Today is yet again a Monday. Everybody knows that in the town of Olympia. The citizens know that, the mayor knows that, the elders know that, the kids know that. So does Michael, and he is happy that he does. Because if he had forgotten about it, he would miss the most exciting thing of the week, which is also the only thing that really motivates him for the day.
Motivational Monday
Today is Monday, and a very ordinary one at that, even in the popular town of Olympia. Some of the residents will get the blues and get stuck to their warm blankets and sort pillows, while others will rush to meet their pals at wherever they may be. The optimists take it as another beginning, the pessimists take it as a end of their beloved Sunday, while the realists take it as another day. No matter how and what one would take it as, it is just another punctual Monday on the schedule of the never-ending looping time where they just pretty much repeat what they did exactly seven days ago.
That is also what it is to everyone in Olympia, that is, except for Michael. Today is no ordinary day for him. However in what way it will be, he has no idea, but that is exactly what he is looking forward to.
That is also what it is to everyone in Olympia, that is, except for Michael. Today is no ordinary day for him. However in what way it will be, he has no idea, but that is exactly what he is looking forward to.
The town of Olympia
There was a town, which is called the town of Olympia. The town is full of people, just like any other town you would know, with perfectly normal people with perfectly normal origins. But there is more than that. This town is actually the most popular town in the state! If you would have to ask anyone, it is very likely that they can tell you all about Olympia. In fact, there is not a single soul that would tell you truthfully that he or she does not know Olympia. Some even call it an act of a miracle. The biggest reason this is so is due to its generations of athletic men and genius women. These townfolks have made the biggest records in their subjects. Not only so, this town is one of the biggest town, and also full of exhibits that would attract anyone. Compile that with the dense population, Olympia is easily the quickest flourishing town you could ever find.
However,
However,
Visiting Ang Mo Kio
This weekend, because my parents are in Malaysia, I will have to stay in the boarding school by myself this weekend. And on Saturday, I have nothing to do, so my father suggested that I may go to Ang Mo Kio Libray during Saturday to spend my time, which I decided agreed. So today at 10:30, I left for the library.
As what my English Drama teacher told my class, whatever can go wrong would go wrong, since I was not very sure of the bus stations, I went pass the correct station. Luckily I realized it quick enough that I was able to come off the station directly after it.
Then when I entered Ang Mo Kio Library, I decided to first check out the restaurant, then I realized that the things there are expensive. Ice cream was more than 2 dollars and pizza was almost 10 dollars, and it's not like it was big and that nice(from the looks). Luckily I noticed a McDonalds across the street, so I decided that I will go there for lunch instead.
After a big 30 minutes of looking for interesting books, I gave up trying to find my favorite books at the ground floor. However I was not having much luck at the second floor either. I took a whole 45 minutes to find something that I would prefer. However after 10 minutes of reading, I realized that I need to grab my lunch.
As I crossed the street to approach McDonalds, I realized the sign was further than I thought, that's also when I noticed what looked to me at that point in time like a plaza building and some signs saying food centre, so I decided to go back across the street. However upon closer inspection, it was not that all exciting, and the only restaurant I saw was a French one where they also sell expensive food. So I had to go back across the street, where I once again realized another mistake, the McDonalds was not really as far as I saw, it's only the sign that is on the far side. So I got there bought a burger and ate with content.
After eating, I decided to go back to the library. Just a few more minutes before I decide to leave, I found my favorite book. So I sped through it and it was nice. At least I got a bit of what I wanted.
Moral of the story: always have a map, or you'll start seeing(or maybe not-seeing) things that will cause misjudgment.
Then when I entered Ang Mo Kio Library, I decided to first check out the restaurant, then I realized that the things there are expensive. Ice cream was more than 2 dollars and pizza was almost 10 dollars, and it's not like it was big and that nice(from the looks). Luckily I noticed a McDonalds across the street, so I decided that I will go there for lunch instead.
After a big 30 minutes of looking for interesting books, I gave up trying to find my favorite books at the ground floor. However I was not having much luck at the second floor either. I took a whole 45 minutes to find something that I would prefer. However after 10 minutes of reading, I realized that I need to grab my lunch.
As I crossed the street to approach McDonalds, I realized the sign was further than I thought, that's also when I noticed what looked to me at that point in time like a plaza building and some signs saying food centre, so I decided to go back across the street. However upon closer inspection, it was not that all exciting, and the only restaurant I saw was a French one where they also sell expensive food. So I had to go back across the street, where I once again realized another mistake, the McDonalds was not really as far as I saw, it's only the sign that is on the far side. So I got there bought a burger and ate with content.
After eating, I decided to go back to the library. Just a few more minutes before I decide to leave, I found my favorite book. So I sped through it and it was nice. At least I got a bit of what I wanted.
Moral of the story: always have a map, or you'll start seeing(or maybe not-seeing) things that will cause misjudgment.
Project work proposal evaluation
During life in Hwa Chong, there is a type of subject called IS, or independent studies. This is a subject that is graded over the whole year. How is it graded you ask? It is mainly graded on a project called PW, or project work. It is a project that requires 3 to 4 people in a group, and you can choose from over 10 categories, for example there are math, Chinese, art, infocomm and so on. Also, you would also need to have a teacher as your mentor. The one that I chose is math, and what I do is to analyze Bingo using math(that's the simple way of saying it).
So basically, you need your team to come up with an idea which also goes with the category you chose. One mistake that people often make is that they choose categories that focuses on a school subject and have their project on making a product which helps others to know more about that particular subject. Well, if that's what you're doing, my advise is that you convert to the category called resource package before it's too late. The thing about resource package is that it is the project where you create informational products, and if you choose to be in other categories like math or infocomm, you are supposed to use that to do something instead of teaching someone else about it.
Anyway, once you have an idea on the basic structure, you need to have to have a few components, which is around 3 objectives, which is what you would do. Then before March, you much have a presentation about what you would do.
Anyway, on that day, my team have was the fifth presentation. In our presentation we introduced Bingo, then our objectives and questions, rationals and the sort. In the presentation, I was a bit scared, but overall, I had it under control.
Anyway, once you have an idea on the basic structure, you need to have to have a few components, which is around 3 objectives, which is what you would do. Then before March, you much have a presentation about what you would do.
Anyway, on that day, my team have was the fifth presentation. In our presentation we introduced Bingo, then our objectives and questions, rationals and the sort. In the presentation, I was a bit scared, but overall, I had it under control.
SOAC Camp diary
During the 7th of March, or last week, I attended the school camp called SOAC, or Secondary One Annual Camp, which is compulsory for all secondary ones of Hwa Chong.
Firstly, we gather at the Khaki hall, where the guys from the scout camp give a briefing of the theme of the camp. I am not sure about the ones last year, but this year they base it around 24 human qualities, where each class needs to create a cheer which contains around 3 to 4 of the qualities, which will need to be recited at the Campfire section of the camp. Not only so, at the end of the camp we also need to dance to a song that was chosen by the organizing team.
At about 10 o'clock, we start to board the bus, which obviously as you might expect, when we finally arrives, it was noon and lunch time. During lunch time, they told us to have this weird goofy cheer called the Makan cheer.
During lunch, they just gave (probably three-quarter cooked)rice. Then for meat, they gave (a lot better cooked)chicken and ordinary vegetables. Then they gave that type of weird tasting red syrup for drinks. The good thing was that they gave water-proof oil paper, so if you fold it nicely into your container, then you do not have to wash it. Yeah, just in case you were wondering, you have to use your own containers and wash them yourselves.
After lunch, it was conveniently raining, so we can not have any outdoor activities, instead we played Werewolf. If you do not know how to play the game, you should search it yourself, as I might spoil to much, and explaining it also takes forever on a computer.
Okay, so you are back with the full knowledge of the game of Werewolf now? I will continue on then. We played for quite a while, and it is pretty easy as long as you are really observant and have a constant face. If you really want to be a pro though, you would need to up your game and not only be really protective of your identity, but also try to know each other's identity, no matter which side you are on, so you know who you should trust or be careful of. Not only that, always be the sheep during the voting session. Vote too early, too late or have different opinions and people may suspect you, it does not help when you are trying so hard to keep your identity a secret. However, of course, you may reveal you identity as a seer, oracle, augur or detective once you have enough information to know who or at least most of the werewolves are.
Just before dinnertime, the rain stopped, so we played another game instead where one third of the participants play as attackers, one fourth as defenders and the rest as civilians. It is really simple, the defenders and civilians stay in a circle, and the attackers each have a ball to throw and kill the civilians. The defenders are invincible so they can block the balls. If a defender or a civilian pick up a ball, they can pick it up and throw it at an attacker to make them freeze for 30 seconds.It was really boring, especially when only 9 people were playing.
After dinner, there were more activities. One was where the OT(organizing team) tossed like a hundred or probably two hundred balls onto a field. Around thirty of them had stars on it.If you find one of these you get a point for your class. However, some of them have stickers that are not stars, and you cannot keep the balls without stars. In the end my class won.
After that, they let us use clothing as eyemasks, then we formed a line and everyone put their hands on the shoulders of the person infront, then everyone walked forwards together and the facilities tried to spook us. I did this 4 years ago!
Just after supper and before lights out, I took a shower. The cubicles were mostly occupied so there is a big chance you would need to use the public shower.
At night, our class slept in the dorms, it was really dusty and sandy. My classmates also made a lot of noise, which was a pain.
In the morning, it was a miracle I did not feel like dozing off, because I only slept like 6 hours due to my classmates.
For the morning activities, we went jungle trekking. The problem was that the main part was instead walking in mud. Yep, that's it, the trekking was a cheap one. thatlasted a few minutes with nothing interesting. There was also this milo pond thing where everyone has to go down a slide into a muddy pond. I wonder if the pond is muddy due to the amount of mud from the jungle trekking?
For the whole afternoon, we practiced our cheer and dance. Our song for the dance was Symphony. The problem was Symphony was not only a song you would not normally dance to, it is also a hard one to dance to as it is not only slow but the words are hard to be shown by actions. We ended up posing everyone 5 seconds.
