A Year After ‘A’s– Me trying to offer advice

I’m looking for guest posts once again! The guest post can be a recipe post, a “tips” on how to bake/cook something post or a nutrition related post. Just email it to qiting93@hotmail.com and I’ll get it up and going!

 

I got my A level results exactly a year ago. Hard to think I’ve managed to get through that. When I was a kid, I remember thinking that I would somehow die before getting my PSLE (Primary School Leaving Examinations) results because how the hell will I be able to survive in this damn world with horrible results when my friends and family and the society think so highly of me since I’m in the so called best class in a relatively good school? I got through that alive, fortunately, and lived to see my A level results. I wrote this after getting my results last year.

Don’t do this.

Of course, this post is not all about me. It’s about you, the people who have just gotten your results and are wondering what to do about it.

If you did badly, sure, you can cry on the first day, but promise me. The next day you are going to get back on your feet and think about how you can make the best out of everything. Quit comparing your results with your friends. That’s not going to change anything.

Good results or not, think this through carefully. What is one thing you’ll sacrifice sleep for? What do you unknowingly willingly stay up all night for? Do you happily look up biology facts all night? Do you draw up dress designs till the break of dawn? Do you write program codes till your body fails to feel hunger or lethargy? Do you have one thing that you have so much passion for that it takes away all tiredness and cravings?

If you do, whether you have good results or not, I suggest you pursue it, or you’ll regret that you never did sooner or later. I know people who have gotten straight As yet decided to study Music. I know people who have gotten straight As who are studying graphic design. I know people like myself who did average yet managed to get into a faculty like medicine or law. In the end, it’s all that you do that decides what you’ll do. Because ten years later, you’ll realise that the ‘A’ levels really hadn’t meant anything. It had been a test, but not just an ordinary test. It had also been a test of your ability to cope with its results. Did you succumb to the expectations of you and end up with a job you loathe, or did you, in spite of incredible grades, decided to do something you love? Think this before you make your final decision: will I regret this choice I’m making ten years down the road?

When there’s a will, there’s a way.
You don’t have to settle for medicine or law or accountancy just because you get straight As, You don’t have to settle for Science just because you got poor grades. It’s your life, so live it! Don’t let society, your peers or even your parents decide your future. It’s your life, not theirs! A piece of paper can’t get you anyhere unless you know what to do with it. Paint your future, don’t let anyone else paint it for you. Good luck guys. If you need advice, feel free to drop me an email. I’ll be happy to help.

A joke to lighten up the mood.

Oh and a late “Happy Birthday” to our dearest ACS (Anglo Chinese School Barker/Independent)! (Singapore, and especially the Singaporean females, thank you, for nurturing a breed of rich, hot and intelligent male variety to prosperous the nation. ) <insert some sarcasm> We are genuinely grateful.

The Last Trip : Shanghai 2012

I realised not everyone who loves horror movies manage to appreciate the gore of Thai and Japanese ones.

Not everyone who enjoys peace and harmony enjoys the freaking ambition of Cantonese police action to demonstrate how truly awesome policemen are (thanks, but no thanks, bro).

But of course, with age, mothers tend to get more irrational, incomprehensible and more often, pretend they know you inside out, when they don’t, at all (at least mine does).

And evidently, having dumplings, fried rice and ice cream for four days does nothing good for my complexion. (but love you! Breakfast buffets)

In three weeks, and a day, I will most probably be quitting baking. “most probably” because I still hold on to a hinge of hope that doesn’t exist. I’ll be flying out of this tiny, all-too-familiar country with less awesome food than Taiwan. And the country to which I will be in for the next seven or so years is in the latter part of the former sentence. No biggie, really.

For now, you’ll just be bombarded with a crazy mass of pictures from my trip to Shanghai that ended with the one and only Typhoon Haikui.

.

4 August 2012 from Singapore to Hong Kong

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Hong Kong Airport .

Starbucks between Gates! Awesome. .

Yeah, I take the Economy class. I’m no millionaire. Or even a three-thousand-aire. So kill me. .

After arriving at Shanghai, we had our first dinner from Tesco supermarket (which was next door loved it!): slices of delicious cold beef, vegetable fried rice, vegetable fried rice cakes, some grapes and an assortment of  Chinese biscuits. .

Nanjing Pedestrian Street (5 August 2012) .

A super crowded Apple store. .

An ‘underground’ KFC. .

Shanghai Lao jie… or at least here are some pictures of places near it (6 August 2012) .

Lunch at Shanghai Lao Jie: Some rice dish + pan fried buns + purple yam balls (which sucked) + black fungus stir fried with fish slices. We packed up the remainders for dinner with the day before’s dinner leftovers.

.

We decided to lug home piles of medical books on the 7th of August so we decided that the DSLR had to be left out from the trip. Thus no pictures.

.

Typhoon Haikui (8 August 2012)

.

A snack while stuck in the hotel .

The view of the chaos outside from inside .

looks better than the situation was .

Shanghai news. Before this picture, I was cruelly laughing at the grumpy reporters trying to stand still talking, trying to grab hold of escaping coats, out-of-control umbrellas and re-buttoning unbuttoning (by the wind) shirts  in typhoon hot spots. I’m such a horrible person. .

After a bumpy ride cruising through the heavy rain, crazy wind and ankle deep water… (following two pictures were brightened, to delude) .

All flights cancelled/delayed, including mine. .

Stranded people at the airport. .

The super cool and really awesome awful and terrible weather outside. .

Dinner at the airport/ my first meal at Ajisen Ramen Restaurant. My mom and I both got the Tomato and Beef Ramen Set which came with 4 pan fried dumplings and a delicious saucer of cold bamboo shoots tossed in vinegar, sesame oil and sesame seeds (my favourite). .

Since we had dinner at four, mom and I shared a meal at Burger King for supper while waiting for the next available flight.

.

The Day After Typhoon Haikui 9 (August 2012)

.

The next morning, at 5am. .

Getting to the plane! From Shanghai to Hong Kong before transferring from Hong Kong back to Singapore. This is actually the airport that transports people from the airport to the plane. .

Watching people board the bus… .

Climbing up those damn stairs had always been one of my unaccomplished dreams… until this day that is. .

On the plane from Shanghai to Hong Kong .

Breakfast: 5 different kinds of Chinese dim sum + 1 tub of yogurt + 1 container of fruit + 100ml tub of apple juice + a small yummy bun (planes always have the best buns I have no idea why) + 1/2 cup of unsweetened black tea .

At the Hong Kong Airport

.

From Hong Kong to Singapore .

Mum’s lunch: Spaghetti  + a container of fruits + a  small bun + Haagen Dazs Vanilla Ice Cream .

My lunch: Sweet & Sour Chicken with Egg fried rice  + a container of fruits + a  small bun + Haagen Dazs Vanilla Ice Cream .