Results (unimaginative post title!)

By God's grace.

Logged into SSABSA's result page in what, my first try?

I got no idea why people keep saying it took then "frickin' long" to log in.


So I got in.

Loaded the Tertiery Entrance page.

Covered the screen with my palms, because heck, need more self-induced suspense hor.


But uh, what the heck, look only la.

And guess what.



The hours of last-minute toiling away at the study tale paid off.

I got all A's!

Yes, even Chemistry-the-dreadful-subject.





Now why did I say that so calmly ah?

Me insides are boiling over, I'm so HAPPY!!!!!!!!!!!!!




OMGoodness slap me slap me!


AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!



- picks up cell phone, speed dial mom's number -

"Hello. This is the toilet bowl. Flush and leave your message. *FLUSH!*"


Argh stupid voicemail.





Dr. Zul predicted that people in our class will get a TER of 70, seeing that all of us did so badly in the common tests.

I was worried as heck la!


Surpassed my personal aim. WAY surpass my aim!

What I mean is, ZOMGWTFBBG WAAAY surpassed my aim!

Surprised as heck, but so NOT the SPM kind!

To hope for a TER of anything more than 95 was like asking my mom for a bungalow la, you know, like very exceeding like that.

But only by God's grace.

Thank you Lord.









(I know it sounds a little stupid, to be so excited over a non-99 TER, but believe me when I say, I expected a lot less of myself.
And I would've totally kicked myself if all the skipping class and refusing all social outings didn't bear fruit.
The two months leading up to the finals were like hell, partly due to the SATs and the TOEFL, but also because I realized my grades so far had been crap, and I needed, I mean needed, to get my ass into my study chair and actually STUDY!

You should see all the stuff I put up on my study table to motivate myself!

Dr. Seuss's Oh the Places You Will Go!, and this note I wrote to myself, telling present-Chooiyen that future-Chooiyen would be ever so grateful if present-Chooiyen would actually study!)







Anyhoo.

Gotta go the Curve to meet up with a buncha friends soon.

Slept two hours before this, cannot sleep now.

Like that how to drive? Road hazard I tell you.


Bye world!

Nervousness la!

Can you hear it?

Like a cross between a bass drum being hit and the loud, random clanking of metal pots and pans.

That, my friends, is my heart refusing to calm itself.

Shit I am scared.

Who cares what you get in PMR. You're moving on to Form 4 anyway.

Who cares what you get in SPM, you're getting into A-Levels/SAM/ICPU/foundation anyway.

Who cares what you get in your pre-university exam? EVERYONE!
Bad results = no chance of going into good uni!

And results are out, so soon, so soon!

I don't want that whole SPM episode to repeat itself la, suddenly get a C lidat.

Thank goodness we can check it online prior to retrieving the slip in college.
Thank goodness for sparing us the humiliation of, well, everything actually.

Scream if you did good, cry of you did bad.

And my heart still won't quiet down.

n. Australian. "Large, noisy celebration".

I was going through my photos folder (uploading photos I promised to share but have not actually gotten to sharing them) and look what I found!

Photos I never took.


















The photos people take when they know it isn't their camera.

A bunch of other camwhore-ish ones had very identifiable cam whores, which makes it wrong to post them I guess?

They were all taken on different days, so it shows how often I used to bring my camera to school.

Now compare that to the times I used my camera during college.

Other than taking the occasional photo, I hardly use it when I go out. Heck, I didn't even use it much during corroboree.

I still have the habit of feeling weird about giving my camera to Someone during group shots, when there are already 10+ outstretched hands holding out cameras to that Someone.

Obviously, I'd have to resort to stealing photos off people's blogs and bugging others to upload photos onto Friendster/Photobucket.

LOL by the 5th shot you'd get tired of smiling.

This is a not-so-subtle plea for photos of group shots! =)

* * * * *

Speaking of corroboree, which is the Australian term for Prom (SAM, baby!), here's a photo I stole off Esther's blog. She wouldn't mind. I think.





It was the prom I didn't expect.

For one, I was unusually laid back about it.

I got my dress the day before prom, I bought it even though I didn't like the colour because I was too lazy to go on looking for the Perfect Dress.
(Plus, day before prom = running out of time)

Would you believe, the budget I set on my dress is way lower than what I spent on the MCR concert ticket? I need to get my priorities straight, or sumthin'.

An hour before prom, I was still at my computer, having cramps (that time of month, unfortunately).

I think Adeline and I were the only ones who hadn't done anything to our hair (mine was still slightly wet from last-minute bathing), and I had close to zilch make up on.

I was almost an hour late (thanks to the massive jam - has anyone else realized that there seem to be more big-ass jams lately?), and when I got there I realized all the girls were dressed up - I mean, really dressed up, with curled hair and in make-up done by pros.

Anyway, it was REAL nice seeing everyone dressed up properly for once.
(The last time we saw each other was during the finals, and at that time everyone had on a thick sweater to combat the ridiculous temperature in the testing rooms, everyone was really dressed down like that.)

Even the girl who cringes at the thought of putting on a skirt, let alone make up and heels, was dressed so nicely! -nudge nudge-

Esther had the nicest cheong sam on! And, it didn't exactly cost as much as I thought cheong sams would cost.

Me mom still thinks buying cheong sams are a waste, because I wouldn't have the proper occasion to wear it. I dunno, wear it at home also nice guar?

When I got home and my mom asked me what we did, I had no idea how to answer her.

We didn't exactly eat, for we left the table early, to take photos. So basically the entire night was spent taking photos. (None of us danced, 'cause apparently you have to know how to dance really touchy-feely, kisskisskiss.)

Still, it was a good night.

I pretty much went only because I felt it would be the only proper closure to 11 months of being together, constantly knee chin-deep in tests and assignments.

It was a proper closure, because we didn't have a graduation ceremony or anything like that.

Woulda been even more wonderful if people like Catherine could join us though.

We took our last photo of G10 (with mentor Mr. Yap), and called it a night.

I know a lot of people were disappointed with the CHS prom last year, but I guess most of us have our own ideas of how the ideal prom should be, so anything less would be a disappointment.

So, expectations aside, SAM Corroboree was good.

* * * * *

Tagged. My uh, second ever meme?


1. The person who tagged u is?
Yee Phang

2. Ur relationship with him/her is:
(ex-) classmate, lunch buddy!

3. 5 impressions u have of him/her:
Conservative (very!). Unpredictable. Daring. Homebody? Family oriented?

4. The most memorable thing he/she has done for u:
Gave me tickets to watch Good Charlotte live. VIP tickets somemore!

5. If he/she becomes ur lover, u will:
Probably not have babies. Haha.

6. If he/she becomes ur lover, things he/she has to improve on will be:
Stop getting lured away from the group by stalls giving out free stuff =)

7. If he/she becomes ur enemy, u will:
Uhhh be very afraid. Heck, be afraid even if she's your friend, this girl takes photos of you (without you knowing) at your most unflattering moment!

8. The most desirable thing u want to do for him/her now is:
Fulfil her, er, hope? Go to Miri once and for all lol.

9. Ur overall impression of him/her is:
A gooood friend.

10. How u think ppl around u will feel about u:
Eh? I dunno, different groups of people have different impressions of me?

11. The characteristic that u love about urself is:
Um, reasonably optimistic about the future?
Okay, very optimistic about the future.
(Is that a characteristic?)

12. The characteristic u hate about urself is:
My inability to accept praises. Dunno, just tend to "cancel out" praises by pointing out my own faults. (Fui says you should criticize me when you see me, else I'd be very upset. -Fui says!-)

13. The most ideal person u want to be is:
Myself. No one else.

14. For ppl that care and like u, say something to them:
Thanks. Like, so so much.

15. THE 10 VICTIMS:
You x 10. Anything la.

* * * * *

End of post.

Tests and Teachers

A few quick updates, for those interested in the little mundane things.

I realize a lot of people aren't updating their blogs much lately.

And this (used to be) crazy-about-blogging-update-everyday person has closed hers down completely!

Apa jadi?

* * * * *

My SAT 2 results are out!


I am pretty shocked.


When I came back from the testing centre that day, I was toying with the idea of cancelling my scores, because I knew I did very very badly.

I knew because, well, I couldn't finish the paper. With an average of 12 blank questions for each subject test, and I rush-answered a whole bunch of other questions.

I was expecting 500+ scores, man! I was obviously dreading receiving the results. I also regretted not signing up for the one in December, so I would have time to study for it.

I came home that day, was in a funky Mood during lunch, went to sleep (which is what I do when I don't want to think about something), woke up at 15-minute intervals and got this heavy, sinking feeling that no college would accept me.

Surprisingly though, other than a 670 for Biology, I think my scores were pretty okay.

That weird heavy feeling I got when I thought I couldn't apply to a lot of universities ('cause of my very bad SAT 2 scores) is gooooooone!

* * * * *

Ms. Param is officially my favourite teacher EVER.

Yes, yes - of all the near 100 teachers I've had throughout my 16 years of schooling, I don't think I've ever had a teacher like her.

(And to think Ker Lei switched her initial class because she didn't like her Biology lecturer! Uh, Ms. Param la.)

When I gave her the teacher's recommendation forms before trials, she sat me down and spent 40 minutes talking to me about my goals, my dreams, things like that.

So I went back to college today, to get the recommendations from my lecturers.

I thought it was going to be very quick, y'know, like, get stuff, say thank you, then leave.

But she sat me down again, and spent - how long was it?- talking to me about my future, and politics, and NGOs, and changing the world.

You heard right - she believes I can change the world.

Ms. Param has this way of making you feel good about yourself, you know?

Like when you have full marks in one page of an exam paper, she'd write "good" and underscore it, which is obviously very nice to look at. And when you have a very good answer, she'd write "excellent!" and it makes you smile, y'know?

Or when you ask her what you got wrong, she'd tell you what you wrote was a very good answer that showed you did a lot of studying, told you that it was great that you weren't so single track minded, then go, "But there is a mark scheme for exams. It would've been an even better answer if you wrote..."

Even my parents have a very good impression of her from the parent-teacher meetings.


She spent a good amount of time talking this afternoon, so much so that my parking ticket almost ran out of time (and I had actually put in extra coins Just In Case).

