oh boy, i can hardly believe it’s been almost a month since i last blogged. and just in case you were wondering, no, my blog is not dead. in fact, i have tried to blog prior to this, but i always kinda gave up halfway through, probably because my entries were well, way too lengthy. and having learnt my lesson, i shall blog a lot more briefly this time. i’ll miss the depth and details of my usual entries, but oh well, a few brief entries are better than none at all, right?
so orientation has come and gone, though a little part of me kinda can’t help thinking that it was just yesterday. and yes, there’s a part of me that also wishes that it wasn’t over, even though i was feeling the complete opposite during orientation itself, because i was just so exhausted. for some strange reason, facilitating the orientation seemed more tiring than participating in it, because i would be dead tired by evening (or even earlier) and yet my freshies would still have enough energy to go for supper, play cards at night and they were like that practically every day! amazing, i tell you.
and one of the best experiences i had during orientation was getting to know my freshies in forseti. i never saw myself as an OGL-type of person, nor did i foresee that i would get along so well with freshies, but somehow i just did. i’m also pretty impressed by how fast some of them just clicked and bonded with each other – by the end of the first night, they were having supper at fong seng and chatting like old friends. some of them even played cards till like 5am on the first night! and i joined them, haha. it was rather crazy considering the long day i had ahead, but i felt that i really had to seize my chance to bond with them, and it paid off when i managed (with the help of amanda, who joined us) to convince them to go for cluedo and iron chef instead of the FASS talks.
and i seriously swear i was awed by their level of enthusiasm for cluedo – they were really asking all sorts of questions, totally examining the crime scene and writing down all the evidence and i don’t think i’m being biased when i say i think they were damn loud when they had to cheer. me and lynn were pretty exasperated when they were trying to get the answer though, because they kept wanting to go down the wrong track and we had to keep subtly nudging them towards the right answer… haha!
allan and chris during cluedo. yes, i know this is a rather scary photo.
iron chef was FANTASTIC for us. the only bad thing was that i let my emotions gain control of my head when i thought forseti had been somewhat unfairly judged. on hindsight i really should have kept my cool and it’s something i have to work on, but i’ve just always been like that – once i feel for something, my passion and emotions just overwhelms me. on one hand it can be a flaw, but on the other hand, i just can’t do things without having any passion or feelings for it.
and anyway, forseti just totally rocked iron chef. we were so serious and intent on winning we didn’t even stop for lunch – we went straight to sheng siong and tapowed our lunch so some people could eat while the rest cooked. and my word, could my freshies COOK! the girls (cat and mel i think) made a totally cool salad, chris did a wonderful job with a panfried salmon and the rest came up with banana pancakes. and they were just so creative with the presentation and use of all their ingredients and materials it’s just totally wow. for example, bonus marks was given for incorporating the theme of the group with the food, so they used lemon peel and a satay stick to do this whirlwind/twister thing that looked super nice, and they also made an umbrella for the salad! cool stuff, really.
forseti-cooked food! i think i should get them to cook for me one day, haha.
and it was really quite amazing at how much they did, because they were totally self-functioning – lynn went back to her room while i was of completely no help apart from lending them materials like satay sticks and getting plates for them. and they were also damn good at presenting their dishes, i must say. i merely nudged them in the direction of tying their presentation to eusoff, and the stuff they managed to come up with was like wow, they’re even better at it than me! i wasn’t around when they announced the results, but they won (which was rather obviously from how both prof. ho and vijay took second helpings of the salmon!) and i couldn’t be more proud of my forseti :)
the game of life on wednesday was a great success, and i was immensely glad to know that was the case because mei ling had spent so much time and effort on it and i was afraid that the turnout would be poor because of all the matriculations and the usual decrease in attendance. but everyone had lots of fun, and that’s really what matters. and i must say that one of the things i really liked about forseti was how some of them attended things like the crime prevention talk even when they knew what they were, after i persuaded them to go for it. we were one of the few groups that were mostly still around, and i think i was like the only programmer on the floor sitting with the group :) and i actually had quite a bit of fun somehow, talking to mel and sharon, helping to rub mel’s bruises (the poor girl was somehow getting a lot of them during rag dance practice) and later talking to all the remaining freshmen (with allan and maria) after the NOC talk about exchange programmes and things like that.
