Friday, January 30, 2009
Woke up at 8.06am today. So 'zhun' right? Woke up 6minutes after the sms was sent by MOE. I was actually very deep into my sleep, but somehow I wonder what had woke me up. Whether it is excitement, or anxiety, or anticipation, I still have to face the posting results.
Got into Nanyang Polytechnic's Pharmaceutical Science. I was really surprised why I didn't feel shocked or surprise or anything like that. Rebecca's words yesterday woke me up. Life is not always ideal. So when the posting results came, I felt pure calm.
However, I really want to thank God for something: I was not able to enter Molecular Biotechnology. I would rather take Pharmaceutical Science in a polytechnic which is a bit further than NP than to take that course. My Physics was not as good as my Bio/Chem, although PS involves a few bit of Physics.
Anyway, where to go from here on out? Just study hard and enter a University and get a Degree. That makes no difference from the JC route, only a bit longer if you have no exemption. My only last prayer for this JAE exercise is that I'll learn to embrace and enjoy this course for the next 3years. No matter what I do, I'm going to do it all for His sake, not mine. Most importantly, if He feels please with me, I am willing to do anything for Him.
At around 2pm, went to see 'Wedding game' with Wee Khong, Wen Hui, Juanne, Charis and Rebecca. The whole show so funny. Not going to give a review unless anyone says I'm a spoil spot. Heard that Wee Khong entered JJC, Wen Hui entered ACJC. The rest entered polytechnic courses, but definitely good ones. I feel happy for all my friends; Good luck to your future endeavours.
Mark Tan at 8:50 PM
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Hi! I'm recently very involved in what is very renowned for its popularity: Facebook.
The PetSociety was quite fun as it allows people to create their own pets and personalise their homes, looks, and leave messages. As OSN stated in her very own blog, it is indeed a new species of game with both the combination of Neopets and Habbo. Other than the PetSociety, there are also other games such as 'Who has the biggest brain' which I thought was very amusing to see them countdown with 3brains, 2brains, then 1brain and then the host of the game appear. The game is to test your IQ, which was fairly a challenging game. Then was another game known as 'Word Challenge'. It was quite a nice game as time was a great factor. You have to form as much words with the letters provided. It was sort of 'addictive', but temporary addiction, so you don't have to fear being hooked to the game for long hours in front of the computer.
The rest of my whole day includes adding other functionalities like the xatquiz which is located above this post. Came up with quite a lot of questions so that you will get to know and understand me better. Some questions are very challenging(like what is my birthday 'cos memory comes into play also), while others can be done simply by being more observant (How I react in anger, etc). Most importantly pls remember to have fun. And pls feedback to me about myself in the poll section 'cos I am fairly serious in self-improvement, so please give the most suitable feedback.
Just talked with Rebecca in the phone just now regarding the JAE. And I got new insights and discoveries into my results. I overlooked the L1R2B2 for business. And I got 18 points, with CCA bonus can only obtain 16 points. Wonder which business course will accept me. So I was quite disappointed but I could neither cry, nor feel emo; but I feel pure calm. Not pure clam 'cos you can only get it at the seaside, but pure calm. Perhaps my heart is already dead.
Mark Tan at 9:35 PM
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
It's the second day of the Lunar New Year and the same process of visitation of my relatives and cousin's house still continues. However, we had breakfast in the morning at 7-Star Restaurant(sounds high-class right?) which sells mostly dim sum and the queue was exceedingly long. Able to heave a sigh as the others are already at the table long before us, and it felt quite awkward to walk in late. However, the ice was broken in matters of seconds, and paradoxysms of laughter broke out across the tables, and the food definitely was as good as the interaction there. I really missed my cousins and relatives a lot as we really SELDOM meet. As we age in matters of years, the frequency of our contact gets fewer and fewer. What about in the future when we all have successful careers an families? Just hope to be able to see my cousins and relatives at least once a year as they have been present in my childhood memories very vividly.
Right after the breakfast we headed straight to the Lentor Residence, a nursing home for old patients, which was only a few streets away, located in Yio Chu Kang also. She is my 'Ah-Zhor', otherwise known as my great-grandmother from the maternal side. Despite living for 90plus years, she still has a complete set of teeth. Can you believe it? Her calcium in her body is so suffice that she can chew without much difficulty. However, she is suffering from Senile Dermentia, so she cannot recall any of us at all, perhaps only my grandma, and she has also lost her ability of speech already, even the most basic facial expressions. But I can see through her eyes that she is excited, seeing so many people gathering and seeing my grandma feeding her.
