took a raincheck on school on friday coz i wasn't feeling too great, and didn't leave the house for 75 hours... longest ever i think...
got a call from jit on monday asking me to go for the aaron koh dinner, really welcomed the chance to meet the rest of the class again...
unfortunately alota ppl weren't there, but still had fun at fish&co @ the glass house, and pool at meridien...
elendrus&i were teamed up and were super unlucky... x)
tuesday went for dinner again at spizza with javier, chatting is such a therapeutic thing...
and tonight went for dinner with 5.9, and it was really cool in the sense that 20 of us were there!
it was at fish&co @ the glass house again, this time i had the peri peri prawns instead of the mussels penne...
i still really dun like the food there, prefer my manhattan fish market across the road...
went to b&j for dessert at cathay...
its a two-day week, but i have a feeling its gonna feel really really long...
chem test on friday is the only thing that might stress me out, other than that i've got to figure out how to juggle training and the YLS briefing...
american idol!
jlc.
Sunday, 11 February 2007
so i've been reading my current classmates' blogs (they all have blogs, which is such a change coz no one, save for sean/lucas, had blogs in 4/11, so this is a throwback to '05 where i had blogs to read on a daily basis)
many of their recent posts deal with 5/9 dynamics and what not, and i'm super surprised to find that i somewhat sympathize with some of their sentiments, which basically means i'm not on a completely different page than they are...
with that revelation, i genuinely GENUINELY want stuff to work out for the class, so yeah...
but i do have one small tiny ittybitty sticking point - its about the classoffivepointnine post on danny's apparent departure from the school...
when cielo told me about the news at 2plus on saturday morning (the whole petition and whatever), i was incredulous to say the very least... if you know me, you know how i feel about this kinda stuff, and i'm normally pretty passive about it unless i feel a need to speak up...
i feel the need to speak up:
if you read the blog post, you will not be remiss if you were led to thought that something tragic on the scale of Katrina had just happened...
i'm like dude, he ain't dyin', he's potentially leaving the school...
anyhow, i missed the YLS briefing for all council candidates on saturday morning coz of NCS...
found out from elendrus that we have groups and pairs and all that jazz, so i've gotta find out about my arrangements tomorrow morning... plus i think we need to do some bill-writing and stuff, sounds fun...
speaking of NCS, the debate fever is definitely back in full swing...
so some of the ppl in my year sat out for this competition, but others were in it to win it, though we didn't meet them...
our draw was very fortunate, and we were able to win SA/MJ, but lost to HC in what i felt was the closest debate of all, and i didn't think it was as huge a loss as they made it out to be..
in any case, we're up against them (they're all J2s btw, dunno why), again in the semis in two weeks time...
remembering that point12/point16 were jointly baking at sam's place, we decided to pay them a visit...
most of them were leaving already, so in the end just stayed around talking to sean/paul/sam/johannes...
paul left, leaving us to play topspin on the xbox and watch gladiator/anchorman/lemony snicket's...
went to church as usual today, and actually planned to go for lunch after that...
but a series of unfortunate events made that rather impossible...
since i'm 16goingon17, and so were jake/adriel, we decided to go for the blood drive...
the questions in the form we had to fill up were really interesting, and i couldn't help but wonder if there were any wrong answers to them...
whatever the case, while i was waiting outside the doctor's office with them and bernie/caryn, we were wondering if i'd be eligible coz of my weight issues...
so in the end, when it came to my turn, i just went right up and asked to measure my weight first, so if it was below what was needed, i'd not bother wasting anyone's time...
so i stepped up and the reading was 45.0, so he was like congrats, you just made it...
a pause later he went err i think we should check again, so i obliged, and the measurement was consistent, no more, no less...
another pause later, he was like, you look thin, i think maybe your jeans are heavy and adding some weight, what's your normal weight when you're wearing lighter clothes...
so i told him that during h&w in school i was 44.5, and he was like better not, and i was like yeah, dun wanna collape somewhere after having 500ml of blood removed from me...
