Transformers 2 1:27 PM

Today I watched Transformers 2 with my mum, bro and grandparents.

It was totally AWESOME! :D As good as Angels & Demons. It was fantastically exciting. The CGI is the most beautiful, most detailed that I have ever seen. Ever. The graphics are of no compare. The CGI is just amazing, one billion times better than anything else on earth. Its got a good cast, and great acting. The soundtracks are so nice. I duno how to describe the movie, cos words don’t do it justice. Its just so AWESOME..... so cool..... so amazing.....

I’m so gonna get the Blu-ray. Then I’m gonna watch it a million times more :)

Then the rest of the day was like my healthcare treatment day.

First the dentist. Teeth polishing.

Then the NUH Aesthetic Plastic Surgery Clinic. No, I didn’t do anything drastic. Just a full-face laser peel. Zapping away the outermost layer of skin, which is dead skin.

One of the next few weeks will have a visit to the Orthodontist. To decide between braces or a jaw surgery.

Angels & Demons 10:41 PM

I did something really bad today :(

At lunch with my mum and bro, there was this innocent coffee drink in the menu called "mocha irish cream". So I asked my mum whether I can order it, while she was busy SMSing on the phone. And she said yes.

Well when it arrived, stuff happened. I drank it. Quite a lot of it. Most of it. Well apparently it is alcoholic :O Apparently "irish cream" is a well-known alcoholic drink. Apparently my mum wasn't paying attention when she said yes.

Goodness gracious.

To discover this when one has just about drank the whole cup.

And you know it wasn't even labelled properly as alcoholic in the menu. The menu needs fixing.

I shall thus ban myself from such beverage as mentioned above, in future.

After lunch we went to watch Angels & Demons.

And it was absolutely mind-blowing. The plot is totally show-stopping. Fantastically creative, captivating and enthralling. The cinematography is of no compare. It was simply beautiful, breath-taking, brilliant. The shots flow into each other so smoothly. The locations are absolutely stunning. Everything about it is perfect. Its everything a hollywood movie should be. To give it a rating upon 10, I'd give it 11.

Go watch it if you haven't yet.

I must remember to get the HD recording once its available.

India 9:41 PM

Lucas just called to ask me how I was doing and how was S/NCO course. 

That was very nice of you.....

Thanks a million :)

________________________

Flicking through the photos on Facebook. Connecting the dots between the some of the people I know. The picture it formed was not a nice one. Something crossed my mind.

About choosing your friends carefully.

This one is for someone I know. He/she is not in ACS(I). Are you really okay making friends with someone whom you know treats the people under him/her like dirt? 

It says a lot about your values and morals.

I read somewhere that the degree of advancement of a civilization is measured by how it treats other beings.

________________________

My innocent plan of intending to sleep in today was foiled by yet another meeting. I mean come on, I'm totally exhausted from S/NCO course. So I dragged myself out of bed to go to school.

It was a science research meeting at the IB biology lab. About the science competition in India. The meeting went quite well. It was interesting :)

It seems that me and Anmol are the only two year 3s goings. The rest of the team flying to India are all year 5 and 6.

The competition is called the 1st International Festival of Biotechnology.

Then I also have two national level competitions on top of that. First the A*Star National Science Challenge, along with all its filming appointments. Then the NTU Inter-school Bridge Design competition.

I think science competitions are AWESOME :D Despite the time needed to prepare.

I'm happy :)

Then after the meeting I went to get my MacBook Pro back from AppleCare. The fan was making noises, so I sent it in to get it checked out. When I collected it, there was still the noise.

They were very nice about it. And they were very fast. The engineers on the spot did a complete system hardware diagnostics, dismantled the mac, replaced the relevant parts, and put it back together, in less than 20 mins :)

So its fixed now :)

Then when I got home at 1.30 pm I wolfed down lunch and flopped into bed, still in school uniform, and slept like that all the way until 7 pm.

S/NCO Course 9:33 PM

Boo ya! I am back after disappearing for about a week. I’ve just written my replies to the previous comments. Sorry Jem and Joseph for being so late about that :(

Recently I have been analyzing the site traffic. Just started a couple of weeks ago. This site now has a readership of..... wait for it.....

