Christmas isn't Christmas...anymore...

Oh man....deadbeat is how I'm feeling today....too many excitement and emotions for a day. First of all, Maib, The Blob and I went to have lunch with Er Yi at Cafe Cartel. Took a loooong time to get The Blob off his bed cos he purposely didn't want to get up...Sometimes I wished he would go back to being the good little boy I knew....

Anyways, after lunch we went to Er Yi's house to set up the Christmas tree as well as decorate her house. It seems that everyone was doing it reluctantly cos the decorations were kinda slipshod this year. Oh! Jia Qi popped over today (without her mum's consent!) and she brought us two tiny visitors: hamsters! They're really active! Once they escaped and Maib and I were frantically trying to get them back to their temporary home (the yoghurt container) while The Blob, Er Yi and Jia Qi cleaned the hamster cage which smelt like shit (literally!)

Watched a bit of the Ellen DeGeneres Show. This time the celebrity guests were Andre Agassi, Venus or Serena Williams (I can't remember), two other tennis stars, and Beyonce (in a separate part of the programme) They sprang a surprise birthday for her and they brought in her dance instructor or coach or something...

G12 was so exciting today...we gathered under Yireng's block at 7pm. Unfortunately, we couldn't carry out the plan that we thought off before cos she and Alvin needed to attend a memorial service (so wasted!) So all of us agreed to hide at a wall partition until Midori gives us the signal to appear with the birthday cake while singing. Anyways, the cake was really good and it looked good too! It's the Chocolate-Banana Cake from Secret Recipe.

Wah!!!!! I tell you it was heavenly man!! As it was so rich and creamy (you can tell right?) I was full after just having one slice of it! But I don't mind eating more man! heh heh heh! Actually, the price was also as nice as the cake:how about 45 bucks for 10 minutes of indulgence? =)

Bernice did most of the presents which comprised of many types of Chocolates, a pair of slippers decorated with beads, sequins, fabric paint and glitter, our letters to Yireng, Chocolate Soap (not for eating just in case you were wondering!) and a gold purse. She was quite surprised but she was touched..hahaha...

Oh ya! Did I mention that I finally got tickets for The Phantom Of the Opera musical coming soon to The Esplanade? WOOHOO~finally!! Well, even though they were Circle 3 tickets (which means Level 4!), at least I got them...the most expensive show I've paid for in my life! (equivalent to almost 35 plates of Chicken rice! In other words, 70 bucks!!) No worries cos Ai Ping's gonna bring her binoculars and I think I better go hunt for my lauya, cheapskate one! hahaha....ARGH!! FINALLY!!! MY DREAM COME TRUE MAN!!

Yay! Tomorrow I have a free day off! [finally!] So maybe I can catch up on my work....till then! Byeeee!!! =)

Photos!

Some photos that I couldn't upload for the past few days...

Dad's Birthday
At IKEA Tampines

The Bigger Cafeteria

Look at the new lights!

Self-serve area [Gong Gong's in the white shirt]

Just look at the collection point! This is the place where u collect your flat-packed furniture. If you're still not convinced at its sheer size, just look at the next photo...

Convinced now? =P

Hard Work Paid Off!

Today's practice was good, better than the previous one when my sore throat was worse. Me being the perfectionist, I hate the feeling of not being able to sing to the best of my abilities and because of that, ruin the song due to problems such as too much air or even pitching problems...I hate that!

One reason for my happier-than-usual mood was due to the seniors coming back to sing with us. Even though I'm not that close to the seniors, it was really nice to have them back. Besides contributing to the tenors and basses (manpower amongst the males is lacking, therefore it was a great feeling to have them back and see them sing!). Secondly, they remind me of the times we spent in the Czech Republic together, especially the intense moments on stage during competition.

Another reason for me being in a happy state is due to the general performance of the Choir today. For once, Dokin Dokin was better than usual today after Mr Low boldly decided to get the guys and girls to combine. I say "boldly" cos Nelson told us to practice in male/female chorus respectively first before doing the whole song together. The guys can't be blamed though. Their parts mostly comprise of the words "ru" and "ra" and they have many flat and sharp notes, so they would take a longer time to learn. Well, at least they are trying their best. (most of the credit has to go to Charlie Brown man! Besides giving sectionals to the Basses and correcting them, he still has to worry about the Baritones! I don't know how he can cope man! Woo~)
Quam Iuvat was much better today according to Mr Low. At least we sang with obvious emotion this time and the dynamics are more or less secured but of course there is still room for improvement such as the part where the Altos have to go really low.[Mr Low said that it still sounds murky]

Finally, I'm rejoicing also because the seniors paid their Choir Fund which was due ages ago! And also because we revised our choreography for Sinten and went through Wak Wak Gung as well! I never felt more accomplished! hahahaha! Oh ya! I also got a good piece of news from Wei Lin. She told me that there'll be no more combined rehearsals for the SCO Concert for the moment until December! That was such a relief! [I don't really like the idea of mass Choir practises! It's so impersonal and there'll inevitably be competition.]

Got to know Licia, the DSA candidate, better...at least I could converse more naturally with her. It's like I've been trying to think of what to say to her for days such that it wouldn't be so fake [asking her what school she's from and all that is not really very genuine, considering almost everyone asks her that! It's not wrong to do so but...hmm,I don't know how to explain but my point is I don't wanna make it seem as if I'm trying too hard or something.] Naturally, she opened up. Thank God! Another thing to rejoice about! She's really very diligent though. During the Sinten choreography, she was busy scribbling on her score. I asked her what she was writing. Guess what? Turned out she was penning out the choreography movement! So for the rest of the choreo, we were giving secret grins to each other, and I was telling her to write things like "swaying with hands upright" in her score....hahaha...I can imagine her practising in front of her mirror and trying to recall the movements while staring hard at her score...hiak hiak hiak!