Her entire family seems to be the environmentalists sort, I think her sister is a clean water advocate and does research on things like that, her bro is in NGOs, and all of Ms. Param's students would attest to her apparent passion for the environment.

I think that's way cool.

So. When I was about to leave, she wished me luck, reminded me to update her with news about myself, and went, "I believe in you!"

I think that's even cooler.

* * * * *

Can you believe, it's been two weeks since our finals ended?

So fast!

Wait another 3 weeks, and the results will be out!

Jubilaaaayy-shun!

Furrowed brows and rushed scribbling. I didn't have enough time for chemistry.

BUT. During the last 5 minutes I didn't really care anymore, it was more of a "ummm this one is blank uhh don't care la simply write something" attitude.

Still, when the invigilators told us to "stop writing", and that "any more writing is considered an act of cheating", and when they collected our papers, it felt a weeeeee bit surreal, kind of like, "What, so it's really totally over now? Like, really really?"

I was also thinking, thank goodness I don't take Specialist Maths! (They have until Friday!)


Yeah, it's so over!


(Now me classmates can finally blog without a certain mentor going, "Still blogging?! Study ah!")


You can almost hear the collective sigh of relief when people from the Bio-med classes finally let their breath out. (One that we have been holding since 2 months ago!)




So anyway. Things started going a bit melancholy afterwards when we went out, because people started realizing that this is the end of G10.

"Keeping in touch" is easier said than done, especially when everyone's flying back home. If you think about it, only Adeline and I will still be in PJ!
We couldn't even have a proper post-exam class gathering, because people are flying off as early as today and tomorrow.




But the good news is, we're now the only group of people without exams to sit for!

Over the past year, my non-SAM friends have begun not-believing me when I say I have exams. Like, only few weeks ago you say exam, now got exam again?!

But it's true! You finish one batch of Common Tests, and before you can properly enjoy, you realize something else is just around the corner.
(This is a condensed course la. Which is why we've got Common Test 1, 2 , 3, Mid years, Trials and Finals, all in the span of 10 months.)

At one point Marvi jsut assumed I had an exam going on. I think she asked me out out of courtesy's sake, lol.


But I'm going to make amends, for all the times I said I didn't want to join them!

First thing I did after exams, I bought chocolate and am geared up for a visit to a neighbour-cum-bestfriend-cum-confidante's place.

Would you believe that I was such an ass, I actually (kind of) cut her short on the phone because it was 11.30 the night before my Biology paper?

I immediately felt bad about it, but apparently not enough to call her back.

(In my defence though, I have to say that I gotta wake up at 5 a.m. to get to school by 6.30 because the darned paper starts at 7!)



Okay I'll have a proper, more descriptive post up soon!

Here is a photo of G10, or whoever went out after exams anyway.




(Uh Paige I removed your cell phone from the table. Oh I will upload the undoctored photos one la don't worry.)


Next up, prom shopping with Adeline and Anggit!

Till then, bye!

12.05

It is now 12.05 a.m, and I am online.

I have closed my chemistry books, put away all my notes, and I am ready!

Yeashhhhh ready for Chemistry.

Last time I'll ever have to sit for a Chem paper, and boy do I feel good thinking about it.




Wish me luck turning that forecasted 'C' into an 'A'!


Out.

Impending Freedom!

I haven't got anything to say, other than that the guy in the airport photo in our English paper looks a lot like... Tommy Lee.

Staring riiiiiight back at us.



And that I cannot understand why exam venues have to be so darn cold.

I was having spasms during Physics. No kidding man, (stomach muscles?) was really twitching.
Had to sit on my hands every now and then. It was that cold.

I've resorted to wearing THREE layers of clothing, so you know why I look like a dumpling!







Three papers over.

Two more to go.


There's a much smaller stack of past-year papers to complete.




I can feel the excitement mounting!

A rather useful Word (and other stuff)

This blog-thing is going to be left idle for the next 2.5 weeks (you know, till the finals are over).

Didn't think it's anything decent to have the first line of the first post being "TOEFL today was shite".


So, just to get a post in before the do-past-year-papers marathon begins.




I have but one word -





























Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!



(Eventhough the sound of it is something quite atrocious.)




















I regret choosing to sit for the SAT Subject Tests two days before the finals.
(Cannot remember a single thing from SPM) x (Not taught in SAM)
= must study extra
= panicpanicpanic finals TWO DAYS away!














I gave up RM200 that was supposed to be returned to me, and now only I feel the pinch.
RM200!











My parents are going to the My Chem Romance concert.
My mother, who should be going to watch Whitney Houston Live in KL instead.


















I am excited x 999999 (translates to supersuper excited).

What lies beyond that wretched hurdle that is the SAM finals?

What will be our compensation for soldiering on through 11 gruelling months?

What desert do we get for eating our Broccoli-the-Most-Disgusting-Vegetable?

Excitement, loud-livin' and hours of idling at home, of course!


I cannot wait.







Goodluckeveryone.



Till then,

Thankyouandgoodbye!

Rush

So.

Last week of school next week!

I hadn't properly noticed, until Adeline SMS-ed me just now to remind me to go to school tomorrow 'cause it'd be our last lab session.

Last lab session!

Which would also be my last chance ever to carry out a lab experiment.




I guess I would miss science, but not enough to take it up again in university!




TOEFL this Saturday.

Don't even know the format.

How?




One year went by so fast, it feels like high school graduation happened just last month.

Futures.

Uhhh, a very frank friend (ahem ahem) told me I got it all wrong - I should be telling people I hadn't studied, then get good grades, not write in my very public blog that I studied my ass off and then go and get crap grades.

But that is so high school lah!

So yeah, I got crap grades.

No matter. Still got Finals to salvage whatever I can.


Did the SAT today, finally, no more 4 hour practice sessions and memorizing words between lectures!

I met this girl today, who had come all the way from China to take the SAT. Apparently, they had no testing centres in China.
Imagine that! She was a bundle of nerves, but I guess I would be too if I had to fly a few thousand miles for an exam.


Three more tests / exams to go.

Everyone I know sitting for language tests have been paying several hundred ringgit for preparation courses. Now TOEFL is just two weeks away and I have no idea what the format is!

I am exhausted.

I feel like I'm just kind of going through the motions of studying for exams I eventually do miserably in, and I'm exhausted.

At least during SPM I had enough sense to enjoy myself a bit a lot. (I was watching DVDs and P. Ramlee movies!)

Anyway, I know you A-Levels (Cambridge board?) people are having your AS very soon, so good luck! (Like any of you will be reading this now.)

* * * * *

For everyone who's in the midst of the very confusing college application process,
or who's confused about the future,
or sitting for exams (virtually everyone I know),
or who's venturing into something completely new (Kwai Yee!),
or for anyone who just likes rhymes.

My favourite Dr. Seuss work.






Oh, the Places You'll Go!

by Dr. Seuss


Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You're off to Great Places!
You're off and away!

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.
You're on your own. And you know what you know.
And YOU are the guy who'll decide where to go.

You'll look up and down streets. Look 'em over with care.
About some you will say, "I don't choose to go there."
With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet,
you're too smart to go down any not-so-good street.

And you may not find any
you'll want to go down.
In that case, of course,
you'll head straight out of town.

It's opener there
in the wide open air.

Out there things can happen
and frequently do
to people as brainy
and footsy as you.

And when things start to happen,
don't worry. Don't stew.
Just go right along.
You'll start happening too.

OH!
THE PLACES YOU'LL GO!

You'll be on your way up!
You'll be seeing great sights!
You'll join the high fliers
who soar to high heights.

You won't lag behind, because you'll have the speed.
You'll pass the whole gang and you'll soon take the lead.
Wherever you fly, you'll be the best of the best.
Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.

Except when you don't
Because, sometimes, you won't.

I'm sorry to say so
but, sadly, it's true
and Hang-ups
can happen to you.

You can get all hung up
in a prickle-ly perch.
And your gang will fly on.
You'll be left in a Lurch.

You'll come down from the Lurch
with an unpleasant bump.
And the chances are, then,
that you'll be in a Slump.

And when you're in a Slump,
you're not in for much fun.
Un-slumping yourself
is not easily done.

You will come to a place where the streets are not marked.
Some windows are lighted. But mostly they're darked.
A place you could sprain both your elbow and chin!
Do you dare to stay out? Do you dare to go in?
How much can you lose? How much can you win?

And IF you go in, should you turn left or right...
or right-and-three-quarters? Or, maybe, not quite?
Or go around back and sneak in from behind?
Simple it's not, I'm afraid you will find,
for a mind-maker-upper to make up his mind.

You can get so confused
that you'll start in to race
down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace
and grind on for miles across weirdish wild space,
headed, I fear, toward a most useless place.
The Waiting Place...

...for people just waiting.
Waiting for a train to go
or a bus to come, or a plane to go
or the mail to come, or the rain to go
or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow
or waiting around for a Yes or a No
or waiting for their hair to grow.
Everyone is just waiting.

Waiting for the fish to bite
or waiting for wind to fly a kite
or waiting around for Friday night
or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake
or a pot to boil, or a Better Break
or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants
or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.
Everyone is just waiting.

NO!
That's not for you!

Somehow you'll escape
all that waiting and staying.
You'll find the bright places
where Boom Bands are playing.

With banner flip-flapping,
once more you'll ride high!
Ready for anything under the sky.
Ready because you're that kind of a guy!

Oh, the places you'll go! There is fun to be done!
There are points to be scored. there are games to be won.
And the magical things you can do with that ball
will make you the winning-est winner of all.
Fame! You'll be famous as famous can be,
with the whole wide world watching you win on TV.

Except when they don't.
Because, sometimes, they won't.

I'm afraid that some times
you'll play lonely games too.
Games you can't win
'cause you'll play against you.

All Alone!
Whether you like it or not,
Alone will be something
you'll be quite a lot.

And when you're alone, there's a very good chance
you'll meet things that scare you right out of your pants.
There are some, down the road between hither and yon,
that can scare you so much you won't want to go on.

But on you will go
though the weather be foul
On you will go
though your enemies prowl
On you will go
though the Hakken-Kraks howl
Onward up many
a frightening creek,
though your arms may get sore
and your sneakers may leak.

