You lose some, but you win more
I lost my wallet yet again. Argh I can be so careless.
But that's okay, as I'm trying out "optimistic" mode this time, and that always-look-at-the-bright-side-of-life stance. For one, my wallet didn't contain much money this time; in fact I was about to withdraw but didn't have the chance to. The only things of value were my matric card (which I use to access my room, get through hall doors, get meals, borrow books, enter computer rooms and lounges, but that's okay I can figure out stuff [i got in my room now in fact]), my ATM card (which is easily replaceable), and.. that's about it. My cashcard has only about two bucks, my toastmastesters card I don't use much, this rare Singapore and Brunei dollar bill aren't of much practical value since I planned to keep them only, my family pics I have bigger copies at home hehe, so basically no problem.
I'm not sure whether I lost my wallet in the taxi or in Suntec, but, nuff of that, because I think the brighter side of it all was that the NUS Choir gave a "superb" (that's according to our conductor Josephine) performance in the PAP 50th Anniversary Gala Dinner held just a couple of hours ago. We practised in the afternoon and rather lacked some oomph, but I think we delivered during the actual performance, which was at 10pm, and marked the end of the whole dinner, some sort of finale if you will.
It really was a grand event that dinner. We went into the convention center at around 2pm, and there were these big screens, lights, grand yet simple decor on stage and around the hall, and these really neat, dressed-up round tables for the VIP guests. Actually, the two front tables were marked VVIP instead, and, basing on the more elaborate decorations, the more elegant china and silverware on the table, those front tables were to seat the Singapore bigwigs.
And true enough, I got a good glimpse of LKY and Goh Chok Tong when we sang. Haha, I'm not sure I identify PM Lee Hsien Loong, but I'm sure I saw him since I looked at all the old guys' faces in that round table in my occasional glances past the conductor during our performance! Haha, all just to get a good look at these political celebrities.
For a while I thought we were going to share the ten-course meal (now I'm not too sure if it was ten), which included the symbolic shark's fin if I may add, but instead, we were just given large servings of chicken rice to eat in the holding room. It wasn't too bad, really, at least they gave us food, unlike that other group we sang for last time.
I'm also glad that I'm getting to know more people in the choir, and we're turning out to be pretty good friends. I'm thinking now that maybe the December caroling and the June competition won't make me too miserable, at the very least.
***
Back to the wallet, I'm glad that because of its loss, I was able to interact more with my friends and choirmates to help me. So thanks Yishu my neighbor for calling the taxi company to check for any reported found wallet, thanks Adrian for opening the D block 2nd floor gate twice and being genuinely concerned about all this crazy stuff, thanks Wey Ling and Shihui (choir president and VP, respectively), for taking my calls and helping me out in contacting Suntec. It amazes me to see that you're more willing to find the wallet than I am! Thanks guys.
Awhile ago I was thinking of saying this was still the Screw-up Series in effect, and it most probably is, but I won't say it. Yes, I try my darndest to stay in this "optimistic" mode, and hopefully it'll help me get through the crazy week to come.
The Swamped Series
Swamped Series
Actually the Screw-up Series endures, but right now I think I'm just Swamped.
As for Java, I'm just Stumped (but I'm figuring out stuff now ;)).
As for my Committee interviews, I got Dumped.
But nuff of the negative energy, we'll just call this the Swamped Series.
I never quite understood when my friends tell me it's their so called Hell Week and all, but if the past week and the next week are any indication, I might just be halfway into this blasted Hell Week.
But it's okay, I'm not complaining much, as I've resigned myself to the fact that University life is really busy (heck I had a bridging course also here at NUS as a primer). Still, I find my sleeping pattern all screwed up, my eyebags getting bigger, my zits popping like Pringles, my room getting messier. Wait a minute, WHAT SLEEPING PATTERN? There's no pattern now, in fact. I try to grab some shut-eye sometimes at noon, before dinner, or perhaps after dinner, since I sleep at around 3-4am now lately. As much as possible, I try not to sleep during lectures. That's one thing I'm proud about. Well, that is, if I make it into class, since I sometimes oversleep and skip half of my 8am classes. I didn't mean to, trust me. ;)
Anyway, I won't bore you about the boring details of my all-nighters with Java (it's stressful but I think I'm getting better), my comm interviews, and my essays and assignments, but I'll tell you the more happier stuff.
Culture Nite last night was a success! I sang with the KR Choir (Kent Ridge hall choir), and we sang the cheery When I'm 64 by the Beatles, and this really sad song, The Oak and the Ash. The Culture night this year was different from the previous years', since they integrated the drama (KRX), songwriting (Inspire), a cappella, band (Rockers), Dance, and Choir into a play of sorts. Quite cool actually, and birthday girl Ivy had the most interesting role as an effigy. She was basically running around making faces and laughing. Quite a debut she had. Showbiz debut too. Happy 18th Ivy! And congratulations to Choir for singing more confidently and harmoniously than I expected onstage.
Tomorrow also happens to be the PAP performance at Suntec City Convention Centre with the NUS Choir. I'm rather excited, as this will be the first time I'll see the all-powerful political elite of Singapore, including LKY. We'll perform late into the night, but we have to be there right after lunch! This has got to be one of the biggest shows of the Choir.
Oh, on a more not-so-happy-not-so-sad note, I'm probably going home on December 20. The exams will finish by the end of November still, but the NUS Choir is scheduled to do some caroling. On December 18 and 19, there'll be performances in no less than the Esplanade, so I didn't want to miss it. Also, the major reason is for the subsidy for the overseas competition in June! They say the more that we join in events, the more subsidy each member gets. But of course, I enjoy performing too outside (since I never got to do it in the Philippines), and it thrills me to think of the competition. I hope the time away from home is justified though.
Okay, I think I better stop here as I have mountains of stuff to do again! Good night blogster.
Actually the Screw-up Series endures, but right now I think I'm just Swamped.
As for Java, I'm just Stumped (but I'm figuring out stuff now ;)).
As for my Committee interviews, I got Dumped.
But nuff of the negative energy, we'll just call this the Swamped Series.
I never quite understood when my friends tell me it's their so called Hell Week and all, but if the past week and the next week are any indication, I might just be halfway into this blasted Hell Week.
But it's okay, I'm not complaining much, as I've resigned myself to the fact that University life is really busy (heck I had a bridging course also here at NUS as a primer). Still, I find my sleeping pattern all screwed up, my eyebags getting bigger, my zits popping like Pringles, my room getting messier. Wait a minute, WHAT SLEEPING PATTERN? There's no pattern now, in fact. I try to grab some shut-eye sometimes at noon, before dinner, or perhaps after dinner, since I sleep at around 3-4am now lately. As much as possible, I try not to sleep during lectures. That's one thing I'm proud about. Well, that is, if I make it into class, since I sometimes oversleep and skip half of my 8am classes. I didn't mean to, trust me. ;)
Anyway, I won't bore you about the boring details of my all-nighters with Java (it's stressful but I think I'm getting better), my comm interviews, and my essays and assignments, but I'll tell you the more happier stuff.
Culture Nite last night was a success! I sang with the KR Choir (Kent Ridge hall choir), and we sang the cheery When I'm 64 by the Beatles, and this really sad song, The Oak and the Ash. The Culture night this year was different from the previous years', since they integrated the drama (KRX), songwriting (Inspire), a cappella, band (Rockers), Dance, and Choir into a play of sorts. Quite cool actually, and birthday girl Ivy had the most interesting role as an effigy. She was basically running around making faces and laughing. Quite a debut she had. Showbiz debut too. Happy 18th Ivy! And congratulations to Choir for singing more confidently and harmoniously than I expected onstage.
Tomorrow also happens to be the PAP performance at Suntec City Convention Centre with the NUS Choir. I'm rather excited, as this will be the first time I'll see the all-powerful political elite of Singapore, including LKY. We'll perform late into the night, but we have to be there right after lunch! This has got to be one of the biggest shows of the Choir.
Oh, on a more not-so-happy-not-so-sad note, I'm probably going home on December 20. The exams will finish by the end of November still, but the NUS Choir is scheduled to do some caroling. On December 18 and 19, there'll be performances in no less than the Esplanade, so I didn't want to miss it. Also, the major reason is for the subsidy for the overseas competition in June! They say the more that we join in events, the more subsidy each member gets. But of course, I enjoy performing too outside (since I never got to do it in the Philippines), and it thrills me to think of the competition. I hope the time away from home is justified though.
Okay, I think I better stop here as I have mountains of stuff to do again! Good night blogster.
...
Programming is the ultimate depressant.
I salute all you programmers, and I wish I had that elusive "programming sense".
Remind me to steer clear of any programming modules EVER.
I salute all you programmers, and I wish I had that elusive "programming sense".
Remind me to steer clear of any programming modules EVER.
Surprise surprise
Surprise surprise
Guess who just got into CHEERLEADING COMM?!
Haha! Who would've thought?! On one hand, I feel that I've become so desperate I decided to tap that inner barker in me, just to earn hall points. BUT then again, I've always enjoyed yelling cheers in my high school days, and now in University, I've become quite "on" (Singaporean(?) word for "active" or something) in the cheers and yells for my Orientation group, as well as for Kent Ridge Hall in the NUS Rag and Flag Day.
Thursdays and Fridays are my longest days, as I've always said, and last night (Thursday) at 11:15pm, after two exhausting but enjoyable choir practices on top of my busy day, I went for the Cheerleading Comm interview. "Why do you want to join Cheerleading Comm?" this friendly girl Yan Yan smilingly asked. She was beside Weiyi, a very approachable fellow D-blocker, who was ex-CL head and now head of Recreation Comm.
I hesitated a bit, thought for a while (I'm not sure if I thought hard enough though), and decided to go for the road less traveled.
"The honest answer to that question is that.. I was rejected by three comms," I said with what I hoped to appear as a grin. "BUT," I hastily added upon seeing their smiling faces, "I've always surprised myself with something new in Singapore, like the Choirs I joined, when I never had choir experience in the Philippines. Besides, I was one of the barkers in our Cheerleading in high school. They got me because of my big voice and, um, I can clap loudly." Haha, I found that hearing myself say that last bit rather amusing. Hehe.
They made me do a cheer, I wasn't prepared, I was buying time and all, but I think they ultimately appreciated my cheerful energy and loud voice. Pakapalan na ng mukha eh. Hehe. I even gave a little sample of the bipbipbopbidipbidipbopbop cheer, which is one of those cool nonsensical cheers that surprisingly sound good.
Anyway, I have to earn more points still if I'm really intent on staying back in KR. The HPB and Hall Production Comms (yes I'm still watching their list of succesful applicants) found a bunch of new members in the last round, and the openings are getting fewer and fewer, meaning my chances of being a second-class member (yes I had to swallow a huge chunk of pride) are getting slimmer and slimmer.
Come to think of it, as was pointed out to me, maybe those comms didn't get me since I told them I was going home to the Philippines during the Christmas holidays. Their main activities are going to be held in January, see. Or, maybe they've just got uber high standards and I don't quite make the cut. Nah, I prefer the former.
***
Oh yeah, we're confirmed to be performing to the PAP (People's Action Party) next Saturday! And of course, my ticket to that performance is my favorite NUS Choir. Hehe. It's the PAP's 50th Anniversary Gala Dinner, and we were chosen to sing. If PAP doesn't ring a bell to you (I was clueless too a few months ago), it's basically Lee Kuan Yew and Co. Quite cool eh? LKY + ex-PM Goh Chok Tong, and current PM Lee Hsien Loong will be in the audience.
Get this: we had to submit our FIN/IC number and a passport-size photo for our security passes! So in yesterday's NUS Choir meeting, those who didn't have photos had an impromptu picture-taking session just so we could all perform next Saturday. Although I think the whole security thing is a teeny bit absurd, maybe I just have to realize these are Singapore's bigwigs, and of course, LKY is a worldwide celebrity almost always equated with SG's exponential growth and progress and all. He's my Uncle Tito's idol too.
***
Too long entry already! Guess I better rest since I aim to beat my Indonesian friend Johni to Statistics class tomorrow morning (later at 8am) since he says that I almost always turn up only during the 9am break (which is not quite untrue as well haha).
That's all the blogworthy stuff I have for now, but before I enjoy the comforts of my bed, let me just congratulate MIKE for finishing his final final exams, and wish JAY a safe trip to Davao.
G'night!
Guess who just got into CHEERLEADING COMM?!
Haha! Who would've thought?! On one hand, I feel that I've become so desperate I decided to tap that inner barker in me, just to earn hall points. BUT then again, I've always enjoyed yelling cheers in my high school days, and now in University, I've become quite "on" (Singaporean(?) word for "active" or something) in the cheers and yells for my Orientation group, as well as for Kent Ridge Hall in the NUS Rag and Flag Day.
Thursdays and Fridays are my longest days, as I've always said, and last night (Thursday) at 11:15pm, after two exhausting but enjoyable choir practices on top of my busy day, I went for the Cheerleading Comm interview. "Why do you want to join Cheerleading Comm?" this friendly girl Yan Yan smilingly asked. She was beside Weiyi, a very approachable fellow D-blocker, who was ex-CL head and now head of Recreation Comm.
I hesitated a bit, thought for a while (I'm not sure if I thought hard enough though), and decided to go for the road less traveled.
"The honest answer to that question is that.. I was rejected by three comms," I said with what I hoped to appear as a grin. "BUT," I hastily added upon seeing their smiling faces, "I've always surprised myself with something new in Singapore, like the Choirs I joined, when I never had choir experience in the Philippines. Besides, I was one of the barkers in our Cheerleading in high school. They got me because of my big voice and, um, I can clap loudly." Haha, I found that hearing myself say that last bit rather amusing. Hehe.
They made me do a cheer, I wasn't prepared, I was buying time and all, but I think they ultimately appreciated my cheerful energy and loud voice. Pakapalan na ng mukha eh. Hehe. I even gave a little sample of the bipbipbopbidipbidipbopbop cheer, which is one of those cool nonsensical cheers that surprisingly sound good.
Anyway, I have to earn more points still if I'm really intent on staying back in KR. The HPB and Hall Production Comms (yes I'm still watching their list of succesful applicants) found a bunch of new members in the last round, and the openings are getting fewer and fewer, meaning my chances of being a second-class member (yes I had to swallow a huge chunk of pride) are getting slimmer and slimmer.
Come to think of it, as was pointed out to me, maybe those comms didn't get me since I told them I was going home to the Philippines during the Christmas holidays. Their main activities are going to be held in January, see. Or, maybe they've just got uber high standards and I don't quite make the cut. Nah, I prefer the former.
***
Oh yeah, we're confirmed to be performing to the PAP (People's Action Party) next Saturday! And of course, my ticket to that performance is my favorite NUS Choir. Hehe. It's the PAP's 50th Anniversary Gala Dinner, and we were chosen to sing. If PAP doesn't ring a bell to you (I was clueless too a few months ago), it's basically Lee Kuan Yew and Co. Quite cool eh? LKY + ex-PM Goh Chok Tong, and current PM Lee Hsien Loong will be in the audience.
Get this: we had to submit our FIN/IC number and a passport-size photo for our security passes! So in yesterday's NUS Choir meeting, those who didn't have photos had an impromptu picture-taking session just so we could all perform next Saturday. Although I think the whole security thing is a teeny bit absurd, maybe I just have to realize these are Singapore's bigwigs, and of course, LKY is a worldwide celebrity almost always equated with SG's exponential growth and progress and all. He's my Uncle Tito's idol too.
***
Too long entry already! Guess I better rest since I aim to beat my Indonesian friend Johni to Statistics class tomorrow morning (later at 8am) since he says that I almost always turn up only during the 9am break (which is not quite untrue as well haha).
That's all the blogworthy stuff I have for now, but before I enjoy the comforts of my bed, let me just congratulate MIKE for finishing his final final exams, and wish JAY a safe trip to Davao.
G'night!
Screw-up Series
Screw-up Series
Someone just screwed up. To protect his privacy, let's call him J.
J went for three committee interviews last night, and was turned down by all three. He appeared to be rather confident about at least one comm, the Hall Promotion Board, which he assumed to require the skills he acquired in his previous hall (which we shall hide under the initials KE), especially from this crazy comm that we shall for the moment call PR C.
He tried out for this HPB, as well as for PO of HP. For CMU, he was presented the schedule of tasks, and he plainly couldn't make it since he also belonged to the Choir. Two of them, in fact. Bwahaha.
Anyway, rejected he was, although the note on the notice board says that if the one isn't listed, it doesn't mean that he/she is rejected totally. The "rejects" are supposedly still "under consideration". Yeah right. See if only rotten ones sign up for succeeding rounds, and if nobody else is good enough, they get the less rotten, waitlisted ones. GREAT. Second-rate members.
The sign also says that applicants whose names weren't posted can still apply for positions in the same comm. J says, Ooooookay, and get interviewed by the same persons, and say the same things. Talk about adding insult to injury.
The next morning, J took a linear algebra midterm test. How'd he do? Hmm.. let's just say that his luck wasn't getting any better just yet.
J has momentarily considered going to PGP next year due to his possible lack of hall points in his desired hall, KR, but he isn't giving up yet. He vows to muster all remaining dignity and self-esteem to go for the next round of interviews.
And of course, he promises to study a little harder every day. Singapore has a meritocratic education system, as J has learned from his SS module (he watched this cool film for SSA1206, Jack Neo's "I Not Stupid" last Monday), and he is now more acutely aware of this fact.
J goes back to work now. Good night.
Someone just screwed up. To protect his privacy, let's call him J.
J went for three committee interviews last night, and was turned down by all three. He appeared to be rather confident about at least one comm, the Hall Promotion Board, which he assumed to require the skills he acquired in his previous hall (which we shall hide under the initials KE), especially from this crazy comm that we shall for the moment call PR C.
He tried out for this HPB, as well as for PO of HP. For CMU, he was presented the schedule of tasks, and he plainly couldn't make it since he also belonged to the Choir. Two of them, in fact. Bwahaha.
Anyway, rejected he was, although the note on the notice board says that if the one isn't listed, it doesn't mean that he/she is rejected totally. The "rejects" are supposedly still "under consideration". Yeah right. See if only rotten ones sign up for succeeding rounds, and if nobody else is good enough, they get the less rotten, waitlisted ones. GREAT. Second-rate members.
The sign also says that applicants whose names weren't posted can still apply for positions in the same comm. J says, Ooooookay, and get interviewed by the same persons, and say the same things. Talk about adding insult to injury.
The next morning, J took a linear algebra midterm test. How'd he do? Hmm.. let's just say that his luck wasn't getting any better just yet.
J has momentarily considered going to PGP next year due to his possible lack of hall points in his desired hall, KR, but he isn't giving up yet. He vows to muster all remaining dignity and self-esteem to go for the next round of interviews.
And of course, he promises to study a little harder every day. Singapore has a meritocratic education system, as J has learned from his SS module (he watched this cool film for SSA1206, Jack Neo's "I Not Stupid" last Monday), and he is now more acutely aware of this fact.
