A

2012-01-29T00:34:00.000+08:00

Friday:

Skipped science lecture for the first time this semester. Come on, its 8am!! I know I'll be skipping a lot more >:) It's just too early, plus I always end up doing other stuff when I'm there.

Went for Discourse Structure. Kind of boring.. Went for tuition at 4pm, and the boys are getting lazier! Homework set for 12th January still not done. Always wanting to run out and play. Not studying for spelling before I come.

After tuition headed to church for URE. Spent the time in the sound room with Jem though - plants vs. zombies, studying psych. After that, Jem was tired so he went home to sleep. Andre, Kevin, Linus and I sped (literally exceeded the speed limit for driving) to Old Airport for dinner/supper and later Kevin, Linus and I went to bowl at Kallang. One game only though, we were all so tired..

Linus is clearly a pro, and I still suck

This really is a report-styled post. Goodnight

I'll try, oh I'll try

2012-01-26T02:48:00.000+08:00

2012-01-26T01:49:00.001+08:00

Thank you
I still can't understand how you could love me so much and for so long

2012-01-24T22:58:00.002+08:00

Here are this year's nominees:

Best Picture

The Artist

The Descendants

Hugo

The Help

Midnight in Paris

Moneyball

War Horse

The Tree of Life

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/2012+Oscar+nominations/6038978/story.html#ixzz1kO75awcF

The list of movies to watch is out! Commence watching soon!

2012-01-22T15:50:00.000+08:00

Two weeks of school have passed! Only... 13 more till the end of the semester? Haha and then its a three-month holiday! Okay I shall not get too ahead of myself.

It's been an interesting week, a good weekend so far. Over lunch today and CG yesterday, we were reminded of some very funny things..

1) When Ericson was a young kid, he came up with the idea that people got jobs as librarians by going thru a two-round application test. Round 1: Sit in a room, and not talk for 10 minutes. Round 2: Sit in a room, watch a funny video and not laugh. And then they'll get their job. Hahaha

2) And when he was a kid, he used to take out whole stacks of library books from the shelves, put them on a table, hide in a corner and watch the librarian put them back... Who does that?

3) Byron's washboard abs, being used by Adel to sharpen knives, crack nuts and shell peanuts.

4) Byron's amazingly fast pull-ups, such that his head goes in between fan blades, when the fan is on. (Layout of the curtain bar and ceiling fan makes this possible)

5) All the pranks and things broken during past K2 retreats

:)

2012-01-18T22:59:00.000+08:00

I mind the Ps, you take care of the Qs

Polly

2012-01-14T01:57:00.001+08:00

I bought this rabbit today at Coronation! Haha I found it really cute. Anyway, her name is Polly.

When I told the shopkeeper I wanted it, she said "Okay, I have to say bye bye to the bunny then. Bye bye." Hahaha apparently it was the last bunny in stock! So furry and funny

The week in school has been enjoyable, all 14 hours of it. I realised that this semester, I only have one tutorial to bid for, since the SS module = no tutorial, the science GEM = packaged lecture and tutorial, and I have two English seminar modules. Yay!

Oh boy I really pray this semester will go well. Last semester was so draining :( And I hated almost every module! I pray God can help me manage and use my time fruitfully in church and home; especially with UMAD 10 meetings, Hope CG and the upcoming keyboard course. As for schoolwork, just gonna try my best and see how.

Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.
- Luke 13:24

#lifejournal #eatfresh

2012-01-10T22:35:00.001+08:00

Liangfu & Yuan's Wedding! ♥

Photos taken by Juls:

They look so wonderful!!! :)
Wedding bliss..

Must be some task the bridesmaids made the brothers do...
Apparently, they had to do a haka routine as one of the tasks!
(see them all dressed in the SA rugby uniform hahah)

Side note: Instagram + all the high res pics Juls takes with the iPhone makes me want to get one too!!!!! My BB camera sucks

Meanwhile, the rest of us were at the church prepping and getting ready! :)

Bunting by the GoodFaith girls

Reminds me very much of a sort of toy/childhood decor

The photo display!

Yuan

Back in SAJC Council days

Really nice letters Liangfu and Yuan bought in Melbourne

Pinwheels, so pretty

Bridesmaids: Rita, Ven, Juls, Berwine, Dorcas, Lin and Min, and of course Yuan and her dad :)

Page boy and flower girl driving down the aisle... :)

Back in SA! Btw, it is so windy just outside the church

♥ ♥ ♥

:D :D :D

K2 :)

Instant photo booth picture, super fun!

My favourite shot from the photobooth ♥

2012-01-07T23:30:00.001+08:00

Liangfu and Yuan got married today. It was such a beautiful wedding, it really was. But I guess its not just cause everything went smoothly, or because the church looked great, or that the food reception was so yummy, but because everyone was genuinely happy for the couple :) And you could really feel it in the air! Like the feeling of being blessed, I don't know how to put it in words. The ceremony was also meaningful and significant in so many ways. Liangfu and Yuan have been such a blessing to me, and to many many others I'm sure, and its just wonderful that I could share in their special day today :) Blessed marriage! (Pictures to come!)

On a more sombre note, school begins on Monday. Its like I was given a weekend of festivities and joy (CYM's 10th Anniversary tomorrow!), and then Monday comes. Sigh Monday. And the next holiday is CNY, and I really, hate, CNY.

As every semester, if all goes well:

2012-01-06T23:09:00.000+08:00

Was just looking through your profile pictures, and thinking "goodness, when did I start feeling that you are one of those people whom I knew a long time ago, but no longer anymore?" Oh my... seriously, we used to be much closer, I used to see you a lot more around church, around the neighbourhood. I used to randomly drop by your house and we'll have silly and sometimes serious conversations about your family, our friends, our lives. Oh dear... what happened? Where did you go? Or why did we separate for so long?

I miss having you around. Hmm, I'm sure we all do.

Poster of a Girl

2012-01-06T00:17:00.000+08:00

I remember listening to this on repeat while studying for A'Levels. But this version is so sick I think it's better than the one on the CD.

Dealbreaker

2012-01-05T00:09:00.000+08:00

Has to be one of my favourites from her

2012-01-03T23:18:00.000+08:00

There's always a sinking feeling when K2 retreats end. They're always held right at the beginning of the year (for the past 4 years at least), and when I go home, I always think about the year ahead, having to face another year of school, tuition, etc. I wish it was retreat everyday. Love talking to the K2 people, playing bridge, doing fun stuff, sharing, doing QT by the beach, waking up and seeing friends..