110 Absolute Unique Visitors. And Counting.

Meaning that there are 110 individual readers so far! :D And I thought Yong Jian was bluffing when he said that everyone reads this blog :P

So here’s a humungous THANK YOU to everyone! :D

So where have I been the whole week? Some people might already know. I’ve been at S/NCO course. I think I shall have an Out of Office notice at the top of the page the next time I vanish for extended periods of time :)

Ever wondered what hell is like? S/NCO course comes damn close.

Everyone at Home Team Academy is freaking mean.

Never felt so close to breaking point. 

Sierra’s platoon commander and assistant platoon commanders were slightly nicer (there are 4 platoons, Sierra, November, Charlie, Oscar). I’m in Sierra :)

Monday was a lot of leadership lectures. They were done by Lieutenant Hozefa. They were awesome! :D

Tuesday morning was Civil Defence knowledge lecture and test. Quite a lot of people failed the test, so they have to retake. I did mine in March, so I kinda slept during the test time, but I still had to sit in for the lecture. I just fell asleep on my hands. Waking up freaking early just to get to HTA on time. Its at Boon Lay, I live at east coast.

Then the whole afternoon was footdrills. All the way until 6 pm. Absolutely horrible. Then dinner and then more lectures and night lessons. In the end I got home at about 11 pm.

Wednesday was lessons on Method of Instruction. Basically how to teach.

Thursday was assessment day. MOI and footdrill assessment. For MOI you have to give a 10 min lessons. Mine went quite well I think. Completely different from my epic disaster lesson on knots and lines during year 1 camp. Footdrill assesment was also an epic disaster. They decided to re-assess anyone with footdrill silver. And in the end they couldn’t finish assessing everyone for footdrill gold :(

Friday was scenario based learning assessment. It was quite fun :) Then passing out ceremony :)

What we learn we might forget, but the friendships that we made will last forever :)

So now ACS (I) NCDCC has its new team of S/NCOs :D

I think the first thing we need to do is to fix the last-minute culture and disastrous admin. Seriously, impromptu lesson plans are just bad. Lieutenant Hozefa was so right about the importance of planning in advance. We have to have a schedule and a plan.

On the way home on the last day, I took the MRT with a fellow S/NCO. Who is also a friend. We had a discussion. And he told me all the reasons why we would never be able to make a difference. And I told him all the reasons why we could.

I mean seriously, if we leave at the end of our 1 year term, and nothing has changed for the better, what’s the point of us being there? What would have been the point of our taking this course?

To that friend.....

All I ask is that you give it just one more thought.

Life and Death 11:22 PM

Jem came over to my home today :) We've managed to do the wardrobe design for the set of the National Science Challenge, and also our class jacket. Only that the class jacket needs a little bit more stuff in Adobe Illustrator..... Anyway we went and did other stuff later cos we finished early :)

Thanks a million Jem for coming over :)

Cos to me even a few minutes with a friend, is worth anything in this world :)

Remember my grandma's collapse and the ICU? So much for my hope that that kind of stuff won't happen again. Today my maid had something like severe gastric trauma. The second medical emergency in about a week. Sigh.

I guess for most other families, if their maid got sick it won't matter to them that much. But she's different. She's looked after me since I was 6 months old. She's looked after me for 14 years. She's like a part of our family, and me and my bro address her not by her name, but by the Indonesian word for "big sister".

I felt horribly worried, upset, and sad.

Then I thought about everything that happened in the last 14 years of my life, and it made me feel even worse. When I was little I used to cry over a lot of stupid things. Small things. Like a broken toy. Or getting hurt.

Then I grew up. My brain didn't.

Cos I still get upset over small insignificant things. One javascript or XML tag out of place and I get a bad mood the whole day. Problems with work and I get angry. Science research not going the way I planned and I cry.

I never ever stopped to think. I never ever realized that nothing in this world is ever as important as the people who love me so much. Issues at school, schedules, science, they aren't worth anything next to the people who mean the world to me.

