Coincidences...

I'm back (again) after a long disappearance. School has started. Honestly, school sucks. Boring modules are a turn off already, but I can accept those because I cannot expect every module to be my cup of tea. What adds to the negativity is the horrible timetable. A total of 6 hours of break on Monday, 4 hours on Wednesday (which is why I am in the school library updating my blog now) and 5 hours on Friday. Imagine the amount of time wasted. If I could rearrange my own timetable, I bet I can arrange it in such a way that I have 2 fully packed days and 3 days off! Why does NIE have to give us such timetables? Grrrrrrr. Guess I shall just make use of these time to do my assignments, readings and studying.

Well, studies aside, the biggest satisfaction I had for this holidays is that my online game, I am now a 3-chainer, if you know what it means. I am now level 130! Yippie. Was doing the Tian Xia quest until 1.30am with SMC and I have not done it yet. Will continue tomorrow. Should finish by then.

It has been a very coincidental week for me. On the 28th december 2007, I met Elizabeth for dinner at Sakae Sushi. There, saw 2 secondary school friends - Xin Tian and Germaine. Talked to them for a while. On the 5th Jan 2008, my friend, Deborah got married. Congratulations Deborah! At the wedding, I saw 3 secondary school friends - Xin Tian, Mon Ting & Kok Leong. Small world! They were Deborah's primary school friends. Not only that I met Ronny, my SP Choir junior who is her nephew (which I forgot) and Teng Yong also from SP Food Tech, but knew her as they were studying Advance Dip together. On Monday during my 4 hour break, I saw 2 secondary school friends again too. Wei Xin, my sec 1 and 2 classmate, who is at her final year studying mechanical engineering at NTU and Ting Hwee, my CTSS Choir junior, studying Bioscience, I think. Evening, when was at Jurong Point with Shu Xin and Sylvia, I met my Godparents there. Been bumping into so many people!

Shall try to get some readings done now. Signing off now.

Merry Christmas and Happy 22nd Birthday to me!

Disclaimer: Warning. Long post due to a long period of MIAness. Lots of backdating.

Ho Ho Ho!

Merry Christmas.

Had a 4 part celebration this year, though I am only turning 22. Out of my teens and into the 20s. I feel it is a good age and the age where one matures. I am not complaining of hitting the 20s range, in fact, I feel good. It's all in the mind. Right?

Part 1 of the Celebration started on the 19th December 2007, Wednesday.

After piano class, the plan was to meet Yanxin for some shopping at Jurong East and IMM. Rainy rainy day, but we met nonetheless with Ting Jie. Shopped shopped shopped and was supposed to meet laogong for dinner. He said it would just be the 2 of us and that none of his family members are invited for it. Somehow sensed that it would be a trick, but decided not to probe into it too much as I know that when laogong says something, he wouldn't change his stand and let the cat out of the bag. So after some walking, I called laogong because I didn't know whether to follow tyx and ting jie to jurong point to meet tyl. Waited for an hour, and called a few times but he didn't answer. The nerve of him. When he finally called back, he said he was still at work and to join his sisters for dinner instead. Was of course disappointed but had to understand that he has his work to do. And that was when the whole scam unfolded.

The 2 girls, said to wait for tyl outside so I followed. Then I saw the awful blue car coming in. I was stunned. When the car stopped, I saw 3 people in the car. Laogong, tyl and laogong's mum. They all pushed me into the car and we started to head to our destination, which I apparently am not supposed to know. But knowing how bad laogong's sense of direction is and gathering hints from him, I figured out we were going to International Road/Cooperation Road for some Thai food. Laogong's mum let the cat out of the bag. Nevertheless after some misturns, we got there and gobbled the food down, real fast.

Was told that they didn't buy a cake for me, but I was totally alright with it. Wasn't expecting it anyway. But when laogong's mum did some really exaggerating actions, and when tyl asked a question which I found rather interesting, I figured that they did buy a cake after all. In the end, we went to Chinese Garden and cut the cake.

Laogong bought me a bouquet of lilies. Lovely! Thanks laogong for planning this lovely scam evening. Muack! I love you.


Part 2 of the celebration was on 20th December, Thursday.

11pm, fetched CF. 11.15pm fetched Gab. 11.45pm, reached Liang Seah St. Met up with sizz, qq, qq bro, mhd, vincent, riven for steamboat at Liang Seah St. In case you are wondering who they are, well, they are my game friends. It was my treat to them because everyone of them have been really good to me in game. After eating a late dinner / supper, we headed to partyworld at orchard for some karaoke. It was so fun. The 10 of us. We talked, sang, drank before finally returning home at 5am. Totally drained, plus I was down with the flu that day.


Part 3 of the celebration was on 24th December, Monday. CHRISTMAS EVE!!

