Sunday, March 20, 2011

Speech !

                                                        (Youtube uploader: corey11689)

This video is about Ellen DeGeneres when she was doing stand-up comedy in her earlier career. Her speech was titled "Waving to someone you don't know". She talks about people calling out to someone they recognised as their friend, but actually it was the wrong person. It is a very short video, however, I like her speech because she varies her voice and tone well. The way she changes her voice according to her speech is a job well done. Also, if you have watched the video, you will realise that she moves her body around the stage and poses at different timing. Furthermore, her body language helps to express her speech better and sometimes, it helps to make her speech more entertaining and funny. In her speech, she also pauses at certain points of time and this helps to improve on her speech as she can gain attention when pausing. She also pauses at the correct time for the audience to laugh. All of this helps to show that how well Ellen can present herself and how good is she as a speaker. In addition, her content of her speech is amusing and allows audience to enjoy themselves when hearing it. As I like this kind of speeches that make me laugh, I really enjoyed watching this video. As for now, Ellen has her own show and her website (http://ellen.warnerbros.com/). I applaud her for her ability to speak so well and I enjoy watching her show as well !

Posted by Yi Jie at 2:32 PM

Saturday, January 29, 2011

#5 A problem you encountered and how you solved or managed it: Dislocated ?

Finally, it is time once again for the last assignment post. I do not know how to put this in words, but it might be too much of a coincidence. For this last theme "A problem I met and how I solved it" was one that I have been worrying about and I was afraid that I could not have something to write about as the dateline get closer. However, just yesterday, something happened which gave me something to write about for this theme. As for my post title, I named it "Dislocated?" with a question mark. If you want to know why does it have a question mark, continue reading on!

Let me tell you about a history of my back. My back has been hurting me for quite a few months, especially whenever I sneeze. My mother also told me to visit a doctor, but I did not want to. Nevertheless, I had no choice, but to go to the clinic just a stone throw away from my house after what had happened yesterday.

(Picture from: http://www.aboutbradsugars.com/wp-content/soccer.jpg)
Our class was playing soccer for Physical Education (PE) lesson for the second week and we started off with simple warm up like kicking the ball in a straight line with each other and some header training. I paired up with Lee Chuan and we started the warm up. During the kicking of the ball, I was enjoying myself as I like playing soccer as a recreational sport. When Mr Amir, our PE teacher, told us to start the header training, Lee Chuan and I had to pick balls whenever the ball flew out of our reach. This was the time where I felt a "punch" on my back. When I was bending down to pick up the ball, I felt a sudden pain on my back. It was one of the worst since I had this back problem. I tolerated the pain throughout the whole PE lesson and in fact, I even played in a match for about twenty minutes.

After the PE lesson ended, I went back to class and I felt I could not stand it anymore. I decided to head home. After bearing the pain when Derek, Jun Rong and I went to the library to do some things, I packed my bag and Viknesh as well as Derek followed me to the General Office. Madam Ding, my assistant form teacher, accompanied me in the General Office as my classmates headed back to the classroom. I called my parents to see who could come and fetch me but at that time, my father was in a meeting and my mother needed to take one hour to reach the school. So, the kind staffs in the General Office helped me dial for a taxi.

(Photo:Self-taken)

I was also given a form to fill in as I left school during curriculum time. This was the first form I was given in two years since I went Victoria School for studies. I hope I would not receive this form again as I had to miss lesson. There was actually a Chemistry test on that day, but I could not take it as I had to go home. (I studied for it!) Also, my friends told me there was a change in the format of a section that will be tested in examinations for Geography.




(Picture from: http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1107/752623072_1afa25549d.jpg)
 When the taxi reached it was a Mercedes taxi! I never took one before and it was also the first time I am taking a taxi myself! After the taxi driver started driving me back to my home, he asked me how long I have been in Singapore. I was astonished. I replied him, telling him that I am a Singaporean and he said he that the way I speak Chinese sounds like people from China! This was not the first time I was mistaken as someone from China so I was quite used to it.

When I reached home, the taxi fare was $14.10 and my mother decided to bring me to the doctor. After analyzing, the doctor told us that I might have a dislocated bone on my back which might be in contact with my veins, causing the pain. He suggested to me to go for an X-ray scan and if my bone is really dislocated, there were a few solutions. Firstly, I could take his medicine and hope it will recover. If it does not, I would have to go for therapy and the worst case scenario is to go for an operation. After that I was given a medical certificate for that day and I could not attend PE lessons for two weeks.

It might be me being stubborn and not going for a check-up first or it might be that my back was already that bad from the start. Anyway, I hope I can recover quickly and be able to be as active as before. Let me end of the final assignment post with this song by Adam Lambert, called "No Boundaries". This song motives me to get well soon and I hope it does to you too! Enjoy!

(Quote of the day: "Given the choice between the experience of pain and nothing, I would choose pain - William Faulkner)

                 (Many thanks to YouTube uploader:xxAyaMikagexx)

Posted by Yi Jie at 8:23 PM

Thursday, January 27, 2011

#4 A special moment spent with my family : Market

(Photo:Self-taken)
It is me again and it is time for the third assignment post! The theme for this is something that I did with my family and I named my post "Market". What can we do when we visit the market? Maybe most housewives will buy ingredients in the morning when they go to the market? Otherwise we will visit the market for meals. As you all know Chinese New Year is coming and as a tradition, we will always buy new clothes. However, you might think we will visit shops like John Little?(as shown in the picture) Yes, we did go and take a look, but it was fruitless as we could not find anything we wanted. This brings me to my story. For the past few years, we had been buying our New Year clothes from shops such as John Little. However, it will be special this year as we went to a market to purchase our New Year clothes!


(Photo: Taken after shop owner's permission)
I am wondering how many people would go to a market to buy new clothes and I think maybe only a few will do so. Nevertheless, we went to a market just a short distance away from my house and the name of the shop is "AJ Avenue". We came to know this shop after my father walked past by chance. He saw the design of the clothes and thought that my brother and I would like it, so we decided to make a trip there. We made friends with the boss after an incident. We actually only bought top tops on the first visit and after we left, we realised one of them was of the wrong size. We headed back to make a change and then we left. We then found some stains on the shirt which made us return once again. This made the boss remember us and after dinner that day, we went back for a second visit.


(Picture:Self-taken)
There were a few reaons that made us want to go back to this shop in the market. Firstly, it was because the prices of the clothes were cheaper than those from the shops in shopping malls. Also, the designs of the clothes were something that I preferred. The boss told us that they were designs from Korea. The shop targets were not only youths, but there were also clothes for adults, both men and women. The prices of the clothes that I bought were around $20 to $30 and as compared to those in shopping malls, they were about $10 cheaper.

(Photo:Self-taken)

My family spent qutie a while in the shop as there were too many designs to choose from and we could not make up our minds. My father also decided to purchase a few shirts for himself while my brother and I chose ours. As for me, I picked my tops and bottoms with colours black and white. I think they suited me very well and I bought a total of three shirts and two shorts. My brother also bought the same number of shirts and bottoms as me. However, my father wanted a pair of jeans, but there were no size that sutied him. The boss decided to do some altering and this makes the shop special. They provided simple altering and some simple sewing for those who wanted the service.

Finally, the total price of all the clothes we bought were around $220 after discount. We were also given a few packets of red packets for Chinese New Year. All in all, I had a wonderful experience in that shop although it was in the market. I would say this year is a special year for me as we bought our New Year clothes from a shop in a market for the first time in years. I am very satisfied with the clothes I bought and I liked them very much. I am looking forward to Chinese New Year with a four days break and I hope I can return to my primary school to visit my teachers. I also cannot wait to visit my relatives and receive "Ang Baos" from them! Let the Chinese New Year atmosphere begin with this Chinese New Year song video! Happy New Year everyone!

[Address of AJ Avenue: Block 20 Toa Paoyh Lorong 7, #01-730 Singapore 310020]

(Quote of the day: Be happy. It's one way of being wise- Sidonie Gabrielle)
                                         
          (Special thanks to YouTube uploader: BaguaTV)

Posted by Yi Jie at 6:42 PM

Monday, January 24, 2011

#3 Something that took place in school: Rewarded !

It's time for another assignment post and this time the theme will be "Something that took place in school". This story that I am going to share is something that I am very proud of. It is none other than the scholarship award given by the Toa Payoh-Bishan GRC. This scholarship is awarded to those who are in the top 10% of their school in 2010. I'm very exuberant I could get this prize after my hard work last year. Not only I'm representing Victoria School, I also made my family feel proud of me. Let me tell you the events that took place!

(Picture from:http://www.h88.com.sg
/schools/first_toa_payoh_secondary_school/images/first_
toa_payoh_secondary_school_00001.JPG)

Firstly, it was held at First Toa Payoh Secondary School which is a different venue as last year's event.(shown in picture) I first registered at a counter in the canteen before proceeding to the school hall. There were many people, including parents, students and guests. There were many chairs in the hall, but they were quite uncomfortable :x. The ceremony started after almost everyone reached and the guest of honour, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Toa Payoh-Bishan GRC,Mrs Josephine Teo, made her opening speech. Following that, the prize giving started with the Primary One scholar. After waiting about thirty-five minutes since the start of the ceremony, it was finally my turn.


