Constituents.

 The Singapore Spirit - Confidence, Competence, Determination, Trust. -PM Lee

Eminent Goodbyes.

 The cover flips and the pages lay bare

So tells a life we've yet to share

We pull them apart as we take firm hold

For two summers ago our story unfolds

And so we sat around and we talked all day

'Bout whether our life had been all work and no play

Then we talked about times when we were fooling around

And  we talked about the days we hung out about town

Well if you've got something to say you'd better say it right now

Cause there won't be another day when we are all around

Be it just a little thank you for being the class clown

Or that you really broke my heart when you left without a sound

And we realize that there's no more time to spend

No more singing to songs and jumping hand in hand

No more laughing at scandals that just don't make sense

No more loving each other for being so dense

Now that our story is nearing its end

The ink has gone dry as the last page descends

Our friendship forever will guide our hands

As we write this last word to our pledge as friends..

Come this year end, we'll be parting our ways.

Till that very day, and henceforth, we'll always remain, friends. 

Beautifully written, Weiming. (:

---

What it gives to see a shadow of a smile on the most haggard of features.

Or to hear the ever-so-beautiful chime of baby's laughter.

Time, it's a thing that humanity has always tried pursuing. 

Yet we'd never caught up to it.

I'm unable to fathom how many more Sunday's I'll be able to see your smile.

To hold on to your frail hands, hear you speak, albeit a little slowly.

Hospital, home, home, hospital. I've lost count, too.

The wait till the end. It's a tough, long one. We'll be there beside you.

Prelude to the end.

I'm not where I'm going to be, but I'm on my way.. Gradually, eventually, I'll get there.

The last of written tutorial assignments Hwa Chong has to provide. Economics, Math, Chemistry, last but not least, Biology. It struck me during GMO tutorial today how short of time, or in essence, the length of time before we'd surmount all challenges to take the A's in a few months time. And after that, it's really a matter of each for oneself. We'd split ways, pursue our own passions. And it is a thing that few would look forward to, the day of parting, for it is always a hard task.

We've came this far these two years, had so much to say, had so much more we wanted to say, but alas, time and tide waits for none. The clock's ticking down to the final count.

---

Sing, dance, cheer; be merry.
For I'm sure, as much as one feels out of place and unloved,
There will always those whom value and treasure you for what you are worth.
Cheer up. (:

First Steps.

First steps. Out of painful yesteryear.

---

Glee Cast - Defying Gravity

Something has changed within me

Something is not the same

I'm through with playing by the rules

Of someone else's game

Too late for second-guessing

Too late to go back to sleep

It's time to trust my instincts

Close my eyes: and leap!

It's time to try

Defy gravity

I think I'll try

Defy gravity

Kiss me goodbye

I am defying gravity

And you won’t bring me down!

I'm through accepting limits

''cause someone says they're so

Some things I cannot change

But till I try, I'll never know!

Too long I've been afraid of

Losing love I guess I've lost

Well, if that's love

It comes at much too high a cost!

I'd sooner buy

Defying gravity

Kiss me goodbye

I'm defying gravity

I think I'll try

Defying gravity

And you won’t bring me down!

I'd sooner buy

Defying gravity

Kiss me goodbye

I'm defying gravity

I think I'll try

Defying gravity

And you won't bring me down!

Bring me down!

---

Education fills the individual.  Yeah. The mind, and the stomach. I'm growing fat!

Sunday Night Reads.

Reading, it takes the mind beyond physical boundaries; you traverse miles across the sea, into and out of parallel universes, back into the past, back into the present. All in the comfort of home. (:

Aye, guilty as charged. I should be studying.
But I'll make up for lost time, I will.
What's better than spending a Sunday evening snuggled up reading.
Studying? No way. Heh ;D

---

Never judge a book by it's cover, they say. Aye, true it is.
It's a children's fantasy novel, but no one, no one could ever claim that nothing can be garnered from such enjoyable reads. Especially one as chilling, and heartwarming as this 288 paged book could bring.

