"Winter" cleaning

Usually we hear phrases like spring cleaning which is when we clean the house, dispose unwanted stuff just before the new year. Well, we did just that today but it is more appropriate to say tt it was more lyk a 'winter' cleaning. All in all, we cleared 5 huge plastic bags of trash from the store room. I was quite surprised tt we had quite a fair bit of stuff thrown out which freed up some space. Also mged to vaccuum the whole house n mopped the floor.

I also washed the car but as usual, there was a heavy thuderstorm in the aftn n i cld not park at tt particular lot which will not get wet even if the the wind was strong. However, i think the rear of the car will be wet as the wind was rather strong, resulting in the rain being blown into the car park. But at least i m thankful tt my car is not being parked in the open air. Paying a little more a mth to park in a multi-storey car park is worth it.

Just as i m abt to publish this post, the skies opened up again....The yr end NE monsoon is here.

GESL Proj....great....

Our GESL gp.....
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The GESL project has come n gone. I wld say tt it was great. However, it was not without slight difficulties. When i got up this morning, i rcved a call from 4 mbrs who were sick n 1 of them was comfirmed down with fever. The other 3 wld b late. I sensed tt it was a spiritual attack n immediately i prayed to the Lord to take ctrl of the situation. As manpower was crucial, we needed every possible resource. However, God worked n my mind was soon at ease. N the prog went on as planned.

We soon found tt these bunch of little ones are quite an active bunch. Thankfully the ctr staff were on site to assist so that in the event of any difficult individuals, they cld step in n render the necessary assistance. Timing was originally thought to be rather tight but it was in abundance n we were not really pressured to have to keep to the time frames. I told my gp mbrs tt if they needed more time for certain activities, no prob cos we had catered for buffering time.

Each gp 'won' stg cos we made it such a way tt no one will go home empty-handed. Thanks to individual gp ics n staff who ensured tt everyone got a little gift. I must say tt even though we cannot please every single child, by an large they enjoyed themselves.

So now tt the major component is over, GESL will become stg tt will remain in our minds. We got to showcase our proj next semester n tt is pretty straightfwd. We got the photos n from now till ard mid mar 07, GESL is pretty much relaxed. Thankfully we heeded our prof's advice to get this major component out-of-the-way during the yr end hols rather than having to wait till next semester when our workload gets more hectic.

To my fellow GESL mbrs, thanks for all the hard work n what i wld say is.. GESL 5 rawks!!

Eve of GESL prog....

We have done whatever tt is necessary. Somehow i just have this weird feeling tt we have left out stg n i m just lyk worried tt things might not go smoothly as planned. However, i believe tt we shld all commit it to the Lord. Our gp met up today to go thru all the logistics n necessary administration stuff which need to be ironed out. Many thanks to the staff of the student ctr n church who helped us in various ways.

We will begin the prog at abt 9 tmw morg. In fact, we are all going to be there at 0730 hrs to do the final preparation esp the prizes. Fortunately we mged to purchase them from concourse which helped us save quite a fair bit of money.

I was watching PCK (phua chu kang) earlier. I must say tt other than "Under 1 roof", PCK is the other local sitcom tt i really enjoyed watching. It outshines many other local sitcoms by a huge margin. Kudos to the producers who mged to capture the true sg essence in both my fav sitcoms n bring it to the viewers. Sadly, PCK is into its final season n tt signals yet another chapter closed. I will cartainly miss PCK.

Day of preparation

i spent a gd part of 2day preparing the stuff tt is needed for the day camp on wed. Our gp mbrs r mtg tmw morg at the said location so tt we can have one more trial run and also sort out the necessary stuff which wld be needed on wed.

the afternoon rain was really heavy n it was a great time to catch 40 winks! however i decided against doing tt cos tt wld mean having a hard time trying to get to bed later 2nite which was what happened last night.

so after wed i have kind of planned what to do on thu. vaccuum n mop the whole hse n maybe wash the car as well. no more running till sun. well....maybe just a short 2.5k run la....omg, i m really addicted to running....N guess what? i looked at the sole of my running shoe n i can aldy c tt after this sunday's run, i might have to start looking for a new pair. N this pair only lasted 3 mths. but accdg to my bro, tt is quite common. since runners need to have very gd support from their shoes, once the sole starts to show signs of 'extensive' wear, the shoe can still be used but only for walking n other non-impact sports. this is bcos the cushioning is not going to be effective in protecting the ankles & ligaments. N i m aiming to achieve 42.195 by either end '07 or '08. as such, i need to have adequate lower limbs protection. tt means gd shoes. (more $$)

Stressful sunday duty....

