It appears the holidays have arrived.

SEMESTER ONE IS OVER.

Holy shit that was fast. When I said Poly life was fast, it sure as hell is. School almost just begun, and now it's break time.

Well, it's that time of the year again. To rot at home. That makes it twice. I already did my fair share of rotting from January till April. Two friggin' months of holiday seems pretty long, but I'm sure it'll fly by faster than a bullet-train across the English Channel.

So okay, exams were forgiving. Only because I studied. Yeah. Studied.

In your face Mr. John Ho.

I finally studied and understood your god damned module Now lay off me and quit targeting me. Lol. But don't worry, I don't hate him.. He's a cool guy. Just quit targetting me. Seriously.

Still, it's because of his constant nag and pin-pointing that got me all stressed up to study. I had less than two hours to cram as much information related to the 4 P-Marketing Mix thingy. I was this close to just giving up, but I'd rather suffer than repeat the module.

So what am I going to do to pass the time.. Currently, it's fasting month, so I am more or less restricted and obligated to not do some things. I'll probably drown myself in video games again. Speaking of that, I tried to play my Xbox now after not touching that bugger for almost a month now. Guess what, it friggin' Red-Ringed on me.

So what did I do? Called Microsoft. They did the necessary background checks (yeah, paranoid much?) and assessed my problem. The guy I talked to was nice. He sounded, soft and gentle but he was patient enough while I blabbered, bantered, and bitched about how the console was giving me a hard time. He asked me to some necessary steps, and it kinda worked for awhile. But ehhhhh, failed. The console died again, so I called up, coincidentally I got him again, and he registered me for an exchange.

Now I have to go to friggin' Funan with the heavy console on Monday. Anybody willing to follow me? I don't want to get weird looks in the train for carrying such a heavy bulk. I'll probably get stopped in the station to do a spot check, thinking I'm carrying a bomb. Yeah, a bomb. A bomb that costs me $400 and now about to be repaired.

Hopefully the exchange is a quick process. I heard they give out free 1 month gold subscriptions for Xbox Live. Awesome. Free. I love Free. 'Cause it doesn't involve money, unlike other Microsoft products. Hurrr....

Team Awesome

What happens when you get a group of awesome guys, laptops, and a hard drive to share games? A friggin Lan Party.

And an awesome one actually.

When I first met these guys, I honestly didn't have a clue they'd be awesome gamers. I knew they play video games, but I was like, "Yeah, they play games. Cool. Would be cool if we could play some day,". And we sure as hell did.

For the most part, I kept my gaming passion a secret, to hide from coming out as a nerdy geek kind of person. But around these great bunch of people, there's nothing to hide.

Meet, Team MS0901

From left to right: Joseph, Seran, Russel, Shawn, Aaron, Hakim, Me

Picture editted by me. Dubbed - Media Studies Rangers. Faces belong to Media Studies lecturers respectively. Lol.

Inbetween breaks, after classes, or even at home when we're bored. Someone will call out - "TF2", and everyone will go unanimously "Seetttt!!!". Before long, we're all gearing our laptops for game time.

Mouse? Check. Power socket? Check. Hamachi/Garena? Check. Host? Check. Go Go Go!

And when we play, we play. For real. Like our lives depend on it. We'd shout out orders, laugh at our enemy's demise and stupidity, congratulate each other after each victory, suck in defeats and jeer each other constantly. It's always a thrill to be behind that laptop and playing with these guys. Sometimes during the heat of the fight, we'll even be serious to the point that even the slightest of mistakes or annoyance could tick us off. That's how much we're into the game. It's awesome. I wouldn't have it any other way.

At first we started playing Counter Strike. A simple game for the most, but it got old, boring and repetitive after awhile. When Hakim and Me introduced the rest about the wonders of Team Fortress 2, the whole gaming fad became alive and strong once again. Now, I've been playing TF2 since, well, Day 1. So, you can say that I'm a veteran. Introducing these guys the game puts a smile on my face. With the help of Hakim and his ability to outsource the game from the Video Game dictator, that is Steam/Valve, we were able to get a copy of the game each .. free. It's not piracy if the game has been modified to be able to play on multiple computers now would it?

So after boot camp, the guys more or less now know how to fight and play. After the first hour, it was like taking crystal meth for them. Before you know it, the first session was over, and everyone was hungry for more. They got better, and everyone now know what to do in the game like the back of the hands. That's where the fun begins.

BLU ftw

So we'll play and play. The longest one we've ever played was after our final presentation. Deprived of gaming due to work constraints, it was refreshing to finally do battle once again. Heck, we were so desperate, we had played all the way into the night until the school library was closing. The longest and most epic battle we'd ever played. Sadly, my team lost. Gah.

In fact, we just ended a session a couple hours ago. What holds in store for us gaming media dudes? What other games will we jump into the fray? Will this gaming fad last all the way till we graduate? Only time will tell. Till then, I wouldn't have it any other way. Awesome.

I Appreciate your Concern. You're gonna stink and burn.

If you wouldn't mind, I would like to blew

If you wouldn't mind, I would like it lose

If you wouldn't care, I would like to leave

If you wouldn't mine, I would like to breathe

It's the end? No? Yeah. Not yet. I'm still not done. Well, most of it is anyways. What am I talking about. School work I mean. Yeah Yeah Yeah. You've heard it a million of times. Always bitching about the same old same old. School work sucks blah blah blah fooey. I just completed a marathon of presentations and an artillery barrage of assignments that didn't seem to end till late into the night. And it's pretty obvious, the shrapnel had hit me. Going up infront of your lecturers talking like some big shot (when you're not) and selling yourself for grades really isn't the way I had pictured presentations to be. It's like, standing infront of a firing squad. When they asked you a question, it's a full volley of bullets being shot at you. Whether you survive that fray, depends on how you manage to answer their questions.

More or less, I got through it all alive. Barely though. This past week made me realised something. I'm a hardworking son of a bitch. Remember how I always complain I'm such a procrastinator and shit? Well, looks like I've got the change I wanted. Over the few limited weeks, I've managed to squeeze in a shitload of work that I would usually take a month to complete. I've managed to single handed-ly complete a supposingly group work (this included a 1,500 report and mock up and powerpoint, which failed). A full storyboard with script. Code of Ethics and Journal Entries complete with arts and craft decorations. Report after Report. Powerpoints after Powerpoints. All done within that small period of time. I didn't relent. I just wanted to get them over done with. And I'm actually proud of myself. I always saw myself as a slacker. Always. Heck, I didn't do shit during secondary school. I almost never handed in homework. I guess change is here. NO thanks to President Obama. (random).

I guess this habit of sudden hardworking-ness kinda began ever since the term began. I remember, running around half of singapore to find a single DV tape for Abzul's class the next day. I promised my group I'd get it, and damn well I did. I went beyond the call of duty to find it. Aha. Even for the talent, I had to beg like a dog. Even that, I more or less failed. After that, I started to get my work done and going beyond just to get things done. I'd go beyond just to get stuff done. Even spend an extra buck or two.

But it's all done and over with. Just give my grades and I won't fight back. I don't want to think about it anymore. Bullshit.

On a happier note, I now have two As under my belt. Damn right son. My first As for Poly. First for Creative Thinking, the module I disdain, and another for Digital Film & Video Production. The first one was for a written test in which we had to argue with our own opinions. Honestly, I thought I would fail. I didn't study, not even a glance at the powerpoint slides graciously given by our dear Miss Soo. Still, I managed to argue my way enough to get an A. This is where blogging comes in handy then. Bitching about your day, it's almost like arguments. Without the constant use of vulgarities of course. The other A is for DFVP's ICA4 Drama production. Haha. I think I'm really getting into this film making thing. I honestly, had no idea how to make videos before I entered this course. All I ever though about was to become a writer. Well, that plan didn't quite worked out (I've been getting Cs for the writing module). Filming is cool shit, and editting is fucking awesome. It's tiresome, but satisfying at the end of the day. Of course, I couldn't have done it without my awesome team mates. Seran was in my group, and that practically gave us a much needed advantage. I still remember, just after getting our brief for ICA4, us guys were saying "We need 2 guys in a group, that way can own the ICA", and look at that. The theory worked. Awesome.

Well, I don't mean to brag. But seriously. I never saw each of these coming. I can back this up, by saying before I even knew about this, I was having the most shitty day. Ever. Hearing that I got an A just basically balanced my day. Or it could be karma. I don't know.

Firstly before knowing the results of the Creative Thinking written test. I had to wear my old NCC uniform and wake up early at 6am to visit my old NCC juniors and support them in their endevours as Guard of Honor. On the way to poly, apparently, Taxis like to avoid North Vista Secondary. I had to stand at the roadside in my stuffy army uniform for a non-existent cab for almost 45mins. I left early, in the end I ended up late. Best of all, I had no cash with me. The first chance I got a cab, I asked the uncle for Nets. He didn't have. I said it's okay, I'll just draw money when we get there and pay you. He agreed. When we get there, guess what. The fucking ATM at school wasn't working. So how was I supposed to pay the taxi driver? I was already half an hour late for class. I panicked, and had to ask a random stranger for cash. Thank his kind hearted soul, he allowed and I had to pay him back during the next school day. I managed to pay and hauled ass to class, only to be ridiculed for wearing a uniform. By classmates and lecturers alike. Damn Abzul.

For DFVP, the story goes like this. Remember when I mentioned I single-handedly finished a group work? Well, ironically, that group work was for Creative Thinking as well (see how much I disdain that class). We had a presentation last week. We had to present on something I alone made up. I already did the powerpoint presentation nicely the night before. I was so happy that I managed to finish a bunch of shit. Firstly, I was late again. Actually early, but since I had to go print the final mock up for the presentation, I was 5 minutes late. I had to sit outside of class and get my marks deducted. What a nice start to the day. When I did get to enter, I checked my laptop to prepare for the presentation. The friggin powerpoint was lost. How the heck are we supposed to present without a powerpoint? Fail on epic levels. I could have just breakdown then. I worked so hard only for my carelessness to get the best of me. Nice. In the end we had to present with a poor man's version of a powerpoint. But still, it was a life saver. Thanks Vanessa. At least we had something, eh? So we couldn't be as creative as we though we could be. Meh. So be it, what is done is done.

So yeah. That's basically my whole month or Term 2 in a nutshell. Well, a very big nutshell. I've done my blogging for the week. Only 2 more weeks and 2 papers. Once it's over. I'll start a new adventure. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd like to enjoy this brief moment of doing absolutely nothing at all, before I have to start rolling again. Cheers.