Missing Bali so much!!

This week has acquired my highest level of brainpower, as I struggled (and still is struggling) to study for my Final year exam papers.... Now I'm halfway through them. Still have 7 papers though. Counting... counting.... It means there are 7 papers left. They are: E-Maths, A-Maths, Higher Malay, and Lit Core. Well, the last one I mentioned is one of the hardest papers yet quite enjoyable, as it requires my skill of logical thinking, interpreting, and bluffing (?!!!).

Before this week started, last Saturday night in particular, I heard the news of the Bali bombing faster than even those living in Jakarta. By that time, I was studying in the prep room and suddenly my friend Daniel who was studying next to me informed me about the blast.

"Mas, Bali dibom lo..", Daniel said.

"Huh?"

"Bali dibom"

"O ya?"

I was not interested in hearing the news as I thought he was joking.

"Bali dibom lagi. Ini gw baru aja disms ama temen gw"

"Ah, masa?", I looked at him incredulously.

"Iya. Coba preksa aja"

My mind was filled with 90% disbelief, but I got a tinge of awareness that he may be correct.

I went out to the prep room, and quickly phoned 2 of my friends in Bali: Ruth and Lina, just wanna check it out. They were unable to be called. Then a sense of fear gripped me. My friends (esp. former classmates) could be anywhere by this time! It's weekend now! Hopefully my fear of them getting on to the worst scenario wouldn't come true.

I turned on the TV. "Three Bali blasts...."

So it was true. I quickly informed my fellow Balinese scholars about this news

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Some criticisms and enlightenment

As usual, life never changes here… Always busy schooldays and sleepless nights. Well dear, I wonder when I will have a bit of rest. Since I received this Singapore school based scholarship, my life has gone on and on like that. Not boring, only exhausting. Oopsss….. Be careful, Toshi.. govt is watching!!! Hahahaha…. Yeah, I’m talking about the recent news on newspaper, where the Singapore govt is said to have passed a law to curb racist remarks made in any media. Isn’t that crazy? Well, dun think strangely pls, I’m NOT racist! I have never made such remarks (nor have I?? That’s a challenge for Singapore govt, I think *devilish smile*). The problem is, we who are currently on this Singapore land, must be blog preferably. Along with that racism-curbing, I think the govt will pass another laws such as anti-govt-curbing or anything like that which will make Singapore ppl’s freedom of expression confined under “tight security”. Sigh.

I thought Singapore is a democratic and liberal country. Where’s the democracy??? If they pass such laws, International world will see Singapore as a non-democratic country (what’s the opposite of democratic? Is it communist? *devilish smile*)!!! Even know I think Indonesia is more democratic than Singapore. As a newcomer in Singapore, I’m not sure whether Singapore has any direct-by-people-elections, but FYI Indonesia just planted its base of democracy not long ago, and now I see that Indonesia is better than Singapore in this demos-kratos affair. How pathetic Singapore is! And… one thing more. I’m also uncertain if the PAP has any opposition, but I can say that there is almost no party fights in Singapore. If Singapore has any direct-by-people-elections, I bet the situation is sooo drowsy!! LOLZ.

Enough about my criticisms, OK? I dun wanna anger any Singaporeans for seething them, I know, won’t do me good.

Hm… any good news lately? Well yes, for sure. The last September one-week holiday was spent in Jakarta, it was a quite enlightening for me to be there, as meeting my family and my pets satisfy my longing for them. One thing I’ll never I forget is that during that one-week-break, I had a discussion with Mom & Dad which changed my perception about USA (Enough. This part I won’t explain, it’s too confidential).

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School tension

Recently I’ve been very-very-very busy. A lot of tasks were to be done, and even until now I still have some. This Geography test which was conducted today worried me a lot in the last 3 days. The test came out to be quite easy, fortunately. Hopefully I’ll get an A1 for this subject!! Hahaha… I don’t think so. Let me see what I’ve achieved overall so far in this term (the words are in white for confidentiality. Just highlight them):

H. Malay: 42/70 = 60% (C4)

Eng Language: 16/30 = 53.33% (D6)

Eng Literature: 15/25= 60% (C4)

Physics: 18/31 = 58% (C4)

Chemistry: 15/35 = 42.9% (E7)

Biology (dropped): 9/25 = 36% (F9, dun care, lolz)

Add Maths: 18/35 = 51.4% (C4)

Elem Maths: 11/25 = 44% (E7)

Social Studies: 12/18 = 66.7% (B3)

Geog El: not yet (possibly B3)

Wahh….. So pathetic. If I include Physics and the Geography estimation, I’ll get an L1R5 of…………………….. 26!!!!! Slightly higher (?) than my Mid-Year’s, which was 25. Oh My God, please, I beseech you!! Give me better marks! I really regretted my not-very-good-but-a-bit-gloomy-instead mood on the day the E-Maths test conducted. If I was in a good one, I would’ve got an A1 or A2 and enables me to have an L1R5 of 19-20. Ugh, really. I can go mad now.

Just this morning after the morning assembly, my class PCT (Pastoral Care Teacher) Mr Chua asked me, “Toshi, tighten your tie please”.

“Yes, Sir”, I said while buttoning my uppermost button and tighten my tie.

“By the way Toshi, do you have any problems? You look quite stressed.”

“Oh….” I thought for a while, “No,Sir”

“Are you sure?”

While guessing that Mr Chua’s assumption is due to my scruffy look in the morning, I answered, “Um…. No, Sir. This morning while I was heading to school, I realized that I had left my tie in my room, so I rushed back to the Boarding School”

“Well, no. It’s not about your tie. You just look quite stressful in this term. Since the beginning of this term, in fact. Is there anything you need to tell us?” He refers to both himself and my CT (Class Teacher) Mr Sham.

I smiled, “No…no… I’m not. I’m just…”

“Hm?”

“Ah, nothing Sir”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. Sure”

“Well, if you do have any problems, don’t doubt to tell us, OK?”

“Yes, Sir”

After that conversation, I stayed frozen for a minute. I realized that I do have a problem. A major problem that always haunts me, actually. It is not to be confided, actually. After all, how will anybody help me after I’ve confided it?

The problem is: The fear of getting expelled from my school. As you know, I’m a scholar, right? With an L1R5 always above 20, I’m in a morbid fear of getting expelled from this school. The main reason isn’t about the money or time I’ve wasted, it’s my reputation. I really dunno where to put my face (an Indonesian saying which means ‘how to save my pride?’). I can do nothing other than studying super hard. Gosh, I really hate doing it. Studying hard and smart is not what I’m currently good at. I need to enjoy my life more, and probably my diligence (am I? Lolz, I laugh at myself) and the thought of this that haunts me creates the stressful tension within myself…

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The unpredictable thoughts

does this title above seem familliar to you? For one of my loyal reader, yes. Hahaha... The rampant spread of blogging has infected almost everyone I know. It's just interesting to blog, though... Just keeping a record of what I'm thinking by the time I blog.

When I'm given plenty time to use internet connection, but it seems that thare isn't any interesting website to open, I just blog. Gosh, the hellish thing about my blog that I dislike is the vacancy of my comment boxes... From my own experience, there is merely one person who has given my blog a comment!! The rest are on tagboard, and I only can find rubbish writings there... woohh. I dunno which is better: having a lot of ppl reading my blog (which means some of my private thoughts will be widely known) or only a few of my own preference.

PS: Sorry guys, in a few days I'm in love with South Korea, so I change the Blog language from Nihon-go to Hanguk. It doesn't mean that I stop loving Japan though.

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Rugby C Division Final and Homestay at Nic Heng's House

Yesterday there was a very good news which brought a cheer in every ACSian's hearts. ACS(I) won the final, defeating St Andrew's 16 to 12!! Wow, you know, firstly we ACSians thought that the game was going to be won by St Andrews', as they lead first with a try and two penalties, giving a gap score of 7-0... And another thing is that we thought the game was going to be deja vu of the previous B Division final, when St Andrews' beat us 7 to 0!! But fortunatelyit wasn't. Things just happened to ba alright for us, and thus we won the game (and a holiday in Tuesday as a reward~ not bad....)

Now, I'm typing blog in Nic Heng's house. Why am I here so late in his house? Well, it's the homestay thingie. We boarders are obliged to have a homestay (at least) once a year in a Singaporean's house so that we are allowed to go back to our homecountries on December... Thus, with "heavy heart" (a term in Indon when a person has to do what he doesn't want to) I asked Nic Heng, one of the most kind Singaporeans in my class (there're 4 out of 7 who are kind to me) to have a homestay at his house. Good for me, he accepted! Furthermore, I dun have to go alone, as my PRC friend Zhou Chen also hasn't got his homestay yet. So, we were just brought here... A very nice house, actually. I really wanna have one like his, with: large kitchen, large-screen TVs, home theatre, dog retriever named Mozart as a pet... Woooow, hopefully I can have one like this house. His parents are also kind. That Nic Heng (whom Buana described to me as metrosexual, as he cares for his body quite a lot) is really lucky having a life like this. Well, probably most Singaporeans in my school also does lead a life like him. ^ ^

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Hypocrites

This morning I checked the astrology of the day in MSN.com and read that I'm going to be "smacked" by a great surprise!! Wooooh, I wonder what it'll be?? You know, I believe in astrology, but I also believe in God. Believing in God doesn't mean that I must deem astrology as divination or satanic device.. Astrology is just my personal interest, and there is a difference between God and astrology: God can guide, lead, and protect me thru the whole day, while astrology can only tell me what might happen on the day without giving any solutions. See the difference? Those who say that Christians must not believe in Feng Shui, Hong Shui, Astrology, etc are merely hypocrites! Those stuffs are not part of misleading religions or sects anyway. They’re not even based on any Gods!! They’re based on nature balance, on the real application of science as a tool for personal harmony.

Any disagreements?

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Falling stars??

Stupid astronomers in my school.... No such meteors were seen last Saturday dawn! Those ppl from the Astronomy Club just said that we were going to be able to see the falling stars on Saturday 13 dawn, around 1-4 a.m, i think, and it was proven to be wrong. I was covered with excitement on that day: "Being able to see falling stars for the first time in life, ooooh whaddya think??". But to my disappointment, no such meteors were seen. Not a single of them!!! I waited there (the venue was Grandstand of ACS boarding sch), from midnite until 4 o'clock, and found nothing on the sky. The stars weren't even seen, they were obscured by cloud... Crazy, don't you think!!!

...
Hm... Change topic now. Probably for the first time in ACS(I), I didn't bother to do any of my homeworks on weekend. Yes, due to some VCDs i borrowed from my good Filipino friend Neil, I've been on movie marathon from yesterday until now. Continuously watching movie marathon: Hidalgo, Black Hawk Down, Around The World in 80 Days, King Arthur, My Little Bride, and 100 Days with Mr Arrogant. The last two are Korean movies. My, I really enjoy Korean movies!! ^ ^ Korean ones (esp. comedies) are those I can watch lightly (in a very light and easygoing manner, different from western ones which I have to watch seriously). My Sassy Girl, Windstruck, My Little Bride..... Woooo, they really are silly movies! But still I like them very much. The style of how Korean speak (their accent), how the female chara usually dominates the male (the female mostly are described as pretty, but bad-tempered chara)... That's the unique thing about Korean movies!!

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Regretful

If there is anything I hav a morbid fear of rite now, it is Lester's phonecall. At about 9 o'clock just now, he called me. And I'm very afraid of his call, at least for now. Why?

This evening, I was supposed to attend the Chung Cheng High Interact Club Installation. As I was unsure about how to get there and who to accompany me, I decided to skive off my "duty" (is it a duty? I don't deem it as one) as ACS-I rep as I perceived that they (the CCH interactors) won't take any attendance (Gosh, hopefully I'm rite). I wonder how will Lester react if he knows this. Horrible... Seeing one of my craziest fren getting infuriated w/ me... Waaaahhh.....!!!! I will tell him the truth for sure. But not 100% ^^

Enough about this "sharing of fear", then. Gosh, it has been a decade since the last time I blogged. Knowing that some of my frenz have had their blogs died such as Void's and Shu-chan's ones, I know that I have to do sumthin so that mine won't share the same fate. There is a gap of almost a month between this blog and my last entry... OMG, why hav i neglected my poor little Blog..?? I shouldn't have treated my diary in such a way. The only thing why I'm too lazy to write any is bcoz it seems that I hav no time to spare for typing diaries (I don't hav the skill to type w/ 10 fingers yet).

Let's c... The consequence is that now some of my blog's faithful readers (Seeing my empty blog comments, I doubt if I even hav any...) may not now what's going on in my life (reader's comments: "Who cares??"). Well, it's not your comments that actually worry me, but I only wanna keep a track on what's goin on my days. There are several events which are quite nice to recall, such as:

Getting to read the Harry Potter HBP (E-book version) for free,
My marks on my EL Tutorial,
being able to prepare for SAT,
Snow City visit,
preparing my EL Tutorial presentation,
Racial Harmony Day & NDP,
and the most recently 3.7 "class" outing...

The 3.7 "class" outing was held on 9 August. Since the date coincides with the National Day of Singapore, I know that it was deliberately organised by those 2 ppl (won't mention names here) for the non-Singaporeans only.

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Request to Drop Biology

About a week ago, I decided to drop Biology, the only sch subject which I've never passed. My highest score ever for the Bio exam is only 37%, can you imagine that?? Thus, you can see the extract of the "resignation" letter I'vegiven to Mrs Tay Suat Kuan, my (now, former) Bio Teacher, with fabricating some pretexts and lies, so that my letter will look in a concrete form:

After a semester of studying Biology, I found it was difficult for me to score well in this subject. After deep consideration and defeating the slight hesitation within myself to do otherwise, I have decided to drop this subject. I will elaborate on several reasons why I do think so.

First of all, my language ability is not as good as others. Thus, I have a language problem. I am not good in applying biological theories into trivial matters which are questioned in the test structured questions, and although I had studied harder than others, I always scored lower than they did. In term 1, I scored 30% which is F9, much lower than my classmates who needed merely a night to study while I definitely studied longer than that. In the second term, I my grade only improve into 38% (but still F9 as well). As information, I prepared days of practising Biology for the Middle Year Examination, but still, my grade is not equal to the effort I had devoted. Moreover, my Biology scores were always one of the lowest ones in class. I know if I keep studying this, I am afraid I will not pass the Final Year Examination and will have to attend the Concentration Camp in December.

Then, I also need to improve other subjects as well, especially Science subjects and Maths. Thus, if I try to concentrate at something which I am not good at, I am afraid it will affect my grades on other subjects as well; as I have to study them all besides Biology.

Last, I found no interest in Biology at all. For me personally, I do not like reciting for that is my weakest part. Sometimes I need to recite every concept and read notes and textbooks everyday. Therefore, it is hard for me to study something that I am neither good nor interested at.

All of these are my decisions.

Yours truly,

Toshihiko Atsuyama

Student of Class 3.7 Daniel

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Wikipedia

I finished my listening Compre for higher Malay today, and it was juz damn easy thingies and stuffs.

Lately, I’ve been crazy over Wikipedia. No, Wikipedia is not a name of a girl, but (as most intelligent ppl know) it’s an encyclopaedia. I’ve found this website about a week ago, and all that I’ve done over this whole week is just downloading a lot of its interesting articles. Their articles range over hundreds of thousands, and it includes all sections of whole knowledge. Well….. Wait a minute. Dun start thinking that I’m a nerd or some kind of guy like that…. Bcoz I’m NOT. This “Wikipedia thingies” is actually used for my own interest, and to make me amusing in front of other ppl as well. Here, I’ll tell you a secret. Deep down in my heart, I have a strong desire so that I can be looked as an intelligent person in front of other ppl. Well, I did look intelligent when I was in Bali, but since I came to Singapore……. Not anymore. In my current school, ppl tend to regard me as a normal boy, and none of them see me as a smart one. I really wanna change that. So, the solution is to devour as many articles in encyclopaedia as possible. Just imagine: Won’t it be amazing if I can have a conversation with a teacher about English Renaissance or Neoclassicism? What about if I say a quotation of love by Plato in front of a girl? Cool, right??

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Freedom of Expression

Lately, something bad has happened in my school. I mean it. Really, really bad. You know, that about a month ago a scholar in my school has had his scholarship terminated. Yes, terminated. I don’t know him personally, but his I feel pity for him. That may be the worst nightmare that every scholar here might ever have, and I do hope that I’ll never come to the point where my grades are critical that it can make the MoE of Singapore starts to think that I’m not capable of continuing my studies until the end of my Secondary school. It means that you’ve wasted your time (and money) for more than a year in a place where you don’t even get your graduation certificate!! This is really really… Ugh. The MoE is up to something. I just know it. From what most of my friends have said, I have a big picture about what the MoE is up to......... I won’t mention any of them here, bcoz any Singaporeans who read my blog might sue me for doing that. Or even worse: get my scholarship terminated. Hahaha… I know they can’t do that, as long as I have no words that I use against them. That’s why it’s too dangerous to mention those things.

I’m getting to a different topic now. As I’ve read in The Strait Times, that two Singaporean bloggers who had their studies overseas in a scholarship program were threatened by the possibility of getting their scholarship terminated bcoz of their racist comments in their Blogs. Not something for the public to outcry to, though. I read some of the readers’ comments in the same newspaper which mostly said that their scholarship should be terminated. Do you know what do I think about those things? Those readers are dumb. Yes, dumb. It doesn’t mean that I personally support racism. Of course I'm against racism. But the thing is that they (the readers) should bear in mind that if they don’t like what a blogger would like to say in his/her own Blog, they should have not read it then. Isn’t it that simple? Why should a lot of people debate over unimportant trivial matters?? Stupid. Blog is only a private media which is made public so that the public will know what the blogger thinks! Speak up, Man! The era has changed. Sex, politic scandals (like Clinton’s affair, remember?), and public speaking nowadays is not something we should worry anymore… That’s why I think American are (a bit) more intelligent than Asian.

