Nothing's over

Its a really long entry this time round and I hope that I didn't miss out any events from 6 November. I'll comeback if I remember anything. Wow, I've been out almost every single day till today. Even today which I didn't blog about because it was just going to church.
The holidays officially started and I guess I've been playing for the last few weeks. Its time to get back work. (I hope that I can get myself to do some work.) Besides, I can't be wasting my holiday off playing all day right? I was thinking of spending 2-3 hours each day to do some work till the last week of December. If I finish all my work, I'm a genius. If I still didn't then I'll be mugging the last 2 weeks of my holidays. Besides there's MSA in week 2 next year

Wednesday 6 November 2013
6 November 2013 is the day that I've self-declared the end of PW.

What happened after was much more interesting in which Rosa, Jared, Neela, Bryan, Jason, Janessa, BiJuan, YanTing, Vanessa and I went to eat strictly pancakes. It has been a long time since we sat down together to eat because we don't even do so in school now. I think...

With my PW group.

My favourite pancakes.

 

Thursday 7 November 2013
In lieu of the 'end' of PW, Rosa, Janessa, Bijuan, Jason, Bryan and I continued our celebration part 2.

So after discussing on Wednesday, we decided play pool, bowl and play arcade. It was really fun and I've really enjoyed myself because all of us were noobs at pool and bowling. Maybe Bijuan is much better at bowling and though it wasn't my first time pooling I think I still suck at it. Arcade was tad boring because there wasn't many fun games and we were kind of reluctant to spend money on arcade. After, we went to Domino's and had a great time together though we've discovered many ups and downs during the year and many 'secrets'. I'm still glad that this has certainly brought us closer together.

 

 

Friday 8 November 2013
Got back my promos results on the 8th of November and well, to celebrate our promotion to J2, Evan, his friends (Clement and YinQing) and I went to Ngee Ann Poly to eat. It wasn't intentional. We wanted to head to botanic gardens to play but then it started drizzling and coincidentally, the bus goes to Ngee Ann Poly so we decided to stop there to have something before going home.
Come to think of it, I remember that I really wanted to go to POLY because I really wanted to do this course- landscape architecture or probably some environment course and I hated being in JC. Now that I looked back all I can say that I've come this far. Though it was 1 year but this 1 year was much more intensive than Olevel itself.

Saturday 9 November 2013- Aunty Veron's wedding and YFC gathering
9 November was Aunty Veron's big day! But before I attened the wedding service, I actually went to school to meet Mrs Saleem for my I&R at 7.15am. When I first told my mum, my mum was like "You must be crazy!" Yupp, indeed. Because the wedding service was at 9.30am and Potong Pasir to Bishan to Yio Chu Kang is no joke. Not to mention that I went to school in my half uniform which is not something you would wear to a wedding so I had to wash up and change...
I still made it on time and it was really nice to witness her wedding because we've grown up together.- Veron, Francis, Jonathan, Jeremy, my brother and I. Jonathan, my brother and I are the younger ones though and I still remember that we used to 'bet' who would marry first.

You wouldn't believe that jonathan's my uncle.

After the wedding mass and lunch, I went to bedok to meet Evan because we were supposed to get stuff for our VWO but everyone was late so evan and I went sat at Mos and played Pokemon on his laptop then I napped while he continued playing. We then went to our VWO's house in which we had loads of fun sharing our street sales experience and everything. Our VWO is really nice and I'm grateful to have them as our VWO. More imporatantly, never would I expect one of them to be Marissa's mum or should I say both to be Marissa's parents. Oh shit it was embarrassing because I didn't recognize them. 

Sunday 10 November 2013
To continue celebrating, Isaac, Ngan, Xin Siang, Jae Eun, Evan and I went to play pool. AGAIN. Yes, again. I really had loads of fun (with a different group of people) because Xin Siang was really funny.

We then watched Thor afterwards. Impromptu outing but it was a great day! I really enjoyed myself. But I must say that Thor isn't really good though. I barely knew what was happening until the movie had ended and Evan explained what had happened.

Monday 11 November 2013

11 November was officially the end of PW. I felt like I was signing the divorce papers. Be it A or B, I believe that its not the grade that count because I've learnt a lot during this journey.
I can't believe that there won't be anymore Mrs Saleem. Mrs Saleem is a really good tutor. She has taught me how to think critically.

