What an Eventful Trip!

As you all know (if you have read my previous post), my class trip was from the 23rd to the 29th of November, and I must say, though many unfortunate and nasty things have happened, I still enjoyed the trip and here is the summary of this eventful but yet memorable trip.

23/11/2008 (Day 0)

Met up with my classmates at the Johor Bahru train station and depart from Johor at 11pm. Nothing much happened, everybody was tired and slept almost immediately once they boarded the train, except me. It was so uncomfortable and I was forced to stay awake for the entire night, lying on the bed, trying persistently to close my eyes to get some sleep.

24/11/2008 (Day 1)

Reached Kuala Lumpur Central (the name for the train station at KL) at 6am in the morning and, for the first time in my life, I had to brush my teeth in a public toilet. Wondering around the empty train station and had some breakfast at McDonald (the only shop that was open at that hour). Junjie bought a happy meal to get a talking penguin toy from the Madagascar, which he carried with him for the entire trip in his pouch.

Went to shop around KL after we have deposited our luggage at the train station. We went to Lot 10 and Sungei Wang Plaza. We then ate lunch in this "Supercorn" restaurant near the shopping centre which charged RM 7.20 for a plate of Wonton Mee (for your information, a plate of Wonton Mee usually costs around RM 3 to 3.50 in Malaysia, see the difference).

Bought some fruits and headed back to the KL central to wait for our train to Penang. The train was supposed to reach the station at 2.30pm and guess what, the train was late by 1.5 hours and we had to stone at the train station from 2.30pm to 4pm. The first unfortunate event of the trip happened half way through our train trip to Penang. After passing Kuala Kangsar, the train just stopped, no announcement, no notification and the train just stopped for more than 1 hour. We were then informed that there was a landslide ahead of us and that the train has to be stopped until the landslide is clear. Luckily, Junjie house was nearby the Kuala Kangsar train station and his parents were kind enough to come to the train station to fetch us and allow us to stay over at his house for the night, or else we would have to wait in the stupid train and reach Penang earliest at 4am on the next morning (for your information, the train was supposed to reach Penang at 9.30pm).

25/11/2008 (Day 2)

Junjie's house is super big and comfortable and we had a pretty good sleep at his house after the train incident. His parent treated us with Dim Sum breakfast and I must say that it was absolutely delicious.

We then went to the bus station to buy bus tickets from Ipoh to Penang. Left Ipoh at around 10 am and eventually reached Penang at 1pm. We met our friendly driver and tour guide, Jason, at the bus station and he brought us to lunch before we headed towards the apartment that we have booked in Penang. The apartment, which costs RM 250 per night, was surprisingly luxurious, with three big bedrooms, all air conditioned and a TV with Astro.

Went to the beach near the apartment at around 3.30pm. The beach was clean and, most importantly, empty, which gave us a lot of space to play with/on. I did not go into the water and play with the sand for I did not want to dirty my clothes. I helped to take photos of my friends having fun though. They built a giant sandcastle on the beach, which looked like a bathtub to me. We were forced to retreat back to the apartment at sound 5.30pm due to wet weather.

Went to have dinner and shopped at the night bazaar near the apartment at night. The dinner was extremely lousy, especially the fried oyster, which taste like shit. Nonetheless, we enjoyed the shopping at the night bazaar, which sells a whole gamut of things, ranging from clothes, wallets, slippers, bags, pirated DVDs and CDs, souvenirs, etc. By the way, it was raining when we went to the night bazaar and we had to sit at a Kopitiam and wait for the rain to stop before we could head back to our apartment, for most of us did not bring our own umbrellas.

26/11/2008 (Day 3)

Woke up at 8am and had breakfast at a nearby Kopitiam. Peggy, Alycia, Junjie and I then went back to the apartment and rest while Mark, Wee Lic, Esmond and Jin Xiang went to play LAN at a nearby Internet cafe.

