12 November - Assignment Submissions
13 November - Dreams II Concert
14 November - Birthdays Dinner
16 November - MTV EMAs 2009
17 November - Janet Jackson's Greatest Hits Album
17 November - Alicia Keys: Dancing With the Stars
17 November - Sister's Birthday :D
18 November - Janet Jackson's interview on Michael
18 November - My Birthday :D
20 November - Tote Board Website Results
22 November - American Music Awards
24 November - Alicia Keys: Today Show Concert Series
28 November - Gong Gong's Birthday Dinner

That's sort of my timetable-slash-motivation till the end of November x.x

Happy November, everyone!
Don't everyone love this time of the year when the weather
is cooler and it is closer to the New Year? I love it!

Actually I find that there are so many things on my mind
but somehow, I find it pointless talking about it
because nothing good will return. Some may
already know but I'm under pressure
to hand in my work when I have to
 juggle my time with work, family
and friends - let alone personal
time for myself, which is bad
enough and now, without
being late for submission.
What's worst, I saw a post on
Facebook with the list of names
who handed in late with the title as
"Public Shaming"
It's not like we planned for it.
It's not like we didn't put in our best effort.
It's not like we didn't have our own personal timetable.
How to hand in quality work when we can't have time
to execute something good without having anyone disturbing
us in class daily? and also fail for being late to submit our assignment?
I'm not in the list but I think this is getting way out of hand and a total bullshit.

A lot of things happened on the first week
but there were some which I really couldn't forget.

Doesn't Mean Anything
While I was eating my lunch on Thursday at Mensa with my friends,
I started waving profusely when I saw someone really familar. One of
my unfriendly coursemates, (I think) saw me looking at his direction and
thought that I was waving to him, sort of tilited his head upwards (to return the
greeting, I suppose, without a smile - lol, I don't know why), which is besides the
current point I'm about to bring up: I saw Pete! He's one of my closest friends from
Indonesia and he's an Alicia Keys fan (holaa!!) because I didn't really expect to meet him
here in Singapore and it was a complete surprise but sadly, he will return next week
as he's here to help his brother with some family problems. I have to agree with
him that her new song isn't as good as her previous but nevertheless,
anything from her! (ELLOS! If you are reading this :)

Happy: And you know it.
Happy to be in the same class with Siti and Leslie for this block,
happy for TB competition to finally come to an end, finally.
Happy that school starts 30 minutes later then before,
happy to have Monday off this block and
I'm especially happy for D!
(btw, I'm that someone lol)

Leslie just came home this morning
from the week's long field camp and
now has a sore throat while my sister has
her friends over to spend the time while she
cooks dinner and have a random gathering today.
I watched The Blue Mansion with Jun Xiang yesterday
and as mentioned in a youtube video trailer I saw, I
actually agree that this is a good Singapore film
but I think many from the production crew
were not local. Watch 500 Days of Summer!
What is it like to be late for latecomers session?

1,000+ views on my latest youtube video :)
Remember to press pause on the background music before pressing play below!

   

With the help from a talented local musician/gamer/magician/etc,
 Reuben Wong, I decided to record my own English version
of Byul/Star from the soundtrack of 200 Pounds Beauty.
----------------------------------------
When I feel the wind blow in this place,
there I see the stars beyond this window pane;
Shining so bright, here and tonight
and I wish youre by my side.
Whisper in my ear saying:
"Don't be afraid",
that same old voice has spoke to me
and I need your embrace.

And even though my
courage told me just to be with you
even though I tried my best to hint you.
But afterall, my deepest love for you
had just fallen through.
I held back on too.
Someone is already there for you.
Should I stay or should I leave this room?
Like the stars that shine so brightly,
I still feel so strongly for you
----------------------------------------
Lyrics written by: Reuben Wong & Derek Heng

BOOMZ
Caught your attention? Ok good, I'm feeling naughty.
(Not sure what it means? Check out the Urban Dictionary!)
Watched a few videos about Ris Low, who wishes to be a nurse or open up a cake shop
working with (beauty pageants' favourite mentions to help) ex-convicts from the YRP
after the credit card incident, I then came across the next related video
which I do not know how was it related to Ris Low! This is about
Pasir Ris' unsafe water (old news) and below is the video.
Check out which school is having fun in dirty water!


Link: http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?mkt=en-sg&vid=9bc5aa8a-8802-49a1-be5f-bbf186247c72
Credit: MSN

37.8 degrees'(
diarrhoea
vomitting

Happy Mid-Autmn Festival

Since my previous entry, after coming home from the gay club,
I have been out and about (except going for picnic!) around Singapore! :D
Apart from the club experience, which I wouldn't mind going again (and I intend
to go sober and not get a hangover the next time), I cycled around the East side
with my family for a few hours, finally went swimming and a quick jog, a
wake-up call visit to haw par villa as well as several sakae meals with
different people including a meal by myself. I doubt I will stay at
my grandmother's place because of lack of beds and I believe
the stay at the park will not happen because no khaki lol.

Got my results a day right after Children's Day (what a gift!)
and I will review my 1st sem of 2nd year hopefully in my next entry!
Will edit this entry with some random pictures (yayy) later tonight.

It is not as fun as I may be seen in the photo above but I visited Haw Par Villa today and I thought
I spent a great hour (or so) learning something so real yet so unsure if it's real.

How many levels of Hell did you recall?
Eighteen right? I still have no idea how many levels but according to an attraction
in Haw Par Villa, I long wanting to know, it's actually ten. Um, that's more than enough, actually.
For interested visitors, do note that that Chinese park is FOC, but this attraction needs SGD$1
from you to maintain the place to keep it as scary as it is - and I'll tell you why! 

Go through Hell
Walking through the so-called "Hell Exhibition" - about this place you should have heard before somewhere,
you may even imagine how does it looks like and now you actually get to see it in figurines - is a real adventure
for those who are interested to visit Hell when you are only alive without experiencing any form of heat.
I remember when I was buying the ticket, the uncle asked "One person?" I replied "Yup!" and slowly walked inside.
While walking in, there were a few God figurines around and the only God that had my attention was God of Earth.
I hurriedly rush in front and prayed even before I decided to proceed. I don't know but I just felt like I needed to calm
myself down because I was thinking of all my sins yesterday night (I couldn't sleep thinking about the outcome).
You know - sometimes I do not know if God, who is represented by a God figurine, would actually get my prayers?
That's why I'd always look for the can of joysticks before I start to pray. Can someone who knows any details if
I could just pray without a God figurine or anything about this because I am quite curious, thank you!
From then on, I went through hell and wish that I will never get to experience this afterlife as mentioned in my
in one of my earlier post in August 2007: http://derekheng2020.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!DFDB4182B681F6D6!607.entry

As I am also not a fan of paying content, I will end here by giving you a list of what nots.
I will not show you the consequence - as that would be the interesting part - so do drop by Haw Par Villa!

Wanted to set off somewhere this morning but it started
raining and I couldn't get up so I decided to push it a day later.
Haha! Such a procrastinator and a lazy bum.

Did you watch the VMAs?
I watched it live online the other day and it was really the best VMAs in many
recent years. Gee. I was really excited because some of the biggest names I
grew up with were there coupled with a few new performers I was really
interested to see what do they have in store for us (Madonna, Janet,
Beyonce, Alicia Keys, Lady Gaga, Pink, Taylor Swift, etc). What a lineup!

I cried right after Janet Jackson's performance because they had never performed
that song before together and that was the only time. A few hours ago before the VMAs,
a leaked photo of Michael Jackson on screen without Janet Jackson in the Scream video
showed up in a Janet forum and many fans were saying "OMG notheydidn't!" sort of remarks
which I also did because that means the performance was going to include the dance together.
And it really did. Madonna's speech was abit too long for me but the anticipation for Janet was there.

