Betwixt-isms

Scholarship applications are evil things. rawr.

        So, here’s what a normal NS routine is like:

5.30 a.m.         "Bangun, bangun" is what Diyana would say. Usually the night watch people will wake us up but if they’re nice, they just turn on the lights and wake one person. =D extra snooze time.

6.15 a.m.          Non-muslims and ABCs (Allah Beri Cuti ;p) head to the padang kawat and wait for the muslims to finish their prayers.

6.30 a.m.          Morning roll-call and PT Pagi. PT stands for Physical Training. There’s aerobics, marching, poco-poco (a dance), jogging (we get to go out of camp) and.. PT 10. That’s star jumps. hhahah..

7.30 a.m.          Breakfast.. Usually food like fried noodles and other variations, along with two slices of bread with jam and a boiled egg. Unless they serve nasi lemak, which is yummy. But we usually head back to the dorm for our own biscuit-breakfast bar-Milo brekkie. Western fare on Sundays though.

8.15 a.m.           Roll-call at the padang kawat again before entering classes. (Character-Building or Integrasi or Kenegaraan.) We sing a patriotic song before entering and then the KJ usually speaks for a short while before classes start at 8.30 a.m.

10.30 a.m.          Tea-break. Snacks or kuih usually. Curry puffs are nicee! i had four at a go once. *glutton face*

11.00 a.m.          Resume classes

12.30 p.m.          Lunch. Friday lunch is nice. =) We head back to the dorms after lunch for "pentadbiran persendirian" which, most of the time, culminates in junk food and sleeping. hahah.. and of course a lil’ indulgence in gossip.

2.15 p.m.            Roll-call. Where, depends on the agenda. This is when the sun is HOT. Sometimes there are classes in the afternoons, or physical activities like flying fox (fun!) or marching or lectures at the dewan syarahan (translates into sleeping time. hee hee.) to prep us for activities like kayaking.

4.30 p.m.             Tea-break. The "Tesco" is usually open at this time with a steady stream of people buying ice-cream and cold drinks. Back to the dorms to avoid the baking sun.

5.15 p.m.             Roll-call before riadah time. There’s football, volleyball, sepak takraw, jogging, basketball… Some brought their badminton racquets after the Chinese New Year break. Most people just hang around watching or chit-chat. This is where you can see who’s with who. hahah.. couples at camp.

6.30 p.m.            Shower. Send uniform to dobi. Dinner. Catch-up time with family. hhaha..

9.00 p.m.            Roll-call at the dewan syarahan. Listen to jurulatihs talking. Give them a mike and they’ll be happy to talk all night. At the end of every module (like Character Building), there’s usually a performance night where the girls doll up and the guys don ties. No kidding.

10.30 p.m.           Supper. One time they were serving currypuff (hahah), Elicia and i ran to the dewan makan to grab one each.

11.00 p.m.        Final roll-call before heading back to the dorm. Lights out at 11.30. zzz.

And there ya have it. Procrastination time’s over. Back to going crazy. >.<

ehem, ehem, ehem. *taps into mike (mike; microphone, not Mike; the person.) and assumes posh Brit. accent*

Greetings ladies and gentlemen, i wish to announce that i have a new blog. The address is; http://www.pingspalette.blogspot.com. A little warning though. Perhaps it is due to not being used to it (whadda weird sentence) or perhaps it is because me English is deteriorating and is becoming more… how shall we say.. "ah lian", *cough*  that my posts at the new blog are bland. In fact, browsing through the posts on this Friendster blog, i find that they are much more.. lively. *ehem* However, we shalt persevere and march on, henceforth to new beginnings and new blog posts.

        No, i don’t really understand the last sentence either. Aaanyway, i’m not going to abandon this blog, maybe it’ll help me come up with better posts. lalala.

Merry Christmas everyone. Happy New Year!

p/s- i’m ringing in the new year at NS. Good, bad? I’ll find out then. =p Anyone who forgets me will be doomed to read my blog over and over again. muahaha. Off to my underground lab. Time to start plotting on world domination. Tata everybody!

pp/s- Why everyone going Taylors wan? Semua pun A-levels. 

Closure is a word which rings closer to home as every day passes. Every little thing seems to be magnified. Every song seems to be the one they play when the credits roll. Every person i meet and pass by in the hallways, i wonder, will i meet them again? Is tomorrow the last?

        Some have never had the opportunity to interact with even after five years of being in the same place everyday. Some are brief acquaintances, people who get along well, but due to chance or circumstance, have not been able to form closer bonds. Some are vague personalities, people who, by chance and circumstance, were put together at one point, hit it off but only at that one point and continued the rest of their relationship with occassional hi’s and bye’s, hey’s and good luck’s, see you’s and take care’s. What will they do when the time comes for the final goodbye, adieu and take care?

        There are yet others, whom by random selection, were placed in one room of which they were to continue in their pursuit of upper secondary education for two years. From there, a multitude of relationships grew. Friends, enemies, lovers, all sprung from that first day together. Friends, enemies, lovers who then grew to become best friends, team mates, the hook-break-hook-break couple, bandmates, competitors, anything and everything. Constant change, the ever apt oxymoron to describe the phenomenon. Change is in always in the air, it merely awaits your embrace.

        There are those who, in the past, were unseparable. For some, it gradually slackened, they began meeting new people, formed other bonds but still holding on to the old ones. For some, it became lost. Like a displacement reaction. A more reactive one displaces another. (haw!) For some, strong bonds became even stronger. Nothing broke it for them. Will it last? That remains for the future to determine.

        In the end, what reminds you of those five years are the people. The teacher who cut your hair, the admin who wished you good morning and bode you to clean the class, the pak cik guard, the kakak with the bright red lipstick who cleaned the school compounds, the canteen people. The best friend, the close friends, the gang, the classmates, the brief acquaintances, the bandmates, the clubs and societies people, the prom date, the team. All of them and you, have been together for 157 680 000 seconds, 2 628 000 minutes, 43 800 hours, 1825 days, 5 years, in that one place known as your alma mater. About to be the one place where you will recall as your EX- high school. So appreciate it now while you can.

********

Time for lunch. heheh.   

well, except for some papers. =.=

        MPT5 coming up. Seems to be the topic of general interest for the past week and the few days leading up to it.

"What colour’s your dress?"

"Have you got a date?"

"Are you going to ’set’ your hair? Where?"

Sweet.

1. Pictures! A must.

2. Camera with extra batteries. For item no.1.

3. Black heels. Cue - Juvenile statement: "my first pair". heehee. Though they’re not very high. Still. You understand. =D

4. Performances! woot.

5. Pretty ladies with gorgeous dresses, gravity-defying heels, not a hair out of place and fab, fab smiles. Picture perfect.

6. Guys. Being guys. Still picture perfect.

7. Sweet, sweet couples and first-time dates. Very much picture perfect.

MPT5 is NOT over-rated man.

She went, just like that. No goodbye, no cheeky smile, just breathed her last and went away. That’s it? That’s the end of our years and years together?

        No one to greet me at the door, no one curling up on the orange carpet to sleep while i stayed up, no one to keep me company all day, no one to sayang, no one to scratch the door to come in, no one to find under the sofa anymore. No one to call for meals, no one to find in the car backseat after tuition, no one to take photographs of, no one who comes to me when there’s a storm. No one to refuse taking medicine, no one to hold during visits to the vet, no one to write about, no one to address English assignments to, no one to scratch the floors when trying to get up, no one to carry up and down the stairs, no one to always be there.

        Everyday, as i return home, i keep thinking i’d see her, i’d look under the sofa, in the kitchen, upstairs and she’s not there. And then i see her collar on my table. She’s not going to be there anymore.

        Take care of yourself, i know it’s nice, wherever you are. Goodbye, i’ll miss you.

           Nina passed away on the 12th of August, 9.30 p.m.

    Beloved pet, friend and companion, may you rest in peace.

p/s - thanks guys for your kind words, hugs and prayers. They meant a lot to me.

*****

i’ve got a bone to pick. Heck, i don’t mind if you don’t say anything but you just had to ask for exam tips on the night i messaged you? Would you ask your neighbour to lend you something when there’s a funeral going on right there and then?

"Excuse me for intruding into your relative’s funeral and grief dear neighbour, but could i just borrow some salt? Having a barbeque later."

*****

A brief candle; both ends burning
An endless mile; a bus wheel turning
A friend to share the lonesome times
A handshake and a sip of wine
So say it loud and let it ring
We are all a part of everything
The future, present and the past
Fly on proud bird
You’re free at last.

(Charlie Daniels)
written en route to the funeral for his friend, Ronnie Van Zant of the band, Lynyrd Skynyrd.

1. yeah, i got it.

2. yes, seriously. checked through the www (tq mr. ng, though i doubt you read this cos you’re not in my contacts anyway, but tq.) and sms.

3. life goes on.

4. i get to handle guns. MUAHAHAHAHAH.. Russia, here i come.

5. parents asked to appeal. nah, what’s the point, still have to go through it right?

6. Yew Tian, if you’re reading; even if there are no hot girls, remember the Spartan body. Can get you the girls after NS. heheh.

