Me.

Tullast This is Captain's log, 1:38:00 PM

Friday, July 30, 2004

I passed my maths!!!

Yesterday had Maths E Quiz and i passed!!! i got 60% and im more than satisfied, considering me a sucker for maths....

However, im going to face bigger challenges when the teacher teaches Differentiation and Intergration, the 2 most feared topics. I heard from my friends that when they learn these 2 topics in Secondary school, A maths, they took nearly half a year to master to concept. But im taking learning and mastering the concepts in less than 3 months!! This is soo not fair!!! How am i gonna cope? And i bound to repeat this module!?

Anyway, enough rantings, after all the E Quiz, i went straight to the library to help a couple of my friends to photocopy part of the chemistry book, as part of a study aid to help them study chemistry related subjects. I photocopied alot and spent alot of time standing in front of the photocopying machine, turning page after page after page, to photocopy more than 100 pages of the book. It was really time consuming and something I hate to do. After all that done, i revised the notes on genetics, of the module Introduction to Molecular Biotechnology. The notes are really confusing and not in synchoronised order, or shall i say, written in "Engrish". Lots of terminology are not explain really well and the explainations are half done and what not. No wonder our lecturer showed us videos on that topic during the lectures. The videos showned were soo much simpler to understand and its really easy to grasp the fundamentals.

While revising, Joash and Jamie were doing their proposal on lab safety. It was one of the "Engrish" mini project and they soo hilarious! While proposing on the issues of lab safety, they really came up with lots of outrages proposals like all staff have to get an A in safety test or they have to repeat their modules again. That is like sooo NYP'ish. Collaboration with the Civil defence to have a firestation located next to the lab, in case of fire, (is that necessary!?) and issuing out safety manuals to everyone who visited the lab. MUAHAHH!! All the proposals were outrageous and ludicrous and we had a good laugh, despite being in the library!

Tullast This is Captain's log, 12:12:00 AM

Wednesday, July 28, 2004

Floorball practice sucked today

Today's floorball practice sucked. I basically screwed up in my defence and were pretty indecisive at where i was supposed to be when the ball comes real close to your goal post. Yup, it was pretty bad. I didnt feel great at all. I felt really guitly when the ball went in the goalpost. Something was bothering me just now and i was not totally myself.

There's something important that ive realised in this game. You have to be focused and remove all your thoughts about any other things aside, concentrating solely on the game itself. This afternoon, i got a reality check on how big an effect is when you are not focusing on the task at hand. Be it school work, exam, play, it all adds up the same thing : You will not perform when your minds occupied at other things.

LOL!! Today's lectures, Physical Chemistry and Introduction to Molecular Biotechnology, we didnt understand a single thing! ESPECIALLY the Physical Chemistry. Everybody was like stunned and dazed at all the information from god knows what planet that the lecturer was teaching. Even the lecturer knew from our 100s of odd faces that we didnt understand a single thing during the last half of the lecture. The first 15 mins was fine. We managed understand the core definitions of that particular topic being taught. As it goes on, one by one got lost in the neverending maze of information and in the end, we were heading nowhere. It was soo funny, we felt real stupid!

Tomorrow, Thursday, i have to go back to school and do that crappy maths e quiz, at 1pm. Previously i mentioned that i have the graduation ceremony rehersal on that day as well but my whole class including me were not selected or chosen to help out. For some unknown reasons, they did not personally called us to confirm it. Whats more weird though is why they would not choose a united class of 26 students to go help out. Here we are reaching our hands to do something good for the school and our applications got rejected. I was really hoping to serve this as an occasion to unite the class even tighter. But alas we were not chosen. Its not like ive anything to complain about....

Tullast This is Captain's log, 9:33:00 PM

Monday, July 26, 2004

The Dream is always the same...

Today's practical lessons arent so bad. I thought it was gonna be a very loong practical but in the end, it was pretty short, especially the first one. The first one, Microbiology A practical, all we have to do is to culture the bacteria into different agar plates, thats all. Then we will have to observe it next week. We dont have to hand in a report for that particular practical. However, next week, the whole class wont be free because we are involved in the Graduation Ceremony for the Graduating Student. I wonder how things will turn out.

The Inorganic chem wasnt so bad either. We we had to do is to follow the instruction thats as clear as a whistle and follow it. It turned out to be ok and we managed to finish on time. The practical lessons wasnt too hard to follow, unlike last week's on the ion exchange column, which we had no clue on the concept behind it.

Todays Japanese lessons were not bad either. For the first time in 4 weeks, we finally get to learn some basic sentence structures, and we had a great time learning it. It was easy for me because i knew pretty much the basics already so i just helped my friends, especially Jamie and Joash, to any enquiry that they might have.

This weekend, i MIGHT get a small gasp of relief as we dont have to hand all 3 reports next week. All we have to complete is the Inorganic Chemistry Report. The rest dont have to. Im quite relieved because that means i have more free time to concentrate on other topic especially maths!

This past week, im constantly having the same dream or rather dreams.

There is one in particular, i cant remember much but it was really funny. I just finished a lecture, i was walking with Shi Ming, Mizael and Jamie around the school. Then suddenly we came across a secret canteen. And it was really great. The food and the number of stalls were astronomical! It was really short but i really felt foolish when i recall that dream.

Another one was really mysterious. This is the dream that has been continuing everytime i dream about it. Its like watching a mini series. Ive come across these kinds of dreams before and this one is one of them

I dont know what will be the outcome of this dream, but it was started when i board a bus, with all my band members inside, in their full uniforms. I was wearing normal clothes but i was carrying this large bag. I dunno whats inside but it seems that im going somewhere. And everytime i dream about this, the bag that im carrying seems to be filled with something extra. Cant really remember whats inside but when i dream, i have this feeling that i have a purpose in mind, a task a hand. Its really weird and it makes me wanna know more, If its possible.

The last one is one of the siliest and possibly a sign that im being too caught up at my studies. I was in a nature park, for scientific purposes. The study of trees and living organisms living there. I was there because i wanted to do research on a new type of genetically engineered algae, that when this algae grows and covers the entire surface of a pond or lake, Science tells you that it will block the sun and plants in the water cant photosynthesize and make oxygen, killing living things in the water. But this algae is special, once it grows to a certain size, it will provide oxygen to the water by photosynthesizing. The photosynthesis mechanism is at the top of the algae, facing the sun and the bottom contain dunno what, that will enables oxygen to be passed in water, dissolving it and providing oxygen. See, its very detailed because i can still remember. I remember snorkeling in the lake and examining the specimen closer details. Weird isnt it? This is a sign that ive been studying too much. Or maybe its an opportunity for me to find a way to create this new type of genetically engineered algae? Who knows...

Tullast This is Captain's log, 11:04:00 PM

Sunday, July 25, 2004

Week 4 here i come....

Sunday, supposed to be a holiday, get up and get out, hang out and chill out. But now i dont think that is possible anymore to be "hanging out" and "chilling out" on every sunday. Haiz... life is sooo cruel and beautiful and the same time. What irony. Anyway, week 3 has come and go, week 4 is gonna be a very very busy week. As usual, doing physical chemisty and inorganic chemistry tutorial, doing 3 lab reports, Microbiology A, Physical Chemistry and Inorganic Chemistry. Maths E-quiz, which i think not gonna do very well. That is on thursday, as well as a make up tutorial? i think... on Introduction to Molecular Biotechnology. Thats on thursday as well. And Rehersal for the upcoming Graduation Ceremony for the Third Year student. Our class volunteered to be usherers for the upcoming event. That is on thursday as well. So i guess thursday is gonna be packed again, as always, despite having NO lesson on that day. Haiz... life is cruel and at the same time beautiful....

Today im kinda happy for something really weird... I killed 5 mosquitoes today. I dunno for some reasons, there are alot of mosquitoes around my neighbourhood. Oh well, killed all 5 of them today. Oh? i think i saw 1 more... gotta go, later while i kill this one first. heheh....

Tullast This is Captain's log, 11:17:00 PM

The Complete Circle of Protection, The 3 Laws of Robotics.

1.A robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2.A robot must obey orders given it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3.A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

That is what was said in the latest action flick, I Robot. The movie, based on the works of a popular science fiction author, Isaac Asimov, is a refreshing and thought provoking movie that ive seen in a while. While this movie is Science Fiction, some may or may not like the movie but personally, i really like the plot.

Having read some of the author's books before, i must say that this movie is a good adaptation about some of the ideas and philosophy that the author has created in his books. If anyone were to read Isaac Asimov's book, one is bound to be familiar with the 3 Laws of Robotics, or the Zeroth Law. It is the complete circle of protection and it basically says that with these laws in place, a robot cannot harm a human being.

This movie is science fiction, and i mean really science fiction. The settings and environment that you see in the movie are out of this world, never even thought off. Its hi-tech, beautiful and its one of the most realistic visualisation of how the world might look like 30 to 50 years from now.

This movie is about this detective, Mr Spooner, played by Will Smith, who is currently investigating a murder of a scientist, the inventor if the 3 Laws, and co-founder of US Robotics (USR), which specialises in creating robots. The setting is roughly 40 years from now and it is a world where robots are everywhere, taking care of human beings doing the jobs of human beings. USR is one of the largest company in the world. The scientist, was found dead in this high tech office building of USR. By the looks of it, the scientist committed suicide, because he jumped out from his office. However, Mr spooner is not convinced that he committed suicide. Having a paranoia against robots due to his past and bitter experiences, he decided to further investigate the case. What happened after that was something he did not expect. He soon realised that the doctor was leaving him breadcrumbs or clues as to the motive of his suicide. He soon found out that one robot specifically made by the doctor actually killed the doctor and broke the 3 Laws of Robotics. That would soon act as a catalyst for a series of events that might bring the freedom of humanity into the brink of destruction or if the detective tries to gain back the trust of that unique robot, he could use its help to save mankind.

Though the plot isnt something new, although its interesting, its the setting that this story that was based on that kept the movie going. I actaully didnt expect that many special effects in the movie and i was pleasantly surprise that the use of intensive special effects throughout the movie was pleasant to the eyes as well. The design of the robot is really fantastic and the graphical aspect of the robot like walking, running, climbing are pleasant for the eyes. All in all, the special effects are clean, smooth and feels like its real.

For those who haven watched it, this is a must watch movie for this month!

Tullast This is Captain's log, 12:30:00 AM

Saturday, July 24, 2004

Yesterday's Forte III was a blast!!

Yes it was!! I had a great time performing and during the 2 hour performance, it was one hell of a night!! The concert hall was almost full house and even the circle seats werent spared either.

I came to Victoria Concert hall at around 6pm and when i reached there, the main band was already doing last minute rehersals. Then at around 7pm, it was the alumni band's turn to do the rehersals. All went well until the time came for the guests to arrive.

I had dinner just before the performance and the food sucked. Anyway, the performance was a blast! Every band member did great and even the Boys' Brigade bag pipes company did extremely well! I was amazed that they have improved in playing the traditional scottish bag pipes. It was part of a "feature" score, where, this score was supposed to have bag pipes accompaniment and we the band and the bag pipes are supposed to play together. It went incredibly well! The score arranged by this composer did really great and it sounded fantastic and unique at the same time. How often do you see the band playing with a company of bag pipers? It was such a terrific experience and a pleasant surprise too for the audiences because they didnt expect both to play at the same time and also they played incredibly and accurately.

The first half of the show, they played many contrasting pieces. A grand piece for the opening and then followed by a slow and melodious tunes of Shenendoah and lively pieces like Gladiators and Highland echoes and many more. Gladiators was one of my favourites!

After the first half of the show, the Junior band was next and they played 2 pieces, one of which was Phantom of the Opera. Despite being juniors, i must say, im very impressed! I have never seen soo much potential in the sec 1 in music playing than any other batch in my years of secondary school. Surely, im confident that the future band members of Northland Secondary School shall have a new unique identity and talent with the advent of this young and enthusiastic batch of sec 1.

Next up was the alumni band members! We played 3 pieces conducted by our former conductor, who we all alumni band members sorely missed, Mr Tan Beng Wee. We played Where the River Flows, Hello Dolly, and Beatles Forever. The audience really loved at our selection of pieces and had high praises for us for being able to play really well and still commited to the band despite having left the school years ago. They were simply awed at our musical skills that we have developed over the years.

After that, it was the main band again, playing Tijuana, Pirates of the Carribbean, and Shrek! Every piece of music were played wonderfully and my all time favourite movie and soundtrack, Pirates of the Carribbean. When they played i was at a loss for words. Pirates was one of the more difficult pieces to play and they played incredibly well! listening to the original soundtrack and the arranged version of the score, the band's performance, safe to say was on par with the soundtrack. It was simply astounding!

The last piece, Shrek, was a compilation of old and new music, like YMCA, Who Let Dogs Out, Saturday Night Fever and many more. When the main band played, there was a surprise for the audience. The sec 1 band member went up on stage to dance! They dance really well to the tunes, shouting YMCA and doing those really cool dance moves. The audience went wild!! They shouted for support and whistled in enthusiasm. Everybody was really on the edge of the seats to see them dance. It was really a great night.

Then it was over, i went back with all my friends who came to watched the performance, thanking them for supporting us. Im really glad to have come to the performance, as a Band Major, to watch my band grow and develop thier own unique identity. Surely the present Majors have done thier job. Im sooo proud of them!!

Tullast This is Captain's log, 12:12:00 AM

Tuesday, July 20, 2004

Oh Brother Where Art Thou?

Came back from band practice today, probably the last band practice before the real concert. Its been very tiring lately, i got back home at around 10, missed Smallville, no time to study my maths, have to get ready for a new day. Haiz... life, what have i done to achieve this?

Im feeling really frustrated at myself right now. There are soo many things that needs to be done and so little time to get it done. All these negative feelings, i have no place to release it. I have neither siblings to sought comfort from within, nor any close friends to talk about my problems. Im bottling up my problems now. All i can do now, is to spend my precious time left of myself, and write this little journal of mine, my only source of comfort and escape from reality at this moment.

Ive written something along this line before in my other journal, regarding not having a brother.

I dont have any siblings, im the only child. Some of you may think that its a great thing to be the only child of the family, getting all the attention, having all the things that you want or need, without sharing with anyone, being independent, not having anyone snooping at your private stuff in your room. But to me, having a sibling especially an older brother, is one of my greatest desires. I would trade almost ANYTHING for an older brother. Right now what i need is a listening ear, someone who could hear out my problems, someone who would always be there for me in times of need. Someone who protect me. I may seemed naive, but its something that i would hope to have... a fools hope.

Being the only child, the other alternative to find companionship are my friends. Truly, in all my years in school, ive never treasured anything more precious that ive encountered or met, than my friends. I have never made any enemies and im the kind of guy who is easy to hang out with virtually any kind of person, be a guy or girl, regardless of skin colour. Those who know me well, would tell you that he has no enemies, and that he treats anyone he met a friend, no matter how brief it is. Friendship is the closest that i have next to having an older brother. But they arent perfect at times...

Tullast This is Captain's log, 11:55:00 PM

Sunday, July 18, 2004

CMS Ruined my Weekend Groove!!!

The second week of school has just ended and it has been even busier and stressful than last week's. Im already lagging behind in my maths. The rate at which maths are being taught is extremely fast. Like for example, before i could refresh my mind and get the hang of the laws of Indices, the teacher is already going on to logarithm, which is an A math topic which i have absolutely no clue of what it is all about. I think its time that i ask my cousin for help. At least if i dont understand half of it, half of what i understand is still better than nothing.

This weekend, im supposed to finish my reports, my assignments, my revisions and last of all all my E assignments. But guess what... the Course Management System is down. What total bullshit than to give me a downed link. I have assigments to be completed that is on the CMS my tomorrow and they are telling me the website is down? This is ludicrious. On the highnote however, a friend of mine actually got hold of the assignment before the website was down and he was kind enough to send it via mail. However im still pissed at the status of the CMS, the assignment which was given to me by my friend was still last minute and i only got it just now, that was like sunday night. But dont worry i managed to do everything that is required for tomorrow. But i havent finished my revision yet, especially modules on microbiology A and Introduction to molecular biotechonology. I have to revise those 2 tomorrow after school.

This weekend however i bought the Chemistry book by Mcmurry and Fay, which i borrowed. that was extremely helpful. I borrowed that book on thursday, and i studied or rather revised the topic on stoichiometry. Guess what? The book was sooo easy to understand! Its rather thick and heavy literally and in a sense of the topic being taught, but its been written in such a way that it makes you understand really well about the particular topic. I now understand pretty much everything that is required for the topic that i was learning. The Chemistry book was about 50 bucks and i bought it not because its easy to learn, but also its useful when doing revision. There are lots of exercises in the book that you can do them and most of them are really challenging that i like about this book. Furthermore, its really relevant in the modules that im currently studying, Physical Chemistry and Inorganic Chemistry. I bought another one, Biology, although it isnt the one that is been recommended by teachers but hey, its second hand and its cheap about $20 for a 1000 page book. I bought for refererence only.

Tomorrow i was thinking of holding a mini meeting for the class, just to make some minor announcments and also promote my band performance due next thursday. Im not sure how the schedule is gonna be like on thursday, but im pretty much free on that day in terms of lessons in school. I hope that some of my classmates can at least turn up for the concert because i think its gonna be a blast. For those curious, it will be held at Victoria Concert Hall, from 8 pm onwards. Tickets at $10 and you can buy at the booth over there. My band members say that it will be a full house during the performance, and that they have very few tickets left. So i just hope that the few tickets will get to go to my classmates. Im hoping for the performance to be a class outing for a start. I would be really grateful for anyone in my class to come to my concert.

Well i have nothing much to say. This basically wraps everything up for the week, especially the weekends.

Tullast This is Captain's log, 11:30:00 PM

Thursday, July 15, 2004

Its good to have a pleasant conversation with a friend.

On thursday, im supposed to publish this post but i havent finish yet, so im now going to finish it.

On thursday, it was supposed to be a free day for my class. There arent any lessons on that day because we moved the periods on other days so that we could let thursday be 100% free. But alas, when we did the microbiology A practical on tuesday, we were dealing with microbes and part of the requirement was to observe the microbes after 48 hours, which is roughly thursday. So technically, thursday was not a free day for us. We had to go back to school and record our results so that we could complete our lab reports.

My experiment on the microbes went well except for one particular test, which is the test on counting the colonies after diluting the concentrated E.coli broth on the test tube. The experiment failed. Instead of getting individiual colonies growing on the agar plate, we had a lawn on E.coli grown all over the agar plate, therefore we couldnt count the specimen. ARGH!! we are gonna lose our practical marks for that. Nevertheless, we learn from our mistakes and hopefully by writing a good report on why we made that mistakes, might compromise for the loss of marks.

After that, about an hour later, everything was finished and before we left, our teacher showed us something incredible. She showed us a specimen of E.coli that glowed flourescence under UV light. It was really beautiful! What happened was that the year 2 students actually inserted part of a particular jellyfish gene that has that trait into the bacteria. Using recombinant DNA technology, they managed to make the E.coli a mutated species, glowing under UV light. wow...

After the whole experiment was over, i met my good friend of mine, aaron and we had lunch together talkin about old times and how we missed secondary school soo much, the rowdyness of our class, the fun that we had as a class. It was one of a really pleasant conversation that i had in a long time. Then he showed me and my classmate, Joash, his Media Design block and it was WONDERFUL!! I really liked it! The art that was showcased on the corridors were all the most beautiful ive seen and when we got up to the level that my friend intended to show us, he got to the lift. When the lift opens, a huge mural, welcomed us! It was really beautiful. The block has many fantastic rooms all designed for use in the aid of doing your creative works like animation, storyboard room, project room, art showcases and the most impressive of all-: Motion Capture Room!!! OMG!! They do have such thing!! Motion capture is one of the most advanced type of animation capturing technology and is being used by mega blockbuster movies like Lord of The Rings, the animation of Gollum, Final Fantasy the Movie, Matrix and many more!! Im truly impressed!!

That was thursday so on to Friday:

Friday, nothing much, a looong day. From 8 to 6. An hour of tutorial of maths and 2 hours of lecture on the same subject. ARGH! i hate maths!! And its A maths!! This week we are already going on to logarithm and i have not a clue on how to do it!! ~Snif~ darn... i really need to find someone to teach me maths especially logarithm... god.. i already suck in my laws of indices and the manipulation of it and now im going to learn logarithm...

Tomorrow i have floorball practice.. i dunno when it will end though.. just that i have full dress rehearsal on that day at 2 for my band practice. So tomorrow is going to be a loong day again. I hope that i dont sprain my muscles again. I really need my legs for the later part of the day and i need to make sure that i dont strain myself and that i have sufficient warm ups and gradually build the intensity from then on.

Well i gotta go catch ya up later...

Tullast This is Captain's log, 11:58:00 PM

Wednesday, July 14, 2004

~Leg Cramp~

Today's floorball practice was fantastic! Although i had a leg cramp on my left calve muscle, i still go on playing game after game after game. We started our match from 4 pm to 6pm and after that we had a short debrieing. We year ones were pitted against the seniors and guess what? Although we lost, but we did not suffer a bitter defeat, we still manage to get a score close to a tie. I cant remember whats the score but the seniors told us that we played agressively, if not alittle unorthodox, we play with all our might and they had difficulty keeping us in check.

Although i cant be in the fray of the action due to my cramps ( it still hurts by the way) i really enjoyed being the defender. Actually, im most confortable being a defender and i guess im going to hone my skills to being a great defender. Who knows, i might be the best defender there is in the near future, but that is fools hope for now.

As for my studies, god, dont remind me. It's not getting better. Why didnt i consider the level of stress that im going to face before choosing this course? For whatever it is ultimately, its THE course i want to get into above all else. I poured all my rantings to my close friends, and they seem to have full confidence in me that i can do well, that i can make wonders. Hope they are right, and i hope that i have the same amount of encouragements i can get from anywhere.

The only thing im aiming now is: Have a title of: Diploma in Molecular Biotechnology. Baby steps first, thats right baby steps.

Tullast This is Captain's log, 10:15:00 PM

Tuesday, July 13, 2004

Everybody must wear "googles" if not i give you one star... LAME!!

Yesterday and todays practical lab sessions are alittle bit better than last weeks. Part due to our readiness in reading the notes ahead of the lab session, so as not to be blur when we are in the lab. However , its really very tiring and all the lab reports that we have to hand in, 3 in all, every week is a very daunting task.
The experiments are quite interesting, when it comes to microbiology A and physical chemistry, but i dont like the inorganic chemestry lab session.

First of all, we have to wear "googles" throughout the lab session, total of 2 hours and its really uncomfortable after awhile. The rules set by the teacher is very strict and i dont quite like it at all. The experiments are long and tedious and must apply what we have learnt previously. However fortunately , we do in pairs just like the other practicals. Wei san, my partner is really cooperative and we work together really well. We divided our work equally and without complaints. She is happy , I am happy, everybody is happy!

Well, i dont have much time to write anymore, i just hope i can do a good job at my reports and that the teachers expectations arent too high.

Tullast This is Captain's log, 6:55:00 PM

Sunday, July 11, 2004

YES!! Ive done what ive supposed to do for week one! Now onward to week 2!!

Im soo tired! finally i managed to finish my lab reports , tutorial worksheets, E-tutorials, and revision in 2 days!! Phew!! im such a procrastinator! Anyway, im pretty much ready for week 2, for any "holes" that ive created in week 1, ill be sure to patch it up later as i go along in week 2. Hopefully this week isnt as bad as the last.

Nothing much to say actually, just to note to myself that im sticking to floorball and that training is on wednesdays and saturdays. During my revision, i think ive learn alot of new words in a week that i could in my entire life! symbionts, mycology, protozoology, rhodophyta, chlorophyta, phaeophyta, dinophyta, bacilliriophyta, protozoa, protista, plantae, animalia, fungi, monera, saccaharisea cerivasea, zygomycota, basidiomycota, mycophytophyta, deuteromycota, ascomycota, mycelium, hyphae, eukaryotes, prokaryotes, sporangium, gametorangium and many many more!! WOW!!

Tullast This is Captain's log, 11:35:00 PM

Friday, July 09, 2004

I Survived the First Week at NYP.

Today is friday and im really glad that the first week is over. This week has been very hectic for me. Ive had little sleep for the past 4 days because i had alot of things to attend to outside my school that i dont wish to elaborate. This first week, the Adaptation Week has been very eventful and there are many events that has happened that would fill a month's full of experience.

Finally the weekends are here and i can finally do my homework! Right now im really procrastinating because i had no time to do my homework nor my reports AT ALL! Hopefully i can do my homework, revise my work as well as finish ALL the E learning materials within this 2 days.

Its really stressful for me especially in the course im in. I need alot of catching up and revision to do right now. There are many things that ive learnt that are very new to me and i cannot afford to lag behind and in the worst case scenario, fail a module. Im really worried about my Math now because it requires A-math knowledge background and i have NONE of it.

The first week is over meaning i need to go through what has been taught in week one before im ready for week two. The course schedule is really tight and i cant afford not to not understand anything that has been taught or else its really difficult for me to catch up. I pray that i can finish all my given assignments by the end of this week and hopefully do it well. I do not like to rush into things when it comes to work and by the looks of things, i have to do just that. It seems that i have to work smart and management my time to the upmost efficiency. Ill prolly have to sacrifice a portion of my free time to work from now on. I cant afford to spare any more time on other unimportant things. Academic comes first.

Anyway, aside from that, I just want to pour out my thoughts about my class and my expectations of my class. Since they are the ones who elected me as the Class Representative in almost ALL subject, i think making a Mission Statement for the class just for fun would be a good idea. It is one of the ways i express my feelings.

Mission Statement, MB0402 2004

- Be united.
- Help each other out and offer a helping hand when your friends need them.
- 3 years being together, i just hope that no conflicts shall arise amongst ourselves.
- Please cooperate with the Class Reps.
- Everybody has strength and weaknesses, find out what they are and i hope to see all of them work on their strength and improve on thier weaknesses as a class.
- Everbody needs a friend, never leave anyone out.
- Hope the class can be more dynamic and a little more noisy ( im used to noisy classes.)

Tullast This is Captain's log, 8:43:00 PM

Wednesday, July 07, 2004

NYP CCA Crawl!!

Today and yesterday was a normal day in school. We had our tutorials, our lectures and our horrible practicals. Yesterday's practical didnt go very well too. The experiment was to learn how to use a microscope, the names of the parts etc. Then we were supposed to examine 2 different organisms under the microscope. It went fine initially but when the part where we have to follow certain procedures before examining the organisms under the microscope, it didnt went too well. When we finally managed to get our samples and examine it, we had difficulty focusing on the organisms and we couldnt see the microscopic stuff. We has to ask other friends to do it. By the time the practical lesson ended, we didnt manage to see our second sample and have to resort to looking other group's microscope and observe its properties.

NYP CCA Crawl is a 2 day event covering 2 major areas. It is actually a CCA drive and various CCAs in the school set up booths in the Campus center as well as the Theater for the Arts to showcase thier CCAs as well put up attractive displays to attract as much freshmens like me to join thier respective CCA. Safe to say that it was overwhelming. Theere are soo many CCA groups from different aspects such as Arts, Martial Arts, Sports, Mind Sports, Clubs, Music clubs and many more. It was such a heaadache choosing a CCA or two, but i managed to signed up 2 CCAs that im interested in.

The respective CCA groups were indeed competitive and aggressive. They showcase thier CCAs in many different forms, from a performaance to a march around the school to even giving out brochures and bookmarks around the campus to advertise and get the competitive edge. Lots of displays and performance were put up in the campus center and it felt like a festival of sorts.

After walking round and round the various cca booths and thinking hard on which CCA to choose, I finally chose floorball and NYP PAL. Yup, 2 CCAs, hopefully i can cope though. With my present course that im in and the oncoming amoung of homeworks and reports to hand in, i need to becareful in managing my time. (Note to self: Academics before CCA.)

Floorball practice is on this saturday and ill be meeting some of my old friends who took floorball too.

Tullast This is Captain's log, 3:53:00 PM

Monday, July 05, 2004

First day of school... Ended with a "BANG"

Today is officially the first day of school. It went pretty smoothly except for the part where i am elected as a class representative. I mean, thats something unexpected and im sure that there must be other people more capable of doing a better job than me. Oh well, Guess ill be the class representative for a looong time to come.

During the day in school, i did met with a couple of my old friends in secondary school. Its great to be able to see them once in a while and although our busy schedules may not match up, at least we get to say our Hi's and Goodbyes to each other whenever we pass by along the corridors. I still havent seen my good friend of mine, Aaron. I dunno where he is but i hope that i can see him somewhere in the campus. So far ive met Handri, Tami, Hussaini, Zhiwei, Irene, Weiwen, and Uma. I im also quite surprised that one of my old freind from primary school is also there, but we werent close to each other anymore.

I would say today is just an introductory day. Not much has been taught except a few of the modules. However the Physical Chemistry was a real bummer. It was our first time to our first practical and already we have to start doing our first experiment from our lab manual. We werent given any supervisions and it was chaotic. I mean, we forgot the names of various scientific instruments and all of us started questioning "whats this whats this". During the experiment, we forgot how to calculate using formulas and how to give the appropriate significant figures or decimal places in each of our test results. It was really bad and i feel very uncertain without a proper guide in the begining of the practical. Hope everything smoothen out as soon as possible. I dont like learning in an environent where everything is just half taught and left hanging just like that.

On a happier note, we managed to go back home slightly earlier today becauase of a slight change in your timetable. The last period of the day was shifted to an earlier timeslot. Furthermore, the second last period was a tutorial lesson and that tutorial lesson was not really important at all because the tutorial is supposed to be E-Tutorial meaning we learn by logging on to our Course Management System. So what the teacher really said was that you can treat that lesson as non-existent. So all in all we save 2 hours in the afternoon, and we may be able to go back home as early as 3pm. Hows that for ending the first day of school with a "BANG".

Tullast This is Captain's log, 5:45:00 PM

Sunday, July 04, 2004

Spiderman 2.... words cannot describe this astounding movie.

Yup, im at a loss for words. Just came back from watching Spiderman 2 on Eng Wah Cinema, at Sunplaza and i did not expect this movie to be soooo good!!! OMFG!! This is truly the blockbuster movie of the year and many years to come! This is soo much better than the first movie. The villian, Doc. Octavius (if my spelling is correct) is such a wonderful villian and the cinematography, the camera directing, the special effects all says it all. This is simply the best movie ive ever seen and it will be the talk of the town for a long time to come.

This movie doesnt only boasts its special effect and no storyline. In fact in the second installment of the movie, Peter Parker, Spiderman is faced with a bigger dilemma than the first movie. The painful decision of leaving the life of spiderman can be clearly shown in the character and his love for Mary Jane Watson makes it all the better. The romance is there, without being too overblown. It is one of the very few action movie that has the perfect blend of action and romance as well as deep character interaction all in one movie.

The special effects and CGIs are all wonderfully done. The battle between Doc. Octavius and Spiderman within the city are all wonderfully choreographed and well thought off, leaving you at the edge of your seats with surprises that barely leaving with a breath of air. The CGIs for this movie are so natural that its sometimes hard to distinguished the fine line between real people acting and full CGIs. This is the only movie that ive watched when you see a superhero saving an innocent, you just want to burst out cheering and clapping for the guy even when you are in the cinema. Throughout the action and rescuing, there is soo much energy and the feeling of truimph for the superhero. Being Spiderman, its everybody's dream of being that kind of superhero when you watch the movie and youll feel just like that when you leave the theater.

