I have this strange habit of blogging one day before going home

Hello again!

It's been a while since the last time I blogged. I've been quite busy with A*STAR for the past one month. Today was my last working day and tomorrow I'll go home. So yea, I'm gonna tell you about what has happened for the past few months. In fact, there are so many things that happened this year.

I have been working in one of A*STAR's Research Institute, ICES which is an abbreviation for Institute of Chemical and Engineering Sciences. It was this place where top scientists from around the world invent stuffs in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering field. Since I aspire to become a Chemical Engineer myself one day, this place is like heaven to me. I got to see a lot of cool interesting stuffs which make me want to study Chem Engineering even more! My project itself is on bio-fuel where I got the chance to work alongside a top-notch scientist. My supervisor is a Thai PhD graduate who specializes in Petrochemical. It was a very interesting attachment indeed.

Next year I will be in Year 6 which is the last year of my high school journey. After that, I will finally go to university although I will be 2 years behind my friends who are in Indonesia. I don't know if I'm prepared for my last year yet. All I know is that my God will fight with me throughout the year and I'll emerge victorious for the glory of His name!

This year has been a lot of ups and downs for me. To be honest, my grades plunged compared to last year. I had a miserable time with a girl too. Still, I believe they are all lessons to be learned from God. There is a reason why He makes me go through this. I'll work harder next year to achieve my dream. I also believe that one day Miss Right is gonna show up right in front of my door :)

So yeah, I will go home tomorrow for about 10 days. During that break, I will also go to Pangandaran which is this beach site in Indonesia about 7 hours drive away from my hometown. I can't wait to chillax there :D

Yup yup I guess that's all for now. I need to pack up for tomorrow's trip. I'll write again soon next time!

Hi Singapore

So here I am again, back in my boarding school room.
I feel empty, timeless, lonely.
Is it possible to feel homesick even after being here for more than 3 years?
Luckily, I still have my best friend to chat with on MSN.
Oh when will this be over?
I'm also afraid that my decision to go home on 25th instead of 24th will be regretted in the end.
God please show me your way :'(

The one week I'm gonna spend here in Bandung

Heya all!

Finally the much-anticipated holiday in Indo is here. Yesterday I arrived in Jakarta at 1 pm and I reached Bandung at around 5 pm. Luckily there was no traffic jam and I managed to sleep the entire journey from SG to JKT as well as from JKT to BDG :)

Once I reached Bandung, I paid my grandma a visit. She has been sick the whole time and was really looking forward to seeing her grandchildren. I spent some quality time there before heading back home. Oh, and I drove again after so long. Not bad since my mom, who usually is very scared whenever I drive, didn't complain much about me driving LOL. After that, my parents took me for night porridge which was really good.

Today is my first full day in Indo. I spent my day lazying around with that 3-hour nap and more hours in front of TV. Time flied so fast today it's already 930 pm now. Oh well, at least I didn't waste the day entirely. My mom and I went to the immigration office to extend my passport which is gonna expire in less than 6 months. Oh well, not so bad huh :p

On another note, I'm really looking forward to seeing her on Sunday. It's been almost 5 months since the last time we met. Hopefully everything will run smoothly. Honestly, I have lots of questions marks roaming in my mind right now. And it appears that so it is for her too. What I have to do now is to be patient waiting for time to have the final say. Whatever it is, at least I know that I have tried. I don't want to be haunted by the saying "If you're in love but afraid to tell the person for some reason just think one moment of embarrassment or a lifetime of regret?"

Tomorrow is Saturday. I wonder if my friends will be available to go out with me. Otherwise, it's gonna be another lazy day. I plan to go wash my motorbike tomorrow and go for a massage or something lol. I hope this holiday is gonna be a fruitful one yeah. Bye and take care all!

I have been away from home for 3 years!

Heylo everyone!

Here is another post from me.

It's 11:11 pm here now. I just came back from November feast. It was one super fun event although it was pretty tiring. It started at 4 pm and it just ended at 10:30 pm -.-" tired tired exhausted!

Today is Nov 4th 2010. 2 days ago was my 3rd year anniversary here in Singapore. 3 years and 2 days ago, I was sitting in the staff lounge with my fellow Indonesian friends, curious and anxious about everything. We were being briefed by the teachers at this time. What a sweet memory it was!

My beautiful batch in 2007 :)

 

Gearing up for Teachers' Day performance in 2008

3 years from then, I have really changed into a different person. I've learned a lot of lessons from both good and bad things I experience here in Singapore. I learned that life is unfair, that being hated is not always bad, that friends are important but not everything. Today was the last day of school. This year passed so fast, like seriously. Half of my IB journey is already gone. Next year is already Year 6 when things are gonna get tougher and tougher. Although now is holiday, I still couldn't rest completely. There are still things to do such as EE and Econs IA. Still, at least there is something I could look forward to: going home next week!

