Woke up this morning (almost late for church btw, thankfully stay next door so wasn't late =p) to the sound of Bingo diligently scratching at my door.
So i (after much hesitation cos it was such a nice, cool and damp morning - perfect for sleeping in) got up and opened the door, expecting him to come in as usual and possibly jump on my bed, leaving gross stains in the process, or at least slump in some corner, but instead he gave me a joyful look and immediately scurried downstairs and headed towards the door, then looked very expectantly at it.
I wised up to what he was hinting at and opened the door for him, and he immediately rushed for the nearest bush to empty his full tank...
[Come to think of it, am very thankful he didn't decide to jump on my bed, or he might have left quite the urological mess there...]
Congrats to Bingo for successfully demonstrating to me that his sanitary skills are better than a significant minority of human beings whose legacies left behind in (and out of) public toilets that i've visited leave much to be desired (and much else to hold one's nose at too)...
*arf*
Oh and btw here's the link to MEET Mongolia Team's blog, do support in whatever way the Lord leads to ya =)
Sunday, April 09, 2006
it's been five years...
Still haven't decided on a question yet for my last essay, due thursday. Didn't help that though i was all geared up to piah (sp?) in school today, all enthusiasm soon drained from me and all that i was able to do was to narrow my possible topic down to something during the industrial revolution (which still is agonizingly broad)
On the upside, shoe bag got filled with another stack of books, which means that at least have something to work with...
Gosh i really need to start on revision...
Dinner tonight with random people from 2AD1 united by Sze-li coming back for a short while was at Settler's Cafe at Holland V (regrettably, i never voiced out that my house is but 5 minutes' walk away from their katong branch) Had a great time with everyone, some of whom i haven't seen in years since A levels/a chance bumping into each other in town, nus, fun-o-rama or the funeral of a mutual acquaintance... I must admit, judging from the class dynamic by the end of year 2 (which seems to be eons ago) i would never have thought that we'd be having such a great time playing taboo (as we did last time in gp class) and cranium, transcending cliques and comfort zones... I suppose that in this case absence indeed makes the heart grow fonder...
And you think that i'm super kentang now? Just now during cranium i gave an answer to a question and asked if i was correct. Only that instead of asking "is that the right answer?" i asked "tio bo?", only to be faced with looks of disbelief from Mr Koh and some classmates who were so surprised that i said something in hokkien (which of course i picked up bits and pieces of in army - apart from "tio bo" and some numbers most of my command of hokkien, in keeping with typical army culture, translates into stuff that cannot make it uncensored into this family-friendly blog - which is somewhat ironic i suppose since much of this talk refers to members of the family, such as father, mother etc...) So apparently this means that the matt you know now has in fact undergone a certain degree of sinification since pre-army days...
Shall post pics here once people email them to me (it's times like these when i want to get a digicam - hmm definitely by the time i get to the states i'll need to have one...)
On the upside, shoe bag got filled with another stack of books, which means that at least have something to work with...
Gosh i really need to start on revision...
Dinner tonight with random people from 2AD1 united by Sze-li coming back for a short while was at Settler's Cafe at Holland V (regrettably, i never voiced out that my house is but 5 minutes' walk away from their katong branch) Had a great time with everyone, some of whom i haven't seen in years since A levels/a chance bumping into each other in town, nus, fun-o-rama or the funeral of a mutual acquaintance... I must admit, judging from the class dynamic by the end of year 2 (which seems to be eons ago) i would never have thought that we'd be having such a great time playing taboo (as we did last time in gp class) and cranium, transcending cliques and comfort zones... I suppose that in this case absence indeed makes the heart grow fonder...
And you think that i'm super kentang now? Just now during cranium i gave an answer to a question and asked if i was correct. Only that instead of asking "is that the right answer?" i asked "tio bo?", only to be faced with looks of disbelief from Mr Koh and some classmates who were so surprised that i said something in hokkien (which of course i picked up bits and pieces of in army - apart from "tio bo" and some numbers most of my command of hokkien, in keeping with typical army culture, translates into stuff that cannot make it uncensored into this family-friendly blog - which is somewhat ironic i suppose since much of this talk refers to members of the family, such as father, mother etc...) So apparently this means that the matt you know now has in fact undergone a certain degree of sinification since pre-army days...
Shall post pics here once people email them to me (it's times like these when i want to get a digicam - hmm definitely by the time i get to the states i'll need to have one...)
Thursday, April 06, 2006
of being idle and thinking idol
Just some random American Idol-associated thoughts while i take a break from deciding what to do for my last essay.
Always thought that 'Drops of Jupiter' was an oasis song from long ago, until i heard it sung on '21st Century songs' week.
Always thought that 'Gray Sky Morning' was a coldplay song, until i heard it sung on 'country songs week'.
The downside of having your laptop with you is that you get restless and check online who got eliminated even before it's aired here, only to find out that one of your favourites (Mandisa - i assume no one will be reading this before it's shown) got eliminated instead of , say MZ's favourite, whom in contrast i absolutely cannot stand... (but we put our differences aside... =p)
Always thought that 'Drops of Jupiter' was an oasis song from long ago, until i heard it sung on '21st Century songs' week.
Always thought that 'Gray Sky Morning' was a coldplay song, until i heard it sung on 'country songs week'.
