Singapore Idol - Stage and Screen

This had to be the most controversial episode so far. Out of the Top 3 Finalists, only 2 will be competing on the Final Showdown on the Dec 1st, and 1 will be eliminated. It’s a tough decision, as they’re the Top 3 Finalists!

Sadly, 1 has to leave, and it turned out to be Olinda. She has the most strong and powerful voice amongst all other contestants. It’s such a pity she’s out of this competition, but someone has to go. It’s such a close fight. I was rooting for her to be the 1st Singapore Idol!

Now that Olinda has left, I will be rooting for, none other than, Sylvester! He can rock both the English and Chinese Idol World. I truly hope he’ll emerge as our very 1st Singapore Idol!

Now, I’m cracking my brains on how to get tickets to Singapore Idol - The Final Showdown. I’m taking part in most of the contests to win tickets. Hopefully, I can get a couple or so. I would really like to attend it. It’s going to be a blast on the 1st of December as Singapore decides who will be our very 1st Singapore Idol!

RPG - Maple Story

I have been playing this fairly new online RPG named Maple Story (MS in short). The trend had been going on for quite some time amongst some friends. Madeline had been complaining about her problems when signing up and logging into Maple Story. Blame IE.

Ok, back to MS. It’s more fun when compared to simple RPGs like Pokémon Y, R, B, G, Ag, Au, Sapphire and Ruby. I have been rather lucky, picking up ores almost every time I played MS. I seem to be addicted to MS, as I’d play it everyday, and every time, I’d play for at least 3 hours.

Being at level 13, I’m still in my beginner clothing. Pathetic huh? I’m planning to purchase them when my level increases. Hopefully, I could get my Magician armour by level 15. Speaking of armours, I hate the armour pigs! Only if I have the ability to kill them!

If you are also playing MS, look out for my character in the game. Add me as a buddy if you like. My character’s name is Dysprosium. No hackers or scammers, please. Your scams would not harm me as I would not fall for them.

I think I'm going to end my entry here. Time to play Maple Story now!

Tiger(s)

Looking at the computer table nowadays, I could see this (fairly) little tiger sitting on top of the scanner cover. It’s my little Bengal tiger plush from the Wildlife Fact File Co. Its bright, shiny, beautiful eyes are still in the flawless condition when I first received him. Sad thing is that his whiskers are curled up and slightly frizzy.

His default name is Benny, but my brother started calling him Richard Parker after he read the book entitled “Life of Pi” by Yann Martle. Whatever that is, Benny will remain as Benny. Remember, it’s his default name!

In my house, there’s a whole collect of tigers, from Benny, to the tigers from Esso Petrol Station, to tiger key-chains from Maybank. Tigers seem to be the most abundant creature in my house, contradicting the fact that tigers are endangered species.

I don’t know why am I posting this entry. I seem to be a little fascinated by tigers nowadays, especially with the adorable little Benny.

PS: Madeline, how’s your tiger plush from the Wildlife Fact File Co.?

Singapore Idol - Asian Pop

The results for tonight are just as I expected. The baby of the group, Daphne, has been voted out. She can sing, but someone has to go and it happened that she got the lowest number of votes.

Channel 5, for heaven’s sake, cut down the number of commercials in between the Singapore Idol shows! I wanted to listen to Daphne sing ‘I will Survive’ at the end of the results, but due to the lack of time, I only got to hear the introduction of the song!

There on the stage left the Top 3 Idol Finalists, namely Olinda, Sylvester and Taufik. Who will emerge as the Top 2 Finalists who will make it into the Final Showdown on the 1st of December at the National Indoor Stadium? Be sure to stay tune to Singapore Idol next week.

Sec. 3 Leadership Camp

I’ve finally returned to my Home Sweet Home from the Sec. 3 Leadership Camp (partially Torture Camp, I should say). Despite the unearthly date and time the Pastoral Care Department had set for the camp, it turned out to be better than I expected.

I’ve been allocated to Group 1, the 1st group on the list. My two facilitators, namely Susan and James, are rather friendly and helpful. They kindly allowed my group to sit under the shade after tent pitching, unlike some other groups who had to sit under the intense heat of the sunlight. Oh yar, I have to mention that the National Cadet Corps who taught us how to pitch a tent were rather inexperienced and (sorry to say) useless, especially this particular guy named James from 3 BN. He even has the cheek to state that he isn’t very familiar with tent pitching.

