Reflections...

Heylo! Feels like I'm cut off from the world and my friends cos I haven't been seeing them much, save a few. Thank God that my (beloved) baby brother recovered from his bout of Dengue Fever! It was quite scary cos he collapsed into my room last Monday night after relieving himself in the wee hours of the morning. At that point, he wasn't even aware that he went into the wrong room and he was so pale and totally unconscious so we rushed him to the hospital. He had to take his O Levels there but at least he's much better now. Thanks for all your prayers and support! :)

As for school, I'm feeling very relieved today cos I've finally finished my 2 projects which I procrastinated about beforehand. The holiday yesterday sorta helped speed things up.

Can't wait for December holidays to come (Have I mentioned it already?). It's getting sorta monotonous...there's really nothing interesting that can happen except maybe the occasional highs and lows you experience upon getting back your test results or assignments. Hmm...maybe it's just me. Just don't feel like being so involved and committed to activities outside the normal curriculum time compared to secondary school and JC. Of course it's good to widen your social networks, get to know more people, try out new experiences, etc but for now, I don't really have the time, and maybe the mood, to get rah-rah about stuff. Maybe in the subsequent years?

This leads me to a nagging thought that I occasionally ponder about. Sometimes I think that I give people the impression that I study a lot and that I'm only concerned about school stuff and neglect other things in the process. It's like they perceive me as a high achiever and that my studies are my top priority in life but it's not totally true.

No doubt I value the importance of education but I do recognise that it's not the only important thing in my life. The thing that keeps me motivated to continue studying and achieving my academic goals is based (mostly) on the fact that I do not want to disappoint my mum cos she has invested so much in ensuring that I receive quality education and I know she'll worry incessantly if I'm not doing well. Also, that's my main role right now: being a student.

Then again, it doesn't mean that I won't find time to have fun and chill out or pursue other activities cos I do! In fact, sometimes I have the tendency to enjoy too much to the point that I neglect my studies :S

By fulfilling your role, you're also honouring God by doing your best in wherever you are based and being a good testimony to the people around you and through it, you learn to depend on God more as you find that certain things can't be accomplished solely on human strength alone so, in a way, your relationship with God would be stronger. Of course, when you concentrate too much on a certain goal, you would inevitably have lesser time for other stuff. There'll be times (in fact many, many times) when I feel that I'm not serving God as much as I would like by not being actively involved in church activities.
Maybe right now, my ministry would be helping the people around me as much as I can by being there for them as much as possible. In essence, being in touch with them especially when they need you the most. Sounds easy but it can be challenging to even avail yourself to make time for others...

Then again, I don't really see the need to justify my actions to people who see me as such. I am only accountable to God and I will act accordingly if He deems my present actions unfit.

OK. Enough of the heavy stuff.

Last Sunday, Er Yi and Co. fulfilled another desire of mine! :D:D Previously, they satiated my craving for D24 Durians from the EXACT durian stall that I wanted to go to at Joo Chiat. Now, they saved me A WHOLE lot of trouble by bringing me to the Bedok outlet of Botak Jone's! I didn't know that they had an outlet at Bedok and I was "desperate" enough to travel all the way to Toa Payoh just to taste how it's like!

The food is really good and it comes at a reasonable price. The Cheese Potato Salad and both the Cajun Chicken and Black Pepper Chicken is perfect although the coleslaw was average. Didn't get a chance to try the Beef meals though, although one thing's for sure: I'll be going back for more! :D:DPictures from Google

Simple Plan Interview on The Noose

Like it that Chua Enlai can do this with such a straight face! Even Pierre, the frontman of "Simple Plan" cannot hold back his grins! :D

Say Goodnight and go! :D

Yay! It's Friday! This week really sucked the energy and the brain cells and the creative juices out of me (not that I had much of the latter anyway!) but thank God for the grades I received for my Psych test and Lit assignment, even though I was kinda disappointed for my Psych test grade initially. Speaking of Psych, I'm not sure why Psych tutorials are getting kinda boring. In fact, I think I learnt more in Soci tutorial than in Psych man....

