Surprise, surprise:)

Every now and then, a surprise pops up and breaks the mundaneness of a student's life. Oh, I take that back. My life is almost never mundane cos I learn new things everyday and I'm surrounded by nutty people. Let's just say that the past 7 days have been particularly interesting as I have had so many surprises that I just have to make a record of them here.



First and foremost, I emerged top in class for History!

Never, in a million years, would I have thought I'd attain the 100 percentile for History.It's really heartening to know that all the reading up, collaborating with Clarence (my Hist study buddy!) and consultations paid off very well. Interestingly, I used to suck at History. But I've had really wonderful Hist teachers who make lessons come alive. I couldn't help but approach Mr Mao and Mr Kellet to thank them for their guidance. Thank you, too, Mr Tan for the inspiring lessons. Not to metion Mrs Leo who helped me a great deal during my secondary school days. I'm sure I would never have done it without the patience and support of you all.


Macaroons are crunchy

My brother Yish turned 14 on Thursday. Mum and I got him this chocolate cake from Breadtalk which was decorated with macaroons. A macaroon is a sort of candy that looks like a small burger with jam or chocolate filling in between. Right, so maybe that was a vague description, go check out Wikipedia to find out more. Anyway, I never knew they were crunchy until I popped one into my mouth. And chewed. And grinned. And grabbed another.



Mrs Lee is leaving Crescent!

SQUADMATES!!!!!! Did you know that Mrs Lee will be joining St Andrews Junior College next year? Mum says it's about time because she has been principal of Crescent for years and years and she'd eventually take up a new post somewhere else. I wonder who will be replacing her?



Dumbledore is gay

According to the Newsweek website, when a fan asked whether "Albus Dumbledore, the head of the famed Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft, had ever loved anyone", JK Rowling replied "Dumbledore is gay, actually." She went on to say that "in her mind, Dumbledore had an unrequited love affair with Gellert Grindelwald, Voldemort's predecessor who appears in the seventh book." Needless to say, fans were astonished at this big news. So am I. But Dumbledore being gay is all right with me and he still remains one of my favourite Harry Potter characters.

I saw Neil Humphrey at Vivo City shopping mall

While browsing books, a staff member announced that 'Humphrey would be dropping in to sign books at 2pm.' My first thought was: Humphrey the bear? Must have watched too much Kids Central during my childhood days. Mum rolled her eyes and said it was Neil Humphrey, the dude who writes hilarious columns for the Today newspaper and a few bestsellers on the said topic. I've a couple of his books. Anyway, I caught a glimpse of him at 2pm that day. He was decked in a black T-shirt and jeans, and was not as tall as I thought him to be. Spoke a bit of Singlish too. I did not get his autograph but was glad to have seen him in person, which was enough.

Murder on the Orient Express

No, no one I know died on a train. I'm referring to an Agatha Christie classic that I finished the other day. The ending, I tell you, is TOTALLY not one would expect. It's brilliant. It's startling. It's ..... ah, go read it yourself. Christie is indeed the Queen of Crime.

******

I wonder what other surprises are there in store for me next week? Hopefully, finding next Monday's Chinese 'A' Level paper a breeze is next on the list:)

The sky cried

The sky cried on Thursday afternoon. It didn't let forth a torrential outpouring but wept lightly, just the way I like rainy days. For a long while, I sat at the front porch basking in the cool weather, listening to the pitter-patter of the rain and staring at the sky. A pearly-grey colour, if I remember correctly. It was a moment of zen.

I like the fact that when you stare into the sky, you stare deep into space. It's easy to think that the sky is a huge overturned bowl with the interiors painted blue. But there's a boundless space beyond those fluffy clouds, a great unknown. The cosmos could be said to be the only frontier left to be explored, though I doubt Man will ever come to checking out every nook and cranny of it.

But I digress, this post is supposed to be about the sky. Sometimes I wonder if there is a human face behind the sky because it seems to have moods. When it howls and pelts the Earth with a torrential volley of raindrops and lightning flashes, there's fury. When golden sunlight floods the Earth and the sky's a cheery blue, there's happiness. The sky could also be playful and send gusts of wind to toss things about. It's a little uncanny, how most of the time the sky reflects my mood. I could be feeling rainy inside and it would be pouring all around me. Maybe that's why I have a fondness for the sky, because I could relate to it a lot. I also like how it's so dynamic; it rarely stays the same. The sky's proof that change is the only constant in life.

The sky can be beautiful. Sunsets, sunrises, twilight and night offer some of the most breathtaking views. I'd love to see a scarlet sky someday though. And an aurora. And a meteor shower. And the Milky Way. That'll be a dream come true.

It was a dark New Zealand evening. The coach moved smoothly, quietly, and nearly everyone on board was asleep. Not me. I was staring out of the window like I always do so that I won't miss any unusual sights. The sky then was jet-black, with swirls of sparkly stars. There were a lot more stars than one usually sees in Singapore. I thought if the sky were a large cloth, I'd make a prom dress out of it.

