Random Thoughts
I have been eating continuously today. Chips in the morning, and MORE chips in the afternoon. Chocolate, though by my standards I didn't have all that much of it. I also opened a can of salmon spread and had a packet of milo powder, because I felt like something sweet and savoury at the same time.
My sister very kindly offered to cook me corn in the evening, so I told her to microwave it for 7 minutes with a little water for steaming. Due to her natural kiasu tendencies she filled half the big bowl with water and heated it longer than seven minutes, so I got corn soup as well. Unfortunately my mother stole half my corn so I had to cook another one to share with my father.
Let me complain more about my mum. In the middle of my physics practice paper she told me to help her glue this crystal necklace together, because the metal bit dropped out and i was suppposed to have steadier hands. After that she coerced me to glue this elephant, the broken cap of a teapot and another broken cap of this container, her main argument being that "we shouldn't waste superglue". After I finished there was still quite some left so I asked her what to do with it, and her prompt reply--"throw it away, it's only ten cents." So much for conservation.
I think a new batch of mosquitoes just hatched near my house, because we've suddenly been inundated with them. As a result we've been busy lighting mosquito coils all around the place. The good thing about it is, after a while you will get naturally mosquito repelling tendecies as well due to you smelling like a big mosquito coil.
Friday, August 20, 2004
Thursday, August 19, 2004
I just realised that the "archives" link in the white box does not quite lead to the archives, probably because I haven't done proper html-ing or whatever. In fact it goes to a blogger "Not Found" page. How? Any comments anyone? Who knows how to do? I think that my blog is quite interesting, so I should archive it.
I had this really weird dream a few nights ago. It started with ordinary life, then somehow I accompanied Lin Zi to the hospital for a check up, where we discovered she had three types of cancer. My brain even came up with charts and realistic looking diagrams which was showed to us then. It was more scary than the typical monster dream (which I had later, as I shall describe) because it was just so ordinary. I shall call her tonight, I think, just to see how she is.
Then I was walking in a school compound in the middle of the night. It was pitch dark and there were dogs, dogs and more dogs all over the place, staring at me and the group of friends I was with as we walked past. I don't really know what the hell we were doing there, actually, since it was so freaky. I made a face at a dog (that was quite unintentional, I think I was trying to stretch my jaw muscles) and suddenly it was coming towards me, this rabid looking, drooling, glowing eyed creature. I was panicking but as it leapt, I suddenly felt calm as I remembered that all my friends were werewolves, so I probably had nothing to fear from dogs. But none of them stepped forward, and I was wondering why and backing away when I suddenly remembered that I too, was a werewolf. Claws came out (not unlike wolverine in X-men) and the dog died a sorry death. My friends were looking at me like I was dumb, after I turned back to them.
Well.
Anyway Yiling coindentally had a weird dream too, about me, Mr. Ng and her swimming through icy seas to a ship, where we climbed onto a deck which transported us to a mushroom field. At least, that's the compressed version.
I had this really weird dream a few nights ago. It started with ordinary life, then somehow I accompanied Lin Zi to the hospital for a check up, where we discovered she had three types of cancer. My brain even came up with charts and realistic looking diagrams which was showed to us then. It was more scary than the typical monster dream (which I had later, as I shall describe) because it was just so ordinary. I shall call her tonight, I think, just to see how she is.
Then I was walking in a school compound in the middle of the night. It was pitch dark and there were dogs, dogs and more dogs all over the place, staring at me and the group of friends I was with as we walked past. I don't really know what the hell we were doing there, actually, since it was so freaky. I made a face at a dog (that was quite unintentional, I think I was trying to stretch my jaw muscles) and suddenly it was coming towards me, this rabid looking, drooling, glowing eyed creature. I was panicking but as it leapt, I suddenly felt calm as I remembered that all my friends were werewolves, so I probably had nothing to fear from dogs. But none of them stepped forward, and I was wondering why and backing away when I suddenly remembered that I too, was a werewolf. Claws came out (not unlike wolverine in X-men) and the dog died a sorry death. My friends were looking at me like I was dumb, after I turned back to them.
Well.
Anyway Yiling coindentally had a weird dream too, about me, Mr. Ng and her swimming through icy seas to a ship, where we climbed onto a deck which transported us to a mushroom field. At least, that's the compressed version.
Tuesday, August 17, 2004
I think I'm sinking into a bout of depression. Isolating myself at home is insufficient--I'm quite tempted to hide under the blankets all day. Unfortunately that means I wouldn't be able to STUDY, which is ostensibly why I skipped school in the first place. This is really a bad time for this to happen.
My feelings toward my sister's return is oscillating between joy and pure irritation. Things slipped back into easy familiarity in the space of the few minutes (MSN is really not the same) but the nagging thought of so many things to do, my study schedule etc etc etc rather prevents our usual long chats. And she's leaving in ten days too, for another four months. Her choice, her life, her future, and the entire family is involved. Including me, the wimp, who is irritated but proud of her at the same time. Irritating. Self-centred bummer. I'm in a shit mood today. I HATE SCHOOL. I HATE THIS SHITTIFIED SYSTEM.
Everything's getting me down. My parents are ageing. Not that I didn't know that before, but stark reality was presented today when they complained about the words on a book I borrowed on Japan (for my sister's exchange program) being too small and unreadable, and blur. A youthful person like me finds the words normal. And some day I grow old too, and my senses will fade.
The birds have to fly from their nests, but sometimes young birds feel sadder than old birds. But it's inevitiable.
This world sucks. The world around me sucks. I suck. Life sucks.
My feelings toward my sister's return is oscillating between joy and pure irritation. Things slipped back into easy familiarity in the space of the few minutes (MSN is really not the same) but the nagging thought of so many things to do, my study schedule etc etc etc rather prevents our usual long chats. And she's leaving in ten days too, for another four months. Her choice, her life, her future, and the entire family is involved. Including me, the wimp, who is irritated but proud of her at the same time. Irritating. Self-centred bummer. I'm in a shit mood today. I HATE SCHOOL. I HATE THIS SHITTIFIED SYSTEM.
Everything's getting me down. My parents are ageing. Not that I didn't know that before, but stark reality was presented today when they complained about the words on a book I borrowed on Japan (for my sister's exchange program) being too small and unreadable, and blur. A youthful person like me finds the words normal. And some day I grow old too, and my senses will fade.
The birds have to fly from their nests, but sometimes young birds feel sadder than old birds. But it's inevitiable.
This world sucks. The world around me sucks. I suck. Life sucks.
Friday, August 13, 2004
I went for the econs talk today at Nanyang Polytechnic, which resulted in me getting a lot of unneccessary exercise. I dropped off at Ang Mo Kio (because the street directory showed it to be the nearest MRT station) and walked for fifteen minutes to reach NYP, after asking around for directions. Then I had to circle the perimeter of the compound to find the gate, only to go across it again to get to the auditorium. Later after the event, when I was coming out with Hui Fen, I wondered why everybody was taking the escalator downwards in what seemed like the wrong direction--ONLY TO DISCOVER THAT IT LED TO A NICE, COVERED PATH ALL THE WAY TO YIO CHU KANG MRT STATION. (Gods, to think I was mystified when Hui Fen tried to give me directions over sms--she was probably wondering why I couldn't find the auditorium when it's supposed to be the first thing we see). Can you imagine? I dropped off at the WRONG MRT STATION, got in at the WRONG GATE, and almost went the WRONG WAY to the auditorium. I'm quite impressed with my own stupidity.
In light of this, I have just urged my mother to buy a new street directory.
Anyway, we heard three speakers--the first one was not bad, the second really awful and the third pretty impressive. He was this marketing director or something from SIA, to talk about competition in the airline industry, and it was quite humorous and enlightening. The pride he had for the company really came through; I guess in a way he had a big role in building up SIA.
I am actually quite optimistic about Singapore's future. I started out the opposite--Singapore was too small to make any impact, we could never compete in terms of land, talent pool, market size and resources; and we had already reached a plateau of growth, it seems. As I learned more about other economies and did further research, however, I slowly realised that every country has its own set of problems and limitations; ours, in light, are not as major as made out to be. Nor are they inevitable constants. If you're not convinced by this you should read up--really read up on huge emerging economies like China, and already established ones like Switzerland, instead of just mutely accepting the rosy picture of growth painted for us to worry about. They have their own worries too. In fact, when we come down to a recession, we have much higher chances of lasting it out, because all the contingency planning throughout the years of our growth--substantial reserves, good financial, social and basic infrastructure will give us greater manuveuring room in a crisis, allowing us to develop other sectors if necessary. Many great economies sink and stay there because they don't have this back-up, going into a cycle where they retain sunset industries yet lack the resources to become competitive in sunrise industries. If there's one thing I'm impressed about our government, it's this.
