Faith, Hope and Love. ♥

Sunday, January 31, 2010 10:45 PM

Wow to think that a month flies really fast! :)
And it's 2 more weeks to CNY woohoo! Though I've yet to get the chance to see the crazy CHEENAtown crowd hahaha.

And Tab, I know you read my blog super often, and I've just gotta say this(even though I've already said it earlier!):

I'M REALLY HAPPY FOR YOU TWO! :D
You should know what I'm talking about! :) I'm not gonna be so explicit!

Saturday, January 30, 2010 1:09 AM

Cheers for the long weekend! :)

Yep, I was off from work yesterday(technically so since it's already 1.10am on my com clock!) and so the plan to meet up with Sarah to chill out plus window shop was great! :)

We hit Nine West, Coach, Marc Jacob.. OK, all the really pricey stuff! No kidding, the prices are in the 3-digit range, smallest of which is 5. Go figure how the price level increases. It's like we're tai-tais. HAHAHA.

Oh and the guy who attended to us looks like Wilber Pan! :D Good-looking, well-dressed and well-spoken! :D I could safely say that his service makes other promoters' services pale out in comparison. And both of us girls started gushing about that guy's looks and everything once we were safely out of Marc Jacobs hahahaha.

And I met bestie Pearl at Taka! Totally out of the blue as well, since it's her birthday yesterday and I'd dropped her a birthday message, including a meet-up suggestion since it's been quite awhile since we'd last met. So it was a total surprise to see her! :)

Dinner was at Blue Mountain Cafe at 313@Somerset. Sarah's recommendation! The food was really good, not to mention dirt cheap for a cafe. It's the first time I settled a bill so easily and not feeling guilty despite the fact I was nearly broke. :) I ordered BM Club Sandwich(the serving was gastronomical!), Sarah ordered rosemary chicken, and both were $8.50 each. Total bill was $20 after GST and it's really the first time I'd ever seen a bill so easy to settle. :)
Heh, goes to show that just 2 people eating together makes a bill easier to settle. Imagine if it's a group of 4 or more. :D

No photos during that period when we were chilling, we were too caught up with the gossip and window-shopping to bother and for a moment I actually forgot that my camera was in my bag too hahaha!

So it was off to cheena Chinatown(pun intended!) after we went seperate ways to meet up with my mum and her colleagues!

The guy in the middle is Ben, and he's new to my mum's company, and he's kind of at the learning-the-ropes stage. He's 26 and I think he's good looking! :D

With me this time. :)

Chinatown lights. 2 more weeks to CNY!

Thursday, January 28, 2010 3:57 PM

Tangled emotions

Why? Why do I suddenly feel this way?

I really don't understand it at all. Is my subconscious trying to tell me something? I'd been thinking about something but in my dreams, something else comes up instead. And it's something totally unexpected and it has never, ever occurred to me before until that dream. It just caught me off-guard, totally.

And I'm a person who usually haves dreamless sleep. But this one came to me in vivid detail, to the extent that when morning came it just suddenly hit me like a bolt of lightning. And I remember everything about the dream.

Does this mean that I will eventually come to a crossroads of sorts, where I'll have to make a choice? Because I know that when the decision is made, there's no turning back.

Or is this a case of an over-active imagination?

Maybe I should go into Facebook less often.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010 9:52 PM

Malacca!

I know I've been neglecting this page abit over the past few days, but it's mainly because my home com was down and I don't really want to use my office com to update.
Anyway, I crashed OGL Camp last friday! It's been an incredible long time since I last went back to JJ(I think the last time I went back was to collect my SGC), and stepping back in there with Mayching made all the memories come back full force. Especially when songs like 'YMCA', '5 Colours In Her Hair', 'Ain't It Funny' blasted out! :) That equals to mass dance! Gosh the crazy days of mass dance were just so fun. :D

It was Malacca on last Saturday. It was not bad, but I swear the heat's out to kill us! Talk about blistering and melting, it's really mentally draining as well.

Pics do talk!

Tabs is superwoman. :D

This really brought geography back to life! The tropical rainforests that we studied back in sec 3 physical geog. :)

REAL bees. No kidding.

