michelle stopped your world at 7:19 PM

get well soon joshua phua, and ash..
dawn, i hope the bleeding has stopped :)
sulynn and yina, fight on! we're praying for you..
mich teo... take care take care... we'll get through this together ok?
happy birthday xiang wei!
mel, all the best for your concert tmrw...
everyone else, study hardd but dont get stressed please.. :)

yay. so fun to play with the colours haha.

joshy stopped your world at 6:22 PM

well since im sick at home while all of you are in school... (wonder who's really suffering haha) thought i should post something interesting...

you know all the cable ads they show on scv? why dont they show it on like channel 5... i mean... people who have cable already dont need to see the ads right? haha

joshy stopped your world at 11:40 PM

20 minutes b4 midnight! quick must post to keep lukes plan alive... haha=p

why is everyone studying so hard... *sigh* =p the trick is to fail prelims badly... then you'll be so scared into studying like mad for the actual A's... haha
but seriously... dont complain that the class blog is dead... do something about it. doesnt need to be a cathartic post or whatever... i dunno i see the class blog more like a forum... except tt no one really participates.  sian diao.

Your goals are  just a thing in your soul
and your know that your moves will let them show
you keep creating pictures in your mind
so just believe that they will come true in time
it will be fine leave all of your cares and stress behind
just let it go let the music flow inside
forget all your pain and just start to believe

 

Luke Leong stopped your world at 11:33 PM

quote of the day: "an unexamined life is not worth living" - socrates (that is, plato's mentor. not brazil's 1982 world cup winning captain who shares the same name)

(is this why we blog?)

as our ac experience draws to a close, i realize that cca has truly been an integral part of our life here. ok, so it is just a "co-curricular activity", and according to the latest criteria for uni admissions, it accounts for merely 10% (or thereabouts). but i'm sure that for most of us, it has become tons more than that - a veritable way of life. in fact, i'm pretty sure that we all spend more time on cca than studies - at least during season (which is like 80% of the time, the other 20% being exams).

reading about how everyone has grown through council/dance/drama/canoeing/bowling/and many others, i can't help but reflect on my own involvement... in chess. i've always admired various communities in ac for their accomplishments, and not only those in the big productions/competitions. i still can't quite grasp how u memorize so many dance moves, or drama lines, and flawlessly execute them in front of a whole auditorium. but i digress. what i mean is, from all the blogs i've come across, it's very clear that everyone's non-academic activities has enriched them in their daily life. forming friendships, learning lessons, surviving countless practices/training sessions...    

for some reason, i've found that woefully lacking in the chess club. i'll admit that my attendance is anything but regular, and even when i'm there, i usually find myself rusting away, like some reactive metal rusting away (what a lousy simile). yes, chess IS a way of life for me, but that's because i play much more outside of school, "semi-professionally" even. maybe it's because chess is not such a "happening" activity. thus chess club meetings are mostly a drag. but then, my experiences playing chess outside of school (especially on my travels) have been tremendously fulfilling indeed. more than just the 64 squares and 32 pieces, i will always cherish the memories of my chess-playing days. (oh dear, i must sound like a has-been, and maybe i am one)

there's nothing like extricating yourself from the brink of defeat with a "cheap" move, and later laughing with ur teammates over how u fooled ur opponent. above all, being part of a team is an honour in itself, especially when u have to live together for 2-3 weeks at overseas competitions. i'm also not sure if some of u know this already (or if it also applies to u) but it's a tradition that on the last day of our overseas tournaments, we have an all-night bullet/blitz/transfer chess/cards session, where we do anything but play proper chess. that being so, i really wish that somehow i could be a part of all this once again. and for those of u who continue to grow through ur ccas and all the ppl you've met as a result, do treasure the whole experience. in fact, all of u already do, so keep it up!  

anyway, i just visited the sbones blog and was wondering if we could somehow "emulate" them, by keeping up one post everyday. haha ok, tags will do =)

maybe, just maybe, i'll post a followup on this entry. there's so much more to say that i haven't even thought of it all. until then, i'll be doing econs tys to practice my mcqs... 

joshy stopped your world at 12:30 AM

hey... =) just wanna say that... i know sometimes like i say a lot of stuff that might seem quite negative and all.. but today i really realised how much all of you mean to me... and how much i mean to you guys too =) thanks so much for all the support... it wouldnt be the same without all of you.. its the only thing that keeps me going to school anyway (cos school sucks, and we know it.. haha)
 
so... keeping it short and sweet..
 
