Monday, May 31, 2004
It's over! I think I should have at least hit a B3. Now to rest a bit, and then start on revision for the mid-years. I've learnt my lesson and will not do last minute mugging anymore.
Today after the paper, Sarah and I went to Cineleisure to watch Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen. It was a really crazy movie, no doubt funny, but I think it's too superficial. Lindsay Lohan can dance wonderfully, though.
I can't wait to watch Harry Potter!!!
|| 7:18 PM ||
Sunday, May 30, 2004
Well. I'm more or less ready for tomorrow's exam. Wish me luck.
|| 11:19 PM ||
Friday, May 28, 2004
The end of Term 2. We got back our Progress Reports today. My grades have all dropped by a notch.
A2 for English and Chemistry.
B3 for E-maths, Physics, Literature and Combined Humanities.
C5 for A-maths and Chinese.
Sigh. Such disappointing results. I must stop slacking and work harder next term. I must start doing my maths homework. And my chinese. I'm so worried, I'm afraid for my O-levels in two days' time. I think I'll get a B3, but I will mug and mug this weekend and try for an A2.
I thought I was going to faint halfway lugging all the books home from school. 5kg of books in my bag, and 5kg on my hands. It was pure torture carrying them up the hill. Now my back and my hands are aching. Owww.
|| 5:01 PM ||
Wednesday, May 26, 2004
What was I dreaming of? It's time to wake up.
|| 8:52 PM ||
Saturday, May 22, 2004
Went for Pet-a-thon today. One hour of Pet-a-thon. After watching all the dog-owners walk their dogs to and back from Botanic Gardens, Dan er and I decided that we didn't want to spend the day learning about animal awareness and dog obedience. So, after finishing our chocolate ice-cream, we went to the side gate at the staff carpark, which is usually quite deserted. As we were just about to sneak out of school, the Clay Aiken-lookalike teacher came strolling by with his dog dressed in a space suit. Haha. Dan er and I immediately pretended that we were just hanging around. Luckily, he did not find two girls standing around, chatting in the middle of an isolated carpark suspicious. He disappeared from view, and we ran. All the way to Farrer market. We boarded a bus to Orchard, where we met Natalia and Sem. They had sneaked out too.
We went to Takashimaya to check out the new Fox shop. The stuff there are quite cheap, but only their skirts and pants are nice. The quality of the shirts are really bad - the cloth is so thin! We had pretzels, then went to shop a little more at Heeren and Paragon before going home. I don't know how I am going to do my English homework - a newspaper report on Pet-a-thon, when I wasn't even there.
Chinese O's are in about a week's time, but I don't feel anything. Wait, I do feel pressurised, but I'm not motivated to study. Not with piles of homework and a Social Studies file to tidy up. Sigh.
|| 2:58 PM ||
Wednesday, May 19, 2004
I'm so glad my old maid is back. Um...don't take that literally. I mean I'm glad my
previous maid is back, the one who worked for us 3 years ago. Her name is Sutiyani. I get along with her very well. When I was in Primary school I used to spend the evenings just chatting with her, listening to her stories about the village she lived in in Indonesia. So she's kind of like a live-in friend to me. Haha.
|| 3:12 AM ||
Saturday, May 15, 2004
Went to watch Troy with Kirsten, Khine Mon, Rachel and Belda. It was fantastic. There's something about epics that just draws you in. My favourite character is Achilles. I think his love for Berseis is the greatest of all. Paris and Helen are just plain selfish. Helen didn't even really love Paris in the first place, it was Aprohite, goddess of love, who "gave" Helen to Paris. Sigh. I'm glad Achilles died though, Paris killed him by shooting an arrow at his only vulnerable part, his heel. All the good people die and the bad ones live on bearing the guilt. Serves Berseis right for not sacrificing herself for Achilles. I think it would be really romantic if they died together. But stupid Berseis had to sit there and do nothing while Achilles got killed. Sigh.
|| 10:26 PM ||
Thursday, May 13, 2004
My maid has gone back to Phillipines. This means I get to eat out for the entire week because all of us are too lazy to cook but it also means that I have to help with household chores. I will do anything but washing the dishes, I hate cleaning them because the dishwashing liquid causes my skin to peel. So I chose making the beds. It wasn't as easy as I thought, as all the blankets in my house are enormous. I spend half the time just struggling to grasp both ends of the blanket so that I can fold it. Sigh, my arms are just too short. Haha. Anyway, now that I'm doing this I don't allow the rest of my family to take afternoon naps on their beds anymore, because I don't want them to mess up
my hard work. Haha. Too bad, they will just have to sleep on the couch.
|| 5:45 PM ||
Tuesday, May 11, 2004
Today in Lit, we did unseen poetry. Ode to Autumn by John Keats. Keats is nice just to read but terrible to do questions on, because his descriptions are all so elaborate and there's so much imagery to analysis. And the assignment's graded. Eeek. I think we all Litbags are going to die from rock-bottom CA marks.
