ICE.COLD.COFFEE

I went to do some community service with Kimberly today. It's organised by SMU, and we're raising funds for Very Special Arts Singapore. Saw Joel Poon there too. Too bad Vivien didn't go. Haha... :)

Very Special Arts Singapore is a organisation that provides people with disabilities to learn art so that they can provide for themselves in future. (I think I'll remember this for a very long time, after saying it to so, so many people today.)

It's also college day at VJC, but we decided to pon. Haha... It's really boring la, just a waste of time.

We split up into groups and my group had 11 VJ people and 2 SMU volunteers, Jonah and Jasmine. We went to Raffles City.

Our job was to get people to donate at least $2 and then they could write an encouraging message to the members of VSA on a little card and then we would give it to the disabled people. I thought it would be quite easy. After all, it's only $2. If someone approached me for a $2 donation, I would surely give.

Me and Kimberly had some troubles starting. We were quite shy at first, and couldn't find a place that had good traffic.

Finally, we found a nice spot outside Sunctec, just at the bridge. I always rememeber a lot of people asking for donations there. Haha...

Kimbely completed her booklet of 10 coupons first, while I still had about 4 to go. Then I also finished after quite a while. We saw Sheryl there, cos she went for some walkathon. And she was so nice! She donated $2 to each of us. Haha... :)

We went to have our lunch at Marina Square before going back to Raffles City to get our second booklet. That Jasmine and Jonah so good lor. Just sit at Starbucks and shake leg while all the VJ people went to ask for donations. Their job was to supervise us. Then in the end, we all get the smae number of CIP hours. Not fair!

But they were very nice la. And I don't really mind that they were slacking cos that means it'll be our turn next year if we go to SMU. Whahaha... Anyway, they're really nice cos everytime I call Jasmine, she always tells us to take our time. Haha... :D

After we got our second booklet, me and Kim went back to the same place to ask for donations. In the beginning, I got quite a lot of donations! The first lady I asked gave me $10 cos I didn't have change. Then later, there was another guy who also donated $10 because there was no change too! Haha... Such nice people!

It's meeting all these nice people that make asking for donations worthwhile. I can't stand it when people just walk pass and ignore you. At least say "no, sorry" or smile to acknowledge what... I know sometimes people can't donate cos they already donated to some other charity. After all, we weren't the only group of people asking for donations there.

Sometimes, I really pity those people working at the Suntec area. Because everytime they cross the bridge, there are so many people giving out flyers and asking for donations. I still rememeber the times when I had cross the brigde to go to Conrad. Can be quite irritating at times, but I'm never rude.

Anyway, after a while, a security guard chased us away saying that we needed to have the Suntec pass to ask for donations there. We went to the other side of the bridge instead.

Soon, we got tired. It's really very tiring being on our feet for such a long time, and asking people for donations. Quite demoralising too, if you meet the wrong people. We decided to stop already. It was about 1.45pm and we were supposed to end at 2.30pm.

But then, we saw Joel and his friend. They were going back already, and they only finished one booklet. So at least we didn't collect the least. Haha... We went back together. I got $50 altogether.

Seeing that we were quite tired, Jonah and Jasmine didn't make us continue anymore. Instead, we just sat there and chit chat.

The other girls came back too and after a while, we all went back. I was seriously very tired. My legs were aching so much. After that, I went to meet my family at Suntec for dinner and just walk walk around.

Then, we went to see the National Day rehersal fireworks. It's really different when you see fireworks live, compared to on tv. It's all about the feel. It was really very pretty. :)

We went back after borrowing VCD.

And I watched Elizabethtown. It's a really pretty movie. It doesn't have a big climax or anything, just that the whole movie was very beautiful. I think girls will love it! I did! Haha... :)

It's a little late to blog about this only now. After all, I already got all my results back last week. I didn't do well, that's for sure. Maybe I didn't study hard enough, plus, the papers were super difficult. I think the teachers are trying to spur us to study harder.

That's why ever since the mid year results have been given back to us, the library suddenly has a lot of newcomers. It's always so crowded now, during breaks and after school too.

And suddenly, we're all not ashamed to reveal the NERD in us.

Everytime there's a break, we'll ask each other "you going canteen to eat or go library?"

The reply will most of the time be "library." Now, we only eat during one period of break. The other periods are reserved for mugging.

That being said, here are my grades:

Chemistry: E
I'm disapointed about this one. I studied hard for it, but just managed to get an E. :(

Mathematics: C
Equally disappointed. I never get C for maths. I only get A's! Argh! This paper was terrible!

Economics: B
Short of 2 marks to get my A. Always like that for Econs. Why can't I get my A?!

Physics: B
The absolute shocker. I planned to give up on Physics to study the other 3 subjects more throughly. When I had only 2 days left, I decided that I would just go through the formulas and important comcepts of each chapter to grab as many marks as I can. In the end, I got a B for a subject I didn't really study. What is this?! Moral of the story? Don't study.

General Paper: C5, or is it C6. Haiz...
GP always kills me. I'm going to volunteer to go for GP remedial even though I don't have to. I don't like reading, newspapers or any types of books. So tell me, how to improve like that? Argh!

I think I can use this set of results for "before and after mugging" comparison. The before mugging one, of course! Haha...

Better study hard! I want to do well for prelims and more importantly, A levels!

Anyway, tell you a secret. I've actually been doing my Physics and Chemistry homework these few days. Yay! Three cheers for me! :D Especially for Chemistry because I haven't been doing any that homework for almost the whole of my JC life (since Mr Lim is so nice and doesn't scold when we don't do our work). Haha... My first step to studying hard.

Must make sure I keep to my plan! :)

Especially when there's a big pile of homework piling up to become an even bigger pile!

Last night, I went to the kitchen, and was so blur that I banged into the fridge.

It all happened so fast. I turned around to go into the hall, then the whole of my left side just whammed into the huge refrigerator. I fell onto the floor, quite shocked, and dropped the bottle I was holding.

After I told my Mum, she told me not to go to school.

It was just as well, since I haven't finished my homework.

I haven't been able to get any work done because I was really so sick that I just rest the whole weekend away.

The worst thing is, I don't even know if I can do my homework because my lecture notes are all blank from the time I missed school during nationals.

And now, there are going to be a lot more blanks after not going to school for so many days!

Argh! Just kill me!

If not, the homework and stress will kill me instead.

I've gotten down to doing some revision right now, since I can't do much homework. So hopefully, I'll make my time worthwhile today.

I went to see the doctor today. Woke up at 11.30am. Luckily the clinic opens the whole day, even on Sunday! The doctor so nice. Haha...

I made an appointment and the receptionist said my number is 101. Now serving number 95, I should go down in half an hour's time.

I reached the clinic like 10 minutes late and was afraid that my turn was over. But to my surprise, it was only number 96! So slow! Waited for 40 minutes before it was finally my turn.

Told the doctor my symptoms. About how I started falling sick on Thursday, till yesterday that the fever subsided, then the sore throat got worse. Then last night, my ear suddenly hurt. Feels like there's phlegm stuck inside. Gross! But it hurts quite badly.

I was so afraid that it was something serious. Maybe need to go hospital for operation or something. Or even worse, maybe I got bird flu! I tend to think about all these bad stuff... Ha...

Anyway, the doctor said that I have a very bad throat infection and it spread to my left ear. Right ear is alright through. He used some instrument to look into my ear and said the infection there quite serious too. Got bleeding (though no blood dripped out or anything). If it gets too serious, my ear drum may break. Oh my gosh, please don't let that happen.

I got 2 days MC till Tuesday, though I probably don't need it. And no PE for me for 1 week, and no swimming for 2 weeks. And I got 6 types of medicine, including ear drops and super big antibiotics tablets. It costs $66! Luckily I had just enough money on me, if not I wouldn't have known what to do.

The doctor also very funny. He told me to rest well and said no shopping for today. Then when I was leaving, he said study hard. Haha... How come cannot shop, but can study? Ha...

I went home after that, feeling a lot better that it wasn't something serious. I'm much better now, though my left ear still feels blocked and whatever I hear through that ear has echo. Haha... Kinda funny actually.

Anyway, about other stuff that happened the past days that I was too sick to blog about:

Wednesday we had the swim team exco election. All the year 2s got to vote, but the juniors couldn't vote. The 5 nominees were Cheryl, Vivien, Willis, Eugene and Shao Sheng. The exco decided the nominees, but I was disappointed that Ngang Ju wasn't included.

In the end, Willis is our new captain, Cheryl the vice-captain, and Vivien is our treasurer cum secretary. I think the guys are all sexist cos they chose Willis over Cheryl though I felt Cheryl is much more capable. They just didn't want a female captain. Or maybe they didn't know Cheryl well enough. I'm not sure.

I talked to Ngang Ju after that, and she said she was quite disappointed that she didn't get into exco. After all, swimming is her only cca. I felt the same for her too. Well, maybe they'll create new posts next year when there are more members.

Next, thursday was our last PE lesson. We played captain's ball, and it was really the best PE lesson we had. It was so fun! :) The school stopped our PE lessons so that in future we could use these 2 free periods to study. Haha...

And prelims are coming soon. Teachers are all pressurizing us to study. We're left with less that 40 days to the GP prelims I think. Then 1 week after that will be the prelims for all the other subjects.

And on friday, the swim team barbeque was fine too. Quite fun, though I still wasn't feeling well that day. I went to NTUC to buy food with Eugene, Eric and Ke Wen. Willis was supposed to come, but he was late. Super late that even after we finished buying everything, we still had to wait for him for quite a while. I thought he was supposed to show a good example as the captain. Anyway, I realised that Eugene was quite a good leader when we were shopping for the food. Too bad we didn't realise this earlier.

Eugene's realy good at setting up the fire too! He only used 4 firestarters, and in a while, the fire was already so strong.

During the barbeque, I didn't eat much. Cos my throat was still sore. Everytime I ate, it would hurt. Guess it's a good chance to lose some weight too. Haha... Joel Poon was so cute. He was the only one cooking most of the time, and he seemed to enjoy it. He was kinda dancing, moving from side to side while cooking. Then everything he cooked was just nice. Well-cooked, but not burnt. Ha... :)

The guys brought tiger beer, and Vivien brought a large bottle of vodka. Some people drank, but I didn't. And guess what? Vivien drank quite a bit, and she got drunk. It was really quite irritating because we had to take care of her while we were supposed to be having fun. It's such a spoiler. And since it was my house, they were suggesting that I bring her upstairs to sleep. But I didn't want to cos I wouldn't have known what to do with her. I just said that it's not convenient cos my brother is having tuition. I'm like so bad right? ... I was also scared that my parents will scold what... They didn't know there was going to be alcohol.

Anyway, Vivien recovered after a little while and returned to normal. Luckily...

We also played truth or dare. There were some stupid dares. Like Ding Yong had to carry Janice, Eugene kissed Cheryl's hand (Cheryl was cringing is embarrassment!) and Kai Xiang kissed Vivien's spectacles. Haha!

It was already 11pm by the time they all decided to go back and I was already very tired, since I was sick too. After washing up all the tongs and stuff, I took a bath and went to sleep. That was all for the barbeque. Fun, but super exhausting for me. Not to forget traumatising when Vivien got drunk.

And last night, I watched V for Vendetta on VCD. It's quite a nice show, but quite interllectual too. So there was quite a bit of the story that I didn't understand. Nice movie nonetheless.

By the way, my Dad left for Macau this morning for a business trip. It means no one to drive me to school, and extra early mornings for me. Haiz... He'll be back only on Wednesday night. Hope he brings back some nice souvenirs!

Anyway, I'm going to do some homework now. I'm seriously lagging behing schedule now that I've been sick for so many days. Hope I'll be well enough to go for lessons tomorrow! :)

It just happened so suddenly.

I went for econs S yesterday, feeling fine. Then during the 2 hour lesson, I began to feel my body aching (the type that you feel when you're sick) and my throat got sore. After the lesson, I knew I was sick.

I went home, bathed, ate dinner, then went to sleep at 8pm. Last night was earliest I ever slept in a long, long time!

I was so cold, but perspiring at the same time. It's a super uncomfortable feeling. Plus the body aches.

The worst thing is, the swim team is having barbeque at my house today (friday). I have to help them buy food and bring them here.

I woke up at 9.30 cos I couldn't sleep. Ate a little more, then slept at 12.

Throughout the night, I was feeling so hot! Perspiring so much.

Woke up today and decided not to go to school, then went back to sleep again.

All the while, I kept waking up every hour or so. I had my breakfast at 11, then went back to sleep again.

Now, after waking up, I feel loads better. I'm going to meet the junior guys to buy food later, then have the barbeque. I'll probably come upstairs for my own dinner and rest while they're playing downstairs. It's so ironic that I can't join in the bareque that's just at my house downstairs...

I hate being sick!

Went to Parkway with Amarjote to look for Jasmine's present today.

Her birthday was actually on Sunday but last week we couldn't think of what to buy, and were all kinda waiting for each other to come up with an idea. So the present came late.

We gave her a card last friday though. I tell you, the card was super nice, cos I made it! And it's the nicest looking one I ever made. I think that I have some hidden artistic talent. Haha... It shows only once in a while, so people hardly ever notice.

Jasmine was weird taste too, or should I say unique. So we didn't know what she would like. And when we asked her, she kept saying "don't need to buy present, don't need to buy present." But usually when people say that, they're always secretly hoping for one. Don't bluff la!

So, I went present hunting with Amarjote today. Me, Amarjote, Sheryl, Li Yue and Joanne were sharing. But the others weren't free.

We walked around for quite a while, looking for something suitable. Water bottle, pencil case, belt, bag, handphone pouch... We were thinking to buy maybe one of these items.

Anyway, today was very fun cos it was like shopping. Me and Amarjote are quite crazy about earrings, but I'm crazier. Haha... Then whenever I see nice stuff, like bags, skirts, earrings, accessories, keychains, belts, make up etc, I'll go crazy. Then Amarjote will have to pull me away, if not we'll never find Jasmine's present.

After walking around for quite a while more, we decided to get the water bottle that we saw earlier. It's a Sigg bottle, and the picture is so cute! Haha... Don't know if Jasmine will like it, cos she always uses a small bottle and then drink from our bottles when she runs out of water. Haha... Hope she likes it!

Today, me and Amarjote talked a lot while shopping. Actually, I always thought of her more as Jasmine's friend. Because I'm closer to Jasmine. But after today, I realised that I actually have a lot to talk to her. We were talking throughout! No breaks in between! Didn't know that we both could crap so much in each other's company. Haha... Funny that I only realised this after being classmates with her for one and a half years! :)

It's the last day of nationals. Today, we have 2 events, the girls' and guys' freestyle relay.

It's the same as the past few days, sitting there watching people swim. Since it was the finals, it was all very exciting. The results were all so close!

At 4pm, there was a special event for disabled people. It's so amazing how they can swim so fast, even though they are disabled! Simply amazing! One national athlete even swam faster than what the VJ guys can swim!

Both our events were at the end of the day. The girls' was first. We cheered a lot. All of them did well. Almost their personal bests. We came in 8th, as expected, but we managed to achieve our expectated timing.

The guys' event was next. They were aiming for 6th I think. In the end, they came in 7th, just 1 second slower than the previous team. But it was good effort on their part nonetheless.

Then came the interesting part!

After the competition, we took lots of photos. Team photos, juniors, seniors, breaststrokers, freestylers etc... The guys are crazy! Doing funny poses for the photos.

After that, we went to Marina Square for farewell dinner. Since the nationals are over, the seniors will leave soon. We went to Seoul Garden and took quite a while to find the place.

My table had Vivien, Jia Hui and Kevin. The food was not bad, although I didn't exactly like the food there. And Vivien's so spoilt! She asked Kevin to peel the prawns for her cos her Dad always does that for her. And can you believe it? Kevin actually did it! He's so nice! Haha...

The table on my right had Joel Poon, Joel Tang, Eric and Shao Sheng. They are a crazy bunch too! So it was lots of fun sitting with them.

When we almost finished eating, the guys took lots of photos. And quite gay too!

We also took more team photos outside, with the esplanade background.

After that, the guys all went home, but the girls still wanted to take a walk. We went to the esplanade and sat beside the river. The scenery was very nice, and we just sat there and talked.

Actually I was quite glad to leave swimming. Not that I didn't enjoy trainings or anything, this year trainings have indeed become more interesting since the new girls joined. But it's just that I want more time for my studies.

But the girls were very reluntant to let us go. They were saying how much they missed us, especially Vivien. She was so sad that the year 2s were leaving. And she also said that me and Janice, the only year 2 girls, seemed so much a part of them that it didn't occur to her that we were leaving together with the year 2 guys.

I also got quite sad when they all didn't want us to leave.

We had to go home at 10.30pm cos it was getting late. We love each other's company so much that we decided to study together. Study buddies. Haha... :)

Vivien, Janice and I took train back. And Vivien seemed some what sad that the year 2s were leaving because it means that her cute guy was leaving too. And he sort of "rejected" her indirectly. Maybe she was reading too much into what he said, but she was disappointed all the same.

I'll be sad to leave too. It's the first time I felt so sad about leaving the swim team. It's the junior girls who added so much fun for me and I love them lots!!! :)

Medley relay finals. I was a lot more relaxed today because I knew I would mess things up if I was nervous. Besides, we would most probably get 8th anyway. So, no pressure.

It's until now that I appreciate not being a super good swimmer. Cos if not there would be so much pressure! 1 second would cost me the first place or something like that. But now, 1 second doesn't matter that much.

The guys' relay was before ours and they came in 6th even though they were aiming for 5th. The difference between the 2 positions was only 0.14s! So close!

For our event, everything went well. When Ngang Ju swam towards me, I saw that we were tied with another team! We had chance to beat them!

When I plunged in, I remembered to do the chang hua bi this time. Yay!

The swimming part was fine too because I decided to glide more. And I was concentrating on counting how many pulls I did. Just to take my mind off the fatigue.

Up to the last 10 pulls, I got tired, but I pressed on.

I came out of the pool after Shu qi plunged in. I took a while to recover. I swam till my whole body was drained!

While Janice was swimming the last lap, I saw that we were almost on par with that same team. Maybe we were a little faster. I cheered for her, and finally, we managed to come in 7th!

It was such a pleasant surprise and Janice was shocked too when In told her. The guys congratulated us and we took team photos.

The relay guys and girls also took photos. I don't know why, but it felt so nice to be so "part of the team". Ha...

Anyway, we found out later that our overall timing is 3.08.52min. Yishun JC was 4 seconds slower than us, and CJ was almost 20 seconds faster. They said Janice swam very fast and caught up with the Yishun girl which was 10m in front of her! Either that girl was slow, or Janice was fast.

Shu Qi was quite disappointed with her butterfly timing. Although we don't know the timings for individual laps, but they said that Yishun caught up to us during the butterfly lap. But it wasn't exactly Shu Qi's fault. I think it was because YJ's flyer was super.

As for me, I don't know my timing either because the score board didn't show. All we know is that 1.43.27min is the timing for Ngang Ju and my timings combined.

Ngang Ju's personal best is 55s, and I know that her timing is almost the same as the YJ backstroker, which is 58s. So I bet I did 48 seconds or less! Yay!

I'm happy, cos I'm quite sure that I beat my personal best. Though I'm sad that I don't know my exact timing.

After the competition, we went to eat at the food court and I had tau suan. Then, we all took MRT back. Ding Yong and I alighted at Tampines and it was super awkward because we didn't have anything to say to each other all the way from the train station to the bus interchange. So awkward!

Anyway, today is a fine day, and it's the end of my swimming competitions. I have no more events. Tomorrow is the last day of nationals and VJ entered the girls' and guys' freestyle relay. Hope the results will turn out fine! :)

Today, we had training at Bedok at around 1pm. We had half day since VJ sailing team came in first. When will VJ ever have half day because of the swimming nationals? I think it'll gonna take quite a few years... Ha...

We played a bit of catching in the water. Haha... We are all crazy! Training was slack because it was just to practice plunging. We shouldn't strain ourselves too much because the race is just tomorrow.

And speaking of tomorrow, the medley relay finals is tomorrow and I thought that I should probably go on a little diet to at least maintain, if not lose some weight. Cos we haven't been swimming long distances recently and I've been eating quite a lot during the exam period. Ha... :)

Anyway, one of the girls said that there was this article about preparing for competitions and it said that 2 or 3 days prior to the race, we should eat sweet and high-energy stuff to build up on our energy reserves. It's completely opposite from what I planned to do.

And so, with that article from some professional, I guess I have no choice but to stuff myself with all those high-energy food, like chocolate, sweets, ice cream etc... Oooh... Haha...

Too bad I have to put aside my dieting plan just to ensure my performance will be good...

Haiz... The sacrifices I make.

I'm going to finish my bar of chocolate now. HAHA!!! :D

I was supposed to have training today.

And I went out early to go out with Si Hui, Melissa, Xiu Zhen and Yuwen to Bugis. I was planning to go for training which starts at 5pm later.

We had lunch at the food fare. The food was quite average.

Then we went shopping at Bugis junction and at "icon".

Melissa and Yuwen bought some stuff. The both of them ar, complete shopaholics! They spent so much money that I felt so poor when I went out with them. I would buy lots of stuff I had money too! Too bad I'm broke! :(

But I still had money to buy 2 pairs of earrings. Man! I should really stop buying earrings. I don't even have enough holes to wear them!

I went back at 7pm, the other girls were still shopping. 5 hours of walking around, without sitting at all! My legs are aching!

Anyway, when I went home, my parents asked why I was so late and if I went swimming. I said training was cancelled (it was pretty obvious that it was raining) and I went with the swimming people to eat dinner and just talk.

