Think happy thoughts

2006-11-14T23:07:00.000+08:00

It's literally the 11th hour but I met the deadline! I'm blogging. There, w.o.r.d.s! Now JK owes me coffee. Hey, I don't want the 80 cents ones from kopitiam ok, I'm thinking mochas and lattes =)

End of blog entry.

Kidding. Haha..

Click here for my new blog.

Celestial Delights

2006-10-07T12:11:00.000+08:00

Uncle Shakespeare wrote the Mid-Summer Night's Dream,
I shall write on my Mid-Autumn's Delights.

Oh, apart from the seasonal references & tales of fairies, there's hardly any relations between the two. Pardon me in my lame and crappy mood :P The day saw to my medical check-up for new employees, and at night, I visited the Chinese Garden for food and merry this mid-autumn festival, underneath the full moon which sat high on its celestial seat :) The Mee Sua at Kembangan for the following supper was yummilicious.

I have in mind to be busy working real hard, playing hard and fulfilling my dreams these coming weeks, months and years. I also feel an overwhelming need to do something to raise that level of language proficiency. Meanwhile, gonna be on a hiatus from my blog.

2006-09-24T22:43:00.000+08:00

Count and guess how many pairs of shoes Jia Ling owns... No prize or penalty for wrong answers... cos I don't know the exact number.. I've lost count too!

Shan't let her buy another pair and must save up when I'm around. Heh...

Thanks Wen Wen for inviting Sue, Ronghui & me to the BBQ on Sat :) Too bad I can't rip the photo from her blog..

She looked at the faces intently,
Wondering about the thoughts lying in the human psyche.
She marveled,
At how similar and dissimilar the way people think,
And the memories that reside within them.
For they've forgotten what she clearly remembered,
But they remembered what she has cleanly forgotten.

Some Urban Trivia..

2006-09-16T23:57:00.000+08:00

Found the GaWC diagram finally.

A. ALPHA WORLD CITIES (full service world cities)
Level 1: London, New York, Paris, Tokyo
Level 2: Chicago, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Milan, Singapore

B. BETA WORLD CITIES (major world cities)
San Francisco, Sydney, Toronto, Zurich
Brussels, Madrid, Mexico City, Sao Paulo
Moscow, Seoul

C. GAMMA WORLD CITIES (minor world cities)
Amsterdam, Boston, Caracas, Dallas, Düsseldorf, Geneva, Houston, Jakarta, Johannesburg, Melbourne, Osaka, Prague, Santiago, Taipei, Washington
Bangkok, Beijing, Montreal, Rome, Stockholm, Warsaw
Atlanta, Barcelona, Berlin, Budapest, Buenos Aires, Copenhagen, Hamburg, Istanbul, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Miami, Minneapolis, Munich, Shanghai

Singapore:
15% of Singapore’s land is set aside for housing, 12% is set aside for roads and water catchments is the land use function which occupies half of Singapore’s land.

Singapore Changi International Airport is 20km away from the city.

Carpark slots have other applicable and payable uses other than just vehicle parking - For loading and unloading of goods from containers...

URA oversees and manages more than 60,000 car, heavy vehicle and motorcycle parking lots, mostly in the city area.

Marina Bay will be home to the world's first "Double-Helix" bridge come 2009.

Top 5 Combined Statistical Areas in U.S.A with Populations Above One Million:
1. New York-Newark-Bridgeport, NY-NJ-CT-PA - 21,903,623
2. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside, CA - 17,629,607
3. Chicago-Naperville-Michigan City, IL-IN-WI - 9,661,840
4. Washington-Baltimore-Northern Virginia, DC-MD-VA-WV - 8,125,656
5. Boston-Worcester-Manchester, MA-RI-NH - 7,427,33
6. San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, CA - 7,168,176
7. Philadelphia-Camden-Vineland, PA-NJ-DE-MD - 6,372,799
8. Dallas-Fort Worth, TX - 6,171,301
9. Detroit-Warren-Flint, MI - 5,428,000
10. Houston-Baytown-Huntsville, TX - 5,380,661

All know the term "Metropolitan Areas" but who like me, only heard of "Micropolitan Areas" today?

Top 10 Largest Urban Agglomerations in the World in terms of Population Size:
1. Tokyo, Japan - 35,197,000
2. Mexico City, Mexico -19,411,000
3. New York, United States - 18,718,000
4. Sao Paulo, Brazil - 18,333,000
5. Mumbai, India - 18,196,000
6. Delhi, India - 15,048,000
7. Shanghai, China - 14,503,000
8. Kolkata, India - 14,277,000
9. Jakarta, Indonesia - 13,215,000
10. Buenos Aires, Argentina - 12,550,000

I noticed, an overwhelming 8 out of 10 of the above are in less developed countries.

Sources: URA, Marina Bay websites, About.Geography, etc..

2006-09-10T15:30:00.000+08:00

I had obliged mum’s insistence a couple of weeks ago that I go along the 1-day Mindef staff tour to Johor, Malaysia with dad and her. At the end of the trip yesterday, I concluded that even if mum hadn’t insisted, I would have invited myself along.

Mum & me (in my ridiculously short & thinned fringe by that hairdresser from Jean Yip. Gargh!)

This tame little creature here is a little 1-month old black goat :) Doesn't it look like a dog?

It was a faultless trip... I simply cannot forget cruising along Lebam River at nightfall looking at the glowing fireflies that reside along the mangrove swamps on both sides of the river. It was pitch dark, so dark I could only make out the faces of the people sitting close to me in the ferry; and as I gazed ahead, only the outline of the river stream and the dividing line between the forest canopy and sky met my eyes.

So you see, has been spending time with good old parents. Casting aside the generation gap and the occasional exasperations which both sides face, they are wonderful, really. Father may be stern and square sometimes (not that they are negative traits, its just his personality), but he makes sure I have my breakfast every morning, and he teaches me a lot of things… I love them most. I’m glad everyone has the most wonderful things to say about their parents, me included.

Got Tagged

2006-09-05T23:38:00.001+08:00

There you go, Angie.. :)

Seven things (un)known about me:

#1
That I don’t know what to fill in these 7 blanks!

#2
A mall rat who has a life other than just the shopping malls… one who likes cycling as much as reading & writing… and who eats a lot more than everyone thinks, etc.

#3
The English & Chinese dictionaries are one of my favourite books.

#4
I’m attractive… to mosquitoes.
Ok, I'm kidding..

#5
I laugh at hyena-pitch sometimes when I laugh real hard.

#6
Letting these out… me am sentimental. am misunderstood.

#7
Can always ask me about me if you want.

2006-09-03T20:16:00.000+08:00

Hi September.

After “Girlosophy: She stretches the law of differentiation until it snaps”, “Face the music and lightness of being”, “My wondering, wandering, pondering and bothering”, here’s “Think happy thoughts”.

To begin with the jacket from jOOp which I absolutely must blog about:

Adore clothes from Joop (Yeah, that brand with the logo of a girl with a pair of wings) and the best thing is the sale! I bought this jacket for $21.50!! Made of corduroy material, it goes with anything from casual to semi-formal unlike formal blazers. Saves me lots of moolah and morning headaches.

2006-08-28T00:07:00.000+08:00

the last of the four: ponder

funny how life changes and a lot of maturing take place with the most miniscule of happenings, and certainly the major ones... saying "hi". the surprises. the sighting of what should be unseen. the thin result slips. a moment's folly. an uplift of spirits with genuine niceness. the last thoughtless remark that pushes a situation over the edge. the long chains. a change in mindset.

how is it, i, at times recently, morphed into someone even i myself cannot understand or recognize? focusing on small and narrow-minded stuff is never the way. remembering how everything is actually all right or will be is.

Appreciate the dedications to me… the past ones, the recent ones… birthday blog dedication, the supportive one on MSN, and a pic!

2006-08-22T21:10:00.000+08:00

I've adopted 3 virtual pets.. Ooh, Miss Fly & Mr Darcy.. heh...

Here are more really nice videos from you tube... all's been sent to me recently...

