A day before "Labore" day.

Congratulation to those who actually came.

Muhaimin (mestilah!)
Sean (honourable mention)

Ram (because he didn't come the day before)

Jon (same as Ram)

Hairi

Syahmi (this guy is so random)

Nau (same as Jon)

Syakirin (because he stays at the hostel)

Harpreet (man of the hour)

Alex

Yoges

Jaya (I think he came)

Uhh...

etc...

Sorry about that. My memory is so full of science facts and Malaysian histories that I cannot remember.

Anyway, here's what we did:

1st period: English. Since there wasn't a lot of people in class, a wordplay was in order!

2nd period: 1/2 of Physics. Mr Ng decided to go ahead with teaching. Too bad for those who didn't come.

3rd period: Pameran Kerjaya. Private and government colleges people came by today to promote their schools. Famous ones such as Sunway, Taylor's, UTM and Olympia. And then, there are the less glamourous such as PJCAD. Here are some pictures:

Thinking of our futures.

Some people got a thing for UTM. I, on the other hands, have set my eyes on Sunway and Taylor's.

4th period: Ahh, free period at last.

5th period: 2nd-half of Chemistry.

Spell it out with me -- R-E-C-E-S-S -- what's that spell? Homework! Homework? Yes, recess is the time we catch up on or homework.

6th and 7th period: Maths.

8th period: Malay litreature (read: Komsas)

9th and 10th period: Add Math. Cik Aida is finally back. After 3 days of meeting. She's back! But she was coughing the entire time. I'm concerned.

:L

Good thing tomorrow's a day off.

Darkness envelopes.

Rarely does it rain in the morning. Usually, the liquid drops early in the evening. But I guess today was a very rare day because the beginning of it was wet. And EC gets really dark when it rains.


It just went on like that, without warning.


And the raindrops keep falling on my head...


Even the classroom looks dark. Here's my table. It looks cooler in dimmed light. It's just wrapping paper.


I came early to the bio lab during bio period. Again, it's dark from the inside.


This guy didn't seem to mind. He's used to being alone in the dark.


This is what we learned in bio class today.


When we arrived at the physics lab, there are these Antimos thing lying on the table. It's to repel mosquitoes. And it worked, I guess. Mosquitoes be gone!


And then, the sun came out again and the rain was gone.

In the light, I noticed that the rain wasn't the only thing that was gone.

The Bruises will Remind Me what You did when You were Awake.

and that will be my next article.

3-23-09

What you are about to see is highly classified material.
*Viewer discretion is advised.

DoD (7) 3-23-09
NGTA 901-836

EC DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
PROPERTY OF THE COLLEGE
DO NOT DUPLICATE

DOCUMENT #MYGX-3230-c005
DIGITAL SD CARD
MULTIPLE SIGHTINGS OF CASE DESIGNATE
"SALIENTAFIELD"

CAMERA RETRIEVED AT INCIDENT SITE "EC-558"
AREA FORMERLY KNOWN AS "BIO LAB"

The best the world has yet to offer

*I bet you saw this type of post coming. Now what would a school blog be if it didn't have a post about the best teacher?

Pn Aishah

She's been teaching me English since last year. I know mostly NOTHING about her other than she's the best English teacher I've ever had (other than Mrs Tan, Form 2). She talks a lot and quite loudly too. I went to her house once, last year. And that's pretty much it. She marks my test paper. She gave the scores for my oral tests. Everything I know about English for the last two years I know from her.

But most importantly, I trust her.

I let her read some of the stories I wrote that even my family don't know about. I let her criticize me because I believe in her judgement. She's funny. She's kind. She's sarcastic, some of the time. She's sardonic. She's beautiful and very tall (not sure how that has anything to do with anything at all, but still). And best of all, she's not as moody or as strict or as quickly-pissed-off or as Kathy-Bates-playing-Annie-Wilkes-type-of-obsess (oh, don't tell me you haven't read Misery by Stephen King) as some teachers might be. But the thing is, I never really consider her as the best teacher until quite recently.

Why the sudden realization?

Well, I've taken up quite a few tuition classes this year (read: SPM preparation). I've never gone to any tuition classes before so this would be a first for me.

The teacher at the tuition centre teaches like she's in primary school. Most likely because the students there are so weak in English (they have to memorise the meanings of certain words and such). I've come to be the best in that class. Now, in my class (5C, not the tuition centre), I've always see myself a bit behind of everyone else. Whatever I do is never good enough. My exam scores are never high enough. The stories I wrote are never interesting enough. My oral tests are never right enough. Et cetera.

But then I go back to the tuition centre (every Wednesday may I add), and what I see there is a class of unfortunate people. I feel sorry for them. I feel glad for myself. I thank God for my teachers at school. And then I've come to realize how good a teacher Pn Aishah is.

I may say stupid things during her class, but that's just me trying to be funny.

Nor Aishah bt. Zainal, you have no idea how much I appreciate you.

'Mesyuarat PIBG' and 'Hari Anugerah Cemerlang'; Part II: The real thing.

Previously on 'Mesyuarat PIBG' and 'Hari Anugerah Cemerlang'...

The final result: An empty hall filled with chairs and tables, ready to be used for any meeting or occasion.

And then come the real thing. Today was the Hari Anugerah Cemerlang and Mesyuarat PIBG. I came early, before 8:ooAM, and most of the students and teachers involved came even earlier.