Oh well I also want to thank the people who have been my source of strength this year. So yeah let's begin :D

God - Obviously He is the first Person I have to mention here. If not for him, I wouldn't be able to survive this year. After all, who has given me all those talents and goodness of life? I learned to grow closer to Him and seek Him even more everyday. I have been reading Bible everyday now and I aim to finish the entire Bible in one year this year! There were days when I was so tired I couldn't make myself read the Bible but oh well, God is always good and faithful even when we are faithless.

My parents - Year by year I grow to realize even more that God has blessed me and my brother with wonderful parents. Nowhere in this world could you find a dad and mom like mine. God placed me in this family for a reason and I'm sure of that. Now that I'm older, I can't thank them more for all the scoldings and words of wisdom although I used to despise them. They have shaped me to be who I am today and I will forever be thankful to them. Thanks mom and dad!

Adit - Hey bang. Thanks a lot for being a very good friend of me who is always there when I need a listening ear the most. Although honestly people always ask me why we are close friends, I'm very thankful that we indeed are. Having one best friend like you is better than having a hundred friends :) All the way in your effort to pursue her!

Gideon, Aldrian, Metew - Like it or not, you were my closest friends when you were all still in ACS. And I'm glad that we are still close now although we don't get to talk much these days. Thanks for being so supportive and always listening to me chirping my problems out. I know it might have made your ears tired and all but hey, I admit it was really nice talking my problems out with you all!

Liauw - Hola Liauw! Thanks for being a wonderful and terrific classmate! Like, I think I am 100x closer to you compared to last year haha. Anyway, we have been doing well so far in IB. Let's keep the momentum and rock Year 6 next year. 45 points ftw yeah? "We can do all things through God who strengthens us." :)

Vina - Haha finally I come to you! Thanks for being my wonderful far-away friend! Although we have only seen each other twice this year (once during reuni and once when we went out during June holiday), you don't mind to keep in touch through sms, msn, facebook or skype. I really appreciate it, like seriously! Yep so I hope to see you soon next week and also in December :)

All of my friends - Thanks all for being so supportive although I didn't get to spend much time with you all thanks to council stuffs and all. Thanks for being there always as good friends to me. Thank you!

Post-exam post :)

Yayyyyyy finally the much-dreaded-for promo exam is over!
Looking back, I'm so proud of my comparatively more effort preparing for my exam.
Although I didn't fulfill my vow not to go online at all, I'm still happy :)
Now that it is over, here comes another post from me.

Well, I really want to share my story about what happened before, during, and after the promo exams.
Honestly speaking, it was no where near pleasant or easy times.
I had lots of depressing moments but thank God he was and is always by my side throughout.
Well I started preparing for my exam about 2 weeks prior to the first day of exam.
It was a very torturing and hard times because all I had to do was just to study and study.
Eventually, the exam started and it lasted for about 1.5 weeks including weekends.

During the exam, it was really hard not to go online simply because I need something to unleash my feeling on.
It was rather depressing to study for papers like Maths and Physics and at times I even wondered whether it will all be worth it. Looking back, there is no regret at all.
If I get to change one thing, maybe I will not decide not to online at all during the exam. First, it might harm my relationship with my friends because time invested on socializing is directly proportional to how intimate you are with your friends.
On a side note, staying away from internet for a while did give me a new perspective of life. I felt that I had more time for myself and for God. Even better, I found the saying "Absence makes the heart grows fonder" true to a large extent :)

Now that exam is finally over, I promise to catch up with the non-academic side of my life: friendships, soccer, physical fitness, relationship, parents, my bro, guitar, council, and other stuffs I have neglected for while during exam. Although it's gonna be rather hectic even when exam has ended, I promise to set aside time for all these.

So yeah, I hope you all will have your well-deserved break!
For your info, I will not be flying home until Christmas.
So I'll be in Singapore for at least another 2 months plus :)

Keep smiling all :)))))))

Term 3 Break

Term 3 of my year 5 is already over. If I break my 4 years of study in Singapore into 16 terms, I only have 5 out of 16 terms left. Time really flies so fast. In no time I'll be in year 6 and in another "no time" I'll graduate from IB. It's amazing to see how time flies and I grow older years by years.

Right now I'm sitting in front of my computer spending time chatting and writing this blog. Dinner is in 5 minutes time. Well guess I'll have to cut this post short. The holiday itself has been quite productive although most of my school works are still left untouched. However, I spent time catching up with my non-academic errands *grin. Last night I slept at 3 am reading a very interesting novel, Time Traveler's Wife. I went to gym every other day. I went to library almost every morning. All is well I guess :)

I wish you all a fruitful holiday. Do not over mug, as my friend said. If you burn out too early, by the time exams come you'll hardly have any more energy and strength to go through it. God bless you :) 

Here is an insight to my past

My friendster blog

*aaahhhh nostalgic...

