sorriso innocenza

easy peasy lemon squeasy, so many things to say about me!

Wednesday, November 30, 2005

How was your exam?

*Note: This post was originally part of my "Seventeen Going on Eighteen" one, but I decided to split it so that it's easier to read. Less is more! Hahaha. I hope I didn't bore anyone! ;)

Does anyone want to know how my exams went? Oh, and it's not over yet (although most people are celebrating like it really is over), because I still have a subject to sit for .. namely EST (English for Science & Tech) on December 2nd. And that's the end of the exam for me! ;) Some of my friends, like Denise and Tse Mun, still have Accounts to sit for on Decemeber 5th... but anyway, Yi Ping's throwing a party on December 3rd (I was thrilled when she told me, Yi Ping throws great parties!).. celebraaaaaaaateeeeee...Oh yeah, I was going to tell you how SPM went for me (I really enjoyed reading Tysern's version of the exam -- check out his blog entries! ahah!)... ok so we start off with BM on November 14th (that was Lee Ting's birthday, and I forgot! See, that's why I said, I didn't expect anyone to remember mine, haha.. I usually make the effort to remember my friends' birthdays and stuff, because I realised how happy people will be when someone wishes them happy birthday... cos that means they really care enough to remember..) anyway, BM was, for me, a strange paper.. Mostly because the karangan I chose to write was almost exactly the same as the one I chose for my SPM trials (i.e: sahsiah), but I was relieved because I felt that I was under a lot of pressure to do my best in BM .. I also was very, very scared about the possibility of not passing the paper -- which is an unbearable thought because you have to pass BM to pass the whole SPM exam. It's a compulsory paper to pass! I was extremely relieved after the Paper 1 was over.

BM Paper 2 was really, really difficult. Denise pointed out to me that the black line on the left-hand side of the exam booklet's cover indicates how difficult/easy a paper is predicted to be by the government. The higher, the easier. The lower, the more difficult.. it's pretty accurate, I was amazed. Anyway, the BM Paper 2 was much harder than I thought it would be. But strangely enough, I like doing the Paper 2. I like having to write and write mechanically without having to put too much thought into the answer. BM is a lot easier for me than say, Biology, Chemistry or Physics. Hahaha, thank you Mr Goey! Five years of tuition with you have, I believe, not gone completely to waste.Sejarah 1 (objective) was ok, although I made more mistakes than I would've preferred (but less than 10 is good enough for me, haha!).. the next day (November 15th) splashed us with both English papers and Sejarah 2 (subjective).

It was an absolute NIGHTMARE for me! First of all, I didn't know all my facts (I have a tendency to neglect History, thinking "Aiya, it can't be that bad riiight.. how hard can they make it?").. and second of all, I have a tendency to confuse my facts when under pressure. So you can imagine how I felt when I opened the exam booklet and realised that I didn't know how to answer any of the structure questions? I thought that when the exam came, I would be able to look at a question and have the answers at my fingertips, but nooo... it wasn't that way for me! I had to flip here and there, answering questions randomly; picking all the easier ones to answer... and before long, it wasn't looking so bad; I didn't immediately know any answers but after some thinking (this is what I hate about thinking subjects!), I managed to scrawl out some plausible answers.. the Mat Salleh question was hilarious, I was just writing stuff like "SBBU bakar kampung Mat Salleh" and "SBBU menjanjikan Tambunan, tetapi memungkiri janji dan ambil semula Tambunan".. hahah!!

When I read Tysern's blog, he said he wrote like 10 stuff for that Mat Salleh question, and I started laughing, because I had to spend like 10 minutes wracking my brain to just fill in those FOUR blanks that they provided us with! I didn't write any extra answers for anything, was too lazy to .. ahah.. I just vomitted out answers that I was sure about, and didn't touch them any more. Fortunately, I managed to hold firm to my "Leave nothing blank" principle and crapped answers for all the blanks they gave.. and I didn't have to resort to crazy stuff like one midterm question I answered .. "Senaraikan kesan Kesultanan Melayu Melaka ke atas sistem pentadbiran Negeri-negeri Melayu" or some rash like that, and I just had to fill in the last blank with "Gula Melaka" because I couldn't think of anything else. *shakes head laughing*

But Sejarah came up with a slight change in questioning, they didn't ask straightforward questions this time.. the new style of questions reminded me painfully of... *drumroll*... MORAL! There were questions like "Apakah yang anda telah belajar tentang kepentingan sejarah?"... something along those lines, can't really remember... The essay part was like a series of bad headaches for me.. I couldn't say anything for sure and had to write everything I knew about anything having to do with the words in the questions. I thought I had done the paper horribly (so badly that I wasn't sure if I could even pass History), but when I got home and checked out some of the facts in my textbooks, it turns out that I had crapped pretty accurately! But seriously, it was just luck. So much of exams depends on luck! And also, the day before History, me and Tse Mun were on the phone for hours discussing the Islam chapters. And because of that, I could remember the facts. :)