I love you all! =)

sugah~plum stopped your world at 10:32 PM

i agree with you mich. child-like faith is something i wish i had more often. and i do miss my younger days too... and yeah xiangwei abit of hdb flats as well. i don't remember much about my childhood, but i do remember that i used to have neighbours when i was living in a hdb flat, and went like from block to block for chinese tuition where i would fall asleep and get very bored, and up to the 14th floor to see my neighbours, rollerblading down the slope to the little "shopping arcade" (for lack of a better word) as josh calls it, riding a mountain bike into a drain at block 118 and hanging upside down from parallel bars in the playground. but i guess it only really matters when we're kids... i think people get too busy when they're older to do such stuff anyway. and too indifferent. i remember the strangest things. and then i forget everything else. but that's not the point right? why are we even discussing hdb flats on our class blog anyway hmmm. but nevermind... i will not question it. tis perfectly fine with me. anyway its kinda lonely here, don't really have friendly neighbours, in fact i don't even know a single one. that sounds rather sad. and i don't exactly have a nice big house fit for company either... but then again judging from the state of my room its not the size of the house that matters.

hmm today i was just thinking about when i first knew the people in our class. how different it is from today. and even if we're not the perfect class or anything, at least give it to us that we tried. and josh don't make sweeping statements la, i'm sure some people in class did ask you out, i know i did. but anyway its true dance is making us all rather busy these days. speaking of that, i'm gonna have to miss school for the next two weeks from tuesday afternoon onwards. oh man. on one hand i'm happy that i can stop worrying about hwk and stuff for a while, on the other i can't stop worrying coz prelims are coming. what a mess. anyway, study hard you guys, and i'll join in the long hard push to prelims later on... see you all!

joshy stopped your world at 10:39 AM

okae i'll bite =p ben was just asking me last night why i hadnt been blogging on my class blog... i told him that i hadnt really felt like it and couldn't really be bothered. but... haha okae what the heck =p

anyhow i dont really feel the same as xiangwei i guess.. well maybe one reason is that i've always lived in an hdb flat.. but i havent really like gotten to know my neighbours v well, except perhaps maybe a few of those who went to henry park, but they have all moved elsewhere since. living in a hdb flat doesnt really do much for me... sure i love living in my cosy apartment, i have all i want, the "shopping arcade" downstairs more or less provides everything i need (haircut, 7-11, cakes, 24-hour food court, photohut, stationery shop, etc).. but something about this year has just made me wonder about all of this. i mean like, for one thing i definately do wish that i had a nice big house... maybe like ben's, or whoever's we always go to for class reunions or just general hanging out. a nice big house that can host parties, like SJI's (hinthint) or whatever. wishful thinking perhaps, but i think i'd like to host parties and have people over at my house, fooling around, just spending time together. but.. *shrug* i'm happy enough as it is i guess.

but shifting back to nostalgia... im not sure about all of you, but these past years in jc have definately been the best years of my life so far. and maybe sec 4 too... but jc has definately been the "bomb diggity". haha. but its now that everything has started to make sense... so many times have i wondered and thought about what life means to me.. and i guess the ultimate transition can actually be seen through my blogs. i've definately changed a lot... and i'd like to think for the better. my outlook on life has definately been changed... and perhaps maybe i've learned some painful lessons as well, and maybe my class spirit has been dulled.. sometimes i think to myself (maybe too often nowadays) "i'll care for those who care for me... and maybe for those who dont... but not for those who scorn me". i guess thats a really bad attitude to adopt, and i admit i have definately been feeling that more often than not. but i'm blogging now arent i? =p i guess it was really interesting to me that my june holidays was spent not with you guys, but with dance mainly (except for f.o.p). what struck me even more was that the people who were asking me out were not you guys.. *shrug* maybe it means something, maybe it doesnt.. but i guess that just sums up our class. not that i'm feeling negative about it or anything... my june holidays totally rocked. but it rocked without our class. and somethings definately wrong about that.

im just sad that our j1s didnt get their sji... much like our seniors never really gave us one. there's still time perhaps... only if we really want one. but everyone wants to study.. maybe i should start studying soon too.

oh well.

anyhow to sum up (and try to shift back to the topic heh)... i love this song a lot.

Cause these are the days worth living
These are the years we're given
And these are the moments
These are the times
Let's make the best out of our lives
Even if hope was shattered
I know it wouldn't matter
Cause these are the moments
These are the times
Let's make the best out of our lives

maybe its not really fitting... but it kinda struck me that... at least right now... these are definately the days worth living. =)

the simple pleasures which fill us with wide-eyed wonder and make us want to be the young ones all over again. what do i miss.. hmmm. to tell you the truth i can't remember what i miss at the moment... maybe i'll start with the things i miss not having. as much as i most certainly miss not having the TYS, the impending doom of the As etc etc, i also miss not having to carry around a handphone all the time, not having the so-called luxuries of the internet and all the things which help us to 'save time'. i miss not having to be concerned about how others perceive me to be, or what they're actually like behind the masks we create for ourselves. i miss the carefree days of not having to budget, or do accounts, or even daydream about what i'd do if i had just a little more pocket money. argh i hate consumerism!! and sometimes even (window) shopping. (which is why i only go shopping, as in, real shopping, once a year haha.. oops how abnormal). but at the end of the day... i think i miss not having all this because of the hold they have on me. we revel in our 'liberties', not realising how they have mastered us. i remember how in upper primary and secondary school, i craved for 'freedom' and to be cut loose from apron strings. but when that kinda happened, it wasn't exactly what i'd hoped it would be. oh dear, i think i'm losing whatever sentimental side i had... i really can't remember what i miss having. horror of horrors, maybe its because i can't look past the things i miss not having. i can't look past living for the now and the next, which is why i can't reminisce or remember. or maybe its because the certain elements of folly and gloom in those early years overshadow happiness and simplicity. or maybe its just plain forgetfulness. i don't know. there are so many factors. haha so irritating.

a few days ago i was talking to someone about the village children in thailand... and he was telling me about his experiences there, how much joy they had, with the little that they had. its almost as if the joy you have is inversely proportionate to the material things that you have, or rather the things you need and want to have. and i really do believe that that true freedom is being able to say that we are not mastered by the tangibles. and let's be honest, can we say that with full conviction? (that's if, we believe it) maybe that's why.. when we were younger, and less aware and controlled by the man-created forces, we found it so much easier to be happier.

oh wait, i'm going off tangent. haha. i know what i miss... i miss playing hide and seek! and ring around the roses. and i miss pokka jelly and caleb do u remember all the nice snacks we ate in kindergarten. (but then, i still eat all that haha) i miss playing musical chairs HAHAHA and i miss eating out every single weekend with my family at hawker centers and getting scared of all the cats. i miss playing in the rain, and sometimes i even miss getting caned. i miss the way my grandmother tried to teach me hainanese but always failed, and trini my favourite power ranger.

but i think that even as we recognise that there are some things which we can never get back, there is this wonderful comfort in knowing that we can, in all own ways, still be like little children in a world of big bad wolves. i'm not trying to over simplify things or be ignorant about the ugly realities... but really, let's not be cynical about child-like faith. this is still His world, and all nature still sings. the rocks and trees, the skies and seas, His Hand the wonders wrought :)

okayyy i'm late for something (again) goodbye! HAPPY YOUTH DAY 2AH!

david stopped your world at 10:32 PM

seeing that our class blog has been paralysed for quite some period of time, i've decided to do my bit to revive it. well. that and because i happen to have plenty of idle time on my hands. so yea..

today for me was a truly..refreshing and awakening experience. one might ask WHAT ON EARTH HAPPEN to make xiang wei feel this way. well all that happened today was a trip to the supermarket with my parents in ang moh kio at some hdb block. err yeap. not some "earth-shaking homeric" event occurred, and neither did i "mingle in one of the greatest affairs of the earth" ( you can see that i'm currently revising for my e4.) it was just a plain simple trip down to the grocery store with both my parents. and boy did we buy out the entire store but that's beside the point. i missed the simple days. the days where i went to market with my parents and argued over which brand of detergent was nicer-smelling, or trying to sneak snacks into the trolly when my mom was noticing. or even just hearing her grumble about the expensive prices of rice. i miss those happy days. it's just these sudden waves of nostalgia hitting me over and over and over again. sigh. those were the days. long before the TYS and the O's and the A's and the P's S's L's and E's appeared in my life. gosh life was so much simpler when i couldn't read. and better too.

i miss living in a hdb flat and i miss having so many neigbours running around asking to play with me. i miss the little indian guy tending the mama shop downstairs who always reeked of curry cologne. i miss the art classes i attended at the community centres and the nice smell of oil pastels. i miss the irritating dog which always scared me and caused me to run into the lift once without my parents which resulted in non-stop excessive crying until the lift door finally re-opened on the first flor (i was on the 18th floor) and how my parents panicked and my father rushed down the stairs. all 18 stories. oh yea. he used to be much fitter. and WAY less fatter but i digress.

i miss the simple way of life. the different dialects. the different smells. the fear of looking down from the 18th storey. i miss all of that. and nothing can bring that back now. i miss the days when my sisters were not around. geez. oh yea. i miss those days a lot.

before this turns into an entry all about me, i would just like to ask.. does anyone else feel this way too? or is it just me? am i just getting old? (my birthday's coming for all u ignorant twits who had no idea. 29th of this month. REMEMBER) hehz. oh no. this might be my mid-life crisis. menopause. gasp. sigh. i miss my life and i want it back now.( but i'm sure when i think of it tomorrow i wouldn't which is why i'm posting this now before all my nostalgia evaporates and all's left is just. recollection. not memories.)

i miss IT ALL. Do YOu GUYs?

ps: although this entry seems to be about myself, much like most conversations i have, haha, i'm trying to intergrate very subtly project work skills by asking your opinions. not like i really care but hey. we are after all in the same class for like what. eternity already. haha. =)