In light of this, I have just urged my mother to buy a new street directory.
Anyway, we heard three speakers--the first one was not bad, the second really awful and the third pretty impressive. He was this marketing director or something from SIA, to talk about competition in the airline industry, and it was quite humorous and enlightening. The pride he had for the company really came through; I guess in a way he had a big role in building up SIA.
I am actually quite optimistic about Singapore's future. I started out the opposite--Singapore was too small to make any impact, we could never compete in terms of land, talent pool, market size and resources; and we had already reached a plateau of growth, it seems. As I learned more about other economies and did further research, however, I slowly realised that every country has its own set of problems and limitations; ours, in light, are not as major as made out to be. Nor are they inevitable constants. If you're not convinced by this you should read up--really read up on huge emerging economies like China, and already established ones like Switzerland, instead of just mutely accepting the rosy picture of growth painted for us to worry about. They have their own worries too. In fact, when we come down to a recession, we have much higher chances of lasting it out, because all the contingency planning throughout the years of our growth--substantial reserves, good financial, social and basic infrastructure will give us greater manuveuring room in a crisis, allowing us to develop other sectors if necessary. Many great economies sink and stay there because they don't have this back-up, going into a cycle where they retain sunset industries yet lack the resources to become competitive in sunrise industries. If there's one thing I'm impressed about our government, it's this.
I went out with Judith just now, in my determination not to isolate myself for two and a half months before As (or three and a half till the end of As). Unfortunately my dinner was interrupted unceremoniously by many messages regarding a certain final report (which, by the way, I sacrificed one entire day of studying for, waiting for the email and all) and many phone calls that I had to make. By the way, sister dear, next time can you not send so many sms-es regarding the same thing? I got three just to say that you blogged, and usually in your desire to communicate your urgency to everyone else you send messages by phone too, which can be irritating if you're in front of the computer, checking your sms-es and email and having to pick up ringing phones all at once.
Back to Judith. It's quite ironical that the very friend I found "zi1 ji3" in sec 2 has all along been, and now more so than ever, so different from me. Contrary to what I had believed in earlier, our friendship seems to have been based on these very differences rather than our similarities; and looking back, many of our conversations were so interesting precisely because we disagreed--but we had similar enough interests to disagree in the same topic. Oh yar, I forgot to tell you, Olio Dome has now become "Olio" and "Dome", which I discovered thanks to Yiling, so now the one above Borders is "Olio". Weird.
I was frankly quite surprised today to find my ambitions being called "scary". Well, unusual, yes, but really I've never thought of it quite in this way before. I am past the earlier stages of deliberation--wondering about the meaning of nations among civilisations that rise and fall in this huge tapestry of life; thinking if I deserve to seek such a huge responsibility, based on both ability and moral character (and whether I will do more good than harm); deciding if it is indeed what I seek for in my life path. All that is left now is a crystallised, single minded obsession, driven by a vague vision I had years ago. A vision that contained more emotion than detail, causing me to seek fruitlessly and continuously for an answer; one that caught me more by the strange uplifting of my heart at that blurred image than my comprehension of exactly what it signified. A dream that I have dedicated myself to, but will probably never see come to fruit in my lifetime.
Scary? Come to think of it, perhaps. It frightens me a little, how far I've come due to this dream. For those who see my faults now have never truly known me before and after many of my transitions--all that I have fought for and what I have achieved. Everything that I feel I have done wrong, or could have done better, makes a mark on my mind, cumulating into a kind of conscious regret for what I am now and what I could be. For all that others may think of me, the lack of self-knowledge should not be an issue--big and small faults: something I've said wrongly, an attitude I should have had right from the start but is too late to change now, little nuances of my behaviour that is either offensive or just plain weird to others are clearer to me than to anyone else. I am determined to eliminate each one to the utmost of my ability, even those considered facets of personality that cannot be changed. Every success is a personal victory.
One of the few major breakthroughs, I feel, for me is admitting to myself what I want and my own inadequacies in not achieving it. For almost all my secondary school years I have used a lack of desire as an excuse not to try, or for my own under-performance, when in fact it was a deep set fear of failure. I know that I want good grades, and I haven't achieved them not because they were never that important to me, or because of my commitment to other activities, but due to plain laziness, a lack of will and sometimes pure stupidity (nicely described as a lack of academic inclination). While in the past I found others' efforts to find excuses for me comforting, I now find them patronising, though I know intentions are kind. I find nagging more irritating than ever, because it's going to make scant difference.
I comfort myself with the knowledge that even great leaders were not born perfect, but had to learn to be who they become. I have accepted, though, that there are certain limits to determination, from the constant frustration of seeking something that I just cannot do, do not have. Like words that come to the edge of my mind when I wish to express myself clearly. Most of all, I have learned not to judge others too quickly, because I can see in my mind's eye how people see me.
And by the time I go to sleep, wake up fresh, go for the Econs talk tomorrow, come back and read this entry, I will probably wonder if I was dumb to type all this and how I could have said it better. Just that, like for so many other things, I wouldn't know quite how to change it.
Back to Judith. It's quite ironical that the very friend I found "zi1 ji3" in sec 2 has all along been, and now more so than ever, so different from me. Contrary to what I had believed in earlier, our friendship seems to have been based on these very differences rather than our similarities; and looking back, many of our conversations were so interesting precisely because we disagreed--but we had similar enough interests to disagree in the same topic. Oh yar, I forgot to tell you, Olio Dome has now become "Olio" and "Dome", which I discovered thanks to Yiling, so now the one above Borders is "Olio". Weird.
I was frankly quite surprised today to find my ambitions being called "scary". Well, unusual, yes, but really I've never thought of it quite in this way before. I am past the earlier stages of deliberation--wondering about the meaning of nations among civilisations that rise and fall in this huge tapestry of life; thinking if I deserve to seek such a huge responsibility, based on both ability and moral character (and whether I will do more good than harm); deciding if it is indeed what I seek for in my life path. All that is left now is a crystallised, single minded obsession, driven by a vague vision I had years ago. A vision that contained more emotion than detail, causing me to seek fruitlessly and continuously for an answer; one that caught me more by the strange uplifting of my heart at that blurred image than my comprehension of exactly what it signified. A dream that I have dedicated myself to, but will probably never see come to fruit in my lifetime.
Scary? Come to think of it, perhaps. It frightens me a little, how far I've come due to this dream. For those who see my faults now have never truly known me before and after many of my transitions--all that I have fought for and what I have achieved. Everything that I feel I have done wrong, or could have done better, makes a mark on my mind, cumulating into a kind of conscious regret for what I am now and what I could be. For all that others may think of me, the lack of self-knowledge should not be an issue--big and small faults: something I've said wrongly, an attitude I should have had right from the start but is too late to change now, little nuances of my behaviour that is either offensive or just plain weird to others are clearer to me than to anyone else. I am determined to eliminate each one to the utmost of my ability, even those considered facets of personality that cannot be changed. Every success is a personal victory.
One of the few major breakthroughs, I feel, for me is admitting to myself what I want and my own inadequacies in not achieving it. For almost all my secondary school years I have used a lack of desire as an excuse not to try, or for my own under-performance, when in fact it was a deep set fear of failure. I know that I want good grades, and I haven't achieved them not because they were never that important to me, or because of my commitment to other activities, but due to plain laziness, a lack of will and sometimes pure stupidity (nicely described as a lack of academic inclination). While in the past I found others' efforts to find excuses for me comforting, I now find them patronising, though I know intentions are kind. I find nagging more irritating than ever, because it's going to make scant difference.
I comfort myself with the knowledge that even great leaders were not born perfect, but had to learn to be who they become. I have accepted, though, that there are certain limits to determination, from the constant frustration of seeking something that I just cannot do, do not have. Like words that come to the edge of my mind when I wish to express myself clearly. Most of all, I have learned not to judge others too quickly, because I can see in my mind's eye how people see me.
