I was like a cat on hot bricks this morning when a sms by one of my referees Mrs Lee indicated that she was confused by my smses to prod her for the recommendation letter. She kept asking me for the form and I had to explain things lucidly to her that there was no such form and to make things simple, she could modify the letter that she sent to the US universities that I applied to. Which means I cannot mail out my application today since she can only send her letter to me tomorrow on a working day, and I will not be at home tomorrow because of TJ! I was racking my brains for a solution when a more comforting sms arrived in my HP. It was by CPT Shane and he said that he will send his to me by tonight as he was rushing a project for CSO. Oh well, at least one will be ready by today. Fortunately, I have my sister to count on. During her 3 hour break tmr in school, she will help me check mail, print out the letter and mail it out. I believe she won't screw things up. *cross my finger*
Having completed my Umich Honours Program essay and finishing my part on the application, I went out after the episode this morning to unwind and let down my hair. After visiting the Kbox Clementi branch with my sister (treated her to thank her for the favour that she will be doing me tmr), we traveled on the IMM free shuttle service adventitiously and walked down to CREATIVE main branch at IBP(International Business Park). And guess what? I purchased Zen MicroPhoto and a companion power adapter at $457! Possession of a MP3 player has been tempting me for quite some time now and I finally set down my mind to buy one as an early birthday present for myself, though I will have to scrimp and save for the next few months in order to recover that sum of money. Nevertheless, I felt the product was definitely well worth the money spent despite its staggering high price - its design I felt is the best among the multitude of Zen products and its vibrant OLED colour screen is captivating! Though I know that I may probably get the same product at a lower cost during the warehouse sale, I find it a hassle to jostle with the hordes of kiasu people that will be packing the store like sardines then. And considering the numerous guard duties next month... (I shall not elaborate more)
scribbled at 6:03 PM
After spending 67 hours in 5 days at PLC for TJ this week, I am jaded. I cannot imagine how I will survive the whole of next week...
Both CPT Shane and Mrs Lee have not sent me the recommendation letters via email and I'm having cold feet because I need to mail out the application by this weekend! Holy, I hope they remember. *sigh* Going back to write my essay for the Umich Honours Program...
scribbled at 2:06 PM
The stressful week commenced with a light note - HCJC's Chinese Society successfully staged its annual Huang Cheng Ye Yun at VT. I felt a tad guilty while sitting through the 3 pieces of drama, remorseful about the fact that it was my first time ever to attend Huang Cheng, despite the 2 years in HCJC. The mediocre performances of the crew were acceptable but the creative efforts of the storywriters and the scriptwriters were laudable. The finale abstruse drama left a deep impression on me as the theme of office and business politics were explored in an abstract fashion. The only regret probably was not being able to take a photo or two with Sylvester Sim and Silver Ang who were present as a couple.
The 5 1/2 days work that followed were physically and mentally draining, punctuated only by a trip to Party World KTV on Thursday night for YT's birthday. Overtime on Saturday was for the ISP Prof test, which came as a surprise on Friday. (All along, I had thought it was just another normal setup for the Ex next week) Anyway, we received "encouraging" comments from OC and CO that we were decent, not very good, not fantastic.
By the time we wrapped up our work, it was mid-day and I made a long-awaited movie trip to catch Nanny Mcphee. It was rather disappointing though, and I though I was deceived by the shimmering trailer. Coupled with the weariness (after-effect of the setup) I felt which made me fell asleep at certain intervals, I had to stifle my yawns and make myself stay awake throughout the show. :(
scribbled at 9:33 PM
To say that the performance "Ali Baba and the 21 Thieves" staged yesterday at Kallang Theatre was a smashing success is to put it mildly. As a matter of fact, I was quite skeptical of the level of enjoyment I could derive from the performance before I went for it. Reasons being Yihao warned us that the musical might not be suitable for our age and I sorta agreed by looking at the title of the play. But, I still went ahead with much anticipation and eventually I was rewarded.
