Tuesday 29 May 2007

Sleepy?? Nah, doesn't work on me

Well, the school holidays have began, and I guess I have plenty to be thankful for. Decent results, my parents being away in Europe, and all the other things.....


Got the flu last Friday, so I've spent most of my time up here in my room. My brother and sister mainly occupy themselves and my grandfather's staying with us to watch over, so for once, I don't have to watch them making sure they don't wreck the house or something. Been spending most of my time up here "resting", if you can call 4 hour long shifts of DotA and Runescape resting. Half of the four medicines the doctor gave said might cause drowsiness, but I stayed up the whole night on Sunday. Went Tzhaar hunting with Tim and his friend in that time, ownage drops from those guys. I got an obby maul, Tim got a obby cape which he kindly donated to me (thanks man, really appreciate it), with only his poor friend getting nothing from that intimidating looking bunch. Four arms, and a three digit combat, but worth the risk.


After two days of intensive strength training I finally hit level 70 attack on Monday, which allows me to, at long last, use an Abyssal Whip. I went back to the Tzhaar caves to temper my new weapon, and though I could kill them easier, they weren't as generous this time. Reaching 70 attack also allowed me to enter the Warriors Guild. Worked my way up to the Black defender, just three more to go.

Finished the Horror from the Deep quest today to get the Saradomin prayer book since I already got page 1 and 2 from treasure trails. Just looking for pages 3 and 4 to complete it.....

Saturday 26 May 2007

Yes!!!!

Well, I got 6th in class, despite Elec History and English under performing. If not for my practical for Physics scything my A1 down to a B3, I could have made a bid for 5th or higher. Then again, there isn't really much to complain about. Bryant was really sad about his results and 12th position, and I really have to empathize with the guy. Both of us are in the same pressure cooker, with equal parental expectations.

Once again, good old Sam came to save the day by inviting us to his place after school to cheer everyone up. When the final bell rang we (Sam, Bryant, Jin and me) all piled into his car. Of course, the default action would be start up the 360 and play Gears. While we plugged it in the topic fell down to our marks. Jin had a small seizure when he found out my L1B5 was the same as his. I played against Bryant first in Gridlock while Sam occupied himself with my laptop and where to find the secret shop in DotA. I managed one chainsaw kill, but that was about it. I'll face it, I wasn't born for first-person multiplayer.

We moved on to campaign after awhile, which I fare much better at. I managed about 6 kills (4 were chainsaws) in campus grinder. Then I forgot the Number One rule in chainsawing (Do not attempt to chainsaw a Boomer), promptly got owned, and Bryant needed to save me with his longshot. We moved on to another scene, think it was long road home. We had to do this bit several times because Bryant either got killed by the Theron Guard in the house, or I got killed in the courtyard (Mostly it was me), and after several frustrating attempts, we finally made it through, with Bryant sniping down the first Theron Guard that climbed in, and me sawing anything that moved in the courtyard, which included another two Theron Guards that tried to climb in. Next bit involved dashing out for a Hammer of Dawn to kill this Seeder, which unfortunately, was my job as the guy on the ground. I dashed towards it, dropped my Lancer. Then I got chainsawed by a Drone. Jin eventually took over, and after 15 minutes or so, they switched to Call of Duty 2. Of course, since Sam's fourth controller was broken, I elected myself out. Unfortunately, it wasn't as fun being a bystander as in Gears.



I think Sam took pity on me, cause they swapped back to Gears after just 2 rounds. Bryant and Jin continued their campaign until Sam and I took over. I can't believe how anyone could do without a Lancer like the two of them. Worst bit was, I had no idea to fire a bloody Torque Bow, so all my explosive arrows landed at my feet.

After a few more rounds of multiplayer which I served no more as target practice, we had to leave before Sam's mother arrived.



On Chainsaws

Bryant : I'm running out of Longshot rounds!!

Me : Thats why we have THIS!!!! (Saws apart Grenadier Drone)

Dom : Juicy!!


On my multiplayer skills

Bryant : Dude, you just wandered your way back to the starting point

Me : Chainsaw man spends 90% of the time being lost, and the other 10% dead!!

Sunday 20 May 2007

Title race

I always get overly emotional when exams arrive, so much so I don't post at all. Physics was good, with an A1 there(75%), though I might get demoted to A2 because of the practical. I got really depressed over E-maths, turns out I failed (45%). On the bright side, I lead the class in A maths with a grand total of............68%. No seriously, I'm the highest with that. Lit came back better than expected (17/25) with me and Bryant just 1 mark away from Kevin Wong. Wei Jee got 21/25 for lit, something about using bombastic words. Sheesh, I say keep it short and simple, all the answers are bulked up enough already. I rank third in class for chem with 25/40, though I'd be first if Mr. Tang didn't give sympathy marks to Zhongxi and Kevin Lee. Just hope Elec History, English and Chinese don't pull my title hopes down. I should be able to finish top ten, but chasing first pretty much out of the question with Jordan doing, surprisingly, exceedingly well for just about everything.

To celebrate the end of the exams, I tagged along with Daryl and Co. to watch Spiderman 3. As usual, William Lum provided pre-show entertainment unwittingly. There's never a moment where you don't laugh at the silly guy or roll your eyes in exasperation. Don't get me wrong, William's a nice guy, but he is so blur. More blur than me in blur mode. I mean, he's intelligent, but blur. And he's so obsessed with his hair and his looks for some reason....

Anyway, once we finished up at Mac's and decided to leave the mystery burger that Andrew took thinking one of us ordered it, we arrived in the cinema a little late to skip all the ads. I'd have to agree it isn't as good as the previous two, but still good nonetheless. Peter Parker does not look good when he went emo, and the Sandman gets knocked out too easily. I mean, when he grew to about 5 storeys tall, he staggers back and falls after two tiny rockets from Harry Osbourne's glider. All I'll say about the ending is that like father like son, Harry gets impaled by his glider as well. Weren't enough fight scenes though.


I sent Homeward Bound to Mrs Ang, to see what she said. Apparently, she felt it was beautiful, but was a slave to rhyme. What kind of poem doesn't rhyme? But she still wants to put it in the Muse (Compilation of the best literary works in the school). If it does make it in, I'll have two entries in next year's Muse, with my Commendation winning Commonwealth Essay being published there too. The thought of that......

Monday 7 May 2007

The campaign begins

The day began well, with the very first thing I heard on the radio being the confirmation of Manchester United's confirmation of the EPL title. And the stupid pundits predicted Chelsea domination for the next decade.... It was a good omen of things to come. Physics was easy enough, all questions do-able with confidence. SS and Elec History were just as easy, with the SS essay even stating the reasons!!! History was okay, reliability was easy enough. Inference, this is what I wrote for a cartoon of Stalin playing drums with bones

Inference 1- He killed many people
Inference 2- He didn't give a crap about the lives of his people
Inference 3- He played the drums (Okay, I didn't actually put that)

Tomorrow is A-maths and Chemistry, must make battle preparations to achieve my target of a hat-trick of A1s.

Saturday 5 May 2007

Must you put it that way?

Common test begins on Monday, starting with Elective History and Physics. So far so good, I looked through the old Mid-Year Exam Papers, they seem okay, though the number of multiple choice questions surprises me. Hope they do the same for this one. I actually intended to study in the library after school today, but Chris and Co. convinced me to play soccer till about 3.30pm. My bag felt like a frigging payload since we had to clear out all our stuff from the desks today, and I wasted a few minutes trying to fit my bloated bag into one of the lockers. Finally, I gave up and reasoned with myself that Mr. Sydney Tan would probably break his back trying to haul it away like he does to all bags outside the library that aren't in lockers. Headed to the CC when the librarian chased everyone out during closing time, and encountered that little squirt Russell.

Little background info on this guy, he joined rugby last year, towering at a grand height of about 150cm and weighing 50kg, boasting that he'd probably feature in the squad this year, and preposterously predicted that he'd become captain by next year. He lasted about a month, from which he suffered and complained about everything from grass rash covering his entire torso, the inability to last more than 2 rounds, and his insane fear of.......flies.
Bugger was tagging along with Hambali, who was playing cards at the CC cafeteria. Tiny pipsqueak's got to watch the company he keeps....

I began my usual Friday night, which is on the com, my way of compensating for lack of free time. I was on Runescape (Yes, I play, please for God's Sake, don't laugh), and happened to chance upon good old Timmy, my friend who has become one with the game. Apparently he does this too. He read Homeward Bound on the previous post, and gave it a pretty good review as well. However, thats where the good bit ends. In response to me usurping the substitute teacher, he put it down to diligence rather than intelligence, and said I may be good when it comes to prose, but was probably not so in maths, science and logic.

Naturally I was hurt. I couldn't believe a good friend of two years could say that. Haven't I proved time and again in 202, and even now, that I am at least close to him in standard for these three things??? Listen Dim, I may be in 322, and you in 333, but listen and listen good, maths and science are up my alley. I got 4 A1's last year. And what were they in??? Maths, Biology, Chemistry and English. The only reason I'm here in a bloody Double Science Double Humanities class and not up there with you is because I failed Physics last year, and my HUMANITIES dragged my average down. It hasn't been easy accepting that. It'll probably won't be for a long time. I've never truly succeeded since the day I stepped into this school, and I admit some of that was my own fault, like floating my way through Sec 1. I rushed all the way in Sec 2. I thought I made it. Then I was told I didn't. I hate that most, getting my hopes up that high, for nothing. Everytime I think about this, I just want to lash out at something, someone. Especially those who don't know what its like. I just can't concentrate on anything when someone reminds me of this, let alone poke at it. I can't do homework, I can't study, I can't play properly. I turn moody, violent even. I rip of the mask of a happy clown I wear around all the time. And its only going to stop when I've proven not just to my peers, but to the whole world, that I'm more than what you've made me out to be. You picked a really bad time to say all that Tim. If you were anyone else, they'd be watching sunrise through the tangles of IV tubing. I'll acknowledge that you are academically better than me, but I'm not that far off. So please, don't treat me like an idiot. I act like one most of the time, but if you really were my friend for these years, you'd know its another mask I wear, like so many others.

