A THOUSAND CROSSINGS X

Dear Diary...
Dreams
vendredi 23 octobre 2009

Dreams

To me, dreams are just dreams, while goals are dreams with a deadline. Dreams only exist in our heads, it is something we think about, we imagine or we hope for. Sometimes we dream of an ideal world, thus it can only be a dream. At other times we dream of our successes, however if we do not put our dreams to actions, our dreams will remain as dreams.

I grew up with many dreams. When I was younger, my dream was to invent a medicine or some mystical potion that would allow me and my family to live forever. I feared death when I was younger and did not want to leave my grandmother – or my grandmother to leave me. I was afraid that when I get reincarnated I will have different parents, or be born in a worse background and environment. Thus I dreamed of being able to live forever so none of that would happen. This dream is a dream that can only exist in my head, something I can hope for but it will never materialize. This is also an example of how our fears can cause us to dream of the impossible. My fear of death and being parted from my family was what drove me to dream, though the dream will never come true.

When I was in Primary School, I dreamt of being the top student in school. However, I was not even close to the top hundred students in the cohort. In the end, that dream remained a dream. That was because I did not set a deadline for that dream. It did not become a goal. As it did not become a goal, there was nothing to thrust me forward to achieve my goals and fulfill my dreams. Thus, this dream could only remain as a fleeting memory in my head and never materialize. This is also an example of daydreaming. Without setting targets and deadlines to assist me in achieving my dreams, I will never get there, because that dream is merely a sandcastle in the air that does not exist. Thus, it is important to transform dreams into goals by setting realistic targets and deadlines to assist us to achieve them. Deadlines pressure us to put in more effort to complete each target on time. Target by target, step by step, we will be closer to achieving our goals and fulfilling our dreams.

Now in Secondary School, I finally have transformed two of my dreams into goals.
The first dream is to do well – and hopefully achieve 10A1s – in these O level examinations. This dream stayed as a dream until I was in Secondary Four, when I eventually woke up from my deep sleep to realize that I had to transform the dream into a goal. I set targets and deadlines for myself and made sure I completed my quota of revision each day. Eventually by the third school-based preliminary examinations, I saw the seeds that I have sown bear fruit. Although there is still room for improvement, I believe that I am a step closer to achieving my goal and fulfilling my dream.

My other dream is to help as many needy children in the world as possible. I know very well that I am lucky to be born in Singapore where natural disasters are obsolete and to a family that has no problems making ends meet. Thus, I feel that it is important to count my blessings and not take these blessings for granted. In order to thank the Universe for blessings me, I wish to help others who are not as fortunate. To achieve my dreams, I have again set myself targets and deadlines. My first step would be to help the needy children in Singapore, before rendering my helping hand over the oceans. I will try my best to raise the awareness of the presence of needy children in Singapore and obtain as much help for them as possible. After raising the awareness, hopefully there would be more people who will be willing to volunteer or help the children. Then, I wish to set up a children’s mission to shelter and educate the needy children so as to help them escape the underachievement trap as well as the poverty cycle. Although this is a big dream, and a large goal to be achieved, I feel that if I do not dream big, there is no use in dreaming; my dreams should not only benefit myself, but also others.

In conclusion, our dreams are nothing unless we decide to metamorphosise them into goals. Setting goals help us to achieve our dreams by telling us that it needs to be completed as soon as possible. Apart from that, what we dream of is also very important. There is no point dreaming of things that will not exist or will not be able to be achieved. It is more important to dream realistically and pragmatically, dream dreams that would benefit others and then transform them into goals and achieve them. Dreams are just dreams, but goals are dreams with deadlines waiting to be achieved. Dream big.

Au Revoir

yongliang

he closed his diary at {17:26}

Dear Diary...
2 weeks left
mercredi 14 octobre 2009

Omigosh. There's about 12 days left before the start of the O levels. OMG.

Really nervous. I feel pretty prepared, yet not prepared at all! How?

Anyway, I did an essay today. I thought it wasn't really good .On second thought, I decided to put it up here and see what you guys think about it.

Here goes...

Marriage

Marriage is a union between between individuals that creates kinship. This union may also be called matrimony, while the ceremony that marks its beginning is usually wedlock. In my opinion, marriage is; and should be a beautiful intertwining of fates. It is supposed to cross the lives of two people, sometimes very different people. It is also supposed to last for eternity. Some people view marriages as a burden, while others find it as a lifelong commitment that brings them joy and laughter. But what brings two people together?

Scientific research has shown that opposites do attract. Recent findings published by the University of Parana, Brazil reported that people with diverse major histocompatibility complexes were more likely to choose each other as mates than those whose MHCs were similar, and that this was likely to be an evolutionary strategy to ensure healthy reproduction. This shows that biologically, humans have been “engineered” to be attracted to opposites of themselves. Therefore opposite personalities may be attracted to each other and eventually marry.

