They say time and tide waits for no man. I came across this while buying myself a test pad from Minerva Bookstores in KL. At that tender age of 10, I never quite understood the meaning of that phrase. I thought it was some kind of a catchy phrase on the cover. I thought it meant time and tide waits for no MAN, as in man…the male race. Only as I grew older, with gaining experience in life and troubles life has to offer, I realized it meant Time and tide waits for no man-as in mankind. It waits for no one. You might have all the gold in the world to offer to buy it, but hey, it doesn't wait for you. Time is in a whole different dimension from us, quite ignorant to how we want it to be, but it makes us revolve our life around it.
We need time. We need time to study, to eat, to sleep, and to accomplish all the daily chores of living. We also need time to know and understand our partners, children, and our friends. Most of our relationships, in fact, require more time than we have, and usually, we don't have that much of time to offer, for we also need some of this presiouc element to care for ourselves, to be alone, lost in OUR thoughts.
People are then, weird too. Some spend all their time on business. Some on studies. Some on games. Some on work…family and list goes on. Never, or maybe a handful only spend time on everything. The reason they spend most of their time only on one particular thing is because that is important. Now, think again, do we have 9 lives like cats to come back overtime and live for one a goal a life? No!
Yet, I always find people taking granted of the time they have. Have you ever heard and maybe even thought of doing something, but then putting it on hold, claiming it's a waste of time? With the only life we have, how can we say something is a waste time? Nothing is a waste of time, if you put it in a positive way. Because if you don’t even Toastmasters is a waste of time. What happens besides a bunch of people talking and talking and giving speeches? Yet, if you think of it the other way around, it is beneficial. You learn something new, you meet new people who bring you into their experiences via their wonderful speeches. And putting things on hold serves no purpose. Chances comes knocking on our door once, and rarely people get a second chance on chances.
I live with people who keep giving what for, or no time as an excuse, and I hate it. In my opinion, there is no such thing as no time. We FIND the time. I once watched a movie that brought me to tears. Movies are sometimes the best teachers of life. Sepi-a malay movie. A wife was complaining to her husband about him not spending much time with her and their 3 year old son. He was always on the move, and busy with business. And overtime the wife complained, the only reply she got was, don't worry, we have all the time in the world, now let me concentrate on business first. And one day, the wife died-they all met with an accident and she died on the spot. After that, the husband really changed, and took care of his son. There wasn't a day that passed in his life without him regretting not spending much time with his wife.
Even I have had a lesson in time. Ever since I came to INTEC, I never contacted my cousins or friends from high school. I had the perception I would have time once I'm somebody in the society. I gave excuses, saying I'm busy for family gatherings and stuff. All this changed the day my cousin died, and I knew, if I was there for her then, she wouldn't have died the way she did. It was then me and my whole family realized, nothing is really permanent in life, and if there is something we thought of doing, we should do it there and then.
If today is the day you feel like having fun, by all means have fun to the max. If today is the day you feel like crying your hearts out, do it. And if there is a girl or guy you like, go for it, the worse that can ever happen is they turning you down. Never put things on hold. Never say no time to anybody, even if whatever you doing is not going to benefit you, it may benefit others. They will be your well-wisher, and you will be blessed by God. Pu yourself out there, have the life you want. Yes, studies may be everything now, but guess what, you can't be 19 or 20 twice. Trust me, you wont want to tell your children one day that you were too busy to have fun when the age was right, and now that you want to have fun the age is not right. Learn new things. If possible, learn everything. There is saying in tamil stating, 'What we learn is only a handful of knowledge, but what is left to learn is a big as the universe'.
Living your life to the fullest can never be a waste of time, but not living it to the fullest is a crime. Be like the clock. Always keep on ticking by involving yourself in various things and learning new things. These small knowledge and experience modules will perhaps one day take you to your bigger goal some day.
