Glasgow 2014: Table Tennis

This is the one topic I've been wanting to write the whole night.
Previously in the 2012 London Olympics where Team Singapore paddler Feng Tianwei won a bronze in the women's singles and where the entire women's team of Li Jiawei, Wang Yuegu and Feng Tianwei won a silver in the women's team, a huge portion of Singaporeans made complaints about them being foreigners.
Honestly I don't understand what is wrong with having them to play for us. Although they aren't true blue Singaporeans (i.e. born in Singapore), they have stayed here long enough to change their citizenship.
Not just that. Yesterday night during the medal ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, it was impossible to ignore the fact that the players, though not true blue Singaporeans, actually know how to sing Majulah Singapura.
You may be like, aiya majulah singapura only, who don't know? Yes I agree that the whole country may know majulah singapure, and most likely know how to sing it. BUT the question is, do you actually sing it?
Our national players who you deem as foreigners out to snatch our rice bowls, are singing the anthem in a country they may never have been to. And it's not for the cameras. It's to show how much national pride they carry.
Also, if you honestly think our national players are out to compete with us for salaries, how about you fly to such sporting events yourself, and if you can achieve what our players get, I pay you their salary? Are you even able to get past the first match against the best players from other countries? I think not. Unless you are able to show your worth, you are simply nothing compared to them.
That's all I have to say for this.

Junior Colleges vs Polytechnics

I decided maybe I should do this topic because I realised there's quite a bit of biasness against polytechnics.
Last week I had to leave class early for an interview to enter a polytechnic. I told the teacher about it and he was rather surprised I didn't want to go to a junior college. I honestly see no problem with it: after all I have my reasons for not choosing a JC.

Junior Colleges (Advantages)
→ 2 years, so you get to complete your education faster
→ Quite spread out across Singapore so they may be closer to your home
→ Don't really have to fret over what to wear cos uniforms
→ Higher chance of getting into universities (that is, if you did well in A levels)
→ (inserts whatever advantages you think are present)
Junior Colleges (Disadvantages)
→ Hectic
→ 2 years of education means you have to cram all you need to know in 1 and a half years (assuming the remaining half is used for revision for A levels). This is especially challenging and tough for H2 subjects like Geography, Biology, and anything else that is heavy in content.
→ (inserts whatever disadvantages that I can't think of)
All in all, JCs are more suitable for people who are more able to manage their time because it's all so hectic. I do have quite a big issue with that and also with cramming loads and loads of information into my brain.
I recently met up with a friend from Hwa Chong Instituition and I managed to catch a little glimpse of her H2 Biology notes. It was only on the topic of cells but it was already as thick as my pure geography textbook. Geez.
Polytechnics (Advantages)
→ 3 years, so you get to spread out your modules over 2.5 years (the remaining 0.5 is for your final year project) and be a little more relaxed than JCs.
→ Don't necessarily have school everyday
→ LONG SCHOOL HOLIDAYS
→ Wear whatever you want to school
→ Lessons are not simply theory based
→ Don't have to buy a lot of books
→ Internship in year 3 to equip you with skills for the workforce
→ (inserts whatever advantages here)
Polytechnics (Disadvantages)
→ You end up studying 1 more year so your education period is longer
→ School days are really long and tiring (I was told that it starts at 8 or 9am and ends at 6pm)
→ Again the content you have to learn is heavy, but this will vary from course to course.
→ You have to invest in a laptop
→ Polytechnics are located more towards the west and the north (or south), and the only one in the east is Temasek Polytechnic. So if you live in these areas you probably won't have an issue about travelling to school, but if you live at places like Punggol or Sengkang...... It's going to be quite a challenge.
→ You have to fret over what to wear
→ (inserts whatever disadvantages here)
So there you go. Polytechnics are more suited for kinesthetic learners (i.e. people who learn better through practical based lessons and have issues sitting still and paying attention to lessons for more than an hour). I decided I should apply into a polytechnic for the fact that I am a kinesthetic learner and I prefer practicals a lot more to boring theory lessons. JCs are more suited for visual and audio learners (i.e. people who learn best through looking or listening to lessons).
Polytechnics are also for people who already have a clear goal to what jobs they want in the future because it prepares you for that specific job. JCs, on the other hand, are more for people who are still not sure of what they really want to be except for those who want to be in the education industry.
Since I have a goal towards a course, I am a kinesthetic learner and I do have a genuine interest in the course I applied for, I decided to go for it. To the heck with biasness.
That's about all for now.

Eighteen Chefs

Today I went to satisfy my stomach with a trip to Eighteen Chefs at NEX with my friend.
It was the first time I was eating there, so needless to say, I was rather confused on how I should get my food. It appeared that I could choose between baked rice or pasta, then add a topping. Both me and my friend ordered the student's meal, which was really worth. It costs only $5.92 (or something along that line), and it has a cup of homemade ice lemon tea, a main course, and a scoop of ice cream.

The place had a very chill atmosphere, and it was somewhat a getaway from the rat race. Today, the whole restaurant celebrated a diner's birthday. We were asked by the staff to sing a birthday song to him together, and a cake was served to him. It was really wonderful.
The only problem that surfaced during our meal was the serving of the ice cream. After our meal, we were chatting for about 10 minutes when we realised we weren't actually done with our meal. I then requested a staff to serve the ice cream, and we waited for about 5 minutes...... And still nothing.
At that time, another staff walked past. He must have noticed that we were missing something, so he asked if our ice creams could be served. We said yes.
Another 5 minutes passed. Nothing.
Just when the 2 of us were contemplating to leave without the ice creams, the same staff passed. He realised something amiss, so he asked if our ice creams were served yet. We said no, and he went back to the counter.
30 seconds later our ice cream was on the table.
So, eighteen chefs, just curious, why did we have to wait this long for 2 cups of ice cream when a staff showed us that it could be scooped and served in about 30 seconds?
This is nothing against the place (since I did actually enjoy the trip there), but I feel that the service could be improved.
TTFN.

Hiatus

I realised I've been dead for quite a bit of time, so I decided I should get the blogger application and blog on the go because there's close to no time at all for computer.
This year is a critical year; where I will be at in the (near) future will pretty much be dependent on this. Yes, it's the event that graduating Sec 4s have to face: GCE O Levels.
It's not an easy year, facing stress from not only school life and parents, but also social life. This year seems to be the year where my friendship with some of my classmates faces the big test of whether or not we are meant to be friends.
Despite all the crap, I'm partly grateful that this test actually appeared, because it allowed me to see for myself who was by my side when no one else was, making me cherish them even more. To this group of people, thank you for supporting me all this time and I am really grateful to have met you all.
Either way, I hope that I get the results I am aiming for so that I can enter the institute I want. Time to study.

Goodbye.