Day 29

1st day of the break yest. Was supposed to discuss mc stuff over lunch with tim yest. As usual he was so late n lunch took place at 2pm sim lim sq. After we shopped for a portable disk drive. gosh, he bought a 120gb one at $130. For the same px last last yr, I only got a 40gb one and it has been in cold storage since because the connection is faulty....not worth it at all.

Knew tt was a wrong choice to stay so long! Was planning to go back to change out of the miniskirt then go for the ycm mtg at 7pm. Felt like a freak at the mtg! Dressed so inappropriately n had to do presentation in heels somemore... i'm nv gg to blend in with the grp like tt....=(

We also went to ps to service my phone. Lost my patience with the counter staff there which made me feel so guilty after that. Also don't know if it was lunch or the ice-cream i had from the roadside stall....now my stomach is in disagreement with me.

Not a good 1st day at all.

Day 28

The worse is finally over & I made it down to mwh yest.

The guys stood me up today, but i still went. Not one who needs bodyguards. But yest there was this guy fr recently released fr imh who kept harrassing me. It was quite scary cos the other resident said he's a pervert and so every time the guy came near they shouted at the guy to go away. I think i won't go there alone again.

Interacting with the ladies was much better. Being the only 1 there, I shook so many hands and smiled so much... like an MP. Lol. Spoke to every one of them & got to know them better. But what really made my day today was I settled an argument b/w 2 residents. I cldn't ask them to "kiss & make up" so it was a "shake hands & make up". Sweet. Oh but someone told me I'd promised to bring her chocolates but I didn't. I can't remember promising her but she was quite sure it was me who promised her....so I guess I'll bring her some the nx time :)

Mum cooked ginko nut soup today. Hai, why didn't it come earlier during the exams? So much brain cells died and i think my short-term memory has relapsed.

Day 27

1 down 3 more to go!!! Opened this innocent looking email in my inbox not too long ago telling me that i got some low grade for nm mod. Talk abt bad news coming thru your mailbox. If i didn't open it i won't know and i won't feel sad over it. But I did. Nevertheless, I shan't be defeated by that stupid email. Come what may! I know I'll persevere. Hope it all ends quickly.

Day 26

"In cyberspace, a player can become a Walter Mitty- a fictional literary character who lived a mundane life until he entered the world of daydreams- who has more social opportunities online than in real life. If fantasy is better than reality, a person may increasingly choose to escape into a fantasy world, just as Walter Mitty did."

Been reading for NM2209, just wanted to share this para that caught my attention. I thought 'Walter Mitty' has a very nice ring to it... reminds me of alice in wonderland. Sth creative and fun. Walter Mitty is from the short story 'The Secret Life of Walter Mitty' by James Thurber. I haven't read it yet, if i have a chance after the exams i'll try to find the book. But yes....from all the readings, I've garnered that the Internet offers users of the chance of exploring new identities online, the asynchronity enables impression mgt, you experience flow while online, it's fun, it's liberating, but at the end of the day, it is essential to get back down to earth. Our offline social responsibilities call out to us...significant others need our attention, we need to stop at times and ask ourselves "are we getting too immersed?" I don't see myself in any risk of being too engrossed. But I feel that most people expect to see the chemistry between people online to be played out in real life as well. When they're not, they're disappointed. Sometimes, I share this disappointment too. Hence the qn I put forth today: "How much of our online niceties should we expect to be transcended into our offline world-sphere?"

This video is not related but u can view it just for fun, they're trying to demonstrate ppl in a chatroom.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LY26nB5ngAc

Day 25

It's all abt food today. Recently we've been having an overkill of watermelons at home. There's really nothing inherently wrong with watermelons.....well, maybe not. I can't explain why but recently when I see the watermelon, a voice inside my head chants "GM....GM....GM...." and I feel a bit uneasy swallowing the watermelon piece. Never used to have any qualms eating watermelon when I was young but recently the watermelons hv become redder, much jucier, their flesh looking more like red meat than anything else i've seen and their seeds getting bigger, I can't help feeling suspicious. I hv difficulty convincing myself that even if it's gm there's nothing wrong, the benefits of gm is to give us tasier food is it not? Why is this happening to me??? I don't want to develop an aversion to fruits!!

To see me through the revision week, I've got a tidy sum of tidbits snuck away... chocolates are conventional, but recently I'm hooked to sth else...wasabi peas!! The best thing is nobody at home shares my taste for them and so nobody fights with me over it. Wahaha. You get a kick as your eyes start to tear from the choking sensation. 正点!

This is what I mean....

Day 24

Last day of sch today and i'm at home...feeling not like myself. Slept late last night trying to rush that stupid t project. I'm glad I'm finally rid of it. Don't know why so many deadlines (4 out of 5 mod) fall on the last week of school such that I don't hv time to start my revision.

On Mon, Pearl and I went for consultation with HH. Looks like we reinforced the image in his mind of us being stupid. For the last 2 assignments we had to use eviews and this is sth so arcane that we took days to puzzle over each qn.... trying different permutations & combinations hoping that one of them wld give us the right answers. lol. We cldn't figure out how to do wald test on eviews and there was this irritating popup which popped-up everytime we tried. HH just smiled at us an told he nv encountered such a prob maybe we shld ask our friends. Utterly embarrassed, we nodded and say yeah...maybe we shld try another computer (Read: It's the technology's problem, not us). Then as we left the office, enlightenment struck me and i think i realised where we went wrong. So off we trotted off to as7 to finish the assignment and yea, we got it in the end.

HH is a very funny lect who gave me a scare 1.5wks ago when he seriously told me "Can you stay back aft class, I want to ask u a qn regarding the presentation". Pearl & I were so worried cos we're like doddering lost child-s (I know I am) during his class and we were expecting that probably my presentation was wrong and he's gg to interogate me on it!! It turned out in the end that he was facinated with the animations in the slide and wanted me to teach him how to create them!! omg, staying bk to teach him how to use 'custom animation'... How senseless for us to be so scared. I hope all these means that my presentation score was good?


"I'm not a klutz, I'm just accident-prone."

Day 23

Wow, it has been abt 1/2 a mth since i last blogged. Been so steeped in hw for the last 2 weeks....so much so that I think i suffered fr minor depression the wk before. But this week's fine, I pulled myself together thanks to the encouragement of some friends :D and also some a few gd test results did help too. Oh but my headache is far from over yet, the transport project especially is still unfinished.

However, i feel that it's only right that i blog today and take count of a few minor success this wk. ("Downplay unhappiness, focus on positiveness!")

1) I survived the 'stone age' for 1 week. My phone had been sent for repair for 1 ENTIRE week. Gosh, you'd nv understd all the inconvenience this means unless u experience it yourself, sitting in lectures alone, unable to tell ur friends where u are, having to plan mtgs the day b4 and cross ur fingers hoping that ur friend doesn't play u out.....and....wondering if someone was gg to call u abt that scholarship u were applying for and couldn't get u!!

2) Today I ran!!! For 4 years since i left jc i don't think i ever ran....sigh^ of course my timing wasn't as good as before (I'm positive but don't expect miracles) and there was a lot of walking in between the 2km that I tried to cover. But I cycled 4km before the run so it was pardonable? I reached home looking like a purple tomato, but it was good sweating it out.

3) I finished my Einstein's paper. I decided that it was not my style to depend on other people. So I wrote the paper by myself and my teammates profited. It was the same for the biz law assignment too. This is one my strengths and weakness...I don't trust my teammates to do a good job. Things shldn't be this way, I shld learn how to work together with ppl... but....aiyah, it's just a hurdle which I can't cross yet. Anyone wants me as a teammate?

Opps digressed... the point i was going to make abt the paper is that through the 1day process of writing it, I realised that I had some potential to be a successful novelist. Muhahhah

4) On fri I spent a few hours in the sch studying with wping and pearl. I only made it home at 11.30pm. On wed, our project mtg ended at 10 and i reached home at 11.15. Assuming time put in is proportional to the final score, I think I did well this week. But that is of course....if the assumption holds.

5) Someone wrote a testimonial for me on Friendster. That's something because....no one ever writes testimonials for me.

6) I attended the 2-day ycm workshop last week. Es & i previously held the view that this bastion of exclusivity was out of bounds to us....who wld hv thought i was accepted?! Got to know quite a no. of ppl there but not too well yet. In fact, i think i got blacklisted for being too quiet. you know how these things go....u join a panel, the ppl r youthful, outgoing, sociable and if you are just a little more quiet there, your silence is DEAFENING! Well i think this happened to me bcos i got singled out twice but 2 different speakers to answer their qns. It was well-intentional, no problem with that, i think they just wanted to give everyone a chance to speak up, but it did made me feel quite conscious that ppl were aware that i was too quiet. Opps. So on Day2 i decided to be more open and speak up. Alas, my nose did not agree with me and I spent the whole day sneezing away. Once again i don't think that went down well with the rest. How??? hopefully 1st impressions don't count much and I'd be able to redeem myself over the nx year on the panel. It's already worth celebrating that I got in didn't I?

~ Happy April Fools Day ~

Day 22

Saturday is a good day to blog cos saturdays i come bk fr mwh. Today we went to ECP. Not as fun as i'd hope it'll be cos the elderly r just not as excited as us abt gg to the beach. Well, we did end up playing 'monkey' there with a few residents-- only 4 volunteers and 2 residents actually, as the only girl i felt quite extra but the resident who was the most "on" was whom i was assigned to, so i was resigned to play. We're a bunch of self-entertainers ^^.