Jason, our tour guide, reached the apartment at 12pm and brought us to visit Penang. Our first stop was the toy museum which, according to Jason, was initially a night club which was converted to the now toy museum by its owner who enjoys collecting toys. The entry fee, however, was exorbitant as it costs RM20 for foreigners and RM10 for locals. I should not really be complaining for I only paid half the price my Singaporean friends paid. The toy museum was awesome and it was filled with all kinds of toys from varying cartoons, games and comics. We took quite a lot of photos at the toy museum.

After touring the museum, Jason brought us to buy some 土产 in Penang. We visited the Batik boutique, white coffee shop, Chocolate shop and the 豆沙饼 shop, all located around the same area. We had lunch at a very famous asam laksa stall under the hill of 极乐寺, which was nice but did not really appeal to my taste.

Shopping at the Quennsway Mall for 3 hours was tiring. We managed to get Jin Xiang an Esprit Blazer for RM 287 under 28% discount. Esmond bought his prom blazer at Padini. Peegy and Alycia bought some really cheap clothing at some random shop on the third floor and I managed to buy a nice shirt (those kind of shirt that you can roll up the sleeve and button them up).

Lastly, we went to Gurny drive to have our dinner. We ordered many dishes and shared among ourselves. The food there was not only delicious but also cheap. Jason then brought us to the YMCA hostel, which I must say, once again, that it was really above my expectations for the room was actually quite big and comfortable. With three beds, an air condition, a private toilet and a TV, I can not really ask for anymore from this cheap accommodation.

27/11/2008 (Day 4)

Woke up at 8am and had some free breakfast provided by the YMCA (see how great a cheap accommodation can be). Watched my friends playing hearts in my room while waiting for the arrival of Jason to bring us to the Penang bus station.

Departed from Penang at around 1.15pm and reached Penang at 5pm. Junjie's parent came to fetch us to his home. The second unfortunate event happened when Peggy realized that she lost her money, a total worth of RM 140, at Junjie's house.

We then went to play basketball and tennis at around 7pm near Junjie's house. I chitchatted with Peegy and Alycia at the side and we were talking about how weird our classmates can be and that almost everyone in our class is weird to a certain extent.

Oh, and I forgot to mention, Junjie has a brother, named Junxiang, who looks exactly like him, in terms of size, height and the way they walk, and it is really hard to differentiate the two from their rear views. His brother was having his tennis lesson at the tennis court beside the one that we were using.

Dinner at Junjie's house was amazing. His mother is really good, especially the cake that she baked, and let me tell you, they were even better than most of the cakes sold outside.

We had a pyjamas party afterwards and it turned up to be just a chitchatting session and we really talked a lot of crap and rubbish, including stuff like who wears and does not wear underwear to sleep at home. Apparently, the majority of them (the guys) do not wear underwear to sleep and I was shocked for I belong to the minority who do. The pyjamas party lasted until 3.30am and everyone went to sleep, except...................................................

28/11/2008 (Day 5)

Me. I had diarrhea and vomited several times over the night. It was absolutely terrible and I can not sleep for the whole night. I asked for some pills from Junjie's mum early in the morning and I did feel a little bit better after that. Nonetheless, my stomach still hurt and I had to lie on the sofa most of the time. Wee Lic then gave me this effective green pills which stopped my diarrhea immediately. Feeling weak and dizzy, I felt really bad and uncomfortable for the entire morning. Everyone was so worried about me and I was really grateful for that.

If you think that this was the most disastrous thing that has happened for the trip, then you are probably wrong. We went to the waterfall near Junjie's house in the afternoon and I decided to tag along since I started to feel slightly better. Some of us decided to rent some bikes and ride them to the waterfall and this was the beginning for more disasters. Alycia fainted while biking, Junjie fell down from the top of the waterfall (no injuries though) and Jin Xiang swallowed his chewing gum while biking back to Junjie's house. What an eventful trip you must say, food poisoning, losing money, fainting, falling down from waterfall, swallowing of chewing gum. Not to mention the landslide on the Day 1 and the frequent raining over the days. It seemed like everything that could go wrong went wrong on this trip.

