Checking back in after the Wales horse-riding experience...

It has been painfully brought home to me that to enjoy horse-riding you've actually got to really like horses, not just be indifferent or ambivalent about them. It's not that I don't like the blasted things, I do feel a kind of objective respect for them-- after all they can run, jump and shit better than I ever could-- it's just that I don't have the necessary tenderness and sensitivity to animals in order to ride them well.

Riding is a very psychological exercise. You must like the horse and the horse must like you. This means maintaining a continuous stream of encouragement like 'Good boy, Snowball', 'C'mon boy' and 'Very good, Snowball!' I cannot bring myself to talk to a horse. The most I can say is, 'please please stop eating grass and let's move!' You must pat it, stroke it, yet keep a tight rein and your heels around the thing to show it who's master. You must dig your heels into its ribs repeatedly, and learn to tell when it is peeing or shitting so you can stand clear.

Something I wasn't very good at.

It is surprisingly difficult to tell if a horse is resting, stopping to shit, or just plain being stubborn because, being mounted, you obviously cannot see the bottom of the horse. The sudden blast of country fragrance following the pause is the only way to tell. If I seem to be overemphasising a certain bodily function let me assure that the one thing horse movies/books don't mention is how bloody often they do it. And how much of it there is.

The countryside was very pretty, but more P.G.Wodehouse than J.R.R. Tolkien. No waterfalls this time round, but we did 'ford' some babbling brooks and rushing streams. It was a rugged trail and the horse (Snowball) spent more time picking its way past the stone-littered climbing paths (somewhat reluctantly I thought, but then I'm no horse psychologist) than cantering past magnificent views. We did see some rolling hills and dales and fields and pretty stone churches and many many sheep. I did more trotting than cantering and no galloping at all (what do you think I am, Liv Tyler?) and after 5 hours, I'm happy I didn't go any faster-- as it is I could barely sit the next day.

Two hours in the hot tub at the cottage soon cured that (maybe the jugs of Pimms helped too), and here I am in London, £155 lighter, and all country-ed out. The company was pleasant overall, and the food fantastic. The guy who runs the place is a former chef. All in all, a moderately enjoyable weekend. But I'm not a big fan of horseriding-- I probably wouldn't do it again unless I bring Gloria next time.

Oh yes, and I did fall off once. But it didn't hurt. I landed with a soft squelch.

i share your sentiments amanda, am freaking tired. came home from CLB today and slept as if dead, for a few hours. which means i can stay up late tonight to do my studying. it's a light day tmr anyway.

you know everytime i fall asleep in the afternoon, i scare myself when i wake up, 'cos my first reaction to sunlight when i wake is 'ohshitamilate?!!' and it takes me a bit to realise it's evening still. most times i laugh and go back to sleep.

so, been going to school for night study since monday. good stuff, am very productive. kudos to whoever came up with the scheme. but sometimes get carried away, we spent abt 15mins of last night talking crap with Ms Tan. am enlightened now, about the whole canteen problem thing.

have i ever mentioned that singing in a dark carpark brings a rush of blood to my head?

am not eating well, studying at irregular hours... on the whole is quite enjoyable, though not terribly healthy. but i love being a student, being this age. not too old to be resentful but still young enough to get away with most things, if you take my meaning. there is always truth in cliches, which brings to mind:

'youth is wasted on the young
before you know it's come and gone
too soon'

robbie williams, eternity, i believe. haven't been listening to him for ages. need toria to bring back her albums so i can burn them...

just got new glasses. black, square frames that make me look 'severe', to quote mrs kunna. they make me feel intelligent actually. it's also fun to punctuate my sentences while making a slight adjustment to them, such that they glint in the light. ok, so some people can tell i am obviously fangirling. but seriously, they're a little slanted so it doesn't sit in my face properly.

haven't been answering tags, sorry abt that.

thanks adam, will do. you take care too?

even the word 'prelims' scare the crap outta me cass, dunno how i'm going to sit for them!! am not planning to drop by choir anytime soon but thanks, see you around?

thanks mel, you doing the dancemania thing in school? what's it abt anyway, posters up all over the place...

hallo electra!!! have a feeling you and my sister will get along just fine...

althea, thanks for dropping by. you shd come for night study, very fun, very productive. and i like my glasses too!

toria,
you've got to be joking, bol?!! hell, anything's possible i suppose. you know, i hear that there's a place actually called hell. and it also happens to be very warm over there too.
okok, stop with the fruits basket thing. i'll just have to bring you to kknm and you can bloody choose something for yourself.
you got the stuff that uncle morris brought over? rent has stopped skipping, due to my sudden fascination with cd cleaner. will have edwin bring the sausages over.

rather have to go. does anyone want to borrow my kazoo?

Was researching the viability of a trip to Croatia a few minutes ago; cost, activities, temperature, destinations... Whatever happens though, I am most definitely staying on the island of Bol in Croatia.

chinese o level reults came out today. my school has a very nice 100% pass. good thing people like us CLB girls didn't take the paper, or it would have been something like 95%... so obviously didn't sit for it lah. you've no idea how liberating it feels to be somewhere else on the morning of your chinese exam.

went to the dental yesterday. now have extra braket on the inside of my back tooth, thus new spot for rubber band. have i ever mentioned my hatred for those damned things? now mouth feeling very cramped. have had braces on for so long i've lost count, erm, 3 years?

decided to go for night study, though i remember that it wasn't terribly popular last year, they closed it down half-way through. still, studying by myself in the school library til 9 in the night is a nice thought for this nocturnal animal.

did something extremely stupid on saturday. made a trip down to kknm in the late afternoon, right before mass to catch up on some reading. am a bloody moron! reading before mass is one thing, reading, of all things, priest, is something so stupid i amaze myself. not that it's lousy, quite the contrary. in fact, one of the reasons i read it is because i like the art. don't want to elaborate. for information on this korean comic, click here.

i think i had lots more to say but can't remember it all, now. oh well.

From Neil Gaiman's blog:



Amongst many other things, in Dave Sim's Cerebus (which is a story that took Dave and his partner-in-art Gerhard 300 issues to tell) he did, in the Women storyline, easily the best parody of Sandman anyone's ever done, as various members of the Cerebus cast of characters become Snuff, Swoon and the rest of the Clueless. It was wickedly funny, and had the author of Sandman curling his toes when he read it.

Dave Sim has made an extremely generous offer to readers of this journal (and indeed, to readers not of this journal, but just people who simply hear about his offer elsewhere on the Internet. Memes propagate, after all), which is the kind of offer that I found as interesting as he did. It's this:

If you'd like to read one of the Sandman parody issues of Cerebus, Dave will send you one. He'll send it to you very happily, free of charge. He will sign it for you, too. And he won't charge you a thing. Not even postage.

And if you're wondering what the catch is, it's this: Dave wants to know (as, I have to admit, do I) how many of the people out there in internet-land will actually go and do things that don't involve passively clicking on a link and going somewhere interesting. So what you have to do is write Dave a letter (not an e-mail. Dave doesn't have e-mail) telling him that you read that he'll send you a signed Cerebus, and telling him why you'd like him to send you a copy. It's as easy as that. And, quite possibly as difficult.

The address to write to is:

Aardvark Vanaheim, Inc
P.O. Box 1674 Station C
Kitchener, Ontario, Canada N2G 4R2

Dave, I suspect, thinks he'll get a handful of requests. In my more pessimistic moments, I think he's right, although I'd love it if he got deluged with letters, like those kids in hospitals who don't exist but are still collecting postcards...

We have a second-part of the plan too, which involves doing good things for the CBLDF. But that's for later. For now, if you're even mildly curious, write Dave a letter. Tell him you're curious...

(And for those of you who aren't sure if they want to risk having to go and find a stamp, you could go and look at http://www.cerebusfangirl.com/ -- and at http://www.cerebusfangirl.com/stories/stories.html you can even read several Cerebus short stories from Epic Illustrated, or the four pager from Alan Moore and partners' AARGH anthology.)

