When you climbed to the top,
They say it's time you fall.
Hello, my name is Kho Zhiquan. I like to catch creepy crawlies. When the rain comes, I go around jumping in puddles.
I may fall, but I'll pull myself up. Just wait and see.
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My Sec 1 life
Thursday, October 22, 2009, 5:55 PM
Well, a year has passed and I will be going to Sec 2 next year. Secondary life sure is very different from Primary school life. There were more work, more chances to speak out and even projects. Many things have happened since the beginning of the year. I met new friends and learned new things and adapted to the school's environment.Onesuch was sleeping at 11p.m rushing through revisions and worksheets instead of just lying on the bed doing nothing.
There may be some up and downs but things always turn out alright if you just look on the bright side. As i reflect back on myself, I realised that I had become more independent and organised. In what ways? I called my friends when I need help and made a timetable so that I could have some self-control.
I had trouble adjusting my lifestyle but i finally did. My school grades have improved by alot and my secret is: Play less Work more. Well, I'm not saying that I don't even play but at least take a walk or exercise once in a while after you have completed your revision. Just set goals for yourself and try to hit that target. Well, don't set unrealistic goals such as getting an A1 when you are maintaining at C5. Just tell yourself to improve by one or two grades everytime you take a test. You will eventually get an A1.
Nest year is Sec 2 and I will have to work harder. I mean, who wants to get into 3Q??
Book Review
Friday, September 11, 2009, 4:14 AM
I just read a book called Fablehaven. Fablehaven is a preserve for almost extinct creatures and even trolls, golems, fairies, anything you name. Seth and Kendra's grandfather is the keeper of Fablehaven. When Seth and Kendra went to their grandfather for a holiday, they found out that mysterious things were happening. On a particular day, all the mystical creatures were able to enter Seth and Kendra's grandfather's house as Seth accidentally opened a window. However, Seth and Kendra were safe as there was some magical salt beside their beds, as an extra protection, which the creatures are afraid of. Some creatures even tried to lure them out of their room by pretending to be their grandfather. In the morning, Seth and Kendra finds his grandfather missing and the house totally devastated. Seth and Kendra desperately tried to find their missing grandfather and on the way, found their grandmother. Their grandmother quickly reveal that a witch was going to awaken the demon, which could destroy the preserve. The three of them found a golem and stormed in to the place where the demon was held. They found out that their grandfather was being captured by the witch. However, they were unable to beat the witch and only Kendra escaped. After that, Kendra went to the water nymph pond, which was told that the nymph would drag you underwater if you went too close to the water. In the middle of the pond lies the Fairy Queen, which Kendra thought was the only hope for Fablehaven. She crossed the pond with a boat and pleaded the Queen. The Fairy Queen gave her a bowl and told her to fill it up with milk and blood. Kendra immediately did so and hundreds of fairy came to drink it. After drinking it, the fairies grew to human-size and they took their weapons to help stop the witch. When they reached there, the demon was already freed from its bind and it had a war against the fairies. In the end, the fairies won and they restored their fallen companions. When Kendra, Seth and their grandparents returned to their house, they found it completely fixed. Their grandfather explained that creatures called Brownies were carpenters and would always fix something that was broken. After that, Seth and Kendra returned to their parents.Favourite Poet
Monday, June 29, 2009, 6:45 PM
My favorite poet is Billy Collins. About Collins, the poet Stephen Dunn has said, "We seem to always know where we are in a Billy Collins poem, but not necessarily where he is going. I love to arrive with him at his arrivals. He doesn't hide things from us, as I think lesser poets do. He allows us to overhear, clearly, what he himself has discovered." I think that Billy Collins has a wide variety of writing style.In 2001, Collins was named U.S. Poet Laureate. His other honors and awards include fellowships from the New York Foundation for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Guggenheim Foundation. In 1992, he was chosen by the New York Public Library to serve as "Literary Lion". He has conducted summer poetry workshops in Ireland at University College Galway, and taught at Columbia University, Sarah Lawrence, and Lehman College, City University of New York. He lives in Somers, New York.
Here are 3 poems he wrote:
1.All I do these drawn-out days
is sit in my kitchen at Pheasant Ridge
where there are no pheasants to be seen
and last time I looked, no ridge.
I could drive over to Quail Falls
and spend the day there playing bridge,
but the lack of a falls and the absence of quail
would only remind me of Pheasant Ridge.
I know a widow at Fox Run
and another with a condo at Smokey Ledge.
One of them smokes, and neither can run,
so I’ll stick to the pledge I made to Midge.
Who frightened the fox and bulldozed the ledge?
I ask in my kitchen at Pheasant Ridge.
2.I ask them to take a poem
and hold it up to the light
like a color slide
or press an ear against its hive.
I say drop a mouse into a poem
and watch him probe his way out,
or walk inside the poem's room
and feel the walls for a light switch.
I want them to waterski
across the surface of a poem
waving at the author's name on the shore.
But all they want to do
is tie the poem to a chair with rope
and torture a confession out of it.
They begin beating it with a hose
to find out what it really means.
3.You are the bread and the knife,
The crystal goblet and the wine...
—Jacques Crickillon
You are the bread and the knife,
the crystal goblet and the wine.
You are the dew on the morning grass
and the burning wheel of the sun.
You are the white apron of the baker,
and the marsh birds suddenly in flight.
However, you are not the wind in the orchard,
the plums on the counter,
or the house of cards.
And you are certainly not the pine-scented air.
There is just no way that you are the pine-scented air.
It is possible that you are the fish under the bridge,
maybe even the pigeon on the general's head,
but you are not even close
to being the field of cornflowers at dusk.
And a quick look in the mirror will show
that you are neither the boots in the corner
nor the boat asleep in its boathouse.
It might interest you to know,
speaking of the plentiful imagery of the world,
that I am the sound of rain on the roof.
I also happen to be the shooting star,
the evening paper blowing down an alley
and the basket of chestnuts on the kitchen table.
I am also the moon in the trees
and the blind woman's tea cup.
But don't worry, I'm not the bread and the knife.
You are still the bread and the knife.
You will always be the bread and the knife,
not to mention the crystal goblet and—somehow—the wine.
Identifying Figurative Language in a Poem
Sunday, June 28, 2009, 5:29 PM
Take this kiss upon the brow!And, in parting from you now,
Thus much let me avow--
You are not wrong, who deem
That my days have been a dream;
Yet if hope has flown away
In a night, or in a day,
In a vision, or in none,
Is it therefore the less gone?
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream.
I stand amid the roar
Of a surf-tormented shore,
And I hold within my hand
Grains of the golden sand--
How few! yet how they creep
Through my fingers to the deep,
While I weep--while I weep!
O God! can I not grasp
Them with a tighter clasp?
O God! can I not save
One from the pitiless wave?
Is all that we see or seem
But a dream within a dream?
Hyperbole- use of O God!
Metaphor-In a night, or in a day,
In a vision, or in none,
Is it therefore the less gone?
The writer exaggerates by using O God!. Also, he uses metaphors to compare seemingly unrelated vision and day.
This poem compares a lot such as sand and his tears. Also, it is quite unique as what the writer writes are all in a dream.
Book Review 4
5:43 AM
Ok, here's the last book review for the holidays. I just read a book called The Animal Rebellion. This book is quite similar to Animal Farm as the animals in the farm plans to rebel against humans. However, in Animal Rebellion, the animals are aggressive and kills. The story starts off with Winston, a computer geek planning to stay at his cousin's farm for the holiday. As they reached there,Winston found out that his cousin, Brad, had a newly bought computer with lots of games. However, Brad accidentally uncovers a game which he had never bought. It was called Animal Killers and the animals had a leg or a arm in their mouth. Also, the farm in on the cover looked similar to the one Winston was staying in. Brad seemed unconcerned about the game. However, things turns strange. Brad's father and another man was kicked and bitten by a horse. As Brad's father went away to the hospital to seek treatment, all of the animals broke out from their barn and attacked the house. Winston suspects that the incident might be related to the computer game called Animal Killers and immediately ran the game. The rules of the game are simple. 1. Animals outnumber you 50 to 1
2. Defend yourself without hurting the animals.
3. You can hunt or hide. But if any animal is injured or killed, ten more animals from neighboring farms would come.
Winston and Brad took refuge inside a toilet where the goats were ramming the door, the chicken pecking at it. Luckily, Brad and Winston got into an attic as the animals broke their way through. However, in the attic, hundreds of murderous rats watched them. Winston and Brad decided to jump from a window and run towards the roof of the new barn. The, Winston realized that the only way to stop the rebellion was to destroy the game called Animal Killers. As Brad distracted the animals, Winston made his way back into the house and destroyed the disc. The animals returned to normal and the farm was saved.
