Aftermath of Jie Ying's Birthday party...

posted by Justin D. Pereira

We went to Jie Ying's Birthday BBQ at Sembawang Park, although the weather was horreandous with thunder and lightning every other second. What a great day to have a bbq :) Well, it was worth it as we caught up with old friends and the stuff like that, although there are cultural differences that could be seen between certain education institutions. Nonetheless, it was still great to see old faces. Although more could have been there...

Below is the flash slideshow of the photos that were taken by my camera ( the samsung ). Take a look.

YAY...its ME!!!

posted by c0mb0

O.O A new addition to tis amelioration...haha thx a lot justin for letting me vent here..haha...my 1st :D... So i include a few of my insights soon...oh btw tis is LEROY TAN!!!! :D

Coach Rudi and Badminton....

posted by Justin D. Pereira

.....sooooooooooo tired. This is the first time that after playing a simple set of 3 games in a match that I am so tired, and not to mention thirsty as well. We (anthony, leroy and me) were playing badminton nicely along and this guy came up to us saying he wants to join in. Only later did we find out that he was a badminton coach....oh my goodness. Haha, we played really well considering he was a soft hitter. Wah, deceptive....

Anyway, today was the last day of exams and it was English Literature. Haha, not too bad la. But still then, there was still failure in paper 4...sobs...Hopefully, I can pass it....sobs again. Hiyah...later going for Jie Ying's BBQ Party so expect photos!

Aftermath of Day 4 of Mid Years ( my chem results are gone.... )

posted by Justin D. Pereira

Chemistry paper today was hell. There simply was NOT ENOUGH TIME. I know I cannot blame the system, its my fault for not working fast enough. But there are so many questions which I left blank. Aaaargh, I had to rush through the paper and do all those that I think I knew. What is happening to me. My love for the subject is turning against me. Why, why, why make the heavens punish me...If I can pass, I am happy.

Still, I must not despair. I am determined to make it to an A Grade. Which I will achieve.

Chinese was still quite cool. I actually enjoyed the paper, although it would have been better if not for my unnecessary rumbling of the stomach. ( I seem to get that a lot....must be due to the pressure of exams..maybe medical condition ?? ) Anyway, I hope to get at least a D for this paper. I cannot afford to do anything else badly, not with Literature on tomorrow. Oh God, help me...

Going to sleep soon...studying for Chemistry and Chinese

posted by Justin D. Pereira

1.00 AM. In the midst of the silent town of Sembawang, a single room amongst the hundreds was still lit. In it, a boy was studying at his desk with no sense of anything going on around him...

Sigh, I am only 3/4 through studying with my Chemistry. Aaargh....wasted too much time on the phone learning how to do Redox. If Redox doesn't come out tomorrow, I will certainly bang my head on the wall ( not literally...duh ). Anyway, Chinese is approaching too, and I still have the texts to read...aaargh.. Keep calm and cool.

Anyway, I think its best if I go to sleep now after doing 40 push-ups for my slacking attitude and wake up early later to read through my texts before going to school. Sigh, all the best then.

Well, the photos below are what I was doing when I stopped my Chemistry revision 15minutes ago. Its the silent aspect of Sembawang, one which you will never see before. I like the peacefulness. You can really study into the night.

My room

The two trophies ( the one on the left is my Outstanding Student Award..made of real crystal..)

Sembawang Primary School, in the dark.

My balcony

Streets. Not a single car.

The primary school again..=)

Photos taken from Samsung-S730

posted by Justin D. Pereira

Mr. Robot of Star Wars ( Droideekas ! ) and some partner ( the one in yellow. )

My beautiful Macbook. See specs at the side of the blog.

Trophies, Trophies and more Trophies..

Inspiration from the sea. That is Destiny ( rhymes doesn't it ?;) )

Same macbook, I love it so much...