I shook hands with her and took a group photo with all the same aged students.(as shown in the photo) While standing for the photo taking, the MP asked me which school I was from. It was the same question that she asked me last year and I guess I was the only one from Victoria School as I doubt many people would choose to travel such a far distance to school. So, I think she did not know which school's uniform I was wearing. Many parents and some professional photographers took the group photograph and we went back to our seats after that. 


(Photo: Self-taken)
After the ceremony ended, many people went to the funfair located on the road in the school. Every student was given a $5 coupon which allowed us to buy some things from the fair. It was charity and twenty percent of the sales will be donated to the school's fund. We bought some doughnuts and my parents spent another $94 on some other products. They asked me if I could sponsor them for that too, but I said no :D. Nevertheless, Mrs Josephine Teo did not leave either and she also looked around at the items on sales. Fortunately, my father saw some people taking photographs with her and he requested too. I took a picture with her and I feel so honoured! (as shown in the photo) 





(Photo: Self-taken)

After spending all the coupon money, we headed back home and let me reveal what I got. I was rewarded with some cash which I will not tell and a certificate :). (as shown in the photo) This is a motivation for me to work harder this year and I really hope I can get this scholarship award again next year. Although it has only been a month since school reopened, I already feel the stress. However, I will not give up and I will work towards my goal. Now, here's a video of a motivation song and it is lyrics are very meaningful. It is none other than "The Climb" by Miley Cyrus. Enjoy and hope I will come back again for my next post!

(Quote of the day: Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all -Dale Carnegie)


(Many thanks to YouTube uploader - hollywoodrecords for the video)

Posted by Yi Jie at 5:21 PM

Friday, January 21, 2011

Weekends !

Yay its finally the weekends after a long week... Getting my award this Sunday and hopefully buy some new year clothes :D I should keep you updated on my assignment posts as long as there's something to write about!

Posted by Yi Jie at 8:34 PM

Thursday, January 20, 2011

#2 Something unusual that happened that day: Glue

It is time for the second assignment post! This post requires an unusual thing that happened. I consider this a hard theme as not many chances in our daily life that something unusual is able to occur. However, it was very lucky for me to have something revolving around this theme to write about. As you can see, the title of my post is "Glue". What can we do with glue? Sniffing it? Obviously not! I am talking about super glue and other than helping us to paste things back together, it is hardly seen that we put super glue in the keyhole of letterboxes. You might be thinking who will do that, right? Let me tell you all about it!

(Photo: Self-taken)
As seen in the photo, it is the letterboxes of the block I am staying in. Just two days ago, around ten of the keyholes for the ten units had been glued using super glue. This prevented the owners, including my family, to retrieve the letters. At first, we found out that all the units which were glued were all within each other reach. All the affected neighbours did not know the reason why, but I later found out that there was someone in our block who had borrowed money from loan sharks. When I was young, one of the unit numbers was painted on the wall with "O$P$" just beside it. This was a history of someone owing the loan sharks money and we guessed that the loan sharks had come to create trouble again. Furthermore, we had checked the letterbox of the unit who owed the loan sharks money and his was also glued.

(Photo:Self taken)
(CCTV covering the area of the lift lobby and the staircase)
As I mentioned, loan sharks had come to our block to cause trouble before. I remembered once that they sent a envelope containing hell notes and a threatening letter. Coincidently, the Member of Parliament of our area, Mrs Josephine Teo came for house visiting before the loan sharks had come to glue the keyholes. My father related this problem of having loan sharks to create problems to her and suggest having a Close Circuit Television (CCTV) installed directly at the letterboxes, the lift lobby and the staircase. This will ensure that the faces of the loan sharks will be caught although they can escape if they came again.

However, when the loan sharks came and glued our keyholes of the letterboxes, we knew we had a chance to catch them as there was a CCTV facing at the letterboxes. Little did we know, it was only our dreams. We found out from the town council that the CCTV had not been working and the faces of the loan sharks were not captured in the recording. We were all very disappointed in the town council for such careless act.

(Photo:Self-taken)
(Photo of the wall after the CCTV had been removed)

As you can see from the pictures on the right, there are two holes drilled in the wall. This photo is taken after the CCTV had been taken down and up till today, a new CCTV has not been replaced.

