Missing Brissy..

Violet Lashes and a White Bag

Woke up today feeling quite refreshed and exuberant for some reason. After my morning cleansing ritual, I spent about 10 minutes before starting work on my assignments just reading His word. I recalled our church has a daily devotions page and I went to visit it.

For some reason, I decided to share some of the verses with Andy. I was surprised and honoured when he poured out his troubles to me. I guess I didn't expect it because I am so much younger than he is, and I've never been married. Even more surprisingly, I managed to do my assignment and talk to him at the same time. Midway through our chat, I went to get my laundry done.

By about 12pm I not only done 90% of my JSB 331 Journal, but also hung out everything to dry. I did more reading up and at about 1245pm I got ready to go out to meet M :) I was going to take her to this lil shop in Chinatown where I make most of my beauty bargains. I'm not giving out any more information regarding the location! It's a closely guarded secret! Right now only R and M know ^^

I recently bought a full-sized Anna Sui Rouge in No. 672 there for $19.90 :P The regular retail price at counters is about $34 :P Today M and I went to check them out because we wanted to get the ultra-adorable Anna Sui Ring Rouge.

This is how it looks like..

We met at 230 and shopped for about 45 minutes :P It's a tiny store about the size of my bedroom, crammed with all sorts of beauty stuff! If you look hard enough, you'll find more than one good bargain :)

It was a great pity they didn't have the ring, though they offered to help us order them in! :D

And I bought these crazy-cool fake feathery looking lashes in violet! Hahahaha!

A couple of years ago, I would never have worn them, but now.. Maybe I'm becoming more of a deluded Chinatown ah soh.. But really, they are kinda cute :P I might just go back and get more, they have blue and brown as well.

M and I also bought sample-sized Clinique stuff :) She bought a Clinique eye cream for $9.90 (I saw a slightly larger version of it in SASA selling for $47.20) and we both got a 15ml Clinique Pore Minimiser Refining Serum each cos it was $9.90 for one and $15.00 for two! Hahaha :P

I think she also bought a $3.90 make-up pouch and some fake lashes in black too. Pretty sucessful trip for the both of us, if you ask me :P

After Chinatown, she went to meet her friends and I had to pop by SLS to get another ink cartridge. Man, this is the second time I'm replacing it this semester. (Goodbye to another $29.00. Well at least I didn't pay $36.90 for it at POPULAR!) So I took the NEL to Little India and almost got lost hahaha! I think it is because I exited without reading the signs.

Anyway I made a short detour, mostly by judging the directions a la Parkview Square. I ended up walking through Tekka. My goodness, has it changed since my TP days! Even whilst cutting through several sidewalks full of sarees and indian mama-stalls, I managed to find another bargain! :P Hahaha :P

I bought myself an adjustable ring that can be worn either on my finger or on my toe :P It cost $4, and is now sparkling proudly in front of me heheh :P

Didn't really bother to spend much time around SLS, I just quickly got my cartridge and left.

After that I walked through Bugis Street Market on my way to Bugis Junction and was really fighting the temptation to visit the shops upstairs :P The last time I went there I left with too many pairs of new earrings :s I don't have ears enough for them all haha..

Thankfully for my purse, the heat and my heavy bag (I'd brought my notes with me) prevented me from straying off to the shops. I was feeling dehydrated from my extended walk through Tekka and was craving Ice Milk Tea. So I had lunch at 430pm at mos Burger :) and took out my notes to see if I could come up with anything.

It was a relief that by the time Rz came down after work and met me, I'd finished the remaining 10% of my Journal. All I have to do now is to get it typed and printed. Then it's on to the next assignment.

We had a nice dinner and then went to walk around. Big mistake: I fell in love with another white bag! Hahahaahaha!! And it was on sale.. and they say.. the rest is history!

What an eventful day. For me and for my purse :P

Sigh. I only spend like this when I am about to leave a country permanently or when I am very stressed! I'm really glad the semester is ending, cos I'm not sure if I should subject my purse to anymore abuse hahaha :P


- 1 June 2006 12:45am -

I think I need a holiday. 

Mental Block

I couldn't sleep last night until about 3am. Though I was really exhausted already, I still lay very much awake. This morning I woke up from one of those weird dreams with a stabbing pain in my head.