PS: They were written in 2008

My first comments on friendster

My fs intro:

mE??

-16th fEB 1992

-bEzZ FRiEnDz: g-D , bJ , w3n , n4El

-lIFeTIm3 FRiEnDz: tI2 , mY bR0 (d3i), mY c0UsiNz (k3nNy)

-a SCh0LaR iN sPoRe

-s0CcER & gUItAr ... mY lIfE

-hIstoRY iz g0Od , bI0loGy n0 gO0d:p

-i LIkE cHAtTiNG ... aDd mY MSn d0NK:)

-aN inNoc3Nt b0Y tRApPed iN a B0y sCHo0L T.T

-hAlL 4 , r0om 448C

-mYBe u R oN3 of THe feW wH0 hV3 rEaD EvERytHiNG:) tHx

Asean Dance tonight

Hello everyone.

Tonight is Asean Dance. Time flies so fast that it has been one year since last year's Asean Dance. However, this year I'll just come for the sake of having fun. If I get to dance with someone, good for me. If not, it's still okay. Most importantly, I get the experience. And I'll also meet my old friends who are in other schools already.

=)

PS: I'm wearing the first shirt I ever bought myself tonight!

LDU Dinner a.k.a my first official dinner with student council

Hello again!

This time round I wanna share about my LDU dinner last Thursday.

We paid 80 bucks each for a 10-course dinner in Shangri-la. It may sound like a triggering sum of money, but in fact it is already very cheap compared to the normal 10-course meal in a 5-star hotel.

The dress-code for the night is "Colours". Me together with Kevin, my senior secretary, decided that we want to wear same colour of outfits. Hence, we both turned up in black trousers, black/ dark blue long-sleeved shirt, white cream colour tie and a white vest (we borrowed from Dance Venia). Here is how we, together with my fellow secretary Marissa and my other senior secretary Cassandra, looked like *drum rolls*

Guess which one is Kevin? *too easy*

So yeah we all assembled in Shangri-la at 6 pm and we were ushered into the dining hall at about 7 pm. Meanwhile, we feasted on potato chips and fizzy drinks that were served. The main dinner itself was sumptuous. There were 10 courses served including free flow of soft drinks, desserts and appetizers. There were abalone soup, mini octopus, jellyfish, fried rice and so on. Nonetheless, there were a lot of speeches and performances which made us eat at a very slow pace. It was not as filling as a buffet dinner either so yeah. But the camwhoring and socializing part were really priceless I must say. Another picture of my table. Yes, there was a seating arrangement so these people you see in the photo below are exco (executive committee) members (I sat in exco table).

Can you find me there?

The next time I will go for LDU dinner is next year when I step down from my seat as the secretary of 5th SC and the next committee assume office. I will treasure the time I have in council so that when the time has come, I can step down confidently knowing that I have done my part as a member and secretary of ACS(I) 5th Student Council. For your enjoyment, below are more photos we took before and after the dinner.

Who says guys can't camwhore?

Post-dinner at 10 pm and

we all still looked fresh (:

Just a post about my thought

Hi people.

I just want to share my thought to someone so I decided to write it on my blog. To make it more interesting, I'll do it in a question-and-answer style so yeah, enjoy =)

Q: Why didn't you crash to secondary Asean Dance last night like what your friends did?

A: 2 years ago when I was still in sec 3, some of my JC1 seniors also crashed to our Asean Dance. I was unhappy at that time because it was like they invading the time and moments of our lives. Crashing itself is entering without paying which is no different to stealing. If I did crash to their Asean Dance last night, not only may I ruin their moments but also steal what is rightfully not mine! I have principles in life and I will stick to them no matter what.

Q: Something happened between you and your friend recently?

A: Yeah, I know I shouldn't take a denial approach to this anymore. Yes, something did happen and we have not talked for quite some time already.

Q: Are you angry at him? Why?

A: Honestly speaking you can say that. Perhaps you all will never understand how much it hurt at that time when I had a problem with this girl that I like and he was just too inconsiderate to refrain from talking to her. I know you might say it's not a big deal but imagine the situation. There I was, haven't had a proper conversation with her for a few days. There he was, talking to that girl openly without even considering how I would feel. Even after my subtle criticism he just couldn't be bothered to realize that. I don't know how some people can be so socially deprived and insecure, unable to put themselves into others' shoes and look at the situation from a different perspective.

Q: Is that all why you are so angry at him?

A: Not really. There are other reasons which might not be as major compared to that one. When we were still close friends, he always followed me where ever I went. It was okay until the point when it became unbearable and irritating. It did not stop there. He started to befriend all my close friends too. You may call me egoist, selfish or whatever, but remember that I am still a human who has feelings and all. Imagine all your good friends are so-called "hijacked" and there is hardly anyone you know whom he doesn't know. That sucks right?

Q: What do you mean by "hijacked"?

A: It's like he considers all my good friends as his. Ah I guess there is no use trying to describe it here. You just won't understand it. But really, the worst part is when he started to reply-tweet to my crush. I don't know about you, but when I wanted to add my friend's crush, I always asked for permission first. Like when I added my friend Gide's crush, I asked whether I am allowed to. Maybe it's different in your culture but I was rather offended by your action, honestly. At one point I even considered whether you really are a good friend or just a back-stabber. It was like the wall of trust I have rebuilt crushed into pieces in one night. 

Q: How is life in general now?

A: The most hectic week has just passed. All the deadlines especially TOK essay are over. However, I have to start preparing for the final year exams which are coming closer. So yeah, I'm trying to occupy myself with busyness so that I don't have to worry about my problems. I will trust and rely on God always because I believe He is the one who will always see me through my trials.

My Public Diary

Heya!

This post is dedicated to my friend who just treated me for a nice dinner and complimented my blog. You must start writing a blog too and I'll read it :)

So yeah, first of all I'd like to apologize because M$1 haven't recorded our songs yet. Will post it asap :)

The title of the post "Public Diary" was a term used by my friend Brian who used the word to describe his micro blogging twitter account.

This time round I really really want to talk about the problem that I have been struggling with for the past 3 days or so. Yes, it's about her. There is this friend of mine with whom I have been quite close lately. We used to talk every single day without absent. However, we have not done this for the past one week because she was busy and so was I. The problem arose when our busyness was supposed to be over and things should have got back to normal. Things became so awkward and we talked on MSN as if we were complete strangers. I honestly don't know why this happened. Things soon got worse. She went offline without saying anything which was really out of her nature. She did not reply my smses as she used to. Even when we did talk on MSN or sms the conversation was very superficial and simply awkward.

It would not be so painful for me if I know why she behave so strangely recently. The thing is that I seriously honestly am clueless as to why this happened. I could only guess and make more guesses but this wouldn't help either. The best guess I can make is that this has something to do with her lover. Well, if you read this I want to assure you that I'll be happy for you whichever decision you make as long as that would make you happy. I know I'm nothing more than a friend for you and I have no right to say anything especially since the decision you make this time will affect your life and your future. I just want to say one thing which I have said before on twitter. I hope you'll read this.

"Can u please please please make today as the last day u act like this? I'm begging u!"

A post dedicated to Milkshake $1

Milkshake $1 (M$1) was formed in 2008 to perform in Asean Dance 2008. The first personnels were Kester as drummer, Clifford as keyboardist, Kenny as guitarist, Gide as vocalist, and me as the bassist. The first two songs that we performed were Michael Buble's Everything and David Cook's Time of My Life. Here are the videos of our final rehearsals.

Everything - Milkshake $1 ft. Acong
The Time of My Life - Milkshake $1

Looking back, I realize how simple the songs were and how poorly we played at that time. Last year, my band didn't make it through the audition. I didn't play for the audition though. Was sick at that time. So it was not so bad for me as I didn't feel I tried for the audition. This year, however, Milkshake $1 got new personnels.

So the new composition of our band was as follow:

Drummer: Ivan

Keyboardist: Clifford

Guitarist and Bassist: Kenny

Flute: Peter

Vocalist: Gide

Guitarist: Me

We tried to go for this year's Asean Dance audition. I heard that there were 8 bands who went for the audition. We practiced for about 3 times before the audition. The songs are Digimon theme song Butter-fly and Southborder's Rainbow. I must say that the songs are quite nice (and super difficult too!) I'll post up the videos of the rehearsal on my next post. Promise =)

Unfortunately, our band didn't make it through the audition this year. I was honestly shocked as I really thought our band was already very good. I still think so even now. With the new personnels, Milkshake $1 is definitely a better band this year compared to previous years. We'll look for more opportunities to perform our songs as it will be such a waste not to perform those two songs which we've been practicing so hard.

On a side note, I think God wants to teach me a lesson through this experience. He is humbling me so that my pride won't take control of me. Still regardless of what is happening, my God is still a good God. Thank God for the lesson. God bless you all :)

PS: I'll upload the videos later. Poor internet connection now.

Asian Cup 2010

Hi all,

Here is another blog-treat from me.

