a tad nostalgic..

im a little bruised, cooked to the color of lobsters, aching in every part of my body, exhausted to the pt that i actually slept thru my dogs' barking
but at the same time, im smiling at the memories of the camp, and all the fun and laughter shared, recapturing the stuff we did together, and revelling in the wonder of how everything turned out.

shit. its been ages since ive found myself missing camps. but i guess the time has come again

in 2 more days we'll be ushering in a new year
seems like yesterday when all of us went for the marina bay countdown to 2006

its a leeettell freaky how time flies.

christmas!

first of all, here's a MERRY CHRISTMAS to everyone ((: albeit a little late since its post-christmas today
but anyhow. moving rapidly along..

christmas was awesome ((: from gospel rallies by 4 blind men with faith enough to fill the whole world, to late night count down sessions, to midnight movies, to family christmas feasts, to caroling, to our semi-formal dinner, to the wonderful christmas presents, and lastly, to the One who is the reason for the season.. it had all been wonderful (:

here're some pictures from yesterday's family christmas gathering, and joshua's parents' 25th anniversary dinner ((:

it was held at the chinese restaurant slash museum slash tourist center
so we got to tour the exhibits of old singapore and old chinese days.. pretty interesting stuff there








a picture with joshua wayy before the dinner started..


our table was like a mini-AC table. and it was pretty nice to meet up with a few of the JC peeps again ((: i also got a little nice surprise in the form of joanne chong who turned up for the dinner with ernest. ((:


a blurry shot of the kids' song dedication. very, very touching ((:


so that was another night of good food and good company ((:
then we met abel&mel for "curse of the golden flower". which was actually quite good! i loved the cinematography and the portrayal of royal life within the forbidden city. very elegant and sophisticated. too bad the ending was abrupt. or else it would have been a pretty ace show.

a couple more random pictures to end this post.
heres my goody-2-SHOES ((: those shoes are a beauty. it has pink lace on em. too bad ginger doesnt really like em that much.


and this is our uno-stacko at its final stages.
i wouldnt trust any of us to architect any building haha


on a side note, its rather scary driving in heavy downpour and peak hour.
and, its the first time i woke at 530am in.. years.

lastly, MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAVE A BLESSED NEW YEAR ((:

-

celine: hey gurl i replied ur email!! call me soon man i need to talk to you too!! or rather, i need to listen to what you have to say hahahaha. merry christmas dear!

regina: hey yeah its exactly one year ago lol. how fast time passes. and so much have changed and happened. lol guess thats life.

elaine: merry christmas gurl!! ((: yeahh i'll book the court um.. next year? hahaha wont be free till then. i book you guys too! ((: before sch starts again >.<

huishi: awwwwww. i missyou toooo! hahaha badminton + chick flicks soon ok! promise ((:

the birthday boy

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EVYNN SIM!! ((:

thanks so much for the dinner treat. all of us had a greeaatt evening @ mount faber HEE~
looking forward to next year's birthday celebration!! hahaha


a little tired right now.. so i shall let the pictures do the talking ((:
we were pretty bored after youth camp meeting, so while waiting for lide to arrive to share cab, we decided to go... TRIGGER HAPPY!!
disclaimer: most of the props were obtained from the church nursery. =p

the beautiful christmas tree at safra mount faber ((:



and the "kick" of the night - sponsored by mr j
(i absolutely love the bottle!!)

a very blurred shot of all of us ((: and the birthday boy!!

a birthday dedication

here's to the loudest, most active, the craziest, most hyper, and the most spontaneous who's also my closest girl friend, a part of our beloved RJC (regina joy celine), and also a distant-distant-distant auntie of sorts by relation

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CELINE TAN SHI JIE!! ((:


although we have not been such good friends all 19 years of knowing each other (because of some feud we had in primary one), our friendship has been steady and strong and firm after we decided to put our primary one feud behind us HAHAHA

come back soon gurl.. so we can plan more failed surprise parties for you (like the one at chalet), or take more gay pictures of you and ernest (like the ones where he tied his hair and carried my bag, or the ones where you put on a tie and he put on your scarf for CCIS).

remembering the nice times i've had with you is not hard, because we spent the best times of our lives together ((:
like the 4-pair-couples-sleepover we had at regina's house, chop-ing each corner of her house to watch her pirated DVDs instead of going clubbing, to sauntering down to eat breakfast pair-by-pair, and then double-dating with you and your boytoy then after the sleepover
those were fun times i'd never ever forget.

and then remembering the times when we've had our fair share of emo-momos
each with our own problems to talk about
remembering the times when we took turns crying over lost love, and then finding it again
(rmb me breaking down after reading your letter)
to the times we just talked on the phone like there was no tomorrow
conference calls were a major part of my entertainment then hahaha with regina and you ((:
to the times when we planned our secret rendezvouz sleepover @ your place
manymany memories girl, that i'll always hold on to ((:
manymany more to come.. (:

girl, whenever you're feeling sad, or alone, or just missing us (hehe:p), you know that we're all behind you ((: (besides God that is)
this whole bunch of talk-cockers and crazy wannabes will always be here for you whenever you need a safety net to fall onto

here's to RJC.. not the end, but the beginning ((:
love you gurls~

singing in the rain

on retrospect, yesterday was a rather exhilarating and funny day
day one of our caroling performance in CCIS (christmas celebration in Singapore) was met with gloomy skies, heavy downpours, and lots of wet people
but all was good when everyone decided to carry on with the performance, carrying umbrellas on to the stage
that seemed like a good idea, until i realized my foldable umbrella's manufacturer has kindly bestowed me a few holes in my umbrella as a token of his appreciation for me purchasing his goods at such low price
it wouldnt have been a problem in light drizzle, except the rain crescendoed to a heavy shower halfway through our performance, rendering both me and my partner stuck under a stream of dripping water, terribly wet on stage, and only halfway through the performance

im so grateful my partner has a sense of humor, and found the whole thing funny.

after the whole performance, only one chinese word can fully capture the state of the performers - luo(4) tang(1) ji(1)

Oh the weather outside is frightful

But the fire is so delightful

And since we've no place to go

Let it rain! Let it rain! Let it rain!

It doesn't show signs of stopping

And I've bought some corn for popping

The lights are turned way down low

Let it rain! Let it rain! Let it rain!

-how ironic that this song was blasted while we were waiting for the rain to stop-

but anyhow, pictures!! (: tho i only got some before and after the performance, since the "during" would be scenes of umbrellas, umbrellas, and more umbrellas..

on the cab to town..

brothers on the church van to rolex center

and my paper flower blooming frm yoshinoya drink.. ((:

today's day two of our performance! everyone come watch us sing! (hopefully not in the rain this time)

da capo concert - back to the beginning

slogan of the concert: "just when you think you can stop practicing"

HAHA~

too many thoughts running through my mind right now. its been an exhiliarating night performing for the da capo concert

like what i said on stage for the interview (which they only told us 10 min b4 performance), i havent performed on stage for 5 years
it was a new, but yet terribly familiar experience performing at YMS
at the same time, the entire trip down memory lane that delved as far as when i was 4 years old was overwhelming
meeting up with people whom i've lost contact with for manymany years, and seeing familiar but matured faces once again
the guys who once bullied me back in music camp, now lawyers and financial analysts
the girls who were my big sisters in theory class, now mothers and teachers
no longer the little boys and girls terrorized of playing uneven notes or getting scolded for not practicing

its funny how fast time has passed, and how so much has changed. but its always nice to meet up with each other once in a while, to marvel in awe at these changes and to reminisce the goods and bads of our shared past

so heres to the greatest teacher i've ever had - miss yap chiu yuen.
she's the one who made me the pianist i am today ((:
the one who saw me grew since i was 4 till today, and never gave up on me.

i'm eternally grateful...

anyway heres some other random photos while waiting for the concert to start.. ((:

what a joy ride it was today ((:

food glorious food

wed
i finally stepped food into vivo city after hearing so much about it
(on another note: i finally drove there too, after having talked about doing it for soo long)
so we had awesome italian food at a restaurant with a very nice view of the harbor, and then... *drumroll*.. shopping!!
we didnt have much time, but we did exit with 3 tops from GAP, and 2 tops from mango
guess GAP wasnt all fancypancy as it was said to be. more like the 'giordano of USA'
but we did pick up some pretty nice tops, so im not complaining ((:
after that i met up with yingtong & yuhshin for flags of our father and dinner
its a very deep show, thoroughly thought-invoking. i think no show has portrayed these emotions and issues as effectively as clint eastwood has.
trauma in internalizing the effects of war, memory of bloodshed and gore, mutism as an inevitable consequence, camaraderie and brotherhood, the longlasting aftereffect that war has on the men who no longer fit into society because they face alienation..
i left the theater feeling very sadd :( and i guess so did the rest of the cinema because no one was talking even when the credits were showing. everyone juz sat there silently deep in thought.

but the mood cleared up enough for us to take a unplanned trip down to zouk ((:
met bryan and regina there, and kevin & gang haha.
but we left really early that night. HAHA :p

thurs

mac and i went down to esplanade for the "magic of christmas" pipes and peddles concert! ((:
and the after-rain scenery there was sooo beautiful..

and then our 'war-against-cabs' was declared when we could NOT get a cab at all for a whole hour to go to MOS
we flagged, we called, we hollered, we jumped, we leaped, we stood in the middle of the road
like 12355772 empty cabs zoomed past us pretending not to see us bcuz it was peakperiod and they wanted us to CALL
so in the end, we resorted to good old macdonald's supper, while waiting to pick up my sister
i swear, i hate cabs grrrr.

orgasmic sneeze

my dear friend BOB reminded me that a sneeze is like an orgasm, but via the nose

"there's the buildup, the anticipation, and the release with uncontrollable responses from your body"

according to the genius abovementioned, a sneeze and an orgasm are both involuntary reflexes

interesting theory - i've prolly had billions of nose orgasms today then.

including those that wouldnt come no matter how many times i looked at the light or rubbed my nose

hahahaha.

monday 11th dec 2006 was also the day i finally said goodbye to BBDC because.. I PASSED DRIVING!! ((:

i got 10 points. not too good, but im happy enough HEE~

these few days of mission "holiday-in-singapore" with my family has hence allowed me some opportunities at driving in town

but the majority of time went to shopping, more shopping, and then shopping again.

i wont even bother listing out my loot, which is manymany, but i say, its enough ((:

thats a change.

the holiday

"if you were a piece of music, i'll play only the nice notes..

im in such a festive holiday mood, i think im gonna watch ALL the christmas shows that are coming out
because they just make me feel jolly and all christmas-y, a pretty nice fuzzy feeling to have
i've been going to town quite a lot too. because theres no better place to enjoy christmas decos than to walk past the singing christmas trees, or bask in a sea of santa hats, or just follow trails of christmas tunes from every corner of orchard road

watched team carol perform today at church and they sounded pretty nice (:
what better way to celebrate the one who is the reason for the season

its all goooooodd ((:

what a weekend~

a really fun weekend that's left me feeling rather tired, accompanied with huge bags. correction: huge eye bags.
above pictures (and below) are a meager few from the sleepover in.. CHURCH! (:
we finally finished like 70% of instrumental recording for our CD. production's on its wayy!!
hence, i've developed a newfound respect for performers.
it's definitely NOT easy for every single instrument to be playing at perfect harmony & synchrony for each song, much less 9 song
by the time we called it a day, it was 4am. i couldnt even remember what i played when we heard the playback the next day
HAHAHA.



this is me - the effect of a latenight CD recording, and a really really cold room



and this was my pillow for the night - little coro (:
which i conveniently found in the baby cot in the room where we slept.

on a completely outofpoint note, i walked past my condominum guardhouse this evening on my way out, and on the computer screensaver was a huge, flashing, revolving phrase - "GOT TO MASTURBATE!!"
now i know what the security guards are really doing during their shifts..
tsktsk

zoo

after 2 hours of shopping, trying on clothes at almost every single shop we went into, and being tempted 2834762846 times
this was my loot for the yesterday's shopping - earring holders. dearly needed, decisively bought
for once, a shopping trip didnt cost a dent in my pocket, nor take a bite out of my conscience pie


anyhow. before i further elaborate my day's adventure, here's a huge...
HAPPY BIRHDAY PHUA HUISHI!!
like all birthdays, i just have to say.. you're finally as old as me. MUAHAHA.
thanks for making uni life so much more interesting, thanks for all the nonsense and gossip we've had before, after, or during lectures, staying late in central library to complete our irritating project, for organizing so many outings for us and kindly allowing us to crash at your dear Alcohall. here's to all the fun we've had, and the fun to come ((:

so.. to celebrate huishi's birthday, we (or she) decided to take a trip to.. the ZOO!!

it was a fun day walking down the 2 clicks of memory lane, participating in the voluntary or involuntary spectatorship of animals..

AND, enjoying the moments of unsynchronized synchrony.. (at the giraffe station)

of classifying similarities.. (at the wild boar section =P haha jk)

AND, embracing the wildlife.. (at the outback station)

it is no wonder i woke up with achy legs and butt today..
but it was all worthit. ((:

end exams!!

we were having pretty much a racket in the car today..

we took pictures at every possible stop or stoplight on the whole stretch of orchard road ((: this is by far the funniest

haha okayy the original intention of taking out the camera was to take the pretty orchard lights

but yeah this was what we manged to churn out, which wasnt all too bad either ((:

anyway, we made a trip down to ritz carlton today. and i decided i'm going to design my future home to be like ritz carlton

when (and if) i make US$23948279438 a month

a beautiful sunset (taken by world renowned photographer JE :p) and the shirt that i wanted to get but never did get

cant take my eyes off of you..

my phobia

yes, i tried. i think.

i tried to study. SE1101E.

here's evidence.

what can i say? attempt #1874687468 - FAILED

ohh what to do what to do.
thank god tomorrow's the last paper
my study choo-choo has died and ran outta steam since 1984.

cantwaitcantwait

i went to watch 'the last kiss' yesterday after my CNM paper, and the movie made me feel unresolved, unsettled, and a little perturbed, like there was something missing.

maybe, what's missing is a proper ending to the show.

say NO to the movie if you're a sucker for fairytale stories of love, romance and little red roses (like me)

but its alright if you have a thing for quick, make-up sex, and unresolved relationships and marriages

anyway. yesterday was made up of detours, more trips and journeys. HAHA =p

i met ernest at a bkt timah bus stop to go to church to work on our CD recording

and then....

ernest: i think we're gonna have a BIT of problem

me: hmm? why?

ernest: well, i didnt bring my guitar. its at home

me: -.-

hahahahaha.

so we went back to his place, for some act-pro-on-ian's-nice-guitar session, and bullying the poor cookie cat time

and THEN made our way to church for recording ((:

or rather, jamming. hahaha.

but it was nice. made it all worth it.

yayyy. weekends are here finally ((:

time for fun, fun, and more fun

no more

my drive and motivation that was very much with me last week has warped and evolved into a procrastinatory nonchalence towards my final exams

very worrying indeed.

that, has been intensified by a need to go out, coupled with maybe a restlessness that can be crudely characterized by my "itchy backside"

read: i cant sit still for more than 5 minutes

all in all, not very effective and assuring for my paper tmr, i would say.

to make things very (very) much worse, i've been hooked on insaniquarium, which has been my source of entertainment for the past few hours (pathetic i know)

hey, but i'm proud to say, i've reached level FIVE.

the below picture was me at level two.

and this is me at level FIVE.

HAHAHA. very funny. thats just some crazy screenshot of someone who has played a wee bit too much of insaniquarium.
*not me not me!!*

im so deaaad.

chocolates and roses

"I lift up my eyes to the hills - where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth" -Psalms 121:1-2

I'm more excited about christmas coming than i am worried about the exams
it really does not feel like an exam period right now
i wonder what's wrong.

nibbling chocolates has transcended beyond a mere delicious treat, but has evolved to a habitual must-have when studying
or rather, attempting to.
pleasing to the mind and soul, but not that much to the build-up of lipo

on a completely random note, casino royale was quite nice, but i think pierce brosnan makes a much better James Bond. i'm sorry, but blue eyes just dont cut it

and on another totally irrelevant note, i am feeling very sleepy.
all i want now is to drive out to the beach, and sit on the breakwaters with you all day..

and the week begins..

its always hard to say goodbye after a nice long weekend
this time, it just seems harder... :(

retail strikes

Retail therapy (noun): The act of shopping as an outlet for frustration and a reliever of stress. An excuse for people (mostly females) to go shopping when they're feeling bad.

- Urban Dictionary

GUILTY AS CHARGED.

To make things worse, i just found out of the term "cinema therapy", which is "the process of using movies made for the big screen or television for therapeutic purposes". What can i say?

GUILTY AS CHARGED (too).

on a side note, that is completely irrelevant, "Just Friends' is a very funny comedy.

all of you should go catch it.

for its cinematic-therapeutic effects.

have a good day ((:

here we go again

vroooom vroooom~
life's good with a car around. makes things so much easier and faster.
however, this weekend had been my pseudo semester-break
time to face reality.
uhoh.

its a happy day

wooots! sharon just made me a very happy girl muahaha. actually, she just reminded me that i shld be happy today.
and today also loudly proclaims the last of my projects!!!
you have NO idea how happy i am ((:
i'm beaming all over right now.

and this, ladies and gentlemen, is what i call excess baggage

but i like ((:

i was deciding whether to go to school today, knowing that bush was coming to NUS for a speech
i really wanted to be able to see him once before he steps down (soon)
so that i can proudly say "YES!" when those dumb forwarded mails ask me if i've seen the american president
(not that i will answer them in the first place, but just in case)
but in the end, i decided that my beauty sleep was much more important than bush
who prolly needs more sleep. his eyebags are showing.

i will tell him that when i do see him.