Today's father's day? I don't really care.

Mayday Mayday

So yesterday was a very long day for me. Spent most of my time travelling to Seletar Airport.
On my way there, I revised and studied the theories while on the train.Flight Trainings is really not easy.
My schedules are all going haywire because of all the events I have.
Everything is in a mess. I feel like I'm putting too much priority on my flight lessons.
By end of this month I'm really gonna be dead.Okay I'm exaggerating again.
On that note, I don't know how I'm able to cope with my life.Its scary when i think of it.
Deadlines are approaching. CSM & HML still no progress.Will have to resort to meeting up I guess.
You have to look at my July schedule to see that I'm screwed.I need a moment of peace badly.

How I wish my life is smooth sailing. No one knows me that well.And i intend to keep it that way.
Everyone sees me as who I show them when I'm with them but that is not everything that I am.
Life is complicated because I choose it to be that way.For whatever reason that no one knows but me.
Perhaps its time I stop giving fake personas.Then again there's nothing fake about it.I hardly gave a persona.

My conclusion, be optimistic and positive and you will strive under any situation.Hopefully that is.
Ending off, I hope for the best and dread for the worst.

I REALLY NEED IT.

Minor GAD

The Circled dates are the term break.Out of 21 days I am only free for 7 days.This is what I call a hell of a holiday. This few weeks is something new which I'm experiencing. I feel the strain in me. Put aside school projects, and I have Flight Trainings.Put aside both and I have Raft building. Things keep coming at breakneck pace.Workshops, interviews,photoshoots and other events.Juggling all of this is no mean feat but I've managed to handle it well though I am struggling physically. My body cannot take anymore unless I get a much needed rest. Thats a plus side as physical struggle can be healed or replenished easily by getting a much needed rest.

However, I am constantly thinking and planning.Revising and remembering things.I also tend to observe people without notice and that keeps my brain busy too.Thinking of CSM and HML.Getting ideas on how everything would just seamlessly flow through the mind. I'm in a state of unrest inside.

The thing about me is that I have a minor Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

Mentally fine, I am not.

Fly Away

Nur Syazwani Bte Nordin. She is the 3rd child of the family. As of yesterday she had flown to Jakarta to complete her internship with a multi-national company based there. She will be doing her internship for 3 months. She will be working as a translator. Good luck to her and may god bless her.The family and relatives will pray for her safety there.

More info on her studies and her internship :

• She is currently in her last year in Nanyang Technological University (NTU)
• She is taking a Degree In Linguistic Studies
• During her course she mastered 5 basic languages and 2 advanced language.
• The 5 basic languages are : Korean, Chinese, Arabic, Indonesian & French
• The two advanced language is: English Lit and Malay Lit
• She will be living with a foster family throughout her stay in Jakarta
• She was actually posted to Uganda for her internship but requested for a change citing safety as her main reason to swap for Jakarta

All the best Sister. 

Fit

From tomorrow onwards I will jog every morning.Do some little exercises like sit ups and pull ups too. I'm gonna get myself fitter during this holiday!Its a stress reliever too! WIN WIN!:D

BURNOUT

The June term break is suppose to be free and easy for me. Yet, my schedule is piling up. Oh the irony of it all. Every week starting from next week I will be having a minimum of two days of flight training per week. Adding to that, I would also have meet ups regarding a raft race which I had volunteered for that is organised by The Singapore International Water Festival.That would bring me to about 3 days booked per week. Not forgetting, two group works that I would be busy on. First would be HML (heroes,myths & legends) project. Not only would there be a need to do research, there would also be a need to resolve issues and hope the group can hide away each other's differences and click into gear. The other group work would be CSM(creative story making) project. I have the utmost confidence that there would be no problems arising from the CSM group other than ideas and research. After all, it is me who chose the individuals for my CSM group. These two group works would bring me with another 2 days booked per week. Thus in conclusion, each week I would be busy for a total of 5 days on average.

