'milo' stains white shirts with dots

Friday was level two theory which was a good refresher, but it might mean we're gonna bore ourselves to no end during the actual level two. Still, better safe then sorry. Wonder if they'll teach us bowline and butterfly knots etc, like they did for my old level two.

Then there was FA briefing which I was glad there was, since I had to miss much of the FA precamp cos of chinese lessons): then during mock stretcher demo, I was the guinea pig, and one of the poles broke! :O thank goodness i wasnt hurt and that it wasnt some guy on the stretcher. if it cant take 46kg then idk how the guys are gonna be transported away. but thank goodness we tried it out beforehand or during the actual mob, we'll end up killing casualties.

And then we went to buy food for ITC, and dig up stuff from QM room for ITC. just seeing those bottles, jungle belts, with the coloured tapes on it made me miss YL again. But we gotta get rid of those coloured tapes by next year's YL. And then it was pouring and we went home.

Today was Ubin recce! Only Rayna, Celene, Kaiyun, Guenyik, Daniel, Raash, Mr Alex and I went. Decided to cycle. Was super hot at first, then we planned out which checkpoints we wanna go. Was quite happy that I'll get to go to the west this time (after tramping along in the east for both OH and YL). V=IR, then puaka.

And the top of puaka got sealed off by a stupid fence! All the worse for photo-taking! Went down in the end. And realised that unlike most people, I tend to walk with the tip of my foot first not the heel. And Mr Alex said it was good for sprinting. Maybe thats why my sprinting tends to be better than my endurance and stuff. *shrug*

Then got infested by mozzies, killed two (a very bloody affair, mind!), then cycled summore to more places, like the temples and stuff there. Then cycle back, to cunzhangjia, onward, and it started to pour and we took shelter in one of the huts. Ate food, then continued. The path to kelichap from murai hut was blocked, noordin beach was blocked off, so we went to beberek hut and right outside chek jawa where it poured again. and had to stay there till 5. feeding mozzies as usual. Then had to head back.

Cycling in the muddy, slopy ground with wet, lousy bikes with dented pedals isn't very good. But somehow at the end of the recce, I felt so happy and it had been a super fun experience! Everytime I go Ubin I get really happy, despite the bites.

And we proved it today that B+ people get more bites! There was a whole swarm following Daniel at puaka, and guenyik has a huge island at the back, and I have some many on my legs AND arms that I can't even see where they are already. Prob all merged into one. But I think after bathing they felt much better le. Those AB and O people largely escaped the viscious insects and those who didn't had less than 5 bites. Probably Rayna who was A was the only one getting quite a few too.

SOMEONE GET ME AN ARMY MOZZIE REPELLENT PLEASE! we should get more mosquito coils for qm room. we'll need it. everytime i go ubin i kena. i think guenyik got worse than me today tho. poor thing. i thought wildboars should be used to ubin. hmm. haha joking joking.

ITC soon. Really can't wait!:D




vicious cycle indeed

Yayyy today was the first day my blisters didnt hurt excruitiatingly when I bathed:D That means I've a chance of playing ball tmr. If we still are. Hope so! Anyway lots to do tmr, FA briefing, pre level two climbing theory, GM.

Yesterday's recce to botanics was really stupid cos we all just went there to feed mozzies and wander about for about a hour. keep walking and the batch keep kena split into faster half and slower half. Since it ended so suprisingly early, Rayna, Kaiyun, Cheryl and I went to ION to walk around and find leen's birthday present. And then, still early, we went to J8 despite our tiring legs FOR FUN hhahaha. Ended up going library so Cheryl can borrow a book for the book review thingy. I STILL HAVE ONE THIRD OF BRISINGR TO GO. seeing how busy I am, I doubt I'll finish it in time. Got 2-3 more days or so. Gotta return by ITC.

Today had CenTaD again. Glycerol looks so nice:D In a nice brown! Okay maybe it's cos there's so many shades of brown that makes it cool. Cooler to look at then the biodiesel, anyway. Did wash test and methanol test. And sending them to some external lab for viscosity testing. But I think our biodiesel should be good enough quality bahh... Reminds me I gotta borrow mess tin from qm room so we can...turn our oil into "used oil". By cooking stuff.

