Long time no blog...

Haven't posted an entry for a mighty long time - caught up in my work. Well... Term 3's really hectic so far. Of course, it's been expected. Let's see - kinda encouraged by the number of hits to my website... over 300 in June alone (I just started the blog end of May, so I feel that this is a lot!) Anyway, if you were to go to any major search engine (Google, Yahoo, MSN, Mamma, Altavista) and search for "edwin toh", you'd come up with my blog link as the 1st result! Now how cool is that! Haha... going overboard... but I think that's one of the reasons why I get an average of 10 hits a day. This cool stuff is all made possible by submitting my blog address (with keywords) to a "site submitter" that further distributes my link to over 50 search engines! Well, my blog link may not always be on the top of the list (if other similar blogs overtake me, that is)... but I'm certain it will stay top for a long time to come...

Cliched (?) but meaningful poem

I don't think I know 10 people who would admit they love Jesus.

I knelt to pray but not for long, I had too much to do. I had to hurry and get to work For bills would soon be due. So I knelt and said a hurried prayer, And jumped up off my knees. My Christian duty was now done My soul could rest at ease. All day long I had no time To spread a word of cheer. No time to speak of Christ to friends, They'd laugh at me I'd fear. No time, no time, too much to do, That was my constant cry, No time to give to souls in need But at last the time, the time to die. I went before the Lord, I came, I stood with downcast eyes. For in his hands God held a book; It was the book of life. God looked into his book and said "Your name I cannot find. I once was going to write it down... But never found the time"

Now do you have the time to pass it on?

Dreary & tired... grievances

~sigh~ The last week of the holidays has begun and before you know it, hectic school life hits you right "SMACK" in your face. I've been looking at the schedule of events for Term 3 and it seems that from Day 1 there's an endless hoard of Prelims, Oral Exams, internal tests and prepartory classes. The rush of Sec 4 life. It only seems like yesterday when I first stepped into the school. My uncle's been saying that if a student fails to learn, it's largely the teachers' fault. And on went that blabber about how lousy SHSS was (the teachers in particular) and the reasons why choosing a good (secondary) school was of utmost importance. The teachers suck - the students suck. Or so his view was. Not to be disregarded though, an elder's advice (in this case, he is nearing 60 golden years) brims full of experience - though you may argue that life then and life now are so much different - so how would these smarty-pants elderly people know nuts about the struggles of modern-day world - more so in relation to the average teenager. It's not that I don't believe him. You can say I'd just take it as a passing remark. Oh, and I'm expecting to freak out in Term 3 - probably having the ridiculous TONNES of homework at my feet, as if mocking at me for all their worth, screaming silently into my ears - cognizant of my inner stupidity. Yeah that's an exaggeration, but I won't exaggerate that the remaining ½ of the year will be an excruciating one for the Sec 4 cohort this year. (NB: Oh ya, the new school bell featuring a kiddish melody is much quieter, but I'm sure most of the school will think it SUCKS.)

Holiday Homework left: A Maths!

As of now, I'm left with A Maths remaining as my holiday homework. 4 test papers and about 50 differentiation questions to be exact. Havoc.

1 more week left...

Yes! I mean - no! The dreaded days of school are nearing us. Term 3 - so fast. Sec 4s are gonna be pushed to the limits - the climax has yet to come. Teachers rushing to finish however much of the syllabus they can cover until - students struggling to grasp what was taught in class - many a time scoring distinctions with the sole aid of their tuition classes. What has the rest got to do? Those who bloom late, those who "just don't get it" and those who "are not cut out for it"? Wallow in self-pity? Fat hope. Perhaps it's time that we should accept each other as different in our academic talent. With that, I shall retire to sleep now - A Maths remedial at 0900hrs the next day awaits me. Tata~

A nicer layout template? Maybe not at the moment...

Been pondering for a very LONGGGGGGGGGGGG time on whether to change the template to a more complicated one - perhaps one that suits my blog better. In the first place, my blog doesn't even look like a blog at all - more like a personal website. No proper template - just posts, pictures and all the other interactive stuff. Yes, many other people use creative layouts, but I'd rather do them myself and be original than get my layout from somewhere else. I've not been able to do a reasonably good layout template because I'm only trained in basic Microsoft Frontpage and don't know much HTML, JavaScript or CSS coding. I don't specialise in webpage editing - but on the other hand, in graphics and video. So I guess I'll just have to cope with this lousy layout till I maybe read up more on HTML or go for some classes. Till then, this layout's here to stay - and I'll continue blogging.

Happy Birthday Weiling!

16 June... yeah guess that it has already passed... but anyway, just a little about her... this girl's great in A Maths (nearly got full marks for her Mid Year)! She really dislikes getting irritated and poked fun of - so watch out if she unexpectedly strikes back with her "tongue-lashing". Ya, all the best for your 'O's, don't study too hard and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

4A.2004 *Chalet @ NSRCC* - Would you look at this! Now I know that Varun sleeps with his mouth open. Not to mention, many of my classmates snore (quite loudly too) as well.

Melancholy

3 days. 2 nights. 3 hours of sleep. Sad to end the chalet. Happy to be back home. Melancholy. Life's just great at a chalet, no matter what.

Seeing 4 soccer matches in 2 nights. Avid supporters in the class cheering on both countries in the soccer matches. Screams. Cheers. Hullabaloos.

BBQs that fed hungry mouths - not just one, but two. Food and beverage supplies that were brought to feed the hungry, the fatigued - 45 cups of cup noodles, about 50 bottles of mineral water, 7 loaves of bread, and many more, including 80 chicken wings.

