Totally minxed

2010-07-12T16:29:00.005+08:00

Blogging at last. One more week and I will officially have lived in Accra for 3 whole months. So much have happened since I've last blogged. I've gone through so many emotional highs and lows till at one point I don't recognize that girl in the mirror. But now that the world cup has ended, the booze has run dry, I felt I've really came one full circle and back to where I am and what I want in the first place. Time to do some soul searching once again.

I remembered I left Singapore because of my miserable well-paid job in AH. It was pure desperation that drove me to say 'yes. I'm going Ghana'. I remembered I cried on my first night here, wondering how would I survive one year of 3rd degree worldliness. But as the Ghanaians said, 'You'll get used to it.' And I did. Wondrously...

On one hand, I had a good social life. This is probably the first time I meet different people every week from all over the world. Someone did tell me before that in Ghana, you can't make friends by choice. You make friends because you have to survive or else rot in boredom after work holed up in your room. I am truly thankful that I made good friends and networks although sometimes I really question the means by which we were introduced.

I'm coming to the downside of it all that cause me to question my whole character. In Accra, the only form of entertainment present is clubbing and drinking. I swear I didn't know that I've got slick dance moves in me till now and I certainly am very surprised that I allowed myself to get intoxicated with alcohol every week. I realize one doesn't mind smoke so much when one is drunk. I remembered I couldn't stand the stench of cigarette smoke in Singapore but here it seemed like my nasal senses are somewhat numbed... maybe because half the people around me smoke? Oh... that includes the **** *** whom I ****** - of which it should have never happened had I been sober.

Phew... am glad that I managed to vent it off finally. Gtg now.... bb

2010-05-13T15:30:00.005+08:00

In a blink of an eye and voila... it's my fourth week in Accra, Ghana. I still find it unbelievable that I managed to travel to two different places (Wli Falls and Winneba) for less than 150 Ghana Cedis (roughly the same as SGD) during the second and third weekend here. And the experience has been awesome. Never in my life have I traveled with such an international mix of people - Dicky from Holland, MariaNO from Mexico, Lydia from Canada and Chris from Poland. Crazy .. but nice people. The 3 hour climb up to the upper Wli Falls with them was challenging, but also fun because you get to see all their 'color' coming out when they are out of stamina. Amazingly enough, I was the fastest person to climb up the steep slopes. I think it's all thanks to the staircase climbing with Jono (Big hug to sis!)

The waterfalls was splendid. There was no one present, only us... so it really felt like our private space. And thank God I bought a waterproof camera so we were able to take pictures in the waterfall. (Pics on facebook) And since no one had access to the internet or any other form of entertainment, we end up playing drinking games (with cards, palm wine and gin). I am quite ashamed to say that I was the only one to get wasted - enough to make me laugh, sing, puke my guts out, cry and yell out 'Fuck you guys.. I hate you for making me drunk.' Oh, the feeling was just horrible. But I'm happy that they took good care of me, making sure I get the alcohol out of my system and guiding me back to my room. Therefore, I was quite surprised that I did not wake up with a hangover at all. In fact, I have never experienced any hangover in my life before - only a slight dehydration. And of course, they were laughing so hard about my drunken state over breakfast and telling me there's more to come.

They were right. We went to Duplex the following Thursday (with Brenda) but I was glad that I did not get myself intoxicated. It was nice that I bumped into Dave and Desmond and their group (Benedict's contact) at Duplex. They were the first group outside AIESEC that I went out to meet by myself in Accra. So happy to see them.

Then we went to Champs (This club- karaoke place) for Lisa's farewell. I drank only the housepour (Vodka Orange) which tasted like 100% OJ and left with Mario and Lisa's two friends from Germany. Too bad we didn't stay long enough to see Dicky and his friend, Nillis get drunk over the microphone. Damm, we could only contend ourself with the details from Canni zzarra.

The weekend at Winneba was a fantastic one, chilling out at a beach. I went with Mario, Dicky and his friend, Nillis who was staying for the weekend in Accra. Never have I traveled with three guys (two of them blonde) before. Needless to say, we obroonis were attracting plenty of attention from the locals. We were accompanied by locals wherever we go. I almost felt embarrassed to strip to my one piece bathing suit with all of them staring at me. Dicky and Nillis played with the local boys in the water. Honestly, I wanted to soak and play with the water too, but I was firstly more concern about our belongings that they do not get stolen (even though Mario was with me) and secondly, I realize that I would attract a whole lot of unwanted attention and company if I were to play in the water as well. (Too bad I'm no social butterfly that day). Still it was fun eating grilled sausages with powered spice and watching the people dance and grovel to Ghanaian music beats.

The taxi ride back to Accra was hell though. It's no fun stuck in small car, sandwiched between two sweaty guys and breathing exhaust gas in a massive jam that lasted 45 minutes. Thank God for the Singapore Government - really... After which, I made my way to the airport to join former capitalgroup interns, Aqua and Romain to send Lisa off. I was supposed to go back home but I ended up staying over with Aqua in Romain's house, which is like the best expatriate house ever. Every room was decorated differently and were fully equipped with air-conditioners. There were proper toilets and a designer kitchen. I had the best sleep there and chatted with Aqua quite a bit in the morning over her experience in Capital group.

Came back home on Sunday and I was refreshed after a good shower. I waited for the toner to arrive for the whole afternoon but it didn't (It came the following Wednesday). However, I made good use of my afternoon by finishing up most of the mentoring program slides. In the evening, went with the guys to Frankies for dinner. I found the milkshake delicious, mainly because I haven't tasted any form of dessert for ages, but it is expensive.

I will be going on a business trip - my first business trip - to Tarkwa, a mining town for training with the Chief and my colleague on the 23rd of May and I will be away for 2 whole weeks. Gawd... Am kind of excited to gain the experience but at the same time I will miss my newfound friends in Accra. I mean half the fun of travelling lies with the fact that one has good company. But I've learnt that time flies very quickly here so I'll be back before I know it.

That's all for now... Rainy season's here and it's effing cold when I take a shower because there's no heater. -_____-

2010-04-23T02:55:00.002+08:00

It's my second day at work and I'm coping thus far. I was presented with my entire work scope just this morning and I felt like fainting. It's thrice as much work compared to my former workplace. A little part of me feels like regretting my decision to leave my comfy job but I guess this is where the rubber meets the road. Work expertise: how capable am I to handle corporate training, content development, operations work and administrative duties and invoicing.

Yesterday I helped out at one corporate customer service training for bankers at a posh hotel thus far. Can't believe that I'll be conducting the training myself in front of working executives soon. Tomorrow am meeting a client with my acting manager; bless him. He's a sweet guy, but I really have trouble understanding his English. He always mumbling. Lord help me... or him. Jesus, I'm trusting you that the meeting will go well tomorrow.

As I'm typing this blog entry, I'm uploading pictures on facebook. I'm so thankful that the electricity is back on, after two blackouts lasting for 10 min each, barely 15 mins ago. Lisa and Carnizara brought me to a bar called Epo last night to watch the UEFA football match between Lyon (France) and Bayern (Germany). Lisa is German, so naturally she would root for the German team. Another intern, called Romaine, who is French was rooting for Lyon because that's where he came from. Interestingly enough, Romaine was the marketing intern working for Capital Group Ghana and he was staying in my room! lol...Am quite relieved to know that someone had previously survived well for 1 year with my present living conditions.

The office after 6pm is pleasant. Like a library. I was finally assigned my work station this morning. It's right at the back of the office, directly underneath the erratic air-con that keeps switching off periodically (I have to keep switching it on every time). For the first time after such a long time, I finally ate my lunch leftovers for dinner. Some sort of Ghanain dish which flavor reminds me of Briyani rice and fried chicken. Surprisingly I'm not as hungry as I was in Singapore. I'm perfectly contented with eating a green apple and a banana for breakfast and dinner respectively. Lunch is now my heaviest meal.

Am feeling excited yet scared... cuz my first business trip out of Accra for a corporate training in supervisory skills is round the corner. It'll be my first time to a gold mine! A GOLD MINE! Honestly I'm curious. I was tasked to prepare the content (loads of powerpoint- they are mad on slides.) But whatever it is, I'm here to take instruction. Just continue to keep me in your prayers and pray that I'm given enough time to pick up and learn the ropes here.

Will be meeting more interns in the upcoming weeks. God help me socialize and learn how to take the Trou Trou (Van: only form of transport which seats 15 people, no air-con) and no external signs that show the bus route - you just have to go figure and guess. I must really learn soon, or else I will really be a hermit. Jesus, help me and give me the courage in walking the busy streets at circle that are only dimly lit with torch lights of various little stands selling all sorts of products. Keep me safe Lord. You are my Hiding Place. I'm glad to say I've survived another day. There's always more than enough grace for the day. =)

2010-04-20T18:31:00.004+08:00

So much things have happened since my last entry. Anyway, here is a quick update. My AIESEC internship has been realized. I'm now in Accra, Ghana working for an established consultancy firm as a training officer. My first official day of work starts tomorrow.

Don't ask me why I picked Ghana for my work destination because I sometimes have no idea. I guess the 'crazy' in me just decided to test my limits as a person. (Please don't question that either - it's too late). My flight to Ghana was pretty smooth, no hiccups whatsoever. I transited over at Dubai (yays! Can officially say that I've been there even though it was only about 1 and a half hours). Dubai looks awesome. Would like to work there one day. But enough of lofty dreaming.... I have began my internship proper.

The intern Lisa and the AIESEC coordinator Gideon came to pick me up. Finally got to meet them. Lisa has interned in my company for 8 months and will be going back to Germany in a month's time (So good). My first impression of Accra is that it is damm hot and humid. Temperature was 35 degree Celsius *faints. Though it was not much different from Singapore at it's hottest, air-conditioning is a luxury there. I had to admit that I was slightly perturbed when I beheld my living quarters. It is a small house with four doors looks somewhat dilapidated, with each door leading to a room. My room has a fridge, a ceiling fan, a single bed and pillow (clean bed sheets, pillow cover), a clothing stand and a huge study table with many drawers.

As I had no water, and the room needed sprucing up, Gideon brought me shopping. Honestly, it was the most interesting and worse cab ride ever. The cab had no air-con (expected, so I'll overlook that), the cab-driver was stopped by a policeman who told him that he did not have a license for something. Amazingly, the policeman got into our cab and instructed the cab driver to drive to the nearby police station. Gideon looks nonplussed (Guess it happens frequently) but after wasting 20 mins waiting for the cab driver who was still stuck inside the police station, we got out and took another cab.

The norm is always to bargain before taking a cab. So far Gideon has managed to get a good price for quite a long journey - to Accra mall. But the trip there and back was riddled with traffic jams. We had to wind down the car windows to ventilate the cab but I kept breathing exhaust gas from diesel engines, which gave me a slight headache. Still, better than suffocating myself if the windows are closed.

I changed my money and bought an iron, an electrical fan, canned food, mosquito netting, detergent, cleaning cloths from Accra mall, which looks like a small version of IMM Jurong. Got myself a new telephone number too. We set off for Accra mall around 3 plus pm. We came back to my quarters around 7pm. Most of the time was taken up by the journey.

I was dead tired when I reached my living quarters. Thank God for Gideon who helped me set up my fan and romming for my new SIM card. Surprisingly, even though the water system was down, I adapted well to bathing with scooping cold water from a pail. It's quite refreshing actually. I think my room was damm hot because the door had been shut for quite some time now. But now that I've aired it a bit, it's quite okay. Amazingly, I slept so soundly. Guess I was really really tired.

The sun rose around 5 am plus this morning. For once, I felt quite serene, brushing teeth while gazing at the rising sun. I have already cleaned my room and it can be quite comfortable. I have eaten fried rice for lunch with a colleague at a nearby shack (No kidding). They are going to get me both a resident and work permit for me within the next few days. I'm kinda of looking forward to work actually. Can't wait to see what I'm supposed to do. Am starting to read up on materials.

Glad to say that despite all sorts of feelings, I have survived.

2010-01-31T00:18:00.001+08:00

It's been ages since you've heard from me... I know... I quit blogging for awhile because of other important priorities. But I can't bear to let go of this blog and let my writing skills rust into dust after my final year project (My thesis was based on Ghost in the Shell 1st and 2nd movies).

How time flies... My uni life seem to have faded away from my consciousness since I graduated last July. All that preoccupies me now is work work work.... it's kinda crazy. I have been working as an education consultant cum trainer in Slave-park since May 18 (One week after my UK grad trip with Jono) and I'm beginning to feel jaded .. most of the time. It's always the same. Write propsals, submit onto Gebiz, fix sales appointments, secure deal with teach, issue confirm workshop forms, develop content, train coaches, execute program, wrap up with service report. I'm proud to report that I have coached in over 30 local schools within the span of 8 months. I am still amazed at what God has done in me and through me. Never have I thought I would excel as head coach (i.e. Project manager) for a few cohort projects.. let alone think I'll be appointed as one. God is good cuz the teachs are happy.

Take this week for example. Coached at 4 schools this week... with excellent performance especially for a Sec sch in the East (The Sec 5 NA class enjoyed the grooming and oral comm. program I delivered) and a sec sch in Serangoon (Sec 1 NT class is bratty but I still pulled it off well and unscathed... I am also tremendeously relieved that my other coaches did well for their classes too cuz my neck is on the line here.) Having to wake up at the ungodly 5.30am was worth it.

God is really faithful even though I loathe my job (Surprising eh... you can loathe something that you excel in) I am trusting Him to help me transit into my overseas AIESEC internship. Yup... this is my secret life vest and stepping stone to another industry. During my final semester, I went for the AIESEC open house and sat through their gruelling interviews (way before I was asked to convert full-time). This is the very first thing that I trusted God for; that I will pass the interview and be one of the 5% out of 300 students to become an exchange applicant. And wow... God answers prayers! The dektos year of free favors indeed.

Sooo.. it's kinda stupid that I didn't jump on the exchange bandwagon immediately. Instead, I took this detour into Slave-park (having been overly-besotted with the ambitious promises made by my ex-manager WWP - bugger left in October) Oh yeah... it was thanks to the recession too that made me opt for the more convienent choice: stable job, good starting pay: 2.8 take home, 3.3 gross. versus tedious application process & low internship pay.

But having worked like a slave for the last year (with the exception of a fabulous holiday in Sydney with Kevin), I realized that it's time for me to move on.... the day is coming soon. I really can feel it. I knew from the start that I didn't want to stay in the education industry forever - had this worry of being stuck in this trench since I was in year 2. I think part of the reason to my acceptance of the fulltime job was because I thought I could gain invaluable experience to add to my resume before I apply abroad.

Well... grins* it did pay off... I think my resume looks stunning, even without a testimonial from the boss. I was awarded $450 in Sept 09 and $500 just this Friday 30 Jan 10 as performance bonuses... WOW... really undeserving. God deserves all the glory for giving me money (replenishing my depleted funds everytime after I travel back from another country). I did gain invaluable experiences too... in coaching, training, logistics, people and project management, interviewing and handling subodinates older than me. God did put me here for a reason.. to grow and get rid of my baka bad temper.

I have grown... I have matured... I know it's ready for me to take my life to the next stage. Slave park just opened opened a new branch (applause*). At least I'm in a company that looks good on the outside, that pays me on time, that taught me tolerance and tact through their incomprehensible and balloony decisions; to work with people whom I despise (Botak and hummingbird). By March I aim to accumulate at least $5k in my bank account. It's possible by injecting a slight bit of frugality. At least it's with a purpose - for me to have more than enough when I go...

I am bidding my time... The end is near. My new beginning awaits me real soon. I have started applying with the grace of God, that will lead me on to the next stage of my destiny. So.. apply!

Feeling really sad and moody today..

2009-02-02T15:49:00.005+08:00

Okay...today I'm not my cool self because I feel like I'm on a verge of a mental breakdown. So I'm blogging because it will make me feel better. I'll be honest with you...my biggest fear is loneliness. To be honest, this semester has been really hard to live. This is the first time I've been totally by myself. The number of classroom hours sum up to four. I haven't seen the friends I hung out with, since none of them are in my class. I don't feel like an English major at all, not belonging to anywhere.

The rest of my time is spent working, tuitioning or doing my Final year paper. It's only the start of February and I feel like breaking down. As I begin to get used to the working world, I realize it is harsh. It is a lonely place. I have never felt so goddamm lonely before. Working by myself in my corner, facing the computer screen all day... tuitioning some bratty kids who waste their parents' money by fooling around... This pisses me off.

Its so unlike school. There is no one to guide you. NONE! You just have to prove your worth. (God help me man, cuz I really have nothing to prove). There's no support, nor encouragement. No person I can confide to. NONE.

Really really breaking down.... Crying does feel good for once. They are willing to convert me to a full-time coach asap. The pay is good (of course, it comes with the expected amount of work) But Why?! Why am I not happy? It is recession, people say.... 'you should stick to a job when you find one.' I so hate that. I want something better. And yet, I don't know what I want! it's tiresome searching for jobs, again and again.... I've repeated myself so many times: I don't want to be a MOE teacher. I don't want to go into teaching. But what else is there for me? What do I want to do? I've asked God so many times, but I still don't know. Am I being impatient? Probably. Yeah.... Persecutions arise for the word's sake but seriously, being patient seems so trying.... I am at my wit's end.

In a few months' time I am no longer a student. I will be a full fledged adult. (Turning 21 doesn't count) The thought of it scares me, do you know that? Sometimes I don't want to grow up. Sometimes, like now... I wish my life can just end here. A nice Fullstop. And then I can proceed straightaway to heaven. I guess these thoughts make me really paranoid. Is it natural to be this afraid of the future? My life has kind of changed drastically and I'm being thrown off my tracks.

It's like my head has been held underwater for the longest time and I am about to run out of oxygen to live. God I need air. I need refreshment. Right now before I decide not to breath any longer. I feel like giving up. Lord, I really can't take shit anymore. Help me ... please..... You who is faithful... please ... bring me out of my insanity.

2009-01-29T10:32:00.001+08:00

1. I'm a morning person. Sometimes I wake up at 5.30 am to go for a swim or run. Feel free to join me.

2.I HATE Papayas - Bad experience when I was 5. Other than that, I'm open to any kind of fruit.

3. Alcohol doesn't really factor into my life. But I enjoy drinking Choya.

4. I lurve sushi, sashimi, curry katsudon, ramen and pratically all kinds of Japanese food.

5. I lurve lurve watching Japanese/ Korean dramas and anime online.

6. I lurve lurve lurve listening to Japanese pop/rock/ anime music. I'm rather selective about other kinds of music in general.

7. Can you believe that my main text for my final year Lit thesis is the anime, Ghost in the Shell?

8. I'm currently obsessed with coloured contact lenses with different patterns from Korea.

9. Don't buy me flowers on any occasion, especially on dates. It's a total waste of money. I hate to lug dead weeds home and watch them wither and rot on my table.

10. Buy me dark chocolates instead. =) My fav!

11. I have no qualms spending $$ dining out on good food and company.

12. Don't EVER make me watch horror movies! I get traumatized very easily and I will kill you in return as part of my trauma.

13. My dream car is a huge 8 seater MPV or a Jeep.

14. I have been trained to save drowning victims in the water.

15. Toastmasters is my favourite CCA cuz I like giving speeches.

16. At times, I get distracted easily from work by more interesting things around me.

17. I am quite greedy: Have found two jobs in this recession but am still looking for a better one.

18. I stopped watching TV since I was 13 years old

19. I stopped drrinking carbonated drinks like coke and sprite since I was 13 years old too.

20. I don't like eating steamboat outside as I question the freshness and the quality of the ingredients.

21. I arrange my wardrobe according to color (from the lightest to the darkest shade.)

22. I would love to own 5 dogs; a West Highland terrier, the Daschund, the corgee, the beagle and the Pomenarian, in my future house. Hope they can all get along well together.

23. After 4 years of procrastinating, I still haven't signed up for driving lessons. Obviously I'm meant to be chauffered.

24. I like being captured in photos only when I'm in the mood.

25. My 2009 ang-pow collection was damm good ...

2009-01-11T21:25:00.002+08:00

It's a brand New Year. Hmm.. can't believe that 2008 has just whizzed by and now we're in 2009, the year of free favors from God for me. Heehee... This semester is by far the most free as I have only 2 very fun electives to take (excluding FYP of course.) I have started on my thesis and my main texts are from the Ghost in the Shell series. And since I'm doing science fiction, it's no surprise that Wagner is my advisor.... hmm... high expectations ya?

Please don't assume that I'm very free because half my week goes to coaching and tuitioning. I'm beginning to recognise the importance of time management, but I still feel damm slack at times like NOW... Ah.. just came back from dinner at ABC market with my family. Will blog more soon (hopefully). Once I've reinstalled photoshop on my laptop, I'll upload some December holiday pictures too!

(*PS... ooh... last thing: Thanks to Yujun, I've bought and worn my first pair of colored contacts. I look so chio! Lol.)

What the future holds for me

2008-11-18T09:37:00.004+08:00

Ahh.. another breather. I'm currently in the midst of my exam period and I have thus completed 3 heavy papers so far (Public admin, adv modernism and the study of modern Eng). It seems like the majority of the exam load has fallen off my shoulders after 7.30pm yesterday because I am so done with the toughest papers this semester. To be honest, I was kind-of struggling through public admin =( *apparently studied for the wrong topic. I think I handled Advance modernism well. But it was a pleasant surprise that I found the linguistic paper do-able! Unlike the first test and all the tutorial sessions, I actually did the frigging paper... completed it with hardly any blanks! Sob* Praise the Lord...

This paper was the most worrisome of all my modules. Simply because I nearly flunked the first quiz and I came in empty-handed for most of the tutorial sessions, just to copy the answers to the analysis which should be done as homework. This cause me to realize that I haven't changed must since secondary school. I STILL don't do HOMEWORK! (Weekly tutorials etc)

Can you believe it? It's amazing that I survived for 4 years in NTU without doing weekly HOMEWORK! Well, I guess the only reason to my healthy grades is that most of the Eng Lit does not have tutorials of THAT sort. It's just one big-ass essay or essays worth 50% of the total grade.... and THAT... I can handle.

Wow... prior to this, I had no idea that doing tutorials were that important. *Pardon me for my blurness and ignorance.... cuz I'm living in a bubble. If I had taken the tutorials more seriously throughout the semester, I'm sure grades won't be an issue. -_- But I had enough sense to practice the tutorials over and over again right up to yesterday's evening paper.... and well... let's just trust God that it is well ya?

I still have two more papers next week. But I'm feeling more relaxed because I have more than a week to prepare for them. As usual, I highly suspect that my paper falls on the last day of the exam, just like former semesters. Why oh why? Why can't they shift our exams to an earlier date? I heard the comms students finish very early! I want to finish early too so I can have a longer December holiday (Tutioning, coaching and getting more money to spend for X'mas shopping ~ to heck with the recession).

Anyway... the good news that happened over these two months is that I have been offered to 2 jobs... working for 2 different companies dealing with the education sector in Singapore. I've signed on to the first company as a public speaking coach (I think some of you knew that). The second job is in the finalizing stages. What's happening is that the boss of my tution agency has asked me whether I wanted to covert to a full time staff upon graduation as he is revamping his company into a learning centre... which is cooler because tutioning aside, a learning centre is able to extend to areas like coaching etc etc... (which spells~ bottomline... big money in times of recesssion.)

On one hand, I am very excited because Singapore is a place where education is a big business. Sure, being a 'cher' in MOE is comfortable and respectable ... but I believe I'm not meant for that. MOE is a place for teachers with a real calling and love to teach students. I love to teach as well, but I can really do without all the dogmatic rules and regulations (Like no outrageously dyed hair~ no way man! I'm into dye and highlights! And I'll encourage my students who are old enuff to dye their hair as well, if they look better in it / And 'dress appropriatel'y... urgh... hello, I was one of those girls who get sentenced to detention for wearing ankle socks in JC.)

Reading articles about those teachers that suffer because they have to hide their private lives and live as a good example makes me sick to the core. So that's why a learning centre is a very good place for me to be a mentor who's a friend, and not a 'cher' who has to discipline. I think I'm a private sector-person... regardless of which sector I in.

Still, I'm not putting all my eggs into one basket. I'm still going to try out for that AIESEC work internship thingy as well as submit my resume to some companies that I've previously worked for or worked with. I'm also determined to get my driving license by next year and pursue my diploma in music (This is one unfinished skill that I'm good at.. and it will be a waste if I don't continue.) All I can say is that, at this point, I don't know what the future holds for me... but I know that God has made it good.

All right... enuff yabbering... here are some pictures from my family celebrating belated birthdays at Keyaki in Pan Pacific hotel...

Behold the ala carte Japanese buffet.... (Kushimbo pales in comparison because everything here is premium grade. Unforth... we footed the premium price too... say about $300 ++...

The food, especially the sashimi and baby lobster..... is simply FRESH FRESH FRESH and habit-forming... One bite into anything... say the manguro tuna belly and it melts in your mouth like butter! No kidding... it was a pampering session for my tongue and palette. I can never eat at low grade conveyor belt sushi restaurants ever again.

The food conoissers. (From left, Dad and Steph)
(Me and Mom)

Nom nom nom.... (me chewing on a softshell crab handroll)

One of the best meals of our lives.... you can tell my parents are happy.

Hehe... am trying a new photoshop brush with the words 'Nippon'. It did suit the context of the picture.

Well... I hope to visit this lovely restaurant again, when I graduate with a good job and a 'ahem' very cushy salary. =D

2008-10-27T13:37:00.004+08:00

Hi. I'm going to do my last essay of this semester once I'm done with this post. With the PSLE and the primary school exams already over, I am slightly freer to blog these days. Here are the pics from NTU InspYre Halloween chapter meeting held last Tuesday. It was organized by You Jun and myself. I must admit that all the organizing and planning did cost us abit of our precious time, but it was all worth it as everyone had a blast. The turnout was good and the tabletopics extremely fun (Though some thought it was too challenging~ pfff!)

I came dressed as Hinata from the Naruto anime this year. You might be wondering why I chose to ahem.. cosplay her. Well, on the practical side, her jacket is the only wearable jacket of the lot of costumes and it does look nice (jacket's kind of cute!). I thought that if I were to buy something over $100, I need to be able to wear it again. Plus, the guy at the cosplay shop said likewise, so that's why I came as Hinata despite being so different from her personality.

And here are the people and the pics!

Faith~ the Uber Nerd (I take my hats off to her).
Eric ~ The Jiang Shi ~ mising his vamp teeth. (guy in chinese robe with KISS-like make up)
Me~ Hinata (Ain't I cute? teeheehee)
Helaine~ Princess Fiona with her Shrek plushie
Stephanie~ Gypsy (She won the best dress prize/ credits to my accessories)
Jasmine~ poison ivy (She won the most economical dress prize)
You Jun~ pirate from a bloody brawl with a knife in his head
Zhang Lei~ Akido master (don't play play)
San ~ Witch (Her speech was about poisoned food).
Fei Fei~ Princess with tiara (Tiara costs $3.oo)
Dennis~ Passing off as James Bond cuz he had presentation earlier. lol~
Angeline~ Artist (She really does look like one)

Helaine was soo cute as Princess Fiona. I kept disturbing her husband Shrek by poking him with the Kunai. Helaine is sooo dramatic.

(*Credits go to the brushes I downloaded form deviantart).

Maybe next we should come up with 'the most dramatic prize' next year so people like her can win something. I finally saw how she wore the wig on her head. The wig felt scratchy when I tried it on. (Gah... don't know how she can take it). Btw, the guys used my kunai to pop every single balloon after the meeting. It is after all a sharp object ^^.

Thanks guys, girls and members alike for dressing up and attending for this special event. NTU InspYre rules!

I'm 23 years old.

2008-09-22T10:09:00.007+08:00

Hihi! Sorry for not blogging in such a long time. I have tons of pics to upload. But unfortunately, my camera battery just refused to be charged. =( And my fujitsu tablet just had to crash again. I got to get it fixed. Hopefully, they won't reformat my computer because all my pictures are inside....

