It's finally over...
<--- The timer on the left has finally run out. I've really left the Kindergarten! (P.S: I've already secured a 1 month part time job for my summer holidays)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kindergarten... For The Last Time
I went back this morning, and was actually quite reluctant to go up... however, I still gathered my courage to do so. I received an "overwhelming welcome" I guessed, if that is what it is. I don't really have any business there, but I just feel that it would be quite odd if I just leave like that.
Went to say goodbye to the principal, to most of the teachers around, and of course my classmates. Nothing much lah... some handshakes, some hugs~ Regret going up to the 2nd floor though, nearly got raped by SK gang. Neh Neh...
Seems like Jimmy been passed down to YZ... WTH -_-... May misfortune comes to him swiftly if he tries to harm Jimmy. And Baba been given to some new guy too. Aha... I guess that will be his fate from now on, changing a new owner every 3 months. Haha... also good lah, else his long term owner will be super pitiful.
And so... I took my last look at the Kindergarten as I descended down the stairways... into freedom & light.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My Pinky
Unfortunately, I had to made an extra trip down to the MOE to get back my pinky; for some special reason. I got tricked by the flying red dragon again, and alighted at the wrong MRT stop. Fed up... took a cab there.
I passed my "greenie" to the clark in exchanged for my"pinky"... It was like seeing an old, long lost friend. As I passed the first floor reception towards the entrance, I couldn't help but turned left... and take a look into the next area.
There, I saw dozens of people, guys. Sitting on the chairs, waiting for their medical checkups, waiting to take photos...
More than 30 months ago, I was one of them, sitting there. Today, I revisited this place for the 2nd time, and so much have changed.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Memorable Events List
I shan't bored you with the details (neither can I), but these are some of the most memorable days/events that occurred during my 23 months.
1. The First Day
The day we were ferried across to an island like blur sotongs, as we take the oath with our lives... The separation, the tears and the sleepless first night...
2. The First Time Out
Is that a car?! Is that a building?! Is that a girl?! The absolute amazement of being back in civilization, and the feeling of being teleported back to present from the ancient world. I can't even use a mouse properly when I reached home... I gave my mum a big hug that day~
3. The 7 Days In Jungle
The ultimate test. Wow... Looking back, I wondered how I survived this. I made a lot of good friends and learnt a lot of things from this...
4. The 24K
I've never been closer to death than this. NOTHING in my entire life can compare to this. Thanks for the IMMENSE moral support from everyone.
5. The Day We Throw Our Caps
The most memorable one liao loh... so many things happened, from the previous night till the end of the day. Good things, bad things and things that couldn't be disclosed. Hahaha... the feeling was indescribable.
6. First Time I Met Avy
Sounds extremely embarrassing now that I think back about it. Hahaha. Really dumb sia... I was scared out of my wits when I went inside. And the first time bringing her for "walk" is unforgettable too.
7. The Rope Skipping Incident
Hahaha... Only those that are from my batch will know this. What can I say leh? Screw that WH lah...
8. Choo Got Burnt
This is just what it is loh... kanna burnt by CD Burner.
9. Rommel's Demise
One of the saddening moment in 2 years...
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Excursions
Hmm... some memorable ones I can recall from the top of my head...
A) The Thunderstorm Night - I don't remember exactly who the people were (I think it was Choo, Wei Hao & Kenny), but it took place at the "Underwater World". It was way back when Mr Kok was still around. During midnight, there was a super huge & severe thunderstorm. Me and Choo chiong down to "save our pets". In the end, we tried using all sort of means to sheltered them from the storm. Haha...
B) First Night With Win Win - LOL... the title doesn't sounds right... but it isn't' what you think. Win and me did the FIRST EVER 15 hours Oil excursion together. Yep. The first time it was changed from 2 hours to 15 hours, we were the ones who made history. You couldn't possibly imagine the stress I was having. And to top it off, something terrible happened that night. If you asked him now, I doubt he'll remember;but I'll remember it for life. It left me scarred for the rest of my days in the Kindergarten.
C) Chasing Out The Instructor - I think this was at the Underwater with Qi Qi and WH. We chased the instructor out of the room, and we didn't realized it until the next day... -_-
D) Mid Autumn with Soh - I spent my Mid Autumn night together with one of the greatest character in the Kindergarten at the Oil site, enjoying the moon. My heart nearly stopped beating, but for an entirely different reason compared to the one with Win.
E) My Last Battle with Qi Qi - OK Lah... I decide to put this in, just for old times sake. I told Ah Qi, this is our "最后的战役". This remains one of the most challenging excursions I had at the Kindergarten...
F) The 2 Chinese New Year - 1st year, I was looking after the pets until overtime, and some basket never come took over. Those who know will know lah. 2nd year, YZ that &$^@#$@ snatched my Saravanana from me... GRRR. All my Kindergarten CNY are filled with bad memories.
G) The Last Excursion - Admit it, who can have a more memorable one than me? I did this with the Vice Principle, WH AND the RED DRAGON. Now, find me a better combo than that.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ok lah... that is all I have to say. Haha. I think I left the place on good terms with everyone, right? Hahaha...
For 20 months, I have never even once failed to attend an excursion that belong to me. I dare to say that I've never 对不起 anyone already. Even when I'm ill, I still forced myself to attend the excursion. I've never landed anyone into trouble, nor did anything bad towards the Kindergarten.
我对这里，真的可以说是鞠躬尽瘁, 死而后已 liao.
There is so much things to say, and I can go on and on about the Kindergarten. I can write stories after stories about it, but I think it's about time for this to end. It's time I put all of this behind me and start anew.
Hopefully, this will be the last post about the Kindergarten, at least anytime in the near future.
May life at the Kindergarten gets better with each passing day, and I give my blessings to all those still working towards their graduation!
Thursday, July 31, 2008
NTU, Freshmen Welcome Day! (Part 2)
This post is a continuation from Part I.
Zhi Wei's phone rang and the caller displayed is me... meaning someone called him using my phone.
Well, I picked it up ASAP of course, and a guy answered. Spare the details, it appeared that my phone is with him! And so yeah... I met with this kind man (he's a staff there) who returned my lost phone to me after confirming that I'm really the owner of the phone. Whew... a sigh of relief...
I tried finding out what happened, but this man is not the person who picked up my phone. He said someone passed it to him this morning, and he held onto it thinking that its owner will call the phone. However, he only realized the phone was switched off till the afternoon...
So whatever it is, I guess I will never know how my phone manage to "walk out" of my bag. Only the person that picked up my phone will know where I dropped it, but no one knows who he is now.
Lame right?
If you think that's the end of the story, you're wrong.
At the end of the day, when I was going home (walking towards bus stop), I received another call. It was from a staff who helped me searched for my phone earlier. She said she found a phone and thought it might be mine. I told her I already got my phone back, and she was like, "Oh Ok...".
So, who lost the 2nd phone? Maybe it's the person who was sitting at the cursed place during the afternoon session?
Whew... creepy... Regardless, I think I'm very lucky to get back my phone. Whoever the kind man is, I give him my greatest gratitude.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I think I spent too much time on this supernatural occurrence already, so back to the orientation bah.
We went to our individual school talks after that... For my side, it's basically nothing much... just a lot about academic matters. Like adding & dropping of courses, taking minors, the different electives, the SCE Club, etc...
The "opening speech" of Professor Angela really... "inspires" me a lot though. Even before coming to the course, I've already heard of its "great name" as being one of the toughest, but what she said confirmed it. I don't remember the exact words, but this is basically what she said.
"Last week, we just saw the graduation of our Computer Engineering 08' batch, and they were asked to write their opinions on the courses they took... Some of the kinder ones, they wrote things like 'challenging', 'not that tough'. The ones that are more frank, however, described it as the 'killer course'."
Another speaker said, "Students usually performed more badly during the first semester due to being away from books for so long. Every year, boys tell me that 'wearing green' brought their IQ to 0, which is why they couldn't adjust in the first semester..."
...
...
Wow. What a great prelude to the school first semester. Now I'm really "dying" to study. Went home after that lo~
My block is just directly opposite of Ah Wei~ so I think we'll be seeing each other quite often. And of course, I'll wait with open arms for the arrival of my Kindergarten friends next year!
