A short entry before I go off to sleep.

EXAMS ARE OVER! FINALLY. It seems like we end very late this semester as compared to previous semesters. And the downside to ending late is that I'll lose my motivation to study because it just feels like the exams have been dragging on for far too long. ): I don't think I have anything positive to say about the papers...except that I managed to read more texts this semester? LOL. Hardly any consolation if I can't write shit about them, but oh well, better than nothing. (:

Anyway, yesterday was birthday celebration for XJ, Cher and me. I'm not really sure what to say about it because birthdays no longer feel as special now as say, during secondary school, or even JC. Maybe its got to do with the fact that nobody is celebrating with me on the 25th itself. (Since the girls and I already decided to celebrate together on the 26th when my exams end. And I don't want to waste their time by asking them out for just lunch or something. ) I didn't want to expect anything at all to avoid disappointment, so I didn't even feel the excitement as my birthday was nearing. And when it came, it was really just another ordinary day. With an exam. BUT THANKS TO THOSE WHO WISHED ME HAPPY BIRTHDAY THROUGH SMS, FACEBOOK, MSN ETC. (: Really really appreciate it. Those messages put me a little more into the birthday mood. Its really nice to be remembered, when people you haven't talk to in ages actually send a message, but I think those messages that made my day were those from my close friends. I never doubt that they will remember, but its when they make an effort to compose a message and send it to me that warmed my heart. (: Sort of like, hey we're so close already yet you're still doing this. Not sure if you get what I mean. But I actually felt kind of touched. LOL.

And to my girls, thanks for the presents and the card and the celebration. Especially thanks for the company. That matters more, really. (:

Now I have to catch up on my sleep since I didn't sleep at all last night, and today, I only took a 3 hour nap. Okay bye.

Sometimes, I think we're not thankful enough. We complain too much, we don't say enough thank yous.. (Yes I admit it. My blog is like the best proof of my complaints. HAHAHA.) I don't know, are we taking things for granted?

Like, in the million phone calls that I made everyday, I can safely conclude that more than half would complain about Singtel's service/coverage/plans/offers/promotions. Among that portion, more than half would compare Singtel to Starhub and M1. I understand why they want to compare; of course we all want the best deals. But to put Singtel down as if it is the suckiest provider is a little too much right? Since every provider has its pros and cons? And during those phone calls I can't help but think "Got offer better than nothing right." Then they will start badgering me to give a better offer, to which I can do absolutely nothing about because hello, this is not the marketing team or whatever calling you up, this is a part-timer.

And then yesterday, this lady thanked me profusely when I asked if she would like to take up an offer. I was genuinely and pleasantly surprised. It then struck me that  she seemed to be the only one who sounded as if I was doing her a great favour instead of the other way round, throughout the entire conversation. And unlike some people who act as if offers are a definite given (and question why the offer is so little), this lady was just grateful that Singtel wanted to offer her a promotion. And when I told her for the promotion she cannot terminate her line for 2 years since it's a contract, she was all scandalised that I can even suggest that. "Oh no! Definitely not! Why would I want to terminate my line from Singtel?!" I felt really happy for Singtel at that phone call though I'm not even using Singtel. LOL.

So I should probably be thankful about my job as well (even though pay is like shit and I don't enjoy it) because I did learnt some stuff from this experience afterall. Definitely not something I would want to do again, but at least I've tried it and learnt things.

(I was telling Nat and Belle that I can now add telemarketer to the list of odd jobs that I've done so far: waitressing, admin, recept, sales assistant for a day, sold the $2 tickets for "charity" for a day, roadshows, tuition. LOL.)

Oh and I forgot to update about my results. Mediocre as always. I've always been average at everything, and my results reflected that exactly. A string of Bs and Bpluses. Was quite bummed out actually. 'Cause it seems like I can never break out of my 'B' zone. Then I recalled that I seriously thought I would fail a few modules, especially HL103 (the one that I couldn't write on any quotes given because I didn't study), and I'm grateful for my B. HL105 was a horror too, so I'm happy with my B+ for that too. I guess this is what I deserved for not studying till the very last minute. Okay now for the statement that I say for every sem: I must study hard next semester! LOL. Though whether it really happens or not we shall see. But judging from how I need twice the amount of time people need to study because I tend to dream/stone a little too much when I study, yes I do need to study hard. Hmm seriously, I'm just waiting to see if this will really happen. Haha.