I shall blog abt my sunday duty this morning. When i arrived at the FOH(Front-Of-House) which is the place where the PA n AV console is located, i was told tt there were quite a number of announcements to be made, a DVD clip, an Ecard over and above the usual things. So we tested the stuff n it was ok.

1st svc: It went pretty ok. The usual 1st svc blues cos things were still quite new in a sense but by n large it was fine.

2nd svc: Huge embarassing moments. There was a file tt i needed to project but the system cld not export it to the main computer. However we cld run it as a separate file. But i think the format which it was done seemed to be a little too advanced n it caused the comp to hang! So the presenter was saying," next slide pls" n it just refused to move! Some turned to look at us and i had to to the sign of computer hang by "cupping my neck"!! BUt during the sermon when i was trying it out it worked perfectly fine! Oh well, technology is not full-proof afterall.

Just came back from a run n it certainly felt great. The past few days had unfavourable conditions in the afternoon so i had to forgo running. 6 days to conquering 21.1km. Can aldy feel the adrenalin rush....

Olympus U 720SW

We went 2 purchase our digital camera today. Well, it set us back by $586. HOwever it was on a promotional price. The basic px was actually $548 (includes a 512MB XD card n other basic accessories) but the shop included an extra USB memory adaptor with a 1GB memory XD card at no extra cost. BUt we added a spare battery for $28 (usual price at $60) and a plastic screen protector for $10. This camera has underwater phototaking ability n the ISO up to 1600. It also has a built-in anti-shock casing.

Compared with the old Canon which we bought more than 2 yrs ago, tt one cost more than this n the features were much more basic. Well, tt is always the case with technology. New n more advanced stuff will be launched which means older stuff will be obselete pretty fast n needless to say, it depreciates quickly as well.

With this purchase, there goes our hopes of tt N73......oh well...nvm....

race entry pack...

We went to suntec earlier to collect my race pack for the marathon next sun. Indeed, i was very impressed by the way the organisers ran the whole thing. It was very orderly and with the number of counters available, even if the total number or participants is a record 30000, they used a whole exhibition hall to house the race packs, computer terminals and also barricades to manage crowd ctrl.

Inside the pack there is a timing chip to be tied to my shoe so tt the computer will be able to capture my start n end time. Of course i got my number tag which is NOT 0412 but it is 14905.. N since addidas is one of the main sponsors they included some discount vouchers for participants at selected outlets. We checked out some of the apparels n they r really nice....(the price is 'nice' as well)

the moment of truth....

All the p6s faced the moment of truth today when they got their results. Congrats on a job well done for all who are able to move onto pursuing their secondary education. Obviously there is some deg of disappointment regdg those who felt they cld have scored better. Nvm, reality is what tt is shown on the results slip. I suggest tt it is time to look fwd to the next milestone which is when they will start in abt 5 wks. Choose ur sec sch wisely n do not base it purely on just one aspect.

N one thing tt i noticed is tt many of the top students came from neighbourhood schools. This proves a pt. Those so-called elite schs (some located along bt timah rd) n similar ones across the island are not the only ones who can produce top students. So to all those who study in these 'elite schs', dun xiao3 kan4 (meaning under estimate) fellow students from neighbourhood institutions.

Just a word for the P6s. As u all embark on ur new chapter into sec sch, the next huge thing is the O levels. In fact , when u finally finish your edn n step into the working world, it is your O levels, A levels/Dip, uni results tt matter. The PSLE results will not be considered bcos it is only a 'passport' to get u into a sec sch. Thereafter is when u begin to build up your educational portfolio.

I wish all P6s all the very best in their next chapter of their sch life and every success in their endeavours.

Maths exam

Second post for 2die.....

Maths exam was.....not gd. The qns were pretty tough n even those tt seemed ok were tedious. Many of us cld not finish or were not very confident of whatever tt was done. Oh well, everyone's face was lyk quite unhappy. Frankly i think my final yr finance in uni was the last tough paper tt i encounted. So both the english n maths exam were pretty difficult. N i m specialising in eng n maths....

Anyhow, the scripts have been handed in so no pt dwelling on it. Our fate are all sealed. My GESL is coming up next so going to focus on tt.

My 6 wks hol starts now.................

