cats-tivating

2008-10-03T02:56:00.010+08:00

botanic gardens.

There's this new place i'd recommend every one to. It's the Jacob Ballas Children's Garden, located just beside the NUS Bukit Timah Campus. I think it's a great place for the kids--to explore and learn new things at the same time. For me, i like it for its serenity on weekdays.

Went there with someone on children's day.
Boy, was there a whole bunch of kids running around.

This boy is super cute. He has this cow backpack with a long rope attached to it which his dad uses like a leash on him. So he's getting pulled around, and i think he enjoys it. Haha.

And before i knew it, i got a leash too. =/

Poo-ing position. =X

Oh, this pair of lovey-dovey birds.

Kissing and playing with each other so happily until....

...the third party came along. o.0

Emo tortise. Haha!

Kids' maze.

The next place i wanna explore is the Southern Ridges. Woot.
Okay, hurry up with your essay already... =(

2008-10-03T02:31:00.009+08:00

rach's housewarming. :)

As for me and my House, We will serve the LORD.

It's very encouraging to witness how different a family can be when God is at the center. I'm still believing God for a change in my family.

rach's mum Rita and dad Ricky. The three Rs.

Rach made these! Blueberry cheesecake.
And they taste great. I love cheese!

Random. Left to right (clockwise): Corinna, Flor, Weiling, Rach's mum, Sherwyn, Serene.

YP1!

See what they do to me... *Sobs*

Sisters!

Brothers!

Pray that the Lord will continue the great work He's started in Rach's family. Bless them greatly, that they may be a blessing to others. :)

2008-09-19T17:15:00.009+08:00

updates. finally.

Sorry for not updating.
Just don't feel like it. =X

In place of words are a series of photos I took recently. For fun, and for assignments.

lanterns outside a temple at chinatown.

old man selling tissue.

another old man.

the forever sleeping cat.

beautiful clouds.

project mate weiliang and haji lane.

lines.

in a fast paced city.

oh, stop it.

Did i say I just don't feel like writing?

2008-09-19T17:14:00.001+08:00

I have a new blog!

It's for a photography module that i'm taking this semester. Check it out! And please leave your comments!!!

:))

2008-08-25T02:28:00.014+08:00

Haven't been posting many photos recently.
Miss them? Haha.

Here. All the unpublished photos, all in one post.

My neighbourhood's filled with stray cats, if you haven't noticed.

My hand looks gigantic. You know why?

It's a kitten! It's only the size of my foot!

Sodagreen concert @ max pavilion.

It was very good.
Qingfeng (lead singer) was in a good mood and crapped a lot.

青峰：每次我來新加坡我都很受不了新加坡人到處都講英語。雖然我的英語不是很好，但是點菜時我偏偏要用英語點，就不信他們聽不懂我講的英語。

青峰：(to waiter, with accent) I want one Yang Chou Fried Rice.
Waiter: (imitates accent) Oh, Yang Chou Fried Rice.
青峰：(with accent again) Yes.
Waiter: (turns and shouts) 來一盤揚洲炒飯！
青峰：... ...

Volunteered at ISEA 2008. International Symposium of Electronic Art.

This particular art piece is a water touchpad. There are words projected from underneath a tank of water. Dip your finger in and hover over a word and the projector will display quotes or images related to that word. So cool!

Ellson's bday last thursday 21/8.

Went chomp chomp @ serangoon gardens.
Drank the usual sugar cane + lemon. uber big mug.

florence with her ching chow. uber big mug too.

food: notice money lying around.

liquid kitchen thereafter.

JUMP concert!

Random photo found.
Behind-the-scenes of "I am_____." Talent Show.

filming: notice red highlights.

Met up with dehui just now. It's been a long time since i've last caught up with her. We went to Shokudo @ Citylink.

LEFT: (mine) shitake + fish cake + tomato soup pasta.
RIGHT: (dehui's) soft shell crab pasta + mushroom soup (i think).

dehui + me. :)

ending off with sth silly...

;)

2008-08-19T14:46:00.003+08:00

It's my second unofficial day in school and boy am I feeling the heat!

Attended one of my favoritest lesson today early in the morning, at NINE a.m.! Online Journalism is the class. And behold, there are only seven people in the class, including me.

The class plunged right into business and by the end of the class, I've already submitted my first assignment: my resume and application letter. That's how fast things went!

And due next week is the first article. I've done planning what I intend to write, and have started sending out emails and messages requesting for interviews. (Things are getting exciting around here!)

And due some weeks later is another assignment I'm pretty geared up for. We're to follow a manual laborer for several hours and observe how he/she works. Better too if we get our hands dirty! It's something I'd never do if given a choice. But I think it'll be valuable experience and possibly a life-changing one too.

Only the second day of school and i'm feeling the heat already. Looking forward to what God can do in this sem!

Oh yea! I tried frying beehoon for the first time!

And this is how is looks like. lol!

Greater incentives to learn frying beehoon because i really LOVE eating it! I ate it for ONE WHOLE YEAR back in secondary school. *gasps!* Yupps. But seriously, this tastes good for a first-timer. =DD I still remember craving for fried beehoon and being disappointed because the hawker near my place only sells them in the morning. I can foresee many beehoon days to come. Whee!

(Quite a nothing-much-to-read post. But still. =))

2008-08-17T21:57:00.003+08:00

woohoo.

Really sorry for not updating. Many things has been happening, but really didn't have the time and mood to blog.

I had been really busy over the past three weeks plus, helping out with the uni ESS, which just ended yesterday 16/08.

Really thank God that ESS went smoothly. It was such a mega production. The publicity team had to come up with EIGHT videos!! And the programming had to come up with a 40mins long script!! We really relied on God's strength, wisdom and grace.

God's grace IS enough.

Another crazy thing that happened was meeting manmi up EVERYDAY. Up till today, we have been meeting up consecutively for 22 days!

It IS madness!

Manmi was from the programming team (mm side). But the mm people were under publicity. So we worked together to do both publicity and programming (mm). Because of the crazily tight schedule, we had to meet up EVERY DAY! From planning to script writing to filming to editing to rehearsing.

Working together closely for over the past three weeks, it really felt like we've been working together for forever. There were some striking similarities between us. From the brand of pen we use (lol!), to our personality (phleg-mel), to our crankiness (need i explain?).

*notice the difference in eye sizes. LOL.*

Maybe because of her crankiness my drama-ism was magnified. lol. (Trying to find excuse.) Anyways, it was really really fun working together with her. Even though the schedule was uber tight, it was made much more enjoyable because of her.

Really thank God that we had this opportunity to serve God together. Pray that even after ess we'll still continue to share lives together.

AHHHH. I'll really miss seeing you every day. *shy* Remember our movie date ya? And you may please start tagging on my tagboard. Lol!

2008-08-07T00:32:00.002+08:00

it has been EONS since i last blogged.
i'm surprised you're still here.
obviously i don't care much about viewership.

nm3223 digital imaging and photography.
nm4211 online journalism.
pl1101e intro to psychology.
lsm1304 microbes, environment and man.
pc1327 science of music.

the list of modules i'm taking this sem. so exciting~!! a lil apprehensive about online journalism though. will be writing for the campus observer and workload's a total of EIGHT articles. 0.0 God bless me. thanks.

take care everyone! =)

2008-07-13T02:30:00.009+08:00

Went down to Huili and Joanne's convo on thursday night.
Basically convocation's like a graduation ceremony.
And yes, they've have graduated!! Woot!

don't ask me why i did a collage of myself at their convo. =X

(Top)Left to right: kimchun, eugene, joanne, huili, jan, flince, yeuann.
(Bottom)Left to right: florence, me, huili, joanne, sherwyn, weiling.

photographer requested for a group huggg.
we were imagining our group hug photo appearing on "Welcome to NUS" brochures.

YP1! =)

i wonder what were we talking about.
weiling looks bored. hee.

the true star of the day, huili's nephew, Elliot!
he was glued to the laptop until he met balloon.
and huili was acting harry potter. lol!

and he was the center of attention. or rather, the balloon.

the typical throw-hat stun. ORD loh!
can feel their happiness in graduating. anticipation for the future.

i can't wait to graduate too! XD

2008-07-13T01:22:00.002+08:00

Am cooking as i type.
Hungry cuz i din have dinner before going to gary's concert.

This post is not about how well gary sang at the concert.
Nor is it about how fair gary was when he took off his shirt onstage.

Nonetheless, this post may sound quite bias. Even offensive.
But this is truly my self-reflection on my way home from the concert.

My ticket was a complimentary one. Meaning it's free.

I didn't buy a ticket simply because i had no money. And i'm not really that crazy over gary. Not like what some of you may have perceived me to be. But well, since it's free, might as well go. (kiasu singaporean)

During the concert, some parts were visually stimulating. At certain points, i still got blown away by gary's voice. But mostly, i sat there and thought, "What's next?"

As novelty wears off, i was left yearning for something more. Don't get me wrong, gary's concert was good. Great, in fact. But somehow, it's not good enough.

I was on the bus with zann when i asked her if she felt empty after the concert. And she said yes. It's like there's something missing, she said. And i agreed totally.

I've just experienced what it meant to fill your heart up with something that just can't satisfy. Impressive but lacking in depth. Stimulating but ain't lasting. Good but ain't good enough.

I can't help but to compare this with the late nights i've had with church friends. We weren't at some mega concert. Nor did we attend the most spectacular event of the year. We were just hanging out and doing the usual things. But every time i went home, there's a smile that lingers on. A joy that can't be described.

I can't help but also compare the friendships i've built. I had steamboat buffet with the gfc people on thursday. The food was great, but we were almost silent while eating. Someone commented that we're too focussed on our food. But in my heart i knew why no one was talking. There was nothing to talk about save gary-related topics. And food was just an excuse.

I didn't go KL for gary's concert. Instead i went KL for adults camp. On hindsight, there's just so much more meaning in the camp. It's not just about having fun. It's about sharing lives. It's about something eternal.

When my father passed away, it was my church friends whom i first cried in front of. Who stuck with me throughout. Who kept me company through the three days' wake. Who ate up most of the peanuts too. Who knew that even though i say i'm okay, i wasn't. And they were bold enough to tell me so.

I really couldn't help but compare. Gary ain't bad. And gfc ain't bad either. But there's just so much meaning and depth in loving God and his people that they pale in comparison.

2008-07-10T01:07:00.002+08:00

first YP1 photo!

left to right clockwise: weiling, huifang, xinying, sherwyn, serene, me, manmi (from yp2 =X), joanne, rachel, meiyun, florence.

It's the first time most of them are appearing on my blog. And if you haven't realized, it's a sisters cg! Have been spending quite a lot of time with them over the past few weeks. Building new relationships and learning to share life all over again. Every one's so open and ready to commit to one another.

I feel excited thinking about how much i can learn from them. Hugs YP1. :)

2008-07-08T00:57:00.002+08:00

Oh ya.

It's gratifying to see the artists i've been promoting/supporting over the past couple years achieve great results at the recent taiwan golden melody awards. Congrats to all.

Gary Chaw: Best Male Mandarin Singer.
Tanya Chua: Best Female Mandarin Singer.
Sodagreen: Best Band.

Well, i knew i had good taste. =X

2008-07-08T00:40:00.003+08:00

Had an ex-NUSA3 gathering last thursday.

It's always encouraging to see and hear how everyone's getting along each in our own arenas, yet all having the same God working within us. It's encouraging to know that even though we may be at different life stages, we ain't different all that much. The same Spirit runs through.

God is real, still.
I hope you know.

2008-07-07T23:53:00.002+08:00

watched this video yesterday.
intro-ed by nic.

It's about this 5 year-old girl who was born blind, but am able to play out any piece of music on the piano by ear. What struck me was not so much about her talent, but of her background.

This lil girl was adopted. No one knows why her natural parents left her, but one reasonable possibility could be because of her disability. And because they gave up on her too soon, they never came to discover their daughter's amazing talent. Their daughter's blindness blinded them from seeing the possibility of a miracle.

What is truly remarkable is her foster parents' willingness to accept the blind girl, and raise her up as their own. I'm sure they had other choices. Healthy orphans with no disabilities. Who can move and jump and play without aid. But they chose her. A couple with no obligations, no blood relations, they chose to accept her disability and to love her as their own. Wow.

It was only after they'd adopted her that they realised her God-given talent. I can imagine God smiling down at them, saying, "Surprise! You thought you knew, but I know better."

Indeed, God knew better. Being blind is one major disability. But it was precisely this disability that made her talent shine all the more beautiful. God specialises in turning our weaknesses into strengths. :)

2008-07-06T18:56:00.004+08:00

irony, colored.

All thanks to yizhong and his friend. *winks*

2008-06-27T12:38:00.002+08:00

random photo.

Will be away from 27/08 to 29/08 for another camp, yet again.

Cheers.

2008-06-26T01:28:00.005+08:00

first YP caregroup.
got to know the cg structure.
anticipation, expectation, fear.

it's a new start.

...and i saw this on cong's blog. OH. MY. GOSH.

~~ian, walmond, gideon, daniel, cong, jovin.~~

Though at that time you would've prolly thought they'd never grow up.
~~At least I thought I'd never grow up.~~
God and Time. They're truly amazing.

2008-06-26T00:19:00.003+08:00

Some more reviews.

Read this book.
My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult.

Thirteen year old Anna Fitzgerald brings her parents to court filing for medical emancipation, which means that Anna wants to make medical decisions independent of her parents. Why? Because she has been donating blood marrow, platelets, etc. to her dying sister Kate from the day she was born. Only this time round, it's her kidney. The thing is, Kate is not even in a condition well enough to receive this kidney. But their mum keeps pushing for it.

Should Anna be able to make her own decisions?

Author Jodi Picoult presents the story from different point of views--Anna, Mum, Dad, Lawyer, Guardian, Kate. In this way, the narrative forces the reader to view this issue from multiple angles. You feel Anna obligation and love for her sister. And you empathize with the mother's desire to save her daughter. At the end, you'd wonder what is the right solution. And if there is even one?

A drastic, sudden and tragic twist at the ending left me crying. I shudder at the amount of uncontrollability life presents. How many a times we thought we've had it in control, then only to realize we've lost it all.

Read it. It's good.

Watched this movie.
Kungfu Panda.

It's hilarious! A great chill-out comedy for everyone. Great directing and great voiceovers! Loved Jack Black totally. Loved the part when he was caught eating peaches. And when he tried so hard to get into the temple.

Being a Hollywood film on Chinese kungfu, it's interesting to note the many stereotypes embedded within. How the stairs to the temple extends forever unrealistically, how tapping a person at several random spots can seal/release their acupuncture points, the presence of mystic Dragon and stereotyped snake, monkey, tiger martial arts moves, etc.

And it's easy, even as a Chinese, to laugh these stereotypes off because the whole film is such a comedy. And I believe it was intended to play on such stereotypes in the first place.

Catch it if you haven't. There's always time and reason for de-stress. :)

2008-06-25T02:39:00.004+08:00

random doodling.

there's no photoshop on my laptop now it's reformatted.
editing photos using hp is so pathetic.

and rotate it.

nahs. still undone.

2008-06-25T00:01:00.003+08:00

my laptop's back!
my laptop's back!
my laptop's back!

thanks tons to nicholas who helped me send it for servicing!! :D

but i dun have anything else to blog about. writer's block whatever.
if you got time, please go to my spiritual blog, where i update more often. :)

2008-06-21T00:00:00.002+08:00

Made a trip down to the Neuroscience Clinic at NUH on monday. Seems rather daunting huh. It was, for me at least. I even imagined the worst. Brain scans, x-rays, and "Miss, I'm sorry you have a tumor."

But thank God in the end the doctor assured me it was just migraine. He gave me two months worth of preventive medicine and charged close to 100 bucks before subsidy.

It was a depressing trip nonetheless. I figured I'll get depression if I work there for even one day. Looking at the old, sick and handicapped, and looking at myself again made me feel like I'm one of them, or going to be. That it could be anyone.

But it was an eye-opener as well. It was my first visit anyway. The neurologist went through a series of activities with me, the same set Aya went through in "One Litre of Tears." Using my finger to touch my nose, then his finger, then my nose, then his finger again. Made me exert strength against his on my arms and legs. Made me walk in a straight line. Nope, nothing wrong with my brain. Not significantly at least.

The consultation was soon over. To my disappointment, there was no brain scans. I wished there was, so I could see what's in my head. The waiting time was long, though. Amounted to about 1hour. Will be back there again in two months. For now, that's all for my brain and it's crankiness.

2008-06-17T20:18:00.002+08:00

my laptop's sent for repair.
the fan's down, speaker's spoilt, touchpad's buttons can't click.

anyway, the thing is i won't be able to blog much until my laptop's back.

till then, take care everybody. :)

2008-06-13T01:26:00.013+08:00

This is a post specially dedicated to Teh Peng. :)

That fateful night. His sudden appearance.
And yes jiehui we see you...

His eyes' were still closed. And he couldn't even walk.

Soon, he became comfortable.

And this became his home.

He even found a friend.

One day, his eyes opened!

They grew bigger...

...and bigger!

Vision gave him power. He became hyperactive.

He peed a lot.

And decided to take his first independent leak on my bunk bed.

But he's still our favoritest cat. Ever.

Hearts. Chi Teh Peng ~~Hui~~.

2008-06-09T19:12:00.026+08:00

adults camp 2008.

(forgot to upload this photo on first publish!)

Adults camp was AMAZING! The people, the food, the accommodation, the teaching, the workshops, the praise and worship... Woot! I've learned so much from it (go read my wordpress!).

It's been quite long since i've done photo-intensive posts. This post is SUPER photo-intensive, i warn you.

For this camp, the tertiary group stuck together, mainly made up of the TSPT (Tertiary Service Planning Team) and the graduates. It amazing how we've bonded together over the past few days. Lame jokes, silly songs and childish games rocked our world. Lol.

Lunch stopover.

We were so hungry that me and huili started to imagine eating KFC and A&W on the bus and we got others hungry too! Lol! I was so hungry i gobbled up all the food and forgot to take photos! Whahaha.

Scenery outside the bus was made up of trees, trees, and more TREES.

Finally we arrived at Shah Alam Concorde Hotel and it's already time for dinner!

It's buffet style for all meals. I ate twice of what I usually do, and shitted twice the amount too! Whahahha.

Again i was busy eating and forgot to take photos. But this egg pudding is so pretty. And yummy too!

Whahhaha. My crazy buddy for the camp: Huili!

For the opening ceremony, every caregroup prepared a mascot and a banner to be showcased in a catwalk style. Every caregroup were so creative and they put in so much effort. It was heartwarming too see the adults group bond together for a event like this.

(The guy inside the robot suit is Guoxiong! Whahaha.)

And we met our long-time-no-see bros and sis. =)

Day two, there was a 5-hour slot entitled "ACTSperience KL." We had the freedom to roam around KL in attempt to accomplish certain tasks. Our group figured that winning the game wasn't important. What mattered was that we had fun. So we went about our way ~~and wound up having one of the least points~~. We even missed the scheduled coach back. But it was fun!

Indoor roller-coaster ride in Times Square, KL.

Those who went for the ride laid their burdens upon the remaining few, including me!

Roller-coaster~~~ Looked scary to me. I have a weak heart aye.

Back alley. Sunset.

On our way to dinner. Sunset, traffic jam.

We settled for zhi-cha along some small road.

Photographer Justin. He is professional.
I have so much to learn from him!

Food was okay. Oily though.. :/
Fellowship was better. :)

Check this out. Notice the pizza, sandwich and radio!

One thing that stuck me during this camp was how excellent the camp was. Firstly, we had personalized camp tags. Our names, cg, coach number and the workshops we were allocated were printed unto our camp tags. Wow. I shudder at the amount of effort that must have gone through this!

And the deco you saw above, it changed everyday! Every day there were different themes, and had different props to go along, mainly about what a cg can do together. I even remember seeing a guitar. Lol.

Anyway time flew and i didn't take many photos. On our way back to sg, me and huili talked and ate non-stop. We cleared 11 snack items and here's the evidence!

*Gasp!*

Erm. Speechless. Was trying to gather every one for a group photo.
Left to right: Serene, me, david chan, manmi, yenling.

Every one! Clockwise from left: Ellson, me, david, yenling, jan, justin, huili, xinying, joanne, abigail, theodore, serene, manmi.

The YP-to-be. =)

Adults camp was really awesome and i really missed the camp. The fellowship the laughter the food the bed the bathtub the praise and worship the workshops... Everything! I am looking forward to my new group! =D

2008-06-05T00:17:00.002+08:00

Will be away from 05/08/08 (thurs) to 08/06/08 (sun) for ADULTS CAMP.

Woot.

2008-05-31T02:37:00.002+08:00

my 10th blog. it's crazy i know.

Every blog serves a different purpose. This is a spiritual journal. Not that it can worship or transcend natural for that matter, but because it is a journal of my spiritual journey.

Christian to Christian; Heart to heart. I invite all fellow Christians to join me as i attempt to capture spiritual experiences in human words. And i pray we'll all last till the end.

2008-05-28T22:37:00.006+08:00

music. film. literature

i like this song. 雖然我願意 by 伍家輝

just watched these two films.

1. Taxi (1)

A French film about a highly skilled taxi driver (Daniel) and a cop (Emilien) with zero driving sense. Emilien hires Daniel to help in nabbing a trail of German bank robbers. Mechanically astonishing with a fun-witted plot and laced with French sensual humor, this film is well-deserving of a 8.5/10 rating. Trust me, it's good.

2. 童夢奇緣 (Wait 'til You're Older)

Starring Andy Lau, this film speaks of a boy who longs to grow up and run away from home. He blames his dad for killing his mum, and takes out his hatred upon Karen Mok who plays his step-mum. This film expounds the notion "growing up," going beyond the physical sense. Good acting, good plot, good moral story. Rating: 8/10

lastly, literature review.

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.

Based in Afghanistan, The Kite Runner relates the life of Amir; how he longed for his father's attention, his twisted relationship with childhood playmate/slave Hassan, and slips a glimpse of the oppressiveness of Taliban. A powerful debut, the emotional depth of the story will continue to haunt readers for long after.

2008-05-27T13:57:00.007+08:00

Sichuan vs Burma/Myanmar.

Channel 8 has just organized a charity program specially to raise funds for the Sichuan earthquake. If you've noticed, Sichuan news always came first, on tv news and on newspapers. The Sichuan earthquake has a wider coverage, with more images, videos, and articles. Most Singaporeans I know have been blogging and talking about the Sichuan earthquake and how it has claimed tens of thousands of lives.

What about Myanmar?

Some facts:
China's deathtoll: 65,000 (as of May 26)
Myanmar's deathtoll: 134,000 dead or missing (as of May 26)

China: open to international aid.
Myanmar: has been rejecting foreign aid. Has only agreed to let foreign aid in late last week. Will they keep to their word? History doubts it. UN says that only 1/4 of cyclone victims has received aid.

By "aid," it means this:
"One told us that the government's aid effort, praised in the state media as a rousing success, amounted to a choice of one small packet of noodles or one egg per family per day." Taken here.

Myanmar is one of the most closed-up countries in the world. The ruling military junta has been oppressive, even after the cyclone struck. Checkpoints prevented aid from reaching the worst-hit areas. In return for access, some aid workers have to bribe soldiers with their aid supply. Aid surrendered to soldiers have little possibility of reaching the victims.

Taken from New York Times, roads are lined with people hoping to be fed.

In areas hit by the cyclone, most victims are left to fend for themselves. They are expected to rebuild homes, roads, and basically their lives. Sometimes the junta would hire citizens to rebuild roads, and PAY them a packet of AID with World Food Program logo printed on them.

Amidst such a huge disaster, not mentioning the government's horrendous negligence, the ruling junta had the cheek to conduct a vote on the new Constitution which will "prolong their rule by, among other things, allotting 25 percent of parliamentary seats to the military" (taken here). Most citizens did not even see the ballots; they were marked out for them by those associated with the ruling junta.

While the citizens battle malnutrition, disease and shelter problems, the ruling junta remains concerned ONLY with securing political rule and showcasing to the world a facet of control.

We are witnessing a humanitarian crisis unfolding itself. As French ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert warned, “a true crime against humanity.” Are we going to remain nonchalant about it?

2008-05-27T00:36:00.003+08:00

I believe most of you would have heard about my father's passing.

Many thanks to all who came down over the past few days. Friends from youth, tertiary and adults. It felt like a personal reunion gathering. And thanks to zz and mau who helped inform and organize the coming downs.

Have been really busy over the past few days. Of waking up early and sleeping late. Pardon me if i hadn't replied your msgs. The days have been unimaginably long and dreadful--rituals were meaningless and sleep-inducing, and it's emotionally torturing the way you're expected to remain sad for seemingly forever. I want to move on already but tradition didn't allow me to.

The past few days were when i had spent the most amount of time with my family and relatives than all my life added together. It's like cny part two, only a sad version of it. We learned more about one another than we ever would. And i learned how lonely it would be to die without a family.

The amount of thoughts that ran through my mind over the past one week were so plentiful they could fill up a book. Possibly one like The Kite Runner which I have just done reading. And no, zz, it's not a picture book full of kites. Anyway, I have no idea where to start from and so i guess i'll skip the chunk of it.

You might not believe it but I don't have many memories of my father. Not many for me to look back and ponder over. What I remember is how he could clear his throat and spit a mouthful every time he exits from his car. That's how i'd know he's back. How, when i was really young, my father used to kiss me on my forehead before I sleep. I remember how stubby the hairs around his mouth felt. And that was about all the physical contact i ever got from him. We seldom talked. More so after our family got into a slump financially.

Yesterday I was talking to one of my cousins. She's a decade older than me, and have had a fun childhood--playing around with my other older cousins--something i have been deprived of. She have also seen grandmother, who had passed away when i was a year plus.

"Grandmother had always been worrying about (uncle Jimmy). He was very lazy, and grandmother worried if he could find a job, etc. Uncle Jack (my father), on the other hand, has always been working very hard all his life."

For the first time i realized how true that statement was.

Although my father didn't have an official religious belief, he has had many opportunities to know God. He was from a missionary school, attended church for a period of time, had relatives who tried to share the gospel to him before, and i had brought him to christmas service once or twice before on the basis that i was performing.

As he laid there in the hospital bed, i wonder if he prayed to God. The One he heard of decades ago in secondary school, and from the mouths of so many around him. I wonder if looming death made people more spiritual, in hope that they may live.

I havent been the best daughter to my father. But i know i have to learn to live with these regrets. His passing has brought our family closer together in an unwilling sense, and has burdened me with the task of sharing to my mother. Without my father around, my mother has grown emotionally reliant on me and my brother. I see where God is leading me towards, albeit my reluctance.

Taken from The Kite Runner (in Farsi):
Zendagi migzara, life goes on.

It has to, and it will.

2008-05-16T15:12:00.004+08:00

Will be away for uni camp from 16/5 (fri) to 19/5 (mon).

Till then, take care!
:)

2008-05-16T00:04:00.002+08:00

Semester II: 2007/08

It has been a strenuous one.
But as usual i've reaped much from it.
Learned dreamweaver, flash, video editing, scriptwriting and filming.

Learned journalism.
And one essential characteristic of journalists: boldness.

It's the first time I approached the nus administration and unashamedly request for interviews and statistics.

The first time I feel the privilege of being a journalist. People in high positions tend to pay attention to you. They might even be afraid of you, that you might write things that reflect them in a negative light. Interviewees are more willing to talk to you because they want to be heard.

And it's the first time i feel the power of journalism. Unveil administrative flaws, expose the nonchalance of people in power, giving a voice to the unheard.

Okay, i kinda overestimated the power of journalism. There are limitations too, on what can be written and what not. But throughout this semester, the more i write the articles, the more passionate i am for journalism. Which was why i was so excited and hyped up about the online newspaper.

Speaking of which, my lecturer has actually revealed to us something.

"My dear Oasis journalists,

Your lovely website is now online at http://linda.perry.net/nm3211/oasis (accessible
through the Projects page on the 3211 website). It is excellent work and scored an A. How
much of that numerical score you received depended on your peer evaluations and my
observations."

Woohoo! (And i think she's really proud of us!)
It has been a wonderful module, seriously. Heavy workload, but the end product is a total satisfaction. nm3211. Woot.

So that was how the last semester went.

2008-05-14T16:06:00.002+08:00

Every hols i'll get hyped up thinking about the amount of free time i have and what i can do/learn. And i'll come up with a list such as the one below. And the list has the potential to stretch on forever till eternity. Thus is the power of optimistic planning.

My Summer Plan 2008.

1. Find a job. Intern/part-time.
2. Learn shorthand.
3. Learn speed-typing.
4. Learn how to use a slr. (My bro agreed to lend me his. Yay!)
5. Watch tons of movies.
6. Read tons of books.
7. Read the news daily.
8. Exercise once/twice a week.
9. Find a publication to freelance for.
10. Maybe sign up for french/jap lessons at a community centre.

And of course not forgetting fellowshipping sessions, ktv sessions, and makan sessions. (I'm itching for alcohol actually.) Aside from all these it'll be good if i start reading up on financial planning. How to repay your uni loan in five years that kinda material. Or even How to find a man who would pay your debts. Just kidding.

Shorthand update.
So far i've been learning easyscript, one of the shorthand systems available. I find it tough to memorize all the rules (even though there are only a few of them.) And i also find it a lil tough to transcribe shorthand because the same shorthand can be used for several words. Perhaps i need more practice. For that, I intend to take down sermon notes in shorthand. So if you see me writing rubbish i'm actually trying shorthand.

Movies update.
Calling You
門徒
投名狀
無間道I
2046
The Godfather.
Taxi.
Please Teach Me English.
Sugar & Spice
Love of May
I Heart Huckabees.

Any movies to recommend? Remember storyline, cinematography.

So what are your plans for this holidays?

2008-05-14T00:40:00.003+08:00

Our Sweat and Blood.

This is how the website looks like!!
And here's the link!
http://linda.perry.net/nm3211/oasis/index.html
It is best viewed on Internet Explorer!

I've got four articles published!
ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR!!!

And i should stop exclaiming!!!

(And in case you're wondering.... here's the competition.)
http://linda.perry.net/nm3211/scoop/homepage/index.html
(I'm not comparing hor. =X)

2008-05-13T10:46:00.002+08:00

because i was tagged.

1) At what age do you wish to marry?
Maybe late 20s. maybe never.

2) What you want the most now?
Contentment.

3) Who is the person you trust the most?
God. Okay that's three persons.

4) Do you think you have enough confidence?
I have just enough confidence in God to get through life's demands.

5) If you have a dream to come true, what would it be?
Become a real journalist.

6) Do you believe in seeing a rainbow after the rain?
Er, that's scientific ain't it. If the water vapors and sunlight's in the right amount and direction, why not?

7) What is your goal for this year?
Get a job. Learn new things. Experience new peoples. Face new challenges.

8) Do you believe in eternal love?
Er, in God lor.

9) if you're allowed to change a thing, just 1 thing in your life, what would it be?
My family. But that's a gift from God. So ain't changing.

10) What feeling do you love the most?
The feeling of being loved.

11) What do you most fear?
To die with regrets.

12) What feeling do you hate the most?
Of being lonely. Not alone, but lonely. They're different.

13) Do you cherish every single friendship of yours?
I don't think so. Many a times i take people for granted.

14) Do you believe in love at first sight?
No. How can love, in its depth and meaning, be based solely on something as shallow as looks?

15) What do you think is the most important thing in your life?
Following God.

16) Who do you hope to be always there for you?
If they're there, they're there.

17) Who are your best friends?
Why does this sound like primary school autograph writing session.

18)Who cares for you the most?
I don't know. I don't have a weighing machine to weigh every one's care.

19)Which date you like the most?
None. They're all the same.

20) How are you feeling right now?
Nothing much. This questionnaire is boring.

2008-05-11T21:50:00.005+08:00

Hello.

It's been some time since i last blogged. So many things have happened since then that i have no idea where to start. Chi (teh peng) has opened her eyes and they're so big now. She has started walking too (and enjoys falling off tables.) She's with xinying for now but her cat ain't friendly with the newcomer. Anyone interested in adopting it, please contact xinying.

Exams are over and they went fine. Online newspaper's done too and i'm uber proud of it. In my humble opinion i think it trashed our competitors' and all those from the previous semesters. Will put up the link when it's published.

Johanna and Sherli flew off to Guangzhou and Chiangmai respectively. For internship and ocip. Will definitely miss their presence. Kez' flying off on tues too to Korea. I'll be heading overseas too. What a shame to be using that word since it's just gonna be st. john's island and shah alam. Nonetheless it's rest time still.

The heart is heavy because some things happened at home. Sometimes i wish i don't have to be that strong. I don't mind being pampered and childish yunno. I really don't. But i guess different people have different lives to live. And no matter what, life still goes on. How cliched.

I don't normally share the nitty-grits that go on in my life because they're plain boring. But when i do, it's usually because i have a point to make.

I was on my train the other day, on my way to church from city hall to somerset. A short trip, but i was blessed with a seat. Standing in front of me was an RGS girl with her male counterpart.

Throughout the however short train ride, the guy went on and on about how his rgs friend should be given a seat on the train. And it got worse after the rgs girl lost an empty seat to a small kid.

"You should be sitting you know. It's tiring to wake up at 6am for school and i doubt that kid has to wake up at 6am for school every day. I don't see why he should be given the seat and not you."

(Notes)
1. I just witnessed a small girl lose her footing and knock into a train pole in the morning. Her lips bled and thereafter people started giving up seats for her and her family.
2. It was a Saturday. I'd like to give them the benefit of doubt but i highly suspect the possibility of waking up for school at 6am on a weekend. In any case, you're still so young lah! Can't you tahan for a train ride for goodness sake?!
3. I couldn't help but link this whole incident to the "please, get out of my elite uncaring face" statement by another rgs girl. It may be a terribly unfair equation to make but this is called reputation yunno. I feel ashamed for having aspired to enter rgs when i was 11.
4. I wonder if the boy's from RI. Stereotyping to the max.

And so the boy went on and on and on and on about the woes of his friend not having a seat. I couldn't help but frown at him but apparently he was oblivious about my dismay. The next stop is Somerset and i have a nudging foreboding. I started looking around for pregnant women, old people, small kids to whom i may give up the seat to. But i found none.

Suddenly Singapore ain't aging anymore.

I gave in to how unfair life is. When i got up at my destination, i was 99% sure that the rgs girl took over my seat.

2008-04-28T22:38:00.007+08:00

We interrupt this program to bring you a breaking news.

A kitten has been spotted and "carelessly" adopted by Lee Huanyan and Kwee Yizhong, 10p.m. today. Named after an anime character "chi," the kitten is presumably one week old. It is still unable to open its eyes or clutch with its claws.

"Chi" rests peacefully on the hand of Tan Xinying.

The most urgent need, Tan Xinying said, is to find appropriate cat food. As the kitten doesn't know how to eat solid food, it has to be fed cat milk through a syringe. As it was past operating hours, Tan said she will head down to the nearby pet shop on Tuesday morning to buy the necessary items.

Being fragile and young, the kitten needs proper care and attention. Hence, another impending need, Lee raised, is to find a permanent owner for the kitten. Loo Bowen said his sister, who owns two cats, is a possible candidate.

The adoption of the kitten was an accident. Lee and Kwee were on their way to shower when they spotted the frail creature. Unaware of the consequences it may bring, Lee went up and touched it. According to Tan, a mother cat would rub her scent unto her kittens for recognition. And when she smells foreign scents from any one of her kittens, she would kill it.

Fearing that harm may come upon the kitten, Lee and Kwee immediately contacted Tan for assistance. Upon notice, Tan and Jalea Poon rushed down with a box to house the kitten.

For now, the kitten sleeps in peace, blessed with the love and care from many people at e1a. However, the kitten still needs an owner. Anyone who would like to adopt this kitten may contact Tan for more information.

2008-04-26T23:20:00.007+08:00

updates from e1a.

pardon my seeming obsession with mr. koh swee leong. it's just that he's sitting diagonally in front of me and always doing stuff that catches my attention. haha. these photos are just for fun lah!

sl printed a stack of notes on greyscale.
(so waste ink!)

sl hugging piggles to sleep. look at piggles!

awwwww~

well, most of the guys still refuse to call piggles by its official name. they still insist on airpork and porkchop and what not. haha

okay, besides piggles, sl has this other 'pillow' this sem. he wrapped his sweater up in a tee shuyi gave away and *tadah!* makeshift pillow. i think it looks more like a 包囊 that 書生 will carry and 上京城考狀元...

on second thought, it looks like a sack of loot robbed from a bank.

on third thought it actually looks like a wanton!

haha. okay, enough of kohsweeleong.

i bought a cactus recently.
cuz i'm the art editor of the online newspaper proj and i'm thinking of featuring a cactus as the banner for the newspaper. our newspaper's entitled "the oasis" you see.

cactus + carrie's not v encouraging note.
"Jesse dun be lazy and tired... gambatte...! Scary. :)"
(see, how encouraging is that? haha. but i see the heart lah..)
alarm clock brought from home. a prop for filming.

and i realized that i have quite a number of gadgets, for a IT idiot.

hor?

that's all for now. :)

2008-04-21T01:20:00.011+08:00

Update bah.

"A series of unexpected events" happened today.
Well, will elaborate further later.

This update is dedicated to you two lah.
Although i don't like to be rushed to update
cuz i feel a blog should be a personal journal anyway,
nonetheless i feel happy seeing tagggs.
And that my blog is not merely for personal indulgence. lol.

Okay. this dates back to friday Apr. 11 (AP Style. LOL.)
It was our last caregroup together before the SIM ppl leave to form a new cg.
So we got together for one last meal at kenny rogers at marina square.

the iconic angelic bulbs. remember this.

kiwi strawberry. the drink of the day.

quarter chix. mashed potato. corn muff. CHEESE MACARONI!!!

=)

Caregroup's not gonna be the same without carrie, kez, jesline and maurise ~~the joke~~. But we're still in the same unit and definitely will see one another around often.

May God greatly bless the SIM group. Amen.

Then on the next day Apr. 12 we had campus tour for some freshmen who might be entering nus this year. Glad to see jiahao, tracey and farah again. =)

After campus tour we headed down to ben+jerry's at the cathay.

love.

(i like fisheyes.)

mine. mango raspberry mousse. i think.

carrie+farah+jeff's. can't rmb what scoops, but that's caramel toppings.

mine part 2! (wahahha.) shared with maureen.
is chocolate fudge brownie or sth.
with carrie's fingers.

Okay, now back to the series of unexpected events that happened today.

(Background) It's reading week again and we're back camping at e1a and mugging. And i stayed over last night.

This afternoon i decided to had to buy some stuff and i grabbed my wallet and hp and left school. I thought it'll take just a couple of hours. Later i decided that i should head home and grab some essentials. Cuz i had so many things to bring to school i couldn't stuff everything into my bag last night. So i went home.

It was not until when i was in the lift that i realized something.

i did not have my house keys with me!

My keys were still in school cuz i didn't think i'd go home. And the worse that could happen happened. No one was at home.

So i had to loiter around till 4pm when my mum is due home. (Sian.)

It was blazing hot and i hadn't had lunch so i walked around my neighborhood in search for an air-conditioned dining area where i can sit at for about an hour.

I wound up at an italian restaurant, Finalement.
It's fine dining in the middle of heartlands.

I got reminded of what pastor jeff said during service on saturday.
Cuz i had a taste of how it's like ordering food with no idea how much the food costs, and boy the plate was big and food so small.

black pasta. $18. with prawns and scallops.
i'm okay with the price since it's something unique.

and then i had dessert.

this is love cake. $8. it's chocolate cake baked with chocolate sauce inside so the sauce oozes out when you poke inside. and there's around half a shot of hard liquor poured over and lit.

the surface of the chocolate cake is baked to crisp and when you poke inside the liquid chocolate sauce oozes out. wait for a moment and the liquor is absorbed and blended nicely into the cake and the sauce. fwah. it is good lah! made me high 3pm in the afternoon.

The chef's Italian (duh) and enjoys chatting with his customers with his Italian accent. He came over to my table and asked to see the photo which i took of the cake. He said he got a professional photographer to take photos of it but the flame didn't turn out well. Mine was better, he said, and joked that he should refer his photographer to me. Lol.

When i was about to leave it was the chef's turn to have his lunch fixed. Guess what it was? Boon tong kee chicken rice. Lol.

Okay anyway i got home packed my stuff and fell asleep until 9pm.
Now i'm back in school again and hope everything will go as planned tml.

For everything lost something else is gained in return.
For the hours i've lost today i gained a good meal and some rest.
And i'm not unhappy with neither.

Okay! Updated. Yay. It's 2:49a.m. now and i should start doing some work. Auvoir. :)

2008-04-17T16:42:00.002+08:00

Haven't been blogging, and no one dared to rush me into updating. Lol. The burdens' pretty much off my shoulders already. Allow me to have a tiny recap of my puny life in an establishment of hectic frenzy called NUS.

Taken from here.
Here is a list of assignments/projects waiting for me.
1. EL3254 group presentation + facilitation (45 mins long).
2. EL3254 group project (essay).
3. NM3211 biography rewrite.
4. NM3211 profile rewrite.
5. NM3211 feature article.
6. NM3211 meeting article.
7. NM3211 breaking news article.
8. NM3211 online newspaper art design + editing.
~~9. NM3208 mtv filming + editing.~~
10. NM3208 freeze time video assignment.
11. NM3208 portfolio.
12. NM3880A group presentation + essay.
13. PC1327 essay.
14. PC1327 midi composition.
15. PC1327 final test.

added.
~~16. NM3211 breaking news rewrite.~~
17. NM3211 feature rewrite.
18. NM3211 meeting story rewrite.
19. NM3211 exam.

Ta-dah!!
Just gotta complete the rest and i'll be ready to start mugging for exams! (Sounds like another trying period again though.) Anyways, this semester is almost over. And I know how much i'll miss this semester. As much as the workload killed me, i've learned a lot through this semester as well.

Will update more about my concluding views of this semester after everything's done. :)

2008-04-12T01:09:00.003+08:00

i replied you.
finally, you must've thought.

... as much as i imagine you sweeping me off my feet and flying me off to an isolated island to foreverness...

you know as much as i know
that it's just impossible.

strangely,
the thought of impossibility did not bring about sadness, but relief.

like that when Jesus hung on the cross,
calling out, "Father, into your hands i commit my spirit,"
and thereafter breathed His last.

the pain, the courage, the sense of relief.

...even though i know the amount of pain i'm going through shrivels in comparison to that of Jesus.

so, would you just let me be normal again?

2008-04-10T22:47:00.013+08:00

Because i haven't posted any photos for too long.

Today was a self-declared off-day. After handing in four assignments yesterday, the sense of accomplishment left me feeling far too elated for any serious work.

dinner at delifrance, beef meatballs spag.

There's a whole community of stray cats loitering around my estate. I'd stop and play with them sometimes. When i'm tired, when i feel down, or when they look lonely. I try to keep a can of cat food in my bag, for the undernourished.

i like cats possibly because i think my personality's very much like a cat.

(hello)

this was drawn some weeks ago during cg.
Carrie asked us to draw out factors that make us stressed.

1. Money. The thought of paying back my loan and living independently.
2. School work. My laptop is the epitome of school work.
3. Career. Sph news centre. *drools*

taken a few weeks ago when i isolated myself in one of the fishtanks in the library.

Random. Many construction workers around my area working on the circle line.

This cat is so pretty i camwhored it. It belongs to a malay family that stays on the first floor. Their cats usually roam around freely. Remember the cat that climbed the tree? Yupps, same family.

Cats enjoy people rubbing their foreheads.
I enjoy seeing it enjoy the rubbing action.

The end. :)

2008-04-08T23:02:00.003+08:00

My mum spent half a day frying hay bee hiam. Made the whole house stink.

I don't have particular inclinations to hay bee hiams, but apparently these people have.

It's a mtv they filmed for nm3208.
(That irritating time-consuming bad-teaching mod i'm taking now. heh.)

2008-04-07T23:54:00.002+08:00

I can feel a drastic uplifting of spirits within me.
(Lol at the choice of words. It's a linguist thing.)

Even though I still have some ten deadlines left, everything seems to be falling into place pretty well. Or at least pretty well if you consider work:time ratio.

I found myself smiling (for no reason) again.

But i shall skip the part on how my project mate pangsehed me to present an unfinished assignment today in class. (She was supposed to finish it up.) But well, I forgive her because she had gastric flu ~~and i intend to re-do the assignment individually anyway. =X~~

And i can't believe that my lecturer announced to the class my mid-term test results lah! I was on mc several weeks ago so i took the re-test. I was supposed to get it back from her today. But i didn't go lecture cuz i had tuition. Then zz and atticus sms-ed me after lecture telling me my results.

I was shocked lah!
Isn't it supposed to be a private thing?!
I feel so exposed lah!

And seriously i was half-expecting a fail-if-not-just-pass grade for that test cuz it was so difficult and i didn't study for it at all! The sheer thought of having my results announced to the class makes me wanna bury my head in the sand and D-I-E.

Well, thank God the results turned out to be presentable.

Walau heng ah~!!

So basically that's it for today.
Blog posts recently tend to lack the usual photos and life philosophies because, well, my mind's all crammed up with school work. Limited free memory space, yunno.

2008-04-07T00:18:00.002+08:00

Inspired by zz's blogpost,
I decided to come up with my own wishlist.

May sound horrifyingly self-centered.
But well, it's MY wishlist yunno.

1. I want to clear all my assignments + exams.
(Halfway through the ten assignments left.)
2. I want to go SHOPPING!
3. I want to intern at sph. Oh God, PLEASE!
4. I want a dslr.
5. I want to watch 第一誡 (shawn yue!)
6. I want to watch all the movies i bought recently!
7. I want to finish reading 樓下的房客
8. I want to start exercising again
9. I want to do have pretty nails! Mani+pedicure!!
10. I want to go refresh myself at adults camp at Malacca! (Spa!!)

Suddenly i feel v happy. Lol!
Looking forward to what's after school. :)

2008-04-07T00:16:00.001+08:00

All hail Nicholas Chan Tuck Meng for reviving my precious yet corrupted mp3s.

Arigato!

2008-04-05T23:18:00.002+08:00

i fell in love with this song all over again.

蘇打綠+張韶涵=籃眼睛

i so wanna go k this song lah!

and i got sore EYE cuz i wore contacts to sleep last night. =X
my bad, totally.

2008-04-03T23:03:00.003+08:00

i hate it when ppl say,
"It's normal. Everyone is busy rushing deadlines."

It simplifies and commonizes my agony.

But i find myself saying that to every one else. Because it is true. Most people, at least, are stressed up about all the upcoming deadlines.

Who am i to think that my agony is more superior?

But on another hand, i still cannot accept it that my mp3 file which recorded the entire meeting is corrupted and unreadable. Because of this i cannot start work on my meeting story, which is supposedly due tml.

(But i guess i can push it till next wed. =X)

But still...!!!

Of ALL files! Why must it be this ONE?!!

I've tried using mp3 repair tool but it can't fix it still.
Intend to go find some professional to help me out with this.

...$$$...

Have been spending quite a lot recently.
With a huge bulk of it on cab fees.
(Just today i spent about 40 bucks on cab.)

I dunno if i should blame it on my ill-discipline, or blame it on that i just have too much work to do that i've been staying up late lacking sleep and rushing here and there everyday from morning till night.

Well, if you can tell, i'm just ranting.
Letting off some steam so i wouldn't explode like Dr. Perry's mum's pressure cooker. Apparently it sent blackberries up her ceiling, and all over her walls. Because the valve meant to release steam is blocked up.

On a positive note, the thing about having a lot of things to do everyday--it makes me feel accomplished at the same time. Every day i lay on my bed (if i did) i know i've done my best for today. Did everything i can for today. It's time to gear up for tomorrow.

Did two interviews over the past two days.
It's quite a breakthrough for me. Learning how to approach interviewees. Learning what questions to ask, and how. Gathering the courage to approach big shots for interviews.

Journalists have to be bold.
Journalists have to be bold.

Another interview due tomorrow 830am.
Filming for the day.
And breaking news meeting tomorrow evening in school.

...WHOOSH~!!

It's the typical way how japanese who encourage themselves when they brace themselves for sth tough ahead. I like to mutter it to myself under my breath. Because I want to be strong. I have no time for tears and self-pity because they cannot change anything.

The end.

2008-04-01T12:06:00.002+08:00

Real name: How Jie Xi Jessie
Nicknames: How Jessie how?!!
Married: Nahs.
Male/Female: Female.
High School: Anderson Secondary School. (ASS)
College: NYJC
University: NUS

Short or long hair: Short.
Are you a healthy freak: Quite, with occasional indulgences.
Height: 1.66m
Do you have a crush on someone?: Infatuation bah. Quite long nv crush anyone le.
Do you like yourself?: Hmmm. It's a love-hate relationship.
Righty or lefty: Righty.

First...
Surgery: Er. When i was born--it was a caeserian.
Piercing: 3 on the left, 2 on the right.
Person you see in the morning: Dad, Mum, myself. Bro's off to work alr.
Award: I dun get many awards. Save a 3rd position for storytelling in primary school.
Sport you joined: NONE. Hoo.
Pet: Had a dog, bird, turtle, hamster, and some fishes. All gone with the wind.
Vacation: Indonesia.
Concert: Sodagreen. That's just last year.
First crush: Some cheena guy in primary school.

Currently...
Eating: Arts canteen Young Tau Foo. ROCKS!
Drinking: Plain cold water from water cooler.
Im about to: Study and do more work later.

your future...
want kids: Not sure. If i get married in the first place.
Want to get married: Late 20s i guess.
Careers in mind: Journalist.

which is better?
Lips or eyes?: Eyes.
Hugs or kisses: Hugs.
Shorter or taller: Taller than me please.
Romantic or spontaneous: Spontaneously romantic.
Sensitive or loud: Sometimes sensitive, sometimes crazy.
troublemaker or hesitant?: Neither? lol.

Have you ever...kissed a stranger: I doubt so.
Drank bubbles: Erm, who would?!
lost glasses/contacts: Lost my first pair of specs in primary school canteen.
ran away from home: Nope. Waiting for the day i can stay on my own.
liked someone younger: Nope. Not in the love-love sense.
liked someone older: Ya.
broke someone's heart: Ya. I can get quite insensitive.
Cried when someone died: When my dog died. That's considered 'someone' to me.

DO you believe in...
Yourself: I doubt myself more than i believe in myself.
Miracles: Yes.
Heaven: Yes.
Santa claus: Erm, you can be my Santa i wouldn't mind.
Magic: Mostly illusions, sometimes too dark to be talked about.
Angels: Yes.

Answer truthfully...
is there someone you want to be with right now? Nope?
do you believe in God? Yes.
Tag 5 people: Don't feel like tagging.

2008-03-30T03:50:00.005+08:00

A friend of mine recently accepted a job offer, paying her 1k per month for 6-day week as a kitchen assistant just because she has no experience in that field.

But because she has already accepted that offer, i have nothing to say to her. However, i do feel the urge to share about this to my other readers.

This thing called passion.

(Just let me side-track for a moment. I thank God i went to jc instead of poly. It was only after jc that i discover my field of passion. If i were to choose a course in poly at a tender 16 years old, i'd have almost definitely chosen a wrong course, one that i'd later realize i have no passion for.)

Now, back to this thing called passion.
There's nothing wrong with being passionate.
In fact it's good to be passionate about your job.
It gives you the drive, the motivation to be excellent, the dissatisfaction of not doing well.

But there is this other thing called wisdom.

This friend of mine wants to be a chef. But she has no relevant certificates and no experience in it. She went for an interview a few days ago, and was offered a 6-day week for 900 bucks (which later rose to 1k), including cpf.

Seriously, that pay is pathetic.
To me, the boss is obviously underpaying her on the excuse that she has no experience.

(Robert, this friend of mine who graduated from fass with honors strangely decided to take up a kitchen job as well and he got way higher than 1k per month! With lesser working hours too!)

My friend got nagged at by her parents for not entering a field related to her course of study, and for thinking of settling for such a low pay. She sulked for the next few days thinking that she's only worth 900 bucks.

And then my advice to her was...
to go for more job interviews at other restaurants.

There's more than one restaurant in singapore, and definitely more than one korean restaurant in singapore. Definitely there would be better job offers out there! If she can find a job with a better pay, she'd be able to both please her parents and pursue her passion as well.

And then later the next day she told me she accepted that job offer.
I almost flipped.

There are just so many things to look out for in a job.

Things like...
Career prospects -- where will this job take you to after one year?
Learning environment -- will the job allow you to learn more or will you remain as a veggie chopper for the next five years?
Pay -- at least it has to be reasonable.
Working environment -- how are the colleagues there? You'd have to face them every day for the next 1000 days!

There are just so many things to look out for in a job. To only go for one interview and settling for that first job offer (a lousy one at that) without giving other companies and even yourself another chance, to me is just stupidity.

Rants.

2008-03-30T03:08:00.009+08:00

bo: ahahaha!!!
so cute
you got a blogger's block?
let me give you a fantastic idea
u shd....................
suspense........................
blog about your blogger's block!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
wahahahahaha

... T-H-A-N-K-S... Bo...

Today (i.e. 29th March, Saturday) felt totally like a Sunday.
Primarily because there's NO church today.
For the first time since forever, I'm officially attending Sunday Service!

Okay, it's not exactly like I'm going over to the Adults' Group,
it's just that Tertiary Service is scheduled on Sunday, just for this week.
Strange huh.

Anyway... today i went sukisushi with sia.

Hearts sushi.

Well, they charged us for food wastages. (Bad example, don't learn!)

Seriously it's not bad!
But i have a pathetically small appetite so it's never worthwhile for me to buffet.

Feeling like a ballon after eating too much...
I contemplated going home, and ended up at hemisphere,
a cafe in OG building, right beside church!
See it's such a habit that i spend sat evening at orchard!

Floor windows overlooking Orchard Road.

Hemisphere is a nice, quiet cafe right in the middle of Orchard Road,
competing with established franchises like Starbucks and Coffeebean.

I enjoy it's simplicity, cozy-ness, and that there's no need to fight for seats and power points. (yes, there is wireless@sg.) They even offer free card and board games for customers to play with. But of course the variety available cannot be compared to settler's or mind's.

Alone. (yes, i do enjoy time alone.)

There's this mother-daughter couple
who sat on the couches right in front of me.
They played UNO, ate some sides, and chatted.
The girl's only about 8 years old.
As i watched them, i couldn't help but envy their closeness.
That they can simply sit around a table and enjoy each other's presence.

I couldn't remember any moments where i spend time alone with my mum.

And i jumped at my chair at around 730 cuz i thought i forgot to go tuition.
And then i realized...
It's Saturday.
Tuition's on Sunday.

And I laughed at myself.

I stayed till they closed.

2008-03-29T01:40:00.003+08:00

Had two filming sessions recently.
One for time-freeze assignment,
and another one for MTV assignment.
Both for the same module.

And after these two filming sessions, i am (forever) indebted to two persons.

Suanhui for the time-freeze filming, and zz for the mtv filming. Both of them kindly agreed to be my male leads in the videos, and i'm SO grateful to them!!! Seriously!

Because these few weeks have been killer weeks for us nus students. Projects, assignments, test, deadlines... everything's just piling up higher and higher. I REALLY appreciate them taking time out to help me! Thank you!!!

(feeling tempted to up a photo of suanhui to let you guys see how he looks like. but well, i'll spare him, and patrick. =p)

2008-03-29T01:18:00.006+08:00

Something interesting happened today. We were waiting for the 151 bus from school. It came, and it was the newer sort, specially designed for the handicapped and allows more standing area. It has this LCD screen that flashes short messages, and the message for today actually reads "Happy Deepavali."

Despite my vague knowledge on public holiday dates, I seriously doubt that Deepavali qualify as the most recent public holiday. (Shouldn't it be Valentine's Day? LOL) Anyway, some of us noticed that message, and aboard the bus, i dared yizhong to go up to the bus driver and tell him "Happy Deepavali."

After a short session of bargaining, the reward for accomplishing the dare is a double scope of New Zealand's All Natural Ice Cream at YIH.

And yizhong did it! After a while of contemplating and struggle though. He really went up to the bus driver and wished him "Happy Deepavali." The bus driver's expression, according to yizhong, was that he stared back wide-eyed and was lost for words. LOL!

Okay, one double-scope for yizhong then!

Anyway, dares are fun! Haha! I should start daring people and at the same time come up with an inexpensive reward! Haha!

Would you accept my dare?

2008-03-20T10:40:00.002+08:00

I know i haven't been blogging. I can't seem to find the time to do so.

Here is a list of assignments/projects waiting for me.
1. EL3254 group presentation + facilitation (45 mins long).
2. EL3254 group project (essay).
3. NM3211 biography rewrite.
4. NM3211 profile rewrite.
5. NM3211 feature article.
6. NM3211 meeting article.
7. NM3211 breaking news article.
8. NM3211 online newspaper art design + editing.
9. NM3208 mtv filming + editing.
10. NM3208 freeze time video assignment.
11. NM3208 portfolio.
12. NM3880A group presentation + essay.
13. PC1327 essay.
14. PC1327 midi composition.
15. PC1327 final test.

No wonder every one in class looked so glum yesterday.

2008-03-16T02:33:00.024+08:00

Got many photos to post....
Cuz i'm too lazy to upload them to facebook or anywhere else.
Feel free to rip photos off my blog, in general.
But credit me if you post them up somewhere else.

13th March, Thursday, at around 12mn...
Paper aeroplanes flew into my living room.
(I thought it was young boys playing around)
Until i took a look closer, and they say "Jesse! Look Outside!"
I smiled.

There they were, hiding outside my house.

Top-down: maurise, zz, carrie

And they surprised me!
They kinda look more like monsters. LOL.

(What's zz doing?)

It was really late. Last buses have left.
And i kindly offered them a place to sleep...

=X

內八!

Next is kuu-poon session on saturday with sia, dxx, joycee and WEN!
(I challenged wen to join us for kuu-poon sessions here, and she took it up. Hoohoo.)

My bday's on 13th march, and joycee's just one day after on 14th march. Both of us are long and slim, and and short hair. They always say we are like twins or sisters or what.

Sweet pretty pink balloons.

And they were for joycee. =)

Bought these balloons for her.

Reason being...
(1) No idea what else to get.
(2) We're both pisceans, so she should be a hopeless idealistic romantic too. Lol. (i'm quoting unreliable source here.)
(3) I like balloons. =X

Out-of-focus. (I dun have a clear photo.)

生日蛋糕自我毀滅上下集。

We couldn't get the lighter to work at first.
And halfway through the cake the lighter worked!

Erm, yea...

Wen and baby indian boy ONE.

Wen and baby indian boy TWO.

Wen and baby indian boy THREE.

Okay, finish. Bye bye...

Next is saturday after service with cg at istana park.

We played for a while, and then some of them (carrie, zz, maureen) sang a series of Gary + Sodagreen songs. Then it's cake and cutting it.

me and kezia. =)
(i din realise my bones protrude out so much.)

Throughout, maurise, the organizer, is in-charged of making sure we don't go overtime. Lol. So fierce. Tak-glam lah.

zz blowing bubbles! HAHAHHAHA. =X

Erm, the point of this photo is "pretty bubbles!"
The bubbles looks really pretty mah.

Okay, that's the end. Thanks to all who remembered my bday and did something about it. I'm surprised that so many ppl remembered, seriously, with the flooding of sms-es. For one, i personally don't have much talent in remembering bdays. So, i really appreciate what you guys did for me. Thank you!

2008-03-13T03:01:00.003+08:00

Convo.ONE

cong:
happy birthday!!!!
ur 22 HAHAHAHAA

me:
LOL
WHY YOU LAUGH SO HARD?!
22 lor...
=(((

cong:
lol
so old
hahaha

me:
WALAU!!!
HAHAHHAHA

Convo.TWO

atticus:
lucky got bo and zz do layout and graphics
haha
we scored pts there

bo:
i dint do much seriously
i farted alot tho

2008-03-13T01:30:00.021+08:00

an early bday.

So the story goes that i met up with sia for an early bday celebration. She has been planning something for the past one week or so already. And i promised i'd have zero expectations, so everything would be a pleasant surprise. Hee.

Went to meet sia after class. I sneaked up behind her while her surprise for me (dxx) appeared and i end up scaring the hell out of sia and spoiling the whole surprise myself. Lol. And she blushed! Wahahhaha!!

And the story continues that we were supposed to have a picnic. But it rained, as with most of my past birthdays, and we went kbox instead for an in-house picnic.

Here are photos of all the food sia prepared. Hoohoo.

And she knows i love sushi.
~~Tho the standard doesn't really match up but i'm touched nonetheless.~~ :)

Sushi part II.

Sushi part III.

Nuggets (obviously...)

Sandwiches, cuz dxx said what's a picnic without sandwiches? Lol.

Erm, this is a whole bunch of stir-fried stuff. I can't think of a name for it but it's quite good. Prawns, sotong, la-la, vegetables, and some others.

Fried rice. i love prawns!

Overall view. It's a lot of food!!!

Mysterious woman in the dark?
No prizes for guessing who this is tho. lol.

Surprise guest dxx. Her singing improved! :D

These were from dxx. Thank you!! :))

Giant cookie with letter "J" and a :)

More cookies. :)
They're really nice! Not as hard as what sia said. lol.
Maybe i've got stronger teeth! Wahaha.

And then these were from sia.

Chocolates! Cuz i eat chocolate when i'm down to make me feel happier. Hee.

Honey! *shy*

And the last one is super funny. i LOL-ed.

Mosquito coil! LOL. Cuz i kept getting mosquito bites nowadays. Itchy!!

Thanks sia for spending the day cooking and preparing everything. Sorry we didn't finish all the food. You know my tiny appetite. Thanks dxx for your cookies and your secret participation in this whole surprise. And thanks sia again for your lame but thoughtful gifts. Lol. Love you both! =D

2008-03-10T13:28:00.009+08:00

Updates.

i love kimchi! =D

Went to the IT fair on sunday. It was MAD crowded.

Got myself a 160gb portable harddisk (which came along with an ugly mouse) and a 1gb nano thumbdrive, ~~and got a free pen.~~

And me and sher li went to have a lil drink at Cable Car.
It's a pub opened by the same boss of ohsho,
and for that sher li gets discounts, so, yay!

me and my cookies n cream cocktail. tastes like baileys actually.

sher li's half-sexy straw-in-da-mouth with semi-fierce stare-in-the-eye plus raised eyebrow.

the "you look better in the mirror" photo, cropped.

:)

i can never get enough of fellowships over slight alcohols.

At mn we decided we should head home. Sher li went for the bill and found out that if we had 2nd rounds, it'd be on the house! (Courtesy of her generous japanese boss) ... !!! Argh, but it was mn already. It was really tempting tho, to stay for a 2nd round. Argh..

2008-03-08T04:11:00.002+08:00

sia + jesse's ABC.
(see how bo-liao we are)

A: Apple
B: Boy
C: Cat
D: Dog
E: Egg
F: (my gosh the f word)
G: GFC rocks
H: Howhow
I: Idiot
J: Jessehow
K: King (boring)
L: Leaf (boring)
M: Mushrooms
N: No mushrooms
O: OMGLETMEIN!
P: Peter Pan. (-.-)
Q: Q-cumber
R: ROAR.
S: Sexysia! (LOL)
T: Sichen (cuz Sichen is a T)
U is for you lor. (sounds mushy)
V: Very mushy
W: What
X: X-tra
Y: Yunno
Z: Zzzz... it's the end.

... dots...

2008-03-07T00:35:00.002+08:00

Why i post this ah?

If you leave a comment on this post:
1. I'll respond with something random about you
2. I'll challenge you to try something
3. I'll pick a color that I associate with you
4. I'll tell you something I like about you
5. I'll tell you my first/clearest memory of you
6. I'll tell you what animal you remind me of
7. I'll ask you something I've always wanted to ask you

2008-03-05T20:00:00.003+08:00

down down down.

Emotionally weak. And i know it's the result of my physical breakdown + mental fatigue. Rendering me unproductive and moody. Makes me wanna just lean on someone's shoulders and cry...

I don't cry alot. Just the feeling of wanting to cry (that sourish sensation lingering at your nose, your eyes, and your mouth/throat cavity) is enough, i don't need to actually cry out loud. Perhaps over the years my threshold of crying has increased. It takes more to make me cry, more than just pain, more than just discouragements, more than just pms.

I realized what a logical emoist I am. Whenever i feel down, i'd figure out the reason that caused it. I'll do whatever it takes to make me happier (by eating sashimi or chocolate), i'll spend time alone cuz i feel refreshed being alone, and i'll even allow myself some indulgence in emoism. And then i'll get over it, sometimes it takes a day, sometimes one whole week. (Over two weeks of emoism and it'll be termed depression.)

But i'm not sure if i've gotten over this mid-sem crisis.

Anyway, went to the docs this evening. Had migraine again, and it was quite serious. The first time i went to a private clinic near my place. It's called Chin Choo Clinic, and it reminds me of zz, ie. Choo Chin Tiong. =x

Doc's quite friendly, and gave me tons of medicine, possibly trying to give my money's worth. And i learned something new today. There's no such thing as being dependent on painkillers. So for those who have migraine/menstrual cramp, don't gei kiang, bear with the pain and end up unable to work for two days. Just take the medicine...

from the docs. mc + four different types of medicine.

2008-03-04T16:20:00.011+08:00

randoms.

snail. and SLIME.

Was on my home when i saw this cat up the tree.
I've never seen a cat on a tree before, so it was interesting to me.

And then i managed to catch the cat climbing down the tree. Haha!

The end of randomness.
(Sia cook finish dinner liao not?
i hungry liao. HAHAHHA.)

2008-03-03T18:32:00.003+08:00

personality.

Xinying kept asking everyone at hq today whether she's emo or not. And then i started to think about my own personality and erm, i can't remember what it was. Has been in a constant state of melancholy i start wondering if there are different sides to me.

So i went to do a personality test.

Results:
Your personality type is INTP.

Introverted (I) 68%	Extraverted (E) 32%
Intuitive (N) 59%	Sensing (S) 41%
Thinking (T) 65%	Feeling (F) 35%
Perceiving (P) 82%	Judging (J) 18%

Introverted iNtuitive Thinking Perceiving
by Joe Butt

INTPs are pensive, analytical folks. They may venture so deeply into thought as to seem detached, and often actually are oblivious to the world around them.

Precise about their descriptions, INTPs will often correct others (or be sorely tempted to) if the shade of meaning is a bit off. While annoying to the less concise, this fine discrimination ability gives INTPs so inclined a natural advantage as, for example, grammarians and linguists.

INTPs are relatively easy-going and amenable to almost anything until their principles are violated, about which they may become outspoken and inflexible. They prefer to return, however, to a reserved albeit benign ambiance, not wishing to make spectacles of themselves.

A major concern for INTPs is the haunting sense of impending failure. They spend considerable time second-guessing themselves. The open-endedness (from Perceiving) conjoined with the need for competence (NT) is expressed in a sense that one's conclusion may well be met by an equally plausible alternative solution, and that, after all, one may very well have overlooked some critical bit of data. An INTP arguing a point may very well be trying to convince himself as much as his opposition. In this way INTPs are markedly different from INTJs, who are much more confident in their competence and willing to act on their convictions.

Mathematics is a system where many INTPs love to play, similarly languages, computer systems--potentially any complex system. INTPs thrive on systems. Understanding, exploring, mastering, and manipulating systems can overtake the INTP's conscious thought. This fascination for logical wholes and their inner workings is often expressed in a detachment from the environment, a concentration where time is forgotten and extraneous stimuli are held at bay. Accomplishing a task or goal with this knowledge is secondary.

INTPs and Logic -- One of the tipoffs that a person is an INTP is her obsession with logical correctness. Errors are not often due to poor logic -- apparent faux pas in reasoning are usually a result of overlooking details or of incorrect context.

I remember doing this test in jc and vaguely remember getting similar results. I think it's very accurate? But i doubt anyone'll read through everything. Haha. So xinying are you emo?

2008-03-03T00:51:00.026+08:00

chawing 2008.

Gary was in sg recently.
Only one event this time round.
Loads of photos coming up.
But none of which with gary in person.
=x

No idea what we're doing part I.

sia is love. LOL.
failed natas fair's only 收穫.

gfc tee's chaw head.
gary chaw pls remember this is gfc tee okay?

i like this pic. sia take one.

zann, sia, me.

'
No idea what are we doing part II.

Grp pic. And my failed model pose.

notice three and a half gary chawsss.
(tiyo don't like to take photos...)

but i still managed to catch a pic! haha!

(O.S. by me) wwenss. rarely see her pic on my blog. hor. hello!

tiyo's obsession with me + sia.

Cookie monster part I.
(Reminds me of zhichun.)

Cookie monster part II.

superman ring. *tiu!*

Group pic.

joycee + me... ONE.

joycee + me... TWO.

sia's obsession with joycee.

hello joyceee!

recycling saves the earth.

emogal2008. need further explanation?

好美的天花板。
(讓我看得有些眼花花。)

Hello auntie. (She was waiting for us to finish taking photo.)

The end of photos.
Gary came and went, but one question remains.
Has he changed?
I guess the answer's obvious.
Is it significant? I don't know.

It's still fun chawing.

2008-02-21T00:49:00.002+08:00

How to not envy blissful couples?
Find all the faults you can with them!

The "Cosmopolitan" way of dealing with envy.

It's assumed that we all envy blissful couples and we all want the kind of relationships they have. Why can't we just be contented with who we are and what we have? Why can't we just be single? Why do singles tend to be viewed as unwanted and having no life?

Rants.

2008-02-19T18:12:00.005+08:00

e-learning rocks, totally.

but before that, here are some videos.

i made this using Adobe ImageReady.
But i have no idea how to save it as .gif so that it'll keep repeating itself.
Anyone knows?

next video is of my tuition kid.

She was preparing for a chinese show-and-tell session in school.

The title was "My Favorite Toy."
These are her lines...
嗨，我叫天恩。
我最喜歡的玩具是ｐｏｏｃｈｉｅ。
它是一隻狗。
我常常帶著它。
我愛它。

Ya lah, i edited her lines. But she's a filippino learning mandarin leh. Must 體諒體諒...

Anyway, this week's e-learning week for cnm students.
Communications and New Media, fyi.

So i haven't been to school much.
(And i enjoy that freedom really.)
But well, today i went to school, and i had a shocking discovery!

What happened was... everyone were dying to get into the computer centre today. But they couldn't get in cuz the card reader denied them access. A notice stated that the lab is closed for e-learning for the whole week. So everyone stared into the empty computer lab (with 40+++ idle desktops) and wondered what's this whole "e-learning" about?!

Guanrui: The computers doing e-learning themselves ah?

LOL!!

Well, it took me a few hours to realize that...
ThinkLab, Level 3 Computer Centre Building,
has been closed and reserved for cnm students (ME) for e-learning!

!!!

If you have no idea of the extent of this move...
cnm is a relatively small department in arts,
thinklab is somewhere in the biggest faculty--engineering.
and cnm has our own lab yunno.
(we 不削 thinklab cuz our own lab is better equipped! =X)
BUT they actually CLOSED the WHOLE LAB for US!!!
It's some 40++ desktops (& 2 printers & 1 photocopier) YUNNO?!

O.O

I am truly flattered by this move.
I am SO PROUD to be a cnm student.

And so the evening ended with my nm3880a project group having project meet in an empty yet fully air-conditioned room with 40++ idle desktops around us. We talked and laughed and did silly things hoping there isn't a cctv hiding around somewhere.

And my personal feedback...
Can we have e-learning month?

2008-02-15T16:00:00.031+08:00

vday*08

This whole post is centralised.
I don't like it but it's tedious to change. =x

This is jalea's rose, not mine. I just found it really pretty.

Introducing... Edmund Lee (Emily). He's my model of the day.

This is what the sisters did for the brothers.
An imitation of their macho jersey.
With their names and birthdate.

Tadah! This was jersey-giving-out ceremony part II.
I wasn't there for part I. Project meeting~~

Singles' night out 2008.
Due to some last minute changes,
we went to Kenny Rogers @ Suntec City instead.

They wanted to split us up...
but thank God they were kind enough to reserve a "vip room" for us.
So we could all have our dinner around one longg table.

My dinner.
It's 1/2 a chix + 2 side dishes (pasta salad + macaroni cheese)
+ soup + a muffin. Wait, let me show you the muffin...

Muffins!
I like the chicken, i like the muffin, and i LOVE macaroni cheeeeese~!!
It SO CHEEESY~!! (pun unintended) LOL.

Pretty lights. They have angel wings on them.

Caught in the act! =x
Lol. Nahs, they're with us too.

There's a huge bookshelf that separates us from the rest of the diners.

For quick bucks and part-time endorsement projects,
please visit http://let-me-endorse-it.com.sg

Xinying and jalea spent considerable amount of time teaching yz how to smile.
The end result is... 陽光男孩, 燦爛~!!!

Reflections. You can see the longg table that seated us, the huge bookshelf,
the lights, and the photo frames with famous people we don't know.

Yunno, i have a relatively small appetite.
And there's no way i can finish half a chix.
So i donated 1/4 chix to still-not-full males scavenging for food.
I shall not mention names.

Anyway, the story goes that
they realized the innermost parts of this 1/4 chix looks uncooked!
Out of pure curiosity and as a matter of testing
if KR practices GEMS, the guys went to report their findings
and see if they can get a new piece of chix.
((Are they really THAT HUNGRY?!! Oh, it's for RESEARCH... Ya ya...))

And they did give us a new piece!
And it's thigh meat in place of breast meat!!

And as you can see, in chronological order...

Before: raw chix

After: brand new chix

Post-after: the image is too gruesome for description.

To end off...

Group photo (random) one.

Group photo two.

Group photo three.
Left clockwise: Guanzhen, Liyi, Hongtao, Jiankai, Yz,
Ian, Jalea, Xy, me, Jasmine, Calyn, Guanrui, Joe.

Who says singles are lonely?
Thanks to all who came and made this singles' night such a lot of fun.
And thanks joe for helping to coordinate! :)

P.S: Msn me if you want the original photos.

2008-02-15T00:52:00.000+08:00

This question came to me.
And i would like to hear from you.

A personal quiz.
Would you be kind enough to answer this simple question?

"Jesse is a simple person. Yes/No?"

Please cast your votes at the vizu poll on the right margin.
Thank you. :)

2008-02-13T10:26:00.002+08:00

cuz it's in the air anyway.

It's Valentine's Day again. When the attached species will flood the school corridors, library, streets, restaurants, cinemas... you get the idea. When there are roses selling everywhere, but none of them for you. When you end up calling your mum and asking if she's cooking tonight.

What's vday to us singles?

Come celebrate friendship and singlehood with us
at the Singles' Night Out '08. We'll be heading down to
Sunset Way for some alfresco dining under the stars.
RSVP to me. And help spread the word around! :)

2008-02-12T22:26:00.000+08:00

cny's repercussions.

i don't give much about cny. It comes and goes. Just smile, eat your pineapple tarts and appear engrossed in television programs repeated from last year's cny.

But cny eve i realised i have no nothing to wear. So 意思意思 bought a RED blouse.

So say cny repercussions.
i ATE TOO MUCH.
The tubs and tubs of cny goodies have chemically transformed themselves into fats and physically hinged themselves onto my biological being.

Hence i'm declaring a mild diet starting from now.
Don't tempt me no more!

2008-02-09T23:28:00.000+08:00

Happy Anniversary.

Valentine's Services have always been especially significant to me. Not because i enjoy kpo-ing on the love stories of whoever preaching. But because nine years ago, on Valentine's Service, i rededicated my life back to God.

It is my love story with God.

My personality does not render me much potential to be a good Christian. I lose interest easily and lack perseverance. I'm self-centered, not sociable, and too independent for community life. To pick up Christianity like any other hobby such as learning ballet or piano or baking, i would've dropped out long ago.

For this reason, it's indeed God's grace that sustains me.

It's been some time since i last cried before God. Floating about in a state of stagnancy, God's grace and love doesn't seem that real anymore. But today, God really touched me during worship. The lyrics articulated of my relationship with God. Images of the past flooded my mind, and i simply stand in humility before God, of His grace lavished out upon me.

I still believe that Your grace is enough for me.

Happy 9th Anniversary, God.

2008-02-09T02:59:00.000+08:00

Ever felt like a fraud?

Often i'd feel like i'm not good enough.
Like everyone's staring at me.
Waiting to evaluate everything i do.
I'm expected to know THIS much.
But do i really know enough...
...am i even good enough...
to meet up with all these expectations?

When will i err?
When will i be exposed?
And everyone realize that i'm not as good as it seems.

The Impostor Syndrome.
At least it's clinically proven that i'm not alone.

2008-02-08T23:21:00.000+08:00

Nothing to blog about recently.
Tad lazy too.

i censored the convo. lol. no why.

HEADACHE!

2008-02-08T01:32:00.000+08:00

Saw this at sher li's blog.

Well-known as they are, celebrities are just human beings afterall.

2008-02-04T23:56:00.000+08:00

Hello.

I'm blogging cuz someone's going off somewhere tml, and tadah here's one post for you before you go. Actually it's just a lot of photos. Quite self-explanatory and I'm lazy to do captions.

We went to far east plaza. Take photos for my assignment. =X
Thanks for your help yo!

Ok lah. Shuai lah, shuai lah.

"對不起, 小姐, 這裡不能拍照..."
Oops.

Erm, faster go msia, faster come back hor. Bye bye.

2008-02-03T02:02:00.000+08:00

I LOVE THIS.

thanks sia for pasting the link.

And here's for all who enjoy going buff.
And making use of mentally disabled women is simply WRONG.

2008-01-30T23:45:00.000+08:00

I wonder how many of my readers are following the presidential elections in America. If you read main newspapers online, you'd come across statements like "XXX Editorial Board endorses Clinton," or "Senator XXX endorses Obama."

Even though the US elections doesn't concern me directly, it's a personal satisfaction to see Bush stepping down as the president. Just when it's starting to feel like Bush is going to be the president of the United States forever... there's hope!

So, I'm proud to announce that
fluff-my-fur.blogspot.com endorses
Hilary Clinton.

(As if anyone cares!) ~~And it's kinda an obliged thing cuz I'm female afterall.~~ But seriously, no matter whether clinton or obama gets elected, it's gonna be a historical moment for America.

So now, it's time to sit back, relax and watch show.

2008-01-29T12:00:00.000+08:00

i am a youtubist.

When Google Map gets too close...

2008-01-29T01:02:00.000+08:00

Another late night.

Finished a poster for nm3208 yesterday.

Resume and letter of application due on wednesday.
Here i am, taking a break, and blogging.

It's not exactly a break really.
Because blogging can be tiring too.
Recently i've been re-evaluating my purposes for blogging.
This is, you know, the longest blog i've ever kept.

(At this juncture, a COCKROACH flew unto the sofa, landing beside where i was sitting and scared the hell out of me.)

Anyway, it's been four weeks into the new year already. And it's been hectic thus far. Coping with school, church, friends, tuition, and many many assignments, each of them requiring 100% of my attention. I wish i can decide the number of hours i have each day. I wish and i can only wish. Nowadays, I give thanks every time before i sleep. Simply because i still have time to sleep.

Well, i just need to settle myself in, and find a way to cope with all these.

A quick update about school.

nm3208: is designing content for new media. An extension of the module i took last semester which requires me to do a lot of drawing and designing, if you still remember. It's a 100% CA module, with no final exams. It's a xiong module, but it's definitely gonna be a rewarding one.

The first group project would be to film a mtv. The song has to be original, and the mtv has to be narrative in nature. This thursday, I'll be attending a course on video recording. Hope to learn video editing later on too.

nm3880A: zz's 2nd favorite module. =x It's about copyright and new media. Taking it too with bowen and atticus. And we're all from nyjc! Anyway, besides being an IT-idiot, the lecturer is loads of fun, energy and laughter, all so to spice up the night lecture.

Today after lecture, we took the same bus home together! Me, zz, bowen and our lecturer! We talked about the s377A repeal, about how different US and Sg are, and about some other random stuff that i can't remember. I enjoy listening to her, cuz she's very entertaining, and has many experiences to share.

nm3211: news reporting and editing. The title speaks for itself. For group project. we're supposed to publish an online newspaper for NUS as a tutorial group. For this, we have to write a resume, and apply for a position in the newspaper. I'm gonna apply for the Art Editor position. And then we'll have to start sourcing for news in NUS and write articles subsequently. If we're good enough, we may get published for real and let the whole wide NUS read our newspaper.

...which reminds me...
that i have to write one Breaking News article this semester.
No specified deadline.
I just need one breaking news in NUS.

The definition of a breaking news:
An unforeseen event that is important and relevant to readers, i.e. the students in NUS.

For example,
the change in S/U options last semester,
and (did you hear?) there was a death on campus last week.

These are breaking news, and I NEED ONE!!!

Hence if you do hear of such BREAKING NEWS in NUS, please... pleease... PLEEASE~~!!! let me know! Take me as a paparazzi, or a nosy-pig i don't care! I want news!!!

Okay, I guess you get the idea.

So, this was school for me so far.
Tiring, but i learned much.
You're commendable too, if you managed to read everything right up to this concluding paragraph. For that, i love you. *Muacks!* (How conditional can my love get?)
Anyway, that's all for today.
Goodbye people, and hello resume.

2008-01-26T23:57:00.000+08:00

i have yet to blog about this very significant event that will remain significant for quite some time. (I drafted this out a long time ago, and actually forgot about it!)

Well, i was unwilling to blog about this because i feel that it would be a very wordy post. Lacking in visual attractiveness and so perhaps making it boring. And thus undermining its significance to me. (Imagine reporting the 911 incident without any supporting photographs. How credible would that be?)

Nonetheless.

It was 3rd Dec 2007.

I'd been looking forward to that day ever since my exams ended.

It was the SPH Tea Session.

...
It was april 2003. I was fresh in jc1, looking forward to seeing my first three months gp tutor mr lawrence again. I thought he looked like my fav deejay daniel ong. To my horror, he was no longer my gp tutor. In place of him was a then-stranger, mr halim.

Never had i expected this man to have influenced me so much. He made me realize the extent of mass media's power, and how naive i had been. Because of him i joined and loved debate. And it was then i realized that my passion wasn't in the sciences, nor in the arts, but it was really in language, and the power of language as a tool of communication.

Since then, i wanted to be a journalist.
...

