When i was young, i was taught that modesty is a virtue. Now i'm older, i realize that modesty is a luxury enjoyed only by the established.  ¶

20:45 |

 

LGC's patio session was much more enjoyable than could be imagined. For a start she was much more relevant than her usual self during the session itself. But the real fun started when she went along with us to the Adam Road hawker centre for a rather sumptuous supper. Zhijing got slightly intoxicated after a couple of drinks (which she naively tried to disguise by pouring into ordinary glass and using a straw) and all gossips started rolling. LGC was reduced to her most childish form ever witnessed when she tried to guess who someone's girlfriend is. Saved myself of all the remaining craze when Wanyun's dad arrived and offered me a lift home. Surprising myself tremendously by looking forward to next Tue's patio session now.

Note to self: Adam Road hawker centre has really good Indian mutton soup and satays.  ¶

23:34 |

 

i'm down with some-kind-of-illness again... Went skateboarding a while ago in an attempt to sweat some sickness out, but only end up feeling more drained now... :(

This funny thing happened today while i was not there: Clemence and Shiying went out for a coffee break halfway through our studying in LT4 (me, of course, with iron determination and concentration, required no break whatsoever :p). They were approached by Mr Raufie in the canteen. And the following is an excerpt of their conversation:

Raufie (to Clemence): Hey i need your help ah.
Clemence (thinking that he said "Do you need my help?"): No i'm still studying.
R (taken aback but unshaken): It won't be long, just five minutes.
C (confused but just as unshaken): But i'm still studying.
Shiying (finally rescued the situation): Are you sure you heard him right?  ¶

19:04 |

 

Hahaha, this is the BIGGEST irony in the world. As i was trying to access Berkeley's online application, the website reminded me that i'd need to maximise all my browser security settings. So i duly followed the instruction and did just that, but the page still could not load. i was then redirected to Microsoft's support site where supposedly i could download the latest IE security pack 6 (or something like that). Well i said supposedly because when i click on download, a warning message popped up which read "Your current browser security setting does not allow this download."  ¶

23:12 |

 

Now being told honestly by Ms Wang that my chance of getting into Stanford is very very slim*, my yearning of going there became ever stronger. It all boiled down to my obstinance, perhaps, that knowing something is beyond me makes me want it even more. But what right have i to be stubborn. Deep inside i know that Ms Wang (being the frank and kind Tweety Bird's grandmother :p) knows it best, or at least much better than me. i really have nothing to set me apart, or rather, i'm not apart from the mass anyway. But i just want to try instead of just surrender like that. So in the future i can avoid the chore of pondering over what might have happened if i just tried. Anyway, i also like Stanford's proximity to San Francisco, the mediterranean climate and the golden Californian sun.

* My question to her was phrased this way: "Do you think my chance of getting into Stanford is very slim or absolutely impossible?" Of course she couldn't say it's absolutely impossible, so she kindly added one more "very" to the "very slim".  ¶

22:30 |

 

The RJC Class of 2003 Farewell Assembly was held this morning. The entire function was nothing short of redundant. Feel that it is a waste of school funds (to which i once donated $2000 okay?! :p) to even print the function banner, which will only be used once and never again. Sat at the last row (since i did not receive any awards and was thus spared the task of shaking the GOH's hand) with the intention of sneaking out early should such need arise. Well such need did arise as early as ten minutes into the ceremony, but Mr Otega was holding sentry at the back of the hall. No escape! At least there were many photographing opportunities early in the day before the ultimate boredom commenced. Captured shots are faithfully kept in the photo album. Feel free. :)  ¶

22:58 |

 

Final prelims results stand at a mediocre ABBC - Maths, Physics, Econs and F Maths respectively. GP is a lucky borderline B3 and both S papers got merit. While Econs was a real fluke and huge surprise*, Physics S came short of distinction by 1 irritating point. Meanwhile, albeit scoring rather high for paper 3 (surpassing Zhijing heh heh), i flunked my paper 2 for Physics. End result is a heart-wrenching B. Even if the Physics department ain't that penurious with marks, i can never bring myself to grovel for marks, so.

* To quote LGC: "I must REAlly huh, take me hat off to you, man~... You DAre to do two-and-a-half essays! ... Mrs XXXXX XXX must have been MEsmerised by your writing that she gave you 10 upon 10 for your part one... but she's mellowed over the years... if you dare to do this during the A-level, it's GOne with the COld Siberian wind oKAy? ..." (Capital letters symbolize emphasis in intonation) :p  ¶

20:00 |

 

Got back all three maths papers today. Expectations fell flat when F Maths score plummaged to a C. Although Maths C was a clear A, it wasn't particularly pleasing as most others did even better. Maths S was a middle-range merit, being 13 marks above the bottom end of the M spectrum and 12 marks below that of the D one. It was raining that irritating eesie-weesie rain whole day also. Was going to be the absolute worst day of my JC life if not for the darling class, and some encouraging words from the tutors.  ¶

18:07 |

 

My first ever skateboard!!! May i not end up with broken bones for the A-level. :)  ¶

21:28 |

 

YAY! Finally the Prelims are over! 16 days of torment, 27 grueling hours in the exam hall staring my eyes dry and writing my wrist achy, OVER! i think i deserve a little break before payback time, which i can't hardly wait as well. No proclamation of expectations now, though, as shocking memories of the Physics CT2 waterloo linger on.

Went down to Beach Road to catch Running On Karma after Physics S paper. Expected a cock-and-bull comedy but it turned out to be quite serious, and even scary at parts. Apparently, the movie is about karma - the Buddhist way of looking at punishments for misdeeds and rewards for kind acts. Besides Andy Lau's fake muscles which are just that - rather fake, and his actions that look suspiciously like Hulk, especially when he hops around, the movie is really quite enjoyable, even more so than The Hulk.  ¶

20:04 |