2006-08-19T23:01:00.000+08:00

Hmmm… I like to blog on weekends nowadays. I think it was pretty good to kick start my weekend with squash. The tiny, yellow-dotted black ball went WHAM! and the sound of it hitting the walls pounded things off my head. My ex-colleague is someone nice to play squash with. Knows my speed, the strength of my racket strokes and the way I play means that I can just enjoy playing happily without feeling too cornered and discouraged. Discouraged yes, cos I’m always so self-critical at everything I don’t do right. The way I harp at myself, yeah, is like a woodpecker to a tree. But it’s not fair to say I can’t play… as ex-colleague only said, “too kind-hearted cannot play squash” cos guess how I play squash? I always forget to be “mean”, to hit the ball at corners or in another direction. Instead of cornering the opponent and making them run hard for the ball, I happily hit the ball right to them so that they can catch the ball and everyone can just play an easy game...

That’s how I like things… and even the way I think manifest in the game I play. Sigh!

After a lot of sweat and effort, the album which I like so very much is out!!! :) …almost broke Kai Lun’s shoulders for it. Thanks to him lots.

Sis thought the photos are nice but she said the smiles on my photos are all the same *lol*. So do others :) The only unenthusiastic comment I received was that I didn’t wear the hat. Hee… *shrugs*. Hmmm… graduation wasn’t a big thing to me… plus, Jam, Mel and others ain’t graduating with me… Well, it’s ok… I have to grad and there are other plans to make.. My mantra? “Jen always shines!” :) No matter what, I better do.

As for Mel, happy meeting her! Hee… here are some of my fave pics with this babe; putting them up since I’ve one with the grad dress on and of course who can resist putting the photo with the toilet bowl behind us? Ahaha… So, one quadrant per year, 2003-2006. Best Uni friends! :)

Current surfs:

http://www.haoting.com/musiclist/ht_398d513e0a682b82.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owH8lxrJe_I

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLnZ5jcsRpc

2006-08-12T00:03:00.000+08:00

10th August?

Why, I left the Singapore Island Country Club only at 9.20 pm but it was pretty fine, really :) It was one of the nicer events and for me, who take big days as they come and not plan anything, it’s alright… hee…! So, met Peiyi along the corridor early in the morning before going to the SICC. She greeted me with a big smile and a contrasting white bag and black card :) What’s written on it echoed my thoughts; yes, it’s hard to imagine life here without each other. Haha… It’s the camaraderie, the lame jokes and friendliness that bonded us.

Really love all who wished me a Happy Birthday!!! =) And receiving wishes from you all & some people… means a lot to me.

Hee… and here comes MY weekend! Present for myself? Already bought on Monday. Another top from Esprit. Awesome. For both weekdays and weekends, that is.

2006-08-06T00:29:00.000+08:00

I watched SuperBand Finals LIVE!!!!!! =) Hee... Had lots of great finds at the Popular sale at S'pore Expo! and carrying the bags of stuff, hopped down to the Super Band Finals which took place just a few halls away cos RH's friend's friend so happen to have extra tickets! Thanks RH & friends! Haha...

The feeling of watching a show live is so different... It's so cool when all 4 bands sang 小薇 in all 4 different music genres =) Soul was impressive as I could hardly imagine a dance version of the song but they did, and did it well!

小薇 - 黄品源

有一个美丽的小女孩她的名字叫作小薇
她有双温柔的眼睛她悄悄偷走我的心
小薇啊你可知道我多爱你我要带你飞到天上去
看那星星多美丽摘下一颗亲手送给你

Hee... retreating to my bed now.

2006-07-31T00:09:00.000+08:00

Decided to blog again before July closes.

The rain almost thwarted my plans to chill at ECP today. But luckily not. I went down to see the radio car race and then strolled down the beach.

Weekend was good… with brother confirmed in good health, after running some medical tests at the hospital. It’s just temporary rib muscle spasm or something that caused the GP to refer him to the hospital. with phonecall, pizza and mahjong. with people I haven’t seen or heard for sometime. Jia Ling, Cousin Huiming!!! (But only to have her boyfriend calling me fat :/ cos I chowed down a lot of food) and even my sis. We share a room but we hardly talk much. Our lives are filled with 1596738993038594456788 things! And cos of that, I wanna spend time alone… to recollect myself… has always been needed.

I have written two entries on wanderings & botherings that matched my blog title… Wasn’t expecting to blog anything about the other two until... I came across what Joy has written on her blog recently:

Wonder

“I wonder, if I'd ever be the person I wish to be.
I wonder, if I'd ever be capable of making other people happy.
I wonder, if I'm going to be the one to mess it up.
I wonder, if I'll ever be really good enough.
I wonder, if I’m really that worth anything.
I wonder, why I like to ruin things.
I wonder, if someday it’ll be the last straw.
And I’ll break the camel’s back, once and for all.”

And I must have been real slow but the discovery of Google Earth is awesome, better late than never!!!

2006-07-16T22:45:00.000+08:00

Cheery. I can play Gasing :)

Botherings

2006-07-13T23:50:00.000+08:00

How can conclusions be made based on so little that is known...?

Who understands the melancholy that churns within my soul...?

Funny... why all parents seem to think the world of their children no matter what.

Wonder why it seems nice to own those cosmetics and all sorts of products last time but only to realise when they become affordable, it's the time when no amount of colours on the face or whatever facial scrub can scrub off the years of aging.

2006-07-09T00:27:00.000+08:00

*Jam & lip gloss* =)

Actually, for the difficult choices that life chucks my way, so far... I've been fine. I think I should complain less and appreciate what I have; and then work my way up/through/around/ whatever.

Satisfaction comes seeing my articles in their final edition, awaiting the printing guy.

Commencement on Monday!

I will miss school life...

Really appreciative of people who are constantly in touch with me... in between laughters & sweetness & stuff, updating me on their lives and I chatter away about mine... I get to listen to many things!

Chatter away no doubt, but for a person like me... one who tends to alternate between yakking and silence... I don't know... Beneath the sometimes seemingly quiet facade, I sometimes talk a mile but yet I find it hard to express myself enough, sometimes staying silence and hiding all my thoughts & feelings away...

Those Quotes!

2006-07-02T23:13:00.000+08:00

I like quotes. Wise & sensible & serious ones, witty ones :) and the next best thing is to be quoted! Though number of times countable by only the fingers on one hand, hee... at least I was! =p

What I came across recently:

"Unless you manage your time, nothing else can be managed." - Anonymous.

"When a man has quietly made up his mind that there is nothing he cannot endure, his fears leave him." - Grove Patterson.

"In women's world, men are tailormade, high heels will not hurt, diamonds will grow on trees, husbands will give birth..." - ??? But it's from Wei Xin's MSN nick! Hee... =P

And this, isn't a quote but at least in my name, "不听涛君言,吃亏在眼前" - Brother! 2 July, 11.30 a.m. =) Cos I was joking to mum; as she didn't took up my advice over something initially, I said, "不听老人言吃亏在眼前." *lol*

laughs

2006-06-23T20:51:00.000+08:00

Me am easily amused =)

and I thought living life one day at a time was bad...

Another of those lame innovations from Japan but this is really the lamest lah... Hahaha... and scary. Tell me, can the value proposition of this product be strong enough???

Moron

Why did it take the moron an hour to eat breakfast?

Because the orange juice carton instructions said Concentrate ! !

How did the moron fall on the floor?

He tripped over the cordless phone.

Why did the moron climb the glass wall ?

To see what was on the other side!

How do you confuse a moron?

Put him in a round room and tell him to sit in one corner!

Hear about the moron that got an AM radio?

It took him a month to realize he could play it at night.

Why did the moron going to the airport turn around and go home?

Because he saw the sign that said "Airport Left".

Double The Wish

A man walking along the beach one day finds a bottle. He rubs it and, sure enough, out popped a genie.

"I will grant you three wishes," said the genie. "But there is a catch."

"What catch?" the man asked.

The genie replied, "Every time you make a wish, every lawyer in the world will receive double the wish you were granted."

"Well, I can live with that! No problem!" replied the elated man.

"What is your first wish?" asked the genie.

"Well, I've always wanted a Ferrari!"

