It takes a night to make it dawn.

Sunday, June 29, 2008

Touching Lives... Transforming Families 9:05 PM

Village: Skun

Commune: Tropang Reoussey

District: Kampong Svey

Province: Kampong Thom

Country: Cambodia

(Vincent and I are totally confused after looking at this... I guess we can call it an address? I have seriously no idea which is a subset of which..)

And in this village in this commune in this district in this province in this country lives tribal people called Kuy who are mainly farmers. There are 20-30 households with no toilets and a school which is partially blown off.

I want to change that and I am going to. I want to do things like this for the rest of my life. But sometimes life gets in the way doesnt it.

Life - Dreams = Job

How true.

Incubus - Love Hurts
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxPcmi1U25g

"We can't call these people the less fortunate. How are we more fortunate? We can only call them the underprivileged, because we are certainly more privileged here. But not certainly more fortunate."

Friday, June 27, 2008

Can't Live 11:34 PM

Love this song but now everytime I hear it, I hear HER. The HORROR. a classic forever damaged in my mind.

I can't live.... when living is without you....
I can't live.... I can't give anymore....

KEN LEEE!!!!!

My GOODNESS. SAVE ME.

It's only when I felt my relief when RAG when cancelled today that I realised how much I was dreading it.

Three Day Grace - Never Too Late
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWapziQ2mAk

There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.
Albert Einstein

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Chain Mail aka SPAM 4:05 PM

Some emails just get circulated for years and years and while going through your inbox, you may just find yourself reading some email that you last read when you were 10 years old or something.

Here's one of them (which I received for the thousandth time, probably from the same person too):

PIN NUMBER REVERSAL (GOOD TO KNOW)

If you should ever be forced by a robber to withdraw money from an ATM machine, you can notify the police by entering your Pin # in reverse.
For example if your pin number is 1234 then you would put in 4321. The ATM recognizes that your pin number is backwards from the ATM card you placed in the machine. The machine will still give you the money you requested, but unknown to The robber, the police will be immediately dispatched to help you. This information was recently broadcasted on TV and it states that it is seldom used because people don't know it exists.

Please pass this along to everyone possible. [TYPICAL of all SPAM]

Best regards,
blah blah blah...

"So what?" you ask. you probably received this a thousand times too.

It is the emails that follow...

The guy who sent me this email to me sent it to his buddies too and so, one of them replied (and cc-ed everyone in the list),

Buddy #1: "Fake la if my password 111111 then police always come liao lor."

to which another buddy replied,

Buddy #2: "Its not fake. Just that if you set this kind of password police wont bother to save you."

Buddy #3: "Ha Ha. Thats true."

I couldnt agree more :)

James Blunt - Shine On
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNYTR1oSJ3c

And for the next eight months, it didn'tget any better for George W. Bush. He couldn't get his judges appointed,he struggled to pass his legislation... ... and he lost Republican controlof the Senate. His approval ratings in the pollsbegan to sink. He was already beginning to look like a lame-duck president. With everything going wrong,he did what any of us would do...

He went on vacation.
-Michael Moore in Fahrenheit 9/11

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Day 11 11:01 PM

Set squares
Protractor
Calculator
Angles, lengths, width, heights

Nope, I am not going for a math exam. sadly, it's just the list of things we engineers have to use during the HOLS for RAG. and got the artsy people really amused that we went around the place shouting "what's cos 60?? what is inverse tan 1.4333??" (cause none of us brought a calculator, act smart lo)

I think the design and plans for RAG has changed like a gazillion times since we first started.. we can soon compile a book of "in those days..." and see how insanely our float has become more and more complicated as time gets lesser and lesser. another charming aspect of RAG

and with these changes, RAG's rejects and casualties will follow which will remain buried and forgotten at best; dismantled and tortured at worst.

RAG Reject #1: windmill model 1

Reason: the back is not nice enough (??!)

RAG Reject #2: One side of the bottom of the Eiffel Tower

Reason: Too unstable

RAG Reject #3: The entire bottom of the Eiffel Tower

Reason: Too ugly (wth..)

RAG Reject #4: Small, fat building

Reason: There were sooo many people with different ideas of how to make that building look spectacular that it ended up looking like, as Moniza said, "someone shitted on it"

RAG Reject #5: The odd doll like thing with a pole sticking out of its head

Reason: It's too big for what is left of the tall, pointy building (see below)

RAG Casualty #1: Tall, pointy building

Reason: It is so thin that it looks like a pillar, so we are going to saw it into 3 for 3 small buildings

I am glad to say I cant really remember other rejects or casualties.

My whole life seem to revolve around RAG. NO!! I HAVE A LIFE!! I'LL SHOW YOU!! (soon..)

Annie Lennox - Into the West

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24fGmWG6kpg

nice song that goes into your soul....

The most glorious moments in your life are not the so-called days of success, but rather those days when out of dejection and despair you feel rise in you a challenge to life, and the promise of future accomplishments

-Gustave Flaubert

Monday, June 23, 2008

ARTY FARTY 11:11 PM

All the girls standing in the line for the bathroom!

