|
College life has been really really fun but it's also equally hectic and hence I haven't had the time to post much. Compared to RI there's so many more things happening at any one time in RJ and that's really great for there's no moment which you have nothing to do - well any other boring moment's just filled either with nice and warm talk or plain studying. So it all falls nicely together :D
Sadly I realized I've lost my habit of taking photos wherever I go; in the very process of losing that habit I've pretty much run out of photos to go into every single post of this blog. Still there's a lot I can talk about!
Main events of this week include the release of the HCL O's results, street dance orientation and BW house outing Anone@Botanic!
HCL O'S RESULTS
Well essentially, this was what I was doing before the release of the HCL O level results on wednesday afternoon.
Haha was having a very delicious lunch at Pastamania, together with Daniel, Neo, Slau and Danny. Before lunch I was in rj since 7am in the morning and all the J2s I knew were wondering why I was there considering J1s had no lessons that day. But oh well since I am an RI guy and all that RI guys need to do is to simply walk 5 metres across from RJ back to our alma mater, we decided that there wasn't any reason to organize old-schoolmate lunches and outings before the release of results. And so I studied with daniel until lunch.
And during lunch we were pseudo-freaking out about the prospect of our results, wondering what would happen if we didn't get the marks we expected, and stuff. But in the end I guess we realized that our apprehension can never be compared to that of the rj people receiving the full O level results - all their ten subjects and everything, and that we ourselves should feel silly for feeling so scared over one single subject that can't really possibly determine much of our future, in a sense.
I was expecting a C6 or a D7 myself, so basically I was just prepared to take any result as long as I don't have to re-take chinese in RJ!
And then we returned back to RI, met old friends (we see them in RJ anyway), and well, got back our papers.
It's freaky how people can start wailing and breaking down from the point their slips are returned to them. It's scary. But I guess it's understandable. Especially for people who have high expectations, or have high expectations placed on them. And even more so for those who've been striking gold for HCL all year long and what they see on their result slip is far from what they have thought to receive.
I am happy for my results - far from that D7 I possibly expected so yay :D
But well I feel the pain that a lot of people went through. And it's really quite hard to try to make people feel better especially when their unsatisfactory results are right there in front of them - and many of us guys were wondering what exactly we could say or do just to help our friends out. But I guess we just had to be there for everyone.
Well any release of test results, always ends in disappointment, for there will always be cases of failure, perhaps not even clear-cut fails, but a failure to reach one's expectations. And spirits are always dampened no matter how high people might get. And sometimes I don't even see the point in having examinations except to retain that bit of academic tradition. But I guess it's always somewhat necessary. Oh well.
To people who have suffered disappointment in any way - HCL is hardly an accurate gauge of how our academics standards are like. Far from it. It only shows us if we need to re-take it in JC so that we have that certain bit of foundation in us. It's not even an accurate measure of how good we are for certain careers - take China businesses for an example. Because ultimately if we are ever going to be good at chinese we're going to have to live chinese through our lives and not just at that very point of time before the exams. So you might feel sad for the moment but never let it affect you. To geri - I hope you're fine!
STREET DANCE ORIENTATION
I was waiting patiently the entire week for street orientation to arrive, on Friday!
And it was really fun :D Considering we did have to dance in the midsts of our station games and stuff! Especially the cipher part where I had the chance to try a dance battle again. It's just so fun freestyling.
Well I'm quite hooked on street genres for now - been suffering withdrawal everytime I spend too long without grooving to any single beat and I'll go into spasms of waves and pops and whatnot. Pretty much weird, yes. My class has been suffering under me lately -.- but haha it's fun!
Street orientation ended at 6.30 and I continued with my popping session with Josh until about 8 plus before I stopped, rested awhile, then headed home. Was too tired to do anything after that and I crashed horribly till 11.45 before I decided that I should really go to bed, and well I did!
BW HOUSE OUTING - ANONE@BOTANIC!
Today after a hiphop session at Studio Wu, I met up with what seemed like a huge portion of t'akbolehtahan and went to the botanic gardens for the BW house outing!
