May: The Month of a Million Birthdays

Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Secret War Journal[31 May 2011]
My good friend, the Czar asked me to post about his post so here goes!
So, the Czar is back in his second installation of a-post-a-week, a worthy effort on his part, and no doubt a reason for his recent mental fatigue. The intense concentration and discipline required for the fruition of this post has simply been unprecedented in nature. In fact, the Czar’s advisors have repeatedly warned against the plausible consequences of continuing on with this madness; the Czar just shrugged it off and trudged onwards. After all, the promise has been made.
And only the weak break promises.



H
ere, as the end of May nears and June approaches, I can’t help but feel overwhelmed. It’s not only due to the impending doom that many predicted would occur (the Mayans got it wrong; December 2012 is a lie. It’s September 2011, A’ levels period). Instead, I think it’s also because of the many events that occur this month.

Ah yes, this is the month with an absurd amount of birthdays. I had to congratulate many of my companions on their arrival to the world some many years ago. Not that it’s often worth celebrating (yes, to all my haters out there, I’m talking to you).

Probably a direct result of this monstrous behemoth of a birthday cluster is presents. The sending of presents. Of course, the Czar is not mindful of the number of gifts required; he is after all in possession of a large plentitude of wealth. Money simply isn’t an issue.
…is what I’d like to say. Sadly, things are quite the opposite — I’m broke.

Perhaps I’d better start saving up. Money management has never been part of my good points. Even so, I hope that my lack of material obligations are much made up by my mental and spiritual contributions. My well-wishes are all sincere and from the depths of my heart. And even if you have never (and probably will never ever) received a present from me in its physical form, you can be sure I have one for you. Emotionally. In my heart.
Yes, really.
Back to May; One thought often springs to mind — why are so many people born in this month? It is as though people decided to give birth en masse. I’m getting close to knowing someone with a birthday on each and every day of the month. And I don’t even have many friends (cues sad smile from the Czar)!
Interesting, isn’t it? Makes you wonder what is so special about the nine months prior to May.

Regardless, with a million birthdays naturally comes a billion birthday wishes. And the trend nowadays for birthday wishes are these little Facebook wall-posts. In fact, I dare say that you get more birthday wishes on your Facebook wall than in real life conversations. Or even conversations over the phone. Hell, even SMSes are rare.

That is … if your friends remember your birthday in the first place. Well, how tough can it be? After all, even if you forget it (or don’t even remember it in the first place, you lousy bugger), you will be reminded of your friend’s birthday on that day itself. Even if your date of birth is hidden, it will all be over when a close friend posts “Happy Birthday!” on your wall. Cry “havoc!” and let slip the dogs of war!

Here, think about it. What are the value of birthday wishes today? Before the inception of social networking sites such as Facebook, the average person has to remember his friend’s birthday by heart. Of course, some would cheat a little and mark it on their calendars, but that’s the most one can do, and even that would require some effort. Now, you don’t even have to do anything other than to log in to Facebook daily. Who knows if that person wishing you a happy birthday is doing it with sincerity or as a part of his daily log-in routine? In fact, I’ll even go so far as to say that 1 in 3 of those who post on your wall wouldn’t know about it if not for Facebook.

Don’t believe it? Try hiding your date of birth and getting a few friends to fake some birthday wishes. You’ll be surprised at the results.

Anyway, things aren’t all bad. After all, you do get a billion birthday wishes on your birthday; an effective ego boost no doubt, and a significant, though temporary, income increase if your friends are the gift-happy kind (hmm … the Czar needs more birthdays a year to cope with his financial crisis and feel less overwhelmed). Of course, all that pales in comparison with the warm, fuzzy feeling you get when your close friend celebrates your birthday with you. But, perhaps it all can’t be helped. We humans appear to be unstoppable in our thirst for a convenient and automated world. Maybe in the near future, even the birthday presents you receive may be generated automatically by some program. So before things like that happen, enjoy your birthday and it’s special meaning. Especially that one person who’s having her birthday today.

Yes, you! I’m talking to you!
spacespace
The point?
Look at the first letter of each paragraph.
In case you didn't get what the post was trying to say, it's a novel way to say Happy Birthday. Sorry, I had to spoil it because otherwise, I can't continue my post. Haha.

This post is to wish a number of people whose birthday falls in the month of May! Most of you would never ever see this post, but hey it's the thought that counts (in my opinion)

After all, if the Shadow King reveals himself, he will be very short-lived as a Shadow King, isn't it? ;)

By Chronological order:
  1. Clarissa, :p - 5th May
  2. Joan - 13th May
  3. Siew Yan, you probably will never read this but... the speaker and card were by Johnston :) Meet up soon yeah? - 23th May
  4. Zheng Yao - 23th May
  5. Janus - 24th May
  6. Marcus, well.... HAHAs, hope you liked it - 24th May
  7. Simin - 24th May
  8. Dion - 26th May
  9. Gideon, my junior! - 26th May
  10. Mr Quek - 26th May
  11. Pei Si - 27th May
  12. Angeline, just realised I don't have your mobile number. Hahas, had to use Facebook to wish you Happy Birthday after all - 28th May
  13. Kelvin, hahas I really like our maths rep deal, win-win situation :) - 28th May
  14. Last and foremost, my dad. Actually this post is dedicated to you, which is why I'm posting this today. Not bad for a closure yeah? (Nah, I will never tell my parent or siblings about this blog) - 31st May

I know I don't have much left. I'm trying hard to continue my life. I know I still have two of you with me. I will try hard to stay happy and not worry you so much. Sorry. Ah..... sounds so emo, enjoy your special day today and don't too much. :)

"I can't change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination." - Jimmy Dean

PSSC Fair / RSAF Open House

Sunday, May 29, 2011
Secret War Journal[29 May 2011][Photo-heavy]
Yes, me deciding to attend the Public Service Scholarships & Careers (PSSC) Talk was long decided. I had planned to invite some guests to the talk but because I was asked to register for them beforehand which I did not, I was wondering if they would be interested and didn't had the time to ask before the deadline as the decision to go was rather last minute too.

Johnston and I meet up earlier at Plaza Singapura for Lunch. This is perhaps a good time to inform you all, we are all pretty sick of fast food due to excessive eating of fast food during all our study sessions, dubbed Mugfest.
Much to our dismay, we couldn't find a food court in the shopping mall. I could had sworn I had seen a food court in there before. Oh well. We decided to dine at Pizza Hut.

Student meals were not available during weekdays. Johnston decided to order Baked rice while I ordered Hawaiian Pizza for lunch.

Keller arrived around 10 minutes later. At that point, our food had not arrived. I was starting to wonder where's our food and if the waiters forgot our orders.

Around 20 minutes passed and Keller started to complain about how long our food is taking to arrive because we were going to be late for the fair at this rate.  As a result, we went to ask a waitress when is our order would be ready.

It was only until then we released they forgot our orders. Mine was prepared in haste while we were given a free plate of garlic bread since Johnston's baked rice would take a long time.

Well, eventually, we got our food though we missed some of the talks for the fair.


The fair was not bad. There were really a lot of information about the scholarships. In addition, there were talks scheduled by various organisations to inform us in depth what their organisation is about.

As it turns out, there wasn't a need for worry about not registering your name before the deadline. The fair was pretty much open to the public, if you were aware of such a fair in the first place. The event was pretty much hushed up.

I guess I'm helping them to do some publicity for them right now. Hahas. The event was at the Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel this year. I wonder where the event would be held next year. :)

In the fair, I met the other Leroy. Actually, he spotted me first. Hahas.

After the talks, we headed off for the Royal Singapore Air Force(RSAF) Open House!

RSAF 2011
For this, I had prepared an image slideshow for simplicity. Unfortunately, it's in the opposite order, my apologies.

Time to rise the curtains, for I shall let the photos do the talking. *Walks off*


"War does not determine who is right - only who is left." ~Bertrand Russell

Learning How to Write in the Sand

Friday, May 20, 2011
Secret War Journal[20 May 2011]
A touching story about friendship. So true, so true. A short excerpt about two friends and how one of them learns what true friendship is all about.

Two friends were walking through the desert. In a specific point of the journey, they had an argument, and one friend slapped the other one in the face.

The one, who got slapped, was hurt, but without anything to say, he wrote in the sand: "TODAY, MY BEST FRIEND SLAPPED ME IN THE FACE".

They kept on walking, until they found an oasis, where they decided to take a bath. The one who got slapped and hurt started drowning, and the other friend saved him. When he recovered from the fright, he wrote on a stone: "TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SAVED MY LIFE".

The friend who saved and slapped his best friend, asked him, "Why, after I hurt you, you wrote in the sand, and now you write on a stone?"

The other friend, smiling, replied: "When a friend hurts us, we should write it down in the sand, where the winds of forgiveness get in charge of erasing it away, and when something great happens, we should engrave it in the stone of the memory of the heart, where no wind can erase it"

Learn to write in the sand.

From http://www.yourlifehappiness.com/friends_writeinthesand.html

Recipe for a happy family life

Thursday, May 19, 2011
Secret War Journal[19 May 2011]
Ingredients in heaps of quantity:
  • A Home of Love
  • 5 Beds of Patience
  • A Room of Kindness
  • A Big Sofa of Tolerance
  • A Kitchen of Good Thoughts
  • A Comfort room of Privacy and Happiness
  • A Basketful of Care and Concern
  • A Basin of Mindfulness
  • A Big Bucket of Respect
  • Ten jugs of Humor
  • A Barrel of Laughter
  • A Hallway of Playfulness and Physical Exercises
  • Bountiful Essence of Gratitude
Mix in A Home of Love with 5 Beds of Patience. Stir in a room of kindness and peppered in a big sofa of tolerance. Sift away negativity's and fill in a kitchen of good thoughts.

Allow a comfort room of privacy for growth and happiness. Set in the concoction of love in a basketful of care and concern and soaked in a basin of Mindfulness. Pour in a big bucket of respect for every person and serve each and everyone with ten jugs of humor and a barrel of laughter. Complete the portion with a hallway of playfulness,physical exercises and fun.

That is my ideal recipe for a happy family life. It all begins with love and when we have love for one another, failure is not an option.

Being mindful of one another and respecting each other is also the foundation of a happy family life. When we have care and concern and lots of laughter, family members can have their boost of positive energy for themselves and then they are encouraged to help themselves and to help others.

We have to be happy ourselves and only then we can encourage and support our loved ones. There will be times when there are challenges or issues and this is when the family plays an important role in being available and understanding for the family member. It is this support that the family member knows that they have in times of difficulty and this knowledge will help them go through the issue with confidence and growth.

Positive words are used to encourage one another and also allow each other to have space to grow. Respect for the young and old is truly important as one's self-esteem is linked with the respect one gets from the family.

Happy moments are created when there is fun time and playfulness. These happy moments will serve as an inspiration to each member of the family. Negativity should be trashed out and support is needed by each family member to help the one who needs words of encouragement, a pat on the back.

Acts of service and kind words are basic ingredients for a happy family life. We all want to be encouraged, to be understood and hence we all should encourage and seek to understand our family members.

Our lives are make up of moments shared with family members and friends. Let us always remember to appreciate our family members the way we do so for our friends, acquaintances and relatives. Gratitude is when we are so happy to have our loved ones in our lives and making us feel special and wanted.

For us to want the secret recipe for a happy family life, let us all cover ourselves with a blanket of love for ourselves and our loved ones. If we only have one ingredient, let that ingredient be love and that is the recipe for a happy family life. For us to have love, let us first love ourselves and then love our loved ones. The choice is ours to make and the recipe for a happy family life can be our legacy we leave with our loved ones.

By Helen Tay
From http://www.helium.com/items/872434-recipe-for-a-happy-family-life

Human

Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Secret War Journal[17 May 2011]
Happy Vesak day people!

