k its been a real cold day!

when i saw on the news last night tt it was 29 degrees fehrenheit (approx -1 deg celcius) in chicago downtown, i was like, whoa? isnt it near spring break already? when is the spring really comin then?

but i got to feel it myself today. for the past few days, ive been transportin stuff by hand n foot to our place from my uncle's place where we still reside. each day, theres some kinda delivery, mon was bed, tues was tv, n today was supposed to b some more furnitures but the ppl arent here yet. hmmm, wonder if they're comin at all.

wait, here they are! speak of the devil!

be back later guys

Final Score from St. James' Park;
UEFA Cup Fourth Round 1st Leg
Newcastle United 4
Craig Bellamy (67th)
Alan Shearer (71st)
Laurent Robert (74th)
Titus Bramble (84th)

Real Mallorca 1
Fernando Correa (57th)

Yes, YES! wat a comeback from one nil down! wit this scorelines, it's v unlikely that mallorca will stage any thrashing in the 2nd leg, meaning, the toon army's probably through the the quarter finals! might hav real chance of winnin the cup if they continue to play this way! its been a long time since we played well in cups, actually not really, we were gunnin for QF place in the champs lg last season, but its gd to b in tt kinda position. woohoo, feels real gd!

Howay The Lads!

i finally got the DVD of Rage Against The Machine's last concert in Grand Olympic Auditorium n it rocks. Tom Morello is juz a genius. how can anyone make the impossible of sounds juz wit an amplifier n an electric guitar? only he can do it. n to top it off, he's a harvard graduate. n a rock star. n a political activist.

anyway, was contemplatin buyin the audio cd version of the concert, but decided for the DVD, since u can see the performance n it doesnt sound tt gd on audio only basis. n i dun regret tt. it would hav sounded quite bad, wit all the ppl screamin n all. plus, the DVD has additional footage of the band performin right next to the democratic national convention 2000.

i think for a political band like RATM, the biggest prize/accolade would b voicin out ur political stand right next to an election, such as the Democratic/Republican national convention or the presidential election. n i think RATM is the only one to hav succeeded in doin such a stunt. i mean, think about it, political activity wit thousands of people attendin the concert n juz across the road, bunch of senators, governers n politicans are conferencing.

tts like the grammy for political bands. or the hall of fame for tt matter.

but when i look at their performances n the hard core 'fans', i wonder how many of em actually care about RATM's political views. i cant help but shrug the feelin tt most of the fans listen to them coz they're a good n talented rock band; not because of their shared political views. i mean how many people are strong political activists n also a heavy rock listener rite?

my first RATM songs were 'guerilla radio' n 'wake up'. i didnt know wat they were sayin till i read their lyrics. after tt, i was blown away. they've kinda fuelled my desire for free speech, mayb tts y i was a lil too liberal wit the way i expressed things, be it among friends, in school, to people of higher authority. a rebel with a cause, tt was wat i am. unlike ppl who make a scene juz for fun n no other reason but cheap thrill.

even tho theyve broken up years ago, they still fuel my views on the u.s. government's treatment of policies n constitutions. in a good sense. im really gonna b like those college boy ive seen in shows, those who hav an opinion n not afraid to voice it. is tt gd or bad? not sure yet.

anyway, juz a section from one of their hits 'no shelter'

"american eyes, american eyes
view the world from american eyes
bury the past, rob us blind
n leave nothing behind"

guys, im back...

our new pc is up n running.

tho im still usin the old 56k modem wit AOL connection.

i'll b gettin cable v soon, then i can unleash this monster of a computer...

its specs..?

AMD Athlon XP 3000+ (comparable to Intel P4 2.8-3.0 GHz)
160GB HD
512MB DDR SD RAM
48x CD-RW/16x DVD-ROM
5 USB Port
8-in-1 Media Reader (Secure Digital, Smart Media, CompactFlash, Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO, Microdrive, Multimedia Card, USB)
64MB NVIDIA GeForce4 MX Graphic Card
nForce 6 Channel Sound Card
17' Flat Panel Screen
10/100 Mbps Ethernet

its more than enough to handle everythin really...

but its futile w/o the DSL or LAN line..

urgh...

so lets see all the official credentials ive accumulated so far. been handlin all these stats for uni applications for the past 5 months or so.