Take Rose from Titanic for example, at the brink of death, Jack makes her promise to never let go of life, and to do what ever she wanted. She did. She learnt horse riding, flying a plane and many other things. And she was a happy lady the day she passed. Well, at least the best reward you can get by living your life to the fullest is, you die with no regrets.
Remember: You cant change the past, but you can ruin the future by worrying about the present.
Color engraving by Ferdinand Knab/The Bridgeman Art Library/Getty Images
The great marble temple dedicated to the Greek goddess Artemis was completed around 550 B.C. at Ephesus, near the modern-day town of Selçuk inTurkey.
In addition to its 120 columns, each standing 60 feet (20 meters) high, the temple was said to have held many exquisite artworks, including bronze statues of the Amazons, a mythical race of female warriors.
A man named Herostratus reportedly burned down the temple in 356 B.C. in an attempt to immortalize his name. After being restored, the temple was destroyed by the Goths in A.D. 262 and again by the Christians in A.D. 401 on the orders of Saint John Chrysostom, then archbishop of Constantinople (Istanbul).
Today the temple's foundations have been excavated and some of its columns re-erected.
Color engraving by Ferdinand Knab/The Bridgeman Art Library/Getty Images
The massive gold statue of the king of the Greek gods was built in honor of the original Olympic games, which began in the ancient city of Olympia.
The statue, completed by the classical sculptor Phidias around 432 B.C., sat on a jewel-encrusted wooden throne inside a temple overlooking the city. The 40-foot-tall (12-meter-tall) figure held a scepter in one hand and a small statue of the goddess of victory, Nike, in the other—both made from ivory and precious metals.
The temple was closed when the Olympics were banned as a pagan practice in A.D. 391, after Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire.
The statue was eventually destroyed, although historians debate whether it perished with the temple or was moved to Constantinople (now Istanbul) in Turkey and burned in a fire.
Painting by The Bridgeman Art Library/Getty Images
The famous tomb at Halicarnassus—now the city of Bodrum—was built between 370 and 350 B.C. for King Mausolus of Caria, a region in the southwest of modern Turkey. Legend says that the king's grieving wife Artemisia II had the tomb constructed as a memorial to their love.
Mausolus was a satrap, or governor, in the Persian Empire, and his fabled tomb is the source of the word "mausoleum." The structure measured 120 feet (40 meters) long and 140 feet (45 meters) tall.
The tomb was most admired for its architectural beauty and splendor. The central burial chamber was decorated in gold, while the exterior was adorned with ornate stone friezes and sculptures created by four Greek artists.
The mausoleum stood intact until the early 15th century, when Christian Crusaders dismantled it for building material for a new castle. Some of the sculptures and frieze sections survived and can be seen today at the British Museum in London, England.
Illustration by DeAgostini/Getty Images
The lighthouse was the only ancient wonder that had a practical use, serving as a beacon for ships in the dangerous waters off the Egyptian port city of Alexandria, now called El Iskandarîya.
Constructed on the small island of Pharos between 285 and 247 B.C., the building was the world's tallest for many centuries. Its estimated height was 384 feet (117 meters)—equivalent to a modern 40-story building—though some people believe it was significantly taller.
The lighthouse was operated using fire at night and polished bronze mirrors that reflected the sun during the day. It's said the light could be seen for more than 35 miles (50 kilometers) out to sea.
The huge structure towered over the Mediterranean coast for more than 1,500 years before being seriously damaged by earthquakes in A.D. 1303 and 1323.
Color lithograph by Ferdinand Knab/The Bridgeman Art Library/Getty Images
The hanging gardens are said to have stood on the banks of the Euphrates River in modern-day Iraq, although there's some doubt as to whether they ever really existed.
The Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II supposedly created the terraced gardens around 600 B.C. at his royal palace in the Mesopotamian desert. It is said the gardens were made to please the king's wife, who missed the lush greenery of her homeland in the Medes, in what is now northern Iran.