After that, we had Modern Mathematics.. it has really become my favourite subject next to toughies like The Sciences (with a capital T) and Add Math. I made one really annoying mistake where I somehow didn't get around to reading the important part of an instruction (stupid panjang lengkung clue -- that's the one I missed) so I couldn't answer one of the objective questions.. my Add Math tutor checked my Mod Math objective paper, and that was my single mistake! Hahah, frustrated as I am about it being a careless mistake, I'm still really happy about making only one mistake.. because I'm not all that great in my Paper 2! In the usual school exams, I normally struggle with a couple of questions in Paper 2, and "a couple" is already a lot because there are not that many questions in one paper to start with. But this time, it was great! My hand was shaking throughout the entire exam because I was so nervous, but thankfully it was my left hand and I could still do all the questions .. so I really hope that I can get an A for Mod Math!

Of course, Mod Math wasn't the killer paper of the week... it was the following day's paper... PHYSICS. Me and Physics are complete strangers. We don't have anything in common. If Physics were a real person, we'd just say hello and then an awkward silence would fall. Physics wouldn't even return my smile. But heyhey, Physics was not at all like I expected! The limited information I knew about Physics was all tested! My favourite parts - inersia, impuls, gravity.. and there was only ONE chapter that I studied for Physics, which was Form 4 Chapter 3: Sifat Jirim... and guess what... that came out too... Prinsip Bernoulli. Suddenly I realised that me and Physics weren't enemies after all, we were just kinda shy. It took Physics a really long time (about 23 months) to warm up to me.. and it did right on time for the exam day. I found myself falling madly in love with Physics, Physics and all its worldly charms. For the first time in the two years that I have taken Physics in an exam, I could answer at least half of each paper (3 papers altogether). That's good enough for me! ;)

After Physics we had a nice four-day break before Moral & Add Math. Moral kinda stinked, because when I was checking my answers, I changed the first one .. to a wrong answer. This always happens when I check my answers, I end up doubting what I first wrote and end up changing it to a wrong one. Add Math 1 was okay, not so bad but I wasn't sure about a few sums.. and I had so much time left over that I copied out all the questions and (my) answers on to a spare piece of paper... I'm handing it to my Add Math tutor, he said he'll check it for me. I've given him my Mod Math paper too. Add Math 2, now that was a real pain in the arse! I couldn't answer the last bit of almost EVERY question (they have long questions, like number 1 (a)(b)(c)(d))... so I was really panicking during the final hour of the exam. I didn't have a minute to spare, and I would have found more time useful, but I just did all I could .. on the dot... haha I know some people still continute writing after the invigilator says "Pens down" but I've never been able to bring myself to do it -- what if she grabbed my paper and tore it to a million tiny pieces? *the horror* When I got home, I couldn't resist checking how many marks worth of questions I was actually able to do... and *phew* it wasn't so bad! I could answer for questions than I ever managed to for any school exam. Sure, maybe not an A, but at least not a failing grade..*grins* I have no idea how everyone else in the country did, so nobody can ever be totally sure about what kind of grade they could get. It's all weighted, right? If that's the word for it.. weighed, weighted, scaled? Hah! Help me out here, Jacklyn Oh! ;)

Then... another long break (five days actually) before this week.. we had Chemistry yesterday and Biology today. Chemistry really planted a lot of fear in me before the exam. I was very, very scared that I didn't know enough to even pass (I've honestly never gotten more than 41% in a school exam before), and extremely nervous about getting at least a credit like my parents wanted me to.. (they don't want to put too much pressure on me, so they just asked for at least credits ... ;)) ... but the Chem paper wasn't as difficult as in past year papers.. maybe they made it a bit easier because the number of students failing Chem in SPM has been increasing? Well I don't know if it's increasing all over M'sia, but my school's never had anyone fail Chem in SPM until last year (2004).. so it must mean that the paper was getting too difficult... maybe. Anyway, I only studied the first four chapters of Chemistry Form 4, and the first two chapters of Form 5. Luckily, most of the questions were from those chapters! I was so relieved about being able to answer the essay questions. I dunno how I did for the objective, but I'm planning to call Alyaa after SPM to get the answers (she has them already, my Chem schoolteacher is her aunt so she's checked them for her).