366+ more days to the next retreat! Always looking forward!

2009

2010

2011

Picks from 2012:

Singaporean Taboo, Bridge, Seven, steamboat, worship, sharing, climbing down from the 2nd floor to the first to retrieve a frisbee (because Byron locked us in on the 2nd floor), breakfast, ferry rides, cycling, trekking, prayer trail, seafood lunch, more sharing, Charlie's Corner, conversations, more bridge, sleep

Le Moose cooking show

After Dsen and Ericson climbed down from 2nd floor to 1st floor,
using blankets tied together

Kitten invasion at our chalet

2011-12-31T01:41:00.002+08:00

2011-12-26T00:48:00.000+08:00

I've reverted back to a version of my old blogskin cause I found this folder in my computer, where I saved all my previous blogskins, and I've always loved this picture, because I love the show :)

Happy belated Christmas everyone! It's not about the feeling or the spirit, but remembering why we celebrate Christmas!

2011-12-23T01:36:00.001+08:00

Wang told me some really funny Chuck Norris jokes today, and told me about a website which has so many Chuck Norris jokes hahahaha

- Chuck Norris uses paper to cut scissors.
- Chuck Norris won American Idol using only sign language.
- Chuck Norris has a stunt double. For crying scenes.
- Chuck Norris doesn't call the wrong number. You answer the wrong phone.
- Death once had a near-Chuck Norris experience.
- Chuck Norris has already been to Mars, that's why there are no signs of life.

From Wikipedia:

One of the satirical facts made of Norris states that "There is no theory of evolution. Just a list of creatures Chuck Norris has allowed to live". In the aforementioned article, he wrote:

It's funny. It's cute. But here's what I really think about the theory of evolution: it's not real. It is not the way we got here. In fact, the life you see on this planet is really just a list of creatures God has allowed to live. We are not creations of random chance. We are not accidents. There is a God, a Creator, who made you and me. We were made in His image, which separates us from all other creatures. By the way, without Him, I don't have any power. But with Him, the Bible tells me, I really can do all things — and so can you.

_____________________

On a separate note, I can only imagine, and probably, I can't even imagine, how God must feel everyday, unappreciated. Giving so much to the undeserving such as us. A situation like mine is a small one. But for God to experience it to such a great extent, and yet still love and bless us with so much - I can only say that his grace is out-of-this-world.

To be honest I already feel so bitter with the way things are. It's just a natural feeling, and I know its bad :( But I really thank God for the help, really really, its nice to have friends working together on the project. Just work with what I have, what we have, and those who aren't around, its okay.

2011-12-21T01:28:00.002+08:00

Christmas --> donkey, one real christmas tree, one paper christmas tree, 20 metres of tinsel, empty boxes wrapped, lines, memorizing lines, acting lines, practices, painted windows, christmas stockings, goodie bags, snow spray, gift exchange, food, drink, a lot of paint, stars, triangles...

I'm going to remember Christmas 2011 by that. I've been working with some of the best people the past few days --- the best artists I've met (Fern, Hsin Wei), the most hardworking Christmas shoppers (Lindsay, Natalie), the most talkative yet helpful people (James, Hsin Yeong), the one who provides the music and occasionally some optimism (BinGs), the quiet and diligent (Shi An), the fastest cleaner ever (Jeredy), the will-do-anything-for-me-person (Jeremy), the sleepy but funny ones (Junjie, Yongsheng)

Will never forget the 10 hours of hardcore painting, cutting, drawing, decorating, laughing. Merry Early Christmas! This one is gonna be a blast.

2011-12-07T14:27:00.001+08:00

Spent the night at Mayee's yesterday! It's been a while since our last sleepover. I think it was 2009, cause the next morning, we went to school together. Haha anyway, we watched Breaking Dawn ( :O I know, I said I would never) and 50/50.

Breaking Dawn was actually entertaining, can you believe it? It's not as bad as Twilight, that was really bad. I realised that Bella is actually quite pretty and Edward is really strong, he broke the bed post while they consummated their marriage?! Mayee and I laughed at that scene.

50/50 was really good! It was really... real. And I teared at the scene where Anjelica Huston hugged her son, soooo sad... You should definitely watch it!

Sleepover ended at 730am when we left her place cause she had floorball training :( I took a bus home (seriously, no more cabbing) and reached home at 9am. Slept till 1pm! Felt great. Btw, been feeling so unbelievably stressed over Christmas this year, we have two weeks and two days to execute a film and play and pull off this whole event. God help us. No really, please, do help us.

2011-12-05T22:19:00.000+08:00

Mao & I, circa Dec 2009

Mao & I, 2nd December 2011

I miss my hair then :( Can't say the same for Mao though.

2011-11-26T22:14:00.000+08:00

Was researching a little for Liangfu & Yuan's wedding decor plans, and I saw this!

It's so wonderful!!!

Birdcages

2011-11-24T12:47:00.000+08:00

Been sleeping for at least 11 hours each day this week. Why am I so lazy and unmotivated to study for finals? Oh well, 2nd paper in 4 hours! I hate 5pm papers, by the time you come out of the exam hall it's all dark.. Like the mood.

Anyway I realized that Valley Point Starbucks is a wonderful place to study. Its so empty, save for a handful of people who are also there to study. Maybe cause there really is nothing to do at Valley Point?

Sadness Canoe

2011-11-21T10:57:00.000+08:00

Possibly the best song in the album! The instrumental at the end :)

2011-11-17T20:41:00.000+08:00

What a day. I threw up for the first time since I was 12! But when I was 12 I had food poisoning so I was sick for like 3 days, bedridden, Today I think it was the weather. It was so warm and I keep sweating on the way to school and in school. I had a bowl of hot wanton mee and after an hour I felt so queasy yucks. I threw up in the central library toilet and freaked out the girls there and then went to the AS6 level 2 toilet and threw up in my own privacy. Much better.

Bernard sent me home! So thankful!!! And when we reached my house carpark, I threw up again in the ShengSiong plastic bags he gave me. Thankful, thank you Bernard!

