wadduup

i haven’t blogged in ages. what i’ve been up to lately is..

CHANGE.

CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN!

YES.

i never believed that my double decker bed could be sliced into 2.. and now it is, so we have 2 single beds in my tiny lil nest, and it makes me soo elated to enter a room that’s so much more spacious than before. a room that have walls that i can actually see and touch. because my room is shared with my sis, so we have study tables that have shelves on top of them, double decker beds, and more cupboards for the purpose of storing books and all. so i actually don’t see the walls of my room. it smells like freedom now! FREEEDOM!!!!

my mum’s reaction was totally opposite from that of my dad. my dad came home and was so happy we revamped our bedroom. he was over the moon when he saw that we shifted our cupboard out, because it can be used to store more books, which is something he would love. my mum, on the other hand, was furious, because firstly, we messed the living room with books strewn all over. 2ndly, we moved the huge cupboard out to the living room, because we thought we could perhaps place it either in the balcony, or in my parents’ room. but she didn’t approve that. and also exclaimed that we would have to shift it back into my room.

but the problem is that, we have no more space for the cupboard because our double decker bed has been sliced into 2 and 2 single beds take up double the space! (and it rocks)

so we have a huge problem.. the 2nd problem, is with my lil’ sister, serene.

she has tonnes and tonnes of things, and she rarely even packs. her stuffs are sometimes neat, and that’s because helen packs them for her. it would be SO surprising to see her pack her stuffs one day. and me nagging at her, that doesn’t help. i think she’d all the more NOT wanna pack. our room is SO neat, except for her table which has boxes everywhere and basically rubbish strewn all over. she has a study table, but she sits on the floor and does her work on her laptop at the coffee table. that silly girl seriously needs a wake up call! so back to the point, serene has HEAPS of STUFFS that’s infested with even more unwanted STUFFS. but… she doesn’t know what to throw and give away… which leads me to the point that, we don’t know how much more space she’ll require.. because if she has an overload of things to store, we might have to place our things in the cupboard that we shifted out… and my mum wouldn’t be happy about that, because she JUST entered my room, saying that she doesn’t mind that new cupboard being placed in her room, BUT, they will be for DADS BOOKS. and he has A LOT A LOT of books. sooooo…. i really don’t know what to do, except to keep reminded serene to pack her stuffs and place her things in the new ikea boxes i’ve bought her… and also.. start to filter the books that we need and do not need.

i’ve never exactly had my own bed before.. and it feels great… the change in me is great, be it in terms of sleep or whatsoever.. sleeping in the double decker bed.. made me feel very restricted, cos it’s the ikea double decker bed and we bought it a while back when my sis and i were shorter. so… yeah i would hit my head all the time. and if serene were to complain that she doesn’t wanna sleep on top, i’d have to swop places with her (which i do not like). .. to the extent that i would carry my mattress out to the living room and just SLEEP ON THE FLOOR. feels like freedom once again

while i was packing my old stuffs.. it brought back a lot more memories than what i’ve expected..
i spent a lot of time reading my old diaries and journals.. it was quite funny.. like when i was supposed to pack my boxes, i was busy reading my old diaries.. with entries dated back to as far as the year 2003, when blogging wasn’t really that popular yet.
now, it’s so convenient to blog, you can even blog with your mobile phone.
but back then, even though i was an avid internet user, blogging was quite a hasssle, so i would turn to my diary, in which i could pen down more extremely personal and indepth thoughts.

its really funny la.. typing it out would be an understatement..

mmkays.. i’ve gotta manage my time properly and not waste the remaining 1.5 months of holidays i have left…

weightloss must be a success!!! i want to lose 3 kg in the next 1 month…

PS: i looooooove how i met your mother!!!!!

obama is THE man!

YOOOOO

after an incredibly exciting outing to sentosa with apples and his 2 bestfriends (yes! i finally am going out with them..), i got home and my dad was watching CNN… a programme so exciting that it got my plugged onto the television.

i sat on the rocking chair and was hooked onto obama’s speech as he addressed some jewish leaders at some huge event. this event’s broadcast WORLD WIDE… his voice got my intrigued and hooked onto his speech.

after mcCain had called obama an inexperienced an naive leader, obama rocked the masses with his powerful public speaking skills, and his in-depth explanation of the policies and changes that he has in mind.