POOF! A Ferrari appeared in front of the man.

"Now every lawyer in the world has TWO Ferraris," said the genie. "Next wish?"

"I'd love a million dollars," replied the man.

POOF! One million dollars appeared at his feet.

"Now every lawyer in the world has TWO million dollars," said the genie.

"Well, that's okay, as long as I've got my million," replied the man.

"What is your third and final wish?"

The man thought long and hard, and finally said, "Well, you know, I've always wanted to donate a kidney!"

The days

2006-06-20T21:24:00.000+08:00

Today is 20.06.2006 Get the picture? No? Get the pattern?

I marked down June 4th in my previous entry. There've been many days to mark in the past... there is today... and there shall be more in the future.

Just the pleasant times in recent days... X-men III, SSA concert...

What can I blog about now? Straits Times ran an article on Saturday that bosses research on potential employees online. What if your boss reads your blog? Nevermind if you ain't writing about work but what if you come across as crazy, immature, over-playful, too rubbishy, etc just by putting thoughts down on your personal space in the cyber world? Then what... play it to your advantage by being an exhibitionist?

Anyway, I wanna go out to watch a World Cup soccer match. I wanna travel next time.

Highlights, bangs & twirls

2006-06-05T20:38:00.001+08:00

It's a day late but it's ok. Just mark down June 4th. It's the day Jen finally added a hint of colour to her hair.

Hee... I was apprehensive... But I marvelled at how Jam never gives up! I thank that sweet lady for the pains she took nagging at me to try something else instead of wearing jet black straight hair all the time. I understand too... nevermind that when I was still in school but I'm gonna grad in a month's time, looking new is good. Actually, it's just a subtle change but new nonetheless. The shade of brown isn't all that obvious and the hairdresser concentrated on my inner crown rather than the outer cos she's aware of my jitters for too obvious highlights... well... the folks at home don't like coloured crowns. When the hairdresser showed me the final results 2 hours later, I was pleased... cos my bangs look fuller, the highlights were subtle but psychologically I feel new, yet I don't look very different. Hee... I know, oxymoronic but that's a nice gradual change. Still, a little part of me thought I could have picked a lighter colour.

To me, every pair of dancers on "So you think you can dance?" which is airing right now is a winner! :) They are good! They can twist & turn, can groove & jump and spin & stretch. And also to me, the girls are always better - cos they do it in 6-inch heels! except when the genre is hip-hop, sneakers are obviously part of the attire.

My wanderings in chronological order!

2006-05-23T11:45:00.000+08:00

My 1st movie at the new Cathay Cineplex was The Da Vinci Code. Hmmm... the general story remained in my memory after reading the book a couple of years back and the minor details that were forgotten came creeping back into my head as the scenes unfold. I had my eyes glued to screen the whole time, not wanting to miss a single scene just like how I couldn't stop flipping through the pages of the book. The movie version is not bad cos I get to see the setting in Paris, how a cryptex looks like & the sleek mechanics of retrieving the box from the bank vault. It lasted more than 2 hours but I wished it could stretch longer to include more of the book's contents (which is still the best with all its complex intricacies that unfolds at a steady pace and written beautifully in the English langauge). Otherwise, I could sense the time urgency, like as though the film director rushed through the story and attempted to keep to a schedule around 120 minutes. Despite that, the cast carried their roles well. The gorgeous French actress Audrey Tautou made the film adaptation more authentic speaking English in her French accent.

I had Carbonara spaghetti & mouth-watering Apple pie crunch ice cream waffle for yesterday's dinner. Hee! Gelare's servings are small compared to Billy Bombers, NYDC & the likes, just the right-sized portion for me but not Kai Lun, the guys are generally bigger eaters lah. It wasn't glam when my long tresses caught a bit of the cream sauce on my plate like as though they were starving for food as much as my stomach was. Ahaha...

Muacks to Angeline for bringing the camera on Saturday :) Seen the current individual shot I have on MSN? It was taken by her at the Anna Sui counter at Isetan @ Wisma :) Love these girls. I quote Jamie & Angeline on their respective blogs, "We shall all attend each other weddings" and "we all know we care for each other loads." Hee!

Love the shoes Xin bought. I had my fab finds from my shopping trips :) Shall I list them? My blazer, the goodie bag from Women's Weekly mag at the booth @ Orchard MRT & other stuff! =)

Also wandered past the DHL air balloon at Bugis. The ride will probably be another reluctant miss like the musical Grease...

K-wave

2006-05-18T01:55:00.000+08:00

It is palpable how K-Pop culture is permeating our society in a rather large way. Just look at the number of Korean movies flooding this week's movie listing (and these sure have a way of making me cry buckets), I hear Paris Lovers' main theme on FM933... and Da Chang Jin's main theme in the small shops that I pass by... And btw, I still haven't lay my hands on Da Chang Jin VCDs/DVDs but in the meantime, I've completed the 1st season of Sex and the City! Hee... Never used to think much of the Korean culture in the past but surely, I'm riding on the K-wave now. Hee... Apart from Won Bin, I think Lee Dong-geon is not bad. I also never did mentioned that my siblings and I got acquainted with a Korean neighbour at the beginning of this year and we have been visiting her house a few times. This Sunday, we are gonna learn another Korean dish from her :)

Here's my brother's Ipod Nano!! He bought it yesterday.. So sleek & cool right..

Half an hour more to the UEFA Barcelona vs Arsenal match. Haha... I don't remember watching any soccer match since the last world cup. I'll just catch this match lah. I love watching the world cup though! I wish Korea will do Asia proud again this year! :)

Hmmm... have been thinking about my future... it's important to know what I want... then I take a step at a time..

Hellooooo

2006-05-06T14:23:00.000+08:00

Err.... I can't think of a title that's why this loony one :p

No competition at my GRC so I don't get to vote at the General elections this year.

These two post exams days were partly spent at 民歌餐厅and playing squash :)

Really like Takashimaya's Rose Chan dolls! Hee... the fair porcelain faces & the lovely tilt of the heads of the London Ceremonial Guard, the Flameco dancer, the Thai bride, the Pierre Cardin pair, the one in Sarong Kebaya, etc.. The website says limited edition but why doesn't it show the price or where we can buy them? Are they not for sale? :(

2006-04-21T22:06:00.000+08:00

Sigh... Laziness & inertia seem to be ahead of the fear of getting poor grades.

Canon in D

2006-04-09T23:47:00.000+08:00

Canon in D major. Full German title: Kanon und Gigue in D-Dur für drei Violinen und Basso Continuo. The most famous piece of music by Johann Pachelbel. It was written in or around 1680, during the Baroque period as a piece of chamber music for three violins and basso continuo, but has since been arranged for a wide variety of ensembles. The name Canon in D is slightly misleading because the piece is not a strict canon but rather a chaconne or a passacaglia.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pachelbel)

Some things I like never change. First heard this piece of music five years back and after listening to it a few hundred times, I still feel the same way as when I first hear it.

Beautiful. Timeless. Tranquil.

Ending

2006-04-02T03:37:00.000+08:00

Heh... I'm never a night owl. Almost 4a.m. This is one of those rare times I'm awake at this hour. I was watching the last episode of a show... the show I wrote about in my 1st ever blog entry =) It's almost 2 years back! I complained how I watched every single episode previously but alas, I missed the last episode :/ Attempted an online search but I couldn't find the synopsis to it. Went to the VCD stores a couple of times but I didn't find the discs... so I didn't search anymore but in my mind, there's always this gnawing feeling of discontentment, not knowing the ending to the story that I like. Later on, I continued to miss the last episode to at least a couple of other TV serials... Amusing eh?

However, a simple fortune in my sometimes overly humdrum life during term time made it such that after almost 2 years, I'm finally granted the simple pleasure of knowing the ending! A casual conversation with fellow Geog major, Ronghui just a few days back about my hard luck with watching TV serials and listing those shows I missed brought music to my ears when he told me that he knows this show, Peach Girl and it's on repeat telecast on Channel U this weekend. Ahaha... =) And so coincidentally, it's the last episode today!!!

