Alzheimers' Eye Test (incredible!)

Count every "F" in the following text:

FINISHED FILES ARE THE RE
SULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTI
FIC STUDY COMBINED WITH THE EXPERIENCE OF YEARS...

HOW MANY ? WRONG, THERE ARE [6] (highlight text box on the left to see the answer).
I am not joking!

The brain cannot process "OF".
Incredible? Go back and count again!!
Anyone who counts all 6 "F's" on the first go is a genius.
Three is normal, four is quite rare.

Beauty of Math!

Maths is amazing, see below:

1 x 8 + 1 = 9
12 x 8 + 2 = 98
123 x 8 + 3 = 987
1234 x 8 + 4 = 9876
12345 x 8 + 5 = 98765
123456 x 8 + 6 = 987654
1234567 x 8 + 7 = 9876543
12345678 x 8 + 8 = 98765432
123456789 x 8 + 9 = 987654321

1 x 9 + 2 = 11
12 x 9 + 3 = 111
123 x 9 + 4 = 1111
1234 x 9 + 5 = 11111
12345 x 9 + 6 = 111111
123456 x 9 + 7 = 1111111
1234567 x 9 + 8 = 11111111
12345678 x 9 + 9 = 111111111
123456789 x 9 +10= 1111111111

9 x 9 + 7 = 88
98 x 9 + 6 = 888
987 x 9 + 5 = 8888
9876 x 9 + 4 = 88888
98765 x 9 + 3 = 888888
987654 x 9 + 2 = 8888888
9876543 x 9 + 1 = 88888888
98765432 x 9 + 0 = 888888888

1 x 1 = 1
11 x 11 = 121
111 x 111 = 12321
1111 x 1111 = 1234321
11111 x 11111 = 123454321
111111 x 111111 = 12345654321
1111111 x 1111111 = 1234567654321
11111111 x 11111111 = 123456787654321
111111111 x 111111111= 12345678987654321

Brilliant, isn't it?

QPS Robotics Team emerged Champion!

- This article is contributed by Lim Min -

Yay! Our team clinched the championship award in the open category of Robotics Competition organised by the Singapore Science Centre on 8 Sep. My team consisted of Nicky, Jeremy (Clerence's brother), Jia He, Derek and me (Lim Min), all from QPS P6A'2006. Lim Jeck could not join us as he had to be at the SMO Prize Presentation on the day of the competition. The theme for this year is "Civil safety, security and emergency response". To prepare for this competition, all of us met at my house from Tuesday to Friday, 7.30pm to 11.30pm and on Saturday from 6.30am to 8am. We created a skit. It went like this: Jeremy would light a toilet-paper house on fire. I would operate the robot so that it would move towards the fire and squirt water onto the burning house and then go around it, cordoning off the area with a rope.

The whole experience was quite hilarious! Read on.

When we reached the science centre and realised that we were supposed to run the robot on the carpet instead of a smooth floor (oh no, our robot could not run properly on carpeted floor!), we quickly took our planks and 6 other teams' planks from their booths without them knowing as they were not there yet except for 1 JC Group. This group was kind enough to remove their belongings on the board at the top, to let us take the plank at the bottom. Weren't we resourceful! All of the judges did not notice that, or so we thought.

A group of judges came and noticed we were from different schools. They commented that it was the first time they had come across any team that comprised students from 4 different secondary schools (NUSH, RV, HCI, RGS). They were impressed, and kept complimenting that we were cohesive and close-knit even after leaving our primary school. They also asked if the robot used some sort of heat sensor to detect the fire. We replied "no". After the skit and the Q & A with the judges, we washed the plate of ashes and wiped the planks clean with a whole roll of toilet paper from the science centre girl's toilet. Aren't we resourceful again! Actually we tore out pieces of toilet paper to wipe the planks clean but then Nicky took the whole roll and rubbed it on the planks. We pulled out a chunk of toilet paper and wiped the planks, leaving the roll in a bad shape. We then returned one of the planks to the JC group. The JC group removed their things again so that we could put the plank back. Then Jeremy was playing with the matchsticks, enjoying the sight of it being burned away gradually. Then the bad news came. We had to present to another group of judges! There were actually two penal of judges! So we went to the JC group and took their plank again which meant they had to lift up their things agian. And there was only 1 matchstick left! We quickly set up everything again.

The second group of judges again asked if we used any heat sensor (maybe this was an important criteria). After they left, we took one of the planks and returned to the JC group again which meant they had to lift their things again (poor them!).