7 more days to go!

This is not to spite all those who haven't finish their exams, but I am genuinely glad that I've finished mine. It was a nightmare, to be honest.
And the rest of the papers...

22nd April, Tuesday- HL205 Victorian Literature and Culture
I guess this paper was okaaaay too. Meaning, I should be able to pass. Hahaha. Meaning also, this was seriously an alright paper as compared to the horrible nightmare that is HL103. But the questions I chose were like, common questions that many people did. I hope my essays don't pale in comparison. *crosses fingers*

23rd April, Wednesday- HL211 Representations of Asia: Film and Fiction
At first, I thought the paper was alright too. I mean, I watched both films that I chose to do on- Shanghai Knights and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. But after getting back my research essay paper, I'm starting to think maybe the paper wasn't as okay as I thought. 'Cause I got the first B of the semester. ): Fine, I'm not exactly getting As (which is saddening) but at least it was a string of B pluses. They beat my B anytime. So..yeah, guess my essays would be quite general/shallow as compared to other people's. Sigh. And somemore I wrote so little for Shanghai Knights. As it was my second essay, I was like...bored already. LOL. I kept glancing at the clock and counting down to the minutes when I'll be free. Tsk.

I am really dreading my results this time, more so than last semester. So much for saying I'll study harder this semester. Hahaha. Guess I shouldn't have said such stuff. Let's just take it one step at a time now. I'll at least try to be more consistent in my readings next semester. And hope for useful tutorials. Hahaha. 'Cause I realise that I had an easier time with Victorian Lit because I rmbred stuff from my tutorials. Yay for my tutor! (:  And needless to say, the paper that was my shittiest was the one that I had really left readings to the last minute. So yes, even if I fail, I know I deserve it. *slaps self*

On a happier note, I finally managed to find S1 Episode 14 of Gossip Girl! LOL I'm such a tv addict. And such a fail at finding things on the internet. Oh well. At least there's _ochre to go to for all tech problems. Hahaha! Accompanied with stuff like, "NOOB." and "Once a noob, always a noob." Okay random.

We went to remove some stuff from hall today after lunch. Preparing to move out from hall. I'm actually quite happy about it. No more worrying whether my things are in hall or at home! And no more lugging stuff back and forth! No more sharing toilets! *big smile*

But I will miss the freedom that I had when I was in hall. The late night movies with Nat the Roomie. The convenience of it when I want to go for lessons or crash after lessons. I guess everything does has its pros and cons. And one more thing, despite being a resident of Hall 13, I will miss Hall 14/15's Japanese food. Very much.

Anyway, many thanks to Nat for being a great Roomie for these past few months. Because I'm generally a noob at many things, Nat has been very nice to tolerate my nonsense and took good care of me. Hahaha. So yup, THANKS NAT PANG. (:

ALL THE BEST TO THOSE WHO STILL HAVE PAPERS!

Oh, before I forget, its my bi-annual job hunt. Happens whenever I have holidays. Whoever got tuition jobs to recommend, TELL ME PLEASE THANKS I WILL LOVE YOU MORRREEE. HAHAHA.

Something else random too. I was genuinely surprised, shocked, appalled, ... (add in your own suitable adjective) because I found out some people actually don't know who is Kenny Sia?! OMG. I told one of them, that's like saying you don't know what is...Wikipedia...? LOL. At least they know Xiaxue. Or I'm really going into shock (no, not the medical condition) right this minute.

The exams so far have been...sucky. And I am saying this with utmost regret. That I didn't start studying earlier. (Damn the essays! LOL. I need to find something to blame, you know. Oops.)

17th April, Thursday- HL105 Singapore Literature and Culture I
-shakes head sadly- What the heck is 'naturalistic' short stories? I concentrated on short stories rather than poems, but damn, I forgot that Uncle Sim will pull this kind of technical shit on us. So I had to do poems, which I didn't really study for, because I'm quite against the Merlion poems that Uncle Sim picked for the syllabus. LOL. How pro was I? Hmm. I came up with my own poem title, that's how pro I was. 'Old House At Ang Siang Hill' became 'The House On Ang Siang Hill'. I crapped like hell for one of my other questions too, I had to discuss irony and humour in 'The Campaign to Confer the Public Star on JBJ'. I felt like I didn't have alot to write, so at the end of the question, I couldn't see much humour in the text anymore.

17th April, Thursday- HS813 Tourism in Singapore: Images, Stories and Trends
I think this paper was fairly okay. The MCQ was not as difficult as I imagined, and I could do the essay questions too. But I didn't do one of the 10 marks short-structured question (there were 3 questions in total). It asked "what were the differences between advocacy view and cautionary view of tourism?" I was like, OMG what the hell is that?! I sat there and tried to crap something, but I realise...I can't. 'Cause I don't even know how I should try to smoke the meaning of that two foreign terms sitting there happily. Turns out, the terms were introduced in the first lecture's notes, which I merely glanced through because it looked like some introductory nonsense. And here comes the best part! Advocacy view is something like advantages, and cautionary view is something like the disadvantages. So yes, they were trying to ask what's the advantages and disadvantages of tourism in a cheem manner, and I didn't answer such a freaking easy question. Someone stab me please.

18th April, Friday- HL103 Survey of English Literature II
Today's paper has been the suckiest piece of shit I've ever written in my first year as NTU E.Lit student. Oh wait, but there's still 2 more papers to go, I shouldn't jinx myself. LOL. But it will take some serious balls on my part to dare to top today's paper. Firstly, there's one section in which we have to identify 4 quotations out of 8, and then write about its significance. Because we have seriously a crazy number of texts to read for this module, my tutor has kindly suggested that if we study 2 texts from each week's lecture, we should be quite safe for the exam. Because I am such a lucky person by nature, only 1 text that I read came out for the quotations, and the rest are those that I decided to skip. Yeah...I think I stepped on some dog shit before I went into the exam hall. So what do I do for the rest? I tried to bullcrap some nonsense about the significance, and conveniently leave out the author and source text that we are supposed to state as well. /: I am so deserving of a F grade for this. 'Cause I don't think the essay question helped much, I was quite general I think. Sigh, I guess I only have myself to blame. If I had started earlier, or like, just skipped texts that I've already read before, I could have done more than just 2 texts from each lecture.

Let's hope my remaining 2 papers will go well. Tonight is practically wasted lah. 'Cause by the time I reached home, settled down, surf the net a bit, watch ANTM...GOOD MORNING! LOL. But okay, I must really finish studying for the rest of the papers. Shall read up a bit before I sleep. (:

My boss has nothing for me to do, so here I am at LJ! (:

I just checked my exam results, omg its the suckiest ever. I feel like the dumbest person alive. Okay, actually it wasn't that bad. I'm quite glad that there were at least no Cs...but no As either! And everyone else did better than me. Sigh.

HL101 Introduction to Literature: B+
HL102 Survey of English Literature: B+ (Wow..I guess Tina and Quigley were generous. I seriously thought my essays sucked the most for this.)
HL104 Ways of Reading, Texts and Contexts: B (Sian.)
HS101 Sociology: B- (Nooo. I think the people who marked my papers didn't like my story-telling. ): )
HT102 Translation: B+
HW101: B+

Considering how I really studied very little and very last min, (even though I looked like I studied alot but I need twice the amount of time than normal people because I tend to stone or daydream half the time) I guess I should thank God that at least I don't have to retake anything. But because I'm quite a kiasu person at heart (a true Singaporean student, I must say), I get quite depressed when EVERYONE around me do better than me, even though I feel happy for them that they did well at the same time. For Sem 2, I must really start studying earlier. And I hope I will do what I say. HAHAHA.