(But once you've read them, write Dave the letter. Don't forget to put your address on it, or to say why you'd like him to send you a signed Cerebus comic. And feel very very free to pass the word on to the comics news-sites or groups, or just to anywhere that people who might be interested congregate.)

it's been such a nice, relaxed week, despite the proximity to the prelims. probably because it's only a 4 day week too, seeing as how the band girls will be leaving class at sodding 8am tmr to load the percussion instruments into the moving vans.

i can hear it now, loud and clear. the End of band, calling... and hey, i'm not an anti-band sort of person. just the anti-waking-up-at-godforsaken-hours-on-a-saturday sort.

am going to rather miss it, collectively (except the early hours, duh?) and not used to popping in and out of a group so fast, 3 years playing for the band proper is a very short time. and i wish we could play mononoke one last time before my batch leaves. playing it was the thing that first got me started on Ghibli actually.

i'm glad i joined the band. if given another choice, i'd still be here. i've learnt so much, from Mr Chan, Mr Sim, the tutors and some seniors... many thanks, from the bottom of my heart. i'll carry band memories for a long time to come.

to any band person reading this (though i doubt any are): the most important thing is to have fun and feel the music. don't let bad practices get you down. and if you're leaving too; we sure had some fun times huh?

enough reminiscing.

am inexplicably feeling a tad fed up now. i had a really good day though. successful physics test, except for one forgotten formula. odd sort of conversation with yen yi. lame jokes flying at me left right centre, i was actually in the middle of the corridor at one point, with my head between my knees; nii-san, can i keep him? / cooo..! rosie, chan, i can hear you howling from here...

also had coffee with that bunch, the usual: bern, chan, electra, rosie and vanessa. now have plans to meet every month or so, we always have such a good time at these gatherings. and someone else will have to buy coffee the next time, money does not grow on trees, you know?

just for the fun of it, i'll add bern's famous Confucius saying: a man, with hand in pocket is feeling a little cocky.

do wish you could have come though, jenny. it would be nice for you and electra to meet. have i mentioned how much i like that girl? and i'm very sorry for making you wait today!! oh yarh, and how was hanuman (i dunno how to spell it)?

hey adam! not leaving, just disappearing for a bit. thanks for the concern and the offer yeah? anyway, i'll still be around the place and am probably coming for whatever christmas thing ya'll are having in church. erm, not doing midnight mass this year right?

nice of you to drop by electra. would you mind when i -eventually- find my way to your blog?

Tor,
Damn. You. To. The. Abyss. Coincidentally, i was actually talking to my friend abt you today, said you're in london. she said,'she must be having alot of fun?' and i stupidly said,'no lah, study where got fun?' and now this. even with 5 packets of raw sugar coursing though my system now i'm not going to waste any effort screaming because of you. you know mum doesn't want to you go right (duh, it's mum)? yarh, like that matters!

can you not list precise things out like that? it's very distracting and i don't even know if i'll be flying there or not. you think money drop from sky?

it's the red shirt we got, i think 2 years back. the long sleeved one that fits well. i wouldn't be caught dead in your purple/pink top. what the hell possessed you to buy that thing anyway? and how can you miss bolbol when you're with it..?

by the way, i have a character in mind whom you could possibly cosplay... fruits basket anyone?

bah. since am having no lessons tmr think i'll go finish the Naked Empire. and nick is right, i really want to slap jenssen... or for that matter, the idiot owen...

This is Tor:

For some reason, after my solo scuba trip to Malta (one coconut-oil-scented week of white sands, aquamarine waters and surreal underwater sea-grass scenes) I've suddenly developed the backpacking-on-my-own urge.

I'm going to Wales two weekends from now for a horseriding/canoeing weekend! It's not that I've become Miss Active-outdoorsy-person all of a sudden but Horse-riding in Wales! Doesn't that sound romantic? Galloping through the Forests with the Wind in your Hair, with the LOTR soundtrack in the background. Guiding your horse to the Waterfall and Gracefully fording it ala Liv Tyler. NOT! I'm sure I'll fall off more than a few times, and be a hunched-up, bedraggled thing in the saddle, in the rain, lost, with a very very sore bum. But still! Everything at least once, right?

I'm sure Gloria is screaming in envy now. Particularly since I don't happen to like horses all that much, I just like the idea of trying horse riding in LOTR country (the book! not the movie) and paddling around in babbling brooks. Makes a change from my usual weekend routine (shop for groceries in Chinatown, make a token attempt at jogging if the sun's out, breathe carbon monoxide from cars, visit favourite second hand bookshop, maybe see a movie with significant other, maybe visit posh club that costs £25 to get in).

When you come next summer, I promise to bring you! I've got your itinery here all planned out in my mind!

1st day: Covent Garden, Leicester Sq, etc and all tourist attractions.

2nd day: Bath; you'll love the little tea houses (and Stonehenge, if you insist, but it's not worth it)

3rd day: Leave mummy and auntie G in London to explore Oxford St and antique markets and go horseriding in Wales!

5th day: Paris.

And so on. I'll report back on the trip when I get back.

just sent an e-mail to my choir master, saying that i'll be leaving the choir scene, til january probably.

i hope he'll give me the grenn light 'cos that'll mean that i'll have absolutely no distractions or other nonsense activities till next year. which leaves me masses of time to study of the o's and in december can do whatever the hell i want, for the first time in, erm, about 7 years or so.

feels good.

and jac yip thinks i'm depressed. she told me so, a week after vanessa/bern (can't remember which) tells me orion thinks i'm overly cheerful. tsk, whatever. will just go on my solo merry journey of moodswings.

speaking of bern, it has come to my attention that people seem to like telling me their problems. she said i've got nice ears to pour problems into or something. actually, in recent weeks have had random people tell me, erm, things.

so perhaps her theory might have some truth. some people do like angsting to me. hrm.

sorry if my writing's gone down the drain, am rather rushing this post. will really have to drop off the face of this earth soon.

nothing much has happened in school, except for how mrs kunna's made us all sit in this strange formation in class. it's hard to describe, the tables are all angled and in groups. says she saw it for a gifted program at some school. am sitting next to jo, who prevents everyone at the table from dozing off during class. 's all good.

went for dance and drama night a few days ago. good stuff! compliments to all the girls who worked on it!

ok, have to rush, rush!

linette: er, hey..?

don't be an idiot lah rosie. having no 'internet or virtual life' could actually be a good thing lah.

i like the shirt too, althea. it's my multi-purpose, all-events shirt that i wear for christmas, new year, national day, weddings etc...

tor,
stop ripping off my 'aargh'larh you. your results were ok, i think. kenny msged, asking if you were coming back for the summer holidays. he sounds rather depressed. i think you should drop him a note or something.
about the year-end cosplay. i could have you do Death then i'll just do some other character. but i need to know if you've grown any (wheather vertically or horizontally) and if you're bringing home any interesting clothes ( boots, gloves, nonsense) and how long you hair is. and what colour it is, for that matter. if you do Death you might need to dye it back to black.

okok, have to go.

just a note this time. the last entry was written by my sister, not a thing from me to chan, whom i sometimes refer to as tora. tor is what the family calls her you see. don't know why we never used the usual 'vicky' or anything like that, doesn't suit her perhaps?

i suppose am to stop refering to chan as tora then.

please note that our writing styles are rather different and that my sister is probably going to start all her entries like that.

adeline... tan? choir? why have you choir people been dropping by lately? not that i'm complaining lah. hallo to you too! see you saturday?

nandayo, rosie! you never tag me so why should i write notes to you?! and i see you everyday in school, hallo..?

tor,
hallo right back at you. thanks for the post, as i foresee that am not going to be posting much in the future, till after the o's.
if you have to make an effort to dig up something to post then it's ok, no pressure just because i asked you!
can't wait for you to come home. by the way, are you coming to the year-end cosplay with me?

TOR

Hi. I know I'm meant to write something interesting for you but i've failed sadly and miserably in that task. Apart from having no internet access (new house) i've been trying to get in as many training contract applications as i can and not screw up my internship in the meantime. So this is a pathetic, sorry excuse for how boring i have become. There are times when I suddenly look up in the middle of a sober client meeting and think, i wonder what would happen if i stood up. said what i thought, and walked away. 'You guys suck'. 'Just take the freakin £50m and stop quibbling about the £30m can?'. But no. I am a conformist and deep down, I just wanna be like lots and lots of other people in suits. Who have proper jobs and contribute as valuable members of society. And act and talk and think in the same way.

Do you know in VJ we did a lit text called Regeneration, about shell shocked soldiers who find it difficult to integrate into society? One character goes missing at some point and is found lying naked on the muddy earth next to a tree with dead animals surrounding him. 'I am one with the earth', he says. It is a metaphor for man's struggle to find somewhere to belong (blah blah waffle). But you know, that's kinda how I feel right now. I'm quite happy to let my identity be subsumed, it's not quite as dramatic as it sounds, because we all have to conform to the extent that working in an office demands it, but it feels slightly dangerous for me because I don't even feel like as if I have a fully formed identity in the first place?