i suppose the only disappointment was the terrible turnout from forseti for eusoff challenge :( the guys just didn’t appear when they knew it was a run, the girls who actually wanted to run like mel and sharon couldn’t make it because of rag dance and ballet lessons respectively while the rest just didn’t appear, either… in the end we were left with like 8 people, most of them the international students, plus chris. oh well, i suppose it couldn’t really be helped.
the turnout for war games on thursday was rather poor too, thanks to freaking arts o week. and also matriculation for some faculties, i suppose. but at least those who came down were pretty enthusiastic, and i was pretty proud of how long we managed to hang on during the all-out seize the flag “war”, considering that we had so little people and were like second last in terms of points. we came up with the hugely creative idea of arranging the chairs in such a way that the flag looked hard to remove and was partially hidden, and even had decoy flags made from mahjong paper! i didn’t actually want to get wet because it was that time of the month, but i ended up helping them because i just had to… and i ended up getting a huge tennis ball-sized bruise on my left shin for my trouble… i think i can still feel a dent in my bone there now, haha. and it was pretty funny how almost all the flags got destroyed (meaning snapped in half or worse) during the whole thing – the programmers were even thinking of letting them be to depict the ravages of war, haha!
and oh yeah, cafe del mar! the bus trip there was quite fun, actually. i was at the back of the bus, taking photos with the girls and getting so infected by mel’s high-ness (very self-induced, and she was so high we were wondering what she was going to be like after drinking) that i ended up not sleeping on the bus, though sharon and xiaokai still went to sleep, anyway. when we reach cafe del mar, the first thing we did was to… go to new zealand ice cream for ice cream. seriously. we met the flaggers (shufang, michelle and angie) there so i took photos with them and talked while the freshies were making a great deal of noise as they played heart attack and stock market.
forseti at cafe del mar! or rather, new zealand ice cream, haha.
we eventually headed back to cafe del mar, where we played some drinking games. we played lots of seven-up, which was hilarious because it seemed like sharon could just never get the hang of it sober or tipsy. and i also found it funny how it became obvious that i was getting tipsy, because i kept miscounting numbers in my head, though i got a bit worried when i couldn’t properly remember what time the bus was going back. but it was all good fun and i eventually sobered up, though i must really say i don’t like the taste of beer – carlsberg is not as bad as the stinky beer i remember the adults drinking for some dinners when i was young, but i don’t like it because of the way the taste of alcohol is so… light? i think i kind of prefer the kick and even the slight burn of mixed drinks and cocktails. probably because they’re usually flavoured, haha. and i guess i got lucky because i didn’t get pushed into the jacuzzi – apparently the E4 guys were trying to get everyone from E block wet. sharon didn’t managed to get away though, and amos got it too even though he wasn’t from E. the worst part was that his phone and stuff were still in his pocket, so his phone died, ouch. and before we knew it, it was time to head back to hall, and it was a bit scary cos i thought we were a bit lost and going to miss the last bus back. but thankfully we didn’t.
and before i knew it, it was the last day of orientation. wet ‘n wild was loads of fun and i’m glad i eventually brought my swimsuit along, because soaking in the pool on the gloriously hot day just rocked. and actually i didn’t even intend to get wet, but i got pushed into the pool by mel and her friend, who didn’t get into the water because it was also that time of the month for them. and they even had the cheek to say it wasn’t them who pushed me in! tsk! but well, they got wet anyway, because they also got pushed in, plus kim ong was having lots of fun overturning pails of water on everyone, including the both of them, haha. the turnout was actually so bad they had to combine all the groups to create two teams, but i think everyone there really enjoyed themselves, so it was a success in my book :)
the two terrible girls who pushed me into the pool, haha.
i had lunch with the forseti people at munchie monkey before heading back for a last minute rehearsal of the girlyman dance while i was urging the forseti people to really do something for the big show. the girlyman dance was loads of fun because except for handy, we were all in black and had heavily-lined eyes in addition to having all sorts of cool designs on our faces, thanks to eva and her new-found expertise in face paint. it was also nerve-racking because i kept forgetting some steps, plus it didn’t help when the lights were shining in my eyes the whole time. it was actually funny how we’d practised so long for such a short dance, but i think it was worth it when i heard the cheers from the crowd, haha.