Anyway I'm totally fine now, means it's not food poisoning but just to play safe I'm not gonna eat the wanton mee in school anymore

2011-11-16T22:04:00.000+08:00

I feel so anxious for tomorrow, gonna collect this essay for my workplace module. Yea it's (only/a whooping) 30%, but I already did really average for my mid-term.

The tutor's email said: "I just want to say that I am quite impressed by the effort that all of you have put into the projects (particularly those who did multiple interviews and surveys) and I enjoyed reading them all".

The problem: my group didn't submit multiple interviews, just one. Does that mean ours isn't impressive? Nooooooooooooooo :( I hope I am worrying for nothing.

2011-11-14T16:34:00.000+08:00

Rocking it at 35

2011-11-05T00:21:00.001+08:00

Ploughing through Crick Crack, Monkey now - ploughing even though it's a short book (only 100+ pages) because I need to find an argument for my lit essay due soon! 9 more days and I have no argument. Taking this lit module this semester was a great decision, an accidental decision though. Had I been able to take EL2201 (Phonetics), I wouldn't be taking this. I wonder if I should take EN3224 next semester though. Can I really handle 6 books in 4 months again? And I heard they're long...

Down with a bad flu for the past two days :( Hate the feeling of being sick, imagining germs in my breath, having a runny nose, and when it isn't runny, its blocked. But I made the discovery that consultations and medication at the University Health Centre are free?! I mentioned this to a few people and they said "You didn't know?" Yea I didn't know, had I known I would've gone there instead of spending $50 at some private clinic!!! Anyway thank God I feel a lot better now and didn't need to skip school.

One more week of lectures and tutorials. 5 more submissions. 5 more exams. But then, after that's done, there's so much more to do - Christmas, Liangfu & Yuan's wedding decor, planning Hope CG retreat, Leader's Retreat. But exciting!!!

2011-11-01T22:47:00.002+08:00

From 9gag.com
The colours are so nice :)

2011-10-31T22:04:00.002+08:00

Look what Eric named our Halloween Mousehunt team...

2011-10-29T01:07:00.001+08:00

I had such a good day today despite having school in the day and it raining intermittently.. It started with the usual 10am Science of Music lecture and a Lit lecture at noon. Once school ended, I went to meet Jem at PS, for our special plan to watch two movies back to back! We watched Johnny English (2nd time for me) and In Time. Okay, In Time wasn't that bad, it wasn't as bad as I expected. It's sci-fi-ish and makes a good storyline, but the movie was just so-so cause the actors were really just so-so. The villain is Dorian from The Mask! He really has a villain face..

The first show was at 4:20pm and ended 6:10pm? And a half hour break to get a drink and use the toilet and we were back in for the second movie! Can't remember the last time I watched two movies back-to-back in the cinemas...

After the movies, we were just sitting outside PS, and we ran into Cassandra. Coincidence - and we just hi-byed each other. After another 10 minutes, we spotted someone who looked a lot like Bings, and turns out it was him haha apparently, he was going to a bar called Roomful of Blues at Prinsep Street so Jem and I tagged along. After a short while, Cassandra came to meet Bings. It was really coincidental cause she just randomly called Bings to ask if he was at that bar since he always hangs out there. So we met Cassandra yet again. Bings and Jem and I ended up talking and hanging out for an hour plus - most people, including Bings, were there to listen to this singer/guitarist called Gilbert, and he was really good! It was enjoyable :)

Tried Strictly Pancakes for the first time for supper after that. Jem had this triple chocolate pancake dessert with chocolate ice cream and strawberries. Sinful, I tell you. I went for a safer choice, but still delicious, buttermilk pancake with syrup and butter. Yum :)

Jem accompanied me home after that despite it being late and it raining - as we were walking by the pool in my house, he spotted a frog swimming in the pool! (I love seeing such odd stuff I've never seen before). It was cute - finally a true frog swimming using the froggy style! I was very very amused.

Ahhh.. :) Had such a good day today :) Thank God for Jem and for the little 'coincidences' of the day!

Metals

2011-10-15T01:57:00.000+08:00

Twenty

2011-10-07T00:08:00.001+08:00

At midnight, Jem came to my home with flowers, ice-cream, and presents!

He even sang "Happy Birthday" :)

New wallet!!! (Jem)

Cupcake Recipe Book from Andrea :)

The next morning, Jem came to pick me up for breakfast at a mystery place...

In the car, wondering where we were headed to!

We went to Riders Cafe! :) I was so happy cause I had heard a lot about it, but never mentioned it to Jem. But he did his research and concluded that this was a nice place for brunch :)

Horse!

:O I would pay $$$ everyday for food like this.
The mushrooms and tomato were heavenly.

His smoked salmon

Poached eggs

So well done

A white horse!

Monkeys spotted at Upper Peirce

Identical? I prefer the blue one

A totally unglam shot of a monkey. See?
The half-closed eyes HAHA

After the brunch and the short walk at Upper Peirce, Jem accompanied me as I shopped at H&M. More like I was walking around and he was standing in a corner playing with his phone. But thankful that someone was there to carry me shopping bags hahaha (no la, just kidding. I carry my own bags)

Tuition in the afternoon. Yup tuition... The kids forgot it was my birthday. Last year they remembered and made me a paper crown. Not this year. No :(

Dinner was with my dad at Mr. Curry at Marina Square --- quite empty. Weird. But the curry is good! But now that Coco Ichibanya has opened... Mr Curry will be even more empty.

Omelet over the rice + Spicy Original Curry

Wall decor

When I got home, my mum presented Andrea/I with a butter cake with M&Ms all over! Andrea's bday is 2nd Oct, just 5 days after mine.

Sweet

2011-09-28T22:57:00.000+08:00

Visiting Dsen's home on Facebook Sims.

Do you see what I see?

HAHAHAHAHA

Anyway, I must say I'm thankful to everyone who made my birthday (yesterday) special and memorable :) Thank you for all the wishes and gifts and cards :) I'm thankful that God has given me twenty good years on Earth so far, and I'm not so sad about the big 2 anymore :)

2011-09-24T22:48:00.002+08:00

Why you should never leave your phone/iPad/laptop with Ericson

2011-09-24T01:50:00.000+08:00

Look at these amazing accessories, you can literally "wear nature"!

Real grass, real flower!

