wham bang smash plop!

have yourself a merry little christmas!

Thu, 24 Dec 2009 16:17:59 GMT

Its christmas eve today and im down with a stuffy nose and persisting scratchy throat since monday - not exactly the best way i'd like to spend christmas. Its not really christmassy around here in singapore. Guess the only telling sign is the KRAZY CROWDS of people at orchard (OH EM GEE its crazy trying to make your way through throngs of bodies in the trains and on the streets) and the christmas songs they keep playing on loop on the radio or at the malls.

Couldnt stop singing jingle bell rock today when I was out with the poks! I am in a rather jolly mood today.

bookmarks! i like this verse (:

------

and also thank you poksy ♥
i love you for being the one friend who can stand walking as slowly as i do and not complain (alot) haha.

she asked if i wanted a giraffe or a penguin and i said i wanted both so... (:

----

So anyway, to compliment my jolly christmas mood today, I just painted my nails redddd (too bad no green) and Silent Night (some strange harp version) is playing away on my radio. (:

When the world around you is spinning crazily,

Thu, 24 Dec 2009 05:18:38 GMT

you can be still and know God is nearer than your very breath.

For those who are hurting,

Sun, 20 Dec 2009 17:15:39 GMT

Ellen Bass - The Thing Is

to love life, to love it even
when you have no stomach for it
and everything you've held dear
crumbles like burnt paper in your hands,
your throat filled with the silt of it.
When grief sits with you, its tropical heat
thickening the air, heavy as water
more fit for gills than lungs;
when grief weights you like your own flesh
only more of it, an obesity of grief,
you think, How can a body withstand this?
Then you hold life like a face
between your palms, a plain face,
no charming smile, no violet eyes,
and you say, yes, I will take you
I will love you, again.

My Aunt

Sat, 19 Dec 2009 16:45:41 GMT

i love my aunt - dont know what i'd do without her.

when i was a young girl,
she packed me my lunchbox
she tied my hair into braids for me
she brought the sick child that i was time and again to the doctor's
she prayed for me when i was fevering
she scolded me when i was being bratty
she kissed me goodnight everyday
she taught me who God was

now that im a good one feet taller than her,
she cooks me my favourite dishes
she knows where my clothes are better than i do
she gives me power massages after a gruelling training
she sews my christmas stockings for me at lightning speed
she moves upstairs to sleep in the studyroom to let me study late during As
she endures my moodswings
she knows the perfect remedy for my usual stomach ailment - steaming hot ginger tea
she is just about the only soul in the family who appreciates my baking
she packs fruits for me everyday to take out
she teaches me what faith is

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 17:25:43 GMT

The past week has been work, ubin, sewing, more sewing, even more sewing and today was Town Day. Ubin morning was a glorious morning with the sun shining down mercilessly which I was thankful for because it was perfect holga weather! Hoping for good shots :D The afternoon however saw the heavens opening its floodgates onto us and resulted in us stranded at the coffee shop. Well,not that we minded I suppose, since we completed our itinerary as planned and took a nice slow stroll down chek jawa before heading back for changi village hawker fare. Got pulled to town today because actually I didnt want to go shopping and spend more money but kw wanted to do just that and of course I had to fulfill my duties of being a good friend HAHA so off we went. Boy oh boy was it crazyyyyy it was MANGO SALE. I hereby award Best Sale Award to Mango because their sales ARE REALLY SALES NOT JUST BLUFF YOU SALES. I had a whole lot of clothes piled on my arms by the time I finished running through the first few racks and had much difficulty deciding which piece of clothing would give me the maximum utility. Kudos to kw for being ever patient and waiting for me and my fickle mind. And since the queues to the changing rooms were ridiculous we found ourselves a spot in the shop with a mirror and made our choices there ala Primark Shopping Style! So needless to say, we both burnt holes in our pockets and left the shop with heavier bags and lighter wallets to compensate, feeling extremely guilty. So shopping was done for the day at that one Mango stop. We were too poor, too chui and too guilty to continue further on so everything in Berksha and Topshop thereafter seemed exorbitant and did little to interest us. We gave up shopping altogether and sat somewhere to rest our weary limbs and to rejuvenate ourselves. Since there was so much time to kill but no money to spend, we decided to trudge to mt sophia. So we walked from orchard to sommerset to dhoby and up the 40596987 steps before reaching mt sophia STILL EARLY.

Chalk was good though. I generally like alfresco dining places but I liked this place even more than normal cos it was alfresco AND served good western food! Food was very very satisfactory. Had the Duck Confit with Sweet Potato Mash. Was initially a little sceptical about the dish because I mean who expects sweet potato to go well with duck right but hmmm it was DELISH!

Also had a pizza (garlic chicken sausage, chilli, onions) because we decided that we being the bottomless pits that we were needed our carbs. Shared a sampler platter of dessert consisting of Sticky Date Pudding, Creme Bulee, Vanilla Panacotta, Apple Crumble. Favourite was the Vanilla Panacotta with its generous serving of blueberry sauce and slight vanilla taste YUMM.

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 19:22:02 GMT

tonight again i got the feeling that some people talk to you just cos they want/need something from you.

if you were a mermaid, i was the sea

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 15:58:42 GMT

You asked me who I thought I was before. I said maybe a fish because I love water and you said, you thought a mermaid, maybe.

If you were a mermaid, you said, If you were a mermaid, I was the sea.

lia's right

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 15:31:15 GMT

MANJA MANJA MANJAAAAAA.

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 16:50:03 GMT

I will kiss anyone who brings me this from London:

# MULLER YOGHURT (CHOCO BALLS AND STRAWBERRY AND VANILLA FLAVOUR)
# SPECIAL K CEREAL (HONEY OAT FLAVOUR AND RASBERRY FLAVOUR)
# CARTONS OF FRESH YUMMY MILKKKKKK
# SCONES + JAM + CLOTTED CREAM
# ONKEN (BTW I AM HAPPY TO ANNOUNCE THAT I HAVE FOUND A NEAR ENOUGH ONKEN TASTE-ALIKE IN SINGAPORE!! :D)
# HUMMINGBIRD CAFE RED VELVET CUPCAKE
# FOUR SEASONS/GOLDMINE ROAST DUCKKKK (duck here is different tskkk)
# SATSUMAS
# BAGELS
# CHEEP CHEEP HAAGEN DAZ AND B&J (the ntuc near my place has none of the flavours we used to eat - baileys and another flavour i forgot ITS MY FAVE!)

since theyre all perishable goods, i dont expect to be giving out kisses any time hahaha. oh well im feeling rather jolly now because i did a nice little bouquet today YAY and also, my london boxes have arrived SAFELY AND SOUNDLY at my doorstep after a near three month journey out at sea. THANK GOD (:

nom nom

Sat, 12 Dec 2009 16:58:51 GMT

Great food
Awesome company
Random conversations
Comfortable silences
Endless laughter

Truggers somehow manage to outdo ourselves each time we meet. The amount of food we consume grows exponentially but sadly we are no longer growing girls so we are growing sideways yes. Yesterday at old airport road we devoured plates after plates of cheecheongfun, charkwayteow, satay, fishball, orhjian, chicken wings, hokkien mee, dessert. My favourite was the orhjian and the cheecheongfun! BLISS. Safe to say they are my number one group of friends that eats the most. And we eat alot together. Not just a handful of us but yes, everyone. Such is the joy of feasting! :D

Sat, 12 Dec 2009 16:54:43 GMT

There's a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out,
but I'm too tough for him,
I say,
stay in there, I'm not going
to let anybody see you

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 17:14:39 GMT

have i said this before? i love skype. unlike msn, it has my closest friends on its list so any time im in need, i go to my skype page.

i have strange thoughts filling my mind.

but mostly, i am back to being at a happy equilibrium after some emotional upheaval. I think doing quiet time daily does help.

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 17:27:26 GMT

Worried ):

When im worried I go on this rampage and cant stop worrying. And sometimes I resort to binge eating ahhhh.

