The Opera Populaire

Yes, Jenn is trying hard to hold on to this promise in Psalm 23. Always get the jitters the night before the release of exam results. I must admit that I could have put in more effort in the sem, but it's too late to worry abt that now. Yeah I believe that God will see me thru and I accept watever results He gave me.

Let me write abt something else to take my mind off worrying abt results. NUS Red Cross had made up a large part of my life here.

I din join RC as a 1st choice. I had actually decided to be different and join a martial arts CCA. Kendo and Wushu were high on my list. I went with Yvonne Wang to Kendo, Wushu, Nan Hua Pai, and fencing welcome tea and the Combined Martial arts Display of that 1st yr 1st sem in NUS. I can't rem why I ended up not joining wushu, but I rem that I din join Kendo becos, as I told Wens before, the price of that gear is very, very ex! I went for a session of fencing but decided that it din interest me much. I wanted to join archery becos I had some background in it but they were so elitist to say that only those who made it to national team could join.

I went to RC welcome tea that din struck me as particularly well-planned or that it interested me much. Think I was a very mong cha cha gal back then, new to NUS and trying to forget certain unpleasant aspects of my JC days. Yeah so I joined RC. I met Stephen during e Welcome Tea, who was showcasing CPR. I can't believe now why back then he reminded me of my idol Vincent Ng, his voice and certain mannerism. Hahahaah...now that I know Stephen for longer, the impression no longer holds! Far from it! I mean, who can come close to Vincent in e first place? Hahahah...

Ok I got carried away :p Anyway I started taking part in lots of activities and got to know e ppl better. But these ties din bec strong till our FOC, which Kelvin chaired. He made me e Vice-Chairman. Eh this wasn't nepotism ok, we weren't tog or even close to likng each other yet then! Anyway, the committee met every Tue evenings. The sad thing was that nobody really had the expertise to execute and admin an FOC. Only someone, and one day, there was a stand-off btw 2 members of the committee as a result of a big disagreement. I won't elaborate exactly why cos it will take too long. I happened to be the only 1 unaware of the plan till the actual stand-off and so I think I was more impartial in judgement. I dun think it was too much to say that I was e 1 who helped defuse e conflict. The result was to bring me and Kelvin a step closer. I oso learnt conflict resolution, being the middleman.

It still amazed me how we, a rag-tag team without much experience and having gone thru so much disagreement which killed some of our morale, managed to pull off e FOC camp. Can anyone actually believe that at e start of the camp, we found out that the no. of facilitators outnumbered that freshmen by 10:1??? I was already shaking with fear b4 the camp and prayed that God just intervene in the way that only He could. I believe that God was faithful and He was pleased to answer my prayer. So, we made the facilitators be the participants as well. All of us had to take on last min neccessary tasks. I doubled up as emcee as well as game master at the last min. I screwed up my job asking Stephen to come to teach 1st aid; I won't say how and wat exactly was the result. I couldn't put in my all becos then, my poor bro was going thru a 2nd op for retinal detachment. I ran out halfway thru to see him, neglecting other tasks.

Thank God for some very experienced and good individuals like Chris, who helped execute games and songs tho he was not part of the FOC team. And praise God for Bee Khoon, who cooked for us in that dilapidated kitchen of the camp site, a former school. We oso must thank our good President of RC, YaoXiong, for being the perfect logistics officer. I remember his fren driving us out with the van to buy beef kway teow in Geylang for dinner.

The finale, our campfire, capped it all. I was the emcee with Stephen, holding a soup laddle as my "microphone". I think I have that pict, a scene that tickled ppl. Stephen showed off his "network", by calling a fren who was supposed to be a DJ to teach me how to do public speaking. Chris led with his suggestive jokes, so typical of him!

We had a very interesting prize presentation, suggested by Alex. We had a Durian award, Jackfruit award and some other fruit award. The objective was to give them to the ppl who fit the characteristics of the fruit perfectly! For e.g. Wee Su was the winner of the Durian award becos he got nan ren wei hahahaha! We oso had the Mr and Miss RC FOC. Our Poh Sham made very nice crowns and sceptres from some plants he got at the campsite...very very nice! The participants oso had to do a skit, which I want them to base on the life of Henry Dunant, the founder of RC. Supremely hilarious! For instance, Chris acted as e flirtatious Henry Dunant, away from public eyes. CPR is his fav 1st aid skill becos it allowed him to kiss gals! I laughed until peng, knowing my easily tickled nature.

We went home very happy, thoroughly enjoying e camp. Of course I took part in other activities as well. Did some public duties, blood donation drives etc. The ppl I got to know r e ones that occupied a large part of my time in hall, being e ones who visited me a great deal.

Jenn neva start a day without breakfast. Scientists have proven that having breakfast helps one keep slim and boosts one's mental power. Right now, Jenn is typing this blog as she waits for her mum to get up. Mummie dearest had a headache last night so she is sleeping longer. When she gets up, we can then go for breakfast outside. For her dearest frens who r reading this blog, Jenn's family here neva cooks, becos none of the members really know how to and besides, with our lifestyle it makes more sense to eat out everyday.

To lift up the general mood among her peers who r waiting for the dreaded exam results, Jenn decided to shift the topic to a more heartwarming one of...food! Since most of her frens r over in S'pore, Jenn wanna intro some of e great food over here in Jakarta, tried and tested, so that in e event of them ever coming (a bit unlikely, but!) they will know where to eat.

1) Hawaii, a tzi char small restaurant in the Sunter area near where Jenn stays. Great food, lovingly cooked, hygienic, service not bad!

2) Winsteak, a steak restaurant run by Christians oso in the Sunter area. Very reasonable price! Good service and nice, nice, very nice steaks! But portions can be a bit small esp for guys, so see if u wanna eat more. HIghly recommended: their delish beef cordon blu.

3) Nasi Padang restaurants: Sinar Medan, Ikobana, Medan Baru, Garuda. Located at various places within Jakarta which Jenn will be very happy to show u if u come. The system is, u pay just for wat u eat. A good intro to the Indo way of eating. Eat with ur fingers or fork and spoon.

4) Can't rem the name, but this restaurant sells oxtail soup and fried rice. They oso make great cakes! In the Mangga Besar area.

5) Oso in Mangga Besar area. 369, pronounced in Hokkien. Sells, xiao long paus, kou rou paos, guo tie and jiao zi. Oso have great tasting ham chicken soup.

6) Besides 369, a la mien shop. Good la mien! Recommended: hong sao niu rou mien.

7) A wet market in Pluit area, where lots of Medanese Chinese stay. Great fried bee hoon with duck egg, fish head bee hoon, milk coffee and milk tea. Heaven! Come here if Chinese food is wat u desire.

8) Sushi Tei, at Plaza Indonesia shopping Centre below the Grand Hyattt, beside where lots of peaceful demonstrations always take place. Lotsa choices besides sushi. Very skillfully made food, very delicious. Highly recommended: dragon roll sushi, their various desserts, california maki.

9) Tengoku Sushi at Kelapa Gading. Run by a Jap lady. Superb sushi. Try the chirashi don and their sushi. Excellent!

10) Komachi in Kelapa Gading. Yum, yum. Try the gomoku rice. oishi!

11) Sizzler American Grill. Lotsa choices for the salad bar. Fresh salads, makes u feel very healthy heeheeh.

12) Cianjur Ikan Bakar. Just somewhere behind my parents' office. Good service, great food. Recommended: Nasi Liwet.

13) Happy. A Hakka cuisine restaurant at Pluit. Reasonable price, wonderful food. Recommended: sweet and sour pork, sharks fin that wont break ur bank account.

Hehe...my mom finally woke up. Hope this entry has perked up ur appetites.

Jakarta's gonna have a blackout tonight, the authorities of our apartment warned us. Strange hor, that they can warn us abt such thing in advance. Actually my dad wanted us to stay at Bandung tonight, esp oso becos there is now a highway that link Jakarta to Bandung, making the journey only 2 hours. But Mom and I dun wanna go. So I guess we'll just go out till late at night and then come home just to ZZZ. Heheh

Anyway, the purpose of this blog is to talk abt my lovely time taking Jap in NUS. I had had a little bit of foundation, taking Jap for abt 2 mths in Sec 1 cos my PSLE results had allowed it. But I was a lazy kid back then and flunked my 1st ever Jap test with flying colors. So I discontinued. But interest struck back in NUS so I landed in the class taught by Guo Junhai sensei and Xia Qian sensei.

At 1st I dun like Guo sensei becos I thot he seemed very strict. Besides, how can a Chinese teach Jap well? But it turned out otherwise. Guo sensei was an endlessly interesting sensei, teaching us abt the interesting aspects of Jap way of lives, and culture as well as the language. Think he taught me that, to fully grasp a language means to appreciate the society that created the lang as well. He would show us beautiful postcards of Japan in the 4 seasons. Tell us stories of his time in Japan , studying Jap. Neither of my other Jap senseis or tutors did anything close to that, preferring to make us study by memorisation.

I used to substantiate my study of Jap by watching Jap dramas like Shota's Sushi, murmuring the words and phrases they uttered as I watched. My cousin's Jap galfren back then told his family that my Jap was good, very nice of her, but hehe dun think I'm that fantastic. I only got a B- at the end of tht 1st sem studying Jap. Think it was becos there were lotsa ppl w a backgrd in Jap taking it, making e bell curve very steep. I know of one guy, Chee Siang.

