Thanks to Jess, everytime the word 'Sweet 16' is mentioned, screaming, completely blonde girls come to mind (which I detest... you know, those: 'Like uh... and she was like uh-hh... and like, ohmigawd, he was being totally uhhh...' -shudders-) Then, comes the name of one the CSI NY episodes in Season Three (where a millionaire gave his daughter a luxury car... but that's besides the point).
But all presumptions of 'Sweet 16' aside, today, really, was a sweet 16. In the most unblondish way possible.
So, I have a few thank yous to dish out.
To my cousin Wei Vern and buddy Jessica both fed my guitar fetish with a box full of guitar picks and a set of new guitar strings respectively. Thanks! -plunk-plunk-plunk-strum-strum-
And also 7ee, for the Body Glove backpack I've always wanted.
Jolene, thanks for pulling a Hermione and getting me an organizer. But since it combines two things I love so much, New York and Dogs, it ain't so bad. XD.
Also, thanks for the card and 'The Anything and Everything CD- the Carmine Giovinazzo very, VERY limited edition' with VCD tracks, DVD tracks and Freebies including Danny's 100% original glasses.
Conveniently, the CD was out of stock and all she got was the Adobe Photoshopped CD cover. -insert massive eyeroll here-
Ah well, one can dream. XD
Phaik Chern, thanks for the book. 'The Wicked Wit of Insults'. Very amusing book. So if you're going to brainwash me into becoming like you, might as well make me laugh while at it, right? ;-D
Mum, for a nice day in Queensbay getting my New Year clothes and a treat at Paddington Pancakes. And also another organizer. Geez... do you people think I'm that messy and disorganized???? :-p
Dad and my aunts, for the ang pows! -kaching!-
Bro, for the Body Shop 'Invent Your Scent Collection Pack'. Muahaha... turn green with envy, Phaik Chern...
Renee and Ee Lynn, for my birthday muffin. Yum!
And Ms Lee, for so much Maths and Add Maths homework...........
Tricia in advance. I seriously don't know what more I want, ok.
And everyone else (Nadz, Maria, Jonie, Dhiv, Esther) for their birthday wishes (Korean birthday wishes for Maria...). Anyone else I missed out, forgive me and thank you as well.
Without friends like you all, my world will be as boring as being eternally trapped in a room with nothing but Siviks and Moral textbooks to read.
Thanks so much. Love ya' all.
Like I said, today is a really sweet 16.
Off I go to watch Heroes Season Two... But I'm so far behind... even my English teacher has watched this season already. Hooor! Beli pirated, ya!!
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Together We Are Three!
Last day, and aren't we all relieved. Not sleeping properly, not bathing properly, missing almost a pint of blood thanks to those mosquitos... and school the very next day... what more can they throw at us?
I was up early, again... While Nadzira and Jo slept on, I walked around aimlessly debating whether to wake up Jess or not. It was 5 am... I decided against it for two reasons. One, she probably won't be pleased after the hellish Saturday night sleep she had. Two, I'm not really sure which tent she was in anyway. How would it be if I shone the bright torchlight into the wrong tent and woke up the wrong people... whoops!
So I went back to bed/cement floor, dozed for an hour, then only did I wake her up. Thank God I did get the right tent...
We sat at our familiar haunt again. Exercised again, as well as practiced the self-defence moves Mr. Michael taught, then had yet another Twinkie. After that, pack up. Tents came down and were stuffed mercilessly back into their bags (good riddance!), bags got shoved into one of the rooms, and we lazed around until we were called back into the hall.
Pn Sarimah read out a list of 'possible scenarios or problems faced by prefects' and we took a poll to see which problems were a... well, problem to us.
Then, out go the Form Fives and we Form Four prefects had to take a rules test. Don't scorn... we'll all have to study the school rules for our Civics exam soon! After answering the paper, the Form Fives came back in and the awards presentation began.
Pn Salmah and Pn Su both made speeches then, the food hampers were given out.
Best Team in Challenges: Lincoln
Best Team on Frat Night: Ghandhi
2nd Overall Best Team: Mandela
Best Overall: Mongkut ;-)
See! Best quality Mangkuks, tau! Made in China... uh... Thailand.
We were finally dismissed. Homeward bound where our lovely soft beds and hot showers were waiting for us. I slept the afternoon away and did not rise til' dinner time.
For all the whining I'm doing, I have to admit, this camp was a nice experience. For one thing, we've learnt to laugh at each other and ourselves. We've learnt how to handle many rule-breaking situations and we've gained quite a lot more friends. Hey, when we spend three days together away from civilization and are forced to come up with nonsense sketches, deal with hooligan-ish students, race for toilets and so much more, we're bound to end up much closer to each other.
Prefects Board 2008, together we are one! ;-)
Off to climb the Bt. Larut pile of homework. Thank God it's Sunday tomorrow. Nites!
I was up early, again... While Nadzira and Jo slept on, I walked around aimlessly debating whether to wake up Jess or not. It was 5 am... I decided against it for two reasons. One, she probably won't be pleased after the hellish Saturday night sleep she had. Two, I'm not really sure which tent she was in anyway. How would it be if I shone the bright torchlight into the wrong tent and woke up the wrong people... whoops!
So I went back to bed/cement floor, dozed for an hour, then only did I wake her up. Thank God I did get the right tent...
We sat at our familiar haunt again. Exercised again, as well as practiced the self-defence moves Mr. Michael taught, then had yet another Twinkie. After that, pack up. Tents came down and were stuffed mercilessly back into their bags (good riddance!), bags got shoved into one of the rooms, and we lazed around until we were called back into the hall.
Pn Sarimah read out a list of 'possible scenarios or problems faced by prefects' and we took a poll to see which problems were a... well, problem to us.
Then, out go the Form Fives and we Form Four prefects had to take a rules test. Don't scorn... we'll all have to study the school rules for our Civics exam soon! After answering the paper, the Form Fives came back in and the awards presentation began.
Pn Salmah and Pn Su both made speeches then, the food hampers were given out.
Best Team in Challenges: Lincoln
Best Team on Frat Night: Ghandhi
2nd Overall Best Team: Mandela
Best Overall: Mongkut ;-)
See! Best quality Mangkuks, tau! Made in China... uh... Thailand.
We were finally dismissed. Homeward bound where our lovely soft beds and hot showers were waiting for us. I slept the afternoon away and did not rise til' dinner time.
For all the whining I'm doing, I have to admit, this camp was a nice experience. For one thing, we've learnt to laugh at each other and ourselves. We've learnt how to handle many rule-breaking situations and we've gained quite a lot more friends. Hey, when we spend three days together away from civilization and are forced to come up with nonsense sketches, deal with hooligan-ish students, race for toilets and so much more, we're bound to end up much closer to each other.
Prefects Board 2008, together we are one! ;-)
Off to climb the Bt. Larut pile of homework. Thank God it's Sunday tomorrow. Nites!
Friday, January 18, 2008
Together We Are One... uh... Two
Sorry if you had to wait forever for this post. Whoever said Form Four was a honeymoon year should really reconsider. Ah-hah! They should be sent to school with us and live through the never ending piles of homework, tuition after tuition, sports practice, club meetings and extra periods and school on Saturday! Fan-TAS-tic...
But you don't want to listen to our 15-16 year old young lady-like complains, so onwards with a full day two of prefect's camp! Hmm... it just occured to me, exactly a week ago at this time, we were in Pusat Sukan Air Pulau Pinang... eating dinner I think.
Ok, so we last stopped the story back at 4 am in the morning where I had a grand total of 2 hours of sleep last night. I think Julin as well but she actually can't sleep bacause she was too EXCITED and HYPER about it... go figure. Then again, don't bother. It's Julin, nuff' said. XD
All four of us in our camp crawled out of bed (or more accurately, crawled off the cement floor...) and like I said, sat at the edge of the camp area and enjoyed the sea breeze.
At 7 am, we gathered in a circle for morning stretching. Or what can only be categorised loosely as morning stretching. 1, 2, 3, 4... zzzzzzzzzzzz... -arm plops down pathetically-
Different people have different bathing strategies. There are those prefects who wake up in the middle of the night and bathe before everyone else, there are those who wait til a more rational hour and 'keh sio' with everyone else. Then there's those who don't bathe at all. I choose not to name individuals *ahem*.
Breakfast right after that. One...uh... I'm not sure what it's called, though everyone knows what it is... those Gardenia buns with some kind of flavoured cream in the middle? I always thought of it as Twinkies, dunno why. Correct me if I'm wrong, kay?
Next was the How to be a Good Leader by Mr. Michael Ng, whose credentials are very long and impressive. He's a really cool guy. You know those types of motivators you can't help but listen to? (As opposed to the types where you just nod off 5 minutes into the program...) After his teamwork and leadership talk as well as a singing session of Hoobastank's 'The Reason', he set us to work on our specific prefect unit's visions and goals.
Then, tea break where I had my 2nd Twinkie of the day. After tea, we presented our unit's goals and how we're going to achieve them. (Are we carrying out those goals now I wonder?) After that, self-defence with Mr. Michael. We learnt three basic but effective (especially the third one, right, guys?) defensive moves. Very fun. HIAH! :-)
Lunch time. Ta-pau food again.
Next activity on the list was called Challenges where the committee members acted out all kinds of scenarios that could occur in school and we were supposed to show how we handle them. Geez... the way they did it, it was as if our school was full of hard-headed hooligans. The bonus scene especially, where chaos simply ruled. There were people running around, people 'dying', chairs almost flying, screaming...
Tea break. 3rd Twinkie.
Now it was time to prepare for frat night and the BBQ dinner. Frat night... the time where we had thrown our dignities down the drain and concucted crazy sketches that made little, if any sense at all.
We had our BBQ first. Yummy, thanks to Pak Cik Din as well as Jannah and Shankeetha who did the barbequeing.
Then, we gathered in the hall and prepared for the grand show down of senseless sketches.
First up was team Ghandi, with their sketch about twin sisters Kiki and Lala. Obedient, smart Kiki (or Lala?) was hoaxed into going to school in bad-girl Lala's place (or Kiki? Ah... wateva...) to take an exam for her. There, Kiki bumped into a boy and it was love at first sight. Or rather, a symphony of Kutch-kutch Hotta Ay (I KNOW I spelt that wrong. Don't laugh...) at first sight. Head-over-heels in love Kiki messed up the exam and mum had a near-crying fit back at home. The End.
