The world, from the POV of a dec'92 girl

Loans for international medics for study in UK.

2011-05-26T16:11:00.003+08:00

THERE ARE NO LOANS FOR SINGAPOREAN STUDENTS STUDYING IN THE UK that offers loan amounts >100K SGD! - as of 26may2011.

Some background info: i'm singaporean, graduated with A levels, received conditional offers from london universities for medicine. wants to go. lacks money to.

Here's the typical summary of the forms of financial support a student has:

1. Loans

2. Scholarships

3. Papa-Mama Scholarship (PMS, of otherwise known as FMS - father-mother scholarship)

1. LOANS

I'm looking at LARGE AMOUNTS. to cover tuition fees + living expenses of about 18k SGD/year.

Following advice from http://www.ukcisa.org.uk/student/source_funding.php, i emailed the British council, and i'm putting their (edited) reply below.

RHB Edu Loan (MAX: high loan amount of up to 6 times your monthly income or S$100,000, whichever is lower)
Maybank Education Loan (MAX: Get a loan quantum up to 8 times of your monthly income)

I’m also including the contact details of the respective representatives below, in case you have further queries.

RHB Bank
Joanne Toh, HP: 9646 1214, joanne_toh@rhbbank.com.sg
Emily Ong, HP: 9271 8330, emily_ong@rhbbank.com.sg

Maybank
Apple Wong, HP: 9108 3965, awong@maybank.com.sg
Anna Ma, HP: 9711 0751, annama@maybank.com.sg

And from various forums, i've gathered there exists a loan for singaporeans

3. http://www.smartloans.sg/ (MAX: 100k sgd)

and thats all.

no .

more.

many banks such as lloyds, barclays have discontinued their study loan products. and we can only guess that its because many who took up such loans ran into problems, making it not that profitable for the banks to continue those loans.

so for those planning your future, take this into consideration.

and note that if you're an international student in UK, (unless you're a US citizen) , you dont have ANY study loans that can cover you for more expensive courses like medicine/dentistry. At most you get academic bursaries that usually amount to ~1k pounds (which for example in my case, cannot cover the yearly cost of 25k pounds tuition fees + 9kpounds living fees)

2. Scholarships

To my knowledge, there are only 4 scholarships in singapore that sponsor singaporeans for overseas medical undergrad degrees.

1. Presidents scholarship

2. SAFOS (2yrs army)

3. DSTA (6 year bond in lab)

4. A*STAR (6 year bond in lab)

if you're not brilliant (like me), you can forget about these.

note: DSTA & A*STAR selection starts in sec3/4 when students go for attachments/SSEF/other competitions and get awarded the 1/2k SGD scholarship for a year for subjects like mathematics/physics.

3. Papa-Mama Scholarship (PMS, of otherwise known as FMS)

only if your parents are decently well off and can afford to spend ~300k+ SGD on you alone.

THEREFORE,

Be very sure of your PURPOSE in applying for UK unis, especially if they are expensive courses. and subsequently if cost is a major concern for you (go talk it out with your parents) apply for cheaper unis, even though their rankings aren't that good.

CONCLUSION: Better successfully getting to study @ UCL/bristol than to get an offer from imperial/oxbridge and be unable to afford it.

Insecurities and the fix.

2011-05-23T01:30:00.003+08:00

choices that determine the rest of your life.

somehow i get this feeling that not many comprehend the magnitude of this decision i'm making - to go local/overseas for uni.

i myself, though raring to start uni, have my own little secret fear deep down inside. who wouldn't? its the fear of the unknown. the what ifs.

though it is consoling to know that things depend more on PROBABILITY than just POSSIBILITY, black swans do exist still, don't they? like the sept11/08globalfinanacialmeltdown/fukushima incidents.

so i take my own advice and think of my pro-con table, then i realise i don't know what weightage to give each point.

and i put myself in my mom's shoe and i think, as a parent, this would be my secret fear as well - i would be afraid when my child spreads his wings and takes to the outside world.

its irrational.

im just gonna prep for the worst, and hope for the best. and cross my fingers tightly in the interim.

and i think, currently i'm happy living life, because i harbour the hope of pursuing my dreams.

but what if the dreams don't materialise? well, i'd feel cheated.

but would i have done anything different though? - i realised im inclined towards a no. which is good.

should live life as steve jobbs said - wake every morning and ask yourself, is this what i want to do, if this is my last day on earth? and if there are too many"no"s in a row, stop life and reflect to figure what you can do to make it a yes.

then along some semi-related vein, i realised im attracted to DF cos

1. i like what its about.

2. the music and the moves get into my system, and i enjoy it. i enjoy it to the extent that it takes my mind of relatively depressing issues. its a distraction. a quick fix.

3. im new to it, so i don't know the politics and remain blissfully unaware of it. which makes it more welcoming

im addicted.

Dan Phillips

2010-12-05T13:21:00.000+08:00

Architectural genius (:

he builds houses out of scrap material. creating floors from wine corks, and windows from wine bottles, and is revolutionizing the way the building industry builds.

http://www.phoenixcommotion.com/mission.html

though time consuming, and not mass produceable (which means very time costly to produce), this saves low income families the mortgage burden.

probably this won't become the standard housing in future, but it could gain momentum and become a common solution for the homeless - all while helping them acquire marketable construction skills in the process - affording them shelter, equipping them with skills, and conferring a sense of ownership, benefiting that society.

a possible marketing strategy for this project would be to keep in mind that results need to generate new resources that can be used for action, to keep the project going. Resources would include funding. and to draw funding you need publicity, for if people know not of a thing, they would surely not donate nor purchase it.

So, promote it as a designer item, make it a fashionable thing to build your own home from scrap material, or at least have your home built from scrap material. Target the rich and those with ability to financially support this project. For it is for a good cause, and surely some wouldn't mind paying more for such a statement.

2010-09-11T12:06:00.004+08:00

MRT in future

On Death and Genie lamps

2010-08-12T23:08:00.005+08:00

Been thinking. what does death feel like?

well, one could break it into 3 categories

>natural death

to sleep and never wake. [a loss of consciousness]

or a heart attack [your mind would probably still be running, you can see,but you can't control.]

stroke [ your senses are still functioning, just that you can't react/control your body, you fade into oblivion]

>suicide

slitting wrist [ slowly feel dizzy then becomes unconscious]

free falling [ people say you die before you hit the ground. maybe it's true cos your body senses you're gonna die and just switches off. maybe atrophy on a human scale]

gun to the head [ shock, searing pain(?) like someone pressed a hot iron to your head, followed by instantaneous loss of consciousness]

overdose on drugs [ bad stomachache/dizzy then becomes unconscious]

>homocide

[too many to be listed. and quite gory as well]

-[note: the above is for my/your interllectual appreciation only]-

I'm an optimist. but sometimes everything starts looking so depressing.

the fundamental assumption of economics is that Man is greedy: he has unlimited wants that the world's limited resources cannot satisfy. scarcity.

hence assuming man is rational, he would to try maximise his satisfaction (utility) gained from consumption of whatever good, using his limited income/time.

this then serves as the basis of economic activity. Man's desire to fulfill his wants fuels his consumption, stimulates suppliers production and subsequently allows for trade in various markets.

I want a reusable genie lamp that will make all my wishes come true. any suppliers?

or maybe i, like the rest of humanity, does not need genie lamps. we just need to believe that we are one.

YOG 2010

2010-08-02T21:51:00.002+08:00

#1 little joy of life: enough sleep :D

Judo highlights from beijing olympic games 2008

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXxNXKKKkFI&feature=related

[worth re-watching for the techniques!]

hope the wow factor will be as great in the upcoming YOG. 11 days time.

oh no. i'm tending towards a high. i miss (both) trainings.

but there's always a but. maybe after A's i shall attempt to master plank breaking at least!!

the martial arts YOG shirt is rather plain :( a little let down

maybe if they want to involve singapore youths in YOG more, they should not schedule it near major exams.

Finally.

2010-08-01T01:45:00.003+08:00

-collapses into a pile- exhausted - tired- and wanting to sleep an entire week.
and i havent even started revision to the standard that i'm happy with =/

non stop projects cionging for about 3 weeks, finally over -.- very draining.

still, maths stats project was worth it (:
but my laptop crashing 1 day before the submission [and my panic thereafter cos i didn't backup, esp the project file] was not fun. -.- apprently asus incoporated this faulty graphic card into many laptops [made around 2007/08] and mine was one of those. the guy was saying that ultimately it was the manufaturer's fault more than it was asus' fault, cos they outsourced the parts. repairing graphic card costs SGD300 and 1 month =/

Also 6B_ _ CH'10 yearbook [we're the graduating batch!!!] write-up is epic XDDDDDDDDDD
scrapped many ideas before coming up with the bio filled one, but this was also totally worth the time and effort. contributions from every1 much appreciated!

-
V: why am i not catching up with studies??
V[answering mysef]: cos u neglected it too much
V: but it was worth it
V[answering mysef]: yeah so stop moaning.

pretty much sums up how i'm feeling now
-

see the big picture?

I am resigned

2010-07-26T22:53:00.001+08:00

That he can but does not want to learn, and because of that i will be subjected to the vagaries of home affairs, notwithstanding that this is my A level year, nor that my prelims are round the corner in 1 months time.

nothing can be solved before A levels.

so just live with it Val.

This is it

2010-07-24T22:10:00.001+08:00

c’est la vie [such is life]

que sera sera [whatever will be, will be]

mea culpa. [my fault]

this is it.

anyway, attended the MOE tea session 2010! held at MOE HQ, walking distance from Buonavista MRT.

now this was more like a tea session as compared to the PSC one.

[for one i think they provided tea?, but i took the fruit punch]

met R for the 2nd bit. overall was quite informative. rather engaging[for me], learnt loads about how MOE functions, in the past, and now (:

they provided refreshments at a corner, and everyone was randomly allocated to tables,(separated from friends) where you’d meet fellow A level students from different schools, and subsequently have a discussion in these groups with a veteran.

so i was initially at table 3, but they merged it with table 4, [and joined R!] probably cos i the attendance wasn’t as expected.

they spoke about the Teaching Internship Programme in detail, and even had an intern, who successfully obtained the overseas merit scholarship to study in UCL, to give us a talk.

she showed us a clip, by Taylor Mali

a dude with a funny laugh, cool language usage.

“i have a policy about honesty and ass-kicking, and if you ask for it, then i have to let you have it.”

overall felt the talks were more relevant those who have already taken up the scholarship,but nevertheless, it had sufficient coverage to enable attendees to make an informed decision.

the guy at our table, Mr T, was rather frank, has a small drawl, and i think, really had some resemblance to OCL! LOL

except he was much much more open.

said SAFOS scholarship holders were filthy rich after their studies, such that when they return, they can use their excess savings from their monthly salary(they get a salary even though they don’t work, and only study, part of contractual agreement) to buy a car. and they were the bunch of people, amongst most scholars, who were first to get married. [military wedding or course] then the rest were all jealous LOL.

also said he liked MOE cos it really focused on student development, had decent communications, and in there, the senior management were really willing to listen to everyone, and replied individual questions. if they couldn’t reply it at the meeting, the would send a personal email to reply the person!

wow

but one thing he noted was that because MOE was so huge, it had alot of intertia. at the top level things could get moving fast, but after things trickled down, people were not that receptive to change. and sometimes things got moving too slowly.

you need 2nd class upper to qualify for teaching!

they gave out this book, a compilation of experiences by beginning teachers

interesting read. (i wonder why not call them junior?)

reality check.

heard about R’s near fainting experiences after donating blood. woman. tsk take care. next time if you’re on the boderline of 300cc and 450cc(for whatever criteria, weight or blood pressure), don’t opt to donate more blood. you put urself at risk of fainting on the way home!

Good idea!

2010-07-24T11:55:00.001+08:00

the GP department is smart, in its choice to let the 2 new GP teachers emcee the racial harmony event for the yr5-6s.

very smart (:

A letter

2010-07-19T23:33:00.001+08:00

the reality in the world of lab research, as of 1996:

of course more recent examples abound but these examples generally remain censored.

on a separate issue, DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD:

ATWWAE

2010-07-17T16:12:00.001+08:00

Around The World With An Economist 2010.

Zimbabwe for us!

an initiative by RVHS’s econ’s department to help us gain a global perspective about economics around the world, to see the real life application, to aid us in A level case study.

This is the programme i used during the presentation in the LT: available at: http://www.gapminder.org/

Also check Hans Rosling out. i love his work and believe in his cause (:

HAPPY 18TH SR. hope you loved the inextinguishable candles(though it kinda burnt ur cake) and dunking (:

this is a heater from the 19th century. utterly genuine, rust and all.

-.- except its in my house.

the PSC psychometric test results arrived this week. of the entire thing, this struck me most:

made me wonder what their definition of “political nature” is. and associations with the word “politics”

Feelings for the weekdays

2010-07-16T00:08:00.001+08:00

so many feelings this week.

in chronological order.

Busy, busy, disappointed, pathetic, resolute, reflective, worried, appreciative, happy, concerned.

Busy, busy, mixed feelings, sad, disappointed, happy, sad, proud, sad, resigned, sad, proud, hopeful, happy, concerned.

Busy, busy, sad, sleepy, crappy, impressed, touched, happy, concerned.

Busy, busy, indescribable joy, paranoid, alive, excited, spark of interest, adrenaline, proud, relief, exceedingly happy, anticipation, happy, concerned.

Busy Busy, …

This is it

2010-07-13T20:40:00.001+08:00

am looking at the history made in the past 1 year.

its unbelievable that i’m part of it. its too crazy. too amazing.

D’:

thanks shigong, jiaolian, shishu, ms pan, mdm guo, mr cheong,

thanks everyone.

thanks RVwushu.

this, will always have a special place in my heart.

Incongruity

2010-07-12T19:58:00.001+08:00

*warning. material not that suitable for minors.

Sign that you’re losing control:

1. You know you have a small problem

2. Somehow when you tell other people about it, it seems like a huge problem

3. You try to reassure the people you talk to that it's a small problem, but the more you talk about it the huger the problem seems.

4. Then you shut up. Cos you don’t trust yourself to talk more, for fear that you continue making a Himalayas out of a molehill.

When thoughts become incongruent with your actions.

its pretty dangerous if you don’t trust yourself.