Honestly, I'm relishing this opportunity for me to handle all these jargons. I'm currently undergoing a steep learning curve. Its a matter of time before I fall. But before that happens, I intend to make the best of what I have right now. Yes the pressure is growing. Its almost at a PSI where no man can handle. Everything we do in life makes you a much more experienced individual. Hopefully a better person too. During this term break, I will be experiencing the most stressful days I have experienced in 2011. Discipline, commitment and a sound mentality is key for anyone to succeed in such circumstances. My brain will work double time. My body physic will be tested to its limit. I need to be at my optimum best.

Every area of my brain will be working and burnout will eventually get to me.

Here's a list of whats to come for me:-

Flight Trainings
• ground school exam - 11^th June ( revise and study Aircraft Law & Radio Telephony approx 5 chapters long)
• Flight Simulator 2 Training - 9^th June( revise and study basic aircraft controls & manoeuvre)
• Flight Sortie Assessment - 17^th June ( revise and memorise everything that i have learnt so far)

Raft Competition Meet Up

• research on materials to make a creative raft( possibly to be done by next week or the next 2 weeks)
• research on the design of the raft (same as the above)
• getting the materials to make the raft(same as the above)
• building the raft itself ( by end of june )

All this to be done by 1ST OF JULY. Trust me one month is not enough.

The 2 group works CSM & HML

• both need to at least have a draft by the start of school
• need to do research and brainstorming of ideas
• a lot of hardwork to be put into this as it is CA2 which carries a lot of marks

The problem for this is finding the time for me to actually focus on the research.

Miscellaneous Activities

• planning for outing ( to be finalised by next week)
• logistical areas to be planned( to be finalised by next week)
• making myself free to hang out and chill
• some workshop about the power of words (next week)

And yes, it is all very, extremely pressurising to be in my shoe now. There's so much for me to cope in such a short time. I won't be surprised if I have to sacrifice my Pilot's License just to get more focus on schoolwork. If that's what I have to do then so be it. Sacrifices are something that you should see as a positive decision that you have made to improve on your life. Everything that happens and the decisions that you make will not be clearly pictured until some time in your life when you will finally realise that whatever you did in the past had actually helped you in your future. This is life. Never make decisions with a mindset that you're afraid that you would regret making that decision. Well, this is how i see things. As for now, DISCIPLINE will play a major role in building a part of myself. Nurturing a good sense of discipline would be key.

Matin Mystery Signing off!

Battle Star Galactica!

As promised, here is my review on Universal Studios Singapore.

To start things off, this is my line up of rides and attractions that i have went for :-
Battlestar Galactica Cylon
Battlestar Galactica Human
The Revenge of The Mummy
Jurassic Park
Canopy Flyer
The Waterworks
Shrek 4D
Shrek Roller Coaster
The Madagascar Ride
& the rest are all kiddy rides
*It is in order of its awesomeness.

Universal Studios is basically separated into several "Cities". They are: Hollywood, New York, Madagascar, Far Far Away, Waterworld, The Lost World, Ancient Egypt & Sci-Fi City.

This is how my journey begins.
As I entered USS, I stepped into Hollywood.

Hollywood

Hollywood is designed exactly like the real hollywood in the US. It is basically just a mimic of a street in Hollywood. It mainly consist of souvenir shops.The main attraction of Hollywood are the character mascots whereby you can take a picture with them. Mascots such as Woody Wood Pecker and Kungfu Panda roam around hollywood for fans to take picture with them.
My personal opinion on Hollywood is that it gives you a feel of things to come in USS. It is what that excites you in wanting to explore USS more.One negative thing that came was that the queue for the phototaking with the mascots were terrifyingly long!


                                                                   

The Big Apple

Back to the 60's!

Next up, New York! It is somewhat similar to Hollywood.Only difference is that this New York is actually The New York in the 60's. As you walk past the streets, you will feel a nostalgic feeling about the buildings and structure. Even the the staffs there were dressed in a retro kind of fashion.
I don't really find New York interesting. I guess its because behind the backdrop of NY you can actually see the huge rollercoaster tracks which lured me to go there asap!lol.

