My math test (Something that took place at school)

‘Ring…… ring!’ My alarm clock sounded. I got up drowsily and proceeded to the toilet to wash my face and brush my teeth. The clock hanging on the wall behind me showed 5.30am. I was not surprised that I had woken up 30 minutes earlier than normal as I was the one who set my alarm clock to go off earlier. Today was a very important day and I wanted to go to school earlier to prepare myself. Today was the day, the day of my first Math test of the year……

I left home as early as I could and walked quickly to the MRT station. The earlier I got to school, the more time I could revise for the test. The test was very important as it contributes to our overall percentage of the exams. I was worried I had not studied enough so I decided to go to school earlier to revise. I got onto the MRT and went around finding a seat so that I could sit down and study my Math notes. However, there were none and I had no choice but to stand. I tried to read my notes while standing but the train was shaking so violently that the words were a blur. I gave up when the train shook again and my books fell out of my hands. Attempt 1 to study: Failed

When I reached Bedok MRT, I got off and ran to the bus stop so as to not miss any bus and waste more time. However, the bus had not arrived when I reached and I tried to study while waiting for the bus. To my dismay, it was so dark that I cannot even see the words on my book. I had no choice but to wait for the bus to come before studying as the bus had the lights on every time.I was right. When the bus came, the ceiling light shone so brightly that reading was not a problem. However, I had the same problem as when I was on the train. There were no seats and the bus was shaking even more violently than the train. To avoid dropping my books again, I had no choice but to hold onto the handle and that leaves me with no hands to read my notes. Attempt 2 to study: Failed

After not being able to study after 2 attempts, I was so annoyed that I ran all the way up the 4 floors to my class. I looked at the clock and was relieved to see that I still had 20 more minutes to study before assembly. However, yet another problem cropped up. I saw on the whiteboard that the Science assignment I thought to be handing up next week was due today. I had no choice but to finish doing it as the Science lesson came before the test after school. By the time I finished, it was time to go to assembly. Then after that, I had no chance to study at all. Attempt 3 to study: Failed

I knew that my last chance to study was during recess. I had to ignore the temptations to go down as I saw everyone leaving the class. I was about to start studying when the monitor shooed me out of the class as students were not allowed to remained in class during recess. I had no choice but to go to the library. I cheered myself up when I remembered that the library was air-conditioned and it was a better environment to study. However, I was disappointed again as the library was full of students and all the chairs, benches and sofas were taken. I wanted to sit on the floor but was scolded by the librarian minutes later. I wandered around for a seat but the bell rang, signaling the end of recess. Attempt 4 to study: Failed

I was almost at the verge of tears when the thought of failing kept coming to my mind. My hands were trembling when the paper was passed down and I thought that I was doomed. I remembered that I was shivering when the teacher gave the command to start. I flipped the paper over and to my surprise; the first question was very easy. I kept my fists clenched as I turned over to the other page, having a feeling that it was going to be difficult. However, I was surprised again and again and again. The whole test was a piece of cake! As my stomach growled, I started thinking that I was the biggest idiot ever……

Home alone (A moment spent alone doing something I enjoyed)

‘Clang! Clang!’ My keys banged against each other as I sorted out my keys to find the one for the door. After a moment of searching, I found the silver ‘Viro’ key. I slotted it in the keyhole and turned the door handle. I got a shock when I saw that the house was empty and in total darkness. After calming down, I realized I was just scaring myself. Today was the 18th of January and I forgot my parents were attending a dinner and would not be home till 10. my heart leaped at the thought of the things I was going to do alone.

I went straight to my room and put down my school bag. I turned on the computer immediately before going for a bath. Normally when my parents were at home, I had to finish my homework before taking a bath. (turning on the computer was impossible) after the bath, I felt refreshed and awake. I took out a can of coke from the fridge and remembered that the computer was on. I went onto websites like ‘facebook’ and ‘blogger’. I also played some online games and watched my favourite anime on the computer. Finally to do something constructive, I did some research for my Science homework.
After using the computer for so long, I helped myself to ice-cream from the freezer and I finished the last of the M and M’s chocolate. Before closing the fridge, I poured myself a glass of fruit juice and lied down on the sofa to read a book. I did not even notice when the surroundings dimmed and in the blink of an eye, it was already time for dinner. It took me awhile to remember that I had to settle dinner myself. I was supposed to walk to White Sand to take away something to eat but the journey seemed miles away. Instead, I went to the kitchen and started cooking instant noodle for myself. I dumped all the ingredients I could find into the pot before reading my book again while waiting for the water to boil. I did not even know when water started to flow out of the pot and the lid rattled. However, I was too engrossed in my book to notice. Soon, the water flowed down and the fire got extinguished. I only realized it when I smelt the smell of gas and I ran to the stove to turn it off. After a few coughs and splutters, I cleaned up the place and got the noodles ready.
I never thought the day where I could eat while watching television would come. I turned on the television and I brought out my plate of noodles. I will never forget that moment where I could eat a mouthful of noodles before looking up at the television.
Normally, I had to eat dinner in the dining room on the dining table with the other diners. (it would usually be my parents but sometime there would be visitors) I had never eaten in the living room since primary school days.