Carl Rogers.

one of the most eminent psychologists. almost second only to Sigmund Freud.

Rogers is an American psychologist who lived during the 20th century.

one of the founders of humanistic approach to psychology

Rogers identifies the "real self" as the aspect of one's being that is founded in the actualizing tendency, follows organismic valuing, needs and receives positive regard and self-regard.

It is the "you" that, if all goes well, you will become.

On the other hand, to the extent that our society is out of sync with the actualizing tendency, and we are forced to live with conditions of worth that are out of step with organismic valuing, and receive only conditional positive regard and self-regard, we develop instead an "ideal self". By ideal, Rogers is suggesting something not real, something that is always out of our reach, the standard we cannot meet. This gap between the real self and the ideal self, the "I am" and the "I should" is called incongruity.

Cooliris

2010-07-11T17:57:00.001+08:00

first i gotta credit PE for introducing this to me..(there, happy? lol)

Feels really like iphone10. very nice interface!

flip side is it requires google chrome to work for google images.

available at http://www.cooliris.com/

ps. im not paid to post this.just sharing the joy of technology (:

Nick Vujicic

2010-07-10T19:42:00.001+08:00

Meet Nick Vujicic, pronounced 'Vooy-cheech'

http://www.lifewithoutlimbs.org/

no excuses.

2010-07-08T17:42:00.001+08:00

I brought everything upon myself.

because i let myself.

Emotional incontinence

2010-07-07T22:07:00.001+08:00

http://ask.metafilter.com/64805/Tired-of-being-a-crybaby

The Tiger's Child

This review of the book "Adult Crying, A Biopsychosocial Approach" provides lots of new, fun phrases to google. My favorite? "emotional incontinence."
In all seriousness, it does seem like some people suffer from "pathological crying," in which you cry in response to a stimulus that just doesn't warrant it. It seems to go by various names: 'emotional lability’, ‘emotional incontinence’, ‘pathological display of affect.' These authors call it involuntary emotional expression disorder.

Addictive + PSC Tea Session 2010

2010-07-04T17:05:00.001+08:00

2. Reminiscing about Project Work.

<3 RVPJ. (this does not stand for River Valley ProJect work)

Thanks to alot of factors, project work rocked.

it was one my best school experiences ever. learnt loads, had a brilliant time!

there was this interactive art exhibition at the esplanade,

Earlier on, there was the PSC Tea session 2010, held at orchard hotel.

well for one there was no tea. it was more of a monologue, a seminar like talk. different rooms with talks by different organisations. followed by Q&A sessions. pretty informative.

it was a sell out. many re-emphasised that a scholarship marks the start of your career path.

one funny thing was that pretty much every group were saying “hey, we’re cool, you’ll love it here if you got the skills and the same belief as us.” …boils down to the fact that all things are relative.

but could tell NEA/PUB didn’t emphasise that much on work culture =X

and maybe the president scholar who talked for SAF wasn’t in an optimal state that day. =X

EDB amoeba groups!

But most impressive was the MOHH HR lady (in white, below) who gave the talk. totally outshone the rest of the groups. she possessed a different type of charisma, not usually seen (: could understand and connect with the audience.

before the talk proper, she got everyone to stand up and do some stationary exercises, like stand up, stretch out ur arms and draw circles etc,. -some people behind were jokingly saying , “wrong room, wrong room!”.

at the end of the series of exercises she said “now put ur right hand on ur chin” and she put hers on her cheek, majority followed her.

and from there she drove home the message that: actions speak louder than words!

her style wasn’t too formal. it bashed most interpersonal walls, by her being rather frank, candid, and honest about the human nature.

good speaker. loads to be learnt from her (:

Quoting her

As a HR person, i would say a bond, is guaranteed employment with value-add (cos definitely we would look after you!)

podiatry (study of the feet/lower limb) talk on the right.>>

“Join us: if you do not hate feet” -.-

overall takeaway for me was largely by the EBD/MOHH talk. feel not so much like a hermit with regards to government issues now. i feel like working in EDB, MOH, PSC, everywhere! everything has so much potential to make singapore better, everything, is so tempting, can feel the spark of interest.

3. thinking

looking at society throughout history, there seems to have been a retention of the concept of this thing called a “job” where the social norm is for a person to only assume a single job. specialisation, its definitely is a more optimal choice for society, than individuals multi tasking.

but not all are suited for specialisation.

thats partially why we get these artists, mathematician, philosopher, physicist, astronomer etc type of people like Galileo Galilee.

Brilliant day

2010-06-29T17:19:00.001+08:00

Came across this:

B (eating, and has sauce on the outer edge of the lip)

A: I had an impulse to help you wipe ur lips

B: what, with tissue?

A: ...yeah

B: oh then wouldn’t have been much mah, just tissue

A: tissue can be made up of cells as well..

LOL

today was a brilliant day. XDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

MYE 2010 chem paper was so damn exciting. seriously.

was smiling at the question when i read it. a big wide grin. felt like this was the reason why i’m bothering to put so much effort into studying chem! but didn’t have enough time though. would’ve really liked to crack it, man but shucks no time! totally loved it. though i’d probably lose those marks, but its one of those rare papers that gives me the spark, the kick, the adrenaline rush. hahaha! set by Mr CTK. lol seriously thanks man. brilliant question.

then paper 1 wasn’t as exciting. ah, was expecting something of that question 6 type, but guess paper 1 was meant to save us after a mass culling

MYE prep.

2010-06-26T12:18:00.001+08:00

i’ve been giving semi coherent lectures to the empty chair.

its tiring. i perspire and get dehydrated. –.-

marathon lecturers are crazy people, how they keep their mouths moving is a miracle.

contactable again! till next friday at least (:

A need to post.

2010-06-24T22:28:00.001+08:00

http://funnyexam.com/

S (quoting from first aid army course) : Bandaging is like a girl, it has to be slim, pretty and above all, tight.

LOL

quote from A:

“when you're in love, you can still feel horribly lonely most of the time.
when you're out of love, you feel terribly lonely all the time.
when you're single, somehow loneliness pricks you sometimes.”

you genius (:

family. hai D: it never fails to disappoint me, thus inspires a resolution in me to not do certain things in life.

handphone got confiscated (again). i’m contactable only by house phone now.

Peek into the cerebrum of V

2010-06-24T04:16:00.001+08:00

Desire makes the world go around. It is the motive force that fuels all life and all creation.

The price of freedom is freedom.

Everything in life is a gradation. Even “nothing” is not clear cut.

what makes a person?

what makes a person a person?

the art of subtlety.

the art of timing.

5 Stages of grief

Self control.

To be immune

…sigh

*MYEs.

the house

2010-06-24T01:21:00.001+08:00

For hate is only foiled not when the haters are punished, but when the hated are immune to the bigot’s power.

in a different sense, on a different level.

I think i’ve stayed in hostel too long i’ve forgotten what the house is like D:

i really respect mom (: Mom’s an iron lady

Laughworthy.

2010-06-22T06:11:00.001+08:00

This:

A true ER story-

Just pucker your lips and blow.

At least that's how we tried to explain the process to the extremely intoxicated teenager who arrived in the ER covered in vomit over the weekend. Poking him with the straw, I asked him to blow out like he was blowing out a candle.

Eyes still mostly closed, head perked up a little, he affixed his lips to the straw, but rather than blowing out, he started sucking.

Hard.

Said the medic, "Not that kind of blow," as he continued to go to town.

I half expected the breathalyzer's LED screen to light up a smiley face as it got more action that night than any of the rest of us.

Nuclear energy in singapore

seems like Singapore is going ahead with plans for a possible nuclear power plant. EMA is now planning to start a feasibility study on the use of nuclear energy as a possible long term energy solution.

Energy Planning & Development Division
Senior Analyst / Analyst and Senior Engineer / Engineer
(Policy & Planning Department)
Project Management - Nuclear Energy Feasibility Study

Responsibilities
You will be responsible for planning and managing the conduct of a technical and economic feasibility study on nuclear energy, with a view to enhancing our understanding of it as a possible long-term energy option. This involves liaising with relevant stakeholders within the energy sector, and working with independent consultants and international organizations to perform environmental, safety, security, financing, legal, regulatory and other relevant analyses in support of the study. You will be responsible for interfacing and coordinating with a range of government agencies in Singapore for the feasibility study, and drawing up appropriate policy implications for Singapore. Your work will also involve the building of contacts and relationships with the relevant energy companies and regulatory bodies in the nuclear sector, in order to accelerate our understanding of the industry.

Requirements
Candidates for the Senior Analyst / Analyst Position should possess a good honours degree in Economics, Business or Engineering while candidates for the Senior Engineer / Engineer, should possess a good graduate/post-graduate degree in Nuclear Engineering, Nuclear/Atomic Science or Nuclear/Atomic Physics. Those with experience in the field of energy/energy-related industries, technologies, R&D, operations, market research and project management would have an advantage. You should be a team player with strong analytical, writing, communications and coordination skills.
Closing Date: 16 Apr 2010

very interesting (: means they have considered the social/terrorism-prone/international relations and found it in a grey area, and not out-rightly impossible. hence are looking into the technical and economic feasibility bit now.

Earphones

2010-06-17T20:00:00.001+08:00

bangkit market sells (: amazingly cheap at $3.90.

but for this one, one side is louder than the other. –.-

Dictionary.com

2010-06-17T01:41:00.001+08:00

Ache

–verb (used without object)

1. to have or suffer a continuous, dull pain.

2. to feel great sympathy, pity, or the like.

3. to feel eager; yearn; long.

Yearn

Yearn stresses the depth and passionateness of a desire

[Yearn, long, hanker, pine all mean to feel a powerful desire for something]

Free fonts

2010-06-11T19:18:00.001+08:00

http://web.nickshanks.com/fonts/microsoft-core-web-fonts

Love never fails

2010-06-11T10:37:00.001+08:00

only one, will ever know how much the marcs and spencers milk chocolate digestive biscuits, and the zip landyard means to me.

good things ought to be shared. so i’d highly recommend the biscuits. the chocolate saturates your mouth, and the biscuit evens out the sweetness such that its just nice. $3.30 for 300g, at the wheelock outlet@ orchard.

Love is patient

Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always preserves.

Source: 1 corinthians 13 – the love chapter in the bible

everywhere, i see problems.

But we know love never fails [ofcourse there is a 2nd part to this, but lets keep it here], hence, To all: Be strong!

June camp vids!

2010-06-11T10:18:00.001+08:00

i’ve burned 5 DVDs, (5 x 4.7GB = ~20GB worth of pics + videos!!)

here are the vids :D [all pics inside]

part2!

Video of the past shown during the 团员 yeah!

its really a mix of feelings now =X

the world of Molecular Biology

2010-06-09T17:24:00.001+08:00

A*STAR's management of scientific research in Biopolis.

...To fuel this research, a Singapore government entity known as the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) offers everything a scientist’s heart could desire: 2 million square feet of space outfitted with flow cytometers, nuclear magnetic resonance instruments and X-ray crystallography equipment; a vast supply center; and the ability to draw from the nearly $10 billion set aside for scientific research and development between 2006 and 2010.

But there’s a catch, and some researchers say it’s major. In exchange for plum working conditions, scientists must satisfy a list of key performance indicators. Everyone agrees to write a specified number of papers and file a minimum number of patent applications by a stated deadline (requirements vary from person to person). Contracts last just three to five years, and if scientists don’t deliver, they’re asked to leave. Setting such conditions enables Singapore’s business-minded officials to get rid of what they see as dead weight and to churn out science on a strict, predetermined schedule.

here the 4 red shirted profs are acting as the 4 subunits of haemoglobin (the oxygen binding bit in red blood cells)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2L1UJgYH6bU&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNT6dF_CWCI

http://www.dnatube.com/video/1551/Recombinant-DNA-Lecture-1

student’s T test – interesting history of one of the 2 statistical tests in singapore’s jc2 H2bio syllabus.

http://www.dnatube.com/video/3258/The-Western-Blot-Race

useful for H3 moelcular bio lab practical!

ICE skating

2010-06-09T17:22:00.001+08:00

evgeni plushenko + edvin marton + smart videography = impressive

i just realised ice skaters do xuan zi. except with many more spins after they land

kim yuna: beautiful.

Anissa and peizerat – sweet&funny

Videos

2010-06-09T17:20:00.001+08:00

saw this on F’s blog. yeah i agree, so heartwarming. :D

Saw this ages ago, but recently on J’s blog, with the parodies. seriously, rofl. haha

Parody:

BEST week of my life

2010-06-07T13:54:00.001+08:00

Despite how crazy it has been, i would say the past week, from 30th may 2010 to 6th june 2010 was the best week of my life.

RVWUSHU JUNE CAMP 2010

2010-06-05T22:30:00.001+08:00

SUCCESS!

it was worth the distinction.

totally.

a huge thanks to shigong, jiaolian, keming shishu, shixongs for taking time off to come for this, and making it a huger success XD without them the camp wouldn’t have been as great

also thanks to teachers, mdm guo, ms pan, and mr cheong [our teacher in charge] for tweaking bits of the camp giving us ideas, approving the camp, and taking time off to drop by.

and thanks to an important group of people who came and made the yeah more amazing: the ex-members of rvwushu. all the way from the very 1st batch in 2005 till 2008: chenchao, jingjing, yuhong, alvina, pris, nat, huili, cher, manfred, fanping, yanshan, jiale, chantal, jelena.

and thanks to LUOLAOSHI for waking up at 6am over there in US to webcam with us!

and all facilitators deserve a THANK YOU as well. group facils, tony, huixian, wanyan, xunhong. all did a gd job with the team you were with (: as well as floater facils, vanessa, chenxi, claire, ziyi. W/O facilitators, there wouldn’t even be a camp. so yeah.you all rock XD

and lastly thanks to all who came for this camp. a camp is nothing without campers. so i wanna thank

G3701[wenqi, jinyan, zong wei, peishan, kenji, enchin, xinzhe, weizhe]

midwives [francis, james, kaiwen, qianxuan, yishyuan, hongxiang, songning]

SS [zihao, junhao, gordon, ngoc tam, xuerong, nicole, kahye]

banzai [yueling, junwei,siew yeng, liling, shicheng, joshua]

RVWUSHU OOSH~

XDDDDD

RVCO concert was wow. esp the senior perf and the encore perf. i felt the music (:

Youtube

2010-05-29T16:54:00.001+08:00

Any1 has a reliable youtube downloader to recommend? mine just died on me and said it can’t find any video at that link

Problems + Bio

2010-05-27T12:49:00.001+08:00

i don’t know why im so affected by this.

maybe its because i feel strongly for rvwushu

why do i feel so strongly about this? i dont know.

haha i feel like i’m on the brink of something. maybe i went crazy just now during the GP paper, but i’ve never felt the words flow out of myself like that before.

grades are not the end all.

