2009

Wish all viewers a happy new year!

thailand trip 02

It seems to be a long time I had posted my last post, which is in thailand. Despite the fact that airport was closed due to the protesters from the PAD, the trip was quite fruitful. I went there with approximately 9500 baht and spent about 3800 baht. So I shall tell my story about bangkok! On the November 25, the 100,000 protesters tried to oust the thai PM, led by PAD. This news was quite a shock, but it did not dim our spirit. I went to quite a few shopping malls( Central World, Platinum, Big C , Indra shopping centre, Siam paragon,Siam shopping centre, Emporium and Central department store). 

The best of the trip is my trip to chatchuchak weekend market. My dad and I were ordering the drink in a small cafe by the MRT station, I tried to order the soft drink but the waiter couldn't understand ,so I went up to take the drink for myself. I went for a second order and ask for a glass of lime juice in english, she can't understand, I had no way but to order in thai "la ma nao ng". 

In the market, I shall give you an advice: go in and you will get lost. I bought 2 commemorative 60 baht note( different design) for 270 baht( bargain the price by 70 baht). At the first store I bought, I spoke thai to the boss, showing many currencies for collection( 1910 german mark, iraqi dinars, thai commemorative notes, old taiwan dollar and japanese yen). I ask if the 60 baht note is for sale at 250 baht, replying with a yes. I ask if he could offer at 150 baht, and he told me he bought it at 150 baht!( haha) I reached a deal at 180 baht, and he told me: dai( can). The second note was offered of 90 baht. I tried to bargain: pek sib baht, dai mai? ( 80 baht, can or can't). The worst thing is the shopkeeper giving me the wrong change, and queried if she had given the correct change. The money changer is like a security guard house, and I exchange money( I need to sign the receipt!). 

Not to forget, my relative are quite a good host and accomodating to us, spending thousands of baht to pay for our dinner.We had suki( stemboat), ramen, buffet, steak, thai cuisine and the fast food joints. The most expensive treat was in foodloft, a high class restaurant with lots of delicacies, and the price is quite expensive. My relative also invited us to his house for lunch and dinner, which the dishes were totally irresistable. He also rented a van on a sightseeing trip to the countryside, seeing vinery, sunflower farm, and  cow farm.The cow farm had a steakhouse with succulent steak that was very huge(approx. 350g) with side dishes and a soft bun. The farm tour was an unforgettable one.  

So let us change the subject, I bought quite a few stuff from thailand, with the most purchase being a computer bag at 1300 baht. I did went to Starbucks for a cup of coffee for a few times as it was quite affordable, but I cannot stand their thai english and thai chinese. I shall share my story another day with some photos.BYE!  

Thailand trip 01

Now, I am blogging in an Internet cafe in platinium fashion mall at pratunam, which using the internet cost about 40 bht per 30 min. On the first day, my family went to the sunny beach side resort of pattaya. The hotel is about two kilometres away from the beach. The amenities were quite good. Beside my hotel is cinema city( something like cathay cineplex). The things here are quite inexpensive, with nice texture. On that night, I went to watch a show performed by tranvestite in Pattaya, which was quite astonishing and brilliant( they do have a nice figure)
Day 2- I went to "ko lan", an island near Pattaya, with many tourist( most of them are korean) and many beachside facilities. I had tried some of them which are quite well. The sand was very fine and the view was totally unbelievable. Drinking "la ma nao" or limeade and lying by the beach with a cool breeze, there was a relaxing sensation. The day ended at pattaya park tower hotel, having our dinner at a revolving restaurant at 53 floor, with 360 degree night view of pattaya. Now at Bangkok, we stay at the baiyoke sky hotel, the tallest building in thailand, with our room at 38 floor, and having breakfast at 82 floor. I had went to the roof of the building, a revolving roof with 360 degree view of thailand. That is all for now, bye.......

facts about french

He only seat available on the train was directly adjacent to a well dressed middle aged French woman and the seat was being used by her dog. The weary traveler asked, "Ma'am, please move your dog. I need that seat." The French woman looked down her nose at the American, sniffed and said, You Americans. Your are such a rude class of people. Can't you see my little FiFi is using that seat?" The American walked away, determined to find a place to rest, but after another trip down to the end of the train, found himself again facing the woman with the dog. Again he asked, "Please, lady. May I sit there?". I'm very tired." The French woman wrinkled her nose and snorted "You Americans! Not only are you rude, you are also arrogant....Imagine!" The American didn't say anything else, he leaned over, picked up the dog, tossed it out the window of the train and sat down in the empty seat. The woman shrieked and railed, and demanded that someone defend her honor and chastise the American. An English man sitting across the aisle spoke up indignantly "You know,sir, you Americans do seem to have a penchant for doing the wrong thing. You eat holding the fork in the wrong hand. You drive your autos on the wrong side of the road. And now, Sir, you've thrown the wrong bitch out the window." 