They bought my story. But I still feel kinda bad lying to them. But there was no doubt that shopping today was fun! :)

The girls trained at 8pm at Toa Payoh today. We decided to swim so late, and so far away, because the pools were usually crowded on weekends.

Toa Payoh wasn't crowded though. Maybe people were resting so they could watch soccer later.

We swam quite a bit and practiced plunging.

Then we ate at the foodcourt and crapped somemore before going back.

I'm super tired now! Don't know if I'll be watching soccer...

I didn't have any event today, but I went to support the team anyway. Didn't go to school. Haha... :)

It felt so much more relaxing without any event. I wore the butterfky earrings and the starry hairtie from Melissa and Wen Zhe since we all agreed to wear it every friday. Seriously, I haven't changed my earrings for a really long time. I wore the small red studs during swimming all the time. So happy to wear dangling ones. Ha!

There were quite a lot of events today. There was guys 100m breaststoke, Fabian's 100m backstroke and both guys and girls' freestyle relay. I was the only one without events, so I helped to take the timings.

After feeling so stressed up and emotional yesterday, I can't emphasise more how relaxed I was today. I cheered a lot too.

The girls' relay came first and we were all cheering like mad. There were 11 teams. We had to beat 3 to get into the finals. And I didn't take the timing for one of the other teams. So after the race, we didn't know if we had gotten into the finals. We had to wait for the announcement. And thank god, we were the 8th team! Haha... So so happy! :D

The guys' relay was next, and it went well too. We came in 7th!

So overall, we have 4 events in the finals. Both the medley and freestyle relays for guys and girls. Yay! :)

After the competition, we went to McDonald's to eat. The guys left after a while. They said they were going home to mug. But the girls stayed back and talked a lot. It was more of a gossipping session. Like who's the cutest guy in swimming and whether we all had boyfriends before etc. All those girly stuff. Ha... But it was a lot of fun!

Anyway, I'm just glad that we got into the finals. Although it means that we'l probably have to train over the weekends. Haha... The finals are next tuesday and wednesday. :)

This is the third day of nationals and I have 2 events. 50m breaststroke and medley relay.

I started the day with my dental appointment. I tightened my braces, and it wasn't as pain as I expected it to be. Haven't seen Dr Woo for a long time now. Somehow, I suddenly feel that she's very nice and friendly. Haha...

After that, met Vivien at Toa Payoh to go to the pool. None of the girls have events in the morning, but Vivien wanted to support her cute guy so I accompanied her since I wasn't going to school after my appointment.

The guys did ok, but as expected, not good enough to get into the finals.

We went for lunch at the foodcourt. After eating, we went to some place with lots of chairs and air con to just sit and talk. There was this cute baby girl in the row in front of us and we were playing with her. She's so so so cute!!!

My 50m breaststroke event is a little after lunch. At first, I wasn't nervous because I had done this before. Besides, it wasn't my first event this nationals. But as it got closer and closer, I got so terribly nervous. The warm up didn't feel good. And I was just not feeling on form.

The other girls taking part in this event - Cheryl, Jovena and Jia Yi - were all very nervous, this being their first time. I was trying to tell them that there was nothing to be afraid of. But, I was just so scared inside myself.

That feeling sort of built up inside me since I didn't want to show the juniors that I was also nervous. I was supposed to encourage them, not scare them even more. And I also felt pressure to do better than the 48.62s I did last year. It was seriously a lot of stress. And I think I sort of purposely pressured myself so that I would do better. I don't know...

Before reporting, I listened to music on my MP3 and honestly, I almost cried because I was under so much pressure!

I think Ngang Ju could tell it too cos I asked to hug her before I went to the reporting station...

Cheryl and Jia Yi were in heat 1. Both of them did 57s, although Cheryl was a quarter of a second faster than Jia Yi. That result was good for Jia Yi, but Cheryl was disappointed. She could have done better. All of us knew that.

Jovena was in heat 2. She did 1 minute. That was kinda what she expected I guess.

When it was my turn, Cheryl and Jia Yi were beside me since they already finished their races and came back to get their stuff. I went to hug Jia Yi too. Think I like to hug people when I get stressed...

The race started, and for the first part of the race, I seriously don't remember what happened at all. I only remember that by 25m, I was already tired and was just doing high frequency swimming. But I just wasn't gliding enough! I felt like I was a drowning frog or something, struggling in the water...

I finally reached the end and my timing is 50.10s.

:(

:(

:(

!!!!!

I was really sad. This possiblity of me not doing well had struck me before. But I was so hoping that it wouldn't come true.

Now that it did, I guess it may be because I didn't train that hard.

I went to warm down, then went back to the others.

Fabian said I didn't do my chang hua bi! After plunging, I just came out of the water. No pull, no kick!

ARGH! :(

I really can't remember what happened at all, and I was pressurising myself so much that I just wanted to get to the other side asap, never mind how I did it. In the end, I ended up slower.

A real big disappointment!

Although it was over, I was still worried because I was taking part in the medley relay and I didn't want to pull the others down. I know we want to get into the finals real bad!

And it didn't help that Fabian and Ding Yong were sort of pressurising me not to make the same mistakes for the relay...

I was seriously stressed and listened to my MP3 to try to calm myself down. And I admit that I cried, a little little bit, cos I was so terribly disappointed with myself.

If I weren't that nervous, I'm sure I would have done better. Probably even better than last year.

The relay was coming up, and I tried to take the pressure away cos I knew that it was the thing that was causing me to make mistakes.

There were only 9 teams in the heats, and 8 teams will go into the finals. We just had to beat one team. This was really important to us because it just may be the only final that the girls have.