Next, was team Mongkut! -applause- :-)
Ours was a Tarzan and Jane story. Tarzan was best friends with a female gorilla but immediately falls in love with Jane. Gorilla gets mighty jealous and plans to get rid of Jane. (I don't think about the PG13 implications behind this...) Two Mission-Impossible-but-not-too-bright types of hunters came up and shot Jane, mistaking her for a gorilla. See what I mean? Along comes the Jungle Bomoh and her trusty assistant. After many trials and errors involving no Holy Water, no Coca cola and no Sprite, they finally revived her with Spritzer water and the chant 'Cawanmushimashimaro Ajinamoto!'. Tarzen meanwhile becomes hysterical over the loss of Jane "GO AWAYLA! YOU'RE NOT JANE!!!" and Jane comes back and they marry and live happily ever after. And Gorilla found a new mate. The End.
Tarzan's performance (Senior, Florence) earned her the I Am Legend title at the end of the camp. The Bomoh (Min Yan) won Hidden Talent.
After that, team Mandela. They went creative and made 'The Making of...' version of our camp. They had a bossy director with a torchlight camera and an assistant using a biscuit tin as the uh... black and white 'Action! Kiap!' thing.... Geez... what is that thing called anyway??
The team captured a lot of hilarious moments like all the hysteria on Pulau Jerejak as well as imitating a few memorable quotes and actions from different prefects throughout the camp.
The story ended with the whole cast quiting and the director trying to do everything herself, finally confessing all she could do was say Action and Cut. The cast returned in the end. The End.
Finally was team Lincoln. They presented their version of 'So you think you can dance'. There were ballet dancers who couldn't do splits, clumsy hip-hoppers who slammed into everything (at one point, one of them slammed into a table, hard. And it might not be on purpose...), two girls doing the tango (a lot of falling down) and the Indian dancers (who won...). Cue the 'Oh, Muthu!' and 'Oh, Minachi!' and slow mo running. Also, Muthu kept on confusing names and kept trying to hit on one of the judges 'Jangan lebeh-lebehlaaaaa!' This judge, Yusmawarr, won Personality Make-Over.
When it was over, we had our laughs, now it was time to cry. The radio turned on and we attempted to sing some songs. Seniors started hugging and crying and it was so darn touching. If I cry next year, no one is allowed to snap pictures. XD. So the singing session didn't really go on after all. We ran off back to our favourite bench and sang as a little group to the sea.
Sleeping that night was a bit better since we were so darn exhausted. instead of two, I had maybe... uh.... 3 hours. Ah well... it's an improvement. And I caused Jess to have to bunk in with Phaik Chern as I had rolled over to her spot while asleep. But I think we were all more comfortable that way.... hehehe. It rained sometime during the night as well.
I gotta mention a few things that happened in my tent, just for laughs.
Incident number one: Ajinamoto.
We were lying down in our tent talking when suddenly in mid sentence, Jessica stretched her hand out with amazing speed, made a grabbing gesture and screamed "AJINAMOTO!!!!"
She actually said "I saw a mosquito!"
Now her new Japanese war cry is Ajinamoto. And she does it amazingly Japanese-like.
Number Two: I'm so STHOOPID!
I was murdering mosquitos everytime I see them. Again, lying on our backs, I saw a mosquito flying past overhead. WHAP! I killed it. Then, I did the stupidest thing ever. I opened my hands and the mosquito carcass fell onto my face.
Me: Must never do that again.
A minute later, another mosquito flew by. WHAP! And I opened my hands again. One spilt second later...
Me: ARGGH! I'm SO STHOOOPID!
And Jessica bursts out laughing.
Number Three: Nadzira's strange sleeping habits.
On the first night, it got windy. Jess, Jo and Nadz were asleep. I wasn't. One part of our tent began flapping around, making quite a noise.
After one terrific FLAP!, Nadzira bolted upright, looked around for all of three seconds with half-lidded eyes, then slammed her head back onto her pillow. I thought she was awake now so I looked over. She was asleep. Sleep-sitting? Creepy.......
Ok. Part Three soon. School tomorrow. Better head in. Nite!
But you don't want to listen to our 15-16 year old young lady-like complains, so onwards with a full day two of prefect's camp! Hmm... it just occured to me, exactly a week ago at this time, we were in Pusat Sukan Air Pulau Pinang... eating dinner I think.
Ok, so we last stopped the story back at 4 am in the morning where I had a grand total of 2 hours of sleep last night. I think Julin as well but she actually can't sleep bacause she was too EXCITED and HYPER about it... go figure. Then again, don't bother. It's Julin, nuff' said. XD
All four of us in our camp crawled out of bed (or more accurately, crawled off the cement floor...) and like I said, sat at the edge of the camp area and enjoyed the sea breeze.
At 7 am, we gathered in a circle for morning stretching. Or what can only be categorised loosely as morning stretching. 1, 2, 3, 4... zzzzzzzzzzzz... -arm plops down pathetically-
Different people have different bathing strategies. There are those prefects who wake up in the middle of the night and bathe before everyone else, there are those who wait til a more rational hour and 'keh sio' with everyone else. Then there's those who don't bathe at all. I choose not to name individuals *ahem*.
Breakfast right after that. One...uh... I'm not sure what it's called, though everyone knows what it is... those Gardenia buns with some kind of flavoured cream in the middle? I always thought of it as Twinkies, dunno why. Correct me if I'm wrong, kay?
Next was the How to be a Good Leader by Mr. Michael Ng, whose credentials are very long and impressive. He's a really cool guy. You know those types of motivators you can't help but listen to? (As opposed to the types where you just nod off 5 minutes into the program...) After his teamwork and leadership talk as well as a singing session of Hoobastank's 'The Reason', he set us to work on our specific prefect unit's visions and goals.
Then, tea break where I had my 2nd Twinkie of the day. After tea, we presented our unit's goals and how we're going to achieve them. (Are we carrying out those goals now I wonder?) After that, self-defence with Mr. Michael. We learnt three basic but effective (especially the third one, right, guys?) defensive moves. Very fun. HIAH! :-)
Lunch time. Ta-pau food again.
Next activity on the list was called Challenges where the committee members acted out all kinds of scenarios that could occur in school and we were supposed to show how we handle them. Geez... the way they did it, it was as if our school was full of hard-headed hooligans. The bonus scene especially, where chaos simply ruled. There were people running around, people 'dying', chairs almost flying, screaming...
Tea break. 3rd Twinkie.
Now it was time to prepare for frat night and the BBQ dinner. Frat night... the time where we had thrown our dignities down the drain and concucted crazy sketches that made little, if any sense at all.
We had our BBQ first. Yummy, thanks to Pak Cik Din as well as Jannah and Shankeetha who did the barbequeing.
Then, we gathered in the hall and prepared for the grand show down of senseless sketches.
First up was team Ghandi, with their sketch about twin sisters Kiki and Lala. Obedient, smart Kiki (or Lala?) was hoaxed into going to school in bad-girl Lala's place (or Kiki? Ah... wateva...) to take an exam for her. There, Kiki bumped into a boy and it was love at first sight. Or rather, a symphony of Kutch-kutch Hotta Ay (I KNOW I spelt that wrong. Don't laugh...) at first sight. Head-over-heels in love Kiki messed up the exam and mum had a near-crying fit back at home. The End.
Next, was team Mongkut! -applause- :-)
Ours was a Tarzan and Jane story. Tarzan was best friends with a female gorilla but immediately falls in love with Jane. Gorilla gets mighty jealous and plans to get rid of Jane. (I don't think about the PG13 implications behind this...) Two Mission-Impossible-but-not-too-bright types of hunters came up and shot Jane, mistaking her for a gorilla. See what I mean? Along comes the Jungle Bomoh and her trusty assistant. After many trials and errors involving no Holy Water, no Coca cola and no Sprite, they finally revived her with Spritzer water and the chant 'Cawanmushimashimaro Ajinamoto!'. Tarzen meanwhile becomes hysterical over the loss of Jane "GO AWAYLA! YOU'RE NOT JANE!!!" and Jane comes back and they marry and live happily ever after. And Gorilla found a new mate. The End.
Tarzan's performance (Senior, Florence) earned her the I Am Legend title at the end of the camp. The Bomoh (Min Yan) won Hidden Talent.
After that, team Mandela. They went creative and made 'The Making of...' version of our camp. They had a bossy director with a torchlight camera and an assistant using a biscuit tin as the uh... black and white 'Action! Kiap!' thing.... Geez... what is that thing called anyway??
The team captured a lot of hilarious moments like all the hysteria on Pulau Jerejak as well as imitating a few memorable quotes and actions from different prefects throughout the camp.
The story ended with the whole cast quiting and the director trying to do everything herself, finally confessing all she could do was say Action and Cut. The cast returned in the end. The End.
Finally was team Lincoln. They presented their version of 'So you think you can dance'. There were ballet dancers who couldn't do splits, clumsy hip-hoppers who slammed into everything (at one point, one of them slammed into a table, hard. And it might not be on purpose...), two girls doing the tango (a lot of falling down) and the Indian dancers (who won...). Cue the 'Oh, Muthu!' and 'Oh, Minachi!' and slow mo running. Also, Muthu kept on confusing names and kept trying to hit on one of the judges 'Jangan lebeh-lebehlaaaaa!' This judge, Yusmawarr, won Personality Make-Over.
When it was over, we had our laughs, now it was time to cry. The radio turned on and we attempted to sing some songs. Seniors started hugging and crying and it was so darn touching. If I cry next year, no one is allowed to snap pictures. XD. So the singing session didn't really go on after all. We ran off back to our favourite bench and sang as a little group to the sea.
Sleeping that night was a bit better since we were so darn exhausted. instead of two, I had maybe... uh.... 3 hours. Ah well... it's an improvement. And I caused Jess to have to bunk in with Phaik Chern as I had rolled over to her spot while asleep. But I think we were all more comfortable that way.... hehehe. It rained sometime during the night as well.
I gotta mention a few things that happened in my tent, just for laughs.
Incident number one: Ajinamoto.
We were lying down in our tent talking when suddenly in mid sentence, Jessica stretched her hand out with amazing speed, made a grabbing gesture and screamed "AJINAMOTO!!!!"
She actually said "I saw a mosquito!"
Now her new Japanese war cry is Ajinamoto. And she does it amazingly Japanese-like.
Number Two: I'm so STHOOPID!
I was murdering mosquitos everytime I see them. Again, lying on our backs, I saw a mosquito flying past overhead. WHAP! I killed it. Then, I did the stupidest thing ever. I opened my hands and the mosquito carcass fell onto my face.
Me: Must never do that again.
A minute later, another mosquito flew by. WHAP! And I opened my hands again. One spilt second later...
Me: ARGGH! I'm SO STHOOOPID!
And Jessica bursts out laughing.
Number Three: Nadzira's strange sleeping habits.
