MINing of Life

Sunday, 25 November 2007

postcard from Miss TohY

Miss Toh sent this TK postcard to me, or rather, my parents. It goes like this:

to: Parents of Pang Chiaw Min (2G)
add: (My address)

I am pleased to inform you that your child
____ has shown improvement in results.
____ has shown improvement in class behaviour.
ticked has displayed great pride in his/her work.
ticked has been extremely polite.
ticked is helpful and responsible.
ticked has shown great initiative.
____ Chiaw Min is a great delight to all her teachers. She's wise and responsible, and when entrusted with tasks, she does them with pride and enthusiasm. A great student who deserves respect from her peers.

God Bless,

Ms. Shirleen Toh

(Form teacher of 2G)

After reading aloud from the postcard, my brothers were like, "Aiyah, all copy from your report book what. Same as the comments given inside."

Anyway, Miss Toh used a TK postcard, something which I've never seen before. It has this picture of a TK athlete running. And the theme for this card is DILIGENTIA, part of the school motto in Latin, which means Diligence. There are little inspirational sentences as well:

Diligence is the wellspring of success.

It is the willingness to persevere

long after others have given up.

It is the driving force that keeps you

going long after you think you can't.

It is putting in a little bt more effort

than what others bother to put in.

It is looking at an insurmountable task

and saying," This mountain I can climb."

I guess they will be inspiring enough to keep me going. Thanks, Miss Toh.

9:48 am;

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Friday, 23 November 2007

2G in MapleY

This is super cute! Qixiang actually created a maple character for each and every classmate.

I wanted an individual one of myself, so he sent me this:

But it didn't fit nicely into the space of the MSN display picture.

So I requested for a smaller one. And I got this:

But it was blurred. Or at least, not as nicely fitted as his.

Therefore I demanded a better quality one, which was this:

I complained about the long pants, and guess what's his excuse? Next year we're promoting to Sec3, we have to change to long pants -.-

I think I look too sweet, and Asha's avatar look more like me in reality. But the creator said many people think that it looks very similar to me.

7:03 pm;

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Thursday, 22 November 2007

Thanks for your supportY

Chill people, chill. Gosh, I feel so contented after reading the tags. I'm fine, people, I'm good.

I guess *anony* and *Who?* should be Weilin's seniors... It's only a guess.
Anyway, I'm really thankful for your suggestions and comments. I've really thought through deeply before I made my final decision; I'd consulted Miss Tan (Art teacher) and Erfi (the only person I know who takes Pure Sciences and appealed for extra Art).
Miss Tan, like *anony*, suggested for me to appeal.
Erfi advised me not to follow his path though he said I could try. This wise senior felt that it's a tough choice, and hey, I'm not as hard-core a person as he is, keeping in mind that I'm in the Student Council and a committed guide.

I've really got to thank Weilin and Astrid. They called me and was speaking to me in a tone as though they were trying to stop me committing suicide or something.
Weilin called to tell me that I could try appealing for Double Science and opt for Art as a 9th subject.
Astrid called quite late, actually. She was telling me things like "J is not the last class you know, don't be sad ok? You sound so sad on your blog! Don't be sad ok?"

I'm really gratified to the encouragement I've been receiving these few days. They really made my day when I was down, as stated previously, I was disappointed upon knowing the class I was streamed to. Here are just some people I'm really grateful of: Yuyi, Clarissa and SiYuan (nothing's better than you sisters), Eileen (the 1st person I told that I wept), Vivian, HuiMin... and many others.

I'm good, people. No worries. I'll unleash my potential and you shall see what I've got!

P.S.HuiMin, you have my support here. You can still take DnT if you can't take Art. Design Schools usually take these 2 subjects as priority. They both help in designing. Just to let you know, DnT actually stand a better chance because the process is rougly the same as and design courses whereas Art is more of the Art history and drawing that's somewhat you'll do in design courses.

P.S.s.I'm curious who *anony* and *Who?* are, because not all people whom I don't know care to give encoragement.

P.S.s.s.Gosh, I'm super touched! read Eileen's blog... there's 1 entire post about ME!

9:17 am;

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Monday, 19 November 2007

Streaming resultsY

At 2+ pm, JunHui asked me if I had received my streaming results by mail. I told him that he's got to be kidding because we're suppose to wait till the 21st. He said his friend had already received the posting results and even sent me the scanned letter of his friend's. We're like "Wah, so unfair, how come others have and we still have to wait?"

