Saturday, June 15, 2013

Previously. (recapped)

My first blog post after 2 weeks.
I'm blogging in the City of Perth library which I haven't been in a LONG time.
its quite nostalgic.
I use to come here in the morning with my lappy and hog the Internet spot
for the WHOLE day.
Y'know, when I DON'T have Internet yet.
Ahhh yes ~
Happy Times.

(Just when you thought you could finish reading all your piled up novels due to the lack of Internet access, your brain starts thinking of NEW ways to procrastinate. Maybe reading just isn't in my element.)

But enough loitering around in the past.
Lets talk about the present.
I'll start Season 14's first post by doing a
MID-YEAR RESOLUTION CHECK !~

What's that ?
Well, I'll just go through my new years resolution
to see if I'm still keeping any of them.
I just thought of it on the bus while coming here.
Soooo....random.
Just the way I like it.

Now let's take a look : (taken from previous blog post)
  • Achieve an ATAR of 80 or above (so I can actually get into Uni XD)
  • Don't drink/smoke/do drugs (because it's against my moral code)
  • ...Coke is fine, though (because I need to keep myself sane)
  • Get a job (i am very willing to learn, so please. *laughs at self*)
  • Retain frienships (especially with the ones back home *PERSONA ROX*)
  • be happy =3 (because life would be meaningless if you're not)
#1 ATAR 80 or above.
I'm still not sure about this.
Well, hopefully I'm doing good enough
to beat 80% of the WA student population.
haha, fat chance.
and that's saying something, considering what a twig I am.
But I heard quite a few people on forums talking about
getting an ATAR forecast using their midterms result.
(I'll talk about my 5 horendous days of exam later)
Anyways,
I hope I can ask my teachers for mine too.
Subject scaling is really scaring me.
Ok, now I'm just making excuses for myself.
Hopefully I can get a forecast and it'll look decent.

#2 Don't drink/smoke/do drugs.
Still going strong.
Heck, I even gave up soda !
For Lent I mean.
But I'm still going strong without it.
Even without any purpose to stopping.
I'm awesome =3

#3 ....Coke is fine, though.
CONQUERED.
NEW RESOLUTION !
Go the whole year without soda.

#4 Get a job.
Errmmm....
For the sake of resolution #1.
I have decided to NOT get a job.
Maybe after my WACE exams.
But definitely not now.
I'm stumped.

#5 Retain friendships.
Your mileage may vary.
I pretty much shut everyone out of my life...
virtually I mean.
So what'll happen is anyone's guess.
WHO WANTS TO SKYPE ?
My mouth is itching to just speak some Chinese.
Well, Malaysian English is good too.

#6 be happy.
I'm not so sure about this.
I do feel satisfied that I'm doing quite well now.
But maybe I'm just drowning myself in loads of work
to hide all that sadness.
Looks like this psot is gonna drift into emo territoy.
But if I actually achieve resolution #1,
I'll be pretty happy.
Oh well,
now that I think about it.
There were some happy moments in these 6 months.
Msotly about getting good grades.
25/25 for an essay, anyone ?
Oh no, I'm humbragging again, aren't I ?
Ok I'll stop.
But yeah, that's pretty sad.
The only (most of them) happy moments are based of academics.

Well, that's a full midyear review of my new years resolution.
I'm quite satisfied with it.
And hopefully,
I can keep it up.
Its my first year doing new year resolutions.
So please make a good first impression.
Unlike most people who break their new years resolution
as soon as the new year begins at a party,
I'm quite serious in keeping mine safe and sound.

Oh and before I forget.
There's something I'd like to share.
No, its not a photo of me.






Open 2 Study.
For those who don't know what it is,
which is like....everyone...
Its a free e-learning program.
When I said program,
I don't mean software.
I mean an "event" of sort.
It's like an online university,
online not so advanced.
And the best part ?
It's FREEEE ~
I'm not sure if its accessible from Malaysia.
But I registered for a class already.
There are a few courses to choose from.
Its still new so don't expect too much.
I signed up for Astrology.
There are more I want to sign up for.
But I'm afraid it'll be too much for me.
Not that it'll matter or anything.
But if I pass a course,
as in I got 60% or above.
I get a free certificate....
Which I assume, I must print for myself.
But nevermind that.
The most important thing is learning right ?

How does it work ?
Well, you register for as many subjects as you want.
Attendence does not matter.
Everything will be online.
Each course takes 4 weeks.
One course will only take up around 1-2 hours (acording to the website)
per week.
All courses start on the 1st of July.
So if you're interested, register now.
And maybe we'll even be classmates.
For me,
its not so much about the knowledge or anything.
But I kinda wanna get a feel for open (online) learning.
How does it feel to go to an online college ?
Have you ever asked yourself that ?
Have you ever tried ?
Well, now's your chance.
Are you gonna grab it ?
I know I am.

Now let's talk about my exams.
As I said earlier,
it was a disaster.
Well, maybe not as bad as you might think it is.
But still,
I was really hindered by all this bad luck.
Let's talk a closer look, shall we ?


Thursday (English as an Additional Language/Dialect)

What a perfect way to start off the exams.
NOT !
English used to be a fun subject.
Well, at least an easy one.
The good ol' days when you could choose to write a story
instead of a boring essay.
Ahhh...good times.
(woah woah oh its always a good time)

Fun Fact : I did a Lightning fanfic for my SPM essay and actually passed ! RAITONINGU FTW

I was squeezing my tiny brain
to "critically analyse" my comprehension texts.
And my synthesis essay went totally out of balance.
And I went on an emotional roller coaster during my main essay.
Like how Madam Lucy calls it :
"I'm all over the place."
ARGHHHH !
I feel like that main female character from 那些年.
She suddenly got a tummy ache on her exam.
And I was feeling totally uncomfortable at the time.
My socks are all wet.
Because apparently my sexy blue (pirated) Converse shoes
weren't waterproof.
And I was SUPER HOT that I stripped (my jacket) in the middle of the exam.


Friday (Mathematics/ SPM Level Modern Maths + A bit of Add Maths)

I'm sure most of you have already heard about this on Facebook.
My calculator ran out of ****ing battery.
Well, it sounds pretty bad but actually it isn't.
I meant to clarify but
I'm too afraid of getting flamed on Facebook
and losing all my likes....so....

Back to my dilemma.
My graphic calculator is the one that ran out of battery.
The calculator that helps you draw graphs and solve simultaneous equations etc.
I was actually charging it via USB the WHOLE night.
But I didn't know that graphic calculators actually run on batteries...
Changeable batteries.
My mind was blown.

The good news is....
well, its pretty bad.
With a graphic calculator, I could double check my graphs to make sure its correct.
Oh well....
The GOOD news is....
I still have my scientific calculator.
#ProudToBeMalaysian
I think I was the only nerd to bring 2 calculators into the exam.
I like my scientific calculator better.
Its smaller.
The batteries DON'T run out.
And I'm sooo used to using it.
The buttons on my graphic calculator are SOOOOO hard.
And insensitive.
Its hard to input numbers rapidly.
So I guess I did OK OK.
But I'm sure my teacher would be disappointed in me.
Kinda got his hopes up high with my previous test score.
But that's OK.
I'll just keep trying, right ?
After all,
Maths was NEVER my specialty.


Monday (Chemistry)

Ok Chemistry should be fine.
I actually did a LOT of Chemistry on the weekends.
I was supposed to balance it out with some Physics.
But I found out how dumb I actually became
after taking a look at some of the past years.
So I spent my weekend working
entirely on Chemistry.
IT SHOULD BE ALRIGHT NOW.
Or was it ?

Nope. It was alright.
*Phew
Finally an exam I'm (partially) satisfied with.
But the more I thought about it,
the more I realise my mistakes.
I blame myself.
And also the adrenaline that was flowing through my veins
when I was doing the paper.
The truth is,
I've never felt this exhilarated before.
For the first time in my life.
I KNEW WHAT MY FISHING CHEMISTRY PAPER WAS TALKING ABOUT.
That moment when all the information just flows into your head.
.....and you decide to write the wrong info.
But that's OK.
Its over.
There's nothing I can change.
I know I know the answer.
And thats what matters, right ?
A decent exam !

On my way home,
I lost my Smartrider card.
FML.

In case you don't know.
Smartrider cards are cards.
Lol.
You put credit in and you can just scan it when you board a public transport.
You don't have to waste time purchasing a ticket
and build a long long line behind you.
Its fast and convenient.
For students,
we get a discount.
All rides will cost only $0.50
no matter the distance.
The usual price would be around a dollar plus.

So I lost my card.
And I freaked out.
I was listening to some epic music on my iPod.
Bus reached bus station.
I got off.
"Tagged" off.
Put card in pocket.
Walk.
Walk faster.
Stop.
Took out my phone.
Walk while talking on phone.
Ended call.
Checked pocket.
CARD IS GONE.
Ran back.
No card.
Ran around the station.
Nothing.
POOF*
Monday just got super eff-ed up.


Tuesday (Applied Information Technology)

I'm gonna fail the course that I like.
Someone shoot me.
My IT teacher isn't very helpful.
We have never done a "proper" class.
All we do are assignments and stuff.
There are NO textbooks.
No exercises.
Google is your textbook.
Bet'cha that sounds fun right ?
Its not.
I don't even know WHAT to Google.
And all my class had to work with was a copy a ONE past paper.
He didn't even tell us
we needed to bring colour pencils into the exam.
I found out by reading the WACE exam guide.

So this is what happened last week.
He gave us a digital copy of the 2011 IT paper.
And he explained that some of the content inside
has been omitted from our exam because we are having
our exams sooner this year
and thus,
we didn't have enough time to cover those other topics.
So he gave us a list of topics that will NOT come out,
and a list of topics that WILL come out.
I guess he wants us to Google and read up on those.
So we did.
Well, I did anyways.

Back to the exam.
We sat down.
Opened our papers.
And "Oh sh***"
It was an 75% exact replica of the past paper he gave us.
Naturally, we were all happy.
Until we saw the "Data Validation" question.
HE TOLD US IT WON'T BE IN THE TEST.
But I guess he's too lazy to remove it.
Thanks teach'.
So I did a paper in which they asked me questions that my teacher reassured me will not be asked.
great.
IT is great, isn't it ?

I'm kinda regretting taking IT now.
Not because its hard of anything.
But in all honesty,
I hate my IT teacher.
He works slow.
He never gives us work.
And he ALWAYS postpone every single assignment due date we have.
Just so that the other not so mature students can submit theirs.
What's the point of finishing your assignments in time
when you know your teacher is gonna postpone the date ?

I kinda lost it when he postponed our assessment date 2 weeks ago.
He said/promised it would be on a Wednesday.
And then we'd spend Friday going over the past paper.
But when Wednesday arrived,
all he did was walk around asking if anyone had any questions.
Well, it doesn't really matter because his explanations are a bit ridiculous
and not straightforward.

There was less than one hour left on the clock before class ended
so I decided to ask him whether we're still having the test.
And this was how the conversation went:

TK: Sir ?
Ray: Yes ?
TK: Are we still having our assessment today ?
Ray: Today ? No its on Friday.
TK: *twitched slightly. What ?
Ray: Its on Friday, isn't it ?
         Hold on, let me just check the online portal.
*2 minutes later
Ray: Oh right ! It is supposed to be today.
TK: *feeling accomplished
Ray: Class ! Who wants the assessment on Friday ?
Class: MEMEMEMMEMEMEMEMEMEMEEEE.....
Ray: OK ! Friday then.
TK: *irritated to the max

And that's how I ended up with THREE tests on Friday.
Thanks a lot, Ray.
I wasted Tuesday cramming for the IT test,
that I chose to neglect my Physics test.
In which my Physics teacher told me:

"Your score isn't really as high as I'd expected."