J goes back to work now. Good night.
Cross
Cross
My MSN nick reads, TicTacToe has got me quite cross X(.
Yep, that's the name of the program we're supposed to have done. I worked days and nights and late nights (last night I was at the Computer Centre till 1am since the URL loaded like the fastest sloth on my PC). Today, I was working all day and until the very last minute of the deadline, 12midnight.
We were tasked to create a TicTacToe Program that would run on 3 skill levels: Simple (a.k.a. Dumb), Random (a.k.a. Dumber-But-At-Least-It's Guessing), and Smart (a.k.a. SUPPOSEDLY Unbeatable).
This is my program. It's not unbeatable, but at least it passed 4 out of 6 test cases by the autograder. I hope I don't get penalized though, for style and design. If you know me, you'd know I'm not the logical, structured, organized thinker type. And this may very well be the last Programming module I will ever take.
But also, Anthony (our lab instructor with a PhD but who, like the rest of the faculty and staff, prefers to be called by his first name), stated that we need not aim to pass all 6 cases. 4 was enough, he said, but of course, it would have been jsut WONDERFUL to pass all six after the long bloody hours I've bloodily spent.
That's that. I'm supposed to have a Linear Algebra midterm test tomorrow (yes, while all you folks in the Philippines are nearing your sembreak!), but I think I'll go for the Tuesday test. STRICTLY speaking I should be in the Monday group, but since I attend the repeat lecture every Tuesday anyway (since Monday is Java LAB Day, SS Day, and NUS Choir and KR Choir Day). I hope Dr Roger Poh doesn't mind. (I didn't want to email him too, since he might tell me to go for tomorrow's 8am test, which I will quite possibly fail since I've been basically been breathing J-A-V-A the past week (and still I'm struggling to figure it out).
Tomorrow, I have three scheduled interviews for Hall Committees: Hall Promotion Board, Hall Production (Publicity) and Culture Management Unit. I'm working for hall stayback, so I sincerely hope I get into at least HPB and Hall Prod'n. I have choirs on top of them anyway, plus my stint in the Ridge Publication of NUS Stude's Union.
BTW, I'm not gonna be published for the October issue of the Ridge. Well not just yet. It's okay, really, since we all take our turns (I think). Besides, my fellow writers in the Outspoken Department are mostly from Arts, so they're of top calibre.
I'm unfortunately going to have to skip my NUS Choir practice tomorrow, but I'm sure they'll understand that three interviews cannot be rescheduled. What won't be cancelled for sure is the Programming Sit-in Lab at 11am! Woooohooo. I wish I do well. Singapore Studies at 2pm, something I've always been looking forward to. Like the banishment of TicTacToe from my spinning head. ;)
My MSN nick reads, TicTacToe has got me quite cross X(.
Yep, that's the name of the program we're supposed to have done. I worked days and nights and late nights (last night I was at the Computer Centre till 1am since the URL loaded like the fastest sloth on my PC). Today, I was working all day and until the very last minute of the deadline, 12midnight.
We were tasked to create a TicTacToe Program that would run on 3 skill levels: Simple (a.k.a. Dumb), Random (a.k.a. Dumber-But-At-Least-It's Guessing), and Smart (a.k.a. SUPPOSEDLY Unbeatable).
This is my program. It's not unbeatable, but at least it passed 4 out of 6 test cases by the autograder. I hope I don't get penalized though, for style and design. If you know me, you'd know I'm not the logical, structured, organized thinker type. And this may very well be the last Programming module I will ever take.
But also, Anthony (our lab instructor with a PhD but who, like the rest of the faculty and staff, prefers to be called by his first name), stated that we need not aim to pass all 6 cases. 4 was enough, he said, but of course, it would have been jsut WONDERFUL to pass all six after the long bloody hours I've bloodily spent.
That's that. I'm supposed to have a Linear Algebra midterm test tomorrow (yes, while all you folks in the Philippines are nearing your sembreak!), but I think I'll go for the Tuesday test. STRICTLY speaking I should be in the Monday group, but since I attend the repeat lecture every Tuesday anyway (since Monday is Java LAB Day, SS Day, and NUS Choir and KR Choir Day). I hope Dr Roger Poh doesn't mind. (I didn't want to email him too, since he might tell me to go for tomorrow's 8am test, which I will quite possibly fail since I've been basically been breathing J-A-V-A the past week (and still I'm struggling to figure it out).
Tomorrow, I have three scheduled interviews for Hall Committees: Hall Promotion Board, Hall Production (Publicity) and Culture Management Unit. I'm working for hall stayback, so I sincerely hope I get into at least HPB and Hall Prod'n. I have choirs on top of them anyway, plus my stint in the Ridge Publication of NUS Stude's Union.
BTW, I'm not gonna be published for the October issue of the Ridge. Well not just yet. It's okay, really, since we all take our turns (I think). Besides, my fellow writers in the Outspoken Department are mostly from Arts, so they're of top calibre.
I'm unfortunately going to have to skip my NUS Choir practice tomorrow, but I'm sure they'll understand that three interviews cannot be rescheduled. What won't be cancelled for sure is the Programming Sit-in Lab at 11am! Woooohooo. I wish I do well. Singapore Studies at 2pm, something I've always been looking forward to. Like the banishment of TicTacToe from my spinning head. ;)
As personal as it gets
As personal as it gets
Ten things. Something I ripped off Michaelstyx's blog, who ripped it off from Jeunesse's, who ripped it off from her friend's. Ten things I'd like to say to ten different people (or even groups of people since I tried to be less specific). Guess which message is for you? Haha. Don't look for yours here. Ask me! Hehe. But of course, if you're in need of a message from me, by all means choose a number from one to ten and pick! Hehe.
Anonymity can be a very good thing. This is brutally honest, and as personal as it gets.
Don't read between the lines, I suggest.
1. I miss you. I've read that absence makes the heart grow fonder, but sometimes (as I've also read), it just makes it forget. Please keep in touch.
2. I am annoyed by you. I don't mean to be the saintly one here, but I wish you were more sensitive, more responsible, less pretentious.
3. I feel for you. Don't worry, we're all struggling here. I'm always online, and I'm always just around the corner.
4. You make me laugh. Thanks a lot.
5. I appreciate your good intentions, but I feel you're not up to the task. Still, thank you for persisting.
6. I should not be doing this to you. I'm sorry, I can be pretty weird sometimes.
7. Thanks. Good luck to you. I wish we could be friends, because I think we'd be good buddies.
8. I'm glad we're much better friends now. Thanks always for the help.
9. I'm sorry for everything. Don't hate me.
10. I miss you. We almost never see each other in the last couple of years, but I'm confident that after some catching up, we'll be great as usual.
Ten things. Something I ripped off Michaelstyx's blog, who ripped it off from Jeunesse's, who ripped it off from her friend's. Ten things I'd like to say to ten different people (or even groups of people since I tried to be less specific). Guess which message is for you? Haha. Don't look for yours here. Ask me! Hehe. But of course, if you're in need of a message from me, by all means choose a number from one to ten and pick! Hehe.
Anonymity can be a very good thing. This is brutally honest, and as personal as it gets.
Don't read between the lines, I suggest.
1. I miss you. I've read that absence makes the heart grow fonder, but sometimes (as I've also read), it just makes it forget. Please keep in touch.
2. I am annoyed by you. I don't mean to be the saintly one here, but I wish you were more sensitive, more responsible, less pretentious.
3. I feel for you. Don't worry, we're all struggling here. I'm always online, and I'm always just around the corner.
4. You make me laugh. Thanks a lot.
5. I appreciate your good intentions, but I feel you're not up to the task. Still, thank you for persisting.
6. I should not be doing this to you. I'm sorry, I can be pretty weird sometimes.
7. Thanks. Good luck to you. I wish we could be friends, because I think we'd be good buddies.
8. I'm glad we're much better friends now. Thanks always for the help.
9. I'm sorry for everything. Don't hate me.
10. I miss you. We almost never see each other in the last couple of years, but I'm confident that after some catching up, we'll be great as usual.
System.out.println("Hello World!")
System.out.println("Hello World!")
Oy! At nagbablog uli ang bata kahit supposedly busy sya.
Oh well. It's the weather. Or not.
I'm mighty glad the week is over, and I'm still in one piece. I can tell from the MSN nicks of my friends, that pretty much everyone is struggling, but I'm glad that when I do see them around hall or in school, they still manage to laugh and smile and act "normally". (Haha, that last bit in the previous sentence didn't go too well)
In any case, you can tell from the title of this post that Java is still haunting me and the rest of my CS1101 buddies, but now we can all breathe a a collective sigh of relief as the deadline of our ultra cryptic TicTacToe task is extended till next weekend!
I've been making full use of my whiteboard to update me of stuff to do, and it never seems to get cleared, as new tasks are always popping up. Ganito lang siguro talaga pag nasa "University" na, one that even claims to be world-class. (Shempre proud of NUS :D)
Updates, updates. I downloaded the premiere of this hot new spin-off of CSI, called CSI:New York. They call it CSI:NY in fact, and it rhymes! I thought this would be make me jaded about the whole CSI franchise after CSI and CSI:Miami (William Peterson a.k.a. Gil Grissom of the original was totally against these spin-offs), but this new production seemed so COOOOL. Gary Sinise (I remember him as the amputee in Forrest Gump) gives a pretty intense performance as Mac Taylor, and the supporting cast is very good, not too mention aesthetically pleasing (the female lead resembles SJP of SATC, and the other Kylie-Minogue-ish girl has these full pouty lips, and even the guys look decent). I think they worked their darndest to make this a well-polished, classy production, and it WORKS.
I'm still downloading the finale of Amazing Race though, since I missed it when they aired it a few weeks ago.
Awhile ago, I celebrated the end of the week by checking out the newest music videos on Yahoo!Launch. I think the lovely Alicia Keys pairs perfectly with Usher (they did two collaborations already) and Alicia looks hot in this latest "My Boo" video. And as for Britney's latest, I'd have to say she's physically gorgeous, but I think she's too geared towards the overly sexy and titillating that she has somehow lost her appeal on me. And the way she looks at marriage and all turns me off. I'm glad that Mase is making a comeback, after his smash rap/R&B hits in the late nineties, and I'm hoping that he makes yet another splash. Vanessa Carlton is still likeable and pleasant and nice, but I think her new video lacks some oomph. Maroon 5's She Will be Loved video (yes I saw it only now, haha) is one ultra cool video worth watching over and over, but the concept of it all (guy falls for lover's mom) is something I didn't quite expect upon hearing the song only on the radio, and is something I don't quite buy. But as I've told you, it's ultra cool. Like my dance idol Usher's video. Hehe.
Oh yeah, since we're down to TV and entertainment (look where my digression led me, hehe), watch this WAY COOL Gap ad starring SJP and Lenny Kravitz. Thanks Kiko for posting the link on his blog. I've also watched Jasmine Trias's ad for Smart, and I wasn't impressed with the production, although of course Jasmine is still as beautiful as her voice. It was much too cheesy, and Jasmine seemed detached, especially as she was floating in clouds or something. It could get classier than that, I think. ;)
Okay, enough of this, as my Java's waiting! Cheers.
Oy! At nagbablog uli ang bata kahit supposedly busy sya.
Oh well. It's the weather. Or not.
I'm mighty glad the week is over, and I'm still in one piece. I can tell from the MSN nicks of my friends, that pretty much everyone is struggling, but I'm glad that when I do see them around hall or in school, they still manage to laugh and smile and act "normally". (Haha, that last bit in the previous sentence didn't go too well)
In any case, you can tell from the title of this post that Java is still haunting me and the rest of my CS1101 buddies, but now we can all breathe a a collective sigh of relief as the deadline of our ultra cryptic TicTacToe task is extended till next weekend!
I've been making full use of my whiteboard to update me of stuff to do, and it never seems to get cleared, as new tasks are always popping up. Ganito lang siguro talaga pag nasa "University" na, one that even claims to be world-class. (Shempre proud of NUS :D)
Updates, updates. I downloaded the premiere of this hot new spin-off of CSI, called CSI:New York. They call it CSI:NY in fact, and it rhymes! I thought this would be make me jaded about the whole CSI franchise after CSI and CSI:Miami (William Peterson a.k.a. Gil Grissom of the original was totally against these spin-offs), but this new production seemed so COOOOL. Gary Sinise (I remember him as the amputee in Forrest Gump) gives a pretty intense performance as Mac Taylor, and the supporting cast is very good, not too mention aesthetically pleasing (the female lead resembles SJP of SATC, and the other Kylie-Minogue-ish girl has these full pouty lips, and even the guys look decent). I think they worked their darndest to make this a well-polished, classy production, and it WORKS.
I'm still downloading the finale of Amazing Race though, since I missed it when they aired it a few weeks ago.
Awhile ago, I celebrated the end of the week by checking out the newest music videos on Yahoo!Launch. I think the lovely Alicia Keys pairs perfectly with Usher (they did two collaborations already) and Alicia looks hot in this latest "My Boo" video. And as for Britney's latest, I'd have to say she's physically gorgeous, but I think she's too geared towards the overly sexy and titillating that she has somehow lost her appeal on me. And the way she looks at marriage and all turns me off. I'm glad that Mase is making a comeback, after his smash rap/R&B hits in the late nineties, and I'm hoping that he makes yet another splash. Vanessa Carlton is still likeable and pleasant and nice, but I think her new video lacks some oomph. Maroon 5's She Will be Loved video (yes I saw it only now, haha) is one ultra cool video worth watching over and over, but the concept of it all (guy falls for lover's mom) is something I didn't quite expect upon hearing the song only on the radio, and is something I don't quite buy. But as I've told you, it's ultra cool. Like my dance idol Usher's video. Hehe.
Oh yeah, since we're down to TV and entertainment (look where my digression led me, hehe), watch this WAY COOL Gap ad starring SJP and Lenny Kravitz. Thanks Kiko for posting the link on his blog. I've also watched Jasmine Trias's ad for Smart, and I wasn't impressed with the production, although of course Jasmine is still as beautiful as her voice. It was much too cheesy, and Jasmine seemed detached, especially as she was floating in clouds or something. It could get classier than that, I think. ;)
Okay, enough of this, as my Java's waiting! Cheers.
Thank God for the Music
Hey there. Another busy week, and I'm getting rather exhausted. Yesterday was a bad day for Java, as I did pretty badly for my assessed sit-in lab (where we were supposed to submit two programs at the end of the one-hour period), and now several deadlines are looming around, nagging me a little harder by the minute.
I couldn't do one program for the sit-in lab (at least on-the-spot) so I concentrated my efforts in making this ROT13 program, which changes the characters of a given string into new characters with + 13 value in the alphabet (try mapping 1-26 from A-Z), and it seemed to be working perfectly, but it turns out I only passed 4 out of the 6 secret test cases of the autograder. I could've submitted after the one-hour period, but then I'd get only a third of the full marks. Besides, in my haste and panic, I unknowingly used up my submission quota of 10. Oh well.
Later in my SS (SG Studies) module, we tackled this entertaining Singaporean play, Emily on Emerald Hill. It was a nice monodrama/monologue, and the first discussion by the tutor-turned-lecturer (who, btw, Brice, Bryan (Cu) and I thought was quite pretty), but what seemed to bother us more were the nearing quiz, and the deadline for the proposal for our Assignment 2 (which would constitute a good chunk of our grade since this module is non-examinable).
I went back to the hall feeling quite tired, and took a quick nap, while preparing myself for a looooong night ahead, as I had two choirs to attend in the evening, the NUS Choir until about 9:30pm, and the KR Choir from 10:30pm onwards.
The choirs required some effort from me and my lungs of course, but halfway through, I was getting more and more relaxed, which should've been quite ironic, actually. But apparently, singing music does wonders, especially since we sung particularly good songs tonight: Fly Me to the Moon, Kyrie, and the spine-tingling Prayer to St Francis (for NUS Choir), and Hear the Music and the cool and humorous Beatles classic When I'm 64 (KR Choir).
I had to strain my vocal chords though, since I was singing for Bass 2 in NUS, and Tenor for KR. I was worried about the high notes (since this was the first sectional practice for KR), but it turned out to be a falsetto-fest of sorts (for everyone of us too). Hehe.
I'm still swamped us as ever, but maybe I'll just sing my way through.
Hey there. Another busy week, and I'm getting rather exhausted. Yesterday was a bad day for Java, as I did pretty badly for my assessed sit-in lab (where we were supposed to submit two programs at the end of the one-hour period), and now several deadlines are looming around, nagging me a little harder by the minute.
I couldn't do one program for the sit-in lab (at least on-the-spot) so I concentrated my efforts in making this ROT13 program, which changes the characters of a given string into new characters with + 13 value in the alphabet (try mapping 1-26 from A-Z), and it seemed to be working perfectly, but it turns out I only passed 4 out of the 6 secret test cases of the autograder. I could've submitted after the one-hour period, but then I'd get only a third of the full marks. Besides, in my haste and panic, I unknowingly used up my submission quota of 10. Oh well.
Later in my SS (SG Studies) module, we tackled this entertaining Singaporean play, Emily on Emerald Hill. It was a nice monodrama/monologue, and the first discussion by the tutor-turned-lecturer (who, btw, Brice, Bryan (Cu) and I thought was quite pretty), but what seemed to bother us more were the nearing quiz, and the deadline for the proposal for our Assignment 2 (which would constitute a good chunk of our grade since this module is non-examinable).
I went back to the hall feeling quite tired, and took a quick nap, while preparing myself for a looooong night ahead, as I had two choirs to attend in the evening, the NUS Choir until about 9:30pm, and the KR Choir from 10:30pm onwards.
The choirs required some effort from me and my lungs of course, but halfway through, I was getting more and more relaxed, which should've been quite ironic, actually. But apparently, singing music does wonders, especially since we sung particularly good songs tonight: Fly Me to the Moon, Kyrie, and the spine-tingling Prayer to St Francis (for NUS Choir), and Hear the Music and the cool and humorous Beatles classic When I'm 64 (KR Choir).
I had to strain my vocal chords though, since I was singing for Bass 2 in NUS, and Tenor for KR. I was worried about the high notes (since this was the first sectional practice for KR), but it turned out to be a falsetto-fest of sorts (for everyone of us too). Hehe.
I'm still swamped us as ever, but maybe I'll just sing my way through.
Good Mistake
Today was a stressful day, and it isn't solely due to my Stats midterm test at 3 this afternoon.
Although of course Stats was a big factor. I reviewed my paper thrice, and I was almost confident I'd only get a mistake or two only. Turns out, I had at least 3 mistakes after consulting with the lecturer after the test. There were these tricky tricky questions, really, and for a few times there I could almost see the popping up of lightbulbs, but it turns out they did me more harm than good. My first answers were already right, and because of thinking too much (it was open-book too, btw) I changed it to something else. Oh well.
