Learning to Cycle

I learnt to cycle when i was 9 years old, when my dad bought me my first bicycle.

Like all beginners, i was terrified - of trying to balance on the bike, trying to ‘peddle’, trying to take that first step.

My dad held on to the back of the bike and followed me around for a few rounds on the pavement. After the initial rounds, my dad suddenly suggested letting me try to cycle all by myself, without him holding on to the back of the bike. I screamed a firm ‘NO!’. I refused to let him out of my sight - I was terrified of falling, I needed him. Or so i thought.

So i began a new round, with the delusion that he was holding on to the back of my bike. In actual fact, my dad had let go and watched me cycle since the beginning of the round. And surprisingly, i was doing well. That is, until i realised he was no longer with me and i fell hard.

Years later, as i look back now, i realised this special memory of mine taught me an important life story: ‘Your capabilities are only limited by your own perception of what you can or cannot achieve.’ I thought i needed my dad to cycle but actually, i was already capable of doing so. I was only limited by my own perception of my capabilities.

Moral of the story: When you perceive yourself to be able to achieve something, you are already capable of doing so.

Believe in yourself, why don’t you? :D

________________________________________________

Recycled this post from Tumblr. HAHAHA I posted it on Tumblr first but i really love this post of mine, so i copied it here too.

It reminds me of this quote we always used to have in morning assemblies back at NJC:

“Whether you think you can, or you think you can't--you're right.”
― Henry Ford

Something along that line. It was recycled countless times during my 2 years at NJC and i thought they actually come up with new quotes every week!

LOL! Ok, gonna go to sch now. TODDLES. :D

Beautiful Target

Boo!

I realised that i seldom post my own pics up

So here's one with my Ignis shirt! ^^

So glad that hectic week is over!

On the last day, i was rushing my history essay till about 2am before my eyelids closed on me...

So, i woke up at 7am on the day itself to finish my essay.

Talk about last minute work! LOL.

Took this picture during history lecture!

All these candies are not mine! Ok, they were by the time this picture was taken...

But they were given by my professor!

Why? It was Candy Day! And yes, he bought enough sweets to give the WHOLE LT.

I love Dr Barnard <3

He's humorous, makes history so much more fun and he's so kind!

Before he gave us these candies, he narrated the reason:

' When i was doing my doctorate, my guiding professor always emphasized the importance of students. Even though as a professor, doing research and publishing books are part of the job but it's educating the students that truly makes me a Professor. So, thank you all and here's the least i can do for all of you who chose to take this module.'

- Dr Timothy Barnard

He's so sweet! I love teachers who puts their students in first place, that's the true purpose of being a teacher.

If only there are more teachers like him.

I've become deeply interested in perfumes after taking my PR module this sem.

And my favourite scent currently is Tuberose!

Omg, it's so intoxicating. <3

The perfume box shown is Do Son by Diptyque, it's a Tuberose Eau De Toilette.

I want to buy this! The scent is damn nice.

I fell in love with Tuberose the first time i smelt it in lecture, it gave me a warm whoozy feeling of 'falling in love'.

HAHA so cheesy but it's true!

My parents bought a car!!! o.O

HAHA Never expected them to.

My whole family went for a spin this afternoon...

It's actually nice to have a car finally.

Now i HAVE to get my driving license...

I'm addicted to B1A4's song 'Beautiful Target'

It's damn crazy and cute at the same time.

' ~~Oh my Beautiful Target, you zoom zoom my heart like a rocket. I like it, like it, like it~~'

XOXO

Zy :)

Short post!

I feel like i'm neglecting this space. LOL!

Am hooked on Tumblr! Not saying this little blog of mine is not good, but tumblr is so much more interactive.

I love quotes and pics and i can just continuously scroll down my dash to find fantastic reblogs.

<3

But, this blog will forever be a secret haven of mine.

I've had it since i was 13 years old and most of my inner deep secrets are recorded here.

Esp during my JC days.

From time to time, i'll look through my archives and find a different me.

Sometimes, i feel sad. Coz most of my JC peeps, i no longer keep in contact with them.

Alas, i'm a bit used to it too. Tons of people have walked into my life and then walked straight out.

I'm practically living this type of life nowadays - diff people in diff modules.

I guess, that's why people have more worries and are generally less happy as they grow older.

It's because they become lonelier.

This blogpost is going nowhere. I'm just randomly stating whatever comes to my mind. LOL!

Anw, this past few days have been quite an accomplishment for me!

I finished a 2500 words Pol Sci essay in 2 days! Not counting the week of research i did before.

Also, i've finished posting on my HY1101 Forum! Finally, no more forum posts for me! :)

Now, all that's left is another 1500 HY2232 essay due this Friday and my GEK presentation nxt wk!

Then it will be finals in less than a month time...

Not looking forward to finals but..... 3 months break after that!!!

WOOTS!

Did i mention this? I'm going to JAPAN in JULY! JJ<3

This 3 months break is gonna be the best EVER.

ShangHai in May, Japan in July.

Life's Good! :)

Little things in life, thats what makes me happy. :)

Pause.

Haven't had such a fun yet normal day in a long time.

Went to send Val's bro off at Changi Airport together with her family and Chilanan.

Had lunch together and the soup was awesome!

After which, we went to Vivo City to meet up with Joanne and we caught the movie: ' This means War'.

Gosh, Chris Pine is such a hottie!

He has the prettiest blue eyes i've ever seen!!

It literally draws you in.... *Screams* HAHAHAH

Having a crush on him now >.<

The movie was so-so but Lauren's friend was hilarious!

She was the joker of the movie man. LOL!

After the movie, Pam came to meet us for dinner.

It was a non-stop catch up sessions with the girls today.

We had a long talk about current affairs and the world after dinner...

It was nice to share opinions with them.

Makes me realize that we are all growing up and more politically aware.

Honestly, i think the transition from youth to adult is extremely exasperating.

Often, i'm left guessing what others are saying or their perception of me.

I must start watching my words and most of the time, i find my actions childish too.

But, that's just the way i am.

And i have no idea how to change what's ingrained in me for the past 19 years.

Perplexed, much?

Xoxo,

Zy

The last Samurai

I've been a fan of Tom Cruise for quite some time.

I find him so charismatic and his acting is so mesmerizing.

It's like he's able to portray any character given to him convincingly and draws the audience in.

So, as i'm taking the module on History of Modern Japan for this semester (which basically covers the Fall of Tokugawa period to Modern Japan), i've developed an interest to watch more historical movies or documentaries on Japan.

For the past 2 weeks, i've been following Discovery Channel which filmed 2 separate documentaries on 1942 Fall of Singapore and seishen the Rise and Fall of Japan.

Basically, about Japan's WWII and it was extremely interesting and heartbreaking at the same time.

Often, i wonder how human beings are able to commit such atrocities against one another.

Quoting one Japanese soldier who survived: ' We are hired to kill another human, whom we have never met and a complete stranger, and we have to kill them or else they will kill us.'

To me, it's a zero-sum game. NOBODY wins, everybody loses.

Currently, i'm watching 'The Last Samurai', a 2003 movie starring Tom Cruise.

I've watched the movie twice before, but never intentionally and since i didn't have any historical background on Japan then, the movie was a bore and i don't remember any details from it.

So, i'm watching it again. Haha

It's about the Satsuma Rebellion during the Meiji Restoration period, when the Samurais fought one last losing battle against the Meiji government to restore their honor and prestige as the Samurai class.

Still at the beginning of the movie, hence no comments yet.

However, i've heard from others that its a heavily Americanized and commercialized movie, but i'm still gonna enjoy the movie for what it is!

May write a review on it if i find the time.

As a side note, i'm finally on my recess week!

A much needed break from my hectic semester, had my mid-terms for the past 2 weeks and i was mugging non-stop. :(

Also, i find it an achievement that i've yet to skip a single lecture for this term! :)

*Pat on my back* HAHAHA

Ok, back to my movie!

TATA

Before you know it

I dunno how others felt when 2011 'O level' results was released ytd,

but the first thing that came to my mind was:

' I'm not young anymore. OMG, i'm gonna hit the big 2 this year!'

o.O

Nostalgia filled my mind.

Still rmb the day i was taking my results.

Had a sleepover at Val house the night before and on the morning itself, we were so nervous that we drank red wine to calm our nerves.

HAHAHA

And when i received my results, i cried.

But it was stupid, coz i saw the wrong number.

I thought the number of subjects at the bottom of the slip was my L1R5, it was only till later did i realize that my result was in the envelope.

Lucky for me, my number of subjects = L1R5.

LOL! How dumb was i?

I cried tears of joy and it was my first and last time for a national exam.

O levels was easily my best result of all, much much better than PSLE or As.

The sad thing about SG edu is, it's focused much more on the results than the learning process.

Often when i look back and ask myself what i've gained from secondary and post-sec education, all i can rmb is mugging hard for exams.

Rote-learning, that's what they call it.

I had no idea WHY and HOW the knowledge came about, WHY i should study it and it's importance.

However, i believe there's no perfect education system.

Like what my father strongly believes in, SG's edu system is a fair assessment.

Resources are scarce for the growing population and the only way to allocate such scarce resources is through examination assessments.

'Survival of the Strongest' as what they say.

Good results = more opportunities = better career = higher pay = better living standards.

To those who did not score well,

I don't exactly understand your despair, because i've never been through that situation.

The only thing i can do is sympathize with you.

I'm not going to offer some over-rated condolences and cheer up msgs, because the truth is, your results matter, esp in SG.

However, one thing that i do agree with is it's not the end of the world.

There are always choices and solutions, no matter how bleak a situation is.

Retake Os($), private diploma($$), studying overseas($$$) ($$ in increasing order).

Is SG meritocratic?

No. The $$ that your parents have determines your opportunities to a certain extent as well.

But it's as meritocratic as it can be, however unfair as it seems.

Life's unfair the moment you were born.

As long as there are winners, there will be losers.

Maybe you are at the losing end now, but that does not necessary mean you will be always.

And that, is determined by your actions from now onwards.

Os in the past, your life awaits ahead.

Life has a purpose.

Hello 2012!

School has officially resumed, Year 1 Sem 2.

This semester, i'm taking 2 history modules. o.O

I know right? Honestly, i'm scared.

I don't really like writing essays as my language is not that strong.

And i can't really think critically.

However, i like history. I like reading history and i think it is the only subject that sort of attracts me.

So, HY1101E, HY2232, PS2240, GEK1002 and PR2202.

The last is a pharmacy mod: Cosmetics and Perfume.

HAHA

Sounds interesting right?

Basically, think its very chemistry based.

A nice break away from my arts-heavy-readings core mods.

Decided not to take French 2 this sem.

Too time consuming and this sem, i'm more keen on deciding my major.

It'll either be political science or history.

Realised i have not updated on my daily life for a long time.

Has been whining and emo-ing over my skin for the longest time.

Not saying the problem is solved, but i miss the normal daily updates on just life.

Just living the simple life.

The Simple Life, how much i miss you so.

This Semester, i'm going to be brave. The bravest i've ever been, unleash my strong inner soul.

I know it's there. Just believe, you can do it.

You can. :)