The calm b4 the storm : another funny story

My maths paper starts in abt 2.5hrs. So i thought tt i might just calm my mind by posting stg comical. So read on....

A story was once told of the great Bill Gates (BG) who passed on. At the main entrance of heaven, BG was greeted by St Peter who asked him to make a choice. This was what St Peter told BG," U have a choice of either to go heaven or to hell. B4 u r 2 computer screens showing the scenery of heaven n hell. Take a look at each of them b4 u tell me ur decision." So BG looked at both the screens.

Screen A showed heaven n BG saw Jesus sitting with His 12 disciples around a table n they were all praising God n having a discussion. Jesus was teaching His 12 disciples abt prayer n fasting.

Screen B showed hell where Lucifer(Saturn) was partying with all his fellow kakis n having a great time.

So BG told St Peter," I have made my decision n will choose hell."

St Peter replied," U sure abt tt? Is tt your final answer?"

BG replied in a confident tone," YES!"

So BG went to hell. But to his horror, BG was not partying with Saturn n his kakis as per what he saw on the screen. Instead, BG was made to do hard labour n had absolutely no time for enjoyment.

It so happened BG saw another person coming into hell thru the gates n saw St Peter so b4 the dr was closed, BG rushed to the dr n asked St Peter this qn," Y is it tt what u showed me on the screen n what i m going thru now is so different?"

To which St Peter replied," Well, BG, what u saw was a screen saver."

This is funny.....

A story was once told of a very rich man who was a multi-billionaire. He owned numerous properties, had tons of cash and other valuable assets. In fact, due to his enormous wealth, he was also stingytherefore he hardly had any friends except for 3. They are: a doctor from whom he gets free medical treatment, a lawyer from whom he gets to exploit others through the loopholes in the law and an accoutant who helps to keep track of all his finances.

When the rich man was dying due to old age, his 3 friends were by his bedside at his final moments. Just b4 he breathed his last breath, the rich man said the following to his 3 friends,

"I have been rich all my life therefore i do not wish to die being poor. I wld like each of the 3 of u to put $1 billion each into my coffin so tt i can spend eternity in wealth." His 3 friends agreed n thereafter the rich man died.

The 3 friends walked past the coffin n put in an envelope each. Thereafter, the coffin was sealed n then cremated.

A short while later after the cremation, the doctor called up the other 2 to have an urgent mtg. So when they met the doctor told the lawyer n accountant in a very anxious tone,

"U noe, i did not put in the $1b cash. I only put in half in cash cos he had free medical treatment from me so i thought i shld at least claim some back from him."

The lawyer then said, " Really? I also did not put in $1b cash but only a quarter of it in cash cos he got free legal advice n support from me. I also felt tt i shld at least claim some back from him."

The accountant looked at the other 2 friends and said," How cld u 2 be so unethical? Didnt we all promise our friend tt we will put in the $1b in FULL? Y did u 2 do such a thing?"

The doctor n lawyer looked at the accountant in a shocked way n said in unison, " U mean to say u put in the FULL amt of $1b n nothing less?"

N this is what the accountant said, "Of course! I put in a cheque for $1b."

Going bonkers!!!

I was just taking a break from revising my stuff for maths by doing some swapping of CDs. The current range in the car has been there 4 quite a while so i decided tt i shld do a switch so tt i can enjoy my other CDs while on the move. Obviously, my christmas CDs r a must since 25/12 is approaching.

Since ytd till now i have been looking at ntg but numbers numbers n more numbers. Interesting but it gets frustrating when u encounter eccentric type of qns which u really wonder if tt will be useful in later life. True, some of the concepts are relevant but there are some tt really do not serve much of a purpose. But for the sake of course requirements, i just have to learn n know them.

Then there is the aspect of knowing how to do but being careless thereby wasting time n worse of all, losing marks. The worse part is tt if ur answer seems ok n it cld be wrong without u suspecting. BUt if u r supposed to get a whole number n end up with a fraction or decimal which obviously makes no sense, then u shld do a check back. So the best is to do it right n fast at the first attempt.

Our digital cam conked out only after two years. The dumb screen i think, is faulty. So tt means tt we have to forgo changing both our hp n get a new digital cam. Friend of mine recommended us to get one tt suits our needs but get a bigger memory card so tt u can take as much n record as much as desired. We will go on wed evening after my maths paper.

The funny side of language....

Throughout my 4.5yrs stay in Australia, i learnt many of their coloquilisms. Let me share a few egs:

"Hi, u look evil." (means you look very tired, worn-out, lian3 she4 hen3 cha4)

"I will be home in the avo." (avo means afternoon)

"What time will the garbo arrive?" (garbo means the garbage collectors )

But there was one tt really amused me. Now, how do u pronounce the word 'today'? I duno the phonics but for simplicity's sake, it is pronounced as '2 dey' accdg to what we have been taught/exposed to correct?

But the Aussies pronounce it as '2 die'. So when i heard an Aussie friend saying this sentence,

" i m going to the hospital today.".....i nearly choked with laughter!!!

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I m sure many of us know what punctuation marks are. Full-stop, comma, colon, etc etc..... But the following shows tt punctuation is very impt bcos the meaning can be changed by just using different punctuation marks or by putting them at various places in a sentence. Read on....

An English professor wrote this sentence [ "A woman without her man is nothing."] on the board n asked his students to punctuate it correctly.


So all the males wrote:

" A woman without her man, is nothing."

N all the females wrote:

"A woman: without her, man is nothing."

So what is the lesson here? Punctuation is powerful!!!!

mr n mrs tang's unborn daughter......

Since thursday night, mrs tang has been feeling slight 'thumbs' inside her womb. She told mr tang abt it n as he put his hand on her womb, he too cld feel it. They guessed that the movements were their daughter's kicks inside mummy's womb! How exciting it was for them. So both of them took turns talking to their daughter....strangely enough, their daughter can respond....by 'kicking' mummy of course!

When they went to see their gynae ytd, the doctor scanned n showed the pics as u saw in the post ytd. They especially lyked the one where their daughter is 'clapping' her hands. Hmm...maybe she is praising n worshipping the Lord!! haha.....

That is why nowadays, mr tang will talk to his daughter so tt when she is born, she can recognize her father's voice. Similary, mrs tang also has conversations with her as well. It has been proven tt unborn babies can hear what is going on outside. Regular conversations with unborn babies r very helpful n beneficial.

2nd post 4 2day: our daughter at 23wks...

This is the scan of our daughter at 23wks....the photo in the ctr shows her hands...it appears tt she is clapping!!! Perhaps she is praising the Lord!!!

Farewell n all the best.....

Today marks the end of a chapter for the P6s. It has been a jouney filled with lots of sheer hard work, laughter, tears, activities, disappointments, struggles and many others. I m sure tt many of them wld nvr 4get the wonderous campus which they studied in alongside fellow classmates and their ever-inspiring teachers. However, with the going of something comes a new commencement. In just abt 48 days, they will step into a new n unfamiliar campus (something called sec sch where there is no such thing as Children's day) donning a brand new set of uniforms. Whole new challenges face them n it is the start of a new chapter in their education. It also signifies their promotion into another phase of their lives called the 'teenage' years. (nearly all of them will be thirTEEN nxt yr) I wish them all the very best as they savour the last remaining 40+ days.

It has been a great privilege to mt quite a number of u face to face, via msn n thru blogging. I must confess tt u all r really a great bunch in each of your own way.

converted to the beta version

I was deciding if i shld switch over to the beta version...so i did. It is still the same except tt the login is the same as if i were to login 2 my google a/c which i just created also...

I spent the whole of today looking at maths, maths, maths n more maths. Even after lunch when i went to Popular Bookstore to browse at some stuff, i dunno what made me walk over to the maths books for pri n started looking through some of them. Seems tt i m getting 'drowned' by symbols n numbers!!! Haha......

I noticed tt it tends to rain in the afternoons. For the past week or so, i seem to observe tt trend. Ytd, there was a thunderstorm when i went to pick angela. Gave a lift to some of her colleagues and throughout the journey from Balmoral Rd back to Bt Batok it was pouring heavily. Visibility was not tt great as well. At least the car had a 'fairly gd wash!' However tt means i cant go running....

Spkg of running, i m tapering down the distance. On wed i only ran 5Ks....if the weather permits later, i may just do another 5K or so....

Will drop by LPS tmw as it is their prize giving day. I m wondering who from 2T will be getg an award. Aldy kind of noe who from 5D is getg. Moreover it is the last day of the term n the yr.

COngrats 2 those who r receiving a prize for whatever category. For those who r not, rejoice with ur fellow peers n work twds achieving one next time round. It seems lyk tmw is the "Star Awards" or "Oscar Awards"!!!!

Princess Hours DVD

Angela borrowed from her colleague all 24 DVDs for Princess Hrs! Goodness, guess she need not worry abt setting the tape at 7pm Ch U on days when we might miss the show! That means tt after this friday which is the last day of school, she can sit in front of the TV n enjoy watching the show.

Well, i now have my maths paper left which is next wed aftn. I felt a huge relief when i submitted my research paper to my tutor this morning. Now all i need to do is the get my head down n focus on divisibility, number systems & operations, ratio, proportion & rate. So the next couple of days will just be maths maths maths maths......Oh n i went to chk my quiz results of which i scored perfect! Prasie the Lord! But the real test will be when i c the qn paper next wed.

So what r my plans for the coming hols? The StandChart Marathon, Christmas shopping!!!Besides shopping for baby stuff, i think i will be doing some eng n maths qns in the pri syllabi so tt i m familiar with the type of qns. Afterall, i will have to teach them in due course. Though i m only specializing in maths n english, if i cld steal a bit of time i wld read up on sci as well. Just for knowledge sake....additional knowledge is beneficial anyway.

i completed my research paper.....!!!

I have finally completed my research paper. Got to sms my tutor so tt i can pass it to her personally cos she is on course till thu. Now left with maths which is next wed.

I was going through some of my old invoices, credit card statements and receipts. As my drawers (i stress, drawerS) were running out of space, i decided tt some older invoices had to be discarded. So i only kept receipts, bills, credit card statements n invoices for the past 6 mths or so n cleared out the rest. Due to the confidentiality of the contents, i had to tear them up before getting rid of it. As i was doing so, i saw some documents tt were dated as far back as 2003! Seems tt i have not been doing some housekeeping for quite some time. So when i finally finished, i filled up 3 'shop n save' plastic bags!! Needless to say, my fingers are tired!

During lunch, i went to a phone shop at WM n took 2 brocheres for the nokia N series. Also chked out the px of the new N73. U may ask if my current phone is still servicable. It definitely is but it is just my itcheness!!!

Dora's bday celebration at Mind Cafe

Many Happy Returns Dora.....Happy 20th Bday......

Our grp went to the Mind Cafe to celebrate Dora's bday earlier. Steph n WH cld not make it. However the 7 of us had a great fellowship playing the various games. As usual, "First Hand" was the fav. Due to time constraints, we cld only play 3 different games (taboo n i cant remb the one where u got to call out the animal sound of the paerson whose card is the same as u) but there were other games we saw tt are quite interesting. Nvm, there will always be a next time.

Needless to say, each of us made a number of blunders which caused huge bursts of laughter. If there were any pple observing us n if they knew our status as in our current job title, it wld give them quite a surprise.

"wah teachers also so wild 1 ah......" Lyk i said b4, we all have our other side when we let our hair down.....

ok ok....back to the research paper n our last remaining paper.....

Just stg comical.....

The following was shared this morning during church service.....

"We r always rushing for time so instead of being called s'poreans, we shld rename ourselves to........ "Rushians" (sounds lyk Russians) LOL!!

"A handsome guy was strolling along the beach n he came across a bottle. So he picked it up and opened it.....WHOOOISSSSHHH!!! A genie appeared n said, " U have released me from being trapped inside for 200 years....so as a reward, i shall grant u 3 wishes. Ur wishes r my commands!"

So the good-looking guy thought....hmmm....."ok my first wish is to have 10 billion bucks in my bank account." And the next thing he knew, a passbook appeared in his hand and he saw tt the name n IC # was his indeed and the sum of 10 billion dollars was in his a/c.

Next he thought....hmmmm...."ok my second wish is to have my dream car." Next thing he knew, a nice set of keys (well nowadays cars got no keys, as it is a smart intelligent system) n as he walked to the car park, he saw his dream car parked right there n he cld unlock it. Complete with COE, registration, insurance and other on road costs. N his number plate was a special one too!

So the guy thought...what shld i hope for my last wish? He thought..."well since i m single n very availabe, i wish tt i will be irresistable to all the beautiful gals!" So the genie paused n asked him," u sure abt tt?"

N the guy replied," yes of course!"

Next thing he knew was tt he became a huge piece of chocolate.

a cosy sat aftn

For the third consecutive day, it rained quite heavily in the aftn. I really wanted to take an afternoon nap but had to get on with my research paper. As 'post' time, i have crossed the 30% mark and shld be able to cross 50% after dinner. N the rain also disrupted my desire to put in some mileage into my shoes.