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Nothing.

It has been more than a week since I came back to school. And the routines return. Get up at 7.00, morning assembly at 7.40, finish school at 14.40, then afternoon prep until 16.30 (although I always look up for different reasons to skip this one), dinner at 18.30, evening prep from 19.30 until 21.30, and so on. What’s worse is that in this new semester, I have to attend the English Tutorial on Mondays and Wednesdays to improve my grades in English. Man, the tutorials are such a waste of time!! I’d rather study English by myself, bcoz the only thing(s) I need to improve my English are just to learn new vocabs and learn how to extract meanings from a Compre passage…

If I had got 5 marks higher than my actual mark, I wouldn’t have to attend the EL tutorial. Must study…….. Study…… ^_^

I wanna ask sumthin. If you readers were me, which school subject would you like to drop? I mean, among the Science subjects. I don’t have any problems with my Humanities grades. You know, the marks I got last mid-year tests were: 38 for Biology and 44 for Chemistry (this Chem mark is a moderated one. The actual mark was 34). I’m really really hesitant right now… Hm… I know, I know. You must be thinking that I’d probably much better to drop Chemistry, right? Well YES, I do think so. But I’ll lose my face by doing that. It’s bcoz there’s not a single person who have dropped nor will drop Chem. Well.. I’ll elaborate more bout this next time, OK?

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Furigana Helper

About two weeks ago, I just found out an interesting website. Well.. uh.. not like the website I've given yesterday.. Hehex. I saw that nobody has fallen into my trap. If you have never known that website before, just open it, lar..

Well.. the website I'm talking about today is the Furigana helper, which helps ppl (non-Japanese only, actually) to get used to Kanji. Do you know Furigana? Yeah, now you know what is Furigana already. This website will convert all Kanji into Hiragana, and this is damn fun, Man!! (since I only mastered Kana, but not Kanji).

This's all Blog for today

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A message to Japan and China

I’m a pro-Japan, probably too fanatic one that you may call me a J-freak, but I would like to deliver an unbiased message to both countries about the cold war (conflicts in internet, mass demonstration, etc. Don’t take this term literally) that has been going for a few months by now.

To China: Why are you people fussing about PM of Japan (Mr Junichiro Koizumi)’s visit to Yasukuni Shrine? Isn’t it a personal thing for him (Mr Koizumi) to visit the shrine to respect the war victims of Japan? And it is a normal thing indeed, as he is a citizen who wants to pay tribute to those who have lost lives for their own country. By being anti-Japan or exasperating the Japanese embassy with those demonstrations and burning Japanese flag(s), I should remind you that you are being very ungrateful for that Japan has been ungrateful for that Japan has been aiding yen to China for years so that your country can develop well.

To Japan: I think there is no such thing called anti-China movement or China-sentimentalists in Japan, but I know that there is a quite small percentage of Japanese who don’t like to meet any Chinese scholars or Chinese people in your country, right? I have no proof for this, therefore I have no further argumentation. But believe it, that I jave read this from Japan’s point of view in a Japanese newspaper about a month ago (article may refer to Mainichi Shinbun). Well, back to the main point, I have to point out the point that your small percentage of disliking China is being known by them. Why? Perhaps I should remind you that your ancestors and heritage basically comes from China? For Mr Koizumi, I think you should visit the Yasukuni shrine discreetly. Isn’t there any way to evade the press so that it (the visit) would not be known publicly (in this case: be known by China and South Korea).

To China and Japan altogether: The history textbook problem, I believe, will soon be solved as the scholars from both countries (including South Korea too) are negotiating to remake it. China should be thankful to Japan as Japan is helping – not intervening – you about the Taiwan problem. And for Japan, you should not help too much so that China will not say that you are intervening China’s own business. About the disputed isles, Japan should be able to negotiate well of what to do with the disputed isles of Okinotori (disputing with China) or isles of Take (which South Koreans call Dokdo). But one thing I want to tell Japan is that I was quite astonished when one of Tokyo’s government officials – who is not to be named here – refers China as “Shina” (a derogatory term used by Japan during Japanese occupation of China in the 1930s and 1940s) in one of the TV Tokyo’s aired footage not long ago. Wouldn’t such term outrage China?

Well, I would like to apologize if any of what I have written above is found not to be completely true or agreeable, and this message is only aimed to be a little consideration for both China and Japan. I have fully realized that I do not mean to insult any countries and its people.

I would be very delighted if any part of my message is to be taken into full consideration.

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Reminiscences of a Contemplative Wanderer

"I was afraid that by observing objects with my eyes and trying to comprehend them with each of my other senses I might blind my soul altogether”,Socrates once addressed the Athens throng.

Toshi continued,“For that eyes may deceive but a heart may not. What shall it means to thee if a king has a darker sin than the ulcerous beggar? What shall it means to God, then? Nothing is immortal except the heavenly which descended to every Man on earth, and in this case, it is our heart"

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My holiday activities

My holidays that has gone for about two weeks by now, have been quite enjoyable for myself although it may seem boring for most ppl. Probably because of my introverted character. My days started like this: waking up at 10, straight away go to the library – don’t even bother to have a wash, very slovenly I am – and spend my time there browsing: download & read mangas, read J-newspapers, copy some Sudokus etc until the library is closed at 5.

Then I spend most of the time in my room: consume the pile of novels which I haven’t read (there’re about 40 of them), practising Kana (I had mastered Kana months ago, but I had quite forgotten most of them and thank goodness now I’ve mastered it again), learning Kanji (currently I’ve only mastered 20), improve my English vocabulary, and after getting fed up, attempt to solve any Sudokus (in fact, until now I’ve only solved 2 since I started 5 days ago, such a lousy noob I am!)

When I get bored of being imprisoned in my room doing such activities, I always go to Kinokuniya in Orchard and browsing any books I find interesting: fantasies and literatures. Since I’ve been able to read some of the basic Kanji, I started to browse books, comics, and mags in the Japanese section, and to found out that I’m nothing, I’m still Kanji-blind as I’ve only studied 20 of 1985 totally existing Kanji!! ^__^

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Dreams

I’ve got strange dreams lately. Not that dream which you usually get when you’re fantasizing while you’re awake, but the kind of dream you get when you’re asleep. Firstly was two nights before... It is more precise if I call it a nightmare, actually. I was standing in the middle of a rainy day in Jakarta, under the halte or bus stop. I didn’t know which part of Jakarta was it, as the halte didn’t show any name of area. I didn’t know the way home from there, and I didn’t bring money either. I started to run through the rain when suddenly I woke up from my dream. Or, I thought I’ve awaken. Beside my bed, I saw a hooded creature with a sickle on its hand, swinging it towards me, the creature is the one you call “Dementor” in Harry Potter or “Doom” in some RPG… I screamed (and said,” Jesus, help me!!” in my heart), and opened my eyes awake. . Thank goodness, it was only a dream! That reminded me that I haven’t prayed for days, and then I just prayed for a while

After that I can’t sleep for the next four hours. I tried to take a stroll around into the grandstand, gazing at the stars, and wondering how to look for the Gemini. You see, until now I wonder how people can differentiate star constellations like Aries, Pisces, etc from the others because they all look the same. All stars look the same to me!

Well, there wasn’t a full moon either. The full moon is always in the middle of the month. Just like said in some movies, when we are looking at the moon, someone out there who is missing us will be looking at it too, and we know that somehow our hearts are connected.. But I laughed at myself, and know that it’s impossible for anyone out there (in Indonesia) to be gazing at the moon, bcoz they must be asleep by now” (it was 1 o’clock ante meridian..). But then I felt better and was able to sleep.

On the next day, which is last night, I had a beautiful dream, or a strange one I might call it, and I dreamed that I was getting married. Yes, it was the days before my wedding day, with a girl who was just my type – I can’t remember her face, and this normally happen after you dreamed: You forgot the face of someone you met there. She’s not one of my friends or any girl I’ve known, bcoz if she is, I must’ve recognized her. But the one thing I remembered was not that we were preparing all things for the wedding day, but the discussion I had with her. She told me that I have to let her chaste (virgin) until we are married. I answered that I will certainly be able to withstand myself from doing that –you know what!- as I’ve once read in the bible that….. (Well, I’ll get into that topic now) by God, human is not allowed to have sex unless the woman and the man are married to each other. Therefore, I agreed to what my wife-to-be asked me for… After that, we discussed about more private things –I can’t jot them down here- and after we finished the discussion, I woke up from my dream, and realized that it was only a dream!!

What are the meanings of my dreams? Was it a message given by God, or just my imagination? I hope someone can interpret each of them for me..

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Poem

Hey... hey.. the Blog I posted before... Damn disgusting, lor. Agree? That photo was manipulated actually, bcoz the real me haven't ever slept "nicely" like that... Much more disgusting. Ugh. Beter for me not to describe it anyway.

Lately, I've been looking at some of my poem collections (made by myself, of course), and in my opinion, they're not really as romantic as I've thought before. Well, I have to tell you the fact that all of my poems were made about one and a half year ago when I..... broke up with my girlfriend (hope she'll never read this blog), and me myself made some of them to express my feelings in a better way. My poems were shown to my friends and all of them opined that I was so romantic, very sophisticated, talented in language, and bla...bla..bla... things like that. It gave me confidence anyway, bcoz by that time I've only wrote about less than 10 poems, and their appraisal made me able to write more. Anyway, when my ex-girlfriend and me became friends again, I showed the poems to her and she only smiled while she was reading them.

That was 1½years ago.

Do you know what do I think of my poems right now? Instead of thinking how romantic I was, I think the poems are too.... Hmm.. How to say it, huh?.. Melancholic. I can't even believe that it was me myself who wrote them all. Different feelings that I have now and before, maybe is the reason why I think like that. Anyway, enough for today.

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ZzZzZzZzZzzZZZZZZzz............

Cannot blog now... Can't you see that I'm sleeping?

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Alone

I'll be alone in a few days from now, but I know that this is my own choice. Not exactly my own choice actually, but behind all of this, it's too confidential to jot down here, so it's better for me not to explain the reason why..

The thing I'm talking about is that in a few days, almost all of my friends (about 95% of them, I think) are going back to their hometown for this June holiday. And I, unfortunately, am one of the 5% who are not. So sad, isn't it?? Yeah, deep down in my heart, of course I do feel like that, but as I'm used to be separated with my family(and home) for that I've experienced one when I was in Sec 1 (I lived with my Uncle’s family in Jakarta and my parents live in Surabaya), this doesn't really matter to me. In fact, a bit of me feel relieved that I can experience to stay in Singapore during the June holiday (although it means that I will meet my family only in November holiday later, then).

Wanna know why? I won't tell this time. Again, it's too confidential to jot down, and only my parents and myself who have known the reason behind it.

Enough of this. I shall stop here. For that thou art not supposed to know...

Well, well, well..... Don't use such a beautiful English, lah.

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Mon Livre De Rapport...............!!

Waaaa................ Ancur!!! I juz received my report book yesterday, and guess what, as I've been expected since I received all my Paper results last Thurzday, I've got very very lousy marks...
Especially for my Biology paper, which I expected to pass. Now I have to eat the fact that I failed my Chemistry.... and of course, my Bio too... I got an F9 for it!!

For you who haven't seen what a Singapore report book looks like, or an ACS(I) report book in particular, here is the student's profile:







since I haven't put my term 1 report, now I'll include it







and here it is.... My mid-year report:







See?? Very lousy, isn't it? For your information, in Singapore the report book does not put the average marks of the tests, assignments, and homeworks as Indonesia does. Therefore, the marks you can see above are merely my exam paper marks.

But its OK. I just wish I can do better for next term.

PS: If u wanna know my actual marks, juz gimme your e-mail.

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High Table Dinner

Today we boarders in ACS(I) just got a High Table Dinner event in our boarding school, and for you who dunno what the hell is that, High Table Dinner is just a special occasion in which we boarders are ought to wear formal western clothes, and in here we are supposed to use table manner in our dinner. Here is the photo taken: David Raj, Terrence, Alex, Woon Hann, and me




in photo above, my smile looks sucks, since I wasn't really prepared for my picture with my friends to be taken. Here is a better photo. The third guy from left is Nguyen Phi Long..





Both pics above are taken before the dinner starts, and the dinner itself looks like this








Some of the boarders became the waiters, or in a more polite term, server. For example, my friend Evan:






Oya, forgot to include, the appetizer was chicken salad, and ini mah cuman foto iseng aja, so dun laugh, OK?





This pic then was taken after the dinner finished. The first guy from right is Stanford and the third is Buana





Dun laugh, I may show an ugly smile again by that time..
And the last photo taken was a photo of Hall 1 Boarders

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Free!!

The Physics exam was a bit hard, but I’m sure that I’ll pass this subject anyway. It was much easier than the Chemistry exam yesterday.

Let’s c… What about the English Lit? Hm…. Both passages given for the exam consisted of Unseen Prose for the first question and Set Text for the other. I refer set text to that “The English Teacher” book, which I hardly conveyed the meaning out of it. I got only 7 marks upon 25 on my last assignment based on that book.. It may seem very lousy to you, but remember…. That I have just lived in Singapore for less than 7 months! Well, actually this is not a good excuse anyway. I admit it. Most of my friends, whose English are weaker than me, can get more marks than mine. Then I asked to myself, “what’s wrong with me??!!!” As I compared my Lit assignment with theirs, I found out that comments such as “Read the question!” or “superficial reading” could be found more in mine than in theirs. By that discovery, I got frustrated as I had spent a lot of time on the effort of extracting the meaning out of the passage, but the result itself (the mark) was not equal to my effort. What’s wrong with me? Don’t say that I’m stupid. I’m a scholar, remember? I just need more time to adapt this subject.

The English Lit exam was not really difficult anyway. In fact, I’m quite confident about this exam, I think I’ll get B3 or C4 (which mark is about 55-65). Hopefully this will come true, but my experiences told me that I have just done well for English Lit works only once…

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Chemistry

Finished Chemistry exam today, guess I'll fail this subject. For the section B I answered almost nothing, that's how I'd say more or less...

Well, tomorrow's exams are Physics and English Literature, the most difficult combination of exams this far.. English Lit is the most difficult of all Humanities subjects, and Physics is the most difficult of Science...

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A-Math and Geography Exams

A-Math was supposed to be easy for me -a scholar- but it wasn't I think I skipped a lot of questions and it made me lose a lot of marks too.

The Geography test... Actually, I'd say that it's quite easy, although I didn't know the answer for 30% of the Paper. And it made me to write bullshit(s), bcoz high marks in Geog Elective can only be obtained by a good writings, right?? Therefore, we can conclude that Humanities subjects such as Social Studies, Geog Elective, and English Lit which require pages to answer the questions only needs a good skill in using your imagination. Yes, I emphasize this: imagination. I said this bcoz no matter how hard you tried to memorize the subject, most of the time you'll fail it anyway, unless I have a good imagination. Do you agree???

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Exam? English Compre and E-Math

The English Paper 2 which is Compre was, in fact, the easiest among all the exams I've gone through.. I'm not boasting, but juz this is merely a comparison. I'm not good in English.

The E-Math..... How unfortunate, now I know that have lost 5 marks upon 50!! I couldn't answer the 2nd last question, and now the highest possible mark I can reach is 90%. I know I might not get a1, and I'm not even sure whether I'll pass this E-Math. Hopefully... Pass!! It's such a shameful thing to me that I'm not really good in Maths when I want to be a "Japanese". Heheh, sorry for bringing this topic again. This is juz my own thoughts, you may stop reading in this part if you want to.

Yeah... The quality of a Japanese are: Neat, Discipline, and good in Maths & Science. I have the second quality, some of the first, but a very little amount of the third.

Understand what do I mean? I'm very very tidy in all my businesses, whether it's my room, my belongings, or my appearance (This one, I don't lie). About my disciplinary..... Hm.. Not very good. I'm not too discipline about timings, but it doesn't mean that I'm an always-late-person. In fact, most of the time I always punctual(for, such as: school, appointment). If I'm not punctual, then it means that I come earlier. Like that.

About the third one.... Well, my marks on Science are moderate, but my Math doesn't. I'm juz weak at Maths, I dunno why. So, for the resolution, I promised to myself that during the coming June Holiday (which commences at -if I'm not wrong- 28 May), I'll study hard everyday to improve my Maths.

Can I do it? Let me see later.

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Finished the Malay exams

Today there were juz MT(Mother Tounge) exams: Listening Compre, Paper 1(Compo), and Paper 2. Finally, I've finished all... Leganya!!

There are only 3 non-English subjects which are taught in Singaporean schools: Chinese, Malay, and Tamil. The students are allowed to have their own MT languages according to their main languages (other than English, which is mainly spoken in their home). Well, I'm not a Japanese, and I don't speak Japanese at home either, but I do hope that I really can have Japanese subject to study at school.. Unfortunately, the only classes which are taught Japanese are the Pre-IB classes, with their special programmes.

Actually, I've read in a booklet given by the MoE (Ministry of Education) that in JC (Junior College, it means Hi-School in AmEnglish), students can have the Japanese subject. It may not be for me, though. I'm not willing to continue my education in Singapore, except if the MoE guys decide to continue the scholarship programme for me. I only got this scholarship until December 2006 (that's the time when I'm going to finish my O-Level here), and if the MoE don't continue, probably I'm going to US, then. I had phoned my parents in Indonesia to consider the possibility for me to study in the US, and they said that it's possible! ^_^

Study anywhere, it's OK... (As long as it's not Indonesia!! I dun wanna go back schooling in Indon!)Study in Singapore also OK. But not to live in Singapore, bcoz Singapore is too small to say as a country, don't you think? Hahaha.... (Sorry, if you reader are a Singaporean!)