Then when 1 resident wanted to go to the toilet and his volunteer was a girl, I went to ask another guy to go assist. Only later then i realised he's a new volunteer! and I was like oh gosh, what if he decides not to come again?! Later I heard 1 resident wet himself....I wonder if it's the same one....oh no...oh no....my fault....Feel quite bad again cos i cldn't play chess with another resident today as he wasn't allowed to go. He called me on my mobile at the end of the session n ask me whether i wanted to stay bk to play. However as the gang was gg out for dinner i said no. Feel bad cos i got a feeling he was looking fwd to it + someone today commented that i got A* for 爱心... Oh no....I think i certainly don't deserve the honour... Leng also said when she dropped me she observed that i shook hands with 1 of the resident patronizingly... i really got to find back my sincerity.....

Project work worries instilled by SMin today-- 5 litres

Day 21

Ahhhhhh.......so happy today. Just came back and whipped up a plate of char kuay tiao for myself. Listening to Enya now in air-con comfort, what a life!

Why so ecstatic today? I just read an email from my Cambodian friend! Did you know they continue to send emails and sms even until now? *so touched* Anyway it was a joke in her email that tickled me. In verbatim, she said, "DO you know your 1 smile can make 100 peoples die,so you can decrease this over population ,so you please keep on smiling ."

When I first read it i thought why would people die? why would i want to smile when I'm in fact killing 100 people? Why is she instigating me to be a murderer? I had to read it twice to understand: She actually meant it as a complement. That a smile is dazzling and I shld smile often. Haha

This is one very interesting girl. I remember when i was giving Sci lessons with J at the camp, we asked a qn: why does a cook egg spin but not the raw egg? All the other students kept silent but this intellegent girl volunteered,

" Because the raw egg scared to die"... Muhahaah

Day 20

i want

by understanding myself

to understand others

i want to be all that

i am capable of becoming

Katherine Mansfield

Day 19

Despair, dejected, deflated..and what hv you. It's official, i've topped the class from the bottom. Can't laugh it off anymore. I want to get that bonus grade he said he'd give. Strive for most improved pupil...can i do it? I think I shld sign up for more open-book exams, my memory is only able to retain 65% of the stuff usually and if i panic during the test (there's nt really an if since i do it all the time)...65% of it remains. I'm able to understand the solutions when i read them but to regurgitate and prove them during the test is beyond me. Think I didn't study hard enough, it's all my fault.

Others: Last wed, was studying in CL with WH and had lunch with 1 unlikely person , MZ who's my pri-sch ex-classmate. "It's a small world afterall...."

Today: I played chess at mwh with an old man. 1-1. He's arranged to 'trash' me several more times over the nx few weeks.

Day 18

**"What if he googled me" was censored because of certain insensitivities.**

Yesterday was a pretty awesome day. I went to Nim's hse for lessons. MJ1101E. (Majong exposure module). Or rather it was a refresher course since it's my 2nd time playing with the pros. Wasn't surprising that I lost all the rounds, luckily i didn't stay long cos the plate of chips was dwindling by the time i left and i pity W having to take over me.

And so i rushed to meet WHan at Cinneleisure to watch the sneaks of The Fountain. The show was nonsensical, too many biblical undertones for my liking. And to save money the director kept recycling/reusing some scenes...."Not again, this is the 4th time we're seeing this scene...." The overall message it was trying to get across was 'not to be afraid of death'. I was saying to WHan, how hard can it be to bring across that point? The director took abt 100min. Gosh.

After the movie was much better. We had a good talk, went shopping at Isetan and Borders! (I luv bookstores) And then for supper at Mac.... Did you know they shrunk Fillet o'fish. Pathetic, how to fill my stomach when it's so small and so ex? So what if they changed the packaging and it now comes with a box? Give me back the wrapper and 'regrow' the fillet and i'll trade you back the box.

Day 17

HAPPY PIGGY NEW YEAR!!

Day 16

Whee... Just came back from cycling with Leong. We went abt 4km to fr our hse to Bishan Park. 4km may be peanuts but for someone who almost nv steps out of the hse to do anything more vigourous than being a 'couch potato', this is an achievement alr, and I'm contented. Could've gone furthur but I thought we'd better take babysteps at a time, lest i develop a "negative reinforcement" to it.

The last time I cycled we were in Cambodia where my cycling skills were legendary. I say legendary because the ppl there cycle great, the kids there cycle effortlessly on bikes way bigger than themselves. It must hv been the most comical sight to see someone, a foreigner, cycle with so much difficulty. With my super lousy skills, I tried ferrying someone else and we ended crashing twice. Once into some oncoming bikes...kids... So piaseh. Embarrassed my ctry leh...

Today I went to MWH too. It was CNY celebrations today. Didn't do much except served oranges and new yr goodies + hear the old folks sing. Quite entertaining, I don't even remember the lyrics to the new yr songs but these old folks....the lyrics are buried in their hearts. Even those with speech difficulty held the mike and belted a few songs for us! Can still hear the melody although I could not make out the words. What a great effort that deserves a clap!

Today i had a minor triumph, i managed to break the ice with a couple of old ladies. These grp of old ladies can't speak normally and are very shy so they're usu neglected by the volunteers. But today I held their hands and played some games with them and they responded. I could feel they appreciated it, so it made me happy too. There was this old lady who gave me the cold stare and wouldn't say hi to me or shake my hand at first, but I managed to arouse her interest after I started playing some hand games with the rest while she looked on. Finally she agreed to play with me when I asked her again! Yayz~

Sometimes i feel like i'm self-entertaining myself, celebrating over these minor things... quite childish of me, but through this "childishness" at least I can tell myself i just made that someone smile, even for that brief 1 sec.

Happy Kids at MWH

Day 15

Heehee ^^ Today I gave Meng a hug. He did so well for his OLvls! I'm so proud of him! He was too shy and won't let me hug him at first, haha but later he relented. Gosh, now hug him still must tiptoe... better hug more now else nx time too old alr cannot hug him anymore....=p So proud of him... he spent every weekend at Scouts, don't see him studying at all still can get 9A1 & 2B3!! Superman!!!

Day 14

Last Mon night, I surprised myself by holding a 1.5 hr phone conversation with a friend. The only other times I've done it b4 were with xx. Anyway, this friend of mine is looking for a job. He's been rejected a few times because of his criminal record and is feeling rather despondent. He shared that he was passed up by employers even though they told him "he was the most qualified candidate for the job". I feel rather sad for him cos he's so young. Just because of one past mistake, ppl won't give him a chance.

This got me thinking. Could our govt erase an ex-offender's record like in some other Western countries? Like paroles, if we can accept it and save some super-villianous guy from the gallows, surely we can give ex-offenders of petty crimes another chance. I'm not saying erase all the prisons records. But maybe like one or 2 in a span of 5 years? They did it in ancient China too (according to the many Ch8 tv dramas i've watched), the Emperor decides to pardon all his prisoners during his birthday anniversary, for karma reasons. Since the Yellow Ribbon Project hasn't seemed to have much success in changing society's or rather employers' mindset towards ex-offenders, maybe we shld reexamine the system.

Some ex-offenders are truely rependent and just want to get on with life. They try very hard. Their families and friends are willing to accept them. But to strangers, ppl who do not hv the chance to know them better it is different. When they go for job interviews and face the question of "Do you hv a past criminal record?", it bothers them. They can lie, but if they choose otherwise and put a check in the "Yes" box, the employers penalize them for their honesty!

The intention behind the YRP is to help ex-offenders integrate back into society but if they face this sort of rejection again and again, depression sets in and we may drive them back to their 'old ways'. My friend for example was using words like "bum" and "useless" to describe himself.

Of course, we must be extremely selective in screening the cases. We can't just pardon everyone on a whim. The ex-offenders must prove that they deserve the chance for their "tainted record" to be "bleached white again". Sure, there'll be detractors, e.g from the victims' families and from cynics, who believe that erasing the ex-offender's record is equivalent to "allowing a wolf to walk around in sheep's clothing". People will say that the prison records act as a safeguard for those who did not commit any injurious actions that forfeit their rights in society, against those who did. We need to differentiate 'them' from 'us'.

This sort of opinion is not totally wrong. I read once in Readers Digest abt these 2 youngsters who killed another 2-yr old when they were just ten. [Case] They were given new identities 10 years later, after serving their sentence. People were horrified, especially for the many who cannot forget the brutal killing of the toddler. For the 2 boys, now youngsters, no one knows they were the ones responsible. Their girlfriends do not know they're dating ex-murderers!

Maybe to ease the quandary, I'd suggest that the ex-offender can hv his record erased from the public, but must still periodically report to probation officers? I don't know...

It does not cost the authorities much to erase a record, but it can truely make things a lot easier for that someone who is trying to make a fresh start in life. I think this 'act of pardon' is sth our govt shld consider.

But for now, I can only say to my friend, "Don't give up, there's a silver lining in every cloud!"

FYI, my friend is "no bum", in fact, he's quite a role model among his peers. He denies this saying he's no role model. But I'd say! the definition of "role model" is not all-encompassing. Everyone has their shortcomings, but they also hv some good qualities that others don't possess and can learn from. Many ppl are role models but in different ways =)

"You'll get by somehow, everyone does."