It's a sweet ending although one guy's triumph is another's defeat when the girl chose one over the other. Typical story from a Taiwanese cast; adapted from a best-selling Japanese manga; starring one of the lead singers of F4 that make some people puke; and some will pooh-pooh at such shows. But who cares? I like. Don't have to understand, maybe just accept. whatever I do can.

And I like sweet endings to shows. Only in TV serials can peoples' lives be directed in such a way that all things come to a happy end . Where people encounter problems (however dramatic) initially but always finally resolved and happy-ever-afters happen. But only in TV shows doesn't mean ALL TV shows...

I first began this cyber diary, blogging about this show. Shall I cease blogging upon knowing the ending to the show now? Heh... nah...

Trying to think of what else to write, to fill the gaps & generally talk about the missing month of March from this blog. But what shall I say? Well, there were events that allowed me to know what enough means. Also wish to remember this one simple & important thing that I so often forget, yet remember so much of other things...

And oh, there's this one day in March, during a class, when I finally woke up from my long slumber and told myself I don't want to be a bimbo who knows nothing about finance & stuff... haha... so I resolve to learn.. many things.. but not overwhemingly too many things. Hee...

Last but not least, to my friend whom I said those words to in the email... I mean it. And we will always be the there for each other, girl! :)

Food: Orh ni
Song: Ai de jiu shi ni - Wang Lee Hom
Mood: Nothing

Indulgence

2006-02-23T18:37:00.000+08:00

Updated my blog like, finally.

The last time I had a disastrous haircut was about one-and-a-half-years ago and now this. My usual hairdresser wasn’t in that day and I made a mistake allowing someone else to take over. Sigh. I think I look fine with my hair tied up so I shall tie up my hair from now on and perhaps it may be a good thing to sport a different style now for a change from the long, straight hair that I wore and like and will get back to when my hair grows longer.

Anyway, here are some of my recent indulgence! =)

Yummylicious Strawberry Kit Kat! :) Hee… has been eating it for the last couple of weeks. It tastes really good! Apart from the Latte and Dark chocolate versions, there are other flavours like wine, grape and even lemon cheesecake! Haha… The Grape flavoured one is yummy too but I didn’t try the rest… I think it’s really cool Kit Kat came up with this range of flavours for a limited period.

And the *liquid gold* nick on my MSN refers to Clinique’s Superfit Liquid foundation.

Cost me 49 bucks for 30ml. So 1 ml is… about $1.66? *lol* But hey… there are more expensive foundations like Estee Lauder’s at $60+ and Bobbi Brown’s at $56 and some fetch up to $100+. Strange, coming to think of why I have no trouble remembering price tags but I have trouble memorising global demographic stats.

And lastly, this lovely purchase from Fie!

I don’t own any hair clips except those from my secondary school days which was the last time I used them but they are so “secondary school”! I need hair accessories now to do up my hair so I bought lovely ones from Fie! :) I never fail to find things I fancy from Fie but they are so dear. Luckily Khai Yee’s colleague gave me staff discount so that saved me a few dollars. Hee… And she’s really one hot babe, one of the prettiest girls I've met and it's small wonder when Khai Yee said that the guys from the opposite New Urban Male store at Heerens drool everyday! =) But btw, Khai Yee is pretty too =)

Jia Ling left my place not long ago... It's nice when she comes once in awhile and my parents get to see this friend of mine whom they have seen since we are both 9 years old.

I think I have some really nice friends... :) Thinking about you all!

Untitled

2006-02-14T17:19:00.000+08:00

I'm home.. V.Day 2006 is like any other ordinary day for me. I can't meet J.A.L.T today cos I had to prepare school work and chill at home :( Nevermind, next time k, girls! :)

Bobby is really, really sweet when he bought Xin & me each a rose & balloon. In his words, "I think every girl should have a rose on Valentine's Day. Otherwise she will be very sad." :)

Was reading my old blog entries not long ago... when I chanced upon an old entry which I wrote in June 2004... wrote that I didn't like to disappoint people. I don't like to see disappointment in peoples' eyes. I could recall my positionality at that point in time, how I was like then, why do I think and feel the way I did and how I differ from that point in time... I think... this is one of the nicest reason for keeping a blog.

Yeah... that was how I felt then... so is there any big changes now? I guess little has changed about me not liking to disappoint people... dislike it. Major change is that I realised that there exist situations when I'm dreadfully sorry but I cannot not disappoint people... I now know better that sometimes, others don't even feel like they will be disappointed, whatever I do or either way I decide. Finally, I think it's only intrinsic that everyone possess coping mechanisms for disappointments... understand, learn & move on or just shrug the whole thing off. Besides, for everyone, what's disappointing for now may turn out to be a blessing in disguise next time.

2006-01-31T00:25:00.000+08:00

Lunar New Year!

My CNY break for this year began on Thursday, 5p.m cos Friday is my free day till 3rd day of lunar Jan :)

Stuff commonly associated with MY chinese new year and the eve:

Pineapple tarts
spring cleaning
new clothes
ang pows
steamboat
river Hongbao
family (of course)
relatives
friends
mahjong
mandarin oranges
strawberry love letters
kueh Lapis
Ferrero Rocher
well wishes
(Didn't digest Bak kua & Yu Sheng this year. Hee...)

But I wanna digest these fictions this year :)

Pride & Prejudice
The unbearable lightness of being ( I didn't get around to it last Dec)
Memoirs of a Geisha (Haven't reach even a quarter of the book. The movie is nice but it ain't the complete story. And ok, I know this is non-fiction)
Life of PI

So...
The god Janus, who gave his name to the month of January... He stands poised at the turn of the year, looking backwards to what has been... and forward to what is to come...

Eh? What has a Roman god got to do with CNY? Hee... Nevertheless, it is a new year! Hope for a good one :)

2006-01-24T22:14:00.000+08:00

I'm feeling...
very low...

I don't want to explain... Can I? It's some things...

Sometimes I celebrate being myself. But sometimes I wonder why I'm like that.

Feeling low... but I felt worst before...
But that doesn't mean feeling this low is nothing much at all.
It is. a hell lot.

Ministries!

2006-01-22T11:09:00.000+08:00

I visited Ministry of Sound! But I didn't endorse Ministry of Enjoyment (Read: Coca Cola). I had Vodka lime instead =)

Haha... It's nice to go for NUSSU's PRU Bash with Xin =) Wanted to check MOS out and if I graduate this sem, bashes will be a thing of the past, so must go! MOS is really very nicely decorated. And oh yeah, btw, we saw the blogger, Xia Xue in real person.

Music in my ears

2006-01-09T00:11:00.000+08:00

Hee... posting a whole load of song lyrics on my blog again. Ok, just 3 of what is constantly playing in my ears/head now, the last two are classics :)

Underneath Your Clothes - Shakira

You're a song
Written by the hands of god
Don't get me wrong cause
This might sound to you a bit odd
But you own the place
Where all my thoughts go hiding
And right under your clothes
Is where I find them

Underneath Your Clothes
There's an endless story
There's the man I chose
There's my territory
And all the things I deserve
For being such a good girl honey

Because of you
I forgot the smart ways to lie
Because of youI'm running out of reasons to cry
When the friends are gone
When the party's over
We will still belong to each other

Underneath Your Clothes
There's an endless story
There's the man I chose
There's my territory
And all the things I deserve
For being such a good girl honey

I love you more than all that's on the planet
Movin' talkin' walkin' breathing
You know it's true
Oh baby it's so funny
You almost don't believe it
As every voice is hanging from the silence
Lamps are hanging from the ceiling
Like a lady tied to her manners
I'm tied up to this feeling

Underneath Your Clothes
There's an endless story
There's the man I chose
There's my territory
And all the things I deserve
For being such a good girl honey

You're beautiful - James Blunt

My life is brilliant / My love is pure /I saw an angel /Of that I'm sure /She smiled at me on the subway/She was with another man /But I won't lose no sleep on that /'Cause I've got a plan.

You're beautiful / You're beautiful /You're beautiful, it's true / I saw you face in a crowded place /And I don't know what to do / 'Cause I'll never be with you

Yeah, she caught my eye /As we walked on by /She could see from my face that I was /Flying high /And I don't think that I'll see her again /But we shared a moment that will last till the end.

