Thursday, December 8, 2005 07:09 p.m.

i'm sleepy and aching so badly, it's not even funny but i'm determined to stay awake until maybe 9pm when i hit the sack.
i feel obliged to say that hockey camp was damn fun (!!!) and that i loved it (!!!) and that i wish it would last another three days (okay actually i don't; tiring stuff).
but it was good all the same.
physical training was surprisingly lax and i laughed a whole lot throughout. :)
chatting sessions on the sleeping bags!

anyway, i find the dsa girls adorable and they remind me so much of my secondary school days;
when we used to say the craziest things and play like wild monkeys 24/7 (4 girls in a cubicle, bridge around the toilet bowl, anyone?).
jc tones you down a lot.

it felt quite strange eating unappetising food in the sajc caf because our food stalls are the yummiest though most of them have now moved out to the new campus.
at least we'll see chicken rice and hokkien mee on the other side.
i miss my favourite fruit stall uncle who suffered a stroke...

so anyway, i dropped my bags off after camp then cabbed down to michelle's place for a sleepover with the girls.
sab, mich, tanny and i played mahjong through the night and also watched the L word.
i wish they'd broadcast it on hbo or something.

okay i'm coming down with the flu.
lack. of. sleep.
off. to. nap.

Monday, December 5, 2005 01:40 a.m.

i'm just done with packing for the hockey camp tomorrow and my sleeping bag can't fit in.
argh.
i hate packing.

i hope it'll be a good three days and that i won't be absolutely worn out.
this weekend was a good breather and i'm happy to say that yours truly spent the entire day with her family today!
we lunched and dined at bigO and crystal jade (i love eating with my parents because you can order and stuff yourself without guilt) then shopped at far east plaza for a bit.
oh, we hit the sales at borders and i've a fair lot of reading to do now.
i also attended this private party thing at laine's papeterie and walked away with a bag of diy goodies;
project to be revealed on christmas. :)
all that, after this hockey business is over on the 14th of december.

oh yes, the ever-random note coming up.
i've been following taiwanese politics on channel 52 recently and it's such a spectacle i swear.
my dad's got me hooked on it.
the system over there is so different from singapore's (non-existent) political contentions.
i'm not going to pretend to be a 17 year-old know-it-all in politics but if it's as interesting as i think it is, hell, i just might want to major in political science!
exciting stuff.

Saturday, December 3, 2005 11:07 p.m.

i want to set up a website like this one.
but i'm also an advocate of the whole see-touch-feel-buy magic of shopping in a store.

well okay, here goes:
i promise myself that i'll set up a boutique in the future. :)
and it'll be a non-profit project with all proceeds going to whatever makes me feel fulfilled as a human being.
ie. funding an orphan home or bringing up someone like siriam (i dreamt of the dear girl last night).

so yesterday was quite nice.
after a scorching morning in the sun (the sunburn just got worse), i lugged my hockey stuff to orchard for lunch with the girls.
it was great catching up with mal, jo and cheryl, finding out what they've been up to and planning our little christmas something.
i see that dance and band (or ccas in general) are taking over everyone's lives!
oh, and mal very kindly gave me her tube of aloe vera gel.
haha, thanks dear.
we also went christmas shopping and i've a rough idea what to get them now.

ooh, it was horrible walking through crowds of people because half of them stare, gawk or mumble words of pity just within earshot.
it's quite hilarious seeing how some react though.
i think i look like a case of blusher-gone-wrong, haha!

met up with sab in the evening and we chatted all the way till 11pm.
it was a gooood loooong talk that was worth missing angels in america for (by the way, everyone should make it a point to catch that show on hbo).
i ate at the wisma foodcourt for both lunch and dinner - gotta love the dimsum.
now if only it was easier to find a seat, i'd eat there every chance i got!

i've been slathering aloe vera gel on my face at a frequency of 1 time/hr and eating chocolate 10 times/hr today.
on another random note, i don't know if i should take the sats.
if i do decide to, classes begin this month and it'll take a lot of commitment.
thing is, i don't even intend to study in the states so that'll be quite silly, yes?

okay enough talk.
i should concentrate on tackling economics first.
it's still the foreign concept i encountered 11 months back - not good, karina.