KY's meme a while ago(WHOO comes in handy for times like this when I'm bored!):

Actually I think all of you know these stuff about me already. I am so not...mysterious. ): Oh well at least that passed the time. (OMG Waiting for Godot!! HAHAHA.)

I shall save XY's meme for the next time when I am bored. (:

WHOO HOO! 4 papers down, 1 more to go! (: The sucky thing is that my last paper, HT102 (Translation), starts at 5pm tomorrow. That's like, SIAN. Anyway, I have a bad feeling for the papers that I've done. I really really hope that I can at least pass everything. Let's take a closer look at my papers so far. 

HL101 Introduction to Literature
_ochre and I were a little late for this paper, because the shuttle bus simply refused to come. So when we reached the exam hall, I was a bit kan chiong. I quickly pulled my EZ link card, thinking that it was my matriculation card, out of my wallet and rushed into the hall. After 2 and a half hours of scribbling crap furiously, I took out my EZ link card, still thinking that it was my matriculation card, because we had to write our matric card number on the exam answer booklet. To my horror, there was no matriculation number on it because it wasn't my matric card! I totally grabbed the wrong card! My eyes widened and I even stared at both the front and back of the card, hoping that I'm seeing things. I sat there and panicked for about 1 minute because I couldn't recall my matric card number. LOL. Anyway, my Waiting for Godot essay was utter rubbish. I hope I did okay for my Great Gatsby, and I can't remember how my Persona question went.

HL102 Survey of English Literature I
OH MAN this one is really bad. The first part of the first question required us to translate this old English passage into modern English. I was like, SHIIIT I didn't study that. And guess what. I studied like mad for John Milton's Paradise Lost, but I didn't do the question on Paradise Lost! Instead, I went to do Wife of Bath, which I only read the synopsis. Somebody please slap me for my guts. I don't think my King Lear essay was good enough to save my ass.

HL104 Ways of Reading: Texts and Contexts
The paper was today. I shall not even think about how crappy my essays were. For the last question, we were supposed to use one of the methodologies that we had learned this semester to analyse this particular extract. WA LAO the extract so short, analyse what?? I tried to squeeze blood out of stone and managed to crap like 2 pages? It was the last question, and at 3pm I was too sleepy to think and rush it out. I just kept thinking that its time for an afternoon nap. HAHA. I don't think this paper went well too.

HS101 Person and Society
This paper was done entirely based on my common sense. HAHAH. Yes there are many theories in Sociology, too bad I couldn't use any of them because 1) I didn't have time to study so many theories 2) the questions were seriously calling out to be answered based on common sense. The first question was on the Holocaust, and I couldn't help but recall my J2 history. For another question, one part needed us to define stereotype, prejudice and discrimination and illustrate them. The second part wanted us to discuss how these 3 concepts are related. Hello, repetition much? I had to refrain from answering the second part in my first part's essay. Those 3 concepts are related, its difficult to discuss them on their own man. I shudder to even think about my last question. Don't ask.

After recalling these, all I can say is, I need to work harder and study earlier for the exams in Semester 2. I hope I don't get another lame time-table that resulted in us having to hand in an assignment during the exam week itself. 

I went for dinner with chew_on_itz, jan_esa and _ochre just now! Had a very full dinner at Billy Bombers. I think _ochre was more bloated than any of us. LOL. Anyway it was nice catching up! I'm sure jan_esa missed us alot after not seeing us for 2 weeks! (: Which explains why she seemed constantly out of the situation (状况外), too happy to see us already. Its okay, girl! Calm down!

I have a wedding to attend this Saturday! So exciting. (: I have nothing to wear though. Darn.

I can't wait for the holidays! Even though travel plans have been cancelled. ): I need to find a job. Or should I go back to RCCC in the meantime? I'm just afraid I'll be lazy to look for a job once I go back. I don't mind taking up the Ben & Jerry's job while I look for tuition jobs. It seems fun to scoop ice-cream!
 
On a side note, this morning a song came on my Ipod and these words jumped out at me.
你要相信自己没有奇迹
就会一鼓作气绝不放弃
How true! (: I love the way its phrased.