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Life at National University of Singapore High School of Mathematics and Science (NHS)

I have been in NUS High for almost a month now. The last time I cut my hair was on 30th of December 2007. Now, my hair is already touching my ear. I shall now write about a not-so-boring boring day

It was just yesterday only. The first period was Mathematics, which I was exempted. So I went to the canteen for break. After the break was another break! Imagine the first 2 periods are breaks (for info, I have 5 breaks on Tuesday!). After the 2 consecutive breaks was Geography -- boring. After that was Biology. We used a microscope to look at things. We zoomed in the millimeter mark of a transparent ruler. Do you know what I saw? The milimeter marks appeared to be drawn by a chalk - thick line with chalk-like texture. Later, we examined a small piece cut-out from a newspaper page, which looked no different from many strands of hair. Lastly, we looked at red blood cells. I zoomed in 4x, which are as small as sand. I zoomed in 10x, which looked smaller than a small pimple. I zoomed in 40x, which looked like medium pimples. We were so engrossed in the microscope that 30 minutes of our next period (Chemistry) was gone without anyone realising. We quickly rushed back to the classroom, with only 15 minutes left (in NUS High, each period and break is 45 minutes).

After Chemistry was break, but not for me, I had to go to class 202, where Nicky (my sister's classmate at QPS) is, for Year 2 Maths lesson, since I was exempted from the Year 1 maths. It was more boring than the Year 1 Maths. I bet no one in the class was paying attention. The elective Maths modules (Advanced Maths Olympiad IV, and Combinatorial Game Theory) that I attend on Saturdays are more interesting.

Rubik Unassembled

I am bored with playing Rubik. So I decided to dismantle it, to see what's inside.

I assembled it back. Now I am going to dismantle my 5x5 Professor Cube.

Yay, I just received my Megaminx! Now I am going to have fun playing this new toy.

My Rubik Puzzles

Below are the rubik's cubes I have:

Original 3x3 Rubik Cube. This is the first cube I have, years ago. My record is about 1.5 mins.
4x4 Rubik Revenge / Master Cube. My mother bought this for me after PSLE. Now, one piece at a corner broke off as I have played it so many times - my record is 4.5 mins.

5x5 Professor Cube. My mother bought this for me after I am tired of playing the Revenge Rubik. Similarly, one cube at the corner has broken as it was "over-played". My record is 10 mins. There are no 6x6 and 7x7 cubes available, however, I have tried them on the GabbaSoft Cube (a software - you can turn using a mouse click). My record for 6x6 is about 10 mins, and 7x7 is 30 mins.

Snake Cube / Kevskube. My mother's friend gave her as a birthday present many years ago.

Braintwist. My mother bought this for me at the Science Centre, last Dec.

Bandage Cube / Bicube. I used one of my existing 3x3, pasted stickers over it and I have constructed the Bandage Cube!

Square-1. My mother bought this for me from ebay - Hong Kong. It costs about $8.

Megaminx. My mother has ordered this from ebay - China. About $20. I have not received it yet.

Pyraminx. I don't have this, anyone giving this to me?

Friends, Teachers and Subjects in NUS High

I finally met all my teachers, but I think I had forgotten some of their names. 2 of my friends are Kendrick and Kenryk. Their pronounciation are really close and I sometimes got mixed up. Kenryk has a darker skin than Kendrick. Kenryk really looks like a non-Chinese, but believe it or not, he's taking higher Chinese! And I'm not even taking higher Chinese. There is also one of my friends called Yos and his skin is as fair as mine. But sometimes the truth might be far from what you think. He's taking Malay. Guess how many Malays are there in our class? There's only him! Here's another more unbelievable fact--there are only 3 Malays in the whole year one. There is something weirder in class. A girl, Shi Ni, from our class is just a normal girl. However, I don't know why, and since when, everyone in our class starts calling her mash potato (I think it is because shi ni sounds like shu3 ni2 which means mash potato). She was the mentor rep and the math rep initially, but then, the math rep was changed to Jonathan.

