I haven't been here in a while, have I? I guess I kinda slowly lost the habit of blogging. But looking back. reading through my old posts, I realise that this blog does serve a purpose- to remind my future self of who I was. And I'm glad I realised this now, I think my past self just re-affirmed some major life choices I'm about to make. I guess I did get lost somewhere along the way, and faced with uncertainty for god knows how long, but I'm back on my path again. This time, I'm sure.
It's regrettable that I didn't blog more often for the past two years. I think there were some moments that I would have liked to capture, but might have been forgotten by now. Anyway, this shall be the last time I write on this blog. This has been a great collections of my memories in VJ, but now it's time to move on. Time for the next chapter of my life. And a new blog, to start afresh.
Goodbye.
Sunday, June 22, 2014
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Just so I don't forget
Okay I feel I have to write down somewhere my memories of my OCIP, before I forget the details of it in time to come, so here it is.
First, it was simply AWESOME. Not only because of the places and activities, but also because of the people I went with. Interact Club really is a great CCA to be in :)
The flight there was better than expected. It wasn't even a budget airline, it was their national one haha. Though the entertainment sets weren't working on our flight there.
We reached there at night, and just checked into the hotel then. And the next day we set out to the farm. The bus ride was about 1.5 hours. That really shows how isolated the farm or rural area is, from the city.
On the farm, they gave us a brief tour of it first, before we started farming. I'll say, most of us weren't sufficiently physically fit to do our tasks for hours, like what farmers usually have to do every day. Luckily our "work" was very little, and only and two or three hours long at most. The stuff I did were: Planting "baby" plants from the nursery in the farm area, plucking black beans from a big and wide field, sorting black beans (the good from the bad), and digging holes to put new plants in. Stuff that others did included cutting down banana trees. Which seemed quite fun (though very tiring). Sadly I had to be at the school while they were doing that.
On my initial visit to the school, before our actual sessions there, I learnt quite a lot about them. Like, they have two English lessons a week, each being one hour. And honestly, I don't think they learn much from it. Each lesson, the teacher writes out a 100 word-ish passage on the board, and the students copy it. Oh and the teacher makes mistakes in writing too, because she's just copying from the textbook. So the students just copy it too, and a few of them read it out loud. And that's the end of the lesson.
We talked to the teachers after that. They had some difficulties understanding us when we spoke at our normal pace, despite being the most English-proficient in the school (or the area for that matter). I later learnt what may be the root of the problem. These teachers, all they study in university is the English textbook that they'll be using to teach students. So it's very doubtful that they have a deep understanding of how English works, it seems like just rote learning. But it's not their fault either. This comes about because they don't see English as being very important, given that it's not their mother tongue. And the fact that most of them won't need to speak English, since they'll be farmers.
My first session with the students went quite smoothly I guess. Though we only found out on the spot that their English proficiency was really really low (this was the graduating batch, the oldest), we still managed to make it work somehow. We could barely communicate with them, given that they didn't understand sentences, and most words. So it was more of us saying words, and them repeating them. Well at the very least, they did learn some new words (though they would probably forget quite quickly), and they got more familiar with English pronunciations. They had quite a lot of fun with origami folding as well. I had to be taught by some of them on how to fold cranes, apparently they learnt origami in primary school haha.
The second batch of students we taught were younger, so it was slightly more challenging, but it was still okay I guess. We adopted the method where we teach them English, and they teach us Lao back, so it'd be more fun.
The last bit at the school, the cultural exchange, was also pretty good. We put up our ethnic dances, which thankfully went smoothly, and they put up theirs. Ours was kinda more upbeat and fast-paced as compared to theirs haha. After which, we presented them with our gifts, which included computers and playing balls, and they presented us with garlands. That was quite cool haha. They also really treated us like royalty, like though the meal they served us was simple, they lined the table with clean writing paper, which they probably have a limited supply of. Was really nice of them to do that, but we still tried not to dirty the papers and return it to them.
We taught them how to play captain's ball after that. The demo match was rather... fake haha. Just because we had to show what happens in different scenarios. After which we played against them. And this being a diplomatic game, we could not win. We had to lose, and by a thin margin at that haha. We kind of underestimated how well the guys would play, so though we let them get in a few scores at the start, we kind of regretted it because they really learnt quick and won us by a large margin later on haha.