There was this particular question which I answered D, or "25", a change from my original answer of E, "There is insufficient information to answer the question". After much thought, I realized that you could do some standard deviation thing, and get the value of 25. Turns out E was the right answer after all, as a bunch of curious students gathering around Dr Gan (the prof who likes Garfield as much as he likes to digress..but it's all okay since he's funny) corrected me. Binara ba naman ako nung mga students. So here I must commend Dr Gan for smilingly giving me the best compliment I got on this sucky day: That was a good mistake.
The CS1101 test scores were released too. I'm about a point or two below the mean. Argh. I'm not sure if I should even be blogging this, as I'm not sure I'd like people to know too much about me. Especially if they like to sensationalize things, which is something I downright HATE.
Anyway, that's that. But those two tests didn't bother me as much as I was bothered by something else. It's about people looking down on my major: Statistics. It's about talking about me in the third person when I'm within earshot. Enough said.
Here's to more good mistakes, or better yet, right answers. And I'm not referring to test questions only.
G'night.
P.S.
Sorry Ferron I wasn't able to watch Imelda with you, Gelo, and the bridging kids. Not in the mood, not feeling well, tired. All valid excuses. I wanted to watch it though.
Happy happy birthday to one of my greatest teachers (and providers shempre), Dad. :)
Today was a stressful day, and it isn't solely due to my Stats midterm test at 3 this afternoon.
Although of course Stats was a big factor. I reviewed my paper thrice, and I was almost confident I'd only get a mistake or two only. Turns out, I had at least 3 mistakes after consulting with the lecturer after the test. There were these tricky tricky questions, really, and for a few times there I could almost see the popping up of lightbulbs, but it turns out they did me more harm than good. My first answers were already right, and because of thinking too much (it was open-book too, btw) I changed it to something else. Oh well.
There was this particular question which I answered D, or "25", a change from my original answer of E, "There is insufficient information to answer the question". After much thought, I realized that you could do some standard deviation thing, and get the value of 25. Turns out E was the right answer after all, as a bunch of curious students gathering around Dr Gan (the prof who likes Garfield as much as he likes to digress..but it's all okay since he's funny) corrected me. Binara ba naman ako nung mga students. So here I must commend Dr Gan for smilingly giving me the best compliment I got on this sucky day: That was a good mistake.
The CS1101 test scores were released too. I'm about a point or two below the mean. Argh. I'm not sure if I should even be blogging this, as I'm not sure I'd like people to know too much about me. Especially if they like to sensationalize things, which is something I downright HATE.
Anyway, that's that. But those two tests didn't bother me as much as I was bothered by something else. It's about people looking down on my major: Statistics. It's about talking about me in the third person when I'm within earshot. Enough said.
Here's to more good mistakes, or better yet, right answers. And I'm not referring to test questions only.
G'night.
P.S.
Sorry Ferron I wasn't able to watch Imelda with you, Gelo, and the bridging kids. Not in the mood, not feeling well, tired. All valid excuses. I wanted to watch it though.
Happy happy birthday to one of my greatest teachers (and providers shempre), Dad. :)
QUICKIE
Heeeey. Isn't it just so surprising, almost shocking even, that I haven't blogged for a week! Haha. Quite a feat.
I must confess though, that I tried to blog last night, and I was about 90% done when for some reason the browser window closed (I use this neat browser called Avant Browser btw, a cross between IE and Netscape), and everything went pffffft.
But I'm not complaining much, really. Today, and for the past few days, I've been feeling strangely fine.
Anyway, I promised this would be a quick one, so maybe I'll just rush through stuff since I still have a Statistics midterm tomorrow! ;)
* Java midterm test this afternoon. Quite okay, I guess. I've been cramming for it, actually, since I learned the never-study-in-bed lesson a little too late. I had a number of errors, I realized later in my discussions with classmates, but right now, I'm just relieved that it's over.
Oh, here's an interesting image:
Cool eh? That's for our Java Lab due on Sunday, 2359hrs. It's a representation of the Mandelbrot Set (I even used it for my MSN display pic). We had to create a program that would ask user inputs about whether the image is in color or grayscale, the image width and height, and the complex number coordinates of the top-left and bottom-right pixel. Here's a detailed description of the rather interesting torture. ;)
I worked overtime for that (I was submitted the program online the other day). Days and nights even. Still, I needed help from Wayne especially (who came to my room), Arthur (who I visited in his room in my old hall KE), and Brice (who patiently put up with my pestering on MSN and YM). Thank you everyone. Appreciate it a lot.
* I'm rediscovering Friendster! I used to search for and add friends mostly, but now that I seem to be just crowding up my friend list, I've decided to make testimonials! Quite fun, actually. Endearing even.
* Remember Alfian? He actually replied to my email. I didn't expect it, really, since he's accomplished and all, but there was this reply of considerable length in my inbox. I'll post it later. I wish I could write smart like him! You just know that he's got something to say. And he's a non-conformist too, so he has all these smart pointed opinions about significant matters in Singapore society. Hmm.. what do I write about, really? Hehe. Structured and sensible blabber, more like it. But heck, humor me. I'm just a kid. All 18 years of me. Hehe.
* NUS Choir practice from 10am-4pm yesterday! My legs hurt from too much standing. But it was nice really, and I'm beginning to really like the choir and the songs (although I think people there, me included, need to be more sociable hehe). We sing a variety of songs in different languages, but what I sincerely appreciated yesterday were the religious Christian hymns like Credo and Sanctus. Sends chills down my spine, especially since it's in Latin. And these brilliant composers, how they capture the emotions of the song.
I was beginning to think that with the intense workload of the NUS choir, what brilliant destressor it was to actually listen and enjoy what we were singing. Bah, in fact, people pay to listen to the NUS Choir (2 scheduled external performances in the next 2 weeks), so I might as well enjoy listening to, um.. US. Hehe. I have a long way to go before reaching the status of the other more experienced choir members, yes, but what I like about the choir is that we blend one another's voices and sing as one, so nobody specific really gets the credit. And as long as I don't sing the wrong notes, I must be doing something right, right? Hehe. Humor me, I'm just plain exhausted. :P
* I'm quite swamped with stuff to do, really, and I'm hurdling one task after another. There's this Stats test tomorrow, a Bio assignment on Thursday, a quiz in my SG studies next week, and loads of readings to do especially in Linear Algebra (since I'm so lost and the lecturer, although with the best intentions, is not helping much). But tomorrow, IMELDA muna! Thanks Ferron for inviting! And for being a constant blog reader shempre. Thanks!
And maybe here's the opportunity to thank all the rest of my blog readers. THANKS THANKS LOADS. While I can't really do an ala superstar-speech saying I blog because of the readership (since this is supposed to be a personal thing above all, right?), but I totally appreciate people stalking and spying on me by reading my blog. Hehe. (Maybe everyone secretly wants to be a superstar haha)
Hmm.. was this quickie not quick enough? Oops. Better get back to reading my statistics notes! God bless everyone!
Heeeey. Isn't it just so surprising, almost shocking even, that I haven't blogged for a week! Haha. Quite a feat.
I must confess though, that I tried to blog last night, and I was about 90% done when for some reason the browser window closed (I use this neat browser called Avant Browser btw, a cross between IE and Netscape), and everything went pffffft.
But I'm not complaining much, really. Today, and for the past few days, I've been feeling strangely fine.
Anyway, I promised this would be a quick one, so maybe I'll just rush through stuff since I still have a Statistics midterm tomorrow! ;)
* Java midterm test this afternoon. Quite okay, I guess. I've been cramming for it, actually, since I learned the never-study-in-bed lesson a little too late. I had a number of errors, I realized later in my discussions with classmates, but right now, I'm just relieved that it's over.
Oh, here's an interesting image:
Cool eh? That's for our Java Lab due on Sunday, 2359hrs. It's a representation of the Mandelbrot Set (I even used it for my MSN display pic). We had to create a program that would ask user inputs about whether the image is in color or grayscale, the image width and height, and the complex number coordinates of the top-left and bottom-right pixel. Here's a detailed description of the rather interesting torture. ;)
I worked overtime for that (I was submitted the program online the other day). Days and nights even. Still, I needed help from Wayne especially (who came to my room), Arthur (who I visited in his room in my old hall KE), and Brice (who patiently put up with my pestering on MSN and YM). Thank you everyone. Appreciate it a lot.
* I'm rediscovering Friendster! I used to search for and add friends mostly, but now that I seem to be just crowding up my friend list, I've decided to make testimonials! Quite fun, actually. Endearing even.
* Remember Alfian? He actually replied to my email. I didn't expect it, really, since he's accomplished and all, but there was this reply of considerable length in my inbox. I'll post it later. I wish I could write smart like him! You just know that he's got something to say. And he's a non-conformist too, so he has all these smart pointed opinions about significant matters in Singapore society. Hmm.. what do I write about, really? Hehe. Structured and sensible blabber, more like it. But heck, humor me. I'm just a kid. All 18 years of me. Hehe.
* NUS Choir practice from 10am-4pm yesterday! My legs hurt from too much standing. But it was nice really, and I'm beginning to really like the choir and the songs (although I think people there, me included, need to be more sociable hehe). We sing a variety of songs in different languages, but what I sincerely appreciated yesterday were the religious Christian hymns like Credo and Sanctus. Sends chills down my spine, especially since it's in Latin. And these brilliant composers, how they capture the emotions of the song.
I was beginning to think that with the intense workload of the NUS choir, what brilliant destressor it was to actually listen and enjoy what we were singing. Bah, in fact, people pay to listen to the NUS Choir (2 scheduled external performances in the next 2 weeks), so I might as well enjoy listening to, um.. US. Hehe. I have a long way to go before reaching the status of the other more experienced choir members, yes, but what I like about the choir is that we blend one another's voices and sing as one, so nobody specific really gets the credit. And as long as I don't sing the wrong notes, I must be doing something right, right? Hehe. Humor me, I'm just plain exhausted. :P
* I'm quite swamped with stuff to do, really, and I'm hurdling one task after another. There's this Stats test tomorrow, a Bio assignment on Thursday, a quiz in my SG studies next week, and loads of readings to do especially in Linear Algebra (since I'm so lost and the lecturer, although with the best intentions, is not helping much). But tomorrow, IMELDA muna! Thanks Ferron for inviting! And for being a constant blog reader shempre. Thanks!
And maybe here's the opportunity to thank all the rest of my blog readers. THANKS THANKS LOADS. While I can't really do an ala superstar-speech saying I blog because of the readership (since this is supposed to be a personal thing above all, right?), but I totally appreciate people stalking and spying on me by reading my blog. Hehe. (Maybe everyone secretly wants to be a superstar haha)
Hmm.. was this quickie not quick enough? Oops. Better get back to reading my statistics notes! God bless everyone!
ARGH
I hate it when a post doesn't get published because of Blogger's occasional server hiccups. I just made a rather lengthy post, and now it's all gone.
Oh well. my point there, anyway, is that I got Alfian Sa'at, this brilliant Singaporean poet and playwright, to sign my One Fierce Hour book. There was this big talk at NUS, see, and Alfian was one of the speakers. It was big in the sense that top officials (including the NUS President and Guest of Honour Senior Minister of departments I forgot), JC representatives, the press (Channel News Asia, The Straits Times) were all in attendance. Alfian was one of the four guest speakers. Oh, they talked about Singapore and its youth, about if the youth were turning out to be the "diminishing torch of idealism".
It was a very entertaining session, I must admit. But more than that, I learned much about Singapore and its issues, which may help me in my Singapore Studies module. (I'm enjoying my SS btw, and won't have it marked as pass/fail instead of the letter grade..maybe I'll even take a Minor in English Studies) I have to admit also, that Alfian was one of the major "pull" factors of the academic symposium.
If you remember, we've been discussing Poetry in my SS class, and Alfian's book was one of those we tackled. It was brilliant to say the least. He provides a very relatable kind of poetry in the Singapore context, yet manages to discuss the greater Singaporean issues incisively and with wit and humor. And oh, he was 21 when he wrote the book in 1998, while he was a medicine student here in NUS, and since then he has made a growing list of books and plays, and has received some Young Artist and Poetry awards.
I was rattled when I spoke to him, and, I spoke in lightning-speed again, as I always do in those tense, awkward situations (See entry the other day about that Choir Comm). But he turned out to be nice and friendly, even approachable.
I guess that makes me a fan of this accomplished young man. I sure hope though, that the next time I go ask for an autograph of some accomplished youth, like Jason Mraz or Usher maybe (!), I wouldn't be all too jittery. Maybe I should start attending those Toastmasters sessions I signed up for?
I hate it when a post doesn't get published because of Blogger's occasional server hiccups. I just made a rather lengthy post, and now it's all gone.
Oh well. my point there, anyway, is that I got Alfian Sa'at, this brilliant Singaporean poet and playwright, to sign my One Fierce Hour book. There was this big talk at NUS, see, and Alfian was one of the speakers. It was big in the sense that top officials (including the NUS President and Guest of Honour Senior Minister of departments I forgot), JC representatives, the press (Channel News Asia, The Straits Times) were all in attendance. Alfian was one of the four guest speakers. Oh, they talked about Singapore and its youth, about if the youth were turning out to be the "diminishing torch of idealism".
It was a very entertaining session, I must admit. But more than that, I learned much about Singapore and its issues, which may help me in my Singapore Studies module. (I'm enjoying my SS btw, and won't have it marked as pass/fail instead of the letter grade..maybe I'll even take a Minor in English Studies) I have to admit also, that Alfian was one of the major "pull" factors of the academic symposium.
If you remember, we've been discussing Poetry in my SS class, and Alfian's book was one of those we tackled. It was brilliant to say the least. He provides a very relatable kind of poetry in the Singapore context, yet manages to discuss the greater Singaporean issues incisively and with wit and humor. And oh, he was 21 when he wrote the book in 1998, while he was a medicine student here in NUS, and since then he has made a growing list of books and plays, and has received some Young Artist and Poetry awards.
I was rattled when I spoke to him, and, I spoke in lightning-speed again, as I always do in those tense, awkward situations (See entry the other day about that Choir Comm). But he turned out to be nice and friendly, even approachable.
I guess that makes me a fan of this accomplished young man. I sure hope though, that the next time I go ask for an autograph of some accomplished youth, like Jason Mraz or Usher maybe (!), I wouldn't be all too jittery. Maybe I should start attending those Toastmasters sessions I signed up for?
Recess
Recess week starts tomorrow. Actually on Sunday. Actually not a week, but half a week. Sunday to Thursday. But as far as I'm concerned, recess week started tonight. After another long Friday, I treated myself to a whole evening of surfing and watching TV shows (also in the laptop).
I watched some episode of the OC (yes I haven't finished), enjoyed the premiere of Survivor Vanuatu (even if NUSCast is bahaving like MS Powerpoint again), and did some blog and forum reading.
Actually, I think I've been slacking for the longest time although I seem busy. I must learn how to budget my time and energy MORE as I feel, as Arthur may have correctly pointed out, that this is all self-induced stress. Or maybe just the usual good old laziness.
I was glad to crack some intriguing puzzle too. Haha. I may be more google-savvy than I thought. Hehe. Well I sure hope I could be Java-savvy too, as the midterm test is coming up next Friday! We always do our best.
Recess week starts tomorrow. Actually on Sunday. Actually not a week, but half a week. Sunday to Thursday. But as far as I'm concerned, recess week started tonight. After another long Friday, I treated myself to a whole evening of surfing and watching TV shows (also in the laptop).
I watched some episode of the OC (yes I haven't finished), enjoyed the premiere of Survivor Vanuatu (even if NUSCast is bahaving like MS Powerpoint again), and did some blog and forum reading.
Actually, I think I've been slacking for the longest time although I seem busy. I must learn how to budget my time and energy MORE as I feel, as Arthur may have correctly pointed out, that this is all self-induced stress. Or maybe just the usual good old laziness.
I was glad to crack some intriguing puzzle too. Haha. I may be more google-savvy than I thought. Hehe. Well I sure hope I could be Java-savvy too, as the midterm test is coming up next Friday! We always do our best.
Thank You
It was a good day, actually, except that I managed to embarrass myself in the first KR Choir meeting and I have tutorials to do. In the meeting, which was right after my 3-hour NUS Choir one, I sang the wrong notes (since the sopranos were too distracting), and I spoke too fast as I was nominated for Choir Comm member. I didn't PASSIONATELY yearn for the post, but since I was nominated, go go. I didn't get elected though. More importantly, I wish to God I could speak a little slower publicly.
Anyway, as I told you, my day was pretty good. The SS group presentation in the morning went rather smoothly, my groupmates were particularly nice and warm, and oh yeah, I got an A- in my Assignment 1, which, if you remember, was the Fistful of Colours paper I was working on last time. That made me feel good about myself.
But that was in the morning. Sometimes I wish for happy endings, and so, tonight, at past midnight already, everything wasn't too well. I suddenly felt bad at being embarrassed in the Choir Comm, and what do I have to keep me company? Three undone tutorials.
But of course, mabait naman sakin si Lord. Ayan, courtesy of Friendster, I suddenly feel fine. Thanks for those you message me surprisingly, and for my 2 (or 3) new testimonials (all in a day too! That I haven't seen in a long time) from my dearly-missed friends. It's not just the "Friendster stuff", really, I'd appreciate any sign of comfort actually from my support system.
Which reminds me, salamat Korinna sa pagtulong sakn na idispose ang Malaysian Night ticket! Means a lot that you offered, since I was rushing for NUS Choir prac na rin earlier tonight. ;)
Salamat din shempre Lord, and please please help me with in my tasks.
All's well that ends well.
P.S.
Happy Birthday kay A.Nicolas! :D
It was a good day, actually, except that I managed to embarrass myself in the first KR Choir meeting and I have tutorials to do. In the meeting, which was right after my 3-hour NUS Choir one, I sang the wrong notes (since the sopranos were too distracting), and I spoke too fast as I was nominated for Choir Comm member. I didn't PASSIONATELY yearn for the post, but since I was nominated, go go. I didn't get elected though. More importantly, I wish to God I could speak a little slower publicly.
Anyway, as I told you, my day was pretty good. The SS group presentation in the morning went rather smoothly, my groupmates were particularly nice and warm, and oh yeah, I got an A- in my Assignment 1, which, if you remember, was the Fistful of Colours paper I was working on last time. That made me feel good about myself.
But that was in the morning. Sometimes I wish for happy endings, and so, tonight, at past midnight already, everything wasn't too well. I suddenly felt bad at being embarrassed in the Choir Comm, and what do I have to keep me company? Three undone tutorials.
But of course, mabait naman sakin si Lord. Ayan, courtesy of Friendster, I suddenly feel fine. Thanks for those you message me surprisingly, and for my 2 (or 3) new testimonials (all in a day too! That I haven't seen in a long time) from my dearly-missed friends. It's not just the "Friendster stuff", really, I'd appreciate any sign of comfort actually from my support system.
Which reminds me, salamat Korinna sa pagtulong sakn na idispose ang Malaysian Night ticket! Means a lot that you offered, since I was rushing for NUS Choir prac na rin earlier tonight. ;)
Salamat din shempre Lord, and please please help me with in my tasks.
All's well that ends well.
P.S.
Happy Birthday kay A.Nicolas! :D
Amazing Race
Happy birthday to my very good friend Michael John a.k.a. le petit prince. And to one of my favorite Chinese fellas, Little Dragon (direct translation) Xiaolong! One’s just turned twenty, and the other twentysomething. Haha Mike!
Today was another busy day: I spaced out once again in my Programming Lecture, but I was able to have a good chat with a new friend Justin, so it wasn’t so bad. I had to rush this Poetry thing for our SS presentation tomorrow (and I have to say my groupmates and I are doing fairly well despite a minor glitch), and it turned out, that the KR ROCKERS band performance cIashed my scheduled chat with them 3 girl groupmates on msn for an online discussion! Argh, I thought. I managed to get a good listen to the first 2 songs of the terrific band (this time with new Year 1 members including my good friends Sens (birthday-mate too!), Sri Lankan guy Surath, and cheerful soccer player Lin). I managed to rush out a few times when I heard a good song, or when those three friends sang, telling my groupmates that I needed to pee. Haha. Good thing the dining hall turned concert hall is just 25 steps from my room.
Also tonight was the Amazing Philippine leg of the Amazing Race. It clashed again with the concert and the msn discussion, but I managed to watch the final 10 minutes, and it was worth it even if the NUS Cast could very well be showing a powerpoint presentation in disguise. Three things to say so this would be short: (1) It initially felt ODD that a world-famous show like AR would be set in the Philippines for two episodes. But after, seeing the stuff. It felt rather good. A tinge of pride, even. (2) Finally! Colin and Christie are last in 4th Place. I always wanted the good guys to win. Good in the good-natured sense. (3) Luli Arroyo, is that you with Phil?
This last bit is probably the most exciting part of my night. I jumped a little, actually. See, we’re supposed to sell mooncakes for the NUS Choir to raise funds. I checked the website to see how the buying-selling scheme would work, and this is what I found:
…So, do approach your friends, relatives etc to get these mooncakes! The more you sell, the greater amount of subsidy you will get! :) Just to assure you, none of the money raised will be deposited into the choir fund for future use but instead, it will be fully used to subsidise your trip to Olomouc, Czech Republic.
Whoa. Why do I suddenly get this Amazing Race feeling?!
Hehe. Sana matuloy. G'nyt blogster!
Happy birthday to my very good friend Michael John a.k.a. le petit prince. And to one of my favorite Chinese fellas, Little Dragon (direct translation) Xiaolong! One’s just turned twenty, and the other twentysomething. Haha Mike!
Today was another busy day: I spaced out once again in my Programming Lecture, but I was able to have a good chat with a new friend Justin, so it wasn’t so bad. I had to rush this Poetry thing for our SS presentation tomorrow (and I have to say my groupmates and I are doing fairly well despite a minor glitch), and it turned out, that the KR ROCKERS band performance cIashed my scheduled chat with them 3 girl groupmates on msn for an online discussion! Argh, I thought. I managed to get a good listen to the first 2 songs of the terrific band (this time with new Year 1 members including my good friends Sens (birthday-mate too!), Sri Lankan guy Surath, and cheerful soccer player Lin). I managed to rush out a few times when I heard a good song, or when those three friends sang, telling my groupmates that I needed to pee. Haha. Good thing the dining hall turned concert hall is just 25 steps from my room.
Also tonight was the Amazing Philippine leg of the Amazing Race. It clashed again with the concert and the msn discussion, but I managed to watch the final 10 minutes, and it was worth it even if the NUS Cast could very well be showing a powerpoint presentation in disguise. Three things to say so this would be short: (1) It initially felt ODD that a world-famous show like AR would be set in the Philippines for two episodes. But after, seeing the stuff. It felt rather good. A tinge of pride, even. (2) Finally! Colin and Christie are last in 4th Place. I always wanted the good guys to win. Good in the good-natured sense. (3) Luli Arroyo, is that you with Phil?
This last bit is probably the most exciting part of my night. I jumped a little, actually. See, we’re supposed to sell mooncakes for the NUS Choir to raise funds. I checked the website to see how the buying-selling scheme would work, and this is what I found:
…So, do approach your friends, relatives etc to get these mooncakes! The more you sell, the greater amount of subsidy you will get! :) Just to assure you, none of the money raised will be deposited into the choir fund for future use but instead, it will be fully used to subsidise your trip to Olomouc, Czech Republic.
Whoa. Why do I suddenly get this Amazing Race feeling?!
Hehe. Sana matuloy. G'nyt blogster!
BUZZ
My head's buzzing again, for some reason.
Maybe it's just the usual unavaoidable load of schoolwork, but then again, today (again, yesterday since it's past midnight) was yet another good day. I was able to accomplish quite much again (although I'm not nearing any overachiever status just yet), and it was genuinely fun. Never mind if the soprano from PRC, who has this Masters in music from some bigtime popular group in Manhattan and who's singing with a bunch of male sopranos in the Esplanade in a month's time, was speaking in broken English and Mandarin all throughout her Masterclass for NUS Choir! She provided great advice anyway, and I'm starting to enjoy the company of the choir more now. Which is a great thing, since we're gonna be stuck with each other for a good 7 hours a week.
I just woke up actually, and, although it's been happening almost every night, I looked forward to jumping out of bed to check my still turned-on laptop, to complement my still turned-on room light. I was rushing to the PC to check if my groupmates for my SS module have finally replied to my email. I'm a little annoyed at our tutor actually, for not actually clarifying what we're to do on Thursday, and for responding VERY LATE when I asked her through email. What I thought was a simple consultation with her before Thursday's tutorial turned out to be a discussion of sorts about a presentation my small group of 4 has to do this Thursday already!
I thought I was gonna meet up with my groupmates online thru MSN, but it turns out they were offline, or maybe they also failed to read my 6:50pm post (argh..because my tutor replied only today! when she should've days ago). Never mind, through the wonders of technology, I hope people will turn up for tomorrow's meeting at LT8. I'm gonna SMS them right now, in fact. (At least they get to read the message in the morning)
Oh, while I'm writing incoherent stuff anyway, lemme complain that my lower lip hurts! It doesn't look like it, but I can feel a tiny spot where there's some peeling of sorts. Mahapdi konti.
I was surfing just now, and I was reminded of a word that I was introduced to in high school, and it starts with H. I'm not really asked for an opinion, but I swear I won't do that since it seems P. (Haha, here's censorship for you!) Really, there's nothing mean or green or bastos with that statement. It's really safe actually, but I have to keep my convictions a little blunt this time. I mean, I should even keep it to myself. But it seems that I can only go too personal with this blog.
Meanwhile, my head's still buzzing and little Joseph is happily going to bed.
My head's buzzing again, for some reason.
Maybe it's just the usual unavaoidable load of schoolwork, but then again, today (again, yesterday since it's past midnight) was yet another good day. I was able to accomplish quite much again (although I'm not nearing any overachiever status just yet), and it was genuinely fun. Never mind if the soprano from PRC, who has this Masters in music from some bigtime popular group in Manhattan and who's singing with a bunch of male sopranos in the Esplanade in a month's time, was speaking in broken English and Mandarin all throughout her Masterclass for NUS Choir! She provided great advice anyway, and I'm starting to enjoy the company of the choir more now. Which is a great thing, since we're gonna be stuck with each other for a good 7 hours a week.
I just woke up actually, and, although it's been happening almost every night, I looked forward to jumping out of bed to check my still turned-on laptop, to complement my still turned-on room light. I was rushing to the PC to check if my groupmates for my SS module have finally replied to my email. I'm a little annoyed at our tutor actually, for not actually clarifying what we're to do on Thursday, and for responding VERY LATE when I asked her through email. What I thought was a simple consultation with her before Thursday's tutorial turned out to be a discussion of sorts about a presentation my small group of 4 has to do this Thursday already!
I thought I was gonna meet up with my groupmates online thru MSN, but it turns out they were offline, or maybe they also failed to read my 6:50pm post (argh..because my tutor replied only today! when she should've days ago). Never mind, through the wonders of technology, I hope people will turn up for tomorrow's meeting at LT8. I'm gonna SMS them right now, in fact. (At least they get to read the message in the morning)
Oh, while I'm writing incoherent stuff anyway, lemme complain that my lower lip hurts! It doesn't look like it, but I can feel a tiny spot where there's some peeling of sorts. Mahapdi konti.
I was surfing just now, and I was reminded of a word that I was introduced to in high school, and it starts with H. I'm not really asked for an opinion, but I swear I won't do that since it seems P. (Haha, here's censorship for you!) Really, there's nothing mean or green or bastos with that statement. It's really safe actually, but I have to keep my convictions a little blunt this time. I mean, I should even keep it to myself. But it seems that I can only go too personal with this blog.
Meanwhile, my head's still buzzing and little Joseph is happily going to bed.
Good Days
There are the bad days, the horrible days, those argh-why-does-it always-happen-to me days and of course the good days.
I remember a friend checking out my blog, and telling me, when we met personally, that I seemed "downtrodden" (I remember that word, although I'm not sure if he described me or the blog) in the blog. Maybe it was an accurate description, but I'd like to think that I wasn't. Or the blog isn't. Or something. Maybe it just so happened that I like to blog when I feel more miserable? Dunno.
Anyway, I simply want to make clear that my life isn't fully reflected in this blog, although this would be a fair sneek peak. Sometimes stuff are just so enjoyable I get so tired afterwards, and then lose the urge to blog. Sometimes I get to maximize what little time I have to have fun (since the rest of the time's spent studying or doing idle stuff) that I run out of time to blog. Bottom line is, don't think you know me just yet. Hehe.
Today(Yesterday, since it's past midnight uli argh) was a good day. And so was yesterday (the other day). I had quite some accomplishments, which I'm mighty proud of, since I spent a good chunk of my time, energy, and sanity just to have them finished. And they turned out fine! And now I'm all the happier. SOOOO.. I bid my current woes goodbye! Haha.
In retrospect, the ID-making for the Pinoy party was rather fun, and I'm mighty glad that many of the guests appreciated the combined effort of Korinna, Ivy, and me (although Kor did the most since we used her materials and she wrote the actual names :P). And of course, the Pinoy Party itself was a BLAST. How could it not be? The number of guests overshot, which was a very good thing, never mind if we ran out of name tags. AND, Team Moonstruck won the three-way Family Feud! HAHAHA. Guess where the team got its name! Hehe. Ferron talaga. Thanks Ferron, at natuwa naman ako at pinangalanan pa ng ganun. ;) And the food was great, kahit nangalate dating 'yung mga tao and shempre pati ung pagkaing dala nila.
Today, I posted in the IVLE forum, my thoughts on the poetry topic we're currently discussing for my Singapore Studies module. I still have to get my hands of on the "One Fierce Hour" by Alfian Sa'at, though, but I'm gonna settle that tomorrow.I also JUST submitted my article for the Ridge, the NUS student publication. I hope it gets published! Sigh. What a relief. I took me all day to write those stuff (forum posting and article).
Tomorrow's yet another busy day, but it's all okay. I have a class at 8, a crazy Java Lab at 11 (the two-week lab is a killer), and my SS (S'pore Studies) at 2pm. And then, there are the NUS Choir stuff: voice class at 4:30 (quite helpful i must say), then break for dinner, and a Master Class by some renowned soprano at 7pm. And then there's the meeting for the Block at 10:30pm, and of course I have to study(haha dapat lng)!
Okay, I have to rest now. Take care everyone!
P.S.
My mom pala reads my blog! And her officemates din. Oh no, now I have to be more careful with my words. Sorry about that offensive word in the third sentence of the previous post, Ma! Censorship! Hehe. It's all good actually. Ingat dyan Ma! I miss you and Dad and Kai!
There are the bad days, the horrible days, those argh-why-does-it always-happen-to me days and of course the good days.
I remember a friend checking out my blog, and telling me, when we met personally, that I seemed "downtrodden" (I remember that word, although I'm not sure if he described me or the blog) in the blog. Maybe it was an accurate description, but I'd like to think that I wasn't. Or the blog isn't. Or something. Maybe it just so happened that I like to blog when I feel more miserable? Dunno.
Anyway, I simply want to make clear that my life isn't fully reflected in this blog, although this would be a fair sneek peak. Sometimes stuff are just so enjoyable I get so tired afterwards, and then lose the urge to blog. Sometimes I get to maximize what little time I have to have fun (since the rest of the time's spent studying or doing idle stuff) that I run out of time to blog. Bottom line is, don't think you know me just yet. Hehe.
Today(Yesterday, since it's past midnight uli argh) was a good day. And so was yesterday (the other day). I had quite some accomplishments, which I'm mighty proud of, since I spent a good chunk of my time, energy, and sanity just to have them finished. And they turned out fine! And now I'm all the happier. SOOOO.. I bid my current woes goodbye! Haha.
In retrospect, the ID-making for the Pinoy party was rather fun, and I'm mighty glad that many of the guests appreciated the combined effort of Korinna, Ivy, and me (although Kor did the most since we used her materials and she wrote the actual names :P). And of course, the Pinoy Party itself was a BLAST. How could it not be? The number of guests overshot, which was a very good thing, never mind if we ran out of name tags. AND, Team Moonstruck won the three-way Family Feud! HAHAHA. Guess where the team got its name! Hehe. Ferron talaga. Thanks Ferron, at natuwa naman ako at pinangalanan pa ng ganun. ;) And the food was great, kahit nangalate dating 'yung mga tao and shempre pati ung pagkaing dala nila.
Today, I posted in the IVLE forum, my thoughts on the poetry topic we're currently discussing for my Singapore Studies module. I still have to get my hands of on the "One Fierce Hour" by Alfian Sa'at, though, but I'm gonna settle that tomorrow.I also JUST submitted my article for the Ridge, the NUS student publication. I hope it gets published! Sigh. What a relief. I took me all day to write those stuff (forum posting and article).
Tomorrow's yet another busy day, but it's all okay. I have a class at 8, a crazy Java Lab at 11 (the two-week lab is a killer), and my SS (S'pore Studies) at 2pm. And then, there are the NUS Choir stuff: voice class at 4:30 (quite helpful i must say), then break for dinner, and a Master Class by some renowned soprano at 7pm. And then there's the meeting for the Block at 10:30pm, and of course I have to study(haha dapat lng)!
Okay, I have to rest now. Take care everyone!
P.S.
My mom pala reads my blog! And her officemates din. Oh no, now I have to be more careful with my words. Sorry about that offensive word in the third sentence of the previous post, Ma! Censorship! Hehe. It's all good actually. Ingat dyan Ma! I miss you and Dad and Kai!
Swamped
I just worked for hours on this second lab for Java. I gave up for the day (or night). It gets f*cking depressing after a while. Maybe I just have to read a bit more. Patulong naman Lord, and Mama Mary for that matter, whose birth we celebrated yesterday (kanina).
I'm so swamped I shouldn't be blogging. But then this might just be some form of release.
Yesterday I had no class, but I did my Biology Assignment and went to A cappella and KR Hall Choir Auditions at 8pm and 10pm. Today was a fiarly busy day of lectures and notes-printing. I tried to work for my Ridge Article, due on Sunday. Also due on Sunday is this blasted Java lab (calm down Joseph, as Dustin mentioned [still on Java as i was asking him for help], hate just brings about more hate). On Saturday is this Pinoy Party, where I'm tasked to head a group in charge of the nametags and directory or something. I don't know when to buy. I have a busy day tomorrow, preparing for Friday's Tutorial Day (lots of them tutorials), and tomorrow night my NUS Choir auditions will clash with the KR Choir's very first meeting. Oh, that means I got in KR Choir (I was happy awhile ago, trust me). On Saturday evening, I would have to pass up an informal dinner of the NUS choir in favor of the Pinoy party. Sayang din konti, since the informal dinner is to be held at Marche, this posh restaurant at The Heeren in Orchard. I doubt if it's free though. Anyway, of course I'll choose the Pinoy party, even if it means having to head the registration/nametag/directory team.
So, in the blabber of the previous paragraph, I hope you worked out my sked. (Sorry I'm rather not myself right now i.e. bangag since it's already past midnight.)
I am so damn tired. My sleeping pattern has gone haywire, my zits have been surfacing waiting to be popped, my eyes are swollen, and I am physically, mentally, emotionally tired. Maybe I slack too much during the day? Kaya yan.
Okay, I better rest. Long day tomorrow, especially since I'm gonna rush through all my tutorials.
P.S.
On a more cheerful note, happy happy birthday to Jacques! He's my distant cousin and ex-schoolmate, and a terrific friend. I hope you're having a grand time. Happy 15th, bro.
I just worked for hours on this second lab for Java. I gave up for the day (or night). It gets f*cking depressing after a while. Maybe I just have to read a bit more. Patulong naman Lord, and Mama Mary for that matter, whose birth we celebrated yesterday (kanina).
I'm so swamped I shouldn't be blogging. But then this might just be some form of release.
Yesterday I had no class, but I did my Biology Assignment and went to A cappella and KR Hall Choir Auditions at 8pm and 10pm. Today was a fiarly busy day of lectures and notes-printing. I tried to work for my Ridge Article, due on Sunday. Also due on Sunday is this blasted Java lab (calm down Joseph, as Dustin mentioned [still on Java as i was asking him for help], hate just brings about more hate). On Saturday is this Pinoy Party, where I'm tasked to head a group in charge of the nametags and directory or something. I don't know when to buy. I have a busy day tomorrow, preparing for Friday's Tutorial Day (lots of them tutorials), and tomorrow night my NUS Choir auditions will clash with the KR Choir's very first meeting. Oh, that means I got in KR Choir (I was happy awhile ago, trust me). On Saturday evening, I would have to pass up an informal dinner of the NUS choir in favor of the Pinoy party. Sayang din konti, since the informal dinner is to be held at Marche, this posh restaurant at The Heeren in Orchard. I doubt if it's free though. Anyway, of course I'll choose the Pinoy party, even if it means having to head the registration/nametag/directory team.
So, in the blabber of the previous paragraph, I hope you worked out my sked. (Sorry I'm rather not myself right now i.e. bangag since it's already past midnight.)
I am so damn tired. My sleeping pattern has gone haywire, my zits have been surfacing waiting to be popped, my eyes are swollen, and I am physically, mentally, emotionally tired. Maybe I slack too much during the day? Kaya yan.
Okay, I better rest. Long day tomorrow, especially since I'm gonna rush through all my tutorials.
P.S.
On a more cheerful note, happy happy birthday to Jacques! He's my distant cousin and ex-schoolmate, and a terrific friend. I hope you're having a grand time. Happy 15th, bro.
Finally!
What time is it?! 4:43am.
At long last, after hours of toil (I started working after I finished the previous entry around 5 hours ago), I FINALLY finished creating that blasted Java Program called Unscrambler.
Salamat po Panginoong Hesukristo! Alleluia! Yehey!
And guess what, PASSED ALL 5 autograders the first submission! Wooohoooo.