Luckily, there was a announcement.

Sort of a miracle:

The heats for the A division medley relay was cancelled and we'll go straight to the finals!

We were all happy!

It may be because one of the teams withdrew from the event, so we automatically qualify.

It was good for me too, cos I wasn't sure I could swim well then.

Without that event, the only event left for VJ today was the guys medley relay. They had to beat 3 teams to get to the finals. Wih much cheering and impressive swimming from all of the 4 guys, the team came in 5th and qualified for the finals. We were all so glad!

That was also that last event of the day, and we went back after that.

Overall, today was not only a physically draining, but mentally exhaustive day for me. I've never felt so many complicated and mixed feelings before. But at least now I know that I shouldn't pressure myself too much, otherwise things could turn out worse.

I'll probably forgive myself for today's performance if I do well for the relay.

Today's results:
50m breaststroke
Event: 06-04
Heat: 3
Lane: 1
Personal best: 48.62s
Today's timing: 50.10s

I absolutely love the Adidas commercials. The person who came up with it is a complete genius!

If you haven't seen the ad, then you seriously haven't been watching enough tv.

Impossible is Nothing! Yeah! :D

One thing though... I don't understand the "jose +10" thingy... Ha...

It was my dark blue pentel pen with the 0.38mm tip.

I was going to cap my pen. Then instead of pushing it into the cover, I didn't aim properly and poked my finger instead.

And I pushed it in so hard that there was a 1cm cut on my little finger and it bled.

Oh man... how many people can cut themselved with a pen?

After I did that, I felt so...

so...

so...

stupid!

*

*

*

Ps. I had a super sweet dream yesterday. It was nice, a bit weird, but nice! HA! :D

Didn't go to school today. It's the first day of nationals.

In the morning Shu Qi has 200m individual medley. She was somewhat sick. And didn't perform as well as expectations. Oh well, she still has 3 more nationals to go. I'm sure she'll be able to get into the finals then.

We went for lunch at the foodcourt. I met Seet Teng there. She was taking part in the same event as me, just that it was B division.

After lunch, we went back quite early because Ngang Ju had to warm up for her 50m backstroke event. We had almost 1 hour before warming up. I was quite bored, and was getting nervous since I had nothing to do. So, I messaged quite a lot of people about my competition, just to chat and get my mind occupied.

I guess it was also a kind of promise to them that I would do my best. And they were all so nice to reply and give me well wishes. :)

Also, I felt it hard to tell the juniors that I was nervous and all. Because, being the senior, I was supposed to encourage them, not make them freak out more. They said I didn't look like I was stressed. That's because I didn't show it. I was unusually quiet most of the time.

For Ngang Ju's backstroke event, she didn't do her personal best. I think she was quite disappointed.

Cheryl and I were taking part in the same event. She's in heat 1, I'm in the second. Both of us are in lane 7 too.

The C and B division was super good! Especially the C division girls. It's like as we get older, we become slower? Haha... Makes no sense.

We were asked to report super early and had to wait for quite a while before it was our turn. The TJ girl in lane 6 beside me was very nice! I got to know her during the swim meet, but not that close to her though. Just sort of "I know you exist" that kind of closeness. Haha...

She was very nice la. We talked quite a bit and hugged before the race.

During the race, I made quite a few mistakes actually. In the beginning when I was supposed to step up on the plunging board, I didn't. Cos I didn't hear the whistle. Then until I realised how come there isn't a whistle and I look around, I realised that everyone else was already standing up there...

After I plunged, my goggles almost dropped out. But luckily it didn't. Before the race, we were all freaking out about what would happen if the goggles dropped out. Shuqi's did during the medley. And the coach said she could have been disqualified when she adjusted it. I really can't see if it came out...

Anyway, I think the first 50m went well. I remembered to plunge, pull and kick. And I was like... erm swimming moderately fast I guess. Like not as high frequency as for the 50m race, but still not that slow.

Turning was fine too. I don't remember much of it cos everything seemed to whizz pass so quickly.

But after turning, I had to do that pull (chang hua bi) and kick again, but I didn't have enough breath since I was swimming so hard. So I managed to pull, then without kicking, I came out of the water. I was in quite a weird position then. Hopefully no one saw that. Haha...

The remaining 25m began to feel tiring. I was pacing myself with the TJ girl beside me. For the first 75m, I think we were neck in neck. But towards the end, I got tired and she went ahead.

I felt tired, but I still tried to swim fast. It just wasn't worth it to rest for 1 or 2 seconds and add so much to the timing. I could have all the time I wanted to rest after it was over. I know I swam hard, but I felt I didn't give it my all. Maybe I did 95% of my maximum towards the end.

After the race, I was really tired and my whole body ached. Almost couldn't pull myself out of the pool. I guess that was evidence of my 95% effort.

We went to warm down, then met up with the others.

My timing is 1.47.22 min. Cheryl's is 2.04min. She was quite disappointed. The others said that she got nervous and didn't do the strokes properly. It's ok I guess. First times are always more frightening. I know it's true because I wasn't as nervous as I was last year.

Harry was having his event today too. 100m butterfly. But he stopped after 3 quarters of the race because he siad he couldn't breathe. It's because he just recovered from a bad cough. What a pity... I thought he did really well.

Anyway, that's all for today. Quite fun I must say, although I was a bundle of nerves before the race. Now that it's over, I'm more relaxed.

My next even is 50m breaststroke on thursday afternoon.