Ok rambling on does not a interesting post make. I will leave you to it, random reader. And glor of course. Hi!

eldred called the other day, yay! told me he met Michael Kaluta at the comic convetion on sunday, this is Kaluta's site. please vist, it's got fantastic work (you know it is when a non-artist is saying it).

followed a link from his site to Tommy Castillo's site. it's a little bit bizarre as am chatting with cousin on phone, accounts tuitor online, listening to gackt's unplugged album and viewing things like a dragon enjoying human soup and little red riding hood kicking the big bad wolf's ass.

hey adam, thanks! and i think you should get a blog, really...

hallo althea! hope you've been doing well. see you in school on monday?

i know about those songs chan, used to have them in my com before it got re-formatted. occasionally have kikumaru going 'tonde tonde, mawatte, matta raishuu!' and random people screaming from drinking inui juice running around in my head. the thing that kills me is the fact that i've no idea what's going on, everything being in jap. am going to ask vanessa for the set of PoT music animus burned for her...

gomen, amanda! typo!

ok. am off to drink apple flavoured milk now. just rather needed to post that down.

am listening to gackt's seventh night album that rosie burned.

please kill me, right now.

it is so good. not that it's a host of new songs, rather it's an unplugged version of many of his favourites and i love acoustic. that and gackt of all singers... the bit that i love most is the fact that he smokes and drinks but still can sound like an angel, also has a very versatile voice. have no idea what his range is but is larger than mine. not to say mine is large but im a girl. and everything is self written and re-recorded.

for those who hve no idea what i'm talking about, have added a random quiz for you to do...

Generate your Anime Style by Jena-su
Name:
Hair:	In a style so odd, it defies all laws of physics.
Clothes:	A bit revealing, but nothing too over the top.
Powers:	None
Special Features:	Elf ears
Sidekick:	The great spirit of (insert character name of choice here), as channeled through whatever item you have onhand at the time.
Attitude:	Evil. Just...Evil.
Weapon:	Nothing
Created with the ORIGINAL MemeGen!

ok lah ok, will make post. have neglected to update as am not the type to post just for the sake of posting. don't have much to say, been holed up at home for 2 weeks, parents trying to clear off-days.

the most exciting thing that's happened to me recently is that i've changed from chocolate fresh milk to apple and mango flavoured milk. it's good stuff man, am currently very enthusiastic abt it.

guess what i've just discovered. i technically have a friendster account.
(during dinner just after the exams)
me:don't believe in friendster. i don't have an account
kc:yes you do.
me:no i don't
kc:i've added you.
what the hell? you see, the first (and last time) i tried to sign in, think i completed the form but the site spat me out, something abt not being cookie enabled or some such computer-speak. so for those of you who have added me now you know why i haven't responded lah. is there anyway of deleting that damned account? will only log in for that purpose..!

see how sad my life is? ok, shall not wallow in self pity.

just got computer reformatted, yay! no more random pop ups! but on the down side, all bookmarks gone. so can you (yes, you) please leave your blog address on the tag board? thanks. on second thoughts, tag on whatever site you happen to find interesting that you'd like to share, i suppose...

have updated blogger profile. but not sure as to how to link it on the blog itself... tora-sempai, can you help..?

watched harry potter. ok lester, i admit it, gary oldman makes a fine sirius black. whoever played lupin should have been given more screen time as well. am not going to review movie here as some have not watched it yet and if i do, could go on for the rest of the post. which is not the point.

ok, on to tag responses.

mel, choir? descant? hallo! how did you find my blog? and think have tagged you, not sure as it was quite some time ago..?

badang, what pizza? and how're things going for you?

hallo keiran! so when are you going back? when does your school term start anyway..?

well it's not my fault amamnda... you didn't have to give in to temptation. we shd do it again sometime yeah? heh heh! and am not a lazy pig.

link lah roach. but please note that i won't link you back. have a policy abt not linking.

adam! wassup? thanks for the compliment. see you at prac?

hey to you too. wah lau cass, you change blog add like change underwear?

mavis, guess where they stopped over on the way to new york? and spent the night there!? i want to kill them!

what holiday sam? 2 weeks straight got to go back to school then parents home some more. ack, we're in the same boat huh?

urusai sempai! you think so easy to update is it? different pple different blogs lah, don't rush me! see you monday yeah? bring fma, am suffering withdrawal symptoms :P

ok lah, so like that lorh. am off to drink my mango flavoured milk now.

what a business it has been this week.

one smashing of, one making up and two breakdowns of. that's partially why i haven't been blogging really, many things i am restricted from writing about (all of the above, actually).

did considerably well for this year's exams, as compared to last year. only failed sub lit, by just one mark no less. immensely pleased in the area of maths and accounts as well, heh heh! but ok lah, l1 r5 still something like 30 points...

ever since the exams ended, school's been an absolute bore. hanging out in mrs Ho's office most of the time. can't be bothered to go on most days but parents will make noise. anyway, if do skip then might become habit, so maybe they're right. good thing have large stock of books to keep me company.

despite the opinions of some people, have honestly switched down to chinese B syllabus, so not taking exam on monday. best of luck to ya'll who are, especially chan and rosie!

as am posting this in the morning, grandma's pottering around the house right now. it amuses me so much. she says to you tor, take care. slight dementia setting in there, just walked into the room but forgot what she's here for.

have been spending a bit of time with bernadette fah recently. just been included into the 'family' as her potted plant.. hrm..

finally watched van hellsing yesterday. er, it was ok lah. perhaps expected too much from all the hype. though the CGI was notable, rather enjoyed that. and dracula's babies are so cute, i want one!

ok, on to tags and messeges.

tor: barbecue?! you want to die arh?! how are you going to tell daddy if you really do fail? and the link seems to have a bit of problem... and this is william hung. just click on the download.

KC: shutupshutupshutup!!!

LadyDeLioncourt, terry, keiran: hallo! ya'll very bored arh? make your way down to atomfilms then, sure to find something interesting there.

dawndie: heh, thanks! and are you sure you want to use 'dawndie'?

min: hallo! thanks for dropping by. what're we going to do about peter?!

ok, going to have lunch now, and stuff. how strange to be posting at this time of day!

Hi glor,
Good for you that you did well in maths!! Maybe you should be more explicit and say to our parents: 'look, i've passed. be proud of me. or don't. either way, i'm going out now, bye!' Seemed to work for me... Who is william hung? Ur tagborad doesn't seem to be working so I'm writing here instead.

Anyway... Aargh! I just screwed up my past 3 exams! Really. I'm not just saying that, for once in my life.. I only answered 3 questions for tort out of 4, which can't be good. It's made me so bohchup about my last exam, knowing that it can't get worse. And the sun was shining and it was nice and warm outside... so I went to a friend's barbeque today! And my exam is on monday. haha.

Talk to you tomorrow
tor

can't hold a decent conversation with my parents, am starting to get fed up. does this mean im becoming a normal teenager with the whole angsty 'my parents don't understand me' thing? but really, when my mother says that i sing like william hung, reminds me to take out my key when i lock the door and my father thinks im one of those sit around and do nothing mcdonalds kids... i'm starting to think, i am what my parents say i am. they're not even glad that i passed my maths (for the first time in 3 years), and just said 'only 56?'.

or i could just be pms-ing.

received letter from Mr Chan today, by post. my attendence for band is poor/irregular. missed 75% by about a 0.5, crap. looks like have to attend june/july practices. so much for 'goodbye band'.

now that the exams are over, am slacking on a professional level. went gallavanting around town with jenny and that lot, like the normal teenager i'm supposed to be. tmr having dinner with nick, dawn, case, ed and maybe g, all of which i haven't seen in the longest time. before that, if not getting together with sam and rosie then will probably go rent the hellsing or angel sanctuary manga, it's cool stuff man, trying to get my hands on the animae now.

just noticed the last bit of my previous post ment little sense to most pple. fma, or full metal alchemist, is an animae that am currently quite enthusiastic about. for more information, like storyline and character info, click here.

am not sure what this whole animae thing that's going on right now is all about actually. think it's just a phase, it's really cute stuff you know. but your resident goth girl is still here, don't worry. come on, i do refrain from using random japanese words on my blog (k'so!*damn!* nani?*what?* nandayou,*what the hell* urusai*shut up* baka!*idiot!* arigato*thanks* tora-sempai!*tora-senior!*)and also went out in full goth gear today, not some random cosplay thing. don't think will ever reach that stage and if i do, will cosplay Death anyway...

speaking of animation, my sis posted the url for a nice short thing on atomfilms and being the idiot that she is, can't post a proper link. anyway, it's really cool, called the peri-wig maker. will post other random interesting links in future, mostly taken from gaiman's blog larh, since he always has random interesting links, like unorthodox dictionaries in a great many languages, which comes in rather useful. it's even got cantonese.

if i didn't make sense am most sorry, a bit tired from exams and walking several lengths of orchard road. when my mum's complaining about being late in paying bills you can hear me mumbling in the background,'accrued expenses, current liability in balance sheet...' is that supposed to be a good thing?

tagboard has been having problems recently, not just mine but the site in general. think they're tinkering around the system or something.

linniee: erm, hello to you too..?! how's it going in sec one, by the way?

ed: why am i msging you, we see each other tmr don't we?!