everyone had loads of fun with the pirates game, and for some reason most of the last people remaining were from forseti. in the end it was melvin and xiaokai who were the last pirates standing, and their reward was the blonde wig plus makeup for melvin, while xiaokai got stuff like a tortoise and an extra huge mole drawn on her face… hilarious! and most of the skits for the big show were pretty good stuff – i think forseti did a great job considering how totally last minute their preparation was, but osiris nabbing the best skit award was really well-deserved, because their skit really was just rib-tickling. and boy was there an awful lot of drag queens for the skits this year (i suspect they were all inspired by allan, who made a special appearance during the game of life, complete with balloons for boobs, in addition to his major starring role for cluedo) but i suppose the more the merrier, because it was all so darned funny. i couldn’t stop laughing my head off when a heavily made-up jerm appeared in a dress that totally revealed his unfairly and scarily nice legs, or when a yellow bra-wearing chris burst his “boobs” at the climax of the forseti-boom-dynamite cheer.
melvin and xiaokai, after their makeovers ;)
and the band was just fantastic – all of them – kim, sham, yee kiat, ian and esther just totally rocked the house and i had loads of fun being a total fangirl, haha. unfortunately we had to cut short our fangirling to prepare for the closing ceremony. and for some reason, i couldn’t help tearing up a little as i realised that orientation was coming to an end, and that somehow we had managed to pull it off and make orientation a success. at that moment, seeing all the freshmen sing the eusoff anthem with gusto and hearing them cheer like mad after that just made me feel that all the hard work we’d put in totally worth it. after that it was group hugs, jubilations and photos all around for the programmers – and again, at that moment and even now, i’ll say that EHOC was an experience that i wouldn’t give up for anything, because i’ve learnt so much from it, and i think it has, without me knowing, changed me.
forseti at the big show :)
the end of orientation meant that i finally got to take a badly-needed and well-deserved rest, which i did by totally sleeping the whole of saturday away. i was hoping to spend the weekend at home resting, but i was whisked away by the need to discuss the logistics of flag day with shufang and michelle, so it was like i went back home on saturday evening, and went back to hall on sunday afternoon, haha.
slightly random photo of me and some of the my freshies at the formal dinner. and yes they all went in really formal wear, a stark contrast to our anyhow-attire last year…
and oh boy was flag day tiring. i didn’t sleep the night before because first there was the formal dinner and the interviews that went with it, then i was helping with the stickers for the tin cans, and my exhaustion showed when i fell asleep for like 3 seconds while crossing the road… scary. in any case, i guess i kinda suck at selling flags, because all my freshies did better than me – one of them even got a $50 note! and i guess the flag experience this year was quite different – i was in town instead of at a heartland area, i was more exhausted this year, and the quantity of donations i got seriously went down, though the quality increased because i got the most number of $2, $5 and $10 notes i ever got in my entire (and admittedly very short) flagging career. haha.
i was supposed to help shufang with the coin counting, and i still feel really bad about not going, even though i’d practically collapsed and concussed on my bed out of sheer exhaustion. and before i could even really recover from flag (and orientation), it was time to help out for rag. i didn’t actually go down and help out that much, but i guess i contributed in my own way with the proliferation of posters and flyers everywhere in hall. and here’s a big thanks going to sam for helping out so much!
and rag preview totally rocked. i’d seen the dancers do their routines in the function hall a couple of times, and i saw them do blocking on the last night of orientation, but it was really all nothing compared to seeing the nearly complete float, and the various dances coming as one. and of course, i’m really proud of the freshies from forseti who helped out, like ben and gao qi, and of the forseti dancers like mel, sharon and cat. i must say that i was particularly impressed by cat, because i was like wow i had no idea she danced so well! ditto for sharon who was right in front and the alien dance mel was in was my favourite :) in fact, i was totally wowed by all the dancers, actually. handy is completely different when he dances, and the amount of energy and positivity from alina when she dances is also just wow.
and the float was just marvellous – there was so much stuff going on and so many details i only noticed them when they were doing their second or third runs. the fact that the raggers had done everything by hand, and the meticulousness of almost every tiny detail just gave me a new-found respect for them, especially because i know it’s something that i can never do – knowing myself, i can barely stand the smell of burning metal or of paint, and i’m rather the idiot with my hands, so kudos to all the raggers who really put in their heart and soul into the float.
and then it was rag day. there were little hiccups everywhere but it was really heartening to see people, especially the freshies, totally cheer their hearts out for eusoff. and boy was it scary when the results were announced – i feared for the worst when it was revealed that sheares had beat us for flag, and that they had gotten best float presentation and best float design (which i totally didn’t agree with, our eusoff space shuttle squashes their pumpkin or what-not anyday!) and i was wondering if it was going to just end like this, with us going home with nothing…
i hardly dared to breathe when the emcee began to announce the winner for best float, and could scarcely believe my ears when he said “the ones who always go to fong seng” – i was still wondering, could it be us? was it temasek? and then he yelled EUSOFF and i was so ecstatic i couldn’t decide if i should cheer or cry.
a typical crazy programmers photo, post-rag.
the taste of victory was just so immeasurably sweet – orientation was a success, flag had pulled through its crises to raise 4k more than last year and now we had won rag. and somehow i just knew, this year is going to be different. all our talks about this year being the turning point for eusoff… it just felt to me that winning rag is the first indication of things to come. i can only hope that it comes true, though.
and as you can see from what i’ve blogged (i realise that i ended up with my usual verbosity, but oh well), i am now a “EHOC evangelist”. or rather, i feel so much for eusoff it’s almost scary. i can’t even explain why, but somehow i just want to be a part of it. i want to be a part of the changes that will bring eusoff to greater heights, and obviously i have to start with me. as i mentioned earlier, i’ve changed. i’m now so remarkably friendly and enthusiastic to freshmen and people in general i think i scare myself sometimes, and i’m finding it rather difficult to quash the feeling of wanting to lead, wanting to do something significant and wanting to contribute to eusoff. instead of “EHOC evangelist”, i think i’m more like a “eusoff evangelist” now, haha.
whew, things are happening so fast it’s scary. straight after rag was the start of lessons, and IBGs. and because freshies are just not around sometimes, in addition to freshies who just refuse to play, i’ve ended up playing virtually every IBG sport except for volleyball, ugh. i suppose the good that has come out of it is that i know practically everyone on E3 now, and i think most if not all of the active freshmen on E2. it’s been freaking tiring, seriously. and i hope that i’ve played my last handball game after tonight’s game with A, where i got accidentally kneed in the stomach by aileen. and i hate to sound like a whiny baby but it seriously hurt like hell and for some reason my back/waist is also aching now. argh. oh well, the IBGs are ending soon. i kind of can’t wait, though i suppose i have to think of more ways to interact with all the freshies, especially those on E2 after the IBGs end…
and oh yeah, lessons. i suppose they’ve been pretty good so far, though i keep inexplicably falling asleep, even when i do find the content interesting. darn. but the amount of readings i have to do is just staggering. i have to find time to print them out, and then actually do the readings. how fun. and ugh i can’t believe i stupidly thought that GEK1511 and IT1001 were the same, and that i somehow failed to notice the different lecture times… and because i have no desire to end up with no 5th module by dropping GEK1511 to try and get IT1001, i stuck with GEK1511… and then my beautiful timetable got totally screwed because i couldn’t get the tutorial slots i wanted. damn SoC for having retarded timeslots… like why would i want a 5-6pm tutorial when the lecture is from 10am to 12pm, and the tutorial is in freaking SoC? if it was in the old law link area i wouldn’t have minded, but seriously, this sucks. sigh. at least i got all my other slots.
alright, i suppose i’ve kinda blogged enough for now. wanted to say something about the deck but i guess i’ll save it for next time. i shall go get some sleep now because i think soccer tomorrow is going to sap away what little energy i have left… and i still have a bucketload of readings, an interview to transcribe, the grossly overdue write-up on education, things to do for E3… damn i need more than 24 hours in a day. and i need like a caffeine IV.
grargh it’s the second/third week of school and it’s feeling like freaking middle of the term already. i think i’ll die a horrible death come all the assignments, projects and research papers. i think i can start to say goodbye to my above-4.0 CAP… :(
and my song of the moment is… a tie between maroon 5’s infatuation (supposedly a bonus track on their album?) and hinder’s lips of an angel (which i think would actually make a pretty nice songfic for harry/hermione. hehe!) albums-wise, yellowcard’s paper walls, fuel’s angels & devils and kelly clarkson’s my december are all sounding pretty good.
infatuation
not seeing the rest of you is getting the best of me
it’s such a shame that you shot me down
it would have been nice to be around
i’m touching your skin
if it’s only a fantasy, then why is it killing me?
i guess this must be infatuation
oh well, my girl’s in the next room
sometimes i wish she was you
i guess we never really moved on
it’s really good to hear your voice say my name
it sounds so sweet
coming from the lips of an angel
hearing those words it makes me weak
and i
never wanna say goodbye
but girl you make it hard to be faithful
with the lips of an angel
