here is about the week after the holidays.
on monday and tuesday, we had lessons as usual. just that on monday, i had a swimming lesson for PE, which i enjoy quite a lot. (in ri, we hav swimming for PE 3 months every year) from wednesday to friday, some classes which includes mine, had a sec 2 special programme. we had to choose from 6 choices ,a place we wanted to go for a field trip. then, on wednesday, we went to our respective places. i went to the Asian film archives, hoping to see some animes or smthg. but... it turned out that... they only kept films on singapore history in the singapore branch... X(
but the trip was very educational. firstly, we had a tour at the place and we had a 'free n easy' for us to browse through the information, take photos etc. then, we had a half an hour break to eat some snacks. hehe. i ate with felix, the poet guy, as he also came with me. ahmad, asnawi and gulshan went there too.
after the break, we had a 2-hour long talk on the singapore film industry, its history, its effects etc. by the executive director of the museum, Mr Tan. (haha, not me, of course) we got to watch some clips from famous movies (mostly local) too. from the talk, i learnt a lot, seriously. most importantly, i think, i understood that films are not merely for entertainment purposes. they are also for preserving our culture, heritage and memories. =) and i will definately think about this the next time i go for a movie.
we spent the next day sharing with our grpmates the things we learnt and given a situation, we had to do a report on future problem solving. my group was good, as we were all really good friends and we worked well together.
for the third day, we had to make a poster on our processes and our solution for future problem solving. when it was recess, we got burgers and pandan cakes from the school and we were allowed to eat them while 'admiring' other grp's posters. later, we had to go to the lecture theatre for the finale. firstly, we had a talk on global warming by two pple from "the hemispheres". then there was a quiz session. i got a question right!!! and so, i got a magazine and a competition kit for a project of theirs. but, i gav the kit to iqbal, the most artistic guy in my class. as i thought he would hav stood a better chance of winning. anyway, gd luck! (it was because he didnt answer any questions, and a kit costed $4) then the best four groups from the whole level had to do a presentation in the lecture theatre.(if it was me, i would hav stage fright...) one of the groups was from my class! yuho's group. their presentation was good. with yuho being "Typhoon Bongzilla", it was hillarious! but in the end, the two GE classes won... (>=p) GEGEGEGEGE... haiz... nvm. but iqbal's grp won the best poster!!! congrats.
i liked this special programme. instead of being stuck in a classroom, we went on trips and we too learnt a lot. i hope there will be more of these programmes in the future. =D
Jim Tan signs off.
5:59 PM
some time ago, i came across this story that i find quite meaningful. so, i guess i will share it:

Sand and Stone
Two friends were walking through the desert. During some point of the journey they had an argument, and one friend slapped the other one in the face. The one who got slapped was hurt, but without saying anything, wrote in the sand: "TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SLAPPED ME IN THE FACE."
They kept on walking until they found an oasis, where they decided to take a bath. The one, who had been slapped, got stuck in the mire and started drowning, but the friend saved him. After the friend recovered from the near drowning, he wrote on a stone: "TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SAVED MY LIFE."
The friend who had slapped and saved his best friend asked him, "After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand and now, you write on a stone, why?"
The other friend replied: "When someone hurts us, we should write it down in sand where winds of forgiveness can erase it away. But, when someone does something good for us, we must engrave it in stone where no wind can ever erase it."
LEARN TO WRITE YOUR HURTS IN THE SAND, AND TO CARVE YOUR BENEFITS IN STONE.

i dedicate this story to peijia and charmaine, because arguing between friends arent good (wait, sometimes they are good). anyway, i think they arent serious. X)
btw, since school has reopened, i won be able to blog as often. sry bout that.
Jim Tan signs off.
10:21 PM
yesterday, i woke up at about 9+ and found out tha jack's friends were at our house! but jack was nice to hav let me sleep and didnt wake me up. thanks. later, we went to hav lunch together at mac's. i had to leave early cos i had to go for my NP squad outing at 2.
so, i took the MRT to marina bay. i met some squadmates there, and we sat down to wait for others. while waiting, i heard some discussions about the day at st nicks. lol. i shan't reveal anything here, so as to protect my squad/squadmates from gossips. we then took a bus to the 'bowl'. haha. when we were dividing into groups, i didnt hav a group, cos my closer friends in NP didnt turn up. this had been a good lesson for me to make more friends in NP. in the end, tengchuan invited me into his group with gerald and ping yen. thanks! after getting the shoes, we started to bowl. GERALD IS PRO!!! he got dunno how many strikes in a game. i felt lousy, but they encouraged me and also taught me some skillz in bowling. so, in the second game, i did much better! thanks! =D
while we were bowling, justin (a plump GE boy) went to the arcade behind the lanes and played this samurai game. (it was a motion sensor game where when u swing the handle-like thing, the sword in the game will move) he looked... funny. lol, he was crazily swinging the 'sword' around. he was so desperate to complete the game, that he spent bout $15 at that game. in the end, however, he didnt complete the game, and got 'interrogated' by us on why he is such a spendthrift. but, after a while, we let him off.
we then went to play soccer at a field nearby. after a few hours of ball kicking, we decided to rest. we went to buy drinks and sat down together. after some chattering, we continued. although i dun really like soccer, i liked playing with my squadmates. =D. then when it was near dinner time, many had to leave. i had to too. Adil's dad was kind to hav sent some of us to the MRT station and i thank him. many of us took the MRT home, so two rows of seats were taken up by us on the train. lol. but we all left one by one. headed home.
this squad outing was quite fun cos most of us turned up and we really showed our squad spirit. i also hav to add that it might be because our NCOs didnt attend this outing with us. cos, without them, we had more freedom and liberty as to where and what we could and would do. sry, NCOs.
I hope future squad outings would be fun too!
note: i didnt include some details becos im frustrated with my hard work being deleted. (see my last post)
Jim Tan signs off.
11:57 AM
AHH!!! i spent so much time typing out the details of my squad outing and i dunno y it got deleted!!!! >=(
Jim Tan signs off.
11:56 AM
today, i woke up early in the morning, and went to school. I met some other NP cadets and we took the chartered bus to st nicks for a CIP programme. our teacher-in-charge drove his own car there and reached 15mins later than us... so we had to wait outside the gate. lol (pple must be thinking: wat is a group of ri guys doing outside the gates of a girls school. lol). after we reached there, we found out that nygg and and some st nicks sports cca pple were also there. (but the st nicks pple were the majority) then, we got divided into groups. i entered group 6. and... since some pple from my squad didnt turn up... i was the only boy in my group. Xp. and... i found out that wann qin was also there, and she was in my group! my group facilitator was Alex, and he was from ACS(I). he helped me get out of some awkward situations (u know, in such a group...) , and so, i thank him and hereby declare that he isnt bad. lol. this CIP programme is bout the disabled and disabiltity sports. we tried some disability sports like boccia, obstacle course and normal sports like basketball, soccer and captains ball, but with restrains (eg. with blindfolds, earplugs, cant talk, tied hands...), interacted with some disability athletes and so on, throughout the day. we also had lunch and a reflection session. then, after a not-so-good finale, i went back home.
Jim Tan signs off.
8:46 PM
hello! I am sorry for not updating my blog for bout... a month. =(
anyway, many things hav happened in this month. like, my bday, others' bday, exams, track n field meet etc. let me touch on a few of them.
track n field meet: i signed up for 100m, and my house gave me... 100m, 200m, high jump and long jump. i begged my senior and he opted me out of 200m. and i didnt go for high jump (cos i kow i wont do well). i sprinted in 100m, and gota lousy placing. for long jump, i nearly qualified. =( nvm... anyway, my house is 3rd in the standings. Buckley, we're doin fine!
One of my classmates, Aman (aka. baloo) , is migrating to Dubai... ='( he is a real nice guy. an english pro. and our very own assistant monitor. Here is a poem, written by Felix, a fine poet of 2D:
"Baloo the big old bear,
is really extraodinaire,
he sings and dances,
in weird moods and trances,
and life's much better when he's there."
its nice, right? =D
Anyway, yesterday, was his last day of school. so, ms hanna, treated us to pizzas!!! (although i only managed to get a slice.) and i hav to thank shaun, our treasurer, who waited in the hot sun for the delivery man. after we finished the pizzas, everyone had to leave... and we all bid Aman farewell. Aman we will miss u!
note to self: Felix owes me a "snigger" for losing a game. Hobey ho!
Jim Tan signs off.
3:29 PM