Sunday, December 29, 2002
Yay, back in hostel. BROADBAND..... oh HOW much i missed you ;D Must make the most of it coz tomolo it'll be back to 56k-i'd-kill-myself-and-be-reincarnated-thrice-before-my-page-loads internet speeds... boohoo...
My cousin had come down to Spore, and i showed them around town. Boy they could walk, and WALK. :) And probably because they walked around so much, i saw so much stuff and was tempted to buy a lot of stuff. I finally gave into temptation and bought an Espirit sweater. Thankfully it was at 50% discount, and was S$44.50, so i felt quite ok buying it :) I'm quite surprised with myself actually, i've never been known to give into temptation that easily, well at least not for clothes. For ice-cream, hell YES, but clothes?? Hmmm... this is does not bode well..... :D And my cousin and her friend? Oh though my cousin bought the same number of items as me, heck, i do believe she spent like half the amount i spent.... Sheesh, that's embarrassing... a GIRL, the person who wanted to shop in the FIRST place, spending LESS than her GUIDE?!?! What has the world come to?! =D
I wonder what's in store for me on New Year's day. Su Mei invited me to her BBQ at her house, but i'm not very sure because there are so few people at the BBQ that i know, but then again she was so nice as to invite me, and i find it hard to reject her. I personally would like to go down to the Countdown at Sentosa considering i've never gone to anything like that before, so i'd love to go down with some friends and give it a go for at least once in my life. Heck, i'd do ANYTHING other than be with my family for once. My family new years are not any much better than Christmas'. The furthest we'd go would be a lavish dinner at somewhere more up-market than your usual kopitiam, if we're lucky it'd be one of those countdown dinners with fantastic (and sometimes exciting) lucky draws with simple but satisfying prizes; if we're unlucky (me that is), we'd just eat dinner at a restaurant with a friend of my dad's family, usually either without any children, or are not present (now they are BLOODY smart people), or have children half my age, and me? Oh i just sit there and smile and look educated and cultured so my father can let the world know i'm an undergraduate... yay... isn't that fun? Wish i had some people i could go crazy with at Sentosa, and hell, i don't think i'd need booze or even pot to get high, just having fun MYSELF for a change is enough of a drug to keep me in the Valkyrian lands and maybe share a joke or two with the Valhalla.
My girlfriend's appeal was rejected, so she'll be going to Anderson. Well at least she can take her dream triple science, that much i'm glad :) At least she won't have to deal with Economics, of which so far i've yet to hear of a girl who actually enjoys the subject... I believe she'll do better in the actual O's, then she may be able to make it to her dream HC. But now that NJ rejected her appeal, i'm beginning to reconsider the sweet words i had said about them previously.... :p
Dr@n|xX at 12:46 AM
Thursday, December 26, 2002
Man this holiday is SO boring I wish school would start soon. But when school starts and everything starts getting hectic I wish the holidays would come soon. I suppose its the cycle.
My gf got her postings, and she's posted to AJ. Hmm, not sure how she'd fit into AJ, considering the impression I have of AJ for my part. And I wonder why this time round appeals were SO short. I would've thought normally they'd give about a week for people to appeal, but strangely appeals were over before u could even recover from the shock of your postings. Hwachong as usual, the stuck-up people they have always been (oh, go ahead, sue me), were strict and firm on adhering to the deadline, and refused all appeals. NJ (thank GOD) were still entertaining appeals. She loves bio and wanted to take triple science, but considering her appeal, if she does get into NJ, her grounds for asking for trip sci is weak, so I suggested she take econs instead of physics. Wonder how she'd take it :) But I really wonder why the grace period was so short this time. I mean what about the people who happened to be out of town at the time. Oh so they'd have to do with whatever screw-ups the system spat out? I mean for my case, if I had been away when the PAE postings were out, and they only gave me 3 days to appeal, God, I'd have still been in Yishun. With 10 points. Not that I have anything against YJ, just that it wasn't ANY of my choices, and I was just shocked at why in God's name did they kick me there when I would've qualified for so many other schools. Never had a good impression of NJ myself. They rejected my appeal, that's fine, but it was HOW they rejected my appeal that turned me off. The teacher misplaced my appeal, so they didn't call me to inform me of the outcome of my appeal. That's fine, since I mean perhaps God meant it that way, but I would've at the VERY least deserved an apology right? You casually misplaced my form, so