Zhi Wei's phone rang and the caller displayed is me... meaning someone called him using my phone.
Well, I picked it up ASAP of course, and a guy answered. Spare the details, it appeared that my phone is with him! And so yeah... I met with this kind man (he's a staff there) who returned my lost phone to me after confirming that I'm really the owner of the phone. Whew... a sigh of relief...
I tried finding out what happened, but this man is not the person who picked up my phone. He said someone passed it to him this morning, and he held onto it thinking that its owner will call the phone. However, he only realized the phone was switched off till the afternoon...
So whatever it is, I guess I will never know how my phone manage to "walk out" of my bag. Only the person that picked up my phone will know where I dropped it, but no one knows who he is now.
Lame right?
If you think that's the end of the story, you're wrong.
At the end of the day, when I was going home (walking towards bus stop), I received another call. It was from a staff who helped me searched for my phone earlier. She said she found a phone and thought it might be mine. I told her I already got my phone back, and she was like, "Oh Ok...".
So, who lost the 2nd phone? Maybe it's the person who was sitting at the cursed place during the afternoon session?
Whew... creepy... Regardless, I think I'm very lucky to get back my phone. Whoever the kind man is, I give him my greatest gratitude.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I think I spent too much time on this supernatural occurrence already, so back to the orientation bah.
We went to our individual school talks after that... For my side, it's basically nothing much... just a lot about academic matters. Like adding & dropping of courses, taking minors, the different electives, the SCE Club, etc...
The "opening speech" of Professor Angela really... "inspires" me a lot though. Even before coming to the course, I've already heard of its "great name" as being one of the toughest, but what she said confirmed it. I don't remember the exact words, but this is basically what she said.
"Last week, we just saw the graduation of our Computer Engineering 08' batch, and they were asked to write their opinions on the courses they took... Some of the kinder ones, they wrote things like 'challenging', 'not that tough'. The ones that are more frank, however, described it as the 'killer course'."
Another speaker said, "Students usually performed more badly during the first semester due to being away from books for so long. Every year, boys tell me that 'wearing green' brought their IQ to 0, which is why they couldn't adjust in the first semester..."
...
...
Wow. What a great prelude to the school first semester. Now I'm really "dying" to study. Went home after that lo~
My block is just directly opposite of Ah Wei~ so I think we'll be seeing each other quite often. And of course, I'll wait with open arms for the arrival of my Kindergarten friends next year!
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
NTU, Freshmen Welcome Day! (Part I)
Aha! The big day's finally here. This is going to be a long post, because something supernatural happened... so bear with me.
...
And so I woke up at 0630 in the morning to the ringing alarm of my phone. Been ages since I woke up this early. Went to Boon Lay interchange to meet up with...
...
Tada! A~go~go~!!
I"ll address him as Zhi Wei now. Only in green places do we address each other by their surnames, so we should do away with that. And the Kindergarten is the only place in this world where we address each other by their "pet name + surname". (e.g Jackie Goh) It is a "unique" tradition that we should leave behind after we left the Kindergarten... seriously. This is our common sentiments.
...
Well anyway... talked about lots of things lo. Like what has he been doing this past few months~ how Jackie is so "ke lian" now, being abused constantly by his mad owner and SK always looking for a chance to give him some "love education" (in his own words).
Haha...been months since I seen him, and my feeling this time round is completely different. I remembered when he left, I told him I'll see him again after 6 months. I kept my promise :P
We reached the place quite early... not even opened yet... Hang around a bit until 0915... Finally can go in...
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And so we headed inside the auditorium... I asked him want to sit where... so he choose lor. Right side, in front. So everything just went on as normal.
Arrival of guests, some speech by some of the VIPs (all of them recounting their "days in NTU", saying how "seeing you reminds me of myself in the past"...), some introduction program.
And then...
Something caught my eye.
Something that HORRIFIED me...
I SAW THIS!!!
...
...
Out of THOUSANDS of seats, somehow me and Ago happened to sit behind this?! I swear this wasn't intentional. We didn't even realized the seats are labeled until halfway through the programme...