And by the time I go to sleep, wake up fresh, go for the Econs talk tomorrow, come back and read this entry, I will probably wonder if I was dumb to type all this and how I could have said it better. Just that, like for so many other things, I wouldn't know quite how to change it.
Wednesday, August 11, 2004
I'm afraid my entries are going to be incredibly dull from now on, because recently I'm having many dull thoughts. Any conversation I have nowadays center around three main topics: studying, further studies (plus grand plans for after As), and PM Goh's handover. I lead a dull life.
I'm happy to say, though, that I seem to have gotten my ball rolling, albeit slowly. It took five days of holiday (with the first three days wasted in unproductive activity) and one day of self-imposed self-study break. Unfortunately it is unlikely that I will catch up with the more consistent workers before prelims, though I hope to do decently well.
I realised that my blog is considerably light-hearted compared to many I have surfed. This is not a reflection of my true nature, because I am actually full of Angst. I just lack the emotive power to and language to type so much about it.
I'm happy to say, though, that I seem to have gotten my ball rolling, albeit slowly. It took five days of holiday (with the first three days wasted in unproductive activity) and one day of self-imposed self-study break. Unfortunately it is unlikely that I will catch up with the more consistent workers before prelims, though I hope to do decently well.
I realised that my blog is considerably light-hearted compared to many I have surfed. This is not a reflection of my true nature, because I am actually full of Angst. I just lack the emotive power to and language to type so much about it.
Friday, August 06, 2004
I realise that I can't keep two blogs at the same time. When I'm actively communicating with my sister in my other one I stop updating this.
I watched NDP yesterday with Hannah (actually she was surfing the net in my house) and felt very patriotic. I guess it made up a little for OVERSLEEPING LAST FRIDAY WHEN IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE NATIONAL DAY CELEBRATIONS IN MY SCHOOL. Argh, I'm still angry at myself--I meant to go watch the National Day celebrations and go for Econs S after, but days of sleep deprivation (plus going to Mabel cum Sin Yee's party the night before) had cumulated into a state of general unconsciousness where alarm clocks fail to make any impact, resulting in me waking up at at 12.30 pm. ARGH.
On Saturday, I went for the IE Singapore talk in the morning, then to VJ for the universities exhibition, where I joined Hannah, Grace and someone called Zhi Qiang. We went to West Mall and had sushi because all of us lived in that area. I realise how much I miss having people to go home with, actually, though it's really a minor thing.
After that I went for debate gathering, which was fun. I discovered that Amos is really very gossipy (one more nosey debate guy to join the many nosey debate guys). I suspected it at the start, but I didn't know the exact extent of gossipiness until then.
My sister's coming back this Sunday, 15/8.
I watched NDP yesterday with Hannah (actually she was surfing the net in my house) and felt very patriotic. I guess it made up a little for OVERSLEEPING LAST FRIDAY WHEN IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE NATIONAL DAY CELEBRATIONS IN MY SCHOOL. Argh, I'm still angry at myself--I meant to go watch the National Day celebrations and go for Econs S after, but days of sleep deprivation (plus going to Mabel cum Sin Yee's party the night before) had cumulated into a state of general unconsciousness where alarm clocks fail to make any impact, resulting in me waking up at at 12.30 pm. ARGH.
On Saturday, I went for the IE Singapore talk in the morning, then to VJ for the universities exhibition, where I joined Hannah, Grace and someone called Zhi Qiang. We went to West Mall and had sushi because all of us lived in that area. I realise how much I miss having people to go home with, actually, though it's really a minor thing.
After that I went for debate gathering, which was fun. I discovered that Amos is really very gossipy (one more nosey debate guy to join the many nosey debate guys). I suspected it at the start, but I didn't know the exact extent of gossipiness until then.
My sister's coming back this Sunday, 15/8.
Wednesday, August 04, 2004
I have just condemned myself to the hell of Idiotdom. The economics test I had today convinced me of that. Somehow or other the realisation that my watch was slower than the clock in the LT did not strike me, and I was going to start on the last question when the teacher said, "Pens down." The question: "If you were the trade minister, what do you think the effect of a revaluation of the Yuan on Singapore's economy would be?" Or something like that. ARGH. Of all the economics questions I had to miss in my whole life, it had to be one where I could boost my own ego on, even if the likelihood of it ever coming out in the A levels is small. Triple ARGH. All the time spent on researching on this topic and having no chance to show off! I'm devastated.
Anyway, a little update on what happened to me the last few days:
On Saturday night we sang the birthday song and cut cake, a chocolate cake from BreadTalk. After eating most of it I can conclude with greatest authority that ANGIE'S CHOICE CAKES ARE STILL THE BEST. Too bad the branch at West Mall closed down. For people who haven't already, you must try the yam cream cake and cheesecake.
I stayed up the whole night on Monday (going on to Tuesday) to complete the Glaxosmith essay, due to my inherently last minute nature and slow writing speed. I slept a little on the train and in school, but overall I was amazed at my ability to function throughout the entire day. I even went out with Nick in the after school--kind of a "July birthday people must celebrate together" groupie attitude. SO I treated him in Jack's Place, though we split the bill in Swensons later. I'm quite impressed with the former, really, so I shall promote it. For $6.50 (from 2.30 to 5.30 pm) you can order a students' meal with soup, garlic bread, one glass of coke/sprite, a choice of main course and desert. It also comes with good service, nice ambience and free flow water. I'm swearing off fast food, man.
We chatted on till about eight and exchanged quite a number of ghost stories. After that I went to buy handphone covers for Judith which I spotted at the mini-pasam malam, where I stood for about 25 min trying to describe them to her so she could decide. Talking about ghost stories, let me just write down my little anecdote, in case I forget it a few years later.
SOmetime back last year I was so tired upon reaching home that I just fell into bed with my school blouse still on. I woke up at around 3 pm, feeling filthy, so I decided to get up to bathe and brush my teeth. In order not to wake anyone up, I tried to be as noiseless as possible and refrained from switching on the lights, while I indulged in my usual weird habit of walking around thinking as I brushed my teeth.
It was the cumulation of these many factors that gave my sister the shock of her life when she got up to go to the toilet--after seeing a white clad woman with beraggled long hair, and foaming at the mouth walking towards her.
I think I should submit some of my experiences to reader's digest, but it always seemed so bothersome. I wonder if they still give money for jokes.
Anyway, a little update on what happened to me the last few days:
On Saturday night we sang the birthday song and cut cake, a chocolate cake from BreadTalk. After eating most of it I can conclude with greatest authority that ANGIE'S CHOICE CAKES ARE STILL THE BEST. Too bad the branch at West Mall closed down. For people who haven't already, you must try the yam cream cake and cheesecake.
I stayed up the whole night on Monday (going on to Tuesday) to complete the Glaxosmith essay, due to my inherently last minute nature and slow writing speed. I slept a little on the train and in school, but overall I was amazed at my ability to function throughout the entire day. I even went out with Nick in the after school--kind of a "July birthday people must celebrate together" groupie attitude. SO I treated him in Jack's Place, though we split the bill in Swensons later. I'm quite impressed with the former, really, so I shall promote it. For $6.50 (from 2.30 to 5.30 pm) you can order a students' meal with soup, garlic bread, one glass of coke/sprite, a choice of main course and desert. It also comes with good service, nice ambience and free flow water. I'm swearing off fast food, man.
We chatted on till about eight and exchanged quite a number of ghost stories. After that I went to buy handphone covers for Judith which I spotted at the mini-pasam malam, where I stood for about 25 min trying to describe them to her so she could decide. Talking about ghost stories, let me just write down my little anecdote, in case I forget it a few years later.
SOmetime back last year I was so tired upon reaching home that I just fell into bed with my school blouse still on. I woke up at around 3 pm, feeling filthy, so I decided to get up to bathe and brush my teeth. In order not to wake anyone up, I tried to be as noiseless as possible and refrained from switching on the lights, while I indulged in my usual weird habit of walking around thinking as I brushed my teeth.
It was the cumulation of these many factors that gave my sister the shock of her life when she got up to go to the toilet--after seeing a white clad woman with beraggled long hair, and foaming at the mouth walking towards her.
I think I should submit some of my experiences to reader's digest, but it always seemed so bothersome. I wonder if they still give money for jokes.
Saturday, July 31, 2004
It's my mother's birthday today! I had to go out in the morning in a last minute rush to buy her a present--fortunately I found a shop in west mall that sold branded perfume, though it didn't have samples for everything. After going through tons of bottles, I realised two sad facts:
1) I appear to have an allergy to perfume, despite being female and everything.
2) Some women must like wearing insecticide out, because I can't think of any other commercial reason for some of the scents produced.
The former was discovered when, instead of feeling a heady euphoria and increased confidence that any woman is supposed to, the back of my hand started itching and I started tearing after trying out a few samples. My mother wanted a 'flower scent', but after repeated sniffing at a brand that apparently specialises in flower perfumes I decided that I couldn't recognise any species, be it 'Rose' or "Sunflower'. There were also some rather unique scents like 'Green Tea' and 'Garden', which probably included the pesticide as well.
In the end I narrowed down to two options: Red Door (Elizabeth Arden) and Fifth Avenue (also Elizabeth Arden). I was considering Estee Lauder as well but they didn't have samples for most of them and I wasn't about to risk my money. After further deliberation I finally decided on Fifth Avenue, because it didn't have the characteristic sharp smell (solvent, I think) that most perfumes have. It cost $90 for a 75ml bottle but there was a 20% discount so I paid $72. I'm happy to say, though, that it is indeed true that the more expensive brands are longer lasting, because after several hours and many hand washings the scent is still there.
I also bought a water bottle that my mum mentioned she wanted and paid for everything to be gift-wrapped in nice gold paper (to match the bottle). Overall I spent $78.80. With that in a bag I rushed to IMM to have a celebratory lunch at a nice Chinese restaurant there, which my father paid for, because I'm broke by now. (It's at the top floor, good service, relatively cheap prices, quite worth it; I'm doing promotion here. For six dishes and good service it was only $52.80.) My mum liked the present! Lalala:) I'm glad I took the trouble to have it nicely wrapped because I discovered some time ago that it really does make a difference.
Now I shall go around sniffing at different perfumes even though I don't need to anymore to convince myself that it was a good buy.
1) I appear to have an allergy to perfume, despite being female and everything.
2) Some women must like wearing insecticide out, because I can't think of any other commercial reason for some of the scents produced.
The former was discovered when, instead of feeling a heady euphoria and increased confidence that any woman is supposed to, the back of my hand started itching and I started tearing after trying out a few samples. My mother wanted a 'flower scent', but after repeated sniffing at a brand that apparently specialises in flower perfumes I decided that I couldn't recognise any species, be it 'Rose' or "Sunflower'. There were also some rather unique scents like 'Green Tea' and 'Garden', which probably included the pesticide as well.
In the end I narrowed down to two options: Red Door (Elizabeth Arden) and Fifth Avenue (also Elizabeth Arden). I was considering Estee Lauder as well but they didn't have samples for most of them and I wasn't about to risk my money. After further deliberation I finally decided on Fifth Avenue, because it didn't have the characteristic sharp smell (solvent, I think) that most perfumes have. It cost $90 for a 75ml bottle but there was a 20% discount so I paid $72. I'm happy to say, though, that it is indeed true that the more expensive brands are longer lasting, because after several hours and many hand washings the scent is still there.
I also bought a water bottle that my mum mentioned she wanted and paid for everything to be gift-wrapped in nice gold paper (to match the bottle). Overall I spent $78.80. With that in a bag I rushed to IMM to have a celebratory lunch at a nice Chinese restaurant there, which my father paid for, because I'm broke by now. (It's at the top floor, good service, relatively cheap prices, quite worth it; I'm doing promotion here. For six dishes and good service it was only $52.80.) My mum liked the present! Lalala:) I'm glad I took the trouble to have it nicely wrapped because I discovered some time ago that it really does make a difference.
Now I shall go around sniffing at different perfumes even though I don't need to anymore to convince myself that it was a good buy.
Thursday, July 29, 2004
Been a little while since I updated, so I shall go day by day.
Monday:
Went out with Judith at night for round two of birthday celebrations. We went to Sakae Sushi, then down to MOS to eat frozen strawberries, where we exchanged what I will term as the NUS Ushering Experience.
After our lunch in cultural centre (we bought it from a Dome branch in there and it took supremely long to come, with all of us wondering whether they had to catch the chicken and pluck it so that Fresh Chicken Sandwich could be created), we went to the backstage, having assumed that we were supposed to go there. Somewhere in there, we encountered an Usher, who told us that we were supposed to go to the second floor of the cultural centre. So we backed out and went into the theatre, and went up to the second floor and stayed there for a while before we started wondering why we were the only team there. So we asked another Usher, who told us that the teams were in the dressing rooms somewhere behind, and the ones on the second floor was for us. To cut a long story short, we went up to the second floor, then back down to the first floor, up to the second floor and back down to the first floor again where the Ushers then abandoned us. Rather fed up, we then went up to the second floor, tried all the dressing room doors till we found an unlocked one and stayed there, until we figured the guest of honor was done and we went backstage.
What happened to HC, as Judith told me later, was that they were told to go to the second floor of the cultural centre, where they ALSO wondered where the other JCs were. An Usher then saw them and said, "Oh no! You're supposed to be backstage!". SO they obediently trooped down backstage where they encountered yet another Usher, who told them to go up again. So they trooped up. This process repeated itself for six times until HC got sick of it too and stayed put at the backstage.
I presume this is how all four JCs eventually ended up at the backstage, with everyone complaining about being led up and down and round and round before they figured they would have to come here eventually. What I find amazing is that NUS had such a studied lack of coordination that it even managed to not let any of the teams meet on our tours of the cultural centre. If any of us were less intelligent, the quiz would probably start late so that one or two of the missing teams could be found.
Anyway, I got a shirt with stuff written over it and a tatty bear from Judith. Wait, I just realised! Judith you didn't give me a card! How can you not give me a card? You must give me a card. (I sense myself repeating here) Having a message written over a shirt doesn't Count. :P
Wednesday:
I went for a debate gathering at night, at Outback in Millenia. The food was pretty horrible, except for the fried mushrooms which were quite novel. I ended up eating Felda's pasta because she lost her appetite for it (first time I saw pasta with so much vegetables), while she mangled the remaining drumstick that I gave to her in exchange.
I thought the most entertaining part of the whole event was listening to Ben describe his wedding plans, which truly reflected a Methodical and Organised mind. I quote, "By November I'll send out my first batch of invitations, and if they don't RSVP me by December I'll just cut them out. After that I'll send out my second batch of invitations..." It sounded very much like university admissions.
What I also found amusing was that although Ben hadn't really thought about minor things like the presentation of the ring, he appears to have planned angbao collection in great detail. Ram (being one of his best men) was told repeatedly that all the angbaos he collected would be passed to him, presumably so that he wouldn't be distracted from collecting some more. Haha. His best men have also been delegated the roles of drinking in his place, protecting him from drunken men, and clearing the crowd in front of him, not unlike the job of the Secret Service under the president.
Monday:
Went out with Judith at night for round two of birthday celebrations. We went to Sakae Sushi, then down to MOS to eat frozen strawberries, where we exchanged what I will term as the NUS Ushering Experience.
After our lunch in cultural centre (we bought it from a Dome branch in there and it took supremely long to come, with all of us wondering whether they had to catch the chicken and pluck it so that Fresh Chicken Sandwich could be created), we went to the backstage, having assumed that we were supposed to go there. Somewhere in there, we encountered an Usher, who told us that we were supposed to go to the second floor of the cultural centre. So we backed out and went into the theatre, and went up to the second floor and stayed there for a while before we started wondering why we were the only team there. So we asked another Usher, who told us that the teams were in the dressing rooms somewhere behind, and the ones on the second floor was for us. To cut a long story short, we went up to the second floor, then back down to the first floor, up to the second floor and back down to the first floor again where the Ushers then abandoned us. Rather fed up, we then went up to the second floor, tried all the dressing room doors till we found an unlocked one and stayed there, until we figured the guest of honor was done and we went backstage.
What happened to HC, as Judith told me later, was that they were told to go to the second floor of the cultural centre, where they ALSO wondered where the other JCs were. An Usher then saw them and said, "Oh no! You're supposed to be backstage!". SO they obediently trooped down backstage where they encountered yet another Usher, who told them to go up again. So they trooped up. This process repeated itself for six times until HC got sick of it too and stayed put at the backstage.
