All of a sudden, i'm feeling rather uplifted (though this has absolutely nothing to do with an uplifting event of a totally different variety that to my horror i accidentally chanced upon just now on Oprah involving women and their inner garments, if you get my drift...).
The reason for such happiness suddenly ensuing is that i came back home just now and checked my email, and found out that certain troublesome hindrances in my path towards being able to leave worry-free for the states (and arrive there and clear customs without running the risk of being deported) on that obscenely early United flight just more than a month from now have cleared up somewhat, with regards to the country which professes to trust in God, the folks who mould the future of our nation, and of course the peeps at the top 20 university in the Pasir Panjang/Kent Ridge area too... I'm as usual always one for procrastination, so when i finally got around to doing something after a week's delay since i've been back, then thankfully things have started to get moving whee =)
But of course i am far from done with all this bureauracy and red tape, but it's a start i suppose... And can also get started on less boring things like planning for trips and the like, though now since the folks have now decided to tag along for a while i have to make certain adjustments to my plans, but no worries overall =)
And Wimbledon is on now (this of course means next to nothing since i donch have cable and hence at the most can only catch poor quality delayed feeds of matches online as the sole means of actually watching any of the action, but never mind)! At least there'll be some respite from the barrage of blah world cup news that is flooding every media available...
My aim now is to squeeze in as much as possible before i leave, and also before i start at the school, cos think once that happens my happy, fun and carefree life will grind to a halt... Nothing without labour...
Oh, and RIP.
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Want to significantly lower your risk of getting lung cancer? Stay in Thailand
Was walking behind someone on the overhead bridge earlier today on the way to the bus stop to catch a bus to school, when i noticed that there was a strange odour coming from the man walking in front of me. It smelt bad, but i could not put my finger on what it actually was until i caught a glimpse of something in his hand - a cigarette...
And since i've come back i've been assaulted by the same stench at least twice already, and have been faced with the same lack of recognition as to what the stink actually was. I've come to realise that in Thailand i was never, save for a very brief moment (and the offender in question was an ang moh for that matter, rather than a local), the victim of any second-hand smoke (and of course not of any first-hand smoke either) whatsoever, and in fact i could count on one hand the number of times i saw someone smoking. So in other words, i was so used to not seeing people smoking and not having their cancer-causing emissions blow past my nose while i was over there that i even forgot how vile the gases actually smelt, such that i've had nothing but rude shocks whenever i've encountered any inconsiderate smoker over here, since it takes me a while before realizing that the poison i'm inhaling is indeed cigarette smoke...
So congrats to Thailand from what i predict to be a good trouncing of Singapore in terms of lower mortality rates owing to lung cancer... Looks like we're many expensive taxes, public bans and graphic bodily depictions of lung cancer patients away from achieving those rates...
And since i've come back i've been assaulted by the same stench at least twice already, and have been faced with the same lack of recognition as to what the stink actually was. I've come to realise that in Thailand i was never, save for a very brief moment (and the offender in question was an ang moh for that matter, rather than a local), the victim of any second-hand smoke (and of course not of any first-hand smoke either) whatsoever, and in fact i could count on one hand the number of times i saw someone smoking. So in other words, i was so used to not seeing people smoking and not having their cancer-causing emissions blow past my nose while i was over there that i even forgot how vile the gases actually smelt, such that i've had nothing but rude shocks whenever i've encountered any inconsiderate smoker over here, since it takes me a while before realizing that the poison i'm inhaling is indeed cigarette smoke...
So congrats to Thailand from what i predict to be a good trouncing of Singapore in terms of lower mortality rates owing to lung cancer... Looks like we're many expensive taxes, public bans and graphic bodily depictions of lung cancer patients away from achieving those rates...
Sunday, June 25, 2006
of pigging out and sliced guitars
Lots of things happening over the past few days - resulting in a lot of people met and a lot of $ drained from my wallet and ezlink card...
Finally got to watch X3 with the team on Thursday - it was very entertaining, though not always necessarily in a good way - a little too campy for my tastes but fun nevertheless. I especially enjoyed Callisto's death because i absolutely couldn't stand her when she was alive (and the glowing piercing was farny too). The scene when Jean Grey seduces Wolverine was also strangely reminiscent of Goldeneye, since in both cases Famke Janssen's character (in Goldeneye the very intriguingly named Xenia Onatopp) wraps her legs around men when seducing them, although in the case of Goldeneye she then proceeds to crush them to death with her thighs (a good testament to the effectiveness of the thighmaster =p). Camp!
Yesterday, met up with Sida for lunch and dessert to catch up. Lunch was a very full plate of chicken rice with shao1 rou4 added at lagoon. Then we went to use my $20 Häagen-Dazs voucher at Siglap, since it was expiring that very day. Melon flavour is rather good actually - though nothing really comes close to Macadamia Brittle. Yum.
