oh no... i am so touched... i feel so guilty...
so many ppl sent me xmas cards but i sent none at all...
mich was the earliest, by post. then there's yumin, jiayun (at band), chocolates from novella n shiyun, gifts from laura, card from yiyun by post, e-cards from linyan, gloria and xiuxia. wow! THANKS A MILLION!!! hope i didnt miss out anyone. n i was so bad to send none...
ok, i shall send them a cny card!! all by post! if i rmb that is
tues, band ended at 1+pm so i went lido to watch lotr-rotk with mich and shiyun (watch 2nd time). met novella n ms chong when goin up to get tickets. we reached there at 2+pm but 3.30 show left front row so we got 4.30 tix which hv not much gd seats left too. haiz... dont feel like blogging...
shall juz summarise...
super long adsss.... 25 mins then lotr start. by the time end, 8+...
tuition cousin zihui till 10pm while hvg dinner
wed, went popular for 2 hours...
then yixuan's 1mth old party at sun plaza house
last saturday, i went 4 band in the morn. mr ma was here. i think he is a very great man.
he told us alot abt him n thought us alot. we found out that he was here only bcoz help ms chong. otherwise he cld earn much more teaching private students. he's 43, has a fiancee who is 29 n they r getting married nxt yr. he said he can see ppl's character (strangers, not for friends). he oso taught us alot of philosophy. say muz find someone who has gd temper (n find out from his family). our idea of tall handsome guys is too stupid. n shldnt get married too early. must be matured first. muz oso shared an account with ur husband and earn and spend from the same account together so that it wont end up that ur husband finds u so small since he pays for ur living n then divorce u.
he oso say sso has the best human relations among the orchestras. that's why though sso players has the lowest pay among the top 4 asian orchestras (like half or a third of the others), sso still performs well. he as a principal earns abt $8000 but he analysed the money n showed us tt its actually not much since he needs to spend according to his status.
after band at 1+pm, there was hcjc concert at 7pm so i had alot of spare time so i called up gera and went holland v with her coz she wanted to get stuff for christmas but it was raining so my shoes and socks got thoroughly wet... after spending abt 1+hour shoopping around with gera, i bought flowers there but the uncle was so unkind and wasnt willing to help me pack the flowers separately and instead put the 4 flowers together using 1 piece of wet cotton to keep the 4 flowers hydrated though i need 4 separate ones.
then back at coronation, i bought a pair of slippers to change out of my wet shoes. then boss aunty was very nice and when she found out abt my flowers problem, she gave me 3 other mini plastic bags and even helped me to wrap the cotton around the bottom of the stem of the flower using the mini plastic bag to hold the cotton and provided rubberbands to secure them. and the boss uncle oso came over to help and they didnt even want any money for all the kind help! soooo niceee!!! :)
the hcjc concert wasnt all that great though. some parts were excellent but others were substandard. i think they lack enough practice. maybe too busy... there's jus some excellent players who r not enough to support the whole band... i think rjc band seems much more relaxed when they play.
oh man! my brother is just the worst brother i've ever known! worst than urs and urs and urs! worst than all of ur brothers! i shall list all the idiotic things he do
AND TAKE NOTE HE IS 21 YRS OLD AND SERVING NS 2ND YR!
1. he hid the mouse in his cupboard and locked it to prevent me from using the comp (but there's always the spare mouse hence me overcoming this idiotic move)
2. while i'm using the net, he wld just pull out the telephone line to cause me to be disconnected and does it repeatedly or just try to antagonise me by asking, 'ru guo wo la chu lai hui zhen yang ah?'
3. while i'm chatting over the msn with my friends, he wld type in rubbish (ie just press all keys on the keyboard) and quickly press enter. and this has
4. he doesn't even know how to register an account at gunbound and took half an hour trying to do it and he finally managed to do it after i told him that the whole prob is the id he wanted has already been taken up so he has to choose another one
5. not being able to figure out how to play gunbound, (and me not willing 2 teach him coz he's a guy and older than me and i decided that he shld be able to figure out himself since guys are supposed to be better at games than gals) he slammed the keyboard and the mouse repeatedly. and he doesnt even know how to ask the other players online (coz that's how i got help to learn to play it in the 1st place)
6. he visits dirty webpages (yucks, there's more disgusting stuff, i shan't say anymore)
haiz... there's loads more coz pts 1-5 is just what happened on yesterday and the day before and pt 6 is what happens frequently
the pae results r out and i've got into... *drumroll* ...
national jc!
ah, oso asked alot of ppl...
njc still hv: huiling (yay!! i happy coz 1 more friend but she not tt happy coz she got 6 pts still cant go hcjc due 2 limited vacancy), anqi and zhixiu
hcjc (yi da dui): laura, gloria, huilin, michelle and liming
ajc : casie and weichen (he wanna appeal 2 tjc)
tjc : zhengqiang
vjc : weiliang and minrui
cjc : jeremy
meridien: gera but she wanna appeal 2 sajc
i took up weiliang's suggestion and downloaded gunbound 2 play. its so fun!
btw, i woke up at 11+am... then str away on comp to check liaoz... then msn all the others who are online (gloria, weiliang, weichen, zhengqiang and jeremy) to ask abt their jc and oso chat
then juz now sum1 came to knock on the door and i ended up donating $10 to some charity. got a complimentary notepad
yay, i chat alot wif my primary school friends todae. now still chatting wif jeremy. chatted wif kianwei, minrui, joseph, zhengqiang, rachel, weichen too. 1st time sia
yeo joon ming have stead liaoz (weiliang told jermey)
eugene likes boonshan (he told xuguang who told jeremy who told me)
gera say the whole tchs noes abt joseph and bs
xuguang told jeremy he likes gera
and shhhh... jeremy likes minrui (he told me)
ahhhh!!! i had food poisoning!!! its the worst illness i've ever had in my 16+ yrs of life!!!
yesterday at abt 8pm, i was abt to go out to hv dinner when i suddenly had sth like hunger pangs so i thought i wld be fine after having dinner. however, the pain still continued after i finished dinner so i thought it may be gastric though i never had it b4.
when i got home, i lay on my parents' bed to rest and mom applied some medication oil on my stomach but the terrible pain was still there. then she gave me some stomach medicine but immediately after that, i vomited the dinner i just had and even broke down due to the unbearable pain (i'm not the type tt cry easily bcoz of pain e.g. tt afternn b4 grad ceremony when i fell and had a wound larger then a 50c coin, i still took it lightly and went thru everything like everyone else). so mom suggested goin to tan tock seng hospital since this nvr happened b4. so dad went to borrow uncle c j's car b4 sending me over to the hospital.
all the while, the pain was really unbearable. sometimes it went off just for a few moments b4 returning with intense pain. and this process repeated itself for abt 3 over hours. sometimes the time lapsed between each intense pain lengthened but it was still there.
immediately upon arrival at ttsh (just b4 10pm), i vomited again. it happened so suddenly that i vomited in the dustbin. then after registration, i while waiting for my turn to enter the assessment room, i felt like vomiting yet again but i didn't have a plastic bag and there wasn't anywhere nearby where i cld vomit so i had to hurry out to the temporary toilet to do so.
finally, at abt 10.50pm, i was called to be assessed b4 i had to wait a further half hour or so to be examined by the doctor. by then, i was already feeling better then b4. the doctor asked abt my condition and lso checked my abdomen. pressing and asking if there was pain. she then asked what i had for lunch and breakfast and if i had seafood. so i told her abt sat's steamboat thingy. and she immediately diagnosed that i had food poisoning. i was suddenly enlightened coz i never thought that i wld be the victim of our lousy cooking skills and that the symptoms only show up the nxt day. the doctor explained that the symptoms might even show up only 2 or 3 days later. she also asked if i had diarrhea but i didn't
both mom and i think she's a great (very li4 hai4) doc! she gave me a jab which was quick and not very painful (i think peeling off the sticky plaster was more painful)
she said that later on, i may have diarrhea coz my system needed to clear out the dirty stuff. and it was indeed rite coz after waiting abt 20 mins to collect my medicine and reaching home at 12+am, i had to go to the toilet.
haiz.... luckily the effects weren't immediate otherwise i really don't know how we are gonna find me a toilet while walking along the highway after the steamboat...
but i definitely do not regret goin for the steamboat coz we got to get together
though i've 2 repeat the pain was really horrible and terrible and unbearable and till now, there are still abdomen pains now and then
(this is supposed 2 b posted at 1+am on 14 dec but my modem failed on me though i tried a dozen times to correct watever problem there was...)
i realised the guys get better and nicer and more likable as when they get more matured.
i'll quote 2 smses
eg. 1: from jeremy: "Hey fenella, hav u reach home? It's hard to return ur mum a smart daughter wor.."
and the thing to note is tt we haven't met for at least 2 whole yrs and today (or rather yesterday since it was 13 dec) we just met up at our class gathering and we didnt even talk much since he was the a bit shy type of guy, so isn't he very nice to ask if i've reached home? yes, of course!
ah, shall put my reply here... wait, i check my hp again 1st... :
"yah, thanks 4 ur concern. :) "
and for the nxt one, its bcoz kianwei smsed me 4 boonshan's hp (coz he forgot to ask during the gathering) but i didn't have so i smsed geraldine 4 it but she smsed me the business card fr her nokia hp which my stupid motorola cldn't read so i asked her 2 sms cody (who was still on the mrt train with me since he stays 2 mrt stations further from me). then i had to get off the train liaoz so i asked cody 2 sms kianwei when he receives boonshan's hp from geraldine. however, after i reached home, it ended up that cody didn't hv kianwei's hp so cody smsed boonshan's hp 2 me which i finally smsed 2 kianwei...
aiyo, i know very complicated...
my sms to kianwei : "xxxxxxxx (tis is supposed 2 be bs's hp but not save to put on blog). sorry, so long den reply coz i oso didnt hv so had 2 get gera 2 send 2 cody den 2 me den 2 u"
so finally,
eg. 2: from kianwei: "Haha u r so cute! Really thank u! Actually i got it from geraldine already..but still thank u a lot! Gd nite sleep tight and keep in contact and sweet dreams!"
so nice of him to give so many wishes rite!
_______________________________
now, i shall start blogging about the class gathering! actually not really 'class' gathering... coz only 9 ppl turned up... but it was still great fun!
we were supposed to meet at marina bay mrt station at 5pm (13 dec) but only kian wei was the earliest and i was 2nd earliest. the rest were all late: geraldine, jermey, weiliang, cody, wei chen, boon shan and minrui (who was the organiser was the latest... by half hour, but its ok coz the rest of us got to sit and talk while waiting). only 4 gals, 5 guys out of our class of 39 (they said so, i don't remember...)
all the guys are taller then us now but geraldine kept insisting that they were also fatter but i argued their shape (i mean the height weight ratio) is still abt the same. its just that they grew taller so they look bigger sized. except for weichen who does look like he put on weight coz i think he was a bit on the skinner side in primary school and now he looks more fit. oh ya!!!! i forgot to tell them i dreamt of him a few mths ago!!! ai ya!!! so forgetful of me!!! zheng1 shi4 de!!!
weichen really changed along, his behaviour etc, and he was dressed up just like a typical tourist with his camera strap hung around his neck.
so we had steamboat at marina south, from almost 6pm till 8+pm. kianwei knew his way around and tried to get the price lowered from $10 to $9 per person but the person said cldn't and gave us a bottle of champagne grape thingy instead
gera, kianwei, jermey and i shared 1 ... erm... don't know what its called... the metal pot and metal thing covered with foil that we cook our food on while weiliang, cody, weichen, boonshan and minrui shared another.
then jermey and kianwei kept whispering (though i can hear) to the other guys abt being poisoned by gera's cooking (and maybe me oso) coz gera dropped a pc of seaweed on the table and picked it up into the pot. so the guys asked how she passed her home econs and she answered that her partner cooked and she washed. so the guys using the other pot said that though they had poor cooking skills, kianwei and jermey shld join them coz they wldn't poison them.
then another time, gera wanted to eat fried egg and i was oso eager on trying but the guys were on the -ve side. so after i cracked the egg and gera broke the egg yolk, they were like anticipating a disaster and said that the egg wld stick to the foil. so gera quickly made scrambled egg and the guys told us to get the egg out. gera did so and nothing terrible happened so they said gera saved the day.
hai ya, so not fun liaoz, but still, maybe they were rite. we cld hv made a disaster if we left the egg there long enough...
the food was great, mostly well-seasoned (some over-seasoned). esp. the chicken and chicken wings! delicious!!! yum!
i brought my digicam, kianwei and weichen oso brought their digi and film ones resp.
so we tried to take pics of one another but refusing 2 be taken
then at the end of our meal, gera and i went to get the watermelons but there were none left so we hang around then a guy wkg there rendered his services and helped us to go into the kitchen to get them and even pile so much till 1 pc dropped on the floor. when we were leaving, we found other why he was so helpful. another guy wkg there whom we asked to help us take some grp photos asked gera if she cld give his friend (ie the 1st helpful guy) her no. then gera told him to give her that guy's no. instead. then the rest of us were wondering if it was the 2nd or the 1st guy who was asking for her no. haha. weiliang even said he has a list of 'customer no.1', 'customer no.2' etc and don't even remember who they are liaoz
b4 we cld take a grp photo, minrui had to leave coz her parents were there to fetch her. then after grp photo taking, we took up gera's suggestion and started walking from marina south to suntec since we cld see it. however, ask the guys said, wat we can see may not be that easy to reach...
we left the steamboat place at abt 9.10pm and came to a park where there was no one else but us (though we saw a couple some time later). after much walking, we reach a highway which was blocking our way to suntec and the underpass was locked up and this lead to much more walking but also help us build up more 'class spirit' or rather 'grp spirit' and oso allowed us to view alot of beautiful night scenery. i thought of crossing it since there were not too many cars but the other didn't want to and even wanted to go back to marina south but gera and i insisted on trying out our way.
i don't remember exactly the route we took. i think we got to a part where there was a river so the highway went over the river so we got to leave the park and go under the highway along the river to the other side of the highway. then we saw steps up onto the pedestrian pathway along the highway which we went onto so as to the cross the river. i noe it really sounds difficult to picture what i'm describing...
along the highway (where the guys said that ppl film some of those scene in the dramas), we got to see lots of nice night scenery and take photos but i cldn't hold still my camera so they were blur... haiz... such a pity...
then we finally crossed the river and got of the highway at a place just opp carrefour. it was already abt 10.10pm and we immediately went to the toilet b4 getting a drink followed by more walking as gera's suggestion of goin to the esplanade was again taken up over the guys' who wanted to catch a movie. it was my 1st time at the esplanade! then boonshan had to leave suddenly coz her mom called. outside esplanade in front of the river, where we cld look at the highway where we were previously 'stranded', gera and i realised that we cldn't be seen unless we waved a torch (ie, its so near yet so far).
then weiliang kept saying it seems very high class and can raise his status and wanted to go to fullerton hotel to raise it further. so we went over to the merlion b4 going to fullerton while it was drizzling lightly all along.
fullerton is really high class and then were loads of ppl (later, we found there was a wedding). initally we were hestitant of goin in coz we were dressed so casually but we still went in.
finally, at abt 11.20pm, we headed to raffles mrt station to catch the last train. on the train, weichen was holding his hp then he said sth like his hp can throw away liaoz coz previously at suntec, while exchanging hp no., they found out that my hp looks diff from their nokia ones (of course since my is motorola) and i have a built-in camera. then i was thinking of saying do u know this is my 1st hp and i only got it after 'o' levels... but i didnt say lah...
wow, its 3.19am, 14dec... but its worth recording b4 i start to forget all these nice memories :) so nice! awaiting the next class gathering! hopefully not 2 yrs later but 2 weeks later! hopefully :)
so now i'm posting this post i type 6 hrs ago (after doing some troubleshtg and finding out that the prob is just that the modem was 'disabled' and i just had to 'enable' it)... not supposed to be up so early but my hp morn alarm rang (coz stupid me set it) and i cldn't fall asleep liaoz... quite tired now leh... my brother wld came back home only after i finished typing abt the class gathering, ie after 3.19am, is still sleeping... guys are guys... can go back just how they want... though my bro already 21 yrs-old... adult lah (but still very childish, always bully me)... so can't compare
i watched wild rice's latest production, cinderel-lah last night and its was really hilarious! esp. kumar and hossan leong's performance, wonderful! there was even interaction between the cast and the audience as part of the show thus the audience was just like another role in it, and they had to react flexibly to our answers which don't always fit in correctly. e.g. near the end where the audience was supposed to help ali (kumar) in the spell to make the step-mother return back from statue form to normal, we refused to and kumar had to say, 'don't u want to go home?'
and something great was that the jubilee hall was rather small so we were quite close to the stage and the cast often walked to and fro the stage and the back entrance and once they even squeeze through the audience's seats! so the cast got really close to us! the king and queen lee even spoke some dialect which was really funny! though there were quite some cacausians around and many of the audience looked like english-speaking ppl so i think they didnt understand but still, some did respond with laughters. many ppl also brought their kids along since this was a show definitely suitable for ppl of all ages.
oh ya, the step-mother (neo swee lin) kept wanting to scold the f*** word but her 2 daughters (hossan and sheikh haikel) always stop her and pointed around at the audience so she said some other phrases beginning with 'f' like "flush the toilet"!
kumar was acting as a couple, ali and jeya so whenever 1 came out, the other of course cldn't but they always scold each other behind each other's back so kumar had to walk to the side of the stage and face the back to change his voice and say the other person's reply b4 facing the front again.
many of the guys acted as females wearing those revealing clothing and their actions really made all of us laugh
so i think it's really worth watching! and everyone shld watch it!!!
yay!!!!!!!! i spent the whole afternoon and evening of yesterday adding 3 webpages to my "4/10's memories" website (can see it at the 4/10 rox link above)!!! and boy was the result satisfying!
i've emailed the whole class the web addy (at abt 9pm just now) and so far at least 1 person has viewed! she's liming, the 1st other person to sign my guestbk! *nice feeling* :)
the only consolation i have for not going to the band trip to thailand. also a very big consolation coz i took lots of photosss with my new digicam!!!! yeah!!! my camera didn't fail me!!! i even took a short (ya, really short, only 7sec coz scared not enough memory space but actually can take at least 10 more sec) video of the disco dancing!!! cool huh!!! still can hear the disco music some more!!!
there was really a mixture of cuisine of different bkgrd: chinese, western, jap (the red mini-octopus is rite?) and maybe french? aiya, don't know... anyhow guess... but confirm there's chinese and western. then i eat until very weird coz the zhong1 xi1 not very he2 bing4... then the whole nite stomach a bit bu4 shu1 fu2...
i think the sec 3 councillors and their ms may soon did a great in organising the event coz they hired a great deejay or emcee (or watever he's called). we had fun playing the games (expect the dance which made me dizzy...)
some of my class arranged to meet at newton mrt b4 proceeding to sheraton towers. when we reached there, everyone else were taking photos and chattin away and the supposedly quiet 5-star (ya, very zai3) hotel became a auntie's market (erm... maybe too exaggerated).
b4 we cld get to the food, the deejay started off the games between 'twisties' and 'ruffles', the 2 grp names of the night given by the respective captain. me, of course, was in twisties, which won at the end of the day (erm... too proud...). but our table wasn't luckily enough to get the limited prizes (including chanel bags!!!)
the disco dance started after some ppl from 4/4 presented a dance (hiphop was it? i forgot) at abt 10pm.
i didn't really dance... so went outside the ballroom to take photos :P my favourite hobby now, i think.
thanks!!! to lisa and family for giving me a ride home. lisa's family is really nice, the whole family came to fetch her! so i reached home at 12.30am
and went to bed at 1am but didn't fall asleep until 2+am...
woke up at 8am this morn... coz wanted to go play at laura's house where huiling and kaiyun had stayed overnite. but i laze around while waiting 4 laura 2 reply my sms which was after 9am liaoz. reach her house at 10am. and played all the wayyyy till 5.30pm! (of course got lunch break in between)
laura's mom really nice, got her worker to bring lots of food over for us and laura's sis's friends. she even packed for huiling who had to leave in a hurry at 1+pm.
but laura's brother very naughty... kept disturbing laura and hai4 us can't play properly coz he said out the cards.
we played dai3 di2, rummyrik or don't-know-what-it-is and mahjong.
ya, sunday was uncle ah hee's wedding in singapore. he and his wife came back from batu pahat earlier in the week then went there again then on sunday morning, they set off yet again to sg. so the tea ceremony was in the afternn. his wife's friends really supportive, all came over as well.
the wedding dinner was at yishun safra country club. my parents didn't sit with me coz they had to sit at the main table. i sat with my 6-yr-old cousin, huicong, who is an extremely talkative and energetic small boy. alot of family bonding and he learnt to pronounce my name, great achievement er?
i had to get the diff dishes for him and ask him to eat instead of talking on and on
to my surprise, i found out from huicong's mom, my 4th aunt, who was sitting on the other side of me, that i used to (when she wasn't married to my 4th uncle yet) talk alot to her. mom also cldn't remember. and i have totally no impression abt it at all.
yeah!!! finally got my digicam yesterday!!! though its only 3.2 mega pixels... its the canon powershot a70
bought it at quite at expensive price of $599... (only include a 64mb card, a tripod and a cleaning kit, also a non-related trolley bag) don't even have battery charger or camera case...
then sth really weird happened last night! i dreamt that i asked a guy for one of his camera cases coz he had alot and i think he was throwing them away!! so weird rite!
watched love actually today! its such a swwwweet movie!!! just like what its tag line says: very romantic, very comedy.
can watch with ur bf! really suitable! ke3 xi1 i don't have leh...
initially i thot it finish liaoz... coz a few weeks ago like already start screening... and last sat i wanted to watch but it was midnight show. then monday i see newspaper no more shows liaoz... then suddenly on wednesday the newspaper say it opens on thursday "actually"... don't know why so complicated...
oh ya, quite a bit of vulgarities too... *not suitable for kids*
i also went for band on wednesday. during lunch, our section split into 3 separate groups... so sad... everyone doesn't want to eat together... i remember when xinjie that batch the seniors were around, we always had lunch as a section. but now...
after lunch, joyce and marageret went to accent to buy reeds. i went along coz i had to get one of my clarinet keys repaired. but they also changed a pad that was still working fine to another new but thinner pad and now i have to press much harder on that key! stupid repair person! and the irony is the boss (or whoever) of accent was telling me that people often had problems with that key and asked me if i had problems too but i didn't then they still extra go and change the pad and cause the problem!!! so idiotic right!!!
anyway, on wednesday night xinjie called me and talk to me alot (i think more than 15 min). she was trying to get ppl to go to st andrew band tuning in. it was only then that i found out she went to sajc. i thought she went to hcjc with the rest of her batch. then she asked abt all the other sec 4s who are not going on the thailand trip (then can go for the tuning-in on sat) but i didn't know any of their l1r5 scores and told her that they most prob wldn't join band again.
i also told her i wldn't be joining band again coz i am afraid that i'll throw nycb's face and i thot that the expectations of ex-band members wld be very high and my sight-reading very poor but she told me its ok and that nycb clarinet section is actually very good and other band's ppl aren't that great. so she have made me consider joining band again. (i had initally already set my mind on not joining band...)
xinjie is such a nice senior... make me want to go to her band but the huge problem is sajc is soooo far.... hai4 me didn't even put it as any one of my choices.
yesterday, i went to laura's house to learn how to play the piano. there was also huilin, yiyun and geraldine. laura is such a nice person, so patient in teaching us. i think no one else will be like that. but her sibilings so naughty. laura's parents also very nice ppl. her mom bought lunch for us.
then laura so pro, taught us right from the basics (and she's going for an interview to teach piano at a school). i think having so many clefs is sooooo troublesome. very difficult to switch to bass clef... and laura know 3 clefs and 3 instruments! (piano, violin, viola which has the another clef i forgot the name) and she has trophies and certs in academic, sports and music!!! so talented right!!! in addition to her personality.
she spent abt 4 hours teaching us and also played a few pieces. in the end, we found out that her piano is actually a grand piano but the stuff are standing so it looks like a upright piano coz her house not enough space. guess how much it cost
over $20,000!!! so ex rite!
then after the piano session, i met mom at city hall to have dinner with rita auntie at a korean restaurant. we had was korean steamboat but we didn't eat much so quite waste money...
this morning, i went for a consultation at national skin centre and the consultant said that i have to go for a surgery to remove the lesion on my head coz there is a 1 in 10 chance that it may become cancerous when i'm 40 or 50. so the date is currently set on 15/3/04.
i went for band in the afternn. i had smsed jacklyn to ask abt the time but i didn't reveal my identity and at band, when she asked if it was me, i denied it. haha. i'm just so bonkers at times
shall start from last tuesday:
4/10 CHALET!!! @ aranda country club!
ya, the same place as last year and the year b4 too
but this yr, our chalet is on the 2nd floor.
pro: cleaner, don't have cockcroach
con: more troublesome for bbq
huiling and i went to pasir ris mrt together coz she came down from johor. luckily, causeway jam so i got to have lunch b4 meeting her. still we weren't the latest.
we played loads of card games esp. bridge. also got big 2 and bluff.
we also played mahjong.
some of them played uno stacko and were really noisy, screaming so often
on the 1st night, we had potluck for dinner, ie everyone brought some food to share, actually not really 'everyone', just some. then some really disgusting happened but i think no one else knew abt it. i ate some red ants! yucks! it was bcoz i left my pepsi on a table then when i drank it again, i didn't look and ended up eating some ants... i didn't scream or tell anyone abt it... just washed the cup and threw it away...
then at about 12mn, most of us went to the arcade b4 going back for more games
i slept at abt 4am. of course no space left on the beds so i took one of the bed cover and used it as a mat, a blanket cum a pillow. then abt 6+, some of them went to the market to buy stuff for bbq so i got to sleep on the bed till 8+
after waiting to bathe and having breakfast, i joint the market ppl in preparing the bbq stuff. there were lots of great food like cheese prawns, chilli sotong, chilli stingray and of course chicken wings! all seasoned by themselves.
then linyan, yuh shin and i joint huiling, laura, casie, xiebo and yuanyi for cycling. huiling didn't know how to ride so she had to learn. then my bicycle chain dropped off so i had to push my bike all the way back to the kiosk b4 riding to pasir ris park. then on our way back from the park, another group was cycling towards us and one of the guys clashed into yuanyi causing her to have some bruises and the front part turned all the way round. but at least, the guy fix it back.
after that, we had lunch b4 going to the arcade. initially, we had fun but later, after realising that the machine had actually deducted more credits than it should, we went to tell the assistant but i ended up arguing with him. though he let us play other games to make up for our loss, i didn't feel great at all. stupid.
anyway, back at the chalet, it was soon time (5.30pm) to go to the pit to start fire but we found some guys burning paper there. so sheena told them off and made them clear up. liming told us that they were from tchs coz she recognise her ex-classmates. we also couldn't hide our identity coz liming was wearing the tracker t-shirt.
after they had cleared up, sheena and gang spent one and a half hours starting the fire while the rest of us hang around. but the coal remained burning very well and the food was cooked rather fast. i took the job of applying butter but after some time, wanxuan wanted to do it.
the chicken wings were delicious but i couldn't eat the sotong and prawns though i was offered those yummy stuff... coz i have rashes... i was also offered stingray but i though since there was alot, i shall eat later
mr derek tan came at abt 7+ and chat around. huiling had to leave at 8pm so xiebo, yuanyi and i went up with her to get her luggage coz i wanted to buy cup noodles for later on and they wanted to send her off.
but by the time i went back to the bbq pit, all the food was gone so i didn't get to eat the stingray. i was really surprised coz it was not even 2 hours after we started bbqing.
then we went up to the chalet to celebrate michelle and ruyan's b-dae. it was supposed to be a surprise but xiebo, who was the coordinator, was a lousy one and they knew everything liaoz. so everyone started guai4ing her.
mr tan had bought the b-dae cakes and we sang them the songs b4 they fa1 biao3 their gan3 yan2. then we took photos b4 continuing to play.
some of them watch the chn 8 horror show followed by ju-on (fervin brought the vcd).
me and a few others stayed in a rm to play cards coz we didn't want to get ourselves scared. then later, we found out that fervin had actually brought her male friend in to watch ju-on. she was leaning against him so we started gossiping abt them. she had spent the 1st nite out and at changi airport with him and also the 2nd day too. she daring hor
and he wasn't the handsome macho type leh... quite big sized and casie thot it was mr lim...
then later, the ju-on grp had toilet break and came to our room toilet coz the other room ppl were asleep liaoz. they were really scared and when yiling was in the toilet, she kept want the rest of us outside to talk so that she wouldn't be so scared
still, they went on watching
we slept after more playing at abt 3/4+. we put a mattress on the floor so that there's more bed to sleep on. so i slept on the bed but didn't have a blanket so i was really cold.
on thur morning, we talked abt jc choice coz registration was from wed to fri. then we played some more and took photos b4 checking out
the lousy camera hai4 me got alot of photos not saved coz it was my uncle's and i didn't learn how to use it correctly.
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friday i slept until very late so didn't go for band. and i had to decided on my jc choices and do the online registration. then at night, me and mom went to play badminton at civil service club with her colleagues.
saturday, my ulcer still not recovered and i still very tired and lazy...
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sunday, uncle ah hee's wedding!!!!!
everyone had to go to batu pahat, m'sia!!!
i'm finally going overseas after 4 years!!!
ah ma, 1st uncle and his wife, 3rd, 4th,6th uncle and their whole families and 1st aunt's daughter (coz aunt gave birth on 25/11 so she and her husband didn't go) and my mom, dad and me met at the coffeeshop to board the coach to batu pahat. there was also ah hee uncle's close friends and his wife's youngest brother and the matchmaker.
we set off at abt 9am
the bus ride was 3h long... alot of time to catch up with my cousins and know what they are doing now
found that zihui and ruilin actually listen to 5566 songs! and they are only 10! the boys are still playful as usual.
when we reached our destination, we had catered buffet lunch which had a very wide variety and was very delicious. then we went shopping at a local shopping centre. it was rather hot. maybe poor aircon system or none at all...
there was very little time (abt 1h). i only bought a sleeveless t-shirt. i want to go bowling but mom refused to... then we went back to my new aunt's terrace house to bathe.
at 6pm, we set off for the restaurant where the wedding dinner wld be held. we prayed at the temple opp. the restaurant b4 going over. the dinner was supposed to start at 7pm but some stupid ppl were late thus they delayed our time of returning to singapore...
the first few dishes weren't of any good quality and the sharksfin was fake (my mom said). the service was poor. there was no changing of plates (we had to ask when we wanted) and the tea, which wasn't hot, was only refilled when we asked the waiter to. some ppl went onstage to sing karaoke but 1 auntie cldn't sing well at all and she sang so loudly some more!!! ai yo, pity my uncle, she destroyed the big day
i was sitting beside the matchmaker who had smelly feet.... so u can imagine how unbearable it was for me...
the last few dishes tasted better, esp the suckling pig, really nice
my new aunt's youngest brother drank until his whole face was red and he went around bursting balloons at us.
we left at abt 10pm and slept on the bus but i didn't slept well at all coz the bus was so bouncy and i literally flew up a few times. by the time we got back home, it was 12+am
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this afternn, i went for a check-up on my scoliosis and was discharged coz my height already remain the same so the scoliosis wldn't worsen. then i went shopping for a digital camera but mom refused to buy coz she cldn't decide and wanted to ask her colleague
Have Read
'04 year-end holidays (highest number of books read in a long time)
-The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom (gd read)
-Princess Diaries: Third Time Lucky by Meg Cabot (fun read)
-Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom (must read - inspirational)
-Slab Rat by Ted Heller (full of office politics and R21 stuff - not for kids)
-The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown (makes u want to finish it)
-A walk to remember by Nicholas Sparks (simple but meaningful)
-The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark (can identify with)
-The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks (romantic love story with too much R21 stuff)
-Message in a Bottle by Nicholas Sparks (even more R21. ugh)
-The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint Exupery
-Unstrung Heroes by Franz Lidz (autobiography about his four uncles and father)
-The Rescue by Nicholas Sparks
-The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon (very unique POV of an autistic boy)
-The Summerhouse by Jude Deveraux (love the breadth of the plot, one of my favourites)
-Wild Orchids by Jude Deveraux (alternating between two first persons' view - unique, but don't like e plot)
-Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder (philosophy tb in a story; gets abit dry though plot saved)
-forgot what i read...-
-Working Wonders by Jenny Colgan (story of an urban planner)
-Angels and Demons by Dan Brown (impressive intelligence with bits of great humour)
-Just between Us by Cathy Kelly (thickest bk i've ever read-600+pg, too long for me but not bad)
ha, started a few bks but didn't enjoy them enough to read more.
'06
-Life of Pi by Yann Martel (novel based on true story; a lot to learn from the book - animals, religions,
survival, appreciation of simplicity; marvelous descriptions of both the tangible and the intangible,
such that I could feel their realness; bits of very enjoyable humour; a must read)
-The Complete Analects of Confucius, Volume 1 - Asiapac Comic Series (some good teachings.
didn't read everything though)
-The Parable of the Pipeline by Burke Hedges (lent to me by Shujun; like she said, its a short version
of Rich Dad Poor Dad - good financial tips)
-The Alchemist by Paul Coelho (simple story with deep meaning)
-Fish! A Remarkable Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results
(hai, doesn't seem to be working for me - cos im not applying..)
-haven't been updating from Jun'06 to Jul'07-
'07
-Take a Chance by Sarah Webb (very interesting twist towards the end)
'08
-A Child Called "It" by Dave Pelzer (very saddening. made me realise how significant family is in how a child behaves)
-Whatever You Think, Think the Opposite by Paul Arden (refreshing book with many pics)
-The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Rui Zafon (amazing how people can think of so much plot to pack into one book, wld b a gd tv series)
-The Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger (the story is interesting but i think the ending cld hv been better written)
-This Book Will Save Your Life by A.M. Homes (a bit thought-provoking on relationships but i didnt like e abrupt ending)
-Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner (gd knowledge but partly qte repetitive)
-For One More Day by Mitch Albom
-The C Words by Mark Mason (made me keep wanting to read on. light & funny)
'09
-Return to Summerhouse by Jude Deveraux (another good read from Deveraux)
-The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (gosh such vivid descriptions! very well written book. i liked d theme of friendship and the realness of the story)
'10
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (a must-read!! i love the expressed thoughts of the protagonist, esp those about friendships, and the writing style - it seems like she's telling me her story specifically to me)
How to Save Your Own Life by Michael Gates Gill (an inspiring read, for emotional liberation and greater joy in life)
Reading
on hold
The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan
Waiting for chance to get hold of
The Little White Car by Danuta de Rhodes
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking
Le Scaphandre Et Le Papillon or The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby
My Left Foot by Christy Brown
Gotai Fumanzoku or An Unsatisfactory Body (Translated into English as No One's Perfect) by Hirotada Otatake
Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
Other Recommended Readings by Marc
The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin – Few books have had as significant an impact on the way society views the natural world and the genesis of humankind.
The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell – Gladwell looks at how a small idea, or product concept, can spread like a virus and spark global sociological changes. Specifically, he analyzes “the levels at which the momentum for change becomes unstoppable.”
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens – This is a tale that lingers on the topic of attaining and maintaining a disciplined heart as it relates to one’s emotional and moral life. Dickens states that we must learn to go against “the first mistaken impulse of the undisciplined heart.”
Lolita – This is the kind of book that blows your mind wide open to conflicting feelings of life, love and corruption… and at times makes you deeply question your own perceptions of each. The story is as devious as it is beautiful.
Getting Things Done by David Allen – The quintessential guide to organizing your life and getting things done. Nuff said.
How To Cook Everything by Mark Bittman – 900 pages of simple instructions on how to cook everything you could ever dream of eating. Pretty much the greatest cookbook ever written. Get through a few recipes each week, and you’ll be a master chef by the time you’re 30.
Honeymoon with My Brother by Franz Wisner – Franz Wisner had it all… a great job and a beautiful fiancée. Life was good. But then his fiancée dumped him days before their wedding, and his boss basically fired him. So he dragged his younger brother to Costa Rica for his already-scheduled honeymoon and they never turned back… around the world they went for two full years. This is a fun, heartfelt adventure story about life, relationships, and self discovery.
Self-note: Tip for my future business =D
give employees reasonably high pay to keep them- otherwise they are unlikely to stay loyal.
treat employees not according to how well they treat me but how conscientious they are at work
(of course, musn't expect them to only do work throughout the entire working hours -
give some breathing space too, we are humans, not machines) Movies watched(listing started on 6jan08)
in cinema from VCD/DVD
1Sep07: "Hairspray" w TK, GH & SH
14Sep07: "Ratatouille" w mom & extended family
28Dec07: "The Pianist" w Jus & Pam (heartbreaking but good lessons; i recommend!)
2Jan08: "I Am Legend" w Sherm (scary! but good acting; thought provoking; i recommend!)
5-6Jan08: "A Good Year" alone (excellent show! i like the acting; funny; good lessons; touches my heart; i recommend!)
11Jan08: "Le Grand Chef" w WLing, JT & Irene (good! funny, very touching, :) nice; watch if like humour+meaning+food)
7Feb08 (CNY 初一): "Ah Long Pte Ltd" w parents (pretty hilarious - but u gotta understand dialects, some teary parts. wells typical of jack neo movies but with diff content)
11Mar08: "The Leap Year" w Sherm (so sweet! :) and apart from couple relationship it touches the theme of mother-daughter and best friends too)
6Jun08: "P.S. I Love You" w Sherm (don't know if its coz we watched it on laptop, coz it didn't impress me as much as it did for him in cinema)
8Jun08: "The Forbidden Kingdom" w Lisa, Karen & Sandy (ums..guess i'm really not into kungfu)
8Jun08: "What Happens in Vegas" w Lisa, Karen & Sandy (simple,relaxing show)
7Jul08: "我和狗狗的10个约定" w Sherm, his ma & sisters (very simple,touching but actually not my type of show)
10Jul08: "Before Sunrise" w Sherm (hmm maybe watchg on laptop really affects appreciatn of movies..)
30Sep08: "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" w Sherm (i didn't like it as much as i thought i wld when i saw the ads)
31Dec08: "Yes Man" w Mom (inspiring and funny)
11Feb08: "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" w Mom (not as impressive as i thought it wld be)
1Jul09: "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" w Yumei, YY & Matt (the best thing was the soundtrack. heh.)
14Aug09: "GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra" w Joyce (it was awesome! best action movie i've ever watched)
17Aug09: "Food, Inc." w SYL & RuiQ (learnt some stuff abt the American food industry but it was a bit boring and not worth the $10)
22Sep09: "The Time Traveller's Wife" w WB, VanD, WLing, CHL, Irene, VanQ, Mf, Pg (i liked it. having read the book really helps w udsg)
21Nov09: "Gokusen" w Mf, Eva, Tony, Sarah (funny inspirational movie)
24Dec09: "十月围城" w Tony, WLing, VanQ (action action and a bit funny? tony criticised the plot. my fav scene was the running n jumping through the crowd along the five-foot ways w/o cuts)
30Dec09: "Sherlock Holmes" w Irene, Tony, Sweetee (my favourite genre of books made into a movie - what else can be more cool? acting effects humour excitement suspense all in)
12Jan10: "Avatar 3D" w Mom (didn't appreciate the digital effects which everyone wowed about. content etc was so-so. cathay's 3D glasses were too heavy for me)
8Feb10: "The Truman Show" w Ky n sis n Yuhshin (a must-watch. very thought-provoking, funny. reminder to be spontaneous and create your life the way you want, instead of falling into a typical routine
14Feb10: "New York, I Love You" w Mom (I loved it! a good couple movie with meaningful pointers to keep it going. but i think some stories could be more developed)
16Feb10: rewatched "The Pianist" (still find it good, tho i still feel first viewings are the best)
17Feb10: "Valentine's Day" w CHL n WB (laughed throughout - a feel-good movie; liked the fact that the various stories binded tog so well with the little surprises here and there, vs NY ILU in which each story was separate)
20Feb10: "赤壁二" w Addy, Karen, Sharon, SJ (should have watched the first one first cos i ended up not knowing who's who and what's happening and had to keep asking :/ and couldn't pay attn.. if not i think it should be a pretty good movie..)
4Mar10: "Alice in Wonderland 3D" w Mf (i found the 3D effects of this @ CCK Shaw SO much better than Avatar @ The Cathay =/ and the movie was much more enjoyable too! - cheered a sad me up :)) favourite quote - the Mad Hatter: “You used to be much muchier before. ... You have lost your muchness.”)
18Mar10: "Nodame Cantabile" w Irene, Mf (i thoroughly enjoyed some of the orchestra pieces - SO impressive! the expressions of the actors were really amusing :D)
23Apr10: "Ice Kacang Puppy Love" w Mom (funny, touching and meaningful - about love between friends and family. i cried 3 tissues! cos some touching parts i could really understand the feelings of the characters involved)
Inception
Letters to God (very simple Christian movie)
22Nov10: "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" w Ame, Irene (they loved it. pretty good, i guess the main problem i had was that im not familiar with HP :X)
13Dec10: "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" w Sj (not bad, could follow the story unlike HP. like the meaningful teachings, too long - in a post)
2Mar11: "The King's Speech" w Ame (hilarious, inspirational, tho it doesn't impress me that much to understand why it's the Oscar winner)
Mar11: "10 Things I Hate About You" very funny. silly sweet high school romance. just right for having breaks in between doing homework
23May11: "Pirates of the Carribean: On Stranger Tides" w Wb Yl Ame Pg (pretty good - scenery, freakish parts, fighting scenes, dressing, humour, bits of Christianity like when the Spanish said "only God gives life")
6Jun11: "Xmen First Class" w Wb Ame Pg (i was very keen on watching it and it was really good! intellectual, makes sense, cool action, some humour)
9Jun11: "Legally Blonde 2" w Irene (seems like some dumb blonde movie but kind of meaningful too - speaking up for yourself and what you stand for)
17Jun11: "Something Borrowed" w Sandy Lisa (quite funny, somewhat meaningful wrt friendships. they didn't like the lack of sense for one part tho)
16Jul11: "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2" w Irene, Sweetee, Kw (not bad. i didn't understand some parts again but the humour and effects were pretty good)
Aug11 "Horrible Bosses" w Ma (she fell asleep! gosh. the movie was very crude i must say but there was the humour)
25Oct11: "The Three Musketeers" w H (i would rate it 3.5 for humour/intellectual language and 4 for action. it's by the same producer or director as Sherlock! but a bit less awesome albeit a good chill out movie)
5Nov11: "Real Steel" w Hl (action packed but not too hardcore for me. i liked that there was the father and son element and how the father eventually softened his heart and especially the part when charlie was having trouble telling max sth and max was so understanding saying "Don't worry. Your secret's safe with me." touching and demonstrates true fighting spirit)
12Dec11: "50/50" w L (adopting her words - a heavy topic put across in a lighthearted way, but not taking away d meaning. most of it was rather hollywood-ish trashiness but there were a couple of punch lines "u can't change ur parents, but u can change d way u respond to them.")
25Dec11: "Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol" w KY (ultimate action packed! super tense almost throughout the movie, and interesting Tom Cruise made it such that not everything happened smoothly - he would jump and misland and get all sorts of injuries..it's really the courage to jump without hesitation even though you are not sure you'll be alive after that. KY loved d movie and said she would watch it again!)
3Jan12: "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows" w KY (i love mystery (: and the witty sarcastic dialogues. good level of excitement with the action. didn't understand some parts as usual. i like Holmes and Watson they depict such a true pair of buddies ;D)
23Jan12: "You are the Apple of My Eye" w mom (now i understand why guys like this movie so much - the anxiety of chasing after a girl and the acts schoolboys do to get the girl's attention and hopefully affection. the initial fluttering and the subsequent quarrelling)
22Mar12: "The Iron Lady" w KY (really love Thatcher's sharp words. inspiring and thought-provoking, tho i was still left uncertain of what to do with my life, the movie is definitely an encouraging one)
29Mar12: "Barney's Version" w SJ (a funny movie of a screwed up life of a man who had 3 wives, smoked and drank but very heartwarming at the same time, the relationships with the dad and the 3th wife - quotable quotes!)
27Apr12: "The Hunger Games" w Mom
4May12" "Avengers" w MF n PS (funny, action-packed)
7Jul12: "The Amazing Spiderman"
21Jul12: "The Dark Knight Rises" (fantastic depth, loved the twists)
20Aug12: "ParaNorman" w Mom (simple funny animated movie, heartwarming support)
Performances watched (listing started on 25Apr10)
20Jan10: Patrick Marber's Closer by outoftheBLUE, NUS Science w Pam (
13Mar10: The Rain Came Down Like Pearls the Night I Died... The New Musical - Sing & Tell by Mark Chan w Addy & Jy
21Mar10: Quintessence by NUSCO w CHL