The slower parts when Peter Parker isnt rescuing people, isnt boring at all. In fact its better and though provoking. Its during these moments when you realize the dillema he faces and choosing an ordianary life or the life of a superhero. Here you will also learn a valuable lesson, many lessons actually about life itself. Like the most famous quote in the movie "With great power comes great responsibility" and other quotes and conversations such as, "There is a superhero in all of us, not in saving people, but us being honest, and truthful, and hardworking. That is our superhero" This quote more or less accurate basically sums up the whole theme of the movie. It basically tells us that people who want to become like them, they dont have to, just being yourself, honest and hardworking is enough to become a superhero, and thus when they see you as a role model, we are driven to become good and follow the footsteps of all the great people that we see today.

To sum it all up, this is the best movie of the summer!! The movie shall recieve the following awards:
Two thumbs up award.
Best summer blockbuster flick award.
Must see movie of the year award.
Best action movie award.
Most anticipated movie of the year award.
Best comic book to movie adaptation award.

For those who havent watch yet, you must watch it, or youre an AHO!!

Tullast This is Captain's log, 2:40:00 AM

Saturday, July 03, 2004

I found something interesting that relates to my character

Morpheus

?? Which Of The Greek Gods Are You ??
brought to you by Quizilla

What am I Addicted to?

nothing

You're addicted to.....

Nothing!
Your addicted to nothing at all? Well..... ok I
guess thats a good thing but come on just think
of the possibilities!

What are you addicted to? (pics!)
brought to you by Quizilla

Tullast This is Captain's log, 6:17:00 PM

Friday, July 02, 2004

Nanyang Polytechnic Orientation Day 2

Day 2 of my orientation was definitely a surprise for me. Firstly, originally the plan was to hold only 1 day of orientation for my school. However it was extended to 2 days. I didnt complain as i actually thought that one day isnt enough for me. Secondly, on the second day of orientation, our OGLs told us that there will be a performance done by us to the whole school and we need to prepare within a certain time period.

The performance was the big event during that day. Of course we had the usual talks on choosing an elective module on top of your core ones. By the way, i took Japanese language as my elective module. Itll be my third language that ill be able to speak and write. As a matter of fact i already know how to write in Japanese and read (very slowly) on Japanese texts, especially Hiragana. Anyway, back to the talks, other than that, we had an Aids talk and also talks on discipline. The lunch was a catered lunch buffet and it was really great.

Before the actual performance, we have to prepare our skit that we decided to come up with within 1 and a half hours. At first we did not know what to do, changing from song item to skit to song item again to skit finally. Then comes the hard part... what are we going to performed. Someone suggested the advertisements and i thought to be a good idea. Another suggested the NYP Idol and it was also a good idea. In the end we did both, doing the NYP idol AND the advertisements.

I was put in charge of the Advertisements, actually i volunteered to oversee the advertisement department, coming up with all sorts of advertisements and elect who will do which. Another group did the NYP idol. I didnt see much what was going on but all i know is that they were doing their best in the item.

In the Advertisement department, I and afew others came up with the final few, namely Sunpage IDD, which was changed and suggested by one of my classmates to Sunpage IDD 666. It was really a good idea. Others include Ikea to tissue brand, Heineken Beer, and DHL advertisement. I delegated my classmates and my god!! They did really good. Acting was way above from what i expected. I mean, really they have shown their other side of them to me and my first impression was correct. Its a very well diversified class!!

Finally after the practice was done, we did a final rehearsal by putting the Idol department and the Advertisement department together. During the rehearsal, there were rough edges that needs to be smoothen out, but everything went smooth after that. Those that did not act in other roles were asked to become audiences and by the response it was really funny...

After the practice and the lunch, the big event had arrived. Everybody gathered in the Theater for the Arts for the show. Every class has to come up with something on stage and our class happens to be the third item on the random list. It was nerve wrecking. I happened to be the voiceover for various advertisements and a role in the DHL Advertisement. During our performance, when i observed the Idol performers, I WAS ASTOUNDED!! They did really great! The contestants have the courage to sing solo and make a fool out of themselves that even i cant do it! Kudos to them!! Overall both departments despite some errors and bumps they make on the way during the performance, i can see initiatives and improvisations in every one of them. Everybody did great!

Soon after that, other performances were generally quite good too. Some did song items while others did advertisements also. The most hilarious one that i will never forget is the alternate version of the milk ad, the "flower... flower... ORCHID" ad was change to: "rubber.... rubber.... CONDOM!!" LOL!! I laughed till my stomach ached!

After that, it was time for the result to see which class is the best class that performed well in both the telematches and the performances. Before it was read out, our class has no intention of winning or felt that we couldnt win. Looking back, our class was just mediocre, neither did too well in the games nor the worst perfoming class. But can you believe it? We won first prize. Yes, we won the first prize!! It was soo unexpected! No one in my class wished to aim for the first not expected our class to be the first, but we manage to become champion!!

It was the whole class's efforts and im really proud of my class for emerging tops. After the whole prize giving ceremony, we distributed tons of chocolates and a little souvenir to everyone. Then we took a photo for the Helicase newsletter to be published and known to others that we emerged champion. Before that we had to go through a little ritual before finally becoming part of the SCL family, that is to drink this disgusting drink concocted by our fellow OGLs. It was a mixture of something really disgusting. We all "yamseng" gulped down and the end. This has been a tradition in SCL recently in NYP, that is to drink that disgusting black water.

After the ordeal, we were still shocked at us emerging champion then we said our goodbyes...