To the left : Acer n311 PDA. Quite cool, will do a review of it soon.
~~~

I think these photos are way cool. But you must really take photos with a steady hand or else the images will still be blurry. Nonetheless, I like it. Great camera for a great price @ only $199.

Day 2 and Day 3 of Mid Years are officially over.

posted by Justin D. Pereira

*A big sigh of relief...

Chinese Listening Comprehension and Mathematics are finally over. Not that Chinese LC is much anyway, its only 10 marks ( but if I fail, what a humiliation...lolx) Maths was a killer. Mental pressure tore me apart after the 1 1/2 hour in the 2 1/2 hour paper. I looked at a equation and just stared. What was 38-4? I did not know. My mind blanked out. I used my mental energy for too long....aargh. Overall, I managed to complete about 65% of the paper, and in that percentage I am not very confident of getting all of them correct. Eeeps, I hope I can pass. After this, I am going to buck my maths up, and when I say it, I mean what I say...hmph....

My dad just got a nice cool Samsung Camera from Harvey Norman today. I will post pictures taken with it later as now the batteries are charging. Hehe...finally beautiful camera with 7.2 megapixels and 5.8 optical zoom. Acceptable, and now I CAN TAKE PICTURES without using my webcam all the time.

Mid Years Day 1 Over

posted by Justin D. Pereira

All right, Econs and GP are officialy over!
Economics was slightly challenging, I just hope that I can get a good mark, maybe even pass. Aiyeee, I never apply much Economics concepts, just kept repeating Demand and Supply Theorem over and over again...Well, I aim for at least a B in Econs. If not, I am determined to get my A.

GP was not too bad. One thing for sure is that the entire JC1 in AJC went hysterical over this particular question.

Qn : Find another word in the passage that has the same meaning as 'perfect'.
Ans : Unmarred.

Unbelievable, the whole school went nuts. After exams, practically everybody ( except me-of course ;) ) went around asking the answer to this question. Well, hopefully the answer I gave was correct. How embarrasing if I were to get this wrong. Come on A grade, you are in my reach...

Well, preparing for tomorrow's Chinese Listening Comprehension. Good luck to you guys!

Get Ready, get set....go for Mid Years...

posted by Justin D. Pereira

All right, mid years start tomorrow. Econs first then GP, hopefully I have prepared well for it. Frankly, Economics is not so easy, especially in the later chapters. For some strange reason the notes which I have I simply cannot understand them at all because of their unique sentence structuring. But the moment I go online for "additional resources" by the likes of Google, Yahoo and Wikipedia, I am englightened. Though there are still things which I am still not sure off...sigh...

Topics I have studied so far...

Maths : nearly everything except differentiation, mathematical induction, AP and GP.
Economics : almost everthing...except the topics I am not sure of.

So now is time for me to be strong...just like the pic below.

I tell you, that arm took me half a year to train ( of course with lapses in the middle ), but still I am still not as strong as that freaking brother of mine, Anthony.....aargh..I will post a pic of his biceps when possible...hehe...help me Leroy, Michel and Heng Kai...wakakakkakaka

Angela Aki Sakurairo Piano - Another Great Piano Piece

posted by Justin D. Pereira

I found this while surfing on Youtube and I must say I am impressed by what a keyboard could really do. The plus point is that this piece is simply beautiful where it reaches the hearts of listeners. What do you think ?

So dead tired....

posted by Justin D. Pereira

Well here I am mugging away while its nearly 3am in the morning. Going to sleep soon though. Of course, I chatted with Leroy while I studied ( multi tasking yeah ). But heres my progress so far.

Finished revising :
Mathematics
- Partial Fractions
- Binomial Expansion
- Standard Curves

All the stuff taught to me in the first three months. Rather fruitful I think...hehe..
But the sun is nearly up, so night all. or Good Morning Singapore.

All Right...my 80th post.

posted by Justin D. Pereira

This is the 80th post of the silverzerox | amelioration blog. In a way of celebrating, I am posting a video which I found on Youtube ( http://www.youtube.com : for those who have yet to discover it ).

It's entitled Everytime We Touch remixed by Cascada. A beautiful piano piece and I will learn this song.



Well yup, today I played badminton with Michel ( like finally ), Anthony and Leroy ( as usual ). Though I must say that this badminton game is revealing characteristics of people where I was previously blind to. Sad, sad. Its a sad world we live in.

My mind is totally consumed. All my years in life, I have been counseling others, advising them on the paths to take. However, I need an outlet. Where the counselor counsels others, who is to counsel the counselor. I do not turn to my friends because I cannot falter under another person's power. Blame it on my upbringing, blame it on the ill justice of fate, I simply cannot succumb to others and weaken myself before them. To humble myself I may be able to accomplish, but to let others hold an advantage over me, never. Still, I know I need my friends when I am feeling down, but I do not share my innermost thoughts. What I truly want, what I desire, even I myself I do not know.

