::welcome to slow rock::

Saturday, December 30, 2006

okay... havent posted for 2 weeks now... hehe...
i went carolling on christmas eve... you know those kind where you go from house to house singing christmas arols... yeah... it was fun!
we visited very few houses this year, as compared to last chritmas'
we went to 3 and we stayed over at a friend's place...
played bridge for some part of that night(or should it be morning)
luckily i learnt it in chiangrai, otherwise i would'nrt have participated...
oh yah... we reached our resting place at 12.20am
we started carolling at 7.20pm on the eve of christmas

the past few days have been really hectic for me and most of the scouts
4 sec3s went to hong kong, so the work of building the structures for CCA orientation day
we went back on the 27th for a few hopurs with the intention to help council build a frame for the campfire...
only got to know of that task on the morning of 27th itself!!!
so frustrating!
den when we reached, i persuaded junle to use the metal frames available at the parade square instead
he agreed. fullstop
darn
so we spent the time doing some planning for the 29th

28th December 2006
went to school at 8am
darn didnt know it was the start of the orientation camp
the cars totally filled the parade square lah
how to build structure!
so we resorted to plan B
pre-make the freames for the structure and piece it together
never tried it before
it worked out pretty alright
just that we experienced difficulties piecing the stuff together
then the rain spoilt it all
it rained non-stop from 1.30 all the way till 6plus 7?
we were all soaked lah
only the sec3s and 4s went out in the rain to continue building
and when the wind blew, it was all chilly
we were practically frozen, i mean it
we could barly walk or stand without shivering like nuts
we completed the stuff at 8pm
thn went with kunny for dinner at 85 and then shopping for orientation stuff
reached home at 9.30, and then started writing the script for the next day's performance
slept at 12 after getting my uniform ready and stuff
den one stupid mosquito kept bugging me
so much that i went to the sofa to sleep!!!
darn, so i guess i truly slept only at 1am

29th Dec
reached sch at 6.20am
touched up on the structure, got the exhibits out and stuff
alright, then the real thing started
in between, i dunno what happened but two disastrous things happened to me
darn
1st is... zhanyi told me to touch the gas cylinder lighting the flourescent lamp
so i did
it was icy cold
then next, my index finger juz touched the top of the lamp
darn... it was stinging HOT!!!
my skin turned a funny yellow, then heat and pain settled in
luckily we scouts are always prepared for disasters
we got this pail of water nearby, i soaked my left hand into it
damn, it felt juz a lil better
a huge blister formed, and it grew biger as the day progressed...
man...
the next was this jump over the leg of our structure
i dunno how my leg got caught by the pole
the next moment, it wsas down on the floor
well not realy down lah, but almost down...
my right thumb scraped the floor, and blood
deep red blood
darn...
after all that, it was taking down of the CCA booth structure and building of the campfire structure
the design was great after it was all done up
suspension bridge... haha
and to think we completed within one afternoon
the 2007 sec1s were pretty uncertain and were shaky when climbing over it
mainly because of the sway of the bridge
didnt have dinner
campfire started late, and ended late
oh yah... when dr boon went over the bridge, she was holding our hands so tightly lah, and seemed like she wouldn't let go of mine until i said kunny was in front to help her walk thru the bridge.
i was helping her up the steps you see
everything ended at 12.20
CCP said he wanted to treat us to pizzas during the campfire, then at the end, he said it was too late, so no delivery at that kind of time
so we we went to 85 to have bak chor mee
typical
reached homke at 2am... took a cab back

30th Dec
i came to school at 12.20 to help untie the structure, but there was none for me to untie
lol
it was already taken down by the rest who had came earlier
i thought of catching up with come sleep
only 3 sec3s came, inc me
then 2 sec4s and 1 sec2
finished everything at 3plus, then had complementary lunch proviuded by sc
took home another 3 packets for dinner.
kunny did the sam, and jl took 1
we were actually allowed 2-3 packets each
but add on what we ate over there and each person actually got an avrg of 4 packets
haha

Labels: scouts

Entered by platinum at 5:06 AM

Thursday, December 14, 2006

i'm done with one english book, though it's really not official... what do i mean eh? to start off with, the book's not on the list. Secondly, it's entitled "Just One Look" by Harlan Coben. The list gave us 10, we took none. Funny, but as luck would have it, we couldn't find the books at the libraries... either it was missing, at some funny library towards the western end, on loan... but anyway, the story wasn't disappointing, just like any other Coben thrillers.

To sum it all up in my own words... a masterful piece of storytelling; sophisticated plot, full of surprises and twists to keep you searching for the truth, all these from the man himself - Harlan Coben

With every page turned, you are being brought deeper and deeper into the plot. the adrenaline levels surge, you feel the tension and emotions going through the characters... you experience that undying love, that uncertainty of betrayal knocking on the door... who could she trust in a time so critical, where a slight decision could make or break every hope still standing.... bearing the knowledge that her children are insecure, would she still dare to risk it all? evil is knocking, and her pertinaciousness is considered offensive to them...

every single lead was another lifeline to cling onto... Who was the real mastermind of the kidnap? would a fifteen year-old memory come back to haunt her in a way so sanguine, so cold-blooded?

Just One Look, an incredible tale finely plotted to the details...
A five-star book i would recommend to everyone who has got the time to read it. i completed the book in 3 days coz it was so engaging. the storyline took so many twists, it left me in total suspense throughout. Absolutely brilliant. you can never imagine the end...

Labels: english

Entered by platinum at 5:59 AM

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

I've always loved the song Wind Of Change by Scorpions, no secret about that part...
It's a pity i didn't really appreciate the lyrics - the real punch of the song.
It was only until today that i realised, hey hey, the song actually unfolds a story of hope adn optimism as the seconds tick away, your imagination starts to weave the pieces together, deciphering the emotions and scenes the song has to bring...
Fantastic... Simply amazing...
Here are the lyrics anyway:

I folow the Moskva
Down to Gorky Park
Listening to the wind of change
An August summer night
Soldiers passing by
Listening to the wind of change

The world is closing in
Did you ever think
That we could be so close, like brothers
The future's in the air
I can feel it everywhere
Blowing with the wind of change

Take me to the magic of the moment
On a glory night
Where the children of tomorrow dream away
in the wind of change

Walking down the street
Distant memories
Are buried in the past forever
I folow the Moskva
Down to Gorky Park
Listening to the wind of change

Take me to the magic of the moment
On a glory night
Where the children of tomorrow share their dreams
With you and me
Take me to the magic of the moment
On a glory night
Where the children of tomorrow dream away
in the wind of change

The wind of change
Blows straight into the face of time
Like a stormwind that will ring the freedom bell
For peace of mind
Let your balalaika sing
What my guitar wants to say

Take me to the magic of the moment
On a glory night
Where the children of tomorrow share their dreams
With you and me
Take me to the magic of the moment
On a glory night
Where the children of tomorrow dream away
in the wind of change

Labels: music

Entered by platinum at 6:10 AM

Sunday, December 10, 2006

Darn... leg's aching, stiff.......
that was the consequence of the hike...
but it was pretty fun though...
let me take you through my experiences
7.36pm - Arrived at starting point (Boon Lay MRT)
Went to the toilet, took a group photo, left for the next checkpoint at Gul Ave

Checkpoint #1 - Road Junction at Gul Ave and Gul Way(some industrial area)
I was the first to navigate the group to the first checkpoint
btw the "cast" comprised of soon meng, jun liang, and ciyi
soonmeng and ciyi were both chatting all the way...
and also complaining of the unfairness between "short legs" and "long legs"
well, some would know what my hiking speed is like...
i was pretty hungry at that time... we didnt have dinner...
pity our stomachs...
alright... by he time we reached that chckpoint, it was already 9plus? i dunno
ciyi has the notes

Checkpoint #2 - Road junction at Jurong West, near jln bahar
we had actually agreed that someone else will do the navigation to checkpoint #2
but for some reason or another, junliang wanted me to continue
said it was easier for me to navigate since we were backtracking for quite some part of the distance
ok with that said, i lead the group as we headed off...
but this time without the use of map... hehe
the distance seemed much shorter than when we had first hiked on it
the coolness of the night was starting to set in
oh yah... there was the SAFTI camp along the way...
the one we went to for the sec3s post-exam outing
i got junliang to take over for the next half of the distance, in which we wouldn't be following the route we came from
we cut thruogh HDB flats and finally checkpoint 2, time 10.50pm

Checkpoint 3 - Bridge along Toh Guan Road
ciyi orienteered for this part of the hike
we got a great view of the moon along the way...
it was almost round, orangy, adn had a touch of warmth as we took a glimpse at it
we passed chinese garden mrt and had our knotting test at a nearby bus stop(11.10pm)
we finished the test at 11.40 and left hastily for our next target
reached there at 12.16am

Below are just brief summaries of the hike
whow it's gonna take pretty long to list every detail out you know...
so here goes

Checkpoint #4 - T-junction btwn jln haji alias and jln siantan
(near holland road, turn in at sixth ave)
Navigator - ME!
time arrived - 2.05am

Checkpoint #5 - ACS(I) Junior
Navigator - ME! + Ciyi
time arrived 3.45am
oh yah... saw a snake 2-3m long along bukit timah rd... didnt call the authorities though
and haha... junliang had abrasions so his walking style was pretty comical...

Checkpoint #6 - Trigonometrical station at some park near paya lebar rd and macpherson rd
Nacigator - Junliang
time arrived - 6.00am
darn this part's tricky... we have to find this marker on the floor(it's the trigo station)
talk about looking for a needle in a haystack
lol
we spent about half an hour at the checkpoint, managing to find something that resembled the trigo station

Checkpoint #7 - mosque at east coast road
Navigator - Junliang + me
time arrived - didn't complete(had to stop all hiking at 7.20)
all of us were already darn tired
my foot ached like nuts and it was so stiff!
my walking speed took a sharp decline... maybe due to the overly long break at the earlier checkpoint
we were indeed disappointed to discover that we had exceeded the stipulated time

but the hike's been a great learning point for me...
i remember that i kept asking the Lord to help us complete the hike
we didn't, but miracles come true with Him!
our senior told us not to include the last checkpoint in the hike for the distance we had covered was actually enough to pass the hike's requirements.

Labels: scouts

Entered by platinum at 2:22 AM

Thursday, December 07, 2006

Oh great... Got a hike tmr night all the way til saturday morning...
Gah! 40km... andwhat great timing as well...
tmr morning - scouts activity 8am
afternoon - knotting test
evening - prepare for hike
Haiz... And the worse thing is
I HAVENT PACKED YET!

Labels: scouts

Entered by platinum at 8:21 PM

Friday, December 01, 2006

Went for physical recreation with the scouts yesterday.
Wheww... a break from all those activities in school... finally
It was fun! badminton from 8.40 to 11, and thereafter swimming from 11.30 all the way to 1 plus.
We had it all at tampines sports hall & of course the swimming complex...
The swimming complex was upgreaded recently... pretty nice
so-called "jacuzzi" and stuff... a fresh breather away from the all-too-common dull walls and 4 basic pools concept that was behind the designs of dozens of swimming pools across the island for the past decade... whewww!
There was a certain coastal feel to the place... i dunno...
but never mind, that was not the reason why we were there...
It's been a while since i last swam..
what a difference time has brought!
I felt very tired after a few laps(if you would consider what i swam as laps)
this is a sharp contrast from the past when i could swim 40 laps at one go...
no boasting(ahem...)
just shows how much more practise i need to get back to "my golden days"
haha
we had lunch at kfc
saw poon over there as well
lol
after that, those guys(peter, guodong, ciyi, kunwei)
came to my house supposedly to do some bio project
in the end, they came to party
hahas. lol

Labels: holidays

Entered by platinum at 10:43 PM