Another time

Had another full day home. How do you make an unwell kid feel better? Definitely not by feeding her three week old roti-prata. Ok honestly, it could've been only 2 weeks old. Well, if its not the prata, what would help would be the company of her bestest friend in the world and a couple of movies on a cloudy evening. Yep, I had all of that today.
Let me hit the details.
Denise came over in the afternoon after much hesitation (she was lazy to cycle up the slope. But he is anyway and that's what counts). We just lazed around planning our days and talking. And laughing. I hope Denise and I would be friends for eternity and I am for real because I can't imagine a life without this girl. I've known her for more than half my life (11 years) and we've been the closest friends despite being in separate schools for the past 4 years. Ok. Anyway, when she left I proceeded to watch 2 and a quarter movie. A quarter because the first movie I switched on (LOL (2012)) was so bad that I couldn't continue watching.
Found frozen prata in the freezer and heated that up on the pan. That's where my dinner came about. I was lazy to do anything better. O and I ate a pink dragonfruit.
Well, everyday I try to convince myself that tomorrow will be better so I'm telling myself right now, and I'm telling you too, tomorrow will be better. And I have been having better tomorrows since I graduated.
Lol on a side note, received a letter from the school asking for money. Y'know, maybe one day I would actually contribute some green paper to that institution. Some day when my mindset has changed and I start to earn money.
For now I'll try to contribute to those who truly need and deserve support.
O yeah, so I heard that its snowing in New York! I wonder what snow is like. Maybe one day I will touch real snow, I wonder what that would be like. Would definitely lower the temperature heh. ☺⛄❄
Photo for the sake of uploading a photo.

Rainy afternoons

I spent yesterday afternoon lazing around at home. There were dark clouds in the skies and a drizzle had just begun. And the grey clouds weren't angry ones. They were mellow. I really like the colour grey. Not the deep, intimidating grey but the soft, gentle one. Like this.
Anyway, I was actually trying to brainstorm ideas to celebrate my mother's birthday. (Brainstorm durng a storm he he he). And that somehow led me to the shelf full of photo albums from when I was a kid. I even found a photo albums from 1979, when my father my in Secondary 4.
I really did spend a long long time looking through all the photos, with a couple of albums laid out on the floor each time. And these old photos from the late 1970s and 1980s of both my parents made me think. A LOT. Because the 2 people in the photos, my 20-something mother and my father, had no idea that they would be where they are today.
I'm sure my mother didn't see herself NOT in the art industry. There were photos of her standing proudly in front of many of her different artworks. From paint to pencil, some of these works hang silently on the walls in the living room, faded and tired. Yet they had so much life when they were fresh. Fresh and young like my mother was.
Photos of my father included those of him with his small collection of guitars, each very precious to this young man. Each eventually being painfully sold away.
There were many unfamiliar faces in the photos, my parents' old friends and classmates. These people now have almost no significance in my parents' lives. My father didn't even remember any of their names. He referred to one as "this guy sold me my guitar", the other as "the indian guy". No name, no identity.
Now, what if, when I grow up and grow older, I forget. Do you see where I'm getting to? What if life turns out to be something I never dreamed of and all those who meant so much are reduced to vague terms and descriptions. I don't want to forget.

Second Home

Yesterday was a Saturday.
I woke up pretty late. The latest I've woken up this year. 8.44am. Had breakfast and a lot of free time so I cycled over to Farren's house at Hougang Green to collect Econs notes and books. Thank you Farren Tang Qing Xia :_) After lunch, I walked over to Hougang Green instead. To Farren's house again. this time to help her carry bowls of Tau Huey over to Sengkang.
Believe it or not, before yesterday, I hadn't been to Sengkang for a week. That must've been some new record man. And yes I missed that place! (& the people there)
Farren made Tau Huey for all of us and it was really nice. I ate 4 bowls in total... Collected GP notes from Wilson. Thank you Wilson :_) And spent the afternoon reading Newsweek. Tried to do a sketch but I had no inspiration lol. So I just kept reading Newsweek. Went for dinner and almost the entire conversation was just about JC.
I've been receiving A LOT of advice about Junior College and I'm just hoping I'm going to be able to heed all of it. Most of it is concerned warnings about my rough 2 years ahead. & yes I think I'm quite aware of that now but what I fear is that I may think I'm mentally prepared but I'm not. Alright, we'll just see how it goes lah. Go with the flow, I am afraid of Junior College.
On a brighter note, I
This morning went by really quickly. But Sundays always go by too fast. I think it's a weekend thing. Not a very fulfilling day but it was enough to go around.
Skyping with my NCOs now. It's been awhile.

Friday night, Orchard road

Had a pretty good day yesterday.
Spent my morning playing the guitar and flute, received a text from my brother: Stop. So I stopped. Then I watched The Hunger Games. And realised that only those who read the book would fully understand the movie.
Left in the afternoon, heading towards Orchard to attend SC band's performance outside Mandarin Gallery. The bus ride to Bishan was really good because the bus was so empty. Hehe. I proceeded to get lost in both Bishan MRT station and Orchard road. I am cool -_-
SC band did well, it was an enjoyable performance. I played 3 pieces for the second performance. Memories of Friendship, 童话 and something else, I forgot, whoops... Anyway, I had a good time semi-sight-reading on Orchard Road with the rain pouring.
After the performances, Andrea, Marianne, CK, Eunice & I went to A&F to kill time. My first time entering A&F. The music was blasting so loudly, I could hardly have a conversation. Anyway, while we were leaving A&F, the model at the entrance of the store said "Do you want to take a picture". So we were standing around getting ready to take a photo when he said to me "Your friends told me to do this" and his picked me up like a limp animal and the camera flashed just after I managed to pull the angriest expression ever. Yup. Then he put me down and said "Happy Birthday". Yes. Meet WCK. While we were walking into A&F, she hung back for awhile to tell the model that it's "my friend's birthday, could you surprise her later." Wabiang eh. Too much lah WCK. When we left A&F they kept singing happy birthday to me and everyone was just staring. Coolest friends in the world!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 🌎
We went to Holland for dinner. Mk's treat. Dinner that lasted for about 3 hours lol. But it's kind of expected. Makan time = talking time and I think my bandies have a lot to talk about. Thank you, MK, for dinner + ice cream.
By the time I left holland, it was 10.45. Thankfully, my parents picked me up and my mother was hungry so we went to Chomp Chomp for supper since everywhere else was closed.
It was pretty late (on my clock), by the time I went to bed. So I woke up at... 8.25 and I am quite convinced that that is the latest I've risen this year. No more O levels homies 😊😀😄😁

By the way. Do you realise that A&F models get paid for looking good.

Wednesday: Not naming top pupils

Alright, so I scanned through all my blogposts until late 2010 before re-opening my blog and I realised that a couple of posts were actually titled 'Wednesday'. Ok. Fun fact of life lol.

So. If you've read yesterday's papers you would know about the move by the Ministry of Education (MOE) to cease the naming top scorers in national exams. This is good and bad news. Good news for the average students like me and bad news for BRANDS. Hahahaha no more bus stop adverts.

Alright, it isn't exactly good news for me lah. The whole purpose of this step is to convey the message to parents and students and everyone in the world that your academic performance does not determine your life and is not what represents e d u c a t i o n. I think this is great. From a student's point of view, no, from an average student's point of view, I can easily say that currently, the emphasis in schools is on academics. There is really nothing wrong about that, and it IS a very important aspect of going to school. Obviously. But the problem arises when too much emphasis is placed on academic performances. & when a student does not perform impressively, he/she sucks in life. And you're labelled a failure. And that sucks. That feeling sucks.

Those who are against this move feel that by publicizing the names and performances of the impressive high flyers, average kids like myself would be motivated.

(in my opinion) This view is FLAWED.

Why? Simply because I've never in my life been motivated by the success of others. I've been amazed and filled with envy. ("Wah how did she get straight As", "Full marks again?", "Bro, why am I not like her.") Amazed at the fact that a someone my age (or even younger) is so capable. But I'm not motivated. Because it's always the same people who achieve such impressive results. Always the same people who receive all the awards. Always the same people who excel and get recognised. And this is when I start to feel like an ultimate noob. Because I'm never good enough. I'm not as flawless as them. No, friends, this is not inspiring or motivating.
But maybe it's just me.
Eh don't accuse me of not trying hard enough. I've been trying very hard. But my "try very hard" is never hard enough. Y'know what sucks, when you try your best but you don't succeed. Yes, thank you Coldplay.

Alright, this is another opinion of mine.

The article mentioned that most of those who are against MOE's decision are parents and principals.
Let's complete this, shall we.