A few years later I was atop Mt Pilatus in Switzerland. There was a thick layer of clouds cloaking the mountains, but it looked more like a snowy landscape. A floating Antartica, I had called it. Being all the way up, ringed against the azure sky and seeing clouds roll beneath my feet brought tears to my eyes.

My muse, the sky.

School blues and such

Judgement Day for NYJCians was last Friday. The much anticipated (and dreaded) release of the promo results would largely determine if a student got promoted into Year 2 or not. I got up that morning with a queasy feeling in my stomach, performed all the morning rituals while in a zombie-like state and pulled the longest face I could manage while at school. Like everyone else, I was really nervous. There's always this possibility that you didn't do as well as you thought you would and got miserable grades. So consumed I was by this thought that I dared not open my mouth to speak lest I threw up all over someone. That sickly feeling just wouldn't go.

Turns out that I needn't have worried so much because I am going to be promoted after all. But I'm not exactly over the moon over all my results:

General Paper - C (My essay grade slipped a little but Paper 2 improved. Unfortunately, I still did not get the 'B' I was aiming for)

Mathematics - B (I'm proud of this one! I made a quantum leap from an E for Mid-years to the current B *hugs myself*)

Economics - U (In spite of all that hard work, I actually slipped far back enough to get a U? What else can I say but FUCK)

Chinese - E (It may be an E but it's just ONE mark away from a D. My essay improved too! This made my day)

Geography - D (I'm still trying to get over the shock of having failed the Human Geography component. I gotta ask Mr Ng what went wrong. Thankfully Physical Geography saved me and I passed)

History - B (My best subject for the promos. I'm glad the teachers liked the essays I wrote. And I'm glad I finally know how to manage my time properly for History)

Ah well, it's just like the Mid Years. I'm pleased with some subjects, pissed off with others. One thing's certain: I've still got a long way to go.

******
Now that the promo results are out students who did well enough are applying to do a H3 subject. Doing a H3 is sort of like doing a Special Paper, and it's something much sought after by students cos it'll give one an edge when it comes to applying for universities. Thing is, u gotta have an average of 'C's to apply for a H3 *looks at my results and sighs*.

So anyway, my Mum and I got into an argument over this H3 issue. Mum wants me to give it a go in spite of my results. On the other hand, I don't want to cos GHEM is already quite heavy in the first place and it was with sheer determination that I managed to limp across the finish line, battered and bruised though I was. Mr Yeo likens doing a H3 to doing a Written Report on your own. The thought of this makes me break out in cold sweat. Dear old Mum, however, pooh-poohed all my fears and said that it's manageable. Huge workload? Can be managed. Zilch social life? So what. Extra stress? No problem. EXCUSE ME, BUT IN CASE YOU HAVEN'T REALIZED, I'M A HUMAN BEING. Not some machine: a car with a flat tyre or a plane whose landing gear is stuck. Why can't she see this, why?
******
Judgement Day also happens to be NY Open House Day. The people up there can be really sadistic. What's with putting a dreaded event and a happy one on the same day? Who's gonna be in the mood to be enthusiastic about welcoming potential Year 1s? Still, everyone who was involved in the Open House did a great job in my opinion. I was one of the DJs on duty that day and had great fun. But spinning tracks is not as laidback as it sounds. Mr Seah, my CCA teacher in charge correctly noted in his blog that "Their role is less glam than it sounds; the kids are among the most harassed while they're on duty.Apart from playing music (Dani was having a field day selecting the tracks to be played), they had to cope with making both scheduled and unscheduled announcements, while assailing our little secondary school guests with reminders, encouragement to participate in the various games and activities, and calling out prize winners' names."

Well said, sir! Mr Seah also adds that:

"I seem to have assembled a great team of DJs who were quite up to the task and who appeared to have enjoyed their stressful afternoon quite well. YY and Sumi were bright and chirpy, Tim and Dani turned up their 'tude attempting to interact with the audience, Zen and ZH kept cool, just taking things as they came."

Haha, yeah, I was bright and chirpy all right. Though enthusiastic to an alarming degree towards the end. People must have thought I was high on crack on something.
******
Right, enuff emoing. Will talk about something more enlightening next time so look out for that!

Into Oblivion:)

So, what do you all think of the extreme makeover Zephy has just undergone? I've been wanting to do this for sometime. Now that it's finished, I'm proud as Punch though something about the right hand column bugs me. Maybe there're too many page elements there. Ah, sheesh.


I'm contemplating changing my blogskin every month. Nutty, I know, but to borrow a phrase from Jeffrey Deaver's 'The Vanished Man", 'shouldn't whims be reserved for the colour of your toenails, your hair' and in my case, my blog? So there!