I haven't been keeping in touch w Chee Siang for a long time. We were very got yuan that sem and a bit beyond, cos for some reason we kept bumping into each other at the weirdest places. It was nice to talk to him. He told me that he wanted to go Japan free and easy, and I think his level of Jap shd make it very easy! Once, he let me cheat by looking at his answer during a spelling test, which I din do. Hahah...yes, my "morals" won't let me do it. Coupled with my time in hall, it was a fun time to learn Jap.

Yesterday, my mom asked me if I would like to learn or do something here so that I won't b so bored that I kept falling asleep in their office. I said how abt I learn Jap here. My mom thot it a good idea, but my dad made a quiet noise which I know was his way of saying that he doesn't like e idea. Ever since the Chinese protest agst Jap this year, plus some other personal prob that concerns a Jap, my dad, a China nationalist to the core of his being, has been very unhappy w e Japs in general. Well, I dunno, see how it goes.

I can't write about my NUS life without talking about my one sem in KR. I had always wanted to stay in hall since I first come to NUS, but for some reason I was never accepted until my yr 2, 2nd sem. Actually both Eusoff and KR called me up, but in the end I chose KR becos I wanted to stay in a single room. Think I just couldn't bear the thot of being disturbed by nocturnal room mate who dun sleep until at least 3 am, playing music or studying all the way. Haha, with the exception of the Malaysia trip, I am usually an early sleeper who can't function without at least 5 hours of sleep every night. Plus, some of u may know that I dun sleep easily, esp if there r noise or light around me when I'm trying to sleep. I figured out that it was to my advantage that KR had moved to its new location at Heng Mui Keng Terrace, so off I went.

Little did I realize that some screw ups happened that very 1st day I tried to book in. My uncle, aunt and I went up E Block to wat was supposed to be my room, opened the door with my matric card, only to find that the room seemed to have signs of being occupied. It was still barely furnished, but there was a pair of shorts lying on the desk, a TV set and some files and textbooks. Horrified, some neighbours offered to help us contact the block mistress. They gave me yet another room at D Block 7th floor, which I was admiring when I came up becos u could look far away to the sea and above HSSML etc. But we were stopped dead in our tracks when we saw that someone was occupying the room I was supposed to occupy. The hall mistress very kindly went to look into the matter while I chatted with the gal, who oso happened to b new in hall. At last, they got me a room in the same block but at the 4th floor. Relieved, I ate dinner with a new gal I got to know and went back to rest.

While I was talking to my mom over handphone, suddenly my door opened! A Malay couple looked inside with shock. I was even more shocked! The gal said that that was supposed to be her room. I was like, "Hah?" In the end, we went down to find the hall mistress again. Thank God, the Malay guy was nice to say that he would send his gf home while I can have the room for the night. We would settle the matter in the day time. I felt like crap when I got back to the room, not even daring to take out my belongings.

Thank God the matter was settled in the morning. I was to keep the room while the Malay gal was to have another room. I happily decorated my room. Kelvin and some others usede to say that I got a very nice, clean and neat room. I found out that Chris, my fren from RC, was in the same hall and same block too, so I found a fren.

BUt the sad thing was that our block head din even give us so much as a glance. I dunno why he was very unfrenly towards newcomers & din try to integrate us into the block spirit. Whenever I tried to smile at him, he just pretended not to see me. It seemed that there was a sort of gap btw those who belong (those who were active in hall and the oldies) and the newbies (or those who ceased to b active). Not all were like that, but it seemed that the block head's spirit pervaded our whole time there, which was why I decided agst being more active in hall, getting kicked out as the result.

However, that was a minor blot in my happiness there. I made new frens, esp from my CG there. We met every Wed night 10-12 pm. Weijian said that the addition of me, Chris and Jackson made the CG very, very good. Jackson provided the Word, Chris and I helped create laughter and gelled the group tog. Of course, it was e standing scandal that Chris & I were tog hahaha. Weijian used to call him my "fei wen nan peng you" buahahaha. The CG was where I learnt e game of Double Jeopardy, introduced by Jackson. That night was like the highlight of my time there. I was growing like neva b4 in God.

Btw Chris and I, we oso had lotsa fun, tho pls perish that thot abt both of us being more than frens. We went jogging tog, singing tog etc. He was basically more like a mentor gone wrong to me hahaha...wat I mean is that he was always poking fun at me and being very funny in general, always telling me to be more feminine, rub my nose less etc. Most importantly, he was e one trying to help me & Kelvin back then, when we were courting.

Hall time was oso when Stephen decided to make me his god-sis. Becos he was after our fren in Eusoff Hall, he always conveniently came by to ask me out to supper and needless to say, I was oso e butt of his endless jokes. I knew him from RC oso and he was Kelvin's very good fren who had shared weal & woe supposedly. Of course he was oso my matchmaker, complete with psychoanalysist and endless words of advice, wanted or otherwise. Haahha.

The loveliest event in hall was my 22th birthday celeb. It was meant to b a surprsie planned by Chris, but the beans were spilled to me by someone whose identity I chose to keep secret. So I had to feign a pleasant surprise, which din fool the organisers one bit. Anyway, my neighbour, Yunling, knocked on my door & asked (with not a very good acting oso hehe) if i wanna watch "I am Sam" on her comp. Then she said why dun we go up 7th floor to look at the stars, she wanna take some pics. So up we went. Turned out that the ppl who were asked to go had not hidden themselves when I came up. I wanted to laugh becos how could anyone pull this off after this obvious mistake but Yunling made me look at e stars. Later on I learnt that they disagreed on how to best make their entrance to surprise me so they hid so late. Anyway, they came out, bearing e cake and sang and wished me a happy birthday while I tried my best to act surprised. Lovely time we had, with Weijian smashing me with the cake and caused me to have to bathe at 3 am at night!

I oso learnt that I need to learn to cook after being embarassed by the ppl in hall. One day Weijian was cooking for the combined CG when I asked him if I could help. He told me to go slice e carrots. When I did it, Jasmine laughed till her jaws got tired. Instead of slicing it at an angle, I sliced it vertically, which not only made it difficult bt oso resulted in ugly-shaped carrots. Then on another occasion I tried to help Jackson steady the pan while he pour out the water after cooking pasta. I caused the pan to overturn, spilling pasta! Jackson very nicely said to me, "U dun cook a lot at home, do u?" Weijian encouraged me, saying that in e past he din know how to cook oso, but after coming to hall he learnt. Hehe but I haven't learnt till now!

Of course the prize of all these fun was to make my CAP drop drastically. I cried and cried over it for some days. I have since managed to pull it up, but I dunno if I can make it this sem. BUt perhaps in the long run, it is the memories that will stay with us, not our results. So I thank God for this time oso. More abt aspects of my NUS life later.

Realized that I still haven't gottten down to writing abt my NUS life! Think I changed my mind abt doing book review, cos that will be too boring and academic! hahahah.

I got to this after I watched "Emergency Room 24 Hours", the Jap drama starring Matshushima Nanako (Song Dao Cai Cai Zi) and Eichi Yosuke (Jiang Kou Yang Jie...my current love!), which reminded me of this module I took, The Body as U See It. I had taken some very memorable modules in NUS, but this one really took the cake. Maybe it is becos I'm quite interested in medicine. It was non-examinable and involved a presentation every week, kinda like Dr. Derderian's module :) BUt it was fun becos we learnt a lot doing it. For e.g. I did one on circumcision, which basically grossed people in class out becos I put step by step pics on one done on a baby.

I can never forget it oso becos my first group meeting for the presentation took 5 hours! Subsequently we got smarter and divide the work out so that it took shorter.

There were lots of practical work as well. We had to use a stethoscope to take blood pressure, something which I conveniently forget how to do now! We oso went into this lab to handle preserved bodies...very exciting huh? Hahaha I remember someone looking at me like I'd gone mad when I told her. I remember carrying a brain, poking a kidney and trying to identify parts of an intestine. The lab had this smell, but I din throw up or lose my appetite. I think we even went to eat a hearty meal at bizad canteen afterwards! I think I should have gone abroad to study medicine!

Think I owed many thanks to frens such as Lorraine, who has been with me ever since Sec 1, to helped me get thru uni life. Without u, my darling gal fren, my life here would have been less colourful. I remember sitting with u for PS1101, laughing at Prof Cibulka's jokes. U provided me with a place to hang out in at your room in Raffles Hall. Still remembered how we looked at Kelvin Tey's blog denouncing Juliana, a most ungentlemanly behaviour! Our gossips about some ppl like Mr. Gorilla Auw will stay with me always! I liked sitting at cafes chatting with u over coffees and whatever new dishes u cleverly introduced to me. U complement my lack of culinary adventure totally heehe. Thanks for going out of ur way a lot of times to comfort me about my break up, disappointment etc. Glad to share with u ur probs as well. Long life, friendship!

To dear JIngting, who always include me into many activities, from SNG 65th Anniversary fun fair to dinner to send Sophia off on exchange to US! For always wishing me all the best for my exams! For asking me out for lunch! Cheers!

To my 3 other squadmates in NUS: Yvonne Teng, Wang and Meiqi. Von Teng: Thanks for coming into my room in hall to wish me happy birthday that year! Really touched and felt very loved. U will always be our OIC, the caring one, a ready helping hand at all times, the organiser. Von Wang: Heya gal, I remember how we went to all the martial arts welcome teas and in the end, u were the one joining fencing while I joined Red Cross! Thanks for asking me out for lunches and catching up with me in general. Meiqi: Hey, u been MIAing for quite some time liao yeah. Better start coming for our squad activities, but then this is me a pot calling a kettle black teeheehee.

To those I know in Kent Ridge hall: Weijian, Yunling, Jasmine, Big Chris, MIchael, Joyce and Jackson. Great having u guys in that one semester I enjoyed a lot! Thanks for all the jokes, good words of advice and most importantly, the daily bread. I am glad that Yunling is growing so strong in the Word. Thanks gal for introducing me to the Third Place. It rocks, my church! For others, I wish we can keep in touch a lot more. Thanks for walking with me through a phase in life!

To my ex-church mates from the Salvation Army in NUS: Sharon, Daniel, Peirong, Eric, Mattthew and Alicia. Sharon and Daniel: thank u for teaching me to be strong in faith, to forgive and to fellowship, for being great CGLs in general. Peirong: Thanks for being a fren and sis-in-Christ when I was deliberating whether to go into the relationship in hall. Thanks for always praying for me! Thank u, all for that wonderful time in Sentosa that year. Thank u for my birthday celeb too!

To my Red Cross frens, thank u for ur frenship always! Bee Khoon, Han Seong, Chris, Wee Su, Minghui, Chun Keong, Teik Ming, Duncan, Yao Xiong, my god-bro Stephen, Szche Chean, Norman, Alex Chan, and oso to Kelvin Lee. Kelvin Lee: My ex boyfren. Thank u for being with me at one stage of my life, holding my hand through, being a company. For all the serious talks we had had, for being my baby then. I had always been a bit secretive about him, but think what is past is past and he was once a big part of my 3rd year in NUS, so I thank him all the same for shaping it. Even tho u will never read this but I just wanna wish u all the best for ur future! Stephen: think I had written abt u before so bye! Hahaha dun let u be more big-headed than u already r. Chris: Hey thanks for oso being a good fren in hall. For the times we sang tog on the 7th floor. For bearing with the scandal everybody were according us hahaahah. For being a good listener and advisor. I'm so glad u think I've bec more feminine heheeh! Wee Su and Alex, thanks for always inviting me to first aid courses and giving me the opp to shine always! Thanks for the talk we had during public duties. Wee Su, I put ur advice to use and it did me good! Be happy with Minghui ok, she is a wonderful gal hahaha.

Last but not least how can I forget mt VCF frens! To dearest Thu CG, I have told u this before, that I'm proud to pass on the CG to Meisi, who has grown so much in Christ. Dear Meisi, love and take care of the CG as the shepherd. For all those I got to know during the Anntic camp 2004!

Yup, these r basically the frens that I have been proud to make in NUS, who have made a difference in my life. There r many more, too many to count....I'm sorry if I leave u out.

Hmph! Dunno why ppl I meet seem to keep reminding me of this when I'm only 24! Today I was with my parents at the bank when we bumped into the parents of my pre-school fren donkey years ago. Just like the last time we bump into them, they asked if I have an "ai ren" and kept pressing me when I said no. The subject then just revolved around that topic till my dad graciously said bye. There is a reason for this. Their 2 eldest daughters, one of which was my fren, are married already. My fren already has a 1 year old kid! Indonesian Chinese tend to take the cue from the natives by marrying early. Maybe it is kinda surprising to them that I dun even have a boyfren yet, when over at the other side of SEA it is common. Dun care, dun bother. I dun wanna be sucked into this "6 years to expiry date" thingie. Ideally, I would like to marry at the age between 26 to 30, but I am not abt to hunt for someone at all costs right now. hehe just learning to be a better person in general right now.

The uncle said that I shouldn't be with a S'porean guy becos they r rude towards elders hahaha. Think he's buying into the "longkang fish" argument. He encouraged me to go with an ang-moh cos they r nice to their wives, it seemed. Hahah, no lah I dun think that all S'porean men r longkang fish. I know some very nice ones from Hist and VCF :) But it is true that we (not only the men) dun see enough of the world. That's why I like to travel a lot. I like to broaden my worldview and just experience new things. My greatest regret in NUS is not having joined any overseas community projects like I had wanted to. BUt guess there will be chances later on in life.

A toast to all the longkang fishes!

I am marooned on this island of Java! Discovered that can't log into MSN cos need to upgrade my comp, but will take forever to do so. Until my bro come back or something, I must be satisfied in my current condition of not being in touch w wat's going on in S'pore. *Sob**sob* But to look on the bright side, I can spend more time with God in solitude. Besides, I dun have a significant other in S'pore to report to, so nobody's gonna die from this heheheeh. Meanwhile, back to work on cleaning the house.

Before I touch on wat the title mentioned, I wanna take it from Weijin's blog about PMS. Think guys secretly think that it's an excuse for crabbiness on our parts hehe I dunno. BUt scientists have recently proved that the condition does exist and it affects a large percentage of women. I think it's subject that women never fail to empathise with one another and I do pity Weijin. The symptoms can be anything from minor irritability, feelings of unworthiness, cramps to suicidal tendencies. Speaking of which, it is right now affecting me oso. I shan't go into details excpet to say that it makes me easily irritated and over-sensitive.

This is where I'll go on abt parents. The fact that I'm having the above condition made my parents' remarks, however well-intended, subjects of misery. My mom was firstly praising me for being clever, then she ended with, "I dunno wat happened to u now...", implying that my academic qualifications now is a disappointment compared to the past. And I dun deny it, but it still hurts. Yeah, I most probably will graduate with a 3rd class this sem. I am performing far below my actual capabilities. BUt the remarks...aiyah...my mom is the sort who speaks her mind at all times, never knowing how to sugar-coat it. So I tried my best to take it nicely, but it is difficult becos my pride has been wounded. It seems that she, as well as others, were saying that I'm growing into a bimbo, wat is to me the biggest insult. Sigh.

Anyway, on our way to Subang, the topic turned to marriage. She was trying to get me to tell them something so that they can "help correct the way I behave". I refused. Think the bottomline is that they were afraid I may never find someone that I can spend the rest of my life with, something which I'm not worrying abt that much now. My aim is to marry by 30, and I'm not about to start a husband hunt right now. Even if I never marry, I'll serve God with my singlehood. After all, din they tell me to just "be natural" before?

Yeah parents will be parents. I think all parents have the same universal concerns: to perform their bests in all they do, to marry etc etc. I'm just not in e right frame of mind to receive wat they say now becos of PMS. But I think they have a point and I may worry about the same things when I have kids next time.

We reached KL in 45 min, much much faster than the 2 hours I was expecting! U can read about the screw ups at the hotel in Hong Xian's blog, but it really din dampen our mood one bit. Dun worry abt it, dear organisers! It happens and u guys already tried ur bests and we r grateful for that! *hugz*

After some walking ard, I was part of e other grp who din go for Teochew mui, but ate char siew and duck rice. They were simply shiok!!!! When I told my dad, he was surprised that I love char siew becos normally I am neutral abt it. So tender, fragrant! We were still oohing and aaahing abt our meal when the Teochew mui ppl came back after their meal. Chee Keong bought some rojak w shiok kerupuk! Was telling Yanchun how I love to eat in this sort of kopitiam. Seems that S'pore has less and less of this and we have to go to Malaysia for this sort of ambience. Its simplicity, old world charm and great food made the day for us. See, I am not a future tai tai. Tai tais would never eat in this sort of place.

We went back to the hotel where we finally got our rooms. Went inside for a soak in the bath tub. Afterwards, when Pearl was inside the bathroom and Yanchun was resting, I heard a knock on our door and went to peek at the keyhole, expecting to find some of the guys outsde. But it was a bunch of mean-looking strangers! They kept knocking and one had a menacing look on his face. I woke Yanchun up and we went to open the door. Turned out that they were hotel staff wanting to spray the bathroom. And it so happened that even if we had come to danger, Shi Zhi and Hong Xian came by soon, so we would have gotten help. Hehehe.

When we met at the hotel lobby, waiting to go out shopping, it started pouring. So long it poured that we started to despair. But Pearl and I went up to take medicine for Hong Xian and prayed together. I think it was a beautiful moment, a Catholic and Protestant praying together, becos each grp has often showed only contempt for the other. And at that moment, as Jesus said, our faith moved a mountain. The rain stopped! Miracles upon miracles. I could hardly believe my eyes. Praise be to God! WE could then walk to the shopping center.

You can learn a lot abt a person when shopping. I learnt that Jeramin is the sort who cant stand still hehe. He kept walking abt. Very interesting becos I had up till then thot that he was the quiet sort who would patiently wait for his galfren while she shop. Heheeh.

We had dinner at Nando's and then went for KTv at Red Box. Great service and our money really went a long way becos they included 2 drinks and a buffet! I was in top form that night; haven't sang like that for a long time. I was even energetic till 3 am. It was fun laughing at Jamie for his comments about wanting to find a galfren when singing his 60s songs. He deconstructed me even...once a postmo, always a postmo! Tsk tsk. Chee Keong jumped onto the couch a few times to dance and sing, an example that some of the guys followed later on hahaha. Meanwhile, Yanchun din join us but went about town on her own! Independent yeah, that gal! BUt yeah at least she got her silat moves to protect her hehehe. Oh and I tried my hand (actually more like my mouth hahaha) on a Jap song, "Kimi Wo Sagashiteta". Wanted "Sukiyaki" actually cos that was e one Jap song I know by heart but Red-Box was too modern for this kinda old song hahaha.