Was quite sad when we had to leave the school for good, they were taking pictures with us and all, we were really treated like celebrities. Which was actually a little scary, because some of them added us on FB, and also posted pics of us there ._.
Oh and I haven't mentioned the truck rides have I? They were crazy haha. Our only mode of transportation from the farm to anywhere else was to pack 20 plus people in the back of a truck, and go at high speeds on dirt roads. I swear, that was an awesome experience. Taking the public transport back here seems like a drag in comparison.
There was also this night when there was a blackout. So while we were playing soccer with the locals, while waiting for dinner, we watched the sun set, and the sky get darker and darker, with no lights around. Fortunately the lights came back on just as we were about to eat dinner in the dark haha.
Staying in those houses on the farm was also quite fun haha. From showering in a cold, dripping shower at night, to getting used to the insects that just swarm around everywhere, to the choked up toilets (the highlight of the trip), to playing bridge every night before a voice downstairs told us to shut up and go to sleep, I'd say it was an unforgettable experience :D
It was also really sad when we had to leave the farm. Just when we got used to the slow and easy way of life there, just as we had made friends with so many of the people there. But all good things must come to an end I guess.
Spent the last two days touring the city. It was an okay tour, but we were all dying and falling asleep. This was mainly due to partying all night and not sleeping at all haha. There was the night market, where you'll get ripped off if you don't bargain, the organic food shop, which sold the stuff we farmed on the farm, the Indian restaurant we went to for dinner, another local restaurant for lunch the next day, and a bunch of temples. Of course, the Mekong river too. Our hotel was right next to it :D
On the whole, it was a simply awesome experience. I can't really describe that Laos feeling, when I was over there, with the rest of the OCIP people, but it was really a good one :)
First, it was simply AWESOME. Not only because of the places and activities, but also because of the people I went with. Interact Club really is a great CCA to be in :)
The flight there was better than expected. It wasn't even a budget airline, it was their national one haha. Though the entertainment sets weren't working on our flight there.
We reached there at night, and just checked into the hotel then. And the next day we set out to the farm. The bus ride was about 1.5 hours. That really shows how isolated the farm or rural area is, from the city.
On the farm, they gave us a brief tour of it first, before we started farming. I'll say, most of us weren't sufficiently physically fit to do our tasks for hours, like what farmers usually have to do every day. Luckily our "work" was very little, and only and two or three hours long at most. The stuff I did were: Planting "baby" plants from the nursery in the farm area, plucking black beans from a big and wide field, sorting black beans (the good from the bad), and digging holes to put new plants in. Stuff that others did included cutting down banana trees. Which seemed quite fun (though very tiring). Sadly I had to be at the school while they were doing that.
On my initial visit to the school, before our actual sessions there, I learnt quite a lot about them. Like, they have two English lessons a week, each being one hour. And honestly, I don't think they learn much from it. Each lesson, the teacher writes out a 100 word-ish passage on the board, and the students copy it. Oh and the teacher makes mistakes in writing too, because she's just copying from the textbook. So the students just copy it too, and a few of them read it out loud. And that's the end of the lesson.
We talked to the teachers after that. They had some difficulties understanding us when we spoke at our normal pace, despite being the most English-proficient in the school (or the area for that matter). I later learnt what may be the root of the problem. These teachers, all they study in university is the English textbook that they'll be using to teach students. So it's very doubtful that they have a deep understanding of how English works, it seems like just rote learning. But it's not their fault either. This comes about because they don't see English as being very important, given that it's not their mother tongue. And the fact that most of them won't need to speak English, since they'll be farmers.
My first session with the students went quite smoothly I guess. Though we only found out on the spot that their English proficiency was really really low (this was the graduating batch, the oldest), we still managed to make it work somehow. We could barely communicate with them, given that they didn't understand sentences, and most words. So it was more of us saying words, and them repeating them. Well at the very least, they did learn some new words (though they would probably forget quite quickly), and they got more familiar with English pronunciations. They had quite a lot of fun with origami folding as well. I had to be taught by some of them on how to fold cranes, apparently they learnt origami in primary school haha.
The second batch of students we taught were younger, so it was slightly more challenging, but it was still okay I guess. We adopted the method where we teach them English, and they teach us Lao back, so it'd be more fun.