Day 13

why is there no Day 13?? it's not that i can't count but i was saving space for this entry (to be written in retrospective)...

Went to Moral Home today with LYong and WHao. My objective was to be there as an observer, to see how other organisations run their outings and sessions. It was quite an eye-opener, they've got much more resources then we do. As a student org, we're always handicapped by the lack of funding. ESN shares the same problem of lack of manpower but their "lack" is different from mwh. They 财大势大unlike us. Their so called lack was because the no. of elderly going on the outings was much greater. The result, 2 busloads of ppl took off to Vivocity.

My observer status soon melted down as my "volunteer" mode kicked in. I had to talk to 'my' elderly because the other girl i was paired with cldn't speak Cantonese. My cantonese is not much to boost of either and i had to take ages to answer the old lady that Vivocity was a "xing ga po zhui dai ge baet four gong xi, san kei gei"-- literally the largest shopping mall in spore. newly built. Haha.

After taking the elderly to the deck to see the scenery....She recognises Sentosa! at 88 years old! Recalls taking the cable car, but would not take it again cos she "keng"-- scared. Well, during the bus journey she was regaling me with tales of where she went, seeking my affirmation that we were where she thought we were...(she had been to these places before).

Nice old lady, refused to buy anything more than she needed with the $20 at hand even though it's sponsored. Sigh, others wld hv unceremoniously spent everything but after we 劝得口水都干了，she still spent less than 10 bucks.

However!!! There's sth i realised at dinner at this coffeeshop where we had quite a nice meal. Old people will not 客气 when it comes to filling their stomach. This salient point i had discovered too in my late grandmother. They won't stop until they're full. They're not picky when it comes to food but their stomachs gotta be filled so they can live a ripe long life. Even if they're sick and got no appetite, they'll force themselves to eat an adequate amount.

We shld take a leaf from these 'old books'. Because it's survival. You don't realise unless you are sick. Go to the hospital, you'll see that in the ardous battle the chemo pts fight, food is essential for a high chance of survival. You don't eat, you lose. (I know cos we've been through it)

Ok, the evening ended when we drove through Chinatown to show the elderly the cny displays and sang them countless cny songs on the bus. Oh ya, the volunteers there sing really out of tune but they still sing. People with generous hearts find this courage effortlessly =)

Day 12

The Sangkhem gals went partying at NYDC at Wheelock Place this evening. Ha, no guys were invited. Edwin and Duc protested but unless they wore skirts, no guys allowed =X We waited for a very long while for seats, but it was worth it la, when we finally sat down and caught up with each other. My first real Friday Night out in a very long time!

Day 11

Met Duc, Edwin and Shimin for lunch at Biz canteen today. Duc regaled us with his experience at the food eating competition. It seems his team lost to a prc team. Haha so 'xiong' those guys... I was thinking Singaporeans kiasu? We still lose to the dragon ctry leh. I remember SMin saying that in another local tertiary, some prcs finshed the projects even before the the sem, risking the possibility of the project topic being changed, and not getting the module. Plus if 3 prcs form a team and the teacher req' 4 members, they'll just subsume last member who will hv it easy. On top of the "horror stories" of them study through the night w/o sleep. I personally had one of these "horror sightings" when I stayed bk in the central forum 1 night.

But on the other hand, who can blame them? Intense competition from their 1.3x10^9 compatriots bk in their ctry, it's only essential. The $100 prize fr the eating competition might be meagre after being split among 4 ppl, but it's still money. I think if I were them, chances are I'll do the same. Moreover, I think some of them joined just for the sport of it! If you compare this to many ppl who don't join because it's very "malu", the chinese deserve our admiration. And to maintain a cap of 4.5-5, we shld make them our role models.

Day 10

Went to MWH coffeeshop outing today ;) it was drizzling and we had to carry umbrellas for the residents while holding their hands...tiring but fun. Was attached to this resident who didn't like to speak....so it was a quiet afternoon.

Day 9

This entry would have started with me gushing about the beautiful sights I would have seen tonight. After hanging around in school for 4.5 hrs for this would have been star-gazing opportunity, I would have thought that the heavens would favour us for our patience and hold back the rain. It did... it wasn't raining up till 7.15 when Daryl and I finished dinner at Engin canteen, it wasn't raining up till 7.20 when we went to YIH. But alas it had to rain at 7.40 when we headed for the field. So much for star gazing, we were caught in the rain and had to go home! Can't help feeling cheated cos there was so much I would have done instead during the afternoon if I would have known earlier it would rain.

Gentle Night pictures

Picture taken on Saturday, 20/1/07 at Gentle Night Concert, raising funds for the Vietnamese kids. Amelia, Duc, myself.

Day 8- About Motivation 2

Yesterday had dinner with Thiha at YIH before Camp meeting. Surprised to find out he's Burmese-Chinese! Told me the whole family immigration story......how his ancestors like many others only thought of coming to Nanyang, with no specific destination in mind, then landing up wherever the ships took 'em. Wow, I can't imagine having such life-determining decisions left to Fate just like that. Think our ancestors are really brave to have the resolve to live their homelands.

Another reflection that came out of the dinner: It's surprising how these ppl want to initiate community projects out of the blue. I'm having a bit of trouble getting my butt to move already, after con spirito..... After meeting Thiha i was motivated to send that application to the Young Changemakers Youth Panel that I've been putting off for so long.....Finally.

~Make haste while the sun shines...~

Day 7- About Motivation

My heart nearly sank when i got the call from the PS dept today. I thought my appeal for the NM mod was rejected and i had to settle for my 2nd option. Luckily i was in the middle of a class and told the lady i'd call her back. After class i went to the NM dept and yes! they had vacancies for the NM class! Thankfully, because the PS mod i was planning to take as backup is quite difficult and taxing.

Felt better then and I went CL to zap all the readings. While photocopying, I met William there. I think ppl in their last sem look visibly more stressed. I saw the same look on QW the day before.... resigned, rugged, sleep-deprived.... but still optimistic! This sounds a bit bad but now I'm yr3 and seeing all these fellow yr3, knowing that there r ppl subject to the same paper chase, same pressure cooker, you feel a tad less alone. haha

While zapping, I overheard these group talking. 1 girl told the other guy "What did you do to your eyebrows, you look so different! You look like a freak." I looked up unconsiously and the guy in qn was quite embarrassed "Why you say that so loud, you see now everyone is looking at me!" and he looked at me. Everyone in the group followed his gaze and looked at me. Hahaha all I could do was smile back. This guy just had to drag me into his little embarrassing moment..... Haha guys these day are also becoming more vain. I remember 1 friend asking me where to go for eyebrow trimming cos he wants to have it trimmed before his birthday party. Omg, I personally do not visit these places.... this is like a reverse of gender roles! I think I'm quite stuck in the mud over these things....am I?? (Horrified)

Met Merle on the way to the comp lab to upload the workshop website. I took 1 day to rush this out because I wanted to send the link with the debrief letter to all the participants. And waaa.... HYuan wrote on the tagboard that I abused QW again.....Poor me! My hardwork goes unrecognised....lol. I've made a mental note to tell him that the nx time I see him. Oh yes, Merle and I were so funny at the comp lab.

We were trying to read the thumbdrive but the stupid computer couldn't detect the drive. So I logged to the terminal beside. Still couldn't read. Then......wala! after what was like 5 minutes Merle's folder opened on my terminal! We nearly fell off the chair laughing. We got it wrong from the start. The CPU that belonged was to the right of the monitor and we thought it was the left. Of course the computer couldn't read the drive! It was the wrong CPU....Duh!

The team went for dinner XO mee fen at Holand drive. We finally got our reimbursement from Amelia so our pockets felt a bit fuller. The whole meeting was dominated by complaints of exploding telephone bills. I count myself lucky cos mine was $65.68, probably the lowest in the group. But I didn't make much calls la, not like those with gf and bf to call every other night, I only bothered once or twice to send an sms back home.

Day 6-- Con Spirito, Success!

Friday: Forced to drop 1 module today. (Very unhappy about it).
Why make the students run all over the campus when they know right from the start they are not going to help at all. The system is stupid, the people are inflexible and stupid. How to take 1 more module when I have missed 2 weeks of lecture? Wasn't in much of the mood for the MC mtg in the evening.....Stayed in sch till 10+pm....Dead beat.

Sat: Workshop Day!!! yippeee.....Reached sch at 8.10 this morning to carry the stuff to KR. Really glad YShu helped us book the venue, couldn't have wished for a better place. Everyone showed up and it was great. In the end we didn't finish the "very ambitious" program we had in mind, but it was enough. Success! This was my 'brainchild' since Sept last year, glad I persisted and was given a lot of leeway by Tim to organise this. Never dreamed I could head sth like that. Furthermore, for many years the club wanted to organise such a workshop but it never materialized. Like Nim said, "we're pioneers!" Yayz =D

As organisers we don't really get to enjoy the whole thing, but I quite liked the Tower Building segment. Teamwork at its maximum! Plus the balloon sculpturing + dialect learning session. The late nights spent on the scripts paid off. I really admired 1 guy YRen who came up aft the TB session to apologise in front of everybody for raising his voice. I don't think anyone took offense to begin with, but it sure too a lot of guts to do that. This is what i call the marks of a great leader!