7.  ’tis something different. i’m looking on the bright side. seems pretty good to me.

*p/s- thanks for the good luck wishes in the previous post, lou and siew ling. thanks for the link, siew! seems like i can’t reply to comments in my own blog. =.=

on an unrelated note, gosh, i’d very much like to learn baking and eh, Conversation for Dummies. i’d like to travel to Turkey. Why are nice shoes mostly paired with expensive price tags? bah. 

no spoilers here. breathe relief okay? i’ve been on tenterhooks the past few days, not daring to read stuff which have to do with HP7 because i was afraid of spoilers. Newspaper articles and blogs especially. And oi, potong stim la you people who said certain stuff about the ending. i wanted to find out about it on my own! chee.

       HP7. ogod. The best ever in the series. Page one and it draws you in, pulling and pulling and it sucks you in and you feel as though you’re in the middle of all of it, from the first to the last. Every page holds a discovery, each one shocking and moving until the very climax where the most astouding secret is revealed.

       You can actually just FEEL the book, the story, like you’re living in it and every page you turn, you can imagine it clearly in your head. Like the book has a life of it’s own. "Suspense" will be a good word to describe it. Discover something and you thirst for more and every time, you just get it; you understand completely, you know how they feel, you feel how they feel. Read it will you? It’s really good. It feels kinda sad though that the book’s ended. sigh. i think that’s the sign of a really good book; whether it’s a happy or sad ending doesn’t matter, it just always makes you feel a little melancholy at the book’s closure.

       sigh. It’s the season again, time when revision books are pulled out and dusted, pencils are sharpened, when words start dancing in front of your eyes and random facts just roll out from your tongue in relation to anything and everything that has any remote connection to whatever you’ve just revised. I’m speaking in circles. Procrastination bug’s hit again. sigh. Starts next monday and i’ve got two years worth of studies to place in the brain in one week. Less than one week.   

        Trials are here.

Let the first-aid exam be over so that all paperwork can be done away with. please. Excel sheet, bah humbug.

There’s a pile of homework next to me as i type this. Flag day duty on this sat. First-aid practical on this saturday too. Dinner on Sunday. Trials are on in erm, less than two weeks. Add math project deadline is looming like a dark cloud. aiyo. go away.

        Is it me, or is it natural that students fall asleep during class? I dunno lah, nowadays keep feeling sleepy during school hours. I’ve been sleeping earlier, bout an hour earlier too. And you can feel the tension gathering amongst the students. More and more people are going on study leave and those who are in school, revise revise revise. crap. me, i’m loaded with homework. Everytime someone asks: "Have you studied?" or various other versions of that doom-inducing question, i feel the irony of it all. How apt it is, to pile students with homework and projects (and paperwork! -heheh-) when we’re supposed to be studying for trials?

        aiyama. maybe i should stop doing homework altogether. hah.

p/s- sorry guys for snapping at little issues. PMS and SPM never make a good combination.

        "Don’t stress. Come and look at Tom Welling; he’s so good-looking" - Gwen

Feeling kinda emo. emo. emo. emo. Typical adolescent. hah.

At the end of the year, it’s going to be tough. Leaving so many people i’ve come to know and love. Some i barely know, some i’ve known for years, some i’ve just met. It doesn’t matter; i’m going to miss all of you.

********

So anyway, i owe my best friend an apology. i’m sorry for not having contacted you much this holiday.(this year, in fact. …even though we see each other in school everyday. wth.) (and also for the ffk incident) You are still, KAWAN AKU YANG BEST. And enough sounding so gay, i’m going to stop here.   …    

********

Thank you to everyone who helped out with Yee Lian’s party. See lah Yee Lian, kami sayang kamu betapa banyak. Don’t forget us when you become the Next Top Model. ;p

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaghhhhhh. morons. and i hate unreplied msgs. *sulks*

-end of paperwork rant-

p/s - thanks to siew ling and sim ann. ;p

been lazing around the past few days, facing the computer, hunched, which is probably the main cause of the stubborn pain in the shoulders. Plans for the holidays; gave up on that i guess. hahah… supposed to be spent exercising, baking (che wah.. until you know that i bake using instant mixes) and catching up on reading… fiction that is. But as all holidays go, it has to be spent catching up on.. jeng jeng jeng.. paperwork. whopdeedo.

        Still, i’m thankful school’s out at the moment. No waking up early but still missing the bus, no additional homework (which is still undone), no nagging, no goddamne heavy books, you get the drift. wooooo happy! Enjoy your holidays peeps!

ohh and thanks to ching ling and debbie for the comments on the prev post. Something’s wrong, can’t reply them through the comment box.