On and on you will hike
and I know you'll hike far
and face up to your problems
whatever they are.

You'll get mixed up, of course,
as you already know.
You'll get mixed up
with many strange birds as you go.
So be sure when you step.
Step with care and great tact
and remember that Life's
a Great Balancing Act.
Just never forget to be dexterous and deft.
And never mix up your right foot with your left.

And will you succeed?
Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed.)

KID, YOU'LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!

So...
be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray
or Mordecai Ali Van Allen O'Shea,
you're off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So...get on your way!















* * * * *

I know I posted that up last year in my high school graduation post, but I love it too much to not post it again.

I actually printed this out and hung it in my room. I'm gonna get the book from Kinokuniya soon.

You can bet it'll be up again when I graduate from SAM.

(I realize I'm really pushing myself now because I'm actually pretty excited about the future. The university, the meeting new people, the internships, the actual jobs with actual paychecks!)

Uncanny coincidence - Something Corporate's 'Watch The Sky' is playing on iTunes.




"I think I could use a little break, but today was a good day.
Still I sink to think that I must craaaaaaawl!
There's things that aren't worth giving up, I know.
You live the life you're given with the storms outside, somedays all I do is watch the sky."




Yeah, no point slacking now and letting go of a potentially uber-exciting future.


So. Good luck finding your niche in life!

Tying things up.

This is a weird sort of defiance that even I don't understand.

It's kind of like this - You gimme exams, make me study, stop me from going online for two whole weeks?
You made my two weeks miserable as heck?
Now that exams are over, I'mma go online and I'm gonna SPEND HOURS online. Even if I have nothing to do on the net, I'm at the computer just to be online. I'll show you!

And I don't even know who 'You' is.


So anyway.

For the first time since I started SAM, I actually really studied. And I mean really really studied.

You know, the lock-yourself-in-your-room-become-a-two-week-hermit kind of study.

Other than a steamboat dinner with friends, it was a 'no' to anyone who suggested anything other than learning about photons and electrons and cells in my body.

Back in high school, I used to be a Two-Week Hermit all the time.

Even if I almost never do my homework, don't even have the exercise books we're supposed to have, got the teacher so exasperated she made me stand one period, daydream during classes and was completely blur about things (hence the two-week pre-exam intense cramming), I'd at least put in effort during exams.

This year, however, had been a slack-all-you-want year for me.

I'd go to class blur, don't understand what little notes I copy during class, return from college and go back the next day without having my bag opened once, and go in for exams still being blur.

Ahhhh, my highschool self would've been disappointed.

So anyway, I slaved my ass off for the trials, so if I still fail/borderline pass, then you know, it's meant to be.



All the above, is a very circuitous way of getting to the main point of the post.

And yeah, "circuitous" is not a word I knew all along (it means 'very round-about', by the way). I am, unfortunately, in the middle of memorising as many SAT words as I can. Saaaaaaaaaad huh?

So like I said, I was surfing the net just for the sake of surfing the net, showing defiance to the "you" who made me take exams, and was reading a stranger's blog, and she was studying for the SAT.

How do you study for the SAT??

She was panicking because she couldn't finish preparing, which made me very VERY nervous because the test is next week and I have done zilch preparations, save for ONE test practice!


How how how?

Trials just ended today, and now I have to go and prepare for another test taking place nest week.

Then two weeks after the SAT, I have the TOEFL to sit for.

Two weeks after that, I'll be sitting for the SAT Subject Tests.

Two DAYS after that, the Dreaded Finals.

The be-all-and-end-all of SAM.

The screw-this-up-and-you-just-threw-away-RM20k-of education.

The one that determines your future, and your past (y'know, whether your past 11 months have been a complete waste of time).

So yeah.

Five different exams (including this trial exam), all within the space of 1.5 months.


As such, I have written a note to myself, telling Present-Chooi that she will NOT let Future-Chooi down.
She will make full use of every single day of the next one month.
She will study like she has never before.
She will redeem all the C's and D's she has so far gotten for SAM.
She will not get the TER of 60 that her ex-physics teacher had predicted of her class (which is virtually useless, what self-respecting university would accept you then?).


(My ex-physics teacher has very uninspiring expectations of us. Prior to the first common test, he told me I was going to fail the paper, which I did NOT grrrrrr. Then when I got a very average result during common test 3, he told me to ask my parents for a car, which got me thinking, "Had I really been that bad?")


So okay, I will try harder to get better grades.

My motivation?

The knowledge that after this one month of gruelling studying, I'd be free for the next 9 months.

Nine months!

Assuming things go the way I hope, of course.

So.

Wish me a lot of luck, hope that nothing interesting and potentially distracting will take place for the next one month, and pray my determination and self-discipline will not crumble by the day.

That is all!

When you wish Things were just THINGS

- Instead of being made up of atoms and molecules.

Life would be so much simpler then.


* * * * *

You know that U2 song that tells us not to worry about things?

"What you don't have you don't need it now,
what you don't know you can feel it somehow."


Then why when I look at Chemistry questions, and I feel I have the right answer, it turns out wrong half the time?