So back to the tea session. It was catered for graduating jc/poly students, and undergraduates who might want a scholarship from SPH.

I went to find out more about journalism, how SPH works, and in hope of meeting some real journalists.

A couple of stuff i brought home that day, ~~besides the goodie bag.~~

ONE: More knowledge on how sph works, practically.

It made my adrenaline rush.
The phrase "That's exactly the kind of career i want!" ringed through my ears.

But at the same time, my hands turned cold.
"Am i ready for it?"
"Would they want me?"
"Can i live up to their expectations?"
Statements of insecurity, of inferiority, of doubt.

Then i realized.
There are SO MUCH to be done, in preparation to be a professional journalist.
Desire alone is just not enough.

TWO: Sharing by journalists.

He, particularly, impacted me a lot.
And he is Ng Tze Yong, from "The New Paper".
His passion for journalism. His initiative to do freelancing overseas. And the principles he live by. After chatting with him, I found out that he is learning or has learned Arabic as a foreign language. That is one tough language to learn! But foreign languages will always come in handy for journalists working overseas. That made me wanna brush up on my French!

War Junkies.
Ng shared with us about "war junkies". Every time a war breaks out in some part of the world, thousands of journalists book air tickets and fly there asap.

It's a rat race. Be the first to report about the war, have your pictures and your story out first, and you become famous overnight.

But the key is "connections". You have your photos, you have your story, but who do you send them to?

Most of these war junkies are actually unemployed. Precisely because they are unemployed, they resort to doing such radical things.

The sad thing is, war zones are dangerous places. Many unknown yet aspiring journalists die in their quests. No one really cares. It's a whole rat race.

The thing about being in a war zone, it pumps your adrenaline right.
You see helpless sickly bloody dying people.
You live in real-time danger.
You see hundreds, probably thousands of dead bodies lying before your eyes, and you are never the same again.

It's this adrenaline rush that makes it so difficult to return home, lie down on soft cottony beds, sip ice cappuccino and pretend that nothing has happened.

And it is this adrenaline rush that causes these war junkies to keep looking out for new war zones. Once another war breaks out, another air ticket is booked.

Ng recommended a book. Which i read and soon became an addiction. One chapter was all i could handle in a day. Any more than that i might break out in tears or enter a state of disillusion. It's entitled Dispatches from the Edge, an autobiography by Anderson Cooper, the anchor of CNN. Read it, if you dare.

That's basically what i've reaped of the sph tea session.
There are just SO MANY things I can do in preparation to be a journalist.
I don't know if i can make the mark, but it'll all show in the end.

2008-01-25T01:30:00.000+08:00

this is not a proper update.
i just wanna share this. by him again.
i enjoy art, and details.

i'll leave it here for some time.

2008-01-24T00:34:00.000+08:00

chill~ o u t .

It was on impulse. Mine, that is.
Induced by those monthly mood swings women face.
I'm quite sensitive to it. Cuz that's when i have a choice.
Do something to make myself feel better, or to continue dwelling in it.

My choice:
Went to Indochine with the two below.
(take 1)

"Eh... zz, look at the camera leh."

(take 2)

"Yah... I know... that's chili sauce... so?"

Big eyes. Thick lips. Caught totally unaware.
Zz started taking loads of photos of ME.

(specimen A)

So i took a photo of him too, as evidence.

"Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die."

My usual. Sex on the beach.
Bartender mixed in more alcohol that night.

Junyao's. Some pineapple cocktail i can't remember its name.
And it is OUT-OF-FOCUS. *shrugs*

Zz's Banana Dream.
His face cringed every time he took a sip.
Wasn't exactly a dream for him.

Wedges, lor.

Sitting around, drinking, chatting, eating
Laughing, listening to live bands, taking photos...
The ideal pace of life. Momentary escapism.

More photos...

Looks scary aye.

Zz looks like he's smoking, or getting high.

HAHAHHA. no comments. =X

Zz's obsessed with the lamp post behind me.

that's all.
hungry~.

2008-01-22T14:38:00.000+08:00

Goodbye & Hello--Tanya chua.

I've taken interest in this singer in recent years especially.
From her 陌生人, Beautiful Love, and 原點.
To her recent album "Goodbye and Hello".

Thanks to sia, we got tix to watch Tanya Chua sing at St. James, Dragonfly.
Me, sia, deslyn. Met charlene and her friend there too.
Charlene was super high, as usual.

The stage, the lights, the atmosphere.
(i feel like clubbing)

Disco ball. The lights are pretty.

Sia insisted they are DNA. But they look more like cigarettes really.

Tanya and tanya.
She was all bright and cheery. Her smile and her laughter is very contagious.

I've heard on radio how she packed up everything here in Singapore and moved to Taiwan. Alone. How she ended an online relationship and wrote songs inspired by that. And how she stopped writing songs about others, and started writing songs about herself. Her relationships, her emotions, her life.

And i think that's a crucial turning point in her songwriting.
To step out and just be herself. Being real. 這樣才能感動到人.

She has alot of stage presence.
Could tell that she enjoys performing/singing to people.

She sang 當你離開的時候，達爾文，晨間新聞，空白格，Beautiful Love, and 陌生人 for encore. When she sang, everyone just listened quietly, and dwelled in the whole atmosphere of the song. LiYi phrased it well, saying, "我們深怕每一個呼吸或發出的每一個怪聲音會破壞掉整首歌。"

Yupps, LiYi was the host for the day.

i look forward to hearing more good songs by Tanya Chua.
So proud that she's a Singaporean. :)

2008-01-22T10:55:00.000+08:00

Some videos to share.

Bill Gates on his last day at Microsoft. It's hilarious.

His "friends" appeared in the following order.

Brian Williams
Steve Ballmer
Matthew McConaughey
Jay-Z
Bono
Steven Spielberg
George Clooney
Jon Stewart
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Barack Obama
Al Gore

taken from BlinkyMummy.

People hitting the drum, from age one to 100.
It's depressing, but that's the cycle of life.

Cong showed me this. Talking dogs.
It's kinda scary in a way. Imagine intelligent talking animals. They might just take over the world.

2008-01-22T00:58:00.000+08:00

Chicky Rice II

Not much motivation to blog about this, cuz sia did it already.
Can just refer to her blog.

Don't ask me why we like chicky rice so much.
(Sia want to go one. =x)

So we went to eat wee nam kee chicken rice on sat.
Me, sia, joycee and dxx.
I ate before le, so not much comments.

Hotplate tofu.

Sia's 龍漢果+龍眼.

Joycee's coconut.

Mine. 白斬雞. I specified "NO BREASTMEAT!" woohoo.

The others ordered this, 燒雞. The skin is really crispy.

Rice lor.

Overall.

Then dropped by giordano to see weiyee.

Hello weiyee.

But i more interested in this other guy...

Shuai lah! I noticed you for quite some time liao. *shy*

As if chicken rice is not enough, we went to eat youtiao at Breadbar.

Left: Almond youtiao + Sunflower seed youtiao. Right: Green tea youtiao.
Green tea is good. It has a tinge of green tea fragrance, and is sprinkled with sugar to remove the bitterness.

Dips to go along with it. Kaya, dark choc, peanut butter, and mango.
I would like to try the cheese dip, but it wasn't available then.

Me, sia, joycee. We all got short hair.
(And it's NOT because of sia!)

Love lah!

Post for fun.

Us all. =)

That's it. A photo-ful post.
Shall update more soon.
Very soon.

2008-01-18T23:27:00.000+08:00

It was 730am, Friday, 11th January.
I didn't sleep cuz i screwed my bio-clock up.
Little did i expect a pleasant surprise to be awaiting me.

*Blink blink*
A new msn conversation.
Ho Joe-Han. Or better known as Malaysian by my older readers.

"jessie!"
I can imagine his expression and how he'd sound.
It's 1130pm over at his side.
And i haven't seen or spoken to him ever since he left for Durham last September.
Joe-Han i do miss you yunno!

Here's a short excerpt from our short exchange.

him:
why can't you come europe?

me:
hmmm , cuz i'm broke?

him:
can you save up or apply for grants?
there are loads of hidden grants in singapore.

me:
i guess i'll leave europe tour till my honeymoon.
hahaha.

him:
would you want to marry me?

me:
yes joehan, you sound SO SINCERE.

It's just a joke, so don't take it seriously okay. Anyway, joe-han's attached already. And i'm really glad for him that he actually found his love in a foreign land. =D

And then after chatting on msn for a while, guess what? Joe-han actually offered to called me! He insisted that long-distance calls aren't that expensive after all, and so we talked on the phone for a time limit of 10 mins. And he sounded just the same.

Alrights! Remember to come back for kiliney's and laksa during your summer hols!

2008-01-14T23:39:00.001+08:00

Last saturday,
these three people went to eat chicky rice balls together.

me and sia look stupid. zisheng is acting cool.
(hello zisheng if you're reading my blog pls go and tag! =))

Chicky rice balls! Haven't had them since primary school.
Feel that the rice would be better if it's warmer.
Chicken meat is very tender.

Overall view.
The chili is special. Nice.
And the soup has 蓮藕，紅棗 and 花生 inside.

Then we went town to walk around...
and do some major camwhoring.

plus zisheng...

We took so many tries to fit all three of us inside. Haiyo...

i think... i really can't be a bimbo. Hahaha.

2008-01-14T23:13:00.000+08:00

on the first day of school term
my teacher gave to me
five deadlines~~
four sleepy moments
three lame jokes -.-
two lecture notes
and a tough time on C-O-R-S...

jesse:
i going to try out calculus tml too.
i scared i'll die there.

Zhenzhong:
...perhaps it's ur turn to be the ONLY CNM student there
lol

jesse:
lol
i'll look like a bimbo there.

Zhenzhong:
hmmm...

jesse:
WHICH I AM NOT OKAY

Zhenzhong:
haha

jesse:
because i'm not pretty enough to be a bimbo. haha.

Zhenzhong:
LOL
(*nodding head*)...

::::::::::::
(dots)

2008-01-14T04:55:00.000+08:00

i was really hungry cuz dinner was merely half a bowl of porridge.
so i had a hard time deciding if i should eat or sleep.
(10am lecture at lt25)

God has His way of helping me decide.
i couldn't sleep.

This time round it wasn't so much that my bio-clock's screwed.
But more because my mind's bugged by something.
An issue that has two ways of solving.
And i chose the longer path.

It's been three freakin' years already.

School's in tomorrow.
I'm not exactly looking forward to it.
Cuz i'm still pretty much in the holiday mood.
What's more it's a 10am.
(I have trouble waking up, even for a 12pm lesson.)
I'm so gonna have monday blues this sem.
(My last sem, reminder.)

I hope i don't have to resort to gluing my hand to the bed.

2008-01-12T02:54:00.000+08:00

This post is dedicated to a particular sea creature...

We could've seen each other for 10 000 times before
on the train on the bus along the streets
but we wouldn't have known
because we were strangers then.

It's like 珊瑚海, that Jay Chou song about a fish and a bird.
It's hard to imagine how our paths actually crossed.
Different age, different schools, different circle of friends.

But life works in its own mysterious ways.

It was early last year.
I still remember our first msn conversation.
i tried to be friendly.
No ulterior motives.

Your "Wah, you put make-up ah?"
How you're more amused than me that you said that.
And how you always made sure that no one felt left out.

We've had countless of kuupoon sessions,
Late-night-crap-talking on msn,
and "Help me with my rj/edit my ang moh"s.

13.11.07
(i digged msn archivess. ARE YOU TOUCHED?)
i became your honey and
you became my bumblebee.

Even though
i trust you as straight as changi airport road
but i know that you love me
and you know that i love you too.

If you ever
d i s a p p e a r
just remember to appear again.
:)

Where on earth did i learn to be so mushy and cheesy?!

2008-01-11T05:24:00.000+08:00

randomness.

i have nothing to blog about
because my life recently has been as dull as
coke without ~~sugar~~.

i've been staying up late
for
no
apparent
reason.

sometimes i'd be tossing and turning on my bed
when i hear him drop by.
sometimes i'd be up and awake
sitting right there in the living room
door wide open as he
sheepishly appear at my door
half-naked

and stuff the straits times through the gates.
like we paid him to do something shameful.

i sent her a message.

she's attached.
if you know who i'm talking about.
but i guess no one would.

my life is like
known by everyone
yet not known by anyone.
you get what i mean?

i should eat my noodles before they get rotten.

i've been working on a transcript which
my bro wants done by tml.

i'll get thirty bucks for it.

but seriously
for the amount of time spent on it
it's not worth it.

i'm sick of this brand of cup noodles.

2008-01-08T23:24:00.000+08:00

Year 3 Sem II.

MY LAST SEM~!!
hopefully.

These are the modules I intend to take this semester.
Anyone taking these modules too drop me a msg okay.

NM3208 Designing Content for New Media
NM3211 News Reporting and Editing
NM3880A Copyright and New Media
EL3254 Media, Discourse and Society
PC1327 Science of Music
PC1328 Life as a Complex System

This new semester. Six modules. Three non-examinables. Exciting and taxing as usual. Gonna learn audio and video editing. News reporting, and editing. How to compose music and make a midi. It's gonna be fun yet tiring. Busy yet rewarding. This is going to be a great sem!

:)

2008-01-08T04:32:00.000+08:00

Die lah. My bio-clock is super screwed up now. I cannot sleep~!! And don't mention about morning lessons next semester. Sigh~

Anyway, last Thursday, some of us who are very passionate about singing ktv, and relatively good at it too, gathered for the very first time for a mega ktv session. In Guanrui's terms, it's like gathering various singers from different record companies.

This ktv session was termed as the 同道中人 ktv session.

Left clockwise: Me, Zz, Tiyo, Nicholas, Carrie, Zhichun, Guanrui.

It was a truly enjoyable session. Everyone present were good singers, and we could openly discuss one another's strengths and weaknesses, which part of the song we've gone wrong, and stuff. Zz was the producer for the day. Whether or not you've sang well, it's all on his face. One wrong note/beat and he'll start shaking his head. Very amusing when you're not singing, stressful if you are.