Friday, December 2, 2005 12:28 a.m.

...'cause we must appreciate the people around us for who they are; not who we want or expect them to be.

tagged by weiyan: five random things about myself.

one.
i have neither sweet dreams nor nightmares.
they're more like, film noir.

two.
if i were a superhero, i'd want psychic powers.

three.
i look forward to breakfasting and reading the papers in the morning but i hardly have time for it because i'm always in a rush!

four.
i like eating prawns a lot.
even shelling them is fun for me.

five.
i have a secret crush on adam brody (which is not all that secret if you think about it).

Wednesday, November 30, 2005 10:58 p.m.

so my sister mentioned a certain online hoo-ha concerning GEPers recently.
here's the article that started it all and a response that i found quite unnecessary (though well written, i must say).

quote That's a foghorn blaring into the night, the soliloquy of a bullfrog too much in love with his croaks to shut up and let everyone else have a moment of peace. unquote
imagery rather reminiscient of our dearly beloved lit text, long day's journey into night, no?
amusing.

back to my point.
the whole issue is rather frivolous with either consensus amounting to nothing; but it makes for an interesting read all the same.
i've never seen my sister put on airs or exclusify herself into "elite-dom", and its good sense she doesn't because there's no respect coming out of a label like that (from me at least).

anyway, my sister is going to hwachong institution through the integrated programme next year.
you know what this means?
it means that i can sell all my secondary school textbooks to fund a certain shopping trip that might just happen in december.
heh heh.
the both of us are going to shop even if it's the last thing we do.
(and i mean serious business.)

Wednesday, November 30, 2005 12:35 a.m.

i've had this oddly reminiscient train of thought recently.
everything is about recollecting the past.
snap out of it!
time to think about where i'm headed instead!

Tuesday, November 29, 2005 11:50 p.m.

ahhh, today is st nicks' graduation dinner 2005...
which made me look through last year's prom photos and come up with a few favourites.


of best friends.


of mentors.


of old friends.


and of memories that will stay with me forever.

i will never forget how mrs soh closed one eye (the only time she ever did) and let me through the doors although i didn't really adhere to the "pastel colours" dress code.
i remember the principal mispronouncing my name.
i remember how mrs tian let me up on stage even though i didn't bring a shawl.
i remember searching for ms chua in vain; she's my favourite teacher and i badly wanted a photo with her.
i remember mr foo saying that he would love for us to join him in thailand - and we didn't go in the end.
so many things to remember, but those were of the people who i felt had truly taught me something.

on another note, i've drawn up a christmas shopping list with an idea of what i want to get for everyone.
i can't wait for the 9th of december afterwhich i will have time to go trawling through the shops!
and i'll have to think about making christmas cards too.
i'm so lazy this year...
grrr.

Monday, November 28, 2005 11:54 p.m.

i pulled my hamstring during training this morning.
hello, new injury.
so michelle and i sat aside for a while and began girl-watching as usual (heh heh).
it's a girl school thing;
which reminds me of a conversation the hockey girls had during lunch.
we were talking about different secondary schools and there was this consensus that girl schools tend to produce more lesbians.
i'm not about to refute that point but nothing beats a single-sex environment, i find.
it's an experience i think everyone should have.
the whole senior-junior relationship, valentine's day (it's a big, big thing), changing in the open, sitting however we like, cajoling the male teachers (mr foo painted the difficult bits in my artwork and the d&t teachers always do most of the sawing - don't deny!), "identity crisis", letter upon letter and note upon note (as if we don't already talk enough, there's always more to write)...
only in an all-girls school.

well that aside.
after some fareast chicken rice and yami yoghurt, i met up with janice and popped by charm's place to surprise her.
we ordered in (chicken tandoori!) and watched tv till late evening.
such a bum-around trio we are.

okay i'm tired and there's more hockey tomorrow.
hope there's no sun!
i'm off.

