LIFE

Reading Corner: The Last Concubine

2012-02-07T00:00:00.000+08:00

Sachi's story, life as the last concubine of the last shogun entwined with the one of the important parts of Japan's history--period of changing into modern Japan in terms of politics. Lesley Downer did a good job in bringing out Sachi's character and how she progressed from time to time. Downer gave me a clear picture of the historical framework at that time, no doubt that she did in-depth research on this. Some of the important characters are not fictional though. She illustrated people of different castes, in particular their way of living and the way they present themselves. The women's palace in the great city of Edo (now known as Tokyo) is well described, in particular the women who lived in it. Love is described in the world that the word 'love' does not exist.

I can't deny that I was very absorbed into the story while reading. I admire the courage and strong character that the women have. The women in the palace are trained to be skillful warrior so as they can defend themselves when there is no men around to protect them. Well, martial arts is never out of date.

This book is highly recommended for its intriguing story and a good lesson on traditional Japanese culture.

Below are some of the beautiful poems appeared in the book that interest me.
Tsui ni yuku
Michi to wa kanete
Kikishikado
Kino kyo to wa
Omowazarishi o

[That it is a road
Which some day we all travel
I had heard before,
But I never thought that today
Would bring that far tomorrow.]

Yumeji ni wa
Ashi mo yasumezu
Kayoedo mo
Utsutsu ni hitome
Mishi goto wa arazu.

[On the path of dreams
My feet never rest
As they run to you:
But such visions cannot match
One walking glimpse of you
yourself.]

Completed on 6th February 2012.

Reading Corner: The Island

2012-02-06T20:30:00.000+08:00

It's simple title and plain cover might turn you off in the first place. Nevertheless, The Island (ISBN: 0 7553 0951 0) has won Victoria Hislop the ''Newcomer of the Year'' Award at the Galaxy British Book Awards in 2007, also selected as Richard & Judy's summer read. She did a good research on leprosy and the community affected. The story is well-engaged with the history of this disease. It starts off with Alexis Fielding, a British girl who is curious about her roots, particularly her mother, Sofia's past. Her determination brings her to Spinalonga which housed the former leper community in Greece. This book has the usual family sagas and love affairs which we usually see in soap operas. However, Hislop illustrated it well with twists and turns alongside with traditional Cretan life and culture, also bringing out the severity of the lepers' lives.

This book gave me an insight of people who suffered from leprosy and the community revolved around them. The so-called 'unclean' reminds me of people who are infected with HIV today. As usual, people will have lots of misconceptions on the disease, especially the way the disease is transmitted, which in turn caused the sufferers to be unwanted.

Later I found out on internet that The Island is adopted as television series, first broadcasted in Greece and became the most successful series ever broadcast in Greece itself: To Nisi.

Completed on 3rd February 2012.

Reading Corner: The Harmony Silk Factory

2012-01-25T22:30:00.000+08:00

The novel is compiled by three segments. Each narrated by different person associated with Johnny Lim: his son, Jasper; his wife, Snow and his good friend, Peter Wormwood. Aw is a good story-teller in which he present the story in different nostalgic ways. The life of Johnny Lim, however remained as a mystery. The story revolves around the period when the communists, British and Japanese invaded Malaya. It is an interesting piece to me, as a Malaysian to understand more about behind-the-scenes of our history. Besides, the setting of this story is in Perak, my birth state and I went along with the story without any difficulties. I like Snow's part the most. Her part of story, especially her feelings is quite twisting. The Harmony Silk Factory (ISBN: 0-00-720451-5) has won the Whitbread Book Awards for First Novel Award and was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize. Worth a read.

Completed on 21st January 2012.

What I had in 2011?

2012-01-24T23:00:00.000+08:00

I'm late by almost a month. Perhaps not, if it's lunar calendar. I never did any yearly reflections in my blog. I came across lots of reflections and resolutions in the beginning of every year. There's a post from Zen Habits which I'm quite impressed: How to Have the Best Year of Your Life (without Setting a Single Goal). I had experiences in setting goals and ended up forgetting about it even before half a year passes.

I can't really recall what I did in the past year. I remember I was having summer break in the beginning of the year. I did the usual chinese new year cookies baking on my own, most of the time. Celebrated chinese new year in Sitiawan in our new home. Did some part-time jobs. End of February was the time my second semester of studies started. My 21st birthday was celebrated with family one day before I went back to Miri.

Second semester in Curtin, met new intake of Geology students. Their batch was much bigger than us. Working with some of them for our presentations can strengthen our bonding indeed. It was such a busy semester although most of the subjects were basics. Endless tests but still able to have fun searching myself in Geology. First time knowing more about rocks. Glad that finally knew what were we doing during field trip, unlike my first semester which I practically blindly copying answers for most of the questions in the worksheet. The sun in Miri can burn us but I still love field trips.

I guess I will never be as free as my third semester for the rest of my studies in Curtin. Had only 3 subjects. It was a great semester although I wasted lots of time. Attended classes with all the Geology students in Curtin in the same semester was fun. It was great to get to know seniors and learning from them. I'm glad to enroll in Year 3 unit, otherwise I wouldn't be able to understand a single thing when I attend the conference later on. Had a fun Brazilian Italian lecturer but I wished his lectures could be more interesting, capiche?

Countless trips with family: Penang, Genting, parts of Sitiawan, Ipoh, Miri (Niah and Mulu). I enjoyed to the fullest, especially FOOD. It was a shame that I didn't know Miri well in the sense that I reside in Miri longer than any of my family members. We drove around Miri to almost all the attractions during my family visit for a week. All the beaches in Miri are beautiful except for the water. It was after such a long time since I exercised and we went hiking to Niah Cave. 8 km in and out was really tiring. Nothing much special about Niah Cave, perhaps the guano? Mulu Caves were quite impressive except for the rain. We practically can't avoid rain as it's a tropical RAINforest area. Limestone formations are awesome! It would be great to have one of my lecturers with us to explain in detail about all. And not to forget, it was my first time to try bat's meat. Tasted like old chicken.

Trips with friends were awesome too, particularly FOOD TRIPS. Went to Malacca for food, twice! I never get tired of food. What I like about Malaysia is the FOOD. And in this year, did some crazy jogging at the beach early in the morning with Winnie. I'm very sure that I really love beaches.

Had 4 educational trips. I was a little disappointed that we didn't have field trip for Geology 102. Geology 101 field trip was quite a basic one, learnt how to draw the outcrops and explain them. Hopped from one place to another throughout the day under the scorching sun was not too bad after all. IGME field trip was quite an unusual one. We get to use the equipments (to apply the geophysical methods). I guess we all had fun at Luak Bay. My group was the one looking at all other groups playing the Treasure & Trash game. Palaeontology field trip & BBQ at Tusan Beach led by Dr Dominique was a good learning experience for me. Finally, at least learnt how to identify fossils at the beach. After the semester ended, I went on to UTM in Johor to attend Oil & Gas Technology Exhibition and Conference. I'm exposed to various technologies of different companies in the industry. Participated in a quiz competition and it was a good experience for newbies like us. After all, geology students tend to lose out a little as lots of the questions were about engineering. It was an awesome experience to meet people from different countries: Indonesia, China, Thai, Australia and other parts of Malaysia.

Most spontaneous thing that happened this year was my trip to the UK. Sis and I took a flight in early Dec to the UK. We had trips around the UK: London, the Lake District and etc etc. She went back to Malaysia on new year's eve and from then on, I travel alone most of the time. Sometimes, I can't believe that I travel solo, so soon. I always had the dream to travel solo but didn't have much courage to do so, even traveling in Malaysia itself. It was and it still is, and also will be a great experience to travel alone.

Before the year ended, we had gathering at aunt's house. We both had our friends gathered around and enjoyed the New Year's Eve fireworks in London. The fireworks were really impressive! We watched it from the window and through the tv as well. Such a wonderful feeling, able to meet my friends even in the UK!

2012 will be an awesome year! Happy Chinese New Year!

P.S. I just noticed that I turned my blog into a reading blog without conscious. Summarise what I did in one post shouldn't be the right thing.

Reading Corner: Say It Like Obama

2011-11-12T22:32:00.000+08:00

A book of speech by Shel Leanne. Say It Like Obama is a good tool to get ideas of the art and power of speech. Shel Leanne shows you how Obama's presentation techniques can inspire people of all levels. This book is highly recommend to those who needs/wants to be inspired and motivated.

Below are the phrases that might be familiar to you:
"Yes we can."
"Change we can believe in."
"There is something happening."
"Our moment is now."

Completed on 19th July 2011.

Reading Corner: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time

2011-11-12T21:47:00.000+08:00

It was the 2003 Whitbread Book of the Year and the 2004 Best Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best First Book. A simple yet intelligent piece of writing by Mark Haddon (ISBN: 1-4000-7783-4).
The story begins with Christopher's discovery of the corpse of his neighbour's dog, Wellington. The story revolves around the investigation of the death of dog by Christopher. The world of autistic people is shown by the author where this story is told in the first-person perspective. This is the part that I find this book interesting.

Completed on 19th September 2011.

Reading Corner: Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

2011-10-03T14:55:00.001+08:00

It's an autobiography of Lily. Girls in the olden days are worthless. Lily's fate changed when a local matchmaker brought her family a life-changing news: if the little girl's feet are bound perfectly, she will have a life that every girl would be envious of. Subsequently, she started a special relationship with another girl, Snow Flower. Both of them underwent footbinding, learning nu shu (women's secret writing) and other skills to prepare for the marriage in the coming years. Once again, Lisa See exposed the other part of Chinese culture to me and in particular, the inner realm of women in the past with her beautiful writing skills. As Lily and I (and Snow Flower but she's quite different from Lily is some ways) shared the same zodiac (horse), I found much similarities in us. Lily is practical, her feet set firmly on the ground whereas Snow Flower attempts to fly over the constrictions of women's lives in the 19th century in order to be free. Perhaps it's so-called the distinctive traits of (female) horses. I'm also impressed and highly interested in the art of nu shu.

Highly recommended!

Quote from Entertainment Weekly:

You can relish See's extraordinary novel as a meticulously researched account of women's lives in nineteenth-century China. But you can also savour See's marvellous narrative as a timeless portrait of a contentious, full-blooded female friendship, one that includes, over several decades, envy, betrayal, erotic love and deep-seated loyalty.

Excerpt from Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (ISBN-13 9780747582922):

We say one thing and do another. We feel one way; then our hearts open in another direction. We see one thing but don't understand that blinders hinder our vision. We prod along a well-loved path and then see a road, an alleyway, a river that tempts us...

Completed on 3rd of October 2011.

Reading Corner: Shanghai Girls

2011-09-29T00:55:00.000+08:00

Shanghai Girls by Lisa See (ISBN: 9781400067114) is about two modern sisters, Pearl and May of different personalities and traits. They shared challenges, sorrows, happiness and secrets. Lisa See exhibits the sorrows of life of Chinese immigrants in the United States and how they overcome the challenges in order to protect/gain citizenship. Apart from that, she too displayed the contrasts between western and eastern (Chinese) cultures and beliefs. This flawless novel gave me a real picture of what actually happened during that era and complex feelings that the people had. At all times during my reading, it never fails to remind me of my sister and I. Highly recommended although the ending is a little hanging.

There's an except towards the end of the novel which summarizes the intimacy of the two sisters:

We hug, but there are no tears. For every awful thing that's been said and done, she is my sister. Parents die, daughters grow up and marry out, but sisters are for life. She is the only person left in the world who shares my memories of our childhood, our parents, our Shanghai, our struggles, our sorrows, and, yes, even our moments of happiness and triumph. My sister is the one person who truly knows me, as I know her. The last thing May says to me is "When our hair is white, we'll still have our sister love."

Completed on 28th September 2011.

Reading Corner: Hector and the Search for Happiness

2011-09-11T12:28:00.000+08:00

I was at first attracted by it's lovely cover design and book title: Hector and the Search for Happiness by François Lelord (ISBN: 0143118390, 9780143118398).

Are you happy with your life now? What makes you happy and what not?

Hector is a psychiatrist who loves to observe people. He started his little project of searching for the formula or secret for happiness during his travel to other countries. People of different walks of life gave him different perspective on happiness. And finally, he complied a list of his findings.

Here's the list of lessons from Hector (François Lelord 2010):
Lesson no. 1: Making comparisons can spoil your happiness.
Lesson no. 2: Happiness often comes when least expected.
Lesson no. 3: Many people see happiness only in their future.
Lesson no. 4: Many people think that happiness comes from having more power or more money.
Lesson no. 5: Sometimes happiness is not knowing the whole story.
Lesson no. 6: Happiness is a long walk in the mountains.
Lesson no. 7: It's a mistake to think that happiness is the goal.
Lesson no. 8: Happiness is being with the people you love.
Lesson no. 8b: Unhappiness is being separated from the people you love.
Lesson no. 9: Happiness is knowing your family lacks for nothing.
Lesson no. 10: Happiness is doing a job you love.
Lesson no. 11: Happiness is having a home and a garden of your own.
Lesson no. 12: It's harder to be happy in a country run by bad people.
Lesson no. 13: Happiness is feeling useful to others.
Lesson no. 14: Happiness is to be loved for exactly who you are.
Lesson no. 15: Happiness comes when you feel truly alive.
Lesson no. 16: Happiness is knowing how to celebrate.
Lesson no. 17: Happiness is caring about the happiness of those you love.
~~Lesson no. 18: Happiness could be the freedom to love more than one woman at the same time.~~
Lesson no. 19: The sun and the sea make everybody happy.
Lesson no. 20: Happiness is a certain way of seeing things.
Lesson no. 21: Rivalry poisons happiness.
Lesson no. 22: Woman care more than men about making others happy.
Lesson no. 23: Happiness means making sure that those around you are happy?

This book is simple to understand and the essence of it is the lessons which might make you start thinking of your own definition of happiness. Perhaps this international bestseller is a good guide for anyone who feels aimless in life.

Completed on 9th September 2011.

Reading Corner: A Pale View of Hills

2011-08-04T18:00:00.006+08:00

Another master storyteller, Kazuo Ishiguro never failed to capture my attention. It's my first time reading his book, and so happen A Pale View of Hills is the first novel by him. This novel won the Winifred Holtby Memorial Prize. The story revolves around a middle-aged Japanese lady, Etsuko who lives in England. There are some memories reflections in between and lies with mysteries, demonstrating differences between generations and cultural diversity. Simple language though the lines can be multilayered.

Completed on 17th June 2011.

Reading Corner: Soul Mountain

2011-08-04T16:50:00.006+08:00

A book by Nobel Prize winner, Gao Xingjian. It wasn't an easy book to read at the beginning. However, you'll find it more appealing when you familiarize with his style of writing. You'll discover and re-discover the chinese ethnics culture and ideologies, both past and present. His style of story-telling blends well with metaphors, beautifully written. Highly recommended to one who prefers unusual style of pieces.

Completed on 14th July 2011.

To: Hun Yen (2)

2011-07-12T00:17:00.003+08:00

借助你回信的热度，我的blog也因此起死回生。

说真的，我还在学习怎么当朋友。他和她教会我把心胸敞开－－和朋友谈心。我才是幸运的那位。

wish-to-do-list不怎么成功，只是压抑许久的食欲满足了。就算现在世界末日，也死而无憾 *choi*。2012快到了。虽然不相信世界末日会那么快到来，但已经开始在人生中的must-do-list增加项目了。我发觉list当中有很多刺激的项目，你应该也有兴趣。

不过话说回来，倒是有个朋友时不时会把我扯入一些疯狂又刺激的事情；一些这辈子不可能，也不会想到去做的事情，哪怕是一些琐事。这位朋友，也该谢谢他让我有比一般人更精彩的故事。

我们都年少过。

不，我们还年少。该疯狂的时候就去疯狂！

花边新闻总有，每次从东马回来必定有update。只是纯粹的关心，因为总是最后一个知道。朋友们：要是要从我这里得到最新的花边新闻，抱歉了。人脉不广？

Read between the lines太考功夫了。越有挑战性的，我们似乎越喜欢。明知道难以捉摸，却越陷越深。

阅读和睡觉也是一种幸福。我们还能有多少享福的时间？

We walk, We eat, We blow water

2011-07-07T21:34:00.010+08:00

Terminal Bersepadu Selatan. Nice bus station!