For dinner i somehow found myself at a Japanese a la carte buffet place called Honjin on Robinson Road with Renshao and Hannah - as usual indecisive me had no opinions as to where to eat and eventually we ended up there - not my ideal meal (cos it's $32+++) but was good nevertheless. You can order as much of many stuff as you like such as sashimi, sushi, zaru soba (my favourite), yakitori, tempura etc... And keeping with my 'always hungry' persona that plagued ("plagued" because it wreaked havoc on my weight) me almost throughout the MEET trip - i just kept on eating and eating, and at the end what stopped me wasn't the feeling of fullness (which never came) but rather the last order time... I even almost single-handedly devoured a complimentary stewed salmon head - even though as some of you would know i don't really like fish, particularly if it's fishy (both literally and figuratively), maybe unless it's fried to eradicate traces of fishiness... And can you imagine, i had that appetite more or less throughout the whole trip (yet somehow, according to my mother, i lost weight)...
Today, went over to friends' house to compare notes regarding our respective trips and to see his trip photos and videos (Thailand trip ones coming soon btw...) Before that had lunch at the nearby hawker centre, where as usual indecisive me had no opinions as to where to eat (sounds familiar?). Eventually we settled on chicken rice, and the two of us (with me again being in my 'always hungry' mood, and friends, well, being friends =p) managed to finish half a chicken... Oh well, it's always good to talk to and pray with friends =)...
After that joined the cell for gathering at Daniel Vai's place. More food (i claimed to be full but still ate like crazy anyway...), this time cooked by him. Good stuff. Also great to see everyone again and catch up after quite some time =)
I had a bizarre dream last night. Dreamt that we were still in Thailand, and somehow someone with butter fingers (the team would know who this is...) dropped Alan's (our host missionary) guitar and case. And the guitar as a result got sliced in to at least four pieces. I showed it to Alan, and he somehow looked annoyed, then rode off with the broken guitar on some sort of giant white animal (the exact variety i forget - think it was either a horse or a swan) and disappeared in the nearby woods (which btw looked nothing like Thailand). Maybe this has something to do with the sheer amount of time i spent there playing guitar - played almost every day till now the calluses on my left fingertips are so thick that i get a numb feeling whenever i touch something with them, and my right index fingernail is practically flattened from all the strumming on the acoustic guitar strings. Of course on the upside i'd like to think that i've improved quite a bit heh... Though now that i'm back to using the classical i have at home it just sounds bad whatever i play on it (except the opening lines of qing tian, since they're plucked and the classical is meant for plucking), because the acoustic just sounds much better in comparison...
Got my attachment school assigned - am posted to an established boy's school in the siglap-east coast area. Knew i'd get a school near my house but never thought it would be this one... Ah well, we'll see what happens...
And i know this is like the millionth time but i really need to exercise if i am going to attempt to even pass ippt in slightly less than a month's time - i feel horribly unfit in any case, and i eat so much nowsaday that i'd better start doing something - any running/swimming/cycling kakis?
Finally got to watch X3 with the team on Thursday - it was very entertaining, though not always necessarily in a good way - a little too campy for my tastes but fun nevertheless. I especially enjoyed Callisto's death because i absolutely couldn't stand her when she was alive (and the glowing piercing was farny too). The scene when Jean Grey seduces Wolverine was also strangely reminiscent of Goldeneye, since in both cases Famke Janssen's character (in Goldeneye the very intriguingly named Xenia Onatopp) wraps her legs around men when seducing them, although in the case of Goldeneye she then proceeds to crush them to death with her thighs (a good testament to the effectiveness of the thighmaster =p). Camp!
Yesterday, met up with Sida for lunch and dessert to catch up. Lunch was a very full plate of chicken rice with shao1 rou4 added at lagoon. Then we went to use my $20 Häagen-Dazs voucher at Siglap, since it was expiring that very day. Melon flavour is rather good actually - though nothing really comes close to Macadamia Brittle. Yum.
For dinner i somehow found myself at a Japanese a la carte buffet place called Honjin on Robinson Road with Renshao and Hannah - as usual indecisive me had no opinions as to where to eat and eventually we ended up there - not my ideal meal (cos it's $32+++) but was good nevertheless. You can order as much of many stuff as you like such as sashimi, sushi, zaru soba (my favourite), yakitori, tempura etc... And keeping with my 'always hungry' persona that plagued ("plagued" because it wreaked havoc on my weight) me almost throughout the MEET trip - i just kept on eating and eating, and at the end what stopped me wasn't the feeling of fullness (which never came) but rather the last order time... I even almost single-handedly devoured a complimentary stewed salmon head - even though as some of you would know i don't really like fish, particularly if it's fishy (both literally and figuratively), maybe unless it's fried to eradicate traces of fishiness... And can you imagine, i had that appetite more or less throughout the whole trip (yet somehow, according to my mother, i lost weight)...
