Hi I'm Alive - Update
1/10/2016 09:52:00 pm
Hello all my lovely readers! THANK YOU FOR 25,000+ views!! <3
It's been SO long since I've last blogged and that's because sec 3 got really tough and then I had to go into hiatus on my social media accounts. Thus, even if I blogged, I wouldn't be able to publicise it. But the main reason was of course being that I was lazy and preferred gaming hahahahahaha. I've actually wrote a few blog post drafts sharing my personal stories and some studying tips but after receiving my plummeting school results, I realise that I myself needed help, much less give advice!!
It's been SO long since I've last blogged and that's because sec 3 got really tough and then I had to go into hiatus on my social media accounts. Thus, even if I blogged, I wouldn't be able to publicise it. But the main reason was of course being that I was lazy and preferred gaming hahahahahaha. I've actually wrote a few blog post drafts sharing my personal stories and some studying tips but after receiving my plummeting school results, I realise that I myself needed help, much less give advice!!
Being a generally pessimistic person with 10 months left till 'O' levels (ugh) I've been feeling pretty stressed, especially since everything is happening so quickly. The teachers are all rushing to finish the syllabus... I was down with stomach flu and was away for the first two days of lessons and was literally already falling behind the class. Just two days!!!
Just for the people who are curious and did not know, my chosen subject combination consists of the compulsory subjects, A Maths (*cries*) Pure Chemistry (compulsory in my school), Pure Physics, Geography Core and Literature Elective. I have actually been asked quite frequently why I did not choose to take the Triple Science stream since I met the marks requirements and it because I liked both Geography and Literature and I didn't want to limit my choices as to whether I'll be an art student or science student in JC. Perhaps I should have chosen Biology instead of Physics though...
In sec 1 and 2 most subjects, especially the sciences, were really simple and focuses more on conceptual understanding but now we have to learn how to apply it in other context in questions we have never seen before!
I have always considered myself to be a well-rounded student, balancing out my subjects except Maths and Chinese. However, last year was just... How do I say this... horrendous! It seems as if I am getting dumber and dumber as time goes by with my standard dropping so fast I've reached terminal velocity (ha ha ha physics).
Well, I'll be working much harder to improve my academics! Striving for straight As for O levels and 6 points! ACJC is my dream school hehehe anyways, I digress, let me share some of the exciting key events and incidents that has happened in the past few months!
Birthday Celebration~
Because my actual birthday is on a Geography and A Maths exam day, I had my birthday celebration earlier this year! SAFRA had a 'Run and Ride' event in Universal Studios Singapore but due to the haze my family did not 'Run' haha! Nevertheless I had so much fun on the rides, it's been a while since I've been to USS and I've found a new joy for rollercoasters! I queued for more than 2 hours alone, without my phone, for both the Cyclon and Human Battlestar Galactica ride and it was AWESOME. The Human ride was reallyy scary with all the upside down twirls and I closed my eyes and screamed throughout the ride. At one point I opened my eyes and saw how high up I was!
I was quite disappointed that my birthday cake was supposedly the Sesame Street characters cupcake as I don't like Sesame Street and it tasted terrible! :( Thankfully, my sweet mum planned a day out with me and we went to VivoCity to eat my favourite Awfully Chocolate cake! <3
Working!!!
Secondary 3s in my school are given the opportunity to go for a work attachment during the November holidays and I was so excited as I have been waiting for this since sec 1! A work attachment is like an internship. We were supposed to go for something like an interview but in the end it was just like a group discussion about work ethnics and behaviour. There were people that planned their interview out by guessing the questions that would be asked but in the end they just wasted their time hahaha
There were 2 slots for an attachment in this advertising agency which I forgot the name of and to be honest I was quite confident of getting the attachment but I guess the inputs that I voiced out during the group discussion were kinda nonsensical?
There were 2 new attachments and I chose the attachment to a Japanese IT company. The other attachment was one for an Engineering company which is something I am not interested in. I will not be providing the company's name for confidential purposes but it was a joy working in the company.
My boss was very friendly and hospitable, on our first day he introduced us to the basics of what the department my friend and I were assigned to do in the company and he introduced us to the other colleagues. Most of them were welcoming! :) It was quite boring on the first day as we just read the company's procedures and policies but my friend and I actually skived a bit and used the loaned laptops for other purposes hahahaha shh don't tell anyone!
We learnt more about what my colleagues do in the department and they were very nice and patient, taking time out of their busy schedule to show us the ropes. They also invited us to have lunch with them! Although most of the time my friend and I were skiving because as interns there was nothing much for us to do, I grew attached to the company and the routine of waking up everyday and going to work. I was so sad to go :( I bought dark chocolate kit kat for everyone and wrote some thank you cards for the boss and colleagues.
Open House
As usual, for Drama Club, we have a theme and all of us dress up for that! Our theme for Open House was Hollywood. Orginally I wanted to go as Marilyn Monroe but I didn't know how to do that signature blonde short hair that she has so I went as Audrey Hepburn. My mum's dress actually made me look terrible but my drama friend's dress saved the day! Also thanks to my other friends who helped me with the winged eyeliner and my hair haha :)
Church Camp
This may come as a surprise as I grew up in a Buddhist-Taoism family but my best friend invited me to a church camp that she was invited to and my parents were very open to it, letting me decide what religion I want to be :)
During this Church Camp with St. John-St. Margaret Church at the St. Andrews Village campsite, I made a lot of new friends and learned a lot about Christianity.
I also forgot to bring toothbrush, toothpaste, face wash and toner.... Hehehe
On the second day of camp, we did an outreach to the community and took the migrant workers for a walk around Orchard road to take some pictures with the Christmas lights. We also prepared a special performance for them but due to time constraint, my camp group (Osceola)'s dance to All I Want for Christmas was cancelled... I was so sad :(
I also forgot to bring toothbrush, toothpaste, face wash and toner.... Hehehe
On the second day of camp, we did an outreach to the community and took the migrant workers for a walk around Orchard road to take some pictures with the Christmas lights. We also prepared a special performance for them but due to time constraint, my camp group (Osceola)'s dance to All I Want for Christmas was cancelled... I was so sad :(
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| Day 1 we had a huge amazing race |
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| Day 2 we did an outreach for the migrant workers! |
Day 3 we played Gladiator with water bombs and it was SO AMAZINGLY FUNNNN! I'm gonna be real egoistic and say I was MVP haha
While playing the game someone smacked me across the face on my glasses and I fell backwards onto the floor. There was a huge swollen bruise on my nose and I cried because it seriously hurt :(
The guy who accidentally hit me on the face was incredibly apologetic so it was fine!!
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| In our poses for the dance :) |
On the last day and last session, my church group leader and a mentor prayed for my friend and I and that was when I was so overwhelmed by God's love for me. That night, I accepted Christ and decided to attend church and open my mind to Christianity. I am blessed that my family respects my decision :)
There was also a tradition that most people stay up all night until the next day on the last night of camp!! I did that with my friends and we played card games the entire time. When the sun was going to rise we went to the SAJC rubgy field and played virus and catching! I made some pretty amazing friends that day :)
I had SO MUCH FUN it was truly unforgettable but I was really tired and my friend and I kept dozing off the next day hahaha I passed out when I finally dragged my luggage home! I was proud that I managed to stay up the whole night though :)
I made so many life-long memories at this camp and learnt so much. Thanks so much Charlotte for inviting me!~
There was also a tradition that most people stay up all night until the next day on the last night of camp!! I did that with my friends and we played card games the entire time. When the sun was going to rise we went to the SAJC rubgy field and played virus and catching! I made some pretty amazing friends that day :)
I had SO MUCH FUN it was truly unforgettable but I was really tired and my friend and I kept dozing off the next day hahaha I passed out when I finally dragged my luggage home! I was proud that I managed to stay up the whole night though :)
I made so many life-long memories at this camp and learnt so much. Thanks so much Charlotte for inviting me!~
Currently I am still in the process of getting to know more about Christianity and have just recently joined a cell group! :)
Christmas Potluck Party
My parents' friends had a Christmas Potluck Party and I dolled up hahaha! That was when I discovered how eyebrows really transform a person as I looked and felt like a different person with my makeup on. My braces had also straightened out my teeth and corrected my jawline so my chin was sharper! :) My mum said if people didn't know they may suspect that I had plastic surgery HAHAHAHA
There was a lot of good food at the party and it was so yummy hehe I enjoyed myself!
My New Camera
Although my Final Year Examination results were not what I had hoped for, the teacher told my mother that I was doing pretty well as I am above average in comparison with the cohort. My mother confessed that she thought I was doing very badly and decided to reward me with the camera that I had my eye on!!
Samsung NX Mini
I hardly ask for things and have my own savings but it was not enough so when I asked for this camera I was really hoping my mother would buy it for me as a birthday present since she didn't get me one.
I'm so thankful that she bought it for me because it has been months and I still love it!!
The battery life lasts a long time and quality is excellent, not to mention the beautiful colour!
One of my favourite features of this camera is the flip screen and selfie mode. And also!!! It has wi-fi direct to my phone (which has the samsung smart camera app) and I get send the high quality photos to my phone in a few minutes conveniently!
Bangkok Trip
So I initially made a video to post on my YouTube Channel (link) and I filmed it on my new camera, edited it perfectly, created a thumbnail and even uploaded it on YouTube despite all the crashes on iMovie and then realised that the video had NO SOUND! I was sooo angry because the audio is lost only when it is exported from iMovie and it was perfect ughhhh
No worries, I will not give up on the video as I am quite proud of it, I will be finding another software on Windows (I give up on the free version of iMovie 8 on Macbook Pro) and I'll upload it when I can!
The blog post on my Bangkok Trip will also be coming soon (and by soon I may mean several months) and I'll be showing you the many pictures I took on my new camera so stay tuned for that! I'll be posting it on my social media and on my blog :)
Until then here are some pictures from my Bangkok Trip as a teaser:
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| Can you imagine how CRAZY my mum and I went when we saw this?! |
There's still many many more pictures I took on my new camera about the places I went, food I bought and adventures so stay tuned!!!
Christmas Day
My family and I decided to take public transport that day and walked around Orchard Road! We walked along the places that my camp group and I did during the outreach for the migrant workers so it was all very deja vu.
Cell Group Party!
The Friday after church camp ended, my friend and I were invited to a Christmas party for my cluster consisting of 15 year olds and my camp group was also invited! Some Christians from the Philippines on a missionary were invited to join us and they sung carols, performed skits, dances and testimonies at the party!
It was really heartening hearing their story of how they found God in different ways and their performances were fun!
Remember the All I Want for Christmas dance that my camp group practiced for the church camp outreach but never got to perform? We decided to perform it last minute since some people from our group were present. Charlotte and I remembered the first part but the last part was such a hilarious fail!!! We all had loads and fun and the audience and us laughed about it together hahahahahaha
Although I only had the leftover pizza slices as I was busy practicing, I had so much fun! :)
My friends and I played with random mops that were lying around after the party ended haha
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| We were inspired by 'Journey to the West' |
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| And we were coincidentally literally pointing to the West LOL |
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| That photobomb though |
My Own Computer!
FINALLY!!! I have my own Macbook Pro but ever since I started gaming I have been really burdened with the frame rate lag of my Macbook since it is not supposed to be used for gaming :( It got so bad that I had to wait 15 minutes to enter the game, 15 minutes to join a game server and still deal with really really bad lag.
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| My Razorback Chroma Tournament Edition keyboard changes colour! |
My dad got a customised CPU specially for gaming which cost $4000+ (!?!?) and gave me his old alienware CPU after it was sent to fix the graphic card for about $440. Although the Alienware CPU and mouse was not brand new, I am definitely not complaining as it is SO FAST. After I upgraded to Windows 10, every click takes less than 1 millisecond before it opens. I can switch my computer on and enter a game in less than 3 minutes! Not to mention that I can game perfectly with everything working well! The Windows 10 upgrade worked perfectly and now even my dad is impressed with how fast it is!!
New Year Day
My brother fell sick with stomach flu and bronchitis a few days before New Year and was admitted to the hospital :( When he came home he did not show much signs of improvements and was then admitted again to a different hospital.
Although I considered myself to have a strong immune system, stayed a distance away from my brother and took care of my hygiene, I got the virus too. I was down with stomach flu and vomited 13 times in 10 hours in the wee hours of 2nd January. I wanted to go to the hospital because I was feeling really unwell and was in pain but my mother was at the hospital taking care of my baby brother. Therefore, I was not able to go to school and missed the first 2 days of school. I even missed being Orientation Group Leader where I was supposed to lead the cohort camp for one of the secondary 1 classes :(
After I stopped vomiting, I had a severe sore throat and cough. Subsequently I had running nose till now :( Talk about starting the year in a negative light! :/
CCA Promo Day
Again, drama had a theme and it was retro! I was lazy and planned my outifit at the last minute but as usual I found something in my mum's wardrobe hahaha :P
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| With my sec 2 juniors! |
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| My last year with my drama family :'( |
New House
Last but definitely not the least, my dad's side of the family is current preparing to move houses from Bukit Panjang to Macpherson! The house at Bukit Panjang is as old as I am and I have many fond memories there. I'm excited about the new house though as my new room is SO PINK AND PRETTY!!! <3
Here's some pictures of my room! It's still under renovation and my furniture are not in yet, I'll post more pictures when the whole house is complete! I'm so excited!!
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| My sister and my bedroom! |
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| The view from my room |
I'll upload more pictures when the renovation is complete :)
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Also once again, a big thank you for 25,000+ blog views! Although I don't really blog often now what's with me slipping miserably academic-wise in school AND I'M SEC 4, really really thank you to all my readers! Whether you've been reading my posts since I just started when I was 13 or whether you just read my first ever post today, thanks! It's really heartening when I check on my blog once in a while and I see that I still have readers and followers :)
I hope that you have enjoyed taking a sneak peek into my life (without social media) for the past few months and I hope that you like the better quality pictures!!!
Please comment down below anonymously or not (although I'll love to know who you are) what you thought of this blog post and let me know if you want more blog posts and/or more videos! What kind of posts would you like best? What did you do during your holidays and what do you think of my adventures? Also let me know what you think of my photos because I'll be taking more pictures using my beloved camera~ Constructive criticism and friendly chatter are always encouraged!
Do stay tuned for my Bangkok Haul video and Bangkok Trip blog post!!! It's coming soon (hopefully this month) I promise :)
♥,
Jermainex
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