Sunday, September 24, 2006

a story from the past

mmm exams approaching. no time to have any other posts but recycled post from my previous blog:

streak of lightning flashed across the dark overcast sky followed by a loud angry clap of rolling thunder. It was a gloomy and dreadful night. A faint howl of a wolf emitted from a nearby forest of Western Village. The only prominent building in this desolate area was a bank, the tallest back in the world called ‘Eminence’. And it was old. Cracks with greens growing everywhere could be seen all over the building such that one from far could presume that it was a ‘jungle skyscraper’, but it was not. In fact, it was one of the richest banks in the world and it contained vaults and vaults of cash that went deep into the surface that one had to travel by trolley down the steep and dangerous tunnel.

A silhouette of a medium-built man appeared in the middle of the street. He was, in fact, moving so cautiously that one could have begun to get suspicious of him. He broke a light stick and it gleamed brightly in the darkness, revealing his face. There was a thin long scar across his face, nearly cover by a night-visor. He adjusted the heat sensor and scanned the streets. Nothing. Then he moved on again, towards the gigantic building. As he approached the building, he risked a quick glance upwards, examining the structure, noting a few escape ropes. Although he had spent weeks acquiring and studying the topography of the area and it’s building, he had never managed to find a map of its interior. Top secret. That was how the bank functions, so secretive, so mysterious. He sighed. Keep it simple, like a perfect crime. Who else could have thought of this? Only Wesley Kertzman the genius could. He smiled slightly at his self-praise but was quick to recover from it. It was not over, in fact, in had just begun.

Lifting his light stick to shine at his luminous hand-held computer screen, he opened a program, inserted a plug over the keypad of the entrance door and executed it. Immediately, the door swung apart and he walked in. He sighed as he saw the hundreds of laser beams that lay before him. Nowadays security could be so sophisticated. Unfortunately for them, they would always be one step behind Kertzman. They were careless enough not to hide the source of the lasers. He held up the interceptor and placed it in front of the source. Almost immediately, the laser energy was absorbed into the machine and the place was cleared. Calmly, he walked to the staircase landing and began climbing up the endless, winding stairs. Never use shortcuts, his Delta training had told him. Although the cash was hidden deep in the underground tunnels, there was a priceless manuscript in the topmost of the building. Kertzman would decipher it with his ancient translator book and it would reveal to him where the treasure of Angst lay. He was certain that the old manuscript would reveal it and he was determined to be the first to reach it. It would be his won brilliant technology that would unravel the mysteries of the past and reveal to him the wonders of his dreams. All would bow down to him, begging for his mercy. And he would give them none. Revenge. Sweet vengeance.

It was his knee that disturbed him and hindered his progress of the climb. He cursed each time the sharp pain shot though the bones. Training had told him to ignore and endure the pain as if it were never there. But every human had a limit, a limit for what he could do and he had reached it. It was a mistake, slight but serious, for every last step of his tedious climb would be an addition to his pain. Pain that he had managed to endure for the past ten years. It was the testing of man’s strength. It would be worth it. Yes, he would retire. It was getting too strenuous for his age. Fifty-four was indeed old. He heaved a sigh of relief as he reached the last step.

The night breeze was cold. Kertzman shivered as he limped towards the main control office on the rooftop. Suddenly, he saw a heat signature register on the night-visor. He panicked and scanned the area. The signature faded. He gritted his teeth and clenched his fist. Evasion. The most advanced training of Alpha 2000 squad. It was only taught to elite troops and Kertzman was one of few who learnt it. Another blur in the hear signature. Fast movement, cold endurance, tactics to evade the heat sensor. Kertzman glanced around wildly, worried. Finish the job. He hobbled towards the office door, bent down and placed a microcomputer chip under the door. “Clearance accepted” the machine blared loudly. Too loud. He looked around nervously. No movement. He entered the office, scanning for the manuscript. It was under the glass cover. Too easy. He tuned the heat sensor up. There it was. Another scattered laser beam. He placed a prism to redirect the laser beam.

Just as he was about to lift the glass cover, the shot came, went trough his heart. He clutched it tightly. Shattered glass, shattered dreams. That was what a perfect crime turned out to be, a perfect disaster. Dreams that were meant to be true. A sniper shot shattered it. Gone. Kertzman’s mouth curved into a smile, a horrible smile as he tore up the manuscript. No one would ever find the treasure.


haha gg sec1 compo
hope you had fun reading tho. =)
gd luck for all exams!