All the girls standing in the line for the bathroom!

All the girls standing in the, (All the girls standing in the)

All the girls standing in the line for the bathroom!

Nope, the toilet bowls did not explode. Neither did the cleaners go on strike.

This is just a SUPER ANNOYING SONG which serves no other purpose than to annoy people.

Imagine yourself sitting in a car... cruising along.... listening to some nice song... going...

"It will all get better in time...."

when suddenly...

"All the girls standing in the line for the bathroom!" *repeats this line for another 1934982204 times cause they cant remember any other significant lyrics of the song*

you will be like "SIAO AH!!" and proceed to get into some convulsive fits trying to jam the buttons on the radio so that the horrible noise will stop. seriously, songs are supposed to get you going, soothen the day, NOT to make you feel like peeing, or in this case, get constipation or something.

ANYWAY,

there's certainly nothing arty farty about all those crap. just had to get that song out of my system and into everyone else!!hahah!! really!! go listen to that song (i know you will... just to check if such a song can actually exist.. isnt there a law or something? our ears!!)

just watched Fahrenheit 9/11 on Arts Central yesterday night. YA. A BIT lag but it was certainly worth a watch!! i think arts central has plenty of nice arty farty shows which are educational and do not corrode our brain cells. but dont take my brain cells corrosive shows away!! must have a balance mah!! but i am going to visit the PictureHouse real soon... nice shows coming up!

ANYWAY,

though Fahrenheit 9/11 is mainly about slamming Bush and his wars and what-nots, i just learnt like tonnes of life lessons in retrospect:

#1 ASSUME makes an ASS out of U and ME.

#2 People always expect someone else to take the crap for them.

#3 He is always someone's son.

#4 Happiness is shortlived. Pain is forever.

#5 The more people have, the more they take what they have for granted and the more they are not willing to do anything to keep what they have.

I really wanted to find examples for each of the above but life has somehow gotten so hectic that I am just tooo lazy.. maybe some other time.. without the examples, some of the points dont really make sense... aiya.. figure out yourself!! TLLM (Talk Less, Learn More) right??

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Oreos and Ice Cream 10:07 PM

MacDonald's

Burger King

Pizza Hut

Swensens

NYDC

Nah.. not advertising anything.. I just have insatiable cravings for ice cream and chocolates nowadays.. anything fat and oily seems to make me feel better. this is NOT good. i totally did not feel the after effects of my swim.. where are the aching limbs and muscles?? damn... and after eating all those food from the above mentioned places?? i need to swim swim swim!!

was selling coupons and some merchandise for WAFF from 12-2pm.. what a slow and sleepy afternoon. hardly anyone around!! hardly any money earned as well. went to NYDC for mudpie with dotty! somehow the mudpie like not as tantalising as usual.. saddening. but thanks for the London bear dotty!!

cant wait to watch Euros semi this coming thu!

The Beatles - When I'm 64
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xnj6NxU4WHo
happy happy busking song!

The Proclaimers - 500 Miles
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQfqSWe8eVE
super catchy song for one of my FAVOURITEST actor's old films :)

It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Friday, June 20, 2008

Day 9 11:22 PM

"I am going Japan..."

"Oh.. She's in Beijing..."

"He is going to US soon..."

"They are coming back soon from Hong Kong..."

The whole world is overseas. (that sentence kinda doesnt really make sense. theoretically, everyone is overseas. ok.. i am losing my own train of thought..) I want to leave too!!!

Life has gone strangely routine now.

I know I have been whining about how RAG was totally killing us and a few kind souls like IAN and JUNWEN have decided to save the deranged girls (maybe they figured it was less painful for them to do stuff than for us to do and for them to redo), but now that work is FINALLY moving along (I bet the stars are in the right position today or something), life is not so ... colourful anymore. I dont know what I am expecting. But I seldom get what I expect. Think I am just weird. Whatever. I am so tired.

On a brighter note, my dotty is back!! WELCOME WELCOME!! save me from the pithole of RAG. just having a close friend close already makes me feel much better.

sometimes, just hanging out with someone is all we need to make us feel normal again.

The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus - Your Guardian Angel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsNw0Bk_oLk
this song makes me emo everytime I hear it. so romantic and yet sooo sad...

go away.. i am sobbing...

=P

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Day 8 10:04 PM

Top 10 Reasons Why Our Lives are Miserable

#10 No freshies are here for us to torture.

#9 Most seniors have gone into hiding.

#8 We are working on pure girl power and have no guys to do sai gang for us.

#7 Everytime we finish constructing the main frame of a structure, there will be a million and one feedback on how to make it look much better.

#6 Everytime we finish doing something, we would immediately realise there is a smarter way of doing it.

#5 Everytime we bring something down to Central Forum, we will realise we rather work in Chatterbox and will need to travel downstairs to bring everything up again.

#4 Everytime we feel satisfied with ourselves, the feeling would last a grand total of 5 seconds before someone slams us down.

#3 Our dance's head is undergoing a choreographing crisis and cant find the right songs.

#2 Our head's damaged leg is under attack from bacteria/germs/virus, our creative head has pus-y eyes, our secretary is taking special semester and our treasurer has literally vanish into thin air.

#1 Our bolts and knuts dont fit together.

Thanks Junwen and Ian for rescuing us today. Otherwise, the bamboo poles wont be the only things lying around is chatterbox today. there could very well be 3 dead bodies.

Post post note: just saw this email from our dearest secretary

"Dear all,

I am sorry to hear that Moniza and Joel has been badly overstretched and may both of you recover quickly! I myself suffered from physical exhaustion when I went to Hokkaido just yesterday! (Yup. My first visit to a temperature environment of 14 degrees!) Caught a fever (could have been physical exhaustion or even heat injury) in the cold night of Sapporo and it soured my mood horribly. I am feeling much better now after returning to the more relatively warmer and comfortable Tokyo. I still got Kyoto to go the day after! (Schedule very packed!)

I think the Rag Comm are much physically shagged out and we really need more people to help out to allow adequate for all the engineers! So, please take care everyone!

By the way I will only return on the wee hours of next Monday, and then commence Special Term on Tuesday. So, if the committee plans to meet on Sunday or Monday (I need to rest) then someone must volunteer to be the acting secretary. "

Will somebody shoot me. No. Wait. Shoot the secretary. Please.

Rihanna - Take A Bow
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcuS7Ce4q9I

What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?
-Vincent van Gogh

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

It is in deep solitude of the pool where I found myself again 9:13 PM

Love the water.

I remember watching Daredevil a few year back and somehow this random point stuck in my brain. Since Daredevil can only "see" with sound waves bouncing off stuff (something like that la), the only way he can stop "seeing" and go to sleep would be to shut out the noise. So he goes to sleep in this coffin like thingy filled with water. Minus the commonsense things that people keep harping about like "wont his skin wrinkle?" and "it will soo cold!!", I find it extremely cool. I guess it is the only place where noises and sounds are muted and the only one you hear is yourself.

I remember there was once during term time when I feel so darn stressed and tired with everything and I told someone I just felt like diving into the deep sea and staying there (strangely enough, the sea kind of scares me. gross unknown creatures lurking). Being in the water just gives you this sense of security. Like no one could touch you and no one would care. When I used to go to Tampines swimming pool a loooonnngg time ago, I used to love hiding in the water and look at all the stuff going on under the surface. haha. sounds pervertic I know. But it is cool to look and not hear. to see and not listen. and everytime I came up to the surface, it was just so noisy, kids screaming and what not.

Being in the pool, we are restricted and liberated at the same time. Try to run and our limbs feel like lead. Try to swim and we glide through the waters. gravity doesnt apply as much and doesnt that feel great!! i told hanxi i wish the everywhere was just water and we could just swim around.

no wonder my friend said I should go be a fish.

I wish I could.

thanks hx for the pool!! you cham liao!! I am going to hound you for the pool from now on!!

fetched my ah gong around to the hospital and parkway and home. taking care of an old person is like taking care of a little kid. I feel somehow protective. It felt nice making someone else feel good, just by doing so little.

on a completely different note. totally not about my ah gong.

Sometimes I wonder. If someone took great care of you when you were younger and things changed, and that person was longer the person you knew. in fact, the person is now despicable. what would you do? do you owe that person anything? do the current ways erase the things in the past?

If you're not confused, you're not paying attention.
-Tom Peters

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Day 6-7 11:34 PM

Demoralising Technics: DE 1101

"you should try to make the buildings less box-ish.. try to look at some comics online. their buildings are disproportionate and it creates the feel..."

"i think using this material isnt a good idea... this will be better.. it creates the edgier and sharper effect.."

"i dont think this will work.."

"you can try this... or maybe that... i'm not sure.. you can try out different ways..."

"you should take a look at the halls' RAG...."

"the storyline doesnt make sense.. people wont be able to visualise..."

"if there are any more changes, i wont do this anymore..."

"no i wont be free.. dont think can come.."

*disappearance*

*arguments*

*frustration. despair. hopelessness. dejection*

ARGH.

thank goodness for Swensens Sticky Chewy Chocolate. and abit of Banana Crumble. comfort food is the best. thanks for listening to me whine and complain and bitch (no i wasnt talking to the food)

"Would you like me to give you a formula for...success?
It's quite simple, really. Double your rate of failure...
You're thinking of failure as the enemy of success. But it isn't at all... You can be discouraged by failure--or you can learn from it.
So go ahead and make mistakes. Make all you can.
Because, remember that's where you'll find success. On the far side."
-Thomas John Watson, Sr.

"There are many ways of going forward, but only one way of standing still."
-Franklin D. Roosevelt

Wedding Dinner (16/06/08) 11:16 PM

Pretty bride. Good food. Nice company.

745pm: suggested mtg time (by me)

715pm: supposed meeting time (by eli)

*smart me knows eli will be late, aim for 730pm*

700pm: eli sms me. will be 15min late

*smart me feels really smart*

730pm: me at paya lebar (oops...) sms eli.

735pm: eli reply. she was at bedok!