I treated their love like some joke. I never spend any time with my family. I'm always come back so late every day. Holiday I'm away at whatever camp, or going back to school to do work, and this time I'm not at home from dawn to dusk for 1/4 of my holiday because of S/NCO course.

The next time we can spend time together is the September holidays, when we get the whole family together for a dinner on my birthday. And where will I be? In India. Thousands of miles away. For? A science competition.

My selfishness is matched only by my stupidity. And the only reason why no one said that to me is because they were too polite too.

Its not just my family. I know I don't spend enough time with my friends too. I am a lousy, horrible, terrible friend. I don't even put aside time to keep in contact with them. I don't even call any of them, not a single one, to ask how they are doing. And the minute we change class or go to different schools, that's the last we ever talk to each other.

They gave me everything. They made me who I am. They freely showed me so much love, care and concern. They were prepared to sacrifice anything for me. And I gave nothing in return and I took it all for granted.

And it took not one, but two life and death experiences for me to realize that.

I am a horrible friend, and I don't deserve all the love my friends and family gave me. I don't deserve to have friends. Or family. At all.

The only thing I deserve is to be put through the most gruesome, painful and slowest way to die.

Chocolate 4:32 PM

OMG!!!! Do you know who is the vice-chairman of ASUS Computer Inc? (its a Taiwanese computer maker)

Its Jonathan Tsang. (Yes, the "s" isn't a typo)

Do you know who is the vice-chairman of 3.8?

Its Jonathan Tang.

XD

I am so excited about the Divergent Cloud, my new online magazine! :D Kapilan and Sridhar are also writing for the Divergent Cloud :) I've just finished writing my first editorial yesterday :) Of course, the site is still under lock-and-key, and all the details are very hush-hush. The ads I posted of Facebook and the ad Kapilan posted on DeviantArt (an website for creative professionals) and the teaser site reveal very little.

We're not launching it yet, so that we have time to write articles to ensure that the magazine goes live with enough content. The official launch date and URL is...

1st July 2009, 1 pm UTC +08:00 | DivergentCloud.co.nr

The news is getting around I think. Its a technology magazine, so it would be great if anyone here could pass the news around to people who might want to read it :)

Went to watch Monsters VS Aliens with my mom and bro. Its a really funny movie :D

My mom took leave to take us out today, and we were supposed to go to some italian restaurant for lunch. But it was closed when we got there. Because they were on, and I quote, "summer holiday". Can you believe it? So we went to this chocolate cafe next door to eat lunch.

And it was totally AWESOME :)

I think that is the most chocolate I have ever eaten in one sitting. I feel like a snake after it has swallowed an elephant whole. Not wanting to move ever again.

:)

The Divergent Cloud 3:04 PM

My Mom and I are profoundly upset with my Dad. He's extremely rude, and treats everyone with absolutely no respect. Something that happened/he said at the dinner table made me exceedingly furious, and I made that very clear with the expression on my face.

Unfortunately he's idiot who's insensitivity is matched only by his stupidity.

The dead clear expression of grave annoyance was lost completely on him. And he continued to just be a b***h after dinner. So the minute that idiot got out of my room, I completely lost my temper. I just snached some CD from my table and flung it to the floor. It didn't break, so I picket it up and threw it at the floor again. The case broke into two, and now there are a couple of cracks and deep scratches on the floor.

Then he came back some time later. Not to apologize, but to explain. So he still refuses to accept the fact that he might not be in the right.

Well your lousy attempt at reconciliation has been REJECTED.

________________________

Ok. So we'll have to wait until the 17th before we can download the iPhone OS 3.0. Snow Leopard will ship in September, and is a USD 29.00 upgrade for Leopard users :)

Didn't write anything for a while. Pretty tired these few days. I'm going into semi-professional writing, and I'll be launching an internet magazine soon :) Its free of course :D So the past few days was spent on HTML and CSS and Javascript.

Here's the ad :)

Its not ready yet, but the teaser site reveals a little bit more :) There's also a countdown timer. The magazine is called Divergent Cloud. (Click the name to go to the teaser site)

This Sunday was my first ever Sunday which was totally free :) Went shopping at Orchard Road .

