Boxing day (Tsunami 2004)

5 years ago, on this very day, the 26th of December, the tsunami in Indonesia broke out. It left it’s trail in another 13 plus countries and killed at least 100 000 people. As we all sit in the comfort of our homes watching tv or shop away in the busiest streets or have a little nap, family members of these victims are most probably mourning and remembering this tragedy that took away their very own loved ones. There was this documentary on history channel which just ended. It was talking about the 2004 Tsunami and what happened. 5 years, 5 years has just passed in a blink of an eye. A day after Christmas, a day when we can all admire the lovely Christmas presents that we got from our relatives and friends but to think that, others out there are still struggling over the huge lost of their sister, daughter, mum, dad and many more. This just shows how fragile life is. In just minutes, people were washed away in those powerful waves and that was probably the last time anyone is ever going to see them again. The feeling of losing a loved one, someone so close, so dear to you is terrible. Even the most cold hearted man on Earth would start to feel and tear over the loss. I’m not typing this to bring back any unhappy memories of these horrid disaster but just to pray for the survivals that they’ve regained hope and faith to continue to live on. Well, Boxing Day is really a day for us to give back to the community and to contribute to the needy and those who aren’t as fortunate as us to be able to celebrate Christmas and get presents. So why not do a little something more, reach out a little more(:

Grown-Up Christmas List(:

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

That was the song title of the most touching Christmas song/carol that I’ve heard(: Hope everyone’s having a great deal of fun with their family and their friends! Like every year, on Christmas, my family would go to my aunt’s house, have Christmas dinner under the stars, play games, have catch-ups, give presents and of course, get into the festive spirit. But this year’s slightly different, we just had Christmas dinner with ah ma and dua yi. That was equally nice too, small, cozy, family-ish kind of small-scale gathering(: ‘Cause da gu and xiao gu’s family are still overseas so we’ll be merging 2010’s countdown and Christmas together! So that’s like double the fun:D I’m really looking forward to that day!

Italy was really great and now I’m missing it, quite badly.
Horses, bicycles/bicyclists, green activism, roundabouts, pasta, very small and narrow and winding roads, snow, skiing, BIG dogs, fat pigeons, cosy family restaurants, Clementine oranges, colourful houses stacked neatly but somehow crookedly on the banks, piggybacks, 3 Sing dollars toilets, farms, tractors, washing dishes, crazy cold weather and a lot more which I won’t list. It’s just crazily awesome, fantastic and magnificent over there.

Roundabouts are probably one of the most inventive things that Italian people could come up with! In one roundabout, I thought the most, there would only be 3 exits, but we actually went into one that has 6 exits! That’s really mad. My brother and I love it when the GPS says “Enter roundabout and take 3rd exit” but we love saying it more. The voice ends the sentence in this funny accent that Xuan and I will always imitate then laugh over it. Stupid but we got loads of laughs out from it.

Clementine oranges are pure sweet. It’s a type of mandarin oranges that you can get anywhere and at anytime. It’s a healthy snack that my whole family have learnt to be so dependent on it that we have to have at least one each day. We easily bought more than 5 bags of that orange.

Bicycles were so fun to ride in Italy. The second place that we stayed at was so modern, almost all their furniture were from Ikea and the rent was rather cheap. Neway, they had a garage and one sunny afternoon, my dad found bicycles in the garage!:D Xuan and I were so excited to get our butts on that bicycle seat! So, Mum stayed at home reading her book while the trio of us rode off in our bicycles! We cycled from one town to the other and in fact, it was the first time that Xuan and I got to ride on a main road, with many many cars and also on a highway! WHOOO, THAT WAS DEADLY COOL. & I tell you Italy’s really bicycle friendly. On the road where cars drive, they have this area at the side of it that is rather wide just solely for bicycles. Isn’t that so thoughtful! On our way to the next town, Treviso, we came across a…ROUNDABOUT! Can you believe it?! & then Xuan and I immediately looked at each other, wide-eyed, and did that “Banana in Pyjamas ” thing, “B1, are you thinking what I’m thinking?”. It was a roundabout that was linked to a big patch of grass so the human and traffic flow was clearly of no issue. We rode round it so many times, cycling out of every exit and shouting at the top of our lungs “Enter roundabout at take 1st/2nd/3rd exit” Gosh, that was really really satisfying! I knew Xuan and I were waiting for such an opportunity to come by. My dad just waited for us patiently at the side. I think he got enough of roundabouts on the roads when he’s driving ‘cause the GPS always confuses him with roundabouts. Hahaha!

On our way to treviso and roundabouts!

Piggybacks started on the very first day. When we got tired of walking and when there’s not a lot of people around us, we would take turns to piggyback each other, scream at each other about how heavy we are then almost toppling down. That was really cute and ‘cause when we piggyback each other, we’ll start laughing uncontrollably and again, we had stomach discomfort from those peals of laughter.

Horses were just sweet. I see horses almost everyday and I took photos with almost everyone of them and that made me really happy. But some of them were chained up ‘cause they are suppose to give rides to people who are willing to pay the exorbitant price, and that was really sad, it feels cruel. In the mountains, we were exploring the towns and my dad drove up to this place and guess what we found! We found this horse on a blanket of snow with 2 other donkeys but of course, there were fences around them. The donkeys didn’t really seem very interested in us but the horse was! When we stroked it, it just stood there silently and stilly to let it pet it. The donkeys were getting a little jealous ‘cause when I stroked the horse affectionately, they kept staring. Hahaha, too bad for them! I think the horse was so lonely that when my dad was slowly driving away, it actually galloped after us and his eyes were pitiful. That was sad, if only I could stay with it. That motivated me more to have my own farm and farm animals(:

ONE OF MY FAVOURITES!

It's like we're fated to meet(:

I realised I explained so much about the little things about the trip and not really the main, big things like the places that we went to but you know, I think this little things really made a great impact of me. Of course, the places that we visited had an impact but they were all captured as photos, whereas these little things that usually goes unnoticed, no matter how many pictures I take of them, the real, emotional memory would be in my mind and not in those photographs(:

Leaning tower of Pisa!

In Florence with the brother:D

You walk through streets after streets and this is the pretty sight you get(:

(That would be the last picture! I think WordPress’s taking a break too since it’s Christmas, ’cause the photos are taking decades to load)

Really, I’m a lucky girl with great parents to bring me to such great and far places and a great brother who shares with me my joy! Also, I read the papers today and there was this article about snow storms, icy roads all over Europe and there were many plane delays at the Milan Malpensa Airport. We were there probably a week ago, taking the plane back to Singapore and thank goodness we weren’t caught up in any delay. It really feels good to feel blessed on a day like Christmas(: Hope that on this Christmas that everyone, whether poor or rich, homeless or family, naughty or nice, they’ll all be able to experience the Christmas spirit and have their very own Christmas celebration. Well, I’m not a Christian, but May God bless all(:

It’s the brotherrrrrrr’s birthday this Sunday, so mum and I will be baking a cake for him! Tan Xuan, get ready for a surprise!:D

Shape of my heart

by Back Street Boys. Their songs never ever fail to make me impress. Listening to their songs make me feel warm. Isn’t that feeling nice?(:

Since a long time ago, I’ve self-created this sleeping process. We all have one set of eyelids and when we sleep, and close our eyes, it means that the eyelids cover our eyes. And for me, I’ve imagined myself to have 3 eyelids, 1 real one and 2 imaginary one. The first eyelid that covers the eyes, like all humans have the eyelids function in this manner, tells my brain that I’m going to sleep, so probably the brain prepares itself to be less active. When the second eyelid comes along, my brain has completely shut down and all activity ceases except breathing and other necessary activity. When the third eyelid comes along, I’m in deep slumber and I hear nothing from my surroundings. This is my own assessment of how I sleep and the terms use aren’t those formal terminologies that doctors use, but who cares, it’s my assessment. Yeah, neway the main point is, when it’s all school and exams and tests, each time when my head hits the pillow, my third eyelid is already on, like I’ve reached the final stage of sleeping. But now, during the holidays, I find myself having difficulty reaching the second stage. It’s not that I’ve nothing to do, I’ve loads of revision to do, but I’m to lazy and not motivated at all to start on them, so I guess I just let time pass by me uselessly. That’s how I end up not feeling worn out after a day of holidays. This assessment of sleep may sound dumb and useless, but in fact, I think it’s pretty useful. I feel good when I’ve reached the third stage. HAHAHA.

Yesterday, was just like any other holiday night, but what was more of keeping me awake was ’cause I’ll be flying off to Italy today till the 19th, and this year, I feel excited for this trip. I feel like I need a getaway from Singapore. Not that Singapore isn’t good or anything, but I just want to be far away from school&stressful stuff. I mean, who doesn’t? This year, was something big, something unexpected, something different from what I’ve experienced last year and when I’m looking back now, I actually do wonder how I’ve got past this year. Of course, there were good things and bad things, but whatever it is, I’m glad how things turn out to be now. For now, I just need to breakaway from “this year”&let loose. No matter what rubbish things happened this year, it was a great one. I discovered much more things of myself that I would have never, if I took a different path. So, face it, accept it and I’m happy!:D I’m gonna spend good time with my family during this trip, since all year round we are all so busy with our own stuff and it’s already a blessing that my parents are able to bring my brother and I to such a faraway place. I’m very fortunate, and I’ve my parents to thank(:

No matter what kind of nasty things happened between us, after hearing that piece of news, I guess I should do a little something. It’s going to be a rough lane down the road, but get hold of yourself and don’t self abandon yourself. Losing someone so special to you, isn’t going to be easy but life still goes on yeah. There are many friends out here that is willing to give you all support, care and concern that you need. It’s alright to ask for help, don’t feel bad about doing it ‘cause we’re all here to help. I’m sorry for what have happened and I do hope you’re coping well.

Take care, my friend(:

They always will be the best in my heart(:

Man, does it really have to end up in this way? I didn’t know I would be so affected by this whole episode. Each day, seeing the school and the people, I get reminded of everything. Even though my grumbles and whines and pleas would not change anything but I really don’t want such a thing to happen and if possible, if it could work, I would grumble till my tonsils swell, my voice goes haywire and my jaws getting all numb with all the pleas, just to get them all back, to be with us once again, like a big family. There weren’t all happy moments in this big family, but we got to know each other better through the trials that we’ve gone through. Now, I can see and understand why people always say that we only treasure those around us when they start leaving us slowly, one by one. And like what I said before, I’m only treasuring this special people now, at a time when they’ve decided to leave.

One teacher said “I’ve facebook. Don’t look so shock, girls. I was already a member before you girls knew the existence of it.” There was this sudden urge to add them all in, to always keep in touch no matter where they are. It’s like a feeling of losing such good and dedicated teachers at one go and I don’t want that feeling to persist. Honestly, it pains me, looking at them go, telling us to work hard, bring glory to the school and then probably give us a hug then turn their backs and walk out. I’m sure they are feeling sad too since they’ve been in this school for so long and it’ll definitely hold some kind of sentimental value. They walk out of the school for that one last day and we know they will not be coming back to hurry us to class, teach us things out of our textbook, rub all the marker writings on the horrid board and for us to bow at them, saying “Good Morning” or make small talk each morning when we see each other.

But I guess, they had their reasons and they made these decisions that were most probably the best for themselves and for us. Life consists of so many opportunities and they, are just going to fly off a little while and then they’ll come back, check on us before flying away again, finding a wider horizon for themselves to spread their wings widely. I’m glad that they were once there for us, for giving us all the knowledge that we had to acquire, to be patient with all our questions and to always put our hearts and minds to ease whenever we are feeling down. It isn’t exaggerated at all, they were good and I’m so proud for having them as my teachers. We’ll embrace this changes with all our courage and heart and do them proud.

Teachers of St Nicholas Girls’ School, you are the ones that made our education journey a much better and enjoyable one. I want to thank you for all the efforts that you’ve put in and I’ll definitely miss the ones leaving. It’s gonna be hard but no matter what, I’ll wish them all the best for what the future holds for them. As for the other teachers, I’ll appreciate and treasure each one of you even more.

“A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.
~Henry Brooks Adams”
All the way, lovely teachers!
I love all of you(:

Fourteen in the eleventh month.

Yesterday night, after reading something a strong surge of mixed emotions came over me and somehow I didn’t feel good. Many things of last year came flooding back and I felt so troubled and terrible inside. It was like this monster devouring my whole soul. It wasn’t something that was of sickness but it was something like many strings tugging at my mental soul. As gross as it may sound, but that was how I felt exactly. That made me feel like a person that wasn’t me, like I just changed my soul or something. I didn’t know what happened and I can’t find myself an explanation for how that happened. Certain unhappy things that I once thought that I’ve long forgotten and just kept at a very very teen weeny corner of my mind, came out of nowhere and popped up like a big image filling my whole brain. I couldn’t look at it positively like how I’ve always done so. But I’m glad to say, after waking up this morning, I felt so much better.

Sometimes it’s inevitable that people are sad or unhappy; all those negative feelings. We are all made in this way, to allow us to feel different emotions. Imagine yourself being happy all your life, well it may sound like a good thing, but if you don’t ever feel sad or depressed or angry etc, your life is just a bed of roses with absolutely no excitement at all. And that isn’t realistic, it doesn’t happen in real life, it’s just a figment of a fairytale writer’s imagination.

People go through one of those bad days in life and for me, yesterday was probably by far one of the bad nights since ages ago. I can’t remember myself being so troubled and terrible before last night. I might have learn it the hard way to know how and when to let go of certain things and to not let it bother me anymore, but I guess yesterday might just have been a reminder, a memory that I know will never be erased. But so what, it can affect me for a day, but it will never bring me down for weeks. That’s stupid. As for the other things that were troubling me, like what vanes said, it’s really out of my control (except for my results), so I might as well just accept this fact and think about what I can do about it. It was some disheartening news but I’m sure we’ll all get over it in a matter of time and to remember them for how much they meant to us.

Sim Vanessa:
Thanks for telling me all that in the sms-es that we exchanged last night when I wasn’t feeling good at all. I really do appreciate the fact that you’ve always been so encouraging in all the things and decisions that I’ve done and made. During the toughest periods in st nick’s, you were always ready with all your hugs and a valuable listening ear. Though you’ve moved on to a different school, but till this date, to know that we are still in contact and maintaining our good friendship, it heartens me. I’m also thankful for you, for letting me know that whenever I’m in need of a listening ear or when I’m in trouble, I can just give you a phone call or a sms. You’ve definitely made tough times easier to handle, because of your presence and willingness to help me get over whatever I need to. I may not have told you this before but, Vanes, you’ve been a very important friend to me that I treasure a lot. Right now, I’ve so many things to tell and thank you for but somehow my brain isn’t working that well and those words just don’t come that smoothly now, but just know that in every little way that you’ve helped me, I see it and I’m glad that you did it.

“Walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the light.”
~ Helen Keller
Thank you, Vanes(:

When the sun shines, we’ll shine together(:

(Put on the records, replay, we’re now living the day of 20th October 2009)
HELLO HELLO HELLLLLO!:D
I’m in a relatively quite good mood ’cause I had a good laugh watching the korean drama with my mum while munching on my favourite sour thingy(:
I just completed the NE survey and seriously, it’s really one of those rare surveys where I could relate so well to it! & know something, it’s all thanks to social studies. The survey was mostly ’bout total defence and racial harmony which really brings back all that information that I’ve memorised for social studies exam! There was this statement which says “I know when Total Defence is commemorated” and like lightening, 2 BIG words appeared in my brain: FIFTEEN FEBRUARY. It seems like a small thing but before I studied social studies in Sec 3, I can’t remember when we commemorate total defence day so it’s considered as an achievement! But of course, I know more pro and cheem stuff like the third generation SAF yada yada. WHOO, all that studying is surprisingly still surviving in my brain. Not bad, brainie:D

Heh, so let’s see what I’ve done with my time so far.
1) Sleep.
2) Eat.
3) Watch tv.
4) More sleep, eat and tv.
Oh my geese, I feel guilty somehow. Though exams are over but I think, I might have overly slacked and overly misused my time. HAHAH. I don’t feel as happy as I thought I would be when exams were over, which is really weird. I know that I should start practicing for chinese O which is really nearing, but I can’t bring myself to pick up the pencil, sit down dilligently at the table, open my eyes widely, and be determined to finish up the practices at a certain time. And piano too, it’s just makes sense to use my short-lived free time to go brush up my pieces. I know that’s the most sense-ful thing to do now, but howww now brown cow? It’s always the most sense-ful thing that we end up not doing and the most sense-less thing that we end up spending the whole day on. Nehmind, I’ll take comfort in that by sticking my butt to the chair and fingers to the keys in a few minutes(:

Okay, I don’t wanna talk about such boring things anymore so I shall talk about SATURDAY!:D It’s going to be very, very lengthy and it’s not ’cause I’m long winded or I’ve no summary skills, it’s just that there were so many things that happened that I’ve to type all of them now to preserve this memory:D
WE: VANES, RUTH, ESTHER, MAAN AND I WENT TO RUTH’S HOUSE! How cool is that! very cool right. I’m so glad that we managed to meet up before we get our papers back (you see, I can never seem to detach myself from exam/studies-related stuff, tsk. Too faithful a student.):D Since my house is quite near to Ruth’s which is near serangoon gardens, vanes, esther and maan 136-ed to serangoon gardens circle to meet me there. We decided to go to the temporary NTUC nearby to get our ingredients but we couldn’t find the cookie mix so we went to cold storage. Ruth wanted to make muffins and her house doesn’t have the necessary equipment so I carried them along with me. Oh, and I brought the self raising flour too, which was leftover from making vanes’s farewell cake. At first, vanes, esther and maan weren’t really keen on doing the muffins but I was so bu4 gan yuan4 since I actually dragged all the stuff from my house, so in the end they just relented(:

We had some really funny conversations while buying the stuff and I saw this really prettily wrapped fruit bar, so I was thinking whether to buy it or not. In the end, I did! But it’s so true that we can’t judge someone/thing by it’s cover. The fruit bar tasted awfully weird? Actually, it’s not that bad, so I convinced ruth to share it with me, ’cause I knew I wouldn’t be able to finish the whole thing by myself. I stuck that pretty wrapper in my diary(:

The minute we stepped out of the air-conditioned cold storage, sweat drenched us. We were sweating “madly, deeply, truly” (This song’s really funny. I still remember when esther and I heard it over Tracy’s phone we were laughing our heads off). hahaha! Took a super duper long walk to ruth’s house and we were a little lost, like we didn’t know whether we had to cross the road or not, so ruth just told us to walk straight till we see her. While we were walking, esther and I got into this heated arguement ’bout how it’s only right that friends like each other in a friend way and not hate their friends. I mean, if you are someone’s friend, obviously you like your friend and not hate her/him, since he/she is your friend! Then esther said that for my case, it’s an exception ’cause she hates me even though we are friends. ESTHER NEO WEI SHAN, how bold of you, nehmind, you are forgiven since I like you(: (ai4 de4 li4 liang4~)HAHAHA. So we were quarreling ’bout that which made all of us laugh in the end:D After much bright glares from the sun rays, we saw an even brighter ray of light-ruth, meaning that we were near her house, the end of the torture from the red, hot sun.

According to ruth, her mum wasn’t in the mood to fix the oven so the pro ones, maan and I, helped to fix it while vanes and esther were enjoying the cool air in the living room, tsk, but actually, the oven didn’t need any fixing at all, ’cause all those extra stuff wasn’t needed for baking anyway:p So, vanes, esther and maan made the cookies while ruth and I made the muffins. Ruth and I were happily getting the things ready and cracking eggs and sifting flour in the hugeeee bowl, when we suddenly realised, “OH MY GEESE! We are suppose to put the butter and the sugar in first!:o” In the end, we just put all the ingredients anyhow-ly, we didn’t care which had to go into the bowl first. At first, I was a little worried ’cause we are suppose to follow the steps, to see which ingredients have to be mixed first etc, if not why are they there. Then ruth made this really stupid/cute but make-sense comment “It’s all going to be mixed together in the end what.” hahaha! Isn’t that true? Well, we also not pros mah so we just laughed it off and add in whatever we wanted without any order! On the other side of the kitchen table, vanes, esther and maan were preparing the cookie mix then somehow we started playing with flour and with the mixture that we were mixing. Flour on the faces, mix on the shirts and our muffin mix was all so gooey and so we concluded, if the recipe said to add in the eggs first and the milk second, we have to add in the eggs first. BUT, the muffins still turned out rather nice in the end!:D We found ruth’s mum’s blender beside the sink so we decided to use it to make our very own fantastic fruit juice. The clever maan managed to figure out how to operate it when the rest of us were scratching our heads! We put in star fruit, kiwi and orange and it turned out really delicious. OH WAIT. I just remembered that esther and I put in a cup of this juice at the back of the freezer and we forgot all about it:o I think it’s still there now, hahahah! I better go tell ruth.

After all that playing and washing, we put the cookies in to the oven to be baked first and we went to watch this Jap movie “Sky of Love”, which was so funnaye! There was this scene which actually happened in the library and it was gross and brazen. Fine, we all laughed at the inappropriate moments but it was so sad when the male lead died in the end due to cancer): Thank you, ruth’s daddy for buying back lunch for us!

After the movie, some went to check the cookies or muffins, while the rest of us just started lazing on the sofa. I felt a little tired, so I hugged this huge cushion and closed my eyes. Everything was just right; the air-con was on, I felt happy, the chair that I was on is so comfy, for a little good sleep. Then, vanes had to spoil it all. She let her hair down and pretended to be a female ghost, with an ill intention of scaring me when I open my eyes, but ’cause I was too smart, that didn’t succeed. So, she took other cushions and started throwing at me. Isn’t she mean? Torture a sleeping girl, vanes ah. But, I started throwing cushions towards her too and we had a pillow fight, which was so relieving! It brought back so many childhood memories, childish it may be, but what matters is that we had fun doing that!:D Ruth and maan went to check on the muffins or cookies, so I decided to hide behind the sofa, which was a really small space so they wouldn’t find me there and when they seat on the sofa, I’ll slowly and very carefully sneak up behind them and give them a good scare. But again, vanes spoilt it! She kept shouting “Min’s hiding behind the sofa. Min’s hiding behind the sofa.” Tsk, I wanted to play a good game of hide&seek, but in the end, I couldn’t):

Around 6, vanes had to leave for her hotel stay so the very nice us decided to walk her out to the bus stop and wait for the bus with her. The sun was blazing and scorching but I took this opportunity to get myself burnt. I really wanted to be sun burnt and see the redness, but to no avail. Though it’s damaging and harmful for the skin, it’s actually a once in a life time dream/wish. Which I guess would never be fulfilled. After sending vanes off, we went back to ruth’s house and while ruth was having a shower, maan, esther and I were thinking about what we could do. I suggested to go to East Coast Park or some place to watch the sun set ’cause I’ve never seen it on land before and it would be so exciting to witness one of nature’s wonders! But, maan and esther said that by the time we get there and back, it would be too late, so there goes another dream/wish not fulfilled. Nehmind, there would be another time right!(:

So the next thing we decided to do was to play cards!:D
We played cheat, heart attack (with cards), stress and something else. I haven’t played all 4 before except stress and guess what I was the first to win! The three of them were so amazingly impressed with me and therefore I had such a fun time playing cards with them. It was coming to 7 and ruth had to go for dinner with her family so we all decided to pack up and make our way home. Now, here’s the problem. Outside ruth’s house, in her garden, there was this thing, a living thing. It was furry, had eyes, nose, ears, mouth with sharp teeth, short/long tail, stripe-ful and last of all, it possesses the ability to M-E-O-W. Therefore, the problem is THE CAT. Since esther and I are scared of cats, ruth carried it while we quickly took our slippers and ran out of the house. Once ruth locked the gate, the cat started sticking it’s head through the space between the gate and the ground. It really looked like it could crawl through there.

Esther: It’s head! Can it come out?
Ruth: No no! It wont. -Smiles-
I: Are you sure it can’t squeeze through ’cause…
[Cat decides to push it's head further out and was having this ill intention of crawling out]
Esther: Ruthhhhhh~
I: It’s going to come out, it’s coming out!
Esther and I: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH -Screams and runs-
We screamed so loudly that after we stopped, we could hear the echo! But thankfully, the cat went back in. What a sigh of relief.

There! This kind of sums up what happened on that really beautiful and fun day!
To esther, vanes, maan and ruth:
Thank you for allowing me to have such a wonderful saturday and letting me laugh till my stomach was aching and my cheek muscles from numbing. Our friendship goes quite a long way and we’ve gone through so much together, despite rain or shine. We’ve been standing by each other for everything that we’ve experienced, being there for one another no matter how hard the times are. Every single thing that we’ve done together has so much sentimental value to me and I’m really very thankful for all of you for being such good friends to me. Each one of you have taught me a lot of different things in life and how I should treasure myself, my friends, my family and those around me. You, you, you and you is a chapter of my life that I believe will never close because we’ll have this endless friendship that will connect all of us in tough, happy, sad times.
Thank you for always being such a good friend and for being who you are(:

We'll all come back together; in times of sadness or joy(:

Smiles light up as we walk in

I must say my fringe’s living well since I can see it growing longer day by day(:
Bern lent me this book “Have a Little Faith” by Mitch Albom. I’m not done with the reading but so far it’s rather insightful and reflective. Albom has really made quite a handful of very deep quotes in there. This is really my kind of books.

When Xiao Gu returned my dad’s car last night, heard from her that Da Gu’s not feeling very well and she has been in bed for at least 3 days so I called her to asked how she was. We talked about her condition, discussed about a day where we could all go out when Des is done with her exams and then I told her about my disappointing results. We talked as if we were in the future, next year, 2010, when I’ll be taking my o levels. Well, as a matter of fact, like how my mum puts it, “For yourself, your O’s, you just have another 6-7 more months to go before you find yourself sitting on that chair facing that paper which reads O LEVEL”, it’s really fast. I don’t even have a year to think about O’s anymore, I just have months months months and lesser months. Da Gu said if I can’t make it to JC then let it be, go to polytechnic. It’s just another one more year, it won’t kill. From the time I’ve start receiving education, I already have this clouded impression of polytechnics and I don’t know why. It probably is because of how I’ve seen society viewing them. To polytechnic students, don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I despise you, it’s just that I think I need some time to change my mindset. I’ve really got to start planning for my future, the plans I’ll have if I don’t make it to JC and then my career.

These few days, my parents have been talking to me about my future. It’s like all serious talk, no joke at all. I’ve never really sit myself down and think about all this, so when they started the talk, I was digesting what they said but somewhere at the back of my mind, it felt wrong because it was coming too fast, like a train along the greens that races against the wind, chucking on those charcoal black tracks. In a way, I don’t really know how to take it from here. Right now, what I should be concentrating on would be chinese O’s which is on the ninth but the talk (let’s just call it “the talk”, it sounds so professional and all) makes all plans of studying for O’s so foreign and distant. I know what I’m suppose to do but at the same time, I don’t. Is this considered as a crisis? If it is, then it must be “The O Crisis”.

Forget that, so Bern introduced me this great singer last last week. The name’s Matt Wertz.
His songs are the best and his voice, it has the soothing effect and somehow makes peace in my heart(: His lyrics are not bad too, it’s meaningful and comforting to hear them out through his voice. I still can’t figure how to put up videos so till the day I figure it out, google those songs and share the joy too!(:

Looking back on the tears would make me laugh

So I cut my hair twice this week:D and yes, all by myself. Okay, my brother was involved too. The first time, I cut my fringe was because I felt it quite irritating since it was too long. The second time, I cut my fringe was because esther said that since my hair’s in a neither short nor long length, I might as well just cut it all short, something like bangs. I did and it turned out awful ’cause it wasn’t straight, it was sooo uneven. This was when my brother took part in my hair cutting exercise which I have done for more than 5 times? Yeah, around there. I told him that I wanted my fringe to be as straight as a ruler, so he really went to take a ruler placed it on my fringe and cut it straight according to the ruler. The aftermath was horrendous but at least it turned out better than if I just left my fringe that way with the means of my destruction. HAHAH:D I don’t even know how to describe myself, I even get traumatised looking at myself in the mirror and I can hear myself screaming inside and outside too. Then I asked my bro, “If you were just some random little boy and not my brother and you see me on the bus with my newly-cut fringe, what would be your first thought?” He replied, “Disgusting.” I just screamed, disgusting?! HAHAH, but it’s all my fault, who can I blame but in the end, we just kept laughing at my dumb fringe and my dumb self for actually being so rash in doing that.

School this morning was just a whole new experience~
When I got out of the car, there was this whole hoard of people who just alighted from the bus at the traffic light and somehow, I felt like all eyes were on me, like everyone was staring at my indescribable fringe, even when we were crossing the road, I could see from my peripheral vision that people were just gawking at me. Gawking is such a word to be used here but that was what came into my mind:D It’s probably just the psychological self-consiousness in me. Stepping in class was just…unbearably funny. HAHAH, I was actually laughing along with so many friends about the great act that I’ve done to my beautiful self (see esther, I just said it, and you realise I neh even blame you about you playing a part in making my fringe in today’s state!) And melberly, she’s fantastic. When we were in the drama studio and we were asking everyone to hurry sit down, she just looked at me and started bursting out in laughter and just kept saying “Your hair, your hair. HAHAHAHAHA” It was endless.

I just spent two paragraphs talking about my hair, I’m so hopeless. I think I’ll be hanging on to this for awhile till the fringe returns to an appropriate and suitable length. Don’t mind me, life will still go on as per normal!(: OH, something else. While on our way home today, meiqi, esther and I were sitting in the bus and we were talking about some serious stuff. I was thinking since today we had reflection day, let’s talk about something more senseless, unrealistic, retarded, foolish, out of the world, unique, never imagined, brainless stuff. I mean, it would all make us feel a little happier after what we had in the day. So we did that and guess what we talked about? MY FRINGE:D “I’ve mang-ed hair” Right, esther and meiqi?(: But, all of this really made me laugh alot and I’m sure everyone was entertained. It’s really one of those happy days where there are no lessons and for once we can just let go of everything and have a good laugh:D

Reflection day.
It was reflective and I realised that I had alot in mind when the session was carried out. Many real life stories were shared and they showed a lot of human compassion and resilience. We always tend to not treasure, truly treasure the things and people we have, only when something tragic happens, when we are met with natural life processes like death. Is it in the human nature for us to do that? I always feel that when I really try to not take things for granted and cherish all that I have in life, I somehow drift away from that path, I end up making mistakes again. Stories and advices have told me enough that I have to be thankful for everything and everyone but I don’t know why and I really want to know why, no matter how many stories or how much advice, I veer away and time again, take my loved ones and friends for granted. Is it really true that I must face something tragic before I get to seriously grab hold of all my friendships and family relations strongly? People always say: Treasure the people you have now, for when at the least unexpected times, you’ll lose them and then regret. But, can we really do that? Can I really do that? It’s not about a person’s character or attitude, but I’m looking at it from human’s nature, something which is just already in us. So, this makes me very confused ’cause each time I say hurtful things to someone, I quarrel with my parents, my grandparents, it makes me feel like a really horrid person ’cause after I calm down and think about it, I realise I didn’t treasure them even though I said I would. Let’s say now, I have this strong surge in me to find out why I can’t do that?

I think I feel confused now, hahah! Besides that lingering question and thought in mind, today’s reflection day was quite a “huge success” for me. I like reflection days and I’m glad our school always have one day reserved for this ’cause every year, at this day, I think about what happened in the year and all that I’ve been through with not just my friends but my family. It may be happy, it may be sad, but all of it strengthened the bond between everyone of us. When the songs were played, my thoughts started drifting back to last year, like what esther said, it was really one of the most memorable years with such fond memories. Some of the things that happened makes me feel regret, some of happiness, some of sadness, some of injustice, some of gratefulness and some of family and some of friendship. Whatever it is, thank you everyone, there are just so many of you to name, for being by my side in supporting me and always giving me hugs whenever I’m down:D

GOODNIGHT, FRIENDS(: It’s a lovely night, tonight, so sec fours, JIAYOU and hang in there, you can do this(:

(I’ve actually quite some more to say, but I’m kind of blinded by too much typed words and the light coming from the computer and probably radiation and all that nonsense, so I’ll stop:D)

A city sparkles in the night.

(Replies to tags are at the bottom so you have to read this long post till the very end before you can see them. Muahah:D)Facebook looks different but I can’t tell which parts changed. But I don’t really like the changes, whatever it is, makes facebook looks so disorganized. My right knee joint is aching which makes me feel like an old grandma.

When I was out this morning with my parents to do grocery shopping, over breakfast, we talked a lot and out of the lots, we started talking about what kind of career I would go for when I hit 20 odd years. My dad said, “Why not be a chef?” and yeah, why not? I’m interested in baking and cooking and when I bake or cook I find pleasure when doing it. I don’t want those 9-5 desk bound jobs or jobs that involves much financing, banking, rigidness etc. I don’t think I can stand myself having to sit on a chair the whole day long, facing the computer and sorting out data, when the clock strikes 12, I go for lunch and when it reaches 1, I get back to that chair till I finish the day’s work. Being a chef is something appealing, fascinating and induces a sense of novelty. Everyday, I can come up with different dishes, invent different baking methods, bake different cakes. The thing about cooking and baking is that you don’t necessarily have to act accordingly to the cook book, you can add in anything you want. It’s all about trying and experimenting till you find the perfect ingredients for your cake or dish; just like life. We never know what will happen unless we try, we never know how our different decisions will affect our life unless we try. Those different ingredients we add into our cake mixture are like failures and successes in our lives. When we add in something sour, the cake might turn out sour; when we add in something sweet, the cake might turn out sweet. Some like sweet cakes while others like sour cakes (I’ve never really tasted a sour cake, and I’ll try it one day!), so the course of everyone’s lives are very different. No one life is the same as another, but one life is as precious as another. It’s all about how and what we do in our life which we make it fulfilling and satisfying for ourselves.

It’s through all the tries that we learn how to get certain things done or overcome certain obstacles; like the many times that we put in different ingredients into our cakes. Not every time, we get our desired outcome, but we do learn from them, we learn how to appreciate the people around us, be thankful for what we have, we learn how to be a friend for our friends, we learn how to study hard etc. I like it when I’m being reflective and thinking again, right now, I have thoughts in my mind that is in need for some sorting and typing all this out makes me feel better inside(: So, let’s say my options mainly consist of being a farmer or chef!

We had guides yesterday but esther couldn’t go ’cause of her dental appointment and in the end, I didn’t go for it too. I didn’t skip (according to wanting/christine, skip is a more “high class” term for pon. hahah) guides okay, I did something for my house! GREEN! The girl who was suppose to run for thousand five heats was absent yesterday, so gracia asked me if I was willing to take her place. At first, I didn’t want to ’cause firstly, I wasn’t in the right attire (guides uni + 2 braided pigtails) secondly, it was eons since I seriously and dilligently ran rounds. But in the end, gracia helped me find pants while maan lent me her spare pe shirt. The pants that gracia found was triple s:sss, and I was like “OH MY GOSH, I CAN’T FIT IN THAT, SO SMALL” Do you know how small a person’s butt must be to fit in that? hahah, so I got pants from wanqi but still, gracia thanks for the effort:D

I went for thousand five and I thought I wouldn’t live to see today.
The run was really tough, after one round, my vision was blurring and I didn’t really know what was happening, except for all the cheers coming from the specs stand. I was so convinced to stop myself ’cause my heart was beating too fast, my stomach was in a mad churn, my head was exploding and my legs were numb, but when I heard people cheering me on, I told myself, it’s for my house, so come on, just run and get this over and done with. And that was what I did, and I’m glad I did that(: When you feel like your body can’t take the run anymore and like you want to collapse, hearing your friends cheering on for you really served as a motivation to push yourself even further and to complete the race. Thank you, dear friends(:

After the run, I knew my face was drained of colour, probably looking like a ghost. I was feeling really terrible, I wanted to vomit but it wouldn’t come up, I felt myself twirling around in circles voluntarily, like I didn’t have control over my body. I wanted so badly to sit down, and they didn’t allow me to, but I know it was for my own good. So, thanks ying ying, shiting, elaine, ruth and other people that my brain was unable to process any faces to match with the names(: Thanks maan, bern and mok too(: Maan and bern had to go back for training so mok stayed with me at the water cooler area near the MEP rooms. I slept on the floor for around half and hour while mok fanned me. Though the floor was hard but I am so thankful for at least having ground to sleep on. After I woke up, had quite a talk with mok and we did clear up certain misunderstandings that we had in the past. For now, I just hope, let’s forget about the past, let bygones be bygones and just move on from here. Friendships do consist a past but for unpleasant memories of the past, shall we learn to let go and appreciate what we share in this friendship now, in the present? And mok, don’t worry ’bout your mum, give her some more time to accept this whole thing. It may take one day, one week or maybe even a few years but however long the time she takes, I’m sure she also wants to look at you, her beautiful child, clearly and to love you wholeheartedly regardless of what happened. Let’s patiently wait for her scar to heal and no matter what, believe that she loves you, always believe that(: You can do it(:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TOH SHI TING:D
Hey, lovely friend!
Like what I’ve said in the sms, you’ve been a really great friend:D Though you do suan me (always), I still enjoy the time that we’ve all spent together, like yesterday after we got our geog papers back, you stood up and mouthed those words, to ask me if I was okay and then we sat there and counted 1,2,3 and say the marks that we had for papers which we failed etc. You make recess fun-ner for all of us, you make stupid comments which make us laugh, you like to be the quiet girl at the side eating your pizza and laugh during funny moments, you are always smiling and encouraging me, especially during the EOY period, you are always happy when you see me, just like thursday, you shouted my name so loudly when you saw me at the stairs, and yes I know how excited you were to see me etc. HAHAH! So, cheers to our friendship and may you have a happy fifteenth!:D

Tag replies:

Esther]
The new skin’s nice right? I love it, simple and clean. What has my changing of skin, got to do with ai de li liang? Where’s the ai? You ah, oh my geese.

Mok]
You are welcome and thanks for yesterday(:

Yumin]
Guten tag, Lim Yu Min!:D
You miss me? Exams were terrible): We even got back our papers already which makes it even worse. mag means like? So you like talking to me? HAHA, I can barely remember my german:p

Tay]
Hey Giraffe! Wo, how did you remember the link? haha, neway, I’m glad you remembered and tagged here(: Yeah yeah, that colouful paper, I know you meant every word you wrote and as for the one you have, I also mean everything that I wrote there(: When we turn seventeen, like what you said, we shall take it out and read it together and laugh at these good old times:D I was touched(: & friend, your presence is enough, you3 xin1 jiu4 hao3(: FIGHT!

Deep down, I feel.

Today just isn’t that kind of sunny nice days, it was cloudy and cold.
Getting back those papers was just a killer, especially a.math. It was so bad, although I’ve already expected that kind of marks but seeing it penned down in red ink makes things worse than knowing the mark in your head. When Mrs Seah asked “Is it my problem? Don’t cry.”, I knew, I knew I let her down. She was on the verge of saying sorry for my results. But Mrs Seah, it’s really not your fault. You did so much for us, you dedicated so much time to us to just answer our endless questions, you entertained us anytime we needed you, you never got impatient with us, you answered us with all earnest, you encouraged us when our tests didn’t turn out well, you did everything for us, in the way you deemed was the most beneficial for us. Instead, I’m sorry for letting you down in this way, for getting such rubbish marks so don’t say sorry, Mrs Seah. As a teacher, you’ve actually done more than what you are asked to, you were great.

I expected more for physics, so much more but in the end, it turned out like that. It’s really not true that input=output, it doesn’t happen in this way all the time. I cannot stand and comprehend my inconsistency in physics, and once again, I didn’t even have the face to see Mrs Khong. After the E.lit workshop, I was just stoning my way home, of course I was sad, but it was more of being reflective of today’s happenings. Thanks Bern for allowing us not to talk throughout the bus ride(: I really need time by myself to think of all these, to find out why it’s so messed up.

I wasn’t scared of telling my mum the results for fear that she would scold me but more of she getting disappointed. Disappointment can sometimes be so much harder to accept than anger from someone. Someone scolds you, you get irritated and after a while, we all get over it but for disappointment, it pricks on the conscience, it makes me feel bad. When I told her my results, I could tell she wasn’t happy but that wasn’t the thing which bothered me it was her other reaction which did. She didn’t scold, she didn’t shout, she didn’t insult but she was harsh. Harshness that was beyond the superficial meaning, she understood me. For the first time, I knew my mum really knew how I was feeling. She knew I was feeling very bad about my results and though she did rubbed salt in the wound like what most parents would out of concern for their children, she encouraged me and gave me a hug, which made me even more sad. Mum, thank you for the hug. It really meant alot to me. Even though you were harsh, but at that point of time, unlike other times, I knew you were really knocking sense into me and telling me all sorts of things that you did to prepare for your Os and As and I didn’t hate the fact for you doing so. I appreciate that very much, it was like a mother instinct for you to do all that for your daughter and the mere presence of you being here for me is really enough for me to feel better. I really felt much better telling you how I feel and you being there to just listen to me, about how I feel about my studies and to spent your time to analyze with me what went wrong, I feel fortunate. Although you were so worried for my lousy grades, you still asked me to have confidence in myself and to even say this “You’ll get that A or B as long as you want to. Papa and I will always believe in you.” My mum dislikes her children to cry in front of her, in terms for results, but this time round, she let me cry to my heart’s content though my eyes were so weary from all that crying in school, my lips so dried and my face just so emotionless. But, of course, she said that I could cry but after that I got to move on. For now, I just need a time out but very soon, I will move on.

Qihong, Esther, Ruth: Let’s do this together, we’ll stand up strong again after this and brace ourselves for anymore storms and typhoons. We can do this, it’s neither taking a gamble or a risk ’cause I know we are capable of maximizing our potential further. We’ll get by this fall, support one another, encourage one another, help one another, listen to one another and stand up stronger than before(: Yvette, Bern, Meiqi, Mok: Thanks for your hugs/encouragement/cries with me etc, it definitely made me feel better in little but impactful ways(: