Tuesday, September 30, 2003
RME retreat
"Act Justly, walk humbly, love tenderly". That was the theme for our retreat.
The retreat went really well. It was held in the St. Francis Xavier Major Seminary. Whoa~ Seminary. Surprisingly, there weren't many priests around. The place was real nice, quiet and serene. The retreat was facilitated jointly by the SJI RME department and the Redemptorist Mission Team. There was an ex-SJI guy in there, Leonardo, who had a real cool hairstyle. He reminded me of Sheik Haikel. =p
Me, benwang, garet, gerard, max and bong met at BK far east for lunch. Headed down to school, where we slacked in the LT, talking crap. We were then split into random groups. =( But luckily I was placed in the Male Dorm ( the others were in the Female Dorm. =D ), and managed to find a place with Aston, Rich, and Justin. We spent the evening there learning some dances ( don't ask ) from this Filipino dancer called Eugene. He kept asking us to 'sit praa-perr-lee' and to have 'praa-perr pos-churr'. =) He was at my confirmation camp, and left quite a deep impression on me.
After we completed the dance, we had dinner. I swear, the food they provided was the best camp/retreat food I have ever tasted. Then we had a session on justice. Made me realise that I am lucky enough to not have any major injustices placed onto me. However, it made me think about how my actions have affected others.
When Lights Out came around, Ben came into our dorm and we had a nice chat about a lot of things. SJI, the coming graduation, JCs, Friends, etc. It was really nice to spend 2 plus hours talking to your friends. Throughout the whole two hours, Aston was furiously messaging away at his phone. We concluded that he was sending messages to Sara's mom. =D
Went to sleep soon after, and woke up at around 5 am, frozen. Tried various ways to keep warm, to no avail. Suddenly, me and Aston shot up at the same time from our respective beds. Aston went 'Gabriel, is that you?' then he tossed my sleeping bag to me. I slipped into the bag, and didnt feel so cold after that. The next day me and Aston were pretty amused how we woke up at the same time. Apparently everyone else was freezing. Oh yeah, I also washed my clothes in the sink and hung them on my bedpost after wringing them dry. I think I was the only one in the Dorm to do 'laundry' during the retreat.
The next day we had a talk by a mother of four sons, on Love and family. One of her sons had gone out with some girls, and stood up to some guys who had molested one of the girls. He promptly received multiple stab wounds to the chest, but managed to survive. When she asked him afterwards about why he had to interfere, he replied that it was her who had taught him to respect and protect women. Aww. So touching.
After Lunch there was a small skit, called the Dating Game, involving Gareth, Mark ooi, peter yap, and Christine, a member of the retreat team. Gareth, Mark and Peter are real good actors and real funny too, esp. gareth with his jibes at one of the other members of the retreat team. But Peter Yap went a bit too far with a few sensitve jokes and rather lewd comments. ( sorry peter! )
Ahh, soon we had time to play soccer. Was really refreshing, a long time since I had last played soccer. Played with mainly 01 and 02 buggers, with a few others. My team consisted of me, Mathew, Lukas, Aston, Max and Douglas. Douglas scored a real cool goal, after practically bulldozing his way through the entire opposing team. Then after a few misses, I finally scored one. =) It was a real slick move, and equal credit must go to Aston and Mathew who made the goal. A quick decisive throw-in from Aston gave mathew the ball, who then twisted and fired in a low cross directly to my feet. I just had to tap it in. Lukas scored a rather flukish goal, lobbing the ball from all the way back into the opposing goal. I scored another soon. Retrieving the ball, I turned the guy who was marking me ( daniel wong ) , ran along the byeline and curled it in to the goal. =)
At night, had a great time joking with David tseng about Shaun Sim's legs and how he shaves them =) [ now the whole world knows that ] . Continued poking fun of him, it was a real hoot.
The next day, we had a talk by Brother Paul Rogers, who was principal of SJI from 1992-1998, on Life beyond secondary school. The experiences he talked about were hilarious. There was mass next in the chapel, which is superrr beautiful. For the first time there were swear words in the homily. Typical brother mike. ( This time an exception was made, and Brother was allowed to say the homily. Typical of him, all the swear words. =p ) After a while he realised that we were getting restless, he said that he should end soon, since " Your brain can only absorb as much as your ass can endure." Apparently that quote has to be credited to Bro. Paul.
After that, boarded the bus back to school. Came home exhausted, but satisfied.
5 days left in SJI
Spent the whole of yesterday rehearsing for Graduation ceremony on Saturday. It was only then that I realised that my time in SJI was coming to a close. SJI is the best institution that I have ever been part of. Knowing that I am leaving it soon after the four best years of my life brings a tear to my eye. ( pardon the mushy-ness ) I've got a real great group of friends, and it will be a waste if we do not keep in contact.
Anyways, Congrats to Salma, Yangwei and Benjamin for receiving the Lasallian Distinguished Service award. And, of course, Salman for becoming the Senior Josephian of the year! Congrats Brudder!
Graduation Ceremony - A bittersweet moment.
Friday, September 26, 2003
Retreat or Advance?