It was a three-part lab, see, which must be marked PASSED by all 5 or 6 autograders in a maximum of 10 submissions. The first part I did the other day, the other one yesterday, and the last one just a few moments ago. The first one I got in my 4th or 5th submission, the next I got in my 3rd submission, and this crazy last one in my first! Yippeee.
Never mind, of course, if it took me bloody looooong hours. In fact, when I reviewed the programs after submission, they seemed too short and simple, not reflective enough of the long hours of toil and sweat and eyebags and zits I devoted. Oh well. Maybe because if this were an English essay, I would have written pages and pages of material by now, instead of a bunch of lines. Hehe.
Kakabilib tuloy ang mga programmers. It's cool and all, but not my thing. I might even back out on my plan to apply for Computational Finance next year for this same reason. Oh well. From the looks of it right now, Statistics may be far more appealing.
But then again, I distinctly remember myself saying I didn't like Statistics AT ALL.
TWICE, in fact. Once in high school, and another time last year during our Econometrics class.
Hehe. We'll just see what happens to me after this sem.
OK, I've blogged more than enough for the day already. I'm sooooooo exhausted, kung lamu lang. Time to finally get some sleep. A restful one at that.
P.S.
On a more serious note, I just heard too, about the recent death of hundreds in Russia, most of them KIDS (See http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/europe/09/04/russia.school/index.html) as a result of these dastardly attacks by rebels. Sigh. Dreadful, dreadful. Depresses the shit out of me when I think about it. These were kids who were held hostage in a school, deprived of food and water, and they were either naked or dressed in underwear because of the heat! And those poor boys, they even had to drink their own urine. And the rebels, they just had to bomb this little school and engage in intense gunfire. Depressing. We should all offer our prayers so this horrible crisis would be resolved soonest.
What time is it?! 4:43am.
At long last, after hours of toil (I started working after I finished the previous entry around 5 hours ago), I FINALLY finished creating that blasted Java Program called Unscrambler.
Salamat po Panginoong Hesukristo! Alleluia! Yehey!
And guess what, PASSED ALL 5 autograders the first submission! Wooohoooo.
It was a three-part lab, see, which must be marked PASSED by all 5 or 6 autograders in a maximum of 10 submissions. The first part I did the other day, the other one yesterday, and the last one just a few moments ago. The first one I got in my 4th or 5th submission, the next I got in my 3rd submission, and this crazy last one in my first! Yippeee.
Never mind, of course, if it took me bloody looooong hours. In fact, when I reviewed the programs after submission, they seemed too short and simple, not reflective enough of the long hours of toil and sweat and eyebags and zits I devoted. Oh well. Maybe because if this were an English essay, I would have written pages and pages of material by now, instead of a bunch of lines. Hehe.
Kakabilib tuloy ang mga programmers. It's cool and all, but not my thing. I might even back out on my plan to apply for Computational Finance next year for this same reason. Oh well. From the looks of it right now, Statistics may be far more appealing.
But then again, I distinctly remember myself saying I didn't like Statistics AT ALL.
TWICE, in fact. Once in high school, and another time last year during our Econometrics class.
Hehe. We'll just see what happens to me after this sem.
OK, I've blogged more than enough for the day already. I'm sooooooo exhausted, kung lamu lang. Time to finally get some sleep. A restful one at that.
P.S.
On a more serious note, I just heard too, about the recent death of hundreds in Russia, most of them KIDS (See http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/europe/09/04/russia.school/index.html) as a result of these dastardly attacks by rebels. Sigh. Dreadful, dreadful. Depresses the shit out of me when I think about it. These were kids who were held hostage in a school, deprived of food and water, and they were either naked or dressed in underwear because of the heat! And those poor boys, they even had to drink their own urine. And the rebels, they just had to bomb this little school and engage in intense gunfire. Depressing. We should all offer our prayers so this horrible crisis would be resolved soonest.
Distractions
Generally, it's always great to have free internet. But this evening, I think it's been luring me from studying! Oh well.
Maybe I got a little too high after I finally figured out the second of three programs we're supposed to write for Java. The autograder (all 6 of them CPUs) is a bloody perfectionist, and although my programs passed 3 out of the 6 checkers, the other 3 failed me. But of course there's the online forum on IVLE, and it's getting too crowded right about now due to the inevitable losing of minds of the beginner students in programming, but thankfully, the lab professor and some of the seniors are always willing to help. Help give hints, at least.
SOOOO.. after i successfully got that java problem in my 7th submission out of 10 allowable attempts (it seemed perfectly fine when i tested it, so i was stumped to see it failed to pass some checkers), I decided to reeeeeeessssssssst finally.
So I got a good long afternoon nap, watched a singapore idol replay of a show 2 episodes back, went to read on the Amazing Race summaries for the past weeks (Wednesday nights in the hall is always packed with stuff to do), went on to read up on the exciting premiere of Survivor: Vanuatu in a couple of weeks, checked some requirements for my SG studies (SS) module (this time we're doing poetry), and then proceeded on to blog-hop, and finally rechecked my Friendster account.
I realized that I've been spreading myself a little too thin. I haven't contacted friends and people in quite a while (since I've been quite busy), so there I was typing a bunch of testimonials for whoever I saw first. Last night, too, I wrote a couple of emails I intended to send to my yahoogroups, the place where my batchmates (titans, AJSS, classmates) and other friends get to communicate. I've been rather passive lately, the all-read-no-write type, so I felt this was the right time to email again and remind them of my existence. What do you know, the yahoogroup could not receive my emails! I tried writing using Hotmail and Mailcity (I have a bunch of registered accounts), but still the emails bounced back. I tried to correct it in the Yahoo site, but for some reason, there seems to be a glitch. Oh well. I'll try to email later. I also try to contact old friends in MSN and Yahoo, with minimal success.
Anyway, I promise to be more active now.. in Friendster! Hahaha. Maybe I was a little turned off by that hacking incident which happened sometime last month, but it's all okay now (although I still maintain that that unknown hacker should go to hell).
I realized that I've been doing more adding of friends than writing testimonials. And I think testimonials, those good sensible substantial ones of course, are enough to brighten one's day. Works for me, at least. I'm gonna do more blog-hopping of course, especially now that I learned that more friends of mine (and cousins too! Hi Ate Vida and Justin!) are blogging.
SHEESH. This isn't good now. I'm supposed to be studying, and here I am, again off-topic and digressing, telling you about how I plan to use the internet more. Great. Then again, I'm generally a bundle o' contradictions, so bear with me, will ya?
OKAY. I've come back to my senses, and I think it's Java time once again! Good night!
P.S.
Thanks to Korinna for the coooool Pepsi mini-poster that I used as door art! Gaya-gaya talaga ako, since she also used it on her door (thankfully she said it's okay since we're from different blocks). It's really cool actually. Britney, Jericho, Celine, Rico, and AMANDA in those cool Pepsi poses. Quite a happy poster, I must say. I was amazed that Rico Blanco is now a Pepsi model! How cool is that. Along with Britney, Holly (Valance), and F4's Jerry (Yen [that's how they spell his surname here when he came over to visit]). I have a question though.. who's Celine? Enlightenment please. ;)
Generally, it's always great to have free internet. But this evening, I think it's been luring me from studying! Oh well.
Maybe I got a little too high after I finally figured out the second of three programs we're supposed to write for Java. The autograder (all 6 of them CPUs) is a bloody perfectionist, and although my programs passed 3 out of the 6 checkers, the other 3 failed me. But of course there's the online forum on IVLE, and it's getting too crowded right about now due to the inevitable losing of minds of the beginner students in programming, but thankfully, the lab professor and some of the seniors are always willing to help. Help give hints, at least.
SOOOO.. after i successfully got that java problem in my 7th submission out of 10 allowable attempts (it seemed perfectly fine when i tested it, so i was stumped to see it failed to pass some checkers), I decided to reeeeeeessssssssst finally.
So I got a good long afternoon nap, watched a singapore idol replay of a show 2 episodes back, went to read on the Amazing Race summaries for the past weeks (Wednesday nights in the hall is always packed with stuff to do), went on to read up on the exciting premiere of Survivor: Vanuatu in a couple of weeks, checked some requirements for my SG studies (SS) module (this time we're doing poetry), and then proceeded on to blog-hop, and finally rechecked my Friendster account.
I realized that I've been spreading myself a little too thin. I haven't contacted friends and people in quite a while (since I've been quite busy), so there I was typing a bunch of testimonials for whoever I saw first. Last night, too, I wrote a couple of emails I intended to send to my yahoogroups, the place where my batchmates (titans, AJSS, classmates) and other friends get to communicate. I've been rather passive lately, the all-read-no-write type, so I felt this was the right time to email again and remind them of my existence. What do you know, the yahoogroup could not receive my emails! I tried writing using Hotmail and Mailcity (I have a bunch of registered accounts), but still the emails bounced back. I tried to correct it in the Yahoo site, but for some reason, there seems to be a glitch. Oh well. I'll try to email later. I also try to contact old friends in MSN and Yahoo, with minimal success.
Anyway, I promise to be more active now.. in Friendster! Hahaha. Maybe I was a little turned off by that hacking incident which happened sometime last month, but it's all okay now (although I still maintain that that unknown hacker should go to hell).
I realized that I've been doing more adding of friends than writing testimonials. And I think testimonials, those good sensible substantial ones of course, are enough to brighten one's day. Works for me, at least. I'm gonna do more blog-hopping of course, especially now that I learned that more friends of mine (and cousins too! Hi Ate Vida and Justin!) are blogging.
SHEESH. This isn't good now. I'm supposed to be studying, and here I am, again off-topic and digressing, telling you about how I plan to use the internet more. Great. Then again, I'm generally a bundle o' contradictions, so bear with me, will ya?
OKAY. I've come back to my senses, and I think it's Java time once again! Good night!
P.S.
Thanks to Korinna for the coooool Pepsi mini-poster that I used as door art! Gaya-gaya talaga ako, since she also used it on her door (thankfully she said it's okay since we're from different blocks). It's really cool actually. Britney, Jericho, Celine, Rico, and AMANDA in those cool Pepsi poses. Quite a happy poster, I must say. I was amazed that Rico Blanco is now a Pepsi model! How cool is that. Along with Britney, Holly (Valance), and F4's Jerry (Yen [that's how they spell his surname here when he came over to visit]). I have a question though.. who's Celine? Enlightenment please. ;)
Seven-Minute Post
I shouldn't be blogging, but I'm so tired and exhausted and still, my list of things to do (blogging not included) is still there, waiting and nagging me.
Today: lecture, tutorial, lecture, meeting with Wee Teck of the Admissions, The Ridge Welcome Tea, Heavy Choir Practice.
Tomorrow: my Singapore Studies paper is due (MAJOR HEADACHE), recitation, 3 tutorials, lecture.
That's not all, actually, for the next few days, but I think I'm going to exceed my 7 minutes.
I'm sleepy already, but I must continue working if I wish to survive Uni life.
Help Lord.
I shouldn't be blogging, but I'm so tired and exhausted and still, my list of things to do (blogging not included) is still there, waiting and nagging me.
Today: lecture, tutorial, lecture, meeting with Wee Teck of the Admissions, The Ridge Welcome Tea, Heavy Choir Practice.
Tomorrow: my Singapore Studies paper is due (MAJOR HEADACHE), recitation, 3 tutorials, lecture.
That's not all, actually, for the next few days, but I think I'm going to exceed my 7 minutes.
I'm sleepy already, but I must continue working if I wish to survive Uni life.
Help Lord.
First
The first ones are those we remember most. I vaguely remember some TV ad which asked who was the second man on the moon, who was the second to do some spectacular feat and so on. The bottomline is that nobody much recalls. That's why the complany was proud of their topnotch product, whatever it was.
But that's according to rank. Still, according to sequence, the first ones are those that will be more firmly etched than most of the rest.
I just came back from my first ever public choir performance, together with the NUS choir. It was at Raffles City Convention Centre, which is this posh place at the top of one of those high-rise, high-end, high-price shopping centers/hotels in City Hall. The choir was clad in elegant black and reds and orange. It was the long-sleeved black shirt with a red tie for the guys, and a tight-fitting longish sleeved black shirt and orange sarong for the girls.
We performed 5 songs: Dream a Little Dream (girls only), The Lonesome Road, Ring the Banjo, Fly Me to the Moon, and Goodnight It's Time to Go (guys only). The juniors only practiced for 2 sessions, since this was a sudden invitation, the first time the Singapore Steel Society (or something) invited the NUS Choir for some function.
Sooo.. was it memorable? Well, yes, in the sense that it was the first time I got to perform outside school, and outside the Philippines for that matter! And in a posh event at that. And with the NUS choir! Who would've thought.
But was it memorable = good = exciting = the ultimate = the best? Nah. The rich people were eating when we entered. Apparently, we were supposed to be their "background music" as they ate and drank and laughed and conversed with the rest of the guests. And that's exactly what we turned out to be: background music. They didn't come to the function to hear us; we were just there for the ride. Another choir from ACJC (Anglo-Chinese Junior College) sang before us but we didn't hear them since we were rehearsing in the next room (although from the looks of their faces, I think we shared the same after-show sentiments).
Anyway, the microphones were bad as they didn't seem to be the aerial type which was intended for group singing. The sound system was bad since there was feedback speaker (or whatever it's called) and thus choir couldn't hear each other sing, unlike in rehearsals. We weren't even sure if the audience heard our voices. And more notably, the rich folk clad in formalwear were dining and talking and laughing while we sang. Background music, I tell you. In the small breaks between songs, a few claps would come form the audience, rather hesitant since only a selected scattered bunch of them seemed to want to join in the applause. There was a slightly greater applause after the third song, but even after the last song, when the clapping was loudest (relatively), the applause still seemed.. lukewarm. The audience (if you could call them that) were much too busy eating and talking.
Bad for the morale, I think, but still the choir head, Wey Ling congratulated the group for doing well. I honestly don't know how it went, since we couldn't hear ourselves much. I think the performance had very slight hiccups, and was quite nice, actually. Although I think the reaction of the crowd (or lack of it) might have affected us somewhere in the middle of the presentation.
Anyway, I went home with 3 new Malaysian friends in a taxi. Derence and Shean, who both seem warm and friendly, and this other senior choir singer whose name I didn't catch. I got to interact with the other choir members more, which is a good thing, considering that mostly the specific sections usually clump together.
Overall it was a good night. I still cannot quite believe that my bathroom voice is NUS Choir material. I who have zero choir experience aside from that small stint in Kent Ridge's Star to Burst freshman night. I still maintain that I managed to slip through the cracks bacause of lack of bass manpower, but it feels great to sing with these fellas who sing amazingly well (partly due to their choir experience before in JC and even earlier).
Too bad there weren't any photos, since we were all busy with rehearsing, and in a rush to go home afterwards. So Wayne, thanks for the digicam; I shot myself na lang in the room. Hehe.
NO class tomorrow. I swear I will do a GOOD java crash course. Goodnight.
The first ones are those we remember most. I vaguely remember some TV ad which asked who was the second man on the moon, who was the second to do some spectacular feat and so on. The bottomline is that nobody much recalls. That's why the complany was proud of their topnotch product, whatever it was.
But that's according to rank. Still, according to sequence, the first ones are those that will be more firmly etched than most of the rest.
I just came back from my first ever public choir performance, together with the NUS choir. It was at Raffles City Convention Centre, which is this posh place at the top of one of those high-rise, high-end, high-price shopping centers/hotels in City Hall. The choir was clad in elegant black and reds and orange. It was the long-sleeved black shirt with a red tie for the guys, and a tight-fitting longish sleeved black shirt and orange sarong for the girls.
We performed 5 songs: Dream a Little Dream (girls only), The Lonesome Road, Ring the Banjo, Fly Me to the Moon, and Goodnight It's Time to Go (guys only). The juniors only practiced for 2 sessions, since this was a sudden invitation, the first time the Singapore Steel Society (or something) invited the NUS Choir for some function.
Sooo.. was it memorable? Well, yes, in the sense that it was the first time I got to perform outside school, and outside the Philippines for that matter! And in a posh event at that. And with the NUS choir! Who would've thought.
But was it memorable = good = exciting = the ultimate = the best? Nah. The rich people were eating when we entered. Apparently, we were supposed to be their "background music" as they ate and drank and laughed and conversed with the rest of the guests. And that's exactly what we turned out to be: background music. They didn't come to the function to hear us; we were just there for the ride. Another choir from ACJC (Anglo-Chinese Junior College) sang before us but we didn't hear them since we were rehearsing in the next room (although from the looks of their faces, I think we shared the same after-show sentiments).
Anyway, the microphones were bad as they didn't seem to be the aerial type which was intended for group singing. The sound system was bad since there was feedback speaker (or whatever it's called) and thus choir couldn't hear each other sing, unlike in rehearsals. We weren't even sure if the audience heard our voices. And more notably, the rich folk clad in formalwear were dining and talking and laughing while we sang. Background music, I tell you. In the small breaks between songs, a few claps would come form the audience, rather hesitant since only a selected scattered bunch of them seemed to want to join in the applause. There was a slightly greater applause after the third song, but even after the last song, when the clapping was loudest (relatively), the applause still seemed.. lukewarm. The audience (if you could call them that) were much too busy eating and talking.
Bad for the morale, I think, but still the choir head, Wey Ling congratulated the group for doing well. I honestly don't know how it went, since we couldn't hear ourselves much. I think the performance had very slight hiccups, and was quite nice, actually. Although I think the reaction of the crowd (or lack of it) might have affected us somewhere in the middle of the presentation.
Anyway, I went home with 3 new Malaysian friends in a taxi. Derence and Shean, who both seem warm and friendly, and this other senior choir singer whose name I didn't catch. I got to interact with the other choir members more, which is a good thing, considering that mostly the specific sections usually clump together.
Overall it was a good night. I still cannot quite believe that my bathroom voice is NUS Choir material. I who have zero choir experience aside from that small stint in Kent Ridge's Star to Burst freshman night. I still maintain that I managed to slip through the cracks bacause of lack of bass manpower, but it feels great to sing with these fellas who sing amazingly well (partly due to their choir experience before in JC and even earlier).
Too bad there weren't any photos, since we were all busy with rehearsing, and in a rush to go home afterwards. So Wayne, thanks for the digicam; I shot myself na lang in the room. Hehe.
NO class tomorrow. I swear I will do a GOOD java crash course. Goodnight.
Priorities
Great. I just managed to screw up all my priorities.
I went to Ginza Plaza awhile ago, and I spent a grand total of 100+ bucks. Today I PLANNED to study all day, so I made sure that I went to the Sunset Mass last night, so I would be free virtually all day. But instead, I went out yesterday afternoon (in the morning were the soccer games where I was content to cheer them on), and again today.
The major culprit is this elusive black long-sleeved shirt, which I need for the Choir performance tomorrow night. It's the formal type, and I asked from Nirorn, but he had the suit/coat instead. I asked Navuth, but it turns out his shirt is too "fitting" for me, and besides, the sleeves lack some good 10cm, so my hands look really huge when I bend my elbows. Nestor was willing to lend me, but it was a Marks & Spencer shirt, and I was hesitant what would happen to it after I washed it in the automatic wash-rinse-spin washer.