It's been quite some time since I last did some work. I only completed my Vocab Book such that I only have 10 weeks left to finish up but this can be done promptly anytime. What I'm concerned about are the GP newspaper articles of which we have to do 24 of them, 500 words for each article in AQ form (!!!) Plus, there's still Econs Macroeconomics to read and complete and the dreaded Physical Geog [I totally forgot most of what I've been taught! That means I have to revise and read through before attempting the questions]

AND and and and and, Ms Kon hasn't sent us our Lit assignments through the net yet.And Maths, I don't remember Mr Gui giving us any assignments to do unless it was mentioned during lecture or something. Oh ya! For GP, there's still compre to do and if I'm not wrong, we have essays on a certain topic to complete as well. This sucks.

Wonderful Weekend!

Before I blog about today, let me try to recall the events that took place during the weekend. Actually, I blogged on Saturday but when I tried to save the entry, the laptop chose that time to hang! So all my effort went down the drain...

Anyways, on Saturday, Gong Gong, Maib, Mum, Er Yi and I were Singapore's luckiest few to get to see the new IKEA Tampines before the official opening [30 Novemeber]. This privilege was extended to us due to Er Yi being a "friend of IKEA" (IKEA membership, to put it simply)

So we took the feeder bus near Tampines MRT Station. While we were boarding, I overheard a passerby telling her partner whether the bus was ferrying IKEA workers there cos it can't be opened to the public yet. Excuse me! Do we look like workers?!?!

We spent a long time at the furniture section and because of that, we didn't have enough time for the miscellaneous section (the section where people can do most of their impulse buying cos they are made up of mostly cutlery, candles, cushions, plants...etc...) The place was huge but according to Er Yi, they did not fully utilise the place well. One good thing about IKEA Tampines was the cafeteria. Due to experience from IKEA Alexandra, they gave the cafe more space and more tables and chairs!! We spent 5 hours there cos they had to close at 5pm (!!!) Overall, it was a good experience, partly because there were lesser people. Imagine shopping in IKEA minus half the crowd? Simply divine.

After that, went to Er Yi's house to fax the Japanese Scores to Aunty Naoko to translate. (She said that she could do it in 2 days' time if I really needed it. So nice of her!) Helped Er Yi to plan for the Christmas Party (that we all dread!) Don't get me wrong. All of us look forward to it every year, just that the thought of planning, the preparation of food and gifts plus the setting up of the Christmas Tree means more work for us cos we have been doing this every year since the dawn of time until it becomes a chore. [not counting last yr's Christmas Party which was planned by San Yi. That was____(insert negative word)] We decided that this year, we'll keep things simple: Inviting lesser people, cooking mostly Chinese food instead of both Chinese and Western, lesser decorations. I'm supposed to take care of the dessert which will be the only Western Course so if any of you have any ideas, please suggest!

On Sunday after church, we went to Changi Airport to have lunch (I miss Changi Airport man!) I just have to eat my Hokkien Mee Meal there! [Staff Canteen 2 if I'm not wrong!] Realised that the canteen went through some changes. The dessert store's located in the center and all the stores renovated their signboards such that they all looked the same. For some reason, I rather they stick to the old layout but I guess the new look brought in more crowds [Argh...]

Spent the whole day at home after that. Was too tired to go to GMH (Gong Gong Ma Ma's house). Watched James Bond: Die Another Day and after that, I got the rare opportunity to use the main desktop!! Hooray! By the time my brother reluctantly got off the computer, it was already 11pm so, every single second spent had to be rationed. SO, I went Youtubing! Just realised that Youtube can get you hooked for hours! I watched the Ellen DeGeneres Show, Oprah Winfrey, Powerpuff Girls Z (recommended by Shannon and Kok Kok) and Josh Groban plus many other random stuff! I watched until 4am in the morning. [See the dangers of the one-eyed monster? No wonder my brother can play the whole day and still feel attracted to it!]

Choir Fever

Yesterday was quite a rewarding day...I think my dad really appreciated what we did from his expressions, albeit neutral but still, more to the positive side. I think he kinda liked my sis' hand-made card to him too! She fashioned it such that it was in the shape of a gun and she got my dad to guess what it was. At first Dad got it wrong cos the card was upside-down but after Maib told him that it was a gun, he was like "Why are you giving me a gun on my birthday?" hahahaha...anyways,speaking of today...

Comm meeting was quite efficient today cos Mr Tan conducted it in a chop-chop manner. If there were no teachers sitting in with us, it WILL drag and drag! Went for Comm lunch after the meeting at TM Foodcourt. Emily, Wei Lin and Eunice couldn't join us cos of other commitments. After that we went to E-Zone to watch Kok Kok dance ParaPara! hahaha...can you believe it? Kok Kok dancing! [heh heh! Ok I'm mean!] Even Ai Ping had to videotape him with Kok Kok's "cheerleaders" at the back, Charlie Brown being the most robotic cheerleader I have ever seen! hahahahaha! There were many funny moments today and guess who initiated them? Who else can it be man...hahaha...anyway, Ai Ping dared us to march and salute to random people and so, Jillian and I agreed to pretend to do it and stop doing it when Ai Ping really does it! hahahaha! It was hilarious man! You should have seen those looks by the passers-by! Then, later on at NTUC, I videotaped Ai Ping "side-stepping' people whilst Charlie Brown, Kok Kok and Henry sniggered and giggled discreetly at the background. There was actually one guy who said Sorry to Ai Ping when she side-stepped him! Aiya! When that happened, I happened to pause the videocam! So wasted! Anyways, for the next so-called prank, we decided to form "Ai Ping's Army" (a term I improvised from Harry Potter's Dumbledore's Army) by forming a line behind Ai Ping and when she bows to the "lucky", random guy, we would bow in unison...Sad to say, Ai Ping's Army was a failure man! Charlie Brown, Kok Kok and Henry couldn't understand the meaning of "standing in one line" so the result was rather comical. [imagine Ai Ping bowing at the front whilst the rest of us behind were standing at awkward positions and bowing! hiak hiak hiak!]

Someone in the group suggested going to Toys R' Us so off we went. Actually, come to think of it, it's quite ironic to see an increasing number of teenagers around our age identifying with our childhood. It's like suddenly it's no longer an uncool thing to say that you like Spongebob or that you watched the latest Powerpuff Girls show. In fact, it looks like it's the "in" thing to embrace this "teenage cartoon culture." Just the other day, in the previous gathering with some of the Choir peeps, one of the topics of discussion for lunch was Kids Central and cartoon characters. Suddenly the kid in everyone starts to reveal themselves when they speak of their favourite cartoons in a fond manner. I found out that Shannon watches loads of shows from Kids Central and who would guess that the guys would know about so many Power Ranger hybrids [Zeo Rangers and the like] and that Mimi's favourite Captain Planet Character was "Fire?"

Ok, I digressed.

As the fever was getting quite bad, I decided to go home and sleep until it was time for G12 at night. This time, I brought my sis to G12. As usual, she being the super shy and innocent girl in front of people, she uttered not a single word to any of them! Pastor Quee Beng popped a surprise visit which got Midori, who was teaching the lesson tonight, all panicky. But overall, she did good.

Celebrated Michelle and Bernice's birthday. I guess this celebration was an especially sweet one for Michelle cos she finished her O levels on Monday and the happiness from the "no stress anymore!" feeling and that of her birthday makes it two-fold!

Argh! The fever's overwhelming me!

Rollercoaster Ride

As I'm quite drained today, I'll try to keep this entry short....
Watched "Step Up" with the KC Girls today at Cathay Cineleisure. I paid $4.90 for the movie cos Shannon's got a free ticket, which we divided amongst the four of us: Shannon,Evatte, Jeanette (Evatte's Sec Sch Classmate) and me. The main reason for me watching "Step Up" was for the dancing and that didn't disappoint me. Their dance was like a fusion of Ballet and Hip-hop so it was quite interesting...and it made me twitch a little while watching it cos the dancing was so contagious! heh heh...

I left halfway to meet up with Ai Ping and we, the Grobanites went to check out Josh Groban's new album "Awake". They're still selling the limited edition ones with bonus performances and songs!!! Ai Ping and I have already decided to capture the kodak moments of us buying his 3rd album at the music store in her videocam! [I'm serious!] Met Ai Ping's Dad at the library and we had dinner together at S11. Tried the new Hokkien Mee that everyone's talking about.Mum was saying that she didn't get the chance to try it cos everytime she goes there, there's a long queue. [Apparently, the Hokkien Mee was featured in one of the "The Sunday Times' Lifestyle" Section] I had to try it, me being the Hokkien Mee eater since young. Overall it was good but it was a little wet. Chilli was not that spicy which was a pity and prawns....i gave to Ai Ping! heh heh...[i hate prawns!]

Left for Ping's place and watched YouTube Videos for very long...wah! the Japanese Version of Meteor Garden is really funny...you'll get hooked to it! I promise! Then had a talk which I shall not elaborate. All I can say is that I'll work on it. After that, Ai Ping and I took some funny photos of us [Ai Ping being Ai Ping again!] hahahahaha.....!! If you wanna see the pics, go to my friendster! =P Just to give you a clue of what the pics are about, one of the captions of the photos is "Bra Rangers!" Have a good laugh! hiak hiak hiak!!!

Ok, I shall end this post by dedicating it to someone more than dear to me [if there's such a phrase]. Thank You for what you did today to encourage me. You're the one who knows me best, the listening ear, comforter, motivator and everything a friend could ask for. And for that I'm truly grateful to even know someone like you. I believe that it is no coincidence that our paths crossed and I wanna thank God for that. You read my mind like a book and I don't have to tell you how I feel cos you sort of knew how I felt and what exactly I'm thinking just by the look on my face. Really Thank you for everything....even your parents, they make me feel like a part of your family too. Ai Ping, remember I will always be there for you just like how you were there for me all the time. I can't promise that the advice I may give or the encouragement I provide will be good but I'll try. I love you! =)

Enhancing Bonds, Forging Bonds

For the past few weeks, I've been longing for a day of rest at home cos it seems like I'm going out everyday non-stop for the past 3 weeks! This longing is especially desirable for me, a homebody. Actually, most of the time, the reason I've been going out so often is due to CHOIR. (again, you must be thinking!) Well, tiring as it is, I kinda enjoy it but once the songs become a drag, then the reason I'm still surviving is due to the people....(yeah! even though there are conflicts and many bitchings taking place, the people are still generally OK.)

