Sunday, July 31, 2005
today at ypg was a special students session. special workshops were available for us to attend. the sec 3 and 4s attended workshops on the revised A-level cirriculum and polytechnic experience. the JC students and us attended the one on university experience. then there were workshops on studying effectively, working with people on projects, and planning a study timetable.
i, together with most of the uni students, attended the university experience conducted by peiyong, louisa, michelle, siyu and tr. chung han. the JC people asked questions pertaining to uni life and hall life and courses and universities. tr. chung han shared his overseas uni experience and took a verse from proverbs.
"There are many plans in a man’s heart,
Nevertheless the LORD’s counsel—that will stand."or the NIV translation
"Many are the plans in a man's heart,
but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails."proverbs 19:21
how true is it, that it is the Lord's purpose that prevails. we may have so many plans for ourselves. i had many plans for myself. to be a doctor, forensic scientist, vet, musician, dancer (haha~), actor, writer, teacher. but in the end, it's His purpose for us, His plans for us that matter. sometimes i do get too caught up with getting the things i want and doing the things i want to do. but have learnt to be still and just listen to God.
next workshop was working with people on projects, conducted by tr. chen kee and assisted by tr. aileen. it was quite enlightening as i never really thought about it, but the intricacies (is that how u spell it?) of working in a team is complicated. especially when personalities and values clash and conflicts arise. i thought this really spoke to my heart, having encountered unpleasant experiences working with difficult people for projects, as well as my current problems with my new room-mate and new neighbours. sometimes it gets so irritating and frustrating when u meet free-loaders, lazy, irresponsible skivers who conveniently absent themselves from project meetings and refuse to do their part for the project and we end up doing their share but they get the same grade as us.
indignant? you bet.
so tr. chen kee came up with a triangle. at the top vertice is the project, which is the focus of all the team members. on the left bottom vertice is self. first, you must know yourself. know what you bring into the group. are u domineering or a submissive? type A or B personality? then the right bottom vertice is others. is there a clash of personalities? are there 2 domineering characters? these group dynamics are essential for a healthy working environment. and bringing christian values into the picture, in order to be a good testimony in such a sticky situation, where our inner devil comes into light as we start to feel irritated and frustrated...yes we are all human...
"Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace."James 3:13-18
such frustration is earthly, sensual, and demonic. but wisdom from above is pure, peaceable, without partiality and hypocrisy. and whatever horrid things come your way, just reach out to the Lord, pray for a peaceful mind and do good work for the glory of the Lord. even if it means doing a part of the project that was supposed to be done by someone else. because, ultimately, the project must be done. the show must go on.
it really spoke to my heart. =)
then our last workshop was by tr. chung han. how to plan a study timetable! and i think his way is super effective if you really dilligently keep to it. i shall attempt to be disciplined and try his way this semester. with the Lord's help of course.
then pastor mitch gave a short message, sharing from daniel 1. how daniel was a brilliant student and how his faithfulness saw him through many times.
learnt a lot today. after the message we headed downstairs for a light dinner, featuring yummy food! as always. fellowshipped with other uni students over dinner. was nice. gave justina a ride home. had a really nice talk with her about friends. friends with different ethics, morals and values. extremely sticky subject. advised her to talk to her sunday sch tr. about it. don't worry jus! just commit it to the Lord and He'll see you through it all. =)
again, am so amazed at His everlasting grace.
This girl posted at 12:39 AM
Saturday, July 30, 2005
testing my new flickr account, which lets you blog from the photo sharing site itself! how cool is that. ok i;m sua ku for discovering this so late. thanks to carlene for intro-ing me.
anyway this is khee cong and louisa with me at the steamboat place. =)
This girl posted at 2:03 AM
first week of school is over.
i don't really know what to think. just that i have 5 core modules to worry about. doesn't seem like an easy semester to get through. with physiology, microbiology, advance cell biology, experimental methods in biology and biostatistics.... it's gonna be mentally challenging.
with regards to school life, once my term finishes, i'm probably not continuing with WSC's VM and PnP. honestly i love working with my VM people. they're really a fun bunch of people and i have so much fun planning and executing the 3 events. which were successful events by the way. i'll sure miss working with them. PnP is just boring. sorry to say but that's just me. i'm staying with RSP youth of course. being centre head sure has tons of admin to do. oh well~ expected. my union orientation camp just wrapped up. wondering if i should join some committee just for fun. ministerial forum sounds good. wait for the recruitment drive and see lah~ and i really feel like writing to NTU tribune. it's really so bad within one minute of reading the latest issue of tribune i spotted 2 mistakes!! freshie became fresher. and the age-old mistake of comprises of!! mdm. lim will be so proud of me for remembering comprise is not followed by any preposition. and just to compare...nanyang chronicle has no such baby mistakes.
side note: this issue of nanyang chronicle, sam's interviewed for his backpacking trip! and in the accompanying magazine, he writes an article about relationships and i got quoted! haha~ yes and i helped him gather more quotes from hall friends over msn and they got published too! so exciting.
continuing with school life...i feel that i should maybe be more enthusiastic in hall and school, having being quite anti-social in 1st year = not gg for any school/hall FOCs and not joining any subcomms in hall/school. maybe i should join and know more people!
so year 2's gonna be quite interesting. and i just applied for a single room. due to many reasons which i shall not disclose here. hopefully i get it!
anyway welcome carnival was good! there were lots of useful stalls selling many pretty things. i bought..let's see...
4 pairs of nice earrings
2 necklaces
1 bracelet
1 hair-tie
1 skirt
in my defence, they were really cheap! nothing i bought was above $10. even the skirt! the skirt was $10! and we bargained! so it was nice. hee~ nice job students' union's comm for welcome carnival. =)
and i was tempted to get the laser printer and speakers. but didn't in the end...so sad. and i went by the Lime booth and got free DIR hair dye and moisturizer (which i gave sam cos i already have). cool. and it was ms. ng manning the booth. got to know her thru' UOC stuff. and she was one of the judges for the pageant.
sam is in a crazy i-want-to-bake-cookies mode. everyone is either very surprised that a 22-year-old guy is baking, or they are very awwwwww....and u-have-such-a-sweet-boyfriend mode. so yeah~ his cookies are not bad. but can be much better. use less sugar, more flour and butter, and use unsweetened chocolate chips.
after he baked cookies with his sis today (no i didnt bake it with him 'cos i had a hilarious lecture on biostats with KC lun). we went to maxwell to eat at his friend's husband's stall! haha~ it's nice! actually his friend is now my friend also lah~ she's real nice and funny. then went to east coast to sit at the breakwater and talk. was nice.
only grouse is when school gets into full swing. i'll become busy. he'll become even more busy. =(
oh well. even now 1st week of school i'm swamped with wsc and union stuff. ok..not really...but i'd expect less of that! it's the 1st week of school mahhh.....
This girl posted at 1:18 AM
Thursday, July 28, 2005
school starts!
i don't sound as happy as those 2 words look.
blogging from sam's room using sam's laptop. moving into hall was quite a breeze. just had to clean up the room. it was super dusty. new room-mate. miss louisa and her quirkiness. especially when i see her today as i had dinner with my tj friends. haha~ i sound like i have lesbian tendencies.
no i don't.
ok let's see. monday went to
school for 2 lectures. as usual...boring... sigh. how to get through the term? was such a nice sight seeing my school friends again. and sitting with them during lectures and going for breaks together. or andrea renchun and i had lunch at the relatively new cafe by the quad, which is located just a stone's throw away from my school. =) food is not bad too!
carlene and renchun got me
bday gifts. thanks a lot my dears! ETA: so did ivan caiqun melody and louisa... =)
then went back to
hall to unpack and see sam. was again, nice to see my hall friends. had dinner at jurong point with them. then went NTUC to pick up groceries and do some housekeeping. returned to hall, bathe blah blah. then i watched the season finale episode of CSI on sam's laptop! somehow he got it. u know how. so i didn't need to catch the repeat on AXN over the weekend. it was gooddd..... like CSI under a great director and story-teller.
tuesday. left hall for
gotham penthouse - venue for my
union FOC pageant. i was there super early to rehearse my emcee-ing duties. then i helped them set up and pack goodie bags and crap around. then it was time to change, do makeup and hair! think the hair people really overdid my hair. but the emcee experience was one of a kind. i never knew i could pull it off. especially since it was a clubbing event and i'm not a clubbing person. but the adrenaline kicked in and i had a really wacky co-host. so that pretty much did it. after we wrapped up the pageant it was time to dance! but i felt strange dancing without alcohol in my system. ha~ so i managed to convince a very nice alex, my AGL to buy me a margarita on the rocks. thanks dude. =) and even though it was one drink, together with previous adrenaline, dance somemore.
supper with my OG was at mohd sultan. had ba kut teh. it was nice! and the seniors were kept entertained by a very drunk and high mingxu, who just kept talking rubbish. we finally got on home at 3.30am. shared cab with vinci and kaiming. lights out at 5am. i took 10 mins to get the pins out of my hair...
today...woke up at 12...went to watch
the island with sam. it was not bad. typical michael bay direction. lots of special effects, lots of car chases and horrific destruction of vehicles and buildings. the story was not bad. kept you guessing what in the world is going on through the eyes of ewan mcgregor's character lincoln six echo. cool name right. the concept is pretty cool. and seriously controversial. actually anything to do with cloning is controversial.
didn't like the ending though. stupid ending which was horrible.
then went to meet
tj friends, a mix of council mates and classmates. strange but all of us got along just fine. =) had ma2 la4 steamboat which was yummy. ate so much. then ivan and i cut our birthday cake! then it was back hall....
eventful 3 days huh. tomorrow is back to lectures and booth duty and boys hostel. typical day in uni. sigh~
sleepy. shall post some pictures soon. when i'm back in my room.
toodles.
This girl posted at 1:45 AM
Sunday, July 24, 2005
today at esplanade. picked up all my cheese pie gang friends from respective pick up points.
lunch was at esplanade's colours by the bay. a beijing la mian eatery. quite disappointing actually. 'cos we're all spoiled by din tai fung and crystal jade's fine chinese cuisine.
that was followed by max brenner's....ahhh....so nice..... =) shared some melty-chocolate with milk thingy with grace and jon and fondue with everyone. so nice..... i love chocolate....
so we sat there for quite some time, just hanging around and talking...
then grace joyce and i went to walk around and do girly stuff while the guys went home. we ended up looking at shoes and sitting at polar cafe at citylink talking for the rest of the afternoon. it was really nice to catch up with these 2 girls i've known for so long. we talked about our relationships, our life, our past, our present and our future.
came home and bathe. read grace's very very nice card. watch ET. sleep a bit while waiting for my sisters to come home so we can eat dinner. then watch ET again before cutting my cake. a really nice chocolate espresso banana cake from cedele bakery....it's so nice! then talk talk talk....then dragged myself to pack for hall and school....
argh school's starting!
anyway i wanna rant about harry potter! so spoilers ahead....
argh...why did d*******re die????? must she kill one beloved character after every book? tell you based on her pattern, harry's gonna die at the end of her last book. but i enjoyed the book a lot. more than the 5th one, which was slightly more draggy and long. but she had to introduce members of the order...so now after those introductions she can get on with the story and more importantly, voldermort's past.
i thought the insight to his past was really really good. she kept us in the dark for 5 books about him and now...haha...we at least know something about the enemy.
why did he die?? how could a wizard so powerful that voldermort himself feared, become so powerless in front of voldermort's servant? ok he was weakened by his past battles and that potion he drank. but still....
hee~ i cannot wait for the last book to read how it all ends. now harry has no guidance and has to rely on his instincts and courage to do what he's supposed to do to save the world. so exciting.
first sirius, now d*******re....sigh....
haha~ i still remember when the order of phoenix came out it was june 2003. and we were preparing for june common test and chem practical test. and before the prac test we were at LT3 waiting to go to the labs and one of the girls accidentally slipped out one important fact of the book - sirius black died at the end. and catrina was complaining nonstop because she hasn't read it yet and wanted to find out on her own.
year 2 starts tmr. i have a 0930 lecture. then down to union business. comtemplating about CCAs this year. what to join and what to quit. feel like trying ministerial forum. or join more hall stuff and school stuff. hmmmm.
i need sleep. back staying in hall. but no louisa. =( i'll miss her. hopefully she gets an empty room so i can move in with her. best case scenario - an empty room in blk 36. cross fingers! and pray.
ok. sleeping time. toodles.
This girl posted at 11:56 PM
bday celebrations part one.
had a most beautiful one. church was as always, uplifting. had a good time fellowshipping with rachel. and even though i sound weird when i sing, i still sang for the Lord during choir. church friends came around with bday wishes. a couple came with presents. thanks my dears.
throughout the day many people sms-ed their bday wishes. which i tried to reply everyone. but i'm sure i missed out some. i feel so blessed. that some of my friends actually remember my bday! =) thank you.
after church i met sam. of course. had a lovely dinner at labrador park. his shephard's pie/my bday 'cake' was nice. =) lovely date. came home to find my other present from him. the official clay aiken fan club membership. which was a big surprise, considering he's not that enthusiastic about my clay ways. ok...to those who are clueless, the membership is actually expensive and hence many people want it but can't have it. i also wanted it, but it was too expensive that's why i didn't join. but now that's solved. =)
ah..i'm so happy... =) i feel so lucky, blessed and just plain happy.
part 2 continues with the st. hilda's gang, family, tj girls, NTU mates.
anyway i finished harry potter. will grief about it another time. at a more earthly hour.
it's 2.33am. i'm 20. and i need sleep.
=)
This girl posted at 2:23 AM
Thursday, July 21, 2005
more than halfway past the 6th harry potter. so far it's been quite interesting.
you could tell the characters are growing up as they begin to question and ponder over strange issues. dumbledore gives harry a deeper understanding of you-know-who's past.
and still guessing who's the brilliant half-blood prince who excels in potions?
one thing i like about rowling's world is that how it mirrors our real world. the usual good vs evil, ministry corruption, ministry intervention, O.W.L.s (=O levels) and NEWT (=A levels) and in this book, some alchemist's third law regarding the brewing of antidotes for poisons. so cute. reminds me of newton's 3rd law. =)
oh yes, you can't deny the relationships now that the hormones are raging in these young men and women.
i miss sirius black.
oh..and her names are getting really strange. one that really cracked me up was slughorn... haha~
school's starting...
This girl posted at 2:23 PM
Wednesday, July 20, 2005
i'm sick... =( my throat hurts, but at least my 38.8 degree fever subsided.
argh. i missed hall camp and outings with sam. stupid flu bug flying around these days. coupled with a weak immune system after 6 days of nonstop play and games.
oh well.....
watched eternal sunshine of the spotless mind. very cool movie. i love the way the story is being told backwards. it's not conventional you see... just like the hours. other than that, the concept of being able to erase bad memories is a tempting thought. yes it is a form of escapism, but when reality bites you and you feel hurt and depressed, obviously you would wanna erase all that and move on with your life right.
wow...medicine is starting to creep in. feeling drowsy.
the big 20 is drawing very near... school starts next week. ssiigghh....
oh and good news, i'm off the P-plate! yay. can't believe one year has passed me by. thank God i didn't get into any accidents within this past year.
okay dokey. time to hit my bed again.
out.
This girl posted at 4:47 PM
Sunday, July 17, 2005
of course my OG moogle lah~
you guys rock! best OG of UOC'05. my pride and joy.
long time no blog. suffering from a tiny bout of fever and headache. watched bits of minority report. interesting direction and cinematography. now i don't understand CSI 'cos i never watch the beginning. =( never mind got new york later.
long post ahead.
camp was a blast. let's go day by day.
day onelugged my heavy bag to school to hall 15 common hall. said gd mornings to my fellow seniors and main commers. hung around and read newspaper while preparing our fake freshie jac to his role. jac is actually a year 2 student, but he's posing as a freshie in case we need someone to spy on the group or to raise morale and spirits. had mini briefing from my GL, jamie before setting off to boon lay MRT to meet our group. and wow! by the time we got there 10 mins late, most of my freshies were there already! so chelsea and i bumped along to mac to book seats to have brunch. i saw 2 of my tj band juniors on the way to lunch after their medical checkup. chatted with 2 of the girl freshies. had lunch. go NTUC buy biscuits and water for freshies.
after brunch we all made our way back to NTU. we seniors taught them some cheers and ice breakers. initially the atmosphere was still quite foreign. then my chairman of committee aka slave driver got me to narrate the opening GL skit. so i was backstage rehearsing with the 8 GLs and the chief GL shilun who were being all funny. opening skit drew many cheers as each of their GLs came onstage to introduce their group names. and it was one lame skit with lame actions. so quite funny also. then introduce the main people in action. kaixiang my chairman, shilun and of course the chief programmer mingxu.
then it was round school games for the afternoon. had the squeeze-people-onto-newspaper game, squeeze-people-into-a-toliet-cubicle game, pass-food-using-mouths game, protect-mummy-from-water game, which got them soaking wet. then there's a game where they figure out a route through 16 squares via trial and error, almost slipped on the water and detergent. then there's the spiderweb game with added mustard, honey flour on the raffia strings. there's passing-the-chairs also. pretty standard. the group was pretty enthusiastic with the games. we seniors got them shouting the cheers and singing songs to please our dear programmers.
getting tired as we made our way back on foot to comm hall for dinner. got them to rest and play more ice breakers to rest their tummies. then it was team fortress. made our way to coffee club express where programmers briefed them. one boy and one girl, holding hands at all times, to solve clues about NTU given to them. answers are found at places where they have to go pass 'police', programmers and seniors with water guns and sponges and emulsion paint. alex, my AGL and i got bored sitting around and looking at 2 seniors play pepsi-cola, so we decided to grab 2 extra sponges and walk around and scare people. quite fun!
then it was initiation. most fun for us seniors. we blindfolded our freshies and led them through stations around campus and do ridiculous things. first was a giant slide, which we made them believe they were sliding down nanyang lake. along the way we tickled them with leaves and branches and irritated them. =) got them to wash off the detergent used to make the slide smoother as it'll cause rashes on sensitive skin. then walked to heritage centre where they ate disgusting concoctions of mustard wasabi and chilli sauce on cornflakes. then made them feel and pass a squid, fish and tofu. the girls were super funny! and they dropped the things so many times. so funny so funny. then we walked the neverending stairs up to SSC where they played the cat and mice game. prior to that the programmers loaded them with flour, eggs and water. then it got so late we didn't have time to play our last station which was the tunnel walk. and it was a nice station!! was looking forward to it. but oh well. went back and had supper before turning in so tired. lights out at 5am.
day 2woke up at 7am. had breakfast before walking in a slight drizzle to SRC pool. the rain was intermittent and forced us to start late. then it started and after 2 hours plus it rained again with thunder and we were forced out of the water again. groups were left with one station. so decided to cut exercise and proceed back to comm hall. but for my group, our last station was the confidence jump which was decided if the rain stops before 12pm we'll proceed with the jump. it was the 3m and 5m diving board. so exciting. it was also equally exciting watching them jump. and the time leading up to the jump.
dragged our sleep-deprived bodies back to hall15. had lunch before having series of talks. our NTU cheerleading team came and gave a performance cum tiny teaching session of the standard lift of the girl onto the guys' hands. quite fun. then had sponsors talks where i went back to hall 7 to do hall stuff with hall office. escape boring talks. hee~ came back in time for fright night preparation while the freshies do their secret pal(SP) stuff.
slacked around till about 8pm where us 'ghosts' made our way to north spine in the union van. haha~ the sight of 10 plus ghosts all in a van was quite hilarious. programmer meifeng got us to our stations. i was doing a line of absolute-dark corridor of tutorial rooms. with me was huiru, jasmine, rick and allan. we managed to scare the girls with sudden grabbing and quietly crouching in one corner and jumping on them as they walk by. started at 10pm and the last couple only walked through at 3.30am. it was really really tiring and draining. lights out 5am.
day 3my roomie huiru and i couldn't wake up at 7am together with the rest. so we slept in till about 10am before making our way to SRC field 2 for war games. my group really enjoyed it and was really perked up and enthusiastic. there was NG 100 seconds, fris-fruit, frisbee with balloons of flour/coke and later papaya. and my group was the ultimate winner of all groups. haha~ they're really good with it. i cheered so much with the rest. then there was a flag game. the last one was human sandwhich, where all of us seniors played. got so dirty with muddy water and water bombs. but prior to that, the moment i stepped into SRC and my chariman sees me all clean, he came over and rubbed mud on my hair and face already, despite my screams. and later shilun came along with a whole pail of muddy water and emptied on me. i screamed and hit him nonstop after that. so as you see, everyone was dirty so we needed a bath right? here's where the finale game came in. the programmers prepared close to a thousand waterbombs just for it. lined them up on the cricket line. the game was supposed to protect our GLs from bombs coming from other groups. but of course, everyone got wet, both defenders and attackers. and when the game ended after 5 mins, the remaining bombs were 'free-for-all' and own time own target. we had a bundle of joy playing this during seniors camp. now i just grabbed the bombs and aim and threw. don't care who. my own freshies came and attacked me, but i was more concerned with my revenge, so i attacked the heads and programmers and fellow seniors and some freshies. but we all got wet and all the mud washed off. so it was real refreshing. then as we ended war games, it was tradition to mud-dunk the heads and the GLs. but my too-enthusiastic group mud-dunked us seniors too. so in the end, i was ALL muddy, and had a tough time washing it off my clothes.