It's already halfway through the first semester already, can't wait for December to come even though it looks like I won't be going overseas after all :(

Had my Bio Food safety and security presentation today and I feel VERY relieved that it's finally over after all the meetings and consolidation of research and powerpoint slides. Looking back, I can say that I'm quite fortunate to have responsible and mature project mates. The fact that all of them were Year 3s yielded more pros than cons and I really enjoyed the insights they provided and how anal they were in ensuring that our research findings would link back to the question.
Compared to PW in JC (which was a nightmare!), this was quite a breeze cos EVERYONE did their part and met the deadlines that was set and EVERYONE contributed rather actively during meetings and most importantly, followed up on what was discussed so for that I don't mind going the extra mile to consolidate the powerpoint slides for them.

Was quite nervous before the presentation and it didn't help that the guys said that they have never presented to a lecture in their 3 years in Uni before. However, all 4 of them did really well for their presentations and it made me feel more confident. Quite a good experience, considering that this was my maiden project presentation for Uni so thanks to David, Kuan Hui, Deepti and most of all, Elizabeth! (if you ever stumble on this post in the first place!) Your guidance, advice and cooperation in seeing the project come to fruition was greatly appreciated! :D

Special appreciation to Elizabeth for your friendship, your insights and your reassurance on certain matters. I really enjoyed yesterday! :)

Next week would be a better week, deadline for Soci assignment's shifted due to Deepavali and deadline for Lit assignment's shifted to next month! WOOHOO!

Guess I'm boring you with school again...anyway, for now, these are the movies I wanna catch rather badly, in no particular order of merit:

(1) Gerard Butler in "RocknRolla" and maybe "Nim's Island"

(2) Russell Wong in "Joy Luck Club" (even though he's only playing a minor role)

(3) TWILIGHT! CAN'T WAIT! =)

(4) "Pirates of the Caribbean 4" and Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland" (Johnny Depp!)

And for now, lemme leave you with some food for thought:

'Was just thinking today about the mechanics of the MRT train. All of you would know that there are 2 cabins on each end of the train for the driver to operate the MRT right? Have you ever thought of what would happen if 2 drivers stepped on the accelerator at both ends of the same train at the same time?

SPLAT! in your face, off my chest.

Hello lonely, virtual world! I'm taking a break from my Psych Mid-term Paper now which is actually due tomorrow but I am quite clueless as to how to present my argument properly. It has to do with the controversial topic of Schizophrenia and Genes but, enough of that!

Here's a quick review of the exciting things happening this month:

-Soci test next week (praying very hard for a miracle)

-Lit test the following week as well as the much-dreaded Bio presentation-hope my group will come up with something engaging and interactive for the LECTURE (yes, I still can't get over the fact that at least 100 over people will be peering at us)

-3rd week would be, in my terms, the calm before the storm cos...

-I have 3 deadlines for the 4th week (1 project submission and 2 mid-term papers)

Anyway, guess this would be the typical schedule for most students so, I'm not complaining...

Other than that, I have been pondering over the meaning of my existence in Life(OoOo...) What I mean is, I wanna do something that is out of the extraordinary like skydiving or having a picnic in the wild or exploring exotic places, anything else besides studying and working for the next few years of my life! And I'm wondering if I'm feeling this way due to the limitations which our small island nation inevitably brings about.

Guess I'm feeling this way because:

(1) Train/Bus rides to school is like a vacuum where I can think of any random thing and unfortunately, I ended up on this miserable topic.

(2)I've been watching Imogen Heap's vblogs about her life. It's like she's so involved in so many things: flying to places and performing here and there, furnishing her house and setting up her studio, discovering a beautiful meadow while jogging, collaborating with musicians for her new songs (in which she has total control over its creative input. You should just see how creative she can be in thinking of new sounds to add to her songs and this really make listening to her songs more meaningful), giving parties, the list goes on...

It's not that I envy her lifestyle but I wish that I can be as creative as her, making new things and actually feeling satisfied with what I created and enjoying the things she does...makes me think about when I would actually fulfil my dreams since childhood like playing the violin and dancing (don't laugh ok...)
Moreover, I really enjoy looking at the way she dresses, which really deviates from the norm (in a good way) and making those Bugis Street tweenagers and Haji Lane wannabes pale in comparison. Sometimes I wanna just go out there, dressing the way I want, not how I am now, and not being conscious of the looks Singaporeans might give but guess I'm too "chicken" to really dare to be different!