Book Review 3
Saturday, June 27, 2009, 5:54 AM
Here's Book 3. It's called epic. Epic is a computer game which the game master-Central Allocations control. Eric, a young boy decides to play the game with his friends to take revenge for the unjust treatment of his parents. Eric decides to slay a dragon, which is almost impossible in epic. However, Eric and his friends defeated the dragon and took the treasure inside its cave. Then, with their wealth and power, they challenged the Central Allocations. The Central Allocations were defeated. However, Eric doesn't know that Central Allocations has a secret: The Executioner. The Executioner was given the power to kill other players, and it was heavily armed. Eric decides to destroy Epic. Meanwhile, a member of the Central Allocations betrayed everyone and killed them all. Then, he allied with a vampire so that they can stop Eric from destroying Epic. Eric gathered himself an army to counter The Executioner's. Eric won the battle and Epic became a plain chat room.Book Review 2
Wednesday, June 24, 2009, 4:14 AM
I just read a book called The Serpents of Arakesh. The story starts off with Adam Equinox, who had been an orphan since he was a baby. Adam grew up in Highgate Home, where he has no friends and his teachers disliked him. However, when Adam entered a competition run by a mysterious computer billionare, everything changed. Adam planned to escape Highgate and get to the mansion, where the billionare lives. His teacher did everything she could to stop Adam but it failed. When Adam reaches the mansion, he finds friends and everyone seems to like him there. Then, Q who was the mysterious billionare reveals the truth to Adam and his friends. Q's daughter fell ill and the only way to save her was to enter the world of Karazan, which Q created himself. In Karazan, Adam and his friends had to find the potion of healing and bring it back to Q. However, things aren't as easy as it seems...The potion was guarded by serpents and Adam finds that the serpents ARE the potion. Then, as they were about to get out, a curator, the guardian of the potions stopped them. Adam and his friends quickly drank the potion of invisibility and managed to sneak away.Book Review 1
Tuesday, June 16, 2009, 9:32 PM
Here's my first book review:Animal Farm. Animal Farm starts off describing the hardship in the farm called Manor Farm. Old Major, the boar, dreams of farms run by animals for animals, with liberty and equality for all. Old Major inspired many animals to rebel against Mr. Jones, who owned the farm. The animals had secret meetings at night, and three boars which lead the rebellion. They are: Napolean, Snowball and Squealer. Eventually, the animals begun the rebellion and drove off Mr. Jones and re-named Manor Farm to Animal Farm.
Next, 7 commandments were made which all the animals must live for even after.Thet are:
1. Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy
2. Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend
3. No animals shall wear clothes
4. No animals shall sleep in a bed(with sheets)
5. No animals shall drink alcohol(to excess)
6. No animals shall kill any other animals(without cause)
7. All animals are equal(but some are more equal than others)
The farmers were angry that the farm was taken over by animals. Later, they planned to take the farm back. However, the animals were ready and drove them off again.
Snowball and Napolean were the most active in the debates. However, they were always disagreeing what each other had to say. Snowball suggested that a windmill should be built.
Later, Snowball was expelled as Napolean planted false rumours on him. Napolean became greedy and even have guard dogs around him, which chased off snowball.
Later, the half-completed windmill got destroyed and many animals were heart-broken for they had been working hard on that windmill. Napolean blamed Snowball for destroying the windmill as he wanted revenge and any animal caught in touch with snowball would be punished.
Next, the farmers were back again. There were 15 of them and some brought guns. However, the farmers were defeated again and they gave up hope on taking back the farm. In the ending, the farmers attended Animal Farm's open house. The animals played cards and drank with the farmers. Animal Farm was once again re-named to Manor Farm.
Drama performance
Friday, May 22, 2009, 3:45 AM
Ever wondered how a plain story could actually become real? Well, my friends and I had just done it. We transformed a classroom into a chapter scenario in Village By The Sea, with wonderful props and music to accompany the atmosphere of the scene. Though it may not be a great drama performance compared to professional actors, at least we gave it our best shot, and our hard work paid off. The drama was a success, and everyone including our teachers, were impressed by our performance.During all the fun and excitement, we unwittingly, learnt a new learning style by putting ourselves into the chaacter's shoes. Thus, giving us a thorough understanding of what the characters feel and how they think. Lastly, I would like to thank everyone, my classmates who put in lots of efforts to make this performance a success, and my teachers, who gave us the chance to make a drama and encouraged us.
Graphic vs. Normal
3:36 AM
If you ever ask me what kind of novels I like to read, the answer would be graphic novels. Personally, I feel that normal novels are a bore to read as it seldom contains pictures or not even at all. Also, normal novels can look deceiving, it might look short to you, but the words inside are compacted to a very, very, tiny font! On the other hand, Graphic novels are interesting to read as the novel bring out the character's feelings and thoughts through pictures, and not words. The pictures are very detailed and colorful, and I am sure that you would be able to enjoy them. So, if anyone asks me what novels I like to read, you know the answer. That's right-graphic novels!Organ trading debate
Tuesday, May 5, 2009, 12:13 AM
Recently, there has been a heated debate on organ trading. The debate was sparked off by Singapore's retail magnate, Tang Wee Sung. Mr. Tang tried to buy an organ from an Indonesian man, attempting to save his own life for he suffers from a host of medical problems, which range from kidney failure and heart disease to sleep apnoea. But, let me ask you a question, is this fair?From someone like Mr. Tang's point of view, buying organs from the black market is not morally wrong for they think that their life is more important than the seller's. However, from the seller's point of view, it may be a desperate man trying to earn some money for his family, regardless of the cost, which in this case is his health. From my point of view, I believe that legalizing organ trading is not the solution to increase the number of organ donations. There are many unseen dangers to illegal organ trading which there are little medical supervision, such as transmission of viruses and tissue rejection. I recommend that the government should try and educate children to be compassionate and helpful to the needy. They can also hold public talks to raise the awareness of such matters. With thses recommendations, I shall now end my blog post. Please feel free to comment on it.
Reflections on Blogging
Wednesday, April 29, 2009, 2:00 AM
Hi everyone!Sorry for the late response. Phew, how time goes by. A term has ended and another begins. This year was my first year blogging, it had been quite an interesting experience. Though finding the right skin and wondering what to write was quite 'tedious', it is actually quite fun for I could share my thoughts and feelings by writing a blog. More importantly, it helps us with our writing skills too. Hopefully, I will be able to make a great blog by the end of the year!Village By The Sea
Monday, April 27, 2009, 4:24 AM
I just read a book called Village By The Sea, which was written by Antia Desai The book talks about a poor and dysfunctional family in a village by the sea. The children were left to cope with the duties of a family for their parents were incapacitated. Hari, who was the only boy in the family, ran away to Bombay to seek wealth and to escape from his family's problems. Thus, Lila was left to cope with a heavy burden.The book was quite interesting as it covers several aspects such as: Having a healthy family relationship, Change and Adaptation, Urban and Rural India, Poverty and Wealth and Benefactors. The author also brings out the theme:dysfunctional family through the character of Lila and Hari's father.
The characters are mainly: Hari, Lila, Bela and Kamal, Father, Mother, Pinto, Ramu, Biju, Biju's wife, The Watchman At Seabird, Mr. Panwallah, Jagu, Jagu's wife, The Khenakar Brothers, Adarkar, The policeman and Hira-Bhai.
Anita Desai gives a little 'FairyTale' ending for Hari returns home with enough money to support themselves, Lila and Hari's father turned over a new leaf and finally, their mother recovered from her illness.
Scouts camp
Sunday, March 29, 2009, 9:29 PM
My sec1 camp seems almost comfortable compared to my scouts recruit camp. Why do I say so?On my first day at the camp, I thought it would be like my sec1 camp. However, IT WAS A BIG DIFFERENCE. Firstly, the food tastes weird. The rice was all sticky and looked squashed. I almost puked when I ate it. Then, we had to solo height. It was a completely new experience for me. We had to walk around the school ALONE. It was about 12 midnight at that time. Before that, our seniors shared some ghost stories with us that seriously freaked me out. The one place that scared me out was in the toilet. We had to recite the pledge while facing the mirror. When I finished reciting, the ventilators went on and the door suddenly closed. Many people freaked out there. I almost blew my whistle to signal I did not want to continue. The last few checkpoints were still OK.
Next, we had to sleep in the school ourselves.I did not mind that much but in the morning, my friends told me that they heard high heels and footsteps. Also, a black cat ran past them.
Day 2 was alright. we had to complete some team building games. Our group was the last, our group didnt care about the games. Night time was DISASTER. I had to cramp myself in a 4 man tent with 4 other people. Insects smacked on my face every 30seconds. My group member almost died in there. He cannot breathe in the tent as it was VERY humid. In the end, we slept against a rock. THAT was not the worst. At about 2am, our seniors called us to wake up. Then we had to do physical training. We had to run 1.6 and hold pumping positons for about 5mins. Believe me, it was harder than what you thought it would be.
Philp Malloy's Diary Entry
Thursday, February 26, 2009, 12:49 AM
Dear Diary,I feel confused now....Why did it do it?Did I really hate Narwin that badly?well, a word to describe her class:BORING,BORING,BORING.She wasted time teaching us some stupid books. Didn't get my jokes. I wanted Lunser to be my teacher. That guy is way better than Narwin. Also, my school have some atrocious rule that if you wanted to be on the track team, your grades must be good. That is one rule i really hated. I mean, whats the link between studying and running? Now I had to change my school. Ok, i really didn't expect that. Why did I do it?why??
My Reading Habits
Wednesday, February 25, 2009, 4:27 AM
I guess I started reading when I was in P4. Sometimes, I would sit down and read for two hours without knowing it. Then, I started reading a variety of books but some I did not understand what they were talking about. I usually read about half the book and decide whether I would want to continue reading or not. If I don't like the book, I would put it down immediately. There is no point reading a book you don't enjoy.If you are wonder what I loved to read, well, I like to read adventure, mysterious, and horror stories-basically, non-fiction.
If you want to see more of the books I have read, go to http://weread.com/profile/kho/759A5C90-5AB2-49F5-9805-D3AC71BCD27E?con_sandbox=booksiread&container_type=booksiread to find out. Enjoy!
If you want to have an account please go to weread.com to find out more details.