At the campfire night, we found out that not only the classes have to dance. The OT, consortium representatives and student councilors also danced. The OT made a joke by starting off with a Rick-Roll, then bleeping it off to some Korean song. I do not listen to Korean songs, nut not because I hate them, but I just prefer songs with understandable meanings. Do not judge me.
Speaking of the campfire, the facilitates put up a treat for the eyes. Instead of normal wood, they added fireworks. Now that answers what happens when you burn a box of fireworks. They all go off at the same time normally(I guess).
The lights out was just as before, no need to go that far. During the last day, they made all of us cheer one more time under the sun, then they showed a montage of the two days. It was not that special though.
Anyway just like on the first day, we boarded the bus and arrived at school at noon.
Firstly, we gather at the Khaki hall, where the guys from the scout camp give a briefing of the theme of the camp. I am not sure about the ones last year, but this year they base it around 24 human qualities, where each class needs to create a cheer which contains around 3 to 4 of the qualities, which will need to be recited at the Campfire section of the camp. Not only so, at the end of the camp we also need to dance to a song that was chosen by the organizing team.
At about 10 o'clock, we start to board the bus, which obviously as you might expect, when we finally arrives, it was noon and lunch time. During lunch time, they told us to have this weird goofy cheer called the Makan cheer.
During lunch, they just gave (probably three-quarter cooked)rice. Then for meat, they gave (a lot better cooked)chicken and ordinary vegetables. Then they gave that type of weird tasting red syrup for drinks. The good thing was that they gave water-proof oil paper, so if you fold it nicely into your container, then you do not have to wash it. Yeah, just in case you were wondering, you have to use your own containers and wash them yourselves.
After lunch, it was conveniently raining, so we can not have any outdoor activities, instead we played Werewolf. If you do not know how to play the game, you should search it yourself, as I might spoil to much, and explaining it also takes forever on a computer.
Okay, so you are back with the full knowledge of the game of Werewolf now? I will continue on then. We played for quite a while, and it is pretty easy as long as you are really observant and have a constant face. If you really want to be a pro though, you would need to up your game and not only be really protective of your identity, but also try to know each other's identity, no matter which side you are on, so you know who you should trust or be careful of. Not only that, always be the sheep during the voting session. Vote too early, too late or have different opinions and people may suspect you, it does not help when you are trying so hard to keep your identity a secret. However, of course, you may reveal you identity as a seer, oracle, augur or detective once you have enough information to know who or at least most of the werewolves are.
Just before dinnertime, the rain stopped, so we played another game instead where one third of the participants play as attackers, one fourth as defenders and the rest as civilians. It is really simple, the defenders and civilians stay in a circle, and the attackers each have a ball to throw and kill the civilians. The defenders are invincible so they can block the balls. If a defender or a civilian pick up a ball, they can pick it up and throw it at an attacker to make them freeze for 30 seconds.It was really boring, especially when only 9 people were playing.
After dinner, there were more activities. One was where the OT(organizing team) tossed like a hundred or probably two hundred balls onto a field. Around thirty of them had stars on it.If you find one of these you get a point for your class. However, some of them have stickers that are not stars, and you cannot keep the balls without stars. In the end my class won.
After that, they let us use clothing as eyemasks, then we formed a line and everyone put their hands on the shoulders of the person infront, then everyone walked forwards together and the facilities tried to spook us. I did this 4 years ago!
Just after supper and before lights out, I took a shower. The cubicles were mostly occupied so there is a big chance you would need to use the public shower.
At night, our class slept in the dorms, it was really dusty and sandy. My classmates also made a lot of noise, which was a pain.
In the morning, it was a miracle I did not feel like dozing off, because I only slept like 6 hours due to my classmates.
For the morning activities, we went jungle trekking. The problem was that the main part was instead walking in mud. Yep, that's it, the trekking was a cheap one. thatlasted a few minutes with nothing interesting. There was also this milo pond thing where everyone has to go down a slide into a muddy pond. I wonder if the pond is muddy due to the amount of mud from the jungle trekking?
For the whole afternoon, we practiced our cheer and dance. Our song for the dance was Symphony. The problem was Symphony was not only a song you would not normally dance to, it is also a hard one to dance to as it is not only slow but the words are hard to be shown by actions. We ended up posing everyone 5 seconds.
At the campfire night, we found out that not only the classes have to dance. The OT, consortium representatives and student councilors also danced. The OT made a joke by starting off with a Rick-Roll, then bleeping it off to some Korean song. I do not listen to Korean songs, nut not because I hate them, but I just prefer songs with understandable meanings. Do not judge me.
Speaking of the campfire, the facilitates put up a treat for the eyes. Instead of normal wood, they added fireworks. Now that answers what happens when you burn a box of fireworks. They all go off at the same time normally(I guess).
The lights out was just as before, no need to go that far. During the last day, they made all of us cheer one more time under the sun, then they showed a montage of the two days. It was not that special though.
Anyway just like on the first day, we boarded the bus and arrived at school at noon.
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