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Damn exam.

Those two damn exams today, which are English Compo and Social Studies, finally finished!!! Hahaha.... ^o^ I'm very happy! I'm a bit plong now, bcoz in my opinion, SS is one of the most difficult exams. You might like it if you have advantage in English. You've got to write long essays and interpret meaning of sources for 3-4 pages in only 90 minutes...

The English Compo I've done today probably is the worst compo I've written. I was nervous by that time, bcoz it was the first Paper, and among the topics which were given as options, none of them include the type of writing I like, which are Narrative and descriptive writing (imaginative ones). But I've chosen an argumentative writing instead. For your information, I've never written any argumentative writings, so I was not really sure about the structure I've used. Due to that, all of my compositions got lousy(Even section B one, which is a situational report). The grammar was lousy, the structures were scrabbled... Ugh. Now I even think that my English is much better when I'm typing tis Blog rather than writing that Compo.

For my SS, it was not as difficult as I thought. In fact, it was quite easy!! The SBQ which did not hav any connection with the textbook materials have been given a page of Background Info, and the SEQ was very easy!! The only thing is that I haven't got enough time to finish it... I only haven't finish the last question of SBQ, which has 7 marks, so now I lost 7 marks out of 50 already....

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Distressed of the first two exams

Tomorrow I hav Social Studies.... And I haven't even been able to answer a Source-Based Type of Question... God, Help me!!! Plz pray for my exam tomorrow, OK? Ugh... I'm distressed already

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幸せな金週!! (Happy Golden Week!!)

Sorry for not Blogging for a long time, bcoz now lately I juz concerned about improving the templates of this blogsite and… see? Know it looks much better than before. Especially that Blogroll stuff, I’d like to thank www.blogrolling.com for providing the Blog users to list their favourite links on their own Blogs.

Hm… I want to say this:

HAPPY GOLDEN WEEK to Japan!!! For all of you who don’t know, the Golden Week is the only public holiday when Japanese (especially school students) have their holiday for a week. If I’m not wrong, it commences on 29th of April and ends on 5th of May(子供の日, "Kodomo no Hi" which means Children’s Day). After the holiday ends, the new class of school starts.

Well, you know, while you Japanese are having fun with your holiday, now I'm stressed with my coming mid-year exams which commences juz a day after 子供の日. It's on 5 月6 日 until 5 月17日(5th of May until 17th of May). So probably I won't be able to blog during those days. And maybe today is the last time I go online. So sad.... Hikz.. Hikz...

Haha... Dun worry. I'll be back on 18th of May. Ok? Bubye then.. C'ya two weeks from now.....

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Bored..

Hmm... Finally I write a blog!! I haven't written any blogs since the 1st of April, if i'm not wrong. Coz I'm a bit lazy to input new blogs..

Today, for the first time in my life, I began to dislike English Literature subject in school. Actually I've felt tis since we students began to step on the "English Teacher" book by RK Narayan....

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A short history of myself (Part 1)

I was born in the year of 1989, sumwhere in Indonesia. My dad is a Portuguese-Arabic-Sulawesi descendant, and my mum is an Aceh-Sundanese-Chinese. (.Although my dad has an Arabic blood, it doesn't mean that my family is Moslem. In fact, my family is a Catholic family). Anyway, if ppl ask me where do I come from, I juz answer that I'm an Indonesian, as that's my nationality. You may think that I'm an ang moh (caucasian) at the first glance, and I've experienced it several times when I meet anybody for the first time.

I lived in Jakarta almost my entire life. At the age of six, my family moved to Richmond, Virginia, about several miles away south of Washington DC. I schooled there in "Robert E. Lee" Elementary school(they don't call it Primary as British and Singaporeans do), and none did I know by that time that my experience of living in an English-speaking country(America) would be very useful for me now, although I only lived there for eight months. Just two weeks before my seventh birthday, we moved back to the suburbs of Pondok Pinang area in Southern Jakarta.

I nganggur (do nothing) for several months until I was registered to SD Don Bosco in Pondok Indah area(SD=Indon. for primary school). Quite an expensive school. Firstly I did not enjoyed schooling there as I was not used to the educational system of Indonesia, and I even often think of stop going to school, but after a year I enjoyed it and I schooled there until I graduated from SD. I continued my SMP(secondary school) for a year in the same school, SLTP Don Bosco and a year later I moved to a coastal town of Sanur, in the south-eastern of Bali.

Have I mentioned that my Dad works in the tourism company? He had worked several positions in some distinguished hotels around Indonesia(and other countries too), and that's why my family often move to another cities. Kinda nomadic, lah...

Um... I'll continue the "history telling" tomorrow, OK?? Have not enough time now... Bubye...

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Infatuated

It has been 3 days since the last time I blogged... Sorry! I address my apology to all of you friends who frequently take time to read my Blog.

Today I wanna curhat(share my deep feelings). I'll tell you the only reason why I getting more seldom to blog. Of course, it doesn't mean that I'm starting to neglect this blog. But... Lately, I go online in my school library only to open my Friendster account. I checked my Blog too, but it took so long for me to take care of my Friendster, and it made me had no time to blog. Do you wanna know why? I'll tell you. Actually, last Monday, a girl named E(I dun show her full name to protect her privacy) added me to her FS acc. Well, it may seem normal, and at my first glance to her photo, I didn't feel attracted to her. But as I see in her profile that she's an ang moh(westerner), about the same age with me and now is in the third grade of an SLTP somewhere in Jakarta, I juz iseng-iseng buka aja all her FS photos. When I saw the close-up photo of her(wearing school uniforms), I said to myself, "Wah, lumayan jg nich cewe"

Then I juz read through to some of her testimonials, without paying much attention to her profile. But as I read her profile carefully, i was dumb struck. "Wa la ue, ternyata nich cewe udah ada cowonya". I said that to myself juz when I see her "In a Relationship" status. You know, that the profile of FS can show the status of the account, whether he/she is Single, In a Relationship, or Married. So, she had put the worst status I expected to see. You know, that if a teen put a "Married" status, you'll know that it's juz for fun(iseng aje). But if a teen put an "In a Relationship" status, it might be 90% correct. Well, I dun say 100%, bcoz I was one of the ppl who put isengly that "Relationship" status when I was single. Yeah, like that lor....

Erm... anyway, I'll continue tis Blog tomorrow. Now I hav not enought time to finish tis Blog, bcoz I hav to log out from tis library comp in a few minutes. Bubye... C'ya tomorrow..

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Busy Wednz

Today, 3 homeworks!!! They're E-Math, Chemistry, and English. 2 of them have their deadlines tomorrow.. Ugh, it seems that the hectic of the 2nd term is rising....

Anyway, what diary should I input for today, huh?? I didn't jot down the points that I'd like to input here for today. Yesterday i'd no time. The Interact Club and E-Math homeworks... And now i juz finished my A-Math Remedial. Wanna know why I had to attend tis A-Math Remedial? Bcoz i (almost) failed my A-Math Common test!! Got 18 upon 25... Such an embarassing mark, isn't it? Especially I'm a scholar here, whose school and accommodation expences are paid by school.... I promise I'll study harder...

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Indon vs Malay

Hm... I've been borrowing quite a lot of Classical Musics lately, bcoz the library has just made it available again (after their maintenance to the CD Borrowing library system). As I can see, the only CD available in my school library are only the Classical CDs, and if some of you think that they're boring, I don't think so! I really love Classical Musics... I'll tell you more about it this weekend, OK (Another promise again, hehex....)

Btw, can I discuss a bit about political issues?? I personally oppose you who insult or put Blogs, or whatever, in order to humilliate Malaysia. I know from the newspaper about those disputes in Kalimantan, and I'm ashamed as an Indonesian that some of the Indonesian held a demonstration in which they burnt a Malaysian flag. That's so spiteful!! Well, actually in this case I wannabe neutral, I dun wanna support either both. And I expect you, Indonesians , to act neutral too, as the dispute with Malaysia is only an issue among the governments of both side. Do you all think that you're smart enough in the Politic world??????

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No time

Quick Diary today, I dun hav much time.... I'll juz write a bit. Hm... Today there was nothing interesting in school, except that today's the first day of the 2nd Term.... Do you know what that means?? It means that I'll be busier than the 1st Term! I thought that the 1st Term is hectic enough, but the fact, it's not. Uggh....

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A look into my school day

Konnichiwaa.....Today i'll start telling you about my daily school lifein ACS(I).

I usually wake up at 6.45 a.m., starting my day with taking a shower and having a breakfast at the Refectory. From all my roommates and me, it's only Buana(the Balinese boy) and me who take a bath regularly. my other roommates, Nguyen Phi Long(Vietnamese) and Lu Yi Qing(PRC) seldom take a bath. Long takes a bath once in 2 days, and Yi Qing only once a week!!Do they get stinky?? Yes, and that's when Buana and me tell them to take a bath. You know, it's bcoz they come from a colder climate country, and unfortunately, they bring the habits of their hometowns... Lousy. So we can conclude that people from tropical country are much cleaner, right??

After have breakfast, I straightly go to school which is juz 3 minutes away from the Boarding School. I usually arrive around 7.35, and at 6.45 the students have a morning Assembly. We stand in front of our classroom and facing the courtyard. The Morning Assembly starts with a Flag-raising and National Anthem singing of "Majulah Singapura" and Pledge Recital. These two activities are for Singaporean students only, and we non-Singaporeans only have to show our respect by keeping quiet. The Pledge Recital everyday change languages: English, Malay, Mandarin, and Tamil(Language of Southern India).

After those National Anthem singing and the Pledge Recital, there will be some announcements for 5 to 10 minutes, and at about 8 o'clock we students go back to our class to start the first lesson.

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Education

Yesterday I stay awake until 3 a.m., and therefore, I didn't go down for breakfast this morning. So, I'll have to pay another $2 Fine...

Today, let's talk about something different. Hm.... Maybe about my higher education. You see, that now I'm in Sec 3. Next year, I'll be in Sec 4, and facing O-Level exam in the end of the year for entry to the JC (Junior College). The JC consists of two years. So, it will be 4 years to go to the University...

I'm not even sure whether I can continue my JC in Singapore, in US, UK, or even Indonesia... I'm still in a flap about that, bcoz my marks doesn't seem to be able to continue my scholarship for JC here... If I study harder, of course I can continue my JC anywhere I'd like.. BUT, I do not want to continue my JC in Indonesia! Never!!!

Well, sorry for saying this, but have I mentioned to you that I loathe Indonesian education before?? Everything is very controlled, as if the Principals there are dictators... I also have another several reasons for that, but as I don't want to make any of you readers angry, I'd better keep quiet about that. Let's juz hope that I can continue my JC and University in UK or USA, oK? ^_^

I really hope that I can pick the main course for the university later: either Humanities or English Language. I really like English, and I also like anything that is related with Country Studies(like French studies, Japanese, studies, Celtic studies, etc.). Like that. That's why I've been back to my proper English lately and not Singlish.

Hm... I guess that's all for today. Oh yeah, I hav somethin else to talk about. It'z about girls. Yes, girls. Hav I told you that my school is going to accept girls next year?? My school and my life will be more "colourful", then. Hahax... Especially Chinese girls, they make my eyes "FRESH"!! Yep, my favourite are Oriental-face girls. My second favourite are Westerner girls. Sorry not to mention Indonesian girls as my fave, bcoz non-Indonesian girls seem to be more..... Ah, I can't say that word. It would be very impolite if I say it. Of course it has nothing related with sex, but it's related with how the girl is being raised up. I guess you'll know anyway. The word starts with letter "E" and ends with "N".

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The books I've gone through

Yesterday I didn't put entry on my Blog.. Sorry for you all who waited for it, bcoz the library was closed due to an event. I was really curious to see my Blog and Friendster, so, right after lunch I hurrily rushed into the library to go online.

Erm.. Yesterday's account??Almost the whole day I spent in Orchard bookshops: MRT station Popular and Kinokuniya.. Not boring, Bcoz I really love books. For comparison, we may say that Orcard Kinokuniya is ten times larger than the bookshop in Pasaraya Blok M (I forgot which bookshop, is it Gramedia or Gunung Agung?), so I spent about 5 hours browsing "all" comics(the Japanese and English ones) and Fantasy novels, of course. I really love Fantasy novels bcoz of their settings which mostly around Medieval, like that lah..

After I went home(Juz an hour before dinner time), I did my homeworks of A-Math and E-Math which were drudgeries(I continued doing them after dinner, too. I did it until 10 o'clock). Then I read the book I borrowed from library, "Anne Frank, The Diary of A Young Girl", which is a poignant book about a true poignant Jewish Dutch girl's account for 2 years until her family were all caught by the Nazis(It was wriiten in 1942-1944). I had discovered from my friend's History textbook that the Nazis had killed approximately 5.9 Million Jewish in concentration camps around Europe. That's a very evil thing for them to do, especially Adolf Hitler(the Head of Nazi) and Adolf Eichmann(The organizer of The Final Solution of Holocaust). I really can't imagine how German Nazis by that time could be that evil in being racist to Jewish... If I was a German, I would say, "Hitler ist der schlechteste Mann in der Welt", which means "Hitler is the most evil man in the world".

I read the book of Anne Frank's diary until 2 a.m. . Of course I didn't only read that book, I also read "The English Teacher" by R.K Narayan which my Literature teacher had told the students to read. Bcoz of staying awake until 2 a.m., I woke up at 12.30 p.m today!! Hahax... Very lazy. I know I'll get Fine of $2 anyway, for not taking Breakfast. But fortunately 12.30 is juz the time for Lunch, so when I woke up and saw my alarm clock, I juz hurrily went down to the Refectory(Dining Hall).

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The novels I've consumed lately

Hi... Today is the 3rd day of Holiday..Hm.... What, huh?? Oh yeah, i'll write about my activities yesterday...

This holiday, i've planned to put a good effort to amend my grades, which unfortunately, not very good. I juz calculated the test marks i got along term 1, and you know what, I got the average only 6.22 upon 10!! How terrible... I'm one of the scholars who got the worst marks.. That's why i'm planning to do good on this holiday, i'll study hard especially for English Literature, both Maths, and Biology, the subjects in which i didn't do well...

During Saturday and Sunday I've consumed quite a lot of novels (which is to improve my English): "The Count of Monte Cristo", "Little Women", "Pride and Prejudice". I guess that's the first time i broke the record of consuming 3 English books in 2 days!! I'll try harder today, maybe I'll consume 2 books today?? I dunno, I'll tell ya later if i hav succeeded...

Hmm... Do you see that my Blog is different from any others?? Most of the writings are in Kanji and Kana characters!! And in some parts I use French.. Cool, isn't it?? Well, actually I can't speak Japanese well, and I can't speak french at all. I only modified the English language to those other languages.

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ACS Sports Heat

It's 10 o'clock when I'm typing tis blog... I'm busy now. I'm not supposed to be online anyway, bcoz today is the day of ACS Sports Heat... Top schools from all over Singapore juz came for the sports such as race, relay, discus, long jump. Ugh... So boring, you know. It's a compulsory anyway to attend tis event, although they dun take attendance.. Damn suck, isn't it??

Sorry for my short Blog today.. I'm tired. I stay awoke until 2 a.m. last nite to finish my English Narrative story composition. I didn't hav any idea to write a compo, but fortunately I've got the TYS(ten year series) English book for copying the compo which (coincidentally) was same. Hahax... Budaya murid Indonesia(tukang nyalin) tetap dilestarikan, ya..

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English Literature stuffs

Ahh.... At last!! Holiday!! Pom 4X (Like the song of BoA, "Holiday", hehex...). The school is over now, but mine isn't. Now i am in the library typing this blog, while i'm supposed to stay back after school to finish the drudgery of English Literature assignment. You know, Literature is one of the most difficult subject of all, although it's quite interesting (for me only, bcoz mostly other scholars dun like subjects like English and English Lit.).

Here, I'll explain what do i hav to do for all kinds of Literature works(including tests as well). I'll be given a passage which is a slight easier than English Compre, usually consist of one and a half pages. Then I'll be given 2 to 3 questions, in which i hav to explain and elaborate each quesions detailly. Seems easy, huh?? Yes, if you only hav to write about 3 to 4 sentences to answer each questions. But in Literature, each question needs detail explanation of a page of a foolscap paper!! . Surprised??

Well, i dun hav to elaborate like that for Literature works only.. Social Studies and Geography are also like that. We dun get questions like those in Indon, you know, where you only hav questions that can be answered with only one or two words... We hav to elaborate about half to one page per question. Yeah, they're a bit easier than Literature...

Arghx.... What else, huh? Hey, do you readers realize that i hav succeeded in keeping my English pure?? I dun use Singlish anymore.. Haha... That's such a good thing for me. It doesn't mean that I dislike Singlish now, bcoz I do speak in Singlish. Everybody in Singapore do speak Singlish, except the ang moh(westerner), of course, they still preserve their pure English accent. But Singlish is not a matter of spoiled English, it's juz for fun. It's the bahasa gaul of Singapore, all use Singlish, without differentiating gender, race, or age. So we can conclude that Singlish has united all races of Singapore, right?

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Nyepi tomorrow

Not a very good day... Although no test today, but i think I'm not in a very good health now... A bit headache, probably because i was "shocked" with a lot of homework... And then for tomorrow i have Geography test for the first time, which format i have no idea about. Ugh, that English Language homework of Composition and that 2-pages essay of English for English Literature is for due tomorrow... I think I'll get mad for them.