talked to audrey/amanda/tzeern/joanna/deblam while waiting for jake/adriel to get their turn...
when i went in adriel was already well under way and bernie/joanne had finished, so only jake was waiting...
talked a bit to abby/deblam/caryn and whoever else were there, then jake's turn came...
we were all like super curious, so we watched the whole procedure of anaesthesia, then creating the air space then inserting the needle and everything...
what happened in the span of the next 3mins, in retrospect as i sit here thinking about it, really does send a slight shiver of goosebumps, though i think abby/deb are probably more shaken coz they were standing on the other side with a clearer view...
the four of us (3 plus jake) were chatting and stuff, and jake made a passing comment that when the blood started draining, he very quickly lost all strength in his right arm, a first indication that we kinda just ignored... i have this knack for noticing things out of the corner of my eye, and i had observed that everyone who had donated seemed to be able to squeeze the that stressball thingy without much difficulty, and i hadn't seen jake squeeze at all, save for once or twice and minimally so, but i just attributed it to whatever...
30seconds and 150mls of blood later, jake made another passing comment, this time saying that he felt faint, and this is the second indication that few of us considered to be out of the ordinary...
how wrong were we...
ok so here's how we were positioned - i was sitting on jake's left, deb was standing at the back on his right while abby was further front on his right...
in a matter of 3 seconds, jake's head seemed to lost all posture and just lopsided to the right, and his right arm seemed to bend as a natural reaction, which from where i was sitting the only sign that something went wrong, coz your arm's supposed to remain straight all the time...
immediately we got the attention of the nurse who rushed there and from the look on her face i knew this wasn't too good..
they had to stop the loss of blood quickly and simultaneously change the his position to allow blood to return to his head coz his face and lips were, for the lack of a better image, as white as a sheet...
deb/abby actually saw his eyes roll back in his head, and abby reflected that she was on the brink of screaming...
jake wasn't breathing at that point in time, and the nurse had to ensure that he regained consciousness quickly or there'd be severe consciousness... we were all like just trying to make sure he heard us and that he continued breathing...
a tense minute later, jake finally managed to answer verbally, and the worse was over...
the next 2odd hours passed quickly, within which jake tried to sit upright but very quickly felt faint again, so that didn't work, and eventually they put him on an IV drip...
he still wasn't able to sit up after that and partially lost consciousness again (i dunno, for me at least its a really scary image)
but he was able to be moved to the car in the end...
during the first half an hour after the initial scare, abby/deb/joanne/bernie and i just made sure he didn't nod off...
when they left along with adriel and all, daniel/guonian came in and with bernie and i made sure of that for the rest of the time...
this is the kinda thing that, when finally ends, you just sigh and say a silent prayer
went for lunch with guonian/daniel/sophie at tampines before heading back...
a long sigh of relief,
jlc.
many of their recent posts deal with 5/9 dynamics and what not, and i'm super surprised to find that i somewhat sympathize with some of their sentiments, which basically means i'm not on a completely different page than they are...
with that revelation, i genuinely GENUINELY want stuff to work out for the class, so yeah...
but i do have one small tiny ittybitty sticking point - its about the classoffivepointnine post on danny's apparent departure from the school...
when cielo told me about the news at 2plus on saturday morning (the whole petition and whatever), i was incredulous to say the very least... if you know me, you know how i feel about this kinda stuff, and i'm normally pretty passive about it unless i feel a need to speak up...
i feel the need to speak up:
if you read the blog post, you will not be remiss if you were led to thought that something tragic on the scale of Katrina had just happened...
i'm like dude, he ain't dyin', he's potentially leaving the school...
anyhow, i missed the YLS briefing for all council candidates on saturday morning coz of NCS...
found out from elendrus that we have groups and pairs and all that jazz, so i've gotta find out about my arrangements tomorrow morning... plus i think we need to do some bill-writing and stuff, sounds fun...
speaking of NCS, the debate fever is definitely back in full swing...
