How're ya?

I just had a chat with Mel on MSN, and she asked me, " How're you?"

It's the most common question anyone could ever ask, but you can tell a lot about a person from the way he/she responds.

One word answers indicate that the person doesn't feel like talking much, thinks you're a retard, isn't sociable, or just doesn't know how to speak English.

Well, you probably came here to ask me the same question, to find out how i am.

I'll do a longer post on another day, but as for now...

I'm riding through the seas of homework like a steamboat through a rocky sea.. taking each wave as it comes along.

Highlights of the Day:

- Tried out for the North Sydney Exchange Futsal team, played decent, but the entire team as a whole lacks good-coordination and fluency in the game. We don't play with each other much, and therefore, don't know how to complement each other YET. The standard's pretty high. Only Tommy and i made the team.

- I delievered an awesome oral presentation for my English SAC, according to my friends. But i think i stuffed it up. I was presenting on the topic of the Role of Victorian Women, and i tried to win the audiences' attention by making jokes about women, and adding a few pictures of the magazine covers of Zoo and FHM. My teacher, Ms. Crossley, a strong believer of women's rights, put on positive look on her face throughout my presentation, but i saw her shaking her head in disgust when i did those things. Sigh.. hope she doesn't penalise me.

Happy Chinese New Year 2007!

I know it's a platitude on everyone's MSN nickname's, blog titles and the like, but i'd like to wish you a Happy Chinese New Year! I haven't blogged for such a long time and everyone seems to have lost interest in my presumably "dead" blog. It's hard for me to blog as often as i did before, but i would appreciate it if you guys made a little tag just to boost my inspiration. Cheers! :)

Another word of congratulations to Melbourne Victory on their 6-0 THUMPING of Adelaide United in the A-League Grand Final yesterday. Archie Thompson knocked in 5 goals and Sarkies added an absolute peach just above the icing on the cake! Well done Melbourne!

I've not been as busy as i expected. I'm a little behind in terms of homework, but they're not due for a long time; so there's hardly any pressure on me at the moment. But i should really pull my socks up a little.

My mum went back to Singapore on Tuesday and i'm kindda missing her. She's such a vital part of the household. Now Jerusha, Grandma, Dad and i share the responsibilities of vacuuming, doing the laundry, drying the clothes, ironing, preparing meals in the morning and all that. We didn't do anything for Chinese New Year except for a family steamboat dinner on the eve of CNY. My mum's usually the one who organises these parties and stuff.. my dad couldn't care less! Oh well, he's just being a typical bloke.

Vic invited Qynn, Nick, Shaun and i to join his soccer team. Nick, Qynn and i went for the training on Sat in the 38 degree heat, and we decided that we'll commit to their team. There'll be training once a week and a game on every Sunday arvo. haha! An extra commitment, a fun one at least ( i hope!) So, that's something i'll be looking forward too. The soccer trials for the school Futsal and Soccer teams are on Wednesday. I hope to get into the starting 11. Please pray for me! :)

I was browsing You Tube, something i don't usually do, the other day, and i saw a guitar clip by David Choi. Whoa! I was shocked at the high quality of his voice and his superb guitar-playing skills! I'm gonna try to learn some of his songs. He's inspired me to compose songs with a refreshing, boyish, country-like tone.

Yea, i'm in the midst of composing a song. Hope to get it done by the end of the week. Cheers! :)

Swimming Carnival 2007

He's gonna get us both killed!

Jin's sexy skirt with nothing underneath. Sexy..

He's heavier than he looks!

Fishing with snakes.
The massive grandstand at MSAC

On the way to VideoEzy

That's the outdoor pool constructed just for the 2006 Commonwealth Games

Poland - Doesn't he look like Stevie G.?

A sharp part of the fence left a hole in my right palm -.-""" Stings whenever i wash my hands.
Santa Phan, Santa Phan, Santa Phan is here! lol! The costume belongs to his dad!

Life's beautiful when you take the time to appreciate it.



It's been a week since i last posted as i haven't really had the time to do so. Many pple have been asking me how Year 12's been treating me, and my reply is always: "Pretty good" with a slight hint of hesitation. I guess i shouldn't be expecting a bludge year in Year 12, but then again, it really isn't as hard as what pple make it seem to be. You just have to priorities, get your time management right and keep perseverance and motivational levels high. It sounds easy. I like phrases like that because it pulls me out of reality for a moment or two; moments of relaxation...