Lady Gaga's performance was spectacular because of the message behind of the meaning of the
song "Paparazzi" she was trying to put accross. I took clear notice and watched it several times
to notice the crashing sound right after she was introduced to the stage and the sentence
"Amidst all of these flashing lights, I pray the fame won't take my life." right after a few lines
of "Poker Face" tells the story of a celebrity being chased by paparazzis all their life which literally
drive them to their graves. It's really amazing, dispite the fact that she changed clothes 3/4 times!
THUMBS UP. Hail Lady Gaga = new generation of Madonna :D

Alicia Keys and Jay-Z ended off with a song so powerful and meaningful were they were, New York,
with the song "Empire State of Mind". Truely empowering and you can see almost everyone in the
crowd were feeling it. Stupid Lil' Mama crashed the stage towards the end and reason being
she was feeling to hyped up about it and even said in an interview later that she realise Jay-Z
wasn't feeling her presence (hello?!). Alicia Keys gave her point of view while she was talking about
her new single, Doesn't Mean Anything, and said that they would appriciate if Lil' Mama could stay
in her sit feeling hyped too. Hahaha!

Kanye, you're an ass. Beyonce, you have class!

Have you all ever tried www.be2.sg?
It's an online match-making website I came across while finding the
best route to HPV. So I tried it and you have to answer a few questions
before they actually allow you to enter your profile page. And when you
enter, they will tell you have completed 10% of your profile. So once you
complete the other 90% or so, you can view those recommended partners
whose profile matches your likings and all. I thought that it would be nice!
Do try it out and see if mine matches yours. Hahaha!

Have you ever stayed up through the night doing
something with the television switched on and
notice how Channel 5 shows happy cooking/architechure shows
in the morning, boring day-time shows by the afternoon and interesting to horror
movies when it's close to late night? and the whole cycle repeats through the day?
Imagine watching a horror show when you just wake up, interesting.

Life is soooo precious.
I caught a short clip on the tribute to September 11
victims and the firemen invovled (this Friday, my brother will
be going into Army on this date). It is interesting because these
days we get to see destructive movies animated and nicely illustrated
but when it actually happens, it's no longer fake or no longer acting.
It's real. People's lives are in danger and you just don't know what
to expect. The reaction to passerbys shown in the documentary
seemed shocked when the police told them to back off
and run north. People need directions when shit
happens. Signs must be given because they
don't know where to go and they have to
be constantly reminded by those
who has the answer.

I just cannot wait for the holidays.
There's so many things I feel like doing
and not to have anything at the back of my head.

Happy *Belated* Teachers' Day!
Ms Wee in the front :D
Saw a few teachers,
sadly our form teacher
shifted to another school.

It was funny because we were joking
about how the 'procedure' went::
Teacher: "Let me try to remember your name"
Teacher: "Where are you studying now?"
Student: "How's the school/your class?"
and when there's an awkward silence,
Teacher: "Have you meet the other teachers?"
Teacher: "It's nice of you all to come down,
but I have a meeting later.. so see you guys!"
Good don't get attention.

I wished you earlier but,
Happy Birthday, Jingy!
Hope you have a great day :D

If you're ever going to the movies,
please check for discounts especially if you're a
SAFRA Card holder. If not, you can ask from me and
I can lend you my card to get discounts from GV. (:

I spent my day with Jun Xiang on Friday watching
Final Destination (I keep saying Final Fantasy!) and
the show sadly was quite predicitable. I didn't really
follow-up the previous ones but I thought, why not.
$13 for 3D Movie without discount man. Anyway, went
inside Uniqlo which I wanted tried on this denim and it felt
so great. It's so comfy and.. also made me feel too.. sexy. LOL.
Was the same day I saw Jolene and Nick in the bus on our way home.

Meeting some of my friends later today to go back to sss. :D

I guess here's my last entry of the week, but firstly,
Happy Birthday, Matthew,
Happy Belated Birthday, Mom!
Thank you for always being my listening ear and
being a strong mother for another no matter what happens.
Hope you had a great day!

A day after I wrote down my feelings about life, one of
my uncles passed away in the arms of Serangoon Por Por (Mom's side) and we all
were invovled in a way or another for his wake and funeral during these past few days.
To my uncle Fat Fat, I will always remember your stories, laughter and presence. You've
brought us memories of happiness and we will contiune to remember them.
With love, Derek.

What I learned about this unfortunate event, but was never the cause of it,
is that we must never take the people closest around us for granted - no
matter how irritating the person may be, no matter what they did before,
no matter what he does to you - for you may never ever  have the chance
to forgive him or her again. If there is no one invovled, then don't be
angry over the littlest things because life is way too short.