Sunday, November 27, 2005 11:51 p.m.

never underestimate the power of impromptu shopping because it brought me from the depths of despair to the peak of perpetual bliss!
wow, how i exaggerate.
but charm and i did indeed find this lovely little shop where i bought two skirts and a schoolbag.
they've got me non-stop grinning.
(yes, mitchel - material, superficial joy. shallow me.)
;)

also, prime turned out to be quite the charmer.
i love bittersweet stuff like that.
uma thurman's wardrobe was pow-wow; i adored the outfits.
meryl streep was as perfect as ever; i've loved her since river wild and death becomes her.

a little research i did.

Sprinting
In a team, there is a big difference between fast and not so fast players. Often you will see that players who perform well at long distance running are the worst sprinters, and the other way round. This has to do with training the red (slow) muscle fibres, or the white (fast) muscle fibres. By training the irritability of the neurone that innovates the white muscle, the contraction can become faster, and the person - a more explosive sprinter. In other words, long distance running makes one slower in speed but much more enduring.

so i've been wondering - which am i more inclined towards?
i used to like sprinting but i much prefer long runs now.

Friday, November 25, 2005 09:57 p.m.

i hardly do angsty posts in this blog but i'm really quite frustrated right now.
i missed last night's private party at asylum and i can't go to zouk tomorrow and i hate having people stare at me on the streets.
a conversation starter will go something like...

"what happened to your face?!"
"sunburn."
"why so jiatlat?"
"it's a first-degree burn."
"aiyo, poor thing."

and those stares...
argh!

but anyway, training was pretty intensive today.
i enjoyed it though; the weather was absolutely perfect for the 20 over rounds we covered.
my butt aches from the sprints but i know it's good for us.
i should be glad that i'm well enough to run and not have to deal with any serious injuries as it is.
positivity.

december the 10th, please come quick!

Thursday, November 24, 2005 07:35 p.m.

all the best lynette!
i will catch you on tv.
swim swim swim!



lyn is the busiest among us with her daily training sessions.
but we must meet up when you get back from manila!
i want to hear all about the sea games.

my cousin got her psle results today;
she's staying in scgs.
speaking of which, i haven't seen any of my cousins in ages.
two months, i believe.

Thursday, November 24, 2005 03:14 a.m.

side effects of hockey.
(isn't that all i ever talk about nowadays.)

one. extremist colour-coordinating tendencies.
in school, i colour-coordinate my shoes with my bag and hair tie.
for training, i subconsciously match my soccer socks with my hairband.
it's completely obsessive-compulsive, goodness.

two. occurence of questionable injuries.
i'm bruised all over i swear.
and i've no idea where they come from!
my threshold of pain has increased ten-fold;
shuwei, i bet if you bully me now, i won't squeal no more. :)

three. absence of personal hygiene.
i will not elaborate.

training was quite fun today with the dsa people coming to join us.
the sun wasn't up, hoorah!
right after, we went down to serene centre for ice cream and mcdonald's.
i left to meet charm after lunch and we watched oliver twist which i absolutely loved.
i love both the film and oliver twist himself.


"please, sir - i want some more."
how can you not love anyone this adorable?

well moving on, i dropped in at the shaw office to visit sab slacking on the job (kidding, it was past her work hours anyway) and we met up with michelle to head down to tanny's.
it was mahjong all the way till midnight;
today is not my day.
i lost about 4 dollars, which is quite a lot considering our small stakes.
but no matter, we had fun!

i've 3 hours left to sleep before it's time to wake up and head down to the airport to send lynette off for the sea games.
this is not good.
i just know i'll be late.

Tuesday, November 22, 2005 11:55 p.m.

i think there was something wrong with the sky today because it managed to rain (not drizzle or pour) for the full three hours of training and all the way until we reached queensway for laksa and hockey gear shopping.
seriously!
i was quite amazed.
we all got thoroughly soaked...
hope no one gets ill.

i was super off-form during training today.
i hope i didn't affect anyone too badly because someone else might have suffered due to my lacklustre passing.
i really tried to sweep properly; shall practice more and harder.

in other news, my fourth toenail has officially come off and the big toenail is hanging by a thread (skin membrane, actually).
thing is, i am completely numb during training and all my attention is on the stick and ball, so i never feel anything until the socks come off after the session.
which is good i suppose.
doubt i'll be in heels anytime soon.

anyway, tanny, i changed the grip!
it's black now.

met michelle and sabrina in town after dinner with the hockey girls and tried looking around for tops.
in the end, we settled down at scotts and spent the night chitty chatting.
chitty chitty bang bang.
i've got training again tomorrow morning so i'd best be off now.
but before i go...


exactly one year ago, we were in thailand with the kids.


and this was two years ago.
puffy eyes - we were crying!


that's pah with us.

we may not have made it there this year, but there's always the next!
i hope siriam remembers me man...
haha.
she must!

Monday, November 21, 2005 09:55 p.m.



shuwei made this lovely collage.
it's not the easiest to make out but that's jan, charm, tanny, shuwei, chow and i.
my favourite people to go travelling with. :)

the weather today was heavenly;
i really need the sun to stay hidden behind clouds because sunshine does not help with the healing of a sunburn.

after training, the lot of us trooped down to tiong bahru plaza for dinner.
for jien and i, it was our virgin trip and we finally settled at long john's silver by a pseudo lucky draw.
if there's one thing i've benefitted from sajc, it's becoming better acquainted with the west.
i know how to get to places like ikea and queensway shopping centre; places i'd only heard of but had no idea how to reach last time!
i'm really bad with public transport.
haha.

project runway is starting soon.
i'm off!

Sunday, November 20, 2005 10:39 p.m.

Saturday, November 19, 2005 11:22 p.m.

today, michelle and i laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed at our wonderful handiwork.
i'm not going to elaborate.
but we went grocery shopping at takashimaya too. :)

i am officially sunburnt and there is something seriously wrong with my bowel movements.
planned to visit our family doctor but the clinic was closed today.
oh well.

quote!
"i would die for you, but i will not live for you."
from fountainhead by ayn rand.

Friday, November 18, 2005 11:06 p.m.

you know what;
blog-hopping is something i enjoy.
but it sucks when all i read are depressing entries that make me go from happy to sad.
i know i ought to show my condolences...
well, this much i can say (with help from coldplay).

when you try your best but you don't succeed
when you get what you want but not what you need
when you feel so tired but you can't sleep
stuck in reverse

and the tears come streaming down your face
when you lose something you can't replace
when you love someone but it goes to waste
could it be worse?

lights will guide you home
and ignite your bones
and i will try to fix you

i know that this is another overplayed song...
but the words are so beautiful.



just like this liger;
when a lion and tiger mate, they produce the largest cat on earth.
i think she's sensational.

Friday, November 18, 2005 05:21 a.m.

can you believe it.
for the one time i decide to sleep before midnight (11pm, to be exact), stomach cramps jolt me awake at 5 in the morning.
panadol menstrual does not exist in this household so there you go.
i can't get back to sleep.
that's why i decided to come online.

actually, i think the pain might be hunger pangs.
afterall the last thing i ate was shaker fries 10 hours ago...
okay, i shan't discuss my menstrual woes here.
moving on.

yesterday was hockey training and there's another session today.
next week is the killer week with training on everyday except thursday and with the dsa people joining us after their o's.
oh my holey moley!
you know what song comes to mind when i think about training?

can you keep up?
baby boy, make me lose my breath
bring the noise, make me lose my breath
hit me hard, make me lose my (hah hah)

it's quite apt if you think about it.
i lose my breath and the balls hit me hard.
well, moving on.

this is the last week of our 2005 academic year.
think about it.
i can't fathom how time flies.
soon i'll be in university and out of this country (hopefully).
not that i'm looking forward to it - i love singapore.

well, i've thought about what i'm going to eat today.
hotcakes for breakfast with training followed by a nice hearty dinner with the girls.
so basically i've just decided on eating hotcakes...
but it's still a plan!
i wonder where the girls want to meet up tonight.
but no matter...
i shall stink up whichever place they decide on, in all my sweaty glory. :D
sick, sick.

and here's a big thank you to jiaying if she's read this far.
i'll go down to your place and pick up my stuff this weekend!