Mr Lentz

Lanterns

2011-09-15T00:32:00.001+08:00

Before Monday, I couldn't remember the last time I did the whole lantern-walk thing. Jem and I went to carry lanterns at Kallang River to celebrate the mid-autumn festival!!! We couldn't see the full moon though, it was far too hazy and we could only see the rough shape of the moon and it looked more grey than ivory :( And it was so windy that night we had to keep relighting the candles for our lanterns

Finally was able to try the laksa yongtaufoo at KLP. It sucks.
Don't think anywhere can beat the arts canteen one.

My butterfly lantern ($4.50 from Chinatown)

His dinosaur lantern cost $8?!?! Super expensive..

Brings back memories of my younger days.
I remember I had a chicken cellophane lantern, which eventually caught fire and my mum stomped on it violently (amusing when I think about it now) to put out the fire hahahahahaha I had to be less than 6 cause I remember it was in the yard of my old house

The shadows... Hmph

He really looks like a little boy here right? Like a 7 year old kid.
That's cause there's nothing in the picture to compare his actual size against haha :)

Neither lantern caught fire.
Which is a bit disappointing cause we bought an extra fish lantern just in case, so the fish lantern was never used! :(
Anyway I left all three lanterns with him so he can let his niece/nephews play with them.

I expected to see lots of children/parents carrying the lanterns at the river, but I only saw like 5 groups of people playing with lanterns? Are they all at Botanical Gardens? Is it the haze? Either way, it is a lot more fun when you can compare your lanterns with strangers' ones!

2011-09-09T14:54:00.003+08:00

Just now I went to a film screening of Ararat for my lit module at the Central Library. My whole lit class was there, lit professor included, and there was a sex scene. Like bare-bodies-sex-scene. Talk about awkward...

Anyway yesterday I ended school at 12, and waited for Siyi to be done so we could go to the Tea Party! I think we've been there like 3 times in 7 days. Got to love the affordable set lunches! After that I went to give tuition to/babysit Joshua (ie: 1 hour of tuition, and 3 hours of play time)

Eyebags...

I scooter-raced with him for 15 minutes and was soooo tired after that. Getting old / not exercising enough obviously. And then we watched 7 episodes of Smurfs (old cartoon version) back-to-back. The la-la-la song was stuck in my head. After dinner, I finally left for home. Tired..... Still tired now.

Thank God it's Friday, Thank God we survived Week 5.

2011-09-07T22:45:00.001+08:00

I wasn't supposed to have tuition with Joel/Joshua this week cause its their September holidays and Joel is at band camp from Wed to Friday. But I got a message from their mum just now:

Mum: Hi Alberta can u come by to spend time with Josh tomorrow? Piano and assessment? If ok what time is good? Txs. He misses his bro v much just FYI...

I don't know why but I felt so sad when I read it - not cause I have tuition, no that's fine but I feel so sad for Josh. He must really miss his brother, life must be so boring at home without Joel. They're really close..

So anyway of course I said okay and I guess my afternoon will be spent watching Harry Potter and playing Cluedo!

2011-09-03T22:57:00.001+08:00

So Teachers Day just passed! It used to be held on 1st September every year but apparently, they changed it to the first Friday of September? I'm confused. Anyway, Teachers Day for me will be which ever day my kids give me presents hehe

From Joel

And Joshua...
I'm really sure their mom wrapped the gifts haha

A cup that says "Teacher you rule" (pun on rule/ruler)
And a pencil case? Multi-purpose folder
So sweet!

I've taught the two crazy nuts for the past... one and a half years. How did I survive seeing them twice every week for 2.5 hours each time!!! Anyway they've been such a joy to teach :)

Today was spent at IDMC 2011 - the conference to look forward to every year! I missed the whole of friday cause of school -.- But today was great too! The crazy thing is that they sold out for IDMC 2012 in 40 minutes. I was the very first person in the queue haha exciting...

During the conference, Jem was at home with his little nephew and look at these pictures of his nephew sleeping!!!

Haha he's really sooooo cute

Halfway he changed his sleeping position.
See his diaper hehe

2011-09-02T23:47:00.001+08:00

So this week of school culminated in a half-hour session of...

Making shadow puppets using the OHP in an empty classroom. Haha I ended school around 2pm, and had lunch with Jiexin. But then she left for her romantic rendezvous and I met Siyi. Our intention was to find an empty classroom in school to study but we ended up doing stupid stuff like playing with the OHP. But hey... our puppets are nice!

Siyi's rabbit

Hehe

That's my bunny!
Ugly fingers yes I know

That's supposed to be an elephant hahaha

We also made other animals like swans, dogs and we tried to make a face but it was so tough... We also did stupid things like bunny shadow fighting and making weird animal sounds haha so we didn't do much studying in the end. The pictures were taken with Siyi's iPhone, that's why its so clear. Should I get an iPhone....

2011-08-30T20:22:00.000+08:00

I can be a terribly whiny person when accompanied by the right people... I just cut my hair short again, and I really regret it. I don't remember a single time I've stepped out of the hair salon thinking "Wow great decision!" It's always "Omg why did I cut my hair. I wish I could turn back time". And now I really really don't mind repeating my whole day or my whole week for that matter just so I can keep my hair :( Sounds so stupid/silly to be so affected by my hair or lack of, but seriously... I just need to whine.

2011-08-28T23:04:00.000+08:00

I love this!

It's been a long and busy week - seems like no matter how much I do everyday, I can never complete all my readings/notes/tasks for school :/ But I'm still in my glad-to-be-busy mood and enjoying school! What I hate is the travelling around, flitting from school to tuition to home to somewhere else, with the rare afternoons spent at home.

I just came home from Lin's birthday party. Happy 21st Lin! ZK did a good job with the planning and executing the party/surprise. The decorations in the studio were really nice :) Jem and I left pretty early cause I had a splitting headache, which up to now, hasn't gone away yet..

School tomorrow you know! Why.... :( Well, I can't wait for rest day on Tuesday! :)

2011-08-17T22:36:00.001+08:00

Was looking at ymiblogging just now and was picking out my favourite wallpapers - the ones with scenic pictures with bible verses in nice fonts on them. I saved the nicest ones and then tried them out, and I chanced upon this picture in my folder labelled "Wallpapers". I used it so long ago, and for quite a while, but it remains one of my most-loved pictures of close friends in K2 - yea it is a little blur and James looks a little retarded but I remember that night that we were at the prawning place! It was the first night of our retreat, and it was fun. I always love K2 retreats.

I don't want to grow up :( And I want December to come soon.