Archaeologists have yet to agree on the likely site of the hanging gardens, but findings in the region that could be its remains include the foundations of a palace and a nearby vaulted building with an irrigation well.
The most detailed descriptions of the gardens come from Greek historians. There is no mention of them in ancient Babylonian records.
Color engraving by Ferdinand Knab/The Bridgeman Art Library/Getty Images
In contrast to the pyramids, the colossus was the shortest lived of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Completed in 282 B.C. after taking 12 years to build, the Colossus of Rhodes was felled by an earthquake that snapped the statue off at the knees a mere 56 years later.
The towering figure—made of stone and iron with an outer skin of bronze—represented the Greek sun god Helios, the island's patron god. It looked out from Mandráki Harbor on the Mediterranean island of Ródos (Rhodes), although it is no longer believed to have straddled the harbor entrance as often shown in illustrations.
The Colossus stood about 110 feet (33 meters) tall, making it the tallest known statue of the ancient world. It was erected to celebrate the unification of the island's three city-states, which successfully resisted a long siege by the Antigonids of Macedonia.
Photograph by David Sutherland/The Image Bank/Getty Images
The Egyptian pharaoh Khufu built the Great Pyramid in about 2560 B.C. to serve as his tomb. The pyramid is the oldest structure on the original list of the seven wonders of the ancient world, which was compiled by Greek scholars about 2,200 years ago. It is also the only remaining survivor from the original list.
The Great Pyramid is the largest of three Pyramids at Giza, bordering modern-day Cairo. Although weathering has caused the structure to stand a few feet shorter today, the pyramid was about 480 feet (145 meters) high when it was first built. It is thought to have been the planet's tallest human-made structure for more than four millennia.
Initially the Giza Pyramids were top contenders in the Internet and phone ballot to make a new list of world wonders. But leading Egyptian officials were outraged by the contest, saying the pyramids shouldn't be put to a vote.
"This contest will not detract from the value of the Pyramids, which is the only real wonder of the world," Egypt's antiquities chief Zahi Hawass told the AFP news agency.
Instead competition organizers withdrew the Pyramids from the competition in April and granted them "honorary wonder" status.
The winners were voted for by Internet and phone, American Idol style. The seven new wonders are the Colosseum in Rome, India's Taj Mahal, the Great Wall of China, Jordan's ancient city of Petra, the Inca ruins of Machu Picchu in Peru, Christ the Redeemer Statue, and the ancient Maya city of Chichén Itzá in Mexico.
The contest was organized by the New7Wonders Foundation—the brainchild of Swiss filmmaker and museum curator Bernard Weber—in order to "protect humankind's heritage across the globe." The foundation says the poll attracted almost a hundred million votes.
Yet the competition has proved controversial, drawing criticism from the United Nations' cultural organization UNESCO, which administers the World Heritage sites program (pictures of the newest World Heritage sites).
"This initiative cannot, in any significant and sustainable manner, contribute to the preservation of sites elected by [the] public," UNESCO said in a statement.
—James Owen
Photograph by Steve Elmore/Stone/Getty Images
Chichén Itzá is possibly the most famous temple city of the Mayas, a pre-Columbian civilization that lived in present day Central America. It was the political and religious center of Maya civilization during the period from A.D. 750 to 1200.
At the city's heart lies the Temple of Kukulkan (pictured)—which rises to a height of 79 feet (24 meters). Each of its four sides has 91 steps—one step for each day of the year, with the 365th day represented by the platform on the top.
Photograph by John Lawrence/Photographers Choice/Getty Images
The only finalist from Europe to make it into the top seven—the Colosseum inRome, Italy—once held up to 50,000 spectators who came to watch gory games involving gladiators, wild animals, and prisoners.
Construction began around A.D. 70 under Emperor Vespasian. Modern sports stadiums still resemble the Colosseum's famous design.
