Hunger Games

Saturday, March 31, 2012
Secret War Journal[31 April 2012]
Recently, Marcus and I just went to watch the highly anticipated Hunger Games in the cinemas.

There were many critical reviews on this movie, some good, some bad. Most felt the acting and the delivery was good while others felt that the movie deviated from the original story plot and much was lost in the film. In my opinion, I agree that in certain scenes, the delivery of the emotions and expressions were well done. While I never read the book, giving the story the benefit of doubt, I am pretty sure the romance did not build so quickly as in the film. Thus, I feel that the pace for the development of the romance between the main characters set by the director was too fast to be natural and realistic. While yes, it is a fictional story, it should be realistic to a certain extent, no?

In addition, I also feel that the action scenes in the film was also quite rushed. The motion were a blur (I guess we can call it motion blur here.) and I cannot really see what is happening in that chaos. That is not a good thing though I probably understand it was a form of censorship to downplay the level of brutality displayed in the film. Perhaps, it may not also be the focus of the film, as determined by the director.

Nevertheless, I hazard a guess that most fans would just watch the film to find out just how the film had deviated from the plot in the book, for better or worse. One wonders how the sequel firm would be like now...

Release my soul

Monday, March 26, 2012
Secret War Journal[26 March 2012]

*
Oh Take a look in the mirror you look so sad
It's so cold like that winter market we used to go
I don't cry anymore but I feel so hurt

**
So I don't need you to close to me
You don't hear me so you said
I don't know why thing have changed since yesterday

***
This could be love again
All I need is you
Come back, I'm waiting, anytime
The heavy rains come
Still I miss days with you
I can't look into your face
Oh feeling blue and looking back again
Please come back to me

Repeat * ** ***

To stay with you always
You're the world to me, and dream on
Take my sword again for you
How do you feel, so fine
You're the world to me, and dream on
You stole my heart so long ago
Oh I release my soul
So you feel my song

First Book Out

Friday, March 23, 2012
Secret War Journal[23 March 2012]
Ah, fresh air! It really feels good to be in the mainland after many weeks at a resort island. Hahas, strangely enough, the first thing I did was to get a new pair of spectacles. I was kind of glad that one of the optical shops was able to manufacture a pair of spectacles despite the majority of the shops informing that they could only prepare the spectacles earliest by Monday evening. However, due to the superb customer service at Capitol Opticals, they were willing to go the extra mile to make my spectacles by Sunday afternoon. For that, I am really grateful.
New pair of Spectacles,... some of the few models allowed for army...

Catch your wave
After helping with my family with some house chores, I met up with Bao Lin, Cynthia, Jie Sheng, Siew Yan, and Wei Ting for some catching up. I had not met them for so many days, I wonder how everyone had been faring since. We planned to meet at Tampines MRT station. Apparently, I was the last person to arrive. Oops? I guess the most important person always arrives last! XD
When was the last time I actually set foot on this restaurant? I really couldn't remember! Hahas, but we sure ate quite fast there, the serving there must had been quite small. :p It was kinda nice to see everyone are still living a carefree life. It sorta makes quite envious really. :S
(Don't worry, Siew Yan, my body is quite screwed too. :P)

Originally, I planned to buy some stuff for next book-in today but I guess I was too caught up with returning to my former civilian life and just have fun with friends. I even managed to play a game of pinpall after many years since I last played arcade seriously. Ah, childhood! :)

At one point, they concluded that I should get something to cover my shaven head. I personally think I would look weird in those hats and whatnot (I have my eyes on a certain type though but it just does not fit the dress code here, sadly... and definitely not with my shaven head!) though they have a point, I should get something to cover my head. I look weird with a bald head too! >.<

"In my dreams I hear again the crash of guns, the rattle of musketry, the strange, mournful mutter of the battlefield." - Douglas MacArthur

A Singaporean's Duty

Sunday, March 18, 2012
Secret War Journal[6 March 2012]
As of writing this, it is now a Sunday, 18 March 2012. It is ironic that I wrote about other stuff during my days in an army bunk instead of army life. I guess it is time to move on to current affairs and spend less time on past events (but do not worry, I will still work on it)

For this post, I would be writing on my first day of my army life. Due to the need for secrecy, I doubt I can share much of what happened during my army life except during the period of time when it is opened to visitors (which would be my first day)

To not cause too much of a drastic change from civilian life to army life, the Singapore military allowed me to bring 5 family members with me to an island for my basic military training. As it is not the holiday season in Singapore yet, my parents and siblings would not be able to join me on that day. Instead, my cousin Yuki, Siew Yan and Wei Ting accompanied me to my overseas trip to witness the start of my army life. Yay! Nay, I am not that enthusiastic to embark on my army life (typical because we are used to civilian life)

To be frank, I was rather in a rush when I was packing my belongings, especially due to the fact that I was rushing to file in an application for a scholarship. Despite spending three days on purchasing items needed in army, I still did not manage to obtain all the items recommended by keller and marcus. I remember my father complaining that I was being last-minute again. Well, in my own defense, I spent three days on it! Hahas, okay, that was just me throwing tantrum. As a result, I had severe lack of sleep on my first day of my enlistment.

My companions kept commenting that my bag was smaller than other guys. Actually, they are all accompanying me to see my 'botak' face. Evil people! :< Joking. Hahas!

As it turns out, we missed the ferry to reach the island. Nope, it is not because we reached the ferry terminal late, we boarded the shuttle bus on time. When the ferry commenced boarding, siew yan all of sudden had a stomache and we missed the boarding time as a result. It was a rather hilarious sight, actually. I had already scanned my card for that particular ferry so when I ended up missing the ferry, there was a split second of chaos and confusion among the staff in the ferry terminal. Thankfully, they allowed us to board the next ferry though I was late by 1 hour ultimately (traditionally not a good thing to be late for army :p)
The voyage was okay, it has been such a long time since I was on a vessel traveling on water. There was not much scenery to see. Thus, we spent most of the time uploading pictures on Facebook and making a joke out of it.

Shortly after landing on the island, I separated from the rest of them. While they were being given a tour around the island, I was worried about the consequences of being late. I remembered pestering the commander to find out what would happen to me. He smiled and replied to me that all is well everytime and it turns out he was right. (Silly me. :p)

There was an oath-taking ceremony which admittedly made me queasy partly due to the fact that I did not ask for such a commitment.

The highlight of the day was undoubtedly the time when I was allowed to have lunch with them. It was my time tasting the food in the cookhouse and honestly, it did not really taste very nice but good enough to survive. Hahas! It was definitely nice to have Wei Ting peel an orange for me. XD (oops?)

Unfortunately, it is time for me to bide farewell to them and live as a soldier... T.T
--
In the future, I would tell you about the friends I made there, if I have the time, of course. :)

"In modern war... you will die like a dog for no good reason." - Ernest Hemingway

Infocomm Closure

Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Secret War Journal[14 March 2012]
Hi people! I am sorry for the sudden hiatus from the last few weeks as I was sorta 'conscripted' into National Service in Singapore. In case you are not aware, all males in Singapore aged 16 and a half and older are required to serve in the Singapore Armed Forces for 2 years, followed by a few years on 'standby'.

Before I elaborate 'more', let me keep you up to date with what had happened since my hiatus.

End of IDA Internship
As of posting, it is now 14 March 2012. My internship in IDA ended on 1st March 2012. Originally, I was supposed to end my internship on the last day of February but my mentors really require help on a project. As a result, we decided to extend my internship by one more day to the first of March so that I can officially hand over matters to a temporary staff named Mehul who would be helping my mentors until the completion of the project.
The last week of internship was, to me, both tiring and exciting closure to my first internship. For this week, Joan, Wen Rui, and I would be ending this week. Like me, Wen Rui had to extend her internship by one day. Hence, her internship ended with Joan on the last day of February. I would say my last week of internship was not as hectic as that of Wen Rui's but I would say it was a bit tight for me nevertheless. While Wen Rui stayed behind in the office to finish her work, I brought home the laptop to attempt to finish my assigned work. Unfortunately, I was still unable to finish it on Thursday, 1 March 2012. I remembered feeling dread when I was going to inform my mentors that I was unable to complete my task. However, what happened next was rather unexpected. I had always known that my mentors were nice people but I was actually half-expecting to be reprimanded for being inefficient and lack of time management. As you probably had known, my mentors were accepting of the fact that I was unable to complete.
I later found on that day when I asked my mentors for an evaluation of my performance during the internship that they felt that I was too efficient. While in a certain persepective, it is a good thing, being too efficient can lead to potential problems in a team. Furthermore, completing an assignment too fast gives an impression that is it is not done with thought. I know that I did but I agree that it would be difficult for others to believe. Thus, I was advised to spend more time double-checking when I finished to prevent negative impressions imposed upon me. I guess, my mentors are perhaps glad that I was unable to complete a task in time because it would seems that much effort was placed on it. Hahas! XD
--
I realised that I accidentally wrote about some events happened on the last day of internship before talking about other notable events that occurred throughout the internship. I think one of the most memorable event that took place would be my first meal with my mentors. Unlike Johnston and Wen Rui, my mentors were often busy and do not have the opportunity to go to meals with me. I do not really mind as I understand that they are very busy. For most of my internship period, I had lunch with Johnston, Joan, Wen Rui, Chor Hiang, Gladys, Joycelyn and Sherilyn. However, on the second last day of my internship, my mentors decided to conduct a farewell lunch with me. It was also going to be a welcome lunch for Mehul. We settled on a nearby bar named Harry's just downstairs from our office. Our lunch was candid as we finally had the opportunity to dicuss issues not related to work for once. For example, it was only until that day that I realised that Ms Kiranjit is a vegetarian who also eats fish. I think that is rather interesting. Mehul is a vegetarian. He just graduated from SIM with a Mass Communication Degree. He used to be Meridian Junioor college too before he transferred to a polytechnic. On the other hand, Terence is like me, a non-vegetarian. :)
Terence and I ended up ordering the same dish, a dish with cereal-fried chicken with ham stuffing with greens. (My father later commented that I kept ordering chicken but hey! I like chicken! :p) As it turns out, I was fooled by the menu, (not sure if my mentor was too but...), I was served only two bite-sized cereal-fried chicken stuffed with ham and cheese in the middle. The rest of the plate were green in colour. Did I mention I hate vegetables? Alright, I cannot say the bar cheated me but I guess they took the menu literally. Finally, I found out that Ms Kiranjit, Mehul, and I are all left-handers. So cool! I mean, for the first time, out of a sample size of 4, there are 3 who are left-handers! That reminds me of the composition in my junior college class. :D
--
Finally, my last assignment was to hand over my outstanding work for a particular project to Mehul. He is around two to three years older than me so I felt a bit strange when I was briefing him. This was the first time that I actually briefed someone muich older than me for official work and I think the most awkward moment then was when he asked, "can I borrow the pass from you, sir?". I remember being stunned for a moment. Thinking back now, I think it was a nice feeling. I am not sure it was just a natural polite question or out of respect, but I do not care. :p
--
Mehul would be taking over my account until the end of March, I think? So do not be alarmed when I go online with my IDA account (I know Mr Yao was on the day of my A Levels results). Hahas.
--
I would cover more about army (not much actually due to the Official Secrets Acts)
--
"It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets." - Voltaire

A Levels Results

Saturday, March 3, 2012
Secret War Journal[2 March 2012]
Today, I left home with a feeling of dread. My future is about to be sealed by a single sitting of a major examination. It is none other than the "A" Levels examinations, Singapore edition.

To calm ourselves, we arranged to meet at White Sands for lunch first and catch up with another since the last time we met. As I have a library book to return, I reached the shopping centre earlier than the agreed time. On my way to the library, I spotted familiar faces. One of them was Laura and we checked out at the Popular stationery store to buy files for Laura. Apparently, the stationery store there do not sell the files that Laura wants.

After some time browsing through books which I probably would not have the time to read, we met up with Cynthia. At their insistence, we are going to eat at McDonald's. I guess, girls Do win all arguments after all. Hahas!

As it turns out, Pei Shi, Debbie and Lai Yin were going to be very late. Being bored from waiting for Pei Shi to arrive, we decided to play a prank on her. We got Laura to sms her that we are at Popular when we were already in McDonald's. Well, technically, we did not lie as we were at Popular. As a result, Pei Shi went to the top floor to look for us to no avail, only to be told of our current location. Evil me, oops?
When Pei Shi (finally) found us, we had lunch as Debbie would only be joining us but not eating lunch with us. Lai Yin, on the other hand, only took a half-day off and would likely be late in collecting the results, much less join us for lunch. (Don't ask me why she did not take a whole day leave.)

The official release of the A Levels soon came and you could feel the tense atmosphere in the school. Some are numb, maybe confident of their results, some appear nervous, some just want to ignore the coming storm and just want to catch up with one another.

As we gather in the hall, there are periods where they are chattering and when there are complete silence. After what seemed like an eternity, the Principal came and announced that our school had done it again. Upon hearing that, the whole school cheered. However, as the Principal continued to show the statistics of our performance, I could not help but feel that we did not do well with only 50.7% of the cohort achieving more than 70 rank points, it means that about half of the cohort would have difficulty entering university. That is definitely not a good sign. I believe my class thought so too because everyone looked so gloomy.

The Results
Without further ado, here are my results:

H1 General Paper - C
H2 Chemistry - A
H2 Economics - C
H2 Mathematics - A
H2 Physics - A
H1 Project Work - A
H1 Mother Tongue - D

Rank Points: 85

I guess that means I got to shake hands with the Principal after all. While it was a nice feeling to shake hands with the Principal, honestly I was not very satisfied with my results. Yes, I know people would think that I had already done very well and that I am unable to emphasize with people who did not do well. I know I did a decent job but I, too, have expectations for myself. While I had seen it coming for economics, I was hoping that my General Paper would do better. Of course, one part of me wasn't expecting myself to have such good results. Thus, I find myself in a dilemma in choosing which course to pursue and which scholarships to apply for.

Decisions, decisions
I suppose I should go read up on what each courses offered by University entails. I blame myself for not allocating time to research on my future career. Lack of time is just an excuse, I suppose.

"I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody." - Bill Cosby

Smoke and Ashes

Friday, March 2, 2012
Secret War Journal[2 Match 2012]
So "A" Levels results had been released.

Time is tight, right now. I would try to clear my remaining outstanding posts but give me time.

I need time to clear my head. I need some time alone. I need to scream. I want to be myself again.

Will write about the results in a day's time. No worries.


"A faith is a necessity to a man. Woe to him who believes in nothing." - Victor Hugo