Twist Yo'r Bodae...

The results are out.
The points have been collected.
The subjects are at your mercy.

This - is Mid-Year Idol! *audience scream*

*theme song starts playing*

Hello, and once again welcome to Mid-Year Idol! This year, we've got 9 subjects on the line and it's up to our candidate to see if he will make it to the next round. First up, we have Language Arts! *audience cheers*

L.A., you sang about An Astrologer's Day by Malgudi. The Marker said that candidate tends to lose focus but that it was a good attempt at literary devices. The Teacher claimed that it would probably be just a good pass. The Candidate said it was a little shakey, but it should have covered the whole scope. The Examinors have voted, L.A.... you're in the bottom 3. *audience jeering*

Please sit over there at the stools. After her was Introdction to Human Societies! *cheers* I.H.S., you sang about weather Economic Hardship is the Greatest Resultant of Conflict. The Marker thought that it had a problematic layout and that validity wasn't touched on strong enough. The Teacher declined comment and allowed the class to watch The Mummy and The Mummy Returns after the Performance. The Candidate said that the best results could not be obtained as it was only found out at the last 20 minutes that there was yet another page of documents to concider on the exam booklet. The Examinors have voted... you're joining L.A. at the stools. *jeers*

Next is Physics! *cheers* You sang about momments, forces and formulas. The Marker didnt give much approval and said it just didn't seemed finished. *jeers* The Teachers said more time should be spent with the excersize books bought from the school. The Candidate said that the paper wasn't complimented with enough time. The Examinors voted... *points to stools* you're with them. *jeers*

Well, at least we now know that the rest of the subject are safe. *cheers* Let's see who's in the Top 3. Core Math, Marker caught a handful of careless mistakes in calculations. The Teacher carried on teaching about Alpha and Beta. The Student thought that it was a fun performance and that win or loose, things will still be fine.

Advance Math, Marker saw careless mistakes only in the toughest questions. The Teacher was glad that Goal 7 was achievable. The Candidate felt that the paper was reasonably fun. Examinors voted... you're both in the Top 3! *cheers*

Chemistry, the Marker commented that Section C was poorly handled, but the rest of the paper was rather decent. The Teacher said that it could have been done better, concidering that it was an easy paper. The Candidate thought that there was no real problem witht ehpaper and that it was one of the more straightfoward papers.

History, you performed about the French Revolution. The Marker said that points were rather vague and could have had more emphasis. The Teacher said that the flipsides of documents were not analyzed fully. The Candidate thought that there was enough relevant factors to write about in the essay.

Examinors voted... History... You're in the Top 3! *cheers*

And from the Top 3, winning by 13 marks, Mid-Year Idol 2008 is...
... A. Math!!! *intense cheering*

Yeah, finally that's over with. Overall agrigate points send me achieving the school target for this semester, glory be to God! Now to start thinking about my holidays. Recieved all my projects and assignments for Term 3 this week. The complete list would be;

A. Math Questions
C. Math Questions
Language Arts Coursework
Physics Coursework
Chemistry Experiment Proposal
Art (preparation for) Term 3/4
History Rebellion Research
I.H.S. (reaserch to prepare for) Model U.N. Confrence

Additonal things to do would be trainings at full blast for Canoeing Inter-School in July, as well as Project Reno with the prefects.

But looking at it from another angle, project works are to my advantage, and there's definitely fun for my end in this field. Project Reno's gonna be fun too, since renovating a room is reasonably the first step before taking on designing one. And StingRay's a fun boat to be with (Arguably the fastest rudder in our K2 Wave) so thank God I'm gonna be spending my birthday with her!

Speaking about my birthday, I'm concidering weather to celebrate it with friends or not. Based on my habits, I only organize birthday gatherings if I knew my current class for over a year. But this year, I guess I'm willing to make an exception. I won't ask directly, but if anyone is interested in watching Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull on the Saturday Night, do feel free to contact me. If I get a response of over five people (i.e. six people and above), I guess I'll go ahead and watch the movie, and I'll call it a party. If not, then I'll just celebrate it with God (but both ways, He's always invited, and He's always there!).

