Deck the halls.

"the best way to spread a christmas cheer, is to sing a song for all to hear." -Buddy the Elf

deck my halls with boughs of holly.
fa la la la la, la la la la.
'tis my season to be jolly.
fa la la la la, la la la la!

and now, pictures from my penang trip as promised.


clouds...somewhere along the way.


my first dinner(at the hotel). a triple decker club sandwich. yes, it is time to exercise.


a simple christmas tree made out of twigs painted white. creative.


and then your very traditional christmas tree. my kind of thing.


along the streets further down from our hotel.

kek lok si temple. the largest temple in malaysia.


the inclined lift(or willy wonka's glass elevator, as i'd like to call it).


looking down from the inside of the lift.


a part of the temple.




building pillars for a roof to shelter the giant statue of the Goddess of Mercy.




from the top of the temple looking down.

four different statues of Buddha.






my dad writing his name down on a tile(that wishes peace for your family) that will be part of the roof.


other tiles written by tourists from all around the world.

on the streets of Gerogetown.


an entire building allocated to KFC where we had the cheapest lunch.


colonel burger. or should i say, 'private' burger looking at it's size?


Penang Chinese Anti-War Memorial. kinda like our War Memorial Park in the city.


the sadder side of penang.


our second dinner in penang, where i got a bucket of ice instead of a glass of iced-water. i didnt think the food was that bad but my family rated it with an average score of 4.5/10. *cough* they eventually brought it up to 9 because of the wet towels though. haha.


one of the stalls selling shades along Batu Ferringhi's night market. would you like to own an eye condom?

Penang Botanical Gardens.


woaaah. i wonder what the "DOs" are. and someone's really got to put up that missing "P". letter of the day, everybody.




so they cage up the flowers...


...while the angry monkeys were left to run amok.


yea, it's not very clean but i love the effect.


green!

Snake Temple.








can you spot the 5 snakes in this picture?


a shrine hall right behind the temple that we didnt visit the first time we were there.




i'm in china!


Singapore Children Specialist Centre.
"there was a time when people said that singapore wont make it.but we did...in penang."


where we had our last, and the very best, dinner in penang.


the view from our hotel room before the rain.


missing hills during the rain.


re-appearing hills after the rain, bringing a little mist along with them.


the penang bridge.


a base station. also what one of my exam papers was all about. see? one never forgets to learn even when on a holiday.

Kuala Lumpur.
goodbye, simplicity. hello, city.








i just thought that sign looked really cool.




subway!


Times Square in K.L.


and yes, an entire building allocated to McDonalds.


i didnt know they had Tesco in malaysia. colours of the world!


my favourite drink turns 50 this year. SLURP.


there you go. nice, gentle monkeys along the roadside on the highway who gave us a little "show"*cough* while eating their um, fruits.


the view from our hotel room in Petaling Jaya. which sucked. bring me back my hills!


i saw this at the hotel lobby. *rubs chin* in-ter-est-ing.


man-made waterfall.

Melaka.

the insides of the Italy Bakery. a definite stop we make every malaysian trip.

also where we get our supply of yummer-licious, soft-crust portugese egg tarts. mmmm. yes, we bought the whole tray again, much to the surprise of the cashier, again.


check that out. an A for hygiene! see what i mean? with hygienic bakeries come good egg tarts. burp.


the street name right outside the bakery(in case you're interested).

merry christmas, to one and all!

December Boys

i finally caught this.



the December Boys is based on the novel written by Michael Noonan, and is basically about four orphaned boys born in the month of december who set out on a journey one birthday. a journey that they would never forget.

it's really a film about brotherhood, friendship, love and discovery. it does kind of remind me a little of Stand By Me (one of my favourites) with the whole four-boys-on-a-new-journey-thing. i gotta admit that it was a little hard for me to shake off the image of Harry Potter initially when i looked at Daniel Radcliffe, but after 10 minutes into the show, he wasnt Harry anymore. he was Maps. so it's not that bad.

a heartwarming film for me, i'd definitely recommend it to anyone who's looking for a good movie to watch on a lazy saturday night. dont expect anything. just watch it as it goes and i think you'll enjoy it.

i also caught this when i was in malaysia a few days ago.



Half Light. it's kind of a thriller, and seems incredible in a way. unbelievable in a sense, even though i quite got the gist of it. i never quite got to the ending because i was out by then, but i did read the plot summary and the ending definitely painted a clearer picture of what was really going on. still strange, but nonetheless, a pretty interesting movie.

watch it if you wanna feel the chills from the story, Demi's classic acting or her plastic body.

back to the future

i'm back.

for 3 minutes every night over the past four nights that i was gone, i would shed a tear and curse a bad word in the hotel room without fail. you see, i have a huuuge ulcer on my lower lip so every night, i would dump salt on it to try to make it heal faster. then the pain would be so sharp that tears would roll down my cheeks as i curse a bad word when it would hurt. much to the amusement of my mom, of course. haha. that's all.

other than that, this was probably one of the best family holidays i've ever had over the years and i've enjoyed it thoroughly.

my dad reckoned that we went back to 30 years ago because everything was so simple and the road system was um, kind of whacked. but it's also because of that that i truly felt stress-free and relaxed. it also had something to do with the location that we were at. the entrance of the hotel in penang(same one we went to last year) faced the sea and having breakfast at the cafe every morning seemed so refreshing.