On 9th and 10th of August which is Singapore National Day holiday, Asian Cup which is an inter-nation boarding school soccer tournament was held. Together with my 4 other friends, I organized this event and played on the same time which took place on school's artificial soccer turf. I still remember vividly how we fought till the end last year to clinch the prestigious sought-after Asian Cup trophy. This year, however, the story didn't go as smoothly. Indonesia sent two teams, Indo A and Indo B. On preliminary matches on the first day, Indo A defeated India and Vietnam B 3-0 and drew with Indo B 1-1 to claim the top position of Group 1. Indo B didn't make it to the second round though. Another bad news is that I injured my right leg. Badly.

We faced ASEAN team Chuckwow in semifinal. They first scored from right wing with Louis' strike after a nice through pass from Geliang (I think). Then we equalized with Kevin's long-range shot which was unreachable by Arthit their goalie. Unfortunately, Louis defeated Brian our goalie once again with a goal similar to the first one. I had to be substituted before half time as well due to my foot injury. The final whistle blew: 2-1 victory for Chuckwow. To cut the long story short, Vietnam A eventually defeated Chuckwow in the final.

Result:

1st position: Vietnam A

2nd position: Chuckwow

3rd position: Indo A

Although we failed to win this tournament, I believe we had played really well. Even better than last year, I have to say. Perhaps the thing that we lack is a proper strategy. Our players have to follow on-field instructions as well. Sadly, the two goals from Chuckwow was a result of the weakness in our team's strategy. Our captain Alvin instructed me to do overlaps frequently. For your info, I played as a left wing back which was the side where Louis scored from. When I overlap, the defensive midfielder was supposed to cover my position. However, he didn't follow the instruction from Alvin which resulted in a very fatal consequence of 2 goals from Chuckwow. Despite of that, our team played really well. Like, really.

So yeah, next year I promise to bring the glory back to our side. Most likely I will be the captain next year. With my brother and other good players including the juniors, we'll give a good fight next year. Well done Indo A and Indo B =)

My Life Story

Haha isn't it cool to name a post with the same name as the blog's name?

Okay so I warn you that this post will look like an autobiography of a person born on 16th February 1992 whose name is Heizel. I wonder if one day somebody will make a biography of me heheh..

So I was born into a family of a multi-skilled dad and a pragmatic mom. When I was a baby, a burglar entered my then-house. Worried about my safety, my parents decided to move into our grandparents house which is both my house and home until now. A year later, I was given a younger sibling. We quarreled a lot when we were kids but now I really treasured having a brother. I can't imagine how dull my childhood will be if I was born to be the only child in the family.

I started playing soccer when I was in Primary 4. At that time, my brother and I were so passionate about soccer that we played almost everyday. We used this wall in my house as the goal and we played for a few hours a day. I'll have to say that the passion was further fueled my the anime Captain Tsubasa which was really a boom during that period of time.

So I went through my kindergarten and primary school in peace. Not really, though. I was so short that my taller friends always bullied me. I'm still relatively short now but at least not too short. God knows what His children need and He will provide it when we really need it. I did quite well in school too. This is not meant to brag, but I always either topped or second-topped the class from primary school to secondary school. And again, I'll never grow bored attributing all these successes to God.

In May 2007, I received a scholarship to further my study in Singapore. It was really exciting as everything about my future seems to clear up and brighten up. In November the same year, I flied here with two of my best friends: Aldrian and Gideon to Singapore, the land of promise for me. Actually I'd been praying about this a lot even before taking the scholarship test. So it's really God answering my prayers. One year later, He also answered my prayer and my brother won the scholarship too.

If anyone would ask me to name two events that really changed and shaped my life, I will answer God and Dale Carnegie course. Knowing God is really a privilege for me as I have Someone to look at every time I need Him. As for the Dale Carnegie course, in case you don't know it's like a self-improvement course to boost confidence. At first my parents registered me there because I was such a shy person. Little did they know that it was a life-changing decision for me. Not only did it make me more confident but also it taught me life skills that I believe will be necessary for my future. I learned to control my emotion. I learned to prioritize. I learned to invest my time on friends and my social circle. I also learned to step out of my comfort zone to reach my maximum potential. Oh well, it was definitely one crucial step I have taken in my life. To be honest, I used to be a boy who was scared of girls. I just disliked girls for no reason when I was in primary school. It was when I really fell for a girl for the first time that I changed haha. It was quite fun to look back and reflect how I have changed over time.

So yeah that was it. I have been in Singapore for 2.5 years by now. It means I only have 1.5 years left here. I want to enjoy the remaining time I have here as much as I can. I'm pretty sure I'll miss this place once I graduated. Hopefully I can get 45 points (it IS a dream, but yeah who knows?) :P and my ultimate target: UK/US! Oh ya I've taken so many commitments now such as student council not just for CV alright. I truly enjoy the experience and I'm expecting more fun ahead!