Anyway, I should come back down to Earth and tell you about how my food cravings seem to be getting the better of me. Last night, I dreamt that Emil/Wakin Chau ate zi char with me at the coffeeshop. There were many people who asked for his autograph while we were eating and I don't know why but he started singing "Peng You" (aka. "Friends" in Chinese, which was quite a popular hit then and now) and dashing through the food stalls, giving high-fives with the food vendors a la concert style.
And then there was this one night that I dreamt that Duc bought super yummy D24 durians for me. Er Yi satisfied my craving the following week after my dream...(a case of my liquid dreams solidifying at last?)

Haha..anyway, time to put on my trendy (and overworked) thinking cap! :D

Ps: Happy Hari Raya everyone! Especially Dhabitah! (you have no idea how much I miss your rendang and ketupat and chocolate cookies! Maybe I'll dream of them next!)

Pps: My brother recently extracted 2 teeth cos he's getting braces soon and his literally bloody, prehistoric-looking fangs are really starting to get on my nerves cos he just leaves it on public display in front of the CPU and keyboard as if it's some rare discovery of neanderthal man...

Tomorrow officially marks the start of Recess Week. Hope the days wouldn't pass that fast as I have much to catch up on for my readings. I've been sleeping a lot whenever I have the time and I don't know whether it's just me cos everytime I'm taking public transport from one place to another, I will automatically be in snooze mode. It's like I'm conditioned to sleep whenever I'm in the bus/MRT...

Today was good as usual. I enjoy Sundays a lot due to church and stuff but I particularly cherish the time we spent after church having lunch as a family, travelling to far-flung places in Singapore to sample good food (although they might be a little overrated at times). Today, Eryi wanted Bak Kut Teh so we ended up at a Sin Ming coffeeshop but things became interesting when we went to the famous Roti Prata shop nearby. Previously, I was wishing with all my might that someone would say that they want Roti Prata, cos we passed by the famous Prata Shop on the way to Bak Kut Teh, and my wish turned to reality with the help of Eryi! :D


Okok...I know it's unhealthy and I know I already had Duck Rice but I couldn't resist! For prata, I can do anything! (Ok, almost anything....)

Saturday's live recording at Steph and Gwen's church was great. Worship was good! The singers are fantastic, I think they are super charismatic man. My church feels so conservative compared to them (No offence though, Evangelites! I enjoy worship in Evangel a lot too!) The only problem I had was that we stood for quite a long time and my feet really hurt. [Plus Steph the meanie didn't allow me to sit down leh! HAHA!] And Gwen did a really great job dancing. Wish I could be as flexible and natural as her man!

Anyway, I think worship is really such an important part of church man. It really sets the mood and prepares us for the sermon and it really connects to you on another level which words really can't (if you get what I mean).
Worship doesn't have to be very extravagant with complex musical arrangements and stuff as proven by Ai Ping's cell group. As long as you worship with a sincere heart, a longing for God to minister to us and such, then I think it has served its purpose. Recently in church, we had worship after the sermon when we would usually have altar call. The worship itself was so impactful that there was no need for an altar call then cos the altar call WAS the worship itself. I don't know why but it was so powerful then. The presence of God was so strong then that tears just flowed. Worship can heal and remove the painful wounds of the past that Time is unable to....

my space! my voice!

Taking a breather from my Bio project which is sort of due tomorrow. Went to Lee Kong Chian Reference Library just now after vainly searching Tampines Library and the Central Library in school for the past 3 days. Is Global Warming and food supply and security really that foreign a topic such that the libraries do not carry books on them? Anyway, Lee Kong Chian did not fail me today...just hope that my research would be of use to the group man...

On another note, I was in high spirits yesterday cos I bumped into Jie Min outside LT11 yesterday! Have not seen her for so long and just when I least expected to see her, she appeared! Haha,miss her so much! Anyway,we were just talking about the upcoming netball league organised by PriceWaterhouseCoopers and I really hope we can participate in it man (provided I have enough time...) Hopefully the no-guys rule would apply then cos it's still unfair for guys to be in netball (think one-man shows and all).

Speaking about netball, I embarrassed myself unnecessarily during netball on Tuesday. While we were hanging around at the netball court, one stray soccer ball rolled into our view. Seeing that there was nothing to do and that no one seemed to be going forward to retrieve the ball, I happily kicked it to some random space. Just when I was gloating about my soccer skills to myself,I heard the owner of the ball shouting for his ball from behind me. Super pai seh!

Another reason which contributed to my jubilant and, should I say, ecstatic mood would be due to my Lit test. It was such an encouragement and I seriously thank God for it man...haha! Hope that this would replicate in my other assignments too!


It's funny what Uni can do to people socially. Ever since term started, I have been saying hi to people I do not know personally in JC even though I know them by face value. And surprisingly, they were equally spontaneous in their "Hi"s and "Bye"s too!

Recess week's coming but when there's a gain, there's a loss. Psych and Geog test on the following Monday after break and a deadline for Psych Mid-term paper 2 days after.


Can't wait for church camp next year. Quite a long wait but it's something to look forward to. It's been 2 years without church camp! Can you believe it?!?! Moreover, my mum would be joining us for the coming church camp and that makes me wanna fast forward to June 2009 man! No regrets! I don't mind skipping one whole Sem! :D

Actually there's something to look forward to this year other than church camp and that would be the possible vacations overseas. Mum and Eryi were looking at brochures to Taiwan but the one I'm more interested (and hopeful) would be the trip to Tokyo with Midori and Esther! Still praying that mum would allow man although the chances of going would be quite slim...

Tundra, Taiga and something for the girls!

Pastor Lim's sermon today got me reminiscing about Geography all over again. Hmm, maybe reminiscing isn't the right word to use, considering that it WAS an examinable subject but still, Nature never fails to surprise us time and again, especially when all we see in Singapore are engineered parks and "fake" trees and shrubs everywhere (Credit goes to NParks still for making Singapore such a FINE city! hiak hiak hiak!)

It's no surprise that Pastor Lim refers to Nature for his analogies most of the time, especially in recent weeks. Nature, in all its humble glory, seems to teach us things that we humans tend to overlook at times. How we should face adversity, how we should unlock our potential and live our dreams even though we may think it's impossible at times,etc....

Won't talk about school for now so, to end off nicely, some pictures of my latest Asian find, inspired (or should I say, brainwashed) by Midori!


YAMAPI EVERYBODY! :D
And compare these gorgeous pictures with that of his kiddy, Cloud Nine, happy-clappy yesteryears! See how much he has grown man! I'm so proud of him! :D


Pretty in pink (NOT!)

Choose your caption:

1. "My little pony, everybody!"

2. "Someday my prince will come (on a puny poodle)"

3. Let's fight animal cruelty together. Save a dog. Save a life.

Ok, now for some refresher pictures in case you, like me, are on the verge of forming the impression that Japanese guys exude more feminine qualities than the female species. It is only natural that I would show you pictures that are more,hmm...masculine...haha!

Haha...enough of Tomohisa Yamashita for now. Seems like the focus of this post (the Tundra/Taiga, in case you're too smitten that you've forgotten already) is drifting to Yamapi, which should not really be the case!

Anyway, I just realised the reason behind my sudden fascination with this Yamapi guy: he has an uncanny resemblance to Russell Wong of The Mummy 3 fame. Serious!

For the record.....

Russell Wong!

OK..maybe a much-younger Nippon-ised version of Russell Wong la!

Shit. Now I look boy-crazy.

yamapi: hi! dis ish yamapi! heard from my singaporoo friend that you've been fantasizin about me
mi-dori ~ yamapi: hiiiii yamapi, altho i know u only exist in my fantasies, nice to know u took time out of ur busy schedule to read my pathetic blog. ahah!! I LIKE YOU! LOL. [happy now sy??!!! =P]

yamapi: of course! euu hab been sucha fadeful memberu of NEWS,midori-san! hope to meetchu when we come to singaporoo soon..see you at the singaporoo dome aka esplanade!

mi-dori ~ yamapi: dude, we dont wanna cause an uproar here in sunny island s'pore. hahaa!! why ur language like so ah beng?! hhahaa!! hurry come to singapore!!! and dont forget to CALL me when you do ya? =DDD

Talk about fantasizing man...