Sanguine

This is one of the better June breaks as far as I can recall. One of the reason is because I've did more work than I could possibly imagine within the first half of the holidays - an unprecedented feat considering the source of my motivation - my mum being at home. If she's at home --> I can't play --> might as well do some work.


Went out to Raffles Quay for dinner with some classmates last Friday to break the boredom of staying at home. We TRIED to take a photo with the Merlion but no one's phone camera could given its extreme coolness. Kidding, duh. It was only because the spotlights underneath it shone so brightly you could do a Batman movie with the bat symbol over it. We then spent the next hour or so walking around the Esplanade, browsing through the souvenir shops which had amusing fridge magnets. We played cards for the next hour or so and called it a day. It is a nice outing - don't take my dull description seriously.

Wednesday was a rush. I had to go for NS medical checkup in the morning to get myself graded for enlistment. I knew where I stood anyway but there was a compulsory vocational test that begged me for effort to be invested so that the army will have an easier time "allocating resources". I'm going to try to recall as much about the test as I can here:
Section 1: Understanding the relation between words. E.g workshop:carpenter is given, and then you'll have to select the correct choice that has a similar relation, i.e. clinic:doctor. THIS IS A VERY DIFFICULT SECTION. At least only for the last 5 questions. I really couldn't find a matching answer for spoon:fork, so I picked something along the lines of milk:spoon, which actually seemed the most logical to me. I just pray that I don't get labelled "retarded" and be assigned a toilet cleaning job after this.
Section 2: Maths. Piece of cake. Consists mostly of primary school stuff, although I couldn't do one of the problem sums involving money debts (something in P6). The advanced questions go on to polynomial divisions, while the hardest one without doubt has to be differentiation. Which was easy anyway.
Section 3: Visualisation. I TOTALLY DIDN'T GET THE INSTRUCTIONS. A pattern is provided with a tilted picture. You're supposed to imagine what happens to the pattern when the picture is tilted to a certain degree. Well I only got it after the entire test is over. 0 marks here. GG
Section 4: Following instructions never seemed harder. They blew my mind away with mentally exhausting, yet painfully simple tasks. One question would be like -" find the number next to the word with the least number of alphabets. If it's the smallest, type ...." Yes. They aim to drive all the mentally "inept" people into Woodbridge so that they can "allocate resources" "efficiently" in the future.
Section 5: PHYSICS. They provide diagrams and ask you stuff like which bridge is sturdier, which door is more robust, which pulley is more/equally effective. While I'm sure that I got all the hydraulics one correct, I'm pretty sure I random-ed all my other options. It's so difficult it's not even funny, because I had to laugh at my lack of common sense through out the test. I actually wondered if circular motion applies to pulleys. (. . .)
Section 6: Funniest of them all. Numbers 1-9 are arranged in 3x3 box. When the box is highlighted, hit the corresponding number on the keyboard thrice in succession, with the aim of completing it ASAP. I couldn't finish this twisted version of whack-a-mole because the SAF believes in ninja reflexes pathetic beings like me can't possibly possess. How are you supposed to even press the button thrice when the highlight lasts only 0.1s? Fortunately I can't be the worst candidate for this test - someone I know tried CLICKING on the monitor and was wondering why he was faster than the system. Real neat.
Section 7: The test that convinced me that the army hasn't "allocated resources" "efficiently". This test truly differetiates the stupid from the smart (asses). The task here is frighteningly simple: a series of digits (starting from 3, ends with 8 or 9) will be flashed on the screen, and then another screen full of gibberish text will replace it, after which you have to recall what the original sequence of digits is. This test is F***ING STUPID because they gave you a piece of paper and pencil before hand to work out the P6 maths. All I did was click "next" and scribbled down whatever was flashed, wait for the gibberish screen to pass, and poof, scored full marks. Ok fine maybe it is a test of integrity of all (then I'll fail miserably). I do have to give props to whoever set the gibberish text - I tried my best not to ROFLMFAOLOL at whatever was screened. They used phrases such as "GET OUTTTTTTTT", "HELP ME", "GGGGGGGGGG", "SHUT UP", "LOLOLOLOLOOLOLOLOL" spammed across half the screen to get you distracted.
**I finished the 2hr test in 45 minutes. (actually completed all the 35x5 questions). This is NOT an achievement, because many others I know actually got too bored and left halfway. I actually witnessed one person falling asleep ten minutes into the test. So much for vocational testing.

I left CMPB in a hurry to rush to Suntec for the InterJc- finals that we were sent to get gutted. We were only notified two nights before the event took place, so no training whatsoever took place. Watched nice games and played bad ones, but it was really fun because it was FREE LAN. And FREE PRIZES too. I wouldn't know if the team we replaced wanted the prizes - they're only worth something in the pernicious world of Maplestory.

And here it is today, Friday, second week of the holidays coming to an end. I just know the second half will get better. Because I seriously hope this is the best June holidays I ever had, as it is also the last real break before the gay levels.

Propriety

Tests are over.
~
I happened to be late for school a couple of times this year. Like any institution that calls itself as one, it metes similar punishment to everyone regardless of the 'valid' reasons they might have. Its aim, albeit not a noble one, is to instill the virtue of punctuality in each and every one of us. Obviously it has a pragmatic purpose - if you can't be punctual for school, you can't be punctual for work and then you're screwed.
I always thought I had valid reasons for being late, with one case being the exception where I continued sleeping after the alarm rang and woke up an hour earlier. The other times I actually came late were because I couldn't board the bus at all, or rather I couldn't be bothered to. The buses that came looked so jam packed that only four to five more could attempt to board, with dozens other queueing up behind.
By the time I reached school I had to hide in some unobtrusive corner until classes began. On one occasion, however, I tried walking by the main gate and was stopped together with thirty others by the guard who requested that we write our names down. Being the last one in line, I pretended to write something down when the guard was looking elsewhere and left quickly soon after.
Fortunately, I didn't feel guilty at all about cheating the system, the reason being me disagreeing with the punishments itself. Detention is especially painful because it's a waste of time for someone who has already wasted loads of it, but it doesn't ring a bell because it doesn't make much sense.
Being intelligent in creative ways, human beings have become selective and flexible in what morales they should strive to have. Ironman illustrates this fact clearly when initially he did not see the crimes he had committed indirectly through selling weapons. By the way, I'm just advertising for that nice movie =D
My dad believes that I'm en route to trouble because cheating is pernicious in nature; I'll only be emboldened to accomplish similar acts under riskier situations. However, this is simply because I told him I wrote someone's else name down instead of my own. I thought this would be a more sensational story after having heard it myself from someone else. Honestly speaking I did have the intention to try that out the next time I have to walk through the main gate again. I guess I have changed my mind now.
Chronic latecoming is an endemic problem that has no simple solutions. That's because changing one's mindset isn't that easy.

Vicissitude

No idea which part of Jan was it when the idea kicked in, but it was probably within the first week. Ch said he didn't want to join because he wanted to mug which was a 'valiant' attempt - he went back to sourcing in the end. We had to look for a replacement which came in the form of Jiaming.
The story in between till now is irrelevant. By Gamesex finals I already saw everything. At the njcg semi's they hadn't changed one bit.
The finals was one 'good' game. Good because we tried our best (can't do anything against broken bb), bad because the number of retards present have grown nearly two-fold. In the end, I still got to thank a few people:
Ivan - for carrying and farming like a China farmer (I'm not discriminating China) for all the games, and being capable of playing all the carry stuff I thought we might end up using.
Mingwei - for being 'kingler' so many times with his H3 in condemned physics together with the countless times he was oppressed by his older brother. I actually wanted to thank him for being uber obedient in all the games so far and playing the best SF I've ever seen. (tb luna not included because he's cui with those =D JUST JOKING)
Shem - for being the most aggressive bastard who can't resist not stunning anyone by level 1. Best sandking and tiny (jugg not mentioned because he only picks that when I'm on the opposite team -.-')
Jiaming - for fixing his computer by the end of March holidays and being ultra good support. Most memorable match was when we fought the China team (really, I don't hate China) and he warded the nc spots in order for us to eat luna up. Nevermind that he and Shem screwed up at the start
Henry - for turning up on every single match and buying nice food for us on each occasion; he was like the seventh member of our team. He monitors our progress and provides his input at every given opportunity, while offering his unwavering support like amazing friends do (not being a kingler). But he wasn't being a maphack, so I can't see why one retard bothered to try to silence him.
Cihui - for being so "fulking" "no impolite" when he carried while I was feeding with the feeder dragon =D
Chee Wee, Soon Kiat, Xian Yong, the AJ people, and the China team (see, I really don't hate China) - for standing behind us the whole time.
I'm proud that I succeeded in keeping this team together despite both Shem and Mingwei wanting to 'kingler' me from Jan to March. In case you don't know, 'kingler' comes from the fact that Mingwei is KING at abandoning people =D
My prediction for the drafts came true. I just didn't know my (our) plan will fail right from the start. But then that was the one of the best game of DOTA that I've ever played, and it was being played with the team that nearly never was - FREEEEEEE FRAGGGGGGGGSSS FTW

*yawn*

One more week.
Not to the common tests, I'm not interested in that.
It's to the end.
Not really the end if we win -.-
I actually took 20 minutes to come up with the above oO
And it doesn't even rhyme one bit...
DIE LA I'M BECOMING LIKE SOMEONE WHO THINKS SHE ROCKS WHEN SHE ONLY STONES (i.e meigui)
I MIGHT come up with something more interesting in a few day's time ><
*goes back to sleep*

Tail

It took quite some time before the results of PW actually sank in. There wasn't much of a need to reflect on the work I put in - I stayed up longer into the night for gaming than I ever did for the stupid subject. I never had troublesome teammates, unless you count the supervising tutor that condemned us to fail since last year April. Nonetheless the implications are frighteningly non-existent. either because I got an A or it didn't mean anything in the first place.
Whenever anything has come to an end, deep down inside we all know it hasn't. For example, after my PSLE I really thought I could play all day for the rest of my life until Sec 1 kicked me in the nuts for being second last in class.
The process is supposed to be more interesting; nobody ever takes more than a glance at the fullstop after a sentence. I can honestly attest to that, simply because my memory is horrendously not selective when it comes to mundane events in the past as compared to the block of text residing in notes which I must remember now.
If it was anything about PW that I can remember, it was me describing the composition of our Written Report as well as the preparation for the Oral Presentation to be nothing short of an "extreme makeover". Not because I have watched the show (not once), but because these two words alone sums it all up.
My understanding of how memory works is overly simplistic. Everything that we have experienced has always been there, residing in some unknown section of our brain. In order to recall that piece of information, a key word or feeling is attached to it for convenience. Thats how I remember stuff for exams anyway. You don't throw out all of your system files onto your desktop; there are folders for a reason. And remembering what happened earlier than two years old is rather impossible unless you've been abused terribly bad, so be thankful for the way it is now.
I can think of a really perfect paragraph to describe my secondary school life, but I'll be too shy to say it. I can attach "..." to my past five birthdays or so because it has been that way and pretty much the same for all of them. "SON OF A -----" has been stickied onto certain people. But being fortunate, I never knew how to describe how my whole life has been so far.
"The end draws near" is what this unit called the "warden" in my game always say as a response whenever you move her around. With my attention glued to a billion other details happening on screen, I never had the time to consider these words in entirety. Her aim is to bring a fugitive back to his cell, but upon doing so, it simply implies that the reason for her existence no longer exists. I never took the story seriously, so don't shoot me for being beyond an addict.
For all the things in life we ever knew them to be, we are very, very selective in the way we want them to turn out to be. More often than not, life *clowns* back at us in the face by showing us just how little control we actually have. This is not to say that we should hate it and say "gg I'm out", but instead hope for the best with trying, knowing that at least you can't lose. I panicked a week before NAPFA because I know I can't jump. That will be the deciding section to see if I'll have to enter the army 2 months earlier (only sickos want to). 220cm seems really far because that's more than two-thirds the mat - if you've seen the 3m long mat you'll be freaked out too. At the third try (when only two was allowed), I swung my hands like a monkey and actually went ONE CENTIMETRE beyond the 220 mark. I did a 221! To be honest, there's nothing miraculous about the above, sorry.
There hasn't been so much of an end as there was a start for anything. Authors demarcate chapters for cataloging purposes; man designate segments of time to be millenniums and centuries for reference; God (which I haven't believed in yet) spins the Earth daily so that we'll get our lazy selves off the bed when the sun shines over our ass. In reality everything flows endlessly,being independant of whether we're there to make it happen. But because we aren't fictional sentient beings, we'll never be the wiser to the obvious, and we'll never be able to marvel at truly grand things.
Continuity correction aside, it's so much better if we simply stop to reflect consciously, and not during self assigned checkpoints. This way we won't lose sight of what's really happening around us.
Whenever anything has come to an end, deep down inside we all hope it hasn't - and that's what makes it all the more beautiful to begin with - because it only lasts this long.

Glass

Someone told me two weeks ago that I had "chiobus" in my class, namely X1 and X2. He then commented on what a nice class I have, presumably because of that. To be specific, I had to ask "HUH WHO'S THE CHIOBU" when he mentioned them, not because the girls in my class are unsightly, but because I'm freaking curious. First up, I didn't agree with whatever he said but of course being a 'gentleman' I didn't mouth it all out - I didn't find those two that he mentioned to be "chiobus". And second, they're already taken up, so there's not much point in trying to agree with what he said.
The first time I heard the term "chiobu" was back in P6. I thought they're talking about "chou" (ugly in chinese) girls so I couldn't join in half the conversations. Thankfully I don't live under a rock. I figured out what it means 'intuitively' but never actually applied it extensively to girls in reality. The times when I use this term would be those like a really good shot being made in any sports game and I go "WAH CHIO LA". (I don't really like being a spectator)
As a rule of thumb, it is my innocent belief that marrying someone who happens to be chio is a plus, but marrying someone because she's chio has serious implications: it's best that you mentally prepare your divorce papers at any rate.
'Beauty lies in the eye of the beholder' sounds too butterfly-rainbowish for dimwits like me to chew on, but I probably got it all figured out using all the time I spent stoning my existence away. Here's a really good example: I went to my friend's birthday party once when another classmate of mine brought along his PS3. The moment my eyes laid itself upon it, I couldn't stop stroking it and kept murmuring "sexy nia...". Everyone there had a good laugh. Truth is, I really couldn't pull my hands off its sleak surface and am completely mesmerised by it. However, I can swear I'm mentally sane because I'm capable of typing this sentence (i.e insane people would try 'I'M NORMAL OK'). I'm also not a gadget fanatic, as proven by my oh-so-durable handphone that's worthy of being exhibited in any museum (five year old model, anyone?). I do find a PS3 fascinating, but like any infatuation, it was only temporary. Which was to my relief since I didn't have to fork out $1000 to get myself excited.
Scientifically speaking, it could be possibly due to certain chemical signals in my brain that simply zapped the wrong way at the wrong time, resulting in a mental state that's beyond meditation. That's what any Romeo would call "love at first sight", any pervert as one hot chick, and any neurologist as a biological marvel to go wow at.
It might be 'worrying' to some that their relationship was composed based on pure chemistry and not magic as they would like to have believed. On the other hand, Amortentia in the Harry Potter series exists only in, well, the Harry Potter series. What would happen if you try drowning dung beetles in that? Would they really smell fragrant and delicious poo?
Animals have come a pretty long way in evolution in terms of finding their perfect mates, but I am honestly clueless as to how the connection works. Having watched countless episodes of Animal Planet where elephants get horny, I can't distinguish one from another. (pointless paragraph)
Someone kept lol-ing at me for being close to someone who's 'fugly' to him. I couldn't blame him, because he couldn't ever see it from my eyes. I just happen to find this particular someone very... undescribable. Dang. I must have threw my vocab out of the window. Or maybe there just aren't any that I can use.
At least I needn't prep my divorce papers specially for the abovementioned cause.

A rainbow's beautiful not because it's monochromatic.

Up

I emailed my doctor regarding my eye condition, and he gave a reply stating that I'm likely to be posted to a non-combat vocation. It sounds anything but bad to me. (HEHE)
~~
Today (was) a crucial match for the guys' squash team. We already lost to ACSI, and we had to win ACJC if we're to stand any chance of going into the top four. I had a premonition but I kept it to myself mostly other than my fellow referee.
The captain called for lots of support, and even made an arrangement to swap courts so as to accomodate the supporters. He hoped, unfortunately in vain, that it was going to have a positive effect. It didn't, or perhaps there wasn't any. On hindsight, the players might have performed better if there weren't any support to begin with, with the pressure being less overbearing. But again, on hindsight even Einstein might have been dropped into a Woodbridge equivalent before he became a genius, so there's no point looking back (now).
Strange enough, I didn't feel one bit sad when 5-0 was incoming, not even till now. It must have been a habit of mine to drop attachment really quick when I can't get any (in)tangible benefits. Or maybe because I'm dead tired and sleepy just by thinking of the right picks for tomorrow's games. Either way, I'm more interested in the process of the entire match.
Being fierce is motivational to oneself, is aesthetic to the spectators; but most importantly, is unnerving to your enemies.