This month's blogskin is entitled 'Into oblivion' after that highly addictive song by Funeral for a Friend. Click the mini radio to hear it but be warned: it'll give you an adrenaline rush. The lyrics are pretty good too:

The days I've felt alone.
And the sea, it brings me back again.
So that I can see my wife.
And I can see my child.
Home, I'm home, it never changes,
Same old faces, same old places.

I stared into oblivion and found my own.
I stared into oblivion, into oblivion.
Find in me the home, That you have never known.
Find in us the faith. The faith to bring you home.

I stared into oblivion and found my own.
I stared into oblivion and found my own.
I stared into oblivion, and found my own reflection there. (reflection there)

Home. Now that I'm coming home,
Will you be the same as when I saw you last?
Tell me how much time has passed? x3

I stared into oblivion (and found my own).
I stared into oblivion (and found my own).
I stared into oblivion (and found my own).
I stared into oblivion and found my own reflection there

The brain rocks!

An interesting excerpt from 'I am gifted, so are you' by Adam Khoo, titled 'The Brain's Infinite Capacity':



"Our brain is made up of billions of brain cells called neurones. Although extremely tiny, a single neurone has the processing power that is equivelant to a personal computer. The storage capacity of one neurone is also extremely huge as each cell contains our entire genetic blueprint necessary to recreate another human being like us!"



Later, Khoo adds:



"The total number of possible thought patterns if permutated, would be so large if we were to write it in normal handwriting, it would be 1 followed by a mind-boggling 10.5 million kilometres of zeros... your brain's potential is millions more times bigger than there are atoms in the universe."



Moral of the story? Our brain has sooo much more potential than we realize. No, that's an understatement; we're talking about a storage capacity that's way more vast than the cosmos, people! This vindicates my belief that there is virtually never too many things to remember.

I'll admit, I myself don't enjoy memorizing huge amounts of text. It's a bloody painful ordeal. But only if you do it the wrong way. Remember my short post on the Law of Diminishing Marginal Returns? This economics law says that if more and more variable inputs are added to one or more fixed factors, rate of output will decrease after a certain point in time. It applies to the brain too. That's why last minute cramming for a test doesn't work; our brain needs time to digest whatever we give it and then assimilate the stuff. When too much is foisted upon it, it goes bonkers and so do we.

People often ask how I manage to cope studying 'A' Level Hist and Geog, seeing how content-heavy both are. Yep, it's not easy for sure but it is manageable. My Dad can vouch for that. The most important thing is to be able to manage your time well. Know you priorities and always plan long term. Other rules I live by:

• Study consistently so as to reinforce what you've memorized. After covering one topic, revise it again the next day. That's because we tend to forget 80% of the stuff we memorize the day before. The next week, revise that topic again.
• Mind-maps are one of the most amazing inventions ever. They're right up there with anime and the Internet, in my view.
• Consult the teachers if you are unsure of anything. Otherwise whatever you don't know will accumulate to reach a nail-biting, stress-triggering degree.
• Relax and have fun every now and then. I'm a slacker at heart:)
• Be passsionate about what you are studying

(Heh, I sound a bit like Yoda giving all the tips. But they DO work)

With regards to the last point, enthusiasm works wonders. It explains why some people can rattle off the names of every single Pokemon that existed and every nitty gritty regarding Harry Potter. In short, it is a driving force. It can also make you do slightly wonky things.

There's a world map right in front of my study desk and whenever I feel bored I'd look at it and try to memorize as many countries and their capitals as possible. Blame it on my love for History and Geography. The killerzephyr, who has gone nutty after being liberated from the exams, shall now list them all down without referring to any source but my memory.

(On the left column: countries in alphabetical order. On the right: their respective capitals)

Argentina - Bueno Aires

Burma - Naypidaw

China - Beijing

Denmark - Copenhagen

Estonia - ?

France - Paris

Germany - Berlin

Hungary - Budapest

Iceland - Reykjavik

Jordan - ?

Kazakhstan - ?

Libya - Tripoli

Malaysia - Kuala Lumpur

Nigeria - Lagos

Oman -?

Poland - Warsaw

Quebec - ?

Romania - Bucharest

South Africa - Johannesberg

Thailand - Bangkok

Uzbekistan - ?

Venezuela - Caracas

Wales -?

X - no country out there begins with X

Yemen - ?

Zimbawe - Harare

***********

Answers to the ones I don't know:

Estonia - Tallin

Jordan - Amman

Kazakhstan - Astana

Oman - Muscat

Quebec - Quebec City

Uzbekistan - Tashkent

Wales - Cardiff

Yemen - Sanaa

And it seems that I got South Africa wrong: Capital(s): Pretoria(executive), Bloemfontein(judical), Cape Town(legislative)

Source for answers: Wikipedia

Free Burma!