Singapore-Cambridge G.C.E. 'A' Levels

General Paper - C5
Japanese - A1
Chemistry - E
Mathematics C - B
Physics - C

Singapore-Cambridge G.C.E. 'O' Levels

Additional Mathematics - A2
Chemistry - A2
English Language - A2
Geography - B3
Japanese - A1
Mathematics D - A2
Physics - B3

College Board SAT I

12/2002

Verbal - 540
Math - 650
Total - 1190

10/2003

Verbal - 490
Math - 670
Total - 1160

College Board SAT II - Subject Tests

11/2003

Maths Level IIC - 760
Physics - 670
Writing - 590

Japanese Language Proficiency Test

Level 1 awarded on 03/2003

Level 2 awarded on 03/2002

Truth Is A Whisper by Goo Goo Dolls

Truth is a whisper and only a choice
Nobody hears above this noise
Always a risk when you try and believe
I know there's so much more than me

Yeah I got caught in the ruse of the world
It's just a promise no one ever keeps
And now it's changing while we sleep
And no one can see

You know all I am
Feel this moment in you
You know all I am
Can you teach me to believe in something

Sometimes you choke on the smell
Just to breathe
I need to question what I need
Rhythm of silence
That beats through your mind
Still you forget what you deny

Yeah I got caught in the ruse of the world
It's just a promise no one keeps
And now it's changing while we sleep
And no one can see

You know all I am
Feel this moment in you
You know all I am
Can you teach me to believe in something

Who's the one you answer to
Do you listen when he speaks
Or is everything for you
And do you find it hard to sleep
Or is it easy on your own
Will you ever find some peace
Before you're gone

You know all I am
Feel this moment in you
You know all I am
Can you teach me to believe in something

fuck...

juz got an email from georgia tech tt i hav to submit my final grades for the year.

n that could influence their final decision.

i dont get it.

if they already said they admitted me, then how can they try to reject me based on the final grades?

now i hav a major reason to b concerned about....

someone please kill me coz i dunno wat the fuck happened.

n im not kidding.

its like my whole world turned upside down.

i think being accepted to georgia tech n umass before my A level results were out was probably a blessing in disguise or something.

i mean by right, my results shouldnt make shit difference. but i'd still wanna b proud of the effort i put in. esp from a subject tt has become a firm favourite of mine in the recent years.

n after all that, I get a C. of the only one subject i was convinced i would get the only A i could dream of gettin in the A Levels. i dont care if i got a surprise B in Maths. i would trade that for E to get an A in physics. but i didnt. u guys all know i gave up on my chem ages ago. so u would find it funny to find out tt im more bothered about gettin a C for physics than gettin an E for chem.

i... i am juz speechless.

my worst case scenario included physics as a B. wat could possibly hav went wrong? the only mistakes i recall r the practicals and omitting some definitions. dont tell me that cost me an A n got myself a C.

believe me, i wanted an A for phy til an extent tt i dont mind gettin two Fs for the other two.

so i dunno wats going on.

fuckin hell...

i shouldnt b bothered... since its more or less confirmed tt im goin to an established engineering school. but it hurts. it hurts so bad. coz i dont understand y. im fightin back tears. n findin it hard to battle such a simple thing.

i need time to get over this supposedly trivial matter. a long time i mean.

dont expect me to b bloggin for some time. i need some coolin off. ah fuck it, its not like ive been bloggin regularly these few days.

now where r those CDs... i need my goo goo dolls... and coldplay...

Final Score from St. James' Park;
UEFA Cup Third Round 2nd Leg
Newcastle United 3
Alan Shearer (194th)
Shola Ameobi (47th & 89th)

Valerenga 1
Erik Hagen (25th)

Aggregate Score 4-2 in favour of Newcastle

Ameobi attacks..! secured place in fourth round, it will get nasty n tougher from here. wonder who will be the next opponet in fourth round.

hey guys...

sorry there hasnt been much updating. my uncle's takin real estate classes n he juz finished his exam today, so i can finally get myself updated wit the news n reply to people, n of course, to blog.

so i guess i missed my blog's half year anniversary then. 6 mths isnt much. 1 yr will b. by then i would b gettin prepared for college.

