just got back from dinner at the Shanghai place and drinks at Starbucks with han an... 

and the class party is on tomorrow, which i'm really glad about 'cos otherwise, like han an said, my sunday evening would have been immensely blah... 

i'm not sure if the transition will ever be complete, but just because i really like the interface - 

my new blog - 

and i still haven't found what i'm looking for.

my trip to school today was rather unplanned...
after receiving a call from my econs tutor at about 8 this morning, i was told of certain improvements i could make to my IAs, so i decided to just finish them up quickly and deliver the replacements to school...
i took the opportunity to bring more study material home too...
spent the afternoon in town with han an/victoria...

school tomorrow?
gotta see if anyone's gonna be studying there...

the PSC PAE today wasn't particularly inspiring, though the atmosphere was uncharacteristically casual, with chatting in between papers and a 185-question personality questionnaire to end the day, handed in as and when we completed it...
i hung around with gerald/tedkin/gen/songyeong/mr.quek in the sac since it was raining, then cabbed with han an...

i'm not too sure what today's agenda will be, but probably more IOC stuff, 'cos after reading through the poems that are tested, i really really hope i don't pick one for my real thing (i'd much rather do Shakespeare/Angelou), but i at least need to familiarize myself with each of the 6 poems just in case...

i managed to get my Econs IA file in order, so after i hand it in tomorrow, i don't really have a reason to return to school for the rest of the week...
there is meant to be a history lesson on thursday, though i'm not the only one who thinks that time might be better spent not attending it...
and speaking of history, i've been arranging last year's material for studying purposes, and i got to the war essay i wrote for last year's final exam paper...
i've never actually read through the whole thing ever since i turned past the first page and saw the large red markings that signaled that i was out of point...
in essence, the first page (about 250 words give or take 10) was the only part of the essay that answered the question, and that in itself got me 11/20 marks, and i might as well not have written any more...
nonetheless, having written it all, it does make for a darn good war essay if the question weren't about technology, but about the determinants of war in general...
so i'm steeling myself to type it out for reference, though i might not be able to do so since it's got so much red all over it...

PSC PAE tomorrow...

the first day of the 4-week break wasn't spent studying, although we did have a math test (which wasn't much of a test since we were just given the solutions after we took it) and i attended mr.quek's lesson on the nov'07 IB paper 2 questions...
after the lessons, i hung around with han an/sarah playing puzzle fighter till it was time to head up to man the history booth at the IB open house...
that lasted for a good 4 hours, after which mel/jim/me(with jin in tow) cabbed over to suntec where we met most of the rest of the ppl who were part of gerald's birthday entourage...
all in all, it was definitely the largest class gathering, and at one point in the evening we actually had 16 ppl...
so we headed up for an hour or so of karaoke at the NUSS guild house, where i promptly lost my voice after going a little overzealous with the ZIGAZIG-AH! (that explains my relative silence throughout the rest of the evening)
dinner was at NYDC, following which the majority of us headed over to mong's place for drinks...
many left around 1030 'cos of transport convenience, leaving cheryl/gerald/elliot/mong/me behind to chat and try to finish up the leftover vodka/gin, though there's still lots remaining which will be duly consumed at the class party/stayover at mel's invitation this weekend...

so to gerald (who won't read this i assume) - happy 18th, and thanks to the undaunted organizers (joash/jim/cielo) who sent thousands of texts to make sure it was, and i quote, a "brilliant" day =)

my relative silence not only on this blog but from general social life in general has been because i've felt terrible the past 2 days...
by some twisted turn of events, my visit to the doctor on friday evening to sort out my ankle (in all likelihood) caused me to contract a terrible sore throat and its accompanying ailments, which means i've not left the house in just under 48 hours...
i really need to get well by tomorrow 'cos there's too much i've got to do in school...
i have managed to my Stats&Probability revised, and printed out the final copies of my TOK Essay for submission, though the largest task, Econs IA file, remains untouched ever since i got it back last week...

though today was the last day of term 2, next week might as well be a school week since i'll probably be there everyday...
there's the math test/english strand 2/ib open house on monday, english strand 2 on tuesday, the PSC PAE test on wednesday, my econs IA file is due on thursday and TOK essay on friday...
i hope to be able to fit in the first round of studying in between those appointments...
so i headed home using the 74 route today with cheryl/jim/patrick/gerald/elliot/genhuong since i had time to spare and so i could chat and stuff...
what happened slightly before that was slightly more unfortunate - while carrying my desk down to the exam venue (the usual routine i've got through twice every year), i was talking to paul and missed a step and twisted my left ankle in ways i didn't think were possible, and i didn't actually feel much until i got home, and it's pretty uncomfortable - so much so that i had to skip worship pract and see the doctor and stuff, which means i'll be out of it for a day or two, though hopefully i'll be fine by sunday so i can go watch indiana jones..
well this way i'll be forced to study Statistics tomorrow for monday's test...

4 weeks of study ahead, hopefully with good company and punctuated by good outings...

and here's my list of my favourite performances from Season 7 of American Idol (in chronology)

David Hernandez - Papa Was A Rolling Stone

David Archuleta - Imagine

Jason Castro - Hallelujah

Asia'h Epperson - I Wanna Dance With Somebody

Michael Johns - Across The Universe

Brooke White - Let It Be

David Cook - Eleanor Rigby

David Cook - Billie Jean

David Archuleta - Smoky Mountain Memories

Brooke White - You've Got A Friend

David Cook - Innocent

Jason Castro - Over The Rainbow

Syesha Mecado - I Believe

David Cook - Always Be My Baby

David Cook - Baba O'Riley

Syesha Mercado - If I Ain't Got You

David Cook - I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing

David Cook - Dare You To Move

David Archuleta - Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me

David Cook - Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For

as rightly pointed out by Jim on my tagboard (where he probably tagged from home since he wasn't in school), David Cook won AMI 2008, and i was home in front of the live telecast on star world (the ppl watching on channel 5 were cheated as it came on 20mins late) to watch the crowning moment which was absolutely perfect...
the coronation single, Time Of My Life, sounds really good too...
i did drag myself to school for the second half of the day, which was econs/english strand 2 pract, exam briefing and math...
headed to the shangri-la for a lecture by the President of Rwanda on Africa and Rwanda: From Crisis to Socioeconomic Development with kevin/patrick/nic...

final day of school tomorrow, with CAS file submission being the only thing that's significant (i did get mine copied and ready during the afternoon break today)

i only had english and math today, and i did manage to finish my chem pract during the free period and get back my TOK/world lit assignment 2 essays, so i've now gotten back 3 of the 4 major essays i'm supposed to be working on...
i should pester for my EE tomorrow or friday...
the speaker thing took up the larger part of my afternoon, but i did spend 75% of it outside with sean/han an at the photocopier where i bought some math worksheets...
went for lunch at broadway with han an/daryl/chongwee thereafter...

the AMI final performances were pretty good, and commercially, David A. will probably win...
David C. will have the better career i think, but it was one of the best finales, certainly on par with season 3 which was my favourite...

not surprisingly, i'm having to do my chem pract 22 report again, since i found out what the appropriate method is during chem pract today...
and i've chanced upon a good source of information provided by Dartmouth (aka the college Nate from Gossip Girl was supposed to go to) which i'll be reading shortly...
the majority of my lessons were spent doing IAs, which meant i didn't really learn much...
oh but i did get back my math test, and it was a rather fair not-here-not-there grade, though none of my classmates have to go for con camp apart from the stats test on monday morning
i did get to catch up with ET after school today after a long while, which was fun
tomorrow's there's LLE speaker thingy, so the second half of my day is gone, hopefully only after TOK so i get my essay back...
plus i'm considering going late on thursday so i can stay around to watch the idol finale first...

it's been a fun weekend, though at the expense of doing my chem pract...
i did, however, finish writing out the calculations and everything on saturday, so all i've got to do today is type it out...
had lunch at Aston's yesterday, with pretty good meat for pretty decent prices, then some X Box time at sam's place before squash with the debaters, some arcade time, dinner+adding to the bucket list, and finally staying over...
on the way back home this morning i dropped by Frolick just because it was in the vicinity...

4 more days of school this term, and then it's just sheer studying...

What City Should You Live In?
	You should live in Los Angeles. You are snarky, headstrong, and will step on toes to get where you want. It takes a certain type of confidence to make it in sunny L.A., and you may have what it takes!
Find Your Character @ BrainFall.com

the softball finals were fun to watch 'cos it was a new game to me, but it was sad to see us lose, but those few minutes that we got to see Matthew batting were cool...

while everyone else headed back to school, Mel/Jim/me took a walk over to the Leisure Park, then over to the bus stop a mile or so away to go to Suntec, where we had lunch at Carl's Jr, after which we just strolled around chatting before parting...

the agenda this 3-day weekend - chem pract 22 report

David wins American Idol!

or at least both Davids do, and it should be an awesome finale next week...

i had time to read the live blog this morning 'cos there was no TOK, which means our essays will only be returned on Tuesday, 'cos we're going to support Matthew and the softball team tomorrow morning from 930-12, which means the day is lost, apart from history test review in the morning...

the marks for both my history and english paper 1 tests are very not-here-not-there, but the good thing is i'm safe from con camp...

math results for con camp will only be out next thursday...

but we've all gotta be in school on monday at 8 for the probabilities test...

no big matter since i'll already be around in the afternoon for the IB open house...

while crossing the road outside school with lex, we spotted chunwui and the drama gang, and from their excitement i assume they had a really good response to their SYF play =)

an ok wednesday, interclass debate adjudicating, reprinting cas forms for the 2863748102837th time, AMI top 3...

i think the live telecast of the finale will be at 9-12ish next thursday morning, and i think i have break, so hopefully it'll be shown on the tv in school...

i remember the season 5 finale in 2006, i ponned the chinese o level revision class just to watch the coronation...

and season 3 in 2004, i missed the coronation by just 10 minutes 'cos the plane myself and the OMers had to catch was at 2350, and the announcement was at midnight...

quite a fulfilling Tuesday by most counts, though some lessons more than others...

i put on my best stepford impression for the econs lesson observations, making false promises to get stuff arranged just so everything looked dandy and he'd get a pay raise or something...

chem pract was characteristically rushed, and now i'm trying to do a good pract report to cover up the strange work i handed in for the previous assessed pract (17) although i redid thrice over a week... 

we had a pleasant surprise during the first break when c.low, our lovably crazy chem teacher (not really my current teacher, but she has taught me in sec 4 and on the occasional lecture this year) gave us an entire box of popsicles free, and we could barely finish half...

history pract was spent watching a documentary that summarizes quite nicely Maoist China from 1949 to 1961, which is the last period tested in the block tests next term...

we watched it primarily because ty needed time to mark the test scripts and so couldn't teach, and which also explains why i'm only getting my test back tomorrow...

spent the second break in class preparing for my mock IOC on King Lear 'cos i had long forgotten what i'd typed out a month and a half ago... 

it turned out pretty good though, and i got my world lit 1 back from the benchmarking session, and i still only have a 16, which is rather not-here-not-there if i'm trying for a 7... 

spent the third break preparing for the Calculus test, and that wasn't a particularly good end to my day 'cos i completely did the last question wrongly (after much reflection), and i also didn't manage to give the final answer for question 6, though hopefully that's not too many marks lost...

i really really hope i don't get pulled down for con camp just 'cos of that one blunder in question 9...

the rugby finals today actually turned out to be a really pleasant event...

there was a little hiccup at around 3pm when we met TY who told us that there, in fact, was no chartered transport, which really was no surprise, so we hopped on a train to the Padang, and were there way too early, so we hung around at the Esplanade Atrium till it was time to go...

the match itself lasted slightly under 90 minutes, and it was pretty darn exciting, and from where we were standing we kinda got a whole view of the pitch, except the action was some distance away for most of the game...

i was standing with gerald/elliot/chunwui/tedkin, and it was fun cheering and all, something i've not really heard/done in a really really long time...

i take back what i said about the lack of spirit - the IB kids (or most of us at least) have it in them =)

headed to Marina Square for dinner with deon/sean before heading back...

on top of my math test tomorrow, i've got an assessed chem pract on calculating the pKa of a weak acid, and an econs observation, which in normal circumstances won't add anything to my list, but i'll probably have to run some errand or other over the course of that first hour of school in the morning...

and i'll be presenting my mock IOC on King Lear Extract 18 in English class in the afternoon...

should be a pretty fulfilling day, if i don't burn out before the Calculus test all the way in the last hour of the day... 

got back an hour or so by cab (thanks jake/josh) from town, where i spent both an insightful and slightly unsettling afternoon...

after the infocomm meeting post-church, i headed to town to meet han an/sean for lunch at Thai Express, Paragon after we decided against queueing at the insanely crowded Din Tai Fung...

we left a little over an hour later, and i made my way over to the subway entrance of Shaw House, where i met Josh who was with Jake/Auyong and their busking band, and they were on shortly after...

this was an RJ affair for community fundraising, and i had already seen one of the bands at their other location outside Paragon...

anyhow, the unsettling bit of the day started just before they went on:

before i even had time to ask "WTF is that smell??!", this drunkard walks by with a bottle of liqueur in his hand, smelling like last night's meat left out in the sun, and he begins talking about religion to no one in particular...