Thursday, November 17, 2005 12:19 a.m.

i just got home!
my nose and cheeks are flushed from this morning's sun exposure.
a very apt red-nosed reindeer look for the yuletide season but...
why is a nice, sun-kissed, glowing tan not materialising?

jan, charm and i caught harry potter today.
despite the story being shown extremely briefly and with the severe lack of explanation (everything can be found in the book - jan, please read it), i actually found it pretty good.
it's the darkest of the lot and my favourite of the four, undoubtedly.
it made me laugh (fred and george!) and it made me cry (cedric dying).
i love the hogwarts uniform, especially slytherin's green one.
i'm very anal about details in the book not following through though.

trivia for goblet of fire!
1. A digital "spot removing" technique (which had previously been used for such TV shows as "Desperate Housewives" (2004)) was applied in post-production to clear up some of the more severe teen skin problems, since make-up tested poorly for close-up shots in particular.
2. Daniel Radcliffe suffered two ear infections following the underwater filming.

well, enough about that.
in other news, i intend to take up a couple of new hobbies, most notably regular exercise in the form of jogging and also cooking (yes - me, in the kitchen).

i think it'll be a nice balance; burning off and then piling the calories on again.
plus, this may be the preparation i need for independent living in university!
oh boy am i excited.

Tuesday, November 15, 2005 11:27 p.m.

shuwei called from the states and we're conferencing now!




i miss our suppers of roti prata and apple strudel at thomson.
that's the first thing we're going to do when she comes back next month.

and speaking of food, dear kelly whipped up a sccrummptiouss tea party at her home today complete with bruschetta, coffee with cake, pavlova, homemade jam and cream on scones, chocolate lava cake, christmas pudding and english tea.
yowza!
it was the sweetest assortment of goodies i've had this year, which works fine by me because i love all things saccharine.
charm would know; i go for all the sugary things!

kelly, weiyan, herngliang and i just bummed around chatting and playing bridge and mahjong after.
'twas fun.
i really need lazy days like these.
thanks kelly. :)

and now it's back to insights and reflections - the final contribution i'm making before the complete obliteration of all things project-work in my life.

i hope tomorrow works out fine and dandy, especially because it will determine how my holidays turn out.

sounds rather melodramatic but...
you'll see what i mean.

Monday, November 14, 2005 11:00 p.m.

hockey training again.
we ran two rounds for warm-up, had a 4.8km run, a couple of games and we were done.

shopping?



but for this



bridge, mahjong and good food always take precedence.
my fingers are itching already.

Sunday, November 13, 2005 11:59 p.m.

i really wanted to visit a flea market today;
the closest i've got to one was that trip to beach road with weiyan, charlotte, mitchel and yiqin.
we scoured a few thrift stores but i didn't find anything moderately nice...
oh well, i'm sure timberlux centre will house many more flea markets down the road.

today is my mum's birthday.
we went for lunch after church and a wee bit of shopping.
parco bugis is one boring place, i must say.
after that, janice, charm and i met up in orchard for dinner and sky high.
i can't believe we actually watched that show but...
steven strait sure was hot!
literally, too.
he had fiery superpowers.

i've finally got tickets to harry potter.
wednesday, come quick!
it was also great bumping into weiyan at borders because i'd been missing her so bad.
and, we met the cutest little japanese boy ever while lunching at tcc today.
jan and charm tried sneaking pictures of him but pretty much failed...
i just felt like gobbling him up.
i mean, how do you get little boys looking and behaving like that?
too cute!

in other news, i love the bbc.
(that's a pun there!)
i'm going off to update that blog now.

oh my goodness, i have half a mind not to publish this post at all because it's unabashedly nonsensical...
but that's precisely why i'll post it anyway.
for kicks.