Talking about my grandma's positive qualities again; I really admire her ability to let go of certain things that will do good upon letting go. She has the ability to forgive. My 'Ah-Zhor' might have mistreated her when she was younger due to the traditional theory of "Zhong Nan Qing Nu"(Being biased towards boys), yet my grandma was able to forgive her of all that she has done, and even to the extend of visiting her as frequently as possible, especially during festive seasons. I could see that it was love that motivated her to doing this act; the act of loving the people who hurt you most by forgiveness and avenging with goodness. I feel that Grandma should bring us to visit Ah-Zhor more often, so that the coming generations will see and learn this extraodinary love of kinship.
Talking about ourselves. Probably you have a person who have hurt you before, and you think of hurting the person in return. Think again. The best avengement would be returning good for evil, for then the true victory comes; The victory of winning over the heart of the one who hurt you. True love endures all fire.
Mark Tan at 8:51 PM
Monday, January 26, 2009
Hi! I'm back from the Lunar New Year visitation of my relative's house.
It has been a looooooooooooong time since I last met my relatives. They grew quite alot, especially the boys. So I'm constantly having the inadequacy of feeling tall. I was super surprised that none of my relatives queried anything regarding my results, as if they knew it all already. However, I really appreciate their sensitivity towards my feelings, and the day did run smooth today.
However, most of the time have been spent in front of the television. The adults are all having their entertainment on a squarish table stacked with cuboids(am I too implicit? =X). Nothing much to do for me as I don't even have the basic skills for that game. So the rest of the day for me has been rather dry; eating goodies and watching a series of TV dramas(perhaps it is to prepare me for Movie Marathon? O.o)
However, the same scene keep coming back to me in between periods of today. I'm pretty disturbed by it. Yesterday when I was at Expo MRT interchange, I asked Kenny to wait for me to buy something from 7-Eleven. We just came out for service, so we can take our time for our journey home. So after buying a bottle of coffee, I remained outside for awhile as Kenny said he wanted to buy some drink. So he went inside the 7-Eleven store. I'm alone outside the store, so I keep waiting for him. And here comes a group of people; China-looking family; Consists of a boy, a girl, (both about 4years old estimating from their height) a father, and an uncle. The uncle was not obvious in the scene at first, but the most disturbing thing happened. I do not really know what the children did to agitate the father so much, but the father did a close to inhumane act. He had the heart to kick his very own children; three times in public. I was seriously traumatized(can you imagine the poor children?). You can spank the child with the hand, but never kick them with the feet(and with his filthy shoe). If not the uncle quickly came in to stop him, he would have continued kicking his children till they bleed. And worse of all it happened in public, yet everyone was like me, closing an eye to such public abuse acts. I feel really regretful and guilty for not approaching the father and telling him off, yet I'm equally afraid as I'm not prepared to get hit a black eye. The uncle also did not tell the dad off, which I feel was super wrong. He seem to have no sign of shock or panic when the dad kicked his children; which could probably mean the children might have been abused many times in the same or different manner before.
I would very much appreciate should the government better educate its citizens on how to react to abuse incidents, whether it is for private or public abuse. The television might be a source, but having such education in schools to educate children since young might be even more effective to help children better understand what is abuse and whether they are in any form of it, and also teaching the students on what to do if they are being abused.
I'm just worried for these children's future. With an abusive father, they might grow up with the wrong values, and I really pray very, very hard that the Lord will one day change the father's heart, as it is stated in a bible verse "I will turn the hearts of the Father to the children, and the hearts of the children to the father". There is nothing more pleasing then to see a family joining in one body and leading a peaceful and meaningful life together.
Mark Tan at 11:14 PM
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Yesterday would be the last day that I'll be helping my mother being her assistant florist for the Lunar New Year this year.
My maternal Grandma came to visit our stall, and she is quite of a blessing to our stall as many people who find her face familiar came over to buy a few stalk of flowers to show their appreciation to her.
Now a debrief for helping my Mum for the past 2~3weeks. I learnt quite a lot of lessons and overcame quite a lot of my personal boundaries. So here are the lists of things I've learnt:
1. How to overcome my Anthophobia(Fear of plants)
2. To love your enemies (I won't mention who)
3. Some skills that Mum imparted to me
4. Understand old folks (though there is still room for improvement)
5. To understand that the heart is more important than the appearance(I shall elaborate)
I would like to elaborate on the last point. The folks around that vicinity might be rather aged, but most of them are actually nice people. Some are really so lively and energetic even at an age of 80, but are able to walk on two feet with a straight posture, accompanied with their warmth (there's one who advise me to sleep and eat enough so I can grow up well which I thought was very thoughtful for an old lady like her).