100m breaststroke
Event: 02-09
Heat: 2
Lane: 7
Timing: 1.47.22min (personal best)

It's my second post today. Guess I'm totally bored...

Anyway, the competition is tomorrow.

I swam a little just now. And I'm going to sleep early tonight, at 10pm. Luckily there isn't soccer tonight. Haha... :)

I'm not that nervous as I was last year. Maybe it's because we had more preparation for this nationals - the MGS competition and swim meet a few months ago.

Hope I'll do well! :)

100m breaststroke
Event: 02-09
Heat: 2
Lane: 7
Personal Best: unknown

Today is a really boring day.

Last night, when I was about to sleep at 2am, I saw a giant cockroach on the floor, in the middle of my bedroom. I quickly went to get the insecticide from the hall, but when I came back, I couldn't find it anymore. So of course I didn't dare to sleep in my room. Can you imagine a cockroach crawling all over you while you're asleep? Gross!!!

I sprayed insecticide in all the corners of my room, hoping to kill it, but nothing happened. Worse thing is that I left all my swimming stuff out on the floor to dry. I hope it didn't crawl all over it. Eeew...

I took my blankets and slept on the living room sofa. It wasn't very comfortable. In between I kept waking up. Stupid cockroach!

I was supposed to wake up at 8am to go swimming at Bedok at 9. But it was raining when I woke up, so I decided not to go. Training probably might have been cancelled too.

Woke up at 12 noon instead. Slept until so late because I came home late from horti farewell last night. Then I went to the community centre with my Mum to eat lunch and buy some groceries. Today is youth day so don't need to go to school.

Actually after training today, we were all planning to eat lunch together and probably watch a movie. But my parents didn't allow me to go. They say that I've been going out too much the past few days. Where got?! It's only because mid years are over so we have the chance to play. In a few days time, we'll be so busy with homework that we can't go out anymore!

Since I couldn't go out with them after training, it was another reason for me to skip today's training, even though they might have gone ahead to swim in the rain. I don't know.

Hanjie, Xuan Yun, Cindy and Xiu Zhen were going out today too. And I so wanted to go! If my parents allowed me to go out, I would have gone swimming, then gone out with the girls. They wanted to watch some korean movie. Hanjie says it's the korean version of brokeback. I wanna watch!

So now, I'm doing nothing much at home. Can't go out.

I'm planning to do some of my maths S homework that I haven't done since the beginning of the year, and go downstairs for a swim probably at 6pm.

Ok la, I have to admit that it's quite nice to stay at home and have nothing to do. But I really want to go out with my friends!! But at least I got to go to the CC to have lunch, and wore my new white hoops. Super nice! Haha... :D

We sent off our seniors one year ago and it's our turn now...

I really can't believe that we're leaving horti. It's so fast, and I don't want to.

Saw Teng Wen on msn before I went out today, and I suggested having barbeque at the end of the year, for his batch, and the current horti members. Then he would ask his seniors to come along to. 4 generations of horti people. That would be fun! :)

For our farewell, we went to some hotpot buffet at Kallang. The place was quite nice. Actually when Xu Duo told me it was a hotpot buffet, I pictured all of us sitting in big table around a steamboat, sweating profusely while eating the spicy food. Luckily it was nothing like I imagined...

The place was nice and cool and quite spacious too. 4 people to 1 steamboat. My table had Melissa, Jia Yan and Wei Sheng.

Xu Duo told me that everyone was coming, including Mrs Chuah. But in the end, Ryan, Michelle and Ping didn't turn up. Quite disappointing. Yong Bin didn't come at the last minute cos he fell sick from watching soccer late last night. Ruxin came though.

The food there was ok. Not a lot of variety. My favourite was the mushrooms and the vegetables. I think I eat buffet always like go and waste money. Cos the club fund paid $15 for each person and I probably ate only about $5 of food. Didn't eat any meat or seafood cos I just didn't feel like eating. Luckily the can drinks are free flow so I had 3 cans. Haha... Must make the money worth it... Wei Sheng and Ruxin had so many cans that it was almost what all the rest of us had combined.

The steamboat was divided into 2 sections. One with, and the other without chilli. Seriously, the chilli was very, very spicy. We didn't touch the chilli soup much, so I don't know why the juniors decided to go for this hot pot buffet in the first place.

Jiayan came late, and by that time, we almost finished eating.

After eating, we gave each other farewell gifts. The juniors gave the seniors each a combined card. With a paper rose and a bottle of xiang si dou. So so nice! I love receiving cards. I think they're so meaningful! :)

Inside, they wrote "Charlynn. Happy Farewell 2006! Thank you very much for guiding us in the past 6 months. We will miss you!!! From. Michelle Xuduo Tian Yuan Pritha He Yun". Honestly, I was quite disapointed that Ping's name wasn't inside. She's quitting horti, but I thought they should let her sign the card since she was part of the society too.