Quite a lot happened over the last few days. Well, there was Nick's house-warming party on Saturday. Harish and i went to sit for Dr. He's Methods tuition entrance exam (sounds absurdly ridiculous), which i failed horribly with a miserable score of 15% (I'm by no means proud of it at all, and i plead of you not to bring it up in any of our future conversations!) Then i caught a bus to Nick's new house. It looks smaller, but much neater than his old one.

The house was packed like a can of stuffed sardine + vegemite. Yea, the smell of everyone's body odours and sweat was overpowering.. and it was rather humid and warm that day too! Well, Pete, Shaun, Alvin and i had dinner and a nice chat on the stairway. Then we accompanied the girls on a 2km+++ walk to Video Ezy. It was then that i realised that i haven't seen Fearless!!! I got Darren to rent it, but we didn't watch it in the end.

I carried Josh on my shoulders for half the way back. haha! He was absolutely HORRIFIED when i let go of his hands and he grabbed my head in desperation. loL! He screamed at the top of his voice as he covered my eyes with his hands. Thinking back again, it was actually kindda dangerous as i was walking blindly. Yea well, i'm suffering from back aches now because of that. Oh, Josh and Darren managed to give me a piggybag for the last 20 metres or so. haha!

The House Swimming Trials were held on Monday. Turk, Anthony and i snuck outta school early and caught the train and tram to MSAC while the rest of the school took a jolly 30minute walk from South Yarra. haha! Anyway, the carnival was being held at a new venue: the outdoor pool used for the 2006 Commonwealth Games. It was such an honour swimming in the same pool used by all the world-class athletes! :)

Anyway, we were the first ones there and we weren't too sure how to get in. So Anthony decided to jump the 2 metre high fence and Turk was enthusiastic about it. I was the only reluctant one. They pestered me for a bit, until i finally agreed with a last sigh of hesitation," But we're just off the main road and everyone can see us!" lol! Anyway, Anthony (The Captain of Taekwando and Volleyball) and myself jumped over the fence with ease. When we got over, we turned around to see Turk hesitating. LOL! and he was like.. "are you sure, man?!" LOL! It's funny cuz he sounded so enthusiastic about climbing the fence before! Anyway, he took a leap and got one foot on the top of the fence, then he shifted his weight and got half his MASSIVE body mass over. It was THEN where he landed his crotch right smack in the middle of the fence; his entire weight was on his nuts! LOL! HE groaned in pain as he tried to wiggle free. I should've taken a picture!

Yea, he got over eventually, but Mr. Goodwin got us to go back out and walk in through the main entrance because "there was no way up to the grandstand from the pool". He was either lying or a complete fool. How can there not be a path between the grandstand and the pool???? How are the competitors going to come down from the stands?! Ridiculous.

Well, Forrest unexpectedly won the Swimming trophy, Yarra came 2nd followed by Waterloo and Como. haha! I competed in the U17 50x4 B Relay with a time of 33.7 secs. The race went something like this. No one in the team wanted to swim last, so i opted for it. The gun went off, the 1st swimmer, Floyd, was second to finished the first 50m. The second swimmer did a decent job to keep it at 2nd place. However, the third swimmer was a COMPLETE DUD! lol! He lost 2 positions and handed me a 2 second disadvantage. I was the last one off the blocks, i jumped in as quickly as i could and swam my guts out. I swam the first 15m forgetting to take a breath. haha! Anyway, i manage to catch up to the front two.. my hand hit the wall!!! I could hear my friends cheering me on from the stands... but we had to settle for 3rd place :( Only 0.2 seconds away from the 1st, and 0.01 seconds away from 2nd -.-"""" ARGH! I was really pissed yesterday. But what's done is done, and all i can do is to thank God for letting me come third instead of last! :)

That was the last swimming carnival i'll ever participate in. Surely one to remember :)

Aths Trials

Time Management is process of prioritising and organising the tasks that one has to get accomplished in the available time period - BM

I expected Year 12 to be this stressful, but i wasn't expecting to be overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of the academic pressures exerted by this final level of high school education. There's been so much homework being loaded upon me to satisfy my school's demand that every student should, ideally, spend three hours a night on study -.-" I'm a nerd, but i'm not half that nerdy. That stresses the importance of time management.

I get home at 4.30pm, take a shower and start my QT at 4.45. I finish my QT at about 5.45pm and i study for 1 hour till it's 7:00pm, then i have a one hour dinner, before resuming my study, and turning in at 10pm. That's a no-lifer! I can barely find time to blog! Every "free" period i get in school, i spend studying. The only recreation i get everyday is the precious 30 minutes of lunch time that i spend playing soccer on the hockey pitch. I really hope that the work load will simmer down a little so that i can more breathing space.

