Week- In Review

This is another week in review...

Performance @ HCI by Ms Chisato Kusunoki.

We had a performance by a renowned pianist, Ms Chisato Kusunoki. She was in Singapore to perform at the Victoria Concert Hall on Thursday, 7.30 pm. The performance was called "From Russia with love". She was featured in Monday's Life!, part of the Straits Times. The article was " 20th Century, here I come" by Christa Yeo. The article featured an 8 Questions interview with Ms Chisato Kusunoki.

She performed for the Sec 1s during the Sec 1 Assembly. She performed several short pieces, including:

1. Rachmaninoff, Six moments musicaux
2. Scriabin, Sonata no. 3
3. Tchaikovsky, The seasons
4. Liapunov, Etudes d' exécution transcendante

A Grand Piano was set up on the stage for the performance. I must admit that it was the first time I saw a grand piano being played... The music sounded wonderful. Ms Chisato Kusunoki was also quoted as being "One was the most talented pianist (sic) of her generation" by The Oxford Times, which gave her five stars (*****).

Other News -

Facebook

I finally set up a Facebook account, after receiving numerous invitations from my friends. I started receiving these emails as early as 2008, but did nothing about it. I am actually, to a small extent, rather narrow minded. These are some examples:

1. Refusing to believe that the NDS (Nintendo Dual Screen) was good. I in fact believed that it had "Too many features for its own good" and I ignored the reviews about it and insisted it was "feature - overloaded" I hung on to this believe for 2 years before succumbing. I am now the proud owner of one NDS and about 6 games for it, excluding GBA (Gameboy Advance) games which are also compatible. I am planning to get more games... (Like Pokemon Heartgold and Soulsilver, As well as Pokemon Black and White.


2. Being a rejector of Windows Vista. I disliked it from the start, without even using it. I was convinced that XP (operating system) was still the best, etc, etc... I finally gave in when the XP computer at home wen Kaput. At the time, all computers (desktop or laptop) for sale were loaded with Windows Vista. I currently use a Desktop with Vista. Although it acts up sometimes, it is better than XP in term of convenience. For Example, the quick search box (in the start menu) helps me find programs and files more quickly, which was troublesome when the Start menu got cluttered in XP. I am now convinced that Vista is the best thing since sliced bread.

3. I finally gave in and set up Facebook. I did not like it at first because I thought that:

1. It's too Addictive.
2. If you meet your friends daily, why would you need to talk to them on FB?
3. It's Useless.
4. Having 500 friends on FB meant that you had none in Real Life...
5. Etc.

However, I am now a FB Convert. While it is true that it is all of the above, to some extent, it's not that bad. I currently play some games on it, Including -- Mafia Wars, Petville (my sister forced me to join), Cafe World, Mousehunt (Doesn't Everyone), Ghost Trappers, and Backyard Monsters (My Fav!). I now have something in common with my friends, such as the FB games. Also, I use it to keep in touch with my CCA, SJAB and my friends from other schools. My class also has a FB group to keep in touch about... Homework...


I have a Flickr account for my IS ePortfolio


I now have a Flickr photostream @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/ng_jonathan_sy/ . It contains all my Campus Photos of Hwa Chong! It is also part of the ePortfolio assignment for IS, which is also meant to help us learn about embedding new media. 

Eye Infections

Lastly, I got an eye infection. My eye kept producing a sort of whitish liquid, which had the consistency of slime. When I went to sleep and woke up, my eyes were glued together!! The liquid had evaporated, leaving a residue on my eyelids which "fused' them together. It was a bit painful pulling it off. I got an MC from the Doctor. My eye infection was so bad that I had to miss the HCINY CSM... (Hwa Chong - Nanyang Combined Sports Meet) :(

That's all for this week!

Week In Review - iSpark 18

This week, several things will be happening (or have happened). This is a "week in review" update of my blog.

IT problems

"My computer has epic problems. Google Chrome can't connect to the Internet, so I'm stuck with IE... Also, Norton Internet Security disappeared off my taskbar, and when I run it, a tiny window pop ups." - Post from last week.

Good News!! The problems are fixed. I uninstalled and reinstalled Chrome, but to no avail. Then, I uninstalled and reinstalled Norton. It worked. After that, I reinstalled Chrome, finally, it worked, allowing me to use Chrome again.

Sabbatical bidding for Term 2

Round 1&2 of Sabbatical bidding have been completed. I am not sure what my allocated course is, but I succeeded in the first round!

Maths Test and Other Tests

Maths results have come back... I got 31/40. The test was about Indices and Binary numerical System.

Also, the dreaded Chinese Results have arrived... I passed barely with 53/100...

AAP Photomontage presentation

Me and my partner presented our AAP photomontage in class. "Identity of a Hwa Chong Boy" It was quite good. Another group also presented "Game Over" (Theme: Conflict). It was hilarious and left the class in stitches.

That's all for now...

Week In Review - iSpark18

This week, several things will be happening (or have happened). This is a "week in review" update of my blog.

IT problems

Firstly, the most prominent thing - My computer has epic problems. Google Chrome can't connect to the Internet, so I'm stuck with IE... Also, Norton Internet Security disappeared off my taskbar, and when I run it, a tiny window pop ups. The window cannot be expanded, but can be moved around and closed. I ended up uninstalling Google Chrome, but I can't reinstall, since Norton Firewall is blocking it AND I can't run Norton to disable the firewall... Also, my favourite Online dictionary is down!! Woe is Me.

Sabbatical bidding for Term 2

Sabbatical bidding started yesterday. Our Sabbatical for Term 1 was the Annual Sec 1 Camp as well as the Research Studies Programme. However, for Term 2, we get a five day course on a topic of our selection. The courses including things like "Science Eureka", "Intro to fencing", etc... However, we had "bidding points" to bid. We would start with 1000 points. Points can be carried to the next year, and points are credited for lower MSGs, while Points would be subtracted for each demerit point - 1 demerit point - Subtract 100 Bidding points.
There are two rounds of bidding. If you still do not get a course after that, you will be placed in Sabbaticals with vacancies.

AAP lesson... Something different

We had our AAP Lesson in Space today (IT block). It was a departure from the AAP classes which are usually in class. While in Space, there were three activities we had to do (or games we had to play, if you want to be frank):

1. 
   A sort of Musical Chairs, but different - Each of us we assigned a Fruit Name (Mango, Jackfruit, Durian, and One more which I can't remember). There would be 23 Chairs for 24 people. Thus, the standing person would yell a fruit, or "Fruit Salad" which required all the fruits to get up. The learning point of the game was that Volume is important when speaking, especially when in a big room. (This game resembles "Blow Wind Blow")
2. 
   Broken Telephone Read the link. (The learning point was that when speaking, you have to be more articulate, and do not giggle or make noises when talking)
3. 
   Lying. We took turns to stand in front of the class and tell 2 lies and one truth. It was quite fun, and our teacher said that we were harder to decipher when we were lying - Most people fidget only during the lie and not during the truth, but we fidgeted all way through... (Learning point - Body Language is important)

That's all for now...

P.S 1i3 had a Math's test today... More details Later...