Review of Fantastic 4 : Rise of the Silver Surfer.

posted by Justin D. Pereira

Hokay. I myself am not a Fantastic 4 fan but as the movie was free ( i was treated to it due to Anthony's birthday ), I tagged along. Haha.

The plot was short and concise, they kept the length of the movie to an hour and a half. Mighty short I would say, but still decent. There was plenty of actions and cool effects that still wows people. However, in real plot movie wise, it was more of a run-off-the-mill of a great comic adventure. The ending will always be the same, and the antagonists throughout the movie ( Dr. Doom, General Haggard ) were quickly killed off. I personally thought it would be better if the plot was thicker but this it is a comic book movie as I said earlier.

An above average movie, I recommend die hard fans to view it and those with really nothing to do, go check it out, it might spice up your life a little ;)

------------------------------------------------------
Anthony's birthday will be over in about 45 minutes and I must say that the Buffet lunch we had was HEAVY. Anthony, Leroy and Me ate about 61 plates ( $1.90 each ), thats $115.90 worth, but we only paid $48.90. Haha, great deal ? Still, my mouth taste like sushi and I vow not to eat Japanese for the next month. I dread to step on the weighing scale, it should have skyrocketed. Aaaarghh, all your fault Anthony....Haha

Happy Birthday Anthony

posted by Justin D. Pereira

The time now is 1.33 Wednesday 20 June 2007. My little brother anthony is seventeen years old. Hip hip hurrah! Next year can finally go drink beer. Haha. Just joking. Alcohol damages the brain you know...

Will post pictures of his birthday celebration if there are any. So once again, best wishes Ant.
PS. I really hope he will enjoy the Warpath game I bought for him. Hehe, there is a multiplayer demo, so we can all really enjoy a game this time. Haha.

USP PIPER Short Story

posted by Justin D. Pereira

Ok, as I promised I said I would post up the short story which I wrote for the USP – PIPER workshop. The story is below, so feel free to take a look but please, this story is copyrighted and in no part should is be reproduced.

The Contrasting Will of Man
Justin Daniel Pereira
Anderson Junior College
12th June 2007
Total no. of words : 853


"You will not sell our shop to the Chong family!" shrieked Swee Neo as she waved her arms frantically in the air while her face contorted to a twisted face of anger. "Your father had worked so hard to build the shop into a bakery. It's practically a symbol of his entire life, blood and sweat. I simply will not allow any of that family to even take a footstep into our shop." The entire floor of the condominium shuddered under the weight of the tension that erupted from just one person, it had never seen such disgust exude from its mistress before. Receiving the full brunt of the harsh admonition from his beloved mother, Kee Cheng could do nothing but listen to her amiably. Not because he enjoyed it, but it was more of the respect and honour which he was bound to as a filial son to his elders in any traditional Chinese family.

"But mom," reasoned Kee Cheng in a pacifying tone which hinted strongly of his acute business sense, "Chong Lee is willing to offer us $1.2 million for our premises. That is $100 000 more than the Seow's offer. Can't you see the bigger marginal profit which we would get. I know a good deal when I see one Mom. Since I have to focus on my business's expanding operations in Shanghai, this bigger offer is all to our advantage!" Within himself, Kee Cheng suppressed the burning righteousness that he could just sell the shop as and when he wanted since it was willed to him after his father's passing. He only consulted his mother as he believed it was right, after all the shop once housed the family's bakery where his parents toiled their hands in the dough all day to bring him up. His accomplishments today would be nothing without their hard work, and since only his mother was left, he felt he had to ask her. Kee Cheng studied his mother's face for what she would say next but then he noticed that the aged lines on his mom crinkled even more. Suddenly, she looked old, worn out and tired. It seemed only yesterday when he was out in the garden playing with her and she was nothing but a resemblance of the springtime of youth.

"So what if we get more money by selling to those cockroaches! They are nothing but mere pests. I don't mind getting less as long as our property is kept within the circles of our society, our distinguishable class!" Swee Neo stood up, adjusted herself, and with a swift graceful movement stood in front of the window while looking out of their 17th floor high rise condominium facing the lit giants of the darkening city. "For our whole life, that family," she crinkled her nose and sniffed at the sheer thought, "has been stealing our customers, our ideas of baking, just to drum up their sales. We started the bakery first, not them. Theirs was just a small bread shop. There's no respect there. I tell you. No respect! I even hear from Mrs. Chen that they want our shop just so that they can monopolize the neighbourhood business. How low can cockroaches stoop?"