About my teachers -
Maths - Mr Lee - he is loud, whatever he covers in class I already know
English/Mentor - Ms Lau - she likes to nod her head
Chinese - We just call him lao shi - he talks so fast that sometimes I can't catch what he says
Geography - Ms Chen - my favourite past-time is reading the map and also finding out information from the Atlas like population, change of population, life expectancy, death rate for each country, so I think I am going to like this subject
Chemistry - Ms Koh - so far we have not really started
Physics - Mrs Oon - I think I like this subject
Biology - Ms Ng - I also enjoy Biology I think
Music - ??? - so far so good, quite easy although I have no music background

I did not select Literature and History this semester. I think in NUS High, we can choose when to take the Art & Humanities subjects. For languages, Maths and Science subjects, we must take them throughout the years. But we must satisfy the minimum modular credits for the subjects. So I will do Literature and History in semester 2.

Today I took the Diagnostic Test for Maths. It will allow me to get exemption for the Maths modules that I am already familiar with.

NUS High orientation

Day 1

It was my first day in school, and I was late! It was because the alarm clock did not ring. We were supposed to gather at the hall, in our mentor group. However, I did not know where to sit, so I just sat at the back. Later, someone (orientation PSL) showed me where to sit. The announcements were really long. We practised the school song, which was very long. We also said the school creed (what for?), several times, but I still could not remember both of them. After that was break time. Guess what's for break? It's my worst nightmare! I hate noodles. And what's worse than noodles? Noodles + chilli. I drank more than half the bottle of water, although I knew it would not work. Next, we went to the hall again for some briefing. The lunch was rice. Next, it was mass dance at the hall, followed by a school tour, and finally, we went back to our respective classroom to meet our mentor (like form teacher). There were 23 of us in the class, 15 boys and 8 girls. We were given a haversack each with orientation T-shirts and a game. My game was a puzzle key, some students got rubik's cube (round shape). We played some games there till 5 and created a class cheer till 6. And after that was the best part of all -- dismissal.

Day 2

I was late again, for no reason, but at least ealier than before. The announcements were as long, and as boring. We went for break. It was still noodles but at least there was no chilli. We went for mass dance again and then for lunch. Rice again, as usual. Later, we went to the auditorium again for CCA briefing. Next was the CCA fair. We played Math & Science games that almost had nothing to do with Math or Science. After that, we went to our classroom, again, for contact time with our mentor and PSLs. And the best part is, you've guessed it -- dismissal.

Day 3

Yay, I was not late today! The announcements were shorter. Mass dance again at the hall. Later, we had the not-so-amazing amazing race. It was super extremely tiring. We had to travel all around Clementi. After the race, we played with water bombs and we got really wet. We changed to our formal wear and had photo taking. Since I did't have my formal shirt (no stock for my size - the smallest size 13), I wore my polo shirt. One of the PSLs said, "Die Die must wear formal shirt!" So I borrowed someone's. It was so big that it touched my knee. Later, we went to have dinner at the canteen. Rice again. Then it was the Investiture Ceremony. We heard cheers from the Year 1s and riddles form the Year 3s. At about 9, we all went to the concourse for the mass dance and school cheers. I hope I do not have to do the mass dance again in the future.

We reached home at about 10. It was a tiring day!!!

Happy New Year 2008!

Have a Wonderful Year in 2008! 二零零八年快乐！

Cool Stuff

CUP & COOKIES: Smart cup in which you can put 2-3 of your favourite cookies. You don't extra plates. It's made for right handed and left handed.

LOCK-CUP: Anti-Theft Coffee Cup. Are you tired of others stealing your coffee cup? Well now there's a solution. The Lock - Cup has a hole which prevents most people from using it. Only the owner of the cup can use his/hers shaped key to close the hole.

TRANSPARENT TOASTER: You love toast, but you always burn it? Than, this invention us for you. This transparent toaster allows you to see the bread while it is toasting so you just have to take it out when the colour is right. This idea is based on a transparent heating glass technology.

"THE THING" - INFANT PILLOW: The Zaky is an ergonomic infant pillow designed by a mom to mimic the size, weight, touch, and feel of her hand and forearm to help her baby with comfort, support, protection, and development. The Zaky can help calm your baby and help your baby sleep better through the night.

TRAVELER'S PHRASE BOOK T-SHIRT: If you are traveling a lot and don't always know the language of the country you are visiting, then this T-shirt is for you. It has a phrase book printed on it so just point a finger at the pictogram you need and then point it twice at the question mark, which means, "Where is it?" and in no time you have found what you were looking for­ or not.

LATEST DESIGN WAITER/WAITRESS TRAYS: Anatomic tray, for waiters. No more dropping trays. We just don't know it's comfortable.

New secondary school

I went to my future school a few days ago. Since none of my classmates are going to NUSH, everybody is unfamiliar to me, except some of my friends. Before I went to NUSH, I had already met some friends during maths olympiad training by RI and Hwa Chong. Some of them joined NUSH while others went to Hwa Chong, ACS or RI. Luckily, one of them (Jonathan Ang) is in the same class (103) with me, so I won't be so lonely. When we were in our classroom, everyone of us told everyone else their names. However, if you ask me to name them, I probably forgot most of them.

Trip to Malaysia

Usually, the trip to overseas is always the best, but this time it was the worst. Of course, we went to Malaysia (Malacca) by bus and not by plane. The bus had no games or anything for our entertainment. Luckily, we brought along our Gameboy. We took turns to play the Gameboy throughout the whole journey. Halfway through the journey, I felt a little giddy and went to sleep instead. When we had reached our destination, A'Famosa, I was overcome with giddiness and I vomitted after I alighted from the coach. Perhaps if you go to the A'Famosa Clubhouse, you might still be able to see my vomit. That was the second time I vomitted. The first time was during the bus ride to Genting, that's why I prefer taking a budget aeroplane to taking a bus.

We took a shuttle bus to our hotel, which I would never expect was a condo. The room was huge, just like my condo at home. There were even 2 twin beds and 2 queen/king-size beds. Compared to my previous trip to Taiwan, which has only 2 tiny little beds, the hotel is so much better. Yet, it was also quite cheap. Later, we went to Cowboy Town to do a little exploring. Then at 6, we went back to the clubhouse to have our buffet dinner.

After that, we went back to the Cowboy Town to watch the Carnival Show and fireworks.

That was just the first day. On the second day, we took the shuttle bus again to the Animal World Safari (mini zoo). First, we watched the elephant show. The elephants could really play basketball and soccer! (see the video clip below) Next, we went to another animal show with multi animals performing. There was a dog that could stand up and walk at the same time. Later, we went to the bird show where different kinds of birds performed different kinds of tricks. Next, we proceeded to watch another show called the wild wild west. It was a show about cowboys. After that, we took the shuttle bus back to our hotel. Well, actually, we did nothing afterwards.

Elephant playing basketball

Day 3, we had breakfast at Cowboy Town and buffet lunch at the clubhouse, before catching our coach back to Singapore. In case I might vomit again, I decided not to play the Gameboy and slept throughout most of the journey!

I am glad to be back to my home, at about 8 pm.

Fun Math

6A Gathering .. Photos!

Jeremy face-to-face with Wei Ren

Ma'am: Children, pay attention!!

Hai Xiao: See, no one is paying attention to Ma'am

Ahmad, why are you pointing your middle fingers? (jk)

It is chilly inside the pool ...

Faan: Do I look like a rabbit?

Red-eye freaks (click to see a bigger picture)

We are the pretty girls of 6A

Gene: I think I have a stomach ache.

Jes: I can smell something ...

Freda & Yen Yi snatching handphone