*smart me feels quite smart still*

745pm: reached tanjong pagar

8pm: eli reached tanjong pagar

8pm: "Dinner will commence at 8pm sharp. Your punctuality will be appreaciated"

Eli: die la!! late le!!

Me: aiya... those cards not accurate one!!

Eli: really meh??!!

*make us run down shenton way*

*ran two streets. overshoot. ran around one building. in dress and high heels. majiam siao char bo*

810pm: *pants* reached restaurant

*not everyone there yet. dinner far from starting*

eli: chey.. really nv start.

*smart me feels really smart*

1050pm: leaves for MRT

it's nice walking down shenton way at night. running? hmmm... nah... walking's better.

Sunday, June 15, 2008

From Mr & Ms Wong to Mr & Mrs Wong 9:35 PM

All my life I have been attending wedding dinners but hardly any wedding ceremonies. And most of the times I went to these wedding dinners as "The Family". You know when they invite "Mr so-and-so and family". Ya. That's me. The Family. Can't grumble though. The weddings had good food and ... hmmm. Ya, it has good food. Company wise, plenty of old people catching up and fussing over us. Somehow I am never ever close to my cousins and what nots. And occasionally, we have to endure really HORRID ktv singing by overenthusiastic uncles. It is so horrid that even words have escaped me. Surely nothing on earth can compare to the torture we are subjected to and thus, no words can possibly be apt enough to capture those moments of pain. Punctuality wise... those wedding invitations that go "Dinner will commence at 8pm SHARP"? It's a conspiracy. My family has always arrived on time and never once have they started at anytime SHARP. Thank goodness I have a brother who I can drive insane to maintain my sanity. He is the best! haha.

Hope I didnt sound ungrateful. It's just the highlight of wedding dinners in general besides food. And i really dont feel like blogging about food. Food should be looked at, smelt and tasted, not put blandly into words. It's a sin.

ANYWAY....

Today is probably one of the few wedding ceremonies I've been to and most certainly the only one where I followed the bride as a "jie mei". Woke up at an unearthly hour of 6am to pick Junli up at Bedok to bring her to Ms Wong's house. Once we reached, we were hounded by photographers looking for fresh blood to harass. After filming an awkward short best wishes clip for the wedding couple (i wish i never have to be filmed ever!! i really hate it), we hung around feeling awkward again since all the people present were mostly family members or close family friends. Thank goodness Junli was there, just like the first day of work at CCAB.

Ms Wong look really nice!! Her gown was gorgeous. But stupid Mr Wong was late. Their wedding car's flower thingy got vandalised and the groom's gang forgot to bring oranges so they were late! And they had the nerve to barge into the house. First time i saw guys literally qiang xing niang! It was a mass of flying bodies and some jie meis where even scratched. So ridiculous!! Played some usual fourfeet stuff and then the groom could finally see the bride!

Then it was off to the tea toasting ceremonies at Mr and Ms Wong's house. Followed by the ceremony at the church. Wedding vows are really really really really loooooonnnnggg. All you see on TV "Do you take blah blah blah in sickness, poor blah blah" and "you may kiss the bride"? That's like super summarise. I didnt even know there's wedding vows and then there's ring vows or something like that. I dont think saying more vows actually does anything but put people off wedding vows. All i was thinking throughout the looooonnnngg vow taking was how much time the couple actually has to get cold feet!! It's as though they are waiting for someone to say "I object!!!" and steal the groom and knock out the bride or something (oops. meant it the other way round).

Then it was the reception and phototaking sessions. Unfortunately, Mrs Wong got really sick and the phototaking was cancelled. Sigh. What a day for this.

I realised how easily a 2 person thing can turn into a ridiculous 200 people thing. What is a ceremony for? For well wishes? I saw more than a few people leave after reception and barely saying anything to the wedding couple. I saw the bride and groom being extremely exhausted and yet being obliged to entertain guests. I saw well wishers unable to convey their well wishes since the bride and groom are too busy. Generally, I just saw tiredness. I am sooo going to hold my wedding at a nice beach (maybe i will invite people, maybe i wont) and stroll into the sunset... nice right!! the other people can just go play in the sand or something... haha. i am so evil.

ANYWAY...

i came to blog about the people i managed to catch up with during the wedding and i dont know how after so long i still havent got to it (now i know why i spent tonnes of time on the phone sometimes). i think i probably did more catching up than the bride/groom.

Junli:
dearie!!! havent seen you in like NINE MONTHS!!! UK is stealing you away!! glad to see you havent changed!! still so eager to help, click super well with kids and totally obessesed over babies. i swear olivia and amanda want to bring you home or something. the jie mei experience would have been so different without you!!

Elicia:
this blur queen has outdone herself and went to the wrong church. well done man!! overslept somemore in the morning!!

2B peeps (Vaness, Winnie, Shijia, Xiuyu, Lynsey, Hong Wei, Lian Quan, Xiao Quan, Wen Bin):
cant remb if i left some guys out... oh well.. i havent seen you all in like forever!! except vaness, i see you like all the time somehow!! haha. the guys havent really changed much. they still look like sec 2 boys!! height the same somemore. hahah. hopefully none of them see this..

AHS teachers (Ms Ong Yin, Mrs Lee, Mrs Tay):

Ms Ong was one of the jie meis and i took like forever to remember why she loooked so familiar. In my defense, I last saw her 6 years ago and she was wearing spectacles then!! didnt get a chance to talk to her till just before the church ceremony. I probably learnt so much more about her in that short 20 minutes we were talking then in the whole 6 years since she first taught me. Didnt even know she was from Brunei and she will be going back soon. Lots of teachers seem to long for an escape from the system. Junli jiayou ba!

Mrs Lee:
still looks as motherly as always. the last few teachers from my era still teaching in AHS. *respect* she is really damn cute. the way she gets so excited about eating satay! priceless.

Mrs Tay:
glad to see her doing well. *moral support*

CCAB peeps (DD, Mr Yap, Liang Han, Joel, John, Dr Lee, Hwee Xian, Lawrence, Mrs Chew, Isha, Sara, Hamidah, Agnes, Evelyn, Hon Fai, Elizabeth etc. this is going to take me one whole night):

DD: in true DD style, he came in a golf attire and looked completely boyish. damn cute la! same old same old.

Mr Yap:
as usual DD and Mr Yap have like endless stuff to talk about. Junli and i were lamenting how sad they are "not together anymore". haha! sounds damn gay. he was showing off how he was going off to celebrate father's day and his son is bringing him to watch Kungfu Panda. haha.

Liang Han:
We kept bugging him to open the wedding car to put stuff in it while he was eating lunch. so sorry!

the rest:
random talk that i cant really recall in this semi conscious state..

Time has gone past really fast. how sad we barely keep in contact with our teachers once we leave and even more so when they leave. soon these people i was so happy seeing today will seize to be nothing more than a memory.

and my brother's hols are over. is it really 3 weeks already since his break started? i hardly spent much time with him. ahhh. another guilt trip.

my friend one had a theory on why time seem to pass by faster the older we are. Imagine you are a one year old and when living your 2nd year in this world, it's as though you are living the entire duration of your life again. but when you are 82 and going on 83, the one year is only 1/82th of your life and guess that will pass by much faster. kind of make sense doesnt it.

"Uh, you really shouldn't mumble, because I can't understand a word you're saying." -Willy Wonka

Saturday, June 14, 2008

a wedding letter... 4:36 PM

Dearest Mrs Wong (finally Mrs!! mwahaha),

First of all, I must declare, WE THREE ANGELS ARE GREAT!! Aren't we? We turned Mr and Ms Wong to Mr and Mrs Wong!! Mr Yap didnt put his faith in us for nothing! (When we kept teasing the both of you, Mr Yap told us that we better make something happen. haha. Bet you didnt know that)

ok, enough of feeling pleased about ourselves.

CONGRATULATIONS!! Your big day is here!! You are one of the few teachers with whom i have stayed in contact with after so long and most certainly the only teacher-turned-colleague-cum-friend-cum-mother! (Honoured right..) It was kind of sad seeing you leave AHS at the end of my sec 2/3 school days. People slip in and out of our lives and you were slipping away. Some teachers dont even remember us once we move on to the next level in school and even fewer remember us when we graduate. So you can imagine my surprise and how touched I felt when you asked me if I wanted to work at CCAB while i was in the midst of my A levels. I dont know why you asked me, especially with the tonnes of students you have and all your close Scout boys and I am truly grateful for the chance to learn and experience so much and to see you again as a teacher and a mentor (i sound so mushy here. hee) The work was nothing short of memorable and I will always remember the things you told us. You taught me that work was never really about just the work, it was always the people who will make you stay or move on.. How you were staying for DD and how DD was staying for I forgot who (Hee..) And how worried and serious you were when you told us never to treat our future bosses the way we treated DD (haha. we know!!) And how you always send us home despite it being out of the way and never complaining. We felt really pai seh but you told us that you were blessed enough in the past to be treated nicely by those before you and all you asked of us is to treat the people after us nicely as well.

It may be only a part time job and one that I have only been in for only half a year, but I felt that I have learnt so much and gone through so much in that short time with all the right people. It was life changing!!

I have no idea why this happy wedding letter has become more like a farewell letter but oh well.. You are beginning a new chapter of your life and so I shall help you summarise your previous chapters. So nice right? Actually, I am not even sure if people wrote ketters for people on their wedding days but how else to tell you all these when you are busy becoming Mrs Wong? and i also wont know to tell you face to face.. I am shy... hahah.

This letter is really running quite long. Ask Mr Wong dont be jealous I didnt write one for him, guys dont like such mushy stuff right? Anyway, i know you 7 times as long as i know him, so this long letter is your privelege! Haha. i know he will be a good husband (tell him this and make him happy) since the only thing he cant stand is 3 noisy girls in his car. So as long as you all have only 2 kids, it will be fine!

Enjoy the rest of your journey together!! I know you all will!! Love love love!!

