Singapore tales

Alrite this is the 1st part of my 2wk story. Its going to be about my times in Singapore starting from February 11-12,20-21,24-26.

Feb 11-12

Upon arrival in Singapore after checking into the Holiday Inn Orchard (highly recommended), went for shopping around Orchard Rd.
1st stop, Tangs. Nothing much to buy here as barang yg dijual disini tak sesuai. However, the Harajuku stuffs seemed pretty attractive but the price is also very nice!
Next stop, ION Orchard, Singapore's most stunning mall. Here I went to Uniqlo, a Japanese brand that is quite cheap but its goods quality is not bad yo! Less than $10 for a T-shirt when its on sale, isn't that cheap? Wonder when Uniqlo will open in Miri or even in Brunei, as the company is aiming for a fast retailing growth? In ION Orchard, 1 interesting thing about it is the escalator with LED ads thanks to the creativity of OOH Media. Not forgetting, the Food Opera in ION Orchard which have heartland famous stalls branches.
Then, went to Isetan Wisma Atria just beside ION Orchard. Goods here are kinda high class so even not suitable for me.
A further walk down brings us to Ngee Ann City Takashimaya. Here instead of finding clothes, I went to Kinokuniya Bookstore which is dubbed as the largest in Asia.
Then across the streets shopped nearby at Centrepoint & OG. Here the goods are priced just right for 'ordinary' people like you & me (teenagers, middle-classed people).
After all these shopping, went for some some sightseeing at Chinatown(Niu Zhe Zui). There were so many people buying things for CNY eg people queing for bak kwa, buying sweets, etc. A walk around Trengganu Street would bring you to 500 stalls offering various goodies. There were a lot of special offers as it was the last day of CNY night market sale & for tourists cheap bargain for souvenirs eg keychains 12 for $10=less than $1 for each. There was also a rehearsal of the CNY eve programme by Mediacorp artists. After some time in Chinatown, its time to 'balik hotel', using MRT, very efficient & cheap mode of transportation. As said by some local social news site such as STOMP, I saw some PDA (public display of affection) between couples in the MRT station during my few trips using MRT. Cant they wait till in a much 'private' area where they can do more than PDA, LOL!
The morning of Feb 12, I went for my 'morning jog' around Orchard Rd, not really just to grab some free newspapers from the nearest MRT station, Somerset which is inside 313@Somerset, another new mall on Orchard Rd. For your info, Singapore have 2 free English newspapers wait make it 3. They were TODAY(published by Mediacorp & a strong competitor to The Straits Times), mypaper (a bilingual newspaper published by SPH). Last but not least, tabla! also published by SPH but with more Indian community oriented stories. After breakfast, went for watch-shopping at Centrepoint as my watch already putus . In addition, there was also a Casio trade-in offer so I traded-in my old putus watch for a new G-shock oh yeah, finally got myself a G-shock at only $78 (UP $140). Not a bad deal huh as my old watch costs around NTD$700 (B$20+). It was bought in Taiwan last 2 yr. In addition, to the cheap trade-in deal, I also got a free gift from the Centrepoint, a nice notebook.

Feb 20-21

After arriving from JB & check-in at the same hotel (Holiday Inn Orchard), went for shopping at 313@Somerset. While my mum goes to check out the many brands there, I went to check out the epicentre which sells Apple products such as iPod,Mac,etc. So, I played around with the iPods, iPhone on display. Then, went to Centrepoint again. I bought an Esprit short pant for $46+ (UP $89+) not a bad deal huh. 

After dinner, went to watch River Hongbao 2010 at The Float@Marina Bay. The location was transformed into a fairyland of lantern displays & decorations with the huge God of Fortune & 12 Chinese Zodiac animals. Also present as the guest of honour that nite was Singapore's Minister of Community, Youth & Sports, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan. In the festival location, there was also a Uncle Ringo Funfair with lots of rides (gotta pay of course). 

Nearby River Hongbao location, Chingay was held(F1 Pit Building) . It was dubbed as Asia's grandest street & floats parade. I saw a tree which was dubbed the largest dream catcher tree in Singapore. After watching River Hongbao went bk to the hotel via MRT as taxis were difficult to hail as too many people were also waiting for taxi after the events had ended. 

The next day before boarding the cruise Superstar Virgo went to HarbourFront Centre for some lunch. The building was joined to the Singapore Cruise Centre. I had lunch at Banquet, Singapore's only halal food court chain.

Feb24-26

After 4-day of freestyle cruising as Star Cruises had dubbed their cruise vacations, finally arrived at HarbourFront Centre at 7pm Feb 24. Star Cruises was so nice to let each of its guests to keep their access card as a souvenir. Yahoo! 

After morning walk(paper collection) on Feb 25, went to Sentosa. 1st boarded the MRT to HarbourFront station then had breakfast at Food Republic Vivo City before boarding the Sentosa Express monorail to Sentosa. 1st, let me talk a bit about Vivo City. It was previously Singapore World Trade Centre which was redeveloped by Mapletree as a one stop location for live,work & play. It is also Singapore's largest mall if Im not wrong. Bk to Sentosa, the 1st stop of the monorail is Waterfront station which is the location of Singapore's 1st Integrated Resort, Resorts World Sentosa which is a S$6.59 billion project which comprises of casino, 4 hotels namely Hotel Micheal, Festive Hotel, Crockford Tower by invitation only & Singapore's 1st Hard Rock Hotel, Universal Studios Singapore & soon to be completed Marine Park & more.This IR as Singaporeans called it is opened in phases with the 4 hotels as well as Festive Walk luxury shopping opened 1st on January 20th 8.18am followed by the casino & sneak preview of Universal Studios Singapore on 1st day of CNY & Valentine's day February 14 12.18pm & soon Universal Studios Singapore on March 18 8.28am. This IR is the brainchild of Malaysia's owned Genting which had recently rebranded its Genting City of Entertainment as Resorts World Genting. It aims to create exciting  land based IRs around Asia which now includes RWS, RW Genting & lastly Resorts World Manila. Nothing much to talk about RWS for now except 1 very interesting news piece that I had read from The New Paper, foreign workers get into the casino just to get free beverages! Very amusing isnt it? However, casino patrons arent happy about it!
 Friday, 26th its time to say good bye to Singapore as its time to say 'selamat kembali' to Brunei. The return flight wasnt smooth as the plane encounters several turbulence around Sarawak.

Belated greetings

Da Ri Ji 1 Ke Hao Kai She(An auspicious day is a good start) ... eh wait a minute Chinese New Yr is coming to an end tomorrow! Hmm, I have been away from my dear ye-old blog for more than 2wks as Im busy travelling. Today, Im bk (wo hui lai le) blogging.
1st of all its still not too late to wish my fellow friends, people I know, netizens and other people around the world celebrating Chinese New Yr. Gong Xi Fa Cai & Happy New Yr. The yr of the ox is a transition point, its hoped that the Yr of the Dragon yr of the Tiger brings us to greater heights in achieving our goals. Chinese New Yr will end tomorrow & tomorrow is also Chap Goh Mei (direct translation the night of the 15th day). Its also the day when young people goes 'pao kam' near the rivers, wonders if any1 is still doing this to find their 'other half'? Now, there are Facebook, Twitter, Plurk,etc to find your 'other half' so this tradition of 'pao kam' is slowly being forgotten. So people, I wonder how is your CNY this yr. Lotsa angpau? Skip 'angpau' visits to celebrate Valentine's Day? Bring your gf/bf for 'angpau' convoy?
2ndly, tanggal 23 bulan 2 84 Negara Brunei Darussalam merdeka so Selamat Menyambut Hari Kebangsaan ke 26 yg bertemakan Brunei Kebanggaanku. 26 tahun merdeka rakyat & penduduk Brunei hidup aman sentosa di bawah kepimpinan bijaksana Kebawah Duli. Marilah kita sama2 berusaha ke arah Wawasan 2035. 
Lastly, today is Maulud Nabi so Selamat Menyambut Maulud Nabi kepada semua umat Islam
More stories about my 2 wk of travel shall be shared in the next posting. There are funny stories,plain common sense stories,criticisms,etc. Till then, people greetings are strongly encouraged especially during festivities. Tata, good starry nite!

Cheers & Sadness(result feature)

After almost 2 weeks of  'false alarm', as well as keeping students who were candidates of Brunei Cambridge GCE A, AS & O Level November 2009 in a 'state of suspense', finally yesterday everything had been unveiled whether you like it or not.With even Rano on Twitter Friday saying that 'the wait is causing temporary social stress in Brunei'.Yesterday, emotions were running high as some rejoices there good result while some others cried over their results, while some no reaction at all whether they pass or failed(life goes on normally as if nothing happens). Well, I guess not everyone had known their results like those who didnt register for SMS, or even those who have registered but havent get yet who mostly are on b-mobile network. The nail-biting moments starts after 11am with some1 proclaiming in Twitter, 'result out'! After lunch, around 1.15 pm, I received my results. Statistically according to info from Exam Dept, MOE which were published in Brunei's sunday papers:The Sunday Times & Sunday Bulletin.

A Level Analysis& Stats

For A Level out of 3073 students who have sat for it, 2462 students(80.12%) achieved at least 1 'A' Level, which is an improvement of 0.49% over that of 2008. 52.72% have achieved at least 2 'A' Level where 54.49% comprises school candidates whilst 21.82% are private candidates.68 candidates or 2.21% obtained at least 4 'A' Level's including 1 from Maktab Duli,2 from PTE Katok and 1 from SMSA who achieved 5 'A' Levels.
From the 68, 13 are their school's 'creme de la creeme' (best of the best) by obtaining grade A's in at least 4 'A' Level subjects comprising 7 candidates from Maktab Duli, 2 from PTE Berakas and 4 from SMSA. 36 candidates obtained grade A's in three 'A' Level subjects where 14 are from Maktab Duli, 5 from Maktab Sains, four from PTE Berakas, two from PTE Katok, one from Sayyidina Othman Secondary School and 10 from SMSA whilst 69 candidates have obtained grade A's in two 'A' Level subjects comprising 30 candidates from Maktab Duli, 9 from Maktab Sains, 6 from PTE Katok, 12 from PTE Berakas, 2 from Sayyidina Othman, 7 from SMSA(including me) and 3 private candidates. 2.46%-25% increase in achievement for 10 subjects  including Malay, Art and Design, Economics, History, Hafaz al-Quran, Computing, Thinking Skills, Psychology, Business Studies and Sociology, compared to 2008. A 100% pass was achieved for Further Mathematics compared to 2008.

AS Level Analysis & Stats

Improvement seen for GCE 'AS' Level as well with, 1,276 out of 1,617 or 78.91% obtained at least 1 'AS' level, which is an increase of 0.8% when compared to 2008.
Overall, candidates who have achieved at least 2 'AS' level is 52.63% or 851 candidates, which is an increase of 7.97% whilst 53.39% of school candidates have increased to 8.03% compared to 2008. Overall, 87 candidates from 1,617 candidates or 5.38% have achieved grade 'A' in at least 2 subjects.

O Level Analysis & Stats

The rumours on O Level results apparently have been quashed with the release of the results. 7,555 who sat for the examination but
3,986 or 52.76% obtain at least 3 '0' Level, which is an improvement of 0.42% compared to 2008.
As Mr Cheong, principal of SMSA always emphasizes 'quality is better than quantity' hence the quality of 2009, 898 candidates or 11.89% have managed to achieve 8-12 '0' Level, an increase of 47 candidates or 0.16%.
3 schools have achieved 100% pass i.e. students achieve at least 3 'O' Level
Maktab Sains and Chung Hua BSB, passing rate were 98.46% and 96.40% respectively.23 schools comprising 17 government schools and 6 private schools, which improves between 0.66% and 26.32% compared to 2008.
41 candidates or 0.58% have achieved excellent results with aggregate 6 and grade 1 in 6-9 subjects. The figure is an increase of 0.11 per cent compared to 2008. 
2 candidates from Chung Hua Middle School, Kuala Belait have obtained grade's Al in 9 subjects
4 candidates have achieved grade's Al in 8 subjects including 3 from Chung Hua, BSB and 1 from PJN Pg Hj Abu Bakar Secondary School (A)
11 obtaining grade Al s in 7 subjects including 3 candidates from Chung Hua Kuala Belait, 2 from Chung Hua BSB, 2 from Maktab Sains, 3 from Chung Ching ,1 from Sayyidina Hassan & Yayasan Secondary School respectively.
24 students obtained grade Al's in 6 subjects comprising 9 from Maktab Sains,3 from PJN Hj Abu Bakar (A), three from Chung Hwa BSB,3 from St Andrew,3 from PJN Pg Hj Abu Bakar (B),1 from Ma'Had Islam Brunei,Muda Hashim & Seri Mulia Sarjana respectively.
252 candidates, or 3.58%, obtained grade A's in 5-10 subjects, an increase of 0.25% from 2008. The candidates comprise 2 students or 0.03% who obtained grade A's in 10 subjects that include 1 from Chung Hwa  BSB & Chung Hua KB respectively.
9 students or 0.13% obtained Grade A's in 9 subjects comprising one from Maktab Sains,3 from Chung Hwa BSB,1 from St Andrew's & 4 from Chung Hua Secondary School KB.
19 candidates or 0.27% have obtained grade A's in 8 subjects comprising 7 from Maktab Sains,1 from Sayyidina Hasan,2 from PJN Pg Hj Abu Bakar (A),1 from PJN Pg Hj Abu Bakar (B),7 from Chung Hwa BSB & 1 from Chung Ching.
58 candidates, or 0.82%, have obtained grade A's in 7 subjects
83 or 1.18% have obtained grade A's in six subjects
81 candidates or 1.15% have obtained grade A's in 5 subjects

Reminder

- Collect result slips from your respective schools or from MOE for private candidates

- For those who thinks their grade are 'not up to the mark' & wish to 'give another shot', you are advised to register with your schools or directly @ MOE for June exams ASAP. Jangan terlambat nanti miss

- For those who didnt get good grades, its not the end of the road. It marks another start, so ponder upon what went wrong & emerge stronger the next time around.

- For those who got bombarded (including me) by your parents.Dont blame them because 'IT FOR YOUR OWN GOOD' (quote from a movie)

-Lastly, please do not try to do silly things. STAY STRONG

Failure is not the end. There are still other routes to be explored 

Lastly

Congrats to all Brunei GCE A,As & O Level candidates who have passed, passed with flying colours, passed with straight A's,passed with strings of A's,average pass,above average pass, 'cukup makan' pass, etc. You must be wondering what did I get 2a2b thats it no bragging. I would say its a 'cukup makan flying colours' pass. Hence, there goes my iPhone!

For those who didnt make it to the passing benchmark, stay strong & 'pasti ada hikmah di sebaliknya'. Its not the end, there are routes to be explored. Consult your Career officer for more info & advice.

For those who have made it, its time to move on to the next level of your life & another obstacle have been passed in your route to 'menara gading'. Now its time to ponder which way next? 

I shouldnt talk this much in times like this oh well one more sentence or 2 before I end this posting. 

Is it logical if I say its all because of my 'red&white wristband' It doesnt seem logical right, but it seems that since I had wear my wristbands my grades improves. Hmm? 

Bye!

This blogger thinks that people should ponder this result system as well as ponder upon the results. We shall rise stronger in the future to give a 'counterstrike'