Tomorrow is the Amazing RHace (yes there is no typo)! Which had better be fun, since I've been through a whole lot of trouble to make sure I can attend the it, so much that I regretted signing up for it in the first place.
What happened was RHOC (Raffles Hall Orientation Committee) had organized a Senior's Camp event lifted from the American reality TV show Amazing Race, which has us racing all over Singapore 31 hours straight in teams of four, and one team would win $500, with is $125 each. We race overnight too! Sounds like a lot of fun I must say, though I seriously dread the physical aspects of the race. Oh, and the part that I'm not going to be brialliant at the mental aspect of it doesn't help much either.
I wasn't exactly enthusiastic over joining the event, but just put my name down because Jon was going too. And after signing up, I suddenly remembered that it was my turn to do Holiday Storage for hall on Friday evening. And it so happens that ALL my fellow RHOMers (RH Orientation Marketing) can't sub me on that day, or aren't sure if they could.
In the end I had to check on everyone unbashfully for two weeks straight before I found out just a few days ago that Winnie was around, and she was willing to sub me. I heaved a sigh of relief. There was allegedly a $300 dollar fine for those who pull out of the race! (Which means we have to be around at all the stipulated hours.) I know somehow or other if I pull out they won't end up fining me, after all it's not written down in black and white and I did not sign any contract regarding the fine. But still, it will be like ditching my other group members last minutely. I even tried asking Boss to step into my place before this, but he wasn't coming back to Singapore.
So now I get to join the fun! And enjoy the BBQ dinner, and the use of sponsored sun-tan lotion, and sponsored NEWater and all the facilties/food/reimbursement that RHOM sourced! And all the fun activities planned by RHOC too. I hope I'll still be able to move on Sunday. I still need to go to church!
Still I have this little nagging worry that I'll be the weakest link of the chain in the group, being the only girl. The rest (Jon, Jia Voon and Jerome), are all guys. Hmm. I have the tendency to worry about all these little details. Shall psycho myself not to worry and have fun :)
Crazy taxi is still my favorite flash game! I had a new high score this week. I tried those online detective games lately. Most of them started out really serious and all, but ended quite stupidly. Imagine a murder investigation that ends with a detective killing the mob gangster boss by throwing a crab into his shirt, causing him to fall out of the window to his death!
And I still feel like I like those coloring games a lot. I liked to play those games when I was a kid you see, those click and color ones. But I guess it must be because I copy out pictures for birthday cards too often - I seem to have lost the ability to color a picture independently!
Module bidding started this week, and everything went as smoothly as ever. I got all my modules for one point each, including my lab, which was the only thing that I might have to compete for. Now, if only studying for those modules were just as easy! I'm already stuck at all the lecture notes I was looking at and this semester's workload seems really, really bad.
Since I couldn't go on self-studying, I decided to make a weekly time table using Excel, all colored nicely, on when I should revise what and bla. Still, the time-table is bound to undergo major changes after the semester starts and hall activities kick in. They always mess up my time tables! And even if you've got the perfect time-table, the hardest part of all is actually following it!
I still love Pukka Ice Cream! Went there on Tuesday night, and there was a horrible queue there, a combined effect of Eusoff Hall OG (orientation groups) supper, and the free mix-ins on Tuesdays! Jon and I ate chocolate with brownie mix-in. It was a whole lot for just $2.50.
I have a very mixed feeling on orientations and the way they are carried out, but I guess that will make another post. If I'm even ready to blog about it.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Monday, July 27, 2009
Another Step Into The Twenties
I sat all my toys on the bed, and found out that they all had one thing in common. All of them had the same birthday, although of different ages. Dee Dee and Pooh are 3 years old. NT is 2 years old. Hunny, Monkey and McDull are 1 year old. And the biggest object on the bed, which is myself, is officially 22 today.
I was lucky enough to be able to go back home last week for a family reunion cum birthday celebration. Dawn came back too, although she was sick and shopped for my presents even when she was sick too. Mable was down with a bad cold and funny sort of 'flu' two days after my return. Even Jon who went home with me was coughing and sniffing on the way back. Thank God there was nothing wrong with me, although everyone commented that I was skinnier than ever.
Pastor Chiam preached a message about why we need to grow as Christians. Now I come to think of it, it was actually a rather timely birthday message. Thought over it a bit today - after all, when one is as old as 22, they must think a little more. I've been rather lazy in growing spiritualy these years (and physically I'm now somewhat smaller too). It is time to go out of my comfort zone and grow as a Christian. It wouldn't be easy. But when age is catching up with you (I've been denying that I'm 22 all the way until today even though my birthday was celebrated at home), you know you have to act fast before it's too late.
In fact, despite being not so mature a few years back, I felt that I was bigger in spirit than I am now. Back then I was more willing to go out of the way to do something, had a more positive outlook in life, and very forward moving. Now, I'm just slack. I need to get on moving, seriously.