Nothing much actually. Just that laogong stayed over. Brother's gf baked a log cake. Tasted good and they sang me a birthday song and I cut the cake. We played monopoly till like 3.30am, which I think I didn't fare that badly.

Because in game, smc's relic was taken and we needed it back, raided it back at 5am, but failed. Managed only to catch a few hours of sleep before I had to start preparing for Christmas day's parties.


Part 4 of the celebration. 25th December, Tuesday. CHRISTMAS DAY!! MY 22nd BIRTHDAY!

Morning was filled with the shouts from young ones, the chattering of all my aunties and the buzzling of the tv and yada-yada-yada. When they finally left, it was peaceful, for a while.

Evening crowd slowly streamed in. Thanks to Sultanah, Twinnie, Reza, Wesley, Laogong, Yanxin and laogong's mum for making it. Initially we thought that it would be a quiet christmas, but we realized that we were wrong. Many people and it was fun after all.

Sultanah is so cute! I only expected one pair of earrings for my birthday. But she bought me 10 and I heard from twinnie that she had wanted to get me 22 pairs. Wow. Thanks a lot girl! 10 pairs must have cost you quite a bit too. It was so great meeting you again.

Twinniex. Thanks for the handbag (which is VERY useful) and the nails. Love it! You just know me too well.

Joyce (cousin). Thanks for the manicure set. I initially wanted to buy 1 set for you too, but I didn't know that you'll be coming so I didn't prepare anything for you.

Lots of words but so much more to update. Dad gave me an ang pow of $200 and mum gave $100 for my birthday and christmas. Wow! Must spend wisely, especially since now I resigned from my part time job.

Coincidentally, my game friend, Kee has also the same birthday as me!

Oh and I want to thank 2 people.

Laogong for trying his best to make it up to me and as he is busy with his work and yet want to help make my birthday memorable. Muackz!

Twinnie for accompanying me shopping, buying this and that. Coming to my place to help me peel the prawns and lots lots. Bought for my brother a belt from Spade, which was too big and he has to bring it back to have it adjusted. Bought for laogong a belt too and dad a white long sleeved shirt. Made for mum a name sticker. Won't be able to settle these gifts if not for Twinniex going shopping with me.

... coping from twinnie's blog...
The reindeers have ran past. Another 365 more days before I turn 23.

Oh yes! Before I forget, an update on my exam results.
AAE101 B+
AAE104 A
AAE201 B- ...sigh
AAE202 A ...AMAZED
AED105 B
AED232 B+

GPA: 4.13

My comments. Some were expected while others totally unexpected. Guess that it is not too bad. Although the first class honours is kind of out of sight now, I can still aim for 2nd upper. Am happy, I guess.

11 days of Christmas left. Enjoy the rest of this Christmas!

Till my next update ....






when I feel like it

Bruises...

Decided to post 3 pictures.

First is the bruise from the blood test. Not that clear though, but those who saw my arm, will agree that it is indeed bad. This was taken a few days back. It has since grown a little bigger.



Second is a bruise I got a few weeks ago, for no apparent reason, or for one that I can't think of. I seem so be getting so many bruises. I have one more on my finger because I knocked against the door while teaching music on Sunday. It was so darn painful. Careless me.



Third is a picture of the landscape mum and I took hours and hours to build, under our Christmas tree. For better effects, please come to my house to look at it. Haha.



Oh and a good news is... I have finally chained in game! Well for my non-gamer friends out there, chain means level 101, whereby you can execute 2 or more powers quickly and successfully.

Having a clan gathering this Thursday at 11.30pm at Liang Seah St. for steamboat supper. Then off to a friend's mum's pub for some ktv, I guess. A birthday celebration for me. Yeah! Looking forward.

Laogong also booked a place for dinner on Wednesday night. Sounds interesting. And he's so secretive. Looking forward too.

Next Tuesday is already Christmas and I can't believe I'll be 22. Oh WOW! Looking forward too I guess. Though not many people are coming this year because Dad's cousin's daughter or someone getting married, so some relatives are attending the wedding dinner, while some chose to come for the Christmas gathering at my house than the dinner. Thanks to those friends who said that they will come. Basically only 2 or 3. Sultanah and Twinnie and her bf. The rest no respond or just turned down. A little sad, but at least I know who really are my besties.

Ouch

Damn it! So damn pain. Went for my blood test today and for the first time, as soon as I reached the toilet after the test, tears dropped. Imagine, I've been going for blood tests since the age of 14 and today is the first time I cried. Imagine the amount of pain. That stupid nurse. I really wonder how she poked. Even though there were times when a bruise occurs, it usually is tolerable. Or when poking in was pain, the process of drawing it out wasn't, or pulling the needle out wasn't. But today the whole thing just was intolerable.

While waiting outside, I saw this woman that the nurse was serving. Her face changed immediately and I thought that that woman must have been exaggerating or really hates blood tests. Now I understand that it wasn't plain acting, but it was indeed painful.

And when she pulled it out, I thought it was over. Oh dear, she pressed on it to prevent blood flow out. It was even worse. Ahh!!

Now, 2 hours later, I am still feeling the pain. Blood tests are ok for me, but it must be done by someone with skill. Should I lodge a complain? I don't pay $40+ to suffer. Gheez.

What have I done so far...

Christmas tree. Checked. Purple theme with landscape at the base.

KTV. Checked. Checking is unlimited. Available for KTV anytime.

Gathering with practicum mates. Checked. Went to Fish&Co. at IMM.

Watch enchanted. Checked.

Shopping. Half checked.

Levelling MMORPG character. 13 levels more to go. Still unchecked.

For everything else, unchecked.

Holiday!

How fun the holidays have been so far.


Shopping at Bugis with tyx on Monday was great though I came back really drained. We walked to a lot of places! Had a fabulous lunch at NanXiang Steamed Bun Restaurant at Bugis Junction. Since it was a weekday and afternoon, there was a 20% off for students, which we benefited. We ordered xiao long bao, superior xiao long bao and stewed pork noodles, all of which, we enjoyed. Some pictures for your eyes to feast on.

Xiao Long Bao


Superior Xiao Long Bao (in it was some crab soup with the crab roe)
*note: look at the draw. I think we were supposed to consume it that way.


Stewed Meat Noodles, we both loved this


Before exam, I went with tyx to the hair salon at Bt Batok Central as she wanted to have her hair rebonded. And if you know me well, you know I will just have to do something to my hair. This is what I did.


Wondering what it is? Well, I went to dye 4 tiny strips of hair pink. That picture is 1 strip of it. I like it so much and it only costs me $20, which means $5 each, which is cheap. She told me usually she will charge others at $8 per strand.

I have one more picture here of me in a rather awkward face. Well, this was at the new cineplex nearly rendevous hotel. Went there with my family for a while because we there wasn't any place at the restaurant at rendevous hotel so we had to wait. We saw free candy floss so mum and brother took. And my mum just had to go round taking photos of everything and everywhere, before the security guard finally told her not to. So embarrassing. So anyway, this photo was taken like more than a month ago, but I find myself cute here. (Ok, I'm thick skinned) Haha.


Guess it is time for bed. 3.34am. Wow. My usual bed time already. This is unhealthy! Ah, but if I do not play my games now, when school reopens I won't have this luxury already. Enjoy first.

Am contemplating if I should change my blogskin. Oh and talking about skin, anyone knows anywhere I can get laptop skin? Preferably not DIY. I am looking for those shops kind, so that I can customize and get them to do it for me. I don't trust myself. Hehehe.

Party time

I've been inactive for *gasp* 3 weeks! Blame it on the exams!

It is finally over! Yippie aye yeah!

Mugging every night till the wee hours of dawn. Never in my entire life (other than 'O' Levels) have I ever worked so hard for an examination. All for the sake of aiming for a good degree. Paper chase again.

AAE101 introduction to linguistics was rather alright. Credit goes to the 2 lecturers who taught us and prepared us well for the paper. Although finishing the paper was more of a task than doing the paper, I believe I should get a fairly good grade for this.

AAE202 pragmatics was a killer, even though it was open book. The text given to us for analysis was given before in our tutorial. Imagine how all of us felt. Maybe you are thinking isn't it good. Open book and a known text. Well, let's just say that the line in the text chosen for analysis was very contenous and not easy to interpret at all. We all walked out feeling very demoralized. If I can get a B for this module, I would be happy already.

AAE104 grammar. Basically, if you know your stuff, it is fairly straightforward. Grammar is like this. Either you get it, or you don't. Hope to get at least an A for this too.

AAE201 sociolinguistics was surprisingly easier than expected. It was one paper that we all detested. But the questions were ok. Hope to get a good grade too.

It's the end of one semester. How fast time flies. It is 1+am now and maybe you are thinking, what is this girl doing up at this time? Well, for the last 3 weeks, I've been sleeping so late that I can't fall asleep now.

So now that exams are gone (for now), the question is, with about 1 month of holidays, what is my plan?

1. Shopp (meeting tyx later in fact)
2. Decorate the christmas tree
3. Cleaning my room again (recently obsessed with neatness)
4. Practise my piano (wonder if I will really do that)
5. Handmake some christmas presents (cost effective, personalized and I realized I do have some creativity after teaching art in primary school)
6. Organize some meetings (with poly friends, practicum friends, picnic)
7. Exercise and lose some weight (will it work this time?)
8. Level my ingame character
9. KTV
10. Watch Korean drama

That will keep my occupied for quite some time. Probably install Theme Hospital on my laptop and play it now since there isn't much for me to do online now and my game server's down.