Ah well, better turn in for the night. Luke 6:35!!! God b;ess y'all!!!

Yo' Jesus So Big...

Well, the past week week had it's ups and downs. Free-periods coming about time after time, June Holiday/ Term 3 projects are slowly being revieled, canoeing trainings are kicking into full-gear in lieu of the competition 2 months from now (that's concidered as 'the last 2 minutes' in training terms; if you actually concider compressing all the hours of training left, you'd get 4 days or less) and the mid-year results (*gasp*) are in.

I feel that it's best I gave my parents the rights to be first to see the results in detail, maybe I'll share about the results another time. But for now, I must admit I had a great time today at church! But before that, I should start with what happened in the morning...

Basically, it was my (and Morriel's) test drive on (our) new roller blades! The family woke up early in the morning and had a quick breakfast before leaving for East Coast Park. Once parked, we found a good spot near by the shore in Section C and began putting on our equiptment. I said I wanted to explore by myself, so Daddy decided to rent his own set of skates to take care of Morriel. Uncle Eking also decided to rent a double bike to take Carlo around, leaving Mommy and Grams to look after the stuff while reading their own books.

I went as far out from our spot (somewhere nearby Marina Cove?) to the gardens out at Section F (the tower was real irritating to climb, esspecially while wearing blades) before turning back. Really interesting how many different characters you can see while moving along this stretch. Two youths racing against each other to the finish on their bikes, a young boy waiting beside the path with a dog on the leash, two lovers sitting beside each other alone in their lonely (but lovely) pavilion, while waiting for the catch of the day to pull against their line; The list goes on.

It's facinating what stories one can create just by seeing these small details of life. R. K. Narayan, writer of the novella Malgudi Days, once said that all he needed for his ideas was to 'look out of the window to pick up a character and thereby a story'. I truely agree with him, because I literally see it everyday. No matter what environment you're in, urban or rural, complex or plain, modern or traditional, even colourful or dull, there's always a story to tell: Let alone, a story to observe.

But we're getting too philosophical here. Back to my journey, passing through the 360 Ski Park, the Bedok Jetty, the Seafood Restaraunts, Castle Beach, the BBQ pits, the shore barricades and more, I eventually ended off my journey where I started it, greeting Grams with the words, "Do-we-have-water?" Realising that Mom wasn't there, I turned to see Dad trying to teach her to skate. I went over to try to help her out, seeing her slow (but steady) progress along the flat concrete road.

Also found Carlo playing at the shoreline with Morriel (who was lying on the sand and embracing the waves like something you'd see on Baywatch) with Uncle Eking and Auntie Lala supervising them. Apparently, Morriel fell once while testing her new skates, and did a little drama-mama on the impact, thus she decided to stop.

By around 11.30, we were packing up all the gear back into the car and decided to get lunch at Burger King. Little mis-communications here and there while getting the orders, but we eventually had our meal. After such (as well as a quick change of clothes), we headed for the city, where Dad dropped us all off a Suntec to goto church.

I told Mom that since it was 3rd Service, I'd might as well go into the main hall with my D.G. if it makes things easier for the group, so we split up and I went to the nearby collectables shop and looked around at silly scultures of Vandolf the Grey/White and Davy Jones and Luke Skywalker and King Kong and Venom and Alien and many other movie characters to kill time before meeting up with the R.A.D.I.C.A.Ls deep in the queue.

Been a long time since I met up with these people (missed sessions here and there because of competitons and exams and so on), so I thought catching up would definitely be a good idea. Apparently, Gab, John and Don (heh, interesting names for a trio) were interested in watching Indiana Jones' latest movie on the opening night. Hmm, better start thinking about those birthday plans of mine...

