connecting the dOts in life

2008-06-09T17:31:00.002+08:00

Do I look like Mr T??

Just because I don't believe in total press freedom, and don't want people who google his name to get directed to my blog (after thousands of google finds), lets just refer to Singapore's most-wanted terror fugitive who escaped from detention as Mr T. Wikipedia described the subsequent events following his escape as " the largest manhunt ever launched in Singapore". I will describe it as the silliest.

If Mr T were still in Singapore, no. HOW COULD HE BE. Hiding below some flyover? This man is so powerful he would have planned a foolproof escape. Surely he did not just jump out of a toilet window coz he incidentally found the hole in the wall big enough?

Anw, my point is. He is no longer in Singapore. My malay friends postulates he is in the philippines. Whever he is, HE IS NOT IN SINGAPORE!

I think there's a difference between being meticulous and being meticulous for the ridiculous sake of placating one's own paranoia. Don't mind me but I find the ICA extremely baffling. There are 3 steps to ensuring you are not Mr T trying to escape Singapore by choosing the dumbest route.

1. An officer checks the car boot to ensure he's not hiding there.
2. The next officer scrutinizes your passport and your face. And i mean, sometimes they really STARE.
3. Still, they are not convinced! They want a scanned thumb print of everyone in the car, to make sure you are not Mr T disguised as a girl with a tudong, or Mr T who underwent skin graft, or sex change. There's a thumb print reader that can extend into the car. After placing one's thumb on the reader, Mr T's infamous face will appear on the officer's screen, and NO HIT flashes on the screen. wow like a computer game.

How amusing is this! And this entire process causes a massive jam every single day at the checkpoint, that my dad take 2 hrs to get home.

PLEASE, be more discerning! and Mr T is NOT IN SINGAPORE!!!

2008-06-03T02:26:00.002+08:00

I am Home!

I don't know how many times I've updated my blog when I was in London. I don't even dare count, coz that either means I have no life in London, or I simply spent it so purposefully I didnt even have time to type them all out!

But the truth is, I am just pure lazy :p

I realised I'm just not the sort who likes to type or write things out. My attempt to keep a daily diary failed miserably: my first entry was on 31st dec 2007, and it lasted till 24th Feb. Oh and 24th April :p

Only major events can prompt me to write, other than that, I would rather spend that time sleeping. haha. Maybe that's why I find it so hard to write lyrics and poems. They happen to, in my opinion, be ideas and observations of the most simple things in life.

I feel like I'm trying to justify my lack of activity on this blog! haha. and in indulging in my pathetic justification, I've allowed myself to veer away from the gist of this entry! haha.

Ok the most delightful thing just happened, Windows Explorer suddenly shut down while i was typing the previous line. thankfully "Now Blogger saves your drafts automatically! " or I'd swear i'll never blog again.

Things i realised the first day i woke up AT HOME (since returning)

1. I actually kicked away my blanket

2. It was possible for someone to come into my room twice, to wake me up

3. I woke at 4pm, 9 am london time!

4. I squeezed too much toothpaste on my toothbrush coz Darlie is so much hotter than Colgate :x

5. "breakfast/lunch" was warmed up for me!

6. I didnt hafta wash my cup!

7. I watched TV from a TV screen, not from a laptop!

8. Ellen Degeneres's dance moves have deteriorated from bad to atrocious since i left.

9. I could gossip with my mum again. yay.

10. I miss saying "mummy eat, daddy eat" .

Feels great to be home! :)

2008-01-30T23:16:00.000+08:00

Love, to and from home!

Was SO HAPPY i almost shrieked in the letter room when I saw this card! Thank you shimin,shiru,chelly,jiayin, tiffany and hongli! <3<3

Finally got my package from home after 2 and a half months. This poor guy must have weathered quite alot of rain and shine!

Since its almost impossible to find CNY cards around london (apart from Chinatown probably), i decided to make one!! not bad eh?:p

I like my pot of grass! (:I have to pay extra attention to him because the instructions that came along with it blatantly read "this is a sensitive plant". Lets see how long I can keep him alive!!(:

School's been much more busy these days, with all the courseworks and assessments and clinical placements. but still, as always, I'm enjoying every moment of it (:(:

plus, there are things to look forward to! like:

PARIS!! ( Next week) I Cant wait!<3

2008-01-12T02:38:00.000+08:00

Hey guys! haha yeah I've not been updating my blog much :x

So much has happened in the first few days of the new year...

I think I will grow up alot in 2008. Afterall, I'm turning 20 years old this year! gasp. OLD!!

Hope 2008 has been great for you guys, dun forget to update me!! :D:D

2007-12-28T08:43:00.000+08:00

Great Winterbreak!

Hola! Am back from winter hols and gosh, hz is right my blog is indeed dead. Here's an attempt to resurrect it with some pretty photos of my trip to valencia, stockholm and venice, as well as xmas!

Beach in Valencia. We were so ecstatic when we saw the sand and sea!!!(:

Icy stockholm!!

Us taking the "taxi" in venice. It was so wobbly, I wonder how it's supposed to be romantic haha!

I had a wonderful xmas, full of surprises, and love!

I still can't believe this...a guitar as a present!!?? It's too good to be true! I was SO SHOCKED! Thanks Kai, Jilyn Mark and Minshin!(:(: I will practise hard!

Some presents I recieved: Nice gloves from mark, CD,Stapler and Holepuncher from Kai -.-haha and the guitar from all of them!<3

Ruffles from Minshin! It has hot tummy so I can hug it to sleep in the cold winter(:(:

Thanks guys, for such a memorable christmas! all I want for christmas is you, you and you!!!(:(:

To my dear friends back in Singapore, merry xmas and soon, happy new year! I was SO HAPPY to hear some of your voices, it made my day!!(:

2007-12-02T22:35:00.000+08:00

A wet day at Oxford!

Went for a day trip to Oxford yesterday! Oxford's like a quaint little town with intellectual, knowledge-hungry inhabitants! ahah, very different from London but really pretty and nice! Kai's friend, zhongkai brought us around and due to the horrid weather, we had to seek refuge at his room after only a few hourse of sight- seeing! still, it was a great experience!

The oldest structure in Oxford.

Check out the architecture!
Me, jilyn and Gordon being touristy!

Picture that shout: impending rain!!

Christ church college, where snippets of Harry potter was filmed! It was a pity we didnt get to see their magnificent dining hall!

Christ Church cathedral.

Relishing on hot Indian curry on a cold night!

And ironically, ICE- CREaM! yum yum.

the lama song, just for laughs(:

2007-11-23T09:12:00.001+08:00

how I'm feeling now

2007-11-23T09:04:00.001+08:00

The lama song, just for laughs!

The video I just uploaded is utterly ironic. Lets just say I can watch it and not laugh decently at all. Just recieved a mail from mum and she sounded so upset. When i read it, I was suddenly engulfed by a myriad of emotions. Its just as if a sombre tidal wave crashed onto me, and i felt like just lying there, doing nothing at all .

I'm sorry I've not been updating my blog! I had a great reading week at Austria, it was just SO MUCH FUN!! Am really looking forward to the winter hols(:

I will try to blog more, and really hope that everyone back in singapore is doing great as well! All the best for your exams/courseworks/presentations!!(: huixuan misses yoU!

2007-11-04T00:58:00.000+08:00

Hey guys! I realised I've not been updating my blog for quite some time!:x well, to allay some people's unfounded fears that I'm STILL not eating right, look at the pictures! I try to have good breakfasts and lunches, but sometimes, time doesnt permit that. Oh well, I think I can afford better breakfasts if I stop snoozing my alarm 2 times and subconsiously switching it off!!

What have I been up to? Hmm, nothing much actually. Some people say that life in London's gonna be full of excitement and fun. Well, it is true, but after a while of going through the same routine again and again it turns somewhat robotic, and you realise you don't really have time to actually go out and have fun. Or rather, sometimes I'm just lazy to. I guess I'm just different. I don't really need the booze and partying to spice up my life. haha, I'm just happy chilling out with friends over a meal and listening to good music (:

Monday's my slackest day! I had one hr of lesson on Airstream mechanisms and that was it! I find phonetic science interesting, but somehow it is ironically sleep-inducing. It's got to be due to the timing of the lesson-right after lunchtime! People who know me understand how my body just basically shuts down and goes into sleep mode after lunch! The only things that prevent me from really dozing off are the occasional noises the lecturers make whenever they are introducing a new sound, either in RP eng, Zulu, Chinese or some foriegn language. haha!

After monday, tuesday blues set in! I have lessons from 10 till 5 pm, with annoying breaks in between! Went to College Hall in between lessons and ate some home-cooked scallop macaroni specially prepared by jilyn! haha!Oh, and subway which Kai bought (after much running!) After class, I had dinner at college hall and even had the previledge of participating in their firedrill...in the middle of dinner! haha. The funny thing was, when we were gathering out in the cold, the firemen actually ran into the building opposite the hall!! -.-

After dinner, I succumbed to peer pressure and bad influence. MS and Jin suddenly decided that it was a good night to drink, so they burnt some cash and got Chivas, which we had over some really pathetic Korean movie!

On thur, I had my first placement at Hampstead! It was at a elderly home called Branch Hill House. Man was I amazed by how pretty the home looked! honestly, I was mentally prepared to be greeted by a probably not so posh place, but this home is really like a villa!!

The road leading to Branch Hill House. Ayman, my partner, and I were there for about 3 hrs, interacting with the old folks. It was an interesting experience I must say. Except for the grumpier old folks who used their sticks to whack other people's bums and who shouted vulgaritiesn unknowingly, most were nice to talk to. As the old folks had a halloween party the night before, the caregivers told us that most of them were suffering from hangovers! haha! Many were slumped in their chairs sleeping right after breakfast, it was amusing to see groups of old people sitting in front of the TV dozing off! Well, almost all the old folks there suffer from dementia, so they have really bad memory. Some of them can't talk properly. At one point, a lady was trying hard to explain something to me, but her speech was just unintelligible. I felt rather helpless, coz all I could do was just smile and hold her hand.

It's the weekend again! Am really excited as I'll be going to Austria with a group of friends for 5 days! I'm returning late on friday night and nottingham games is straight after that! 0.o I'll really be a zombie after that man.

Till, then, shall try to finish up my readings!! Though I dunno where to start! :x

As a side point, I really dun like how it turns dark so early, at 5pm! On tuesdays when I look out of the window, I get this feeling I'm attending night classes! So now the nights seem longer, certainly not a good thing!

anw I'm now 8hrs behind Singapore, due to daylight saving!!

As I type, there're fireworks in the sky, right in front of my hall window!! beautiful! it brings me back to the times when my family will squeeze in my room, where could watch fireworks that lit up the night sky during festivities.

Memories, playing like a silent movie(:

Thanks a million for the offline msgs and emails. The first thing I do when I return from school is to turn on my comp to read them! I love you all!(:

2007-10-23T05:57:00.000+08:00

ɑɪ lʌv spiːʈʃ (:

( I love speech)

The past 2 years have been a roller coaster ride, a tiring journey of ups and downs. And just when I thought the going's getting easy, I find myself standing, lost at yet another crossroad. I still remember how troubled I was deciding which course to study, which career path to choose a few months back. Some people criticized, some judged. Others motivated and inspired. Looking back, I can't actually pin-point a reason why I decided on speech, it just happened, almost out of the blue! It was as though I suddenly met the right people along the way, people who molded my thoughts and helped shaped my fate.

I'm really happy studying speech now. It's as though, for once, I'm really enjoying and forseeing myself applying what I'm learning! Sometimes it's tough trying to integrate since I'm one of the mere 2 international students there. But everyone's nice and it's a small group of us, 45 in a class!

Some of the people who make classes so much more fun!

Kaisin, me and Kelly, who's a real rocker chick!!

Shazma on the left, she's really camera shy. Kaisin's crazy over photography. And you can ignore me (:

Jo lives 2 floors below me! This photo was taken after we walked an hr back and forth from a club down the road. We were all set to attend a speech party that night and smartie me forgot to bring my ID! (:(: So we just settled for a nice romantic night walk hhaha!

wɪθ lʌv,

hʊɪ ʃʊæn <3

Practising phonetics transcription here haha! (:

Corrinne May - Everything In its time

2007-10-21T09:02:00.001+08:00

Everything in its Time- Corrinne May

Sometimes I wonder what lies ahead
How long till my hunger is fed
They say it's hard to make it in this part of town
So many people on this merry-go-round

Some folks try astrology
Some turn to crystal balls
To find an answer,
To get through it all
I just fall on my knees and I try to pray
In the silence I can hear Him say

The river runs and the river hides
Out to the ocean and under the sky
I promise you, the answer will come
Hold on to patience and watch for the sign
Everything in its time

I often feel like I'm two steps behind
Somebody must have moved that finish line
There are a thousand reasons
Why I should give up
But I'm stubborn in the things I believe

The river runs and the river hides
Out to the ocean and under the sky
I promise you, the answer will come
Hold on to patience and watch for the sign

'cause maybe there's another plan
One I still can't see
A little surprise, like your love in my life
Funny how time changes how we see

The river runs and the river hides
Out to the ocean and under the sky
I promise you, the answer will come
Hold on to patience and watch for the sign
Everything in its time
Everything in its time

Hz dear, stay strong (:

2007-10-21T07:48:00.000+08:00

Hello dears! Another week flew past, I'm starting to feel like time is passing really quickly. School hours are fine, not extremely demanding I must admit. But after I get back from school, cook, and wash up, I'm usually tired and not long after it's bedtime!

Hz came to London over the weekend to visit! How happy I was to see her and chieh! (:
British museum in the morn! We couldnt last looking at all the exhibition sections :x

Signing on the guest list!

Ah, timeless!

Love them to bits (:

On fri, it was FG and CH outing! The Frances Gardner gang!
With St Paul's in the background, one of my favourite places (: It was so cold that night I was shivering. I really enjoyed the pizza we had by the river!

Had a HC gathering at imperial on sat afternoon. We sang and danced, really nostalgic! They even screened a video showing personalities like Mrs Foo and Mr Ang (which we had a good laugh at :D)

I think I've uploaded this photo before. This is the board I look at every night before bed, so I go to sleep thinking of all the wonderful people who have been in my life so far (:

I think I've come to be more appreciative of things since coming to London. There are times when I feel down and I tear up when I see my family and friends over skype, so near yet so far. But I'm glad that I've a great group of friends I know I can count on over here, and friends back home who leave sweet messages here and there (:

Lotsa love from me!

2007-10-12T21:27:00.001+08:00

Hey guys! more snapshots of what's been going on in my life (apart from studying!! :)

My wordrobe, decorated with phonetic symbols which I have to memorize!! :0

Went to Harrods on monday, was hoping to get a present for my mum's birthday!

Absolutely tempting!!

Sweeties. hurhur!
In the end, this is what I got her, english tea!! haha, coz everything else is unaffordable (well it will be if I go on a hunger strike. Was so eager to buy chocs for her, but the guy mending the stall said its a silly idea coz they will definitely melt :( anw I went to mail her present back and it cost 11 pounds! More reason to pack lunch to sch...

Clothes I got from the children section at Primark (a departmental store). I cant believe I can fit into the 9-10 year old category. heh though i must admit they're a lil tight at the shoulders. but still, GOOD DEALS! :D

Nick, my neighbour, celebrated his birthday at a chinatown restaurant. He sure looks hungry here.

Went to visit my distant relative at Bromley -by-bow over the weekend! she's a really sweet lady. Had a chat with her at her house, attended church service and had Swedish Meatballs in curry sauce before her husband drove me back!

My attempt to integrate some fibre into my pasta. Eww

Walk through the park on the way back to Frances Gardner, where I call home, at least for this year! :)

Realised I havent posted any pictures of my hall! Here they are! this is the main courtyard.

Coz some people are wondering what my address is, here it goes:

Huixuan Chia

Frances Gardner House c/o Langton Close

Wren Street, Grays Inn Road

London, WC1X OHD

Went to watch Les Miserables on thur. Gosh, the singing was absolutely mind-blowing!!!

Evidence that my appetite's slower turning normal. HAPPY LUNCH HOUR! left over cabonara pasta from dinner last night and a hearty sandwich!! :D

School's getting more stressful, but I'm enjoying what I'm studying, especially child psychology and development! Gotta get back to mugging gear soon, ah!

Take care everyone and have a great weekend! :D

2007-10-07T18:01:00.000+08:00

The stupid things ppl do!Illegal gathering?

No! It's a bunch of grumpy, sleepy ppl dressed in their PJs gathering like to-be-slaughtered cows out in the cold.

At 4.15 am, I was awaken by a deafening, persistent alarm. First I thought I was dreaming, then, I thought my alarm clock had suddenly gone beserk!! :x It took me awhile b4 I realised it was the fire alarm and damn was it freaking loud and annoying! I thought I could ignore it and hide under my covers, but staying in my room would have driven me nuts. It's by far the most effective alarm I've ever come across!

So I opened my door and peered out, only to see a few other sleepy heads with crazy hairdos popping out. It felt like we were all in a mass sleep walking session as we made our way down to the courtyard. This is when we wish we werent staying on the 7th floor! It took us forever to walk down the stairs!!:x

At the courtyard, everyone was just stony, sleepy, grumpy and COLD! Not a good feeling at all, we watched as the fire brigade arrived and scanned the area. It took about 20 min, before we were all allowed to return to dreamland.

And the cause of this? A bunch of idiots who tried to create a sauna in the kitchen by turning on all the stoves. wth! 0.o

And the fun continues! Just before I was putting on my clothes after bathing early the next morning, the same deafening shrill came on!! :x

And I thought firedrills happen once a year. AH!

2007-10-05T05:13:00.000+08:00

Had a speechie party today! It wasnt much, just the year 1s and 3s gathering at this super old school disco place with some wine and chips. I drank orange juice! haha.

Kaisin and I! With silly stickers with our names on them!

I started to cook! I think I'm definitely becoming more efficient. Ever since the last attempt when Minshin and I cooked from 830pm-11pm (partly coz we waited forever for the chicken to defrost) I've pledged to devote full effort into increasing my cooking efficiency! I'm pretty proud of my progress so far! :D

Fried Rice!!!!!

Korean instant noodles with mushroom, sausages, vegetables and egg! Bought the noodles (chu qian yi ding) from a korean minimart for 45 p=SGD1.35per pax!

I felt so happy eating it!! :D

Anw, here are some random sightings I came across and took pics of today!

I didnt know Kings Cross Tube station looks that nice!

After the party, Kaisin and I had time to spare before a volunteering meeting so we wondered into a scientology centre!

A man in a suit told us that a movie was going to be screened in a few minutes and invited us upstairs. When we got to the theatre, there was not a single person there!! THe title of the movie was "the evolution of science" haha. Till now I don't understand what was going on in the movie. Everything just seemed so unnatural and odd! anw, we left halfway coz I was starting to feel uneasy!

Below: Scientology gallery!

On my long walks back home, I come across strange sightings. London is such an exciting place!

Monkeys!

Is that a rocket? I swear it really did look like one blasting into space! whee!

School's fun so far! The lectures are quite slack. I'm still not used to this fact: during 1.5 hr lectures:

Lecturer: Let's have a short break shall we?

pause..

Lecturer: Let's make it 20 min? Get a bite, be back by then.

WAH and everyone comes back with coffee and snacks. In the past, 5 min breaks were like TO DIE FOR!

The weekend's coming! really excited coz I may be going for frisbee trials, and possible to watch Les Miserables! :D happy weekend everyone!!

2007-10-03T06:34:00.000+08:00

Random pictures!

Went to the malaysian embassy yesterday morn to get a criminal records check done. Felt like home again when I heard all that chattering in malay!

Was so happy to see the Malaysia flag!

Along my way back, I chanced upon the horses that were making their way to the Buckingham Palace Gates. Tried to follow them but they were too far ahead!

Pathway to the Palace gates.

Then, I realised the area around the embassy's really pretty! It's near Hyde Park, Buckingham Palace, and even a war memorial!

First time I took the tube myself! Numerous posters along the way on the escalators! Cant wait to catch Les Miserables!

As a geeky student, I visited the school library. Damn is it nice!

Freshers weeks are on going, so I have to choose which clubs and societies I wanna join! Am thinking of the malaysian/singaporean society, Ultimate Frisbee, Gym (coz of pilates and yoga)! Cant make up my mind!! So now I'm just going around to take a look at everything! Tmr I'm gonna try ice skating for the first time! Am really excited!

Had more phonetics lesson today. I'm really enjoying them! shall blog more about it next time! Really tired, night everyone :D

2007-10-01T01:34:00.000+08:00

Hello my friends!!

I'm finally blogging!I really have alot to say, I dun even think I can finish everything I wanna type. Life in London is really different. And I've come to appreciate the readily available food that's waiting for me at the dining table back at home. Cooking's fun but time consuming, I hope I'll get more efficient with time! I do make it a point to have a big breakfast daily though!

Nutritious right!!

Sometimes, I do get into the emo mood and think about how it'll be like back at home. The culture here's pretty different. The british seriously love to drink and party. Booze booze and more booze. There was one night my flatmates brought back her friends to our house kitchen. There was drinking, and ppl were also rolling man-made cigarettes! :o hmm, to think that this is actually mild, I really hope that when they decide to do marijuanna, it will be discrete and not within my sight ( I heard its v common) I will so have the urge to yank those stuff away from them!

After nights of observing and playing silly games like truth or dare, I think I know who are the wild ones, the safe ones, the keep-my-distance ones etc. I dun mind drinking as a social thing, but I'm not going to turn into a clubbing freak or change who I am coz of the culture here!

Anw, take a look at my room! Thanks to Kai, a fellow singaporean who helped me put up the posters and "interior designing".

I love my posters!
Penthouse view? heh. I wanna buy more potted plants! (:

School officially starts tomorrow! I'm actually quite excited! though I've already met my course mates. Its a small class of 45 people.. but i think we'll get to know more ppl as some of our lectures are joint with audiology/psychology/linguistics students. I'm one of the two international students in my class, the other's Kaisin, a fellow Singaporean! So far, the experience has been quite unique. There are coursemates who are pretty old (married, even some with kids! :0) Most people here have so much difficulty pronouncing my name! It'll go like this:

Person: Hi there, you are?

Me: Hi, I'm Huixuan, nice to meet you, what about yours?

Person: I'm so and so

Me: Smiles or smth

Person: SOrry your name again?

Me: Huuuiii xxuuaannn(slowly)

Person: What!?hushun? Do you have an easier name which i can call you by?

Me:xuan?

Person: shuann. great!

After a while...

PErson: sorry can you repeat your name again?

AHH!it's pretty hilarious. especially when some people try to spell my names while storing my name in their mobile phones. There was a girl that spelt it as : SHOE- ANN.

Phonetics lesson tomorrow! So exciting! I hope I wont flop while learning the british accent. I have difficulties even understanding it when ppl speak to me!

TAKE CARE EVERYONE! <3

2007-09-29T09:51:00.000+08:00

Photos!!

Try the following links for photos (:

Farewell:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=24064&l=5a6df&id=604541404
Sneak Peek of London:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=23335&l=3472e&id=604541404
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=24055&l=0c9eb&id=604541404
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=24057&l=e20c6&id=604541404
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=24059&l=c45a0&id=604541404
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=24063&l=0437d&id=604541404

The idea of me being here to STUDY hasnt really sunk in. But I think it will, soon.

I really have alot to say, I need to sit down and blog my heart out one day!

I'm sorry I'm taking quite long to reply msgs etc! Will email you guys my london contacts soon!

Meanwhile, lots of love from me! <3

2007-09-21T07:48:00.000+08:00

Me, from London!!

My dear friends, I'm finally blogging from my room at London! haha my room's really big and spacious, other ppl think I'm mad coz I feel its too big (I can fit a living room in it, with couch and TV!) The beautiful thing is that I have my own toilet, but my hall is SUPER FAR from my campus, it's about 25 min walk, so I've been developing some really sturdy thighs and calves! I live on the 7th floor, so my view's pretty good, I can see my school's signature dome structure! I share the level with 7 other pple. There's a German, an american, 2 british, 3 singaporeans and 1 prc so it's qt multi-national!! So far I've not cooked anything as I realised I dont have plates and such, but the British guy's SO PREPARED! he has like a whole array of knives, pots, pans. You name it, he has it. I was qt shocked when he showed us his food cabinet. Felt qt bad when I compared his over-flowing one to mine, which only had milo and a few instant packets! :x I'm qt glad he likes to cook though, so he may be able to be our resident cook! Just yesterday, he whipped up curry, nun and some pasta!I've been living on bread and bananas! HAH!

Thankfully, the weather is good, cool and breezy. Sometimes it can get really cold when the wind blows and dirt gets blown into my eyes too, really aweful coz my eyes will hurt like mad! But I'll get used to walking with my eyes closed in the wind!The main transportation in London is really walking! Just tonight, my friend estimated that we walked a total of 10km, just to get a couple of essentials from this place called Primark, which supposedly offers cheaper deals. The stuff in London is really freaking ex! I went to Boots (equivalent to watson) to look for tissue paper and was super horrified to see that one box costs about 1.80 pounds=5 plus SGD! wAH! I decided that toilet paper was more important in the end. haha, so yea, it's hard not to convert everything I see and more often than not, after converting, I just decide that I don't need to spend that money!

Went to officially register as a student today! me and my friends were kiasu and went there early and true enough, there wasnt many ppl so we got our stuff done in less than 20 min! whoo that's Singapore spirit at its best! :D At yesterday's reception, I met a few interesting ppl from all over the world! (An Italian, who kept insisting he's from India, A German, A sweet swedish girl, an Indian who has resided in Singapore, Netherlands, India and Texas, and a few others. I had half a glass of wine and was swayin a lil alr. I can tell that my threshold's really pathetic haha! guess its also because I drank it with an empty stomach! but yea, I really still prefer juice!

Anw to recount what happened at this store called Argos which sells practically everything:

I wanted to buy a Laundry basket together with a few items. So I went there, wrote the serial numbers on the order form and passed it to the cashier for processing (yep its an odd system man). Then I proceeded to the collection point to wait for my stuff. Then, the person passed a huge 8kg box to me.

Guy:here you go!
me: err, are you certain? I think my laundry basket's supposed to be flat and light.This is scary.
Guy: sometimes the pictures are decieving, this is it!
me: are you sure?I think you've made a mistake!
Guy: (really stressed) it is it is! just take it.

When I got back, I opened the box and there were 10 laundry bags inside. ahha! i went about giving some out to my friends and flatmates.

From my experience so far, the british are indeed incomparable to singaporeans in terms of efficiency!

All right, it's getting late, I'll update my blog/facebook more often onece i've settled down!

To those who emailed/facebooked/came to send me off/ called me on 17th, I wanna say a BIG THANK YOU!

Miss you guys! <3

2007-09-17T00:31:00.000+08:00

In less than 24hrs,

I will be on a long car ride to the airport
Bid farewell to my family and friends
and begin a whole new adventure.

It hasnt really dawned on me yet. When that time comes, I don't think I'll be able to control my tears.

I will miss every single one of you so much!

2007-09-14T12:36:00.000+08:00

Take a look at my luggages!

9 months worth of stuff, doesnt seem like it! I have to make the clearance officers believe that the black bag is my handbag! Shouldnt be a prob right? haha.

Yesterday, my mum gave this:

She was quite excited about it. haha. And just when i was about to tell her I dun hang girly stuff on my bags/pouches, she said "it's a pepper spray!!!"

I turned to the back of the pepper spray box and it had some amusing instructions, including a point which attempted to describe how to operate the spray, which sounded so complicated. Another point went: Good for burglars, robbers, attackers and dogs. hmmm. And the one which I found the most amusing was: If the wind direction cannot be determined, spray pepper on your palm and spread it on the attackers. HAHA. If only I carry a wind sock wherever I go!

Still, it's a cute ornament :D

My flight's at 1120 pm on mon, Terminal 2 SQ. So I'll have to go through the terrifying gates at about 1030pm :( haha. Hz was teaching me how to be indirect bout this. Think I totally blew it :p

2007-09-13T23:08:00.000+08:00

Hey guys, sorry for being MIA for so long. Have been packing and packing and packing! Thankfully, I've a mother who's such a packing prodigy! She unpacked my luggage and repacked everything, now it looks so much better!! haha, though it's still too heavy for clearance (provided I pay the freaking expensive $82 per kg excess baggage charges or I meet a ultra nice officer that day), I think it's a pretty good job! The worse case scenario would see me giving up my milo and bolster! AHHH. That would be depressing!

Went to sentosa with UCL ppl on tue. Now I'm suffering from burnt shoulders so everytime someone touches or pats me on the shoulder I'll wince in pain! haha, anw I had lotsa fun playing frisbee though we all kinda suck at it. pictures below! (:

Really looking forward to MAF and spending time with the girls on sat!!

Oh and I've finally installed skype! add me at huixuanchia!!

monday monday monday. NO MONDAY BLUES!

2007-09-09T21:42:00.000+08:00

Today I had a prelude to what's to happen in a few days time. It was what I would call a pleasant farewell(:

Not only faces, shoes are memorable too! I think the airport's temp too cold, kinda froze our brains and made us say/do stupid stuff.

Some of Mak's friends. Was happy to see Jiashee too, it's been such a long time!

When I saw tears in Mak's grandma's eyes, I knew it would be hard to hold back on monday. Mummy please don't cry!!

Random pic! My grandma made and arrange all those flowers herself! AMAZING! According to her, she used to fold paper flowers for charity during the WW2 era. wow.

On a side note, I really really really want a happy farewell! (: no tears!

2007-09-07T18:00:00.000+08:00

I'm back home! yea I was lucky and the visa application took only 4 days(:

The past few days were really well spent though!

On wed, I met shiru for lunch. As usual she had cravings for pasta so we headed to pastamania during her lunch break! Then, I had a movie date with cihan! haha. Ratatouille was nice, but a thousand rats in a scene is really NOT CUTE AT ALL. haha. Now I'm left with hairspray!

At night, I met,guess what, a friend whom I've not met in about 4 years! It was really great to meet Vanessa and Michael, both from my SLC group back in sec 3. It was nice just talking thru dinner, reminiscing about the past, or trying to remember the names of the other people in our group! We went to Changing Appetites at Marina, and the place really lived up to its name! It changed my appetite, upside down that is. haha. The food was hmmm, lets just say if you can choose between NYDC, Newyork and this, choose the other two, without doubt!

On thursday, I met Hz and Chieh at Bugis for lunch. Then we headed to STA so that both of them could get their ISIC card done, before heading to Sim Lim to get my webcam! Gah I think I got cheated, either that or I can't read properly. Coz the cam i got sucks. I'm going back to change it! I had a good time skyping yesterday for the first time haha. Though at one point of time, my grandmother came upstairs, saw me talking to the laptop, and stared. I was lazy to explain that I wasnt mad or too stressed. I think IT nowadays can really baffle people her generation.

When I reached home, I had several surprises waiting for me! A few Ang Paos for relatives and this nicely wrapped present! My uncle even decorated it with origami he learned to make, so cute!

I opened it and it turned out to be a Nokia E65. Whoo (: I'm a happy girl!

Btw, the origami in the middle's santa clause! Early Christmas present probably!

And after I basked in the happiness after these events,

I woke up today, with the worse gastric pangs I've ever suffered, and diarrhoea to top it off.

Anw, 10 days to go...this is really bittersweet.

2007-09-05T09:56:00.000+08:00

Finally went to do my visa on monday! haha, I really hope it'll be processed within 5 days or I'll be stuck in Singapore for the weekend! and it's the last 2 weekends here !!:( But I'm cherishing the time here in Singapore by meeting as many friends as I can! Anw the visa application was supposed to take a mere 10 min but I took 2 hrs!!! coz it was a lucky day and the biometric machine decided to break down. But I guess it was a blessing in disguise to a certain extent as that 2 hrs gave me time to chat with some of the other UCL people who were also last min applicants like me (:

After that it was dinner with my pri school friend, ate at Siam kitchen and the food was, hmm let's just say I can probably cook better than that, and I dun cook that well at all! But I guess that wasnt a main concern, the catching up was.

On tue I met GP at Queensway! Was supposed to accompany her to get sports shoes but we ended up buying unexpected stuff!haha. I think that's the odd thing about shopping. Nice things always appear when you least expect them to. I guess that applies to life in general too?

Anw I got plagued by stomach burns (as gp calls it) halfway through shopping and it was so super uncomfortable! I had such a fulfilling lunch at IKEA that I doubted it was gastric. But as GP explained to me, it's probably due to my gastric juices which decided to defy gravity and shoot up to my chest area, coz my sphincter muscle's malfunctioned. hmm, anw I went back to rest for a while and thankfully it went away!

Then at night, I met my UCL group at Clark Quay's Minds Cafe. Was really happy with the full attendance ( 10 people in total!) we just sat there and played brainless games for 3 hrs. Games like ugly doll, jenga, taboo, banana slap! Of which I can conclude: I can never win games that require quick reaction! anw it was just super fun, and I'm really glad to have met every single one of them (:

I'm gonna watch Ratatouille later, really excited!!:D

2007-09-01T23:26:00.000+08:00

I managed to force myself to start packing just now.

So I took down the biggest luggage in my house,
threw in my pull-overs and a few jackets,
scarves,gloves which i don't know whether I'll ever use,
my bedsheets and duvet,
some random neccessities,
milo packets, some chinese herbs, instant packets
mini iron and hairdryer.

And it weighed a grand total of 19kg!

And I havent even included my clothes, bolster, toiletries, shoes, bags etc.

Haha I'm really going down to SQ to beg for more baggage allowance, they should show some mercy :(

But surprisingly, it didnt seem like I had LOADS to bring. 20 min of packing, and I think I'm almost done apart from the stuff I havent added to the 19kg.

Anw, I tried to cook chicken with the instant made in malaysia sauce. It was super good!! haha too bad they're qt ex so I'm only bringing about 10 different packets there. I just hope they don't burst in mid-air!

My aunt booked a table at the Johor Chicken Rice Festival tomorrow. And since she couldnt find anyone else to go, our family kindly volunteered. haha. I can't imagine eating 10 courses of chicken rice. My mum and I are already starting to get scary illusions of chickens running around, their feathers wet from all that grease.

Happy weekend!

2007-08-30T22:03:00.000+08:00

Went to watch Bourne today with my loves. We ended up at this HK cafe at Cine. Chieh and I ate Maggi Mee! haha, surprisingly it tasted better than usual! Bourne was not bad, though I was a lil lost coz I didnt watch the first movie. I think the effects were good, but I wasn't really concentration during the fighting shots coz I always end up cringing..Really looking forward to Ratatouille! (:

Love Me by: Collin Raye

2007-08-29T22:25:00.001+08:00

I'm currently learning this song on the guitar! I don't care if it's too ambitious for a novice!

2007-08-29T15:12:00.000+08:00

The small people I love

Little Andrew, 3 Days old when I took this. My head seriously looks oversized here. haha.

Baby Eunice. Apparently she's a splitting image of baby huixuan. So fat, but cute :p

This guy. shucks I suddenly can't recall his name. Definitely a sign of ageing :/

Jay, always so charming.

Josephine, Eunice's sister, playing with the Giraffe I bought for her last year!

It's great to come from a big family sometimes, the reproduction's pretty rapid. Feels old to be called "auntie" by these small people but they certainly add lots of joy to our lives :)

2007-08-28T23:05:00.000+08:00

Got back from UCL camp and slept 5 hrs in the afternoon! haha silly thing to do coz now I'm wide awake while everyone is in dreamland. The camp was great, I'm glad I decided to go coz after meeting the people there, I'm certainly more comforted and looking forward to london!

The seniors split us up into 4 groups and I was part of Troy. hah, really enjoyed the group dynamics though we could tell that the girls sort of enjoyed power over the guys in some ways haha. Some of the games we played really reminded me of council camp, coz they had pple blindfolded and muted. :x

I actually think we spent more time mingling and talking than playing games, which is good in a sense. Though I'm the kind that can fall asleep in the midst of talking to people if I'm that tired. haha, that explains why I couldnt keep awake on the last night for the late night chats and Macs at 4am! Guess there'll be other opportunities to do so, hopefully!

On the last night, we had to play this game called pub quiz. So there was drinking involved and all but thankfully i was spared!I did try this liquor shot thing but it tasted qt gross, like cough syrup! That's why I don't understand why people enjoy drinking those stuff. I like milk more :p

It's 1.20 am and it feels like 11 am in the morning. Have lots of time but still,I'm not the kind that can blog laboriously long, meticulously detailed entries. Was hoping I would get some photos of the camp. Afterall, a picture does say a thousand word doesnt it?

So the gist is, I had a great time and feel very relieved actually. Now it's getting down to actual packing. This will mark the official start of my emo journey till the 17th. haha.

2007-08-25T22:34:00.000+08:00

As part of my saturday morning routine, I went to the market with mummy this morning. As much as I find it uber difficult to crawl out of bed so early in the morning, trips to the market always leave me with something to think about. Maybe it's just the environment. Ok, it's not the most comfotable place to be at, but the people there always inspire me in little ways. And I like it because the people there just seem happy and contented. I'll miss saying hi to the kakak at the first vegetable stall, and the brothers who always make fun of my mum and I. ( Still remember the silly jokes they cracked haha)

So as we made our way to our final stop at the market, which is usually the vegetable stall, the guy handed me our purchase and said in chinese, " ni hen xiao shun hor, mei chi pei ni de mummy lai pa sha". Instantaneously, I felt sad as it suddenly dawned on me that I'll be left with 3 more times before the cruel gap of a year to do what we always do on saturdays.

In the afternoon, my parents decided that I will probably won't get any chance to have Kerala food in London so they brought me to our favourite Kerala restaurant. Ate so much as usual haha. Halfway through the meal, I found myself taking mental photographs as my brothers and parents ate. We had many happy meals at that restaurant. My mind just went click click click . I wanted to remember these moments, every single second.

At night, my family, uncle, aunt and grandma went to celebrate my brother's birthday. During the dinner, my relatives kept saying " hx, eat more of this, eat more of that, you may miss this over there". And I found my plate piled with so much food. I can't describe my feelings during that dinner. It was almost bittersweet.

I'm counting down, almost every single day. Don't wanna be emo, but there's truly so many people and things I'll miss.

These pictures I took, playing slowly in my mind like a silent movie.

2007-08-23T22:48:00.000+08:00

On thursday, I met the two people whom I had the pleasure of sharing a puny room in Hk with- dearest shiru and Cihan!

Cihan taking a close up shot of Shiru. Sony Ericsson phones are wierd, they have functions to distort people's faces! Had a very good laugh looking at our deformed faces though haha!

At Sakae, I'm starting to love the hues of sepia!

After that, I went to meet my ex collegues from the polyclinic! Lindy insisted on treating us to dinner, so she brought us, at 5pm, to a pretty unique place for our meals. It was probably the healthiest dinner I've ever taken! ORGANIC VEGETARIAN FOOD!

Look at their sushi roll, bursting with raw vegetables. I seriously don't recommend this to carnivorous people out there, especially those who go will go through all that trouble just to pick out a few strands of beansprout from their soup. This dish has an overwhelming taste of those sprouts, which I managed to endure. haha!

Three of us and our happy healthy dishes. Never thought I'll meet such nice people during the short time I was at work. They teach me alot, I feel like a little meimei when I'm with them!

On Friday, Shiru and I went to NUS to visit shimin the stick. Her room mate's such a piggy and refused to get up from bed even till 3pm!!! So we had to settle with the TV lounge. Played twister ( I have no idea why) there and attracted a few odd stares from people who passed by. haha.

Were too bored, thus we decided to dedicate a photo to kaiqian!! :) what a classic pose.

And passer-bys were probably wondering, "why on earth are these unknown people in the lounge doing spastic poses? "

After that, we met Kq for some pizza and then we headed down to town to grab some stuff. Shiru bought very sweet stuff for her sweetie. haha. must leave some for the rest of us ok! Why did you think we asked you to get the bigger box! :D

Camp's around the corner. This will probably be the first 3 day camp I'm going whereby I dun really know anyone. grrr. Nevertheless, I'm trying to keep the excitement level up! Happy weekend!

2007-08-21T22:42:00.000+08:00

Taking Loathesome to a brand new level.

The most horrific, disgusting thing just happened to me. While at the loo just now, something dropped out of my shorts. It was brown, soft, flat, dead (thankfully) if not I would have fainted seriously.

It was a freaking #%^&#! LIZARD!

WHAT! I literally came out of the bathroom shaking, and screaming. How did that STUPID THING get into my shorts???!!!!!

Don't ask me how I could not feel it. The touch of my deadly foe's cold bloodless amphibian skin against mine. DONT ASK. coz I thought I felt something while teaching my brother math just a while ago. And AGAIN while blogging just now. Not moving, but something wasnt right down there.

Thankfully it didnt move. Or I would have seriously pulled my pants down in front of my lil sibling.

My mum was very understanding though. When I ran out of the bathroom and ran to her screaming, she said " haha, go and wash yourself, hopefully the tail's not stuck somewhere in your butt crack"

Thanks mum. I was so super scared I'll see some outline of that creature on my body, like what we see at a CSI crime scene.. tattooed on my body eternally. AHHHH! But i know it was qt impossible, coz it was just in my pants, that's all, that layer. Still, I washed myself like a million times with dettol. I HAD TO get rid of every cell of that hideous thing that possibly got in contact with me.

My Dad was more positive. " Your foe was so near you. Not scared of it anymore right? "

I think my negative vibes towards those eeky stuff will never cease. Negative vibe is such a mild word. I hate them to the core! Don't ask me why I just did ever since I was born. Some poeple say they help to eat mosquitoes and are supposedly good for the environment. What crap. Times have changed. I walk into the kitchen in the morning and what do I see? A lizard savouring pathetic drops of leftover fruit juice on the table!

And they have even evolved into creatures who reside in people's garments! Nevermind. I will get over this. Shall consider myself a hero for successfully squashing a lizard to death under the mighty weight of my gluteous maximus.

HURRAY!

2007-08-21T21:14:00.000+08:00

Random thoughts

Was at the optician today when I came across something interesting on the shelf. Amongst rows of contact lens solution, there was one particular brand which stood out as it had a red sticker stuck across the front. It read " NON-HALAL".

Curious, I took that box and started reading the fine prints to see what so non-halal about it. Funny how I'm usually rather interested about this kinda stuff. The last time I saw the word "non-halal" used in a context that's not related to oral consumption was at Marks and Spencer, where there was a row of shoes that were lined with pig's skin. I can still vividly remember that scene very well. I was resting on the seats which people sat to try on shoes, waiting for my mum one day. Then, I saw a malay family walking past the non-halal row. The two adults in front saw that sign and immediately exchanged cautious looks. They turned around, only to see one of the boys holding the shoe up in the air, seemingly admiring it. I held by breath in anticipation of what's to happen next. The lady's face screwed up in mild horror as she shieked "JAGAN!! (don't)"

As a half Singaporean living in a so called muslim country, I get to witness very varied reactions and practices of muslims from both neighbouring countries. Of course, I respect the muslim religion of not coming into contact with pork. But I think it's the perception of what "contact" means that baffles me sometimes. In M, I hear stories of how some malays will even hold their breath when they pass by a bak ku teh stall. Or how cashiers will use an external object to hold up metal cans containing preserved pork to place them in plastic bags. I wonder whether these scenes can be seen in S. Probably I don't know enough malays in S to witness how things are there, but in M, it gets a little extreme, even to some malays. They claim that such things didnt happen in the past, so why are we witnessing these only now? hmmm. I guess it's just different perceptions, different intepretations. On a more macro level, that's precisely what's causing so much turmoil in the world today. Destruction caused by misjudgement and by several pockets of people misleading others into commiting crimes in their seemingly pursuit of religious martyrdom.

Gosh, that seems to be the only passage that's anything close to a GP answer I've written in almost 9 months! I don't even know how I managed to relate the lens solution to terrorism. Ms Chua would have called it "severe straying" or " Out of point" or she'll probably just draw one think red line across my paper. haha. But yea, it's one of the sad things in today's world. How religious misinterpretation can be so powerfully catastrophic.

Anyway, the lens solution contained Porcine Pancreatic Enzymes. Yucks!

Dreams

2007-08-19T12:14:00.000+08:00

Of Dreams and Religious Degression

I must have been in a really deep sleep last night, coz I was dreaming like mad throughout! Amazingly, I could still vividly remember the dreams when I woke up. Maybe it's because most of them were wierd, as most dreams are. But more apparently for mine, they're usually violent!

Maybe it's my other half displaying my violent tendencies. Someone who studies dream patterns please tell me why! For example, some of my dreams involve my brother getting kidnapped and slashed, me posing as a terrorist attempting to attack a hypermart and just yesterday, my dream went like that:

My mum rounded us up to catch this particular rabbit. So be grabbed our tools (forgot what I had in my hand, probably a metal rod :/) That rabbit must have been an evil one coz we were all bent on catching it (or maybe we're the sick ones). When the rabbit appeared and raced around at superspeed, suddenly everyone else disappeared, leaving me to face the rabbit myself! Ok, so I was brave and started to hunt that creature. Suddenly, out of nowhere, that thing appeared from behind a car seat and jammed a screw driver on my foot!!! I think I probably fainted coz the next thing I knew my mum was taking a look at my foot and wow, I was losing alot of blood because that evil thing severed my toe.Ugh.

And what was my dad and brothers doing while I was fighting that rabbit? Reading newspapers. hmm. Interesting.

Then I woke up, feeling slight pain on my left foot. But after a few moments I realised it was the feeling of my imminently bursting bladder that woke me. So I went to the loo and got in to bed, and the dreams continued. Thankfully evil rabbit didnt reappear, I must have killed it.

Just to clear my name, to animal lovers out there, I'm not some psycho animal killer. Its just that annoying creatures keep appearing in my dreams!

To digress a little, something amusing I read from a particular Malaysian newspaper today:

Gwen stefani's due to perform at KL after her HK tour. Muslim Youth Students are pressing the courts to rule that she must wear MALAY TRADITIONAL COSTUMES WHILE performing there, as her usual wordrobe is too revealing to be accepted.

Tsk. I can almost imagine her singing " Wind it up" in her Kebaya, dancing against a kampong backdrop.

How refreshing!

Sigh this country is moving backwards.

2007-08-17T13:21:00.000+08:00

I had a really interesting dinner last night. Previously when I recieved the letter and scanned through the invitation list, I remember myself thinking "Oh man, this is going to be one odd night! " However, as usual, things didn't turn out the way I thought it'll be.

In fact, I had quite alot of fun talking to the people from diverse backgrounds and occupations. At my table itself, there was a physics prof, a Cancer researcher, a nonagenarian, the lck coordinator, a pediatrician, a student studying English at Cambridge, a marine biology student, a math student and me! Really cool.

Hmmm found myself in some unlikely conversation topics. Like:

-How blackholes are formed (Thanks to prof E who's so friendly and amusing)

-Why violins are unforgiving instruments ( Doc P had an unusual way of analysing things)

-Wildlife species yet to be discovered in Singapore ( I've never seen a teen so passionate about such stuff!)

I guess it's nice to see people so zealous about what they do (:

Of course, we talked about everyday things like uni and family stuff. Thank goodness if not it would have been pretty unnatural!

It was nice to see prof LT again after the interview, whose first sentence to me last night was " Hi hx, so, you're coming back to serve in Singapore after you graduate right? "

How could I say no?

haha. I was cursing myself after the dinner for forgetting to take photos! so I forced my Dad to take one with me, to remember that night.

Thank you daddy for waiting so long for me, till the dinner was over! :D

2007-08-14T21:12:00.000+08:00

Had the opportunity to observe the speech therapists at a particular hospital at Clementi today! It was great as I finally got to observe adult patients who suffer from Dysphagia or swallowing difficulties. It was eye opening, though we could only look from behind a glass panel when the therapist performed Video Flouroscopy on the stroke patients. Pretty interesting to see how they Xrays looked when they were made to swallow specimens of different consistencies mixed with Barium Sulphide! The patients looked like they were in pain though, which is heart wrenching considering that eating itself is so difficult.Met three other people who were there to observe as well, very nice people who were super easy to talk to!

Overall it was really fun. Although there was this moment when one of the therapists went " just curious, why UCL? I have a friend who regreted going there". And I got a little worried. But I think it's pretty subjective, and there's no turning back now anyway!

Things are finally more concrete now,yay (:

2007-08-13T21:42:00.001+08:00

Single room, with en-suite bathroom!!! I can't believe it, I'm SO HAPPY!!

But I'll have to endure 20 min- long morning walks to school everyday.

Trying to neglect that aspect of it. heh.

Hopefully more good news will come my way! :D

2007-08-12T14:43:00.000+08:00

On saturday, Hz, Ch and I went to the Pre-departure session at Suntec. Can't say it was a waste of time, coz we did get to sign up and get to know more about some stuff like insurance etc. Went to the UCL booth and found out that there is indeed a camp from 26th to 28th!hmm, somehow I wasnt that excited about the camp, total contradiction to what I felt when I was speculating whether there would be one. I think I'm wierd, or maybe it's just that I don't really these kinda get-to-know each other sessions :/ (kq I know you will agree haha).

Starting to get to know more people heading to the same school as me. At least I've seen some of their faces, so it's comforting in a way :) And I heard from the senior at the booth that there are two other people under MOH doing the same course as me! And I thought I would be the only international student in the small class of 60. Phew!

Later, hz ch and I headed to some Jap place for a very late lunch! Enjoyed this part of the day much more, needless to say, coz of the great company! (:

Anw, hz and I were extremely terrified by Ch's warped logic about how, if a person treats you very much nicer than how he treats others, one should just accept the person as Mr Nice guy, which means, neglect the other side of him.

We were stunned for quite some time. When will ch ever understand that BAD PEOPLE exist in this world and there's such a thing called MOTIVE! haha.

Now that I think of it, it's coz Ch always sees the good in people. It can be good and bad I guess.

We just hope she meets good people all her life :D

2007-08-09T14:59:00.000+08:00

What I did on 8/8/07

Finally got my laptop! haha, actually I'm not exactly feeling euphoric now, coz I sort of qualify as an IT idiot and thus, apart from installing microsoft 07, my laptop is happily rotting at a corner of my room (for now). Shall find some time to understand my laptop better and to save all my music and photos! Anw, I went to collect it with Kq and Shiru yesterday. Luckily I didnt go alone (I couldnt anw haha!) I think the Fujitsu guy at the booth was pretty inundated by our endless list of questions. Then, Shimin appeared with her butler! 4 of us decided to head to Holland V for lunch!

Thanks to my 3 babes for helping me now and then with that huge box!:D

After that, I went to Queensway's Ikea to surprise Minnie! haha. ok, I was supposed to surprise her, but she ended up giving me a shock instead! coz Weishyuan told me that Minnie works at Ikea and asked me to wait outside the florist shop instead. While waiting for Weishyuan to show up, I wondered into the shop and suddenly..

A voice: " HUIXUAN???"
Me: "AHHH MINYUAN! what are you doing here?"
Minnie: "Working? Weishyuan's coming later, so coincidental!"
Me:"omg that goon didnt tell me you're working as a florist! She even asked me to wait outside the shop!"
Minyuan: "Oh so YOU'RE the surprise Weishyuan was talking about!"
Me: yea, SURPRISE!!!:D

Later...
Weishyuan: I didnt ask you to GO IN the shop what!!!

haha anw, we fooled around the shop, although there was a camera installed right above us by Minnie's boss. haha.

Weishyuan happily squeezing chilli sauce onto her hot dog :D Happy birthday girl!

While Minnie's colleague was at the loo..

Haha, really miss the times during OM. WEISHUNICASHYUANQIKI! ok I dun think anyone will understand that apart from us! :D

Anw, both of them were super amusing as usual. Another random incident at the shop:

Customer: (holding a bunch of flowers) May I know what flower is this?

Minnie: Er, dried flowers?

Surprisingly, the customer happily accepted her answer, as I let out a shriek of uncontrollable laughter.

Anw, HAPPY NATIONAL DAY !

2007-08-06T20:54:00.000+08:00

CHEESE!! haha that was what my cousin's son shrieked when I took this photo. Haha, cannot stand it, he's so cute!!:D haha, although he defiantly chose a banana over a Pooh bear drink bottle I bought for him from HK disneyland:/Went for lunch, bowling and Pool with the cycling gang! haha, 2 members missing from this photo, still waiting for more from mak!

Chieh's head looks so puny! Apart from several strikes by tiff and (surprisingly) melvin :p, our scores were 100 plus!! Not bad huh! Our cumulative scores, I mean:D

Chieh getting ready to trash melvin (:

Today, I went for my pre-departure medical checkup! Very glad that I managed to get everything done in a day! Was pretty surprised that the JB hospitals were actually much more efficient that Spore's polyclinics as I got my Xray done and collected the film in less than 10 min! hha. My family doctor was very swift too, only hesitating when he came to questions " Is she pregnant" and "Does she have a history of mental illness?":/ Anw the blood test was painful man. So painful that my left hand was immobolised for pretty long. And 5 min later I was feeling super weak and my right ear went deaf. Took half an hr of rest, a cup of milo and 3 cookies to get me back in shape. Ah better exercise more, too much slacking is taking a toll on my health!

Hmmm, my chest. And extra organ :o

2007-08-03T20:33:00.000+08:00

Cooking a feast!

Lunch today was SUPER! Mainly coz Shiru, Hongli, Kaiqian and I whipped up our own pasta meal! haha. Had loads of fun, doing silly stuff :p haha like how we kept screaming, for funny reasons (like when Shiru whacked the Whole bottle of tomato sauce in. IT WAS HUGE! )

Proud mamas presenting their Crabstick with Chaoda garlic! (Don't trust kq to cook, especially!)

Thick gravy with butter mushrooms, sausages, onions swimming in it. YUM!

Time to eat, Finally!!

I HAD to upload this picture. For those of you who call kq a duck. STOP IT. She's actually. A snake.

Met Huiwen and Pamela on the way to queensway! haha. Huiwen tortured us the whole journey with her list of sports camp hunks, haha!

Ahh, I like these pictures. They look as though they were taken in a really blissful moment in time! (:

2007-08-01T12:38:00.000+08:00

Advertising for Gopifish:

Anyone willing to adopt rabbits? No smell, good bowel systems, furry, cuddly, hoppy and everything that tells you they're rabbits! ( The smell part is disputable haha) Let me know!

An update on Birdie and Birdie Jr:

Both are doing well, Birdie Jr hatched out of its egg abt 1 week ago and is currently still a hairless naked little pink figure. I pity him, the weather has been so cold recently, must be shivering in that nest. At least his mum is back in the nest at night to give him some warmth, from her butt I think. (the nest is pretty small I think she sits on him :/)

Gotta keep a look out though..those big fat cats my maid's secretly feeding behind my father's back seem to be prowling surreptitiously around the nest. A few weeks ago the carcass of a frog was found by my maid at the garden. Carnivorous creatures, never thought they were nice.

heh sorry I just can't click with those catty creatures.

2007-07-31T17:58:00.000+08:00

I'm sick of breathing through only one nostril. Tired of pinching my nose so tightly so that I won't scare away people in the same MRT carriage, or probably a few more down when I sneeze. Saddened by the fact that I can't taste or smell anything, not even the crispy freshly-baked waffles my mum baked last night! Plus, I can't eat properly as I have to breathe through my mouth and eat at the same time, I think I'll gag sooner or later. haha

But it's ok! It's just a flu. Ah damn I am contradictory. Must remain positive in order to surpress those flu viruses attacking my immune system. haha. So yesterday, despite the flu I went to Chieh's house with Hongzhen to infect them!

Haha it suddenly felt like I was reliving my childhood. The times when my Kindergarden friends who incidentaly live on the same street will visit each others' houses to play. Can't remember what we did, probably some embarrassing girly stuff. haha anw back to chieh's house. We played PS2!! haha, I think I really suck at this kinda games. Can't control the buttons properly, esp if it requires my left hand! Still, it was super fun playing soccer and some X-Men fighting game. Honestly the fighting was much easier as all I had to do was to whack all the buttons in different combinations!

After that we had lunch, watched some show acted by miss drunk-driving, coccaine-snorting, deserve to go behind bars Lindsay Lohan. It was so dumb, probably the worst movie I've ever watched! haha, to think that we had to fast forward the show to shorten our misery! Played table tennis for a while after that ( Chieh, I wanna play more next time! haha stop playing Bridge!)

Today, I went to the NUS matriculation. The people I know whom I met along the way all gave me the what-are-you-doing-here kind of look. haha! To exploit the laptop fair of course! Though there were only a few models on display, the Fujitsu one I was eyeing was offered at a price pretty significantly lower than normal! heh, thankfully I managed to pass of as Pam! Flashed her card to enter but I think the security guy also like blur blur. Had lunch with Zeying and Kai-Qian @ an NUS canteen before heading home!

Thanks kai-qian, shimin and my sister Pam for your patience n help! (: School's starting soon for you guys, so sad, I will be bored to death!

Thanks to Melvin for constantly reminding me that I will have a hard time gaining entry. haha more importantly, for your ahem advice. ( I still dun trust Dell though :p)

2007-07-27T00:20:00.000+08:00

My mum came into my room just now. She said, " I don't know how I'll survive without you at home ". It was either a flu or real tears in her eyes. I didn't dare to ask. Somehow, whenever my family starts talking about how things will be different in about 1.5 months time, I'll put up a tough front, saying that time will pass by real quicky and before we knew it, things will be back to how it used to be, dinner with 5 around the table. I'm excited about this whole new experience, yet I know I'll miss so many people and things back here.

The truth is, not a day passes without me thinking of me missing home and everything else. I can't imagine what will happen to me on the day of departure :/ I'd better make full use of the time I have left, it suddenly seems so damn precious to me.

2007-07-24T19:34:00.000+08:00

The Underexposed Chef

For those of you who have watched Jamie Oliver's Naked Chef, you would certainly be familiar with the hunger pangs this show leaves you to suffer with after each episode. At least for me, the seemingly effortless way in which he is able to churn out those delectable treats leaves me in awe and at the same time, a tinch of skepticism as to how much editing was made to make it appear so.

Incidentally, I'm not a very good chef. The last time I tried to prove myself when my talented home econs partner was absent from class, I presented a plate of over-fried wrinkly little banana fritters for grading. Needless to say, she still brings that incident up even till today with a laugh because those bananas pulled our grades down pretty significantly haha! Born to a big family of amazing cooks and with a younger brother who is a lil cuckoo over cooking, it makes me appear like a useless daughter who only knows how to eat. haha. Not that I mind that, coz I'm always well fed that way. But when I'm going to spend the next 4 years in a foreign land where Asian food's not going to be served at my fancy, I'm forced to learn how to cook! And that's what I've been trying to do the past few weeks...

I have a book specially to record all my precious family receipes! So far, I've 8 receipes in it and I hope to compile more with time. haha. Though I must admit that my receipes are getting more and more hmmm, succinct.

The first one on Hakka Pan fried Pancake had 5 steps.

Then the second wanton dumplings had 4.

Followed by Claypot Vegetables with 2.

As for the rest, I kept them simple, just like Jamie Oliver:

1. Mix all the ingredients together!

I hope I survive this intensive training! :o Well, to commemorate the first proper dish I managed to cook today:

Steamed chicken with mushroom!!

Anyone with hunger pangs now? :p It's not bad, really!

The Carpenters - Top Of The World

2007-07-20T22:09:00.001+08:00

2007-07-20T21:20:00.000+08:00

Our Father and Daughter Song

Top of the World by The Carpenters

This song is very special to me. It never fails to cheer me up and is one of the songs my dad and I will hum or sing together without fail since I was a kid whenever it's played over the radio.

Even more special are the moments when he'll do his thing on the guitar and we'll sing it together at night :D

You Tube has a Sing -along version of this song which I've uploaded, try singing it when you're down, it'll definitely put a smile on your face! :D

Top of the World

Such a feelin's comin' over me
There is wonder in most everything I see
Not a cloud in the sky
Got the sun in my eyes
And I won't be surprised if it's a dream

Everything I want the world to be
Is now coming true especially for me
And the reason is clearIt's because you are here
You're the nearest thing to heaven that I've seen

I'm on the top of the world
lookin' down on creation
And the only explanation I can find
Is the love that I've found ever since you've been around
Your love's put me at the top of the world

Something in the wind has learned my name
And it's tellin' me that things are not the same
In the leaves on the trees and the touch of the breeze
There's a pleasin' sense of happiness for me

There is only one wish on my mind
When this day is through I hope that I will find
That tomorrow will be just the same for you and me
All I need will be mine if you are here

I'm on the top of the world lookin'
down on creation
And the only explanation I can find
Is the love that I've found ever since you've been around
Your love's put me at the top of the world

2007-07-19T21:54:00.000+08:00

Wheeeeing at Wheelock!

True to my conviction of trying my best not to miss any outings these few weeks, I met the girls at Wheelock this afternoon!:D Apart from the usual few, Chelly came out of her hiding with a really funky new haircut and Hongli appeared back in Singapore after touring Europe for one month plus! Was so happy to see them!!

We spent 2hrs plus there and the staff gladly refilled our cups now and then! That's what I call good customer service heh. Not to forget the many cheesy, over-enthusiastic smiles a particular waiter kept flashing :p

Hongli and Me. Another ageless friendship :D

Jiayin must have been so shocked by the bill she forgot to produce her vouchers which would offer 20% discount!! JIAYIN!! haha, it's ok, save it for next time!! :D

That's the beauty of not being in school uniform, we can do stupid stuff without caring about IMAGE! Guess who are behind the animals!:D

Took this photo at the MRT station. How many trains did we miss before and after this? haha

Prison Break time! cya!

2007-07-17T22:57:00.000+08:00

Here's something I got from a former teacher's blog. I thought it was meaningful; wish it comes as a song though, then I can sing it now and then!

Everybody’s free (to wear sunscreen) – Mary Schmich

Ladies and gentlemen, of the class of '97:

Wear sunscreen.If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it.

The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience.

I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth.

Oh, never mind.

You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded.

But trust me, in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked.

You are not as fat as you imagine.

Don't worry about the future.

Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum.

The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4 pm on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing every day that scares you.

Sing.

Don't be reckless with other people's hearts.

Don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

Don't waste your time on jealousy.

Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind.

The race is long and, in the end, it's only with yourself.

Remember compliments you receive.

Forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch.

Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life.

The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don't.

Get plenty of calcium.

Be kind to your knees. You'll miss them when they're gone.

Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't.

Maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else's.

Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can.

Don't be afraid of it or of what other people think of it.

It's the greatest instrument you'll ever own.

Dance - even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room.

Read the directions, even if you don't follow them.

Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents. You never know when they'll be gone for good.

Be nice to your siblings. They're your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on.

Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard. Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths: Prices will rise. Politicians will philander.

You, too, will get old.

And when you do, you'll fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble, and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.Don't expect anyone else to support you.

Maybe you have a trust fund. Maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse.

But you never know when either one might run out.

Don't mess too much with your hair or by the time you're 40 it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it.

Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen.

On a random note, I've got a new pet!

It's called Birdie. How uncreative! But it's easy to remember la, haha. This bird (I think it's the same one every time ) visits the plant in front of my house door every 3 months, when it will build a nest for herself and her soon-to-hatch tiny eggs.

See her sleek beak sticking out? Oh the photo is inverted, sorry lazy to flip. ( in case you were thinking her amazing nest is gravity-defying) :p

It's always interesting to watch what happens during the various pre and post hatching episodes.

It's amazing how fast she builds the nest, with dried grass, twigs etc

Even how amazing how it can fit 4 birds after hatching!

This time, the nest she built was super huge! like a bird mansion!

But we discovered she only managed to deliver one egg.

One! compared to her usual 4!

She must have overestimated haha.

Cant wait for the egg to hatch so I feed Birdie JR! :D

2007-07-16T15:32:00.000+08:00

Back from Penang!

That was last night. Let me digress to something which happened more recently. I just returned from the evening market with my Dad. Argh, we were like two lost sheep there haha. I think my mum will get a rude shock when comes home from work to see all the junk we bought. heh I can already hear my maid shrieking randomly while rummaging through the goods as I type now. Just a few seconds ago, she walked up to me waving a mini bitter guard, saying " you banyak pandai hor!!? "I could only stare at her innocently :D

Anyway, I was waiting at the fish stall and saw something really strange. This woman was holding fishes under her nose and sniffing away. Hmm, I don't remember my mum teaching me to test a fish's freshness by smelling their gills :/ I must have been staring at her for pretty long, long enough for me to start hallucinating..

I thought I saw her head morph into one of a shark's... hmmm blood, yummy..sniff sniff...

I felt momentarily nauseous. The other sights around me didnt help either- fish guts and blood spilling everywhere, scales flying around like confetti. At that instant I thought of another experience which has haunted me since I was a child. I can still vividly remember what I saw, it was too gruesome to be forgettable. A lady was squating on the floor. She grabbed those amphibians and started whacking them mercilessly against a pole in front of her. For a moment she looked like she was almost in a trance. Then came the skinning. It was too much for me to bear and I ran to find my mummy. I think the market can be a pretty dark place :(

Too bad there're so many carnivores out there, myself included. haha

Speaking about food, let's talk about Penang! I really like that island. It's so culturally rich, blessed with both mountains and the sea, plus really really good food! Well, I shall not get to excited about the food, leave it for later. So I was there to learn from my speech therapist Aunt! I think it was really enriching and enjoyable observing what her at work, especially the cute kids who unfortunately suffer from a myriad of speech difficulties.

This is taken from the exact spot which I'll sit and watch, trying to stay quiet. I love the decor and cheery feel about her "office". No wonder the kids are usually eager to recieve therapy!

I decided to warm up to some of the toys since I'll probably be playing them alot with the kids in future. Haha.

I found many interesting things in my aunt's office. Including the CD above, titled "Speechercise"! This CD is super amusing, it contains songs to help exercise the tongue, " Tongue Pushups" etc. We got to try the songs out with a kid who had to strengthen his general jaw and cheek muscles.

It went like this:

Let's do a kiss!

Now smile!

Kiss!

Smile!

Kiss!

kiss smile kiss smile kiss smile kiss smile kiss smile kiss smile!

and it went faster and faster and faster.

Poor kid, I was qt afraid he'll end up with permanently cramped cheek muscles. I was trying so hard not to laugh as I watched him following the song all the way, with a straight face. haha.

On day 2 we went to a nice hilltop restaurant for dinner with my local aunts and uncles! The ambience was really great.

I think my family made up a majority of the restaurant's crowd! haha

Nevertheless, I think pple who visit Penang should still stick to Hawker Food. Every nook and cranny, I guarentee something special that will stimulate your taste buds! My dad ate so much that my mum and I got a lil paranoid about potential skyrocketing blood pressure. On one night, he ate dinner, Mutton soup after that, PLUS durians AND wine! 0.o

I wanted to donate some bile to him after that.

So 4 days whizzed past and I was back in Singapore on Sunday night to watch The Dim Sum Dollies with buddies Chieh and HZ.

Pam Ooi entertained with her super amusing facial expressions, Emma Yong was a foxy comedian, Selena Tan was prosperous with humour and vocals and Hossan Leong was the sexiest. haha. It was a BLAST! Super funny. Loved how they danced around topics of Singapore's history with such quirky yet intelligent humour!

During the interval, three of us took this hiding at a corner. Got stopped by this security person coz she thought we sneaky ppl wanted to use the forbidden exit :/ yea, I'm qt a patriotic half singaporean!!!

dddddddddddddddddddddd

Ok this is a really random photo. But I just thought about how these two pals have been so important to me all these years, all the stupid stuff we did together and this photo just flashed past my mind. Very act cute hor? :D

2007-07-10T23:35:00.000+08:00

Off to Penang!

Today, I had a fun time shopping with the undisputed shopping queen, Shiru! We were supposed to head to SIM to complete some admin stuff, but there were some last min changes so we ended up burning holes in our pockets.. AND almost bursting our stomachs :/

Haha, to explain things a little... Shiru and I were both very hungry and went to New york New york for lunch. We ordered Shiru's fav pasta and a mudpie to share at first. Then, not knowing that the clam chowder soup was so gigantic, we decided to add on that dish.

So imagine our horror when the waiter came with a plate of pasta with HALF a chicken and a giant bowl of broth with 2 huge slices of bread! And they didnt let us cancel the mudpie!(will upload the photos some time later!) So we ate, hmmm quite alot. So much that I couldnt stand straight after the meal, which we took eons to finish. .. haha and a surprise awaited me when I reached home, my mum steamed 1 whole Chicken for dinner. Yummy. I've never eaten so much breast meat within a span of 5 hrs in my life. Someone bring me some Pork!

or fried fish with its head still wriggling :/

for those that didnt catch that news. Dont watch the video. It's really really disturbing.

Off to penang early tmr morn! Will spend 5 days eating alot haha. My dad even has a list of food ready! and of course.. the main purpose, the attachment to my aunt who's a speech therapist. hmmm somehow I'm excited yet apprehensive.

Then, on sunday it's DIM SUM DOLLIES! Cant wait to laugh my butt off!

So I will be MIA for quite some time, enjoy your weekend everyone! :D

2007-07-09T18:16:00.000+08:00

Are there many evil people in this world?

This afternoon, I met some of my ex-colleagues for lunch and they started bombarding me with news of the current situation at the polyclinic and of course, lots of complaints and sighs of disillusion.

It felt kinda odd sitting there listening to them. As much as I empathise with them as I've gone through some tough training as a Temp there for 4 months, there was nothing I could say to make them feel better other than " I understand how you feel, it sucks".

Unreasonable patients aside, it feels worse when the people you're working with don't bother to show you some respect. Ugly superiors! These are not the rantings of co-workers who are tired of being at the bottom of competition ladder. On the contrary, these people just want to get their job done and earn some money to sustain their family, that's all. Why make things so difficult for them?

Some have contemplated resigning, but have resisted due to financial needs. For example, a filipino colleague who is almost 6 months pregnant still struggles daily as a radiographer, hoping that despite the extreme risks that X rays may pose on her child, she will earn enough to provide him with a good future. Yet, she was forced to stay back for 2 hrs to complete x rays for 55 people on a particular day! No doubt, efficiency may be important, but nothing should compromise one's touch of humanity. Working at the polyclinic made me witness the malicious faces of mankind. It's no wonder my colleague sighed heavily this afternoon suddenly, saying " I think the world has too many ugly people". I think that's so true.

But being the positive me, I was compelled to reply " but there are many beautiful ones too".

I certainly hope that I can stand by that statement 10 years down the road when I get thrown into working world which has been cursed as immensely evil by many. I used to think working in the healthcare sector wouldn't be that bad, that I can just focus on healing and ignore everything else, all the politics. But my experience at the polyclinic introduced some skepticism in me.

Meanwhile, I should just be thankful for the great people who have been with me these 19 years (:

2007-07-08T18:46:00.000+08:00

I love rainy nights. It leaves me calm, something like a state of serenity.

And what better way to enjoy the night than lazing on the couch with a cup of hot chocolate watching the Wimbledon Finals! (haha the hot choc is imaginery! )

And so there's bound to be interesting conversations during the match.

Mum: so who do you support?

Me: The better looking one! ( not because he is better looking but I'm tired of Federer winning again and again and again, and Nadal happens to be the better looking one. haha)

Mum: Hmm, who is better looking? The one who is the king of the MUD courts?

Everyone else: 0.o ?

Mum: yea i heard he's really good on the mud.

It's clay, mum. haha. I dont think those balls will ever bounce on mud. They'll probably go PIAK!

Anyway, I think I'll give up watching halfway...it's gonna end like at 1am! And Federer's probably gonna win this time, boo :(

I'll just lie on bed and listen to some good music. yea, I'm really enjoying life man! (:

2007-07-07T22:30:00.000+08:00

Random crap

Was pretty bored so I decided to attempt some online tests I came across to kill time. Wow did I find out some amusing things about myself haha.

The first test I took supposedly helps to unravel your hidden talent.

Your Hidden Talent

Here is the analysis:
The Mass Communicator
You have a cheerful personality and you are a naturally kind person. Your hidden talent isn't really that hidden at all: you shine among a crowd. You would make an ideal news announcer, flight attendant or model - any position that would give you an opportunity to deal with plenty of people. A tip for you is to avoid getting too deeply involved in others' personal lives - otherwise you might find yourself constantly being asked for help.

Flight Attendant/ model!! 0.o I dun think the fact that I'm rather vertically challenged is hidden. hmmm

So I decided to try something fun and came across this test. It's just a question asking you how you would eat fried eggs.haha

How do you eat fried eggs?

Here is the analysis:
You are likely to be influenced by anything. You find it's very difficult to say "No" to others, especially when you are pushed.

How did they come up with this conclusion!! I merely said that I usually eat the yolk first! -.-

The last test I did was even more, hmmm interesting. I was made to choose between 3 adjacent toilet cubicles.

Toilet Test

Here is the analysis:
You are an efficient person but you always need time to think through issues before taking action. You can be a romantic one but you are too hasty making decisions in love. Generally, you are very cheerful.

Then, I decided to abandom taking such tests! grrr. What's next? " How do you breathe??"

Maybe the analysis goes like this:

If you breathe through your nose more often than your mouth: You are an alert individual as your nose is closer to your brains and thus they will recieve oxygen more efficiently. wait. The air has to go to the lungs first, then to the brain is it? Gosh wad happened to my bio 0.o

If you breathe through your mouth more than your nose: You are close -minded as your brain is often as blocked as your nose. You're usually more quiet and reserved as breathing through your mouth leaves you with less time to talk.

Ah I'm really bored! pardon me eh!

2007-07-07T19:04:00.000+08:00

07/07/07

Yesterday, kq, shimin, shiru, jiayin, xuanyi and I went to East Coast! It felt great to be by the sea, it's one of the best feelings to me! Although the heat was rather intense as it was 2pm by the time we reached! :/ haha so we rented 6 bikes and whee* we were off! Haha so we cycled, some sang while cycling, some sped off with their powerful hamstrings and one was rather wobbly. haha no prizes for guess who ;) heh dun wry dear, we know you're a newbie! :D

So after 1.5 hrs of cycling, we were in pretty much pain. haha. Makes me wonder how those pros at Tour de France cycle miles and miles seemingly effortlessly! They must have some really good padding down there. hmm

We stopped for a nice shot! Photo stolen from Geejaywhy! :p

After that, kq and I went for dinner with Ritz at Wheelock. The queues were super long, coz it was a fri night, so we waited about 1/2 hr before we got our seats! But the yummy lagsana and mudpie made it all worth it, plus, of course, the catching up!

Then, I took bus with kq back. It's always nice to talk to her. We talked about the possible future, our insecurities, our fears, our hopes. haha and kq was whining that she "doesnt want to grow up" because growing up comes with many more responsibilities. It's true, the past few months have been crazy, all the instability, speculation, mad rush and even disappointments. That period made me realize what it means exactly to be at the crossroads. Sometimes, you just feel like just standing in the middle and get run over. But I'm glad this period is over for most people and for those who are still struggling, I really hope things will fall into place soon, it will (:

Today's a perfect sunless day to go swimming. I had lotsa fun watching some kids learning how to swim! In particular, there was this really skinny little boy who was taking ages to inch forward towards his exasperated instructor. He was just hanging awkwardly in the water; looked so much like a puny prawn in the deep blue sea haha.

It feels good to have worked out your body in the day, coz it gives you an excuse to laze around and do nothing the whole night! I'll probably just sit around and watch the Live earth concert or something, although the bands featured so far are a lil wierd. According to my dad, they're a "bunch of youngsters high on drugs who have nothing to do with saving the earth" haha. He must be rather disappointed as he was probably expecting some familiar music from his generation. Maybe Frank Sinatra or Michael Jackson?

I didnt remember to wear green today, but I tried to do my part by asking for one less plastic bag at the swimming pool counter just now, haha :p Happy Earth Day Everyone!

2007-07-04T19:33:00.000+08:00

Many random thoughts

Today, I went out with GP! It was nice catching up after such a long time (: and i got to find out more about her applications and preparation for UK! It felt good to know that we'll still be somewhat close even after all these years and not separated by half a globe! I cant believe that 14 years passed since we knew each other,we've grown so much!

Spot the difference!! The picture below was taken during our kindergarden sports meet!haha.

I think this really is testament of how friendship can withstand the test of time (:

............................................

Oh I managed to find Hilltop (my kindergarden) alumni group on Facebook! It was so funny how people were reminiscing about our teachers and the funky annual concerts we put in so much effort to prepare!

...........................................

Back to my nostalgic note, I was talking to GP this afternoon about our future plans after uni, whether we may stay back and work etc. This reminded me of a conversation I had with my parents a few weeks back.. For some reason, we were discussing about whether longevity genes existed in our family, then it turned out to be a somewhat subtle talk about death. Out of the blue, my dad said that he will give himselft about 15 more living years. It suddenly struck me, that after I graduate, that will add up to around 5 years...that leaves not much time. Of course, I tried to convince myself overwise...

...........................................

The matter-of-fact way in which he said it made me cry so hard inside.

...........................................

Well, I guess this is just a fact of life, death. I'm not being morbid, just reflective. It helps me to cherish the people and things around me, do the things I want to do.

............................................

"'Everybody knows they're going to die, but nobody believes it. If we did, we would do things differently,' Morrie said. 'So we kid ourselves about death,' I (Mitch) said. 'Yes, but there's a better approach. To know you're going to die and be prepared for it at any time. That's better. That way you can be actually be more involved in your life while you're living. . . Every day, have a little bird on your shoulder that asks, 'Is today the day? Am I ready? Am I doing all I need to do? Am I being the person I want to be?... The truth is, Mitch, once you learn how to die, you learn how to live... Most of us walk around as if we're sleepwalking. We really don't experience the world fully because we're half asleep, doing things we automatically think we have to do... Learn how to die, and you learn how to live.'"

-- Tuesdays with Morrie

2007-07-03T00:56:00.000+08:00

Memories in a Pool

Yesterday morning, my mum dragged me to go swimming. It was the first time in many many months, the last time being during PE lessons, that I went to the pool! Thank goodness we could still fit into our swimsuits. haha, after all that slacking and rotting at home I'm starting to feel like a lump. It felt great, to exercise again and more so, to be swimming again with my parents at a place which brings back so many fond memories.

I still remember as a young kid playing at the pool with my parents and brothers. We did stupid, quirky stuff like

seeing who could shout the loudest underwater, which we more often than not ended up being choked on water instead :/

traumatize my lil brother by tickling him without mercy. yea we were evil siblings.

Watch my lil brother helplessly trying to find his goggles which we threw really far away.

Attempting hand stands underwater.

Trying to swim without using our arms

Trying to swim without using our legs

Trying to swim without coming up to breathe

Trying to swim without our heads in the water

See who was the tallest by measuring the height of water against our bodies , which i decided to abandon after realizing i was always totally submerged.

haha I'll really miss those moments. Even the painful ones when I get kicked by my mum while she was swimming, coz she didnt seem to be able to scan her sides when executing her deadly breaststrokes.

Every lap told a different story, different feelings and experiences which inundated me.

As september draws near, I tell myself there is not much time left to share and feel them close to me. I wish time will creep by slower!

2007-07-01T14:53:00.000+08:00

Interact Dinner!

7 of us had dinner at New York New York!It was nice catching up with the rest of the com members and I realised that quite a few people are going overseas too! We sat there for about 2 hrs chatting and eating, talking about stuff ranging from how Adelene's intensely cynical towards facebook being a "social utility" to gang rapes in the army :0 I think Sheng Li was quite traumatized after that conversation. Haha.

After the main course and mudpie, apple- flavoured CANDY FLOSS , yum yum! Kq tried to dissolve the candy floss in her water to make apple juice, I heard it tasted not bad, can try the next time!

2007-06-29T23:49:00.000+08:00

PHOTOS OF OUR HK TRIP! sleepy heads waiting for our plane at 7 plus am. Cathay food was not bad at all, they served us omellete which was the size of 3 chicken eggs or an ostrich egg. haha plus ONE tomato, potatoes, fruits, bun and yogurt. not for ppl with minute stomachs. haha.

We were amazed by the size of the hotel room! so cosy that our 3 beds were almost stuck together! But it was good for lazy ppl like me, coz it only takes at most 3 steps to the toilet. haha ok maybe less steps for ppl with longer legs, like cihan!

The scenic night view of HK!Too bad i was admiring this with a spinning head. The bus ride up was so bad I felt like puking out the goose we ate prior to that. argh. but the view compasated for that(:

Then, we proceeded to meet very important people! like einstein, who wasnt as enthusiastic to see me as i was to see him..

But Kylie was very much more sporting to pose seductively with the 1.58 m gang!

Then we had a night cruise on a open top bus around the shopping district of HK! The neon lights were blinding!

The next day, we went to disneyland! (Cihan,Shiru,Xuanyi and me). The train to the disney station was really cute! too bad it rained when we got there.. a lil dampening but we still had fun as seen from the pics below!

Wad's disneyland without sweet treats? yummy!

Pooh and his friends. Ah really, it felt like I was reliving my childhood (:

The squirrels were so cute! Though they're prob dizzy from the suffocating heat in that costume, they were super hyper :D made me wonder if I'll make a good Chip/dale/minnie mouse/pooh etc. hha. it would be fun to try out such a job! as a temp maybe, cant imagine doing this my whole life! though everyday will seem like a happy day with people posing around you and giving you high fives and hugs. :)

Posing with kq or daisy. We felt like kq was around us, yea we felt your presence dear. haha

Spinning in tea cups! man the after-effect wasnt good as..

I'm not a good spinner! more spinning! so i decided to skip spinning in a space ship or risk my intestines getting entangled with my kidneys. ok i dunno wad i'm saying!

We met wierd pple at disneyland..

and did wierd stuff too...

Kq's signature pose with a stone statue of herself in a bathing suit behind! :D it was time to go home!

We had a nice breakfast at an old coffee shop on the last morning. the french toast was really good, very generously glazed with maple syrup :D

Women in black. haha posing while waiting for our pasta!! why are we always eating?
Soon it was time to go home! Didnt take many pictures of us shopping coz we were hmmm, too busy shopping! haha.

Thanks girls, for making this trip a memorable one! (:

2007-06-22T16:32:00.000+08:00

VERY RANDOM ENTRY!

Yes, as kindly pointed out by Melvin, I have not been updating. Only a few days what 0.o! ah i guess creating a blog is not that hard. It's maintaining it that's the headache! So after reflecting on my lazy behaviour, i've come up with a random entry!

Let's talk about my driving experience so far!

After getting my license in May, I've only driven a handful of 5 times since. Because, as a considerate and responsible driver as inscribed in the 10 Commandments for Drivers (recently created) by the Pope, I've decided not to drive so as to avoid increasing the risk to my other dear motorists (or non-living things)

The FIRST time i tried out my parent's car around the neighbourhood, my rear almost scrapped the side of a shiny BMW parked beside a neighbour's house.

The SECOND time I drove, I was good! I drove my dad all the way to the pizza place to take away pizzas on Fathers' Day. I was so proud of myself! Then my elder brother had to drive back in case we ended up with cold soggy pizzas. haha but I still believe going slow is good, going slow is safe ok!

The THIRD time I drove, the stupid Sultan came out to play. ( In Msia, motorists have to politely move their cars to the side of the roads whenever the Sultan and his entourage of nonsensical bodyguards drive past. So that day, so sway I met him on the roads and one of his stupid bodyguards gestured rudely for me to move but I didnt. haha. My dad said I could have had my license suspended for that! :/ wah so dumb, Sultan only what, all he does is spend taxpayers money and come out to play. Everyone should rebel and run over his entourage! HAHA.

The FOURTH time I drove, I took my family safely to breakfast. YAY! But life is not always smooth-sailing..

The FIFTH time I drove, I rammed into the dustbin outside my house.
I wonder if there'll be a sixth.haha.

Anyone needs a ride, can call me anytime!

Flying off to hk on monday morning, feeling excited!! Get to go to disneyland and take pictures with Mickey Mouse! :D

2007-06-20T14:59:00.000+08:00

Is it just me, or did I find Shiru's long-lost Tibetian twin sister?

10 Things about Tibet

2007-06-19T16:19:00.000+08:00

Having just returned from Tibet, I'm still trying to adjust to the sudden switch in culture. On second thought, there's not much culture here in Singapore or Msia in general, unless we consider GSSmania, eatingmania or corruptionmania( I mean the latter of course) categories of culture. Tibet is so culturally enriched it's very much an integral part of their lives and it's intriguing just observering the unique Tibetian way of life and breathtaking landscapes. I wish I could stay longer! Here's 10 things about Tibet that you may find interesting..

1. It's the Roof of the World!

Because of the high altitude, some people may experience breathing difficulties or other related sicknesses. Hence a doc is attached to each tour group. As the oxygen in the air is very thin, minimal actions will lead to a huge amount of energy exhausted. I still remember struggling for air after crossing a road junction and waking up in the middle of several nights to the rapid "thump thump thumping" of my heart! Pretty scary. Above: my uncle and family friend recieves medical treatment at their hotel "wards"!

2. It's home to many "highest" and "biggest"

En route, we visited the highest salt lake, the biggest salt lake in the world and the famous Potala Palace, which used to house previous Dalai Lamas, just to name a few. Above: the Potala Palace

3. Huge, close-to-nature toilets

Lack of makeshift toilets along the way led us to do our business behind a bush/log/whatever we can hide behind. At first, it was super embarrassing at first and the females tried to use umbrellas to cover up, but after that, we just hecked and trusted that everyone will just literally mind their own business and not peep! haha, though there were Pervs around like my cousin who was taking shots of us with our heads popping out from the bushes. Man!(and there was a local Tibetian lady at one stop who stood there and stared at us for VERY long. She was probably wondering if we were stealing her bush cherries :x) Ah i really wished to be a male then, until the tour guide said some stupid male went to pee against the wind direction :0

4. Remember your sunblock!

Due to the altitude, the UV rays are ultra strong and damaging. I pity the Tibetian Kids who all have burnt cheeks which made them look so much older. We were also joking around that our butts have also been fried due to frequent singing in the wild! :x

5. Sand Storms

We were greeted by a sand storm when we reached Lhasa. Apart from that, raindrops are often icy cold even during the months of summer!

6. YAKYAKYAKYAK

Yaks everywhere! I pity those Yaks(like the one I'm sitting on) because they're like for exhibition and their owners pull them by a rope which goes through their noses. Ah i dunno how to describe. Still, they look quite sad. Although those happier ones at the fields are ultimately meant for the butcher knives, at least their less abused by tourists. Ok i was one of those abusers, but I was forced onto it! haah, these tibetian owners were really quick! once we alighted the bus, they wrapped us up in traditional clothing at lightning speed, got us up the yaks and demanded 15 yuan each.

7. Quiet Pets

There's a kind of tranquility in Tibet. Apart from the spiritual tranquility, I think what contributes to it is probably the animals who don't have a liking for making noise. The locals say that its because of the lack of oxygen, that's why the dogs dont bark, the goats seldom meh .

8. Great Hospitality

The Tibetians are really hospitable people. Upon visiting a tibetian village, the house lady started pouring us wine, tea and serving their local cuisine. She held my cousin's hand throughout the 35 min visit. We almost wanted to leave him there as her son in law!

9. Religious Commitment

The Tibetians are a religious group of people. Their prayers often require huge time and physical commitment, which they execute almost daily with sheer devotion. For example, praying for them does not just constitute a simple head bow, they have to lie fully on the ground, get up and repeat many times, as seen in this photo.

10. Poverty

Many Tibetians still live below the poverty line. I still remember the look on the children's faces when we offered them sweets and chocolates. Or the look of desperation on a particular boy's face as he pleaded me persistently, pulling my shirt and saying " Please Sister, I beg of you". It was a look I will remember for a long time.

All right, will upload more photos sometime later!

my first entry!

2007-06-17T17:59:00.000+08:00

Surprisingly, as excited as I am at finally creating my blog, I am at the lost of words in my first entry. GAH. Maybe this is still foreign to me. haha. Well I guess the introduction is always the hardest, so I'll say more in my later posts. Meanwhile, I hope this blog helps me to stay connected with my friends, as everyone slowly leaves for separate paths, and that it will stay ALIVE! for many years to come! ok why is the first entry so painful! :x

Take care everyone!