-Bio-

i would like to proclaim that Ms Ong LH rocks. and I’m proud to be her student.

Maverick Biologist Craig Venter “invented a new lifeform”.

To clarify, its not an entirely new artificial life...the "shell" which received the artificial DNA and the “elements” reading the artificial DNA were not themselves artificial.

But it still represents a vast amount of untapped potential, that WILL change the world, latest, by 50 yrs down the road. And we will be part of the future then. how exciting XD

sacrifice.

2010-05-24T12:09:00.001+08:00

i sacrificed a higher chance of getting h3 distinction, for the wushu camp.

i don’t know what to feel. since this is A levels i’ve sacrificed.

crap.

the camp better be worth a distinction.

i’m very aware i represent not only myself but the school in this H3 examinations. imagine: distinction rate in RVHS: 0%. wooh.

haha and some teachers don’t help.

plus i fell sick.

this sucks.

Training + SRP congress + chem SPA

2010-05-13T19:25:00.001+08:00

no time D: no life.

but i hope its worth it.

no CCA for 2 weeks.

miss it. and i'm getting fatter w/o training =.= and it feels weird cos i just started learning jjb.

feels more weird cos i haven’t even spent much time with my nangun yet i’m shelving it. man i wish i had more time in rvwushu.

anw maybe i’m being too rough with jjb. the cai3 tore after 1 use and and it isnt nice to use anymore D: haha managed 3 butt-bounces. and think i’m getting a hang of controlling jjb.

but i still don’t really understand it –.- don’t have the semi-conscious feel of where the cai3 is yet.

phobias. D showed me this some time ago:

http://www.merriam-webster.com/top-ten-lists/be-very-afraid/kakorrhaphiophobia.html

#7: Kakorrhaphiophobia What it is: An abnormal fear of failure.

#10: Phobophobia What it is: An excessive fear of acquiring a phobia.

V got into med sch!!!!! XDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

we’re all growing up. so fast. i think i’m too comfortable with studying now –.- such that the idea of having a permanent job is quite unfathomable.

last h3 NTU Molec Bio lesson before exams:

i’m really gonna miss it.

the lecturers, the people, the thinking(its v exciting) :D asking qns to these lecturers is quite fun haha.

at the last lecture the prof was saying “you are absolutely correct. just that it dosnt work that well, we’ve not really tried going about that cos we use those models that works well instead.” to every question asked.then he said he liked this batch better cos we’re more willing to ask qns than the previous batch.

anw we went touring about RJC, found out exam venue o.0 “the glass room”.

their art place is quite impressive.

S wanted to try RJC food. to see if it makes u smarter LOL. anw there was this sports update board in the canteen which was rather cool. it put all the dates of the competitions on this huge multicoloured board.

and RI opens its swimming pool to public swimming lessons. saw kids 6yrs old there.

22nd srp congress –8th may 2010.

the keynote address was about scientists and science. about searching for the objective truth and how physicists can come up with very nice quotes whilst biologists come up with virtually none.

it was just like this. free for all to mill about and see. overall was a good effort, esp with the new poster voting design.

the bacterial resistance to dettol poster won best design! << the idea is quite interesting.

in her intro she went “this started off as a project with a group of sec2 friends. now its only left with me” it won something for SSEF.

>> is my poster didn’t get anything. but i’m v happy with it.self satisfaction. :D M had some president man’s interview –.- so didn’t come. busy guy.

srp was a great learning experience. i learnt what research really is about. learnt how to use powerpoint to do diagrams. learnt the rigour of doing a report.[similar to PW] learnt how to do posters. learnt how to present data nicely.

overall my mentor was just so nice it inspired me to learn to be a nice mentor. [random: i think my mentor looks somewhat like donnie yen, in ipman LOL, demeanour and all.omgomgomg] i owe this experience to him :D

random article:

http://www.theamericanscholar.org/the-disadvantages-of-an-elite-education/

.tests come to signify not only your fate, but your identity; not only your identity, but your value. It’s been said that what those tests really measure is your ability to take tests, but even if they measure something real, it is only a small slice of the real. The problem begins when students are encouraged to forget this truth, when academic excellence becomes excellence in some absolute sense, when “better at X” becomes simply “better.

.the last thing an elite education will teach you is its own inadequacy

is RV considered an elite education? hmm its more of no, going by the definition in that article

http://www.theamericanscholar.org/to-die-of-having-lived/

death. This is what all of us wish to have happen: to run up to the edge and fall over.We know we can’t avoid dying, but perhaps we can avoid dying badly.

cell signalling vid: nice graphics.

chem SPA2010

accuracy D: the variance in results is worse than titration.

Crap.

2010-05-10T23:11:00.001+08:00

too many things. so little time. everything’s affecting me. feels like i don’t understand myself.

i love MIT.

2010-05-05T14:58:00.001+08:00

http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Biology/7-012Fall-2004/VideoLectures/

free online lectures about molecular biology!

Story of stuff and other vids

2010-05-03T01:05:00.001+08:00

in yr3 suria told us to do a physics presentation: i did mine on space-time, about time being the 4th dimension, and about travelling into the past.

analogy: time is a sheet of rubber, planets/mass are like heavy stones on this rubber sheet. light travels like a metallic ball on this sheet of space-time.

i need time D: 3wks to H3 A levels.

and this is somewhat how our jap Prof sounded like… perfect english, but “significanto”

anw we also learnt that parabiosis is so gross a concept no videos have been posted about it.

it is essentially joining of 2 autonomous organisms.

like cutting out the circulatory system of 1 mouse, and fusing it to another mouse, making it one. such that the 2 mouse stick together. it can be used to investigate if bad cells affect good cells. in vivo.

our animal models lecturer seemed very cynical about all the restrictions imposed on animal research lol.

Psychometrics

2010-04-24T23:02:00.001+08:00

still not entirely myself.

Psychometrics is the field of study concerned with the theory and technique of educational and psychological measurement, which includes the measurement of knowledge, abilities, attitudes, and personality traits.

psc psychometric test 2010. heard 31 people from RVHS went.

numerical test

20min for 32 questions. and the question format is so unconventional.

you will re-read it at least 2x and would need ~2 min to understand it. and there are 2 subtests, so its 4minutes gone to reading and understanding how to answer the questions.

which leaves 30seconds for 1 question! so better be prepared to rush thru everything.there's no time for even sneezing.

critical thinking test

as long as you can interpret graphs well, you can do this. its the same types of skills. just be careful for quantitative words such as “all” or “some” or “most”. cos it affects the answer.

situational judgement test

make sure you have a good foundation [good foundation/fundamentals again!]of work ethics

personality questionnaire

240 questions 0.0

i wonder how students are chosen for this.

life

2010-04-23T23:51:00.001+08:00

experience and observations told me that you need these 2 things

in life, for life:

good foundation/fundamentals

no matter it be martial arts, academia, moral values. strong fundamentals would allow rapid progress.

2. effective information communication.

expressing yourself so that others can understand you. dissemination of information. making sure after handovers, the incoming person knows everything about the job. making sure those in the administration get the correct message. ending corruption and ass-covering blame-pushing practices.

sports doctors.

how many truly understand how sportsmen feel when they are injured?

i don’t know if i’m thinking too much. or i’’m stressed and am not thinking rationally,

but i think the administration is biased. against us.

and i’m getting tired thinking about all this. too tired, too disappointed, too disheartened. such that my lacrimal glands are overworked.

RVHS hostel life part II

2010-04-10T20:53:00.001+08:00

1. exploding water knob: being a very rare, amazing, unique hostel experience, documentation of this episode is a must.

time was 1am. i finished work late, was tired, and wanted to sleep soon.

so i stepped into the shower, put all my clothes/toiletries in place, then turned the knob. and it exploded out.

the knob just flew out of the hole and water was blasting and hammering at me. so i grabbed the knob and stuffed it back into the hole and shouted for PE to turn off the water pressure.

problem was we don’t know how to.

so PE called non-emergency hotline. NO ONE PICKED UP. PE called some teachers and finally chanced across an awake teacher. who rushed here but couldn’t help.

[yeah by now i re-wore my clothes. better to have wet clothes on than nothing –.- PE helped with this and got wet as well. and it was fun.]

or well, we tried using something to push the knob in place so that i wasn’t stuck there, but it failed.

the extendable metal pole didn’t work cos it kept slipping. and there was nothing else as long as it.

so she called another teacher who knew how to turn off the water pressure.

and meanwhile i was stuck in the one-arm-sticking-out-position for about 40min. such that it seemed like a really good workout for my right arm cos you have to constantly push the knob in.

the teacher came and turned off the water pressure, which was actually near the ceiling [we totally didn’t see it]. and that was a life saver. thereafter he stuffed the knob back into place. seriously have to thank him for waking at 2am and rushing up to help us. if not i could have very well been stuck in there till the next morning.

aftermath >> slight flooding in the toilet and an exhibition of wet nightwear.

the best thing was when one of our level mates groggily popped in and said something along the lines of “please keep the volume down, thanks”.LOL

2. makeshift hangers: 3 in a row, all on window hooks.

3. vandalism

tsk.

4. internet connection

download rate improved tremendously. but is still crawling.

5. buy MR MUSCLE. totally kills fungi at the roots and keeps your sink/toilet/bathroom free of algae like creatures. just squirt and wash with water and the disgusting brown stuff disappears down the drain.

anonymous person posing.

talking about sinks,

6. sink water timing

our neighbour’s sink water runs for 10 seconds when pressed once.

our sink water runs for an average of 1.7seconds [mean of n = 15 standard deviation = 0.11] yes i timed. many times. to amuse myself, and to practise statistics.

PE reported it but apparently its been ignored/regarded as trivial and not fixed. [i initially thought whats the fuss? but when you face this every morning its a different story]

7. beware of electricity short circuits. [recently happened to 3 levels in block h3]

especially if your pantry is affected. means everything in the fridge will SPOIL.

your milk, your ice cream, everything.

but thank goodness i don’t use the fridge.

8. hostel rules and regulations

its funny that before its finalised, its implemented. conceptually i dont get the logic. loopholes.

anyway the system in a nutshell is: if you get > 15 demerit points you’re out.

Level1 offences [that warrants 1 demerit point] : not switching off lights after lights out, having a very messy room, not switching off electricity when our of your room.

level2 offences [warrants 2/3 demerit points]: vandalism?, etc

Level3 offences[warrants 5 demerit points] : having alcohol, person of opposite gender in your room etc.

9. hostel progress report.

to be given every semester(6 months), for parents joy.

i can predict mine will be like: you are encouraged to participate more in hostel activities.

i’m not participating much because initially i decided to stay in hostel primarily for the convenience, so that i can focus much more on CCA and school –.-

10. locals REMEMBER to apply for hostel leave for all public holidays! [just in case]

all leave forms must be submitted 3 days in advance. if not you’ll be stuck in hostel on days like good friday.

better to apply for leave and stay, than to not apply for leave and be absent.

11. pantry usage

a very real problem. tsk.

i don’t store anything in the fridge. well cos i don’t do my own cooking, other than making cup noodles/milo. the only thing i use the pantry for is water.

and this is our supply of foodstuffs in hostel. the left half is mine. its little cos i went on some diet for interschool comps haha

12. size discrepancy.

we noticed a very interesting thing.

PE’s cupboard V’s cupboard

Measurement	PE	V
Cupboard width (w) /cm	96	100.5
Cupboard depth (d) /cm	53.5	57
table length	191.75	191.75

we measured from the inside, more than once using 30cm rulers and measuring tapes, so the values are relatively accurate.

why? maybe it’s a commercial secret. who knows.

ah its interesting.

13. protection from heat wave:

the fan becomes a necessity.

2010 resolutions [rewritten] and a 3rd.

2010-04-09T22:18:00.001+08:00

3rd for NANGUN A DIVISION GIRLS IN THE 2010 INTERSCHOOL WUSHU CHAMPIONSHIPS!

seriously a huge thanks to shigong/jiaolian/shishu/xunhong/yueling for teaching me the taolu :D

as well as all the well wishes. haha

was a great competition. the process was enjoyable. i feel like i’ve improved in wushu. yaye :D

ah crap i deleted my resolutions.

anyway one of it was to get something for wushu in the upcoming competition. which i did! wooh!

lemmie re-write my 2010 resolutions which i accidentally deleted.

> AAAA/A distinction for A levels

> make something nice for my mom/dad/bro for their b’day

> make rvwushu camp a huge success

>appreciate my friends more.

> earn SGD 1000 after As

> plan and execute an overseas trip with friends!

and 1 more:

> to love. like never before :D

Life rocks

2010-04-05T22:07:00.001+08:00

Everything im my life now is going according to plan, some things even way better than i expected, to the extent of surprising me such that i get this very nice bubbly, swelling, happy feeling.

i did 8 taolus on sunday. [a taolu is equivalent to sprinting 400m.] i can do anything now. haha i will fly.

Can’t stand it. XD i love life now. i’m really enjoying it :DDDDDDDDDDDDDD

sleeping at 10pm everyday this week :D m drinking loads o water, taking fruits and glucosamine daily.

i’m so damn excited. its 2 days to competition.

woooooooooooooooooooooh! yeah.

nangun

2010-04-03T21:42:00.001+08:00

3 different forms of expression:

D:

2010-03-25T22:40:00.001+08:00

i’m stressed.

Unique bruises.

2010-03-21T15:32:00.001+08:00

accumulated over 2 months. i’ve never seen such unique bruises in my life before.

1. 2 identical bruises on both biceps. looks bad but i think its rather unique. means my technique is correct tho haha.

1. 2.

>>2. wrong technique with rolling. this bruise hurt when i ran.

