there we go!
ok i was supposed to resist the temptation to do this till after cts, but i guess im lousy at resisting temptation xD
was going for a more monochrome look after the explosion that was the previously blogskin, but i came upon this one and it was too cute to resist. plus, i was sure claire (and theo, who no longer visits, i think) would approve xD
blog song will be uploaded once i stumble across one nice enough.
one last one to go. please let me do well for chem, please. i need to.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
everyones posting depressing math statuses on fb D:
i for one think i did ok. i mean, sure, there were a few questions here and there that were like WTS but i think i did ok? idk, maybe im just deluded.
bio is tmr! i hope it is a Confidence Booster because i know i need one for Chem D: 15 topics down 14 more left to go! whoopie~~
Monday, June 28, 2010
on the way home from econs i spotted another white top green skirt in my condo, heading out.
oh, how the baton passes from one generation to the next!
Saturday, June 26, 2010
HELLO WORLD.
wao. this place not very alive anymore. -pokes at her dead blog. her dead blog rolls over-
hahaha, but with cts just around the corner there isnt anything exciting happening in my life anymore ):
I WILL WRAP UP THE 2 WEEKS FROM SINCE I RETURNED FROM IU IN THIS POST.
1. i went to school last week almost every day (how shocking right! i never go to school! but aiyah, at home very lonely and no one to talk to because even though daddy was home my mommy and daddy kept going out and my sis went to camp so it was just me ): ) lonely ~~~
studied in school with the iu peeps and biang alternatively. studying in school makes time fly by really fast.
2. went to the line on friday :D:D love that place! ITS BEEF IS HEAVENLY. AND THE SASHIMI. ONE CAN NEVER HAVE TOO LITTLE SASHIMI.
3. and then jumbo on sunday, since my dad was leaving on monday, and it was fathers day, and well, we just like jumbo :D thinking about it now is making me feel very sad and hungry ):
4. stayed at home this week, since i was mugging econs and lazy to bring stuff to school. plus, idk but although school has the STUDY aura, it also has the drain all your energy aura so i needed to stay home and recuperate. ie, slack :D
5. ytd i went out to have dinner with a family friend. their sons were/are both in RI and if you have followed my blog for a long enough time you'll know about the genius boy who went to caltech who got hired by microsoft and now he is in MEDICAL SCHOOL. not just any medical school too. Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University. which accepts like 32 students a year, and pays for all 5 years of their education.
yeah. i know. i should just roll over and die from insignificance now.
ok. end of my exciting holidays. I HAS NOT EVEN GONES SHOPPING. except for that time i went with biang, but it doesnt count cos he was the one who bought stuff ):
one more day left! ganbatte friends. you know you should not be wasting your life reading this completely pointless post :D
(btw, expect even less action as we gradually enter PRELIMS TERRITORY. it makes me very sad to think that last year at this time we were still all young and happy and studying for our FIRST test and now we are like SHIT MUG LIKE SHIT. this is what happens when you study with j1s. HELLO J1S IF ANY OF YOU ARE READING THIS, PLEASE PLAY HARD.)
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
I THINK CLAIRE IS RIGHT.
last night i dreamt of chem. today when i took my afternoon nap i dreamt of it TWICE.
omggggg. too bad i dont rmb what i dream about. maybe its the answer.
(although just now it was about esterification and acyl chlorides. but maybe only because amanda asked me ): )
Saturday, June 19, 2010
I WISH I HAD A BF WHO WAS DAMN GOOD AT CHEM.
then i can call him my CG! like yknow. center of gravity. and Chem God.
ok yes. i am spending way too much time with biang. ahahahhaa.
HELLO BOYS OF 3G!
(BECAUSE I WAS INSPIRED BY GEOFFS NEW POST)
DURING THE PRE-BOOKIN FOR BMT PARTY (WHICH WE WILL NO DOUBT HAVE) I DEMAND TO HAVE A PHOTO OF EVERYONE IN ARMY SPECS.
they are adorable :D:D:D:D
BIANG GO GET YOURS I WANNA SEE. DONG TOO. :D:D:D
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
omg new highscore!
ive been added by a cheekopek on fb!
ok i know prob a lot of girls get this kinda stupid fb invites, but i never expected that a person so befitting the title of cheekopek existed!
i have gained new understanding of the world. wao.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
i cant take this anymore.
i really cant do it. this profound sense of loss, it consumes me. i cant concentrate on my work, and every second i waste feeling this way makes it worse because i know i dont have time to waste away like this.
its crippling.
the closer it gets to the A levels, the more anxious i get, because i simply cannot afford to feel this way during the As. i need another. ive known that for a long time now. i cant just pin all my hopes of one.
its stupid.
but i know hes irreplaceable. maybe thats why ive waited so long, held on so long to this hopeless, meaningless relationship. hes perfect. everytime i need to feel stable and confident of myself, hes there to comfort me. perfectly shaped, balanced, a dream come true.
im not sure i can find the same one again, its been a while since ive gone looking. maybe, if im lucky, ill find another one this perfect.
TMR IM GOING TO BUY MYSELF A NEW PENCIL. I HATE NOT BEING ABLE TO FIND MINE.
Friday, June 11, 2010
edit: posts will be by chronological sequence so scroll! also, for people who have no idea what this trip was about, i went as part of an interact team to visit and help out at an Orang Asli village in malacca (Y)
im back! ^^
im kinda surprised, the withdrawal syndromes are setting in already. normally, it takes a week or so. it feels a bit weird to sit here alone and studying in a dark quiet house when you've spent the past 5 days in very.... boisterous company. i kinda miss being able to turn around and find someone to talk to (or annoy with my constant chatter).
overall i think this trip has been... quite an experience. ive been enriched on so many different levels its really been a whirlwind.
on a personal level, i do think that i needed this trip a lot. i havent really been overseas with school since sec 4 and i kinda miss it because i do enjoy travelling so much, and travelling with friends is just so different from travelling with your family. it wasnt really the "yay i get to slack for a week!" mentality that i appreciated (in fact, no, there was a lot of studying instead) but the fact that i was physically away from.... my life. being away from all these politics and emotional mess that only city people seem to be capable off has been so refreshing. not only were the physical facilities so basic (which is another good thing. i appreciated the short separation from my material goods), but because so many of us were new people we had a lot of new relationships forming. i think that is something that was really precious since a lot of these relationships started with blank slates, which meant we could become friends without judging each other based on preconceived notions.
besides the emotional break that i really needed, this trip also served to reinforce many of my personal principles. i think a lot of people (im not judging here) do have this focus on service and aid as a tangible, obvious, radical impact on other peopls lives. personally, i dont think that is true and although the trip didnt really in any way significantly and directly affect the lives of the Orang Asli we visited i do think we've done them a service and our presence has definitely brightened up their lives, if only for a while. besides this, this trip has also proven to me that it pays to put myself out that and that only by actively involving myself in the process will i maximise my takeaways.
both (and others i cant currently rmb) are key lessons i have been and plan to keep close to my heart.
on a group level, i think this trip has brought us all closer tgt. as forementioned, i got to know a lot of people a lot better these 5 days, and re-got-to-know a few old friends. i think i really enjoyed myself, and i feel kinda sad that we wouldnt have the chance to capitalise on these new relationships anymore since most of us may not meet up like this again. so yeah, its been really very bittersweet. but no matter; the 5 days i had were thoroughly enjoyable.
on the cca level, this would be my last interact activity (cue interact post coming up soon). once again, its been nice to get so close to fellow interactors (far closer than the whole 1.5 years that ive actually been in this cca). at the same time this is my first overseas service trip, and although it may not have been as focused on service as some of us would have liked (me included, although i did not expect to), it has still been a wonderful experience thats wholly fulfilling.
i'll follow up with a day by day summary tmr i think. todays been a long day and i still have some questions to clear before i conk out.
everyone slept in on the last day, considering the nights activities. after a last reflections, we headed to a nice and very cheap (considering its servings! its fish is 3 times fish and co size O:) for lunch, before the bus ride back to singapore. along the way we stopped by a "local products" shop to do a little shopping (obviously, the tour guide gets commission doing this)
we reached school at about 7.30, thanks to a jam along PIE. it was really nice being back in singapore (CLEAN) ((:
thus wraps up the trip! its kinda strange, it almost feels like a dream now, and i really kinda miss studying at the hostel cos everyone was there studying with me! ): im super unproductive nowadays haha.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
day 4 was also the last day at the village! we headed down bright and early and i joined a visitation team once again to visit another 3 houses. learnt quite a few interesting things! apparently the Orang Asli do not take photos in 3s cos if not the one in the centre will be unlucky! (BIANG AND BAILU WE NEED TO STOP TAKING PHOTOS TGT) and there was this very interesting man who spoke chinese and fished for a living (or other people fished for him). the pond outside the village is filled with soonhocks, it seems, and each fish fetches about RM3.50, which is significantly more than rubber tapping, in which 1 litre of rubber sells for only 10sen. he also grows orchids for pleasure, which the bio student in me thought was terribly interesting :D they were all wild specimens! (imagines mr lim's shared excitement)
other things they do for leisure (because, if they are rubber tappers, they work from 5am to 10am and then have the rest of the day off) include fishing (but not for eating) and generally "sitting around". some of the kids school, although many still find it unnecessary since they just end up as rubber tappers anyway (the nursery only schools 7 children). its quite interesting though because generally those that were more well off or had parents working in more "advanced jobs" such as in factories seemed to have a greater emphasis on education. the general consensus, however, was that they preferred kampong life to city life (possibly because its more expensive there, and hence lower SOL)
after the interviews i headed back to play with the kids somemore. they are so adorable haha. we played this game called Hantu (meaning Ghost) where people stay inside a circle and the Hantu stays outside and trys to grab at the people in the circle. Once you have been grabbed you become a Hantu too, so ultimately there will just be once person inside trying to avoid everyone haha.
it is more tiring than you think.
twas the last day, so we tried very hard to take as many photos with the kids as possible, but they were all so camera shy! luckily i did get one, even though he was trying very hard to run away hahaha.
cute right xD
we rounded up with a group shot in the front of the nursery.
the last night was special so we ate at a sushi restaurant instead! i ordered a salmon mango maki and this incredibly huge plate came out. -joy- i spent like almost all my ringgit (i only brought 75!) on that dinner hahaha. sushi ftw!
after dinner we headed to the arcade. LINCOLN TAUGHT ME HOW TO DAYTONA DRIFT!! granted, i was driving automatic and so did not look as cool as him when he drifted, and i never really managed to right my car after i drifted so i usually always crashed, but twas very exciting. ESP WITH PEOPLE SCREAMING IN YOUR EAR.
lincoln: ok. when i say break you break ok.
me: -distracted and panicky- okok!
lincoln: ok NOW. break. BREAK. BREAKKKK! BREAKBREAKBREAK!!
me: OMG AHHH OMG AHH LIKE THIS? AHHHHH
wayne: -insert noises of excitement and random bits of advice i was not paying att to-
linocln: OK STOP BREAKING. DONT NEED TO BREAK ALL THE WAY! STOP! NOW TURN. TURNNN! TURNNNNNN!
me: AHHHHHHHH.
-car crashes-
lincoln: YOU NEED TO STOP TURNING AFTER YOUR CAR TURNS!
hahahaha. but it was very fun ^^ i have newfound respect for dong's shooting skillz. i always knew he was good but i didnt know he was SUPERBLY ABOVE NORMAL HUMAN BEINGS GOOD. somemore he shoot got style one haiz. lincoln is very good at timecrisis as well. :D but i hae also learnt that liza is not too shabby for a girl either! good job liza!
we headed back to the hostel after arcade. some split to watch green zone/ the blind side/ play bridge but i didnt feel like either so we sat in our room and chatted till 2am haha. manymany hours of htht tends to bring people closer tgt so it was very fun and worth it ^^
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
day three began almost exactly like day 2, but i had a much better sleep and hence was a lot higher xD (yes, we all know how dangerous that is)
after reaching the village we began with a trek into the inner village. this meant an hour long walk to and fro through a oil palm plantation, which was really cool cos 1. i like treks and 2. i got to recall some of the stuff i learnt about oil palms on the sedili trip ^^ the walk nearly killed some people, and im beginning to learn my stamina for walking is a bit above average ahaha.
the inner village is a lot more dilapidated than the outer one and most of the houses were wooden. but it was still very interesting because even though they were part of the same village they led different lives! but even the inner village had tv...
after we returned (I BURNED A LOT OF CALORIES OMG YAY TTM) we headed down to the nursery to play with the kids. twas really fun! they played a lot of nostalgia-inducing childhood games like poison ball and i found out that 1. their rules for hopscotch is exactly the same as the ones we have! and 2. HOW COME NOBODY KNOWS HOW TO PLAY HOPSCOTCH. still rmb it used to be our vice in primary school and liting and i were both imba at it! it was really precious getting to play all these games again ^^ and skipping also ahahhaa. i love skipping.
the kids! cute right haha.
after we played for a while it got really tiring, but the kids still had boundless energy (omg i feel old lol) so wayne and i went back to the hut to er. slack xD the day quickly wrapped up, so we returned to town and had dinner at A&W. idk why but having rootbeer floats is such a novelty for the boys they have to have one everyday. i mean, its rootbeer with a scoop of ice cream! can make at home also what! but ok fine, the last A&W i saw in s'pore was the one in the zoo which was later replaced by KFC so i guess it can be kinda rare. too bad i had a sorethroat sinking in, so all i could have was a salad (which was very cutely names Zero G Salad. ahahaa. gerrit. like. no calories). even the mayo on my Zesty Burger (Fresh tomatoes and lettuce guaranteed to fill you with zest!) was too painful to take.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
breakfast was prata from a little shop across the road from the inn. twas really good prata! plus a good deal, considering budget for breakfast is RM2.
after breakfast, we all piled into the bus and headed down to the village. the 45min drive was a welcomed rest (with aircon O:) and the entire bus was thankfully, quiet enough for me to sleep all the way to the village.
once we reached we unloaded all our logs to the nursery and headed down to meet up with the village head and the rotary club representation (rotary club is a ngo that adopted the village, and interact club is a subsidiary of it). after introductions, we were lead around the village for a short tour. conditions were definitely better than we had predicted; most houses were concrete and looked quite steady. as part of the nursery team, i then went over to the nursery to interview the teacher and help set up the bookshelves we had brought and fill it with books. the nursery was definitely in better conditions then we had expected, and it was very well equipped. they had lots of nice new pencils and pens and whiteboard markers and paints and books and even a computer, a colour laser printer and a stereo set. it was kind of demoralising at first because it was kinda obvious they didnt need any of the things we brought with us, or any addition help from us at all, and this was reemphasised when we interviewed the teacher to find out more about their curriculum and general attitude towards education. plus, it was the school holidays so the nursery wasnt in session, so we couldnt do any of our education plans either.
nonetheless, i kept my spirits up and we joined another team that was going around visiting households to ask them about their quality of life and stuff. it was kinda interesting because they were so accommodating and we got to learn a lot about their life and everything. and even though everything was in malay i still managed to come up with a few good questions so im quite proud of myself! plus i picked up a few words and were able to roughly understand when they were put into sentences.
excitement of the day? i saw a blowpipe! (VERA. ALERT VERA) the guy who showed it to us told us lots of interesting things, like how they eat porcupines in msia and put their spines on their windows to ward off ghosts. (because apparently, the boss ghost wears a cape of porcupine spines and small ghosts are afraid when they see the spines. although he did not say what would happen if the boss ghost came, but nvm) apparently every household has a blowpipe each and all 15 year old males have to learn how to use it (sorta like ns!) the best blowpiper can aim at something 42m away. i postulated that perhaps that achievement would be required as a coming-of-age ritual, or even for them to get married :D the poison darts can kill a man in 5 minutes, and the only way to stop the poison is to amputate the limb immediately, which was pretty scary and we all kept far away when he pulled that one out and waved it around.the blowpipe itself takes a month plus to make, and each dart takes 3 days for a good worksman, although the poisonous tip takes 1 day and is made up for 4 ingredients from the forest. the poison tips are used to kill monkeys and birds, but he didnt really explain properly if you can still eat them after they're shot. each blowpipe can hold 6 darts inside, and they have these cute holders that hold up to 32 darts at a time.
it was really quite interesting to learn about such practices, and the man was very eager to share. wayne and anh were very enthusiastic about blowing the pipe, so they gave it a shot and managed to hit the target (which was albeit, big and very near, but still cool)
DEATH ON A STICK.
yus, me and blowpipe!
after the visits, we headed back to town, where we returned to the chicken rice stall again for dinner (but no more balls this time!). dinner was followed by reflections, which i think is quite an impt part of the day and it really helps me think back and appreciate the day.
and then, MUG. (im beginning to miss mugging at that place its kind of cozy and its fun ): )
Monday, June 7, 2010
woke up really early (for the first time this hols) to get to school on time. ran into dr chan whilst i was at the drop off point too (it was kinda creepy lol.)
once all the logs were settled we boarded the bus and headed down to the tuas checkpoint. the entire bus ride was pretty quiet and generally uneventful, including the stop at the rest stop, during which the first thing zhixuan did was to buy overpriced keropok.
the bus pulled up at sunny inn a couple of hours after (unfortunately i did not feel compelled lugging my camera around so i didnt bring it so i dont have any photos until people start uploading them. edit: pics up!). sunny inn was well... slightly to the dingy side (there were quite a few complaints about the rumours of bedbugs D: and nigel renamed the place shady inn instead). the girls were put in the rooms to the left side and the boys were at the right, but there was a spill over of girls so cennie, me and yus bunked over at the boys side. which made me feel slightly safer, considering yus and i had most of the cash (ok, just yus, as i will eventually discover).
SUNNY INN. see the tiny sign where the staircase opens? thats the entrance to the inn.
the rooms were these tiny things with mattresses placed on the floor and a fan. some of us were luckier and got bedframes, although the ultimate lucky ones (only one room though: tricia, joyeo, anh and phuong) had an aircon too. (much to the displeasure of some other people lol) the toilet was communal as expected, and the shower had more space than i had anticipated, as well as an actual shower head! for RM10 per night (i swear this is the cheapest lodgings i have ever spent a night in) you cant get much, but it wasnt too bad. esp since there were no bedbugs! daniel checked for us xD
our room!
roomies (((:
after settling in we headed off to the chicken rice ball shop next to the inn for lunch. i dont really understand the intention behind rice balls. some claimed its cos rice squished together is supposed to taste better, but im not too sure its anything that significant. but it was an interesting dish nonetheless that is supposedly unique to malacca, and it fit into our budget of RM8 per person so -shrugs-. although obviously RM8 isnt enough for some of the boys, but they didnt even eat that much when they added dishes (im comparing to the 3G boys, whom, im now sure of, are monsters). the shop was owned by a family, who had totally adorable children helping out that drove the girls (over the boy) and the boys (over the girl) crazy haha. i think its really rare for some of us to see kids helping out in family restaurants so many fell instantly in love with their hardworkingness, but its pretty expected in china so i was immune. although the littlest girl was really quite cute xD
once lunch was settled we headed out to purchase our logs for tmr, including stuff like ingredients for claypot rice, breakfast and hardware. it was then i realised that the whole of malacca did not have a dbs bank, which meant there was no dbs atm, which meant i could not withdraw any of the RM3k that was residing in my bank acct. which nearly killed me, but we managed to use my card as a visa card instead to buy some of the items so at least we did not deplete our cash too signficantly. )): thankfully yus was not too pissed off at me, but it did make me feel terrible ):
dinner was at a peranakan restaurant. (luckily. i almost thought we were going to have chicken rice for all 5 days lol) it wasnt too bad, tasted almost like chinese, complete with poor tea. the original itinerary indicated that we were supposed to head off to the village for a brief orientation before we begin work on tuesday, but there was a last minute change so we had a little r&r instead. so, after dinner we headed off to a nearby mall for a little window shopping. then i realised that the mall was the exact same one that i went with my family on our last malacca trip, so it was pretty cool xD (or that it indicated that these 2 were the only 2 malls worth visiting in malacca)
after we returned to the dorm, the groups split up for showers (:D:D) and then piled into the common areas to study. im not too good at studying with people, but it was pretty fun, and it meant i had smart people to consult when i got stuck :D
it was almost 1 when we all trooped to bed, but it was 2 before i got any rest at all, since certain boys are very good at being noisy enough to wake the whole hall with those thin walls. the first night was pretty rocky, and i woke up at 6 thanks to lester, who sat outside our room for 4 hours because he couldnt get any sleep.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
tomorrow at this time i will be residing in this dubious sounding hostel called Sunny Inn somewhere in Malacca that, according to Internet Reviews, is rampant with bed bugs.
lets all say this together: EWW.
im both a bit scared and a bit excited and a bit tired over this trip. so much to do! and im pretty sure, like trips always feel, this one will feel so long during and so short in retrospect.
ah wells, last thing ill ever do in interact, first ever overseas service trip, and last time ill step out of singaporean soil before As.
pray that i return in one piece please! will be missing yall ^^
Saturday, June 5, 2010
twas clearing up some of the rubbish in my comp to make it move a little faster and i came across some of my moms old photos.
gosh she was pretty!
easily one of the prettiest in her class
my dad didnt stand a chance! haha!
so utterly cute. i love my parents xD
argh ytd i totally did not do anything at all. study i mean, i did quite a bit of other things.
but its the first time since hols started that ive slacked a whole day away, so i guess its ok. no more today though, i hafta get a cracking.
in other news, todays the 3rd day ive gone without my contacts and im still not blind yet. hmm. it seems i underestimated my power to see, but i kinda hope my power goes up by monday if not my dailies will be too strong for me!
Friday, June 4, 2010
it takes surprisingly little to get yourself a debit card. you'll think they'll require a more indepth understanding of who you are before bestowing you with the ability to spend all your money away.
although perhaps, thats exactly what they want you to do.
not that my account has a lot of money anws. (i overheard someone withdrawing $36000 in cash from his account. i briefly wondered if his daughter was kidnapped, or he was dealing with gangsters. then i realised i watch too much foxcrime)
and i also got my passport photo taken! yay. -sense of accomplishment accomplished with zero studying!-
OMG RG IS MOVING TO THAT CREEPY ABANDONED SCHOOL ACROSS RJ ON BRADDELL ROAD WHERE THE SCOUTS USED TO GO TO DO DUBIOUS THINGS!
(according to rohan. at least.)
I HAD HIGHER EXPECTATIONS FOR OUR NEW PLACE.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
there are hazards when you decide not to sleep if you dont complete your revision schedule, and have the propensity to be easily distracted.
like ytd, i slept at 4 and today i woke up at 1 O:
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
i woke up like half an hour ago (yeah haha), switched on my comp and opened my email.
there was only 1 new mail and it was from my mother. which was interesting because 1. i didnt know she knew how to fwd emails and 2. i didnt know she even knew my email.
so i opened it and attached was a fwded email about how this boy who was bbqing in malacca got his contacts melted into his eye and became blind.
LOL.
all in prep for my malacca trip eh (i dont know if it was coincidence that both events happened/will be happening there lol) where i will be wearing soft lenese for the first time!