The downside of having your laptop with you is that you get restless and check online who got eliminated even before it's aired here, only to find out that one of your favourites (Mandisa - i assume no one will be reading this before it's shown) got eliminated instead of , say MZ's favourite, whom in contrast i absolutely cannot stand... (but we put our differences aside... =p)
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
One Year Old
This blog, that is...
Anyway, i had wanted to post this on the exact one-year anniversary, but alas, much work and sleep made that an all-too-distant dream...
But in any case, updates, updates...
Sze-li's back! For just a week and a half though, but still better than nothing... Her arrival proved the perfect opportunity for a couple of much-needed reunion respites from school...
Saturday together with Renshao it was laksa at where else but katong, followed by or luak, char kway teow and rojak at marine parade. Of course, do note that all four of the aforementioned dishes contain, apart from copious amounts of oil and fat, other stuff that i do not eat: in running order - prawns and hum, oysters, prawns and hum again, gooey brown prawn paste. Managed to convince myself to eat the non-prawn portions of the food (therefore rojak inedible cos the gross prawn paste smothers everything...), not bad lah, but the hum and oyster still tasted too fishy for my liking... And to top it all off, there were durians (which again, i don't eat, though i did eat the mangosteens though - and they weren't too bad - which means that i've found an exception to my don't-eat-local-fruits rule) All in all was a really great time of catching up =)
Sunday together with a couple of 2AD1 pple [Daph (+ bf), Winnie, Zhimin] we went to esplanade gluttons bay where we had expensive stingray ($15!) and overpriced kangkong ($10!). Food ok lah, nothing spectacular, what was better was the chance to catch up with some class people whom i've barely seen since 2001 (can't believe that i took my A levels five years ago... that's getting old for you..) and recall some of the silly and farny things that went on back then... For all the issues that i have with the school, there indeed still are many parts of it that i miss...
The past two days were coincidental/bump-into-people/it's-a-small-world days for me.
Yesterday while chiong-ing project (or at least maintaining a semblance of so doing) in the canteen saw my namesake at another table and said hi, only to realise that the person sitting opposite him was an ex-choir junior whom i had hardly talked to or seen in five years but whom i still recognised off the bat (and she me too)...
Also, over a 24-hour time period starting from last evening saw the same guy who's also going to UNC next sem three times, which is quite coincedental given how i had never seen him before this in school since we met...
While with Eunice on two seperate occasions yesterday and today at kent ridge terminal and business canteen we at both times bumped into frens and rong-er (a.k.a. Adrian and Alicia) which was quite farny and freaky i must say...
And while talking about Mei Si with Eunice, who else should appear walking past us but Ms *what* herself...
Furthermore, Eunice's friend's friend turned out to be another choir junior i know...
Well, got back the wheel to web test, was the worst marks i've gotten for any assessed piece this sem, but (as testament to God's goodness) still rather reasonable a mark to begin with (67). Just hope and pray that my results-centered self doesn't rear its ugly head again...
Have only one more assignment to clear, due on the 13th, but i hope to do it by this week, so that hopefully my shoe bag can start carrying shoes again...
Exercise!
(and i realise the irony but heck lah) Try eating this: it's really good *licks lips* (available at the co-op)
Oh, and while we're on the topic of sweet indulgences, this is good stuff too, though you have to go to the states to get it...
Anyway, i had wanted to post this on the exact one-year anniversary, but alas, much work and sleep made that an all-too-distant dream...
But in any case, updates, updates...
Sze-li's back! For just a week and a half though, but still better than nothing... Her arrival proved the perfect opportunity for a couple of much-needed reunion respites from school...
Saturday together with Renshao it was laksa at where else but katong, followed by or luak, char kway teow and rojak at marine parade. Of course, do note that all four of the aforementioned dishes contain, apart from copious amounts of oil and fat, other stuff that i do not eat: in running order - prawns and hum, oysters, prawns and hum again, gooey brown prawn paste. Managed to convince myself to eat the non-prawn portions of the food (therefore rojak inedible cos the gross prawn paste smothers everything...), not bad lah, but the hum and oyster still tasted too fishy for my liking... And to top it all off, there were durians (which again, i don't eat, though i did eat the mangosteens though - and they weren't too bad - which means that i've found an exception to my don't-eat-local-fruits rule) All in all was a really great time of catching up =)
Sunday together with a couple of 2AD1 pple [Daph (+ bf), Winnie, Zhimin] we went to esplanade gluttons bay where we had expensive stingray ($15!) and overpriced kangkong ($10!). Food ok lah, nothing spectacular, what was better was the chance to catch up with some class people whom i've barely seen since 2001 (can't believe that i took my A levels five years ago... that's getting old for you..) and recall some of the silly and farny things that went on back then... For all the issues that i have with the school, there indeed still are many parts of it that i miss...
The past two days were coincidental/bump-into-people/it's-a-small-world days for me.
Yesterday while chiong-ing project (or at least maintaining a semblance of so doing) in the canteen saw my namesake at another table and said hi, only to realise that the person sitting opposite him was an ex-choir junior whom i had hardly talked to or seen in five years but whom i still recognised off the bat (and she me too)...
Also, over a 24-hour time period starting from last evening saw the same guy who's also going to UNC next sem three times, which is quite coincedental given how i had never seen him before this in school since we met...
While with Eunice on two seperate occasions yesterday and today at kent ridge terminal and business canteen we at both times bumped into frens and rong-er (a.k.a. Adrian and Alicia) which was quite farny and freaky i must say...
And while talking about Mei Si with Eunice, who else should appear walking past us but Ms *what* herself...
Furthermore, Eunice's friend's friend turned out to be another choir junior i know...
Well, got back the wheel to web test, was the worst marks i've gotten for any assessed piece this sem, but (as testament to God's goodness) still rather reasonable a mark to begin with (67). Just hope and pray that my results-centered self doesn't rear its ugly head again...
Have only one more assignment to clear, due on the 13th, but i hope to do it by this week, so that hopefully my shoe bag can start carrying shoes again...
Exercise!
(and i realise the irony but heck lah) Try eating this: it's really good *licks lips* (available at the co-op)
Oh, and while we're on the topic of sweet indulgences, this is good stuff too, though you have to go to the states to get it...
Friday, March 31, 2006
three unrelated happenings over the past two days
Yesterday's eastie's taxi ride home, together with Joce, Ruth and James was rather interesting, cos when Joce started talking to the uncle in mandarin, and he was telling us some stuff about his life, James n i turned to one another, observed each other's blank looks, and realised that we were both in the same boat: we could both barely understand what was going on the entire time! farny sia... I spent the tail end of my taxi ride trying to describe to the uncle how to get to my house in mandarin - oh well i leave it to you to guess how badly that turned out =p (Actually i dunno why i have the tendency to attempt to talk in mandarin in such situations even though the other person's command of english is probably better than my equivalent command in mandarin) But thankfully i was the first one to be dropped off, which means that the rest were still around to help translate for me when necessary. James was then last one out so i suppose he had a harder time lah =) ...
And this morning i got the email from UNC about successful application for SEP =) Yay... Of course now there's the loads of paperwork and bureaucracy to handle... Starting to get really excited about next sem...
Just now at cg was the first time i ever played guitar for worship (and repeating G Em C D over and over again for the Ade song at arts comm meeting doesn't count...) after an unexpected turn of events on tuesday. Am thankful for exponential improvement from last november, though still far from ok, but still far from where i started off lah... Also thankfully Eunice chose songs whose chords i've heard of and have at least a rough idea on how to play, and also Sida to give instructions and help where necessary =) Do hope to improve some more...
dormir
And this morning i got the email from UNC about successful application for SEP =) Yay... Of course now there's the loads of paperwork and bureaucracy to handle... Starting to get really excited about next sem...
Just now at cg was the first time i ever played guitar for worship (and repeating G Em C D over and over again for the Ade song at arts comm meeting doesn't count...) after an unexpected turn of events on tuesday. Am thankful for exponential improvement from last november, though still far from ok, but still far from where i started off lah... Also thankfully Eunice chose songs whose chords i've heard of and have at least a rough idea on how to play, and also Sida to give instructions and help where necessary =) Do hope to improve some more...
dormir
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
only two deadlines left and i'm annoyed with self
The past few days have been rather interesting ones for me, much of this centered around the latest deadline that has only just been cleared.
Well, to cut a short story even shorter, i more or less wasted my weekend again, methinks by now for the third successive time, a lot of this stemming from my self-imposed confinement at home, which has had disastrous effects on my desired work schedule...
Then it was only on late late Sunday afternoon that i took a look at my deadlines, only to make the very delayed realization that my then upcoming deadline, which up to that point i had done little about, was the following tuesday (i.e. today). Jialat! (© CMS =p *what*)
So basically much of my time since then has featured me in various stages of desperation trying to finish what i had to do. Enroute to handing it up at 1650 hrs, a mere 10 minutes before the deadline, from two days before when i realised that the deadline was so close, i: 1) managed a relatively successful almost-all-nighter (cos i still did fall asleep) at home, 2) managed a relatively successful almost-all-nighter (cos i still did fall asleep) at school (and no lah, am not one of those who camp overnight in the forum or something like that - i bunked over at friend's hall- i'm hardly that die-hard), 3)managed to waste loads of time in between, which, if instead channeled to proper usage, might have resulted in a less sleepy me today due to me finishing my part earlier.
Needless to say, i didn't let my project mates know about my little secret of only realizing the deadline two days ago (until now, at least, since i know some of you are reading this right now), cos didn't want to complicate matters... Something like my intro to computing project group last sem, from whom i withheld the info that i actually s/u-ed the module, cos didn't want them to get any wrong impressions... Apologies if caused any offence in any way...
Furthermore, my last-minute preoccupation with the project meant that i didn't have time to prepare for my tutorial, which meant that this was the first time this sem that i kept my mouth shut during the whole hour, cos really had nothing intelligent to talk about... Felt pretty bad not only cos my class participation points would be lower, but also cos this is always my favourite tutorial, and the tutor deserves far more than that... Sorry!
Oh well, this is a lesson to me to be more prepared and aware of what is due when from now on... Especially so if this affects persons other than myself... Thankfully, we managed to finish the thingy on time =)
Tried out the ear plugs that Sida got me after i had casually remarked that i needed something to block off my ears from the pointless drivel that is most of the programming on tv mobile while on the bus 10 home. Not bad, cut down on 29 decibels (so the box says) worth of noise, but still could hear the background... Good enough for less distracted quiet times =)
Well, to cut a short story even shorter, i more or less wasted my weekend again, methinks by now for the third successive time, a lot of this stemming from my self-imposed confinement at home, which has had disastrous effects on my desired work schedule...