Yeah, that Jamie ar...want to take a cab for a small distance back to the hotel! Haiyoh...tsk tsk. Nothing to say liao. Sweet Yanchun opened the door at only a short knock. When I was gonna die on the bed, Pearl made me promise to go for the Hist Feedback cum BBQ. Think I muttered something like let me sleep and I was gone till morning.

The next day we went down excitedly when told there was waffles for breakkie! Then we went to shop around. When we were at a shop, Soon Onn, Hanyong and Derrick came up, shocking Pearl and Yanchun till they fell on the floor! Later, we went back to the hotel and basically checked out. The bus we took home was really cute, a X'mas bus as Yanchun said. That was e 1st time I took a double decker coach and they had the good sense to take a pict of it when we stopped at Yong Peng. That was basically the end of our grad trip to Malaysia. I wished it had been longer! WE must do that more often, guys!

After a long absence, my mom looked me from head to toe, side to side and goodness know where else. She commented that my eyes are getting very, very big! My aunt first alerted her to this during CNY and they were both very concerned that I may be suffering from some kind of silent illness. My dad oso noticed that my eyeballs bulged more than before. Think I must start to look up some medical journals before they send me to see a doc. For now, I diagnose myself as a suspected case of glaucoma, a condition whereby the pressure on the eyes is very heavy. Hope it's nothing serious.

Then my bro pierced one ear, causing an uproar from my mom. Hmm...think I'm more liberal when it comes to guys piercing their ears. I dun mind it and in fact, I think it can be a turn on, providing he has the right se...buahahaah. Yes, all these in spite of the fact that I was the one who bao dou my bro....just din want anyone else to be the ones to tell my parents cos it will not be nice for others to put a finger into our family affairs. Think he must be quite angry with me now.

Seriously, times have moved on. I have heard stories about guys putting on make-up and all. Personally, I think that's very disgusting, but for some reason, my disgust doesn't extend to guys having earrings. This of course doesn't extend to having multiple earring. I think that a guy with just one stud or a hoop is cool, even sexy, all things being equal. Guys having manicured nails do not incur the same opinion from me. Hahah...isn't it strange that we pick and choose what we think is appropriate. I always thought myself a conservative, but I think I shall use what Sophia and Hong Xian termed "Liberal Conservative" on myself. This is one of my burst of liberalism.

Gota go clean the house now.

As I'm sitting here listening to Jacky Cheung's Wen Bie, my all-time fav, I am feeling rather excited abt going back to Indo. I know that many of u will miss me lots cos I'm simply too sweet, cute and lovable not to be missed. Buahahaahah.... But U just gotta hold the tears in, babies. Dun cry for me, S'pore. The truth is, I never left u. All through my wild days, my mad existence. Hhaahah...

U can still contact me via handphone...I got auto-roaming. Alternatively, I will still update this blog from time to time...maybe quite regularly too. I will also be on MSN in the mornings and sometimes evenings. There, that should comfort those who are starting to miss me already heehee. Sayonara for now! *muaks*

Just saw our picts from the Grad trip in the afternoon, sent by Hong Xian. Really nice! But I kinda look not like myself for some strange reason. The others please send ur photos too, am dying to see them ;)

Anyway, continuing from the narrative before, we went back to the hotel from the temple at Genting, raring to play at the Theme Park, only to have it rained! My disappointment intensified today, after meeting up with Johan and hearing him say that he went on a lot of those outdoor rides. I had so wanted to ride the boat on the lake. But it really couldn't be helped. Organisers, dun reproach yourselves yeah. We sat on the roller coaster indoors then watched the Indian dance while some guys went to play archery. I learnt it before twice and so it din interest me that much. Though Shi Zhi told me to go embarrass the guys, but think I'm not up to that std la hahah.

We went back to our rooms, gathered at we gals' room and Pearl introduced the game of Mafia. We were all thoroughly entertained by it. I managed to win twice becos ppl just forget abt killing me totally or accusing me maybe due to my sweet and very innocent face, coupled with lies and cunning. Hahaha...so Jenn is not as simple as she looks yeah. Chee Keong had some really interesting theory on how to catch the mafias hahah...he's very cunning too. And ppl shd have killed Postmo (Jamie)!! He's up to no good all e way!

We then went to walk around for dinner. Originally wanted to have KTV dinner, but was too ex! We finally settled down at this place called Lao Di Fang for dinner. (Fast forward) I returned to my room to find nobody inside, tho I knocked and knocked. Went to Hong Xian's room to call them, but nobody replied still. Then when I went to Soon Onn's room, he told me that they were at Jeramin's room. Had a little gals' talk b4 sleeping. Nice sleep.

E next morning had a nice breakfast of waffles at this Hainanese coffee shop. On returning, Pearl did a naughty thing (again!). She pushed Hong Xian, Hanyong and Yanchun into our room, with me already inside, closed the door and pretended to knock on the door, and further pretended to gasp in "surprise" when they opened the door, linking us as couples. Before this trip, I always had the impression that Pearl is a nice, no-nonsense gal, but it's not true!!! She has a naughty side that needs spanking hahaha. But I love her all e same.

With the 4 of us in e room, the gals on e bed, Pearl molested me! She buried me in the bedsheets , together with Yanchun. The 2 guys watched tog with disbelief at the scandalous nonsense we gals were up to. Pearl then borrowed Hong Xian's sunglasses and proceeded to do a very good imitation of him talking on the phone with "Ah-Lim", causing peals of laughter.

We took a cable car ride down. My fear of heights caused me some nervousness at first but later it was ok. The view was nice and reminded me of my time in Switzerland, when we went up Mount Titlis in a cable car, serenaded by the sound of cow bells jingling as they fed on grass. Got very excited as we got to the end of the ride, cos there were horses! I have always wanted to learn to ride, but neva got the chance. When I was younger, I was so obssessed with the idea of owning a horse in my backyard. I wanted a black horse, something like Black Beauty and thought of naming it Prince of Darkness, but on second thots it is not such a good idea. Anyway, so went the trip to KL, which took much shorter than we expected. I kept looking out at the scenery from the bus becos i always thot it a shame to keep ur view within the bus as it is something u can get in e city all e time.

(To be continued)

Let's prioritise wat to write abt: a bit abt my failed job interview today, lots abt yesterday's Feedback session cum BBQ with the profs and continuation of my grad trip to Malaysia.

Just went to the Mediacorp interview for the position of Broadcast Journalist this morning. There were supposed to be a voice interview first and later, a writing test. I din get past the voice interview cos I was so nervous at having to speak into a mike, with a headphone on my head, that I din modulate my breathing when reading. Oh well. But I am quite calm even now. I mean, it was not my first choice...I can't imagine myself supposedly speaking to an audience I can't see. I need people! The fact that God knows best calms me a great deal becos I believe He will give me a suitable job. So...that's it for job interview.

Learnt a shocking thing at the BBQ last nite: Dr. Keck told some of us he read our blogs!!! I mean I knew that A/P Farrell read Shi Zhi's blog, but it neva hit me that they could access my blog from the links! Hahahah...thank God I neva write anything agst the profs. So much for privacy online.

But overall, the Feedback session before that was good...some peeps voiced out reasonable concerns...nobody hollered or demanded. I was quiet becos brain was kinda dead...till the ktv session!! Jamie came in late and sent me and Pearl into peals of laughter cos he finally did something to his hair! The result was quite woah!! Hahaha Jamie, maybe a chick or two may notice u from now on buahahaha...

Samantha and I learnt to play pool at the Faculty Club. It was kinda fun to actually manage to hit something! The guys were so nice to teach us patiently. I dunno why they called me a "natural"...thot I was pretty bad! Esp after seeing Sam and Cher Kiat play...and Dr. Barnard! Now I can appreciate a bit why my bro and the boys in my church love pool. The compettion between the profs and the guys brought cheers and lotsa excitement. Meanwhile Yanchun was on her way to getting high, talking at the top of her voice and being very hyper! Thank God that Hanyong could send her home or else I would be very worried.

I rushed for the mike at KTV! Dr. Keck and A/P Farrell sang their lungs out for the first song! Jamie and I scandalously acted out the parts of lovers for yet another of his 60s song. Then I sang "Dang" again like in KL with Shi Zhi, which caused A/P Farrell to comment that it must be yet another soppy Mandarin song! Hey, Sir, not all Chinese songs r abt love hehe. Chee Keong sang his auntie song, Jajambo, again...really funny! But I oso like this sort of oldies so I enjoyed it thoroughly. I wanted to sing "Ai Ni Zai Xing Kou Nan Kai" actually, but dun really know how to hehe. I chose "Wu Yuen De Jie Ju", which is a duet I sang with Chee Keong and Hong Xian. Shaoyun chose a very apt song for himself, Emil Chau's "Ming Tien Wo Yao Jia Gei Ni La"...hahahah. And we found out that we r actually invited, not only to his church wedding but oso the dinner the next day at Merchant Court Hotel. Thanks Shaoyun!!!