Had a bit of a stomach upset yesterday. Actually, I don't know whether this can qualify as a stomach upset but I have this feeling of puking the whole day long, even when Choir started in the afternoon. The feeling is something like the vomit is about to come out anytime but it's stuck somewhere around your lung area. I think it may be due to the breakfast I had that morning.SO, after much thought and discussion among the Choir peeps about what I should eat to make myself feel better, we decided on PRUNES. (Since it can't go up, make it go down! That was our agreed philosophy! heh heh!) Hmm...surprisingly it worked except that I did not shit as expected! HAHAHA!!

Met up with Mr Chia, Joan and Seng Keat for dinner at Genki Sushi. That was the first time I had soft-shell crab [haiya! don't laugh la...I very suaku I know!] and the Sashimi there tasted different from the one I had during my birthday. It was much better! Joan, as usual gobbled her Chicken Teriyaki Set so quickly that by the time she was done, I was only halfway through my Salmon meal! Actually, come to think of it, yesterday was a tad too quiet. It was mostly neutral conversations and polite chatter that it sorta felt awkward, compared to the tuition times where we would just laugh and talk like nobody's business...but nevertheless, Mr Chia is one of the bestest teachers I've ever known and I'm not saying this just for the sake of saying it. It's like he has so many tuition groups and he's bringing almost each and every group to dinner! And the places he brings us are not cheap. [He brought Rachel's group to Billy Bomber's and he brought us to Swensen's last year!] He's one teacher who can really relate to us...for that I'm grateful that I have met someone like him =)

Today, Choir as usual in the morning with AJC and MJC. After that Shannon, Dixon, Mimi, Eugene, Charlie Brown aka Yukai, Henry, Joanne, Eunice and I went to Parkway Parade to have lunch at Banquet and then to Scoopz for ice-cream. Their Chocolate Mint is really good! A good balance of Chocolate and Mint, not like some other brands where all you can taste is mostly the Mint! Found out that there are many more people who liked Mint, namely Henry and Shannon. [finally! people who think that they are not eating Colgate!] Joanne left after that and the rest of us went to a secluded part of Parkway to play [guess what?] The murderer game!
Imagine one bunch of JC kids sitting in a circle at a remote corner, playing the murderer game? We got chased away by a security guard for the "illegal gathering of 3 or more persons" and that's against the Constitution according to what Shannon or someone else said. Seeing that we have no choice, we left and headed to the dark and shady halls of snooker and pool. At first, we agreed to team up and play pool but as there was much conflict over whether it should be "each Man for himself" or tag team, Eugene and Mimi played the first round with the rest of us being their "cheerleaders" according to the words of Charlie Brown. [quite stupid I know!] After that, I paired with Mimi, and Charlie Brown partnered Eugene. [We won, mostly due to Mimi's prowess!] Then played another 2 games or so, paired with Yukai and Henry respectively and lost both games! As Shannon refused to play pool, I played "Dai Dee" with her whilst the rest continued their game. We were there from 2pm to 4 plus la!

Didn't expect myself to have so much fun today...at least I got to know them better...hmm, but it would be better if we get other Choir people involved instead of just the same clique. I guess this will take time...

Went home and asked Mum whether we're still celebrating Dad's birthday. This time it seemed as if she meant it. A simple but disappointing No. Actually it wasn't really a straightforward No. She simply told us [my siblings and I ] to go celebrate with him without her. I don't know what to say...After all, why must I always be the one trying to patch things up and stuff? I know partly it has to be me cos I can't expect my younger brother and sister to initiate right? The worse thing is, I have no one to be angry about. I can't blame Mum cos she has the right to feel hurt and all. Asking her to forgive and forget is not easy too. In fact, I think it's out of the question if Dad doesn't act fast. Blame Dad? No comments.

Vivo Viva with Grandpa and ma

I actually planned to spend today in the comfort of my home, reading but as my paternal grandpa called us out to spend today with him and ma ma at Vivocity, I obliged. Initially, I thought today would be better than other days when we went out together, maybe there were lesser quarrels=lesser trouble but I was wrong. Anyways, today was still OK overall. At least we got to spend time with them after so long cos these few months I have not been visiting them due to many commitments. [Ok, maybe these are just excuses but I really wanted to visit them more often]
This outing was especially memorable for all of us due to the simple reason that we had the pleasure of THE BLOB aka my brother as our company. I was quite surprised when he agreed to go with us but after much thought, I uncovered his motive: to explore Vivocity which he had not been to before! Oh well, nevertheless we got him of the one-eyed monster.

Entrance of V-I-V-O according to how Ye ye pronounce it!

One of the main aims of our visit was for the floating book fair exhibition onboard a ship called Doulos. Apparently my grandpa read about it somewhere so we decided to go see.

Ship With Books Ahoy!

younger sis and ma ma

Onboard the ship, I expected a wide array of books with various genres but turned out that moajority of them were Christian books and CDs....hmmm..not bad! However, I only wished that there were books in Chinese cos ma ma got quite bored.

Mama trying to make sense of the books!

As Maib aka my sister hasn't had her lunch and due to The Blob waking up at 1pm [he slept at 3am last night!] and there being insufficient time to have a proper breakfast/brunch, we went to B2's Kopitiam to recharge. Ye ye suggested going to Food Republic cos he wants to see the so-called fishballs which "came from Johor".

Finally! A foodcourt with a theme!

Normally in Singapore, all the foodcourts look the same: green and white setting, the clean look. That's why when I first got a glimpse of Food Republic and its "Early Singapore" theme, I got excited.hahaha....but don't you think it's true? I'm glad the management at Vivocity did something to quell the boredom of Singapore's typical foodcourts!

I think my grandparents loved the place, partly due to the nolstagia and the memories it brings back to them but also because of the food! Ye ye was so happy talking about the food man! You should have seen his face!

As Blogger is giving me problems again, I think I'll do the photos another time! Anyways, I'm sad to say that my brother didn't really interact with Ye ye and ma ma. He was just wondering behind at a distance, lost in his own world. Only when they talk to him will he give a monosyllabic reply. Maybe I'm asking too much. Him going out with us is already a miracle! I guess I'll just have to take things one step at a time.

We went outdoors on Level 3 for a breather and after that, we headed to Level 1 to source for more interesting things to do. Apparently, there was a James Bond Showcase going on. They brought in the Aston Martin, the car in the new Bond Movie, Casino Royale. I still think the new Bond guy looks weird! OK, that's besides the point!

Went out, took more pictures with the folks and went back.

Today may seem like a simple and effortless day but I beg to differ. As Ye ye couldn't walk fast [he walks with a cane now], all of us had to slow down to accommodate his speed and over the years, he's getting slower and slower but I can't blame him for that. At least he still makes the effort to go on walks by himself even though ma ma tells him not to venture outdoors alone due to his bad leg.

Sigh. Even though I complained about my brother being unresponsive, I think my attitude towards them was not that perfect either. I was rather impatient with them at times and even though I know they meant well, I still couldn't show them some patience. Argh! What's become of me?

I promise to visit them more often. I guess this would make them more happy and less lonely. Please pray for patience.

me, painter [continued...]

Argh! Cute kitties!

As I had to wait for quite some time before Cuiwen turned up, [she went with her mum to get paint!] I decided to capture some scenes of condo life [not that it really depicts the latter!]

Lift Lobby

Just a walkway [heh!]

Before we started painting, we "frolicked" in the swimming pools...up till now, we're not sure what the "furobath" is but Cuiwen had a great time being my model!

Cui's acting like she's the water goddess!

Check out the water jets!

The pool from our view

Then, it's down to serious business at Cui's new abode. We painted the hall a light but pleasant yellow and even though it looked like a simple-enough task, it was actually back-breaking work! But of course, our efforts paid off!

Freshly-coated and ready for use!

Even though it's still half done, I'm sure it'll look good when it's done, just that I feel the heartpain of all our effort cos they may be moving again in 1+ years' time....

Ps: sorry for the bad writing. These latest 2 posts are mainly about the pictures!

Charlene's birthday with me, the professional wall stylist!

hey! long time no update! ok, before I start the entry for today, I have to mention one other significant friend that has played a significant role in my JC life and he is none other than LOUIS SIM BAO JIE! LOUIS, YOU ROCK! always there to cheer us up and make our day! heh heh!

ok, that done, let me first talk about the dinner date with the fab four: Charlene, Samantha, Rhyss and I. Actually most of the stuff is already found in Rhyss' blog but just a quick recap, it was fun,as usual. Went to Marche's after deciding that NewYork NewYork was a bit risky but nevertheless, it was quite an experience 'cos it was my first time there.

"A restaurant within a marketplace"
I expected marche's to be better, more classy, but it turned out that we had to find our own food! [sort of!] After much thought, Rhyss and I got the Jumbo Chicken Combo Set whilst Charlene and Samantha got Crepe. [theirs looked quite nice too!]

Rhyss and I, the new Bundaberg Root Beer promoters!

Group Photo!

After that, we headed to Esplanade to take photos. Unfortunately, blogger's being stupid again so I can't post anything! I will try again later though. Argh!

After choir today, I went to Dover Parkview Condominium, Cuiwen's soon-to-be new home! Like Ai Ping said, it's quite sad cos her old place had so many memories of us spending time there but I guess we have to accept change all the time. Anyways, my purpose in going there today was to help paint her house.

We discovered a family of cats hiding under an umbrella amidst the rain and I coudn't resist taking pictures of them!

OoOO! Cats!

Argh! I'll try to post the pictures in another post!

the simple topic of Friends

Let's talk about a simple issue: Friends. I'm sure this topic has been overly discussed to the point that there may be some cliche phrases related to it such as the familiar "many will walk through your life but a true friend would leave his/her mark." But without them, life would be really boring [heh heh! another overused statement!]

My day today revolved mostly around friends. Friends can help you in times of trouble or stress. Through such times, you get to bond with them due to the hardship that you and your friends endured together. One such moment happened today in the form of Choir. Even though this may not be hardship, there was, no doubt, pressure to do well, especially in front of the other JC Choirs [AJC and MJC].
In a bid to ensure that everyone know their parts well for the SCO Concert,Nelson issued a challenge. He told us that he's gonna test individual choirs with the repertoire given to us. There'll be a compulsory piece which we had to show him and also a piece that he will choose on the spot. Whichever choir that does not perform up to standard, the Student Conductor would take the blame!
To prepare for this challenge, he gave each school time to prepare for it in different rooms before Judgment Day arrives. For us, we split into male and female chorus to revise the songs. It was quite a good feeling, everyone trying their best to sing well. I'm proud to say that we passed the test! [It was quite scary when MJChoir was told to leave the room due to their lacklustre performance!] Therefore, friends are important. In this case, they have to work together as one otherwise they would suffer the consequences!

Friends are also our confidante(s). They are your listening ear and your outlet to vent your frustrations, to destress, to share your feelings and joy with. Shannon, Tulip and I had a very pleasant time of fellowship at Parkway Parade today. After our meal at Pastamania, we headed to a quiet place just to engage in good ol' talk and it was nice, considering we had many things to fill each other on regarding Choir, school life, our family and friends. Even though the heavy downpour prevented us from going home early [we had to wait for the rain to stop!], we really did have good, clean fun.

With friends, you can be crazy and not care about appearances. [actually, this is rather subjective as it depends on who you're hanging out with!] Time flies when you're with them! Samantha, Rhyss, Charlene and I went out to celebrate Charlene's birthday. We had dinner at Marche (Suntec City). As it was my first time dining at Marche, I was rather awed by the concept of "a restaurant in a marketplace", according to how they described themselves. We were given Marche cards for ordering our food. The system works like a marketplace, except that you use your Marche card instead of money to get your food. Eat first, pay later!
Charlene and Sam had a Crepe whilst Rhyss and I had the Jumbo Chicken Set Meal. Not bad but I was expecting better food at Marche's though. Headed to Esplanade to take photos and it was really funny!! We had a good time! ['will post the pictures here soon after figuring out how to do so!] By the time I reached home and settled down, it was close to 11pm...

oh ya! Charlene darling! Happy Birthday! Hope you enjoyed yourself today!

Friends are like your second family. Ai Ping called to inform me that Dhab tried calling me from Australia but as she was airsick [maybe she had jetlag], she would call me the next day instead. Hai~ its's just nice to know that Dhab still cares for us so much that she phoned us so soon even when she had not settled in properly yet.

Therefore, friends spice up your life. Even though sometimes they may disappoint or hurt your feelings, just thinking of the good times you spent with them makes you love them for who they are.

To all my friends, I love all of you! You have all made my life brighter in one way or another. Even though some of you may not be that close to me, you are still as important as anyone else! So if I don't get the chance to see you again or if we lose touch, just remember that you have impacted my life! =)

Good grief! It's Over!

Well, today I experienced a roller-coaster of emotions, partly because today was such an eventful day.

This was how I felt:

Tired- Initially I had to reach Cui's house at 8am but because I overslept [sort of!], I arrived 45 minutes later! heh heh! Ai Ping was already there, helping Cuiwen with the gift for Dhab and writing her letter to Dhab at the same time! I left to meet Sze Yee and Joan under Dhab's void deck at 9.30am. Sze Yee was late!

Excited- While waiting for Sze Yee, who was later than Cui and Ai Ping, we partially discussed how to perform the item for Dhab. Sze Yee arrives before Dhab in the nick of time!

Sad- Hmm...this may be too simple a word to use to express sadness. [can't think of more powerful words to describe sadness at the moment!] After performing for Dhab, I had to go meet Ben and the Stephanies for PW. Actually, I was still fine when I said Bye but when Dhab hugged me, I couldn't take it anymore! Things would be different without Dhab during our gatherings from now on...boohoo! Dhab gave each of us inspirational posters with personalised messages! I'm keeping it for life! :)

Exhausted- I decided to detour home on the way to meeting the PW group so that I can leave the poster behind. The group decided to meet at Tampines Mart's McDonald's instead.

Paranoid- In the LT, it hit me like crazy! I know I'm relatively well-prepared and all but at that time, my mind was filled with "What Ifs". Turned out that Ms. Leow, my GP teacher and an unknown Maths teacher were our accessors so I relaxed a bit.

Super nervous!- After Rhyss' group presented, our group had a quick run-through of our presentation again. Everyone was obviously quite nervous and tense. Ben was clearing his throat profusely! I find that during our presentation, the atmosphere seemed less serious than before. I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing but at least I sorta collected my nerves.

Tickled!- Ah! This is the highlight of the presentation! For the Question and Answer Session, I think it was quite Ok. Nah! It was very funny!!!! Steph Chung was given a question that requires her to explain about "Fruity Fate", one of the activities for our proposal. But the teacher pronounced it as "Flooty Feet" or something like that and the next thing I saw Steph Chung giggling hysterically to herself, her face turning red every moment. It was so infectious that everyone burst into fits of laughter as well! The teacher, who didn't seem to get the joke, said: "let me rephrase the question" and he made the same mistake again! Steph Chung was like "HAH?" and everyone started laughing again. Ms.Leow helped the teacher to pose his question again in which Steph Chung responded with a casual "WAIT AH.." before turning back to try to recover from her laughing fit. This was something we did not expect to happen for our OP at all! And before the project we were still reminding ourselves not to laugh or do stupid things but look what happened!

Relaxed- Now that the stress of Project Work is gone, I can smell freedom in the air! Went with Rhyss for some "retail therapy ". Saw SHSS people at Coffee Bean-Reuben, Cheryl, Nicole and Stephanie. My, have they changed! [think Reuben!].

Dinner was good today. Mum cooked Beef Kway Teow for us! For those who usually get to enjoy the joys of homecooked food everyday, this might mean nothing to you but for those "da bau" people who can practically remember the prices of each and every single dish at the coffeeshop due to it being dinner everyday, this means A LOT!! This time, mum added Enoki, the Japanese mushroom. I could hear the food calling out to me man! ("Shi Yun! Eat me! Eat me till you get sick of me!" hahaha...)

my two dearest friends!

today's entry will de dedicated to 2 people, both of whom are very dear to me:

I'm sure all of us are very sad that you have to leave so soon. You have played a significant part in all our lives and I'm really happy that our paths crossed. I have never seen anyone who is as generous as you, who constantly thinks of others before themselves. I admire your generosity and I wished I could be like you in this aspect. All of us had a great time that day and I'm sure it'll be deeply etched in our memories of you. Most of all, you never fail to bring joy to our lives. Even after secondary school, we still keep in touch! Now that you're going off real soon, I don't know how we can gather and not talk about you. It's like a part of us has gone and it feels weird! Now, as the date of your departure approaches, I don't know why but I can feel the pain of your soon-to-be absence. Dhabitah, I love you.WE love you and we can't wait for the day when you will come back and visit us in Singapore. Don't forget us when you migrate to Australia k!

Now for the next person:

I'm really sorry that I neglected you for awhile. Due to Choir and OP, I didn't have the chance to chat with you on the phone as frequently as before. Because of that, I didn't know of your recent but temporary depression. For that, I deeply apologise. Remember that life is not all that dull and dreary. There are many people around you that care for you and I'm one of them but, I've not been giving enough attention to you lately and for that I'm really sorry. After OP is done, I hope to resume the happy talk that we shared. Rememeber, I love you and I worry for you. Hope you will be the happy and cheery girl again, Charlene! Moreover, your birthday's coming! We will definitely celebrate it together k? Smile! Charlene is not Charlene without her small eyes, her uber-sweet high-pitched voice and her dazzling smile!

There! I'm done! =)

Dead and Alive!

PW Oral Presentation today was better than expected! Steph Chung, Ben and I met up earlier before meeting Ms.Ho. I find that we're always quite last-minute and when that happens, I always have this feeling that something bad will crop up. (either we cannot answer the questions well or there will be something wrong with our slides) Steph Chua didn't attend today's practice as she was not feeling well.
In the Geog room, we were made to organise our GPF Files and submit everything to her by today. As expected, we had problems with complying to this simple but difficult requirement, partly because:

(1) Steph Chua was absent and we didn't have her hard copy of I&R which was also due today.
(2) Ben Sum claimed that he "didn't bring his I&R as he forgot"

Other than these two main problems, the rest were relatively insignificant. Problem 1 was solved when we informed Steph Chua to send us her soft copy to our mail. But I was quite irritated by Problem 2.

Firstly, he didn't bring his work and for that he should repent and admit that it was his fault. But,but but but but but, he pushed the blame to Rhyss instead! He claimed that Rhyss didn't send him the message that Ms. Ho told Rhyss to send to the class, informing us to hand in our work. He claimed that he only received the message that there was OP practice today. But, the sms that Rhyss sent contained both pieces of information and thus, we caught him in a lie! heh heh heh!

So, Ben suggested going home to get it. Ms. Ho initially didn't allow that. She wanted him to face the consequences.

Me: Is anyone at your place now?
Ben: Yes.
Me: Why don't you ask your family at home to send your I&R and then you print it in school?
Ben: They are all asleep. Moreover, I don't have the soft copy. I need to retype it.
Me: But I thought you just told me that you're going home to get your I&R?
Ben: I printed it out but I don't have the soft copy.

If I'm not wrong, he didn't have the official I&R cover page as well. But, Ms Ho being the kind and merciful tutor she always was [hmm...], she allowed him to go back and get it.

Oral Presentation this time was better according to what Ms Ho said, we were clearer in explaining our proposed plan and all that but I had to speak louder.

Rhyss, Shannon and I went to watch DOA:Dead or Alive after that. The show was better than expected. Before that, I assumed that it was all about fighting and that there was no plot but there was! [doesn't matter if it was a weak one as the fighting scenes more than made up for that!] I'm sure the guys enjoyed the movie more than the girls even though DOA reminded me of Charlie's Angels occasionally due to the many portrayals of the female always winning fights even though they are outnumbered by many strong, muscular and 'impossible-to-win-hands-down' kinda guys. However, the feeling of girls being the unbelievable champions most of the time was quite shiok! hahahaha! [And i'm not being a feminist here ok!] Of course, the show would not be complete without the barely-there outfits of the girls of which one was sort of incorporated into a fight scene, which was quite a novel idea. That scene was one of my favourites, where the authorities caught Christie after her shower and where she told one of them to pass her bra to her, catching them off-guard and sparring with them in her towel and panties! hahaha! Kasumi was quite hot too, Devon Aoki could speak proper English!

the best day of the week...so to speak...

today was really a very shiok day! enjoyed myself thoroughly today even though the exhaustion accummulated from the past few days was taking its toll.

Church today was especially good. Pastor Lawrence Koo, the guest speaker, and his wife from Agape Church (not very sure of the church's name!) ministered in the main service. He spoke about the F'dmonitions for Christian living. F'dmonitions is actually a term he coined for the word "Admonitions". His main points were Fret Not, Fear Not, Faint Not and Forget Not. I feel that his sermon was very relevant especially to Singaporeans cos we are often guilty of worrying too much about everything [like me!] and because of the especially stressful lifestyle that Singaporeans are familiar of, we tend to give up very easily. The worse thing is that even when we are in this predicament, we forget to look to God and ask for His advice, so to speak. [of course we also have to remember to be grateful to Him in our good days, and not just treat Him like our genie...] This leads me to the issue of my PW and as many of my friends know, I really cannot bear to talk about it cos talking about it sort of brings back all the problems and stress. Therefore, I think I should learn how to stop worrying about it, start praying and not give up cos after all, all this pain and worry and stress will be over after this Friday! Yeah, I know its not easy but I'm gonna try...Amen! hahaha....Christians are warriors, not worriers!

Moving on, I'm gonna talk about my bestest bestest best friends in the whole wide world...the cheapskate clan! hahaha...Well, the sad news is that one of us is leaving for Australia very soon! Dhabitah! Don't go! [yeah right...]
Anyway, Joan, Cui, Ai Ping, Sze Yee and I had a great time at her house! We saw her adorable kitten "Mao Mao" [remove the 'A's] of which Joan was trying to run away from. I tell you this Joan was really funny man! hahahahahahhaa....trying to escape from the kitten and squealing whenever it was within close proximity of it!! Joan, we love you! You wouldn't die from a kitten's scratch/bite/whatever you're afraid of!

Dinner at Dhab's house was heavenly man! And I'm sure all of us had fun using our bare hands to eat! There were two types of curry, chicken, some tempeh thing (wrong spelling I think!), sambal prawns...woo~shiok! We were really helping ourselves to the food man! [especially Joan, who was also keeping herself busy with the Malay pastries at the living room!]

We talked and talked in Dhab's room which was so stuffy I nearly died! hahaha...it was quite enjoyable, the six of us just lazing around catching up with the happenings and everything, right? Joan and Sze Yee? =)
Ok, this is where the fun starts...in Dhab's brother's room. We took random photos of us,in various positions [and I'm talking about normal, un-obscene, not-really-that-suggestive positions] Someone commented that we looked as if we were in some sort of orgy but I think its just good, clean fun! HEH HEH!
All in all, I had a good day!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

you really hurt me today. even though you might think that it's nothing and you might think that by saying all this I'm being too sensitive, have you ever thought about how blunt your comments can be and that not everyone can take it? You didn't even clarify with me what I did and you gave people the impression that all I do is play all day when in actual fact, the reason I'm always not home is due to Choir most of the time? Also, I know that I'm not smart but that doesn't mean that I don't study at all. I do study and I AM worried about my exams and A levels.I realised that being around you can be tiring sometimes. I have to always be happy-clappy and smiley even when I am tired or else you would say that I have a "been cao cao" face. I'm really sick and tired of all this. It may seem like a small thing but you have impressed upon me many of such "small things". Don't get me wrong. I love you, you're fun to be with and I have always regarded you as my advisor and all that but please remember that random words can hurt too.

Vivo Viva!

these few days have been quite tiring...[maybe it's due to me sleeping so late last night!]
had a combined session at Siglap with AJ and MJ Choirs for SCO Concert. When Nelson made us sing individually, as in college by college, it was really nerve-wrecking! All I can say is this: TPJChoir really has to work harder! And much as I dislike the "songs", I promise to learn it for the sake of not losing face in the next combined practice. Moreover, Sochenda, Emily and Ai Ping are not gonna be performing at the concert!!! (that's like one-third of our ALTO strength gone!)

met up with Joan and off we go to Vivocity. Actually, I wouldn't really bother going to such an out-of-the-way location just to shop but due to what my friends have been telling me, and also because charlene or someone else told me that it was "three times bigger than the National Stadium", I decided to look-see-look-see.

it was really quite big but not as huge as I imagined.haha! the first shop we saw was Candy Empire. There were really many sinful pleasures going at relatively ok rates but thou shalt not succumb to the temptations of thy Empire! muahahahaha! We bumped into Faith there..it's really a small world man!

oh! i found something fit for Louis' birthday present! AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, I got it at a good price! [right, Joan? =)]

walked practically the entire mall before meeting up with Ping. When Ping is around, you'll never get bored!

Funny Moment no.1: Adidas had some sort of a "live" fashion show where 2 models would be parading the store's latest apparel at the shop window. As expected, the ratio of men to women oggling at the girls was like 100000:1!! (ok i'm kidding! but there were many men!) Joker Ai Ping decided to humiliate herself by standing (partially) with the models at the shop window. And as I was capturing this moment in time with my camera phone, Joan and I overhead quite a few of them laughing at my poor friend...hiak hiak hiak!!!

Funny Moment no. 2: There was this funny guy standing on a makeshift podium, dancing. Actually, you can't call it dancing cos he was just moving randomly in a robotic way, holding what is supposed to be road signs. If I'm not wrong, his job is to help people find their way around Vivocity. Ai Ping the clown decides to mimick his actions while I videotaped the two of them, wriggling away in a part of Singapore's newest and, probably biggest,shopping mall! Directions Guy was quite sporting too. He smiled and exaggerated his movements for my video! =)

by the time we reached our part of Singapore, it was already early evening. met up with mom for dinner and shopped a bit.
well, 'shall continue posting tomorrow...

yay! finally!

hahaha! finally the Blogger homepage doesn't come up in Chinese! [Charlene! rejoice with me man!] and compared to using the stupid laptop which always hangs midway for no reason, the main PC is still the best! heh heh...THE BLOB agreed to let me use the computer for awhile, sacrificing his time on World Of Warcraft for Nickelodeon instead! (maybe its becos i bought his dinner for him!)

so, after all the pain and suffering i went through last nite, I GOT A BLOG! this time, i'll make sure that when i change my blog skin and add other things, i'll not be as computer illiterate as C****E** who created 10 tagboards for herself! muahahahaha!