Y Thursday, June 28, 2007
11:30 pm
Wow I feel like my mid-years are over already! For real!I mean, really. Geography today and A maths paper 2 tomorrow. Geography MCQ next week, along with MT O level oral.
To be perfectly honest, these are the subjects I've never done well in and hence I couldn't really careless about the type of marks I get. A fail? So what's new? A pass would be a pleasent surprise. Anything more.. no wait it hasn't ever happened ):
They always say nothing can be done at the eleventh hour. Well I've fought it all these years, and I can safely say they're wrong. Studying isn't something that can be clobbered together when you're at death's door. Constant revision. Anyone who's telling you "last minute chiong" is lying through their bloody teeth. The only reason why they'd tell you that is so you're gonna score worse, which only benefits them.
Yes, I know. Math is practice. Practice. Practice. Repeat ad nauseam. For those who love the subject, I think I know why. It allows for consistent As and there's this really satisfying when you solve a tough question.
Over here though, when I'm done with a question, I tell myself "Thank god that's over. I can finally move on to the next question..." No pat in the back because.. oh wait, everyone else is already two questions ahead ):
I'll catch up at my own pace I guess. It's do or die. There's a just a mental block towards math. I can't change my perception about it. No no, before you go off saying that's bullshit, NLP works and I know a smattering of it. Perception change is the first step =\.
Today wasn't really hot I guess. Bombed the Geog paper big time. Did 3 out of 4 required questions, and the whole class seemed to be able to finish all 4. I did use the most amount of paper for 3 questions though. Lets hope Kwok can't sift through the bullshit.
Had a meal with half the class at Mcdonald's and boy is that new system of serving food annoying. I was one of the first few to order, but the last to receive my food. I'm hungry damnnit. A hungry man is an angry man.
Oh, and I swear I'll never occupy the front seats on the second deck of double deck buses ever again. It's evil.
You know how the newer model of SBS buses are slightly.. more spacious? Yeah! I can walk without my head scraping on the roof. Makes sense if the height is uniform, right?
*Walks towards front seats*
*Stops suddenly*
*Vision blurred and unfocused for a second*
"Ouch!...."
Yes, I actually said ouch out loud. Talk about embarrassing.
I DON'T GET IT. THE ROOF HEIGHT WAS INCREASED, BUT WHY THE HECK DID IT HAVE TO DIP TOWARDS THE FRONT? IT SURE AS HELL DIDN'T HAPPEN AT THE BACK. AND NO, I DID NOT SEE ANY VALID REASON FOR THAT RETARDED BUMP.
Aesthetics? Come on. If people wanted their transport vehicles to look nice, they wouldn't be taking a bloody public bus.
Please, think of our heads.
Y Thursday, June 21, 2007
12:02 am
Looks like the June holidays is coming to an end. I'm willing to admit, it hasn't been as productive as I thought it'd have been. Still, my target of mid July doesn't seem too unreasonable yet, guess it just means double time.Honestly, going back to school doesn't seem half bad. Come what may, we're gonna have to take the blasted O levels, so the school's there to help us out. The one and only gripe (which I had since time immemorial) I have is having to wake up at ungodly hours. Take into account that I live relatively near and chartered a private bus service and you can come to the conclusion that there are others who have to use sheer willpower to overcome the sleep in their eyes at even earlier hours.
Would have been a lot better if school began earlier but ended later. Well, this makes lunch in school mandatory, but I don't hear the canteen vendors complaining. (Or a certain teacher, in VS's case.)
It's been awhile since the last post, lots of stuff have happened. For the whole of this week, it's been mostly remedial lessons, and with the exception of the first geography lesson, (which I swear I did not know was scheduled) my attendance was perfect. Really, I didn't mind attending said lessons at all. Unsurprisingly, a healthy portion of the class also showed up for lessons they were not drafted into.