2011-08-17T21:38:00.001+08:00

Today, Siyi and I left Starbucks at Utown (not that big, but quite nice) and I wanted to say "Subway", but I said "Starway". Not funny until Siyi said she heard me say "Stubway".

2011-08-15T22:26:00.002+08:00

Happy today cause...

1) Managed to help three SAJC juniors by telling them more about NUS and why they should come here! It was all a part of a talk + tea reception for top students of respective JCs, sort of trying to attract them here. I really liked talking to them and telling them my honest opinions about the choice they should make + the pretty good food that was served. Made me realise that I really am happy in NUS and that I really like FASS. Oh but it didn't help that the Vice Provost kept pronouncing "faculty" as "f___-cull-ty" (think vulgarity), which made me feel very very awkward the whole time haha

2) Finally Jiexin is in school, and I had lunch with her :) Nice seeing her again plus laughing at her merlion tshirt/sandals/hawaiian shorts.

3) Ran into Siyi in school at 8pm?! Was a pleasant surprise since school was so empty and we're both really not the sort to stay in school beyond 5pm...

4) Had a nice dinner with Alfie, cause he was at the tea reception too (top student woahhhh)

5) My shoes from ASOS arrived!!! A week ahead of time. Twice my stuff from ASOS got delayed by more than a month, once my stuff got lost (-.-), so this is a pleasant surprise! :)

Blurry pic, cause I use blackberry. Should I get an iPhone?

2011-08-14T20:59:00.001+08:00

Part of Hope CG :)

Ahhh I super love this photo, nice smiles and it was such an impromptu photo. Literally at the corridor "Let's take a picture!" "Okay!"

Haha :) We had a nice time of sharing and prayer today, and the kids talked about their PSLE exams and prelims, stress and their national day break. And we ended with a nice lunch at Macs together

Today I asked the kids which name they preferred - Trust CG or Hope CG. And all of them said Hope :) So yes, we are officially Hope CG! :)

2011-08-13T23:46:00.001+08:00

This semester's reading list for my lit module.

Yea... one module.

In the Castle of My Skin / Lamming
Disgrace / Coetzee
Heart of Darkness / Conrad
Crick Crack, Monkey / Hodge
The Remains of the Day / Ishiguro
Midnight's Children / Rushdie

I had to take this lit module cause I dropped one English module one day before school started... The lecturer cancelled the only tutorial slot that I could make cause of a "small class size". I and at least 5 other people emailed him to inform him we couldn't make it, but his reply was an unsatisfying "It is difficult". Haha I totally see no sense in his answer so I just dropped the module and appealed for this lit module. I guess I won't be learning about the sound system of the English language this sem, but instead burying my nose in these "literary classics" I've actually never heard of.

The first two days in school were really good. So glad to be waking up early and sleeping early. Makes me feel healthier and more active. I predict this feeling will fade after 2 weeks and I'll then dread travelling to school. But I really like lectures and textbooks and readings. And I love buying textbooks and wrapping them up :) And I love lunches with Siyi and Jiexin. And I have more friends this semester - random people whom I know happen to take lectures with me :)

Baking + Cooking

2011-08-12T23:29:00.000+08:00

National Day was spent at Jem's, baking and cooking. We (or rather I) decided we should bake red velvet cupcakes cause I really miss the ones in Melbourne + it's National Day and nothing screams "HAPPY BIRTHDAY SINGAPORE!" louder than some red and white cupcakes.

I used wax on his hair.
His first time using wax apparently.

RED VELVET CAKE BATTER. Pink colour now though.

Some overpriced sprinkles we bought.

Bought the piping bag from Phoon Huat!

The final product. Yummy :)
Icing a bit messed up though, consistency not thick enough :(

DINNER

Side - Mashed Potato

I chopped all the veggies!
Jem cleaned, cut, cooked the chicken.
He also had a fun time massaging the chicken.

Lots of rosemary, lots of thyme

2011-08-08T22:13:00.000+08:00

Two days to school! I really cannot wait to start school, I haven't been doing much this two weeks. I've honestly had enough rest, and I really wanna work my brain again soon. Three months of holiday have really flown by, and I think I should trace back and recall what exactly I did...

My holiday started officially on May the 1st. I remember enjoying the after-exam feel, sleeping in a lot, slacking. And working on Mark and Stacy's wedding! It was the first wedding that I had so much involvement in - I was in charge of reception and had to design special frames, angbao boxes, signs for directions and stuff. And there were TWO reception tables. But it was so great working with Stacy and Sandra.. And it felt so great when Stacy said she loved it. Ahhh made all those hours worth it :)

The cups stacked up on the left, are the door gifts - designed and conceptualized by Ven!
They were really yummy cranberries. Really really yummy.

Those paper flowers on the table were really fun to make

Photo from Liangfu

Photo from Byron

Their wedding was June 4th. I don't think I spent the whole of May preparing for the wedding though.. I just can't remember what else I did. Anyway June is usually the month of UMAD and MYLR and somehow that's all I can remember about June too...

That's me shouting at Jem during a game hehe

MOP Chairman

Sparkler fun :)

The month of July - Australia (shan't talk about it anyway I've blogged so much about it) but one of my favourite photos of the trip!!!

I was just telling Nikki yesterday how much I miss her :( After spending 8 straight days with her, I really miss her!! I miss Australia too and my time there, but I think I miss her most... Yea, I even miss all her vulgarities and her mess and her disorganized ways. Haha :) Can't wait to see her again in November!

I remember chiong-ing for Worship Night right after I got back from Australia and by God's grace (truly only by His grace) everything fell into place and it was okay! And then we bid farewell to Pastor Anthony and now we're here in August.

AND SCHOOL IS STARTING!!!!!

Meet Kitty

2011-08-06T22:53:00.000+08:00

She (I'm not sure if it's a he or she, but I'm just gonna assume) is my latest impulse buy. Had to wait a half hour for Jem at the market, and I decided to buy a fish..

Say hello.

So I guess she belongs to Jem and I now. When my dad scolds me for not cleaning its bowl and feeding it (eventually he will), I'll move her to Jem's place :)

Melbourne Day 3-5

2011-08-06T22:36:00.001+08:00

Combining day 3-5 because I realised that on day 4, I only took 3 photos and on day 5, zero. Haha anyway, on day 3, Derrick took a coach from Sydney to Melbourne to join Nikki and I :)

Did you know that a tram weighs as much as thirty rhinos?
Yup so its like thirty rhinos on a skateboard.

Docklands

Pigs

Breakfast for lunch again!
This is mine, the poached eggs were weird and I didn't like that there were no greens on the plate.

OMG LOOKS SO GOOD RIGHT?
Nikki's toast, poached eggs, salmon with hollandaise sauce

Derrick's big breakfast

We did some shopping at DFO @ Docklands. Not much there though, plus you gotta take a tram. Our tram back to the city broke down halfway so we walked alot...

Went to Degraves again for coffee :)

Later that night, Derrick's friend who lives in Melb brought us to St. Kilda for dinner. Went to a nice restaurant called Sapore, and I couldn't understand anything on the menu. Honestly.

Mashed potato
Told Nikki they look like durians

Ordered a gnocchi, which is some dough-like dumpling.
Had a three-cheese sauce over it yum!

That night after dinner, we checked out the beach at St. Kilda for like 5 minutes and then went to a bar, where I tried my first shot of tequila. Coupled with a mojito, I felt real sleepy after that haha I think I don't really like alcohol bleugh... I went back to the hotel to skype Jem and the rest went out for more drinks, it was a fun night overall :)

The next morning, Nikki and I split up - Derrick and Nikki drove to Great Ocean Road and I went to meet Juls! :) That Saturday was a real nice day, good weather + warmer than usual, spent the day walking around Brunswick and Smith, dropping into shops and a market, and just hanging out.

A wonderful wonderful lemon tart.
Really wonderful!
Juls got a pear one I think and it was delicious too. Esp with that cream!

A pic along Brunswick. I really didn't take many photos :/

It was really nice catching up with Juls + hearing about how life is in Melbourne. And it was nice filling her in on recent church happenings and stuff :) Did the most shopping on this day too I think - notebooks, tea (at a really nice shop, T2) and clothes, yay!

Had Vietnamese for dinner, a delightful bowl of beef and noodles

I stayed with Juls on Saturday night. The most coincidental thing was that Nikki and Derrick's hostel for the last night, happened to be straight (like really straight) across the road from Juls' apartment :O Really unplanned! So on Saturday night, I ran across the road in my pajamas to say goodbye to Nikki :( They drove back to Sydney on Sunday.. I'll miss you Nikki!! Till November I guess!

On Sunday morning, I went to Planetshakers City Church on Sunday with Juls, Jon and Beatrice. I haven't seen Beatrice in years, the last time was probably in Sec 2 or something. We talked about Mr Teh haha our beloved bald science teacher. Anyway I got a surprise when I found out Beatrice is Jon's sister hehe small world.

The experience at the church was eye-opening, different from Methodist churches. Really quite different, like halfway thru the sermon, if the speaker made a compelling point, people would stand up and clap hehe

Had lunch at Ying Thai 2, Kevin's very strong recommendation and it was really good - especially the green curry! Lygon street really has a lot of good food :) After lunch, Jon drove us to get ice-cream at Brunswick which was really yummy and soon, I was at the airport saying byebye to Juls and Jon, my trip was over :( :( :(

I really wished I had more time in Melbourne, I hadn't tried a lot of food on Kevin's list and been to many places. Next time! Jem says we'll go together haha :) And maybe then Kevin would be staying in Melb just to hold on to his PR and we'll all hang out. Wow, that'll be awesome :)

Melbourne Day 2!

2011-08-05T00:24:00.000+08:00

Day 2 started with a visit to Queen Victoria Market, the guidebook calls it "the mother of all markets" haha pretty funny. Anyway they sell everything from knick-knacks to clothes to fresh meat to flowers to boomerangs.

The entrance!

Cleanest markets

The market is huge!!!

Fresh produce

Nice stall!

Nikki was really amused by this haha
Try to figure out what each one says!

Got one custom-made for Alex.
I kinda got it also cause I just wanted to see how the guy did it on the spot

After about 2 hours of walking around and buying souvenirs, Nikki and I walked back to Degraves Street to find a good place for lunch. But technically we ate breakfast for lunch. Or lunch for breakfast. Depends on how you see it, we actually spent a while just discussing this...

Cappuccino!

OMGGGGG My ideal breakfast ANY DAY.
Toast, hash brown, scrambled eggs, spinach, mushrooms, grilled tomato (must have), onions, bacon, chipolata

Nikki's pancakes with bacon and eggs :)

Cupcake bakery :)

A red velvet and a choc vanilla.
The red velvet was amazing!

I don't really like this pic cause I'm just holding it really weirdly...

After that we shopped around the city again, going to all the places/shops we missed out and back to Lygon for dinner again hahaha

I don't know why I wore that hoodie with that tee shirt..

Anyway, my lasagna!

At Koko Black for hot chocolate.

It really is a nice shop selling chocolates and coffee and drinks and desserts ;)

The best cup of hot chocolate I have ever tasted. I'm not exaggerating!!
Thanks Kevin for the recommendation!!! :)

At some bridge on the way to Crown Casino

After this, I didn't take anymore pics of Day 2! Anyway that night, Nikki and I went to Crown Casino. It was eye-opening, the first time I ever entered a casino. It's free admission! We played on those slot machines? I don't know what you call them, but you just insert a bill (we kept using fives) and keep pressing a button and the game will just go and go and go... Till you want to cash out or till you run out of money (in my case, TWICE).

Nikki's friends, who were on a road trip, came halfway and tried Blackjack and Roulette, and they won! It was just exciting watching them. I didn't really dare play haha we got back to our hotel around 2am and slept at 3am.. Longest day of the trip, but it was fun :)

2011-08-03T22:59:00.001+08:00

Arrowed! (Using really nice cards)
But it is an honour :)

2011-08-03T15:35:00.000+08:00

New album out October 4th!

Melbourne First Day!

2011-08-03T15:29:00.001+08:00

After the whole Tiger airlines scare, Nikki got her ticket to Melbourne just one day before we left Sydney! Anyway it was a 9am flight so we had to get up real early to take a train to the airport. But we made it, wow and we reached Melbourne close to noon cause the flight was delayed anyway.. Air traffic.

When we landed, we took the Skybus into the city and then a little bus to our hostel, Space Hotel! It was at a good location, so we kinda walked everywhere, almost.

Our room - an odd shape cause it was at the end of a corridor

Some panoramic view, cause it was an odd shaped room

My side of the room.
It was actually a good place to stay, clean and tidy

After we checked in, we quickly went to find something to eat, cause we were just starving...

First meal in Melbourne. Some curry and rice, not too bad

Juls told me that this Singapore Chom Chom closed down recently cause they didn't pay their rent haha

A very pretty flower shop in the middle of a pavement

Tea at Brunetti

Horses!!

Flinders Street Station

Vintage store on Flinders

Degraves Street at night

Soup!

We basically walked around the city area and explored the streets and shops the whole afternoon. And then we went to Lygon for dinner after that :) I really wanted to try the gelato there, the one that Kevin recommended and raved about - Freddo BUT IT WAS CLOSED!

Closed for Winter Break :(

Went to Cafe Cavallino - Kevin's recommendation too

With her coke - our water in Australia

Lemon Lime Bitters

Some risotto

After dinner we were tired so we went back to sleep. Waking up at 645am in the morning is just tooooooo tiring..

Last day in Sydney!

2011-08-02T00:28:00.000+08:00

We always seem to wake up late, so the days always start around 11am.. We did all the miscellaneous stuff on Tuesday - Sydney Fish Market, shopping, milkshakes and Hurricanes.

That bridge there, its the Anzac Bridge

TA-DAH

Fresh!

Fish don't close their eyes right? They can't?
That's sad..

Gross fish parts.

SO YUMMY!!!

Super full after that. Phew!

This is quite a terrible picture, as if the red box is the attraction

BIRD!

We left the Market around 1pm, then Nikki brought me to the city to shop! Went to Myer, which is a huge department store and I got random stuff like a purse and a shirt for Jem :)

I didn't take any pictures while shopping, and the next place we went was this wonderful cafe in Newtown (the area I stayed) which served, according to Derrick and Nikki "the most awesome milkshakes ever!" I really thought they were exaggerating but omg the milkshakes were damn good.

My chocolate! Nikki got vanilla I think

AND IT WAS MASSIVE AND I FINISHED IT

It is still a mystery to me how we managed to eat at Hurricanes even after the milkshake.

With the flash, it just looks huger

Anyway while walking along the streets after our milkshake, we went into a music store which carried really good CDs, and they were cheap! The music scene there is just... so much better.

Got it for 10AUD, made me happy :)

2011-07-31T22:37:00.001+08:00

Today was our Chapel Anniversary Celebrations (Christalite turns 6!) and Ps. Anthony's farewell. I spent my Saturday filming and making the video for today's service, and I thank God for providing the music and people and time and energy :) It reminds me very much of our Youth GDOP video we did in June :)

Anyway it was a nice service followed by a buffet lunch, and we took pictures which were printed instantly so that Anthony could take them with him as he leaves us for AMK Methodist Church.

Ministry Of Pranks - Class of 2011

With Anthony :)
Frequent Victim

Trust/Hope CG :)
(The P6 and Sec 1 kids!)

Kindness 2 :)

2011-07-31T01:13:00.000+08:00

Siyi sent me the pics already! :)

Yes that is Meelo! She doesn't like looking at the camera though
Look at those adorable floppy ears

Swimming!

And today in church I tried on Dsen's beret, which sparked off a huge joke among the guys about role play -.- Not surprised. Anyway, I wonder if I will get in trouble for posting this pic haha hey its just a hat. And a fancy one at that.

2011-07-30T02:17:00.004+08:00

Had a pretty good day today - nice way to end off the week. Woke up at the usual time of 12 and headed down to Siyi's new place for a swim. We met Jiexin at Old Airport Road for lunch and after that, we had a tour of Siyi's massive house. It is really massive and really nice. The tiles are all white and most of the furniture was also white, and it made the whole place just look so neat and tidy..

Anyway we went to swim after that, and by swimming I actually mean lying down on the full body floats and tanning.. Siyi tells me sometimes Gus and her tan until they fall asleep. At first I found it odd, but after 15 minutes on the air mattress, I got what she meant. And my face is a little burnt now! But it was nice just relaxing and talking about everything under the sun (literally) - the bulk of the conversation was 1) debating how many credits an Honours student must take and 2) complaining about how all the GEMs and SS modules cause so much headache.

Siyi's dog Meelo was another highlight of my day, she really is adorable with her floppy ears haha Siyi helped me take a photo with Meelo! And I will post it once I get it :)
After the swimming, I headed down to June's place for tuition and we decided that on Monday, I would teach her how to make icing sugar and we will bake cupcakes! I'll get Jem's recipe cause our cupcakes turned out so yummy last time.. :)

And after that, I met Eric for Captain America! It was actually pretty good in my opinion! But Siyi keeps saying that the ending is really lame and she wished they didn't add it, but I honestly thought it was sad :( If you are planning to watch it, stay until after the credits! Its worth it :) We had burger king for supper and talked till 1:30am, and so here I am now, almost ready to sleep, but I'll leave you with a super funny comment that Ericson made on Sunday during CG..

Me: (reading the bible verse) "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I was naked and you clothed me...."

Eric: ". Hehehe"

Me: " What. Your favourite verse right"

Eric: "No, my favourite verse is: I was in pumping position and you recovered me"

-.- But it made Byron laugh haha poor Eric in BMT..

2011-07-28T00:22:00.000+08:00

Omg I did absolutely nothing today. Been bumming around at home since I got up at 1pm, and now its midnight. 11 hours of doing nothing... Ordered Pastamania for lunch, surfed the net, watched TV, slept a bit. Its days like this I actually wish I had school.

Anyway I just remembered that Jeredy used my Twitter account on Sunday, and wrote a really silly tweet. But honestly it was so funny, I favourited it. So did Alfie!

Blue Mountains Day!

2011-07-27T02:04:00.001+08:00

On Monday, Nikki and I woke up early to catch the 10:09am train to Katoomba, where Blue Mountains is at! We met at 10am at the Central Station (yes I learnt to take the bus from Sydney Uni Village myself to meet her there) and literally ran to buy tickets and hop on the train.. We made it! Thank God we did, the trains come every hour..

We reached Katoomba

Subway for lunch! (Budget)

On the explorer bus! Hop on and hop off any time :)

We bought this 3 ride package thing for AUD25, and it was really worth it.
It consisted of the Scenic Skyway Ride, the Scenic Railway and some cable car ride

On the Skyway

First sighting of the Three Sisters

The scenic railway!
It was so funny, it was really steep and went really fast
And then the Indiana Jones theme music was playing

The steepest incline railway in the world!

Wahahahahahahahaha I love this pic

We had so many laughs taking this photo
Self-timer + scrambling onto the horse

Kissing trees!

On the cable car thingy

Pretty little town

We hopped on the explorer bus and got off on this stop called the Honeymoon Lookout!
The driver said its a 35minute walk to Echo Point, which is the best place to look at the mountains + the three sisters

The walk lasted almost an hour for Nikki and I

We kept running into muddy ground!

This terrible girl wiped her muddy Toms with tissue paper and then threw it into the ridge!
But after that we threw another down just to see how far it would go

Terrible estimation

My trusty red backpack and her unsuitable black bag

Super steep steps!

One of my favourite photos of the trip!
A stranger took this for us after we helped him take a photo

Finally! Echo Point!

Hi!

After I helped Nikki take this photo, I wanted to take a picture with the road too
I walked to the middle of the road, but I didn't see the oncoming traffic
When I saw the car, I squawked and ran back to the side
Nikki laughed and the lady in the car laughed too :(

Looking for the waterfalls

I really love this road! And the trees..

I almost died here.
Also, here is where I realised my Vaseline moisturizer burst in my bag, and my magazines and everything was smeared with Alow Vera smelling moisturizer...
These things always happen to me :(

With Jimmy! The bus driver who's super friendly.
Proud to say he is now Nikki and my facebook friend.

".. with the girls from Singapore!"

Super yummy fries for our 2 hour train ride back to Sydney

Chinatown!

Darling Harbour

Darling Harbour :)
Perfect for "romantic walks" according to Nikki

Its nice :)

This emperor's puff thing is super yummy! They're like warm cream puffs

Had a Jap dinner at the food court in Chinatown
Nikki wanted to bring me to this ramen place called Menya, but it was closed..

The blue mountains day was one of the most enjoyable days, cause it was just really nice to see a little town, where people live in cottages, where they can see beautiful, not-really-that-blue mountains if they take a 5 minute walk... And the town was really nice, like a quiet place, with really few people. But it probably is really boring to live there for a long time.. Nikki tells me there is a University at Blue Mountains. People must be really bored studying there..

Sydney Day 3

2011-07-26T01:49:00.001+08:00

So on Sunday, we decided to visit Sydney Taronga Zoo! The guidebook says it is a world class zoo, and is pretty good, and I do agree it is a good zoo! :) Anyway one thing I really liked about it, was that the zoo was on an "island" about 10 minutes away by ferry from Circular Quay. And so, from the island you can still see the Opera House and Harbour Bridge, and you can see some of the animal exhibits against a city backdrop. So beautiful :)

Queuing up for tickets. It cost AUD50 for entrance fee and ferry ticket. Real expensive

Boarding!

Nikki and Derrick

Entrance to the zoo

Koala!!!!!!!!!!!!! So cute, sleeping on the tree :)

Adorable!!!

Why they move so slowly

Separated from the city by waters

Basilisk

My favourite exhibit of all!!!!

Nikki and I were discussing about these giraffes, and have concluded that the best word to describe them is..
Elegant
Hahahaha

Nikki: "... such poise"

After a while the zookeepers let out the zebras!
What a contrast of prints

Stuff toys!

Nikki cracked up when she saw the words "Father Leon"

Tiny meerkats

People waiting for the animal show

Kangaroos

Sunset!

Before boarding the ferry :)

I was so upset on this day cause 1) my camera battery died, despite my charging it overnight. Like when I woke up in the morning, the battery was flat. I think charging it overnight fried the battery :( 2) I did not manage to hug a koala! I wanted to pay for the picture with the koala, but we missed the timing! One of my regrets of the trip. Oh well, next time!!! I will hug the koala!!!

After that, Derrick, Nikki and I went to Lowenbrau for dinner, a German restaurant. We had a platter of awesome food - mashed potato, sausages and other German stuff that I can't really remember. It was yummy... And halfway thru dinner, three men in fancy costumes played trumpets and horns. Dinner and a show!

2011-07-24T23:12:00.003+08:00

May-Ee just informed me that she went bungee-jumping in China :O I cannot imagine it! It sounds absolutely terrifying yet adventurous...

Sydney Day 2

2011-07-22T22:56:00.002+08:00

More pics of Sydney Uni Village

Nikki does not know the name of this building

Happy Lemon!

Broadway

I love this postcard! It's just so absurd hahaha

Central

Sydney's birds - the equivalent of our pigeons. They're everywhere

Paddington Market

An English muffin

So yummy

After Paddington we went to Bondi Beach!
One of my favourite places of the whole trip :)

An ice-skating rink at the beach!

A freak wave - a sudden wave that is huger than the usual

Makes people's footwear drenched

Spotted!!!

Huge waves

Surf-worthy

Crazy! I was feeling cold wearing 3 layers..

The coastal walk - great to see the waves and rocks

After Bondi, we took a train back to the city. The train ride was like 20 minutes? (I can't really remember) but transport there is really expensive! I think the cost of the ride was AUD3? About S$4.. Actually everything there is just expensive - especially bananas.

Anyway Nikki and I went for Hot Chocolate at Max Brenner. Hot drinks really help in the cold weather!

The Hug Mug - I'm still intrigued by it

This is the way you hold it to drink, warms your hands while you warm your throat!

After that, we met Derrick again at Juju - a Jap place for dinner!

Raw beef with raw egg - never tried it before but it was good!

Chicken!

Anyway at this restaurant, the layout of the seating is such that you sit on the floor and dangle your legs into like this "pit", argh I don't know how to explain.. But anyway I wasn't looking at the floor while I was walking, and I fell into the pit, in between two adjacent tables. It was so bad cause I knocked over two coke glass bottles, and made so much noise. And coke spilled all over a lady's white top and pants... And I got three bruises on my left thigh. The embarrassment! Sadly, it wasn't one of those funny falls haha Nikki looked worried.

When I got back to my room at SUV, I skyped Jem for the first time! Which was the first time I skyped anyone.. Interesting experience :) And I remember that I went to bed with three pairs of socks on my feet, three pairs of socks on my hands, a T-shirt, a sweater, a hoodie and long pants that night cause I was freezing!