Then went for bikehike meeting with Cheryl. Super funny, cos we were both in full school uniform and when we reach, Daniel was in black. Then came jerrold. In black. then caiyi. in black. and guenyik and celene. in black. THEN ALEX APPEARED IN BLACK TOO. LOL. super funny! we got chased out of the foodcourt so we went toast box to discuss. Only to sit in a place that the rain splashed all over (thank goodness the curtains worked in the end) and despite finally getting shielded we still had to put up with a flooded area.

the meeting lasted for like FOUR HOURS! wow. my brain kind of got fried and half the time I was freezing and holding pee in at the same time. holding pee in for 2-3h is sick. I think guenyik saved us all when she finally said she wanted to go pee. Turns out all the girls have been wanting to pee T_T HAHAHA super funny.

I really hope bikehike will turn out great. We've definitely got the potential. But...some stuff needs working on. I'd give my all, that's for sure, as I do with anything I set my heart to do. I'll give my best and if it ends up falling apart due to... certain reasons, I would have tried my best already. prove me wrong. bikehike2010 will own all the rest. come on we can do this!

and i found out i was the secretary which is quite okay cos I can write super fast. Haha except today's meeting we didnt know yet and I wasnt even like taking minutes. nvm. next time! although I must say it's hard to match up to Steffi. If it's even possible. But there's "to the best of my ability". We shall see. Not the first time I take down minutes anyway. Should be okay.

today's meeting made lots of things clearer which was really good. reaaaaaaaallly good. although halfway through it hit me that i think i might die worse than this year. when it dawned upon me what a crazy person i am cos of triple science+bikehike+SL+lots of block tests and homework+YLTC+atlantis+OH+openhouse+all the other stuff i dont feel like thinking about.

but i think, i'll end up coping. or forcing myself to cope. pushig myself to the limits.

huh. not the first time i realise im insane. but can one. sure can one. i got myself into this, i'll get myself out. besides im doing what i like to do(:

YAYYYYYYYY to be optimistically looking at stuff, I'd say everything is turning out wonderfully so far!:D:D




somethings are just worth it

Had our first ever experimentation for CenTaD. Jichao and I looked like some idiots running into NTUC at coro the moment it opened, heading to the oil section and buying 5 different types of oil. And some store person who was shelving stuff said, "So much oil ah!" And then I nearly laughed and we walked to the cashier, who thought they were all the SAME:O so the receipt ended up really long with lots of voided items and re-scanning. LOL.

Then there was the cool stuff in the SRC you should go visit sometime, and we got cool magnetic stirrers and some heating mantle and what I call the "heart tube" which totally isnt called that, and the rushing to make sure (rather hilariously) that we don't breathe too much methanol in. And this is the product!

Different types of oil. Need to let it settle overnight then separate the two layers, hence the separating funnel. The 2nd from the left was the first one we did (canola oil) and the rightmost one is the last (vegetable oil). Can tell that it hasn't settled yet. Freshly poured from the "heart tube". FYI, the bottom layer is supposed to be glycerol and the top is biodiesel. Supposedly, anyway.

Then I ran off for OAC(: Super happy I could make it! Some lead climbing, thank goodness I didn't forget my lead belaying, but I doubt Mr Alex would have fallen anyway:D Still his life was in my hands that few moments and I hadn't lead belayed for 2 years. Pretty scary.

Then I finally got to climb the orange route! which was really easy and easier than I thought(: Climbed lots of 6A-6B+ routes today. Then at the end all nua already and got stuckat the overhang for dam long and mr alex said nvm come down I'll teach you how to reach the handhold, and he did it so easily. Then rested awhile and tried again.

