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!