And a part of me died inside.
My teacher (PHYSICS NO LESS) believed in me and I failed himmm....
*stabs self
Now I'm really irritated.

I'm not really the kind to complain about my teachers.
You should see everyone else.
Jumping classes all the time.
Just because the system lets them.
Its kinda sad when I'm in class pulling off a poker face
when my teacher takes attendance
and he goes all:
"Oh haven't seen ***** in quite a while now."

And then a random student will say:
"Oh he switched classes.....
(because apparently you **** at teaching)"
But like I said.
I don't really hate them.
No offence to any previous teachers,
but they're MASSIVE improvements.
My IT teacher is the only one I hate am not happy with.

The worse part is
IT is considered an "easy" subject.
So I'll get scaled down compared to
other subjects like Physics
which gets scaled up.
So if I do mediocre in IT,
I'll most probably fail.
Maybe I should've taken something like Computer Science.
Oh wait,
that subject didn't run too.
Ughhhh....why is everyone only obsessed with
Physics, Chemistry and Biology ?
Wow, all the subjects I wanted to take at first
never made it to the final list...
No wonder public high schools are better.
Just sayin', not complainin'.


Wednesday (Physics)

Somehow,
they always save the hardest subject for last.
I wasn't really confident with this paper
because I used up my entire weekend studying Chemistry.
When everyone started writing,
I started wondering whether I'm supposed to use
a pencil or pen ?
I used pen for theory and
pencil for calculations for my Chemistry paper.
But almost everything in my Physics paper was calculations.
I looked around.
Can't distinguish whether they're using pens or pencils.
Curse Australia and their weird looking pencils.
ughhh.
After doing the first question in pencil,
I decided to switch to pen for the rest of the paper.
Needless to say,
to whole paper looked like a baby threw up on it.
I just hope my teacher can understand it.

Well, that was the worse part.
After that, I felt like a million dollars.
I guess I felt quite happy with myself.
For the first time in a long time,
I studied for an exam,
and I knew what the questions were asking for.
Now all that's left to do is wait for my papers to come back.
And hopefully,
get an ATAR prediction going.

Good news about Physics too.
I stopped falling asleep in class
ever since I blogged about my 'sleeping in class' problem.
I guess the first step to solving a problem
really is admitting it.
I bet Eric is really happy too.
Secretly...

Wow this is kinda a long post.
Well, just some photos for you guys before I end it.
You know.
A little reward,
for those who actually read through it all.
Or for those who were hardworking enough to keep scrolling down.

Book with a nice cover.
I was inspired to take a photo of it after my friend took a photo of another book.
I THINK its nice. Don't you ?
Of course, I'm not gonna read it.

My locker. 
At the end of the exam.
Its almost at max capacity.
Just goes to show how serious I am at studying now.
Haha. 

And I celebrated the end of my midsems by having some yummy desserts.
Strawberry dipped in melted chocolate.
Its actually my first time having this.
The "dark" chocolate doesn't taste dark enough.

And it solidified in like...15 minutes.
Well, it was good while it lasted.
Now HERE'S a sight to behold :







Ahhh yes. 
Chatime.
FINALLY !
A new branch actually opened in a suburb near mine.
So I decided to try it,
since I was around that area.
Its quite empty,
only 2 girls running the place.
One Asian and one Caucasian.
CAUCASIAN.
This is the first time I saw a Caucasian working in a bubble tea store.
I decided to try some Passionfruit Green Tea + Pearl.
It became a favourite of mine
ever since I watched that woman from Unfold.
It was OK.
She was a little stingy on the pearls.
But I enjoyed it.
Won't be having it so often,
because its EXPENSIVE.
RM15 for a single cup.

Lemon Meringue Tart.
I tried it yesterday.
Wow.
I'm really letting myself go aren't I ?
Oh well, I DESERVE IT.
And now I'm sick.
Toodles.


Listening to Kissin' You - Miranda Cosgrove


FREE AT LONG LAST,
TK

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