<3 Kia Boon,
1/3 CCAB angels

PS: I hope my standard of writing didnt disappoint my English teacher!

i know its weird typing an entire letter for someone here. but it's as much a part of my life as hers! the last time i wrote a farewell letter to someone, she told me its so touching she almost cried. and guess wat? i cant really remember what i wrote. so now i wont forget this one!! :)

wise words? 3:39 PM

totally love the inane things that radio deejays come up with..

"If you cant convince... confuse"

"The ways to a man's heart... is through his chest"

classic if you ask me.

Friday, June 13, 2008

Day 5 10:53 PM

woke up at like 8++ am to reach school by 10 ++am only to realise noone was there (and wont be there till like more than 2 hours later). waste my sleeping time! but at least i managed to do some last minute work to appear more prepared. been quite lost during RAG up till now. oops.. i already told the RAG head that i have no idea how to construct stuff and yet he still insist i can do it. "just advice people" where got a role so shuang one!! bluff me!! and now, here i am wondering how are we ever going to build something that isnt going to collapse and crush the judges. that's a sure way to get their attention..

anyway, moniza and i agreed that RAG has made us emotionally unstable. at different times of the day, we either feel hopelessly dejected about how we are ever going to complete everything or strangely optimistic about how everything is going to come together nicely. i have gone to sleep thinking"this is crazy.. how to finish!! give me 2 years also maybe cannot be done.. now only 2 months!?", dreamt about seniors going "this CANNOT work!! what were you thinking!! i already said... yadda yadda yak" and woke up telling myself that all these worries are extremely unfounded. somehow i always feel less stressed out when someone else in the group is extremely stressed. so i assume i will be the last one to totally lose it. already 2 people i know have gone a bit cranky partly due to RAG and at this rate... i will last till ... 20 June 08.

Ways to drive yourself up the wall

#1

always remember that life just isnt terrible enough as it is. we have GOT to make it worse. if a long 1metre pole can do the trick, we must most certainly use 100 small branches stuck together to get the job done.

so...

a building with supposedly 4 metal albas forming its main frame...

and four wooden planks to form its walls...

being declared as not being elaborate enough (put simply, it will turn out like crap)

so...

it led to a search on how to make the freaking building more realistic!

so began the countless suggestions (from sightly disturbed to extremely delusional):

pipes
rattan
cans
wire
chopsticks
plastic forks and spoons
straws
toothpicks (?!?)

if you think these are crazy suggestions, check what real crazy people did (which only encouraged us to continue on our deluded journey)

http://englishrussia.com/?p=552

http://www.ericharshbarger.org/lego/eiffel_tower.html

actually, i would really like to try the lego one sometimes... (see!!?? i am becoming crazy already! *slap*)

final decision: we are using bamboo poles and kidnapping some scouts if we can to help us tie the building together. i am most certainly convinced that it will work (and will remain convinced until told otherwise, so if you are convinced it will not work, shush!!! no one asked you!! *denial*)

vital data (for me):

http://en.structurae.de/structures/data/index.cfm?id=s0000021

http://www.klsalesinc.com/filecabinet/LawnOrnaments_Windmills.jpg

http://www.die-erde.com/europa/bauwerke/Moulin_Rouge.jpg

http://www.flickr.com/photos/edgargonzalez/1423611063/

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.

- Mark Twain

When we are dreaming alone it is only a dream. When we are dreaming with others, it is the beginning of reality.

-Dome Helder Camara

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

pat down or see all? 9:34 PM

heard this on the radio.

some smart anti-terrorist scientist came up with a machine that is probably the result of some male fantasy which he tried to suppress during his geeky school days (i just made like tonnes of sweeping statements, but i guess the inventor is most probably a guy..)

for people who really hate those "pat downs" that security officers give to suspects in airport checks (ie. touch you from head to toe to check if you have any weapons etc), there is great news!! now you no longer have to endure those "pat downs", wondering if the officers are touching you more than they should (nope, not speaking from personal experience) and instead opt to step into one of these "strip down" booth!! yes. strip down. the machine is connected to some PC thingy which then digtally strips you down, removing every layer of clothing until you are naked (not sure how realistic this will be) and when you are stripped naked and are officially declared a non-threat, you will probably be cleared through customs with a smirk from the officers on duty who have seen it all.

the deejay then posed the question "would you prefer a pat down, or the strip down booth?"

the deejay's (female) answer was, without desitation, a pat down

the guy deejay then exclaimed "imagine greasy guys touching you all over!"

she rebuted "it would be a butch doing it. not a guy"

haha. good point. pat down anyday!!

2:16 PM

i really had it with you.

our love-hate relationship has got to end.

you are unreasonable.

you are dangerous.

you weave in and out of my life.

you almost killed me twice.

surely the happiness you gave to me is far overshadowed by the pain you have caused (rapid beating heart and not in a good way, uncontrolled cursing and swearing which makes me appear like i am insane and talking to myself, paranoia etc).

I have to go public with this seldom disclosed aspect of my life.

i hate you. . .

taxi drivers.

i just met the 194538th taxi driver which tried really really hard (you mean it wasnt on purpose?? nah.. an enraged woman isnt prone to listen to logical explainations..) to kill me (i have to admit he was more subtle than others, he only tried to give me a heart attack while others tried to ram me off the road)

he was going at approximately 40km/h, turning in and out of my lane (WITHOUT signalling, which justin told me is worth a FINE!! where's the fatimah/traffic police/police/whatever when you need them.), made me go so slowly i missed the green light, then more turning in and out of my lane (yes MY lane) and when on the happy occasion he was finally out of MY lane and i was finally overtaking him, he came dangeroulsy close to me and proceed to turn right when MY lane was for turning left. i should charge him for emotional turmoil or something. i swore i paid soo much attention to him (cause he was weaving in and out of my lane, not because he was gorgeous or what. am i so superficial?? come to think of it, there are no good looking taxi drivers around to even help redemn their reputation. hmmm. i digress.) and without realising, i would have ended up at some random kopitiam at which the driver decide to take a break and proceed to slash his car and tyres in some bitch fit.

of course there are other weird drivers around, one group of which are truly spectacular. they are the anyhow-turn-on-signal-lights-or-turn-on-the-wrong-signal-lights drivers. yes i know there is the fine for NOT turning on the signal lights, so these extremely cautious people just decided to leave their lights on at all times!! "yay!! no more fines right?? my signal is on!!" *slap* they signal left and turn right into MY lane. they dont signal and seeing what a low class driver i am (having a P-plate is like having the word "loser" pasted on the windscreen. drivers dont even see my car, all they see is this HUGE LOSER word drifting in the lane. it can be good though, some really nice people give way to us. but whether it is out of kindness or fear is another issue althogether), just cut into MY lane as though its THEIRS!! "got your name ah!?! *#@*&6!"

but taxi drivers are still the highlight of this post. they tried so hard to get my attention, surely they deserve more worthy mention.

one fine day while i was trying really hard to filter onto the always jammed AYE on my way home from NUS, i was blessed with a nice break in the traffic (the type that L-platers and P-platers will kill a driving instructor to have) and so i bravely entered onto the highway! so this grouchy taxi driver who was given the unpleasant surprise of having a HUGE LOSER word suddenly appearing on the highway in front of him, decided "wth!! what is that HUGE LOSER doing?! i better drive it off the road for the safety of everyone!!" and proceed to courageously drive next to the HUGE LOSER and edged ever so slowly towards it. the poor HUGE LOSER can only do what it can to stay alive and made a quick turn into the next lane. did i mention that the HUGE LOSER just filtered onto the highway?? there is no next lane!! so the HUGE LOSER drove into this divider thingy which would have led to an immediate failure during a driving test and a quick whack on the head by the driving instructor. but it's not the HUGE LOSER's fault!! the taxi driver was a fair distance away when the HUGE LOSER entered AYE ok!!

and the second time (or was this the first, cant really remb) a taxi driver tried to kill me, i wasnt even in my car!! i was just crossing the road (i know how to cross ok!!). i was in the middle of those small 2 lane roads which is quite scary with cars zooming around you but generally ok unless a stupid taxi decided to stop in your vicinity and the cars would have to drive onto the middle line which i was standing at to get their way around the stupid taxi. which is what happened. this wonderful taxi driver turned on his hazard lights (ya! anyhow turn on again!! *slap*) and proceed to SLOW down. so before i become a roadkill thanks to him, i decided to cross the road in front of the taxi. so now the taxi driver bu shuang!! "you want to cross the road??!! i'll kill you!!" and stepped on his accelerator and honk at me. the agile me jumped out of the way and continued walking to my destination as though nothing happened (dont want to cause a commotion you see, imagine the whole road being jammed cause i killed the taxi driver? not a pretty sight). at this point, i was some distance from the taxi which then drove up to me (i didnt even want to give him the satisfaction of cursing at me so i didnt turn to look at him. who knows what damage my eyes would have suffered?) and at some small distance ahead of me, he stopped again, to finally let the passenger off. this a probably a distance of 3m away from where he initially stopped? i am sure the passenger said "NOT HERE!! i want there!! 3 metres AHEAD!!" and the taxi driver just thought it would be a good idea to ram a person down in the process.

seriously.

i adore you to bits.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

8:19 PM

i realised that our families are rarely given the honour of gracing our blogs.

is it because we dont spend enough time together?

is it because we dont find the time spent together fun?

or is it simply because we think that they will be there forever and thus there is no need to hang on to any memories. because they will be there. forever.

why do we hang on so desperately to things we think we might lose, without realising that the things we already have may be gone by the time we realised that they were actually there.

one day we may look back, searching for something which will remind us of what had been and it is then we realise that there is really nothing to look for. cause there is nothing there for you to find.

i am not really feeling down. just a passing thought which i want to hang onto. before it's gone and nothing would ever be said.

Concerts 6:44 PM

SingFest... should i or should i not??