You're beautiful / You're beautiful /You're beautiful / it's true /I saw you face in a crowded place /And I don't know what to do /'Cause I'll never be with you /You're beautiful / You're beautiful /You're beautiful / it's true /There must be an angel with a smile on her face /When she thought up that I should be with you /But it's time to face the truth /I will never be with you.

执迷不悔 - 王菲

这一次我执著面对任性地沉醉
我并不在乎这是错还是对
就算是深陷我不顾一切
就算是执迷我也执迷不悔
别说我应该放弃应该睁开眼
我用我的心去看~去感觉
你并不是我又怎能了解
就算是执迷~ 就让我执迷不悔
我不是你们想得如此完美
我承认有时也会辨不清真伪
并非我不愿意走出迷堆
只是这一次
这次是自己而不是谁
要我用谁的心去体会
真真切切的感受周围
就算痛苦就算是泪
也是属於我的伤悲
我还能用谁的心去体会
真真切切地感受周围
就算疲倦就算是累
只能执迷~而不悔

2006-01-08T14:50:00.000+08:00

School is starting tomorrow… will it be my last sem? 2006 & the years to come… will my dreams & goals become reality? The past ones have of course been a mix of haves & have nots.

I don’t know how or why dad & I started debating about Tibet, its development and cultural preservation (or disintegration) just now and also a couple of times in the past. I also have no idea what got me to become a little interested in understanding this place so relatively unknown and talked about except for the infamous Dalai Lamas. I chanced upon a book in the library a few years ago and began reading about how the Chinese forcefully occupied Tibet, brought its people under their subjugation and exile their leader, the Dalai lama to India.

When I read about that initially, I was a little perturbed by the Chinese’s forceful ways, for after all, they have also once been bullied by the ang-mohs, until when dad articulated his views once and offered me enough rationale to accept the justification for doing so, but I admit it is biased to some extent.

Today, I raised my views that some places should be left in their pristine, natural condition, untouched by industrialisation and development as I would feel really sorry to see the vast natural land in Tibet be transformed into those industrial areas you see with excessive smoke pouring out of the chimneys of the rows of factories. I also articulated my conjecture that the Tibetians would want their happy way of life unspoiled by development, no matter what development promises.

Dad understood my point and agreed, but only to some extent, because he pointed out to me things I never thought of, unless perhaps in the most far-flung corners of my mind, that things ain’t so simple for there is bound to be voices of discontentment about unfairness of uneven regional development even if the leaders meant to preserve some areas; and he pointed out how railways and roads must be built for easier access to Tibet so that the Chinese can monitor their "newly" acquired territory more easily. He then gave me other reasons and examples for the need to do so to prevent unforeseen unrests, which again, enabled me to better understand why things are sometimes done; although I may still disagree with some resultant actions, I understand the whys.

I definitely must view things from many more perspectives rather than my own, which isn’t always entirely erroneous but I'm so unaware...

2005's laSt entRy

2005-12-31T01:03:00.000+08:00

2005's last entry is to fill this up to give Mel face =D

THREE NAMES YOU GO BY:
1) Taojun
2) Jennifer
3) jun jun

THREE SCREEN NAMES YOU HAVE HAD:
1) Valelass
2) blank
3) blank again

THREE PHYSICAL THINGS YOU LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF:
1) Smile
2) Hands
3) Feet! Hahaha... =P Love 'em. I tried foot reflexology, now I want a pedicure! =) Xin? Hehe... maybe before sem starts if we ain't too broke...

THREE PHYSICAL THINGS YOU DON'T LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF:
1) Tummy
2) Thighs
3) Skin condition

THREE PARTS OF YOUR HERITAGE:
1) Family name - 吴 (Wu)
2) Chinese Singaporean
3) Teochew & Fu Zhou

THREE THINGS THAT SCARE YOU:
1) The supernatural
2) Creepy crawlies
3) Loneliness

THREE OF YOUR EVERYDAY ESSENTIALS:
1) Food (and that includes chocolates but trying hard to cut down!)
2) Water
3) Sleep

hahaha... I just need bare necessities! So un-materialistic right? =P

THREE THINGS YOU ARE WEARING NOW:
1) A new blue Fila T-shirt mum bought for me few days ago
2) White shorts
3) Specs

THREE OF YOUR FAVOURITE BANDS OR MUSICAL ARTISTS:
1) Tokyo Kosei
2) Andrew Lloyd Weber
3) Actually, I like a lot of pop singers & bands for their songs/music. No big likes or dislikes.

THREE OF YOUR FAVOURITE SONGS:
1) ? Again, it's hard to choose! So many of Sun Yanzi's, Jay Chow's, Ah-mei's, Shin's, Ocean Ou's, David Tao, etc.
2) So many English & Japanese songs! =)
3) Mandarin & English OLDIES!!! Yes, you read right! Oldies! =P

I know there's no fourth colum, but I wanna say "4) And so many musical pieces " =)

THREE THINGS YOU WANT IN A RELATIONSHIP:
1) Trust
2) Common vision
3) Sweetness

TWO TRUTHS AND A LIE (in no particular order):
1) I am an IT expert!
2) I am a chef!
3) I am a make-up artist!

hahaha.... Sometimes truth is so relative & subjective =P

THREE PHYSICAL THINGS ABOUT THE PREFERRED SEX THAT APPEAL TO YOU:
1) Height
2) Smile
3) Eyes

THREE OF YOUR FAVOURITE HOBBIES:
1) Shop
2) Eat
3) Er.... these must all be included: Read, write, squash, movies, cycling.

THREE THINGS YOU WANT TO DO REALLY BADLY NOW:
1) Eat
2) Watch movies on VCDs / DVDs
3) Lie on my bed

THREE CAREERS YOU ARE CONSIDERING / YOU HAVE CONSIDERED:
1) Planner for a few of Singapore's key industries or key developments
2) Biz marketing
3) Journalism or teaching

I know there are 4 here, but it's all I've ever thought about.

THREE PLACES YOU WANT TO GO ON VACATION:
1) U.S.A
2) Europe
3) Taiwan (I should say East Asia so that it includes Japan & South Korea & China like I oh-so-cleverly wrote "Europe" above =)

THREE KID NAMES YOU LIKE:
1)
2)
3)

Kid names? I don't quite get what's that, same goes for screen names above.

THREE THINGS YOU WANT TO DO BEFORE YOU DIE:
1) Get married & be a mum
2) Achieve my goals & ambitions
3) Travel

THREE WAYS THAT YOU ARE STEREOTYPICALLY A BOY:
1) I don't mind watching soccer & basketball matches
2) I'm fuss free at certain things, e.g. I like fuss-free hairstyle that is straight & neat, just wash & go. Maybe guys pay even more attention to their hair-do than I do!
3) I think collecting toy models of car, planes & ships are the coolest things! =)

THREE WAYS THAT YOU ARE STEREOTYPICALLY A GIRL:
1) I absolutely adore gorgeous clothes, shoes, bags, accessories & make-up
2) I'm sensitive
3) I think Hello Kitty, My Melody, fairytale princes & princesses are the sweetest characters! =)

THREE FEMALE CELEB CRUSHES:
1) Jeon Ji-hyun
2) Wong Li Lin
3) Jennifer Aniston

And more! =)

THREE PEOPLE THAT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE TAKE THIS QUIZ NOW:
1) Jamie
2) Angeline
3) Chiang Wei cos he hasn't updated his blog for a long time and this will do! Same goes for Jam! =P

It'll be 2006 in a matter of 22.5 hours' time!

Bye 2005
&
Hi 2006!

Anagrams!

2005-12-30T00:19:00.000+08:00

Hee... I came acrossed the anagrams of celebrity names in an issue of Glamour which I laid my hands on at the library @ Esplanade by chance a couple of days ago.

Angelina Jolie

Ailing ole Jen.A.

Jennifer Aniston

If I resent A.J ?
N-n-n-o.

And how about Jennifer Wu Taojun? I racked my brains for awhile and came up with this:

We join Jen at fun. R u?