I guess I am paying now for what was a blissful, relatively work-free and 100% relaxing weekend.

I am quite worried that I can't finish everything on time, and my head is hurting from all that reading. I keep telling myself it will be over soon.

I am trying to space out my thoughts so they make sense in my essay but somehow something heavy seems to be sitting on my usual ease with words and cramping my usual writing style. I've even caught myself ommitting vital words from vital sentences three or four times today. Therefore I have had to read and re-read anything that is freshly typed, before I can move on. It is so frustrating.

I just have to keep looking to Him for the strength and clarity of mind to get me through.

Lord, I know You will see me through, help me keep that in mind!

Perhaps a good sleep will do some good and clear my mind. Hopefully I can wake up refreshed tomorrow and not have anymore dreams.

Early to bed tonight, I think..


- 29 May 2006 9:43pm -

I'm vainvainvainvainvain~!! :D 

Sea of Gold

I'm beginning to love my weekends.

Last Friday was kinda rushed. I had a submission due on Monday, but I had to get it done by Friday and sent out, so I would have time to get my next two assignments done by this coming Friday 2 June 2006.

Had a wonderful dinner @ Sakae with Rz :) I <3 <3 <3 hot agedashi tofu and fresh salmon nigiri!~ Hee.. I just wanted an occasion to dress up actually. Was feeling kind of couped up at home with all these assignments and I really wanted to splurge and wallow in luxurious agedashi tofu!! I had 3 plates of it! LOL :x

Then yesterday, I went to watch X-Men III with ES, JL, Sol, Rz, Gerg and TBT :D I loved the show, except that I got kinda exasperated with Rogue and Angel! And why the hell does the X-Jet not fly out of a hidden take-off/landing strip hidden in the cliff face like it's SUPPOSED to! Wouldn't it have been so cool? Wah lau..

I think the movie brought back some memories of the old sgWar. We used to have a team called X-Men then, and we had this thread going in the forum that went up to 30 over pages of X-men related discussion. Without this team who "adopted me" and gave me the callsign Rogue so many years ago, I would never have revived my interest in the X-Men. I would not have read up so much on them and they would have stayed in my memories, forevermore a mere children's cartoon. Now the team is gone, save for JL and Sol, Space and some others we don't get to see often enough.

Anyway, as always, Sol and JL were the life of the party. JL more than Sol, I would say, because of his neon orange jersey, which seemed to make him Sol's target for the night and secured his position as "fully cooked"! ROFL. What really cracked us up was the fact that Sol would "attack" in English and JL will whine in Mandarin.

After the show we had a nice dinner at TCC, where I had my fave beef mozza tofu~!! My drink was a sparkling citrus mango concoction frivolously called Sea of Gold. Nice name, but I can't say it suits what I had pictured in mind :P I think I ordered it hoping it would come out all shimmering and glittery too haha :P Healthy food never tasted better, if you ask me ;)

I think TBT and Gerg were probably quite stunned the whole time. Perhaps they really regret agreeing to come watch the show and have dinner with us haha! I don't think the guys had enough to eat though, the portions were kind of small compared to the Orchard Emerald branch which still stands as my fave.

We finally got Sol a TCC membership card also. The number of times he has whined about him not being able to get one.. you wouldn't think he was turning 21 anytime soon! Now my ears can rest a lil bit before the next outing where it'll definitely be Sol vs. JL again hahaha :P

Poor Gerg, I think our conversation kept switching from English to Mandarin to Hokkien and back again too fast for him to catch most of it. He had a dazed look on his face throughout the most of our dinner.

It was a wonderful dinner in all, and TBT surprised us all by paying for it! Thank you tbtbtbtbt! Hee, next round it'll will be our turn k? :)

I was told by Rz that they wanna go Crab-eating on 17 June :) Anyone wants to come? Haha :) It will be at ECP :) It was really yummy the last time, though JL says its only "not bad lah". See whose opinion you trust more :P

Then last night after dinner we all went home and re-united in Alpha :P Too bad ES and JL didn't join us. I think JL must have gone directly to bed, he was exhausted to the point he almost fell asleep in the movie. To give him credit, being Sol's verbal target can also be very exhausting mentally hahahaha!! :P

Gerg and I had a fragging competition towards the end of de_aztec last night! Haha! It was such a close fight but I managed to overtake his score in the last few rounds :P Too bad I didn't screen shot it :P But we're talking about a semi-asleep Gerg, so maybe it's not much to speak of haha :P

We all left the server around 2am, and I had some sgWar stuff to settle before I get busy again. So I was clearing stuff up til about 3am or so.