Anyway, life has been quite hectic this semester. I just had my mid-term tests and I was quite unprepared for almost everything. (Urgh, don't even want to think about it.)

19th September just passed and I realized that I'm 23 years old! Omg.... I remember when I was 18, I was contemplating, 'exactly how would I look when I reached 23?' Well, I'm 23 now and I don't feel any different, except that life's wayy better than it was during my JC days. Compared to last year, this year's birthday celebrations are comparatively fewer. Celebrated my birthday only with 3 groups: lifesaving, NTU animal group and my church groupie (Pics will be uploaded at a later date when I'm not so busy). I'm actually fine with that because I'm quite burnt out.

I didn't celebrate my b day with my family either, though dad gave me $200 for my b-day present. (heehee....)I think the greatest present I gave myself was when I finally settled the remaining debt from that Bitch's phonebill. A whopping $484 in total! God is so good to place 5 weeks in the month of August~ heehee.. pay increase.

So officially, I'm DEBT FREE! YAY! But I still want my money back from that woman. Sigh.... She is a coward to avoid answering my phone calls. I don't even want to kill her. I just want my money back. She can even pay me in installments. Mrs. Jennifer Lee, let me be precise, you owe me $3000 plus in total. If you're reading this, please do not shy away in guilt. When confronted with the lawyer's letter from the phone companies, I faced up to the problem and here I am... 6 months later... DEBT FREE.

Just wanna say that please.... stop being and coward and trust God to help you settle whatever you owe me and your other debtors ok?

I'm not angry, but this experience has indeed changed my perspective on things. It has made me a wiser person. I remembered what my pastor said at the start of this year: God is causing all things to be shaken, so that the things that cannot be shaken, may remain.

In a way, I'm glad that this problem was revealed in February... I guess that was the divine shaking. And through that, God has given me favour to so many different jobs: as a lifeguard, teaching assistant, events coordinator, emcee and finally tutor. Within 6 months, my bank account experienced a 100% increase. It is indeed God's grace.... and I'm soo thankful. I guess this is the best birthday present I can ever give myself.

One other good news is that I won the humorous speech contest (Club level) again, this year. And I got 2nd-runner up for the Area contest~ which was good because I was seriously burnt out from school work and doing speeches. Unlike last year, I did a new speech for the area contest because humorous speech 1 had too many inside jokes. Bad news was that I broke down before the contest... hence the 3rd prize. I really could have done better if I had a smooth taxi ride to the venue.

(Latest Update*) After 10 years of the same hairstyle, I decided to go for a haircut. Yep.... and this is how I look right now... (taken on my laptop's webcam)

So far, most people do like it. But it is amazing that the people who are adversed to it are my love ones, like Yujun my cousin and Stephanie, my sister. (*Kevin hates it too... because he thinks I look like a nerd~ Whateva!) They reason for not liking it as much was that this hairstyle did not suit my sporty personality. It might be true... but I'll figure a way to look sporty instead of preppy.

Gotta get back to my essay on Virginia Woolf's 'Between the Acts'. I've got till Friday to finish it. LORD HELP ME......

2008-08-10T21:21:00.002+08:00

Okay.... it's been a month since I blogged and things just keep on accumulating in my life. So I guess the Hongkong pictures cannot be delayed any longer. Here's Part 1 of my Hongkong trip:

Our departure time for Hongkong was at 5am, an ungodly hour when most Singaporeans are still in slumber land. Travelling to HK on a budget airline was not airy-fairy either. I had a sore back after the plane touched down. Nevertheless, I'm glad the eight of us made it!

Upon arrival, the next rational thing would be to 'check in' our luggage into our hostel, Swire Hall, at Hongkong University. Thanks to Irene from HKU for providing such a comfortable and cheap place for us to stay. Frankly I was expecting rather dismal living conditions (as compared to the comforts of my home). But Swire Hall exceeded my expectations by a mile! Behold, my spacious air-conditioned room!

Ahh.... ultra-comfort throughout our stay. After unloading our stuff in our rooms, we then proceeded to Central for our first SHOPPING Spree. Central was really crowded that day because Hongkongers were celebrating the Chinese dumpling festival.

I did really spend much on day one (Only on one Muji top and a T-shirt) because I knew we had seven more days to go, but the other girls, especially Dixi had already splurged on apparel from Uni qlo and Zara in Times Square. How not to resist the latest trends right? Besides the fashion scene in Hongkong is wayy more updated than what we have at home.

Of course I went on a shopping rampage from day 2 onwards in bargain places like Mongkok (They have H & M there!) and the upmarket district of Tsim tsa tsui. Here are some group pics of these places (except the last two which were taken in the later days of our HK trip).

In addition, our kind host Irene arranged a tour of the HK uni premises with our guide, Toby, a graduate student of some engineering field. Through this tour, I learnt that the history of HKU was fraught with more urgent political controversies like NTU... they even had a pillar of shame erected in front of the student union center to remember the atrocity which happened at Tiananmen square. (I'm not showing it) But there were other pleasant facts about HKU too: Sun Yat Sen was a student there! Nice.

Besides touring HKU, we didn't forget the original purpose of our visit: To attend toastmasters meetings: Here are two of the venues that we went to. #1 HSBC Building for HSBC toastmasters club. Haha... I felt exclusive because you need a security pass to get in the building. heehee!

#2: Lingnan Toastmasters University. The university grounds seem more like a castle of some previous century. It would have felt kind of surreal if there weren't modern housing flats opposite the university. Walking through the university can make one feel so 'zen'. Then again, maybe because I was enjoying the quiet and calm of the evening. As Lingnan was situated in the new territories, pictures reflect the HK countryside. You can see Shenzhen, mainland China from there.

Part 2 will continue soon!

2008-07-08T14:25:00.010+08:00

This is my 3rd time working with V-campus but instead of the usual teaching assistant job with Stanford EPGY (last week was with United College and Singapore American School, conducted at Chinese High), I'm now helping V-campus as an assistant event coordinator for Oracle Instructors Institute course. At first, my boss proposed to pay me only $300 for 5 days, but after learning that one of my tasks is to stand in as emcee for their opening dinner and dance, I did a little bit of bargaining with him and finally got him to up my pay to $350. Yeah... I know it's not much to some of you, but it's better than nothing. I was paid $50 for my emceeing stint at a convocation dinner too.

But wth..... those people-in-charge really milked every bit of the extra $50. For the first time in my life, I realized why people prefer student life to work life because the working world is RUTHLESSSSS!

Initially, I was perfectly fine with being the host of the dinner and dance. My thoughts were, 'Emceeing is a piece of cake. I'm a toastmaster yadda yadda...'

Yeah, you know what Esther.... it's all bullshit.

This is not la-la-toastmaster land. This is real work. And for real work, clients don't give a shit. For those of you who have seen me preparing for speeches, you will know that my rehearsals display the worse of public speaking. Mistakes, hiccups, wrong pronounciations etc etc etc.....

So my worse nightmares came true at yesterday's rehearsal when 2 of the people-in-charge suddenly barge into the room to evaluate my presentation and to 'offer feedback'. F.E.E.D.B.A.C.K. that made me feel smaller than an ant, scathing comments that made me doubt my public speaking abilities, and helpful suggestions that cause me to keep apologising profusely even though it wasn't my fault. To be honest, I nearly broke down in front of those people due to the bitchy atmostphere.

But...... I'm glad after being bombarded for the entire afternoon... I'm happy to say that everything went well during the dinner and dance. Yay..... I succeeded as a host (Prayed fervently in the toilet before everything started... and God came through for me... hallelujah.) It was major for me because all the V.I.Ps and executives from Oracle Corp were seated there. And I'm soooooo happy that they enjoyed themselves. (Sob* sigh.....). As some of the performances were arranged by the Singapore Tourism board, some of the STB executives came as well. And one of them gave me his name card! He told me that I emceed well and that I could always come to him if I ever needed a job or an internship. (YAYAYAYAYAYAY!!!!!!!) All things did abound for my good! Now the worst is over and I can add yesterday's achievements to my resume.

As for the other $300, it comes from my duties; making sure that the buffet meals arrive on time, ensuring that guests are satisfied during their break, a minimal amount of printing sooo far, and the rest comes from me slacking in front of the computer when they are in meetings. =)

(P.S.* I even get to da pao the good food. =P) TATA!

2008-06-22T00:43:00.004+08:00

Hi, it's been awhile since I blogged, (Hmm.. I always seem to say that...) but never mind. I was in Hong Kong for an 8 day toastmasters trip with my fellow club members, and the entire trip was enjoyable. The photos will be coming up shortly.

Right now it's getting late, so I will just barf out a highlight this past week. Many things have happened at the Civil Service Club where I work as a lifeguard. Initially everything was fine when I made friends with the personal trainers at the club gym. Some, like this girl, Baby-G, gelled with my temperament instantly. We had fun working out, trying to lose our fat in the gym together (Yes, personal trainers are not all body perfect).

Overall, the personal trainers and the lifeguards work in harmony. But things started to go down for me when one of the guy personal trainers tried to get 'close-r' to moi. Gosh, even as I am typing, I still find the entire encounter incredulous.

Very simple: He send me a 'wish-you-well cum watch-your-diet-in-HK' friendly sms before I departed for Hong Kong. Because I did not subscribe to roaming services, my phone was switched off till I landed back in Singapore.... tired, but full with happy memories....

And out of the blue, he send me an sms: Hi Sayang, how's the weather there? (So far so good) Do take care of yourself ok? (Orh.) Actually, I am missing you alot. (HUH?) Sorry for bothering you (What absolute Shite!)

WTF.... seriously! That was soo bloody random! I felt so insulted. How could someone from the club; THE CLUB THAT I WORK AT..... (Breathes*) dare to get fresh with me? Huh HUh HUH????? Who does that block of wood think I am? Do I look that EASY?

I was so pissed... so I sent him a rather curt reply: Yo dude. Thanks for your concern, but I don't need it. Also, you have no right to address me as Sayang. I have never been your sayang, am not your sayang and certainly will never be your sayang ever. (How could you ever think it was possible?!) I do have a name in case you didn't notice. I still believe you are a nice dude. Wish you all the best, but you are definitely barking up the wrong tree. Are we clear on this? =) (To think I even bothered to add a smiley).

Grosssssss...... let me roughly describe the kind of person he is: Well, on the plus side, he does have a hot muscular bod. He won 3rd place for fitness competition..... But I'm simply not interested. To be really honest, I'm a 'face person' that's why. And his face spells 'poserish-bad boy rapper wannabe'. Some other stupid girl might like this kind of 'dangerous playaar' but not me. His face spells trouble.

In addition, he smokes. Bleh.... I don't care how fit you are/ how you maintain your hot bod/ how you watch your diet. Once a guy smokes, he's off the list..... One other main reason why I don't look his way is because he is Muslim. Sure I do have Muslim friends. Nothing personal or religious, but I don't date Muslims. They won't date me either for obvious reasons.... both sides are mutual. (If you don't get it, then you're really dumb).

Last thing that might piss some of you off.... He didn't complete his education. On this aspect, it's just me. I prefer guys who are educated period. Well, I won't exactly strike someone with no education off the list, but that someone has better be damm successful in his career. And trust me, that personal trainer is not even a millionaire... so he can forget about it.

Notice that I didn't bother mentioning that I have a boyfriend? Not that it is not important. I bring out the subject of 'boyfriend' only when I deem the other fella worthy of competition. This guy? LOL.... need I say more?

I know I sound very bitchy and arrogant right now but I deserve to vent this 'shite' out on my blog. It's my only breathing space. If you don't like it, feel free to press the 'x' on the top right hand anytime. Anyway... I made a complaint to my senior colleague, my supervisor as well as his gym manager... and from what I observe so far, everyone is having a good laugh at him. Right now, I got the feeling that he's too embarrassed to face me. But whatever; this is life. We are human after all.

But......

In my case, I think DaddyGod has ridiculously bestowed undeserving favor on me because that bloke still customized a training/fat-loss program for me. That fella is known to be a sadist trainer who produces good results among all his female clients. No joke... I tried it out with the girl trainer, Baby-G and boy... it was tough.... and effective. I lost 2% of fat and 1 kg right the very first time! It was unbelievable. For those of you who are interested in losing weight like I am, you can follow his program (If you dare):

Cross-trainer workout (Cardio): 20mins, level 6, heartrate RPM above 70.
Warm up stretch
Crunches 4 sets x 20
Crunches (Elbow to knee) 2 sets x 20
Inclined Chest press: 3 sets x 15 (Weights 5kg)
Compound raise: 3 sets x 10 (Weights 3kg)
Lat pulldown (triceps): 3 sets x 15 (Weights 6.5kg)
Tricep pressdown: 3 sets x 15 (Weights 12kg)
Bicep curl: 3 sets x 15 (Weights 3kg)
Leg press: 4 sets x 15 (Weights 55kg)
Leg curl: 4 sets x 15 (Weights 26kg)
Leg extension: 4 sets x 15 (Weights 26kg)
Side leg raise: 3 sets x 25
Floor trunk twist: 3 sets x 12
Plank position (Followed by 'cat-curl' stretch) 3 sets x 30 seconds.
Cool down stretch.

That bloke's advice: do it 5 times a week. Rest well on weekends. Abstain from all carbohydrates for two months and you will not only shed all the extra pounds, but maintain your shapely figure. It is also hard to gain back the weight you would have lost too....

Tempting... but I'll probably start on the workout officially after I join a proper gym. Feel free to join me.

2008-05-31T09:36:00.004+08:00

Hi all, I have yet again been bombarded with a busy work schedule ever since the start of May. The updates in my life have snowballed till I realized that I have a lot to blab about. For those of you who don't know, I signed on a short internship with this company called V-Campus as a teaching assistant to Stanford University EPGY (Don't ask me what it stands for) creative writing program for SCGS girls (Sec 1-3). It's quite a mouthful, I know. But there's no other way to explain it.

And soo.... Rathi and I were the T.A.s to the brilliant Lee Konstantinou from Stanford University. I'm actually relieved that I got on well with everybody throughout the course because the lecturers that I worked with a few years back in N.I.E. were quite dogmatic. But it was easy to work with Lee who was easy going. (No probs with Rathi of course, as we're in the same course). Hmm.. about the students themselves...

Initially, I had mixed feelings about being a T.A. in an independent school because I was told that some of the girls are exceptionally gifted. And I'm not joking. The 10 day course was very intense throughout, as the girls have to complete 300-500 word drafts almost everyday. And by the end of the course, they had to write a 2000 word short story. Even the university workload isn't that intense! I was stunned when some of them told me they were used to it. (.....) No wonder they ace their studies. (Brains + practice + practice......) will sure get you somewhere.

Overall, I enjoyed my time as a T.A. I'm so happy to see the girls actively participating in class discussions. This is so rare as most schools only don't practice this culture. Mostly, it is the teacher who happens to be the only ones talking in a dead class. (How do I know? I'm one of the zombies too.) And even though we didn't win the best skit at the end of the course, I'm still so proud of their enthusiasm and talents. Haha.... I think I'm gushing like an idiot. Lol.

One of the girls uploaded the skit on youtube. If you're interested, click here to watch. It's basically about a couple who quarrels, separates, and tries to reconcile with each other, while watching a movie in a cinema. If you are wondering if this looks familiar, the idea actually came from a skit done during my 1st 3 months orientation. (Credits to the genius who came up with it, though I don't know your name).

And here's a blurry pic of my entire class. (Sorry. This is all I received so far).

Will blog more tomorrow... Promise.

2008-04-30T21:32:00.003+08:00

Exams are finally overr!!!! ROAR! I'm so happy I can scream non stop, except the fact that people will think I'm crazy. Blogging has not been part of my life lately because of the influx of essays (Apparently I had more essays to do this sem) and the grueling revision for exams. Post modernism was my last paper. In my opinion, it was the toughest out of all the subjects. I didn't do that well at all for my post mod essay (Got a B). I was squirming in front of Murphy when I went to collect my essay as his remarks about my essay were rather appalling. =( In general, there was much to be said about the syntax and grammar that affected my ideas in the essay. But after confessing to him that I was not enjoying every moment of in the writing process, I was embarrassed because he told me that my attitude was reflected in my writing.... gah....

Whatever... there were others like me who 'suffered' too. I am so not a post mod. person. Realism RAWKS my socks baby.... Did well in all the other realist modules (essay wise; especially in American literature). Never gotten so many As in my life at one go.... I am contented. (Bliss*)

Yesterday was quite a bit of a shock as something happened to my dad's leg. Some of you may know that he has a clot on his leg for several years now, but blood unexpectedly burst from his leg yesterday. We were all freaked out because the floor looked like a murder scene. My dad happened to step on his blood and his footprints left a bloody trail on the floor (Like the escape of the murder or something). My mum and my sis quickly dashed him to the hospital, leaving me to clean up the bloody mess. FREAKY.... I have never cleaned a pool of blood before. The thought that it was my dad's blood scared me into the realization of the importance in the matters of life and death and I never prayed so hard, while cleaning the floor with shaky hands. But thank God, my dad's bleeding was not life threatening. He came home by midnight with a bandage wrapped around his leg. He took leave today and is back to normal (Thanks for all your prayers).

Now... that exams are over, I've decided to look around for an internship program to gain experience during the holidays. I didn't sign up with the school's internship program because (1) I couldn't be bothered and (2) I guess I can use the 3AUs for some other interesting subjects. I'm in the midst of typing out my resume so I can start submitting to wherever I want asap.

If you're bothered to know about that financial crisis I endured awhile earlier, well, I'm still making my payments on time without starving my ass off. It's amazing that tithing with a revelation of Christ is really powerful, although it is expected that only some of you will know what I'm talking about.

What else? Oh.... my table is in a mess. Always is after exams. It's called the ravages of post exams. The shelf above me is overloaded with files since year one and I'm very amazed that it hasn't sagged under all the weight of the thick files accumulated over the years. I counted the files in total. I have 5 thick files of A level history and 5 thick files of A level lit (They do come in handy sometimes) and (Shudder*) I have more than 30 THICK files of literature since year 1.... It is certainly worth more than a group of trees combined. Gawd... how am I going to clear them all????

Whatever... I have enough time to clear everything. Now I would really want to slack. But not before introducing my latest major crush to you guys.... My boyband crush (gah! Feel like an adolescent again) is this Korean confection called Super Junior which is a 13 member group resembling somewhat like Johnny Jr. and Morning Misume. I wanna blame Yujun for introducing me to this fabulous group because I'm hooked onto their variety and drama/ comedy shows on youtube and crunchyroll. Hee... never had so many superficial crushes at one go. =D Anyway here is my current favourite picture of them.

Top row from left to right: Hee Chul, Sung Min, Dong Hae, Siwon, Hankyung and Eunh yuk.
Bottom row (Ditto): Kang In, Ye Seung, Ryeo wook, Shin Dong, Kyu hun, Kibum and Leeteuk. Feel free to guess my favorite members..... heehee...

SLACKING TIME IS NOW>....... tata!

2008-03-19T11:11:00.002+08:00

It is a good ending to the Toastmasters International Speech Contest (Area Level). Two days ago, Chrystella and I represented our club, NTU InspYre at the area contest. I contested for the International speech while Chrystella contested for the table topics.

Good news..... we both won. (Well, for me, I was the 1st runner up for International speech, but Chrystella was the champion for table topics. =D So she will be representing our club at the division level on the 26th of April.

Initially I was slightly peeved that I didn't win. However, considering that it was my first international speech contest, and that the auntie that I lost out to was a heavy weight, annnddd, that my speech was a very last minute effort, I think I did brilliant! HAHA.... Well, to stay on the positive side, this speech was a brand new speech from the one I did about my debt.

I was supposed to do that speech for the contest. But I felt that I've gotten over the misery and the angst and I didn't feel like bringing myself to rehearse a tragic 'high' and rehash what that B**ch has done to me. Because I felt more cheery these few weeks after I handed up 2 essays and gotten an A- for Ethnic American response (Sorry for ummm bragging... but I feel happy).

Annnddd, the speech I did on Monday can be counted as my project 9! In other words, this was my ninth speech. I have one more to go before I become a competent communicator. (It's all about ranking lah... you understand?)

Everyone thought that this was my best speech ever. And after awhile, I'm happy with the outcome in getting second place because I don't need to compete during exam period! HAHA..... I think I rather come in second place with this speech than get first with the previous speech. Really, this speech is wayyyy better.... A better way to deal with fear. (*Bear in mind that all of my speech comes from inspiration. None of it is true except the dolphin part, which inspired me after watching a myth busters video clip)

Soooo, presenting to you my winning project 9 speech : A mere four letters.

Splash! A colorful beach ball landed with a ‘plop’ in the middle of the pool. The outdoor party was lively. Men with growling stomachs grilled sausages and chickens wings by the barbeque pit. Their wives gathered round for a healthy dose of ‘chit-chat’. Boisterous kids ran all over the place. Everyone was having fun! No one noticed the beach ball … except for one little girl. Determined to retrieve the ball, she stepped gingerly into the water. Seconds later, panic and pandemonium broke out as a desperate cry for ‘help!’ came from the little girl floundering in the water. Someone dived in, scooped her out and brought her to safety. The little girl was saved! But her confidence was shattered.

Contest Chair, honorable judges, Ladies and gentlemen. I was that little girl who nearly drowned over a plastic beach ball. At the age of 3, I experienced the overwhelming smite of FEAR for the very first time. F. E. A. R. Fear! A mere four letters! But it can render a strong man powerless! Fear is not a pleasant thing indeed. Most of us would prefer to abide within the bright areas of our lives that are always familiar. If we had a choice, we would avoid the dark alleys of weaknesses where fear lurks as it will wait for its chance to pounce upon our backs and devour us unaware!

Because of the intractable Fear that gripped my fragile heart, I shunned all possible contact with water. From the early days of my childhood, the paranoia in my life became so extreme to the extent that I dare not go near to the edge of a pond to feed ducks! Embarrassing moments like these cause me curl up miserably and cry! Dear toastmasters, did you recall those ugly times when you were paralyzed by fear? Often, the daunting waves of cowardice would sweep through our minds and intimidate us to adopt an attitude of defeat. Willingly, we raise our hands in surrender, declaring ourselves as the tragic losers of our lives, causing us to be bitter, envious and resentful. Why? Why can’t we just run away from our problems?

Running away is easy. Just root ourselves to our own comfortable spot. But we limit the vast possibilities of life, whenever we fence ourselves in. Honestly, I wanted to avoid water forever. But my perspective was altered when my father sat me down on the sofa to watch a documentary. For once in my life, the beauty of the water unraveled itself to me in the form of this wondrous creature called the Dolphin. I was mesmerized when they leap and frolic among the crashing waves. I watch in amazement as their streamline bodies’ dive into the depths of the deep blue sea. Even the aggressive Great white sharks shrank away from them. Wow! How unbelievably awesome!

Watching them swim made me realize something: Dolphins are not afraid! Despite so many dangers, they continue riding the choppy waves with glee, fearlessly chasing away menacing sharks! In essence, they are masters of the sea. A sense of motivation stirred within my heart: I want to be just like them! I want to dance in the water! Surely, I will overcome my fear! It helped that my father was there. Because he proceeded to ask, ‘are you ready to sign up for your first swimming lesson?’

I’m glad I said ‘yes’ to swimming that day as I have never looked back. ! Bit by bit, I regained my confidence in the water during my swimming lessons. To all who are here tonight, I urge you to be like the dolphin in conquering the sharks of fear! Dare to turn around and stare at fear without flinching. Let’s charge forward with victory and watch fear flee before our very eyes. As for me, 10 years have passed and here I am proud to announce that I recently completed a 5 kilometer swim in one hour and 51 seconds! A total of one hundred laps in the pool. My friends, we shouldn’t wonder, ‘how to stop fear’. The question we ought to ask ourselves is ‘how much do we want to succeed? Because in our hearts, we know we are created to overcome obstacles; to grow from strength to strength and to gain control over our own destiny. Once again, I present to you a mere 4 letters; F.E.A.R: Face it, eradicate and rule in your life. Contest Chair.

Yup. I really hope you like it. Because the speech brought me on a new level of 'high' when I said those words with conviction.

Also, NTU InspYre's last meeting was yesterday. And it was a blast! Everything went well. We bought two cakes, (One for b-day celebrations and the other was a pre-exam cake). The attendance was at its peak! The speeches were brilliant and quirky. The evaluation speeches were smoooth... the table topics were interesting (Good job Eric), and the games were the BEST!

Peals of laughter abounded throughout the whole room for 45 minutes. Everyone participated in the speech games conjured up by Putu. This speech game thingy is really a good idea. I'm so proud that we came up with it because it brought the members of our club, close together. It is unlike a normal chapter meeting where everything is hmm... formal and hmm... standardly fine. I really felt that we as NTU InspYre, have found our place as a club that knows how to have looads of fun, how to improve ourselves and encourage each other. In essence, I believe we have found our club identity that is distinctive, unique and spectacular to our own. I thank you all who have made yesterday's meeting a great success!

Right now, I gotta dash off for a job briefing. It's coaching again... but with a different company. One that hopefully pays ON TIME. Hee. =P

2008-03-06T16:18:00.003+08:00

These two weeks have been filled with madness. I tell you, the recess week wasn't a break at all. It just meant no classes at school. But I was occupied with assignments all the same. In order to hand my post-mod essay up on time, I canceled my lifeguard shift on Sunday (Boo!) to gain extra time. I remembered I slept at 3am this Monday morning just to write my final point. And I seriously thought I would have a week to breathe before I start on my next essay.

FAT CHANCE..... Monday afternoon came and Dr. B.S. reminded us that we have to hand in our African lit essay the following Monday. My only reaction was WTF! Not again! The feeling was the same as when I did 300 butt lifts in a gym class only to rest for one second before being pushed by the trainer to do the next set.

Today's Thursday and let's just say that I've managed to get started on my essay. Although I do not have an exact thesis in words, I do have an idea of what I'm going to write about. Another good thing is that I felt the worse storm (Post-mod essay) is over! I really struggled with words even though I liked my chosen text (Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities), because the whole process was so slippery! There are no obvious points that you can hold onto, which simply frustrates me.

On the other hand, writing an essay for African Lit seems much easier as I'm more of a post-colonial-realist. What's more is that I have the secondary sources are powerful enough to sustain my thesis and that I'm familiar with the book (Yea! Chinua Achebe and heart of darkness). This will be the 3rd time I'm using Joseph Conrad's heart of darkness novel (That book never seems to go away.....) but it will be a supporting text to 'Things Fall Apart' instead. To make things more interesting, I'm also using Herge's Tintin in the Congo (A damm racist text) as a secondary source for intertextuality.

And if you didn't notice, I've reverted my blog to one of the older layouts made by my cousin, Yujun. I was a very diligent blogger when this layout was given to me. Guess I missed those days... where there are no distractions like facebook and multiply. Just good old blogspot.

Last thing before I go back to doing my essay: I've made a new banner just for fun. This time my poster-boys are from 12012 (The lead vocalist and one of his members, dunno their names) they happened to pose in the right way. Making the banner was somehow therapeutic to my brain too. Hope you think its nice.

TATA!

2008-02-27T15:11:00.002+08:00

Sorry for not blogging in such a long time. Something really bad happened to me over the Chinese New Year period and it made me so upset... but I've now gotten over it more or less. And I have to say that at least one good thing came out of it; my project 8 speech (Use of visual aids) which was presented at yesterday's Toastmaster International Speech contest (Club level) won first prize! Yay.... It meant a lot to me this time round that I was the club champion because it literally contained my life (Mainly about what had happened).