So I decided to go to Ginza Plaza for a while, which is a few stops only from the bus stop behind our hall. It turns out that Ginza Plaza is not the place to buy department store stuff, so I was planning to go home to hall instead, and borrow Nestor's shirt. Then the Bus 33 came along. I saw that it went to Boon Lay, and thus to Jurong Point, one of the classier malls around.
The bus ride took sooo long, but it was tolerable. I arrived at Jurong Point finally, and it was SALE galore! So of course, after the loooooong wait, I was finally here in a good mall with a sale. There was a Bossini sale so I got a nice blue shirt. In another store I got the good black long-sleeved shirt for about 50 bucks, and then the splurge. I bought a watch! A Swatch watch. 86 bucks. Latest model daw, and it looked quite stylish. My other watch, although relatively new, is too formal, and besides, I told Dad na rin that I'd buy another watch. I also bought a small black clear book for the musical scores in tomorrow evening's choir performance, and, because this auntie was so persuasive (but of course maybe I'm desperate), I bought another facial thing.
So there. I spent the whole afternoon in Jurong Point, and on the road. Antagal. I reasoned that I was in a big mall already, and had traveled far enough too, so why not maximize the experience right? I was window-shopping too, which is rather fun too (go ask those mall rats).
SOOO.. now I really really have to study. No more excuses. In fairness, though, I'm already more than halfway into my essays for Singapore Studies. The paper about Fistful of Colours, if you recall. The task is to insert a 250-300 word passage into the story, such that if the novel were reprinted, the changes would be unnoticeable to a new reader. And another 750-1000 word essay on the difficulties and considerations in making that new passage.
I haven't done any readings yet, too, for the rest of my modules. And by now, I've learned that reading the slides of lecture notes is never enough.
It's a busy week ahead, what with the Choir performance tomorrow night, a juniors' supper we'll set-up on Wednesday night, the Ridge Welcome tea and Choir practice on Thursday, and my SS assignment due on Friday.
We keep moving on anyway. ;)
Great. I just managed to screw up all my priorities.
I went to Ginza Plaza awhile ago, and I spent a grand total of 100+ bucks. Today I PLANNED to study all day, so I made sure that I went to the Sunset Mass last night, so I would be free virtually all day. But instead, I went out yesterday afternoon (in the morning were the soccer games where I was content to cheer them on), and again today.
The major culprit is this elusive black long-sleeved shirt, which I need for the Choir performance tomorrow night. It's the formal type, and I asked from Nirorn, but he had the suit/coat instead. I asked Navuth, but it turns out his shirt is too "fitting" for me, and besides, the sleeves lack some good 10cm, so my hands look really huge when I bend my elbows. Nestor was willing to lend me, but it was a Marks & Spencer shirt, and I was hesitant what would happen to it after I washed it in the automatic wash-rinse-spin washer.
So I decided to go to Ginza Plaza for a while, which is a few stops only from the bus stop behind our hall. It turns out that Ginza Plaza is not the place to buy department store stuff, so I was planning to go home to hall instead, and borrow Nestor's shirt. Then the Bus 33 came along. I saw that it went to Boon Lay, and thus to Jurong Point, one of the classier malls around.
The bus ride took sooo long, but it was tolerable. I arrived at Jurong Point finally, and it was SALE galore! So of course, after the loooooong wait, I was finally here in a good mall with a sale. There was a Bossini sale so I got a nice blue shirt. In another store I got the good black long-sleeved shirt for about 50 bucks, and then the splurge. I bought a watch! A Swatch watch. 86 bucks. Latest model daw, and it looked quite stylish. My other watch, although relatively new, is too formal, and besides, I told Dad na rin that I'd buy another watch. I also bought a small black clear book for the musical scores in tomorrow evening's choir performance, and, because this auntie was so persuasive (but of course maybe I'm desperate), I bought another facial thing.
So there. I spent the whole afternoon in Jurong Point, and on the road. Antagal. I reasoned that I was in a big mall already, and had traveled far enough too, so why not maximize the experience right? I was window-shopping too, which is rather fun too (go ask those mall rats).
SOOO.. now I really really have to study. No more excuses. In fairness, though, I'm already more than halfway into my essays for Singapore Studies. The paper about Fistful of Colours, if you recall. The task is to insert a 250-300 word passage into the story, such that if the novel were reprinted, the changes would be unnoticeable to a new reader. And another 750-1000 word essay on the difficulties and considerations in making that new passage.
I haven't done any readings yet, too, for the rest of my modules. And by now, I've learned that reading the slides of lecture notes is never enough.
It's a busy week ahead, what with the Choir performance tomorrow night, a juniors' supper we'll set-up on Wednesday night, the Ridge Welcome tea and Choir practice on Thursday, and my SS assignment due on Friday.
We keep moving on anyway. ;)
If I Ain't Got You
If you've been observant, you'll see that I've run out of good titles for my blog entries. :) In any case, the title's not too bad, right? It may not be significant, but if you've heard the remix of the Alicia Keys song, with ultra-cool Usher singing with Alicia in an amazingly soulful R&B duet, you'll be totally blown away. Thanks to Ares, and to whoever in the Web helped me get the file. (I do my share too, kaya nga 1000+ shinishare ko na files eh.. hehe)
Anyway, it's still me and my Fistful of Colours book. I've been reading nothing but it for the weeeeeeek! Which is not a good thing anymore, methinks. But I'm down to the final 25+ pages, so it must be a good sign. I had to stop, see, and flip through several pages back to make something that hopefully was thought-provoking enough for the online class forum in the IVLE (Integrated Virtual Learning Environment).
Oh, the choir session last Monday was quite fun. There were so few of us basses (which again reinforced my speculation that Choir got me because there were few bass voices in the auditions), and so many tenors and altos. We had good voice classes from 4:30-5:30pm, went back to hall for dinner, then went back at 7:00 for the sectional practices. Later at 8:30, we moved to Lecture Theatre 13, where the entire choir rehearsed. The shock of the evening was that we were to perform on MONDAY, August 30!! That being our first rehearsal, we have the second and last rehearsal tomorrow for us to learn some good 5 songs. Pressure! But it's okay lah, it's gonna be my first ever choir performance with the NUS choir.
This afternoon, after my Java class, I went back to hall to work again on my readings, praying and WILLING the weather to RAIN so the soccer practices for the IBG will be cancelled. And it rained! Right smack at the perfect time, 4:30pm. HAH! I thought.
I read my book at the lobby so I could ask the Soccer IC, a thin cheerful guy named Lin, whether the soccer prac would push through or not *raining outside ;P*. He came to the lobby at 4:45pm, and for some reason, the rain STOPPED. Great, I thought.
But Lin was such an encouraging guy for a beginner like me. My reason for being hesitant to play was because I played lousy sepak tekraw the last time, and I assumed that since Soccer is this BIG in Singapore, I would have to, during the game, shrink again and wish the earth would open and swallow me up.
The cool thing was, I actually enjoyed playing soccer. Sure it was only the second time I played soccer in my whole life (the other time during the hall orientation), but it turned out to be rather OKAY. The guys from my block were encouraging and let me play, never mind if I did more than a few blunders. I actually made a few good kicks, so that was cool (although they weren't amazing yet of course).
I thanked Lin afterwards, and the funny thing was he thanked me instead for coming down to play.
Later, we played some volleyball stuff, then my OG-mate Felicia, my next-door neighbor Yishu and I left for the hall to take-away the dinners of the players.
After packing the players' dinners, and settling down at the dinnertable ourselves to eat, we had a good dinner conversation together with Cheryl and Tat Xien. It was good dinner talk, with all 5 of us talking about hall stuff (food and all), as well as our more colorful personal lives. Heck, we even reached the topics of love and marriage!
Now, I'm back in the room, with my book seemingly daring me to finish it. I should too, since it's been WAY too long. There's a Master Supper, though at 10pm, so um, at least I get energized enough to read? Too bad the supper will clash with Amazing Race! I never get to watch it anymore, because there ALWAYS is some block activity on Wednesday night. Oh well. I'm not complaining much. ;)
p.s.
HAPPY HAPPY 18th BIRTHDAY to my great buddy JAY!
I called you na last night! Hehe. I remembered your birthday..buti pa ako. ;)
Hope it was fun.
If you've been observant, you'll see that I've run out of good titles for my blog entries. :) In any case, the title's not too bad, right? It may not be significant, but if you've heard the remix of the Alicia Keys song, with ultra-cool Usher singing with Alicia in an amazingly soulful R&B duet, you'll be totally blown away. Thanks to Ares, and to whoever in the Web helped me get the file. (I do my share too, kaya nga 1000+ shinishare ko na files eh.. hehe)
Anyway, it's still me and my Fistful of Colours book. I've been reading nothing but it for the weeeeeeek! Which is not a good thing anymore, methinks. But I'm down to the final 25+ pages, so it must be a good sign. I had to stop, see, and flip through several pages back to make something that hopefully was thought-provoking enough for the online class forum in the IVLE (Integrated Virtual Learning Environment).
Oh, the choir session last Monday was quite fun. There were so few of us basses (which again reinforced my speculation that Choir got me because there were few bass voices in the auditions), and so many tenors and altos. We had good voice classes from 4:30-5:30pm, went back to hall for dinner, then went back at 7:00 for the sectional practices. Later at 8:30, we moved to Lecture Theatre 13, where the entire choir rehearsed. The shock of the evening was that we were to perform on MONDAY, August 30!! That being our first rehearsal, we have the second and last rehearsal tomorrow for us to learn some good 5 songs. Pressure! But it's okay lah, it's gonna be my first ever choir performance with the NUS choir.
This afternoon, after my Java class, I went back to hall to work again on my readings, praying and WILLING the weather to RAIN so the soccer practices for the IBG will be cancelled. And it rained! Right smack at the perfect time, 4:30pm. HAH! I thought.
I read my book at the lobby so I could ask the Soccer IC, a thin cheerful guy named Lin, whether the soccer prac would push through or not *raining outside ;P*. He came to the lobby at 4:45pm, and for some reason, the rain STOPPED. Great, I thought.
But Lin was such an encouraging guy for a beginner like me. My reason for being hesitant to play was because I played lousy sepak tekraw the last time, and I assumed that since Soccer is this BIG in Singapore, I would have to, during the game, shrink again and wish the earth would open and swallow me up.
The cool thing was, I actually enjoyed playing soccer. Sure it was only the second time I played soccer in my whole life (the other time during the hall orientation), but it turned out to be rather OKAY. The guys from my block were encouraging and let me play, never mind if I did more than a few blunders. I actually made a few good kicks, so that was cool (although they weren't amazing yet of course).
I thanked Lin afterwards, and the funny thing was he thanked me instead for coming down to play.
Later, we played some volleyball stuff, then my OG-mate Felicia, my next-door neighbor Yishu and I left for the hall to take-away the dinners of the players.
After packing the players' dinners, and settling down at the dinnertable ourselves to eat, we had a good dinner conversation together with Cheryl and Tat Xien. It was good dinner talk, with all 5 of us talking about hall stuff (food and all), as well as our more colorful personal lives. Heck, we even reached the topics of love and marriage!
Now, I'm back in the room, with my book seemingly daring me to finish it. I should too, since it's been WAY too long. There's a Master Supper, though at 10pm, so um, at least I get energized enough to read? Too bad the supper will clash with Amazing Race! I never get to watch it anymore, because there ALWAYS is some block activity on Wednesday night. Oh well. I'm not complaining much. ;)
p.s.
HAPPY HAPPY 18th BIRTHDAY to my great buddy JAY!
I called you na last night! Hehe. I remembered your birthday..buti pa ako. ;)
Hope it was fun.
Fistful of Colours
That's the title of the Singapore novel I'm currently reading. No it's not leisure reading (although it's most interesting I must say), but a required reading for my SSA1206 (Representing Singapore) module. It's quite fun, the module, since it's literature-based and non-examinable, unlike the other Singapore Studies modules which deal with history, politics, etc.. I have this thing for reading good stories, and this module I'm taking involves reading a novel, a play, even studying Singapore TV and film (I think). Quite fun and fits me well, as I like those kind of stuff. What I'm pressed to do right now, though, is to FINISH THE BOOK! I've read the compulsory reading which is half the book for this week, but it seems that everyone in the online forum has read the whole thing! And they're discussing the story and its repercussions and all.. I didn't want to finish reading all the forum threads since as many people know, I HATE spoilers (halfway done pa lang ako eh).
Brice pala is so diligent it's amazing. He's read the entire book, even finished the two-part writing assignment due in September 3 still! GOD I am so left behind na. And to think I've been reading this book only for the past week, when I have readings to do for other subjects too.
ANYWAY
I went to IKEA yesterday by my lonesome (since everyone was either somewhere else, has been to IKEA recently, or both) and it was fun. They have this once-a-year sale, so I maximized it. It was the first time I went to IKEA alone, and I was clutching the bus guide tightly, staring at it and the bus stops I passed, and it turned out to be quite a smooth ride.
I bought a plant and a pot (a discounted jar with lid) to go with it, since I realized there must be some other LIVING THING in my room besides me (and okay, the occasional ants), a colorful placemat, a doormat which was virtually a steal for $2.90, and a big foldable turquoise chair (since I have visitors in my room and I can't always let them sit on my bed when I use my lone chair). Quite a bargain, my purchases, and even if I didn't buy anything, I enjoyed looking at the coolest displays of IKEA home furnishings.
Today I went to Church with the Pinoy group, now with the addition of the new bridging kids. This afternoon naman, after coming from church and having a good nap, Ivy and I went to SRC (we only walked since the bus had JUST left us when we reached the bus stop) for a basketball game of my block at 6pm. I arrived too late, as I was informed that it was suddenly moved to 5:15pm. Fine. I watched at the other blocks play awhile, and headed to the bus stop again. After waiting for 15 minutes, the A2 bus arrived (I planned to walk from PGP), and it was so full it seemed to be bursting. I went to the opposite busstop for the A1 bus, waited abother 15 minutes, only to see the bus similarly bursting with sweaty people from the block games. Of course a good bunch of those waiting managed to squeeze in, including several guys, while this small lady in front of me had to wait for the next bus. Makonsensya naman sana kayo. My fellow Kentridgeans managed to get into the bus, except the less-aggressive me, and so I retraced my steps and enjoyed the long walk home through the shortcut that Ivy had just taught me earlier.
I'm not complaining. I like to have some "me" time too. And the music on the radio was good. Thank God someone attached radio in cellphones.
Time to study! :D
That's the title of the Singapore novel I'm currently reading. No it's not leisure reading (although it's most interesting I must say), but a required reading for my SSA1206 (Representing Singapore) module. It's quite fun, the module, since it's literature-based and non-examinable, unlike the other Singapore Studies modules which deal with history, politics, etc.. I have this thing for reading good stories, and this module I'm taking involves reading a novel, a play, even studying Singapore TV and film (I think). Quite fun and fits me well, as I like those kind of stuff. What I'm pressed to do right now, though, is to FINISH THE BOOK! I've read the compulsory reading which is half the book for this week, but it seems that everyone in the online forum has read the whole thing! And they're discussing the story and its repercussions and all.. I didn't want to finish reading all the forum threads since as many people know, I HATE spoilers (halfway done pa lang ako eh).
Brice pala is so diligent it's amazing. He's read the entire book, even finished the two-part writing assignment due in September 3 still! GOD I am so left behind na. And to think I've been reading this book only for the past week, when I have readings to do for other subjects too.
ANYWAY
I went to IKEA yesterday by my lonesome (since everyone was either somewhere else, has been to IKEA recently, or both) and it was fun. They have this once-a-year sale, so I maximized it. It was the first time I went to IKEA alone, and I was clutching the bus guide tightly, staring at it and the bus stops I passed, and it turned out to be quite a smooth ride.
I bought a plant and a pot (a discounted jar with lid) to go with it, since I realized there must be some other LIVING THING in my room besides me (and okay, the occasional ants), a colorful placemat, a doormat which was virtually a steal for $2.90, and a big foldable turquoise chair (since I have visitors in my room and I can't always let them sit on my bed when I use my lone chair). Quite a bargain, my purchases, and even if I didn't buy anything, I enjoyed looking at the coolest displays of IKEA home furnishings.
Today I went to Church with the Pinoy group, now with the addition of the new bridging kids. This afternoon naman, after coming from church and having a good nap, Ivy and I went to SRC (we only walked since the bus had JUST left us when we reached the bus stop) for a basketball game of my block at 6pm. I arrived too late, as I was informed that it was suddenly moved to 5:15pm. Fine. I watched at the other blocks play awhile, and headed to the bus stop again. After waiting for 15 minutes, the A2 bus arrived (I planned to walk from PGP), and it was so full it seemed to be bursting. I went to the opposite busstop for the A1 bus, waited abother 15 minutes, only to see the bus similarly bursting with sweaty people from the block games. Of course a good bunch of those waiting managed to squeeze in, including several guys, while this small lady in front of me had to wait for the next bus. Makonsensya naman sana kayo. My fellow Kentridgeans managed to get into the bus, except the less-aggressive me, and so I retraced my steps and enjoyed the long walk home through the shortcut that Ivy had just taught me earlier.
I'm not complaining. I like to have some "me" time too. And the music on the radio was good. Thank God someone attached radio in cellphones.
Time to study! :D
IN
I recently just made some cool door art over the weekend, made from small snippets (minimalist na ngayon) of the collective magazines, flyers and loads of freebies that NUS gives in one way or another. (It's not exactly door art since it's posted on my pinboard next to the door, but what the heck.) Part of this must-see door art is a sign that indicates whether I'm "IN" or "OUT" of the room.
Robinson, my junior in high school, who's now doing the bridging course here, lives in the room across mine, and he has commented that my sign has misled him a couple of times. Hehe. It is true, actually, that I forget to flip the sign before I go "OUT", so it says "IN" all along. I come back after a day of lectures to find it misleading indeed, but then that's about the time when I finally go back "IN" so then I don't need to change the sign anymore. Haha. I'll try to remember tomorrow.
***
What I'm formally "IN" now, actually, is the NUS choir. Yes, after long hours of self-brainstorming, a call home, some consultation with friends, discouragement from James, a senior member of KR's own choir, I've finally decided to make the biggest risk of my freshman life.
Choir practices are roughly 9 hours/week. Mondays, 4:30-930pm, and Thursdays, 5:30-9:30. That's also because there will be a couple of hours of voice lessons by professional vocal coaches. (We were told to maximize on it, as outside NUS, it would be some S$60-80/hour if you're lucky, and normally about S$100-120.) There'll be a bunch of performances spread throughout the year, a concert in February, and perhaps some international contests (if all goes well). A big thing too, is this caroling during Christmas, and we're requested to stay UP TO DECEMBER 24th (wag naman sana). Also, we'll be asked to spend a month from our 3-month summer break for Choir stuff.