All these late nights are undoubtedly detrimental to a girl and I've to admit at 24 I am starting to worry about my skin. Recently, I even bought my first eye-cream. *sniff*

But I've actually found a wonderful product that is heavy-duty enough to withstand my gaming needs lol. I've been using it more than 4 nights a week for three weeks and my dark circles have almost all disappeared. (It is 100% gamer-tested! :P ROFL.)

Did I mention, I think I'm getting vainer? :P

Anyways, I'm off to relax in Alpha again :D


- 28 May 2006 3:21pm -

A little view of the harbour from my room. 

Quiet Enjoyment

On a hot day like this, my brain refuses to function, though I ought very much to be working on my assignments.

It is beautiful outside, even though it is Singapore we are talking about. Perhaps the fact remains that I am easily swayed by blue sky. There is even a light breeze coming through the harbour.

I wanted to show everyone the (many) pairs of earrings I recently bought :s but realised my camera can't focus on items that are so small and delicate :s So I'm sorry, you'll have to wait til I can get a proper digicam :s Apparently, scenary is what my camera shoots best. So scenary you shall have. (See above.)

I love love love clear days such as this. And if I had no assignments to do, I'd probably be lazing gloriously by the window with a book.

...

I have taken to washing my face before starting on my assignments as a form of cooling off. Though I've always been a Shiseido fan, I've only recently seen this as a new form of relaxation.




The mildly-scented cleansing fluide turns into a refreshing fluffy foam with just a little water, and the mattifying toner comes with powder to soothe the pores and control oil. I've come to love and enjoy every face wash haha.

I think I'm becoming vainer..

...

Yesterday, whilst procrastinating, I somehow managed to find a site called TagWorld just by clicking randomly around. It is pretty much a vamp-ed up version of Multiply. The thing I like most about it, or rather, the thing that made me decide to register an account, is that you can get to host whatever videos and music you select for free from their library, on the site you create with them.

Also it is very easy to change the template to suit your liking. Rather than having to download templates and re-code them to suit you, you can now just drag and drop whatever you like into wherever.

On the side, it also functions like Friendster does. You can add and invite friends and form a network. You can create a guest book, start a blog and host photos and albums as well.

I haven't decided though, if I like it that much to wanna move my blog over permanently. So I guess for the time-being I'll just keep my blog going here, and post selected entries there.

...

Back to work, lol, before I regret it later.


- 25 May 2006 12:40pm -

For painful feet and escaping horrifying dinners.. You're still the one :) 

Lumpenproletariat

WTH is that, right?

It should sound like lumpy potato if you (mis-)pronounce it faster. lol.

Actually I found out today, this Marxist and Engels term refers to the most degraded of the proletariat; namely the lowest of the underclass - criminals, vagrants and the perpetually unemployed.

But wouldn't it be damn damn funny, if in CS, instead of the usual vulgarities, someone yells out at some unsuspecting person,

"EH you freaking LUMPENPROLETARIAT!!!"

And the poor ignorant soul goes,

"... huh?!?!?!?!?!"

WAHAHAHAHHAA!! Evil me :P Let's see who shall be my first victim! LOL.

...

Yeah reading all these criminological theories is driving me quite nutty. But apparently, some of it is actually getting embedded in my brain even though it doesn't appear that way most of the time.

Last Saturday, I got back my second assignment (after sending in a grand total of nine assignments to date; QUT is slow :s), and surprisingly, I did quite well!

My lecturer commended me quite generously, and knowing him (the 1st semester he taught me I got an almost failing grade), it is indeed quite rare.

So maybe after almost killing myself the past few weeks with continuous bouts of flu and sleepless nights, rushing to write essays and then rushing to get them submitted on time, these blardy things called assignments, there is some worth in it?