On the first night, it got windy. Jess, Jo and Nadz were asleep. I wasn't. One part of our tent began flapping around, making quite a noise.
After one terrific FLAP!, Nadzira bolted upright, looked around for all of three seconds with half-lidded eyes, then slammed her head back onto her pillow. I thought she was awake now so I looked over. She was asleep. Sleep-sitting? Creepy.......
Ok. Part Three soon. School tomorrow. Better head in. Nite!
Monday, January 14, 2008
Together We Are One
Prefect's Camp 2008. Time for 59 of CGL's finest *ahem* to be dragged off out of civilization to learn to be more... well, civilized people. No phones, no computers, no MP3s, hard gravel/cement beds under the stars and filthy bug-filled bathrooms for three days. Survival of the fittest, baybeh. Ok, perhaps 3 days isn't that bad. But since we're all tired and snappy and sleep deprived, why not complain anyway. It's human nature. XD
Since I'm not allowed to be liberally humourous and whiny in my report for the school magazine, I'll be liberally humourous and whiny here instead ;-).
Everyone met up pretty much on time at 8 am Friday morning at the Batu Uban Jetty (there's a Batu Uban Jetty? Yes there is.) to ferry across to Pulau Jerejak (there's a Pulau Jerejak? Yes there is a Pulau Jerejak too... again, how dare I call myself a Penangite... :-p) Heck, before this, I never acknowledged Pulau Jerejak as more than 'the big island opposite Queensbay Mall'.
We were divided into four groups, named after great leaders. Mandela, Ghandi, Lincoln and Mongkut. I'm in Mongkut and if anyone dares to make another crack about Mangkuks, I swear I'll get Chow Yun Fatt as King Mongkut to give orders to behead you all.
Once at the island, we divided into 7 teams to play the three telematch games on the beach. Passing water balloons (wheeeee... O.o), searching flour for sweets with out faces only (and imerging looking like snowmen as well as inhaling a load of flour) and the mad bull race (spinning round a cone 9 times and running across the beach (hilarious... we had a bunch of drunkards running haphazardly down the beach, falling down and getting sand on our faces to join the flour).
Then, a walk across the suspension bridge, a test of bravery and steadiness. Some prefects just waltzed through like it was nothing while others were screaming and edging along the bridge inch by inch. More often than not, the braver ones were the ones thromping down the bridge, causing it to wobble left and right, scaring the one's behind her witless. Poh Ean did an amazingly accurate impression of the screaming prefects later on during Frat Night.
Next was the Flying Fox activity. Again, some leaped off the surface and slid down the rope like they did it everyday while others... AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! -reaches platform face completely pucat-
You get what I mean...
Lunch was next. And everyone was impressed. Instead of the usual ta-pau food you come to expect during these camps, it was a hearty buffet lunch. Everyone had great helpings of everything... but not overdoing it as we had abseiling afterwards.
Abseiling was where we climbed up high to the top of a metal platform and made our way down on a rope. Once again, there are various breeds of prefects. The quiet, steady 'whoosh' down the rope with unreadable faces, the 'WOOHOO' types who slid all the way down without holding the rope, and the 'Sob, sobs, sobs' ones who can't seem to let go of the rope for more than half a second.
And when it comes to the instructors who were supposed to be supporting our weights on the ropes so we wouldn't fall, a bunch of us were telling them how to do their jobs...
Us: Abang, pegang ya!
Abang: Ya...
Us: Pegang tau!! Pegang!!
Abang: Ya, ya... saya pegang...
Us: Abang!!!!!!! PEGANG!!!! Jangan bagi lepas!!
After that, we piled back onto the ferry and headed back to Penang Island, onto the bus (whose air-cond doesn't seem to work) and off to Penang Water Sports Centre in Batu Feringghi.
Teams got to putting up their tents, while others looked on, due to the lack of tents. After some chaos in trying to find accomodations for everyone, the 100m dash for the toilets began. I always got to the shower early thanks to the close alliance with the all-round champion-sprinter for-toilets, Jessica. XD.
After washing off the dirt of the day, (or as much dirt as possible) we had dinner, (now the basic ta-pau camp food) and laid out our beds. If you call a blanket and a folded up towel which served as mattress and pillow respectively a bed... Then, housekeeping, where rules of the camp were explained by commitee members, ties were learnt to be tied and a group discussion for school rules were held. Then, off to bed.
We're ahead of schedule by a more than an hour, and weren't we glad. Piling into our tent, we tried to go to sleep. Tried. My tent's location was as bad as it could be. Right beside the toilet, so footsteps trudging noisily through the gravel could be heard all night. One hour past, no one in the camp could stop talking. It was hot. There were mosquitos feasting. 2 hours. Noise died down a little. Exhausted, but still no sleep could come. 3 hours. 1 a.m. Jess and I got up and sat at the bench outside for a good long while. Nadz joined us for awhile and so did Julin. Went back to sleep and kept on waking up in regular intervals all night long. Thunder rumbled, Mat Rempits roared, waves pounded the shore, more footsteps going to toilet. All through the night. I heard it all. I envy everyone else who actually slept more than 3 hours. I had 2.
Climbed out of bed at 4. Stayed out on the bench by the ocean, just enjoying the breeze and waiting for the sun to rise. It is really peaceful and beautiful and you curse the fact you didn't have a camera...
I'll write day two when I can. This is getting quite long and I don't want to overfeed you. You'll get tired. I am... XD
Bite sized chomps, yea. Til' next time.
Vivid Crimson out.
Since I'm not allowed to be liberally humourous and whiny in my report for the school magazine, I'll be liberally humourous and whiny here instead ;-).
Everyone met up pretty much on time at 8 am Friday morning at the Batu Uban Jetty (there's a Batu Uban Jetty? Yes there is.) to ferry across to Pulau Jerejak (there's a Pulau Jerejak? Yes there is a Pulau Jerejak too... again, how dare I call myself a Penangite... :-p) Heck, before this, I never acknowledged Pulau Jerejak as more than 'the big island opposite Queensbay Mall'.
We were divided into four groups, named after great leaders. Mandela, Ghandi, Lincoln and Mongkut. I'm in Mongkut and if anyone dares to make another crack about Mangkuks, I swear I'll get Chow Yun Fatt as King Mongkut to give orders to behead you all.
Once at the island, we divided into 7 teams to play the three telematch games on the beach. Passing water balloons (wheeeee... O.o), searching flour for sweets with out faces only (and imerging looking like snowmen as well as inhaling a load of flour) and the mad bull race (spinning round a cone 9 times and running across the beach (hilarious... we had a bunch of drunkards running haphazardly down the beach, falling down and getting sand on our faces to join the flour).
Then, a walk across the suspension bridge, a test of bravery and steadiness. Some prefects just waltzed through like it was nothing while others were screaming and edging along the bridge inch by inch. More often than not, the braver ones were the ones thromping down the bridge, causing it to wobble left and right, scaring the one's behind her witless. Poh Ean did an amazingly accurate impression of the screaming prefects later on during Frat Night.
Next was the Flying Fox activity. Again, some leaped off the surface and slid down the rope like they did it everyday while others... AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! -reaches platform face completely pucat-
You get what I mean...
Lunch was next. And everyone was impressed. Instead of the usual ta-pau food you come to expect during these camps, it was a hearty buffet lunch. Everyone had great helpings of everything... but not overdoing it as we had abseiling afterwards.
Abseiling was where we climbed up high to the top of a metal platform and made our way down on a rope. Once again, there are various breeds of prefects. The quiet, steady 'whoosh' down the rope with unreadable faces, the 'WOOHOO' types who slid all the way down without holding the rope, and the 'Sob, sobs, sobs' ones who can't seem to let go of the rope for more than half a second.
And when it comes to the instructors who were supposed to be supporting our weights on the ropes so we wouldn't fall, a bunch of us were telling them how to do their jobs...
Us: Abang, pegang ya!
Abang: Ya...
Us: Pegang tau!! Pegang!!
Abang: Ya, ya... saya pegang...
Us: Abang!!!!!!! PEGANG!!!! Jangan bagi lepas!!
After that, we piled back onto the ferry and headed back to Penang Island, onto the bus (whose air-cond doesn't seem to work) and off to Penang Water Sports Centre in Batu Feringghi.
Teams got to putting up their tents, while others looked on, due to the lack of tents. After some chaos in trying to find accomodations for everyone, the 100m dash for the toilets began. I always got to the shower early thanks to the close alliance with the all-round champion-sprinter for-toilets, Jessica. XD.
After washing off the dirt of the day, (or as much dirt as possible) we had dinner, (now the basic ta-pau camp food) and laid out our beds. If you call a blanket and a folded up towel which served as mattress and pillow respectively a bed... Then, housekeeping, where rules of the camp were explained by commitee members, ties were learnt to be tied and a group discussion for school rules were held. Then, off to bed.
We're ahead of schedule by a more than an hour, and weren't we glad. Piling into our tent, we tried to go to sleep. Tried. My tent's location was as bad as it could be. Right beside the toilet, so footsteps trudging noisily through the gravel could be heard all night. One hour past, no one in the camp could stop talking. It was hot. There were mosquitos feasting. 2 hours. Noise died down a little. Exhausted, but still no sleep could come. 3 hours. 1 a.m. Jess and I got up and sat at the bench outside for a good long while. Nadz joined us for awhile and so did Julin. Went back to sleep and kept on waking up in regular intervals all night long. Thunder rumbled, Mat Rempits roared, waves pounded the shore, more footsteps going to toilet. All through the night. I heard it all. I envy everyone else who actually slept more than 3 hours. I had 2.
Climbed out of bed at 4. Stayed out on the bench by the ocean, just enjoying the breeze and waiting for the sun to rise. It is really peaceful and beautiful and you curse the fact you didn't have a camera...
I'll write day two when I can. This is getting quite long and I don't want to overfeed you. You'll get tired. I am... XD
Bite sized chomps, yea. Til' next time.
Vivid Crimson out.
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Night Before Results
T'was the night before results,
And all through Penang,
PMR students
Lie in their beds.
While results were sent to schools by JPN,
Or at least I think so, I really don't care.
The students were nestled,
All snug in their beds,
While visions of straight As,
Danced in their heads.
Dreams and nightmares
Attacked our heads,
One after another woke up drenched in cold sweat.
All over Penang, even teacher's weren't spared,
Dreams of 'Purata 2.0' gave them quite a scare,
Away to the kitchen, for some strong herbal tea,
Given on Christmas by Aunt McBee.
Fine, I'm kidding, I tend to exaggerate,
Please don't hit me, I tend to bruise real quick.
The syllables in this song are getting really wild,
It's not sounding like The Night Before Christmas anymore.
