They ordered Pizza Hut (Chicken Supreme, Garlic Bread n Wings) to Kuok and just nice someone else entered when they were coming in so I received them at the level 5 lobby. They went like "surprise!" and I only realised awhile later that they brought food. haha. wols me. Initially ZhengLan was just messaging that they wanted to see how Kuok's like coz they never visited before.
Then YuenTeng even prepared a little "scroll" and handed to me with both hands saying congras that I've graduated from childhood. haha so interesting!
We chatted all the way till ZhengLan suddenly exclaimed its 11! wah I didn't even realise that. It was so fun chatting with them. ZhengLan is so funny! with all her natural reactions that are rather dramatic. heez. Really makes me laugh.
Wow we talked about such a wide range of topics. From the current us (as in what each of us is doing now) to Malaysia politics (both of them are M'sians) to Edison scandal to ideal guy to old times. Yar! I want to have SiewHui ZhengLan and me meet up to chat about our sec1 sec2 days! I was telling ZhengLan about the letters I found during the hols that the two of them wrote to me. and she doesn't remember about them at all! which is same as me! hehe. So hope that SiewHui remembers. geez. mmm. yay meet-ups are nice :)
wheeee ran from school to outside for the 1st time!
Today was the first time we ran starting from campus! It was so interesting to explore new places :) We didn't really know where we were going at first though Kaiyun wanted to run to Vivocity. We ended up running to near the sea customs and she was joking that we didn't bring passport. Then we took another route back and passed Haw Par Villa! I was surprised it hadn't been torn down. Kaiyun recognised that it was the right way for Vivo and that the next time we could take that turning instead of going all the way down. But then again if not for that we wouldn't have gotten to see the cool machines at the port (or whatever that place is), sliding like curtains. We breathed in a lot of bad air though.
Then there was also quite a few interesting buildings on the way back that I wouldn't have observed if I had passed by on a bus. There was some Norwegian Seaman place, an Inn, a few churches, a mosque that had green metal planks as walls, a halfway house.. that's what I can remember now. Yar, kind of felt like I entered another time period of Singapore when I saw the Norwegian Seaman place haha.
Ohh towards the end I felt like sleeping! Then I thought I understood what people meant when they wanted a bed at the finish line, haha. But then again maybe it's just lazy me.. I took an afternoon nap that dragged from 20minutes to over an hour and if not for the pre-planned run I would have continued sleeping! And I finally understood how Kaiyun felt when sometimes I reached her place and she told me she didn't feel like running.
Mmm it's so important to have someone to do things together with.
okie, ZhengLan and YuenTeng are coming over soon to see see and then have dinner. poof~
I just popped by Laura's "new blog" (got the link from her old blog). Actually the latest post there was more than a year ago.. Anyway.. yar I'm not concentrating yet again...
Laura was wondering why she's in med despite her other interests.. and someone commented that each person has different and numerous interests, and recommended her to stick with her choice, making the best out of it "while still indulging in other parts of life".. that's the same advice I got... Now that there's 'concrete proof' that I'm not alone and that Laura considers the same issues as I do - also about managing family/friends and work, erms haha I wanted to say how I feel but I just realised I don't know how I feel. - no longer alone?
Anyway.... fiinnnneeeee. wanted to indulge in blogging but okayyy i shall get to studying... sheeesshhhh
im so sad that i feel so unmotivated when im alone...... why can i no longer study for my own good on my own for goodness sake....... why do i keep thinking about other stuffssss when i get to study and yet worry about my studies when im doing other stuffsssss....
the same thing that happened during reading week last sem is back...... why....
edited to add: i switched off my handphone an hour or two ago (i've never done this eversince i entered nus...) - trying to shut myself from external interruptions to allow myself to focus on studying.. yet now it seems like im just trying to hide
further edited to add (2.33pm): i feel like uninstalling msn... i keep distracting myself it's so irritating.....
im so bored. so bored... of this whole issue of my life...
Although for the big organisation, things get complicated, I like it that everyone involved does their best and are pro-active in making things work. I felt so much more help-less in the small society which in my opinion lacks initiative though I like the family-ness..
hmm. I think this is something interesting to blog about. tho I'm really tired now. Would have gone to bed if not that I had just put my clothes to wash... gotta wait 50minutes for the wash and then go up to transfer the clothes to the dryer for another 20minutes.. My plan of sleeping by midnight is dashed yet again. oh well. off topic again!
okayy.. hmm how to start. Okay. (By the way this is what I remember of what my mom has told me, hope there isn't any significant untrue stuff.) Both my parents have been working ever since I was a baby. So for the first couple of years I was taken care of by a nanny. Then I went to nursery and kindergarten at NTUC Childcare Centre at Kim Keat Ave which is near where both sides of my grands used to stay. During my pre-primary years I was taken care of by both my maternal grandparents and my paternal grandma - they actually stayed on the same floor of this block (blk 195 to be exact) that's really big as in we had to pass I think more than 10 units to get from one grand's place to the other. I can't remember exactly whether there were one or two right-angled corners to turn.
Anyway I used to have dreams about doing weird stuffs on that block. Like jumping over the railings to getting from one flight of stairs to the next (going down the stairs), being chased by bad guys. Oh, also dreams near that block. Like rushing across the long bridge that's across the expressway right next to that block - I was being chased by skeletons and pirates and the bridge was made of planks and I was supposed to get to a hiding room at that block. Oh another dream was me being chased by some batman person near my own home at Potong Pasir. Aiya I always had scary dreams. There were many more. But then again I'm off topic! okay shall just describe a few more that I can remember now. There's one that's on a block of my imagination that has a lift that's I can never get to the floor that I want to - it's really scary, furthermore this was a recurring dream. And another one was me dropping off a cruise ship into the sea I felt like being drowned. And another one falling from somewhere high but I was hugging on to something so I didn't feel that scared. Hmms some have become such vague memories I can't even come up with one sentence to describe them. Oh another was me dragging a gigantic bean bag and then it felt like an extremely heavy burden pressing on me. okayyy enough of long-ago-dreams.
gosh I digressed so much. hmm so back to pre-primary. yar so I would go home in the evening and on weekends my parents or just my mom would bring me out. I can't remember where but according to photos we visited haw par villa and gardens. hmm I didn't really grow up with my brother coz he was taken care of almost entirely by my maternal grandparents and only moved home when he entered secondary school (ie. I was already in primary 2). What I remember of us was playing games - he had nintendo and play station. tho i had fun playing those games, most of what I remember of us was him bullying me. like he would press the cushion sofa on me and beat me and I was crying already but no one came to my rescue. then even up to secondary sch (as in for me) he still bullied me once in awhile just to irritate me like whip my hair from the back with his hands or with something else.
hmm. since my parents were working, I got my own set of house keys at about primary 3 if I didn't remember wrongly from what my mom and I discussed when I brought up this issue a few years back. my maternal grandma used to bring me to school when I was in the afternoon shift. (yar back then primary schools had afternoon shift and morning shift unlike now where all's morning). Then when I started taking school bus (I don't remember when this started tho) I was entirely on my own. In primary 5 the day before end-of-year zuo wen exam we moved to Sembawang and there after it was a school life of long travelling for me on MRT trains n buses.
Once in Primary6 on bus 135 from Ang Mo Kio interchange (the old non-aircon interchange was at where AMK Hub is now) to Cedar Primary I overshot on the bus all the way to Aljunied. Then in Sec2 on bus 170 from NYGH to Kranji MRT I overshot all the way to almost reaching the customs.
[omg I had such a filling dinner yet I'm munching on bread now.. zhen shi zui ba yang...]
hmm okay about learning. people usually have parents sending them for tuitions but I was the weird kid who asked my mom to let me go for some tuition class I think coz my friend told me it was fun and yups it was really fun. haha i went there not so much for improving my academics. we had prizes regularly - stickers and i forgot what else. it only lasted from p4 to p5 tho and i had to stop going when we moved home. the tutor was really nice and our birthdays were celebrated (i remember coz there are photos heez). Apart from that I was very much on my own.
Wells I always listened to teachers more than my parents. So like okay teacher say what I do what. Whereas if I had my own decisions for what I want to do (more significant starting from sec sch), I would hold to my stand against what my parents say. haha of course I don't do really "bad" (- duh) heez.
About holidays overseas. My parents and I would travel every year since I was a toddler. Until I entered sec sch when I didn't want to go overseas coz I didn't want to miss any band practices so for the whole 4 years of sec sch I didn't go overseas at all. Kind of crazy but oh wells, I am not a holiday-lover anyway so it was alright for me.
aiya zoned off to do CSS work.. and laundry.. zzzzzzz. gosh 2am liaos. sickeningly slow poke. no more blogging..