CHANGE, that is what the americans are looking for, yearning for and hopefully they would be able to live the dream of hope and change that america (obama) soughts for.. change is something close to the hearts of americans, change is something that obama has been campaigning for, something that he is promising america. we hear about him rallying for “change and hope that they can believe in…” but what exactly are the changes he plans to implement in america?

he finally got a chance to explain in specificity last night, the kinds of plans he has for america. as you listen to him speak, it just feels different, it feels special, it feels NEW. it’s as if he is really going to bring america into a whole new level. i didn’t want to swtich channels, neither did my dad. after going into details the kind of implementations that he has in mind, the masses clapped enthusiastically. i just felt then like it was the president of the united states of america addressing the masses. people welcomed him with open arms, delegates congratulating him with wide smiles on their faces. although it was evident that obama is rather exhausted from the past 6 months of campaigning, i just felt like he was the one.

then it was clinton’s turn for her speech to be made. she addressed the crowd, evidently worn-out, while she attempts to put a smile on her face. i admire her courage, confidence and perserverance in this campaign. she is so strong, so intelligent, so incredibly determined (stubborn at times), but she’s like the kind of woman whom many people aspire to be. sometimes i wish i had her confidence and determination. she knew she was already losing, but she fought on with unrelentless faith and fighting spirit. although i didn’t like how she attacked obama (i thought that was unscrupulous), i guess that’s how they do it in the states, which really led obama to step up to his game. i truly respect her for her fighting spirit.

i took a quick shower and when i got out of the bath room, i realised that my dad had changed the channels. i was like “daddy!! why are you watching the china channel?! why dont you wanna watch clinton’s speech??!”, then he replied, “it’s nothing. it’s the same. it’s not different. it’s the same old thing, nothing new.” so i was like “let me see!!! just for a while!!”.

true enough, when he turned on CNN, it suddenly felt very different with clinton taking the stage. haha.. i was like, ‘what the hell is she even talking about?’

after 2 minutes, i told my dad he could watch whatever he wanted. i’m not interested in her speech already.

in any case, obama will be representing the democrats in the presidential elections, while mcCain would rep the republicans. from a amatuer’s point of view, obama would easily beat mcCain. americans want a change in their lives and would want to solve the iraq prob differently. mcCain (the republicans) has a bad reputation at that, with him supporting the invasion of iraq, etc. however, analysts have mentioned that it won’t be easy for obama to beat mcCain by large margins, and that it could be a tought fight between the both. obama is said to be not as experienced as mcCain, has problems getting supporting from blue/white collared americans (elitist? is he?), and people aren’t sure if his wife is ready/fit to be the first lady of the usa.

i think it’s going to be an incredibly interesting fight between the two. and i certainly hope that obama would win the presidential elections.

time of my life

i am having the best time of my life….

and i just had one of the sweetest and most romantic nights ever…

life of an instructor

i am currently working in Camelot as a kayaking and camp instructor.. today was my first day there and i had to be a KI (kayaking instructor) for group of pri sch kids from CHIJ.. initially i thought i was just going to be a safety support (SS) crew either on my kayak or on a powerboat but it turned out that we were doing this ‘relay’ system on kayaks where we would have to sit on an open-decked kayak, take two tiny pri sch kids along with us, with the KI sitting right behind. then 2 person would paddle each time. when we reached the pink buoy, we’d have to turn back, and the front girl would pass her paddle to the girl in the middle, and we’d paddle back to safety.

it’s pretty fun considering that fact that i love kids, and i love outdoors and sports. i haven’t done actual kayaking in a long while, it’s usually open-decked kayaks, like the ones we used in bintan. today’s was somewhat similar. but the waters were maybe 2-3 times more choppy than bintan’s. partly also due to the tides coming in in the afternoon i think.

so i had to do quite a bit of shouting and now i’ve lost a bit of my voice. my throat is sore and i’ve been sipping pi-pa-gao (honey) but it still isn’t working. i have 1 last woods lozenges and it’s somewhere i have to find it!

working as a freelance/part-time instructor be it a GI (group instructor) or KI is pretty interesting.. but it means that i’ll be busy and have to stay over for camps.. at the same time i can choose when i want to go for which camp. but of course when they need ppl i’ll be obliged to help out.

i’m very happy with my life right now and i’d like to thank the people who have made it possible. the support you’ve given me esp when i was in a dilemma whether to give up my MHA internship, or to stay.

i’m so glad that i have made a choice and chose to be an instructor. my passion of the young (teens and kids), imparting skills and values and also my ultimate (all time fav) interest in water sports and outdoors has definitely allowed me to feel a great sense of achievement and happiness while working there..

i hope this will go on forever.. i’m out for now! ciao!

food and exercise

as i was on my way home from apple’s today.. i was looking out of the bus and i was actually pretty surprised to see many people jogging around the neighbourhood. felt rather motivated to do so but i was still quite bloated from the dinner and water so i decided not to.

i have not exercised at all for about 3 weeks already. when i went to the club yesterday, my sisters and i just dipped and played in the wave pool for awhile. other than that i really wasn’t motivated to do anything else. i have a thing for not going to the gym during exam period. not to play squash, badminton, basketball or any sport during the exams – for fear that i might fracture or hurt some part of my body that would directly or indirectly affect the way i’m going to prepare for and take my exams. it’s not paranoia, it’s more of taking precaution, cos’ i’ve had close encounters of friends breaking their arms or injuring their fingers just before an exam. so swimming is the only activity that i allow myself to do… and a bit of light jogging. the sad thing is i have done neither!!

i exercise everyday 2-3 days in the past but i think it’s my record for not working out for 3 weeks haha. surprisingly though i didn’t gain any weight despite indulging in more sinful and unhealthy food which i never would’ve allowed myself to.. such as ferrero rocher chocolates, dark chocolate bars, lotsa’ lotsa’ milk, coco crunch, deep friend food like fries and secret recipe’s chicken cordon bleu… overly oily food… and i also forbade myself from consuming too much carbs cos’ carbs+lack of exercise was what made me gain 7kg over 1 year now that i’ve lost 11kg… i aspire to continue with my healthy weightloss regime, by exercising regularly and eating healthily… though it is alright to cheat during weekends i always believe in a balance. besides if i were to give myself to many rules esp with regards to what not to eat, i would be a very very sad girl! haha.. FOOD IS MY LIFE!

okay.. so… here are my plans for now for the coming 2 weeks:

6may (tues) – swim 1 hour
8may (thur) – kayak and cycle @ sentosa
9may (fri) – swim 1 hour @ chalet (if period doesn’t come)
10may (sat) – jog/cycle 1 hour @ chalet

12-13may – bintan
14may (wed) – gym 2 hours
15may (thur) – NDP training
16may (fri) – swim 1 hour
17may (sat) – east coast park cycle + NDP training

hopefully nothing else changes and i’ll have time to return to my exercise regime of working out at least 3 times a week! coming up of course would be more badminton sessions with apples! and also family hikes to bt timah hill!

with regards to FOOD…. i’ll try my best to slowly cut back down on carbs during dinner. it’s soo hard esp cos’ now i’ve started eating carbs again! maybe i’ll ask helen to cook soup like everynight if im back for dinner! haha. i must get apple’s mum’s soup recipe! tomato..chicken..onion..carrot.. what else? i only see that in the soup but it tastes sooo good!

open up your eyes

i dont know if anyone notices this but after watching IRON MAN with apple today at the cinema… i realised that singaporeans are littering A WHOLE LOT worse than before.

i dont remember people littering as much 4 years a go in cinemas. they usually carry our whatever trash they have with them to the bins to be disposed of.

buttttttt in recent years i’m observing more and more rubbish being strewn all over the flood and cups left behind. after tonight’s movie i saw the entire carpeted floor dirtied with popcorn as if it were confetti left overs from a party or smth. im wondering how those people ate the popcorn. it’s as if they were feeding the FLOOR. or maybe they had holes in their mouths.

the theatre was almost full house… so were the litter left behind..

