My Island.

Wednesday, December 09, 2009

Argh, I had such an odd dream last night. Actually I probably shouldn't call it odd, since every one of my dreams are odd, and thus odd should be normal. =/ I suppose last night's dream was influenced by that episode of Doctor Who I watched on the free preview of BBC Entertainment, "The Family of Blood". The one with the army of scarecrows. >_>;;

I dreamt I was in my own housing estate. Everything looked dark and the sky was overcast. I was dressed in a paint-splattered white smock and on my head was a Vietnamese straw hat. I held a giant spoon in one hand to serve as a 'weapon'. We went out in pairs, both of us dressed alike, except my partner was weaponless.

We went to a large, empty warehouse-like area where we met up with another pair. There was already another group guarding one of two entrances to the warehouse. I had no idea who we were fighting against, although I suspect it's the scarecrows from the DW episode. We weren't even fighting, though; I seem to remember running for cover and hiding behind the doors, and watching the other pair similarly hiding and their heads only visible when popping up to check on the surroundings.

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I had no idea "The Family of Blood" was the episode directly before "Blink". o.o So I was very surprised when I saw the preview for the next episode! Too bad I couldn't watch it, haha. I mean, I already have, on Youtube, but it seems different to watch it on TV.

Everything with my laptop's been settled...almost. I tried installing the Security Suite, but I think it's gone all messed up on me. D:< I've emailed the helpdesk with screenshots of my problem, hopefully they can get back to me on that soon. Otherwise I'm just gonna get my own bloody antivirus! DDDD:<<<<

Labels: dream, life

12/09/2009 11:30:00 PM

Monday, December 07, 2009

*incoherent post warning*

AHA. I've got my laptop! Newstead called on Saturday - while I was at drama practice, again - so I decided to call them back quickly before it was too late in the day. I told my mum it was ready for collection, and on their way to RGS my parents picked it up for me from SLS. Tomorrow I'll go and get the carrying bag and Norman Security Suite from the service centre.

Haha, Jaz told me to give it a name, but it feels weird to give a laptop a name, doesn't it? (Bet many others would disagree.) I mean, I guess it'd be easier calling it Lucy or something, rather than constantly referring to it as "my laptop".

I haven't really used the laptop to its full potential yet. I rarely log into the OS because I haven't got the antivirus program yet, and I'm more unwilling to catch viruses on my laptop than my desktop computer. I reckon it'd be more of a hassle to restore a laptop than a desktop computer.

Reviews I've been reading before I got my laptop complain of its poor build quality and how the chassis warps easily in their hands, but it feels rather sturdy to me. The screen flexes a little, but I figure it's because of the thinness. Maybe all the reviewers are like huge burly Americans or something who can snap the laptop easily in two. >_>;;

I wonder what games I'll install on it. P:

Labels: life

12/07/2009 12:44:00 PM

Friday, November 27, 2009

And see, look at this: I've never had any military training so I don't know the correct procedure for these things, but if I saw my buddy run around a corner and get shot, and I saw my next buddy run around the same corner and get shot, I don't think I'd run around that same corner. But I use discretion, you're not allowed to have that in the military.
- Freeman's Mind: Episode 22

Okay, so I haven't quite got my laptop yet - the stock's only coming in around Saturday. After walking around I still settled for the ASUS UL80Vt, probably because I can't be arsed to go around comparing spec-by-spec which is better value for money, and anyway it's got my brother's guarantee of quality so I'm happy with that. My mum's paid the $498 deposit; when I collect the laptop on Saturday I'll pay the remaining $1000 and get my free gifts at the same time. ;D I wonder if I should go around looking for games, too...BUT IT'LL BE BLOODY SATURDAY. Imagine the crowd! And I thought today was suffocating enough. =/

Actually I'm not even sure what I'll need a laptop for at the moment. Long-term, look long-term! When you're busy rushing out an essay last-minute while on the go. Yeah, that's what I need a laptop for.

I've got drama practice on Saturday too, and it'll be like full rehearsal with Berita Harian watching. =/ Rarrgh. Can't wait til it's over. It's fun while it lasts but I do value my free time too. Or not. Drama practice fills up the days until school reopens quite satisfactorily. Up until December 5, anyway.

Labels: life, school

11/27/2009 12:08:00 AM

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Well, in all likelihood I may get a laptop in two days. I went to Sim Lim Square with my mum, my eldest sis and my brother to check out some models and I had decided on two by the time I left SLS.

The main points I was looking out for in a laptop was 1) weight and 2) gaming capability - both of which don't go together so well, because generally the better your laptop the heavier it is. I was initially unwilling to carry a laptop over 2kg, so my brother recommended me the Asus N10, and that was what I was eyeing when I entered SLS.

However once I went around and looked at the various models in the shops I changed my mind. I'd be willing to carry a few extra hundreds of grams if it meant better quality. I thought SLS was a rather shady place, but the shops I popped in had salespeople who were informative and friendly and weren't just there to push you into buying their products. I bet they had a good chat about laptop specifications with my brother - I think most of the time they focused their attentions on him because he was the only one who understood exactly what they were talking about. (When my mum asked the Dell salesperson what the difference was between two models, the salesperson kindly told my mum that he would have to speak to my brother instead because my mum wouldn't understand otherwise.)

See, my brother's the go-to guy in my family concerning computer-related things because he's extremely knowledgeable about them, especially for a 14-year-old. (Previously my father would've been the one saddled with IT-related problems, but now he simply redirects everyone to my brother.) The salesperson at PCDreams was rather impressed by the depth of his knowledge and jokingly offered him a part-time job there.

After looking around the shops I had decided on two models: a Dell Inspiron 14z ($1199) and a Compaq Presario CQ35 ($1299). The Inspiron 14z because of its wide range of colours and its weight, and the CQ35 because of its greater processing speed and fast hard disk speed (7200rpm, rather than the normal 5400rpm), which basically means the laptop and its applications boot up/run faster. We decided not to get any today because we thought it'd be safer to run them through my dad first.

In the end when I got home, my brother showed me a flyer about the new ASUS UL series, and I was immediately taken by the ASUS UL80Vt with its 10-hour battery life and superior performance over the other two choices. (My dad didn't quite care what I got - "It's your own money what!") By this time I had thrown out the Inspiron 14z as an option. The only problem with the UL80Vt was its price, which at $1498 was quite a bit more expensive than the CQ35. I suppose I could live with that, it'd be a pretty good investment. If I decided to get the CQ35 I'd have to get it before Sitex 09, but with the UL80Vt maybe I'd be able to get some pretty good deals at Sitex so I'm going there on Thursday to check it out!

Labels: life

11/25/2009 12:24:00 AM

Monday, November 23, 2009

OK. Updates. The CCA chalet was worth it on the first day, not so worth it on the second day. I should've gone home on the second night. Great. If I'm homesick from only staying away from home for two nights, WHILE I'M STILL IN THE SAME BLOODY COUNTRY, what am I going to do when I travel overseas? And to think one of my dreams is to winter over in Antarctica. That's six months in the freezing wasteland, trapped in the base, and there's absolutely NO SUN at all throughout. I think I'd kill myself. (Which is why they give people a psych test before they let anyone winter over.)

I didn't get to see the Leonids after all. I did set my alarm at 5am so that I'd hopefully get to at least see the shower's peak, but I was too afraid of the dark to get out of bed and my platoonmates sleeping with me wouldn't appreciate me waking them up just because I was scared. >_> If Cheryl was there maybe we could've gone to see the meteors together, but too bad.

I didn't have a good night's sleep either - I kept waking up intermittently at 1am, 2am, 4am, 4.30am, 5am...and from there I didn't go back to sleep. Instead I went online using my phone, to try and find out what the status of the Leonids sightings were. Not too optimistic; a guy at the Changi area saw 20, while those at Chinese Gardens saw what, 2 or 3?

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I had an odd dream in between the periods I was awake. I dreamt I was in my RGS uniform, and all RGS girls went to this underground crypt every night to sleep. The walls were lit by torches, and the floor was constantly covered in huge puddles. Each of us had a hollowed-out platform on which we slept. The first night I simply lay down to sleep. The second night, though, I had lain down upon the stone bed before I decided to explore the crypt a little. The girl across me had already fallen asleep.

I walked towards a partly-flooded passageway. From a distance the water looked shallow. I had walked along the passageway for quite some distance when I realised that the water level was at my waist and steadily rising. I panicked; I couldn't swim. I looked up to see a wire mesh platform and several engineers on it turning a large crank wheel, the kind you see on pipes. I struggled to float in the rising water. The ceiling got nearer and nearer, and I could feel the cold water seeping through my clothes and freezing every inch of my exposed skin. Eventually, just as my head reached the ceiling, the engineers pulled me out. As I stood on the wire mesh platform, looking down at the entirely-flooded passageway, I realised that the crypt was flooded every night while we slept, to ensure that we weren't able to get away.

At this point in time my rational mind took over. How the hell did I survive the previous night, then? Was there a bubble of air in the hollowed-out platforms we slept on? Were the students sleeping down there still alive? No matter. I was still alive, and that was what mattered.

I then found myself in a large building, what I thought to be a train station. I was standing in front of an odd contraption. It was an escalator, but instead of moving steps it consisted of large excavator-style buckets, operated by a Bangladeshi worker wearing a safety hat. The first thing that came to mind was that I was in "some Bangla place". I think I was half-awake then, because I distinctly remember berating myself mentally for being racist. Back in the dream I decided I was in Indonesia. (Oh, like that helped much.)

I got in one of the excavator buckets and descended into the train station. The walls were green, like that of Emerald City, and there were groups of people standing around. In one room the MRT top-up stations lined the walls, and people were queuing up to buy train tickets. I would've done the same had I money, but all I had was my school uniform. There were familiar people around me, but they largely ignored me.

I can't remember if this was part of the dream but I remember being on a above-ground train platform, waiting for the train to come. It felt like the Bishan MRT Station, but way above ground.

And then I suppose I woke up.

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FAM was...fine? I have little to say about it, except that in general it was one big camwhore fest - dinner extra. I would've said it wasn't that worth it to go, had I not won the Brands hamper that basically reimbursed me the cost of my FAM ticket. The only highlights were, well, dinner, and taking pictures, but one does not get so much entertainment from simply taking pictures. =/

Labels: dream, life, school

11/23/2009 12:22:00 AM

Monday, November 16, 2009

I can't believe I'll be turning sixteen soon. In about 24 hours. And in 48 hours I'll probably be on Changi Beach or something, straining my eyes trying to look for meteors. It sounds like a pretty cool birthday present, doesn't it? To have a meteor shower peak around or on your birthday. Apparently it's good conditions for Asian viewers, being the new moon and all...I just hope that the monsoon season doesn't decide to go all cloudy on us, or worse, rain.

*sigh* I kinda don't want the day to come. It feels better knowing that your birthday is coming and you are still young, rather than knowing that it has passed and you are one year older. One year more of expectations. And when my birthday comes I won't even be at home, waking up to my family around me - I'll be waking up (will I even be sleeping?!) at my CCA chalet to my platoonmates around me. Guess it's a first.

I can't imagine staying over at a chalet for two nights. It's one more night I'm away from home. And when I feel sick or when I'm not in a good mood, home always makes me feel better. What do I do if I feel bad on the first night? I wanted to borrow my brother's laptop but he's got a presentation at school and he needs it. I was sorely tempted to go out today and buy a netbook/laptop for that sole reason. (That and it being a present for my birthday, at least.) But I fell asleep instead. Idiot. And I ended up waking up to a bad mood.

Annoyed! I hope the CCA chalet's worth it. I hope the Leonids meteor shower's worth it.

Labels: life, rant

11/16/2009 12:07:00 AM

Sunday, November 15, 2009

The one on the right is my original picture. The one on the left has a funny story. Bei Qing told me, after her Philo/Math/Bio/Art Options, Mr Aldrin Tee was standing in front of the whiteboard talking to Mr Lim Boon Tat, and he said that my drawing was easy, and that anyone could draw that.

YEAH RIGHT, EPIC FAIL, MR TEE.

Later in the day, Mr Ow took a look at the drawing and commented that it was rather morbid, so he erased the rope and the girl's expression and...replaced it with that.

So in retaliation I drew the same scene on my Philo reflections, and I added a pretty rainbow, a bunch of flowers and a couple of butterflies. : D

Isn't Mr Evans so sweet? He's been leaving us short messages on our board all year round. On Valentine's Day he pasted a rose on our board. Before exams he'd wish us luck and everything. 412 will miss you too, Mr Evans.

Labels: random, school

11/15/2009 01:31:00 PM