Biology was so bad that I could cry. But being me, I did the contrary and laughed about how incredibly stupid I can be. I think most people thought Bio was pretty hard.. Jon texted me and said something about "jackshit" -- hahaha!! That made me laugh so hard. Oh, and the weirdest thing happened right before the exam -- I was about to read the Kasturi seminar answer sheet when I put the paper on the rest of my papers on the balcony (was discussing Bio before the exam with Sahira there) -- and the paper just flipping FLEW down to the badminton courts below. Me and Sahira (or is it Sahira and I? Goodness, someone has to teach me this stuff! I honestly cannot tell the difference) watched, open-mouthed, as it fluttered divinely to the floor. Great. Just great. The invigilator was calling us all to get into the classroom for the exam, and my last-minute reference literally flew out the window. Not a window. A balcony. I was going to read the gizi seimbang wanita mengandung before the exam so that it'd still be fresh in my head, but I couldn't very well run all the way downstairs to get the paper, read it and then get back on time for the exam, could I? So me and Sahira laughed and got into the classroom. And guess what? Gizi seimbang wanita mengandung was NOT tested. *rolls around laughing*

Okay, okay this entry is now so long that nobody's going to read up to this point. Hahah, well, good luck for EST and Accounts, y'all!

Seventeen Going On Eighteen!

Hey all!

Wow -- it feels great to be seventeen at last.. but it doesn't feel any different, other than the fact it wouldn't be right for me to sing Sound of Music's "Sixteen Going on Seventeen" song anymore! :D Hahah.. I know, I haven't changed have I! Heheee..

Today was great! The morning started off with me waking up at 4am to study Bio (talk about last-minute!) but I only managed to study the Utusan Portal Papers for less than half an hour.. the next thing I knew, I was waking up again and the clock said 6.50am. Hahhh!! I fell asleep! So, after a lot of panicking, helpless laughing, and half-shrieking to my mum about how I didn't know anything about Biology and that I had nothing in my head ("Nothing! Nothing! I don't know anything! Honestly, mum, I don't know anything! So how, mummy, howww?").... then I was cheered up by my first birthday wish of the day -- from good ol' Jon! :) Thank you Jonny, you have no idea how that text message calmed my fairly-shattered nerves.

Hahaha! All in all, Bio was just as bad as I expected it to be (*snort* Did you expect a "it wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be"?) -- but all the yelled-out "Happy Birthday!"s from my schoolmates definitely helped a lot. I honestly didn't expect anyone to remember (other than my family and my bestest friends -- Tse Mun called me yesterday to have a chitchat already!).. particularly since it was Bio exam day.. hahh... I think anyone who takes Bio in DJ will agree that Bio is by far the most difficult of subjects? But to my surprise, there were still people who remembered - William even sent me a birthday card like two weeks ago!! So sweet yeah! :D

And a very big thank you to all my friends who remembered that today is my birthday -- you're the best!! Hehe, and a special thank-you to Kat who got me an extra-special something (hehe, yeah, Wei June & Ee-Lynn, y'all know it too huh huh ahaha). To all my friends, I LOVE YOU ALL!!! ;D I'll never forget my DJ friends... and there's also a strong bond of camaraderie with my friends in my SPM classroom, especially Yi Ping, Sin Yee and Sahira -- we'll get through this darn exam together! Being in the same classroom with some of my friends is fantastic, because we laugh about everything (we're a very noisy bunch!) and we try not to let anything wipe those big smiles off our faces (even not being able to answer exam questions)... so it's a really positive environment we've got going, and I'll always be grateful for that! These are the people who have taught me anything I didn't understand in my studies, so no matter how I fare in my exams -- these are the some of the people I thank! ;)

Jacklyn's been asking me why I haven't been updating my blog ... ahhahah I'm so happy someone actually reads this blog! Thanks for the support Jackie! ;) ... but if anyone else is wondering why, it's because I've been having an exam... it's called SPM.... hahha..

P.S: Brief calendar update for my 1st week of freedom.. so if I don't update my blog for a while, I'm sorry!
Friday, 2nd December - EST. End of SPM. Soraya comes over to collect all my SPM stuff. Isn't it so sweet of her to help me with my packing instead of me having to do it all by myself? By the way, Soraya Kee is next year's Editor-in-Chief of Nostalgia! *grins broadly*
Saturday, 3rd Dec - Yi Ping's party.
Monday, 5th Dec - Nostalgia Dinner. Thanks again to Soraya for organising this!
Tuesday, 6th Dec - Prom Night at J.W.Marriott. Yesh, me going stag like Josh Groban did -- but sincere apologies to the person who actually asked me, but my table was full since months ago!

Pei Lee's asked me & Tse Mun to go on her class trip to Pangkor, but the dates clashed with both mine and Tse Mun's vacations (me to London, Tse Munnie to Sabah) so we can't go. And basically that's it, because my trip's about a week -- then comes Christmas when Alison Wong comes back to M'sia, and then college starts in January. Haha, this is the shortest holiday I've ever had!

Cheers to everyone! Thanks again for birthday wishes! :D

Saturday, November 12, 2005

Quizzes!

Ok.. so SPM starts on Monday. In two days time. *whistles* But I'm so tired of facts for the day that I just had to go and take a couple of entertaining Internet quizzes... note-to-self: M'sian Sejarah syllabus has too many facts!!

Your view on yourself: You are intelligent, honest and sweet. You are friendly to everybody and don't like conflict. Because you're so cheerful and fun people are naturally attracted to you and like to talk to you.
The type of girlfriend/boyfriend you are looking for: You are a true romantic. When you are in love, you will do anything and everything to keep your love true.
Your readiness to commit to a relationship: You prefer to get to know a person very well before deciding whether you will commit to the relationship.
The seriousness of your love: You have very sensible tactics when approaching the opposite sex. In many ways people find your straightforwardness attractive, so you will find yourself with plenty of dates.
Your views on education: Education is less important than the real world out there, away from the classroom. Deep inside you want to start working, earning money and living on your own.
The right job for you: You have many goals and want to achieve as much as you can. The jobs you enjoy are those that let you burn off your considerable excess energy.
How do you view success: Success in your career is not the most important thing in life. You are content with what you have and think that being with someone you love is more than spending all of your precious time just working.
What are you most afraid of: You are afraid of things that you cannot control. Sometimes you show your anger to cover up how you feel.
Who is your true self: You are mature, reasonable, honest and give good advice. People ask for your comments on all sorts of different issues. Sometimes you might find yourself in a dilemma when trapped with a problem, which your heart rather than your head needs to solve.


Cool! I have just learnt that I place less importance on education than I should be doing, and I have to learn it two days away from the most major exam I have yet to sit for! Hahah -- the irony. But it sounds like me, I guess, especially the control-freak and conflict-dislike things! Heheh.

Wednesday, November 02, 2005

Hear Ye, Hear Ye!

Heya!

Just a couple of notices before I get back to work.

#1: To Vanessa's old friends currently studying in SMKDJ
Can you come and see me or Leong Mayshi (5 Angsana) when school re-opens? Thanks.

#2: To Old Friends (SK DJ (1)) Studying in Other Schools & SMKDJ
Shall we have a reunion after SPM? Those interested, please leave a comment containing your valid e-mail address & MSN after this blog entry (not at the chatbox -- because old posts get deleted there). Spread the word! Let's best do it when Alison Wong has come back to M'sia (she went to Australia) -- she'll be back on the 24th of December onwards. Maybe for a Christmas thing or something. By the way, I also need to see those ex-SKDJ (1) students who are Vanessa's friends .. so we'll need to organise something before the 8th of December. Umm... but not on the 6th of December, cos the DJ prom is on that night! Riight... umm well just post your contact at the "comments" thing at the end of this post, I'll call Lim Xuyen (SMK BU) & Stephanie Yong (SMK Taman Sea) after SPM and we can organise something.

#3: To fellow bloggers
Can I put up audio clips in this blog? Does anyone know how? E-mail me at pungshalene@hotmail.com or pungshalene@gmail.com if you know how k! No need to type the instructions there or anything, I'll just call you after SPM. Mucho thankies~

Tuesday, November 01, 2005

Newspaper clippings!~

This was supposed to go under my Famous Friends of F.R.I.E.N.D.S entry, but I think the file was too large for an already wordy document. Anyway, that's Jonathan! The one on the left, with specs and curly-ish hair. His hair isn't actually curly, but I think he gelled it that way -- no idea, hehe, boys will be boys! Picture courtesy of The Star, 26th October 2005.

On another episode of Famous Friends of F.R.I.E.N.D.S, we have here my photos at their worst. Seriously, you know it is when it's absolutely important to look good in the newspapers, but when you actually get a chance to be in a newspaper, you look absolutely horrid? Well, most people look good at those times, but not me! Haha.













You know how every girl with a camera takes pictures of herself when she's bored? Ta-da! Check out the earrings, people! Cos it's too dark to see my face.. I forgot about the light behind me!

Anymore newspaper clippings that you've got scanned into your computer? I wonder if Kevin Chan is reading this? ;) Anyway, if you've got any more interesting clippings & you're a friend of mine & you'd like it displayed proudly in this blog.. feel free to send them to me. E-mail is pungshalene@hotmail.com . Hehehe, those 2 clippings were like my most memorable moments captured on film! The second -- when I got my PMR results. The first -- when I got 3rd place in the MPPJ Public-Speaking competition. Heheheeee.