The Sorcerer's Apprentice

Listening to 'Layla' (unplugged) right now, 'cause I went to a HMV today and got myself a pair of Panasonic earphones (Kelvin so owes me half a pair of earphones, long story) and 'Complete Eric Clapton', which is cool.

My dad's birthday is next week, and so thinking of him I kinda bought Eric Clapton on impulse.

Hung around Somerset313 a bit waiting for the fifth floor people to end their cluster outing to Shangri-La (yes, I'm envious. Was supposed to go last sem but had Open House to deal with so I totally missed that opportunity).

Met Yos on the way to HMV, by some weird coincidence.

Then met up with Woan Chyi and Fatinn. Said hi to Ly En and Ivanka for a bit and then walked around Cineleisure and the building next to it of which the name I can't quite recall right now.

Somehow decided to watch 'The Sorcerer's Apprentice', so we did.

Thought it wasn't bad at all, actually. Some people think it'll be bad 'cause it's a Disney movie, but Disney makes good movies too, you know.

Sure, the story line was a bit clichéd, but what works, works, right? That's how things become clichéd in the first place.

But I loved the casting, and the entire movie had this fun not-so-heavy-but-kinda-at-the-same-time feeling about it.

So, yeah. I liked it. I think if you're looking for a movie to watch solely for its entertainment value and not whether it's a great, epic one that has high ratings, then go watch 'The Sorcerer's Apprentice'.

Okay, tired.

Night.

P.S. Qualifying results: Ferrari second grid. Not bad.

"Female entertainer."

Rewatched 'The Pianist' in the fifth floor TV room with Fatinn and Nazihah a few hours ago.

Man, it was good. (Although I think the disc skipped a few parts, I don't know.)

And man, Adrien Brody. Mm yeah Adrien Brody. That's all I have to say.

Fatinn kept asking, "Why doesn't he die?" and I kept answering, "'Cause he's too sexy to die."

It's like in 'Predators', 'cept it wasn't aliens he was running from but real people.

I need to repeat this: Adrien Brody is too sexy to be killed off in movies.

School today was kinda weird.

First thing we did in the morning was hide under the tables for no reason whatsoever.

Then we had Chem, which was cool 'cause we did alcohol and Mr Tan has plenty of funny stories going on. Alcohol is a brilliant functional group. (Phenol is a benzene ring with OH, does that mean phenol is a drunk benzene ring?) But yeah, had fun. Seriously enjoying Chem right now (go on, judge me, whatever).

Non-existent Malay was meh. Just glad to have an extra hour of break.

Math was all right too, actually. I think I'm starting to see Math in a more positive light, but I don't know. We'll see about that.

Didn't have English 'cause Ms Lau wasn't here today, so spent the hour watching Joshua, Shuen, Yos and Kaung Myat play 'The Game of Life' on Joshua's iPhone. Talk about weird. And strangely symbolic (what with Shuen becoming a grandparent without having any kids and Yos becoming a "female entertainer"). It's just a really, really strange game (or is it just us misinterpreting everything?).

Physics was Physics-ish. Did more gravitation but not much.

Gotta go now. Sleepy as hell.

Night.

P.S. Weekends need to be way longer than this.

Naphthalene.

Developments, developments, developments.

Nope, none thus far.

I mean, there have been developments, but those are negligible. Every single part of everything is constantly developing; growing older, maturing, advancing, lying there and rotting, you name it. It's just that it's not significant enough over a period of twenty-four hours.

Listening to this Boyce Avenue cover of Michael Bublé's 'Home' right now. It's a great cover, well arranged, well played, mellow and full of heart. It's just that Alejandro Manzano's voice won't ever top Michael Bublé's.

Love the lyrics of this song. So beautifully written.

Had an hour of Math first thing in the morning. Wasn't too bad, 'cause I seem to be able to understand what Mr Chia says (hopefully).

And what's the aftermath? Geog. 'Cause Geog always comes after Math. (Yeah, lame joke courtesy of Yos.)

Basically sat around for Geog. Stanley suggested to use the 1960 Valdivia earthquake for our research thing so yeah, that's what we're doing. To be honest with you, I think two pages is very, very little for a report on one of the greatest earthquakes ever recorded. I mean, you could basically fit in a map of Chile, diagrams of tectonic plate movements and the process of subduction, a picture of the damage done and there you go, a page used up.

Physics was all right. Did gravitation. Loads of weird theories. Weird theories about Chee Seng in space. Weird theories about Earth colliding with larger masses. Weird theories about booms and guy wires.

Watched that Spaghetti hoax thing BCC did many years back during English. I love how they made is so corny yet so believable. I really wish spaghetti trees did exist.

Finished Chem worksheet 3 during study time, thanks to the help of Kelvin. Has anyone realised that benzene ring skeleton structures look a lot like nuts? So very cute.

Okay, gotta go now.

221B Baker Street here I come.

Adieu.

P.S. Naphthalene. That's a great name.

P.P.S. I wonder if my kids (in the future) will hate me for considering naming them after organic compounds.

P.P.P.S. I wonder if my mum ever considered naming me after an organic compound. Hmm.

Chuck Norris.

"When Chuck Norris comes into contact with water, Chuck Norris doesn't get wet. Instead, water gets Chuck Norris."

"Before he goes to sleep, the Boogey Man checks his closet for Chuck Norris."

"When the Hulk gets angry, he turns into Chuck Norris."

They're all seriously funny, but what is up with the world's (or the USA's) obsession with Chuck Norris? Hmm.

So what happened today apart from check out Chuck Norris on the internet?

Not much.

