I have several things to do during the holidays.
-Holiday Homework
-Prepare for music exams
There is this piece of chemistry revision practice which I have only done selected questions. As for the rest of them, either I cannot be bothered to take out my periodic table, or I have threw away my related notes needed for those questions. But that should not be too big a problem either, because I will soon figure them out when I have the mood to.
There is also a science fiction essay to be written. I have thought of some ideas, but none of them seem special or original enough.
1) Crew members getting killed one by one on a spaceship?
2) Earth getting destroyed?
3) Humans turned into livestock for aliens?
After fruitless mental attempts to get started on an idea, I have decided to wait for inspiration to come in my dreams and finish the whole story in two hours. Rather than to wreck my mind and waste time trying to write a story a paragraph a day.
---
As for music exams, I am not in quite a good situation. My piano exams is just a month away, and I have not even got the notes to my pieces right. Furthermore I do not have a teacher, and that requires me to put in additional effort.
But the pieces are so boring, and I can't gather the concentration to practice hours at a time, ever since I last broke my record at 4 and a half hours straight of piano before the holidays have started.
Rather, I am much more concentrating on the moonlight sonata, fantasie impromptu and probably attempt the flight of the bumblebee thingy. Looks like I have to juggle both exams and my 'personal repetoire' now.
Hopefully I would also be able to get my lazy body off the chair and bed to get some time to exercise too while I still have it.
Maybe drawing could pass some of my time too...I shall post a recent work of mine, on the next time.
Friday, June 5, 2009
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Out goes the Old and In comes the New
Exam results are out.
Considering that I just jumped from normal chinese to higher this year, I couldn't have expected too good results. 116.5/200.
Math was quite expected, 44/60, not too good, but acceptable by my standards.
Biology was good thanks to a good teacher.
And I did not study for chemistry.
Physics scored 96.5/100.
That's all I feel like saying. I will work harder next semester.
Now that the old modules have ended, the new ones should come in.
There are a whole bunch of electives that I feel like taking! They all sound so exciting.
-Sports Nutrition
-Polymer Chemistry
-Some chinese culture thing (I got to take that to improve my chinese knowledge)
-And maybe I would be considering a programming course
One thing I am not taking is the Physics Solar Energy thing. Not interested at all.
Workload is bound to increase next semester; I hope that I can keep an even better balance between work and non-work. I also have to take things more seriously in hand and work harder.
Thats the end of a short academic review this semester. Bye!
Considering that I just jumped from normal chinese to higher this year, I couldn't have expected too good results. 116.5/200.
Math was quite expected, 44/60, not too good, but acceptable by my standards.
Biology was good thanks to a good teacher.
And I did not study for chemistry.
Physics scored 96.5/100.
That's all I feel like saying. I will work harder next semester.
Now that the old modules have ended, the new ones should come in.
There are a whole bunch of electives that I feel like taking! They all sound so exciting.
-Sports Nutrition
-Polymer Chemistry
-Some chinese culture thing (I got to take that to improve my chinese knowledge)
-And maybe I would be considering a programming course
One thing I am not taking is the Physics Solar Energy thing. Not interested at all.
Workload is bound to increase next semester; I hope that I can keep an even better balance between work and non-work. I also have to take things more seriously in hand and work harder.
Thats the end of a short academic review this semester. Bye!
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Exam revision
Other than practicing chinese and studying for biology, I did not prepare for exams in any other way.
Heres a chinese expository essay about teachers I studied on the day before the chinese exam.
嗟乎！师道之不传也久矣！欲人之无惑也难矣！古之圣人，其出人也远矣，犹且从师而问焉；今之众 人，其下圣人也亦远矣，而耻学于师。是故圣益圣，愚益愚。圣人之所以为圣，愚人之所以为愚，其皆出于此乎？爱其子，择师而教之；于其身也，则耻师焉，惑 矣。彼童子之师，授之书而习其句读者，非吾所谓传其道解其惑者也。句读之不知，惑之不解，或师焉，或不焉，小学而大遗，吾未见其明也。巫医乐师百工之人， 不耻相师。士大夫之族，曰师曰弟子云者，则群聚而笑之。问之，则曰：“彼与彼年相若也，道相似也。位卑则足羞，官盛则近谀。”呜呼！师道之不复，可知矣。*1* 巫医乐师百工之人，君子不齿，今其智乃反不能及，其可怪也欤！*1*
圣人无常师。孔子师郯子、苌弘、师襄、老聃。郯子之徒，其贤不及孔子。孔子曰：三人行，则必有我师。是故弟子不必不如师，师不必贤于弟子，闻道有先后，术业有专攻，如是而已。
*1* : I love the sarcasm
And thats all the preperation.