we met quite a few new people this trip. one was a young waiter who served us at the hotel's cafe. a 17 year old chinese-siam mixed boy. he was smiling all the time and was really friendly, we started calling him my mom's boyfriend. another was a young thai lady selling shorts at the pasar malam at Batu Ferringhi. my dad first spoke to her in malay(to ask for a little discount), and then later found out that she was a thai(who grew up in penang). so he dished out a few thai words(he'd learnt the thai language before) and before we knew it, she replied completely in thai. reaaaaallly quickly. the 4 of us just stared at her, and i went "woah." my dad didnt understand a word. it was pretty amusing.

speaking of the pasar malam, we had to drive through about 38 bends from our hotel(in Georgetown) to Batu Ferringhi to get there. dont ask me why we counted. heh.

also, when i said that the road systems were kinda whacked, i'm not kidding. just drive around Penang and you'll know what i mean. one lane can be splitted into 2 without warning, the no-entry sign means nothing, cars dont signal as they turn, they dont stop at the bends, and there were alot of angry cars around, as my brother would call them. hilarious. we started out as cautious Singaporean drivers and definitely left as Penangites.

in fact, we kind of grew accustomed to the place, that when we went down to Petaling Jaya and Melaka, we would tell people that we were from Penang instead of Singapore. *cough*

hotels. the beautiful Evergreen Laurel in Penang was affordable, clean and classy. and the service was amazing. Crystal Crown in Petaling Jaya was...um, affordable, and um, maybe the room was slightly bigger. but yeah, it wasnt so bad. i mean, they gave us a few free cockroaches in the toilet where the flush couldnt work. who could compete with that right? :)

laugh. while having dinner on our third night in penang, my bro and i watched a cop on a scooter ride past, spit into the ground, look at us, and then ride off. *laughs my ass off* the highlight of our night. speaking of dinner, i asked for a glass of iced water one night, and i got a bucket of ice. no, literally a tin bucket of ice. LOL.

ah yes, the botanical gardens. a beautiful green place. the only problem was that the flowers were being caged up, while the monkeys ran wild. hell yeah. angry monkeys, alright. cool concept. haha.

i'll put up the pictures soon.
by far one of the most amusing trips ever.
amusing, and so, amazing.
this is what i call a real holiday.

if only i didnt have to come back to the future so soon. sigh.

Break It Down 2007

last night, anna and i headed down to The Arts House to watch Break It Down . no, it's not a new movie. it's actually a dance performance show put up by the graduating students of LADC's dance scholarship. but really, i was there to support my friend, and my bitch, Fifi, who was one of those 15(i think) students performing.



holla!

the show turned out to be really good.

what i liked about it was that instead of solely focusing on the dancing itself, they provided alot of comical relief as well. and there was alot of audience interaction throughout the show. well, i guess a part of it probably had to do with how small the place really was. i mean, it would be kinda weird to just dance throughout with people watching them on their left, right, and front, and not interact at all.

now it's not like i've never seen fifi dance(mostly in the lab), but it's really strange to see him under a different light. being the annoying and loud joker he is in school, one would've expected him to be part of the group that provided the comical relief.

instead, both his segments were Contemporary. wow. the girl he was dancing with was gorgeous. everything was so solemn, heartfelt, and painful. it was kind of beautiful.

damn, that boy can dance. momma's proud.

but just in case you're reading this, we still got the broadband report to do. *cough* ohhhhh. i'm such a party-pooper. hah.

anna and i danced our way home. no, really. for the most part where we had to walk, we danced. twirling each other around as we past by the big gates of the Supreme Court,




and doing the robot as we headed futher down to the beautifully lit Parliament House.




actually, we were really doing the robot every five minutes. cars zoomed past us continuously. i couldnt care less. it got to a point where this old man who was walking in our direction smiled and asked us if we were having a good time(to which i then replied that we were), and then told us to enjoy ourselves. SWEET.

hey, dont look at me. we dont do drugs, and we dont take alcohol, but for some strange reason, we always get high. it must be in the blood. yea, it probably is. deedum.

malaysia tomorrow and i wont be back til next thursday(if i make it back seeing how JB's flooding and KL's protesting) so ciao for now, people.

happy holidays! *does the robot*

where on mother's earth is my handbook?

recently, i was scribbling some random chinese characters during some lecture(ok so i wasnt exactly paying full attention to the lecturer) when i realised how out of touch with the chinese language i was.

how out of touch? thiiiiss out of touch.

i couldnt even remember how the words "ai4 (love)" and "niao3 (bird)" were supposed to be written. yes, i know. thaaat out of touch.

correction:

love.


bird.

noooo. this is so wrong. as much as i dont listen to chinese music or speak alot of it, chinese used to be my best subject(as compared to my pathetic scores for social studies and science) in secondary school. for some strange unknown reasons(seeing that we dont speak chinese at home), that is.

i was so appalled by the fact that i couldnt even write those simple few words, that i told myself to study the shou3 ce4(handbook) when i got home...only to find out that i didnt have them anymore.

gone. without a trace. okay, this is bad.

yikes. i guess it's really time i resort to reading the dictionary. tsk, seige. tsk, tsk.

dear me, the term tests are officially over. please jump for joy and rejoice.

the holidays are finally here. my holiday. *gasps for air* slap me twice and tell me it's true. a temporary 2-week hiatus from busting whatever limited braincells i have in this hard nut i carry on my shoulders. woohoo. time to be stupid again. :) woaah, reports? what reports?

and what better way to start off a holiday than to receive a sms telling me that i've won KT Tunstall's "Drastic Fantastic" cd? nice. looks like christmas came early for me this time around.

now watch me as i strike this cd off my albums-to-get list. *strikes*

ho, ho, ho-liday.

leave the whine at home.

"A sibling may be the keeper of one's identity, the only person with the keys to one's unfettered, more fundamental self."

-Marian Sandmaier

sometimes, i wonder.

if the world just sits back, take a deep breath, and look at things from a different perspective, save the pettiness for never, with no dramatization, no wallowing in self-pity, none of this making mountains out of molehills crap, what kind of world would this be?

better?

no. incredible.

slap me.

"Men are born ignorant, not stupid. They are made stupid by education."

- Bertrand Russell

thought i was really tired. and really, i am.

i dont know what the hell i'm doing being awake and blogging at this hour.

finally, it's over. something that i've been doing for the past 8 months. over in 15 minutes. with a whole load of crap squeezed into the presentation, and nothing but potential junk coming out of my mouth. i was ready to end it. once and for all. i tried looking for a bucket to puke in before the judging. i mean, there's really nothing that spells confidence quite like puking into a bucket before a presentation, is there?

relieved? you bet i am. extremely. and yet somehow, kinda worried. not a tad bit. kinda worried. i just have this strange feeling that something's gonna happen after the deliberation. did i mention that potential junk was coming out of my mouth?

but wow. it's really over. someone slap me and tell me it's true.

now i can burn down the lab in peace. :)

"Tolerance is the oil which takes the friction out of life." - Wilbert E. Scheer

and for that, i shall. on another note.

oh well. 2 more days of break and it's back to the books for my term tests only 2 weeks away. *jumps for joy*

nobody call me before 12pm tomorrow today.

to the 5 young, national dragonboat rowers who drowned tragically in Phnom Penh last friday: may you rest in peace.

what the creep?

okay.

first, she followed most of the korean dramas screened on t.v.

then, she started borrowing dvds of korean dramas from her dealer and wouldnt stop watching them. every single night.


her current addiction.
it has about, i dont know... 19657852354 episodes?

and now, she's eating kimchi for dinner???

that's it. i think my mother is secretly korean.

moving on to even freakier things. i was at Heeren two days ago and i spotted this right outside a hair salon.


Cousin Itt?


Sadako called. she wants her sister back.

alright, now that is just plain creepy. i'm serious. the hair salon wasnt even open. and if you look closely at the sign pasted on the wall behind in the first picture, it wrote, "Assistant Required".

SUUURRE. like that's going to attract any potential help. or customers.

assistant required. but of course. maybe the previous one didnt do a good job so they decided to... i dont know...

...hang her head right outside the salon?

the hobbit v.s. the people's party

i've been really busy with school.

it's been reports after reports after reports all week long. also, with one test down, there're two more to go (for now). and yes, 30th november. judgementjudging day. the day to get shot in the chest with a pistol for the wonderful work we've done. oh, my fateful friday. you might as well just drown me in your saliva right now. i am so going to wear a life jacket.

ANYWAY. i swear this particular lecturer (with a really-high-position-and-a-huge-influence-over-our-project-supervisor's-decision-to-grade-us-for-our-work*cough*) hates me.

what's annoying is that i keep running into him. no matter where i go. with or without my friends. you see, i seldom give him the acknowledgement that he wants because he often acts as if he doesnt see me (and it's probably got a huge thing to do with our group's project's progress). so i do the exact same thing. heh.

a few of days ago, i saw him approaching from a short distance ahead as i was leaving the lab with a friend and i thought to myself, "okay, maybe i should just smile and give a nod or something". and that's what i did exactly when he walked by.

i gave a little(fake) smile. i nodded. and i mumbled, "hi, sir" under my breath. flies probably heard me.

hands in his pocket as he walked towards the door, he looked at me as i gave him the friendly(fake) student-lecturer eye contact. he looked at me, glanced at my friend beside me, turned his head and walked on.

without any acknowledgement. not even with a i-hate-my-student-but-i'll-have-to-smile-and-act-impartial smile. that's right. he couldnt even fake it.

HAHAHAHAHAHA.

it really was quite funny. i'm not even trying to be sarcastic here because i'll have to admit that it was kind of amusing. if only you were there to see that sense of hate in his eyes when he looked at me. that resentment. that unwillingness. LOL. it didnt make me feel helpless. instead, it made me feel like he was the helpless one because i ruined the great repertoire we had by smiling.

but it's okay. cos thankfully, the feelings are mutual. *thumbs up*
come on, i faked-smiled! lol. 'twas about as real as michael jackson's nose.

oh yes, happy thanksgiving everyone(i know i'm a day late)!
gobble, gobble!

mutant.

last night, i had an epiphany.

it all came about when i came to a realization that everyone around me wasis doing really well in their lives. i do mean really well. and that's where i got to thinking.

then, i realised.