Man... I have a bad feeling about this...
...
Is my past coming back to haunt me?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So we recite the pledge of NTU, and somehow I am glad that the pledge doesn't end with "with my life!"...
...
...
Anywayz...
We went through the "lighting up" sequence, which is said to signify a new stage in our lives, etc... Watch some performance...
End of morning session. Went out for lunch/refreshments.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AND IT HAPPENED. My handphone... IS GONE!
... WTF?!
I remembered taking it out to switch to silent mode, putting it into my bag and NEVER opening it again. The bag was lying beneath the chair ALL ALONG. HOW THE HELL IT DISAPPEARED?!
...
I searched all over the place for it. I went back into the auditorium, searched high and low near the place I sat, asked the staffs (1 of the staff help me called my HP, but transfer to voice mail)...
Still no signs of my phone. IT VANISHED inside my bag!
...
Wah Lau... I tried calling using Zhi Wei's HP, but it kept transferring to voice mail immediately. Kept trying... but still the same result. Haiz... I gave up.
I remembered VERY VERY CLEARLY I only switched it to silent. I DID NOT OFF IT, and IT WAS IN MY BAG ALL ALONG. By now, I'm convinced someone has somehow taken my HP, switch it off/took out the sim card.
Anyway... bo bian. What to do? HP disappear into thin air by itself.
Think so much also no use... Haiz... preparing to cancel the line liao.
Time's up. Afternoon session starts.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So we went in, and Zhi Wei said, "want sit back same place?"
I said, "NO, I dont' want sit at the cursed place."
He insisted though, so we went back to check it out, but the seat has been taken already...
Bo bian... went to sit in the middle, back portion. The R-25 or R-26 I think.
Then, out of nowhere, he said this, "lucky we never sit R-21."
...
AHHHHHHHHHH! Tio stunned! Since when he became so "cold"... -__-
...
...
Anyway, sitting through another series of speeches.
And then... Zhi Wei's HP rang, and it's a call from
...
"ME!"
...
WHATTTTT???????????????!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To Be Continue...
...
...
And so I woke up at 0630 in the morning to the ringing alarm of my phone. Been ages since I woke up this early. Went to Boon Lay interchange to meet up with...
...
Tada! A~go~go~!!
I"ll address him as Zhi Wei now. Only in green places do we address each other by their surnames, so we should do away with that. And the Kindergarten is the only place in this world where we address each other by their "pet name + surname". (e.g Jackie Goh) It is a "unique" tradition that we should leave behind after we left the Kindergarten... seriously. This is our common sentiments.
...
Well anyway... talked about lots of things lo. Like what has he been doing this past few months~ how Jackie is so "ke lian" now, being abused constantly by his mad owner and SK always looking for a chance to give him some "love education" (in his own words).
Haha...been months since I seen him, and my feeling this time round is completely different. I remembered when he left, I told him I'll see him again after 6 months. I kept my promise :P
We reached the place quite early... not even opened yet... Hang around a bit until 0915... Finally can go in...
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A Bad Omen
And so we headed inside the auditorium... I asked him want to sit where... so he choose lor. Right side, in front. So everything just went on as normal.
Arrival of guests, some speech by some of the VIPs (all of them recounting their "days in NTU", saying how "seeing you reminds me of myself in the past"...), some introduction program.
And then...
Something caught my eye.
Something that HORRIFIED me...
I SAW THIS!!!
...
...
Out of THOUSANDS of seats, somehow me and Ago happened to sit behind this?! I swear this wasn't intentional. We didn't even realized the seats are labeled until halfway through the programme...
Man... I have a bad feeling about this...
...
Is my past coming back to haunt me?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Taking The Pledge
So we recite the pledge of NTU, and somehow I am glad that the pledge doesn't end with "with my life!"...
...
...
Anywayz...
We went through the "lighting up" sequence, which is said to signify a new stage in our lives, etc... Watch some performance...
End of morning session. Went out for lunch/refreshments.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Curse
AND IT HAPPENED. My handphone... IS GONE!
... WTF?!
I remembered taking it out to switch to silent mode, putting it into my bag and NEVER opening it again. The bag was lying beneath the chair ALL ALONG. HOW THE HELL IT DISAPPEARED?!