Monday morning was spent getting groceries. I tried to get a phone case at the same time, but the Juzz1 salespeople are absolutely horrible. So I refused to buy anything from them. Terrible customer service. Note to self: EpiCentre is still the best :D

Today was busy. Decided to cook another very complicated Tapas. I'm trying to learn the entire Tapas cookbook :) Spent 3 hours in the kitchen today. Fun :)

I think I owe an apology to a friend. For replying so late to his SMSes. I'm really really sorry :( I was asleep already. And the next day, I left my phone in another room. Sorry :(

You shouldn't apologize for ranting to me. Friends are supposed to provide a listening ear or a shoulder to cry on. And if you need something like that, you don't have to say sorry. Its not your fault that things turned out they way they did and your team members totally slacking.

Yeah, so don't say sorry for that.....

iCan'tWait 9:47 PM

2 More days to WWDC'09.

The suspense is killing me. The rumors and speculation are flying around like crazy. The fake photoshopped photos that accompany the rumors are being uploaded by the bucketful. Every single technology press is writing articles on prediction after prediction.

The iPeople are excited.

We already know the key features of iPhone OS 3.0.  What we want to know now is what  is going to do about the Palm Pre.  are the kind of people who make sure they are years ahead of the competition.

I did the time conversion. The keynote is at 10.00 am PDT, which is 1.00 am the next day local time. Its about 1.5 hrs long, so I'll be staying up until 2.30 am. Later, if the OS 3.0 software update goes live immediately after the keynote, cos I will be updating.

Live coverage by Maclife Magazine will be at this webpage.

And it won't be complete without the "one more thing"

________________________

Not a lot happened today.

Piano was okay. It was interrupted by one of those door-to-door salesmen. I am in the process of making excuses in advance, for the next one that appears. I have already got some for the telephone salespeople/survey people. My favorite, but I haven't got the chance to try it yet, is answering the telephone survey people in Japanese :)

Karate was not good. I was tired. It was a nice warm afternoon. I did karate half asleep. Grading results not released yet. Oh dear.

I missed out something the other day when I was writing about the Science Centre. I happened to drink a canned drink today, which reminded me. 

The other day, me and Jem and Daryl were having lunch together before the National Science Challenge film shoot and schedule briefing. Jem queued for all of us, cos there were so many people around. I forgot to tell Jem which drink I wanted with my meal.....

When he came back he got me an iced milo. He asked whether it was okay with me, and that he guessed that I wasn't the kind of person who drinks fizzy stuff. He also guessed that I dislike Coke/Pepsi.

Dead accurate.

I know this is a bit late, but thanks so much Jem :) That was very thoughtful.....

Funny thing is, I have never in my life told any person in the world about my dislike of fizzy drinks. Few people are as sensitive as this, down to some small detail like the one here......

:)

iWonder 11:54 PM

The banners are up at the Moscone Centre, San Francisco.

3 More days to the Apple Worldwide Developer Conference 2009.

And on 8 Jun, 10.00 am PDT. The world will be amazed yet again.

Snow Leopard and iPhone OS 3.0. The entire of Apple-land is waiting.

Yeah. All of the iPeople want to know exactly when OS 3.0 update servers go live. I'll probably be staying up very late to wait for the software update to go online :) Universal instant search..... notes sync..... universal copy and paste regardless of application..... MMS...... 

Can't wait :)

________________________

Most of today was spent tidying all manner of things. The entire house. Feel so much better after everything has become organized :)

Made an abstract, modern art mobile in the evening. Creative pursuits relieve stress :)

Hmm..... maybe I will make the NTU Inter-school Bridge Design & Engineering Competition in September my last physics competition. Ever. Overlooked this earlier on, but now that it comes to mind. Still mega upset over the NUS Amazing Lab Race. I haven't a clue what in the world the physics department is trying to do. Say they will send so and so number of people. Then strike off everyone's names except for Swapnil, when they can easily send more than 1 team.

If that's the way they want it, Swapnil can go do all the physics. I don't care. I'll go do my bio and chemistry.

It was a friend's blog which reminded me about this thing. He was writing about YOG Sports Presentation. Same thing. Say they will choose 400. Then last minute cut back to 100. Yeah, I know how you feel.....

More idiots. On top of the ones described yesterday.

What kind of twisted person could get through life getting people's hopes up only to dash them later, without regret, apology or explanation? 

At least Ali 2.0 seems to be working as intended. You can read about it in the archives, if you haven't seen it before. Its basically my new personality. Ruthless. Lethal if you mess with it.

It gets things done.

It also has great idiot-management features.

Guess how I settled yesterday's Media Productions AC issue. (btw, Thanks a million Sridhar for the advice :) ....) No it wasn't long sweet emails with lots of pleases and thank yous. It was one single SMS written in a I dare you to mess with me voice.

Short. Direct. Scathing.

It settled everything in 30 seconds.

Idiots 11:58 PM

EXCUSE ME MEDIA PRODUCTIONS AC. WHAT KIND OF RUBBISH ARE YOU TRYING TO DO? ASKING ME TO DO A FILM ASSIGNMENT DUE 2 YEARS AGO? DIDN'T IT GET PAST YOUR EVOLUTIONARILY INFERIOR BRAIN THAT I HAVE RESIGNED FROM MEDIA PRODUCTIONS AC AEONS AGO? DIDN'T IT OCCUR TO YOU THAT I WASN'T EVER IN THE TEAM FOR THAT ASSIGNMENT IN THE FIRST PLACE? 

HOW COULD YOU BE SO F***ING IRRESPONSIBLE? PUSHING YOUR RESPONSIBILITY AROUND. ALL OF YOU ARE IDIOTS. GO F**K UP YOUR OWN LIVES. NOT MINE. I HAVE EVERYTHING TO LIVE FOR, SO SCREW OFF LOSERS.

ALL OF YOU ARE CRETINS. YOU PEOPLE ARE AN INSULT TO THE HUMAN RACE.

GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER. THEN MAYBE I'LL THINK AGAIN ABOUT COMING DOWN WITH A COLLECTION OF SCORPIONS AND THROWING THEM ALL OVER YOU PEOPLE.

________________________

I woke up at 9 today.

Rushed out of the house, cos I needed to get groceries. Walked to popular first, because my pencil case tore, so I needed a new one. Popular was closed. Only opens at 11. Waste my time.

Walked over to Parkway Parade. Its the shopping mall with the big "PP" sign on its side. Went to cold storage. Where there was this woman who was supposed to restock the shelves. I'm so amazed that she and her trolley managed to single handedly obstruct the entire vegetables section. It didn't help that their herb collection was preposterously small and hard to find.

The delicatessen wasn't any better. I needed marinated olives. I ring the bell almost 3 times. I wait 5 minutes before anyone behind the counter turns around. There were no other customers.

Lousy customer service. I'm gonna change the place where I get my groceries from.

Then walked over to popular. Which still wasn't open. So I stood outside for a while. 

When I was finally done with this whole terrible "shopping experience", the time was 11.30. So I practically ran home, and had the most rushed cooking session ever. 

Then I was so tired I slept the whole afternoon. Unproductive. House-tidying will have to be done tomorrow.

Woke up had dinner. Then went to visit my grandma in hospital. She's now in ICU. A CT scan revealed a brain injury and internal bleeding from an earlier fall. She's under the care of a neurosurgeon, although no operations are required yet.

The ICU is not a fun place to go. 

It is so quiet, so sterile, so cold. Devoid of any humanity. The only sound is the regular computerized beep from the life signs monitor. There are so many tubes stuck into the patients. They are surrounded by a humungous array of life-support machines. 

Everything there is so icy, so unfeeling.

iSpace 11:01 PM

I do so many stupid things.

Sorry Jonathan Tang. I need to think before I say stupid things. I know, you are right, I am a lousy friend. I'm sorry.

Sorry Jeremy Ong, for dragging you out of prefect camp even though I knew it meant so much to you, just for some stupid national science challenge thing at the science centre, which was hardly important and wasting so much time.

I'm so thoughtless. Selfish. Careless. Cold. I don't deserve to be called a friend.