i've come to a point in my life where i'm not going to sit around and feel sorry for myself anymore. no more moping. no more asking why others have that high level of intelligence that i might not have. no more feeling that i'm not good enough for my family. no more. i'll have none of that.

because i've come to realise, that life has been set out for everyone differently.

so hit me hard. because now i know. i know that you dont have to excel in school to become someone great. i know that when life gives you lemons, you squeeze the damn thing in someone's eye, and you make your own iced-milo. and that's just what i'm going to do. hell yeah.

i'm getting my sorry ass off this sad chair once i graduate and i'm going out there to find something and do it with all my heart and try my hardest to excel in it. yes.

a doctor saves a life. a salesperson makes a customer satisfied. a chef whips up a good meal. a volunteer cleans up an old folks home. you may think otherwise but i think in a way, they're all equally great.

so what matters most?

to me, that sense of satisfaction you feel at the end of the day. when you know you've done something that you can be proud of. could be anything. it doesnt matter.

just make a damn good cup of iced-milo.

solitary.

It is easy in the world to live
after the world's opinion;
It is easy in solitude to live
after our own;
But the great man is he
who in the midst of the crowd
keeps with perfect sweetness,
the independence of solitude.

-Ralph W. Emerson

no more Dunder Mifflin?

this is bad.

i need my weekly dosage of The Office!

44 days to go.

* taken off the Travel Tales portion of The New Paper, 9 November 2007

"Winter magic in New York; Bite into the BIG APPLE"

"I've been to New York four times and it still isn't enough."

"...There's no where else quite like Manhattan which captures the spirit of Christmas. The lights, elaborate window displays, the annual Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center and the famous Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade which usually kickstarts the holiday season."

"...Once you get used to the cold, you'll see that everyone gets to soak in the Christmas atmosphere in New York."

"...One of the annual highlights is the towering Spruce at Rockefeller Center. Standing at 27m high and 18m wide, and with 30,000 lights attached to 8km of wire, it is a sight to be savoured. This is all part of the festive cheer in New York city which everyone waits for all year long."

- Joyce Lim

first off, FOUR TIMES?! HUH! dammit.

are you reading this, Santa? ARE YOU?

The Quiet

i feel sick.

not sick sick, but sick-to-my-stomach sick.

i just watched this on HBO.


"The Quiet".

honestly, that was probably one of the most disturbing movies i've ever seen. no, it's not gore. it's not gruesomely disturbing. it's a totally different genre.

it's thought-provoking. very.

this is one movie that one should never watch when you're down. because let me just say, you'll suffocate. believe me. i didnt start watching this with a heavy heart. all i was doing, was channel surfing. then i landed on hbo. elisha cuthbert and camilla belle was on it. i thought i'd check the movie out before flipping back to channel 5 to watch Criminal Minds.

i never got around to watching that at all.

an invisble line had completely reeled me in to the movie. i couldnt take my eyes off the screen or my butt off the couch, as much as i wanted to. i was stuck on it. ironically, it was actually a good movie. really. all it had was this silent intensity that lingered in the air.

that's also what made it depressing. not the movie but the story. not the actresses but the characters. yeah, i smelt the fear, alright. both characters had such distinctiveness about them...it really makes you think about the situation when you watch them. or at least, it did to me. what made it even more depressing and disturbing, was that we've actually read and seen articles like this story on newspapers. that's what's sad about it. that we still read about it sometimes.

okay, woah. i dont get affected by movies often. NOT counting the times when i thought i could shoot webs from my wrists after watching Spiderman I. and II. ok fine. and III. but only because i still cant. dang. or the time when i imagined that it'd be okay for me to fight with anyone after the Karate Kid. after all, i thought i mastered the skill of waxing on and off(you gotta have to have watched the film to get me. heh) pretty well. mmmmhm.

but this movie? wow. i should've just stuck to watching The Mighty Ducks kick some ass on the ice-hockey ring on Disney isntead. tsk.

or maybe, i just need to sleep. going to bed at 5am wasnt quite an ideal thing to do. hm. yes. maybe that's it. ineedtosleep.

just a brief sypnosis of what The Quiet is really all about. picture this.

a deaf and mute girl (Dot) gets adopted into a family. she hopes to remain invisble. one day, she discovers a secret. her new father and his daughter(Nina) have something going on and it's completely wrong. not that Nina wants it. everyday, Nina tells Dot about her sinister plans of murdering her father on that particular night. only because a part of her feels that Dot cant hear a thing, and yet another part of her hopes that Dot can. but Dot cant hear a thing...or can she?

Dot has a choice to make. prevent the murder? be an accomplice? or continue shutting out the rest of the world and pretend not to know? what about... being the murderer?

now you think.

i'm going to bed to dream about chocolates and christmas trees.

3.34 am.

this keeps showing up.



man against machine.

it's on.

whazat?

it's 2.25 am.

i'm still struggling with chapter 2 of my report which will have to be submitted by 12 pm on wednesday.

oh wait. i just realised it's tuesday. ooh.

here's a picture of what i look like right now.



only, less furry and adorable.

wait, what the hell am i doing blogging?

karma

this was the headline on today's The Newpaper.