Although I took a longer time to finish dinner, I truly enjoyed myself today. Suddenly, the phone rang and I rushed to pick it up. My heart skipped a beat when my mother’s voice over the phone. “What are you doing now?” She asked. I hesitated for a moment before replying, “Doing my homework of course…”

Trapped (A problem I encountered)

I could not believe my eyes as the lift blacked out and stopped moving. I could not believe my ears as the low rumbling of the lift slowly died down. Slowly, the light dimmed and i was plunged into total darkness. 'Oh no!', i thought. 'The lift must have stopped!'
I started panicking as i did not know what to do. For a start, i started pressing on the emergency bell button. The bell ringing echoed throughtout the lift as i hoped it would penatrate the ears of a passer-by. Minutes ticked by but no one came to help me. As i recalled back to the moment i stopped, i must be somewhere in the middle of the 7th and 8th floor. Why didn't it last for just 2 more floors? I live on the 10th floor and none of these would have happened if i made it before it broke down.
Time flew passed and i started to get worried. I have alot of homework today and i can't finish it in time if this goes on. My fingers were already sore from pressing the button and i gave up. My bag weighed down on me like a boulder. I slumped onto the ground as i took out my phone. As expected, there was still no signal. My stomach rumbled as i wondered what time it was. The luminus digits of my watch shone through the darkness like a torch. My face fell as i saw that it was 7o'clock. I am supposed to have dinner now! I went into a 'craze' as i stood up and spammed on all the buttons.
After about a minute of spamming, i couldn't believe it as the light flickered on again. I jumped for joy as it moved up towards the 10th floor. I ran out of the lift in a blink of an eye and i reached my apartment in a flash. My mother was fuming when i entered the house wtihout letting me explain, she sent me off to my room without dinner. I sighed as my stomach growled and i settled down to start on my pile of homework for the day.

Getting 'rich' (Something unusual that happened today)

I straightened my shirt and pinned on my school badge. I combed my hair and prepared for this special day ahead of me. No, it is not my birthday today, nor am I getting married. Moving house, no. Nominated for president, wrong. Stop guessing and I will tell you. It was the day I got ‘richer’!

I was on my way to Elias Community Centre to collect my edusave scholarship award. It is a cash reward given out to top students in the school’s cohort to encourage them to keep up the good work. It is always quite a huge sum of money and I have never failed to get it every year. (Not being proud, just saying the truth) The journey to the Community Centre took 15 minutes. On the way, I saw many of my Primary School friends and classmates. We chatted on the way to spend time. I was thankful that I met them. While chatting, I forgot about the scorching heat and the traveling time (15 minutes) seemed only like a minute to me.

When we arrived, many students were already seated down and were doing their own things like reading a book or playing games on their hand phones. I splitted up with my friends as we had to report and register at the registration counter so they know that we were present. I was told by the person at the counter to find my designated seat which was arranged according to my registration number. However, I wandered around looking for it but to no avail. My face turned red when people started glaring at me as I had to ask them to stand up so that I could see the seat number they were sitting on. In the end, I had no choice but to ask the person on duty to help me. When he found my seat, it turned out that that it was occupied by another boy. He had moved from his seat to mine so he could talk to his friend. Although it was partly my fault as I did not look properly at the number, I could not help but blame him for the 10 minutes I spent wandering aimlessly for my seat. I was fuming as I sat down and waited for the ceremony to start.

After 20 minutes of waiting, the Guest-of-Honor, Mr. Teo Chee Hean finally arrived. Everyone stood up and clapped to welcome him. I was one of the people who clapped the loudest as the wait was finally over. After that, he proceeded to make a speech on the stage. Having woke up so early today, I was so sleepy that I almost fell asleep during the speech. I only caught bits and parts of it as I nodded repeatedly of to sleep. He said that many more students are receiving this award every year and that they would be giving away more than half a million dollars to the receiving students today. I yawned as he finally ended the speech with a ‘Happy New Year’. Everyone gave a round of applause and he started giving out the award.

At the start, it was rather interesting as we clapped for the recipients and listened for familiar names. However, it slowly became boring as there were so many recipients and my hands were already sore from clapping.