I'm sorry.

________________________

Met up with Jem and Daryl in school to have lunch together at the Science Centre. We had to go to Daryl's house first, cos he needed to drop off the props from Lang Arts Festival. The conversation we had on the way there was seriously funny :)

The National Science Challenge briefing did not go well. I think it was unproductive. I think it would have been better to email the essential information to the schools. Also, the film shoots for the various schools should have been done concurrently, maybe 2-3 schools at a time. These procedures would have saved a large amount of time. 

It would have been appropriate to note that there are a number of students who have other appointments to attend to. We all make mistakes. So let this film shoot allow for the improvement of future ones :)

Dean Sethi, I know you will read this. Please make sure you come in school uniform for all the official National Science Challenge meetings. I do not appreciate your appearing in the film shoots in random T-Shirts or without a school tie. It projects an extremely tardy image of our school. I am also very unhappy with the fact that this is not the first time. 

For the rest of the NSC team, I do think that it is important to express our opinions. Especially if we feel that a team member has been very inappropriate in his actions. However, please express them constructively. Phrases such as "you are a joke" are not productive. I feel that some team members have been very unprofessional about it. Please don't do it again. It gives a very disunited impression.

Ok. So after the briefing Jeremy's camp was over already, so he didn't have to rush back to school, and we stayed around till closing time at 6, to walk around and see the exhibits in the Science Centre. Yeah, and thanks Jeremy for pointing out the iSpace exhibit :) It was totally awesome :D

iSpace is basically a technology showroom thingy, where they show everyday applications of technological innovations. You pick up a RFID card, and register, and set your language preference. And any touchscreen that you approach for information, you wave your card, and it selects the appropriate language for you.

The lift was super cool, and the interactive floor was awesome :D The floor was like some kind of giant screen, which responds to points where your feet touch the it. It shows a pattern of ripples.

Then came closing time, so we went to the gift shop, then took MRT home. 

Jeremy and Daryl got off at Dover. So I was alone for the rest of the ride home. Lots of time to think about life.

Funny how you can be in a place where you are surrounded by so many people yet feel so alone.

At this moment there at 6,417,652,321 people in the world. Some are running scared. Some are coming home. Some tell lies to make it through the day. Others are just now facing the truth. Some are evil men, at war with good. Some are good, struggling with evil. Six billion people in the world. Six billion people. And sometimes all you need are the few who matter so much to you.

Thinking about an earlier conversation..... Yeah, I understand what that felt like. A lot of people say so many really mean things..... hurts alot when you did something for someone you like, and then he says its terrible..... Shake off the drama they create. Its a chapter in the past. Don't close the book. Just turn the page. You are better than that.

I'll be here always if ever you need someone to talk to. 

I realize that people are very much identical to 4 dimensional hypercubes. 

Interesting.

Complicated.

Confusing.

Many-sided.

Some of these sides are nice. Others not quite. Some draw admiration. Some scare me. And like a 4d hypercube, its difficult to reconcile some sides. We all have our differences. Most of these make us better friends. The remaining few are a bit more difficult. And sometimes, I'm scared of reconciling some of them, because I just know that what I'll say will hurt a friend. 

Its so easy when its someone you hate.

Its so difficult when its someone you like a lot.

I guess all I want is a world where everyone can be at peace with each other. Happy, content. Free of suffering. And I know in the eyes of most people I ask for way too much. 

But there is one philosophy lesson that I will remember for the rest of my life. It was and experiment about listing down all the issues and problems of the whole world. And I put up my hand and said that every last thing on that list was the outcome of human tyranny, cruelty, greed, apathy. And we went through the list one by one, and not a single person in the room could disagree.

I don't subscribe to the belief that suffering is the outcome of eating some fruit of the knowledge thing in eden. Adam and Eve didn't create suffering. We did. Each and every person, every single one of us in this world. 

And I think that if each and every one of us tried, and did everything we could, making a difference wherever we can, making the world better in every small way, a utopia isn't unachievable. 

I'm an idealist. I'm naive. I'm stupid. And I'm stubborn. I refuse to accept that we can never extinguish suffering. 