Q. What's the difference between a Frenchwoman and a werewolf? 
A. The Frenchwoman is not quite as hairy but the werewolf smells better 

Why does Nike like the French Army? 
Because, in war time, they are the biggest buyers of running shoes. 

Q. What is the first thing the French Army teaches at basic training? 
A. How to surrender in at least 10 languages. 

Q.What is the first thing the French teach their kids in school? 
A.How to say "We Surrender" in German! 

Do you know what's the difference between a Frenchman and a chimpanzee ? - One of them is hairy, stinky, and scratches his ass all the time. The other is a chimpanzee. 

Q. Why do the French cook with lots of garlic? 
A. To improve their breath. 

These jokes are very lame. I cannot withstand boredom at home

Obama emerge as the US 44th president

Barack Obama, 47-year-old first-term senator from Illinois, shattered more than 200 years of history Tuesday night by winning election as the first African-American president of the United States.“If there is anyone out there who doubts that America is a place where anything is possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer,” Obama declared. McCain congratulate Obama for winning the white house race.This is a break down of voters.

Vote by Sex

Male (47%)

49%

48%

3%

Female (53%)

56%

43%

1%

Vote by Age

18-29 (18%)

66%

32%

2%

30-44 (29%)

52%

46%

2%

45-64 (37%)

49%

49%

2%

65 and Older (16%)

45%

53%

2%

In a change we believe in, I shall wish him best of luck and resolve the worst financial crisis worldwide and create a new america and a new world.( There is a chart on the US election below)

The financial crisis

It has been a very bad month. The 300 british pound I bought is just worth a mere $700, collapsing about $116 since I bought it in May. ( Fortunately I did not bought the DBS high notes 5 series). The currencies are dropping like mad, icelandic krona- not accepted(economy collapse,all large bank close down),euro-2.20 drop to 1.90( bank are not safe, do not dare to lend each other). 

The yen had rose from 1.24 in first quarter of 08 to 1.66 in the present( per 100 yen). The financial crisis had became an economic crisis!! Fortunately, Singapore banks had guranteed all saving deposit( foreign or local)  and there is an upcoming integrated resorts( or casino) to boost  the economy. The economic crisis had cost lots of devastation to the economy( especially those relationship managers, or fraudsters in disguise who care more about commission and bonus ,who "conned" many elderly that if they put their money in the DBS high notes for 5.5 years, you can earn 27.5% interest rate, which is too good to be true).  By the way, Halloween is somewhere near and approaching and wish all readers a happy halloween.     

Life as a Secondary 2 student in 2 EP

The past year was quiet a fruitful and meaningful, with lots of buzz. Everyone had scored quite a good result for this year, thanks to our teachers who had taught us this year, especially our form teacher, Mr Davamoni.( I will never forget your frequent lectures and guidance). Actually, I am quite in a loss during the last day in 2EP as we may not be able to see your classmates in the same class next year. Time seems very slow but yet so fast. Frankly speaking, my job as a class chairperson was quite satisfactory. I had to mark attendance( I was quite infruiated when the AFT marked the attendance on the wrong date), handle the class diary( It was one of the most "magnificent" diary I ever saw: stickers on cover page, graffiti in the diary) The classroom cleanliness was not so bad [managed to clinched to 3rd, but unfortunately, there is no prize] and the noticeboard was one of the most outstanding piece that showcases talents in our class. The Zhong Zheng Bian Bian Bian performance by our class was brilliant, and we managed to get consolation prize of $30. Overall, those who are involved did a great job, with a special thanks to Samuel, who contributed much effort to make this performance a success and directed the performance. I shall wish all the best and able to enter your desired class next year! ( better not to forget about holiday assignment)  

