National Age Group Championship (2010)

I think it was the second day of my chess tournament when I played the longest game in my life. My opponent was probably around 11, he wore glasses and an orange T-shirt. He was an opponent whom I challenged in one of the earlier tournaments. Just before the game, I felt butterflies in my stomach and my palms were sweaty. I was extremely nervous, for I had lost to him before. This time round, I was in a winning position, but in the end he won.

During that 2 hour match, Jabez had already finished his game, and had gone with the rest of the family to Yishun Park. What I heard later that afternoon was that Samuel had a close encounter with a snake at the park! Oh, how I wished I could see that snake. It would have been my very first encounter with one.

My afternoon, game, was an opponent who was different from others. His name was Fabian. I was seated waiting for my opponent when I saw a boy in a wheelchair. He was to be my opponent! His head was tilted to one side, and his arms were weak so I had to help him move his pieces and press the clock for him. I have to admit that I thought he would be an easy opponent, but he certainly proved me wrong. He was better then I thought, and in the end we had a draw.

This chess tournament is one I would never forget. For after many days of praying, God has finally answered my prayer. Now I have qualified to become a member of the Chess Junior Squad!

A Malacca Vacation

Five days before Christmas, we set out in high spirits with our cousins for Malacca. There, we visited museums such as the Cheng Ho Cultural Museum where we learned about the culture and history of Malacca. We also visited the Maritime Museum, which was a replica of a Portuguese ship. Another historical site was the ruins of the Al Famosa fortress that was built by the Portuguese after they conquered Malacca.

One place I particularly liked was the Butterfly and Reptile Sanctuary which we visited on the 2nd day. The butterflies there were a lot more colorful than the ones in Singapore. Best of all, they were friendly and easily attracted to us! It felt itchy as the butterflies crawled on my body, but it was kind of fun. Besides butterflies, there were other amazing creatures such as scorpions, alligators, snakes, emus, peacocks, electric eels, otters, weasels and even a bearcat! I think it is called a bearcat because it looks like a bear, and climbs like a cat! So much for a butterfly and reptile sanctuary; it looks more like a zoo to me.

We walked a lot around the town but we also tried the local transport, like the trishaw. It is called a trishaw because it has three wheels. We sat in what looked like a carriage while a man cycled us to our various destinations. On the last evening, we took a boat ride along the Malacca River. I enjoyed the ride very much for the weather was breezy and the river was lighted up with colorful lights.

We spent the last evening at a shopping mall. I am talking about this not because I love it, but because of what happened there. It was pretty late in the evening when we finished shopping. We decided to take a trishaw back to the hotel for we were weary from walking. You might think that it should not have been a problem but guess what? They charged us RM 50 for just a short ride to the hotel! This is five times more expensive than the offer we had earlier. It is most ridiculous! Finally, we decided that it was better to walk back to the hotel. By the time we reached our room, I was exhausted and after a shower slept almost immediately.

A retreat in Changi

It is about a week since we returned from our CG retreat to Changi Village. I have decided to talk about our trip, for I loved the activities we did there...

I awoke with my head buzzing with excitement for today is the BIG day. We are going to Changi Village with our CG! After a wait which seemed like eternity, we started off. The hotel which we were staying in looked a bit like an office to me. However the inside was more welcoming. There was a mini house made of all sorts of delicious goodies, but of course, it was not edible. After brunch, we went to our rooms. At first, our rooms were on the smoking level and I did not want to stay in it for the smell of smoke was unbearable. Unfortunately, there were no other available rooms, and we had to wait till 5.00pm. We past the time by watching a movie at Noah's room with the CG and before we knew it, our rooms were ready.

The following day, we woke up bright and early for our guided tour at Chek Jawa. The tour was excellent. We got to observe and identify many creatures unknown to us, like the Oriental Tree snake and the male wild boar. They looked pretty scary too! After a session of drawing, we started back to the jetty for the ride back to mainland in the bumboat. Lunch was delicious for it was a buffet. I drank mushroom soup, ate rice with curry, chips and tomatoes. I even tried olives! Dessert was ice-cream. In the evening, we went for a stroll at the Changi beach. I did not really enjoy the walk but it was through the walk that I spotted a lizard hiding behind a rock and a White Bellied Sea eagle soaring high in the sky. We also spent some time at the beach digging a deep pit. Come to think of it, I actually enjoyed the walk after all!!

Upon returning to our hotel room, I immediately prepared a soapy bath in the bathtub. This also was one of the favourite things that we did at this Retreat, for the water was warm and soothing against the cold November evenings. Eating dinner under the stars in the open courtyard was another novelty, only there was not a single star to be seen that night! We had to rely on Samuel's torchlight but it soon blacked out, and we had no choice but to eat in darkness. Of course there were some light from the hotel corridors but it was inadequate. Our eyes soon adjusted to the darkness and all in, I kind of enjoyed it! A while later, I could not eat anymore probably because I could not really see what I was eating! Soon my friends, brothers, and I were in our room watching TV.

Time certainly past quickly when you are having fun, for the time came for us to check out. The highlight of the day was a swim race with my friends and the adults. We challenged our fathers to a race and guess who won? Us! Actually, it was not a fair race for our fathers swam breaststroke while we swam the frontcrawl. I was famished after all the workout and was glad the lunch was pizza. I ate three big slices!!

This is one trip I would never forget.

The Wizard of Oz

When Dorothy and her dog Toto werte whisked away by a cyclone, they found themselves in the Land of Oz. Soon she realized that the only way they could return to their home in Kansas was to journey to the Emerald city to ask The Wizard of Oz for help. Along the treacherous journey, Dorothy met new friends, the Scarecrow, the Tin woodman, and the lion. They wanted to join her to look for Oz to give them something. Together, they faced many perils like the two Kalidahs and the deadly poppies. Finally, they reached the Emerald city. But before Oz could grant them their wishes, they had to kill a wicked witch. Dorothy “melts” the witch by pouring a bucket of water over her and they travelled back to the Emerald city to have their wishes granted. Soon they realized that the Great Wizard is actually a humbug! All hopes of returning to her home in Kansas were lost, until a guard told her to ask the good witch Glinda for help. After many adventures in the Land of Oz, Dorothy and Toto finally reunited with her Uncle and Aunt back home in the Kansas prairie. I enjoyed this adventure story. It a book that you will not want to put it down once you begin reading it!

At the Jurong Bird Park (behind the scenes)

Yesterday, together with other homeschoolers we went to the Jurong Bird Park for a talk on birds. The venue is at the Bird Discovery Centre. We were early, so we look at the many interesting exhibits and learn more about the birds and their body parts. It was all very interesting. I, especially was fasinated by the owl. Owls have large eyes to search for their prey in the dark, and they have firm feathers so they would not make any sound when they fly. After that,

In the afternoon, we went for another exciting programme 'behind the scene' . Well, to the penguin expedition but this time behind the scenes! We were split into two groups. My group went in first while the second group had a brief talk about penguins from a guide. Inside we had to put on boots and wear a jacket for it was very cold. The temperature was It was very fishy and I felt like vomiting. I wondered how the staff could worked in there. After a while, I got used to it. The sight was so cool. We could hear the sound that the king penguin made. It sounded like a trumpet. The staff told us that there were about five males that were incubating eggs. He also told us that there were five species in there. The Macaroni, Rockhopper, King penguin, Fairy penguin, and the Humboldt penguin. After that we saw a sick King penguin placed at a corner and even touched a Humboldt penguin. It felt very smooth. We then came out of the cold place and back to the guide for our lesson on penguins. Later we went into the penguin expedition. Now I began to notice the other species and managed to spot them. I loved this experience as I had never been behind the scenes, touched a penguin and came so close to a penguin. I was glad that I knew it now. It was a very eventful day.

Astro Night

Last Friday, my family and I went to Science Centre. Over there, I was very surprised to see an extremely long queue to enter the inflatable planetarium. While queuing, I met Bailey and Dominic. Since the queue was so long, we decided to try some of the hands-on activities while daddy stood at the queue. At one station, we saw some mini rockets flying all around. The lady put a tablet into the film container filled with some water. Awhile later, the lid popped opened, pushing the water out. This was my favourite station as it was exciting waiting for the it to pop! After that, we headed back to the queue to wait for our turn to enter the planetarium. Inside, a man taught us about the star constellations. I knew all of the constellations that he mentioned. Next, he made the fake stars spin around us like it would, in the North Pole. I felt very dizzy.

I liked the exhibit very much and next time, I hope to go up to the observatory tower to stargaze, without the queue.

Chemistry

We just came back from the Chemistry Lab at NUS. Over there we were splitted up into pairs of two, and together with a student scientist, we did some exciting experiments. Most of the chemicals that we used were harmful to our skins. So we had to wash our hands immediately after an experiment. My favourite experiment was called the "elephants toothpaste". We used detergent, food colouring and some other chemicals to form a warm soapy paste. The end product looked like a giant toothpaste. I had a fun time at the chemistry lab today.