Whom I Met at the Finals

Last Thursday was the Form 3 debate finals.

And it was there I met my old acquaintance: Mike.

Or, to put it fuller, Mike RhoPhoan. Heard of him?

He's also known as Sown M Pleefieyer.

You might have seen him before. He is pathetically thin, literally a stick of a man, and has a round head, which he often covers with some interwoven wire. He seems to have a fetish for black, and is rarely seen wearing a different colour.

If you stand next to him and measure his height compared to yours, his head usually reaches slightly above your chin.

Oh yeah. I almost forgot: he has an irritating habit of repeating whatever is mentioned in front of him. Whatever secrets you have will be publicly announced by him should you accidentally reveal it in his presence. He also enjoys mimicking your voice, but not a 100%. He often adds some booms and crackles into his version of your speech, probably for the plain sake of annoying the hell out of you.

Therefore, you must always keep a tight rein on him, which some people emphasise on by wrapping their hand around his neck. This 'reining' requires some skill, a skill that I have not yet gained. Hence my dismay at seeing him again.

Does my description ring a bell? Just in case it doesn't, I've inserted a picture of him below.



(down)





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(almost there)

HAH!

Recognise him NOW, don't you?

Debate #1

Today was there was the Form 3 inter-class debate.

I, together with Daniel, Shu Wen and Melanie, represented 3 Balau.

Our opponent was 3 Angsana, comprising Andrea, Krystal, Samantha Cheh and Julian(?!).

We (3 Balau) was fortunate enough to be the Opposition team, which means 3 Angsana was the Proposition.

The motion was (in exact words):

Science stream guarantees a better future.

In my opinion, the motion is super biased. It obviously sides the Opposition (notice the use of 'fortunate' when I described our getting the Opposition side).

Debating would be so much easier if you could just tell the teacher (perhaps in language not so crude):

"This motion is the biggest lump of hogwash I have ever heard. Use your brain, please, cikgu. Tell me honestly, do you seriously think Science stream students are assured of a brighter future compared to Arts students? In that case, wouldn't all Science students be multi-millionaires and Arts students their servants? Because what the motion suggests is that Science students WILL succeed in life (it's like writing their destiny or something). This is called a Sweeping Statement. It means it's so general until it doesn't make sense. If it was written "Science stream students usually have a better future", the Opposition would have been facing a bigger challenge.




Wow.

Am I writing too much?

I gotta rest my fingers.

Am I Hexed?

Is it just me? Or is it just luck? Or is the game rigged?

Like a loyal supporter, I've been following the Australian Open, obviously with my favourites. They are Roger Federer and Dinara Safina.

Both who just so conveniently crashed out of the finals.

Making my day, of course.

Safina could have very well been a cement wall placed right in the middle of the court. She lost 6-0; 6-3 to Serena.

What the hell happened in the 1st set???


Moving on to...

Federer.

What a disappointment -- a 7-5; 3-6; 7-6; 3-6; 6-2 lose to Rafael Nadal.

You can't beat Nadal even on hard court? But hard court's your speciality.

I really hope Federer gets a better coach, and pulls up his socks, because I will continue to support him, and I don't want to support a loser.

Plough on, FedEx!

I was watching a tennis match just now. Federer versus Del Potro.

Just in case you don't know, Roger Federer (ex world No. 1) is ranked 2nd in the world, and Juan Martin Del Potro is ranked 10th.

I was worried for Federer (whom I support) since he played shakily during his last match against Tomas Berdych. He had lost the first 2 sets before he pulled his act together and (thankfully) won back the last 3 sets.

Berdych is ranked 22nd; Del Potro, 10th.

If he struggled against Berdych, he'll die against Del Potro. In theory.

Fortunately, he didn't die. Or lose, for that matter. In fact, he won. But first, back to the story...

I was watching the tennis match. After the 1st set, in which Federer comfortably won 6-3, I had to go for dinner.

So, I went for dinner. And rushed back.

I turned on Star Sports.

The match was over.

What the hell. So fast?!

Then, I checked the internet for the results. (Very easily, actually. Just type Australian Open into the Google search box and the latest results appear.)

Well, it did appear. I was shocked.

6-3; 6-0; 6-0.

Wow.

Federer demolished Del Potro when I wasn't looking. How dare he!

I only hope he can dish out the same amount of devastation during the semis.

Against who? I forget. Not that it matters.

Keong Hee Huat Zai!

Just to clarify...

Chinese: Gong Xi Fa Cai
Cantonese: Gung Hei Fatt Choi
Hokkien: Keong Hee Huat Zai

So now, you know.

*****

During this week-long Chinese New Year hols, I (sadly?) won't be involving myself in the money collection business. I also won't get to fine-tune my gambling skills and my mahjongg virtuosity.