And we're still the coolest OG ever la - turning up with a huge portion of our OG whereas others were their OG's sole representatives. Or the most they had was 3-5 people thereabouts. And we had it free and easy! Played touchrug frisbee captsball and loads of other games before we left the place for dinner!
And we spent close to about 2 hours randoming away at the plaza sing foodcourt joking and joking and joking about possibly everything under the sun and we laughed away like crazy la. Aiyah haha rocks :D I reached home around ten fifty and I didn't get into trouble so that's a happy thing!
Ah I'm so tired. I need to study tomorrow. And I need to post more too. If I can, that is!
> Link this post
Today's another horrible day - a failed attempt at trying to read up over the weekend to give myself a comfortable schooling week ahead. I overslept and got up at ten, weary from all the fatigue and i proceeded to doze more into the afternoon and before I know it, I'm posting this utterly dead post right before I pack up and turn in to do away with all this fatigue.
Anyway, T'akbolehtahan's O'nite item has been uploaded onto youtube, and well it is in the interest of many that I should place it right here for many people who are still wanting to see this bit of our legacy again. Don't mind the gayness though - it was pretty much situational awareness! And we rock lah :D
And well it's really the thing that binds us together, apart from all the jokes, memories, games, times spent together over the past few weeks. The song we used for our item was Hate That I Love You by Rihanna feat. Ne-Yo, and everytime I come across the same song I feel great. It was a funny item in which the guys are probably hailed as gay by now by aiyah we know we're sporting! T'akbolehtahan y'all rock :D
HATE THAT I LOVE YOU
Rihanna feat. Ne-Yo
That's how much I love you
That's how much I need you
And I can't stand you
Must everything you do make me wanna smile
Can I not like you for awhile? No.
But you won't let me;
You upset me girl
And then you kiss my lips
All of a sudden I forget, that I was upset
Can't remember what you did,
But I hate it -
You know exactly what to do
So that I can't stay mad at you
For too long that's wrong
But I hate it -
You know exactly how to touch
So that I don't want to fuss, and fight no more
Said I despise that I adore you
And I hate how much I love you boy
I can't stand how much I need you;
And I hate how much I love you boy
But I just can't let you go;
And I hate that I love you so
You completely know the power that you have
The only one makes me laugh
Said it's not fair -
How you take advantage of the fact
That I, love you beyond the reason why
And it just ain't right
And I hate how much I love you girl
I can't stand how much I need you;
And I hate how much I love you girl
But I just can't let you go;
But I hate that I love you so
One of these days maybe your magic won't affect me
And your kiss won't make me weak
But no one in this world knows me the way you know me
So you'll probably always have a spell on me.
That's how much I love you - as much as I need you
That's how much I need you
That's how much I love you
As much as I need you
And I hate that I love you so.
And I hate how much I love you boy
I can't stand how much I need you;
And I hate how much I love you boy
But I just can't let you go;
And I hate that I love you so
And I hate that I love you so, so.
> Link this post
I finally have enough time and energy to bother to post after one tiring but really fun week! Our lessons have started for real already, with a full-blown timetable set for the year but the tutorials and stuff are still relatively relaxed for the fact that they were mainly all about introductions, and they covered little content. I hope I'll be able to handle the work when it gets tougher next week.
A few snapshots of this week, starting with this really really nice Adidas Originals watch my dad bought me as a present :D I feel so so fortunate! Now I wear it everywhere and stare at it all day!
And there was Tue's birthday too! We brought decor, pasted it everywhere all over the RJ faculty-to-house board, and even settled for a unique birthday cake haha!
And here's his cake, made up of the very memorable super rings - we had to gulp down 11 packets of super rings spread across 3 small bottles of water during orientation and well this served as a nice reminder and a good memory to sustain hahaha. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TUE!
Of course, we celebrated geri's birthday as well but sadly we were in much of a rush and high to take any! T'akbolehtahan slowly gathered a little further away from our usual tavern from 7am onwards and slowly prepared the decor and presents, then we gave her a little surprise! And in about 8 minutes she'll be seventeen :D HAPPY BIRTHDAY GERI!
Hmm well other stuff which happened this week include intense training on monday, thursday and friday. Monday's training was clearly memorable - 4x200m. It was intended to be 5x200m but I ran at a pace too fast, clocking 28 secs per fun and eventually dying out after the fourth from horrible lactic. I think I was just this close to fainting, if my teammates hadn't gotten me to start walking. Oh well my form has dropped severely, and I hope I don't have to put up with this for future runs. Thursday and today were fine though! 6x200m yesterday and 4x150m today, and they went quite well!
And oh I got into street dance too! Which seems super super fun considering the auditions were really fun themselves. And it's at this point where I really miss dancing everyday at the studio just like how I did over the holidays and generally, I really want to improve, and feel in touch with the music, to give myself that release no sport could give. Well I don't know how I'm going to balance dance with the rest of my commitments but I'm willing to stick to it! Will see how it goes.
And I'm going to sleep. Horribly tired, but hey rj's really fun - like they all say it's kinda like a carnival everyday.
> Link this post
It's a new morning, to another year of my very existence!
And I was remembering what happened yesterday, when t'akbolehtahan told us to make a birthday wish before blowing the candles. I realized I didn't really have a specific wish in mind - nothing much that I really wanted to have, neither in terms of personal achievements nor even material gains. So when I blew the flames off the candles I had nothing but a cloud of doubt in mind hahaha.
This morning I realized for myself what I really want - on top of all these endless material wants and seemingly tall-order targets, it all boils down to a wish to be better, through a few ways.
I wish for inspiration. It's been quite a long while since I last felt greatly inspired and driven to achieve more than what I expect myself to, and finally I experienced another defining moment for myself - the T'sparanza finale. Though it didn't really bring about a strong change in me, it really re-affirmed my place in this school. This is why I'm in Raffles, because I know I'm one who never settles for the status quo, truly, in every essence of it. I want to be inspired, to be driven beyond my usual targets, to be motivated to be bigger than what I expect myself to be. I want inspiration to take me beyond my limits, and to make me believe that I've got what it takes, just like each and every Rafflesian who's made it.
I wish for focus. I truly acknowledge that the past four years spent in RI have been pretty much lacklustre because half the time I don't know what I'm doing, or I don't know why I'm wasting time away. This is definitely got to stop, in order to do things well in RJ. I want to be focussed and not let the pressure of time get the better of me and allow me to hang loose and forget about everything else. I want to be disciplined enough to grasp every second and make the best of it. I want to be focussed enough to be the best I can be, and not sidetrack.
I wish for confidence. I think this has been a problem in sec 1/2 where I simply refused to take up more commitments owing to the fact that I believed I couldn't handle it. Then it was no longer applicable to me, and I'm thankful that I believe strongly that I have what it takes to soar. However I need more. My second math lecture early this week made me so nervous when we started on secondary school math revision and I was choking on every single question because I was so uptight about trying to do well, and it shows me something about myself. I want to be more self-reassuring, and I want more faith in myself that I have what it takes, everytime, anywhere.
I know I'm wishing for these things. But actually true enough they needn't be wished for. I know I have them within me and they're just waiting to be unlocked, and tapped upon. It all really depends on oneself to decide how one's life is going to be, kinda. God sees us through our daily lives, but very importantly, we have to do our part before He does His. And I will do mine - to the very best of my abilities. This won't be an overnight change, but oh well, I'm seventeen and it's really time to do something about my small-ri-boy mentality!
I can't wait for school tomorrow - time to pick up the pace and to set things straight - and also to enjoy my time with my class, but most importantly with t'akbolehtahan :D It's been really a nice journey so far with you guys, and I'll never forget these memories, marked by crowns, scrapbooks, cakes and all you people!
Tomorrow will be a nice day!
> Link this post
Lots of things happened over the past few days (well it's RJ, what can one expect) and here I am posting away - not exactly only about the past few days but rather, how T'akbolehtahan has been such a wonderful OG, for all of us within it!
In this very relaxed week, we all received our classes and in the process received our timetables which spelt heaven because we had tons of free blocks with many relaxing introductory lectures so most of the time we could eat breakfast and chat away with people everywhere. And i'm in class 09A01C, which is like the junior class of cool people like Ngiam and John Cheo so yay! Will get to know my class more soon enough :D
Well on about the week! Since it was so free and everybody had much of a programme except lots of trainings and kevin having his powerboat exam, we all decided to study together over the past few days, as well as spend time at our exclusive T'akbolehtahan table(s) hanging around. And seems like I really have to get into a good and proper study mood. We were clowning around in the RJ library like nobody's business.
Okay not all of us! We split into two tables and the other table was so focussed. My table just went on and on laughing and laughing. And I dropped all my yellow notes somewhere outside the library and was freaking out like it was the end of the world until Amelia found them neatly neglected in a rainbow pattern, dropped from my file next to my bag outside the library haha!
Well that was pretty much a highlight of the stonedead week. The most happening day of all was friday la. After two consecutive games of captain's ball, playing since morning (we finished our lectures at around ten plus!), Claire whipped out a cake out of nowhere and suddenly we had a celebration, just next to the parade square by the science block stairs! It was so cool la - apparently lots of them leaked out the secret but well there's always the fact that I can pretend not to listen!
Well here's happy birthday to sining! And to all others born on 12th jan because it's simply the greatest day to have a birthday and I fully agree with that statement, haha! Oh man having the same birthday with someone in your OG rocks because you can do random things like share the cake-cutting and trying to kill your OG mate in the process.
Hahaha oh what fun :D
Friday afternoon (after all that cake-eating and captain's balling) was spent at BWMRkistan, the combined BW-MR house party, and it was quite okay, albeit quite boring at the start because there was the pouring rain and nothing much could be done except to wait for it to go away. A few moments into the party, a few of us ex-PSLs went to crash this year's JRIC - to catch the current sec4 batch in action, and of course to take a look at what the sec ones are like this year!
JRIC was classic - brought back lots of memories, like how during my very very first JRIC in sec one I was made to give a speech on behalf of the sec ones just like the little guy which I observed making a speech yesterday. It made me remember how our very own sec ones cheered the Unite as all the PSLs garnered spirit together. And now watching everyone, all the RI guys as a RJ student coming back to catch up on the old times, I really feel OLD haha but yeah this rocks. The teachers are all the same, all fun people. The current sec4s rock - I spent the entire JRIC sitting next to Yuda and Theodore and watching them joke away in the happiness of the whole event, and I also watched in pride as shanzhi handled everything so smoothly. It was just so memorable.
Well here's a shot of the new sec ones, cute as they are in their tight white pants (haha!) they will one day grow up to be so great. Really reminds me of how I was, just like any other little RI boy, now in RJ the whole experience feels so different.
But both are really great - Raffles ftw.
We all ended and soon after, we headed back to RJ to continue with BWMRkistan! And we had a splendid dinner, watched a few OGs pull off great performances, plus some rock band items and skits, and soon we were done for the day, late at night and feeling so high!
This is gabriel tong my very fun pb mate and now OGmate! And he's been such a great sister friend in T'akbolehtahan so everyone went high and placed a light stick hairband on him. And nowadays we happily sing away - Dancing with my Gabriella, ella, ella, eh, eh, eh, Tongyihan Gabriella, ella, ella, eh, eh, eh, eh-eh!
After the BWMRkistan finale, we then spent the next hour clowning around in the canteen where we randomly flipped about, played pseudo-captain's ball in the dark on the parade square, and enjoyed a few moments discussing about playing sardines in the whole RJ which we didn't do eventually! We then moved off to J8 where we spent a while munching on stuff and enjoying talktime at the rooftop, as usual :D
Well for today it's been a mundane day, going to school to study, then clowning around (and running out of money by playing bishibashi at the j8 arcade!) before going for dance. But it's a really calm and happy day, I'm glad!
And the sole single present I've received so far is from T'akbolehtahan, wrapped up nicely and looking very exciting! Sining's gotten a soft toy which she could tell immediately from the wrapped package because it felt like a soft toy, but no one could tell what was mine!
And then I opened it. IT'S THE COOLEST THING EVER LA IT'S A CUTE SPEAKER CUBE - the type which I always wanted; like I can just walk into a room and plug my ipod into it! THANK YOU SO MUCH T'AKBOLEHTAHAN IT'S A REALLY GREAT PRESENT!
What a week :D And I don't feel seventeen yet, honestly. Have to drill it within me to get things sorted and focussed so I'll manage things well; for now I need some much-needed sleep!
> Link this post
Well I can't find all the photos that have been swarming around ever since the end of O'nite, the finale and the entire T'sparanza orientation programme but this thing which I am going to announce warrants a quick blog post before times fade away.
T'AKBOLEHTAHAN, TRULY. THIS WAS BEFORE EVERYTHING STARTED.
AND THEN WE WERE IN THE HEAT OF THE MOMENT HAHAHA.
AND THIS IS WHAT WE GOT, AFTER ALL THAT TWISTED DANCING!
BW08 T'AKBOLEHTAHAN - O'NITE CHAMPIONS :D
It was the most touching orientation I've ever experienced, truly so much before what I've ever felt about any new programme in a new school. It wasn't just a Unite cheer and a song together, it was a Unite cheer and a song as one under the stars, in front of the burning logo, together with all our friends whom in these four days been so close to. It was truly great; the mark of another blessed start.
T'akbolehtahan BW08, forever :D
> Link this post
The past few days have been so draining, but really fun!
Friday was orientation day three - we completed our dance quite nicely! And after the morning spent in school we then proceeded to Sentosa for EA. And T'akbolehtahan seriously rocks, considering we slacked off for very long at J8 enjoying bits and pieces of lunch here and there (I had mashed potato, two paus, one nasi lemak and a carrot cake, all from 7 eleven haha bleh) and then eventually emerging as the 32nd OG, overtaking so many along the way! Well done BW08 :D
I think we all drained ourselves out from all the catching up for we were running to one station first, then dragging along next but we went all the way without regrets and worries! I guess the worst part was drinking the cheezels juice in which I rolled two dice bearing 11 and we had to dunk 11 packets of cheezels into 3 bottles of water and then gulping the juice down heheh.
The best part was when we reached tanjong beach and it started to RAIN. I guess everyone didn't really expect that it would rain so late into the programme and in the end everyone scrambled for that little bit of shelter, and it was quite funny sight! I had to snap a few shots lah haha we were all crowding around the pavillions and the rest of us were holding umbrellas, fishing people up from the rain and waiting for the showers to stop.
After much raining, pouring, fishing and running about in the soggy sand, we then trudged back to vivo to have a fun dinner at the amphitheatre at the rooftop! Then we played truth of dare. It was really the most fun game we had out of these three days, for the dares were crazy and the truths were funny! Like Geraldine had to sit next to a random guy sitting on a bench and then spasm away until he noticed. And she actually did it so well but the guy decided to ignore us haha -.- And siti was the most champion la she had to walk past random people and then collapse and pretend to faint, then spasming and roll away back to our OG hahaha gosh that night was really fun :D
Well then came saturday! Which was devoted to our o'nite item. There we were, practising away at the esplanade bridge area, with a horrible torrential downpour which drowned our voices and causing loads of tourists to start crowding around us and even filming us practise. Haha but it was fun!
Right here on the left hand corner you can see the little girl who brightened our afternoon! I don't know her name (Jiahong says it's Alisa or something) but she came running around us and making us run around for her! And we were all pretty much kept happy and sane even from all that practising.
We were drained but no joke - we dined and arcaded until 9-10 before everyone headed home. Haha this rocks :D And now we shall wait for the final orientation day tomorrow! O'nite looms, and hope we all get in, amidst all the shrugging, butt sizzling, nails-looking, hip-throwing, whatnot.
Ahhhh T'akbolehtahan ftw!
> Link this post
Day two of RJ orientation was greater than the first! We went around playing station games for a start, and we were leading the entire pack and even had to wait for other OGs to reach our stations to play against us! They boleh tahan T'akbolehtahan please. HAHAHA. But in the end we spent one entire station game's worth of time trying to untie our deadlocked shoelaces which turned quite funny at some point!
Lunch at RI was awesome - I had the same delicious food once more plus we managed to crash the sec one orientation and watch the sec ones play their games. I hope they're doing really fine! Seems like the new sec4s are doing quite well. All the way guys, all the best shanzhi zongyi!
And here, is our very nicely designed green patch of a cloth. Haha!
Well so far we're doing just so fine, looking great like a great big yellow army today, standing out from the rest of the OGs in the fine bright yellow - every single one of us. T'akbolehtahan will rock tomorrow too! :D Sentosa ftw.
> Link this post
Day one of RJC orientation was fun - I reached home at around 10.30pm after having an entire day of games and fun, plus loads of dancing, both in RJ and at the esplanade!
I met loads of new people and they're all really nice. BW08 seems like the best OG in this batch, I'm quite sure loads others would agree too! Been talking to random people all around and they're angry because they didn't have an OG as nice as ours hahaha.
There's probably so much to write about but I'll keep it short and await the next day and its events to come. In the meantime, I hope everyone's enjoyed their first day! Yay go T'akbolehtahan!
> Link this post
New Year's Eve was in essence, the happiest day of all these holidays, truly!
I went out in the morning, on the very last day of the year, thinking about what could possibly happen when the clock strikes twelve at midnight - Perhaps I'd finally feel the whole impact of RJ life coming down on me and I'd squash myself flat out of all that pressure, but no, thankfully it was a very nice day spent!
And well I went walking around raffles place again; despite hanging around the area for two months everyday as a result of dance lessons there, I hadn't really explored the place fully. Though I've found lots of interesting places over the past few months, like nice restaurants, random shops, and fountains and swings, including a secret garden altogether. I've walked from raffles place to the esplanade, clarke quay, chinatown, tanjong pagar and many other places - and well this time I walked further past tanjong pagar all the way to the red dot design museum, and a little further up ahead to the maxwell hawker centre before taking a long walk back.
And then amidst painful, long decisions and alot of laughter, a decision was made to go to kallang and find the new leisure park that has just opened. And finally after what seemed like half an hour of exploration in the sun to try and find a way to the national stadium from the train station, the mall was found!
The next hour was spent iceskating, trying to adjust to the ice after years spent walking on the warm hard ground - and along the entire hour I was learning how to skate backwards, but I did so very horribly even with a lot of tutoring and (unauthorized hahaha) coaching! And I watched in wonder, as this certain single pro swished around, crossing feet, skated backwards effortlessly and spun gracefully. The hour left me with two searing blisters but all the fun made it worth :D
Over a nice pastamania lunch, I came to realize how things in life were simpler than I'd usually think them to be, and it made me realize too how the new year can be so free and happy without many burdens that I could've been holding. And it was then that I discovered for real - truly nothing was broken, and that everything's still all bright and hopeful.
And I'm really thankful, for year 2007, at long last. The last day of the year made whatever seemed wrong, seem right again. And I know that in this year I grew much more than all the other years put together - well not in physical height, sadly! - but in terms of being the best person I want to be, I've gotten closer.
Well, to top it all off, after a really really nice chinatown dinner I went to Kevin's house under invitation of Cheryl for a countdown party! And spent the final few hours of the year playing table soccer (and failing at defending the goal), and spending quite a while sitting together and talking about everything. Half the group left us alone to play outside haha but it was fun, anyhow!
The full group's not here, but well it's just some of us, feeling high and happy to the new year!
Soon after midnight passed we lighted the sparklers away and tried to set up a big bonfire with the non-flammable popper remnants. Best hahaha.
That was pretty much about it - spent the last few minutes there hammering tennis on the Wii and getting thrashed by Kevin on his very own table soccer machine. And I spent this New Year's Day resting, thinking about what has happened, and what's going to happen in the next few days.
May 2008 be a greater year, as I pin on this badge for the final two years. I'm going to strive for all that's worth, and all that I live for. Onward, Raffles.
Well see you all guys and girls in RJ tomorrow and have fun! Cheers to BW08 :D
> Link this post
|