Faith faith faith shiwayyyyyyy

kids say the darnest things

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 17:00:35 GMT

kid: im very happy the new episode of my drama serial is coming out already
me: oh really? what show?
kid: DONT TELL YOU.

(me: zz FINE. NO LOSS.)

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 14:55:41 GMT

THE KIDDOS :D

Love their innocence. Hate their peskyness

Sat, 05 Dec 2009 15:54:50 GMT

my hobbies make me poor:

1. baking
2. lomo
3. EATING

with 3 probably being the major culprit. GG.

tired day

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 17:10:36 GMT

While typing a random reply email to a friend in London, it suddenly dawned upon me how much I miss OCF. For its fellowship and the simple heartwarming feeling I get from going there every Friday night. And All Souls, for its power sermons and quiet, heartfelt hymns.

zeeeee

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 15:07:16 GMT

Recently I have been listening a lot to Zee Avi, who I think is actually Asia's Ingrid Michaelson! Both of them have such similar songs and voices and style and zee avi uses the ukulele (the small guitar soundalike instrument?) tooooo! Love her songs, but ingrid's still rocking more than ever.

Life has given me obstacles
Still I bite my tongue, say its wonderful

Indeed so! I still sorely miss London a lot a lot and a part of me cant let go of that place and the people there. On a random emo day, I'll spend my entire bus ride thinking about all sorts of things london. Well, London will always hold a very special place in my heart.

But despite those random bouts, life IS still wonderful (: Settled back snugly here, well, not like home needs a lot of settling back into but im just afraid ive gotten so comfortable with this lifestyle i wouldnt be able to adapt back to a student's life - mugging, stressing over tests, academic rigour and all.

riding my bicycleeeee

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 16:27:06 GMT

Biked for more than 40k on the road today.

Started at gardens then rode down yck road the longest road (seemingly) til we hit lentor and then yishun. From yishun, we rode past mrt tracks and THEN IT STARTED TO POUR so we sought shelther for awhile before continuing on and eventually finding our way to the seletar reservoir dam that kw brought me last time. Twas nice! On the whim, we decided to take a little detour from our original planned route and to head to sunset grill area since we were nearby. So off we went cycling on puddle filled roads with dirty truck water with trucks and cars zooming past us (scary road that was) Felt like I was in malaysia kampung. Then went through winding roads and eventually wound up at sunset grill! I surprised myself by remembering the way there hehe after getting lost with kw the last time. Was very nice and empty of cars hurray so we practically had the whole road to ourselves. The hugeass colonial houses were set against a lovely backdrop of bloo sky with wispy clouds i wished i had my holga with me.

Then it was lunchtime! So we headed off to jalan kayu for some prata. Remind me never again to order mushroom cheese prata there please, its exorbitant! A hefty six buckeroos!! After lunch the sun was out at full blast and we were suffering from post lunch inertia but still, we biked back to yck road, then upper thomson road, through macritchie and onto lornie road where I was trudging along the gradual inclined road huffing and puffing. Realised that we were on the wrong side of the road so we carried the bikes across the freaking overhead bridge (a workout for the arm muskles toooo) And then Sime Road, which was wonderfully empty and also downhill hurrayyyy so we zipped all the way down and ended up near law sch. Rode past rtc and then squeezed past bushes and jayran across a road with high speed zooming cars leading on to the expressway oh goodness. Made it across alive and started our way up mt pleasant. Logic tells us that for every uphill theres a downhill so after trudging up the hill down we went down all the wayyyyyy woop. My only gripe was that there were too many cars on that road. Couldnt zip down as freely as I wanted.

Nevertheless, still safe and sound with no injuries whatsoever yet, we headed past fareastflora which brought back pb memories. I also got whacked in the face by this girl carrying a horde of sunflowers (my only injury of the day haha). Rode past ri and back to rj for a drink. Then biked through bishan onto braddell road, and headed for gardens and then up back to my house. Home sweet home!

Safe and sound. Though I nearly lost my balance umpteen times today while squeezing through narrow busstops and pavements, I am still alive! Also conquered numerous elements of nature - sun, rain, mud. Now my ass hurts and my knee feels funny from bending and unbending. And I have emerged darker (redder for the second time this wk), wetter, grubbier and also happier (:

Its things like these that make me feel alive.

INGRID

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 15:11:24 GMT

If you were falling,
What would you do!
Then I would catch you,
I'll catch you too
You need a light
I am your light!
I'd find a match,
Yay!

Yay thanks to v and cher for remembering me in spirit at the one concert I really really wanted to go for but couldnt. I watched two of your fb vids 1000 times hokay! Which led me to youtube the official vid of The Way I am, its really really good. GO WATCH.

I've been stalking fb for ingrid michaelson's concert vids as well as ocf photos it makes me smile silly! Life is good nowadays, in a very peaceful, happy, self sufficient way. Too good. When you feel too happy for such an extended period of time, somehow I just get the very paranoid feeling that somethings gonna come my way and destroy all these and disrupt my peace and take away my joyyy. Thats whats supposed to happen after a peak right.. A trough comes along?

Hahah I am being a paranoid android worry wart worm laa

Kids.

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 17:43:27 GMT

I apparently look like a 17 year old girl! say the p6 kids! hurray me!

Laser tag with the kids, and bowling and clay pigeoning and watching them zorb cos i refused to squeeze into the zorb ball with kids less than half my size. Resulted in a very burnt and red me, which was really unexpected considering the sun has been refusing to shine the past few days. A few revelations:

# kids these days cant do without aircon
# kids these days are ultra good at whining (and getting their way)
# kids SHOULD NOT BE OVER FED AT A TENDER YOUNG AGE
# pri sch girls are extremely allergic to guys
# they also find the sun highly repulsive (why oh whyyy) and are highly cliquish,

I am damn shagged from the day's worth of work. But i feel youthful, like somehow the kids have rubbed off me. (:

Theres no way of saying it better - Children wreck a house, but make a home.

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:35:58 GMT

Working at the florist makes me go aww half the time im reading those messages on cards accompanying the bouquets. It makes me think the world is full of loveeeee (and also boliao rich people - I saw this one 90 bucks bouquet going out to someone with a message saying: Study hard baby. Omg, a bouquet for studying for exams??)

okay back to the point, my favourite part of work - reading those messages. It says a lot about my innate kpo-ness HAHA but it really is very heartwarming to see overseas spouses/boyfriends sending their other halves bouquets on special days. And the flowers are really very pretty (:

So anyway, I am still rather intrigued by all these as a nooby florist. I dont know if will last though, we'll see, especially after working on vday (the month florists all over singapore get their 'bonuses' from working 24/7) But for now, I'd still like to believe in flowers, and love and all that soapy stuff. :D

Heh, in any case, im pretty happy with my life now - doing two things ive always wanted to -- kids and flowers. So yay, and although I've been rather lonely because all the lack of female companionship -SNIFFSNIFF cos exams are around the corner, I guess thats a good way to save money huh. Speaking of which, I totalled my total expenditure for the first month I've been back, and OHEMGEE IT WAS APPALLING. shiwei needs to turn into a pauper from this moment on. ):

a part of me always

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 17:57:17 GMT

This wk was rather lovely. Other than my baking stint, a few tuition sessions with the kids at auntfaith's which is normally rather enjoyable. Except I hate it when the kids dont respond to my questions!!! (now I know how redmundlaw must have felt about 305. What exasperation.)Also netballed and also squashed with cel amongst other things, which left my shoulder and back screaming in protest for the following two days. But then I discovered the wonders of the OSIM back massager the mother bought. Though of course, some things just cant be replaced by machines. I think my auntie's massages are still imbaaaaa to the max - she used to massage me post contact rugby training as part of restoration purposes. Mmm.

Hopped around to a numerous places for interviews too and part of the reason why I am pleased is because I pretty much have got the wks right till the end of the year planned. I think! In a few wks, I should start working at this kids science camp I used to go with lulu and pam when we were p5 p6 kids. Its simply wonderfulllll, life really does come full circle.

Also, took up the florist job. Yay I get to wrap up flowers into pretty bundles and (very indirectly) make someone happy. (: Okay I think im mad. Anyhoo, while I surprised lunny the other day by turning up with the lemon meringue in hand after lugging it all around and doing a 100metre mad dash for the damn bus with the fragile pastry piece in tow, she in turn surprised me with this little gerbera!

Surprise surprise, this little pink thing is rather hardy its still alive after more than a day! My auntie saw the flower, and then conjured up this nice little porcelain vase from godknowswhere and demanded I put it in to 'decorate' the table. So there it is sitting prettily. It makes me happy.

Another happifying moment of the week - RGS nite. Its back, yes. Lunny and I were just about the only people from our batch I suppose. The sec4s black name tag prefects when we were just puny sec1s were sitting directly behind us and also saw a few random other teachers like tk wong and yeosooling and shirleytan and a few others i uhh forgot their names and OH OFCOURSE HOW COULD I FORGET AZAHAR!!! I was so excited when I spotted him that I immediately jumped and grabbed lun's arm and practically shouted AZAHAR AZAHAR and guess what he turned in our direction. (okay now i know im not as discreet as i think i am) AND THEN HE WAVED AT US!!! Being ultimate disgraces, we slunk away to a random corner to feast on our salads, still feeling bemused at the fact that he waved at us, when he most likely hardly remembered us. Oh azahar!

Watching the rgs girls perform onstage, hugging each other post performance tugged at my heart strings and triggered Reminisce Mode. Those happy happy rgs times with 305/405 the most united class ive had, with pb when we were all just so pure and innocent and safe under the wings of School and where things like JOB CAREER INTERNSHIP didnt mean a shit. The musical about a clique of 5 ex rgs girls reuniting after spending many years developing and leading their lives all around the world and then finally having the chance to all be in singapore for a nice little reunion was apt and entirely foreseeable in the coming future.

Well, its quite nice to see rgs girls going to all sorts of different fields and excelling and rocking the world everywhere they go. It wells up a sense of pride everytime someone zai is an ex rg girl, and like what lun pointed out, I think that night was inspirational for us as well - to want to uphold this tradition of excellence and be a part of it.

I think its safe to say I've had my best years of my life in RGS. JC was fun, but rg was simpler. And every time I see a rgs girl on the streets, I feel like telling her that that is most likely the best years of her life.

So we sang the school song with utmost pride -

Green black white balloons donated by the RGSPB batch of 1986 apparently -- (poksters, when we become rich and famous nxt time HAHA lets do something like donate balloons too. And, dont you think these balloons remind you of RCIP balloons??)

And these are happy rgs girls (:

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:48:52 GMT

Hi ho,

Today was such a nice and self sufficient day, save for one little blemish. But ignore the blemish I shall (like a small harmless but irritating pimple) and contented I will be. Anyhoos I didnt make plans for today and I am surprised at my ability to find things to do out of nothing. I baked a Lemon Meringue Pie! Can you already see how pleased I am. I LOVE lemoney stuffs!

So off I cycled to pick up some baking necessities and squashed them into my trusty crumpler before heading back. I must have looked rather chui - It was a terrifyingly hot humid day, and I believe there were these two punks sitting on a lorry zooming past me as I was trying my best to trudge up the stupid hill on my bike.

Before it got sent into the oven, after toiling in the sweaty, mosquito-ey (its rainy season now) kitchen for 2-3 hours --

Final Product . If nobody eats it, im gonna gobble it up all by my hungry self!!

my fantabulous maid, who helped a great deal. whever i wasnt sure of something/couldnt locate a particular baking equipment i'd go auntieeeeeeeeeeeee....

So right now its safely stowed away in the refridgerator to be ready chilled for brekkie tmw!

happy housies skype

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:44:46 GMT

hellooo its almost 4am now but i feel very happy cos i just skyped the lovely london housies. skyped echua first, who then brought down her lappie to the kitchen where i watched them cook while getting updated about life there and then to sherrie's where i watched them eat dinner. i miss them <3 skyping with them brought back happy happy thoughts (:

YAY