That's the end of the my happy statements. O.o Starting from this line, things gets emo...

Had a talk with my dad. Apparently, my stepmother had been having a global metldown since last week. (I thought everyday??? =.=)

I would say most of the case was moot since it was a pretty much one-sided argument and I got sick and tired to bring up my case already. So I pretty much tried this new approach of just listening and not replying. Gonna give that little brother of mine back the same attitude IN-YOUR-FACE style.

Everything was going rather smoothly despite the time wasted until my dad just brought up the past. My dark past.

Everything just went dark.
The event that led to all this.
I just broke down on the spot.
Where my perfect life just shattered into tiny pieces and into nothingness...
The room turned cold and silent. But the damage was already done.

On the bright side, this proved I'm still human.
On the other side, I'm still human. I'm not strong enough to change things...

I wanted to embrace the Sun once more, how I used to enjoy the warmth provided by the Sun, and move away from the cold, desolate Moon. But I was proven wrong, once again, that the path I undertook is a path of no return. There's no other routes available for me left. The only path is forward and I should not be distracted by the allure of other paths. 

Perhaps you were the only one who will understand the significance of my name... My biggest regret is not being able to spend more time with you. What hurt the most was not that you left, it was me not being able to spend time with you. It's sad. Really sad...

It's being a long time since I shed tears, I couldn't stop it. Other sad events occurred but no tears formed. None were as painful as this... June is coming... memories....

With tears, I take another step forward, back into the darkness and beyond...

"
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll:
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.
" — William Ernest Henly

Throat Infection

Saturday, May 14, 2011
Secret War Journal[14 May 2011]
There was school holiday on Monday due to General Elections
School resumed on Tuesday
Went home early.
My first: Taking early leave green form and using it.
Missed School on Wednesday and Thursday.
Went to school on Friday.
Today's Saturday.

Basically, I only had two school days. Fell sick on Tuesday due to throat infection. I didn't realise it was that serious actually until I went to consult a doctor. I thought it was just a simple sore throat or a bad day where my daily problem is just worse than usual.

Guess not. But I must say it was super fun to not talk in the morning and using sign and body language to communicate. Sadly, I had to use speech at the later part of the day because there was communication breakdown with lots of people. Hahas, only Johnston could understand what I was trying to say. Had to resort to typing messages to tell Cynthia what I'm trying to say. Still, it was fun. It's not everyday you get to play Charades with friends. Hahas!

I managed to 'survive' in school before the Fever got the better of me and cause me to be unable to do conducive work and absorb what was being taught. (My head is still a bit dizzy now, hopefully from the medicine)

Staying at home while there is school just plain sucks, especially when you're sick. You can't enjoy the days where there are no school and you still feel miserable because of the illness. It's just plain depressing. Hahas.
Well, I manage to rest on Tueday before getting sick of sleeping from Wednesday onwards. Since I'm going to be behind the rest of the class, I can't really play computer games or watch anime. Thus, I was sorta forced (by myself and social pressure) to do my homework and finish assignment that I owe teachers anyhow.


Quickly, Friday came. I'm not really sure I dread that day or glad that day came (finally can get out of my house, oh my god!). Let's leave it as mixed feelings. :)

Boy, I had no idea two days of school can cover so much content. I just realised I'm so behind in terms of study. Gonna work double-time during school (can't really do much at home because I have difficulty understanding what's going on)

I really want to thank Cynthia and Pei Shi for helping me collect the notes and Pei Shi for helping fill up the the Chemistry Notes (and Laura? If she had helped, hahas!). It really helped alot! ^^

Hahas, I feel a bit bad to Cynthia for making her bag heavier because of the notes. :p

Once again, thank you! :)
--
To those who wished me well, thanks! Especially to my aunt and her family who just sms-ed me while I was typing this. Hahas! ^_^
--
Ah, my lips cracked on Friday, now have two ulcers on my lips. O.o

"Our own life is the instrument with which we experiment with the truth." — Thich Nhat Hanh