PSLE is finally over!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nervous, anxious, a little confident, excited, only a few words to describe how I had felt during the PSLE period. Of course, after one paper, I had felt a sense of relief- as though a heavy burden had been lifted from my shoulders- for I would not need to revise that subject anymore!

Going back in time... ...

Earlier during the month, an intensive session of revision for me began(all because of PSLE), especially chinese. I was particularly weak in this subject, and the worst that I wanted to happen was for it to pull down my aggregate score. And so it all began, everyday, I revised at least three subjects,(Chinese was definitely one of them)for the next few remaining weeks. Time passed quickly, and my first paper-English, was drawing closer...
Finally. This was the day. I sat at my seat, the paper on my desk. My hand hovered nervously above my pen, anticipating the start of the examination. At long last, 5minutes which seemed like an hour passed. At a signal from the invigilator, I grabbed my pen, and began scribbling furiously on the paper. Every now and then, I glanced nervously at my watch(the least thing I wanted was for me to run out of time). Before long, I had completed the paper. I leaned back in my chair, relaxing- for once. Checking my work, I spotted several careless mistakes. Without hesitation, I seized the chance to earn a few more marks for this paper...
"close your booklet, and put your pens and pencils on the desk!" The examination had ended.

(This was about the same thing that happend for all the subjects, except that for Science, I was euphoric that my primary school learning journey had finally ended, for it was the last paper)

Maybe, besides Primary School Leaving Examination, PSLE could possibly stand for Please Stop Learning Everything!

The Royal Singapore Air Force(RSAF) Open House

The F15E-Strike Eagle, The F16 Fighting Falcon, The F5 Tiger; just to name a few of the many different types of fighters possessed by the Royal Singapore Air Force.

Snaking our way through the bustling crowd, I made my way towards the planes on display, oblivious to my surroundings, my friends, in hot pursuit. Just seeing the nose and cockpit of the plane made me gasp in awe. The aerodynamic body of the plane- perfect for swooping, diving and chasing enemy craft. Armed with machine guns, heat-missiles and sidewinders, the F16 Fighting Falcon was a fearsome sight. This was my favourite plane Singapore possessed. Personally, I disliked the F15 because of its big, fat nose. I could imagine myself seated in the cockpit. The glass lid shutting above my head. The feeling of take off, and if during war, arming the deadly weapons on the wings of the plane, and pulling the trigger, sending missiles crashing into the enemy craft's engine, gaining yet another victory.

I snapped back into the present. Desperately trying to get a few good shots of the plane, I captured picture after picture of the plane at different angles like there was no tomorrow.

The Royal Rangers together with me headed on, past the planes and onto the helicopters. Of course the first thing that caught my attention was the Apache- Singapore's latest helicopter model. I focused on the weapons: hellfires, machine guns, missile launchers and rocket launchers. Above the intimidating rotors, was a dome- a radar.

A pity the open house was so crowded. If not, we could have had a chance to try out the simulator and sit in the cockpit of the helicopters and jet fighters. As we neared the runway, we saw the anti-air craft artillery weapons and trucks armed with Service to Air Missiles(SAM) and rockets.

Finally, came the moment we were all waiting for; the Air Show.

(part of this story did not actually happen in real life)

The sound was deafening. Four F16's were on a mission- to attack and destroy a pair of unidentified potentially dangerous aircraft. Thundering down the runway at a breakneck speed, one by one, the fighters took off. As they disappeared behind a building, two F15's came into view, twisting and turning, before increasing altitude. A dogfight would be occurring soon- an air to air combat! Suddenly, the F16's dropped out of a cloud. They had executed a hundred and eighty degrees turn and were in hot pursuit of the intruders. All of a sudden, the sky lit up. Black smoke covered part of the sky. A little black speck in the sky flew upwards, and a parachute burst open. Five planes emerged from the smoke. The intruders were down by a plane. In a desperate attempt to shake off his pursuers, the enemy pilot pulled the plane upwards, spiralling as he went. The F16's split up. Two chased the enemy, while the other two headed off into the horizon. The combat was hidden by a blanket of black smoke and dust. But we could hear the action. The sound was twice as loud. As the smoke cleared, we could see the remains of three planes. The RSAF had won, with only one casualty. The remaining three fighters landed safely.

This fictious story was birthed from my experience at the RSAF Open House air show.

A railroad experience

Upon exiting the Customs, we rushed through an open door. To my surprise, every seat in the cabin was occupied- by both young and old. To my relief though, the condition of the cabin was not as I had expected: musty smell, water leakage, dirty windows, torn and tattered seats, hot, humid, with no ventilation at the least.

As soon as my family crowded into the cabin, two sharp, shrill whistles sounded, and a flash of green caught my attention. As if in reply, the locomotive tooted, and the pistons moved ever so slowly, forwards... backwards... forwards... backwards...


Before long, the train began to pick up speed. A cocktail of emotions, that of excitement and anxiety swamped my senses. I pressed my nose against the door (this was the best spot we could find) only to realise that the door was not locked! I pushed the latch, in an attempt to lock the door, but to no avail. At this moment did I realise how dangerous this ride could be! If the door swung open suddenly and someone fell out......

The train headed towards its destination: Malaysia. There we would stop by a station in Johor Baru where we would begin our trip. Adrenaline swept through my being. My eyes dilated in unbridled suspense. The veins in my temple throbbed with a ferocious intensity. Foliage flanking the track- a blur as the train whooshed past at a speed of 70km/h, sending fallen dried leaves scattering haphazardly in all directions.



All of a sudden, the train came to a halt. Thoughts swirled in my mind, did the train stop because it was waiting to switch tracks? Or because the train broke down? Or because the train ran out of fuel?



Five minutes passed but still no sign of movement. By now, adventurous commuters swung open the doors to their cabins, jumped out onto the track, armed with professional cameras, phone cameras, and compact cameras, capturing photo's of their friends and families beside the locomotive, without fear that the train might continue the journey without them.

For what seemed like eternity, the train finally started off. Although a few of the passengers managed to board the train in time, two cameramen oblivious to their surroundings were left behind.



An exhiliriating moment was when the train crossed the bridge. From up there, I could see The Railmall partially hidden behind some shrubs.


Finally the moment I had awaited for so long came. It was so sudden that I could not get a clear, good shot of that moment. My heart palpitated wildily in anticipation as I felt the train increase in speed gradually. Thundering down the track, the train crossed the road. I could only catch a glimpse of the cars giving way to the locomotive. The only building that caught my attention was the now under renovation Ten Mile Junction, soon to be known as Junction Ten. Before long, we reached the Woodlands checkpoint. After our passports were checked, we took a short trip to a room where we would wait to board the train once more.



This time though, we managed to get a seat!

Before long, we reached our first stop. Weary from the long trip, I trudged together with the rest of the CG members towards a door- an opening that led to Denga Mall. As we neared the entrance, I caught sight of a notice that read "For your own safety, the doors will automatically open 15minutes before the arrival and departure of the train. "

Upon seeing this, a few of my friends looked as horrified as I was. That sign meant that we had to wait for 15minutes before the next train's arrival before we would be able to enter the mall! Well, we didn't have the time to idle about at the entrance doing absoulutely nothing!





Finally, after some negotiations with the sercurity guards in the mall, we came to a compromise, and the doors swung open.





After brunch, noodles which I hardly relished, we headed to the bowling alley.


When my turn came, I grabbed a 9kg bowling ball. Moving my arms, I created enough momentum for the sphere to move fast enough, such that there was no time for it to change course. I heard the sound of pins falling upon impact. I glanced up at the monitor, and saw an X. A strike!





A whole lot of other interesting and exciting activities happened later today. We went to City Square, where we had a western lunch. We also watched the movie 'Thor' in the cinemas(it was a lot cheaper to watch a movie in Malaysia than in Singapore).





Well, time flies when you're having fun! Before we knew it, it was time to go. Going through the same procedures as before, we entered the train and began on the long journey back to Tanjong Pagar train station. From Woodlands checkpoint onwards, we managed to occupy a seat. easing comfortably into my seat, I fished out my camera. I had a brain wave; since the train service would cease on the 1st of July, I might as well capture a video of the whole trip! A pressed the menu button, and clicked 'video'. I pressed the shutter button, and the entire departure was recorded. This time though, I managed to catch a video of us passing by Ten Mile Junction!





Although at the end of this railroad trip all my limbs were numb and aching, this experience was worth while. This may be the first time I took this train service to Malaysia it would also be my last.

A new experience

"take your mark..." The whole sports school fell silent at the signal.

For weeks, I have been training for this very moment.

Then "Go!" Immediately, everyone started cheering. "splash!" I plunged into the cold, salty competition pool. After a few sharp butterfly kicks, I emerged from the water surface and took a deep breathe. My arms swung forwards pulling water towards me. In this way, I propelled myself forward, with the help of my legs. The race was on. There was no time for hesitation. Leaving everything behind me, all my nervousness and anticipation. I swam towards my goal.

It all lasted less than a minute. My arms felt like falling off. My lungs felt as though they were ready to explode. But I had done it. I had completed the 50m freestyle competition.

As I followed the other competitors out of the pool, I felt a sense of achievement and relief. Achievement because I had completed the race, and relief because ever since I entered the Singapore Sports School, I had felt as though there were butterflies in my stomach. Now that the competition was over, there was nothing to be nervous about. It was as though a huge burden had been lifted off my shoulders.

On the diving block, I recalled having a mixture of emotions- of fear, nervousness, and excitement. Nervousness came naturally to me because this was a new experience. Fear probably because of the conversations with my other teammates about getting disqualified by the officials due to slight movement on the diving block, and excitement because this experience was somewhat similar to that of the Olympics.

This experience has enabled me to compete with the best of the best swimmers in Singapore. Forever, this new experience will be etched in my mind.