I had a lot of nice presents this year. :D Dawn bought me a nice sleeveless blouse (which she cautioned me to take good care of, because it is not cheap), and a dark blue bag with a green teddy. Mable gave a nodding Winnie the Pooh handphone stand for me to stick my handphone on. Ah Gong and Po Po gave me angpau, and went out of the way to prepare and join in my bday celebs. Daddy treated us to a nice dinner & birthday cake; and asked me to name my birthday present because he had no idea what to get me. In the end I asked for a laptop cover - and a hair rebond sponsorship at the end of the year, hehe. I think this is the most costly present yet. Shi En actually gave me something on my wish list! A water bottle. :) And Hue Wen gave me a decorative table lamp as a mark of her companionship towards my studies.
Found the last two days at home fun as Jon was there too, and even attended church with my family. Some aunties as well as the youth in church were interested in my 'newly' acquired relationship, and the way they congratulated me seemed as if I'm going to get married soon. =p
Now I'm back in hall, and I thank God for being able to step into another year in earth. Another year of chance, and possibilities, before the worldly account closes up. :) Thank God for family and friends, and His love and grace.
I was lucky enough to be able to go back home last week for a family reunion cum birthday celebration. Dawn came back too, although she was sick and shopped for my presents even when she was sick too. Mable was down with a bad cold and funny sort of 'flu' two days after my return. Even Jon who went home with me was coughing and sniffing on the way back. Thank God there was nothing wrong with me, although everyone commented that I was skinnier than ever.
Pastor Chiam preached a message about why we need to grow as Christians. Now I come to think of it, it was actually a rather timely birthday message. Thought over it a bit today - after all, when one is as old as 22, they must think a little more. I've been rather lazy in growing spiritualy these years (and physically I'm now somewhat smaller too). It is time to go out of my comfort zone and grow as a Christian. It wouldn't be easy. But when age is catching up with you (I've been denying that I'm 22 all the way until today even though my birthday was celebrated at home), you know you have to act fast before it's too late.
In fact, despite being not so mature a few years back, I felt that I was bigger in spirit than I am now. Back then I was more willing to go out of the way to do something, had a more positive outlook in life, and very forward moving. Now, I'm just slack. I need to get on moving, seriously.
I had a lot of nice presents this year. :D Dawn bought me a nice sleeveless blouse (which she cautioned me to take good care of, because it is not cheap), and a dark blue bag with a green teddy. Mable gave a nodding Winnie the Pooh handphone stand for me to stick my handphone on. Ah Gong and Po Po gave me angpau, and went out of the way to prepare and join in my bday celebs. Daddy treated us to a nice dinner & birthday cake; and asked me to name my birthday present because he had no idea what to get me. In the end I asked for a laptop cover - and a hair rebond sponsorship at the end of the year, hehe. I think this is the most costly present yet. Shi En actually gave me something on my wish list! A water bottle. :) And Hue Wen gave me a decorative table lamp as a mark of her companionship towards my studies.
Found the last two days at home fun as Jon was there too, and even attended church with my family. Some aunties as well as the youth in church were interested in my 'newly' acquired relationship, and the way they congratulated me seemed as if I'm going to get married soon. =p
Now I'm back in hall, and I thank God for being able to step into another year in earth. Another year of chance, and possibilities, before the worldly account closes up. :) Thank God for family and friends, and His love and grace.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Old Piano Pieces and Such
Yesterday, or was it two days ago? I saw Mable playing her Grade 8 exam pieces on the piano. I strangely could not recall the melody of the songs she played. Now if it it was Dawn the exam pieces would literally strike a chord in my memory at once! Among the three of us, she's the most diligent when it comes to practicing.
I have been missing my Grade 8 exam pieces for years! Every time I come home I would hunt for it a bit, but give up. I could never find the book, and part of the reason must be because I give up digging for it too soon. But listening to Mable play her exam pieces made my heart itch again. I asked her if she knew where my book was.
I should have asked that question a few years earlier. Sometimes I think Mable knows where everything is. She pointed me to the exact place where it was, in one of the many dusty plastic bags on the last level of our bookshelf, hidden behind Daddy's boxes and other junk. I braved myself to wade through everything till I got the book. Fortunately, it wasn't too dusty.
Anyway I excitedly asked Mable to turn the piano over to me. Since she was having quite some trouble replaying her Grade 8 pieces, she gladly did so. I flipped to the first song - titled Presto (which means 'very fast' in Italian). Since I was very out of practice, I attempted to play it Moderato instead. I still remembered my score for this song was 24/30. Mable wanted to try playing the song too since it looked rather simple. But appearances can be deceiving! It is not easy for fingers to go round and round non-stop, less still in the speed of 'Presto' for 10 pages straight! She gave up after the first few bars and we tried playing a hand each. I still remember a teacher saying that it was a bad choice of a song, because it was too hard to play. I should have chosen another song which was easier (and only 3 pages!) at the back. Unfortunately, (or is it fortunately?) I had taken fancy to this one and had ventured into the land of no return. It was evident by the time I reached page 4 or 5 (Mable had given up by then), that the song was best played Adagio (slow), according to my current level of competency.
