Immense.

I dedicate this post to Myra's question: How about my pressure here?

Well, tell you what.

Imagine you're a little germ-thing, dwelling in the deepest, darkest part of a secluded area of ocean somewhere out there.

Pressure in water, as we know, depends on depth. It's so deep, that when an inquisitive, bespectacled scientist/researcher person tries to take you out to study you, you go "pop!" because of the lack of pressure.

The pressure here is going to be (therefore not yet), immense.

There was a meeting for all the scholars (people who got scholarships) this afternoon, and we were told of the school's expectations of us. We're expected to be perfect role models, brilliant at studies, intelligent, hardworking, to represent the school in whatever competition, to take on roles of leadership, to excel in co-curricular activities, to be well-liked, disciplined, respectful and all that jazz.

Otherwise we'd be kicked out, sent home and our scholarships will be cancelled. Can you imagine the embarrassment endured if we have to return to our home countries in shame? The fact that we'd be stuck in limbo with nowhere to go and our families hanging their heads in shame? 

Terrible. Completely, utterly, terrible.

And that, my friends, is the pressure we have here.

I'm going to bed. 

Night, good people.

Da Vinci programme?

Just in case anyone wonders what I eat at the hostel, this is a delightful *cough* picture of yesterday's dinner. Butter chicken, egg with bits of stuff in it and some vege. With rice, of course. I never take the soup, and they served some orange-coloured melon yesterday, so I didn't take the fruit either.

I changed class today (which was a pity) and now I'm in M09203. 203 isn't that bad. 

So instead of having English, we had Physics as our first lesson of the day. We learnt about the state of matter, and intermolecular forces in solids, liquids and gases.

I think I got a bit bored 'cause I'd done this stuff back in Brunei (although as I had said earlier, the way they teach is different).
Say hello to all my fifty smiley faces. It says "INDIVIDUALITY!" at the bottom, by the way.

Now I've got a Physics worksheet to do. Lucky we don't have to hand this in. 

I've only one unanswered question. It's "Explain, two inferences that can be made about air particles, from the Brownian motion of the smoke particles."

I can make many of these "inferences", but I don't know which is the one they're expecting. 

"There are air particles in between the smoke particles."

"Air particles are everywhere."

"Air particles are so small, we can't see them when they collide with smoke particles."

"Air particles are also a gas, hence they have very large spaces in between the particles."

and so on.

Meh. 

Faulty measuring equipment.

I just finished the bag of unfinished (obviously) Famous Amos cookies on my desk. Yum.

After Bio, we had break time. Then my classmates (Angela and Pari) told me that I had to take a Humanities subject out of Fine Arts, Music and English Literature. 

Guess which one I chose?

I decided to give Music a try, so Insan and I went to Music Studio 1 to check it out. I actually liked it, to be honest. The module is about music appreciation, with all the musical history and development, how to listen for the right things and what to expect from pieces from different eras. Now I've got seventy-seven pages of Music: An Appreciation by an old guy called Roger Kamien to read, in addition to my unfinished elemental sudoku and thick Bio book to read on Reproduction. 

Somehow my BM teacher (the only Muslim teacher in the whole of school) hasn't sent me the karangan topics yet... Hm.

The Math here is very different than in Brunei. My head hurts just thinking about it. Math was never my favourite subject (as you all probably know by now) and now I still can't come to terms with it. All the numbers make my head hurt. 

But yes, I know more formulae than they do. 'Cause I'm older and they make us memorise all the formulae in Brunei for PMB. 

I'm tired and in need of a shower. PE was the last class of the day after Math. Our PE teacher measured our heights and weights with faulty equipment and then we jogged two rounds around the track. 

After that I walked back to the hostel (which was right behind/in front of/next to) the track.

Oh, I almost forgot about yesterday. We had a boarding bonding session last night at 8.30 p.m (so NUS High students could go online to register for their modules [sorta like option subjects]). It was pretty dull and hectic at the same time. Why? Simply because the first thing we did was listen to a briefing on discipline and laundry and we were all tired (especially the Year Ones and Year Threes who had to attend day-long orientation).

After we tried to sit on each other in a big circle (I think it's a community bonding thing, the weirdest thing I've ever done in my whole entire life), we were let out of the hall.

And just when we thought we could get a teensy bit of rest before school, there was a cluster meeting at 10.45 p.m. I could've died of exhaustion. But I made it anyway, fortunately.

So for now, I bid thee, farewell.

To tie a tie.

I has gots loadsa homework.

And to all you guys (esp. Myra) who're wondering about my uniform, today's formal wear day, hence the tie and shirt. Behind me is my roommate, Syafiqah's bed, so the Patrick doll isn't mine.