3.4.

i now know how i got the bruise on the left[last year]. i whacked myself with the dao [for CNY perf] and got the cut and bruise on the right. note the same semi lunar shape.

but thank goodness i’m still overall fine. almost got hit by a taxi yesterday night =X started thinking what would have happened if i did get knocked down, but the consequences of that are too disturbing to imagine.

As a volunteer

2010-03-15T23:12:00.001+08:00

at MPS, every week i say:

HI, can i get attached to you?

they usually say yes. lol.

We went flying at OCBC :D

2010-03-09T20:05:00.001+08:00

wooohhhhhhhhhh. this is a milestone. finally did forward flip and backflip. [albeit semi-fail]

haha awesome CIP

Weighty issue

2010-03-09T20:01:00.001+08:00

Valerie shall try to lose weight for interschool comps

hopefully.

I believe in:

2010-02-26T23:27:00.001+08:00

effective information communication.

after being disappointed numerous times, i promise, henceforth in whatever i do, i will do my best in my capacity to ensure everyone, involved in any administration in which i am part of, would know exactly what to do, when to do, how to do, and most importantly the rationale behind a the method of execution of a certain action.

but still i believe if one is unsure of something, it is imperative to confirm the 5W1H about it before disseminating the relevant information.

organisational skills. hai.

Just realised…

2010-02-25T22:48:00.001+08:00

Ms Ong LH is damn good.

i just realised how good she is after consulting her for some report. omgomogomgomgomogmogmogmogmg. she’s way better than the H3 lecturers.well possibly due to difference in teaching style and teaching objective, but still, seriously, i’d say she is the best science teacher i’ve ever had.

she was a brilliant student and now is a brilliant teacher. very proactive learner. loads of bio skills to be learnt from her.

i’m so impressed by her O.O maybe i’ll get distinction for H3 cos of her haha. i think she can charge like 100bucks per hour for h3 lessons.

the best thing is that she stays about 50m away from me. XD

but the sad thing is that majority of RV bio students would probably only come to realise how good her teaching is when they go to uni and see the difference in teaching

next year, RVHS will have UCLES H3 PROTEOMICS

H3 molecular bio ‘10

2010-02-11T23:31:00.001+08:00

eep i’m the only person from RV taking this h3. went there and met individuals such as me from AJC, NYJC etc.

apparently JJC people do quite alot of sparring?!?!? NYJC JC1 students can reach school at 8.30am for lessons!?!?! VJC’s mondays start at 8am. AJC is a sad case of poor school facilities.

-administration-

lessons are on friday, 4pm-7pm [at RI] and saturday, 9am – 1pm [at NTU school of biological sciences]

THEY DON’T TAKE ATTENDANCE. whoa this is uni style, and its cool :D

thank goodness. cos i’m missing a number of lessons due to CNY perf rehersals/chingay/maybe for interschool competitions as well.

the coordinator, Mr K, Yu is rather nice. he’s efficient at disseminating info. and has a funny laugh. most of the time we are laughing at him laughing. :D

he even sent us a map of the NTU place. [i still got lost lol]

but still i was kinda shocked that we were supposed to print out own notes at the 2nd lecture. each 1hr lecture is at least 60 slides long.

on the school’s side. information communication is poor. didn’t even know my login username number was pasted outside the physics lab.

for all these stuff, it seems like the school assumes the external organisation bypasses the school and directly tells us details.

whereas some of us first timers know nuts and end up missing crucial deadlines cos the external organisations assume the school would tell us the info. sometimes it just ends up pissing people off in the process. for example, srp/h3 username.

-h3 content-

alot of foreign stuff. they talk about excitation of electrons from HOMO-LUMO [chem stuff] , free energy. A, B, Z-DNA forms, NMR[omg nooooooooooooo] etc

but alot of familiar stuff as well - basic DNA complimentary base pairing, H-bonds, hydrophobic interactions, purines, N-bases, hairpin structures.

DID YOU KNOW CAFFINE IS A MODIFIED FORM OF DNA NUCLEOTIDES???

seems like uni is not so sticky about phrases as compared to A levels. as long as you hit the keywords/concepts they happily give you a tick.

lectures are held in LT3 of RI.

i was amused by the bio-area near the school gate. >> looks like those large fish tanks in chinese restaurants in which fishes are allowed to swim about before they’re cooked.

RVHostel

the door close button is just below the emergency call button, in absolute close proximity. i once unknowingly jabbed the wrong button, heard someone speaking through the intercom and was wondering why there was someone speaking to me.

CCA in RVHS

even though i’m not directly affected, i find it irresponsible on the school’s part to tell the sec1s about the new CCA plan before telling the year4 CCA leaders.

the new system is that all yr1s are to choose a performing arts/uniform group as 1st CCA.

sports and clubs will no longer be considered 1st CCAs, and instead be under this Interest Development Programme.[IDP] yr1 students are expected to rotate through sports CCAs, staying in each sport for about 1 term max.

seems like the school does not expect CCAs to have plans extending more than 10 weeks for yr1s. such that they can afford to adopt this attitude.

i don’t understand why the new CCA system in RVHS is that sports and clubs are second to uniform groups and performing arts.

WUSHU OOSH~

2010-02-07T19:45:00.001+08:00

WUSHU HUB REUNION DINNER 31st jan 2010. gathering of up to 4 generations of wushu people.

buffet dinner was vegetarian cos shigong is vegetarian. good for chenxi lol

anw i learnt that vegetarian meat is made of either flour/beans/egg. some tasted really good, but others wasn’t that nice =/ cos i’m a omnivore.

the entire gathering was great fun (:

VEGETARIAN D: i think i’ll stick to meat.

keychain door gift :D

<<teachers went! look at mdm guo’s daughter. >> emcees: claire & francis with a sparstic smile.

group pics :D almost every1 came haha.

school CNY performance by wushu is gonna be impressive XD

that is if everyone gets well by then. D:

everyone’s falling sick and getting injured. fever/flu/overstrained quardriceps/pulled muscles.

people. take care! eat more fruit drink more water. don’t try stupid things. don’t physically stress yourself during sch PE. wear knee/ankle guard if need be.

anw at fri’s rehersal i decided: i shall not try too hard to speak chinese. –.- i just end up saying stupidly funny stuff like: let the lion 吐痰 [spit phlegm] instead of 吐糖 [throw sweets] at the audience.

seriously, one day if i die of embarrassment it will be because i tried to speak chinese.

just today, i’ve finished learning the 2nd part of 南棍. it feels surprisingly similar to NJD.

INTERSCHOOL WUSHU CHAMPIONSHIPS

interested competitors had 1 depressing talk with JL, and a 2nd not-so-depressing talk more recently.

when going for competition, one should enjoy the entire process, starting from the preperation to the actual day itself, till the very end when recieving the results.

then end of every competition should be a celebration. no matter what outcome.

JL said the above. and it does make alot of sense.

I thought about it and i agree. it would simply be lousy sportsmanship to emo if you lost. emo-ing is a selfish act because it not only hurts youself, it affects the rest of the team as well.

this year very few are going to compete in the interschools. no 集体[group event] at all.

JL said that on top of his priority list, is to let the competitors grow&learn, its not to win medals. and now YL might not be going for interschools, so the pressure is on the remaining few to excel in whatever category they’re competing in if not RV might have nothing.

stress. 100 taolus in 60 days.

some RVHS news:

the yr5 dude who got into a public fiasco with the principal, has been given a week to issue a public apology. if not he would be EXPELLED.

*gasps* life in RV is suddenly much more dangerous and exciting XD

i’ll be missing alot of h3 lessons D: but i expected this.

till june, my priority shall be wushu, then h3 :D

In retrospect

2010-02-02T23:31:00.001+08:00

leadership. i failed at it more than once.

ugh i can’t even get people to move to the hall quickly. i say wrong things sometimes. i forget stuff that needs to be done before the wushu room closes –.-

i shall improve.

someone told me: being a leader includes working well with those you dislike.

RV hostel has a monthly boarders meeting. on 31/1 there was a fire drill wooh.

we’re getting hostel mugs/landyards/toiletries pack

i lack sleep. ah during breaks i sleep. probably because i need sleep more than food.

from the first RV proposal experience, i’ve learnt: write a proposal out of concern, don’t portray it as a complaint.

V&V!

i don’t believe it. i cant find a single napfa chart online for those aged 12 to 17.

Hostel life <300 bytes/sec

2010-01-24T22:34:00.001+08:00

omg –.- just when i thought they fixed the internet at RV’s hostel

[FYI, PE is my hostel roomate]

PE sprained her ankle last fri, and still limped to taman jurong CIP yesterday, church, and meeting at library today.

gosh. thats how you kill yourself and your body.

then today she went for some TCM treatment and they bandaged ointment on, not to be removed for 2 days. and now it hurts so bad. im starting to think the sensei wrapped the bandage on too tight –.- but its not good to simply mix western medi practices with chinese ones. so she’s gonna attempt to sleep with one leg on the chair tonight…

i’m not gonna let her go school tomorrow. it’ll just aggravate her sprain.

tsk PE needs to know when to rest.

I saw something

2010-01-24T00:12:00.001+08:00

on orchard yesterday, sat evening!

LOLOLOL could someone possibly be attached??

i love my camera’s macro function (:

Thanks SG for all you’ve done for me!

MrSteven Koh, RVHS new principal 2010

2010-01-23T11:52:00.001+08:00

RVHS has a new principal. Mr Koh., previously from JJC, infamous amongst the student population for his guts and boldness.

There are 3 student-teacher camps in RV. those who believe in him, those who dislike him, and those who don’t know what to think and don’t want to think.

For me, I believe he will bring change to RV. good change to be precise.

this would be better for the students of RV, than if Ms Ek had continued to be our principal. Sometimes people try too hard to be tactful, to an extent that whatever change they attempt becomes stale and fails to excite.

And once any idea lacks supporters or followers, it collapses and fails.

Unlike many, Mr Koh is undaunted by bureaucratic red-tape, and blatantly states his opinion. he doesn’t believe in EQ, and it’s amazing he convinces you so but then you think about it afterwards and realise he does in fact possess alot of EQ, [when he addressed the year 4,5,6s about the case where teachers felt insulted] so much that he commands respect from you. yeap i do respect him.

one thing i believe he is doing right, is to teach students to appreciate others more.

the idea of appreciation is grand. its the fundamental motive force for selflessness. it produces the delusional but the idealistic who ultimately suffer; but these people are also those whom the world needs today. we need idealists to reach greater heights of humanistic actualisation. and only those who are deeply touched by the actions of others, who appreciate the effort of others, can be idealists.

we need idealists to remind us that we cannot, and we must not succumb to animalistic tendencies buried deep within us. tendencies such as selfishness, sloth, greed, and essentially the 7 cardinal sins.

the world would be much worse off without idealists.

Mr Koh also likes to throw challenges. he likes to prove people wrong.

he said RVHS is his dream school, and is trying to inculcate a value-based leadership training programme into RV by redefining the very notion of “student council”

one problem though. not everyone likes his antagonistic, aggressive style of putting his points across.

furthermore, his character causes people to either like him or dislike him. there’s no in-between.

though i don’t really like it, i think this antagonism is what RV needs. this controversy stimulates thought, produces thinking students.

and hopefully RV would upgrade and no longer produce workers of the world.

you know what. despite everything said above, if he approves the wushu room proposal, i’ll love him to bits.

---totally separate thing---

let me tell you a story. i was so impressed by it i had to type it immediately

there was once a very influential teacher.

this teacher was in charge of a station during the school’s JC1 orientation. and this orientation group arrived at the station late.

the teacher got the entire group to sit down, and got the Orientation Group Leader to stand in front of the entire group and scolded her so severely that she was looking at her feet, not knowing how to face the teacher.

finally the teacher ceased the scolding and asked the OGL why the group was late.

the OGL hesitantly replied that she saw that the group was tired, thus decided to let them rest a while longer, hence causing them to be late.

then teacher then said “everyone, look, …“

“this is what a good leader should be”.

the OGL to be so overwhelmed she broke down immediately.

…

this story was then retold many times till it finally reached my ears.

moral of this story: the abrupt change from castigation to praise is extremely emotionally confusing. just put yourself in the OGL’s shoes.

first post in 2 weeks

2010-01-19T22:16:00.001+08:00

rv wushu will be sending 4 dragons for chingay wooh!

i think the dragon head is easier than the dragon tail, even though the head’s heavier than the tail. the tail needs alota stamina + arm strength, while the head only needs ALOT of arm strength + a little stamina.

think the way francis does the dragon head is very nice. haha am trying to get a hang of doing the dragon head like him :D

its been so long since we last performed wushu. think we got too caught up with wulong. ah. actually i’m still on a wulong high.

wushu room proposal - we must find the opportune moment to present this idea to the principal. and hope he agrees with it!

first bio practical of the year:

<< lesson learnt: rubber bung is too small for the boiling tube. it just dropped in before my brain registered that it was too small for the opening. LOL

<< cooked egg can you see XM in the knife >>

i love the lab tables. pure black. sleek. nice. clean. ah. perfect.

ys is joining Ninjado! she can practise her child psychology stuff on the kids there.

for a 1st timer you are PRO! can kick the target till i jerk back. *sagely nods head*

for me, hope i can do flying side kick over a chair =X

oh 2 new kids joined, both Burmese. han is so adorable! cant stand him XD

in a hostel, your roommate will know your [almost] entire life.

the person will

see how you allocate ur time
see how much you eat =X
see how you handle your dirty clothes
see how you wash your own socks
see what time you wake
see your attitude towards studies/cca/miscellaneous stuff

and essentially know your character way better than others.

internet connection at RV hostel sucks. FYI it’s LAN wire, not wireless, but thats not the point.

here’s a rough idea of how bad it is.

6pm-8pm: end school, return to hostel, dinner
8pm-10pm: NO INTERNET [explanation: oh when you study you don’t need internet]
10pm-12mn: internet connection is so poor it loads stuff at 300 BYTES/sec. equivalent to NO INTERNET
12-5.30am: NO INTERNET [you’re supposed to be sleeping]

hence i’ve switched to checking mail/sending stuff early in the morning.

