wii-eeee!

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say hello to my new toy (:

i was having my qualms about getting it before
but after lide and i gamed with it a full hour at cine that day, i knew it had to be mine (:

love, actually

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"and at Christmas you tell the truth.."
so, all i want for Christmas is you (:

japan, sapporo

a few more pictures since the cameraman (aka dad) has returned with the video cam!

at tokyo airport waiting for transit to hokkaido, sapporo
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the town near hokkaido airport was a very quiet town, rather people-scarce. life-scarce actually
our quest to search for people/food led us to this really beautiful cottage called Letao
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the design was superbly european, and the interior reeked of wood and pastry baking. a warm welcome from the freezing cold outside
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strawberries on bagel with whipped cream (: all mine!

the scenery in japan was just stunningly beautiful
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on our first night out in sapporo hokkaido, it started snowing while we were at the german village (:
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although it wasnt our first time seeing snow, the delight at seeing fresh snow falling is something that never diminishes

we drove up to Kokusai to ski the next day
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my dad and my sister posing after a warm lunch at the ski place
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a few other sights and sounds
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typically japan - our stopover on our way home.

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the car that we drove there, well equipped with its GPS and heating systems
i got to drive in japan!! (:

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the real life pokemon airplane @ hokkaido airport

thats all i have for now. the rest of the trip was documented in videos (:
on an ending note, do watch "i am legend". its one of the better thrillers i've seen with no boring moments at all

merry christmas everyone!!

i've had a huge toast+eggs+prata craving ever since i was in japan, and i havent had the time at all to go out for breakfast since i came back
so today, mac and i went to AMK hub for breakfast (: my first time there as well!

anyway, i found this picture rather.. endearing
the boyfriend and the dog started watching teevee together while waiting for me to get ready

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and then when i came out, only my dog was still watching TV :p
but credits to the poor boy who had been spreading himself thin with multiple commitments, and yet still manages to wake up early each morning to ferry me to wherever i needed to go to (:
in return, i snuck up on him and applied SK2's wonderful eyemask for eyebags (:

christmas rallies are finally over. after months of hard work, rehearsals and loads of fun, its finally over (:
i took a shot of the kids at english christmas rally on christmas eve. they're sooo adorable!
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the 87ers + zhenjie drove to east coast for christmas countdown
but it turned out to be quite a failed attempt because we forgot to countdown when we were there!
despite that, it was pretty relaxing to just stroll along the beach cuz the weather was really cooling, and the sky was pretty nice that night (:

i really thank god for such a wonderful christmas this year (:
christmas party + stayover @ my place was really fun as well, despite many changes in the planning
now, to complete this christmas,all i need to do is my christmas shopping

christmas gospel rally 2007

after months of hardwork and rehearsals, christmas rally @ SCO today was a huge success (:
in that priceless split second of applause and gratitude shown by the audience, and also seeing the number of people who received christ during alter call today, made me feel that all the hard work and sacrifice put in towards this gospel rally was worth it, and that it would start all over again.

okay, just that split second.
most of the time, after the rehearsals, we look like this
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not very fun at all

so i've finally decided to upload pictures to remember this rememberable night
starting with the youth christmas rally on saturday, and rehearsal pictures

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bunch of us during lunch at rehearsals

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my pink hat and pink brush

then came the big day - today
starting with the happenings in the torture room where we underwent the transformation to wayang-hood
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the sister and the cousin while waiting for makeup

and the aftermath:
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twas an awesome performance, albeit flawed in its own way, but it showcased us giving our all for God and his glory, and thats what matters

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"its not the end that matters, but the journey"
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and this journey was helluva ride (:
one last performance tmr!

december

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CELINE TAN SHI JIE!!!
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congrats, you're finally as old as meee! although only for a month, but i know you're very very happy to be the same age as me now hahaha! anyway, thanks girl for walking me through all of life's ups and downs, just being there for me whenever i need a listening ear even though you're 20000 miles across the ocean from me half the time. thanks for being my bestie and for coming so far despite so many odds. you know i love you (and i know you love me because i gave you cookies of love :P) and i really hope we'll be poking fun at each other even when we're 90 and sick and tired of our 10,000 grandchildren running around, sipping tea and watching our husbands pawn each other at dota. hahaha

anyway, mission surprise-celine-at-midnight kinda succeeded. sort of.
melody and i employed 3 great help from our male domestic maids ytd to help us in our making of "cookies of love" :p
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thanks sooo much melody for letting us use your house! (: sry if we created a mess!

the first batch of cookies.. in a very weird and contorted shape. sorry la, it was like 11pm?!
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final product was not bad actually, although we didnt have time to do the icing or hello-kitty sponge cake
we drove up to celine's place and delivered the birthday goodies at midnight, and spent an HOUR talking outside her house hahaha
pictures are with.. the birthday girl. (send me!!)

anyway, some random pictures from my phone, which i've finally decided to upload
so, pardon me if the picture qualities are terrible :p

Curry favor dinner with abel&melo
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a veryveryvery blurry shot of us while waiting for the other lovebirds to come join us :p

Caroling @ Tan Tock Seng Hospital
i went caroling with NUSreso (: we went ward visiting and singing christmas songs to the patients in each ward
it was my first time actually doing such kinds of caroling
and i must say, it beats all of the other sorts of caroling
it was priceless seeing the responses and expressions of the patients there, most of them who were elderly folks
some of them were so touched and happy that they broke down, while some of them requested for songs to be sung to enjoy christmas with us (:

lide and mac came to meet me for lunch @ novena sq after (my first time there!)
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Hokkaido + Tokyo 2007
some shots from my phone camera while i was there. the rest of the pictures are still with my dad

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the transit at bangkok. i was officially at bangkok this holiday tooo! (:

some other random shots just outside hokkaido airport
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my sister and i at grand hotel, sapporo, where they played soothing christmas new age music 24hours a day (:
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swamped

im back from tokyo & hokkaido! been swamped ever since with rehearsals, meetings, and more rehearsals
first up, tokyo was great! i managed to meet up with yingtong for shopping at shibuya and shabu shabu dinner
shopping during winter season isnt the best idea cuz most of the clothes are winter clothes
but the japanese are the queens of cute things and gimmicks so i got quite a load full of that, like earrings and cute brushes
pictures will be up as soon as my dad comes home with the video camera

alas my holidays this dec seem to be even more packed than the sch semester itself
i've been attending rehearsals of all kinds from the night i touched down
stomp rehearsals for the church xmas rally have been taking up a huge part of it, then CCIS (celebrate christmas in singapore) rehearsals, and then NUS resonance caroling rehearsals
altho i must say, i'm pretty psyched bout the reso gigs - i'll b doing 4 gigs with them in diff places like hospitals, MINDsville, CCs etc
so it looks like its gna be a really interesting (read: busy) christmas

on a very last note, CELINE IS BACK!!!
or, should i say, we're finally in the same country!!!
and what best to celebrate that than to head down to Blu Jaz bar for the bestfriend's boyfriend's gig (which was awesome btw) with joan and mac (:



sapporo skiing

im sorta feeling like an aching old hag now, after a full day of skiing
even tho i've skiied for a coupla times now, this has been one of the most adrenaline-packed and extreme ones i've ever done
i havent been so worn out and thoroughly worked out for some time now
it started with the 1-hour drive up to sapporo ski place, to the buckling of the lead-like ski boots, to flying our butts up to the tallest part of the mountain, to tumbling down 3.2km of steep slopes in the attempt to ski, and to spending about 98% of my energy trying to get up from my numerous very ungracious falls, and then going up and down again till it was too dark to ski
the number of my falls were uncountable, but luckily for me, the number of my bruises still are
i'll be adding a few more countables tmr when we go at it again in -5deg temperatures

but heck, its damn fun

hokkaido

and im finally here. after months of waiting (:
it was a lonng journey with multiple transits at bangkok, tokyo, then hokkaido
followed by a road trip up to sapporo, where we went through a small ghost town where people were.. just not there
present, however, were many small wood cottages built according to european architecture, which housed warm fireplaces and cozy pastries and christmas carols, which was more than we expected for our teabreak
we checked into grand hotel, sapporo at about 4pm local time here, and the sky looked as dark as it was at 11pm
dinner's at this jap restaurant a few blocks down, and official temp now is a grand total of 1deg
we've got a ski trip planned for the next few days. so thats gna be helpful in losing some pounds (:
missing everybody back home! while joy's freezing her butt off here

nightmare

ytd was a total nightmare for me. literally.
i got a migraine at midnight. just a minor one, so i thot i'd sleep it off
unfortch the pain merely escalated so much that i couldnt get any sleep at all
things just got worse after. none of the home pain killers had any effect on the pain
it sorta felt like someone was taking a hammer and driving a nail through the right side of my head
after that was the barfing sessions, and after 4 or 5 times my mom drove me to the A&E @ 3am, where i got admitted for the night

after a couple shots (that left my arm unbelievably weak and achy) and medication, the pain finally eased up enough for me to open my eyes without feeling the sear of pain
they kept me in the A&E ward for observation, and told to me to get some sleep
but its impossible to get ANY sleep in those wards cuz people just keep coming to disturb you, taking your blood pressure, temp, etc.

it wasnt until i got discharged at about 8am where i got home and got some much needed rest
twas a terrible experience. my arm still hurts even now garh.
i still dont know what caused the episode, but im guessing its induced by the flashing lights in the beowulf movie we watched earlier in the night

totally blows, especially since i couldnt get any MUCH-NEEDED studying today :(

hokkaido

in exactly 17 days time..
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makes the exam period a little more bearable having something to look forward to
shuttling off in a jetplane the day after my exam finishes may not be that bad a thing afterall!

SEP (student exchange program) applications are finally over. i nv knew it was such a tedious task
choosing the schools, mapping the modules, churning out reasons why i wld be a good ambassador
now i'll juz have to sit tight and let God take over completely (:

a futile attempt at consultation with serene tan today led to a much more fruitful session clearing doubts with the econs soc pple
im just rly glad to know im not the only one who seems to be drowning
idk whether to be glad or irritated that i cant look at the word "indifferent" to mean "apathetic", without going through a whole thought process of game theory, resulting in player1 accepting the deal (or at least for today)
but.. its supposed to be good. right?

okay revision periods suck and its supposed to be boring so thats what my life is about now
but its just rly nice to have people around who's there whenever i need them, and then exiting to give me the space and time i need to conquer this exam (:
so to all of you who've been so nice as to support me, rendering help in all ways, cheering me up when im down, fattening me up to keep my sugar levels relatively high and chirpy, calling to check on me.. etcetc
YOU'RE APPRECIATED! (:

huikai, mac and i went for janice's 21st birthday party ytd (:
so..

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thanks for inviting us to your bash! thanks for being such a cool roomie in germany, sharing more than just the host family, but also those 100-meter-mad-dash to catch the 826am bus, cycling to school along the river, going grocery shopping together for cheese, visiting botanical gardens together to take pictures with beautiful flowers, those late-night talks while lying in bed, waking up shivering like mad, wearing gloves with me in summer!(:

hope you had a wonderful time yesterday, and i hope you liked those pink daisies! (:

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another weekend goes by. and we're a week closer to exams!
time to pump up the study volume...

i've always liked going for night car cruises to new, dark, eerie, creepy looking places bcuz then i would feel strangely safe within the car
but today's night cruise with abel, ernest, lide n isaac took that to a new level - i was actually creeped out at rifle range road, and the lightning didnt help
there was this long winding road lined with thick trees, a whole stretch of it without lights
as abel cruised that road it felt like we couldnt see the roads ahead - a sort of "foggy" experience so to speak
at the midnight-wonky-minds mode, it just made it all the more scarier even though there were 5 of us
rifle range topped the scary-creepy-chart, and concluded the supper + night exploration around singapore
if u asked me, first runner up would be the malaysian railway road
with NO lights (again), rocky roads, eerie-abandoned looking shed for a station, with no one to be seen
a real sight to behold
twas really fun time, especially since im not the one driving :p

however, late-night suppers have taken a toll on the poor protesting waistline
i shall curb this insatiable appetite for supper at night, and perhaps start on that jog that i've been planning since a few months ago

a joyful heart is gd medicine

we had a really interesting fellowship session today at church
we were given each a mattress, a bedsheet, and told to fall asleep in the church main hall (:
the theme was on sleep deprivation and prayer for those who had exams, and to prove the point that alotta us were deprived of sleep (including yours truly), we were given 25 min to sleep in dimmed-lights and soft music!
if you ask me, i totally digged fellowship today :P its sorta like god-answered prayers since i slept @ 4am the previous night finishing tutorials

okayyy, it wasnt just tutorials. the rumbo-girls met up for supper as well!! :D

Rumbo supper with the girls
ritchell picked up the centralies while i picked up elaine my fellow westie and we went to alazhar for supper!
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very, very fun we really should do this more often (: made my.. morning literally. hahaha

i also went to try the new ajitei japanese restaurant @ ps with mac ytd (:
and the food there was really good for its price. esp good for not-too-expensive dining

bowling + movie + rockapella concert - nov 4
thanks to abel's friend zhenjie who picked us up after church, we had enough cars to ferry the whole load of us to go to marina sq for lunch, and then bowling/pool (:
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here're the people who made the day (:
(abel! forgot to take picture with u but doesnt mean you didnt make the day hahaha)
unfortch, i look like i could use a nice long sleep in those pictures
i look so sleep-deprived its a wonder i made it through the entire long day

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here's mac doing the tango - striking the X pose, and old school bowling us (:

mac and i went for rockapella concert after that. AND THEY ROCKED!!
the whole 2 hours in the concert hall was like heaven on earth
the guys had soo much stage presence and spontaneity it rubbed off onto the audience
they were almost 100% pitch perfect and the harmony was beautifully arranged
recipes for a good show. and a good show they delivered
i swear, everybody should go watch it.
for those who missed it - TOO BAD!