Day 5

I'm back from mwh....Today there was a concert performance by Voices. It wasn't very good as the sound system there was very echoy. Throughout the performance i was talking to this old man who said he used to sell Hokkien prawn mee. Then he lauched into the whole story of how he courted his wife, story abt his family etc. etc. Quite funny. He also sang me 3 songs-- 天黑黑，one 贺年歌 and another “黄色歌". I didn't know last time there were 白色歌 and 黄色歌. The latter I found out were prohibited songs during that time, either anti-govt or pro-communist. What a revealation!

After concert was free interaction so we continued to talk to the residents. I've not been there for some time and some of them actually remember! 你久久来一次....(actually i think that's their common line when they see strangers lol but nevermind)

And so now I'm back, don't need to cook today cos Pa's the chef tonight.

2 "Extra-ordinary" lecturers I have this sem... 1 is quite nice, keeps joking during lecture, her analogies even involve calling herself a bitch... It's hilarious because before i took this mod, my friend told me she was a bitch. Then to hear that from the horse's mouth (repeatedly) during the 1st class was so ironic! I quite enjoyed it a pity i'll have to watch her webcast when tutorial starts bcos lessons clash =S

But the real bitch is the other lecturer! Daryl used "bitchy" to describe him and I was shocked. Well this other lecturer is very flamboyant, wears his shirts very tight and has this huge belt buckle "screaming for attention" as it had the brand's name emblazoned across it. I was trying very hard to pay attention during his 3hr class....but....when he said "I'll wrap up in 15 min", I actually dozed off!!! Terrible, terrible, terrible way to start the sem...

Day 4

Yesterday was a very good day, depite the downcast weather. After lectures ended at 2pm, Pearl & I walked to YIH. It was nice catching up with her dicussing abt Econs stuff & abt semester break... "Wa, you've grown much tanner since Cambodia!" It was the first lecture we had together since sch started. And luckily, we had quite a charming Korean lecturer for that module. I say charming cos his lectures were the best among all the mod I'm taking this sem. A pity both of us only hv 1 common mod this sem.

Then I met CHui & Edwin for Jux07 mtg. Haha quite funny planning for fright night. We shared some things that happened during SK. Looks like more or less we felt e same way abt some ppl.

Thiha came by to say 'Hi' twice! This is a great feat that deserves mention because we finally cleared the air 2 days ago online abt why we never greet each other when we meet. Sometimes you just have to bring up such topics and Bingo! Everything turns out well! Suddenly we not only greet each other...we can joke together! That's the great thing abt MSN....

Ok, then Esther & I met to discuss VD Wkshop...turns out our trainer (alumni) has sth on that day. We were thinking omg...how? how? Do we need to reschedule? Luckily he kindly re-scheduled his work so that he could come in the morning! So touching! It's nice how some ppl go all out of their way to help you even though you don't know each other well.....

We got caught in a massive jam on the way back cos it was still raining. But we chatted (gossiped) a lot and it was fun! Felt a bit 38 then but hmm...nice to find a friend in her. This yr I think i managed to establish quite a few friendships with some ppl w/in the club. It's really nice cos we don't have to be always talking abt work, work, work when we meet =)

Sigh, got to rush now for MWH....Signing off!

Day 3

This post is commemorate the living area lamp which was broken today by Leng.

It was a classic example of carelessness, not paying attention to your surroundings. Numerous life-taking car accidents happen on the road everyday due to this kind sort negligence. People really need to learn responsibility. You don't have to go through a road accident to appreciate this fact and to experience this tremendous sense of loss. I'm pretty angry that the lamp was broken, and heartbroken. What was worse was that I should have seen it coming.

The lamp served us well. For 40+ years. It was there ever since the day I was born. Made of glass and with intricate flower designs in gold, which had turned to bronze. I am feeling regrettable because I keep having the impression that 爷爷 had hand-picked that particular lamp for the living room when he built the house 40+ years ago. The house is the only tangible thing he left us. This sturdy house he built is the only safe haven that I know. We should try to preserve it well.

Day 2

This afternoon when we were buying the water heater at Farrer Park, I initally thought that the "hokkien-spewing" boss was being 敷衍。 It was as if he was "entertaining" pa, telling him that all water heaters are the same and you just need to buy the most basic. He wasn't even familiar with the controls and wrongly explained them to us. Then came the funny part...you had to pay $8 more to get a receipt, else it was just cash-and-carry.

But later when I got back to the car, I thought well these are the shopkeepers who really know how to do business. A customer comes in, be practical. Cut the sales talk short. Give him what he wants. He pays, he's happy you're happy. Actually there's not much need for the airy fairy sales pitch for the most expensive product down to the cheaper range. Chop-chop. Anything else it'll be handled by the Warranty ticket.

And so my initial aghast was replaced with deep admiration. I feel it must be that textbook writers hole themselves up when they write textbooks, else how come the books preach the opposite stuff?

Anyways, this kind of breezy transaction you observe, happens usu. b/w 2 men. And esp. when the good is an appliance or one of those DIY items.... Women on the other hand spend too much time on the unimportant...

At 5pm, we got back, helped to drill the holes, fit the heater and there.....warm water once again. Nice teamwork once again b/w Meng, Leng and Me =)

I didn't know Cambodians commonly ate fried tarantulas only until I watched a National Geographic clip at Bishan Popular Bookstore today. How come i didn't encounter it during my trip?

Day 1

Bidding's a very numbing and traumatic process. I got outbidded today for Malay2. Firstly, I don't know which mod to take. Secondly, the mods I finally decided I might take.....either I get outbidded or simply can't bid cos they are super-duper expensive. With such a "modest" platter of modules, I really don't feel NUS is a world-class university, we're still short of it (a few km short, not inches short)... If I were the dean I'll feel really inadequate abt this and fear losing my school-fee-paying students and my position. But well, I'm not the Dean. Today I have the sudden urge to file for graduation just because there aren't any modules to take.

Morning spent typing email announcements on NVAC workshop. I'm Co-PD for this so I really hope this thing turns out well. But no fear, I think I have a good team, just that it's a pretty quiet team. (Fingers tightly crossed, hope 20th passes w/o glitches)

This evening, 8 ppl from 02s43 met up at Miss Clarity Cafe on Purvis St. for dinner. It was to celebrate Daryl's belated birthday and a farewell for SYing. Short mtg to catch up on how we've spent the hols, it appears many of us travelled this Dec. Some slight embarrassment occurred because we didn't pay enough money and the bill was returned. Tertiary students who cannot count!!

Sad way to end the evening coming home to realise that I was outbidded. I must try harder tmr!

New Year Day Post--- Happy 2007!

Yoz, it was great 2006 and yes! I'm back :) 12-29 December were the most wonderful time I spent in 2006. It was a blast! 17 days in Cambodia & subsequently Vietnam with the best team there could possibly be. It left a lasting impression in me. Sangkhemers rock, I say!!

Ahem... (trying to regain some composure here, my throat's still sore too), anyways when i was leaving Prey Veng that day, I thought, "no words can fully express how i feel abt the place, what i've experienced there, the hospitality of the ppl and kids there, the greatness of the team, the warm feeling that i've contributed something to the place, and the familarity that has grown within us abt the ppl and neighbourhood."

I'll blog again elsewhere abt the trip or create a website for it. we need to saving the good things for another day :)

I haven't thought of any new year resolutions yet. But it's the same every yr I guess, wishing to do good in my studies, be a better person etc. etc. *Yawn* I've heard ppl say resolutions are meant to be broken, esp when they're things you didn't manage to achieve the past year. It doesn't make a difference to me cos every yr it is the same. Maybe i shld try to break this chain and surpass myself this yr? But the lazy person inside me is saying.....just wait till something beyond expectation happens during the year and then declare it as THE resolution that you set on Jan 1st.

Taking a look back at 2006, it was a pretty tough year for me esp Sem 2 as I had a bad kickstart, being thrown off the right academic straight As path due to NVAC Exposition. Not that I'm complaining.....wait a minute....I am. Whatever. I blame it on my stupid self not being able to realise soon enough the damage incurred and when I finally realised it, it took the life of me trying to pick up the pieces. But well, I didn't do too badly just not as good as I hoped. Malay and Computing only got B+....(trying hard not to curse on NYD).

And so, my whole of December's gone. NYD was celebrated without a bang unless you consider dvd marathon watching Friends Season 1 which is way passe like a few years back??? Hellooo there.... why did I wait so long to watch it? I just...... haven't watched it yet.

I need some time to consolidate my thoughts abt Project Sangkhem. After coming back, I've been trying to squeeze time replying my mails on the VD Workshop (pss....VD stands for Volunteer Development) and bidding has been such a numbing experience. Imagine coming home realising you've spent 908 pts on one stupid elective module which you only took because there was nothing else to fill the blank. And then have your mind all jumbled up trying to figure out which last 2 modules you shld take. I've been loading up on sweet stuff: ice-cream, tangyuans, chips, instant noodles etc. ever since I've been home. *Stressed*

Tons of things to do again...and no time. I desperately wish I was back in Cambodia where life was charmingly slow. Everything was sweet about the place. Even our blood grew sweeter as the days wore on, the mosquitoes attacked us with greater ferocity and left us momentos/battle scars aka "Pig Trotters".

As a final note, I'll like to end with the grossest thing I've seen in 2006. This was sth we picked up at a mobile stall in Vietnam....*Drum Roll....please*

The poor duckie that went down Ken & Duc's throat. Yeeeew...

Week 20

Flying to Cambodia tmr at 1200h. I hope i get some sleep tonight, my muscle ache is killing me...Played tennis yest at Daryl's then went to sch to pack the stuff to bring over.

Tonight, we went out to celebrate Dad's and Leng's birthdays in advance and a farewell for myself. This 12 days has been really packed, rushing to meet friends, settle CCA stuff, pack and module preference exercise. A trying period.

Thur- Piano in the morning. Then went to watch eat at the food centre near the Esplanade and watched Deja vu at Suntec.
Fri- SK meeting in the evening
Sat- met J for lunch, then the sponsors, then SY to buy Des's present and finally to his party.

In no mood to reflect today, will do more of it when I get back. I need some caffine and some anesthetic.

Day 52

I thought i was the only one hard pressed for time - 6 days to Cambodia, but that was not the case. Mum too thought she'd better "make use" of me too and told me to mow the lawn this morning. Haha. Liang and i had to hop over to Shell to buy a can of petrol to feed the monster of a machine. What an unconventional way of getting tanned in the morning, but whatever.... i was bored anyway.

It's nice to finish exams before everyone else, but it's hard to find a playmate if u end early. I spent most of the time playing Mindsweeper Flags & Suduko with Liang....

On Sun, we went to Marina Square to check out the HF store for paintbrush sponsorship. Then we went shopping for accessories for Leng's D&D. Bought this really huge candy floss there, really huge, bigger than Leng's head. Haha, check it out....

Day 51

Fri-- went with Des & SYing to VivoCity. We ate, shopped and ate. Went home and played badminton and then 2-1 soccer with the boys. Must've been mad to agree to it. But anyway the results were far fr what we were expecting. I was joking with SL that playing against him "makes one feel good", cos he sucks at the game. Then again, maybe he purposely let me win? Haha, SL, give u the benefit of the doubt.

Sat-- spent the whole morning packing my table. Really a whole morning. My desk looked so much like a rubbish dump since the time we were deep into the sem. No time to pack. After bundling all the notes up, I had a paper stack that was 30 cm tall. I wonder how many trees died because of this 1 sem, it's not environmentally-friendly at all...

Lastly, speaking of EF, I was watching this Ch8 ancient drama where these girls fr a sacred land had a potion that when sprinkled on someone wld make that someone (dead or alive) vanish. Was thinking, wldn't that be the most environmentally-friendly way to get rid of ppl when they die? No need to pay ppl to dig a grave, no nd for a furnace. Only caveat is the worms don't get to feed. Lol

Day 50

ha never thought this day would come...day 50. And, the end of the exams. Phew! From today onwards till the 12th, I'll commit myself to become a viewser and try to catch up with the episodes of DeathNote. Yay!! PLAY!

feeling lazy now....the mad rush for the sem is finally over. This sem has been the busiest so far, nearly took the breath out of me. just glad it's over. Liang asked whether it was bcos the tests were catching up with me or I was trying to catch up with them. I think it was both ways? but more of the later. Too much commitments. Nx sem, i'll do less.

Day 49

3 down, 2 more to go. Perseverance will see me through.

In addition, my hp has been my salve for this wk and the week before. Have to thank Martin Cooper & Matti Makkonen-- the guys who invented the mobile phone and SMS respectively. But then again, the identity of the sender and the time the sms is received makes the difference b/w it's blight or delight.

-Stressed by some people's persistence.-

Day 48

Realised I need to do sth abt my body clock... I only manage to wake up at 8.30 earliest everyday. Snooze fr 7.30 all the way and still can't get my bum off the bed. It wasn't like that 2 weeks before. Looks like my productivity has declined (of all times, it had to do so 2 weeks b4 the exams). *Sigh*

Another memorable encounter with the canteen vendors today. Was with XX and Daryl at the Yong Tau Foo stall today. XX scooped so much Spring Onions into her bowl and mine on the same tray. "Exams coming, must eat more Cong...." she explains. Finally when her bowl was heaped with Spring Onions, she stepped aside and let me carry the tray. The auntie who was observing her in horror "Why is this girl stealing all my Cong??!!" said to be with a reproachable look on her face, "Liu yi dian gei bie ren..." I wanted to tell her "Auntie u got the wrong person..."

It was a bit excessive of us, but according to Daryl, "Spring Onions r very cheap only" Haha, I guess the HSA/MOH's call for "Healthy Eating, Eat more Vegetables" justifies our behaviour? Anyway it's the last week that the Arts canteen wld be open. We just want to eat as much as we can. Will miss the days when we can call our friends and say "Let's meet in Heaven/Earth/Hell" (as the 3 levels of the canteen is called. Most of the time we meet in Hell :D). Well, and I always support the stalls which says ask for more veggies for free. Can't stand the stall which ask for additional charges for more veggies =X

Week 19

Toting horns = Cat-whistle?

This is something i find really amusing. On Wed when i walked out of the gate, this mini lorry toted its horn. There was only me and the lorry, no other soul or vehicle ard so i guess he was horning at me? Plus the driver AND his passenger, 2 middle-aged uncles had their necks craned in my direction.... This is NOT the first time this has happened. And since I was not breaking any traffic law, just minding my own business & rushing along the pavement.... my guess is that they were horning because their 1) their middle-aged aphrodisiac glands were out-of-order or 2) their eyesight was too poor that they mistook an ugly duckling for a swan or 3) the morning sunlight was too glaring for their eyes that they were seeing things.

Leng says it has never happened to her. The only time she notices more stares is when we're tog, so i really shld feel flattered.... Ya, but how can I be flattered when i'm attracting middle-aged uncles in their dingy lorries or at the kopi-tiam!! It shldn't be working that way! My fairy godmother has got it all mixed up. Where are the young, handsome, charming man out there? Haha, aphrodisiac me.

Not that I would have given them a chance anyway, but it does feel good to be appreciated sometimes.....most importantly it would be flattering........ for my Mum ;-)

But I really want to hear it from the girls.... do they encounter such incidents? Are ppl out there just so "bo liao" or I just happen to have an affinity with these "bo liao" ppl?

This jogs back a memory during Cedar days. Cedarians usu. flood the bus stop at after school hours (looks like a flood cos we're all blue). One fine day I was standing in the crowd and this truckload of lion-dance troopers were stuck in the traffic abt 20m away. They started shouting "mei nu" etc. etc. and whistling at the Cedarians.....AND THEN......

somebody shouted...."chuan jacket de!!!"

There was only me.....and only me, in my blue windbreaker at the bus stop....The trauma from being singled out like that!!! I could only pretend I didn't hear them. That's my usual form of self-defense, "see no evil, hear no evil" They're trying to get ur attention, why give it to them?

The same thing applies to meeting perverts. I remember meeting a flasher at the same memorable bus stop once, but that's another story for another day :D

~ Today i had lunch with J at Engin canteen again. For dinner i was with P at Mac. Yesterday I "dined" with WHao and D at the Deck. I hope i get lunch engagements every other day. Today's an accomplishment because I managed to squeeze a successful study session with P. Will do it again nx wk~

Day 47

No more 4 hr meetings!!! Was trying to talk to zy aft the mtg abt my workshop proposal but i think i came across as pretty incoherent, my thoughts were not focused!! E suggested that maybe zy was too handsome so I was tongue-tied but no lar, it was more because my brain was fried aft the meeting. Couldn't think straight.... Think i left a bad 1st impression...

and then, they celebrated the Oct & Nov peeps birthday. But I was left out, even Tim whose bdae was in Sep was celebrated. Does any1 here realise I was left out? Guess not =( I don't think i'm very prominent in de com, but i'm not too obscure either right? I've been in the com for 2 years....Well prob bcos the new welfare head doesn't know me well enough.... must make sure I "be her good friend" this yr so I won't be overlooked nx yr.... But I got to comment on this, she actually sent me an sms on MY birthday to attend ANOTHER person's BELATED birthday celebration on that day. Ouch!

Today we shared ice-kachang tog. I don't know whether to laugh or cry when I'm ard them. They've become so used to my presence now that they start to make insidious references abt "balls, tadpoles, bannanas" in front of me?? This undisguised interest in them abt the birds & bees is disturbing. They're but so young!!

Week 18

The 'new' neighbour offered us 2 red apples yesterday. Said they we from Japan, they bought it on their trip there. I can't fathom what's so special abt that, aren't the Fuji apples we buy from the supermarket fr Fuji? Japan? No? And it makes u think of the Snow White story, when some1 gives u apples...be suspicious... Furthermore, it's the same lady who tried to knock me down the other day. I was walking past her gate and she suddenly swerved in. I had to jump 3 steps back to avoid her car. Isn't she supposed to look before she turns? She didn't even apologise for it, just drove right in!! So what if you're driving a gold merce?

Maybe i'm just ungrateful. Other than the apples there's cheese pie too... Thing is, after they've moved in so long, I still don't know who's living in the house-nx-door. All I know is there's this auntie peering at us from our kitchen window everytime we cook (and especially when Pa's cooking), trying to "tou shi"... Can't help feeling weird. I know they're really rich, their house is elevated 1m above ours, 3 stories higher than ours, they've given us food a couple of times when we've nv reciprociated.... some inferiority complex here, but they seem to have everything already, what can we offer them?

Generousity, is it always a one-way-street? Fr de well-endowed to de less-endowed?

Day 46

Despite of my resolution to stay away, I'm still blogging today. Feel the serious need to let out all my frustration. I slept at 5 last night. Was trying to create the project website . I'm really disappointed with their contribution, want to kick their a****. The original website created looks a mess!! How can they!! I originally thought that the guy who created it was a comp expert. They all claimed he was. So what went wrong? How can his final product be so shoddy, with tons of broken links, undownloadable images and......did not even include the most impt "definition" page O_o Yikes!! I did like 7 out of 9 pages of the research, excluding making changes to theirs. And the nerve!! They woke me up at 7.30 to ask me where's my template. Now my sleep's distrupted and I no longer feel the urge to sleep...

God give me strength today~ I need to finish my econs essay!

Day 45

WARNING: Viewing may cause immediate loss of stress, uncontrollable smiling, and a disobedient desire to wear shorts to work.
_____________________________________________

Thought i'll share this interesting msg found on the invitation to watch "A good year".

Today's friday and i'm feeling an immediate loss of stress despite not having watched e movie yet.

Got to say a big TY to WHao for sending out the post on Yahoogrps abt our class gathering yest. I think many ppl wld be shocked to see e post in their inbox today. I mean he's such a quiet character in class, I hope most ppl will not be able to guess I bullied him into writing it=p But he owes me la, last time in class keep borrowing my notes....and then keep expecting me to "entertain" him with lame jokes else he'll complain I "not funny anymore".... But I really wanted someone to post something. Me being the moderator is so "pai seh" when the group is so quiet. Let's keep e group active man!! ~I dislike cheerleading~

Today I also have e feeling of "yuan qin bu ru jin lin". For the first time in 3 yrs of NUS I found someone to go to sch with and have lunch! "3 types of black hole", "event horizon", "Mass of Sun makes space warped", "the moon has many holes"...Wow. Trapped in the tiny world of FASS, I seem to be missing out on a lot of things, no? The cosmos is so big....I need to see more of the world. Why is it that we have to specialize in one major? Why can't we learn just everything? I miss taking 9 subjects!

This writer's taking "time-off" for the nx wk. My posts are getting a bit trivial nowadays, but it can't be helped since nothing much out-of-the-ordinary strikes me on during semester time. I don't want to embarrass myself and be accused of "losing my sense of humour". There r 2 kinds of blog, narrative and reflective. Maybe after the vacation I will come back as Gandhi or Carnegie.

~There's nothing wrong with grey shirts~

Day 44

It's wicked! My sore throat is back and in its full fledged furry, I was sent into a coughing fit during lecture today. Non-stop for 5min, I was practically choking. And since I was trying to suppress it in order not to disturb e class, it got so bad I was tearing!! Utterly embrarrassed tt I didn't dare look at the ppl sitting ard me. Hai*

Plus I felt a bit dumb and cheated as I bought a packet of Straples which were herbal-flavoured. The Chinese say "Liang yao ku kou"...but this yao is too ku... I offered to HEn to try and he refused my later offers (not even to help me finish the packet...). Hai* This is a perfect example of how attractive packaging can influence consumers' buying process. I was dupped.

Anw we went for lunch with the 02S43 ppl in NUS. Fun meeting them. By chance, even those who weren't invited joined us cos we "bumped into" each other. Fated.

Day 43

Today feels like a day out of a comic strip. I was about to leave e HOPE Bazaar at Sci when it started pouring. I couldn't bear getting stranded so I dashed across e road to e bus stop in the rain. Picture this: A girl dressed prettily, in a nice white top and flouncy gypsie skirt running in the rain across the road.

I don't know, but I felt it was quite a ditzy thing to do. I was all dressed up because I was initally supposed to go for piano but lessons were cancelled. Think it's all because when you feel happy, trival things like getting caught in the rain doesn't get you down. You know sometimes when ur day is bad, these little things can get at you easily. So the lesson is be optimistic =)

Health report: My throat's back to normal again, but my left arm aches fr e 3 jabs we had yest!!! 3!!!

Day 42

Having a sore throat today. The germs are having a field day at home since we have 3 men down.

However, I still persisted on at flag day today selling flags for the Children's Aid Society. Today's Deepavali btw and there were many Indians or maybe Pakistani at Jurong East. Many of these foreign workers were curious abt why there was a girl holding a tin can, standing at e foot of the escalator with a smile "perpetually plastered" on her face. But many were forthcoming with their donations, while others just looked a mixture puzzlement and bemusement. Coincidentally, the last time I sold flags was for the Pakistani earthquake in school. It was much more embarrassing standing along e arts walkway although the money collected was much better...(You can't really avoid donating to ur schoolmate can you?). Today however I realised that e really charitable ppl wld automatically come up to you if they see the tin can, you don't really need to ask them at all. Those who u actually nd to open ur mouth to ask them, chances are they'll decline. Flagselling is afterall not hardselling.

Day 41

Finally, a reprieve from all the mid-term tests! It was nice playing badminton with Leng tonight. Nothing much to blog today, maybe I'll just share a beautiful story:
____________________________________________

一天, 小狗狗问妈妈 ： “ Mummy, mummy, 幸福在哪里？”
妈妈 wisely 回答：“幸福不就在尾巴上！”

不久, 妈妈看见小狗狗追着尾巴绕圈子... ...

Amused, 妈妈问道：“ 孩子，你在做什么？”
小狗狗傻气地回答：“ 怎么也追不到幸福！”

妈妈 knowingly 说：“傻孩子，只要你往前走，幸福就会跟着你走！”

____________________________________________

This story is pretty much about 生在福中不知福 ... ... but sounds less cliche =)

Week 17

Hmm...feeling pretty high now although exhausted. First, a friend was very nice and walked me back home right to my doorstep (usu my friends drive me home or drop me off a cab but this time we actually walked!! for one stop so it was a pleasant change). We were back from NVAC appreciation dinner onboard a boat!! Extremely novel and exciting. The boat was called "Fairwind" and our CCA booked the whole ship which took us out to sea to e nearby Sisters island. We had buffet dinner at the seas, had lots of interaction, took tons of photos, exchanged lots of pirate jargon, watched a consolidated photo video and got "wooden plank" momentos. It felt like graduation night!

Secondly, I'm happy to be blogging tonight marking the end of the week. A long eventful week. We washed cars for PS on Mon, Wed and Fri. On mon i reached sch at 7am, about the earliest I reached in all my 3 yrs in NUS, to wash cars and deliver my sweetest sales speech so as raise funds ok?!! And just last night after FinE mid-sem and 4.5hrs of car washing, I attended the NUSSU Appreciation Dinner. Wonderful night as we had a huge haul, biggest being the first best standing com!! NVAC reps toasted and toasted 3x in front of everyone. It was e few rare occassions tt our "unitedness" stood out. Just now on the boat, we also toasted with sparkling juice and gave a loud resounding "yam say". Funny. I think ppl at the pier were shocked to hear our "warring cries" and wondered if a pirate boat had arrived at the peaceful shores of Spore (Pirates of e Carribean 3 came a yr early??).

Both dinners turned out better than expected and I'm glad.

Thirdly, yest someone at e dinner recognised me fr KCPPS. I think he was my ex-classmate but I really couldn't put a name to his face. Asked ard at e end of e dinner but cldn't find him. Curious. I think i roughly know who he is now so hope to see him again so I can confirm my guess.

Fourthly, I met Shirley and gang at Sakae Sushi for lunch after PS meeting in school. It was to celebrate my belated birthday and Jac's birthday. Finally I got to satisfy my cravings for Jap food which had plagued me for quite some time already. We shopped and shopped so as to waste time before I headed off to Marina Bay for the dinner.

Fifth-ly, there was a joke just now which I can't get out off my mind at present. SMin was telling LYong n I that she used to go "chong" and LYong asked her what she usu. drinks. SMin said she'd carry a glass of Volka around. Think LYong misheard her and so he said "Mocha??" I couldn't stop laughing then. It was hilarious the puzzled look on his face, "I was wondering how come got ppl go pub and order coffee?" haha that guy is genuinely innocent 180 degrees from the party-animal-type! (Finally found an 'angel' just like me.....hahaha)

As i'm typing this, my head is still not clear.... the laptop seems to be bobbing up and down....serious. Think boat rides don't come often and as we spent 3hrs onboard tonight, i still feel a little like i'm out at sea. It's as though i live on ship and i'm typing my biography about my sea-faring days. Hee=) watch it mate~

Day 40

A nice girl was queuing at the ‘tau hway’ in the arts canteen the other day.
Ah girl: 豆花。
Auntie: ok.

(Background: Auntie scoops the tau huay) Meanwhile, Nice girl sees a sign that says Tau huay and ginko nuts.

Auntie: 七毛。
Ah Girl: 可以加白果吗?
Auntie: 你要啊？Ok.

Auntie goes back to scoop the ginko nuts. She returns.

Auntie: 一块钱。

Ah girl eyes widen. She is in disbelief but she quietly pays and leaves.

Later…
Ah girl counts the 白果. 1,2,3,4,5. Exactly 5. Not hard to count at all. They were small, shriveled, brownish, worst of all very hard. Totally not like the usual ginko nut Ah girl is used to eating. Most likely they were canned ginko nuts.

Five shriveled nuts for 30cents extra.

L : why you don’t ask her “Auntie, 为什么你的白果这样的？”

Y : No lah, the best way is next time it happens…..

Ah girl opens her doe-eyes wide and asks in her most innocent voice just audible so the others in the queue can hear her:

“Auntie….., 这个是什么？”

Day 39

Another meaningful day spent :D As part of NVAC MC, I went to IMH today for mooncake festival celebrations. They had a skit and I 'ke chuan' as e 'beautiful' Chang-e. Haha, haven't been involved in skits for a long long time and this was quite fun. Was quite 'on' for it since it's for a good cause. But a Chang-e with short hair, I wonder if the audience were disappointed. But I think not la the residents were just having a good time interacting, making loud noises, think nobody was watching intently...E main character was Hou Yi btw not chang-e and there wasn't a Jade Rabbit (somebody told me i had to carry a guy who was e rabbit!! I'll be squashed, when did rabbits come in XXXL sizes??)...

Then we rushed down to MWH. Tight schedule. And it's another mooncake festival celebrations! This time we brought the residents out to the nearby coffeeshop and they had a chance to carry lanterns, play with sparklers, eat mooncake and "shang yue"....what "yue"? The moon was not out yet since we ended at 7pm and I doubt we'll see it throught the haze with a PSI of 140 even if it's after 7.

Anyway, went with the MWH gang for dinner. We went to the newly opened VivoCity and funnily, we got lost in the place. So much for the 'biggest shopping centre in Spore'. We wanted to go to e foodcourt but after walking the whole sprawling big complex, we found out that it was not opened yet. Then we had to find a way out of e maze to get to HarbourFront to eat. So in the end, it was only SMin, Gary, YChong and I left. It was a tiring but fun day where I got to know a few new friends fr imh and mwh. Another round? Not so soon....my legs are crying out loud already!!

Day 38

This is one HAZY mooncake festival. I'm actually wearing a mask now in my living room, windows all closed to block the acrid smell. This is all because I have a nose of a dog. Super powerful. The hazy is really bad this week cos of all the irresponsible slash & burn-ers in Indonesia. Damn them. Don't they love this world? I'm wearing a mask now because of them. Ppl are suffering from respiratory problems because of them. I'm sounding so critical of things today because the haze has got into me. I was at Sangkhem mtg in sch till 8.30pm today and the campus was like blanketed in the haze when I stepped out. To boot, I had to sit a non-air con 151 all 4/5 of my journey home. I breathed in too much of the pollutants that i'm feeling sick now.

Last night I was down pretty bad. My body just gave way, probably cos I only slept 5 hrs in total for the last 2 days. I could do anything right, I couldn't even read the piano score properly as I tried to play my favourite tunes. I was breaking out in cold sweat and the haze only made things worse. In the end I lost the battle, took 1 flu tablet and was out cold.

Day 37

A : I'm not looking.
B : That's ridiculous, everyone's looking. You just haven't met the right one yet.
___________________________________________

This is a line from Stories of Love on e blackbox. When i heard it, i thought of the girl's answer and thought how I might probably have said that if someone were to ask me. But then the guy's honest reply struck me as quite true. Some of us may be in denial? or just looking for an excuse to cover up for our singlehood. But that was my initial feelings.

On further thought, I thought that it might not be so true. Something closer to the truth would be: Some of us are really not looking. But if that one right guy comes along, he/she might just sweep you off your feet and make you forget all your other priorities. Forget the fact that you were putting it off. Forget everything and just take the pluge.... But that is only if the right person comes along else we're happy with status quo. And that one right person must be really "powerful" to do just that.

Birthday Post

13 new messages. It's my 21st birthday today. All r wishes from friends.

My feelings today, 4 words: "Xin ru zhi shui". I feel TOTALLY at peace with myself today. I don't know why, I walked around in school feeling super calm. Think it must be because I had only 4 hrs of sleep. But I'm not tired, have to push myself further.... Lessons fr 8-8 as usual plus a Malay test!! Today wasn't a good day to celebrate. But I was pretty glad many ppl remembered my birthday.

We had an advance celebration yesterday. Steamboat, fruit cake plus lanterns! Ah yi, san yi and family we invited too! Ah yi bought me a whitegold pendant too fr SK. I feel quite like a 'rich' lady cos it adds to my collection of 3 jewellery haha, including e one fr mum & dad and e one I won at the company's D&D last yr. 'Rich' in the sense that I've got many ppl around me this yr too.

Reaching 21 is a milestone. Last yr I was feeling a bit sad that I hit the big '2' and was "old". But this yr, supposedly 'older', I don't hv last year's uneasiness. Maybe it's the first sign of my passing into adulthood? You come to acccept everything in life gracefully, including your age?

Day 36

Today we celebrated Grandma's birthday. Surprisingly this year we did not eat out but ordered buffet at her house! It was such a wonderful change cos after that we had time to play majong! Leng played for the first time and won 3 games. We only played 6 rounds la. Beginner's luck! It was my 2nd time at majong and I didn't have much luck however I managed to reprise gd ole' memories of the 1st time I played... Had to tear myself away from the table to go home and start on my financial project proposal but it seems the stars are not on my side today. I feel really distracted and I don't know how to go about doing it. (reason i'm blogging)

My Ah ma suddenly appears very funky to me. Yest, she told me "Bang har-ze-lian, kar buay wu pim-ple" This comes as a surprise cos Ah ma only speaks Hokkien! But her sentence has 2 English words! And she observes my (super bad) complexion! Not only that, during her birthday she gladly posed for photos, 1 which Ah gong held her hand. And a few of her daughters n grandchildren kissing her!! Ah ma, you really make our heads turn today =D


I decided to wear sth funky too. A Blue tie! Everybody.

Day 35

Feeling quite exhilarated now, think i'm going to have a late night tonight.

Firstly, Mum & Dad bought me this gold necklace for my birthday (which is not here yet). Yes, gold is a bit tacky but what really mattered was their effort. It's my 21st birthday and they bothered. They made the trip down together and bought me something they think I'll like. Something of value that I can keep as a momento and look back on this day 50 years down the road. Mum says if I feel down next time and they're not around, I can still feel their love for me. Gawd, I can't imagine life without them, I hope that day never comes. I love you all Mum & Dad!! I really appreciate the gift and the sentimental value that comes with it!

Secondly, I went out with the 02s43 group this evening to celebrate my birthday. We went to Curry Flavour at cityhall for dinner then proceeded to Haagen Dazs at the Esplanade for desserts. They got me this very exquisite colourful umbrella ornament that doubles as a box. Very nice.

Then we went to Esplanade and took many crazy photos!! Jumping poses, fighting poses and all. We jumped so many times to the camera timer that we were all panting after that. Not to mention I got wacked my YLynn in the chin during the first take. Lol. It was super funny and I think we all had a good time! We're all 'photowhores', everytime we meet we take LOADS of CRAZY photos!

Day 34

Last night Leng & I went to watch the play by the Necessary Stage called "Fundamentally Happy". It was the best play I have ever watched. It had a brilliant cast. They portrayed the characters with such conviction. 'Alin''s character showed so much steeliness in her. Her trademark laughter was filled so much mirth yet with a cynical/sacastic undertone, I think she must have practiced in front of the mirror at least a hundred times else she's a natural actress. "Enjoyed myself" is an understatement. I think everyone in the audience was "in awe", "inspired". I told Leng that if the cast had not exited the stage after they bowed, I'd have ran up to hug the female lead. I was so ready and set to do that just before the play ended.

In the words of Chun Enlai, the male lead in the play featured in today's newspaper, "plays are so organic", every moment and facial expression is so valuable, so real. They have to emote correctly at every second throughout the play, using their facial expressions and body language. I feel there's really a lot of hard work and practice behind that 100 mins or so stagetime. Kit Chan said the same thing of musicals, "There's no cheating there".

I wish to discuss abt the audience who turned up for the plays, but i'm running out of time. Will come back to it later.

Day 33

Swooped my long "tresses" for short hair. As Mum says, need less shampoo now.

Nina says she wants tuition too....I'm so popular lol

Week 16

It's mid-sem break this week but my schedule is fully packed so much so I wished there was no mid-sem break.

Went to watch Spore Idol live at the indoor stadium on Sunday as well as the results show live on Monday. It's a really different atmosphere there, watching with thousands of people instead of sitting on the couch at home watching alone. When the performance starts, it's electrifying. Not to mention deafening as you feel the seats vibrate because the sound is SO loud!! haha. Besides that, you also get to see how the crowd is managed so that they get good angles on TV, in other words, you get to know how they cheat.

Someone keeps chasing me to go for the retreat....I don't wanna go!! I feel so pressured as I look at my timetable. Everyday I have sth on....and in view of all the tests when sch starts, I'm fried.

Day 32- Miami Vice

I totally do not recommend watching Miami Vice. Last night, our whole family took a London cab to Great World to watch the movie. It was a sponsored event so we had a buffet reception waiting for us. I was quite embarrassed standing in the crowd cos I drank a glass of red wine and my face was the colour of the huge prawn we ate. Then the boys got chased out cos the show was NC16 and Meng's bdae was 1.5 wks away... A pity. But maybe not cos they got to watch no-brainer comedy Chris Tucker instead. Miami Vice on the other hand was B.oring. It one of those 'FBI agents going undercover' shows but mightily boring, even the fighting scenes were just a audio dollop of crossfire and on screen, you just see cops+thieves rolling on the ground or taking cover. But there were many undercurrents in the show, romantic tango b/w Colin Farrell and Gong Li. I think only Gong Li's acting deserves applause. De other leads acting didn't stand out, not a bit. But after the whole show, I felt that it deserved a M18 rating instead of NC16 cos there were quite a lot of sexual scenes. Luckily the boys were 'caught' and chased out=p

Day 31

Just finished the GEK project proposal. Wonder what's happening to my group, the group leader's sleeping-_- Weird guy, I don't think he even knows my name. Doesn't even bother to talk to me. *Sack him* (Dustbin swinging/ housefly swat sound)

Met YLynn, WLiat and SYing for lunch today. Got 'suan' by WLiat again... Think it's going to be a every Wed thing since SYing and I are very free after M&B. Was late today by 20 min! I drove very quickly already but the jam on the PIE was soooo loooonnnng....