However, statistically, marriages between people who are more alike in attitudes tend to last longer. A report published in the journal, Personality and Individual Differences showed that people choose partners who were similar to themselves in terms of agreeableness, conscientiousness and openness. Thus, there was strong evidence that in the psychological point of view, marriages last longer when two similar people are married to each other. However Sanjay Srivastava, a psychologist at the University of Oregon offered an explanation for the phenomenon; perhaps the longer the couples stay together, the more they grow alike. In my opinion, people are not finding an opposite, or a like pole. We are all looking for a balance. No couple is made up of two people who are completely alike or different. I believe that couples who are fated to meet and marry are supposed to provide a balance. Humans are not born perfect, thus I believe that perfection is achieved when we marry the love of our lives. Husband and wife have to complement each other. Thus I believe that Fate brings two people together to fill up the empty half of each others’ lives.

It has also been said that there is no need for a reason to love someone. If a marriage is a phase in love, it probably does not have a reason either. Sometimes, all that is needed for a couple to get together is an opportunity. An example is the marriage between British actor Michael Caine and British model and actress, Shakira Baksh. Caine first saw Shakira in an advertisement for Maxwell House Coffee on television. The advertisement had been shot in Brazil and Caine was so struck by Shakira that he was prepared to fly there and meet her. With a little investigation, he realised that she lived only a few kilometres away from him. Eventually, they got married. They have already been married for 36 years. Thus, this example shows that sometimes, relationships between a couple may be sparked by a sudden impulse and such marriages; contrary to popular belief, can actually last – in this case 36 years. Thus, Fate still plays a part in bringing two people together, by providing the opportunity for two people to discover more about each other and in the end marry each other.

In conclusion, I feel that there are many different reasons why two people are attracted to each other and eventually marry. However, I believe that all these reasons are offshoots of one main root reason. Fate brings people – sometimes different, sometimes the same – together. In some couples, no matter how different they are – different religions, different races, different beliefs – they still manage to keep their relationship alive and continue running the marathon of marriage. In other couples, they seem to have telepathic minds and know what their other half is thinking without conversation. And in some couples, although they might have never met before, when they eventually do meet, they feel as if they have known each other for decades. Thus, I believe that Fate is the puppeteer of the emotion we call love and marriages are fated.

It's pretty short, compared to my typical essays. But Mr Tan warned me that writing really long essays may not be a good thing. And I had written a concise essay on "What do you enjoy most after school" (or something along that line) and I achieved a decent score (definitely above 22). So I guess, it's not really the length that matters. :D

Second thing on the agenda today. It's a piece of good news. TAYLOR SWIFT HAS BEEN NOMINATED FOR 6 AMAs! (You're getting hotter by the day babe.) ♥

Nominations:

• Favorite Female Artist – Country
• Favorite Album – Country
• Favorite Female Artist – Pop
• Favorite Album – Pop
• Adult Contemporary Music
• Artist of the Year

:D

Au Revoir

yongliang

he closed his diary at {21:19}

Dear Diary...
Uncle Tony's 60th Birthday
samedi 10 octobre 2009

Just returned from dinner at Peach Garden @ Novena. It's a really nice place, and the service was good. The manager and the waitress that served us were very very very polite, and both of them had a good sense of humour. Really liked the experience there.

Went for dinner there to celebrate my uncle's 60th birthday. 7 course meal! One of the funniest parts of the meal was when the waitress was preparing the cake.

waitress: how many candles do I put on the cake?
Mum: erm, just put all the candles that you find in the plastic bag.
waitress: but there are 6 candles!
Mum: yeah, put all 6.
waitress: HE'S 60 ALREADY!?

haha really funny. Then that waitress cracked quite a few jokes with out family and went along with all the other jokes we were cracking. So, it was quite lively and fun. haha.

All in all, I really enjoyed today evening. haha. Really fun. And there was really good service at the Peach Garden. Would definitely go back there again, or so I think. haha.

And kudos to the Manager, Darren and the waitress that attended to us, Lee Lim Kiang; for their good sense of humour and service!

Pictures!

BIRTHDAY BOY. LOL

High class peanut. That's fine dining for you. haha :) It must be some 100 year old Tibetan Himalayan Peanut.

See! Even the Prawn Cracker is so high class.

寿桃!

PEKING DUCK. pecking duck. haha

Double-boiled Shark Bone soup. I'm not really an advocate of eating sharks (I feel guilty everytime I have to drink sharks' fin soup), but this was really good. :/

The red ink is part of the line, " Happy 60th Birthday"

Au Revoir

yongliang

he closed his diary at {23:30}