My Secondary 1 Life

A year passed so quickly, before I knew it, it is already the end of a year. Things are very different in secondary school, there's no more of relaxing and playing. Life became very busy in secondary school, from the first day I stepped into the school, I knew everything would became much complicated. Starting from selecting CCAs to adapting to the new school life.

In Secondary school, the teaching methods are also very different. In primary school, teachers would repeat explaining a question or things to remember for a long time, however, in secondary school, teachers only repeat them once, hence, if you have gained knowledge depence on whether you paid attention in class.

Things pass very fast in secondary life, especially in the first two terms. After selecting the CCA I was interested in, I was very enthusiastic about it, hence, I focused all my thoughts on CCA and neglected my academics. As a result, the exam came without me noticing and I did badly for it. As days passed, I became used to life in Secondary school. I adapted to the teaching methods and became more attentive in class then i was in primary school.

Finally, it was the end-of-year examinations, I started revising everything that I learned. Then, it came to me that everything was a blur, as thought it was still at the start of a year.

Poem

Hi guys! Im going to answer a few questions about the poem, '2 mothers in a h d b playground'.
1. What expectations do parents have for you?
My parents are same as all other parents; they expect me to do well in my studies and exams. They often say that if my results are good, I will be able to lead a good life in future and I would be able to provide myself with the best. My parents also expect to respect others; this is because if I respect others, people will respect me too.
2. What expectations as Singaporeans would you have for your children?
As Singaporeans, I expect my children to do well in their studies so as to bring himself pride while facing other parents and earning more money in future to live better. Singapore parents often like to ask about results when meeting with others’ child; hence if my child has good results, he will be respected. I would also expect him to be able to communicate with others well as if he is able to communicate well with others, he will gain respect.
3. Would the expectations of the two generations differ?
I do not think so. This is because both generations of parents want their children to be good and able to lead a good life when they grow up. Another reason is that the second generation is taught by the first generation; hence the second generation would most likely follow what is being taught to them.

Book Review

Hi everyone, its me! I have read a book called "The Edge Chronicles: StormChaser" and like to write a review about it.
The story is about a young boy, named Twig, whos father, Cloud Wolf, is a Sky Pirate. He discovered that his father was once a brave stormchaser and academic of the town, Santaphrax, until a villain named Vilnix Pompolnius discovered the secret of stormphrax, a crystal which prevents the city from floating away. Stormphrax is only available when Stormchasers chase the storm to the twilight woods and the storm strikes its mightiest bolt into the twilight woods. Stormphrax can be crafted to form Phraxdust, a dust which could turn the most dirty pile of water to crystal clear water.
Although Twig is working on his father's sky pirate ship, Stormchaser, his father never told the crews that Twig is his son, in fact he treated Twig more harshly then any crew mwmber. Even though Twig knew that his father did this in order to protect him from danger, he is still angry with his father some times.
One day, the academic of Santaphrax came to find his father and propose him to go on a quest in search of Stormphrax in order to save the falling city from the most high academene, Vilnix Pompolnius hands. However, Cloud Wolf just would not let Twig go with him, he was worried about Twig's safety as it is a very dangerous task in which no one had ever succeeded in. Twig had no choice but to stay in the tavern, drinking his soda while tears roll down his cheeks. Then, he felt a tap on his shoulder, the quartermaster of the ship had came to find him. He said that he would help Twig fulfil his dream of storm chasing by smuggling him into the sky ship. Twig aggreed. However when he on board the skyship, he found out that the quarter master and the fiercest fighter knoew his secret of being cloud wolf's son and actually kidnapped him in order to get all the stormphrax from his father.
In the end, Cloud wolf managed to kill all the vilains but his left arm was injured and the sky ship was falling. Everyone abandoned the sky ship except cloud wolf, who decided to stay and try manouevering the sky ship back into the storm. All the crew members landed in twilight woods, woods of eternity and frenzy. People would not die in twilight woods but would go crazy while their minds are being driven away by the trees there.Twig found all the members and brought them out to the mire, when they reach an abandon ship, only Twig and the professor of light are there. When twig look back, he saw the stone pilot being assaulted by a creature. He quickly rush back and saved the stone pilot's life.
At the end of the story, the professor of light died of injuries and Twig managed to kill Vilnix Pompoltius. The Professor of darkness, the professor of light's most trustworthy brother became the most high academene. Twig managed to find out the secret in successfully creating Phraxdust and he spreaded the news to everyone. He also found out where his father is and sailed with his own sky ship in search of his father, together with his new crew members.
If you interested in this story, you could find it at our school library's fiction shelf. Thats all for today! Bye!~

Mark Strand "The Remains"

My favourite poem is "The remains" by Mark Strand. His poems would often start with a question and end with an answer. I find this very unique, hence I like his poems.

Mark Strand was born in Summerside, Prince Edward Island, Canada. His collections of poems include: Dark Harbor (1993), The Continuous Life (1990), Selected Poems (1980), The Late Hour (1978), The Story of our Lives (1973), The Sargentville Notebook (1973), Darker (1970), Reasons For Moving (1968), and Sleeping With One Eye Open (1964).

He has also published a book of prose, entitled The Monument (1978). His books on artists include William Bailey (1987) and Hopper (1994). His translations include two volumes of the poems of Carlos Drummond de Andrade. He has also published three books for children. He has been the recipient of Fellowships from the Ingram Merrill, Rockefeller, and Guggenheim Foundations and from the National Endowment for the Arts. He has been awarded the Fellowship of the Academy of American Poets (1979), a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Award (1987), the Bollingen Prize (1993), and has served as Poet Laureate of the United States (1990). He is currently the Elliott Coleman Professor of Poetry in the Writing Seminars at the Johns Hopkins University.