This encouragement put a smile on my face. To think it is just another paper being marked. What an impact it has on my life :s

Hmm, lol sorry if this has become a very egoistic post. I never used to do well in school, see. I was once upon a time, ranked within the last quarter of Legal Studies students, perpetually in danger of failing the course. I even had to repeat a year. I was part of the lumpenproletariat! Haha!

Though I can laugh about it now, I think I gave my father and lecturers a lot of heartaches and headaches then.

...

I was also very happy yesterday when I found an old site I used to love. Around 2001, I used to frequent Frederick Lin's site a great deal. After a three computers and moving my life to and fro, I'd lost his url, and there were so many distractions in my life that I somehow didn't try to look for his site again.

I was studying whilst listening to my collection of instrumental music and played his song "End of Love". And then, debbie-ishly, in the middle of Fordism and post-Fordism, Rusche and Kirchheimer, I had the bright idea to google Frederick Lin.

It was like finding a lost friend! I promptly went over to the Winterealm by Frederick Lin and downloaded all his instrumental tracks :P (Give the tracks some loading time when you click play, or Firefox might crash.)

Feeling really amicable, I even listened to his vocal tracks, and I must say he has improved by an arm an a leg :)

I think I like him because he is melancholic, frank and humble, all these years still producing wonderful music from his home. For someone who has gone overseas and back, he is a breath of fresh air, one classy step away from the teeny-bopper singapore-idol crowd which can get pretty much sometimes, even if the only brushes one has with them are on the streets.

Perhaps what I really like is the depth of feeling in his lyrics and compositions :) Unlike the shallow glitter and glow pop most Singaporeans seem to prefer.

...

Yes, I'm in, what G would call, a better mood. It was a great weekend, even though most of it was spent studying.

Maybe I've found what quiet happiness means at last :)


- 22 May 2006 1:03pm -

Awareness

My so-called break from my assignments is just about up. I'm back to stressing.

Haven't been blogging the past two days because I was feeling quite sick. Also E came back and asked to meet up. So I accompanied her and her friend PL on a shopping spree :) But only she did the shopping.

I think she's the only one I love shopping with.. no let me rephrase that.. She's the only one who shops like me. When I decide to go all out, that is. Anyway I was so sick on Tuesday nothing really appealed to me except a pair of $3 earrings that looked like they cost $18+ :P

In general, I had two happy days, despite feeling sick and achey :) Today was nice and quiet, and I slowly built up my assignment momentum again.

I must say I enjoyed it up until just now.

I guess to prevent my day from becoming un-nice, I'll just say it here and get it over with quickly.

I've blocked some people from my MSN list. These are what I call high-maintenance people. You never hear from them but hear them whine or plead for attention.

To those who suddenly never see me online anymore:
Sorry, my life is difficult enough as it is. I've more assignments to go and I don't have time to listen to how angry/sad/hurt/etc. he/she/it/etc. has made you. I also don't have time to listen to what I should or should not do/say.

My advice to these people is:
Don't try and contact me, I'll contact you.

To a certain person:
You are acutely aware of every little thing you do. You know exactly how you come across and you know just how to get what you want. This is not charisma, it is manipulation. I won't fall for it again. Next time you approach me I don't think you will find a friend anymore.

I've had enough. I only wanna talk to those who value me. I only wanna talk to those who value my input in their lives. I don't mind being unpopular as long as those who love me love me.

Right, now back to enjoying the rest of the evening :) Now to get through more readings so I can CS later :)


- 18 May 2006 9:41pm -

<3 niece but niece <3 pacifier.. :( 

Quick-$6-Fix

I no longer live in fear of finding my precious Altec Lansing headset stolen by my father.

Recently he's got into this new habit of running off with my headset to make scores of free internet calls every night before I come home. Determining on whether he is done yakking to his friends in HK, UK, India or wherever by the time I get home and showered, I might not see my headset for the rest of the night :(

I think I just had it when I came home last Saturday and Sunday to no headset CS :(

I'd already tahaned about a fortnight or so of my headset being kidnapped and it really started to get on my nerves when JL and Ah Gerg were talking away and I couldn't even hear anything :( And a very deaf and forlorn me was rushing head-long into people's cross-hair and dying ever so pitifully :s

Anyway today I solved my problem! Ehehe!

Went to SLS with Sol because he had some stuff to get, and I just decided to tag along. I bought the thief his own $6 operator style headset! :P

I actually was kind of worried he(dad not Sol) might yell at me about "Aiya why you waste $$$ again @!&#!*#$!@!@!@&!.." But then I thought, heck it. The hypocrite just bought a new car when our previous one is not even 3 years old.

We even bumped into Space =.=" I didn't even notice him til he tried to kick me! Yes kick me! Horrible guy, kicking a sick girl!

So after getting rid of Sol at about 6pm, I went to meet Rz for dinner at United Square. Went to my usual yong tau foo stall :) I like this stall because they actually prepare the soup using real soya beans, which they then allow customers to take as much as they like to complement their yong tau foo.

We talked for awhile about various stuff. Mainly CS (again? haha), his work, my studies, our families. My blocked sinuses made conversation quite difficult haha :P I kept mis-hearing :P

I think those around us were probably wondering who would be interested in such a deaf girl :P

And then it was back home. On the bus I realised I actually was quite tired :s It has really been a long semester so far. I wonder if next sem could get any worse? I suspect it's highly possible :s

Back home, when dad was downstairs, I placed the headset on his laptop so he couldn't possibly miss it when he got back haha :s Then I went for an extended shower. And then used my fave toner (JL sux!) :P

Dad came back whilst I was still towelling off and before I knew it he was already happily ripping open the packaging and scrolling thru his call list haha!

His idea of testing the mic involved calling about 5-6 of his friends and asking everyone if they can hear him, before launching off into some *BB/BSS/FMC (*select where appropriate) related gossip :s After he was finally satisfied that the ear-piece and microphone were both working, he went back to his work.

I was very cheeky :P

I pretended not to have heard his phone calls taking place (though they were quite loud) and innocently asked him, "How? Can work? If not I'll bring it back.. Can't trust cheap stuff anyway.. If you don't like it I can give it away too.."

His very quick reply, "No, no, it's very good."

"Good enough? Don't need my headset anymore?"

"Yeah this is good enough. Thanks."

I have to say, THAT has to be the best $6 I'd ever spent at SLS man :P


- 16 May 2006 2:35am -

Out my window.. 

A Time to Breathe

Having spent the past five days rushing an essay that was meant to be done over a month, I now find myself re-learning how to breathe, literally. The flu has given me such a blocked nose!!

I caught a cold on Tuesday because I was stuck at a bus stop for about an hour an a half in the middle of a particularly fierce thunderstorm. The bus stop was packed and I was soaked through all the same.

I've calculated that I actually have a window of a week in which to relax before I have to kickstart my brain for the next wave of assignments. Yes, wave. They don't come in twos or threes anymore, but in fives or sixes.

I'm meeting R later for some wonderful girl-time. Today is the day I claim my birthday present from her. She's takin me to some spa treatment thing that is so secretive I don't even know its whearabouts or name haha. But I trust her :) So it's ok.

Actually I don't really care much about the spa or the whatever, but the fact that she took a half-day for me! Awwwww! :)

After the spa thing, we'll most likely do some shopping. I wanna take her to look at her birthday present. This year I've decided that my all grown up best friend needs a jewel she can wear to work and formal occasions, instead of those (what my dad will call "mickey-mouse") cheap jewellery that never last long anyway. So most probly, we'll pop by SK and Citigems later.

Imagine! I've known R and her wonderful family for 17 years.. I remember all the times I used to run over and seek all manner of things that were lacking in my own house - peace, sleep, solace, love..

And the food! They won't stop feeding me everytime I go :s I believe they actually want me to be as fat as I was before I left for AU :c hahaha..

Anyway I'm going to run over again tomorrow night. Dad has invited his friend from HK to stay. He will be using my room and I think it's an awkward arrangement, with all my clothes and PC still in my room. It's also been a long time since I stayed over at R's and I'm quite excited hehe.