KC: gilmore girls..? wha..?

cass: hey yourself. exams ok lah, except chinese. what about your own exams? and i er, can't remember your blog add... could you tag it? thanks!

i say, that III guy is really gone huh. didn't mean to scare him away. honest.

really am v. tired. think will go to sleep now. cool, haven't had to chance to sleep properly for ages as during exam period sometimes will wake up halfway to check textbook/notes...

good night.

tor, you are a lucky sod, aren't you? will shut up about license. anyway, when you're back we'll have to get out more. Random hot guys aren't extinct, they're just rare. actually am glad did not get the thing, cannot do impromptu to save my life.

too right chan! Give us Johnny Depp any time!

i don't know, lester. haven't seen his other movies but the promotional stuff doesn't look too good? he's just not Sirius, i suppose. or maybe am reading too much fanfic, but you try reading cassandra claire and not have a changed opinion about harry potter?

did horribly for Chinese prelims. am going to drop, then do syllabus B. do you have any idea what the exam format is like? Paper 1 is either picture compo or letter writing, paper 2 is all multiple choice and oral has pronunciation for some of the more 'cheem' words. looking at that, there's no chance am not dropping, bloody hell.

English mid year was another matter though, it went fine. of course, if you've done the st nick's 2003 prelim paper you can do any damned compre, hah!

also, might have mentioned that choir?s done a recruitment drive recently.

oh god help me.

right. chan and i are planning a full metal alchemist (aka fma) marathon on the 13th and 15th of may, so open invitation for anyone, all episodes til 31 which will be the latest. venue at hers and my place.

alright, have to go now. and happy belated jamie! will get you you're present next week, we promise you'll like it...

This is tor.

And this is the kind of crap I have to write every day:

This argument is made by analogy to the situation where, when an imperfect gift is made, equity will not permit a donor to change his mind if it would be unconscionable for him to do so. It is submitted that, in this case, it would be unconscionable and contrary to the principles of equity to allow the donor’s executors to act against his intention to make a donatio to the appellant. Just as it would be unconscionable for the donor to resile his gift in his lifetime, it would be unconscionable for his executors to do so after his death.

Check out how many times I have to use the word 'unconscionable'. My brain is no longer in a functioning state. To people who are interested in doing law, you will enjoy it if you find the above paragraph endlessly fascinating. To people interested in doing law for the money, make sure you are capable of getting through physical truckloads of this stuff to get to the money. Even by using unwanted pages of cases as rough paper for printing, rough writing, etc, I still have 4 boxes full.

On a slightly lighter note, I cooked and thoroughly enjoyed eating sambal fish yesterday! I used the wrong type of fish, and the skin stuck to the pan, but hey, I cooked sambal fish! That's the extent of the highlights in my day. Other highlights: discovering a jar of jelly beans in cupboard, smelling my bolster, and disappearance of itchy leg rash.

Well, there was the arrival of my malta tickets as well... I'm going to malta! Right after my exams. I'm flying to the southernmost country in the mediterranean for a week of scuba, lolling around on beaches, and loads of nice italian food! Ok Glor, don't tell mummy, but I'm going to get my scuba license. This will be my first holiday doing whatever I like, whenever, however, etc. No bloody chan brothers tours or shopping-obsessed singaporean students.

5 days of scuba in one of the most remote and beautiful underwater locations on earth. Then another two days to recover from all that nitrogen by hanging out at the beaches, interesting small towns, etc. Makes this tedium almost worth it.

for those of you who don't know, i share a blog with my sister so am not talking to self lah. but she drops by only on occasion. it's quite easy to tell the difference between her writing and mine, by the way.

to tor: no, didn't get it. you cow thing went very well though. it was my impromtu that was total crap. for the first 20 seconds i had no idea what i was saying. the topic was 'beauty pageants are a waste of time'. so expository, my downfall in English!

just realised haven't ranted on about 'the prince and me' here. it's an absurd movie that's total crap that made me feel like absolute shit when i came out of the theatre. it's the type of movie where if you don't have a boyfriend makes you want to grab any random hot guy off the street and snog him.

am so shallow. sigh.

i say, has anyone seen my copy of OotP? seem to have misplaced it/lent it to someone/both. hope tor didn't bring it to london..? also just realised that the book and the movie are coming out in about a month. cool. generally don't like gary oldman. Sirius Black CANNOT look like that. nor Lupin. but will see movie anyway, it is a Harry Potter movie after all.

random quiz time! hey, they're nice quizzes ok...



be sorted @ nimbo.net






Take the What High School
Stereotype Are You? quiz.


Which Member of the Endless Are You?

You are an angel that has been cast out of heaven,
and thrown to the earth. Almost being killed in
the process. But what doesn't kill you makes
you stronger, right? And the same rule applies
to you. When you suffer, it only makes you more
vicious, and powerful. You are an impressive
beinf. One never to be trifled with. You hate
all normal angels for this. You drink their
blood, to get back at the heavens that rejected
you.

Congrats, you are very smooth.

What Type Of Angel Have You Become?
brought to you by Quizilla

Your past life diagnosis
I don't know how you feel about it, but you were male in your last earthly incarnation.
You were born somewhere in the territory of modern Ontario around the year 1675.
Your profession was that of a dramatist, director, musician or bard.
Your brief psychological profile in your past life:
You always liked to travel and to investigate. You could have been a detective or a spy.
The lesson that your last past life brought to your present incarnation:
You should develop your talent for love, happiness and enthusiasm and you should distribute these feelings to all people.

Become a God or Goddess. by zerogirl
Name:
God/Goddess of	The Unknown
Element:	Metal
Animal Companion:	White tiger
Weak against	Metal
Weapon:	None
Created with the ORIGINAL MemeGen!

ok, done. he didn't ask who wrote your cow dream but i think he knows anyway (i mean, come on, it's daddy..!). then he gave me some pointers abt how one shouldn't memorise something but instead to simply try to tell a story. like how i can talk on the phone to someone for a bloody 2 hours and it's so difficult to write a 2 minute thing.

so like that lah. think am going to go with your cow thing, daddy said pple in school might not appreciate the gaiman one.

read daddy a bit of babycakes and he didn't even let me finish it! said something abt not reading word for word and interacting with the audience. then he did a demo and turned the whole thing inside out, took the idea instead of just reading the whole thing, 'teachers and friends, i'd like you, for a moment to just imagine, what if one day, all the animals disappeared?' or something along those lines. why couldn't i have inherited more funky useful stuff from daday? so in doing that, am not actually reading neil gaiman's work as such. but i supose i'll still write a letter to his agent abt it anyway.

ok, will get back to you in a while about reading yours.

I don’t know why I keep having this dream. Do I think of myself as a cow? Is this a cry for help, a fear of being trapped, or simply exams?(raise eyebrow here in ironic fashion) There is a slightly farcical quality to my dream. Farce is what you call funny things which are tragic, like charlie chaplin, or mr bean. Or clowns. My cows are not laughing, they are dying, but it is funny nonetheless. Like the laugh of a madman, the last man on earth.

http://www.loony-archivist.com/babycakes/page2.htm is a link to neil gaiman's short story 'babycakes'. highly recommended.

This is tor. I am stressed. This is what I wrote:

It begins in a small room made of mud—the roof is dry grass of the sort you find in deserts. The air is dry. The heat, everywhere. Through the small square hole in the wall, very high up, is a pink sky. But we are not on Mars, though the landscape be as barren. It is bright in the room. The walls are thick. It is very bright outside.

I am sprawled on the floor, my Sec 4 Chemistry book in front of me, reading. But I can’t, suddenly. I cannot turn the page. Upon it thrashes a thick brown coil, a great earthworm, it seems, all blood and muscle, in agony, covering my words with slime, blood and soil. To one side stands a black crow, its head jerking from side to side, taking sneaky little bites. I can see blood, pumping, through the skin of the worm, the little vessel in its centre gasping madly, as if for air.

Fascinated as I am, I must go on. I turn the page, pressing the paper firmly downwards with my hand until the juices run and squelch between my fingers. The door is on my right. A big, barnyard affair, wood nailed together. I draw the old-fashioned bolt, and push the door open to reveal a pink sky rushing to meet the horizon. Of dying cows.

The land is covered by dying cows. Dying cows everywhere, reaching to the horizon. It is a scene of visceral decay. I am overwhelmed with sadness for all these cows. I see a horrribly mutilated young calf, eyes covered with a white rheum, dried blood mixed with the dead bodies of flies, bloated from its flesh. I do not know why these cows were injured. I do not know why they are dying. But I am determined to save them.

But. I can’t! They are too many! Too many for me to carry to the nearest town. I pick up the young calf, and start walking.