Dr. Keck's wife, Samantha, sang very well!! Why do all Samanthas sing so well hahah...our own dearest Sammie Khoo oso sang like an angel as I wrote in my other entry abt the party at my house. Derrick oso performed "Ping Fan Ren" to perfection. And our very own KTV Xiao Ge Wang, Hong Xian, did not let his sore throat get into the way of his singing! It was a pity Samantha and Sarah din sing, cos they couldn't find a suitable song. How can any KTV be complete without an Abba song or two??? But as long as got "One Night in Beijing" I think everyone is happy hehe. It's strange why all the guys always fight to sing the woman's part in the song.

It was really nice to see the profs in a different light, so casual and more at our level than usual. I think it's an Asian phenomenon to treat teachers at the level of demigods at times, or at least with a great deal of respect. Not that the BBQ caused us not to respect them, but perhaps this is how the students in the West may see their lecturers, not with fear and trembling, but with some equality in their level of interaction. Plus, it was so good to see our classmates again!

Just back last nite from the grad trip to Malaysia. Here I am, sitting in front of e comp, trying to savor the memories of the trip, smelling its aroma, wishing it is somehow here again.

The trip started on sun evening, where I was waiting for my bro, who insisted on sending me to the bus stop after coming back from a certain secret mission that he refused to tell me. Was deciding wat to pack into my bag and wat to leave out and thinking that my dear bro was not gonna make it back in time to send me off this time. As I put on my shoes, he came back and off we went to the bus stop. The wait for the bus took pretty long and I was beginning to worry that I might be late. It came at last at about 10.15, when I was supposed to be at Beach Road at 10.30. Shi Zhi was worried and suggested that I take cab.

Turned out that with the cab I arrived very early. Some Thai workers appraoched the cab before I had finished paying the driver and were looking at me intently as they negotiated with the driver, who for some reason was unwilling to take them. They glared at him, sending chills down my spine. I came out of the cab, sat at the bus stop and prayed that the rest would come soon, cos the foreign workers there were scaring me. Called Shi Zhi up and walked over to meet them.

So went the long bus journey, which was fun becos we interacted quite a bit. I poked fun at Derrick, kena suaned by some etc. Hanyong, who was sitting with me oso kept making jokes about introducing guys to me, sending me into peals of laughter that Jamie later said he heard in his sleep. I slept little, talking to some like Pearl and Chee Keong, who "grilled" me abt certain stuff which I'm not at discretion to repeat here. Such interesting talk! At 4 am, some members were finally willing to sleep.

The bus arrived at a cable car station, where Hong Xian hoped to bring us up to Genting for a "different experience". Unfortunately, it was not working and the other one would only come at 7 plus. So we went up by taxis. I felt somehow that we 3 gals bec some kind of a precious commodity, becos each of us gotta be in each taxis. Hahaha... Anyway the ride up was shiok! Cool mountain breeze blew against our faces and we could see fog! We couldn't check into the hotel as yet when we reached up so we went to see sunrise, to the dismay of some lovebirds at the little park, I say! I sat on this lttle ledge in a manner that reminded Hanyong of a couple whom he saw proposing one day. hehe this Hanyomg is really cute! The place and the atmosphere reminded me a lot of Puncak, this mountainous region in West Java that my family always take me to since young.

Soon, our stomachs were rebelling so much that we went to have a buffet breakfast, with a view of the peaks which Chee Keong put it so well when he said that photos won't do justice to. The fog and the mountains blended together like a symphony of beauty that only God can create. What can I say? "Beautiful" explains it but barely.

I liked that breakfast, with all of us a little bleary from the lack of sleep the night before, but bonding together over a toast and cerea etc. Chee Keong commented that I ate a lot.

When we went into our respective rooms, we had 3 hours of sleep. Of course, my mild insomnia kicked in and I perversely slept only abt 1 hour plus. I woke up and did my quiet time in the new surrounding. Cool! Nobody complained much about the bathroom, which was so small I joked that Chee Keong won't be able to fit in!!! Sorry ah Keong. And there was no place to put your towel and clothes inside cos it was so small. You really had to come out to take the towel and stuff and be exposed in your birthday suit hahaha. Thank God Yanchun and Pearl was sleeping so I was safe from embarassment when I took that first shower there. I woke the gals up at 12 so that we can be ready by 12.30 as planned but the guys overslept so it was pushed back to 12.50. Who says that gals always are late? Hohoho.

We went to eat at the indoor theme park. The gals ate the delish Baskin Robbins ice cream, which was once in S'pore but no more. I always get a fix whenever I'm back in Indo. Then we went over to this nice spot where Hong Xian recommended, away from the bustle and claustrophobia of the developed, casino filled part of Genting. First, we had to stop at mushroom farm, which we did not care for excpet for taking photos with its many special statues. Jamie is so dao! When I asked him if he wanna take a pict with me, he said that he only take photos with gals he like! In the end we took a very unwilling photo. Hahaha. Soon Onn posed with me on top of this "carriage" and pretended to be driving it. Really funny!!!

Next we went to the temple, where we climbed this unique cave and the pagoda. It really proved to me that I'm not as fit as I would like to imagine. By the 6th flight of steps in the pagoda, Hong Xian had to support me up, a maluating feat! But the view up there was lovely! I liked the picts we took up there. From there, we could see a lot of Genting, covered like a pretty yet mysterious lady in fog. Pretty windy too. The walk down the pagoda was much, much easier.

(To be continued)

Feeling a bit better now abt my hair. Here is something I took from another email hehe

The fundamentals of love.
Think back to the day when you first laid eyes on her. You found yourself charmed by the way she talks, the way she dresses herself to show off her best features and the way she embraces life with her laughter. It seemed as if a mysterious "chemistry effect" has suddenly developed to draw you closer to her. You two then began to meet regularly, and you discover more things that you admire about her. Her clever ideas, her healthy values and the way she stands up for you when others doubt you. You find yourself thinking of her not just as a normal friend, but a very good friend. It is often during this period that a boy and a gal will start thinking of bringing their friendship to another level. After all, the kind of wonderful experience you have between each other can only become even better if it develops into a romantic relationship. In other words, the feeling is really unique - no one else seems able to replace her in your heart. So both of you agree to go steady and work even harder on the relationship. You "graduate" to become a couple, and are the envy of the sea of singles.

When You Forget The Fundamentals
However, at some point in your relationship, you forgot how it all began. You start to take your partner for granted. Why can't she laugh in a more ladylike manner? Why doesn't she dress herself more trendily? Why must she assert her views and point out your silly mistakes? Is she really the one for you? To be fair to yourself and to her, take some time to reflect on your "love memory". The "love memory' contains all the reasons that you fell in love with her right from Day One. It contains rarely accessed snippets of how your life has changed since meeting and loving her. Pre-steady days, did you heap compliments on her for the brave way she spoke her mind on bullies and snobs? You probably did. Did you like her unusual fashion sense that makes her stand out from the crowd? Right-o. So why are you criticising or finding fault with her now that she is your girlfriend Because you have forgotten the fundamentals of love, like so many of us. You have forgotten the reasons you admired her during the friendship phase. Instead, once you went steady, you put your "love memory" in cold storage. As her boyfriend, you take up a new set of demands and expectations about her. These new ideas are not necessarily better; they could put your relationship at risk.

The Secret Of Strong Relationships
A healthy relationship, like learning to walk properly, follows a step-by-step development. You can't possibly become part of a couple if you aren't friends in the first place. Ok, I know some of us break the rule and plunge straight into whirlwind courtship, but how many of those couples can go the distance? Couplehood works well when there is something you like about her (and vice versa), and I'm not referring to merely the physical aspects. So whenever your relationship hits a rocky path, don't give up without checking on your "love memory". Rediscover the reasons why you fell in love with her, and watch your relationship flourish with a newfound vigour.

*Bawl!!!* A disaster just occured...my hairstylist, Sam, cut my hair very, very short!!! I distinctly remembered telling him in Chinese to just TRIM!!! As I sat there browsing over mags, I noticed that he was taking kinda long and the amount of hair he cut was a lot! But I silly-ly din do anything, hardly looking up to see wat he was doing. He was in a good mood and went on lopping off more and more strands, till!!! Normally I think his skill is good, or at least suits me, but now! Perhaps he made a mistake along e way and din dare to tell me, quietly correcting e mistakes, I dunno. All I know is that now I gotta face e world with this overly cropped style! I better dress carefully from now on, lest I be mistaken for a butch!

I am so upset I dunno wat to write now. Bye!!

Monsieurs and Mademoiselles,

New plan for the outing tomorrow! We are going to Essential Brews, a cafe in Holland V. Meet at 3 pm at Holland V Burger King!!! The cost should be chaeper than Goodwood, about less than $20. Good news??? Gals, do wear pants cos u gotta sit on the floor. We should be going shopping after that!

Happiness to me is....

Taking a shower first thing in the morning and at the end of a long day.

Smelling the morning breeze.

Feeling the morning breeze on my skin and running through my hair.

When a long lost fren come up to say hi.

Walking through a vast, unending field filled with flowers on a sunny day.

Petting a sweet animal.

Smelling and picking beautiful flowers.

Tasting something delicious.

Falling in love and being reciprocated.

Hugging and being hugged back.

Kissing and being kissed back.

Lying down on a vast field, doing nothing but admiring the sky.

Taking a long, carefree nap on a rainy afternoon.

Walking thru the streets of another beautiful country.

