Finally found out what's wrong with the internet connection (and fortunately the problem is the router, not my laptop!).

Anyway, my grandpa's still warded and though the doc said that he has recovered from his minor stroke, he's still in a dazed state (can't recognise and remember us at times). Grandma's now staying with us and from the sound of things, this might be a permanent measure. Even after grandpa gets discharged, he might come over too, and I'm wondering how we're gonna cope with that since all of us are so busy. I mean, it's already been four days and my brother and I are feeling the effects of taking care of grandma, who has dementia and starts getting cranky in the afternoons (she keeps going on and on about how her mother would be bringing her to the hospital, among other bizarre things she said).

I think the one who's undergoing a major lifestyle change would be my brother. Besides having to relocate to the sofa, he had to withstand the sudden appearance of dentures in his drinking cup and missing cash from his wallet (apparently my grandma took nothing but the cash from his wallet and clipped it together with her cash in her bag). And like us, he had to endure the endless whining and moaning of my very pessimistic and resigned grandma, who thinks that her husband is dead and who thinks that we're keeping the "death" from her.

I'm just concerned that this will affect my brother's A levels this year. He's already starting to lose his appetite, which was normally quite voracious. And what will happen when school starts for me and there's no one to take care of them? They were considering the old folk's home but I'm not really keen with the idea...urghh...

Anyway,I'm hoping that this wouldn't affect me that much. For now, the only changes in my routine would be that I would have to wake up much earlier than before and constantly keep a lookout, prepare her meals, bathe her and make sure she's kept occupied. But of course I would want my life to continue as normally as before, and I wouldn't want to be cooped up at home all day. It's like I have to think twice before stepping out of the house for any reason. It can drive me nuts at times, hearing the incessant muttering and also heartbreaking when she starts to cry and ask about my grandpa. Pray for us if you happen to see this ok, I need patience and your prayers, not pity..haha...

" Then the King said to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of my brothers of mine, you did for me.'

[Matthew 25:34-40]

Super Junior(슈퍼주니어)_미인아_뮤직비디오(MusicVideo)

Can't help but admit that I actually like this, haha. Grows on you after awhile esp the choreography. Dance, dance babeh!

Getting bored and restless now. Why am I complaining now that I have ample time to R&R? I think the problem lies with the fact that school has weaned me to treasure each second I have and to fully utilise my time to the max. Now that I have so much time on my hands, I've done all the things that I could do; for eg.cleaning the house, packing random things, exercising a lot and eating equally as much (if not more,haha), met up with friends, some of which I didn't expect to keep in touch with, etc...

But at least I have a job secured for the second half of July, all that's left now is the YMCA position (or the IMH internship). It's amazing how God really provides: was just praying about the job situation today and Jean called me in the afternoon after that! :D

Anyway, Lady Gaga's Alejandro music video's out. I think her music video budget is getting tighter cos she's cutting back on costumes and going back to basics, if you know what I mean. Or maybe she's reducing her carbon footprint by cutting the slack on costly fabric and getting all her backup dancers, including herself, to shave off their stylish coiffures and don, erm..."environmentally-friendly" haircuts so that they wouldn't have to use more energy for air-conditioning in this humid weather?

Arghh, any funny comedies, rom-coms or chick flicks to recommend? What I seriously need now is a really, really good laugh...

Fecit Potentiam

"I'm hungry, but they're starving"

Famine camp was a failure in terms of planning. If there was anything good out of it, it would be a valuable lesson about communication and organising/handling over a 1,000 people. The bag-collection procedures on the last day was a disaster and it resulted in the buildup of more than 800 tired, hungry and angry campers cramped in a tiny space, jostling to collect their bags. And in terms of manpower, I think the volunteers and facilitators were underutilised and clueless about their roles most of the time. Trina and I were sitting around most of the time and if we weren't shifting stuff or being in charge of the games, we would be napping whenever we had the chance to.

But of course there were enjoyable moments too like the games on the first day: the mass burial was really a sight man! And there were many "glitches" like "dead" people texting while their families searched for them. Also, "dead" people responding to the families when the latter shouted their names in a bid to locate them.




Still unable to adequately capture all the campers in here. They were preparing to build shelters at *SCAPE Park, Orchard and break some Book of Records for "the most number of people building shelters in one location together."



As for the highly-anticipated flash mob at Orchard, it was so-so only. Wasn't even aware that we're collaborating with the Youth Olympics organising/publicity team for it. To be fair, it was quite a sight to see a sea of youths in orange moving in synchrony to the strains of hiphop music although it could have been better if the campers knew the dance steps and were more enthusiastic about it (must be the hunger and exhaustion).

Speaking about hunger, it kicked in towards the evening on the first day after the Milo truck left but thankfully, it wasn't as bad as I thought although the cravings kept coming,haha...and the Crystal Jade they provided when we broke fast wasn't bread as expected! It was (high class) chinese mixed rice but it was a welcoming sight after 30 hours without food.

That's about it for the famine camp, although I'm glad to be home again and sleeping on my bed without any intrusion of privacy and people crossing over me in the wee hours of the night/morning, not to mention bathing sans pail. (I know,I know. I've been taking all this for granted for too long,haha).

Finally checked results after much thinking, worrying and procrastination. All I can say again is thank God! Although some modules were a disappointment (like Adolescent Psych,especially), my CAP improved and that's all that matters! :D

This month has been a harrowing one and the results came as a much-needed boost to the series of unfortunate events (cliche as it sounds) which I hope would come to an end soon. Anyway, chances that the next piece of news being positive (in the light of a crisis) would be higher right? ("the only other way is up." I mean, how bad can anything get already? Even the recession has its own cooling-off period, so to speak).

But I have so much to thank God for and I definitely learned many lessons (albeit in a hard way) after all these, but maybe that was needed to get the message across, sigh. Hopefully all these have not come to naught.

On a very happy note, I signed up for the Standard Chartered Half Marathon in December at such an unbelievable price! :D Actually, it's partly due to the early-bird special (it's 36 bucks for my category) but because I'm a StanChart credit card holder, I get 15% shaved off the total and what's more, because I signed up under TeamNUS, I get a complimentary marathon jersey! (which means I pay $30.60 for 2 jerseys, a brand new race route and an unforgettable experience complete with another round of muscle aches, sores, abrasions and hopefully, tons of 100 Plus along the way!) HAPPINESS! :D

Anyway, thought I would like to share this. Taken from an email from my aunt which I found rather ironical:

HOW TO STAY YOUNG

1. Throw out non-essential numbers. This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctors worry about them. That is why you pay 'them.'

-> Hmmm, I'm fine with age and height for now but not to worry about weight is a bit too much, isn't it? Makes me think of the Body Fat Percentage thing...urghhh...

2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.

-> which I find particularly true. Someone came to mind after reading this,haha...

3. Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever.. Never let the brain idle.

'An idle mind is the devil's workshop.' And the devil's name is Alzheimer's.

-> The latter should be my take-home statement, considering the drive to look for work at this time isn't particularly very high.

4. Enjoy the simple things.

-> couldn't agree more. Easy to say, difficult to do, especially when there are so many things calling out for your attention.

5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.

-> a bit extreme, especially if carried out in a public place? But it would be normal if I was with a friend (and again, a certain someone pops into mind. Different from the previous one if you were wondering,haha...).

6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person, who is with us our entire life, is ourselves.

Be ALIVE while you are alive.

-> take-home statement no.2! The irony is that although "we" are with "ourselves" in our entire life, we will never fully understand/comprehend ourselves.

7. Surround yourself with what you love , whether it's family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever.

-> depends though. We can't always get what we want, limitations abound. Doesn't really need to be explained,right...

8. Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.

-> not really an issue for me. The real challenge is to stop eating ice-cream/sweet stuff at night!

9. Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, even to the next county; to a foreign country but NOT to where the guilt is.

-> but often the purpose of holidaying involves taking guilt trips right? Unless you're a missionary or something...

10. Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.

-> hmm,surprisingly it's harder than it sounds...

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER :
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

Kinda sums up everything nicely...haha..