I don’t know why I keep having this dream. Is my self image a cow? There is a slightly farcical quality to this, considering cows are usually used in funny imagery. Farce is what you call funny things which are tragic, like charlie chaplin, or mr bean. Or clowns. I think it is exam anxiety. Yesterday I dreamt I was in a gothic castle a la Harry Potter, except the courtyards were filled with statues of famous philosophers. And they could talk, a la Necroscope. They were all grey, but the light was yellow, like evening sun. I could see dust motes in the streams of light but it did not seem dusty. I was in a grey room looking out into the courtyard. I spoke to the figures there. There were many statues.

See? My dreams are all of me being trapped inside a small place, with a big place outside. The small place is always grey, or brown, or dark. And the outside space is infinite, or I can’t see the end. There are always lots of things outside, and it is bright and pretty. I can see their form, but their content, or meaning, is mysterious. I don’t feel trapped in the dream, because I can always go outside. But when I do, I don’t fully appreciate the things outside. Why? maybe i am just stressed.

first up, happy easter everyone! today's easter mass went alright i think. hope your lentern sacrifices paid off, that is, if you're the type who does that sort of thing.

next, happy hide (pronounced HEE-dei) memorial day! *prances with chan (who's hollering 'rocket dive' lyrics) around shopping cart with lemons in*

ok, enough with the jap stuff.

computer man came on friday. that's it, my printer has gone totally kaput, from lack of use. it's barely a year old dammit! looks like attempts to print various school assignments were pretty pointless. ack. now have to get new one, *anguished cry* oh will this search for a good printer never stop!?

yes, have also been sick for about a week now. lungs half full of phlegm, sometimes have to stop what i'm doing half way, stare off into the distance and then start trying to hack up my respiratory system. once done being amused by dancing stars, have to do a bit of blinking before repeating process. good thing fever went down.

have chinese prelims tmr. wishing me luck is not going to do any good. going to blindfold self and jump off cliff while desperately trying to miss hitting the ground.

among a few other churches, went to Mary queen of the angels on thursday. aargh! i swear, want to move to that church even though it's in bukit batok, my future house will look like the columbarium there!

to les: wussup with you man? looking at your e-journal (of which i don't understand at least half of because of people/incidents am not familiar with and just plain cheem-ness), feel you surrounded by bad karma, regardless of even if you feel 'all right now'. want to meet up one day for coffee?

to liz: miss you too! especially our slacking at starbucks. might drop by lah, who knows? should catch up one day, take care dear.

to lll: (for full effect, imagine me saying this with all the stresses)*reclines in chair and raises an eyebrow disdainfully* which part of 'all that has been written' do you not understand?

have to go drink milk now. will try to remember not to throw away special offer/free milk/whatever sales gimmick thing.

changed layout. haven't time enough to fiddle with a fancy one but simple and plain works too. fixed tag board so now you can pretty much see the whole thing.

by the way, scrapped the links and random stuff 'cos honestly can't be bothered with blog etiquette. don't see why i should add rubbish links just because i'm supposed to. but if you ever need a link that used to be here then just ask, via tag.

comments please? thanks.

yarh larh, ok les, i'll write! *acknowledging nod to the smallness of the tag board, as well as all that has been written*

have been v. busy, during the march hols banders had to go back to school 5 days a week, 'cos of the concert larh. but had a bit of fun during the practices, at least. i'm definitely going to miss those (and the odd things we have to do like try to get the chime to shut up when we're in the bus by having 4 of us grab different sections of it) once us sec 4s are properly out of the band. not the ungodly hours though. but it's not over yet, we still have honours day to play for, ack.

please don't ask how the concert went. i can't exactly answer that question. or anything related to band, for that matter.

now that we've stopped for the exams, i don't feel so crushed anymore, am v. relieved to have more time. but sometimes i think even if there were 36 hours in a day it wouldn't be enough... i would spend alot of it messing around this blog you know. and reading others, of course. i'm sorry to those whose blogs i'm supposed to read, i hardly find time to come online and check my mail larh, wah lau.

am absolutely sick of doing them chinese tests. gave up on friday (also 'cos i was late) and only filled in multiple choice sections, what's the point? we'd have to do another one on monday anyway. but have been studying for prelims larh, getting through the chinese shou che book is like wading through a swamp, without any pants on.

we made a suggestion to mrs nix the other day, that we'd just do our english homework on our blogs ('cos it's some kind of reflection thing) and hey, that's generally what people do on their blogs most of the time anyway... right..? but it got turned down, of course. interesting concept though, i rather thought it would make me write in my blog more.

i want to change my skin, bleah, the computer guy said he'd save my folder for me the last time we reformatted the com but i don't know what happened, crap. had this really nice background, stained parchment looking, with inked designs at the side. ah crap.

i bought the budak pantai album! they are so cool, a local a capella band. if you want, i could lend you the album. they did 'my heart wil go on' (that's right, the celine dion one) with this funky country feel thing combined with... Star Wars..? yeah, it's cool. highly recommended. speaking of albums, am planning to buy the jason mraz (i don't know how to spell his surname, no. but it sounds something like that) one. he drinks, smokes and still sounds like honey, beautiful! and he writes his own songs too.

can't wait for maundy thursday, do so like the visiting churches thing. was just going to mention the churches i'll be visiting but suddenly have mrs Chu's voice in my head,' and they also tell them where they're going!'. hrm. so let's play 'i'm not a stupid teenager' then. in any case, *waves* that was for any teacher who just so happens to be here.

mum screaming at me for throwing the milk carton away. had to cut out portion of it to redeem free extra carton see, you know the type. so now she's banging things around 'cos she's angry. i do wish she'd stop.

alright, i'm off. will blog when something excititng happens i suppose.

You are going to Marry orlando Bloom. He will
always treat you right and is very romantic. He
will do anything for you. He is very polite and
has deep brown eyes and is very good looking
(which is another plus!). He can make anything
cheesy look really hot(like sliding down stairs
on a shield shooting arrows or wearing pointy
ears for example). Congrats!!


Which male celebrity are you going to marry? (now 12 (i just added more, and still more to come!)results that have pics!)
brought to you by Quizilla

This is me, tor.


The Planner

Since work and success are your top priorities, you
can pretty much hold any job you want if you
have the drive for it. You would really like
jobs where you can plan things, like business
executive, teacher, journalist, or lawyer. You
may stay away from jobs that focus on seeing
success in other people (Counselor,
psychologist) because you want a job where YOU
decide the success, not someone else.
You generally do well with authority, which is why
you would like someone who would dominate you.
You dont mind taking orders to please other
people, as long as your soulmate doesnt get in
the way of your goals you will be fine. You
can be very stubborn, and you dont want to deal
with putting time or effort into relationships
you know wont last, so you usually have long
term relationships with possessive and
loyal people. Your dream men would be Ares from
Xena, Indiana Jones, Maximus from Gladiator,
and Jeff Corwin. You dream ladies would be
Faith from Buffy, Buffy, and Xena. You most
likely are an Ares, Capricorn, or Virgo. You
most likely
eat really bland food and like things to be plain
and simple and practical. You would love to
get something like a new computer or
organization file for Christmas. You are
probably considered greedy or miserly and you
can relate to Ebeneezer Scrooge in more ways
then one. You probably are in college or plan
to attend college, have very good grades, and
have received some sort of award of excellency
over the years.
Your best friends would be Dreamers and Creators.
You would do well dating a Villian, Leader, or
King. You would have trouble making
conversation with other Planners, and Social
Butterflies would annoy you!


COMPLETE~~With Text Images~~The Super Ultimate Personality Quiz: Who are you? (With long answers!) All answers available, including your ideal job, ideal love interest, and more all in one answer!
brought to you by Quizilla

So sad. So not true lor.



What Forest Creature Are You?

I'm the wolf god!

haven't done one of those amusing/useless string of quizzes in a while...


The Creator

Your Jobs: You need a job where you can put your
creative resources to good use. You can be a
teacher , manager, counselor, spiritual leader,
journalist, or designer.

Love:
You need someone who can accept your moodiness and
learn to deal. You cannot have someone who will
constantly put you down, order you around, or
ignore you. You need a listener who cares about
your rapidly changing feelings. You may set
your standards too high.
Your dream guy= Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Your dream girl= Rinoa from Final Fantasy 8, Alyssa
from Chasing Amy

Most Likely...
You most likely...
Are a Gemini, Cancer, or Taurus
Like arty movies and dramas
Dont play any sports
Have two sides to you
Like movies that make you think
Follow a religion

Best Friends: Dreamers, Social Butterflies
Love Interests:Dreamers and other Creators
Enemies:Villians and Kings


COMPLETE~~With Text Images~~The Super Ultimate Personality Quiz: Who are you? (With long answers!) All answers available, including your ideal job, ideal love interest, and more all in one answer!
brought to you by Quizilla



A True Goth Quiz (now with pics)
brought to you by Quizilla



What Forest Creature Are You?