Right I better get right back on the track,
10 am tomorrow, we will gather.
Some will shout and squeal in delight,
While others will moan all through the night.
How was BM, and English and also Science and Maths?
How bout KH, and Geo and Sejarah and Islam?
From 300 word essays to 60 objective questions,
Now hurry up, hurry up, we can't wait no more.
3 am past, and an hour more,
We still lie awake, partly cos' our sisters snore.
Where did the blissful month go,
When we 'holidayed' our life away, it seemed barely a mo',
Now one week remains, and back into school,
That is if we're still alive,
Once our parents are done with us.
This is turning to be one really long song,
And I have to get going for a haircut now,
So I'll cut this short just like my hair,
And wish everyone all the luck I can spare.
See you tomorrow, early and bright,
May we all hopefully be screaming to our hearts delight.
Merry Christmas,
And good night.
*Ahem*
Yeah, someone had nothing better to do... =p
Good luck and best wishes to all, anyway. :-)
And all through Penang,
PMR students
Lie in their beds.
While results were sent to schools by JPN,
Or at least I think so, I really don't care.
The students were nestled,
All snug in their beds,
While visions of straight As,
Danced in their heads.
Dreams and nightmares
Attacked our heads,
One after another woke up drenched in cold sweat.
All over Penang, even teacher's weren't spared,
Dreams of 'Purata 2.0' gave them quite a scare,
Away to the kitchen, for some strong herbal tea,
Given on Christmas by Aunt McBee.
Fine, I'm kidding, I tend to exaggerate,
Please don't hit me, I tend to bruise real quick.
The syllables in this song are getting really wild,
It's not sounding like The Night Before Christmas anymore.
Right I better get right back on the track,
10 am tomorrow, we will gather.
Some will shout and squeal in delight,
While others will moan all through the night.
How was BM, and English and also Science and Maths?
How bout KH, and Geo and Sejarah and Islam?
From 300 word essays to 60 objective questions,
Now hurry up, hurry up, we can't wait no more.
3 am past, and an hour more,
We still lie awake, partly cos' our sisters snore.
Where did the blissful month go,
When we 'holidayed' our life away, it seemed barely a mo',
Now one week remains, and back into school,
That is if we're still alive,
Once our parents are done with us.
This is turning to be one really long song,
And I have to get going for a haircut now,
So I'll cut this short just like my hair,
And wish everyone all the luck I can spare.
See you tomorrow, early and bright,
May we all hopefully be screaming to our hearts delight.
Merry Christmas,
And good night.
*Ahem*
Yeah, someone had nothing better to do... =p
Good luck and best wishes to all, anyway. :-)
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Happy Holidays
Am I not spending enough time on TV or are they not showing this on Astro?
Watch out for Carmine's snort... -falls over laughing-
Watch out for Carmine's snort... -falls over laughing-
Saturday, December 8, 2007
Travel Ramblings of a Mentos Addict, Part 5
Ok, I better just post this up quick before Jessica gives me the silent treatment. Heh, which is the latest fad nowadays when you think about it. (Like I said, 'Teacher, we can't help you with the SPBT books anymore. We're not talking to each other due to Kitaro and casinos and wineries...')
Final day in Australia. The week flew by. This last day is going to be spent on Great Ocean Road, which has the greatest collection of natural rock formations I've ever seen. I'll even say that even if they weren't the only rock formations I've ever seen...
Once again, we rise early in the morning and climbed onboard the bus for another long journey across the great lands of Australia. Remember our Form 2 Geography book that says Australia is a country that is 'kurang penduduk'? Darn right. Maybe the sheep and cows actually outnumber the humans...
After a long while, we arrived for a fish and chip lunch (western food! Finally!) and a shop in a small town. The lady in charge sure got up on the wrong side of bed that day... :-p.
Then, Great Ocean Road, where each formation is more amazing than the next.
As you stand there, at the top of the cliffs, and look down at the furious waves, slamming against the rocks, and feel the cold ocean breeze... (and swat at a bunch of flies) then you realize how the little things seem just that. Little.
And forgive me for saying but I'd like to give a few grumbling people onboard the bus a big telling off for thinking all this scenery isn't worth their time climbing down from the bus to see. (Shopping, I ask you! Why buy pleasures when you can witness all these beauty for free??) But hey, that's just me.
First stop was the 12 Apostles (the way our tour leader pronounced it... I could've choked... 'apotions'). These '12' limestone rocks were previously known as the Sow and Piglets. Apparently the name wasn't glamorous enough so they changed the name to the 12 Apostles. Now, don't bother counting. These are limestone rocks, and as we learn in Geography, hakisan ombak is at work. There are only 7 or so left.
The Twelve Apostles
One of the lookout points
Next, was the Loch Ard Gorge. This one was named after a ship, Loch Ard, (Duh... :-P) carrying 54 people aboard on a journey from England to Melbourne. But the ship capsized and 52 of the passengers died. Only two 18-year-olds survived and found shelter in a cave. Very Robinson Crusoe...
Lastly, was the London Arc. Previously known as the London Bridge, looking like it's namesake in London, one of the arcs broke off and collapsed back in 1990, (leaving a couple of tourists stuck on the remaining arc... they had to be saved by helicoptor later... XD) and so it was renamed London Arc.
London Arc... imagine being stuck on that remaining piece for hours...
Our tour leader told us to keep the pictures safe, as word is this remaining arc might be falling apart soon, so we could get a lot of money from the original picture. Heh.
Long drive back to town to a souvenier shop where everyone spent a small fortune. And then to dinner, at the Crown Casino. Another buffet meal where more than one stomach (and filled wallet) was needed. The place was packed. Again, very Vegas-like, filled with slot machines for lucky people to win money, only to spend it all away on the designer brand shops lined up on the ground floor.
After that, time to bid Melbourne farewell and off we go to the airport for the late night flight back to Singapore, then home sweet home, where I slept most of the weekend away. :-)
Gotta love the holidays.
Note: Thanks Jess, for helping me upload the photos... bwahahahahahahahahah!
Final day in Australia. The week flew by. This last day is going to be spent on Great Ocean Road, which has the greatest collection of natural rock formations I've ever seen. I'll even say that even if they weren't the only rock formations I've ever seen...
Once again, we rise early in the morning and climbed onboard the bus for another long journey across the great lands of Australia. Remember our Form 2 Geography book that says Australia is a country that is 'kurang penduduk'? Darn right. Maybe the sheep and cows actually outnumber the humans...
After a long while, we arrived for a fish and chip lunch (western food! Finally!) and a shop in a small town. The lady in charge sure got up on the wrong side of bed that day... :-p.
Then, Great Ocean Road, where each formation is more amazing than the next.
As you stand there, at the top of the cliffs, and look down at the furious waves, slamming against the rocks, and feel the cold ocean breeze... (and swat at a bunch of flies) then you realize how the little things seem just that. Little.
And forgive me for saying but I'd like to give a few grumbling people onboard the bus a big telling off for thinking all this scenery isn't worth their time climbing down from the bus to see. (Shopping, I ask you! Why buy pleasures when you can witness all these beauty for free??) But hey, that's just me.
First stop was the 12 Apostles (the way our tour leader pronounced it... I could've choked... 'apotions'). These '12' limestone rocks were previously known as the Sow and Piglets. Apparently the name wasn't glamorous enough so they changed the name to the 12 Apostles. Now, don't bother counting. These are limestone rocks, and as we learn in Geography, hakisan ombak is at work. There are only 7 or so left.
The Twelve Apostles
One of the lookout pointsNext, was the Loch Ard Gorge. This one was named after a ship, Loch Ard, (Duh... :-P) carrying 54 people aboard on a journey from England to Melbourne. But the ship capsized and 52 of the passengers died. Only two 18-year-olds survived and found shelter in a cave. Very Robinson Crusoe...
Lastly, was the London Arc. Previously known as the London Bridge, looking like it's namesake in London, one of the arcs broke off and collapsed back in 1990, (leaving a couple of tourists stuck on the remaining arc... they had to be saved by helicoptor later... XD) and so it was renamed London Arc.
London Arc... imagine being stuck on that remaining piece for hours...Our tour leader told us to keep the pictures safe, as word is this remaining arc might be falling apart soon, so we could get a lot of money from the original picture. Heh.
Long drive back to town to a souvenier shop where everyone spent a small fortune. And then to dinner, at the Crown Casino. Another buffet meal where more than one stomach (and filled wallet) was needed. The place was packed. Again, very Vegas-like, filled with slot machines for lucky people to win money, only to spend it all away on the designer brand shops lined up on the ground floor.
After that, time to bid Melbourne farewell and off we go to the airport for the late night flight back to Singapore, then home sweet home, where I slept most of the weekend away. :-)
Gotta love the holidays.
Note: Thanks Jess, for helping me upload the photos... bwahahahahahahahahah!
Monday, December 3, 2007
Travel Ramblings of a Mentos Addict, Part 4
Day Four
Whoops... took me a long while to get this up... heh. But hey, it’s up now.
So, first day in Melbourne, where the weather was thankfully tons cooler, but that does not deter the flies... obviously...
Our first stop was Victoria Market, where they sold everything from fruits to T-shirts. Just when you thought there were plenty of nice souvenirs to take home, you flip that key chain over and lo and behold, Made in China. But still, there were plenty of fascinating things to see.
After an hour there, which sadly wasn’t enough for many, (that’s the Malaysian shopping spirit!) we headed for the Melbourne Aquarium, which wasn’t really all that cool. Kind of over rated. The Penang one had tons more fish. But, yes, Jess... plenty of sharks in captivity. J
Then, onwards in the City Tour to the likes of the Parliament House, St Patrick Cathedral, Art Museums and a really nice park (Melbourne is called the Garden City as there are really a lot of gardens and parks...) where Captain Cook’s parent’s cottage was located.
Toilet break for all as we’ll be journeying on yet another long road trip towards Phillip Island. By now, highways are fairly predictable... cows... fields... horses... fields... more cows... more fields... and bundles upon bundles of rolled up hay.
After plenty of snoozing and developing stiff necks, we stopped at a winery for a wine tasting session. I can’t say ‘yum’ cos’ it wasn’t to me. I think Phaik Chern would have enjoyed it though... heheh.
Everyone climbed back onto the bus a short while later, some more tipsy than others, and after an hour or so, we stopped for dinner at a restaurant just outside the bridge towards Phillip Island. Lobster baybeh! Ok, fine... half-a-lobster-each baybeh!
Finally, we arrived at our destination. Just in time to watch the Penguin Parade. In fact, more than in time. We were a good hour ahead of them. A good freezing cold hour.