Sci-Fi City

 This is where the best rides are in my opinion. You have the Two Battlestar Galactica Rides here! The Human and The Cylon!Well this is probably the main attraction in Universal Studios. Both rides are equally heart wrenching for most people. The best would be The Cylon ( the blue track roller coaster).The Cylon will let you experience 3 times the G-force (3 times your bodyweight) with its high-speed turn and drop.It is a truly sensational experience as you will even be going upside down at very high-speed. The Human however is a more relaxed ride as it is not as terrifying as The Cylon.
Personally, both rides were pretty good but I've been to a much better ride( flying a plane with 5G!).The Cylon was pretty much the best ride in Universal Studios.I seriously recommend anyone who goes to USS to go take The Cylon.

Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt truly brings you to the world of egyptian pharaohs and queens. The place is unbelievably well structured to its bits of detail.There are even "pharaohs" walking around and having photo taking sessions with visitors. There were several rides in Ancient Egypt but i only went for one as the waiting time was pretty long.I went for the Revenge Of The Mummy ride. It is an indoor roller coaster ride.It adds another dimension into rollercoaster rides as it is also like a haunted house whereby there is statues of mummies and pharaohs which just pops out of nowhere to scare you.It is also quite dark but the ride is   awesome to say the least.
Ancient Egypt is pretty much Ancient Egypt. Be sure to take the revenge of the mummy. There were also some other rides such as the treasure hunt which I was unable to take due to time constraints.Trust me one whole day in USS is not enough for you to enjoy every ride.


The Lost World
T-rex and dinosaurs come to mind when you enter the Lost World. I took two rides there. First was the canopy flyer.A four seater ride which is almost like a roller coaster minus the turns and loops. The next was the Jurassic Park. A water ride down a strong stream water.Almost like rafting. Its fun and enjoyable if you have more people in the raft. You WILL get soaked. This is also a must ride.
Jurassic Park was a very interesting ride.The dinosaurs there were almost untrue.It felt so real! And the ride can be scary especially if you take it in the evening. I actually took the ride 4 times! xD

Waterworks

Waterworks is a wet & wild show extravaganza. With real life explosions and action, you will feel like you are in a hollywood movie. You will get wet if you seat near the "stage". You will also feel the heat of the explosions.I won't describe much as it would be a spoiler to do so.All in all it was awesome and legen..wait fot it...dary!

Far Far Away!

Fairy Tales! I was in awe of the huge castle as i stepped into far far away.It was such a man made marvel. I went for the Shrek 4D show.In a nutshell, it is 3D plus you can literally feel the show while watching. An example was when Donkey from Shrek sneezed towards the screen, water will be sprayed to our faces as if Donkey sneezed at us!Other than that I took the Shrek roller coaster.
Far far away was filled with fairy tale characters from SHREK. Girls would be the ones who will be attracted the most to this place.


Madagascar
Alex the Lion!!*ROAR* Well, that would probably sum up Madagascar.It was kind of boring for me. There were mostly kiddy rides there. The ride that i took, the madagascar river ride was boring as can be. It was like being in a bumboat that was circling inside a cave with madagascar characters all over the caves. The rest of it i have forgotten.
Yes Madagascar was an experience to forget.Even as I'm typing this, I am yawning. >.<


Overall Universal Studios Singapore gave me an above average experience. IF you have the money then it is a must go.If not, there's nothing wrong if you don't go as you won't regret it. One thing for sure, do not go during the holidays or during weekends. Mondays to thursdays are the best. During peak periods waiting time for a SINGLE ride can go up to more than an hour.


Matin's Ratings : out of 10
Experience : 8
Enjoyment:7
Service:7
Value for Money : 6.5


Overall: 7.5




Here are more photos..

Matin Mystery Signing off!