After the first song, I turned to the second, Allegro (which means lively or fairly quick), an 8 page piece by Mozart. I got 23/30 for this one, quite dangerous, 20/30 being the passing mark. I still remember my uneven quavers, and fingers seemed to get tangled. Well, things seemed worse than ever after lack of practice. I could barely get past the first two pages. I forced myself to go on, skipping lots of notes in the process, to the last page.
My third song was a relatively modern piece, titled Character Piece No. 2, by a composer named Britten. I have no idea who Britten was, but after choosing and playing the piece, I remembered him as a 'modern time' composer. The Character Piece was short, and certainly had character. It was in E major, which had four sharps (and I hate keys with lots of sharps). But if that wasn't enough, there were all sorts of sharps and flat, and double sharps jutting out here and there throughout the piece. Fortunately, it wasn't a fast piece as the previous two were. It didn't sound nice either. It sounded weird, out of sync, but somehow there was a certain pattern in it. I didn't really like the melody of this song. But I liked the marks it gave me during the exam, 27/30, which was unexpectedly good. I didnt' even intend to choose this piece in the first place - I wanted another song that sounded nicer (during the Romantic Era I suppose), but that was a tad too long (around 6 pages), and since I was already struggling with my first two songs, my teacher and I thought it would be wiser to go with something a little shorter and easier so I'd have more time to practice.
The little Character Piece got me some bonus points which might have helped me pull my results from a pass to a merit. But when I tried to play it again now, it turned out even worse than my first two pieces! Maybe I just needed time to familiarize myself with all the sharps and flats again.
So after the evening of a grostoque tryout, I made up my mind that before I go back to Singapore, I'd better play these pieces until they are at least presentable again.
Hence today, after mopping the floor, irregardless of a cut finger (my mop is falling to pieces and I have somehow clipped my finger against it), I practiced and practiced and practiced for hours. You wouldn't have found me so hardworking if it was exam time. And somehow, after almost 8 years (yes I know I'm old), playing the same songs over again, I felt like I could now add a little something into the songs that I couldn't before. And by evening, I could play all the songs fairly well already.
All the while in Singapore I had been lazy and have been playing everything by ear. Now I sort of realize that I can play by score fairly well too, and back comes my confidence. Those practice memories kept flooding back and so did every small irritation I used to experience. I felt that I was somehow back in my secondary school days again.
Piano practicing made my day quite eventful after all. I just hope my neighbours aren't sick of all the repeated practicing. My piano has a tendency to make everything extra loud. :)
I have been missing my Grade 8 exam pieces for years! Every time I come home I would hunt for it a bit, but give up. I could never find the book, and part of the reason must be because I give up digging for it too soon. But listening to Mable play her exam pieces made my heart itch again. I asked her if she knew where my book was.
I should have asked that question a few years earlier. Sometimes I think Mable knows where everything is. She pointed me to the exact place where it was, in one of the many dusty plastic bags on the last level of our bookshelf, hidden behind Daddy's boxes and other junk. I braved myself to wade through everything till I got the book. Fortunately, it wasn't too dusty.
Anyway I excitedly asked Mable to turn the piano over to me. Since she was having quite some trouble replaying her Grade 8 pieces, she gladly did so. I flipped to the first song - titled Presto (which means 'very fast' in Italian). Since I was very out of practice, I attempted to play it Moderato instead. I still remembered my score for this song was 24/30. Mable wanted to try playing the song too since it looked rather simple. But appearances can be deceiving! It is not easy for fingers to go round and round non-stop, less still in the speed of 'Presto' for 10 pages straight! She gave up after the first few bars and we tried playing a hand each. I still remember a teacher saying that it was a bad choice of a song, because it was too hard to play. I should have chosen another song which was easier (and only 3 pages!) at the back. Unfortunately, (or is it fortunately?) I had taken fancy to this one and had ventured into the land of no return. It was evident by the time I reached page 4 or 5 (Mable had given up by then), that the song was best played Adagio (slow), according to my current level of competency.
After the first song, I turned to the second, Allegro (which means lively or fairly quick), an 8 page piece by Mozart. I got 23/30 for this one, quite dangerous, 20/30 being the passing mark. I still remember my uneven quavers, and fingers seemed to get tangled. Well, things seemed worse than ever after lack of practice. I could barely get past the first two pages. I forced myself to go on, skipping lots of notes in the process, to the last page.
My third song was a relatively modern piece, titled Character Piece No. 2, by a composer named Britten. I have no idea who Britten was, but after choosing and playing the piece, I remembered him as a 'modern time' composer. The Character Piece was short, and certainly had character. It was in E major, which had four sharps (and I hate keys with lots of sharps). But if that wasn't enough, there were all sorts of sharps and flat, and double sharps jutting out here and there throughout the piece. Fortunately, it wasn't a fast piece as the previous two were. It didn't sound nice either. It sounded weird, out of sync, but somehow there was a certain pattern in it. I didn't really like the melody of this song. But I liked the marks it gave me during the exam, 27/30, which was unexpectedly good. I didnt' even intend to choose this piece in the first place - I wanted another song that sounded nicer (during the Romantic Era I suppose), but that was a tad too long (around 6 pages), and since I was already struggling with my first two songs, my teacher and I thought it would be wiser to go with something a little shorter and easier so I'd have more time to practice.