Litbags, litbags...they are a term Rachel came up with, and now even Ms Noraini calls us that. Haha, so cute.
I changed my seating position again. Now I'm next to Manisha. Yes I moved there of my own accord, no one forced me to move. I figured that I would rather cope with Manisha's untidiness than suffer in a dark, stuffy corner of the classroom or be forever in silence with Natalie.
|| 7:50 PM ||
Monday, May 10, 2004
I thought I had cried my tears dry when they announced the bad news on Friday, and during the wake on Saturday. Well, I guess I thought wrong.
The choir was invited to sing at Mrs Lee's funeral today. This morning, after a rehearsal at the school, we left for St. Andrew's Cathedral. We were allowed to sit in a supposedly "forbidden" area, at the very front of the cathedral, hidden away from the rest of the place. Usually only pastors are allowed to sit there. I was so enraptured by the peace and serenity of the place that I felt as though I was in heaven. The sunlight was shining through the great stained-glass windows at the end of the cathedral aisles, dappling the pale walls with coloured shadows. I took the Bible which was in front of me and started reading it. I love reading the Old Testament, but I don't do it often because it's not in our little Bible. Immediately I flipped to the part about Samson and Delilah, my favourite story in the whole Bible.
How ironic. The choir's best performance for Mrs Lee, but she was not able to hear it. Sigh. We sang for the Beauty of the Earth. This time, we sang with our hearts - what Mrs Lee had always wanted us to do. We truly spoke to the audience and delivered our message. Maybe it was just because of the acoustics, but we really sounded good, the song echoing throughout the cathedral, overflowing with emotions. If Mrs Lee had heard us, she would have been proud.
At the end of the funeral, I broke down at the sight of Mrs Lee's coffin being slowly carried out of the cathedral, as we sang the hymn How Great Thou Art. The lyrics in front of me blurred into a medley of gothic hues as tears welled in my eyes, falling in earnest down my cheeks. I tried to stop, I wanted to sing the hymn, but I couldn't. Loud sobs escaped from my throat and I was shaking uncontrollably. It's just, seeing the coffin being carried out confirmed everything. She was never coming back. I had never really accepted it till then.
|| 8:19 PM ||
Friday, May 07, 2004
She complained of a splitting headache which got worse and worse; she had difficulties in breathing; she collapsed. All in a matter of minutes. And now our principal is gone.
It's true, that we never cherish people until they leave us. Only yesterday Mrs Lee was just someone in my life, she was just the principal of my school. I always thought her too demanding, and never realised that despite her strictness, she was a wonderful principal. She created an image for our school, she strengthened us academically, and she cared for the students. She really did care. But now she's left us. Everything was so quick. She didn't even give us the chance to send her the card we made, she didn't wait to see us through our O-levels.
I told Manisha not to be selfish, that we should be happy for Mrs Lee that she is in heaven now. But I couldn't even stop my own tears from falling. We sat on the wooden bench in the washroom, sobbing silently. When it was announced that Mrs Lee had passed away, people in their classes gathered in small groups, just praying or crying. The air was filled with grief, pressing heavily onto us. The whole school was deadly quiet, mourning for her death.
|| 3:45 PM ||
Thursday, May 06, 2004
You have no idea how worried I am about the exams. It's just that I can't get down to really studying. Sigh. I wonder why.
|| 4:45 PM ||
Monday, May 03, 2004
Teachers like happy endings. They like essays where there is a moral to be learnt at the end, when the character overcomes a crisis to become a better person. That's where my problem lies. I can't write happy endings. Ms Shen will know, because almost all the compositions I handed up to her ended with death - either by suicide or euthanasia. Especially the one where the mother kills her daughter. It was titled "Love". I know. My concept of love is warped, but you'll understand when you read it.
I am going to flunk my composition exam. Because I had a mental block which froze my brain completely. I could not think of a suitable ending which the teachers would accept. If I wrote one of my usual endings, I would definitely get a failing grade for having "a wrong mindset". So either way, my Paper I is gone.
|| 6:12 PM ||