We are the CHAMPIONS!

*punching fists in the air and screaming wildly*

GREEN HOUSE WON!

We beat Yellow by 62 marks! After so many years (too many, if you ask me) of Yellow winning, we Green finally knocked them off the no. 1 spot. We made HISTORY! And it was a very big leap for us from last year to this. First for overall, first for marching, first for 'perhiasan khemah', first for teachers' 100 metres relay (the acara 'kemuncak' of the day) and second for aerobics! Ahh, I'm so estatic I can barely think straight to write a proper post. Hence, the jumbled-up thoughts. Can't blame me, right? It's my last sports day ever and it's defintely the BEST! Anyway, congrats to Hui Lynn who got Olahragawati Terbaik for Class 1. And thank GOD for the nice weather. I didn't get baked as bad as I thought I would =D

GREEN, GREEN, GREEN GO GREEN!

Third time's the charm

CGL was one of the four schools chosen to participate in the ASEAN quiz. 10 of us 'lucky' CGL-ians, including Michelle, Melanie and Shia Wen, managed to sign up for it. Why? The reason was clear. KK marks la. At first, when they announced it, they said that it was international level meaning that if we participated, we get 20 marks. It was an online quiz, meaning we get to do it in school and skip lessons. Now, who wouldn't want to join, right?

Anyway, we took part and I 'read' about ASEAN the night before the trial test. Yes, there was a trial test. For what? I have no idea. Which quiz actually has a trial? However, when we went to the computer lab to try out the quiz, it took ages just for the log-in page to load. After refreshing the page a million times, some of us lucky ones manage to log in. Then, it took even longer to load the questions.

The questions were totally crappy, though. About three quarter of it was general knowledge, which no one knows about. So how exactly is that general knowledge? We 'studied' (Ok, so maybe some people really studied for it) about ASEAN and only a few questions came out about it. After lots of Google-ing (thank the creators of Google), we managed to finish the quiz. But lo and behold, after clicking submit... PAGE CANNOT BE LOADED. What the heck?

So, our teacher called and tell the people in charge of all the problems we faced. Trust me, there was a whole long list of it.

The next day, was the real quiz. After the trial test, I didn't study anymore about ASEAN. I mean, what's the point? All they ask is how long is a baby kangaroo when it is born? Or how many gallons of milk can a cow produce? Bla bla.

This time, there were officers from the Jabatan Penerangan Malaysia. Meaning, NO Google-ing for us. But (there's always the but), like the trial test, it took forever to load the log-in page. This time around, I couldn't even log-in. Only 3 (I think, or was it 4?) of us managed to get in.

The questions were ALL about ASEAN this time. Darn. There was a photographer snapping away while we frustratedly tried to log in. After trying and trying, many of us gave up. We helped Google answers for the 3 of them who were answering and also played Rapid Typing (we were that bored). But (again with the but) after finishing the objective questions, they clicked the true or false part, yet again... PAGE CANNOT BE LOADED. Absolutely testing our patience.

Apparently, almost all the people taking part (which is approximately 3000 students from all around ASEAN) didn't manage to take the quiz. Problem? Overloaded server, failure to plan by the organizers.

So, today, we took the quiz - again. This time around, it was way different. I logged in within a minute and loaded the question page in another. Gulp. The quiz was really happening this time and I definitely wasn't ready.

Lucky for us, the questions were the same, meaning that we already saw it and we even helped Google for the answers. So, answering the questions wasn't that hard. And after the officers left, Google's page appeared on every computer screen. The essay was cleverly copy-pasted and we managed to finish the quiz in the one-hour time frame. The only glitch was that some of us couldn't submit the answers but after a few tries, everything was ok.

So, as the saying goes: Third time's the charm =)

Malaysian mentality

Today, my mum and I went to the 'largest book fair in the Northern Region' held in Popular, Midlands. Ok... so it was pretty big. Up to 90% discount for Popular members from 25 March to 5 April. Promote a bit la. Haha.

Anyway, I was there after lunch and the crowd was unbelievable. Trust me when I say that. I've been to all the book fairs Popular had held for the past few years and I think the crowd was the largest this time around. And of course, large crowd = HUGE problem.

We spent more than one and a half hours merely lining up to pay for the book. Yes. One and a half ++. Just to freaking pay. You see, there were only 6 counters open and out of which, one was an express lane. And at each counter, I can safely say that there were about at least 25 people lining up with baskets filled to the brim (some with even two to three baskets, mind you).

So, what exactly is the cause of this problem? The infamous Malaysian mentality of course.

When prices are slashed to unbelievable rates, what do you do? Correction, what do Malaysians do? Buy everything they can get their hands on, of course! Take what they can before anyone else does.

For example, I was looking through some books at a 90% discount table and there were two guys talking obnoxiously loud.

Guy 1: OMG! Look at this book (picks up a book and flipping through it). This kind of book, so good, also can put here ar. (turns the book behind to check for the price). Waa! This book is 100++ dollars and now 90%...(turns to his friend)

Guy 2: 10 dollars nia!

Guy 1: (picks up another book) Look! Look! This one only 30 something dollars. 90% means 3 dollars!

Guy 2: Yea, so cheap. Buy la.

Guy 1: Hmm, yeala. Dunno how to read also just buy. So cheap.

Example number 2, two different guys, same table.

Guy 1: (picks up a book and checks the price) Wow, these books are ridiculously cheap.

Guy 2: -agrees with his friend-

Guy 1: (proceeds to picking up a whole pile of books) Never know when you need them. Anyway, so cheap only what.

See what I mean? We don't need them; they're just ridiculously cheap so we buy them in case we need them. And this is why everyone lining up at the counters have an average of 30-40 books in their basket; jamming up the counters.

And then of course, there's the cashiers, working at their sweet own pace while everyone had been lining up for at least an hour to pay. They take 5 minutes per customer - s l o w . . .

Malaysians, for a fact, can't seem to read signs. Or at least they choose to ignore them. The sign above the express lane clearly stated that:

CASH
10 ITEMS
EXPRESS LANE

But there are people with clearly more than 10 items in their basket, and it's not only 11 or 12 but some had 20-30 books. And the thing is, after they realise that they're in the wrong lane, they're blissfully ignorant and continue to jam up the lane.

Sigh. Well, that's us Malaysians. I know not all of us are like that, but a majority of us are. A sad fact, huh?

Quoting the soon-to-be ex-Prime Minister, Pak Lah: "Apa gunanya jika negara kita mempunyai infrastruktur kelas pertama, jika rakyatnya mempunyai mentaliti kelas ketiga?"

Haha. Ok, that had nothing much to do with anything I just said but it kinda just sprung into my mind. Totally random.