By 3+ pm, Eileen came online and asked me to check my mailbox because she'd recieved her results too! Gosh, I was super excited and ran downstairs to open the door when I realised that, hey, I'm living in a HDB flat, I've got to go to the ground floor to reach for my letterbox. So I hoped so hard for my mum to forget her keys, but today, she remembered them -.- I ran around the entire house, only to come to my mind that "Hey, only Mum and TJ bro has the key to the mailbox!"
Disappointed that I can't retrieve my result instantly, I went back upstairs and was like "Argh, I want the key to the box! If only I could destroy that metallic little box! My heart's throbbing so hard that it's goina pump out of my ribcage!" (well, I was out of my mind at that moment, so mind me for the insane description)

Just right before 6, Mum finally opened the door. I dashed to her and asked excitedly if there was any letter for me. Then I grabbed the whole lot of nonsense and search for the envelope with my name on it. It was right at the bottom. I immediately unsealed it, took out the letter and searched for the hand-writtened words. Blah blah blah... I saw "Pang Chiaw Min" then "option No 9" then "3J".

To be frank, I tried to be happy.
I was glad to get Option 9, my first choice; but 3J was really unexpected.
3J is the last class.
Fellow pals were in high spirits, delighted, screaming their lungs out, because they managed to get into a Pure Science class.
I knew that Option 9 won't get me into any of those Pure Science classes, but I thought it would've probably been 3F, 3G or 3H; understand where I'm coming from, not the last class.

I remembered during Guides Annual Camp, I asked Mrs Ang and Mrs Yap if they knew which class I was streamed into. They didn't know. The next morning, Mrs Ang came to my table and joined my patrol for a moment for breakfast.
She said: Chiaw Min, are you CRAZY or what? Can go to Double Science don't go. What's your problem? You want to take Art isit?
ME: yah.
She said: You've got to think practically, you know? Huh, how high can you score in Art? The highest is probably a B4.
ME: *nothing to say* (But I know I'd have regretted if I didn't choose Art)
She ended: Haiya...
(breakfast continued)

People will see me not as someone who's trying to persue her dreams. Instead, I'd probably be a "cannot-make-it but still trying to struggle in an Autonomous, SEA school" girl in their eyes.
It'll be tough for me, but I know my strength. This was what I wanted, though I'm rahter unsure where I'm standing now, I'll continue this journey.
This journey will be much much different from the others because I'm running on a track I've planned. Just like my sister, we're nuts, we're unique, we believe strongly in ourselves. I'm going to prove you people out there that hey, choosing Art is not dumb; you're the one being dumb because you do not understand the Art of Art!

In any case, thank you people for your moral support, especially Eileen, SiYuan, Vivian, HuiMin, and many others. These were just the first few people who helped me get back on my feet when I almost fell.
I want to thank my family as well, for giving me the freedom of choice.
I told Dad that I was streamed to the last class the moment he was home. At first he was like, "Aiyo, why lidat?"
I just got my spirit back, so I remained mute.
He asked: Can appeal or not?
ME: No point, it's my first choice.
He asked: Say you put the wrong option lah.
ME: Then that's my fault, they won't entertain.
He asked: Are you happy with it?
ME: Okay lah. My first choice what.
He reassured himself and asked: But are you happy?
ME: Yah. (At that moment, I was lying.)

My family is really wonderful, standing there for me all the time.

I once told Mum: Your sisters will surely scold you for allowing me to give up Pure Sciences for Art. They'll say that you're dumb.
Mum said: It's what you like what, care about what they say for what?
ME: Really arh?
Mum said: Then force you to do what you don't like meh?
ME: Thank you Mummy.

I'll stand strong, people. I'll show the world who I really am.

3:17 pm;

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Saturday, 17 November 2007

Guides Annual Camp'07 ~MelodyY

This year's camp was better than ever, though first night's outdoor cooking was screwed up by the rain and the last lunch was not very well-orgainised, overall, I'll give it a 9 out of 10 to the Sec 3 seniors for making this camp so fun (to me, at least).

SiYuan, Clarissa and Yuyi were quite disappointed to know that I wasn't picked to sleep in the 8-men tent with them. Good for them at least, they could stay together. I was the only Sec 2 in my bunk, and I had to ask the Sec 1s to accompany me. However, because of that, I was able to trick them to tell me where they hide their group's eggs! In this game, every group had 2 eggs to take care of, and by the end of the camp, which ever group with the most number of whole (not crushed) eggs would have bonus points! (hehe... cunning me, as always xD)

All the running and walking and cleaning up was tiring but I liked them, it was at least better than sitting down and doing nothing! I knew I had to do the cleaning, if not who will? Even if someone did it, she wouldn't have done it willingly, which means she would have just did it anyhow just to complete the job.

Oh, Farewell Nite was cool. Tribal Group had face paint, well, 'cause they were acting as people in an ancient tribe. Hip Hop Group, which I was in, performed a skit whereby "IN" HipHop kids were trying to introduce Hip Hop to their Granny, and guess who the Ah Mah was? Me. I got some face paint from Tribal and drew eyebags and wrinkles on my face. We even prepared powder to get my hair grey. I was wearing socks and slippers (like some Japanese style granny, which was super uncomfortable) and brought along the kampong straw fan as props. They worked well. At dinner time, everyone, including the band members and teachers and fellow guides were like "What happened to you?" or "Wah!" or "Crazy as ever." They told me that I seriously aged like 60 years in minutes! hahaha!

