END-Of-Year Surprises(4)-Every Ending signifies a New Beginning

Very well, today is the last day of school for the year of 2005,so is this 4-part episode. However, for this last one, there were very little, given that many of them had already appeared,and some I had already forgotten.
Allow me to take you back to the 26th of October,2005, which was Wednesday. They arrived very late then. It was 1.25 PM. My teacher asked Andy,Ko Hein and I to help her with the report books, so as to lessen the burden...Call that mutualism,as she had a lighter work load, and we could see everyone's results. We knew who to meet next year, and how much we all had changed in just two years, from the photographs on the first page of the books.
Second-last day,yesterday. It was packed-full with inter-class games and other activities. I, together with Ko Hein was taking many photographs, about 61 in all. There was the soccer tournaments, and the class photos,too. It was because, he was going to compile them into a neon-coloured CD, which would contain many memories of the past two years.
That was the last gift that I would ever get from him.Well the reason?It's a secret that should be kept between me,Andy,gabriel and him,of course! So still when will it be let out?In two month's time, in the first week of school next year,2006. Well, for the first time, it was not very stressful to me when I got back my report book, as I had seen it two days ago already, not just that, the whole class'. So, this year, the happy ending has got yet to come, when? I expect it to be somewhere next month. There are many challenges ahead, while this is just still the brginning. Every end is a new beginning. Here is another poem. For any 2E1 student who is from YC, this is specially for you:


It was so fast.
The bonds were just too strong.
two years have past.
But still, we have been broken into three large fragments.
There, here, then, and now,
We will still remain good friends.

There are many memories.
Good or bad they are new experiences.
Parts of our untold stories,
Will be unfolded as we move on.
The friendship has made some of us stronger.
But life must go on.

Whether we will be together or not,
Our future has become brighter than before.
Know it or not,
Feel it or not,
We have changed.
Changed for the better or worse
It is obvious for us to see.

Today,many of us go our seperate ways,
Though it is only into three,
It has yet to be broken into smaller particles.
Right now, I must move on,
On to a new chapter, one which has new experiences and memories.
Today, we may leave each other's warmth, but it will be back tomorrow.

So this is my advice:
Every ending is a new beginning.


And so this ends the 4-part stories of the many surprises. Today,we may leave one another, but tomorrow,the future, hopefully,may we meet again.

~END~

End-Of-Year Surprises(3)

Welcome to the next part of my 4-part series of never ending surprises this year end, all of which are just waiting to pop up at the right moment. Today, no,I should say, in this next episode of "End-Of-Year Surprises",many unexpected things happened in school. The time frame was from as early as 6.45 this morning, all the way till this fine, but cool late afternoon at around 6.00PM. Well, that's the longest and also the one with the most number of surprises(maybe not) for the whole thing itself.
Well then, I was sneezed at by a friend, who attracted alot of attention from everyone at the scene...too bad there were only fifteen of us in the class room. Before the morning assembly started, I ran up four floors to the class room,to get my pair of shoes to be used later that afternoon to my teacher for safe keeping,only to find that i had to bring it back up to the class room again after that,as we were leaving for the esplanade(again,for the second time this month) for a Mathematics and English trail.
As we embarked for our destination late,due to a briefing for a performance(to be mentioned again at a later date), it was rush hour at the Clementi exit of the Central Expressway when we happened to pass by.This soon,no, immediately created a chain effect for the day at the esplanade. By the time we started the trail, everyone had less than 2 hours to complete 5 sections of the trail at various parts at the esplanade. We managed to complete the trail at the last minute, but everything "comes with a price".We were filled with perspiration.Our efforts were wasted when we did not win anything during the prize-presentation.We arrived back in school at 11.40 AM, just in time to catch the last 15 minutes of a show,but I only got to know part of its objective.This was followed by the debriefing and prize presentation mentioned earlier, before 90% of everyone was dissmissed. I had to attend an important briefing immediately after that(this is another topic which I will talk about at a later date), while some other friends attended another briefing for the school's open house on the fourth of next month. I was told by a friend that the school would not be offering the Pure Sciences option for Secondary three next year, leading to the confirmation of the top-in-standard of the school, also my friend, to apply for a transfer to another school,meaning the loss of a good friend.
Now, it is already 2PM. After lunch, I had to get ready for my CCA's version of the preparaton for the open house. I and some other friends went to help a teacher with the perparation for the seconday one year-end tornament, till around three, but still no news of our teacher in-charge and two others who were supposed to turn up for the preparations. thirty minutes later, it started to rain torrentially,and still no news of them. I, and another friend went to see another of the teacher-in-charge of the CCA, to know that it has to be cancelled. We went up to play some card games, and we listened to some music.
At four-thirty, we set off for home. Darren's father arrived just at the right moment, and we happened to pass by the practice grounds of the school's dance club, which also appeared to be practising for the open house next month.
Now(no longer officially clocked in the time listed above), I am waiting for the call of a teacher which would arrive somewhere between tonight and midnight tomorrow(this better not happen like on Sunday night,11.30 PM). Tomorrow, spring cleaning comes early, as the class cleans to a new year ahead of us. Another bad news that I already know for next year since July this year(even before this blog started), that, after two years of very, very strong bnds that the class already has, it has to be broken into many smaller segments this fateful friday. Whether I would still get to see them again the next year has already been decided yesterday, but, in the process, all students had a whole day to relax. Happiness is only short-lived, so I have to strengthen my bonds with as many classmates as possible over the next two days, and this amount of time is relatively short, but it would also add alot, no, much much more meaning to this year.
The summary of tomorrow till Friday will have to be decided by fate on how I should experience, and express it here on the next entry...