And it's the 25th Nov! Well, ok the 26th. 1 more month till I turn 22 (while most of my friends are turning 23, hehehe.)

Roomless

I'm currently roomless for 1 week. My parents' Filipino friends arrived yesterday and they will be staying over at my house for a week. And so, I let them have my room, and that's why I am roomless. Although sleeping in my brother's room, I still can't have a good sleep throughout because it is an unfamiliar environment. Nothing beats having my own bed. They'll be here till next Saturday. Parents are currently out with them at Sentosa. Luckily my brother went down with them too because I think my parents themselves will be tourists at Sentosa! When was the last time they have been there? Ages and ages and ages and ages ago... ... ...

Got Alvin's comments for the AAE101 assignment. Very disappointing. We only got a B-. Sigh. Lucky (or not?), the assignment is only worth 20%, I think. Gotta buck up for exams. I hope to get at least an A- for this module.

Satisfied some of my cravings. Went to Crystal Jade already for my xiao long bao. It was absolutely yummylicious! Went to Jalan Kayu for roti prata too and had my indian rojak too. Nice!

Time to get back to my books. Just about 3 weeks more and I'm done!

Countdown.

Cravings

Cravings!

1. Xiao Long Bao at Crystal Jade (and dear dear Elizabeth had to make it "worse" for me by telling me she just went and that it is good! Grrrrr.... Kidding my dear)
2. Indian food. Chicken tika, masala chicken, mutton, papadum, etc on banana leaf! Uncle Samy's Curry!!!!!!
3. Indian rojak
4. Outram Road Char Kway Tiao

Ok, so I didn't update for a super long time! Been busy. Just done with 2 assignments today. Phew! Handed in AED232 (Counselling) and AAE101 (Intro to Linguistics). 2 more next tuesday. AAE104 (Grammar) and AAE201 (Sociolinguistics).

AAE104 is about 50% done. Left adverbials portion and text description.

AAE201 is about 80% done. Left with sorting out the appendix and formating.

What comes after that? EXAMS!!!

4 papers.

AAE101 - 15th Nov
AAE202 - 20th Nov (Open Book!)
AAE104 - 21st Nov (Open Book!)
AAE201 - 23rd Nov

At least I am glad this is the last week of school. Got to start studying hard and less playing games.

So many things to blog about

There are so many things to blog about. Happier things first.

On Sunday (14th Oct) the 3 of us finally met up! We were all so excited. Upon seeing me, Lingling was kinda in a state of shock and said I looked different. Ming Xiu wasn't in much of a shock, because she saw me last year December. It felt like old times. We just chatted and chatted non-stop. Gossiping and catching up on old times. Totally enjoyed myself that night! We went to the chong qing hot pot behind bugis. Although we queued for nearly an hour, I think it was worth the wait. Food was good and cheap. Only problem was that the seatings were rather squeezy. Well, can't help it that their business is so good.

Other than eating, we had a reunion gift exchange, where we each had to prepare a present and then we'll draw lots. I had Lingling's present (earring), Ming Xiu had my present (a pouch) and Lingling had Ming Xiu's present (a keychain with a pic of our poly days).

Some photos to recap the good times.

Lingling and MingXiu (you can see the condensed air at the bottom of the pic, hee)


MingXiu and me


Lingling and me


Our presents. Lingling gave us each a pair of earrings too. Thanks girl!


Before we head home, the 3 of us...


Ok, now for something not so nice.

I was so super pissed yesterday, to the extend I didn't wish to talk to anyone. I told my dad last Saturday that I was going to use the car on Tuesday night and he said ok. Then on Tuesday he called me 6 times while I was in class. When I called back, he asked if I was going to use the car and I said yes. Then he broke the news to me that my brother took the car out. He said that since I didn't answer the call means I don't need the car. So no choice, I had to take a long train ride down to airport to send my dear twinnie off to Japan.

Dad called me when I was on my way back and I just said I was in a cab. Who's going to pay for my cab fare? Wondered if both of them felt guilty. Then when my brother wanted to talk to me, I totally ignored him. Was so angry. And he had the cheek to tell me he promised his friends, so he had to take the car. So only he was the one who promised? My dad promised me the car, and he can break it?

Gillian asked me today, so how? I said I'm still going to ignore both of them. And her reply was, you can be so stubborn. Well, I guess no one has seen me blow my top before. It just happened yesterday. I was so angry I cried.

Felt sad for other things too. I've been going to see the doctor quite frequently these few weeks, but only one person seems to ask me, how was it. Only one. I shan't say more.