The more interesting event was Chester's sweet 16. Happy Birthday moral failure! (: Though I have to apologize. Darren and I bought the Play! tickets back in April, and we honestly didn't anticipate Chester's birthday being on the same day.
The end result wasn't ideal at all. We were the first to arrive at Chester's place, dumping the consoles (They're heavy) which didn't get used much, but we do it every party anyway. Hanged around for a bit before leaving at around 5ish for the concert. MC and gang JUST arrived.
According to MC, the bulk of the guests graced Chester's place at around 7, during which Darren and I were away at the Esplanade.
Oh, bloody hell, I regret not eating before we left. The Esplanade doesn't have food which takes into account the wallet of your average teenager. Fine, it's THE Esplanade. Call it an oversight or whatever. The meal at ThaiExpress consisted of a $10 bowl of noodles (which didn't even taste good.) and a $5 milkshake. The bill went up to about $40 in total, and Darren had similar stuff.
We met Nicholas there, and boy did he dress weird. He came in a black video game tee, some brown working pants and a formal belt o_O. Shirt tucked in. I TOLD him a shirt and jeans would do just fine. Singaporeans always under dress anyway. At the very least one'll blend in with the crowd.
And so came the much anticipated concert. There was a man in a gigantic Blue Dragon costume, I posed and took a picture with it. Must've been pretty warm inside that suit. Other than that, there were no other attractions outside the theater. Darren and I each snagged a souvenir program for $30, waited for Daryl and Melvin before heading into the theater.
It was really funny. We were greeted with the Super Mario song as it was played in the actual video game. Cute!
I actually regret going in so early. See, we were sitting at the corner of our row, and the people inside had yet to arrive. When they did, Melvin, Nicholas and I had to get up to make space for them to pass.
Soon came the concert proper. We were greeted with a piece specially composed for Play! by Nobuo Uetmatsu-san. For those unfamiliar, he composed nearly all of the Final Fantasy songs. Right from I to X. Final Fantasy would not be what it is today without his talent for composing.
In a video game, there're audio and visual elements. Have you ever tried playing a game without music? Doesn't it sound really weird? Like there's no "kick" somehow? The music of a game does play a big role in defining a player's experience. I won't go into detail, as the only scores I can read are Chinese ones and I don't think I'm qualified to describe the music in detail.
All in all, my favourite suite was the Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. It wasn't because I preferred the music itself, but more of it was the best suite the Singapore Festival Orchestra played.
I absolutely loved the Super Mario suite. It waas soo damned funny. On screen, you could see the various versions of Super Mario. From the original N64 version to subsequent 3D sequels, make no mistake, it's Super Mario through and through. The song elicited much laughter and nostalgia from the audience, I guess it's because Super Mario's a game we grew up with.
The most disappointing piece was Stormwind from the World of Warcraft suite. When I first heard the piece as I stepped into Stormwind in World of Warcraft, all my goosebumps were raised. In front of me were great statues of the heroes of Azeroth, lining the bridge to the city. A short drum build up followed by cymbals and choir "ahhs". It felt epic, indescribable.
The original piece would then proceed with assorted brass instruments (Sorry, can't identify them.) before having cymbals building up to yet another choral part. The song fades into the background with the BASSISTS humming regularly along with drumbeats.
What we got here in Play! was extremely weak cymbals. Before I proceed, let me declare that I am NOT an MCP.(Male Chauvinist Pig.) Yes, it was a lady manning the cymbals. It lacked the punch. Humanity is dying, heroes of the old have left. Stereotypical dramatic stuff. But dramatic stuff don't get accompanied by feeble cymbals.
Then they replaced the end of the song with sopranos humming away instead. What an insult!
Aside from Stormwind, the rest of the concert was enjoyable. As you can tell, it was one of my favourite pieces, and I had high hopes for it. Darren concurred that the WoW suite was generally disappointing. Maybe we just didn't like their rendition.