There. Thing is, I have to balance my time for studies most especially, and also for hall activities, as there is a points quota for hall stayback. I sure hope I get to stay in both Choir, and KR Hall.
I just attended the welcome for newbies at the Centre for the Arts this evening at 7, and it turned out to be quite fun. It was more of a getting-to-know-you session where we basically just introduced ourselves, and played several fun icebreakers.
One notable icebreaker was this guessing game where a senior helped me out by gesturing me what my partner Anusha guessed to be my favorite music artist. Anusha and I never talked about it in our Speed Dating Game, and she was merely guessing I liked "Maroon 5". A funky senior, Yen Ting I think was her name, remembered me from the auditions, and gestured and mouthed the words. Nobody seemed to notice, and so Anusha and I were spared from doing the eat-one-choco-stick-together forfeit. ;)
I bowed a silent thank you to Yen Ting, but I realize just now that I should thank her for yet another reason. I think she saved my ass during the audition. She was the one who seemed to
be enjoying my singing in the audition (the song at least, since my pitching was all off), while the other senior seemed too serious and sour-faced most of that time.
And just now, I accepted an invitation to join the yahoogroup for The Ridge's Outspoken Desk. So that makes me "IN" the Ridge circuit finally.
Now I must begin my mugging, start digging through readings, and stop blogging. Goodnight! ;)
I recently just made some cool door art over the weekend, made from small snippets (minimalist na ngayon) of the collective magazines, flyers and loads of freebies that NUS gives in one way or another. (It's not exactly door art since it's posted on my pinboard next to the door, but what the heck.) Part of this must-see door art is a sign that indicates whether I'm "IN" or "OUT" of the room.
Robinson, my junior in high school, who's now doing the bridging course here, lives in the room across mine, and he has commented that my sign has misled him a couple of times. Hehe. It is true, actually, that I forget to flip the sign before I go "OUT", so it says "IN" all along. I come back after a day of lectures to find it misleading indeed, but then that's about the time when I finally go back "IN" so then I don't need to change the sign anymore. Haha. I'll try to remember tomorrow.
***
What I'm formally "IN" now, actually, is the NUS choir. Yes, after long hours of self-brainstorming, a call home, some consultation with friends, discouragement from James, a senior member of KR's own choir, I've finally decided to make the biggest risk of my freshman life.
Choir practices are roughly 9 hours/week. Mondays, 4:30-930pm, and Thursdays, 5:30-9:30. That's also because there will be a couple of hours of voice lessons by professional vocal coaches. (We were told to maximize on it, as outside NUS, it would be some S$60-80/hour if you're lucky, and normally about S$100-120.) There'll be a bunch of performances spread throughout the year, a concert in February, and perhaps some international contests (if all goes well). A big thing too, is this caroling during Christmas, and we're requested to stay UP TO DECEMBER 24th (wag naman sana). Also, we'll be asked to spend a month from our 3-month summer break for Choir stuff.
There. Thing is, I have to balance my time for studies most especially, and also for hall activities, as there is a points quota for hall stayback. I sure hope I get to stay in both Choir, and KR Hall.
I just attended the welcome for newbies at the Centre for the Arts this evening at 7, and it turned out to be quite fun. It was more of a getting-to-know-you session where we basically just introduced ourselves, and played several fun icebreakers.
One notable icebreaker was this guessing game where a senior helped me out by gesturing me what my partner Anusha guessed to be my favorite music artist. Anusha and I never talked about it in our Speed Dating Game, and she was merely guessing I liked "Maroon 5". A funky senior, Yen Ting I think was her name, remembered me from the auditions, and gestured and mouthed the words. Nobody seemed to notice, and so Anusha and I were spared from doing the eat-one-choco-stick-together forfeit. ;)
I bowed a silent thank you to Yen Ting, but I realize just now that I should thank her for yet another reason. I think she saved my ass during the audition. She was the one who seemed to
be enjoying my singing in the audition (the song at least, since my pitching was all off), while the other senior seemed too serious and sour-faced most of that time.
And just now, I accepted an invitation to join the yahoogroup for The Ridge's Outspoken Desk. So that makes me "IN" the Ridge circuit finally.
Now I must begin my mugging, start digging through readings, and stop blogging. Goodnight! ;)
Ummm.. OK
I have class at 10am, but this is another of those times when something's so notable I can't dare pass it up. I had a horrible night's sleep yet again (shit this is becoming a habit), and I have at least 3 new zits when I woke up.
But this email is what made me write here again:
Subject: NUS Choir - Congratulations
Date: Tuesday, August 17, 2004, 1:50am
From:"Tan Keng Khoon" <u0303348@nus.edu.sg>
To : "Sorongon Joseph Capirig" <u0401897@nus.edu.sg>
Dear Joseph Sorongan,
Congratulations! You have passed the NUS Choir Auditions. We would like to extend to you a warm welcome to our family.
You have been allocated to the section Bass
The details of your first choir event are as follows:
Date: 19 August 2004 (this Thursday)
Time: 7.00 pm
Venue: Centre for the Arts, Dance Theatre
Attire: Casual, but please do not wear skirts, just for this day.
Equipment: Please bring along your basic stationery set (pencil and eraser)
Please reply to me at u0303348@nus.edu.sg by 12 noon, 18 August 2004 (Wednesday) to indicate your wish to accept this offer.
Thank you.
Regards,
Keng Khoon
Secretary
NUS Choir
I have class at 10am, but this is another of those times when something's so notable I can't dare pass it up. I had a horrible night's sleep yet again (shit this is becoming a habit), and I have at least 3 new zits when I woke up.
But this email is what made me write here again:
Subject: NUS Choir - Congratulations
Date: Tuesday, August 17, 2004, 1:50am
From:"Tan Keng Khoon" <u0303348@nus.edu.sg>
To : "Sorongon Joseph Capirig" <u0401897@nus.edu.sg>
Dear Joseph Sorongan,
Congratulations! You have passed the NUS Choir Auditions. We would like to extend to you a warm welcome to our family.
You have been allocated to the section Bass
The details of your first choir event are as follows:
Date: 19 August 2004 (this Thursday)
Time: 7.00 pm
Venue: Centre for the Arts, Dance Theatre
Attire: Casual, but please do not wear skirts, just for this day.
Equipment: Please bring along your basic stationery set (pencil and eraser)
Please reply to me at u0303348@nus.edu.sg by 12 noon, 18 August 2004 (Wednesday) to indicate your wish to accept this offer.
Thank you.
Regards,
Keng Khoon
Secretary
NUS Choir
It's funny. My heart leapt when I first read it, but it was mostly drowned by that "ummmm... OK" feeling. If you've read a previous post, you'll know that the choir audition was one of the most demoralizing stuff I ever went for. But heck, THIS is the NUS Choir! Should I pass it up even if it means training for some 10 hours a week?
Now I'm not too sure what to do. Baka nga kinulang lang sila ng Bass voices. Either way, I must decide quick. Oh, and I'm Joseph SorongOn nga pala, not SorongAn.
Good Morning!
I slept pretty badly last night. I fell asleep yet again, when I had planned to read a chapter in Biology. I also woke up at crazy hours during the night, only to find my laptop still up, the lights still on, but was still too lazy to drag myself out of the bed. Finally, I woke up at around 7:50am, forced myself to wash up, then headed for breakfast.
I had breakfast with two groups of people, my D block fellas Keith, Victor, Dominic, and later, my Malaysian friends Song, Loy Yong, and Jayston. It was a teeny bit awkward with my blockmates, especially when my good neighbor Keith went off, and Dominic wasn't in the mood to talk, but I managed to keep small talk anyway. Breakfast with the next batch of friends was more relaxed, as Song (from my OG Nixes) has this running game of "Coffee and Tea" (another of those no-brainer guessing games which has, until now, left me stumped), and Loy Yong (also from Nixes) and Jayston and I were together in the freshmen choir. Song was really nice and witty as usual, Loy Yong and I haven't seen each other for a while so it was good to say hi, and Jayston was complaining about the Nasi Lemak (but that's just the way he is).
What should greet me as I entered my room was this message received by my email client, POP Peeper:
From : Nurul HUda
Sent : Monday, August 16, 2004 8:28:31 AM
To :
Subject : OUTSPOKEN
Hey there Joseph,
I have read your article. I must say that it is pretty exciting. I am intrigued by the perspective that you have chosen. But you do realise that you have exceeded the word limit. I am very particular about word limits for I cannot allow writers to start writing mini novels due to our lack of space and my lack of patience. Furthermore, I would like to inform you that you have been chosen as a writer for the OUTSPOKEN DESK!
I was kidding about the word limit part ok! Hehe! Wanted to create suspense. ;)
Congratulations! I would love to have you writing for THE RIDGE and would like to inform you about the Welcome tea that will be held on the 2nd of sept. I will pass you the details at a later date and will send you an invitation to our OUTSPOKEN YAHOOGROUP! Hope to see you soon. Meanwhile, take care and start brainstorming on ideas!
Smiles, NuruL
Haha! Now I don't care if the NUS choir emails the results to me on Wednesday or not. In fact, I may just delete the message without reading it. (Okay, maybe I'll take a quick peek to see HOW they'll tell me I totally blew it :D )
I assume the next most logical thing to do (and maybe answer your unspoken question) is to post the article that I submitted for the Ridge. If you remember, that was the 304-word article I submitted at 2247 hrs when it was due 2300. I'll post it sometime soon. I have loads of reading to do and shouldn't really blog, but this was such a good morning to pass up.
Good morning everyone!
I slept pretty badly last night. I fell asleep yet again, when I had planned to read a chapter in Biology. I also woke up at crazy hours during the night, only to find my laptop still up, the lights still on, but was still too lazy to drag myself out of the bed. Finally, I woke up at around 7:50am, forced myself to wash up, then headed for breakfast.
I had breakfast with two groups of people, my D block fellas Keith, Victor, Dominic, and later, my Malaysian friends Song, Loy Yong, and Jayston. It was a teeny bit awkward with my blockmates, especially when my good neighbor Keith went off, and Dominic wasn't in the mood to talk, but I managed to keep small talk anyway. Breakfast with the next batch of friends was more relaxed, as Song (from my OG Nixes) has this running game of "Coffee and Tea" (another of those no-brainer guessing games which has, until now, left me stumped), and Loy Yong (also from Nixes) and Jayston and I were together in the freshmen choir. Song was really nice and witty as usual, Loy Yong and I haven't seen each other for a while so it was good to say hi, and Jayston was complaining about the Nasi Lemak (but that's just the way he is).
What should greet me as I entered my room was this message received by my email client, POP Peeper:
From : Nurul HUda
Sent : Monday, August 16, 2004 8:28:31 AM
To :
Subject : OUTSPOKEN
Hey there Joseph,
I have read your article. I must say that it is pretty exciting. I am intrigued by the perspective that you have chosen. But you do realise that you have exceeded the word limit. I am very particular about word limits for I cannot allow writers to start writing mini novels due to our lack of space and my lack of patience. Furthermore, I would like to inform you that you have been chosen as a writer for the OUTSPOKEN DESK!
I was kidding about the word limit part ok! Hehe! Wanted to create suspense. ;)
Congratulations! I would love to have you writing for THE RIDGE and would like to inform you about the Welcome tea that will be held on the 2nd of sept. I will pass you the details at a later date and will send you an invitation to our OUTSPOKEN YAHOOGROUP! Hope to see you soon. Meanwhile, take care and start brainstorming on ideas!
Smiles, NuruL
Haha! Now I don't care if the NUS choir emails the results to me on Wednesday or not. In fact, I may just delete the message without reading it. (Okay, maybe I'll take a quick peek to see HOW they'll tell me I totally blew it :D )
I assume the next most logical thing to do (and maybe answer your unspoken question) is to post the article that I submitted for the Ridge. If you remember, that was the 304-word article I submitted at 2247 hrs when it was due 2300. I'll post it sometime soon. I have loads of reading to do and shouldn't really blog, but this was such a good morning to pass up.
Good morning everyone!
Better
Jason Mraz has this really cool song entitled Better. The repeating line sings, "It only gets betteeeeeeer." Which is always true, by the way. Jason Mraz is the coolest. He sings the "upper" songs. And he skats so well! And he keeps an online journal too. I swear I'm buying a ticket if he comes over to Singapore. (Hoobastank pala, tonight at Sentosa, a staggering 50bucks.)
Anyway, today was a good day. I had an 8am class which was dismissed way too early because the aircon was turned off, and the heat, according to the lecturer, was unbearable. Hehe. I wasn't complaining.
I bought this Asking About Life book, which has the coolest cover. Large pawikans (deep sea turtles) near the shore of a mountain lake, that all sunbathe in a curious formation. It was only yesterday when the lecturer pointed it out that the turtles formed a big question mark (?) that the class realised. Pretty cool actually.
My serious daunting task was to write for The Ridge. I applied for the Outspoken desk, which apparently is a pretty hot desk, since there are already about 40 applicants according to my senior Gelo, the sports editor. The deadline was at 2300hrs tonight, and I basically brainstormed all day. As a matter of fact, I've been doing some intense brainwork since the other day, right after the interview. Writer's bloc. Gelo says at most there'll be 12 slots open, so it's gonna be rather tough, especially when the other applicants come from the Arts faculty.
Anyway, I worked all day, slept a while, ate a tapau lunch, called my Lola Doding, worked on a really good door art (come and see!), chatted with Robinson and did our laundry together, cleaned up my room a little, watched Rob chat with much gusto and amazement in Yahoo! messenger, and had dinner with Korinna and Rob at McDo. Korinna was in for a treat, as her date WoenPing ate next to our table. Lucky day nga, since Rob and I each won this really cool McDonald's fries mousepad. Rob gave his to Kor kasi wala pa naman syang computer, while Kor's Mac is arriving next week.
I particularly enjoyed joking around today, especially with Rob and Kor. Actually, our victim is Rob, who is the quirky sort too, always laughing and sometimes rather um, dense. Hehe. Perfect target. Buti na lng laging game si Rob.
We walked back to KR hall from McDo because the bus, which comes in 30 minute intervals at this time, arrived when Rob took a quick leak in the fourth floor of the Old Admin Building. No complaints though, as it was a good walk home.
I had finished a draft of my article before dinner, and I just had to kill some twenty words, add the title and teaser after dinner. I didn't trim it to the proper length of 300 words though. 304 lang. Haha. I emailed it to the Outspoken editor Nurul at 2247hrs, 13 minutes shy of the deadline. I was surprised to receive a reply from her, cheerfully saying the results will be out in a few days.
Nothing more to say I think. Except that I just learned that my mom now reads my blog! Hehe. Um, don't worry ma, di nako umiinom. Occasional lng naman un last time anyway. Hehe.
Night.
Jason Mraz has this really cool song entitled Better. The repeating line sings, "It only gets betteeeeeeer." Which is always true, by the way. Jason Mraz is the coolest. He sings the "upper" songs. And he skats so well! And he keeps an online journal too. I swear I'm buying a ticket if he comes over to Singapore. (Hoobastank pala, tonight at Sentosa, a staggering 50bucks.)
Anyway, today was a good day. I had an 8am class which was dismissed way too early because the aircon was turned off, and the heat, according to the lecturer, was unbearable. Hehe. I wasn't complaining.
I bought this Asking About Life book, which has the coolest cover. Large pawikans (deep sea turtles) near the shore of a mountain lake, that all sunbathe in a curious formation. It was only yesterday when the lecturer pointed it out that the turtles formed a big question mark (?) that the class realised. Pretty cool actually.
My serious daunting task was to write for The Ridge. I applied for the Outspoken desk, which apparently is a pretty hot desk, since there are already about 40 applicants according to my senior Gelo, the sports editor. The deadline was at 2300hrs tonight, and I basically brainstormed all day. As a matter of fact, I've been doing some intense brainwork since the other day, right after the interview. Writer's bloc. Gelo says at most there'll be 12 slots open, so it's gonna be rather tough, especially when the other applicants come from the Arts faculty.
Anyway, I worked all day, slept a while, ate a tapau lunch, called my Lola Doding, worked on a really good door art (come and see!), chatted with Robinson and did our laundry together, cleaned up my room a little, watched Rob chat with much gusto and amazement in Yahoo! messenger, and had dinner with Korinna and Rob at McDo. Korinna was in for a treat, as her date WoenPing ate next to our table. Lucky day nga, since Rob and I each won this really cool McDonald's fries mousepad. Rob gave his to Kor kasi wala pa naman syang computer, while Kor's Mac is arriving next week.
I particularly enjoyed joking around today, especially with Rob and Kor. Actually, our victim is Rob, who is the quirky sort too, always laughing and sometimes rather um, dense. Hehe. Perfect target. Buti na lng laging game si Rob.
We walked back to KR hall from McDo because the bus, which comes in 30 minute intervals at this time, arrived when Rob took a quick leak in the fourth floor of the Old Admin Building. No complaints though, as it was a good walk home.
I had finished a draft of my article before dinner, and I just had to kill some twenty words, add the title and teaser after dinner. I didn't trim it to the proper length of 300 words though. 304 lang. Haha. I emailed it to the Outspoken editor Nurul at 2247hrs, 13 minutes shy of the deadline. I was surprised to receive a reply from her, cheerfully saying the results will be out in a few days.
Nothing more to say I think. Except that I just learned that my mom now reads my blog! Hehe. Um, don't worry ma, di nako umiinom. Occasional lng naman un last time anyway. Hehe.
Night.
Bad NoteS
Today was yet another um, eventful day. I sincerely wish I could tell you otherwise, but that's that.
I dragged myself out of bed, wanting to sleep more to forget Sepak Takraw last night, but I had to get breakfast and attend this Linear Algebra class, MA1101R, at 10. It turned out to be a booooring lecture. Why is it worse than any other boring lecture? Because the lecturer thought what he was saying was interesting, and thus continued to drone on with much gusto. About his brother at a university in Manchester, about the magic cube that drove the Math department nuts, about, of all things, ants! (That's according to Brice, since I probably had shut myself momentarily that time) He rushed through the actual solving of matrices though.
My afternoon was packed. At 4pm I had a CS1101 lecture (which is now turning more challenging by the minute), and then the loads of stuff. I was supposed to accompany Diana (and audition as well) for the Voices audition (pop singing) and the NUS choir tryouts. Clashing with the sked was my scheduled track and field tryouts for IBG, and the Jam and Hop dance/disco in the evening.
I accompanied Diana to her interview with some group at the Science Fac, and then the mad rush began. The queue for the Voices audition was too long to be inviting, so I just signed up, went to change into my shorts in the washroom, and ran all the way to the oval track field for the track tryouts. The running drained the life out of me, and it turns out, unsurprisingly, that I am not one of the best runners. One of the suckier runners, if you please. I did my best though, and I didn't entirely SUCK. Just not tops.
I called Diana back at 7pm to check if the Voices audition was over, and she said she was about to enter the club room. I decided to skip this session and wait another day. At 7:30, when the track thing was finally over, I called her again and found out she was at the Choir auditions already. It was the last day, and although I knew that the choir work was heavy, I decided to give it a shot since I'm a loser in sports. Some kind of redemption, if I may say so.
Turns out, after the looooooooong wait, at around 8:30 pm, and the second to the last to audition, I screwed up once more. I don't want to talk about it actually. I was nervous, and I sang badly. The bad notes, as a matter of fact.
Diana and I met Steph, Karen, and Zada, and were almost headed to the Jam and Hop, but we were so hungry we decided to go to McDo instead.
It sucks to be me right now, and for some reason, nothing anyone says makes me feel good. Maybe a few of them words make me feel better, but unfortunately, the quotable ones are those that make me feel worse.
Good night. Magbabagong buhay na ako. Don't pity me.
Today was yet another um, eventful day. I sincerely wish I could tell you otherwise, but that's that.
I dragged myself out of bed, wanting to sleep more to forget Sepak Takraw last night, but I had to get breakfast and attend this Linear Algebra class, MA1101R, at 10. It turned out to be a booooring lecture. Why is it worse than any other boring lecture? Because the lecturer thought what he was saying was interesting, and thus continued to drone on with much gusto. About his brother at a university in Manchester, about the magic cube that drove the Math department nuts, about, of all things, ants! (That's according to Brice, since I probably had shut myself momentarily that time) He rushed through the actual solving of matrices though.
My afternoon was packed. At 4pm I had a CS1101 lecture (which is now turning more challenging by the minute), and then the loads of stuff. I was supposed to accompany Diana (and audition as well) for the Voices audition (pop singing) and the NUS choir tryouts. Clashing with the sked was my scheduled track and field tryouts for IBG, and the Jam and Hop dance/disco in the evening.
I accompanied Diana to her interview with some group at the Science Fac, and then the mad rush began. The queue for the Voices audition was too long to be inviting, so I just signed up, went to change into my shorts in the washroom, and ran all the way to the oval track field for the track tryouts. The running drained the life out of me, and it turns out, unsurprisingly, that I am not one of the best runners. One of the suckier runners, if you please. I did my best though, and I didn't entirely SUCK. Just not tops.
I called Diana back at 7pm to check if the Voices audition was over, and she said she was about to enter the club room. I decided to skip this session and wait another day. At 7:30, when the track thing was finally over, I called her again and found out she was at the Choir auditions already. It was the last day, and although I knew that the choir work was heavy, I decided to give it a shot since I'm a loser in sports. Some kind of redemption, if I may say so.
Turns out, after the looooooooong wait, at around 8:30 pm, and the second to the last to audition, I screwed up once more. I don't want to talk about it actually. I was nervous, and I sang badly. The bad notes, as a matter of fact.
Diana and I met Steph, Karen, and Zada, and were almost headed to the Jam and Hop, but we were so hungry we decided to go to McDo instead.
It sucks to be me right now, and for some reason, nothing anyone says makes me feel good. Maybe a few of them words make me feel better, but unfortunately, the quotable ones are those that make me feel worse.
Good night. Magbabagong buhay na ako. Don't pity me.
Bad Note
Today was, for lack of better words, a long day. And you know how it is with long days, they tend to play around with your moods.
I could tell you about my previous days actually, about how I went into my first classes as an undergrad (bridging kasi last year), about my boring MA1101R teacher who promised to give high marks, about my funny teaching excellence awardee ST1131 teacher, my CS1101 teacher whose Java lectures I hope to figure out, and about my surprise meeting with Priya at the Science canteen one afternoon and our unplanned late lunch, but right now, I simply feel sucky.
We just played Sepak Takraw see, for Inter-Block Games (IBG) training, the and I so happen to be the absolute worst player Singapore has ever seen. For those who don't already know, Sepak Takraw is this game that's almost like volleyball but with 3-player teams, a hollow rattan ball, which is kicked (or hit with the head, knees, anything except arms and hands) across to the other side. It's almost like soccer, too, and it's just plain unlucky that Singaporeans are great soccer fans, while I the Pinoy, am not.
I felt like the single glitch in the system, the big dark cloud looming over their otherwise smooth playing. Half the time I wanted to disappear, the other half I was cursing my shoes.
Tomorrow I'll try out for track and field, which is basically just running. I hope my long legs won't disappoint, even if I don't jog regularly, as I would hate to have my ego bruised again.
And oh, I went to apply for The Ridge with Wayne this afternoon. I signed up for the "Outspoken" Desk, and I have to submit this article tomorrow. I also attended a Toastmasters talk this evening, which was quite fun, actually.
But right now, I feel sucky still. And it doesn't help that two girls hogged the payphone in the lobby, and I couldn't call home. I guess this day is simply meant to end on a bad note. And it sucks that it has to stay there overnight.
Today was, for lack of better words, a long day. And you know how it is with long days, they tend to play around with your moods.
I could tell you about my previous days actually, about how I went into my first classes as an undergrad (bridging kasi last year), about my boring MA1101R teacher who promised to give high marks, about my funny teaching excellence awardee ST1131 teacher, my CS1101 teacher whose Java lectures I hope to figure out, and about my surprise meeting with Priya at the Science canteen one afternoon and our unplanned late lunch, but right now, I simply feel sucky.
We just played Sepak Takraw see, for Inter-Block Games (IBG) training, the and I so happen to be the absolute worst player Singapore has ever seen. For those who don't already know, Sepak Takraw is this game that's almost like volleyball but with 3-player teams, a hollow rattan ball, which is kicked (or hit with the head, knees, anything except arms and hands) across to the other side. It's almost like soccer, too, and it's just plain unlucky that Singaporeans are great soccer fans, while I the Pinoy, am not.
I felt like the single glitch in the system, the big dark cloud looming over their otherwise smooth playing. Half the time I wanted to disappear, the other half I was cursing my shoes.
Tomorrow I'll try out for track and field, which is basically just running. I hope my long legs won't disappoint, even if I don't jog regularly, as I would hate to have my ego bruised again.
And oh, I went to apply for The Ridge with Wayne this afternoon. I signed up for the "Outspoken" Desk, and I have to submit this article tomorrow. I also attended a Toastmasters talk this evening, which was quite fun, actually.
But right now, I feel sucky still. And it doesn't help that two girls hogged the payphone in the lobby, and I couldn't call home. I guess this day is simply meant to end on a bad note. And it sucks that it has to stay there overnight.
THOSE DAYS AGAIN
This has got to be an achievement -- Not blogging for 6 days, and I have 24/7 internet now in my room! Thanks.
It has been an eventful week, and now I am damn proud to be a Kentridgean. Mighty proud too, to belong to Nixes. We were best OG, we think, although it was named "Most On (something like "active" in Chinese)" OG, and never mind if all the OG's were given goody bags labeled Most happening, etc. just so everyone could have a pack. Hehe.
So much has happened the past few days that I don't know how to blog them all in. Anyway, my Mauritian date Priya and I clicked, and we had a good time at the formal hall dinner. There were a few bloopers, like when she gave me a gift that had a card addressed to another guy written by her bestfriend Sock Nee (I figure them buddies must've bought the same gifts), and when I wanted to chase her into her room to ask her something but couldn't do so because I misplaced my room card for entrance to the blocks, only to find her peering into my room to give me a gift as I came walking from the washroom. I must admit though, that we talk better outside the formal hall dinner. Must be the stiff atmosphere there.
I sang with the bass group of the choir during the annual "Star to Burst", the KR freshmen show. This guy Jayston was a trash-talking type of guy, and my buddy Loy Yong had to shut ourselves whenever did his talk. It seemed I was doing a much better job, since Loy Yong was complaining to me privately when Jayston wasn't around. Anyway, Loy Yong was a terrific bass singer who could do both tenor and bass, while Jayston at the tenor group was struggling. We did a last minute switch, and Jayston, fellow Malaysian guy Jamie and I formed the bass group. I think we did a pretty good job, compared to our especially sucky performance during the dry run. Priya, also a choir member, thought the bass group was a teeny bit off, as I gave her the rose I was given after the performance. Well I appreciate the honesty. :) I still hope Choir accepts me in the actual audition next week (especially since A cappella rejected me hehe).
Oh, I must also say that I am most sunburnt as of this writing. On NUS Flag day, August 3, we went to different locations in Singapore to basically beg. Each of us had 3 coin cans, and we were to fill them up. My group from D block went to Parkway Parade, a nice mall. I spent early morning till afternoon walking in the sun, along the mall entrance and exits, near bus stops and in the flea market. I didn't fill all three tins, but I sure got a dark tan. Rag Day, a day where all halls and faculties display large extravagant displays of moving floats (made of recycled materials too) and dance presentations, was yesterday, and again it was SCORCHING. Actually, I was up at 2:30 AM, as part of the Wet Weather Group, who was to make sure our gigantic float didn't get soaked should rain come. It didn't rain though, but it was burning hot towards noon. Our float didn't win the best float or best presentation, but it won least cost float. One thing it sure did though, was heighten hall spirit. It was great to cheer for them all, even in the midday sun.
Afterwards, the freshmen were given a graduation of sorts. It was a ceremonial thing, too, as we one by one shook hands with mostly all of the seniors as we trudged up to the multi-purpose hall from the dining hall. We have this cool certificate, with a big photo of the whole orientation team and the 100+ bunch of KR newbies. We sang the hall anthem (a tune i can't get out of my head), and sang the slightly mushy goodnight song. KR is such a family hall, and I am more than thankful to be part of it.
Now I rest. Tomorrow is National Day, but I don't have tickets to the parade! Argh. I asked my pinoy seniors what's a good thing to do on National Day, but apparently, those who don't have tickets just watch the big show on TV. That's a good thing too, since I'm still annoyed with Michael right now.
Stuff happened today though. I'm feeling a bit funny, but it's nothing I can't handle.
This has got to be an achievement -- Not blogging for 6 days, and I have 24/7 internet now in my room! Thanks.
It has been an eventful week, and now I am damn proud to be a Kentridgean. Mighty proud too, to belong to Nixes. We were best OG, we think, although it was named "Most On (something like "active" in Chinese)" OG, and never mind if all the OG's were given goody bags labeled Most happening, etc. just so everyone could have a pack. Hehe.
So much has happened the past few days that I don't know how to blog them all in. Anyway, my Mauritian date Priya and I clicked, and we had a good time at the formal hall dinner. There were a few bloopers, like when she gave me a gift that had a card addressed to another guy written by her bestfriend Sock Nee (I figure them buddies must've bought the same gifts), and when I wanted to chase her into her room to ask her something but couldn't do so because I misplaced my room card for entrance to the blocks, only to find her peering into my room to give me a gift as I came walking from the washroom. I must admit though, that we talk better outside the formal hall dinner. Must be the stiff atmosphere there.
I sang with the bass group of the choir during the annual "Star to Burst", the KR freshmen show. This guy Jayston was a trash-talking type of guy, and my buddy Loy Yong had to shut ourselves whenever did his talk. It seemed I was doing a much better job, since Loy Yong was complaining to me privately when Jayston wasn't around. Anyway, Loy Yong was a terrific bass singer who could do both tenor and bass, while Jayston at the tenor group was struggling. We did a last minute switch, and Jayston, fellow Malaysian guy Jamie and I formed the bass group. I think we did a pretty good job, compared to our especially sucky performance during the dry run. Priya, also a choir member, thought the bass group was a teeny bit off, as I gave her the rose I was given after the performance. Well I appreciate the honesty. :) I still hope Choir accepts me in the actual audition next week (especially since A cappella rejected me hehe).
Oh, I must also say that I am most sunburnt as of this writing. On NUS Flag day, August 3, we went to different locations in Singapore to basically beg. Each of us had 3 coin cans, and we were to fill them up. My group from D block went to Parkway Parade, a nice mall. I spent early morning till afternoon walking in the sun, along the mall entrance and exits, near bus stops and in the flea market. I didn't fill all three tins, but I sure got a dark tan. Rag Day, a day where all halls and faculties display large extravagant displays of moving floats (made of recycled materials too) and dance presentations, was yesterday, and again it was SCORCHING. Actually, I was up at 2:30 AM, as part of the Wet Weather Group, who was to make sure our gigantic float didn't get soaked should rain come. It didn't rain though, but it was burning hot towards noon. Our float didn't win the best float or best presentation, but it won least cost float. One thing it sure did though, was heighten hall spirit. It was great to cheer for them all, even in the midday sun.
Afterwards, the freshmen were given a graduation of sorts. It was a ceremonial thing, too, as we one by one shook hands with mostly all of the seniors as we trudged up to the multi-purpose hall from the dining hall. We have this cool certificate, with a big photo of the whole orientation team and the 100+ bunch of KR newbies. We sang the hall anthem (a tune i can't get out of my head), and sang the slightly mushy goodnight song. KR is such a family hall, and I am more than thankful to be part of it.
Now I rest. Tomorrow is National Day, but I don't have tickets to the parade! Argh. I asked my pinoy seniors what's a good thing to do on National Day, but apparently, those who don't have tickets just watch the big show on TV. That's a good thing too, since I'm still annoyed with Michael right now.
Stuff happened today though. I'm feeling a bit funny, but it's nothing I can't handle.
The Kent Ridge Experience
The previous couple of days of orientation at Kent Ridge Hall was quite an interesting experience, as I was beginning to realize how hall-istic (borrowed from Diana) the hall actually is.
The other day we played mini-Olympics (soccer, frisbee soccer, netball), followed by pool games at the Sports and Recreation Centre (comedy synchronized swimming [yeah!], wrestling on a raft [which my OG-mate Sundeep dominated], and the capsize-the-floater game [where skinny me was pounced on by two big guys from Titus (friendly naman)].
Yesterday we played a number of confidence games, in which I TOTALLY SUCKED in the called "Bridging the Gap" game. I was blindfolded, and a partner would lead me to a path in the dining hall, then up a chair, on to a table where there would be a gap in the middle, and i would jump over it. EVERYONE got it right. Being the sigurista & tanga that I am, I asked my partner, Song Yao, when i reached the jumping point, whether I would land on a next table, or on the floor when I follow her "jump-as-far-as-you-can" instruction. She was told not to say anything, so dumb Joseph thought he was to land on the floor, making a rather diagonally downward jump. And then he got a good painful bruise on the left leg, and a clobbered ego.
That afternoon, was the announcement for audition results for choir performance of the freshman show on Wednesday, aptly titles "Start to Burst". Having been rejected by a cappella the previous night, and seeing that the same guy gave the same audition to both groups, I was already readying myself for Plan C, which was to be part of the Stage Crew. Surprisingly, I got in choir, and were singing this Japanese song "Yuki ga Tokeru" (Snow is Melting). Loy Yong from my OG, and fellow just-accepted choir member were a teeny bit glad to see this cocky new recruit from the tenors eat his own words as he and his partner were out of tune half the time. Buti pa kami sa bass.
Today was a great big day (or actually yesterday, since it's morning na). We had an "OG Outing." Or at least, that's what the KR team want it to appear to be. SSShhhhhhhhhh.. if you read this one ok? Anyway, we had a total blast at Sentosa, even if I have a terrible sunburn and heavy eyebags from too much activity from morning till um, next morning (right now). I'm so damn mighty proud of my OG, Nixes, for we swept most of the beach games today! And the war games with the seniors were a total SPLASH (what with our water packs as ammos). Of course not to mention some other curious games (;P), that were ultimately crazy.
Swee Yong, Serene, and the B block seniors were incredible. They helped our OG, Nixes, to score our terrific wins, and even participate in our games. The attendance of Nixes is amazing too, as we were consistent as a small group of about 20 active members, which remained strong. This is in contrast to the dwindling numbers of the other groups. Serene, small but incredible, was even touched to tears by our participation.
Right now, the word on everyone's lips is, "Have you got a dinner date for the dating game?" That's the reason I'm blogging right now actually. Because even if I just lost my room card (it has to be somewhere upstairs), and the voluntary work with Rag Comm took until the wee hours of the morning, Priya, my Mauritian date (accepted me just now) , totally made my day. Friendly date lang, but she is exceedingly nice. Tell you more next entry.
5:01am now, and I daresay it's finally time to go to bed.
The previous couple of days of orientation at Kent Ridge Hall was quite an interesting experience, as I was beginning to realize how hall-istic (borrowed from Diana) the hall actually is.
The other day we played mini-Olympics (soccer, frisbee soccer, netball), followed by pool games at the Sports and Recreation Centre (comedy synchronized swimming [yeah!], wrestling on a raft [which my OG-mate Sundeep dominated], and the capsize-the-floater game [where skinny me was pounced on by two big guys from Titus (friendly naman)].
Yesterday we played a number of confidence games, in which I TOTALLY SUCKED in the called "Bridging the Gap" game. I was blindfolded, and a partner would lead me to a path in the dining hall, then up a chair, on to a table where there would be a gap in the middle, and i would jump over it. EVERYONE got it right. Being the sigurista & tanga that I am, I asked my partner, Song Yao, when i reached the jumping point, whether I would land on a next table, or on the floor when I follow her "jump-as-far-as-you-can" instruction. She was told not to say anything, so dumb Joseph thought he was to land on the floor, making a rather diagonally downward jump. And then he got a good painful bruise on the left leg, and a clobbered ego.
That afternoon, was the announcement for audition results for choir performance of the freshman show on Wednesday, aptly titles "Start to Burst". Having been rejected by a cappella the previous night, and seeing that the same guy gave the same audition to both groups, I was already readying myself for Plan C, which was to be part of the Stage Crew. Surprisingly, I got in choir, and were singing this Japanese song "Yuki ga Tokeru" (Snow is Melting). Loy Yong from my OG, and fellow just-accepted choir member were a teeny bit glad to see this cocky new recruit from the tenors eat his own words as he and his partner were out of tune half the time. Buti pa kami sa bass.
Today was a great big day (or actually yesterday, since it's morning na). We had an "OG Outing." Or at least, that's what the KR team want it to appear to be. SSShhhhhhhhhh.. if you read this one ok? Anyway, we had a total blast at Sentosa, even if I have a terrible sunburn and heavy eyebags from too much activity from morning till um, next morning (right now). I'm so damn mighty proud of my OG, Nixes, for we swept most of the beach games today! And the war games with the seniors were a total SPLASH (what with our water packs as ammos). Of course not to mention some other curious games (;P), that were ultimately crazy.
Swee Yong, Serene, and the B block seniors were incredible. They helped our OG, Nixes, to score our terrific wins, and even participate in our games. The attendance of Nixes is amazing too, as we were consistent as a small group of about 20 active members, which remained strong. This is in contrast to the dwindling numbers of the other groups. Serene, small but incredible, was even touched to tears by our participation.
Right now, the word on everyone's lips is, "Have you got a dinner date for the dating game?" That's the reason I'm blogging right now actually. Because even if I just lost my room card (it has to be somewhere upstairs), and the voluntary work with Rag Comm took until the wee hours of the morning, Priya, my Mauritian date (accepted me just now) , totally made my day. Friendly date lang, but she is exceedingly nice. Tell you more next entry.
5:01am now, and I daresay it's finally time to go to bed.