We headed for Shatec for the Social Graces and Western Dining Etiquette Workshop straight after dismantling the tents. It was the best component of the camp so far. The only problem is that the area got far too crowded and noisy when we exited the Shatec building. Lady Luck was smiling at me as I was in Group 1, the 1st group to board an air-conditioned bus, away from the heat and crowd. The evil side of me surfaced as I grinned gleefully at the rest of the students (who were still seated on the warm ground in the crowd and heat) when the bus drove past.

The ice breaker games could be considered challenging. Besides that, we had to come up with a group name and a group cheer. My group had not come up with a name when we entered LT 1. The facilitator-in-charge was kind enough to allow us extra time to think of a cheer, so he did not start from the norm when the groups supposed to share their cheers with the rest of the students.

Well, Johnathan came up with the group name ‘10 cents’ after he was inspired by the group ‘5 cents’. Our cheer? It goes like this : 10 cents, 10 cents, TWICE 5 cents. 5 cents, 5 cents, half 10 cents. 10 cents, 10 cents, 20 cents. This is just our common sense. That was just the primary version of the cheer. I’ll be posting the full version later on. The facilitator-in-charge ‘agreed’ to treat us to Starbucks if we managed to cheer the loudest. I remembered he promised the whole of group 1 a genuine Starbucks treat. We even made our orders e.g. Ice Blended, Cappuccino, Mocha, Latte, Espresso et cetera, but it turned out that every student who attended the camp had a ‘Starbucks’ treat - Hot Milo and some crackers.

I managed to clock in around 3 hours of sleep that night. It’s so uncomfortable sleeping on hard surfaces, unlike my comfy bed at home. The poncho I laid on the table didn’t help much either. To make matters worse, the air was still and humid. (If I were to compare my air-conditioned room to the classroom, one would be like heaven and the other would be hell respectively.) I would prefer to sleep in a more ventilated area.

Everyone had to wake up early as usual the next day. Breakfast was not that appetising , but it’s still edible though. I wouldn’t wish for better food, as this is the quality one should expect when camping. The day then started with Team Building games. Some of them were rather challenging, but overall, they’re pretty all right. I enjoyed the game at the 8th station (the scissors, paper, stone game) best. At least I have some integrity when playing the games, unlike some people who actually cheated and were boasting about it. Group 1 sure thrashed Group 2 at the 5th station (making of egg-protector). Group 2 had to perform the penalty specified by Group 1.

We had drained most of our energy by the time the Team Building games ended. A SWAT session was held thereafter. Lunch was served next. It was not appetising as usual, but I did finish my share. A sports water bottle was given as a souvenir for this camp. We were then told to fill up our bottles and assemble at the concourse as soon as possible.

The event that most people didn’t look forward to was next on the list - Survival Cooking. Our venue was at the Basketball Court! Very, very interesting, huh?! Each group had missing items in their boxes and the rule of the game is to barter trade. Since my group had an abundant amount of solid fuel and an extra stove, we decided to use these items to trade. Since solid fuel is a necessity for survival cooking, and we had two extra boxes of it, we ‘abused our authority’. One group offered us 1 can of sardines, with the trade of solid fuel. We agreed to some extent, made our specifications, which was 1 can of sardines, to ONE PIECE of solid fuel. Of course, without doubt, they declined our offer. From my analysis, even if they were to offer us 1 can of sardines, I don’t think it’s worth it to trade that with 1 full box of solid fuel. Subsequently, they had no choice but to offer us 2 canned food with the trade of 1 box of solid fuel.

The can-opener, listed as the most sacred item during this survival cooking, was what my group didn’t have. The ‘traders’ at the trading post wanted a 5 min performance from the group who wanted the can-opener. In the end, group 5, a.k.a Polar Bear, won the traders’ hearts with a silly performance of “She Bangs”. Thereafter, the shameless, petty and attention-grabbing facilitator of group 5, whose name is Louisa, came bouncing and running around the basketball court, holding the can-opener and chanting, “Wanna borrow the can-opener? You have to trade with us! Want the can-opener, give us a 5 min performance decided by us…” It’s totally outrageous, but it such a pity for that attention-grabbing Louisa as none of the other groups paid attention nor wanted to trade with her (Hahaha, my toes are laughing! Serves her right!). The traders offer my group the can-opener willingly without any performances nor trade. They were so impressed by my group’s determination and survival skills of opening the can with the use of a sharp blade. This shows that determination makes you a winner, not shameless, despicable acts.