so some of the ppl in my year sat out for this competition, but others were in it to win it, though we didn't meet them...
our draw was very fortunate, and we were able to win SA/MJ, but lost to HC in what i felt was the closest debate of all, and i didn't think it was as huge a loss as they made it out to be..
in any case, we're up against them (they're all J2s btw, dunno why), again in the semis in two weeks time...
remembering that point12/point16 were jointly baking at sam's place, we decided to pay them a visit...
most of them were leaving already, so in the end just stayed around talking to sean/paul/sam/johannes...
paul left, leaving us to play topspin on the xbox and watch gladiator/anchorman/lemony snicket's...
went to church as usual today, and actually planned to go for lunch after that...
but a series of unfortunate events made that rather impossible...
since i'm 16goingon17, and so were jake/adriel, we decided to go for the blood drive...
the questions in the form we had to fill up were really interesting, and i couldn't help but wonder if there were any wrong answers to them...
whatever the case, while i was waiting outside the doctor's office with them and bernie/caryn, we were wondering if i'd be eligible coz of my weight issues...
so in the end, when it came to my turn, i just went right up and asked to measure my weight first, so if it was below what was needed, i'd not bother wasting anyone's time...
so i stepped up and the reading was 45.0, so he was like congrats, you just made it...
a pause later he went err i think we should check again, so i obliged, and the measurement was consistent, no more, no less...
another pause later, he was like, you look thin, i think maybe your jeans are heavy and adding some weight, what's your normal weight when you're wearing lighter clothes...
so i told him that during h&w in school i was 44.5, and he was like better not, and i was like yeah, dun wanna collape somewhere after having 500ml of blood removed from me...
talked to audrey/amanda/tzeern/joanna/deblam while waiting for jake/adriel to get their turn...
when i went in adriel was already well under way and bernie/joanne had finished, so only jake was waiting...
talked a bit to abby/deblam/caryn and whoever else were there, then jake's turn came...
we were all like super curious, so we watched the whole procedure of anaesthesia, then creating the air space then inserting the needle and everything...
what happened in the span of the next 3mins, in retrospect as i sit here thinking about it, really does send a slight shiver of goosebumps, though i think abby/deb are probably more shaken coz they were standing on the other side with a clearer view...
the four of us (3 plus jake) were chatting and stuff, and jake made a passing comment that when the blood started draining, he very quickly lost all strength in his right arm, a first indication that we kinda just ignored... i have this knack for noticing things out of the corner of my eye, and i had observed that everyone who had donated seemed to be able to squeeze the that stressball thingy without much difficulty, and i hadn't seen jake squeeze at all, save for once or twice and minimally so, but i just attributed it to whatever...
30seconds and 150mls of blood later, jake made another passing comment, this time saying that he felt faint, and this is the second indication that few of us considered to be out of the ordinary...
how wrong were we...
ok so here's how we were positioned - i was sitting on jake's left, deb was standing at the back on his right while abby was further front on his right...
in a matter of 3 seconds, jake's head seemed to lost all posture and just lopsided to the right, and his right arm seemed to bend as a natural reaction, which from where i was sitting the only sign that something went wrong, coz your arm's supposed to remain straight all the time...
immediately we got the attention of the nurse who rushed there and from the look on her face i knew this wasn't too good..
they had to stop the loss of blood quickly and simultaneously change the his position to allow blood to return to his head coz his face and lips were, for the lack of a better image, as white as a sheet...
deb/abby actually saw his eyes roll back in his head, and abby reflected that she was on the brink of screaming...
jake wasn't breathing at that point in time, and the nurse had to ensure that he regained consciousness quickly or there'd be severe consciousness... we were all like just trying to make sure he heard us and that he continued breathing...
a tense minute later, jake finally managed to answer verbally, and the worse was over...
the next 2odd hours passed quickly, within which jake tried to sit upright but very quickly felt faint again, so that didn't work, and eventually they put him on an IV drip...
he still wasn't able to sit up after that and partially lost consciousness again (i dunno, for me at least its a really scary image)
but he was able to be moved to the car in the end...
during the first half an hour after the initial scare, abby/deb/joanne/bernie and i just made sure he didn't nod off...
when they left along with adriel and all, daniel/guonian came in and with bernie and i made sure of that for the rest of the time...
this is the kinda thing that, when finally ends, you just sigh and say a silent prayer
went for lunch with guonian/daniel/sophie at tampines before heading back...
a long sigh of relief,
jlc.
Saturday, 10 February 2007
its been one hell of a week...
an amazing amount of work and crazy school hours...
slept for 2 hours yesterday in the midst of finishing off my EL A1 essays, so was totally and utterly zoned out at training today...
went home, slept straight away, and just woke up to check some stuff online...
i missed the apple online sale!!
plus i'm so SO excited for elliott yamin's new album, his single is so damn great..
in other news, the O results were released today...
what struck me was the festivity that surrounded all of it...
once 11plus came around, the non-intact classes were sorta released coz we had PE since 1120, so its kinda free...
hung around till the intact classes were released before going to 5.2 to get my chinese results...
first time the large part of 4/11 were in the same room again since last year...
alota ppl were super happy with their respective music/english/mt results...
my improvement was negligible...
midway during training i rang up the express ppl i knew, and most of ppl seem to have done really well, though ac's own aggregate is kinda not too great...
ncs in a few hours, gonna sleep a little more before that...
as time moves on,
jlc.
an amazing amount of work and crazy school hours...
slept for 2 hours yesterday in the midst of finishing off my EL A1 essays, so was totally and utterly zoned out at training today...
went home, slept straight away, and just woke up to check some stuff online...
i missed the apple online sale!!
plus i'm so SO excited for elliott yamin's new album, his single is so damn great..
in other news, the O results were released today...
what struck me was the festivity that surrounded all of it...
once 11plus came around, the non-intact classes were sorta released coz we had PE since 1120, so its kinda free...
hung around till the intact classes were released before going to 5.2 to get my chinese results...
first time the large part of 4/11 were in the same room again since last year...
alota ppl were super happy with their respective music/english/mt results...
my improvement was negligible...
midway during training i rang up the express ppl i knew, and most of ppl seem to have done really well, though ac's own aggregate is kinda not too great...
ncs in a few hours, gonna sleep a little more before that...
as time moves on,
jlc.
Saturday, 3 February 2007
so yeap, there are three things you'll notice about the photo:
1) the huge letters that our chair(wo)man cheryl printed and pasted at the back of our class just above my desk - its really cool that everyone's getting into the whole enthu vibe of jc life...
2) the projector at the top is super prominent, it kinda draws attention away from us...
3) my smile betrays what i was thinking, and i must say i'm damn good at smiling under harsh conditions, not least because it was 7-ish in the morning, and my facial muscles were not fully functioning yet...but here's the real dish -
i had resolved earlier in the week to take more days off school coz of the unearthly hours we keep as IB kids... compared to the other JCs, we sound more like we're working as child miners in some idi amin-esque country...
so thursday week A was the best day in my opinion, coz next week i have competition and the following week is chinese new year, plus friday the whole level had between 80 and 100 mins of free periods...
as is customary school policy, i dutifully brought a letter explaining my unfortunate absence from an otherwise gloriously exciting day...
and for the sake of not sounding too establishment-bashing-ish, the short of it is that someone decided to bitch me about it, like i told sean/javier yesterday...
i'm like eew, uptight much...
a horrid beginning to my friday, i'm just glad i don't take chemHL...
besides that, it was a pretty ok day...
my class didn't get our FRIENDS tv marathon, but i'm sure we'll find a way to arrange it soon...
had 80mins free coz the whole science department was at some course, but that was nothing compared to the 100mins right up to dismissal that the scienceHL kids had...
went with sean to javier's dover apartment to chat a bit before training...
then met again at clementi for tea and some stationery shopping...
no one likes a kissup,
jlc.
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