Today, went over to friends' house to compare notes regarding our respective trips and to see his trip photos and videos (Thailand trip ones coming soon btw...) Before that had lunch at the nearby hawker centre, where as usual indecisive me had no opinions as to where to eat (sounds familiar?). Eventually we settled on chicken rice, and the two of us (with me again being in my 'always hungry' mood, and friends, well, being friends =p) managed to finish half a chicken... Oh well, it's always good to talk to and pray with friends =)...
After that joined the cell for gathering at Daniel Vai's place. More food (i claimed to be full but still ate like crazy anyway...), this time cooked by him. Good stuff. Also great to see everyone again and catch up after quite some time =)
I had a bizarre dream last night. Dreamt that we were still in Thailand, and somehow someone with butter fingers (the team would know who this is...) dropped Alan's (our host missionary) guitar and case. And the guitar as a result got sliced in to at least four pieces. I showed it to Alan, and he somehow looked annoyed, then rode off with the broken guitar on some sort of giant white animal (the exact variety i forget - think it was either a horse or a swan) and disappeared in the nearby woods (which btw looked nothing like Thailand). Maybe this has something to do with the sheer amount of time i spent there playing guitar - played almost every day till now the calluses on my left fingertips are so thick that i get a numb feeling whenever i touch something with them, and my right index fingernail is practically flattened from all the strumming on the acoustic guitar strings. Of course on the upside i'd like to think that i've improved quite a bit heh... Though now that i'm back to using the classical i have at home it just sounds bad whatever i play on it (except the opening lines of qing tian, since they're plucked and the classical is meant for plucking), because the acoustic just sounds much better in comparison...
Got my attachment school assigned - am posted to an established boy's school in the siglap-east coast area. Knew i'd get a school near my house but never thought it would be this one... Ah well, we'll see what happens...
And i know this is like the millionth time but i really need to exercise if i am going to attempt to even pass ippt in slightly less than a month's time - i feel horribly unfit in any case, and i eat so much nowsaday that i'd better start doing something - any running/swimming/cycling kakis?
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
i'm off the jet plane
ok actually i am a little tired and a little sick (more on the latter later - hey - latter later - i like the ring of that - latter later latter later latter later - heehee its even more fun to type - ok enough nonsense) but i know that if i don't start recording stuff down now i'll soon forget it so here goes:
firstly, updates on the stuff that i thought that i would be missing since i was away:
Exam results:
Ok checked these online after coming back from the first English session that we had - before that was alternating between eagerly anticipating them (in hope of all As) and downright avoiding them (in fear of all B minuses or worse). Anyhoos, i was initially quite disappointed because after all the drama of the past sem - the unexpectedly high CA grades amidst the utter lack of time to even do these things, and then the whole severe mood swing right around exam time - i had somehow gotten the slight gut feeling that this sem's results would be the best yet - but instead they were the second worst (or for the optimist - third best). To make things even more unsettling - i got the lowest grade for the level one ss module (once again, this history major vows never to do another soci module ever again - and beat me with a stick if i stupidly even consider breaking this vow again), B+s for my three level 2s, and the highest grade for my level 3 hist. But after prayerfully considering all things, i realised that i still can be thankful that i'm still fairly safe in the desired range, and by most accounts my grades are actually quite okay... And i've also come to the conculsion that the more i desire better grades for my own personal gratification (which is what i feel was the case in this case), the less i'll be granted them...
American Idol: Oh well, Kat lost - but from what my mother told me - serves her right for singing the same old safe and boring stuff - if she sang more cool stuff like Black Horse and the Cherry Tree for her final repertoire then maybe she'd have done better? I donch know - and i'm a sore loser i guess so i won't bother to check out exactly what happened in the finals... In any case, i still cannot stand the other guy.
Singapore Idol: I seriously can't be bothered - even with the sisters who may be my distant relatives...
World Cup: Darn, thought i could escape this one - but world cup fever was just as bad there as it was here four years ago when i was subject to soccer-crazed bunk-mates and the like - think i dislike the sport more than i've ever before...
French Open: Quite cool huh - i correctly predicted the winners (Henin-Hardenne and Nadal) and my other favourites all reached at least the fourth round =) If i could be so accurate for soccer results (that is, if i cared), maybe i'd be a rich man now heh... Caught a glimpse of the fourth round results on Thai TV and later saw a picture on a newspaper of the winner and runner-up of the women's singles - and even though it was all in Thai (duh) at least i'm happy there wasn't an information blackout...