Now that the exams are over and the stress is relieved, I feel more happy and lively! Went cycling with half of 205 on Tuesday(again) which was not too bad and later went to watch a movie with 5 other people.
Results would be out next week. Hopefully I won't do too badly (I know I won't).
Heres a chinese expository essay about teachers I studied on the day before the chinese exam.
师说
古之学者必有师。师者，所以传道受业解惑也。人非生而知之者，孰能无惑？惑而不从师，其为惑也，终不解矣。生乎吾前，其闻道也固先乎吾，吾从而师之；生 乎吾后，其闻道也亦先乎吾，吾从而师之。吾师道也，夫庸知其年之先后生于吾乎？是故无贵无贱，无长无少，道之所存，师之所存也。嗟乎！师道之不传也久矣！欲人之无惑也难矣！古之圣人，其出人也远矣，犹且从师而问焉；今之众 人，其下圣人也亦远矣，而耻学于师。是故圣益圣，愚益愚。圣人之所以为圣，愚人之所以为愚，其皆出于此乎？爱其子，择师而教之；于其身也，则耻师焉，惑 矣。彼童子之师，授之书而习其句读者，非吾所谓传其道解其惑者也。句读之不知，惑之不解，或师焉，或不焉，小学而大遗，吾未见其明也。巫医乐师百工之人， 不耻相师。士大夫之族，曰师曰弟子云者，则群聚而笑之。问之，则曰：“彼与彼年相若也，道相似也。位卑则足羞，官盛则近谀。”呜呼！师道之不复，可知矣。*1* 巫医乐师百工之人，君子不齿，今其智乃反不能及，其可怪也欤！*1*
圣人无常师。孔子师郯子、苌弘、师襄、老聃。郯子之徒，其贤不及孔子。孔子曰：三人行，则必有我师。是故弟子不必不如师，师不必贤于弟子，闻道有先后，术业有专攻，如是而已。
*1* : I love the sarcasm
And thats all the preperation.
Now that the exams are over and the stress is relieved, I feel more happy and lively! Went cycling with half of 205 on Tuesday(again) which was not too bad and later went to watch a movie with 5 other people.
Results would be out next week. Hopefully I won't do too badly (I know I won't).
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Musical!
The Year 4 music students held their musical in the auditorium yesterday. Apparently Berton was not feeling too well but he still attended it.
Their plot was based on the movie 'mindhunters', where people on an island get killed one by one by a murderer amongst them.
Their speeches and singing were a bit soft compared to my class' musical, but that was probably due to the distance between stage and audience. The singing was quite good; although technically, some of their singing were bad, I could tell that they sang with feeling which makes it - unboring.
To me, their mistakes made were quite minor. For example:
A: Oh you see there are 8 soldiers left! Ahh!! *points at 10 soldiers*
B: You are right!
*Lights dim, people clear the stage*
A whispers: There are still 10 soldiers!
B: Oh yea.
The ending where all the spirits of the victims gathered was quite comical. They kept on making eerie noises like some kasper the friendly ghost. lol.
Compared to my class' musical production, theirs' was really good. At least the music could make me forget about what happens outside that auditorium.
As for our musical...It is plotless, yet there is no synopsis. There is no discipline among team members, people just remove scenes when they forget to come out, or dialogs. And what about the flexibility? When I forgot one of my lines (and my only line) in a song, we did not have to skip the final verse, and instead just treat the piano part as a solo and wait until it ends, then we come in. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, the piano ALMOST stopped until it realised we were not going to omit the last verse.