Then I went for another lunch session with WPing and PYi at 2pm after Intro to Comp. Those girls really tickle me, every time I see them they're so hilarious, "mo qi shi zhu". Then as usual, it's mugging time at the Central Forum...At least this week's tutorial ain't that difficult.

(Oh man, what am i writing??! Everything has no link at all!!?)

Day 30- Little Miss Sunshine

Despite the stack of assignments on my table waiting for me, I went to watch the sneak preview of Little Miss Sunshine at Prince. A humourous, true-blue America movie about family troubles, sucide, drugs, death, gay issues, emotional issues etc. It was on a certain Hoovers family, every member of the family had a unique personality and their banter is so clever and witty, I laughed so much that tears came rolling down. A good example was when Steve Carell (Frank) said when pushing the broken-down van, "Did I tell you that I'm the no. 1 eminent Proust scholar of the United States?" I like it when his character so unabashedly declares himself as a genius.

This guy is hilarious as he digs at his bro-in-law with sarcastic remarks, as he breaks into a "stiff" run and as he copes with his sexual identify makes him my all-time-favourite character.

Grandpa (Alan Arkin) told grandson Dwayne (coolest name of the year!), "Son, trust me, F*** as many women as you can, not just one....As many women as you can....."

Meng and I were doubled over in laughter for at least 5 mins. He sprouts so much F-letter words I think it got the movie a NC16 rating (can't think of other valid reasons). My goodness, this funky grandad makes all pubescent teenage boys and maybe girls wish our grandads were like that!

Of all the family-centred shows around, this one breaks the mould. Instead of the usual tearjerkers, this one manages to touch on many social issues and simultaneously bring out the essence of family though comic relief. In a particularly touching scene, Dwaye writes a note to his sister that says "Go Hug Mom" just after their grandpa died. And in a good display of sibling love, Olive manages to get her brother out of his despodency by just hugging him! Sometimes, a simple hug says much more than words.

I think the scripwriter's a genius. I thoughly recommend it as "whole family entertainment"

http://www2.foxsearchlight.com/littlemisssunshine/

Day 29

Been to the elections. i'm now volunteer mgt manager. having mixed feelings.

CF received a complaint letter in the ST Forum. i feel the things mentioned are quite true. Shld i stay true to my Chiro dreams? Actually i've not wavered. But i feel tt they shld be more responsible and ethical.

Day 28

Project S meeting yesterday. I'm gg to Cambodia in December! Woo hoo! Although it's the first mtg but it got me quite excited cos suddenly it seems so real... and I met a junior fr Cedar who's going too. But i didn't get to talk to her.... nx time 'terrorize' her a bit. Haha I'm mean. I think I used to have this effect on my juniors back in those days. No? It's a 'first child' syndrome. But then after a while I think they get used to my wkg style and get to see the fun side of me too=)

I also went to WHan's party last night at this very chic bristo cafe along Bencoleen Street called Secret Garden (it's really Secret). Think it was the best party I went this yr. The food and ambience were extremely tasteful. WHan's a hopeless romantic, but romantics hv their gd pts, they get to appreciate the simple joys of life and once in a while indulge in romantic things that remain etched in their minds like having a fairy-tale theme party at a hidden-away nook called 'Secret Garden'.

We then went to K-Box to sing till 1pm. Meanwhile, I was super peeved by 1 ex-classmate who made many thoughtless comments and he does that every time I see him. This 'flaw' in his personality had been a widely discussed topic among the girls during our school days and to see no improvement after so many years it's appalling (and nauseating lol).

Anyway since yesterday's anti-climax, I've decided to swear of party for at least 2 wks.

Day 27

Expo is officially over, Everyone heave a sigh of relief. *Celebratory dance* We went for dinner at Ikea. Expo was a great experience, from planning to seeing it actually unfolding. The satisfaction is immense. Although we met a few setbacks like poor response fr RSPs and terrible blood-sucking creditors haha, we managed to overcome it. Through sheer determination and hard work (really hard cos we had to do everything personally due to shortage of manpower). But I'm really glad that there were many who were very forthcoming with their support and came to mend the booths during their breaks. Expo showed who were really e ones we can rely on and who we can't. I'm also glad that the team became tighter as the week bore on and I got to know several new faces in the course of the Expo.

Yep, and now we can focus more on other stuff.

Week 15

I can't believe it, this week has flown past so quickly. I don't remember sleeping much so y did it fly by so quickly??

Mon was an exhausting day, I stayed in sch till like 3am to set up the Expo booths. We were doing so much last min stuff like drawing billboards, arranging tables, packing goodie bags etc. 3am!! Until they had to send me home in the NUSSU van.

Tue saw a lousy start to our Expo cos most of booths were as white as sheet "literally and figuratively". Many projects didn't show their support... But we won't let this keep us down. We'll do sth to it.

Wed-Fri it got a bit better, we managed to decorate it a bit on Tue night. Taking things easy this 4 days and waiting to make an impact nx wk.

Better concentrate on my schoolwork first. Been rushing through Financial Econs as usual. Didn't manage to grab a friend fr the class. I tried asking a China girl, apparently fr Shanghai, why I didn't get the ans for some qns and she was quite reluctant to help me. These PRCs really know their schoolwork. I think they mug very hard. They understand the stuff that the lecturer and tutor r trying to put across easily. And it's not only the PRCs, it's the foreigners in general. They amaze me. While the locals are trying to catch what the lect is abt, desperately clinging on to every word the lecturer says, and equally desperately trying to jot them down, the foreigners just sit back confidently and listen. AND ask questions!!

If you pay close attention, when locals raise their hands it's to ask "Can u pls push the slide up/ can u pls put back the previous slide?" but when our overseas counterparts ask qns it's like "So what happens when beta is -ve? / What if...." or it's to answer the qns the lecturer pose to the whole hall.

QWei says he has long given up on the PRCs who don't want to share answers cos they see us as competition, if we do well, the bell curve will wk against them etc. etc. Well, I've decided to be an optimist. I think not all PRCs are like that. The girl that I asked did answer my qns afterall in a nice manner. Maybe she thought I was those expecting her to pass me her paper and let me copy wholesale which I know many ppl in class do (which is quite sick). Pearl and I rem our Micro class test when everyone at the back of the class was copying fr one another. We were so amused because one guy just blatantly looked over my shoulder at my answer! Tck tck...We don't resort to such things, we struggle very hard for our grades especially when we only know each another in the whole Econs course... Copying is not an option for us and neither is the option we want to choose.

One day, I'll get the Shanghai girl engaged in a intellectual debate abt the topic on Portfolio Analysis, I'll get "let down her guard" and we can exchange intellectual questions and answers =D

Fri night- ended at 12 pm and took a cab home...$24.70 Sigh* We're trading money, hard work and time for it....

Week 14

Stess levels ran high this week. Was rushing through all my tutorial assignments and the stupid t-shirt design (which kept changing and changing and changing). Even when I was finally satisfied with one design, they had to change the t-shirt color!! Sigh, in the end I kept my hands off and let them decide the final design. It was Friday and i was supposed to hand in an impt assignment by 5p.m. which I only managed at ahem...5p.m. I'm feeling the heat now as it's only week 3 and I'm way behind in my readings... After expo, i must buck up

Fri night, I attended the Yellow Ribbon Concert. It was a pretty cool affair though the turn-up was not that good (I was trying to sms more of my friends to come down). There were sharing by the organisations which help in the rehabilitation of prisoners, a useful panel discussion and some simple plays and performances. I guess the success rate was fair and what really counts is the volunteer effort cos I saw them selling ribbons throughout the week at arts walkway....


Yest was Sat, I went to MWH to help them fold hearts for the President's Challenge. Nothing eventful except on the way there, I met this old man at the bus stop who asked me for directions to NUH. I kindly told him that he had to change 3 buses to get there but he was more interested in going there by cab and hinted that I pay his cab fare for him, saying that he was dropped by a cabbie at the bus stop because he had no money to pay. He was going for physiotherapy at NUH and walked on crutches but he was dressed quite nicely and though our conversation (where he asked me where I was going, where I lived, where I studied, how many siblings I had etc...so many...) he sorta doesn't seem like the down and out kind w/o any money. Seeing that he wasn't making any effort to follow my kind directions I ignored his hints. But later leaving him at the bus stop when my bus came, I felt a kind of moral conflict, maybe I shld hv just sponsored his cab fare la afterall he's a old man, gg to the hospital...er...But it was too late to turn back. Xuan later assured me that it's fine there ARE some old ppl out there who like to cheat ppl, just want freebies etc. It's a moral dilemma that happens everyday like when u see those old woman selling tissues at high prices, those blind buskers, those youngsters selling collecting donations for old folks home... You can't help them all...

Last night the gals went to celebrate SHui's bdae at Swensons Marina Sq.