The theatre was almost full house and I was completely bowled over by the harmonious music, the flawless props and the real-like settings of every scene. The skilled acting by the teacher, who played Ha San, topped it all off, though there were some funny antics by the children actors that did not really appeal to me. I particularly loved the props, the costumes and the interactions made with the audience at certain intervals (though I did not open my mouth, duh, there were enough young kids there to do the job). I felt a sense of deja vu as my childish nature was rattled throughout the musical. It made me feel younger, while I am moving steadily towards the age of 20 this year. Haha. Kudos to Yihao, who played the villain. You did a good job, though I thought that your voice was a bit too muffled at times. :P
Wishing success to the last performance this afternoon and hope Huang Cheng tonight will tantalize my senses as much as Ali Baba did!
scribbled at 12:31 PM
It was totally a bad way to start the supposedly refreshing Friday, after recovering from the weariness that had accumulated to its peak throughout the week. I had planned my schedule well, and set my alarm clock in my HP at 6:50am. Much to my disbelief, my sub-conscious disinclination to get out of bed got the better of me. Simply put, I overslept. It's amazing how I could still keep my calm when I realised the time was 7:45am, carried on to brush my teeth, and ate my normal breakfast of 4 pieces of bread and milo. Perhaps, it was in my knowing that a Taxi ride to Marina Square for the Battalion Bash wouldn't last more than half an hour. After sprucing up my disheveled appearance and booking a Comfort Taxi, I made my way hurriedly down to the void deck, and conveniently forgetting to bring the laundry (for Gary) along. I had to apologise to him and TY, since I had agreed to walk the latter down to Marina Square from City Hall MRT.
I thought I was well in time, but I guess my streak of bad luck didn't quite end there. 10 minutes into the ride, we met with a traffic jam on AYE and as the time ticked on, my heart began beating faster. I was trying to allay my anxiety by SMS-ing people to ask for the situation at GV Marina and whether CO had arrived. The phone call by Mark to declare that he was late too was assuring. Nonetheless, I was counting the seconds and cursing under my breath as the Taxi neared Marina Square. Eventually, I was glad that I made it there still on time to catch the old movie "Windtalkers" (albeit late by half an hour, ie reach at 9:15) yet was annoyed at the exorbitant $28.70 taxi fare (which included $4.00 for booking, $3.50 for ERP, and $1.00 for peak hour). I could have watched 3 better movies with the money (not that the movie wasn't good but it was not to my liking) and I reckon I might actually reach earlier if I had taken public transport.
Anyway, some trivialities yesterday. I played 2 consistent games of bowling, and even broke my PB once again (the scores stand at 122 and 105 respectively). Yeah! After bowling, Gary, Yongjie, Teddy and me went on for a pool session, but I sucked at the game, never putting much effort into analyzing the angle of the cue and stuffs like that.
Decided that I had to utilize my Friday to its maximum and made arrangements to catch "The Date Movie" with Eugene at JP. Though I couldn't comprehend the humour elements in the movies as much as Eugene did (because he was more familiar with movies and the Hollywood or English ShowBiz Entertainment), I nonetheless enjoyed the hilarious acting and the attempts to figure out what Eugene was laughing about. Haha.
scribbled at 2:54 PM
A hectic week it was, yet strangely bearable and fulfilling.
For one, I stayed in camp for a whole 5 days, commencing with a Sunday guard duty. With music and a book to accompany me, I was not the least bored for the duration of the duty. Coupled with a DO and BOS we could identify with, the duty was no doubt manageable. To top it off, I was showered with easy banters with the detail personnel and a wondrous twist by Nicholas Sparks which made my day.
Monday and Tuesday didn't really encompass things that one would look forward to, with the 11 Tonners CP Setup training and an Ex going on concomitantly. The platoon was stretched to its limits because there was severe shortage of manpower, yet the number of things we had to accomplish seemed countless. By Tuesday, the energy of most of the people were fizzled out and murmurs of frustrations could be heard under our breath, though we eventually pulled it off and on a more personal note, I felt the experience was rather fruitful and it actually strengthen the bonds between the platoon mates. Sometimes, things just happen so magically and first impressions can always be erroneous; I have learnt to take things with a lighter mood.
