River side?

I just found out that my school, SMK Methodist is at the side of the river... which brings to mind one of the earlier sayings of a particularly annyoing teacher in MES...

"Eh, Samuel, your school is beside a river right?"

Not exactly in a curious or I-reall-want-to-know way but in a sarcastic and all-Sarawak-schools-beside-a-river-and-no-electricity-or-water-right? way... in actual fact this school is next to a darn river too. Eesh.

It's a bird! It's a plane! No it's a...

Do you see what I see? Very nice camouflage there, dear, but I spy with my little eye....


It's a freaking monitor lizard!!

... Now aren't we wondering what a monitor lizard is doing behind my house??!! Such a terribly dangerous creature in such a defenseless area!! Of course I don't suppose it's in any way lethally dangerous but it's kind of freaky, isn't it??



Hope it stays far, far away from the front door, we don't want anyone or thing to get hurt, do we? [Monitor lizard spotted just a few minutes ago!!]

One-Man Choir

I tried to record the accapella "Someone To Watch Over Me" - with myself as SATB. With my falsetto it is fun but quite hard to sing the soprano parts AND the darn tenor parts (my voice very scratchy already larr) but I think it turned out feasible. Not really, it is not as good as a real choir, of course... but here...
Click here to load the song. Actually only this first few bars of the song, no time to do everything. XD

A Monumental Ocassion

It was the moment we have ALL been waiting for: The arrival of the forwarding company bringing our personal effects from Kuching to Banting. This included, of course, my darling PIANO!!!



First of all they unloaded all the items ranging from bookstands to pots and pans to beds and fans. I don't know why they just had to save the best for last.



After many large and small items have been brought in, the workers began the formidable task of unloading the crate containing the precious piano...





That done, begins the unwrapping of the long-lost piano now returning to meeeeeee...



The piano... unveiled!!

Last but not least... bringing the piano into its new home for a few months or years. The place where it will produce heavenly music that calms my soul or songs of angst that releases my built-up stress. Come to think of it, it has been pretty damn long since I played the piano so I've been feeling stressed lately. But not anymore!!!








The piano in all its splendour - no decorations, no flowers, just the piano. Pure blissssss.



My euphoric moment of touching, feeling, sensing the piano. Thank you God!!! I feel faint with joy... *runs off the let my fingers run on the beautiful piano for a few hours*

Cheers!!

Exam Results

All my marks for the mid-year exams are finally in, (the delay due to my Biology teacher's absence for the two weeks after holidays) and I must say I am not too happy with it. Although I studied quite hard for it, but the results show that I have quite alot of work to do. One wonders how that would be possible?

Bahasa Malaysia - 84%
I was quite surprised with this score. For my Paper 2, I got a whole lot of tatabahasa and peribahasa (grammar and idioms) questions wrong. But thankfully my essays did good in my teacher's eyes, so I was somewhat lucky in this sense.

English - 83%
Major shock. This is a historic score for me. Why?
(i) This is the lowest English score I have ever gotten... in my whole LIFE. As far as I can remember, dating back to primary school, I have always gotten 85 and above.
(ii) This is absolutely the first time in secondary school that my English scores are lower than BM. What the heck!!
I'm not very sure why I did so badly. Can you believe it? My continuous essay got a mere 27 out of 50!! That was terrible. If it weren't for the other free marks like literature, grammar and all that, I would have gotten a horrendous B...!! Although I must admit I wasn't writing my best, and all the topics available were kind of shallow and too straightforward, I didn't expect the forementioned results.
I suspect that Mr. Chay doesn't like me, but it appears he is just unbelievably strict because he wants us to improve our writing and not be complacent. But I wonder why his daughter got quite high? Suspicious...

Additional Maths - 90%
Not too bad, I suppose, but for a few hours after getting the papers back, I was scolding myself for making stupid errors like transferring data incorrectly, forgetting to change degrees into radians, and silly things like that. But a good result to show for a lot of effort in this department.

Modern Maths - 96%
As always, modern maths did not fail me. A few silly mistakes but not too many to threathen my grip on this subject. However I realized that not everyone is good in this subject, so I shall not comment further, only that a lot of practice make perfection!

Biology - 76% (as of today - I haven't tried to claim marks yet)
I was quite dissappointed, to say the least. I mean, it is a vast improvement from last year where I always got around 50 to 60 marks, but that was because I didn't study. For this exam I worked hard and felt quite confident after the exam. But somehow my essay questions didn't reap enough marks, and I kind of screwed up my Paper 3. But anyhow, it is still good enough for an A, nevertheless I will have to work harder than my hardest.