I hate Chemistry.


Thou givest me the nastiest headache ever.




5 more days to go!

The College Search that resulted in The Headache

Nobody said it'd be easyyyyy.....

Sigh.

I'm NOT applying to Ivies, but looking at the 'Class of 2011' pages of several universities I'm interested in, it sure does feel like I'm applying to an Ivy.

It sure seems like everyone applying to the US was in the top 10% of their high school class.

How else would you explain the never-less-than-60% "Students in top 10% of HS class" in every university's Freshmen Academic Profile pages?

Applying to a substandard university that accepts almost all of its applicants just wouldn't cut it.

I'd be better off studying in Malaysia, no?

It's already September, I've only got a tentative list of Universities-To-Apply-To, I've barely properly started applying, and I'm still waiting for the viewbooks.

I've got a plethora of ideas for the essays, but none strong enough to stand on its own.

I've got to whittle down my list of colleges,
write, edit and proofread essays that make or break your chances of admission,
prepare and sit for the SAT, TOEFL and SAT 2,
fill in an overmuch number of forms,
get teacher evaluations and school transcripts...
all while eyeing the different deadlines for the colleges.

Oh, and not to mention studying and sitting for The Trials and The Finals.

And it's already September.

Just yesterday, Isabel went, "But applying to US universities very very hard wor.."

Yes it is.

Yes it is.

It makes you feel very small.

Very, very small.

(And getting a bloody C5 in SPM Malay does not help things.)

Sighhhhh.

It gives you big headaches as well.

Nevermind, it's only September.

Only September!

Colleges. Not a real update.

Urgh. Who knew looking at universities can be such a headache!

Wouldabeen so nice if someone could just chuck me a list of good colleges, then I'd look at their websites, decide the campus looks nice enough, and that's it.
Done. Send in application.

Even nicer if "send in application" meant write an email that goes "Hi I am Chooi Yen would like to attend XXX college would like tons of financial aid bye!"

And the worst disadvantage of living in Malaysia - no personal campus tours.

It probably seems a little shallow, but I judge a school/college by its library. Big, rich, student-centered schools are supposed to have big, beautiful libraries.

Which is why my first visit to the Taylor's library was such a disappointment. Saddest little library I've seen.


I was reading the newspapers, and there was an advertisement by some UK university.

Their attempt to convince you to study there?

"Results-focused learning."

Now, how can that be an advantage?

It gives you the impression of a very single-track minded school, with lecturers that drill you until you get decent grades.

Not my cup of tea hot chocolate!

"For charity one mahhh!"

Hah, okay, I realize Peeled Garlic is becoming a bit of a Blog of Whines and Complaints.

I shall stop my griping about things now.

So lets move on to becoming a Blog That Is Like A Diary, shall we?


Right, first things first.

I got my hair straightened.

But that was like two months ago, so while I've gotten very much used to it now (and have in fact forgotten how a head full of messy, unruly hair feels like), I still get people telling me "You straightened your hair!"

Sometimes I'd forget I hadn't seen them for the past two months, and thought what they meant was that I had straightened it again.

(Hahah, it's almost like, it's only made official if you write it in your blog.)


What else?

I'm completely, utterly broke.

Had too many un-cheap meals for the past month, and when someone suggested Chili's last weekend, that was it. No more, I told myself.

So we went to Manhattan Fish Market instead, and even though that only costed me RM18 (without drinks, mind you), I had to borrow money from people. Embarrassing la.

I mean, SB said he had no money, he had only around RM15, but even he had more money than me.

Paige, now you know why I can only belanja you waffles.


What else?

I did my part for charity!

We stayed back and watched movies (for charity), we went to that Taylor's Charity Night (for charity), we sold fruit juices (for charity)!

(Which also contributed to my being broke.)

But I had fun!

But I gotta say, it was a bit weird during the Charity Night.

I mean, people were cheering like gila when Estranged came on, but when they started playing, it was almost like everyone just switched to silent mode.

When they started playing 'Itu Kamu', and the crowd was beckoned to sing to the chorus, I saw Anggit wanting so badly to sing along.

Unfortunately, it was very awkward because everyone was just sitting there, staring ahead.

But we got to have photos taken with Azwin Andy, which more than compensated for everything else!


Charity day was pretty fun.

And for something the class decided on at the last minute, we managed to raise a pretty good amount of money!

And for once, I put my camera to good use.

G10 people, hard at work.

Who knew manning a drinks stall could be such hard work, and would leave you feeling so ultra dirty, what with stray pieces of cut fruit here and there, and blender/juicers randomly getting at people.

Paige, with her pants rolled up. And her signature slippers.

Bananas bought for us by our mentor, Mr. Yap.

(I know, of all things available, he had to buy bananas?)

Speaking of Mr. Yap.

He got dunked and the dunking booth. And Paige was there to video him.

It was really funny, he was sitting there, pointing to all of us, then went, "You ah, minus one mark!"

He kept repeating that - "Minus one mark! Minus one mark!"





He found the video by searching his name at YouTube.

What person goes to YouTube and searches his/her own name?