The meeting starts at 8:ooAM and then at around 10:00AM, the VIP, YB Dato' Razali HJ Ibrahim, came and give his word or two and then we proceed with the awards just before the closing ceremony.

As simple as that.

Here's what the hall looks like today. Quite full.


And here are some pictures of us waiting to do our parts; enjoy:


Hadri, Salihin and Azlan fiddling with the drums.


Encik Azmi's turn to fiddle with the drums. Haha. You can tell that we were waiting anxiously.


Salihin showing Hadri some silat moves. Show-off!


Police Cadet; briefing...


...with the juniors as well. Just before the arrival.


Here we go. Everyone, get to your places!


The moment of truth.




First up was the silat. We were so nervous but we kept our minds focused during the performance and we did well, in my opinion.


And then the gamelan boys, today in white Baju Melayu, played their song. They did their thing and did it quite well, too.


As soon as the VIP and teachers sat down, the zapin performance started. The picture is a bit blurry because I have to take it from the back of the hall, but those kids were good.






Opening speeches by the VIP and the Headmaster.


Our happy captain Amirul Hakim after the award ceremony.


And our PJ teacher Encik Fahmi.

And some other people whose picture I've taken but did not post it here because of the lack of time and space; you know who you are. And congratulation to all of the winners.

After that, the VIP left and the parents followed soon after.

The hall was empty again. I left, too, right after I took this picture of a humming bird. I've never seen one up close before.

'Mesyuarat PIBG' and 'Hari Anugerah Cemerlang'; Part I: The rehearsal.

This is a special post reserved for the day before a very special day.

Today was a very busy day. The teachers and students are preparing for a big day tomorrow -- no, it's not the 31st of August yet -- it's the annual Mesyuarat PIBG and also Hari Anugerah Cemerlang.

There were people fixing the speakers, ceiling and doors; students arranging chairs and tables, practicing the kompang, silat, zapin, gamelan and pretty much all the traditional performances known to man; a couple of teachers taking the roles of MC; and Ayahanda Tuan Pengetua himself playing the part of the VIP during the rehearsal. I myself will perform the silat tomorrow with four other students (Hafizudin, Hadri, Salihin and Azlan). And here are some pictures I took while I was on a break during the rehearsal (oh yeah, I forgot to take my own picture, but I was there):





The gamelan.

Hamdan at the drums.

In action.

Kompang

Supervising: Zulsyahmi with Amirul Hakim and Hafizudin in the background.

A lovely Bunga Manggar.


Ayahanda watching the zapin performance, and is probably happy with it, too.

The final result: An empty hall filled with chairs and tables, ready to be used for any meeting or occasion.

It started with a sunny day...

I've decided to apply the one post per day rule. That means if there's nothing significant that happened today, I'd still have to post something. Let's see...

It's just another sunny day today...

But people decided to stay indoor. Why?

Maybe because of the new Nescafe fridge. The coffee must've sold out every day that we received a complimentary fridge. This is the fridge.

And this is the same fridge during recess.

See the diffrence?
Everyone is going gaga over it. Fight for your coffee, boys!

Recess.

Like I said. Going gaga. And I'm sure the mid-year exam pressure has nothing to do with it.

A Passing.

A friend of mine, Shahrul, told me about the passing of a Form 2 student on the 8th of April 2009 because of some faulty medication he took. I don't know the full story. But his name is Syazwan. I never knew him. But knowing the fact that he is a sudent of EC, it felt like I've lost a family member. A member I never knew. I heard he was good at sport. Probably had a whole bright future in front of him.

I would like to give my condolences.
May God bless him.

"We're meant to lose the people we love. How else would we know how important they are to us?"

-Mrs. Maple,

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

It may not seem fair that he had to go at such a very young age. But taking numbers never made sense anyway.

Everything's New.

Life in general - the new routine.
I have this new routine, which is weird actually. Okay, so my sister is gone (and by gone, I meant gone to study elsewhere). She's not home, so I have to do my homeworks and revisions alone. And every Saturday, my family and I will go out (movies, or brunch) because that's the only time my sister is around. And Sundays, we will have to go to Senai Airport. But on the positive side, the airport has a comic shop.


And what's up with all these pamphlets I've been getting about colleges and universities lately? For God's sake, do I really need to make my mind up now?

School - the new hall.
Okay, so every Monday we will be cramped in the hall for assembly, because the astaka is gone and the new hall is under construction (looks like it). Seriously, those workers need to work faster.

I can't believe this used to be the place we would gather on Monday mornings listening to very interesting and worthwhile speeches and singing the national anthem...

It's... It's a construction site!



The Aloha Towers never look so majestic from this point of view. Oh wait, it never will. But what a view it is. Seeing the same thing for the last four years and then -- POOF! -- gone with the wind, or heavy constructional vehicles. Whichever comes first. Not that I'm saying the astaka can be blew away, it's just that... You get the point.

We need a new hall! Now! Or at least immediately. Please... I said the 'p' word. And it's not peanuts.

And to the Drama Club... boy, the thoughts of HSM is swirling inside my head right now... congrats! I saw your rehearsal and thought you guys were actually bad. But that's just my opinion. Doesn't matter, right? You've won!

Tuition - the new kid.
Oh wait, the new kid is me, actually.

New home (sort of). New school (kind of). New life (not really).
So many changes can make my head loose!
And look at the amount of CAFFEINE I've been taking lately...

*sigh*

Changes are unhealthy.