"S'pore netizen fury over YouTube video; Tourists taunt trishaw uncle."

curious and partially disgusted as to what i read, i decided to youtube the video on my computer to see what the whole deal was really about.

after watching the video, all i could feel was anger and disappointment towards the tourists, and sorry for the uncle. it's just... so wrong.

the man(Mr Lee) was 67. riding trishaws was something that he had been doing for 15 years. it was a part of his life. as if it wasnt tiring enough for a 67 year-old man to cycle 3 huge guys on a trishaw, they actually were insensitive enough to make remarks about him while he was cycling. fine.

the part that really hit a raw nerve of mine, was when Mr Lee didnt realise that they were making fun of him(because he couldnt understand them) and he looked at them and said, "very happy" with a thumbs-up sign. it just made me feel bad for him, and pissed at the way those chumbuckets continued with their taunts. i'm clenching my fist and i dont care.

"i can walk faster than this."

well then why dont you get off the damn trishaw and walk, young chap? you should've stopped wasting Mr Lee's time since you'd decided not to pay him in the end anyway. that's right. they ended up not paying. what jerks.

where they found it in them to do that to an old man, i'll never know.

so apparently, this is the account of the guy(Mr Bo Davis) who put up the video initially. some people have linked this to racism issues, but frankly, i dont think this has anything to do with race, sex or religion. it's just about having basic morales, isnt it? i dont care what you do, who you are, what you look like, or where you come from. you can be my neighbour for all i care. but if you do this to someone of that age, you know you're morally wrong. rudeness, dudes. i mean, come on. the man is friggin' 67, for heaven's sake. ethics. heard of it?

"i couldnt believe the comments- i was shocked by the threats." - Mr Bo Davis

now, now, did you really think that people were going to send you smiley faces made from a colon and a closing parentheses? :)

okay, now, i'll have to admit that many of the comments left by angry netizens were pretty harsh. and normally i'd feel sorry for people, even if they were in the wrong to begin with. but somehow, i dont quite feel the same for those guys. i mean, they really cant blame other people for feeling mad after watching the clip now, could they?

well, you chose to put the video up first. you put it up, so people watched it(whether you thought no one else would watch it or not). so unfortunately for you, you filmed it, uploaded it, and there you go. your music. face it. that's right. it's your bad, unfortunately.

hey what can i say?

oops. sucks to be you?

a colon and a closing parentheses.

picture perfect.

my dad came home from china on friday with this.


behold.

it's so drop-dead gorgeous, i dont know what else to say.

then a great thing happened. the last string burst on me. how exciting. but i've since changed it and re-tuned the guitar and it's sooo playable right now...although, i'm having reservations about even touching it right now. it's too gorgeous to be destroyed by me...

...oh who am i kidding? as if i'll be able to keep my hands away from that suckerbeauty.

i finally got my brother's birthday present this afternoon.

voila.

so hot, aint it? just do it. :)

by the way, here are a few pictures i took of the sky a few days ago. you know, for fun.


i just like the way this picture turned out.


check the sun out.


this was taken a while back.
sure felt like heaven had just opened it's gates. heh.


just the view from my kitchen window. was trying to take the reflection of the sun setting through the window, and at the same time making sure that my neighbours' underwear hung outside werent in the picture, while hanging on to my phone for it's dear life.

tagged.

*clears mind of useful braincells*

Questions To Die For

[Layer One: On the Outside]
Name: Swee Hoon
Birth Date: 27 December 1988
Current Status: single
Eye Color: black
Hair Color: brownish-black
Righty or Lefty: righty


[Layer Two: On the Inside]
Your Heritage: um, dad's parents were from Suatao(China), where the pure teochews reside. mom's dad was from Hainan Island(China), where... well, the pure hainanese reside. and oh, according to my mom, my great-grandmother was a peranakan.
Your Fear: small spaces. the big unknown. crowds. dolls. wax statues. portraits of women from the 1920s era, dressed in cheongsams. *shudder*
Your Weakness: i dont open up to people alot. java. tv. chocolates.
Your Perfect Pizza: CHEESE. pure cheese. mmmm...mama mia.

[Layer Three: Yesterday, Today , Tomorrow]
Your First Thought This Morning: 5 more minutes.
Your Last Thought Before Bedtime: 5 more minutes.
Your Most Missed Memories: probably australia 1997. and the stupid things my friends and i have done in the past.

[Layer Four: Your Pick]
Pepsi or Coke: coke light.
McDonald or Burger King: hmm. mcdonalds. sliiightly healthier choices? *cough*
Single or Group Dates: single dates, baby!
Adidas or Nike: "impossible is nothing". adidas.
Tea or Nestea: what's the difference?
Chocolate or Vanilla: hiii. chocolate. come to momma.
Cappuccino or Coffee: hmm. cappucino.

[Layer Five: Do You...]
Smoke: never.
Curse: i'm uh, trying to cut down on it. ohm.
Take showers: everyday.
Think you are in love: not really.

[Layer Six: In the Past Month]
Drank alcohol: nope.
Gone to the mall: just a few hours ago, in fact.
Been on stage: nope.
Eaten sushi: dont eat sushi. unfortunately. heh.
Dyed your hair: nope.

[Layer Seven: Have You Ever...]
Played a stripping game: i'd rather play boggle.
Changed who you were to fit in: no. stay true to yourself, everyone!

[Layer Eight: Age]
You are hoping to be married at the age of: 26? 27? probably around there.