3 girls who love food and basically wouldn't mind getting out of shape travelled down to Malacca (World Heritage Site since 2008) by bus, since we couldn't get any drivers to join

our trip. We started off our food hunting once we arrived in Malacca, accommodation comes later (see how desperate are we?).

Had our first lunch at Kedai Kopi Chung Wah, chicken rice balls. The chicken meat was tender and juicy, better than 古城's that I tried once many years ago.

Tender chicken meat. [4/5]

Next on, hunt for accommodation. Enquired a few and finally decided on Heeren Inn, after we've seen the room for three persons. Satisfied with the cleanliness, space, facilities and price. It's a good experience staying in the pre-war building for people who never had such experience. You can get a wide variety of guesthouses/backpackers hotel/whatever you named it-cheap hotels in Jonker Street/Heeren Street. Highly recommended to stay around this area as you can get easy access to anywhere from here, for food/sightseeing or even a walk to Mahkota Parade/Dataran Pahlawan in case you miss shopping life.

Heeren Inn.

A double and a single bed cost RM135 per night. [4/5]

Started our food hunt once we left our stuffs in the room. Walked under the hot sun (still can bear with it as it's not so torturing as compared to my Geo field trips), exploring Jonker Street besides keep checking on my checklist of the famous makan places (yeah you must do a lil homework before going anywhere, especially travelling ON FOOT).

Spotted Jonker88 which is also a museum cafe serves Cendol, Nyonya Curry Laksa, Pai Tee and other varieties of food that we are less interested in.

Nyonya Curry Laksa. RM5. [4/5]

Vegie Pai Tee. RM7 for 6 cups. [3.5/5]

They serve seafood Pai Tee too, for RM10 if I'm not mistaken.

Durian Cendol. RM4. [4/5]

Better than normal Cendol.

We did the usual sightseeing around Malacca Old Town. The red buildings area which consists of Christ Church, The Stadthuys etc etc.

Christ Church.

Lots of nicely decorated beca parking in front of the church, waiting for customers.

Model of this trip, posing in front of the remains of St. Paul Church.

Eventually we explored to the other side of Malacca and walked to Dataran Pahlawan, Hatten Square and Mahkota Parade. Had our tea-time at Station Cafe. Amanda gave good comments on the Premium Coffee that they served, though it looked like ordinary kopitiam coffee.

It's almost evening after we had our tea-time and did a lil shopping in the mall. We decided to take a cab for Satay celup dinner since we're kind of lazy to walk back to Jonker Street.

Old Village Satay Celup Restaurant. RM0.60 per stick. [3.5/5]

It is best to arrive early for satay celup due to two reasons: (1) avoid the crowd and (2) more hygienic (but cannot guarantee). Generally, the ingredients are similar to steamboat ingredients where it is buffet style. The sticks are put into the pot of satay gravy until it boils. We had satay celup just for fun, not really advisable for complete dinner.

It's very near walking back to Jonker Street. Since we're free for the whole night, we decided to chill out at the famous Geographer Cafe. I fell in love with it when I found this on the internet before my visit to Malacca. I've seen it filled with lots of people during my previous visits but never stepped into it. Highly recommended by bloggers. This cafe serve food without MSG, healthy? They have Jazz Night on every Mondays with Ms Maria and her beloved father performing. Nice ambience and food/drinks served. Personally, I wonder if the owner is a Geographer.

Geographer Cafe. [4.5/5]

We had sufficient sleep and woke around 9am. After packing and checked out from the hotel, we began food hunting again. Our target was Donald and Lily's Corner. We had a hard time finding this restaurant and ended up it's just in the alley behind Heeren Street, two or three lots away from our hotel, entrance near a mango tree somehow. Too bad that it's closed. FYI, most restaurants are closed on Tuesdays. We had our brunch at Cafe 1511 instead.

Pongteh Chicken. [3.5/5]

Cincaluk Omelette. [2.5/5]

Nyonya Popiah. [3/5]

Nyonya Curry Laksa.

I didn't try it. Amanda tried it and gave quite good comments though.

I guess I'll be back to Cafe 1511 just for it's Nyonya Curry Laksa. We figured out that we still have plenty of time and decided to try the dessert, situated at the entrance of Jonker Street, opposite Kedai Kopi Chung Wah.

Durian Cendol at Lao Qian Ice Cafe.

Thick aroma and tasty! [4.5/5]

Lao Qian White Coffee. It's like the 雪花啤 style in Ipoh.

The glass is chilled beforehand.

White coffee taste great, similar to Ipoh White Coffee.

Worth a try! [4/5]

At Taman Warisan Dunia Jonker Walk, since 2010.

Toilet can be found here and friendly police officers available if you need directions.

It was a memorable trip for three of us. We walk, we eat, we blow water (and we laugh like crazy women). I'm looking forward to more spontaneous trips!

Zhao Ying, who loves to eat and take pics (no wonder we are kawan baik).

She actually had trips marathon.

Lucky that she didn't puke when she saw food.

Amanda, who apparently on solo trip.

Happily posed for us to snap pics, FOC model.

Love to eat and laugh like crazy.

Something that I forgot to tell her:

"Smile because it happened."

To: Hun Yen

2011-06-30T17:27:00.008+08:00

附了邮票写的信是几年前的事了，说起来还真惭愧。不知何时就断了信与信的来往，当时也因为我和她都忙碌吧。我和他则因为同班而断了虚拟式的来往。

我们都长大了。就这样，信中的话题也变了。是数量的改变，不是内容。那几年，我们分隔两地，但一起成长。曾经拥有她为知己是多么幸运。别人往往把她当成是草，而我却爱莫能助，只能为她在精神上打气。谢谢你再次让我回忆起我和她的成长故事。

我和他虽然没有像我和她有过那么深沉心灵上的交往，但也算是人生中不错的插曲。我们的daily update还不错，偶尔会附上关心和鼓励。那些，有时会是有作用的精神支柱。

收到你的来信，有感动。那种文字上无法形容的文字感动？心情被影响了，正面的（这对你算是一种鼓励吗？）。

这是我第一次用这种方式回信，是你启动了这股热度。文字没有你那么完美，简单、明白就好。

小update：正咀嚼《Soul Mountain》。

11.1.11

2011-01-11T13:48:00.006+08:00

Time to be alive again. 11.1.11.

Time really flies and what I did for the past year? 2010 was indeed a memorable year which I stepped into new phase of life. Lots of jokes but I can still take it. There'll always be new jokes whenever we step into a new environment. Thank you for whatever that happened.

No special new year resolutions but just indulge myself in my life =)

Can't help falling in love with ......books!

2010-10-15T23:08:00.007+08:00

I just can't help falling in love with books at most times! Especially when there are book fairs or just normal Popular bookstore member rebates. I find myself more into books and magazines when I'm here in Miri, partially due to lack of entertainment (that's the positiveside of studying here). I'm almost broke after every purchase of books.

That's what I got for myself today: 3 mags + one free copy and 3 books. Super happy after buying books, as usual. I love the knowledge that I can acquire from books and mags. The mags I'm talking about are not those fancy gossiping mags. Income tax should have more rebates for books. Alright, I must have a library in my future home.

My latest collection of Haruki Murakami's book [1Q84 Book 3].

P.S: YHY, can you believe me now?

Blurred picture due to low quality camera phone.

Happy Oct Day?

2010-10-01T22:35:00.006+08:00

That's what my sis said to me (Happy Oct Day) when I suddenly realised we're in Oct today! Spent my day in Resource Centre just to use the internet/computer (and prevent myself from having nap in my room?). Life is quite dull for this whole week (second Tuition Free Week). Apparently, most people will spend their time to sleep perhaps? (as what the lecturer told me what she found out in most students). I've been very lazy and laid-back over two months. I can feel the useless-ness in me. Life in quite dull as in going to campus, back to hostel and start cooking. I guess cooking is the only fun part of the day. Made myself a pot of hot soup (Campbell's chicken with mushroom soup + cauliflower + potato + carrot) with two slices of bread. That's for my Oct Day *sighs*

In the meantime, I found myself reading too much blogs with thick sense of sarcasm. Is that negative? Perhaps it helps in my writing skills, being exposed to such variety of vocabs.

A friendly reminder to myself: Please stop being laid-back although the environment is so. There's three more years to go, please don't waste 3 years to be useless.

My doggie hanging on pendrive.

Drank Choc Milk and ate Tiger biscuits for my lunch/teatime.

Am I revising or reading blogs?

Photo taken in Curtin Resource Center.

Curtin Open Day

2010-09-18T17:33:00.007+08:00

Main canopy where stage is situated.

It's a long-anticipated day for me as this is the first time taking part in Curtin Open Day. Well, it's going to be different from the Open Days that I used to attend in the private universities or colleges in West Malaysia. It's not just career advising but it's more to like Hari Kantin in some secondary schools where we have performances, exhibitions, games and sales.

I arrived in campus at 9 something in the morning with my senior. We walked around the campus and stopped by the stalls or booths occasionally when we found something that attract us. Perhaps it was too early and they are just began to set up the booths. I helped out a while at the Geo booth but then went off wandering in the campus not long after. You can actually predict what are they selling. Eastwood Valley Golf Club had their chefs cooking and selling. The food they prepared is very tempting! I bought lamb kebab for my lunch. Taste not bad though.

There's a Giant Boggle word game or something. We were given a few blocks of letters and required to form as many words as we can in 5 minutes. Too bad that my vocabulary is limited. The winner for our session formed 39 words! I went on to try the Art Personality Test with my senior for fun. We were required to draw at least a house and a tree. The counsellor analysed my drawing and explained my personality to me, generally.

It seems that the kids are having lots of fun at the Kids Corner. They have lots of activities for kids. DA Playground is set up for small kids to play with the toys in that area. That reminded me of my younger days where I used to 'pour' out all the toys in the box. And now I'm wondering why to 'pour' all out? They organised Fancy Dress Competition too. The participants were dressed in whatever way their parents like. Some of the costumes are great as they were made from used materials. Their parents are really creative!

Apart from that, they have free health checks and blood donation. I had health checks. Like usual, they take readings for your body weight, height, fats, blood pressure etc etc. Glad that I'm still normal in all aspects EXCEPT that I think I need more exercise to make my biological age younger. I guess quite a number of people fainted today after donating blood because it was quite crowded in some areas.

I was called for duty even before my turn to duty at the Geo booth. I guess many of the volunteers didn't turn up. It's alright for me to stand at the booth promoting Geology (basically) including explaining the stuffs that we exhibit. What I can say about the Geo booth is PATHETIC. We must improve when it's Geo Open Day later on (I'm looking forward to it!). Everything was under my expectation. I'm glad to participate in this event as I learnt about some rocks and minerals which I only get to learn in next semester, can't wait for it! As for fossils, it's still ok for me to explain as we are learning Paleontology this semester.

Spent the rest of the day helping out at Geo booth. Apparently, Geology is considered unknown. There are parents who seek for advices on the prospects for geologists as they don't have much knowledge on geology. What I emphasized to them is INTEREST. There's nothing you can keep holding on without interest and passion. Glad that I get to 'serve' a pair of parents from Sibu.

Blood Donation Drive

2010-08-25T11:27:00.010+08:00

Blood donation drive is finally here!

I'm just back from donating blood to Miri Blood Bank. I was one of the early birds. I was lucky to be given a chance to donate as I was told by Jacky that they actually limit 50 persons. No idea why but it seems people are eager to donate blood over here. This is my second time donating blood after more than a year. Everything was fine and this time I donated 450 cc of blood. It's good to know that they are having blood donation drive every semester! I signed up for organs donation too. Hmm, till now still don't have full courage to donate bone marrow though because it'll be super super pain! Probably when I'm well prepared or when I meet someone who really need my bone marrow. It's not common for people to donate bone marrow though.

Ish, can't join SOAR (Orientation facilitator) as I booked my flight ticket, going back on 27th Nov where I can't join the training! Probably joining for Sem 2 2011, another activity that cannot be missed!

Photos taken in Recreational Hall.

Thompson Corner (New Thompson Seafood)

2010-08-24T10:56:00.009+08:00

It's really great that I meet a bunch of friends who are also crazy over FOOD here. They always go for makan trip whenever they feel like going. They can do anything for FOOD. Well, I'm lucky to meet Sam who seems like tried almost all the stalls and restaurants in Miri. He can be a good food guide (those like TV programme about FOOD such as Ho Chiak) and will often make our saliva dripping down whenever he describe about FOOD!

On Sunday evening, he brought me and Wen Hon to the Thompson Corner to have our dinner. We ordered Crab Fried Meehoon, Bilin, Fried Pork and Sting-ray Bakar. Too bad that I couldn't take any pictures of them but the dishes are really great! Not to mention that I have allergy towards seafood but still tried the meehoon (Wen Hon actually finished up two crabs that we had on that big plate of meehoon!). Bilin is a new thing for me, it's some kind of wild vegie which is curly. Very crunchy and tasty! As for the fried pork (炸三层肉), it's very juicy and fragrant! I like this the most, really cannot resist! Sting-ray bakar is just normal for me but it smells good and very tempting when they arebakar-ing. They marinated it with belacan (another thing that I'm allergic to but still eat!). Lastly, the Aloe Vera juice with evaporated milk. It's something special but too sweet for me. Total of RM76 for four dishes and drinks (plus Sam's coconut juice). It's reasonable as we have fish and crabs.

According to Sam, their porridge also serves well. Might be trying that and other dishes if I have chance to visit there again. They served steamboat too but I guess there are not much varieties as compared to Serdang's Hoi Tong.

Found this blog recommending this restaurant.

New Thompson Seafood.

Will be full house at around 7pm on Sunday.

Crab Fried Meehoon.

HAT Tournament

2010-08-22T10:44:00.005+08:00

This was my first time joining a tournament in Curtin. It's a Frisbee tournament (first ever indoor Ultimate Frisbee). Back in CHS, I played Frisbee for only twice or thrice. I remember that I had muscle cramps both legs simultaneously when I was playing during the Sixth Form Interclass Games. I guess I overworked at that time due to continuous games for Frisbee and Captain Ball (I miss Captain Ball so much!).

HAT Tournament is open to all Curtin students. Basically everyone can take part, it doesn't matter if you are experience or still a newbie. I had half and hour skill training (just backhand) on Thursday and went for competition just like that. The organising committee will mix the participants and form teams where each team comprises 8 persons. Every team will have at least one female. The competition was held in the Multi Purpose Hall. It's much much smaller if compared to the G2 field.

I'm glad to have my teammates along for the 5 matches we had. They are very supportive and take good care of me. (Perhaps because I'm the only female in our team?) It's a good exposure to me as I can watch the pro players playing and gain some experience. I didn't expect that my team successfully got 2nd runner-up. I should be confident with my teammates, anyway.

Life in Miri

2010-08-19T23:44:00.006+08:00

I'm here in Miri, Sarawak for almost a month. It's a whole new life for me. It's a quiet and peaceful place with lots of nice places and nice scenery (yet to discover more). The weather is not as hot as in Kelantan (maybe because it's rainy season now). The most "wonderful" thing is the mosquitoes! They are like terrorists, they can even penetrate to suck our blood even though we wear jeans! Cost of living over here is higher than Serdang.

The environment of my hostel (Curtin Villa) is quite good as it is guarded although it is not situated in the campus. Luckily I got Curtin Villa as it is near to the shops and restaurants. But have to wait for shuttle bus if I'm going to campus. I'm lucky to get a hostel with water filter, can drink water safely. The environment in the campus is very conducive for learning and activities. We have a lake with crocodiles! Sounds scary but some students really saw them. One thing I'm not really satisfied is the library--lack of hardcopy magazines and quite poor security.

About my course, Applied Geology, I guess I'm more and more interested in it once I started to discover more about this field. The Earth is just so awesome! Most of my coursemates (same batch or seniors by one/two sems) are younger than me (because they did Foundation). It's totally alright for me as I'm thankful to STPM.

As for activities, I'm trying my best to join whichever I can. Can't really get to join sport activities due to my evening lectures/tutorials. Are they biased towards Geo students? (as I think the lecture rooms are insufficient). I wanted to join Frisbee but the time doesn't allow me to (however, still try to squeeze half an hour for it before lecture) and I joined Cheerleading instead (that also I can only join practice for one day-Saturday). Can't believe myself joining Cheerleading though. I had many new experiences, such as doing flips and shoulder sit stunts (yet to try tougher stunts!). The warm-up exercises in Cheer are just almost the same as Wushu's. Bones are hardened after "resting" for almost a year.

I'm anticipating for more exciting activities especially activities related to Geology!

Too bad that pictures taken in Kelantan and Miri (Piasau Boat Club-a very very nice place-sort of different world) are lost together with my phone.

Egg Tarts

2010-06-14T06:57:00.008+08:00

Dough after chilled for 15 mins.

Separating egg yolk and egg white.

Egg yolks after separated, look just like cell mitosis.

Sugar + Egg yolk

Before baking.

First batch of egg tarts.

Second batch of egg tarts, too little filling.

Third batch of egg tarts, uneven.

It was 3 in the morning. I woke up that early, probably had insomia?

I actually planned to bake egg tarts a day before. This is my first time baking egg tarts, turned out to be half-failure. I haven't taste the egg tarts I baked, my bro did though. I'm not sure whether he's trying to please me or what, he said not bad. I wanted to bake the Chinese egg tarts "dan tat" but somehow it turned out to be like Portugese egg tarts for the first batch of egg tarts. Well, I guess I can improve and I will definitely bake for another time!

Here's the recipe:

A. Crust

1 3/4 cup all purpose flour

3 tbsp sugar (I should use caster sugar to dissolve better)

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup (approx. 225g) pastry margarine [Recommended recipe was butter]

1 large egg

Combine sifted flour, sugar and salt in a mixing bowl.
Rub in pastry margarine into flour mixture until like breadcrumbs.
Blend in the egg until the dough comes together like wet sand.
Keep refrigerated for about 15 minutes.

B. Filling

1/2 cup sugar**

4 large egg yolks

2/3 cup milk

1/4 tsp vanilla essence [I added for better taste]

Roll out dough. (Note: dough will be very soft and sticky)
Cut the size required and place evenly in the tart cup. (Note: thickness of dough approx. 3mm, the crust will shrink during the process of baking)
Pour filling into the tart shells till 2/3 of the cup.
Bake in preheated oven at 180 degree Celcius for 20-25 minutes until tarts are set.

**Note**

After I tried the tarts, found out that the filling is too sweet, should decrease the amount to 1/3 cup. The crust is not bad.

Redang Trip (2-4 June 2010)

2010-06-12T16:09:00.008+08:00

This is my second time stepping on Redang Island. It impressed me when I visited for the first time a few years back. Due to human activities and pollutions, the beauty of Redang Island including the marine life dropped from Grade A to Grade C. It is not as beautiful as before. The species of marine creatures are decreasing, how sad it is. I guess I have to visit Perhentian Island and Sipadan Island as soon as possible.

Regardless of the deteriorating state of the beauty of the island, I still enjoyed with my friends. I tried different activities this way round. It was my first time to play volleyball and football on beach. (It can be as tiring as Frisbee!) Despite the boring snorkeling trips, we still managed to have fun by feeding the fishes and listening Caleb singing while snorkeling.

We did the usual stroll along the beach on our first night, from one end till the other end. (Our resort is at one end.) Taking photographs while visiting the resorts one by one and 'enjoying' the process of people killing the fishes due to extreme frequency of somebody's singing. We have to thank them anyway, or else we wouldn't have so much food (fish) supply for our breakfast, lunch and dinner!

3 days and 2 nights trip to Redang Island could be the last trip I had with my high school friends before university starts. It is indeed a memorable one.

The water is not as clear as before =(

P.S: Visit the islands before they are polluted any further.

Chicken Pies

2010-05-26T15:26:00.005+08:00

Ingredients are stuffed in, with some cheese on top.

The top is poked with holes.

Freshly baked from oven.

Crispy chicken pies!

Baked chicken pies all by myself for the first time. I baked once in Form 3 during our baking class with Pn Yap Rio. I didn't use her recipe but googled and chose the best recipe that I preferred. I added extra ingredients that I think will enhance the taste such as grounded oregano, hard-boiled egg, and cheese. I baked a total of 14 chicken pies using the ingredients as shown below.

Here is the recipe:

A. Pastry

150g pastry margarine (original recipe was butter)

250g plain flour

1 tsp sugar

1 egg yolk

*Egg white must be kept for further use

A pinch of salt

1 tsp mixed herbs (original recipe was rosemary)

100g yoghurt

Put all the ingredients (except yoghurt) in a mixing bowl.
Rub pastry margarine into flour mixture until like breadcrumbs.
Add in yoghurt and mix a dough. Dough will be very soft and hence need to keep it refrigerated for at least 30 mins. [I kept it refrigerated for 40 mins and in freezer for 10 mins as the dough was too soft.]

B. Filling

Oil

1 big onion diced

Sliced and chopped potatoes

Sliced button mushrooms

Sliced chicken (original recipe recommended 2 chicken breasts)

*I seasoned the sliced chicken with sesame oil, kicap and cornflour to soften.

*Mixed vegetables is recommended in original recipe

Seasonings:

1 tbsp cornflour and adequate amount of water

Oyster sauce

Salt and grounded oregano to taste (Original recipe was salt and pepper)

Heat oil and fry potatoes. Set aside.
Fry onion. Add in mushroom and chicken (and mixed vegetables if you want).
Cook the ingredients altogether with potatoes.
Add in seasonings.

Roll out dough, cut the size required and place in pie dish.
Poke holes using fork.
Put the fillings in according to your preference. (I added cheese.)
Cut another piece of dough to cover the top.
Poke holes on cover.
Use remnants to decorate the pies.
Brush with leftover egg white (original recipe was one beaten egg).
Bake in preheated oven at 180 degree Celcius for 25-30 minutes.

Surprised!

2010-05-09T18:24:00.007+08:00

I was totally surprised when I checked USM website.

I was offered the interview for my first choice (Architecture)!

I was told to bring a portfolio hasil kerja and peralatan melukis. I was stunned at the moment. (Crays would done a great job in this interview if he got it.)

Anyhow, I did mailed Senior Jin Bang for advice on this.

According to him, students with CGPA 3.0 and above shouldn't have a problem for this.

I need to prepare a portfolio as in my collection of artworks such as sketches, computer graphics, photographs, handcrafts etc etc. I will also have to draw on the spot!

The worst thing is the interview is on Monday, 10th of May.

(See how efficient they are?)

I did call the toll-free number on Saturday but it turned out to be like this:

"Sorry, we are closed. Please call tomorrow."

Not working on Saturdays, I won't expect anything on Sundays either!

After considering for quite some time (less than 2 hours), I decided to give up on this interview. The main reason is I am more interested in UPU choices (Geology). I guess many people would say that I'm not treasuring the chance or anything. I shouldn't waste a chance to enter a good university (although it's only 'good' in Malaysia) though, but I guess I won't regret.

All the best to anyone who got the offer for USM interview!

阅读角落：力量来自渴望！

2010-05-05T12:17:00.005+08:00

《力量来自渴望！》，戴晨志著。

这是一本给年轻学子的致胜密技，是给予年轻的朋友们鼓励与成功的道路。

这本书一直都在提醒自己在生活中如何把握机会，如何把自己最好的一面表现出来。

书中有很多值得参考的资料：

主动学习，成功的不二法门。
改变心态，就能改变人生。
等待机会，不如把握机会。
想成功的人，没有悲观的权利。
一小时的实践，胜过24小时的空想。

偶尔也该翻一翻这本书，激励自己。

Completed on 1 March 2010.

Sabah Trip (18-22 April 2010)

2010-04-25T15:57:00.004+08:00

Day 1 (18 April)
Woke up as early as 3am and prepare for my morning flight at 6.50am. Zhao Ying and I took a bus from KL Sentral to LCCT which cost us RM 8 for one way. Such early in the morning at 4.30am, there are many tourists taking bus to LCCT. It took us around one hour journey to LCCT. Six of us (Seow May, Zhao Ying, Jer Jian, Ding Sheng, Seow May's uncle and me) boarded AirAsia plane to Kota Kinabalu.

We arrived at 9.15am, waited for the public bus for a long time to take us to KK town. We walked and walked around the Central Market to find a place for lunch. Finally, we settled in a food court in K Plaza which is opposite of the Central Market. We bought our food (instant noodles, bread and eggs) from K Plaza.

It's around 1pm. Wasted time to wait for the City Bus (RM 0.50 per ride) again. Although it's much cheaper than the RapidKL and Metrobus here, but still crowded in the bus, just like the sardine fish with our luggage! Due to some problem, we had to change buses a few times to reach our destination (partial)-to take kereta sewa to Kundasang.

The journey to Kundasang (actually it's before Kundasang) is really far, around 2 hours but still worth the RM 20 (RM 15 per ride + RM 5 for our luggage) cost per person. We finally arrived at Fairy Garden Resort for our one night stay in a family room, RM 105 (one single bed, one double bed, one single single double decker). The environment gave us a "Fairy Garden" feel when we first arrived.

We went for a walk to Kinabalu Park HQ in the evening. Cool breeze. We even stopped by at Mountain Resthouse to confirm our stay for the next day. We watched sunset over there.

Day 2 (19 April)
After we woke up and had breakfast, took a walk again to Kinabalu Park HQ. We walked to Timpohon Gate. We stopped many times on the way there as we enjoy the scenery. Mount Kinabalu is so near yet so far. We went back down to the HQ by van for RM 8 as we were too tired and lazy to walk so far (lower speed makes you feel the distance is longer).

After lunch, we took taxi to Poring Hotspring (RM 180 for 6 persons, two ways). We have to pay RM 3 for entrance and RM 3 for the canopy walkway. The canopy walkway is more or less the same as in Taman Negara. We walked a short distance to a waterfall, Kipungit Rcreational Area and enjoyed natural fish spa while the two guys went on to the Bat Cave (they are not encouraged to enter, how irony). I guess the fish spa is just the same in the fish spa centers. We left to the hot spring park after the guys came down. It looks kind of unhygienic in the pools. We went back after sending off Seow May's uncle in Ranau.

We spent our second night at Mountain Resthouse. We were allowed to use the kitchen! Ding Sheng cooked instant noodles for all of us. We enjoyed our dinner and met an Italian guy, Ulio who's also a backpacker. From what we chat, I guess he took trains to enjoy the scenery all the way in Sabah. There's also a television and we can choose any DVD to watch. Well, Jer Jian watched Final Destination alone late at night after we all slept.

Day 3 (20 April)
Woke up at 5am, still dark. Can't see the stars as it rained. It was very misty and cold out there. I waited for the sunrise but can't be seen clearly as Mountain Resthouse is blocked. Well, went on to take photos of the nature after having breakfast. We then walked to Kinabalu Park again, three days in a row! There were quite many cancellations on that day. We registered ourselves and paid for the expenses for hiking. In a hurry, we grabbed our stuffs and waited for our guide at Kinabalu Park HQ. We were late, 11am start to hike up from Timpohon Gate. We were not allowed to hike using Mesilau Trail as we were late.

Going up from Timpohon Gate to Laban Rata took us 6 hours! It's about 6km hike. We stopped at the pondok to rest and had our lunch along the way up. The temperature was getting lower and lower as we ascended. We used a walking stick during our hike to assist us and save our knee strength. It was freezing cold at Laban Rata, around 6 degree Celcius in the evening. Just imagine, there's still 2.7km (takes around 3 hours hike) to go to the summit and the temperature will be like less than 5 degree Celcius. I met Yuk Hoong's dad on our way up, he was on his way down.

We had our 5-star dinner at Laban Rata. We were asked to sleep at 7.30pm, how early but no choice. The temperature is low and luckily we have heater for hot shower. I chose the wrong bathroom! The wind is very chilling even though my shower is hot!

Day 4 (21 April)
All of us woke up at 2am to have our supper. Seow May, Ding Sheng and Jer Jian went for the hike up to summit. Zhao Ying and me continue to rest at Laban Rata. It was freezing cold there. According to them, sweater and windbreaker are still insufficient to keep them warm. I guess the next time I'll have to bring long johns as well as I'm afraid of cold.

Ding Sheng and Jer Jian managed to made it to the summit! We had our breakfast before we hike down the mountain. Girls went on first. I took less than 5 hours to hike down, quite a long time as I walked really slow. We finally had our lunch at Balsam Cafe after all of us reached Timpohon Gate.

We took a taxi again to KK town. We had one night stay in Step-In Lodge. The place is quite cozy and comfortable, RM 28 per person without air-cond. Step-In Lodge is situated near the Night Market, Handicraft Market and Central Market. It's very convenient for the tourists.

Day 5 (22 April)
We woke up at 5am as we planned to catch the earliest ferry to Mamutik Island. After we had our breakfast, we walked to Jesselton Point. We rented snorkeling gears and life jackets for RM 15 each person. Besides, we signed up for banana boat ride. It was quite fun but not to my expectation, although Jer Jian added on lots of special effects during the boat ride. I must try rafting in Padas next time!

As usual, there are foreign tourists sunbathing and tanning along the beach. Some went on to swim, snorkel and dive. The water is quite clear. There are quite large variety of tropical fishes there. But there are tonnes of jellyfish! I guess Seow May had phobia with them for now. The jellyfish are so plastic, you can't even notice them swimming across you if you didn't pay attention.

Mamutik is Ding Sheng's paradise. He enjoyed his tanning session over there but too shy to show off his body. Jer Jian only started to tan his body when we were leaving. This island is quite worth to visit, especially if you want to meet some pretty foreign girls.

We had our lunch at around 2pm at a seafood restaurant near Jesselton Point. The lunch was quite worth it. We rushed to the Handicraft Market to buy some souvenirs after our lunch. We waited for taxi in the evening, it was raining outside. And our flight was delayed. I reached home at 1am that night. Quite tired but luckily didn't have muscular cramps, just serious SUNBURNs due to our visit to Mamutik and walking under hot sun after having lunch! This was the first time I'm having sunburn.

*

I guess I will hike Mount Kinabalu again when I'm more prepared mentally and physically. I hope I can hike using Mesilau Trail when going up next time. Must try: Padas rafting. Must visit: Sipadan Island (one of most beautiful islands in the world).

第14届全国华语寿险研讨会

2010-04-16T23:06:00.004+08:00

天行健，君子以自强不息。

这是第14届全国华语寿险研讨会的主题。

在雅媚的邀请下，和几位朋友到云顶当了4天（4月10日至13日）的义工。

这四天里，从报到至场内引导甚至赠品发送，有了不少经验。

除了工作经验，也建立了不少人际关系，包括义工及学员们。

保险业对我而言，还是很陌生。

有些人说，保守的人比较不相信保险。

这场活动，多半是激励性的。

我发现有许多大学甚至中学刚毕业的青年都加入保险行业。

从其他的同事口中的知，要在保险界做到顶尖的业绩，必定是历经了许多的坎坷。

毕竟，保险也是行销的一种。

要拥有自强不息的精神，是需要无数的激励与坚持。

雁彬, 和我一起负责得奖人报到处。

Photo taken on 11th of Apr 2010

at Genting International Convention Center.