the appeal committee did not review my appeal and give me a micron of a chance, even if u stand firm and say that the deadline is over and you cannot entertain anymore appeals and hence cannot give me a so-called fair-trial, an apology is all I ask. No. None. Nada. Nil. Nope. Not Applicable. The teacher who actually handled my appeal didn't even care. My gf specifically told me not to swear on my blog for everyone to see, so I will honour her request. They then left me in the lurch, and at that devastating time, it felt as if they had kicked me out of their door, hung a "Do Not Disturb" sign on their knob, and left a bouncer at the door to make sure I couldn't even spit at their doormat. But this time, because they so nicely accepted my gf's appeal even after the deadline, perhaps I'll give them a chance :p even if it were just for show, meaning the minute we left the door, the appeal form went straight to the shredder, then they casually call us a week later to tell us it was unsuccessful, but for the sake of their giving my gf hope, I'll erase that bad memory for now. :D
to all. May your holiday be a better one than mine ;P Adiós para ahora
p.s For those who were wondering, help came from the most unexpected place to ensure I didn't get stuck (well it felt that way at that time) at YJ for the next 2 years, but that is another story for another time ;) Disclaimer : No hard feelings to any AJ, YJ or NJ people out there reading this, these are just personal experiences and opinions, and are in no way threatening nor malignant.
Dr@n|xX at 12:35 AM
Thursday, December 19, 2002
Well, got my results for
the finals. I passed everything, and I miraculously passed management accounting
with a scrape through D. Did below expectation
for all the rest of my subjects except Economics which I’ve always had a fairly
steady grip in. The result slip says I have a good academic standing, but
looking at my grades, I kind of felt a tinge of sarcasm in that statement. Guess
its back to the drawing board, the study style last term didn’t work, so I’ll
have to come up with a new revision blueprint.
God this holiday is boring.
Supposed to have an outing last weekend, some OUCHing it turned out to be,
wasted my effort to come to Singapore at all. It started off as a chalet, of
which apparently most of the gang were very keen on, so the organizer saw the
green light. Three quarters way thru planning, strangely people kept
disappearing into the shadows. According to the organizer, people didn’t reply
to her msgs, they suddenly can’t be around at that time, they can’t stay
overnight and other reasons, leaving only a few people to stay overnight, and
hence to foot the bill, which would amount to a hefty 50plus per person.
Unfortunately we had to cancel it, but in place we decided on a simple outing,
which would be more convenient for everyone, even those who can’t stay
overnight. We decided it would be ice-skating, and I made my way down to Spore,
brought a whole shit-load of stuff to dump in hostel, then on the morning of the
outing, 20minutes before I left for Jurong, it was cancelled because of poor
attendance. A few more people couldn’t come, leaving only 3 people going, of
which one was not even skating because his feet hurt but was very sporting and
didn’t mind turning up.
I’m not blaming anyone
because I have faith in my friends that they honestly had commitments and
couldn’t turn up. But I think I cannot hide my disappointment of the way things
turned out, and my having specially made the trip down to Singapore for this and
instead used this just to enjoy broadband for a few days rather than the
warmth of a cold,
cold Christmas in the company of friends.
Dr@n|xX at 12:43 PM
Thursday, December 05, 2002
Yo people, sorry i've been quiet for so long... exams, projects, boy it was overwhelming since it all came in one big barrage. Right now i'm at home lying on my hammock, drinking ice tea under the shade of my straw hat and the sea breeze blowing in my face with the sashaying comforts of coconut trees swaying and the sea lapping the shore. NOT, i'm stuck with my antiquated 56K connection, frantically channel surfing after AGES of missing my television and all those wonderful channels like HBO, TechTV and of course not forgetting Cartoon Network with Samurai Jack and Dexter's Lab :D
My sis is the usual pain, and surprisingly this year i've got an extra present from my paternal auntie which i've never seen. Birthday presents are such a rarity in my life that getting one from someone new is a very momentous milestone in my life indeed. If u're reading this auntie Serena (i MIGHT've seen u when i was REALLY little, but i have absolutely no recollection of you now, so i'd be grateful if i knew how such a wonderful auntie who remembers my birthday would look like), a BIG thank you for the photo frame, although slightly efeminated with the cute little teddy bears, but i really appreciate your remembering insignificant little me's birthday and taking the effort to buy me a present.