The Remains

I empty myself of the names of others. I empty my pockets.I empty my shoes and leave them beside the road.At night I turn back the clocks;I open the family album and look at myself as a boy.What good does it do? The hours have done their job.I say my own name. I say goodbye.The words follow each other downwind.I love my wife but send her away.My parents rise out of their thronesinto the milky rooms of clouds. How can I sing?Time tells me what I am. I change and I am the same.I empty myself of my life and my life remains.

2nd Book Review (The Samurai)

Ah... Days pass so quickly, it's already the day after my birthday. I had just finished reading a book using the free times on my birthday and i decided to write the book review today.

The book is about a Samurai family who hunts dragons for a living. However, the youngest son in the family wants to make peace with dragons. His family was strongly against his idea as they thought that all dragons are evil. Hence, they did not bring the boy to any huntings as they were afraid that he might do something stupid. The boy became more and more lonely, as the family dare not include him in their activities. One day, the boy couldn't bare with the loneliness anymore and he escaped from the family when they were out hunting. Fortunately, on his journey, he met a very skilled and powerful Samurai who has the same idea as him, but through his hunting experience, he also learned that only some of the dragons are kind, while most of the dragons are evil, and there is only one dragon who can bring peace to the world by controlling the drangons. That is the oldest dragon in the world, who is asleep in his cave deep inside the highest mountain on the world, where many tried to find him, but stopped and killed by evil dragons on their way.

There, the boy finally understand why his family hunts and kills dragons, but he did not want to return home, he decided to stay and learn skills from the Samurai who taught him so much. Hence, through day and night he practised his skills hard, however, he did not feel tired, as the Samurai treat him like his own son. Finally, when the Samurai feels that he is ready for his first hunting trip, they went off, in search for their target, the Glacia Dragon. The boy felt very nervous on his first hunting trip, but nevertheless, he won. He also discovered that the stone hung on his neck is actually a very special amulet, it can actually absorb the power of each dragon he kills and the power will boost his abilities.

As days past, the boy became stronger and stronger and he had also saved and make friends with many kind-hearted dragons captured by evil dragons. One day, the boy decided to go home, but to his horror, he discovered that his family had been killed by the most evil dragon in the deep mountains - the Darkae Dragon. The boy was both sad and angry, he decided to take revenge for his family and also bring peace to the world, by finding the oldest dragon in the world. Hence, he started his journey, with the Samurai and of course, the kind dragons he saved. They successfully killed many evil dragons and saved many kind drangons. Finally, they reached the Darkae Dragon.

The battle last very long and the boy was nearly killed by the dragon, however, with his mindset to take revenge for his family and his will the bring peace to the world, he won the battle and went to the last cave in the mountain, which is also where the oldest dragon lie. The door was closed tight and nothing could open it. One of the dragons found an ancient tabulet saying that only the amulet which captured the most evil spirit of all could open the door, which is also the boy's amulet. Following the dragon's instructions, he placed the amulet in the opeing of the tabulet and striked the tabulet with his swords thrice, miraculously, there was a sudden outburst of light and the door opened, waking the oldest dragon up. The oldest dragon flew up into the sky and all the kind-hearted dragons followed. There, they roared and the evil aroma of the mountains were cleansed. The Samurai explained to the boy that the roar is to release the dragons from the evil spirits in them. Suddenly, almost all the dragons flew up into the skies, but this time, they do not look evil at all. The end.

Its an exciting story, isn't it? If you are interested, please do read this book!

1st Book Review (Fig Pudding)

The book Fig Pudding is about a boy named 'Cliff' and his family. As Fig is the oldest in his siblings, he is always made to take care of his siblings. He was hence nick-named 'Mr. Responsibility'.

The story is about the things happening to Fig's family, like his little brother, Josh's baby language and the fact that his sister, Cyn, suddenly decided to become a vegetarian. There are also many things happening to Cliff himself, like he did not want to lent his new fishing equipments to his siblings and he helping out her aunt to make doughhs for cookies, there are some jokes and there are some unhappiness.

There are a lot of exciting twists in the story, however, it ended off with a tragic happening. When Josh's most gullible but kind and caring brother, Brad was cycling with his friends down the slope, he crashed into an ambulance, and he died not long after. The whole family was very sad since this incident, however as Christmas was round the corner, they had to go to their aunt's house to celebrate. Hence, their father made his best desert, Fig Pudding, to their aunt's house. When they were getting out of the car, Josh's little brother stepped into the fig pudding, his mother was mad, but his father was quite calmn. He said that Josh's shoes were new and decided to carry on the procedures. When it was desert time, Cliff's uncle tasted the pudding and said that iwas more delicious then before. He even asked what new ingredients that Cliff's father had added. At this point of time, the family could not bear anymore and burst out laughing, no one coulod understand their outburst of laughter and this incident remained as a family secret.

This book is very nice indeed, if you are interested in it, please do take some time to read it!

Parent Interview

Hmm... There's a lot of books that my mother read, but the book that she likes most most is called <<红楼梦>> (Translation: Dream of the red chamber). The story is about the love triangle of three characters: Jia Bao Yu, Lin Dai Yu and Xue Bao Chai.

The main character, Jia Bao Yu is the adolescent heir of the family, a reincarnation of the Divine Attendant-in-Waiting. The Crimson Pearl Flower is incarnated as Baoyu's sickly cousin, the emotional Lin Dai Yu. However, Baoyu is predestined in this life to marry another cousin, Xue Bao Chai, and hence, there is a lot of sadness and love.

However, this wonderful story is not completed and no one knows the ending, but my mother said that she wished the two lovers to be together in the end. (As most love stories would say.)