There's something wrong with you. We're not sure
what it is.


What Kind of Fangirl are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

to the 2 classes in charge of the thanksgiving mass on monday:

it may not have been so great today but the effort put in for this is unmatched. rock on! (i don't know why i sound american..?)

to the people who were laughing and rolling their eyes during practice:

you are fleas that nest in the scrotum of a diseased gay camel and it's not worth farting in your general direction. and rememeber, i don't have an attitude problem, you have a perception problem.

cannot for the life of me figure out how to enlarge the text box for my posts. all the conventional things aren't working... oh well. will settle with this for now.

anyway, been busy. can anyone suggest what kind of explainations (why does tha look wrong? am sure it's spelled that right... help lah tor.) i can come up for things chosen for offertory: a box of chocolates (to quote forest gump, 'life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get' so savour every moment), a ring (i dunno yet, but that's pretty symbolic ain't it?!), a picture of a girl with her friends (something about not forgeting the times you had in secondary school) and something else... a book (quite lame, because learning never ends), i think. so just post suggestions on the tag board or tell me straight.

this whole mass thing is crazy. things were flying around, something about not wanting to pair up 4/3 and 4/4... shd have been 4/3 and 4/9 instead or something ridiculous like that. we got paired up in the end though (we fought for it, generally, the 2 classes like each other, methinks) but didn't have a pianist until we begged angie to play. jamie was nice enough to be the back up pianist though, 4/6 has heaps of pianists, can count 3 off the top of my head.

many things going on, concerning the mass thing, tempers flaring mostly. am just praying that we don't screw it up.

Jac yip's furious at 4/3 for several reasons, not too sure of the whole story (generally don't want to know it) but am getting a bit worried for their self-awareness camp because of it. can't predict what'll happen, hope they solve it.

just started the secret pal thing in class today. had a false start (everyone knew who everyone else's secret pals were...) so had to start again. won't say who mine is, in case she reads this. highly doubt that'll happen though, don't think she knows my blog add, we're not close.

got 5.5 upon 25 for my january accounts test, dunno how am going to tell my father, help!

ok, not really organising this blog entry today so random things just coming out yarh? just finished maths tuition, brain a bit scrambled. but do rather enjoy maths and, for that matter, chinese tuition. tuitors are very patient and everything, 'cos it's one on one.

printer got problem! stupid thing, random red button flashing, which is supposed to mean either the thing is jammed (it's not) or the ink's run out (it hasn't). first it was the monitor, then this. the monitor's problem was that it was randomly switching itself off. kinda sounds like the problem my tv had the other time (that was ages ago) but banging didn't help at all. generally speaking, rather like banging electrical appliances (only during malfunctions lah) 'cos get great satisfaction when the thing starts working again, after all that noise.

praticing hard for band concert. by the way, if anyone wants to purchase tickets, they're $10 each, concert itself to be held at VCH, free seating. buy from me lah. been dueting with priscilla after practically every practise, and am obviously the better singer (and am obviously writing that to make self feel better, entertain me). it'll be so strange when we leave band, meaning the sec 4s. have no great love for it or anything but don't get me wrong, don't hate it either. but it's been such a regular part of life here in secondary school, twice a week, every week then all of a sudden it stops...

just realised that i'm going to rather miss band. never thought i'd ever have to say that.

watched moon child the other day, the movie with hyde, gackt and lee hom in it. chan and vanessa have effectively turned me into a gackt fangirl. damn i don't need this, you hear me?! gackt's like this too-strange jap version of lestat (which i think is what's attracting me). so, just for the sake of it:



Which Gackt are you most like?

quiz by mcvarmazi

i have to go have dinner now. also have to study for accounts test. many (it's MANY, sub-conscious, NOT MANA, damn it. only malice mizer fans will get this, so nevermind.) things have not been written, but that can't be helped.

and oh yes. thanks so much for the Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials set, tor! i love it!

hrm, have just changed skin. am using this one till find ideal background then will commission chan/liz/whoever to customise for me. but presently will do with this. alterations to come in future.

create your own visited country map
or write about it on the open travel guide

hello again! how are you? and how are you? terribly sorry as have not been blogging for these past few weeks, school's been just up in my face, screaming at me to wake up. hell, am in sec 4 this year and can't believe it. like sean said (met him today at the bus interchange), he can't get used to the idea that we're all in sec 4. then said that when we get to j1 (or whatever who's going where) we'll still think we're 16.


recently, my com went all whack and now have lost all bookmarks and everything, again. am so tired of this. everytime i build up a list that vaguely resembles the last one the thing crashes in due time. it's not like i download rubbish or anything. bloody hell.


many things have happened since the last time i blogged. of course, many things seemed to have happened all at once since christmas. eldred's gone to toronto, my sis has gone back to london, am getting chinese remedial from my cousin/aunt/both, christmas was nice although quiet (and my grandma makes wicked rendang) and the christmas mass was... think i should shut up now.


if you haven't noticed, this is my blog so i get to be self absorbed (shut up sam, you are so lame!) ok? got alot of nice things for christmas. very nice, i should say. money (how can that not be a good thing for me right now?), the odd photoframe and bedsheet, a piece of wire bent to form my name that's supposed to be used as a bookmark (always wanted one of those), an lotr postcard from NZ (thanks mum!), a set of PotC postcards (thanks chan!), black feather earrings (thanks mavis!), parchment paper (thanks steph!), a stuffed jack skellington (love you jenny!), a HMV voucher that i need help spending (any volunteers?), the quotable sandman (thank you amanda and rosie!!!)and... Stardust, the illustrated one Gaiman did with Charles Vess. autographed by the man himself. you see, my sister was in london and he was touring so... thank you so much tor! i love you!


and so we move on from christmas. i hear from jenny that her cousin saanthiya (and the whole of that bit of the family) is moving to houston at the end of this year. daaaammnn, wish she could stay. she's a fantastic person, always willing to help and the sort you should meet a least once in your life. here's her blog add: www.boredom-ville.blogspot.com. take care saanthiya, promise us you'll visit...


am thinking about not writing again, till after my 'o's or at least for a few months. have just enough time to squeeze in all my work, let alone posting on my blog.


and oh yes. merry (belated) christmas, happy (belated) new year and of course, happy (be-earlied) birthday to all.

bought a lollipop from ntuc today, the giant type about the size of my palm. went around licking it in an attemp to finish it in one day. cannot lah, it's damn big. got up to the point where my tongue started to bleed. when my cousin saw it she thought it was the dye from the lolly itself because my whole touge was red. ouch. it's a good thing i rather like the taste of blood. so had a hard time trying to eat dinner, especially the curry.


lesson learned today: never eat curry when your tongue is bleeding. or put curry on any open wound for that matter.

am blogging on my sister's lap top. yes, my home computer's down, (again!) but at least i'm not one of those who're dependent on the com, sure i can live without it. gets a bit piss-offing at some times but is ok.


as you have gathered, my sister's home, yay! she only comes back about once a year, think my parents so rich is it? can send her back and forth? she hasn't changed very much, of which i am happy to say. she does weird things sometimes though, like sticking her hand out the window before going out, to check the temperature because she's so used to having to do things like that in london. there sure is odd weather over there.


yay! have just watched return of the king! actually was supposed to see it with eldred but he went for the freaking GALA PREMIER so i brought my sister instead. damn, the movie is good! the trilogy is something everyone should watch at least once. am going to borrow eldred's FotR and TT when he gets them back. anyone up for a marathon? have to say though, i am very sad it's all over. an epic adventure to end all adventures has been made by the genius who goes by the name of peter jackson. somebody, give this guy an oscar!


i've had so many things to blog down, especially since with the crazy computer that's gone down (again!). but i can't seem to remember it all now. oh yes, nearly forgot to mention. steph came up with the brilliant idea of doing CIP hours this month for next year, so that we don't have to squeze them in during our practicals. so now i'm rushing through 36 hours of kettling down at orchard mrt. if you don't know what that is, it's the salvation army ringing bell thing. can get damn boring after 2, maybe 3 hours or so but it's rather fun people watching lah, it's a good spot for it after all. there're also the random few people one of us know who stop by (well duh, it's orchard mrt after all...) who want to ring the bell and just talk to us for a few minutes. i reckon we see someone we know or an ij girl and average of every hour or so.


oh yes. was supposed to say something about clay aiken's album? got it when mum got her david tao cd. he (aiken, not tao) can sing fantastically well. but he has really odd songwriters. i don't know why they don't want to write something that can show the extent of his talent, i mean how far can ballads go? by the way, he's working with the same people who work with westlife...


am having a very bad sore throat. couldn't sing for carolling today, sometimes had to switch down to the alto part (the bits that i know lah, in any case) because got a lot of notes i cannot reach. so it's a good thing i'm standing at the extreme side of my section, right next to an alto. for the past couple of days people can only hear 3 words out of a sentence that i say, it's that bad. on the phone it's worse. and erm, i seem to have passed it on to my sister. opps.


on a more serious note, everyone please pray for amelia's mother, who passed away recently. let us hope that she may find peace. you know, i once read somewhere that there's this legend about death. death is a person so heartbreakingly beautiful that once you see death, you fall in love so hard that your soul is pulled out through your eyes. that's an interesting way to go, to say the least.

