In order to make this more interesting, I have moved to: http://www.lighthouseonarock.blogspot.com/ . There contains posts only on interesting things that happen in my life and not day-to-day living which would be rather boring. Do check it out and visit.

My aunt and uncle invited my family to have brunch buffet at the American Club, Singapore. We went there about 11am, before the crowd came. Had to skip my sunday meetingat church as a result because the timings clashed.  I had a very nice brunch there. Had american food, carrot juice, peking duck wrapped in crepe, minestrone soup, raw fish (japanese stuff) and other stuff like ice-cream on waffle; just to name a few. Everyone was so full that we swore that dinner that night was not needed!

After brunch which ended about 2pm, we went home and rested. Decided to have a simple meal of pork porridge outside for dinner.

After returning back from dinner I started to pack my bag for my 4D3N church Altar Server's camp which begins tomorrow. Easy to pack but I was busy watching "Sleepy Hollow" on television. Slept at 1am+.

Really excited about going for this year end camp. The camp at the end of the year is a "fun"camp and not a "spiritual" camp. We would be having an outing and a barbecue on the 3rd night!

Nothing much done today.

Woke up this morning to see the road all wet and breathed in the freshness of a shower long gone. Rained during the night I suppose.

Decided to go fishing today. Lost my reel (but not my rod) when I shifted house. But still decided to go as I had a plastic reel (the tpe for catching crabs) and went to Lower Peirce Reservoir fishing ground to try my luck at 7am.

Met and old man who gave me some tips, like to cast sideways to catch little fish etc. Apparently he caught 4 fish already, or so he claims. Most anglers there practice "catch and release", where they do not keep the fish tey catch, regardless of size, so as to allow the fish to "fight another day".

Stayed there stupidly until 12pm. Still no fish. Decided to go for lunch at the nearby hawker centre. Had some pig's organ soup thingy and a glass of refreshing drink. Made a huge mistake by deciding to go to Upper Peirce Reservoir to fish. Walked for god-knows-how-long, I guess maybe 45 mins, while wearing sandals and carrying the ice box, heavy plastic reel and fishing rod. Needless to say it was a tiring walk; blister formed of course. Upon reaching there I was shocked to find out that there was no fishing ground there. Stupidly walked all the way, I grumbled to myself. Decided to take a short nap at the shelter while admiring the serene water and scenery. Decided to head back to Lower Peirce Reservoir to try my luck for the last time before heading home.

While walking the looooong distance back to LP I was hoping that a motorist might stop and give me a lift. That did not happen of course. ... Finally pushed myself on and set up everything.

Some fish were biting. Got a really large bite but I pulled in the line too fast. Probably scared the hungy/greedy bugger off. Saw many kids and their parents catching yabbies and fish. Didn't see any but they could catch. Saw a large black fish in the water but....just then this !@#$ group of kids ran past me screaming with a fish in their net. Right in front of me (offending all angler's rules) and right over the rocks where I saw the black fish. In a flash it was gone. Never mind....  Packed up at 7 when the sun was almost set and waited for my father to pick me.

Althogh I did not catch anything I practiced casting and other fishing stuff. Still and experience you would say; fishing by myself. Went home all sore with both back and feet (calves and thighs and soles) aching. Not to mention a nice reddish-brown sunburn from the afternoon and late morning sun.

Went for breakfast today with my family. Ate "roti prata", which was an indian dish - fried thin dough. Went to the nearby reservoir to take in the beautiful scenery and had a good trek through Lower Peirce reservoir. Nice to be in the middle of a rainforest yet a few minutes beside the main road. Went for meeting at church after rushing home to take a quick bath. We're having Christmas mass practice next week.

Had lunch after that and from then it was a "lazy sunday"....

Got up early this morning. Did nothing much for the morning/afternoon except reading the book "Scimitar SL-2" by Patrick Robinson. I got this at a book fare on the 8th of august 05 for S$6. This large version normally sells for 30+. Had a bath before going to church to serve mass. Had a good dinner at a chinese restaurant that night before heading to the supermarket to do some grocery shopping.

Today we celebrate our 100th visitor!  Thank you all for coming back and reading, and also for those who have come to my journal in search of platy/platy fry pictures. Do come again!

Woke up late this morning at 10+ cause I watched "Meet the Fockers" until 1 this morning. Had breakfast and used to computer again...

Went to church to serve mass. My first mass since I took leave 6 months ago. Still proud of myself. Could remember everything like yesterday.

Went for a nice dinner at a hawker centre. Ate satay, mee pok (spicy yellow noodles with chilli and fishballs), sugarcane juice.