Chemistry - 89%
I was actually sick on the day of this paper, with fever and headache and dizziness. The day before I was also very tired and only managed to read through a few chapters. But somehow I pulled through, with God's grace!

Physcis - 88%
I previously though I didn't like Physics, but I think I have changed my mind, because I finally managed to figure out Form 4's chapter 2 about Motion, and I got the hang of writing essay questions. So now, I'm quite steady in this subject, praise God!

Sejarah / Histroy - 58%
It is quite apparent to me that History is not one of my strong points. Especially because of subjective and essay questions (where luck cannot to be utilized) I have failed to obtain feasible marks. However I am working to get an A for Sejarah under my belt. But how do those geniuses do it??!!

Moral - 66%
I had a scare because I got my paper back with 46%. However, it appears that my Moral teacher had no marking experience, so after re-marking by another teacher, I got an extra 20 marks, but it still isn't up to my standards. (Or more like... my parents' standards) I had memorized all the 36 nilais to perfection, but my answering techniques have to be refined. So, now I have to go for Moral tuition, hope to do better!!

English for Science and Technology - 93%
A useless subject. I get highest in my class for a useless subject. Why??!!
Anyway, I wrote a unnecessary 4 pages for my essay and got 28 upon 30. Is that wasted energy and ink? Maybe not.

In conclusion, I had previously though there was no competition in my class, but how wrong I was!! Although there is significantly less competition than in SMK BL, there still is. I estimate to have gotten around 3rd or 5th in class. With this in mind, I hope to do better in the coming exams and finally in SPM, to make my parents proud and continue my sisters' unbroken string of A's in SPM!!

By the way, I hope all this did not come accross as proud or arrogant to you!! This is all a testimony to God's provision for me. God bless you!!

Chocolate!!

OMG DID YOU KNOW?
Chocolate is actually GOOD for you!!!!

Here is the shocking revelation summarized from Wikipedia which looked up for my English oral test...

Health-related effects of Chocolate Consumption

While chocolate is regularly eaten for pleasure, there are potential beneficial health effects of eating chocolate that many of us do not know of.

First of all, chocolate contains alkaloids such as theobromine, tryptophan and phenethylamine, which have physiological effects on the body. It has been linked to serotonin levels in the brain which plays an important role as a neurotransmitter in the central nervous system. It also contains anandamide which is an endogenous cannabinoid which is also naturally produced in the human brain that aids working memory and elevates mood.
[Oh yeah, eat chocolate to study better!! Is that why Daniel Chong is so damn smart? He eats chocolate like we eat rice!!]

Scientists claim that chocolate, eaten in moderation, can lower blood pressure. Some studies have observed a modest reduction in blood pressure and flow-mediated dilation after consuming dark chocolate daily. Dark chocolate, with its high cocoa content, is a rich source of the flavonoids epicatechin and gallic acid, which are thought to possess cardioprotective properties. Dark chocolate has also been said to reduce the possibility of a heart attack when consumed regularly in small amounts.
[Wow, eat chocolate for good heart? That is a must-read for the, ermm, more prosperous people...]

One-third of the fat in chocolate comes in the forms of a saturated fat called stearic acid and a monounsaturated fat called oleic acid. However, unlike other saturated fats, stearic acid does not raise levels of LDL cholesterol in the bloodstream. Consuming relatively large amounts of dark chocolate and cocoa does not seem to raise serum LDL cholesterol levels; some studies even find that it could lower them. Indeed, small but regular amounts of dark chocolate lower the possibility of a heart attack, a result of cholesterol imbalance according to the lipid hypothesis.

Dark chocolate has recently been promoted for its health benefits, including a substantial amount of antioxidants that reduce the formation of free radicals and thus prevent cancer. This is because cocoa possesses a significant antioxidant action, protecting against LDL oxidation, perhaps more than other polyphenol antioxidant-rich foods and beverages.
[Chocolate to prevent cancer?! A medical breakthrough!! Must eat more lahh!!]

Other research indicates that chocolate may be effective at preventing persistent coughing. The ingredient theobromine was found to be almost one third more effective than codeine, the leading cough medicine. The chocolate also appears to soothe and moisten the throat. In addition, chocolate contains flavonoids that can inhibit the development of diarrhoea, suggesting anti-diarrhoeal effects of chocolate.
[Wow, the versatility of the amazing chocolate - treatment for everything!!]