Went to Sg Swimg Club this morning to sign the transfer for my mbrship. Settled the final bill and now i need to wait 2 mths for the approval of transfer and sale to go through. It really makes me wonder why do they need 2 mths. However, i m glad tt at least i mged to get rid of another liability. So although i kind of miss going there to chill out, i m thankful tt the CSC opp my place is so much cheaper to maintain. N the best part is tt i only need to cross the rd to go to CSC compared to having to drive 25km.

The mtr show at Suntec is on again. I m quite half hearted if i shld go cos there doesn't seem 2 hav tt many new car models being launched. In fact, the highlight of the show wld be the stunt performance driving by the famous Russel Swift. He can park a car without using reverse gear n in just 6secs. Needless to say, it took him abt 10yrs to perfect tt skill. WOnder how many cars did he smash up n how many tyres he shredded!! Beside, he can also drive with 2 wheels off the road. (see pic above) Of course i do not aim to learn those skills!!

I have a couple of photos from the mtr show 2 yrs ago. Let me try if i can post the video clip of the "parallel parking in 6sec".

The weekend is here again!!!

It's friday again. Had our last maths quiz this morning n after chkg with the rest, we got the correct answers. However, the ans is not the impt aspect. It is more of the method. When I was doing qn 1, i was lyk got stuck cos i had a very weird answer. How cld i have a fraction of a person? So i left it as is was n tackled the other 2 qns. I mged to resolve the mistake n completed the 3 qns in time.

We then decided tt this wkend will be spent solely on our reserach paper. The reason is that our maths final exam is 12 days away so we can focus on our research paper. It is so tempting to snooze right now cos of the heavy downpour but i have to keep awake! I still have not prepared for my worship for this evening's CG mtg.

I m mtg the potential buyer for my swimg club mbrship tmw morning. So thankful tt a friend of mine found a buyer. Even though the sale px cld be higher, i m contented as long as i can get rid of it. Dumb thing is tt the horrible mgt charges a 4 figure sum for the admin fee. This does not make any sense cos it is simply just some paper work.

Looking fwd to this monday when we will celebrate Dora's 20th bday at mind cafe. As such, most of us r trying to complete as much of our reserach paper by then. What was i doing when i was 20 yo? I think i was still in the army n had just completed a six mth attachment to some 'siao on' (ridiculously active) unit. I went to Taiwan, Brunei n Thailand for overseas exercises n also took part in the NDP (National Day Parade). That was when i was in the peak of my army life.

The heavy downpour earlier was stg tt i was looking fwd to. At least it is much cooler now. MOreover, the rain made sleeping so much more conducive as well!!

I mged to purchase the spare part for my standing fan which mysteriously 'broke the propeller' last week. But the spare part did not come cheap. I actually thought of simply purchasing a new fan but after working out the sums, it was still more worth it to purchase the blade compared to buying a whole new unit. MOreover, the motor is still working well. I actually came across this hardware shop at Blk 150. At first i was not sure abt the dimentions n also if the blade cld fit. So i drove back n carted the whole fan to the shop.

Been reading the materials for my research paper n i shld be able to complete this weekend. By early next week, i will hunt for more references n i intend to hand it in before friday. After tt it will b full steam for maths.

The quiz tmw shld be interesting. I m not so much concerned abt the method n concepts but more of the speed n accuracy. For subjects tt require lots of practise lyk maths n accounting, once u have grapsed the concept, speed is what tt needs to be built up next. This is bcos u have to complete the questions within the stipulated time frame.

We basically had a pretty much relaxed day. Although we only had a 2 hr maths lesson, we did not leave school until 2pm. After the lesson, we all adjourned to the 'suite' (library 3rd flr where the sofas r really comfortable) to finish up the remaining questions for friday's quiz. This topic is quite challenging n it is what we will teach the pri sch kids.

I came home at abt 3 plus or so n had a rest b4 heading out for a run. Saw a couple of students enjoying themselves by playing basketball. Was very tempted to run further but decided not to in the end as i had to pick Angela from school. She is busy with her students work as this is the time of the year where the teachers will have to get their student's individual portfolio ready.

At this pt in posting, the Project SuperStar season 2 has just started. B4 i go on, let me make things clear. What i m going to say are purely my opinions n thoughts. It is not targeted at anyone so pls dun turn my tagboard into a World War 3!!

I find these reality shows rather dumb n purely a form of publicity for the organisers, sponsors n of course the TV station. N most of the people who take part or shld i say try to get in have a mind of trying to take a short cut towards getting popular. Regardless what they say abt chasing your dreams or whatsoever, i must say tt there is no short cut to success. These pple who think tt by joining this contest bcos they think tt it is a short cut r just being very immature n naive. Even if they can get to become the Sg Idol or SuperHost, how long can they last? In the entertainment industry, there is stg called 'shelf live'.

N when u watch the audition process, some of these idol or superstar hopefuls r a wash-out. They cannot sing for nuts, they cannot speak fluently, they got poor EQ skills n worst of all when they r told by the judges tt they cannot move onto the next round, some of them still dare to argue with the judges. What poor sportsmanship they got.

Then comes to the voting part. I m very dismayed to see that those who r genuinely gd get voted out quite often thus leaving only those seemingly popular but 'simply cannot make it' ones! For eg: in the Sg Idol, some do not deserve even to get past the top12 but they do just bcos their supportes vote for them blindly. As judge Ken Lim mentioned b4, Sporeans shld vote wisely. He mentioned b4 tt they shld vote based on their talents n not bcos the contestant is their friends.

So tt is y i think pple shld vote wisely for those who have the calibre n can 'walk-the-walk, talk-the-talk'. This goes the same when choosing our leaders.

Once again, i stress tt these r my thoughts n my opinions.

Presentation today was superb!!!

We had our DED100 presn today n it was fantastic. Everything went smoothly from the start till the end. Praise God for guiding us through. At first it appeared tt we may exceed a little bit cos of some further elaboration at the front portion but for my part i mged to compress it a little so the net result was tt we kept within the stipulated time of 30min. After tt we went to start on our research for our individual paper which is due next friday but we felt tt we needed to read thru the text first b4 searching for more information. So we left school ard 1pm n went to have some nice hawker food.

From now till the 22nov, all tt is left is the maths quiz this fri, the research paper due next fri n the maths exam on the 22nov. Liberation comes after 4pm on 22nov! My GESL proj will be on the 29nov. So i guess things will be a little hectic till the mth end. However the past semester has been very rewarding n enriching. Needless to say the friendships n relationships formed were truly memorable as well.

Got to do some reading n some maths this evening. At least they complement each other. When i get sick of facing numbers, i cld do my readings. The converse can also happen.

To those who have gotten back ur SA2 results, congrats on doing well and/or improving. Keep up the gd work n strive to maintain the gd grades and/or further improve on it. If u did not do too well, all is not lost.

something depressing abt the hair on my head....

Last night as I was reading thru the material for the english exam today which i will talk abt later, Angela noticed stg about the hair on my head. She told me to keep still while she plucked it out. It was strands of white hair. OMG!! M i getg old? Hey i m just a wee little over the 3_ mark n i already have white hair.....Now i wonder if by plucking it out, will it be made worse as in more will grow or otherwise.....oh well,,,,only time will tell.

English exam was ok only. The first, third n last section was ok but the second section was very tricky. I found the last section which i call 'hide-n-seek' quite direct. Passing is not a problem. It is only the scoring part.

We then had our final reharsal for the presn tmw. Each of us will run thru our portions 2nite n i m sure tt tmw we will ace it. After tt it is full swing for the research paper n revising for maths quiz this fri n the final exam in 3 weeks.

Murphy's Law

Murphy's Law states tt what can go wrong will go wrong n when things go wrong, many others will follow suit. Let me share abt what happened last night with regards to Murphy's Law.

Angela was using the iron last night n i think there must be stg wromg with the iron cos it caused 2 successive power failures in the hse. After power was restored, while waiting for my modem to connect to the Internet again, i heard a loud 'bang'. I turned to see one of my standing fan's propeller blade break into pieces n the cover falling onto the floor. What surprised me was tt the screw cap to secure the blade was intact. Cos i tot i did not tighten it but it seems to me tt the blade cld aldy have had a crack on it n since i turned it onto full blast, the momentum must have caused it the break. Fortunately the cover softened the impact. Imagine a propeller blade spinning at full speed going bersek....tt wld be highly dangerous....

This caused the whole floor to be scattered with dust particles n bits if broken plastic. So i took out the vaccum cleaner n cleaned up the mess. NOw we need to purchase a new iron n hopefully a replacement propeller blade for the fan. It appears tt the iron does have some internal circuitry problem which causes the MCB (main circuit breaker) to trip. As for the fan, i hope to find the spare part in some second-hand appliance shops so tt we can save some $$$ from having to buy a new standing fan. Thankfully we have another one to use. N this smaller fan happens to have the same propeller blade size as the bigger one. Maybe i cld jus dismantle this blade n take it as a sample to those second-hand shops to c if they sell the spare parts. Even if they have it but of a different colour so be it. As long as i can find a replacement part so tt the fan can be used, tt is all tt matters.

English exam tmw. Prayfully n hopefully, Murphy's Law will not apply. Instead, every cloud has a silver lining.

Having music while studying.....

I dunno abt majority of u but i find tt i tend to be more productive when i have some form of background music as i m doing my work. I can be typing my essay, working on pwt slides, reading my english materials or practising my maths with some light music in the background. However, i must emphasize tt the kind of music is impt. Other than techno n heavy metal, i dun mind the others. Contemporary, jazz, soft rock, instrumental, gospel, oldies etc etc.....

Some may aruge tt certain kind of music is proven to be effective. However there are always two sides to the story. I have a freind who will inevitably listen the rhythm n follow the drum beats. That's bcos he plays the drums in church! Some others must have complete silence whilst others cannot have instrumental music especially after meals as it becomes a tranquilizer!

My parents have asked me before tt if certain kind of music proves to be beneficial then in the exam hall they shld be playing music! Maybe tt explains why my results is only average all these years cos the exam hall is too quiet for me! Perhaps they shld have separate exam halls for those who work better with music!! I m definitely one of them even though i CANNOT play any musical instruments.

Hope the weather stays this way 4 the rest of the day.

The Amazing Race

When Aaron n I handed in our proj this morning to our tutor, it kinda felt lyk the amazing race. We were 'team number 3' so obviously there is no incentive. NOt lyk there is for being team number 1 where u cld get extra credit or some other stuff. Haha, i m lame!!

So just as we are now waiting for another of our gp mbrs to arrive later in the day, we were chatting abt maths lesson this morning. There was a particular problem which Aaron n i were trying to solve n it kind of sapped a huge portion of our brain cells. After managing to solve it, we asked our lecturer if there was a better n shorter method. Yes there was! But i think it is the learning process tt really makes us learn n c how the concepts can be simplified without having to make it more complicated.

After english exam on monday n our major presn on tuesday, we thought of going to mind cafe on tuesday aftn just to relax a little before revising our maths n start on our research paper which is due in 2 weeks. All of us badly need some time out! The past two weeks was a little hectic as there were assgns, projects and quizzes almost every wk. Well, the last lap is here so just bite the bullet n go all out!!!

sleepy thurs

I was ao sleepy tt i actually dozed off for abt 45min at ard 9+ this morning. Got up in time to meet Vincent. He was distributing his 'red summons' (wedding invitation) to his friends. So i met up with him n Wanting. As his wedding will be during my low-key ICT(got to go back to the army camp), i think i shld be able to attend his wedding. N his wedding banquet is at the same hotel as mine!

Was revising thru my eng n i think shld be ok la. Guess it is not so much of memory work but analysis n application. So just take note of the impt stuff n then do well on monday. Maths is more interesting though as i m a numbers person. We got our gp mtg tmw n i think we shld be able to finish up whatever tt is outstanding so tt on tuesday we cld do the presn n then submit in the slides.

i think i shall end here cos the sun is out n i dun think it is going to rain. Will go 4 a nice run. Perhaps later i will post again....

I m quite pleased cos i did quite well for the maths quiz. Last quiz next fri. Coming monday is my english exam. Though it is pretty hectic these few days, i thank God tt He has been sustaining me all the way. We still have some adjustments to make for the DED 100 presn. I think by friday we shld get it all sorted out in time for tue. Moreover, we wld want to go through our english over the weekend.

Left ICT proj to be submitted on fri. Tt means another module is over!! In fact i need not go to school tmw cos the eng lesson is optional n it is just for consultation only. Anyway, I will c what time i wil hit the sack later. Slept at 3am as i was figuring out some maths problems. Got up at 6.30am this morning so i felt rather sleepy this aftn when i came home from school. Took a 1.5hr nap n still feel rather sleepy....i think the aftn dowmpour made it even more conducive to zzzz.....

Maybe i shld go to sch tmw so tt i can get work done. If i were to stay home, the tendency is tt i may just slack n not get anything done!!!