it just makes me wonder why doesn’t the LITTERING law take effect in the cinema?! IT SHOULD RIGHT? i mean if everyone consumes their chips and popcorn properly (wow i have to go to the extent of mentioning eating “properly”. it’s as if it wasn’t normal to eat with food going str8 into one’s mouth)… and place their cups in their popcorn bags and then carry it out and throw it after 30 steps.. it would be so much easier on the management.. but in this case im assuming that their priority would be to save on labour costs and increase profits earned. but still! even if the management wants to provide jobs (singapore has a very high in supply when it comes to jobs availability) to maybe unskilled employees… singaporeans/movie-watchers should be more responsible when it comes to their garbage.. im sure they don’t litter so extensively anywhere else including their homes right.. so just try and make their surroundings cleaner la! some people have warped thinking that they pay $10 and are allowed to do whatever they want while watching the movie… goodness. what’s happening is outrageous.

ok fair enough, if you leave your popcorn bags and cups behind… but just  keep the place clean.

yeah so my point is why isn’t the littering law enforced in cinemas… it’s kinda weird… in fact it has become a very negative culture among youths nowadays. it has become a NORM. an unhealthy norm and habit which we ought to change and kick respectively!

the perfect guy?

my family celebrated an incredibly happy occasion yesterday, where my eldest sister’s boyfriend proposed to her, in the spa.

wow.

i was really impressed how he managed to surprise her. the ultimate wellness spa (i think that is what it is called) at the civil service club was so beautifully decorated. i felt like i was in bali or some 6 star spa resort. he made a reservation for a private spa room.. it had two beds for massage.. an area where you can sit and chill.. and this huge toilet with a gigantic jacuzzi bathtub plus an area with a hee-uge shower head (my fav) to shower after the massage. it was amaaazzzingggg and jaw-dropping! he pasted hundreds of photographs all over the private spa room he had booked, and also made a few very sweet photo albums inside. upon turning to the last page of the album, there was a question made to my sis that was written in it – will you marry me?

haha… that is one of the most romantic ways of proposing to any girl!!! i think my sis is one of the luckiest women in the world.. and i congratulate her with all my blessings.. hanmao is very sensitive and ti-tie (in chinese).. how do i say it in eng? i can’t remember what the word is. in any case… they understand one another and are like one of the most perfect couple in my eyes.

sometimes i really do envy them… and i seriously am impressed by hanmao’s patience and understanding towards my sis. my sis is one of the busiest persons i’ve known… she’s a teacher. she holds two leadership positions in soka (our religious/peace/edu organization) where she is in charge of all the students from SMU who are in soka, as well as a district leader where she is in charge of members living in a certain area in bt timah. meanwhile, she is also an eldest sister, a daughter, a 24/7 2nd parent to all her pri sch kids. teaching pri sch students isn’t as easy as it seems. times have changed. she gets calls all the time from parents and students who bug her constantly. parents are so paranoid is so annoying these days. yet she still takes it so positively and says that it’s ok. she’s wakes up at 5.30am daily, ends school after 6pm (she also has a CCA to be in charge of). after 6pm, she goes for soka gatherings/meetings and such. she has planning meetings also, since she hold 2 positions. she comes home at 11pm.. sometimes after midnight after a looong day. sometimes these meetings are held at the HQ, which is at tampines. it takes almost 2 hours for her to get home. if she’s really exhausted, you would know. because she’d then take a taxi.

she returns home… positive.. smiling.. sometimes she frowns and gets upset because she has a lot of work to do… few days ago she had to stay up til 3am to complete her marking.. and slept for only 2 hours..

teaching pri school kids takes up so much energy, yet she still is able to stay positive.. and hanmao is able to understand that… he has in recent years began to practise with us by going for prayer meetings and such.. he comes over to stay and accompany my sis.. help her to mark when she’s too busy… and is just so incredibly understanding (sorry i can’t help but keep repeating this) towards her… haha..

i believe my sis has found the right guy.. in 2010.. they’ll be going to America as he has to take his PHD there.. my sis will be accompanying him.. how awesome..

i would also like to have an understanding husband in the future.. who would know me inside out and understand me… so be there for me.. and just to be able to communicate effectively and stay happy. our life may be simple and not so extravagant.. but as long as we are happy together, that is all that matters.

i am the walrus

i actually planned on having iamthewalrus.wordpress.com but to my surprise, someone else had already taken up their name for a blog. haha how popular can that song be?

actually i think, very popular.

been mugging at home lately, it isn’t very condusive, but i guess it’s really up to me whether i’m able to focus or not. distractions are just external disturbances which one can easily ignore, as long as one is disciplined enough. today is my 4th day studying at home and it seems better now.

during my course of intense revision, i have come across many terminologies and concepts which i find very interesting. i never knew, also, that geopolitics can be that intriguing. (i was thinking of the right word to describe the subject). sooo.. yes, it is. and i am very glad that i took up this module.

o’tuathail is a very famous professor/geopolitician/writer and he has come up with many interesting articles and journals with regards to this subject. my professor, grundy-warr is also incredibly intelligent and has conducted many fieldwork and completed journal articles especially in the context of southeast asian landscapes. i love it. his work on the mekong river especially was stunning.

i’m just thinking… during the course of my study… how minute my world is. my world revolves around my family, my boyfriend, my friends (pri, sec, jc, uni, soka, etc.)… and i do travel.. maybe once or twice a year with my family to places that i don’t have a say in.. and the purpose of our trip would be for leisure and recreation. on the other hand, my professors probably have met people from many parts of the world, whom he has impacted and undeniably.. people from these places who have left a deep impression in him. he goes to places to STUDY and conduct research – hopefully to bring about a better place by exposing the truths, while i go to these places to bring about more economic revenue by shopping, eating, and sleeping. (i think sleeping costs a lot. one night could cost up to US$100+++)

i dont just want to be the walrus, nor the eggman.

i want to be someone who can do things like that.. to help.. to change (for the better).. to connect.. to create exposures… to educate.. and to facilitate..

this sounds like a dream i’ve been having since i was younger.

there is a saying that goes – ‘if you want to change the world, u have to first change yourself’. i don’t quite believe and agree with this quote. you can always change the world, and in the midst of doing so, learn things about yourself which you never would’ve known, which later translates to enriching of oneself, thus changing. or it could be… after the entire process… then a person changes. it does not necessarily mean that if you want to do something for the world, you have to first change yourself. (absurd saying. haha. no offense but it doesn’t make sense to me unless someone else can explain it to me clearly why this is so)

OKAY! enough ramblings for now. i have wasted about 1.5 hours thinking about how i can be a better person and what i want to do in the future, but my conclusion is, give me more time. i have an idea. but the specificity of it has not be finalised happy mugging!

———-

I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together.
See how they run like pigs from a gun, see how they fly.
I’m crying.

Sitting on a cornflake, waiting for the van to come.
Corporation tee-shirt, stupid bloody tuesday.
Man, you been a naughty boy, you let your face grow long.
I am the eggman, they are the eggmen.
I am the walrus, goo goo g’joob.

Mister city policeman sitting
Pretty little policemen in a row.
See how they fly like lucy in the sky, see how they run.
I’m crying, i’m crying.
I’m crying, i’m crying.

Yellow matter custard, dripping from a dead dog’s eye.
Crabalocker fishwife, pornographic priestess,
Boy, you been a naughty girl you let your knickers down.
I am the eggman, they are the eggmen.
I am the walrus, goo goo g’joob.

Sitting in an english garden waiting for the sun.
If the sun don’t come, you get a tan
From standing in the english rain.
I am the eggman, they are the eggmen.
I am the walrus, goo goo g’joob g’goo goo g’joob.

Expert textpert choking smokers,
Don’t you thing the joker laughs at you?
See how they smile like pigs in a sty,
See how they snied.
I’m crying.

Semolina pilchard, climbing up the eiffel tower.
Elementary penguin singing hari krishna.
Man, you should have seen them kicking edgar allan poe.
I am the eggman, they are the eggmen.
I am the walrus, goo goo g’joob g’goo goo g’joob.
Goo goo g’joob g’goo goo g’joob g’goo.

Hello world!

Welcome to WordPress.com. This is your first post. Edit or delete it and start blogging!