It's true

"He may live in my memory as the most amiable man of my acquaintance, but that is all. I have nothing either to hope or fear, and nothing to reproach him with. Thank God! I have not that pain. A little time therefore - I shall certainly try to get the better. I have this comfort immediately, that it has not been more than an error of fancy on my side, and that it has done no harm to anyone but myself."

- Jane Bennet, Pride and Prejudice

Olympiad

Months ago Mr. Elvin signed up four of us from our class for this Mathematics Olympiad. Apparently it's a big-ass competition held simultaneously in every district. The winner gets to go overseas, for the next stage.

I had to go forgo a writing competition on the same day for this crap but I signed up for maths first. So, I chose maths over writing. Me. Going for maths. ME. Ha. Ha. This is what they send to represent our school. Me.

I went with Edbert Lim and Cheong Tzen Ren and this cool girl named Chalystha Lee.We met up in the canteen where Ernest and not Ernest from the F5/6category were practicing add maths questions. 

I didn't study. I felt guilty about it but I've been to a maths quiz like this before in primary school. And I had this niggling feeling it would be the same. I was sure the questions wouldn't be syllabus-based.

Or maybe yesterday I was just too busy playing The Sims 3 the whole day and then watching football.

Mr. Elvin took me, Cha and the bird while En. Khairul took Tzen Ren, Ernest and not Ernest. The two F6 girls were meeting us there. (In case you're wondering, I didn't know what the other F5 Chinese guy's name was, so I shall just call him not Ernest.)

Once we were there at UiTM in Shah Alam, we saw a whole load of capable-looking students (some came in busloads, there is no limit to the amount of teams you submit, but you have to pay a whopping RM50 each). We F4's had been gassing and fooling around the whole journey there (shamelessly aided and abetted by Mr. E - "Messi looks very messy") and started freaking out.

"Tzen Ren, can you please tuck in your shirt? You look embarrassing."

"I should have brought my tie!"

"Ohmigod, they're all studying."

"That girl has an Olympiad book. Like, a book on Olympiads."

"I should've worn my specs."

"Give me a book, give me a book! I need to look like I'm studying."

And then the private Chinese school people started arriving, you know, those geniuses, with no nametags only serial numbers sewn onto their clothes. The Cina ones with specs and shorts and look like sticks. (There was one who was positively two-dimensional.)

"The ones with short pants always win," said Mr. Elvin significantly, making us figure knee exposure must factor into the equation somehow.

The 2.5 hour paper consisted of 9 questions, 3 of which you needed to show working. I answered 4, and two of them are probably wrong. This was the easiest question:

A meeting was held at a round table. Twelve women had men sitting on their right side. Seven women had women sitting on their right side. 75% of the men had women sitting on their right side. How many people were sitting at the table?

The rest had equations and x's and triangles and angles and are so complicated I don't even remember them. I was right, though. They weren't syllabus-based. They were akjdroiuaeriairuaoirueoiuzlsdkjf-based.

Part of my working, for one question. One.

And then I kinda gave up and wrote some crap down instead.

We rode home with En. Khairul, Ernest in the front while Chalystha, Edbert, Tzen Ren and I squeezed at the back. We had a lotta fun singing to songs and squashing the boys a-purpose everytime the car took a left-turn.

Anyway, thanks to the three of them, the day turned out bearable. I've come to depend on my classmates so much, I don't know how to act around other people.

I decide not to post anything about football today.

And then I realise I have nothing else to blog about.

Damn.

Check out this article that's made me heartbroken. First Kaka, now Gourcuff.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/2010/0623/1224273110084.html

Nocturnality

Today I went back to school with exactly two hours of sleep behind me.

In the world of Lord of the Rings, death is considered a gift from God to all Men. I've no comment on that, but one thing I know for sure - sleep is a gift from God to all of us.

I couldn't sleep again yesterday, which pretty much sucked since I'd resisted ordering the best caffe latte in the world when we went out for our sixth Father's Day event of the day. So at 2.30a.m. what the heck, if I'm going to be deprived of restorative unconsciousness I might as well go and watch Kaka Brazil trash Ivory Coast rather than keep tossing and turning. Even half an hour after the match ended sleep still hadn't kicked in, and I was left to fume over the injustice of Kaka being sent off during the last five minutes for no apparent reason whatsoever. Well, there was a reason. Some idiot supposedly got elbowed in the chest by Kaka and rolled over the pitch clutching his face in agony until the stupid ref gave Kaka his second yellow card.

