in the city of angels

after living outta a suitcase for the past 1.5weeks, i'm... still living outta a suitcase, but now alot more comfortably ever since i moved into my aunt's house ytd; esp dinner which was homecooked chinese food, which is truly madly deeply missed. unfortch, im moving out into "little inn motel" with giovanni & his friend tmr, because 3 hour bus rides to UCLA from aunt jeanne's just doesnt appeal to me; at all - i found myself stranded in downtown LA today evening, unable to find a cab or bus at a deserted city center at about 9pm, only to realize that alotta buses stop operations by 8 or 9pm. thank god aunt jeanne drove out to get me.

i've always thot the deck @ nus was a great place to people watch, cuz you get to see different people doing diff things at diff times. but today, in which i clocked almost 5 hours just sitting on the LA buses, i realized that people-watching on LA buses kicked the deck's ass anytime. from norbit-lookalikes, to crazy old folks wearing ucla sweatshirts chanting ucla cheers while holding a walking stick, to irritable hispanics talking loudly on the phone, to random black/mexican guys siting next to me and asking for my phone number.. i've seen it all on today's bus trips to UCLA and back. my mom's rly proud of the fact that i've been thru it and seen the hidden side of glitzy glamorous hollywood; real people living real lives in a harsh society; i guess i could say the same, but im just really glad im getting the car in a few days time, and then moving into the dorms so i could skip the whole bus thing altogether

anyhow, enough talk. the city of angels does prove to be angelic in its beautiful way, esp thru its beaches and really friendly/nice/helpful people that i've been blessed to meet thru orientation, hostels/hotels and randomly on the streets (yes, we actually made friends with strangers on the streets cuz they stopped to help us; they're THAT friendly)

tyler, enru, rom, rohai, and andrew came to pick me up from orientation ytd, and we took a trip to beverly hills to drool at glamorous unaffordable (not in the near future at least) mansions owned by celebrities, or just people who are too damn rich. @ sunset, we drove down to venice beach for drinks, photos and to watch people surfing as the tide came in.



three words - breathtaking, majestic, and god-created (:
hopefully i'll get to go back there on friday with the DICOP (dashew international center orientation program) people, its just so beautiful and peaceful; the seagulls so tame, and the view so picture perfect!

on sunday, we did a trip to six flags as well! just a 40min drive up from santa monica, and everything was just 33USD. the rides there were INSANE; i went thru rides i wld never have imagined myself going thru before, got spinned a thousand times in all diff directions, felt my stomach in my throat a billion times, and was strapped into the rides in all different directions (i was half-standing for some, and strung superman style for some); i think i screamed like i never before either, it was so fun!
pictures that romita took; the rest of us were too excited to bring cameras along



in sanfrancisco we had a blast as well, esp on the last day, when all the girls (angel, jem, huishan) stayed at rom and my hostel, and we stayed up all night watching "hostel" (yes how ironic) with Vadjim, a Belarusian guy who was the epitomy of chivalry - he cooked sausages for us hungry girls at 3am in the night, after we rejected his spagetti offer.

here's us at the hostel on our last (sobs) day - all the girls + vadjim


also, pictures from the biking trip @ golden gate bridge

that's it for now. i'm so busy these days there isnt much time to blog in the first place; i'm skipping the first half of orientation tmr so i can pack and check into little inn first, before going for the 2nd part of orientation, and also a picnic by the lawns in UCLA or something (:

last day in san fran

this is becoming like a travel blog of sorts; but its a gd way to update friends/family bout the trip thus far, and also a means of keeping a track of my travels. pictures will come slightly later, when i get back to LA because i left my USB cable at aunt jeanne's, together with my other HUMONGOUS luggage that i will have to lug to UCLA somehow

speaking of luggage, i came to sanfran with one small hand carry, and will be returning with that, a huge bagpack full of things, and three other big bags that will be carried like some underpacked PRC traveling home from the city back to her farm. we intended to dress andrew up with nice clothes, and hence made another trip to forever21 for him, but exited with another bagful of clothes SIGH.

before that we took a ferry across the sanfran bay to the alcatraz prison. which was pretty cool, complete with an audio tour of the place. it was one of the better prisons i've seen, with a REALLY beautiful view since it was just a little island surrounded by the sea (:

huishan's also over from berkeley today to stay with us at the hostel, and jem & angel are staying over for a night of games and movies for the last day of sanfran :( i dont wanna leave...

san fran baby

greetings from San Francisco!
it's a beautiful, wonderful city; people here are just so friendly and helpful, and we've received nothing but hospitality, great shopping, and awesome scenery
after a SIX hours coach ride from LA, we've settled into a youth hostel @ ellis street, near the city-center for the past 2 nights
because it's just rom & i in the girls room, we've got 2 other roommates - Lana (from New Orleans), and Irina (from Russia) whom we've gotten quite attached to thanks to late night chats and bagels-and-coffee breakfasts in the morning

we did a biking trail today with Irina across the Golden Gate Bridge; a full 6 hours of biking in REALLY cold winds and temperature
it was a pretty tough ride because san francisco is so hilly, but when we got to the top of everything and looked down, it was just so breathtaking that it made the aching thighs worth it, esp since loads of pictures turned out rly nice
golden gate bridge itself was very grand; alot more grand and beautiful than in movies, i think. we rode across the bridge, and took more pictures from the other side
we met two german guys at the observation tower for golden gate bridge, and did the return journey together with them; and we had good talks with them on the way back, when we werent losing our breaths or panting over the hilly roads

on a sidenote, shopping here is to die for. we spent 3-4hours in union square ytd just for shopping in forever21, gap and urban outfitters; and just across the street laid the welcome arms of abercrombie, american eagle, etc which will be checked out tomorrow =D

im tapping on the free wifi in the hostel lounge right now, but battery's running out for my laptop, so thats all the updates for now. i'm rly loving sanfran!

hello from Los Angeles

i've slept less than 5 hours in the past.. 3 days (in singapore time), so im just blogging to say that i've arrived in Los Angeles, the land that drives on the wrong side of the car/road; with terrifying customs officers (i saw an indian guy get deported), and heck alot of freeways.

the journey here was really tough; we had a 12 hour transit in tokyo coupled with the magics of jetlag.
but it was also very blessed, because despite all that, we managed to shop at Aeon @ narita city (i got a few tops in my sleep-craved mode), and also booked a dayroom @ narita airport last minute to catch 3 hours of snooze time and shower.

currently "checked in" to aunt jeanne's home @ riverside drive, just 10 min away from downtown LA. a quaint little house one-story house that's the epitomy of cozy living. my uncle and aunt have been TREMENDOUS help, they've offered to help me on move-in day, and also to shop for dormitory necessities, phone cards, and even helped me pack for my sanfran trip. they've made me feel alot better about being in this strange land that i will call home for the next 4 months; i have a feeling i'll be seeing alot of them in these months!

tyler & i navigated the barrage of freeways to pick up rohai & andrew @ union station, where they spent 4 hours on a train ride from Irvine instead of a 45min drive; then dinner @ carl's junior because we got utterly lost, and decided to park ourselves at smth familiar to get a hold of our bearings, and fill the tummies. on a side note, driving on the left side isnt too different or difficult, just the turnings and parallel parkings on the right may require a lil adjustments. also, i've to rmb not to flip the wiper switch whenever i try to signal.

crashing out for tonight. i'm SO tired.

there is none like You

i started on "Captivating" by Stasi Eldredge today during my hair appointment, a book that was given to me from my DG (discipleship group) for my birthday this year. it talks about life and God from a woman's perspective, and discusses the purpose that God created women, wholly different from our counterparts, to serve different missions and goals that He has set us out to.

here's an excerpt that really struck a chord with me:
"What is it that God wants from you?
He wants the same thing that you want. He wants to be loved. He wants to be known as only lovers can know each other. He wants intimacy with you. Yes, he wants your obedience, but only when it flows out of a heart filled with love for him. "Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me" (John 14:21). Following hard after Jesus is the heart's natural response when it has been captured and has fallen deeply in love with him"
- Stasi Eldredge, Captivating

so beautifully written; our romancing relationship with God. a very timely reminder of His love, and the need to flower intimacy amidst changes, problems, and all that we're going through. the need for solitude and silence, so as to hear His voice and to speak with Him; to bare our vulnerabilities before Him. it has truly awakened my heart, it feels like stirring from deep slumber, being able to breathe again, an immense sense of peace that sends waves of warmth thru me.

