NUS Geography

Hi all,

This is SO long due, cause the competition was last Saturday, but I'm really sorry for not updating. 

So anyway, I was making my way to NUS and was staring at the Singapore Flyer when suddenly my phone rang. i glanced at the screen. An unknown number was displayed.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Darrel? This is Li Ki. Are you in school uniform?"

"Er...no. Ms Gwee said it was OK to be in PE shirt and khaki shorts."

"Where do you live?"

""

"Where are you now?"

"Er, I'm looking at the Singapore Flyer." By this time, I sensed that it might be better for me to turn back and was frantically whispering to my parents if they could turn back, maybe get off the highway or something like that. 

"Then, never mind. Thanks anyway. Bye" Murmurs in the background. "He lives in , can't expect him to go back..."

"Dad, can you go back?"

"OK, I'll try. Call him and ask him what time we need to be there."

I called the unknown number. "Hello? This is Darrel. I think I can make it back. What time to I have to be there?"

"Check the schedule Wen Kang." Indistinguishable murmuring. "5.15, Darrel."

"5.15" I whispered to my Dad. He nodded. "OK, Li Ki."

"You can make it? Oh my God, thanks so much!"

When I finally did arrive there, quite some time later, I realised that a few things were amiss. For one, Li Ki was in Sec 3 uniform. For 2, all but 2 (including Li Ki) of them were not (they were supposed to be) in school uniform.

"Hello Darrel. Change your uniform with Wen Kang. It fits, doesn't it?"

So of course, I changed. By the way, Wen Kang was Sec 3. 

The latest update I got from Ms Gwee was that they had just completed the Geo-trail and was now wondering if they could get into the finals. They apparently spent 30min looking for Asian Civillisations Museum, but yeah. Then, we entered the Auditorium. I sat in between Benny and Ms Gwee. 

To cut the long story, we didn't make it into the finals and we had to be content watching VJC, NUS(H) and RI compete for top spot. To skip the boring details, they had questions, with one of the answers showed wrongly and one of the answers apparently set wrongly, though for the latter they believed they were right.

Then came the presentation of the videos. Now THIS was very interesting. The theme was "Forgotten heritage" and NUS(H) had to present first. They did on how Singapore's money was being gradually forgotten. During their presentation, they mentioned something about how the notes in their video were NOT real. That was not their real flaw. Then they said something about Singapore's education is very cheap, and research is more expensive...basically, they screwed up.During the question round, when the judges asked them which 3 icons did they think should be included in new notes, one of them said the Singapore Flyer. Perfectly fine, was it not for the general comment being whispered around that said, "It's just a Ferris Wheel, London has the London Eye too."Then came VJC. They did on the trade of unsung heroes (garbage men, etc). They weren't too bad. Then came RI and they did on dialects ("die-lects"). They weren't too bad, but the judges evidently left the hardest questions for them. 

After that, there was an audience round, where the audience had to call and the person who manages to get through the MC would answer the question. I hate myself for getting through and giving the wrong answer. HOW could I have forgotten that the El Nino Southern Oscilliation was nowhere near Europe? It's in the South-east corner of the Pacific Ocean, near Peru! I hate myself. But never mind, I opened up a chance for my senior to answer it correctly.

After the whole thing was over, they had FOOD. It ended at 7.30, so I don't think elaboration on how much we ate is necessary. However, after the competiton, I realised that my senior had went to watch Tan Kah Kee - wearing my uniform. My dad was sort of angry at me, but he soon calmed down when I assured him that my senior would return me the attire on Monday. 

My target now is to make GAIA (It's capitalised cause its an acronym, I'm not emphasising the fact that it's the Greek goddess of the Earth) my best friend and to go for NUS Geography next year. Wish me luck!

Cheers,

Darrel