Former ma'ams came back. The '06 batch came back on the first night and talked to us. I was glad. Though they had already graduated for more than a year, they still hope to see a spark in TK guides. I want to help, and I will, because I know TK guides is more than what we currently are.

Next year's camp shall be even better than ever 'cause it's up to my batch to plan! I help in every way I can, and that's a promise! I won't wanna disappoint Mrs Tey, Mrs Ang, Mrs Yap and Mdm Azlin.

Before ending the year off, let's bade goodbye to the Sec 4s of 2007 for the effort they had put in to nurture their junior guides, and also Mrs Chan-Ho for all that she had done for TK guides for the years she had spent in TK (I think we should not remember the bad times we had with her, especially the last lunch).

Thank you Sec 3s for making my 2nd TK guides camp so memorable and enjoyable. I appreciated it a lot. In any case, I would like to help you people in any way I can as well. Sec 3 '07 guides ALL THE WAY!!!

Farewell Nite

Novia, Me, Sara (PL), Cecilia (PS), Denise

Sparrow'07
We know we're the best Patrol in the entire Unit!

9:41 pm;

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Monday, 12 November 2007

Bake Rice feastY

TJ bro got 2 huge bottles of some kind of pasta sauce for free, the Tuna one and the 3 Cheese one. So I helped him prepare lunch yesterday. I love cooking, especially when everything turn out pleasing to the eyes and the tongue (and the stomach). So we came up with _ different combinations:

Tuna flakes and Green Pepper on pasta with Tuna sauce and Cheese;

Tuna flakes and Green Pepper on rice with Tuna sauce and Cheese;

Tomato, Green Pepper, canned Baked-beans and Mushroom with Tomato paste and Cheese;

Hawaiian style baked pasta with the 3 Cheese sauce and extra Cheese;

Hawaiian style baked rice with the 3 Cheese sauce and extra Cheese

Tonight, I decided to finish up the sauces, so i made MORE baked rice (no more pasta left).

At least I was smart enough to come up with new creations!

Creation 1: Green Pepper, Sausages and canned-Baked beans with Tuna sauce and Cheese

Creation 2: It's special because it's splitted into 2 halves, I shall name it "Choose your vege".

First half: Green peas with Shitake Mushrooms and canned-button mushrooms with 3 Cheese sauce and extra Cheese

Second half: Fresh Tomatoes with Shitake Mushrooms canned-button mushrooms with 3 Cheese sauce and extra Cheese

Mum baked salmon too!

10:04 pm;

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Sunday, 11 November 2007

Council Farewell Nite'07Y

It's time for us to say goodbye to the Sec 4 councilors. They were a super strong batch, with a super strong lead - the President, Nicholas Aw- and did a super wonderful job.

I remember the first time stepping into TK, they were the first TK students I met, trying to help me settle down in TK, making it comfortable as a second home. My then class chaperones, Amalina and Tina were really caring and so approachable that we (1G'06) become quite bonded on the 1st week of school, the orientation week.

It'll be time for me to do the same next year... how quick! It somehow bring to my mind the scene when a bunch of 1G girls were asking Ama how to get into the Student Council. Actually, I was really inspired by how, as councilors, they could be of so much help to the school, which was really different from what Prefect was back in primary school (well, like police and theft... how useless, I know).

The last night (Friday night)...

Sec 2s, and Dwayne who didn't like to take pictures

Erfi, Estee, Sharon, Me, Clarissa, Vivian, Amalina, Zaki, and MingJie at the back

with Tania

with MingJie

with Celine

Sec 2s, YiMeng (in green)who will be leaving TK

with Aaysha and Atiqah

with Nicholas, Yi Hee and JiaHsien

with Jocelyn and Tina

Erfi and Jevonne

EGG YOLK, Jevonne!

Girlfriend, Jocelyn!

prize-giving/ farewell speech

9:38 pm;

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Thursday, 8 November 2007

Deepavali at Little IndiaY

I requested Dad and Mum to bring me to Little India for a walk on this special occassion, Deepavali. And because this festival is also known as the Festival of Light, Little India had light-up decorations along the 2km road.

Let the pictures speak...

it's Chinese influenced... don't they look like what you see during Chinese New Year, just not the God of Fortune and the new year greetings...LOL

Henna art The Hindu Temple These European were filming on this festival.
I heard something like : Singapore...Little India (well, she spoke in some European Language)

back on the streets

heading home, in the car

It's really cool to see the inside of Singapore. I guess it's named Little India because it's just like India. When I was walking down Little India, it somehow gave me a feeling that I was in China! Wait, not trying to be racist, but the only difference was just the smell, language and skin colour; other than that, that atmosphere was really similar to that in China. Probably the streets and messiness are the same in both countries.

I'd really recommend people to go to Little India for a walk during Deepavali or weekend evenings to squeeze with the crowd and feel the richness of the Indian culture in Singapore. It's not as scary or dangerous as I had thought before.

9:16 pm;

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