The speech you're about to read is in a raw finished form but basically contained the gist of what had happened. (Glad that my parents are happy with my win. And thanks to all the peeps and contestants; especially Putu, Agam, Chrystella, Shreya, Zhang Lei, Faith and Yuen San who listened to my speech.) Here goes:

It was a bright and sunny morning. After giving a good YAWWNNn, I literally woke up with a big grin on my face: Contest Chair, honorable judges, ladies and gentlemen, that day was CHINESE NEW YEAR! (Flashes ang pow!) It was the time of the year where I get a substantial boost in my annual income from all the visiting! But little did I know that my happiest season of February was crushed (Crush and throw away Angpow) just moments after.

A warning letter arrived in the mailbox, specifically addressed to me: ‘Dear Miss Esther Yap, we regret to inform you that if you do not make the full payment of 2112 dollars and 69 cents within seven working days, we will have no choice but to take legal action against you for this hand phone account was registered under your name. What have I done? WHAT HAVE I DONE? (Drops the letter) It was then that I knew my WORST FEARS had finally caught up with me.

4 years ago, I registered a hand phone account for my ex-tutor under my name, simply because she needed a phone line. After all, ‘what’s in a name’ and besides, I knew her for many years now. She WILL DEFINITELY pay her bills on time right? …. It turned out that I was wrong. The character of man can indeed become unpredictable in desperate times. I know that because she chose to run away from her problems, leaving me behind as the guarantor to deal with her mess.

Did you remember how it was when your worst fears caught up with you? The circumstances leading to fear can be very cruel right? (Pause) That day, I just cried; over the betrayal of trust, over my own foolishness, over a HUGE DEBT that has wrongfully become mine! Ladies and gentlemen, in the troubles that beset all of our lives, (Loud urgent tone*) who can really help us?! Who can really accept the mistakes we make? Who can really pick up the broken shards of life, piece them back together and move on?!

For me, I can’t turn to my friends for financial assistance. There’s no point borrowing money from one source just to pay another! I could always depend on my parents to bail me out of trouble. But if I allowed that to happen, I am no better than that complacent and irresponsible person like my so-called friend. In such circumstances, fear can seem really daunting, looming over me, like a formidable enemy threatening to destroy my life. In times like these, I really want to be a coward and run away from it all! Only that I didn’t run when I was afraid. The truth is the only person who can deliver my life from the fears and troubles of my own making was… me.

Despite all the hurts, I swallowed my fears and called the phone company to negotiate a payment plan in installments. Guess what? It wasn’t as bad as I thought as the management was agreeable to my proposal. Initially I was fearful about not being able to make payments on time. But after realizing that fear can only paralyze me when I allowed it to enter my heart, I changed my mind about the whole situation and chose to see my problems, not as obstacles, but as opportunities presented in my life for me to mature and become a wiser person! In the midst of distress, I challenged myself to rejoice when I paid my debt as I know that each settled payment brings me one step closer to my financial freedom.

So far, I have already made my first payment, but unlike before, I have essentially stopped being fearful. Like the birds flying in the air, fear will always be encircling our lives, be it in school where one frets over exam results or at work where one worries about getting retrenched. We can’t stop troubles from flying above us but I’m sure we can stop trouble from building a nest of fear on our heads.

Often, many of us wish for a troubled-free life with no fear. But you know what? That’s not life! Because we will sometimes encounter incidents in our lives that may not go our way. Yet, I believe that we can choose whether to perceive our situation negatively and shrink away in fear, or to embrace our circumstances as a positive challenge that will enrich our lives. So dear friends, from now onwards, join me in taking on life’s exciting battles, because we know that victory is ours for certain when we dare to feast upon our troubles. So … Bring it on!

Yep... that's basically what happened to me. I've learned from my stupidity ... never to be a guarantor again, never to really depend and trust ANYONE regarding money matters. I'm glad that I learned this lesson early because others have lost bigger sums of money in the hundred-thousands and millions.

If any of you still wonder whether I'm in good shape, don't worry. I'm good. God has been good to me. (He gave me favor to win the contest! Yippee!) I count my blessings everyday now and I'm already on my way in getting out of this shit.

Btw.... to Mrs. Jennifer Lee (I'm not going to protect you anymore) .... whom I've really trusted and respected prior to this.... I would say that I'm VERY disappointed that you, who had been a strong influence in my adolescent life, chose to disappear completely without any explanation. Presuming that you have not been shot dead by your OTHER CREDITORS and your son hasn't gotten a heart attack from paying all your debts, I hope, against all hope that you will pay me back what you owe. Feel free to contact me to return all my money. (My number is still the same. I'm still the same.... I won't bite you even after you've done all this to me).

I'm not going to send the cops after you, neither am I going to curse you, nor persecute you. Since you still claim to be of the Catholic faith (Whatever...) I'm not afraid to say that God sees what you are doing and it is not a good testimony really. If you feel bad for me, don't be... FEEL BAD FOR YOURSELF because DaddyGod will make sure that I will never be shortchanged.

Enough said about this tragic- heart breaking saga of my life..... I'm out for now...

2008-01-20T21:20:00.000+08:00

Shanghai trip photo-log....

Four words: I enjoyed myself throughly.

It was my second trip with Grand Sun co. and this 'business' trip turned out to be really a holiday for me and my cousin (Let's call him Qing short). We were so glad that both of us were going. In addition to that, we made new friends with the people who are under my mother's business line. People like Jacqueline and Abigail, who 'clicked' with us right after the first day! It's a divine connection because you guys were family to me on this trip. I'm soo looking forward to the next G.S. trip where we can travel together again! (Cheers*)

Anyway, here are the places we've visited:

Chen huan miao (Super touristy with almost nothing to buy.)

Nanjing lu (Somewhat like the former too.) We had a pleasant ride on the tram as it took us through the entire stretch of Nanjing lu. Qing high-5ved with those kids on the top-left picture as they passed by us. My parents also celebrated their 23rd wedding anniversary on that day too! Great marriage.

Xintiandi (Another touristy area with nothing to buy... unless you're filthy rich.) Beautiful X'mas and New Year decorations though. It was at this place where we all bonded really well over dinner at Ding Tai Fung (Yeah... so boring right? Why go there when the franchise is already in Singapore.) But nvm.... the Hot Chocolate from Starbucks was wonderful too!

Food! From cheng huan miao and Nan jing lu. Yes.... the shopping was so not worth it, but the food left me speechless and my stomach craving for more... and more and MORE! Oodles of Spicy-sour-sweet glass noodles from chen huan miao and fried xiao long pao that squirts the goodness of pork broth into your mouth with every bite. And they have Da long pao with the straws that allow you to suck the goodness of the broth, before you take a big bite! And sticks of fishballs, meatballs cooking in different broths at road side stands. The perfect snack for warming one up in cold weather. Ahhh..... (Nostalgia*)

Yep! Some more Food! Hairy crab from Ba cheng (Suzhou area) with Grand Sun Spa company. It was totally the company's treat! The crabs were off season by one month but this slip was negligible. Because the creamy white stuff and the rich crab roe occupied half the crab! Slightly below, Shanghai hotpot with an endless spread of marinated sweet meats (including sliced beef!) only for Singapore $10! A picture is worth a 1000 words and I have more than one picture. Just see for yourself.

Count-down to 2008 in my hotel room! After the hairy crabs, we traveled back to Shanghai and spent the countdown in my hotel room playing card games. There was no money involved so we all decided that the consequence for the loser of that round would have his/her face drawn. Yeah.... we've made a fool of ourselves.... =)

Qi Pu lu~ The fun but oh so dangerous local shopping district. Aha! The shopping finally started! From the buying of fake branded goods to bargaining for the 1/5th of the originally quoted price, we did our best to comb this place. But it was challenging and rather irritating because we were constantly hounded by touters trying to persuade us to 'visit' their store, which has 'everything' and it's 'totally fine, if we don't want to buy anything'. RUBBISH. There was a robbery just the day before when a reluctant tourist who agreed to visit one such store but left without buying anything; got robbed by the same bunch of people! Atrocious..... Sigh.... one has to be street smart and watch out constantly for one's belongings in this district. What an exciting experience!
hehehe....

Of course, locals would say that you've never visited Shanghai till you've visited Shanghai tan (The Pan). Behold, the famous skyline of Shanghai from its river bank. And the cruise.

Cruising on Huanglu jiang (River) We spent the entire hour freezing our asses off on the top deck for the sake of pictures and more pictures. I think I took more than 20 pictures of the same famous Pearl tower from different orientations. Sigh... the obssession with famous buildings has started. (Imagine my disappointment when I returned to Singapore... to a rather boring skyline.) Shanghai, it's your fault for taking my breath away....

I've got so much more to say..... but I don't have enough time. I do hope the pictures will suffice. Anyway... I really love Shanghai. Am so glad that I've ended 2007 on such a memorable note. =P

2008-01-03T11:19:00.000+08:00

Happy New Year to you! I just came back from Shanghai yesterday with loads of fun memories and pictures of that place. But meanwhile, here are the pictures from my canoeing one star class and the KL trip with Zaidah. I don't have much time because I need to workout (Too much good food) before the day is over, so let the pictures speak for themselves.

First, the coverage is on my one star kayaking course on the 15th and 16th of December. There was a mini expedition thrown in on the second day after we've learn everything we ought to know from one star. So we paddled from Kallang Basin to the Esplanade and back. The total distance was 4km. Hmm... rather grueling for a first timer like myself. But I found the experience challenging in an exciting way. Thanks to Lisa for bringing the whole class together and thanks to Jessica and Nor for being such sporting teachers. (Jessica btw, happens to be my secondary library school senior...a small world indeed.)

Pictures from my one star kayaking course with Paddle Culture.

I sooo wanna continue with two star and so forth.....

Next, my KL trip with Zaidah. Props to Zai for suggesting the trip in the first place because we really dug into the Kuala Lumpur vibe, heartlands style. This meant learning to take the BMW (Bus, monorail, walk). Mistakes were made in terms of transport arrangement. Nevertheless all things abound for good because we know we will never buy 2nd class train tickets again (Only first class and above because they serve you milo~ lol!)

Also, I learned that Zaidah is a mad shopper. You gotta have STAMINA (I'm not joking) to shop with her. We shopped alot. I mean ALOT... all the way from Sugai Wang, Times Square, Lot 10 to KLCC Suria ... to the extent of travelling to Bangsar where Midvalley Megamall is.

We also managed to catch a movie (Golden Compass) and went wild all the indoor theme park in Times Square. I sneaked in my camera on the rides even though cameras are banned so I managed to capture quite a few airborne shots. Unfortunately, one ride (DNA mixer) got to me because it really messed up my insides. It took me 5 hours and one chocolate indulgence cake from Secret receipe to restore me back to normal.

Lastly, I really recommend the Haven Guesthouse. That's where we stayed during our trip. Believe me, it is as good as a 4 star hotel without your own private bathroom and toiletries. But who cares? The common toilet is spanking clean and you get to see handsome Caucasian studs walking about in their briefs as if they are in their own house. (Zaidah is blushing*) Bringing your own toiletries won't hurt. +)

Overall, I think I love Time Square most because of the theme park.

That's all for now. I'm in the midst of looking through my Shanghai pictures. Will be back shortly!

2007-12-21T08:59:00.000+08:00

Oh man.... so much for promising to blog. I've been a jerk for not blogging at all! Wails* Initially I wanted to blog before going to KL because so many things had happened. Okay, let's do everything chronogically.

Starting from last Saturday and Sunday. Lisa with her superb networking had managed to form a one star canoeing class for Jessica (who surprisingly turned out to be my secondary school senior from library~ small world indeed!) In summary, I was part of the class and I had loads of fun (I've got loads of pictures to show for that) learning how to deal with a capsized canoe and embarking on a mini kayaking expedition from Kallang Basin to the Merlion and back (Waving to the Ducktour people on the way).

The pictures are already up on facebook, but I still want to do a photo-log on blogger. (Gah!) Will do it soon, before I leave for Shanghai.

Ya. Speaking of which, I will be off to Shanghai from the 28th to the 3rd of January (Countdown to 2008 abroad). Hmm... I need winter clothes because all my old ones simply don't suit me anymore (So last century). Heehee, will be off to Sungai Wang, Lot 10 and Times Square later!

You might be wondering how I am in Kuala Lumpur in the first place. It just happened that Zaidah called me randomly and suggested a get-away trip to KL. And I randomly said yes, why not? And tata! After last minute attempts to book train rides and accomodation, we came across the Haven Backpackers Lodge in KL city center. Really cozy place to stay for tourists. And it's cheap~! Woot!!!!

So here we are now.... We'll be here till the 23rd night. That's all for now. Time to shop!

2007-12-03T16:55:00.001+08:00

Oh man! I'm sorry for not blogging for so long even after exams are over. I woke up this morning thinking what on earth have I not done while I'm online and it is BLOGGING. It's as if I've forgotten how to blog! Haha..... blame facebook duh, I was successful in resisting invites to join for the first 3 attempts but that's about it. Facebook is seriously addictive! Somehow after adding so many applications (naughty gifts hehe.... and booze mail for example) your life is suddenly reduced to sending online gifts to your friends. You can practically live online, which is quite freaky if you think about it.

I really hope (with good expectations) that my exam results are fine. That my GPA will never drop but increase..... that's every student's dream. Sigh!

I just had my sec 4F class reunion last Saturday. It was organized by (Surprise surprise!) Mei Ching and Aaron. At first I didn't believe the bbq invitation was real because those two jokers called me in the middle of the night while I was sleeping. As I answered the phone groggily, it affected my unconscious as I continued to wonder why did M.C. call me with Aaron's phone....

Ahh... after much deliberation with my friend S.Y. we decided to check out the class reunion for curiosity's sake. Gah.... Hmm.... how to put it in words? I'm glad I satisfied my curiosity by going, but seeing all my classmates made me uncomfortable. Care to know why?

I was never (So called) 'ONE' with my class. That's right uni friends.... the Esther you see today is very different from the teenage Esther. Yup.... that 16 year old girl had friends in class, but she also made enemies. Unfortunately for last Saturday, there were more obnoxious people around (There were nice people too! But the obnoxious people are more irritating!) than friends.
The bbq was a true bragging fest. One guy who used to sit in front of me in class (With a pretty big mouth) bragged the most.... Sigh... it's been 5 years and he has never changed one bit. Same kind of arrogance, same kind of swagger...la di da the rest. Somehow at that bbq, the Esther of today felt like she was reduced to that 16 year old girl. Gah!

Still, the outcome was good as I did realize some of my ex-classmates are actually quite easy going. Those are the people who actually outgrew the childishness and snobbery... I'm so glad that we were able to converse like adults for once. (Grins* thankfully none of them have access to this blog) I will definitely stay in touch with them.

Oh and lastly, Zaidah and I are planning a short trip to KL and we are looking for more people to go with us. We are going to travel by a 2nd class sleeper train (By night) there and back. Train fares cost around SGD$35 to K.L. and 35 ringgit back. It's unfair but we can do nothing about it. And we were thinking of staying in a backpackers lodge instead of a hostel. Don't worry, there is a guarantee that the rooms are pest-free. We'll most probably be staying in the lodge for 2 nights ($30 per person). I believe the entire trip will cost less than SGD $100. It will even be cheaper than the May trip to Bintan. So if you are interested, do let me or Zai know asap okay?

Thanks! And have a great week.... I'm back to downloading stuff. hehe!

2007-11-23T09:29:00.000+08:00

Yay... now that exams are over for me, I'm back to the blogging scene for now. It seems like my December holidays are going to be packed even when I'm not traveling out of town. Boo... it's not fair, Kevin is going to Las Vegas for 3 weeks and I'm stuck in Singapore. The weather is really erratic these days and I nearly caught a cold last night when the wind blew my blanket off. I struggled for 10 minutes deciding whether to get up and retrieve the blanket or continue to lie down in sleepiness, shivering. In the end I got up because it was really freezing.

I still can't believe my exams are over. Yesterday seemed like another high tensioned world altogether. I woke up at 5am to study the last bit of pop culture theory (Ya struggling with Gramsci and Althusser) and I didn't do that question in the end! The exam wasn't that bad except I sat at the wrong seat! (Opps! My bad.) And KC gave me that 'look' that says 'WTF you think you're doing?!' before telling me that I was 113 not 118.

Still there was no harm done. I was glad that the notes on 'Camp' by Sontag came out. And I applied it to the movie R+J. I just hope that KC doesn't penalize me for borrowing my points from presentation for the other question. Yep, I did simulation by Baudrillard (again) on JBJ. Please please don't penalize me! Cuz my presentation points were very good and I really thought it apt for the question. And of course I tailored my answers (Who wouldn't?!)

Okay okay... I think that's enough ranting about my exams. Right now I need to clear my table from the ravages of the exam. It's unbelievably messy!

Ciao for now.

2007-11-10T14:29:00.000+08:00

God has been so good to me.... =)

I think this is the best exam timetable yet. My papers only last slightly more than a week from the 14 to 22 of November. Yup, even though it seems more cramp compared to last semester, I prefer it that way so I don't get to mooch over my final paper on the final day of the exam season when everyone is already losing their heads in the holiday fun.

Heehee... anyway this sem's pace is good. I managed to finish everything wayy ahead of time, which is unbelievable! Seriously I realize if you really want to mean business with your essay, by sitting down and doing it, finishing it one week before the due date is achievable! I've finished all my essays.... Hallelujah! Woot! Praise Jesus.

Sigh.... I've been a hermit for the past two weeks you know.... living in solitude with only my essay and perhaps facebook to amuse me. Nevertheless, I intend to maintain this study pace. I am now taking a break because I've finished organizing 3/4 of all my notes (Organizing, I mean also reading and absorbing them.)

Jesus, thanks for helping me get through this. Heck, I know some of my classmates are smarter than I am, but it doesn't bug me. Because I know, You're going to do this with me again, just like you did it since semester 1. I know, I might be idiotically paranoid and seemingly foolish.... but I'd rather be blur and trust in You than to be some smart arse trusting their own ability.

To Tim, and my caregroup, sorry I couldn't make it for caregroup (I usually show up when it's nearing exams... harhar... says alot about me huh.) But I've read all of your emails when during my break and it's so encouraging to find people believing in the same God of miracles with you, in the midst of all the skeptics (I honestly don't give a **** to them.)

YAY.... I'm the righteousness of God in Christ and we're all so gonna nail the exams together! Yippe!!!! (* That's the chocolate speaking.)

2007-10-31T22:01:00.000+08:00

There are loads of things to blog... but unfortunately I've been busy and I will continue to be busy planning, doing and completing KC's essay. So to sum everything I've gone through this last week, I've done up a simple picture (Cuz a picture speaks a thousand words) and I bet you have lots to comment after seeing this. So here goes.

Yup. That pretty much explains it. Now I've got to get back to my Simpsons essay. I believe my thesis statement is arising soon. TATA!

2007-10-17T09:21:00.000+08:00

Alright... before I get into busy mode again... here are the final batch of outing cum event pictures taken these two weeks. After this, I will have to get into the Victorian mood for my essay. This week is Wagner week because I am aiming to finish both her essays by latest Sunday.... all right, I'm kidding... latest Monday. The things about Victorian and Science Fiction, is that they are do-able. I'm not saying that they are easy.... because they do require a fair amount of your brains to work. But let's just say that this is one area of literature that has fascinated me since A levels. I have an affinity with Victorian literature supposedly.... so gambatte!

Yesterday was a BLAST! NTU InspYre has successfully held its 2nd annual Halloween Chapter meeting at Blk S3 Seminar room 1. Well done to my ex-co, who willingly helped to plan the meeting. For the food, besides the usual Lays and Ruffles potato chips, we had a new specialty, marshmallows with chocolate fondue dip and cake. I guess it ain't so bad when you plan for such an event for the second time, as we managed to spend less on decorations (Thanks to that one shop in Holland Village, we'll never ever go to Toys'R'Us again as it is too expensive!) HAHA!

Decorations were extra special because I persuaded my dad to lend me the X'mas lights. It really made a difference to the setting, with new cobwebs, different cuttings of crepe paper (Lvia and Eric are ingenious!) On the whole it was way better than last year's multimedia lab.

The turn out was good, despite having fewer guests this time (We regret that Monica and Sienna were busy) and I'm surprised and glad that our members were more enthusiastic compared to last year. Half of the members came dressed (at least with masks or mere makeup.) Shreya and I parted with the Cathay movie ticket vouchers happily, as the winners for best dressed and innovative awards really deserved it.

Best Dressed: Eric- The Crow (Consolation: Belva- Grimm Reaper)
Best innovative: Shakirah- Prisoner (Consolation: Dennis- Punk Biker)
Best Speaker: Kamika (The Ghoul)
Best evaluation: Esther (Twisted Oliver: Oliver Twist went through a sex change.)
Best Table topics: Shreya (Vampire Rapper) (*My tabletopics were fab!)

Here's a Toast to the best Toastmaster Club in the World (My world!) Lol.

Nanyang Open House last Thursday. Yep, what they called the Grand Old Lady of NTU, is officially opened for CCA business. We (Incoming/ Outgoing president and Vice-president from all clubs) were ahem.... 'invited' (Forced) to go for this event just to watch VIPs cut a red ribbon and eat catered food for dinner. Of course, we were expected to do a little bit of networking as well.

Don't get me wrong. We (Putu, Shreya, Eric and moi) did enjoy ourselves. And we did network too with another club, which was our very own Epiphany ex-co (Chrystella, Eunice and Stephen)from English Division. Everyone was saying how Putu and Stephen look alike and its so true, even though both of them didn't want to admit it. As expected, there were loads of cam-whoring, because Putu couldn't let go of my camera. Well, whatevs...

And I swear it's the last of the last.... my B-day celebration part #3 (Ya... you never thought there was a part 3 right? But there is... with my beloved cousine Yu Chao and Yujun. Because Yu Chao works at Brewerkz as the bartender/ waiter, he got us a 50% discount when we went to the branch at the Indoor stadium. Thanks Chaos and Yujun for meeting up with me.... the food and your presents were lovely!

Right... Vic Lit essay... here I come!

Birthday Celebrations part #2.... among other things.

2007-10-10T09:52:00.000+08:00

Phew.... my busy week is finally over ... for the time being. I'm taking Wednesday off to give my body and my mind some slack. But I simply cannot neglect my blog after so long because I have tons of stuff to update. Firstly of course, is the rest of my b day celebrations with different groups of my friends.

Now where was I? Oh yes... My lifeguard groupie (Jono, Lisa, Darren and Aaron), including my coach, were so sweet to organize a birthday dinner for me at Ma maison, followed by a games session at Minds cafe. And they bought a $100 plus dress as my birthday gift! Sob*.... Thanks Guys and a girl!

They bought me cupcakes!!!! My fav!!!!!!

Following that on Sunday noon was an extravagant lunch treat by the 2nd most important guy in my life (Besides my dad), Kevin... at the Swisshotel. It's a dream treat coming true! Awww... thanks Kev dear... lurve you and also the treat. =P

Yup, that's what I ate in total. 5 whole plates. And I didn't manage to try the pasta (speciality) Because my stomach had a limit. If you people ever had the money or the time, do check out the Swisshotel brunch at $48++ because it has everything. My favorite part of the meal was the starters and the desserts. The cold dishes were superb. There were things like 'Smoked prawn in mango juice (fabo!), and a whole array of different meats and cuts to try (Including crispy tender suckling pig skin). My personal favorite were the raw oysters.... I had 3 because I needed room in my stomach to try more stuff. They had more than 15 kinds of dessert, which is why I had two plates excluding 3 different kinds of mousse that came in little shot glasses. I remembered that I didn't eat anything for the rest of that Sunday and I only nibbled a little bit of dinner on the Monday that followed.

Le Sigh.... now following Sunday was Monday. I spend that entire Mon-day with Putu trying to crank up ideas to improve my humorous speech due to some changes in my plans. It was rather brain-draining. But I managed to relax at night because my Victorian Literature group (Stephen, Emel, Zaidah and Aliah) celebrated my b day with me at Swensons (one of the better halal restaurants in Plaza Sing.) Stephen gave me a super cool pink Fila cap, which can be matched with most of my clothing w/o being overly girlish. Emel bought me orchids and gave me a hand carry pouch that she made herself from Kimono material! This is the first time someone made things for me... I'm so touched! (But Stephen I love your present too...heehee... Thanks Emel and Stephen!)And to all four (especially Aliah) thanks for celebrating with me, even though I know we're all so busy with school work during the hols.

Ya. I know I look like a zoombie in these pictures.... You could attribute to celebration fatigue maybe? I mean, this is seriously the first time I've celebrated my birthday 5 times in a row.... It's dammm crazy fun... but it'll wear you out, especially if you have an upcoming contest on the following Thursday. Well, even if you knew that I came in 2nd for my contest, the one week break was rather stressful because I kind of wasted half that week on preparing for that contest instead of getting my assignments done. (But I'm glad that I finished and handed in half my workload yesterday: Done with Contemporary Lit essay and MS3030 enterpreneurship module! YAYAY!

I guess from the last post, you know Helaine celebrated her birthday in mafia style. Due to schedule constraints... I celebrated my b-day (quite tired by now) with the animal group with a short session of ice-skating for 2 hours. Only 3 of them (The brave and sporting ones: Helaine, Vera and Karen) turned up because I understand that there's a serious phobia of ice-skating in this group. Oh well... I enjoyed myself all the same and I'm glad the 3 other animals enjoyed themselves too. (Arrgh I still felt bad when 2 of them fell on their butts. It was like Oww... sorry......)

Helaine bought super huge mittens, which she still calls gloves. I think they are more suited for oven-baking activities rather than ice-skating. But they still looks so cute because of the penguin motif. =)

Okay.... shall stop here because I seriously need to take a break. Last week was draining because I had to prepare for the JBJ presentation with Stephen and Jeremiah and it was a miracle that we got everything done and prepared by Sunday night. Oh, I must thank Jono for getting the JBJ pamphlet for me just before Sunday midnight. You saved my life and my presentation sista! Overall, KC likes our presentation, which is a big relief. HAHA....

But the stress wasn't over till Tuesday morning (Yesterday). After getting home on Monday, I sat at my desk trying to complete the remainder of my essay (around 800 words to the minimum word limit = 4 points to write.) By midnight, I experienced a brain-drain which I knew won't get me anywhere. So being a morning person, I went to sleep and woke up at 6.30am to complete the rest... all the way till 9.30am.

As I always thought I would stop at the minimum word limit, I realized I had to write another 2 vital points before concluding. So guess what? I exceeded the max word limit at 2500.... and wrote more than usual. GAh... don't know whether it's a good thing. But I was just glad it was over. (Mom is great. She gave me $10 for cab fare to reach school on time). And I handed in my essay after class.

Hmm... just as I said I wanted to take a break.... I go on and rattle for another 2 paragraphs. Okay... shall really stop now and hibernate under my blanket. Have a nice day. ZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

2007-09-28T09:13:00.000+08:00

Finally, it's over. I earned 2nd place in Area D3 humorous speech contest. I was only a tad disappointed that I didn't win first, but honestly, yesterday's champion really deserved to win because he was making waves of laughter every 30 seconds. Besides I think the position of 1st-runner up suits me this time. I can't imagine another pressurizing week preparing my speech for the Division D contest, with all my assignments coming up. So I think it's a good closure to my participation of this year's contest.

By the way, my sister did a recording of my speech 'live' yesterday. I've uploaded it on Multiply. But forgive me if the sound isn't loud at all (She was covering the recording device without knowing it. Still you can hear what I'm saying if you plug in your earphones.) And feel free to give CONSTRUCTIVE criticisms thank you very much.

Those interested can also check my script at the end of this post.

And of course, how can I end off without sharing some pictures?

I'm so glad there is no more distractions left. I can finally concentrate on completing my assignments. Still lagging slightly behind my readings, but I do hope to catch up with the schedule end of this week.

Anyway.... here's a Happy Birthday to two of my beloved friends, Zaidah and Helaine. Zaidah celebrated her 21st b day on the 9th September (b day originally on the 5th) by throwing a fabulous bbq for us (seriously the satay was wonderful. You even had a chocolate fountain!!! Sooo cool!)

Helaine celebrated her upcoming birthday with us this Tuesday. And could you believe it, I was sooo absent minded to forgot the dresscode: gangsta black and white. Instead I turned up looking like a strawberry. But being the big sister big (da jie da) she was magnanimous enough to forgive me.... but not before .....

To view more princess and mafia pictures, check out shinychandelier (Helaine's site) in multiply.

And here's my speech..... Project 6: Vocal Variety; Humorous Speech Club and Area level. (Title: Seriously, impressions don't count!)

*Humor = 40% content + 60% delivery.

Hello everybody! Today, all of you are going to enter into my world, a world where you never thought exist. Yes. It is a world where you will view things from the other side. Why? That is because; I’m not a human being. Now at this point, can anyone venture a guess to what exactly am I? How about you?

All right, since it’s impossible to guess, I shall reveal myself to you. I… am… a… bus stop! Hey, don’t ever belittle me? I’m very important in your lives you know. Because without me as a shelter, all of you will either be perspiring in the hot sun or drenched in the rain, while waiting for your bus to arrive. See? All the bus stops in Singapore make life easy for you.

So, you might ask, what makes me so uniquely different from all my fellow bus stops? Well, it’s because …. Hmm… how to say it without sounding arrogant? Ahem…. Here goes; I am the most centralized bus stop situated right in the heart of the city! Isn’t that wonderful?

One of the benefits of having a good location combined with the heavy flow of human traffic is that I am always decked out with the latest advertisements in town! For example, see this Chupa-chups logo here? It’s totally new! And isn’t it cute?! Oh, it also has Japanese words on it! I know how to read Japanese! Let me show you; Chu-pa-chup-su! Tata! You see? I’m not just a bus stop because I become the best advertising tool as everyone waiting for their bus will surely see your poster! I guarantee your products will sell very well when you choose to advertise with me.

Besides being so marketable, my life as a bus stop is never boring, because every moment is spiced up with what I call human entertainment. You know all those drama mama scenes you watch on television? They happen all the time too, right where I am. For a start, nothing is dramatic unless love is in the air. And of course, lovers of all ages and sizes, be it young or old, fat or thin, tall or short, love to meet up with each other right where I am.

My favorite amusement for all time, is watching a girl waiting for her date. Usually, she will arrive dolled up in a pretty, if not sexy dress with killer heels. And believe me, the girl is a nervous wreck. She’ll sit on my bench; either checking her makeup and hair, over and over again… or she’ll start to mutter crazy anxious thoughts to herself, like ‘Oh my gawd! Am I like, seriously on a date with him? Oh no, what if he thinks that I’m fat? Or hates my dress? Seriously! What if he stands me up on our date?! I think I’ll die!

But when the guy arrives, she miraculously transforms into the epitome of diva-ness. ‘Oh hi dearie. No no, I just arrived. In fact was probably going to leave if you didn’t show up. Hurhur! Come, let’s go now… ’. Unbelievable! Did you see the way how she changed her facial expressions? So quick! I can never do that.

In addition, why must she pretend to be someone else in front of her date? It’s so superficial don’t you think? In fact, I realized that the world around me is so superficial! As much as I’m decked up with the latest advertisements and posters of fashion brands, likewise, it’s interesting to know that my commuters are wearing the very products I advertise!

During rush hour in the mornings, I always see commuters whipping out their Palmtops or laptops or Blackberrys; by the way, a Blackberry isn’t a strawberry you know. It’s a gadget. What do they do with them? I don’t know! They like to hold it up and flashing them around for no one else but me, the bus stop to see. Whenever Tai tais walk past me, they always seem to draw attention to their Versaces or Fendis or Roti-Pratas, ahem, I mean Pradas.

In the afternoons, schoolboys will sit on my benches comparing the latest gaming cards with each other. And I know when a collectable card is revealed because the boys will go ‘Wah! You’re so lucky! It’s not fair! My mother won’t buy this for me!’ She says I got to get an A for maths before she even consider.

Really! Is our self-worth only determined by shallow material things? Well, I can’t say so for myself because I’m merely a bus stop, where my identity depends on what people paste on me. But you guys? Man, I really envy all of you! I mean each of you retain a sense of individuality without being determined by products!

Hence, a bus stop like me, can never understand why people use money they don’t have, to buy things they don’t need, to impress people who don’t care. Seriously, impressions don’t count! So before I go for my next advertisement change, please, just be yourself the next time you visit this bus stop.

Well... I guess that's it for now. Have a fun filled Friday!

Birthday Celebrations Part #1

2007-09-25T11:57:00.000+08:00

My one week break has started, but that does not mean that I'm any less busy. Assignments have been dished out by some of my professors and I got to get started. However, I told myself that I must take a little time off to post pictures my birthday celebrations starting from the 16th of September, Sunday.

Why the 16th? Because it's my mum's birthday... I found out two weeks ago that she shares the same birthday as that LKY, yeah the one in the 'garmen'. Heehee... I'm not revealing her age because she might clobber me. But yes, age aside she looks wayy younger than her peers. So in honor of her youthfulness, we celebrated her birthday (As well as mine) at this Brazilian restaurant called Carnivore in Vivo City.

When I first heard of the concept of free flow of meat, I thought they must be kidding. But it's seriously no joke as the chefs kept coming back and introducing new kinds of meat to our table. Goodness knows how many pounds of meat I've devoured. Meat lovers... it's a good place to check it out.

My birthday itself was quite quiet... and I liked it. I had a stupid photography test on that day (10 effing MCQ questions; hope I pass) and I had to play lottery, by choosing the correct answer on my test sheet. Gawd! But it wasn't so bad after that. I went over to Kevin's house for a relaxing dip in the pool (Crowded full of kids because it was their school holidays). I said dip because there was hardly enough space to swim a lap. We had pizza delivery for dinner while enjoying the last few episodes of Prison Break season 2. (Seriously I didn't like the ending because it was a rather nice closure only if that stupid Agent Kim didn't appear~ opps... I hope I didn't spoil anything.) They just wanted to drag on to a season 3. Gah!

I went to watch 'The Campaign to Confer the Public Service Star on JBJ' on the 20 Sep, Thursday night, with my presentation mates, Stephen and Jeramiah. I've got nothing else to say except tell you all to GO WATCH IT CUZ IT's A WONDERFULLY FABULOUS SUBTLE SATIRE!

Seriously, I suddenly feel thankful to Dr. KC for getting sponsored tickets to the JBJ play. Though we didn't watch it with our Pop Culture class on Saturday, we joined then after they've watched the play for an interview session with the producer and director of the play, Eleanor Wong and Ivan Heng. (Brills*!)

I had to skip Science Fiction (Dr. W knows) on Friday because Synergy asked me to coach D.I.S.C and job interview preparation to a bunch of sec 4 girls from P.L.M.G.S. I think they are the nicest bunch yet.... I had the easiest and most enjoyable time teaching because they were so eager and receptive to whatever I've got to say. This school rules....

In the evening, I met up with my beloved church groupie, consisting of Ruth, Jason, Seth and Roslind for my b-day dinner at Pasta Waruku, Central. Even though we were relatively early, booking our place in the dinner queue... we still had to wait for a damm long time (about 1 hr plus) before we got our places. So while waiting, we took crazy shots with Seth's Macbook... (loads of cam whoring around).

We started from cult art.....

To distortion.....

Sigh.... still waiting..... and our stomachs are growling!

Finally! After one looonggg hr, we get to eat!

Lurve you guys.......

2007-09-19T10:08:00.000+08:00

Happy Birthday to Me,
Happy Birthday to Me,
Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday,
Happy Birthday to MEEEEEEE.............

Tata! In a flash, I'm suddenly 22 years old. Unbelievable, I still feel like a kid this morning.

Btw, I received by far the bestest birthday present yesterday, I WON the HUMOROUS SPEECH CONTEST!!! YAYAYAYAY!!!!!!

And as a bonus, I was the 2nd runner-up for the evaluation speech contest.

Woot! God is so good! Actually I was having mixed thoughts all the time, thinking that I will be very happy with either 2nd or 3rd place. Not need for 1st. But then God exceeded all my expectations sia! Champion you know, no joke okay?!

Heee heee, allow me to soak in victory for awhile more. It's the first time I won first for anything! Wah.... it's my first goal! And also my first trophies! Previously, all I got from swimming or dragon boat were medals. (okay lah, my dragonboat team in JC got 2 1sts for group) But this is the first time I won first for me and myself only! Sob**** And it's also just before my birthday! How good can it get.

I know today is my birthday, but I've got a photography test this afternoon which I haven't studied for. After that, I'll be off celebrating away. Today marks the start of my birthday celebrations, which will last from this week till the end of the one week break. I'll be celebrating with different funky groups of people. I prefer this way because I can get to eat so many birthday cakes. HEHE! YUM.

Up next is the Area D3 Humorous Speech contest. Wah... I now realize that I'm representing my club. (Stress***) Nah... I believe there'll be more grace for that day. The next contest is a week from now, and I unabashedly declare that I'm out to win this thing again! I wanna go on to the Division, then District, then international level. That'll be the ultimate coolness.....

Okay.... enuff talking. Wish me all the best for my MCQ test. Only 10 questions. (God help me select the right answers). TATA!

2007-09-17T10:39:00.000+08:00

I know many of you have been asking me what I want for my birthday. So.... here's my birthday wishlist! Sorry I post it so late.

#1: Arena Competitive Swimsuit. Something like this: (Click on picture)

#2: Video ipod skin cover (preferably the rubberized version)

#3: Peanut shape swim buoy. Available in sports shops.

That's about it for now.... am really distracted at the moment so can't blog all. But I will be back! Am in the last stages of completing my speech!

2007-09-15T08:26:00.000+08:00

Much as I hate to admit it, I had been physically 'shacked' out since Monday's swimming training. We were supposed to swim 30 laps and run 10 km. Well, I tried to be lazy by not wanting to run. That's when our coach Mokh decided to offer an alternative to those who did not bring running shoes on Monday (Thereby skipping out on the 10km run).

Swim 60 laps instead.

At first the thought of it nearly doused me with horror. An effing 60 laps! No joke! Never in my life I thought it possible. I was being timed as well. Not more than 1 hour 15 minutes. I said a silent prayer to God to preserve my body from disintegrating when I reached my 'forties' before plunging in.

Wow... God really preserved me. The first 10, 20 laps went by so smoothly. I actually devised this method of counting laps; Don't see yourself swimming 60 (X 50m) laps, that will be too long. See yourself swimming 30 (X100m) laps. And then start grouping the laps; first 15, second 10 and last 5. You will never lose count halfway.

I'm not sure whether it will work for everyone, but it certainly worked for moi. I clocked in my 60th lap with a timing of 1 hour and 4 minutes. 60 laps seems easy now.

To reward myself, I brought my Olympus camera along for a test underwater. Initially I was slightly paranoid that my camera will fizz out like other cameras underwater, and I became really hesitant about letting my camera touch water. Till Liz took my camera and dunk it in the water, taking a picture of the pool floor, then I became convinced that mine was waterproof. (Gah! I'm so daff sometimes!)

So here are some of the pictures taken Monday night.

Caleb looking beefed up with our coach Mokhtar.

My friends and I having fun in the water.

Lisa and Andy completed 60 laps too.

Of course, we tried with partial success, to take a good underwater picture. The problem was that it was hard to stay below the water surface for long. (Guess we were just too buoyant. hehe*)

We made some underwater video clips too. If you're keen on watching them, you can view or download them at my multiply site. =)

As usual, I have been really busy. Keep me in your prayers because I'm going to be even busier. I just realized that I won't be able to eat dinner at home for the whole week. Gah!

Monday; I've got the option to go to Epiphany's welcome tea or training, Tuesday: I've got to participate in the Humorous speech contest (I don't have a speech, so do contribute your funny ideas), Wednesday is my birthday (and I have a frigging test), Thursday I'm off to watch the JBJ play with my group mates Stephen and Jeremiah for our Pop culture presentation, Friday; belated birthday dinner with my beloved new crea groupie I knew since my JC days, Saturday: my groupmates and I hafta see the producer of JBJ, Ivan Heng.

PACKED!!! Before the one week holidays even start. And I've already made promises to myself to start and finish my contemporary lit essay and my MS3030 (Human resource, management and Enterpreneurship) project (gotta meet with group mates as well).

But right now, I need a speech. Something that will crack up my audience for good. Wish me all the best ya?

2007-09-09T15:20:00.000+08:00

The humorous speech and evaluation contest is on the 18th and I haven't prepared anything yet. Can anyone tell me anything that is funny? I need ideas. If I were to participate this year, it will be my first contest in YEARS. Yup, I have spoke in public before, in front of a whole sec 4 cohort of students, in front of army officers as old as my father, in front of international students.

So what's so different about speaking in a contest? Hmmm.... beats me. But I do know that when I want to do something, I want to do it well, especially if it interests me. And this contest captured my interest. The point is, if I were to participate, I definitely want to win a prize. The first prize.

Is it wrong to think this way. Nope. I think the whole point of joining a contest is to win. Right? I mean, frankly it's bullshit to say one joins a contest 'to gain experience'. Pile of bull. Ultimately, you wanna win, that's why you are joining.

So back to my point. I want to win. Yeah. It's competitive. But there's nothing wrong with it. What's wrong with me is that can I handle it if I don't win anything?

After so many years, I can't believe that I still fear rejection. Of all sorts. I know. Many people have comforted me by saying that I'm a good speaker. Not saying that I'm not, but sometimes, I'm not the best that's all. I really want to be the best all the time. There! You've just witness the ugly side to my competitive nature.

Of all the trophies sitting at home, not one came from public speaking. Sigh... no way to go about it except to openly admit that I want to win, should I join. I know most of you would say that the fun is in the process. Uh huh... and the reward for the fun should be winning the price right?

Since, when did I start to think this way? I want to take my eyes off the prize and tell myself it doesn't matter, just participate and 'have fun', because my way of thinking stresses the hell out of me. DaddyGod, I really don't know how to deal with all this. Please help me. (Give me your divine speech). Or else I can never get started thinking about a good speech that will make people falling over their chairs with laughter.

Anyway.... that's all I'm going to rant about. With the exception of myself, almost half of everyone I know seem to be born in September.

I just celebrated Kevin's birthday on Friday (Sept 7th). His was a quite affair because he likes being super low profile. Anyway, his fruit cake came from Prego (Swisshotel) and it was one of the best cakes I've ever eaten. The fruit wasn't any gelatined fruit, but real big, freshly imported peaches, raspberries, strawberries and kiwi, surrounded with thin white chocolate slabs. The whole cake resembled a fruit garden, with the white chocolate as a fence around it. And the cake, though spongy, blends well with the light-tasting cream, melting in your mouth with every bite. I guess the price of cake really makes a difference.

Initially Kevin didn't want anything for his birthday. Which is kind of duh, because I have difficulty giving a guy anything who already has everything money can buy. So instead, I decide to make him something nice, which you will soon see once I'm done.

I told him to give me some leeway in terms of time. I got the materials from spotlight. Went shopping for birthday gifts with Aliah on Thursday after Advance Victorian Literature, and we had a superduper fun time in Central Mall at Clark Quay and Plaza Singapura afterwards.

I've digressed. Anyway, in turn, for my birthday, he gave me a Rozen Maiden collectibles set. Voila!

Imported from Japan. This has got to be one of the best toy figurines around. I think the dolls look better than the Naruto or Bleach sets (since many figurines are actually poor cheap imitations from China.) =) Thank you Kevin.... hugs*

Gotta run now... I'm going to Zaidah's B day party tonight.

2007-09-05T22:14:00.001+08:00

Plans for my birthday celebrations (That's right; celebrations.... are underway.) First, I want to thank my parents for buying an Olympus 790 SW camera at the recent COMEX IT fair last Sunday. Last year's present was a 30GB Video Ipod. It's really God! Because they have never been this generous until one and a half years ago, when they started attending my church. hehe! But I only got to check out the functions of my camera today because I have been busy with NTU InspYre's first chapter meeting.

Okay... on to the chapter meeting first. It was a total last minute affair. I swear I'm not lying. Besides the lack of speakers, there was also the lack of evaluators. So we had to improvise and take on double roles. Mine was a triple role that Tuesday night; Language Evaluator, Speech Evaluator (for Zhang Lei) and speaker for the P1 ice breaker education program.

Last minute. If not for the grace of God, I would have died from the panic and stress of having to face the new members with absolutely nothing. But amazingly everthing went well. I even found time after Tuesday lecture to work out power point slides for the Word of the day (Inspire; so convenient because it's an opportunity to introduce the club name to newbies), as well as for the P1 ice breaker.

The overall response and feedback was overwhelmingly good! YAY to InspYre Ex-co and those who helped out. You all did a super great job! Now I'm thinking whether should I go check out NTU TMC's meeting tomorrow. The thing is I'm supposed to go shopping for birthday presents. Ah well, it'll depend on my mood tomorrow. =)

Pics! My first two pictures from my camera. Check out the scenery from my study room at home. (You wonder why I don't wanna stay in hostel.)

Using nightmode: The city is bathed in gold. If only there were fireworks in the background.

Gloomy Bear with Bing Bing* (the orange stuff thingy that looks edible) - sitting on some of my books. The camera automatically incorporated the flash, which made it seem as though I captured it during the day.

(*Those of you who watch Naruto, you can spot Shikamaru, Sasuke and Kakashi doing stunts in the background).

This year's b day celebrations are somewhat like last year's, but on a bigger scale. Guys and babes, I'll be celebrating my b day during the one week break. Invitees please reply as to whether the dates are suitable for you. Thanks!

With Kevin. (Hmm... let's just chill and watch Prison Break 2 with Ben and Jerry's ice-cream)

Friday: Either 21st or 28th with (Ruth, Jason, Ros, Seth) at Waraku Pasta in Central.

Monday- Thursday: Okay I need you guys to sort this out with me. From the 24th to the 27th of September.

The animal gang: ice-skating at Fuji ice Palace one of these evenings. Animals, you guys on for it?

My other Lit group: the one who always says 'tur-nur-nur' and the rest. (Settlers or Mind's cafe) probably in the evening too.

The toasters: Blading cum cycling session at East Coast Park in the afternoon.

The lifeguards: Sistas and brudders: Lisa, Jon, Darren and Aaron... (I wanna go Wild Wild Wet for free, since Aaron is the supervisor there).

Last but not least: A Yap gathering with my sister, and by beloved cousins (Yu Chao and Yujun) for a feast at Brewerkz in Clark Quay. 50% off because Yu Chao works there as the bartender.

I'm back!

2007-08-31T04:57:00.000+08:00

It's been Loonggggg.... but after waiting for 3 weeks, my laptop is finally back! HAHAHA... it' in tiptop condition now that Fujitsu replaced the entire CPU along with a few parts related to it.

So much has happened since school started. I don't even know what to begin with. Oh ya, regarding my last terrible post, thanks to all who sms-ed and msn-ed me asking whether I was okay and thanks to my group of friends (Ros, Jason, Ruth and Seth) for accompanying me on a indulgent trip to Max Brenner's for good old comforting chocolate.

Let's just say that we (Myself and person I'm at odds with - I'm not going to mention who)....have reached a compromise. For now, we're on good terms. =) Let's just leave it at that.

Oh, I'm so proud that I've done my project 5 speech (Body Language). Some of you have been keen to read it, especially when I revealed that it involves an intricate relationship with a cockroach.

Here it is ...

(Role play*) Good morning children! Today is friendship day and we are going to learn a new song today! …

(Track to present

Toastmaster of the evening, honored guests, ladies and gentlemen, this was the song that sealed the friendship between my best friend, Sylvia and I, when we were in Primary 3.

The circumstances upon which we met were interesting. I was as blur as an octopus at the tender age of nine. And so it happened during a school recess that I was the only one who failed to notice the school bully, Freddie the meanie, advancing upon my table. My classmates around me fled the scene in terror, behaving like a herd of frantic buffalos whenever a ferocious lion draws near.

As always, there will be one helpless baby calf left behind, as lion’s feed and that sacrifice happened to be me. I cowered in terror as Freddie’s menacing built loomed over me. ‘GRROWWL!!! Give me your pocket money!’

I was about to burst out in tears when Freddie gave a yelp of pain as he tumbled forward. The unbeatable lion was given a boot in his butt by a brave antelope. Armed with a blue belt in Taekwondo, Sylvia was beyond fear. She aimed another kick at the disgraced Freddie that sent him scampering away for life! Bravo!

From then on, we became best friends with a mutual promise that in all our bold escapades, she will always cover my back. In turn, I will never fail to stand by her when we get caught in our mischief.

We were ecstatic when we learnt the friendship song because it epitomizes everything we believed in. But never did I know that this song would take on a whole new meaning till that fateful week.

For some reason, I got up in the middle of the night to fetch myself a glass of milk in the kitchen. As everyone was asleep, I groped around in darkness for before I managed to get hold and pull open the refrigerator handle.

However, I never got to touch the milk carton because the light streaming from the refrigerator fell upon a blackish evil looking entity with six spindly legs, busying itself under the kitchen table. A cockroach!

But the shock went both ways as the cockroach stopped dead in its tracks and turned around to face me. Before I could compose myself, it charged at me before darting away victoriously, making me scream and perform a mad dance in the center of the kitchen.

The next day, I related my experience anxiously to Sylvia who listened intently. Like Sherlock Holmes on the verge of cracking a case, Sylvia promptly told me to be watchful always, arming myself with a lethal weapon at all times.

She also gave me a tip, explaining that the humble rubber slipper was the bane of a cockroach’s life. Finally, she wished me all the best in my mission; to kill the cockroach, which we also christened ‘Freddie’, after the school bully.

I was overwhelmed with anticipation as I waited for my showdown with Freddie the cockroach. However the creepy crawly did not appear for the next few nights. I was about to give up lugging my father’s bathroom slipper around when I spotted Freddie scuttling out from a hole at the corner of the kitchen floor!

Demented thoughts formed in my head as I grinned madly. ‘Aha! Vengeance will be mine, tonight!’ Creeping with utmost care not to make any noise, I tiptoed right next to Freddie and was about to whip out my deathly flattener when I spotted, from the corner of my eye, another cockroach crouching near the kitchen hole.

Freddie brought its friend! Freddie has a friend! Disjointed thoughts suddenly swirled through my mind at the unexpected new arrival, causing me to gasp in surprise. Unfortunately, my sudden reaction alerted Freddie to the presence of danger because he swiveled around. And before either of us knew what happened…

Bam! (* took my arena slipper and whacked)

Freddie lay flattened on the floor. Kaput. Stone Cold. Dead. By my nine-year-old hand, I killed him. From his corner, Freddie’s friend gave one sorrowful look at Freddie before vanishing into the darkness.

At that point, devoid of all logic, I dropped the slipper beside Freddie’s mutilated body. The nine year old me can’t help but compare the friendship between Sylvia and I, with Freddie and his friend.

Friend you make me happy,
Bring sunshine to my life.
A light of hope you always are.
Standing by me near and far
Lending me your shoulders,
When I need to cry.
You’re part of my life Friend, c

In a way, Sylvia and I are like cockroaches, messing around and getting into trouble. But what makes us different from those insects is that we are always given second chances, to the extent we take things for granted.

Today, I’m thankful that, unlike Freddie (the cockroach), I don’t have to die in front of my friend. Unlike Freddie’s friend, I don’t have to watch my friend die. Unlike them both, my friends and I live in happiness and safety. So I urge you all to look around now and be thankful for your friends who have supported you throughout your life.

Lastly, a word to my best friend, Sylvia, thanks for teaching me how to kill those darn cockroaches.

How izzit? Do you like it? If you are interested in the background of my speech, do read on. I did spent the longest time dwelling on the idea this speech was based upon. You should definitely know that almost all of it was fictional. What's real was the experience in using a slipper to flatten cockroaches (Kudos to my dad for teaching me) and of course, my best friend in Secondary school is Sylvia. I only remembered I had a best friend in Primary school (Karen, whom I occassionally bumped into on the bus nowadays)

AND BEAR IN MIND I WAS NEVER BULLIED OKAYYYY??!!!!!! Hmph... in case you have any ideas.....

Pictures are coming up soon! I've got loads to edit. Gah! Not to mention setting aside time for school work. (Btw, go watch Ratatouille and Hairspray!)

*Random comment.... Black Pork Ramen ..... handmade soba .... sashimi and Katsu Don is the best!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2007-08-29T17:03:00.000+08:00

You win.....

2007-08-11T10:18:00.000+08:00

Do you know that the worse kind of feeling is not hate but indifference? There is no way to break indifference because one simply adopts the attitude of not caring anymore. And it fucking hurts. Yeah. A great way to teach someone a lesson. A painful lesson.

And you know what? I've learn it. What? Not to push the boundaries of something so fragile. I broke your pride right? You think I've betrayed your trust? I can even say its my fault. But you wouldn't care anymore. I've finally realized the meaning of indifference. Nothing that I say, or have done in the past (For you even), matters anymore.

I see that you've made your point. That whatever state I'm in today, it is entirely my undoing. I'm sorry I can't do anything to change your mind. Put the blame on me for not 'cherishing' everything while I can. I'm really sad. 5 whole years just ....... But just to let you know something if you will ever come back to reading this:

You are probably the only one capable of hurting me. You did it. Indifferently. Congratulations....

2007-08-05T11:57:00.000+08:00

School is starting tomorrow and I've only tidied half my study table. How am I feeling? Nothing in particular. Indifferent is the word. Somehow, I can't churn my excitement towards school this time. Maybe because I'm going to be a blooming 3rd year student, which means the prospect of graduation looms nearer and nearer for me.....

Sigh, why am I rambling like this? I have no idea except that I know I feel super listless today. Hmm.... blame the pms for the mood swings?

Ah, I know.... I've lost the pleasure to blog because I really miss my laptop. Boo!!!!!! And now for the first time in a long while, I will be going for lectures with a pen and sheets of foolscap paper writing like crazy, all because I don't have a laptop to type on.

Yo Fujitsu! When is my laptop ready for collection? I want my laptop back! Because all my important stuff like music, pictures and anime are inside! You guys better not lose any of my stuff or I'll demand compensation!

GAHHHHHHHHHHHH.....

(*A thousand apologies to those of you who bothered to read my lament.)

I'm getting back to work because I have a big project coming up. I probably won't post up pictures till my laptop is back with me.

2007-07-29T22:24:00.000+08:00

After 3 weeks of waiting, I've became quite fed up with no response. So I decided to call Fujitsu to check on my laptop... it turns out that I have to wait for another 3 weeks because Fujitsu service centre has ran out of the necessary spare parts to fix my laptop. Thus, they apologized profusely and said that they will try their best to ship the parts from Japan.

And yes... it is partly of the absence of my laptop that caused me to miss blogging for the last two weeks. I need to get my blogging flow back.... but for now I'm going to sum up my life in general.

-I've been working (A whole lot of part time jobs, as a Primary school coach yelling my head off at stupid Pri 3 kids who just refused to listen / As a lifeguard; yay... got selected as a permanent part time staff out of 7 part timers; means more jobs duh! /

And finally, I took up a one off Emcee job for the Civil and environmental engineering convocation (Thanks to Venkat!) The pay rate was $15 per hour and I'm going to be paid for 5 hours including a one hour briefing one day before the convocation. In reality, I only worked for about half and hour from those 5 hours. Yup.... my job was just to introduce two speakers and help with the presentation of mementos to the sponsors of the night.... all in 1/2 hr!)

Still, I didn't get to eat all my share of the buffet dinner because firstly, it was damm crowded with over-excited fresh graduates and their parents, some of whom wrestled and jostled their way at the buffet table. The auntie before me beckoned her 4 daughters to help her clean out the remains of the fried oat prawn platter, leaving none for me. (Sigh!)

It was also a mistake to glance down at the floor of SBS because it was strewn with chicken and fish bones, spilled gravy and punch. YEECHHH!!! See? This is what you get when bloody uncultured people attend a buffet.

Hmm.... what else? Oh... I've started swimming already and am going to start running/jogging frequently too. My elbow is more or less recovered even though I have yet to succeed in bending my arm fully.

It's the last week of the holidays (Boo!) and I've read 4 of next semester's books already (haha, early headstart?).... Going to watch Simpsons this week!!!! Ciao.....

2007-07-06T18:07:00.000+08:00

YAY! I've gotten the modules that I wanted!!!! For the first semester of 2007-2008, I'll be taking Advanced Victorian Lit and Science Fiction (Both by my favorite Dr. Wagner), Contemporary Lit (Dr. Murphy! YAY!), Popular Culture (It should be interesting cuz it's Dr. KC). For those of you who are taking the same modules with me, cya in class!

It is also thanks to Karen that I got into KC's Pop culture class. I took a bath 20 minutes before the registration time line and missed 9.30am by only one minute. I was initially horrified when I discovered my clock was lagging behind official Singapore time by ONE FRICKING MINUTE! Almost wanted to beat myself.

But dear Karen msn-ed me in the afternoon to inform me that one kind soul dropped out of Pop Culture. Immediately, I logged onto STARS and registered myself! YAY! Karen, I really owe you a treat! You really saved my upcoming semester. =)

Hmm... the only modules still on waiting list are the science electives. I chose Introductory to Biology and Air quality management to fulfill two science requirements. Honestly, I have no idea how difficult will it be, so I probably have to S/U it. Well, at least both of them suit my timetable to a tee. Hope this coming semester is manageable.......

Some more pictures dating events that happened last month. I'm terribly sorry for not updating them on time. I feel bad for neglecting my blog even if its a few days so I'm trying my very best yet again. Here are pics regarding my lifesaving group. We were our usual haunt, a coffeeshop next to Queenstown swimming complex, having our dinner. But most importantly, what distinguished that night from all other training nights is that this was our farewell to Ah yang and Lutfi. Ah Yang was enlisted as a fresh recruit in the army, while Lutfi was drafted into the Police academy. They will return periodically in the months to come. HAPPY TRAINING!!!!

Besides the farewell, we also celebrated Darren's birthday. Aww.... He could not come for training that night because he was held up by work (He's in the army btw), but made it all the way down for us to celebrate his B day! Hope you have many Happy Returns throughout the rest of the year, and thanks for all the car rides you're given us! hehe...

And I know it's super super late, but I still wanna wish dear Vera a Happy Belated Birthday. Her bf planned a surprise bbq birthday party for her and our NTU group were all invited. Here's to Vera! (Hawaiian babe!) Haha....

And btw, I finally watched Transformers, this Thursday with Kevin. We both were gripped with excitement so intense it makes one's arm hair stand, throughout the entire movie so much till we wanted to watch it again! Spielberg and Michael Bay are geniuses! I still marvel at how they managed to blend good acting, superb CGI and humor into a flawless combo. I hadn't felt like this since I watched the victory scene of Lord of the Rings, the Return of the King. This time I felt adrenaline rush throughout the WHOLE MOVIE! I wanna watch it again!!!!!! AHHHHHHHH.....

Haha! All right. It's been a long day ..... I need to sleep now so have a fantastic weekend.

2007-07-01T16:56:00.000+08:00

It has been a rather calm week, except for Wednesday's day coaching which was to me a nightmare. But more about Wednesday happenings later. Some of you are simply dying to see my left elbow wrapped up in a cast. Well, here I am, out with two of my closest friends from church, Jason and Ruth. To put it simply, we had a blast hopping from the eatery that sells XO sliced fish beehoon, to Swensons for Earthquake ice-cream, then finally to Coffee Bean for a wonderful biatching session, all at Holland Village.

The idea of clubbing was scrapped because I can't club with my arm in a cast and neither of us were in the mood to spend alot of money. But regardless of what I do with those two, my time with them is always well spent.

Jason brought along his camera and both him and Ruth were so fascinated with my cast... throughout the evening....

Izzit?

Ya right!

In fact, VERY GOOD>>>

Don't worry, I didn't break my arm any further.

See? Told you I was fine.

We also took stupid pictures like pretending to be horrified at my fractured elbow, wrapped up in a cast, at Coffee Bean.

And since Transformers the movie is out....

Ahh.... I wanna watch it!

You know, I believe that true friends don't have to see each other every week, or even every month. I thank God that I clicked on so well with Jason (Ryan, Isaac etc. You wanted a new name right? hehe.) and Ruth every time I see them. We somehow never run out of things to yakk about right? Gya! Miss you both already!!!

And finally before I end off (My left hand is pretty tired)... here's an update about the cast. IT HAS BEEN REMOVED!!!! HALLELUJ@@@@HHHH!!!

YAYAYAYAYAYAY!!!!!!!!!!

For the past 7 days, my entire left arm was suffering from the discomfort and itch from the plaster cast. I could not bathe properly (Has to prevent the cast from getting wet) . Could not really sleep properly (Plaster cast refused to cooperate with my usual sleeping position). Could not type properly (If you remember, only with one hand)....

But God is merciful. When I went back to SGH for my checkup (Kevin went with me... thanks!) The Doctor in charge of my case sent me for an X Ray to assess my condition. While waiting for my turn, I chatted with an Indonesian Tai Tai and her husband who were sitting beside me. She too had a bandaged left arm and enquired about my condition. Hers was far worse than mine. Thrown from a horse, she landed hard on her left arm and shattered it completely. She had been going to the hospital every month for 3 years already and had several major operations done. Various screws and wires have been inserted into her arm in a bid to join all the bone fragments together.

When I heard about her situation, I honestly felt thankful that mine was a mini-fracture in the process of being healed. At least she had a sweet husband who accompanied her on every hospital trip.... awww....

The X Ray showed that I had no more fracture because the little chip that broke off from the elbow socket has behaved well by joining itself back to where it belonged. Doctor immediately removed my cast and Ohhhh...... ultimate comfort and SHOCK!

I had like..... 3 bruises on my left arm! Doc then explained that the bruises were caused by the bleeding of the bone during a fracture but said that the bruises will fade in time. Doctor then send me to the rehabilitation centre (LOL! Never thought I would go for REHAB!) to get myself a customized removable cast and sling (Fricking ex! At $100!!!).

I'm due for my next appointment in two weeks time. Until then I know my left arm will be much better! Going to excercise now! I can't swim as yet. But I'm allowed to do some simple stretching and toning excercises that doesn't require use of my left arm.

I'm out.

2007-06-24T22:39:00.000+08:00

Today after church, I was invited to join Kevin, his family and friends for a brunch buffet at Pregos Swisshotel. Superb! Thanks to Kevin's father for treating. Unfortunately there was something wrong with Kevin's handphone, otherwise I have fabulous pictures to show you guys. Hmm... am intending to go there for my birthday... I think.

I ate till I was bloated. AHh.... stuffed to the brim with smoked salmon, fresh raw oysters with loads of tabasco sauce, risotto, white wine pasta, veal, steak, dory, savory petit fours made from cavier, kiwi 'cake' etc, baked mash potato (This is no KFC, it's the real stuff).

And the desserts I gorged myself with!

Orange creme brulee, pure chocolate cake, tiramisu mousse, caramel mousse, fruits, strawberry and apple strudel with a dash of whipped cream, fruit juices, pudding and cheesecake.

I'm not joking. I really ate all of the above. That's why I didn't eat anything after that. I was full to the extent I had to rest on the sofa to recover and my tummy ached quite abit.

Bad! It means I've eaten too much huh... But still, I don't do this everyday, so its okay ya? HAHA.

Pictures from Emma's birthday celebrations! (*Don't ask me about the nature theme... I'm just flowing with my mood)

(Picture Credits to Emma)- Helaine dear, can you kindly send me the pics from your camera again? It appears that I didn't receive it in my mail. Please send again to this address k? estherification1985@yahoo.co.uk thanks!!!!!!)

Just to let you guys know it was the first time I was invited to a Malay friend's birthday party. Before university, somehow the only people who became my friends were all Chinese because the environment I grew up in was largely Chinese. Ya, it so happened to be like that.

Emma's birthday party rocks! Even though I'm not a fan of camp barbecue food (Because the majority of bbq food I've eaten in the past usually suck.) I totally loved the food cooked by Emma's family. They are real experts at bbq cuisine and need I mention that the marinated chicken wings and the otaks were exquisite?

We all had fun cam-whoring but our poses were not as funky compared to Emma's band mates. They come up with all sorts of outrageous poses, like one leg kicking in the air etc. Lol, it's really entertaining when I think about it.

Thanks Emma for your invite! I really enjoyed myself!

Update about my current condition*

As some of you may know by now, I've done the impossible, that is to land myself in a roller blading accident by falling down from an elevated platform on my way to buy drinks. A fall that resulted in a mini left elbow fracture.

It happened this Thursday, 3 days ago. I was teaching my sister, Stephanie how to roller blade at East Coast Park. When we reached our designated checkpoint; the kopitiam near Bedok Jetty, I bladed on ahead of her to buy drinks and bang! That's how I fell. All because of a misstep!

Gah! Sometimes I hate myself for being so careless, but I figured there's no point dwelling upon the 'why' and it's more important in getting on with the solution. With a fricking painful as hell sensation in my left elbow, I was partly fascinated and partly horrified when I experimented with moving my left arm a few times, watching my bones bend in an awkward position.

My first thought was 'So cool! It can bend like that!' Lol, so demented*

There was no option of hailing a cab from where we were because cabs hardly passed there. We had no choice but to blade all the way back to Burger King, near Marine Cove, where our belongings were, in a locker.

The blading trip back was, thankfully safe. I didn't fall or saved myself from a falling sensation at all. And my sister was able to cope 'walking' on blades', complaining half the time that her ass hurt so bad.

After changing to normal footwear (ahh... comfortable!) we took a cab from outside Macdonalds to Singapore General Hospital A & E block. It's the first time I've been inside an A & E ward for myself. I'm hoping its the last time as well. Oh I forgot to mention that we took pictures of my fractured elbow and later, pictures of my in a cast.

(They are with my sister and mother, who have yet to upload them)

The doctors were so nice! When I reached the A & E ward, there were just so many people with problems! Seriously, I can't believe there are so many accidents everyday. Half the patients there look healthy, being able to walk normally... okay, granted, a few of them coughed. But they really look okay!

I thought waiting time would be long but after being exempted by the staff, I was given the priviledge to jump queue! Wow! Favor sia! As there were no empty seats, I deigned to sit on a wheel chair. I swear, it's the first and last time I will sit on a wheel chair , but it was fun.

I was wheeled in and out of the X ray lab thrice and had to wait for 3 half and hour intervals because apparently, there was something wrong with the X ray machine that day. While waiting, I saw two hot gays sitting near me. I tell you they were HAWT eye candy! Both were Caucasians and were fashionable dressed.

Being bored with nothing to do, I oogled at them discreetly, wondering why on earth are they in A & E. Then I found out when one of them removed his CK shades. He has a bad cyst stuck on his eyelid. Poor thing! No wonder he wore shades.

Then it was my turn to see the bone doctor. He told me that my condition was a rare one as hardly anyone with a fracture would come in with almost everything intact, except for a little tip of the socket that chipped and fell into a place that prevented the entire upper arm from shifting out.

I asked the doctor when I'll recover and he gave me a figure which I didn't like. But you know, doctors always give the worse case scenerio. Anyway, he said that my chances of recovery are fast and I hope to recover in a month's time.

He gave me a soft cast meaning that only my elbow support is made up of plaster. My entire left arm is wrapped thick with bandage and I was advised not to take it out and prevent it from getting wet at all costs.

Till today, I can pretty do everything like normal, with the exception of tying my hair neatly and wearing a bra. I couldn't do those two things initially, but after much determination and perseverance, I devised successful measures to accomplish these two feats... so congratulate me.

At this point in time, I ached so much to be well and realised how much we healthy human beings take everything for granted when nothing is wrong. Because of this injury, I even had to deal with helpless feelings of frustration (Didn't help that my dad gave me a scolding when I first got back from hospital) before going to DaddyGod and entrusting all my cares to Him.

I feel thankful now that my situation was one of the best compared to other fracture casualties. And I look forward to my checkup next Thursday... praying hard to remove the cast!

TATA!

2007-06-20T23:02:00.002+08:00

My life has been filled with too much excitement that I forgot to blog about the past few days. To start things off, I've been employed as a lifeguard at the Civil Service club in Bukit Batok. Imagine being paid to SLACK; moi sitting on a deck chair under the palm tree sipping on a bottle of yeos green tea, watching people frolick in the water.... AHHHHHhhhh..... This is life!

Just in case you think I'm joking, you're sorely mistaken. Lifeguard duty is THAT relaxing. Of course you gotta do your job; which is watching out for dangers in the pool. But that simply means preventing people from attempting dangerous stunts in the water and ordering them to follow pool regulations.

Speaking of which, the method to ensure pool guests behave themselves is by blowing a shrill whistle in their direction. It always gets their attention BWAHAHAHAHA!!!!! I feel so empowered by the whistle because everybody listens to MOI =P

Uncles, aunties, ojisans, obasans, adults, kadults (aka. pimply teenagers) and kiddos......OBEY MOI; lifeguard on DUTY! BWAHAHAHAHA.....

Okay, enough of the ego trip. I'm just trying to say that it's a blessing from God to favor me by granting me a position of part time lifeguard at CSC. Thanks DaddyGod! I'm expecting more and better jobs in the days to come!

So sorry I haven't been updating because I was busy watching anime and Japanese comedy dramas. My cousin, Yu Chao has kindly transferred Nodame Cantabile (Drama and anime) to me, along with Rozen Maiden traumend and Ovature, Ghost in the shell 2 and GTO!!!! Wahh... reminds me of my sec sch days, though I still think that guy playing Onizuka sensei can't sing to save his life! I forgot what's his name, but he is one of the BEACH BOYS.

One last thing.

Funnily enough for this entire week, I've been unexpectedly entrusted with the responsibility to organize outings with my different groups of friends. I gotta plan an outing for the NTU group next week.(Helaine's suggestion =P ). Clubbing with Ruth, Jason and Seth probably next Wednesday. Clubbing is fun with the right people, and besides I club once in a purple moon. And a trip to Settlers' cafe this Fri with Jono, Darren and some dudes from my lifesaving group. They want to go Kushimbo at Suntec too, for Japanese sashimi buffet. Haha.... first time I'm actually the organizer for an outing. But I suppose its fun.

Should I go blading tomorrow even if its by myself? Come to think of it. I was deprived of alone time for quite awhile. Hmm.... no. Actually I haven't been staying at home for one entire day in a looonnggg while. Just stay at home? But then, there's nothing at home that I can do. Watch TV? BLEH.....

I think I'll just spa in the tub......(Bubbles****)

2007-06-16T12:23:00.000+08:00

Some more pictures for your eyes to feast on. Pictures from Bertram's birthday celebration (photos from Karen).

We went to Manhattan fish market at Central for dinner. It's a dashing place with the bustling Clark Quay as the river view. The price range was about the same as Fish and Co. but I must commend the standard of food for being wayy more delicious compare to other fish restaurants. Big portions too.

While waiting for our food to arrive, Ying Mei brought out a whole packet of goodies from Japan just for us! Among the various unique accessories, I chose an elastic band with a pale green flower attached to it. So Kawaii!!! Thanks Mei! The table was somewhat like a mini pasar malam lah... (Night market). Just take a look.

And can any of you guess what's that on Melissa's ear?

After the sumptious dinner we went drinking at Clinic. Actually, I've been invited to check out Clinic with Michelle V. a couple of Wednesdays back, but I've always declined due to the lack of free time. But what the heck, I got to visit Clinic in the end and frankly it was like any other pub to me, other than pushing the clinical concept by introducing alcohol in drips and stringes. My friends ordered a bucket of stringes and had loads of fun sucking them like those ice pops one can obtain from the minimart.

In short, we (excluding Michelle and Karen) drank alot! I felt woozy after 5 glasses of volka cranberry and Ribena and nearly felt like swooning from my seat. Blame the music! It's the same as Bintan where I puked my guts out after they started playing hardcore techno (Fortunately in the toilet at that time). Techno, or some other type of throbbing club music really does something to your insides and makes the alcohol work the wrong way! I think people don't get sick from alcohol but rather from the music played, when they are drinking alcohol. Is there some sort of scientific explanation to that? Enlighten me if possible. Gah! Thank God drinking is so not my hobby.

And thank God too, that I got home safe and sound, although Vera and Samuel swore that I was running for the bus in a zig zag manner, and I did admit that I was laughing a lot more than usual. (Blushes*) A big regret was that I went home and bowed before the great white throne for about a minute or so. I guess one shouldn't slurp 2 bottles of Vitagen after alcohol. Was chided by my mother too, but I swear I wasn't intoxicated, nor was I high. I'm serious. I think I'm that kind of person who pukes even before the drunk phrase and I don't feel like drinking anymore after I've puked. So I guess I will never get drunk huh.... Still I'm not taking any chances....

No more drinking till .... hmm..... I just don't feel like drinking at all lah..... Just not a drinking person. Heehee (YAY*!)

Today's someone's special day, but I can't divulge any further till today is over. I'm off to a party tonight and am still thinking whether should I stay over or go home once today's over. Oh yeah, one last tibit, I've just received my first Malay wedding invitation from one of the lifesaving mates, Fizah who's getting married on the 7th of July! Congrats to you and your fiancee! And may you grow old and live long together!

2007-06-11T21:47:00.000+08:00

The weather these days really sux because it's searing hot outside. I haven't been able to sleep well at night because I'm down with a slight flu (It's getting better), which kept me coughing through slumber hours. I usually wake up drenched in perspiration due to the humidity that doesn't go away when night comes, but worse, I can't cool myself directly with the fan (No air-con at home) because of my flu. GAH!

Oh well, at least I'm happy that everything else is fine.

Some exciting news in short, the policemen in training at the old police academy are real desperados. Gah! In the midst of my duty, I had no choice but to look at them swimming in the pool. It's a duh because a lifeguard is suppose to watch over everyone who's swimming. Apparently after their training, two hunky beefcakes approached me asking whether was I bored and tried to chat me up. One of them invited me to join the other hunky beefcakes for dinner. Flattered as I was from the attention the delicious hunks were paying me, (Probably out of boredom) I still politely declined stating that I finish my duty at 7pm, and after that, my mother was picking me up. Nice eye candy though. They were nice enough to wave bye to me when they left.

Well, this experience was far better than what I had to endure last Saturday. The police academy was having a funfair cum motor show. When the last half and hour of my duty dawned, I was approached by this man, apparently a photographer who snaps pictures of all the cheesecakes that pose with motorcars. He had a rather uninteresting appearance, bad fashion sense, frumpy hair, lousy teeth, bad english and a perverted laugh.... and He wanted to take my picture, supposedly for the event.

Gah, whatever.... boredom can really make one do stupid things because I grudgingly agreed for one pic. Now this is the weird part. Normally when someone takes a picture, he or she snaps just one. This weirdo kept pressing the shoot button repeatedly, again and again for half a minute or so.... something in me did not feel right and I told him to stop because I was feeling uncomfortable. And you know what?!! That weirdo told me to keep still! WTF. Just as I was about to snatch away his camera, he stopped snapping photos, still grinning away (ahehehehehe... loserish kind of laugh that a wanker has when someone pretty bestows some humane attention on him)

He asked for my email address so that he can send the pic to me. I gave him my msn as I wanted to see what that weirdo was up to. Online communication was no big deal for me as I have lots of online contacts whom I have never met before either. (Phone no. is a no-no because it's highly personal). He grinned happily and immediately took it as a sign that I wanted to be friends with him. You know why? Because he said this, 'so you will be online tmr right? You friend-friend with me ah, we can chat some time (Dream on!) heheheheh!!!'

What's fucking irritating was that he kept trying to pursue a conversation with me, asking me whether I will be working on Sunday, where was I studying, where do I usually hang out. GAh! To all losers out there, learn something will ya? Never ever ask a girl about her hobbies or anything personal about her life the very first time you meet her because you are oozing signals of desperation which will drive all girls far from you, moron!

I glanced at him with pity in my eyes (Not the slightest bit threatened even though his compliments about me being prettier than the cheesecakes contained a tinge of leeriness to it). Pretty pissed by now, I answered him in one syllable answers of no. No NO.... and proceeded to read my shopaholic and sister book.

That bugger still didn't get the hint. I finally got up and told him to leave the pool stating that closing time was near and I had stuff to do before I left. Guess what? He offered to wait for me outside. Uh huh.... I said 'Fine! Wait there'. I pointed to the left exit, 'Cya in half and hr bro'. I think he took it seriously because he became estatic and immediately left the compound.

I made sure he left before locking up the left entrance, washing up and exited through the the right entrance, which led to the safe crowded area, out to the bus stop. If he's a smart guy, he'll know he's been had. But apparently he's dumb because he send me an invite to be his contact over msn (which I cancelled) on Sunday.

I agreed to chat with him for the sake of getting the pic he took of me. While he was transferring the pic to me, he asked me loserish questions like 'do you have a boyfriend' (To which I answered I have 5)/ 'do you like wild wild wet, sentosa, east coast park? Wanna go there with me?' (I'm really busy)/ 'do you have any hobbies?' (No.... none that has got to do with you.)

After receiving the pic, I opened it just see how well it was taken. I look damm pissed in the photo. It was an average photo which made me wonder whether he was really a pro. photographer. I guess not. He proceeded to send me the rest of the photos he took of me (a dozen of the same pic) to which I cancelled and told him to delete ALL. He said okay, but goodness know whether he really did what I said.

I didn't continue the conversation after that because Kevin called, and I relayed everything that happened to him, half amused and half disgusted. Gah...... you sometimes get paranoid and wonder what's wrong with you when a weirdo looks your way.... should an encounter with a weirdo like him happen again, I hope I have the courage to chase him off from the start. I'm just too nice.

Ah well.... ultimately God was protecting me from this guy (Thank you Jesus) as who knows anything could have happened. Right?

Enough of this weirdo.

Passing the pool lifeguard test is a real miracle. You guys know that I was asked by my coach whether I wanted to join this particular batch for the PLG test a few days after the exam. That puts me as the last one pand reparing for the test. In fact I was highly advised to register for the next batch as I only had a month to train. Plus, busy busy me went to Bintan for holiday and Thailand for a business trip, further reduced my time to train by half. I was left with two weeks, not having attended a single theory lesson or having the least idea of what an oxy viva is.

Thankfully, the examiner postponed the test twice, leaving me with two days to study theory. I laid hands on the oxy viva only once before my test. In my opinion, I was super unprepared.

The examiner was a BITCH. First, he made all 9 of us sit through a written theory test about pool knowledge and procedures. It was unfair because the theory test is supposedly meant to be orally tested. The chinese educated people in my groupd were at a disadvantage because they couldn't understand some of the questions. Most of my group weren't used to writing down lengthy answers, which... unfortunately were a requirement, and lost plenty of marks.

Worse, the passing grade was 17/ 24. We were only given 20 minutes to complete the written test, and were trying our best without screaming at the examiner to shut the effff up because he kept announcing to us every minute that passes.

In the end, only 3 people passed the theory test. (Ching Yang, Eve and I) Frankly, I found the test manageable partly because I'm used to writing my answers down. Furthermore, things like elaboration comes as a given for lit students like myself because every thought comes with a reason. Ching Yang and I topped the test (First time I topped in a written test huh!) at 18.5/24. Eve barely passed with 17.5/24 (0.5 less and she would have flunked).

As for the rest of my friends, they weren't allowed to go onto the next phrase of the practical even though they knew and demonstrated how to use the oxy viva really well. The examiner didn't even take into their account, the 8 laps, which was a waste because all their timing were superb (averaging 8.30 mins; max 11 mins).

As for the three of us, we had more problems with the examiner as he kept postponing the next part of the test (From Monday, to Tuesday), messing up everyone's schedules. What's maddening is that he doesn't bother to apologise, even having the gull to state that he is taking the trouble of setting aside time to test us. BASTARD!

Earlier on, he recruited me to work at the police academy. By the time I agreed, it was too late to reject even though the pay was a miserly $6/hr! He was only interested in our group solely for recruitment purposes. GRRRRR!!!! Anyway, when I arrived for lifeguard duty last Wednesday, I bumped into him after his morning swim at PA and he gamely told me that he wanted to postpone the test (that Wed evening) to some other time.

I was sooo frustrated that I felt like punching the hell out of him, but I kept my cool and negotiated with him. He finally agreed to test us that Wednesday afternoon. I was tasked with the job of frantically calling up everyone who was avaliable. Fortunately, Ah yang and Lufti were free. So, with Lufti as our victim, Ah yang and I were able to pass the test.

Eve followed suit yesterday with Shi han and I as her victims. Sigh, I hope that's the last I see of him. Now I'm thinking of a perfect excuse to quit my lifeguard job at PA. If any of you thought of something good, do let me know. Thanks. I'm now waiting to start lifeguard-ing at Sentosa Spa resort (formerly Beaufort hotel) for a minimum pay of $10/hr. I'm hoping it will go higher. In addition, I'm also waiting for my application to be a lifeguard at Singapore Sports council to be approved. Working there is IDEAL because of flexible hours and good pay.

I think I babbled wayyy too much for one post. Am feeling happy because I've already bought b day presents for two of my friends. Am invited to Emma's bbq tmr! Can't wait!

2007-06-06T23:43:00.000+08:00

Finally! Bintan pics! (*Okay, it's a quarter of the Bintan pics taken from Emma and Richa). The bulk of the wanted pics are with Zaidah, who so far did not upload them. So enough talk, let the pictures speak for themselves!

Please note that the pictures are blogged in random.... as in seriously random. Will add more in the days to come.

This is my first trip out of Singapore with my friends. This is also my first time paying for the travelling expenses. But my parents were generous enough to give me $200 for the sea sports at the resort.

The six of us!!! (clockwise starting from the girl in white; Emma, Kit, Chrystella, Richa, yours truly and Zaidah; in brown)

Looking for our quaint little huts.

Zai and I were assigned the hut at the top of the hill. So imagine how much exercise we got from climbing the slope everyday. But at least we rested well during the night. The other 4 weren't so fortunate. On the first night, Kit and Emma discovered that their bed was covered with lizard shit, so they had no choice but to bunk over at Chrystella's and Richa's hut. On the second night, it was the other way round. Chrystella and Richa discovered two huge and dangerous looking spiders in their toilet and ceiling. They freaked out and bunked over at Kit and Emma's place.

Funnily, no one came knocking at our (Zai and I) door, even though we were more than happy to have one of them over. Fair enough, we both rested well despite the freezing air con.

So here are the four of them lepaking in dunno whose room. So fun huh =)

Of course, how can one ever miss the beautiful Bintan sunset. Behold this tourist snapshot worthy of being a postcard!

Le Sigh!!!!

Dinner (1st night) at the Chinese halal Kelong restaurant.

At first we thought it was a mistake on our part for deciding to eat at this place because we forgot seafood was bloody expensive. But there was a set dinner for six pax offered to us at $166 (Something like that). GAH! Ex! At least we did enjoy the gorgeous scenery and the food!

TATA! That's all for tonight. I have good news to announce....I passed my pool lifeguard test today!!! Now I'm certified to operate the oxy viva machine for resuscitation, oxygen therapy and suction purposes to save drowning casualties. YAY!!!!

Am praying for better job offers. Hopefully I get to work at Beaufort Hotel in Sentosa by next week. The pay is GOOOOOOOOOODDDDD!!!!! And I heard that meals are provided.

2007-06-05T22:58:00.000+08:00

Sorry for not updating for more than a week. I've valid reasons to do so, but little time to explain everything in detail. Anyway, there will be no photos from Thailand simply because the digital camera that I've borrowed from my sis is GONE. Yup, lost, kaput.... It went missing the last night before we departed from Singapore, with all my pictures inside her memory card. And I was super depressed the entire week. (That's why I didn't blog).