That's because I'm quite occupied already.

First off, the inter-class debate is set on the Tuesday after the hols. I interpret this as the school intending us (debaters) to use the holiday for the group discussions. Which most debaters will probably be doing.

Secondly, I am trying my best to enjoy this holiday as much as possible. Quite difficult. I am having a bit of a problem squeezing in tennis matches with my neighbour since the sky has figured that plants needed to be watered in the evenings, and has done so. The court wasn't spared. Sadly.

Talking about tennis, I am desperately following the results of the Australian Open. Since I'm doing this through the newspapers, I only know the results 1 day later. Sad, I know. Anyway, I'd just like to grab this opportunity to express my hope of Federer breaking Sampras' record -- just 2 more Grand Slams to go!

And, of course, I'm away for the bulk of the week. That kinda gets in the way as well.

So, to all readers of this post,

新年快乐

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR.

年年有余
MAY THE YEAR TO COME BE FISHY(???).

It's Terribly Exciting!

All tennis followers should know that...

THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN IS STARTING!

The only problem is...

I don't have Astro.

Meeting The Teachers.

First week of school's finally over. No more yawning and yawning and yawning in the early mornings anymore (hopefully).

And I've met all the subject teachers -- except one.

You see, our Geography teacher has been very conveniently absenting herself from our class. Whenever her period crops up, she'll either abandon our class or send in Pn. Mary Ann, as was the case during her Wednesday class.

And it's all her fault that this following what-I-think-of-my-teachers poll cannot be completed.

Here it goes...

B Malaysia: Pn Azeana. "What?! We get a new teacher? Can she even teach???"
English: Pn Ruth. Hope she lives up to her name.
Chinese: Pn Chen. The best we could've got.
Science: Pn Ong. What else is there to say?
Maths: Pn Tho. Often catch myself trying to stifle a laugh.
Geography: Pn. Chia? Pn Cheah? Who is she?
History: Pn Mary Ann. How lucky am I? Sejarah might even be interesting.
KHB: Pn Heah. Yeah, you all thought she only taught girls. I wish.
Moral: Pn Lee BP. No comment.
Civics: Pn Saik. Nag. Nag. Nag. Other than that, she's alright.
PJK: Encik Siva. "Handball, hockey, sit-ups, hockey, jogging, hockey..."
Art: Pn Latifah. Not Queen Latifah(I wish). Has very slow handwriting.

Well, yeah, that pretty much covers all my subject teachers. Some could be better, but...

Overall: satisfied.

Back to the Status Quo.

Wow.

Just like that, the holidays are nearly over, and school days are back.

Time to unearth the schoolbag and fill it with books; more books this time, since PMR is drawing near. Back to school in new classes with new teachers and a new schedule altogether. Not to mention new classmates.

Sounds fun, doesn't it?

I'm stuck in 3 Balau with a bunch of genii who can probably prattle on in Chinese as well as the Chinese teachers can, with the exception of Puan Lee. Most of my ex-classmates have gone to other classes, many of them my friends. Remember that Sting song?

Wooah~
I'm an alien, I'm a legal alien,
I'm an Englishman in New York.

The words doesn't exactly fit the context, but the idea is there.

I'm free floating in a foreign atmosphere, with only 2 anchors to sanity. Gerald and Daniel.

Another thing the new school days bring which I am less-than-happy about is the early mornings. I've been sleeping at 2 am and waking up at 12 noon. A few days ago I slept at 4 am. With 3 more nights to go, you expect me to adjust my sleeping habits, and wake up at 6.30 in the morning?

Tom Cruise will have a blast with this Mission Impossible.

BURGER MANIA!!!

Here's a cool video I found. It's about burgers. Personally, I prefer Burger King.

Enjoy!

Indonesia Part 2

This is the continuation to my trip in Java. And guess what? This time, it's illustrated.

Okay. Since I didn't upload any pics during the first post, I'll make up for it by posting some now, complete with sarcastic captions.

Just a word: this post can get VERY detached. Hope you can follow. The pictures are arranged according to time taken.

All these are photos of my hotel. Looks good on pixel, eh?

This is at night, when we went out for dinner at Cihampelas Walk.

Pic 1 of Cihampelas Walk.

Pic 2 of Cihampelas Walk (the restaurant's upstairs).

Just in case you don't know, kelinci means rabbit.

Seems as if this big hot steaming lake...

...is causing the mist.

Somehow, I doubt that it's authentic skin.


KELINCI!

Close-up KELINCI!


Aaaaah. Maribaya -- where we lost our wealth. Jokinglah!

Inside Maribaya is... a waterfall!


Leaving Bandung. Going to next town: Pangandaran. Which I'll talk about in later posts.