Reading Corner: The Angel's Game

2010-04-01T08:54:00.010+08:00

The Angel's Game (Spanish: El juego del ángel) by Spanish author Carlos Ruiz Zafón. This book is a prequel to The Shadow of the Wind (got it as my present and looking forward to read it!). Thanks to a friend who introduced this book to me. It's been a long time since I read such fictions. The adventure, romance and tragedy blended well in the story. Hence, making it seductive. The author gave a brief yet in-depth description of the culture of Barcelona. People who love mysteries and thrillers should try reading this.

Completed on 28 Feb 2010.

诞辰

2010-03-28T23:55:00.004+08:00

阳历3月28日，诞辰。
感谢双亲牵手把我带到这世上，给我爱心，关心，耐心。
感谢朋友们为我庆祝，给的热情及友情。

从去年的惊喜到今年的庆生，感谢朋友们的陪伴及精心的安排与祝福。
生日的意义，因人而异。
对我而言，生日是家人或朋友聚会的机会。是联络感情的机会。

20岁了，迈入了人生的另一个阶段。
在未来的十年里，要努力达成人生目标，努力提升自己。

Chocolate Banana Muffins

2010-03-22T14:10:00.004+08:00

Muffin with almond flakes on top.

(L) Muffins with banana slices on top.
(R) Muffins with almond flakes on top.

Photos taken on 22nd March 2010 at home.

Haven't been baking for more than a month. Baked some chocolate banana muffins today. I added some banana slices in the muffins, some added on top too. As usual, I like to add some other ingredients such chocolate chips, almond chips, almond flakes and raisins. Cocoa powder was added to make them brownish. I would prefer the one with banana slices on top though looks ugly.

P.S. Happy 17th birthday, Sis.

咏菊

2010-03-20T15:49:00.005+08:00

Photo taken on 16th Feb 2010 in FGS, Jenjarum.

唐·太宗《赋得残菊》

阶兰凝暑霜，岸菊照晨光。

露浓希晓笑，风劲浅残香。

细叶抽轻翠，圆花簇嫩黄。

还持今岁色，复结后年芳。

菊花为中国四君子之一。菊花历来都被视为孤标亮节，高雅傲霜的象征，代表名士的斯文及友情。就因为这样，我们常在丧礼送上菊花，主要是代表我们对已驾返瑶池的亲友们献上最深的敬意。可是，有些人竟误会菊花只能送给已逝世的人。之所以，当我们送上菊花是，就会误以为说我们在诅咒他们早点归天。

我一向都喜欢菊花, 不管是翠菊、瓜叶菊或是法国小菊都喜爱。（基本上，总之是花，都是我的最爱。）每当看见任何花，不管它们已绽放或是含苞待放，都会忍不住拍下来。新年期间，在偶然的机遇下去了佛光山。由于他们举办了菊花展，所以公园里到处都是菊花。那个场景让我想起了《满城尽带黄金甲》这部电影。

Baking before Chinese New Year

2010-02-12T21:36:00.006+08:00

Chewy oatmeal cookies.

Chocolate chip cookies.

Cookies jar.

Photos taken on 12 Feb 2010 at home.

Baked two kinds of cookies today: chewy oatmeal cookies and chocolate chip cookies. As for the chewy oatmeal cookies, I doubled up the recipe to bake more. I didn't add the almond nibs in the bater as I forgot but just decorated on the cookies as shown in the picture. Well, I used a different recipe today for chocolate chip cookies. I added almond nibs and some cocoa to make it more brownish but not to the extent too dark as like the previous one (Chef Wan's recipe). This would be the last time of baking before chinese new year.

Chewy Oatmeal Raisins Cookies

2010-02-10T13:17:00.005+08:00

Before baking.

Fresh from oven.

Photo taken on 10 Feb 2010 at home.

Started to bake once I woke up in the morning. Tried this recipe that I found few days ago, thought of baking more varieties of cookies to try. This recipe is different from others as it doesn't require any butter (but I used some butter to grease the pan). I guess I will for one more time before going back to hometown for Chinese New Year.

Almond Tuiles

2010-02-08T20:32:00.006+08:00

Over-baked.

Just nice!

Photo taken on 8 Feb 2010 at home.

Didn't blog for two days. Well, I was away due to working as weekend promoter. Anyway, back to baking again today. I decided to try on Almond Tuiles since my mum like almond so much and I like Almond Tuiles a lot too. It's not cheap and hard to find ready made ones in the market. Making these are easy but the tricky part was the heat control. Due to the thinness, I'll have to keep on track of the heat and baking time. Another important step is storage. The biscuits are really crispy but if you leave it longer, then they'll probably absorb moisture and become not crispy. Hopefully I can bake Almond Tuiles more perfectly.

Colours

2010-02-05T22:00:00.008+08:00

Bluish purple morning glory

Insect on a pink morning glory

Pinky

Yellowish orange sunflower

Shades of yellow

White rose

Photos taken on 12th Dec 2009 in Cameron Highlands.

I have the passion towards flowers all the while. Couldn't stop taking pictures of those lovely flowers with various colours. There are still thousands of them out there yet to be discovered.

Life is like Lalang

2010-02-04T19:04:00.006+08:00

Lalang.

Photo taken on 24th Dec 2008 in Ipoh.

Life is like Lalang.

Ordinary yet is unique in it's own way.

Useless,

but also part of the greenery.

Chocolate Chip Cookies.

2010-02-03T21:10:00.004+08:00

Fresh from oven.

Photo taken on 3 Feb 2010 at home.

Baked again today with sis help. Baked the chocolate chip cookies upon mum's request. I used Chef Wan's recipe but still altered some to mix and match. The cookies I made are a little sweeter, maybe because of the white chocolate that I added due to lack of chocolate chips (sis chopped the almond white choc). Same as the previous choc + cornflakes + oatmeal cookies, I added some oatmeal to make it more crunchy and fragrant.

Choc + Cornflakes + Oatmeal Cookies

2010-02-02T23:10:00.004+08:00

Nicely kept in the containers.

Brown.

Photos taken on 2 Feb 2010 at home.

Baked again today. This time altered the recipe a little. I added some cocoa to make it into chocolate cookies but it seems that I need to add more. I substituted a little cornflakes with oatmeal. I didn't even try one as I'm afraid it's too heaty. I guess I should start trying to bake cakes or pies later on.

Cookies Time

2010-02-01T22:26:00.004+08:00

Texture before baking

Done!

Photos taken on 1st Feb 2010 at home.

Baked cornflakes cookies today. Got the recipe from Pn. Yap Rio who taught me Kemahiran Hidup class. My first attempt baking was in Form 3 with classmates and teacher. This time is on my own. Thankfully it was successful just that maybe I baked too long and caused the colour to be more brownish. I hope that I can try more recipes in future.

Charcoal Factory

2010-01-31T12:19:00.005+08:00

Charcoal kiln. Look at the pic and just imagine how dusty it is.

Wooden logs.

A closer look on wooden logs.

The mode of transport for the wooden logs-transport through waters.

A charcoal factory in Kuala Sepetang (Port Weld), Taiping. We stopped by on our way back home during the trip in December last year. The first impression was BLACK. It was very hot and dusty in the factory. Too bad I didn't bother much about the charcoal making process, just roughly know about it. The wooden logs they used are from mangroves. The area around are mangrove swamps. They actually have a program or tour for students to the forest and they will explain the whole process including how they choose a tree to produce charcoal later on. Quite an interesting visit.

Pinang Peranakan Mansion Architecture

2010-01-30T15:15:00.006+08:00

The iron gate with beautiful vintage european design.

English floor tiles.

Hai Kee Chan or Sea Remembrance Store which once served as the residence and office.

Wooden window panes.

A small section of the mansion.

Side balcony with beautiful vintage grills.

Air well.

Balcony.

Windows of the mansion.

Photos taken on 12th Dec 2009 during a trip to Penang.

These are part of the Pinang Peranakan Mansion in Penang. It's a typical home of a rich Baba which originally belonged to Kapitan Chung Keng Kwee (I still remember we studied about him for Form 2 Sejarah, the Ghee Hin Clan). I'm glad that this trip to Penang (last December holidays) was a fruitful one. Penang was our first stop. We are thankful that mum reunited with her old course mate there whom she lost contact with more than 20 years. He is working as a tour guide for part-time and introduced many places in Penang old town. Well, partly due to the Singaporean drama The Little Nyonya (chinese: 小娘惹) which we crazed before then. It's an eye-opening experience for us especially the architecture of the mansion. It's magnificent! Just imagine how rich was the owner to built such a nice mansion. This is only the outer part. The interior will definitely amaze you.

Langkawi Island

2010-01-29T11:11:00.007+08:00

KILIM Geoforest Park

Eagles fighting for target. They actually saw their target high up in the sky before skydiving down to grab.

The so called Shoe Island. Looks more like a resting rat to me.

Up at the skybridge in Oriental Village, enjoy the scenery and the cooling weather too!

Scenic mountain view.

Dayang Bunting Marble Geoforest Park.

The lake in the island. A place for fish spa.

Photos taken in Langkawi Island on 26-27 Dec 2008.

Another backdated post worthwhile to be posted. There wasn't much attractions back in a decade ago (my last visit before this was more than a decade ago). Glad that they make use of Malaysia rich nature resources and turned them into Geoforest Park. They even got some UNESCO recognition or something. It's really a good place to visit for nature lovers like me! Hope that I can discover more pro-nature places in future.

Beach of Passionate Love

2010-01-28T17:03:00.005+08:00

Photos taken on 28th Jan 2009 at Pantai Cahaya Bulan.

Stopped at Kelantan and stayed for a night at the Beach of Passionate Love (Pantai Cinta Berahi) or now they changed the name to Pantai Cahaya Bulan. It's still PCB anyway. The beach is long and the place around there is super dark at night. We woke up early before dawn just to watch the sunrise. Nice scenery once again!

One thing I love about Kelantan is their Nasi Dagang. Anyone going there should give it a try. They offer some Thai food there as they are near to Thailand. The environment there is quite peaceful and harmony. No wonder they can prosper. It's really a nice place to visit.

Lake Kenyir

2010-01-27T14:54:00.005+08:00

Photos taken on 28th Jan 2009 at Lake Kenyir.

A backdated post.

Went for an adventure with family around this time last year (chinese new year period) to north. We toured around a few states in few days-Perak, Kedah, Kelantan, Terengganu. Passed by Pahang and back to Selangor. Pity dad had to be our driver and kind of driving non-stop on the way back home.

Hope we'll have more adventures in future. I love adventures! Nice scenery and food!

Red Apples

2010-01-26T22:06:00.006+08:00

Photos taken on 26th Jan 2010 at home.

Can't resist the red-ness of the apples.

Kinda miss the days where 53 apples were together having fun and being crazy.

Waiting

2010-01-25T21:21:00.006+08:00

Photo taken on 25th Jan 2010 at home.

Waiting for the spark from heaven to fall.

Quote by Matthew Arnold.

Spades and Heart

2010-01-24T22:24:00.005+08:00

Spades

Heart

Photo taken during Yong Tau Foo dinner on 24th Jan 2010.

Twisting around the sauces out of boredom from sis' creative mind.

Life Is That Flower

2010-01-23T13:39:00.003+08:00

Photo taken on 24th Jan 2010 at my house garden

Life is that ever lasting flower
The flower that is always in constant bloom
People are that dying powder
That cause the flower to slowly consume
People cause the flower to die
Just as fast as those bees fly
People don’t care about the flower
They just care about the nectar it brings
They care about the flowers sweet things
Only a few care to keep the flower in bloom
Only a few are worried when the flower is doomed
The flower is life that ever lasting thing
Life is something that is truly a blessing
Once you poor that powder on our flower
Life will descend and we will follow in a whirlpool of sorrow
Because life is that ever lasting flower
So treat our flower correct, and we may just see tomorrow

A poem by Everett Smith.

Lotus Blossom

2010-01-22T15:21:00.005+08:00

Photo taken during a visit to Penang on 12th Dec 2009.

Nurtured by the words of the wise
with each rain drop calling His name
in an infinite shower of love
the lotus blossom gently unfolds
as by its very nature must
and displays the centre of beauty
free from attachment
free from fear
free from anger
the still, unmoving heart.

A poem by David Taylor.

Muffin Mania

2010-01-20T22:49:00.008+08:00

Haven't been baking for ages. Finally, baked some muffins today after cooking lunch as usual. Well, good thing for these days, we have pre-mix ingredients for muffins. Of course, it'll be much cheaper if you mix on your own. Luckily, it turned out to be perfect. I tried something different this time. Usually, I prefer some jam or maybe chocolate chips for the fillings in the muffin. But this time, due to the unpopular tiramisu white chocolate with almond at my home, I used it as the fillings. One for each muffin, fattening! But I always can't resist food as usual. I live to eat!

Fresh from oven

改变

2010-01-19T16:47:00.004+08:00

每当新的一年来临时, 很多人都会有新一年的决议.
但试问, 又有几个人能做得到呢?
做不到, 那不就是空口白谈吗?
有些人是希望在新的一年里给自己一个改变的机会.
改变是件好事, 但也需要极大的勇气.
只要有勇气踏出第一步, 那就成功了一半.
有些人往往都是害怕失败, 所以在踏出第一步之前就犹豫了很久.
当然, 在犹豫的过程中, 有很多是决定不要冒险.
人生本来就是一场赌局, 有输也有赢.
往往重要的不是结果, 而是过程.
改变的过程中, 必定会经历不少.
那些经验或许在现在没什么意义, 但可能在将来就是你需要的那个东风.
很多问题其实并不在难度, 而是个人的态度!

Old and young

2009-08-25T09:03:00.004+08:00

Scattered

2009-08-24T00:40:00.001+08:00

公中武术之夜 2009

2009-04-29T18:07:00.015+08:00

辛苦了这么久, 首次举办的公中武术之夜终于圆满结束了! 武术协会首次举办这类型的活动, 可说是一点经验也没有, 有的只是表演的经验. 我们只用了短短的半年时间来筹备, 武术协会的上上下下都投入在内.

在武术之夜的前三至四个月前, 表演者已经开始锻炼身体. 所谓:''台上三分中, 台下十年工'', 我们每个星期练习三天, 表演接近的三个星期, 似乎每天都有练习. 尤其是武术组的表演者, 最辛苦的是他们了. 从替能训练到表演套录, 我们都尽力去做到最好表现给大家. 我相信, 当大家看了表演后所播的 slide show, 我们其中有些会顿时觉得很感动, 不禁掉泪.

经过那么多天的练习, 表演者之间的感情也变得更密切了. 太极组和传统螳螂组的, 尤其在最后一个星期时, 我们在休息和练习时刻都会交流与说笑. 虽然我们之间年龄的差距有几年, 可是有他们这一群可爱又天的小弟弟, 让我们在累的时候带来笑声. 除了学习到与不同阶层人沟通的方式, 团体合作精神, 也改进了自己打太极的招式.

在这段日子中, 翘了无数的课, 但这并非是件坏事. 或许它现在没带来什么好处, 可是我相信它无形中会帮助我. 谢谢老师, 谢谢师兄, 谢谢同伴们!

武术之夜最重要的人-Kah Chun (Ketua Persembahan)

曾被误认是我弟弟的小敏杰

平时很爱发表的Yee Yang

时常和我一起练太极刀的Bryan

Amanda 与她疯狂于的全场最受欢迎的男生Ding Wei

勤于练习的Siew Yee

好动又活泼的泽松, 颂哲 & Yi Ren (Rain)

Chia Feng

武女英歆

三位太极的美女

看似严肃却又好玩的佳杰

blur blur 的太极高手Zee How

超有型的立晨 (Orange)

Yi Wen & Sze Yin

太极组

Belated Birthday Present

2009-04-06T20:46:00.004+08:00

Thanks a lot, Kar Yee for the lovely photo frame and also Jun Fai for the wine chimes.
I guess these two should last for long, perhaps my lifetime.

Thank you!

Thank You!

2009-03-31T20:40:00.006+08:00

A sincere THANK YOU to my friends all for the birthday wishes and presents! Received many wishes from SMS, phone calls, blog dedication, Facebook and Friendster. Thanks for remembering my birthday!

I do appreciate what you all did for me especially my U6S classmates. Thank you all for the Red Box of papers with birthday wishes. You all are really creative! Thanks to Kwan Seng, Yan Ping and Seow May for the banner with ''Happy B'day Jeen''. Sorry for being cold and did not give a response that's up to you guys' expectation but I'm really touched.

Thank you Zhao Ying, Jit Teng, Boon, Kong Sime and Jing Xin for the pen with my name on it and the bottle of chocs.

Thank you Andrew for the 白斩鸡. Your cooking skills are really not bad. The chicken tastes good.

Thank you Ting King for the butter cake that you baked with your mum.

My 19th birthday was memorable to me. I will always remember it.

Sixth Form Interschool Games & Gathering 2009

2009-03-14T22:52:00.005+08:00

Gathering on yesterday was quite good, though I didn't have chance to participate in the games.

Today's Inter school Games was really great. Games committee had done a great job, they can really cope well with a sudden change of plan.

Congratulations to SMK Taman SEA who emerged as the champion. CHSsian are not bad too as we got the same marks with them.

I can't believe that I signed up or Basketball 5 on 5, although I'm only the substitute. We eventually got the third. Great try for my fellow teammates-Miao Ling, Ying Cheng, Mei Qi, Ching Sin, Zi Wei, Min Hui and Teresa! You girls are considered not bad as we had intensive training only on yesterday.

Same as for Captain Ball, I was just to replace Denise. I planned to become 'vase' again for this game. First game was with La Salle. We have advantage because we have tall guys. Second game was with Taman SEA team B. We won again. Finally, we had our final game with Taman SEA team A. First half-game, we were about 2 marks behind them. We noticed their tactics of passing the ball and replan our tactics as well. My muscles nearly got cramped on the first half-game due to strenuous non-stop four and a half hours of wushu training although I did stretching. Second-half, WE WON! In this game, girls get 2 marks whereas boys only get 1 mark for each ball they passed. U-Phun, Qi Xiong, Tze Siang, Han Yong, Melissa, Teresa, Andrew and also Chris, Ting King, 辛苦你们了!

Really salute those iron men who joined every game and still won. I guess I had excessive exercise and will be having again on the following week. Another week of strenuous wushu training...

Cross country

2009-02-14T19:08:00.008+08:00

Today is Valentine's Day but CHS students are required to participate in the cross country activity.

My class is P1, had to run 5km in 40 minutes time. I was surprised that I got the 25th place in my class. I completed the run in about 30 minutes time. However, I was disqualified. I guess the reason is one checkpoint less. There were 3 checkpoints where QM members will jot down your number for confirmation.

I was quite disappointed with QM. Besides me, there's lots more people who were disqualified too. The saddest part is Kar Jun. He got the 5th in L1 and yet because of ONE checkpoint, he was DISQUALIFIED. I heard teachers will do a survey on why so many people disqualified. It's a good thing as I doubt QM's efficiency and their well-known professional skills. Can't totally blame QM, they had already work very hard to make this day successful. I think maybe because of the small kids that blocked the QM's vision.

It's already over, H1069. At least I know that myself can run. This is only the beginning, still have tougher wushu training in the coming weeks and months.

Last but not least, congratulations to all who completed the run! Happy Valentine's Day to all!

A Trip To Ipoh (2)

2009-01-22T14:23:00.009+08:00

Places to get nice food.
One famous salted chicken (盐局鸡) shop in Ipoh--Aun Kheng Lim.

Another nice place to have breakfast in Ipoh Old Town. Near Lorong Hale, Restoran Sin Lean Lee. My favorites are the iced coffee tarik and toast bread and half-boiled egg on top.

There are still lots of plcaes in Ipoh to get nice food, also another food heaven besides Penang.
Cordon Bleu Restaurant is famous for chicken chop. Its gravy is the best. The chicken chop somehow tastes better than the normal chicken chop that we can get in Western restaurants. The restaurant is situated near the Perak Cave. Too bad I didn't snap a pic of it.

Tried a lot of food besides these. Will explore more in the coming holidays.

A Visit to Ipoh (1)

2009-01-20T14:53:00.012+08:00

I should have blogged about this about more than a month ago but dragged till now. Visited Ipoh during the December holidays. There's two things I like about Ipoh--the food and the ancient buildings.

St. Michael's Instituition (SMI)

The main building

Assembly ground (field)

At the basketball court

At the school's frontage. The sculpture named Deo Gratias.

A small door for storeroom, I guess.

A narrow passageway.

Standing at the badminton court.

Old window panes and grills.

Christmas at Pavillion

2008-12-13T22:28:00.014+08:00

Went to Pavillion today. There are lots of Christmas deco. Coincidentally, they have an event for Christmas. There were 6 Christmas dancing angels.

Christmas Trees

Christmas Dancing Angels

Dancing Angels with me

A Symphony for YouTube

2008-12-09T22:21:00.005+08:00

YouTube has created the first-ever collaborative online orchestra. Too bad I'm not good enough to join them.
Watch this! Especially the conductor!

愛不疚

2008-12-07T18:54:00.007+08:00

林峰 - 愛不疚 [ 家好月圓片尾曲/插曲 ]

收藏在眼眸常徘徊左右愛猜到沒有
愉快玩笑後能全然退後你開心就夠

這種感覺太親厚講一千句也不夠
假使講了你聽到後或會走
這種戀愛太罕有不須真正擁有
成全衷心祝福然後就放手

放手放開所有彼此更自由
放手其實我絕非愛得不夠
放手豁出所有還有這個好友
已經已經足夠

遙遠是宇宙靜靜在背後去看守就夠

這種感覺太親厚講一千句也不夠
即使一剎有過衝動挽你手
這種戀愛太罕有不須真正擁有
成全多捨不得仍然是放手

放手放開所有彼此更自由
放手其實我絕非愛得不夠
放手豁出所有還有這個好友
已經已經足夠

放手我的牽掛找不到盡頭
放手期望你幸福甚麼都有
也許愛很深厚然而我早看得透
放手至可擁有

*这首是我喜欢的一首动人的歌曲.歌词的含义也很有意思.
Taman Negara Trip 时,这也是L6A 同学的最爱.

Photos of Taman Negara Trip

2008-12-05T01:40:00.014+08:00

Here are some pictures taken in Taman Negara.

Upcoming U6S

Committee members of Taman Negara Trip

Group picture at Canopy Walkway
Human pyramid (Girls)

Group 1 building sandcastle

Kwan Seng, me and U-Phun
Tze Siang and me

Group 1 singing
Chris and Yuk Hoong
Yuk Hoong, me and Caleb

Last Day at Taman Negara

2008-12-01T20:59:00.008+08:00

27 Nov

Almost everyone woke up late due to sleeping late on the night before. Everyone started packing after our breakfast. Then, it's time for treasure hunt, our last activity before we leave TamanNegara. However, everyone was busy becoming models at that time. Photo shooting session!

We left Taman Negara at 11.00am. Stopped at Jerantut for an hour plus for lunch. After lunch, everyone was like so energetic and became crazy. We had a lot of fun in the bus, interacting with one another. After a heavy traffic jam due to raining and it's after work, we finally arrived ESSO petrol station at 6 something. All of us went back home accordingly.

Group Photo

3rd Day at Taman Negara

2008-11-29T18:57:00.008+08:00

26 Nov

Woke up by Yuk Hoong's morning call. I guess we were too tired till couldn't hear the alarm...

After breakfast, all of us were prepared--changed into dirty clothes. Our first activity of the day was to explore Gua Telinga. It was another muddy track before arriving our destination. A careless move will cause you a fall as it was really slippery. Thanks to my group members who constantly offering help to cross the mud...

Firstly, guess why it's called Telinga instead of mulut, hidung or mata? Because it looks like telinga? That's what Mr Atan asked us before going into the cave. Well, a more accurate answer will be because it's like our ears, the deeper the narrower. It's 80 metres long, kinda short for me. Before we started our adventure, a few of us were attacked by leeches. Rex was leeches favorite, I guess--attacked by two at his foot. Amanda yelled and screamed for help once she noticed leech was going to start sucking blood. She was terrified and haven't even calm down when we started our cave exploration. It was so kind of Mr Atan that he asked Amanda to walk after him, just to take care of her along the way in the cave. I guess this was the starting point when Amanda fell in love with him.

Journey into the cave started with our torch lights on. It was dark inside and the path was narrow. Most of the time we were climbing and squeezing through the rocks. We had a short time enjoy watching the bats hanging themselves on the walls of the cave, small and black. At one time, Mr Atan told me that a few bats were just directly on top of my head. Well, didn't look up as I was afraid that bats dung will fall onto my face. We saw sunlight after a short period in the cave. We were quite surprised as the journey was too short. Some of us even joked that there should be another cave as Telinga (ear)--we have two ears. Hence, should have another cave. Ahaha. We tracked out of muddy area again, this time nearly fell a few times as it was more slippery after so many people walking past it. Thanks to my group members again for lending a hand. Otherwise, I would have soaking in the mud! We were the first group (Group 1) to complete our exploration.

We went to a small island to wait for the others. Over there, our guide Mr Atan, showed off his skills again--building sandcastle and a crocodile. Once again, Amanda was amazed by his talent. After every group has arrived, we enjoyed the water for a while before competing building sandcastle. Well, every group has to protect their castle being invaded by other people. I guess all of us were just enjoy destroying castles as those castles couldn't be saved. The next was the human pyramid. There were two group of guys. Each group 10 persons and they have to form a pyramid, see who's the fastest. It was the girls' turn after that. Initially, we planned to have 5 persons as the base. However, we failed to do so. I was at the third layer. Those who were the base were trying their best to be firm and stable. We went back to hostel wet, 110% wet... Had our lunch in wet condition...

Later in the afternoon was the water confident activity. We went to another part of the river for this activity. While waiting for other groups to arrive, Mr Atan taught some of us to produce sound by putting a thin slice of grass in between thumbs and suck the air. One of his talents, though and this amazed Amanda too. It was raining there and we were already in wet condition. So cold and some was shivering when the guides were demonstrating how to wear the life jackets and what to do if our kayak capsized. Every group was ''given a chance'' to test our confidence in the water. The water was really really cold and plus the chilling wind with the rain... Many of us were shivering in the water.

The kayak race started after that. We were divided into teams according to groups. Each group will have 4 to 5 teams. Each team has 3 members, 2 will kayak whereas another one will be in the middle to protect the two eggs given. First round, my team members were You Siang and Andrew. I was the one who hold the eggs. Kwan Seng said I was using 醉蛋拳, haha. We were the first team to reach at the other side of the river because our kayak just moved in straight whereas some groups went a big circle before reaching. I was in the middle sitting on the kayak, very very unstable. If the kayak capsized, i will be the first one who falls into the water. Luckily, I adjusted my position according to the kayak's position. Initially, our kayak was not stable and moved very fast, maybe nervous. Luckily, You Siang and Andrew worked along well. After we reached the other side, I passed on my eggs to Chia Lit and told him the way I hold the eggs and balancing on the kayak. Our group were the fastest until the team (Rex, Amanda and Qi Xiong) 's kayak capsized. However, Amanda was really responsible. She really PROTECT the eggs! When she fell into the water, she was still holding the eggs! Eventually, our group was still the champion. Two groups had lost their eggs...

Dinner time. We had BBQ dinner. I guess most of us will expect to barbecue the chickens and sausages ourselves but it turned out to be the workers there barbecued for us... I was one the first few who had dinner. Pn Teh sat there waiting for her vegetarian dinner long time before us and kept reminding us to peel off the part that's burnt and not cooked (黑的不要吃, 不熟的也不要吃). She repeated this phrase like every minute till Andrew couldn't stand it. And a while later, Chia Lit even told teacher that his hand phone has recorder, can lend it to teacher. Haha. Since then, Pn Teh asked us to repeat to the others whenever there were people taking food. The guys repeated the phrase in whatever creative ways, in Malay and also English but teacher scolded them as teacher said it in Chinese! Haha.

After dinner was supposed to be our campfire night but too bad rainy days and we couldn't get dry wood and leaves. We had some discussion between the guides and us, to confess whatever we were not satisfied. However, most of us expressed our gratitude to the guides and admired them for their wonderful skills and talents. Later, every group was required to present either a sketch or song to make it as fast as possible because most of us want our leisure time to interact with friends. Our group, the easiest I guess--a song. Andrew brought his guitar and we just sang along. Initially, we planned to sing Manbai's Kau Ilhamku to dedicate it to the guides but in the end we sang 朋友 instead and Andrew sang that Malay song alone. Few of us holding the lantern and there's a fireworks at Andrew's guitar. Till now I have no idea where they get those stuffs from. Kar Jun's group did a short sketch about 射人先射马, 擒贼先擒王 but don't really understand what were they trying to express. Kwan Seng's group sang 童话 but they altered a bit. The funniest group was U-Phun's group, each of them take turns to tell cold jokes (冷笑话). Some were really funny but some were totally COLD. After the performances ended, all of us had our leisure time. I guess many of us slept at around 3am.

Group 1 sandcastle

Team A kayak racing

Second Day at Taman Negara

2008-11-28T20:25:00.005+08:00

Nov 25

Woke up by Ching Sin's alarm at 6.30am. Went brushing teeth and washing face before having breakfast.

Our first activity was jungle trekking and canopy walk at Bukit Teresik. The rain on the night before caused to track to be a bit slippery. We moved in groups and different routes with our own guides. Mr Atan, the experienced mountain guide (he was a Gunung Tahan mountain guide for 11 years) lead us all the way up and talked something about the plants which we were not exposed in textbooks, such as Tongkat Ali (for blood circulation), Tapak Hantu leaves (for blood circulation as well), Senduduk family leaves (for women after childbirth). According to Mr Atan, the Senduduk leaves were used by women in olden days who wants to look as the same as anakdara (slim body) and to those janda who wants to remarry.

We went up to the hill just to have a glimpse of Gunung Tahan. It's just a normal mountain view, anyway. Halfway down the hill, Mr Atan showed us some stones (forget what's the name) which can produce some colour when you wet it and rub on the other rocks. It was interesting and you can make a tattoo or some decorative items using that.

After that, we went for canopy walk. It is the world's longest walk, I guess. It winds over 400 meters in the forest canopy, about 25 metres above the ground. I was enjoying the greenery while walking on the suspension bridge. Too bad, all green and just a small variety of plants down there. Our group was the first who completed the jungle trekking and canopy walk. That's why we had to wait for other groups at the canopy walkway station.

After taken our group photo, we walked out the hill on our own, not in groups either. Problems arouse, some were lost and ''lost contact'' with others. I guess the whistles were useless as other group of people ahead of my group of people could not hear us. Chia Lit was the last person to come out from the jungle as he turned back to look for other members. We realised that he was not with us until lunch. Thank God he knows the way back.

After lunch, we had boat race and rapid shootings and also a visit to Orang Asli settlements. There were 4 perahu-like speedboats. Each group in a boat and 2 seats per row. We were splashed and wet with water by the guides even before the boat started to move! When all 4 boats racing in the river, all of us had a great time to get wet. No one was in a dry condition.

We stoppped at the Orang Asli's settlement to visit them. According to the Head Guide, there are 5 aboriginal groups in Taman Negara. We visited the Batek people, they are just like Africans! They demonstrated their skills to set up fire and hunting using the sumpits made by bamboos. Kwan Seng was the first to try to set up fire but unsuccessful. Andrew continued and eventually smoke was produced. Ahaha. The young girls and his future mother-in-laws up there were watching him. Head Guide said he has a potential to be the menantu, haha. The sumpits, seems interesting. Some of us tried out. Some of us were distributing some goods that we brought to the people there.