We left Junjie's house at around 2pm, went to buy some more 土产 and ate the famous Ipoh 芽菜鸡 and Hor Fun. They were delicious but I did not manage to eat much because I did not really have the appetite. Reached the train station at 5.30pm and we had to say good bye to Junjie and his parent, who have been extraordinary nice to all of us when we were at their place. Boarded the train and the train left Penang train station at around 6pm.

29/11/2008 (Day 6)

Reached Johor Bahru train station at around 6am. Said good byes to my Singaporean friends and waited for my parents at the train station. The end.

I am feeling a lot better now, despite still having some stomach aches. It is a really long post and I had typed this for around two hours. I am feeling really tired and I guess I shall stop now.

Nights.

Over

A level is finally over, and that also signifies the end of my six years secondary school and junior college career in Singapore. I am not sure to be happy or sad, to be honest, for I would really miss the wonderful times I spent with my fellow schoolmates and friends, especially my class and the Malaysian scholars.

Speaking of my class, yesterday was our class gathering. We had dinner at NYDC diner at Heeren and, to tell the truth, the main course, to me, was not really fantastic. Having said so, I must, however, mention that their cheesecake was superb, especially the double chochalate cheesecake which I ordered (it costs 7 dollars, for your information). Nontheless, the dinner was fun and I had really a wonderful time yesterday talking and chatting with my friends.

By the way, I am going back to Malaysia today and my father is coming to fetch me and my stuff back in the afternoon. I have almost finished packing my stuff and I suddenly realised that my room has become quite empty, at least for my side. I am feeling quite sorry for Vincent, my roomate, as he is going to stay in the boarding school and room alone for the next two weeks, while most of the Malaysian scholars and I are back in Malaysia. I will be back in Singapore on the 2nd of December to attend my senior promenade on the 5th of December.

My class trip is on this sunday and I am really not so thrilled about it for I can forsee that, given our low budget, we are going to have a hard time riding our way from Johor to Penang. Whatever it is, lets hope that nothing disastrous will happen and that the trip will be fun.

That's all, I know this post seems quite random and all over the place but that is exactly what I am feeling right now.

See you all in Malaysia.

CONFUSION

This morning, I received a call from Ms Patsy Soo, the school's university counselor, about an inquiry by Oxford regarding my application. Apparently, the people at Oxford were confused by the term "SIPCAL" which they claimed that I have included in my application and have sent an email to Mrs Cheng, my CT, asking for a clarification on the validity of such qualification. I was stunned and puzzled when I first heard about the news for I clearly remembered that I did not include the word "SIPCAL" in any of my forms. I went to check my personal statement and online application and I was glad that I am right because I cannot find any "SIPCAL" in these two documents. I spent the whole morning google-ing it and I still cannot find anything online about this stupid "SIPCAL".

Why the hell in the world then would the people at Oxford think that I have written such bizzare term in my application?

Then in the afternoon, I received another call from Ms Soo again, since I said that I was going to check it out and get back to her later, and I told her truthfully that I cannot remember writing "SIPCAL" in my application and that the people at Oxford may have made a mistake. She told me that she is as confused as I am but she would try to contact Oxford as soon as possible. Ms Soo then sent an email to Oxford, which I have received a cc copy, saying that we have absolutely no idea about "SIPCAL".

It was around 5.30pm, just after I woke up from my afternoon nap, and I decided to check my email. And here is the best part. I received an email from Oxford to Ms Foo, saying that they have made a mistake and " Clearly some CONFUSION has arisen at some point....".

My response to this - relieved but angry. I was relived because I did not make any stupid comments in my Oxford application but also angry at the same time for I have wasted the entire morning and afternoon worrying about this CONFUSION.

Anyway, everything is fine now and I shall go and start studying for my biology MCQ tomorrow, which is my last A level paper.

Hope that I would not be CONFUSED by the questions tomorrow.

Good News, Bad News

Good news and bad news.