I went for my swimming trials yesterday, and i recorded a time of 33.7 seconds! I think that's a PB; a pretty good time, considering that i don't swim much. Stevie said that i'll make a relay team with that time. The House Swimming Competition's next Monday, and it will be the last time i'll be swimming for Yarra. Precious moments in life that i'll never forget. I must take a picture. haha! Hope i win that race!

There were athletics trials today. I clocked in at a dismal 12.85secs for the 100m course, which is a WHOLE lot worse than my 11.7 timing last year. Sigh.. i'm not as fit as last year, but i'm definitely not THAT unfit to the extent that i drop more than a second! Well, lots of people credit it to the fact that there was a headwind, the dodgy timers, and that we were running on grass. Whatever. I hope i make the aths team this year! :)

I take comfort in the fact that i'm not the only Year 12 feeling the presure. Audrey hasn't been online for ages and Ruth has just been non-existent. I hope they're coping well.

Things aren't going that well back in Singapore either. My grand dad's cancerous situation has apparently gotten much worse, and the doctor's given him two more weeks to live. My mum has been influenced by the news, and her moods have been utterly dampened. My dad's in Germany for a business trip now, and she's gotta bare the burden all by herself. I wanna spend time with her, but i'm compelled to stay in my room and work my butt off. Sigh.. She's flying back to Singapore for what may be for last meeting with my grand dad.

I've been praying for my grand dad's condition all this while; every night and day. I know God hears my cries, and that he loves my grand dad. And even though my grand dad may just pass away not too long from now, i know that His plans will always work out for the good of those who love him. But as for me, i'll put my hope and faith in the Lord, and i'll keep praying.

" Through God's mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is your Faithfulness." - Lamentations 3:22-23

Blessed be the name of the Lord!

Sinking...

*Some pictures taken courtesy of Peter!

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Once upon a fairly decent time, there was an English fishing boat out in the Pacific Ocean when a ferocious storm started to churn up the deep and dark waters. The Englishmen on the boat were frantically throwing their possessions into the water crying, "Blind me!"; with the intention of relieving the ship of excess weight. Well, the ship's captain hurriedly dialed for the German coast guard and shouted, "This is an emergency! We're SINKING! We're SINKING!"

A puzzled look crept into the German coast guard's face before he replied, "Erm," in his thick German accent, "what are you thinking about?"

That's one of the many internet jokes being circulated, and it, ironically, illustrates the precarious situation i'm in. I feel as though i'm on a boat that's on the verge of sinking due to the tremendous weight of homework, and the only way i'm staying afloat is to work my pants off; that is, sacrificing my MSN time, my blogging time, Soccer and some other stuff... but the situation is precarious because i've only been given ONE SAC so far and i'm supposed to be expecting MANY MANY MORE! Sigh.. each SAC is like a tonne of bricks thrown onto my sinking boat.

"I'm thinking about sinking because i've been thinking too much."

First Day of Year 12

It felt good to be back in school today. A warm homey sensation surged through my heart with the reunification of each familiar face. I got placed in 12E, a class with very few of my good friends save for Anthony and Josh :) I was hoping to be grouped in the same class with either Harish or Marcus for at least one of the four years at MHS, but it was not to be. Oh well, what will be, will be.

I felt as though a great sense of authority and responsiblity was suddenly thrust upon me as i walked along the corridors of the school with the thought of being in Year 12 lingering somewhere in the back of my mind.

I remember coming to this school as a scrawny year 9 kid, admiring the year 12's, and wondering when i'd ever get to their level. Well, it was quicker than the blink of an eye before i found myself looking through the eyes of the source of my admiration. Interesting what time can do to one's perspective.

I was looking out for Darren while carring out the traditional practice of playing Soccer at lunchtimes, but i couldn't catch a glimpse of him. I hope he enjoyed his day at school. He used to tell me that lots of people hate him because they find him annoying or something. He reminds me of me a few years ago.

It suddenly dawned upon me that Time's getting all ready to get his hands dirty again with the aim of achieving what has is deemed as "common" of many boys at Darren's age: Maturity. It'll come, and i expect it to come rather soon. I can't remember what happened in my case, i only remember thinking back on my immature actions, feeling a deep mixture of remorse and regret, before deciding to make admendments.

Time. Oh you of such imcomprehensible lengths, yet falling so predictable!