"Mom...it's just business..." the strength in Kee Cheng's voice started to falter and his mind was still estranged between the ethics of business and the duties of a son. "Can't you even reason yourself out and not listen to the daily gossip from the aunties in the market? Please mom, I love you, just listen to me this time. I know I am making the right decision." His vision started to grow cloudy and all he could see of his mother was a distinct blur of a lady against a shadow of emerging darkness. His cheeks grew wet as he ran his hands through his hair, grasping two fistfuls of it tightly.

Swee Neo turned around and stared at her son in horror, her eyes wide open with bewilderment and disbelief. Her very own son had accused her. She was placing her best efforts in helping him, but all he could do was accuse her of being a gossip who makes the wrong decisions and in no way a help to him. Still, she mustered in herself the strength that her own parents had imbued her with, and with a simple curt tone like those of the Empress Dowager to the Emperor, said, "I will say no more. It's either you obey my will like what a filial son would do, or simply get out of my house and run amok in the streets to be a vagrant who is devoid of the simple knowledge of piety and indulge only in the sheer gluttonous of insect money."

Outside the windows, dark clouds loomed through the black sky. A sudden flash of lightning and thunder erupted, masking the cityscape in a blanket of light and then darkness dotted with yellow. Without warning, the thunderous beats of drums could be heard throughout the city drowning what was a distinct man's cry of helplessness into an endless pit.

Site Update - New Blog Interface

posted by Justin D. Pereira

Ok. I have now a new site for the blog after feedback from some viewers. Nothing much I would say, but still, it is a more refreshing look then my previous one. One thing for sure is to expect fresher and newer content for this blog. More reviews, photos and rants are coming your way!

I am including a new feature called "slideshow" to the site. It's a simple flash movie from Picasa Photo Album that groups my photos uploaded into the online folder. Here is one below, and expect more coming your way!

Once again…I succumbed to temptation

posted by Justin D. Pereira

Yes, I ate McDonalds. Aaaargh..600 calories, though it was a students' chicken mcnugget meal. =)

Childish, simple and yet still about the amount of calories for an average meal, but its still McDonalds..sob sob.

Anyway, I was there discussing about the secret End Of Year Leadership Camp for ( not supposed to say…hehe ) with Leroy and Anthony. We were playing badminton with Heng Kai before then and the weather was fine, everything was good. Yeah. Smashed three or four times, I had a great day today.

…until we saw Jie Ying and Evangeline.

Just joking. Haha. Great to see them again, although all we did was chatted nonsense and briefed them slightly about the EOY camp. Haha, hope its implemented.

The Pink Slip has arrived…

posted by Justin D. Pereira

The letter came, with the MINDEF Logo stamped at the top. I knew what it was, it was time to register for NS. It all seems so fast. I remember when I completed my PSLE, I told myself that I had 6 more years, it was a long time. But now, only 1 ½ years are left! Gracious. Thank goodness I am going for my As, so I still have some more preparatory time. Sigh….Still, it is my duty to serve the country and hopefully I can serve it well.

Aaargh...stupid 440 calories

posted by Justin D. Pereira

Guess what, I was walking in Fairprice when suddenly my legs drew me towards the snack section. I already told myself I was going to cook up a healthy lunch, one full of vegetables. The commitment was within me, but then my arms reached out for 1 bag of potato chips, worth a freaking 440 calories. Damn it, I gave in to temptations, and now I have to live with guilt for the rest of the day! Aaaargh..............

PW Meeting @ Red Cross Singapore...

posted by Justin D. Pereira

Yups, we went all the way to Red Cross to garner an interview and with the hope to even get a few first hand information about Dunant himself. But noooooo....we were not prepared..haha...went all the way there but they told us we needed to inform them in advance. So no choice but had to leave as they did not even have any primary or secondary sources ( apart from the internet ) about information of Dunant. Of course we did not leave and disband just like that. Off we trooped to Plaza Singapore ( Singapure ) for our meeting at Burger King. Very informative meeting I would say, with us discussing virtually about music and shopping as some of us ate. Haha, damn efficient.

Anyway, at least we managed to take a group photo. Check it out!

NUS USP-PIPER Creative Writing Workshop Day 1

posted by Justin D. Pereira

Today is day one of the USP-PIPER Creative Writing Workshop which I signed up for at a lovely price of $50.00 . Haha, it was quite an interesting day because of the various presentations by the two lecturers, Max and Meghan ( double Ms ). We started with Poetry Appreciation today, and I must say that it is my first time even writing out a poem. Here's my poem below entitled "Time It's Time" Read through it and perhaps tag me about how you feel about it. We were given a range of nouns, verbs and adjectives to use, so the poem may not make sense but I tried my very best to put in a message as much as possible. Boy, is it time for you guys to read it!

 

Time It's Time

Justin Daniel Pereira

 

The wavering time

Is like a curving belief

Often blocked by rocks

And even sometimes a dog

Although when it is cool

It could be a frog.

 

Time itself does not bite

Or even try to cut your throat.

However, we are still surprised

When time itself stares at us

In our hot blue and also

Cool red eye

 

So now we say but mostly shout

I wish I had more time

Lest I throw this soft pie of mud

Straight into the clouds

The frog has hopped, the dog is dead

All is left is time waving.

 

 

After all that fun, homework was given and guess what? It's my favourite type of homework. Writing Stories.

Yes, the task is to come up with a short story on the internal conflict of a character who is struggling to go or not to go against his very morals and values. Though the word limit is a bit dismal at only 600 words max, I must say that this will be an exciting story coming right up! Hope to post it up soon by next week Tuesday at least. So till then guys.

PC Show 2007 @ Suntec City

posted by Justin D. Pereira

I just finished walking through the entire hall of the PC Show 2007 @ Suntec City. One thing I can say for sure that it is very big with lots of people. Even more than the past IT Shows I've been to. There were many things on display. Lots of discounts for cameras, laptops computer peripheral and others! Imagine seeing a 1 GB SD Card going for only $12.00 or even hearing announcements blaring of MP3 Players at only $30.00 . It was sure a mess. Haha.

After that I went for a meal at the Food Republic Centre down right at the Atrium. It was sure a new display for a kopitiam ( food centre ) with its façade of a library. There were real books on display and I imagine you could just take one a read while you enjoy your meal. If you could even enjoy your meal with all those sharp glaring eyes staring at you to quickly finish your meal as they want the seat. Now, while I am typing this blog post, I am slowly enjoying a cuppa Hot chocolate with Marshmallows at Gloria Jean's Coffee down at the MarketPlace. Its so relaxing with That CD Shop pounding away tracks for you to listen. Quite a nice spot to do a little typing, reading and eating. Hope to get back home soon.

posted by Justin D. Pereira

ABCamp is finally over and now PW Research is on the way!

posted by Justin D. Pereira

Thank god ABCamp is finally over, although I must say that the regimental nature which I believed it should have was not there. Must be because I have been to stricter camps than this before. So anyway, still managed to get through the entire camp. Have to thank the team still, because without you guys, the fun and team spirit of this training would not have been there. So here are the names of Chinook, Group 4!

1. Zhi Ying
   
2. Zhi Shu
   
3. Yuan Qiu
   
4. Rui Boon
   
5. Diana
   
6. Josiah
   
7. Wei Lun
   
8. Nive
   
9. Aisyah
   
10. Magdalene
    
11. Jazzy
    
12. Wendy
    
13. Me.
    

Of course my thanks also go out to my Group Instructors whose constant reflections with us made us improve in the ways of being a leader. I must say that I have learnt a lot from this camp and sincerely the skills I learnt will be implemented in my daily lives and in the camp which I am working on now for the end of the year for Sembawang Secondary. =)

GIs

1. Pei Jin
   
2. Rama
   
3. Yi Jiet
   
4. Edmund
   

Not too bad that after the arduous land expedition from AJC all the way to Bedok Jetty ( we were the first in 5 hours and 10 minutes! ) and with numerous blisters and sores on my feet, I am now walking and standing about! So much so that on the 1^st of june, today, I made it all the way back to school for a 3 hour long maths lecture. Thank goodness the lecturer was kind to let us off early after teaching! Now, I am in the Lee Kong Chian Reference Library at the National Library ( the one in Bugis ), blogging away. My Project Work's group's research is done for the day and the rest of the gang are off printing pages of resources.

Can't say that I can do much this week as Leroy is off to some God-forsaken country for a holiday and Anthony is just about to return from OBS ( Outward Bound School ). Heng Kai is still having his lessons in Poly, Michel I have lost contact with ( please contact me…. ) So what was once the power of five brothers has now withered down to a mere few as everyone is so busy nowadays. Me too, as after this June Holidays is the Block test of Mid Year Examinations! Yipee…. >( Haha ) So, hopefully, I can get on with the knack of studying after this. Later all!