Back to playing computer again. Decided to watch an interesting Hong Kong movie on tv at 10.30... Watched that movie till 2am. Very interesting show with guns, assasins, mafias and police. Good plot but a lousy ending though.

Went back to school today to collect the "Form A"; in it contains the user name and password that all sec 4s will need to apply online to choose which JC (junior college) that they wish to go to. Had a briefing by the vice-principal and collected all the stuff with information booklets. Application starts online from tomorrow to saturday. Hope that I can go to the JC that I applied for.

Decided to go out with my friends to buy some PC games. Went to a shop, bought 2 games, went back home and tried to install and play but was disgusted that both did not work. Probably going back to the shop on friday to change the games.

Did nothing much today. Played the Halo demo multiplayer online for the whole day.

Today's weather was the best. It rained the whole day, really from morning to night. This kept the home cool for once and was a rare time where it was this cold in Singapore. The temperature never reached above 29 degrees celsius today.

Oh boy oh boy! What is this animal world coming to? My father went to the reservoir this morning to pick up a few hydrillas (water plant) from there to provide some colour and oxygen to the water feature, and also some snails to eat up the algae/mould that is growing inside the water feature. He cleaned the entire thing up and put in new water.

4 hours later I looked inside the water feature and saw a (now familiar) little orange long thing darting around the water feature then coming to rest on one of the pumps. Immediately scooped the little Platy fry out before it got eaten. Scanned the entire water feature before lifting up a few lava rocks (shaped like bricks) and saw a few more platy fries darting around. Scooped all of them out. 4 in total.  So.....

Total number of ever known platy fries: 18 fries.

Note: These pictures are better than the previous post on platies because I found out how to use the "macro" feature on the camera correctly.

Here is a picture of the new-born 4 platy fries...(in a container seperated from the previous batch of 14)

Here is a picture of the previous batch ( 1 week old) platy fries. 14 in container with 1 not in camera view. THEY HAVE GROWN ABOUT 1mm.

So that's all for the fishies update. For information about the birth of the previous batch of  14 platy fries copy and go this URL: http://web_hosting.bravejournal.com/entry/12974

Ever since June this year, I took leave from the group of altar servers in my church till the end of the year so as to concentrate on my studies. Now that all is over, I finally returned today to attend the weekly meeting. Got some cute comments like "Eh, you're still alive ah?"... Anyway enjoyed myself and felt glad that many servers still stayed on in our group.

Had lunch and went back to using the computer and my GPS. Did nothing much for the rest of the day though.

Though I slept at 1 last night I couldn't sleep through the day. Woke up around 7+, caused was used to waking up at 6.40am to get to school on time for my exams. Decided to go to Sim Lim Square to buy my GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver. Took the train down and walked 500m to it. Saw many caucasians(about 30 today) buying cameras and testing stuff. Finally found the shop and went to enquire. Got quite a good deal: S$100 off the price tag! Went home, downloaded the maps from malsingmaps.com and had a good time fiddling with the device. Got about 10m accuracy that day, quite a good result.

Here are a few pictures....

A picture of the Garmin GPSMAP 60C...

Here are 2 pictures from the manufacturer's website (Garmin) on the unit that I purchased:

Overall very, very happy with my buy. Got what I paid for. And some more the unit was smaller, lighter, and less bulkier than I expected. Took a walk around my estate and got the best 7m accuracy.

Got wishes and congratulations from the guys at the forum at malsingmaps.com...

About GPS satellite navigation: There are 24 GPS satellites obiting the Earth, with at least 4-6 satellites hovering from one end of your horizon to the other(I normally get 9 though). The 3 satellites calculate your position on the earth in terms of latitude and longitude. The 4th satellite provides your altitide. Your GPS receiver receives the data and shows it on a screen.

How GPS works: http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/gps.htm OR http://www.trimble.com/gps/

A GPS receiver can be used to mark a point, then allows you to track wherever you want and return to the point by telling the GPS to "track back"'. For more information about GPS, see this: http://www.garmin.com/

And btw for those who want to know why the heck I bought this and what a GPS receiver can be used for, check out this link on some funny(but true) ideas for using GPS: http://www.gpsinformation.org/dale/usegps.htm

Woo Hoo! Finally got through and finished the last 3 papers for this big exam- History, Chemistry MCQ, Chemistry structured!