Back to the first pointer, I would like to appreciate my sister for aiding me to overcome my Anthophobia. I no longer fear Carnivorous plants, what more normal flowers like orchid and roses. I remember a month back I was so fearful of such flowers that I would immediately shiver in sweat. The orchid looked like a face with its tongue stucking out in my face; the roses seem to be hiding something sinister under its petals; the Pitcher plant looked hungry for me with a long throat and a deadly mouth, speaking to me the words "I want to eat you". You wouldn't believe it is the Mark you know, would you? Looking back, I really feel very ashamed of my own childishness in the way I think.
The other time I thought I overcame the fear, yet somehow it relapsed again. However this time it shall never re-occur again. I finally understood; It is perception that is deceiving me. How I look at the flower at a certain angle give me a certain image. If you suspend the picture of the plant 180degrees, it become like a new species, but it is the same one in fact. Those ghost films make use of this technique too; simply placing a normal-looking face in suspension downwards; yet the eyes that seem to stare at you will freak you out. Here is an example:
Here is the right side up... now the suspension:
This applies for life too. As long as you look at certain situation at a different perception, you will find that certain obstacles are actually not that hard to overcome; certain impossibilites might become possible. This fear that I overcame might seem very amusing to you guys, but to me it horrified me deeply. I tried as much a possible not to stare at a flower in case it come and "talk" to me. But in reality, this does not happen at all! Also another lesson to learn: fear is False-Evidence-Appearing-Real indeed. If it were not my Sis who also remind me that God made all the plants, I would have continued to fear them. This is a deception from the evil one definitely, that made me so fearful of God's very own creation. He created everything for a purpose ain't it?
However my mum was surprised why I wasn't afraid handling with the two new toads that we bought two days ago. Probably each has his own fears to overcome.
By the way I found some very interesting things in the market. Look at this fire extinguisher:
Do you get the whole 'joke' now? There is no key to open the emergency box which contains the fire-extinguisher, so if there is a fire how? Call the locksmith to rush down? O.o And this is located very close to those cooking hawkers, which means that the fire-extinguisher is even more important in an event of fire. This is so for some of our lives. We don't panic for the 'fire-extinguisher' until the real need comes, and we find ourselves unprepared for the 'fire', then we think of ways to resolve it. Will it be too late by then?
Mark Tan at 12:22 AM
Monday, January 19, 2009
Here are my JAE 12 choices:
1. Pharmacy Science(NP)
2. Molecular Biotechnology(NP)
3. Business Studies(NP)
4. Business & Social Entreprise(NP)
5. Pharmaceutical Sciences(NYP)
6. Human Resource Management with PSychology(SP)
7. Biomedical Science(TP)
8. Biotechnology(SP)
9. Molecular Biotechnology(NYP)
10. Business Administration(SP)
11. Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering(NP)
12. International Supply Chain Management(NP)
I won't be typing my 3JPSAE choices here as I feel the probability that I'll be offered a course from there will be EXTREMELY LOW. All the 3courses are from NP. Won't be telling you any further.
I sort of regretted taking 1st and 2nd choice a lot. I'm actually a highly right-brained person(I took tests before) , and how do you expect me to excel in a Science class? And I dislike Life Science to be part of my tertiary education. But if I don't take the first two choices, someone will throw his temper and be extremely upset. Wonder why he keeps using grades as a kind of excuse. My Comb. Humans got C6 and he says that looking from the results, it's not my cup of tea to take Humanities in Polytechnic. My Science wasn't that good after all also what, got 3/4, and he says that I should aim for a Science course. Not that I HATE science, but I don't think it suits me for my future. I don't have the 'Science Calibre', so why do you keep forcing your ideas upon me? I feel so squashed up. I don't even dare submit my form until Thursday night. The first thing I went to my room that night was ask God what is He trying to do to me? Why He gave me an aggregate that can only fit me to a Science courses and not all of the Business courses? I did not want to blame Him, but yet I feel very upset to see myself facing Science for the next 3years. Even now. I feel that I've let myself down by following what that someone has urged me to choosing those Science courses. But I don't blame him. I just don't want to hurt him, or antagonize his hope on me. I respect him a lot, but I wonder if he listens to what I say sometimes. Hopes he doesn't see this(I doubt he will), or he will be so,so,so,so,so,so,so,so,so,so upset.
Mark Tan at 4:49 PM
Regarding JPSAE: "You have not been selected for any courses for interview".
I have accepted the reality that I do not have any chance of entering into any of the courses. However, I feel quite relieve, in that I don't have to be super disappointed when I get selected for interview and not get into any of the courses. Quite disappointed, but I feel more grateful.
Perhaps God has other plans for me. But what kind? I only hope that up to now He does not leave me alone to face my future. I want to face my future with Him. I feel even lost now; And I feel like a tot that is being released from the spinner. I'm spinning in all directions. But I'll wait; and in quietness and trust.
Mark Tan at 4:49 PM
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Gotten back my 'O' Level results yesterday.
My emotions are in a swirl; To feel thankful to the Lord for giving me an aggregate that is considered good, or to blame Him for giving me such an average aggregate with my friends getting so good aggregates. I don't know how to react when I got my results. To be contended and be happy for working so hard with my 100+%, or to reproach myself for not putting in 200% that is impossible of me. What is God trying to do to me?
I could only try and pray that I'll enter courses with an aggregate +/- 1 from last year's COP that I intend to enter. I feel like a zombie; I could neither be elated nor dissapointed. I just say I've done my best, and I will never regret it.
For those who really don't know my aggregate, here's it:
L1R2B2: 15
L1R5: 21(Not eligible for JC)
Bonus point for CCA: 2
Net aggregate: 13
A good poly course for business is between 10~12 points. I'm 1point off the range. I'll really have to see where God is intending to put me.
Mark Tan at 9:17 PM
Today is Saturday. Tomorrow is Sunday. The day after tomorrow is Monday. The day. The day that will become one of the milestones of my life.
Let me begin talking about today. I went to Cathay @ Orchard Cineleisure to watch a movie called RED CLIFF (II) with the Primers as our Primers' Outing. And as the show is named, most of the scenes are really red(quite abit like red hill?). Was quite a fiery show('cause alot of fire and explosion). I really admire the Zhu Ge Liang's ability to get 10,000,000arrows within less than 3days! The theme of the movie is "Everyone suffers in war". I would hate to war of course :) I like the show of course.
When I left the cinema, I realised when I was at the ground level that my handphone dropped out of my pocket! So I headed back, with J.D. and Kenny, to the cinema. Retrieved it from the ticket entrance personnel who passed me back my handphone from a drawer. Heaved a great sigh of relieve. And thanks to J.D. and Kenny for accompanying me up and down; it was quite a chore. Thanks for all your time. And Thank God for entrusting my handphone into good hands:)
So I went to visit Ngee Ann Poly; went to Parents' seminar with Dad. My Dad seemed quite convinced with the polytechnic education. So I'll most llikely enter a poly :) Looking at NP's university admission rate(approx. more than 50%), his first signs of acceptance is through his initiating of course brochures that I have at home.
'O' level release date is in less than 48hours; a crucial time for many. I just hope I will survive this critical moment of anxiety(and not pee in my pants).
I would like to wish two people a happy birthday today. First, to Daddy. Next, to Jerald. Happy Birthday. God Bless both of you.
Still have quite abit of anthophobia(which means 'fear towards plants'). I really want to thank Jie Jie for helping me overcome my worst fears(the pitcher plant and venus flytrap). Finally realise it's perception that makes you think of thinks at a different angle. Screamed and teared quite alot after looking at the pictures in the encyclopedia. Maybe could show you some picture:
Mark Tan at 9:17 PM
Monday, January 5, 2009
Let me be straight to the point... There's a quiz that I have yet to do and I have to do it, NOW:The person who tagged you is:Ong Shiang Ning
Your relationship with him/her:Good friends (And please believe me!)
Your impression on him/her: Sunny(Not only a sunny character; she also speaks everything under the Sun) , Sensitive, Systematic, Straight-forward, Seductive(XD jkjk nia), and Steady(pom pi pi!)
The most memorable thing he/she said to you:I love you! DiDi! (See? I told you we are only siblings!:)
If he/she become your lover, you will...I will make sure I let her smell my breathe first. My breath super stink! XD
Things she/he has to improve on: To be more tolerant towards the people she doesn't like and be more implicit in order not to cause permanent hurt/humiliation to the other party. Be more conservative in attire :X
If he/she become your enemy, you will:She already treats me as her enemy somehow, so I don't need to elaborate further...