ah, university update. i got rejected by purdue. coz accordin to the letter that went to singapore, dad said that they could not assess my academic records fairly and on that basis, could not grant me admission. i knew it was comin. i mean, how many people apply as u.s. citizen n provide british standard academic results? (i guess its only me) so on that note, i cant blame purdue, since they're assessin american high school format n they would definately find it hard to compare that to wat ive gone through. but then again, they could refer my case to the international committee but grant admission rite? ah heck, no pt arguing.

so since that happened wit purdue, im afraid im expectin more rejections. coz i bet many other schools will also have probs assessin my grades n curricula. now my hopes are only on three unis. univ of california - berkeley, univ of illinois at urbana-champaign and univ of michigan - ann arbor. actually only berkeley n urbana-champaign will prevent me from goin ahead to georgia tech. only coz their engineerin department is better than georgia tech's. the only way to move is up. since its only MIT, stanford, berkeley, caltech n urbana-champaign tts better than georgia tech, it makes no sense to go to a uni tt has a department tts below the georgia tech standard.

i think its a blessing in disguise. i always tell myself n other tt i'll transfer. but i get this feelin tt i might stay on n get my bachelors from georgia tech ultimately. if possible, n i mean if possible, then the only 4 schs i'll apply as a transfer will b MIT, Stanford, Berkely or CalTech. it'll b easier to hop onto graduate schs from those 4 schs afterwards. ultimately, its the name that matters, as we've all come to know.

yep, tts it for my uni update.

my bro finally started sch today. he's in grade 9 (sec 3) but the yr will finish in couple of months. wats amazin is tt even tho he's in grade 9, at the end of the day, he takes a maths class that is actually intended for grade 10. he's one of very few students who does tt. so in tt sense, his math is his strong pt. ive found out more bt the high school system here n its v interesting. they take a single science subject for the whole year. not like us, who took 2 or 3 science subject each yr. example, my bro takes bio for the rest of the yr. he then takes chem for the whole of next yr n only phy for the year after. for his final yr in high school he'll do AP science for 2 or 3 science subjects tt he has learned durin the past 3 yrs. i think thats quite reasonable.

but wat i wasnt happy wit was the advisor group. my bro was supposed to start sch last wk. coz they needed paperworkd n a physical, he was delayed til yesterday. when everythin was set, we were told 7 o clock in the freezin mornin tt he couldnt start coz they required a second doze of MMR shot which was not certified in the medical records. the sch nurse could hav told us that last week! y on the last moment? i understand she was juz doin her job, but i tot tt was v unprofessional. i wanted to say somethin, but since it could affect hasib's enrollment, i decided to juz say nothin n b patient. hasib was visibly disappointed. god, a kid's first day in sch destroyed like tt? come on. but ah well, at least everythin went fine today. tt makes up for wat happened yesterday.

so now, its my mom n me left at home. i finished jeffrey archer's 'sons of fortune' its a terrific book, everyone should read it. archer's god in terms of novels that take two people's lives separately n then suddenly bump em into one.

so now i hav nothin to read. seein how hasib is advanced wit his maths, i decided to start studyin n put a good use to my time. so i started self studyin further maths. yea, i brought wit me the bunch of notes that i got from jonas. its gonna b useful now. since i dont hav much access to computer yet, i hav to delay the C++ thing, so wat else is there? maths. sickenin, but since it'll help me in the long run once i start uni, i tot i might as well.

yea, if not for that, the japanese acquaintance we made, Mrs. Oshiro takes us around places. mom does grocery shoppin n furniture shopping. n i play wit her son, Leo, 6. he was v quiet n shy, but he's seen me enough n now he runs around me, punchin me n all. he's v playful, but cute. i mean, apart from them, i hav totally no social life right now. gonna b takin my drivin written test next week, juz got the material, will b readin from tonight onwards. can u believe it, its so easy, Mrs. Oshiro said if i study for 1 week, its more than enough to pass. i was like, whoa. then comes the visual n hearin test, then the actual behind the wheel. i think i'll b gettin my licence by april or may. then the fun starts. yea.

yea, so its gettin a lil monotonous life, but its alrite. i can take it. its not unbearable. but its definately not like the life u guys r imaginin im leading. but yea, a change ive been seekin.

in a sense, i feel like im in a holiday. a long one.

but i guess i dont realise that it isnt.