At last, it was my turn to go on stage. I got a little nervous as my name was called. I walked towards Mr. Teo and shook his hand. I said ‘Thank You’ and accepted the certificate and cheque with two hands. I heaved a sigh of relief as I got off the stage, knowing that it was finally over.

Before bidding farewell to my friends, I asked them how much their cheque amount was. To my horror, their amount was more than mine. They explained that I must have only been the top 10% in my school. They were in the top 5%, thus the difference in the amount. Unwilling to accept the fact, I rushed home to calculate my position in the level. I almost fainted when the calculator gave me the percentage of ‘5.2%’. If I was a position higher, my percentage would have been ‘4.9%’, making me eligible for ‘more money’. Looks like I will have to bulk up in my studies if I want to get even ‘richer’!

A memorable birthday (A special moment with my family)

I carried the beautifully wrapped present gently in my hand, afraid to crease the wrapping paper. Everything has to be perfect today. A year has passed and once again, 10th January has arrived again. What? You do not know what day it is? It is my cousin’s birthday of course!

Today is my cousin, Jia Liang’s birthday. We decided to book a restaurant for dinner to celebrate this special occasion. For the past few years, his birthday has been celebrated by going overseas with his family or organizing a party with his friends. However, this year would be different. They wanted to have a ‘gathering’ instead. All my relatives would be coming for dinner. (Except for my grandparents who have passed away and my 2nd uncle who is away for a business trip) We would be having a sort of ‘reunion dinner’ together. This was not something that happens everyday, looking at the fact that we were always so busy nowadays.

I was sweating profusely, hungry and thirsty. We have been walking for 10 minutes since we arrived at Bugis MRT station. My uncle said that the restaurant was located inside a hotel and we would be meeting there for dinner. I looked around but there were so many buildings. I dug out the invitation card from my bag and searched for the hotel name. After scanning through, I found it. Then, my eyes darted around, finding a building with the name ‘Swissotel Hotel’. Finally, I saw it. The hotel was huge and white. If not for the signboard with its name on it, I would have thought it was a hospital.

“If it looks like this on the outside, I wouldn’t be surprised if it looks like a hospital on the inside” I thought. However, when the sliding panels of the sliding doors slid open, I finally understood the meaning of the idiom ‘Do not judge a book by its cover’. The ‘Swissotel Hotel’ was the grandest hotel I have ever seen. There was a fountain in the middle of the hall. A huge clock was hung on the wall to tell the time. As I walked, I realized the floor was covered with a carpet. Paintings which looked as though they were real were hung on the walls and statues of animals greeted me wherever I looked. Tourists were making a beeline at the registration counter while a bellboy could be seen pushing a trolley full of luggage.

Seeing all these, I could not imagine how the restaurant will look like. The restaurant was on the eighth floor and we did not want to climb the stairs. We got into the lift and what I saw shocked me. Buttons from 1 to 66 indicated that this hotel was 66 stories high. I widened my eyes to make sure I was not dreaming. The HDB flat I am living in was only 12 stories high! The lift gave a ‘ting’, telling us that we were on the eighth floor. The moment the lift doors gave way, I saw my cousin waiting outside. He broke into a smile as I wished him a ‘Happy Birthday’ and gave him the present. I greeted his parents and Jia Liang led me and my parents into the restaurant. He told us to take a seat and we would start when everyone has arrived. As i did not want to waste time waiting, I took out my book and started reading so as to pass time.

Sometime later, my cousin came looking for me and asked me to take a look at his new yo-yo. He said it was a present from his parents and he really wanted one as it was very popular at his school. To show off his yo-yo, he started showing me tricks despite my warnings that he might hit diners in the restaurant.
As I expected, he broke a wine glass when he was doing a loop with his yo-yo. The yo-yo got confiscated immediately and my uncle said that the cost of the glass would be deducted from his pocket money. I broke into silent giggles. I returned to my seat and kept my book as everyone has arrived and the dinner was starting.

We had a good time eating and chatting together. I had never eaten such good food ever since i attended my uncle's wedding ceremony. After the feast, a chocolate cake with the words ‘Happy Birthday” written with sugar icing on it was delivered to our table. I had never tasted anything as delicious before. When there were left overs, I asked for seconds immediately and I was even lucky enough to get a third slice. At the end of the day, the yo-yo was returned to him. However, it had a crack due to the incident that happened just now. What a waste! A brand new yo-yo got a hole in it just like that! However, that was not the only thing with a hole in it. The meal costed about $850 for just the 17 of us and this meal burnt a hole in my father’s wallet. Now that was the most expensive dinner I have ever had!