The last bit at the school, the cultural exchange, was also pretty good. We put up our ethnic dances, which thankfully went smoothly, and they put up theirs. Ours was kinda more upbeat and fast-paced as compared to theirs haha. After which, we presented them with our gifts, which included computers and playing balls, and they presented us with garlands. That was quite cool haha. They also really treated us like royalty, like though the meal they served us was simple, they lined the table with clean writing paper, which they probably have a limited supply of. Was really nice of them to do that, but we still tried not to dirty the papers and return it to them.
We taught them how to play captain's ball after that. The demo match was rather... fake haha. Just because we had to show what happens in different scenarios. After which we played against them. And this being a diplomatic game, we could not win. We had to lose, and by a thin margin at that haha. We kind of underestimated how well the guys would play, so though we let them get in a few scores at the start, we kind of regretted it because they really learnt quick and won us by a large margin later on haha.
Was quite sad when we had to leave the school for good, they were taking pictures with us and all, we were really treated like celebrities. Which was actually a little scary, because some of them added us on FB, and also posted pics of us there ._.
Oh and I haven't mentioned the truck rides have I? They were crazy haha. Our only mode of transportation from the farm to anywhere else was to pack 20 plus people in the back of a truck, and go at high speeds on dirt roads. I swear, that was an awesome experience. Taking the public transport back here seems like a drag in comparison.
There was also this night when there was a blackout. So while we were playing soccer with the locals, while waiting for dinner, we watched the sun set, and the sky get darker and darker, with no lights around. Fortunately the lights came back on just as we were about to eat dinner in the dark haha.
Staying in those houses on the farm was also quite fun haha. From showering in a cold, dripping shower at night, to getting used to the insects that just swarm around everywhere, to the choked up toilets (the highlight of the trip), to playing bridge every night before a voice downstairs told us to shut up and go to sleep, I'd say it was an unforgettable experience :D
It was also really sad when we had to leave the farm. Just when we got used to the slow and easy way of life there, just as we had made friends with so many of the people there. But all good things must come to an end I guess.
Spent the last two days touring the city. It was an okay tour, but we were all dying and falling asleep. This was mainly due to partying all night and not sleeping at all haha. There was the night market, where you'll get ripped off if you don't bargain, the organic food shop, which sold the stuff we farmed on the farm, the Indian restaurant we went to for dinner, another local restaurant for lunch the next day, and a bunch of temples. Of course, the Mekong river too. Our hotel was right next to it :D
On the whole, it was a simply awesome experience. I can't really describe that Laos feeling, when I was over there, with the rest of the OCIP people, but it was really a good one :)
So it's already 2013.
I know I haven't really been updating this blog over the hols. Well, a quick summary of my hols would be:
13 chalet, Laos OCIP, bunch of Interact stuff like the bbq and the bursary presentation, Mr Koh's wedding and the impromptu outing that followed. And meeting up with Keith, Sunda, and the rest tomorrow to watch Les Miserables.
All that plus doing the final publication for the Pulse (still not done), and revising for next year. Oops, I mean this year. Yea I know this year is gonna be hell with the A levels coming, but I'll still try to make it as great a year as possible.
Despite the hectic workload last year, I'd say it was quite okay. I'd say I've met some great new people, like my CCA-mates, who made the year more tolerable. Was also nice to see how over the course of 2012, v13 has always been in touch. It's true that stuff like PW weren't really a great experience, but ah well, at least it's over.
It's interesting, the future never turns out as we expect. And we'll always somehow make do with it.
Though sometimes, it makes you wonder why we have these expectations at all, if all we're going to be at the end of the day is disappointed.
But I'm not gonna end this post on a gloomy note. Heck, it's the first day of 2013. This year is going to be great, I can just smell it, hehe :)
Friday, November 16, 2012
Back from 13 chalet :D
From the bbq-ing and ridiculously starting the fire and playing with it, to staying up all night(or day for that matter) to play Wii, this year's chalet was pretty awesome. Not to mention, almost everyone, v13 people and teachers turned up :D
I'd say the highlight was the celebrations though. Of the birthdays, and the performance we put up for Mr Koh who's leaving soon. Other than that, it was nice to see the usual madness and antics of everyone again haha.
It's true what Mr Koh says, along with the rest of our teachers. Our class is rather special, different from any other class. We're more than just classmates, we're more of some kind of weird second family haha. I'm just grateful to have such a great class. Hopefully we'll stay like this as the years go by :)
Anyway, back to reality now sigggh. OCIP prep is getting insane, along with the games booth for community affair. Not to mention the cleaning programme I'm in charge of. And finishing all the HBL lessons.