The penguins here are the tiny types. No more than a foot high. What happens is mummy and daddy take turns going out at day break, hunting for fish. They return at sundown (hence, Penguin Parade) to the sight of hundreds of excited tourists staring and pointing at them, and return to their burrows.
One wonders, as one stands with jacket fully zipped up and hands stuck in pockets in the make-shift stadium-like area where everyone sits to watch the penguins come home, just how much money these people were making off these innocent penguins.
One wonders, why so many people would come all the way from Melbourne (3 and a half hours away) and wait out in the cold for hours just to watch 5 minutes of tiny creatures waddling up the beach.
One wonders whether ones hands have frozen in ones pockets yet.
And then, when the penguins come up, and one gets so close to them that one could touch them, ones heart simply melts into pure mush. And it’s all worth it. It’s really all one can do to restrain from catching one and stuffing it under ones jacket and take it all the way home to Malaysia. Heh.
Promo pic I found online... but nothing beats seeing them in person... uh... penguin... whatever...
Sadly, I couldn’t take any pictures. Cameras and hand phones weren’t allowed as the people in charge are afraid the fame and glory of getting their pictures taken so often will make the penguins conceited and demand a share of profits.
Ok, just kidding, it’s because of the flash from the camera that could frighten or blind the penguins.
Good ol' Tony... "Heheh... better check, Nick, or else... Vroom... Creaaakkkeeee!!!"
Ok.. hands up, who winced?? I did.
Another long journey back home in the dark of the night, where we placed all our faith in our bus driver, (Nick) to get us back to our warm hotel beds safe and sound.
Next: Last day, mounds of rocks.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Travel Ramblings of the Mentos Addict, Part 3
Day Three
Next was the building everyone knows, Sydney Opera House. No entry. We just snapped quick pictures outside and quickly hunted down any place there was shade (Umbrellas and a large sign board were among such places…). A little boy from our tour group went missing for awhile and panic ensued. Not sure whether the boy’s parents or our tour leader, Tony, felt more panicked. Hehe.
Nah! Nah! On the left! Men, no need to look…
Monday, November 26, 2007
Travel Ramblings of the Mentos Addict , Part 2
Parliment House, the most expensive building in Australia.
Day Two
The angry peacock, hissing and picking on the poor ... whatever that creature is...
Next stop, ah… the
If you look closely, the darker area there... that's the railway.
The Three Sisters. (And the fourth baby one on the far right... :-) )After that, we walked through the forest and took a cable car back up to the top.
Why are the
Tomorrow: City Tour in
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Travel Ramblings of the Mentos Addict, Part 1
After a week in lovely Australia, I'm back. Well... technically, it's more like five days, four nights, seeing that two more nights were spent on the plane... nasty advertising tactics...
Neways, I'm back in one piece.... although all slush on the inside from exhaustion. But slept the whole afternoon so I'm 'almost' back to normal.
I'm Mentos-Addict, due to the 3 tubes of Mentos brought along on the trip, which me and my mum, Tangerine-and-Ginger-flavoured-Hacks-Sweets-Lover (called that for obvious reasons...), chomped down unmercifully throughout the trip. Heh. I'm serving these posts in bite sizes, or else I'll be typing all day...
Day One (Or should I say, night one?)
Met up with our 21 other tour group members at the airport at 4 pm, as well as our tour leader. 24 in total. First, off to Singapore's Changi airport. Then, aboard the, can you believe it, Airbus A380, only on it's 3rd voyage to Sydney.
But honestly, other than the fact that it is of course, HUGE, there's not really anything else that is special. Ok, I'm saying that cos' I was attacked by nausea throughout the flight and I'm grumpy cos' I was in no condition to enjoy any of the hundreds of music albums and shows they have (including CSI and CSI NY.. ish...)
So, after about 8 hours of sitting uncomfortably in a glazed trance, trying not to gag everytime meals were served, as well as enduring the woman who was blowing her nose in regular intervals behind me, the guy who was coughing consistently in the seat somewhere in front, an the baby who cried all night long, we finally arrived in Sydney, 7 am local time (3 hours ahead of Malaysian time).
No rest for the weary. Off we go through 2 hours of getting through customs, and an hour of waiting for our bus driver, Bill. Finally, we're on our way on a 3 and a half hour journey to Canberra.
Canberra, is the capital of Australia. Stop thinking it's Sydney. Turns out, Sydney and Melbourne were fighting over who gets to be the capital, so they decided to pick somewhere else to develope into the capital instead.
Bill is one jolly guy with quite a thick accent. One hilarious thing was Tony, our guide (whose English ain't too hot), had a hard time understanding him, and vice versa. So one would ask the other a question, and the other will either not reply or answer something completely different.
But they bonded anyway, referring to each other as 'my boy' and 'my man' everytime. XD
Everyone pretty much zonked throughout the journey to Canberra, waking up with stiff necks.
First stop, was the Cockington Green Gardens, filled with minatures of people, buildings and what not. Amazing detail. There were tiny golf courses, villages, football stadiums, castles... you name it.
Outside the Cockington Green Gardens
Next stop is the Parliment Building, the most expensive building in Australia. We got to go inside and take a look around. Saw the potrait of ex-Prime Minister, William McMahon, as in Julian McMahon's (of Charmed and Nip/Tuck) dad. Cool or what? Also, we went to the War Memorial, what can I say? It's cooler than the Penang one. Hehe... But as we were 2 hours behind schedule, there wasn't much time to look around. Onwards to Embassy Road, where we got to see all the different embassies, including Malaysia, of course. :-)
Finally, we head back to Sydney, another long bus journey. The hotel bed never looked so good. Zonked out immediately.
Day 2: Blue Mountains.
Will upload more photos later. Connection is nuts right now...
Gila-gila Mentos signing off!
Neways, I'm back in one piece.... although all slush on the inside from exhaustion. But slept the whole afternoon so I'm 'almost' back to normal.
I'm Mentos-Addict, due to the 3 tubes of Mentos brought along on the trip, which me and my mum, Tangerine-and-Ginger-flavoured-Hacks-Sweets-Lover (called that for obvious reasons...), chomped down unmercifully throughout the trip. Heh. I'm serving these posts in bite sizes, or else I'll be typing all day...
Day One (Or should I say, night one?)
Met up with our 21 other tour group members at the airport at 4 pm, as well as our tour leader. 24 in total. First, off to Singapore's Changi airport. Then, aboard the, can you believe it, Airbus A380, only on it's 3rd voyage to Sydney.
But honestly, other than the fact that it is of course, HUGE, there's not really anything else that is special. Ok, I'm saying that cos' I was attacked by nausea throughout the flight and I'm grumpy cos' I was in no condition to enjoy any of the hundreds of music albums and shows they have (including CSI and CSI NY.. ish...)
So, after about 8 hours of sitting uncomfortably in a glazed trance, trying not to gag everytime meals were served, as well as enduring the woman who was blowing her nose in regular intervals behind me, the guy who was coughing consistently in the seat somewhere in front, an the baby who cried all night long, we finally arrived in Sydney, 7 am local time (3 hours ahead of Malaysian time).
No rest for the weary. Off we go through 2 hours of getting through customs, and an hour of waiting for our bus driver, Bill. Finally, we're on our way on a 3 and a half hour journey to Canberra.
Canberra, is the capital of Australia. Stop thinking it's Sydney. Turns out, Sydney and Melbourne were fighting over who gets to be the capital, so they decided to pick somewhere else to develope into the capital instead.
Bill is one jolly guy with quite a thick accent. One hilarious thing was Tony, our guide (whose English ain't too hot), had a hard time understanding him, and vice versa. So one would ask the other a question, and the other will either not reply or answer something completely different.
But they bonded anyway, referring to each other as 'my boy' and 'my man' everytime. XD
Everyone pretty much zonked throughout the journey to Canberra, waking up with stiff necks.
First stop, was the Cockington Green Gardens, filled with minatures of people, buildings and what not. Amazing detail. There were tiny golf courses, villages, football stadiums, castles... you name it.
Outside the Cockington Green GardensNext stop is the Parliment Building, the most expensive building in Australia. We got to go inside and take a look around. Saw the potrait of ex-Prime Minister, William McMahon, as in Julian McMahon's (of Charmed and Nip/Tuck) dad. Cool or what? Also, we went to the War Memorial, what can I say? It's cooler than the Penang one. Hehe... But as we were 2 hours behind schedule, there wasn't much time to look around. Onwards to Embassy Road, where we got to see all the different embassies, including Malaysia, of course. :-)
Finally, we head back to Sydney, another long bus journey. The hotel bed never looked so good. Zonked out immediately.
Day 2: Blue Mountains.
Will upload more photos later. Connection is nuts right now...
Gila-gila Mentos signing off!
Saturday, November 17, 2007
On Hiatus
'I'm leaving on a jet plane... dunno when I'll be back again...'
This darn tune won't stay out of my head.
So you won't see me anywhere around here for the rest of the week, cos' I'm off to Jesse Spencer's hometown. Doubt he's there of course...
Ok, let me clear things up with you guys...
Jo wants me to smuggle a joey home, in reference to what some people call her, "Joey"..
Phaik Chern also wants kangaroos, preferably a pair, so she can breed them and start a kangaroo farm that will be featured in the Star Metro section.
Jess, of course, wants me to smuggle back a cute Aussie guy for her.
Tricia, I'll scout Trinity College for you and warn them all of your arrival in December.
Hope that's everything...
Happy Holidays!!
This darn tune won't stay out of my head.
So you won't see me anywhere around here for the rest of the week, cos' I'm off to Jesse Spencer's hometown. Doubt he's there of course...
Ok, let me clear things up with you guys...
Jo wants me to smuggle a joey home, in reference to what some people call her, "Joey"..
Phaik Chern also wants kangaroos, preferably a pair, so she can breed them and start a kangaroo farm that will be featured in the Star Metro section.
Jess, of course, wants me to smuggle back a cute Aussie guy for her.
Tricia, I'll scout Trinity College for you and warn them all of your arrival in December.
Hope that's everything...
Happy Holidays!!
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Got tagged...
Heh. For the first time, I've been tagged. Thanks, Maria... :-p
1. Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 18, and find line 4.
- In seconds he bounded back up wearing a satchel of tools. Reader's Digest August 1999
2. Stretch your left arm out as far as you can, What can you touch?
- The mirror...
3. What is the last thing you watched on TV?
- House. On Monday night. And it's Saturday today... YOIKS! One hour of TV a week..
who knew?
4. Without looking, guess what time it is.
- 8.50 am.
5. Now look at the clock. What is the actual time?
- 9.00 am... not bad... :-p
6. With the exception of the computer, what can you hear?
- Rain drops outside. And the whirring fan...
7. When did you last step outside?
- Yesterday. To Tesco...