Excerpt, The Graveyard Book, Neil Gaiman
Leavings and Partings:

     'Hullo, Mother,' said Bod.
     Mistress Owns rubbed her eyes with a knuckle, then dabbed at them with her apron, and she shook her head. "Do you know what you're going to do now?" she asked.

     "See the world," said Bod. 'Get into trouble. Get out of trouble again. Visit jungles and volcanoes and deserts and islands. And people. I want to meet an awful lot of people.
    Mistress Owens made no immediate reply. She stared up at him, and then she began to sing a song that Bod remembered, a song she used to sing him when he was a tiny thing, a song that she had used to lull him to sleep when he was small

'Sleep my little babby-oh
Sleep until you waken
When you wake you'll see the world
If I'm not mistaken...'

'You're not,' whispered Bod. 'And I shall.'

'Kiss a lover,
Dance a measure,
Find your name
And buried treasure...'

Then the last lines of the song came back to Mistress Owens, and she sang them to her son.

'Face you life
Its pain, its pleasure,
Leave no path untaken'

'Leave no path untaken,' repeated Bod. 'A difficult challenge, but I can try my best.'
     He tried to put his arms around his mother then, as he had when he was a child, although he might as well have been trying to hold mist, for he was alone on the path.
     He took a step forward, through the gate that took him out of the graveyard. He though a voice said, 'I'm so proud of you, my son,' but he might, perhaps, have imagined it.
     The midsummers sky was already beginning to lighten in the east, and that was the way that Bod began to walk: down the hill, towards the living people, and the city, and the dawn.
     There was a passport in his bag, money in his pocket. There was a smile dancing on his lips, although it was a wary smile, for the world is a bigger place than a little graveyard on a hill; and there would be dangers in it and mysteries, new friends to make, old friends to rediscover, mistakes to be made and many paths to be walked before he would, finally, return to the graveyard or ride with the Lady on the broad back of her great grey stallion.
     But between now and then, there was Life; and Bod walked into it with his eyes and his heart wide open.

A B C D sing it with me.

Damned, I knew kids today were something special, but this?

Domo Arigato.

Flight to greater heights; 18, and counting

Life ain't about how hard you get hit, it's about how hard you can get hit and can keep moving forward.
It doesn't take much effort to gripe at one's failures or lament at one's skinned knees after a fall; but neither does it require much to put a smile on another's face.

It could be words of encouragement, a simple picture film, an inspirational video. A congratulatory message. A string of words, followed by a smile. Sufficient to light up one's day; bring a smile to one's face, chase away the gloom, light up a path ahead. No, it isn't the quality that counts, more of the whom, that plays the big difference. And of course, every year brings new perspective, it brings back fond memories as we recollect whom we used to be, who we are, and what the future might envision.


'The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It'll beat you too your knees if you let it.'

Yeah, so be it. There is no relish in a perfect existence. We strive towards blissful existence, amidst storm clouds and pouring rain. It might just be contended that the journey before the storm breaks, before we catch a glimpse of the oh-so-elusive rainbow or feel the rays of the sun that is actually of more significance. That I have to agree. And so, we don't let any adversities best us, do we?

Arigato; Merci; Danke; Thanks. To those whom have lit up my year with many smiles, been there to weather personal storms, provide the umbrella and a shoulder of support under the pouring rain. To those whom I've shared laughs with, had meals together with, hung out together with. Times change, people change. Feelings, some do, some don't. Time, it's a curious thing;  it might just be circular, it might run just straight on. People enter, leave, come, go, enter. Some stand out, others not as much. In, out and about your life. But to those whom have came into my life, bettered it, a heartfelt thanks.

Fall yes, lose oneself yes, but with the aid of others, picking yourself up isn't really that arduous a task.
I've a long way to go, loads more to learn.
Scarred, winded, thrashed up, but it was definitely worth it. (:

I'd treasure the 17, no, now 18 years of this glorious life. Come what may, come what will. I'll take it head on.

Thannkkkyouu x)

---

A really inspirational video to keep one going. What it takes, to be yourself.

Don't let anybody tell you what you can't do. They can't do it, they want you to believe you can't do it too. World's full of hope, don't let the pessimists be a bad influence. Happy Birthday man.

Many thanks, Leonard. (: