Quiz.

Courtesy of Tumblr.

A. If you could get away with one murder in your lifetime without any legal, social, or emotional repercussions, would you kill someone?

No, it is not our place to deal out death.

B. What is your first thought when you receive a message on Tumblr, are you excited for the idea of someone from potentially the other side of the world wanting to talk to you or fearful that someone will criticize you?

Has not happened to me yet.

C. Have you ever looked down on someone because you thought your religious views were superior?

No. I am nice.

D. Would you rather know everything the universe has to offer but in exchange lose all emotions or remain the way you are now?

Stay. I'm great enough as it is.

E. If you could live and be healthy without sleeping or eating/drinking, which would you cut out of your life?

Sleep, probably. More time to do things. I like food. And if I wanted to sleep and dream I'd be able to, it just wouldn't be a survival requirement anymore.

F. If you could take on the exact body and form of anyone else on Earth, who would it be?

Erm probably some really hot chick. 

G. Would you rather burn or freeze to death?

Freeze. Although burning would definitely be a faster but more agonising way to die.

H. If it meant it would solve all world hunger, war, disease and bigotry, would you spend the rest of eternity in Hell?

Forever? Then I'd ask, why not send someone else more selfless than me? I'd go, but the world would be less awesome and less worth living in (for me) even though there is no hunger, war, disease and bigotry.

I. Was the first crush in your life something you had or something someone had on you?

What?

J. Could you live without having sex ever (again) in exchange for eternal youth?

Yes.

K. Have you ever watched a full length pornographic movie?

No.

L. The Beatles or The Rolling Stones?

The Beatles.

M. If you could have the ability to manipulate matter or energy, which would you choose?

Wow this is a hard one. Matter, I think. More tangible.

N. What was the worst nightmare you ever had?

I refuse to acknowledge that any dream is a nightmare.

O. Would you rather spend one year with your one true love just to never see them again or the rest of your life with second best?

Wow, I'd do one year with true love, then when we part I'll stay with second best. Simple.

P. All the sequels/remakes/adaptations/rip-offs in movies nowadays, good or bad?

Deeeeepends.

Q. Would you rather be dirt poor and emotionally fulfilled in life or be rich beyond imagination and emotionally dissatisfied for life?

Rich beyond imagination, baby.

R. Do you have any (secret) feelings of bigotry to any group of people?

Yes, I hate everyone.

S. Would you rather be the only person in the world that can read minds or have everyone else in the world be able to read minds except for your own?

The former.

T. If everyone in the world would automatically only know one language, which language would you choose?

English, because then I wouldn't have to deal with awkward moments where Chinese-speaking people expect me to speak in Chinese and then don't understand me. 

U. If you were old enough and not in a situation where it would be inappropriate, would you sleep with one of your (past) school teachers/professors?

No.

V. A world without religion, good, bad, neutral?

Good and bad, never neutral.

W. The men’s rights movement, legitimate cause or laughable, and why?

Legitimate. Women think they can have everything, but even though men are at fault sometimes women should not abuse that and in turn mistreat men.

X. You can eliminate one of your five senses to substantially strengthen the others, which one and would you do it?

I wouldn't.

Y. Do looks mean anything to you? Don’t lie, could you fall in love with someone you thought was ugly?

Eventually.

Z. Can you understand the mindset and logic used by the opposite spiritual opinion? An atheist understanding the belief in a higher power and vice versa.

Yes.

Interlagos 2012.

The 2012 Formula One season has officially come to an end, with one of the most entertaining and nerve-wrecking races in a long time. 

I won't delve into details because honestly, you can find a recap and review anywhere on the Internet and there is just so much to talk about my fingers might fall off typing. 

You know, when Vettel had his little spin and collision at the start of the race, my heart kind of stopped for a moment because I was so convinced Alonso would win the title then and there. But I was wrong, and there was heartbreak even though I quite adore Sebastian Vettel. 

And even though there was heartbreak, I do not approve of Ferrari's attempts to appeal so that Alonso becomes World Champ. Even Alonso has admitted that it is a sport, and these things happen in sport. Vettel's been luckier and more consistent and there's nothing anyone can do to change those facts. 

Let's talk. Or rather, let me ramble on while you read this in the future. 

My dad lent me a collection of CDs entitled 'Slow Rock Ballads', and it really is so depressing to listen to these songs. They're really well-written songs, so they get stuck in your head and they sound crazy good, but the problem is that they're all about heartbreak and loneliness and chasing after people who'll never be with you. I feel like I'm going through mid-life crisis already. 