I presume this is how all four JCs eventually ended up at the backstage, with everyone complaining about being led up and down and round and round before they figured they would have to come here eventually. What I find amazing is that NUS had such a studied lack of coordination that it even managed to not let any of the teams meet on our tours of the cultural centre. If any of us were less intelligent, the quiz would probably start late so that one or two of the missing teams could be found.
Anyway, I got a shirt with stuff written over it and a tatty bear from Judith. Wait, I just realised! Judith you didn't give me a card! How can you not give me a card? You must give me a card. (I sense myself repeating here) Having a message written over a shirt doesn't Count. :P
Wednesday:
I went for a debate gathering at night, at Outback in Millenia. The food was pretty horrible, except for the fried mushrooms which were quite novel. I ended up eating Felda's pasta because she lost her appetite for it (first time I saw pasta with so much vegetables), while she mangled the remaining drumstick that I gave to her in exchange.
I thought the most entertaining part of the whole event was listening to Ben describe his wedding plans, which truly reflected a Methodical and Organised mind. I quote, "By November I'll send out my first batch of invitations, and if they don't RSVP me by December I'll just cut them out. After that I'll send out my second batch of invitations..." It sounded very much like university admissions.
What I also found amusing was that although Ben hadn't really thought about minor things like the presentation of the ring, he appears to have planned angbao collection in great detail. Ram (being one of his best men) was told repeatedly that all the angbaos he collected would be passed to him, presumably so that he wouldn't be distracted from collecting some more. Haha. His best men have also been delegated the roles of drinking in his place, protecting him from drunken men, and clearing the crowd in front of him, not unlike the job of the Secret Service under the president.
Sunday, July 25, 2004
I've been reduced to checking my email and updating my blog in school because my computer is (hopefully not permanently) sick with (what I hope is) a virus. If it's due to some circuit hotwiring from overuse I really don't know what to do. Thank goodness it happened on Friday, after the ppt was safely uploaded in Munbbill's laptop and the research was pretty much done, or I would have died.
Many exciting things have happened since the last time I blogged. In order of excitement: we got second for NEFMQ! We screwed the quiz horribly and had seven points from AC (who was second), so before they announced the results for fourth place we all had our heads bowed and mumbling, "Not fourth, not fourth" and there was quite a loud sigh of relief when the MC said "Anderson Junior College". Then we all thought we were next and all came out and lined up, so there was really a moment of jubilation when AC turned out third.
What really meant the most to me was that we got best for presentation. It's the first time I've ever gotten best for anything; in debate, SYC presentation, PW and everything else something will crop up or there'll be just the lacking factor for us to get top. In the end it'll be a not bad (like making semis) but just not quite there. Only what my sis told me, "to know how to win all the way you have to first learn how to" made me keep trying and tryin and trying. I feel like what we achieved was for me, very much a personal victory--I really pushed a lot in the beginning, and only in the last three days did everyone in the group really start chipping in equally. For the two weeks plus before that almost none of the meetings had a full house; Munbbill and I were the only constants. I thought about renminbi waking and sleeping and kept trying to figure out structure, rebuttal, etc etc. But later on everybody got the excitement and drove toward the goal, and FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE, the final presentation was what I envisioned it to be. I've done it. And my team did it. For a group that started out without much team dynamics, with most members not very good at econs and with lousy grades that's quite an achievement. It's rather strange though, that although in the end we have a good working relationship and I quite enjoy doing the project together with them I still can't imagine us going out together. I guess that's what colleagues feel like.
I went to Lin Zi's house after and we chatted till eleven plus with both of us not realising the time. Like so many of my other dearest friends, she has no idea what to get me so I shall have to think of something I want. She got me the Star Wars trilogy last year but this year I can't think of any VCD I'm going to have time to watch in the near future. Sigh. Lin Zi won the National Econs Essay writing quiz with her classmate! To think that Judith got second for MAS essay competition with Zhi Peng too. Oh man, I'm surrounded by smart friends. I feel stupid. Very proud of both of them, though.
On Sunday I went out with Yiling, Hui Fen, Hannah, Grace and got treated to ice-cream at Esplanade Haagen Dazs. I had an 'ultimate', a slice of ice-cream cake, a little of Hannah's and Grace's cheesecake (which wasn't that great) and after walking at the riverside we came back again and I had chocolate covered strawberries. I must have eaten about 1 kg of sugar. I also got this around the world travel guide from them, though I would have asked for a China one if I knew they were going to get me that. But I'll travel to other countries too so it might be more useful in the future:), like Yiling said.
Oh, for people who don't know, thanks to Felda, the cat's out of the bag. Due to some misunderstanding she thought they knew from Ram so she pratically announced it to the debate team. But it's ok. Nothing to be embarassed about, though I didn't want it known orignally cos I thought it might be a little awkward for TAT.
I'm going out with Judith later for the second round of birthday celebrations. I wonder if she's gotten my birthday present yet, haha. And my sis will treat me again when she gets back from India. This is a thousand times better than my last birthday (the worst one in my life) where I got stomach flu and couldn't eat anything.
Now I shall keep on contemplating what to get for my mum's birthday, which is on the 31st.
Many exciting things have happened since the last time I blogged. In order of excitement: we got second for NEFMQ! We screwed the quiz horribly and had seven points from AC (who was second), so before they announced the results for fourth place we all had our heads bowed and mumbling, "Not fourth, not fourth" and there was quite a loud sigh of relief when the MC said "Anderson Junior College". Then we all thought we were next and all came out and lined up, so there was really a moment of jubilation when AC turned out third.
What really meant the most to me was that we got best for presentation. It's the first time I've ever gotten best for anything; in debate, SYC presentation, PW and everything else something will crop up or there'll be just the lacking factor for us to get top. In the end it'll be a not bad (like making semis) but just not quite there. Only what my sis told me, "to know how to win all the way you have to first learn how to" made me keep trying and tryin and trying. I feel like what we achieved was for me, very much a personal victory--I really pushed a lot in the beginning, and only in the last three days did everyone in the group really start chipping in equally. For the two weeks plus before that almost none of the meetings had a full house; Munbbill and I were the only constants. I thought about renminbi waking and sleeping and kept trying to figure out structure, rebuttal, etc etc. But later on everybody got the excitement and drove toward the goal, and FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE, the final presentation was what I envisioned it to be. I've done it. And my team did it. For a group that started out without much team dynamics, with most members not very good at econs and with lousy grades that's quite an achievement. It's rather strange though, that although in the end we have a good working relationship and I quite enjoy doing the project together with them I still can't imagine us going out together. I guess that's what colleagues feel like.
I went to Lin Zi's house after and we chatted till eleven plus with both of us not realising the time. Like so many of my other dearest friends, she has no idea what to get me so I shall have to think of something I want. She got me the Star Wars trilogy last year but this year I can't think of any VCD I'm going to have time to watch in the near future. Sigh. Lin Zi won the National Econs Essay writing quiz with her classmate! To think that Judith got second for MAS essay competition with Zhi Peng too. Oh man, I'm surrounded by smart friends. I feel stupid. Very proud of both of them, though.
On Sunday I went out with Yiling, Hui Fen, Hannah, Grace and got treated to ice-cream at Esplanade Haagen Dazs. I had an 'ultimate', a slice of ice-cream cake, a little of Hannah's and Grace's cheesecake (which wasn't that great) and after walking at the riverside we came back again and I had chocolate covered strawberries. I must have eaten about 1 kg of sugar. I also got this around the world travel guide from them, though I would have asked for a China one if I knew they were going to get me that. But I'll travel to other countries too so it might be more useful in the future:), like Yiling said.
Oh, for people who don't know, thanks to Felda, the cat's out of the bag. Due to some misunderstanding she thought they knew from Ram so she pratically announced it to the debate team. But it's ok. Nothing to be embarassed about, though I didn't want it known orignally cos I thought it might be a little awkward for TAT.
I'm going out with Judith later for the second round of birthday celebrations. I wonder if she's gotten my birthday present yet, haha. And my sis will treat me again when she gets back from India. This is a thousand times better than my last birthday (the worst one in my life) where I got stomach flu and couldn't eat anything.
Now I shall keep on contemplating what to get for my mum's birthday, which is on the 31st.
Monday, July 19, 2004
I discovered many new things today.