"The Lord is my shepherd,
I shall not want;
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters;
He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
for His name's sake"
- Psalm 23

and even though i was so far away, so dry, i've been blessed. huikai, janice and i met up on monday for a good dinner, reminiscing chats, and loads of laughter over huikai's work&travel adventures in Yellowstone, and also janice's work drama (she quit on her first day!). huikai gave me many tips on packing for US as well - i'm now only packing a mini hand-carry luggage, to be stuffed into a big EMPTY luggage so i have room for shopping/textbooks/rubbish that i'm gna be hauling home. then there was reso welcome tea on tues, which was really rather high and crazy towards the end. it's just really nice and heartwarming to see everyone, frm diff batches come together to have a gd time and fellowship and singing.

3 more days till im flying, and i'm really pretty psyched about it! altho there were many screwups in the planning process, but God is a faithful God, and he has brought us thru so many difficulties. for now, we've got all our hotels/bus ticks booked for the trip, and we're good to go.

i'm so excited, but im really gna miss everyone tho.

"there is none like You,
no one else can touch my heart like You do"

sobriety

when i move to my new house next year january, the one place i'm going to miss the most in my current condo is no doubt the swimming pool at night.
behind the gentle trickling of fountain water, comfortable beach chairs and round tables with the ginormous umbrellas lay memories of birthday celebrations & respective dunkings, drinking sessions with lide, & with josh, mac + jeremy's gin gang just yesterday night, gatherings for midnight chats - stories of friendship, love; written under the watchful dim light.

but for now, mr booze and i are going to keep a distance - we finished joshua's bottle of peach schnaps ytd night, all one liter of it, with mixers from the dispensing machine nearby. it got us high enough not only to last the night, but also to develop zero inhibitions in massacring songs of the old, and howling love ballads with the help of my dad's trusty old guitar - lucky for us, josh's fingers remain sober even amidst rising BAC levels in its owner (though i cant say the same for the neighbors)

these few weeks have been just about friends and family; suddenly there isnt enough time to do alot of things originally planned, or meet all the people that are loved and treasured. but i did make time for a nice chilli crab dinner with the family @ esplanade No Signboard Seafood, lunch with my FASS mentor/banker & aijia, lunch with rachael before she flew, badminton + dinner with family friends & extended family, supper with jeremy, lunch @ holland v's ipoh horfun stall with mac, and also a trip to the old fort factory



for $2.50 worth of student ticket price, it was quite a worthwhile trip for an educational tour that featured everything you've learnt in social studies textbooks, except more realistic because they had either a physical representation or the real antique present within the museum

i also gave another vice a go, puffing down some shisha @ baghdad st with a few friends


im really glad i went for my first shisha; cuz its gonna be my last time
smoking's so not cool man.

shalala

the past 2 weeks of reso rehearsals culminated to today's gig at lyndley's church - church of st mary's and angels, for their 50th anniversary celebration, or more specifically, the "Golden Jubilee celebration" with a kampong night theme
we reached his church in the early afternoon for a sound check, only to find ourselves with nothing to do, and 6 hours to kill before our performance
on group consensus we adjourned to westmall for lunch and arcade, before "pictionary-ing" the aftn away back in church


the winning team - team JEREMY


and 1st runner up(and also the last) - team JOY (minus lyndley)

and then some camwhore moments before our performance, which jeremy directed



the performance itself wasnt all too good - there were at least a thousand people surrounding the openair stage, which made singing and hitting the right not alot more challenging than it shld be because we couldnt hear ourselves, and the crowd banter wasnt very helpful
there were a number of popular acts at the carnival as well - straight after us was a performance by may & choi, the durian sisters, doing techno versions of hokkien "881" songs
then there was sylvester, carrie (idk who she is tho), and a few others whose names elude me
but the act that stole the limelight was actually the LIVE CHICKEN that was brought in to dance with may&choi for the 881 song

it's apparently a chicken given by the sultan of Brunei

lastly, pictures (from facebook) of acachamps night @ esplanade



the night we reigned champions (:

together, again.

"you will never walk alone, as long as you have faith
Jesus will be right beside you all the way"

i went back to school for lunch with yihong today, and the scene that greeted me was one that was familiar and warm, yet at the same time new and odd.
gone were the days of pin-drop-silent libraries (acc to a friend), luxurious empty seats at the deck, the soothing sounds of nature that resonates the corners of YIH, crowdless hallways, things i've been so used to in the past 3 months of summer break
the end of summer just hasnt really hit me largely due to the fact that i'll be whisked off to another extended holiday at UCLA in a week or two's time
but the "odd" part comes in play when i see the boys from JC starting their journey as freshmen strutting around with laptops and bagpacks, eager and freshfaced as was I two whole years ago
its pretty good to greet that flurry of familiar faces (now the deck feels like a mini AC), yet at the same time scary cuz it means 2 years have gone by, and i'm still standing at the same spot where i was, feeling no more different than 2 years ago (except for a few more wrinkles & white hairs)

the past few weeks have been pretty insane, preparing for the exchange not just logistically, but also physically, emotioanlly, and socially.
the days were spent with friends from all over - lunch with seok&cherie, dinners & movies with mac, farewell dinner with family & friends for benedict, acachamps @ esplanade (we won overall champion!!), supper & night drives/adventures with jeremy & his friends (till 5am?!), movie&dinner with lide, suppers at sheares with the reso people, and then more reso rehearasals @ YIH which are huge bundles of fun in itself.