Then I watched this concert on YouTube and I felt much better, and so much more in love with MCR than I've been in a long time. For my favourite band of all time, it sure has been getting really little attention lately. But what's important is that through every genre that I explore, or through every artist that I suddenly really adore, I always go back to them. Always. 

Yeah, from time to time I watch full concerts online and it makes me feel really good and warm and fuzzy inside. There's just something about them, isn't there? I've only ever been to Muse live, and I hope I never forget what it was like. The walking through the cold, standing throughout the show and jumping up and down like an idiot, screaming my lungs out, feeling crazy giddy afterwards, the crowd singing their songs on the way to the subway station. Oh that is love. 

Saw Coldplay Live! (the movie) a few weeks ago, and I was so glad we were able to get tickets. There were only two showings ever in Singapore, and it felt so special to know we were at one of them. I mean yeah, the DVD was released a few days ago and you can buy it in stores now, but we watched it on the big screen, man, with a bunch of other hardcore fans who were singing and clapping and cheering along in a freaking cinema theatre. There is a vlog.

Also managed to catch up with The Voice, so now I'm fully up to date with what's going on. Aisyah's really happy about that, because we can talk about the show now without her being afraid of giving me spoilers. We predicted right last night, and SPOILER Dez and Cody are out now. I hope Nicholas David or Terry McDermott win it. 


Okay, I'm going back to A Song of Ice and Fire now. 

My reading plan goes like this: 

1. Finish a Song of Ice and Fire up till the latest book.

2. Life of Pi, maybe sometime soon in case my family wants to watch the movie. I don't know when but I don't want to drop A Feast for Crows.

3. The Hobbit before the movie, obviously. 

4. Assorted stuff I haven't read on my bookshelves. 

5. Comics will be saved for school time because those are all in my laptop and there is no need to shift physical copies. (But I'm sort of in the middle of Civil War and it's crazy hard not to think about it.)


Night.



P.S. I swear I will get my driving license by the end of this year. I can and I will. 

Danke.

Race Day is on Star Sports right now, and it's raining, and I'm downstairs alone waiting for the last race of the 2012 F1 season. Man I am excited. 

It's Michael Schumacher's last race, too, and they're showing a tribute to him now. His comeback from his first retirement wasn't as good as everyone wanted it to be, but we're still grateful for what he's done for F1. As a kid I really liked him, and he was like my racing hero, and I quite disliked Alonso then because he would come and steal victories from Schumi, but we have to realise that the old need to make way for the young. It's a sport that requires ultimate physical fitness and reflexes, and sometimes when you're older you might not be that good anymore. 

Danke, Schumi. 

Okay, week recap: 

Tuesday: Did nothing, went swimming, loved swimming, yeah. 

Wednesday: Hmm I do not remember what happened here. I think I went out for lunch with my mum and aunt, then hung around my mum's office reading 'A Storm of Swords'. 

Thursday: New cover up, nothing much, then hung around the Internet and stuff. 

Friday: Went to a wedding.

Saturday: First driving lesson of the year, hopefully will pass driving test in a few weeks. Wasn't so bad; only stalled a few times, and could control the car rather well. Didn't kill anybody either. Finished reading 'A Storm of Swords', then went out to my great uncle's house for Alyssa's birthday celebration, then came back to watch qualifying. Here goes new vlog.

Today: Went out to watch 'Rise of the Guardians' with my family. It was okay; very prettily animated (Jack Frost has great hair) but it's like a really typical children's movie, so nothing special at all. Then had Indian food for dinner. So good. 


Oh, the Brazilian national anthem is going off now. 

Adieu. 

P.S. The Voice, I'm catching up with it. So goood.

And on and on and on and on.

Hello darlings, I have dug up my first sort of vlog ever, and I am not embarrassed to share it with you because I'm not in it and nobody will understand a thing. Here.

I'm back in Brunei now, which means a huge mess of doing ARP and balancing work while doing all the things people do when they return to their home country after a few months. Catch up with friends, meet up with family members, learn how to drive, go swimming, read five thousand books Et cetera. 

What's happened in a fortnight? Finished reading 'A Clash of Kings' and 'A Storm of Swords Part 1' and (only a few hours ago) Deadpool Pulp, which was a birthday present from Wee Thean. If I liked Deadpool before, now I feel like I know him so much better now, and I admire him for the depth his character has and his capability to feel real feelings other than "crazy". 

Went out plenty of times. Will talk about the Coldplay Live movie when I actually edit the vlog, so those two can go hand in hand. Went to visit Ms Kong in the hospital because she's delivered her twins (Ruvee and Reuel, so glad I know how to spell their names). Performed for some ASEAN Gala Night thing, where some of us danced and some of us sang 'Ujan Barai-Barai', so there were plenty of practice sessions and Bruneian hanging out. 

I'm glad for Bruneian hanging out sessions, because the seniors are finally graduating and I felt really sad. Maybe I will dedicate my next post to this leaving of people whom we care about and the moving out of Year 5s. But it will be a really sad and heartbreaking post and I like to avoid those feelings. 


Got our progress reports back, and was glad to say I did so much better than expected. By several miracles, I didn't flunk Chem hons and managed to A- my English. Like whoa, whoa. Thank God. I'm crazy thankful, because next time I won't be so lucky. 

Last day of school, so we pulled an all-nighter. Me, Debb, Jaz and Nicole didn't sleep at all on Thursday night, and Amelia and Shi Ni slept like an hour each. It's like the night just flashed by. Watched 'Johnny English', then talked for a while, then watched 'BadLipSyncing' videos on Youtube, then God knows what happened, then went up to 6B to bargain for milk (they didn't sleep either), then cooked breakfast, then ate, then went to school. Crazy stuff. 

Then went out for lunch with 405. Was going to go to Seoul Garden but had to change plans because there was a surprisingly large turnout (like 16 of us, I'm so glad I'm not the only one who misses 405 like mad sometimes). Went to some Japanese place. I miss us, really. Especially the eight of us who sat in the front left corner of class. Me, Kian Wee, Glenn, Myat, Shuen, Bryan, Zheng Wei and Yos. We were like the crazy side of class who never slept no matter how crazy awful boring class got, and no matter if it was the last lesson of a long day and everyone was actually really tired. Good times. 


Took a flight back yesterday, and arrived so crazy exhausted (a summation of the sleep-deprivation of the weekend) I couldn't bear to wake up at three in the morning to catch the Austin GP. So I avoided the Internet like the plague for a day and then watched the replay on television (because I have television access now, hooray). 

I'm so glad I waited, because the surprise was a good one. Hamilton won the race and for once I can say I'm really glad that happened. Vettel second and Alonso in third, which was really good news for the Championship. Massa fourth, even after some crazy Ferrari tactical magic where they changed his gearbox and he dropped five places on the grid so Alonso could start on seventh and on the clean side of the track instead. I salute both him and the team. He's such a team player, I love Felipe Massa. 

Okay, going off now. I have a life to dictate and get back to. 

Night. 


P.S. Aisyah's birthday vlog is like three weeks late. Whoops. Still editing because I procrastinate and I was caught up with other projects.

Again.

Trying, trying, trying to load 'The Voice' now, but I've been stuck at the same episode for two days now because the Internet connection we've got here has deteriorated into something terrible and unspeakable and depressing. 

Anyway, haven't posted in forever but that's okay. That means I've been busy doing other things (and sort of maybe having a life out there). 

What's happened since the etiquette dinner? A tonne of things. 

In terms of F1 races, I missed the Korean race because I was out at Sentosa with Fatinn and a bunch of her Year 6 friends because it was her birthday. Ate at the Vivo rooftop, then sat at a beach at Sentosa and watched shirtless guys play volleyball for a few hours, then ate again. Fun. I'm going to miss the Year 6s when they graduate. Jia Hong was updating me with race details, and thanks to unlimited texting, I can say I didn't really feel as if I was missing the race at all. Vettel won, Webber second and Alonso third. Massa finished fourth, which was really good for him (he's confirmed a seat at Ferrari for next year, for which I am glad). 

The Indian GP at Buddh was two days ago, strangely timed in the evening. Vettel won again (and his race engineer did a Crazy Frog over the team radio, which was really cute), Alonso second in front of Webber (good driving by Alonso, really. Made it up from fifth on the grid). Went out to eat after that, with KT, Kelvin and Wee Thean. Thai Express really is our default place whenever we go to WCP. Sometimes decision-making wastes time, and when you're hungry, time-wasting isn't something you want to do. 


In terms of books read, I finished reading 'A Game of Thrones' after the second script-checking day, because I was depressed and needed to like drown my sorrows in a fantasy world of gore, murder, treachery, politics, and unnecessary sex scenes (or paragraphs, which I skipped). Never done that badly for any exam ever, so let's not talk about it ever again. Book was good and epic and quite unputdownable (because I love how this is a real word, and it explains why I've been sleeping past 3 in the morning every day now). Tried to watch the television show, but the sex scenes were like too explicit for my taste, so I've given up. I think I'm quite hopeless. Can't even bear to watch making out scenes because they disgust me. Maybe I really do need professional help. 


In terms of movies watched (I might miss some because there were quite a few), saw 'Sherlock Holmes' (the 2010 movie) and 'Taken' in the TV room yesterday, 'Mirrors' a few nights ago (have I mentioned I despise horror movies? Well I despise them) in the TV room, 'Looper' at Jurong Point a week or so ago, 'Wu Dang' (some Chinese film about radioactive Tai Chi, that's how we put it) and 'Wrath of the Titans' (as bad as its predecessor, 'Clash of the Titans') in the TV room two weeks ago, 'Spy Kids 2' with MJ in her room a while back (chronological order means nothing to me now), 'Exam' (some messed up mind-effing low-budget movie about a bunch of people taking an exam) and 'A Thousand Words' (quite meaningful, not bad) in the TV room God-knows-when, and '500 Days of Summer' by myself in my room because I wanted to be reminded of what Joseph Gordon-Levitt really looks like without the Looper prosthetics. I think that's about it. I think. Ten movies in two weeks. Not bad. 

Year-End Dinner happened too. Yeah. Quite fun. 

Also did ARP stuff with Wai Yin. Yeah ARPing is fun.


Went out to Sentosa again today (so it looks like we've come full circle) to sort of celebrate Aisyah's birthday. Have some footage, so will edit and upload sometime. 

Hung out around the beach, ate, then it rained so we had to move, then it stopped raining so we walked on the sand (fake beach, not really beach, sand was horrible and water was gross) while the others played ball and did some frisbee-throwing and bullied some crabs, then it rained again so we had to retreat and stuff. Okay tiring, words are tiring now. 


Here is my channel, go stalk and subscribe and like my videos if you like. Please. 

Okay, see you.

Etiquette Dinner

All right, exams are over, and the past few days have been quite busy. 

The Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka happened on Sunday, which Vettel won while Alonso crashed out first corner, reducing the Championship gap to a dangerous 4 points. Massa came in second; his first podium in 36 races. Welcome back, Felipe. And Kobayashi was third, first podium in his F1 career at his home race. Quite fitting. Button came fourth, so he still has the favour of his girlfriend's countrymen for not overtaking homeboy. 

Most dreaded exam paper of the semester happened Monday morning: Chem Hons. I don't think I'd ever been so deathly afraid of an exam paper before. But thank God by some kind of miracle it wasn't as bad as I expected it to be. Managed to answer the 10-mark each mechanism questions, so I have a high chance of not failing. 

Hopefully I'll be able to do well for the Physics paper, but I only studied for the few hours after Chem before the paper, so chances are a bit low. We'll see.

Went out to West Coast Park with half of 05 afterwards. I love my class. We kind of went nuts and acted like immature little kids and climbed everything and played with all the children's recreational equipment and got stared at and then ate at Mac's. Om nom. 

Also bought Mark of Athena on the way back. Finished reading it last night, and it's good. There's this sort of consistency that Rick Riordan has, but somehow I don't find that I love it any more. I was entertained, and I quite enjoyed it and I'm looking forward to the next book, but I don't feel as immersed as I was when I read the Percy Jackson books. Either the series has lost its novelty to me, or I'm growing up. I hope the former.


Went out to meet Woan Chyi at Bugis for lunch on Tuesday, then Fatinn joined us and we walked around Bugis street dress-shopping. I think a lot of people from Year 5 went out to shop that day (and Wednesday, too), because most of us really lack formal clothing. 

Watched 'Taken 2' on Wednesday (never seen Taken, but didn't matter). Adithya texted before noon, then went out for lunch with KT, Wee Thean, Kelvin because Adithya always has mysterious "business" to attend to. Ate at Fatboy's, and it was surprisingly filling even though the portions looked quite small. Even the guys said so, so it wasn't only me. Good burgers. Then we wandered around Vivo and bought tickets (and did not shop for guys' shoes or ties at all, because shopping is for girls and we totally did not do any of that sort) and hung around in Challenger until the movie had to start. Then Wai Yin joined us, then Adithya, Daryl, Pradeep, and Mitra (we left their tickets at the counter, and we told the guy he could recognise them as a group of four Indian guys). 

Anyway the movie was good, but we figured it was all an elaborate plot set up by the main character to get back with his ex-wife (and it totally worked, whoa spoiler).


Reuben's first birthday party was today. Ms Kong invited us and there was food and cake. It's awesome that their family let us into this momentous part of their lives. It's really sweet to have shared it with us. And Reuben is so ridiculously cute. 

Etiquette dinner happened afterwards. Everyone looked great, and here's a low resolution shot of the whole level (minus a few). I think it's quite cool how we care and respect the occasion enough to bother to dress up. 

Most of what the instructor taught us was common sense, like leaving your fork and knife to the side when you're done, being polite to your waiter and not spitting food into your napkin. But then there was stuff like "When you drop your fork, do not bend to pick it up and ask the waiter to bring you a new one", which we found quite douchey. Why would you make someone pick up something you dropped? That's really mean. 

And you're also apparently supposed to scoop your soup up outwards, instead of bringing the spoon towards you. What kind of crazy unnatural behaviour is that? Weird stuff. 

Then by the time the food actually came we were starving, so I can't tell if the food was quite decent, or if it was because we were really hungry. Milled around and took a bunch of photos after our quite meagre (also because we were hungry, I think) bread and soup, chicken and ice cream. 

Quite fun. 

Hostel time ending soon. 

Man. 

I kind of don't want these people to leave us.

Transience.

Hello, these are words. Have these words, they are my gift to you. 

(You may thank me later, you're welcome.) 

So we're a week into our exams (well not really a week, but we've reached the first weekend of this long week of studying and writing and wanting to die), and this is like a lull before the real danger comes. You know, the eye of the storm. 

Five papers down, two more to go. 

The essay component of the English paper was quite fun, actually. But then again I like writing essays when I stop caring about what the teachers might think and actually get around to arguing about things the way I want to. 'There has never been a better time to be a woman," or something, was the question I did. Yeah, I think it's a great time to be a woman. In fact, it's a great time to be alive; we're more hygienic now. How much I bullsh*tted: 6.5 (because I put some effort into making sense).

The comprehension part was hell, and half the time I was writing like I was drunk/high/not in the right state of mind. So basically I don't think I made sense at all. Argue in context of Singapore? I hardly know anything. Hm maybe it is quite shameful to have been living here for almost four years and yet not give a crap about its politics or events or anything, but I really don't. How much I bullsh*tted: 10.2

Ecology wasn't too bad. It's like Stats and English in disguise. They give you graphs and articles and ask you to interpret things. Could do better, but the questions were just really dumb (for lack of a better word). How much I bullsh*tted: 8.

Stats was okay, too. The first three questions were really demoralising, but after the initial fifteen minutes' worth of panicking and staring at your question paper you flip to the next page and realise the questions get progressively easier. Hopefully the front doesn't compromise the back too much. How much I bullsh*tted: 3.

Inorganic was terrible. Didn't really know what I was saying half the time, and spent most of my time being miserably confused and wishing I could drop Chem. Probably will pass, but not very well. How much I bullsh*tted: 5

Today's Biochem paper was quite bad too, but much, much better than that hell of a Molecular Genetics paper we took last sem (the average score for that paper was below passing). Quite okay, but wrote a tonne of rubbish just so it wouldn't seem like I just gave up and left blanks. How much I bullsh*tted: 9.9

Have Chem Hons and Physics left.

I do not fight a losing battle. 


Last night had a last dinner session with Woan Chyi last night because she's moving out to stay with Jehon for a while.. Was in a rush because she had to go out, and I had to squeeze out every minute to study Biochem. 

Now that I've let it sink it, I feel kind of sad. Four years of having hostel dinner together and suddenly it's the last night. Like whoa. And when you come to think of it, it'll be so much worse when we leave this country for good. You spend so much time wishing it was over and that you could go home, and then you realise at some point into it you've stopped wishing for it to be over. So bittersweet. 

Everything's so transient. Why are we here, being so worked up about school for a chance (just a chance) of living a comfortable future? We're young, and we're going to waste it all on worrying about how we're going to do when we're too old to enjoy this freedom. So we should all go out and do crazy stuff once in a while, as long as it's not murder or drugs or unwanted-baby making. 

Okay, off now. 


P.S. Here is a playlist of Tioman videos, because memories are awesome and we're awesome and generally the trip was awesome.