Over here, I think flexibility is not the direct opposite of discipline. Discipline is following and sticking to what we want of the scenes, while flexibility is following the flow to redirect the diverting situation back to how we want it to be. And I then wouldn't have to walk around the stage in a car with no one coming out to start the conversation like a person who do not know what he is supposed to do!
Our team is stuck in the middle of two extremes. So many wants to lead, yet so many wants to follow. Many people shout for attention, and directing different movements which result in slight conflicts; on the other hand others do not even trust their own judgement and have to ask even the slightest thing like "Where do I stand?"
All in all, the year 4's musical might not have had the professionalism or skill, but it could create an atmosphere, one that made me forget about some unpleasant things.
Now that the exams are around the corner, I have less things to look forward to in school everyday, and with friendship problems, depression starts to creep in, slowly yet surely...
Their plot was based on the movie 'mindhunters', where people on an island get killed one by one by a murderer amongst them.
Their speeches and singing were a bit soft compared to my class' musical, but that was probably due to the distance between stage and audience. The singing was quite good; although technically, some of their singing were bad, I could tell that they sang with feeling which makes it - unboring.
To me, their mistakes made were quite minor. For example:
A: Oh you see there are 8 soldiers left! Ahh!! *points at 10 soldiers*
B: You are right!
*Lights dim, people clear the stage*
A whispers: There are still 10 soldiers!
B: Oh yea.
The ending where all the spirits of the victims gathered was quite comical. They kept on making eerie noises like some kasper the friendly ghost. lol.
Compared to my class' musical production, theirs' was really good. At least the music could make me forget about what happens outside that auditorium.
As for our musical...It is plotless, yet there is no synopsis. There is no discipline among team members, people just remove scenes when they forget to come out, or dialogs. And what about the flexibility? When I forgot one of my lines (and my only line) in a song, we did not have to skip the final verse, and instead just treat the piano part as a solo and wait until it ends, then we come in. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, the piano ALMOST stopped until it realised we were not going to omit the last verse.
Over here, I think flexibility is not the direct opposite of discipline. Discipline is following and sticking to what we want of the scenes, while flexibility is following the flow to redirect the diverting situation back to how we want it to be. And I then wouldn't have to walk around the stage in a car with no one coming out to start the conversation like a person who do not know what he is supposed to do!
Our team is stuck in the middle of two extremes. So many wants to lead, yet so many wants to follow. Many people shout for attention, and directing different movements which result in slight conflicts; on the other hand others do not even trust their own judgement and have to ask even the slightest thing like "Where do I stand?"
All in all, the year 4's musical might not have had the professionalism or skill, but it could create an atmosphere, one that made me forget about some unpleasant things.
Now that the exams are around the corner, I have less things to look forward to in school everyday, and with friendship problems, depression starts to creep in, slowly yet surely...
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Life in 2009 - Best Episode in 2009!
NUSHS open house was on last Saturday, which was one of the best days in 2009 so far!
Let me recall and recount this wonderful day. Thinking about it once again makes me want to relive that day once again!
How it started. I came to school early because performing arts had to perform for visitors during the open house. But I arrived far too early thus got bored quite quickly.
(Happiness so far: -5)
I went to the basketball court to train myself touching the net. Considering the net was damaged and hanging, I managed to do so. Obviously this could not keep me occupied for long as I saw litter on the ground at the resting spot beside the court. Since I was so bored, I decided to be a cleaner and clean up the mess.
(Happiness so far: 5)
Soon orchestra assembled and moved to the hall to get ready for the performances. Although there was a power failure at first, the air-con soon came back on to counter the hot and dry morning and relaxed all of us. Ah, what comfort!
(Happiness so far: 25)
We watched other performing arts perform. Although they were not really very interesting, the fact that we were not sitting on the ground, but on chairs, and the air conditioning made up for it by giving us the relaxation we need as we watched to shows. It did not seem like such a dreary day like I had anticipated it to be after all!
(Happiness so far: 35)
I played with my violin bow in my hand, but my fingers slipped. The bow dropped onto the floor and broke. Oops. Fortunately I managed to get over it in a minute.