Ah yes, school.

Pigs like me, need sleep to function. The whole day my hands kept shaking of their own accord, I felt nervous and lightheaded, my face kept breaking out in sweat and I moaned of sleep until everyone around me probably felt like killing me. I got exam papers back (oh joy) and got betrayed by one of my own girls to Pn. Manjeet. I had to jam scalding roti planta down my throat because I was too hungry to wait 'til after recess when I would have more time. Pn. Sarala rebuked me for what she calls "not so good" marks while I had "you passed" scrawled on my 85/120 Physics paper while someone else who had just 5 marks higher than me had a "Good!" written on it. The cacti I gave my friends as souvenirs from Cameron Highlands "somehow" got their little cactusy-pricks lodged into my skin at the hands, arms, neck (and if you ask me face, legs and feet too). And now, I am at the computer fighting tooth and nail against the sleep that is beckoning to me because I want to be able to get a decent night's sleep for once.

But no, don't think of this as a rant, just recording down my day. I am... happy. It's what I've used to describe myself these past few weeks and today, it's not changed. I've no regrets watching the game because now I have a newfound liking for Brazil and I got a chance to see Kaka play that I'd miss in the upcoming matches. It was great getting back with ma girls, and I felt real glad that they liked their cacti. Although Nicole got a bit too enthusiastic - she killed hers. It's as good as dead now. And I got a uniquely lovely souvenir too, from Aqeemul's homenation, from Chaly. There was no maths today (!) and the weather was cooling. I got to listen to the guys discuss footie and talk boys with Pirevan.

Tomorrow is another issue altogether. But we take the days as they come - one at a time.

Good night

If you read this blog you probably gather I have had problems sleeping lately.

Now, I am going to go to bed.

(Which basically means begin the two-hour process of falling asleep.)

But it's so... sweet.

Chatting on msn with Philip, Gan and Chalystha and then having all three of them usher me to bed.

Or at least wish me good night.

It's just...

I like having friends like them.

They make me feel loved.

Yay, watched Prince of Persia again in the cinemas with PhilipTay.

This time not in "Digital 2D", and now I can tell what's the difference, because when I went for that 2D thing I didn't know what the hell it meant.

Can't they just say Hi-Definition instead?

Because that's what it is.

I really enjoyed re-watching the movie. I didn't fall asleep, even though I'd stayed up to watch the 2.30am game again that morning without the help of caffeine.

Thanks for taking me out Philip! :D Now I know you read my blog! I hate it when people do that, read my blog and not let me know. Awesome way to spend some of my second-last day of freedom.

One day I'll blog on what makes rewatching movies so enjoyable to me.

Not today. Going to makan now.

Mocha match

Yesterday night, smart-ass me decided to go out for drinks with the family just before midnight. I was even smarter when I ordered a mocha, when I know it to be a caffeinated chocolate drink. Caffeinated. C'mon, Jacie. COFFEE. Sigh.

I ended up watching the France-Mexico game. I couldn't sleep obviously, so I crept into my parents bedroom (where the TV is) and watched the 2.30 a.m. game all by myself. Because obviously mam and dad were sleeping. Like normal people would be.

I've never really watched a whole match supporting a particular team before. And now I have. I didn't even realise I was supporting France until I noticed I was aching for France to score a goal. And I nearly died of embarrassment when Mexico scored. And felt doomed when Mexico scored again. Why was I supporting France? I see now the answer is simple.

Yeah, remember him? The ooberly hot French player. Yoann Gourcuff.

But he wasn't even effin' playing yesterday. (WHY WASN'T HE? THAT'S WHY THEY LOST!) So maybe it was more of the fact that Mexico played freakin' dirty the whole time.

Or not.

So that was my first experience of supporting a team throughout a match. Because my team lost, it was agonising, humiliating and just downright painful. Immediately after the match ended at 4.30a.m. (!) I hauled my disgruntled self to bed.

I wonder how you guys do it all the time.

Anyway, I'm going to re-watch Prince of Persia tomorrow with Philip. 

Yay!