Travelling in London is like a game of russian roulette. You never know what you're in for when you step out the door. You might die on the subway, get your pocket picked, or meet a famous person. Drunk and homeless people assault you with their fragrant personality, very tall black models puff on suspicious smelling sticks, rats run up your leg.

Maybe I am speaking as a Sanitized Singaporean, but sometimes, I just wanna be home.

One encounter of note:

'Happy Belated birthday!'
*nods dumbly*
'Could you make this out to Victoria?'
'How do you spell that?'
' I wasn't aware there was an alternative way to spell Victoria'
'You'd be surprised, the Jennifers spelt J-E-N-I-F-F-E-R, the Daves spelt D-A-E-V, the Amys with an E..'
'I suppose it takes all sorts...'
'Yes... where are you from?'
'Singapore, you were meant to be there but didn't go?'
'Yes, Dave McKean and I had an important meeting for MirrorMask.. but I really want to go there... I hear the food is amazing'
'Yes! My sister was so disappointed'
'I'll be sure to go when I have a chance'
*hands my endless nights back*
'Thank you!'

Now that kinda makes it all worth it.

couldn't go for band today. was too painful, as woke up with period cramps. yarh, the cramps actually woke me up a couple of times during the night/morning. got up to get warm drink and that funky herbal pillow that you microwave and can stay hot for hours but couldn't find it. gave up and wet a towel with warm water and put it in a plastic bag then went to sleep again, hugging that.


when i got up, i realised that the stupid forfeit i had to do yesterday at choir camp (write 'christus laudatur voce' with my arse) really took a toll on my thigh muscles, now they ache. it feels like i ran 2.4km without warming up. when i walk or climb the stairs i've got to re-distribute my weight between both feet so now am looking as if i'm a bit drunk 'cos it results in a rather unsteady gait.


the camp itself was fun though. had good company, nice house (except for the mosquitoes) and great food. kudos to stephanie's mum, auntie maria, who cooked food for us. her spiced ribs brought the house down!


wish i could stay for the whole thing, but either way couldn't have because of cramps and band. really wanted to go for band today too but that's a bit difficult since i couldn't come down the stairs properly in the morning.


ok, have to go now. yay! my sister's coming back next week :)

darn it. just called my choir mistress, trying to get out of this week's choir camp. she didn't let me, saying that gerard might be able to fetch me home on sunday. ack, hate it when pple do stuff for me, feel like i'm inconveniencing them. which is why i'm not asking denise to give me a lift, her dad is really nice.


truth be told, i don't like going for things just half-way. if i go for the camp i want to go for the whole thing, not leave on the night of the first day and come back at dusk on the second. what's the point, if im going to be missing half the thing anyway. there're obviously going to be things done on the day that i missed and, how do it put it... i'll be out of sync with everyone else. i'll start feeling like i'm part of an interactive audience or something. get my drift?


don't get me wrong, am really wanting to go for this camp. there's going to be praise and worship and everything. but i'd rather not travel back and forth from sembawang and thompson/bishan or worse, have someone do it for me.


urgh. how did i get myself into this... and so sorry for sounding american, was watching tv before this.

hah. ok, shd have a few good hours on the com. and tor, eldred said he never got anything from you.


so. camp was really funky. everyday we'd end at abt, roughly 12 in the morning and by the time we were finished with supper , washing up and whatnot it would be abt 1 something so everyone would get an average of 9 hours of sleep for both nights togther. but that's for the pple who actually slept at all lah... heard abt alot of strange things going on in the other dorms... spin the bottle and all. which dorm? if you're familiar with the pple in my church then you shd know.


was hanging out with either my group members or kat and ara (both pple who were in the same dorm as i was in) at any given time. they're all pretty decnt pple, except for ara and kat who stole my towel while i was bathing. screamed at the same time a facil was nearby so they had to give it back. when asked why i screamed they responded by saying that the water was cold. sheesh.


if i ate like how i did during the camp, i'd be hell a lot fatter than i am now. 3 square meals a day, plus supper. boxes of oreos were present all the time, unlimited supply of milo and the occasional bag of chips. oh yes, and nutella that saved me because i badly needed a sugar high. i mean, the meals were so healthy.


had mass on the last day. was surprised that my parents turned up. thought only my godma would 'cos my parents are so blur, i had to call my dad the previous day to tell him that there was mass at all. it was pretty cool, especially since it was on a sunday. was sorry i had to have lunch them though, there was funky stuff happening at my group table...


ok, aside from all that, i really learnt a lot. about myself, my faith and my parents. it may sound cliche (but hey, look on the bright side, they sorta become cliches because they're true...) but somehow after the camp i was feeling maybe a little closer to God.


and that was last week. the most recent weekend was my confirmation itself. the rehersal was on saturday so had to miss half of band because of it. but i think mebe it was mainly because of the recruitment drive. sang in a small group to promote choir. and screwed it up. oh well. and not forgetting elizabeth who baked brownies for everyone as christmas presents. she's unbalanced larh.


bought a dress, shawl and did a manicure for my confirmation itself. manicure being a colour french (black). i really like it but is now odd to eat with fingers. anyway, was sitting at the back of the church and everytime i turned around, it seemed as if there was another ij girl strolling in. i say, we don't need a chapel, we'll just use risen christ.


been preparing for sunday for all my cathecism life. now it's all over and i feel just weird. it's like i've become the church equivelent of an adult. im going to miss class and of course my cathecists, especially lester and lai probably 'cos they've been the closest to my own age compared to all the other cathecists. easier to connect and all that.


honestly, i've never given much thought to cat classes. but now am feeling grateful, for all those lessons concerning my faith, the classes on saturday afternoons that became such a chore to attend but now when i look back, rather enjoyable really. they were an integral part of my life.


enough reminiscing. am going to change skin, am tired of this one.

wheeeeee!!! my com has been fixed!! the thing kind of died while i was away for con camp. my parents told me that my mum had overloaded the washing machine so there was a blackout. next thing they knew, the cpu couldn't be switched on.


have a lot of stuff to say.


already mentioned, confirmation camp. met some really nice pple there, the type you don't want to lose contact with. adrian, amelia, angelina (two of 'em), daphne, elizabeth, ester, gabriel, kenneth, matthew, sean and vanessa. typically known as the st paulians as our group was (duh?!) st paul. we had the best time there, and i want to go back!! learnt many things abt myself, did a lot of reflecting and bonding. though one thing i hated was that there was no starbucks nearby. nearest one was at compassvale mall, 10 min drive away. our facillitators were (and still are, actually) really nice. they got stuff for us from 7-11. man i had the best time.


ah crap. need to make long entry abt week but need to wake up for band tmr. at this rate, i'll get mebe abt 5 hrs of sleep. will have to make post tmr as don't need to get up on tues.

am freaking out right now. haven't the foggiest idea what i want to do in the future. at least steph has her whole lawyer thing and all that, even knows what jc and stuff she wants to take, so i rather envy her on that bit.


people always say do what you think you'll be happy doing, what you could see yourself doing for the rest of your life. the problem is, i don't think i'm good at anything. i did used to think perhaps geography, but i was wrong. i suck at that, even. i can't draw, write, act, debate or even play an instrument properly. oh shut up, the sax doesn't count, i suck at that too. i did though, once really enjoy this class we had in sec 1 and 2, design and technology. was rather good at it too. pity my school doesn't offer it o level. perhaps i should have gone out of school to persue it instead, is it too late for my aspiration as a carpenter(ress)?


hang on, i'm cheering up now. i'm going to go into spa therapy which is something i like and am remotely good at. my cousin makes me massage her everytime i see her and apparently says that it's as good as the funky thai massage she went for the other time.


ok. am quite cheered up now. typing to myself on a blog can be very theraputic you know. and oi tor, when are you going to next call? mum's been bothering me with her paranoia.


and another thing. in response to denise's post, i might be taking off the links to the other blogs. i don't see a point, practically everyone who comes here already has those addresses or aren't interested in them. it's the whole blog network thing, if you get what i mean.


have to go have dinner now, am having claypot rice. and speaking of clay, i need to make an entry about that clay aiken album that's just come out. another time then.