today, yingfen derek and i had supper at white coffee @ chuntin after reso prac
our initial intention of suppering at alameen changed when we saw the new supper place that replaced the original mazda shop

derek played with the camera..





the food was pretty good, but i guess we had to pay a little more for the airconditioned supper environment
anw, to end off, cuteness at its very best:

suck it

i'll be flying off in exactly 18 days, and the thought of saying goodbye inevitably causes a mixture of anxiety coupled with excitement, and also a tinge of fear perhaps
while i rly look forward to the 4 months of independence and new experiences, there's a sense of inertia thats tying me down, this voice that tells me im comfortable where i am and should want no more
its the whole "stepping outta ur comfort zone", or being "outward bound", that involves breaking the bonds of the inertia to be able to truly learn, grow, and challenge yourself
18 days - i hope thats enough for me to do just that.

meanwhile, i've stopped work officially last friday, and work ended with a bang because of the corporate house party that was organized.
it was a party organized for AXA members, which saw the CEO himself coming down to grace the occassion.
it was an amazing party - cat hosted and organized the entire thing by herself, going down to the nitty gritty of arranging the napkins in an arty manner on the plates, to buying and designing corporate gifts for the clients, giving the party a really "atas" feel



Liming & i helping out

in other news, i've been delighting and rejoicing in the fact that mac's started sch
because "school" is of relatively (extremely) close proximity to my home
for the past week i've been meeting him for lunch (and some dinners), including a visit to a fish therapy session today
my mom received a couple of vouchers to spa/therapy sessions, and one of them was to Kampong Fish Therapy (its in Novena) for a hand/feet session
so after school i picked mac up and we went to let our feet get eaten by fishes
i forgot to bring my camera, so here're a few lousy phone cam pictures:




mac's got alot of fishes eating him
(he has NEVER exfoliated his skin apparently)


my feet

it was a REALLY interesting experience, aside from the initial mild tickle torture by them suckers
we sat there for a ticklish 40min watching them suck our skin out, and the entire time was surprisingly refreshing and enlightening
tis a pleasant experience, one that i'll definitely try again, esp since both our feet/calves/knees were really smooth and shiny after those suckers were done with us
(apparently they dont just suck you; they inject enzymes into your skin or smth)

also, there've been reso rehearsals that never cease to end because im always in some gig or another
but i guess it's all good cuz you learn as you sing, and its really fun while we're at it

picture this

It’s been more than a week since we’ve got back from our melb trip, and ever since then I’ve been constantly on my toes, kept busy with commitments, activities, and events. Nevertheless, thru the past week I’ve felt the latent effect of withdrawal symptoms that usually come after a really awesome mind-blowing trip overseas, especially one with gd friends.




There’s so many things I miss bout the trip, but most of all, I miss the communal living, the daily night activities that would result in bouts of unstoppable laughter, the thrill of exploring new places and activities at the dawn of each morning, and even the funny, retarded things that always happen in the car.




looking back, we realized it was a really god-blessed trip, for God was truly amongst us. many things that could have gone wrong, didnt. we started each day with a prayer, be it in the car, or on the train, or just outside the door, and each meal with thanksgiving. although there were stil many things that we planned but didnt have time or energy to do/eat, we had so much fun there that it was easily one of the best trips i've ever had. (PLUS, we came back home with a pair of newly engaged because bryan proposed to sophia there)



-

back in singapore, we celebrated commando sim's 21st birthday on July 26! :D
the impromptu celebration was short & sweet, on his first bookout day


HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY, ERNEST! (:

in other news, i performed with reso at a gig at Laguna Country Club
twas a charity golf dinner event by Singapore Heart Foundation, organized by Josh's dad





we had a performer's table, shared with this other Filipino performing group, and enjoyed an 8-course Chinese dinner courtesy of SHF (: