domenica, giugno 26, 2005
simple kind of lovely
sunrise 
and the sun sure took its own sweet time to come out. it was amazing just seeing the sky changing colour bit by bit, lightening gradually , seeing the burnished reddish-orange tinge just at the horizon, followed by a pale yellow hue, thn light blue... and literally witnessing the sun rays shining forth. the sea at low tide was reflecting the sky, sparkling a pale ale colour. clouds formed funny shapes, and glowed a bright magenta whilst the sun hid behind it. We breathed in the fresh chilly air, and spotted the morning birds tht came out to feed as the world slowly woke up. when the small fiery red disc finally made its daily journey out from under the horizon, we felt its warmth awash all over us. a new day, had begun.
yesterday was, in a word, madness...
kk, starting from the beginning, the wedding part 1 was BoRinG. argh, realized i shld have gone for paintball instd. tht's cos the groom came over for my cousin at 6.45 am in the morning (whilst i was still happily snuggled up in my bed), which meant tht by the the time my family reached my aunt's place, we had missed all the fun. (heh, heard the girlfriends made the brothers strip.) oh well. had a decent catered buffet lunch there b4 we proceeded to take lotsa photos by order of the photographer. it was then i kinda realized that weddings don't just involve the 2 lovebirds fullstop, we have their direct families, their respective maternal, paternal sets of grandparents... extended families. more on that for part 2.
well was initially heading for evan's place aftr tht, b4 i realized how FAR kovan was. might have joined them anyway if there wasn't a class chalet aftr tht, but it really didn't make sense for me to travel all the way dwn the purple NEL line just to spend a lil while with thm b4 heading all the way to Pasir Ris, end of green line. -_- so told m i wasn't gg afterall at the last momment,*phew* lucky he wasn't pissed, feeling tht tinge of guilt cos plans to meet always get shoved 4 some reason or another due to me. aiya, whatever. so i went on for my chalet anyhow, and lucky i chose to do so, cos i heard the guys wound up clubbing at chinablack, drinking themselves to a hangover this morning. these pple really have too much $ to spare. *scratches head* clubbing that fun meh? i suppose i'll nvr understand.
haha.. tht's when the fun started. bbq was great, sadly, we had more food thn people, and everyone was so full by thn end of it. cheese prawns rock!!!! mmm. really think our class bbq-ing skills are wonderful. food's always edible, and really tasty too, lol. was nice seeing keong & co again, haha... basically this time it's their clique plus the few of us, had different stuff to catch up on. michelia got drunk. played the silly number game to finish up the last box of peranakan kueh tht agnes brought.
bikes had been rented for night cycling.$15 per bike!!!!!! so we swore to ride our money's worth. haha... and we sure did cycled throughout the night. haha. with breaks in btw of course, but time did seem to fly by. gosh. am suffering from butt-aches again!!!! ow ow ow, i nd cushiony seats. it really is fun cycling at nite, air's really cold, you can hardly see where you are going, you get lost easily, and if you happen to be the last in the group your imagination tends to run wild. plus the fact that everything seems to look the same at nite, we were cycling in pasir ris park which i think is slightly more interesting thn east coast.
thn arnd midnite we headed to the bowling centre and i watched whilst they bowled, didn't feel like spending anymore $. grin, but it was amusing watching everyone, esp hz's flintstone style of bowling, lol. tht lasted till 2am plus, and we headed out for more *sweatdrop* cycling after that. geez, and who should i bump into but sim and m's brother!!! sucha small world and he was like " eh, what are u doing here, my bro went all the way to kovan to wait for you?!" freak, make me feel so guilty, but was qte certain they didn't have to wait, cos they were still on their way when i sms-ed. both guys were like happily smoking away. sheesh -_-. haha, anyway, they asked for our chalet no. cos they wanted to drop by to "see the hot chicks". *rolls eyes* heh, anyway my phone wasn't with me and ended up with 4 missed calls fr thm aftr i returned to the chalet from cycling, and by thn they were driving to chinablack.
well. did lotsa silly stuff, sat the swings, and mich's bike's tyre got punctured by a nail. really suay, of all things to happen!!! haha... so jacq and hz shared a bike "qiu1 tian1 de2 tong2 hua4" style, and its times like these you are thankful for a petite, dainty girlfriend. =p we took turns exchanging bikes and so on, crashed downtown's 24hr macs for a shot of caffeine arnd 3-4plus. refused to return to our chalet for the fear of falling aslp, so we stayed out. haha... we had intended to catch the sunrise.. and literally spent the ENTIRE NIGHT waiting for it.
cycled to this part of the park where the view was superb, spent our time chatting and waiting.
ah, i'm lazy abt details... can read mich's acct at her blog if you want.
Gemstar blogged on 6/26/2005 11:25:00 PM
venerdì, giugno 24, 2005
grrrrrr.
be warned, this will be a postful of rants.
this is the... 4th time i'm online cos i've got absoloutely nothing to do today!!! no plans at all. *sob* okay so maybe there were, i'm supposed to have a driving slot later, but i try-sold it successfully cos i kinda realized i hafta go on a rate of 1 lesson per wk now, since the earliest date i can take my ftt is 12 jul!!!!!
fast fact : bbdc students can only book their pract test dates 1) only aftr they've completed all pract lessons. 2) only aftr they've passed their ftt.
so i have to go slow even though techinally, i can finish up all the pract lessons in 1 day if i get to book 5 slots in a day. Just 5 slots more and i'm done with all my practs!!!! horror of horrors, looks like i can't get my license b4 uni starts afterall. sian
i hate the circuit though. Just can't shake of the sneaky suspicion tht my previous successful attempts at parallel and vertical parking were tyco! for one, i can't tell if my car's straight! and i can't seem to return the steering fast enough when it supposedly is, so it winds up slanted anyhow. =/ tht just means i'm bloody inconsistent, you kinda want a 100% success rate when doing such stuff, not on-off, sometimes can- sometims cannot kinda situations. And your instructor sorta assumes you can do it, cos you succeeded on your 1st attempt.. i need more drilling !! and... i keep forgetting abt lane discipline, blind-spot checks, and exactly when i nd to "park" and pull my handbrake up. (apparently the directional change one dun need)
tomorrow, will be my cousin huijun's wedding, PART 1. PART 2, aka banquet dinner will be on sunday. so exciting! we'll all be going over to my aunt's place, and come the auspicious hour, her prince charming will arrive to pick her up. ah, fairy tales of yore. I just kinda realized i'll be part of the jie2mei4 tuan2 *rubs hands with glee* Wondering how raucous her friends will be though, and what predicaments they'll get the groom into before he's allowed to see his bride. muaha. i love the excitement.. Weddings are such joyous, fun, lovely, touching, beautiful... momment-of-a-lifetime events. Am truly happy for her.
takes a deep breath. I was supposed to join the fellas for a paintball session in jurong too, tmr. BUT, cldn't, of course due to the family commitments. *sigh* i was sorta looking forward to it. so, instead, i'll be joining m's friends after their paintball game at some chill-out gathering session at evan's place. which will be damn weird, cos 1, i hardly know these blokes, 2, i dun even know m tht well in the 1st place. and i dun fancy spending my time at some guy's place with half-drunk (i sure hope they won't drink tht much!!!!!) ns guys. this is a cry for help, shld you see this, whoever's free at 630pm tmr, come with me! i miss my cousin, if she were in sg, i'd at least have the company...
oh ya. and we're supposedly having a class bbq tmr too, which i really wanna go. maybe i shld clone myself.
something tells me that i'll be stoning all sunday though. of all days that i'm totally free... everybody always choose saturdays to meet up. bah.
Gemstar blogged on 6/24/2005 03:15:00 PM
lunedì, giugno 20, 2005
BrewerKz, Huacheng's 20th !
L-R a) "formal" shot. b) & c) Becks, HC bottoms up. d) Jh and shan wishes everyone a happy new yr!! lol, dun they look adorable? e) The bday boy with his beer taster set. f) MY gigantic curry puff, or calzone as it is known. g)Me and Hc. h) Shan advertising for ketchup. i) Final grp photo!
The salad's the focus of the pict acty. Voted the most exciting dish, muaha. why? haha.. you should have seen the contorted expressions of disgust whenever someone kenna-ed the blue cheese inside. Poor bear happily shoved a mouthful of it down, thinking it was scrambled eggs, lol. From thn on, every piece of vege was scrutinized before pronounced edible. haha, i tried a lil bit, and find it ok actually, very salty, smells weird, but it has this blue-berry aftertaste which is qte interesting. fermented sweetness? guess its an acquired taste. You can also see hc's pork loin which was really gd! and abit of shan's chocolate fudge-cake's strawberry sauce deco. haha.
We hijacked one of the "reserved" cosy corners for a while to take this shot. is it me or are the plates glowing?
Aftr ending dinner, we spotted this wee lil caucasion boy who thought he was a monkey. haha... he had clambered up one of lamp-posts by the singapore river!!! *sweatdrop* so dangerous, tsktsk but damn cute!! his exasperated mum was trying to coax him dwn. tried to take a photo, but pity it was too dark. and the damn flash went on! aaah so paiseh.
we headed over to orchard green after tht in an attempt to catch the last bits of rock on singapore. as we made our way towards the stage shan shocked the whole grp of us when she stepped into the mud and started wailing like a kid. haa, oh no. cldn't help myself but laugh tho... we met xw and xm! so we just sat arnd abit chatting and listening to the band, tiet? was in chinese, more mandopop thn rock (mandoprock?) at times, think mayday, powerstation style... hahaa.. but me, jh and becks were really laughing at a few of the songs and this sole enthusiastic female fan. oops, so mean. =p but perf wise they were qte decent, preferred the vocals of the guy on keyboards tho, i liked "zou ba" yup. didn't get to finish watching the last band, was too heavy metal for my taste, but mostly cos we saw huacheng conked out on the mat *huge sweatdrop* so all of us decided to catch the last train back. pity we didn't get to hear the other bands, but t'was fun la. *satisfied smile*
Gemstar blogged on 6/20/2005 03:10:00 PM
mercoledì, giugno 15, 2005
Craving
i've got a craving for turkish food.
a frozen ice-kacang sized mango margarita.
as well as chocolate fondue.
strawberries+ marshmellows sticks dipped into a CHOCOLATE FOUNTAIN.
i swear i can feel my waistline expand just thinking abt all those. the cravings were induced when i asked shijiono-san's advice for gd makan places in singapore.
shinjiono: i cheated.
shinjiono: didn't dip the strawberries or marshmallows in
me: WAIT. lemme guess..!
shinjiono: held a cup under the chocolate fountain.
me: omg. i was abt to say tht.
me: lol..crazy fella!
shinjiono: yea, the waitress was giving me weird looks all the while.
*laughs*
aaaah. chocolate fountain, where art thou?
okie, in case u might have the moolah..treat me give it a try!! chocolate buffet at fullerton costs $30+++, while shangrila's The Line buffet is inclusive of dessert (plus the amazing choc fountain!), at a hefty $60+++ per person. go ahead, thn make me envious talking abt it.
Gemstar blogged on 6/15/2005 10:02:00 PM
martedì, giugno 14, 2005
Directional CHANGE this earned me 1 miserable chop.sigh. =/ anw, the instructor asked me to write this dwn somehwere, lest i forget, so here it is, complete with illustration.
1) Once door handle passes kerb, Left full-lock, turn in. Return steering, once car straightens. Low speed cntrl at all times.
2) Stop, and change to R gear once shoulder is at 2+1/4 kerb mark, signal RIGHT, do all checks, inch car backwards slightly, Right full-lock FAST. LOOK like a safe driver, make more checks.
3) Pause, step on brake, turn head to check behind before further reversing into lot. HOPEFULLY, car goes in without any mishaps. 1ce car straightens, return steering FAST.
4) stop once side mirror covers kerb. check, right side of car nearer to kerb thn left. shift gear to D, signal left, forward, left full-lock once door handle passes kerb!
Note to self : MUST get it right, correctional procedures are a nightmare.*wails*
Did you know? The world's most famous expressway is in Germany, known as the Autobahn. It is the only highway in the world with NO SPEED LIMIT. recommended speed of travel there?= 130 km/hr! here, my friends, is where you can test the limits of your sports car. NOT in puny singapore, where owning a ferrari = you big showoff. Speed limit here is 90km/h max, and tht's only on CERTAIN parts of the expressway. nyah.
Gemstar blogged on 6/14/2005 12:48:00 AM
domenica, giugno 12, 2005
NewsflasH
sr got off the LOST island!!! yay!
Gemstar blogged on 6/12/2005 10:03:00 PM
sabato, giugno 11, 2005
Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego Everybody?
These days have been exceptionally... mundane, cos just abt everybody i know who's NOT working is overseas, leaving me all alone in Singapore. boo. cuz's flying off to NZ tmr, malcom is currently in Taiwan, Vi, Gin and co enjoying their beach bumming holiday in redang + penang, oh and xm is in china, and el has left for cameron highlands!!!
speaking of which, i've travelled 3% of the world yay! haha. okay. so i cheated, Finland isn't eactly on the list, cos we were only in their airport for transit. =p well... it has always been my dream to travel the world!!! shit, and i just realized this IS the best chance for us to go backpacking, cept there's no1 to go with.. herm... maybe during the uni summer hols.
create your own visited country map
or check our Venice travel guide
so highlights were the week were.. erm catching Madgascar i like to move it move it... you like to... MOVE IT ! omg, i love those evil penguins.
penguin1: cute and cuddly boys, cute and cuddly.
watched LOST's pilot episode on tele. Very exciting and suspenseful, really gave me the creeps!! aah. played the online version of their game,
I am Lost. be warned, the sound effects are freaky. nearly jumped outta my skin each time, but i suppose u'll hafta watch the show to get tht kinda psychological after-effect. Can't get myself off the island, anyone has any idea? The game's kinda styled like takagahi's Crimson Room, and Viridian Room. You go round collecting random items and utilize thm to make your escape. so far i've got the medicine bottle, handcuffs, sedatives, eucalyptus, axe, toy plane, wire, metal, battery, bottle rocket , transceiver.... not in this order of course, visited abt 8-9 sites i think.
went swimming with xiaowei and my cuz at the bkt batok swimming pool on wed,and crashed the kids play area. lol. "there's water everywhere!" collected my a level cert from nj on thurs. haha. i kinda like the new colour scheme of the building... white, bamboo green and erm grey. about time. i prefer white much more than gray!! the canteen was pretty much non-existent tho, undergoing renovation, no tables, no benches, and the floor's toally stripped bare of tiles. Had a short tennis session at el's place, b4 it rained on us. bummer.
Gemstar blogged on 6/11/2005 04:03:00 PM
domenica, giugno 05, 2005
grandfather stories
It was a busy morning, approximately 8:30 am, when an elderly gentleman, in his 80's, arrived to have stitches removed from his thumb. He stated that he was in a hurry as he had an appointment at 9:00 am. I saw him looking at his watch and decided, since I was not busy with another patient, I would evaluate his wound. On exam it was well healed, so I talked to one of the doctors, got the needed supplies to remove his sutures and redressed his wound.
While taking care of his wound, we began to engage in conversation.
I asked him if he had an important appointment that morning, as he was in such a hurry. The gentleman told me no, that he needed to go to the nursing home to eat breakfast with his wife. I then inquired as to her health. He told me that she had been there for a while and that she was a victim of Alzheimer Disease. As we talked, and I finished dressing his wound, I asked if she would be worried if he was a bit late.
He replied that she no longer knew who he was, that she had not recognized him in five years now. I was surprised, and asked him. "And you still go every morning, even though she doesn't know who you are?"
He smiled as he patted my hand and said."She doesn't know me, but I still know who she is."
I had to hold back tears as he left, I had goose pimples on my arm, and thought, "That is the kind of love I want in my life."
True love is neither physical, nor romantic.
True love is an acceptance of all that is, has been, will be, and will not be.
"The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the best of everything that comes along their way."
"Life is what we make it, always has been, always will be."
Happiness doesn't depend on what u have but what u are satisfied & contented with.
Try looking at the simple side of life, don't make life around you so complicated. It's how you make others happy rather than how you want others to make you happy.
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just something i'd like to share with everyone-else. i realize, it's true, i do think too much at times, and complicate matters with my over-analysis of issues. gd luck to me, i'm determined to find tht pin in the ocean. lol, those who've spoken to me recently will know wad i mean.
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StepS Had my 1st class at amore's today, i must say it feels good to sweat it all out, i never knew wrkouts like these were so tiring!!! of course, being the psycho-motor skills deficient me,i fumbled thru some of the steps, only got the hang of it till only later, but yea.. had a great time definitely.hmm, shld i try kickboxing next? or pilates? madness, i saw pple chiong-ing the gym rite aftr the class. how do they find such motivation?? *scratches head in puzzlement*
& there were 3...
well, me huishan and xiaowei WOKE UP to attnd our slacking cum pizza session at her hse. And i was rushing cos i thought i was late. Guess i don't blame the guys, it's rare tht they get the chance to slp in. Tho honestly, i think we kinda got pretty -_- waiting, and waiting till they finally showed their faces at arnd 1? 2 hrs! plus shaun was summore proclaiming the nite b4 tht he'd reach in time!! haha, shaun. =p heh. i dbt we'll have this kinda random outings in the near future, save for special occasions. it's just hard getting everyone together,and the conversations we have pretty much are dried up, although shaun was really decoding/explaining all the army stuff to us just now. hc and bear had funny stories too, smuggling yoghurt and bananas, of all things, laughed like mad when i heard thm. heh bear postulates tht all us girls will get attached by the end of this year and we'll forget all abt thm. we'll just see abt tht, herm. maintaining friendships does take the time and effort on everyone's part, 1 person can only do so much. i do suppose our priorities will change, and who you choose to spend the time with then will change too, but tht doesn't mean that tht's the end of what we've shared before? good things grow with time my dears, we'll eventually hafta give each other the room and space to become strangers; to change, to meet new pople, have new experiences and so on. it just means we'll have lots more to tell and catch up on when we finally get to meet up!!! meanwhile, we just cherish the time we can spend together.
03s15 bbq It felt nice seeing all those familiar faces again, heh, kinda like, reuniting with a long-lost family? they really made me feel welcomed, although i was only with them for the 1st 3 months? waited for vi for like abt 40 mins before he turned up!!!! -_- karma at wrk agn i suppose. thn met qingning, roxy and jingling at the interchg. took 401, missed our stop, got lost and walked and walked and walked and walked (you get the picture) b4 we reached bbq pit no. 7!! haha... by tht time most of thm were there... an amazing turnout of 19 pple!!!! and considering those who cldn't make it were the scholars overseas, it was mighty successful. sigh. i feel ashamed of our class. everyone's so cliquish, till now it's so hard to get the entire class tog?! Like, nobody bothers to make the extra effort to set the time aside to acty turn up. And honestly, just tired of hearing all their reasons... poor michelia always get tht kinda crap, being the organizer and all, really hafta thank her for her efforts. yup. pity i had to leave the bbq early, heard they all had fun with the pink ball! lol. pictures alwyn with a serious expression of concentration on his face, deboning the chicken drumsticks with his scalpel (knife), while roxy with her mask on, turning the sticks of food on the bbq it was damn amusing, they both sure looked as though they were in the midst of an surgery, the surgeon with his assistant.
soba dinner, tcc lol, when i hang out with the girls, i always feel as though i'm hanging out with the tai-tais in training. TTIT for short. haa.. sounds vaguely vulgar. well, we went to paragon, had our dinner at the jap soba restaurant there, the soba was gd!!!! yup, thn WINDOW-shopped in the area miss60, diesel... blah blah.ended with dessert at tcc, which was heavenly. haha.. esp becky's triple chocolate ala mode. it sure was... sweetly sinful. i have this disclaimer to make. i am so NOT a tai-tai, a foodie, yes... a traveller, maybe. but i hardly ever shop at all, and i don't go for brands, in case you haven't noticed. just mildly annoyed when pple label me. *narrows eyes* though if u want to spot all those taitais and rich lil girls, paragon's THE place to be, you see thm dressed head to toe in Dior and the like.
Gemstar blogged on 6/05/2005 11:36:00 PM
giovedì, giugno 02, 2005
all out.
After numerous days of soliciting advice from ex-colleagues, seniors, friends, and even the Kuan Yin Goddess (but tht's another story to tell), I regretfully remain a highly confused individual. i've tried it all ; attending talks, contemplating, brooding, eeny-meeny-monying with my tongue stuck out and eyes crossed (alrite, i didn't really do that.), going to bed early so tht maybe i might catch a glimpse of my future in my dreams... Every well-meaning effort, intended or not has come to naught. so...
i finally mustered the courage to click on one of the options at the joint acceptance website, and chose the bbm+bacc one for SMU.
I effectively have 4 days left, my future's at stake, and i'm still somewhat uncomfortable. Actually nearing hysterics is closer to what i have in mind, so much so that if another person asks me "so have you decided?" I might very well explode and lambast a "MYOFB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" at the poor innocent fella.
Henceforth, i've decide to heed elisa's advice, that is, to click on one of them and see i have any regrets aftr 24 hrs. if not, the tribe has spoken and there i'll be.
p.s the small print there is for my own reference, also in case i eventually change my mind. kids, do learn from me and not repeat my mistakes of such utter indecisveness.
Gemstar blogged on 6/02/2005 02:13:00 PM