My mum's collegue Abby with her son. Cute! :D

Cousins! :)

1 word to describe the coconut pudding: SEDAP! :D it was damn nice and perfect especially for the blistering hot weather.

LOL.

That iguana and snakes are real. Really.

Some French church we went to. Forgot the name of the place but I remember that it dates back to the 1700s.

I forgot to rotate, but if you can make out the words, they're in French. Somehow the place reminds me of the Vatican in the movie Angels and Demons.

Violinist in the church. :)

We climbed many steps to get to the church. This was taken at ground level(with the zoom) so you can imagine how high up the church is.

These are mainly from my camera, the rest are all on facebook! Because uploading everything here is going to take forever and there're quite alot of photos, not just from my camera, but also from my mum's colleague's camera, and he was like the cameraman for the day too.

Friday, January 22, 2010 1:51 PM

TGIF!

Really, the end of the week is what everyone looks forward to. :)

Right now I'm in the office, it's freezing cold because the weather today has been extremely rainy. Yea, it's that stage when early in the morning you're lying in bed and you want a slightly longer shut-eye because the weather's so inviting and cooling. :)

Anyway, great way to mark the weekend- Going back JJ to crash OGL camp later, Malacca tml morning! :)
This short getaway would probably do me some good too, get out of sunny Singapore to explore abit. And maybe, in the near future, get more chances to travel overseas too! :)

Cheers to the weekend! :D

Tuesday, January 19, 2010 3:18 PM

SKU=SCHOOL, in SMS language.

What I found on Facebook:
SKU=Stupid Kuku Uni.

LOL. It tickled my funny bone big time. xD

10:31 AM

Sick+Lousy Night's Sleep+Public Transport Woes=Miserable & Unhappy me! :(

That stupid cough just keeps sticking to me like a leech! It's already bad enough to keep coughing, and have your chest hurt too. It's even worse to be woken by that racking cough. That cough has already woken me up in the dead of the night for 2 nights running! :(
And right now I'm at work, but my mood is extremely zombified and I feel really stupefied(OK, that sounds like Harry Potter) from the lack of good, undisturbed sleep. :(

And public transport is such a pain! Especially that peak hour rush. I start work at 0930, so usually by 0850 I'm at JE station. Everytime I wait for the Pasir Ris bound trainI work at Chinatown), the Marina Bay-Jurong East train will come in, and the load of people that comes out! Talk about insanely packed, the MRT's always packed to the max and there's hardly even any room to manuever!
It actually got to the stage where I start praying that the Pasir Ris bound train will leave before the Marina Bay-Jurong East trainload of people alight. >< Worse of all, after every passenger-laden train leaves, the next train will be the one not meant for passengers. And the crowd subsequently gets even larger!
I swear, the non-passenger trains should be made passenger-bound during the peak hour time, so that the crowd control is not so out of hand.

Alright, I think this post is getting angsty and whiny. And I have a date with the doctor this evening, to get rid of that horrible cough before Malacca this saturday and CNY. :(

Saturday, January 16, 2010 11:20 PM

Haiti earthquake

Relief groups face ‘race against time’ in Haiti
Bodies mount amid fears that desperation will boil over into lawlessness