This is not what I copied from email, but my own composition. Can copy it for sharing with other people but must quote me ah! hahaha... Just being in a rather romantic mood, not becos someone has come my way, but just feeling contented in general. My fren just msged me that I should trust in God for everything, including love. Another just msged me oso, saying that he saw me in an ANNTIC camp photo by VCF last year. Ah...bliss...

I was in sch to print out my resume, then I went to Hon Room to see who was there and it was empty and locked. It felt kinda sad and surreal. I am not used to going to the Room and finding it empty. Such is the sadness of graduation. Soon, it will be taken over by another group of people. I wonder if they will use it the way we did, spending nights there and bringing everything they owned under the sun there, till it smells kinda weird? Hahaha... Bumped into Kevin on my way to KR terminal. He looked so suai wearing a striped shirt and working pants! That guy got a part time job with National Heritage Board liao, so good!

Felt rather inspired by Weijin's blog. Sure, graduation is bittersweet. I felt rather moody as I walked to Mediacorp to hand in my application. The drizzle added to my sentimentality. Felt kinda lonely cos usually by this time I would have been in Jakarta to spend the holiday with my parents. Really wished I'm there now, sleeping on my bed, listening to the sound of the night: bajajs (a public transport) with their noisy engines driving around looking for customers, the speeding motorbikes competiting with one another during weekends, the sound of praying from the mosques in the middle of the night. The smell of dust, though it was the single cause of my asthma back then. The sound of that rare rain and wind. The noise of our TV, theChinese language spoken by the Phoenix Channel a surreal contrast to the Indonesian and Sundanese babble outside. For a moment, I thought that I could live with going back and taking over our family biz just so that I need not feel so lonely.

Shu Huei and Hongxian's msg brought me back to the joys of being here. I have long since lost the contacts of my frens in Indonesia. My parents are not the sort who socialize a lot either. We hardly ever attend any wedding if we can help it or join any tai-tai activities. Somehow, we can't relate to their ways of thinking and living. They possess a certain lovely porcelain look, cultivated by a life of indolence. They speak Indonesian with a terrible nasal accent that betrayed a feeling superiority over the Natives and their indolence with one another. I can't imagine marrying an Indo Chinese man and living as a tai-tai, too. To me, it may be romantic if I go back or reminicensce about it once in a while, but I can't live there unless God tells me to.

I came to S'pore becos of my own decision. My parents thot that it will be good if I learn to read and write Chinese properly, though we do speak Chinese at home. Ever since young, I have never known how to assimilate into the Indonesian society. Although I can read Indonesian fairly well, my speaking is atrocious, becos I'm just not used to it. One of my teachers at Santa Ursula (if you ask any Indonesian, they will tell you that it is the Number 1 sch in Jakarta, with the biggest Cathedral) said to me one day that I couldn't do anything right becos I'm Chinese. I didn't take it to heart, but recalling this incident, I think it was my first instance of facing the latent racial tensions there. It also showed me that I did not and will never belong there.

I like the simplicity of S'pore. True, we are not the most elegant society in the world, but at least it is more meritocratic and you do not have to live with corruption. In Indonesia, it is almost impossible to live without money becos the income gap is just too wide. Corruption is the rule of the day. If u wanna things done fast, "pay" them. If u need to get off the hook of law, pay them. Esp if u r a Chinese, u need to be very careful becos u can neva win in any lawsuit, so what u do is u pay them. If u need to get into a prestigious sch, they need a little "gift" they will tell u to your face, as if it is the most normal thing in the world. U walk around the street fearing that your bag may be snatched or for some women, there is the irritation that stemmed from the fact that some of the many youths hanging around the city will wolf-whistle at you.

Maybe this is just the scenario from the biggest and most cosmopolitan city in Indonesia. When I went to East Java last year, the people are amazingly polite and refined and efficient and thorough in their work. Even tho I do not understand their heavily Javanese-accented Indonesia all the time, they were really nice. It was really fun becos we stayed in Batu, at a hotel that was once a Dutch colonial mansion. I was reliving what I had read in Pramoedya Ananta Toer's Buru Quartet.

Wah after writing all these, I really feel like going back! Hee hee if anyone wanna travel to Indo, do call me up.

I finally finished my resume! Ready to go to sch to print out tmr. It was rather a chore, but I dun believe in putting things off too much.

Was just thinking abt my NUS life. Overall, I am happy to be here. Academic wise, I feel very disappointed at myself actually. If u see my PSLE standards, I shouldn't be where I am now really. But it's really no point regretting. I wish that I had put in more effort for my few papers this sem, but now I must leave it up to God. It was really becos of my stay in Hall in year 2 that I ended up where I am. Hehe...I played too much and got too involved emotionally and neglected my studies. Hoho...confession time yeah. Besides, I wished that I had put in more time to serve God.

As I was writing my resume, I was taking a mental note of the sort of ECA I had been involved in. As most of u know, my ECA always consisted of something to do with 1st Aid. First, I was in St. John in sec sch. Then by default I went to Red Cross in NUS. Perhaps some may think it is a starnge sort of thing to do, I mean there is no value-added in doing it, except maybe when someone got into some emergency situation. But the truth is, I get the same adrenaline rush sportsmen get when they go running etc. I also got to know some of the best frens I have. I still meet up with them and they do sayang me hehe. But it's the action of saving people that really gave me a kick. Before I knew Jesus, I did it cos I knew that I was good at it and people would heap praises on me. But now I am more humble and know that God is helping me.

Some heads of certain detachment in Red Cross have been trying to get me to join their groups, including my god-brother, Stephen. Especially after I led the winning group in the competition 2 years back. Stephen said he wanna "groom" me but I am resisting becos my ex and I agreed that he can be a bit extreme in enthusiasm hahahaha... But he is still my good fren, tho I dun really call me and he doesn't call me unless his girlfren (oso in Red Cross) goes to KL. Hmph...such fren! Whenever he calls me he will invariably pretend to change his voice and test if I recognise him, which I never fail to be correct! Now that 1 detachment is closed for good, I have only my god-bro's one to worry abt.

His requirement is that I go for meeting once a month and do a public duty once every 2 months, which is not bad, except for the reason I stated above. I used to enjoy my public duties, which basically means that you stand guard and help if someone got injured. Some of my most enjoyeable public duties are: National Day Parade 2002, MacRitchie Cross Country run during Sec when lots of gals just drop when they reached the finishing line, this charity show where I got to go backstage to treat Qi Yiwu. No lah actually we din get to do anything cos Uncle Kek, our good ambulance driver was treating him. Uncle Kek was awarded some special recognition for his exemplary service 2 years ago. If u ever notice, his name was put on certain bus stops. Then there was 1 in the Mandai Zoo, where this forever absent Honorary Secretary agreed to go for the duty last min, becos as my fren, Khai Teng, told me, he said, "Why u neva told me got chio bu doing duty?" Hey I am not being buai hiao pai ok, I am just stating what my fren said. So I spent the whole rather uncomfortable afternoon at one side of the Zoo trying to talk to this new guy I met. while the other 2 were assigned elsewhere. I want to copy Weijin here, since she copied my post, so someone tell me, why am I still unattached? hahahaah...

Yue Heng, maybe you shd write a song about this. Felt very xian when I was trying to write my resume last night. I thot it was done some time ago but apparently not so I need to do it fast. My mom was telling me to be more motivated but I really just feel like slacking hehe. Studying is really a lot easier. Let me daydream about what i wanna ideally do now.

Walking along River Seine in Paris. Going into the Notre Dame cathedral, which I din have a chance to do last year. Travelling by train to other parts of Europe and just soaking in the beautiful European atmosphere. I wanna climb the Pyrenees, the Alps again. Wanna go to the Mediterranean sea. Feel like island-hopping in Greece. Travelling by boat to somewhere lovely. Wanna board the Trans-Siberian railway. Wanna dance with the Mongolians and ride their horses. Wanna go to Potsdam and Berlin again. Wanna laze around in a hammock beside a lake, with a great book with me, just waiting for someone special to come my way. Wanna see the colourful Spain, Portugal and Morrocco.

Here my little cousin just interrupted me by passing me something that looks like a pice of dried cuttlefish or a rubber band, dunno what it is. It's nice to daydream at times. I do that a lot and my form teacher used to complain to my aunt during parent's day, which she would relay to my mom. haha...
Ok gotta prepare to go to watch Kingdom 0f Heaven.

Before somebody go around telling everyone, I will say this first: I fell asleep during the movie. Yes, I got the better of him. Now he can't use this to blackmail me buahahah!! I am not sure why oso...perhaps the conversation got a bit long and draggy or maybe it's just not really my kind of movie or more likely, I am just tired. Having said that, I do think it's a good movie! Anyway, I only slept for about 5 min. It's just that a particular someone who insisted on sitting next to me wanted something to smear my name to get back at me hhahaha... no prize for guessing who!

We walked around a bit in Kinokuniya before the guys headed for NUS and I went home. Fancy going back to school now!!! I would rather stay at home to catch up on my ZZZ...

This may sound like an early Halloween spoof, but no! I just realized that the Fri we are supposed to go for high tea is the 13th! Hope nobody is that superstitious! It will be at Goodwood Park hotel, but time to meet is not confirmed. How about 2 o'clock at the entrance of the hotel? The gals are going shoppping afterwards, plus maybe some guys like Kevin who like shopping :p Any more takers? According to Samantha, the price sould be about $20++.

Realized that I'm gonna be 1 of the 3 gals who are going to the Grad trip to Malaysia. The rest of the 11 people are guys! Talk about gender ratio! But it can be kinda nice cos they will take care of us, except maybe Derrick, who seems set on disturbing me on the trip buahahaha :) Pearl and Yanchun, girl power unite! If u need a Safety IC, I can be one.

Some of us are going to watch the Kingdom of Heaven tomorrow. I am usually not an avid movie watcher. I have to be asked before going to one cos I just can't be motivated in this aspect, not becos I'm dao ok! As I told some of u some time ago, my last movie was the Phantom of the Opera and still is hahaha:) Of course if something catches my fancy I will come out of this lack of motivation and initiate going to watch it. I like comedy, a bit of love story that is not too soppy, cartoons and what I call inspirational movies like Billy Elliot and The Road to Perdition.

Ok it's dinner time. Have a nice holiday, peeps! Keep in touch!

The night after 6th May gathering at my house. Jen, after having braved through a well-deserved scolding from her mum for a bad thing she had done, cheered up after hearing her mother's forgiveness. Such is the love that God has for all of mankind, though greater and more profound than any parent can ever give. Tomorrow is Mother's Day, but besides talking abt her Mama tonight, Jen also feels like talking about the outing at her house last night. "Her house" is a bit misleading cos it's her Grandpa's house, not her parents'.

Everyone who knows my Mom can't deny that she is a very attractive woman, even for her age. I always hear stories of her beauty and the literally scores of admirers back in the days when she was my age. Her suitors include one of the prominent academic of today, not to mention the directors of certain banks. Her room mate used to be really irritated at the barrage of suitors coming to her room late at night when they wanna study. She had also developed a perfect strategy of running away from certain undesirable suitors who turned up at her house back then and wanted to send her to school. She was fit and glowed with health, brimming with carefree smile that extended to other people. My Dad had to wait for 10 years before they got married, notwithstanding their age gap of 10 years oso. In my aunt's words, she "sold like hotcakes". I sometimes suspect that she is kinda disappointed that I am not like her in this respect, but oh well.

But as a Mom, she has her faults like everyone else, but loves us deeply. She has high expectations, especially of me, perhaps becos I'm a gal as well. I like to say that I have a love-hate relationship with her. That is, I love to hate her and she hates to love me hahahaha.... I have been a rather difficult child since baby, but her love has neva left me. She is a rare gem who never begrudge care and concern towards other people as well. Usually, if I complain to her that so and so mistreated me, she will first question what have I done to incur the wrath of the other party instead of flying to my defence at once like most moms do. It used to sadden me, but now I know her reasons and she has been trying to understand things from my point of view more. U can even go so far as to say that she is one person who truly try to be objective. My Mama.

Turning attention towards the "party" in my house as everyone has been calling it, I'm glad that everyone enjoyed it. Many people msged me afterwards to thank me, thanks guys! It was my pleasure! Dun worry about my aunt, it was my fault for not telling her about it. She is really a nice person on other days!

I am glad that the quarrel as I mentioned in previous post was solved before the party in the most amicable way. Thank you, HX! It did make interaction during the party so much more easy!

Thanks to Andrew who brought along his hi-fi cum KTV set together with VCDs! It would really have been so different without this KTV element! Nice falsetto voice, man!

My love and thanks to those who brought food and drinks. They are really good! Chye Guan, sorry that I couldn't eat much of your mee goreng. It was too spicy, even for me! But it was good! Pearl, you xian qi liang mu, such a good cook u are! Thanks for coordinating the food, gal! And for all your help this last few days of the sem, you know for what! It's so good to get to know you better! Ziqian and Hong Xian, thanks for the drinks! They did the sore throats good! Johan, thank you for your sago biscuits! There are still 1 packet left over, which I will munch on over the next few days hehe. Shi Zhi, you are also good in the kitchen, eh! Thanks for making the salad! Thanks to Sarah for your salad too! Love ya, gal! Shu Huei, thanks for helping out in the kitchen! I think u are really pro in everything you do! You sing well, too!

Thanks for all those dog-lovers who came to manja my dogs. I get so busy that I don't do that so they get lonely. Thanks, Sarah, Pearl, Shu Huei, Shi Zhi, Andrew ( din u say that you wanna carry them? haha) and Hong Xian!

James, thanks for giving your rendition and interpretation of William Hung. I'm sure you can gve him a run for his money!

Those talented souls who played the piano for us, thank you! Chris, you have such potential! I can't believe you dun have formal piano training! Soon Onn, bravo, bravo, bravo! Thanks, dear bro in Christ for encouraging me for my quiet time! And also for sending Johan to take taxi! U are a great pianist! Sam, you are good! Are you sure you haven't touched the piano for a long time? Samantha, you sounded like an angel! This Andrew had to spoil the mood in which I said it by asking if you were flying and flapping your wings! Your voice lesson is bearing fruit, but then your voice has always been lovely! Thanks to Yue Heng, for keeping tune with his guitar and harmonica! What can I say, you have such a talent for music! And thanks to Hong Xian for being the chief fanner in the hot, hot room! See, you are not only proficient in wushu and photo taking!

Thanks to the kind souls who drove people here and home. Dear Hanyong, Hoe Yin, Nadine, Andrew and Sarah, thanks a million!

Thanks to photographers like Hong Xian, Samuel etc. Must send the photos to us yeah!

Thanks to Nicholas for coming! I must admit that I thought Jamie was joking when he asked if you could come. Only until Yue Heng repeated it that I knew it was not. Oh Jamie, thanks for the baquettes! They are really quality!

Thank you for being kind in the game of First Impressions! But, Sam , are you sure you noticed my vast wardrobe back then? Sorry, Hong Xian, but I really din know you existed till the preliminary presentations for our essay for the Medha module.

Ok must go back to catching up on my lost sleep last night. Sweet dreams!

I wanna share this really funny thing, though I think it may be a bit difficult to visualise, but use your imagination. I was watching "Yakumo", another of those Jap detective dramas that my bro and I love. There was this scene of beauty pageant, more accurately the Bamboo Princess pageant. Those of you who have ever at 1 time or another read those Jap folktales will know this story of a woodcutter who has been married many years, but had no child. One day, while working in a bamboo plantation, he saw one of the bamboo trees glowing very brightly. Curious, he went over for a closer look and voila! The bamboo tree broke into half, revealing a baby girl inside, henceforth named Bamboo Princess. But the princess is not the issue here. During the contest mentioned above, the Bamboo Princess wannabes must showcase one of their talents and there was this fat girl whose face at first I thought was the joke. But she suddenly turned behind and turned back again, her tummy painted with a picture of Tare Panda! She grabbed her tummy and proceeded to make it move and talk like a real face!!! It was so hilarious, I laughed twice the decibel of my normal laughter and couldn't stop! My bro roared in laughter too. Even when I was sitting in the Lib trying to study, I remembered it and stiffled a laugh.

hahaha...yup with that I shall go and sleep. Think the combination of too many days of late nights is not doing me good. For tonight, ladies and gentlemen, think of something really funny and laugh yourself to sleep :)

I am using this PC without having to even moderately queue for it like usual. Seems like lots of people have finished their exams...so envious of them! Think I can now come late to study in Lib and not worry that my prime seat will be taken or the books I wanted will be gone. Heehee...

I am going ... oh at this point my fren just came over to talk to me and I lost track of what I wanted to talk about. Ah nvm... time to go down to 3rd floor and study hard for Lockhart!

Oh yeah Happy belated birthday to Sophia! Eh but how come I always cannot access your blog ah, ger?

I was so bored that I came to check my email. Jackson wrote me an email about his life as a missionary in India. It seems so insidious becos he warned me to reply him by disguising some names so that the Indian authorities can't see what they are trying to do. For e.g. Christ must be typed as Chris+ and the O in God must be typed with a zero.

But I am really impressed and uplifted by his testimony! Here I am, worrying about the very mundane stuff that Jesus told us not to worry about and Jackson is there trying to escape danger to his very life while spreading the gospel. I have always been impressed with Jackson since my time in hall becos he is a very God-ly man. I talked quite a bit with him and found out that God has molded him from the person that he was before and it's really, really impressive! He would always quote verses to remind us about stuffs in his gentle manner and thick Canadian accent (oh yes, he is a Taiwanese who studied in Canada for a long time). He also has the loveliest Chinese handwriting I have ever seen a young man have. As you can probably tell by now, I was a member of the Jackson fan club! Haha. Oh by the way, my Jeopardy game is taken from him! He did such a wonderful job back then; I can't ever forget what a fun time we had.

Back to the India thingie. I feel really small after reading what he wrote cos I have been so caught up with the mundane stuff of everyday life and not giving God what I could have given. I have not been responsible for my own spiritual growth all these while when I am in 4th year. True, I was the Cell Group Leader (Oh yes Derrick, go ahead and continue being shocked hahaah) Dear brothers and sis in Christ who read this, pls pray for me in this area!

Today I really found out the true meaning of the phrase that my Chinese teachers taught me, but which I neva really felt for myself. Making peace is really difficult with people around and suddenly directing their attention to us! Mea culpa, mea culpa...my fault, my fault.

