zhiqin

back from a refreshing run! from Tg Pagar Rd all the way to Victoria St. I estimate the distance to be no more than 4km. A LONG LONG time since I ran..haha..anyway I promised myself to run after I recovered from that 2-wk illness. Anyway finally can have a slack day! Was so busy since the start of the orientation programme. My weekend after OBS was devoted entirely to giving tuition cos of the mid-year block test. Spent the first half of Mon giving tuition also, got a look at the ny maths paper 1, not too hard to manage, but the feedback I get from my students wasn’t very good..LOL..

Went over to yh’s house at Serangoon for the first practice session for Talentime. I was so amazed by the proximity of Serangoon to Bishan. I think this region of Singapore is the region I am least familiar with. Anyway we are supposed to come up with a singing item. Took some time to select 3 songs, one of which is the finale song. Haha and I don’t know the songs at all! Tio arrowed to sing a small part of this song zhi zu by mayday. Feels so weird to sing and dance! But they claimed I can sing. -.- Anyway audition’s on thurs so nothing’s finalised yet. Oh I was so amazed (again) that so many people liked playing ff games! yea ff rocks really! Spent a good time discussing about ff games! Dinner was chicken rice. Had a nice chat. Overall we had a really good time there, so much so that we din realise it was getting late. My eyesight has really worsening…had to rely on others to tell me what’s the number of the bus coming. LOL. And wow there’s actually a direct bus from her house to mine. Amazing!

shall go memorise the lyrics!

2 litte incidents lit up an otherwise simple day. As I headed for tuition, I realised that I was going to be late and I have to take a bus instead of walking(which I always do). Bus 38 was already here. I ran about 20m only to see the doors of the bus close. Realising that there’s no chance to catch that bus, I stopped running. Amazingly, I saw the door open once more, and yea the least I could do was to thank the bus driver for being so considerate. Tuition was ok, this time I could handle the RJ paper. Stayed over to watch the last hour of Pirates Of The Carribean. Can’t wait for the sequel to be in the cinemas!

Took train back home. There were about 7 or 8 of us sitting down, waiting for the train to come. As the train came, we all stood up and headed towards the doors. I spotted a wallet being left behind at the area where I sat, as well as this puzzled girl looking at the wallet. This is how our conversation started, through facial expressions and body language, without speaking at all.

Girl: (Pointing to the wallet) Hmm is that wallet yours?

Me: (Shakes head) It’s not mine. And I have no idea whose is it. Should be one of those who sat here just now. Perhaps you just take the wallet and find the owner later?

Girl: (Hesitates and then picks up the wallet) Ok.

(We took our seats in the carriage, facing each other.)

Me: How? What should we do with it?

Girl: (Looks around) Dunno.

Me: (Looks around) I try to see if I can recognise the person who sat beside me just now.

Girl: (Opens the wallet, looks at the identification card inside) Hmm I think it belongs to that lady sitting a few seats away from you now.

Me: Sure?

Girl: yea.

(Finally I spoke)

Me to lady: Excuse me, does this wallet belong to you?

Lady: Oh! yes! THanks! Oh!

Me and girl: (smiles at each other)

She alighted at Tanah Merah Station. Haha can’t help but take a few more glances at her. It is possible to communicate without speaking, just like what we did. Anyway feels good to have done something nice.

part 2 of the DSTA scholarship orientation programme! Outward Bound Singapore, or OBS as people usually call it. Went for the marine mobile course, which was totally different from the land residential course I had back in sec 3. Really had a good time out there. So here goes….

My watch name was Sui Sen. Instructor was Hiap Loh. A real nice guy! People in my watch were Terence, Lawrence, CK, TK, Ying hui, Iris, Huimin, Ben, Ziyang, Hao Xiang, Brian, and lastly Feng yi.

Day 1 - The day started off with heavy rain as we boarded the fastcraft to Ubin. Got settled down rather quickly, introduced to our instructors and watch members. Was a huge coincidence that the 4 AHS guys ended up in the same watch. Went to our bunks but HL said that we wouldn’t be using our bunks often, and we really did. Afternoon activity was at the inverse tower. Quick recap on how to wear the harness and the method of belaying. I climbed the up the tower together with yh. She seemed so freaked out during the climbing and wanted to give up. Actually I was also pretty scared but I still managed to encourage her enough (by putting on a brave front -.-) and we managed to climb to the top! Great satisfaction! Later on we quickly pitched our tents and went for our theory lessons on cutter sailing. Slept in the tents for the night.

Day 2 - Prepared the stores for sailing. Our expedition will end on Fri morning, so we packed a lot of rations too. CK and I were in charge of rigging up the mizzen sail. Started off managing the running stays. Wasn’t a tough role and we managed to sail to our first camp site at about 5pm. Mosquito infested! It was the same camp site I came to a few years ago. The ground wasn’t ideal for pitching tents but we managed to improvise well enough by using rocks to hold on to the tent pegs. Had maggi mee with sausages for dinner. Canned food taste great during outfield times. We gathered outside our tents for some chit chatting amidst all the mosquito biting. Lawrence was busy entertaining us with his intellectual questions. Soon after fatigue set in, and we were off to our respective tents.

Day 3 - Morning activity was at the quarry. Did raft building. Materials given were just some PVC pipes and barrels, as well as lots of ropes. Learnt a lot about lashings and knots and in the end I really felt that our group had the best raft. Built in the shortest time, most stable, most firepower, maximum capacity, and a unique idea of storing our oars. Enjoyed the dip in the quarry later. It’s equivalent to bathing since it’s fresh water! Iris was really frightened being in water but I guess our instructor did a pretty good job guiding and encouraging her. And I want to mention that my watch was zai in the fact that all of us were just so enthu. Ziyang (scouts being scouts) was technically proficient at lashings and with his guidance we all managed to come up with the completed product. After that we set off for sailing again. Took up the role of backing the gib sail as well as dipping the gib sail. The view that I had at the bow was simply great! And I love it when waves come, cos the boat will rock and heel and one word to describe it…shiok! Reached shore at Sembawang area. Cooked rice with curry chicken. The rice we cooked were harder than usual and we termed it al dente. Hao Xiang and co were good sia, they scraped the base of the pot until we can see our own reflections in it(a bit of exaggeration). Lol. Slept on the boat for the night. Wasn’t the most comfortable of places. Basically I was just adjusting my position every now and then throughout the night.

Day 4 - Whole day of sailing. Breakfast and lunch were in the form of biscuits and cakes. Haha and there was this craze of eating raisins lar. Played a lot of games on board. I suck at these games. Argh! Especially the MRT station game which they played. HL shared a lot of his experiences being a instructor, in particular the selection and training process he went through. The conclusion I made was, it’s not easy to become a OBS instructor. The physical attributes are just the basic requirements. Mental strength is what they are looking for. I had the chance to be the helmsman (is it spelt like this?). Did tacking (the process of changing direction from one close haul to another) as well as gybing (the process of changing direction from broad reach to another). By now everyone was so technically proficient in all the roles. A good crew is the key to smooth sailing. We ran into a storm and at times our boat was heeling to the verge of capsizing! Scared the hell out of us. Reached camp site 2 and alas! Showering facilities finally! Terence can cook really well! Haha had maggi mee again with sardines and peanuts. Great dinner!

After dinner we went for a confidence walk in the jungle. We had to walk through this tunnel which was pitch black inside alone. It’s something like a maze. Was quite worried at the start but in the end managed to reach the end effortlessly. Had a nice talk with Lawrence and yh at the waterfront before it started to rain. Back to our comfortable (and waterproof) tents.

Day 5 - Everything was done quickly. Sailed back to OBS main camp, settled all the stores. CK and I had the worst experience of pushing all the stores up the slopes to our bunks. There was no loss of stores except the fact that we lost a tray provided in the kitchen. And that cost 6 bucks(for a tray???). Went to the tripod after lunch. Basically it consists of a few stations which greatly test your confidence. I chose the "leap" station where you are about 10 m off the ground and you have to jump from a platform to catch hold to a handle in mid air. Again I don’t deny I was frightened but I was great at concealing it (lol). Up the platform and 1, 2, 3 I jumped and it was a success. HL was nice enough to allow us to leave our harness and helmets behind so that we can rush off to our fastcraft. Dinner this time was at Marche. yea!

Wow what a lengthy entry! Usually I don’t write this much but guess it is one way I can show that I really enjoyed this course. I don’t like the fact that people keep branding us as scholars and start to say things like " Oh scholar mah of course know this and that."… It really shouldn’t matter. What matters most is still the personality. Scholars or not, this group of friends that I made over this orientation programme have been a great company and it was really nice knowing them. Wishing them all the best here! And looking forward to sharing our experiences again in a few years time.

tiring wkend!

Sat - tuition in the morn as usual. Actually guild mates jio-ed to watch garfield 2, but I had my pre-arrangements le..sorry to my guild mates, esp wj. yea went to catch garfield 2 with jy at lido. Haha first impression I had was, FAT CAT! Felt it was better than the one-star rating Today Paper gave. Also bumped into cedi lawrence at the cathay building. Later we found ourselves at Esplanade, haha had a look at some cello scores..a sense of deja vu..though I was still unfamiliar with some of the terms in the scores. Actually it was quite fun back then, to be able to read scores and play. Too bad I dun own a cello..lost touch le…haiz..

Sun - tuition in the morning as usual..LOL..was humbled by some maths qns…haha..managed to buy a pair of shoes for 12.90..CHEAP..going to use that for OBS water activities..got some ziplock bags also, currently I m short of insect repellent…shall just borrow that anyway..dwin enjoyed himself last wk in OBS..I hope I will too! done with my packing le…next 5 days without phone…T.T

boo! finally completed the 3-day workshop! It’s part of the whole series of orientation programmes planned for us. First half of the day was rather boring I must say, but got to meet up with my mentor. A very friendly guy, and he shared quite a lot of his uni experiences! saw my "buddy" too, who was actually a direct senior from NUS lar..in future anything dunno can just ask him! yea this kind of mentor and buddy thingy is quite helpful lar..

Second day went for grooming lesson..haha..social ettiquette..basically was taught how to take care of our own image..our posture(sitting and standing). The coach even made us do some catwalk! Anyway talking about the coach, wow he sure has credentials. NUS Manhunt Champion! Mr Singapore somemore!

Third day, which was today, was held at Shatec. Was quite overwhelmed at the numerous things we have to pay attention during fine western dining..even got to taste several types of wine! Must say that I learnt quite a lot. At least I wun malu myself if I ever have to dine in such formal occasions. Got to practise what we learnt during lunch..haha they are so particular about cutlery usage…Second half of the day was cooking lesson! Was paired up with hx…ahah we prepared chicken stew, spaghetti bolognese and fried rice..Though I dun cook, but I do watch my mum cook…lol so at least I was quite comfortable at cooking.

Eventful week = tiring week. Haha I m so exhausted really cos the workshop lasted for the whole day for 3 days running..Got to know quite a lot of people over there…Can’t say I know all, but I can rem the faces, as well as the uni they going to..So many going to Imperial sia..anyway OBS next wk! Marine Mobile type..will get to do cutter sailing! Wow!

i need a good rest!

just came back from guild outing..impressive! 10 turned up! Besides the familiar faces, saw many others for the first time! nice to see so many people around..haha..Watched this show called Cars…to think that I was expecting it to be some lame silly show..well far from it..it had a nice storyline, and I think I would love to own the soundtrack!

Anyway, orientation programme coming up soon, starting this wed. OBS next wk somemore..Somehow I dun feel keen for this coming OBS, haha maybe because I have been for it once back in sec 3. However I must say that I have had wonderful memories of it, yea! My watch was so cool! Dhanabalan..haah some name..whateva…but I can still rem the unique personalities of some of the people in my watch..LOL.

Recently been helping F to check up on the tuition fee loan schemes..Somehow I feel fortunate that I don’t have to worry about this issue. There must be so many out there who have no other options but to take up a loan. And there are also many out there who choose to postpone their tertiary studies by virtue of the fact that they need to work for a few years to save up enough for the school fees. Loans can help, but some people feel that it sets them back with a debt even before they start work. So for those that have their fees sponsored by parents, or even scholarships, u are fortunate!

ah enough of crap..zzzz.

hmm am I getting old? It’s been 4 days and I haven’t completely recovered..I knew something was different today, felt ok at first but as I proceeded on with tuition I started to have that sick feeling again. Glad to see that xt can walk better now, with that bandage on her foot taken away..last week she was sick, this week my turn..-.-

Anyway forgot to mention I was rather satisfied with the grade of ty. She had her maths paper before the holidays and yah she can do all the basic questions..that’s the most important..anyway the grade improvement is a great jump.

after tuition, stayed over for some time eating lunch and watching the England v Jamaica friendly..helped out with xy’s laptop..apparently it doesn’t have enough ram. And after some tweaking, yes now it’s working smoother.

went to tm to do some shopping..straightaway bought 2 pairs of shorts liao..reasonable price. jy then came at ard 3 plus to join me..by now I start to have a temperature liao but heck. bought a decent-looking shirt at 29.90(as expensive as a The Da Vinci Code book with hard cover). went to have dinner at macs. ahah apparently I was mad, trying to yi3 du2 gong1 du2. jy insisted that I had some herbal tea later on..had ginseng chrysanthemum tea…she initially wanted me to try ginseng tea..kaoz..super not nice lar…

anyway, when I first reached home, 2 panadol pills and off to sleep I went. It was only after I woke up a few hours later that I felt better…zzz when am I going to recover fully?

sian…temperature stays at 38.7°…feeling so lethargic…yet so many stuff to settle..

yet to fix the date for deed signing…tt’s the priority at the moment but having to arrange for the 2 sureties to be free is tough..

crap..i can’t stand the nagging…almost tio banned to use computer…lol…when people fall sick, that’s just that..no need to quote so many reasons to explain it..and it’s just a small issue..y get so nervous about it..People fall sick from time to time! There’s one thing i believe in..that is to carry on with your usual activities as far as possible when u are sick, like watching a bit of TV or something..of course it’s unreasonable to go for strenuous exercises like running lar..but it’s impossible to keep sleeping all the way right!

There were a few occasions that I fell quite sick back in army days..One was during guard duty and I was sent to PLC, only for the MO to give me 3 days ATT B…ARGH..only got ATT C when my PC talked to the MO back in camp..I also recall the day before the 2 PDF Heritage run when i had a rather bad fever. I am not a fan of Panadols..I dun like to self medicate but I must say that Panadol was rather effective during that occasion..and I managed to last throughout the whole event…

At least now i fall sick, having the comforts of being at home..it’s disastrous to fall sick in camp, during holidays, during exams..may I recover soon!