Tuesday 12 November 2013
Went to SAJS for lunch and we ended up having free pop corn and ice cream. Well, Rosa, Janessa and I went to help the aunty and uncles clean the canteen up since they seem to be short of manpower.

We then didn't want to go home after school at 4.30pm after physics lecture so we headed to Clementi Recreational Center to bowl. The lane sux. My score was way less than my average score. #YOLO

Friday 15 November 2013
Struck me that morning that it was the last day of school. Till now, I still couldn't believe that it was the last day of school because it felt like last day of orientation. You get what I mean? Well, Advocates went off early to Simei care centre for learning journey in which I've learnt a lot on mental health. I personally feel that we should all work towards reducing social stigma as a CCA to advocate for those who are less mentally stable. I feel that the learning journey should be longer though...

Anyway, Randy, Denise, Rebecca, Vincent, Jae Eun, Xin Siang and I went to bowl at Kovan and Pool HAHA again. We were supposed to go cycling but then it started raining. (I had forgotten to get the picture from randy!) Had a lot of fun talking about our advocate hostel stay, followed by the events throughout the year during lunch. We were even wondering how we were selected to get into advocates. We've indeed been through a lot.
My dad bought me a new bike!

Saturday 16 November 2013
YFC thanksgiving day. Bought sparking for our VWO and tea for the uncle. Well, we were supposed to reflect but lets say it didn't work out so well. Bona, Leonard, Ngan, Wei Xin and Jonathan then came to my house to record their Christmas album to raise funds. Lets hope that it works out. (:

Sunday 17 November 2013
Met Jae Eun in the morning to pass him his portable charger which I helped him to get as he needed it for his London trip before meeting Bona to go to expo to look for Vans. Meh, the size of my feet are too common so I couldn't find my pair. Bona got a pair of nice crocs from the crocs shoe sales next door instead! We then went to bugis to eat. (I can't remember what that hawker was called though.)

Monday 18 November 2013- Airport to send London trip
Went to the airport at night to 'send' the London trip people off to London. Apparently, I didn't mean to 'send' them off. My motive was to go to the airport to play because I didn't want to stay at home. Nevertheless still said bye to Jae and Ngan. Watched airplanes fly while eating dinner.

Tuesday 19 November 2013
YFC closing ceremony marks the end of YFC. YFC reflections

Wednesday 20 November 2013
Watched Ender's game with Isaac, Xin Siang and Evan. Before that, Isaac, Xin Siang and I discovered a new pool place in town and.... we played pool again. LOL. Ender's game wasn't really good because I fell asleep halfway. I thought that the ending was very weird because it was too abrupt. Aww man.  I was actually sick after running around town and I kind of fell asleep during the climax. Correction: HALF ASLEEP. Nevertheless, I still enjoyed myself.

Thursday 21 November 2013
Pooled with Amanda and Vivian. I think at this point, my life must be really boring but no. Amanda is really fun to play pool with because she's too funny! We then watched catching fire which is probably gonna suck more money from me because I'll be waiting or I AM waiting for mocking jay. Pfft. I'm so angry now. Played around at city square mall and honestly, I'm ashamed of myself for taking picture with all the Christmas stuff because it shows that I still haven't grow up.
Amanda is still giving me her shit face whenever I do something stupid. Aww, I really miss this Amanda and Vivian. We're like together since forever... In class and in guides. I hope to see them soon!

Saturday 23 November 2013
Saturday was so impromptu till I don't know what to say. Yifen messaged me at 8am to ask if she could come to my house for a while. I woke up at 10.45am and called her to come for like 15 minutes. Then I saw Carnation's message that she could go to SN's open house and so I chased yifen out and off I go to meet Carny Kng.
It felt good to be back at home. I've grown up in St Nicks for 10 years. I got to see Ms Yee and my juniors. Ate CHEAP food. I gotta emphasize CHEAP because JC is so expensive till my pocket keeps crying non-stop till I'm so poor. Guides were doing some flower initiative to give to the cleaners. They're so cute I was like why did I graduate so soon. Anyway, here is a mini bouquet that I did!

With Carnation under our favourite tent. Well, we took too many pictures so it would be ridiculous if I have everything up here. I think I'll upload them on to facebook some day. We then bused down to change airport to accompany Bona before he flew off in which 3 of us just drank gong cha while bona and carnation talk about art. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA I've no interest in art. That kind of pastel thingy that I really can't appreciate. Nevertheless, bye grandpa!

Here's a picture with my grandpa/grandma. Watched planes and talked to carnation for like more than 2 hours before heading home.

YFC Reflections

YFC 2013 is officially over. I must say that I've learnt the most from YFC as it was PW in action. Though it was tiring, I enjoyed this journey as I've learnt many valuable life lessons from my friends, teachers and volunteers.

 

Well, I was the treasurer/secretary of the group and I must say that it isn't fun to handle money. By the way, I think that I'm pretty good at this job. Though I'm not very systematic and am really forgetful, I learnt that I've to be really alert and systematic to ensure that I will not make any mistakes when updating our I&E statement. I was really stressed because its money and I cannot afford to lose any money. Not only that, I've learnt many communication skills and logistics skills. I've also learnt a lot from my teammates and I'm extremely grateful to be able to have Ngan, Denise and Evan as my teammates. Each of us have different strengths and weaknesses. Such as Ngan, our creative director, who is able to do the publicity of the project. Evan, our event manager, who oversees the street sales. Denise, our boss, who directs us what to do. I'm really glad that we are able to tap on each of our strengths to raise funds for the Lions Club of Goodwood Singapore. In addition through this project, I learnt to be bold, have a thick skin and big smile. Nothing is impossible. I still remember vividly that we got rejected by khong guan 3 times but our persistence finally paid off as we managed to get sponsorship. Every time when I look back, I really wondered what will happen to us if we didn't manage to get the sponsorship of 2500 packets of 80g of ice gems from Khong Guan. Will this project fail before we even start?  I'm really grateful and thankful that they've agreed to sponsor us. (By the way, I love their biscuits. Especially the ice gems lol). The rationale for ice gems was on the concept of relieving past memories.
My team had learn to be as CHEAPO as possible. We spent 1/8 of our seed funding of $1600 because we used recycled boards for our publicity and ensured that we used popular cards whenever we purchase something from popular. We even printed some of our posters using the free printing service in our school because we want our VWO benefit from this financially. Arguing over prices and what to let go and what to not let go was a difficulty. We had to differentiate between a want and a need. (This is really useful to me right now because my spending reduced greatly.)
The funds we raised will be donated to the lions homes for the elders and during this journey, my teammates and I have went to visit the home for a greater insight so that we could better advocate our cause to the public.

Though I must say that the funds we raised isn't probably enough to buy a machine to lift the bedridden, my team hope that we could contribute in someway or another. We've also learnt that some of the elderly or the bedridden there do not have family members and that simple company will do. I don't want to sound like a hypocrite because I did not volunteer at their homes but I've MYMCA's big sweep to do in which we go to the elderly's house to accompany them once a month. Though I don't think its sufficient but this year just caught up with me due to PROMOS, PW and YFC. That I almost died. This project had given me insights on the costs of healthcare in which I realized that machines are really not cheap after all and hence I shouldn't be spending money frivolously. I also learnt a lot from the public as we've to have really thick skin to be able to advocate for our cause and to ask for donations.
Despite being rejected by the public many times even before approaching them, I learnt that we cannot give up especially when we were so determined to raise as much funds as possible for the homes. Though some might be skeptical as to whether its real despite the license, I'm still grateful that they've donated because if that was me, I wouldn't have donated and would have went straight for the QR code.
As I reflect, I feel that there were areas that we could work better on and that we shouldn't avoid in any way. Firstly, we didn't prepare for the worst situation. We were just banking on sponsorship and I learnt that we should have an alternative and ALWAYS have an alternative solution to what we are doing. Next, we shouldn't keep focusing on the funds but instead of bringing the message across which I hope to be able to guide my juniors in this aspect. Lastly, lack of volunteers. Lack of volunteers would mean lack of public outreach and lack of people to help to raise funds. We could have a better recruitment drive for volunteers. I hope that my team and I could guide our juniors so that they would not make the same mistake as us so that YFC would be a meaningful project for everyone involved in one way or another.
I will certainly miss having late night group Skype session with my team members in which we argue for hours over location, logistics and many more.(I remember denise having to take the ukulele to get attention to stop us from fighting) Our street sales range from east coast park to bishan to orchard to raffles place to helix bridge and the school. Though it was not easy (Imagine waking up to see 84 boxes of icegems... scrap that... 15 boxes of ice gems in front of you), I'm glad that each and everyone of us manage to pull through tough times and that we were able to get through this journey together as a team. (Our whatsapp group changed to.... 2014 Honorroll: CORE) I will not forget the valuable lessons that I've learnt as I've certainly grown through this year.

Looking ahead, I still have to be able to contribute to this community in the future by volunteering in one way or another. Though it will not probably in terms of fund raising, I hope that I will still be able to help them by communicating to them. I guess it will probably be after Alevels because I'm actually starting to freak out when the teachers kept emphasizing on EXTREMELY BUSY year and the IMPORTANCE OF ALEVELS.
My new task force is Team Building camp 2014 in which I hope to make a difference in the juniors lives and that this camp will be a success in teaching them how to be a servant leader and more importantly, an advocate.

Academic Year Reflections

It's finally the end of the academic year.
Believe it or not, I can't believe that its already the 17th of November when school ended on the 15th of November.
This year was crazy. This is comparable with the number of pimples I have on my face. Its like a freaking major breakout.
By the way, I've been PROMOTED to J2 YAYYYY!!!!!
This academic year went by really fast. Overall 70 rp and 71/72rp for promos.
It was a struggle especially during the promos period when there were SO many temptations. I kept getting distracted because I can't concentrate for long hours and the topics that I've to study were too dry. Well, except for geography. Being easily distracted, I was honestly worried. I would do math halfway and start watching YHY sketchbook for a good 1 to 2 hours. Or I'd be fangirling for another 2 hours and regret later at night. Looking back, I think that I was really crazy to put my grades at risk especially when I keep going out at night.
Fortunately, I managed to get an A for Chem, an A for Physics, a B for Math and B for Geography. Physics was a shocker because I was never good in physics. By the way, I've failed MCQ for both my sciences. But then again the paper wasn't hard. Honestly, it wasn't. I would say that it wasn't hard but then I might get my concepts wrong and hence I would think the paper is easy AFTER THE PAPER. Thus I didn't comment on the papers except Chemistry because it was tough. It was the toughest paper I've ever had FOR CHEMISTRY and the A was a low A. Fair enough, I didn't draw out my chemical formulas because I didn't read the question and lost a handful of marks because of that.
As for GP.... D/E? I can't remember but I definitely need help for GP. So I've devised solutions for myself during this holiday. ((Before that, I think I'm going to read chick lit for 3 weeks first.))
I'd owe my academic success to my consistency when it comes to doing tutorials though because if I didn't do my tutorials and with what I've studied for promos, I guess I'd flunk. To be honest the greatest obstacle was memorizing geog and definitions.
Got this on Friday (: Hey, at least the school said that I'm awesome. :}

And my brother gave me this yesterday. Aww he is such a sweetie~ He knows what I like.

Project Work:
Its the end of PW. I must say it wasn't an easy journey. I do admit that I do get annoyed at times for no reason. Or maybe I just couldn't find a reason. Though I may not get an A ((yknow that gut feeling)), I've learnt a lot from PW with perseverance ranked first. Having YFC, PW, Chinese Alevels and PROMOS at the same time was overwhelming. It was really tiring and boring. Like I totally didn't enjoy sitting in front of the computer all day, staring at the same document. Though it can be really irritating I learnt that the entire group have to work together to check on the same document and read the report because every person has a blind spot. Besides, we shouldn't do things at the last minute because honestly, it gets us no where. It was really stressful. Not only that, I've also learnt that sleeping early is important. As for OP, I totally felt like a burden to my group because I didn't cue cards. I couldn't do it naturally despite remembering. Well, I learnt many presentation skills which I think that I'll be able to use in the future.
Despite PW being SO damn annoying, this is the only subject (other than GP) which I find useful for now and I sincerely appreciate it. I've learnt the importance of group work. Yes, I really do. No doubt.
With that I'll end of with a quote:

"If you're going through hell, keep going"

-Winston Churchill

Alright. YFC reflections tomorrow.
Byeeee.

THIS

life

PW and CHINESE