Just gonna take a quick nap, since I haven't exactly slept much for the past 30 hours-ish haha. Then it's down to work. BRING IT ON.
I'd say the highlight was the celebrations though. Of the birthdays, and the performance we put up for Mr Koh who's leaving soon. Other than that, it was nice to see the usual madness and antics of everyone again haha.
It's true what Mr Koh says, along with the rest of our teachers. Our class is rather special, different from any other class. We're more than just classmates, we're more of some kind of weird second family haha. I'm just grateful to have such a great class. Hopefully we'll stay like this as the years go by :)
Anyway, back to reality now sigggh. OCIP prep is getting insane, along with the games booth for community affair. Not to mention the cleaning programme I'm in charge of. And finishing all the HBL lessons.
Just gonna take a quick nap, since I haven't exactly slept much for the past 30 hours-ish haha. Then it's down to work. BRING IT ON.
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Final edits :D
There we go, font's all okay now. Guess this round of edits turned out pretty well, time to start brainstorming for another character to use for my next one :)
To always be better than you were the day before
Feeling quite accomplished.. using two raw images,
One of them this:
.jpg)
One of them this:
And another one of my sketches:
.jpg)
I made this in 3 hours total :D
Not bad I'll say, considering I haven't been doing editing for a pretty long time. This gives me inspiration for some more works hehe. I foresee days filled with drawing and editing on Photoshop :)
Friday, October 12, 2012
Doesn't look like there's much hope for humanity.
Haven't posted in quite a while again, it's been quite a busy period, with PW and all.. Seems like an endless marathon till the end of A levels next year, sigh.
It's annoying how people can be so selfish, or stupid, or lazy, the list goes on. Trying to be nice to people all the time in spite of that really doesn't seem like it's worth it anymore. Selfishness begets selfishness, I guess.
It's quite sad to see how there are so many people out there, who only have their own interests in mind. But I guess there are exceptions to everything, and I'm glad I've had 10v13 classmates who were nothing like that (mostly anyway, haha).
Looking forward to class chalet during e-learning, especially since so many people can make it this year :)
Sometimes, it's best to fight fire with fire.
It's annoying how people can be so selfish, or stupid, or lazy, the list goes on. Trying to be nice to people all the time in spite of that really doesn't seem like it's worth it anymore. Selfishness begets selfishness, I guess.
It's quite sad to see how there are so many people out there, who only have their own interests in mind. But I guess there are exceptions to everything, and I'm glad I've had 10v13 classmates who were nothing like that (mostly anyway, haha).
Looking forward to class chalet during e-learning, especially since so many people can make it this year :)
Sometimes, it's best to fight fire with fire.
Friday, September 7, 2012
Been quite busy the past month
Haven't posted in the past month, because there were really too many things going on. Nothing that eventful happened anyway. Mostly.
It's a drag to have to study for promos. I kinda know all my stuff already... but whether I'll do well depends on the day itself. Just want to get it over with as soon as possible.
I know there'll be PW after promos, but I guess I'll still have plenty of time to relax and all. It's been so long, that I've actually kinda forgotten what I want to do after promos :/
Strength of mind, that's all that's needed. Easier said than done though.
It's a drag to have to study for promos. I kinda know all my stuff already... but whether I'll do well depends on the day itself. Just want to get it over with as soon as possible.
I know there'll be PW after promos, but I guess I'll still have plenty of time to relax and all. It's been so long, that I've actually kinda forgotten what I want to do after promos :/
Strength of mind, that's all that's needed. Easier said than done though.
Monday, July 2, 2012
Ao no Exorcist was simply amazing :')
The plot, the characters, the soundtrack... Those 25 episodes were just amazing. It can really bring out all your emotions, it's amazing how it can make you so attached to the characters over only 25 episodes. I swear, if this continues with more seasons, it'll replace One Piece as my top anime. Words just can't describe how awesome AnE is. I'd recommend it to anyone who hasn't watched it yet, definitely worth 8 hours plus of your time :D
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Battle's over, time for a short break before the war
Guess I did okay for all my papers, except chem. Well, lesson learnt on time management I guess.
Anyway, LET THE ANIME MARATHON BEGINNNN. I know I've got plenty of other stuff to do, but I think I'll prioritize slacking this time. Gotta live life while you can I guess.
