3:07 PM - Thursday, June 29, 2006
EXAMS ARE OVER!!!
The 3 days of hell are over and I can finally sit here without any stress and type a new entry. My close-to-1-month mugging at home this June holidays seemed like it had come to waste with the completion of the final killer chemistry paper. On the whole, this common test was much tougher thanthe common test this year but it was comparatively easier than the final year exams last year. I personally found GP essay and bio manageable whereas the others were just of normal standard, those of which if you could remember everything in the notes you'd get a straight A. Unfortunately for the absent-minded me, this doesn't work for me. 30% of the stuff I study flows out of my tiny brain and although I'm sure I read it before, the stuff just can't be found in my brain. This brings me to the new analogy I came up with just before the bio paper.Taking an exam is just like production of an economy. When it is not at full employment, increasing the aggregate demand for knowledge can still increase output during exams without any increase in price, which are the mistakes you make. But when it's at full employment, the brain can't take it anymore and increasing aggregate demand for knowledge will increase the price level without increase in output during exams. It ends up in the same amount of stuff written but more mistakes. Anyway, these 2 days are the break of the world cup just before the quarter finals start. I really hope argentina, brazil, italy and portugal get. into the next round. brazil and argentina are really exciting to watch, and I hope portugal wins england because I really can't stand their poor performances despite all the hype abouth this and that. Italy are not exactly strong but it's better than having ukraine in the semi-finals I guess.Anyway, I read in the papes today that there's some conflict going on between the wives and girlfriends(WAGs) of the english players as they try to steal the limelight from each other. Upon close inspection, I found that the only hot one is Cheryl Tweedy.Too bad she's attached to Ashley Cole.
1:11 PM - Sunday, June 25, 2006
I just heard some really interesting questions which I thought I might just share them here.1. Why do children have to follow the soccer players out to the field?2. Why is it that when I remember to bring in the clothes, it doesn't rain; but when I forget to bring in the clothes, it always rains?3. Why do we have to wash bath towels when we use it only to wipe our body, which is supposed to be clean after bathing?On another note, I really hate players who dive. They really spoil the spirit of the game by taking advantage of a referee's judgement. But nonetheless, Shevchenko's dive which earned Ukraine a win over Tunisia earned me $5.80. Haha, talking about referees, Singapore's Shamsul maidin has been voted top referee by soccernet so far! To think that it's the referee and not the national team to earn us the honour at world cup.
9:16 AM - Saturday, June 24, 2006
There's really nothing to update recently because all that's happening in my life are mugging and world cup! Since that's the case, I shall just post a few pictures that i took with my handphone or received from others...
What i have been up to recently as a pastime while I'm studying, depositing and withdrawing money from the Singapore Pools. I'm proud to say that after such a long period of wagering, I made a profit of $16!
p.s I really hate Trinidad & Tobago!
Taken when I went to Changi Airport specially at 6am to send Ashvin and Juleng off to their US trip!
Picture specially dedicated by Juleng to me!
The future stars of Hollywood! Kyle, Ian and Alan, or otherwise known as K.I.A!
4:52 AM - Saturday, June 17, 2006
I happened to pass by Royal Sporting House yesterday and my eyes were glued on the Chelsea jersey that was going for $89.90! Someone please please get it for me! Haha.Just started bio and damn bio is a huge chunk. 10 topics in all and each topic can kill manz. Have until Tuesday to finish Bio!Regarding world cup, yesterday I took Ecuador to beat Costa Rica and they did. I wanted England to win Trinidad & Tobago by 2 goals and they did too! Lots of thanks to Steven Gerrard. But i felt so cheated by the Sweden- Paraguay match. I wanted them to draw and woke up especially at 4.30am to catch a glimpse of the last 15 minutes of the match, hoping for it to remain level. When I saw the score with my still blurry eyes, I though Paraguay was leading 1-0 and I felt dejected...went to get a cup of water and when I looked at the TV again, it was still 0-0! So I stayed watching the match with my eyes glued to the TV and my Dad snoring away in the background, all the way until Ljungberg had to score that stupid goal in the 89th minute... What a spoiler!As for today's matches, I hope Mexico will win Angola by at least 2 goals and book their place early in the top 16!
10:59 AM - Thursday, June 15, 2006
At this point of time I'm left with transition elements for chemistry and the whole of bio and econs! So, I've actually almost finished math and chemistry, and when I say finish I meant went through and at least know what are involved. What a mugger I am.By the way, I swear than i can't swim for nuts. Went swimming today and I almost died after the 4th lap, after which i stopped and just laid by the chair to get a mild tan. Back to the world cup, I really am becoming a betting addict, but one with control. I've promised myself that if I ever reach the point where I'm at a loss of $20, I'll stop betting. Luckily, till date, I've won $10.30, mostly due to the wonderful Czech Republic match, which I won $18+. I just hate France. The way they play just shows that the furthest they'll go is probably the 2nd round, and the reason for them going past group stages is that they have Switzerland and Togo in their group, which serve to grab the bottom 2 spots. Frank Ribery is an idiot who can't dribble for nuts, and I think he and Henry did a good job of making France unable to win a weak opponent like Switzerland. Switzerland actually had no clean sheets for 32 consecutive matches before this, and France, of all countries, gave them a clean sheet??? Trust me to think that they could win the Swiss 2-0.On an other note, I'm counting on Spain to win Ukraine 1-0 and Germany to beat Poland 2-0. That will make grumpy Alan happy!
1:19 PM - Monday, June 12, 2006
I'm really in the world cup fever, trying to catch a gimpse of every match I can while trying to mug. However, this always results in me watching the entire match with my notes untouched for the 2 hours. Was really surprised with that germany 4-2 win over costa rica. I mean no one would have expected such a high scoring game in the opening match. Yup, so my 1-0 prediction was inaccurate. I also predicted a 2-1 win for england over paraguay but due to england's poor performance, it turned out to be 1-0 with the only goal coming from an own goal.I must really comment on the trinidad & tobago vs sweden match last night. I must admit i was quite impressed T&T qualified despite having a mere population of 1.3million, lesser than Singapore. But their display yesterday kinda disgusted me. Playing a 9 man defense with 1 lone striker up there, clearing every single ball and hoping stern john up there could latch onto it and finally attack, then watching it come back into their own half, clearing it again and the cycle continues. It's quite obvious they were only playing for a draw. just look at how happy their fans were after the 0-0 result, as if they had won 5-0, as quoted by the commentator. I was really hoping sweden could beat them and wipe the smiles of their faces, but sweden's performance was average, considering they were unable to defeat a 10-man team. But a major factor would have to be T&T's keeper, who made 6 saves that night. But I'm really interested in sweden right now, just love the blue and yellow warm-up tees and the swedish fans, especially the girls wearing the swedish colours.Next match I'm interested in is france vs switzerland. My money's on france winning 1-0.
12:43 PM - Saturday, June 10, 2006
The reason I've not been updating daily is due to my crazy-like mugging. Actually not exactly crazy, just that I'm mugging like I've never mugged before. This was inspired by my NPCC teacher who told me, "If you're taking your A-levels this year, the june holidays can either make you or break you." I certainly won't want it to break me, thus explaining my mugging. Till now, I've almost finished math and planning to start on chemistry soon. Is that considered fast or slow?
On a separate note, although this month was supposed to be my mugging month, I actually watched 2 movies just this week, Benchwarmers and The Omen. Benchwarmers is just plain hilarious with a weak storyline and The Omen is a boring show with neither-here-nor-there horror, if you know what I mean. I'm really looking forward to Scary Movie 4 and Pirates of the Carribean!!!
The World Cup's starting in 2+hours time, with Germany facing Costa Rica. lemme make a prediction here... Germany 1-0 Costa Rica... I'm really getting the pundit (or punter) feeling recently, stopping by the Singapore Pools shop everytime i pass by. And i just realised the odds for Brazil winning the world cup has risen to 3.10! Damn, if i placed my bets now I would have won $1 more if Brazil indeed win!
8:10 PM - Monday, June 05, 2006
Mugging Day 1!Went to send ashvin and juleng off for their US trip at 6am in the morning, then came home and slept till 1.30pm. I had wanted to go to VJ to mug the afternoon away but my brain kinda rejected this idea while i was sleeping. Somehow, both my alarm clock and handphone failed to wake me up at 11am to go off to VJ to mug. Hence, Mugging Day 1 happened at home!Went to buy lunch and passed by the betting place that i pass by almost everytime i but my meals. Since I'm already 18 years old, i decided to try my luck at a small bet with the world cup. After 15 minutes of searching around for the betting slip, i finally found them lying side my side on the table. After much consideration, i decided to put $10 on Brazil to win the world cup and $5 on England to crash out in the semi-finals. This was done with much analysis. You see, if England and Brazil were to top their group and win their round-of-16 and quarterfinals matches, they'll meet in the semi-finals and I'm rooting for Brazil to win England in that match. Then Brazil will go all the way to win the world cup! With the odds of Brazil winning at $3.00 and England kicked out at semi-finals at $5.50, if I'm so accurate to get both right, I'll win $57.50!!! Even if i do lose, I'll only lose $15 which is quite okay considering how exciting it'll make my world cup become. If you are wondering, why the hell is this called Mugging Day 1 when all I talk about is gambling, tsk tsk tsk, you're wrong. After i reach home, I actually sat down and redid all my differentiation and integration, the 2 topics that I'm weakest at, and completed all the tutorials. Really glad I didn't mug in school after all as I felt that studying at home can be conducive too. At least now I can go on to do the other topics that involve integration and differentiation with much ease...
2:54 PM - Sunday, June 04, 2006
Left: Corporal Alan Yeo in 2003
Right: Cadet Inspector Alan Yeo in 2005
Centre: Civilian Alan Yeo in 2006
5:04 AM
My computer monitor has just blacked out and this means I won't be able to come online so often already. Anyone out there with a nice working computer monitor that you would like to donate to me, please contact me asap... thanks!By the way, I have this free ticket to X-Men 3 on 7th June, 3 pm at Suntec Eng Wah. Anyone interested can contact me, the only condition being you must be a JC student. You can bring a friend along and he or he pays only $3.50 for a ticket. That's as good as 2 tickets for $3.50!!! Great deal not to be missed.
2:08 PM - Friday, June 02, 2006
So the three days of NPCC training course have finally ended. Frankly, compared to previous years, this year's NCO training course was much slacker. Firstly, it wasn't even overnight. Secondly, there wasn't much punishment despite the really poor performances. Thirdly, there was so much time for lunch and in between activities, etc. Clearly something that was not present in future years. Whatever it is, the training squad has went through the last training in their NPCC journey and hopefully they'll bring with them all that we've taught them.This also marks the last activity I'm undertaking as a cadet inspector. The next time I'm seen in my uniform would have to be the passing-out-parade already. Whether I've done a good job or bad job as a cadet inspector is up to others to say, but I think I've already fulfilled what i set out to do. I knew I could not make a difference to each and everyoneof the cadets' lives, but I knew I could make a difference to someone's life. Today, I finally knew that i had accomplished that. Thank you DHSNPCC! Thank you for fulfilling my and completing my NPCC life. =P