Perhaps CSM's concern and infectious jovial mood on Wednesday played a part too. Her care for the men was demonstrated by how she went to great extents to solve some pressing issues raging in the platoon (though she refuted quite vigorously to my point brought up today) and her natural leadership qualities enabled her to motivate her men quite effortlessly. These are attributes I would say scarely found in many Specialists and WO. I seem to be praising her to the skies but indeed, she is one with strong character. Her attitude towards us had a comforting effect on my long busy stay in camp this week.
P.S: Sorry if my entries seemed to be revolving around NS stuff, it looks like NS has taken up a huge part of my life now, especially in March, where Exercises appeared to be looming in the days ahead.
scribbled at 9:13 PM
What a way to end the week! The events that took place today attested to the old proverb "It never rains, but it pours".
In the morning, we had to bear with the bickerings caused by the rivalry between some of the specs, which lasted for around half an hour. (The time could be put to better use elsewhere, especially when we had a timing to meet) When eventually they reached a rapprochement, no clear instructions were passed down as usual and I exercised my own initiative to start work. It was hard work, considering it was the first time a full CP setup was required. I was worn to a frazzle by noon. But this was not all.
Teddy, Weili and I followed Alex out for a store run in the afternoon. Alex insisted on riding in Derrick's car while I was innocently arrowed by Teddy and Weili to act as the vehicle comd?! (Though I soon learnt that the job of a vehicle comd consisted of basically nothing much, but still, what if something happened to the unimog on the road?? I certainly wouldn't want to associate myself with SOL or stuffs like that) I don't know whether it was my problem but we ran into a spate of bad luck soon after. Unimaginable happenings followed, things like the engine could not start after we exchanged our passes at MINDEF. The driver lost his visitor pass.
Thankfully, all the problems that surfaced seemed to find their solutions after a while. The engine miraculously revived and Weili saved the day by recovering the missing visitor pass that was accidentally misplaced in one of the boxes containing phones. However, to add to our frustration, some uncouth rich idiot had to blare the horn of his loser sports car and point his middle finger at us!
At last when all our errands were completed, we reached camp only to discover that the rest of the platoon were still in the process of tearing down. Left with no choice, we had to assist them and only booked out at 7:45pm!
scribbled at 10:10 PM
I couldn't help catching a movie at $7.00 on a weekday. After enjoying a rejuvenating dip in the pool at Jurong East Sports Complex and relishing moments of solitude musing over the scholarship applications, I made my way into JP GV theatre. Has been long since I went for a horror movie; the last one was like Shutter I think. Anyway, Final Destination 3 has been conceptualised much the same manner as that of FD. (I didn't watch FD2 but I suppose it's similar.) Initiated by a premonition, leading to the people who survived dying one after another.
I guess the kind of reactions and responses elicited by the movie can be categorised into 2 extreme groups. Either you laugh your hearts out at the different whimsical ways of dying, like the JC student sitting in front of me, or you freak out at the gory bloody scenes, like me.
scribbled at 7:09 PM
I was on my monotonous routine of checking gmail when the title of a new mail made my heart skip a beat. The string of words seemed so intimidating and domineering: "UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN UNDERGRADUATE ...". I had guessed as much - an enrolment decision of my application had been finalised. My palms began to sweat as I logged in to my account in Wolverine Access. I inhaled as I mustered all my courage to click on the link "Admission Decision".
"Congratulations! ..." The first word in the passage sent a quiver of excitement through my body. As I read on, I exhaled with a breath of relief, unconscious that I actually held my breath throughout the loading of the page.
So, I have been admitted into Umich, after all the anxiety I felt when Gary insisted that I ought to be receiving my admission package a few days or weeks ago. This is undoubtedly a morale-booster for my A*star application, especially when my lacklustre SAT 1 score will definitely undermine my chances of succeeding in even attaining an interview with them! However, this may not be a bad thing after all. At least I'm not exerting any pressure on myself, which for the most part will probably make me perform better in my interviews, if I'm getting one at all that is.
scribbled at 11:04 AM
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