I wonder when either of us get married, would we still have crazy sleepovers? Or maybe when we have kids they will do enough sleeping over for all of us? Haha :)

Also enjoyed a chat with Andy earlier today. Glad to know that we are still friends after the several "bumps in the road". He laughed at my new-found mapling!! I also admit its kinda childish, but I don't see why I should stop :P Although I'm very sure G would want me to stop CS-ing haha :P

It's a really nice day to relax and I'm really glad the madness of the past weeks are over for the time-being.


- 11 May 2006 12:38pm -

And the biggest crab of ALL.. is me.. :c 

!!!!!!!!!!

I was so sick on and off during the past few weeks until I totally completely *!@&!@^!&*@^!* forgot to do and submit one of my assignments!!

And it's worth 50%!! :(
What am I going to do if they fail me :(
If I have to repeat it's gonna cost another AUD2k and dad will KILL me :(

So kill me now, dad will kill me anyway..

I actually was rushing to complete several assignments that were due all around the same time.. But I CAN'T BELIEVE I FORGOT THIS ONE ENTIRELY!!

I just handed one assignment in yesterday and now I'm rushing this paper but it's already a week late zz.. And all that reading has got me seeing stars :(

What was I thinking??!!

To make things worse, not Rz, R, G, JL or dad has criticised me at all! How come I'm the only one who wants to wrangle my neck!!


- 6 May 2006 11:42pm -

Went to the beach but took pictures of a pond. I admit I have issues. 

Beef Hor Fun

Sick again. Either my immune system has gone out of whack, or the weather here is getting from bad to worse. At least I had a good weekend :)

Last Friday, Rz, JL and I went shopping. (JL is going through a self-renewing phase. He now uses an Origins mud mask and is scouting around for a good toner. Ah, metrosexual.) Bugis Junction was packed to the max. I'm not surprised if I caught something there. Everyone was eager to splurge and embark on their government-funded shopping sprees.

Saturday was the first non-completely-gloomy day I'd seen in weeks, with spangles of delightfully blue sky here and there. Mom's birthday. This year is the first year in seven years that I wasn't reluctant to get out of bed in the morning.

Decided to go to ECP with Rz to see if that famous beef hor fun place is still around, he's never been to the open air hawker centre before. I think the last time I was there was three years ago. I don't trust things to stay the same anymore.

So we went for a stroll. Took my camera along. But after Byron and Caloundra, ECP looks like an over-sized sandbox.

Wonderfully, as though I'd found an old friend, the stall was still there! It took me about 35 minutes to queue for it. But heck, I didn't come all the way to balk at the queue lol. And the beef hor fun as yummy as ever :x

I'm sure mom would have loved some, for she was a beef hor fun fan, more so than I am.

We had a very Singaporean dinner hee, and had a few good laughs. The guy next to us had ordered satay, but when it came, the malay boy was so dazed and confused. He was like," Er, $8, no $5.. no no $10." Then a few minutes later he came back and said it was $5.

LOL. The guy next to us also couldn't keep a straight face as he commanded the boy to go ask his boss. Then he burst out laughing along with us. Poor boy, I think he must have been working overly hard to earn some spare cash. He can't be more than 16.

There's something about sharing a laugh with a stranger. It's so different from the usual aloofness you get. When I was in Brisbane, it seemed relatively commonplace to smile or talk with a complete stranger. Here in Singapore it seems a social taboo to communicate with strangers unless absolutely necessary.

Maybe this is why people think Singaporeans are proud?

After dinner on Saturday we went back to Parkway Parade to catch the bus. The place really resembled a madhouse. Then we found out why - "Crazy Sales! 29-30 Apr" =.="

Guess some things don't change in Singapore.

On Sunday, we met R and YW for church. It actually felt good to sit in a sanctuary without disagreeing with what is being preached.

Pastor talked about "a listening heart" and why all Christians/churches read from the same Bible, but some Christians do not experience breakthroughs in their lives or in their relationships with those they love, and some churches never grow.

I thought of Fairfield. And I thought of dad, and my heart broke within me.

And then when I woke up sick on Monday. It's beginning to feel like every monday I fall sick, and then have to rush to get my assignments done by Friday.

*sigh*


- 2 May 2006 2:04pm -