To be sure that we did not have to go through the same process again, we confirmed with the organiser that there would not be a third round of judges. Since the girl's toilet had no more toilet paper for us, the boys went to the boy's toilet to get some. I think they took all of the toilet papers too. We cleared up all the things (11am) and waited for the announcement scheduled for 3pm. I went for the sprint race at 2pm and met my team at McDonalds at about 3pm. I asked them for the result but they said we got 1st but not champion. I didn't understand what they meant and they said that was what my father said. I only realised what this meant later. My father asked for the result and the organiser said that we got 1st. Then Nicky, Jeremy, Jia He and Derek asked my father for the result and he said we got champion. Nicky asked if that was what the organiser said and my father replied, "No, they did not say we are champion, this is what I say. They only said we got 1st." (Get it?) This led to the confusion.

We did get 1st/Champion (same meaning) and won a trophy, 5 gold medals and 2 NXT Robotics Sets. We presented the trophy to QPS.

Update: Singapore Science Centre is sponsoring us (one coach + 3 members) to Taiwan-Taipei to take part in the Robotics Olympiad from 16 - 18 Nov. Wish us luck!!

《Tell Me Why》- A Children's tribute

A touching MTV ...



Lyrics:
In my dreams children sing
A song of love for every boy and girl
The sky is blue the fields are green
And laughter is the language of the world
Then I wake and all I see is a world full of people in need

Tell me why, does it have to be like this
Tell me why, is there something I have missed
Tell me why, I don't understand
When somebody needs somebody
We don't give a helping hand
Tell me why

Every day I ask myself what I have to do to be a man
Do I have to stand and fight
To prove to everybody who I am
Is that what my life is for
To waste in a world full of war

Tell me why, does it have to be like this
Tell me why, is there something I have missed
Tell me why, I don't understand
When somebody needs somebody
We don't give a helping hand

Tell me why
Tell me why
Tell me why
Just tell me why
Tell me why?
Just tell me why, why, why?

Tell me why (why,why,does the tiger run)
Tell me why(why why do we shoot the gun)
Tell me why (why,why do we never learn)
Can someone tell us why we let the forest burn?(why,why do we say we care)
Tell me why(why,why do we stand and stare)
Tell me why(why,why do the dolphins cry)
Can some one tell us why we let the ocean die?(why,why if we're all the same)
Tell me why(why,why do we pass the blame)
Tell me why (why,why does it never end)
Can some one tell us why we cannot just be friends?

Why Why.

Be generous when you give

Hope you enjoy!

DSA Confirmed Offers

It's over! It's finally over!

The oral is over! The worst thing in PSLE. I have been waiting for like... 12 years for this day to come! It seems that the whole PSLE is over. Oh man, it's still far from over. I have a feeling that once the worst fears are gone, all of it is gone. Anyway, there are still sec 1 to sec 4 oral exams. I wanted to rest after the oral but there are tonnes of homework, so heavy that it took me 24 hours to drag it from school to home. I'm just exaggerating.

I have listed all the exams according to their "scariness".
1. Chinese oral (over!)
2. English oral (over!)
3. Chinese compo
4. English compo
5. Chinese listening compre
6. English listening compre
7. Chinese paper 2
8. English paper 2
9. Science
10. Mathematics
Of course, the most fearful one is Chinese, followed by English then Science then Maths.

National Day Celebration at QPS

Click the pictures to have a better view.

Yesterday, we celebrated National Day at our school. The school hours were from 8 am to 10 am, and everyone had to wear red top white bottom, or white top red bottom (as red and white are the colours on our flag). We were advised to bring a face towel to wash our faces as we would be painting our faces. After the concert at about 10.10am, Maam told us that a teacher complained that one of us threw sponges and tissues out of the window. I was wondering if there was even any window in the hall. After a while, we were given two 'presents' - a souvenir (a 4-hands-thingy which was also a fridge magnet, and our homework! Oh man, everyone mumbled. It was like, we were the only class that received homework on that day.

Maam said that our class won the "National Day Fever" competition for primary 6. Yay!

My Movie

This movie is produced by Mrs Shahrin, our form teacher.

Back from Hong Kong Part 3

Day 4 was the most exciting and the "funnest" day in the whole trip. We went to Disneyland! Actually, I visited there once before, so I could recognise the place well and the weather was cold. But this time, the weather was scorching hot. First, we went to the Astro Blasters, which was a game where you had to shoot as many "Z" as possible to get as many points as possible. Although I played it the last time, I almost forgot what it was like. I managed to get 424,700 points. Next, we watched a 10-minute 4D movie. Since I watched it before during my first trip, I knew that something infront of my seat would spray the water or wind to create the 4D effect. I did not like the water, so I covered it with my hands before the show commenced. In the end, my hands became very wet. Later, we watched a skit which was slightly longer than the movie. It was not that nice actually. That was the end of our tour, and now we could go to any ride we fancied.