Thursday 3 May 2007

Why's Labour Day called Labour Day when you don't labour??

I made Tung's substitute look a little foolish on Wednesday. He took up more than half the board to work out one question everyone else couldn't do, even Zhongxi and Khai Sam. I'd already done in the the ten year series because thats where they fish all these revision questions from, and I solved in a much shorter number of steps. Seeing this as a golden opportunity to prove that my bid for top in A maths in class wasn't far fetched and outsmart an experienced teacher while I was at it, I announced I had a much shorter, faster and simpler answer. "How much shorter?" he asked. "Really short" I replied confidently, and scribbled five lines. When the class finally deciphered my horrendous handwriting, there were exclamations of "So easy?!?!?!", "So short only?!?!?", and most pleasant of all, "Cheng Heng pro!!" The sub scrutinized my working for awhile, probably looking for a mistake somewhere, but apparently found none and admitted I was right.

I also pondered the meaning of Labour Day. Why in the world is it called Labour Day, when we don't labour on it?? Okay, I spent it labouring, mugging actually. I guess most people have too. After about 3 hours of maths, I got bored and decided to write again, intending to spend about an hour on it. It took me another three hours to do this.


Homeward Bound
The long grasses billow in the wind
Far away from the city's din
In this ocean of gold and green
Where few have known and ever seen
Is a place where things go slow, especially life
No conflicts here, devoid of strife
An emerald shard of Heaven on Earth
It's Nature's Sanctuary, of infinite worth
The endless field goes on and on
My memories of this place are all fond
But the recollection I hold most dear
Of all the happy times I spent here
In the haven where life saunters at a leisurely pace
Is the eternal image of her face


Though many years have passed since then
I remember it as clearly as one possibly can
The first time I moved here, I noticed a tree
And under it, a girl who looked the same age as me
When she saw me coming, she waved and smiled
Calling for me to stay awhile
I walked over, and sat down
Next to the girl in the pink and white gown
I was a shy child, and I slightly feared
Having the pretty stranger sit so near
At first I didn't dare speak
But this girl was far from meek
"Hi! Did you just move here? Are you new?" she asked
With her bubbly disposition, we became friends fast
From then on, whenever we were free
We'd both head down to that old tree
We'd frolick and chase each other in the fields and then
In the midst of such fun and laughter, a beautiful friendship began



For the next five years, we would play
In that lovely field every single day
But one day we had to part
Destiny cruelly tearing us apart
My parents decided I belonged in the city, and I should return
The very thought of leaving her made my soul burn
We spent our last evening under the tree
Seeing her so sad really pained me
Tearfully, she asked why I had to go
I broke down too, and said I didn't know
We stayed there, watching the stars
The distance between us would soon be that far
There, nestled in each other's arms we lay
Until the inevitable break of day
As the sun came up into the sky
Once again, she began to cry
The sun lit up her eyes and long hair with its rays
As she whispered sadly "Promise you'll come back okay?"


Its been three years since that day
Once again I stand beneath the tree today
Silently thinking in reminiscence
Of her personality so effervescent
Everything is similar to the day I first came
The weather, the season, exactly the same
But this time, everything's so dreary
The emerald fields seem like deserted praire
Its now seems of life devoid
A giant empty abyssal void
Without her life this place is dead

Suddenly, a voice calls out to me in recognition
Could it be? I turn with anticipation
A hurtling body knocks me down
Emitting happy, joyous sounds
I look up and see her lovely face
I can't think, my mind's in space
"Sorry, I must be heavy"
Her crystal voice tinkles and apology
We get up and we embrace
She holds her head towards my face
Under the tree's leafy dome
She whispers the sweetest words "Welcome home"

Bryant's reaction

When shown to Bryant, he sandwiched a compliment between two insults, so I didn't catch it at first..


Me: How is it??

Bryant: Fuck you, how did you write this!! Its awesome!! Fuck you!!

Sam's reaction

Me: So what do you think??

Sam: I must wipe my ass with this so no one sees your talent

Aleena's reaction ( My other literature pundit)

Me: And your stand on it is??

Aleena: You considering publishing this??

I just realized, someone could steal all this and publish it as their own, that has me worried....
Maybe I should stop posting my works up here.....


Sad news, United lost 3-0 at the San Siro Stadium to AC Milan, after winning the first leg 3-2. There goes the Treble I guess. Well, at least that means Fergie won't be retiring too soon, he said he wanted one more Champions League trophy before he retires....

Some church people came to school during RME. You could have connected a brain activity meter to my head, and all you'd see is a flat line while they talked. Sounded like a bloody conversion session.



Hours Mugging: 30