Simple Plan
Welcome to My Life
Crazy
Untitled
Your Love is A Lie
Perfect

Jason Mraz
I'm Yours
You and I Both
The Remedy
Geek in the Pink
Life is Wonderful

One Republic
Apologize
Stop and Stare

Panic at the Disco
Nine in the Afternoon
I Write Sins Not Tragedies

Stacie Orrico
I'm Not Missing You
Stuck
(There's Gotta Be) More To Life

Alicia Keys
Fallin'
No One
If I Ain't Got You

2 days, 20 hours, 14 artists, $200.

Should I?

random: angeline and I both agreed that this guy (also appearing at SingFest) looks like he's from the sixties.

both: looks so old!!
angeline: sure old lo.. look at his album cover. like that one!! *points to some classic covers at the side*
me: let's see his songs!!

guess what? his proud achivement: #1 best selling single of 1987.

both: wow. *stunned silence*

one thing led to the next 4:24 PM

Day 3 (?)

digging around in soil.

stuffing small gravel rocks into a bottle.

getting bitten by random bugs.

sawing off the top of a plastic bottle using:
a penknife (which was too blunt and came apart and couldnt be put back together when the blade was being changed)
a random sharp blade (found in the toolbox)
a mini scissors (which broke)
a nail and hammer (insane, yes)
and more penknives.

shaking, spinning, tipping the gravel in the bottle while trying to place a pole into the dead centre of the bottle WITHOUT the pole being slanted.

ripping newspaper crazily and mashing them around the bottle.

trying to hold everything together with massive amount of masking tape.

the result:

a hershey's look-alike thingy with a menacing pole piercing through it.

followed by:

more crazy newspaper ripping and mashing.

the result:

a odd doll like thing with a pole sticking out of its head.

tribal? yes
disturbed? yes
no idea what this was about?

welcome to RAG

ps: if you saw 3 deranged looking girls collecting small rocks frantically into a bottle. i am NOT one of them.

on the way home, i saw some unfortunate freshie with weird stuff (straws, tissue box over his head, random cloth wrapped around him, bottles hanging from the neck..) all over him. and my first thought was to dump him into the RAG storeroom. and no, i am NOT one of those deranged looking girls. (and no, neither is the freshie deranged, he is in some camp)

Monday, June 09, 2008

6:15 PM

i realised i just blogged about blogging.

i have officially lost the ability to blog.

"how can someone lose the ability to blog? it's just rambling.. noone can lose the ability to ramble.."

me? i dont want to ramble like some idiot.

my blog has been revived a FULL .....

TWO hours.

i think i shall go kill myself. and blog about afterlife.

ya right.

i am boring afterall... i cant even crack myself up anymore. (yes, i laugh at my own entries sometimes... who doesnt?? you?? nah.. you are just more boring than i am)

revival 4:35 PM

i am really feeling quite bored (i know i am soo going to miss feeling bored in a few months' time but now i just cant appreciate the feeling of being bored). not sure if i am aging or wat, but i just cant find anything much to do online anymore. so i have been blog hopping and after a while i got so bored i decided to write my own blog so that i actually have something to do. but even this entry is boring me and i am starting to think that maybe i am the problem and i have become a *gasp* boring person. i have just used the word "bored/boring" 6 times in the short little paragraph there and this only confirms how boring i am. (7 "bored/boring" and counting...)

ok. for those of you who actually manage to plough through the utterly sleep inducing paragraph there, you are probably wayyy too bored. to reward you, i am going to go on to more interesting aspects of my life (yes.. i am not totally BORING.)

come to think of it, there are a million and one things i have to get done but i am such a procrastinator that the only thing which i do not procrastinate at doing is procrastinate. i am being totally random here cause i dont really know where to start blogging. my last post is dated about one year and 3 months ago... i kind of regret stopping since now there is a huge chunk of my life unrecorded and given my extremely powerful memory, i may have already forgotten more than i can remb. reading my older entries brought back memories that would have stayed forgotten, cruelly stashed away at the back of my mind, unable to remind me of the things i did, the people i met, the times i enjoyed. so here i am again, recording stuff that time cannot erase.

and the ranting starts... (my amazing memory is somehow throwing tonnes of things tt i can be blogging about and... maybe i can start by.... nono... i shall start with.... oh ya.. wat about... this... and that... and another one....)

can you just start already??!! *gives myself a mental slap*

i will just jot all these down.. wth.. in order of randomness...

James Blunt concert!! [13 May 08]

YEP trip to Cambodia, MPX 4 [11-30 Dec 07]

some disgusting semester and exams [i think this took a huge chunk of my unrecorded life but it shall remain unrecorded for the benefit of my sanity]

Outing with JC people!!! [3 June, 5 June, 6 June 08]

BOSCH (aka construction worker) training [4 June 08]
..
..
..
..
and tonnes of random things that would be normal for a normal operating blog but would probably appear ridiculous after one month or one year.. i shall blog about them when they come to mind again..

(random point... how to remove spam from tagboard?? i dont want to lose weight, earn money, learn how to fight or eat random pills. actually, i dont mind the first three but SPAM is SPAM, so go away. i am a IT idiot and pathetically, all i can do now to the spam is ask it to go away.. i am that desperate for help. maybe i should get a new tagboard.. hmmm)

i think i shall look for a new blogskin first...