Two hours of Physics early in the morning, but that's way better than the hour of Math we have first thing tomorrow morning.

Did torque. Got confused at first but now I think I kinda get it (hopefully. Fingers crossed).

Not much to say for Malay. Did some test and that was it.

ACE was... well, ACE. Had to go for this briefing about this survey we have to take which will apparently be able to sum up (pretty accurately, too) our entire lives up till now with just 24 questions.

Dude, I don't understand. The school's paying for us to take an online quiz (like the ones on Facebook) to get a report about our own personalities (because we obviously don't know ourselves as well as they do after asking us 24 questions).

There is no point. No point at all. It's as pointless as a ball, and those definitely don't have (sharp) points, last I checked.

We honestly shouldn't be doing things like these. And if we should, this kind of knowledge should be free. After all, it's ourselves we want to know about. We should totally have the right to know it without having to pay.

Bio quizzed. Thought I got it but ended up really confused. Hoping hard for ECF (Error Carried Forward, in this case. Not extracellular fluid).

Okay, better go now. Promised myself I'd read some Geog today (you know, for the sake of seeming hardworking and all that).

Adieu.

P.S. Listening to Jimi Hendrix just makes me want to kick back and chillax my life away being high on drugs and alcohol. Weird.

Benzaldehyde.

Watching the HAARP DVD now (on VLC, 'cause DVD player was being completely unreasonable).

I don't really need to say it's awesome, because if it's a Muse concert it's kinda awesome by default, so saying HAARP is awesome is like saying my mum is a woman (do I get points for the Mr Chia reference?).

And I love the drumset Dom uses in HAARP. Looks brilliant. (Apparently he donated it to help Haiti though. Good guy.)

Speaking of Haiti, is Wyclef Jean really going to run for president? Oh God, now that would be interesting.

School today was bleh. Two hours of Chem (speaking of which, I think I'mma name my kid 'Benzaldehyde' just for the sake of it), an hour and a half of Math, and two hours of Malay.

Yeah, I still kinda like organic Chem, so not much advancement in that area.

Asymptote-ed during Math. Should I feel proud of being able to identify asymptotes? Is it sad that I feel a great sense of achievement in drawing dotted lines on graphs? I'm unsure.

Had this Malay writer (Patimah Jaludin) come into class today, and she talked about her writing (Wali, in particular) and how she gets her ideas and her thought process while writing. Somewhat.

Then did a horribly embarrassing skit afterwards. Acted out this scenario where these parents tell their daughter that she was conceived before their marriage (anak luar nikah) and hence according to Islam her dad isn't really her dad yang sah and so he couldn't be her wali.

I think the story's a pretty good read, actually.

Oh, we had the most productive study time in months today. Like, seriously.

You want to know why? 'Cause Wee Thean, Insan and KT weren't there (this totally proves that they're our sources of unproductivity).

Okay, gotta go now. Time for Sherlock Holmes, baby.

Adieu.

Hockenheim 2010

I'm in a good good mood right now, and I better type this out right away before the moment fades away (which I doubt will).

So what's so brilliant? I'll tell you what's so brilliant.

Ferrari just placed a one-two for Hockenheim.

There you go, I've said it. One-two. Ferrari. One-two. Oh God, that's probably one of the nicest combinations of words I know. "Ferrari one-two."

We've been waiting so long, so very long for this moment, and now that it's finally happened there's this huge sense of pride and joy knowing you've maintained your faith in and stuck with the team all the way through thick and thin. And when the team achieves something you can't help but want to rub it in the face of people who've scoffed our decision to support Ferrari.

I don't go around telling people "your team sucks, Ferrari is so much better", so when people tell us "Ferrari sucks only idiots support Ferrari" I feel so horribly offended. We can support who we want to support. It's totally our right to do so.

But yes, Ferrari's one-two.

Alonso and Massa followed by Vettel, Hamilton, Button, Webber (notice how the top six are all Ferrari, Red Bull and McLaren?), Kubica, Rosberg, Schumi and Petrov to round off the top ten.

Kinda missed more than half of the race 'cause I went out to eat with Kelvin and Adithya, so I can't really talk about how the race went about.

All I know is that Massa was told Alonso was faster than he was, and so Massa let Alonso pass. That makes sense, but I'm not sure what people will think about it. "Controversial win", they're calling it now. Hmm. Perhaps Ferrari was trying to avoid a shunt between the teammates and then losing out completely *cough Red Bull cough* and maybe it seemed only fair to let the faster driver pass.

Massa's a reasonable guy; he'd understand. That's why I like him.

And yeah, I still miss Kimi. Off-track news is just boring without him. Nobody talks about eating ice cream in the paddock or dressing up in gorilla suits anymore. Sad.

Okay, gotta go now. Definitely not looking forward to volleyball tomorrow, but at least I'll be able to cheer myself up by going "Ferrari one-twoooo".

Adieu.

P.S. Finished 'A Study in Scarlet" last night. Loved it. So cleverly written.

Memories.

Re-watching our Botanic Gardens videos right now (remember the Ball of Wisdom? Yeah, those videos) for some reason.

Ah, I miss Botany.

It's funny how I hardly remember last sem, although it was just two months ago.

Talking over with Jaywen over Twitter right now. SAS people are leaving SAS in five months' time, and I think it's kinda sad, to leave a school you've been in for the past twelve years of your life. Hopefully this SAS 6G'05 batch reunion thing will happen (please?).

Back when I was a little kid I used to wonder what it'd be like when I was older and in form 5, to be the most senior of the seniors. I was so, so sure I'd live out my entire school life in SAS back then. Heck I was so wrong.

