I had a dream. For prelims, I've got 7 for bio, 7 for econs, 3 for chem, 5 for english, and as for Math...I can't see anything (yes, the mark was faded). It is really scary, because it is so real that I've been focusing a little bit too much on bio and econs. I think it's about time to shift to the other subjects.

Yup. Time to make some readjustments here and there.

"The old saying claims that race cannot be won on the first lap but it can certainly be lost. For Kimi Raikkonen that rule does not apply, while for four drivers in the midfield the adage is completely appropriate.

Kimi Raikkonen started the 44-lap Belgian Grand Prix from sixth position on the grid and used his KERS advantage to perfection to vault second on the run up to Les Combes on the first lap behind pole sitter Giancarlo Fisichella. Behind Romain Grosjean triggered a four car accident at the same turn bringing out the safety car.

Leaning heavily on KERS once again at the restart, the 2007 world champion blasted by Fisichella to take the lead and despite the best efforts of the Force India driver, Raikkonen was able to maintain a slender advantage all the way to the chequered flag and record his fourth victory at the Spa Francorchamps circuit."

Source: http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headlines/news/detail/090830155458.shtml

I must say that I've been very very very very...delighted to see Kimi Raikkonen take the Spa win. I almost cried tears of joy (I've been doing that a lot this year)...people who were making fun of Ferrari all this while are beginning to eat their own words as Kimi won in a car not upgraded.

I remember once saying that Kimi is a joke and is a waste of space at the Scuderia. Never have I been happier to be proven wrong. The way Kimi used KERS at the start was superb.

Furthermore, he went around the outside to overtake everyone using KERS.

I guess that in life, all of us need our own form of KERS to vault ourselves ahead.

And sometimes, we cannot go the common way. While everyone uses the straight path, sometimes we must take an alternate path, like what Kimi did by going around the outside.

Haha, whatever it is, I am overjoyed...

Forza Ferrari!

Get well soon Felipe!

Really funny the way that people laugh at Liverpool...

And then their own clubs do the same thing!

Man Utd lost to Burnley (a newly promoted club)...

Arsenal lost through an own goal header and a penalty.

What goes around comes back around.

On a much happier note...I think Steven Gerrard is back in business! Glen Johnson is awesome too...Liverpool's player of the season so far!

At the end of the storm...

Is a golden sky!

Reaching the Stars

The Alpha Centauri star system is 4.5 light years away. (Actually, it is 4.37 light years away, according to Wikipedia, who have got their sources somewhere, but heck).

To reach the closest star system...is 4.5 light years away...

And getting the maximum IB score...is 45 points away...(actually 38, since I've already got a 7 for Chinese, but heck!)

Now now, with the grace of God, I'll do my utmost best to achieve that score to bring glory to His name.

With or without a study partner, I'll still press on...

Though perhaps, to be honest, sometimes it's better to have a study partner...

But I guess I'll wait patiently for someone to ask...

Death

I had a brush with death again.

No, not death of myself, but rather death of a loved one. I know it might not be wise of me to talk about this taboo topic now, especially since I have to rush off to mug later on at 9.30, but I think I should pen it down here.

You see, I received an sms from someone. The message was "X (let's name my loved one that) has been involved in a stabbing incident. I'm afraid he has passed out"

And then I was so sad, I wished maybe X had been around longer, perhaps maybe to nag at me more. I have no idea.

I was so sad, in a dark house, on my sofa, crying my heart out...

and then I woke up.

As I always say, it was just a dream.

But perhaps, I'm quite sick of being in such dreams where my loved ones die and I'm helpless to do anything. If that were to become reality, well...

I hope my dreams don't become reality...

Well except of course the one about me getting 45 points and going up on stage to give all thanks to God (Actually that's more of myself day dreaming...not those real kind of dreams...but anyway I'm sure it is possible to come true)

I don't know, perhaps people might start calling me crazy by fretting too much over these dreams...but God has always been imparting messages to characters in the Bible through dreams, like to Joseph.

Maybe, this is God's way of telling me that His will is perfect...

Maybe, but I won't know. I guess I'll pray over it later on.

Desert Rain

It was a very sandy desert. Too sandy. Everywhere I went was sand. The sand getting into my eyes, making them sore and teary. The sand getting into my mouth, and I choked each time I took a breath of air. The sand getting into my shoes, poking at my feet with every step forward.

Somehow I wasn't alone. I was surrounded by people. The group consisted of about less than 10 people...I barely recognised their faces in the sandstorm. Why was I on this random trip? Why was I surrounded by unfamiliar faces? Questions, but no answers...and I continued walking. At this time, I became more aware that I was on some sort of trek through the desert.

The group decided to camp for the time being. I don't know why, but I wanted to carry on. I told the group that I was leaving them. No response. Probably they could not hear me. So I continued walking and walking. No one was near...I felt lethargic and fatigued. I wanted to faint any moment.

To make matters worse, thunder and rain came. It started storming. Desert rain? I've never heard of such a thing before. Wet sand hitting me everywhere I go. I could not walk on further. It was tough. I was about to pass out any time soon...

And then there was a familiar sight. A friend of mine who was from that group somehow appeared (don't ask me who I knew he was from the group, I just knew), and came to support me as we decided to continue trekking through the desert. The thing is, I never even half expected that person to come and help me. But he did. Wait let's him a name. Ok let's call him X

And then he did, and soon we reached a bus stop.

What? A bus stop?!

Yes. A bus stop. It looked like one of those bus stops along MacRitchie reservoir. And guess what? I saw 2 people at the bus stop. One of them was my really good friend. But strangely, he didnt notice me. Hmmm, so lets call this guy Y.

So I boarded the bus with X. Y and his fren came along. Strangely, Y didn't even talk to me at all. Totally ignored. Weird.

And then I was getting tired, I leant on X's shoulder and fell asleep...

And then I woke up on my bed. It was just a dream. A strange dream indeed.

Passion

I have observed that do many things out of passion. I must say that I realised it is both a blessing and a curse. Well you see, while I have done many great things out of passion, I also have done many bad things due to the same reason. We have already seen a lot of sportsmen achieve great feats due to their passion for the sport, but also done sinful actions due to the same passion they have for the sport. In my personal life, I have quite a number of close friends, and when they're in need of help, I'll go all out to help them, due to my passion. However, sometimes the very same reason leads me to do wrong, due to my passion always encouraging me never to say no, even though clearly I know it is wrong.

Since passion has been seen as a tool for both good as well ass evil, what should we do? Should we throw it away altogether? No...I don't think so...

You see, Jesus says in John 4:24 "God is a Spirit and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth".

To worship Him in spirit, is the passion I was talking about. At the same time, we need to be fully aware of what we sing, pray, give and preach, and that is why we also have to worship in truth.

Oh and who is the one who is most passionate of us all?

The answer is none other than God Himself. He sent His only Son to die for us, because He has so much passion for us. Even though we don't deserve His forgiveness, and even though I still don't know what I did to deserve someone like Jesus to die for me, I know for certain that God's love is real.

How about this? Many have missed this one important aspect of God's love. God loves us so much that He is willing to let us choose to not believe Him if we do not want to. He does not force us to believe in Him, even though He knows His will is perfect for all of us. How many of us daresay we love someone so much that we will let him/her do whatever they want, even though it brings us no benefit? Yea. That's how much God loves us, and not to forget that He died for us even though we reject Him time after time.

"Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed" - Proverbs 16:3

Totally beautiful verse. To commit everything to God, and put Him first. From experience, I daresay that nothing without God's blessing will bear fruit. It might enjoy success temporarily but will be headed for a deep plunge. I had a study plan put into place, and to be honest my studying was quite CMI because I put myself before God.

So yes, I'm going to start my studying, and all my other plans, with a prayer over this verse. God had promised this in the Bible. It's quite amazing that God provides all these earthly things (which are worthless in reality) to us. This shows the extent of His love. Well, I am going to make my life a living testament for God, start living each day right for Him from now onwards. I want others to know what it's like to have a God who provides. I want to win more souls for Christ. I want others to say "Hey look at that guy! He's a Christian right? Let's be like him too!".

High hopes.

But lets start from scratch.

I'll live my life right from today onwards, for the Lord.

Unrequited

So how do I know if you’re real? If you’re false?
So who are you now? Are you friend? Are you foe?
So where are you now? When I’m down and I’m out
So why do you stay? When you’re so far away

Say what am I now? Am I in? Am I out?
Tell me what I did wrong. Can I change? Must I cut?
Now you say, “you don’t say” But if you don’t say. What can I do?
Oh please, just trim the bush. And put it straight, what’s there to lose?

[Chorus]:
So tell, just tell me now.
Why’s it so hard? Why? It’s just you.
Come on. Where is your heart?
Mine’s over here. Will you care to see?

Why must I wait for my time just to come?
Why? Why not now? Is it something I lack?
Why do you see me as some lesser breed
Something not worth your pure eyes to behold

[Chorus]

Just stop and think back.
I don’t care what you say.
You’re not worth my spare time.
Come on, that’s what you said.

[Chorus] x2

[Refrain]
Can you hang up now? Can you hang up now?
Can you hang up can you hang up can you hang up now?

(Oh how fitting that my 300th post is also the first time I've put a song written by myself on the blog!)

I saw a blog post from my friend, and I can't help but feel like I'm guilty of the same thing. Sure I have been pangsehed every now and then, but maybe I'm guilty of doing the same thing to others. So here's my poem:

Thank You! Bye bye!

Their faces brim with pity and sorrow
I offered them my all, my very best.
Indirectly they rule my happiness
Their actions spoke it all - “Thank you! Bye bye!”
Emotion of frustration, input not
proportional to total revenue
and as the inevitable occurs
Rebound always they will. And the same fate –
Their faces brim with pity and sorrow.
Emotion of inferiority
I, who did my best, am not good enough
for them to be like stars in the dark night

Guilty lightning struck me. I shall not want.
My faces brim with pity and sorrow.
He offered me His all, His very Best.
Raw flesh peeled like a hot knife through butter
Royal pain through cranium. Cerebellum
House of throns in head. A pain worse than death
a King bore a pile of splinters on his
back of bones. Sharp iron between ulna
and Radius. Just the appetiser.
Eons of dejection while bearing our
darkness. Living death. For all our heads.
conquering Death, ensuring it dies good.

My actions spoke it all – “Thanks for your death –
I know you've tasted the cat with nine tails,
spinal cord as visible as the Sun,
your sense receptors tampered with like toys
your life balanced on iron while I
breathe the free air, the ones you've given me
and your buddy of unknown years has just
left you for me, let you die so I live -
But I don’t need you anymore. Bye bye!”
Emotion of frustration, input not
proportional to total revenue
and as the inevitable occurs
Rebound always I will. And the same fate –
My faces brim with pity and sorrow.
The heart wrenching pain I felt was peanuts
to His suffering. Alike, yet nothing.

Never take for granted this Love story
Live It. Return It. Spread It far and wide
As the Sun sets - I have to reach to Him
I know – I just need to reach out to Him

Everyone is composing poetry. It's only a matter of time before I follow suit. So I did. Perhaps I have also been influenced by the writers of my IOC poems - Robert Frost, Wilfred Owen, Wole Soyinka.

This poem is entitled "Don't Skip!". I wrote it while on a visit to my friend's house this morning. I saw a father holding hands with his daughter, and his daughter was skipping. I suppose the girl was only about 8 or so.

Since the daughter was skipping, of course the father will tell her not to skip so he can keep up with her. Then the daughter continued skipping off and the father pulled a trick on her and hid behind a pillar, as she continued skipping off into the distance.

I didn't get to see what happened next, I needed to be at my friend's place on time. But anyway, it really got me thinking. There are various ways to interpret this poem. Have fun at it.

So I present to you my poem:

Don’t Skip!

“I want to skip!” – she said with a huge Smile
on her Face. Daddy said “No you Don’t Skip!”
Falling on deaf ears as she continued
To Skip. Daddy went behind a pillar
only for her to continue Skipping

I ascended with a pressing of buttons
I stood there wondering why people have
Skipped. On me. I stood there waiting – Thinking
What the future holds – Whether this girl was
One of them. She definitely can’t be –

One of us. I too have seen an Ego
Maniac. Defeated Chicken. Pecks at
the Hand that feeds it. Board of destruction.
abandons the Freedom for Life it craved
Seemingly. Or is It just a lost cause

T’was the day before the Silent Night came
Me and flock of chicks that were same in mind
Came together to protect the old men
being Left in a Wake – I scarcely thought of
how Cruel the birds of prey swooped at me

I have friends – Those who cared and those who have
Skipped. On me. I stood there waiting – Thinking
Whether my Hand has been the one to mould
My Future. Is wild and I dare not ask
who was One of them or One of Us now

I pressed the button. The door welcomed on
Me. I wonder if the heartless piece of
Scrap was a better comrade than one who
practiced irregular consistency
and Skipped as the Moon shone bright in the sky

“I want to skip!” – she said with a huge Smile
And then there was an eclipse but the Moon
Shone bright. Never let me walk alone so
I ask “Will you skip on me?” and now as
Time passes and Skips. Will YOU Skip on Me?

IOC

Thank you Jesus.

I feel librated.

Lucky? I guess it's God's good grace that got me my preferred extract.

I guess hard work pays off. I gave up on getting good grades for my mid years in order to focus on my IOC.

Though it has caused me to fret a bit over my mid year results, I'm quite happy that my sacrifice has more or less paid off.

:D

Thank you Jesus.

295th Post

And how was I to know that selecting the clothes that go on my back tomorrow will be so darn difficult?