Since Sherrie had the queue ticket this week, she was frantically asking us to lend her items she can use to chope (local term for 'reserving informally') seats for us while we were (close to) the back of the line. We needed 21 seats for our D.G. today since we had friends wanting to join us, so we were really trying to find as much items we had to give her as possible (I gave here 3 Hillsong postcard invitations, my bible and notebook, my tissue packet and my sweater vest). Heavily loaded, she quickly stumbled her way to the front of the queue with all the jackets and bibles and notebooks and took her position with the ticket she had.

Finally, the 2nd service was fully flushed out of the Rock, and the queue was beginning to move. While walking our way to the gates, a friend told me that her sister had a picture taken dring the latest dragonboating competition, and apparently I was captured in it*raises eyebrows*. Others started questioning about how I happened to be there, and I had to explain about the canoeing team and how in ACS(Indep) both canoeing and dragonboating are one CCA.

Another good conversation sparked off had to be extinguished again as we then entered the hallway of gates into the auditorium. We slithered our way to the corner of the auditorium which is ussually packed with the youths of D.A.R.E. and the young adults of ARROW, and eventually found the full stretch of row booked for us. After sorting out who should sit where, we settled down minutes before Pastor Gabriel opened the service with the pre-service announcement.

Now I must admit, when I came into the hall, I was somewhat in a state of condemnation over a few things that happened lately, and was feeling a little doubtful of having a good week ahead. But boy, was today's sermon a GOOD ONE (and relevant, too)!!!

In a short summary (which I find hard since there's so much to say), Pastor Prince was showing how the words of Paul in Hebrews 10 explain to us that condemnation is no longer valid in our lives, since the price(s) to pay was all settled on the cross at Calvary and that we must thus keep our hope - direct translation, the joyful expectation of something good - firm in our hearts, since they will be satisfied. He also pointed to Romans 5:19-20 about how 'where sin abound, grace abounds more' - in direct translation, 'where sin abounds, grace abounds beyond measure, and still more on top of that!'.

Since we're now covered on all sides, sinning can no longer condemn us, and along with that the temptation to sin. But in the same way, if you accept the condemnations of sin, forgetting that Christ paid for everyhing on the cross, then you would also except the many other curses related to guilt. (So rebuke condemnation NOW!)

A good example of these blessing put into practice would be the life of Abraham, and how despite the lies he said which brought kingdoms into famine, he died as one of the wealthiest men of his time. Another example would be in Matthew 1:1-6 (a part of the geneology of Jesus as the promised seed of Abraham), where four women who didn't deserve the honours of being part of God's children were actually mentioned, instead of any of the other women in the timeline who were more likely to be permitted with these blessings. This shows how God can bring about your salvation even from the 'evil' situations of life!

The sermon was made more funny by the way all the youths screamed "Woo!" whenever Pastor mentioned Pastor Dan's (former Youth Pastor's) name, as well as after the announcements when Pastor's latest DVD sermon from last year's Zone concert was being introduced in a video (the later part of the video mentioned that the DVD had dual language in Japanese, and started showing Pastor Prince preaching in dual mode {hilarious}). Shawn then came on stage to perform a solo of the closing song, I Will Run to You, before Pastor Prince came back on stage to tell the church to rise (in Japanese) so he could bless us.

Dismissed with "Syonara! Arigato!" and an honourable bow, I quickly left the hall to meet up with Mom and the others at Carrefoure (is that how you spell it?), thanking God on the way for the new high He's given me to begin my week ahead! But just as I got out of the Rock, I heard Salsa music beking played. Apparently, the Samsung sales event downstairs had a performance of precaution instruments. It was so good, I could feel the Spanish blood I had in me tingling! I squeezed my way through the crowd that was forming alongside the raillings to have a better view of the performance.

"Mom can wait," I told myself. "No one of my type can resist such lively music." Boy, I stayed on till the performance was over, and by then I was literally drunk with the music. A great revalation with complimentary jive: I'm oh so prepared for the week! But giving myself a few seconds to snap out of it, I met up with the family and bought a dozen donuts to take back home to enjoy.