However, chocolate is not completely blameless and may have negative effects to health. The major concern that nutritionists have is that even though eating dark chocolate may favorably affect certain biomarkers of cardiovascular disease, the amount needed to have this effect would provide a relatively large quantity of calories, which, if unused, would promote weight gain. Obesity is a significant risk factor for many diseases, including cardiovascular disease. As a consequence, consuming large quantities of dark chocolate in an attempt to protect against cardiovascular disease may bring more harm than good.
[Oh darn]

There is a popular belief that the consumption of chocolate can cause acne. Various studies seem to show that this is the case for high glycemic index foods in general, though the question is still being studied. Milk is known to cause acne, including any which is mixed with chocolate.
[That explains my annoying pimples]

Chocolate has one of the higher concentrations of lead among products that constitute an average person’s diet, with a potential to cause mild lead poisoning. While studies show that the lead consumed in chocolate may not all be absorbed by the human body, there is no known threshold for the effects of lead on children's brain function and even small quantities of lead can cause permanent neurodevelopmental deficits including impaired IQ.
[ohemgee it's that bad?? o.O]

In conclusion, chocolate is not only pleasurable to the taste buds but also have advantageous qualities. Nevertheless its detrimental effects must also be taken into account, thus we must eat it in moderation to reap its benefits and not its harmful effects.
[And you should buy more for me because it's gooooooood!!]

End of Holidays

*sob*

*sob*

*sob*

Holidays have ended after 2 weeks of bliss. Pure bliss.
Can you believe it? I did NO STUDY AT ALL during the whole holidays!! That is, except a lil' bit of Add Maths exercise but that was it!! It was total relaxation, meeting with friends, enjoying myself watching French Open 2008 and all that... wooooohooooo!!!

Sadly all good things must eventually come to an end. I have just arrived in KL, but we were held back at the airport because my sister's baggage got lost. Omg omg!! What a stressful way to end the holidays. So we had to go all around the airport looking for our baggage in case someone mistook it and officials were running to and fro and all the ang-mos and cute korean girls were looking bewildered at all the commotion... actually, not really. All we did was sit around and wait for the second flight from Kuching to arrive... and there it was!! Thank God!!

Now I am in Banting, with wireless Streamyx (yesssss!!!) but... it's not Kuching. I feel strongly that my home is still in the Cat-city. Frankly, I was quite sad to leave Kuching, because my long-time friends are there, my youth and church is there, and my *erhem* is there... But nevertheless I am here in Banting, and I know God has put me here for reasons that I have realized and some that I have not.

School is starting tomorrow, and I shall have to switch on to full study gear, no more relaxation anymore. SPM is 5 months away, can you believe it?!! No more playing my dear, no more blogging. Not too much anyway, I do need some fun, no? Exam results will be out, matriculations applications coming up... busy busy busy busy...

Goodbye.

Happy Gawai Dayak Day!!

To all my Dayak readers... Selamat Ari Gawai Dayak, Gayu Guru Gerai Nyamai!!!
(Don't ask me what it means, I hardly know it myself!! what a lousy Iban I am... *sob*)

On the 1st of June, 2008 we set off for a bumpy ride up to the kampung. It isn't usually bumpy but because there was a new, wider road being built the original road was being crushed to rocky bits... My dad went on a philosophical speech about opportunity cost; The old road has to be sacrificed for the construction of the new road... bleh

The first living thing to greet us, was, of course, our darling bitch dog Baby!! It had grown quite large and fat ever since my dad brought it to kampung to be looked after. It seeemed to be enjoying itself very much, making friends with a cat there...



Some of the visitors to our house included our relatives and some church members, but unfortunately no one was drinking tuak (rice wine) so I couldn't too. Oh well, I didn't really like it anyway...


My family's visitors to my aunt's house (we more or less 'tumpang' my aunt's house lah...)


My dad's (in some sense mine too, but not really) kampung


Some of my relatives

I am proud to be an Iban, although I can't speak much of the language. There are lots of advantages of being a Bumiputera in Malaysia, like getting MARA and JPA scholarships and the BSN Amanah Saham and whatnots, so... I should learn the language. Sometime in the future?

An Irishman's Philosophy

There are only two things to worry about,
Either you are well or you are sick.
If you are well, then there is nothing to worry about.
But if you are sick
There are two things to worry about,
Either you will get well or you will die.
If you get well,
There is nothing to worry about.
If you die,
There are only two things to worry about,
Either you will go to heaven or hell.
If you go to heaven there is nothing to worry about.
But if you go to hell,
You'll be so damn busy shaking hands with friends
You don't have time to worry!