8. Before you started this survey, what did you look at?
- Was at You Tube, watching the latest DL developements on CSI NY... Hence the updated quotes>>>>>>>>>
9. What are you wearing?
- 3 quarter pants and shirt. Geez... what kinda question is this?
10. Did you dream last night?
-Oh geez... I don't remember...
11. When did you last laugh?
- This morning, watching Danny and Lindsay bantering about catapults on You Tube...
12. What is on the walls of the room you are in?
- CSI Season 4 poster, CSI Season 5 poster, CSI NY Season 3 poster. *cackle* Waiting for Carmine Giovinazzo poster...
13. Seen anything weird lately?
- Danny and Lindsay bantering about catapults on You Tube... -somebody stop me... lol-
14. What do you think of this quiz?
- Like Maria said, it's not a quiz... more of a questionaire... and it's fine.
15. What is the last film you saw?
- I think it was the Seeker... on October 5th... yoiks.. where have I been???
16. If you became a multi-millionaire overnight, what would you buy?
- CSI merchandise, completely-up-to-date. Ooh, and a nice Gibson acoustic guitar...
17. Tell me something about you that I don’t know:
- Who's 'I'? Different people don't know different things... muahaha.
18. If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do?
- Make them cancel all post-PMR programs and let us play UNO all day long instead. Ohhh... the world? No wars, less garbage and more CSI NY merchandise to reach Pulau Pinang. :D
19. Do you like to dance?
- Depends on the dance...
20. George Bush:
- I know Phaik Chern's weird plans concerning him, but other than that, I got nothing...
21. Imagine your first child is a girl, what do you call her?
- Always liked the name 'Haylie'... but I would go for Aiden too!
22. Imagine your first child is a boy, what do you call him?
- Uh.... DUH..... Danny!!!
23. Would you ever consider living abroad?
- Yes.
24. 4 people who must also do this in THEIR blog/journal:
1. Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 18, and find line 4.
- In seconds he bounded back up wearing a satchel of tools. Reader's Digest August 1999
2. Stretch your left arm out as far as you can, What can you touch?
- The mirror...
3. What is the last thing you watched on TV?
- House. On Monday night. And it's Saturday today... YOIKS! One hour of TV a week..
who knew?
4. Without looking, guess what time it is.
- 8.50 am.
5. Now look at the clock. What is the actual time?
- 9.00 am... not bad... :-p
6. With the exception of the computer, what can you hear?
- Rain drops outside. And the whirring fan...
7. When did you last step outside?
- Yesterday. To Tesco...
8. Before you started this survey, what did you look at?
- Was at You Tube, watching the latest DL developements on CSI NY... Hence the updated quotes>>>>>>>>>
9. What are you wearing?
- 3 quarter pants and shirt. Geez... what kinda question is this?
10. Did you dream last night?
-Oh geez... I don't remember...
11. When did you last laugh?
- This morning, watching Danny and Lindsay bantering about catapults on You Tube...
12. What is on the walls of the room you are in?
- CSI Season 4 poster, CSI Season 5 poster, CSI NY Season 3 poster. *cackle* Waiting for Carmine Giovinazzo poster...
13. Seen anything weird lately?
- Danny and Lindsay bantering about catapults on You Tube... -somebody stop me... lol-
14. What do you think of this quiz?
- Like Maria said, it's not a quiz... more of a questionaire... and it's fine.
15. What is the last film you saw?
- I think it was the Seeker... on October 5th... yoiks.. where have I been???
16. If you became a multi-millionaire overnight, what would you buy?
- CSI merchandise, completely-up-to-date. Ooh, and a nice Gibson acoustic guitar...
17. Tell me something about you that I don’t know:
- Who's 'I'? Different people don't know different things... muahaha.
18. If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do?
- Make them cancel all post-PMR programs and let us play UNO all day long instead. Ohhh... the world? No wars, less garbage and more CSI NY merchandise to reach Pulau Pinang. :D
19. Do you like to dance?
- Depends on the dance...
20. George Bush:
- I know Phaik Chern's weird plans concerning him, but other than that, I got nothing...
21. Imagine your first child is a girl, what do you call her?
- Always liked the name 'Haylie'... but I would go for Aiden too!
22. Imagine your first child is a boy, what do you call him?
- Uh.... DUH..... Danny!!!
23. Would you ever consider living abroad?
- Yes.
24. 4 people who must also do this in THEIR blog/journal:
- I don't know all that many people... um... Esther. Jo. Phaik Chern (tho' you said you didn't want to already, rite? but nvm.. heh.) And Mr. Stranded-on-an-Island. You know who you are. :-)
I can't believe you won't let me shoot!
We'll be here all day...
I can't believe you won't let me shoot!We'll be here all day...
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Of Forts and Fish
And I call myself a Penangite. After 15 years of my life on this tiny island, I never knew there was such thing as a War Museum and Aquarium in Penang til' today.
Finally, a post-PMR school activity that doesn't involve sitting on the hall floor until one's legs go into full rigor mortis, and eyes don't glaze over at staring at some slide from the computer.
'Lawatan Sambil Belajar's are always fun. There's something nice about sitting in a bus with your classmates off to visit someplace. Today was no exception. 39 students and 2 teachers were packed off to the War Museum in Batu Maung.
Now, this is the best way to learn History. Rather than cramming pages upon pages of text into our heads, we get great exercise and a fun experience. And yeah, we learn a little something-something as well.
The War Museum was once a fort built by the British from 1930 to 1939. No wonder it took nine years to build... this place is a fair size. We walked for a couple of hours, providing breakfast for the tropical rain forest mosquitos. We got to see tunnels that were 100 feet underground, places where cannons once were, ammunation the size of a medium-sized dog, torture chambers, soldier barracks and offices.
Equipped with torchlights, we got to go through two tiny tunnels that had walls 4 feet thick, which were used for hiding during attacks.
Definitely not for the claustrophobic.
And I learnt a valuable lesson to keep my torch light aimed in front, so that I don't ram into a wall before I actually see it. Also, I learnt not to be possessed by fear so deep that I want to race out of the tunnel ASAP, leaving my poor torchlight-less classmates screaming in the pitch dark.
Heh. Ok... I'm exaggerating. But I'm not kidding when I say the dialogue while in the tunnel went like this:
A (with torchlight): Woah...
B, C, D (holding on to each other's waists for guidance, like a human train): Woah!
B: AHHHHH!!!! Don't WALK SO FAST!!!!
C & D: WAIT!!!!!!!!!
A: OK! OK! (slows down) Turn coming! Watch out!
C (Head hits the low ceiling for the 5th time): Ow...
(seconds past)
B, C, D: AHHHHHH!!!!!!!! DON'T WALK SO FAST!!!!!
A: OK! OK! Solly!
Yeah... something like that.
On the whole, a really great trip. A few things were a little disturbing, like the sex crimes, torture chambers, Yamashita Tomoyuki's boots at the spot he was hung... things that make you think how darn lucky you are to be born a good forty years later.
Now that we've had enough of guns, we head towards the Aquarium, to feast our eyes on fish and corals. God's beautiful creations. Blue, yellow, blue with yellow stripes, etc. Also, we see the impact of Pixar on everyone. Every surgeon fish and clown fish we see is affectionately referred to as Nemo and Dory.
And along with Ms Koay, we mixed and matched the fishes in the aquariums with the ones displayed on the directory. (Some were mysteriously missing though...)
A: Ok, see if you can find the black ribbon eel!
B, C, D stares for a while: THERE! THERE! THERE! (points frantically)
Aren't we an enthusiastic bunch?
What a day. Tomorrow will be another field trip. This time, to the USM museum and gallery. Wheeee!
Finally, a post-PMR school activity that doesn't involve sitting on the hall floor until one's legs go into full rigor mortis, and eyes don't glaze over at staring at some slide from the computer.
'Lawatan Sambil Belajar's are always fun. There's something nice about sitting in a bus with your classmates off to visit someplace. Today was no exception. 39 students and 2 teachers were packed off to the War Museum in Batu Maung.
Now, this is the best way to learn History. Rather than cramming pages upon pages of text into our heads, we get great exercise and a fun experience. And yeah, we learn a little something-something as well.
The War Museum was once a fort built by the British from 1930 to 1939. No wonder it took nine years to build... this place is a fair size. We walked for a couple of hours, providing breakfast for the tropical rain forest mosquitos. We got to see tunnels that were 100 feet underground, places where cannons once were, ammunation the size of a medium-sized dog, torture chambers, soldier barracks and offices.
Equipped with torchlights, we got to go through two tiny tunnels that had walls 4 feet thick, which were used for hiding during attacks.
Definitely not for the claustrophobic.
And I learnt a valuable lesson to keep my torch light aimed in front, so that I don't ram into a wall before I actually see it. Also, I learnt not to be possessed by fear so deep that I want to race out of the tunnel ASAP, leaving my poor torchlight-less classmates screaming in the pitch dark.
Heh. Ok... I'm exaggerating. But I'm not kidding when I say the dialogue while in the tunnel went like this:
A (with torchlight): Woah...
B, C, D (holding on to each other's waists for guidance, like a human train): Woah!
B: AHHHHH!!!! Don't WALK SO FAST!!!!
C & D: WAIT!!!!!!!!!
A: OK! OK! (slows down) Turn coming! Watch out!
C (Head hits the low ceiling for the 5th time): Ow...
(seconds past)
B, C, D: AHHHHHH!!!!!!!! DON'T WALK SO FAST!!!!!
A: OK! OK! Solly!
Yeah... something like that.
On the whole, a really great trip. A few things were a little disturbing, like the sex crimes, torture chambers, Yamashita Tomoyuki's boots at the spot he was hung... things that make you think how darn lucky you are to be born a good forty years later.
Now that we've had enough of guns, we head towards the Aquarium, to feast our eyes on fish and corals. God's beautiful creations. Blue, yellow, blue with yellow stripes, etc. Also, we see the impact of Pixar on everyone. Every surgeon fish and clown fish we see is affectionately referred to as Nemo and Dory.
And along with Ms Koay, we mixed and matched the fishes in the aquariums with the ones displayed on the directory. (Some were mysteriously missing though...)
A: Ok, see if you can find the black ribbon eel!
B, C, D stares for a while: THERE! THERE! THERE! (points frantically)
Aren't we an enthusiastic bunch?
What a day. Tomorrow will be another field trip. This time, to the USM museum and gallery. Wheeee!
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Holiday Time
Time flies. It's already Thursday, school resumes on Monday. Which means, the 'fun-filled' events they have set for us post PMR students will resume. Starting off with the Prefect Speech. For anyone who wants to ask me (again), no... I haven't finished my 3-minute speech, and no... I haven't even started. Yoiks... it's Thursday... uh-oh...