Then I went to MS, hating that I'd have to leave it all behind in SAS. People you've been friends with for seven years.

But then time passed and I realised that I loved MS too. Maktab Sains Paduka Seri Begawan Sultan, I miss you. I would give so much just to live one regular school day in MS again.

Wonder how different things would be if I never left. I'd probably be studying my ass off for O-levels right now (yeah it's probably a good thing I left, huh?).

Ah, good old days.

Anyway, back to the present.

Spent my entire day basically lazing away in my room, reading Sherlock Holmes and GMH and LGMH and Sixbillionsecrets. Kinda wishing I could've done something more productive with my time, but making up with doing the Bio prac questions right now (mm, Bio). Now all I've got to do is plot that graph...

See you guys tomorrow then.

Arrivederci.

P.S. Vettel beat Alonso to pole by 0.002 seconds. So now it's a Red Bull Ferrari Ferrari Red Bull McLaren McLaren line up for tomorrow's starting grid at Hockenheim.

P.P.S. Hoping hoping hoping Ferrari will prevail. I know it's a home race for many of the German drivers, but we can't afford to let any more points slip through our fingers.

GG-er.

Spent my entire evening (apart from the going out to eat with Fatinn and Zeh bit) watching this guy read 'Twilight' on YouTube. Funny stuff.

Alex Day (otherwise known as Nerimon), the guy Charlieissocoolike likes to talk about in his vids, founder of T-rock, et cetera et cetera. I like him.

Anyway, school today was GG-ish (yeah, that's totally a word now).

Chem was all right, actually. Kinda taking a liking to the whole concept of organic Chem at the moment.

Killed my Math graded exercise, 'cause somehow my brain stopped functioning and couldn't process anything. Now there's nothing I can do but to look forward to failing it and having to see Mr Chia additional time.

English compre test was awful. Better not say much about it in case I get accused of "leaking test questions".

Physics in-class assignment was a complete GG moment. Was pretty clueless for the first five minutes, but thankfully things got better 'cause I managed to somehow scribble down some random numbers before time was up. Doubt any were actually right though.

Got a free copy of a 'Final Cut Pro 7' training guide for our CCA workshop thing on Final Cut Pro 7. The funny thing was that half an hour into the session we realised that the version we were using was version 6 and not 7 like we were supposed to (hence the book title, Final Cut Pro 7).

But yeah, it's pretty cool all the same. Does it sound geeky to be excited about all this? I dunno, I think it does.

Hmm.

Did you hear Hamilton crashed out of practice today? And Ferrari are showing signs of evident improvement. Yay. Happy.

Okay, gotta go now.

Adieu.

P.S. I've decided not to read 'Twilight' like, ever, 'cause I think it'd just be a total waste of my time.

P.P.S. Oh, and Joshua's sudden obsession with Yos' naked photos (that don't exist) is just plain weird.

"..........."

If I ever see 'Life On The Murder Scene' on sale anywhere, I think I'd buy it in an instant.

I need more MCR in my life.

I think I always say this, but from time to time I like to go back to listening to 'Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge'. Always. It's probably my favourite album to date.

You know, one of the most depressing moments of my life is waking up early on a cold, dark, rainy morning, and just knowing it's not a weekend or holiday so you can sleep in. I loathe having to drag myself out of bed on days like these.

Complaints aside, today's weather was awesome. Seriously. It rained all morning (it's been rainy all week, actually) and hopefully will tomorrow.

Weather forecast says it'll be a bit sunny though, but that's okay.

Kinda was on Twitter throughout Math, Geog and Physics. It's not that I don't pay attention, it's just that it keeps me from falling asleep.

Math graded exercise didn't happen, 'cause we ran out of time, so it's happening tomorrow instead.

More than half the class probably weren't paying attention during Geog, 'cause we already did plate tectonics last year, and that it was simply really boring.

Mr Yeo left early 'cause he was sick, so he got filled in by Mr Yuan (the teacher Wee Thean's been stalking over the past week or so).

Went out to West Coast Plaza (by bus, which was just weird) for English. Stanley, Insan and I went to Cold Storage and then decided to advertise the ultimate sports drink, 'RedTwoAde Plus' (a combination of Red Bull, H-Two-O, Sportade and 100 Plus, just in case you didn't know).

Now the problem is how to strike a balance between being really funny and ridiculous and seeming professional so as to impress the teachers.

Hmm.

Study time was brilliant, 'cause we spent half our time discussing various, um, inconveniences of having an oversized *ahem* (the world record, according to Wee Thean, is 13 inches long).

Talk about disturbing, but honestly, it was funny.

Physics in-class assignment tomorrow. Fingers crossed to being able to discuss with other people.

Adieu.

P.S. Just started reading 'Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Novels and Stories Volume I' last night. Mm yeah.

P.P.S. Just in case anyone's wondering, the "........" indicates a moment of awkward silence when everybody stops talking and avoids eye contact.

P.P.P.S. ".............."

Giant toilet paper roll.

Listening to 'Her Diamonds' by Rob Thomas right now. It's funny 'cause whenever I hear his voice I automatically think the song is by Matchbox Twenty but it's not.

Anyway, had our first Chem practical of the semester this morning in the Synthetic Chem lab (first time there, and I liked it 'cause it had air-conditioning and giant toilet paper rolls).

Organic Chem. Hmm. Basically did a bit of stuff with hydrocarbons. Added them to water, burnt them, and then added them to bromine.

Nothing really interesting happened (probably the most eventful thing aside from burning cyclohexene was spending ages drying test tubes with sheets of giant toilet paper).