RVHS inaugural year 6 orientation

on sentosa! 1 whole day. heard the school booked palawan beach for SGD 1500 but some advertising company was still there shooting an advert & we had to walk around them

had pirate of the carribean theme. min zhang was the pirate king LOL. he wore his pirate belt such that somehow it looked like superman’s underwear.

here’s group 1 point 1 at the “southernmost point of continental asia”

i was sabo-ed to be pirate lord of the caspian sea. aka group1 together with Mr RV. –.-

haha overall can say it was rather fun. suntan. chitchat etc. just wasted alot of time sitting/standing somewhere waiting.

Amusing medi stuff XD

2010-01-09T22:35:00.001+08:00

http://ambulancedriverfiles.com/2007/06/sex-relationships-and-the-cardiac-conduction-system/

hilarious the way he uses sex to explain atrioventricular block!

http://drgrumpyinthehouse.blogspot.com/2009/12/more-dragonisms.html

Dr. Grumpy said: "She's had bilateral breast augmentations."
The computer typed: "She's had bilateral breast amputations."

another funny post about misheard sentences :D

Eschewing.

2010-01-05T22:43:00.001+08:00

chanced across this word and realised that it’s what i’ve been doing.

eschew = avoid.

-so i’ll face it

first i would like to apologise for the attitude of my friends. erm it’s the first time i’ve seen them so expressive 0.0

second, i’ve finally experienced this unique feeling.

and to think i’m already this pathetic when its already this short.

its scary that i can’t control myself. or perhaps its just a character change. i’ve become too emotional, i’ve lost too much emotional steel.

the song you made totally smashed whatever steel i had left. my bad, i listened to it at a very inopportune moment.

but this is what would make future encounters better right? [i sound deluded lol but seriously hope so]

Staying in RV hostel

2010-01-05T20:26:00.001+08:00

Useful tips for 1st-timer boarders:

you need those paste on hooks to paste in the bathroom/at the sink/cupboard door/wall.
recommended that you get a piece of cloth to cover your bed in the day so that you won’t be sleeping on a layer of dust
you need a table lamp [for use after lights out]
you need to write your name on all your clothes [like on the tag] for laundry
if lunch is from 1200-1330, to get larger helpings, get lunch at 1320. the vendors will be trying to clear the food, which would otherwise be discarded.
bring air freshener. for the toilet.
get a bathroom mat as well!
its advisable to get a pair of slippers specially for the toilet.
bring water jugs as pantry’s are on alternate level [not mine]
bring your own utensils and cutlery
you NEED multi plug extensions

when we 1st entered everything was covered in a layer of dust. bed and chairs were still wrapped up.

the curtains smell musky..

>>washroom with no doors. [opposite end is the neighbours room] only the bathing/toilet cubicles have doors. HENCE the need for air fresheners.

view from my room. pretty good. could hear the yr1s screaming on the field in the morning from up here.

you can’t lock the main door unless you are inside. its for teacher mentors to conduct random checks for any flouting of rules. –.-

ur sunflower is still alive! – edit. it died recently lol

the daily timetable, found in a 19 page long hostel information document that stated many incongruent stuff.

well i guess in anything the first time is for learning from.

RV hostel for locals costs SGD1375 + SGD200 deposit for 1 term, i.e. 10 weeks

ktv outing: ah didn’t know there’s the civil service complex at woodlands MRT. used to think there was only causeway point =X

<< kenji’s epic sleeping position in ktv

new year celebrations

<<can you see 31/12/09 view totally got blocked by the IR building>>

hope A,J,S like the presents!

17!

2009-12-27T18:09:00.001+08:00

in 2009 i learnt to appreciate people more.

so thanks all for the birthday wishes. i really, genuinely, from-the-bottom-of-my-heart appreciate it!!

J actually looks quite good in the beret LOL

thanks A for the sherlock holms treat!

robert downey totally gave sherlock a new twist, nice fighting. and didn’t know jude law was starring as Dr watson! guy ritchie showed the deduction process perfectly. except that sherlock and watson were very out of character. but all in all, a very educational film :D

im getting fat from b’day cakes and christmas chocolates =X

christmas.

the youth acapella was awesome. wooh i was kinda blown away by it.

Rev JK delivered an attention grabbing, informative message. did you know

jesus = yaweh = saviour

christ = the anointed one

i bet 80% of christians don’t know that. neither did i till christmas’09.

loooooooong Picture post

2009-12-21T02:53:00.001+08:00

the new dragon!

lol i think shigong looks awesome in the left pic, poise and all.

i’m number 6, far far at the back :D

ntu molecular biology for h3! this means alot of PCR work.

they attached the exam timetable together with the acceptance letter. stress man.

here’s what an acceptance letter looks like. haha i took pics cos im throwing the original away –.-

croc drawing by PE on my timetable..and some sweets that developed petechiae or something.

here’s the 2009 O level HCL essay questions:

eric’s b’day the very moment the candle extinguished

furry cam. LOL S’s canon got a makeover with the white furry hair tie.

one question i got wrong in the MCQ bio paper: Qn 25.

answer is D. apparently because in cambridge’s words, nucleus = cell. & telophase = already 2 separate cells.

a poem that rings too true for comfort:

“As through this world I ramble,
I see lots of funny men;
Some will rob you with a six gun,
Some with a fountain pen.”
Woodie Guthrie

very useful videos-

http://www.scientificamerican.com/slideshow.cfm?id=illuminating-the-lilliputian-bioscapes-winners&photo_id=FF35FE75-D2C6-2B88-4D57EE3AA7519619

the NUS science focus! –order of activities are jumbled up-

Polymerase Chain Reaction! lol S and me rock. we did a smiley with the blown up glove. smiling to you on the left

got to wear scrubs! i brought home 1 xtra one and showed mom :D

<< the very enthusiastic RMBR lady

confocal microscopy – produces images with black background and blue/green/red lines. this dude was presenting to 15 students using his laptop. lol. any he moved from biopolis to NUS.

mini- brain drain for the Astar people. haha

they gave some jap-looking bread thats actually manufactured in singapore. very unique.

talks.

the prof on the left is a darn good storyteller. his topic was about parkinsons, and he really did prepare a rather impactful presentation. parkinsons is a very cruel disease, because the person is conscious that they are shaking/moving uncontrollably. whereas for alzheimer’s the victim remains blissfully unaware of his actions.

the guy on the right talked about CSI in singapore. very hilarious. typical singaporean complaints posed in witty sarcasm. :D here’s a pretty informative quote from him: “unlike those sensational complicated murder cases in, say, america, murder cases in singapore always revolves around sex or money”

also learnt that acid phosphatase test – semen.

Kastle-Meyer color test – blood [involves phenolphthalein!]

vjc students live up to their reputation. at least 1 of them were sleeping at any1 time –.-

SCSM volunteering 2009. an amazing experience. any1 should go!

early in the morning before the first runners arrived…

first to go was the full marathon at 5.30am

this is about 500m from the finishing line. (about 7.30am) one of the first few marathon runners came in the coach walked up and said some stuff [in pretty loud voices] to him in some foreign language.

all elite marathoners wear bright [usually neon yellow] coloured shoes. probably to make them visible in the dark. :D

do you see spidey? the black guy in the middle of the 10k crowd. he did it on his own accord. the organisers were wow-ed

kids dash. some parents ended up carrying/dragging their kids though the 750m o.0 some kids started crying on the way as well =X but there were also some who ran pretty fast. >> we got volunteer tags

a mountain of paper cups..

lunch provided. quite nice :D hope hostel food will be as good!

the aftermath was funny. on the way home with A we saw many runners limping/sitting/lying down/snoozing/having leg cramps [face contorted in pain]. it was like a mini disaster zone.

haha i wanna go again next year, if A levels allows for it XD

ARGH

2009-12-19T21:26:00.001+08:00

my msn has some problem.

irritating.

Can you see 50yrs down the road?

2009-12-18T02:48:00.001+08:00

i’ll forever love the 3 of you.

haha im writing this amidst an afterglow of the meet up, in an indescribable, unexplainable happy state. i can see us 50years down the road together laughing over dinner, appreciating the company.

of all my close friends, i really do appreciate A in a way unique from the rest. thanks a million for organising this! im touched by everything you did (:

caught BODYGUARDS and ASSASINS and thought it was a pretty nicely done movie-its about sunyatsen starting the revolution which subsequently ended the qing dynasty at around 1910.

they blended in the historical facts well with the eyeball grabbing blood and gore. amazing sparring. was wondering if the 16 yr old girl “miss fang” was wielding a jiujiebian =X the actress is damn good with it.

my weakness was revealed in the movie D: phobia! i was cringing when the hooks ripped the flesh. J was laughing at me. sadist.

now i believe that hooks attached to long chains are the most deadly [non artillery] weapon around.

i can’t believe A and S were talking about seeing the strings/gears suspending the actors. man, of everything on screen from the outfit to the weapons, they look at the set equipment.

oh and donnie yen’s [ie, ipman] martial art skills are awesome.didn’t realise how awesome it is till today.

he was a member of the beijing wushu team. haha so this is what they can do after their retire from competition.

oh, a must post, my favourite fight scene from ipman: armpit attack! rofl.

talking about wushu, we’re going for chingay! o yeah.

i learnt wulong position 6! other than the inertia causing me to almost fly into the pillar in the canteen, id say its more fun than tiring.

also, wushu is gonna get a cosy corner in the room! w000h shigong is awesome.

i’m tempted to meet up with SP just to see how he has grown. to see how both of us has changed, to see how divergent the paths of 2 15 yr olds can be within 2 years. SP is a guy who has one of my “first” titles that i can never forget.

its so irritating. i can’t find info for NYA.

SRP’s sitting on a shelf now with sch starting =X

been writing x’mas cards. its so draining.

any1 wanna join ninjado with one of my gal friends [rationale is to start off noob together] sms me for details!

i want this hairstyle!!

some pretty scientific pics HAHA [its a pun]

<<salmon embryo. algae sex>>

<<jellyfish tentacles. sensory axon>>

Black Belt Grading

2009-12-14T02:26:00.001+08:00

HISTORIC, ONCE IN A LIFETIME EVENT. i must blog about it.

this summarizes 2yrs of training and syllabus. 2 yrs of sweat and blood [a little] bruises, tears, and gritting of teeth. 2 yrs of fun, joy, peace, laughter, and sorrow.

everything in syllabus is crystal clear to me now. my NJD knowledge is at its prime! feels awesome.

to think that i joined because of NYAA. haha im definitely glad i did.

19hrs to grading: had a running urge, so ran ~3km. also, according to tradition, i self practised the entire syllabuses [exception of defence cos i think people would freakout seeing me whack some invisible person]

-fastforward-

100min to grading: realised i didn’t bring THE form 3/4 way on the bus. panicked a little.

90min to grading: realised i didn’t bring face towel. hopped off the bus and got it at NTUC.

75 min to grading: reached.

60min to grading: warm up/briefing

40min to grading: realised i left my knife upstairs. [i was swearing about STM by then]

30min to grading: self practise. poor mai she was my defence partner today.

15min to grading: sir called me up and said the form’s very important.

10min to grading: fretting about. then sir offered a solution :D life saver.

5min to grading: cooldown

-GRADING-

format:

sparring x2

plank breaking x3

do some maths, 6 kicks per belt, multiplied by 2 times per kick, multiplied by 2 sides (R&L) multiplied by 6 belt levels = 6*6*2*2 = 144 kicks. which includes 48 notoriously tiring jumping kicks. [thats like equivalent to 50yuanditiaos at least??]

and you haven’t factored in punches/defence/pattern.

JM the commander totally sped through everything. hardly giving me time to recover from the jumping kicks.

started perspiring: 2th white kick
started panting:6th white kick
messed up, argh, whats happening to me: white pattern
blisters on my ball of both foot!: orange kicks
semi gasping for air: green kicks
started feeling blisters get past the irritating threshold: green belt chunyatsu –.-
crap the blisters ripped: blue kicks [all sliding kicks]
started feeling perspiration drop off my nose: 1st blue defence
worrying not enough energy to continue: blue defence
really started panting heavily: purple punches
started lagging in terms of reaction time and speed: 1st purple jumping kick
started taking some conscious control to keep my hands held up in ready position: purple kicks
im damn tired, starts mental psycho-ing, ie, enduring: purple kicks
damn im really damn tired: purple pattern
i need some supernatural energy source: 1st red punches
foot consciously hurts cos of blisters: 1st red kicks
noticed my gi is severely ruffled and almost tucked out: 2nd red kicks
this is worse than running 5km: 4th red kicks
painful to breath: 2nd red defence
first moment of real dread: just before i ended red pattern –.- unintentionally made some noise with my long pole.

-end of syllabus- hurray! could sit for awhile before sparring.

notice im panting like some mad dog: after entire syllabus is over.
noticed i havent stopped panting like a mad dog: when A helped me don the protector
noticed im emitting alot of heat:once i put on the protector
starts planning sparring strategy to suit my 1st opponent
starts worrying cos im still panting like a mad dog: after sitting for what feels like 5min

-sparring-2 sets. 2rounds each.

has a dislike for head protector cos it squeezes my face: the moment i wear it
FOOT HURTS. damn the blister
im not gonna attack 1st cos im tired: both sparring sets
use the lefties stance [though im a right hander]: immediately when the round starts. slide kicks FTW.
1st exclaimed sorry: when i UNINTENTIOANLLY whacked GM’s totally-off-limits-region.
i dont care im just gonna take whatever hit and spam punches at you: after GM attempted a random kick.
shit the blister: sparring 2nd round
still heaving/panting/gasping for air: before 2nd sparring set
feels more excited: john starts off by slowly circling [the ways pros do it]
purposefully walks around and stands on the smoother surface cos blister hurts like shit: 1st round 2nd set.
kinda pushed [i.e. not punch nor kick nor force lol] john out of the sparring area: oops.
felt akido push: just before round1 terminated
kicked out-of-bound region again –.- : im sorry. =X thank goodness it missed though.

-plank breaking-

cracked one with jumping front kick. [brought it home as souvenir]

didnt even dent the other 2 with the jumping side and jumping yoyatsu. absolutely disappointing. D:

was talking to mr black box, and here’s a part of the convo i find hilarious:

no mr, its not so retarded. its more of:

the price i paid: warning gross content rating 7/10

here’s an appetiser: hole in the finger

…

tadaa:

both foot had ripped blisters –.-

but though i am limping, its worth it XD

In preparation of the big day

2009-12-12T23:35:00.001+08:00

decided to RUN 5km. ie. not jog.

but when i started off, pangs of stomach ache kicked in. yes, somehow it came in periodic pangs. likely cos i ate dinner less than an hour b4 running...