Saturday, November 12, 2005 06:09 p.m.

i love everything about christmas.
the food, reunions, homecoming, carols and presents.
i also love advent because in those four weeks, lectors get to wear the beautiful royal purple yoke during mass.
yes, okay, superficiality aside, i honestly can't wait for the 25th (although i do get depressed when i think about how soon the school term is going to start right after).

today was the second round of super sevens at united world college.
the uwc dj has the same weird taste in music as me because he played songs seemingly straight out of my own itunes playlist!
and to think sab and mich scream the house down whenever i kindly volunteer to create a playlist for their listening pleasure.
quite obviously, i have the innate taste of a dj!
;)
anyway, there was stuff by queen (bohemian rhapsody, mind you, as opposed to 'we are the champions' or something more appropriate), scissor sisters, fatboy slim's praise you, nirvana...
i liked everything except the crazy frog song which drove me insane, honestly.
pretty strange songs for a sports meet, but there you go.

i think we're improving mighty fast, which is always a consolation amidst our many losses.
but it's okay because we're having fun, learning a lot about the game, and i really like the hockey girls!
they're a nice bunch.
i won't be able to wear skirts for quite some time though, because i'm bruised at the knees, shins, ankle and toe...

well, just got home for a quick shower.
i'm off to serangoon gardens to meet mich, sab, tricia and tanny in a bit.
good food, good company!

Friday, November 11, 2005 11:48 p.m.

oh my goodness!
i just remembered that my locker in school is stuffed when it's supposed to be cleared out by now.
it's terribly messy too;
happens, when four girls share a space.

i can't wait to move to sav, although the swimming pool (which is supposedly olympic size) looks pretty small...

then again, i don't think i will step into it at all.
ever.

note: i counted four basketball courts.
are they trying to make it a niche now?

Thursday, November 10, 2005 11:51 p.m.

Greatest Ambition: An editor, daughter, wife and mother...eventually.
Greatest Advice: Quality over quantity.
Greatest Wish: World peace!
Greatest Fear: Mediocrity
Greatest Shortcoming: Procrastination
Greatest Strength: Intuition
Greatest Truth: The better you know someone, the less there is to say.
Or maybe, there's less that needs to be said.

Wednesday, November 9, 2005 10:59 p.m.

i think the patil sisters are gorgeous.


maybe even prettier than cho chang.


but the weasley twins are still my favourite!


well, oral presentation today.
the wait was awful; we stood outside the classroom for about 35 minutes just stoning.
i have no clue what the examiners thought of us so let's just leave it as that.

my big toe started bleeding during training so i left to see a doctor.
according to her, there is nothing i can do except to wait for the toenail to drop off, so i've decided to bandage the toe, take painkillers, and continue training as per normal.
i hope it works.

guess what, i just ordered two pairs of madrids online.
a cherry-printed pair and a silver coloured pair.
that'll bring my total up to four pairs of birkenstocks and counting!
'cause i still want to get that kiddy pair of birki clogs...
i know that i'll look utterly ridiculous in them, but that's just me. :)

okay i'm going back to conference chat with sab, mich, tricia and tanny.
i miss those girls!

Wednesday, November 9, 2005 12:34 a.m.

You Belong in London

A little old fashioned, and a little modern. A little traditional, and a little bit punk rock. A unique woman like you needs a city that offers everything. No wonder you and London will get along so well.

Tuesday, November 8, 2005 06:13 p.m.

check this out.
everything you click on thereafter will be translated into french too!
cool beans.
makes me want to take french lessons again.

Tuesday, November 8, 2005 03:42 a.m.

i'm finally done.
this was lovingly made from scratch.
it's inspired by both my favourite style icon and the colour combination of brown+pink;
it's probably the most girly template i've made so far.
i believe that you can't go wrong putting two of your favourite things together!

okay, i'm off to bed.