Well, that's about it for now. Until next time, whenever next time is, here's a little spoof for y'all dedicated to those Christains that are feeling spiritually low, or anyone for that matter who just needs someone to hold on to. As a word of encouragement, please don't lie to others (or God for that matter) that you've got no problems, and just Say His Name. (I don't have the technology to extract background music, so here's the original song - Say My Name. Just open this in another tab or something and read the words here along with the song.)

Romans 4:6-8!!! God Bless Y'all!!!

Say My Name by J.C.
(Chorus)
Say My name, say My name
When others imitate you, say "Jesus I love You"
No need to be ashamed
Say My name, say My name
You actin' kinda tired
Leave it to Messiah
Why treat me so strange?


Say My name, say My name
When troubles are around you, I'll be right there for you
Claim victory from My name
Say My name, say My name
You won't take long to find me
One quick call and I'm here
Quickly say My name

Any other day
I would call, you would say
"Jesus bless my day!"
But today it ain't the same
You don't read My Word anymore, by the way
Could it be that you left your whole faith on your Father at bay?


If your faith is low, first of all, let Me say
I am not the one to sit around while you're played
So tell the devil that I'm the Christ that you claim
And he'll return the thangs
That he stole from you yesterday

(Bridge)
I know you say that you're in control of things
Something's going down that's the way it seems
I should know the reason why you're acting strange
And distractions holding you back from me
Don't you know I'll be blessing you
With Deuteronomy 22
Why can't you just tell the truth?
Dont let satan tell you what to do

(Chorus)

What's up with this?
Tell the truth, why you sad
How would you like it if
I told you it's not that bad
Don't try to change it now
Sayin' you've already lost
When 2k years ago, I said "It's finished!" on the cross

It's hard to believe that you'll survive, by yourself
When I just heard the voice
Heard the voice of prayers "help"
Just this question
Why do you feel you gotta lie?
Fellin' caught up in your game
You just need to say my name

(Bridge)
(Chorus)

(Where my angels at) Yeah-yeah-yeah-yea-yeah
(Can you say that? C'mon) Yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah Yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah
(Holy spirit say) Yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah
(I can't hear ya) Yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah
(All the angels say) Yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah..yeah Yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah
(Holy spirit say) Yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah Yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah Yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah
(Break it down) Ohh ooohh oh ooh ohhhh
(J.C., take it to the bridge c'mon)

(Bridge)
(Chorus until fade)



[Boy, imagine Jesus breakdancing...]

Too much to concider...

Daddy came back on Monday!

And you know what makes dad's arrival on Monday unique? Well, since midnight of this particular Monday, flights have been coming into Terminal 3 of Changi Airport. And yes, you've guessed it: Daddy's one of the first passengers to arrive at the brand-new T3!

Well, you can say it was an honour to be one of the first. But looking on the contrary, the terminal's still not complete.

I didn't really take much pictures, but there were absolutely NO shops! Not one in opperation at the time. Fountains still dry, stalls still flooded in bubblewrap, walls still smelling of paint fumes. Burger King was also still submerged in a cement puddle.

I watched from the viewing balcony as I saw the very few passengers entering the departure hall, only to realise that there was nowhere for them to eat, shop, read or even sit down at.

But hey, the terminal's a very huge project, and it takes time to complete it - even if it's beyond the expected deadline. And besides, the Official Opening is to be mid-January next year, so I'd recommend to everyone it's best you wait for it instead. (Unless, of course, you're one of those enthusiasts who're willing to go through any boredom just to tell your children, "Hey, I've been here first!" - happy sightseeing to you.)

But dad's back, and that's all that matters now. He says that Uncle Peter's doing fine back in Melbourne, and is giving a good response to his sound and light treatment (Amen!). Auntie Alice is next in line to taking care of Uncle Pete, so dad's now got her car to look after (Yay, a Merc!).