The little Character Piece got me some bonus points which might have helped me pull my results from a pass to a merit. But when I tried to play it again now, it turned out even worse than my first two pieces! Maybe I just needed time to familiarize myself with all the sharps and flats again.
So after the evening of a grostoque tryout, I made up my mind that before I go back to Singapore, I'd better play these pieces until they are at least presentable again.
Hence today, after mopping the floor, irregardless of a cut finger (my mop is falling to pieces and I have somehow clipped my finger against it), I practiced and practiced and practiced for hours. You wouldn't have found me so hardworking if it was exam time. And somehow, after almost 8 years (yes I know I'm old), playing the same songs over again, I felt like I could now add a little something into the songs that I couldn't before. And by evening, I could play all the songs fairly well already.
All the while in Singapore I had been lazy and have been playing everything by ear. Now I sort of realize that I can play by score fairly well too, and back comes my confidence. Those practice memories kept flooding back and so did every small irritation I used to experience. I felt that I was somehow back in my secondary school days again.
Piano practicing made my day quite eventful after all. I just hope my neighbours aren't sick of all the repeated practicing. My piano has a tendency to make everything extra loud. :)
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Jigsaw Puzzles
When I was young I played with jigsaw puzzles a lot. Those wooden pieces where you just fit them into the board and if it's the right piece, the picture clicks.Recently I have been playing with jigsaw puzzles too, but they don't need to be cleared up. I have this set of games inside my computer and I can pick a picture to play with any time I want - and even adjust the difficulty of the game. As before, I prefer playing with more 'cartoon like' jigsaws, because actual photographs and scenery are quite hard to do.
I was bored, so I wiki-ed 'jigsaw puzzle' to find out that some puzzles were in 2D or 3D version. That is so beyond my reach.
Somehow all this jigsaw playing reminds me of the Archi Boy's (Thierry's) blog name: Pieces of Me. Especially since he updated quite recently. The first thoughts this name brought to me was that it sounded very much like a shattered glass, then I connected the words to a jigsaw. Then I felt it had very much to do with archi models too, for my (very crude) impression of them were pieces of cardboard and stuff stuck together.
I don't know where my blogging direction is going to, but I'll just have faith and follow the my train of thoughts as I type. Come to think of it, I haven't blogged like this for some time. Usually I sit down with a set of thoughts, and expand them one by one.
But today is different. Completing this blog entry is like doing a jigsaw puzzles without seeing all the pieces I have in hand.
Sometimes I feel that life is like a jigsaw puzzle too. Isn't this statement a little cliche? But that's the way I find it. Unpredictable. Sometimes you see an odd piece standing out, and wonder - how this funny little piece with its different color and texture will actually fit into the whole picture. As of now, it doesn't seem to match anywhere. Do you think these thoughts while doing jigsaws? I do a lot.
But later, the fun part is as you get along, all the oohs and ahhs! It fits, and now you know why it does! :)
(Hey, this blog jigsaw is turning out not too bad afterall.)
I do always think that life is like fitting pieces of jigsaw together. You get the right pieces and they click when you walk along the will of God. In marriage, in finding a job, in building relationships. And how do you know the will of God? We discussed this once a upon a time in Bible study. Just be obedient to God's Word, and you'll be walking along His will!
But there's one new question I'd like to introduce: Why does the jigsaw puzzle, which is originally a nice picture, has to be broken up, only to be built or restructured again?
Everytime I do cartoon jigsaws, I always think that this helps to improve my cartoon drawing, or copying. That's because when the big picture is all apart, to reconstruct it, I need to pay attention to the little details. If it's all there already, I just tend to casually view it as a big picture, as a whole.
I guess if life was not a jigsaw, we wouldn't really appreciate the little details. All those twist and turns that are already made known are no more exciting.
And I guess to some people, if a picture wasn't in jigsaw form, there would be nothing fun nor addicting in it at all!
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
21 July 2009
I haven't been updating much. I'm at home in Tampin now for a week. Would come back to Singapore by Sunday.
Quite a bit has changed after my being away for about one month. Daddy has bought a new car (that I yet have to ride in). We have a new washing machine. Everyone in the house seems to be in love with Jacob's biscuits. I am, now, too. :)
I went to my grandfather's house and weighed myself on the scales there to find that I have hit my lowest weight record possible. 40.1 kg. Thank goodness it's not 39! But still I suppose that means I have to eat more. But I think I have been eating more nowadays. I'm even having suppers now!
Hmm. Maybe I'll put on weight here instead.