Hee... I like mine =)

By the way, both women are gorgeous but Jennifer Aniston is definitely better. Brad is making a big, big mistake and I hope he regrets to the pitt of his stomach one day.

In the end, it is a happy Christmas!

2005-12-25T22:01:00.000+08:00

This Christmas has been quite eventful not exactly in an entirely delightful sort of way but things did turn out all right in the end. Even though Christmas has no religious significance to me, it's a season of fun & joy to be spent with lovely people.

But some rotten people almost spoilt it. My parents decided to give our family dog away after thinking long & hard about it. My siblings wanted to keep it but I'm neutral... I like Cliff but I'm aware of the full extent of the problems of keeping him. Still, as I stared into his sorrowful, watery eyes yesterday when he is going to be given away to mum's colleague & at the thought of not knowing what is going to happen to him, uncontrollable tears began falling down my face, in front of everybody. It was so unglam, for heaven's sake, I'm 21, going 22 next year. I tried to stop those falling tears but they wouldn't go back into my tearducts and within. That was yesterday morning till early afternoon. And hell, they still didn't after I got back from my gathering with my lovely girlfriends because of this long story, too long for me to bother narrating it aLL. All that is important is that we discovered that the scum of a colleague had planned to sell our dog to a shop instead of keeping it. My dog is not for sale, he's not any ordinary goods to be tranported here and there for monetary transactions. We finally managed to collect Cliff back this morning and send him straight to my sis's friend who loves & wants & is capable of keeping Cliff. But that scum actually wanted 100 bucks from us before allowing us to take Cliff back and dad said fine but in the end, circumstances happened in such a way that no money was handed out. Sis's friend stays in a landed property, suitable for guard dogs to run about freely within the large compund and to really do its job of guarding the house, unlike in my apartment where Cliff has no enough space to move about and he makes so much noise till we are afraid our neighbours won't be glad to tolerate it.

So we are all happy now. Cliff appear to like his new owner, unlike yesterday when he growled at that deserving scum. It ain't a nice word to use but this seems like the most appropriate one. How else to address him? Animals have strong instincts, enabling them to tell the nice people from the baddies. I miss Cliff... will visit him soon!

I tried well to at least be more upbeat & have a good time with my girlfriends during Christmas Eve gathering yesterday evening but during some point in time, they could tell I'm upset over my dog. Nevertheless, we took some nice photos. Here, a collage :) Hmmmm.... we meant to take photos with Christmas lightings in the background but we ended up taking lots of them in the Macdonald's than on the streets cos all of us were rushing for the last train or bus home by the time we got out of Mac. Haha =)

And this morning I went to attend Sue's Baptism. I didn't know what Baptism is before. I can see Sue is happy & excited so it's nice to see that. It's nice to mingle with her friends whom she invited too. After that, I left for home and I thought home's where I will spend the rest of the day. Haha... but well, a call from cousin minutes after I reacherd home and the next thing I knew, I'm changing out of the skirt I wore into shorts, transferred my belongings from a black pouch to my big crumpler bag, threw in a water bottle and I'm headed for East Coast Park to cycle!! Hahaha... Now I'm back of course.

Like that loh

2005-12-22T00:05:00.000+08:00

... Well, I scored a B+ for "Cities in Transition". After proclaiming how much I like Urban geography and that module "Cities in Transition", and which Project 'O' was part of; and after having paid attention to every single lecture and studied all that I need to... this is the outcome. I almost didn't touch my "Ecological Systems" module last sem until 4-5 days before the exam, stoned through those 8a.m lectures and scored 'B' for the project. In the end, I got an 'A-'. I was quite hopeless at the New Product Development mod... Nevermind...

Too many things went through my head as I was preparing to go out for a gathering. Only after I put on mascara, blusher & lipstick did I realise I didn't even put on foundation. Thought some more on the bus ride to town.

My dear accompanions

2005-12-19T10:05:00.000+08:00

I'm enjoying the school hols with nice accompany around :) Lunch with old pals Cow & Aud on last Fri was nice, followed by a short shopping trip to town with Jamie on Saturday before heading for cousin Huiming's bf's birthday chalet and stayed over till Sunday! It's nice to be exposed to new & different people from my usual groups but of course I appreciate the familiarity of my friends.

Still looking forward to meet ups, squash, "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe", dinners, photos, my 1st attempt to make my on pineapple rice! =)

Here is "Silver Bells". One of my fave Christmas songs I did for Christmas carolling in Choir in JC1:

Silver Bells

City sidewalks, busy sidewalks

Dressed in holiday style

In the air there's a feeling of Christmas

Children laughing, people passing

Meeting smiles after smiles

And on every street corner, you'll hear

Silver bells, silver bells

It's Christmas time in the city

Ring-a-ling, hear them sing

Soon it will be Christmas Day

Konnichiwa!

2005-12-15T17:25:00.000+08:00

I went to participate in the St Francis Methodist School and Kaishi Gakuen High School Exchange Program today! The program called for volunteers from NUS & NTU Japanese Cultural Society to play host but I didn't sign up with NUS. I went with my sister who is from NTU. Haha.. why not since the morning till mid-afternoon program is held at St Francis Methodist School, which is my kindergarden which has now morphed into a private pre-university school & just a (few) stone throw(s) from my dwelling.

The event is quite short & there's nothing much to it so that's not what I'm interested to blog about. What's nice about today is the Japanese students themselves! :) I wouldn't stereotype every japanese student to be tastefully fashionable but those that are, are like models straight out of street-fashion magazines.

Actually, I'm just refering to this guy in particular. He's one of the most beautiful boy I've seen. He has lovely eyes which are tinted grey due to coloured contact lens and the smoothest & fairest skin. His long, messy crowning glory full on his head overshadows even Takuya Kimura's mane and his dressing is so uber stylo to boot. A neatly-pressed pink shirt peeked out of his creamish-brown sweater and his baggy grey pants complimented his shirt & funky shoes so perfectly. He's like a movie star!! I'm not exagerating. But no, I'm not in love, I don't know the prince whose heart I belong in and quite the contrary, won't be like that. Haha.. he's only 17, but he looks older than me and the way he talks, walks & sits carries such an air of nonchalance... And one of his friends didn't fair that badly in comparison. They can be members of the next generation of SMAP!!! =) if they can sing & dance lah.

Also, although I've seen prettier Japnese girls, those that were in my group are pretty & cute too. I like their gorgeous bags!!! =) They have pretty school uniforms, they wear those baggy white socks & its perfectly o.k. for these high school students to wear make up, dye their hair & tote LV bags to school! Although I cannot afford Louis Vuitton bags now, I feel in place when one of them complimented me that I have pretty shoes. Hahaha... S$19.90 from Charles & Keith. Hey, don't pooh-pooh me ok, I think that was a genuine compliment cos I saw her staring at it for awhile while I was still chatting away before she had a chance to voice her opinion =)

Back from China

2005-12-11T22:43:00.000+08:00

I’m back from China!

Isn't this panda cute? :) I didn’t spend much for this trip, maybe around S$120? I guess clothes, cosmetics and shoes are the most expensive items I spend on; so without those items, everything else add up to a small amount. The things in China are quite cheap. Haha… =) I went to the Southeastern part of China, to 2 provinces – Fujian and Guang Dong. The main intention of the trip is to visit my maternal grandma in China and to meet many relatives, some whom we’ve never met. Grandma come from Fuzhou which is in the Fujian province but we also visited the Guang Dong province because daddy wants to see a place in Guang Dong called Chao Shan, where his, or rather, my paternal ancestors originated from but we know no relatives there as my dad’s extended family has been straits Chinese for generations after generations, tracing back to Batu Pahat in Malaysia as early as 1850.

The trip has been an eye-opener! My first time to China. I didn’t visit China as a mere tourist, living a sheltered life in hotels, zipping around in a comfy vehicle, dining at restaurants, being a gullible consumer of exorbitantly-priced commodities and a passive respondent of staged-cultural performances. Ok… maybe my family and I were one for the first 5 days of the 10-day trip, touring Xiamen, Chao Shan and Chao Zhou with 2 practiced tour guides; after which, we bade them farewell when our relatives came to fetch us to Fuzhou from Xiamen in a hired van so for the next 5 days, I lead the life of a commoner in the rural village where grandma currently resides after deciding to go back to her beloved hometown after years of staying in Singapore.

China.. Hmmm… Xiamen is in Fujian province, it is a quite a pleasant city, separated from Taiwan by the Strait of Taiwan. One of the cleanest cities in China, its cleanliness is comparable to that of Singapore’s. I even made it a point to check out the back streets; they are really clean! Like Singapore, it has adopted a “garden city” concept and for that reason, trees framed the streets and sub-tropical plants like Chrysanthemum flourish in the lovely parks. The plane landed at Xiamen so this is the 1st place in China I’ve seen and set foot on. It gave me a very good impression of China =) I love the climate. It’s not very cold, but definitely not hot! Although Xiamen is pretty on its own, I prefer the clothing, shoes and accessories we can find in Singapore, hence I bought none. Besides, what is offered are for the winter season. Likewise for all the cities I’ve visited – Chao Shan and Chao Zhou city in Guang Zhou, and Fuzhou city. There are shopping centers which house international brands but they cost just as much the amount we pay in Singapore, hence dashing my hopes of buying cheaper Nike or Adidas cross-trainers =(

Further up North in the Fujian province from Xiamen, is Fuzhou. Although they are just about 300km apart, Fuzhou being located at the higher latitude is colder… so cold I had to wear 4-5 layers of clothing. On one night, the temperature fell to 3°C. However snow rarely falls. Sanitation isn’t good at the rural village. I found it a bit hard to believe I’m actually staying here, a stark contrast to urban places I’m so familiar with. But our relatives were really, really warm… there were lots of conversations and smiles, helping hands and holding hands =) They tried to make our stay as pleasant as possible, offering us the best rooms and made sure we have hearty meals and enough woolen clothes. I ate a humungous amount of food everyday; so much that I didn’t dare weigh myself when I came back home. When I finally did, I was astonished that I didn’t put on weight! Must be the cold weather and the amount of calories I’d burned traveling to different places and houses since we visited many other relatives staying in the city and other villages, as well as visited some sites of interests. I also drank a lot of Chinese tea. Some of my relatives belong to the elite classes in Fuzhou, while the ones we stayed with are middle-income people in the rural village. It isn’t an agricultural village. It used to be one but agricultural land has made way for factories. The folks now work in factories. Living in the village is my granduncle who is a learned man. He’s a retired teacher and someone who is so skilled in Chinese calligraphy and painting that his works were published in books! =) My siblings and I wanted to learn from him but gave up after awhile cos it takes hours to practice and the weather was too cold that morning to remain sitting in his study room for long. Among my relatives, there’s an oncologist who lectures in the Fujian Medical College in Fuzhou City. Another is a dean in another university so I have the opportunity to visit those universities! =) Still, quality of life is better in Singapore. It makes me more appreciative of what we have in Singapore but I never once deride China. I love the Chinese culture and its 5000 years of history. I love the beautiful chain of huge mountains and the accompanying long flowing rivers, the majestic temples built on the mountains, attractive parks and architectures. Besides, the quality of life they have is better than many other developing countries – bear in mind they have a huge physical land and a population of 1.3billion people, much more than any other countries, it isn’t an easy task to manage the land, feed and provide work for everybody. This, coupled with the series of world events which took place in history, I think that China is doing a really good job since after the cultural revolution. I’m not sure about other cities in China but what I found remarkable in the 4 cities I’ve visited, I see no slums or squatter settlements in the cities, a serious and common problem faced by many other developing countries.

Ok, enough of my opinions =) Hee… Scenic spots I've been to include Gu Lang Yu, 西湖, 古山 and some more I can't really rememeber their names. Tried foot reflexology too! =) I really wanted to reject the idea of it initially because I'm easily tickled. I absolutely cannot withstand the touch of hands on my shoulders for massage, let alone my feet. Or so I thought. However, the foot reflexologists came in to do it for everyone so I felt that I should just allow myself a try, otherwise I'll be just wasting time sitting there and waiting...... hahaha. And you know what? It was a very relaxing & refreshing experience! I enjoyed the foot massage very much. THe right amount of pressure was carefully applied on some spots on my foot, rejuvenating the whole area. The foot reflexologists are friendly & really good at what they do. I think a foot reflexologist is a very humble job, literally bending down to care for peoples' feet.

Here are a few of my favourite photos taken during this trip.

A huge boulder sitting at the edge of a cliff but not even the typhoon can budge it from the spot.

Weapons!!

Brother's pose

General Wu!!! =P

At a silk boutique

Oh, this is literally 太阳下山 !! =)

First dinner at a restaurant in the village

Teams

2005-11-10T20:00:00.000+08:00

Today's final presentation for the New Pdt Devpt module put an end to all the deadlines for the sem. Phew! On Monday, Team Project 'O' re-presented OSAKA during the competition in the Cities lect and we came in 2nd place. Hee... It's alright. The winner, Ankara team who represented Turkey was a strong competitor! On the whole, I enjoyed doing this sem's projects with my project mates, many of whom are easy to work with and also worked hard! :)

Tolerance

2005-11-05T10:09:00.000+08:00

You know, most of the time people don't know what's wrong with themselves but instead think its everyone else's fault and that it is the circumstances that ain't right. But what if you know that the fault really lies with someone else and not you? So you are told to tolerate and give in and let go. But how long can this go on? How much can be tolerated? At what frequency can it be deemed acceptable? Even my parents are shocked by this behaviour, let alone upsetted me. I feel that I've done what I ought to; I have gladly done things. Nevermind if I'm not rememebered for any of them but I shouldn't be subjected to such utter unreasonable mistreatment from her. This isn't the first time.

I'll be fine. I'll learn to be.

A pleasant day

2005-10-30T00:52:00.000+08:00

It's a day filled with happy occasions :) First, I went to Costa Sands chalet at ECP for my girl-friend, Jamie's birthday celebration. Jam & her skater friends helped coach Melodyee & me in in-line skating a.k.a rollerblading! That's nice cos I haven't put on a pair of wheels on my feet since like... Sec 2? I haven't learnt how to skate yet back then, just merely putting them on and attempted to balance myself in an upright position. Initially, I wanted to cycle, not skate but in the end I thought I should learn to skate with Mel, I can always cycle next time! So I did, and I made progress, I can manage to glide a wee bit on my own but no, still can't skate yet. Hee... I think I'll be at ECP quite often this December, even if I'm not learning to skate, I'll be cycling! :) After skating when Jam was all dolled up and Mel helped me with mine cos I'm going to attend a cousin's wedding later on. Hee... that time Jamie helped me put on make-up was when we were preparing to go for Melodyee's birthday celeb and now Mel is helping me put on my make-up at Jamie's chalet! Haha... And I can't wait get a copy of the photos all of us took!!! :)

Right, like I said already, dad arrived at ECP to fetch me to my cousin's wedding so I couldn't stay to see Jam cut her cake. The wedding dinner is held at a pleasant restaurant at Expo. I found my cousin's wedding event quite sweet even though I'm not close to my cousin. I'm also glad to see some other relatives :) Although I seldom see them and we lead somewhat quite different lives, still, these are the people who has seen me grow up and I appreciate the fact that 1 uncle and 1 aunt from my paternal side are fond of me all these years.

In all, it's a pleasant day. Won't it be nice if everyday is pleasant and all things just fall into place the way you want them to be?

Haha..

2005-10-24T19:09:00.000+08:00

Happy Tree Friends
http://www.happytreefriends.com/

Introduced to me by JK.

Cliff is home

2005-10-23T18:38:00.000+08:00

Cliff returned home after an overnight stay at the hospital. Amazingly (but of course happy) he's fine... just external bruises. The X-ray shows his bones are intact and his internal organs are functioning as normal, he's still hyper when he reached home but he's asleep now :)

Photo taken by my brother a few months ago.

Nay...

2005-10-23T00:35:00.000+08:00

Nevermind about the comics. My family dog Cliff got hit by a car this evening when dad, mum and brother brought him out for a run... The accident was a pretty serious one according to them and Cliff howled in pain real loud and long before losing conscious... =( they are thankful but pretty amazed he's still alive when he did come round after they repeatedly called his name and remained conscious throughout the journey to the animal hospital at Whitley Rd. My sis and I got to go too cos my parents went home to get the car while my brother waited with Cliff at the roadside.

Yay...

2005-10-22T16:18:00.000+08:00

Yay... My long-awaited volume 21 of the Chinese comic series 滚球王 is finally out =) Heh... That's my only diet of Chinese lit if I don't count mandarin song lyrics and I'm not proud of it. I discovered that while wandering around Causeway Point, waiting for cousin Huihua to pass me her blazer. Yup, re-borrowing it so that I have one to wear again for the Olympic bid competition which our Project 'O' got selected for. Found it at Comics Connections.. The last volume was out like... maybe in December last year? I don't know, its too long till I cannot rememeber.

Home On the Range Lyrics

2005-10-20T01:00:00.000+08:00

Hee... like this song too, and it's portrayed landscape of the countryside. But it's an antithesis to liking urban landscapes.

Oh give me a home where the buffaloes roam,
Where the deers and the antelopes play,
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word,
And the skies are not cloudy all day.

Chorus
Home, home on the range, where the deer and the antelope play,
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word,
And the skies are not cloudy all day.

Where the air is so pure, and the zephyrs so free,
The breezes so balmy and light,
That I would not exchange my home on the range,
For all of the cities so bright.

The Red man was pressed from this part of the west,
He's likely no more to return,
To the banks of the Red River where seldom if ever
Their flickering campfires burn.

How often at night when the heavens are bright,
With the light from the glittering stars,
Have I stood there amazed and asked as I gazed,
If their glory exceeds that of ours.

Oh, I love these wild flowers in this dear land of ours,
The curlew I love to hear cry,
And I love the white rocks and the antelope flocks,
That graze on the mountain slopes high.

Oh give me a land where the bright diamond sand,
Flows leisurely down in the stream;
Where the graceful white swan goes gliding along,
Like a maid in a heavenly dream.
Then I would not exchange my home on the range,
Where the deer and the antelope play;
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word,
And the skies are not cloudy all day.

Want more of these songs like Oh Susanna and Happy Wanderer? Here! http://www.theunicorns.org/Pack80/Songs.htm

Street Photography: "Chinatown at Dusk"

2005-10-16T02:04:00.000+08:00

I went to Chinatown this evening for the photoshoot. Here are some photos; ain't pro, unlike those photographers but I tried what I can. They ain't edited. I don't know how to use photoshop. Heh... Tool of trade? My digital cam: Panasonic Lumix DMC-LC70

I like street photography. I like urban landscapes... I really enjoyed my urban geography module - Cities in transition this sem.

Taken on my way to Chinatown.
See the contrast between the high-rise apart at the back & the line of shophouses in front.

6.30 p.m.

8.50 p.m.

Phantom bus

The moon behind the tree branch

White foreigner in Singapore, in a Chinese landscape.

People. A pretty stranger.

What instrument is this? Should have taken a more upclose picture of the man.

Smashing time squashing

2005-10-14T14:09:00.000+08:00

It's really, really great to play squash with a darn good player who is willing to teach me.

Going to drill on my own after 26th Nov. Yes, the day of my last exam paper for the sem. Dear Jen, please really do so.

I wonder why I do everything in solitude and seem to be picking interests that are solitudinary in nature - squash (well, it's played in twos but can play on your on too), cook, art & craft, read and write, Chinese calligraphy... Or is it that I hardly ask people to join me in learning but instead silently learning on my own. When I play squash at my place, I often choose a time when people are usually away at work or school or whatever so that I can practise on my own, hidden away from the world's stares cos I'm not good enough and get nervous. But I know that I'm not a quiet person in nature. In fact, I think socialising is nice but getting quiet now. Never mind... at least I love going out for shopping & cycling & food & parties and movies & anything else with accompany. As long as I have a balance between staying home and going out, I'll be happy.

Project 'O'

2005-10-05T17:49:00.000+08:00

Project 'O' is over! Presentation & report due today.. We think it went quite ok but we don't know the grades yet, all we know is that we've really given our all for this project on selecting a city and then represent it to bid for the 2016 Olympic Games so whatever the grades are, we have no regrets =)

Team Osaka!!! Left to right: Yui Min, me, David, Joyce, Izwah.

Hard Rock Cafe

2005-10-02T00:05:00.000+08:00

Hee... I brought my mother to Hard Rock Cafe today. Actually, it's also my 1st visit. I just know how to get there that's all and mum's the one with the credit card promotion + money. Haha..

It's a cool place and this is what we had:

Grilled chicken and Baked Cod fish =) Yummy!

Here, ending this entry with this musical piece from Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. I've never watched this musical so I don't quite understand the lyrics but the music is nice :)

Narrator

Pharaoh, he was
A powerful man
With the ancient world
In the palm of his hand
To all intents and purposes he
Was Egypt with a capital E
Whatever he did
He was showered with praise
If he cracked a joke
Then you chortled for days
No-one had rights or a
Vote but the king
In fact you might say
He was fairly right-wing
When Pharaoh's around,
Then you get down on the ground
If you ever find yourself near Ramases
Get down on your knees

Female Ensemble & Children

A Pharaoh's story,
A Pharaoh's story
A Pharaoh's story,
A Pharaoh's story
Narrator

Down at the other
End of the scale
Joseph is still
Doing time in jail
For even though he is
In with the guards
A liftime in prison
Seems quite on the cards
But if my analysis of
The position is right
At the end of the tunnel
There's seems a glimmer of light
For all of a sudden
Indescribable things
Have shattered the sleep
Of both peasants and kings Strange as it seems,
There's been a run of crazy dreams
And a man who can interpret
Could go far - could become a star

Female Ensemble & Children

Could be famous,
Could be a big success
Could be famous,
Could be a big success
Narrator

Strange as it seems
There's been a
Run of crazy dreams
And a man who can interpret
Could go far
Could become a star
Narrator & Ensemble Could be famous,

Could be a big success
Could be famous,
Could be a big success
Strange as it seems
There's been aRun of crazy dreams
And a man who can interpret
Could go far
AhCould become a star
Could be famous,
Could be a big success
Could be famous,
Could be a star

Photoshop!

2005-10-01T01:35:00.000+08:00

Me & the tofu seller's car in Initial D!!! Chiang Wei does neat stuff with photoshop! I like this pic a lot except for 1 thing.... sssshhh!!! =P

This Adidas desktop wallpaper is real cool right? =) I love Adidas as much as Nike now or maybe even more, much unlike the past when Nike used to reign number 1. Ahaha... Adidas is so cool with its new slogan "Impossible is nothing!"

News!

2005-09-28T16:30:00.001+08:00

*Lol* I didn’t expect that after my 1st entry is titled “New!”, I would title the 2nd one “News!” But I did because it’s the most appropriate word :)

Am at home now, this mid-afternoon compiling the final report for my Olympic project when I received an SMS from my former colleague at Prosafe, telling me the news that the company won the bid for the Devon project! =D I’m so delighted to hear that! That means huge profits for the company if managed well. It’s really nice of my colleague to SMS me the great news and whom I remember, gave me a few pointers regarding squash back in June. I wish the company and everyone in it well. It’s a nice place :)

New! =)

2005-09-24T15:15:00.000+08:00

Hee... A new blog with this new layout and title but I didn't (want to) lose Girlosophy =) I merely changed the URL to http://www.valelass-1.blogspot.com and link it to this page, it's at the side bar. So, www.valelass.blogspot.com remains =)

It's refreshing to see this new layout though looking at the old one feels very comfortable probably b'coz of the familiarity since it has been with me for so long. And the title is inspired by the title of the book "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" and facing the music, pleasant and unpleasant, is part of life. I want this blog to be minimalistic in design. It is this simplicity that I like.

I have not read the book but I'm going to after this sem ends!

More postings in the future!