I know my clothes look un-ironed, but come on, I spent almost a whole day at school. I'm in the library now, complaining about the amount of homework I have. I've got Chemistry sudoku and a BM karangan which the teacher will send to us by email. Argh. 

Oh, and I'm still trying to get over the fact that I have to do Geo this year. Can you believe it? I swore to myself when I sat for PMB that that was going to be my last Geo paper EVER, and now I have trouble breaking it to myself that I lied. Boo hoo.

I had trouble trying to find someone who knew how to tie a tie this morning. The guys were still upstairs (probably last-minute ironing) and I finally found Emily (Bruneian dari KB) and she helped me put on my tie. 

Then we had an assembly then class. 

We had two hours of Chemistry first thing in the morning, followed by breaktime, Math, Malay, lunch, English and Geo.

Oh God, spare me. 

Ironing 101

School starts tomorrow for the peeps in Brunei. 

Lucky them. But actually, starting school on a Monday isn't that good either. I mean, you guys have to go to school for the next three days after starting, which means waking up early for four days in a row. 

We started school on the second of January, and we get weekends off to do other stuff like buy LAN cables and visit Toys R Us. 

I did my laundry today. Used the washing machines and stuff. Which reminds me, I left my shared bottle of Breeze (with Wardah) in the laundry room. Better go get it before anyone uses it...

Back. Before I start to digress, I've realised that maybe ironing isn't so bad after all. My number one rule is "don't get burnt", and my number two rule is "as long as I don't look like a hobo, that's all right". 

Great, innit? My attempts at ironing are fruitless, meaning my clothes are as wrinkled (probably only a tad less) than when I first took them out of the dryer. Perhaps the only things I really bother to iron properly are my school uniform (of which I may upload a picture or two in the coming week). 

It's like my formal school shirt is telling me in a terribly rude mocking tone, "Na na na na na! You can't straighten me out, ha HA!".

My skort also probably says in clothing language, "Your attempts at making me look decent are futile. Muahahah HA HA!"

Yeah, I'm pretty hopeless. Now I really, truly appreciate my maid back home. How does she do all this stuff?

I met my cousin at Paragon after finding out that Toys R Us doesn't sell yo-yos anymore. Major disappointment for Insan. 

Anyway, Insan then went back to the hostel and I had loads of cake. Yum. Chocolate cake and soufflés. 

After dinner (mash potatoes with chicken and salad, delicious for once) with Jung-min, Insan and another Korean guy (who lives next door to the guys) called Chang-yun (sp???) we went down to the track despite fears of appendicitis. We did some football/jogging/martial arts demo and now I'm back here in my room, trying out the new LAN cable they guys gave me. Thanks guys.

Now I don't have to put up with the terrible wireless anymore. =) Cool.

Au revoir.

Slurpy? No, seluar PE.

I'm in the TV room now, where the internet isn't gay at all, watching Mind Your Language.

Awesomely hilarious show, 'at. 

I think I love the TV room. Even when you have to sign your name at the office to get in. It's got air-conditioning, a wide-screen television, an excellent TV show, fast internet and comfortable sofas. I should start spending my time here. 

The air-conditioning is a good change from my hostel room, and the canteen where we hung out yesterday. Insan, Chang-min (Korean dude, shares room with Kevin) and I followed Wardah to Clementi Central to do a bit of shopping and visit Seven Eleven (Insan has an addiction to Slurpys aka "Seluar PE").

Then Wardah left to go to Jurong and we got almost got lost looking for Fair Price (supermarket). 

Mind Your Language just finished. Extremely funny. Especially the Indians. Not that I'm racist though.

Now we're watching 102 Dalmations. We've got too much free time on our hands. But real school hasn't started yet. The first day (yesterday) was just chock full of briefings and stuff like getting lost.

I just used Skype to talk to my mum and cousin. Insan and Chang-min thought I was crazy, talking to my laptop and all that.

Tomorrow's a Sunday. I'll probably do my laundry tomorrow. Or send my clothes to the laundry lady, but it takes a longer time to get your clothes back. Meh.

Got to go now.

That's all, folks!

Note: Yes, I did do a Looney Tunes reference.

Blah blah blah...

I'm using the school's internet for the first time.

In MS, we were actually somebodys, but here, we're "who are you again?"

or

"What are you doing here?"

or

"Oh, you're new."

But anyway, it's not all that bad. We've got a goal now: to eat at every chicken rice restaurant in Singapore. Well...sorta.

Wani's birthday was yesterday. Happy birthday Wani aka "the crocodile". Have fun being fifteen, and do try to be good this year (j/k).

We often get warned that we'll get into trouble if we say too much on these blog things. I don't know what the limits are though, but I'll just keep my trap shut. 

I want cookies. To be precise, Famous Amos cookies. Yum.

I miss illegally downloading songs.