At about 3.30pm, the parade started. The people or "trucks" in the parade kept spraying water at us. It was due to the extremely hot and humid weather. I became soaked and drenched and my camera almost failed because of the water. After the parade, everyone, except me, went to the Space Mountain. It was a roller coaster ride in the dark. It was really fast that they had to take off their glasses, that's what they said. Of course, I was afraid to ride on roller coasters and I was the only one who did not ride on it. The other 3 friends played it 3 times, then we played the Astro Blasters again about 2 more times. My highest score was my first try. Late that day, we watched the fireworks. It was a picturisque view and was awesome. I really hoped to see it again, however it was actually polluting the air. Imagine what will happen when they display the fireworks everyday?

Day 5 was the return trip. We took a bus all the way to the airport. We were too early and waited for a while. When we boarded the aeroplane, the same thing almost happened like day 1 and the whole procedure repeated. When we reached Singapore at the arrival gate, I saw my mother, Lim Li and my grandmother. They were there to pick me up.

When I went to school the next morning, there was a welcome for me at the school gate. It was so heart-warming to see my principals, maam and my 6A friends welcoming and cheering for me.

Well, that's all. I had nothing else to type. You can view the photos below.

Back from Hong Kong Part 2

The first day in Hong Kong was over. On day 2, it was quite boring. First, we went to the... I didn't know where we went (I think one of the places was Victoria Peak), we basically toured all around Hong Kong. That's all. That's what we had done the whole of day 2.

Since day 2's description is just a few lines, maybe I should continue with day 3. Day 3 was the big day - the main reason why we came to Hong Kong in the first place. It was none other than the competition day. During the start of the Individual Contest, I was feeling very nervous, just like what I felt during any competition. I felt like going to the toilet, but after a while, I felt like not going anymore. Initially, I found the 15 questions a bit difficult. I skipped some of the questions and went back to do them after I finished the easy ones. Some of the questions also required a little of Guess and Check, which took a while. I thought that they would take our question papers, so I wrote the answers on a blank piece of paper. In the end, they only took the answer sheet. After that, we went a few levels down to have our lunch. I could see that the queue was quite long, so I waited, hoping that the queue would become shorter. I left all my papers and water bottle on the table. After a while, the queue became even longer, so I quickly joined in the queue. Halfway, I went to the toilet. When I came back, all my stuff on the table was missing, except for the blank paper. I kept searching high and low, but only managed to find the water bottle. My pencil box was missing, AGAIN!!! (I lost one in Hwa Chong during the APMOPS) I could not have lost it. Maybe it was in the classroom where we took the exam.

Next was the Team Contest. We returned to the classroom and my pencil box was there! I thought that I had brought it down with me. We were given instructions. We had 5 minutes to discuss which questions who should do. There were 8 questions and I took questions 5 and 6. Then we only had 45 minutes to do the questions, we were not allowed to discuss with one another. Apparently 45 minutes was more than sufficient to do only 2 questions, so I had plenty of time to check. After that, they gave us questions 9 and 10. We only had 15 minutes left! Luckily, we managed to solve both of them on time. For questions 1 to 8, each of us did 2 questions. However, the Hwa Chong team, 2 of them did 2 questions each, 1 did only 1 and the other one did 3. Our teacher had the answer key. It turned out that I had gotten full marks for the Individual Contest. It seemed almost impossible. One of the Hwa Chong team members also got full marks. The prize presentation was not held at Po Leung Kuk, instead, it was held at the Panda Hotel -- our hotel.

During the prize presentation, I thought that we would win something. But we did not win anything at all (the big trophy above was given to every team which took part). What a shame. Even the Hwa Chong team won some trophies. However, at the airport on the last day, my teacher gave me my certificate (First Class Honour for Individual Performance).














To be continued... (again!)

Back from Hong Kong

Sorry I did not update for about 2 weeks. The previous entry (photos at the airport) was not posted by me, it was by my mother. On the departure date, most of my friends came to send me off. They brought banners. placards and "pong pong" to cheer me. They had put in a lot of effort to prepare the whole event. I really appreciated it a lot. They really care about me, and I am sure that I will also cheer for those who will be going away. Just after I entered the gate, they were outside, still cheering. They really used the last few minutes, or seconds, cheering before I leave. The other 3, who were going to Hong Kong too, did not have any supporters.

When we were in the aeroplane, all 4 of us started playing computer games. The whole flight to Hong Kong seemed only an hour (actually it was 4 hours) when we were enjoying ourselves. The Hong Kong airport looked almost the same as the Singapore's, except that the words were all in chinese. We waited at the airport for more than 1 hour. I thought that we were supposed to wait for the other teams from other countries. Over there, we also saw the Hwa Chong team. Later, we boarded a bus, which was very crowded. When we reached the hotel, we were assigned 2 rooms - 1 for the teacher, the other one for 4 of us. My teacher's room had 2 beds, so we transferred 1 to our room. We then asked for another bed for 4 of us. We went to the hotel restaurant for dinner at about 6 pm. Since it's a buffet, I ate till I almost exploded.

There will be something for the 1000th visitor.

To be continued...

Hong Kong Trip (Po Leung Kuk World Maths Contest) on 14 July (Photos)

NUS high selection test

Sorry I didn't update my blog for a long time because of my homework, but since today is Sunday, I am free. Yesterday, I went to NUS high, and NUS on the same day. The NUSH selection test was about Science and Maths. Too bad that there were 47 science questions and only 14 maths questions. The total science score was 45 but the maths was only 35. Those whose science was outstanding like Afiq would have no problem with it. The science question was all about weird stuff like molecue and some super bombastic big words that I didn't even know the meaning. Whereas, the maths was not so difficult compared to the science. The duration was only 2 hours and there were 202 questions! Just kidding, but there was a no. 202 question. I thought 2 hours was very little, so I rushed through my work. In the end, I still had like 45 min left. After the test, my family went to NUS, not the secondary school, for NUS homecoming scrumptious buffet lunch. The mouth-watering food was delicious, but the lime juice was disgusting.

*Afternote: Lim Li's NUS High selection test on 25 June 2011 is posted here.

Only 6 more days to Hong Kong, and I still don't know which bag to bring.

Scrabble and SMO

Yesterday, I had the most difficult, or maybe the second most difficult Maths competition - SMO. It was so difficult that we were given 3 hours to complete it. It was so difficult that there were only 5 questions, and mostly proving type. Anyway, 2.5 hours after the start of the test, I left as I was not going to waste the other 1/2 hour doing nothing. After that, I ate chicken rice in the canteen. They have an ice-cream vending maching. I saw someone buy from it. It has a sucking thing to suck the ice-cream. After that, We went to look for the scrabblers. They were at the MPH(Multi Purpose Hall). We walked for so long until we reached the MPH. In the end, we went to the wrong MPH! I was so upset and frustrated that I felt like going home without knowing the scrabble results. We took a shuttle bus there instead. After that, we sort of like, did not do anything else. Just to tell you, Both competitions were held at NUS but were more than 1 km apart. Weird right? The whole NUS is more than a few kilometres long and wide, such that they need a shuttle bus to travel from one place to another, there are even public buses driving to and fro in the school.

I am not in the scrabble team (finals) and I am not playing.

School reopens

School reopens! You know what that means. It means the terrible stress has begun once again. Of course that's not a good thing, but there's still some, or perhaps, a few good things. Let's look at the bright side, we are now able to meet our friends again. We could chit-chat all day. At home I could only play computer for 1 hour a day, but in school, sometimes we are allowed to go to the computer lab to update our blogs, that means I get more computer time, too bad I cannot play computer games in school. Now I'm using the computer lab to update my blog.

Spongebob Videos with My Voice

Can you guess which is my voice, and which is Lim Min's?

Sungei Buloh trip

Today, I went to the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve with my classmates. Actually, I didn't feel like going as my leg was painful and I was "crippled". My mother asked me to bring the cookies and cakes that she had just made. I limped from home all the way to school. Then we took the bus all the way to Sungei Buloh. The bus was so slow that it took almost half an hour to reach there. I could see many cars which were faster than ours, even the other buses were faster. When we reached there, I limped again to the visitor centre and sat down to rest. All my friends were asking me the same question - what happened to my leg. I saw some small crabs and mudskippers over there, there was one mudskipper about 50 cm long. The guide told us the giant mudskipper was called the giant mudskipper. We proceeded on and saw some kingfishers on the way. We also saw some weird trees with weird names. One of the trees was called the Blind-Your-Eyes, the guide told us it might blind our eyes in some ways. Some of the trees had pencil roots which were roots that looked like pencils sticking out of the ground. They were to absorb oxygen and it could grow to another tree. When the little roots slowly grew into big ones, the original ones would eventually rot away.

The trip was a little boring and I don't think I want to go there again. There was once when I was standing on a wooden plank and didn't know there were ants until my leg itched.

A Windy Day at East Coast Park

This morning my family went to East Coast Park to ride bicycles. Unfortunately it rained most of the time. It was so windy ... (see how I held on to my umbrella).



We were totally drenched, and had to leave after an hour as the rain did not stop. We had waffle ice cream (delicious!) at Galare - the waffle was at half price on Tuesday. So lucky!