Discovery 1: Most humans are stupid
This theory has been built up steadily throughout the day. The first lesson I had in the morning was econs tutorial, where I never cease to be surprised how Mrs Leong manages to turn every single period we have with her into a torturous stretch of time. I thought nothing much could go wrong since we were just getting back our econs MCQ papers, but she still somehow gave us the Look (the "you little dumb worm" look), and asked us all questions that we couldn't answer, not because we didn't know how to answer but because we really didn't know what she was asking for.
I have some general observations with regard to this. Mrs Leong asks us a question. We don't know what she is talking about. In order to avoid the Look we try to answer what we think she is asking. We hit nowhere near the right answer and she gives us the Look. She repeats the question in another form, and she continues to Look at us. Deciding that saying someting is better than just sitting there and looking back at her, we sprout half-formed theories linking interest rates and unemployment that we know are crap once we hear ourselves saying it. It is, however, too late, and her overall estimate of our stupidity level increases even further, and her way of overcoming it is to ask us even more questions that we cannot answer. This forms a Vicious Cycle where both sides think that the other is stupid, with the class wondering why she is asking such dumb questions and Mrs Leong wondering why we can't answer such dumb questions. I rest my case.
My theory was further substantiated in the next lesson we had, Chemistry lecture. We were told, in no uncertain terms, that the lecturer had a Very Short Time to complete the syllabus, as well as the biochemistry summary which will no doubt Help In Our Revision. I fail to see how reading the lecture notes in the speed of a bullet train and jabbing the notes on the visualizer rapidly to emphasize her points manages to accomplish this. Even worse, her efforts to draw in as little breath as possible to finish her words also keeps her voice a constant monotone; and unfortunately for me, her somewhat shrill voice has the effect of penetrating my consciousness, so that I was unable to slip into a restful sleep. I don't think that many people had that problem, though, considering that most of my row looked gone to this world.
I discovered further stupidity when I was retaking my NAFA test. While the average female pretty much stops growing taller by the age of 14, the standing board jump passing mark increases every year. So the typical adolescent is expected to somehow find greater spring in her legs, even when puberty causes her hips to enlarge. For a butt heavy person like me, the stupidity of the sports council or whatever organisation designing this test is an especially sore point because I jump to the same mark every year but I'm getting a bloody bronze (which in the PE dept's opinion is a fail) because the mark keeps increasing. Argh. I got three As and 2 Cs for the rest, so I was supremely irritated after my second NAFA today.
ANd then when I went to the concourse after PE, I encountered further stupidity. Those nice silver tables replaced the big, ugly, white ones presumably so that MORE Vj students could use them. But what has happened thus far is that everyone is just moving the table together because they find that they have no space. I don't see why the money had to be wasted in the first place.
Discovery 2: Failing a test when you didn't study feels infinitely better than failing a test than you did study
This is because in the former, you know that it's partly cos you're lazy and suspect it's possibly cos you're stupid; while in the latter, you KNOW that it's because you were stupid. I find it rather ironical that I spent the most time studying for Chemistry, yet I scored the worst marks for it. The remaining nine out of ten days I had after my competition was wholly spent doing Chemistry, becasue I knew it sucked. One day was spent on math, and I left just the day before for econs and physics. To my amazement, I passed physics, math and will probably pass econs, but I GOT MY FIRST BLOODY FAILURE IN VJ ON THIS CHEMISTRY PAPER. Argh. It was almost amusing, actually. The first thing my chem tutor did when he stepped into class today was to pass around photocopied articles that quoted "success is not forever, failure is never final". With sinking hearts we made educated guesses on which category we were approximately under.
Sigh, now I feel like an idiot in more ways than one.
My third discovery is that I have:
1) Underestimated the number of people reading my blog
2) Underestimated the gossip index of the average student
This comes after certain curious souls whom I didn't know knew of my blog, as well as several individuals whom I know knew of it tapped me and asked, "ay, who is it? Is he among those on stage this morning?".
(sweatdrop)
Discovery 1: Most humans are stupid
This theory has been built up steadily throughout the day. The first lesson I had in the morning was econs tutorial, where I never cease to be surprised how Mrs Leong manages to turn every single period we have with her into a torturous stretch of time. I thought nothing much could go wrong since we were just getting back our econs MCQ papers, but she still somehow gave us the Look (the "you little dumb worm" look), and asked us all questions that we couldn't answer, not because we didn't know how to answer but because we really didn't know what she was asking for.
I have some general observations with regard to this. Mrs Leong asks us a question. We don't know what she is talking about. In order to avoid the Look we try to answer what we think she is asking. We hit nowhere near the right answer and she gives us the Look. She repeats the question in another form, and she continues to Look at us. Deciding that saying someting is better than just sitting there and looking back at her, we sprout half-formed theories linking interest rates and unemployment that we know are crap once we hear ourselves saying it. It is, however, too late, and her overall estimate of our stupidity level increases even further, and her way of overcoming it is to ask us even more questions that we cannot answer. This forms a Vicious Cycle where both sides think that the other is stupid, with the class wondering why she is asking such dumb questions and Mrs Leong wondering why we can't answer such dumb questions. I rest my case.
My theory was further substantiated in the next lesson we had, Chemistry lecture. We were told, in no uncertain terms, that the lecturer had a Very Short Time to complete the syllabus, as well as the biochemistry summary which will no doubt Help In Our Revision. I fail to see how reading the lecture notes in the speed of a bullet train and jabbing the notes on the visualizer rapidly to emphasize her points manages to accomplish this. Even worse, her efforts to draw in as little breath as possible to finish her words also keeps her voice a constant monotone; and unfortunately for me, her somewhat shrill voice has the effect of penetrating my consciousness, so that I was unable to slip into a restful sleep. I don't think that many people had that problem, though, considering that most of my row looked gone to this world.
I discovered further stupidity when I was retaking my NAFA test. While the average female pretty much stops growing taller by the age of 14, the standing board jump passing mark increases every year. So the typical adolescent is expected to somehow find greater spring in her legs, even when puberty causes her hips to enlarge. For a butt heavy person like me, the stupidity of the sports council or whatever organisation designing this test is an especially sore point because I jump to the same mark every year but I'm getting a bloody bronze (which in the PE dept's opinion is a fail) because the mark keeps increasing. Argh. I got three As and 2 Cs for the rest, so I was supremely irritated after my second NAFA today.
ANd then when I went to the concourse after PE, I encountered further stupidity. Those nice silver tables replaced the big, ugly, white ones presumably so that MORE Vj students could use them. But what has happened thus far is that everyone is just moving the table together because they find that they have no space. I don't see why the money had to be wasted in the first place.
Discovery 2: Failing a test when you didn't study feels infinitely better than failing a test than you did study
This is because in the former, you know that it's partly cos you're lazy and suspect it's possibly cos you're stupid; while in the latter, you KNOW that it's because you were stupid. I find it rather ironical that I spent the most time studying for Chemistry, yet I scored the worst marks for it. The remaining nine out of ten days I had after my competition was wholly spent doing Chemistry, becasue I knew it sucked. One day was spent on math, and I left just the day before for econs and physics. To my amazement, I passed physics, math and will probably pass econs, but I GOT MY FIRST BLOODY FAILURE IN VJ ON THIS CHEMISTRY PAPER. Argh. It was almost amusing, actually. The first thing my chem tutor did when he stepped into class today was to pass around photocopied articles that quoted "success is not forever, failure is never final". With sinking hearts we made educated guesses on which category we were approximately under.
Sigh, now I feel like an idiot in more ways than one.
My third discovery is that I have:
1) Underestimated the number of people reading my blog
2) Underestimated the gossip index of the average student
This comes after certain curious souls whom I didn't know knew of my blog, as well as several individuals whom I know knew of it tapped me and asked, "ay, who is it? Is he among those on stage this morning?".
(sweatdrop)
Sunday, July 18, 2004
Haha, how fast scandals spread!
I just had a very entertaining and enlightening converstation with Ram, who was telling me about rather nosey speculation about my level one crush among the current debate team. It appears that some rather kepo individuals (or perhaps ONE kepo individual) go on blog-surfing frenzies through links on different blogs. Everyone who comes to my blog should leave a tag or something. Since presently I can still count on one hand the number of people I've told my blog address to, and they're only eight pple that I know know of my blog. That makes things quite confusing.
Anyway, thank goodness this is only a level one crush, or I will probably be EMBARRASSED. Since I'm not, I shall happily provide my views on the matter.
Apparently Robin was traumatised that anyone could like tat's smile and tat couldn't imagine who could like Robin's smile. I now think BOTH of them are so cute! The way they bitch about each other is really quite adorable. Yet again, there's really no accounting for taste. But it does make sense that a big mouth goes with a nice smile.
This comes with a startling realisation--guys are really more bitchy and busybody than girls are, especially guys in debate. Though I'm happy to say that most debate guys admit it more than the usual breed of male gossipers, who feign a studied lack of interest but seem to know more crap than anyone else. I get surprised by my own dear father sometimes when he starts talking about his colleagues.
I think the one main difference between the typical female gossip and the typical male gossip is the concentration. Male busybodies tend to specialise; they pick one subject and they harp on it/him/her for an extended period of time. Girls, however, tend to bitch about everything under the sun when they're in the mood for it.
The same goes for nagging. Mothers tend to nag about everything in particular--the state of your room, your homework, your clothes etc etc etc. Fathers, on the other hand, pick one thing they wish to nag about, and will remind you of it constantly day and night (This is based on empirical evidence, after I failed my math exam in sec three). The MF duo is a truly frightening combination.
I just had a very entertaining and enlightening converstation with Ram, who was telling me about rather nosey speculation about my level one crush among the current debate team. It appears that some rather kepo individuals (or perhaps ONE kepo individual) go on blog-surfing frenzies through links on different blogs. Everyone who comes to my blog should leave a tag or something. Since presently I can still count on one hand the number of people I've told my blog address to, and they're only eight pple that I know know of my blog. That makes things quite confusing.
Anyway, thank goodness this is only a level one crush, or I will probably be EMBARRASSED. Since I'm not, I shall happily provide my views on the matter.
Apparently Robin was traumatised that anyone could like tat's smile and tat couldn't imagine who could like Robin's smile. I now think BOTH of them are so cute! The way they bitch about each other is really quite adorable. Yet again, there's really no accounting for taste. But it does make sense that a big mouth goes with a nice smile.
This comes with a startling realisation--guys are really more bitchy and busybody than girls are, especially guys in debate. Though I'm happy to say that most debate guys admit it more than the usual breed of male gossipers, who feign a studied lack of interest but seem to know more crap than anyone else. I get surprised by my own dear father sometimes when he starts talking about his colleagues.
I think the one main difference between the typical female gossip and the typical male gossip is the concentration. Male busybodies tend to specialise; they pick one subject and they harp on it/him/her for an extended period of time. Girls, however, tend to bitch about everything under the sun when they're in the mood for it.
The same goes for nagging. Mothers tend to nag about everything in particular--the state of your room, your homework, your clothes etc etc etc. Fathers, on the other hand, pick one thing they wish to nag about, and will remind you of it constantly day and night (This is based on empirical evidence, after I failed my math exam in sec three). The MF duo is a truly frightening combination.
Wednesday, July 14, 2004
To Judith and all others who say I lack hormones: I think I have a level one crush! I find one of my debate juniors rather cute and I think that he has a nice smile. My mind also wanders to him occasionally, so it fulfills the technical definitions. Does that count?
Other than that, my life has been dreary. I was rather grumpy today and especially didn't feel like talking to my parents. I'm sick of explaining myself. Can't people just accept what I do and say and just stop asking? Oh from my parents there's a whole slew of questions, but even in school now some people go, "WHY do you still take Chinese?" or "Why did you come VJ? (after one and a half years some pple still ask that)".
Especially parents. You know, I think school and the stage between adolescence and adulthood doesn't suit people like me. I'm so sick of the restrictions that surround us: for God's sake, EIGHTEEN IS NOT YOUNG. If it wasn't for education, I would be working, starting my own family and basically making my own decisions. It isn't the rebelliousness of teenagers either, and I'm not this hot-blooded youngster that has a big ego but little brain. I find school so childish--so many rules just to instill discipline, like it hasn't been done continually in my last ten years. Respect for authority just because it is authority. Well, yes, it's not that I see no point in it at all; but suddenly I just feel too old for all these. Urgh, man, you know I really always thought Brenda was this little old woman inside a young girl, but after meeting her on Saturday i realised that I feel even older. This is terrible.
There's still university to go through. I had everything clear within me a few months ago--my direction in life, what I wanted to achieve in the end, and exactly where I wanted to go in the next few years. Now I feel so lost and trapped. And so tired. The details of my process has become blurred, yet my end point is clearer than ever before, leaving me stuck in the middle of nowhere not knowing where to go.
Other than that, my life has been dreary. I was rather grumpy today and especially didn't feel like talking to my parents. I'm sick of explaining myself. Can't people just accept what I do and say and just stop asking? Oh from my parents there's a whole slew of questions, but even in school now some people go, "WHY do you still take Chinese?" or "Why did you come VJ? (after one and a half years some pple still ask that)".
Especially parents. You know, I think school and the stage between adolescence and adulthood doesn't suit people like me. I'm so sick of the restrictions that surround us: for God's sake, EIGHTEEN IS NOT YOUNG. If it wasn't for education, I would be working, starting my own family and basically making my own decisions. It isn't the rebelliousness of teenagers either, and I'm not this hot-blooded youngster that has a big ego but little brain. I find school so childish--so many rules just to instill discipline, like it hasn't been done continually in my last ten years. Respect for authority just because it is authority. Well, yes, it's not that I see no point in it at all; but suddenly I just feel too old for all these. Urgh, man, you know I really always thought Brenda was this little old woman inside a young girl, but after meeting her on Saturday i realised that I feel even older. This is terrible.
There's still university to go through. I had everything clear within me a few months ago--my direction in life, what I wanted to achieve in the end, and exactly where I wanted to go in the next few years. Now I feel so lost and trapped. And so tired. The details of my process has become blurred, yet my end point is clearer than ever before, leaving me stuck in the middle of nowhere not knowing where to go.
Tuesday, July 13, 2004
I realise that I'm a bloody workaholic. Too bad I can't seem to apply to my studies.
Had a headache today, causing me to sleep through GP and miss some rather exciting stuff. Exciting for GP, anyway. Thanks to drugs, my headache is now gone, but I intend to sleep early tonight.
Here's my little anecdote of the day:
I went to Pulau Ubin with my sister and her Japanese friend last year, and after some cycling, we went to this hawker-centre-restaurant near the jetty to have lunch. My sister wanted to eat Hor Fun, and on the menu, a plate of 'normal' Hor Fun cost $4, but our attention was caught by this 'Moonlight Hor Fun' which was one dollar more expensive. WOndering what the hell was 'Moonlight Hor Fun', we ordered it, and waited with anticipation until we discovered, to our disappointment that the one dollar was paid for an egg cracked on top of the brown mess.
In future, I'm going to open a restaurant and sell 'sunshine noodles'.
Had a headache today, causing me to sleep through GP and miss some rather exciting stuff. Exciting for GP, anyway. Thanks to drugs, my headache is now gone, but I intend to sleep early tonight.
Here's my little anecdote of the day:
I went to Pulau Ubin with my sister and her Japanese friend last year, and after some cycling, we went to this hawker-centre-restaurant near the jetty to have lunch. My sister wanted to eat Hor Fun, and on the menu, a plate of 'normal' Hor Fun cost $4, but our attention was caught by this 'Moonlight Hor Fun' which was one dollar more expensive. WOndering what the hell was 'Moonlight Hor Fun', we ordered it, and waited with anticipation until we discovered, to our disappointment that the one dollar was paid for an egg cracked on top of the brown mess.
In future, I'm going to open a restaurant and sell 'sunshine noodles'.
Monday, July 12, 2004
During the bbq Amanda came very late because of some fire near her house, and we were all laughing when she said that the strange thing was, it seemed to be coming from the fire station. Yesterday's papers did report a fire, and she was right--it occured at the fire station workshop. Apparently there were no fire engines there. Congratulations to Amanda for having witnessed a rare and embarrassing event.
I got a date for my birthday! Yiling asked me to keep my afternoon free and said she's going to treat me ice-cream at the very nice Hagen Das (spelling correct?) in esplanade. Or rather, she said 'we' so I think Hui Fen's coming along too. So happy that she remembered, although I guess I was rather explicit about it. But honestly, when I said "I'm going to get someone to treat me ice-cream here on my birthday" I really didn't mean it as a hint. As in, the party I was going to coerce was not intended to be Yiling. Thank you so much! (I thank you first, so you can't back out of it=P) Really very touched. I love these little thoughtful gestures.
