June 06, 2005
i can hardly contain my excitement. today is a highly bloggable day. we came across an ancient biology lab filled with REAL animal specimens, AND we came perilously close to getting ourselves killed in our attempt to jump off a building from a height of two plus metres? okay, that doesn't sound really frightening. but trust me, yu won't wanna try it.so, as usual, we reported to school dutifully in the morning. i had some cip focus group discussion, which lasted for almost two hours. the cip teachers thought the session was fruitful, but i beg to differ. so anyway, sookun and i decided to skip lectures after attending the first one, which happened to be chemistry. they did nothing much, and only went through alkanes tutorial. sookun and i went to the band room to practise while waiting for xw and benny. when the four of us left school, it was close to four pm already. it turned out that mrs liang didn't take attendance for bio! haa, so sk and i made the right choice to skip. =)
we made our way to tkgs cause we needed to go collect our o level certificates. we brought xw and benny around to explore the school.. and the tour ended in approximately 20 minutes cause tkgs compound is so small. and most of the rooms were locked, so xw and benny could only look into the band office through the glass window. after the tkgs tour, benny kept his promise and brought us to chung cheng high school. =) we met weekiat at the petrol kiosk bus stop and we WALKED all the way to cchs. it wasn't a very long walk actually, but the sky was overcast and it was humid! we were having some major perspiring session i swear. the pavement along the road next to cchs was littered with dog faeces! we had to be extremely mindful of our steps so as to not end up with dirty shoes. heh.
as we walked into the school, we were greeted with buildings resembling those of the qin dynasty. okay, perhaps not. i'm exaggerating. but i swear the buildings looked old, though majestically huge. the main admin block really reminded me of a temple! cause it had chinese characters imprinted on the doors, walls, and basically everywhere else. benny brought us to the auditorium first. it's so enormous that i'm sure the whole of mjc can fit into it comfortably. he led us to the backstage.. where the 60 plus year old piano resided, along with the locked and freaky dressing room. he brought us to the rooftop too, where we could see the entire assembly plaza. cchs is quite an unusual school. it has this strange archive room with huge red doors, a detention room which resembles a viewing gallery (and the air con was on when there wasn't a single soul inside), a beautiful lake with fountains and a CCA block which seems to be the odd one out because of its state of dilapidation.
we didn't get to visit the haunted classroom blocks cause they were locked. we managed to explore the CCA block though. it's rumoured to be haunted i suppose. but the experience is truly unforgettable. they say the CCA block's one of the oldest buildings in the school compound and plans have been made to demolish the block in the near future. the block hasn't been renovated so it was in a terrible state. it's so run-down that NONE of the toilets are functionable. and the lights can never be switched on. so yes, we actually managed to garner enough courage to explore the place. there were five of us altogether so it wasn't VERY scary. the CO, band and choir rooms had their doors bolted. and bats were flying around like there's no tomorrow. how annoying.
the highlight of the entire cchs tour is the visit to the very ancient biology lab i think. they have a wide collection of REAL animal specimens preserved in glass jars and glass cupboards. the labs in the CCA block have been abandoned so the whole area is very deserted. i'm sure no one has set foot in that lab for quite a while. plus, it resided on the third level of the block and it has been said that the third level is the most haunted level of it all. haa, i just realised how daring we were. but it was truly an eye-opener. i never could have thought that i'd see so many real life specimens in a bio lab! there were pythons in numerous glass jars, pig foetus, insects, preserved cub, cat, orang utan, and many many more. we didn't stay in the lab for long of course. it's so old and ill-maintained, and the curtains are moth-eaten!
tkgs is nothing compared to cchs i swear. it's not as magificant and unique. the view of cchs from the lake is absolutely beautiful too. i was overwhelmed with awe when i left the school.. it was an insightful experience. =) but i was dead tired cause it was not easy touring the school since its compound is so gigantic! we spent almost an hour there.
we were ambitious, and we decided to explore victoria school too. the new vs compound contrasted starkly with cchs'. cchs buildings are extremely old and highly cheenafied. haa, vs is the exact opposite. the school foyer(?) looks very much like a condo lobby. the school may be small, but the architecture is very well done. it has a very.. metropolitan feel. (sorry, i don't make sense. my language fails me.) i think the nicest view of the school has to be the assembly plaza. well, no. the whole school is damn nice lah.
we got so carried away that we forgot about the time! and guess what. WE WERE LOCKED IN! we were stuck and couldn't get out of the compound. was rather freaky cause i was imagining myself spending the night in vs. there wasn't any way out except for a small exit (it wasn't supposed to be an exit bytheway) at the top of the first flight of stairs on the ground level. so we had no choice but to JUMP OUT OF THE BUILDING. xw went first.. cause we thought perhaps he could get someone to open the shutter for us. but hell, no. he couldn't find anyone! so our final hope for rescue was dashed and we had to jump off from the small opening. benny went second, and he accidentally scratched his face. it must have hurt. i was up next, and it was a traumatising experience for me. i had to pluck up an unmeasurable amount of courage to climb onto the parapet, and actually put complete faith in weekiat and sookun that they wouldn't let my hands slip off theirs while trying to prepare myself for the landing part. okay, i seriously don't make sense. but i didn't have the mood to make sense while taking such a big risk anyway. in the end, it went well for me so thank God. and thank you, weekiat and sookun. =)) sookun went fourth, and finally, weekiat. THANK GOD we didn't suffer from much injuries whatsoever, other than a considerable amount of shock.
i will never be able to forget all that has happened today. haa, it was such a thrilling experience! we rounded up the tour by going to the pond area and taking a couple of shots there.
aftermath of the adventure fraught with peril. (riiiiight.) =) we're glad to be alive.
benny went off hurriedly to meet his friend, so the rest of us headed to pp for dinner. fabian and sarah were supposed to join us, but couldn't last minute. we went to popular after eating and i actually found the pink pen that i lost and haven't been able to buy cause there isn't stock! =) haa, it's been a fruitful day. it's been long since i had such a mind-blowing experience with schools. heh. i'm sorry for the sheer length of this entry. i was just too excited, and i had to blog everything down. =) night!