26/10/08

The past few days had been a tough one, especially memorising the first aid, footdrills, CPR and bandage for two full days. Yesterday's promotional test to lance corporal was very tough, from 8am to 4.30pm. The footdrill test was not bad, but my final command was a little weird. The worst was the bandage, which I tied the reverse spiral roller bandage from the wrist to the forearm. Open House is on 1 november, I have to do first aid duty. After the duty, I still have to go for ABRSM theory grade 7 test from 2-5pm. ( what!!)I have to start revising now( french, german, italian,english terms, instruments, decorations) and to pass my paper( passing mark 66). Happy holiday and happy halloween day.( 31/10)     

Post exam activities

The post examination activities was quite well planned, especially the literary financial workshop. The literary financial workshop was my favourite programme as I know more about managing my own finance through board game. The board game was fun and it started off with a 'very bad note'. I went unemployed for 1/3 of the game( just like other players in my table), paid lots of money due to property taxes, insurance, and borrowed once. The stovk market crash once, but fortunately I bought stocks after the crash and earn very little. The telecommunication and bank stocks I bought remains stationary for most of the game and I was totally infruiated. I managed to get a reasonable total of $52400, which was not quite bad. The talks was very interesting, especially the humorous,  and creative video they had created, which was brillaintly done and appeals to us.    

examination results

My overall  results was very bad or disastrous. I still have doubts if I am able to enter triple science. By the way this is just an ESTIMATE of my end of year results.( SA2 only)

ENGLISH-58/100

CHINESE-59/100

MATHEMATICS-80.5/100

SCIENCE-73.5/100

HISTORY-58.5/100

GEOGRAPHY-64/100

EL LITERATURE-65.3/100

I think with this kind of results(1 A1, 1 A2, 1 B3, 1 B4, 3 C5), it is impossible for me to enter triple science:(

But fortunately, I had A1 for D&T (75) and Home Economic(78), so it will just increase my chance by a little only. Regarding my options, I am still in a dilemma. With such bad results, most probably I will enter double science and double humanities.

new zealand dollar hit new low

according to the graph, new zealand dollar or kiwi dollar had hit new low against singapore dollar. 

Currency Conversion Results

Symbol Singapore Dollar Exchange Rate New Zealand Dollar Bid Ask 1 Oct 13 1.1220 1.1220 1.1220 1.1228

As it is impossible for the market to stay in negative territories, let us have a slice of a once-in-a-life-time opportunity to have a slice in the currency market.( with special thanks to yahoo finance)

australian dollar hits new low

As in this graph, australia dollar had hit a new low against singapore dollar and it is time for greedy people like me to buy cheap australia dollar. It is due to the Australia central bank lowering the interest rate by 1% in 26 years. Hurray! let as not let this money making opportunity to slip by, hurry and grab a slice of the market.(special thanks to yahoo finance)

Singapore Dollar Exchange Rate Australian Dollar Bid Ask 1 Oct 13 1.0153 1.0153 1.0153 1.0158

EL debrief

Today, it is one of my worst day. After a short weekend break( still have to attend CCA on marking day-too bad) , I almost forgot there is flag raising ceremony and forgot to bring tie. Being thick-skin in a sense, I bought a tie for $6 for nothing. (Did not expect so many people did not bring their tie) The English debrief was so lengthy and boring. The EL situation writing or formal letter quite okay but the essay was a total disaster. just forgo my asparation to enter triple science. The EL comprehension is just satisfactory but I am not pleased with result( a mere C6 only). Presently, the  marks is 62/110 for english and overall, my projection for year-end english result( C5-C6), overall English result( C5-B4).  I had to embraced for more storms ahead in the next few days. ( results will be a definite F9). By the way, I had an unsuccessful interview in NUS high School and had an " interrogation" by two HODs and a deputy principal, so I will be still in Chung Cheng.( actually it was an astonishment to me)

F1 night race in singapore

The fever is getting higher as we embraced for the first night race in singapore and put our country on the world map. I personally is a F1 fan and the bad news I may not to be able to see the telecast race( due to the EL exam!!!!) It is held from 26-28 September in the city area. The 5.067km long street circuit offers multiple overtaking opportunities and challenging turns as the drivers tackle the circuit in speeds in excess of 300kph. Located at Marina Bay, the circuit is just minutes from exclusive 5-star hotels, a vibrant food and entertainment scene, a fast and efficient underground transit system and the Central Business District.( in the courtesy of visitsingapore website).