by the time we finished bathing it was close to 4pm. then we proceeded with mamasan, where we 'married off' our girl freshies to their guy secret pals. we made them answer weird questions and sing songs and do stuff before they could go off with their SPs. it was quite fun with more 'on' guys. then we seniors went to crystal jade for dinner together before setting off to Coco latte along mohd. sultan for clubbing night. but the screw up was coco latte was playing trance. eewwwww. so we chilled out downstairs with happy-hour rates. drank some jim bean, hoegaarden and 2 cosmos. still not very high. does that mean my alcohol tolerance is not too bad? then groups started to move to mdm wong where there's also no cover charge for both guys and girls. we seniors went in and danced till 1am. music and DJ was good. but the smoke was not as bad as chinablack last year but the music's loudness left me a little deaf when i stepped out of the club. then we boarded the bus back to school and went to sleep. lights out at 3am.
day 4woke up at 645am. packed our bags and checked out of our rooms. after breakfast all the groups boarded the buses to sentosa. alex, peggy, kaixiang, shilun and i went to sentosa in one of the freshies' car. and surprisingly we were one of the first people to arrive at palawan beach. so we played cards on the sand. quite a nice thing to do under the shade. beach games started with frisbee and handball. my group's really good with handball but sucked at frisbee. so decided we can only play with round things but not flat things. =) had lunch on the sand again. played 2nd round of beach games which my group truly enjoyed too. i was caught with a bout of headache from too much sun. =(
then we had tons of free time with dinner and chit chat and crapping around. at 9pm we made our way to changi aloha chalets where we checked in and rested for the night. the view there was beautiful. just too many insects and mosquitoes. had good times just slacking and talking in the room. lights out at around 2am.
day 5woke up one of the latest. hee hee~ before we all boarded the bus to NTU to let the hall people collect their keys to their rooms. while all of them were dispatched to their respective halls, the rest of us played games again, and yixiang one of the GLs conducted one really funny mass game. quite fun.
then amazing race started and my group was the last to leave. we went to NIE, bukit timah to have milo dinosaur and prata, harbourfront to buy some disgusting stuff, cityhall to eat those disgusting stuff which included baby food(peas and carrots mashed up), wasabi, cheese, ginger beer, maggi mee, pork liver paste, chilli sauce, thousand island. the baby food is the most disgusting thing to eat. ever. i ate tons of pork liver paste with wasbi and downed a lot of thousand island. it was the most disgusting food comp ever. the tj council ones were at least edible. then the group went around to look for places shown on photographs given to them and had to take one picture similar to the one given, and one with them inside the picture. i didn't follow them, but according to reports and the time on the digital camera, they really ran around like it's a race. and my seniors were so shagged by it. wonder where their energy came from. amazing.
jasmine and i went to carrefour to get BBQ supplies. then together with alex went to eat gelare! haha~ before heading back to aloha in his dad's car. came back, i was so tired i actually slept for an hour before waking up to get my freshies ready for cheer fight. although the M groups were reigning champions since the cheer fight started (including my year! it was really exhilarating! just shout and shout and shout), we didn't win this year. oh well~ let other people win sometimes lah. the freshies were somewhat disappointed. but they were ok after a while. =)
as we got ready for BBQ......it started to rain. darn. so we seniors cooked in the kitchen for our juniors. by the time we're done it was probably 3am. i went to bathe and rest while the rest of them started drinking outside. most of the freshies went to bed too. then at 4 plus am it was time for our tradition. we blasted their aircons for 15 mins before sneaking in, stealing their blankets and dunking them in ice cold water. then the seniors ran into our room and locked the door so intially the freshies had NO idea who did it. after they calmed down alex went out to talk to them. haha~ hey. we got it last year too! minus the water. i woke up shivering so badly. can still remember. finally went to sleep at 530am.
day 6woke up at 9am. had breakfast before gathering to the announcement of our pagent couples, best freshie awards and group awards of cheer fight champs, fair-play award and best OG, which we won!! and that left my juniors really really over the moon. after we breaked camp officially, we got our group back to our chalet and talked to them for awhile. got their sentiments about the camp overall. most of them were really appreciative of us seniors and how caring we were, feeding them bi ba gao and honey lemon water and strepsils. they also thanked their fellow freshies too. the entire group was really cooperative, no scandals nor problems within one another and it was good 'cos we had a variety of personalities and that contributed to their 'self-entertaining' factor and that they didn;'t need us seniors to keep them occupied. they can do it among themselves.
ah. what a camp. what a group! moogle. best OG. =) we went to tampines mall foodcourt for our lunch before heading home. took tons of photos. really enjoyed it. looking foward to a KTV and bbq outing.
reaching home, i checked mail which was flooded. watched abit of LOST marathon before leaving for tokyo kosei wind orchestra concert, which was part of WASBE conference 2005. the concert was unbelievably good. they absolutely flawless. played to a sold out esplanade concert hall.
actually i cannot think of a word to describe how good they are. they're truly world-class, the best wind orchestra in the world. i never heard such perfect execution. every single player is a master of his instrument, effortlessly playing each and every note and every player coming together to produce such a perfect piece of music, every composer and conductor's dream. the conductor douglas bostock, english, was very good. he's very precise and expressive and the orchestra is very sensitive to his conducting. very good chemistry despite an english conducting an orchestra comprising all japanese. as i sat there and listened to every piece they played, i was stunned. really too shocked to speak at how good they are. at 3 pieces it was SO good we clapped and got the conductor to reappear onstage 3 times before we stopped clapping and allowed them to carry on with the program.
about esplanade concert hall. i realised it is actually a really good concert hall. even though the orchestra is playing at forte (loud in music italian terms) i could still hear each and every instrument, even the softer ones like the harp and english horn. truly amazing. a world-class orchestra in a world-class hall. i couldn't ask for more.
gave them a standing ovation. amazing amazing.
after that went to meet sam to check out his friends playing at baybeats. quite impressed with the band. vertical rush. had dinner before going home. really really tired from camp, and i think i'm still mad to go out after that.
but the concert was really worth my sleep-deprivation time. truly. must get my hands on the CD recording.
i have many ramblings on the NKF issue, being a person who is engaged in fund raising and volunteer work and not really liking NKF's methods. but i know that the cause is still right. they're real people who need the money to do dialysis in order to survive. that's probably why i haven't withdrawn from my monthly contribution from my POSB bank.
my grouse is with durai and his extravagance. and his board of directors. this issue dwells on ethics and morality. not so much on transparency, maybe only the fact that NKF should have been more transparent with its finances and expenditure reports. especially since they get so much donations.
why did he spend so much of NKF's money, and his board knows nothing about it? why does he command such a high salary?
ok..i shall ramble some other time. time for bed.
toodles. =)
This girl posted at 9:48 PM
Monday, July 11, 2005
thanks for the chat, as always, although i didn't talk much. sorry for being so difficult.
Inside Your Heaven
Carrie UnderwoodI've been down, now I'm blessed
I felt a revelation comin' around
I guess its right, its so amazing
Everytime I see you I'm alive
You're all I've got, you lift me up
The sun and the moonlight
All my dreams are in your eyes
And I wanna be inside your heaven
Take me to the place you cry from
Where the storm blows you away
I wanna be the one to hold you
Every bit of air your breathing in
A soothing wind, I wanna be inside your heaven
When we touch, when we love
The stars line up, the wrong becomes undone
Naturally my soul surrenders
The sun and the moonlight
All my dreams are in your eyes
And I wanna be inside your heaven
Take me to the place you cry from
Where the storm blows you away
I wanna be the one to hold you
Every bit of air you're breathing in
A soothing wind, I wanna be inside your heaven
When minutes turn to day and years
If mountains fall, I'll still be here
Holding you until the day I die
And I wanna be inside your heaven
Take me the place you cry from
Where the storm blows you away
I wanna be the one to hold you
Every bit of air you're breathing in
A soothing wind
I wanna be inside your heaven
Oh yes I do
I wanna be inside your heaven
6 days of playtime awaits me. =)
hope i don't end up with sunburnt skin and lost voice. still wanna look pretty for tokyo kosei wind orchestra concert.
time to sleep.
This girl posted at 12:24 AM
Saturday, July 09, 2005
every single person in this world has problems right. be it with someone, or something, or a job or some circumstance...it can be anything.
i have problems that irk me all the time. they come to me when i drive alone and the music on the radio is something sucky which i shut off to. so when my mind starts to drift off, i start thinking about those problems.
this month at ypg we're discussing about problems. dealing with problems that could potentially be so harmful if they are allowed to continue to exist.
today we talked about the 5 biblical principles of dealing with problems.
1. identify and confront the problem.
2. state the problem precisely.
3. bring in God.
4. use God's word as a guide.
5. seek practical advice from the older, wiser and more experienced ones.
the message and our group discussion with pastor mitch really spoke to my heart and made me realise i have to GROW UP! and deal with the problems in my life because as what he said, if i don't, the problems are just going to escalate and become even worse.
he made a point which is so insightful. from james.
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror
for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.
But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.
James 1:22-25doers of the word. if we just hear the word of God and walk out of church without it having any impact on you...what's the use?
he also mentioned how he hates sin. not the people who sin, like the murderers and rapists. but the evil one that works within them and cause them to sin. the problem of sin is something everyone deals with. we're no angels. sin leads us to the dark side. it makes us do horrible things. which have horrible consequences.
at choir edlyn shared about her accident experience, where she was temporarily blinded in her left eye. tr. aileen later added that we can be in church and serving the Lord in choir etc but yet still not
see the Lord's word and God himself working in our lives. quite scary.
This girl posted at 11:21 PM
Friday, July 08, 2005
that bomb blasts in london and 9/11 in new york receive trememdous amt of media attention. CNA has been going on and on with the coverage of the terrorist attacks.
but when it came to bomb blasts in madrid, indonesia etc....
ok. cynical me out.
terrorists strike again. without warning. sigh. i can't imagine if i were a londoner. 24 hrs ago i was celebrating a victory. 24 hrs later i'm mourning.
my prayers go out to those dead and injured and their families. it was heart-breaking to see the injured being interviewed just moments after they were released from the tunnels.
they said they were not surprised that this happened? what?! you can say that and not predict it beforehand? what happened to british intelligence? james bond?
what is the world coming to? again?
when will it ever stop?
This girl posted at 12:27 AM
Thursday, July 07, 2005
minutes ago, a bus exploded during london's rush hour at some busy russell's square.
channel surfing and saw it on CNA and yahoo! news.
ohman....now what would the IOC members have to say to that?
why does time pass by so slowly?
This girl posted at 5:47 PM
congrats to london. though i was kinda rooting for paris. or new york. but still...london's not too bad. 54-50 is such a close fight. feel so sad for paris.
today went for njc band concert. me and mum arrived early so we decided to walk around at raffles city. took picture of the olympic rings at the atrium. so pretty. tons of people were standing/sitting around the big screen at the stage which is showing live footage from the happening things happening on the 4th level just upstairs where paris and london were neck-to-neck. so the IOC president announced the vote is closed. and everyone who didn't read straits times would be waiting with bated breath expecting the results to be announced...but no....it was to be announced at 730pm. and there was this collective groan across the entire shopping centre.
so funny. i was laughing.
the 5 rings of olympics.
some nice banners hanging at the atrium.
singapore is one happening place. =)
then i caught sight of the media journalists and delegates at the 4th level preparing to receive the results and beam it back to their respective newsgroups. a lot of policemen were strolling around the shopping centre. as in really a lot. security was very tight outside the roads too. and a few people had the IOC tag around their necks and i was so tempted to steal it from them haha~ so i can get into where the action is.
anyway, nj concert was very very good. i seldom say concerts are that good. but this time it was that good. the pieces showcased their virtuosity and technical abilities, not to mention musicality. the repertoire was a good mix of light and heavy. music from the incredibles was accompanied by clips from the movie - very nice arrangement. of course NIESB's rendition of phantom of the opera was better. cry of the celts (lord of the dance) was alright. though i'm biased 'cos i've heard the original version both on CD and live. nice solos though. esp the lovely alto flute. orient express was very good! i remember why i love philip sparke's work. he's such an imaginative composer.
interval..went to reception and mingle with people. then percussion ensemble...i've yet to listen to an ensemble that is really really good. stage band was alright. alumni band presented 2 pieces. armenian dances is a piece i haven't heard in a long time! nice to hear it again. 2nd one was music from the movie pirates of the caribbean. alright. and as always i'm biased 'cos i have the OST. but very heartening to see the alumni coming back to form a complete band. some very old. some just graduated. i feel so detached from tj band...
then it was jap graft 4. not too bad too. and they ended off the official repertoire with amazonia. their pride and joy that got them one of the 3 gold with honours accolade. can tell that they deserved it. it was very clean. very controlled and well-executed. dynamics intonation musicality together-ness, you name it, they've got it. so proud of them.
after 2 encores to please the slightly older crowd. yours truly inclusive. selections from west side story and selections from ABBA. nice...then nj's college anthem, which they play by memory. 'cos they play it every week.
nice evening. would have been better if paris won.
if only.
This girl posted at 12:13 AM
Wednesday, July 06, 2005
having my usual tues night tv marathon. 'cept now charmed, after season 7 is replaced by Ed season 2. yay! though i caught episodes on channel 5 before. today's CSI new york was really good. =) as well as las vegas.
so this is my entertainment during the plenty of commercials.
photo time!
starting with my dearest dog taken with the big head syndrome. isn't he the cutest? sam always say i'm mad for calling a german shephard cute. okok..he's handsome can?
my class! in our lab coats during one of our lab sessions. look like greg from CSI hor.
my sec school friends. sher's bday at cheesecake cafe. taken with my nokia 6230i...not bad... =)
me and 2 of my tj friends. good good friends. both of whom i haven't saw in a loonngg time.
me and one of the new bio tutors in tj. ms. evangeline de souza, whom i think has just gotten married. =)
me and denise, friend from tj who became my fellow tj relief teacher colleague. i look sleepy 'cos i was so deprived of sleep.
last year's union camp. added this in as a prelude to this year's.
and finally...guess who?
This girl posted at 12:36 AM
Tuesday, July 05, 2005
camp is drawing near... for some weird reason i'm quite excited about it. it's strange. last year as a freshie and this year, i'm a senior already! now i've gotta take care of my freshies and run the camp and help with programmes and do main comm. stuff. yesterday just spent one whole day in school with my main commers packing goodie bags and zipping around singapore to collect more free goodies from our lovely sponsors. at least my petrol gets reimbursed. =) but driving for the entire day is sure tiring. got free lunch and dinner too. so not too bad a bargain. had our 2nd last meeting choked full of details and i went home and rushed out the minutes for absentees and execution of important details.
so today is my rest day. had a good sleep...once in a while wondering how's sam doing with his FOC. watching more dvds and cable tv. played the piano for once in ages...missed it. yesterday met elizabeth my tj band pres and william, the student conductor playing for NTU band. they're going to the netherlands for a competition, presumbly world music contest. and by tradition, they're gonna come back with top honours. miss band.
seems like singapore is gaining lots of publicity with the IOC session. but it has overshadowed the WASBE conference! so sad. still, it's quite a sight when we suddenly play host to dignitaries from 5 beautiful cities and their celebrity backers, all the media people and journalists, the press coverage in ST, the very fierce STB doing their thing. but i hope as WASBE conference draws near it will also get more publicity, and coupled with IOC session, may everyone think that singapore is one hip and cool place...
i watched a whole lot of dvds over the weekend. let's see. there's bourne identity and its sequel bourne supremancy. not too bad. quite action packed. there's forrest gump. very very touching. who says slower people can't succeed in life? there's american pie. it was hilarious and really really sexual. but still funny, if you look past the sexual references. bridget jones diary 2 was nice. funny. watched troy again. watched birth, the one with nicole kidman sometime back. quite slow. passed sam my kinsey dvd. i still have one more dvd not watched. shattered glass, starring hayden christensen.
rambling...
i think my head is so jumbled up with thoughts. it's sometimes so hard to think straight.
wonder if other people do get the same feeling.
wonder if you can really stay friends with an ex. i recently had this conversation with sam. as in not just superficial friends but really sincere friends. conclusion being it is dependent on how the relationship ended. but the thought of losing sam was certainly heart-wrenching. so i shall not ela-lobrate. haha reminds me of tr. chen kee and the tj days.
this verse came along with church's daily devotionals.
Show me your ways, O Lord;
Teach me Your paths.
Lead me in Your truth and teach me;
For You are the God of my Salvation;
On You I wait all the day.
Psalm 25:4-5it led me to think about God's plan for me. again. and this verse.
"for My thoughts are not your thoughts,
nor are your ways My ways," says the Lord.
for as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are My ways higher than your ways,
and My thoughts than your thoughts.
Isaiah 55:8-9as i make each choice in life, do i really consider God's ways? do i consider His thoughts? what i think is best for me may not be what God thinks is best for me. what my parents think is best for me may also not be what God thinks is best for me. maybe it's time to commit each choice to the Lord in prayer.
like what they always say, the least important word is 'I'.
This girl posted at 5:51 PM
Sunday, July 03, 2005
had a beautiful saturday. church was good. haven't been there in a long time. made me feel so thankful all over again. talked to many people before and after and during tea. glenda is leaving for brown university! and alvin's leaving for yale i think. so sad... =( and candice is going back to australia on my bday!
choir was niiccee.... practised anniversary songs and one new one.
after that went to office to find melody, joked around with jon, then we went to AUPE to have nice dinner before heading to orchard rd to do some shopping and eat venezia. =) always such a nice time with her. bought a cheap bag and a cheap watch. don't feel guilty. 'cos i only spent a total of $18 on both items!
had much conversation with her. one of which was how creative our God is, as we talked about all the things so beautiful that we see. sunrise, sunset, beautiful rainbows, clouds with the sun rays peeking from behind.
what a wonderful world He has created. things that He has made beautiful...
in His time.
This girl posted at 11:09 PM
Saturday, July 02, 2005
ladida... watched war of the worlds with sam. spoilers ahead. so if you wanna enjoy your movie to the fullest, stop reading.
ok lah~ talk about my days first...fill up some space before some of you wonder to the war of the worlds part.
yesterday i stayed at home and watched tv! haha~ so nice. re-watched troy and thought about a lot of stuff. achilles and his love for wanting-his-name-to-live-through-the-ages. come to think of it, most of us come and go. our names are forgotten within 2 generations of our loved ones. yet a small handful of people's names live through the ages. ahhh....
then went to boys hostel. i'm so not good at carrom. the last time i played was probably in the tj band room.
speaking of tj, tr. chen kee just asked me if i could go back and relief teach for bio. aiyo. i sympathise with the year 2s. tutor always not around. a-levels coming. but i can't! cos of school and union FOC. until end of august leh. poor things. i thought we were already quite bad.
today went to school to do publicity booth duty for foc. had a nice time with jamie my dear GL. saw one cute guy with his friend. maybe he'll come for camp. =)
before that i watched jamie on tv! he cooked this fantastic and simple breakfast. should try it when i'm free...
then met sam, ate light dinner of fantastic ba chor mee at jurong east.
spoiler starts.
war of the worlds was such a thriller! ohman. it really kept me on the edge of my seat. ok not really...hugging sam 'cos i'm so scared of what may jump at tom cruise and dakota fanning at the basement. think HG wells is a really good story-teller. how the seemingly unbeatable aliens eventually fell dead because of such a simple thing in us. (i do not make sense, unless you have watched the movie). how the story affects you and lets you see one man's struggle to stay alive for his daughter. you see mass destruction of our home and extermination of humans on such a large scale, you can help but go, "oh mmaannnn......" how disgusting those aliens are, sucking blood and all...
a bit of vampires, a bit of those gross horror movies. a bit of independence day. a bit of ET. a bit of the abyss. a bit of the pianist. a bit of basically a lot of other movies.
tom cruise was actually not too bad in the movie! i didn't think he could act this well. maybe he has improved. some scenes just moved me so much. maybe it's the fact that he's also a father of 2. dakota fanning was equally stunning as a claustrophobic daughter. her wide eye-i'm scared out of my wits look was really terrifying. you can see the absolute terror in her eyes as she witness the destruction unfit for a girl her age. let's see...miranda otto had a tiny part, appearing in 2 scenes only. tim robbins was ok-ish as the mad man who thinks he can defeat the aliens alone. i didn't even recognise him until the credits rolled and sam had to tell me he was the mad man. haha~ tom's son was played by justin chadwin. not too bad....not much space for him to shine. mostly the spotlight was on tom and dakota. which was good enough for me.
that led to the age-old question of whether or not we're alone in this universe.
are we?
This girl posted at 12:42 AM
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