Mr. Yap, evidently. And you have to, if you have a student like Paige, who takes photos/videos of people without them knowing, who has previously uploaded a video of you during a Chemistry class, trying to pronounce "algae".

("'Al-jee' or 'al-gay'?")

The messy aftermath.

The kind of mess that makes you want to quietly run away so other people who have to clean up wouldn't notice you weren't there to help out.

I didn't run away, obviously. I was there, taking the photo above.

Group shot!

Esther says we would really miss SAM once it's all over. I agree.

Oh, one more thing.

Dr. Santha being pie-ed!

People like Kah Chong would probably enjoy this, 'cause his class seems to really, really dislike her.

I wonder if those were protective goggles, of are they just her usual large, reflective glasses.

She bought apple juice from our stall. I know 'cause I was the one who made it for her.

Paige has got a very detailed post on the charity drive. Go there!

(Hahah, read the last paragraph, man. I'll nod my head to that!)



I dunno how to end this post, so I'll just say - bye!

Laziness is not an excuse

Okay, so I've got a pretty good idea why G10 isn't doing so well in the exams.

I mean, we'd lament how hard the paper was, but look, people from other classes are not failing, so why are we?

We had Janarthan join us for lunch today.

Janarthan from G10,
who is pretty much Janarthan from G10 whose permanent fixture in class is the seat directly in front of the lecturer,
who is Janarthan from G10 whom people sit next to only when all the other places are filled up,
who's also Janarthan from G10 who'd ask the lecturer waaay-out-of-syllabus questions which people would roll their eyes to,
the same Janarthan from G10 who's always 10 rows away from the group during LAN classes.

When you come down to it, Janarthan from G10 is pretty much Janarthan-who-doesn't-want-to-be-in-G10.

Anyway. Esther invited him along for lunch, and I think, we were almost dissecting him, what with the questions we were asking the poor dude.

I mean, they ranged from mild, harmless ones like "Do you have any siblings?" to weird ones like "Do you think some girls are pretty, or do you see all girls the same?" to even weirder ones like "Do you talk to your siblings?"

It was hilarious in a way, but when a guy spews forth phrases like "My work is my play", and seems to find studying so extremely NOT-boring, it just amazes generally lazy people like us.

What was even more hilarious was that while we were amazed at some of his replies, HE was even more amazed to learn that we hate studying.

SO amazed, in fact, he went, "Oh. My. God."

Yeala, he said it like that, a short pause after every word, which obviously means he's VERY AMAZED.

Anyway.

My personal realization that we are putting in near zero effort was when he asked how many hours a day we spent studying.

That was all it took.

"Zero! I don't even open my bag!"

"My bag never even leaves the car!"

"I got study a bit la... er, biology homework lo."

Which, might I add, only occurs once every few weeks.

No wonder we don't do too well.


I ter-found a classmates blog an hour ago.

There was this post on how G10 always fares worse than other classes, then this person proceeds to explain why this is so by putting in photos of what G10 people do in class.

There were people eating, playing with cellphones, the usual.

And then there was a photo of me, reading a magazine under the desk during maths.

Not the first time, mannnnn.

Once, I was happily reading under the desk again, when suddenly Mrs. Lim, having another one of her boring naggy talks about How a Person Should Behave, suddenly called out me name.

Obviously I was ultra worried la, Mrs. Lim is not a person to cross. Hell hath no fury like a Mrs. Lim scorned.

For one thing, she nags a lot when she is in an uptight sort of mood.

Fortunately, she was just trying to tell me to perk up a bit more in the mornings while walking into college, because I was so zombie-like I didn't even notice her car coming up behind me.

I nodded my head and "uh-huh" a couple of times, and she returned to her long boring talk on Why G10 Is Not Succeeding In Life (Because G10 Has The Wrong Attitude).

After that, even Catherine, who was also reading under the desk, was too worried to continue reading.

So we pretty much just focused on the papers and graphic calculators on the table which we'd really put out only for decoy purposes.


Ahhh, foolish young minds.

Since when had a decent TER, a good course at a reputable university, and a bright future been worth sacrificing for a few maths lessons of reading CLEO magazine?

Not worth it at all.

Spelilng weos

Is it just myself, or does everyone have to do a silent recital of "I before E, except after C" before you spell words like yield and field?

Then you get to words like neighbour, and you get really, really mixed-up.

Of course, you eventually learn that the whole things goes like this:

I before E, except after C
Or when sounding like A, as in neighbour and weigh




Is it just myself, or does everyone have to stop and think before they spell words like except and exercise?

I mean, where should the C go? Excercise looks about correct, right?





Do people still get confused whether the last vowel of independent is an A or an E?

Do they have to recall what their Biology lecturers said about incorrect spellings every time they write independent variables?

Once, Yee Wan was asked to stand up and spell independent, and she spelt it i-n-d-e-p-e-n-d-e-n-t.

I was practically shouting inside, No! It's i-n-d-e-p-e-n-d-A-n-t!

Split second later, Ms. Param went, "Correct. But SOME people spell it with an A."

And it was like being told, um, my natural hair colour isn't black, or something, because all the while the only independent I've known is with an A.




Does everyone feel triumphant once they can spell necessary and cigarette correctly the first try, without needing to cross it out and respell?