i have no tolerance for this nonsense, and promptly distanced myself before i hurled from the stench, and had my finger on the dial button for the police hotline if he made any more advances to destroy what was a perfectly pleasant Sunday...

sam came by shortly after, and not a second too late either, 'cos he was seriously the only one with the patience to keep that guy occupied for the next half an hour before effectively seeing him off to the next stop on his happy hour tour...

this was certainly not the most unsettling part of the entire ordeal - 

some of the RJ ppl rightfully phoned the security of Shaw House, and 15 minutes (which is 14 minutes too late) later, this plain-suited guy with an earpiece emerged and proceeded to stand around, occasionally leaning into his microphone and whisper something supposedly important...

one other security guard came along over the course of the half hour sam was talking to that guy, but he just walked away...

rightfully uneasy, auyong went up to said plain-suited pseudo-Bond and enquired as to why this nuisance hadn't been forcefully escorted from the premises and instead was talking the ear of one of our friends...

his reply was both priceless and tellingly endemic of the security situation in most public places - "my insurance doesn't cover injuries that i might suffer from confrontation" 

all i can say is, i'm mighty glad it wasn't me who had gone up to him and asked, because faced with that pathetic response, i would probably have screamed him back to his sad little office and back... 

i mean, honestly... 

john fernandez was the drunkard's name, and he soon decided that his torment of us poor kids was sufficiently scarring and went on his merry, albeit unstable, way... 

we did see him a few times later in various locations around town spreading his message of hopelessness and Eau De Stink to poor helpless bystanders... 

apart from that though, watching the RJ buskers both at Paragon and at Shaw House was an utterly pleasant way to spend my afternoon, probably compounded by the warm feeling you get when you know something good is being done for the less fortunate... 

it brought back memories of the 2 phukets last year, though those had less musical accuracy to them x)

huge kudos go out to Jake/Auyong (and their lead singer, though he left earlier and i was most impressed with the last few songs the both of them played), whose busking set was the best i've ever heard... i had no idea there was such a musical culture over in Bishan, and i'm duly surprised in the most positive manner... 

listening to Wonderwall/Blind, i couldn't help but sing along, it's that atmosphere and song choice that makes for a nice feeling, you know... 

of course, in between watching them play, josh and i walked between Paragon/Shaw House/Far East Plaza a few times, chatting about anything from U2 to apologetics and dropping by various places to get errands done/things bought, and it was one of the more carefree afternoons i've had in a long time... 

now i've got to make sure i stay on top of my Calculus for Tuesday's test...

it's week 9, with rugby finals taking up my Monday...

have a good one ya'll =)

went to school this morning to watch the preview of the Drama SYF set piece...

headed to lunch with joash/elliot/cheryl at holland v after...

not sure what to do with the rest of my saturday... study for the calculus test on tuesday perhaps...

headed straight back home after the 5-odd hours of school today 'cos there wasn't much to do...

i did get the IOC poetry extracts, and was surprised to find out that there are only 6 being tested... makes life during the june hols that much easier...

and monday is the a div rugby finals at the padang, and we're apparently expected to be there in our fugly tees... 

should be an interesting monday and start to the second last week of school...

on the cab home with han an yesterday, i mentioned that i might not be going to school today, though i wasn't really expecting to stay true to that since there was a TOK lecture and all, but as luck would have it, my more i-hate-school side of me won my daily morning conflict when deciding whether or not dragging myself out of bed just to spend 8 hours learning/wasting away, which meant my 1-day-a-term day-off from school for term 2 comes just one day shy of last term (it was week friday previously, instead of thursday)

so i've just finished re-fonting the footnotes and numbering the Bibliography for my History IA as per ty's advice when i consulted him yesterday, and i swear this had better be the last time i dabble with this damn IA and i'd better get the 2 marks for crit. F already... 

now i'm deciding whether i should read more Paddy Clarke or be slightly more altruistic and type out the notes on Foreign Intervention between 2 Civil Wars which i made during group work with gerald/elliot, 'cos apparently ty loves it and plans to distribute it or something... 

i could very well get an MC and take tomorrow off as well, but i wanna get my history test back (hopefully it's ready)

we'll see how things go...

ended today doing work with gerald while a good number of my classmates joined sarah/tricia's ice skating class...

it was a pretty productive end to the day, though my ongoing cold has totally destroyed my math stamina, which means i didn't do as many math revision worksheets as i'd hoped...

instead, i went on to read more of Paddy Clarke in preparation for tomorrow's lesson...

i'm planning to use that text for the paper 2 essay which i'll be handing in before school closes for the term...

on the way out of school, gerald and i agreed that this midyear break will be spent more in school than ever, especially with the sheer scope of stuff being tested, added to the 35 extracts for IOC...

it's gonna be one heck of a 4-week escapade, that much is for sure...

i anticipated a day filled with unbearably long periods that would leave me completely sapped, but it turned out to be a pretty fun day, with oddly long breaks, returned tests with non-con-camp grades, and finishing a good bit of work... 

as i had expected, the next few sets of math revision worksheets were distributed, so i can start on that during the next few study groups...

today's was spent reading through and making mental notes of my Paper 2 comments, finishing the next econs DRQ and reading more of Paddy Clarke... 

which means i've still got the calculus test on tuesday (which is apparently gonna be significantly more difficult), english paper 2 essay (hopefully i get to use Doyle instead of the usual 2 texts) and a pile of CAS stuff to type out to embellish my rather bare portfolio...

i'm still debating with myself as to whether taking a day off school is worth it, especially since there's a holiday 2 mondays from now...

then again, next week's english lessons are all for world lit, and since i won't have much to do, i might as well choose one of those days to take off instead of this thursday or friday...

econs, math and chem syllabi completed...

and it was international act like a vampire/poke day, go figure... 

i made the executive decision while deciding what to and what not to bring home today to give the work thing a miss today and not lug my econs TYS home, which is a bit of a risk 'cos econs is the first period tomorrow morning...

hopefully he goes through the test and not the next DRQ, as he has been steamrolling down the countless questions for the past 3 weeks, and its getting tiring...

so instead i'm hoping to finish reading the last text of my IB course which i have not yet read - Doyle's Paddy Clarke...

i doubt i'd be able to finish it before the first lesson on it tomorrow afternoon, but at least i'll have a good feel about its main concerns so i don't look totally blank...

and hopefully i get back my history and english tests back as well, just so i know that my june holidays aren't taken up...

OH and we're having combined chem class with c.low this entire week, which might be a rather hilarious addition, if not entirely useful...

it's true that she can only be taken in small doses, which is why i'm mighty glad we have tkh as our permanent teacher... 

long day tomorrow, and i'm not sure if i can muster up the energy for study group... if i do go i'll probably either be doing more econs DRQs or math revision worksheets which we are due to receive... OH or the last Paper 2 essay of the term which i've got planned out and just need to write and hand... 

AND i've got to choose my optional IOC text...

i'm inclined towards Angelou over Shakespeare, but it's one of those decisions that i'm not sure whether i'll be totally satisfied, but just gotta go with it after i pick... 

the BLOCK TEST schedule was released today, and i have 2 really packed days of exams, and everything else if quite spaced out....

SAT June sitting registration closed today, but i wasn't really planning on sitting for it so early... i'll probably pay a visit to RELC soon to find out about the next sitting later in the year...

watched Iron Man today after church, and it turned out to a pretty good show, especially with the ending after the credits that makes us viewers anticipate the next marvel movie...

headed over to sam's place after that to chill till about an hour ago...

week 8, and i'm mighty glad i haven't used my get-out-of-school-free card for the term yet, 'cos i just might feel it necessary to take a break from what has been a really up-to-the-neck term so far...

finally got my EE back, and this weekend will be one filled with footnotes 'cos i've got to overhaul those for both my EE and history IA...

so having finished TOK and IAs for econs, math, english (i actually thought world lit was gonna be the biggest headache for me, now its been reversed) and chem (for now), its only those two mentioned above...

Ibid?

well i still feel kinda out of it after a day of resting, so i may just keep the option of staying home tomorrow open...

that said, i do wanna pass up my Econs IA portfolio which i touched up today, mainly filling in blanks that i missed out and doing  a final draft of IA 5, so that at least it will be vetted early before the crowds come in during week 9...

and i'm taking a rain check on the class outing to watch Ironman tomorrow 'cos i've already got tickets booked for Sunday, and as much as i'd love to hang out with the class, i'm not sure a 3-star rated movie is worth two screenings...

maybe i'll join them after the movie or something if they're doing anything...

so saying i do go to school tomorrow, i've only got history, english and chem, and i really really need to get my EE back from in order to send it in for cross-marking on monday... 

oh and worship pract at night...

and it's sarah's birthday, so we might be going out after school to hang out at VivoCity...

a pleasant labour day spent catching up on my shows...