Then it was only on late late Sunday afternoon that i took a look at my deadlines, only to make the very delayed realization that my then upcoming deadline, which up to that point i had done little about, was the following tuesday (i.e. today). Jialat! (© CMS =p *what*)
So basically much of my time since then has featured me in various stages of desperation trying to finish what i had to do. Enroute to handing it up at 1650 hrs, a mere 10 minutes before the deadline, from two days before when i realised that the deadline was so close, i: 1) managed a relatively successful almost-all-nighter (cos i still did fall asleep) at home, 2) managed a relatively successful almost-all-nighter (cos i still did fall asleep) at school (and no lah, am not one of those who camp overnight in the forum or something like that - i bunked over at friend's hall- i'm hardly that die-hard), 3)managed to waste loads of time in between, which, if instead channeled to proper usage, might have resulted in a less sleepy me today due to me finishing my part earlier.
Needless to say, i didn't let my project mates know about my little secret of only realizing the deadline two days ago (until now, at least, since i know some of you are reading this right now), cos didn't want to complicate matters... Something like my intro to computing project group last sem, from whom i withheld the info that i actually s/u-ed the module, cos didn't want them to get any wrong impressions... Apologies if caused any offence in any way...
Furthermore, my last-minute preoccupation with the project meant that i didn't have time to prepare for my tutorial, which meant that this was the first time this sem that i kept my mouth shut during the whole hour, cos really had nothing intelligent to talk about... Felt pretty bad not only cos my class participation points would be lower, but also cos this is always my favourite tutorial, and the tutor deserves far more than that... Sorry!
Oh well, this is a lesson to me to be more prepared and aware of what is due when from now on... Especially so if this affects persons other than myself... Thankfully, we managed to finish the thingy on time =)
Tried out the ear plugs that Sida got me after i had casually remarked that i needed something to block off my ears from the pointless drivel that is most of the programming on tv mobile while on the bus 10 home. Not bad, cut down on 29 decibels (so the box says) worth of noise, but still could hear the background... Good enough for less distracted quiet times =)
Sunday, March 26, 2006
Norah Jones playing on my com making me sleepy...
i really ought to find whatever that strange force it is that somehow makes me totally unmotivated to do anything academic in nature whenever i stay at home, particularly so when it's a whole day that i somehow waste away in nothingness...
But well, today me went for my first complete cell-u-lights in a very long time, and it was a good time, Carol shared from John 21:15-23, about Jesus' reinstatement of Peter following his three denials, and how it relates to our love for others in the Lord and how we wrongly tend to see ourselves in comparison to others instead of focusing upon the things that the Lord has in store for us, and how he can really work through us for His glory... Was a good reminder for me =)
After that went for another ecp run, which hopefully will turn into a weekly, if not bi- or even tri-weekly affair (probably wishful thinking on my part though...). Came to the conclusion that i'll sign up for ippt before MEET anyway, and see how it goes, and if cannot make it, then i'll take it again after MEET, as long as before i (hopefully) fly off... Just hope got chance to exercise when i am in Thailand if that is the case... But anyway, i am proud to say that i cut my timing from last week by almost five minutes to 35min 57 sec (the disclaimer being that i started timing from a point about a couple of hundred metres and two traffic lights further from where i did last week...)
Felt really good at first, but towards the end was all but spent, but thankfully managed to get through it... In the process i had to swerve through bands of oblivious pedestrians, who seem to have an affinity to walking in large hoards, even if they are all from seperate groups initially; dodge scores of annoying children darting across the footpath or manouvering their tricycles and ringing their bells with no intention other than to make noise; and got hit in the chest by a wayward frisbee... Somehow throughout the run these two unlikely songs were going through my head: Bucky Covington's so-so rendition of Buddy Holly's "Oh Boy" from last week's American Idol and freakily, some CNY song too, whose beat was just perfect for my strides, and whose title and tune i now thankfully have forgotten...
On the way back, i passed by the latest bargaining chip that i can use to lure the non-easties over here for stuff: the newest branch of Settler's Cafe which is just 5 minute's walk from my house =) To adapt another line that i remember from somewhere (Shakespeare?): Oh east how do we love thee? Let me count the ways... The general serenity and peacefulness, the many good food outlets, the myriad leisure opportunities, the bracing sea breeze (ok maybe not that one =p) etc... Hehe so many that cannot count (and not just because my maths stinks...)
Watched a bit of The Hours which was showing on tv just now... Watched it before but the second time the thing that still really irks me is not the morally deficient storyline but rather the fact that the characters threw away a perfectly good chocolate cake and several yummy-looking trays of hors d'oeurve into the trash... Don't waste food leh...
bonsoir
But well, today me went for my first complete cell-u-lights in a very long time, and it was a good time, Carol shared from John 21:15-23, about Jesus' reinstatement of Peter following his three denials, and how it relates to our love for others in the Lord and how we wrongly tend to see ourselves in comparison to others instead of focusing upon the things that the Lord has in store for us, and how he can really work through us for His glory... Was a good reminder for me =)
After that went for another ecp run, which hopefully will turn into a weekly, if not bi- or even tri-weekly affair (probably wishful thinking on my part though...). Came to the conclusion that i'll sign up for ippt before MEET anyway, and see how it goes, and if cannot make it, then i'll take it again after MEET, as long as before i (hopefully) fly off... Just hope got chance to exercise when i am in Thailand if that is the case... But anyway, i am proud to say that i cut my timing from last week by almost five minutes to 35min 57 sec (the disclaimer being that i started timing from a point about a couple of hundred metres and two traffic lights further from where i did last week...)
Felt really good at first, but towards the end was all but spent, but thankfully managed to get through it... In the process i had to swerve through bands of oblivious pedestrians, who seem to have an affinity to walking in large hoards, even if they are all from seperate groups initially; dodge scores of annoying children darting across the footpath or manouvering their tricycles and ringing their bells with no intention other than to make noise; and got hit in the chest by a wayward frisbee... Somehow throughout the run these two unlikely songs were going through my head: Bucky Covington's so-so rendition of Buddy Holly's "Oh Boy" from last week's American Idol and freakily, some CNY song too, whose beat was just perfect for my strides, and whose title and tune i now thankfully have forgotten...
On the way back, i passed by the latest bargaining chip that i can use to lure the non-easties over here for stuff: the newest branch of Settler's Cafe which is just 5 minute's walk from my house =) To adapt another line that i remember from somewhere (Shakespeare?): Oh east how do we love thee? Let me count the ways... The general serenity and peacefulness, the many good food outlets, the myriad leisure opportunities, the bracing sea breeze (ok maybe not that one =p) etc... Hehe so many that cannot count (and not just because my maths stinks...)
Watched a bit of The Hours which was showing on tv just now... Watched it before but the second time the thing that still really irks me is not the morally deficient storyline but rather the fact that the characters threw away a perfectly good chocolate cake and several yummy-looking trays of hors d'oeurve into the trash... Don't waste food leh...
bonsoir
Saturday, March 25, 2006
drowsy
realise the irony of complaining about not getting enough sleep cos of deadlines and publicizing this fact to all and sundry, when here i am now with no desire to do any work, and yet also instead of sleeping , sitting here now typing this, for no real good reason whatsoever...
there was stuff that i wanted to talk about, but of course by the time i remember that i wanted to talk about this stuff i forgot what it was
so i shall just indulge in random typing...
past week for me equals to little time, lots of distraction, but the job still getting done eventually, really only as the Lord granted His grace upon me...
three more deadlines to go, all more or less still in the all-crucial research and development (i.e. haven't stared typing) phase, which certainly leaves much room for improvement...
anyways, have been watching a little of the Commonwealth Games highlights recently, and after catching a glimpse of the women's table tennis competition, i have concluded that after observing the line up of the Aussie, Kiwi, Canadian and Singapore teams, the competition should be renamed as the Chinese Diaspora Women's Table Tennis Championships instead, since almost all the players of any consequence fall into that category...
when silly Bingo jumps on my bed he always leaves his urine stains behind *gross*
sleep getting the best of me so i shall sleep...
tata...
there was stuff that i wanted to talk about, but of course by the time i remember that i wanted to talk about this stuff i forgot what it was
so i shall just indulge in random typing...
past week for me equals to little time, lots of distraction, but the job still getting done eventually, really only as the Lord granted His grace upon me...
three more deadlines to go, all more or less still in the all-crucial research and development (i.e. haven't stared typing) phase, which certainly leaves much room for improvement...
anyways, have been watching a little of the Commonwealth Games highlights recently, and after catching a glimpse of the women's table tennis competition, i have concluded that after observing the line up of the Aussie, Kiwi, Canadian and Singapore teams, the competition should be renamed as the Chinese Diaspora Women's Table Tennis Championships instead, since almost all the players of any consequence fall into that category...
when silly Bingo jumps on my bed he always leaves his urine stains behind *gross*
sleep getting the best of me so i shall sleep...
tata...
Sunday, March 19, 2006
aiyah can't think of a title again *bleah*
stayed at home today, partly out of laziness and partly cos of my talked-about-till-death decision not to buy bus pass since a sizeable number of charitable rides to and from school offset any potential $ savings that could otherwise be spent by taking the bus everyday using the pass.
well, needless to say, as i have also always talked about to death, that meant that i didn't get any work done at home today.
am i annoyed? you bet i am, but at the same time i have this strange feeling of resignation that this will happen, and hence i don't seem to really agonize over the hours lost. Which is bad i suppose, cos while rushing work last minute due to matters of prime importance such as service etc taking up the time is ok, rushing work cos you procrastinated and just lay like a lazy pig at home doing nothing isn't... That's being a bad steward of time in my books. And just as well, since this therefore makes me living proof of the saying "it takes one to know one..."
anyway, after wasting the whole day away at home i decided to make something productive of my day, by going for a run from roxy to costa sands and back [of course this is linked to my quest to burn the 50x (where x = grossly huge and uncountable number of conveyor belt plates that i helped myself to at Aiwo yesterday) calories/get in some sort of shape before ippt (which incidentally i also have talked about till death)].
somehow a good portion of the lights at ecp were off, so there were portions of my run when i literally was running in the dark, half expecting that guy robed and hooded in black with the freaky mask and brandishing a kitchen knife to pop out and eviscerate me and string me from a tree upside down (yup what a warped mind i have eh...)
and maybe the darkness had something to do with me missing my usual halfway point (the pond opposite the ecp from vj) which Mark n i ran around before turning back last time, and instead carrying all the way to the end of costa sands before turning. But anyway, thankfully got through with the whole thing in 40min 30 sec, the distance covered being unknown to me though...
was also able to have a good time of prayer while running, somehow running with a certain sense of direction subconsciously translated into my prayers having much more apparent direction too. yupyup was good, i haven't been praying enough and when i have been praying often it has become an exercise in regularity, so always good for a change like i had today =)
all in all a good start lah, if sweat is a testament to the intensity and success of a workout, then just now must have been enough to get me a gold hehe., cos shirt so soaked probably had enough sweat wrung out of it to fill an entire nalgene (not that i tried of course), now for the discipline to keep this up on a regular basis... Here's another shout out for running kakis...
So i have stuff due on wed and thu which i haven't started on yet. My aim is to not finish them one hour before the deadline as was the case with my last assignment handed in...
bonne nuit
well, needless to say, as i have also always talked about to death, that meant that i didn't get any work done at home today.
am i annoyed? you bet i am, but at the same time i have this strange feeling of resignation that this will happen, and hence i don't seem to really agonize over the hours lost. Which is bad i suppose, cos while rushing work last minute due to matters of prime importance such as service etc taking up the time is ok, rushing work cos you procrastinated and just lay like a lazy pig at home doing nothing isn't... That's being a bad steward of time in my books. And just as well, since this therefore makes me living proof of the saying "it takes one to know one..."
anyway, after wasting the whole day away at home i decided to make something productive of my day, by going for a run from roxy to costa sands and back [of course this is linked to my quest to burn the 50x (where x = grossly huge and uncountable number of conveyor belt plates that i helped myself to at Aiwo yesterday) calories/get in some sort of shape before ippt (which incidentally i also have talked about till death)].
somehow a good portion of the lights at ecp were off, so there were portions of my run when i literally was running in the dark, half expecting that guy robed and hooded in black with the freaky mask and brandishing a kitchen knife to pop out and eviscerate me and string me from a tree upside down (yup what a warped mind i have eh...)
and maybe the darkness had something to do with me missing my usual halfway point (the pond opposite the ecp from vj) which Mark n i ran around before turning back last time, and instead carrying all the way to the end of costa sands before turning. But anyway, thankfully got through with the whole thing in 40min 30 sec, the distance covered being unknown to me though...
was also able to have a good time of prayer while running, somehow running with a certain sense of direction subconsciously translated into my prayers having much more apparent direction too. yupyup was good, i haven't been praying enough and when i have been praying often it has become an exercise in regularity, so always good for a change like i had today =)
all in all a good start lah, if sweat is a testament to the intensity and success of a workout, then just now must have been enough to get me a gold hehe., cos shirt so soaked probably had enough sweat wrung out of it to fill an entire nalgene (not that i tried of course), now for the discipline to keep this up on a regular basis... Here's another shout out for running kakis...
So i have stuff due on wed and thu which i haven't started on yet. My aim is to not finish them one hour before the deadline as was the case with my last assignment handed in...
bonne nuit
Saturday, March 18, 2006
surely there must be something more, than cheap air tickets on Singapore...
was checking the SIA website to take a look at my frequent flyer miles and possible redemption/renewal opportunities
saw with dismay how i needed to accrue 7000 miles before the end of this month to retain my 'elite silver' (i flew quite a bit over the past two years) status, something that is quite impossible since i defenitely will have no opportunity to fly in the next two weeks...
why couldn't it be as easy as playing the Vanessa Carlton song 'A Thousand Miles' seven times over?
so in short come the end of this month i'll be demoted to an ordinary member.
but then i thought of a conversation i had with Greg yesterday when he asked me where in the States i've visited and it turns out that according to him i've been to more of his country then he himself has (of course the reverse is true when it comes to countries in the region that i've visited compared to him) and it got me thinking, here i am complaining about losing 'elite silver' status when i really ought to be very thankful that i've been blessed with opportunities to travel and fly to so many places. That sure was an-eye opener for me...
[anyway as my MEET team can attest to, i'd have few problems with forgoing so-called luxuries like ordering a drink to go with food (or for that matter ordering food to go with my empty stomach), sleeping in (or at least past seven am or so), a mattress to sleep on (the floor suits me fine), warm showers regularly etc, but one luxury i'd be reluctant to give up would be the opportunity to fly to far away (and hopefully English-speaking) countries on a regular basis...]
so now i've decided to forego any primacy of interest on inconsequential stuff such as frequent flyer miles, cos certainly in this world the Lord has made it such that there are so many more things to value in this life and to strive for than getting free or discounted flights. Things of an eternal value, that will not pass away...
Today had a great time at Florence's birthday party at Aiwo: Happy birthday on tuesday =) Stuffed myself silly with 50 calorie-per-plate food... Ironic methinks that i ate so much 'health food' that i need exercise to counter its effects...
On the way back, chanced upon the Queen's motorcade (or at least methinks it is - saw an elderly female figure in one of the vehicles, though curiously enough it was not in a limo or anything but rather in a rover... a decoy i suppose) outside Raffles City. All hail... But anyway not the first time i've come in close proximity to important foreign people: saw Clinton's motorcade in Israel before, security even more ridiculous... Coolness...