A night walk that traversed through the rocks and breakwaters of the shoreline connecting to East Coast Park. Helping each other through the walk. Letting nothing hinder us - "every obstacle is a stepping stone to success".

Hundreds of photos taken. 45 minutes of video as well.

Fellowship that lasted days; friendship that lasts a lifetime.

*AWAY* ~15-17 June~

Away on a local holiday - the class chalet that I've been waiting for so long! I won't be able to blog then unless I can find an Internet connection. Unlikely. Anyway, the three most significant things about this chalet are: 1)15-17 June 2004! EXACTLY ½ a year after our previous chalet AT THE SAME LOCATION (different bungalow of course!) on 15-17 December 2003! 2)We have a birthday girl here - Beh Weiling, who was born on 16 June - 16 years ago! I wonder what's in store... 3)More than 90% of the class (of 41 students) is coming! That's a record for us since our previous 2 chalets only had 60-75% attendance. Furthermore, more people are staying overnight - we expect around 15-20 or hopefully more. Well, I guess it's kinda late now... almost 10pm... still left with a few things to pack - so I'll see all of you after the chalet then! ~5w33+ dR3@mZ!~

Happy Birthday Chao Shaun-boi!

Happy birthday to this BIG - and I mean BIG bully who gets easily irritated by my harmless (well, physically harmless) pranks and makes use of every opportunity there is to bully me. Go see his blog at http://www.f1restorm.blogspot.com and you'll find out why he is such a "bugger-boy". Hopefully this part, an extract from one of my Friendster testimonials to him, will describe my immense "annoyance" towards his "bullying" - "eh... everytime can't stop pissing me off one r... this guy... tt's y everytime i haf the opportunity to do so i try to pull out his uniform so he haf to tuck it in again... damn irritating to him siahz... so farnie to c him do tt so many times... :P" Enjoy your birthday, and bugger off/piss off/wadeva and go for your church camp! *It's a real pity you'll miss the class chalet though.*

Happy Birthday P.S.!

Happy birthday Pui Ser (or Pui Tee, or P.S.)! Here's all the best to you, P.S., and all the best for your 'O's! Stay "estatic" and "don't lie" always! And you too, Shaun - better watch out - your turn tomorrow!

*Learning Journey to Kamplong Glam 2004* - An impromptu snapshot moment of me with my form teacher Mrs Gan.

'round the corner but not really there

Holiday homework status: Physics TYS ½way 'thru; A Maths INCOMPLETE. I wonder when I'll ever finish that dastardly difficult subject. Nevertheless, I'll strive to finish Physics first. Get the easier ones over first. I've seen the recent news about Audioblogging - basically dialing a number with your phone anywhere in the world and having an mp3 file of your recording saved and posted to your blog - but I'm not using the free service at the moment though - not very confident of it. On another note, I just realised that there are 18 more days to the re-opening of school - darn. Time warps. The next big thing on my schedule is the class chalet - a time for us to chill out and hang out, and probably gain all that relaxation we need - especially having tuition EVERYDAY during the holidays (in some cases). *Now now, children - you wouldn't like to be seen as NERDS do ya?* Looking forward to a great time of exhilaration, enjoyment and enlightenment.

English 'O' Lvl Seminar - inapplicable? hackneyed?

I'm DEAD tired. Woke up darn early for some English seminar course that I didn't find much useful. Knew most of the stuff already. ~Holiday homework left: 1 more E Maths Paper 2, Physics & lots of A Maths!~ Stopping here - too tired. Be posting more in the future - if my schedule fits.

Lolz... Are holidays BO-ring?

I've heard many people say that holidays are BO-ring. Well, at least recently. And the problem is, they haven't even started on their holiday homework and plan to cramp in during the last week or perhaps the last few days of the holidays. Not that I'm against it, but I find it rather awkward... I start my holiday assignments way before the holidays most of the time (this holiday was an exception because of the MT 'O's). Still, even though I constantly stuggle to finish it before school reopens, I sometimes am unable to. Others can start later and yet finish faster. Perhaps it's because I think slower, act slower and bloom slower. Especially when it comes to Maths, Science & Combined Humanities. Which covers the majority of the subjects anyway. Sometimes I wish I could take less academically-demanding subjects like perhaps Music, Mass Communications, Communications & Media Management, or maybe even Computer Studies. But of course, these are what you find in polytechnic and university. Not so soon. And back to the point, I honestly don't find holidays being so boring at all. YES, I agree that going back to school for remedials/camps IS boring, but that can't be helped. The rest of our time spent at home is up to US - OURSELVES, to make it less mundane and more exhilarating. It's all up to you to make the holidays what they are.

NSRCC Chalet (Dec '03): ~*The beautiful sunrise never fails to captivate me. Picture taken while at the breakwaters at Changi. Note the contrast between sea and sky.*~

Hell-i-days!

It's that time of the year - hell-i-days (holidays) are here again. Of course, everyone's got a busy schedule and many days are filled with remedials and tuition classes. As for me, I won't be going overseas (no time!) nor out of this island at all (to Pulau Ubin, Sentosa or whatever). The 3 days of break (actually 2 in fact, come to think of it) will only be the class chalet from 15-17 June at NSRCC. Quite a nice place in fact (dreamin' about the night walks that are so commonplace during overnight events). No sleepin' through the night, then watching the sunrise out on the breakwaters. Just b-e-a-utiful. Can't wait to go for the chalet... pity though they always end when life seems to be at its peak. ~*All good things have to come to an end*~