I've Been Blessed Again

I caught Stomp The Yard on Wednesday. It was kinda cool to see the stepping moves.It's a unique aspect of African-American youth culture which has to be appreciated.

The main character is DJ,who goes to Truth University in place of his younger brother,who was gunned down in a street fight by bitter losers in a particular street stepping battle.

Who is the drawn between the 2 fraternity houses. The traditional Theta Nu Theta & the modern Mu Gamma Xi,the Wolves and the Pythons respectively. Things get complicated when DJ,falls for April(played by the hot Meagan Good!),who is the girl of the king-in-waiting of Mu Gamma Xi.

It all goes down at Nationals where in the finals,predictably,there is a tie between these 2 frat houses.DJ pulls out his brother's moves,as a tribute and wins it for his house in a showdown battle.

The dancing is not only creative but also witty as they look to make fun of each other with the dancing.

Rating:3 and a half stas out of 5.Yeah it's a cool movie.

300 is still left unviewed.Damn.

But next Monday,I will have something to do.I won 2 preview tickets to catch 'The Hitcher'.I entered an SMS contest in the paper and I totally forgot till I got the email saying that I won.Cool.So the plan is that I'm gonna report to the class chalet.Leave around 5-ish and then be back after the movie.

I got a letter from the authorities.Good stuff.I'm due to collect a bursary award.Again.Haha.I must really thank God for this.It's $400...I think.It should be.Still a significant amount, whatever I get.If Wahida still wants to go to watch Phantom Of The Opera,I may spend some of it and splash it out on the tix.$140+ for a Category A seat.

Anyone wanna hang with me? Haha...for my mates its a given. The group of noisy class gals? Haha..they one crazy bunch.Hope the chalet will be fun.

Gosh,I'm sorry but there's nothing else really interesting to blog about.

I'll be back with some good stuff hopefully.

I'm Watching Paint Dry Here!

To say that these past few days have been mudane would be an understatement.

DVD rentals and movies on cable have been my constant companion. A note of gratitude to Video Ezy & Star Movies respectively. Haha.

Other than that, nothing has been on.

I've started writing on a short story.Or rather tried to. At least I got started.

The protagonist is Ben Cullerstone, a rich young man who is looking for his direction in life. He meets this boy. This young boy has a sister. They both impact his life. How? I don't know yet.That's all I got so far.

I have so many movies I want to watch.Yet so little people to ask. Why?

Some aren't plain interested.Some people aren't close enough to me to ask out for movies.Some are busy.Others are sorta off limits,meaning I can't think about asking them.

What else can I do till my results come out?

Play soccer? Finish that story I have? Hang out with different groups of friends? Get a good read?

The last 2 sound a lot more fun. But for the hanging out with different cliques,it was because of school that we hung out but I'm afraid they may think it weird that we're hanging out of school.


Go back to the CCA?

I'd like to but I'd feel so out of place.I'd like to give the new guys space to do their thing anyway.

So many different options.All borne out of nothing but mind-blowing boredom.

Where are the endearing ones that can save me from this silence?

By that I mean. Wanna hang out? Watch a movie? Tag me,IM-me,SMS-me.Aight?

Bummer man.

Bummer.

Sweetest Memory

Okay, the FEW natives out there are getting restless. It has been quite a damn while since I last posted.Damn.

I kind of did it on purpose,that I didn't want to make a post till the last paper was over on Wednesday but I was way too beat on Wednesday night and the sister took away the laptop for her use the following two days.

Haha.

Let's start all the way from the back eh? This may take a while.

The HRA paper was quite manageable.Even if I only study the day before.And Unit 5,only 15 minutes before the start of the paper(I ended up doing it for Section C !).

I didn't mean to honest! It's HRA and I was swamped with Marketing all the way till Monday. Yeah I know...excuses...still I should have done enough to get an A.

Well,after that,that was it.It was over.2 years.Finito.

Goodbye ITE College Central (Bishan).HAHA.Full and proper name.

I WON'T miss the morning assemblies. The run-down toilets. The school's low accessibility on foot.

I will miss the friends. Oh so many.So varied. Most importantly, ever so fun.

Thanks guys,I came in never wanting to make a connection and just do my thing.

I leave never wanting to forget the connections I made.

I will miss the banter.
To those I knew well,I hope that our paths will cross again and we will rekindle the old times.
To those I didn't know that well,I wish it could have been better and maybe we will meet again to have another shot.

I will miss the teachers,those who have touched my life.

Especially Mdm Salinah. Thank you for believing in me.I've never had anyone believe in me that much before.I came in afraid and because of you,I leave braver than I've ever been in my life. Of course, she would be the first to say that it was all inside of me anyway and I won't disagree. But she gave me the opportunity. And for that I am thankful.

MIC STUDIO,THE CCA.MASTERS IN CREATIVITY.