[planning ahead, tmr im eating at 3pm]

and somehow bukit panjang accumulated heaps of sand. so a car sped past me and whipped up a mini sand storm which i [having a slow reaction time] ran into. if humans didn’t have eyelashes i probably would’ve flailed about like some blind person and done a forward flip landing on my head.

irritated, and semi-blinded, i contemplated stopping to let the stomach ache subside, but the last time i did that i didn’t start running again. =.=

so i just jogged ~3k, subconsciously mentally repeating these 7 letters which helped distract me from the stomach ache. this miracle 7 letters are:

O…M…F…G…W…T…S…

lol. it subconsciously repeated itself in my head like a mantra. proof that swearing does help increase pain tolerance.

anw, it took a shocking half an hour, compared to earlier that week, the full route of ~5k took half an hour as well.

goodness, id rather believe its cos of my stomach ache instead of believing that my stamina dropped within a week.

Sun

2009-12-11T18:10:00.001+08:00

i can’t work at my table around late afternoon-night cos the sunlight just shines in and blinds me –.-

loved the ballerina one haha and the E.coli metaphor is biologist-worthy too.

Elitism

2009-12-10T11:37:00.001+08:00

Somehow i chanced upon the wee shu min incident again, ie, the girl who said: “please get out of my elite uncaring face”

my take: in every society, especially in a meritocratic society, there will be the elite, the tip of your bell curve distribution, the upper echelons of continuous variation. hence there will exist the accusation of elitism, and probably the manifestation of elitism.

its inevitable.

people don’t make a huge fuss over calling those fast marathon runners “elite runners”

yet somehow when it gets to academics, the word “elite” gets an extra negative connotation.

double standards, unfortunately because education is mandatory for all from 7-15yrs old.

actually the “elite” depends on your sample size. the concept of sample size is important as it serves as a reference point for many comparisons, yet it is often overlooked.

individuals can gain certain benefits [for example to be called an elite] simply by virtue of the sample size.

yes, i do think a minority of the elite stupidly throw their weight about in certain unhappy incidences such as wsm’s case. but thats just 1 case, out of an entire population of elite.

i honestly do respect the elite. namely ministers and those in the government high up there. they’re doing a decent job with singapore, im happy with it.

whao there’s such an instrument:

I’m on a high.

2009-12-04T05:29:00.001+08:00

Been cionging SRP thru the night! and possibly through the day as well XD

A realisation.

2009-12-02T01:59:00.001+08:00

i was in love and still am very much in love with …

knowledge

i’m not falling into the trap of NARRATIVE FALLACY – the urge to give a reason to everything we see, as according to nicolas taleb – i’ve been turning this idea over in my head for some time and this is the root cause of most of my actions.

nothing has proved it wrong thus far.

it explains why i get excited when hearing/reading new experiences. it explains why i crave adventure. it explains why i never get sick of learning. it explains why i go out with people of all walks. it explains why i have an open mind.

is it bad?

well, having too much knowledge is not dangerous, to me at least.

intentional ignorance is not bliss. avoiding facts and escaping the grip of reality will never do any one good in the long run because facts endure, facts survive and eventually become part of history. history will not and cannot be changed. it will forever remain so. running away from an event or a memory will only ultimately exhaust the person. its a futile attempt to flee from corporeal facts.

this is the start of a long essay. -not now.

there is no power in knowledge unless it’s put into action.

knowledge cannot harm the impassive viewer. the trick is to not get personally involved with knowledge, unless you’re sure you can manage the consequences.

Cool Vids

2009-11-30T01:04:00.001+08:00

http://www.anatomylab.com/learnResources/practica/practical_01.html

whoa got like 6 out of 42 correct…

worth watching (:

‘the first’ post

2009-11-29T02:50:00.001+08:00

the first time i crashed something: NUMIHT D&D

hi i’m cuba from GA5, or maybe i’m australia from GA6 depending on who you don’t know. not to mention that im from HC and i’m 17.

AWESOME. THANKS TO some brilliant people :D

edit* sensitive info

the AOS was a failure. #1 somehow kept evading me, and #2 was 15 yrs old –.-

overall, people there were quite sticky to their own social groups. the DJ got pwned. people just stormed into the DJ box and started choosing their own songs. poor DJ.

think i burned 0.5kg! XD & man im really tempted to pick up break dancing.

the first time i joined a flash mob: the sound experiment 2009

what can i say, it was brilliantly, amazingly, terrifically, horrifically, mind-blowingly, awesome.

the beat and the stuff was pretty easy to pick up. took a total of 1hr+ to perfect it. practise was carried out at city link’s bomb shelter.

there were 2 performances: 1 at the esplanade, and another was to help some random couple out with the proposal.

for the esplanade, you should have seen the security guard’s face LOL. but on the flip side, we got accosted by the guard, and the vids got deleted >:( guess its the esplanade and they’ve an international reputation to maintain thats why they can’t allow such impromptu performances. ah well.

an important factor for consideration: how to manage security. and i think the dance was planned very well. [since somewhere there was this bit where we stopped for more than 8 counts – the security guard thought we really stopped, but there was PART 2!]

KY popped by to have a look and said the beginning was well planned. o yeah. XD

anyway, after assuaging their egos and assuring them we did not mean harm, we all said sorry, then S simply had to say the damnest things and the most inappropriate times: he laughed loudly. zzzz

for the proposal, i’ve no idea how they managed to contact us, but they did, and we went to help out. the bride-to-be kept asking “who are these people?” haha the proposal was damn sweet. very elaborate and awww.. i guess in PE’s words it made the bride-to-be “crumble on the inside”

im definintely going for more flashmobs!!

missed the re-run though. was sleeping trying to recover from conjunctivitis D:

check out: http://improveverywhere.com/

the first time i’ve seen such a MV: coldplay’s strawberry swing

the first time i’ve been sick on and off for too long: end of EOYs till now. thats 50 days and counting. down with flu AGAIN.

damnit missed the wushu chalet D:

missed njd training D:

fell behind my SRP plans D:

went late for proj meeting and think pissed PE again D:

waste tonnes of time sleeping/resting/vegetating at home D:

the first time i’ve blown so much on my brother: his birthday treat

i footed the bill for famous amos + 1 entire day + PC Bunk

well painful for my pocket but it made him happy. im starting to really appreciate having a younger brother. haha i now fully understand what a sister-brother relationship means, and it took me 10 yrs.

the first time i’ve been so emotionally stirred:

3 reasons.

firstly, promises are not meant to be broken. i don’t break promises. but now that i know its hindering the healing process, putting me into a dilemma. even though benefits>cost [omg im thinking econs] i can’t divulge anything cos i promised not to. argh.

we’re so close to coming to a palatable outcome.

so. darn. close.

secondly, bloody hell. i don’t know exactly what im doing. you can probably say i’m a little confused.

i shouldn’t be doing some things. but how?

on a separate incident,

i realised that storytelling (kaya’s style) is actually quite different for guys/gals. mainly cos gals don’t chase guys.

i did some story telling :O the first time in so much detail. and i’d fail at story telling.

incoherent. un-grammatical. too many pauses. singlish.

Surprise!

2009-11-20T00:54:00.001+08:00

i physically died. couldn’t even hold a pair of chopsticks properly during dinner and had to switch to a fork…

all because of ~2hrs of badminton. outing rocked XD except that we got stranded at the Community Centre for 2hrs cos it didn’t stop raining.

[the weather forecast for the month is: everyday thunderstorm. i think the singapore monsoon is getting more extreme. global warming argh! ]

didn’t know K was so pro at badminton. his smashes were really scary. i bet we can take on badminton players and trash some of them XD

the truth or dare was..hilarious :)

njd: grading’s coming up and i need some miracle to help me survive 30min of jumping/running/kicking/punching.

plank breaking shouldn’t be a problem, i’ll just use my right foot all the way.

and i’ve no idea how i managed to lose my short sticks…

a humbling surprise: i underestimated some people.

research attachments, international competitions, local competitions, long attachments, short attachments, scholarships, school awards. [continue listing all the prestigious stuff]

…and self-searched/googled opportunities!

that everything the singapore science field has to offer to students. its literally a finger in every pie.

very impressive.

MY HOLIDAY BEGINS NOW

2009-11-17T21:10:00.001+08:00

FINALLY AFTER CHEM OLYM IS OVER WOOOOOOOOOOOOOH

paper was easier than expected XD the internal test was probably harder. but that being said i couldnt do abt 1/4 of the stuff cos i forgot how to do ionic equilibrium. ><

so damn ridiculous, i mug the higher order stuff then the basic comes out and i forget how to do it.

anw mr wee really prepared us well for it. his teaching rocks too.

today: I FORGOT TO BRING MY CALCULATOR@!

but thank goodness emily brought a spare and lent me hers :D thanks to rita for lending me hers halfway as well cos we needed to use the polysimult equation solver on the graphic calculator.

here’s one open ended question which i semi-screwed.

yea i forgot the fact that NH2 was 2,4-directing. >< hope they still give me marks for the correct reagents tho..

this is what i got after cross referencing with ALFRED zong. lol

the hosts were indonesian?? none of the people invigilating were locals –.- wierd.

oh and for the paper: no spectroscopy!

just as well i didn’t really mug hard for it XD. saved effort.

saw kylie there again! NUSHS got their yr6 student who went for IChO this year to train their batch of yr5s. free labour! whoa their school saves loadsa $..

saw guoyang there as well!! lol ACSI: epic fail. their chem olym training started 1 week ago. only.

i realised since the start of yr5, im getting to know alot more sciency people. haha.

bodyworld@sciencecentre. a MUST GO! open now till march2010.

i took this pic before realising they said no photography lols. so this is the only pic i have.

horse for alicia. :D

had an anatomy lessons from mom. –and learnt that

the liver is gigantic. its almost the size of ur head! 1.5kg
kidney is about half the size of ur fist –.- not the size of 1 fist
heart is about 1.5 the size of ur fist.
latisimus dorsi muscle gives guys the nice V shape.

but the exhibits are recycled. the latest one was done in 2006 –.-

华文补习！

2009-11-14T22:59:00.001+08:00

FINALLY, SUCCESS!!

after infinite failures, i finally discovered and affirmed the key to my brother’s enthusiasm, and found a way to apply his ENTHUSIASM to CHINESE.

how to convince your little bro to love something he actually hates [in this instance: chinese]

STEP1: appear to love it yourself.

STEP2: appeal to whatever attracts him.

my bro is addicted to the computer. so, i created a word document which became his chinese diary.

and he WILLINGLY typed the stuff himself. here’s an extract:

E 现在很累，因为他今天早上吃了太多。。。

it gradually evolved into a convo-like diary:

…

E: 我要玩点脑。

V: 什么？你要玩 DOT BRAIN？

E: COMPUTER 啦！

V: COMPUTER ，叫做电脑。

E: 我要玩现在！

V: 翻译成：I WANT TO PLAY “THE PRESENT”？？？

E: 玩电脑啦。

V: 哦，你要现在玩？先做完习字吧。不然连爸爸都不会让你玩。

E: 可是太多。

V: 什么太多？

E: 你要我写十一遍

V: 把你的习字本那来。那里有十一遍？现在只剩几遍！

[he points to the book and counts]

v: 剩。你不知道剩的意思？

E: “sigh”

V: 真的不知道啊？剩是留下的意思。现在只留下四次。

E: 一口气

V: A BREATH OF AIR？你在叹气吧？

then i get him to do 习字 of all the words he typed wrongly.. but here arises another problem.

STEP3: don’t bang you head against the wall. it hurts. i.e. don’t persistently do things that you know he dislikes.

gave him 听写 and 习字, and he didn’t study for the spelling, and didn’t do the practises. and it ended pretty badly. [a couple of times] i currently haven’t thought of any solution, cos these 2 are essential in getting him acquainted with the chinese words.

after all the exams are not typed out…

no solution for this yet. but hope i get another brainwave soon :D

here’s what you get when u cross wulong drums with music background:

LOL okay i confess, the mugger me at work.

i double and triple checked. the tempo’s accurate, just that it has many self-invented notations.haha

seriously if i hadn’t done this i’d have forgotten it –.- short term memory =/

right now need to make my transitions more clear. but no drums to practise for 1 month D: ugh.

drums are addictive XD

…

the last training day was funny.

after the 110 yuanditiaos chalked up on wednesday, jiaolian wanted to test the sec1 juniors again, and make it a ‘memoriable’ last day for us. so every1 turned up early to train and perfect the juniors wubugong and liulutantui cos a mistake costs 10 yuanditiao =/

but then shigong came and wulong it was! so we were all spared the potential XXXXX yuanditiaos . shigong the saviour! LOL

ah i ought to be studying =/

Wushu reunion dinner 2010

2009-11-13T21:04:00.001+08:00

details: http://thewushuhub.blogspot.com/

Disorder in the court

2009-11-13T01:44:00.001+08:00

been blog hopping. :D

Book: Disorder in the court. records funny REAL Q&As that occurred.

Q: Are you sexually active?
A: No, I just lie there.

Q: This myasthenia gravis, does it affect your memory at all?
A: Yes.
Q: And in what ways does it affect your memory?
A: I forget.
Q: You forget. Can you give us! an example of something that you've forgotten?

Q: Doctor, how many autopsies have you performed on dead people?
A: All my autopsies are performed on dead people. [EPIC!]

Q: All your responses must be oral, OK? What school did you go to?
A: Oral.

Q: Do you recall the time that you examined the body?
A: The autopsy started around 8:30 p.m.
Q: And Mr. Dennington was dead at the time?
A: No, he was sitting on the table wondering why I was doing an
autopsy. [oh the sarcasm!]