[Layer Nine: In a Girl/Guy]
Best Eye Color: brown.
Best Hair Color: black. or dark brown.
Short Hair or Long Hair: wait, is this question about how i think a girl should look or how i think the right guy should look? because it doesnt matter what length it is for the former to me, but it's definitely short for the latter. or maybe bald. that's kinda cool.

[Layer Ten: What Were You Doing]
1 Min Ago: this. yes, this.
1 Hour Ago: watching grey's anatomy.
4.5 Hours Ago: drinking iced lemon tea at mos burger.
1 Month Ago: swimming in the bahamas. i mean, visiting mausoleums in london. okay fine. serving my jailterm working on my stale(and still on-going) project.
1 Year Ago: probably hoping that i wouldnt get some shit project for S.I.P. (well you didnt pray hard enough, SEIGE! damn you, girl. damn you.)

[Layer Eleven: Finish the Sentence]
I Love: tuna (chicken of the sea). burrrp. excuse me.

I would like to tag this to...
anyone who wants to do it. :)
or um, anyone who loves waffles.

wow. i am sleepy.

individuality

The individual has always had to struggle
to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe.
If you try it,
you will be lonely often,
and sometimes frightened.
But no price is too high to pay,
for the privilege of owning yourself.

- Friedrich Nietzsche

did anyone call for a superhero?

so i was with a friend at city hall's mrt station on tuesday, standing by the escalator, waiting for my watch to hit 9.40pm. i scanned through the adidas ads on the walls, like i always would, and then i couldnt believe what i saw.



let me show you a closer picture.



not close enough? sure. here's an EVEN closer one. (i zoomed in.)


it's 25794 ms elvia suryadi, y'all.

oh that's her, all right. even her name's written right next to her picture.

ok, just to satisfy your curious minds, she's actually a teacher from the ITCU, also known as the Internet Technology Competency Unit, a.k.a. the unit where i've been working my ass off for the past 7 months.

i think you should just call her 'superwoman'. now, we've always known her to be a really fit person, but... look at the guy next to her in the picture. i mean, just look at how tired he looks! ok? now look at her.

i swear she's 'superwoman'. really.

ok now wait. here's another one.



woaaah.

my mutant sense tells me she had a costume and a cape hidden under that sportswear.

Time

Time takes it all, whether you want it to or not.
Time takes it all.
Time bears it away.
And in the end,
there is only darkness.
Sometimes we find others in that darkness,
and sometimes we lose them there again.

-Stephen King

music.

"You got a dream? You gotta protect it. You want something? Go get it. Period."

- Chris Gardner (Will Smith), The Pursuit Of Happyness

i have a new found love for some new music. the band's called Automatic Loveletter and their music is really quite something. Juliet Simms(the lead) has great vocals and there's just something that band possesses that i love. do check them out. :)

also, i think that it's really awesome that bands are giving away their music for free. FREE, and LEGAL, everyone. i mean, wow! now typically, i'm not someone who is really willing to spend money on something like a top or bag that i think is too expensive to me, but music... i have a soft spot for music. good music. and believe me, it's a good and bad thing. heh.

anyway, Radiohead(whose music has always been fabulous) has probably finally reached their peak of brilliance, that they've decided to give away their music for free! now, just how CROUCHINGTIGERHIDDENDRAGON IS THAT, huh? tell me. how AWESOME is that? think about the money that they will be losing out on. the money that they dont give a crap about. it's completely ROCK 'N' ROLL, people. and now that they've done that, the fantabulous Oasis and Jamiroquai are going to do it too. WOAAH. hell yeah.

all hail to the trendsetters. *salutes*

i vote Coldplay next.
heh.

I Got It From My Mama - Will.i.am

"Baby where'd you get your body from?
Tell me where'd you get your body from?
Baby where'd you get your body from?
Tell me where'd you get your body from?"

"i got it from my mama.
i got it from my mama.
i got it from my mama.
i got it got it got got it.."

DUH.

"If the girl real pretty,
Nine times out of ten,
She pretty like her mama.

And if her mama real ugly,
I guarantee ya she gon’ be ugly like her mama."

oh wow. clever.

nonsensical. this song is getting real annoying. tsk.
my opinion? it's pointless.

when she tries...

a typical wednesday afternoon. 8 people were in the lab doing whatever they always did. the door opened and in walked someone. a lecturer. the same one who hasnt exactly been considered an ally around here. "what now?" we thought amongst ourselves.

lecturer: *takes out a big packet of candies* want sweet? come, take some sweets. come. take some. *walks around the lab and offers everyone some sweets before leaving the room*

friend #1: *looks at me in bewilderment* something's wrong.

friend #2: *checks for expiry date*

me: *mouths the word 'Poison'*

friend #4: *perplexed* DONT EAT IT. It's a trick.

ohhh yeeeaah. we're a hard crowd to please.