Here is the thing, I have finally received the reply from the stupid and inefficient human resource department of HCI and guess what, I am too late! Damn, all the vacancies for teaching assistant at the high school section have been filled out. I am feeling quite irritated right now for I cannot believe that there are so many random people applying for these positions as teaching assistant at the high school section (it must has been filled with mother spawn). But the manager of the human resource department did say that she would keep my contact and would contact me directly SHOULD there be any suitable vacancies. I wonder if she is just saying this so as to let me feel better or that she is attending to my request sincerely.

Yesterday was Biology paper 3 and I guess it was the easiest paper that I have taken so far (besides of course maths) for the questions asked are quite straight forward and easy. However, the essay question, to me, was a killer, especially the first part which asked about the aims of the Human Genome Project. Who the heck in this world would go and memorise the insignificant and unimportant details of the aims of the Human Genome Project??? (though i heard that there are some people in my class who actually managed to recite all the 6 aims, crazy, isn't it) But anyway, the subsequect 2 parts of the question, which asked for the benefits as well as the ethical concerns of the Human Genome Project, are more reasonable and doable. I was not really confident with my answer though because it is very GP-liked and I am not good at elaborating on the points mentioned. My only hope of getting an A for the paper now is that I do not screw up for my structured questions, so that I can still make up for my mistakes in the essay.

Another random news, David Cook album is out today, 18th of November! I have downloaded and listened to the leaked tracks a few days a ago and guess what, I actually thought that the abum is quite nice and comparable with that of David Archuleta's. Though all the songs may seem quite similar when you first listen to the album (which consist of the predictable rock and husky sound of David Cook), the tracks are actually quite nice and cathcy. My favourite songs include A Daily Anthem and Permananent (which is the one and only ballad track in the entire album besides the bonus Time of my Life).

That's all, I am not really in the mood of typing anymore, for I am quite worried for not being able to get a temporary job next year. I really need a job because I want to buy a new laptop!!!!

Haiz...

First

After long considerations, I have finally decided to start a blog, for I have realized that how much I have forgotten about my secondary school and JC lifes over the past 6 years, and I want to make sure that I am not going to do the same for my univeristy life after JC. Before I write any further, here is a disclaimer, in case you do not know, my English standard is not that excellent and I am not a fantastic writer. I would really appreaciate if you can refrain yourself from laughing at my stupid and sometimes silly grammatical or spelling errors.=)

The past 2 weeks have been extremely hectic and stressful, for the obvious reason, A level. Despite the fact that the A level papers this year are considerably harder and more unique, in terms of the questions asked, as compared to last year's, I believe that I have performed quite well for my papers so far and I am quite satisfied with my performance, especially for Maths, which I managed to leave half an hour before the paper ended. Having said so, I am still quite worried about my other subjects, in particularly general paper and economics, for I have not been able to get consistently good grades for the two subjects before. Anyway, A level is ending really soon for I am now only left with two papers, biology paper 3 and 1, which is going to end on next thursday. I can finally throw away all my notes and start watching all the TV shows and movies that I have downloaded, which consists of around 300 GB of stuffs.

Speaking of my plan after A level, I would also be going to Penang and Ipoh for my class trip from the 22nd to the 28th of November. I am really looking forward to it for it would be the last chance, before prom, for the whole class (actually there are only about 10 people going) to get to together. The nest big event would be the senior promenade at Ritz Calton on the 5th of December, which I predict that it would be boring and fail miserably. I am also planning to apply for a temporary job as a teaching assistant in school next year while waiting for my A level and university admission. I have already sent an inquiry letter about the application procedures to the human resource department of the school about a week ago and I still have not receive any reply. I am going to wait for another two to three days for the reply, before I send the inquiry letter directly to the head of department of science, which i believe that all of you know who she is.

I think that should be enough for my first post and I shall go and study for my biology application syllabus now,

and also wait for the reply for the human resource department,

as well as the clarification email from Imperial College London regarding my entry conditions (which i believe that they have accidentally replaces "biology" with "physics" - more information shall be available in my subsequent posts), which I have also sent a week ago. Damn.

Peace and goodnight.