This incident has also made us very busy. My mother had to wait downstairs for the postman to arrive, along with other neighbours. Not only that, the postman was very particular although we had explained the problem to him. All we needed was him to open up the letterbox from the back so that we could take our letters. He refused to and he wanted evidence that we stayed in this block. My mother showed him her Identification Card(IC), but he was still reluctant to open the letterboxes from the back for us. He wanted a police report! How unreasonable! Nevertheless, my mother and another neighbour went to make a police report at the police post just a block away so as to retrieve our letters.

I think this is an unusual encounter as we hardly could see what a loan shark had done to our letterboxes using super glue. Although my father had fixed the keyhole after that, I feel very livid about the loan sharks and I hope they will be caught sooner or later. Finally, let me end this post with a song targeted at the loan sharks! It is "Gonna Get Caught" by Demi Lovato and I hope the loan sharks are "Gonna Get Caught" soon!  

(Quote of the day: The only correct actions are those that demand no explanation and no apology -Red Auerbach)

       (Many thanks to YouTube uploader: izabella1992)

Posted by Yi Jie at 6:41 PM

Sunday, January 16, 2011

#1 A moment spent alone doing something you enjoyed : Helped

Hi there once again! This will be my first assignment post and the theme for this is - A moment spent alone doing something I enjoyed. What are things that you can enjoy doing? Probably your hobby? From my post title "Helped", you can guess what my story is about. You might be wondering how hobby is related to helping, right? Let me tell you that this is nothing about my hobby and it is something about helping.


(Picture from : http://kampungjelutung.sg/2010/08/acts-of-kindness-graciousness-in-the-community-share-your-stories/)


Helping one another is something that might be common between you and your friends. This shows signs of concern and also, shows that you are kind which is a positive characteristic. I think being kind is very important as it is something that can be done easily and we should not complain about being troublesome. Singapore has also been promoting the "Singapore Kindness Movement" for quite awhile and everyone can do a part by starting with the simplest way- helping someone else or help someone who needs help. It can be done easily when you are around your friends or family, but my story is not about my friends or family asking me for help. If you want to know who it was, continue reading!



(Photo: Self-taken)
It all happened when I was going back home and I was suppose to meet up with my friend in a bus interchange as he wanted to pass me something. Before I found him near a bus queue, I went down to the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) station, trying to find him. When I walked down the staircase leading to the entrance of the MRT station, someone called me "Boy!" in Chinese. I was at first scared as not long ago, a beggar in the same bus interchange came to me, asking me to give him money and it was the first time someone begged me for money. I thought it would be another beggar, but I still turned around to see who it was. I let out a sigh of relief when I saw it was an elderly man. He was sitting at the first few steps from the bottom of the staircase.(as shown in the photo) He was an absolute stranger to me, but I still went to him to find out what he wanted. He fished out a few two dollars notes from his pocket and I was wondering why he did so. Maybe he wanted to give me some money for some reasons? I'm joking :D.
                                                                                                             

(Photo: Self-taken)
While looking at his appearance for awhile, I felt very worried as I was all alone and I didn't know if he had anything up his sleeves. We had a short conversation in Chinese and after requesting, I found out that he wanted me to help him buy a can of Milo.(A single can without the packaging as shown in the photo) He also added he needed a straw and he passed me a two dollars note. I at first was dumbfounded as a stranger talked to me out of a blue, furthermore asking me to help him get a drink. Nevertheless, I also agreed.




(Photo: Self-taken)
He also directed me to buy the Milo from a shop just beside where we were and as I was very familiar with the surroundings, I knew exactly where he was referring to.(As shown in the photo above this paragraph) I made a beeline to the shop and asked the shopkeeper if there was any can of Milo. She pointed to me and I purchased one can, which costs $1.40. I also asked for a straw and I left the shop after receiving the change. I returned to the man, gave back sixty cents and passed him the Milo with a straw. He was then still holding on to another few two dollars notes and after he had taken his stuff from me, he offered me another $2 to buy myself a drink. I was surprised by his generosity and I felt that it was only a small matter helping him to get a drink. Thus, I declined his offer and smiled at him. He thanked me many times and I felt very accomplished. I then headed back up the staircase to find my friend. Virtue of kindness is its own reward and I did not regret not accepting the money from the man to buy myself a can of drink.


This was one thing that I enjoyed doing although I was alone. I realised helping is something that we all should adopt in our daily lives and both parties will feel satisfied too. To end off my first assignment post, I have a song by The Beatles, titled "Help!" I think the lyrics of this song are related to what I had said and I hope you will enjoy the song and see you next time! (Please pause the auto-playing song on mixpod before hearing the video!)


(Quote of the day: We can't help everyone, but everyone can help someone-Ronald Reagan)

       (Video: Thanks to OfficialBeatlesTV on youtube)

Posted by Yi Jie at 4:18 PM