We went for dinner at Marina Barrage with Haig Road Por Por (Papa's side) and
Gong Gong who was on wheelchair just now, together with uncle Jeffrey and
Yatavee for mom's birthday dinner. There was a positive atmosphere there.

I hope Serangoon Por Por, my mom and my other relatives - especially
Sally yiyi, uncle Peter and uncle Andrew's family will soon get over. With that,
starting tomorrow, I will continue from the pile; full of work
undone all through the week.

I have to make this entry quick otherwise it will be logged under 14th August!
Anyway, today I tried to buy food from the minimart opposite my house cos
yesterday when I bought the fan choy, I couldn't resist that I just wanted
to eat right there and then and I did so I just sat at the chess table
and mmm I really love it! (Phoebe, tml if your stomach ok you try ya :)
Do I sound like a food critic (except for seafood)? Cannot help la, I love food.
I sense I'm going to get fat one day, really.

Was listening to Destiny's Child and some other old CDs while doing homework
and I was thinking "Isn't it nice to be born in the 90s (But would have been better
to be born way much earlier)? All the best songs were in our time with songs from
Destiny's Child, Boyzone, Westlife, Aqua, Michael Jackson (rest in peace). The best
Disney movies were also made for us. I really love Disney songs like 'Colours of the Wind',
'Journey to the Past', 'A Whole New World' and argh so many more! Now the songs
are good but just can't be compared to the past. I need a radio though.
Tomorrow dinner at Sakae.. AHH cannot wait!
:D:D:D:D:D:D must smile more :) :) :) :) :) :)

GO IVAN HENG!
Happy 44th Birthday, Singaporee!
*Wonders if she ever reads this space haha*
Experienced one of the greatest NDP shows
I've ever watched :D pretty amazing to hear all
my favourite songs all together for once and I
love Chapter 8 the most, followed by Chapter 5,
and not forgetting the 'What Do You See?' segment!
Anyway, supper and stayover was great :D

 Hope you all won't cringe on this ongoing interview with
Orange Magazine who has been doing this for the past few years!
PS it's fictitious. This website is for me to keep track of my thoughts.

Orange Magazine: It's been awhile since we last interviewed you.
Derek: Yes, it is. The last time I remembered was before my O levels and gee time really flies! Here I am studying in TP [Temasek Poly], pursuing in Year Two - also known as Junior Year.

Orange Magazine: Are you doing what you expect yourself to be doing after the O levels?
Derek: Actually when I was choosing my courses, for some reasons, I blocked out many schools - School of Engineering, Sciences, IT, etc. I wasn't able to apply for most of the business courses because of my shocking English results which is nothing worth talking about. The thought that I had little skills in editing a picture and cropping them led me to the School of Design in TP because firstly, the title sounds interesting [Interactive Media Design] *laughter* and secondly, it seemed fun to be facing the computer all day long.

Orange Magazine: Haha, it sure sounds interesting! I thought you wanted a music course in Poly?
Derek: Yes, I wanted to but I also thought about taking up Psychology Studies or some other humanity-based courses. If I'm not wrong, music courses [in Poly] require you to master at least one instrument which is a disadvantage for me. I would prefer music to design but since now I'm here in design, I feel it is something I'm able to handle just that it takes time to get used to it because I'm not really good at it and also the timetable screws up your social life and the world around you. I think there's a difference between what you like and what you can do. That's when you make the one you can do into something that you like.

Orange Magazine: Haha, very chim. I'm assuming design is something you can do, but not so well at, and music is something that you like?
Derek: Yes! You said it. I prefer performing anytime. Then again, there's a difference between something you indulge in and something you are able to do it.

Orange Magazine: Which subject have you taken or taking now is the most difficult?
Derek: Here in TP Design, we go by block teaching so we don't really know a certain subject at a glance until the start of a new block so that we will be introduced to a subject in depth on the first day. For me the one with the worst nightmare was 3D Art Fundamentals because I wasn't really prepared for the workload and everywhere I went, shoe racks were my nightmare - not now though.

