CHEEJ'S BOXES OF STUFF
Friday, December 17, 2004

pae results came out today..got posted to anderson jc. which isnt necessarily a bad thing, considering that i was trying to avoid acjc *shrugs* i went to njc as soon as i could to appeal. that was when stuff went a little haywire *grins*

got to njc, filled out the green appeal form..then i found out that the auditions for choir start at 2.15pm. i found this out at 11pm.

1st thought: die.

2nd thought: what song?

3rd thought: here we go.

quite dumb of me right?

anyway, many thanks to eud and her mom. they helped me soo much today..much support of many types *grins*

again..THANK YOU!!

again..*grins*

oh, and thanks to them, i found out a very very effective flu medicine. **no prescription required!**

step 1: squeeze 2 calamansi into a cup of hot water.
step 2: add 3 teaspoons of honey.
step 3: mix lah! *add more honey if not sweet enuf*

very good!! very very very good!! i took a whole cup, and my nose and throat cleared within 5 mins. not even prescription drugs are as effective k!

in any case, i got to njc at 2.05pm or so and found out that there were only 4 pple going for the audition. which was quite interesting, considering that that was the only audition the choir was holding.

quite sneaky actually, to hold the audition on the day of the appeal itself. it shows the college who's realli wanting to join the school, and who's just joining cos they have no choice. something like that anyway..

and the njc choir conductor is lim ai hooi. waaaah!! like, highly reputable conductor lor. she was the one giving the audition..she plonked notes out on the keyboard in funny combinations, using all sorts of funny sharps and flats and weird notes. still, i got thru. quite heng, considering that i have flu.

so yeah, my appeal has the backing of the choir. now its up to the appeals committee. its up to fate. yesh.

so i'll find out next week..till then, tata!



Cheong Chee Jun scribbled at 10:25 PM



Thursday, December 16, 2004

its been just over a month since the O levels have ended. in the short space of 32 days, the frequency of my intellectual activities has dropped. from an almost 70% value, it has dropped to..

well, lets just say that its a negligible value, yes? by the way, im not including books that i read for recreation. which, incidentally, has been multiple servings of chicken soup for the soul, courtesy of eud.

i love that book! seriously, its amazing. ever since i read chicken soup for the kids' soul in primary school, i've loved it. now im borrowing the many servings of chicken soup for the soul from eud. its realli heartwarming, knowing that despite all the wars and troubles in the world, there are still people who care enough to help their fellow man.

even though life can be tough, there are people who are willing to lend a helping hand to those less fortunate. there are people willing to share what love they have. mind you, these are not great people. they have not made it into record books (though some have), they have not unlimited resources at the tips of their fingers (though, again, some have) (words in the brackets are to be discounted please). these people are your average joes and plain janes; you could very well say that there's nothing special about them, if not for their big hearts.

these people demonstrate that it doesnt take a big pocket to be generous, it doesnt take a lot of power to influence. even young, impressionable little kids are willing to part with what little they have for people they've never met before. what more of friends and family?

its ironic that we as people can learn as much from the youngest and most impressionable of children as the wisest of old sages. yet, we can learn the most, by merely looking inside ourselves.

the capacity to give is inside all of us. most of us, however, while growing up, forget that it is there. it is up to us to look inside ourselves and rediscover our capacity for good.

i quote: "it is more blessed to give than to receive". also: "do unto others as u would have them do unto u".

i learnt those 2 quotes in kindergarten by the way. it just goes to show that the most important lessons arent those of mathematics or literature or biology or chemistry. it shows us that the most important lessons are those on how to be people. how to be human, or in this case, humane.



Cheong Chee Jun scribbled at 3:00 PM



Monday, December 13, 2004

went out today..whee! met mong and tim and awong at ps before lunch to book movie tix. watched national treasure. me and mong have decided that national treasure is entertaining, but not blockbuster material. which is quite unfortunate, considering that nicholas cage is a pretty good actor. dunno lah..supporting cast included diane kruger (i think that's how u spell her name), who was last seen as helen of troy in the movie troy *duh*. she's getting better i think..she's rising pretty okay-ly in the hollywood scene (that's what i think anyway), so i guess we should see her in bigger roles within the next few years.

if u cant see why, look at it this way; what better way to get recognition in hollywood than acting alongside one of the big names? in this case, nicholas cage, who's a bloody brilliant actor.

sorry, i couldnt resist..

i now digress a little..

NACHOS!!

WAHAHA!!

lol..had nothing but nachos and a coke for lunch..so by the time the show was over i was practically starving. but i didnt eat till dinner. not that it matters, i have food reserves.

*grins*

back to today's topic: today.

once again, i apologise. i couldnt resist.

after the show we went to meridien to play pool. we played for 3 hrs, from around 320 to 620. at about 5 or so, chunky and tom and john kan and a friend walked in and got the adjacent table. it was really fun!

the only catch was that me and mong were severely off-form. it was like we had left our pool skills at home or something. still, after 30 mins of warm-up games, our skills caught up with us, and we were sinking balls once again.

my left index finger is kinda "suan" now..not very confortable, not at all. those who have seen me play pool before will know why..3 hrs with my kind of playing-style (if u can call it that) is tiring on the left hand. well, left index finger anyway..

oh well, that's all that happened today..the main thing was getting out with friends lah, not so much the show or the pool playing (though the were fun).

its weird u know..we go out more before the exams, when school was still on. we would like, go out for lunch, come over to my place to play pool, that kinda thing. now the holidays are here, and we're going out less often than we would like to.

i guess its the conveniece of being already out of the house during term time that lets u go places..

in any case, more tml..

~ciao~



Cheong Chee Jun scribbled at 8:30 PM



Tuesday, December 07, 2004

vegetation.

not the greens that ur mommy reminds u to eat at every meal..not the leaves of the trees that may or may not be seen from ur window..not the flowers at the national orchid garden..

incidentally, did u know that orchid realli means scrotum? it does in latin..

*thanks to mr see teck hock for that particularly interesting bit of trivia*

dont u just love the mother of all western languages? of course, i may be wrong here..my grasp of general knowledge of any kind is kinda weak..

the vegetation i am referring to is of the sort that is found in almost every household.

no, i am not referring to potted plants.

i am referring to the type that thrives on the sofa and/or desk chair.

yes, i am referring to the species commonly known to mankind as homo-sapiens-hormono-overdrivenes.

in other words, the common teenager.

well, one common teenager anyway.

which wouldnt be found in almost every household, but i couldnt think of anything to write..

anyway, back to me.

ME ME ME!!!

pls ignore that.

basically, i've been stuck at home every day during this holiday. if im not in front of the tv playing xbox, im in front of my comp playing games. the only human contact i've been getting is wif eud on the phone.

thank god for handphones.

so yeah, i've been vegetating at home.

dont be surprised if, the next time u see me, i have sprouted leaves for hair, and have potatoes growing behind my ears.

i've just realised that my whole entry is bullshit.

well, most of it anyway..the part abt eud is definitely true..i wouldnt lie abt that..

~bye!~



Cheong Chee Jun scribbled at 10:45 PM



Wednesday, December 01, 2004

life is just so unfair..

i think i should elaborate, yes?

u see, today i went with some pri 6 classmates to see our old teacher Mrs Kow. she's in sgh now..ever since 2001 she'd been diagnosed with lung cancer..at first, it had looked like it was in remission, but now she's back in hospital again, and we're have no idea of her condition..all we know is its probably worse now..she has a tumour in her brain now..she cant remember all of our names..only faces..and she's lost so much weight..basically, she's deteriorated so much since we last saw her..

she realli doesnt deserve to have such a fate befall her. i know, who am i to judge that? but honestly, she's a wonderful person who has done so much good for the people in her life..it seems unfair to her that she is stricken with such a disease.

i remember what a great teacher she was. she taught me from pri 4 to pri 6, and even after 4 years in another school, i still regard her as the best teacher i have ever had. she was a teacher who would go the extra mile to help her students, the kind that would give all her effort and energy to helping her students become better people. although she was assigned to teach my class english and maths, what she taught us was more than just phonics and grammar, addition and subtraction. she taught us to be people, people who had values, who were of virtue, who could live life honestly and meaningfully. she was part of a golden generation of teachers who taught in every sense of the word.

today, she is bed-ridden. much thinner than she was in 2001, with a cap on her head to cover up the effects of (probably) chemotherapy. yet, despite all the hardships that she's had to go through in the last 4 years, despite all the physical changes that we all can see, she is very much the same person. the energy and vigour that i see in her mirrors what was present in her actions almost half a decade ago. although the tumour in her brain has reduced her ability to remember names and cut short her vocabulary, the light in her eyes as we enter the ward shines more brightly than ever. i know, its cliched and realli melodramatic, the way i have just described it, but i simply cannot find a better way to put across that to u. even though it pains me to see her struggle to form sentences and put across her ideas, its also heartening to see that, inside, she is every bit the person she was 4 years ago.

everyone i know from the class of 6A 2000 agree that this shldnt happen, that she deserves much better in life than what she has now. such is the huge impact that she has made on our lives. yet, things like these do happen, and we have no choice but to go along with what comes along. in my 4 years in acs, i have been told that God has a plan for all of us..i may not know what i believe in terms of my religion, but in Mrs Kow's case, God definitely has a plan for her. that much i do believe.

to me, it is obvious that she believes that too. she is completely at peace with her condition, and i have to respect that. even with her current ailment, she continues to affect us and change us for the better.

to all my friends: pls keep her in your prayers.
to Mrs Kow: i know u probably will never read this, but all of us in 6A love u, and all of us hope, with all our hearts, that u will ride through the storm.



Cheong Chee Jun scribbled at 6:29 PM