google chrome

The google chrome is an alternative to internet explorer and it is faster and much more better function. and by the way, I wish all the best for the coming exam. My ABRSM piano practical exam marks is very bad and it is just a pass. The chinese oral exam is totally disastrous and the marks will definitely very low. I managed to be invited to an interview by NUS high school and may be accepted to the school. So I better think some phrases to prepare in order to impress the interviewers!  

funny commercials

2/9/08

The world market has been crashing for more than a year due to sub-prime mortage crisis and I lost $30 due to the weakening British pounds and Strengthening singapore dollar, which singapore dollar reached a new height of $2.58 per one british pounds!!!(so sad:( ) moral of the story: Singapore dollar is much more better. Teachers' day celebration was not bad and I bought a gift for Mr Albert D. from bookshop at last minute. The classroom cleanliness was just too atrocious as frankly speaking, it is worse than the rubbish dump site. You count yourself lucky if you do not spot a pest around the classroom. By the way, countdown to EOY exams, 23 days, so wish all the best of luck to all pupils of 2EP for the EOY exams and fulfil your dreams and pursue a dream class of your choice. I will post my blog after the EOY exams, which I believe is approx. 6 weeks later. ( By the way, my CA marks are definitely going to be very bad)

24/08/08

The past few days had been quite smooth, and I will definitely score badly for the biology test. The history and maths test results are quite satisfactory, but I felt my marks deterioriating badly amd I must go on a bull-run from now onwards. Friday was an exciting day, as I had Burger King with Wei Jie discussing the Home Economic Coursework, and munching onion rings, fries, cokes and burgers. My relatives' friend had visited our house and I managed to improve on my cantonese, even though it was very bad. Her point of view of the daily life in France fascinated me and my dream is to retire in a rural village in France, owning a plot of land and doing domestic farming. Exam is coming and I wish the whole class the best luck in the EOY examinations and get into the class of your choice.

Beijing Olympic Games

The last day of the Beijing Olympic games, but overall it was a success. The Games had set up a higher benchmark for the 2012 London Olympic games. China had won 51 gold medals, 21 silver medals and 28 bronze medals, which is an outstanding acheivement. It was just short of 5 gold medals to eclipse the Soviet Union record of 55 gold medals won in the 1988 Seoul Games. The Games had succeeded in opening up China but the western media had been critical of the social and political change in the Communist giant. 'The world has learned about China, and China has learned about the world, and I believe this is something that will have positive effects for the long term," Rogge, IOC president, said. The opening ceromony had made us, The Han Chinese, proud of our 5000 years history and being one of the descendants and I believe the closing ceremony will be as brilliant as the opening ceremony. 中国加油！奥运加油！

NUS Year 3 Selection test

The past few days has been pleasant. My performance in the piano exam was very bad, as I played many wrong notes while doing my piano pieces and sight-reading.The scales, appeggios was very disasterous, and my aural exam was totally a nightmare. The sight-singing and singing the lower part was out of tune and at least I made an effort to get the last few sections correct. I think there is a possibility I will fail. The Chinese test was quite okay except for certain questions. The ACC teacher, Mdm Yeo gave the whole class a packet of roasted dried pork to be shared among ourselves. She also ask us what have we learned today and told me to take a class list to circle those names who had remembered the stories correctly. By the way, I circled the whole class due to pressures from the whole class. Actually, I tried to be fair to everyone and I know that she is detestful and biased. The maths test was quite easy and I was so comfortable at the seat that I do not feel like leaving, as there was a television set showing the live telecast of the table-tennis match between singapore and south korea in the staff room. The CIM was as per normal, but I was screwed when I was told to give the warm-up exercise and lecture for seniors. Straight to main topic, today, I went for the NUS year 3 selection test as I would like to try entering the NUS high school of math and science. Based on reliable sources, I can skip my O level and directly go to university as well as not attending flag-raising everyday. On Friday is a free day in their school and you can do lots of experiments that we might not do in our school. I strongly believe that I will learned lots of fascinating things in this school. The selection test was 51 MCQ questions and 19 structured questions. The questions are very tough and most of them are Sec 3 and 4 science questions. Even if I am not selected, I will be happy to continue my studies in Chung Cheng.