End-Of-Year Surprises(2)

This is the 2nd part to my "3-part" series of the many things happening within the short time frame of this month. Well, sad to say,this is not a three part series.In fact, I have realised that 1 more part should be added to it. I may even add more during the holidays until this eventually becomes a saga. As if I would!It would only be one for now. I may increase it by another one or two, only if my feelings call for it.
Firstly, to begin with, there was a fire-drill, but for this time, a few incidents made me hate it even more. i had a bad time with one of my close friends, the holding area was warmer than I had expected it to be(could be due to global warming),and a few playful ones were playing with a pitiful garden frog(size of my palm).
At 10 this morning, I was told I had been selected for the triple A awards(Annual Achivement Awards) to represent my CCA...I remembered being reminded a day or two before that...but I just cannot remember when. I had a few classmates winning 2 awards at most... adding up to a total of 6 or 7 for both ourselves and for the class.
In the afternoon, immediately after the award presentation ceremony, everyone was dissmissed on the spot. I had 3 hours before my CCA started! I took the longest route I knew which would not tire me out by the time I got home, and that would leave me with about 30 minutes or so for a short break and lunch before setting off for school again.
3.10, was when it started..........just some simple photo-taking, with about 40 photographs in just an hour!It was so fast (the amount my camera's memory card can take is about 150 times of that)!
5.30. That was when I reached home to find only my 3 other siblings in front of the Tv, playing video games......again, another 30 minutes later, did my parents came home.
Now?That is when I am typing this right now!Part three is...uh...I leave it to you to think when it will be out!That's all for today...

End-Of-Year Surprises(1)

Today, it's finally back to school with much,much more pleasant surprises just waiting to pop out at the right moment...There are not one,not two, but many.Yes,many of them,just like in a package.They all came out almost at the same time today,just like fireworks lighting up the night sky one after another.
Results...It may seem to give you the creeps at first, but later, only when the figures are out, your feelings may not necessarily die down. This year's streaming again...another milestone added to my life diary. This year's Mathematics,I schemed through it with really little effort, and got a distinction of 91 out of 100!Science was even better:75/100...I could have done better for the part on Biology...At least it was not just me, the whole class, from what I know, did quite badly for that section, which required higher order thinking.I managed to pull through for the easily set Chemistry,and the second toughest Physics paper. I managed to escape from the falling wall of my weakest subject, chinese,at 55, I did beyond my expectation for my English: 22/30 for the essay, and another improvement for my paper 2, at 35/50.
The other one,well, I cannot really tell, given that this is, so far, the greatest surprise for this month.

Here is another poem, about some of my thoughts and feelings about the exams. Hope you would like it:

Another step, not fall.
This has been my aim to all.
At last, it is for real.
Not one nor two.
It is many more.
Untold through print
Nor through thought

For every step
I have something to reap.
I reaped what I sowed.
Through two months
I thought I dispaired
these I witnessed
Can it really have been passed?