*pops sweet into mouth*

snigger.

something must've knocked me in the head.

had a great 2-hour long conversation last night. with my dad. uh-huh, i know. strangely enough, it was something new for me, i would say. but it was great. and i enjoyed it.

something my dad said last night.
"life is full of obstacles. but you dont see an obstacle in front of you and give up. dont give up on life. you just have to learn how to overcome it and everything else will fall into place."

mm. inspirational.
someone should sell it on those inspirational cards at Popular or something.
these are just the words that you try not to forget in life.

um, moving on before my words get too weird around here.

alright. moving on. i've decided to go to Australia for a break after graduation next year. that's right. a post-graduation trip. my friends might, or might not join me, but it doesnt quite matter because i had planned to travel there alone initially anyway. besides, i'll get to visit my friend who's studying there now and who i miss dearly(she'll be here next chinese new year though. cant wait!).

sure, it'll burn a hole in my bank book(ack). but i think it's a sacrifice worth making. and yes, i'll be there on a budget. then again, it wont matter because i dont intend to be there to really shop around but more to just kick back and relax. just a break that i think i'll deserve by next year.

mom said 'yes' but i could tell that she's hesitant. worried. makes sense because i havent sat in a plane for um, 12 years, and i told her that i'd be going there alone. so when i told her that my friends might come along, she smiled slightly more naturally. haha. um, we'll save the conversation of how i'm going to be fine alone(if i'm flying solo) for her when the time draws near. heh. dad's 100% supportive and he even started helping me with some plans as to where to go and what to do.

the only tiny, little thing that's standing in the way of me and my great escape, is whether i'll be able to graduate by April'08 or not. *cough* there. just a tiny problem. uh-huh.

anyway, i guess, after losing someone so recently, i've decided to try as hard as possible to fulfil other aspects of my life. the little things that i've always wanted to do. sure, school is pretty much making my life a lot harder but i've decided to try as hard as possible to make it the only bad thing in my life from now on. that's right. i'm going to try to live happy. and i'm not just saying it. i'm really going to try that. for myself. *enlightened*

pass the mourning.
over the grieving.
still wondering,
and not forgetting.
but moving on.

random fact: did you know that the possibility of dying because your plane crashed is much lesser than the possibility of dying from a car crash on your way to the airport? indeed. just thought that you might wanna know. now go freak out. in one way or another. heh.

quote. unquote.

If having things turn out the way you wanted them to
is a measure of a successful life,
then some would say i'm a failure.
The important thing is
not to bitter over life's disappointments.
Learn to let go of the past,
and recognise that everyday wont be sunny.
But when you find yourself
lost in the darkness of despair,
remember,
it's only in the black of the night
that you can see the stars.
And those stars
will lead you back home,
So dont be afraid to make mistakes.
To stumble and fall.
'Cos most of the time,
the greatest rewards come
from doing the things that scare you the most.
Maybe you'll get more than you ever could've imagined.
Who knows where life will take you.
The road is long, and in the end,
the journey is the destination.

- Coach Whitey Durham

mid-autumn fest

"Lack of sleep may be deadly, says study. People who sleep less than five hours are twice as likely to die of heart disease."

- Life, The Straits Times, September 26 2007

shit.

ANYWAY. yesterday was the mid-autumn festival(or mooncake/lantern festival, whatever you wanna call it). so anna and i decided to head down to the little park behind our house for a little walk under the moonlight.

with our lanterns. paper lanterns. old-school style.

and boy, was the park filled with people, all right. people and lanterns everywhere. families everywhere. teens and kids playing with candles and little ones walking with their mini lanterns, while parents strolled along behind, chatting among themselves. the park was beautifully lit up by the lanterns people hung on the bushes and trees.


christmas lightingslanterns on bushes.

then these 2 losers showed up...


...with unlit lanterns(that had no sticks), 2 big and 2 tiny candles, and a matchbox.

took us aeons(hey, we havent done this for around a decade) but we eventually managed to light those babies up. after going through a series of windy ordeals, that is.

tadaaaa.

our lanterns.

we managed to find some sticks(branches) laid on the ground. and for some reason, anna decided to make fun of my fishing rodlantern stick the entire night...after accidentally breaking the perfectly straight one that i had found earlier.

she's lucky we're blood related. hah.

so here it is:

my faithful fishing rodlantern stick.

what a blast.
time for some mooncake.

The Daughtry Experience (20 Sept 2007)

they came.


and i was there. :)

so Daughtry came. and thanks to anna's friend(melvin) who had extra tickets, we(anna, keith, and i) managed to go for the exclusive showcase as well. St James Power Station. now who would've thought that my first time at a club would actually be at St James? and that i was really only there to catch a live gig? heh.

funniest thing i heard while inside the bar.
"some guy called Chris Daughtry performing. i dont know who he is laah."
some dude on the phone.

the gig turned out to be pretty awesome to me. it was, in a way, more acoustic and toned-down, even though i still thought that it was kinda electrifying. one thing's for sure, Chris had great vocals and it showed. in other words, it was live and it rocked so that's all that matters to me.

i only have 2 complains to make about the show.
1) i wished they had performed my favourite song, "Used To".
2) i wished they had thrown some picks over to OUR SIDE! aww come on you guys! i lost TWO of mine! pfft.

so anyway, i tried taking pictures but all i had was a camera phone against what i call "gig-lights", a.k.a. coloured lights, so the pictures turned out looking, uh, "photoshopped". my bad.

we were standing by the side of the stage, so in one way, we were pretty close to it but the guitarist blocked my view of Chris.


just an idea of what the rest of the crowd looked like.


performing.


shaking fans with the fans infrontofthem.

okok. at least the super pumped-up drummer(Joey Barnes) was facing us. and the bassist and Chris did wave to the us. so i'll let that pass. besides, the drummer with his crazy drumming, in his fitting yellow shirt and flip flops? hot. :)

oh. and just to prove that they were drinking in the middle of performances.

and by drinking, i meant BOTH water and beer. how very "rock-star-like."

i took some videos too. dont mind the bad quality(i TOLD YA i was using a camera phone. plenty of good videos on youtube!) and um, the shaking. my hand was raised thiiiiiiis high. oh come on, you guys. that's what happens to vertically-challenged people at gigs.


