a semi-charmed life

Friday, July 28, 2006

i think i can safely say that much of the new-school-new-lifestyle blues have gone away! :)

the anxiety lasted a grand total of almost 48 hours but i'm ok now. yay. cos the parentals and i went to check into my room today and we cleaned and packed almost everything in.and it's so breezy and clean and spacious. charmaine and i are going to prettify it by making our way down aft orientation to ikea. i am excited. it's a double room so it's much bigger than those poor singles and it's near the toilet and stairs. our room's c313 so if anybody's around the vicinity,drop in! it's temasek hall, opposite fass.

another thing that makes me happy is that i went shopping with the parentals aft moving stuff in. i bought assorted pails and baskets in different bright colours and sizes for my room. martha steward, move over! i am a domestic goddess. yeah. the happiest purchase was the creamy yellow laundry basket with handles. $6.90 from ntuc. sw-eet.

i'll be away from home until at least 7 aug(if not longer) so i hope that this feeling wont fade and that i'll be a happy camper and good responsible roomie.

oh yes...funny quote from chipmunk as she gazed into crosby's eyes ystd
" You've aged well...except for the spots on your anus and your pot belly."

hahhahahahahhaahhahahhahahahahahahahhahaahha.

6:08 PM

Thursday, July 27, 2006

now that i'm finally moving away from home into a hostel room and to independence and freedom...

i'm starting to not want it.

silly me. i guess it's just new-school-nerves. and also i figured out i cant just wear different clothes everyday cos they'll eventually run out and hence, i'll have to do my own laundry. and also cos i'll miss the people who matter.

i'm going to psyche myself up for it cos whether i like it or not i've to move in on sunday night and be there for the next two weeks. matriculation's on monday morning 9 am because i happened to be a Chan which means i've the earliest matric. dang.

alright.

i'm ready.

bring it on.

btw, thanks chipmunk for helping me pack my things! ure a good homegirl and an excellent packer. crash my room ok? i mean it. charmaine wont mind.

9:05 PM

Monday, July 24, 2006

forgiveness.

i used to think that i didnt bear grudges for very long;neither am i someone who is sadistic enough to relive past hurts over and over again.

but(and i'm a strong believer that there's always a but in life) your deceitful self always has a way to prove you wrong many times over. i'm glad though when my perception of my self is given a good jolt back to reality. so i learnt forgiveness over the past week or so. in such subtle ways that only God can work in. i guess it all began with the climax of anger..for no tangible reason whatsoever, you just bitch non-stop and basically assasinate the character of the other person.

i guess also that it was triggered by some minor, pretty shameful matter.

but the true shame in it really lies in how long i was pissed off..a good 7 months. and it built up to such a crescendo(sorry had to use this term aft listening to the the hallelujah choral concert where crescendos were a-plenty haha) that even aft pretty much breaking off quite abit of contact, i was still annoyed that my pride was injured. and didnt try to forgive but made snide bitchy comments to close ones around me.

and then, i realised that everything was blown out of proportions in my one-track mind. when someone is so gentlemanly abt things and there you've been skulking around like a total sore loser, you'll be made to open up that narrow, backstabbing heart of yours. and i know i'm free..really free. because God has brought us to where we are right now and i'm thankful for that. you may not read this and even if you do, may not have an inkling that i'm talking about you..but thanks for wishing me well and for praying too. i do want to be friends with you even thought it took me so long to know that's what i've wanted all along. and i'll be praying for you too.

12:52 AM

Thursday, July 20, 2006

i want a million and one things...not good not good. bimbo entry ahead.

i really like the black capris i tried on ytsd at topshop. but they cost 86 bucks. wow. i can totally imagine myself striding in them in the campus with a preppy crisp cap-sleeve white blouse and intellectual specs. so chic! ahhhhhh..i totally adore stuff as timeless as those beautiful slim cut pants..can forgo the current trend of vintagey stuff (what's up with the high waisted look seriously? and the elastic belts. oh man, please shoot me). oh and all the nautical inspired clothes and whatnot.

give me classic pieces!

and i really really like threadless tees. the graphics and slogan are so cute but they do cost a bomb. can someone please go there and check them out? and like, maybe start a fund to buy me a couple of t-shirts,preferably in yellow or dark green or white. thanks in advance.

gosh shopping in sg is really crappy..there are some stuff i'll take a peek at but it doesnt even whet your appetite seriously. why cant they open up a hollister co., target(cheap massmarket but stylish stuff) or like even abercrombie here? H&M doesnt wanna open here cos it's apparently too small a market. *whine* if u big retail players read this, i swear with my hand on my heart that hordes of shoppers from 16-55 WILL buy your stuff. i loathe looking at things online and buying only second hand goods and not the originals cos of the crazy shipping costs...and not being able to participate in sprees cos i need a credit card or at least parental approval to use THEIR credit card.

arghhhh..

and now my house is durian infused cos my dad has a sudden pregnancy-like craving to buy durian ice cream and then the real thing itself. *sniffs myself and makes a face*

9:47 PM

Monday, July 10, 2006

hk trip 21 june-26 june 2006

about time to blog abt it now that world cup distractions are over and i'm not talking to ppl online abt football or surfing for football stuff or replying to adel's smses abt diving and tactics and portugal and germs :)
picture post!

the first night's hike. that's the view we got as we slept on the grass on the top of the hill..each of us allocated to a little space to spend some quiet time with our heavenly Father. but by the time i reached there, it was 3 plus am. i was cold, wet and feeling really grouchy..so i read the devotion book i brought along and a chapter from john. then i fell asleep. but i kept waking up cos the air was freezing and there were mosquitoes. it was really like an outfield camp.

crap..i wanted to post pictures of my group that consisted of a taiwanese pastor, three hk-ers and 2 malaysians and me the lone s'porean. but the pictures of them cant be uploaded. my dear grp leader, pikki(haha all the hk-ers have such cute names) took those photos and they arent compatible with blogger. booger la blogger. lol.

anw it was the most indescribable happy feeling to return back to the university hostel the next day..

the room with the view! pretty right? i had the best shower i had in a long long time. haha..i sound like an army boy dont i? i think the sg guys fared much better than the girls in the night's out cos they're used to it. all of us were complaining aft everything abt how sleepy we are, how cold it is, how difficult the hike was (i'd no problems with that..it was pretty easy actually) and how the bugs were so slappable.

the camp's theme was preach as you go..shui chuan shui zou(correct hanyupinyin??) and yes, i fell asleep during the first 2 days sermons but the subsequent ones, i think God energized me with all the good food and rest and i could listen better. they were in mandarin but i learnt stuff. in awe of how God works mostly..how He was so gracious in helping me overcome the language barrier and be touched by the hk youths and their testimonies. most of them are 1st gen christians. the group sharing time was a little hard for me because my cantonese is limited and my mandarin is very very conversational kind..how to express all the theological terms in mandarin??!! but i had a super super efficient and sweet friend in tingting, a malaysian tour guide, who translated everything for me and helped my when i had to speak english. thank God for her! i got distracted at times too cos of this lingo issue and didnt listen as much as i shld but again God gently prod me and helped me in my devotional time to be still and learn.

and a dear friend of mine accepted Christ while i was in hk :) God is truly awesome. i got to know abt it a week ago and it just brought a rush of happy memories of what i shared with God during the trip and how i was led to believe even more strongly that i need to spread my faith.

the third day was workshops and i attended the one abt the breakthru evangelism camp and youthzone. these two showcase what special activites the hk-ers organise to reach out to youths and to strengthen their fellowship with each other. still rmb what the pastor in the 2nd workshop said abt how we cant just offer lost youths fun and loud music and party-like atmosphere..because the world can always make these things 100x more fun,100x louder and 100x brighter. what we can offer is love and God's truth in His word.

ok so this is after the second workshop and aft sitting still for abt 2 hrs..youths like us need to shake our bones. haha. actually this is just a candid shot by isaac of norman torturing me..as usual. lingfeng and him were just obsessed with tormenting us. esp grace and cecilia..they got the brunt of it. mad fellas. they had this sa sou dao (literally: knife for killing skinny ppl) which is a rolled up piece of paper which they used to pretend to kill me and cecilia. TSK. so old alr and still behave like feeble-minded kids. haha.

and then the cultural night on our third day!

the first dance we had..the indian dance! I AM SO PROUD OF ALL THE DANCERS..WE CAME FAR MAN. look at our leads, lingfeng and chunhui dancing their hearts out. and the audience loved the dance..whoo. i dont have more pictures of our item. trust me tho, it was fantastic!

michelle :D my dance partner and a wonderful grown-up friend with the heart of a kid's. yeah..older than ah ma delia but yet less ah mah-ish. HAHA. this shot was taken aft we tried to beat isaac up to take his money to buy vending machine drinks and also for taking non-stop unglam candid pictures of everybody.

number 2 with cecilia. kawaii nehhs. eew.

number four with cecilia.

number eight with cecilia. hahah..ok better stop putting all the numbers or u guys will die in your own puke.

after the CIP trip to a granny's house to do some chores. kavis and i hugged pikki outside the methodist building in hk. she's such a mummy :) that was on the 24th..the next day we went to this small church at ma on shan..nice place..i havent uploaded those photos yet. it's kinda a simple service..an electric piano and 2 songs for worship, sermon and announcement and then fellowship. oh yah! my grp sabo-ed me and another guy(cos we're the quietest during the group sharing time) to go up to the pulpit to share abt our camp. gosh i was using my very limited mandarin to talk and i was like staring straight at the most unfriendly member in the congregation..this auntie who looked fierce ok. what to do..no choice la, just grit my teeth and tried my best. the rest of sunday was spent having a dimsum lunch with the church youths and going to visit shatin's hk heritage musuem and getting to know pikki better. miss her. it was quite cute to hear us converse..me in mandarin and she in cantonese but we managed to get over it and became quite chummy.

we broke camp the night before so sunday was pretty much free and easy aft church unless u joined the guided tour. chunhui, shihning,lingfeng,norman,grace and i went to mongkok to shop. lf,norman and grace were tired so they left at abt 9..and then it was me and the 2 younger girls(chunhui's same age but she's so adorably childish:)) and we were really brave la. went ard sniffing for bargains until 11 plus then took the train back to hostel. inretrospect, that was dangerous considering that we chattered quite alot and it was so obvious we were foreigners. but anw, we only live once!

the next day, everybody was sad to live. xinyi,my roomie, and i took some last pictures. we shared quite a few late nights just chatting abt church, youth grps, shopping, studies, relationships...was great knowing her better thru this camp.

and finally a photo of the sg grp that went to hk. wonderful people :)

4:01 PM

Wednesday, July 05, 2006

here's to the team that fought hard and lost graciously. whose capt'n i salute because he led by example in both world cups, who accepts that it just isnt meant to be for him to play in the finals of the past and present tournaments and that the better team won on wed morning.

here's to the team that was written off in the beginning and who dared to play in a style and formation different from what was traditionally theirs.

team deutschland 2006..behind you all the way.

8:57 PM

Saturday, July 01, 2006

okay..the real reason why i dont support england.

shame on you FA bureaucrats for not letting him go much much earlier..way before the euro2004 campaign. i wld have cheered on the english team cos i actually like gerrard and carragher. BUT u guys just had to be funny and let him stay on as manager. i seriously think my dad with his 40 years of watching football wld make a better coach.

ok one last picture..just look at him. enough said.

in other world cup news, germany progresses to the semis! yes yes u stamp on ppl's paraders and wet blankets and spoiltsports will say

"it's a penalty shootout! dammit!"

but lehmann was good, kahn was sporting to give his rival a nice pat, frings was everywhere, podolski threatened. hell, even odonkor looked more like a footballer than a sprinter. and of cos, dear ballack was classy and played thru pain. SIGH. they held argentina to a 1-1 draw so dont come and tell me that germany's not good enough. true, peckerman(poor professor.. i like him actually..alongside scolari, he's gotta be one of my favourite coaches) substituted riquelme for cambiasso without a really good explanation; and the first choice goalie abonddanzieri was injured midway thru the 2nd half..but u gotta give it to the germs for playing like a unit. only gripe? i think lahm's gotta learn that he has to track back to defend and not leave it to the 2 merts to cover his skinny white ass.

3:45 PM