Ok apart from that there of course is a lot of stuff that happened with greater relation to the trip itself - which i wil probably talk about at a later date (or else you'll just have to wait for the presentation heh). Here are some little snippets first:
The trip saw my first time:
-eating guava [i hereby retract my previous claim that i do not eat all tropical fruits - rather, i do not eat most tropical fruits, save for stuff like rambutans, peeled guavas and fried (i.e. not fresh) bananas]
-riding a motorcycle (albeit only for two two-minute trips to the market and back, but still, a trip's a trip)
-being called 'handsome' by someone not of the cheek-pinching auntie variety (though the caller in question was instead of the male variety so i don't know whether to be flattered or to flee...)
Also the 'latter later' stuff:
I fell sick towards the end of the trip, and was fluctuating rapidly between mildly well and horribly delirious over the last three days. Some insisted that i must be homesick but i said no - how can i be homesick when i am often so sick of home? Well, today i was still sickish, but by the time we touched down, my bad throat was now barely noticeable, and the other ailments were all but gone - all this to such an extent that i was able to follow my parents to Sizzler to eat steak for dinner - and round it off with ice cream furthermore (this is all the more ironic considering how my last meal before falling sick was steak...) so in short, maybe i was subconsciously homesick after all...
Ok, i do want to elaborate much more, particularly on the ministry and how the Lord has really blessed me through the trip, but i shall leave that for another day - nitey...
firstly, updates on the stuff that i thought that i would be missing since i was away:
Exam results:
Ok checked these online after coming back from the first English session that we had - before that was alternating between eagerly anticipating them (in hope of all As) and downright avoiding them (in fear of all B minuses or worse). Anyhoos, i was initially quite disappointed because after all the drama of the past sem - the unexpectedly high CA grades amidst the utter lack of time to even do these things, and then the whole severe mood swing right around exam time - i had somehow gotten the slight gut feeling that this sem's results would be the best yet - but instead they were the second worst (or for the optimist - third best). To make things even more unsettling - i got the lowest grade for the level one ss module (once again, this history major vows never to do another soci module ever again - and beat me with a stick if i stupidly even consider breaking this vow again), B+s for my three level 2s, and the highest grade for my level 3 hist. But after prayerfully considering all things, i realised that i still can be thankful that i'm still fairly safe in the desired range, and by most accounts my grades are actually quite okay... And i've also come to the conculsion that the more i desire better grades for my own personal gratification (which is what i feel was the case in this case), the less i'll be granted them...
American Idol: Oh well, Kat lost - but from what my mother told me - serves her right for singing the same old safe and boring stuff - if she sang more cool stuff like Black Horse and the Cherry Tree for her final repertoire then maybe she'd have done better? I donch know - and i'm a sore loser i guess so i won't bother to check out exactly what happened in the finals... In any case, i still cannot stand the other guy.
Singapore Idol: I seriously can't be bothered - even with the sisters who may be my distant relatives...
World Cup: Darn, thought i could escape this one - but world cup fever was just as bad there as it was here four years ago when i was subject to soccer-crazed bunk-mates and the like - think i dislike the sport more than i've ever before...
French Open: Quite cool huh - i correctly predicted the winners (Henin-Hardenne and Nadal) and my other favourites all reached at least the fourth round =) If i could be so accurate for soccer results (that is, if i cared), maybe i'd be a rich man now heh... Caught a glimpse of the fourth round results on Thai TV and later saw a picture on a newspaper of the winner and runner-up of the women's singles - and even though it was all in Thai (duh) at least i'm happy there wasn't an information blackout...
Ok apart from that there of course is a lot of stuff that happened with greater relation to the trip itself - which i wil probably talk about at a later date (or else you'll just have to wait for the presentation heh). Here are some little snippets first:
The trip saw my first time:
-eating guava [i hereby retract my previous claim that i do not eat all tropical fruits - rather, i do not eat most tropical fruits, save for stuff like rambutans, peeled guavas and fried (i.e. not fresh) bananas]
-riding a motorcycle (albeit only for two two-minute trips to the market and back, but still, a trip's a trip)
-being called 'handsome' by someone not of the cheek-pinching auntie variety (though the caller in question was instead of the male variety so i don't know whether to be flattered or to flee...)
Also the 'latter later' stuff:
I fell sick towards the end of the trip, and was fluctuating rapidly between mildly well and horribly delirious over the last three days. Some insisted that i must be homesick but i said no - how can i be homesick when i am often so sick of home? Well, today i was still sickish, but by the time we touched down, my bad throat was now barely noticeable, and the other ailments were all but gone - all this to such an extent that i was able to follow my parents to Sizzler to eat steak for dinner - and round it off with ice cream furthermore (this is all the more ironic considering how my last meal before falling sick was steak...) so in short, maybe i was subconsciously homesick after all...
Ok, i do want to elaborate much more, particularly on the ministry and how the Lord has really blessed me through the trip, but i shall leave that for another day - nitey...
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