Parents of TOP STUDENTS and principals of TOP SCHOOLS.
Those who have consistently been receiving recognition for their stunning results. Of course they would like to continue being recognised. Because with recognition comes opportunities, money money money. And we know the world (sadly) revolves around money. Alright, not everyone but most of the world. (What I learnt while studying for O's. Definition of cracking includes the fact that more profits are desirable.)

Of course this opinion is not all true.

Prom

Hello, so most of you would've discovered by now that prom was on Monday evening.
It was held at Chijmes, which is a very pleasant venue, and was definitely key in ensuring a successful prom night.
Well, it seemed that schools all over Singapore had been organising their prom nights throughout this week. So my newsfeed on Facebook has been flooded with prom photos lol. Everyone looks glamorous.
I'm sure it's not only my reaction lah but I honestly get uncomfortable when I see people with layers and layers of make-up. Then I unconsciously giggle because it looks funny. I guess that's a very personal choice- the amount of make-up you want caking your face. I personally feel that prom night is the celebration of the graduating batch, every single individual. And I would like to go as myself. Look like myself. And not be unrecognizable. That's what I believe lah, then again others may feel that prom is an opportunity to look their best, their absolute best, flawless face, flawless skin. The night when no pair of eyes would be deemed too small with the aid of eyeliner. No skin would be acne ridden with the powdering of foundation (right?). No leg too short with the 897283517 inch stilettos. Ha ha ha exaggerating chow.
I'm not saying applying make-up is illegal or wrong, I have absolutely nothing against it. If I did I would be extremely hypocritical because I had eyeliner on during prom. Something I never knew how to use (except for stage make-up). AND I was wearing really high heels (I didn't buy shoes, I just borrowed my mother's.), I'm not gonna deny it, being tall was a cool experience ha ha ha ha ha. But I also learnt that heels are torturous. Lol my feet were dying.
Anyway, I really thought that everyone around me looked really pretty that night. And I'm glad I had a good time with all my friends.
Friends, I will miss you :_)

My DY kids

My bench kids

My band kids

With Prom Queen Josephine

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOVIN

It's Jovin's Sweet Sixteenth today! Happy birthday, girl!

Si An, Jia Qi, Shawna and of course, Jovin, came over this morning to celebrate. Had a pancake breakfast (which I prepared, om nom nom) and a cake from the icing room, which Jia Qi bought. We spent the rest of the morning watching movies.

Anyway, I hope Jovin enjoyed her birthday and the morning/afternoon. If not our plan would've failed hahahaha, ok not really funny. 

There's a thunderstorm going on right now and I'm actually only blogging because I'm waiting for my phone to charge before I leave. Aren't I efficient, forgetting about my dying battery. O yeah, for those who haven't realized, it has bean extremely humid day. Sitting in front of the fan now. Wind blowing through my inexistant mane.

I'm going to visit Rosyth tonight! Not sure what time but tonight. And if you go back to my blog posts about RCB band camps you would know how much I look forward to these annual visits. So many happy familiar faces, I really really hope lianne would be able to make it. And I'm very excited to see everyone again :_)

Alright let's hope my battery percentage has had a significant increase......

Good Day, Martians

HI. Look who's back!!!

Anyway, it's no longer purplecookies.blogspot.com because Denise said it's too complicated lololol. And that she would only read this blog if my url was chowjiahui.blogspot.com but guess what! Some other Chow Jia Hui on this planet is currently using that url. Fun times.
If you haven't realised, I did not actually delete my blog when I said I was removing it. I merely changed the url. And now it's back. In one piece. And I've seemed to have lost my touch with blogging because I'm pretty much speechless right now...
ok let's try again.

The O levels have finally ended about 4 days ago. I've been hearing people go "omg I miss studying." "this is boring" "etc etc" NO THIS IS NOT BORING. FREEDOM IS GREAT. The only thing I miss about studying is the company I had WHILE studying. Seriously, I didn't expect myself to make so many friends. And it hasn't been the longest time but they are pretty good friends because I've been seeing their faces and having their company for about 3 months straight everyday. And I'm glad I had them. Really. They made me look forward to my studying.

Alright, I've really lost my touch to this thing. No joke. Lol. And it's 12AM already! Believe it or not, I took a long time to type this out hahaha. Ok try again tomorrow? Better luck next time!

(I always used to end with a photo so here we go)

Botak Chow, brothers.