If he/she dies you will?Go into moaning for a while then be back to normal. After all death is unpredictable after all. Just be prepared for it.
What is it you want to tell he/she now?:It is not coincidence that our birthday falls on the same date. That is so that we'll be able to celebrate our birthday together every year (as friends)! Thank you for being by my side for the past 4years. I think you are officially the first girl that I've ever truly befriended(as I've been studying in all boys school during Pri Sch). Hope you will grow in your walk with God. All the best for your relationship with Him. You've got alot to understand about Him:) There's really alot about Him. Slowly explore:) Just ask of Him to show you who He is; He will answer you in many different ways :)
Pass this quiz to 10 people if you want to know how they feel about you:1.Ong Shiang Ning(Re-tag!)
2.Theh Soon Lee(If you happen to see this, better do this quiz kay! Don't keep play DOTA; I DOT you then you know)
3.Jerald Tay(I know you got homework; so not gonna pressurise you to do)
4.Tham Cheong How(When you do this quiz, can link me? Sec5 very stress I know. So take your time)
5.Rebecca Teng(How many times must I ask you to update your bloggy!?O.o)6.Sandra Tan Xin Na(Yes, JieJie. Do it)
7.Jacky Ong Jie Jun
8.Lee Xu Xunn9.Chua Yanda
10.Liping
Who is no.6 having relationship with?Ans:WenShen Kor Kor... LawlNo.9 a male or a female?Ans: A hermaphrodite perhaps, but more of a boy=XIf no.7 and no.10 be together, will it be a good thing?Ans: Perhaps. Liping is younger than Jacky. And they are of age difference of 1year, so no generation gap :)What is no.2 studying all about?Ans: About Science duh....When is the last time you chat with no.3?Ans:Since the last time he visited my blog; approximately 2weeksWhat kind of music band do no. 8 like?Ans: Go 4A class blog and click on the link 'XuXunn' and you will know what kind he likes.Do no.1 have any sibilings?Ans: Yes. Two younger ones. I would count it three with her parrot(or is her parrot her bf?O.o)Will you woo no.3?Ans: Over my dead body. He already has a lot of people wooing him. If I woo him I'll be another love rival. =X What about no.7?Ans: He has alot of people wooing him too =XIs no.4 single?Ans: A benefit of a doubt. Perhaps he's having one in confidence.What is the surname of no.5?Ans: Scroll up to the ten names above and you will see it.What is the hobby of no.10?Ans: Don't have to rack brains; To love God.Is no.5 and no.9 get along?Ans: They've never heard of each other before. Fullstop :)Where is no2 studying at?Ans: Currently in JVSTalk about something about no.1Ans: She is beautiful without her make up. She looks quite 'geysha' when she puts it on.Have you tried developing feeling with no.8?Ans: I know he very 'shuai'(fourth pinyin), but I'm more jealous rather than admire him:) Where does no.9 lived in?Ans: Singapore @ Jurong. You don't expect me to type the whole address here, do you? What color does no.4 likes?I got this feeling it's green. That's why he entered Jurongville Sec.
Mark Tan at 10:49 AM
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Here's my new hairstyle :)
The day I went to cut...
Now(3rd Dec)...
.........................................................................................................................................................................
I just got home from Malaysia. Bought quite a lot of valuable stuffs from Kuala Lumpur. Guess what I've bought? Here are the list of items:(a) A robot(b) A helicopter(c) 2 collar-shirts (d) A pair of cargo pants(e) A pair of shorts(f) 5 metal puzzles(g) A new haircut :)(h) 2 pairs of shoes(i) A pair of slippers(j) USB port cable to connect handphone to computer(k) Souvenirs (for my friends ^^)Yesterday, I celebrated New Year with my family in Blue Chip Lounge of Swiss Garden hotel. They hired some singers there to make some noise. Was quite a different way of celebrating New Year from the past years. A bit simple though. Anyway, I have a couple of resolutions for New Year this year:(a) To learn to love God more(b) To have faith in Him more(c) To love and be sensitive to others more (d) To learn oil painting :) (e) To look more confident in terms of appearance :)(f) To be less childish XDThat's all you know! No more! And as OSN has typed in her blog, you will be surprised if I get myself a girl! Perhaps one more resolution:(g) I will have no BGR this yearHappy? Quite easy to fufill :)
Mark Tan at 10:29 PM