At home now for a change, unlike most of my previous saturdays this year, more or less specifically because my bus pass just ran out yesterday and i am hesitant to buy another one, especially so since now i can count on the occasional ride to and from school from Sida, making it a financial loss now for me to pay $52 a month to fund an annoyingly inefficient and distracting (read: tv mobile) transport system (yup i know we're pampered and all here compared to other places but ah well, it'll never be perfect so...)
Have been attempting to find some way to get over the initial barrier of starting my irritating ss assignment, haven't found it yet hence this post =)
So anyway, thanks to all the dear people who contributed to my last year's birthday/this year's birthday (since i'll probably be away)/appreciation/charity out of sheer lan-ness of stuff that they replaced present of the jansport bag and the white shirt with weird writings on it (which were not as bad as Mei Si had made it out to be - since most of the words are indecipherable save at close proximity - i wouldn't buy it if i were shopping by myself, but it is nice nevertheless and i promise to wear it on tuesday, at the least to placate she who seems to be more excited about the presents than even me =p) And while we're at it, thanks too to Ade Fam for the guitar strings and the guitar as well. All these presents have/will come in very useful... Am really blessed to have friends like you all (and not just because of the stuff of course, though that undoubtedly played a part =)
Still lamenting my need to exercise in order to prepare for ippt, which taking exchange, attachment and MEET into consideration means that i have to book a date sometime between may and (absolute latest) july, though i am thinking that fitness level may drop drastically at MEET and attachment, such that i'll have to push for may, which means i'll have to train if i want to have a decent shot at the silver which i somehow said is rather achievable. Have people whom i can train with but have not the time to do so, and given the steady string of assignments that i have, perhaps not on a regular basis till April 29 (the last day of exams) which would not bode well for a may date... Jialat! (© CMS)
Ok better scoot off now if i want to have any chance of completing this silly thing by tomorrow, since it's due the following day and have yet another thing due on wednesday which is in the yet-to-be-conceptualized stage.
toodeloo...
Saturday, March 11, 2006
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
it's been a week since my last post and i can't think of another title
ooh long time since last post (by my standards at least...)
what have i been up to? lots of work to do, that's what.
as of now, i have one mid term on thursday, two essay thingies due next monday and wedensday, two group projects and one more essay due by the end of the month on my mind, especially so since apart from the mid term (slightly less than halfway through readings - upon which questions will be based so cannot siam them), i've hardly started on any of them
but today was a good booster for me, cos got back two pieces of work - one essay and one test - that, by God's grace, scored far better than i could have hoped or imagined - especially so for the essay, which i was still hard at work on mere hours before the deadline cos i started waaaay too late... Yet again (and i do realise i say this all the time, yet it still is always so true) another humbling experience for me =), since i was really desperate then and secured the prayer support of quite a few people just to see me through writing it. For the test too, i initially saw the paper and was like "$&%^@!!!" but again by God's grace the words just came out somehow eventually =)
One more test to be returned though, and the prognosis doesn't look good... But i'll take what i get lah, especially since the project now seems to be headed in a generally positive direction.
in news totally unrelated to this apart from the fact that it also took place in between this post and the last one, i somehow anointed myself in fairprice brand corn oil on sunday when i was trying to grab the bottle in the kitchen from outside through the window to pass to my mother and the stupid low quality bottle cap flew open, making me feel like a turkish oil wrestler or a rotiboy bun...
In honour of Sharon Liu (if you are so led back to this blog again =p), who today reported to me that she was led by 'divine inspiration' to find my mention of her on this blog, here's the link for easier navigation... And btw, i never said you were making monkey faces what... that was obviously your own feel of the situation haha... And also when i said "guess which one" i meant which end of the lunacy scale, not which one of the three was the most looney (btw hands down the winner of that would be obvious - guess which one haha)...
Have to somehow work through many thick readings by thursday morning...
au revoir
what have i been up to? lots of work to do, that's what.
as of now, i have one mid term on thursday, two essay thingies due next monday and wedensday, two group projects and one more essay due by the end of the month on my mind, especially so since apart from the mid term (slightly less than halfway through readings - upon which questions will be based so cannot siam them), i've hardly started on any of them
but today was a good booster for me, cos got back two pieces of work - one essay and one test - that, by God's grace, scored far better than i could have hoped or imagined - especially so for the essay, which i was still hard at work on mere hours before the deadline cos i started waaaay too late... Yet again (and i do realise i say this all the time, yet it still is always so true) another humbling experience for me =), since i was really desperate then and secured the prayer support of quite a few people just to see me through writing it. For the test too, i initially saw the paper and was like "$&%^@!!!" but again by God's grace the words just came out somehow eventually =)
One more test to be returned though, and the prognosis doesn't look good... But i'll take what i get lah, especially since the project now seems to be headed in a generally positive direction.
in news totally unrelated to this apart from the fact that it also took place in between this post and the last one, i somehow anointed myself in fairprice brand corn oil on sunday when i was trying to grab the bottle in the kitchen from outside through the window to pass to my mother and the stupid low quality bottle cap flew open, making me feel like a turkish oil wrestler or a rotiboy bun...
In honour of Sharon Liu (if you are so led back to this blog again =p), who today reported to me that she was led by 'divine inspiration' to find my mention of her on this blog, here's the link for easier navigation... And btw, i never said you were making monkey faces what... that was obviously your own feel of the situation haha... And also when i said "guess which one" i meant which end of the lunacy scale, not which one of the three was the most looney (btw hands down the winner of that would be obvious - guess which one haha)...
Have to somehow work through many thick readings by thursday morning...
au revoir
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
that darn shirt
Had an eight am test this morning, so in preparation i woke up at the obscenely early hour of six am, had a shower to wash off the drowsiness, and eventually found my way onto the usual bus 10 en route to school.
Was about ten minutes away from school when i looked down at my shirt and realised that what i thought i was wearing didn't look like this. Upon closer inspection i realised that i was wearing the tee i normally wear to sleep instead of the other one that i had intended to wear... Obviously that aforementioned shower didn't do a good enough job of washing away the drowsiness, right after it i put on the shirt that i had just slept in...
To make matters worse, this shirt, while perfect for wearing to sleep since it is thin (methinks around one third of an mm thick, and also very old) and therefore cooling to wear at night, is absolutely not meant for wearing out, even more so in school, where thousands of pairs of fashion-conscious eyes abound. Not only is it very drab, but its thinness means that under the right light, you can practically see what's under it... (i realised that when i looked at myself in the nus toilet mirror...) Perfect for wet t-shirt contests yes, but for school, not in a million years... [thankfully it has not reached the holey stage yet]
I had half a mind to go to Eusoff and borrow a proper shirt from my friend, especially since i had arrived at 730am, but i decided against it since i thought that that would make me all distracted by the time the test started... So i thought, hmm i'm sure everybody else is not as conscious of me as i am of myself, so never mind lah... Sort of like a social experiment to see people's response to my scruffiness...
So thus commenced my attempts at making my clothing as inconspicuous as possible (somehow that last line doesn't sound quite right - rest assured i am no nudist) [which i suppose worked since no one called me on it - unless they were keeping mum - i didn't want to draw attention to my toot-ness until i was no longer to be seen in the shirt - i.e. now, in retrospect - so as to avoid further embarassment for me], these attempts including crouching low in my seat and holding my blue file close to my chest so as to minimize public view of me and the scruffy shirt.
I realised that with how i appeared just now: scruffy, paper-thin and translucent tee shirt; holey backpack; just-woke-up hair; unshaven; particularly noisy stomach rumblings during the test; i must have appeared as though i was seeking refuge from the streets or something like that...
Oh but enough about the scruffy shirt... Anyways, the test today was not too good, think i more or less screwed up the essay portion, but oh well, can't be changed now... And in any case, now anytime i thonk of a difficult test, i take comfort in knowing that it probably would not sink any lower than my 2/10 score for my first el2101 quiz last sem... That probably added to my sian and dour demeanour today so apologies to all who were subject to it...
Went swimming after lessons, cos figured that it's an excuse to be seen not wearing the stupid shirt without being offensive =p oh and of course to exercise as well... Got burnt again =x
After that, suddenly a bright idea came to mind that since i was not dressed for school, why not go study at a more fitting environment? So guess what? I went to the beach at ecp... Really good idea, methinks, cos the cool breeze was a perfect counter to the kiln-like temperature today, and furthermore it was relatively quiet and relaxing too. You all should try it (Ah the benefits of living in the east =) Of course, i ended up spending more time getting there from school than actually studying there, but still nevertheless a good precedent was set...
Then to round off the day i went to catch Brokeback Mountain at GV (after going home to change first, of course). In just two months, i have watched as many movies this year as i did in the whole of last year (i.e. 3), heavily facilitated by my use of the vouchers that i won in a bowling competition (yes, as impossible as that sounds, i have actually won something in a sports contest before =) Anyways, it was a good movie, save, once again, for its moral message...
Happy AC Founder's Day! The Best is Yet to Be =)
Was about ten minutes away from school when i looked down at my shirt and realised that what i thought i was wearing didn't look like this. Upon closer inspection i realised that i was wearing the tee i normally wear to sleep instead of the other one that i had intended to wear... Obviously that aforementioned shower didn't do a good enough job of washing away the drowsiness, right after it i put on the shirt that i had just slept in...
To make matters worse, this shirt, while perfect for wearing to sleep since it is thin (methinks around one third of an mm thick, and also very old) and therefore cooling to wear at night, is absolutely not meant for wearing out, even more so in school, where thousands of pairs of fashion-conscious eyes abound. Not only is it very drab, but its thinness means that under the right light, you can practically see what's under it... (i realised that when i looked at myself in the nus toilet mirror...) Perfect for wet t-shirt contests yes, but for school, not in a million years... [thankfully it has not reached the holey stage yet]
I had half a mind to go to Eusoff and borrow a proper shirt from my friend, especially since i had arrived at 730am, but i decided against it since i thought that that would make me all distracted by the time the test started... So i thought, hmm i'm sure everybody else is not as conscious of me as i am of myself, so never mind lah... Sort of like a social experiment to see people's response to my scruffiness...
So thus commenced my attempts at making my clothing as inconspicuous as possible (somehow that last line doesn't sound quite right - rest assured i am no nudist) [which i suppose worked since no one called me on it - unless they were keeping mum - i didn't want to draw attention to my toot-ness until i was no longer to be seen in the shirt - i.e. now, in retrospect - so as to avoid further embarassment for me], these attempts including crouching low in my seat and holding my blue file close to my chest so as to minimize public view of me and the scruffy shirt.
I realised that with how i appeared just now: scruffy, paper-thin and translucent tee shirt; holey backpack; just-woke-up hair; unshaven; particularly noisy stomach rumblings during the test; i must have appeared as though i was seeking refuge from the streets or something like that...
Oh but enough about the scruffy shirt... Anyways, the test today was not too good, think i more or less screwed up the essay portion, but oh well, can't be changed now... And in any case, now anytime i thonk of a difficult test, i take comfort in knowing that it probably would not sink any lower than my 2/10 score for my first el2101 quiz last sem... That probably added to my sian and dour demeanour today so apologies to all who were subject to it...
Went swimming after lessons, cos figured that it's an excuse to be seen not wearing the stupid shirt without being offensive =p oh and of course to exercise as well... Got burnt again =x
After that, suddenly a bright idea came to mind that since i was not dressed for school, why not go study at a more fitting environment? So guess what? I went to the beach at ecp... Really good idea, methinks, cos the cool breeze was a perfect counter to the kiln-like temperature today, and furthermore it was relatively quiet and relaxing too. You all should try it (Ah the benefits of living in the east =) Of course, i ended up spending more time getting there from school than actually studying there, but still nevertheless a good precedent was set...
Then to round off the day i went to catch Brokeback Mountain at GV (after going home to change first, of course). In just two months, i have watched as many movies this year as i did in the whole of last year (i.e. 3), heavily facilitated by my use of the vouchers that i won in a bowling competition (yes, as impossible as that sounds, i have actually won something in a sports contest before =) Anyways, it was a good movie, save, once again, for its moral message...
Happy AC Founder's Day! The Best is Yet to Be =)
Saturday, February 25, 2006
to borrow from Billy...
You know how a famous line from one of Shakespeare's plays (i forget which one, heck, i'm not even sure if it's his line to begin with...) goes "a rose by any other name smells just as sweet" or something to that effect?
Well allow me to modify this line, and say that, pardon the lack of poetic feel, "a four-day break by any other name (i.e. a five-day break) smells fishy and foul"
That being the case, i have had a relatively good break, in terms of catching up with work and recreation as well...
Decided to break from the books early on wed and went to catch Match Point... Like many of its counterparts nowsaday, it was a rather good movie, save for its apparent endorsement of immorality. I already know how it would end before i even watched it, which saved me the suspense of awaiting how it was resolved... Anyway, dunno why, but i was rooting for the bad guy the whole time...
I suppose all that is needed to know about yesterday's apparently amusing episodes can be found here.
Thankfully, my lessons today got pushed back/cancelled because there are people who exist who realise the whole stupidity of this break arrangement...
In the afternoon went with some prc/esc people to Sentosa, as they had wanted to go see Underwater World... Haven't been there for quite some time, got to pat a stingray at the touch pool and got dizzy at the travellator/tunnel thingy cos my eyes were too close to the concave glass, which caused my head to spin... Can't believe how expensive it is to enter that place, especially since it really isn't that good to begin with. Well, at least i saw the pink dolphins (of strange-tasting colourless drinks fame) for the first time...
All in all i had quite a good time today, and more importantly so did the prcs... I was initially reconsidering whether i should get involved in esc this year especially since pragmatically speaking it may not have been the best decision for me to take. Yet i did feel that the Lord was leading me to some kind of involvement in this area in spite of the busyness, and i am thankful for how through the building up of relationships with the prcs (transcending a massive language barrier in the process) He has blessed me so far in the process. It's always so comforting and sobering to know that, as the song goes, He sees the master plan...
I normally cannot stand white chocolate, but the one in the box that i just opened (from Royce - merely one of the mountains of foodstuff that has been given to my family over the past few months, and has hitherto remained untouched...) is just sooo good, that before i knew it i had eaten five pieces (out of thirty) of them...
Well allow me to modify this line, and say that, pardon the lack of poetic feel, "a four-day break by any other name (i.e. a five-day break) smells fishy and foul"
That being the case, i have had a relatively good break, in terms of catching up with work and recreation as well...
Decided to break from the books early on wed and went to catch Match Point... Like many of its counterparts nowsaday, it was a rather good movie, save for its apparent endorsement of immorality. I already know how it would end before i even watched it, which saved me the suspense of awaiting how it was resolved... Anyway, dunno why, but i was rooting for the bad guy the whole time...
I suppose all that is needed to know about yesterday's apparently amusing episodes can be found here.
Thankfully, my lessons today got pushed back/cancelled because there are people who exist who realise the whole stupidity of this break arrangement...
In the afternoon went with some prc/esc people to Sentosa, as they had wanted to go see Underwater World... Haven't been there for quite some time, got to pat a stingray at the touch pool and got dizzy at the travellator/tunnel thingy cos my eyes were too close to the concave glass, which caused my head to spin... Can't believe how expensive it is to enter that place, especially since it really isn't that good to begin with. Well, at least i saw the pink dolphins (of strange-tasting colourless drinks fame) for the first time...
All in all i had quite a good time today, and more importantly so did the prcs... I was initially reconsidering whether i should get involved in esc this year especially since pragmatically speaking it may not have been the best decision for me to take. Yet i did feel that the Lord was leading me to some kind of involvement in this area in spite of the busyness, and i am thankful for how through the building up of relationships with the prcs (transcending a massive language barrier in the process) He has blessed me so far in the process. It's always so comforting and sobering to know that, as the song goes, He sees the master plan...
I normally cannot stand white chocolate, but the one in the box that i just opened (from Royce - merely one of the mountains of foodstuff that has been given to my family over the past few months, and has hitherto remained untouched...) is just sooo good, that before i knew it i had eaten five pieces (out of thirty) of them...
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
in painful anticipation of pain
Experienced a totally different study environment today, cos before the cg outing in the wild wild west of woodlands (ok so geographically speaking it it not in the west of S'pore, but it is to the west of admiralty, so it is technically still west - ah the lengths i go to in order to justify my apparent adoration of alliteration) decided it best to study there from the morning, in lieu of making my way there midway through the day from school.
So in McD's (little productivity and lousy breakfast food - i honour your restaurant by actually holding the rare ceremony of actually eating something for breakfast at your outlet with your food and you repay me with totally blah hotcakes? how can the phrase "to sell like hotcakes" be legitimate, unless people are really interested in eating glorified fried batter topped with 'maple-flavoured syrup'... fàn-tastic? Your head ah, re-fàn is more like it =p...), and later in the library (first time there - not bad lah, certainly more impressive than the marine parade one, passable study environment but still not as good as school...), managed to complete the remaining fifty pages of the dry history text that cover the entire first half of lectures... hopefully that will go some way in preparing for the test which i am at present totally clueless about...
Had a short and good run around the woodlands of woodlands with Huishan before the outing proper... Reminded me once again that i ought to start preparing for ippt (yup, it's here again bleah) now, especially in the possible eventuality that i will be abroad when my window closes on my birthday, hence my need to take it (and pass) before i leave, and perhaps even before MEET trip... i.e. (and i know this is the gazillionth time i am typing this phrase) i need to exercise...
Floorball itself was great, had lots of fun, good exercise, and it was a therapeutic release from the sian-ness of studying that has plagued me so far... What do i have to show for it? Two identical small abrasions on either inner side of my foot at that bony jutting-out part whose name i have no clue what it is, thanks to my overly-dramatic stops and lunges for the ball, as well as a horribly aching body [back, neck, calves, thighs, upper and lower arms, shoulder, abs (or whatever i have behind the flab) ...] once i wake up tomorrow morning...
Dinner and the talking was a good time too... Pity that we were far from full attendance, but enjoyable fellowship nevertheless. Thanks Ade for opening up your church and house, remember that the east beckons next time round... =)
Dunno what work to do tomorrow, cos there's just so much to be done... But at least, by God's grace, am not slacking lah (not too much, at least...)
Wanna watch a movie soon, to make use of my vouchers (have four altogether, but two have hidden themselves somewhere in the recesses of my room), and while i have some time to do so... Brokeback or Match Point anybody?
bonsoir
So in McD's (little productivity and lousy breakfast food - i honour your restaurant by actually holding the rare ceremony of actually eating something for breakfast at your outlet with your food and you repay me with totally blah hotcakes? how can the phrase "to sell like hotcakes" be legitimate, unless people are really interested in eating glorified fried batter topped with 'maple-flavoured syrup'... fàn-tastic? Your head ah, re-fàn is more like it =p...), and later in the library (first time there - not bad lah, certainly more impressive than the marine parade one, passable study environment but still not as good as school...), managed to complete the remaining fifty pages of the dry history text that cover the entire first half of lectures... hopefully that will go some way in preparing for the test which i am at present totally clueless about...
Had a short and good run around the woodlands of woodlands with Huishan before the outing proper... Reminded me once again that i ought to start preparing for ippt (yup, it's here again bleah) now, especially in the possible eventuality that i will be abroad when my window closes on my birthday, hence my need to take it (and pass) before i leave, and perhaps even before MEET trip... i.e. (and i know this is the gazillionth time i am typing this phrase) i need to exercise...
Floorball itself was great, had lots of fun, good exercise, and it was a therapeutic release from the sian-ness of studying that has plagued me so far... What do i have to show for it? Two identical small abrasions on either inner side of my foot at that bony jutting-out part whose name i have no clue what it is, thanks to my overly-dramatic stops and lunges for the ball, as well as a horribly aching body [back, neck, calves, thighs, upper and lower arms, shoulder, abs (or whatever i have behind the flab) ...] once i wake up tomorrow morning...
Dinner and the talking was a good time too... Pity that we were far from full attendance, but enjoyable fellowship nevertheless. Thanks Ade for opening up your church and house, remember that the east beckons next time round... =)
Dunno what work to do tomorrow, cos there's just so much to be done... But at least, by God's grace, am not slacking lah (not too much, at least...)
Wanna watch a movie soon, to make use of my vouchers (have four altogether, but two have hidden themselves somewhere in the recesses of my room), and while i have some time to do so... Brokeback or Match Point anybody?
bonsoir
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
recovering
actually wanted a much more catchy title than the above, wanted to find something that rhymes with the word "virus" and that makes some sense, but alas all the words that come to mind are totally unsuitable ones like walrus, platypus, stylus, prospectus, Billy Ray Cyrus (the achy breaky heart guy), cirrus, stratus, cumulo-nimbus...
but in any case, and as i am sure you can guess, i am more or less rid of that awful viral cough that has plagued me like, well, the plague for the past two weeks... Thank God for His healing, it has certainly been the worst cough that i've ever had, and has had quite a sapping effect on me for quite some time...
to celebrate the occasion, i ate post honey roasted honey bunches of oats topped with yoghurt and gong1 bao4 ji1 ding1, complete with all those sliced dried chillies that i love to suck all the heat out of *slurp*
today was the most productive day in terms of schoolwork that i've had, possibly in the whole sem so far, more than 100 pages of a dry history text from 2pm to 945pm, though there's still much room for improvement (as well as lots of work to do in order to improve)
have been taken by the book of Job over the past few days during quiet time, this passage, among others, in particular:
Job 19:25-26
I know that my Redeemer lives,
and that in the end He will stand upon the earth.
And after my skin has been destroyed,
yet in my flesh I will see God;
ok must admit that perhaps i wouldn't have been so taken by this passage if it had not been adapted into a song... Anyway, think that it's so wonderful to see how Job can declare firmly, inspite of al the affliction that he is undergoing, that his Redeemer, God Himself, is a living God, who is from everlasting to everlasting. Even upon his eventual passing, he can still claim in faith that he will see God with his own eyes. Just felt so challenged as i was reading this passage, reminded me once again of my own inadequacies in terms of faith in our unchanging great God... Thank You God for how Your word is always fresh and relevant =)
but in any case, and as i am sure you can guess, i am more or less rid of that awful viral cough that has plagued me like, well, the plague for the past two weeks... Thank God for His healing, it has certainly been the worst cough that i've ever had, and has had quite a sapping effect on me for quite some time...
to celebrate the occasion, i ate post honey roasted honey bunches of oats topped with yoghurt and gong1 bao4 ji1 ding1, complete with all those sliced dried chillies that i love to suck all the heat out of *slurp*
today was the most productive day in terms of schoolwork that i've had, possibly in the whole sem so far, more than 100 pages of a dry history text from 2pm to 945pm, though there's still much room for improvement (as well as lots of work to do in order to improve)
have been taken by the book of Job over the past few days during quiet time, this passage, among others, in particular:
Job 19:25-26
I know that my Redeemer lives,
and that in the end He will stand upon the earth.
And after my skin has been destroyed,
yet in my flesh I will see God;
ok must admit that perhaps i wouldn't have been so taken by this passage if it had not been adapted into a song... Anyway, think that it's so wonderful to see how Job can declare firmly, inspite of al the affliction that he is undergoing, that his Redeemer, God Himself, is a living God, who is from everlasting to everlasting. Even upon his eventual passing, he can still claim in faith that he will see God with his own eyes. Just felt so challenged as i was reading this passage, reminded me once again of my own inadequacies in terms of faith in our unchanging great God... Thank You God for how Your word is always fresh and relevant =)
Saturday, February 18, 2006
in days of yore...
Highlight of today was fun-o-rama back at acjc, which i haven't physically stepped into methinks since all the way back in 2002. Good excuse to see how the school has changed since the renovation heyday that was my two years there (and boy has it changed - new buildings, new areas air-conditioned, new teachers etc...), as well as to meet up with people, while taking a small break after the taxing week or so that i had...
I originally started out with four coupons (worth $40 - two i purchased from Hannah, and two from the poor acjc students that were desperately trying to sell their coupons in nus...) and figured that it would be good if there were others with whom i could spend it with cos i myself would be at a loss as to what to do with so many coupons, so after asking a bunch of other people, Mei Si agreed to tag along...
Of course, who better for me to bump into than my Aunt who is a Christian ministry staff at the school, and who promptly passed me $70 more worth of coupons to use =)
When it comes to these funfair thingys, the problem i always face is that there are so many ways in which to spend your money yet somehow you are not particularly attracted to anything, and hence you don't know how to spend your $ at all...
Hence my purchases tended towards the blatantly exorbitant [e.g. paying $5 for a single and smaller-than-usual Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut - "it costs so much because we flew them in from Australia this morning" according to the girl who sold it to me - but anyway it was really good (and fattening) stuff, i tell you...], the impulsive [e.g. buying a fun-o-rama tee in the morning at $30 when they were going at $20 once the fair began to die down and everyone was slashing prices to clear stock (note to self, come next fun-o-rama, put off all purchases, wherever possible, to the very last minute, cos that's when the really good deals come, especially for the ac merchandise, for otherwise, it's just plain daylight robbery)], and the downright wasteful [e.g. paying $10 per person to wait in line for twenty or so minutes for a two minute and rather blah haunted house experience]
You think i would have known better and been wiser in my purchases and purchasing strategy, especially when considering that this is at least my fourth or fifth fun-o-rama (btw Paul Seah said that this was his tenth...), but oh well, the first few happened before i came into acjc anyway, so rather ignorant or all that was going on; while the one when i was in acjc was just one big tiring blur for me, in between selling food at my stall and running to and fro; while the last one i went to took place on the saturday i booked out from bmt, so was dead tired...
Anyway, have not met so many people from so many parts of my life in such a short stretch of time for ages... Lemme see, saw and met people from vcf, nus, acjc (duh), barker, present church, previous church, family (who are by and large all ac people anyway)... Great to meet up with so many people, many of whom i have not seen in ages...
One memorable experience: managing to (in consideration of my general cannot-make-it-ness with regards to sport as a whole),and semi-forced by some of my previous church people, actually muster enough aiming and throwing expertise to channel a tennis ball to hit a target two times in succession, each time causing a bucket of water to empty onto one of my old childhood friends, who is now teaching there and who exchanged churches (and rooms) with me two years back... (Oh and btw, that cost $10 =p)
Dunno why but couldn't help but somehow miss the environment there (though there are many things that i still have issues with, but nevertheless), think there's something about the vibrancy and energy in the air that made me reminisce about my time in school (or maybe it's just cos i am getting older...)
Ah well, all in all it was an enjoyable experience... Good job...
I originally started out with four coupons (worth $40 - two i purchased from Hannah, and two from the poor acjc students that were desperately trying to sell their coupons in nus...) and figured that it would be good if there were others with whom i could spend it with cos i myself would be at a loss as to what to do with so many coupons, so after asking a bunch of other people, Mei Si agreed to tag along...
Of course, who better for me to bump into than my Aunt who is a Christian ministry staff at the school, and who promptly passed me $70 more worth of coupons to use =)
When it comes to these funfair thingys, the problem i always face is that there are so many ways in which to spend your money yet somehow you are not particularly attracted to anything, and hence you don't know how to spend your $ at all...
Hence my purchases tended towards the blatantly exorbitant [e.g. paying $5 for a single and smaller-than-usual Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut - "it costs so much because we flew them in from Australia this morning" according to the girl who sold it to me - but anyway it was really good (and fattening) stuff, i tell you...], the impulsive [e.g. buying a fun-o-rama tee in the morning at $30 when they were going at $20 once the fair began to die down and everyone was slashing prices to clear stock (note to self, come next fun-o-rama, put off all purchases, wherever possible, to the very last minute, cos that's when the really good deals come, especially for the ac merchandise, for otherwise, it's just plain daylight robbery)], and the downright wasteful [e.g. paying $10 per person to wait in line for twenty or so minutes for a two minute and rather blah haunted house experience]
You think i would have known better and been wiser in my purchases and purchasing strategy, especially when considering that this is at least my fourth or fifth fun-o-rama (btw Paul Seah said that this was his tenth...), but oh well, the first few happened before i came into acjc anyway, so rather ignorant or all that was going on; while the one when i was in acjc was just one big tiring blur for me, in between selling food at my stall and running to and fro; while the last one i went to took place on the saturday i booked out from bmt, so was dead tired...
Anyway, have not met so many people from so many parts of my life in such a short stretch of time for ages... Lemme see, saw and met people from vcf, nus, acjc (duh), barker, present church, previous church, family (who are by and large all ac people anyway)... Great to meet up with so many people, many of whom i have not seen in ages...
One memorable experience: managing to (in consideration of my general cannot-make-it-ness with regards to sport as a whole),and semi-forced by some of my previous church people, actually muster enough aiming and throwing expertise to channel a tennis ball to hit a target two times in succession, each time causing a bucket of water to empty onto one of my old childhood friends, who is now teaching there and who exchanged churches (and rooms) with me two years back... (Oh and btw, that cost $10 =p)
Dunno why but couldn't help but somehow miss the environment there (though there are many things that i still have issues with, but nevertheless), think there's something about the vibrancy and energy in the air that made me reminisce about my time in school (or maybe it's just cos i am getting older...)
Ah well, all in all it was an enjoyable experience... Good job...
breaking news!!!
In a sign of being on the road to recovery from the viral cough that yours truly has been afflicted with for the past week or so, the gross cloudy yellow stuff (to Ade Fam's disgust, of the same shade as her top) that i had hitherto been spewing out on a daily basis has now been replaced by less cloudy colourless stuff...
Wowwee, the highlight of my week, a change in the colour of phlegm...
The cough is still there though, and now i even vibrate violently like my phone on silent mode whenever i do so...
I seriously am suffering here since i am (by right) not supposed to eat cold food, fried food, dry food, and chilli (nooooooo...) which practically leads me with what? Soup with noodles... The past few days at the arts canteen have been featuring me uttering phrases like "auntie, mi fen tang" or "auntie, guo tiao tang" or "auntie, zhu gan mian xian" or "auntie, yu pian mian xian"... you get the picture...
That reminds me, this evening at the arts canteen two of the aunties were arguing very loudly with each another in hokkien, but from where i was seated (where i couldn't actually see what was going on), i couldn't tell if they were angry with one another or were just recounting a funny story cos to me both would have sounded the same...
Wowwee, the highlight of my week, a change in the colour of phlegm...
The cough is still there though, and now i even vibrate violently like my phone on silent mode whenever i do so...
I seriously am suffering here since i am (by right) not supposed to eat cold food, fried food, dry food, and chilli (nooooooo...) which practically leads me with what? Soup with noodles... The past few days at the arts canteen have been featuring me uttering phrases like "auntie, mi fen tang" or "auntie, guo tiao tang" or "auntie, zhu gan mian xian" or "auntie, yu pian mian xian"... you get the picture...
That reminds me, this evening at the arts canteen two of the aunties were arguing very loudly with each another in hokkien, but from where i was seated (where i couldn't actually see what was going on), i couldn't tell if they were angry with one another or were just recounting a funny story cos to me both would have sounded the same...
Friday, February 17, 2006
the emancipation of me
Slept at four am and got all of one and a half hours of sleep last night as i was occupied with the essay that was due today, and which finally, by God's grace was done around 1030, giving a more than comfortable amount of time for me to hand it in before the deadline hit.
Am only now finally feeling the effects of my (lack of) sleep
The pent-up tiredness has resulted in me looking quite unkempt over the past few days, i gave myself a bit of a shock when i was washing my hands while looking at the mirror only to see a close-to-death figure that i hardly recognized...
Well, at least i am now free from this first thing that has been weighing upon me for the longest time (hence the title). Really dunno what kind of results to expect for that one though...
Desperately in need of sleep...
Am only now finally feeling the effects of my (lack of) sleep
The pent-up tiredness has resulted in me looking quite unkempt over the past few days, i gave myself a bit of a shock when i was washing my hands while looking at the mirror only to see a close-to-death figure that i hardly recognized...
Well, at least i am now free from this first thing that has been weighing upon me for the longest time (hence the title). Really dunno what kind of results to expect for that one though...
Desperately in need of sleep...
Thursday, February 16, 2006
home stretch
So here am i trying to finish off the essay that has been dogging me for the longest time...
Getting there, but it's so near yet so far...
Twelve and a half hours or so till i am to hand this in =x
Wonder if i'll be getting any sleep...
Jialat! (© CMS)
Ah well... will be happier once it's over, and will be sadder once i get it back...
nitey then...
oops, or rather, morning...
When you wake up to a happy sound
(yummy yummy yum, yummy yum yum yum)
The rockin' hotcakes are coming to town
(scooby dop-a-doo-dop a yummy yum yum)
The rockin' hotcakes are really neat
With juice and milk to make breakfast complete
(yeah yeah, yeah yeah)
It's a good time, great taste
(yubba yubba, hotcakes!)
Of McDonald's
(yubba yubba HOT!)
A bit loopy at this hour...
Getting there, but it's so near yet so far...
Twelve and a half hours or so till i am to hand this in =x
Wonder if i'll be getting any sleep...
Jialat! (© CMS)
Ah well... will be happier once it's over, and will be sadder once i get it back...
nitey then...
oops, or rather, morning...
When you wake up to a happy sound
(yummy yummy yum, yummy yum yum yum)
The rockin' hotcakes are coming to town
(scooby dop-a-doo-dop a yummy yum yum)
The rockin' hotcakes are really neat
With juice and milk to make breakfast complete
(yeah yeah, yeah yeah)
It's a good time, great taste
(yubba yubba, hotcakes!)
Of McDonald's
(yubba yubba HOT!)
A bit loopy at this hour...
Monday, February 13, 2006
post-concert syndrome
Just came back from the Corrinne May concert, definitely a good and welcome change from my less-than-ideal rest of the week.
Yup, there is much difference between merely listening to a cd and attending a concert. The whole experience just felt so much more complete and fulfilling than it is now when i am listening to the chap goh meh song (i.e. Same Side of the Moon) on my com. Definitely came out of the concert with a far better appreciation of her songs, and in particular, her lyrics, after tonight. She's been greatly blessed with talents that she's definitely using to their fullest potential now, for the enjoyment of many. Without a doubt she's on a totally different planet from any nonsense singer that singapore idol could even dream of conjuring up. For one, i don't see her starring in any atrociously bad and unoriginal local television programme or becoming the spokesperson for big gulps anytime soon =p
And what has my less-than-ideal rest of the week consisted of? Basically, a lack of productivity, save for my cough, which has proved to buck the trend by producing a large dollop of cloudy yellow stuff every morning. In fact, my due-on-thursday essay only saw its conception on the bus on the way to the concert just now, which leaves just over a hundred hours before it is due. Thankfully, i have been able to find a fairly straightforward topic, but that then means that a lot of people will probably also be doing this question, which means that i have to put in that much more quality into it, quality which i fear has taken a hiatus from germinating in my little grey cells as of late.
Ah well, i certainly believe that will get through this essay by God's grace, so that hopefully after that i can try to get my academics back on the track that they have so horribly derailed from. Yup and after that hopefully i can stay on the road and get through this sem, which now officially takes the cake for the worst sem that i've had in nus so far. And all that i need for this to happen is a complete surrender of it all to God... Just have to let it go. Then and only then will i feel free and safe in a crazy world. Yup, but to that point, it's a long, long journey...
Time to fly away ... to dreamland that is...
nitey
Yup, there is much difference between merely listening to a cd and attending a concert. The whole experience just felt so much more complete and fulfilling than it is now when i am listening to the chap goh meh song (i.e. Same Side of the Moon) on my com. Definitely came out of the concert with a far better appreciation of her songs, and in particular, her lyrics, after tonight. She's been greatly blessed with talents that she's definitely using to their fullest potential now, for the enjoyment of many. Without a doubt she's on a totally different planet from any nonsense singer that singapore idol could even dream of conjuring up. For one, i don't see her starring in any atrociously bad and unoriginal local television programme or becoming the spokesperson for big gulps anytime soon =p
And what has my less-than-ideal rest of the week consisted of? Basically, a lack of productivity, save for my cough, which has proved to buck the trend by producing a large dollop of cloudy yellow stuff every morning. In fact, my due-on-thursday essay only saw its conception on the bus on the way to the concert just now, which leaves just over a hundred hours before it is due. Thankfully, i have been able to find a fairly straightforward topic, but that then means that a lot of people will probably also be doing this question, which means that i have to put in that much more quality into it, quality which i fear has taken a hiatus from germinating in my little grey cells as of late.
Ah well, i certainly believe that will get through this essay by God's grace, so that hopefully after that i can try to get my academics back on the track that they have so horribly derailed from. Yup and after that hopefully i can stay on the road and get through this sem, which now officially takes the cake for the worst sem that i've had in nus so far. And all that i need for this to happen is a complete surrender of it all to God... Just have to let it go. Then and only then will i feel free and safe in a crazy world. Yup, but to that point, it's a long, long journey...
Time to fly away ... to dreamland that is...
nitey
Friday, February 10, 2006
by His grace
Have been on the verge of being officially sick for the past few days ('officially' meaning having the sickness being serious enough to warrant a visit to the doctor - the more previous times before this having been during army when, let's face it, even when you are in the pink of health, you do occasionally just want to see the doc and go home and rest - the time that happened while i was in bmt was just about one of the happiest moments in my military life), felt like all energy was just sapped from me, and i was practically dragging myself through school most of yesterday in particular, and, from what i heard from others, looked rather out-of-sorts. Today was a little better but still felt rather horrible, particularly in the morning.
*koff koff*
In fact, was feeling so %^#@ as i woke up this morning and as i headed to school that i entertained the thought at the back of my mind that should this %^#@-ness continue, i would just head home after class and hope that miraculously cg would turn out fine, even though i was supposed to be the one facilitating the BS...
Furthermore, was experiencing all sorts of problems with the BS itself, cos had really no idea as to how to go about with it. The topic was 'relationships', and i felt totally unprepared and unqualified to facilitate this study since i thought that it was akin to perhaps the various idiot European newspapers collaborating to write an article on "how to be respectful of foreign religions in cartoons". How, i thought, was i to handle the thingy, while still going along with God's word (it is a Bible study after all), and not having it degenerate into some maudlin Oprah-style gossip-fest.
*koff wheeeeze koff*
Oh well, i do believe that it was the Lord who gave me the strength to get through the day today, and also to handle the study ok as well. I know this cos at the start of the study itself i had practically no idea as to how to lead it, and all that subsequently came out of my mouth was therefore really spoken by the Lord through me. It's so wonderful as to how He can use us in such cool ways for His purposes.
So once again i have been humbled by how He has seen me through both this day, in my less-than-ideal health, as well as specifically in the BS itself. In my own inadequacy, the Lord has shown his more-than-sufficiency =)
*koff kooooff*
In related news, the words of this song that Sida led for worship today really ministered to me. Here's a bit of it:
Every blessing You pour out
I'll turn back to praise.
When the darkness closes in
Lord, still I will say.
Blessed be the Name of the Lord,
Blessed be Your name.
Blessed be the Name of the Lord,
Blessed be Your glorious name.
You give and take away,
You give and take away.
My heart will choose to say
Lord, blessed be Your name.
Amen.
*koff*
*koff koff*
In fact, was feeling so %^#@ as i woke up this morning and as i headed to school that i entertained the thought at the back of my mind that should this %^#@-ness continue, i would just head home after class and hope that miraculously cg would turn out fine, even though i was supposed to be the one facilitating the BS...
Furthermore, was experiencing all sorts of problems with the BS itself, cos had really no idea as to how to go about with it. The topic was 'relationships', and i felt totally unprepared and unqualified to facilitate this study since i thought that it was akin to perhaps the various idiot European newspapers collaborating to write an article on "how to be respectful of foreign religions in cartoons". How, i thought, was i to handle the thingy, while still going along with God's word (it is a Bible study after all), and not having it degenerate into some maudlin Oprah-style gossip-fest.
*koff wheeeeze koff*
Oh well, i do believe that it was the Lord who gave me the strength to get through the day today, and also to handle the study ok as well. I know this cos at the start of the study itself i had practically no idea as to how to lead it, and all that subsequently came out of my mouth was therefore really spoken by the Lord through me. It's so wonderful as to how He can use us in such cool ways for His purposes.
So once again i have been humbled by how He has seen me through both this day, in my less-than-ideal health, as well as specifically in the BS itself. In my own inadequacy, the Lord has shown his more-than-sufficiency =)
*koff kooooff*
In related news, the words of this song that Sida led for worship today really ministered to me. Here's a bit of it:
Every blessing You pour out
I'll turn back to praise.
When the darkness closes in
Lord, still I will say.
Blessed be the Name of the Lord,
Blessed be Your name.
Blessed be the Name of the Lord,
Blessed be Your glorious name.
You give and take away,
You give and take away.
My heart will choose to say
Lord, blessed be Your name.
Amen.
*koff*
Sunday, February 05, 2006
how watching tv helps you to lose weight...
(apart from those weird things like Richard Simmons "look at me, i'm a pony / shake your booty to the sixties" videos, that is)
Ate dinner at home today, and decided to turn on the telly. The only thing (in the absence of cable) that was worth watching was channelnewsasia (for once - mainly cos an imported, rather than an in-house program was airing at the time). So what was airing? A documentary on America's battle with the bulge.
Before i knew it, the stuff that was reported on the program had a direct impact on my subsequent actions:
i eased up on the dark sauce, which under normal circumstances i would smother my chicken rice with until it's a glop of black gooey stuff
i had second thoughts about eating the juicy and fatty roast chicken skin (though i did eat it anyway =p)
i eschewed the chewy beef ligaments in the soup that my mother made (even though it's not fat methinks) and tossed them to Bingo instead (on whom the documentary obviously had no effect)
i made a concious effort to not eat so much rice (too much unrefined carbs make you feel hungry sooner, according to the program - which come to think of it, explains why there are days when i can consume three dinners in one evening)
i decided not to eat any dessert (when there was an ample supply of jelly, ice cream and chocs awaiting me in the fridge)
after clearing my plate, i immediately brought Bingo for an extended brisk walk around the neighbourhood (the program said that 10000 steps a day puts you on the right road to a healthy lifestyle - and anyway, comparatively speaking Bingo needs to lose much more weight than i do)
i counted the number of steps i made while walking (but lost count before 1000)
i have resolved to maintain some kind of exercise program even now though my academic stagnation as of late probably advises against it
Heehee not bad eh =p?
Ate dinner at home today, and decided to turn on the telly. The only thing (in the absence of cable) that was worth watching was channelnewsasia (for once - mainly cos an imported, rather than an in-house program was airing at the time). So what was airing? A documentary on America's battle with the bulge.
Before i knew it, the stuff that was reported on the program had a direct impact on my subsequent actions:
i eased up on the dark sauce, which under normal circumstances i would smother my chicken rice with until it's a glop of black gooey stuff
i had second thoughts about eating the juicy and fatty roast chicken skin (though i did eat it anyway =p)
i eschewed the chewy beef ligaments in the soup that my mother made (even though it's not fat methinks) and tossed them to Bingo instead (on whom the documentary obviously had no effect)
i made a concious effort to not eat so much rice (too much unrefined carbs make you feel hungry sooner, according to the program - which come to think of it, explains why there are days when i can consume three dinners in one evening)
i decided not to eat any dessert (when there was an ample supply of jelly, ice cream and chocs awaiting me in the fridge)
after clearing my plate, i immediately brought Bingo for an extended brisk walk around the neighbourhood (the program said that 10000 steps a day puts you on the right road to a healthy lifestyle - and anyway, comparatively speaking Bingo needs to lose much more weight than i do)
i counted the number of steps i made while walking (but lost count before 1000)
i have resolved to maintain some kind of exercise program even now though my academic stagnation as of late probably advises against it
Heehee not bad eh =p?
Friday, February 03, 2006
refilled
Once again God has amazed me so...
After the draining experience that was much of the past few days, He was once again perfect in His timing, through His bringing into my path various channels for both spiritual and emotional renewal.
(from a chronological point of view, this next thing actually belongs in yesterday's moody post but not from a thematic point of view so i shall persist) esc was a very affirming and encouraging time for me, definitely turned out much better than i thought that it would be, and am much more enthusiastic about it now than i ever was before. Of course, all may not bode well for me eventually once the time arises when i may have competing stuff to do once the workload gets heavier, but for now, happy am i =)
Very thankful for my dear MEET atl (who will probably be reading this eventually) for helping me out through all the admin and other stuff cos recently have really been too out-of-sorts to process anything for myself. Dunno how things would turn out without the invaluable help... Truly blessed to have you around =)
CG today was a very refreshing time for me today, especially in considering all the %^#@ stuff that has been coming up over the past few days, specifically in terms of busyness. Yup the topic today was sooo relevant for my situation, that i suppose that it's just as well that i didn't have to lead BS, so that i would have a chance to listen better to what God wanted to tell me. A guy afflicted by the very problems addressed in the BS is probably, as a general rule, not the best person to lead a BS on that specific topic. Or else, i might as well conduct a seminar on how to choose the freshest seafood too...
Talking to Delia on 30 on the way home after cg was also very theraputic for me, always good to share with someone who identifies with what you are facing at that point in time... Was greatly encouraged and cheered after that...
Which brings me to this point in time, where the stuff to handle remains the same, but the perspective and attitude towards it has changed... Thank God for that...
After the draining experience that was much of the past few days, He was once again perfect in His timing, through His bringing into my path various channels for both spiritual and emotional renewal.
(from a chronological point of view, this next thing actually belongs in yesterday's moody post but not from a thematic point of view so i shall persist) esc was a very affirming and encouraging time for me, definitely turned out much better than i thought that it would be, and am much more enthusiastic about it now than i ever was before. Of course, all may not bode well for me eventually once the time arises when i may have competing stuff to do once the workload gets heavier, but for now, happy am i =)
Very thankful for my dear MEET atl (who will probably be reading this eventually) for helping me out through all the admin and other stuff cos recently have really been too out-of-sorts to process anything for myself. Dunno how things would turn out without the invaluable help... Truly blessed to have you around =)
CG today was a very refreshing time for me today, especially in considering all the %^#@ stuff that has been coming up over the past few days, specifically in terms of busyness. Yup the topic today was sooo relevant for my situation, that i suppose that it's just as well that i didn't have to lead BS, so that i would have a chance to listen better to what God wanted to tell me. A guy afflicted by the very problems addressed in the BS is probably, as a general rule, not the best person to lead a BS on that specific topic. Or else, i might as well conduct a seminar on how to choose the freshest seafood too...
Talking to Delia on 30 on the way home after cg was also very theraputic for me, always good to share with someone who identifies with what you are facing at that point in time... Was greatly encouraged and cheered after that...
Which brings me to this point in time, where the stuff to handle remains the same, but the perspective and attitude towards it has changed... Thank God for that...
Thursday, February 02, 2006
drained
the past few days have been rather %^#@ ones for me.
Maybe it was a combination of moodiness from the totally unproductive cny i had plus the realisation of all the stuff from everywhere that had been and is continuing to pile up, i dunno, but haven't felt so emotionally tired and spent for the longest time, methinks since army. Definitely have come closest to burning out as i ever have been.
Now, not that i have a talent for hyperboly, but i suppose that things were never as dire as i make them out to be, but at least by the standards of the usually cheery and heck care little me, things could have been far better.
I dunno if being in this state caused me to rub off the wrong way on anyone over the past few days, so apologies to anyone reading this if i did.
Thank God that today in His own special ways through the prayer and encouragement of brothers He ministered to me and helped things to be less %^#@. Our God truly is faithful (, infinite in mercy, He bridged the h... ah well you know the rest =)
Now, these tiresome issues are still there, that's for sure, and still require quite a bit of working through, but thank God that i am not alone in any of this...
Happy 21st, Eunice =)
Maybe it was a combination of moodiness from the totally unproductive cny i had plus the realisation of all the stuff from everywhere that had been and is continuing to pile up, i dunno, but haven't felt so emotionally tired and spent for the longest time, methinks since army. Definitely have come closest to burning out as i ever have been.
Now, not that i have a talent for hyperboly, but i suppose that things were never as dire as i make them out to be, but at least by the standards of the usually cheery and heck care little me, things could have been far better.
I dunno if being in this state caused me to rub off the wrong way on anyone over the past few days, so apologies to anyone reading this if i did.
Thank God that today in His own special ways through the prayer and encouragement of brothers He ministered to me and helped things to be less %^#@. Our God truly is faithful (, infinite in mercy, He bridged the h... ah well you know the rest =)
Now, these tiresome issues are still there, that's for sure, and still require quite a bit of working through, but thank God that i am not alone in any of this...
Happy 21st, Eunice =)
Monday, January 30, 2006
yearning for a dog in the year of the dog
What's the most significant thing that has caught my attention over the cny so far?
Not the peranakan-themed reunion dinner we had at my house on saturday featuring very good (catered from Charlie's) ayam buah keluak, sate babi, curry devil and other stuff (much of which contained seafood and hence may have tasted good, i dunno)
Not the enthusiastic cny countdown that amused me so, courtesy of the group of children in the neighbour's house across the field from my room (50 metres away but still oh-so-audible and oh-so-irritating too)
Not my going to church this morning only to find a significantly diminished congregation, perhaps owing to the visiting and all the other stuff entailed in cny, while noting to myself that this would never happen to me, since my family (and in particular my father) would just have to be in church regardless of what day it is, no matter how many houses there might have been to visit.
Not my going visiting to my grand total of one house today, and eating porridge and kueh pie tee at this particular house, as we do every single year [incidentally cny is more or less the only time of year when i ever eat porridge willingly, unless i am sick (why is porridge a food for the sick anyway?)]
Not the hearing of positive feedback about the pork floss thingies that were made for MEET from my relatives. Once you start you can't stop.
Not my wasting my whole afternoon away, trying rather lamely to reassure myself that since it's the Sabbath i should be resting from all schoolwork anyway.
Not all that time i've spent experimenting with the guitar over the past few days, especially since now that its case is gone, it requires that much less effort for lazy me to use it...
Not the dinner i just had that featured lots more great peranakan food (ayam buah keluak again, satay, itek sioh, together with more gross seafood stuff).
Not the realization that my father's old Suzuki van's coe expires this year, and that the potential purchase of a new vehicle to replace it would provide excellent motivational material for me to finally get started on anything to do with driving.
Nope, it's none of these, but rather the poster i saw on the way back home on the lamp post near my house and also the flyer that was slotted into my mailbox.
A lost dog notice from one of the neighbour's houses, for a ten year old male Jack Russell who's partially blind, needs medical attention, and responds to the name "Blackjack"...
Poor thing. Hope that he has been found, or if not that he'll be found soon. Note the similarities between him and Bingo: male, terrier blood, old, health problems, gambling-inspired name starting with the letter "B" =(
Not the peranakan-themed reunion dinner we had at my house on saturday featuring very good (catered from Charlie's) ayam buah keluak, sate babi, curry devil and other stuff (much of which contained seafood and hence may have tasted good, i dunno)
Not the enthusiastic cny countdown that amused me so, courtesy of the group of children in the neighbour's house across the field from my room (50 metres away but still oh-so-audible and oh-so-irritating too)
Not my going to church this morning only to find a significantly diminished congregation, perhaps owing to the visiting and all the other stuff entailed in cny, while noting to myself that this would never happen to me, since my family (and in particular my father) would just have to be in church regardless of what day it is, no matter how many houses there might have been to visit.
Not my going visiting to my grand total of one house today, and eating porridge and kueh pie tee at this particular house, as we do every single year [incidentally cny is more or less the only time of year when i ever eat porridge willingly, unless i am sick (why is porridge a food for the sick anyway?)]
Not the hearing of positive feedback about the pork floss thingies that were made for MEET from my relatives. Once you start you can't stop.
Not my wasting my whole afternoon away, trying rather lamely to reassure myself that since it's the Sabbath i should be resting from all schoolwork anyway.
Not all that time i've spent experimenting with the guitar over the past few days, especially since now that its case is gone, it requires that much less effort for lazy me to use it...
Not the dinner i just had that featured lots more great peranakan food (ayam buah keluak again, satay, itek sioh, together with more gross seafood stuff).
Not the realization that my father's old Suzuki van's coe expires this year, and that the potential purchase of a new vehicle to replace it would provide excellent motivational material for me to finally get started on anything to do with driving.
Nope, it's none of these, but rather the poster i saw on the way back home on the lamp post near my house and also the flyer that was slotted into my mailbox.
A lost dog notice from one of the neighbour's houses, for a ten year old male Jack Russell who's partially blind, needs medical attention, and responds to the name "Blackjack"...
Poor thing. Hope that he has been found, or if not that he'll be found soon. Note the similarities between him and Bingo: male, terrier blood, old, health problems, gambling-inspired name starting with the letter "B" =(
Saturday, January 28, 2006
gong xi gong xi gong xi me ah?
i invite you to fast forward to twenty-three hours time (from time of writing).
switching the channels to channel eight, you probably will encounter a bevy of mediacorp artistes of varying degrees of consequence congregating excitedly on a stage, dressed in gaudy and loud Chinese costumes with varying degrees of obiangness. The hapless guest of honour, probably some minister, sits in the audience with a permanent smile plastered on his face. Suddenly, the annoying taiwanese emcee draws everyone's attention to the fact that it soon will be midnight
"wu... si... san... er... yi... XING NIAN KUAI LE!!! *cue obligatory gong xi gong xi gong xi ni song, accompanied by token lion dancers looking silly in the background*"
while all this is going on, i'll probably be at home doing something of even lesser consequence than these nothing-better-to-do celebrities.
yes folks, as you can probably infer, i don't care much for this upcoming holiday, beyond the fact that it provides a convenient break from school.
Was talking briefly to Joce today, and she mentioned that she's rather sian of the holiday, somewhat like the grinch of Chinese New Year. Thinking about it, i totally identify with that. Yes, call me the Ebenezer Scrooge of cny if you'd like. Except that i don't foresee any ghosts of cny past, present or future coming to haunt me. humbug.
As i've mentioned before, i have even resorted to avoiding supermarkets and other areas that have the potential of playing these horrible gong xi gong xi songs. The other day, i was searching high and low in parkway Giant for pork floss, for around twenty minutes in total, and was held prisoner to overdoses of cny techno music (just shoot me now).
Get no kick from visitation either. In any case, i get less and less dough each year, which makes the trundling down to the one house that my family visits year after year that much more of an effort, since the supposed motivation gets less and less... Thankfully, since only half of my family is Chinese, am not as sian as i might otherwise have been heh...
The food? Well, the endless preperation of cny food for MEET fundraising over the past few days has turned me off of them, at least for the near future. Anyway, they're mainly fatty and full of cholesterol, which is enough of a turn-off for me in any case.
Yup, so if all goes according to my plan, these next few days will hopefully be spent rather productively with my head buried deep (studying, not sleeping) in my poor neglected readings.
nitey
switching the channels to channel eight, you probably will encounter a bevy of mediacorp artistes of varying degrees of consequence congregating excitedly on a stage, dressed in gaudy and loud Chinese costumes with varying degrees of obiangness. The hapless guest of honour, probably some minister, sits in the audience with a permanent smile plastered on his face. Suddenly, the annoying taiwanese emcee draws everyone's attention to the fact that it soon will be midnight
"wu... si... san... er... yi... XING NIAN KUAI LE!!! *cue obligatory gong xi gong xi gong xi ni song, accompanied by token lion dancers looking silly in the background*"
while all this is going on, i'll probably be at home doing something of even lesser consequence than these nothing-better-to-do celebrities.
yes folks, as you can probably infer, i don't care much for this upcoming holiday, beyond the fact that it provides a convenient break from school.
Was talking briefly to Joce today, and she mentioned that she's rather sian of the holiday, somewhat like the grinch of Chinese New Year. Thinking about it, i totally identify with that. Yes, call me the Ebenezer Scrooge of cny if you'd like. Except that i don't foresee any ghosts of cny past, present or future coming to haunt me. humbug.
As i've mentioned before, i have even resorted to avoiding supermarkets and other areas that have the potential of playing these horrible gong xi gong xi songs. The other day, i was searching high and low in parkway Giant for pork floss, for around twenty minutes in total, and was held prisoner to overdoses of cny techno music (just shoot me now).
Get no kick from visitation either. In any case, i get less and less dough each year, which makes the trundling down to the one house that my family visits year after year that much more of an effort, since the supposed motivation gets less and less... Thankfully, since only half of my family is Chinese, am not as sian as i might otherwise have been heh...
The food? Well, the endless preperation of cny food for MEET fundraising over the past few days has turned me off of them, at least for the near future. Anyway, they're mainly fatty and full of cholesterol, which is enough of a turn-off for me in any case.
Yup, so if all goes according to my plan, these next few days will hopefully be spent rather productively with my head buried deep (studying, not sleeping) in my poor neglected readings.
nitey
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Tuesday Morning
Tuesday morning
In the dark
I was finding out
Who I was
Tuesday Morning (Michelle Branch)
Lyrics from azlyrics.com
Ok, actually these lyrics have nothing to do with this post save for the fact that i am referring to what happened this Tuesday morning. (It's a cool song btw, have not really appreciated the lyrics in depth but the tune is nice, pity Michelle Branch never released the single...)
Well, maybe on second thought, it can apply somehow. It was still in the dark when i woke up on this Tuesday morning - around 6am. And since i was half asleep till around 10 min later, then i guess that qualifies as me finding out who i was heh...
But anyway, i woke up at 6am cos i wanted to have enough time to prepare for my 8am lecture (whatever possessed me into taking any class at that horrible unearthly hour evades me now) Thankfully it's a rather interesting module, or else i'd not be getting my school fee money's worth out of this lecture...
To make matters worse, had (and will have) two back-to-back tutorials after that, from 10-11am and 11-12pm, and on a weekly basis furthermore... The 10-11 one was especially frustrating, cos i actually had prepared a lot of stuff to say (20% participation hor - dun play play) but my fear of saying something stupid got the better of me and hence the only thing that i uttered was at the prompting of my tutor. To make matters worse, it turns out that lots of the stuff that i wanted to say ended up being said and endorsed in the tutorial by others. Bottom line is, i really have to learn to speak up more, and to be more thick-skinned about it, or else there goes 20%...
Oh well, anyway, i am rather thankful that i survived this first tuesday morning module marathon, with many more weeks of this to come... *yawn*
Funnily enough, i met one of my many long-lost primary school classmates at the canteen today. Quite the funny, i must admit. First she commented to Sida (who's her church friend) that i looked familiar. Then she found out that i went to Rosyth (that's pronounced rowsighth, not roadside or lao sai fyi) too. Then we found out that we were in the same p6 class. How uncanny is that?
In the dark
I was finding out
Who I was
Tuesday Morning (Michelle Branch)
Lyrics from azlyrics.com
Ok, actually these lyrics have nothing to do with this post save for the fact that i am referring to what happened this Tuesday morning. (It's a cool song btw, have not really appreciated the lyrics in depth but the tune is nice, pity Michelle Branch never released the single...)
Well, maybe on second thought, it can apply somehow. It was still in the dark when i woke up on this Tuesday morning - around 6am. And since i was half asleep till around 10 min later, then i guess that qualifies as me finding out who i was heh...
But anyway, i woke up at 6am cos i wanted to have enough time to prepare for my 8am lecture (whatever possessed me into taking any class at that horrible unearthly hour evades me now) Thankfully it's a rather interesting module, or else i'd not be getting my school fee money's worth out of this lecture...
To make matters worse, had (and will have) two back-to-back tutorials after that, from 10-11am and 11-12pm, and on a weekly basis furthermore... The 10-11 one was especially frustrating, cos i actually had prepared a lot of stuff to say (20% participation hor - dun play play) but my fear of saying something stupid got the better of me and hence the only thing that i uttered was at the prompting of my tutor. To make matters worse, it turns out that lots of the stuff that i wanted to say ended up being said and endorsed in the tutorial by others. Bottom line is, i really have to learn to speak up more, and to be more thick-skinned about it, or else there goes 20%...
Oh well, anyway, i am rather thankful that i survived this first tuesday morning module marathon, with many more weeks of this to come... *yawn*
Funnily enough, i met one of my many long-lost primary school classmates at the canteen today. Quite the funny, i must admit. First she commented to Sida (who's her church friend) that i looked familiar. Then she found out that i went to Rosyth (that's pronounced rowsighth, not roadside or lao sai fyi) too. Then we found out that we were in the same p6 class. How uncanny is that?
Saturday, January 21, 2006
back to work
Today marks the end of my two-week unintended extension to my already extended hiatus from doing school stuff. This since the sep forms have been handed in and now are totally out of my control, and that the end of mini-popiah-folding and reading stuff for MEET is much closer than it once was (note: it hasn't finished, but somewhere there lah...)
As i have been lamenting to i think almost everyone around me, for some strange reason i actually am rather looking forward to doing my readings and preparing for tutorials, and to that effect am gonna go to school tomorrow morning to finally zap some of my readings before MEET later on...
Not that sep and MEET stuff was totally bleah for me though, for it wasn't...
Ok, maybe not so much for the sep stuff. It was damn tedious i tell you, and should everything go according to plan, there's lots more where that came from.
Spending the past few days in a makeshift mini popiah factory doing unpaid labour was hardly as bad as it sounds. Always good spending time with the team (we'd better get used to it, since for the better part of a month we'l be doing a lot of that), somehow Jay Chou was a recurring theme throughout. (I learnt, courtesy of Zhiwei, that in fact the Jay Chou song in which he sings about the beating up of his mother contained the shouted lyrics "ni zou kai" (you go away) and not "eeee soooo kaaaaayyy" (it's ok) as i thought he was uttering in his unintelligible english (not that his mandarin pronunciation is much better though =p), as was what i thought it was for three-and-a-half years now, ever since my sispec bunk mates played his second album ad nauseam up till the point where i can recite or at least strongly recall much of that album.
In celebration of my relative freedom today after freeing myself from the sep forms and after noting the damn hot weather, took a dip at src. It was much needed - yet it also reminded me that i have not been exercising for far too long - me nearly died-ed out there...
Lots of things i want/have to buy:
a new pair of both running shoes (guess i have to look for the nearest e-mart and buy new balance with my old balance) and sandals (to replace my terok teva thongs)
a new bag to replace my very old backpack which recently activated its time-release extra access hole (i.e. it's tearing up and won't last much longer)
Hmmm ok, so maybe that's not really a lot of things, but i suppose by my standards, whereby i seldom buy anything at all, it's quite a lot.
As i have been lamenting to i think almost everyone around me, for some strange reason i actually am rather looking forward to doing my readings and preparing for tutorials, and to that effect am gonna go to school tomorrow morning to finally zap some of my readings before MEET later on...
Not that sep and MEET stuff was totally bleah for me though, for it wasn't...
Ok, maybe not so much for the sep stuff. It was damn tedious i tell you, and should everything go according to plan, there's lots more where that came from.
Spending the past few days in a makeshift mini popiah factory doing unpaid labour was hardly as bad as it sounds. Always good spending time with the team (we'd better get used to it, since for the better part of a month we'l be doing a lot of that), somehow Jay Chou was a recurring theme throughout. (I learnt, courtesy of Zhiwei, that in fact the Jay Chou song in which he sings about the beating up of his mother contained the shouted lyrics "ni zou kai" (you go away) and not "eeee soooo kaaaaayyy" (it's ok) as i thought he was uttering in his unintelligible english (not that his mandarin pronunciation is much better though =p), as was what i thought it was for three-and-a-half years now, ever since my sispec bunk mates played his second album ad nauseam up till the point where i can recite or at least strongly recall much of that album.
In celebration of my relative freedom today after freeing myself from the sep forms and after noting the damn hot weather, took a dip at src. It was much needed - yet it also reminded me that i have not been exercising for far too long - me nearly died-ed out there...
Lots of things i want/have to buy:
a new pair of both running shoes (guess i have to look for the nearest e-mart and buy new balance with my old balance) and sandals (to replace my terok teva thongs)
a new bag to replace my very old backpack which recently activated its time-release extra access hole (i.e. it's tearing up and won't last much longer)
Hmmm ok, so maybe that's not really a lot of things, but i suppose by my standards, whereby i seldom buy anything at all, it's quite a lot.
Thursday, January 19, 2006
life's little joys
haven't updated in a long while (at least by my standards) cos have been very occupied with stuff, and barely have had time for myself and my inconsequential interests.
Lots of sep stuff has been done over the past few days, and i can already see the light at the end of the tunnel. In fact most of the other exchange folk have already submitted their documents, and therefore have already exited the tunnel, but me being me had to be blur enough to neglect to get my father's signature for one of the required forms before he left for Melaka, which means that silly little me has to wait till he comes back tomorrow before i can submit the stuff and see the light. Furthermore, i am a little uneasy about my documents, and i haven't finalised my tentative module selections yet. Thankfully the staff in charge are not of the i-am-here-to-make-your-life-miserable-till-your-dying-breath variety... In any case, i tell you, after all these things that i have had to do, if i somehow don't get the exchange in the end, i'll be rather irked to say the least.
On top of this has been MEET stuff. I'm not complaining, but suffice to say there is a LOT of stuff that has to be done and has been done. From reading readings that i am so not in the mood to complete to folding mini porkie puffs and frying them, the stuff to be done is just whoa...
As a result i have hardly had any time to look at schoolwork as of yet - and yet i compare the busy me of this sem to the free but kancheong spider who would pour over readings and the like of my first sem only to realise that i prefer this current scenario. Weird. Well, once this week is over, i ought to have more time on my hands to finally familiarise myself with my modules and the workload.
So while all these things have been sapping my energy, i am thankful for the little things that have been helping me to tahan it all.
Like taking time off to go for a short jog in the rain yesterday with Gary (Yes MS, i know him...), Josiah n Lizhen before FT.
Like the insightful and challenging words that the Lord has spoken to us through Mr Caña at FT itself.
Like going down to NUH to donate my B+ plasma (using a cool centrifuge machine that separates my platelets from my plasma, which incidentally looks like very concentrated urine, and then returns the platelets sans plasma to the body), and then to go back home to hear in the news that local blood banks are in need of blood. (Go and donate blood! Not pain one, and you get free milo and biscuits...) [word to the wise though, while the blood is drawn out of you, be prepared to be tortured with substandard local television productions like First Touch - which belong to a genre that i'd like to call "unintentional comedy", if you get my drift...]
Like managing to (after much difficulty) tune a guitar.
Can't wait till the end of the week.
Lots of sep stuff has been done over the past few days, and i can already see the light at the end of the tunnel. In fact most of the other exchange folk have already submitted their documents, and therefore have already exited the tunnel, but me being me had to be blur enough to neglect to get my father's signature for one of the required forms before he left for Melaka, which means that silly little me has to wait till he comes back tomorrow before i can submit the stuff and see the light. Furthermore, i am a little uneasy about my documents, and i haven't finalised my tentative module selections yet. Thankfully the staff in charge are not of the i-am-here-to-make-your-life-miserable-till-your-dying-breath variety... In any case, i tell you, after all these things that i have had to do, if i somehow don't get the exchange in the end, i'll be rather irked to say the least.
On top of this has been MEET stuff. I'm not complaining, but suffice to say there is a LOT of stuff that has to be done and has been done. From reading readings that i am so not in the mood to complete to folding mini porkie puffs and frying them, the stuff to be done is just whoa...
As a result i have hardly had any time to look at schoolwork as of yet - and yet i compare the busy me of this sem to the free but kancheong spider who would pour over readings and the like of my first sem only to realise that i prefer this current scenario. Weird. Well, once this week is over, i ought to have more time on my hands to finally familiarise myself with my modules and the workload.
So while all these things have been sapping my energy, i am thankful for the little things that have been helping me to tahan it all.
Like taking time off to go for a short jog in the rain yesterday with Gary (Yes MS, i know him...), Josiah n Lizhen before FT.
Like the insightful and challenging words that the Lord has spoken to us through Mr Caña at FT itself.
Like going down to NUH to donate my B+ plasma (using a cool centrifuge machine that separates my platelets from my plasma, which incidentally looks like very concentrated urine, and then returns the platelets sans plasma to the body), and then to go back home to hear in the news that local blood banks are in need of blood. (Go and donate blood! Not pain one, and you get free milo and biscuits...) [word to the wise though, while the blood is drawn out of you, be prepared to be tortured with substandard local television productions like First Touch - which belong to a genre that i'd like to call "unintentional comedy", if you get my drift...]
Like managing to (after much difficulty) tune a guitar.
Can't wait till the end of the week.
Sunday, January 15, 2006
lelong lelong
Had some of the MEET team over to do the samples of the proposed food for our trip's fundraising. On the menu were mini spring roll thingies filled with pork floss (whose actual name evades me) and cornflake cookies with raisins (raising funds with raisins heh)
Some of the firsts today included:
first time i've ever folded a spring roll or anything similar to one (whenever i am at a gathering that involves the making of popiah i normally just place all the fillings in the centre of the skin, bundle everything together like a bag, and stuff the whole thing into my mouth)
first time i've ever played a significant role in the baking of anything (licking the mixing bowl clean after my mother's finished with it when i was younger doesn't count here...)
first time i've ever seen a raisin metamorphose into a round, black ball of carbon after sitting pretty on the baking tray for a mere 30 minutes in the oven
first time i've ever fried an egg, or more specifically, three egg whites sans the yolks that were used in the baking process
first time i've ever cooked something from scratch (i.e. the three egg whites fried with fishcake that i plucked from my mother's bee hoon) that actually tasted rather edible, and (at time of typing) has not made anyone (i.e. me, since i was the only one who dared to eat it) ill
first time i'm advertising for the sale of anything on this blog
Which brings us to:
MEET Thailand team, together with the other MEET teams, is embarking on its fund-raising drive. And to that effect, we are selling two delicious varieties of snacks, for your eating pleasure during Chinese New Year (while you tahan the relentless assault of CNY songs) and beyond. There are the aforementioned mini spring roll thingies stuffed with mildly-spiced pork floss with sesame seeds ($12 per jar), and cornflake raisin cookies ($15 per jar). You can also get a jar of both at the special price of $25... For enquiries/orders, you can contact me through this email address: potatoeatermatt@gmail.com (i'd put my hp number up but dunno if any weirdos may end up calling me should i do that). And do look out for more CNY foodstuffs being sold by the other MEET teams, and for other cool fundraising stuff as well from us =)
Some of the firsts today included:
first time i've ever folded a spring roll or anything similar to one (whenever i am at a gathering that involves the making of popiah i normally just place all the fillings in the centre of the skin, bundle everything together like a bag, and stuff the whole thing into my mouth)
first time i've ever played a significant role in the baking of anything (licking the mixing bowl clean after my mother's finished with it when i was younger doesn't count here...)
first time i've ever seen a raisin metamorphose into a round, black ball of carbon after sitting pretty on the baking tray for a mere 30 minutes in the oven
first time i've ever fried an egg, or more specifically, three egg whites sans the yolks that were used in the baking process
first time i've ever cooked something from scratch (i.e. the three egg whites fried with fishcake that i plucked from my mother's bee hoon) that actually tasted rather edible, and (at time of typing) has not made anyone (i.e. me, since i was the only one who dared to eat it) ill
first time i'm advertising for the sale of anything on this blog
Which brings us to:
MEET Thailand team, together with the other MEET teams, is embarking on its fund-raising drive. And to that effect, we are selling two delicious varieties of snacks, for your eating pleasure during Chinese New Year (while you tahan the relentless assault of CNY songs) and beyond. There are the aforementioned mini spring roll thingies stuffed with mildly-spiced pork floss with sesame seeds ($12 per jar), and cornflake raisin cookies ($15 per jar). You can also get a jar of both at the special price of $25... For enquiries/orders, you can contact me through this email address: potatoeatermatt@gmail.com (i'd put my hp number up but dunno if any weirdos may end up calling me should i do that). And do look out for more CNY foodstuffs being sold by the other MEET teams, and for other cool fundraising stuff as well from us =)
Saturday, January 14, 2006
yi2 ge4 feng1 he2 ri4 li4 de4 zao3 shang4
So in the morning i awoke, to be greeted, for the first time in methinks a week, by a reasonable amount of sunlight, and sans the pitter patter of raindrops.
After splashing some water on my sleepy-eyed face, realised that it was probably going to be a bright and sunny day (chasing the clouds away)
If i may tweak a few lines from George Harrison's Here Comes the Sun a leetle bit:
Little darling, there's been much long cold rainy weather
Little darling, it seems like years since it's been clear
Here comes the sun...
So i thought to myself, especially since i've replaced my lost goggles, and the weather for the first time in goodness-knows-when is just perfect for it, why not go for a swim (which i haven't done for far too long....)?
Upon reaching school, i basked in the glorious sunshine that served to further bring out the full splendour of the verdant flora, revitalised and looking in the green of health thanks to the abundant precipitation received over the past few days. (hmm this is one times wu liao paragraph)
Was happily headed towards src when suddenly i realised that, shucks, my matric card was not with me, and hence i would not be allowed to enter the pool.
So i headed off to do some other stuff instead.
Time passed and met Yuemin for lunch, had class right after that.
Related the aforementioned story to her, while still gazing regretfully at the sun-soaked surroundings.
"Hey, couldn't you have used your bus pass to get in instead?"
*slaps forehead*
Hope the sun decides to make an appearance soon, the weather patterns as of late have reminded me of the infamous damned British weather, albeit at much more tolerable levels...
Good news to any one interested (who probably equals no one): my throat infection's getting better, as evidenced by the large balls of cloudy and gooey yellow phlegm being coughed up at regular intervals being now replaced by small clumps of translucent and colourless phlegm being coughed up rather irregularly... WTMI.
After splashing some water on my sleepy-eyed face, realised that it was probably going to be a bright and sunny day (chasing the clouds away)
If i may tweak a few lines from George Harrison's Here Comes the Sun a leetle bit:
Little darling, there's been much long cold rainy weather
Little darling, it seems like years since it's been clear
Here comes the sun...
So i thought to myself, especially since i've replaced my lost goggles, and the weather for the first time in goodness-knows-when is just perfect for it, why not go for a swim (which i haven't done for far too long....)?
Upon reaching school, i basked in the glorious sunshine that served to further bring out the full splendour of the verdant flora, revitalised and looking in the green of health thanks to the abundant precipitation received over the past few days. (hmm this is one times wu liao paragraph)
Was happily headed towards src when suddenly i realised that, shucks, my matric card was not with me, and hence i would not be allowed to enter the pool.
So i headed off to do some other stuff instead.
Time passed and met Yuemin for lunch, had class right after that.
Related the aforementioned story to her, while still gazing regretfully at the sun-soaked surroundings.
"Hey, couldn't you have used your bus pass to get in instead?"
*slaps forehead*
Hope the sun decides to make an appearance soon, the weather patterns as of late have reminded me of the infamous damned British weather, albeit at much more tolerable levels...
Good news to any one interested (who probably equals no one): my throat infection's getting better, as evidenced by the large balls of cloudy and gooey yellow phlegm being coughed up at regular intervals being now replaced by small clumps of translucent and colourless phlegm being coughed up rather irregularly... WTMI.
Thursday, January 12, 2006
a fitting title for this post evades me
Am one times sleepy guy now cos of lack of sleep (just realises duh-ness of statement). But anyway yup i am sleepy.
That's cos stayed up all of monday night/tuesday morning (which incidentally also is the title of one of my favourite Michelle Branch songs- from the "Hotel Paper" album, but not released as a single, which to me is a pity - but i digress again) in preperation for another send-off of people on the early morning United/Northwest flights to the States featuring unearthly timings that only an insomniac would agree with. This time it was for Cheryl (and later for Tim). Thankfully no one else i know still hasn't left yet, since i don't think that my ageing and sleep-hungry body could tahan another all-nighter. Already, once i got home, i slept practically the whole rest of the morning, went out for a family lunch, went to do a very little spot of shopping at Parkway (finally replacing the lost pair of goggles from a month or so ago), went back home, slept till ten at night, ate some more, then slept all the way till nine this morning. And now i am still sleepy. All this being said though, had and have fun sending people off, and weird flight timings just make it more fun i suppose...
Been steadily getting more and more of the sep stuff done, though i complain about it to myself and to others on a daily basis. Also still a few major things that i have to get settled by a week's time that i'd better start on, lest i miss the deadline... This is when a cure against my inherent laziness and inertia would come in very handy.
No lessons today, but was in school anyway, as i nowadays tend to be doing, even if it's a free day... Apart from settling more sep stuff, i basically bummed for whatever time i was there. Yes it feels good to bum, but i really ought to be more productive with my time.
Finally watched The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, my first movie of the year, and possibly my only one. I never read the books (and don't intend to), but was quite taken by the movie (which i wouldn't have watched in the first place had Christian allegory not been present - i am not usually one for these kind of fantasy shows - i never watched (or wanted to watch) LOTR 1 & 2, and only watched 3 cos was dragged along to it...) Was genuinely touched by some of the scenes in the movie. Once again reminded of Christ's amazing, sacrificial love for all of us.
Apparently, unless these checks are truly random (which i seriously doubt), i look suspicious - as though i were about to plant a suspicious package on the train, prompting concerned commuters to dial sembilan sembilan sembilan (which sounds much cruder than how it appears to be spelling wise, since the Malay voiceover persons sounds more like she's asking something in a less-than-flattering tone in colourful Hokkien language referencing the male anatomy, if you know what i mean...). This according to the MRT security personnel stationed beyond the turnstiles of the station. Dan Ryan suggests that it may be due to Filipino blood, while i am more partial to the security person's observation of my red eyes and eyebags, that were there cos of lack of sleep, but may have been construed as looking suspicious. Ah but anyway the incident is past.
But then i forget that even the birds have recently been out to get me. Was attacked by a pair of House Crows (corvus splendens) yesterday morning outside Siglap Centre, and had to wield my soon-to-rip-apart bag as a weapon in order to deter them any further from pouncing upon my scalp. They were probably nesting, of course, not that they didn't like my face (i hope)...
I am in desparate need of some exercise (which is why i finally got down to replacing the lost goggles and to finding running kakis). Have been eating waaay too much.
Am boycotting ntuc fairprice until they desist from playing annoying Chinese new year songs. Went into the one at Paya Lebar today to check out the post cereal, but was soon prematurely chased out, before i couldbuy anything, by the relentless attack on my eardrums that are all the variations of those gong xi and dong qiang sounds...
really need me bed.
That's cos stayed up all of monday night/tuesday morning (which incidentally also is the title of one of my favourite Michelle Branch songs- from the "Hotel Paper" album, but not released as a single, which to me is a pity - but i digress again) in preperation for another send-off of people on the early morning United/Northwest flights to the States featuring unearthly timings that only an insomniac would agree with. This time it was for Cheryl (and later for Tim). Thankfully no one else i know still hasn't left yet, since i don't think that my ageing and sleep-hungry body could tahan another all-nighter. Already, once i got home, i slept practically the whole rest of the morning, went out for a family lunch, went to do a very little spot of shopping at Parkway (finally replacing the lost pair of goggles from a month or so ago), went back home, slept till ten at night, ate some more, then slept all the way till nine this morning. And now i am still sleepy. All this being said though, had and have fun sending people off, and weird flight timings just make it more fun i suppose...
Been steadily getting more and more of the sep stuff done, though i complain about it to myself and to others on a daily basis. Also still a few major things that i have to get settled by a week's time that i'd better start on, lest i miss the deadline... This is when a cure against my inherent laziness and inertia would come in very handy.
No lessons today, but was in school anyway, as i nowadays tend to be doing, even if it's a free day... Apart from settling more sep stuff, i basically bummed for whatever time i was there. Yes it feels good to bum, but i really ought to be more productive with my time.
Finally watched The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, my first movie of the year, and possibly my only one. I never read the books (and don't intend to), but was quite taken by the movie (which i wouldn't have watched in the first place had Christian allegory not been present - i am not usually one for these kind of fantasy shows - i never watched (or wanted to watch) LOTR 1 & 2, and only watched 3 cos was dragged along to it...) Was genuinely touched by some of the scenes in the movie. Once again reminded of Christ's amazing, sacrificial love for all of us.
Apparently, unless these checks are truly random (which i seriously doubt), i look suspicious - as though i were about to plant a suspicious package on the train, prompting concerned commuters to dial sembilan sembilan sembilan (which sounds much cruder than how it appears to be spelling wise, since the Malay voiceover persons sounds more like she's asking something in a less-than-flattering tone in colourful Hokkien language referencing the male anatomy, if you know what i mean...). This according to the MRT security personnel stationed beyond the turnstiles of the station. Dan Ryan suggests that it may be due to Filipino blood, while i am more partial to the security person's observation of my red eyes and eyebags, that were there cos of lack of sleep, but may have been construed as looking suspicious. Ah but anyway the incident is past.
But then i forget that even the birds have recently been out to get me. Was attacked by a pair of House Crows (corvus splendens) yesterday morning outside Siglap Centre, and had to wield my soon-to-rip-apart bag as a weapon in order to deter them any further from pouncing upon my scalp. They were probably nesting, of course, not that they didn't like my face (i hope)...
I am in desparate need of some exercise (which is why i finally got down to replacing the lost goggles and to finding running kakis). Have been eating waaay too much.
Am boycotting ntuc fairprice until they desist from playing annoying Chinese new year songs. Went into the one at Paya Lebar today to check out the post cereal, but was soon prematurely chased out, before i couldbuy anything, by the relentless attack on my eardrums that are all the variations of those gong xi and dong qiang sounds...
really need me bed.
Monday, January 09, 2006
Don't you fret, Monsieur Marius
I love little falls of rain like the one that went on and on and on like the duracell bunny today, from the time that i reluctantly woke up at sevenish to silence my annoying alarm clock, only to curl back into my comfortable bed again and sleep till around nine (thank goodness for proximity to church), continuing on throughout the whole day till even now as i type this. Ok admittedly, parts of it were much more than little, but they were falls of rain nonetheless. And as Eponine sings, these falls of rain can hardly hurt me now (totally different contexts here, unlike her, i am not at the brink of death after having been shot at the barricades, but whatever the case Les Misèrables is not divinely inspired, so no issue with me doing this...)
Have been having a throat infection over the past few days, dunno how and exactly when it started, but anyways have been coughing out large balls of gooey and cloudy yellow phlegm *sick* at regular intervals, particularly so today. A lot of it is admittedly my fault, cos i haven't really been bothering to take care of the problem, hence my continued devouring of fried foods and ice cream over the past few days, and not resting my voice in the slightest... Thank God that on sat when i was leading MEET worship was able to sing without any of these vile substances unintentionally spewing out of my mouth or anything like that, and the Spirit was able to minister in spite of me...
Always good to meet up with old friends, so had a great time on sat, dinner with Tim and Renshao and later Jason. Really treasure these old friendships, that i find that are sometimes hard to build upon due to issues of time and space... One good thing about the holidays is that at least the spacial constraints are eliminated when lots of these people find their way back here during their own breaks. Makes me wonder though what might happen should i end up away later this year for so many months. Not being able to see so many people physically for so long time, having to rely upon emails and maybe phone calls, cos at this point i still intend to remain msn-less, even when i am there...
Have a handful of days to make sufficient sense of sep materials to put them all together by the deadline next wednesday. Thank God for people around whom i know can help out poor little blur me...
Realise that there has been a lot of stuff that i so-called should be doing, but have not been doing, in terms of service. That's something to pray about (incidentally, one of the stuff that i have not been doing enough of)...
Hoping that tutorial scheduling won't throw up any unnecessary and unnerving hiccups. Debs nearly threw me one. My timetable is already far from what i ideally would have had it look like ( i am very very fussy, btw), and the last thing i need would be huge spanners thrown in the works like more 8am slots, or the lack of a free day of other stuff like that.
Sigh, the rain has now stopped, there goes my ideal sleeping weather...
anyhoos, nitey...
Have been having a throat infection over the past few days, dunno how and exactly when it started, but anyways have been coughing out large balls of gooey and cloudy yellow phlegm *sick* at regular intervals, particularly so today. A lot of it is admittedly my fault, cos i haven't really been bothering to take care of the problem, hence my continued devouring of fried foods and ice cream over the past few days, and not resting my voice in the slightest... Thank God that on sat when i was leading MEET worship was able to sing without any of these vile substances unintentionally spewing out of my mouth or anything like that, and the Spirit was able to minister in spite of me...
Always good to meet up with old friends, so had a great time on sat, dinner with Tim and Renshao and later Jason. Really treasure these old friendships, that i find that are sometimes hard to build upon due to issues of time and space... One good thing about the holidays is that at least the spacial constraints are eliminated when lots of these people find their way back here during their own breaks. Makes me wonder though what might happen should i end up away later this year for so many months. Not being able to see so many people physically for so long time, having to rely upon emails and maybe phone calls, cos at this point i still intend to remain msn-less, even when i am there...
Have a handful of days to make sufficient sense of sep materials to put them all together by the deadline next wednesday. Thank God for people around whom i know can help out poor little blur me...
Realise that there has been a lot of stuff that i so-called should be doing, but have not been doing, in terms of service. That's something to pray about (incidentally, one of the stuff that i have not been doing enough of)...
Hoping that tutorial scheduling won't throw up any unnecessary and unnerving hiccups. Debs nearly threw me one. My timetable is already far from what i ideally would have had it look like ( i am very very fussy, btw), and the last thing i need would be huge spanners thrown in the works like more 8am slots, or the lack of a free day of other stuff like that.
Sigh, the rain has now stopped, there goes my ideal sleeping weather...
anyhoos, nitey...
Saturday, January 07, 2006
slowly soaking sandals
(I originally wanted to, in my love for alliteration, even if it means nonsensical and provocative phrases resulting from it, title this post "the terok teva thongs", but in the interest of not giving any reader a mistaken impression of myself - after all, my teva sandals are not thong sandals - the above title will have to do)
I thought that at the triple-digit prices that i bought them at less than two years ago, they'd be a little more reliable, but i stand corrected, for the right heel sole wearing down apparently due to my walking pattern has now resulted in water from the wet roads being able to soak through the sole into the fabric of the sandal straps and then to my right foot itself. It's such a gross feeling, to have one heel feel desperately wet while you walk, while the rest of your two feet be perfectly dry.
I seem to have the uncanny knack of owning footwear that fails on me in wet weather. Wet feet while walking is just gross (unless of course you are barefooted to begin with).
Ah, but why am i going on about such a mundane subject?
Had lunch n coffee with allo buddy Melvin today, had a good time catching up with him, now that the hols are near a close. Good to finally meet up with people near home for a change. Parkway basement is now much nicer, with courts replaced by loads of smaller shops like coffee bean and an intriguingly-named high-class butchery called, strangely enough, espirito santo (holy spirit).
The sep process is one big rollercoaster with periods of varying ease and confusion levels. Certainly a big effort for lazy me... Still manageable by God's grace though =)...
Have you ever thought about, as Zhiwei pointed out (trust a lawyer to point out such things) how duh this line is: "it was for freedom that Christ has set us free"? Not that it's untrue or anything like that, just clearly stating the obvious, that's all...
Was momentarily lamenting how Mark's departure meant having no more people to run with (people whom i sorely need to help to prevent me from degenerating into a sedentary slothlike specimen), when God provided not one, but two (and possibly more) people today hee =)
I thought that at the triple-digit prices that i bought them at less than two years ago, they'd be a little more reliable, but i stand corrected, for the right heel sole wearing down apparently due to my walking pattern has now resulted in water from the wet roads being able to soak through the sole into the fabric of the sandal straps and then to my right foot itself. It's such a gross feeling, to have one heel feel desperately wet while you walk, while the rest of your two feet be perfectly dry.
I seem to have the uncanny knack of owning footwear that fails on me in wet weather. Wet feet while walking is just gross (unless of course you are barefooted to begin with).
Ah, but why am i going on about such a mundane subject?
Had lunch n coffee with allo buddy Melvin today, had a good time catching up with him, now that the hols are near a close. Good to finally meet up with people near home for a change. Parkway basement is now much nicer, with courts replaced by loads of smaller shops like coffee bean and an intriguingly-named high-class butchery called, strangely enough, espirito santo (holy spirit).
The sep process is one big rollercoaster with periods of varying ease and confusion levels. Certainly a big effort for lazy me... Still manageable by God's grace though =)...
Have you ever thought about, as Zhiwei pointed out (trust a lawyer to point out such things) how duh this line is: "it was for freedom that Christ has set us free"? Not that it's untrue or anything like that, just clearly stating the obvious, that's all...
Was momentarily lamenting how Mark's departure meant having no more people to run with (people whom i sorely need to help to prevent me from degenerating into a sedentary slothlike specimen), when God provided not one, but two (and possibly more) people today hee =)
Thursday, January 05, 2006
a bye and a hi
Am currently in the process of recovering from a continuous 24 hours without so much as a whisper of shuteye. Reason being an all-nighter at the airport to send Mark off and (since was already there to begin with) say hi to Sida.
Didn't quite expect so many of us [nine in all, methinks, lemme count - Ade Fam (a.k.a. kabage), Mei Si, Hwee Shan, Jocelyn, Debs, Chris, Dan Ryan (sans their Chicago grill) n moi] to be there, but anyway the company surely helped the time to pass faster. Mei Si, i must admit that despite my initial skepticism, Cluedo actually is quite a fun game to play, just that perhaps not at that hour when my already slow mental faculties are further hampered. If not for Joce doing all the strategizing and hypothesizing for me, i would have been totally lost when we were playing. (Just for the record it was Prof Plum with the candlestick in the dining room.)
Hmm things will definitely feel different without Mark around this sem... One less guy, one less guitarist, one less sweater on the head... (but seriously, apart from the superficialities, he shall be missed)
Couldn't help but think that, if all goes according to plan, in around seven month's time, i'll be the one flying off for the same thing. Meanwhile there's all the dreaded paperwork and other sian stuff to do (all the more so for a lazy bum like yours truly) in preperation for exchange, but hopefully, in the end, all this stuff will pay off with a fruitful time spent overseas in a world that's far away (where life is not unkind, the movie in my mind - hee couldn't help but be reminded of Miss Saigon...)
Oh well, anyway after seeing Mark off hung around a while more to say hi to Sida as he came back just an hour after Mark left... How timely, yet so close, yet so far...
[Disclaimer: if there is an alarming amount of nonsense that fills this blog, even in comparison with the other nonsense-ridden posts of mine, i reserve the right to blame it on the lack of sleep.]
Anyway, surprisingly, i didn't feel the teeniest bit sleepy at the airport throughout the night,and only nearly dozed off in the car back home. Even when i did finally sleep, it was only for less than three hours. Haven't slept since then... So what may this be attributable to? Sheer willpower? Undetected ingestion of caffeine? Warped body clock? Dunno lah...
Thankfully modules are more or less settled, and i know people in most of my modules except for , ironically, the biggest module that i am taking...
Didn't quite expect so many of us [nine in all, methinks, lemme count - Ade Fam (a.k.a. kabage), Mei Si, Hwee Shan, Jocelyn, Debs, Chris, Dan Ryan (sans their Chicago grill) n moi] to be there, but anyway the company surely helped the time to pass faster. Mei Si, i must admit that despite my initial skepticism, Cluedo actually is quite a fun game to play, just that perhaps not at that hour when my already slow mental faculties are further hampered. If not for Joce doing all the strategizing and hypothesizing for me, i would have been totally lost when we were playing. (Just for the record it was Prof Plum with the candlestick in the dining room.)
Hmm things will definitely feel different without Mark around this sem... One less guy, one less guitarist, one less sweater on the head... (but seriously, apart from the superficialities, he shall be missed)
Couldn't help but think that, if all goes according to plan, in around seven month's time, i'll be the one flying off for the same thing. Meanwhile there's all the dreaded paperwork and other sian stuff to do (all the more so for a lazy bum like yours truly) in preperation for exchange, but hopefully, in the end, all this stuff will pay off with a fruitful time spent overseas in a world that's far away (where life is not unkind, the movie in my mind - hee couldn't help but be reminded of Miss Saigon...)
Oh well, anyway after seeing Mark off hung around a while more to say hi to Sida as he came back just an hour after Mark left... How timely, yet so close, yet so far...
[Disclaimer: if there is an alarming amount of nonsense that fills this blog, even in comparison with the other nonsense-ridden posts of mine, i reserve the right to blame it on the lack of sleep.]
Anyway, surprisingly, i didn't feel the teeniest bit sleepy at the airport throughout the night,and only nearly dozed off in the car back home. Even when i did finally sleep, it was only for less than three hours. Haven't slept since then... So what may this be attributable to? Sheer willpower? Undetected ingestion of caffeine? Warped body clock? Dunno lah...
Thankfully modules are more or less settled, and i know people in most of my modules except for , ironically, the biggest module that i am taking...
Also very thankful that by God's grace, the aforementioned sep headache is starting to make that much more sense now, and things are flowing more smoothly...
After being made to watch the unintentional and painful comedy that is "love concierge" in my house just now thanks to a visitor who somehow imposed her own television preferences over those of the resident, have come to the conclusion that today's ch8 shows are just plain bad. Whatever happened to the good old days of Bobo, the Chen Liping and Chen Xiuhuan volleyball show, the purple killer, and the like? Xian4 zai4 dou1 bu4 hao3 kan4 le4...
The sleepyness bug is starting to possess me...
nitey
Wednesday, January 04, 2006
frustrating bids and floorball
Second cg retreat thingy today at WEFC [very happy that have found a 45-minute bus direct to there from my house (ok, actually parkway lah, but close enough) - which means that the woodlands and surrounding ulu area people have no more excuse to say that the east in general and my house in particular is too far for them to travel. Now all that is left is for me to find a similar bus to the west as well, so that i won't be stuck with constantly having to make long and boring trods to these far away areas...]
We had a fulfilling time today, i think that Ade Fam, Mei Si and myself were at least a leetle bit unsure of what to expect from today, but once again, the Lord has been gracious in blessing us over the course of this day, especially in light of the slight reshuffle and multiplication in the thursday cgs (boggled, ftp, and now fourth place?)
Never realised that my mouth is so big that it can fit three whole inch-long marshmallows on either side, with enough room to mumble some bunny phrase (i forget). But after looking into what marshmallows are all about, i may never want to eat another one again (not that the six today didn't put me off quite a bit as it was)
Don't other people know that Ouagadougou (one of my all-time favourite place names btw...) is the capital of Burkina Faso?
cgling this sem promises to be quite different from last sem, but the assured guidance of the Lord through it all remains unchanged =) Also, it's great to have such supportive cgms around...
Lots more Christmas chocs at home longing to be consumed, from now on, any fairly large gathering you see me attending will also see me with chocs for all (nuts not included though =p)
Haven't played floorball since acjc pe (then known under the moniker of street bandy - one of the rare things i enjoyed doing during pe then...), and something tells me that the intense lower backaches that i always got the next morning then will greet me again when i wake up in the morning later today... That being said, it was loads of fun, and is one of the things that will make me not mind taking more 45-minute buses to WEFC for cf stuff...
Bidding has not gone on as smoothly as i would have liked, now have to deal with my first-ever two-exams-in-one-day day, group project work as well as a wretched 8am class... (It also explains why i am typing this at such an hour...) But as others have pointed out and as i have realised, i am very fussy when it comes to module selection, and eventually (i.e. now), something's gotta give... Well, at least my goal of no May modules appears to be all but met...
Oh, and sep came in positive, but that means that there's loads of stuff to do before the deadline for submission of stuff approaches, thankfully the tentative deadline was extended by a week, so things are not that bad as i thought that they might have been...
Many packed days lie ahead...
We had a fulfilling time today, i think that Ade Fam, Mei Si and myself were at least a leetle bit unsure of what to expect from today, but once again, the Lord has been gracious in blessing us over the course of this day, especially in light of the slight reshuffle and multiplication in the thursday cgs (boggled, ftp, and now fourth place?)
Never realised that my mouth is so big that it can fit three whole inch-long marshmallows on either side, with enough room to mumble some bunny phrase (i forget). But after looking into what marshmallows are all about, i may never want to eat another one again (not that the six today didn't put me off quite a bit as it was)
Don't other people know that Ouagadougou (one of my all-time favourite place names btw...) is the capital of Burkina Faso?
cgling this sem promises to be quite different from last sem, but the assured guidance of the Lord through it all remains unchanged =) Also, it's great to have such supportive cgms around...
Lots more Christmas chocs at home longing to be consumed, from now on, any fairly large gathering you see me attending will also see me with chocs for all (nuts not included though =p)
Haven't played floorball since acjc pe (then known under the moniker of street bandy - one of the rare things i enjoyed doing during pe then...), and something tells me that the intense lower backaches that i always got the next morning then will greet me again when i wake up in the morning later today... That being said, it was loads of fun, and is one of the things that will make me not mind taking more 45-minute buses to WEFC for cf stuff...
Bidding has not gone on as smoothly as i would have liked, now have to deal with my first-ever two-exams-in-one-day day, group project work as well as a wretched 8am class... (It also explains why i am typing this at such an hour...) But as others have pointed out and as i have realised, i am very fussy when it comes to module selection, and eventually (i.e. now), something's gotta give... Well, at least my goal of no May modules appears to be all but met...
Oh, and sep came in positive, but that means that there's loads of stuff to do before the deadline for submission of stuff approaches, thankfully the tentative deadline was extended by a week, so things are not that bad as i thought that they might have been...
Many packed days lie ahead...
Sunday, January 01, 2006
an eventful year (so far hehe)...
Picking off from yesterday, i happily set my alarm clock for 5am, confident that i would wake up and have ample prep time before service at six.
So lo and behold, in spite of me usually being a very light sleeper, i slept through the alarm (either that or i sleepwalked and in the process turned the alarm off), and woke up at 5:55am. *gasps*, so i quickly washed up, changed and rushed next door for the sunrise service, getting there around 6:10am, only having missed the processional... Ah the perks of proximity...
Have never, to the best of my recollection, ever attended a service at that (can't say ungodly, especially since this is in the context of a service, and in any case, God is everywhere =) time before. One interesting thing that i realised about myself after the service is that, since at that hour in the morning my voice has not warmed up yet, i found myself singing the bass part to the hymns that we sang conmfortably and even was able to reach notes as low as a low D, which in normal circumstances (like in acjc choir last time) would result in me sounding more akin to a constipated tortoise, rather than to a human being...
Crossover service brought forth a challenge to basically be more outreach-focused in all we do, something that the Lord has been impacting upon me since last year. To really feel an overflow of God's love from us to all around us, that they too may know about the wonderful saving grace of Jesus. Am glad for the Spirit's timely reminder, coming at the start of a new year...
Haven't been able to stay back after crossover service for many many weeks now, so since now i have relatively less stuff to do, i took the opportunity to hang out with some of the dear people whom i haven't seen in a long time (particularly Eunice - you're back finally, though it almost seems as though you never left since i can still very clearly remember sending you off such a short time ago...), really have missed them all over my busy december. Got some really exciting news today too, shan't say more, just that it's amazing to see how the Lord works in His seasons, ultimately according to His perfect plan =)
The effects of the 6am service are clearly evident in my house now. Not for as long as i can remember have i seen my entire household knock out by 11pm... And here i am to join them...
Nitez...
So lo and behold, in spite of me usually being a very light sleeper, i slept through the alarm (either that or i sleepwalked and in the process turned the alarm off), and woke up at 5:55am. *gasps*, so i quickly washed up, changed and rushed next door for the sunrise service, getting there around 6:10am, only having missed the processional... Ah the perks of proximity...
Have never, to the best of my recollection, ever attended a service at that (can't say ungodly, especially since this is in the context of a service, and in any case, God is everywhere =) time before. One interesting thing that i realised about myself after the service is that, since at that hour in the morning my voice has not warmed up yet, i found myself singing the bass part to the hymns that we sang conmfortably and even was able to reach notes as low as a low D, which in normal circumstances (like in acjc choir last time) would result in me sounding more akin to a constipated tortoise, rather than to a human being...
Crossover service brought forth a challenge to basically be more outreach-focused in all we do, something that the Lord has been impacting upon me since last year. To really feel an overflow of God's love from us to all around us, that they too may know about the wonderful saving grace of Jesus. Am glad for the Spirit's timely reminder, coming at the start of a new year...
Haven't been able to stay back after crossover service for many many weeks now, so since now i have relatively less stuff to do, i took the opportunity to hang out with some of the dear people whom i haven't seen in a long time (particularly Eunice - you're back finally, though it almost seems as though you never left since i can still very clearly remember sending you off such a short time ago...), really have missed them all over my busy december. Got some really exciting news today too, shan't say more, just that it's amazing to see how the Lord works in His seasons, ultimately according to His perfect plan =)
The effects of the 6am service are clearly evident in my house now. Not for as long as i can remember have i seen my entire household knock out by 11pm... And here i am to join them...
Nitez...
déjà vu
happy new year, bonne année, xin1 nian2 kuai4 le4 (was sent a new year's greeting sms in mandarin that i am still trying to decipher btw)
My cousin and nephew flew back home today, just when i was starting to get the hang of hearing and understanding more tagalog as it was spoken around the house and was able to get at least a flimsy understanding of what everyone was saying to one another... heinakuh (sp?)...
Went to parkway for a short while just now, and noticed that they had gotten rid of jl and courts and replaced them with many smaller shops. A much better utilization of space, if you ask me... Only thing lacking: a Subway outlet...
Hannah, my ill-fated mass dance partner from acjc orientation is back for the short Christmas break from Toronto, so i went for her belated (three months ago) 21st birthday celebration at her place, n it was rather interesting, cos the last time i met her was exactly a year ago, new year's eve 2004, when i tagged along with some of her family members and her to go bowling.
Anyway, in spite of the distance from my own house (near FES n TTC - way in to the "bukits" and far far away from anything eastish), had a great time there. The food was really good, to start of with... Sort of expected Florence to turn up, since the first time i met her was at the previous time that i went to Hannah's house, when i was introduced to her as Hannah's cousin. It was only a few days after that that i met her in the cf setting. But i digress. Anyway, apart from Florence there, there were also some of Hannah's other friends, as well some of her other cousins. The majority of the aforementioned people so happened to come from acjc, and many were also arts, and even better, history students, so no lack of common talking points of interest there haha...
I already knew that Hannah's dad knew my parents, but i had no idea that he met my mother a grand total of 33 years ago in the Philippines, when she was still on staff at IVCF, and had not even come to S'pore and met my father yet... These uncanny moments are really very intriguing, even bordering on creepiness i must say...
Haha, but anyway so ends the year. There are lots of things that i want to do in the new year but i shall not officially resolve to do any of them. Anyway, all these things are still swimming in my head and are not able to find proper output yet...
Ok, if you want a resolution, here's a very short-term one: to be able to wake up in time for the new year's day sunrise service tomorrow morning at 6am (though i must admit that staying next door to the venue of the service does make things much easier for me)
My cousin and nephew flew back home today, just when i was starting to get the hang of hearing and understanding more tagalog as it was spoken around the house and was able to get at least a flimsy understanding of what everyone was saying to one another... heinakuh (sp?)...
Went to parkway for a short while just now, and noticed that they had gotten rid of jl and courts and replaced them with many smaller shops. A much better utilization of space, if you ask me... Only thing lacking: a Subway outlet...
Hannah, my ill-fated mass dance partner from acjc orientation is back for the short Christmas break from Toronto, so i went for her belated (three months ago) 21st birthday celebration at her place, n it was rather interesting, cos the last time i met her was exactly a year ago, new year's eve 2004, when i tagged along with some of her family members and her to go bowling.
Anyway, in spite of the distance from my own house (near FES n TTC - way in to the "bukits" and far far away from anything eastish), had a great time there. The food was really good, to start of with... Sort of expected Florence to turn up, since the first time i met her was at the previous time that i went to Hannah's house, when i was introduced to her as Hannah's cousin. It was only a few days after that that i met her in the cf setting. But i digress. Anyway, apart from Florence there, there were also some of Hannah's other friends, as well some of her other cousins. The majority of the aforementioned people so happened to come from acjc, and many were also arts, and even better, history students, so no lack of common talking points of interest there haha...
I already knew that Hannah's dad knew my parents, but i had no idea that he met my mother a grand total of 33 years ago in the Philippines, when she was still on staff at IVCF, and had not even come to S'pore and met my father yet... These uncanny moments are really very intriguing, even bordering on creepiness i must say...
Haha, but anyway so ends the year. There are lots of things that i want to do in the new year but i shall not officially resolve to do any of them. Anyway, all these things are still swimming in my head and are not able to find proper output yet...
Ok, if you want a resolution, here's a very short-term one: to be able to wake up in time for the new year's day sunrise service tomorrow morning at 6am (though i must admit that staying next door to the venue of the service does make things much easier for me)
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