Kinda forgot about the extra half hour of Math Mr Chia added to our timetable today. Thankfully wasn't late at all (technically we were all half an hour early).

Did like, Math stuff.

Then had two hours of Malay, which was kinda weird (but then again, Malay's always weird).

Did a practice listening compre, the Year 4s' crossword puzzles, and then imbuhan-ed a whole bunch of words.

I don't really know what to say about the real listening comprehension after that. Got to the room pretty early, and all six of us were made to sit down there and listen to the radio for like, half an hour before the thing actually started.

Turns out the Malay channel plays a whole load of English songs.

The last passage was the funniest, because one of the characters called 'Hadi' was voiced by a woman. Looks like there are plenty of other sexually confused people in Singapore too.

Study time was sort of productive, because Kelvin was nice enough to help Insan and I with Physics, and 'cause I sat further away from Wee Thean (the source of all study time un-productivity).

Come to think of it, I think I'd have flunked all my assignments if it wasn't for Kelvin.

Better go now. Found out that it feels good to sleep early.

Night.

P.S. Time, I need more time.

HAARP

Listening to HAARP now, and it's making me feel strangely happy.

It's like I'm smiling for no reason whatsoever, just 'cause it sounds so, so good.

That, and 'cause it reminds me of that concert I went to last month (*cough sorry Josh, Cyrus cough*).

Mmmm, Muse.

Anyway, it's the first day of Week 4, and I was totally struggling to stay awake during Math and Geog, which is a bad sign.

Slept for a few hours when I got back though. Explains why I stay up so late and then wake up all tired the next morning.

PE? Still not liking volleyball. No advancement whatsoever. I honestly and firmly believe now that I wasn't built for volleyball.

English? Meh.

Math? Passable, apart from the fact that I was constantly nodding off. Now come to think of it, I don't remember a thing Mr Chia was saying.

Geog? Oh God, let's not go there.

Right, better go off now.

Need to be awake and alert so as to not kill anyone during our Chem prac tomorrow.

Arrivederci.

P.S. I need 'Life On The Murder Scene'. That way, I'll have a less seriously measly number of MCR songs. And when the new album comes out, I have to have that.

HM's birthday celebration.

Today, several people told me I look like a girl.

Wow, that's an accomplishment.

Anyway, woke up relatively early for a Sunday morning and went to the Bruneian Embassy to sorta celebrate our Sultan's birthday.

Finally did our performance, which was kinda fun (have you ever seen me dance? You don't want to, honestly. It's horrible).

There were plenty of games and stuff, so wasn't really bored throughout the course of the event.

Stalked little children. They're so cute. I think people thought we were acting all paedophilic, but I find it completely normal. Little children deserve the attention they get when they're adorable and cooperative.

Got this little boy named Alias to chase Insan around with a balloon. Seriously cute, watching him run around, holding a balloon and laughing. And the things he said (in a seriously endearing British accent) were absolutely adorable. Overheard him asking his mum during an apple-peeling event, "Mama are you winning? Pleeeease win."

So very cute.

It's sad that some kids are complete brats though. Kinda ruins the innocent image of other, sweet little children.

Won plenty of tupperware during the lucky draw. Hmm. I have no idea what to do with a bunch of IKEA containers.

Had the sense to takeaway some of the leftover food for dinner before we left. Mmm yum.

Reheated the food and hung around the canteen to eat and then have ice cream.

Ah, was fun.

But now the weekend is over and I better get some sleep if I don't want to GG during school tomorrow.

Adieu.

P.S. Feel like I've just wasted a weekend doing absolutely no work whatsoever, but you know, I guess it was worth it in a way.

Keychain-finding day.

I find it annoying when the internet connection doesn't go the way you want it to (that is, be fast and unproblematic).

Listening to Adam Lambert's 'Time For Miracles' right now, 'cause my iTunes is on shuffle and I don't mind Adam Lambert at all. I love his voice and awesome vocal skillz.

Seriously wasted a nice, cold, dark rainy Saturday morning by waking up early to have to go to this leadership thing.

Oh God, such a waste. There need to be more days like these on weekends, so we can totally sleep in and feel good about it.

Anyway, the morning session was kinda fun, 'cause us Year 3s got grouped together and chucked into Seminar room 2B with this dude who taught us about leadership qualities and stuff like that.

Afternoon session not quite so. Female coaches weren't as entertaining, I guess.

So, about leadership. Meh.

The word here is charisma. As long as people like you, they'll follow you. As long as people trust you, they'll listen to you. As long as people admire you, they'll agree with you.

It's that simple, yet not quite so.

But with no followers there are no leaders, so I'm kinda wondering if there's some sort of a "follower workshop" somewhere out there for all the followers. But then again leaders are sort of followers too, in their own way. They follow a vision, their aspirations, their dreams, even the footsteps of other great leaders. Hmm.

When it was finally over, Fatinn, Kelvin, Adithya and I went out to West Coast Plaza for dinner. I still love the convenience of the place being so near to school.

Watched Adithya attempt to use chopsticks and try wasabi. Apparently it's worse than magic masala. I dunno. Never tried magic masala before.

And yeah, I'm so Chinese.

Gotta go now.

Celebrating our Sultan's birthday tomorrow.

Adieu.

P.S. "So how did you all get chosen as mentor rep?" Everyone: "Sabo-ed." NUSH mentor rep. epicness.

P.P.S. "So what do you do as mentor rep?" "Take attendance, and take attendance, and... take attendance."

Predators

Didn't post last night 'cause I was feeling horrible, and still am.

Okay, here goes, I'mma let it all out in one go.

StartedbotheringmetwodaysagobutreallygotbadThursdaymorningtriedtoforgetaboutitbutseriouslythethinggotworselastnightsoIcouldn'tsleepatallandthethingisIdon'twanttogetanMCoranythinglikethat'causethat'sasignofweaknessandpainkillersareforsissiesbutthat'snotthepointthequestioniswhetherIshouldseeadoctor'causeIthinkit'saninfectioninmyearthat'smakingthesideofmyfaceswellandhurtlikehellandifitisI'dneedantibioticsbutthethingisifitwasI'dbehavingafeverbutI'mnotsoitmightnotbeaninfectionbutsomethingelseentirelyohGodI'msoconfused.

Yeah.

Probably going to see how things turn out tomorrow. Or today, since it's already past midnight.

School today was fine. Chem quiz was all right and nothing truly disastrous happened.

Went out to watch 'Inception' after CCA with Nazihah, Fatinn and Insan, but turned out to be showing pretty late, so we watched 'Predators' instead.

And man it was awesome.

Well, all 'Predator' and 'Alien' and "Aliens vs Predators' movies are pretty much the same (from my experience, and Wiki-ing), but this one had Adrien Brody in it, so that was a major bonus (was like, 'Oh God that guy looks just like Adrien Brody, that guy from 'The Pianist'-oh wait, it is Adrien Brody, that guy from 'The Pianist').

I mean, you know the characters get killed off one by one, but it's the way it happens that makes it all watchable again.

And the best thing is that Adrien Brody doesn't die. He's so badass, it's awesome to just watch him simply stand around holding a gun.

So, so, badass. He exerts so much badass-ery (Wee Thean introduced us to this word last night during study time), everyone else who's actually badass too just seem like complete sissies next to him (the Yakuza guy was pretty cool, though. He took down a Predator samurai-style, man. Just goes to show Asians come a pretty close second in looking badass next to Adrien Brody's character).

Okay, better go now.

Leadership workshop/course thing tomorrow.

Adieu.

P.S. The school's finally getting Final Cut Pro installed in the Mac lab, and I really, really, want it too.

P.P.S. According to this article, Adrien Brody gave up sex just so he could become the seriously rugged and hardcore ex-army mercenary he is in the movie. Brilliant actor, him. So much dedication, just like for 'The Pianist'.

Der Untergang

Currently watching 'Der Untergang', or 'The Downfall', but it's taking forever to end (either that, or it's because YouTube is having some connection problems right now).

Just reached the bit after Hitler kills himself and everyone's arguing with everyone else about what to do with the war. It's sorta depressing (actually, extremely depressing), but all the stuff I've read/watched about WWII kinda makes me feel the same way.

It's like, you know these things have happened, people have died (and still are, by the way) and lived in such horrible conditions under constant fear and dread and other confused and unstable emotions but it all just seems so unreal. As if it was just made up and all. I wish it was but it isn't and that sucks.

I'm not going to say stuff like "we should be grateful we didn't have to go through war and are living comfortably and peacefully at the moment", because it's ridiculous. Last I checked, the world was still a pretty messed up place. It's saddening how much we don't know, but it's even more saddening when we do know.

Okay, disturbed moment over.

Did some practical during Physics today. Retarded as he may seem, Yos is like, super efficient. I'm cool with that 'cause I got to copy off him. And talk about potatoes. He's obsessed with potatoes.

Malay was still about crossword puzzles (ridiculously difficult crossword puzzles). Either that, or Aisyah and I have an extremely limited Malay vocabulary.

Sex ed was funny. I kid you not. Shuen and Joshua's skit thing was awesome, and they totally saved me from having to do it with Ryan (I think Mr Yeo's holding this grudge against me ever since I told him that bassists don't get chicks. Actually they do, but not quite as often).

And how to say "no" to having pre-marital sex? Reverse psychology. "Let's do it!"

I think they're trying to brainwash us into "abstinence for life", but I'm not quite sure.

Also, I think some people are going to become extremely paranoid about AIDS. I mean, if anyone could have HIV, and doing it just once gives you HIV and that you need to wait six months to get your blood tested in which anything could happen, then wait another six months to get another blood test in case something happened in that time period, then why not not have sex, like, ever?

I mean, that seems like the easy way out of all of this.

But yeah, it's ridiculous.

And yeah, I seriously enjoy Bio.

Adieu.

P.S. I lost my Chem notes on IMF. Where are my Chem notes on IMF? I don't know.

Geothermal gradient.

Yes, I have finished Geog (by some miracle).

To be honest with you, it took almost forever to do this journal thing. Left it pending for two weeks, 'cause I honestly didn't feel like doing it at all.

Yeah, I'm going to come out with it right away: I don't like the way this module has been carried out so far.

It's confusing, and boring and completely, utterly not fun. It depresses me.

I used to totally look forward to Geog, and now I kinda dread it. Hopefully things will improve in time.

Okay, now that's all out, school today was fine, considering we only had a half an hour break between two hours of Chem, an hour and a half of Math and two hours of Malay.

Was seriously falling asleep during Chem. I think one of the most horrible feelings in the world is sitting there in class, dozing off but trying so hard not to, eyelids weighing a tonne, and basically fighting a losing battle while time moves ever so slowly.

I wish we could choose when time went fast and when it went slow. That would be great, but we can't. Life's like that. Always trying to put us down.

Power-napped during that measly half hour break, so was sorta awake throughout Math (actually with Kian Wee and Glenn sitting behind you mimicking your Math teacher it's kinda hard to fall asleep). Found out that I still like drawing graphs.

Spent two hours coming up with a crossword puzzle with Aisyah during Malay.

Malay magazines are actually nice to read. Interesting.

All right, that's it for today.

Night.

P.S. Woohoo more sex ed tomorrow.

P.P.S. Yeah, just made a Sims pun.

Fail.

Ah, Mondays.

Actually, I kinda of like Mondays. It's like a whole new week is in front of you, but by Tuesday I kinda feel like I desperately need Friday to come again.

Had very little sleep today (two, three hours?).

World Cup finals. I'm going to miss being crammed into the fifth floor guys' TV room watching football players run around on television.

Yeah, good times.

Didn't like PE today (although we had plenty of fun telling Dr Sun about how he'd completely failed at predicting Germany as this year's World Cup winner).

I'm kinda thinking volleyball is not my thing. Dr Sun asked, "Do you get the feeling?" and I think we were supposed to answer something along the lines of "Yes, I have managed to experience hitting the ball with the correct, assigned method", but I was totally going for "Oh yeah, I feel it all right. Pain, dread, you name it".

Oh God, how do people actually enjoy this game? It's horrible. My arms felt like they were going to drop off every single time I managed to hit a ball.

Perhaps I just have very low pain-tolerance, but this is just ridiculous.

Well, now I can definitely cross "professional volleyball player" off my list of future possible occupations.

Didn't have English after that, so hung around class listening to Joshua sing "Dangling Balls" (along to the tune of 'Jingle Bells', just in case any of you were curious).

Math was all right.

And now I feel an overwhelming urge to sleep.

Adieu.

Silverstone 2010

Okay.

The plan is to sleep right after roll call, then wake up, watch the match, and try not to GG at school the next day.

Yeah, I can hope.

Spent the entire day just sitting around.

How fun.

Sad race today.

Seriously.

First that tyre puncture of Massa's, then Alonso's drive-through penalty, then a whole bunch of horrible stuff happening to Ferrari, like another puncture for Alonso.

Oh God, what is up with the tyres?

Seems like luck wasn't on Ferrari's side this weekend.

Hopefully it'll be on Holland's side though.

I'm really, really sorry, Alonso, but I gotta be honest; I won't be supporting Spain later on.

So there.

And yeah, this is a really, really quick post.

Congratulations to Webber ("not bad for a number 2 driver"), and to everyone else who thought they gained from the race (and a shout out to Yamamoto, hey dude nice to see you driving again, sorry about Bruno Senna though).

Forza Ferrari.

And Hup Holland Hup.

Adieu.

P.S. Stanley's going to be so "in your face" tomorrow. Oh God help me.

Duck.

Listening to the 'The Phantom of the Opera' soundtrack right now.

Somehow I find myself still missing Europe. Probably didn't get enough of it. I love the weather there.

Want to go back there someday. Yeah, someday. It'll happen.

Finding the need to up my productivity rate, and the urge to do something better with my time.

And totally failing.

Spend my afternoon (I'm excluding mornings here 'cause I woke up pretty late today) watching 'Better Off Ted', doing that assed Math ass. 1 and reading 'Percy Jackson: Titan's Curse'.

Meh, it's not much.

Finished the book later on at night. I liked it. Will get fourth book sometime soon.

You see, I've made this little pact with myself that I'd only buy one book from a certain series at a time, because if I didn't, I'd end up buying a whole load of books, and then I wouldn't be able to put my mind at rest till I've finished everything (come to think of it, that's kind of obsessive. I creep myself out sometimes).

And I've got this stack of unread books (bought this sem) on my table and another stack on one of my shelves (from previous semesters).

Okay, note-to-self: Don't buy any more books until you've finished everything. Yeah, everything.

Better go now. Plan on waking up earlier so I can sleep earlier and watch the World Cup final without having to GG at school the following morning (yeah, right).

Adieu.

P.S. Word of the day: duck.

Despicable Me

Listening to Boyce Avenue's 'Best of Acoustic Sessions' right now.

I think people who can take certain 'loud' songs and make them sound equally good (or better) acoustic are really awesome.

In fact, I think sometimes it's harder to do things acoustic than have distortion, heavy bass lines and drumming cover up out-of-tune-ness. I don't really know how to put this.

I mean, I find it more difficult to sound "perfect" acoustic.

Yeah, I honestly have no idea how to put this into words.

Anyway, went out today with Insan, Kelvin and KT.

Struggled to get past the ridiculous turnstile we have for a while, but made it out.

Went to Cathay to get tickets for 'Despicable Me' before heading over to Farrer Park to meet up with Nazihah, Brendan and Wee Thean (it was funny 'cause Brendan and Zeh were waiting for us around the same area but had no idea they were waiting for the same people).

Had Indian (food) for lunch.

Then left Wee Thean and KT to return to Cathay and watch 'Despicable Me'.

Oh God, 'Despicable Me'. Can totally sum it up in two words: DAMN CUTE.

The characters are lovable, the plot is kinda sweet, and it's horribly funny and the minions are adorable as hell. I kid you not. Those yellow things have got to be the cutest minions in the entire history of villainy.

Here's like, a short trailer on said cute minions.

And we think they look a lot like Wan Shen, what with the baldness and the goggles. So now we call 'em 'mini Wan Shens'.

Okay, I'm going to brainwash people into watching it. Hence another trailer.

Cluster outing was okay. Dinner at Shokudo.

Okay, tired now.

Night.

P.S. Personally, I think guys who can sing well and play some musical instrument at the same time are kinda like chick-magnets. Musicians are cool, okay?

P.P.S. Ah yellow minion things. I need one of those.

'Hysteria' -Muse

Currently watching 'The Big Bang Theory', 'cause for some reason I've got five episodes randomly saved in my laptop.

Cool.

I have this horrible feeling that I shouldn't be enjoying myself so much.

Logically (and depressingly), work should always come first, but I don't know what on earth I'm doing.

It's like I want to stop caring and just have fun, but then again I don't want to have come this far then throw it all away.

Damn, it's a hard decision to make.

Anyway, there's no school tomorrow (thankfully). We need more Staff Development days. 'Cause that would be like, totally beneficial for all of us, students and staff alike.

Stayed awake for the Germany-Spain match. I have to say I was rather disappointed. Hoped Germany would win and face the Netherlands in the final (that way I'd be happy with whoever wins).

I like Germany.

And there's this thing with people I don't really get. Why must we suddenly develop strong desires to eat octopuses whenever Paul the octopus gets a prediction correct and the team we support loses? I mean, where's the logic in that? If something was going to happen, it would have anyway, no matter what an octopus has to say about it.

Speaking of octopuses, I am definitely getting a pet octopus. Paul is ridiculously accurate.

Brain wasn't working throughout Math, 'cause of the lack of sleep. Thankfully we weren't doing anything exceptionally difficult, or I would've GG-ed for sure.

Geography was nothing special. Did something about plate movement evidence and Adithya basically slept throughout that.

Physics was post-it notes. Like, really. Mr Yeo gave us post-its and we kinda had some fun with 'em. Yeah, fun. I like fun.

Okay, gotta go now.

Sweet sleep awaits me.

Adieu.

P.S. Was really disappointed today 'cause MJ didn't get kidnapped by the paedophilic transvestite murderer she agreed to meet with to exchange K-pop merchandise. Turned out said person really was a girl, after all. Sigh.

Pixar.

Okay, quick post for tonight.

Going to sleep early so I'll be able to watch the game later on.

The thing is, I've figured out that the World Cup only comes once in four years, and that school happens every day, and if you do the Math, it's definitely not everyday that you get to watch World Cup matches live with a bunch of friends who're as not sane as you are.

You see the logic there?

Yes, yes you should.

Strange things happened today (but then again, this is our school. Strange things happen every day).

For example, we had this sex education talk thing which was seriously awkward.

I mean, it wasn't awkward in that sense. It was just awkward that they think we're honestly that ignorant and naive.

And the video was pretty weird too. I think it all boils down to bad acting. I mean, what kind of doctor tries to hide smiles why telling you you've tested HIV positive?

Yeah sure, these things are important to know about and all, but hmm yeah. I should stop now.

Physics was all right (sometimes I'm not as stupid as I think I am, and that kinda feels great).

Malay got cancelled, so we had our first hour of nothingness for the semester. Ah, felt good.

Bio wasn't horribly boring (and yeah I like Bio).

Pixar talk was sorta awesome, even though I think a lot of people thought it was beyond boring and fell sleep. (Or maybe I couldn't fall asleep 'cause I was standing behind the camera throughout the entire session. I'm not sure.)

It kinda makes you want to appreciate all the detail they put in there, you know? Yeah.

I think there are too many "yeah"s this post. Should stop doing that.

Need to watch the game later.

Adieu.

P.S. And wow, Mr Yeo's band is actually good.

P.P.S. I need a band. That would like, epicly bring up my awesomeness level.

The Black Parade

Thank God for noise-canceling headphones, 'cause the fire alarm alarm thing is still going on. I have no idea why nobody's turned it off yet, but at least I can't hear it.

Switched from Muse to MCR recently.

As I was telling J. Ang, MCR is the first band I really started listening to, and for that they'll always have a special place in my heart no matter what.

Without MCR, I probably wouldn't be where I am today. I owe that band a lot.

And yeah, people like to say that MCR is emo, but I honestly don't mind. As long as I know they're not emo, that's okay with me.

So yeah, I'll say it. I love My Chemical Romance. I really, really do.

And I've been telling people lately that I'd go gay for Matt Bellamy if I were a guy. That's because Matt Bellamy exudes awesomeness. He's a great songwriter, talented musician, looks great on stage, isn't an empty-headed ass and is generally brilliant.

Yeah.

Went for orals today at Kentridge. Now I can be pretty sure I won't ever have to go for Malay orals ever again (yeah, famous last words).

It's just epic tahi kerbau-ing, really. As long as you're good at making stuff up on the spot and have a vocabulary good enough to support your tahi kerbau, you'll be fine.

Okay, better go now. Really sleepy.

Night.

P.S. I really wish the matches wouldn't be so late at night.

چاوي

Just got back from karaoke-ing with ex-8A. Ah, good times, good times.

And now my voice is sounds kinda strained but that's okay.

Nothing Strepsils can't solve.

Oh, and I just realised I could do this: .توليس ڤعس ين دالام توليسن جاوي

I think I made like, a billion spelling mistakes in there. But thankfully I haven't totally forgotten about Jawi. And come to think of it, it's kinda cool. It's like some secret code language. Maybe those hours spent learning how to read and spell in Primary school paid off after all.

Anyway, the reason why I'm toying with Malay stuff is 'cause I've got Malay orals tomorrow (which I'm pretty sure I'll screw up, but that's another story) and I need to get my brain wired into thinking in Malay so I won't fail.

It's actually not easy to speak in Malay. My vocabulary just isn't good enough to let me convey the message I want to get across.

For example, if I wanted to say something like, "I admire referees because they have total control over the way gameplay is carried out", I'd do something like, "Saya sangat... uhm... Saya berasa bahawa... *how on earth do you say "referee"? Oh God help me* pengadil itu sangat mengagumkan kerana dia boleh ummm.... menetapkan... cara um... sesuatu perlawanan itu uhm... dijalankan."

Oh yeah, God please help me.

Went out for lunch with Kelvin and Wee Thean. Then hung around a bit around Clementi (Kelvin was looking for a HDMI cable).

Okay, gotta go now. School tomorrow and I don't want to GG.

Adieu.

P.S. Huge thanks to Fazrul for "pengadil".

For the love.

Oh my gee.

I feel strangely happy and content right now and I don't know why. So high so high so high.

Haha that rhymes.

Actually I do know why.

I have rediscovered the joy in playing and nailing. Hell yes it feels so good.

Was somewhat depressed for a while, 'cause I had this feeling that I'd never be any better and that I'll never be able to be even half as good as anybody else, but man it's great to prove me wrong for once.

Yes I can do it. I don't need to rely on complete tablature. I don't need to follow others' interpretations. Plus one for expression.

Also, I've started listening again. Sometimes I go through periods of non-listening (which I absolutely loathe) which depresses me, and now I'm back and that makes me happy.

Went out to Clementi with Fatinn, and got picks and a set of new strings (the usual, D'Addario Pro-Arté EJ49 Silverplated Wound Normal Tension Black Nylon). I've been using silverplated since I was twelve, and the thing with black GBE strings started last year.

I need to go drum tomorrow. No matter what. It's great to let things out, unleash tension, make some noise (even if you don't know a thing about drumming, like yours truly).

Now while listening to the pure awesomeness of Muse, I bid thee, farewell.

Arrivederci.

P.S. If I were a guy, I'd seriously go gay for Matt Bellamy.

Fishguy.

Listening to Tyler Ward covers right now, trying to gain some sort of inspiration.

Trying to choose between The Script's 'Breakeven' and 'Live Like We're Dying' (I like to credit the songwriting to them, and not Kris Allen 'cause he totally didn't write this song).

Hm. We'll see.

Left halfway through the Uruguay-Ghana match, and GG-ed.

Slept till noon, and woke up just in time for lunch (only Ivanka, Woan Chyi and I, 'cause I think everyone else either went out to watch 'Eclipse' or were still sleeping).

Anyway, spent my afternoon playing 'Doodle God' and my evening looking up song covers.

And yes, Wee Thean and KT are probably really smug 'cause Paul the octopus was right again in predicting Argentina's loss against Germany.

Although I honestly support(ed) Argentina's bid for the cup, I actually don't mind Germany winning, 'cause I kinda started liking them after they defeated England.

Oh well.

Okay, hear me out here: one day, I'm going to get a pet octopus. I'll name this octopus Özil, and Özil will make all my major life decisions.

Sounds good, right?

Yeah, somehow I think owning a pet octopus would be like, really cool. I mean, people have dogs and cats and hamsters but rarely octopuses. So I'm going to get one. And they're hella smart, too.

Awesome creatures, octopuses.

All right, better go now.

Want to wake up earlier tomorrow.

Adieu.

P.S. Well, at least now we don't get to see Maradona naked.

Orange.

Epic things have happened, and now Twitter is overcapacity and fail-whale-ing, so I can't Tweet variations of "YESSS NED BEAT BRA" over and over again over the internet.

But while I wait for Twitter to un-overcapacity itself, I'm going to talk about it here (I was already going to in the first place, but after the Tweeting).

Ah, Twitter. Where else would the world be getting its information from?

I feel so awfully happy the Netherlands won. I know it's just to get into semis, but you know, I really think they deserve to beat Brazil this time 'round (I like Brazil though).

But yeah, I'm not a football junkie at all, so I can't really say much 'bout all this football stuff.

F1, on the other hand, I can (sorta).

Stanley's been telling me for a few days now that Red Bull will own at Silverstone and his beloved Mark Webber will win (honestly, I have absolutely zero idea why Stanley idolises Webber so much).

I've also been hearing about various parties complaining about the injustice of the race at Valencia (and hence backing Ferrari up here).

And apparently, according to Alonso (Massa seems to be less and less prominently featured on Ferrari's Twitter account lately), the F10 has had some positive improvements (although without testing allowed I'm not really sure how he knows. Sure sounds upbeat though).

Ah too many brackets.

First week of school is effectively over, and heck that was fast.

Monday's a holiday, so that's awesome. And so's the following Friday, 'cause it's 'Staff Development Day' or something like that. I have a feeling the teachers won't be pleased about that, 'cause of the catching up we'll have to do.

But you know, we're students, and we like to think short-term, so I'm happy there will be less school next week.

Okay, better go now.

Adieu.

Wind of Change -Scorpions

The internet connection here is acting up real badly, and it's increasingly annoying.

And just when the hostel was starting to seem not so bad after all.

Anyway, the main reason why I put up with the horribleness of school here is the weekends, and thankfully Saturday inches closer and closer as we speak.

And yeah, it's gonna pass pretty fast as well, and then it'll be August and then it'll be 2012 and we're all doomed (yeah, I think I kinda went too far there).

But yeah, it's July already (according to the billion Tweets and Facebook statuses about that).

Had Math first thing in the morning, which is awfully depressing. It's like you wake up, all optimistic about the day ahead of you, and then binomial expansions come and punch you in the face then tell you your pet hamster died.

Speaking of dead hamsters, Physics was meh.

English was fun, 'cause we got to waste Ms Lau's marker ink and draw random things on large sheets of paper. Chee Seng was acting all high, and we think he's doing drugs or something.

Okay, better go now. Has a Chem quiz tomorrow. And CCA.

But hey, tomorrow's a Friday.

Thank God for weekends.

Adieu.

P.S. Productivity fail.