Oh yea I feel alive again... don't even feel sleepy from the lack of sleep the past few days :D
Anyway, LET THE ANIME MARATHON BEGINNNN. I know I've got plenty of other stuff to do, but I think I'll prioritize slacking this time. Gotta live life while you can I guess.
Oh yea I feel alive again... don't even feel sleepy from the lack of sleep the past few days :D
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Less than a week till my AnE marathon :D
Can't wait for MYEs to be over... the more reviews I read about Ao no Exorcist, the more I'm sure it'll be a great watch :D So many other animes, so little time. Ah well, guess there's always the Dec hols :)
Monday, June 18, 2012
Lunch with 13 today~
Had lunch with (half of)10v13 today, including Jamie who returned to Singapore for a while. Somehow, even though we don't meet up that often, it's nice to know that some things never change, like our usual conversation topics haha. Was really good to meet all of them together again after so long... Looking forward to the next class outing, whenever that is :D
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Back from volunteering at another event :D
Was a volunteer at the family games event organised by MPFSC yesterday. I had a more important role in this one because there were really quite few volunteers, so me and the rest of the interacters were assistant leaders for the groups. It was quite an interesting experience, once again, mainly because of interacting with the people there :D
We've all been living quite sheltered lives, we've barely stepped out of our comfort zone to see the other half of society where people aren't so fortunate, though we like to think we do. It's very easy to take for granted what we have, and assume that people elsewhere can't be that much worse off in comparison to us. But it's really all a matter of getting exposed to these things. We'd never feel the full impact of poverty unless we visit countries where this is really a problem, and see it for ourselves.
Talking to these people really makes a difference, it makes you aware that you should be very grateful for what you have. Nevertheless, it's still quite nice to still see them all so happy and positive, even with all their woes :)
Everyone has a story to tell, don't assume there's none simply because you haven't heard theirs yet.
We've all been living quite sheltered lives, we've barely stepped out of our comfort zone to see the other half of society where people aren't so fortunate, though we like to think we do. It's very easy to take for granted what we have, and assume that people elsewhere can't be that much worse off in comparison to us. But it's really all a matter of getting exposed to these things. We'd never feel the full impact of poverty unless we visit countries where this is really a problem, and see it for ourselves.
Talking to these people really makes a difference, it makes you aware that you should be very grateful for what you have. Nevertheless, it's still quite nice to still see them all so happy and positive, even with all their woes :)
Everyone has a story to tell, don't assume there's none simply because you haven't heard theirs yet.
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
So much for catching up on my sleep this hols
I'm staying up late every night.... Nope not to study, just to draw. My inspiration's suddenly come back, I just can't help it. I've gotta admit, for not drawing for some time, my skills don't seem to have worsened. In fact, I seem to be able to draw much better and faster now :D Quite happy with my works so far, might scan and colour one of them after my mind years.
Urrgh mid years.
Urrgh mid years.
Friday, June 8, 2012
Guess the holidays aren't THAT bad after all
Think I've been slacking quite a bit this week, partially because I think it won't make much of a difference if I study more anyway. Gotta get rid of that mindset.
But this week was good, with meeting Mr Ng to go exploring around Tiong bahru and lunch on Monday, a rather fruitful Tuesday of PW, dinner on Thursday, and meeting Keith today. Today's 5 hour Xbox/PS2 marathon was a pretty good way to unwind... I've lost my touch in SC4 after not playing for so long. But Marvel vs Capcom was still pretty good, I managed to win half the matches or so :D
Went to the library on Wednesday, and guess what, there's a big comics exhibition right at the entrance. Quite interesting to see other younger kid's works, they're actually not bad. If only I had those opportunities when I was younger. Anyway, I borrowed a book on anatomy by Christopher Hart, specifically for manga. It provides quite a lot of useful details that I've kinda always wanted to know. Sadly I won't have much time to practise this hols, but I'm thinking of buying the book during Dec hols, along with a few other books I found. I realised Kino is not only a great place to get manga, but also a great place to get books on manga drawing too. I swear I love that bookshop.
Anyway, time to get back to reality. Mid year exams in two weeks. I've reaally gotta stop having such a relaxed mindset. Not exactly that optimistic about these exams as I usually am... just hope I can scrape As or Bs at least :/
Sunday, June 3, 2012
So many animes I wanna watch now
I mean besides the usual long and still-continuing animes, like Fairy Tail, which I'm gonna spam after A levels. I've found quite a few short and completed animes, that are pretty good. Ao no Exorcist, Shakugan no Shana, and Soul eater. Plenty more actually. But I think I'll start with Ao no Exorcist after mid year exams, it shouldn't take longer than a weekend if I marathon-watch it :D
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Decisions always somehow turn out to be the right ones.