Let's leave that aside and talk about happier stuffs. I finished my 2nd last paper today! Think it wasn't too bad. A/P Kratoska actually cracked a joke about the random way the lecturers mark papers, very thoughtful considering the fact that the collection of papers are not exactly the most fun thing to do.

Weijin is going to Korea and was talking to her about it in the canteen. I loved Jeju island cos of it's rather rustic compared to the mainland. It's not so developed and has lovely scenery, with stark beaches and majestic mountains. It must be nice to go in summer; I was there in winter and it was a miserable time, though Jeju was much better than the mainland. -15 degree is no joke! Plus I was totally unprepared in terms of clothing, which gave me a flu that lasted 2 weeks when I came back. But yeah, I wonder how it is like now, after it has been popularised by All In?

I remember that there were tons of couples on honeymoon there! Complete with matching jackets and personal photographers, it's almost surreal becos I had neva seen so many couples in 1 place in my life before. Then, to add to the romance of the place, there were lots of yuan yang birds, which as we Chinese know, symbolises love and togetherness. Pretty! But I really can't imagine it with a casino like what All In showed, spoiled my impression of it a bit. I din watch that show, except excerpts here and there. Song Hui Qiao is really beautiful in that show! Almost like an angel, so fair she is. But as usual, they just have to make the whole show soppy... I have shifted allegiance to watching Jap dramas instead of Korean ones cos I just can't stand so much crying when I watch something.

The mainland is ok, not very much different from any other cosmopolitan countries. The palace was a disappointment, especially when compared to those in China. I liked the skiing tho. We stayed at the very hotel that Song Hui Qiao, Won Bin and Song Chen Xian filmed Autumn in my Heart in. Some Jap boys asked me to help them take photos and later, they wanted to take picts with me. One of them hugged me so tightly when talking photo! I wondered if I should have told him to release me, but I'm a bit dense when it comes to this sort of thing, not like our dear Charmaine who must have so much practice that she knows what to do instinctively ;) Anyway, after we came back, watching Winter Sonata brought back lots of memories of that beautiful but crazily cold winter. Love those snow flakes!

I said that I dun like Korean dramas, but I still like 1 very much: All About Eve. It's not at all soppy, very realistic. Like that sort of romance that they portrayed, lighthearted. I really dun think that being in love means being heavy-hearted and soppy...eeks! I think my copy is currently in Indonesia tho, so we can't watch it just yet. Anyway have fun in korea, Weijin gal! Can bio all the cio gals too, tho u neva know whether it's the fantastic result of some plastic surgery!

My Mommy asked me via our week-ly long distance call last night: "How come you are still writing blogs and geeting into quarrels when you should be studying har?" Hehe...what else but to chill out from time to time? I dun mean the quarrel of course. That's a bit beyond my control. Can't believe I'm taking this whole exams so lightly when I should be trying to pull up my CAP. Sorrie Mommy!

Sigh...I can't paste some pictures on this blog. Thot of sharing some nice picts of myself so that u won't forget how I look like. Never mind. Ok gotta get back to my studies now. Ciao!

We have decided against the original KTV idea cos it is just too expensive. Now we are planning a night of pot luck dinner at my place, and some games perhaps. I found out that the KTV machine is beyond repair, sorry Andrew dear. It's been like 13 years or so since we last used it. Plus, the LCDs contained really old songs and there is no guarantee that they still work, as well. Alternatively, we can watch my bro's collection of Jap dramas, unless you guys have KTV VCDs or DVDs and a microphone or two. Or I can arrange for a game that requires singing hahaha. Here are the details:

8 pm: Meet at Bishan MRT station. Those taking Lockhart and live too far away can come home with me 1st after the paper.

The next morning we can go for breakfast at Kiliney's as planned. You can stay over. Bring your mahjong, chess or weiqi, whatever makes you happy :) Alternatively I can make another of my over-recycled Jeopardy, but with History theme this time round haha. Also bring some food to share. Call Pearl up so that she can coordinate the food. You can cook here oso. Bring some sleeping bags oso or kapok from the Honours Room haha cos not enough beds, but guarantee enough space.

Ok...going back to my Kratoska and Lockhart paper now. Good day!

My fren sent me this email some time ago and I thot it kinda cute. The gahment should pay me for helping their Romancing S'pore scheme haha.. :

Finding a good woman these days isn't always easy, especially in an era when the female gender is typically self-centered and "empowered" to sex-ploit the male population. Still, there are a lot of good women out there, even though it's not always easy to find them.Here's a list of women with traits that would make any guy happy:
>
>1- Miss Sweet
>Miss Sweet is a woman who's positive, content with her life, always upbeat -- and just a blast to be around. She's a genuine person without a bitch bone in her body. She's always truly happy to see you and you find yourself looking forward to spending time with her. Miss Sweets are usually snapped up out of the dating market right away, so they're pretty rare. But if you can find one, you've got a real treasure on your hands.
>
>2- Miss Equality
>This type of woman is a true feminist -- not one of the radical man-haters, or the hypocritical pseudo-feminists who think that equality means "I demand equal rights and an equal salary, but a man still has to pay for me." The Miss Equalitys of the world genuinely like men, and understand that equality means equality across the board, from holding the door open to fighting on the front lines. They believe that a relationship should be a 50/50 partnership, and are more than willing to shoulder their half of the responsibilities and dating expenses -- just because it's the right thing to do.
>
>3- Miss Sexual
>You should be so lucky to encounter one of these! Miss Sexual loves men and loves sex -- and makes no bones about it. She's not selling it, she's not using it as a tool to manipulate men -- she just naturally craves it. Miss Sexual is not to be confused with a nymphomaniac, who suffers from psychological problems -- rather, she has somehow bypassed the female societal training of auctioning off the use of her vagina to the highest bidder. F! or this reason, most other women hate her, because she's giving it away free of charge. But men love her because she's a free spirit who's actually honest about her sex drive. Very rare, but worth searching the ends of the earth for.*DUN LIE*
>
>4- Miss Best Friend
>Closely aligned with Miss Sweet, Miss Best Friend is another joy to be around. She's the kind of woman you're totally in sync with -- you like the same things, watch the same TV shows, enjoy going to the same places. You can spend five minutes with her and think you've known her for years. She's always on your side, laughs at all your jokes, and calls you just to say "hi" because she genuinely misses you. She's great just to hang with. A word of warning, though -- with Miss Best
>Friend, you have to make your sexual interest known from day one because if she gets it into her head that you are going to be "just friends," it's almost impossible to change her mind.**FAVOURITEST*
>
>5- Miss Straightforward
>This is the type of woman who knows how to communicate. With Miss Straightforward, there are no games, no expecting men to be mind readers, no behavior based on ridiculous, female-biased advice from articles in Cosmo or The Rules. Miss Straightforward will pick up the phone and ask you out. She will do what she says she will do -- not say one thing and do just the opposite. Although she may be blunt at times, at least you'll know where you stand and you'll never have
>to spend hours trying to decode contradictory or emotion-based female behavior.
>
>6- Miss Independent
>This is a good woman to find if you don't have a lot of time to invest in a relationship or you're the type of guy who needs a lot of space. Miss Independent has a real life of her own and is happily going in her own positive direction. She's the type who wants a man in her life, but doesn't need a man in her life. And she certainly isn't looking for men to solve all her problems or blame when things don't go her way.
>
>7- Miss Loyal
>Miss Loyal will never cheat on you or constantly be on the lookout for a "better deal." When you go out, she won't be scanning the room for other guys, but will keep her attention focused on you, the man in her life. She's also more apt to stick around if times get tough.
>
>8- Miss No Pressure
>While many women are chomping at the bit to get married, Miss No Pressure hasn't fallen prey to any such agenda. She's happy just to be with you. So you don't get any, "Where is our relationship going?", or hint-dropping about the future, or window-shopping at the jewelry store. She may want to get married at some point, but she's in no hurry -- she thinks that if it happens, it will just happen naturally.
>
>9- Miss Secure
>Miss Secure accepts herself as she is and is comfortable with her good points, as well as her bad. And she feels the same about you. Miss Secure doesn't need constant attention to shore up a sagging ego, has tons of self-esteem, and is always going in her own positive direction.
>
>10- Miss Personality
>Miss Personality is a great find. She might not be up for first prize in a beauty contest (although she could be), but her intelligence, wit and sparkling presence just light up the room, and she draws people like a magnet. Her personality is so charming that it easily overcomes any deficiencies she might have in the looks department, just because she's so great to be! with.*F AVOURITE*
>
>11- Miss Low Maintenance
>The rarest of the rare, Miss Low Maintenance is the most atypical of modern women. She really doesn't care about how much money you have -- she just likes you for yourself and not for what she can take from you. She's likely to be a true feminist, and will gladly pay her share of the dating expenses. If you can find a Miss Low Maintenance, hang on to her for dear life!
>
>12- Miss Right For You
>A lot of guys choose women who are "arm candy" -- good-looking trophy girlfriends who bolster their status among other men or counteract their own
>insecurities. That's all well and good, but if you find a woman who makes you happy, regardless of looks, age or social status -- or what any other guy thinks -- then you have definitely won at the mating game.
>
>It's sad to say, but these types of women are becoming more and more scarce in today's world, so if you can find one of them, you'd better be prepared to act fast, because every other guy out there wants her, too. But if you keep this list in mind, and keep your eyes open, you just might get lucky!
>
>bon chance!