European sites that didn't make the cut include Stonehenge in the United Kingdom, the Acropolis in Athens, Greece, and the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France.
The Vatican in Rome accused the competition's organizers of ignoring Christian monuments, none of which was featured among the 20 finalists. Archbishop Mauro Piacenza, head of culture and archaeology at the Vatican, called the omission of sites such as the Sistine Chapel "inexplicable."
Photograph by Raymond K. Gehman/National Geographic/Getty Images
This newly elected world wonder was built along China's northern border over many centuries to keep out invading Mongol tribes.
Constructed between the fifth century B.C. and the 16th century, the Great Wall is the world's longest human-made structure, stretching some 4,000 miles (6,400 kilometers). The best known section was built around 200 B.C. by the first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang Di.
Photograph by Richard Nowitz/National Geographic/Getty Images
Perched on the edge of the Arabian Desert, Petra was the capital of the Nabataean kingdom of King Aretas IV (9 B.C. to A.D. 40).
Petra is famous for its many stone structures such as a 138-foot-tall (42-meter-tall) temple carved with classical facades into rose-colored rock. The ancient city also included tunnels, water chambers, and an amphitheater, which held 4,000 people.
The desert site wasn't known to the West until Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt came across it in 1812.
Jordan has taken the New7Wonders competition seriously. Petra is an important attraction in a country where tourism has recently suffered due to troubles in the Middle East region, particularly in neighboring Iraq.
The Jordanian royal family backed a campaign promoting Petra's selection.
Photograph by Ernst Haas/Getty Images
The Taj Mahal, in Agra, India, is the spectacular mausoleum built by Muslim Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan to honor the memory of his beloved late wife, Mumtaz Mahal.
Construction began in 1632 and took about 15 years to complete. The opulent, domed mausoleum, which stands in formal walled gardens, is generally regarded as finest example of Mughal art and architecture. It includes four minarets, each more than 13 stories tall.
Shah Jahan was deposed and put under house arrest by one of his sons soon after the Taj Mahal's completion. It's said that he spent the rest of his days gazing at the Taj Mahal from a window.
Photograph by Gavin Hellier/Photographers Choice/Getty Images
One of three successful candidates from Latin America, Machu Picchu is a 15th-century mountain settlement in the Amazon region of Peru.
The ruined city is among the best known remnants of the Inca civilization, which flourished in the Andes region of western South America. The city is thought to have been abandoned following an outbreak of deadly smallpox, a disease introduced in the 1500s by invading Spanish forces.
Hundreds of people gathered at the remote, 7,970-foot-high (2,430-meter-high) site on Saturday to celebrate Machu Picchu's new "seven wonders" status.
Photograph by Samba Photo/Photonica/Getty Images
The 105-foot-tall (38-meter-tall) "Christ the Redeemer" statue in Rio de Janeiro,Brazil, was among the "new seven wonders of the world" announced July 7 following a global poll to decide a new list of human-made marvels.
Facts about the New7Wonders Competition.
The Serra da Leba Road near Lubango (Huíla, Angola).
This is Serra da Leba, a landmark in Angola. A road built in the 70's, it's been in the country's postcard images for decades, but all shots were taken by day. I wanted something different and tried a night shot. But it seemed impossible: pitch dark, foggy, altitude of 1,800m (5,000ft). I wanted no more than 60sec of exposure, max, to avoid digital noise. But a car takes a few minutes to climb or descend this section of the road. The fog was dense and blocking the view! Suddenly the fog cleared, a few cars went down, others went up, they met in the middle in under 60sec... Painting done!
(Photo courtesy of The 2010 National Geographic Photo Contest/Kostadin Luchansky)
Lightning Strike NY Harbor.
This shot was captured during a major electrical storm. There was little wind and no rain which allowed me to stay safely insideand shoot from an open window. This was the 82nd exposure out of 150 made that night. The camera was mounted on a tripod, exposures made with a cable release for 5 seconds at f10. Except for a some minor level adjustments and a square crop this was what came out of the camera.