Melissa gave all the girls a pair of butterfly earrings. I chose the gold ones. I'm so in love with gold! Haha... It's so nice! :)

Kimberly gave all of us a card. Mine read " Charlynn. Hello! Time really flies! Although we only got to know each other late last year (i think it was the Aug/Sep period) through Biz, I feel as if we've known each other for a very long time.. Haha! :) Anyway, I've treasured all the times we've had together, whether it was during Biz, or Horti, or mentoring the really cute kids @ Ngee Ann Primary.. Will certainly miss you a lot when we leave VJ, cos I'm quite sure you'll be going SMU! Keep in contact k? Meanwhile, when I miss you, I'll look @ the neoprints we took together at TM that time... 26th May! Good luck for A's. I'm sure you'll do well! Kim :P"

Haha... I love my Kim darling. By the way, I don't think I'm going to SMU. Changed my mind about that already. My card to Kim was like this: "Dearest KIMBERLY! We first met when we took part in Camp Ideapolis last year. I still remember the time we worked late into the night and the next day just to complete our business plan. At that time, I didn't know that it could be the start of such a wonderful friendship. Seriously, life in VJ would be so, so different if I hadn't met you. I love your laughter (which in turn makes me laugh, that makes you laugh more, making me laugh even more! etc...) and all the fun and happiness you gave to me. I will remember fondly the times we had cup noodles illegaly in the classroom, your wonderful performance during glossolalai, the times we went mentoring together, our econs S lessons (which we are still taking), the fun times during horti and loads, loads more! Thanks for all your encouragement in horti. I truly appreciate it! You are such a wonderful friend and I love you so much darling! Let our friendship never end! :)"

After reading it, Kim said she was very touched. Actually, that was what I really felt. It's just so weird that we've known each other for less than a year, but we're so, so close. And I just can't emphasise more that my life in VJ would be so much more different if I hadn't met her!

Jiayan also gave us all a card each. It's actually a piece of foam with the first letter of our names on it. So cute! Mine said "Hey Charlynn! It was nice knowing you and working with you! You're someone who's always smiling, creating so much fun and laughter! thanks for all that. plus the numerous memorable moments we all have together! Let's keep in contact okay! Maybe go cycle sometime again! Haha. :) All the best for your future! Love, Yan '06"

And my card to Jiayan said "Dearest JIAYAN! You know something? I can't remember the time we met and how we introduced ourselves to each other because seriously, it feels like we've known each other for ages! Thanks for always being such a caring and supportive friend - always helping me with horti stuff readily, especially during V. day and being ever-ready to sacrifice your breaks to man the V. day booth, and the list goes on. I'll remember all the fun and wacky times we had together: our "secret" cycling trip, laughing at KFC during the camp, sneaking out to buy cup noodles (and eating with the toothbrush!) and of course, the hard work we put intot our econs essay! I appreciate you for just everything you are; your lameness, craziness, and just being so friendly to everyone. You totally rock! All the best for A levels, study hard! And must definitely keep in touch even after we leave horti and VJ. I'll surely miss all the fun times we had during horti. :)"

After dinner, the 6 seniors (me, Melissa, Kimberly, Jiayan, Wen Zhe and Wei Sheng) went to Bugis. Wei Sheng left at the mrt station though, cos we were going shopping. Wen Zhe felt bad that she didn't give us anything so she bought us each a hair rubber band with stars. So sweei of her! Although she really didn't have to. It was $1.50 and we got to choose the colours we like. I chose the purplish-blue ones cos the gold ones were too common. Golden stars... You see them in that colour all the time. :)

We saw loads of nice stuff and Wen Zhe brought us to "icon". It's some new shopping place beside Bugis. The stuff there are so nice. And cheap too! Some shops let you bargain, so if you ever go there, remember to try to get discount! :)

I bought a necklace. The pendant is some rectangle thingy with yellow crystals. And the chain is the best part. It's so unique, not to mention pretty, and it's gold!! Haha... So of course I had to buy it. And it's only $8.90. So cheap! I seldom spend money, but if I didn't buy this, I would surely regret. Melissa bought loads of stuff! And Kimberly bought a denim skirt. It's so nice! Kim has such nice legs. After she tried on the skirt to show us, I said she has sexy legs, and Jiayan said she was going to drool if she looked at Kim any longer. Haha... By the way, Kimberly rebonded her hair. She is now super beautiful!

After walking around until about 10pm, the shops started to close and we decided to go back. The others took bus, and while on the way to the mrt station, me and Melissa got tempted to go walk walk at Bugis street. There are lots of nice clothes and bags there. Earrings too! The prices are really reasonable.

I bought some more stuff. 3 pairs of earrings. Haha... 1 pair of white hoops, another pair of gold hoops (although I already have one of that colour, but this one is different... really!) and a pair of button stud earrings. I didn't want to buy the button ones, but since it was 3 pairs for $5, then I decided to buy. So nice! I love the white hoops, and I think they match my skin colour!

Melissa spent a lot more money than I did, and she told us about her shopping sprees the few days before, so I didn't feel bad spending the money today. I spend very little compared to her. Haha... Self consolation.

Anyway, after shopping there, we really had to go back cos it was getting late. We took the train back together and talked on the way back. Melissa told me some personal stuff...

I reached home quite late, 11.30pm. But it was a superb day. I'm so happy!

But I can't believe that my whole horti journey has come to an end. I must say that the best part of it all was getting to know my batch of horti members and our seniors. I've never had such a group of friends who I love so much. And of course, being the chairperson. I think Mrs Chuah is just wonderful at giving all of us each opportunities to shine and develop our potential. One thing though, I don't think I was a really good chairperson. Like I was blur and lost quite a number of times. I think I wouldn't have gotten the position if there weren't so few people in horti. Nonetheless, this opportunity has been life-changing, and I learnt a lot from it.

And I would like to end off this post with a line that I wrote on the year 2's farewell cards:

HORTICULTURE SOCIETY BATCH OF 05: WE ROCK! :)

How often do you meet your friends outside of school? As in, coincidentally...

Sometimes I think that I may meet a person somewhere because he or she frequents that place. But I never do...

Then today, I met Wei Siang at the chicken rice stall somewhere near Toa Payoh while having lunch with my family. And it wasn't even the peak hour. It was 3pm.

Haha... So coincidental...