I'm not a fighter. But I'll fight for the people who mean so much to me. And if I end up dying cos of that, it won't matter to me. 

The excuses we make, geographical differences, religious differences, natural disasters, language barriers, misunderstanding. They are all lies and half truths. But I'll spend my entire life to find the truth of a thousand lies.

Whatever reasons we give ourselves, they aren't what limit us. 

We are the human race. We've come this far.

Held back only by our own fears and inaction.

Housework 10:38 PM

Morning was busy.

Sriyanah has gone home to Indonesia. So I'm kinda like doing most of the housework. Partly because both parents are working, and also because I can't stand other people doing it, because they keep whining so much. So I do it myself.

Laundry took up a big chunk of morning. Then I went to cook lunch.

My dad can't cook. My mum is a very practical person. Meaning she doesn't cook anything that takes more than 5 min preparation time, and is a great fan of one dish casseroles. And for some reason, they think I can't cook. So to prove them wrong, and to prove to myself that I can cook, I decided to do a series of very complicated spanish dishes. They were all Tapas, quite similar in a sense to dim sum, but spanish. 

I started at 10.45, and didn't finish until 1. Total of 2 hrs 15 mins in the kitchen. Which isn't my longest. Baking cakes and pastries took way longer than that. There was this particular Tapas, which on its own took over an hour to do.

It was quite fun :) And my bro thinks the Tapas were awesome :)

Rest of the day was okay.

Until just before bedtime. My mum was halfway reading a story to me and my bro. The phone rang. My dad picked up. My grandma collapsed at my auntie's house. She is diabetic, has hypertension and a history of knee operations.

Everything after that just slashed my nerves apart.

Every time NCDCC does anything related to saving someone's life, I hope against hope that I will never ever have to do the real thing. And if I ever have to, at least let it not be someone I love. 

The hours and hours of practice. The tons of notes, powerpoints. The zillions of tests after tests. Nothing can ever prepare you for the real thing. 

This is the kind of stuff you figure happens to someone else. 

Getting kicked in the teeth by reality..... not something I want to feel ever again.

Chocolate Cake 12:12 AM

Um.... yeah..... the first thing I ate today was a huge slice of chocolate cake. The one from Bakerzin. It was awesome! :D I want this for my birthday cake XD And coffee with it. I like to add 3 parts milk to 1 part pure coffee.....

Moving on.

From here on things became bad, bad, bad. On the last day of the IP Model United Nations Conference is the "Parade of Nations". Basically 5 minutes on stage to showcase the culture of your delegation's country, using any medium. 

I managed to get the delegation of USA. Muahahahaha...... I feel all powerful....... veto power....... All the credit goes to my hyper-efficient delegation :D

Ok anyway, its not that we can't think of something to do. Its that its so difficult to realize our idea. I did a draft of one part of it. Took the whole day. It was awful. Utterly tasteless. It had no visual appeal at all. Drag to the Trash. 

Got nothing done today.

Then I had piano lesson. 

It was totally AWESOME :)

The exam pieces are freaking difficult. I can't play most of the chords because my fingers are not long enough. My third piece requires half pedalling. It has Hemiola, meaning that the treble counts in 3 crotchet beats, while the bass counts in 2 dotted crotchets. Halfway through the harmony becomes so complicated that for readability's sake it splits into 3 staves instead of the usual 2.

Somehow though, it all seemed so deeply fascinating.

Have you ever had the chance to know what it feels like the first time you fell in love with a intellectual pursuit of somekind? The one single tiny magic spark that makes you want to discover so much more so badly? That one moment which changes everything?

It took almost 9 years and 7 grades. But the wait was worth it.

I felt it only once before. In a science museum. I guess I'm lucky that I get to feel what its like a second time.

Words don't do it justice.

I think I can understand why people can spend their whole life on music. 

Aural was equally fascinating. One of the questions was name the type of modulation or the key that the extract has modulated to. So I need to go memorize all the theory work on modulation. You need theory work for practical exams. Don't ignore it :)

I'm gonna practice like crazy for this exam. Not because I want to pass the exam.

Its because I finally found the passion to.