I feel better now. Simply because Kevin (My hero) loaned me money and accompanied me to get another digital camera for her. I rather buy a camera for my sister than give her the exact sum she spent getting that model. A whopping $599 for a Canon Ixus 60! That's tourist price.

Stephanie can be mean sometimes. At first, when only both of us are at home (sans parents), she demanded that I buy her a camera by last Friday, or else she will splurge $599 on a digital camera and make me pay $599 back. I wasn't born yesterday. So I told her that I lost her camera not her cash. Her camera's monetary value, btw, like all electronic goods do, depreciate as time goes on. And it has been more than a year since she bought that camera.

So I told her that I will buy the exact same model that I've lost and that was it. But when I went down to Sim Lim square with Kevin last Friday, we found out that the Canon Ixus 60 has been rendered obsolete. What's on sale was the Canon Ixus 70. When Kevin called her to confirm whether she approved of the model, she told him to look out for cameras worth $599.

The cheek! After all that we've agreed! I didn't care. I told the staff that we wanted the Ixus 70.We got a good discount for that camera and when I reached home, I plonked the camera (nestled safely in the box) onto her desk. Ranted a whole lot to my parents about what happened between us and said that I've cleared my debt to her. I was glad that she didn't spew any complaints.

Anyway, the Hydrotherapy trip to Thailand was quite insightful. I finally got hold of some product knowledge regarding the spa machine, SG2000. Besides improving blood circulation, metabolism rate, slimming, complexion (makes you fairer), healing the body through normalizing the body system, etc.... I felt motivated to spa more at home (Yup, I've got the machine) after learning what comprises of the spa machine (using ultrasound to churn out millions of bubbles, infra-red and ozone) I now try to spa at least twice a day. Ahh..... shiok!

Furthermore, at the hydrotherapy congress, I found met peeps from Arrow ministry too! Yasmin (From SIM), Jessica (SMU) and my dear Pearl! So blessed! I've got company in this spa business. YAY!

Anyway, I gott end here. I promise the Bintan pics will be up next post (I haven't gotten any pics from Zaidah yet till now, but at least take a look because the photoshopping is nice), which will be on Thursday after I've done with my pool lifeguard test on Wednesday. (10 people sat for the written, oral and half of the practical test) only 3 of us passed. I'm relieved that I'm one of the 3 who passed, but I feel sad for the rest who worked as hard as I did (Which was basically last minute studying).

Currently, I'm a lifeguard at the Old Police academy. Am thinking of quitting this weekend because I am presented with better job offers elsewhere with a much higher pay. Until Thursday! BB!

2007-05-24T21:04:00.000+08:00

I've made a World of Warcraft banner for Kevin. Here's to Hatrick!

Frankly, I think WOW characters are one of the ugliest around. But guys have a different perspective. They care more for the reward items; things like purple gold and they are willing to waste time raiding all day long for 'purple'. Currently, Hatrick is the number 2 druid in his guild.

Kevin made an offer, which I'm helping him advertise. Who is interested in buying his SlasherX character, an Ork, Warrior at level 70, heavily armed with purple gear and loads more. More information about the gear will be released only to those who enquire. Prices can be negotiated. Interested parties please contact me via msn at estherification1985@hotmail.com Thanks!

I'm off to Thailand for 5 days. And when I come back, I will be a qualified hydrotherapist. When I come back, I will have to go through the pool lifeguard test on the 30th of May. After that, sigh... I know I have things to do. Super urgent things to accomplish, that cannot be avoided any longer. That's right. Those things are SPEECHES.

Sigh... I don't understand why humans procrastinate. It's simply wrong, yet we, or in regards to myself, I feel paralysed with fear, laziness and the sense of the lack of urgency. I mean, come on, I really want my club to achieve the honarary status it deserves. My pressie and I are the driving force behind it. Yet why am I not doing something?

I think I've reached a breaking point, where I had enough of sitting back, watching the world go by. It's a good feeling. Not doing anything, but slack at home and watch anime. However, you cannot have this much of a good thing. It's MADDENING when I'm not doing something useful because I know I was made to accomplish GREAT THINGS in life.

That said, I'm currently working on my speeches. I guess one of the excuses I give for not coming up with speeches is because I'm a perfectionist. And perfectionists don't want to release anything that is below their standards. BLEH! EXCUSES ALL!

The very fact that I am a perfectionist means that I have the capability to make my speeches perfect. Which means that I can actually craft and complete perfect speeches at the perfect time. ON TIME!

Well, enough crapping.... I still gotta pack my luggage. GAH! Besides going through the hydrotherapy course, I have to clock midnight hours, revising for the pool lifeguard theory test as well. I have no problems with practical because I just clocked in a new record yesterday; 8 laps, comprising of (2 front crawl, back, side, breast stroke each) was 9.30mins. My fastest yet.

Before I go... do check out the wonders of photoshop through this link. It's a must watch! You will be fascinated.

Will be back Tuesday!!! Till then take care!

2007-05-21T20:41:00.000+08:00

(A very long post!!!! *Ps: Bintan pics coming up soon.... I only need Zaidah's pictures for everything to be complete!) ~ Zai, you hear???? Thanks!

Pictures! From Michelle's Birthday Party at Chevrons.

Sorry the pic turned out so small.

To view pics at their original size visit rottinginsainity

I was late because I had lifesaving training earlier on. So my friends saw me wolfing down party leftovers like Otaks, grilled sausages and prawns. It was delicious btw.... Then while Michelle was entertaining the rest of her friends, we trooped to the Chevrons bar for a drink. Unfortunately, we weren't allowed in because we were dressed too shabbily (Even when there were less than 7 people in the bar hellooo?!!!) The bar was willing to take down our orders for drinks by bringing the drinks to where we sat. (One bucket of Heineken; 6 bottles / Vera's boyfriend paid~ Thanks)

And just when our drinks came, Vera received a call from Michelle informing us it was cutting cake time. And all of us downed our beer within 10 minutes or so. I swear it was the first and fastest time I'd ever finished a Heineken or any beer. And I WASN'T DRUNK AT ALL... HEHE!

But I did look drunk because my face immediately turned tomato red (See group photo). Sigh... it's the nature of my body to blush whenever any trace of alcohol enters my system. For two split seconds though, I did felt floaty.

After Michelle cut her birthday cake (Delicious cake from Prima Deli!) We all went inside the chalet for a mahjong session. Well, I didn't play at all. But I was kind of engrossed watching Vera, her bf, Karen and Bertram scramble the mahjong tiles and 'ponging' (There were alot of 'Gong-ing' as well). It was fun! And I found out that Karen and Bertram are Pro at Maold mahjong! Vera told me that had they played with cash, both of them would be big winners that night.

Thanks Michelle for inviting me to celebrate your 21st B day! I throughly enjoyed myself. =)

Next, pics from the life savers' BBQ. This BBQ is special because it commemorates our dear Aaron's departure to Australia (For good). Btw, this event happened over one and a half months ago... I just obtained the pictures and the time to blog about it now. The pictures should speak for themselves..... in simple terms, I HAD LOADS OF FUN THAT NIGHT!

(I shrank the pics because there was something wrong with photobucket)

To view the pics at their original size visit runswimandgetchaota

So far, I've been approached with various job offers, but none of which really satisfy my expectations. Except for one; a lifeguard job for a corporate event last Saturday. Alwin called Jing How, Lufti, Andrew and I for an assignment at Pasir Ris Beach. There, we met up with the 5th lifeguard, Zhi Jian, who gave us instructions. Our job was to bring the buoys out to sea, 100m away from the shore.

And why buoys? I dunno... ask the client. By the way, it was no easy task okay. My first step into the muddy seawaters of Pasir Ris Beach told me I was in for a bad time. There was no sand. Only mud. SOFT MUD that swallows half your leg with each step.

It was the wrong time to place the buoys too because the tide was too low and hence too dangerous for us lifeguards to wade in. Mud wasn't the only issue we had to contend with as we were susceptible to physical injuries from sharp stones and objects hidden beneath the murky waters. Examples of these objects are broken glass. That's the danger level we faced. But like I said, time meant money and our clients were arriving in an hour's time, so we had no choice but risk cutting ourselves in the dangerously shallow water. (Deep waters meant that the waves are able to carry us above the muddy bottom) ~ Thank God I had foresight to partake the Holy Communion (worthily) before I left the house. Only my left knee bore a few small scratches, while my friends weren't so fortunate. Lufti tripped over something sharp. (I nearly fainted when I saw blood gushing from the soles of his feet).

And gawd... the buoys were heavy! It was torture towing them 100m out to sea. I then realized how vital my lifeguard training was at that moment. If one did not know how to do the lifesaving backstroke, one will SURELY die. But we achieved what seemed like an impossibility. Yup. Torture only lasted 20 minutes.

The clients were very late. We slacked for a whole hour before they arrived. Initially, I was worried that their lack of puntuality might eat into my schedule time, but my worries were resolved because they sped through the raft building activity!

Our clients were executives from big privately owned company who came down to participate in a raft-building event. 5 of us were in charged of different materials used to build rafts (deflated tires, pumps, planks, raffia string, lifejackets and paddles). There were 8 teams pitted against each other, racing for time to buy materials from us, build their rafts, sail out to sea and collect as many buoys as possible. The team with the most buoys win.

Personally, if I'm earning big bucks, I would think my company crazy for asking me to join in time wasting; aka. Team building activities because time meant money. It doesn't matter because they seemed to be enjoying wearing construction worker helmets and gloves, bidding for the materials (from us) to build the rafts. What an irony; these people worked so hard in life to become high earning executives only to willingly dress up as construction workers for the day.
As lifeguards, the second part of our job comes in when they push the raft out to sea. We had to ensure the safety of everyone on the raft by allowing only 5 people (Swimmers) on board, and following them out to sea till their return. By now, the tide had risen, and it was as easy as swimming in the sea atEast Coast Park.

The end of it all? We worked 4 hours, of which 20 minutes was overshadowed with danger, and the rest is slack time. Our pay? $100 to take a dip in the sea at Pasir Ris Park Beach. Do you think it was worth it?

Well, worth it a not. We did it and I'm proud to add this to my work experience. I feel as though I emerged champion from a fear factor challenge. HAH!

I've been offered more lifeguard jobs... Safer ones in charge of swimming pools now. DaddyGod grant me safety and protection. Let no one be injured or drown when I'm on duty. And give me favor with my salary and job oppotunities. Thanks!

2007-05-17T23:27:00.000+08:00

Knowing what I did on Wednesday will cause some indoorsy people to think that I'm crazy. Well, crazy or not, I did enjoy myself. Moi, along with my church friends, Yuan Zhen, Camellia, Timothy, Gerard and Mark went for an 11 km walk round MacRitchie Reservoir!!! Hmm... the place hasn't changed much since I visited the last time when I was about 7 years old. I guess you can't make much changes to a reservoir huh. But I was glad that neither my friends nor I thought about the daunting distance from the start. And even when we tire half-way, the many water breaks we took did help refresh and sustain us till the end of the walk. A truly unforgettable experience indeed! I feel so much fitter!!!

Mapping our route

About half way to the HSBC treetop trail. Incidentally, I was here for the CHIJ St Joseph camp with the sec 3 girls. That time was far worse because we were all made to run throughout the entire trail. I'm glad no one wanted to run. Haha!

Camellia is really a Pro at photography!

I think this picture pretty much explains it all. =)
(It's Yuan Zhen's phone btw. lol!)

At last, we've reached the highest point of the reservoir on the bridge!

While walking, we learn that the fruits and flowers of some plants can be eaten. Thanks to Mark, Camellia, Timothy and I decided to shred a yellow flower to bits and partake of it. It was pretty tasteless actually, though the smooth texture of the petals reminded me of my mother's white lily bulb soup with white fungus.

The next high ground we came across was Jelongtong tower. Pardon me if I got the spelling wrong. The tower is 7 storeys high and we nearly didn't climb the tower because our legs were already complaining. But we still did. I mean.... how often do you get to climb a 7 storey tower right? Haha.... The view was just greenery, but you can tell the air was much fresher even though it was noon and the sun was blazing hot.

And finally after crossing what seems like an endless forest trail, the path led to the river and a vast golf course range. Ahh.... tranquility at it's best! If you minus off the HDB blocks in the distance, it will not feel like Singapore at all!

Of course.... there will be animals living in reservoir waters. Some terrapins came to say hello!

Terrapins are fearless animals, unlike monitor lizards and King fishers; creatures that get scared and run away easily. While we sat at the river bank, an army of terrapins approached us thinking we had food (Or that we were their food).... lol. You know I'm kidding.

After the terrapin stop, we walked for another 3 km or so before we finally came back to where we started off.

Yup, The trick is to just keep walking. To focus one's mind on the walk by enjoying the scenery and not the total distance.Though I was smiling and looking fine, my legs were already 'nua' (Means jelly.)

So after lunch, I quickly went home for a nice spa (Yup. I have a spa tub and essential oil stuff) at home, along with a half and hour nap before I dashed out of the house at 6pm for the pool life guard training.

It's a miracle because I still managed to complete my 20 lap warm up. Following that, my timing for the 8 lap swim improved by a minute; 9.47mins! Woot!

I left training early because I had to make my way down to Chevrons at Jurong East to celebrate Michelle's 21st B-day! Happy B-day babe! Hope you like your present! (Will blog more about Mich's b day party once I get hold of the pics!)

It's late and I gtg now.... I have an early day tmr. TATA!

2007-05-14T15:25:00.000+08:00

Totallyminxed has turned two years old! Haha... actually my blog's second birthday is on the 4th of April. But as you can remember that I was saddled with assignments, to the extent I've forgotten to commemorate that special day. So to make up for it, I've made this Birthday Banner for my blog, featuring Aki from Sid. (*Image taken from a Sid Banner/ orange title all mine.)

Other than the Aki Banner, I also made my own personalized banner (Brush credited to damnedinblack). This is the first time I'm making a banner with my own skills. Hope you all like it.

(300 X 150)

(200 X 100)

(150 X 75)

(100 X 50)

So if any of you want to mark this special day with me, feel free to paste any one of these banners on your site. And do let me know so I can visit your site as well. I appreciate all your efforts! Thanks to all who frequent my blog these past two years!

Post Exam pics are finally out! On the 3rd of May, Emma, Kit, Chrystella, Richa, Emile, Stephen and I went to watch Spiderman 3 at Cathay Cinema in Doby Ghaut. We met at Breeks for dinner because it is supposedly one of the best halal restaurants in Marina Square. Check out what we ate.

Yum.... I had Cajun Blackened fish or something like that (2nd pic), which is weird as neither the fish nor the sauce are black. It was unexpectedly delicious though because I tend to be fussy over how fish dishes are cooked and presented in restaurants. But I thought the dish could be improved upon by removing the pasta. Cajun fish and pasta simply do not go well together in this case. Breeks could certainly learn from Fish and Co. Just present the fish only.

We all shared a combo platter (3rd pic). Yum... love the fiery wings and the oysters! Of course, we did alot of funny things besides chomping on our food. Like posing....

Hail Stephen!

Us girls:

Chio right? Of course, since the whole purpose of us going out is to watch Spiderman 3, we somehow had to include Peter Parker and his traits into our conversation.

Creepy crawlies!

Nah....you know I'm kidding with you guys! Don't you agree that our facial expressions are priceless? lol!

Us having fun with our food: 1st pic; Kit and Emma roaring. It's completely understandable. After all we needed to replenish our energy drained from exams.

Emma and moi. We look like cutie pies worthy of a commercial. Haha!

It seemed like Chrystella enjoyed choking on her food. While Richa seemed to enjoy choking her.

On most group outings, there will always been a group picture shot to commemorate the event. Well, likewise for us. We posed our best outside Breeks.

Nice!

As we headed off to Cathay Cinema, we passed by Esplanade and decided it would be a waste if we did not take some pictures with this beautiful backdrop. So there.

With Richa on the phone.

Apparently there was a slight hiccup that night as Emile almost couldn't make it for the movie at 10.30pm. She was still at home when Richa called her around 9.45pm. But thankfully she manage to dash down to town in a cab! Yea! Thanks for joining us, Emile! (Did I spell your name correctly?)

Guess who couldn't wait to see us while we were on the bus?

Finally! We're here!

Since we arrived around 10pm plus, we had a bit of time to spare before going into the theatre. Thus, we took more pictures. I really liked the taste of Stephen's frappachino but I thought it was a tad too expensive for a coffee smoothie. You might as well grab something from the Starbucks downstairs... you know what I mean?

With our dear photographer Emma! (Thanks gal! For the pics!)

Us ladies.....

And how can we forget about Spidey himself? His poster on the 6th floor is just dying to be photographed.

Hmm... Spidey looks happy with Richa's hand resting on his thigh and Emma grabbing his ankles. The temperature is seriously heating up.

Kit in lurve.... Awwwwwww

I'm glad that Spiderman 3 is not a letdown compared to the previous two Spidey movies. I like everything about this movie; the plot, the CGI effects and the villains. OMG! The character complexities are simply riveting! Poor Sandman! He's the good guy stuck in a bad time! How I feel for him especially since he has a daughter suffering from sickness. And Harry!!! He died!!!! At least let him die with a handsome face! Why must the producers choose to scar him?! We were speculating whether Kit and Emma would cry when Harry died because his death scene was extremely moving even for a non-spidey fan like me. True enough, Emma and Kit cried.

I nearly cried myself, if I did not remind myself in time that I had applied missha black eyeliner earlier on.

Boo... but I guess his death was neccessary otherwise he would be a hindrance to Peter Parker and Mary Jane's love. Gah! For once I admit on the whole that Kristin Dunst acted well as Mary Jane.

Venom is absolutely disgusting lah! He seriously needs to see a dentist. Maybe I should recommend him to my aunt. She prolly brush his teeth for free. Hmm....

Well, I'm just happy that all of us enjoyed our evening. What a wonderful feeling, as if we finally managed to surface from the drowning waves of our exams and breathe the fresh air of vacation!!!!!! Ahhh.... what a rest.

2007-05-10T10:17:00.000+08:00

SOMETHING IS REALLY WRONG WITH MY FONT!!!! AND FONT SIZE.... SOMEBODY HELP ME!!!!!!!!!!!

Hello people! 3 days just passed by in a flash and I'm back from Bintan! Arrghh.... not enough. It's been really fun, but the Bintan trip was really too short! I was Jet skiing the morning before we left for Singapore. That's how rushed it was. But it's extremely enjoyable because we were treated like Kings there! Lol. This is the first time I had enough money to spend on sea sports, food and souvenirs with plenty leftover. One can really survive in Bintan with only $200.

I don't have the pictures with me now because my friends are still uploading them. (Thanks Emma, Zaidah, Kit and Richa for the upcoming pics). I think we took a few hundred of them. Right now, just make do with pictures from my life saving training.

These pics were taken quite awhile back when we were doing our Bronze medallion training. The first picture shows Lisa performing CPR on me, the victim. See my 'shapely' legs. Lol.

Sunny (Rescuer) and Eve (Victim) .

The life-saving group. Not everyone is present. Can you spot me? Heehee.

The coaches; from left Alwin, Moktar and Angelina.

The girls. (Moktar looks happy.)

The guys (Moktar looks tough.)

Sigh.... sorry for not describing names and whatevers.... because I'm still a trifle tired from the Bintan trip. Later on, I will be going to FDP (my mom's friend's saloon) to do my hair. It's about time too, since the last time I did my hair was one and a half years back. My hair has become slightly unruly and dry. I will most probably spt the entire afternoon at the saloon before deciding what else to do.

Oh ya.... I suddenly remembered that I have tons of anime to watch, as well as people to meet. And things to do. Gah..... toaster stuff to do. Sigh. I gotta make a call now. An urgent call. Will be back soon enough! BB!

2007-05-05T14:01:00.000+08:00

YAY! Exams are overr!!! I've got lots to share with you all. But I don't know what is wrong with blogger/ blogspot. One whole chunk of what I've typed has been lost. I hope they fix blogger soon because I don't wanna lose yet another long post. I'm quite pissed already. So in summary, I had a great time watching Spiderman 3 with Kit, Emma, Chrystella, Emile (Correct?) Stephen and Richa on Thursday night right after exams. Cycling at East Coast Park with Kevin was so fun! (First time cycling with him.) And ... I'm going to Bintan with my friends (Zaidah, Chrystella, Richa, Emma and Kit) tomorrow! Won't be back till Wednesday... so take care ya?

The pictures are already coming in... so please bear with me. =)

2007-04-27T13:29:00.000+08:00

Yesterday was simply crazy for me because I had two exam papers. Brit-Asian Literature in the morning and Managing/Resolving Conflict in the evening. This is the first time I sat for an evening paper and though it was manageable, I still revised at the last minute. So with a bit of common sense, I hope that this module will fare better than the rest of the PE modules I've done in the past semesters.

Two papers in one day is really no joke. After Brit-Asian, I had a brain-drain as well as hand cramps from gripping the pen too hard. And then I immediately dashed to the free access lab to revise my notes on Conflict. 5 hours of break turned out to be an intense study interval. 4.45pm came just as I wrapped up with the last chapter and I had to dash.

I felt slightly dizzy as I sat down in the freezing exam hall. Seriously thought I faint from brain exhaustion... but no. I steeled myself together and squeezed my remaining mental energy into the exam. I think it will come out fine.

Sigh... I think everything will come out fine. Two more papers left. (Empire and South Asian Lit) Both taught by the same Professor (Scottish Terrier). My swimming coach just called me and asked whether if I am interested in going for the pool lifeguard test this May, and I said 'Yes' without thinking twice. Gah! Its too late change anything... which means that I have to start training the moment my exams finish (Next Thursday).

Train as in really train..... Because the pool lifeguard test concentrates more on stamina than theory. Can I do it? Ya. I think so. Think of it this way.... it's in the process of me losing weight.

Oh yeah. Just got my laptop back from Fujitsu. Good service! They did me a favor by installing all the new patches into my lappy as well as the language pack (Japanese is missing though). And I've been busy, besides studying, downloading and updating all my computer software.

I thought I could watch my freshly downloaded Bleach yesterday but it appears that my laptop lacked the correct video decoder, so I had to depend on a raw episode on Youtube. Gah, youtube is beginning to suck! Removing all the latest episode uploads for Bleach and Naruto ... in their cause for fighting against piracy.

To be honest, I feel that no matter how many measures a company implements against piracy, there will always be other ways to get around to what you want. So youtube should just stop their stupidity. Take it as free publicity! It's not always bad. The more people feel restricted, the more underhand means they will sought.... it will be a never ending cycle.

Sigh.... exams be over! How many more days left? Because I told Alwin to safeguard my 70 GB worth of anime. That's excluding his extensive collection, which he will pass all to me (He told me its very heavy) when my exams are over (to avoid distracting me).

I can tell the month of May is going to be very busy. Which book do you think I should read? Waiting for the Barbarians by Coetzee sounds good ya? Tata!

2007-04-18T14:32:00.000+08:00

This is something that makes me speechless.... (I cannot post this up because the article is restricted. But you can click on this link to get the gist to what I am talking about. Upon entering the webpage, you are required to fill in a birthdate to access the information).

Personally I find what she did was rather stupid because she's ultimately selling herself for $1000 (Yup 5000 WOW gold is roughly US $1000). I mean, part of the enjoyment from playing the game is in the levelling process. Ya, granted that her character can embark on a killing spree, having no qualms about spurning her detractors, but trust me, the fun will wear out gradually. I kind of feel sorry for her when she said 'I got laid!' There's simply more to life than having sex, you know.

Whatever... I just found the incident amusing.

2007-04-11T08:35:00.000+08:00

I've got nothing to look forward to except exams ... in two weeks time. Wish me all the best.

If I don't happen to blog, that's because I'm (what else) busy mugging. Can't wait for the 4th of May to come, my day of freedom.

I need cash already. For the Bintan trip and to buff up my savings account. Fortunately I got my job as a lifeguard arranged for me right after I finish my exams and Chrystella had secured me a coaching job with Synergy.

I guess that should tide me over for awhile.

Sigh.... need to learn driving during this holidays. I can't procrastinate any longer because my mother might decide to buy a car for my sister and I to share. (Even though I would much prefer to have my own car).

One good thing though, I'm finally going back for training after one whole month of absence. Yay! I do miss training with my friends. Well, at least I can train for the next 2 lessons or so before I got to take a two week break again (for the exams).

Lord help me get through this.....

2007-04-07T10:23:00.000+08:00

Huzzah! I'm allowed to take a breather for the weekend because I finished all my essays this Thursday. It's amazing because I never thought I could complete two fricking essays within a span of one week (Last Thursday to this Thursday). So amazing that I wanna go review it again....let's see, I went crazy last Thursday night and changed my entire film from 2046 to Around the world in 80 days starring Jackie Chan. Last weekend, I forgoed roller blading at East Coast Park for the sake of the film essay and I managed to complete the entire thing this Monday!

But I discovered bad news on edventure as Dr. Sim refused to grant ANY extensions for the Brit-Asian Essay.... I was damm pissed lah! So much for banking on an extension to save my life. I had no choice but to rush my reading, planning and writing.... I think I broke my own record for last semester (1 and a half weeks per essay to 3 days). I'm believing God with all my heart that all my essays will return with acceptable grades (Meaning no lesser than a B, or no lesser than B-) .

Anyway, I admire my friends for their ability to work under pressure. I think I can never start and finish one essay in a night, especially the night before the deadline. How did they do it? Sigh, I just hope that I will never have to rush like that again because I certainly can't take the pressure. I guess I was quite fortunate this time, managing to finish everything at least half a day before the deadline.

I finished everything on Thursday afternoon and managed to go for the last South Asian Lit lecture. After that, I really enjoyed my dinner with Emma, Chrystella, Kit and Richa at Hall 3 canteen, before I went for Praise and worship with my caregroup in one of the Tutorial rooms to sort of commemorate Good Friday. Hmm.... I'm so priviledged to be able to praise God after one month of trials.

I went shopping on Saturday.... splurged on two fabulous tops, one pair of shoes and a pair of earrings. The tops were somewhat similar to the British India ethnic/ Bohemian style. Hee, which is my style. I probably won't be wearing them to school cuz I wanna look like a nerd till the exams are over.

But to reward myself, I wore one of those tops last night when I met up with my lifesaving group for dinner at Vivocity, before heading to St James Power station with a few of them (Darren, Jonathan, Angelina and Aaron). It was my first time and I loved exploring that place. You pay $15 (for girls) as an entrance fee which gives you access to 9 different clubs inside.

I didn't really club because (of a dispute with someone close to me). We mostly bumped from club to club to check out the music and the kind of people that went there. It's really a miniature world over there. Haha, Jono and I preferred the first club at the entrance (I forgot the name) which had a live band singing latina music with a yuppie cum expat crowd. I didn't really fancy the rest like the Tiger Boiler room (what a name!) which played Hiphop R & B music, and Power House (A club for kids my age) which played everything in Trance music, and Dragonfly (Super CHEENA CROWD). But Darren wanted to remain there insisting that the Canto Pop live band was worth it.

For those of you who wish to know if I unscrewed my sanity by getting drunk..... well, I didn't. Sorrie to disappoint you guys.... but I know my weak limit. heehee....

I didn't manage to wait for the live band. Made my way home around 12.15 but I couldn't catch a cab till 12.30am. Reached home at 12.40am.... I slept at 1am, which was around the same time during intensive study days.

Sorry. No pictures because everyone took for granted that somebody would bring along a camera, which no one did.

Am getting back to intensive mode for the day. I am going to finish reading 'A Passage to India' by E.M. Foster today, and probably ponder on my lecture notes. Have a fun weekend y'all!

2007-04-01T20:55:00.000+08:00

You know what? After spending 4 futile days trying to come up with a thesis from the movie 2046, and after missing another South Asian Literature lecture last Thursday, I finally gave up. That movie can go to hell. Frustrated because I pondered long and hard over that film, watching it, rewinding it, again and again till my brains felt swollen and my eyeballs nearly rolled out. That's it! No point trying to be all artsy fartsy when you are racing against time and pitting your energy against an almost seamless narrative. It's goodbye to 2046 forever.

So, I wised up last Thursday after finding another dvd in one of my drawers. The film is 'Around the world in 80 days', starring Jackie Chan. And I was really grateful that I was sensible enough to change the movie for my essay because writing my essay on a Jackie Chan film is wayy easier compared to planning for that dang 2046.

So here I am, half way done through my essay. Half more to go, and I've got lots to say and write for my topic. I want to complete it by tonight. Jesus will pull me through this. I know. All will be well, amen. (I guess you know by now that I reveal my spirituality when the exam period nears.... it's not hypocritical btw, DaddyGod is faithful to me regardless of what season.)

It's another 4 more days before the film essay and the Brit Asian essay is due. To be honest, I haven't even started planning for Brit Asian essay yet. I am praying for a blanket extension, not so that I can complete it at a later date. I prefer extensions because I don't like handing up my work late. And an extension of sorts gives me sufficient time to complete it before my deadline. It's like a form of insurance... get what I mean? I'm still aiming to complete my Brit Asian Essay by this Thursday.

Miracles! Supernaturally natural miracles! God given miracles! Yeah. I'm expecting miracles to materialize within these 5 days, starting from this moment. Really, I'm not kidding. It's going to happen, and it has already started. Sigh, it's really true that one's true strength is revealed in a time of testing. Since I haven't broke down, mentally and physically (God forbid ever!), I guess God has made me stronger than I was a few years back. Wow.......haha, DaddyGod I'm so enjoying this time of trial with you to sustain me!

One more month before exams are over. Bintan Bintan.... Oh how I long for you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2007-03-27T20:23:00.000+08:00

Hmm... Relaxed relaxing..... I just thought that I should run a checklist of my anime collection:

Naruto and Bleach

Rozen Maiden I/II and Karin

Blood+ and Deathnote

Capeta and Honey and Clover I and II

Cowboy Beebop and Tsubasa Chronicle

Ghost in the Shell I and II and Akira

Yakitate!!! Japan and Ouran High Host Club

Detective Academy and Coyote Ragtime Show

Princess Princess and Sailor Moon

Dai Guard and Howl's Moving Castle

Yep... so much anime would have gone to waste because there was a crisis:

Crashed! My laptop crashed last Thursday.... after being worked to death downloading anime........ (SOB*)

When I showed it to Kevin, the startup to my laptop was so slow. In addition, it kept on producing weird clicky sounds from the hard drive.... then Kevin pronounced its doom...

'Your laptop's gone already...' (I nearly died when I heard him say that because my South Asian Lit essay, plus all my anime, photos, mtvs, videos/ concerts and lecture notes are still inside.)

Fortunately, my laptop managed to startup successfully that none of my anime is lost. Haha, I had good foresight to transfer most of my anime to Alwin's portable hardrive a couple of months earlier. Hmm... I could trace all the anime that I've watched so far. I don't think I've watched a whole lot of anime compared to others. But take a look anyway at my anime collection (Including Movies)

Fortunately too... I also backed everything up one of his thumbdrives for my school work.....

I'm now using my home's IBM laptop to do my work. I've got 2 more essays to finish by next Thursday. Which means that this will probably be my last post (I may post more if I have time) till next Thursday. Lately, I feel like I've been asked to do the impossible, which is to complete a 2000 plus word essay within a short span of time. This is the first time I have to dash within a span of a few days (Usually I love to take my time with my essays... at least a week)

But I figured after the South Asian Lit essay crisis... I've managed to complete my S.A.Lit essay within 2 and a half days. I'd figure that I'm able to complete my film essay on 2046 by the END OF THIS WEEK (Of course, resisting all distractions). And having 4 days to do my Brit Asian Lit Essay till the deadline which is next Thursday......

Yes.... I can do it! I really can do it. Not because I'm trying to psyche myself. If my classmates can complete one fricking essay within one night, four days is more than sufficient. Just concentrate...... Focus is the thingy here.

I can crack 2046! It's very amazing that I'm enjoying researching for my thesis.

(*Kevin got me hooked onto Prison Break.....at the wrong time! Gah! Who would have thought that serial could be so addictive? It's all his fault that made me want to watch the rest.) Now I got to deal with the suspense till after my exams.... (No distractions remember?!)

Now... focus on the future trapped in the past (2046).

2007-03-23T12:54:00.000+08:00

Brain tip: Can you read this message?

Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55% of plepoe can. I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses

and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but teh wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt! if y ou can raed tihs forwrad it.

**********

The horror of all horrors that Literature students pray never to befall them lashed its curse on me last night. I was trying to back up my word documents onto my thumbdrive by the usual copying and pasting method. However, just as I dragged the file labelled 'South Asian Lit Essay' into the thumbdrive, the entire file just got deleted!

Effing Hysteria!

I seriously thought I would faint from the trauma as I never could imagine that a nearly half completed essay of 900 words plus (They were all my words!) could be eliminated in a snap. When I recounted all the effort that went into my essay, I swore I could have vomitted blood! After the 'death' of my essay, I cried for about an hour before I calmed down and reanalysed my options; either get my laptop serviced at Fujitsu (with the risk of not being able to retrieve my lost file) or start from scratch.

I chose the latter because of time constraint. Negative energy is good if you know how to channel it into the correct source. I poured my entire grievence into rewriting and rephrasing out the points into a fresh document and after one night, I am able to say with some gruffiness that I have covered more than what I've lost in terms of quantity. Quality-wise, whatever I've did so far is markedly improved in this second attempt.

I hope to complete my essay by tonight. I know I can do it.

*1st Corinthians 10:13 - 'No testing has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tested beyond what you are able, but with the testing, will also make the WAY OF ESCAPE, that you may be able to bear it'.

Here's to the completion of my essay!

2007-03-18T21:52:00.000+08:00

Pictures of my NTU friends and I quite awhile back at Fish and Co. There was no special ocassion, we were just hungry..... haha. Well, having fish for dinner is quite healthy.

Dinner!

Kit and I (Gah.... I have eyebags.)

Some advice should any of you decide to go to Fish and Co. Don't order coriander, unless you're a super veggie fan. And don't order any soft drinks like the passion fruit in the tall glass (pic*) unless you like soda water. Other than that, the food is good!

*****

I went blading with Ruth today, with my new blades at East Coast Park. There really is a difference blading with rented skates and one's own skates. My feet didn't ache at all compared to the first three times using rented blades. And I could go faster without extra effort. I guess its because of the size of my wheels. 90mm. For those of you who are clueless, that's a super big wheel in the world of blading. Compared to Ruth's pair of blades, my smallest wheel at the front of my blade seems as big as her biggest wheel at the back of her blade.

Bigger wheels = more distance covered easily = faster = dangerous.

I nearly fell thrice because I was careless. Fortunately, I only fell once, landing on my front and not on my back. (Phew! Because the bruise on my butt is not fully healed.) We didn't cover much distance this time as there were alot of water breaks, not to mention shoe adjusting breaks... haha. But it was fun. (Ruth, let's blade after my exams are over!)

*Pictures I obtained from Leeshi regarding Kisaki, the boss of undercode. (Aka. Kiki to me, or Ki-sama to Leeshi.) Personally he's not my favourite Visual Kei rocker, but I've got nothing against Kisaki because without him, there will probably be no Vidoll around. So presenting ...

The Boss himself: Kisaki (The money making machine of Visual Kei)

Leeshi thinks Kiki is one of the greatest Visual Kei rockers in Japan. In a way, she's right. Kiki is good at making money. Kiki is proves himself to be quite a capable CEO of undercode, a indie label for Visual Kei rockers. Kiki's band, Phantasmagoria seem to be doing well (Because Kiki probably spent a whole lot of effort and money to promote his band). For a guy who is under 40, he seems to be doing well.

But I just can't seem to agree with this:

NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! (*Faints)

He looks horrible in that school girl outfit!!!!!

If you think why do I have time to blog such absurdity, it's because I've managed to complete my Empire lit essay today. When I mean complete, I mean I've checked through my entire essay for things to correct. (I've actually finished everything yesterday, but there was this nagging feeling telling me to double check what I've written.) And so I've made some alterations. I just hope everything is okay.

I'm starting my planning on South Asian Lit Essay tonight. I really hope to complete the essay on Thursday. Wish me all the best.

2007-03-15T17:15:00.000+08:00

When one sits at a desk for too long, fussing over the completion of one's essay... comfort food, among other things, becomes absolutely essential to curb stress.... Guess what? I've been bingeing slightly these past few days and I haven't excercised at all this entire week!

Gasp* But Esther, won't you get fat?

Nope. Because I know the correct way to binge..... but before I go into the smart ways of snacking, here's a selection of what I have been eating and what I crave.

Old Chang Kee curry puff! Hardly anyone I know can resist the delicious curried potatoes with half an egg nestled among all the goodness.... I ate one of those yesterday.

Today's breakfast was not up to standard... in fact it got a little boring with the same old porridge with fish and vegetables (yawn*). There was hardly any interesting flavors at all. So I decided to spice up my lunch with a packet of Kettle Chips (Honey Mustard flavor) bought from 7eleven.

Le sigh! They are the best potato chips in the world.

Actually I requested my maid to buy a packet of Kettle Chips last week, but she's such a blur case because she bought the wrong brand. Thankfully, it was a good brand of sour cream Chips by Lays.

She bought the huge party packet.... I was overwhelmed by the quantity. So I didn't eat much at all. Expected, she wolfed down everything else... (No wonder she is so F..!)

Gah.... I happen to do research on my presentation about the conflicts in Britney Spears' life when I came across a picture of her eating a cupcake. Makes me feel like eating one too.

Sadly, there are no shops nearby my house selling cupcakes at all... All that's left is dinner, which will hopefully be in a hour's time.

(Now* Focus on your assignments!)

2007-03-14T18:36:00.000+08:00

Somehow much as I would like to admit it, assignments are becoming more challenging with every semester. This is the first time I'm juggling 4 literature modules, 2 CCAs and coaching jobs ALL AT THE SAME TIME. Well, as of last two weeks I'm not taking coaching jobs till the start of the holidays and since I've just obtained my Bronze Medallion, I probably would not swim as frequently for awhile. Toastmasters? Gah, we just had a meeting yesterday and fortunately I made the meeting end on time so I could dash home to complete my essays.

Yeah.... it's the essays that are altering my lifestyle. Expect me for the entire month of March to sit at my desk and churn out 4 wonderful essays. They had better be wonderful. Right now I am about 1/3 through my Empire Literature essay after 3 days of planning the thesis statement. This essay has to be handed in by next Tuesday during Empire literature class. And I have to squeeze in my presentation on Conflict next Monday evening.

Sometimes I feel like breaking down and quitting. But all of us know that's stupid. So no matter how 'sian' I feel about the entire month, I know everything will be done on time and I will be handing in quality homework. Jesus help me.

Yes. I feel much better already.... pursue on....

2007-03-10T13:31:00.000+08:00

Pics from CNY! I met up with my lifeguard friends for dinner at Seoul Garden Restaurant at Marina South, before we strolled along the River Hong bao bazaar.... Let the pictures speak for themselves....

The food! I was taught that one should coat such fried food with raw egg to reduce the 'heatiness' of the food. Ah Yang did the opposite. He coated the raw meat with egg before frying... hence... you see this:

We took lots of funny pictures at River HongBao while walking towards Raffles place; our final destination for the night being Lau Pat Sat market. It so happens that 3 of us were wearing red and three were wearing black. So matching right?

On our way to Raffles Place...

Moktar made us do lots of stupid but funny things.... like posing at the side of the main walkway where people were gawking at us.

This is my favourite pic.

There were some status depicting the lives of immigrant coolies in the olden days at the Singapore Riverside. They make really fine props.

Some more lame but funny stuff at the bridge....

Red versus Black... who's better????

No sun? Never mind... there's always the moon.

The guys were daring enough to climb up railings suspending the bridge. (Actually, it's not allowed by law.)

And finally, we reached Lau Pat Sat for our coffee.... By then it was 11pm and we were tired. So after slurping down our milo dinosaurs and our 'teh' (Milk tea) we left the place....

To you guys (Alwin, Andy, Sunny, Lufti, Ah yang, Ah how, Moktar, Darren) and girls (Eve and Bernie), it was really fun hanging out with you all.... Cya at training!!! Lol.

That's all for pictures..... Now regarding yesterday....

Woot! I passed my Bronze Medallion test yesterday night!

Throughout the whole evening, we were all so damm nervous because the examiner is very strict concerning what we know about the BM theory and practical. We were being sized up one by one on our performance, demonstrating to him how to:

-perform the hemliech manuveure on a chocking victim.
-do (FOAM: foreign obbstruction airway management), chest thrusts and clearing of the airway of an unconscious victim who has choked.
-Perform CPR (Cardio-pulmonary resucitation) on a dummy.
-Answer his four questions.

1) Describe the human circulatory system. (how does blood flow from the heart to the lungs and back). This involves all the complicated terms like (Semilunar valve, superior vena cava, aorta... etc.) I pored over this topic for one whole day!

2) What's the difference between CPR and FOAM? (I got this answer wrong). The correct answer is that for FOAM, the head-tilt-chin-lift has to be constantly repositioned in order to chear the casulty's airway.

3) Definition of acronyms like CPR, RICE (Rest, immobalisation, compression, elevation) and FOAM (I got that wrong too.)

4) What's the use of the diaphragm? (It completely slipped my mind!) The diaphragm is a mascular valve that helps the lungs breathe in air. (So logical right? Yet I can forget!)

The test goes like this, should any of us fail the theory section, we cannot go on to the practical session (Towing and the initiative test). Most of the guys were reduced to near misery after they've gone through theory with him. Thus it was amazing when he said only three of us were bordering on the line of failure, yet he has decided to be lenient enough to let us do our practical.

It was temporary relief... because I was in the first batch of 4 to perform towing in the water. It's not easy. The rescuer, fully clothed has reassure the victim at the other end of the 50m pool, strip off his clothes, and tie his shirt to his waist, before jumping into the water, at the same time. Once he reaches the victim, he has to tie his shirt round the victim's chest and tow the victim back.

Timing has to be less that 3 minutes. Or else one fails the entire test immediately.

Guess what?! All four of us passed the timing. Aaron came in 1st, followed by Edison, then me, and finally Andrew who hit 3 minutes exactly! (Phew!)

Next event was the chin-tow. Same thing. Rescuer has to swim to the other end and tow the struggling victim back. Half way, victim has to struggle in the water. Rescuer breaks free of the victim and reassures, before towing victim back.

Effing chin-tow. One of the hardest to perform because the examiner forbids any of our heads to go underwater. Fortunately there was no timing at all, because we were already struggling to manage each of our victim's weight on top of us. Bernie, my victim drank quite a bit of water.. sorry dear (Thanks for being my victim!)

We had no problems with deep water resucitation and the initiative test.... though the examiner found fault with Ah Yang and Andy (two selected to represent the whole group for initiative test) because their rescue methods were not agreeable to the examiner.

But ultimately, he passed us all! Praise God! I wouldn't want to retake another BM test after skipping an oppotunity to do a camp job for synergy ($220) with Chrystella and Mel to accompany me.

I'm soooo sooooo sooo happy I passed!!!!! Yay... I'm now a certified lifeguard!!!

2007-03-07T23:04:00.000+08:00

YAYAYAYAYAY!!!!! I'm so happy! Botan YYH presented my blog with an award! This is the first time my blog is receiving an honor of any sort, something that I don't expect at all. So it is indeed a pleasant surprise. Maybe I should start presenting my own awards to my favourite sites as well? Hmm.... quite a feasible idea right?

(THANKS BOTAN YYH!!!! SLOVAKIA RULEZ!!!! ANIME RULEZ!!! HAHA!!!)

TATA!!! (*I've reduced the size to fit the post. Hope you don't mind.)

It's confirmed. My Bronze Medallion test is this Friday. Two days time! And I haven't gone through the whole book! Can I do it? Can I really do it? Oui, C'est possible et c'est tres tres tres facile! Vraiment!!!!! Believe in yourself.

Okay, at least I will pass my practical because I've nailed the timing for the 100m swim and tow in 2.47 mins (3 mins and beyond, you fail). All that's left is theory. The study of the human heart (E.g. Atrium, ventricle etc.), meaning of life saving acronyms (E.g. AAA, ECC, DRABC, SOS, etc.), CPR stuff etc....

I've got two days (Including the test day itself) Watch me perform wonders........ haha.

*Went to Great World City with Kevin today to watch a movie 'The pursuit of Happiness' starring Will Smith.

The movie highlights the downside of a guy named Garder, who stranded in dire financial straits till his wife left him, the government was onto his money and he, along with his son was kicked out of the apartment because he failed to pay the rent.

Meanwhile he took his chances with an internship at a famous stock brokers' firm and with a whole lot of determination, perseverance and desperation, he got selected to work with the company. He then went on to set up his own firm and became a millionaire etc....

The whole point is, after seeing him go through so many things (E.g. forced to spend the night at the toilet in the train station, forced to sleep in welfare homes, not complaining about a single thing to anyone even when he's so down, he didn't even protest when he had to lend his boss his last $5 for sudden taxi fare.

I didn't want to watch this movie at first. Because I knew I would cry. But this time I cried at the end, when I saw him attain happiness... I didn't cry during his suffering. Partly because he didn't cry as well, so in a way, I felt there was no excuse for me, as a viewer to weep over his situation.

I mean, if he can go through such terrible circumstances, live through it and prosper, why can't I? Myself, not having doors of oppotunity slammed in my face, why aren't I cherishing the chances and help offered?

Suddenly, doing my essays seem peanuts compared to what Garder went through. Yes, I may find it hard, but I know for sure it's not impossible when I use my brains. So, speaking to myself, Think, Esther! Just use your brains and think....

You've got a month to do 4 essays and 1 presentation. You can finish it on time without having to ask for an extension. Plus, you have DaddyGod to help you! So what the effing are you waiting for? Start working now!

Heehee....finally decided on my essay question for Empire Lit. Will be focusing on Kim, by Rudyard Kipling and Orientalism. Consulting Prof KC for the movie 2046 tomorrow before the South Asian Literature lecture. I am still thinking of what exactly to ask him.

*I need a new pillow... I've not been sleeping well with my old one.

And I fricking need a new phone. The phone battery from Motorola has major attitude problems because it refuses to charge. My Sony Ericsson phone is trustworthy still....

Bien.... Bonnuit!

2007-03-05T22:51:00.000+08:00

Found this new band with great music on my ipod (Alright, this is an old band, but they are new to me.)

Has anyone heard of Pashya?

Sorry if the picture is too small. That's the only good picture I could find because there's hardly any information about this Visual Kei band. Yujun loaded some of their songs onto my ipod and it was only today that I found time to listen to their compilation of 'Faint Locus'. (Thanks Yujun.) Its such a pity that Apple barred transferring music from the ipod into itunes, otherwise I would have uploaded their musical tracks on my MP3 Player.

This is the album cover (I think*)

Thanks to Niorai's introduction, I am intrigued by the beautiful artwork of Alichino manga, even though I have no idea what the manga is about. This is my favourite picture. (Credits to Niorai).

The guy is so handsome! (*Swoons)..... For once I don't mind guys having long hair, so long as they can look like him.

Today's activities; so-so..... typical Monday.

How ironic. I had to skip KC's class in order to complete my essay proposal on 2046 and yet when I decided to be a good girl by going to school for Dr. Khong's tutorial, I realized that her class was cancelled for the week. Gah! What a waste of travel time, $$ and energy. My concession pass expired today and I kept forgetting to tap the ez link machine when I alight from the bus. I think I spent close to $8 for transport alone. No wonder my friends who travel on adult fare love to complain. I don't blame them at all.

Surprisingly enough, I found enough time to watch Dream Girls at Kevin's house. Now the only reason that propelled me to watch that film was to find out whether Jennifer Hudson really deserved the Oscar for best supporting actress. My opinion was that she won because she sang really well in the musical film, and not because of her acting (rather mediocre to me... sorry). But her power vocals more than made up for her generic character. Okay, she was singing acting.... to be fair.

I handed up my proposal via email at 3pm after watching the movie. The delay was caused by none other than my procrastination, which was caused by the irritation from typing the citations page. Seriously, the bibliography can drive one crazy. I had to google for the correct MLA citations for film and I'm praying that my citations are okay. Because KC is very very picky about citations. I really think he'll throw his diva-ish tantrum if one spacing turns out wrong.

Sigh.... why did I take this module? A bit too late to question this issue, I know. In my email to him, I've requested to consult him about my essay on 2046. This time, I really need help because I don't have an exact focus for my essay, and what's tough about this module is that the essay has to relate to representations of Asia/ Asians in Hollywood. So that's it, I'm consulting KC Thursday morning. I'd better have something to show him by then.

Besides his essay, I have another 3 essays to go. Am planning to finish Empire Lit essay by next week latest because I have to concentrate on the upcoming Bronze Medallion test this Friday. So much work work work.... I'm amazed that I'm not tearing my hair out. (Thank God, He has taken care of everything for my sake.)

Anyway, I'm attending a talk about an exchange programme to France tomorrow at 2pm. This means that I have to forgo going for the Empire Literature class. But heck.... I really wanna go on exchange. I really miss France!

It's already 11:29 pm and I cannot allow myself to go to bed. I'm so effing hardworking huh....

2007-03-04T23:08:00.000+08:00

I'm taking a short break from doing my film proposal which is due tomorrow at 11.59am. Just polished off a whole box of mini-liquor cherry chocolates (10 of them altogether) because I thought very hard about what to write. My proposal by the way, is on Wong Kar Wai's film, 2046. If you asked me why did I choose this film, my answer to you would be because of its many layers of duplicity. So much to talk about. Yet I don't know where exactly to start. (*Pops another praline into mouth)

Whatever. Here are some screen shots of 2046. My favourites.

I watched a bit of Tsubasa Chronicles today and I can't help but think that Fai looks more and more like Sou Tamaki from Ouran Host Club.

(Left to right: Fai and Tamaki)

One is a fabulous wizard, the other is the handsome, rich and popular guy at Ouran High. They both have blonde hair, dreamy eyes and charming personalities that make girls swoon. Okay, Fai's hair is a more beige than blonde but who cares?

ファイ　と　たまき　が大好きです！！

2007-03-03T10:53:00.000+08:00

To Norai, Zoey Hanson, Botan YY and whoever that's interested, I've made my first button.

It's big, I know because it won't look good if its any smaller. Forgive me if the designing isn't up to your standards because I'm still learning. Zoey Hanson, sorry I do not know how to write out my icon link. So just take my icon from here, save it in your pictures and link it back to my site. Thanks!

(*This icon is from the Tsubasa Chronicles anime featuring Syaoran and Sakura.)

The picture drought has ended. Here are some pictures from last Saturday's joint BBQ between NTU TMC and NTU InspYre.

Our two presidents...

Ohh.....

At the shore...

Grilling chicken wings, hot dogs and garlic bread.

Who has the most beautiful feet (Or shoe?)

And the best foot belongs to...

Working with Lah's group for the motivational camp (Sec 4) at Y2 secondary from Wednesday to Friday brought me mixed feelings. I cannot but help compare this group with Synergy C. Both has its pros and cons. What I like about Synergy is the way they run their programmes. You can never get bored because they manage to engage the audience with simple messages.

With L's group, everything was haphazard. She got two people to run the programmes externally, one of which was a complete and total farce (That's what she told us). Here, the partimers all have to share the burden of running the camp. Whereas at Synergy C. it is the full timers who carry that heavy load. (pros and cons still).

I had an easier time at Synergy because all I had to do was to follow instructions. But I felt I learnt more at this latest camp because I was given the chance to do exam skills with the secondary 4s for 45 minutes. I had Melissa help me for my segment. Melissa is so RA-RA! She got everyone's attention with the simple game 'Catch me if you can', which perked everyone up for the study tips. And she helped me with highlighting points for the timetable.

Thanks Mel, I couldn't do it without you! Mel and I prayed before our segment to calm our nerves down and to ask for wisdom. So that we will not only garner the attention of the audience, but also to make sense to them.

Our programme was a success. Compared to the other programmes, we got the attention of most students, some of whom were diligently taking down notes. When we asked the students to answer our questions, we were also met with immediate sincere response. I got more than I asked for.

Why did I yak so much on this programme? It was because I only slept 4 hours at night since Wednesday. I was up editing my notes again and again and sending them to Lah for approval. That was how much work I've done. And I'm so dam happy that it was all worth it.

After our presentation, some students from 5A approached me asking whether they can have my notes. I said yes, but only if your H.O.D and my boss approves (Which they did). And so, the H.O.D quickly took my notes to the zapping machine and photocopied 200 plus copies for the whole sec 4 cohort.

It is Divine supernatural favour. Seriously. I was amazed and grateful beyond words though I cannot show it in front of them.

Those are my notes! Come to think of it, I really suck when it comes to planning my revision timetable when I was sec 4. And here I am now, teaching those sec 4s about exam planning! I guess God really changed me for the better.

Haha, this response from the students alone makes me so happy, it doesn't even matter whether if Lah pays me the minimum amount only ($180 for 3 days- pathetic / Synergy pays everyone $200 for a 3 day camp and we don't have to slog in planning).

But fortunately, she paid me $210 (Max $220- makes me wonder what didn't I do to make up that $10?) Yay! I'll be getting the MONEY on Monday from Chrystella.

Next Friday is my Bronze Medellion test and I haven't even read a single page from my textbook. And my essay questions keep staring at me from my desktop, telling me to stretch my brain and work it.

KC's proposal comes first. 2046.. try as you might, you can never escape the past that always elipses you.

2007-02-26T11:47:00.000+08:00

The one week break begins today. I've just finished doing my slides for the relationship talk on Thursday. Now all that's left is the planning for examination slides which has to be completed by today as well. I really hope all things will go well from Wednesday to Friday.

I had a good weekend. All the lifeguards were invited to KC's baby shower at Sengkang (Don't ask me why its so far) on Friday night. And I had a good time there.

We reached the venue around 10pm, which was late because we had training before that. KC didn't want us to contend with the leftovers from the buffet, so he ordered 8 pizzas from pizzahut for us all! We managed to stay past the closing time at the function room because we bribed the security guards with one fresh tandoori chicken pizza.

Of course, here are the pictures.

The Proud father KC with his wife / Lisa with her boyfriend.

Eating:

Group shots:

Saturday and Sunday was spent at East Coast Park. I went to the joint toastmasters (NTU TMC and NTU InspYre) BBQ at EastCoast Park on Saturday and to the lifeguard hut on Sunday. We played games like 'heart attack' and 'mafia' during the BBQ, both of which are really intense.

The game Mafia really expose your character as you strive to prove your innocence. (Those of you who know how to play, will understand). Incidentally, I along with 4 others, were selected at random to be the mafia. Our job is to kill off as many citizens as possible by voting them out of the game. Of course there are two doctors (capable of saving the 'murdered') and a spy (to fish us out).

The game continues till the number of people dwindles to about 5, before the game master declares which side wins (citizens or mafia). My team nearly won. Haha, although 3 'died' in the process of the game. I had to vote one member off in order to save myself. Sad. But its survival.

Because I did that, it did lessened other people's suspicions of me. Haha...I love this game!

And guess what happened on Sunday?!

I bought my ROLLER BLADES AT LAST!

Paid only $289 for the blades and limb guards (The strap comes free). But I only bought my blades after I bladed for 2 hours. Those lifeguards going for today's test were having their final revision yesterday at the hut. I joined them right after a sumptious and rather expensive lunch with Kevin and his parents at Lei Garden CHIJMES. (Thanks for the treat).

There, I helped Alwin and the brothers to wash the kayaks as well as getting rid of all fallen leaves clogging up the drains. After their lesson ended, we all did our different activities. Angelina, Sunny and the brothers went to play at the beach, Eve went running and I went blading with Darren.

This time round, I didn't fall as much but my fall was bad. We were going downslope and I happened to zoom down at a reckless speed, nearly slamming into the lampost and landed on my butt.

It was so painful, I winced tears out of my eyes. Later on, two bruises welled up on my butt and I could not sit properly for awhile. I went through torture yesterday night as my mother used Zambak to rub those two bruises on my butt. It was hell.

Thankfully, the bruises are hurting lesser today and I'm hoping they heal asap before the week is over. Other than the bruises, ...... I love love love my blades!!!!!!!!!!!

Gotta do my work now. Tata!

2007-02-22T11:50:00.000+08:00

Sorry for not updating. It's just that I've been busy during the CNY period visiting relatives and friends. Everything has been fun except for one misunderstanding, which I won't mention. Ang pow collection has surpassed previous years by a couple of hundreds, (okay, more than the average $500) but more than 3/4 of it will go into my long term savings account. Specifically, the joint account between my mother and I. I've finally realized the importance of saving one's money, because I never want to go with the feeling of lack again.

More money is coming in today because I will finally get my pay from Synergy Coaching. The boss has been really nice to transfer my salary to my bank account, and I will be expecting the sum to arrive by noon. I've already decided what to do with my pay. I guess most of you will know that I will be buying my roller blades this weekend. Gee* Can't wait to start this new hobby! I hope to roller blade from one destination to another. Anyone wanna join me?

(Pics from CNY will be coming up soon. I'm sorry for not having my own digital camera. You're always free to bless me with one.)

Let's see: I gotta plan my work schedule. Work refers also to my ASSignments as well. Dr. Scott has convienently posted essay questions (2000 words each) for South Asian Lit and Empire Lit at the same time and both are due a month away. Dr. KC's film proposal is due right after the one week break (2 pages), I have to give my project 5 speech at Monica's Club next Saturday and I haven't written down anything yet. My Bronxe Medallion test is in the middle of March and I haven't started studying at all! Plus, I have to plan two 1/2 hr to 1 hr programmes with two other people on relationships and examination planning.

Can I do the above???????? Hmm.... it might be ambitious, but I was thinking my load will be lightened by alot, if I finished one of the 2000 word essays before the one week break ends. Not bad eh?

Actually, I have to do it regardless of my ability. So.... DaddyGod, help me!

My plan: Things to do before the one week break is over in order of urgency.

1)Project 5 speech. Finish it by Saturday morning latest.

2) Planning for the two programmes, relationship and examination. (Why did I take on that job? Argh.... it's too late to complain.)

3) Watch the intended movie. Probably consult Dr. KC. Do that proposal. It's easy

4) Read 10 pages from the life saver's book everyday. (Note the section on CPR)

5) Essay planning. You know the question already. Hopefully you'll get it done by the end of the one week break.

It can be done well...

2007-02-15T09:59:00.000+08:00

Pictures at the airport: sending Yujun off. (Thanks Leeshi for the pictures!)

My my, they are all taller than me.... (Can't wait for Yujun to share her experience in Germany with us!)

And now back to business:

Prank calls around midnight (End of Valentine's day)... I shall censor my words this time.

I was soo pissed because a lovely Wednesday has almost been ruined with three stupid prank calls. The first call rang when I just got back home; I picked it up with the usual 'hello' and there was nothing but silence for around 5 seconds and I got the ruddest shock of my life from a male voice telling me to screw some guy's d**k.

Now under such circumstances, you're really grateful for the existence of the F word because the F word is meant to be unleashed onto wankers like these..... so I snapped back at the wanker '(Blank) off!' and slammed the phone, fuming mad.

Next call came when I was brushing teeth (just minutes later) and it woke my mother up. The same thing. My poor mother (Groggy with sleep) was stunned and wondered what on earth she did that earned her those sexual expletives.

That did it. Its too bad that we don't suscribe to caller ID in my home or else that wanker is dead meat. But fortunately there was a third call. The phone rang as I chatted with Charles over msn (Thus Charles, I appeared kind of distracted) and Kevin, over my handphone.

This time I kept silent, suspecting its the wanker. True enough, the first thing he said puts everything into perspective, 'Steph'.

Bingo! The wanker was none other than my sister's exboyfriend, Xtopher (You don't deserve to have 'Christ in your name). It has almost been a year since my sister broke up with him (For the good of them both) and he still hasn't gotten over it?!

Firmly, I told him,'Xtopher, Steph is not at home. She's in the hostel so stop bothering us or I will personally castrate you!' '

Okay, I know the last sentence was wayy out of line. But it was effective because he hung up immediately and did not call back.

Stephanie has changed her number a month back and the unfortunate recepient of those sms insults was my mother. Those insults were soo crude, I can't belive he would stoop so low to get back at her. I was right all along.

Beware smooth-talkers whose tongues drip with honey (aka. those guys who are very skilled in providing flattering comments about yourself and going 'IloveyouIloveyouIloveyou all the time, everytime (Too much of a good thing is not good), and waxes about love poetry 'You are the moon that reflects my love.... blah blah blah...)

Give me a break! Girls, especially those of you who attract these types of guys (Thank God I'm not one of them, somehow I attract the boring and stable ones), please! Walk away if you can't handle their sweet comments. Don't be like a stupid fly that gets stuck to a spider's web!

And to Xtopher, you are sooooo dead.

Today's stuff:

I have been asked to be the emcee for today's NTU/NIE Speech contest. It's a favour for Venkat and Wahyu who had been pushed to the brink with a hectic schedule ever since this thing started. If you asked me, this whole contest seemed more rushed than last year's mainly because of the dates. Everything has to wrap up before Chinese New Year, which begins this Saturday and so far, it's madness lah!

How mad? Even though I'm not really involved with the contest, (Only helped at the registration booth once) I had not eaten home cooked food for Monday and Tuesday dinners. Grilled chillied fish with Avocado has became the new dinner and footsball as the new exco-meetings' hobby. I remembered everyone looked very serious during discussion, till I thought we were discussing some sort of legal proceeding. And I've never seen Shreya look so stressed before.

There were also problems. Fear of the lack of contestants (A drain from last year's contest), problems with publicity and even the fear of calling the entire event off. As an observer, I was terrified already... can't believe the pressure Venkat and Wahyu went through.

But amazingly, they pulled through everything. Problems were solved. They had the preliminary rounds and selected the finalists. Now all that's left is tonight... and I am fricking nervous.

What to wear omg! Chrystella said formal. Means no jeans (groans*) and please slab on some makeup (We'll see). I have to meet Venkat at 12.30pm to be briefed of my role. So for tonight, please wish me all the best, to be able to engage the attention of the audience and end the contest on time.

2007-02-12T16:45:00.000+08:00

A reflection...

I've been feeling confused about a lot of things lately to the point of apprehension. Sometimes I wonder do I really deserve the life I have now? In a way, good things are happening after I started tithing consistently two months back. I've been receiving good job offers from different sources. A tuition agency just hired me to be one of their tutors for English. Heck, tuition is one area that I've never dared to step into. Why? Simply because of fear. Yes.

When I was younger I hated most of my teachers because they could not understand me. In a way, this fear has impaired my impartation skills and (if you call it) 'teaching abilities' for ages. I was fearful that I would hurt my pupils the same way my teachers hurt me.

No. I don't want that to happen. I can't let it happen. DaddyGod forbids it to happen! One of the reasons why I dare not step into tuition was because I feel myself responsible for whatever or whoever I'm committed to. Hello! Tuition is not merely dishing out 10 year series questions to the pupil. It's a student's life we're talking about. A person's life!

You may think that I'm taking things too seriously but it matters alot to me. One tutor literally changed the direction of my whole life and my whole perspective of life. That's how serious it is to me. In a way, she has been such a great role model (too great) for me to compare with. She's a really good teacher. Perfect. I thought no one can live up to her standard. Not even me.

That's why I went into waitressing. No hurts. Just smile and serve and fat tips come rolling into my pockets. Waitressing is better because you are not responsible for the customers after they leave the restaurant. And customers don't stay long; lunch probably about 45minutes... chitchat maybe half a day? But so what? So what if you know how to manage strangers on the surface if you can't relate to a person?

I think I've been hiding under a mask for too long because the edges of the mask has blended in with my face into a plastic smile. I feel the pain, I seriously do. But I'm rendered immobile; unable to break out from the numb emotionless surface to articulate what's really bothering me. And now with this offer to tuition secondary school kids, somehow, something scooted past my fear and I said 'yes' to the job.

What follows my msn nick is this phrase; 'Problems are my bread, I devour them'. I didn't put that phrase up because I achieved it. No, rather I would like, hope, want to see myself conquering my fears even though I don't really know what they specifically are.

What are my fears? They are merely anxious feeling condemning you to fail, keeping your latent abilities forever in bondage. To overcome fear, one must poke and tear away the frail membrane surrounding one's comfort zone, even though the membrane is connected to one's anxious feelings. And that's what I'm doing now.

It hurts. It fricking hurts. But I know once I'm out of this paranoid shizz, I have just stepped out of an eggshell of fear into God's blessings. I have nothing to lose. I was called by DaddyGod to win. Its a given. He will carry me through it all and when I look back I will see how faithful He is to me.

Sure, some of you skeptics may even say, 'yeah whatever'. Suits you. You are not helpless like I am. You don't need a God. But for me, I'm simply not as good as you. And the reason why I dared to step out of my cowardice is because Jesus has promised to look after me, in whatever I do, be it studying, or working.

Arrgh..... whatever it is.... the bottomline is that even in the best of circumstances, fear can cause you to be irrational in thought. But one thing I know, He has gone ahead and made the future good for me.

Oh yeah.... something totally irrelevant to the above:

1)I've just gotten my lifesaving 1,2,3 certificates and I'm taking my B.M. this March.

2)Went with Alwin, Angelina, Adrian and Darren to Cornerstone Wine bar on Saturday evening and it was there that I've discovered my alcohol limit; two and a half Heineken bottles before I kind of puked my guts out. (Not forgetting two instant mash potatoes from 7eleven that cotributed to the barfing.)

3) Yujun said hi to me over msn. She's feeling really happy in Germany now. (So much for crying at the Airport eh?)

4) Speech contest tomorrow. I'll be participating the the table topics section. Wish me all the best.

5) I'm going to finish reading 'The Buddha of Suburbia' by tonight in preparation for Brit-asian tmr. / And hopefully Midnight's Children before Wednesday.

..............................................................

2007-02-09T08:48:00.000+08:00

My life is one messy blur. NTU inspYre tries to rush things before Chinese New Year. Already the prelims for NTU/NIE speech contest are more or less over and we're having our Prepared Speech and Table topics contest next Tuesday. This will be my first time participating in the table topics contest and I really hope to win something (hee*) from speaking impromptu for two mins.

I went to the airport yesterday to send Yujun off on her ex-change trip to Germany. (Not fair, they have exchange programmes in polys now.) It was 8.15pm when I arrived and I was super tired because I did the impossible, travelling from Boon Lay to Changi airport. Two effing hours on the crowded train.... arrgh.... I sat on my plastic seat till my butt hurt. Anyway, Yujun didn't check in till 10pm, so there was still plenty of time for her to hang around with us.

Us, meaning Esther Hoon and Opal (Yujun's two close girl pals), Leeshi and I. Of course with these girls, cam-whoring is a must. But I don't have the photos at the moment.

When it was time for Yujun to check in, she started to cry..... I was momentarily stunned because I would be more than happy to go on an exchange programme for 3 months. Yujun's mother puts it this way; When it is time to come back to Singapore, Yujun will cry buckets again because she won't wanna leave Germany. Lol! Even though her fashion sense has changed, Yujun is still the same old emotional ..... umm... I wanted to say crybaby, but she cried less this time. Haha (No offense yeah?)

Anyway, dear Yujun, I hope you have a great time in Germany. If possible, I would like to embark on an exhange programme like yours.

I'm leaving for Orchard now. It's time to spend my $80 Kinokuniya voucher! Hmm... wonder what should I buy?

Have a nice weekend! (My weekend starts on Friday. Lol! )

2007-02-03T09:41:00.000+08:00

What does your drawing say about YOU?

The results of your analysis say:

You tend to pursue many different activities simultaneously. When misfortune does happen, it doesn't actually dishearten you all that much.
You are a direct and forthright person. You like to get to the core of the issue right away, with few signs of hesitation.
You like daydreaming and seeking out adventure.
You have a sunny, cheerful disposition.

Everyone around me has been falling sick. Kit had chicken pox, Zaidah had fever, Chrystella has slight fever, Mei has been sick, Zq suffered fatique combined with a dose of boredom from Empire lit on Tuesday, Vera, Bertram and recently, Helaine had fallen victim to flu.

.... am I the last one standing? Sigh.... get well soon my dear friends.

I think the reason why so many people fall sick has to do with the weather. Don't you realize that it has been freezing the last couple of days?

On Wednesday, my friends and I from Bronze Medellion class were shivering in our wet swimming wear as gusts of wind knifed our bodies. One guy called Lufti looked like a drug addict, huddling in one corner behind the pool platform with a shirt draped round him. For once we rather swim laps in the pool than practice CPR on land.

Thursday after school, I alighted at Clementi MRT purposefully, to check out some book at Big Book store. But I never got there because my attention was drawn to this eyebrow and face threading shop. Yeah, this was the shop interviewed by Life!, so I guess it has some credibility to its name. I thought, 'WTH, I may not be able to drop by Rupini's at Orchard Road anytime soon, why not give this new shop a try?'

This shop is bigger than Rupini's and had a row of seats for its customers. 7 people were already in front of me when I entered. And the owner, this Indian lady was the only staff on hand threading eyebrows. Gah, it will take a long time. But even before I has second thoughts about leaving, 5 more women joined the queue. And in a span of 10 minutes, the waiting line was further extended by 4 more ladies.

Wah.... good business sia... Eyebrow threading costs $5. Threading of the whole face costs $10. Partial threading of the face costs $8. Should she thread the eyebrows and face of 30 women that night (Which she probably have) earning would have shot up to $300 and more at least.

When my turn came, I opted for whole face. I also requested to keep my side burns and ...'eyebrows not too thin'.

Guess what?! She mistook whatever I've said by proceeding to rip off my side burns. OWwwwwwwww....... by then it was too late. One side was gone and I had to let her rip the other side in order not to look weird.

Thank goodness my eyebrows were not thinned till it became a marker line, but they also lost their 'arch' because the lady (I don't know what she did) 'straightened out my eyebrows to only a 'slight curve'.

What's more? SHe had the gall to charge me $15. Smiling at me, she said, 'eyebrows and face threading seperate'. So $5 + $10 = $15!

The end result? Passable....

I'm sticking to Rupini's next time. Better service, quality threading and shorter waiting time (I waited for 45 minutes! By then my stomach was growling for dinner and I forgoed the trip to Big bookshop.)

My mom has been nagging me to pack my desk for two weeks now, so before the comfortable messiness is all gone, here's one last look at order amongst disorder.

Yeah, to some of you, it may be considered neat. That's because I didn't take pictures of the sides of my desk; aka. my sister's desk. All my rubbish is there, simply because she's at hall most of the time and it makes a rather good dumping ground. But its too unsightly to even be posted up. Okay... rather it will portray me as an irresponsible person even though I clear my little dumping ground just before she gets back.

However messy, my desk has one beautiful little spot for my gloomy bear (New Year's gift from Charles.)

My earring rack is finally up! Bought it from Daiso for $2. (Duh, everything at Daiso sells for $2). I can't compare with Aliah and Zaidah though. They have more danglings earrings than me. Thus you see the bottom part is sparse becasue I don't have enough earrings to fill up the whole rack.

Sorry for such blur pictures. I'm saving up for a good digicam too.

Gotta go run some errands now. じゃ

2007-01-31T15:07:00.000+08:00

I haven't babbled about Anime and V Kei stuff for a long time, so here goes:

Everytime I go to Yujun and Yuchao's house, my lappy comes back with a whole lot of good stuff. I finally obtained the entire series of Blood+ (Except the last 2 episodes) from Yuchao as well as Blood; the last Vampire movie. The movie was only one hr long but it was really intense. It was because of Blood that spun out the successful anime series, Blood+.

Note the improvements of artwork in Blood+ compared to Blood. In Blood+, Saya looked more Japanese compared to Saya in Blood; I think its because they made her lips smaller.

Hmm... it looks like a poster with both pictures combined.

Yujun showed me how to organize my ipod in manual mode. Something which I didn't even think was possible. I didn't realize it was that easy lah! So embarrassing....

She also showed me Vidoll's latest concert on DVD as well as a video of Vidoll members having fun. For eg. Jui (Vocalist) doesn't like fried oyster, so Shun and Giru (guitarists) tried their hand at cooking fried oyster in the kitchen. I'm impressed that Shun and Giru can cook! And Shun looks sooo handsome even without V Kei makeup! He's really my type! Heehee. Yujun, burn a copy of their antics for me when you get back from Germany (Thx!)

Oh yeah. They tricked Jui into thinking that it was ___ don (usually the type of don would be stated, but in this case its a mystery don.) Looks super tasty (With egg and onions), but Jui only took one bite before he realized that it's fried oyster katsu and then he just had to spit it out (boo!) But Jui did admit that Shun's cooking was superbe! Heehee...

The cure Vidoll DVD show us how Giru put on his makeup and how did he get his hair done. (I want to print screen!) Seriously, he's better than most girls. His hand doesn't shake at all when he applies eyeliner. And he's so meticulous with the body crystals he places near his eye (using a tweezer). Giru has some good qualities too... Hmm...

One thing weird about V Kei magazines is that they have this date stimulation thingy; either in video or in a section of the magazine. You get to date your favoriet Visual Kei artiste. This time I got to go out with Tero (Drummer). Quite stupid. He is the only one on screen, talking to you. Then words will appear at the bottom of the screen. The viewer is suppose to speak those words out loud before Tero replies Gah! Quite lame! Can't believe Japanese girls find date stimulations exciting.

They even have one date stimulation with Kisaki! Urrgh! (Leeshi think otherwise.)

Rame (bassist) is the cutest. For those of you who don't know, in all V Kei bands, there will be one who dresses up as a 'girl'. So Rame, the 'chio bu' of the band, has a mission to work in a maid cafe for one day. He looks soo funny in his rabbit lolita french maid costume trying his best to draw a mayonaise cat on his customer's food. Lol..... (Yujun... you gotta print screen!!!!!)

News that Vidoll (I love them), 12012 (I'm okay with them) and Phantasmangoria (I hate them) are leaving the Undercode label because their popularity has been increasing lately. There might even be a possibility that they will go major (I hope so.) I told Yujun that I will buy a Vidoll album should it show up in HMV. Here's an article about V.I.D, Vidoll's first complete album. Click here to find out more.

Vidoll has changed so much ever since Shun and Giru came. I'm glad they threw away the gory image that taken on by new V Kei bands in order to attract attention. The only thing I missed about the old Vidoll were the previous guitarists, Yukine and Hide because they were fun people as well. But I think I can get used to Shun and even Giru. Vidoll's present image is by far the best, although I feel that Jui would look better without feathers in his hair.

Here's an artwork of Jui taken from Deviantart. Credits to Haru_in (hope I got that correct.) I picked this artwork because Jui is wearing his latest costume. Ahh... I simply love the color red.

I'll probably upload Vidoll songs in multiply soon. Haha, didn't expect I will like them as much as Sid.

Am listening to Orion by 12012. Cool song. I think I'm starting to like them too...

(All scans from Illness inoru- Yujun's site.)

Ciao for now.... am busy reading Sour Sweet by Timothy Mo.

2007-01-26T23:20:00.001+08:00

I've just thought of an idea for my project 5 speech. Hopefully it will materialize in my brain by the end of next week. Or else I will have to force the ideas out onto paper. Besides thinking about Toastmaster stuff, I still have to complete my readings for KC's module by Sunday latest. Oh yeah, I'm going over to Yujun's house on Sunday. That's the last time I can hang out with her before she jets off to Germany for an exchange programme. They have it in the polys too! So cool!

In this case, I'll probably have to go for first service alone, again in the overflow room, before meeting Yujun later in the day. Rest assure this will be the last time in quite awhile. I really missed joining my caregroup for service.

Glad that my dad was finally discharged from the hospital today at 1pm. He's got the weekend to rest before resuming work at his office on Monday. We're going swimming tomorrow morning again! The first time in 2 weeks. Now there's no excuse in waking up late and missing my morning swim because my dad is not only a light sleeper, but also an early riser, and everyone else has to rise with him.

My sister cut her hair short (ear length), into a bob today. She looks younger now. Hmm... its about time for me to do something about my hair too. I seriously need to highlight it. The roots have grown out way too much. My mum says that I better cut my hair before Chinese New Year at her friend's saloon. = 'Got discount mah.'

10th of Feb is such a popular day for activities. Campus is having the men and women's meeting from 10am to 5pm, an event which I definately will go. And my lifeguard friends have decided to chill at Cornerstone winebar in the late evening. And in between, I can go home to take a good solid nap before heading out again. Just nice. That Saturday is confirmed booked.

I'm counting the days to which I will get my pay from synergy. I simply can't wait to buy my roller blades! Things are in limbo regarding work at Synergy coaching. They have not given me a confirmation whether I'm with them as a permanent partimer. Its kind of frustrating because I don't know how to plan my Fridays. Oh well, I'm thankful that I have favor with coach Luke (one of the bosses) at least. I believe my job's intact, in Jesus' name.

Geez..... the Bronze medellion test looms ahead. By March I will be a certified lifeguard, when I pass the test.... and I haven't even started studying on hyperthemia and injuries a victim will suffer yet! Gah..... I know I'll pull through.

Lots of action on my multiply site. I am uploading my entire J Pop collection (or those songs I think are nice.) Plus some ballads from X Japan are next. I'm quite pissed because I can't find my Hillsong United CD. (CG, pray with me that the CD will be restored back to me! Or else I can't upload the tracks at all!) *Wails!

Yujun, do me a favour? I've just heard all the tracks from Vidoll's V.I.D and I love all of them! Can you send me the songs? (Including the bonus track avaliable only in CD B, if you have CD B at all.) Sorry that I forgot what's it called. Thanks in advance!

Lappy dear, be good and please don't ever lag! Okay? I'll cya in the morning when everything's complete! So for now.... good nite!

2007-01-24T19:48:00.000+08:00

Thank God for 3 day weeks. I managed to catch up on beauty sleep even though I seriouly overslept. I went to see my dad at the hospital today and am glad to know that he will most probably be discharged tomorrow! Yay.... its good because I could tell that he's damm bored, 'resting in bed' all day. He complained that the nurses scold him if he walks around too much, for fear of aggrivating his leg, and also about how uncomfortable his pillow is. I stayed and chat with him for almost 3 hours before I made my way to Kevin's house, best resort in Singapore to relax and read a book.

Yep, I've just finished reading 'A Pale View of Hills' by Kazou Ishiguro. I found it to be quite an enjoyable read actually. I know some of my friends disagree because according to them, this book pales in comparison to his other novels like 'Never let me go'. I can't comment about this because I haven't read his other books (Will get to it soon). In any case, it is a good piece of work from Ishiguro's younger days.

The Mentor-mentee chapter meeting yesterday was a success! Chrystell and Richa are geniuses. They had all the mentors and mentees (myself included) sitting in their respective groups. Each group was then given a topic to discuss and present later to everyone else. To prove that members do know something about each other, each member must tell the audience what the other fellow member feels about the subject. There was a prize, a box of Ferarro Rocher Chocolates, for the group with the most interesting presentation, and I was determine to win it. (Muahahaha*)

My group (Consisting of two guys, Tian Yi and Feng Ji plus myself) had to contend with this subject: How would you like your fiancee to propose to you / How would you like to be proposed to your fiancee? Hmm.. with such a hawt topic, how could we not add a little spice to it?

So we agreed. I would propose to my fiancee. Bringing him to Tatsuya at Crown Prince Hotel and order a huge platter of sushi. My fiancee would have to eat all of it, till he reaches the last piece (which of course, contains a slip of paper asking him to marry me.) Assuming he doesn't gobble the paper along with the sushi, he would unwrap the paper, read it, gush with joy and say yes! Of course he has to buy the damm ring lah!

Btw.... whatever I've said is NOT TRUE. So to whoever that's going to be my future fiancee... don't presume that you will get a big fat treat to Tatsuya at Crown Prince. Most likely, you will be paying the bill for whichever restaurant I visit. Understood? Anyway, I'm not really the kind who will swoon over a marriage proposal at a fancy restaurant. Nah... I want something better than that... though I haven't thought about this issue at all, much less the idea of marriage...Studies come first.

Tianyi's version is even better. He doesn't want any romantic crap. Just for his fiancee to march right up to him with a pre-nuptial contract, stating her expectations about the marriage. He will run through it, hopefully satisfied, and say 'Yes'. He will of course, buy her the ring.

Feng Ji is the traditional one. You know the usual... bring fiancee to Italian restaurant, flowers, candle light dinner, cellist playing in the background, and then he pops the question. Awww...... Im sure any girl who is a sucker for romance will love it.

And... of course we won.

I understand that I've not been uploading music at my multiply site. So expect music to be uploaded within this week. Loads of it. That's about all for today... I'm going to play with Sugar (Kevin's cute West Highlander dog) now! TAta...

2007-01-22T23:46:00.000+08:00

Finally! My film presentation on 'Anna and the King of Siam' is out of the way. I admit for both Zaidah and myself that it was a fricking last minute job. We watched the film last Thursday and did not get down to the gist of it till yesterday, meeting at Marine Parade Library to discuss our points. We even called Dr. KC to have him confirm our points. Fortunately he said our points were valid, and there was nothing to fault. We then met online on msn to discuss our points and build up on our slide presentation and handout. It's amazing that I can drag my body out of bed around 7am because I slept around 3am. (Fortunately no dark rings at all!)

The presentation chugged along.... everyone said it was okay but I didn't know whether it was genuinely okay or they said that to console me. I really felt that I could have done better. I was close to stammering as I continued to ramble without being able to stop myself. What's worse was that the air-con in our seminar room was switched off early; during our presentation! What's up man?!

Everyone couldn't pay attention because they were busy fanning themselves in the stuffy room, which further trampled my morale. Gah.... this isn't the first time! The NTU admin people are damm stupid.

The Bronze medellion test is coming up. With the exception of tonight (Because I'm completely drained of energy), I've decided to steel myself into reading one chapter a day. Its a bummer that the test focuses more on theory instead of practical. Sigh... a few things to complete before the arrival of the weekend.

-My transcribing assignment from Church.
-Management of conflict tutorial (Discussion over msn again)
-Read 'A Pale view of Hills' by Saturday (Oh yeah...purchase the book.)

The Mentor mentee meeting for Toastmasters is tomorrow. Along with Tianyi, we are going to be the toastmasters of the evening (aka. hosts). I still don't know what to talk about but a good starting would be mentioning that Tianyi is my mentee. Well, let it be spontaneous for once. Its good to think on the spot and I need to get my drive up again as VPE. Otherwise I wouldn't last till June and attain my Competent Toastmaster (P10).

Tonight was the ex-co meeting, where we confirmed plans for tmr. As usual, our club tradition was to play table soccer after every meeting ends. By far, this round of table soccer is the best! We manage to stretch the span of one game to more than 5 minutes! And I am seriously improving my skills, managing to shoot the ball into my opponent's net from my goal. I did that thrice! Am I good or what? Chrystella, you're next to be trashed in table soccer! (Evil grin*) Kidding lah. We'll gang up against the guys okay?

That's it. My energy is spent. I need to sleep now...........ZZZzzzzzzz