I used to wonder why people disliked the smell of durian. However, after having a couple boxes of durians placed in my refrigerator for a couple of days, I notice that it was not that the durain was smelly, the smell is just so strong that you get sick of it after awhile. The worse part is that my parents do not want to eat them, and I cannot eat them either. On the first day of the invasion of the durains, I went ahead and ate two pieces, only to get unwanted bowel activities on the very same night. It might be coincidence, but I am not taking the chance. This leaves my sister to two boxes of durains, and she is the master of counting calories or whatever unhealthy measurement units they came up with. An advantage of this habit is that I get to eat her chocolates and mooncakes. The disadvantage is that the durian is going to be there for a long, long time. In fact, I will not be too surprised if they were to have already degraded into carbon atoms the next time I open the box, approximately in a few centuries.
Well, there is only a few more days of school left. So few, in fact, that it is that time of the year again. The time where you exhaust all your White Slip tolerance and let of some steam! After a long year of following the rules, here the top three ways to get some white slips.
Warning: Remember, maximum White Slips you can hold without getting owned is 3. So if you already have 2 or more, please do not attempt anything. Especially you Bryan.
3rd Ponning -
Ponning a lecture is not effective. Since no attendance is taken, and there are so many people supposed to attend, your absence will surely not be noticed. Try ponning something with a smaller class size, like a tutorial! If this is still not enough to get you slipped, try running into the teacher and telling her about how you spent her period hiding in another classroom playing DotA.
2nd Playing Cards -
There are two ways to doing this. For those with a friends who insists on going for those lectures even though they are not going to listen anyway, you could make them play in the lecture theater. By this time of the week, there should be so little people that did not skip the lecture that you might be the only people there. That would ensure you get caught. For those who want to play outside lectures, there is still a chance to get yourself slipped. You would need some betting chips, which can be found in any mahjong set. Bidding boxes are a major nono, since that might make the teachers think that you are playing bridge, which means that would just confiscate the cards. No slips gained, one deck lost. Fail.
1st Dress code breaking -
If you are intending to bring home clothes to school on the last day so that you can celebrate the end of the school term, why not just wear it to school? This would not only save you some space in your bag, it will also get you a slip for sure. You might even get booted out of school and get to leave for your LAN session (or whatever) early! How is that for multiple advantages. Shirts with vulgarities on them are sure to get some attention. For the girls, mini-skirts will turn a few heads to, probably half the people who turn up. The guy half.
Whatever method you use, remember to keep in mind that it is going to be a tough process, as the relaxed enforcement of rules are getting even slacker. Good luck maxing out your slips.
xw 7:34 AM
Sunday, November 22, 2009
I guess it is human nature for us to act in our own interest. Ahhh, there is my wise statement of the day.
Anyway, I just recovered from a flu. It took me all of one day, such a weak influenza virus. It is probably the type that got laughed at and bullied at influenza school. Tsk tsk. It was however, timely enough to keep me from a probably near last position from SCBA on Friday night. Not that it matters, since the angry SCBA lady was not there to kick us out. I woke up on saturday expecting to be sleeping for the rest of the day, with a fever and all. However, I was only slightly warmish and did not really feel like sleeping all day. I did spend the rest of the morning phasing in and out of consciousness, just like what I do during Chinese lessons. I guess Chinese really do equates to making me sick.
One week ago, Junior Bowser kidnapped Princess Peach on her birthday by putting her into a giant cake. One week later, Mario and Luigi are still slacking around in world 6. At least my Sister's special friend got me a Red Mushroom plush while he was on his holiday. Now I have something to accompany my stuff bear. I wonder if my bear would grow bigger if she collided with the Red Mushroom.
xw 7:11 AM
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
This post is long over due, but what the heck. I am still a little surprised that our orientation group is still going quite strong. It might actually be the strongest one in school as of now, but it would not be in a few months when all the little kids flood in again, to this nice little college where they will learn to mug and mug to learn, before learning and mugging for their A levels. Anyway, more than half of the OG turned up. Was it half? I cannot even remember how many we started with, but the picture on my table buried in the mess of project work stuff (what the hell are they will doing here) says we had 19 people. Then again it is not an accurate evidence, since I am not even in the picture. It was pretty good food, though I got a numb jaw from chewing all the beef that I cooked, and not to forget that the price tag was pretty heavy too. On hindsight, I should have took some food home, or at least steal some of their cutleries.
New Super Mario Bros Wii was released on time! How ever, my attempt for a no continue cooperative run was destroyed when the only person I know that is capable of not dying like free happens to have an limited tolerance for jumping on Koopas and Goombas and what-nots. Can you imagine that? How can any one get tired of saving Princess Peach, I will never understand.
xw 4:39 AM
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Macdonald's has finally done it. It has came up with a promotion so effective that we are all going to become rolly and polly by the time it is over. That little chance (approximated to be just slightly higher than the world exploding into CoCoCrunch tomorrow afternoon) of winning S$50,000 in cash makes it so irresistible to keep going back for more. After all, you can always tell yourself that they are giving away so many apple pies that it might actually be worth it. Now I am going to have a mountain of Marina Bays, waiting for the elusive Sentosa Cove to be collected.
Retardation aside, today happens to be a very special day! It is the day where New Super Mario Bros comes to the Wii in North America! Hopefully the game stores recognizes the huge fan base that Mario commands and have decided to ship it in on the day of release. When an unpopular game like Chocobo's Dungeon get released, they would only have stock about 2 weeks after the release date. Games like Pokemon on the other hand, starts to appear on the shelf a few days before its actual release. Oh well, in a few hours, I am going to see how popular they think Mario is with gamers.
xw 8:47 PM
Thursday, November 12, 2009
The class party was really tiring. Who would have thought that having it start at 12 in the afternoon and end at 10:30 pm would be so draining. To think that some of them are actually watching a movie right now. If I had joined them for the movie I would not be surprised if I feel asleep in the middle of it. Even if it was Paranormal Activity, with the screaming and all in the background.
It is nice to see Yuankei again, after such a long time. Hmm, if I were a little closer to her, I would have asked her if she had permanent medical certificate like Clarence. It must really feel good to have one of those. The privilege of having to attend school only when you feel like it is indeed a rare one that is bestowed only upon the Chosen Ones. If I had one, I would probably still come to school really often though. Experience has thought me that ponning is really addictive. Once you start, its hard to stop.
Pig was one of the best games I have ever played. Of course it does not even come close to "big fish small fish" or "polar bear", but it is a really good bonding game. The difference is that unlike other bonding games, this game makes it harder to talk to one another. Maybe the idea is to make everyone appreciate the value of being able to talk to your friends freely, without having everyone laugh at your for becoming a level 4 pig or something. I also noticed that I have completely forgotten how to have fun playing floating bridge. Considering that my partner is to my right, everything he plays is a finesse through me. And when ever Alastair, who was the declarer, ruffed a spades, he could easily find entry back to Yvonne because he was playing through both of his opponents. How he makes 2 dimes with hardly half the points, 7 card fit, and the dimes splitting 5-1 with a KJxxx I will never understand.
I am also starting to notice weird things happening within the class. Maybe its just my imagination. Come to think of it, I do have a very vivid sense of imagination.
xw 8:31 AM
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
I am free from the clutches of project work. Finally. I can finally breath again, and the November rains suddenly seem much less depressing and more... normal. Anyway, symptoms of freedom are beginning to appear in my life again. I can once again sleep at 2am knowing that nothing will happen to me the next day. I can stone around in a certain cemetery that was mentioned in this year's fairly important Chinese exams. I can find the time to download the driver for my printer. I can even find the time to run my virus scan to see what have been screwing around with my computer lately, besides myself of course.
Oh well, the days ahead are like empty canvasses ready to be filled with colourful memories. Unfortunately, some invisible troll came along a stuffed two weeks full of lectures into our carefree lives. Screw it. Now we would have random lectures in the middle of our relaxation time. At least we can wake up late and leave school early. The school do value our sanity and is aware that holding morning assemblies during the last two extra weeks of school will just demonstrate to them what mass ponning means. Not to suggest that they will not have a chance of seeing that in the lectures, but the chances are significantly less. The lectures only warrants a theater full of inattentive students.
A rare event occurred today. Due to special circumstances, like Bryan risking getting a zero for his insights and reflections, I was granted permission into my sister's room. It is hard to believe that a room like hers and a room like mine could be actually attached to the same living room. The difference is so vast that if you smash the two rooms together, they would both disappear into space and release an infinite amount of energy, possibly even creating a new universe.
The first thing you would notice is the door. Her room's door have a wooden sign which is nailed nicely into the door that says "Closed", accompanied with a teddy bear at the side. It also has a warning sign, which I do believe is necessary to keep guests from wondering into the wrong places and dying for no reason at all. My room however, has a measly piece of foolscap paper attached to the door by one length of tape saying "Wake me up at 6:30". I am going to have to remove this soon.
Our desks are also really different. My desk has mountains of mess on it. In fact, I am waiting for the day it piles so high that I am unable to see the clock. It is a wonder how I manage to find my things half the time. In the case of my sister's desk, you can actually see the desk! I can see the desktop. In fact, I can see most of the desktop. There is only a laptop and a fan, both waiting in position for her arrival. She sure sucks at using her desk space efficiently.
Finally, my bookshelf has books on it. Her's has many products, ranging from nail polishes to bags to nice little boxes that I dare not touch. Enough said. I love my room even more now.
xw 7:43 AM
Sunday, November 8, 2009
At long last. After slightly less than a week, I am finally reunited with Raleigh. Well, I would not really have bothered to collect it, but Kenneth left it in front of Hougang Mall. This implied that if I left it there overnight, it would have disappear into bicycle haven, or some junkyard in Thailand.
It was a glorious moment. There it was standing there beckoning me to release it from its shackles. Sigh, will Raleigh never understand that the chain has to be there to protect it from the evil thieves that exists within this cruel world? Many times have I mentioned the tales of another bikes which shall not be mentioned which got stolen. Even their chains have failed to keep them safe.
Wonders of all wonders, I still know how to ride my bike. It is really true that some skills are never forgotten. I have devised a new cycling method to get up Moo Moo Meadows without having to change to gears 1-1 and crawling uphill while the strolling aunties and uncles overtake me. And it worked. Well admittedly, I almost lost balance and killed myself a few times, but it is all worth it in the name of speed. Curse you Moo Moo Meadows. If only you knew the trouble you bring me and Raleigh whenever we scale you. Tricking innocent little cyclists into riding down with no effort at all, only to laugh at them on their return trips. Oh yea, it is also not a good idea to ride through a pasar malam. Apparently, these so called night markets are open in the afternoon too.
In the lift, a little boy and his mother squeezed into whatever little space there is left after I manage to fit Raleigh in. The boy processed to ask me: "You primary what?" Poor boy, I almost hate to tell you that it does not end at Primary school. One day you shall be a day away from your PW presentation, and all you could do is to think back about your carefree days where you could squeeze into lifts all day. Sigh...
xw 10:33 PM
Thursday, November 5, 2009
It is a wonder how I can screw up so many times in a single day. In all fairness, I have to declare today as the last day of school. True enough we would actually have to come back for like 2 weeks after the PW week is over, but we had a two hour "civics finale", as Mr. Lim referred it to as, followed by subject feedback. Finale and feedback? If this is not considered the last day of school, I do not know what is.
Well, the finale consisted of two activities. The first involves answering 12 questions about what we learnt and plan to do. Come to think of it, it is actually just 11 questions that help us reflect and be insightful, plus one question about who we care most about. If you are going to spend your final week with the people you love, will you not be reminded about what you are going to lose? Perhaps spending time with people who make you feel like killing yourself would help make the process so much easier. Then came the sharing of the answers. Everyone had standard answers, with the exception of Mr. Ma who talked about spending time with God a week before he dies. The day I understand how he thinks is the day everyone decides to give me a dollar each. Or the day he actually tries to explain how he thinks to me. Whichever comes first.
The second activity required everyone to write notes for everyone else. This works by having people pass their paper clockwise, and when you receive the paper from the person on your left, you would write something good about that person and pass it on. This is a really smart method as it showcases inefficiency. Slowly but surely, there would be a couple of laggers that choke the whole cycle. This also enables everyone else to read the notes that you have written. Damn, why did I not remember that. At the very least, this activity enable me to appreciate my classmates much more, and feel appreciated by them too.
My day was followed by a few more uninteresting events, such as a sudden realization, being 4 hours late, a little bit of PW coupled with a hell load of inefficiency, the losing of my house keys which finally led to me being stuck outside my own house. Until 10PM. Good thing I only came home at 9:45, or I am in for a wait longer than what I put Kenneth through. Sorry again dude.
xw 8:43 AM
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
The thing that optimist are good at doing is only hearing the things that we want to hear, only seeing the things that we want to see and only understanding the things that we want to understand. Actually, that is exactly what a pessimist would do to, just that what and optimist want to know is different from what a pessimist does. Everything that I do not want to believe, I will block out. Why do I keep focusing on the little arrows pointing in the way I want, the way I need, the way that should have been from the very start? I know that all these are within the backdrop of a giant arrow going the other way, coaxing me to give up, gently, kindly...
If things are the way it should be, I am probably fighting a battle that I should be fighting. Of course I believe that this is the case. I am still fighting after all. But sometimes I just wonder if I am just fighting for nothing, investing my energy, time and spirit into something that is never happening. Wake up slaps after wake up slaps. If they do not even work, why am I even seeking them over and over again. I just cannot get out of my own self-delusion can I?
xw 7:38 AM