Got RME retreat from today till sunday.
:$
Tuesday, September 23, 2003
A weird dream, an easy Amaths paper, and a bunch of ruffians
Had a weird dream yesterday, while I was taking an afternoon nap. I normally don't nap in the afternoons, but I did so yesterday because I was tired, because I slept little the previous night, because I was watching the ManU v Arsenal game. More on that match and my thoughts later ...
Back to the dream. It's damn weird, and also a little funny. I was being chased around my Primary School compound. Yeap. By who? Adolf Hitler. Hahahaha... and he was shouting angrily in german, and was chasing after me in a real stiff manner, as if he could not bend his knees. I found this water outlet, and started to hose myself down ( for what reason, I don't know. ). Strange thing is, once I was drenched, he disappeared. Then I was somehow 'teleported' to my Grandma and Grandpa's old house, eating dinner with them. :$
I kinda know how the dream came about... I was having a conversation yesterday about becoming a ruthless dictator, like Stalin or Hitler. :) And as for the dinner part, well dinner was being served at that time in real life, so I must have caught the aroma of the food, and my stomach must have told my brain ' Eh, dinner time lah... '. =D I love having dreams.
Today was Amaths paper 1. Quite easy, surprisingly. Expected a killer paper. I still think they are saving all the shitty stuff for tomorrow’s paper 2…
Hmm, about the match.. It was a goalless draw. Never expected that to happen in a Manu-arsenal game. There was a lot of controversy in the game. Towards the end of the game, a contentious ( I admit... ) penalty was given to ManU. Martin Keown had his hands all over diego forlan :O ( that belonged in the bedroom, not on the football pitch. ) while forlan was going for a cross from the right wing. They both went down, ref gave a penalty. Arsenal players protested ( as usual..). But eventually, van nistelrooy smashed the penalty against the crossbar. Then, like the bunch of hooligans that they are, some of the Arsenal players ran up to van nistelrooy and actually laughed in his face and taunted him. Wow. I've never seen that happen, not even in the Malaysian League or S-League.
Disgrace.
Prior to the penalty incident, Patrick Viera had gotten a yellow card for a foul, and minutes later, he got sent off. Van nistelrooy challenged for an aerial ball unbfairly, and they landed kinda awkwardly. Then while on the ground, Viera suddenly lunged his boot at van nistelrooy's knee. The ref came over, gave viera his second yellow card( which I thought should have been a straight red card), and he was sent off the field. Now, the Arsenal players, infuriated with van nistelrooy's 'play-acting', rushed towards him threateningly, and even the keeper rushed out of his area to confront van nistelrooy, and had to be restrained by the linesman, if not they would have definitely come to blows. After an eternity of protesting, Viera finally left the field of play.
After the match, Arsene wenger accuses van Nistelrooy of cheating. What, you french Arse? Your player just lashed out petulantly at an opponent, and you say that opponent is cheating? They ought to put some intelligence limit on becoming a Premiership manager man. Cheating? Has he forgotten that barely one week ago, his beloved player Robert Pires, while in the penalty box, after losing possession of the ball, deliberately stretched out his leg to clip the opposing defenders leg, and then fall like he had been shot? Did Arsene hit his head on something hard and develop selective amnesia? And he said that he could see clearly from where he was sitting that 'van Nistelrooy stamped on Patrick'. Hmm, Mr Wenger, perhaps your vision is going along with your memory? Watch the replays my dear, and then you can say what you want. Not that anyone is going to take you seriously, of course.
The behaviour of the Arsenal players, horrendous! After the match, 4 or 5 of them gathered round him, started taunting him, Keown and Lauren even hit and shove him. Hooligans.
The reaction of the ManU players was fantastic. Throughout the match, they never got riled up like the Arsenal players did. Even when van Nistelrooy was being surrounded, they didn’t rush in and start a mass brawl. The only time they touched an Arsenal player ( of course, beyond the match proper ) was to restrain Viera when he charged towards van nistelrooy with malicious intent after he was sent off.
For more on the ‘saga’, go to War of words after Old Trafford battle .
I'm proud of my team. =D
Glory glory Man United!
Saturday, September 20, 2003
Use the system to your advantage
Ooo yea, A2.
"The victory is more sweet when it is deserved. However, an undeserved one is a victory nonetheless."
Friday, September 19, 2003
Whoa, haven't blogged for ages. *clears dust of blog*
Exams really kill your mood for recounting the day, since it makes them so crappy.
Just taking a break today... Today was the History 2158 paper. Study 5 topics, the saem 5 topics come out. Wonderful. Maybe I can finally get my History A1. We took the exam in 411 classroom, and we cold hear tan sia hui shouting from the sec 3 block. Gerard was given another place to sit, away from zenas. :) Gerard is allergic to the Axe brand medicated oil which Zenas applies to his temples in copious amounts for every exam.
At the end of the exam, my whole arm was aching, and i grip the pen so tightly at such an awkward position that I could feel my fingernails really pressing against the skin at the edge of my fingers real hard. Ouch. At the end of the paper, almost everyone was rejoicing, except Thomas Wong. Apparently he couldn't finish his Yeltsin question. Yeltsin? Why do that when you have good ol' Stalin, everyone's favourite murderous dictator?
The questions I did were
1) Describe the effects that the territorial terms of the peace treaties had on Central and European in 1919-1923. What were the positive and negative effects of these changes in the affected terrotories?
4) Describe the German advance in Western Europe from the invasion of Poland to the Battle of Britain. Why were the Germans able to advance so rapidly in this period?
6) Trace the suorce of opposition to Stalin in the 1920s and 1930s and show how he dealt with them. To what extent was his harsh treatment of opposition justified in this period?
7) Describe the following economic and political policies introduced by Stalin in the 1920s and 1930s
a) Collectivisation
b) Five Year Plans
c) The Stalin constitution
9a) Outline the relations between the Guomindang and the Chinese Communist Party in thie period 1923 to 1935. Why did the First GMD-CCP United Front break down by 1927?
I love history. =D
Thursday, September 04, 2003
Physics practical!
W***ed up. EVERYONE got different readings. :( There was a unique oscillation experiment. Was quite suggestive, if you know what I mean. Then we had a hot screw. erm. We were to heart a screw in a bunsen flame and then put it in water, using the law of conservation of energy to find out the temperature of the bunsen flame. Yah. Hope no one misunderstood me there. hehe.
4 hours quarantine. Quite fun. LT was turned into picnic area. Brought tuna sandwiches along. Swapped food with ppl. MAny people were sleeping on the floors of the LT. ONe of them was gcx. After about half an hour, he was pretty knocked out. So me and mat went over, undid his shoelaces, and tied them together. He had a towel over his face to block out the light. Dicky started to wet the cloth, and added a few strategically placed drops on his pants. When gcx woke up, he looked damn funny. His face was wet(so were his pants), and he was hobbling around asking who did all that to him. hahaha. Then we all were going " Gcx, wet your pants ah? " =D
PRELIM ENGLISH EXAM!
hehe. 'twas okay. Slept from 7 pm to 7 am ( ching, this time no mistake! ). The paper was at 9 am. Almost walked out of house w/o brushing teeth. Yucks! Walked to bakery near house to buy something to eat. Decided not to in the end, bought a sandwich in school. Much cheaper this way eh? Since I walked all the way to the bakery, decided to take an alternative route to school, since i was early anywayz. took 851, stopped along thomson road, took 605. quite fast. Definitely faster than crummy old 132. talk about round the camel's arse. [ manner of expression, ppl. no funny thoughts...]
For the paper 1, I did an expository piece titled 'Failure'. Appropriate title for me. =D right. Think i did pretty okayz, maybe a 32or 33 grade piece. The letter was wonked up, something about Kataid. Stray cats. Andrew sophian came up with an interesting website name for the organisation. For the first time, in a major english exam, i wrote more for my long essay than for my letter/report. haha!
Went down for recess. Came up, started with our usual thing about changing the 'English Prelim Paper 1' written on the board. It got to something like ' English Pimp ' , then fam walked in. dang.
The compre passage wasnt too hard. At least there were no explicitly suggestive terms like thje MYE paper had. =D [ remember, bucked like a mustang? ] I was flipping through the questions before the passage. ONe of the questions was
Who was jackie Joyner-Kersee?
I was like whoa, great, got general knowledge question, and i know the answer! :D But alas, the answer cld be deduced from the passage. :P After the exam, where ppl would typically ask each other about certain questions. When someone asked me about that question, ....
" Jackie Joyner Kersee was a sprinter *short pause, during which friend looks relieved* who broke the 100m world record for women in the 1988 Seoul Olympics. She did recently due to heart failure. " whoa. Then i try to convince them that that is the complete answer. Still can't forget that 'oh shit' look on keefe's face . Wahaha.
After that went to LT for briefing on the RME retreat. Took a hell of a long time to decided what colour our Tshirt would be. Finally we decided on White and black. Whoa, monochrome. ;)
English. Hmmm. Confident of getting A1, worst-case scenario is an A2. If not, then i really will cry man.
Monday, September 01, 2003
yahooooo.... HoO!
Did not do anything much today... .. What's new? I Basically organised my notes, filed all my stray worksheets ( which is quite a task if you normally do it once a year, one week b4 the exam... i have improved a lot this yr okay! ) and cleaned my bedroom. ho-hum.
Just spent an hour ( or two, in fact. gosh, how time flies.) kind of like... looking thru( if that's the phrase to use..) my comp... found out that there are quite a few interesting video clips *hidden* in the dark crevices of my comp, including a few saucy ones .... ;) Don't worry, nothing too 'strong' ... ... =D
Yah, inspired by Ben wang, I went to check out whether Ramblings was listed on Yahoo.com. Indeed, Ramblings IS listed on yahoo.com. That means that the CYBERWORLD HATH INDEED EMBRACED ME WITH ITS DIGITAL ARMS! .. ~ wadeva.
Dont believe? Try this! I typed in : gabrielpeterolsen , and this is what i got. [click on link above, dumbo!]
