over grand canyon

I shot this video while flying over the Grand Canyon. After flying down to the bottom of the Grand Canyon to take a boat in the Colorado River, we flew back up. The best 30 minutes of my life, ever.

and i don’t believe it

It’s 12.21 am now. I’m still awake memorising the first of many parts for my Geography test later today in the afternoon. I kept trying and trying but nothing came through. Therefore, here I am, typing my latest entry on this humble blog. Usually, I don’t stay up late to use the computer, let alone study. But today is different. Today, I received my motivation from someone whom sister was one of the top students for her school’s O level examination. She did well enough to enter Junior College, but chose the Polytechnic route instead. Wise choice, I must say. That someone told me her sister studies till three in the morning and again at half pass six. That’s like, freaking 3 hours of sleep man! I know myself I definitely cannot do that. Hence, I’ll just keep to my usual routine and see if it works.

Anyway, this year of secondary school life is totally different from last year. Not a bad thing, though. I have new classmates and teachers (and better too!).

For my friends who are re-taking Mathematics this year, I’ll be here to support you all the way! You can definitely do it. Do more of those ten year series and papers of other schools. You can come and ask me questions, but bare in mind I’ll be a bit rusty as I’ve not touched the subject for quite a while. I’ll do my best to help you guys. As long as you are willing to learn, I’ll be willing to help!

As I type this final sentence, I gave a big yawn. I feel like drinking something from Starbucks. I feel hungry. I feel like ordering McDonalds! But, I have school tomorrow. Or else I’ll be ordering it now. Cheeseburgers, mmm.

moodless

One week have come and gone. One week since I have returned from the United States. One week closer to the O levels as mentioned by my new English teacher. The first examination falls on week 8, yet I don’t have the mood to study. Where is my motivation?

missed connection

The morning was tranquil. Everything went ahead as planned. After doing all the troublesome work when travelling, our flight is finally ready for boarding. Having a father whom is a frequent flyer with Singapore Airlines, we were allowed to board the aircraft with the rich of the richest to an empty economy class cabin. The rest of the commoners, oops, I meant people, soon flooded the entire cabin. Sitting on the aisle seat in the centre of the cabin on the left, I had a clear view of the people sitting on the window seats in the left of the cabin. The window seats in front of my row was empty. I was elated, thinking that I will be able to move to those seats, having all three seats to myself. However, as the head stewardess made an announcement, “Z” and Z’s family ran down the aisle and took the seats. I suddenly had a lost of hope and felt angry, uneasy and hungry. “Never mind,” I thought to myself. “There will always be another opportunity.”

Half hour after take off, the seat belt sign was still on as the weather conditions that day was not at it’s best. Remembering how Z looked like, I looked across the seats to stare at Z’s hair. Z wasn’t good looking or had anything special that would make people go crazy. Every few minutes, I find myself looking at Z. Finally, the seat belt sign went off and almost everyone unbuckled their seat belts and find their way to the lavatory, including Z. I took another clear look at Z again; this time I smiled. I will not go through the “I-keep-looking” story, therefore, I will skip to the part where we were transiting in Japan. After arriving in Tokyo, I thought to myself, “I’ll never see Z again.” During the one hour transit, I bought some creamy Japanese ice cream. At that time, I have already forgotten all about Z. It was then ready to board the aircraft again; this time to our destination, Los Angeles. After settling down for my eight hour flight to Los Angeles, Z suddenly caught my eye as he walked down the aisle. Z is actually flying to Los Angeles on the same flight and the same seat! Words cannot describe how I feel at that moment.

Through out the flight, I literally had a thought of what would happen if we were to become an item. By admiring Z’s bag, I realised Z originated from Indonesia as evidenced from his baggage tag. Questions like, “Did Z travelled to Los Angeles via Singapore?” or “Does Z stay in Singapore?” or even “Will Z be willing to travel around the world with me?” came into my mind. There were endless possibilities and questions. This is a phenomenon. I’m new to these type of stuffs. I am a virgin in these things and definitely a virgin physically. To be honest, I spent half of the flight time thinking about all these questions. Anyway, upon arrival in Los Angeles, I looked at Z one more time and said to myself quietly, “If fate permits, we’ll meet again.” It was truly a sad moment for me.

Two days later, at Universal Studios Hollywood, as I was strolling, I saw a familiar face in the sea of people. It was Z sitting at a cafe with the family. I was totally stunned and caught off guard. Could fate be telling me something? I was waiting for my family to finish visiting the washroom so we could hurry to the next attraction and during this time, I tried to admire Z as much as possible. Alas, all good things must come to an end. I, once again, quietly said, “Bye bye” as I know I cannot be that lucky again to see Z. By this time, you might think I am crazy. After the attraction ended, I decided to test my luck and ran back to the cafe. I was right. No one can ever be that lucky. All I wanted was to take a picture of Z. I mean, I am not a stalker; it’s just that how often can you find the person you really have the feelings for? The only thing remaining at that table is the food wrappers and cups.

On December 28, six days after we “met” and four days after I spotted Z, I saw Z again. This time, Z was leaving the Grand Canyon waiting hall while I was making my way up. This time, we exchanged glances. Z looked at me and vice versa. It seems that Z recognises me. Now, I wouldn’t make any assumption based on this event; the only reason Z recognised me is because we were on the same flight for almost thirteen hours. But if I were to see Z again, I’ll definitely TRY to strike up a conversation. Like I said, Z wasn’t good looking and did not have anything special; this sort of explains the both of us. Soon we hop onto the helicopter ride around the Grand Canyon and I’ve never seen Z again.

I didn’t know what to say. I have finally found my perfect partner in this imperfect world; a place where luck and courage plays a big part if you want to find this little needle in a haystack, yet I just let it go after I’ve found it. I just hope that one day, maybe just one day, we will meet again… somewhere, someplace, some time.

you’ve got to be kidding me

This is the funniest thing since April Fools.

i think i did it

I am proud of myself. This is the result of hard work for the whole year. However, I have an even tougher obstacle to overcome next year. I need to put my computer aside; anything that distracts me goes too.

Anyway, for now, I’d like to thank a few teachers who made this possible possible, namely:

Mr. Chin Wey Thur for giving me the confidence whom really made an impact on me.
Mdm. Hedzlyn Helwaty for believing in me that I am capable of scoring a distinction for English.
Mdm. Bhasula for believing in me, too, that I am capable of doing well for Geography. To be honest, I think my Geography pulled me up. Grade Four is the best grade I’ve ever received for Combine Humanities.
Mrs. Yap Bee Hong for teaching and guiding me through Mathematics (Express Mathematics as well) until I scored a distinction since early this year.
Mr. Lee Kwok Wei for teaching and guiding me through Physics until I scored a distinction for my preliminary examination. I’ve never liked Physics nor Chemistry, but there’s something about the way he teaches; it makes you want to learn.
Ms. Lin Sihan for teaching and guiding me through Chemistry. I only listened to her a few weeks before the examinations to practice on the 10-year-series. She told me it will improve my Chemistry; I was skeptical at first, but I think if I did not listen to her, I wouldn’t have scored Grade Two for Combine Science.
Mrs. Joanna Goh for helping us deeply in Accounting. Our Accounting foundation is bad, but she managed to save the day by introducing One Question A Day. That totally improved my Accounting.

Also, while on the topic, I’d like to thank my tuition teachers from Modular, namely:

Ms. Wang for being a very good Mathematics tutor. Without your help, I think I’d have struggled with the difficult questions until the cow comes home.
Mr. Alvin Koh for being my very good science tutor. I don’t know how you did it but you helped me. Once again, I don’t know how you did it.
Mr. Jaga for tutoring me in Accounting. In addition to Mrs. Joanna Goh’s One Question A Day, your tutoring definitely helped me in getting a Grade Two for Accounting. I’ll see you soon future minister!

To all my beloved teachers and tutors, please know that since I did not give you any Teachers’ Day Presents, I hope my results can make up for the lost presents. It’s a priceless present, more expensive than anything you can think of.

Finally, I’d like to thank a few friends and teachers who have helped me through this year in one way or another, namely: Tommi, Ivin, James, Amenda, Madeline, Seraphina, Ninie, Kenneth, Yu Ting, Chun Yo, Firdaus, Kellie, Yanni, Chengyong, Alvin, Mr. Kuah, Ms. Eunice Lee, Shi You, Izzat and a lot more. There’s too many names to write down but even if your name is not here, I appreciate what you have done for me. The people mentioned here either have shared my troubles, shared their troubles with me, staying back in school to revise with me, teaching me maths or other subjects over Messenger, giving me opportunities to work with and meet new people, and even listen to my annoying complains.

For my friends who are not eligible for promotion to Secondary 5, failure is the mother of success. The more you learn from your mistake, the stronger you’ll be, the more you’ll be likely to succeed. We’ll definitely keep in touch and meet again in the near future. Best of luck in your future endeavours.

Thank you. 2009 is a fantastic year for me. I’m flying off to California next week. Hurray! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

a new beginning is coming soon

I have no mood to do blogging these few weeks. In a few days time, a new beginning will come; change will occur. I just want my friends to know that whatever happens next Friday, I hope we’ll still be friends and keep in touch. I’ll forever remember my Secondary 4 life until the day I leave this world. Long live the spirit of Fajar Secondary 4A1 ‘09.

It’s going to be an emotional day next Friday no doubt.

Thailand Trip Report

I’ll just let the pictures do the talking.

That’s the first thing that caught my eye when I stepped inside my hotel room. Once the plastic wrapping is removed, they will charge you 60 THB (approximately S$2.50).

35THB = approximately S$1.50

My “microwaved” lunch from the 7-Eleven across the street. It’s not that bad.

The pineapple rice, lemon chicken and a plate of roasted pork (not in the picture) cost about 360THB which is approximately S$15. Not bad, not bad at all.

I went for a barbecue dinner with my brother’s shooting competition friends. The four pictures before this are the main course. This picture is the verdict of my shirt after peeling the freaking prawns.

McDonald’s vanilla ice cream cone in Thailand only cost 9THB (approximately 40 cents!).

Thailand

I’m currently in Thailand for my brother’s shooting competition.

Sent from my iPhone

phase 1

Phase 1 of my holiday programme will start soon, very soon. Also, this is the first time I’m going to do a trip report. There is always a first, right?