...
I searched all over the place for it. I went back into the auditorium, searched high and low near the place I sat, asked the staffs (1 of the staff help me called my HP, but transfer to voice mail)...
Still no signs of my phone. IT VANISHED inside my bag!
...
Wah Lau... I tried calling using Zhi Wei's HP, but it kept transferring to voice mail immediately. Kept trying... but still the same result. Haiz... I gave up.
I remembered VERY VERY CLEARLY I only switched it to silent. I DID NOT OFF IT, and IT WAS IN MY BAG ALL ALONG. By now, I'm convinced someone has somehow taken my HP, switch it off/took out the sim card.
Anyway... bo bian. What to do? HP disappear into thin air by itself.
Think so much also no use... Haiz... preparing to cancel the line liao.
Time's up. Afternoon session starts.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Session Begins
So we went in, and Zhi Wei said, "want sit back same place?"
I said, "NO, I dont' want sit at the cursed place."
He insisted though, so we went back to check it out, but the seat has been taken already...
Bo bian... went to sit in the middle, back portion. The R-25 or R-26 I think.
Then, out of nowhere, he said this, "lucky we never sit R-21."
...
AHHHHHHHHHH! Tio stunned! Since when he became so "cold"... -__-
...
...
Anyway, sitting through another series of speeches.
And then... Zhi Wei's HP rang, and it's a call from
...
"ME!"
...
WHATTTTT???????????????!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To Be Continue...
...
Monday, July 28, 2008
Awakening From A Dream...
Today, I woke up and did something that I thought I wouldn't be alive to do again.
...
I actually login into NTU website to check my "SCHOOL TIMETABLE"...
...
...
Even now, I still find it unbelievable. It's like, I woke up this morning and actually realized that I am REALLY leaving the life I've been living for the past 23 months.
It actually dawn on me that in just less than a week time, I'll be doing something COMPLETELY DIFFERENT.
I still find it "hard to accept" at this moment. Don't get me wrong though, I'm extremely elated.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It's like waking up from a dream. A long dream.
Very long.
Damn long.
Frigging long. (Maybe a nightmare)
...
...
Everything, everything from the past 23 months will soon fade away just like a dream. It'll be liked it never happened before...
It'll be like... I just graduated from SP and will be going on to NTU in the same year.
Yeah... that's how I would like to think of it.
...
...
"Everyone has lost something precious. Everyone here has lost homes, dreams, and friends. Now, the dream is over. Now, our soul is ours again. Working together, now we can make new homes for ourselves, and new dreams. Although I know the journey will be hard, we have lots of time. Together, we will rebuild our life. The road is ahead of us, so let's start out today "
...
...
" Just, one more thing... the people and the friends that we have lost, or the dreams that have faded... Never forget them."
...
...
...
I actually login into NTU website to check my "SCHOOL TIMETABLE"...
...
...
Even now, I still find it unbelievable. It's like, I woke up this morning and actually realized that I am REALLY leaving the life I've been living for the past 23 months.
It actually dawn on me that in just less than a week time, I'll be doing something COMPLETELY DIFFERENT.
I still find it "hard to accept" at this moment. Don't get me wrong though, I'm extremely elated.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It's like waking up from a dream. A long dream.
Very long.
Damn long.
Frigging long. (Maybe a nightmare)
...
...
Everything, everything from the past 23 months will soon fade away just like a dream. It'll be liked it never happened before...
It'll be like... I just graduated from SP and will be going on to NTU in the same year.
Yeah... that's how I would like to think of it.
...
...
"Everyone has lost something precious. Everyone here has lost homes, dreams, and friends. Now, the dream is over. Now, our soul is ours again. Working together, now we can make new homes for ourselves, and new dreams. Although I know the journey will be hard, we have lots of time. Together, we will rebuild our life. The road is ahead of us, so let's start out today "
...
...
" Just, one more thing... the people and the friends that we have lost, or the dreams that have faded... Never forget them."
...
...
Saturday, July 26, 2008
New Pair Of Glasses
I've been blinded for too long. Way to long.
My sight have been screened off from reality. Everything was concealed under the cover of darkness and corruption. Everything was distorted.
For far too long, I was blinded from the truth. I couldn't see what's really important, what really matters.
...
I love my new glasses. They made me see the world in a new light.
When I brought the old pair to the optical shop, the optometrist was shocked. The lens was covered with scratches all over, the protective coating were long gone, and it was just in a terrible state. And I've been wearing it for more than 5 years!
I couldn't believe it. Why didn't I realize it all along? Why didn't I notice it sooner? How much have my eyes suffered under this pair of lenses?
...
...
This reminds me of a story someone told me, the story of "The Boiling Frog".
Do you know that if you put a frog into boiling water, it will jump out (escape alive). However, if you place it in cool water, and slowly heat up the water till boiling point, the frog will never jump out (die).
...
...
Isn't it true and applicable to many things in life? When things around you starts to deteriorate and turn bad slowly, little by little, day by day, you don't notice it. You don't do anything about it... until the point when it's too late.
Many things don't just plummet from great to terrible in an instant, but decline slowly and gradually. That's why we can't detect it, just like the frog. By the time the frog knows the water is boiling, he's already dead.
For example, a new-smoker doesn't start smoking 20 sticks a day instantly. A overweight person don't just gain 100 pounds overnight. If that happens, it will immediately hit them that they got to do something about it.
Same for positive things... who do you think feels richer? Someone that receives 1 million overnight in his bank, or someone that receives 1 million over 20 years? They both got the same amount, but the first person will probably feel the joy much more.
It's the same for many things; Relationships, bad habits, finance, health...
If you see a person every single day, you don't see him changing; If you haven't seen him for 5 years, he'll be totally different from what you remembered.
...
...What the hell... how come can lead to so much stuff...
Anyway...
Everything is now clearer, and brighter~
I think I'm transforming back into someone... "normal" again. My biological clock is back to that of a normal human being. I'm much more stable emotionally, and I can't wait to embark on this new quest~
Ahh~ Life is great~! ( <--- Not a "Great Eastern" promo)
My sight have been screened off from reality. Everything was concealed under the cover of darkness and corruption. Everything was distorted.
For far too long, I was blinded from the truth. I couldn't see what's really important, what really matters.
...
I love my new glasses. They made me see the world in a new light.
When I brought the old pair to the optical shop, the optometrist was shocked. The lens was covered with scratches all over, the protective coating were long gone, and it was just in a terrible state. And I've been wearing it for more than 5 years!
I couldn't believe it. Why didn't I realize it all along? Why didn't I notice it sooner? How much have my eyes suffered under this pair of lenses?
...
...
This reminds me of a story someone told me, the story of "The Boiling Frog".
Do you know that if you put a frog into boiling water, it will jump out (escape alive). However, if you place it in cool water, and slowly heat up the water till boiling point, the frog will never jump out (die).
...
...
Isn't it true and applicable to many things in life? When things around you starts to deteriorate and turn bad slowly, little by little, day by day, you don't notice it. You don't do anything about it... until the point when it's too late.
Many things don't just plummet from great to terrible in an instant, but decline slowly and gradually. That's why we can't detect it, just like the frog. By the time the frog knows the water is boiling, he's already dead.
For example, a new-smoker doesn't start smoking 20 sticks a day instantly. A overweight person don't just gain 100 pounds overnight. If that happens, it will immediately hit them that they got to do something about it.
Same for positive things... who do you think feels richer? Someone that receives 1 million overnight in his bank, or someone that receives 1 million over 20 years? They both got the same amount, but the first person will probably feel the joy much more.
It's the same for many things; Relationships, bad habits, finance, health...
If you see a person every single day, you don't see him changing; If you haven't seen him for 5 years, he'll be totally different from what you remembered.
...
...What the hell... how come can lead to so much stuff...
Anyway...
Everything is now clearer, and brighter~
I think I'm transforming back into someone... "normal" again. My biological clock is back to that of a normal human being. I'm much more stable emotionally, and I can't wait to embark on this new quest~
Ahh~ Life is great~! ( <--- Not a "Great Eastern" promo)
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