Uh, come to think of it, I still have Yiling's and Hannah's present plus two nice cards sitting somewhere in my room. I better get them out. We can have a gift exchange on my birthday! Brilliant idea, isn't it?
Sigh I want to call my sis tonight but I want to sleep early too; there's a two and a half hour differential between here and India. Never mind, I shall last it out.
My fishes' home is now complete, and they're now swimming around doing nothing. Maybe I shall create another earthquake soon, though it's quite a pity. It's nicer than before; the slope is neater and the circle is more, um, circular. It was quite funny watching them at first because they kept changing their minds, they were shifting the pebbles in and out under the log like they weren't quite sure where to put them.
I realised the Judith was right--my parrot fish are HUGE. This realisation came after my mum came across smaller (quite significantly smaller) parrot fish being sold at the aquarium for $88. (The small ones are about $2 to $5, so $88 is considered very big). Of course my mum sniffed at it and commented that they were half the size of ours. After that, my sister joked that we could sell them both for $888 each. The lucky red fish! Will give long life, good health and good luck.
I was thinking about the theory of evolution when another question about God popped into mind. If God created man, who created God? If we can accept that God just existed, then why can't we accept this at a lower level: that man just existed?
I think I can never take up a religion because I think too much.
I got a date for my birthday! Yiling asked me to keep my afternoon free and said she's going to treat me ice-cream at the very nice Hagen Das (spelling correct?) in esplanade. Or rather, she said 'we' so I think Hui Fen's coming along too. So happy that she remembered, although I guess I was rather explicit about it. But honestly, when I said "I'm going to get someone to treat me ice-cream here on my birthday" I really didn't mean it as a hint. As in, the party I was going to coerce was not intended to be Yiling. Thank you so much! (I thank you first, so you can't back out of it=P) Really very touched. I love these little thoughtful gestures.
Uh, come to think of it, I still have Yiling's and Hannah's present plus two nice cards sitting somewhere in my room. I better get them out. We can have a gift exchange on my birthday! Brilliant idea, isn't it?
Sigh I want to call my sis tonight but I want to sleep early too; there's a two and a half hour differential between here and India. Never mind, I shall last it out.
My fishes' home is now complete, and they're now swimming around doing nothing. Maybe I shall create another earthquake soon, though it's quite a pity. It's nicer than before; the slope is neater and the circle is more, um, circular. It was quite funny watching them at first because they kept changing their minds, they were shifting the pebbles in and out under the log like they weren't quite sure where to put them.
I realised the Judith was right--my parrot fish are HUGE. This realisation came after my mum came across smaller (quite significantly smaller) parrot fish being sold at the aquarium for $88. (The small ones are about $2 to $5, so $88 is considered very big). Of course my mum sniffed at it and commented that they were half the size of ours. After that, my sister joked that we could sell them both for $888 each. The lucky red fish! Will give long life, good health and good luck.
I was thinking about the theory of evolution when another question about God popped into mind. If God created man, who created God? If we can accept that God just existed, then why can't we accept this at a lower level: that man just existed?
I think I can never take up a religion because I think too much.
Sunday, July 11, 2004
I was just recalling a conversation I overheard from my mum's tuition pupils the other day. It went something like this:
Boy A: "What's a condom ar? Can eat annot?"
Girl B: "No lah! Where got condom can eat one?"
Boy C: "But it has chocolate flavour what."
Boy B: "Yar loh. If cannot eat then why got chocolate flavour?"
Girl B: "But I never heard of condoms can eat one leh?"
Boy D: "Then maybe it's not a condom..."
Boy B and C: "But it wrote there 'condom' what!"
At that point my mother gave up and told them what a condom was. Come to think of it, condoms in NTUC are sold beside the sweet section near the counter, and are packaged in small attractive boxes. I was mistaken once myself seeing a bright pink package with 'strawberry flavour' on it.
Had such a tiring day yesterday--when I was at the bbq at Woon Teng's house at night I was on the verge of falling asleep. I was drifting off on her bed after the bbq. I asked the bunch whether they wanted to backpack in China--Brenda's interested and will probably go, Hui Chu will depending on when we go and Amanda depending on her parents and results. Woon Teng's interested but she says her parents may not allow. In any case, Woon Teng, you better not complain too much or I'll really knock you over the head and leave you somewhere (bares teeth).
I think between Lin Zi and I we've recruited enough females for the trip. So now we are desperately short of males--the thing is, Singaporean guys will be going for NS, so we need to find interested non-Singaporeans. That considerably limits our pool. Sigh, I hope Lin Zi's PRC classmates are agreeable to it.
Boy A: "What's a condom ar? Can eat annot?"
Girl B: "No lah! Where got condom can eat one?"
Boy C: "But it has chocolate flavour what."
Boy B: "Yar loh. If cannot eat then why got chocolate flavour?"
Girl B: "But I never heard of condoms can eat one leh?"
Boy D: "Then maybe it's not a condom..."
Boy B and C: "But it wrote there 'condom' what!"
At that point my mother gave up and told them what a condom was. Come to think of it, condoms in NTUC are sold beside the sweet section near the counter, and are packaged in small attractive boxes. I was mistaken once myself seeing a bright pink package with 'strawberry flavour' on it.
Had such a tiring day yesterday--when I was at the bbq at Woon Teng's house at night I was on the verge of falling asleep. I was drifting off on her bed after the bbq. I asked the bunch whether they wanted to backpack in China--Brenda's interested and will probably go, Hui Chu will depending on when we go and Amanda depending on her parents and results. Woon Teng's interested but she says her parents may not allow. In any case, Woon Teng, you better not complain too much or I'll really knock you over the head and leave you somewhere (bares teeth).
I think between Lin Zi and I we've recruited enough females for the trip. So now we are desperately short of males--the thing is, Singaporean guys will be going for NS, so we need to find interested non-Singaporeans. That considerably limits our pool. Sigh, I hope Lin Zi's PRC classmates are agreeable to it.
Wednesday, July 07, 2004
I just found the most effective and cheapest dieting method.
1) Buy three sardine currypuffs, at three for one dollar, from the nice lady selling them just outside the MRT station.
2) You will eat the first sardine currypuff and discover it to be made of a lot of flour, a lot of butter, a lot of grease and very little sardine. You feel your jaw aching from the effort of chewing the unaccountably tough pastry, but you think that this is breakfast and you should be eating more. So you eat a second sardine currypuff.
3) After the second sardine currypuff, you realise that you really cannot stomach down the third. So you tie the plastic bag carefully and put it in your bag, not wanting to waste food. At the same time you think, in a very virtuous mood, "I'll eat it later, when I'm hungry."
4) You go to school and attend your lessons. Somewhere in the middle of the day, you start to feel somewhat like eating. You think of the sardine currypuff in your bag, and you decide that you are actually not that hungry after all.
This is how I managed to survive my day with two currypuffs at around seven in the morning and one untouched in my bag all the way until dinner.
I think it'll work with potato currypuffs as well, provided you buy them from the same nice lady I got my sardine ones from.
I shall thus name this as the Currypuff Diet.
1) Buy three sardine currypuffs, at three for one dollar, from the nice lady selling them just outside the MRT station.
2) You will eat the first sardine currypuff and discover it to be made of a lot of flour, a lot of butter, a lot of grease and very little sardine. You feel your jaw aching from the effort of chewing the unaccountably tough pastry, but you think that this is breakfast and you should be eating more. So you eat a second sardine currypuff.
3) After the second sardine currypuff, you realise that you really cannot stomach down the third. So you tie the plastic bag carefully and put it in your bag, not wanting to waste food. At the same time you think, in a very virtuous mood, "I'll eat it later, when I'm hungry."
4) You go to school and attend your lessons. Somewhere in the middle of the day, you start to feel somewhat like eating. You think of the sardine currypuff in your bag, and you decide that you are actually not that hungry after all.
This is how I managed to survive my day with two currypuffs at around seven in the morning and one untouched in my bag all the way until dinner.
I think it'll work with potato currypuffs as well, provided you buy them from the same nice lady I got my sardine ones from.
I shall thus name this as the Currypuff Diet.