These distresses really sapped a lot of my strength, and Happily, tomorrow is the start of Term 1 HOLIDAY!!! Hahaha.... I'm very happy. I guess I'll just stay until 2 a.m this night, and tomorrow afternoon after i'm back from school I'll juz fall sick anyway(Hehex.. Juz kidding!)

Anyway, tomorrow is Nyepi Day, a New Year for Balinese Hindus, and i have 2 friends here who are Balinese Hindu scholars... One is in Hall 2, whose name is Aji, and the other is my roommate, whose name is Buana. Aji is planning to go home straight after school to Bali (pulang kampung). He assumed that Nyepi is very important for him to stay with their family. But, Buana didn't go the same way. Buana has planned to be here during the Term 1 Holiday, and he even wanna go to school!! You know, what Nyepi is?? For me, who have lived in Bali for 2 years, of course i know.

Yeah, Nyepi is a day when the whole Bali island is "closed" for 24 hours, and due to this, even the non-Hindus must respect it. No lights, no going out(of home), no noises, all are silent as if Bali turned into a non-populated island. And this tradition are for those Hindus in Bali only(India don't). The Balinese Hindus are told to bring preserve this anywhere they live.. Like that. So, now you know why it's very strange for my fellow Buana to go to school by tomorrow, rite?

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Get lost, Singlish..!!!

Hm... I juz know from one of the Harry Potter-based websites that the official release of the original(English) version of HP6 is 128 days to go, which means it's on the mid of July.. Wah... I'm really longing for that book... I wonder how thick it will be??

Tell my day?? One of the worst, probably.. I've had Social Studies and A-Math test, and i've done them awfully. Especially A-Math... Ugh... You readers dun expect a scholar to lament like this, do you?? Actually, i'm only weak in Maths, you know. The others... Not really, bcoz frankly i'm good in English (Ehem....)

I... wanna mention something else. Now i'm trying to release myself from SINGLISH, yeah bcoz i'm not really in a mood for that slang these days... Probably next time.. I juz wanna "repair" my English for a little while, and it might be much more enjoyable for you to read a pure English writing, isn't it??

Anyway, i might've been the only Indonesian Scholar in ACS who put Blogs regularly, you know(i'm a bit proud of that). And it's in an Indonesian Blog, using English language(the only reason i'm proud of myself, and i might end up being a famous author like my idol, Rowling or Tolkien, haha...)

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Last weekend activities

Hm... Dear blog... (sorry i'm not addressing you readers tis time, coz i'm not in a mood into it). What a brain-tiring day today has been!! You know, i have an English Compo to be handed in tomorrow. Not only that, i'll also have Social Studies and A-Maths test. So the main concern for me are those three... Ugh, very different from Indonesia, where homeworks are like wind breeze passing by..(or in other term, piece of cake!!). Tomorrow i'll hav 2 tests!! Insane, isn't it?? Yes, indeed. You see, when those ppl in Indon are very used to face tests.. But I'm not(anymore).. Bcoz my life now has changed... And, i'm also not sure whether i'll get good marks for my Chemistry test that i've had tis morning...

Let's talk about some leisure a bit, bcoz dun want only put entry about negative things in my blog.. Last weekend i went to Borders(a bookstore) in Orchard, and i only bought a guidebook for A-Math(which i'm weak in), and Harry Potter 5:OOtP. What? HP5??!!! Yes, Harry Potter 5. I've read the whole HP serials in Indonesian, you know, but not for the English... Right?? So, i bought HP5. Hm.. Do you wonder why i bring up tis topic in my blog?? The only reason is bcoz of the price. It was SG$7.95 (Rp44,000)!!! Startled?? Yes, you(readers) must be. Was it sold in a book sale?? Nope... I didn't mention that, did I? HP5 was the only book that Borders is selling in a very low price, and it's even cheaper than the original price of HP1 here.. HP1 was SG$17.80.

Right now i have Harry Potter... which serials, huh?? Let me see... 2, 3, and 5. Yup, only those three(English version, bcoz i hav the all five in Indonesian). HP5 is the only one i bought, and the others were given by my seniors(They're damn kind, aren't they?? Those books given are in a good condition!!). Well, talking about those HP books, for tis week i'll go to the Popular Bookstore Sale in Singapore Expo, where tere will be 80% discount on most of the books(which is good chance for me to complete my Harry Potters, Buy whole series of The LOTR, and try Eragon or buy whole series of Narnia Chronicles). Consumptive?? No, i'm not. In fact, i'm spendthrift...

Hahaha... Juz kidding actually.. Actually i'm juz crazy over Fantasy Books.(but not the kind of books like Star Wars, Star Trek, etc, bcoz the "alien invasion" theme is very boring to read..)

Btw, i hav a good news for tis week. For me, of course. My Vietnamese roommate, Nguyen Phi Long hav juz bought a desktop for $900, and now it means that i'm free to watch any movies or play computer games!!(bcoz he agreed to lend his roommates his computer anytime he is not using it). Such a benevolent roommate i have!!

With the allowance of having a desktop or even a laptop in a boarding school, you might wonder why we boarders in ACS Boarding School, Singapore are given such independence. Right? If it is, pleaze kindly ask me in the Comment form below, and i'd be glad to answer you...

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Weekend plans

I haven't done anything today, coz i hav juz awaken when i'm typing this blog... So, we can say that Toshi hav nothing to blog, rite?? WRONG, lah.. I'll tell my plan for walking-walking today...

Tis afternoon after lunch i'm going to go to a bookshop, and which one i wanna visit, i still hesitate... Which one, haa.. MPH in City Hall or Popular and Kinokuniya in Orchard?? Those in Orchard are bigger, but i might hav a chance to meet one of my "enemy" there, yeah... actually tis is secret, so i won't tell you what it's all about, but obviously, he is like an ah beng's head to me... Always kiasu, lor!! That guy is(might be) going to be wandering around Orchard, and i dun like the idea of freeting him when i meet him.

Hm... Another plan?? Sorry, i dun hav. Tonight? Nope... I'm going nowhere tonight. Dun say that i'm having something tat is called malem mingguan in Indonesia... I dun have any ai cing yet... Like that, lor.. Especially during SaturD Nites there are a lot of nice movies to be watched, usually in Ch5...

OK lah, that's all the blog for today. bye..

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"Life Science Symposium"

Huallo.... Erm.. What huh? Today is quite fun. We hav a Life Science Symposium which is held in our school from 9am to 4pm, and it's juz interesting. U know, i'm one of those who volunteered their time to be the helpers, or in a better term, officials. All we hav to do is juz tell people who come to our station(ours is Physics station), to plant a tiny plant inside a terrarium(if u dunno what the hell is it, juz look out in the dictionary). Actually, the thing isn't more about the planting activity, but it's more about the "soil" being used. The "soil" we use is actually dyed sand. A variation of them: pink, blue, light green, etc.. Well, maybe i can't explain completely how to do it, bcoz i won't hav enough time to type the blog so long for that now... But i'll juz tell another part of the story. Actually, most of the Sec 1 boys who come to our station were very interested, but unfortunately, we cannot give a chance to all of them to take a try of the DIY(Do It Yourself) planting, bcoz we hav shortage of the containers to be used for the terrarium. So, like that lor, some of them juz cry... Poor them...

From 9 to 11, those who come are the Sec 1s, and now i'm taking a break(recess), tat's why i'm in the library typing tis blog now. By 12.30, those who come will be outsiders from another schools, who mostly are......primary students! Sad, yaa??? I did hope tat mostly would be Secondaries, so a lot of galz will be coming around, but OK lah, accept fate like that lor...

I guess it's time to go now... The 30-min time given for online is almost up... OK?? Bye2...

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Very very busy...

Hmm... Earlier tis morning, i decided not to hav blog...

OK.. Tomorrow lah the blog, lor!! Coz i hav no much time in front of comp today.. Tomorrow has Life Science Symposium about the Terrarium stuffs, so now very busy..

Bye..

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Subjects

Hm... Juz post new blog today...
Sorry. Yesterday was The Founder's Day of ACS, and we ACSians from the whole Singapore got a day off for that(not really, bcoz in the noon, we got to go to Kallang Indoor Stadium for that Founder's day event, and that's the reason why the library was closed so i couldn't go online). Being there yesterday... was quite refreshing to us ACS(I) boys, bcoz there were quite a lot of galz from ACJC and ACS(International). ACS(Int) is a new school that was founded juz tis year, and it's at the same level with Secondary.

Yeah, back to the main topic. I won't write bout the Founder's Days event at all, bcoz it was quite boring. But what i'm concerned about yesterday is..... (psst... the ACJC gals!!)

Hm... Today? The day started with raining... Yup, very lebat!!! Tumben, bcoz Singapore has been very hot lately. Yesterday also polluted lor, when i woke up, i sensed that the air of SGP is getting much more polluted now.. Yeah, that raining caused us students to hav the PE lesson "under the cry of cloud", you know.