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

depressed

ah wells, the usual post - EXAMS
2 weeks left to the finals
will probably make it in time to completely revise finish
just afraid that i might forget some stuff (which i always do) along the way

currently dealing with some issues pertaining to:
life
myself
life
myself
and then, about the social world around me - life

no time to lament or discuss
but feeling rather down these days,
a time of self-reflection, a period of confusion
but i'm just too tired to think anymore
i give up, at least for now

i wish teachers stop giving us unnecessary hmwrk during this stressful period
i wish that the sch wont pressure us to complete other criterias and aspects of IB during this period of time such as EE, CAS and TOK...coz they really arent impt at this pt in time...seriously (even tho they are the ones that count twards the final IB grade). sch always does this to us...last minute, and they always say that it is coz we nvr file properly, nvr do stuff properly wait till last minute...well, im not going to argue anymore

im just gonna take it as it comes
it doesnt matter anymore
after all, like the night wind, time and life gushes past me
engulfs me, and consumes me
till im no more myself, but like that of the wind

Thursday, September 14, 2006

3rd most impt lessn:

3 - Third Important Lesson - Always remember those who serve.

In the days when an ice cream sundae cost much less, a 10-year-old boy entered a hotel coffee shop and sat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water in front of him.

"How much is an ice cream sundae?" he asked.

"Fifty cents," replied the waitress.

The little boy pulled is hand out of his pocket and studied the coins in it.

"Well, how much is a plain dish of ice cream?" he inquired.

By now more people were waiting for a table and thewaitress was growing impatient.

"Thirty-five cents," she brusquely replied.

The little boy again counted his coins."I'll have the plain ice cream," he said.

The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on the table and walked away. The boy finished the ice cream, paid the cashier and left. When the waitress came back, she began to cry as she wiped down the table. There, placed neatly beside the empty dish,were two nickels and five pennies..You see, he couldn't have the sundae, because he had to have enough left to leave her a tip.


mmm sounds familiar, this story...haha =D

Thursday, September 07, 2006

learning from the kite...

haha =D
went kite flying today!

learnt a lot: =D
  1. like how to actually get to marina south 'kite flying area'
  2. that you must take bus 400 and stop at or after 'Superbowl'
  3. kite shop only opens at 1-2p.m. so if you wanna fly kite in morning you'll have to bring your own kite
  4. bring a mat, bring sunblock (coz its dam hot)

haha and besides that i realised that:

we can learn so much from the kite too:

freedom from control

you know sometimes, the control of parents over their children is like flying a kite. the kite is us, and the person or people flying the kite is them.

we always have the problem about freedom, about them letting go, letting loose. and they always have the fear of letting go too much...isnt this like the kite?

today when i flew the kite, i realised that sometimes, when you tugged too hard or didnt let loose the string, the kite would keep tugging at us, pressurizing us to release more...doesnt it sound like us pestering or demanding that we need more freedom from our parents?

when not getting its way, the kite would either break away and disappear, (like ours did after keeping it tied down for so long) or sink and collapse to the ground, defeated.

sometimes our parents are so tight, strict with us, that that's what happens to us. either we get so hurt and angry, that we break off from them and disappear into our own lives, or get so tied down by them, that we eventually cave in and be defeated.

in order to fly the kite high, occasionally, we would let the string loose when there was wind so that the kite could fly further and higher; but occassionally, we panicked and felt the lost of control over the kite so we quickly reeled it back in to ensure that the kite keeps flying high and stays up there. isnt this what our parents do to us, for us?

some parents let the strings out from the reel, the spool. yet we take advantage of this, and fly away so far and high that our parents feel that they have lost control over us, as if they didnt know us anymore, didnt understand us anymore, and they panic and they start imposing all sorts of restrictions and boundaries and we get frustrated and unhappy.

but we must realise that the whole intention of kite flying is to: fly the kite, to let it go as far and high as possible. i'm sure that's what parents want to, to let us go as far, as successful people as possible. but they get scared sometimes. we scare them sometimes, and they limit us, pull us back safely to where they can see us, control us.

just something to think about: what kind of kite-flyers to we have? or, what kind of kite are we ourselves? do we get too greedy that we fly too fast and far away until we are out of sight? or are we reasonable...but then where is reasonable? sometimes we dont know...questions...answers?

haha just realised something...it takes 2 to fly a kite

i tried flying one myself...couldn't...the kite kept crashing down (tho i did eventually fly one myself after 10 minutes of struggle)

with 2 people...could fly the kite easier and higher.

haha...and today when we flew the kite...another dude and his clever team came over and tried to fly their kite too. halfway there he realised that his kite was flying...zzZzzZ actually, it was more like his kite was stuck to the string of our kite...tangled up...

so...you see, i realised that when 2 kites are flying in the same direction...no problem...no tangles, no worries.

but when 2 kites fly in opposite direction, they get tangled up easily and there's so much troubles and sadness...isnt' this like relationships sometimes? often more than not, we dont realise that both people have opinions that seem to differ...then after awhile, things get tangled up and messy, and then everything gets angry, everything gets pain...hurt.

mm k i'm not making sense

alright...i'll stop my ramblings

had loads of fun today =D

a day off from the world, and work...tmr i BETTER start...shish...last day liaoz...=/

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

5 impt lessons

2. - Second Important Lesson - Pickup in the Rain

One night, at 11:30 P.M., an older African American
woman was standing on the side of an Alabama highway
trying to endure a lashing rainstorm. Her car had
broken down and she desperately needed a ride.
Soaking wet, she decided to flag down the next car.
A young white man stopped to help her, generally
unheard of in those conflict-filled 1960s. The man
took her to safety, helped her get assistance and
put her into a taxicab.She seemed to be in a big hurry, but wrote down his address and thanked him. Seven days went by and a
knock came on the man's door. To his surprise, a
giant console color TV was delivered to his home. A
special note was attached.

It read:"Thank you so much for assisting me on the highway
the other night. The rain drenched not only my
clothes, but also my spirits. Then you came along.
Because of you, I was able to make it to my dying
husband's bedside just before he passed away... God
bless you for helping me and unselfishly serving
others."

Sincerely,
Mrs. Nat King Cole


=D

Sunday, September 03, 2006

5 impt lessons

1 - First Important Lesson - Cleaning Lady.During my second month of college, our professorgave us a pop quiz I was a conscientious studentand had breezed through the questions until I readthe last one:"What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?"Surely this was some kind of joke. I had seen thecleaning woman several times. She was tall,dark-haired and in her 50s, but how would I know her name?I handed in my paper, leaving the last questionblank. Just before class ended, one student asked ifthe last question would count toward our quiz grade."Absolutely," said the professor. "In your careers,you will meet many people. All are significant. Theydeserve your attention and care, even if all you dois smile and say "hello."I've never forgotten that lesson. I also learned hername was Dorothy.




mm 4got where i got this frm, but yep.i'll post 1 by 1 slowly. =D

Saturday, September 02, 2006

hols start

mmm hols are here again

probably end up sleeping and lanning away most of it
so so tired...its like the last term was 2 terms worth of terms (if that actually made sense)

wish i could come up with some interllectual post but i cant even spell interllectual correctly, guess it'll take some while b4 im fully rested...just last week had 12 hours of sleep over 4 days, only on friday did i actually get 7-8 hours...

kk thanks choo for reminding me to study. i will. i look at all the people studying...i do wanna start my scoring streak again...been a long time since i did well in any exams, not because i cant, but because i havnt been bothered about it too much

i wanna make it 36 pts at least, then at least i can hav peace of mind to train my standard 1v1 warcraft and get into top50 at least by dec. and definitely, no con camp...no way...it'll burn up everything PLUS i hav other commitments that i cannot forsake during nov/dec hols...better get down to work, to work hard

sigh i wish i were a little faster up there, pretty slow nowadays...especially when absorbing and actually remembering things i've studied or read...a lot of people i know right now can just read, and remember...i dunno how they can do it but i know i cant

i've tried writing notes, typing notes, structuring my thoughts, structuring my notes, re-writing important summaries, answering some questions that i've come up by myself: study 101 and still nothing works...seem to cannot remember, maybe 1-2 days after i've studied, everythings still there, but after a while, my knowledge of what i've just studied just slips away...seriously demoralizing...

but i'll pray and i'll still try
my very best to work and work
and play and play still
i'll stop lan 2 weeks from exams, no distractions whatsoever, wont even talk about the game
then after exams i can talk about it for 24 hours with peace of mind


haha yesterdae anuther interesting day
went out to lunch with ex-canoeist at seoul garden takashimaya
on the way there...
(here comes one of JiT's special moments, or rather despo adventures')

met girl at Bishan station waiting for a train
she was like a couple of spaces away,
but when train came she came into my cabin
was quite blown away by her stunning outfit, her long hair and her pretty face
thing is she smiled at me and kept watching me
and when i was reading like my history notes, she took out her chem notes but i kept noticing her looking over at my notes lol
probably sec4, saw her notes too, organic chem i think
haha

(end of JiT moment) = spoil moment
but i didnt ask for her no.
as always...sigh

haha hope nobody gets disturbed by my slightly-off post, just thot i'd jot down my thots...haha

kk i'll go read stephen j. lee again...hopefully some of his analysis will remain in my mind after reading...blehx