You should have seen the exam hall the moment the teacher said " You can go now." Everyone jumped up, cheered, screamed like girls (err...boys screaming??), and threw the crumpled balls of rough paper that we used during the exam. Everyone ran out; one of my friends brought a bottle of champange and shook and opened it. Another ripped apart the Chemistry textbook and threw the shreds into the air! Some parents and girls that were waiting opposite the exam hall could not help but smile. FINALLY THE EXAM IS OVER!  Cycled home faster than normal and almost knocked down my neighbour who was cycling in the opposite direction.  Could not stop myself from smiling. Only stopped smiling the next day. Such exhileration can do crazy things. Something that I wil remember for life I guess. Planning to play computer games (probably the Halo demo multiplayer) till the wee hours of the morning.

Had my second Additional Mathematics paper today. It was much easier than the 1st. Because whatever that did not come out in the first paper would come out in the second. Crossing fingers and hoping for the best.

Saw a white motionless form at the bottom of the small pail that houses the 15 (now 14) platy fish fries. Scooped it out and discovered it was dead. ... Infant mortality rate for fish fries are quite high. Hope the others survive though..

Had 3 papers today- Geography MCQ and Physics MCQ and Physics structured. All were ok. Not very difficult. Just that Cambridge played us out again. You wouldn't believe that nothing came out for the topics on "light", ''moments'' and ''speed'' for Physics structured. Ended late about 5.30pm. Rained from that time onwards...Cycled home with my poncho. My pants got wet though. Had tuition at night.

Btw thanks Stephanie for posting a tag!

Last night while feeding the fishes I switched off the pump. Noticed something small moving near a lava stone(brick size and shape). To my surprise it was a fry! Only about 1/2 a cm, or 1/4 of an inch, this small thing was swimming among the much bigger platy fish that were 10 times its size. Obviously oblivious to the threat that it could be eaten up. Quickly filling a small bucket with water, my father and I scooped this small fry out. Saw a few more fries and scopped them out. Lifted a rock and discovered a few hiding underneath. Some others were hiding under the pump and aquarium lights... In all last night caught about 10 platy fries- probably the product of one of the fat pregnant platy fish that have been swimming around.

This morning however I noticed a few more and too and took them out.

Total number of platy fries: 15   

Here are few pictures:

The bucket full of 15 platy fries (14 with one swimming on the other side):                                

A platy fry close up (This one's bright orange):

Some of them from the side view ( They really are that tiny!) The torchlight was dimmed by the camera settings:

That's about the fishes. Hope you like the pictures. A bit blur though. My Additional Mathematics paper today was a disaster. Needless to say I found the paper difficult. But never mind. Just do your best, God will do the rest! Had a nice dinner of roasted chicken (Different from the other day's), a fat sausage, rice, cauliflowers and grilled fish with lemon. Fed the fish and the fry (pounded food). Went upstairs to study for my Geography MCQ tomorrow. And physics too. Hope that Geog will be easy since most questions are repeated.

Did not have any papers to sit for again. Could stay at home the whole day to mug. .... Have Additional Mathematics paper tomorrow (this one has binomial expansions, logarithms, trigonometry, sets, vectors, etc etc) and have to do a few of the past few papers to get the feel of the exam.I think I'll do the November/December 02 Paper tonight.

Had Mos burger for lunch (Beef with vegetables wrapped in a rice bun instead of the usual bread). Delicious. . Was very tired and sleepy; didn't feel like studying anymore so I decided to take a short nap without the alarm clock. Big mistake. I wasted 3 hours on that "short nap". Anyway still got up, took a bath and studied Physics (Nuclear physics this time) before having dinner (Blended pumpkin, minced pork, rice, vegetables) 

After dinner I fed the fish again. There certainly were hungry today! All swapmed around the micro pellets and finished everything within 2 minutes. The 2 Goldfishes were the greediest, swallowing 6 to 7 pellets at a go.

Planning to do the November 2002 Additional Maths paper for 2 hours, then mark it followed by some Geography MCQs (that exam is coming up too) before going to sleep.

4 more days to the end of the O level examinations!

Btw thanks Aidan, Jadwin and Megan for dropping a tag on the tag board. In response to what you said Megan, this National examination looks difficult on the surface but it is way, way easier than my school's exams! Thanks also for your encouragement and wishes of good luck. Keep those coming in guys; I'm gonna need lots of it.

Woke up early this morning to go for science tuition at 8.45am. Today would be my last day of tuition with my science tuition teacher as my science O level exam is next week.