Finally reached the top after duperduper long and resting loads, thank you wenxuan (yeah I think I must have thanked you a gazillion times le!). good belayer, that wenxuan. I would have regretted it if I didn't reach the top. Near the even-worse overhang part, I got a horribly torn blister. But it was too late to give up, so uh, I think I spammed too much chalk thats why there were blisters): And the rocks were pretty rough. So I kind of mutilated my blisters going up higher. But I'd rather the pain (and possible infection?) than to give up then.

Not the first time I kept going despite a burst blister. I'm just glad I reached the top. Yay three horrible blisters as prizes!:D:D They better heal by ITC though. To do level two with 3 unhealed blisters and two ah-ba-kok is not a very bright prospect, really, though still do-able.

One more fun day!:D I just wish I can go see the shooting stars tonight): Which I can't. But there's kids camp recce tmr, although I think it's gonna pour like chickens (uh bad analogy), and I don't know what's the wet weather plan. And then bikehike meeting on Thurs (and CenTaD before that), and OAC on Friday again wheee play games!, and Ubin recce on Saturday, MOZZIE ALERT. B+ person shall not get bitten horribly again! Though I doubt I will escape unscathed. And then ITC. Nice week ahead, wouldnt you say!

And, red wine makes you warmer than ginger does! Heh but I won't drink alcohol unless I really have to. Only, my father tried to trick me by saying a little bit of red wine is good for your health.




its been a month;

woke up at like 4.40am so that i could catch the earliest bus with rayna to terminal two to send off salad:D the last time i went there, i was sending off my cousin who went to UK for his architecture masters degree. and before that was mits. forever sending off ppl. i shall wait for the day i get to go overseas again. hopefully, i get a scholarship to. cos my parents really cant afford to send me off to study vet science without a scholarship. sadly.

have a safe journey and have fun salad, we shall see you back for itc, and rmb to rest alot and sleep alot so you dont fall asleep during level two!(: but im quite glad that from the first time we all climbed during YLTC, i could see people improving. actl i dont think i'll fail level two, cos i passed it once, and cos during the june snr-jnr climbing at climber's lab (which should be where we're taking level two) i lead climbed one wall. so techinically i just gotta lead climb that wall again:D hahahaha. but i really forgot everything they taught me during level two except lead climbing. i can rmb approx what we did but not exactly how to do it, either. cant wait for ITC(:

also, happy birthday mommy(:

and my dad bought my mom a nearly $80 bouquet with like roses and lilies and it was so pretty! one day someone shall buy it for me:D okay wait long long hahahaha.

but somehow it wasnt a very happy day.

you know, i had wished, everytime we go there, it'll be one of happiness, and joy, to see him again, well i guess it was never meant to be like that. it's one thing to want to feel that way, and another to see the people around you feeling quite the opposite, and you get confused, because you get the original wanting-to-be-happy but given the circumstances it would be wrong to be happy, and at the same time the "sponge" effect takes place, and you get this swirl of stuff and you dont know what to do. but at the same time you know thats whats being done is for the good, so you should just stand there and feel confused inside and pretend nothings happening outside, in hope that all of it will pass, and all the feelings are gone, and everyone's okay and better. it always seems to work. which is good(:

still i dont like feeling confused. I THINK IM SOMETHING LIKE ELVA. elva in brsingr (and eragon and eldest for that matter). only not so extreme. and only nobody knows abt it, for me. unless they are reading this. why are you reading this. shoo. anyway luckily when im outside with my friends we are usually happy and i dont have to deal with all these sorts of things. but if a friend is sad, and you see me acting strange or looking like i want to make him/her happier but not, at the same time, well, im probably upset that i have no idea how to make that person happier, and so im trying to pretend nothing is happening, or that im not caring, so that i dont have to deal with what i dont know how to deal with. cos i best know how to deal with it by not dealing with it. sth like that. i might even start talking abt rubbish stuff just to alleviate tension. or pretend to tell stupid jokes. cos at least, the good thing is, emotions dont last forever.

i think i got confused quite a few times recently. anyway, im kinda sad i didnt go climbing today and didnt go fac outing T_T. well i guess there can always be a next time!(:

and anyway i got really cheered up by this! things cant keep me down for long anyways:D






big ominous outposts!