Till now,I cannot fathom the reasons I was seen as fit to be made an Exco member.To be absolutely honest I was reluctant to the point of blantant refusal at first.I was very afraid.By the end of it,I was angry at myself cos I knew I could do and wanted to do,so much more.

Many a life lesson was learned.Many opprtunities came.Many obstacles never before experienced.

Many memories made.For life.

I will miss B2-08.Comms (Mic Studio Room) Hub.Haha.

I daresay I spent as much time there as I did in the classrooms.

Of course,how could I leave out the best part of the 2 years.Maybe not the best per say but definitely,a highlight; the following:

I took one final walk,I turned and looked back at the place where I first noticed Roswell Girl.Replayed the scene in my mind.For old times sake.

Goodbye my friend.

"When what is written for me is the best for you
Will I make you the sweetest memory of my life

However,it won't be easy for me
To leave this path of my life
That forever I have etched
As the sweetest memory"

Those are the lyrics of a song translated into English. From an Indonesian band.I thought these lyrics to be apt for the moment.

Maybe I'll see her around in the polytechnic.I hope to.

Spent the last day,Wednesday,following my 2 favourite gal-pals,Aini & Wahida. They're great people.Don't think I'll ever meet people quite like them either.Potent on their own.Their energy can be quite deadly when paired together.Seriously,I don't think I'll encounter such a wonderful combination of personalities ever in my life.

It's been a rather aimless few days after the exams.It would be right if I said that I enjoyed it that way. It also wouldn't be wrong if I said I found the very same aimlessness rather disconcerting.

About now,circa 2006,I would be thinking about the CCA's involvement in the upcoming Orientation. Or it was probably our involvement in that Channel 8 national competition thing.Yeah.

Just found out that exam results are out on the 4th of April.2 and a half weeks from now.

Oh gosh, I just realised. We still haven't launched the ITE Cares video production DVD that I was a part of a team for.Hah! I actually graduated with business left unattended! Not my fault.The students involved are just waiting for the call from the liasing teacher.

My plans for the next few days? Movies! A plethora of them await me.

From '300' to 'Stomp The Yard' to 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' to Mr Bean's Holiday and a whole host of other I am going to try to catch as many as I can.I am quite fond of the 'cinematic experience'.

I wish more would want to join me,like Aini and Wahida cos I miss em already but they're busy I presume. Roswell Girl's got a boy so she's off-limits.Even as a friend.A few with a usual mates of course but I like to have a good mix of people.

Class chalet next week.Hope it will go fine. Mic's graduation sleepover on the 31st.One last sleepover I guess.That would make it 5 times that I've slept in school.Haha.

My immediate plans are rental DVDs & McDonald's delivery.Haha.

Right then,catch ya later, calculator.

This Is Just A Tribute

There's a saying which goes,

"If it's meant to be, it will come back to you"

Well I say,what about this one?

"Sometimes you feel it's the right one yet you let the right one slip right through your hands..."

Something like that...

Well, 3 days of school left.After 2 eventful years,all will culminate in 2 exam papers, at the end of which,the journey will end.

From the 1st day I met her,to the last few days,through the good and the bad,the joy and the pain, I say it was all worth it.

It was all worth it.

I'm sorry I fell for you.I never planned to.I wished our friendship had remained platonic and we would be as close as we were initially.But things have happened and here we are at the cusp of ending our relations as classmates.

Thank you for being so understanding. Thank you for tolerating me and my silliness. What I was thinking,falling for you? Honestly I don't know but I did and it took me on quite a trip. Honestly,it was you that made school such a joy all this while.

You may not read this.Even if you do,you may likely turn away in disgust.But if you do take some time and hold it in,please realise that this is me just feeling glad that I've not lost a friend completely.

You've moved on.So am I now.But I will always be there,whenever you need me.Even when I know you don't.

You have him.He's lucky to get you.

As for me,maybe I'll find someone soon.Maybe not.It don't matter.

This song playing in this blog now is for you.It may not ALL be true but DEFINITELY the last line of the chorus is. Sincerely,I believe it.

It made me fall for you in the 1st place.It made me know what a wonderful friend you could be. Even if you hate me now secretly,which you don't show when we talk now,I bear you no grudge.

I hope to see you if we get into the same school.It would be nice to have a friendly and familiar face around.Especially if it's yours. If you see me, don't me afraid to acknowledge an old friend.

Thanks for being who you are.

It's been a great 2 years.

Once again,this song is for you.

This Sinking Feeling

I miss you.I miss it.I miss them.

I don't know what it is,but ever since the evening,there's been this empty feeling in my stomach.

The troubling thing is that I can't pinpoint why.

Is it Roswell Girl?

Why would it be?

Is it the fact that I'll be leaving my friends that I've made in my CCA?

Maybe.

Or is the uncertainty of leaving the sanctuary I've psychologically built for myself in ITE scaring the living daylights out of me?