Similar to when I was applying for IP, I had no idea what was in store for me when I applied for Interact Club. Only after being in it I realise that I made the right decision. Being in Interact really exposes you to the other side of life that we don't commonly experience, be it kids from disadvantaged families, or simply lonely elderly people.
Started the day today with the last homegroup session of the term. I'll admit, the kids were pretty rowdy and hard to control, but it was fun watching them play I guess. Though most of the games were kinda fail with the children haha. And it was pretty nice that the people from the centre held a mini party for us, with food and even a small cake for us, in appreciation of us tutoring the kids every week. I guess I would miss the kids in some way over the holidays :/
Went for Makan Love after that. I thought that I wouldn't be able to communicate with the elderly much due to the language barrier. While that was mostly true, I was lucky enough to have an English educated couple at my table. I talked to them a lot, it was a really interesting experience. Both of them were 80 and 83 years old, and they had very interesting life experiences, like studying in Cambridge and failing, but still being able to succeed in life, and also travelling all around the world, to many many countries. What I found really cool was that they too volunteered a lot, even when they were in their 60s and 70s, and only stopped recently. Was quite funny when we talked about how things have changed since the past, like how music was supposedly better than the "noise" we have now haha. Somehow after talking about their grandchildren we ended up on the topic of my want to study medicine in future. I honestly felt really encouraged, and somewhat touched by the things they told me, like how I really shouldn't worry about things too much now, and that I should enjoy my youth.
They were really eager to talk to me too, probably because they don't live with their children, so they don't really have many people to talk to. But I think a really felt a true "warm fuzzy feeling" after talking to them, knowing that I at least managed to make a connection with them, even if only for that short period of time. That's what being in Interact is all about I guess. It's not just in being a volunteer in various events, to help with manual work and all. It's about the personal experiences gained from these events. Something like how my hospital attachment earlier this year was much more enriching and enlightening than any other hospital attachment I would have found on my own.
Another thing I found very interesting and impactful was the spirit of volunteerism. It was really there, with volunteers who were complete strangers to other volunteers helping each other out, and all of us staying back to clean the place even though we didn't really have to, till like 9+. I know those sound kinda trivial, but I can't really describe what I felt that really made an impact on me. Once again, seems like the decision to join Interact was a good one, as I'm now amongst people who have similar mindsets towards helping others.
Yes, I know I'm very busy now and haven't been blogging much, but I felt this was something important that I'd really like to capture, something that I'd really like to look back at and remember, in time to come.
"Don't be so uncertain of yourself, the future will only turn out the way you want it to be, if you're certain of yourself."
Started the day today with the last homegroup session of the term. I'll admit, the kids were pretty rowdy and hard to control, but it was fun watching them play I guess. Though most of the games were kinda fail with the children haha. And it was pretty nice that the people from the centre held a mini party for us, with food and even a small cake for us, in appreciation of us tutoring the kids every week. I guess I would miss the kids in some way over the holidays :/
Went for Makan Love after that. I thought that I wouldn't be able to communicate with the elderly much due to the language barrier. While that was mostly true, I was lucky enough to have an English educated couple at my table. I talked to them a lot, it was a really interesting experience. Both of them were 80 and 83 years old, and they had very interesting life experiences, like studying in Cambridge and failing, but still being able to succeed in life, and also travelling all around the world, to many many countries. What I found really cool was that they too volunteered a lot, even when they were in their 60s and 70s, and only stopped recently. Was quite funny when we talked about how things have changed since the past, like how music was supposedly better than the "noise" we have now haha. Somehow after talking about their grandchildren we ended up on the topic of my want to study medicine in future. I honestly felt really encouraged, and somewhat touched by the things they told me, like how I really shouldn't worry about things too much now, and that I should enjoy my youth.
They were really eager to talk to me too, probably because they don't live with their children, so they don't really have many people to talk to. But I think a really felt a true "warm fuzzy feeling" after talking to them, knowing that I at least managed to make a connection with them, even if only for that short period of time. That's what being in Interact is all about I guess. It's not just in being a volunteer in various events, to help with manual work and all. It's about the personal experiences gained from these events. Something like how my hospital attachment earlier this year was much more enriching and enlightening than any other hospital attachment I would have found on my own.