Today there was A-Math, E-Math, Chemistry.... Wow, Chemistry. I do hope that my Chem test could show any progressing, but... it seemed that i still need time for it. I only got 12 of 20 for the Chem test about Chemical formulaes, you know!! But i promise to myself tat i can do much better than now. See... readers?? Keep my promise!!(and...ehem..... please pray for my success in my studies!)

Today's Compre for English was quite difficult, which now i hav for homework.. It was about huskies in Greenland.

^_^Sori ya, kalo blog saya hari ini sepertinya tak nyambung, kerana otakku lagi tak begitu in mood for writing a blog... The reason is bcoz now i hav a lot of ****s rite now!!!

(The censored words are for your own discretion!!!)

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Interact Club acivity: Flag Day

Today there was academic award which was held in the Auditorium... That's why i huijia earlier and can put blog entry at 12 pm. A bunch of smart ppl received the award.. i hope i can receive it for the next year too.. But i guess it would be difficult, huh??

Hm... Last Saturday was damn fun n interesting!!! The interact club activity, which was about collecting donations in the whole Singapore(the money will go to a hospital)... The interactors were divided into groups consist of four, and i got a group that collect donation around Plaza Singapura, juz outside the Dhoby Ghaut MRT station. The collecting was started at 9 and ended at 4, and it was only 2 hours of the whole time given was spent around PlaSing, bcoz there were a lot of interactors from other schools, so they were somekind of rival, lor.. About 11, we moved on walking(and collecting donations from the other pedestrians) to Lucky Plaza in Orchard... There, we ate our lunch at McD, and found the ACS interactors who gets Orchard area, and found out that their donation tin was already full, very heavy. Mine was just still half full..

We found it exhausting when it was around 2 o'clock, and ordered a drink in a cafe.. U know wat, my friends juz slept in tat cafe!! Such a lazy thing to do, it was only me who stay awaken, and about half an hour later they woke up and we all continued collecting donation around Granger Rd..

By the end of the day, my tin was quite full and heavy.. Wat a great pleasant i had for it!! Especially activities like tis cannot be found in Indonesian schools.. HAHAHA.... SORRY FOR TEASING INDONESIAN SCHOOLS!

As a result for the exhausting Saturday, now i have been having a sore throat since yesterday. I dunno wat's the connection between my throat and the exhausted state, but it sure does have.Please pray so i'll get well soon, OK??

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Flashback: Cu Chi Tunnels, Vietnam. Monday, 17 January 2005

I brought along my bag with me, because later on I would need my waterbottle and torch, which would be used inside the tunnel. When I had got out of the bus, the sunlight began to scorch my face and my neck, so I decided to wear my hat, but as the tour guide, Mr. Tran, guided my class 3.7 in entering the woods, I did not wear it anymore. We passed by three guerilla mannequins on display, and I was excited to see that they looked quite realistic.

Mr. Tran gave us a short explanation about the tunnels. There were basically used by the Vietnamese guerillas as a shelter from the American armed forces during the war. They provided amenities for their daily needs: rooms to sleep in (I do not use the term ‘bedroom’, later I’ll tell the reason), kitchens, living rooms, and even recreational rooms!


We then proceeded to the first tunnel. The entrance was not too big, and later on I learned that it had been widened so that the visitors could get in. When I got inside, I had to use my torch because in some parts it was quite dark, and I had to cover my nose due to the dust. I had to crouch for 20 metres until I saw a shaft of light and felt happy to get outside again.

Before getting into the second one, Mr Tran showed us the ventilation of the tunnel. It was camouflaged exactly like an anthill, and had holes which had been pierced by bamboo poles, that was why the tunnels were musty.

Mr Tran showed us the smallest tunnel I had ever known. The entrance was as big as half of my schooldesk, or even smaller than that.

The tunnel guide entered first, followed by some of the average-sized students. At first, no student thought that they would get in, but when one of my classmates, Woon Hann, managed to get in, the others just followed. I was hesitant whether I could get in. My main concern was not that I would not fit in, because my size would certainly fit in. Then I decided to do it, but what a pity I did not get the chance, because the teachers called us to go on to the next tunnel.

The third tunnel, which resembled the first one, was used as a room to sleep in (I would not call it a bedroom, because I think it is an uncomfortable place to be a bedroom). Not much can be seen in this tunnel, as it only had two twin beds, a bench, and a cupboard.

Well, the fourth, which was the last one, was the most exciting part of the day. Inside was the meeting room, and it was arranged exactly the same as it had been left. There was some kind of a conference table, with some mannequins of the guerillas.

I was startled when I saw them, because they looked different from the first three I had seen outside. The ones in the tunnel looked very realistic. Mr Tran then told us that we had three choices for the distance to the exit. They were 5 metres, 50 metres, and 120 metres. I quickly chose the first, as I feel breathless in that musty room and my life seemed to regain its vigour when I finally breathed the fresh air again.

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Fines in Singapore

Hmm... Fridays are independence days, bcoz the school ends at 12.40(which from Mon-Thurz ends at 2.40pm). After 12.40 at freeday, most of the students usually involved in their UYOs(Uniform Youth Org), but I dun, bcoz mine is on Mondayz...Well, i'll tell more bout S'pore. As u know, tat S'pore is a country of fines, rite?? Actually, the fine rulez exist everywhere here.. Even punishment in my boarding school alwayz use fine, not physical ones like those in Indon.. Untidy room, defiance, ungentlemanly act, skipping Prep(preparation, time for studying), all have fines which usually is between $2-$10. Hm.. I have got fines several times, usually it'z bcoz of skipping the meals.. In here, the BS(Boarding Sch) has a system that each students must order the meals they wanna take for the weekends(Breakfasts, Lunches, and Dinners). They are free, indeed. But the problem is that i usually stay late during weekendz, and on the next day i can't take the breakfast bcoz of overslept. And the fine for skipping breakfast is $2. Total, i've paid fine $14(All for the same reason)....

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A bit about the dorm I live in

Today's school was started with Physics, a lesson where the teacher is damn boring, and i spent almost the whole lesson half asleep(u know, like sleeping with the eyes open, lor). The second was A-Math, and yeah, in here Sec 3 was still studying about Logarithm, quite easy if we compare with Indo, huh??

Um... In here, u know, the jajan is quite expensive if we compare to those in private schools in Indon. Usually I jajan about $3.00 (Rp16,500) a day, a plate of some kind fried rice or we call it here nasi lemak and a glass of lemon tea. But actually i dun eat that nasi lemak, i juz come to the Japanese food stall for a plate of Unagi(Eel) Set. In here, it is a compulsory to jajan at school, bcoz that's the lunch for a day. So, we have to, otherwise we'll get famished...

Oh iya, i hav mentioned that i sometimes sleep during those boring lessons, rite?? Yup, for some of us ACSian scholars, class is our "second bedroom". Startled? Hahaha... Juz kiddin lor, dun take it seriously.....

I'll tell a story now about my daily life. I live in ACS(I) Boarding School, exactly at the first hall, Hall 1 (asrama dibagi menjadi 8 Hall, masing2 in charge of HallMaster and Halltutors yang menjaga para boarders).In my hall, there are about 50 boarders who live together like a big family). I live in a 4-bed-room, together with scholars from Bali, Vietnam, and PRC.

Tat's all about my boarding school.. heh... I'll tell more tomorrow, bcoz juz as usual, i only get the chance 30 minutez online in a day, using the school computer, u know.. A very short time, and i can't type with 10 fingers!!

OK then, tat's all for today, bubye!!

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My Very First Blog!!

Today's blog... Wah, dunno what to write for today.PE(pelajaran Penjaskes) lesson at school tis morning made me quite tired for the whole day, and I spent the rest of my Math lesson which is boring with half asleep. Actually i dun really like the A-Math here, (In Singapore, Math for Sec School is divided by 2, A-Math(Additional Math) which is harder than Indon Math, and E-Math(Elementary Math) which is much easier). Yah, I juz struggle lah, with the subjects here like Chemistry, English Literature, and A-Math... Actually for the other Indon scholars, both Maths are easy, but it's a bit different for me. First lesson today was Physics, which is the test(There are quite a lot of tests lately, but different from Indonesia, S'pore schools only have tests once in two months, different from Indo which is once a week)... Haha...

Maybe all that for today... Oh ya, for you who dunno, i live in a boarding school of Anglo-Chinese School(Independent) in Dover, Singapore.. Life in here is very hectic lor, because although almost no tests, there are piles of homeworks to do everyday... And another thing, ACS(I) is a boys' school, which make life very boring or "colourless" during schooltimes, bcoz I dun see galz here... Galz really make life colourful, you know... Especially S'porean galz, most of them are huaren or Chinese descendants, and I like to see them better than Indonesian galz (Sorry for being DISCRIMINATE)... Haha... Ok then, maybe that'z all for today. I have made a very looong Blog today, bcoz.. yeah, maybe starting by today I'll try to write my schoollife in this blog everyday, juz to practise my "storytelling" abillities.. OK?!! Bubye!!

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