(Happiness so far: 35)
At last it was our break time, I managed to borrow another bow and we rested in the music room while waiting for lunch to come. Talked to some people as I turned the 5X5X5 rubiks cube here and there. A pro person came along and fixed it up in a few minutes. Then we talked...
and talked...
and talked...
Then lunch came. The food was not too bad!
After a good lunch we moved back to the music room for some more rest and talking. Then we went to the hall once again.
(Happiness after rest: 40)
The second half of performances was not much difference from the first. All of gamelan performances sound the same. As some of us inteprete it, its just a clashing of pots and pans in the kitchen, like a fight between two chefs.
So we moved the orchestra back to the music room after it was all over and waited in there for the concert at esplanade that night.
I did some homework. Some people were playing boggle and scrabble and I got distracted occasionally by that. But it does not matter, because time was what I had then.
The coolness of the music room and company of people made the atmosphere feel great. I wanted to sleep so badly, but managed to finish my math assignment up to the second last question first. I was labelled as the most productive person in the music room by Jr. Although that is only a matter of relativity...
(Happiness so far: 50)
Then I went to practice a bit of piano before it was time to leave. Went with Hm, Andrew, Abi and some year 2s to the esplanade. There was so much to talk about along the way. At least it does not seem as lonely and quiet as it always seems so in my new class.
(Happiness so far: 60)
At the esplanade I got bored once again while waiting for the pre-concert talk to commence so I played with my violin bow stick and tapped it on people secretively.
*taptap*
"Who did that??"
"Zf did"
"HUH? Are you sure his arm is so long?"
and
*taptap*
*looks around*
"Were you the one who tapped me?"
"Yup"
"Wow that was fast."
I kept happy by keeping boredom away.
(Happiness so far: 72)
Then the talk came and pass. Soon it was time for dinner. I followed the usual people to dinner and sat outside the eating place eating my packed dinner. Apparently I was very worried that the people might chase me away for outside food and drinks. I finished it in around 5 minutes, fast enough to go in before loneliness creeps in.
As usual, we talked and it was no longer the feeling of "classroom" on a boring day full of lessons.
(Happiness so far: 80)
We went to the concert. I sat next to some people I have never really talked to before and managed to say a few sentences lol. The first half of it was still alright, when we got to the second half - Fantastique Symphony, I got really sleepy. The speaker before was not quite right that the symphony would turn into a nightmare from a dream. I could not even fall asleep when I wanted to!
It was usually when I was about to drift into sleep when the ominous melodies trigger something and I just jerk awake and shiver. No that is not fright, that is the feeling of an alarm clock ringing every 5 minutes in the middle of the night.
When it was over, everyone was happy, or at least, I was.
(Happiness so far: 84)
What a day! Now it was time to head for home. Unfortunately, I got too used to following the usual people and did not realise that their parents were fetching them. Thus, I got lead to the wrong place and got a little bit lost...
I walked back and that was when I met WH, who lead me to the mrt station the correct way. Thank you! :) So then I was on my way home safely and thats the end of a wonderful day!
Happiness score: 100!
Hooray!
Let me recall and recount this wonderful day. Thinking about it once again makes me want to relive that day once again!
How it started. I came to school early because performing arts had to perform for visitors during the open house. But I arrived far too early thus got bored quite quickly.
(Happiness so far: -5)
I went to the basketball court to train myself touching the net. Considering the net was damaged and hanging, I managed to do so. Obviously this could not keep me occupied for long as I saw litter on the ground at the resting spot beside the court. Since I was so bored, I decided to be a cleaner and clean up the mess.
(Happiness so far: 5)
Soon orchestra assembled and moved to the hall to get ready for the performances. Although there was a power failure at first, the air-con soon came back on to counter the hot and dry morning and relaxed all of us. Ah, what comfort!
(Happiness so far: 25)
We watched other performing arts perform. Although they were not really very interesting, the fact that we were not sitting on the ground, but on chairs, and the air conditioning made up for it by giving us the relaxation we need as we watched to shows. It did not seem like such a dreary day like I had anticipated it to be after all!
(Happiness so far: 35)
I played with my violin bow in my hand, but my fingers slipped. The bow dropped onto the floor and broke. Oops. Fortunately I managed to get over it in a minute.
(Happiness so far: 35)
At last it was our break time, I managed to borrow another bow and we rested in the music room while waiting for lunch to come. Talked to some people as I turned the 5X5X5 rubiks cube here and there. A pro person came along and fixed it up in a few minutes. Then we talked...
and talked...
and talked...
Then lunch came. The food was not too bad!
After a good lunch we moved back to the music room for some more rest and talking. Then we went to the hall once again.
(Happiness after rest: 40)
The second half of performances was not much difference from the first. All of gamelan performances sound the same. As some of us inteprete it, its just a clashing of pots and pans in the kitchen, like a fight between two chefs.
So we moved the orchestra back to the music room after it was all over and waited in there for the concert at esplanade that night.
I did some homework. Some people were playing boggle and scrabble and I got distracted occasionally by that. But it does not matter, because time was what I had then.
The coolness of the music room and company of people made the atmosphere feel great. I wanted to sleep so badly, but managed to finish my math assignment up to the second last question first. I was labelled as the most productive person in the music room by Jr. Although that is only a matter of relativity...
(Happiness so far: 50)
Then I went to practice a bit of piano before it was time to leave. Went with Hm, Andrew, Abi and some year 2s to the esplanade. There was so much to talk about along the way. At least it does not seem as lonely and quiet as it always seems so in my new class.
(Happiness so far: 60)
At the esplanade I got bored once again while waiting for the pre-concert talk to commence so I played with my violin bow stick and tapped it on people secretively.
*taptap*
"Who did that??"
"Zf did"
"HUH? Are you sure his arm is so long?"
and
*taptap*
*looks around*
"Were you the one who tapped me?"
"Yup"
"Wow that was fast."
I kept happy by keeping boredom away.
(Happiness so far: 72)
Then the talk came and pass. Soon it was time for dinner. I followed the usual people to dinner and sat outside the eating place eating my packed dinner. Apparently I was very worried that the people might chase me away for outside food and drinks. I finished it in around 5 minutes, fast enough to go in before loneliness creeps in.
As usual, we talked and it was no longer the feeling of "classroom" on a boring day full of lessons.
(Happiness so far: 80)
We went to the concert. I sat next to some people I have never really talked to before and managed to say a few sentences lol. The first half of it was still alright, when we got to the second half - Fantastique Symphony, I got really sleepy. The speaker before was not quite right that the symphony would turn into a nightmare from a dream. I could not even fall asleep when I wanted to!
It was usually when I was about to drift into sleep when the ominous melodies trigger something and I just jerk awake and shiver. No that is not fright, that is the feeling of an alarm clock ringing every 5 minutes in the middle of the night.
When it was over, everyone was happy, or at least, I was.
(Happiness so far: 84)
What a day! Now it was time to head for home. Unfortunately, I got too used to following the usual people and did not realise that their parents were fetching them. Thus, I got lead to the wrong place and got a little bit lost...
I walked back and that was when I met WH, who lead me to the mrt station the correct way. Thank you! :) So then I was on my way home safely and thats the end of a wonderful day!
Happiness score: 100!
Hooray!
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Speech Day Again
My chinese award of betrayal has led me to waste time doing rehearsals for a total of 6 hours last week, and all I had to do was walk up and down the stage.
On monday, I waited patiently for rehearsal to start by playing badminton.
On wednesday I had German lesson, so I tried to excuse myself as this was the second consecutive time I had skipped lessons due to school activities. What's more, I had a test next week. But the teacher said that this rehearsal was very very important and I had to attend all rehearsals. Important? All I do is just sit there and watch their movements repeatedly and then, I just go up and down once - I couldn't say that I was a little bit pleased about that.
But what else could I do, I excused myself from lessons once again. Throughout the wonderful and important rehearsal, I played around with a 5^3 rubik's cube for the whole time. That time, I really felt like absenting myself from rehearsal without notice.
On Thursday, it was finally Speech day. I had to attend a make up for my german lesson, but Speech day ends at only 4pm expectedly judging by the chain of 'nostalgic' speeches. I actually fell asleep while waiting for an hour for their guest of honour to arrive. It is a fortunate thing that the person in charge allowed me to run off after receiving that astronomical and catastrophic time-wasting award.
The taxi hurriedly took me away from that 'hall of dreaming'. So much for being an award recipient. What do I get? A certificate which does not tell people much and a 50 dollar book voucher. Where's the trophy?! Where's my name engraved?! There is no such thing, and soon within a month, 'poof' , the voucher will be very well spent and then neither will there be such a thing as a book voucher even.
On monday, I waited patiently for rehearsal to start by playing badminton.
On wednesday I had German lesson, so I tried to excuse myself as this was the second consecutive time I had skipped lessons due to school activities. What's more, I had a test next week. But the teacher said that this rehearsal was very very important and I had to attend all rehearsals. Important? All I do is just sit there and watch their movements repeatedly and then, I just go up and down once - I couldn't say that I was a little bit pleased about that.
But what else could I do, I excused myself from lessons once again. Throughout the wonderful and important rehearsal, I played around with a 5^3 rubik's cube for the whole time. That time, I really felt like absenting myself from rehearsal without notice.
On Thursday, it was finally Speech day. I had to attend a make up for my german lesson, but Speech day ends at only 4pm expectedly judging by the chain of 'nostalgic' speeches. I actually fell asleep while waiting for an hour for their guest of honour to arrive. It is a fortunate thing that the person in charge allowed me to run off after receiving that astronomical and catastrophic time-wasting award.
The taxi hurriedly took me away from that 'hall of dreaming'. So much for being an award recipient. What do I get? A certificate which does not tell people much and a 50 dollar book voucher. Where's the trophy?! Where's my name engraved?! There is no such thing, and soon within a month, 'poof' , the voucher will be very well spent and then neither will there be such a thing as a book voucher even.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
The Sound of Music
The Sound of Music concert is finally over! We raised 14k in total, which is not too bad. Though we made quite a few/lot mistakes, people said we were good, which is quite surprising. All thanks to the conductor and orchestra members!
It was a little disappointing that some people didn't come, while others were forced to. And yet the school says it pays for compulsory events to attend. How ironic.
During the day itself, time really flied. Probably I was too engrossed in playing the music; or too careful. Compared to rehearsals, I made quite less mistakes.
The Monday rehearsal took up quite a lot of time when we had to move instruments up to the auditorium. Once, I took the stands up from the elevator, and since then everyone forgot about me, until one came with a trolley after years. We did not do much that day. Oh, and at the end of the piece in the silence, I farted and annihilated that peace and the piece:).
Wednesday's rehearsal ended quite late too, and I while waiting for the evening rehearsal to start, I played badminton for 3 hours straight. It had been such a long time since I played badminton in school already, and that day I hurt myself three times in the process.
This day, rehearsal did not yield much progress either. We only finished half the programme.
So, we could say that we had considerably little practice.
At last on Friday, the exhaustion ended. At night walking home from school dressed in something other than uniform-for some unknown reason it reminds me of times years ago in year 1 orientation. But there is still syf practice for us string players. Hopefully we will do even better for syf than we did for the concert.
It was a little disappointing that some people didn't come, while others were forced to. And yet the school says it pays for compulsory events to attend. How ironic.
During the day itself, time really flied. Probably I was too engrossed in playing the music; or too careful. Compared to rehearsals, I made quite less mistakes.
The Monday rehearsal took up quite a lot of time when we had to move instruments up to the auditorium. Once, I took the stands up from the elevator, and since then everyone forgot about me, until one came with a trolley after years. We did not do much that day. Oh, and at the end of the piece in the silence, I farted and annihilated that peace and the piece:).
Wednesday's rehearsal ended quite late too, and I while waiting for the evening rehearsal to start, I played badminton for 3 hours straight. It had been such a long time since I played badminton in school already, and that day I hurt myself three times in the process.
This day, rehearsal did not yield much progress either. We only finished half the programme.
So, we could say that we had considerably little practice.
At last on Friday, the exhaustion ended. At night walking home from school dressed in something other than uniform-for some unknown reason it reminds me of times years ago in year 1 orientation. But there is still syf practice for us string players. Hopefully we will do even better for syf than we did for the concert.
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