Another thing I found very interesting and impactful was the spirit of volunteerism. It was really there, with volunteers who were complete strangers to other volunteers helping each other out, and all of us staying back to clean the place even though we didn't really have to, till like 9+. I know those sound kinda trivial, but I can't really describe what I felt that really made an impact on me. Once again, seems like the decision to join Interact was a good one, as I'm now amongst people who have similar mindsets towards helping others.
Yes, I know I'm very busy now and haven't been blogging much, but I felt this was something important that I'd really like to capture, something that I'd really like to look back at and remember, in time to come.
"Don't be so uncertain of yourself, the future will only turn out the way you want it to be, if you're certain of yourself."
Saturday, April 28, 2012
There are many small bit of our past that we tend to forget, aren't there?
In the midst of this hectic-ness, I've been thinking about what life used to be like before. Not just last year, but way before that.
I miss the times when I was much younger, when I didn't have any reason to use the computer, and when every day just revolved around drawing comics and reading fantasy novels.
I miss the times when I could wake up every morning, actually looking forward to the day.
I miss the times in primary school, when we used to play ridiculous pranks on others(including the security guard), and when life seemed somewhat of a crazy adventure.
I miss the times when it was normal to talk to my primary school friends for hours over our house phones.
I miss the times when I was in VS, when we'd use every project as an excuse to go over to Keith's house and slack.
I miss the stuff we used to do in IP, the projects, OI, and everything else.
I miss having a class that I could say I truly felt part of, and having a classroom that we could call our home.
I'm not saying that life's gonna completely suck from here on, I'm just saying, it'd be nice if I could go back in time and relive all those memories again. Just once more.
Memories are precious, make sure you constantly remind yourself of them. To forget them, even the smallest pieces of them, would be to lose part of yourself.
I miss the times when I was much younger, when I didn't have any reason to use the computer, and when every day just revolved around drawing comics and reading fantasy novels.
I miss the times when I could wake up every morning, actually looking forward to the day.
I miss the times in primary school, when we used to play ridiculous pranks on others(including the security guard), and when life seemed somewhat of a crazy adventure.
I miss the times when it was normal to talk to my primary school friends for hours over our house phones.
I miss the times when I was in VS, when we'd use every project as an excuse to go over to Keith's house and slack.
I miss the stuff we used to do in IP, the projects, OI, and everything else.
I miss having a class that I could say I truly felt part of, and having a classroom that we could call our home.
I'm not saying that life's gonna completely suck from here on, I'm just saying, it'd be nice if I could go back in time and relive all those memories again. Just once more.
Memories are precious, make sure you constantly remind yourself of them. To forget them, even the smallest pieces of them, would be to lose part of yourself.
Friday, April 20, 2012
I really need to take time off to draw.
Sadly time is already scarce enough as it is. Damn, JC life really sucks. Just saw some works on deviantart that really got me inspired. But not like I'm going to be drawing anything anytime soon. Sigh. A mad, mindless, soulless rush to the finish line, before I get to relax eh?
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
HBL kinda sucks.
Much more work to do than a normal week. Only good thing is that I get 9 hours of sleep a day. One thing I realised from HBL is that, tutorials and lectures are kind of a waste of time when done in school. I can get them done at a much faster pace on my own, fastforwarding through all the duh parts and all. Which of course leaves me with more time for other things that I actually want to do. Sigh, guess I'll have no choice but to waste such time for the next one and a half years.
I really want to catch up on OP anime, but instead of doing it in bits and pieces,, I've decided to spam it over the Dec hols. By then I'd have an estimated of 45 episodes to catch up with. Which is equivalent to about 4 days of watching :D
There's something about One Piece that makes it awesome in manga, and undescribably awesome in the anime. (Well I couldn't find a better word to describe it)
The courage to follow your dreams. Perhaps that's what makes One Piece so great.
I really want to catch up on OP anime, but instead of doing it in bits and pieces,, I've decided to spam it over the Dec hols. By then I'd have an estimated of 45 episodes to catch up with. Which is equivalent to about 4 days of watching :D
There's something about One Piece that makes it awesome in manga, and undescribably awesome in the anime. (Well I couldn't find a better word to describe it)
The courage to follow your dreams. Perhaps that's what makes One Piece so great.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)