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - With food, water and other aid flowing into Haiti in earnest, relief groups and officials are focused on moving the supplies out of the clogged airport and to hungry, haggard earthquake survivors in the capital.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was expected in Port-au-Prince on Saturday, scheduled to confer with President Rene Preval and U.S. and international civilian and military officials on how best to help the recovery effort and Haitian government.
Clinton on Friday cited a "race against time" before anxiety and anger create additional problems. Relief workers warned that unless supplies are quickly delivered, Port-au-Prince will degenerate into lawlessness.
A water delivery truck driver said he was attacked in one of the city's slums. There were reports of isolated looting as young men walked through downtown with machetes, and robbers reportedly shot one man whose body was left on the street.
"I don't know how much longer we can hold out," said Dee Leahy, a lay missionary from St. Louis, Missouri, who was working with nuns handing out provisions from their small stockpile. "We need food, we need medical supplies, we need medicine, we need vitamins and we need painkillers. And we need it urgently."
The Red Cross estimates 45,000 to 50,000 people were killed in Tuesday's magnitude-7.0 earthquake. While workers are burying some in mass graves, countless bodies remain unclaimed in the streets and the limbs of the dead protrude from crushed schools and homes.
Other bodies were thrown into trucks and driven to the outskirts of town to be burned Friday. Residents paint toothpaste around their nostrils and beg passers-by for surgical masks to cut the smell. If the government still exists and the United Nations is around, I hope they can help us get the bodies out," said Sherine Pierre, a 21-year-old communications student whose sister died when her house collapsed.
A third of Haiti's 9 million people may be in need of aid. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the World Food Program was providing high-energy biscuits and ready-to-eat meals to around 8,000 people "several times a day."
"Obviously, that is only a drop in the bucket in the face of the massive need, but the agency will be scaling up to feed approximately 1 million people within 15 days and 2 million people within a month," he said.
U.S. officials on Friday also acknowledged the limits of their initial relief efforts, and promised a quick ramp-up in delivery of badly needed supplies. Dr. Rajiv Shah, the White House's coordinator of the U.S. relief effort who was also expected to arrive Saturday, indicated aid would begin flowing more freely in the next few days.
The effort to get aid to the victims has been stymied by blocked roads, congestion at the airport, limited equipment and other obstacles. U.N. peacekeepers patrolling the capital said popular anger was rising and warned aid convoys to add security to guard against looting.
Officials said some of the delivery problem was due to the damaged seaport. The arrival Friday of the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson started helping immediately, taking pressure off the city's jammed airport. Within hours, an 82nd Airborne Division rapid response unit was handing out food, water and medical supplies from two cargo pallets outside the airport. Today showMilero Cedamou, the 33-year-old owner of a small water delivery company, twice drove his small tanker truck to a tent camp where thousands of homeless people are living. Hundreds clustered around to fill their plastic buckets.
"This is a crisis of unspeakable magnitude, it's normal for every Haitian to help," Cedamou said. "This is not charity."
Medical teams from other nations set up makeshift hospitals to tend to the critically injured. Time, however, was running short for the rescue of people who still might be alive under the rubble.
"Beyond three or four days without water, they'll be pretty ill," said Dr. Michael VanRooyen of the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative in Boston. "Around three days would be where you would see people start to succumb."

The Haiti earthquake was really terrible, and heartbreaking in so many ways imaginable. Lost lives, changed destinies, injuries, grief-stricken families, shattered bodies.. The list really goes on. And the degree of social unrest is climbing up still higher.

At present, the death toll is climbing to 100,000, and it won't be surprising if the death toll increases still further, judging by the magnitude of the earthquake and the extent of damages that has already occurred.

I think I heard on the news about how more doctors should be sent in, and not more journalists. I guess it's a subjective issue, because after all, the earthquake is a human-interest issue and with the journalists at the scene, the probability of the news spreading might be much faster and in a way, might be able to help to bring in more necessary aid. However, since Haiti is one of the poorer regions of America, it would be more appropriate if there were more doctors available. Greater differences might be made to people who are hanging on to life by just a thread.

God, please bless all the poor victims in Haiti, and may more survivors be dug out alive, amidst all that wreckage and damage. Amen.

12:43 AM

Baby Mania!

The 'I-can't-sleep' syndrome has struck again. Must be due to the McCafe iced latte I had earlier this afternoon, and another cup at dinner. ><

Mood of the day for Nike boy: Grouchy! When my mum carried him, it took only a few seconds for her right sleeve to be covered in his drool. And after awhile he kicked up a fuss.

You wouldn't believe the fuss he kicked up when his nappy was being changed.

Awww. <3

Sleeping baby girl!

Babies love their finger sucking. LOL.

Ryan Tan Rui Heng! :)

Rachael Tan Xuan En!

I hearts this little guy. So cute! <3

I don't get it about babies sucking their toes. Really.

No prizes for guessing who's the boy and who's the girl!

Thursday, January 14, 2010 10:13 AM

Please don't tell me that I'm coming down with flu and sore throat. :( I still want to train for sundown!

I'm updating from work now, I can't believe that I overslept by 20 minutes today, yet I managed to get to work 10 minutes early. God must be with me. :) Must be due to the swimming yesterday that knocked me out fast.

I swear, today was really tiring. It's largely thanks to the recent workouts that has left me aching, even coughing makes my stomach hurt! ><

Normally work doesn't get so crazy.

Wah, shitload of emails that came in all today! It partially accounts for my being tired and half-knocked-out state. But I've to say, my job is really very interesting indeed. :D

Anyway, overdue photos from celebrating Mayching's 20th! :)

Ok, the rest are on facebook! I'm really too lazy to load everything here and I'm too tired as well.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010 12:46 AM

Commonwealth!

In today's paper(technically yesterday since it's already past 12am), I saw Commonwealth Sec! :) Albeit the fact that the express stream wasn't mentioned.
It's been a really long while since Commonwealth actually hit headlines with good O Level results, since 2006, when the students were really outstanding acadmically. And it's good that throughout, they've always performed quite well for O Levels. But then again, I've always loved Commonwealth, for many reasons.

1. Super near my place! It's like a 15 minutes walk from my place, though my dad always gives me a lift in the morning because I'm a lazybones who always wants to cling to the bed a little longer.
2. Hilltop campus! It's the most unique feature and now the campus is physically a blank shell, since Hong Kah Sec moved out of it already.
3. The blue school uniform, which is actually quite similar to CJ's uniform in many ways. It also earned me the 'smurf' nickname for a short while when I was in J1. -.-
4. The bomb shelter band room. 4 years of my life there, wonderful memories, near impossible to describe. How I'd always say 'go down to the band room' instead of 'go up to the band room'.

Everytime I walk past and look up, I hear the echoes of the past.

Now that it's 2010, I'd be 20 when August comes. Ohgosh, time really flies! The last I looked, I was still young and innocent. And I blinked, and suddenly I see myself much older, raring to go and explore new opportunities, cross and break boundaries. And to see myself actually going to attempt something that I would never have done in the past, I now understand.

Time and circumstances can really change a person.
Ok, this is totally not related to the Commonwealth post though, but somehow I just want to type it down.

This is what I really want to do this year. Not the marathon of course! I'm not ready for that yet, and that needs very intensive training. 10km for now will do. :) Same goes for Nike Human Race and Standard Chartered. At least Stan Chart's at the end of the year, so can easily train up. No news of Nike Human Race! :(

My decision and resolution to take part has earned me a 'you-must-be-crazy' look from both parents. But it's really a 'me against the world' thing, I'm definitely going to prove that I can do this, at least conquer 2 runs this year!

Adidas Sundown Marathon: 29th May 2010
Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon: 5th December 2010(If I remember correctly)

Nothing's impossible to achieve, if you set your mind, heart and soul to it. :)

Monday, January 11, 2010 11:20 PM

I enjoyed today, even if work was tiring in the morning.

Meeting Nandita is always great, we gab like there's no tomorrow, and I usually try to make the most out of it since she's studying in USA and meeting up with her when she's back in town can be abit of a problem schedule wise. But it seems that I have another chance to hang out with her again, with 3D avatar! :D And furthermore, we seem to be on the same frequency most of the time, with quite a fair bit of time raving over how hot Taylor Lautner is, how he oozes charm and sex appeal big time. Sorry to the Team Edward supporters out there, I'm very clearly a Team Jacob supporter! Okay, that sounds abit silly. ><

I've heard Avatar's really good, from word of mouth and rave magazine reviews. :)
Even though the fact is that I wanted to watch Treasure Hunter, I'm re-considering now cos 8DAYS gave it 1/5 rating. -.- And though I'm a rather hardcore Jay fan, I've to honestly admit that he's better off with music than acting.

I know God is really good, granting me more time to spend with good friends. For that, I'm really grateful, because after family, friends are important as well. In fact, family and friends are really integral and essential parts of life. After all, no man is an island. :)

Friday, January 08, 2010 1:54 PM

Rules: Once you’ve been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it’s because I want to know more about you!

1. I'm a big fan of Jay Chou! Though it has earned me a few 'why-do-you-like-him-so-much?!' stares from friends. And I got the chance to meet him in person too, how cool is that! :D

2. I've been learning the piano since I was 6 and I've already gotten my grade 8 cert. :) But trust me, I'm not that good a pianist, there're many people out there who are definitely way better than me.

3.I can play drums, but I'm not that good and now I'm a little rusty because I've been out of touch for about 3 years, ever since I graduated from commonwealth.

4. I don't really like Chinese as a subject, but I like Chinese songs a lot. Namely Jay's songs lol.

5. I contemplated joining netball in secondary school, and track and field in JC but in the end I didn't go for it.

6. I've always wanted to take part in Standard Chartered/Adidas Sundown Marathon/Nike Human Race. And I will go for the 10km runs soon too, I don't think I'm ready to conquer the full marathon yet. :)

7. During my 1st 3 months in JJ, people have told me that I look like I'm from NJ instead of JJ. It's something I've never been quite able to understand.

8. I was nicknamed 'smurf' during my 1st 3 months, because when we were still in our secondary school uniforms, we had to do self-introduction. And when I said I was from Commonwealth, someone said I was a smurf. NOT the height issue, it's the blue uniform that earned me that nickname for a short while! -.-

9. I'd want to go to Dubai, Europe, Hong Kong, Taiwan and USA one day! :)

10. For a girl, I'm rather tanned and my tan doesn't fade easily even after a long day under the hot sun.

11. My me-time involves long walks and my music. :)

12. I can never sleep before 11pm. Old habits die hard, indeed.

13. My longest record of talking on the phone was 3 hours solid, with my best friend. And the best part was that we hadn't realised how long we'd been talking, it was 130AM when we finally hung up. LOL.

14. I can hear a piece of music and gauge roughly what key it is in. And my guess turns out to be correct a few times, when I see the actual music score itself.

15. I wanted to learn how to play the violin when I was younger, but in the end I didn't go for it.

16. I'm a sucker for good food, regardless of whether it's Western, Chinese, Italian, Japanese. As long as you treat my tummy well, I'm your good friend. :)

17. If I like to do something, I'll never get sick of it even if you make me do it repeatedly.

18. I'm easygoing by nature, but if you test my patience for too long and too often, what you'd get is a severe tongue-lashing, until your ears shrivel up.

19. I've always admired Michael Jackson's dancing, and it's really sad that he died just before he could kick off his final concert tour.

20. If I had the chance, I'd really want to see Westlife in person. :) And I think they're coming to Singapore for a concert too! Anyone? :)

21. I've always believed that a few best friends is much better than knowing many acquaintances. :)

22. I like going for long walks at the beach, but unfortunately the nearest beach to me is Sentosa, and though I don't mind travelling to East Coast, the long distance can be a bore, especially since I tend to get abit carsick if I read on the bus.

23. I really love my family and the people I'm close to! :)

24. I've always wanted to try other water sports like water skiing and wakeboarding. Guess you could say that I'm one who's game for water related sports. :)

25. The power of God is amazing, don't you think so? :)

Tuesday, January 05, 2010 1:41 PM

The Dance

Looking back on the memory of the dance
We shared 'neath the stars above
For a moment all the world was right
How could I have ever known that you'd ever say goodbye

And now I'm glad I didn't know
The way it all would end, the way it all would go
Our lives are better left to chance
I could have missed the pain
But I'd have had to miss the dance

Holding you, I held everything
For a moment wasn't I a king
But if I'd only known how the king would fall
Hey who's to say?
You know I might have changed it all

And now I'm glad I didn't know
The way it all would end, the way it all would go
Our lives are better left to chance
I could have missed the pain
But I'd have had to miss the dance

And now I'm glad I didn't know
The way it all would end, the way it all would go
Our lives are better left to chance
I could have missed the pain
But I'd have had to miss the dance

It's my life, it's better left to chance
I could have missed the pain
But I'd have had to miss the dance

12:00 PM

I'm updating from office now, because my home computer has to make a 3-week trip to the hospital. Yes, it's DEAD again. And it's so sian, but at least it means I can sleep earlier at night, since my nights are usually spent on the computer.

And right now, my mind's crying out for a sleep, but I can't do that or not what I'd get is an extremely screwed-up biological clock. Seems like holidays are the thing that will make one's biological clock extremely screwed up. :(

Friday, January 01, 2010 12:02 AM

And so, HAPPY NEW YEAR! :D Cheers for a better year ahead in 2010! :)