I finally finished my thick book of over 50 Hercule Poirot stories. Lovely! If only I go through my textbooks at this speed, and with this amount of passion! I can't help stating again what a wonderful read these books of Agatha Christie are. The conceited Poirot, with his famous, curled mustaches that cannot stand the heat, he barges in and out of the most extraordinary mysteries and gets every one of them solved! All except for one during his early days.
I Youtube-d and found that there are Hercule Poirot movies adapted from his novel crimes too! And my, some of the lady actresses are most pretty! It's a great pity there aren't subtitles. The words they speak are a bit mouthed in. And the acting, I won't really say that it's spectacular. But for a fan who's true to the contents of the book, I don't think the movies actually disappoint. Unlike other stories that have been adapted into movies and parts of it here and there are being left out - somehow I think they managed to put in all the important details and leave out just the really minor ones.
I'll write more next time, it's time for dinner :) Ta.
Quite a bit has changed after my being away for about one month. Daddy has bought a new car (that I yet have to ride in). We have a new washing machine. Everyone in the house seems to be in love with Jacob's biscuits. I am, now, too. :)
I went to my grandfather's house and weighed myself on the scales there to find that I have hit my lowest weight record possible. 40.1 kg. Thank goodness it's not 39! But still I suppose that means I have to eat more. But I think I have been eating more nowadays. I'm even having suppers now!
Hmm. Maybe I'll put on weight here instead.
I finally finished my thick book of over 50 Hercule Poirot stories. Lovely! If only I go through my textbooks at this speed, and with this amount of passion! I can't help stating again what a wonderful read these books of Agatha Christie are. The conceited Poirot, with his famous, curled mustaches that cannot stand the heat, he barges in and out of the most extraordinary mysteries and gets every one of them solved! All except for one during his early days.
I Youtube-d and found that there are Hercule Poirot movies adapted from his novel crimes too! And my, some of the lady actresses are most pretty! It's a great pity there aren't subtitles. The words they speak are a bit mouthed in. And the acting, I won't really say that it's spectacular. But for a fan who's true to the contents of the book, I don't think the movies actually disappoint. Unlike other stories that have been adapted into movies and parts of it here and there are being left out - somehow I think they managed to put in all the important details and leave out just the really minor ones.
I'll write more next time, it's time for dinner :) Ta.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Archive Browsing
Just now I have been browsing through the archives of Campus Blog and also the RH Block 6 block. So many memories flooded in.
I saw all the posts I put and the others put in the blog the past two years. I recalled that we used to be CampNUS because almost all of us were studying in NUS. (Now it's not, to be fair haha.) I saw many people I haven't been seeing for a long while. And pictures of myself with short hair!
I saw the crazy old days when we were all First Years hanky-pankying in Block 6 compounds and the kitchenette, the combined dinners, the combined birthday celebrations.
Funny how all these change for me just after two years.
I suppose in a way I have shut myself from Block 6'ers lovely company. And I have not the willpower to keep in touch with those who left Campus, or to persuade them to come back.
I look and I browse and that part of myself yearns to be that me I was once, just a mere two years ago.
How busyness, stress and competitiveness has shaped me! How much university life has given to me, and yet how much has it taken away too.
I have always regarded myself as being soft in a way as being easily shaped by opinions of others and events in life, and I think to some degree I'm right. I've been changing and changing, year after year. And though part of me wants to go back, somehow, I don't want to go back either.
The change hasn't been all bad. I did make new friends. I did learn the importance of being dilligent and taking initiatives. I learned who I must be in order to be a good employee, to fit into this new world I'm thrust into, one I'm still struggling to learn how to survive in. I learned to take up heavier responsibilities. I regained part of my self-confidence I left behind in Malaysia, and at the same time, learn how to be humble.
Yet I begin to find it hard to hold on to relationships, especially those that have passed. My whole anchor to who I am and who I was before this in relation to people is that I belong to my family, and to them I shall always belong. The rest sort of come and go.
Dear friends, I do not understate your importance in my life. I do take friendships seriously, and I try to be accountable for all. Yet, I regret I have not found time to talk, listen and just be there for people, because I am often confused with my priorities - I wonder if I have been spending enough time on myself, even though it is already a lot.
Oh, I miss those days when you can just thrust the care of growing up and thriving in a working world apart, and just be there with your friends for fellowship and fun, sharing experiences with each other. I wonder why although I have placed great importance in many friendships in my life, I have often failed to sustain them.
And most of all, I wonder why part of me just wants to continue with the state I am now and live with it. I'm confused. Am I really like that?
I saw all the posts I put and the others put in the blog the past two years. I recalled that we used to be CampNUS because almost all of us were studying in NUS. (Now it's not, to be fair haha.) I saw many people I haven't been seeing for a long while. And pictures of myself with short hair!
I saw the crazy old days when we were all First Years hanky-pankying in Block 6 compounds and the kitchenette, the combined dinners, the combined birthday celebrations.
Funny how all these change for me just after two years.