rosie and chan came over today to make good use of the 6 disc set from studio ghibli that i've got on loan. saw mononoke, some racoon thing i don't know the title of and totoro! aargh, that was one hell of a cute movie! i recommend that everyone watch it. why can't disney produce stuff like this?


am getting results tmr. so scared, im numb. am confused as to why they always moderate english but not chinese... and have done much better for end year as compared to mid year. so obviously that's going to pull me down, ack! also have to go to school earlier 'cos gail siow (i can't for the life of me remember how to spell her surname) wants to go through the answers for social studies with us, which is nuts 'cos no one's gonna want to come early.


tor, stop with the friendster thing, i think it hates me. i can't get in, said something about cookies. oh well.


ok. have to go draw up giant planner to stick on wall because of my horrible holidays plans. need to have parents know what time i come home and all that, ack.

had the best time yesterday. went to watch underworld with eldred (shut up about the whole premier thing you had, rachael) and, i don't know what to think of that movie. i'd say that it was a good movie but they ripped off so many things from other places, you wouldn't believe. got the whole retractable blade thing from spawn, the blade itself had some blade II thing going on, blue vampire eyes from interview, moves from the matrix and one character even resembled x-men's nightcrawler (shut up chan, i can hear you from here). but hey, i still say watch it anyway and go form your own opinions.


after that went to this nice comics shop behind kino (the one at bugis).


boy am i suckered. now i know how you felt when you saw that sandman globe the other time tor. saw so much great stuff, that were, needless to say, horribly expensive. $350 for a pewter set of the Endless, $79.90 for a small arabian nights thing (not sure what it was made of, some kind of metal..?) of Morpheus doing the whole putting the ball of monsters thing into his robe, $30 for Nightmare before Christmas playing cards, $25 for the Sandman 2004 calender...


oh boy am i suckered.


also feeling very weird 'cos i haven't got anymore studying to do. spending my days on the com and reading (am starting on terry goodkind and trying to get into anne mccafrey. i like dragons, but rather enjoyed her whole arcona thing). so now am very relaxed.


by the way, if anyone hears me curse and it doesn't sound english, it's most likely a triple decker russian insult.


good night.

huh, whatever lah. and yes, happy birthday. got the mail too, laughed at the london is a sinkhole bit. hah, drink lots of water is a very suitable bit of advice now too, thanks, seeing that i have a sore throat. it got so bad that during choir i had to sing all the songs one octave lower. shd have been standing with the guys.


ack.


last exam is one monday, but am going to die before then. ok, have to go study now.

It was so below 100 words. And I have been doing yoga for one year already! (shoulder stand triangle half moon and also good at breathing exercises) Can't stand on my head or suck my toes yet (actually i can but not very elegantly).


Ghibli.


Thanks for Bday card! Am going for swing dance lesson in hours time so just blogging for no particular reason. Should be researching law firms to apply to but they all actually do the same boring thing. Did you get my email? Was on wales and other places visited. Here is extract in case you didn't get it:


Waterfalls and beaches. Wales is like Lord of the Rings country, and I don't mean the movie... it's laden with celtic history, and the fields really are of gold. I even saw an Underhill cottage! (Underhill being one of the surnames of characters in LOTR).


Sardinia was a mediterranean dream, the scrubby, rugged landscape is deceptively even, but drops to sheer high cliffs as you round turns on narrow mountain roads. (We were in a Ford Fiesta, thank god for 4 wheel drive.) The views were amazing, and the beaches... pristine and isolated. We ate loads of seafood, lobster, clam and scallops. And I scuba dived for the first time! Was a bit scarey especially when you look up and see lots of blue water on top of you.


Ok good luck for exams and drink lots of water!!

to tor: what's having a sister got to do with describing yourself? and if you can't draw patterns like death then you probably wouldn't like cosplay. and since when did you like yoga? and i think that was more than 100.


ok. have not blogged for close to a month already. in middle of exams now and have just finished maths and lit paper on friday. only way to describe maths is screwed. on a lighter note, my lit was better than i expected it to be. it was good, in fact. also had a very good physics paper though i can't say the same for eveything else.


was talking to eldred last night. he was nice enough to lend me Gaiman's endless nights and am feeling v. happy now. would have read yours tor, if you hadn't sounded so reluctant at the thought of bringing it over. so now you don't have to. he's also lending me his studio gibli (i dunno how to spell it but it certainly sounds something like that) collection and so am going to watch mononoke in english (finally!!) and am getting around to watching totoro as well, hah!


for some very strange reason i cannot fanthom, as i stepped out of the shower yesterday, i suddenly recalled the name of the main character from Tim Burton's nightmare before christmas: Jack. and i realise i don't know anyone of the name jack, even if it's a rather common name, come to think of it.


sorry, that was just random stuff.


you know one of those warm, lazy afternoons when you don't really feel like doing anything at all, but you know you must because there's an exam 2 days away? well, i feel like that now.

I have no instincts. In fact, I am a large placid creature who likes to sit in a pool of warm water and coagulate. My rock-like physical reactions to proximate balls and people in a sporting context means painful injuries. My happiness is a warm bolster. My bolster is a footrest, a pillow, an eyeshade, a weapon and a placemat, all at once. It is not everything. It is everything important. I like to write and think. I like yoga and scrabble. My toes smell like boiled peanuts. I wear brown eyeliner but lack the courage to draw patterns round my eyes like death. And I have a sister.


About Me-- In 100 words or less. This is Tor.

have not posted for quite long. am busy and everything, especially with afternoon study taking up my whole, well, afternoon.


had a very interesting PE lesson today. learnt swedish massage techniques and practised on each other. my partner was steph. and now she wants to sue me for emotional trauma. am going to do it on jenny just to prove i'm not lousy.


ack, i know this post is short (very short's an understatement) but i really need to go. tor, did you know you were supposed to call every wednesday? okok, dad's breathing down my neck.

Icahbod


What Johnny Depp Boi Are You?
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nightmare before christmas!


What movie Do you Belong in?(many different outcomes!)
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got a few things to say. first, may we please have a moment of silence for those who perished in the september 11th attacks.


ok. on a lighter note, my sister's blog has screwed itself up. not sure what happened but she can't post and i can't even get in. so she came up with the hair-brained (is that how you spell it?) idea of sharing mine. i barely post once a week and she doesn't post all that regularly either (when she had hers, that is) so i was thinking, why not? let's put this blog to good use man. might change the address though, to something more relevent to both of us.

Your Claim to Fame by Danika
Name:
Day of Birth:
Lucky Number:
Hobby:
Claim to Fame:	Bankrupting Bill Gates
Years You Will be Remembered:	89
Created with quill18's MemeGen!

'Think i got so much time is it?'
-me


to all those out there who badger me abt updating this thing.


'One day Priscilla, you and i will duet here!'
-me to priscilla, at VCH during SYF


be careful for what you wish for.


'Oh my god! they're humpng my hair!'
-Andrea


don't ask.


Jenny,'my diagram's nicer'
Steph,'shut up lah'


ok, that was just random.


Ms Teo,'so no one's born in august?'(looking at the back of the class, our b'day's are on the notice borad)
Kah Yee,'but there're some born in september...'


no prizes for guessing when her birthday is.


'I'll send you invitations to my funeral.'
-Jac Yip


i've got mad friends and teachers.


'Guys, guys, nice panties?'
-Carrie, while standing on a table, flashing it around. heard frm donn lah.


and mad school mates.


'Simple things in life matter'
-Amanda


vast difference yarh?


me,'if i were your son, and told you i was gay, what would you do?'
dad,'i'll tell you to go for a sex change. if you start, go all the way.'


i've got a cool father man.

am writing this in bed with fountain pen (why fountain pen? because i can.) in full scap. can't seem to find time time to go online anymore and when i do, my mind's a blank and i can't seem to remember what i wanted to say in the first place.


anyway, lost my handphone on saturday, last week (for douglas adam's 'hitchhiker' fans, 'i think you ought to know, i'm feeling very depressed.'-marvin). so now everything's gone. contacts, radio stations, everything in my archives, my profiles (including the froody harry potter ring tone) and even the cute finding nemo thing i recorded with steph. all the things i've been putting into my phone for nearly a year now.


being irresponsible me, i left it on the taxi when i was getting out, going from just outside my house to the bishan mrt 'cos the damned bus wasn't coming and i was running late.


the worst part - my mum got me a new handphone yesterday.

have to admit, the last skin was a bit of an eyesore, all that red and pink. well, no harm in trying new things. this is obviously alot better and will probably stick with this for quite some time. will update tmr, have to go to sleep now..

changed blogskin. had pple telling me on the other one was unreadable. for some reason, this one overlaps the ad on top, don't know how to fix that. will tinker around some more and perhaps change colour.