Tullast This is Captain's log, 10:54:00 PM

Nanyang Polytechnic Orientation Day 1

The orientation was a good experience for me. It took place on the 28th of June, covering over 2 days and it was generally fun, knowing the campus and meeting new people. As you already know, im in the School of Chemical and Life Sciences and there are 6 classes in my year, the biggest they say. Im in the second class, MB0402.

The first day when i arrived there in the morning, we have to be at the Theater for the Arts. I was quite nervous because of several factors. Its something new that im dealing with. You know, a totally new environment, it makes you venture out your Comfort Zones. Secondly, ive no friends to accompany me. None of whom i know were going to the same course as me so in a sense im totally alone.

When i got there, i got there just in time. There were alot of other students there already and soon we registered out names, collected our goodiebags and entered the theater for some welcoming talks and introduction to our OGLs. After the talk, our class led by the OGLs were taken to a tutorial room where we have to introduce ourselves. We were all quiet, meeting new faces and being too shy to talk to each other.

Generally during the first day, it was alot of talks here and there. As for me, i didnt really clicked to anyone of them in my class of 26, however im quite surprised that my class is quite diversified, after the introduction, my classmates were pretty much from all walks of life. Some were from malaysia and indonesia, some from neighbourhood schools like me and some from JC dropouts. My first impression about my class is that i can sense an all round talent as a class.

During the first day after lunch at Macdonalds, there were more talks but there were some activities as well, like treaure hunts and telematches. The telematch was fun. It took place in the hockey field and it was one of the last activities for the day. That was the time when i really felt a connection with my classmates.

The telematch was interesting. As a class, we were supposed to delegate 2 volunteers a girl and a boy to become mummies, that is to be wrapped up in rolls of toilet papers and to be transport at different checkpoints. I was the carrier as the other boys are and the girls do the wrapping. It was a frenzy!! Cheering and helping each other out to wrap as fast as we can to avoid losing. But in the end we were neither first nor last.

The second part of the telematch was a real bummer. As a class we were supposed to protect our mummies against a barrage of water bombs. At the same time some attackers one of them is me tried to make other mummies wet. In the end one of our mummies got wet and all the toilet paper were torn. Whats left was a girl who stayed generally dry.

The third part of the telematch was to gather all the mummies who survived the first 2 matches to buttpush other mummies and bring thier wraps down or to push them outside the ring. Our group didnt make it to the finals.

After everything, we took a group photo of all the student under the School of Chemical & Life Sciences. After that we head back home for another day of orientation...

Tullast This is Captain's log, 10:19:00 PM

Before I do anything else...

Before i do anything else, i must type out my mission statement for year 2004-2005. This is a must have in my journal and a habit i must not forget.

My Mission Statement

1. Its not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.
2. Feel the fear and just do it. Dont turn back, reward is near.
3. Be courageous at key junctures of life.
4. Be hardworking and never judge a book by its cover.
5. Appreciate other people's differences and see their differences as a great advantage.
6. Be proactive and principle-centered, the best way to get through your life.
7. set reachable goals and accomplish them one at a time.
8. Never take simple things for granted.
9. Determination!! Go for every opportunity.
10.Be a prioritizer, not a procrastinator, yes-man or slacker.
11.Plan ahead, be balance and renew yourself.
12.Seek first to understand then be understood.
13.Take risk you fool! Your greatest fear can be your best friend if you know them well.
14.Do not worry too much. Just be yourself and reject negative peer pressure.
15.Be a role model in whatever you are at and shine!

Ive been writing mission statements for the past 3 years and it has helped me a lot in my life. I treat my mission statement with great respect and its like my Life Map to success. I always keep a small version of it somewhere wherever i go. It could be in my wallet or my organizer. Ive not written my goals yet because i dont know what my goals now considering now that im at my new chapter of life, i still need to do a lot of exploration and self discovery before outlining my clear goals. A goal not written is merely a dream...

Tullast This is Captain's log, 10:01:00 PM

Welcome to my new journal!!

After doing a 30 minutes crash course on how to use the various templates for the blog, ive finally made it!! This is my first post of my brand new blog and it will be very unpredictable to me. I dunno what is going to be filled in my blog in time to come but safe to say that this blog will only serve one purpose and that is to capture my precious moments when im still a teenager. Personally this part of my life is very dear to me and it is something that I do not want to forget. I have another journal but it was officialy closed because that part of my life has already been over. Im now walking on another path of my life and it is important that I keep a seperate journal.

Now on to me.

My full name is Muhammad Jasrie Firdaus and I am from Singapore. Im currently schooling and ill be in a new school, a tertiary education which i feel is the most happening period of my life. Ill be meeting up with a lot of challenges along the way and this journal will be beside me all along, recording my highs and lows, my joys and my fears.
Ill be studying in Nanyang Polytechnic and i hope that everything goes smoothly. Itll be tough in there but im confident that with my peers that ive got to know during the first days being in the campus, ill be able to make it "alive".

Im currently persuing a Diploma in Molecular Biotechnology, one of the most difficult courses to get into and without doubt the most exciting and challenging of all. As i said before i cannot walk this path alone. My journal or blog so to say, and my friends will have to help me step by step into the unknowns and out to the other end of the dark tunnel.

I guess i shall end my introduction now. If you want to know more about me i guess you have to come back often and i will reveal more and more about me as i go along.

Tullast This is Captain's log, 7:57:00 PM