Hilarious commercials and shows

hope you enjoy it!!

National Day

The past week has been not bad and my class noticeboard is absolutely brilliant. The home economic class was the most exciting, creating a sumptuous Pasta Alfresco with creamy white sauce, sausage, sliced onion, mushrooms and grated cheese. The national day eve celebration at east coast park or the cross country at East Coast Park. I was doing my St John public duty at East Coast Park for 3 hours, experiencing cooling and windy sea breeze and seeing people running, jogging and strolling. The class tee was perfectly done and I am very satisfied with the class spirit performance even though we did not win the class spirit award. After the closing ceromony, I went to Pizza Hut to have lunch with Wei Jie, total bill $30.60, inclusive of $4.60 tax!! I paid $15.60 and $15 for Wei Jie. I am very curious if he do not have coins with him. The meal was not satisfactory as the beef lasagne was too cheesy, with little beef that taste like tomato sauce.Wei Jie's baked rice was like a cheap rice meal with gravy sauce, and claims it was better than Swensen's. The Ice Lemon tea was very soothing and refereshing, but it taste very sour at first until I saw a bottle of syrup, which give the lemon tea its sweet taste. Wish Singapore a happy 43rd Birthday and properous year ahead! Let us tackle the tough challenges ahead and move on as a nation to strive for a better future and prospect ahead! And wish for the early recovery of our dear form teacher, Mr Davamoni!

03/08

The past three weeks without Mr Albert was very boring, slack and free. The whole class is almost turned upside down. My NAPTA test results is as usual, definite fail.The tea lesson was quite interesting except the taste of the tea is too bland. I would prefer a stronger,much more fragrant and bitter tea. I also need to do cross-country run public duty on national day eve, with my senior which is also a councilor. The worst thing is I had swear at her in front of other councilor and I bet she will detest me definitely. Yesterday,I went for CCA zone activity conducted by my seniors and their peers and witness their promotion ceremony, but the whole day we were just cleaning dunman high school's canteen and playing captains ball. It was quite ordinary and it is a waste of time.Fancy getting up at 6am to attend the activity at 8am and the closing ceremony at 7.30pm. The lunch and dinner were just satisfactory, but they always serve chicken rice with cucumbers and pineapple for lunch.The pineapple taste extremely horrible and I could hear the crushing sound of the unripe pineapple. My squad mates sabotage me by giving their pineapple to me. Tomorrow, I will implement some of the ideas that we suggest during the leadership training and get ready for the arrival of our 'black' teacher !! Good luck to the week ahead!

PFT Test and Household product talk

On the day of the 2.4 km PFT test, our class have the privilege of running the 'last' and the test only starts at 3.30pm. The run was very tiring and long. My face was totally red and I have been gasping for air along the way. I am very thankful to those people who give me support along the way and grateful for their sincere encouragement. Mr Sim was very funny as he could not see our number tags and he ask our register number while we are struggling to keep our pace. Most probably I will pass the test and get an E. I still have to arranged the number tags despite being very exhausted. The Household product talk in the science centre is about using daily product to conduct experiments. It was a cool,thrilling and enjoyable talk and Yun Ting was very brave to shake the bottle of baking soda and vinegar,which could 'pop' the cap out, violently. Miss Chia was so cool to change water into ice in a blink of an eye!( ask her how she managed to do it) The trip to the Science centre for the talk looks as if an excursion trip for 2EP as our class make up the majority. We went to Mcdonald to buy snacks at the last minute before we got up the bus and everyone waited Ze Hao as he waited for his hot,straight from the oven apple pie. We shared french fries and poor Wei Jie had to hold the condiments for us on the bus. I had an upsized meal of big Mac, french fries and medium coke. We took a group picture and Miss Chia is sexy when she crossed her legs and folded her arms. I learned many new scientific knowledge in this talk and cool and weird stuffs in the talk. I would strongly recommended the science centre to conduct more of this talks.

Racial Harmony Day

Today is racial harmony day and it was a rainy day!( no flag raising!!) The Charisma period is very boring and I just chat with the relief teacher for 10 minute. Miss Liew told us that NPCC is pathetic according to her brother and she is in an uniformed group that sells cookies for charity. In the get well card, I thought that condolenscence is similar to regard, but Samantha Or reprimanded me for using that word as it is only used for the dead but according to dictionary,it is an expression of sympathy with a person who is suffering sorrow, misfortune, or grief ! Sorry!! The performance during assembly is quite fantastic and show performance such as Bhangra and pencak silat, but I almost fell asleep. I am sorry for abandoning the class during the class detention on Friday and regreted for not making an appeal for the class. I know people hate or detest me after all this scandal and I will try to make up my mistake to the class. The end!!

leadership training

During today's leadership course, I learn how to manage a class of 37 pupils and bond them together, by turning it into an excellent class in the our school through proper decoration of the board, cleanliness of the class and showing class spirit during national day. After some discussion with Ke Le, Ben and Yun Ting,we had reached to a compromise on how to make our class a better place.The noticeboard must be up to a good quality or high class standard and the theme will be Singapore city landscape, with the fireworks decoration to celebrate national day and Yun Ting will put some funny comics on the noticeboard weekly. The new duty roster will be out soon and to introduce the litter fine for those who do not do their duties or litter the classroom. The fine will be $0.50 for first time with an increament of $0.50 for subsequent time(s). The class spirit is to show how united and bonded we are. We suggest to create a class flag, new class tee, hairspray, red headband and banner. We need the co-operation of two empathy to make our class a condusive place for study. Thank you!

7/13/08

The past few days are quite relaxing and boring, but CCA is very tough, challenging, tiring and time-consuming.The seniors are still saying the old nags and reprimands numerous times, and the attendance is always not full as well as to sell kit-kats for charity. This week is going to be filled with lots of 'joy' and 'excitement' , there is going to have many class tests. Tomorrow there is physics test and I do not have anything to study( no physic light ws) . Today, I completed all my home in 4 hours and just have the time of my life. The end and happy revision!!!!:)

The world largest note

Actually it is worth only hundreds of singapore dollar!

Youth Day

Today, I went to watch ' Hancock' with Wei Jie, Ben Loy, Jayne, Si Yun, Wan Xin and Wei Jie's brother, Han Jie. The movie ticket,popcorn and drinks are proudly sponsored by generous Wei Jie.The movie is quite all right with a sense of humor ,but with very little meaning and about the 'homo' superheros. The climax is emotional and touching, with a wonderful ending. The movie lacks substance and very dull. After the movie, we went to Bugis Junction to take neoprint. The pictures are very funny. The neoprint is very nice and a good memorial gift, better than squattering money in the game arcade.( I spend at least $3 each time I go to the game arcade)

Speech Day

Goedemorgen,today's speech is quite smooth and due to the rain in early afternoon, the rehersal is cancelled. The parade is very long( I do not know the time taken) and my legs experience numbness and pain. I do not figure out why the VIP took their own sweet time.The parade ended at 4.30pm. My footdrills are not up to good standard and I find their NCOs command weird. By the way, for Art, please bring your colour markers and homework completed or you will face the consequences for your own actions.

Speech day rehearsal

the speech day rehearsal is very tiring. You have to stand for 30-40 min for each rehearsal and your back will ache and your foot is entirely numb. the damn guy in-charge keep on shooting at our bad points, focusing on petty mistakes. I feel like throwing my shoe towards him.( Wei Jie do share the same sediments as me!) He stands in the shade and we have to stand under the "clouds"(fortunately). I felt my drills are very bad and I am not sure of the timing(I do execute silent drills), but the St John of CCHYS is even worse,fidgiting during parade. The worst is the concert band is behind my squad, but it may be a good thing too. The Speech day ended at 6.30pm and we arrived at school at 7.30pm.I was surprised that Zhong Hao do not feel tired after the rehearsal.The end!:)

7/1/08

Today's lesson is quite okay and i learn more about malay(even though I did not bring my book) and the chinese letter writing test is quite OK, but I took a long time to complete it. And I chanced upon a funny ad to share with viewers. Enjoy!!!

First day of blog

welcome to my new and sole blog website and I am just an amateur blogger, so I had lots of things to learn. To many people's surprise or horror, they may not realise a so-called nerdy person would set up a blog. I firmly believe blog is a best way to use your freedom of speech and liberal rights on certain issue, and if an ex-prime-minster blogs, why can't I too!