today i threw 3 hours of my life away.

well, actually i didn't really -throw- it away because that would imply active participation on my part and therein that it was voluntary and therefore avertable. which couldn't be further from the truth because the truth goes like this:

1) the rj chem department unilaterally decides that all j2s should go on a field trip during their lab lesson
2) they unilaterally decide that my class, in particular, is to visit the newater factory
3) our chem tutor unilaterally decides that he wants to spend more time with us in the lab
4) he unilaterally decides to push the field trip to afterschool hours

in case you haven't noticed, none of the above steps required any action on my part. in fact, i think possibly the only contribution i had towards this royal waste of time was in choosing to take chem in rj. or perhaps choosing rj, because it's possibly the only college in the whole of singapore where our teachers can freely determine that 3 hours at an inane water producing factory is no dent in the pocket, even when prelims are a month away. after all, we're so smart we don't need to study! prelims? what prelims! 'tis learning about how they make water out of our shit that's really going to get us our high-paying jobs in future!

and i also realised that ever since primary school i've hated field trips, and the reason for this is the walking. maybe it's because i associate school with mainly sitting and stoning, so when i'm suddenly removed from my familiar surroundings and forced to expend physical energy to follow some shitty tour, it pisses me off. and the fact that the tour probably features only plants (sungei buloh, nature reserves etc) or animals (the ZOO omg) or sciencey exhibits (science centre) or, my all-time favourite National Education (kampong glam, chinatown, sentosa, museums all allthatshit), only pisses me off more. it's like hello i go to school because i'm forced to and because my parents send me there every morning to make sure i'm physically present. extra things like field trips and characterdevelopmenttocreateallroundedleaders are not part of the deal! i hate how they sneak these Creative Wastes of Time up on you by just calling it Enrichment and then deeming it compulsory. yeah, like the next time i drink a glass of water i'm going to mentally recall all the 3 steps of reverse osmosis and appreciate how sterile it really is! or even better, i might think twice before taking that bath because hey, now i know how much work goes into making our water and i'm not going let a single drop go to waste!

oh and like the best part was that the newater factory actually had like all these posh water fountains (now i really wonder where the water for those came from) and even a visitor centre. plus, there's like this guided tour involving around 20 plasma screens, life-size exhibits, a fully cinema-ish auditorium, newater GAMES (who spells r-e-t-a-r-d fastest wins!) and like the most irritating kind of human tour guide who's perpetually perky, has a shit accent, and just never shuts up. as you can tell, i enjoyed the trip a great deal and can't wait to travel all way back to changi to do it all over again!

oh, and is it no wonder that we're one of the few countries in the world where we have to pay for water?