(Photo courtesy of The 2010 National Geographic Photo Contest/Jay Fine)
A supercell thunderstorm rolls across the Montana prairie at sunset.
Well, in short,
IELTS is the International English Language Test System whereby students intending to go to Europe or Australia for tertiary education have to sit and prove we are able to read, write, listen and speak in English. Irony is always those who barely and hardly ever use English score higher.
Anyway, there are four main components. Mainly, Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening.
In Reading,
Basically you will be given three passages. If it’s a killer question you will have four passages, each consisting of 10 questions. It’s basic comprehension. Most people practice the ‘See and Scan’ method. Well, it is basically just scanning the text for the answer by reading the questions prior to reading the text. I didn’t follow that. I read the whole text, fell asleep, read again and then proceeded to answer. Well, either way, you will have plenty of time in the end,, so what he heck? Just read the passages. They are all interesting anyway, and always a source of good, viable information. At least, I learnt from one of the passages that
‘A slight pain causes itchiness and a slight pressure causes a tickle!’
You only get stuck at the True or False or Not Given part. Differentiating True and False is like differentiating a girl and a guy in a class, although nowadays some may have difficulties in that due to ever-changing sexualities. But, differentiating between False and Not Given, my my. I hate it. I never got that. All I assumed after tones of practice was that if you think you can find it in the passage, and it doesn’t contradict a given statement, then its NOT GIVEN. If you can’t find it, but it does contradict a given statement, then its FALSE. Well, my assumption could have been correct as I obtained band 9 for this section.
Next will be Listening.
First you need to get a hand of their accents. British and Australian accents are fine, but an Indian accent, OMG. Sometimes, you just have no idea what are they saying. And you need to take care of the capitalization of your answers. Sometimes, you need to star with a capital letter, sometimes no. How to determine when, NO IDEA. Best clue, follow the example. If no examples, trust your gut feeling. If it’s the start of a sentence, Capital, if its in the middle of a sentence, c’mon, you should know, if not rewind back to basic grammar lessons. It wasn't that difficult when compared to my daily exercise in class. The ones we did in class were beyond anything, for they were talking in speeds equal to that of the light. The real one was cool. I scored 8.5. :D
Writing.
I hated this. It's not that I can't write, I can, if not there wouldn't be a blog. But, it was just damn bloody confusing. Especially when the question says, 'To what extent do you agree'. I was under the impression, if that kind of question comes out, make it into an argumentative essay, choose a stand, dun stand on the fence. But then, as time went by, a lot of rumours came in, saying this and that, and finally I was just too confused. I remember, on the day of the test, I was telling Naggy,
'I really hope a discussive essay comes out, just like this (showing our book), regarding televisions...it would be easy. Just list down all, discuss and end it'
Haha...guess what??? That was the question! OMG! I was like WTF??? Wow, God really heard me! Haha...At least I was glad it wasn't a typical argumentative. I love argumentative essays, you get to voice out your opinions in a better way with more conviction, but then, I was too confused to pray for that question. Anyway, I got a pathetic band 7. I was expecting 8 for what I wrote, but maybe, I wasn't up to par with what the IELTS standard. Well, I'm just grateful for I always got band 5.5 or 6 in school. (pathetic right?)
Finally, Speaking!
My favourite! As I love to speak, and mind you I am in Toastmasters! Well, I have been speaking in English from the very beginning of me learning how to speak. We never spoke in Tamil at home, it was always English and even my grandparents spoke in English! The whole family to be precise...there was a time my cousins and I will only converse in English. The whole speaking test lasts about 15 minutes. A one to one test, the examiner questions you while recording the whole conversation. I don't really remember my topic, but I think it was something to do with advertisements. Sorry, I can't really remember, especially my part 3. It went ok, not so well. I, well, I expected a higher band, but hey, I got only a 7.5.
