an intro during their sec 1 cca choosing days. Which is why i was fairly upset when farzana came and made fun of my "erms" and "uhs" on stage. Very frankly...if there's an alternative to use other than me...please use him or her. As it is, i'm not quite happy with my public speaking ability so piss me off about it and i won't do it again. And i have a presentation tomorrow. Balls. I think i will have to get used to ths speaking to people thing, because much as i would like to have nothing to do with it, it's not my decision to make, and i will inevitably have to face more of this in University or wherever.
oh crud...
i just took a look at the NAPFA award scheme. I think i am going to fail the standing broad jump and pull-up requirements. How the hell do i jump further??!! should i jump 20 times a day till the day of the test!? And the pull-ups...its not legal unless your arms are totally straight during the recovery period. BAD BAD BAD BAD BAD. I think i am gonna work out everyday for the next two months just to pass this shit. I really don't need the extra two months in the army.
THE EXAM DATES ARE OUT! what a bloody long three months this is gonna fuckin' be.
Running three times a week now...i think i have no choice...Yeah right...like i am capable of doing that...
Crud...
And so a new year begins. A year of revolution and change, well personally at least. I complete polytechnic life this year, i join the army this year, and i begin the transition from my teenage years to my adulthood this year. Hmm, i went to celebrate the new year with my family this time round. The last three years or so were spent with friends, this year, i thought i'd go back to my routine and spend it with people who really new how to usher in the new year. Of course, before i went to my aunt's/grandmother's place, i met Felix and Norman at the NTUC at Siglap, imagine my amazement to find that they were celebrating the new year at Janice's. Could at least have told me right... ah well. After that i began to doubt my decision to spend new year's eve with family. There is a certain thrill and fun that comes with organizing your own party with friends, you actually have a stake in the amount of fun you might have. But celebrating with friends in the past three years has shown me that i simply do not experience the same kind of warmth i experience when i celebrate with my family. There are traditions like, Michael's cocktail shots, hugging each other as we wish one another a "happy new year" and singing auld lang syne with our arms crossed and locked forming a circle, as we move in and out crushing one another at the same time. Celebrating with friends, well kinda cold at times, most of the evenings turn out to be quite fine, but we don't sing auld lang syne or hug, which i sometimes think we should. I guess it takes a very mature or well developed friendship for that to take place, perhaps a more open minded one. Well, next year i'll wait and see what happens, perhaps i shall decide to celebrate with my friends. I ushered in the first few hours of the new year watching "Mind Your Language" on DVD while mopping my aunt's floor. At the same time however, i made thirty dollars, thanks to my good conscientious behaviour. Not so bad huh? I welcome the new year making some money to invest in my hobby or my stomach... I drank a lot this new year's eve though, a shit load, and although i remain sober and only slightly tipsy, i feel guilty about what the amount of alcohol i have consumed might do to my liver. Not to mention the amount of meat i consumed for dinner. I'd say that by the time i hit thirty, i'm gonna be a prime candidate for Gout...the "rich man's disease".