Another special feature of this particular ktv session is the magical button "repeat". Never/hardly would we, in our usual ktv session, repeat songs. But, in 同道中人, if you anyhow sing, or didn't concentrate when singing, zz will repeat the song and you gotta sing the song all over again! LOL.

We sang from around 8pm all the way till 6am. Haha. It was super shiok lah i tell you. Hope to have more singers join us for the next 同道中人 ktv! =D

Lastly...

Cheapo lan-pok 同道中人 album cover. LOL.
(Help me pay my ktv money then i'll design a nicer one. HAHAHHAHA. Cheapo.)

2008-01-02T17:16:00.000+08:00

Goodbye and Hello--2007, 2008.

Countdown at sher li's place to the most celebrated second of the year. Of strange nostalgia and irrational hopes. All the excitement and cheer on tv, distant and surreal. It's been some many countdowns. I've grown numb to the excitement. Shouldn't we cherish every other second as much as that particularly celebrated one?

Nonetheless, it's never too cliche to look back at the past one year and reminisce. Old friends that's moved on, new friends that might stay. Events and moments of joy, tears and warmth.

Pictures speak a thousand words. Looked through my archives, and here are some photos that best represent my version of 2007.

January.

... Started the photography craze.
A stranger giving out free hugs along Orchard Road. This was one of the first few photos taken with my k800i. I think it sort of captured my photography ideology--capturing simple yet meaningful moments in everyday life, and in doing so, freeze time, making that moment eternal.

... Started loving gary.
I've never once in my life admired any artistes so much so as to join his/her fanclub. Gary was the first. I often wonder if this would just be a passing interest. A blowing of the wind. But every time i hear his singing, listen to his compositions, or watch him live, i never failed to be blown away by him. He is really good.

I guess some people reduced me to a mere 'crazy fan'. I'd evaluate myself from time to time as well. Am i too over? What is the balance? For one, i know my priorities. What are the things that truly matter, and what are peripheral.

Feburary.

... Flowers on Valentine's Day for the first time. Thanks. :)
It's a strangely positive feeling. Besides it being totally unexpected, it's heartwarming knowing that there has been someone there all along. (Although i have no idea how to react...)

... Gfriendclub auditions.
No, you don't have to go through an audition to join gfc. It was an audition for a duet with gary.

Met sia for the first time. My prawn-flavored bumblebee.
I'm your honey, you're my bumblebee.
(Sounds eeks mushy)

March.

... Birthday.
Of the photo, my then caregroup nusa3 celebrated my birthday. Everyone was told to make something which they think represents me using colored blu-tac. I still have them on my desk. Last year's birthday was a relatively simple one. I never liked my birthdays to be a big thing. I prefer it to be a quiet reflective day. Better if it's raining, which it did last year.

... First chawing session.
My first chawing session at cineleisure k-union. And my second at bishan j8. I didn't know many people then and was still really shy. Guess we all have our first times.

... First ktv session with tiyo.
Hmmm, why is the first ktv session with tiyo particularly significant? Because it was my first serious ktv session. Prior to that i had only been to ktv twice. With tiyo, it was just the two of us. It's a lot of singing and i nearly ran out of songs.

April.

... First backpacking trip, all the way to kl.
Backpacking's my way of travel. Exciting, fresh and sometimes lost. It's during this trip that i got to know more gfc people and start to 露出真面目, not so shy liao.

... First time writing kuupoons.
On the last night in kl, in a hotel room. So the music industry is very 黑暗.

... Started learning photoshop.
I was never an IT person. Partly an interest, partly a skill. Took it up, and found it pretty easy after all.

May.

... Eelee's farewell.
A gathering with ancient hsa3. These people were there in my very first cg. Some stayed. Some left and came back again. At the end of the day, we're all together again having dinner around the same table. God's plan works in different ways for every one. It's heartening seeing how God never gave up on each and every one of us.

Although i've always heard about how Eelee wants to be a missionary one day, it always seemed so far away. Until then when i found out that she IS really going church planting in chile, that's when i realized we've all grown up. It's no longer merely talking about what God wants to do through you. It's actually doing it, living out what God wants to do in your life.

Graduating mid-2008. I want to live out my dream too.

... Meatball clan. helmet head. :)
I don't know how long can we be together like this until. It's as good as it lasts.

June.

... mypaper 1st bday party.
Gary chaw. Cafe del mar. Sentosa beach party. Sodagreen. Carlsberg.

... gfc chalet.

July.

... Alpha camp. Hello nusc3.
It was during the alpha camp that i really got to know my current caregroup people better. They're really a very fun bunch of people to be with. Let's serve God together. :)

August.

... Sodagreen concert.
It's my first time to a 售票演唱會, although i got the tix free. They blew me away totally. Just makes you wanna close your eyes and immerse yourself in their music.

September.

... Church Anniversary.
This is my 9th church anniversary already. Every time i attend the church anniversary i feel like crying. Seeing how far God has brought us through, seeing the changed lives around me, seeing God's faithfulness in me. It all makes me wanna cry.

October.

... Laptop design (ext).
Did this using brushes and pen tool. Spent days on the design, and one whole night on execution. Good that my tutor liked it. I learned a lot about photoshop and illustrator in 2007. Learned many design principles, and a little about photography. nm2208's a very fruitful module.

November.

... Wedding dinner.
How significant can a wedding dinner be? November was a hectic month. With countless deadlines and examinations all squashed together. So the wedding dinner was the most happening event for me. LOL. It made me think a lot about my future too.

December.

... Christmas countdown.
December was a month of celebrations. Pulau Ubin, Christmas eventsss, caroling, countdowns, stayovers, baileys, steamboats, etc. A packed month, but a joyous one nonetheless. December's always the month of nostalgia, and yet of hope.

Many things has happened in 2007. It wasn't a normal year for me. New friendships, new caregroup, new responsibilities. I can't foresee the future, but i hope 2008 will be an exciting, challenging and eventful year.

Goodbye 2007. Hello 2008.

2007-12-31T13:11:00.000+08:00

It's gonna be a super-duper long post. Because it's...

CHRISTMAS!!

Christmas 07 was a really tiring Christmas. Activities and preparations, all packed back-to-back. There's practically NO time for Christmas shoppings and writing of Christmas cards!

Nonetheless, Christmas 07 was really fun. It was my first Christmas with nusc3, and for many of them, it's their first Christmas with the nus sub-d. It was lots of fun, staying overnight at carrie's, drinking BAILEY's, gift exchanging, caroling together, and everything. :)

Reindeer's horns!
It was fun preparing for the pre-xmas event with Liyi, Liping and Jalea. Sea cucumber and chicken feet were disgusting! Weikang, yilin and jiawei joined us too.

zz is scary reindeer.

They just wouldn't let me talk to my bf. LOL.

Xmas Service at the Rock Auditorium. Sleeping Beauty... Eh, wake up leh!

zz was the PRINCE!

Chill at menotti.

Caroling! I was invited to conduct again. I wonder why. Seriously, i've never been through conducting lessons and had only two pathetic years of choir experience in primary school! Oh well, i just did my best with my not-pro-act-pro conducting.

Don't you think that Edmund looks like... Mr Athens?!
I can imagine him running at Athens with the Olympic torch. Haha.

Countdown to Christmas. Cheers!

SL thrown.

Huanyan looks happy. Lol.
(Junyao's right at the bottom.)

Caroling Group Photos.
Take ONE.

Take TWO.

Take THREE.

(Can tell that i'm tired of posing.)

Christmas 07. Fun, tiring, eventful. Got to know new people like xiaoyu and weikang. Got to sing alot with guanrui, liping, minchen, and basically everyone. Got to spend more time with caregroup people. Learned the joy of fellowship service.

:)

2007-12-30T13:53:00.000+08:00

Pulau Ubin 091207: Part TWO

Part II.
We trekked along Chek Jawa.

I'm quite a nature person actually. Until my love for arts overtook that for sciences. I enjoy biology. Cell organization, fungi, trees and all. So actually i looked forward to the chek jawa trip. And took many pictures along the way.

(1) Guild House (i think).
(2) Trees (duh).
(3) Small boy in poncho.
(4) Beautiful World.

(1) Guanrui drew a map to explain where we were.
(2) Act cool lah.
(3-4) Before & After.

『無間道』翻版之『無聊道~!!』

(1) Nice lamp huh?
(2) 一支小雨傘。
(3) i like this pic. Claramae + Benaiah.
(4) Shuyi's Mickey Mouse poncho.

It's a tiny island off another tiny island. Wah.

Swamps. Stinks of algae and seaweed.

Do you drown?

(2) A well. (The rest don't need explaining lah hor.)

(1) Notice the long trail up the hill. It's a long staircase.
(2) Some structure you can climb up to see the scenery.
(3) Swamps. Notice the long trail of tiny people. That's some of us!
(4) Roots in mangrove swamps.

After the long hours of cycling and trekking, it's DINNER TIME.
~~but i was so hungry i ate everything up without taking pics of the food.~~
And the food was surprisingly very good.

Photos up the wall. A small simple restaurant in pulau ubin, filled with pride of its own.

Tiring day.

PRAWNS~!! i LOVE prawns.
Cholesterol levels can go and shoot itself.

Erm... "Yay".

Going back mainland.

Benaiah acting emo. Hoot.

Woohoo. This is 3D2N on Superstar Virgo i tell you.

Erm, Virgo Cruise part II.

And who else, but the Superstar Virgo Cruise Captain!

So marks the end of the tons of photos from Ubin trip 2007.

My thoughts and feelings. Hmmm, the weather didn't go well with us. There were some two or three showers. And that dampened our mood quite a lot. I kept wondering to myself, "How many godly men does it take to stop the rain?"

One, if God-willing.

Pulau Ubin is a tiny island. Everything seems simpler there.
Eat durians. Play with stray dogs.
Go fishing. Watch local drama serials.
It's cool for a retreat. But i can't imagine living there. 24/7, on a tiny island. Can you?

I suppose we're all made for something greater.

P/S: Thanks tons to all who planned for this post-exams celebration. It's very well done. =D

2007-12-30T00:17:00.000+08:00

time for some gary related stuff.

Some time ago, gary wrote a song for genie.
He claimed it as 『繼「背叛」後他最滿意的抒情歌曲』
When i listen to this song, i'd try to imagine how would gary sing it.

Psst. Gary will record his version of this song in his Cantonese album. Yays!

Gary + A Mei = 一眼瞬間

If you ask me, i think that 蕭敬騰 focuses too much on his singing techniques, and lacks chemistry with A Mei. It's like they're singing their own stuff. Okay, maybe i'm biased. I WANT GARY TO DUET WITH A MEI. lols.
p/s: Gary was sick when he sang with A Mei, so it wasn't his best. Pardon him.

One of gary's new song. 『無辜』

P/S: Gary's new album is releasing in January!!!

Yay!

2007-12-28T10:59:00.000+08:00

Pulau Ubin 091207: Part ONE

It was 9th December. The weekend after the EXAMS.
And so we had our post-exams celebrations!! =DDD

We first went down for games, cycling, trekking, and dinner at pulau ubin. And then more games, campfire, and stayover at changi beach.

Arriving at pulau ubin...

(1) Life jackets on the bumboat to ubin.
(2) Canopy.
(3) Skinny tree.
(4) Wooden house on stilts by the sea.
(5) Rusty NTUC cart.
(6) On the bumboat to ubin.

Bumboat Uncle is not alone.

Tour guide + Cameraman. =x

Arrived!

"Come come come, mister tour guide show you around!!"

旺財 loves to sleep. Everywhere.

旺財 loves take photos too.

ACT INNOCENT~!! 裝無辜~!! WAHAHAHHA.

Look at these photographs. They show you the different roads in ubin. But seriously, they all look the same to me. =.=

Games...

This game is self-entitled: The bottle and the bag.
Next is "CHIONG AH~!!!"

Cycling...

zz + junyao.
(junyao dunno how to cycle.)
~~poor zz...~~

Eh, I also don't know how to cycle. So double-biked with Carrie. And hence has free hands to take photos along the way. Yay.

Spot the Cookie Monster!! *COOKIE~!!!*

Looks like some ghost trail. Haha.

After some time of cycling, we reached Chek Jawa! Yay!
So we park our bikes and start trekking... ... ...

Chek Jawa Adventures and more will be continued in Part TWO. So stay tuned!

Meanwhile, we'll end this post with a finale photo!
This photo is entitled, "Fantasy aka 夢幻" =x

*夢幻~!!*

to be continued...

2007-12-28T02:04:00.000+08:00

drafting some other posts concurrently.
just wanna drop some random post of nothingness to establish my presence.

i realized it's thursday already.
i didn't know time past so fast.
i thought it was still tues or wednesday.
did my days passed too fast?
or did my brain function too slowly?

got my results back today.
it's okay.
i mean, it's just results.
Letters and numbers that don't necessarily correlate with the amount of effort you put in. And definitely don't necessarily correlate with how successful you become after graduation.

But still, i got my first A in my entire uni life.
((See what lousy results i have been getting.))

i feel like hibernating.
read my books. and blog.

2007-12-26T13:09:00.000+08:00

Personality Test.

First took it when i was in sec 1.
From cho-sang to cho-mel to mel-phleg.

I believe that personality can change. And will change inevitably as we meet different people encounter different things.

So i try to have the strengths of every personalities, and decrease whatever weaknesses. Be all things to all men. Perhaps that's why my personality test results are like this.

Curious? take the test here.

2007-12-25T23:02:00.000+08:00

Here's a concluding post for
NAME-THE-PIG Competition 2007.
*applaud*

Yupps. The votes have been tallied long ago, and the result IS OUT long ago!

Opinion Polls & Market Research

And the winning entry is Piggles!
Congratulations to Xinying. Woohoo!!
Be sure to claim your prize!

Btw, Piggles says thanks and is very glad to finally have a name.

:)