Here's the funny. At every Play! concert, one of the composers would make a guest appearance. Here at Singapore, the Asian Premiere, we had the composer of Shenmue I and II (I don't know what that is.) and DAYTONA USA. (LOL.) Yeah, some of you may be wondering "Does that game even have music in it?"
I'm telling you, YES. Listen carefully, in the Advance track, you'll hear "Daytona, let's go away! Daytona....!" The composer was a really funky, sporty man. After the intermission, everyone was rather sedated, as the pieces directly before were unfamiliar and not too catchy. This man.. the moment he stepped on stage, everyone seemed to have been injected with steroids.
He came up, grabbed a mike and shouted "HELLO SINGAPORE! WOOOOOO!" then introduced himself, his work etc. Said composer (Sorry! Forgot his name. Left the program at Chester's place) saunteered to the piano, and played the Daytona tune. Here comes the biggy!
Now, we all know pianos can't replicate the techno sounds you hear in some games. That's where the all-powerful, flexible human voice comes in!
"Toot doo doo doo doot doot! Toot doo doo doo doo doo doot doot! Daytonaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"
I swear. He sung out all the techno parts and the lyrics. It was HILARIOUS. That guy's such an awesome sport it's unbelievable! Even the Play! conductor Arnie Roth said "Well, we don't get to see him often, but when we do, yeah, it's wild."
This was followed by (In my opinion) their best suite, the Oblivion suite, a few other unfamiliar ones (Mostly Zelda and Castlevania) before the finale. Now, this would be my second favourite in the concert.
One Winged Angel.
'nuff said. This song's the stuff of legends. Played during the final boss fight against Sephiroth in Final Fantasy VII, it's an epic, dramatic and definitely memorable piece.
I especially love the choral parts of this song. Chilling vocals which could rise from repetitive, trance-like murmuring to frenzied crescendos screaming "SEPHIROTH!" are an instant win. In fact, the choir pretty much makes up of half of the song. It gives the song a haunting kind of feel.
Well, we had an encore of some oldschool Shinobi game, then a final encore of One Winged Angel again and that was all for Play! A Videogame Symphony, Asian Premiere.
Final thoughts from the concert are that it had a lot of potential, but the SFO just didn't pull it off. There were numerous parts where the music could have been expressed more, but this could probably be attributed to the possibility that the musicians themselves have not played the games. (What bugged me was that they showed the video of Lordaeron when playing Stormwind.) It was a great effort, and they probably had little time to prepare the songs. (Errors could be heard occasionally.)
It was back to Chester's place. None of the guests really left yet, but they were caught up in doing their own stuff. 4 girls were at the mahjong table. By doing so, they pretty much closed themselves to the rest of the party-goers. Granted, it was late (11-ish) and they might have been a lil tired, but yeah. In a party, aren't you meant to socialize? I wanted to, honest, but they seemed so happy doing what they did it seemed that leaving them alone was for the best.
The other group was... stoning o_O. But two of them were about to be stoned for a much longer time! Drinking games!
It's funny poking fun at intoxicated people. They respond funny. Answers which make absolutely no sense in the slightest, not even the obscurest of links.
"Are you drunk?"
"No la! Face red only. Got reaction.. reaction... very hot la, very hot. I'm very hot, you're very hot, we all very hot!.......... I wanna RAPE someone."
Sure you're not!
"I'm not drunk! Really! *squeals* YOU'RE DRUNK NOT ME! Oh dear... I think I'm really drunk. Oh shit what am I gonna do. I can't let my brother see me like this. NO! HEHEHE. I'M NOT DRUNK..."
We believe you!
"Recite the alphabet backwards."
"Z, Y, W, abcd...wxyz.. X, U, V..."
A sober person would actually stop and think before blurting out a series of letters. Ok, but I gotta admit, the girl was pretty cute in her tipsy state. The guy was hilarious. XD
After awhile, mostly everyone left, the few that stayed behind did so for the mahjong, I did because.. well it was late and I was lazy to get back. Besides, I already brought said stuff for sleepover.