It's Not Over


Home


Over You

just so you wondering what he was saying in the middle of that song, he said, "hey, can we do it again? i didnt realise you knew it that well so let's do it as loud as you can alright?"

okay. guilty of light headbanging. and swaying. and cheering. and singing. oh, and shit guilty of doing the "rock" sign with my hands in the air a couple of times.

i'm going home.

i'm ready

"my life has become a boring pop song and everyone's singing along."
- Jack's Mannequin


i've been studying(in school).


i'm addicted to The Office.

it makes me laugh.out.loud. really.


i still miss my picks.

L.O.S.T.

argh.

i came home tonight only to realise that something was missing.

my necklace. my favourite necklace.

i had it on before i left home this morning, and it was still on me before i went out in the afternoon. but when i came back, i looked into the mirror and was horrified at what i saw. nothing! that's right. mamapookanas. the necklace came off me! dropped into the middle of a vast ocean. how? how can you search for a needle in a haystack? or orchard road to be exact? it's gone! dammit. how could i have not realised that it came off?? damn, i'm lousy. dang it!

pfft.

now the chain, i dont give a crap. but my favourite 2 guitar picks on it... GONE. forever.


my poor babies. :( noooooooooooooo...

i cant find the same ones anywhere now. especially the purple one. and the white one was my absolute favourite. TSK. mamapookanas! so much for being a mutant and owning superpowers. pft. dammit. *slams chin on desk*

time to watch The Office for some cheering up.
please, the people of Dunder Mifflin. work your wonders!

the golden pair.

my friend surprised me with this yesterday.


a pair of golden flip-flops from novo.

i had accompanied her to the store to collect her heels but i had no idea she actually got this pair of flip-flops as well. ok, so the pair that i own right now...not exactly very safe. it has lost it's friction, well, almost entirely. that's right. i've had tons of slipper troubles before. the affairs of the cursed feet. yes. how cursed, you ask?

hm. i landed on my butt once, right in the middle of the entrance of TM, much to the amusement of my friend and everyone around, including myself. that would've been the perfect ohmygodshedidnt image. mmhm. and i fell once right outside school(wearing my old pair of black sneakers which i had complete faith in), just before my friend could finish her sentence of warning me to "be careful." yea. call me queen.

anyway, i tried on this golden pair(wow i like how that sounds) while we were out the other day but i ended up not getting it because it was kind of expensive to me. so apparently, this girl decided to get it for me. and she REFUSED to accept my money when i offered to pay her back for it. said it was bad luck or something. hah.

whatever it was, thanks alot, babe. i was really surprised. thanks for being so sweet! :)

i took this right outside the expo, where i went to with my mom today. it was around 4.30pm.


and so, the wind blows...

thank you for the invention of camera phones.

anyway, mom and i were talking about Gilmore Girls while we were out today, and i thought i had an epiphany. so i went, "hey! we're just like the Gilmore Gi.. i mean, we could be the Teo.. uh, wait. i mean, the Lim.. eh? no. um. nothing." *cough* oh well, we tried.

at least we got home in time to catch the real show. heh.

updates

my hair's wet so i cant go to bed yet. a chance for an update.

i've been attacked by major headaches over the past few weeks. the kind that makes you wanna bang your head against the wall several times before shooting it twice and then taking some panadol. bloody throbbing headaches. it's definitely the long hours of staring at the computer screen but i dont have much of a choice there.

low immune system + crazy, unpredictable weather + long hours of school =
one very sick and delusional person. who has a fugging annoying headache.

seriously, do i have a tumour or what?! sheesh. you're not only driving me insane, you're out there to kill me!

oh, joyful, glorious school. it's been awesome, really. i mean, what else is new right? i practically own that seat. that entire bench in fact. you know what? just give me the damn PC when i'm done(if i ever do get done). students of the next batch shouldnt have to use that piece of crap anyway. i could use it as a back-up in case the one at home fails. or i could always sell it to the karang guni man and get some money for it. nono, dont act like you love it, now.

i am skeptical about the help that was being promised. the help that hasnt arrived. afterall, who wouldnt be after 19 weeks huh? week 20 would be a good week to start, sir. thanks.

gosh, we are stupid. no we're horrible. in so many amazing ways...related to this project. and you nod in agreement. i nod with you.

but dammit, i will survive.

and you. thank you for telling me. really. you know you'll always be one of my bitches.
botak, or not. :)
oh come on. POSS! heh.

finally. time to sleep now!transfersomegamesintomymobilephonenow.
ah yes. i have become one of those people who actually bother to do that. sigh. it's the 20 weeks, i tell you. *shakes head*

by week 22, i'll probably jump for joy at the idea of being able to study and understand the logic of a microchip retrieved from a mobile phone.