Got a silver ring from my girlfren, THANK YOU! ARIGATO! TERIMA KASIH! Obviously i'm wearing it all the time, BUT of coz on my right 4th finger even tho it'd fit snugly on my left :D I told her i want to feel single and available so i don feel guilty if i flirt or ogle in a school 70% female HAHA :D
I guess its a girl thing to remember birthdays, and totally outside most guys' dictionaries. Correct me if i'm wrong, but studying in a guy school for 4 secondary school years made me barely remember when i was born just because i had to fill in forms that required "date of birth" as a mandatory line. In JC, thankfully there were girls, and a female classmate that i got along very well remembered my birthday and gave me a present back in J1 if i'm not wrong. A BIG BIG BIG thank you Su Mei for that. Its one of THE most memorable presents i've ever recieved, mostly because i didn't expect it from you, much less that it'd be a mug that says "No. 1 Man U Fan". My best cousin (coINCIDENTALLY female) also gives me presents periodically, and of course THE most memorable one was the Man U Organizer. It was memorable not because its man u and all, but because in my opinion something like that would not be easy to find, AND i'd suspect it wouldn't be cheap, so BIG BIG BIG Arigato to Tizi! My Mei Mei in St. Andrews (hopefully rubbing shoulders with royalty by now :D) consistantly gave me a very intricately written chinese mythical creatures version of my name, where my "S" would be this very colourful dragon and so on. It's framed and now hangs on my bedroom door, acting as a useless ward to keep away pesky little sisters. Notice that i'm not giving much thanks for my gf's presents which have amounted less than only my cousin Tizi(because i've known her all my life) and my mum(no points for figuring out why), because THOSE are -ahem- P & C, reserved for her only :D
On the first day of exams, EVERYONE came for this indonesian girl in my hostel's birthday. And i mean EVERYONE. I was so happy for her, because i personally never had such an experience, so seeing everyone turn up to give a friend of mine a half-surprise birthday bash was very heart-warming for me. But on the other hand i was a little jealous of her, and secretly i wished in this instance that i was a girl so that my birthday would perhaps be written in ink rather than easily-erasible pencil in people's minds, but with PMS and the necessity to behave "woman-like", that thought stayed in my head for no more than a split second. That envy arose because my own birthday was only 2 weeks away and no one seemed to remember, and at the same time i knew no one would remember nor bother coz all of these friends would be happily at home with their families enjoying a bigger event, Christmas, the season of giving presents. No, i don't believe birthdays are about giving presents, even though i personally make an effort to get worthy presents for friends, but i feel birthdays are events people should remember because it not only marks a person's coming of age, and it is the only date in a calendar which you can call your OWN.
Me? My birthday's have always been small affairs. On one hand, the timing of it had always been poor, as it had always been in the holidays, but as i grew older and people had more freedom to go out, holidays are times when birthdays got BIGGER and parties even MORE possible, so that excuse to console myself wore out. My dad grew tired of pampering a man-&-bread-winner-to-be, so those birthday dinners at posh western cuisine restaurants ceased too. my mum (thank GOD, thank you God) although influenced by my father never to place too much emphasis on birthdays, had always secretly wanted my birthdays to be at the very least a little happier than a normal day, and had always made sure i received a present, sometimes at the risk of incurring my dad's wrath at spending money unnecessarily. My pride has never allowed me to thank my mum directly, perhaps someday i'll find that superhuman courage to truly appreciate my mother's sacrifices. My God-mother had made it a point to give me presents EVERY birthday, but they've always been clothes, and though i'm really grateful because rather a present than none, tastes are always different( the same way a kid reacts to his grandma's 12th birthday underwear "Oh WOW -mumble mutter- THANKS GRANDMA -mumble curse cough mutter- OH you SHOULDN'T have... )
Which reminds me, i have GOT to go down to get some LONG-overdue presents for some friends.
Dr@n|xX at 1:32 AM