Teik-ling and Hui Ting sure did a marvellous job explaining to the judges about the nutrition values of our survival meal. I could hear all that talk about carbohydrates, proteins, essential fats, dietary fibre, calcium, Omega 3 et cetera. It’s a job well done for both of them!

Hot, sticky and dirty after all that activities, we were given a 1 hour shower plus rehearsal break. After my shower, I returned to class and rehearsed for our performance. Our dinner only lasted around 15 min, but I managed to get a ‘full course’ meal, complete with a drink and dessert. We had to assemble at the concourse in our classes after dinner.

The Girl Guides led us to the respective places around the campfire. There were performances by most of the classes, and a simple little ‘contest’ named “Are you Hot?” Some of the contestants are the jokers of our level, with my emphasis of the two best friends, Chiaw Sang and Zhi Hao. Their answers to the questions were obviously FAKE! They, as usual, were being lame.

Prize giving was the last event before the campfire ended. Hooray, my group won the ‘Best Cheer‘. Now, to my group members: 10 ¢ , we‘re DEBEST!

My father drove Lin Hui to Eunos MRT Station that night before sending me home. This camp had been a new experience for me.

Last but not least, this is the full version of Group 1’s cheer:

10 cents, 10 cents, TWICE 5 cents. 5 cents, 5 cents, half 10 cents. 10 cents, 10 cents, 20 cents. This is just our common sense.

Aye! 一毛一毛一极棒 aye, ai yi ya yo!
五分不够上厕所 aye, ai yi ya yo!
五分那么 WEAK, 怎能和咱们比较 aye!

PS: For members or acquaintances of 5 ¢ , please understand that this cheer is not created by me. Any cases of related incidents, stories or characters, whether alive or dead, are purely coincidental.

PSS: To view the full version of the cheer, you may need to switch to Chinese Simplified (GB18030).

Who will be the 1st Singapore Idol? You fill in the _BLANKS_!

Ever since Singapore Idol started, I've been a regular viewer every week. From the auditions at Suntec City to the Final 75, 45, 30, then to the Piano Shows and there emerged the Final 9. The Wildcard episode was next, 3 more candidates had been voted to be in the Final 12.

The next episode was the Unsung Heroes Special, where 8 ‘unsung heroes’, who had showed courage and determination in pursuing their dreams, were invited to perform. Just as I expected, “Pink Lady”, Patrick (the Careless Whisper guy) and Jane could not sing a proper piece. The only ones who could sing were Roslina, Rocky and some other guy (whose name I’ve forgotten). The rest just lack the element.

The Spectaculars were next on the list, with the Final 11 (yes, Final 11, not 12) competing for the audience’s vote. It was such a pity that Jessea was voted out that night. She does have a powerful voice with great vocals and she indeed is a natural stage performer. I didn’t think Jerry could have done it better, but still he made it all the way to the Final 8, all thanks to Singapore’s votes.

Beverly and Jessea were the 2 who were voted out on the Spectaculars: Parent’s Choice. Next was David on the Spectaculars: Rock n’ Roll, followed by Jerry on the Spectaculars: Disco Fever, then Maia on the Spectaculars: My Favourite Idol. The most recent 2 who were voted out were Christopher and Leandra on the Spectaculars: Big Band and R&B respectively. Though seeing an Idol leave every week is a sad thing, I enjoyed every MTV the Idols had filmed for the Spectaculars.

We witness 1 Idol getting voted out each and every week. I have to agree on one thing, the choices are getting harder and tougher each week. Till now, on the stage stood the Final 4, who are Olinda, Taufik, Sylvester and Daphne. Who will be the 1st Singapore Idol? No one knows till the very end.

Now since Jessea had been voted out, I truly hope either Olinda or Sylvester will emerge as the 1st Singapore Idol! I’ll be giving them morale support till the final results show.

Bush V.S. Kerry - The Results

I’m just making this entry short and sweet. It had been confirmed, Bush will be having another 4 years as the US President. He had won Kerry by a meagre 2 votes, which was good news, at least to me and supporters of George Bush.

Kerry had made his conceding speech two hours before Bush made his victory speech. (source courtesy of Madeline) Well, now I can put some of my worries to ease, at least for now, since US Senator Kerry will remain as US Senator for another 4 years.

I bet Clinton and the Democrats were disappointed with the results, but what can they do to help? The answer: absolutely nothing.