I suppose in a way I have shut myself from Block 6'ers lovely company. And I have not the willpower to keep in touch with those who left Campus, or to persuade them to come back.
I look and I browse and that part of myself yearns to be that me I was once, just a mere two years ago.
How busyness, stress and competitiveness has shaped me! How much university life has given to me, and yet how much has it taken away too.
I have always regarded myself as being soft in a way as being easily shaped by opinions of others and events in life, and I think to some degree I'm right. I've been changing and changing, year after year. And though part of me wants to go back, somehow, I don't want to go back either.
The change hasn't been all bad. I did make new friends. I did learn the importance of being dilligent and taking initiatives. I learned who I must be in order to be a good employee, to fit into this new world I'm thrust into, one I'm still struggling to learn how to survive in. I learned to take up heavier responsibilities. I regained part of my self-confidence I left behind in Malaysia, and at the same time, learn how to be humble.
Yet I begin to find it hard to hold on to relationships, especially those that have passed. My whole anchor to who I am and who I was before this in relation to people is that I belong to my family, and to them I shall always belong. The rest sort of come and go.
Dear friends, I do not understate your importance in my life. I do take friendships seriously, and I try to be accountable for all. Yet, I regret I have not found time to talk, listen and just be there for people, because I am often confused with my priorities - I wonder if I have been spending enough time on myself, even though it is already a lot.
Oh, I miss those days when you can just thrust the care of growing up and thriving in a working world apart, and just be there with your friends for fellowship and fun, sharing experiences with each other. I wonder why although I have placed great importance in many friendships in my life, I have often failed to sustain them.
And most of all, I wonder why part of me just wants to continue with the state I am now and live with it. I'm confused. Am I really like that?
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Long-Due Blog and Photos
It's been a long time since I last blogged.
Since then my new roomie has moved in - a year 1 going year 2 civil engineering student, Yiqiao, from China. Very nice girl. She's my fifth roomie since I came to NUS. Tirza you're going to be the sixth! I always get the nice roomies. Hehe.
Also, I went for my first OMC collection last week. It rained, so Yi Shiean and I lunched in a hawker center in Bedok while waiting for the rain to subside and for Shu Yun to come. We had only one item to collect the CD's for Float. At first I wondered if it was a little too much for THREE of us to do that, but later it proved to be very necessary. The CD's were really heavy and there were two big cartons of them. They gave us trolleys to push them downstairs so we did and called a cab.
When the CDs and us reached hall, I called the ever-gentlemanly Yuan to give us a hand with CDs together with another guy. We learned from them that they were actually going to break them apart to use parts of them for the shiny effects. All of us felt a pang in our hearts! All the CDs were brand new, each in a box (that explains the heaviness), and each box wrapped with plastic! Ah well, but the company didn't say we couldn't break them up. And I did ask them for used CD's.
Went to Wai Pheng and Wayne's convocations on two different days. Funny how they belong to different faculty's but have the same convocation gown-colours. In NUS we have different colors for convocation gowns from different faculties. So far I only attended Justin's last year, and this year Wai Pheng and Wayne's. All of them wore gold! What a coincidence.
My hair is messy in both pics :( But anyway it was a good thing we had chance to come to Yeh Yeh and Da Jie's convocation and take pics with them. I almost missed Wayne's! I thought it should be in the afternoon where as in fact, it was in the morning.
Oh yes, there are photos from of the big ice-cream I should have uploaded last time. As I told you, the ice-cream picture of me looked really awful. And Jon said I could upload his instead, (evidence in the chatb0x), so here goes:
Okay, the ice-cream looks small from here but actually it has been eaten a lot by then. Just imagine if he lowers it and holds it by his face - and it's stuffed all the way down with two flavors - coffee and cheesecake! It's a little longer than his face.
After a whole year (or so) of the opening of Botak Jones in Clementi - I made my first trip there.
I was smarter this time. Focused on the food and not my face - so I could actually put up pictures without worrying. This big meal fed Jon and I nicely - totally $9 something from both of us.
I got another book of Hercule Poirot's short stories from the library - Agatha Christie's marvels. I prefer short stories of hers to novels, because the suspence ends quickly. I don't like stories with suspense to drag too long you know. LOL. And this book is really thick! It's lovely to have so many short stories to read, one after another, each one as wonderful as the one to come! I think I prefer Hercule Poirot to Sherlock Holmes. On the other hand, I do not like Miss Marple (Agatha Christie's other detective character), as much.
This is all I'm going to write for today. I have more thoughts but I'll save them up for next time!
Since then my new roomie has moved in - a year 1 going year 2 civil engineering student, Yiqiao, from China. Very nice girl. She's my fifth roomie since I came to NUS. Tirza you're going to be the sixth! I always get the nice roomies. Hehe.
Also, I went for my first OMC collection last week. It rained, so Yi Shiean and I lunched in a hawker center in Bedok while waiting for the rain to subside and for Shu Yun to come. We had only one item to collect the CD's for Float. At first I wondered if it was a little too much for THREE of us to do that, but later it proved to be very necessary. The CD's were really heavy and there were two big cartons of them. They gave us trolleys to push them downstairs so we did and called a cab.
When the CDs and us reached hall, I called the ever-gentlemanly Yuan to give us a hand with CDs together with another guy. We learned from them that they were actually going to break them apart to use parts of them for the shiny effects. All of us felt a pang in our hearts! All the CDs were brand new, each in a box (that explains the heaviness), and each box wrapped with plastic! Ah well, but the company didn't say we couldn't break them up. And I did ask them for used CD's.
Went to Wai Pheng and Wayne's convocations on two different days. Funny how they belong to different faculty's but have the same convocation gown-colours. In NUS we have different colors for convocation gowns from different faculties. So far I only attended Justin's last year, and this year Wai Pheng and Wayne's. All of them wore gold! What a coincidence.
My hair is messy in both pics :( But anyway it was a good thing we had chance to come to Yeh Yeh and Da Jie's convocation and take pics with them. I almost missed Wayne's! I thought it should be in the afternoon where as in fact, it was in the morning.Oh yes, there are photos from of the big ice-cream I should have uploaded last time. As I told you, the ice-cream picture of me looked really awful. And Jon said I could upload his instead, (evidence in the chatb0x), so here goes:
Okay, the ice-cream looks small from here but actually it has been eaten a lot by then. Just imagine if he lowers it and holds it by his face - and it's stuffed all the way down with two flavors - coffee and cheesecake! It's a little longer than his face.
After a whole year (or so) of the opening of Botak Jones in Clementi - I made my first trip there.
I was smarter this time. Focused on the food and not my face - so I could actually put up pictures without worrying. This big meal fed Jon and I nicely - totally $9 something from both of us.I got another book of Hercule Poirot's short stories from the library - Agatha Christie's marvels. I prefer short stories of hers to novels, because the suspence ends quickly. I don't like stories with suspense to drag too long you know. LOL. And this book is really thick! It's lovely to have so many short stories to read, one after another, each one as wonderful as the one to come! I think I prefer Hercule Poirot to Sherlock Holmes. On the other hand, I do not like Miss Marple (Agatha Christie's other detective character), as much.
This is all I'm going to write for today. I have more thoughts but I'll save them up for next time!
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
I Am Happy :)
I met Farid today. Didn't really expect the meetup! He's doing his FYP now and we had lunch together. Or to put it properly, we met for his lunch, because my breakfast was not too long ago. I never talked this much with Farid before! It was such a nice long talk, mainly me gabbling away. Wonder if it's because I haven't seen him for really long, or because I was a little upset in the morning. It's a pity Farid's not going to be in hall anymore. I miss those jamming sessions. The best thing I liked about him when he was CME MM was he gets along with everyone, and can play with almost anyone - no matter how good or bad you are as a player. And he finds it very easy to like songs too (unlike me).
Facebook has this game Crazy Taxi that is my new favorite. It's nothing much, just gliding along, jumping over cars (why do taxis jump?). But it's so much fun! I like the part that I don't have to do much with it. Is there a game where I can just speed a car along a track and turn it without having to jump through obstacles or anything like it? Unfortunately there isn't. There's only this fishing game which I find quite boring, but it was the only playstation game that Dawn consents to play because it's not exciting at all! Sighs.
Ohhh, thanks to Irene, Jon and I had a new discovery. There's this Pokka ice-cream shop along the same row as Fong Seng (NUS peeps MUST know FS), that sells really huge ice-creams! We had two big scoops and a homemade waffle cone for just $4.50! And it was so huge that it was almost a meal on its own. And there are free toppings on Tuesdays! (*hints) I have a pic of me with the ice-cream in my phone. Will upload it later - though part of me regrets to do so because I look stupid in the picture. Sigh. But good things must share. I just wish I didn't look as blur as I did in the pic.
I found three blogs today - some youth from GLCC I know: Patricia, Melody, Michelle (all with marvellous voices). They are really lovely blogs! And I'm glad that there are teens in church today who are actually on fire in making decisions for God, and living for God! I love the passion I saw in the words. It made me quite ashamed of myself, actually. I don't really like churches that preach to much on emotions and highs passions - but I love to see it burn in lives! And I pray that the fire would move to mine too. That is what really made my day. :)
Facebook has this game Crazy Taxi that is my new favorite. It's nothing much, just gliding along, jumping over cars (why do taxis jump?). But it's so much fun! I like the part that I don't have to do much with it. Is there a game where I can just speed a car along a track and turn it without having to jump through obstacles or anything like it? Unfortunately there isn't. There's only this fishing game which I find quite boring, but it was the only playstation game that Dawn consents to play because it's not exciting at all! Sighs.
Ohhh, thanks to Irene, Jon and I had a new discovery. There's this Pokka ice-cream shop along the same row as Fong Seng (NUS peeps MUST know FS), that sells really huge ice-creams! We had two big scoops and a homemade waffle cone for just $4.50! And it was so huge that it was almost a meal on its own. And there are free toppings on Tuesdays! (*hints) I have a pic of me with the ice-cream in my phone. Will upload it later - though part of me regrets to do so because I look stupid in the picture. Sigh. But good things must share. I just wish I didn't look as blur as I did in the pic.
I found three blogs today - some youth from GLCC I know: Patricia, Melody, Michelle (all with marvellous voices). They are really lovely blogs! And I'm glad that there are teens in church today who are actually on fire in making decisions for God, and living for God! I love the passion I saw in the words. It made me quite ashamed of myself, actually. I don't really like churches that preach to much on emotions and highs passions - but I love to see it burn in lives! And I pray that the fire would move to mine too. That is what really made my day. :)
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Connie Talbot
Connie Talbot turns 9 this year.
For those who have no idea who she is, it's the little girl I was directed to watch in You-Tube a few year's ago when she took part in Britain's got talent when just 4 years old.
Here she is singing I Will Always Love You. I like this song for its chorus, and I guess it's not too hard for the girl to understand what she's singing at the chorus, especially - even though she's this young.
Haha, in the 2nd video she has her two front teeth. :)
I just love how she vibratos her voice really well, though she is so young.
For those who have no idea who she is, it's the little girl I was directed to watch in You-Tube a few year's ago when she took part in Britain's got talent when just 4 years old.
Here she is singing I Will Always Love You. I like this song for its chorus, and I guess it's not too hard for the girl to understand what she's singing at the chorus, especially - even though she's this young.
Haha, in the 2nd video she has her two front teeth. :)
I just love how she vibratos her voice really well, though she is so young.
Saturday, July 4, 2009
My First July Update...
... for this year. :)
These few days were almost the same - except for crashing into Andrew's meals twice in one week - or more accurately, Jon and I had the leftovers of the Andrew-gang's dinner. It was good, so no there's no questioning the quality of the main course, LOL. Had a nice pasta-meal dinner just now too with Jon and Jerome.
Went swimming a few days back and discovered some of my techniques makes me un-swim. In fact if you add them all out I wonder if I actually swum at all, or struggled in the water to hold myself back LOL.
I just finished watching the 6th episode of Star Wars. A bit late I must say, since they had been out so many years ago. I have a lot of thoughts regarding the series, and might share them later. I must say it was quite a nice watch - but some of the parts were rather sad. However, they managed to tie up everything on a hopeful note each time.
Oh, I had just been reading someone's recently-updated blog now and it really drives me geram that some people like to make small things big and big things small. =.= To you all who read this blog, do rest assured it's none of you because I'm sure all of you are matured enough handle small issues in life and not make it a disaster not just for yourself, but other people. Anyway, I'm glad that someone I know has already gotten over the 'friendship' with the anonymous character here. Clearly there's nothing to lose in this loss.
I'm going home on the 20th! I hope there are still tickets left. And Tsai Sheng will still be around so yay! I thought I didn't get the chance to meet him last time when he came back from Russsia, but it's lucky that he's having hols until August, so that means I get to see him at least once!
I do wish I get to go out a little more these hols but unfortunately, going out means eating out too, and I do have the knack of spending quite a considerable sum everytime I venture out of NUS, shopping or not. :( Those nice little trips are quite hard on the pocket after all. I guess I need to restrain my wants a little in this aspect.
These few days were almost the same - except for crashing into Andrew's meals twice in one week - or more accurately, Jon and I had the leftovers of the Andrew-gang's dinner. It was good, so no there's no questioning the quality of the main course, LOL. Had a nice pasta-meal dinner just now too with Jon and Jerome.
Went swimming a few days back and discovered some of my techniques makes me un-swim. In fact if you add them all out I wonder if I actually swum at all, or struggled in the water to hold myself back LOL.
I just finished watching the 6th episode of Star Wars. A bit late I must say, since they had been out so many years ago. I have a lot of thoughts regarding the series, and might share them later. I must say it was quite a nice watch - but some of the parts were rather sad. However, they managed to tie up everything on a hopeful note each time.
Oh, I had just been reading someone's recently-updated blog now and it really drives me geram that some people like to make small things big and big things small. =.= To you all who read this blog, do rest assured it's none of you because I'm sure all of you are matured enough handle small issues in life and not make it a disaster not just for yourself, but other people. Anyway, I'm glad that someone I know has already gotten over the 'friendship' with the anonymous character here. Clearly there's nothing to lose in this loss.
I'm going home on the 20th! I hope there are still tickets left. And Tsai Sheng will still be around so yay! I thought I didn't get the chance to meet him last time when he came back from Russsia, but it's lucky that he's having hols until August, so that means I get to see him at least once!
I do wish I get to go out a little more these hols but unfortunately, going out means eating out too, and I do have the knack of spending quite a considerable sum everytime I venture out of NUS, shopping or not. :( Those nice little trips are quite hard on the pocket after all. I guess I need to restrain my wants a little in this aspect.
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