Orange Magazine: We saw a clip of you performing at Far East Plaza earlier this year, how was your experience and tell us more about that belt across your hand.
Derek: I would say it was something different from my previous performances. About the belt, I was inspired to wear it around my hand after returning from China because I saw people actually wearing it at McDonalds and I really liked it. So I ordered a meal which came with a free belt and I removed the tag on the belt right before performance.

Orange Magazine: My favourite song off the set list was "Follow Me/If I Were A Boy (Reply)". Which was your most favourite song to perform?
Derek: Yes, i like that too. The song choices were great and it is really hard to say which song I like the best because each and every one had a different meaning to me, and the people around me, but if I were to choose I would be stuck between How To Save A Life/What Can I Do and Cool/Beyond The Sea. 

Orange Magazine: Will you consider performing again this year?
Derek: Come what may, really. It's almost like a tradition every year I perform. I love entertaining people. Technically, I didn't perform last year because it was pushed to early this year reason being timeslots were full. I can, however, choose a few songs to perform solo if I want to but I have something bigger in mind which I don't think it would be of any time soon.

Orange Magazine: Interesting! Will it be back to dancing?
Derek: It could be but now's still initial stages.

Orange Magazine: That would be great! Just a few other questions... What is that one invention from the past that makes you really appreciate?
Derek: Hmm... I would say the toilet. *laughters* Well I mean it is somewhere we take things for granted and laugh about it but it is a place that we really don't want people to see what we are doing inside and these days the toilets are so clean as compared to the past where others will collect the faeces in pails. It now flushes automatically for goodness sake!

Orange Magazine: *laughters* Which movie do you like the best?
Derek: The first movie that comes into mind is Enchanted because it's so interesting to compare reality and a prince-and-princess world. It makes people wake up more to see how we lived and how things are and have been. I'm not saying we should all start going up to a girl or a boy (if you're a girl for that matter) and claiming them to be your prince or princess, but say some people having to date for 7 years and still have not proposed, I think it's quite sad in a way. Then again, in reality there are so many obstacles we cannot avoid - be it financially, affairs, family restriction, etc. It's just so mad.

Orange Magazine: We heard that you recently went to Indonesia for a good cause?
Derek: Yes, I did. A friend of mine invited me to visit, alongside with some others from church, an orphanage home [Panti Asuhan Betesda] in Indonesia on 17 June and it was quite an eye-opening experience for my friends and I because this was the first time together going out of Singapore. Seeing so many smaller children living in such condition really made me feel as though the majority of us here [in Singapore] are taking things for granted. We were to spend some time with them but certain time clashed and we didn't had the full day there.

Orange Magazine: I would love to go too, did you take any pictures?
Derek: Unfortunately, no I did not take as much pictures as I wanted to because for a few reasons - mainly I was sick at that time and futhurmore, it was their place of living and I just didn't want to treat it as a tourist attraction. It just didn't felt right.

Orange Magazine: What was that one thing you remembered?
Derek: I could remember one of the boys, aged 6, came over and slept on my lap while I sat cross-legged after his performance in front of us. Also when they started praying with their eyes shut so tightly when each of the children received a box of food. These little gestures and signs really, as corny as it may sound, touched my heart. I was really moved.

Orange Magazine: Will you continue to do more charity work?
Derek: Yes I will, in fact I am considering of taking part in a trip to China this October but now is only the initial planning.

Orange Magazine: What do you intent to do after Poly?
Derek: I still have NS so in the meantime after Poly, I am thinking of taking up driving license and a few other courses like vocal lessons or so if possible and work part-time to try and support myself.

Orange Magazine: And after NS?
Derek: I would prefer to think it a step at a time, but from what I see in the people around me, it is quite nice to take a break after Poly (or NS) and get some work experience or so, have a little fun for awhile, before going back to school, which I hope to. I'm, however, still undecided if I should apply for a position in a higher education before NS or after NS.

Orange Magazine: What makes you embarrassed?
Derek: There are a lot! The main one is making a fool out of me when I am unable to react to a certain situation or question and trying to cover back up.Not being able to pass my friends' personalised quiz online ["How Well Do You Know" on Facebook] also makes me a little embarrassed.

Orange Magazine: Which celebrity do you like and why?
Derek: I would say Ellen DeGeneres because she's so comfortable with herself and when she's with others, which is a flaw I find in myself.

- end -