Some random facts about takchek's past

Tagged by PS. (Giving her face - I don't do meme) :P

...write a post with 24 weird facts/things/habits about yourself (not in chronological order)

1. I have never lived in a HDB flat/housing estate, or any high rise buildings. I spent my childhood days in Bukit Timah before heading to Siglap when I started primary school.

2. Because of 1, I have never really understood what the fuss was about with HDB upgrading (especially during elections time).

3. I had (and I think my mum still keeps them for me) over 200 toy cars, ~ 20 airplanes of various sorts - from the Red Baron's Fokker WWI tri-plane to the F-16 jet, and 50 other various miniature models (tanks and warships). On my 6th birthday, my dad assembled for me a 1/200 scale model (by Hasegawa) of an Air France Boeing 747-200. Complete with decals stuck on it. I later (at age 8) assembled by myself a Delta Boeing 767 - but it was too fugly with glue marks all over.

4. I used to badger my parents to bring me to the (Changi) airport to see the planes take off and land. Probably that was why my dad built for me the Air France jet model. The plane is STILL intact.

5. I was also into Transformers. My favorite was Starscream - because it was a F-15 who could become a laser gun toting robot. It was a birthday gift from my folks.

6. In primary 2, I used my pocket money to buy a 1/700 scale Imperial Japanese Navy Destroyer - the IJN Fubuki. A year later, my dad gave me hardcover books on topics about the IJN and Luftwaffe. By sec 2 in my model kit collection I had have a destroyer , a light cruiser (Agano), a heavy cruiser (Furutaka), two submarines (I-16 and I-58), two aircraft carriers (Shinano and USS Enterprise CV-6) and the Kriegsmarine's battlecruiser Scharnhost. When I felt boliao, I had them deployed in fleet formation and pretended I was a fleet Admiral.

7. I gave an organ performance at the YMCA at 6 playing "Romance". I was then with the Yamaha Music School. But I had no interest in music and my mum allowed me to stop.

8. I knew more about WWII than my classmates and (history) teachers in DHS. In a sec 2 history lesson I rattled off the names of the 6 Jap carriers and the types of aircraft and attack techniques they used against the US pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor. The teacher said it was too much information and won't be needed in the exams.

9. I topped history in DHS, and was awarded the book prize. (Chao mugger)

10. I never really appreciated literature, and did not take E.lit or C.lit as my humanities subject for the 'O' Levels. I read a lot of non-fiction books.

11. I was offered the GEP in Primary 3 (then it was P3 not P4) but my mum wanted me to have a more 'normal' education. So I stayed put in my primary school.

12. I got my driver's license in Singapore at age 18. I drove to school (RJC) several times in my dad's car.

13. I had a traumatic experience with the learning of the Chinese language in secondary school. Until the day I left DHS, I couldn't forgive the teachers even though I knew they wanted us to get the best grades possible.

14. In my free time in JC, if I was not practising TKD, I would be solving my Chem 'S' questions for relaxation. I enjoyed Organic Chemistry. (Nerd!)

15. I was very upset when I failed to make the cut by two points to compete for the Singapore Chemistry Olympiad. I actually went home to cry.

16. I was in a scholar platoon in BMT. In my first interview with the PC (platoon commander), I asked him about the possible routes a Singaporean male can take to get into West Point. One of my platoon mates was later awarded the SAF Overseas Scholarship. Thankfully he did not go to West Point. (Else he would have lots to say to me.)

17. My SAT (I and II), TOEFL and two US universities' application fees were paid for by PSC.

18. I OOCed (out of course) in OCS and was happy about it. I later became a project clerk in a higher (Formation) HQ and received Cat 2A clearance to handle classified MINDEF documents.

19. The majority of my Singaporean (or those who studied in Singapore) friends hailed from only 3 JCs - RJC, HCJC and VJC. I have fewer than 5 friends who took the poly route, and only 1 from ITE. I got to know all my non-JC friends while serving in the army.

20. I had two girlfriends and both were scholars - the first was from RGS/RJC and the second was a Sembcorp scholar.

21. I applied to 10 universities (in 4 countries: US, UK, Singapore and Canada) for my undergrad and 5 US ones for grad school. 3 rejected me.

22. I spent 2.5 years to complete my bachelor's degree in my US institution and the courseload was hell. I graduated in the top 10% in my college and was awarded honors.

23. I have never held any jobs in Singapore save for a brief stint with A*star as a Young Aspiring Scientist. (NS doesn't count.) I have worked in Japan under the JETRO scheme while as an undergrad during the summer.

24. I watched full-blown hard-core porn videos for the first time when I was in Japan, and visited Ropponggi. My Japanese co-workers exposed me to the seedy night life, and I touched women (other than my SO) inappropriately. But my greatest achievement (the previous two were 'learning' experiences) was climbing to the top of Mt. Fuji.


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I would like to tag: loiseaurebelle, angeline, -ben, eileen chew, biao, unknown. Others are welcome to join in.