What's up with this speech-making session anyway? Everyone has already made up their minds on who they're voting for... and I'm sure they're quite aware they are voting for the next generation of prefects who are gonna hunt down their wrong-doings... but that's besides the point. And I kinda pity all of us... having to sit through 48 3-minute speeches... that's like 144 minutes... that's more than 2 hours!
But this is of course training us to speak in front of huge crowds (Just in case one day we plan to lead a rebellion one day and we need to convince others to join us...). But I don't care what the BM proverb says about 'alah bisa tegal biasa'... no matter how many times one does it, it's still one heck of a scary experience anyway.
And if we make it through all that, we still have to face the discipline teachers as they bombard us with questions on who-knows-what. Which is scarier? A hoard of Form 3 students, or sitting across Mr. Oung and Pn Latha, completely unarmed? I'll let you decide.
My point is... actually no, I don't really have a point to this.
This Prefect elections have been a part of CGL um... tradition since, well, as far as anyone can remember. Every year we see the colourful 'Vote for Me' posters being hung up on the bulletin board, and it's quite a nice feeling to be able to finally be part of it. (no matter how scary...)
So, I'll just wish all the best to all the other 47 candidates (whose speeches are in much better condition than mine, I'm sure... :-P), come Monday, let us impress everyone with our speech making skills. Or die trying...
Nah... I'm kidding.
------------------------------
Hmm... letters that end with NY... any, many, uncanny, nanny, zany... ooh! Danny! XD
What's up with this speech-making session anyway? Everyone has already made up their minds on who they're voting for... and I'm sure they're quite aware they are voting for the next generation of prefects who are gonna hunt down their wrong-doings... but that's besides the point. And I kinda pity all of us... having to sit through 48 3-minute speeches... that's like 144 minutes... that's more than 2 hours!
But this is of course training us to speak in front of huge crowds (Just in case one day we plan to lead a rebellion one day and we need to convince others to join us...). But I don't care what the BM proverb says about 'alah bisa tegal biasa'... no matter how many times one does it, it's still one heck of a scary experience anyway.
And if we make it through all that, we still have to face the discipline teachers as they bombard us with questions on who-knows-what. Which is scarier? A hoard of Form 3 students, or sitting across Mr. Oung and Pn Latha, completely unarmed? I'll let you decide.
My point is... actually no, I don't really have a point to this.
This Prefect elections have been a part of CGL um... tradition since, well, as far as anyone can remember. Every year we see the colourful 'Vote for Me' posters being hung up on the bulletin board, and it's quite a nice feeling to be able to finally be part of it. (no matter how scary...)
So, I'll just wish all the best to all the other 47 candidates (whose speeches are in much better condition than mine, I'm sure... :-P), come Monday, let us impress everyone with our speech making skills. Or die trying...
Nah... I'm kidding.
------------------------------
Hmm... letters that end with NY... any, many, uncanny, nanny, zany... ooh! Danny! XD
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Another 'Milestone'
PMR has been over for a week. Form 1 to 3 textbooks can officially be thrown into the furnace or burned in a bonfire celebration... or be environmental friendly... recycle! Heh. In a way, when we handed up our Geography papers on Friday morning, we had actually finished another 'milestone' (so to speak) of student life. Next stop? SPM.
And it seems not so long ago we were just stepping into SMK CGL in new bright blue pinafores, unsure of where Secondary School life is going to lead us. And I'm sure it wasn't that long ago where we were still clinging onto our mothers as the as the teachers' taught us how to recite the Rukun Negara.
I still remember I was among the handful that had no idea what was going on, and when the prefect asked us to 'angkat tangan kanan', I raised my hand high up amidst laughter from parents... Now you know.........
And yet, here we are, halfway into Secondary School life with a mere two years left.
When revision floods us up to our necks, or when we are receiving a hard whallop from teachers, or when fights among the best of friends are occuring, school sure doesn't feel the least bit fun. But I've been told many times by the people who had already left school that school life is the best of all.
Darn right. Who can forget the days when PMR was drawing closer, where lessons were no longer held, and everyone sat anywhere they wanted, pencils and workbooks in hand... though whether more revision or more talking about pointless things were done, is anyone's guess.
We laugh over anything and everything until we double over in pain and tears flowing down our cheeks. Effective stress reliever, no?
Entering Form Four has never loomed so clearly over us. This past week, teachers had explained to us the new subjects, explained about then Arts and Science streams, personality tests and so on. And of course, prefect election campaigns are also going on.
In short, it's going to be a whole new, different world. But at the same time, a lot of things remain the same. Friends... exam stress... competition stress... and, well, love for CSI NY. ;-P
I'm gonna love each moment,
Of every day and night,
I'll look back to the past,
With the sweetest smile.
-The Journey, 911-
Oh, and Selamat Hari Raya!
And it seems not so long ago we were just stepping into SMK CGL in new bright blue pinafores, unsure of where Secondary School life is going to lead us. And I'm sure it wasn't that long ago where we were still clinging onto our mothers as the as the teachers' taught us how to recite the Rukun Negara.
I still remember I was among the handful that had no idea what was going on, and when the prefect asked us to 'angkat tangan kanan', I raised my hand high up amidst laughter from parents... Now you know.........
And yet, here we are, halfway into Secondary School life with a mere two years left.
When revision floods us up to our necks, or when we are receiving a hard whallop from teachers, or when fights among the best of friends are occuring, school sure doesn't feel the least bit fun. But I've been told many times by the people who had already left school that school life is the best of all.
Darn right. Who can forget the days when PMR was drawing closer, where lessons were no longer held, and everyone sat anywhere they wanted, pencils and workbooks in hand... though whether more revision or more talking about pointless things were done, is anyone's guess.
We laugh over anything and everything until we double over in pain and tears flowing down our cheeks. Effective stress reliever, no?
Entering Form Four has never loomed so clearly over us. This past week, teachers had explained to us the new subjects, explained about then Arts and Science streams, personality tests and so on. And of course, prefect election campaigns are also going on.
In short, it's going to be a whole new, different world. But at the same time, a lot of things remain the same. Friends... exam stress... competition stress... and, well, love for CSI NY. ;-P
I'm gonna love each moment,
Of every day and night,
I'll look back to the past,
With the sweetest smile.
-The Journey, 911-
Oh, and Selamat Hari Raya!
Monday, September 3, 2007
Bless Us All...
So our PMR trials have just finished, and now it is time for the final stretch... the homerun... the final battle... the.... ok, I'll stop.
So, study hard, this final month, and don't forget to take healthy breaks in between, or else, you'll start producing work like these:
*sigh* good luck to us all.
Oh, and if I ever muster enough courage, I'll do one of those sums above to show Pn Chang... or even Ms Lee... lolz...
And um.... eh-heh-heh... just for advertisement's sake....
Next Monday! That's the 10th of September, at 10 o'clock, on AXN. ;-)
High School Musical 2, the TV event of the year?? BAH! Make way, Troy! Mac Taylor coming through!
Heh... but's that purely a matter of opinion, of course...
So, study hard, this final month, and don't forget to take healthy breaks in between, or else, you'll start producing work like these:
*sigh* good luck to us all.
Oh, and if I ever muster enough courage, I'll do one of those sums above to show Pn Chang... or even Ms Lee... lolz...
And um.... eh-heh-heh... just for advertisement's sake....
Next Monday! That's the 10th of September, at 10 o'clock, on AXN. ;-)
High School Musical 2, the TV event of the year?? BAH! Make way, Troy! Mac Taylor coming through!
Heh... but's that purely a matter of opinion, of course...
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Anyway, Martina McBride
You can spend your whole life building
Something from nothing
One storm can come and blow it all away
Build it anyway...
You can chase a dream
That seems so out of reach
And you know it might not ever come your way
Dream it anyway...
God is great but sometimes life ain't good
And when I pray
It doesn't always turn out like I think it should
But I do it anyway
I do it anyway
This worlds gone crazy
And it's hard to believe
That tomorrow will be better than today
Believe it anyway...
You can love someone with all your heart
For all the right reasons
And in a moment they can choose to walk away
love 'em anyway...
God is great but sometimes life aint good
And when I pray
It doesn't always turn out like I think it should
But I do it anyway
Yeah I do it anyway...
You can pour your soul out singin'
A song you believe in
That tomorrow they'll forget you ever sang
Sing it anyway
Yeah sing it anyway...
I sing
I dream
Something from nothing
One storm can come and blow it all away
Build it anyway...
You can chase a dream
That seems so out of reach
And you know it might not ever come your way
Dream it anyway...
God is great but sometimes life ain't good
And when I pray
It doesn't always turn out like I think it should
But I do it anyway
I do it anyway
This worlds gone crazy
And it's hard to believe
That tomorrow will be better than today
Believe it anyway...
You can love someone with all your heart
For all the right reasons
And in a moment they can choose to walk away
love 'em anyway...
God is great but sometimes life aint good
And when I pray
It doesn't always turn out like I think it should
But I do it anyway
Yeah I do it anyway...
You can pour your soul out singin'
A song you believe in
That tomorrow they'll forget you ever sang
Sing it anyway
Yeah sing it anyway...
I sing
I dream
I love anyway, yeah.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
The Great 5-0
Merdeka month is here. We're 50 this year, and for some reason, this number is super special and Merdeka celebrations are threated with extra hype. I don't know why... I mean, isn't every year special in it's own way, whether it's 49, 33, 76, 12? Each year is a great blessing that our country's getting older in a good way. Why is 50 apparently more special than the other years? Cos' the number is more 'sui'? More rounded, more easily divided??
Ah well... that's just me. :-p
'Neways, a competition between schools is going on to see which school can decorate their schools nicest. Ex-headmistress, Pn Sharifah's words have never ever left us. "Whatever we do, we do it well." And heck, yeah, we did it darn well.
Anyone who had passed our school these past few days will do double-take in surprise. I'm telling ya', if a guy's parachute failed him, and he fell into our school, he won't hit the hard solid ground. No, he will get tangled up in the strings and strings of flags we have strung across the buildings. We even got featured in the newspapers! A short article on 'Student's Show Love for the School'. When we read it, especially certain parts on how patriotic we were, we went, "Really meh?" Such is the 'dedication' of us warga CGL.
But nothing says 'dedication' (or stupidity?) more than spending the whole day in school decorating our classroom.
Every class was given a Jalur Gemilang to photostate, colour, and hang all over our class. At least those were the orders given. We, being 3 Biru, could only bring ourselves to obey 2 out of 3. We photostated the flags (we... ok... fine, I went overboard with the number of copies and now I dunno what to do with the spares...), coloured them beautifully like all Malaysian youngsters should, but we didn't hang them all over the place with rafia string. Nope. Instead, we snipped off their edges, and made a bee-yoo-ti-ful border for our notice board.
This is either called 'inovative', or 'order-defying'.
But it came out nice anyway. Articles of sorts were posted up. You know, our 5 Prime Ministers, monumental buildings and what not. Then, Nadzira came up with this smart idea of using colour paper to cut out the words 'Happy 50th Birthday Malaysia'.
Notice how these things are so much easier said than done? We diligently drew the letters onto the colour paper. Or should I say, Jo and I attempted to draw them diligently while Jessica fixed all our 'wonkey' curves and lines, shaking her head tiredly.
Then, Jessica did some funky patterns on the letters. We started off with the first letter fine, 'H'. The red colour went really nicely with the black sugar paper.
Then, 'A' went up nicely as well.
And, as most things do, it went wrong.
'P' was next. After I snipped out the many funky patterns, leaving a abstractly classy 'P', I got out of my seat and took a step foward, looking down at the yellow 'P'.
My thoughts: Waitaminute... this ain't right...
I flipped it over a few times, suddenly realizing that it was laterally inverted.
Nadzira: Oh... no....
Jo: Oh-oh......
Jess:*long pause* NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! *thumps head on the table*
So all our symmetrical letters were fine, but the 'S', 'Y', '5' and all the other non-symmetrical letters were facing the wrong way.
Can you believe it, 7 brains were working on this for more than two hours, and not a single one of us noticed the error.
So by the end of today, only the word 'HAPPY' went up. Wonder what the afternoon girls will make of it... heh.
That's the way the cookie crumbles. Tomorrow will be another day where we attempt to finish our 'masterpiece'.
Oh, and I commited an offence that could lose me my citizenship. For the dots of the 'I's, we used the stars of the Jalur Gemilang. Guess who had the honour of snipping our national flag into pieces?
I wouldn't be surprised if I get sent to Thailand to live with Chin Peng soon.
Gotta go now. Hope that little piece up there brightened your day. ;-D
Ah well... that's just me. :-p
'Neways, a competition between schools is going on to see which school can decorate their schools nicest. Ex-headmistress, Pn Sharifah's words have never ever left us. "Whatever we do, we do it well." And heck, yeah, we did it darn well.
Anyone who had passed our school these past few days will do double-take in surprise. I'm telling ya', if a guy's parachute failed him, and he fell into our school, he won't hit the hard solid ground. No, he will get tangled up in the strings and strings of flags we have strung across the buildings. We even got featured in the newspapers! A short article on 'Student's Show Love for the School'. When we read it, especially certain parts on how patriotic we were, we went, "Really meh?" Such is the 'dedication' of us warga CGL.
But nothing says 'dedication' (or stupidity?) more than spending the whole day in school decorating our classroom.
Every class was given a Jalur Gemilang to photostate, colour, and hang all over our class. At least those were the orders given. We, being 3 Biru, could only bring ourselves to obey 2 out of 3. We photostated the flags (we... ok... fine, I went overboard with the number of copies and now I dunno what to do with the spares...), coloured them beautifully like all Malaysian youngsters should, but we didn't hang them all over the place with rafia string. Nope. Instead, we snipped off their edges, and made a bee-yoo-ti-ful border for our notice board.
This is either called 'inovative', or 'order-defying'.
But it came out nice anyway. Articles of sorts were posted up. You know, our 5 Prime Ministers, monumental buildings and what not. Then, Nadzira came up with this smart idea of using colour paper to cut out the words 'Happy 50th Birthday Malaysia'.
Notice how these things are so much easier said than done? We diligently drew the letters onto the colour paper. Or should I say, Jo and I attempted to draw them diligently while Jessica fixed all our 'wonkey' curves and lines, shaking her head tiredly.
Then, Jessica did some funky patterns on the letters. We started off with the first letter fine, 'H'. The red colour went really nicely with the black sugar paper.
Then, 'A' went up nicely as well.
And, as most things do, it went wrong.
'P' was next. After I snipped out the many funky patterns, leaving a abstractly classy 'P', I got out of my seat and took a step foward, looking down at the yellow 'P'.
My thoughts: Waitaminute... this ain't right...
I flipped it over a few times, suddenly realizing that it was laterally inverted.
Nadzira: Oh... no....
Jo: Oh-oh......
Jess:*long pause* NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! *thumps head on the table*
So all our symmetrical letters were fine, but the 'S', 'Y', '5' and all the other non-symmetrical letters were facing the wrong way.
Can you believe it, 7 brains were working on this for more than two hours, and not a single one of us noticed the error.
So by the end of today, only the word 'HAPPY' went up. Wonder what the afternoon girls will make of it... heh.
That's the way the cookie crumbles. Tomorrow will be another day where we attempt to finish our 'masterpiece'.
Oh, and I commited an offence that could lose me my citizenship. For the dots of the 'I's, we used the stars of the Jalur Gemilang. Guess who had the honour of snipping our national flag into pieces?
I wouldn't be surprised if I get sent to Thailand to live with Chin Peng soon.
Gotta go now. Hope that little piece up there brightened your day. ;-D
Monday, July 30, 2007
Essay Writing Competition
Waaaaaaaay back in February, eight of us in class answered Ms Leong's call to take part in the Royal Commonwealth Essay Writing Competition. Three of us got through to send in our entries, me being one of them.
Sports not entirely being my forte, I was extremely elated when I got this chance to compete in a competition on writing skills. Commonwealth level somemore leh... imagine the ko-kurikulum marks... muahaha.
For the past month, I've been checking the website for the results, to no avail, despite them stating that the results will be posted in July. (Which I intepreted as '1st of July' not '31st'... wouldn't you?)
Since sending in the essay, half the time I was so sure that I could win something, and the other half I kept wondering how the heck did I manage to write such a rubbish essay. But no doubt, wouldn't it be so great if I could actually win something, for the first time in my life, on my work alone, and not a team effort? (Not to mention the prize money, which is in pounds... *ka-ching* and the glory... *rolls eyes*) I mean, didn't I spend an entire weekend working on the essay? Friday was gone planning the essay, Saturday was spent writing it (Never before have I spent so long in front of the computer screen), and Sunday rechecking it again and again.
Today, I checked the website again, more out of habit than anything else.
I swear I nearly went into cardiac arrest when I saw the title '2007 results'. Fingers shaking so badly and heart thumping with excitement, I checked the winners list.
Nothing...
Turned to the Runner-ups list. Nothing...
Opened the individual country lists. Nothing...
Soo Li Ying from Form Five got a 'Commended' though, Congrats. ;-D
But she was the only CGL there.
I immediately relayed the news to Jolene and Jonie, the other two who took part. As I was sms-ing, I could feel my excitement dying down, only to be replaced by a deep sense of sadness and disappointment.
Sure, I realise that this is an 'antarabangsa' thing, and I'll be competing against the very best. Writers that far out-... well... -writes me. But all the same, I can't help but feel this gut-wrenching disappointment inside.
But of course, wise words that I've heard from various sources through the years immediately fill my head.
Win some, lose some... somebody's got to be in 1st place, somebody's got to be in last... try, try again...
And Jonie's really cute metaphore message that she just sent to me:
'We are like a pinch of sand from a long stretch of the beach. Other pinches may be better than us. Maybe we are from Batu Ferringhi and others are from Port Dickson... can menapis petroleum whereas Batu Ferringhi is just for picnics.'
You know, I can totally see the logic in that... lol.
There's still next year, and the next. And many, many more competitions to come. So, Jo, and Jo... (Geez... I keep forgetting you two have the same first syllable...) and the other thousand over people out there who didn't make the cut... we did out best. Time to wave the white flag and retreat. Time to go home and reload our gun ammunation and sharpen our swords.
We'll be back. *ka-shink!* (Arnold Swarze-however-you-spell-it style)
Oh, and to the winners, congratulations.
Anyone wanna read my essay? :-)
'It's not if you win or lose... it's how you play the game'
Sports not entirely being my forte, I was extremely elated when I got this chance to compete in a competition on writing skills. Commonwealth level somemore leh... imagine the ko-kurikulum marks... muahaha.
For the past month, I've been checking the website for the results, to no avail, despite them stating that the results will be posted in July. (Which I intepreted as '1st of July' not '31st'... wouldn't you?)
Since sending in the essay, half the time I was so sure that I could win something, and the other half I kept wondering how the heck did I manage to write such a rubbish essay. But no doubt, wouldn't it be so great if I could actually win something, for the first time in my life, on my work alone, and not a team effort? (Not to mention the prize money, which is in pounds... *ka-ching* and the glory... *rolls eyes*) I mean, didn't I spend an entire weekend working on the essay? Friday was gone planning the essay, Saturday was spent writing it (Never before have I spent so long in front of the computer screen), and Sunday rechecking it again and again.
Today, I checked the website again, more out of habit than anything else.
I swear I nearly went into cardiac arrest when I saw the title '2007 results'. Fingers shaking so badly and heart thumping with excitement, I checked the winners list.
Nothing...
Turned to the Runner-ups list. Nothing...
Opened the individual country lists. Nothing...
Soo Li Ying from Form Five got a 'Commended' though, Congrats. ;-D
But she was the only CGL there.
I immediately relayed the news to Jolene and Jonie, the other two who took part. As I was sms-ing, I could feel my excitement dying down, only to be replaced by a deep sense of sadness and disappointment.
Sure, I realise that this is an 'antarabangsa' thing, and I'll be competing against the very best. Writers that far out-... well... -writes me. But all the same, I can't help but feel this gut-wrenching disappointment inside.
But of course, wise words that I've heard from various sources through the years immediately fill my head.
Win some, lose some... somebody's got to be in 1st place, somebody's got to be in last... try, try again...
And Jonie's really cute metaphore message that she just sent to me:
'We are like a pinch of sand from a long stretch of the beach. Other pinches may be better than us. Maybe we are from Batu Ferringhi and others are from Port Dickson... can menapis petroleum whereas Batu Ferringhi is just for picnics.'
You know, I can totally see the logic in that... lol.
There's still next year, and the next. And many, many more competitions to come. So, Jo, and Jo... (Geez... I keep forgetting you two have the same first syllable...) and the other thousand over people out there who didn't make the cut... we did out best. Time to wave the white flag and retreat. Time to go home and reload our gun ammunation and sharpen our swords.
We'll be back. *ka-shink!* (Arnold Swarze-however-you-spell-it style)
Oh, and to the winners, congratulations.
Anyone wanna read my essay? :-)
'It's not if you win or lose... it's how you play the game'
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)