It has told me my fate.
Now there's one thing left to create.
I must mould a good future
using the quality of clay that I hath chosen.
This new masterpiece
Shall and will be
For it is my hope,my dream, and so is my life.

After All That

After the residential camp, that is. 3 days and 2 nights was definitely more than enough time.IT was fun and all, and every phase of games come with a meaning...it's called Learning-In-Action.I like to learn things that way. The place, Labrador Advanture Centre(LAC),though it looked old and all, it was filled with colourful murals on almost every corner you turned...Guess that is called" A place where colourful and new memories are unravelled"? The bunks were "replicas" of army camps(they may look the same, but rules were very relaxed).Canteen was colourful,the well-maintained toilets could give one a decent feeling that he or she was actually back home.Great!
First day was, well games games and more games for 6 or 7 hours.There, 10 teams were suppossed to raise some money in terms of points over a period of three days,and 2 nights. I was made the In-charge of my group of bout 10 people...tough,but filled to the brim with experiences, that is what I expected to learn there.I enjoyed the game of Water Bomb,whereby we all threw water bags at other teams...when some of us became restless,there were containers like bins and pails, so we took them(Wahsed them clean first,then filled them up), and emptied all the water at others at the refill site and other places.The other one that night was the treasure hunt. The first night was filled with hand phone ringtones from some roommates, and i watched some of my classmates who were also there to play a round of card game or two.Well, we all could not sleep from the experiences of the first day, and the thoughts for the next day.I managed to sleep through the next 5 hours that night.
2nd Day. Today was definitely not the kind of a camping day I had been waiting for. There were few games compared to those which I looked forward to from the previous day,and there were also few meaningful evaluations and experiences to take home about the games, as there were only that number of games(I had hoped for more). Breaks were given so often, that almost out of the 24 hours,we were all spending more long moments which were short inside our own bunks, but we managed to be able to play some games with some of our new found friends, and got to know them better.Well, I only said that the DAY time was uneventful, and I have not went on to explain about the night right??? Now, in the evening, after the delicious dinner, everyone finally held up hopes and went to the hall of the campsite, which was the calm after the storm. That was where the best part of the whole camp came in. We had a miniature " Fear Factor" telematch, not too digusting, and you could actually hear those enthusiastic cheers and encouragement from all the teams! That night, we all slept so soundly, that we did not notice that a small group of friends had ordered some food to eat and celebrate with their leader before the next day. It was so thoughtful of them...
3rd Day, being the shortest of all, was just breakfast , 3 tasks with regards to time management, and the Prize Presentation. As we all woke up late that morning, there was little time to complete our tasks, which we still managed to pull through with a large number of points at the end of the day. We parted, took a bus to the school's main gae and we all , not really all, went our seperate ways.That, was yesterday.END OF CAMP.

And there, you have it, yesterday, the school's the first destination of Sunday,at 12.30PM. I had to attend a meaningful puppet show at the esplanade at 3 till around 4 in the afternoon, and that's destination 5 for you. Before that, I went to Lakeside MRT to change to a clean set of clothes and a bag, which my mother had prepared for me, shortly after, I met Andy,together with Darren, went to Clementi for lunch at 1.30 PM, before heading for no. 4, Dover, where we met 2 more friends, one at the end of the train, and had to poorly come all the way to the second car, and the other, who hit the Bull's eye, at the correct door at the right car.Now, back to the Esplanade(2.30 pm), Waited for 4 others at the first floor before heading up to the Threatre studio for the puppet show which started after 3 late comers from our class who joined in in the nick of time. Coincidentally, we met other friends from Sec 3 who also came to attend the show, " Twisted".
Basically, the show was split in to seven or 8 scenes divided by the stanzas of a poem,I think. It was the life story of a girl whom i did not manage to recall her name, and a boy(From young to old age in taking the form of a puppet) by the name of Andy, too. It was called Twisted, as it gave the idea of life, on how it has ups and downs, whereby, each time it went down( represented by a hole ina prop), one had to climb back up as life goes on. The other meaning was that, the first part of the show would give one the idea that the puppet was actually the female lead in the story, making the plot seem twisted. It was only in the last five minutes when everything came to light. The female lead told the audience that the boy was actually Andy( My friends and i kept patting him on the shoulder, giving him sarcarstic remarks),who had passed away at a very old age. I was very touching then, and it was also the climax of the whole show, with a very sad piano piece.The stage seemed to have become frozen like that of a photograph as the lights change to a bronze-like colour.
Soon after that the show ended, and the three in the group broke away at the exit, now with 12-3= 9 of us, we went to a nearby music stall to look at some of the latest hits before heading for the next stop,City Hall interchange. Our number dwindled from a lively nine to 6, at the next stop, 5 at Dover, and down to 2 at Jurong East Interchange(my stop no. 7) at 5.20 PM. Andy and another friend carried on till lakeside MRT where they got off. I reached home way past 5.30 PM(last but not least, terminating stop no. 8), where, after a quick bath, I slept for 15 hours till this morning at 9AM, as today is a marking day at my school. And so,that would be my great adventure for the month of October.

Relaxation Awaits

Now, as the last exam leaves my sight, more and more activites are arriving, and they are all so close to each other. This is a quick review as i travel back to about 1 month ago, on the23rd of September, it was intensive revising... ... all the way till last Monday, the first day of exams.
Strangely, for the first time this year, the year end examinations had a 2 day break in between, that was, Tuesday and Wednesday. It was hard trying to concentrate. Good thing Geography, History and Literature were taken of another 2 months before that, leavin' me with 6 other subjects. English would have been easy if I had read the National Geographic article on" Hot Coffee" in the January issue, which I had left it to collect some dust for 10 months now. I schemed through Mathematics with little difficulty, A total of about 126 Hours of revision for Science, accomplished over the past month, still did me in for the Physics section. I always do very badly for my drawings. A day later, was the "basic" knowledge of Design And Technology(the word design sure gives me good foresight and confidence to say,"There are drawings to be DONE!") Phew, the designs I had to draw sure were simple, good grief.Before that was the shortest examination for during the whole End-Of-Year examinations,Physical Education,which was totally on sports and lifestyle, with a tinge of first-aid. Today, it was the last day. Of all my ART assignments i did, IT just had to be today, when i answered the WHOLE question WORNGLY!Now I would have to depend on the advice" There are no rights or wrongs in Art". Whether that is true, I leave it to my fated marker.
At 10.30 Am,12th October,2005, it was the cue for celebration. 2 months of hand-tiring and tedious writings and "ink-eating" answer scripts had finally paid off... ... Now is the time. Now is the time to prepare for the coming onslaught of activites, games and camps. In 2 day's time, would be the second residential camp for this year. Almost like the first, also a residential leadership camp, those people who you know very well for the past 1 year might not join you in your group, and group leaders ahve to give instructions to their teammates. The differences are that the camp will not be as strict as that of the first one, which was part of a leadership course which was strict, filled with many tough obstacles,short sleeping hours,time limits for every activity, and scoldings and/or advices for each and every minor mistakes made, and there were no beds nor pillows back then,but every camp comes with new experiences and skills, so this coming camp would not really give me that much stress over how best I should give my instructions or carry out a certain task, as during the camp, I had the great experience and responsibility of controlling 139 leaders-to-be, which has indeed given me great confidence. On this coming Sunday,at 12.30 Pm, I would have only about an hour or 2 for lunch before I head back to school at 2PM for a show at the Esplanade,Threatres by the Bay.
Then next Monday, since it's going to be a marking day, I can say it's gonna be a holiday for me to sleep on my very own bed for a whole day, since it had been a tiring day before that. Soon after that, would be the heart- pounding, future-deciding return of examination scripts. Not too long after that,will be the inter-class games, which my class would be participating for the first time at the end of the year, as we missed the chance a year ago.This time, there would be the infamous soccer tournaments, and the much- awaited volleyball,which we may not be taking part in.
Seems like the next post would be taking a short break till this Sunday night or Monday, after my activeness makes a comeback.Now, it seems like this is the peak period whereby I can accomplish those non-academic based objectives in life, given the next few weeks, I somehow see it in a different perspective that this amount of time is far too little. Must things always happen this way? Will we ever get to meet each other again? Will I get to my dream class next year?