After tuition came back and had lunch. Lunch consisted of bought duck wings and porridge. Had a full lunch there. After lunch its back to studying. Studied Chemistry. Organic Chemistry (Alkane, Alkenes, Alcohols, Carboxylic acids) , Marcromolecules, etc etc. Studied for a incredible 4 hours before having dinner: Asparagus(), Scallop soup with lotus root, Salmon cooked in cheese. Fed the fish after dinner and went back to studying. Again. This time studied History. Quite interesting learning about the history of China; the power struggles, the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution, Chairman Mao and other stuff.

Its 5 more days to the end of my O level examinations. Can't wait!

Was so tired last night that I fell asleep at 9.30pm....

Woke up at 7 this morning. Was disgusted to learn about the bombings in the Middle East. Apparently some people do not have better things to do thatn to blow themselves up, thinking that they would go to heaven for killing people. Nuts I would say. And it's kind of silly you know, killing people of their own religion. What's sillier is that they can even claim responsibility for the bombings right after the attack. It's a classic example of dumber than dumber. Don't they realize that they would lose the support of the minority of the people there who might support Al Queda initially but because their families were killed in the bombing, now hate them. Splashed across half a page of the newspaper showed many Jodanians chanting anti-Al Queda slogans.

I bet many of Osama's subordinates must be sarcastically applauding him or given him a pat on the back.  "Well done! Now we have lost even more support."

Oh well. That's what I think of them. However if you find this post offensive sing out in the tag board and I'll not hesitate to remove it.

I went to church in the evening at 5.30pm, followed by Novena and had a hearty dinner of chinese food outside and studied Physics (this time on introductory electronics which has logic gates, LDRs, LEDs and Cathode Ray Oscilloscope) when I got back. Studied till 12.30am before sleeping.

Sat for Mathematics paper 2 today. Another managable paper.  Very happy that one of the questions that I went through while having maths tuition yesterday came out. It's 11 out of 80 marks for the paper!

Many of my classmates found the paper ok too. Seems like O level exams are going well for us. For the time being, that is. Hope it remains this way till the end...

Had lunch and studied a little. Earned a bit more money today. After studying, I had dinner, which was home-cooked roast chicken and potato soup. Fed the fish, studied again and slept. What a boring life. . But the exams are soon to be over though.

I sat for the Geography paper 2 today. This was a essay question type where I had to chose at least 1 topic from each Physical and Human Geography and do at least 4 questions. Glad that I finished the paper on time. But I did a question that I did not study for - which was mainly on the use of alternative sources of energy. The questions were as usual simple to answer. Hope to score well here.

Went for tuition in the afternoon at 11am in preparation for my Mathematics Paper 2 tomorrow.

Today I made my FIRST ever dollar, from bravenet (you don't want to know how)  through bravenet's affiliate service. A dollar is still a dollar; and its US currency! At 16 if you make some money for yourself its quite an achievement you see. Made a total of ten bucks today in US dollars. Quite proud of myself.

Had my english examination today. Paper 1 which consisted of situational writing(letter writing from a given topic) and a composition did not really suit what I had prepared. ... Composition did not come out a topic that suited my storyline as I had prepared. And for Situational writing it came out asking one to write a speech, not a letter. Paper 2 which was comprehension and summary writing was ok. The passages and questions were quite straight-forward and easy to answer. Hope to do well for english.

Praying very hard that the Brits back at Cambridge University who are marking my scripts are kind and lenient.

Btw thanks Sara and Nathalie for visiting my blog! My first 2 visitors. Your tag certainly made my day!

My father bought 20 platy fish from the wet market this morning for our water feature. This is in addition to the 2 small cute goldfish that are already inside. Had a fun time getting to water conditioned by adding de-chlorinisers and blue aquarium salts.The platies look like the picture below. All were scared and went into hiding but eventually swam around later.                              

Did not have any papers today, so I stayed at home to study for my English paper tomorrow but more for Geography on Wednesday. Can't really study for English but can for Geog. For english I tried to learn and memorize words like "alpenglow, loped, prognathous, acrid," and other good phrases to use in my composition tomorrow. Praying hard that I will get a chance to use the storyline adapted from here: http://www.outdoorlife.com/outdoor/adventure/article/0,19912,1117013,00.html  Its a really good story on a man who met a bear while hunting, fought with it, and lived, while the bear died. Haha. Good fight!

Fed the fishes again after dinner and mugged Geog and English. Going to sleep now. Night.

Today was the first day of my "O level" examinations that all students leaving secondary school have to sit for. I sat for the Social Studies and Mathematics paper 1 today. Both were relatively easy; and thanks to my teachers and friends we predicted correctly that Venice would come out for SS. Both papers were quite all right and quite do-able. Its O levels you know. Not your school exam. Hope I do well anyway.  

Have to study for the other papers....