RVHS hostel application

2009-11-11T21:10:00.001+08:00

open!

http://www.rivervalleyhigh.moe.edu.sg/cos/o.x?c=/wbn/pagetree&func=view&rid=1043675

O level HCL + Bio Olympiad

2009-11-10T22:21:00.001+08:00

i woke up today with a sore throat! WOW brilliant start to an exam day. it’s probably the worst state i’ve attended an exam in…

think i took a total of 12 strepsils today. =X thats like 8 more than recommended [1 in 3 hours] .. but.. ah well… desperate times call for desperate measures.

i’m filing my chinese for what i pray is the last time. hey this time i can afford to be more optimistic. it feels like a C5.

thanks to all who helped. seriously, thanks^(infinity)

我没有离题！- 作文应该及格。 but 公函 was difficult, ah well, but it’s 20 marks only.

i finished my main paper with 20 min to spare. (wow like 1st time in 5 years?) so i checked thru again and added stuff to the answers. was half dozing off midway, but somehow i managed to wake up.

chinese ended at 12.45pm. i wanted to rush straight to get the cab i booked, but then had to detour to the washroom to puke [cos of the phlegm] –.- gosh, the bile taste lasted the entire cab ride to NTU.

very sickening. i really shouldn’t have eaten...

Ms Ong was giving me directions over the phone, but well the taxi drive just drove to the sports recreation centre in NTU and i saw ms ong! LOL. i got out, she gave me directions, and she got into the very cab i was taking.

the steps up to the gym from the bustop is #%T#$#@ especially when you are rushing. felt like a sick person running a vertical marathon.

but managed to reach in time for the paper! haha

now here’s some info about sibiol aka singapore biology olympiad. 2009.

only 10% of each school’s cohort is allowed to go
only 300 students were present. [meaning there are only 3000 students doing A level bio? minus NUSHS’s 140 students and 140 IB students..]
the chief coordinator is like mrs look –.- the way she speaks, physique, except for the tone.

now for the paper format:

there are 4 sections ( A,B,C,D) each section comprises of 50 MCQ questions.

A – energetics/ photosynthesis/ respiration etc
B - DNA/genetics
C- animal physiology/evolution/cell biology
D – Plants/ ethology/ecology

within the first 90 minutes, you are expected to completed both section A and B. [ie, shade your answers to the 100 questions on the OAS]

don’t worry there is more than enough time. because some stuff is either you know or you don’t. i rushed through it and had 30min leftover… some people didn’t listen to the instructions or i don’t know what, but they only did section A within the first 90 min. ouch, there goes their chance.

then you have a 30 min break [more like 15 min break – watchout, the toilets near the exam venue will be FLOODED]

and you return for another 90 minutes of section C and D.

funny thing is some questions have part E while some don’t. and i got alot for C & D for the second half of the exam…

as for the content:

whoa my school totally didn’t prepare us for that type of questions. but thank goodness i went to search the stuff online and did my own notes. as well as watch loads of youtube videos.

i know i’ll pass it, but well, only the top 10% gets selected for the practical round. we’ll see if i make it

plants:

there’s loads about plants. which was rather terrifying cos i didn’t study that in depth for plants. at least 4 questions came out regarding plant hormones [ which wasn’t stated in the syllabus!] some questions were:

whats the different between c4 plants and CAM plants??!?!!??!?! erh, the spelling?
if you put a c3 and c4 plant in a sealed jar, what level will the carbon dioxide level drop to? compensation point of c4 or c3 or what? [ i only know c4 means the carbon dioxide acceptor is a 4 carbon molecule]
functions of plant hormones – especially growth hormones.
meristematic tissues – only the tip of the plant grows

animals/biosystematics

whats ligand?
whats nucleic acid?
only one questions came out about nervous system. . if i apply electric potential to BOTH sides of a neuron, what will happen? will the electrical impluses cancel each other out?
characteristics of mammals [ argh forgot if nucleus-lacking blood cells is a characteristic]
at least 4 questions about evolution [ thank goodness i watched some random youtube clip and knew that dinos went extinct 65 MYA]
there’s this HISTORY quesiton: who inspired Darwin to write the ‘origin of species’ ? carl linneus?
only 1 question about human reproduction: if alot of people consume an oestrogen mimicking substance, what will happen? sperm production drops? follicle cells stimulated? etc
what type of animals only exist in seas? jellyfish? cnidarians? sponges?
if a freshwater fish was chucked into a sea, how would it adapt?
there was this amusing question: if you only had a cow and some wheat, how would you ensure you get the most food to survive the longest period of time? the answer was something along the lines of: feed the cow, drink it’s milk, when it stops producing milk, eat the cow, then eat the wheat.
homologous vs analagous structures.

DNA/genetics

this was tough..

what stuff do you need for replication of DNA in vivo?
translating a long string of bases
a person has a deficiency. tests revealed that the person’s DNA was either in long strands or short strands. what enzyme went haywire? – ans DNA ligase. okazaki fragments cannot be joined hence the short strands
alot of application quesitons with real life examples of stuff you don’t learn in school. this is okay, they give you the background so you can make some sense out of the questions.
alot of MCQ options were long, with many many parts to it, and usually 1 part of the long MCQ ans is wrong. however this part is easily overlooked. eg. a ribosome is synthesised in the nucleolus and comprises of snRNA and has a large subunit and small subunit and catalyses the translation of mRNA [yea so be careful when you speed read]
all the ratios! whats 9:3:3:1? ans: dihybrid!
allele frequency! shame on me, i watched 2 videos about this and forgot how to do it.

i was coughing non stop [ think i pissed some pple off cos it’s rather irritating if you cough nonstop] puked halfway during the 2nd paper & wasted 15 min of the time.

talked to the invigilator who was camping outside the toilet waiting for me, on the way back, and realised that they are lab techs. their profs organise this bioO, so they just help out.

haha but on the bright side, after puking i got my voice back!

ethnology

most fun, most interesting, most ambiguous part. there were loads of “part a,b” or “part a,c” options.

what would a male grouse do where there are many female grouses dispersed throughout the area? erm, get a territory, be monogamous? make a nest? create a hierarchy to distribute resources?
what encourages positive dispersal of an organism?
what does this special type of moth employ to evade it’s predator? M-something

well there’s more but i’m tired.

saw kylie there! SEIROUSLY didn’t realise we’re that imba. i was thinking if she did phyO as well i’d faint on the spot. [well she doesn’t so i didn’t faint]

i’m gonna mug chem with her :D she says bio has more stuff than chem to mug. well thats probably cos NUSHS had bio intensive for 1 week…

saw mervyn there as well! thought he was going for chem instead, apparently it’s bio. and mister i’m not pregnant, i’m sick.

seems like i never fully recovered since october’s biology EOY

and i’m not PE, so i can’t survive like this

高级华文‘O’ 水准考试

2009-11-08T14:23:00.001+08:00

KY’ 的考试技巧真的不错。

首先，这绝招只需要你准备一个（当然需要有所程度的）记叙*文，然后在考试中以标题改作文的重点。要准备好的作文一定要很有创意，考试中才会有效。

这个星期二是我的华文考试。这次一定要及格！

Project Work09

2009-11-07T14:13:00.001+08:00

YES! oral presentation is OVERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR thats like 94% of A level PW cleared!

think every1 in 5b did pretty well XD should have alot of near full marks or full marks in the class :D

for Q&A the assessor asked me a super long question with 2 parts:

In your honourable mention for quality food award, how will you ensure it receives public recognition and prestige?

so i answered a super long answer addressing 1. public recognition and 2. prestige.

haha now some tips while it’s still fresh in my mind, here are the other questions asked & to prepare for.

1. how will you ensure the government will take up your proposal?

2. what was a key consideration in forming your strategy

3. which is your most important lesson learnt

4. [pertaining to our group] how did you identify the 3 factors of price, variety & quality?

5. how would you ahve further developed your strategy if you had more time?

6. how did you arrive at your survey results

7. what were the key considerations in data collection?

and the touch-screen presentation idea worked wonders. actually its pretty funny cos initially the external moderators were in the room, so the atmosphere was serious. however when they left, the seriousness seriously plummeted, so ours being the last group of the day at about noon, was really informal. PE and me added some impromptu stuff, haha.

& thank goodness i didn’t jump slide.

they liked the certs! yeah thanks to BS and JH & ms Tan, whose names we put on the cert. the assessors had a laugh when they saw ms Tan’s name LOL.

and i’ll remember it, trust RVPJ’09

Rachael
Valerie
Pei en
Jaslin

NOT

River
Valley
Pro
Ject work

heh but the idea of RVPJ still rocks :D

I&R now..

love sparring. but i’ve 2 problems

slow reaction time -.-
can’t control momentum

…

sigh. i’ll be optimistic and do my best to help. 我会全力以赴。

纪录片

2009-11-04T00:55:00.001+08:00

a useful vid to understanding NMR – spectroscopy

http://premed411.com/e-znotes.html

there are approximately 50 trillion cells in the body.

amygdalae-almondshaped nucles in the brain that controls all emotions.

我不知道怎么帮我们。

今天，我好像侮辱了一个好友。真的对不起。。。

who says only mac is cool? vista rocks too!

emo.

Choices

2009-11-01T01:44:00.001+08:00

Life would be better WITH choices.

Even though i don’t like choices cos it forces you to prioritise. Especially when 2 things have equal priority.

Specifically, one thing i don’t like is time clashes. mainly cos of the implications.

But that’s the good thing about choices-it forces you to prioritise, and allows you to focus your energy. even though you may end up sacrificing something.

but still, in a childish sense [i admit] , I still dislike choices.

Crashed on friday after 1 week of sleeping at 3am and waking at 7/8am.

PW is an amazing experience. I’ve never worked so hard, so late, when i’m so tired before. and i really admire how my pw group mates can tolerate the lack of sleep. (well, i burnt out –.-)

it was a brilliant choice to print it on 160g/m^2 paper. Felt professional.

If any1 is not there for the meeting on tues im going to emo. [like, REALLY] But it should be fine since all of them said they can make it.

oh and somehow i couldn’t do xuanzi on friday…zzzz

Pool rocked. wooh. chatting with P, R, SH also rocked big time :D

we somehow played till we could plot the best fit line. –.- 5 balls in a row some more. then P whacked it and only 1 went in. lol grats SH on the amazing 2 in 1 shot! :D

i’m running out of time to mug for chinese. been listening to 93.3 since last week.

我希望听了三个星期的93.3频道会给我正确的语感。

我也最近学了一个很有实用的成语：顺其自然。在作文中我一定会把这个成语丢进去。

上个星期，我在小贩中心买了大包。那位阿妈就跟我说：大包打包？我听成：打包打包？以为她在问我我要打包什么，所以像一个‘香蕉’似的，重复我要“大包”。过后听懂了，自己就感到十分尴尬。。。

*香蕉：一个外表像华人，但是里面,性格和语言能力根西方人的程度一样。

我不喜欢我老爸的做法。

真。的。不。喜。欢。他。

i’ve been wondering, if i were a parent, would i reward my child if she did well academically?

well, yes i would.

…

but my parents don’t.

aren’t they like even happy at my results, hello, top in subject??

i don’t understand why they treat it like it’s nothing. it really hurts when your effort goes unrecognised by your parents.

even the school recognises my efforts[and gave the vouchers].

but my parents don’t. [no congratulations even, just an “okay, thats good”]

…

or perhaps i’m just being childish.

and now’s not the time to get emotional about my state of affairs with so many things going on.

Phrasings.

2009-10-28T14:38:00.001+08:00

this is hilarious: bio olympiad

By this definition they should not provide a syllabus at all! Cos a syllabus tells you what knowledge you need. haha but actually in another part it states knowledge questions should at maximum comprise of 1/4 of the paper.

initially when i scanned through i thought they meant we’re supposed to consume the specimens. then i realised it’s more of animal ethics ><

one wierd thing is, the more i read bio, the more i find it amazing! omg i sound like a nerd. but honestly biology is terrifically amazingly tremendously brilliantly mind-blowing-ly incapacitating, freaking awesome!

sorry, but thats from a biased perspective. lol.

different story for chem though, i only like organic chem.

final draft FTW!

True Certified Copy..

2009-10-28T14:07:00.001+08:00

after some extremely time-consuming trial and error i finally realised:

whenever the school requires the TRUE CERTIFIED COPY of anything, it means you have to

zap a copy
being the photocopy and the original to the general office
ask them to stamp it – with the one saying the principal acknowledges it
ask them to sign it

CHECK that they signed it. Don’t assume they will remember to sign everything. And REMEMBER to bring the original copy.

and if you ever encounter this phrase: a copy of your NRIC or PASSPORT

for Singaporeans it ALWAYS refers to NRIC. NOT passport. for NRIC zap BOTH SIDES of the card.

passport are for non-Singaporeans

Annie-michelle

2009-10-26T18:30:00.001+08:00

http://annie-michelle.blogspot.com/2009/10/20th-oct-5th-nov-giveaway.html

okay peeps, u stand a chance to win! jap stuff!

-thx xm, saw this on ur fb, lol

A hectic weekend

2009-10-22T21:02:00.001+08:00

yaye im feeling much better. thanks for the well wishes people :D

couple days ago, i went for the saloman run CIP and ended up being the gantry keeper. saw gs there and she gave me a crash course of all the kicks and punches 0.0 surprise! must be some sign telling me its time to return to ninja :D and btw, her new honda is chio. good taste woman!

we basically scanned people’s tags after they completed the 10k race, to account for the people. so this is how it evolved:

gen1: “congrats, i need to beep you”

– then gs and xm said it was too crude, so…

gen2: “congrats, i need to scan you”

-but then it didn’t really make sense since we weren’t scanning the people..

gen3: “congrats, i need to scan your tag”

- but then near the end the traffic started piling up, so…

gen4: “congrats”, we lunge forward and scan their tags before they know what going on.

- short and sweet :D

XM looked like she was out to whack the runners cos the tagging device was in the shape of a table tennis bat. LOL. and some runner almost semi-collapsed-onto/hugged me.

well i guess if i did 10k id be half dead as well…

the goodie bag was great! they gave a pouch and a shirt and some freebies

>> see the word “FREE”? i sound cheapo…

after that participated in wushu performance. did xingyiquan. *my hand was too high up here, dies of embarrassment*

>> superunglam shot LOL

one thing that amazed me is how versatile these guys are.

jiaolian came without expecting to perform, then poof – suddenly he was going to perform 0.0 well but he’s jiaolian.. haha but francis is also just as versatile, he came expecting to perform baguazhang then in the end did fanziquan

shigong said i’ve no strength –.-

but the entire thing was fun. especially when there was this very cute move – taiji qiang – or something like that. absolutely hilarious, and very adorable. wish i had a video of it! haha at least now i know ulu pandan is around buona vista and not at pandan area. [yes this is a WEST person’s confession]

< the nature explorer09. i like the book.