Next, we stopped at the streams to have our leisure time. Most of us were enjoying the cool water and natural jacuzzi. Those who were dry were splashed with water by the guys. All of us had fun including those who were playing with the colour stones at the other side. Too bad, time flies and we have to go.

Went to bathe straight away when we were back to hostel. Same place to bathe. This time, I noticed the guys standing along the corridor and the balcony, waiting their turn to bathe, just like during fashion show...

Dinner time. Food was insufficient again. Those who were late have to sacrifice a little. Insect race and blind caterpillar walk as we planned before couldn't be carried out because of the RAIN! Insects won't be available for us if it rain. However, Kar Jun and his bio group members caught a number of Cicadas--big and noisy insects. We had our own activities the whole night. Some chatting in the rooms while some of us playing mafia.

First Day at Taman Negara

2008-11-28T13:22:00.011+08:00

Nov 24

Woke up before dawn and reached school at 6.30am, drizzling that time. Waited for everyone to arrive before we gathered at the netball court. Gathering was just for briefing and giving out the whistle and tit bits to everyone. We walked out to the petrol station under the rain.

Due to insufficient space, some travelled by bus while some squeezed into the van. People travelled by van had a hard time as there was no space for them to move around. We watched <跑吧,孩子!> on the bus. I was sleeping... Some people were singing and playing cards.

After a few hours journey, we FINALLY arrived. We had to walked a distance to our hostel. Guys and girls were separated and had different hostels. I guess girls got the worst hostels. After cleaning and unpacked our stuffs, we were called to gather at the central which was just in front of girls' hostels. Grouping was announced. There were 4 groups.

I was in Group 1 with all the crazy people which I can predict will have lots of fun with them. My fellow group members were Victor (Group leader), Qi Xiong, Ding Sheng, Andrew, Rex (the only one from L6A), Chia Lit, You Siang, Zhao Ying, Qing Li, Pei San, Amanda and Ching Sin.

Our first activity was ice breaking. Our task was to build a structure using drinking straws and cellophane tapes which is stable and tall. Victor came out with an idea of building it something like scouts pioneering tower. It came out just like Eiffel Tower! We worked together to build this. Some even spied on other groups. Other groups were equally good but we were the BEST! Mr Johari (our trip guide) asked the 4 group leaders to say something about their straw building. Surprisingly, all 4 group leaders were from L6S! They were really creative to crap about their structure. Kar Jun even talked something about the Chinese sticks story to relate to their bone-like structure! Group 4, as their building was too tall and it drooped down little by little. U-Phun explained that they PURPOSELY made it as it was like a tree, just imagine... After the explanations, it was the time to test whether the structure is stable. Some of us were asked to blow the buildings. We got the highest record! 8 seconds before it toppled. YEAH! Group 3 was disqualified as they were trying to do something. The building from other groups toppled down just in 1 second! Our group was treated ice-cream as present.

We had our leisure time for a while before dinner. I went bathing at the bathroom situated at the guys' hostels which were at the other end. It was far from our hostel, "山长水远'' to bathe... If it was dark, have to bring our torch lights as there were no lights on the way there. The bathrooms can't be locked, thanks to some guys who guarded outside for us!

After dinner, we had night jungle walk. We crossed the river to the other side of Taman Negara to start our activity. We were introduced to our activity guides. Mr Atan was our guide. He was really experienced. Night walk was exciting with the insects and spiders around. There were lots of termites and also leeches as it was a rainy day. We had a chance to see the deer at the watching tower. Besides, Mr Atan showed us the fluorescent mushrooms and fungus which are used by the aborigines during the night. We left the forest as the rain was getting heavier...

Sleeping time, I was attacked by my ''friends'' again even though I covered myself up as much as possible...

Ice Breaking Activity

Group 1

Group 2

Group 3

Group 4

Jade

2008-11-21T23:37:00.007+08:00

My new name, given by Ying Cheng, Yen Hsian and Miao Ling. Before this, only know jade as an ornamental stone and it sounds old-fashioned anyway. However, after I checked it out here, discovered a lot of uses and uniqueness of jade.

Below are some description of jade:
'Jade', or yu, as it is called in China, is strictly speaking a generic term for two different gems, nephrite and jadeite. The name is derived from the Spanish 'piedra de ijada', loin-stone, jade having been recognised by the Amerindians as a remedy for kidney ailments. Because of its beneficial effect on the kidneys, the stone was also known as 'lapis nephriticus'. That, indeed, is where the term 'nephrite' came from.

Jadeite and nephrite are both regarded in China as 'zhen yu', 'genuine jade'. It was not until the beginning of the 19th century that mineralogists and gemmologists started to differentiate between them, since they bear a considerable resemblance to each other in terms of their appearance, their hardness and the properties they exhibit when being processed. Both are tough, since they consist of dense, close-grained, matted aggregates, but they differ from one another in their chemical composition and colours. Nephrite ranges mainly from mid to dark green or grey-green, but it can also be white, yellowish or reddish. Rarer, and somewhat tougher, jadeite displays hues which include green, but also white or pink, and reds, blacks, browns and violets. In both minerals, the way the colour is distributed varies a great deal. Only in the very finest jade is the colour evenly distributed. Both nephrite and jadeite often have veins, blemishes and streaks running through them, though these may not always be regarded as flaws. On the contrary, some of these patterns are considered particularly valuable.

Symbolic energy and beauty, the traditional and the modern are combined in jade in a particularly harmonious way. And in gemstone therapy it is said that jade 'stimulates creativity and mental agility on the one hand, while also having a balancing and harmonising effect.' So this beautiful gemstone brings us joy, vivacity and happiness all at the same time.

I Can, therefore I am?

2008-11-19T17:08:00.006+08:00

我可以, 因此我就是. 这是 Simone Weil 的一个金句.

在这几个星期内, 同学们都一直"关心"彼此, 主要是要知道是否会放弃一科.
我依然坚持不要放弃, 不是因为我要成为模范生, 而是我不要让自己以后后悔.
若是放弃了才后悔,那已经无可返回了.

为了鼓励自己, 为了继续坚持下去, 为了不要后悔, 脑海里总是浮现老师们时常挂在嘴边的一句话: 以前的人做得到, 为什么你们不能? 有时我在想, 学业及成绩并不能代表一切, 甚至你的前途. 对中六生来说, 成绩就是一切. 成绩固然重要, 可是我认为不应该太在意成绩, 毕竟"成果不重要, 重要的是过程.'' 多数的人肯定认为我不太实际,可能还会叫我别做梦. 至少, 我们都在课业上尽了百分百的努力 (除了我之外). 应该要看得开, 成绩毕竟还是身外之物嘛.

我想, 自己还是做最坏的打算吧, 搞不好, 姐妹们可能全都加入 backbenchers 列行, 剩下我一个...
还是保持这个信念吧: I Can, therefore I am.

New Hobby?

2008-11-08T23:41:00.007+08:00

Recently, I realised myself has indulged in a new hobby. Perhaps, that shouldn't be happening. Maybe biology has a great impact on my life while I still didn't realise. New hobby, well... plucking plants instead of reading books on plants? That's biology's fault.

Biology, biology, biology.
Biology made me become sensitive to insects.
Biology made me become sensitive to plants.

I'm not blaming that I have to walk under the sun (even though there are few gentlemen holding the umbrella for me-really thanks to them!). Instead, I should be glad that we got to know each other more through this activity. Many secrets revealed though. Some may not appreciate the purpose of this activity but I think this about the experience thing and it may be just once in the lifetime.

Enjoy everything what you are doing.

Flies--New pets

2008-11-04T18:23:00.005+08:00

Today, did the dirtiest thing, I guess. Being a bio student, I have to sacrifice to be DIRTY... Oh my God! Many of us went to the rubbish dump to catch FLIES. I went as one of the legs of my fly was detached, I admit that I wasn't polite enough or maybe at that time, the fly was already hardened.

Went to the smelly and dirty rubbish dump with Seow May. Well, no choice. Everybody was busying with their pets in the bio lab. First time catching flies, no skill at all. I wonder how the guys catch flies. According to Boon, catching flies is easy. First time, of course will observe first. This is also one of the steps when we are doing experiments, right? (Observation? but do we really observe?)

We just have two plastic bags. After observing and trying to catch the flies a while, finally, I GOT IT! The flies there are really big and colourful! Catched one for Seow May and another for myself. Eventually, went back there to catch another one due to the same reason (leg detached again!!! I guess many of us experienced this also. Really geram!)

Catching flies is really easy as compared to cockroach. I guess maybe they don't have large brains like humans. Well, just need a plastic bag and a little patience to trap it. BUT the difficult part is preserving! Preserving flies are really tough! Eyes get tired easily as we need to focus on the flies which are really small. Another thing is the legs of the flies! They are really naughty even after they died. Legs are difficult to deal with, took really long time.

Thanks a lot Dr Choo Yan Ping! We had a hard time with the last fly we preserved. It was still alive even it inhaled a large amount of ethyl acetate. It really has very strong willpower to live on. This is the only good thing of the fly other than keeping the ecosystem balanced.

Hope will get a perfect cockroach soon.

My Little Pet

2008-10-31T16:41:00.006+08:00

Brought the smelly little pet to school today, planned to end its life today together with Zee.
Well, since we have free MUET period after recess, Zee and me were adventurous enough to start our project. Thanks to Bio class students, we managed to know the steps to preserve the cockroach.

We killed our cockroach with some chemicals, saw them struggling before death, guilty. Initially, there were many of them doing together and they left one by one, leaving behind Zee and me. Well, my little pet has its wings cacated, no choice to throw it away and help Zee out, our 爱情结晶. First time preserving insects, I thought I would puke or faint or ...... but it turned out to be fun!

We proceeded on with our classmates since Physics teacher didn't come into class. The guys went to catch more behind the school hall, thanks ya! They are really pro at catching cockroaches! Zee and me guided our classmates and having lots of fun doing that. I can't imagine next year when we have to dissect the rat... The chemicals stinks!

Preserving insect really need patience. Have to stand the chemical odour. Have to open its wings slowly and carefully (once broken considered 'sold'). Have to pin it nicely. Have to wait for it to be baked. Have to inject chemicals into it through a small hole (its butt). Have to apply chemicals on its body (just like applying butter on the bread). Have to sunbathe it.

Next target: My dear flies. Wait for me.

Scientific Symposium

2008-10-29T19:06:00.007+08:00

25 Oct 2008 (Sat)

About 20 of us from L6S and L6B went to Corus Hotel for the Scientific Symposium in the honour of Dr. Rayson Huang. We were there to celebrate his 88th birthday and of course the main purpose was the talk about free radicles.

Who is he? Well, he's Papa Goh and Mama Goh's professor, which means he's our great-grandpa? He's a great man (repeated many times by the speakers). He was the first Chinese Vice-Chancellor of the University of Hong Kong and the first Chemistry professor in our country. He really contributed a lot. I found his autobiography in Wikipedia.

All the speakers present were his students. Besides introducing and talking about free radicals, they were also refreshing their memories with Dr. Rayson. Oh my God, that was the hardest moment to get through. It was long and quite boring... Although it was quite boring sometimes, but I believed we learnt something. At least we know that not all free radicals are bad and tocotrienol is better for us rather than alpha-tocpherol.

Besides the information that I gained, I found my ''long-lost sister''. Too bad, she can't recognise me...

Me and Dr Cheng ''my long-lost sister''
(Picture taken by Yuk Hoong)

At the end of the talk, we were given an autobiography of Dr. Rayson Huang-A Lifetime in Academia.

Tagged by Tze Siang

2008-09-29T13:06:00.007+08:00

Instructions:Remove 1 question from below and add in a personal question, make it a total of 19 questions. Then tag 8 people in your list, list them out at the end of this post. Notify them in their chat box that he/she has been tagged.

1. What are your nicknames?
''Jeen Jeen'', Jeen Kecil, Ah Jeen... (a lot more)

2. What is your most favourite thing to do?
Sleep

3. What kind of news do you read?
Every news if possible

4. What would you give up in return to eat all you want in the world and not get fat?
No idea

5. Do you believe you can survive without money?
Maybe can try it out for one month...

6.What are you afraid to lose the most?
Freedom

7. What do you feel like doing right now?
Have enough of rest

8. If there’s someone that you love, would you confess to him/her?
Depends

9.List out 3 good points of the person who tagged you.
a.Handsome
b.Capable
c.(Let him fill in himself)

10.What are the requirements that you wish from your other half?
A human

11.What is the thing that will make you think he/she is bad?
Inhuman

12.If you had to eat one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Bread, since bread can have lots of variety

13.If you had a choice to be rich or happy, which one would you pick?
Rich

15.If you have a chance, which part of your character you would like to change?
Hot-temper

16.How do you see yourself in 10 years time?
Working hard?

17.What is the one thing you love about yourself?
Rational?

18.What is the type of song you like to listen to(Music Genre)?
Classics

19. What kind of supernatural powers u think u hav..?
Able to sleep for long hours (Is this considered one?)

Tag>>anyone who is interested.

Class Outing

2008-09-21T16:03:00.007+08:00

Class Outing

Date:19/8/08
Objective:增进彼此感情的桥梁
Time:下午一时正 (不见不散)
Venue:嘉星坡

Basically, this was what the guys wrote on our whiteboard. Our class had our outing on last Friday (19/9/08). No one noticed the month of the date was wrong until Ms Leela pointed it out. Haha. And due to out delayed Taman Negara meeting, we started our journey to Bukit Gasing around 2pm. Actually, our objective was to 采 fern (it sounds like 踩粪, right?).

There's 15 of us, went up the hill to collect Dryopteris but it seems there's only other species of ferns but not Dryopteris. We managed to find our ''target'' along the roadsides, though. I guess besides having fun during our jungle trekking, we had a lot of fun when we were finding the ferns at every corner of the roadside as we didn't had enough of fern. We made sure everyone got one then only left.

Thanks to the three drivers--Jit Teng, Tze Siang and Yuk Hoong for the transport. I think each and everyone of us contributed and I guess we did 增进彼此感情的桥梁. Haha. Hope that we will have more class outing next time for our projects.

Canon in D

2008-09-03T14:23:00.006+08:00

Combination of modern dance (break dance) and classical music. My favourite song.

3rd Day of 3E Camp

2008-08-23T20:41:00.006+08:00

17 Aug 08

Stepping on to the third day, which was also the last day of the camp. However, our activities were still full of surprises. Many of us woke up with muscle pains. I was also one of them as I did not really exercise for a long time.

First activity of the day is the Case Study. We were given a map of islands again. We have jungles, mangroves, desert, swamps, beach, caves and other STRANGE things. We did this activity with the categories group. We, as the parliament members were asked to develop the island into tourism attraction to contribute to the country. A manila card and 3 pieces of mahjong paper were given. We had to redraw the whole map, produce our own flag and coat of arm and also our accounts in about one and a half hours time! Thank god Mr William gave us extra time or else all of us couldn't complete our task. Zuo Hao and I even went to the canteen to collect the drinks and bread for the group members to eat in class. (We were so desperate...)

At first, all of us were like dead bodies. Probably because of the day before, we were all exhausted and had to wake up so early. Mei Qi took the initiative to start the discussion. We started off with our plan. Some of us proposed to turn the island into safari, educational camp site, extreme park and theme park. But finally, we agreed on the abnormal one which was the Olympic X'Treme Island. Probably, only those with crazy thoughts can think of this. Haha.
Well, Caleb, Pei San and I were just crapping about it before we proposed to the others. We did consider what to do with all the parts of the islands so that it wouldn't be wasted.