And during high school English essay exams, instead of your question paper being written on with rough outlines and tentative points, you pretty much fill it up with spelling try-outs, sometimes going up to 5 various spellings of the same word?




And while I'm typing this, Answers.com is on the next tab, proving itself to be very useful.

Ph.D

Dr. Santha is a 'Dr'.

She must've gotten a B.A. in English, then a M.A., then a Ph.D.

But she's working in a private college in Malaysia, teaching classes of 30 that make fun of her large, reflective spectacles and mock her very pronounced Indian accent.

She gets herself all worked up over the bad essays we write, the reports we submit in all the wrong formats.

Students like XXX sashay into her class 15 minutes late.

She works her way up to a Ph.D, just to tolerate all of this year after year?


Meh. Do I really want to leave my science days behind?

Exam stress. Actually, not really.

They say an idle mind is the devil's workshop.

In my case, an idle mind is what you need to start doing things you'd regret very soon.

Studying for a chemistry exam can bore you like no other thing can. And in the process of it, I managed to get my own SIM card blocked.

I was playing around with Stuff (as do people who're bored of chemistry or physics and who'd start fiddling around with calculators and whatnots), and this time it was my cell phone.

I played around with the security settings, and it asked for my PIN, which I entered a random set of numbers, even though I had no inkling what the correct PIN was.

It was like in cartoons when the villain sees a Red Button labelled "Do Not Push", but he goes ahead and push anyway, resulting in the death of himself.

Now I gotta get my mom to call the Maxis centre, because it's registered under her name and they need Proper Verification, which means I gotta wait because... well, just 'cause.

Why couldn't I have just played with the graphic calculator?

* * * * *

I was at the Web, doing last minute research for my biology Human Awareness essay before handing in the final product, when I came across this page on Harlequin type ichthyosis, a type of skin disease.

From Wikipedia,

Harlequin-type ichthyosis (also harlequin ichthyosis, ichthyosis congenita, or keratosis diffusa fetalis), a skin disease, is the most severe form of congenital ichthyosis, characterized by a thickening of the keratin layer in fetal human skin. In sufferers of the disease, the skin appears as massive, diamond-shaped scales. In addition, the eyes, ears, mouth, and other appendages may be abnormally contracted. The scaly keratin greatly limits the child's movement. Because the skin is cracked where normal skin would fold, it is easily pregnable by bacteria and other contaminants, resulting in serious risk of fatal infection.

We were talking about it at the cafeteria a few days ago, and well, here are the photos.

I gotta warn you though, don't click if you're squeamish.

I guess one good thing that comes from having to do all these thousand-word essays is that you find things during the course of your research that you otherwise wouldn't know about.

* * * * *

Wish me luck for the mid years this coming week!

Considering the whopping 17-mark drop from my Physics Common Test 1 to Common Test 2, I need all the exam luck I can get.

Ciao!

Amen. And other stuff.

Just a little copy-and-paste from my friend's blog -

We had our lunch at Pizza hut...I was sitting at the end of the table so they told me to say "grace"...Never done it before so I was quite nervous...I said a lot and start to think..then I forgot what I wanted to say and suddenly said, "aww-man!" ...then suddenly my friends all said Amen.I was shocked to see them say that and told them,"I haven't finish yet"Esther said to me,"Why so long one?"(should not have the word "one'...what to do ? Malaysian ma..).Then I said Amen...because I was shy...haha...

It was darn hilarious.

She didn't write it there, but Esther actually scolded her for not saying "In the name of Jesus", to which she replied, "But I haven't finished yet!"

Turned out we mistook her "awww man!" for "Amen".


Also lifted off her blog, is this -


Us, stoning, because we were Too Sick To Continue.

You see that plastic bag between us?

It was carrying a half-eaten pandan cake roll, but we left it there when we went for our rides, and it ended up being stolen from us. (One wonders why anyone would want a half-eaten roll.)

Anyway.

In my attempt to become more of a hardworking person and less of a last-minute-rush person, I stayed back on Monday, idled away two hours after school, just so I could catch Dr. Santa after her classes at 4 pm, and we went over my draft for the Investigative Studies Report.

So while 5 people had to fight for her one hour during classes, or during breaks, I had a whole 40 minutes to myself that afternoon.

And ended up having her change 80% of my report.

She changed the headings, told me half the things I had were irrelevant, made me discard them and told me to add a bunch of other stuff.

Which is all well, because we all know she just wants the best from me, but I wonder, why did she not tell me I had the wrong headings and content and arrangement when I handed in my proposal, or when I did my outline?

Now I'm worried because I'm doing all these new content for the first time, and it'd already be The Final Report.

And here's a new record.

I managed to talk my mom into getting me a new huuuge work station, and a new work chair that costs 2.5 times more than the one she had wanted to get, all in 10 minutes!

Obviously, this post is very filler-ish, but nevermind.

Quote - "I am Someone, with Something, going Somewhere!"

It's not like anything HUGE is happening lately, but for the weirdest reason, I'm feeling very excited. I wonder why.


Hmm I think it's about time I did a new blog layout. This is SO Red Hot Chili Pepper-fan site-ish.