<< consumer review: extra pain relief strepsils SGD 5.15 NOT WORTH IT!! [it just tastes like they added mint?] just get the regular at 3.55 next time.

mom got me some cute stuff from uk. a very functional notebook/keychain and an ADORABLE torch XD

and an ECO-FRIENDLY organiser. save the environment!

NYNY’s amazing dessert served in a supersized martini glass. as usual, everyone claimed to be full, then when this came, it disappeared in 10min LOL. just normal icecream. get it only if you want interesting pics.

and lastly, medication.

i’ve never in my entire 17 years heard any of the drug names before. except paracetamol [ ie panadol] and some phosphate. and apparently the antibiotic induces drowsiness, but i’m supposed to attend school, AND complete the antibiotic course….

hey and every1 out there, could you help me answer this question?

Q: Will DVDs be detected when they pass through metal detectors (at the singapore-malaysia border)?

really need some help with this. thanks in advance!

Flu vs cold

2009-10-20T17:15:00.001+08:00

Flu = short form for influenza

i’ve been sick since sunday with flu.

*note: flu and cold are very different conditions. below is a table comparing them

influenza! ahhh D:

这几天我患上了INFLUENZA病，身体感到十分脆弱。连爬上一*CHEN楼梯会喘气，过马路去附近的巴杀会上气不接下气。我每天大约睡18个小时，但是醒来时还是疲累万分。

爸妈好像不管我似的。

今天早上，爸爸叫我起床教弟弟华文课文。他认为我的病不是很严重，以为我不要教弟弟，就找借口。他连没问我今天感到如何。在爸爸的眼中，只有他是对的。

我真得讨厌这种不为别人着想的人。

妈妈有她自己的工作问题。现在她工作忙，有很多期限。（DATELINE？）回家后她会发泄STRESS，大喊大叫，有时会把我睡醒。

弟弟的世界上也只有他唯一一个人。叫他大便之后去冲水，他也会跟我顶嘴。

加上了功课和专题作业，累死了。

Nobel prizes!

2009-10-17T23:39:00.001+08:00

wowowowoow for once i understand [some of] the scientific content of the nobel prizes in chem and medicine. biochem students to check it out, you’ll understand it!

Chemistry – largely awarded to biochem research

- it’s about ribosomes!

if you’ve ever wondered why ms ong is emphasising so much on STRUCTURE-PROPERTY-FUNCTION relationships in bio, here’s your answer:

because even the nobel prize committee does it!

http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/2009/press.html

Medicine – "for the discovery of how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase (it’s like 25 years late. we already learnt about it in our bio A level syllabus)

i believe her point about academic versus coporate research. in academia you’re allowed to follow your nose, your curiosity, your passion. in coporate, research, there is always a dateline, a commercial application, it’s money making, only.

and research in singapore is largely identical to that of coporate research. so is it’s education system – grades and achievement only. not much about curiosity nor passion.

*elizabeth blackburn came from a family of physicians

and here’s a perfect marriage between bio and chem

Biology

2009-10-17T17:41:00.001+08:00

my love <3

topped bio in the level together with kelvin, and got borders vouchers & a cert :D thanks to rvhs!

i didn’t know their vouchers came in cards (must be an example of differentiating it’s product to lower XED – HAHA econs)

SCHOOL ENDED!

but pw is screwing my holiday plans.

3 weeks.

O levels HCL is in the morning and bio olympiad is immediately after that in the afternoon. that means no lunch for me that day D:

Olympiad update

2009-10-15T21:29:00.001+08:00

wow i got into chem olympiad, and bio olympiad.

this is amazing, and stressful –.-

wushu perf this sun! wooh

Random info. just for fun.

2009-10-12T23:44:00.001+08:00

Links:

http://kr021.k12.sd.us/SOeventsandhelp.htm#Cell%20Biology

http://www.spinelessbooks.com/gadsby/12.html

http://johnnylee.net/projects/wii/

i love TED.

any1 wanna try?? tell me!

genetic algorithm. related to torsten reil’s adorable digital human simulation.

the chem olympiad selection test is in 9 hrs. :( hope i don’t disappoint anyone.

distinction rates for biology ip5: 4.3% (no typo. it’s four point three percent)

where’s the info? h3 + olympiads

2009-10-07T23:51:00.001+08:00

update- i checked. RV is not offering proteomics cos the current absurdly miniscule student population size makes it highly uneconomical to open this in-house course. sigh.

and pharma chem is apparently so tedious/hard? and has an impossibly, ridiculously huge syllabus that teachers are groaning about it. o.o but i can say i’ve acquainted myself with the drugs bit of the syllabus - especially analgesics (ie panadol)

either way, there is a PAUCITY ( = lack) of posts about h3 subjects online.

please, post more about your experience and share them with the rest of the student population?

a teacher suggested i look at ntu’s molecular bio course instead.. and i realised there was virtually NOTHING about it online, except

what else...having to study for H3... seriously, H3 murdered more of my social life than expected... n advice to anyone who's thinking of taking NTU molecular bio...DON'T! u'll have time enough to be killed when u r in uni... enjoy life while u can...

-some random student’s blog

from this i conclude:

perhaps all the successful people are too busy to blog about their experience.
or perhaps they are geeks! with no life to blog about
or perhaps they are too humble to post a success story
or perhaps they are simply, PRCs who blog in chinese. (which i’ll die reading in chinese. btw, i strongly believe horrendous translations deserve not to exist in the 1st place)
or perhaps NO ONE GETS DISTINCTION. *GASPS
or perhaps im just not searching for the correct keywords.

so i was thinking, what about pharmaceutical chem as a h3?

the result: zero. zilch. naught, nil, nix, nada.

and this is very annoying.

today i learnt there is this h3 histone protein (related to DNA)

self-trained again today. eeks im deproving. all my jumps are like getting lower, and sloppier ><

im not a football fan but this is 超级酷！

olympiads.

for absolute chem nerds:
i do want to recommend some books for anyone interested in doing chem olympiad this year. From my experience, the SChO wants you to be more diversified. Do not specialise is the message. Then again, the syllabus is sooooooo huge-ass that no one person can actually tell you what to study. But i mean, this is not really for studying, it is to pursue your interest! and that is where the fun comes. Of course, the paper is 5 hours so bleh, you will die and you won't really enjoy it. I did enjoy the organic question and the biochem part though for the 19th SChO. very fun.
-the mind field, jan 2008

the above is from a teacher’s blog.

I have my own two cents about the olympiads. I took biology and chemistry olympiads last year. Was one of three from NUS High to be shortlisted into practical round for bio, ended up with a bronze. For chemistry, got a silver eventually, and went for IChO phase 1 training.

Biology
Since 2008 there has been a new syllabus. It is now 2 hours of 200 MCQ - they are given in four sets of 50 per half hour. Yes, you have to finish 50 questions in 30 minutes... x 4. It's sort of like SATs, you cannot go on to the next section even if you've already finished the previous section.
Also, it is true that we NUS High students are weaker at the molecular biology perspective. Last year when I took the SBO theory paper, I found that I could answer most of the questions about classical biology, but the section on biochemistry/cell biology completely stumped me. There are questions that ask stuff you don't even learn about in University Year 1 (having taken NUS Year 1 bio modules I think I am qualified to say this).
SBO, as Zhongming has said, really does involve a good grasp of biology as a whole. If you only memorise the Campbell and Reece textbook, you'll be able to answer maybe 30% of the questions only. The other 70% comes from application and experimental design.
For those currently taking the bio olympiad module, I scored an average of 38/50 for the quizzes/tests and I got a bronze in the end, which should give you an idea of what you should be aiming for. Of course the bronze is also affected by my performance in the practicals (which I personally think was average so-so only) – so perform better, your practical score may be able to push you to a silver.
Practical – just hope you've done the experiments before. They are quite basic but some of the questions are tricky. Some things like dissection of seeds, I haven't done before. Also weird questions involving coefficient of inbreeding, usage of dichotomous keys to classify organisms. I think it requires you to be able to think on your feet and quickly absorb whatever information is given to you, and answer the questions based on what details you are given and the basic concepts you already know. Most of the practical specimens will have funny body parts you've never heard of before, or protocols you've never done, or methods of analysis you have never experienced. The only thing that was familiar to me was identifying mutations of Drosophila.
The practical round, fyi, involved 4 labs. Each lab was 1.5 hours long with 2-5 activities per lab. You will need to work fast and be able to handle simultaneous experiments. I wrote a document listing all the details of the 2008 practical round and gave it to Dr Tang, so ask him if you wanna see what we had to do last year.
A point to note is that for the quizzes, honestly I didn't study at all, unlike some of my peers. I've been making notes for each module so far, so before the quiz, I'd read through my notes on the topic, and then just go and do. Same for the actual SBO (I regret not studying more; might have gotten a silver if I'd worked for it). Which means if you have been actively studying bio, and take the time and effort to actually revise the textbook, you'll probably do better.
Some stats on absolute scoring for SBO. I was talking to an ex-classmate who represented Singapore in IBO this year, and from what she says, it seems as though the threshold for gold is 50%. I'm not sure about silver and bronze - my bet is on 40% and 30% but it may well be 45% and 40% too. Yes it seems easy, you just need to pass to get a gold, but keep in mind that Singapore has performed best in Biology for the international olympiads so far (students always come back with at least a silver), and that shows something about our local SBO standards.
In the 2008 SBO there were 2 golds, 3 silvers and 6 bronzes :) nice, huh. The students that went on to IBO were the four best, and they came back with 3 golds and 1 silver. Also, two of the gold medallists got 1st and 3rd individual overall; the other gold medallist was 14th. In the world.

Chemistry
As said earlier Singapore does pretty well for IChO but not as well as IBO. For studying chemistry, I think as long as you're familiar with the NUS High syllabus, it will pull you through SChO at least. Be very grounded in physical chem, and just pray very hard that you know how to answer the inorganic chem questions – there is NO WAY you can memorise all you need for inorganic chem, it's really your luck. Our school syllabus for organic chem is more than enough for SChO even if you didn't take the advanced module.
For the practical, take note of what they're testing you, because they'll test the exact opposite for the IChO selection test.
The whole SChO team from NUS High last year obtained medals with all those going into the practical round obtaining at least a silver. So it shouldn't be too difficult.
IChO phase 1 training: Every wednesday in NUS for about seven weeks or so, then two full days during the March holidays at NIE, then they test you.
The IChO selection test was a complete disaster for me. The lecturers that crash course you don't actually teach you anything at all; you should read up on the topics yourself. The content is also further than the school syllabus, ESPECIALLY FOR ORGANIC CHEMISTRY and SPECTROSCOPY. If you have the book Organic Chemistry by Clayden, Greeves, Warren and Wothers, it will really help you. Looking up concepts in Physical Chemistry by Atkins is also good. Last but not least, it will be very useful if you've had experience in multi-spectra analysis (i.e. MS, IR, UV and NMR) - you need to be able to interpret spectra quickly.
And yes, it is 9 problems in 3 hours – you need to work fast and be very good at the concepts they teach. The instructors tend to set the selection test harder than the IChO preparatory problems given (for example, I couldn't do the steady-state approximation problems in the selection test but I could easily do all those in the prep problems).
IChO selection test also has biochemistry, so if you take bio it is really to your advantage (I had a much easier time compared to some of my physics/chem peers for the biochem section). Taking LSM1101 in NUS was also a huge help. Michaelis-Menten kinetics applied to transformations of Lineweaver-Burke plots, properties of zwitterions, the chemistry of catalytic sites – they are all tested. Not to mention simple biochemistry in the advanced organic chem module, such as structure of proteins, sugars, Haworth and Fischer projection, etc.

… and they tell us not to worry o.o

cancer.

i found this very useful link for bio olym. good for consolidating your knowledge about cancer: http://www.insidecancer.org/

take your time to digest the info cos it’s kinda specific. but hey, it’s effective. for example,

now i know about the tumour protein p53 serves as stop checkpoints in nuclear division, to allow the cell time to repair mutations.
and k-ras oncogenes is basically a growth factor. [oncogene is a gene that, when mutated or expressed at high levels, helps turn a normal cell into a tumor cell]

and that cancer is an agglomeration of factors, mainly:

inactivation of tumour suppressing gene
activation of oncogenes
defects in stability genes, mismatch repair genes (ie, DNA quality checking genes)

[yea, it’s nerdy, but basically for my own reference]

search this

harvardrejects.org

LOLOLOLOLOLOL.

the spinning lady

if it’s clockwise: u use your right brain more –> artistic

counter clockwise: use your left brain more –> scientific

1st time i saw it on tv it was going CCW. when i next chanced upon it, i saw it going CW and couldn’t figure how it could have possibly been going the other direction.

what do you see?

should be back in ninja next thurs. finally.

图片

2009-10-07T00:24:00.001+08:00

i can’t really bring myself to blog in chinese because even i won’t read it, so i shall reduce it to pictures!

here’s the daft punk 秘密

武术

the pitch08 organised by ngee ann poly. ahh, fond memories of rushing projects in 2 weeks.

and pics of my school that makes it look really decent!

HITLER! (sorry rita, can’t resist XD) guess what we were doing to the ixoras >>

eric when he was still adorable.

still adorable..

大便桶。哈哈

school is ending next friday, thats like 10 days more! 太好了！

i should be taking 1 h3 subject, a combination betwwen bio and chem perhaps if possible.

比哦咯干预 = BI-O-GE-GAN-YU = BIOLOGY
车密斯听日语 = CHE-MI-SI-TING-RI-YU = CHEMISTRY

HAHA 难怪我的华文有点问题。

im going to be busily happy again, i’ve my holidays occupied with

SRP,
WS
MPS(Pending),
PW,
NYA(Pending),
volunteering,(pending)
h3?,
NJD,
BIOO,
CHEMO
mugging for CHINESE
going out with people!!!! (i’ve a list of 12 people already)
VB!(pending)

just to name a couple :)