In the end, everyone agreed and discussed what to do with every parts of the island. Work was delegated among all of us. A few of them worked on the map which was the most important part. As Wee Shen learns Accounts, he was in-charge of our Accounts with Wei Jiat. Our figures were really scary, involved billions of USD. Some drew the flag which had the Olympics logo (although we messed up the colours; every colour represent something) and 12 stars with different colours on the top left side part of the flag. We added 12 hand prints later on which all linked together to represent 12 of us--UNITY. Caleb, Pei San and I did the coat of arm. Well, it was really deadly and weird! I guess anyone who saw that will think we are CRAZY!! Caleb was designing and explaining every object in the coat of arm what they actually represent. I was laughing all the while he's explaining!!!

Initially, our group were not really united. But I'm glad to see every member worked together later on. We were really proud of our ''product''. The map, the flag, the coat of arm and also the accounts. We put our effort to be more creative than others and to produce the very best pieces. Everyone of us in the group contributed and we really treasure the teamwork that we had.

We were called back to the lecture hall after the time was up. Every group pasted their ''products'' on the walls. Most of us went around to look at others' creations and some taking down photos. After that, all went for lunch.

After lunch, we gathered back at the lecture hall again. Mr William distributed the 3E Camp T-shirts (green) and white caps to us. We got back into the hall after we changed our shirts. We started our activity after that. Mr William asked us to collect 5 contacts and write a letter to one of them. Many of us took this opportunity to take new friends' contacts, especially guys who went around to ask for pretty girls' contacts. Haha, that's a norm... We were also required to write a letter to one teacher. Our class (L6S) agreed with Seow May's idea of writing to all of our class teachers. We chose some representatives to write the letters. In the end, I represented to write to Ms. Leela (our DEAR English teacher) and Pn. Tan Chai Tin (our beloved Maths teacher). Mr William will post the letters for us. We just need to write the address and paste the stamp.

The last activity. I guess Mr William wants us to be grateful. We were given 5 pieces of colour paper hearts. We were told to write Thank You note to any 5 persons present there and deliver to them. I wrote to Zhao Ying, Qing Li, Yu Xuan, Caleb, Sue Ping and Kwan Seng. Glad to receive hearts from Zhao Ying, Win Zee, Yuk Hoong, Kwan Seng, Andrew and U-Phun. Thanks to the hearts that you guys given to me!

After that was the prize giving ceremony. We received a lot of goodies including dictionary, books, files, bags, notebooks and pens from colleges. Mr William is really good at searching for sponsors for us. He actually found sponsors from overseas which turned this camp into an international camp! J Group got the 7th for the alphabets group and Verbs got the last. Even though we are the last but at least we tried our very best and had fun together! We have 5 best campers for this camp, congratulations to them! I guess L6S is proud to have Zuo Hao (he still join us even though not totally recovered from chicken pox, kudos to Zuo Hao!!) and Kwan Seng as best campers. Jensen was the best among the best. He received an electronic dictionary!

RM50 for this camp is really worth! It's actually not about the goodies and the meals that we had but is the experience and fun that we had! I guess everyone who participated in this camp will agree with me. I really gained a lot in this camp--friendship, experience, confidence and most importantly being crazy and had fun!

2nd Day of 3E Camp

2008-08-20T17:04:00.009+08:00

16 Aug 08
Woke up before dawn. Seow May probably had a hard time to wake this sleeping pig up... After searching for my clothes in the dark, we went to the teachers' toilet for a bath. Thank God it was early and no one was there and we have the chance to choose the toilets. Well, although it's just enough for me to fit in the toilet but I managed to clean myself.

After bathing, saw the others just woke up. That's still only about 6am. Everyone was ready for breakfast before 7am. All of us waiting for the breakfast to be served. After the breakfast, our first activity of the day started. It's the Word Puzzle. Before we started our game, Mr William once again gave us a surprise. We need to form a new group again!! What!? How about the group before that then? Don't care, just continue with our next activity. We were divided according our first letter of the word we got. JUMP, started with J. So, all of our group members have initial J. I'm quite happy with this group as we have many Form 6 students in this group. Our group members are Hun Yen, Gabriel, Miao Ling, Kar Yee, Seow May, Andrew, Yuk Hoong, Charis, Yuk Chin, Kai Xin, Lizard and myself.

Another guardian angel was assigned to help us. He's the vice president. All of us went to a class in Block A to discuss and complete the task given. At last, the dicky served its purpose. There were few papers in the envelope. Each paper has one word to solve. There were 9 jumbled letters. We have to rearrange the letters and form the word. Besides rearranging them, we jotted down the meanings of the words too, just in case.

In a short time, the whistle was blown and all of us rushed back to the lecture hall again. Mr William collected all the envelopes and picked anyone of us to give the meanings of the words. This task was just a normal and unexciting activity. A young lady from StudyLink gave us a short talk about English. The only thing I learnt was how to speak CORRECTLY. You can actually test it. Just speak ''THE'' in front of your palm and feel whether there's a flow of air. If there is, that means you speak incorrectly. The proper way of speaking shouldn't have a flow a air.

After the talk, something more exciting had arrived. It's the Team Building. Although we were under the hot sun, we still enjoyed as much as possible. There were a few stations for us to go through. All of us were divided into 3 big groups and we have to pass all the stations. There were about 13 stations. I can feel that the games don't really need teamwork as like what Mr William told us. It's just fro the sake of passing through the games. This activity was not really interesting as I had experienced it many times during the previous camps that I joined.

After lunch, we assembled in lecture hall awaiting next surprise. Mr William however announced that we have two real groups. One was the alphabets group and another one was the categories group. Finally, he told us the truth. We carried out different activities for different groups. In that way, we have more opportunity to mingle with others. The next activity was the Amazing Race. I guess it's the most exciting and exhilarating activity among all.

This activity was carried out according categories group. In this activity, Catholic High School has become the world. We have different countries at different areas of the school. There were many countries, such as Japan, Kuwait, Cambodia, England, France and others. Each group chose an envelope which have the coat of arm of a country. The first task required us to find out which country the coat of arm belongs to. Verbs was fortunate as we got Australia. The word ''AUSTRALIA'' was found in the coat of arm. So, we just have to find where the station was.

Miss Australia gave us an envelope that contained the clue for our next task. We were required to complete the task using the clue given. What we know were to find the YELLOW HUDGENS SWEETS. 12 group members, 12 sweets. After completing this task, using the clue that we got, we have to complete the next ones. All the tasks really requires teamwork and brains. Most of tasks have something to do with English. Some may need dictionaries. There's one station that we have to look up for all the meanings of the words and the committee in charge will examine us. Jie Min as Mr William's student brought his Vocabulary exercise book and all the meanings were found in his exercise book!! We quickly copy down the meanings and all of us memorised the meanings for a few words. Of course, there's some of us who checked the meanings behind the committee's back using hand phones. Haha.

For other tasks, we had to play Boggles and Scrabbles, drawing 16 animals which have initial S, solving word puzzles, making tuna sandwiches served with lemonade... The last one was back to lecture hall. We were the second group to return to lecture hall. We were given some pieces of the map and a few flags. We were supposed to pin the pieces of maps and flags on a big complete map of the world. Verbs have teamwork. Some of us check the countries which the flags belongs to. Two of them check through the Internet and Teck Chuan, the football fan checked using his hand phone. Even though he only knew the countries which participate in World Cup but I guess that already helped a lot. Haha, now only I know that watching football also has this advantage--know different countries through their flags.

I guess some of the groups did not complete the map part and were called back by Mr William to have dinner. We were given a plenty of time before the next activity started. The dinner I had on this day took the longest time ever to finish my meal. Haha. Of course, there must be Molly, Yuk Hoong, Jensen, Han Yong and Pei San to make me laugh throughout the dinner!! They are really good at making fun and talking nonsense!! Haha. Anyhow, really nice to have them as my friends. Life will not be boring then.

Our last activity of the day was to make a Christmas Tree. This activity was done with the alphabets group. We were divided among the group to collect the cap bottles, twigs, straws, sweets and saga seeds to decorate our Christmas Tree. Andrew went all the way to his dorm to take his things including stationary. He even brought his blue hair spray, toothpaste and hair cream!! Even though dunno what's the use of that but still brought them. Eventually, our creative minds will produce something special.

Hun Yen, Gabriel and Andrew connect and bind the twigs with tape while Miao Ling, Kar Yee, Seow May sticked the bottle caps on the treads. I was doing the easiest job, cutting the cellophane tape by using the window pane that Yuk Hoong took from 5S5 windows. This made my job much easier and faster. Once I mastered the technique, I can cut with a higher speed. Just in a minute, I became the expert in cutting the cellophane tape. Haha. We sprayed the tree with Andrew's blue hair spray and his hair cream--the snow. He even pulled the thread and decorated it as snow as well.

We rushed back with our Christmas Tree when Mr. William blew the whistle. All of us present our masterpieces in front. They are really creative. They can turn the waste into an art. Jensen's group idea was not bad. Their tree was on the lantern. Some of the groups even have light effects.

After that, we had our leisure time. L6S girls chatted with Chian Ping and Yuk Hoong till 2.45am before we all went to sleep. This was the most tiring day as the activities were mostly physical activities. Most of us were running here and there during the Amazing Race. All turned into sleeping pigs once we lied down...

3E--Enrich, Enhance, Empower

2008-08-19T23:34:00.005+08:00

Finally, I've got some time to update my blog. It's not because of I'm busy but I'm lazy. Really sorry to my dear friends who patiently waiting and reminding me to update. You guys even remembered the date of my last post.

15 Aug 08
At last, Lower Six first term exam was over. It's tough as I didn't study well. Even though if I fail in all the subjects, I won't be surprised. Just forget about the exam and look forward towards to the 3E Camp which Mr William assured that we wouldn't regret.

After school, mum brought me the big camping bag which stuffed with two sleeping bags, clothes and the English dictionary that we needed. Luckily, Kar Yee's car had some space for my bag. Her mum gave a lift and I went to Seow May's place for bath and lunch. We spent about 2 hours before Yuk Hoong fetch us to Universiti Malaya for the stem cell talk by Dr. Alan Colman.

''What cloning and stem cell research can do for you?'' It's actually the inaugural annual lecture of King's College London Alumni Malaysia. In short, it's King's lecture. That's what Dr. Augustine referring to. Dr. Colman discussed about his research and his future advancements. Stem cell is really great and contributed a lot to mankind. However, will it cause gene mutation in cells and produced viruses that cannot be destroyed?

Dr. Colman talked about an hour before the Law Professor started his boring speech. All the lower sixes sneaked out after listening to his boring Law Ethics (Boon may find it interesting if he was there). As there was traffic jam, we reached school at about 6pm. We quickly register ourselves. We were given a coloured and numbered card with some jumbled letters. We were required to rearrange the letters and guess the category of the word. I got JUMP. I supposed it's Verbs.

After dinner and cleaned the classrooms, we assembled at the lecture hall to start our first activity. That's the Hidden Objects. We were given a piece of cut paper with some graphics on it and join all other missing pieces together. That's how we form our group. Mine was terrapin. We were required to stick all the pieces together with cellophane tape and make up a story relating all the objects found in that big piece of paper. All the groups tried their best to be creative. It's really creative for Jensen's group. Haha. They actually staple and taped the pieces, making it seems messy. They claimed it to be creative though.

Mr William gave us marks. Some of us were cheering as we got high marks, thinking that we might be the top. However, Mr William announced that's actually not our real group. He then divided us into new groups according to categories. JUMP was under verbs, I'm correct. There's 12 members in our group. Mr William is really creative. We have onomatopoeia, countries, colours, fruits and others.

Our 2nd activity started once we reformed new groups--The Mystery Game. Each group was given a map. It's an island with cliffs, swamp, caves, waterfalls, treasure and some dangerous creatures. We listened to the onomatopoeia before going to Block A classrooms for discussions. We were required to come out with a story relating all the places and the onomatopoeia. Chan Yan was our guardian angel. As we were lack of time, all of our group members just briefly introduced ourselves. We come out with a short story about Snow White (acted by Caleb--Molly). I'm also one of the dwarfs. As we were presenting, I couldn't resist laughing because of Molly's stupid and crazy acts!!!

Once Mr William blew the whistle, all of us rushed back to the lecture hall. Each group took turns to present their sketch. The lights were turned off for better effect. As the presentation was going on, many of the participants fell asleep. The atmosphere was so perfect to SLEEP.

I nearly fell asleep. Luckily, there's L6S students who are creative enough to keep me awake. Andrew's narration was the longest, I guess. It's 27 minutes!!! He was the one who ran the show in his group. Kwan Seng has his different way of creativity. Eventually, he created new English words such as yamseng-ness and sui (which means nice) that Mr William wouldn't understand. Yuk Hoong was the Rose (heroine from Titanic). His fake ''balls'' were constantly falling out and created great humour!!!

Finally, at around 2.30am, we were dismissed. All of us couldn't wait for that moment and flew back to our dorm. Luckily, I had my sleeping bag to protect me from my friends' friends--the dreadful MOSQUITOES.

Y2009 ASEAN Pre-U Scholarships Selection Tests

2008-06-19T20:32:00.004+08:00

14 June 2008

My parents sent me to Sunway Pyramid Convention Centre for the Y2009 ASEAN Pre-University Scholarships Selection Tests in General Ability, Mathematics and English.

There were lots of people. On that day itself, the Selection Tests for Secondary 1 and Secondary 3 were also going on. I saw many primary kids with their parents around and also the lower secondary students. They had their tests in the morning. For Pre-U students, the first test started at 1230.

We were required to report ourselves at 1200. We reached there earlier and mum accompanied me for a while before I went in to the hall. We saw a number of students from Catholic High School itself and also my mum's students. I think the Sec 1 and Sec 3 students had their General Ability Test first.

The hall accommodates hundreds of people or maybe a thousand. Those Pre-U students who are after Form 5 were less than those currently studying in Form 5. Probably, many have got other offers and wouldn't want to take this. Our first test was Mathematics Test, started at 1230. The test wasn't difficult as I learnt before during Form 4 and 5 in Additional Mathematics, fair enough but I've forgotten some of the formulae.

I was really cold there, even though I put on my sweater. Chilling and freezing.

At around 1500, we had our toilet break. Many were rushing to the toilet. The washrooms were fulled of people. I didn't went in. Guess who I met? It's Shi Ning and Connie (Jia Miin). Three of us standing somewhere near the hall and chatted. After 10 minutes, we were called to get back into the hall and prepare for the next test.

The next test, also the last test of the day, English Test which started at around 1530. Part one of the paper was comprehension. There were a few questions. First two questions were vocabulary. We were required to give the meaning of the words based on the text given. Other questions were also based on the text. For the last question, we were required to write a summary of 140 words. We were given 1 hour and 30 minutes to complete Part One of English Test. For Part Two, we were required to write a composition of 350 words. We were given only two choices. We have to complete this part in half an hour.

After the tests, we were allowed to go home. Finally, the first day was over. My family and I went for dinner and shopping at Sunway Pyramid before we went home.

15 June 2008

Day 2 of the ASEAN Pre-U Scholarship Selection Tests. We started the General Ability Test at around 1230. We were directed to Level 11 Grand Luxor to take the tests. All of us were divided into different rooms according to our class. My class was Class 21 and we had our test together with students from Class 28.

The officer briefed us about the General Ability Test before we begin. Generally, it was an IQ test. There were two parts. First part was just exercise, let us to get familiar with the questions. The second part was the real test, consists of 36 questions. We have to complete in 40 minutes time. I guess the test was prepared by the Psychological Research Department (it's written
there). The questions all were shapes and lines. Every question will have 9 diagrams. We need to choose an answer for the last diagram. We had 8 choices for each question. The questions getting harder to solve. Eventually, I tried my best to choose the best answer I can think of. Basically, it's logical thinking.

After the test, all of us went back into the hall again for Briefing Session. The officer presented slide show to us and roughly explain a little about Singapore Education System and about the scholarship. We had Q & A Session before we were dismissed at around 1430.

MONBUKAGAKUSHO Scholarship 2009

2008-06-01T21:56:00.005+08:00

Woke up early in the morning to get prepare for Japanese Government (MONBUKAGAKUSHO) Scholarship 2009 Undergraduate Written Examination. My parents drove me to Confucian Private Secondary School in Kuala Lumpur.

We arrived at 7.45am. There were many people lining up for registration. I was quite surprised to see that many people applied for this scholarship. There were about 600 people shortlisted for the examination. We were divided in three groups, Natural Science A (Physics), Natural Science B (Biology) and Social Science.

Guess who I met there? It's Andrew when I first reached there, didn't expect to see my new classmate there. And later in the examination hall, I met Jo Ey. Both of them chose the same subjects as me, Biology.

The first test started at 9am and ended at 10am. First test was Biology or Physics. The paper was very tough and I don't think it's from our syllabus. Later, Jo Ey told me that the paper was STPM level. No wonder. Even if I prepared, I wouldn't be able to do it, have to depends on my general knowledge. The next paper was Chemistry. I've forgotten almost all what I learnt for the past two years and I think some of the questions are not in our syllabus.

At 11.15am, we had our lunch break. My parents brought something for me. We chatted a while before I went in again into the examination hall for the next test. 12.15pm, we started English Language test. The Social Science candidates came in for this test and the next one which was Mathematics. Mathematics, we have A and B. Then the last one was Japanese Language paper. Only those who took up Japanese Language until Level 4 were advised to take.

I guess I will try out this examination again after my STPM.

Group photos of Jeram Besu trip

2008-05-26T14:52:00.005+08:00

Almost all of us wore black or dark.

Posing in front of Gua Kecil, everyone wore shorts.

Wearing life jackets while enjoying at Lata Berembun.

A group photo before leaving.

The most enjoyable and exciting activity of all.

Suckie's Suck Me

2008-05-20T16:59:00.005+08:00

Well, we had a talk by Mr Daryl Wong from Taylor's University College about public speaking. After watching his slides, he gave us a task. At first, we were divided into groups. 10 of us in a group. Our group, all from L6S.

We were asked to promote a straw. Our company's name is Suckie Sdn. Bhd. (not very sure about it). Product name is Suck Me (however, if in more conservative countries, should add another 'e'--Suck Mee). There's lots of features. For a pair of Suck Me, can use them as chopsticks. We have also glow in the dark feature. Expandable and flexible. Many more. All the audience were laughing throughout our presentation. Andrew did a very good job. He was humorous. And I guess maybe it's also because of the ''Suck Me'' phrase. Almost everyone in our group gave our ideas about the features.

I believe L6S will be great and will have a lot of fun in future with so many humorous people.

Last Day at Jeram Besu

2008-05-20T16:04:00.005+08:00

May 19

Well, finally the last day has arrived. We had our breakfast before the last two activities--abseiling and flying fox. We went to a place where a tall tower was built specially for abseiling. The guides explained about the safety features and demonstrated to us the way to carry out this activity before we started.

Haha. Maybe because many of us afraid and had no experience in abseiling. Thus, we asked Kong Sime and Yong Hsiang to be the first two as they went for National Service before. They should have experience and not afraid of that. We did the normal abseiling for the first round. We descend by facing the wall. I was the last one in the first round. It's not challenging enough as I felt that the distance was too short.

Before the second round, the guides demonstrated two stunts. First one was like walking or running downwards. I didn't try that. I tried out the Spiderman stunt. When I first went up the tower, I was told to lower my body towards the front. Surprisingly, I'm not scared as I told myself to relax and trusted the guides also. There were two on the tower on two on the ground. I think it shouldn't be a problem and I descended. Left hand on the wall and right hand holding the rope to control. My legs were clamped on the rope. Haha. Thinking back the moment, it was like committing suicide, jumping down for a tall building. It was really fun and exciting. Many people tried out the Spiderman stunt after I initiated.

After abseiling, we went for flying fox. We 'flew' across the Kuala Lipis River. We were given two flight. I chose to do the Superman stunt first as the roller used must be slow ones or else we'll bump into the tyres at the end of the flight. The second one, I chose the faster roller but the stunt was normal one, just that difference in speed. This one was more exciting than the Superman ones. Really enjoyed a lot. I think my phobia of heights has gone.

We went back to our dorm to prepare everything as we need to start our journey back to PJ at 1.30pm. We had our lunch at a restaurant in Raub. Most of us slept in the bus on the way back as we were very very tired and exhausted. We reached at around 5pm.

I gained a lot of experiences during this trip. Glad to know more friends especially those who I met before but never talked to them before. I guess everyone of us who joined this trip had pains and bruises all over our body. However, I think it's worth. I don't think we have much chance to get together to enjoy and explore together. Hope we'll have more challenging and exciting trip in future!

Second Day at Jeram Besu

2008-05-20T15:08:00.005+08:00

May 18

At around 7.30am, all the girls woke up to prepare for our coming activities. After we got ready, we had our breakfast and waited until 9.30am to start our activities. While waiting, we went to the back of our dorms to visit Miss Jackie, the gibbon. Haha. High frequency voice and everyone can hear from far. We took pictures and videos of her on the first day. Haha. There were also goats, ducks, chickens, geese and insects over there. It was fun knowing some of the rare animals.

I wore shorts as we will be having 4WD adventure and cave exploration. We went to the GuaKecil for cave exploration. As we walked in the cave, the guides showed us the formation of stalactites, stalagmites and some cave decorations They were really nice and shiny like diamonds on them. At one place in the cave, they believed that the communists were hiding there once upon a time as they found some Chinese wordings on the wall. Some of us had crawled in the shallow tunnel. Many of them got bruises after that.

After the cave exploration, we prepared for our 4WD activity. There were many 4WDs and our group split into three cars: green car (all girls), red car (Jing Xin, Zhao Ying, Wen Yau, Yong Hsiang and me) and yellow car (the 猪笼 and we called the four guys on that car--ISA detainees). I was standing in the middle with Jing Xin on my left and Wen Yau on my right. Thanks to them becoming my cushion all the way up and down. Haha. Thank God we wore life-jackets and this reduces our pain and pressure. It was really fast, fun and exciting. That's the true adventure activity, I guess.

We stopped at Lata Berembun (白叶山) to enjoy the gorgeous waterfall. They actually have a Chinese poem ( 白叶山诗) for it, didn't stop to read the poem though. We still wear the life-jackets as told by the guides. There's a reason for it. From what I've experienced, there's some kind of current which will pull you into it when you go near to the stronger part of the waterfall. We enjoyed the cooling water and the air there. The feeling was really great and I think we should always have a trip to waterfalls. We stopped for a while to have lunch and continued after that. The water was very cold when we went down second time. My feet and fingers were freezing. What was fun during the second time was we dragged Zhao Ying to the waterfall and let her experience the water splashing down. Some of them dragged Boon after we sent Zhao Ying back to the shore.

After enjoying so much, we took 4WD back down again. This time, Boon exchanged with Yong Hsiang and Zhen Xiang also joined us. Left the three poor guys on the 猪笼. Boon complained a lot about the 猪笼 as it was slow and didn't have the chance to cross river, not exciting enough. Haha. On our way back, I was laughing a lot, dunno what happened to me. Jing Xin was frequently smashed by Zhao Ying. Pity her and also my cushion, Wen Yau. I guess only our group (6 of us) have most fun. The other two cars were like very quiet. We were like full of energy even though after playing and laughing so much. Really had much fun.

Same as the first day, we had our dinner after bathing. Initially, we were supposed to have BBQ but the person in charge seemed to forget about that and he promised to treat us satay for supper as replacement. At around 9pm, we went out by a van and an Avanza. As it was raining, the satay stalls were closed or out of stock. In the end, we had supper at Malay stall. My table, we ordered drinks, fried noodles and fried eggs. Haha.

After supper, we went to guys' dorm again to have fun. Yea, last night in Jeram Besu. A few of us decided to talk about ghost stories. Some of them played cards on the floor. We off the lights and on our torchlight to create the atmosphere. We sat on the upper-decker again in a circle. The people down there on their torch lights when they want to see the cards. Haha, very funny to see them playing like that. What I think was not scary at all but romantic even though we were talking about ghost stories and supernatural stories. In the end, left only three of us (Jing Xin, Wen Yau and me) on the bed chatting. We chatted until about 3.30am and the people down there also the same, played until that time. Girls went back to our dorm to sleep then.

First Day at Jeram Besu

2008-05-20T14:39:00.006+08:00

May 17

Early in the morning, woke up and prepared as we need to meet at 7-11 at 9am. Before sending my bro and Janice (bro's friend) to CHS, we had our breakfast at Raju's corner. Later, we waited in the car as I don't see anybody there until we saw Serene's parents walked by. Mum chatted with Serene's parents and I went to Kanna Curry House to meet all of them.

Around 9am, we board onto the bus while waiting for Teresa and Ding Sheng. Since we have only 15 persons, we put our luggage at the back seats. After everyone has arrived, we started our journey which lasted for two and a half hours. We stopped at Petronas halfway.

When we first reached, we unload our stuffs from the bus and load onto another vehicle. We have to walk up to the resort (Countryview Recreation Park). We checked in to our dorms, girls one room and guys another. We have only 6 guys, too little. We get prepared for lunch. Thank God the food was not bad although some might not like it as it's Malay food.

After lunch, we get prepared for jungle trekking. Long pants and shoes are surely needed for this activity. Haha. Luckily, Jing Xin changed her jeans. Otherwise, it'll be a difficult time for her when we cross the river. All of us got wet. We enjoyed for a short moment at the waterfall on the way before we took our way back in the midst of the jungle. There were lots of leeches. I got one. Luckily I'm calm enough to pull it out. Otherwise, more blood will be sucked. Many people knew they were 'attacked' by leech only when they got back. Haha.

By 7.30pm, all of us had bathed and prepared for dinner. Surprisingly, all the girls except two or three of them wore blue t-shirt. Haha, just a coincidence. Our dinner was almost the same with the lunch we had in the afternoon.

After dinner, the girls went to the guys dorm to chit-chat and play cards. Yea, the 'kaki judi-s' all wouldn't miss the chance. Haha. Myself not familiar with those poker cards and instead played UNO cards with some of them on the upper-decker. We combined three beds together to have more space. It was really fun when we played another game using UNO cards. The game mainly was calling names and depends on our speed and memory. Zi Wei was the one who suggested.

After two rounds, we had rest as we were like shouting and got very excited during the game. We need rest for our throat. Otherwise, we'll get sore throat if we continue shouting. Haha. Some of us joined the poker cards gang while some sat there watching them besides SMS-ing at one corner. Feeling bored and nothing to do, three of us (Zi Wei, Teresa and myself) sat on the bed and craped a lot, especially the 'penasihat' (Zi Wei). Haha.

At around 11pm, we went out to the dining place to chat. In the end, left three of us (Wen Yau, Serene and me). Wen Yau was the one who did most of the talking as he can talk about anything and you wouldn't feel bored. We went to bed at about 2am. Everyone already slept.

Studies and piano

2008-05-15T18:14:00.008+08:00

Another boring day. It seems that the teachers are going to rush our syllabus. I felt lucky as our teachers have already started the lesson within the first week of school. I guess that's CHS culture. From Form 1 till 5, most of the teachers will start to teach even on the first day of the school. Just imagine how efficient they are.

Without text books, I have a little problem. As for now, it's still alright for me to copy down the notes. I guess I need text books (we actually don't have text books, considered as reference books) to revise. Thanks to my gor for giving me his Physics Volume 1 text. I can start revising and I think this will help.

Just back from my piano lesson, being reprimanded by my piano teacher indirectly. I know my problem. Not enough practice. I guess what she said was a bit irrelevant for me. She asked me not to think about anything, even school. She wants me to really concentrate on my piano. Exam coming soon, in about two months time. I NEED to practice crazily? Well, I really have to manage my time well. Studies and piano, cannot neglect one of them or else I will lose out and forever lost.

After the practical exam, I can concentrate more on my studies. Maybe piano will just be a hobby of mine. However, it's a bit waste if I stop halfway. Piano isn't a simple thing, needs passion and love for it.

Lower Six Classes

2008-05-13T19:10:00.007+08:00

Finally, we were divided into four classes, L6S, L6B, L6F and L6A. I'm in L6S. All of us who chose to study in this class are prepared to take 5 subjects but I believe many of us will drop one of the subjects later on. Well, we have 15 students in this class, so pathetic and only 4 girls?! Luckily, we've got all the fun people. I think we won't be bored in class in future.

I guess L6B has the most students in the Science class, 28 of them. Well, L6F is the worst. There's only 7 or 8 guys, no girls at all! Just imagine, they can do anything they want. Haha. Our class, even though there's still girls around, the guys don't really care. They address us as ''chics''. Most of our teachers are surprised when they knew we have only 15 students in this class and 4 girls.

From what I heard from Pn Wong S S, there's a year that about 40-50 students wanted to study in the pure science class. But now, things are different. Maybe because on the first day, the president was scaring us that Physics is really really tough and it's tough for the students who take 5 subjects. In the end, 15 students in L6S. I guess there'll be students from other schools and hopefully the number of students in our class will increase a little.

Small number of students is good for us and good for the teacher. We are not like a class, I guess more to group. Haha. Officially first day of class, the guys are making fun. And this indicates that we are not nerds and we know how to have fun. Previously, I thought that pure science and biology class will be boring as most of them just concentrate on studies. Thank God, everything is different this year.

Hopefully I can cope with my studies later on.

First day of Pre-U

2008-05-12T14:57:00.005+08:00

Finally, the day has come. I woke up early in the morning to get ready for school. First day of Form 6, I'm stepping on to a higher level of education. Nervous? Happy? Nope. Just neutral and afraid that I'll regret by making this choice.

As usual, Monday morning will be assembly for all the students. Later, we moved on to the lecture hall for orientation. The upper-sixes in charge of it. The seniors talked a lot about their experiences and life during Form 6. I can't deny that most of them said Form 6's very tough, must really work hard but also play hard. This was what the Sixth Form Society President Jonathan Yee said this morning.

From what I heard through the teachers as well as seniors, we are not encouraged to take 5 subjects especially for Science class. For L6S, we have to get 4 aggregate to enter, that means we have to get 4A1's for Sciences and Additional Maths. Well, I guess not many people can achieve that. Some chose Biology class or Physics class. There are many students from Science class during Form 4 and 5 switched to Arts class. Maybe they think it's easier or they hate Science.

We had briefing during this session. Many teachers came and talked about the stuffs that we have to know. After that, it's our seniors' session again. They briefed us about the Angel and Mortal Game. It seems interesting. Everyone of us will have two angels. Mine is ''Ai Xin Jue Luo'' and Mrs Lyd. No idea who are they. Haha, just hope that I can guess the right person.

Time flies, didn't notice that we've been in school for half day. It's time to dismiss. However, I was late as they dismissed us late. It was 1.20pm when I met my gor at the Chemistry Lab. We agreed to meet the day before. I was late and he went upstairs searching for me. Just said ''Hi'' and ''Bye'' and I had to leave. He offered me some candies.

Anyway, I knew I missed the bus but still want to try. Gor accompanied me all the way to the church. My prediction was right, they went off, just left 3 vans for the 1.45pm students. No choice. We walked back to school and the weather was really hot. As he need to meet his friends in front of the staff room, we sat at the red bench and chatted. By the time 1.45pm, I intended to leave as I didn't want to miss the van this time. Once again, he accompanied me to the church.
Thanks a lot!

It's really great to meet my old friends and juniors today. Anyway, still thinking about my subjects. The seniors were saying that Physics is really really really tough but I still want to give it a try as I do not want myself to regret later. Perhaps I will get a better offer? But still have to work hard, cannot give myself excuses.