Talking about BGR (Boy-Girl Relationship), I think I'll still stick to my initial stand that I will NOT engage in a relationship until I graduate from IB 1.5 years from now. It's just not worth the time as now I'm still very busy with school works and stuffs. Again, as Achebe says in his novel "No Longer At Ease" that enjoyment can wait. I'm still looking for my perfect imperfection though. Once I find the right one (I think I'm on my way towards that, not far from now), I'll wait. Yes, I will wait for the right time which in my case should be after IB. So yup yup that's all folks! Write to you later yeah :)

God bless you all!

There you go: A THANK YOU NOTE!

I want to take the time to thank these people who have really been there for me especially in my times of need.

My parents
Thank you papah and mamah for supporting me thus far and giving me valuable advices that I really find helpful. You are always so concerned about me whether I study too hard here. You are always so worried that I run out of money too. You and God are really the two reasons that keep me going whenever I feel down and unable to carry on. Thanks mom and dad. I love you.

Michael Ivan
Although you keep saying that I'm more mature and stronger and so on and so forth than you, actually you have your stronger times as well. Maybe it's a way God uses to draw you back to him. Well I don't know how God works in your life but I believe it is for good. Keep striving, keep persevering. Remember that you always have God and your friends to back you up whenever you feel your life is falling apart.

Deiver
Yo wassup I don't think you'll ever read this but oh well, just want to thank you for being so supportive all the way. You might not realize it but I do admire you in some aspects like how you persevere despite of all the negative remarks you get. And see how you've matured so much in the past 1.5 years you've been in Singapore? I'm so proud of you. So yeah, I'll keep mentioning your name in prayer every day like how I've done for the past 3 years or so :)

Miss Grace
Hi madam. I highly doubt that you'll ever read this ever. Still, I'm really thankful for all the scoldings and disciplining I went through under your supervision in Hall 4. Although people keep saying how unfortunate and sad I am for being placed in this hall, I myself feel otherwise. I thank you for letting my brother to stay in the same hall as me too. See how much he has changed thanks to you madam :) One last thing is I want to thank you for all the treats and gifts you've given me so far. I still remember all of them and I could still fondly recall the experience. Thanks for the life-changing journey madam! I'll make you proud by doing well for my IB exam next year.

City Harvest Church
One of the best decisions I've ever made is to go to City Harvest Church. I have been molded here through the painful experiences as well as the delightful memories I have in the church. This is where I first encountered God and received the gift of Holy Spirit. Thanks City Harvest!

Shiladitya Ghosh
Heya Mr. Chairman! Thanks for being super friendly towards we the scholars. Not many Singaporeans can be so friendly and accepting as you are. Yes, we are different from you Singaporeans but it was a difference that should be celebrated. After all we all go through the same journey of IB right? Yup yup, thanks for being an awesome chairman and an awesome friend!

Steven, Sucip, Eko, Liauw, IW, Clifford, Irvan, CS
Thank you guys for being my good friends! You really are friends that I am closer to. Good luck with your study and everything. I know we can go through this together and emerge victorious!


Ooh Lilis
Hi ooh. I don't think you'll ever read this either but I just wanna thank you for all your concern and love to we your nephews. We're not even your children but you really care about us. I'll be forever grateful for your valuable advices and thoughtful opinions which eventually guided me through my times of trials last year :)

Adit, GD, Metew, BJ
I felt guilty for forgetting to mention your names here. Thanks Ivan for reminding me that I should not and must not forget the old friends. You know what, besides the fact that I can confidently say that I consider you all my best friends, I really do enjoy the time we've spent together in the boarding school for the past 2 years. For Metew, although I only knew you when we became roommates, I must say I only starts to treasure the moments we spent together when you have left. I want to apologize for being an annoying roommate at times as well. Wish you all a great journey ahead in your respective schools.

Vina
Hehe see I'm so kind to remember you in my blog too! Not every sure if you will read this but oh well, let's get it started. First of all thank you vin for helping us go through the pain of organizing our reunion dinner last December. It was real fun, wasn't it? Thank you for the outing we had during my last holiday in Bandung. I must admit that it was my first time going Chang Ge haha. I really enjoyed it and I hope you did too. So sorry you had to go home yourself at that time. I really should have practiced driving cars better so that next time I can drive you home or something. I must learn the map of Bandung as well >.< Yeah last but not least thanks for all the conversations we had especially during World Cup. It was 3 am in the morning and I was like chatting with you for a couple of hours until the match was over. Thank you for that yeah. So I hope to see you soon! :)

Ding, Ben, Zheng Wei, Mat, Natasha
Guys thanks a lot for the bible study time we have together especially to Ding who is the one who initiated this fellowship we've been having every week. Honestly, from the first time we had our first bible study in Sabah I know it's gonna be a great great opportunity to get closer to each other as well as to God. Yeah, hopefully we'll keep growing not only in number but also in altitude :)


So yeah. Will extend the list if I got time :)

A song I came across today

Kamu Bukan Kekasihku - Yovie & Nuno

sejak pertama kukenali dirimu

kumerasa engkaulah belahan jiwa

tapi artinya kusesali dirimu

sebelumnya kau telah terikat janji dengannya

reff:

kamu bukan kekasihku

namun berikan segalanya

aku merasa turut bersalah

ganggu cintamu dan cintanya

kau hadir dalam mimpiku

saat kau ada dengannya

aku terluka, mungkin harusnya

di akhiri semua ini

biarkan ku sendiri

dan kau berkata terasa lebih indah

bila aku selalu ada dekatmu

tapi benarkah semua ada artinya

bila miliknya tak pernah miliki seutuhnya 

saat ku menjauh

sungguhnya ku rindu padamu

Just a post about life in general

I really wanted to write about things that I encounter in my life here in Singapore.
The last few posts are about specific topics so I think it's time to come out with a more general post yeah?
And I promise there'll be nothing here about exam. Promise.

Okay so it's been about three weeks since I flied back to Singapore after the one month June holiday. Life's been treating me well so far. No more homesick, no more relationship problems whatsoever. Yeah, God is great really! I've been really enjoying the weekly bible study my class's having. When we prayed to God during our first bible study in Sabah that we'd start with 8 people but we'll definitely end with more than 8 people, He has really been faithful and granted us the desires of our hearts. Currently, we have people such as Thang, Mark, Natalie, Ivan, and Rae joining us for our bible study. And the number keeps growing! :)

In addition to that, my relationship with people around me is simply amazing as it is! I'm not short of friends. I have one awesome brother here. Most important of all, I have God who is always by my side guiding my way and carrying me through this IB journey here in Singapore. Great is Thy faithfulness of Lord of my life!

I've been closer to her too! Hope things will go well and by God's grace He'll show me the best way of all.
Yup yup, I shall post another thank you post specially dedicated to express my gratitude to people around me who have supported me all the way and of course, God :)

The result for mid year exam is out!

There is no better time to start blogging than when the exam result is just released. I received the fruits of my hard work during the exam 2 weeks ago this morning when the teachers gave back our papers. Usually, I have always been anxious on the day before the exam paper release. However, this time round I felt neither anxiety nor worries about this exam. It's not that I'm super confident about my result. I guess it's God's work all over again who has blessed me tremendously in my life. This perfectly reflects the word of God in Matthew 6 which reads "Do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his structure?" I posted that verse on my table so that I will never fall into the trap of anxiety any more. I feel that when you hold tight to God's word, He will not hold his blessings for you. This is really true for me especially after undergoing the pre-paper-release period during the past one week.

So yeah, shall I jump straight to my result?

Here is a detailed list of my marks for this year's mid year in comparison with last year's final year exam.

Mid Year Exam Year 5

Physics HL (72% - 7 pts) 

Chemistry HL (73% - 6 pts)

Mathematics HL (58% - 4 pts)

English A1 SL (56% - 5 pts)

Malay B SL (89% - 7 pts)

Economics SL (67% - 5 pts)

Aggregate: 35 pts

Final Year Exam Year 4

Language Arts (80% - 7 pts)

Physics (75% - 6 pts)

Chemistry (78% - 6 pts)

Core Maths (94% - 7 pts)

Advanced Maths (88% - 7 pts)

IHS (74% - 6 pts)

History (75% - 6 pts)

Higher Malay (85% - 7 pts)

Aggregate: 40 pts

See the difference?

Nonetheless, I really thank God for the result He has given me.

May my good result be a testimony of His everlasting love and grace in my life!

God bless you all :)

Post-exam holiday

The past three days of holiday have been fantastic.

Day 1:
I went with a couple of friends to watch Eclipse in Orchard Cineleisure. Having read all 4 books of the saga, I find the third sequel the best so far. I can't wait for the first part of Breaking Dawn, the last sequel of the saga, to come out on Nov 18 this year.

After the movie, I went to Macs with some of my friends wanting to catch the match between Holland and Brazil. We went to Queensway branch only to find that they did not screen world cup matches anymore =(

Fortunately, by God's grace somehow the TV in my hall in boarding school managed to capture the signal from Indonesian channel and I could watch the match with my friends in the hall although it is in black and white. The match was breathtaking and am so glad that Holland won heheh.

Day 2:
The next day I had an equally interesting day. I decided not to go to church on that day and to go on Sunday instead so that I could catch a game of soccer with my friends. It's been over a month since the last time I played soccer on the turf. It felt so good to be back on the field. Plus, I played pretty well, scoring a couple of goals and some assists. You don't mind me showing off a bit here right? I couldn't do this in Facebook alright.

The day ended with yet another big match between Germany and Argentina. This time round my favourite team for this World Cup was thrashed by Germany 4-0. So was I crushed that night. Luckily the Spanish beat Paraguay so it like compromises the other match. I slept at 5 on that day.

Day 3:
It was Sunday morning when I woke up but rain is not falling lol. I had to go to church at 830 so I only had 3 hours of sleep. Thank God the sermon was good and I didn't fall asleep in church. In the evening, I went for a buffet meal at Sakae Sushi with my brother, Ivan and Adit. It's a really good catching-up session esp. with Adit whom we seldom see. There was an incident as Adit threw up right after exiting the restaurant hahah I think he just ate too much. To our surprise, he was not the only one throwing up in the toilet as there was another man who also threw up on the same time as him! Amazing what a buffet dinner can do to you :O

This pic doesn't justify how much food we ate!

(The waiter has cleared the plates when this was taken)

So yeah that's all. Today is a day off thanks to Youth Day. And it's a bit more relaxed because I don't go anywhere today (umm maybe to gym later). So yeah, have a good day peeps! =)

EXAM IS OVER!! *hooraaayyyy

Finally the much-anticipated Term 3 exam which is my first IB major exam is over. I can't describe the relief and gratitude I feel after surviving the one week period of exam. What's more: now I have a one week holiday before school reopens for me next Friday. It's just the right time to blog again yeah?

Well just want to recount my experience before, during and after exam here. The timing for my exam this time is very weird as it began on the first day school reopened after the one month June holiday. You sure can imagine how hard it was to force myself to study during holiday. On top of that, I have some overdue assignments from Term 2 which I hadn't been able to complete by the time holiday started *sigh

In the end, I started working on my school works and studying for exam after my brother flied back to Singapore which was one week before school officially reopened. I can't thank God more for His help during that one week of studying. Somehow I was able to concentrate well despite of the daily World Cup temptation and frequent going out with friends. He has really blessed my time and multiplied it a hundred fold. I must also say that the last one week of my holiday has been a really FUN FUN one!

The exam itself is super tough. Despite of the fact that the materials to be studied are not that much, the intensity and degree of difficulties of the concepts to be grasped as well as the questions set by the teachers are incomparable to secondary school. To make things worse, I suffered a really bad homesick right after I arrived in Singapore. Somehow I really missed my parents, my friends in Bandung, and all the fun we had during holiday. The change was just too abrupt and I didn't have ample time to adapt back to Singapore mode.

I did my first three papers which include Physics relatively successfully. Chemistry and Maths papers, however, were much harder. Nevertheless, I knew that I had done my best and that God Himself will take care of the rest. Looking back, I realized that the homesick I caught was indeed from God. He wanted to use my homesickness to draw me back to Him. To tell the truth, I had not been close to God during my holiday in Indo. I often skipped my prayer time and quite time. Lesson learned: God can and will use anything to draw us back to Him.

Now what's in front of me is a few days of enjoying myself, one day of cleaning up my super messy room, and finally bounce back to school mode as EE, TOK presentation, and IOP are all coming closer :)

Yay I'm going home tomorrow! :)

Finally after counting down from H-8 all the way to H-1, I will go home tomorrow. It will be my 7th time to go home since the first time I went to Singapore. It won't be a long vacation, though. It will be less than 3 weeks and I have to study for my common test which will commence the first day school reopens. I hope I can make full use of my time in Indonesia.
Now, something more personal. I just chatted with my ex-crush on facebook today. She started the chat first in the morning asking me for help about her maths homework. I tried to help but unfortunately I couldn't (it was trigo and I admit I'm not too good at it). After scribbling on paper and tried to solve the question for half an hour, I gave up. She left without even saying thank you.
Just now I tried to start a convo with her again. I asked her a few neutral questions like why she's not going home etc. All the replies are sour and reflect no interest in the convo. I put the convo into a halt. Ah, seems that she's still bitter after what I did to her last year. I decide that I've given her enough time to be bitter and if after one year she's still bitter, I won't care already. Good bye from my life, forever. I don't think we are friends anymore. Period.

I love Singapore Mathematical Olympiad (regardless of my performance)

Today was SMO open section day. I entered the lecture theater literally unprepared, armed only with my pencil case. I didn't expect much, but in the end I really stayed the entire 2.5 hours competition. I was the only year 5 Indonesian scholar who didn't leave early.  It turned out to be quite fun! It evoked old memory of participating in similar maths competition back in Indonesia. I used to be in my old school's maths club you know!
I managed to complete 6 out of 25 questions available. I hope it could qualify for an honorable mention. That's the most I can expect for. After all, I didn't prepare anything at all for this competition. So yeah, maths is fun peeps :) I promise I will do better for my HL Maths. From now on, no more just-passing mark man!