Played a bit of the consoles then hit the sack. 5 agonizing hours of half-sleep later, it was time for breakfast. Pity I had gastric and couldn't really enjoy the beef kuay teow.
Before I knew it, I was whisked back home by my mum, went out with the family (Father's Day.) and that was Sunday.
Y Wednesday, June 13, 2007
12:27 am
Funny how we don't realize how important something is until we lose it. Well, I'm sure most of us grouse about the lack of time to do anything. If there's a task that isn't quite the motivator, the overused, sickening phrase "No time." is used.And now we have the holidays. Lack of time shouldn't be an issue at all. Yet after the holidays, it pops out yet again, not unlike those whack-a-moles in arcades. Then we're left to wonder what the heck we were doing during the one month break.
Lost time -> Regret.
Pretty much sums up my current predicament. I know what needs to be done. Really. It just doesn't happen. Willpower problem I guess. Only difference this time round is I realize it halfway into the holidays. Actually, I bet we all know what needs to be done. It's just always at the back of our heads somewhere and most of the time pushed into that obscure corner on purpose. Gotta love being human.
Ah. Feeling so melancholic and I can't explain why. Guess it's due to the guilt of not knuckling down and studying. What the heck, I'm going around in circles.
I learned an interesting lesson during the sleepover at MC's. Two, actually. First, never sleepover when the reason for the stay over is a late night hardcore mah jong session. I'm serious.
Now, I don't even know how to play mah jong, nor am I interested. Gambling just doesn't cut it for me. No, cards aren't any better, even if no money is involved. Indulge in me when I say I've forced myself to appreciate what everyone's crazy about. Inclusive of "omg so cool imbal" card tricks. I sum them all in one phrase. Sleight of hand. Nothing new, this topic has already been covered. Moving on.
Second lesson. Always bring a packet of tissue where ever I go. Damnnit, I've lost count of the number of times when my nose decided to overload itself and make me miserable. Betroth a sensitive nose with morning sinus and you've got a pretty potent combination of nasties. It's not fun. MC's place not having a box of tissue in sight definitely makes me feel a lot better.
Of course, there was tissue. I just didn't look hard enough. There was a small 10-piece 2-ply travel pack in MC's bag one floor down, where there was no one present. Who woulda thunk?!
Y Friday, June 08, 2007
10:18 am
Yes, I realized I haven't blogged in about a week and a half. No, it's not because I got lazy again (Oh wait..) but rather there weren't many interesting things to talk about. (What a convenient excuse!)Alright, let's start, then.
Off the top of my head, Chin Boon's birthday party at the chalet. At first, mc and I didn't play to stay. More of: we were invited, so we just show up, give a present, stay for dinner then leave. But things don't go as planned. Turned out to be pretty fun, we had a go at the arcade and bloody hell, Arthur and Yi hao are shit good at racing stuff xD. Was funny watching Anand and and Sly try, but I expect my first few times were a lot.. worse.
To my surprise, Jarrett actually came and even, wait for it fellows, slept over. *GASP!* Okay, okay. Not good being so mean. I was forced to sit through that crap of a movie House of Wax, which I only did because Paris Hilton supposedly died in that show =\. I'm not joining in the hate because "It's cool to hate Paris Hilton. Everyone hates her." No. Honestly, a hotel heiress getting arrested for driving with a revoked license. WTH? Logic?
Because Andrew covertly pushed me out of my bed, I was left with the floor, but not like we could sleep anyway. Azmeer was singing the national anthem at the top of his lungs, with Marcus joining in the chorus. Brilliant. As if I wasn't feeling crappy enough.
So that's that. Jarrett was being an exceptional sport and even joined them for Shrek 3 the next morning. My aching body told me rest was in order, and it was home for me.
The next few days were spent slacking. No don't look at me like that. I KNOW what I'm suppose to be doing, but cut me some slack, ya? I'm not some Varian Koh. My holidays end here, suffice to say.