Besides that, the past few days with Uncle Jo's suddenly deteriorating in excitement, for some reason. I guess it's because I don't see Uncle Jo that often since he's got lot's of meetings to attend to. Nevertheless, if it's the bottomline I've definitely learnt new things each day! Design elements, components of a blueprint and even housing sales techniques (hehehe, now I know a secret or two of yours, Mr. Salesman!)!

But today, as I was taking a taxi to Uncle Jo's office, JKit called me to ask if I've 'moved'. In further elaboration, he's apparently moved class from 3.13 to 3.17, and wanted to know if I've gone through the same fate.

The reason for the move, he explained, was because of the overwhelming number of scholars in 3.13, which meant that some locals had to be moved to another class with the same subject combination and the same education status (Option E and Non-GEP respectively), thus 3.17.

Hmm, I thought to myself. Aren't some others who I know going to 3.17 already? Maybe Snil'll know. Or maybe it's Snil himself?

I asked how he knew about this, and he told me his dad was informed about it by the school, and from his dad to him. Asking a few more questions before chatting a little longer, we hung up, and I proceeded out of the cab to the office, taking dear note of the incident and remembering to ask daddy if he recieved any call first thing after my time with Uncle Jo.

When I got back home, I asked the household if they recieved any calls, of which they all said no. Until my dad came back from work, that is. After changing into something coortable and resting on the living room sofa, he called for me and told me that Mr. Liang Chew Man called from the school to inform him that I've moved class to (lo and behold) 3.17.

He added that Mr. Liang conveyed the information in such a manner that daddy didn't know if he was informing him of the change or asking him if he wanted the change. After consulting clarification, daddy got back a rather lengthy explaination, but got the main idea at the end of it all.

3.17. It's an interesting move. I still don't know who're the people there that I know (besides JKit) but for some reason I feel excited to go there. True, an extra $10 to pay for the change in OEP venue (From Vietnam to China), but my dad, who feel's it's safer to go to China, is willing to pay ("Hey! You think $10 too much for my dad, ah?").

But seriously, money aside, I have a strong feeling in my heart God's planned something exciting and new for me in this new environment! And thinking back, I guess there are some things I feel I need to correct in myself, so with God's help, restarting a part of my life is actually a good step.

Then, I recall a person I met at 3.13. Joshua Goh. What'll be of him if he doesn't move out? For personal reasons, he didn't want to be in 3.13, and for some reason of me being the only Prefect in the class, he was willing to stay because of me. Now that I'm leaving, how'll his hopes be effected?

I guess that's not what God want's me to bother with for now. I'll just have to trust that He takes care of Joshua, and that Joshua should do the same too. God bless that fella'! :D

There are some people I regret not knowing better while I still had the chance back in 2.10, but if God wants me to go another direction, I'd be willing to let go of everything and start all over with new characters (besides JKit)! Yes, the adventure awaits!...

Until then, I better turn in for the night now. Jeremiah 29:11-13!!! God bless y'all!!!

Does that answer your question?...

Today was suppose to be Scouts Day. It was suppose to be their day to celebrate for themselves and for the rest of the school, population to salute them in their honours. But apparenly, Ben fainted hal-way through the Scout's Day speech, and a group of Scouts had to stretcher him out off the Parade Square. Selfless at a day of your own. But that's not the point.

Ben fainted. The sub-line between a coma and sleep. I don't really know much of the details as I was at the other end of the class row when the thing happened, but as I've heard, he left Toj tramuatized and a whole class missing him, so I guess this then answers his Miggy-inspired question: What would happen if I die in the presence of my love ones?

Fainting is a good way to start off the results with. But seriously speaking, I pray he's okay. Wonder what caused him to faint. But as I've noticed, many people were concerned about Ben, esspecially the Henry Park Boys. They really showed the most enthusiasm in this area and were truly concerned about their un-contious friend. But before I get too emotional/inaccurate, I should leave this for a while and wait for the second half of the experiment: what happens when Ben returns back.

And another thing about today: Tim was restraining his 'beast' form coming out again. Dr. Jeckle and Mr. Hyde, just that in a rather more controlled form. I assumed that he was sparked off by how Kirby made a teacher conficate Tim's thumbdrive. And she was an IT teacher, so you never know where she may peak into the thingy. And with Tim's 'private' stuff inside, I doubted he'd forgive Kirby within less than 12 hours. During recess, Tim's silence was as creepy as ever. Coming from a full-time stoner like me, that's really something. When I went down to recess to practice the piano with Tutor Shil again, I saw him standing there, next to the pillar. I didn't dare ask him to come over, as I never knew where his boundaries were being laid so far, and if he could attack Junn Kit what makes me any different?

When I got back, some of the guys in the class were asking me about how I felt Tim's 'containment process' was going. I said that he was giving the same stare he'd ussually give when he's angry. The same kind I saw him do when we were informed of the banning of games in our tablets. The same that was used when I once commented on his surname. The one that he used the morning after his declaration of grounding during the December Holidays. But before I could add in the other details, I noticed that Tim was actually in the storage compartments, and I immediately stopped, appologising as I walked off to attend to someone else's call. He really looked like as if he was trying to prevent himself from turning into the Hulk, and even when he started smiling again at the later parts of the day, I felt like keeping my distance for the moment.

There's also another side on what I felt about today in general, but if I wrote it down I might be 'misunderstood'. So if the future Raemiguel wants to know what happened on this day, just go to the Tablet PC you used to work with during your days in ACS(I) and search for a Word Doccument by the name of 'Just that one voice'.

So that I don't waste a post, I'll spend it on another track from the musical my imagination keeps bugging me with. Please forgive me if you think the song is too corny to look at. This song is in dedication to the Keymasters out there. If I ever offend anyone, please feel free to comment in my cBox and I'll do what I can to edit it towards our needs. Enjoy.

Lock It up by the Keymaster and Company (Sung in the tune of Wind It Up by Gwen Stefani, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3ycR4JQeRw)

The Parade Square we must all be gathered, lad-od-lad-od-lad-he-hoo! Quickly before Mr Dave Tay finds us, lad-od-lad-od-low!

Lock it up
Lock it up, uh, uh, uh, uh
Yodellay, yodallay, yodal-low

(Yeah)
This is the key that helps us lock up
When the voice comes on, the boys all line up
And the boys all look, but no, they can't move
And this is the reason why our neck aches improve

They like the way we stand, they like the way we froze
They like that way that bee is going 'cross my nose
They like the way my pants, it compliments my crest (They're crazy, right?)
They like the way we react every time we say the pledge

Every time the bass plays, realize it's in Malay
Let the beat lock you up, and don't stop till your time is up
Get in line now

Lock it up, uh, uh, uh, uh
Lock it up, uh, uh, uh, uh
Yodellay, yodallay, yodal-low

You've got to let Chapel get under your skin
You've got to open up, and let 'Nouncements in
But see, once they get in, cheesy jokes begins
And then you find out, why all the boys stare

They're trying to bite our style
Trying to study our approach
They like the way we do it, so original
I guess that they are slow, so they should leave the stage
The stillness makes us mad, and makes us go ra...

Every time Ms. Tan fans, realize it's like her name
Let the beat lock you up, and don't stop till your time is up
Get in line now

Uh, uh, uh, lock it up, uh, uh, uh, uh(Ya'll ready)

Lock it up, uh, uh, uh, uh
Lock it up, uh, uh, uh, uh
Yodellay, yodallay, yodal-low

Uh huh, one more moment
Uh huh, come on guys, just keep endurin'
Uh huh, you know my key does the unlockin'
Hell yeah, and you know they're watchin'

Stand it guys, stand it, stand it guys
Stand it guys, stand it, stand it guys
To the font, not the side,
To the back, but don'tcha dare hide

I'm goin' now, it's my hour
To unlock our class door
I know you want the key and stuff
But do you know how to lock it up?
(Come on)

Lock it up, uh, uh, uh, uh
Lock it up, uh, uh, uh, uh
Yodellay, yodallay, yodal-low, hey!