Maybe that too.

All of the above?

Sounds about right...

It's an inexorable move and the sickening thing is I can't do anything about it.

The laughs,the joys,the scary days.

Goodbye to it all.

There will be other days but it just ain't the same.

I think that that's what people leaving will say most.

Some of us are going for further studies,some national service,some working and some still undedcided.Everybody is going to do something different.

I wish I need not leave my CCA.Doubt it's possible.

Even if I am bogged down with this last project and revisions and essay submssions,I want to savour the last week of what has been a wonderful,eye opening 2 years.

Night Of The Drama Kings & Queens

Pretty good things have happened since the last post.

We're out of purgatory.Marketing project is over and done with.

Presentation went well enough.

Then came the onslaught.This particular teacher is a stickler when it comes to presentations.It must be done conscientiously.After,she will rain down queries about the subject presented and it is crucial that the presenters stand strong or be hung out to dry in the stockades.

I feel that we countered with whatever she threw at us quite well.Better than expected.Of course she won some points.Big ones.But given my preconcieved expectations,I'd say we survived well.

On a bad note,I lost my thumbdrive after that.Damn.

On Friday,we had the SGEM Skit Competition.We were one of 3 qualifiers.

I have indeed played out this skit before in last month's Seniors Fair.But this time round I had butterflies in my stomach.I think even for seasoned performers,they still get buttterflies everytime before they come on so I think all I have to learn is to not let them overwhelm me.

I made it a point to focus on projecting my voice.The actors as a whole were a little on the soft side during rehearsals and transition between scenes were less than smooth,due to slight changes we had to make to shorten the skit.

At the end of it all.

We got 1st place.Bloody hell !

I expected 2nd.Probably most of us did.

Well done guys!

Really.

I got sad and told Taufiq that it was probably going to be our last real event for our CCA and that was kind of saddening.

He agreed.

I grown and learnt so much there.It's a big,big reason why my school life has been so enjoyable.

We had a delayed departure with some logistical problems that weren't really our fault. My CCA teacher gave me a ride back home.I reached home at 7.

I dropped my stuff,had a quick shower and a change of clothes.I was out the door again by 715.

Managed to hail a cab.I had to be down at the National Library by 745.And thank God I was.It seemed like I wasn't gonna make it when I was 2 streets behind but I did.

I was there to catch "Titoudao".It was about 2 stories of a Chinese wayang tale of a loyal servant that stuck with his master through good and bad and another story was that of the actress playing Titoudao.Not the real-life actress but the 'actress' playing that role in the Chinese wayang.

It was very nice.What was different about it was that it was mainly in the Hokkien dialect(during the Titoudao story) and a mix of English & Hokkien during the actress' story.For the former,there were translations on screen but as for the latter,no translation was given when they spoke in dialect. But we could know through their actions and whenever someone spoke in English in response to the Hokkien dialect.

Different concept.I've never been exposed to it before.

Pretty cool.And I only paid $5 to watch it.Haha.

After that we went to have a late night meal before going home.It was pretty fun with abot a big group of 11 people all there.

I spent the whole day with my CCA friends.It was so much fun.

I felt especially good that I bonded with the juniors.The seniors and the juniors joke around a lot and they are all a fun bunch of people.All of us are equally chaotic and off tangent.

I think it is necessary.For a drama club.

The CCA will be in very capable hands.

I hope that my schedule in April can allow me to come back and help with the orientation.I really would like to.

Good job,good job,good job.

Mic Studio.

Story Threads In The Fabric Of School

Right.It's been a while.

In the meantime I've been stretched,strained and generally discombobulated.

It's a monkey off my back.The Marketing project.The presentation went a lot better than expect.Naturally.We were after all,fearing the worst. We had bad points of course,the teacher's that way anyway.But we covered it all in the report.So at least it's still there.

Sunday I was doing it from 12pm to 7am the next day.Slept for 2 1/2 hours before getting up to perform in the SGEM drama competition.

After that I rushed to a classmate's house to continue the project and actually slept over at his place even before getting up at 8am to continue before leaving for school at 10am.

Chaotic? Understatement.

Poly applications in.As stated..Diploma in Busines;Law & Mgmt; Hospitality & Tourism Mgmt.

MAY apply for Comm. & Media Studies under a different applications exercise.

Wonder which one I'll get.No wait.Wonder if I'll get a place at all.

First,I have to deal with a few things.The only project left,Microsoft FrontPage.Other than that it's study,study,study...

We got2nd in the drama competition so we'll be back on Friday to perform again.

A couple of interesting things happening with a couple of interesting people. She likes him? Really? Or is she just really flirty? Can we find out more by talking to the right people?

It's fun stuff as school in ITE life draws to a close.

I suddenly crave to watch Paris J'taime...Love Actually wannabe.Set in Paris