You have broken the chains (in more ways than one)

Finally ended exams today - marking the official end to by far the worst (and yet also the best) sem i've had so far. More on that another time when i am in a more introspective mood, for now it's just my thoughts on today.

Woke up early today to try and have my quiet time before leaving the house - just very distracted again, hopefully now that school has ended things will be better.

Took bus to school for the first time since tuesday methinks, good chance to do some last-minute revision though i didn't really make good use of the time - too sleepy. There were nus people peppered around the bus who were far more successful...

Got to the library, was thinking of looking through notes again but no mood la, so went and read yesterday's newspaper instead - catch up with what's going on in the world that has gone far ahead of me in the past month or so...

I have decided that MPSH stinks as an exam venue, primarily because it is all but impossible to evade people who are frantically studying last minute or asking one another "hey, did you study so and so", or complaining "i'm so dead for this paper" or stuff like that, stuff which for all intents and purposes i'd rather avoid, and at the end there always are a sea of people asking how the paper was, what question they screwed up and all that nonsense which is just not my cup of tea. No, for me once you get to the exam venue, to pardon the lack of a better phrase, your fate is sealed, and no amount of this or that nonsense will make any difference, so why bother? Might as well maintain whatever joy you have for as long as possible and agonize only (if need be) when the results get in.

Oh and MPSH 5 in particular is badly in need of renovation - it looks like you could film an episode of "Growing Up" there, as obviously it has remained untouched since it was first built, but i digress.

Paper was interesting, i could more or less manage all the questions, though for an open book exam the questions were strangely straightforward, as in the open-to-your-notes-and copy-and-you're-home-free variety. Something tells me the bell curve will be thrown a curve of its own in grading this one...

When i got home i was browsing through some songs when i came across another one in the haven't-sung-since-i-was-a-little-boy category. Like it cos it is a Christian song that makes a lot of sense (something that is hardly a given today) and celebrates our victorious life in the risen Christ. Shall sing it in the next possible opportunity =)

You Have Broken the Chains

Oh God, Most High, Almighty King,
The Champion of Heaven, Lord of Everything,
You fought, You won, Death lost its sting,
And standing in Your victory we sing:

You have broken the chains
That held our captive souls.
You have broken the chains
And used them on Your foes.
All Your enemies are bound,
They tremble at the sound of Your Name,
Jesus You have broken the Chains!

The power of hell has been undone.
Captivity held captive by the Risen One.
And in the name of God's Great Son,
We claim the mighty victory You've won.

Lyrics courtesy of my head.

Anyway, have a whole load of things that i am supposed to/ want to do during the break, now that school has ended for me, here's a partial list (in order of when i remember them):
-Prepare for MEET
-Get my SEP course application settled
-Clear IPPT
-(And therefore exercise like crazy before that)
-(And also exercise like crazy after that given my likely ballooning in size when i am on SEP)
-Clear and rearrange my room
-(Finally) take basic theory
-Play guitar better
-Improve quality of quiet time
-Plan trips while on SEP
-Meet up with people to talk and pray
-Other stuff that currently evades me

Happy holidays, everybody...

HOORA ... eh, still got one more hor =p

So by God's grace have completed the unholy trinity of papers, and am all but in party mode already, inspite of the fact that i still have one more paper on saturday, which i to all intents and purposes have not even started preparing for yet, owing to the aforementioned unholy trinity... *whee*

Wah but i must say there has been prayer support for me aplenty and i have been really thankful for all of it. It certainly has helped to see me through these past two draining days...

Wednesday's Vietnam paper was ok lah, not as good as i hoped for, and at least from how i read my own responses, think that my exam score won't live up to my ca scores. But then again, the ca grades were totally unexpected and a blessing from God in the midst of all my adversity earlier this sem, and that's something i must continually remind myself of - to be thankful in all circumstances... And while i could also complain about my being stuck in some ulu cul-de-sac in the TH exam hall from where i could not even see the front where the clock was, i'd rather be thankful for the bunch of history seniors that i've had the pleasure to get to know both during the course of the module as well as on the day itself... Nice people they are...

Then today was my struggle paper and then the el paper. Two booboos that i made today during the papers:

1) Didn't read the instructions of the struggle paper carefully enough, and hence gonggong went on to write part of my answers on the question paper, when i was supposed to write everything on the answer booklet. Thankfully, the announcement went out 15 minutes before the end of the paper to "please remember to write all your answers on the answer booklet provided", which is when it finally hit me and the instructions on the paper suddenly made sense to me. After a split-second "AAAAHHHHH!" i composed myself and managed to transfer my answers onto the correct thingy, and still had time to complete the paper too. P-H-E-W.

2) Due to my habit of not bringing my bag along to the exam venue i left my stuff in the library and only took the necessary stuff. But i couldn't help but feel that i left something behind, and had that nagging feeling with me all the way to the point when i sat down in the exam venue then it hit me "eh, my specs!" Haha but obviously it was too late cos they were all the way in the library. Thankfully didn't develop tired eyes like i normally would when trying to do reading-related stuff without them, and managed to write normally for the whole paper and barely missed them. Then of course after telling Ade and Debs about forgetting to wear them after the struggle paper, i promptly forgot to put them on and ended up making the realization for the second time while on the way for the second exam paper. Thankfully once again their absence did not hinder me too much...

One other thanksgiving - since i always take off my watch and put it at one corner of my table as a time gauge during papers, i often disregard the exam centre clock. Well, thankfully today my watch battery chose 430pm to start to act up and stall, which was really good timing (it is a watch battery after all =p), since i ended my paper at three and if it had died-ed before that my paper would also have died-ed cos i would screw up my time management...

And in general, i am thankful also because the whole novelty of the two-exams-in-a-day thingy (which actually isn't a novelty since i vaguely remember doing the same thing during As - some more last time exams were three hours a piece) did not really get to me, in spite of my worst fears, and through prayer was not plagued by much unease eventually and actually found today's two papers the two that have gone best for me so far.

Also in the midst of the papers am really thankful for the times spent apart from the books, even during these busy times, and also for people that the Lord brings along just to make things easier - like Sida - my more-than-occasional ride to-and-from school - who really makes things that much better for me especially during 9am paper days - and various friends (including friends) who have offered prayers and encouragement throughout.

Ah this whole election thing is really starting to interest me - to bad it's during exams, just like the last one which was during As (my goodness was that long ago or what...) so can't afford to be too distracted. Reminded once again that despite my deep inner preference towards a particular party, i should not vote just based on what i want per se, but to really be prayerful about this because this is part and parcel of how the Lord has called us to intercede for everyone -for kings and those in authority, that we might live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness (1 Tim 2:2). Yup so while i get increasingly irked with what is going on as the days progress, i do have to bear this in mind...

And shucks was just looking through some of the stuff that parents brought back from previous church's 70th anniversary celebrations, and realise that i do miss the place and the folks and all that.. and there are so many issues underlying this too that best remain untyped... ah, am not getting into one of me moods again, don't worry, just having little regrets and other stuff like that...

mid-exam musings

so anyway the first paper has come and gone, and for my least favourite module too (generally history majors don't like soci modules and i am no exception) - three essays: first one fairly good, second one relatively ok, and third one smoked like crazy, so overall it was relatively ok - can pass one lah =p...

now awaits the unholy trinity of papers within a 28-hour period: Vietnam on wed morning, struggling for modern China on thurs morning and the el module that afternoon... i am definitely behind in revision now, but i suppose the good news is that i haven't gotten myself distracted too much (this post being a rare slip) so hopefully can maximise the time available to get stuff done...

thankfully studying in school has been going pretty ok, i definitely have been the most productive as i have ever been this sem - pity it came soooo late in the sem but better than it never happening i suppose. One thing i am clear on is that any delusions of academic grandeur that i may have harboured even till fairly recently are more or less out of the window - i mean i can hope for As and all that but really, it's really not my effort which will bring me anywhere. Telling myself to just do the best that can be done as i am strengthened by God and leave the exams and the results in His hands...

and let me just make this official so that you people reading this can keep me accountable - aim to start qt journalling on the first of May (cos from what i understand the message during service the previous day will be on doing just that). Actually i am not starting yet because i want to do it wholeheartedly and consistently (and boy am i a stickler for getting everything done just right - uniform format and all that other superficial stuff), and i really cannot foresee that happening while the exams are still on [and also cos May 1 is such a nice date to start and remember (haha macam like setting wedding date like that =p)].

Well while we are in the mood for poetry, and while nothing original can come to my head, here's a little exam period poem that i adapted from one of the BCE songs last year. See if you can spot the teeny amendment that i've made since last last year's version hehe...

Spinning (exam remix)
[to the tune of Spinning (a.k.a. the little mermaid song)]

Surely there must be something more,
Than exams that last hours half of four.
Surely there must be something greater,
Surely they can't go on forever...

We don't look up at the clouds anymore,
From our tons of notes, multi-ply.
We simply hide in the library, one up from level four.
To mug from morn, till black is the sky...

Oh, now you cannot run away,
The paper before you screaming "Write essay!
How could you have forgotten me, all for play?
Content to see your grades fade slowly into grey?"

happy mugging folks =)

oh well, with words of Orwell, i say i'm all well...

okies so past few days have not been ungood, and not even plusungood. Nope they most certainly have been doubleplusungood...

yupyup but all the sad details aside, basically now am better. Definitely neither doubleplusgood nor plusgood, but maybe just good... But anyway good is good right?

spending time alone with God, and in sharing and praying some of my troubles with A, MS n DrL certainly went a long way in making things better - thank God for how within the community of brothers and sisters in Christ there always are people you can turn to when you're down or troubled, and you need some loving care... Yup we've got a Friend - together with many other friends - including "heyfrenz" - hehe as you can see am a bit siao hor...

well the good thing about even bad times like these is that they can be used by God to show you stuff about yourself in so clear and convicting a manner - they're never in vain...

but still won't be going to the SMC though - partially cos i do need some degree of isolation if my desperate revision is to be more productive, and somehow it's really too quiet for me to do work properly there, and for me SMC also stands for S'pore Malaysia Climate (i.e. too hot!)

so thankful to be blessed with rides home every day of the week so far...

ooh so happy elections coming - get to vote =)

timely Words, Dad =)

Psalm 34:18

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

thanks for the encouragement and prayer folks, getting there, lemme exile myself for a bit longer...

anti(every)body

(and i know that this is like a total turn-around from what i posted yesterday - but it's the truth)

Must have woken up on the wrong side of bed today, cos i felt extremely crappy...

Woke up late - 7:10am - which meant that the perfect, early start to the day that i had envisioned in my head would not come to pass.

And knowing me, once something's messed up, the rest of the thing will mess up too

Made my way to the bus stop (after hearing my father for the first time that i can remember remark that i looked sleepy - which meant that i must have looked horrible) and waited there for 20 minutes while three 12s, one 14, two 32s, one 40 and one 608 came, before two 10s came trundling along (thankfully it was a double-decker or i think i would have screamed)

Got to school at five to nine, which meant that i couldn't detour to the library to deposit bag and chope seat...

After our time of prayer and praise (one of the few good things about the day - but then again i obviously wasn't all there hence the general crappiness of the time following), went back to the library to find it full. Of course there was space, but i am the kind who must have everything just so - i.e. an empty table, or at the least empty chairs at a not so empty table, and dunno why i just started to feel very anti... Yup i don't like crowds, but just now i really felt rather abhorrent of the whole sea of humanity, just felt like i needed to escape it all, so i decided to retreat to the engin bridge. Seriously dunno what got over me...

Was fairly productive there, by God's grace, in spite of all the bad stuff that was hovering in my mind - wasn't at all bothered by the buses below or the noisy people walking to and fro

Lunch with Daniel and Seng Wee was another better moment - though methinks i still was wearing a black face there and then...

Went back to the bridge, but it soon started to rain and it was pattering down on my notes, so i made another long journey to the yih canteen - which i realise isn't all that bad a studying place - better lighting and seats than arts canteen - less stifling and crowded than the library - and kopi o nearby too - all i ever needed... But i still had these horrible things in me, which i honestly i can't explain further cos also dunno how...

Was praying intermittently for the Lord to ease these feelings - after one of those prayers i looked up and out of the window to see a big banner proclaiming:

SUBWAY - Opening Soon!

And while it sounds sooooo superficial, i really was to a certain extent cheered up after seeing that (already can picture my first purchase - footlong meatball on parmesan oregano with all the veggies except onions, capsicum and cucumber, extra jalepeños please). [i also am not inferring that the Lord provided that as the answer to my prayer - but think was all in His sense of humour]

Anyway, something tells me that i'll be in yih a whole lot more next time... And hence be a whole lot more broke too... Ah, but at least it's healthy, so hopefully won't be a whole lot fatter too... (but hey, there's plenty of time for that one when i am in the states...)

Ya lah, so after that i went back to the arts canteen and gradually warmed up to more of the people around, now quite ok lah...

But seriously, i dunno what's gotten over me the past week or so - relatively inexplicable general negativity has been plaguing me - and it's quite an on/off thing too - just like how yesterday was all roses, then the thorns appeared today. Don't want to speculate as to what's going on lah, but i do know that whatever it is that i am not alone...

Yup dunno how the rest of the study break and exam week will turn out, but don't mind me if i am less visible than i would otherwise be - feel that i need a whole lot more time to myself nowsaday then before. Will still go down for morning prayer and praise and other stuff though...

Apologies to anyone whom i may have rubbed the wrong way over the course of this past week owing to the aforementioned stuff - think if i were you i'd be rather peeved...

And thanks to all the dear friends around who've noticed and encouraged =)

Christ the Lord is Risen Today!

Easter Sunday - the day we observe and celebrate Jesus being raised from the dead after dying on the cross for our sins.

Well, it's not like i never knew that, but i realised that at least up to today i have never (at least as far as i can remember) understood and been hit with a greater reality as to what this meant for me as a Christian.

Hmm this is very hard to put into words, it's something like while i always knew what we were commemorating each Easter Sunday, i didn't really take time to ponder upon what it meant, but was more of just going through the motions i guess.

Then today during service as i was meditating upon the word of the songs we were singing they started to hit me. Songs like "My Redeemer Lives" which i used to sing like all the time back in my, erm, youth (hey it was like ten years ago k...), and an even older one too, "Celebrate Jesus Celebrate"... And i was like "hey these songs that i've been singing for so many years - they are talking about Jesus' victory over sin and death here, the basis of my faith... it's really important and weighty stuff, not just happity clappity fluff (ok so i didn't think that last part)!" And so the words made so much more sense, all the more since it was Easter, and then, as has been the pattern of my general reaction to many of the songs sung at the Holy Week services this week, eyes got all watery again [though i must admit that especially for a guy my tear ducts are rather active - for example i tear up almost whenever i am tired - i just have to close and rub eyes a bit and the liquid will appear - think it's cos my eyes get dry so easily that have to moisten them or else my blinking will be accompanied by scratchy sounds (you should have seen me when i was a day or so in to my trip to Vegas - the combination of a day-long plane ride in a dehumidified plane cabin, the dry Vegas desert air, and the smoky casino-lobby of my hotel had resulted in a very teary and red-eyed matt - almost looked like i was all hung over and in emotional tatters after losing my life savings at the roulette wheel - and btw just for the record i am very much anti-casino - or as the justifying euphemism goes, anti-integrated resort, but i digress)]. But yeah, seriously, i believe that God was definitely ministering to my not-all-there self just now. *smilez*

And the Lord continued to speak - especially during the semi-spontaneous testimony time that we had, where there were several people who went up to share and bless the rest of the congregation - the common thread being God's continued faithfulness and goodness to those who seek Him. It was very touching really... Wow, even through the simple things, it was amazing and very encouraging to see how the Lord was working in the lives of fellow brothers and sisters in Christ =)

This quote, shared at the end of the sermon, speaks to me heaps:

"Never let anything so fill you with pain or sorrow as to make you forget the joy of Christ risen" - Mother Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997)

Indeed, His resurrection and what it means both for us as Christians and as well as with regards to what we hope to share with pre-believers is, for lack of a better way to term it, very important stuff...

An added, semi-related note: Since my room is roughly only forty or fifty metres away from the Bethel Hall, where many of the services take place, i can more or less hear whatever goes on there that is loud enough. So just now i heard what was going on at the pre-primary/primary one or so Easter outreach held there. As much as i cannot stand children, it was truly beautiful to hear so many young voices praising the Lord from their hearts. And i am sure to hear these songs of praise sung without any agenda or blindness to the Lord must be pleasing to Him =) Reminds me now of one of the testimonies shared during the aforementioned testimony time, where a young mother shared with the church how her little daughter was telling her how she could feel the Holy Spirit moving in her as she was singing songs of praise - it's just so wonderful and encouraging to hear that...Truly there is nothing hindering any of us from coming into and enjoying His presence =)

Was reading from Psalm 24 a couple of days ago, and came across, from verses 7 and 9, lyrics that undoubtedly inspired this song. Then it so happens that we sang it today... Looking at the lyrics, it's cool as to how the words of the Psalm talk about the jubilant reception of our victorious King of glory, these words taking on new relevance today as we celebrate our victorious risen Christ.

Glory

Great is the Lord God Almighty
Great is the Lord God on high
The train of His robe fills the temple
And we cry out highest praise

Glory to the risen King
Glory to the Son
Glorious Son

Lift up your heads
Open the doors
Let the King of glory come in
And forever be our God

Holy is the Lord God Almighty
Holy is the Lord on High
Let all the earth bow before You
And crown You Lord of all

Lyrics courtesy of Christian-Lyrics.net

Blessed Easter everyone...

thunderbolt and lightning, very very frightening

so here's the happy post-morten post that i was anticipating...

basically, after much delay, managed to finish typing by around twelvish, with enough time to edit and do the citations and print all before the 2pm lecture where i was to hand the thing up

[and when i refer to much delay, i really mean much delay: think spent more than half of the time available to me following the previous post to voluntarily do totally (with emphasis on the word totally) unrelated and distracting things, such as to see 2am while i was still at the intro to be the perfect time to look at the online bios of the new ruling party candidates and read them in detail]

and was blessed with just the right amount of nap time in between so as to be relatively lucid and not write nonsense, while still having adequate time to type

so it was handed in, and thus a huge weight has been lifted off me, though that did not signal the end to my dazed and confused state, but ah well, it's still a big load off, so can't complain =)

ever since catching American Idol (which i chose to watch over doing my essay btw), Bohemian Rhapsody has been stuck in my head, even more so than Bucky's "Oh Boy" and "Gray Sky Morning". To call it bizarre would be to not do it justice i tell you (where else would you get references to Galileo, Beelzebub and Scaramouche doing the fandango within the same sector of a song?)... Well, it could have gotten tackier, so not complaining that it's Bo Rhap and not "I Want to Break Free" or "We are the Champions"...

The final cg was great for me, and in reflection there were just too many things to be thankful for over the past acad year, even in merely the cg context. Yup had great fellowship and great encouragement too =) Thursday cg has really been, by God's grace, something really special...

Maundy Thursday and Good Friday Services were refreshing and extremely reflective for me... Even though i was admittedly still rather distracted (and can't pinpoint why either), the songs sung, in particular really spoke to me, although they're more or less the same songs every year (when i surveyed the bulletins from three churches that i had access to - KKMC, St.Peter's and St. Hilda's, i noticed that "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross" was sung at all three services - perhaps this was why there ended up being at least three different tunes to the same lyrics available - so there would be some variety - and also other popular songs of the season like "Were You There" or "Above All" too) honestly i couldn't help but tear (as in liu2 yan3 lei4, not shi1 po4) up - dunno if it's just an emotional high, but the words did pierce me to some extent - a good reminder for me even in this busy time and distorted state that i find myself slipping in and out of...

The Lord really showed me how He answers prayers through a sequence of events that began with me sharing with Adrian, Dan and Joce how i didn't know how to go about inviting them, and didn't even feel very convicted to do so , and ended up with, as the Lord moved, me accompanying them to Zhihui's church (KKMC) this morning for service =) A great encouragement it was...

Zhihui brought us for bak kut teh today for lunch after service - have never eaten so much pig for a long time (in fact now i can still feel all that fat swimming within me, pushing against my arterial linings). Never really cared for it before, but this one at rangoon road was surprisingly good =) So good that i even ended up eating quite a bit of pig intestines which upon biting into each piece oozed out what i perceived to be lots of fat, not to mention fatty pig trotters too... Not surprisingly, i have a deep motivation to go running now...

Somehow ended up in Ikea too, where i bought cool Swedish raspberry and vanilla cream cookies and chocs - to be shared with my fellow muggers over the course of the next week and beyond in school (but if you want these things you'll probably have to make your way up to the sixth floor, call me a creature of habit, but after spending a day in SMC, realised that i do prefer the atmosphere and cooler temperature of upstairs, even though it can get noisy - but hey, i have earplugs =)

momentary heart attack

i dunno why, but my cardiac activity always goes up a notch whenever i receive in the mail any envelope marked

ON GOVERNMENT SERVICE

and with a return address that has any mention of 'NS' or 'MINDEF' or any other spooky things like that...

of course, things all go back to normal once it's opened and it turns out to be some blah fyi stuff of secondary importance...

well, have the next few hours ahead of me to (begin and) finish my essay, which has been dogging me for the past week or so. As usual, in spite of the circumstances which would, without God in the picture scream "Die lah!", i can instead sit here happily typing this and delaying getting started with it. And not because i disregard its importance, or have a false sense of security or i have blind faith in what God can do and expect Him to get it done for me without me putting in any effort whatsoever, but because expressing all this out is really cathartic for me, and furthermore even in typing this out i see it as a reminder of my own inadequacy, all the more so in the face of God's omnipotency, and therefore a reminder to bring it all before Him. Know i say this over and over (and over) again, but it bears repeating... This peace that i have is real =)

God has also been really great in providing various people over the course of the past few days as sources of encouragement in different ways, even in the midst of tackling this essay that has been getting to me quite a bit... I suppose you've all noticed how off-tangent i've been as of late, so thanks all you guys (n gals), you've helped make my day, (as cheesy as this sounds - and i also said this during cg btw) i feel really loved... *warm and fuzzy feeling*

I expect a happy post-mortem post tomorrow =)

Off to fight the battle

Allez!

dazed and confused

I dunno why but have been (once again, i know) out-of-sorts today: three (that's three more than usual) people commented on how i looked all dazed.

What's the cause of all this? Why so downcast oh my soul (though admittedly i don't feel that bad myself)?

Is it my ongoing frustration towards the annoying essay that, at this moment, still lacking in even a single word in even the title?

Is it the above, coupled with the fact that its inertia from its current state of stagnancy means that my revision is seriously in trouble?

Is it something in my spiritual life that i am unaware/subconsciously aware of which is eating away in me?

Is it the headache-inducing white computer screen that i was staring at for a good half-an-hour?

Is it plain tiredness?

Or is it some unknown factor?

Chances are, it's a combination of all the above...

Ah well, hopefully tomorrow's meeting will clear some issues up...

Put your hope in God =)

By tomorrow morning, i hope to at least finalize my essay question and formulate a viable thesis and know where to get my information from...

Saw Sze-li off just now at the airport... Dunno when she'll be back, but anyway, it was really great having her back for the past week or so, on top of having her around again her visit also meant that i got to catch up with so many people, and recall so many farny things that happened during those crazy two years in acjc... Got to eat Popeyes Chicken (yes Ade, Popeye, the one who eats you-know-what =p)

Send-offs at the airport nowsaday make me think to when it'll be my turn, just think it's so cool... Of course, i won't be so bu2 yao4 lian3 (joking, joking...) as Sze-li and schedule a departure timing that wil facilitate as many people as possible coming to send me off =) Yup, chances are, if anyone's seeing me off, they'll have to put their sleep schedules out-of-whack cos will probably take the graveyard-shift United flight, which possibly means more siao cluedo-playing people eating Popeyes heh...

In closing, would like to draw your attention to the two new links on your RIGHT =======>

Please do support in prayer and any other way the Lord may lead you to. Thanks friends...

toilet training

Woke up this morning (almost late for church btw, thankfully stay next door so wasn't late =p) to the sound of Bingo diligently scratching at my door.

So i (after much hesitation cos it was such a nice, cool and damp morning - perfect for sleeping in) got up and opened the door, expecting him to come in as usual and possibly jump on my bed, leaving gross stains in the process, or at least slump in some corner, but instead he gave me a joyful look and immediately scurried downstairs and headed towards the door, then looked very expectantly at it.

I wised up to what he was hinting at and opened the door for him, and he immediately rushed for the nearest bush to empty his full tank...

[Come to think of it, am very thankful he didn't decide to jump on my bed, or he might have left quite the urological mess there...]

Congrats to Bingo for successfully demonstrating to me that his sanitary skills are better than a significant minority of human beings whose legacies left behind in (and out of) public toilets that i've visited leave much to be desired (and much else to hold one's nose at too)...

*arf*

Oh and btw here's the link to MEET Mongolia Team's blog, do support in whatever way the Lord leads to ya =)

it's been five years...

Still haven't decided on a question yet for my last essay, due thursday. Didn't help that though i was all geared up to piah (sp?) in school today, all enthusiasm soon drained from me and all that i was able to do was to narrow my possible topic down to something during the industrial revolution (which still is agonizingly broad)

On the upside, shoe bag got filled with another stack of books, which means that at least have something to work with...

Gosh i really need to start on revision...

Dinner tonight with random people from 2AD1 united by Sze-li coming back for a short while was at Settler's Cafe at Holland V (regrettably, i never voiced out that my house is but 5 minutes' walk away from their katong branch) Had a great time with everyone, some of whom i haven't seen in years since A levels/a chance bumping into each other in town, nus, fun-o-rama or the funeral of a mutual acquaintance... I must admit, judging from the class dynamic by the end of year 2 (which seems to be eons ago) i would never have thought that we'd be having such a great time playing taboo (as we did last time in gp class) and cranium, transcending cliques and comfort zones... I suppose that in this case absence indeed makes the heart grow fonder...

And you think that i'm super kentang now? Just now during cranium i gave an answer to a question and asked if i was correct. Only that instead of asking "is that the right answer?" i asked "tio bo?", only to be faced with looks of disbelief from Mr Koh and some classmates who were so surprised that i said something in hokkien (which of course i picked up bits and pieces of in army - apart from "tio bo" and some numbers most of my command of hokkien, in keeping with typical army culture, translates into stuff that cannot make it uncensored into this family-friendly blog - which is somewhat ironic i suppose since much of this talk refers to members of the family, such as father, mother etc...) So apparently this means that the matt you know now has in fact undergone a certain degree of sinification since pre-army days...

Shall post pics here once people email them to me (it's times like these when i want to get a digicam - hmm definitely by the time i get to the states i'll need to have one...)

of being idle and thinking idol

Just some random American Idol-associated thoughts while i take a break from deciding what to do for my last essay.

Always thought that 'Drops of Jupiter' was an oasis song from long ago, until i heard it sung on '21st Century songs' week.

Always thought that 'Gray Sky Morning' was a coldplay song, until i heard it sung on 'country songs week'.

The downside of having your laptop with you is that you get restless and check online who got eliminated even before it's aired here, only to find out that one of your favourites (Mandisa - i assume no one will be reading this before it's shown) got eliminated instead of , say MZ's favourite, whom in contrast i absolutely cannot stand... (but we put our differences aside... =p)

One Year Old

This blog, that is...

Anyway, i had wanted to post this on the exact one-year anniversary, but alas, much work and sleep made that an all-too-distant dream...

But in any case, updates, updates...

Sze-li's back! For just a week and a half though, but still better than nothing... Her arrival proved the perfect opportunity for a couple of much-needed reunion respites from school...

Saturday together with Renshao it was laksa at where else but katong, followed by or luak, char kway teow and rojak at marine parade. Of course, do note that all four of the aforementioned dishes contain, apart from copious amounts of oil and fat, other stuff that i do not eat: in running order - prawns and hum, oysters, prawns and hum again, gooey brown prawn paste. Managed to convince myself to eat the non-prawn portions of the food (therefore rojak inedible cos the gross prawn paste smothers everything...), not bad lah, but the hum and oyster still tasted too fishy for my liking... And to top it all off, there were durians (which again, i don't eat, though i did eat the mangosteens though - and they weren't too bad - which means that i've found an exception to my don't-eat-local-fruits rule) All in all was a really great time of catching up =)

Sunday together with a couple of 2AD1 pple [Daph (+ bf), Winnie, Zhimin] we went to esplanade gluttons bay where we had expensive stingray ($15!) and overpriced kangkong ($10!). Food ok lah, nothing spectacular, what was better was the chance to catch up with some class people whom i've barely seen since 2001 (can't believe that i took my A levels five years ago... that's getting old for you..) and recall some of the silly and farny things that went on back then... For all the issues that i have with the school, there indeed still are many parts of it that i miss...

The past two days were coincidental/bump-into-people/it's-a-small-world days for me.

Yesterday while chiong-ing project (or at least maintaining a semblance of so doing) in the canteen saw my namesake at another table and said hi, only to realise that the person sitting opposite him was an ex-choir junior whom i had hardly talked to or seen in five years but whom i still recognised off the bat (and she me too)...

Also, over a 24-hour time period starting from last evening saw the same guy who's also going to UNC next sem three times, which is quite coincedental given how i had never seen him before this in school since we met...

While with Eunice on two seperate occasions yesterday and today at kent ridge terminal and business canteen we at both times bumped into frens and rong-er (a.k.a. Adrian and Alicia) which was quite farny and freaky i must say...

And while talking about Mei Si with Eunice, who else should appear walking past us but Ms *what* herself...

Furthermore, Eunice's friend's friend turned out to be another choir junior i know...

Well, got back the wheel to web test, was the worst marks i've gotten for any assessed piece this sem, but (as testament to God's goodness) still rather reasonable a mark to begin with (67). Just hope and pray that my results-centered self doesn't rear its ugly head again...

Have only one more assignment to clear, due on the 13th, but i hope to do it by this week, so that hopefully my shoe bag can start carrying shoes again...

Exercise!

(and i realise the irony but heck lah) Try eating this: it's really good *licks lips* (available at the co-op)

Oh, and while we're on the topic of sweet indulgences, this is good stuff too, though you have to go to the states to get it...