i guess i can be thankful for many things!

got freaked out when it was ten and bigbullish was still at home. and couldnt contact him all the way, only to realise, with as much irritation as relief, that he was in the reading room when we reported at 11.15. but he turned up, which was good.

i think i screwed up. luckily most ppl i asked only said i screwed the first part up. where i forgot my lines and had to scramble for my cue cards which i am now super thankful i didnt forgo. and then the middlish-part i was pretty okay, until the bookmark part when the examiner accidentally hit the DING! and i just stun diao over there and didnt move for like 5s until he saw my stunned expression and said carry on cos he accidentally hit the bell while reaching for the bookmarks. and near the end, yisheng thought the DING! wasnt accidental so she speeded up clicking my slide, so i lost my slide thus sense of direction and panicked and said the same thing round and round 3 times inaccurately.

wasnt her fault tho. was mine for panicking. Q&A was okay but yisheng and wesley before me were so zai (they had stats okay. like zomg) and the examiner had to prod me back in direction. but otherwise, should be okay. hopefully enough to scrape and A. but the examiners (econs tutors)were nice people. at least the guy is:D if only he were our econs tutor. i think my class econs is gonna gg liao. ohwells. and when bigbullish was talking, he made a bad, bad move that jeopardised our teamwork mark. THAT was the reason why i wanted my group to practise, and he didnt turn up, and seethere. but whats done is done. a four for teamwork wouldnt drag us down too much, i hope? i think i got 5+6+5+4=20! just scraped an A. i think. dam the teamwork mark lah. couldnt have done anything about it haiz. but at least its overrrrr!

along the way back from climbing at CSC:

Rach: "YAYYYY PW IS OVERRRRRR"
Guenyik: "YAY!"
Rach: "NO MORE PI! NO MORE EOM!"
Guenyik: "NO MORE I&R!"
Rach: "NO MORE WR!"
Guenyik: "NO MORE OP!"
Rach & Guenyik: "YAYYYYYYYY"
Guenyik: "I think people think we're crazy."
Rach: "Yeah hahahaha!"

and climbing made everything right again. but before that i scooted off to get a $1 discount on island creamery yay thanks songyu and yisheng:D yay i love cookies&cream! i want a mudpie for my birthday next year! and i want to share it with everybody YAY! okay i think there are too many yays in this paragraph(: had to pangsei and scoot off for CCA, but at least the rest of the class were coming to pei them.

and ended up earlier than the rest, but there was like 12 people:D not bad. expected less but all the guys except yongkai were there. CI, ACI, and all too. at first i wanted to go saturday, with salad and mushroom and rayna, but then ACI was like, "thursday will have less ppl, so more lanes to climb!" and i thot i better go celebrate the end of PW with something nice, and besides saturday is my mom's birthday, so yeah.

i am no longer a failed air chief whoooots! i think climbing with sallie/wildboar/nutella is really quite similar to climbing with mits. i think its having someone zai to be your belayer/climber, to climb with you, gives great motivation, maybe. not sure. but thanks guenyik for today! and we share same shoe size hahaha!

wells, back to my old self. 6a+ wall and the brown 6b wall ftw! and i was waiting and waiting for the orange one i wanted to do since last week to no avail. always kena hogged. cant complain cos maybe next time i'll be the one hogging it:D next week i shall climb that, and the red super hard 6b wall, as well as the purple 6a+ that i didnt really know how to get up. maybe, just maybe we'll try the 6c walls one day. 6b+ first!

no chua kho xian sarah salad to camwhore this session for us cos she wasnt at the sean scene which is yay cos then i dont get unglam shots haha just kidding. got nice orange thingies which idk where i threw mine liao. and realised my wrists are smallll O_O

oh and nobody get kenn to belay you cos he'll let you enjoy scenery and do the charlton 30cm off the ground lowering stops. HAHAHA was sort of fun and exasperating at the same time tho.