Last dinner @ Teahouse at China Square (operations ceasing tmr) + CSS IV to ICES
lala, got this collage idea from adeline~ it's a really good idea i think. ooo the photos are taken with my new cam - so can take before the food gets eaten since it's fast enough (usually I use my handphone camera getting to camera mode and taking photos take so long the food would already be somewhat eaten or getting cold :S hehe). wells most of the items we (as in mom n i) have already tried during our previous 2visits. so special mention goes to the fried rice that my bro picked. it's really pretty (can't tell from the tiny photo la) and the rice grains are individual (as in whatever people say is good fried rice). ohh i didn't take a few items coz they got eaten before i reacted heez.
mmm in the morning CSS went to ICES which is on Jurong Island. there were supposed to be 31 of us but ended up with only 24.. oh well 7 ppl kindly donated their $5 each.
wah i kinda had to bao ka liao for this event lorz - contacting ICES (lead given by marketing secretary Kaeshan tho) to arrange the whole thing including transport, making announcements (during our CSS workshops n during organic chem lect break to an unappreciative crowd of students who were talking away) to invite ppl to join, handling registration, collecting payment n issuing receipt, getting extra info from all the participants due to new security requirements by JI (and having to handle troublesome ppl), sending reminder to all participants for the visit, taking count during the visit and ushering them up the bus (many a time ppl don't behave like i think they should, but oh well some other times i don't behave like i think i should either haha), collating feedback at the end of the visit, sending them the group photo due to request.
at S@S events these stuffs would be broken down and handled by more than a handful ppl and things seem so much more sophisticated(/complicated?) and challenging. wells. difference between a big organisation and a small society. anyway, it was pretty good that the main coordinator from ICES mentioned about having another visit next year :) they are really good hosts and from the feedback the participants liked the visit in general. of course as with everything there's always room for improvement. for me too! i got laughed at/ suan-ed a few times today :S oh well. hmms it's like actually my first ever event that im incharge of. definitely lots to develop and improve~
hahah just viewed a video (that TeckKuan just sent to me, taken on my bday) of ShuJun asking WeiZhe stuff - so funny! Mmm the photos from TeckKuan, WeiZhe and SinHui's cams say so much about my bday - really grateful to them! :)
Yay CSS (HianTwan, BoonTiong, MingSoon, WeiCong, Yuki, Jinhong, Edward, KaiShih and me) played badminton this morning and it felt so good! I think it's especially because of my running that I have this energetic feeling. Oh and maybe because I caught up on sleep - a full 8hours! and it's not unhealthy timing, I like it that I got to sleep by midnight.
Wheeeeee. Hopefully BoonTiong saying it will become a regular Saturday morning game will hold true! Booo my FST group ended up with just once the first week of this sem lorrrr :(
HianTwan's really quite good; he has been playing. BoonTiong and WeiCong were quite good too, just that they hadn't been playing for long so kind of rusty haha. And Yuki's front-of-the-court returns (haha my inadequate description :S) were really good! It turned out she was trained abit on that during high school for a competition. haha, hidden skills found!
Terpsichore '08 - 00:59 @ UCC Dance Studio by NUS Dance Synergy
Heard this song at the Dance Synergy Performance last night and liked it! The main singer's voice is so clear! :) And the dances were really impressive - the first 2 pieces in particular! According to Kaiyun those were the alumni. They were so expressive - facial and bodily. Okay here goes the lyrics. As with all other songs - can be found on youtube.
Now Those Days AreGone - Bucks Fizz
Thinking, long ago when we were young and free Love happened easily and dreams never died Life sung a pretty song, now those days are gone
Crying, finding comfort in the friends we knew Now it’s just me and you trying alone We used to get along (we used to) now those days are gone
Playing with words when there’s nothing much to say Searching to find what we lost along the way Could it be one day our feelings changed I hope we see it through ‘cause I just can’t stand the thought Of life without you
Dreaming, whispers echo on the summer wind Back where the love begins, when nights were so warm With stars we could wish upon, now those days are gone
We had a chance but we lost it all somehow Broken the spell and our dreams lie heavy now Could it be some day our feelings changed I hope we see it though ‘cause I just can’t stand the thought Of life without you
Thinking, long ago when we were young and free Love happened suddenly and we couldn’t see Where we were going wrong, now those days are gone.
I had my first Life Skills Group session today, and it was mentioned that deep breathing, ie. using the diaphragm to breathe has physiological effects on us and helps us to calm down. Hmms. Maybe this explains why band people and choir people (and whichever other CCA that trains us in using the diaphragm to breathe) seldom get fiery?? haha, me and another of my weird theories.
Another thing's that there was a bird in my toilet just now!
Eeeks! But luckily, because it was there, I didn't go bathe at that time when I wanted to. Then a few minutes later, RIIINNNNGGGGGGGGGGG!!! It was fire drill! Luckily man! Otherwise I would have been caught bathing halfway and that would be sooooooooooo paiseh coz last time during the briefing they said that happened to a girl just some time back and the whole block had to wait for her to be done and go down :S.
Today we ran for the 6th time so far. The pace was pretty good thanks to Kaiyun who made us start slow, such that halfway through I was still feeling good. Our timing increased though, to 37minutes for 5km, probably coz we went kind of too slow haha, plus a week without running. Haven't stuck to our twice a week plan due to schedule clashes. Well well. We really want to run all the way till December!
Oh ya, had lunch at Foodgle Hub at PGPR. Hmm I think it's better than the other canteens in NUS! (Oh well, it's a foodcourt not a canteen? Whatever the classification..) Plenty of variety, but the prices are higher than at the canteens. And every stall (okay according to the recently sent out issue of The Pineapple - FST annual e-magazine - there are 10 stalls and 2 carts) seems to offer food I would want to eat, unlike other canteens like Biz canteen where it seems like none of the stalls really appeal to me.. geez. Today I tried the Naan! Yay that I got to eat that. I like it but it's quite rare, so I was glad they sold it there - freshly baked (is that the right word?) upon order :) Oh I like chappati too and was glad too when I found at the beginning of sem1 that it's sold at Arts Canteen. Oh ya, and Foodgle Hub is opened by a recent FST graduate! Just opened end of last year. So pro.
i'm very touched by everyone who showed their care!
I'm like such a fortunate little girladult (haiyo..) I feel I have to be nicer to all these people. hmmmm. yupyup.
gonna upload photos of my birthday thingy onto facebook tonight after FST CNY celebration. err actually it's supposed to start now (as in 5pm) - the Yusheng Decoration Competition. But the year1s are not taking part so I guess I shouldn't be there that early or I would be so bored.
hmms about my birthday thingy yesterday. wells. I've to admit I wasn't entirely happy happy coz yar it's just not me to be in such an event (felt paiseh and awkward :S), especially to be a host and having to ensure everyone's having a good time. but I'm glad I celebrated my 21st with friends from Cedar Primary to Nanyang 2/2 and 4/10 and clarinet juniors to NJ to IRAS to FST. coz some friends did mention (in my guestbook / via sms reply) that they enjoyed themselves and the chance to catch up with friends and yayy that's one of my main aims of holding this.
oh this morning was S@S event (Start-It: From Ground Zero) at Bishan Library, so I had to rush all the way from Aranda Country Club to Bishan. Felt pretty tired but it was quite beneficial. Learnt some stuff from the speakers, and got approached by a boss whom I met at a previous event. Initially he looked familiar. And he asked me about some guy. But I didn't look who he was referring to! Turned out that it was an ex-Events Team Director whom I knew by his English name and the boss was using his Chinese name so the confusion. Oh well. And then coincidentally when I was leaving another person was leaving too and previously from the boss I got to know that she's also from FST so I spoke to her. And found out she's a Year 3. So qiao!
oh I forgot to mention. wah ended up none of my 4 good friends came at all! but I fully understand la. Wells if they don't value academics so highly we wouldn't have clicked I guess. haha.
and wheee we are going karaoke-ing again this saturday! we as in some Cedar ppl. hope this time there'll be a few more people. whoops. I just realised since today's sat it's more accurate to say next saturday haha.
okok. can't blog moreee already late enough I think I should get going~ it's already 5.36pm
Kai Yun and I ran 5km in 35minutes! Yay good progress. And I noticed I was breathing through my nose today! (Don't know when this started la, but I remember that the first time we ran I was breathing through my mouth - ie. panting like a dog. heez.) But today I felt more tired than on Saturday while Kai Yun felt better! So Kai Yun said we have different running styles (these weren't her words and I forgot what liaos but I remember this was what she meant). Then I said that's good! We can help each other improvement like that :)
yay! improvement! 5km in about 35-40mins! :) + very glad nowadays I can have people whom I call "good friends" :)
Kaiyun found out that to train our stamina, we have to start at a fixed distance and increase our speed for it. Then increase 1km each month and increase our speed for it again. So we started at 5km and our target is 30 minutes. Not exactly fast so to say (I mean a good 2.4km timing for girls is like 13minutes right), but oh well, this is personal and not NAPFA.. haha. Anyway. today's run was so much better than Wednesday's, I felt. I didn't really face any much pain anywhere and though some times it was hard to run with the wind quite strong against us during the 2nd half, overall I think it was the best run so far. (heez out of a total of 4 runs so far.) And I felt energised after this run. When previously I had felt headachy and stuff. yups running in the evening is really good.
Today's a Saturday and it's CNY period [edited to add: oh Kaiyun's mom gave me an angbao - aiyo I was just treating it like a normal go-to-Kaiyun's place-to-run day didn't expect angbao at all. and OMG... I just opened it. there's more than any of my dad's brothers or sisters-in-law gave me! gosh so generous. and oh no. I said no to Kaiyun's mom's offer of dessert.. hope she wasn't offended.. :S hmmms since she's such a nice person I suppose she won't be offended ba..] so the track was pretty crowded as compared to the previous few times. But not all that crowded that it was uncomfortable la.
Yay looking forward to running and improving our timing and stamina :)
Argh I'm not supposed to be blogging! So much work undone... argh. quick one.
Okie about the good friends part. As far back as I remember (ie. since primary school days), I don't think I ever truly called anyone "my true good friends". Wells maybe I was too excessively critical on what these words really mean. and maybe it was because I found almost everyone nice (and it's kind of not truthful to call all so many people my good friend.) Only beginning last December holidays (thanks to a special long phone call lasting about 4 hours) did I start to consider a few friends my true good friends. To be exact, now I can count four. And I recognise these four as "my true good friends" only so recently because only so recently did I really realise the importance of friends, good friends to be exact (since I kind of considered everyone I know a friend, up till JC, coz in uni I get to know too many people it's kind of fake to consider all of them a friend). and more because only so recently did I learn to distinguish true good friends from the others. Wells I supposed it's because to me it takes a lot of time and a lot of shared experiences to realise such things.
Hmms it's actually kind of silly of me I think. As in everyone learnt to identify good friends way back when they were in primary school or kindergarten even, on their own. Yet not only did I only learn this now, I even needed to be taught this. Oh well. It's better late than never. And I'm glad I've these four of them. People whom you can share things close to your heart with. Wells it's really not easy for me to have people whom I consider true good friends. Oh and all of them share someone very important: they look for me. Wells if they hadn't I wouldn't have such close friendships with them. Oh and there's another common thing: they are all Christians. haha. I kind of noted it coz I'm not a Christian. And I still haven't been personally convinced of religious beliefs. Though I definitely do agree/believe that it's good for people to have religions coz they learn good things from their religions and I love good things :) Wells personally I do not think it's entirely necessary to have a religion coz all religions are just supposed to nuture people to be good. So basically whether one has a religion or not, as long as you are nice - yay!
Jeez. I hadn't intented to blog about these actually! Aiyo I went off-topic again as usual... Anyway yups I wanted to blog about Pam and Jus. They yue wo for lunch today. It was kind of last minute (Jus only asked me last night) and usually I hate last minute stuff but it was for my early birthday celebration that they yue wo and they are both busy people (Pam especially, with her mountains of archi work to do), so I agreed. (Anyway they did tell me they want to celebrate with me apart from my bday thingy itself this coming Friday way back early Jan so yups.)
haha I think I'm one of the few weird people who suggested a food court for supposed bday celebration. Initially they asked me to choose and I didn't want to so Pam suggested some salad and grill place (whoops I don't remember names of places as usual, but anyway we were at Vivocity). We went all the way to outside the restaurant then I casually told them actually I don't mind going like Food Republic coz I was thinking we are like not rich people haha. And they gave me presents I suppose their pockets are quite light liaos. But I was wondering if they mind food court. Then Pam was like of course don't mind, but this kind of thing must you suggest ma.
haiyo already good friends still like errr paiseh of suggesting food court heez. but yar la actually makes sense. If they were to suggest instead of me, I may say negative stuff haha. Me and my critical-ness.
Anyway I was nearly going to cry towards the end our little celebration when I read their birthday card. Didn't la of course I'm not the type who would let myself cry in front of people I know! But Pam seemed kind of disappointed initially when I didn't show any much facial expression when I read her part. Before that I was reading Jus's part and talked to Jus about some of the contents. But I really liked what they wrote. coz to me that's really meaningful.
Oh another bad thing about me. I also kind of admitted that the top they bought for me was not what I would wear. Haiya I'm just such a person who can't lie, even if it was to please people close to me (and I end up hurting them! wells I just hurt my mom a few times this CNY... sigh. aiya going off-topic again. Anw.) Still, I agreed to wear it for them! As in like wear it when we go out.
Wahh 10:38pm liaosss! I'm so dead for my homework! Tomorrow still going out (for Ivy's Birthday party). Oh no shooooooooo!
Jeeeez I thought of something to add again. Jus mentioned about being glad that I came to NUS. Wells. It does seem that being at the same place matters a lot in keeping relationships.
hmmm. What oh what. The ideal simplicity would be a happy family and good friends around. Financially sufficient. Luxury unnecessary. But. Simplicity is not that easily achievable... Wells. It should, shouldn't it? If simplicity is so hard to get, logically speaking shouldn't complexity be even harder to reach? So why hasn't life been that simple?
Hais I stink. and am tired. Can't think properly... Shall go have a bathe before I come back.. 20:02.
20:19.
Munching on bread after my proper meals as usual...
hmms just read thru my previous posts till early dec last year. Made me remember something to blog about. On Tuesday, (hmms that's just 2days ago! feels like last week. anw) Jus was going back to NJ to get testimonial from Ms Chua (i was the one who suggested Ms Chua to her coz she was dilemma-ing over who to ask). Anyway. So actually I had wanted to go along with Jus to see Ms Chua. but unfortunately, the time they arranged clashed with my another pre-arranged activity, so i ended up deciding to write a short letter to Ms Chua to convey my thanksssss to her and to let her know im fine now. (fine as in no longer a drop-out since im no longer "hiding" and contacting her by letter).
And i was so pleasantly surprised to see an sms from Ms Chua that evening! She's really one of the best teachers I've ever had, in terms of way of teaching, personality and commitment to students (i wrote something like this in my letter). Wells Jus and I were just two of the hundreds of students she had had in her years of teaching (and it's already been more than 2years since she last saw us yet she still remembers us and also bothered to send that sms to me despite her being a busy teacher and a mother of a few kids and everything else. ah so nice.
hmm back to my original topic...
erps. nah. thought of something else.
i have been a bad kid again. i made my mom cry.. and ended up crying too. sigh. i keep being bad to myself and people around me.. sucks man. hmms. i realise this actually links back to my original topic. what do i want in life? do i want to be someone who makes people cry? of course not! then why do i do it? argh... i have to learn to tame my agitation... i made myself disliked during yesterday's (argh why does yesterday afternoon feel like last week too.. anw) nature of language tutorial...by being agitated... and i ended up feeling so out of place. wells i guess that's a good lesson - to teach me that i have to put my agitated thoughts across in a calm manner... but apparently i haven't really learnt it... or i wouldn't have reacted so agitatedly today..
sigh. i dont know what im doing with my life.
i really dont know what to do...
okay let me think. cannot just say don't know...
I want to be someone likeable. So I must be nice. So I should stop myself from learning how to be mean. unless it's to people who really deserve it. and most people don't. I think I should talk less.
argh. my mom just told me something and i tried swallowing my agitation this time. it feels so torturous..
no. i shouldn't think this way..
okay. good i managed to swallow my agitation for a try. hmms. do it more and it should come naturally? yups.
Back to the point on talking less. as in don't just shoot my mouth off. wahhh. this is really hard to manage. in this fast-paced world i can't shut-up too much or i'll be worthless. i'll just end up being a labourer.and no i don't want to be a labourer. have to learn to speak well.. content-wise and way of speaking too.
I already felt like running (okay jogging..) last wednesday! But had to wait till our regular friday time and it rained! so it got postponed to saturday and it rained again and on sunday too. so irritating! then we finally ran yest morning. (as in 6feb). hais then maybe coz it was morning and since we didn't run for so long we were so tired we only ran 3.8km.. jogged 3.8km to be more accurate.. and my diaphragm was aching all the way.. boo
wah darn tired liaosss 315am... wells mom said tmr 10+am then go ah ma house bai nian so i didn't go to bed at 11+pm when i was already so bored. haha ended up msn-ing till so late okayyy poofff
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