My lack of sleep is coming back to haunt me...
saw with dismay how i needed to accrue 7000 miles before the end of this month to retain my 'elite silver' (i flew quite a bit over the past two years) status, something that is quite impossible since i defenitely will have no opportunity to fly in the next two weeks...
why couldn't it be as easy as playing the Vanessa Carlton song 'A Thousand Miles' seven times over?
so in short come the end of this month i'll be demoted to an ordinary member.
but then i thought of a conversation i had with Greg yesterday when he asked me where in the States i've visited and it turns out that according to him i've been to more of his country then he himself has (of course the reverse is true when it comes to countries in the region that i've visited compared to him) and it got me thinking, here i am complaining about losing 'elite silver' status when i really ought to be very thankful that i've been blessed with opportunities to travel and fly to so many places. That sure was an-eye opener for me...
[anyway as my MEET team can attest to, i'd have few problems with forgoing so-called luxuries like ordering a drink to go with food (or for that matter ordering food to go with my empty stomach), sleeping in (or at least past seven am or so), a mattress to sleep on (the floor suits me fine), warm showers regularly etc, but one luxury i'd be reluctant to give up would be the opportunity to fly to far away (and hopefully English-speaking) countries on a regular basis...]
so now i've decided to forego any primacy of interest on inconsequential stuff such as frequent flyer miles, cos certainly in this world the Lord has made it such that there are so many more things to value in this life and to strive for than getting free or discounted flights. Things of an eternal value, that will not pass away...
Today had a great time at Florence's birthday party at Aiwo: Happy birthday on tuesday =) Stuffed myself silly with 50 calorie-per-plate food... Ironic methinks that i ate so much 'health food' that i need exercise to counter its effects...
On the way back, chanced upon the Queen's motorcade (or at least methinks it is - saw an elderly female figure in one of the vehicles, though curiously enough it was not in a limo or anything but rather in a rover... a decoy i suppose) outside Raffles City. All hail... But anyway not the first time i've come in close proximity to important foreign people: saw Clinton's motorcade in Israel before, security even more ridiculous... Coolness...
My lack of sleep is coming back to haunt me...
Friday, March 17, 2006
hooray for history
Yah yah so i never learn my lesson, after my little self-directed pep talk yesterday, what better for me to do than to conveniently disregard my own advice and go to sleep all of one or so hours after that, while still at less than 200 out of 1000 words. I did set my phone alarm this time, and i even placed the phone on my pillow next to my ear so that i'd hear it, but when i finally got up an hour or so after the time i had set my phone alarm i found that the phone was now on the desk next to my bed, which means that in my sleep i somehow managed to turn the alarm off and place it away from me without me even being consciously aware of anything. Dun even remember dreaming about it...
Well in the end, to cut short this long story, i finished typing the silly thing (which i honestly have no confidence in whatsoever) at around four pm, all of an hour before the deadline. Amazingly, i was rather calm throughout the whole afternoon spent trying to complete it, i tell you that was the Lord's peace at work without a doubt, and you know what, methinks me won't be too disappointed whatever the result is (though that is partially true cos my test did fairly well so things would even out on average...) =)
As a consequence of the successive late nights and early mornings kept by me as of late i was horribly sleepy today, for the first time ever in my nus career i even had to go out during the lecture break to buy a large cup of kopi o just to stay alert...
The Da Vinci Code thingy just now was very refreshing and informative, especially from this history student's perspective... I do think it amazing that the Lord does work in and through all circumstances and things, be they even things that may appear antagonistic to our faith, for His own great purposes. Hehe also think that history got a great boost in popularity after the talk as well =)
The latest American Idol is really cool in the sense that everyone remaining is really talented, something that i think i would never be able to say truthfully at any stage of the S'pore counterpart... Was very very impressed after catching it that day... My personal favourite: Katharine McPhee (the one in the maternity-ish dress and the sultry vocals) but practically anyone left methinks has a good shot of winning (though some of their choreography leaves a lot to be desired...)
Well in the end, to cut short this long story, i finished typing the silly thing (which i honestly have no confidence in whatsoever) at around four pm, all of an hour before the deadline. Amazingly, i was rather calm throughout the whole afternoon spent trying to complete it, i tell you that was the Lord's peace at work without a doubt, and you know what, methinks me won't be too disappointed whatever the result is (though that is partially true cos my test did fairly well so things would even out on average...) =)
As a consequence of the successive late nights and early mornings kept by me as of late i was horribly sleepy today, for the first time ever in my nus career i even had to go out during the lecture break to buy a large cup of kopi o just to stay alert...
The Da Vinci Code thingy just now was very refreshing and informative, especially from this history student's perspective... I do think it amazing that the Lord does work in and through all circumstances and things, be they even things that may appear antagonistic to our faith, for His own great purposes. Hehe also think that history got a great boost in popularity after the talk as well =)
The latest American Idol is really cool in the sense that everyone remaining is really talented, something that i think i would never be able to say truthfully at any stage of the S'pore counterpart... Was very very impressed after catching it that day... My personal favourite: Katharine McPhee (the one in the maternity-ish dress and the sultry vocals) but practically anyone left methinks has a good shot of winning (though some of their choreography leaves a lot to be desired...)
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
note to self
eh matt ah, please dun be a total toot and decide to take a little 'nap' again like you did two days ago, cos we all know where that will lead you to: waking up way later than planned and then scrambling to complete the darn paper as the minutes to the deadline evaporate bit by bit, and end up handing what will probably be a lacklustre effort that will therefore cause you to be all that more dependent upon God but for the wrong reasons...
so hang in there! just 900 words to go!
didn't today's ft remind you of a parliamentary speech? Even down to the attire, of both the speaker and the bulk of the audience. So fun to wear nice nice now and again...
and the shirt is quite nice actually, though still cannot fully decipher the pseudo-hieroglyphical scribblings on the front...
can only succumb to a nap no earlier than 500 words completed...
so hang in there! just 900 words to go!
didn't today's ft remind you of a parliamentary speech? Even down to the attire, of both the speaker and the bulk of the audience. So fun to wear nice nice now and again...
and the shirt is quite nice actually, though still cannot fully decipher the pseudo-hieroglyphical scribblings on the front...
can only succumb to a nap no earlier than 500 words completed...
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
better wake up my idea
The short of it is that the ss essay which i got all agitated and annoyed and other adjectives that are better off not being typed here was finally completed today at around three something post meridian.
The long of it is that i was all prepared to pull an all-nighter to finish (and start and all that is between the two) typing the silly thing. Here's roughly what happened:
After church i took the long and arduous one minute journey back home to eat and build upon the miniscule research that i had already done. Managed to consolidate all my info by just before five, after which i cycled down to ecp for the UNC/NUS barbeque (once again so nice to stay in the east =). Had quite a bit of fun, got to meet many people, be they from here or from there, had great food (why don't Singaporeans ever barbeque burgers?), and made my maiden (and moderately successful, might i add) attempt at starting (or more accurately, preserving) the fire which was blowing hot and cold throughout (not literally of course - if we managed to obtain a cold fire then think can win a nobel prize already...)
But i digress again. Left early in order to have more time to do the essay. Got home before ten, bathed and then got off to a promising start, finishing 300 plus words by midnight. Then me made the stupid decision to nap, and (ok we all know where i'm headed to now) woke up to see the big red digital clock numbers 5:58 staring me in the face... Almost exactly twelve hours to the deadline...
Somehow, and most undeservedly given my wholly negative attitude towards the whole paper, the Lord blessed me with relatively calm demeanour, such that i was able to take stock of what i had to do, sit down at my com, and gradually churn out most of the remaining 1600 words or so such that i was able to leave for school by 1030, go for class at twelve, and then polish off the rest of the essay before my next class at four and hand it up just before six.
Methinks that this is the closest call that i've had with schoolwork so far, and a clear indication that the Lord still is working in even ways such as these to see me through, even when admittedly now is far from where i'd like to be in my walk with God at the moment. His power indeed is made perfect in our weakness =)
So now the essay-hardened me will now have to tackle another essay, for el, a walk in the park in terms of word count as compared to the other one, but nevertheless hard to conceptualize as well. Due in approximately 40 hours time... My hope and prayer is that i take it much more seriously than i did the ss one, which is yet another humbling learning process for me...
Know that it's time to be getting more sleep when even my mother (my parents almost never explicitly show concern for my well-being - but don't read it wrongly, i like it that way and i know they do {awwww...}) asks me if i am getting enough sleep. Well with me arriving home after eleven at night and leaving the house before seven every morning i don't blame her...
The long of it is that i was all prepared to pull an all-nighter to finish (and start and all that is between the two) typing the silly thing. Here's roughly what happened:
After church i took the long and arduous one minute journey back home to eat and build upon the miniscule research that i had already done. Managed to consolidate all my info by just before five, after which i cycled down to ecp for the UNC/NUS barbeque (once again so nice to stay in the east =). Had quite a bit of fun, got to meet many people, be they from here or from there, had great food (why don't Singaporeans ever barbeque burgers?), and made my maiden (and moderately successful, might i add) attempt at starting (or more accurately, preserving) the fire which was blowing hot and cold throughout (not literally of course - if we managed to obtain a cold fire then think can win a nobel prize already...)
But i digress again. Left early in order to have more time to do the essay. Got home before ten, bathed and then got off to a promising start, finishing 300 plus words by midnight. Then me made the stupid decision to nap, and (ok we all know where i'm headed to now) woke up to see the big red digital clock numbers 5:58 staring me in the face... Almost exactly twelve hours to the deadline...
Somehow, and most undeservedly given my wholly negative attitude towards the whole paper, the Lord blessed me with relatively calm demeanour, such that i was able to take stock of what i had to do, sit down at my com, and gradually churn out most of the remaining 1600 words or so such that i was able to leave for school by 1030, go for class at twelve, and then polish off the rest of the essay before my next class at four and hand it up just before six.
Methinks that this is the closest call that i've had with schoolwork so far, and a clear indication that the Lord still is working in even ways such as these to see me through, even when admittedly now is far from where i'd like to be in my walk with God at the moment. His power indeed is made perfect in our weakness =)
So now the essay-hardened me will now have to tackle another essay, for el, a walk in the park in terms of word count as compared to the other one, but nevertheless hard to conceptualize as well. Due in approximately 40 hours time... My hope and prayer is that i take it much more seriously than i did the ss one, which is yet another humbling learning process for me...
Know that it's time to be getting more sleep when even my mother (my parents almost never explicitly show concern for my well-being - but don't read it wrongly, i like it that way and i know they do {awwww...}) asks me if i am getting enough sleep. Well with me arriving home after eleven at night and leaving the house before seven every morning i don't blame her...
Saturday, March 11, 2006
deadlines impending, me delaying, time fading
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...
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...
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)