climbing never fails to put a smile on my face:D




all we do in life is play with our minds

omg i really thank god for mdm chen. shes like totally the most awesomest pw teacher ever. and things arent as bad as yesterday. but tmr will tell. and tmr; the end of our op, the end of our pw, forever. as nice as that sounds, debbie was right. i think when pw ends, i am somewhat gonna miss it, as horrible as the experience had been. still had nice parts like going to the zoo. thats like minority percent. still. its when you put in so much effort to see it through to the end as best as you can, that you're gonna look back at it, and miss it. just like YLTC.

and that other thing, had a nice little talk with wildboar. of course it cant just get settled like that, and it'll drag on, as it had always been, but thanks for the talk, to quote Dill in TKAM, "it was mighty settlin'". rockclimbing tmr. and so i hope. i think it might be escalating cos of what happened yesterday, so "i hope" very much. and i praypray it doesnt get blown up into mav saga. because without oac, my jc life would seriously seriously suck like shit.

well one step at a time. tread carefully. never know when theres gonna be thin ice. but i think im reasonably less pissed and upset than yesterday. despite bigbullish hanging up on me, yisheng, huifang, trixie and even wesley T_T. which caused me to stomp everywhere in the canteen. okay. kind of exaggerating, but wells. reasonably pissed.

everytime theres a limit, anyway. at least i didnt have irreversible anger and hatred like ahem someone. i dont even hate him. i dont think i hate anyone ever. i just get pissed at that person. veryvery pissed in this case. but once that person goes back to normal then suddenly like, nothing happens and im okay with that person already. sort of. i try to be anyway. its the kind of thing where people say you shouldnt hate a person, because its not the person thats wrong/bad but the actions.

i just like kind of tell myself that its the ignorance of that person to cause him/her to act the way it is. which springs from my overall belief of everyone having good in them, essentially. everyone was born a baby. all babies are innocent. it really isnt that right to go along and hate someone to the core. just be pissed for awhile, try to resolve it, and when its resolved no more pissedness, and we move on. i think thats called forgiveness.

on second thought i've always thought i'm an idealist. so maybe what i just said cant really be applied anyway. but its still good imo to think of things in a positive way(: which is why i wont go aroudn distressing myself any further and im gonna just wait, and like salad says, do my best, and whatever happens, its fine, because i tried my best.

yay:D




sardines!

i am so horribly upset now that i need go talk to someone.

today started off horribly. more than that i feel upset for the people i dragged all the way to school, only to have them go home because SOMEBODY didn't turn up. at least i tried to speak rationally, even when the argument from the other side doesn't seem to have any basis. huifang just used her emotions and i realised it doesnt get very far because guys tend to listen to reasoning. only people with conscience/affected by emotions easily (whether guys or girls) get vaguely affected by an argument based on emotions. at least i tried to establish a multiple-point argument that still failed. tomorrow will be the last straw. i will wait and see. but im rather happy that i'm not as rash as last time and let my emotions take over my mind. i think i've become very slightly more tolerant and patient. we'll see. two more days. and yet i thought things were getting better. i always seem to stand corrected. wells.

then bio o. was quite fun to be part of the 300 in the gym taking the test. 200mcq in 3h. by the end of the last part, i was nearly falling asleep. funny how 7 oac ppl got into bio o, and, to my current knowledge, no one in oasis is taking bio h3 (surprising given our imba bio-phy ratio), and how prob the only one who has any chance of getting into practical round is prob leen and maybe celene. cos the rest of us just didnt study.

okay after bio o i laughed alot, which is what i usually do when i hang out with batch ppl, so i kind of drowned all upsetness which i had in the morning. and when i came home suddenly the blackness caved in even worse than the morning's one):

i think i really need to go talk to someone. bikehike. i dont think i can get a compromise, and i absolutely understand the point of view of the opposing party and respect that, in light of all thats been happening, but, its just so saddening. and upsetting. after all i've looked forward to. just veryvery upset now. tmr when i go school i shall go and find like wildboar if she's there and if she isnt there's always thursday.

i guess i always sort of knew this was gonna happen. denial doesnt always work, huh.