Saturday, December 20, 2003 11:23 p.m.

yesterday...

all my troubles seemed so far away!
now it looks as though they're here to stay...
oh i believe...
in yesterday...

okae sorry, back to where i was...
yesterday.

what did i do?
oh yes, i watched lord of the rings.
and oh my holey moley aunt baloney...
it's the quintessential epic-film of all time!
of the 3, it is undoubtedly my favourite.
it's nothing like those 1st-time-box-office-hit movies, followed up by a mediocre-barely-can-make-it sequel, then forgotten as the 3rd-failure-movie-that-just-doesn't-hold-up mistake.
nope, it's none of that.
it's...just...perfect!

anyway, the group of us went down to church after the movie...
for penitential service.

after confession, my dad picked me up and *plop*
i reached home. :)

today!
got up bright and early for the ever-anticipated weekly dose of math tuition.
i don't like math, but i love my tuition teacher. :)

after the torment that is binomial theorem, sab and i went down to orchard for christmas shopping.
the stupid rain poured...
and poured...
and poured.

it was literally unceasing...
like a perpetual cycle.
sab and i got caught in the rain...
dried off in a shopping centre...
braved the showers to the next bulding...
dried off...
and again, the cycle repeated.
my pants were soaking wet.

but i had fun, nonetheless...
exploring many different never-seen-before shops...
thronging in the crowds at toys'r'us...
buying nonsense (i splurged on organic brown rice ramen instant noodles to stock the kitchen cupboards just-in-case)...
and ending the day off quite nicely with the purchase of an unbelievably-comfy pair of stussy lounge pants. :)
i love them!

anyway, i resolve never to wear heels for a long, long time.
got blisters and bruises all over my feet...
ouch!

as u can tell, i'm feeling absolutely euphoric today...
probably brought about by many small, gladdening instances that have accumulated into this gargantuan snowball that's just causing this serotonin-high in me!

i can imagine the "have-you-been-eating-chocolate-or-candy" look on the faces of some people...
but no!
maybe it's just christmas...
coming to u in 4 days time. :)

new photo updates...
pls refer to the top right. :)

Saturday, December 18, 2003 11:26 p.m.

i'm making this a super-fast entry...
let's see how speedy i can get. :)

after this morning's meeting...
i quickly took the bus down to orchard to meet my mum at wheelock place...
she was having lunch with her friends at bigO.
i saw mr wong and the debate team there.

following that, i speed-walked my way to the crystal jade at scotts to meet swei, tanny, charm and lynette for lunch.
crystal jade's like our regular eatery or something...
we always seem to have lunch there.

anyway, we had our noodles...
then headed over to paragon where i collected my altered dress from potion.
i love that shop...
the nice lady was there. :)

after that, we sat at the bloodcafe in project shop and had smoothies.
yum!
at a table diagonally from ours' was chen hanwei and zoe tay...
they looked so good.
haha...
stylish and everything...
and zoe tay is gorgeous!

anyway after our drinks, we walked down to heeren for neoprints.
they turned out pretty well. :)

oh yes, i must thank swei and tanny for buying me roasted chestnuts!
i was short of cash...
and the chestnuts were absolutely yummy!
thanks! :)

because we had the sudden urge to shop for school shoes, swei, tanny and i took the train down to suntec to get a pair.
tanny got hers at flash&splash and i bought mine from adidas.

after dinner at simply thai (swei and i had tomyam soups!)...
we grabbed another smoothie each and headed home.

wow...
i typed that whole chuck up there at breakneck speed.
brilliant.
now i must have an early night to prep myself for lotr tmr...
i musn't risk dozing off during the movie! xP

Wednesday, December 17, 2003 11:19 p.m.

it's been an almost perfect day...
save for the fact that i have close-to-completely exhausted my entire bank account and am now officially broke.

on a lighter note, i went on a shopping spree! :)

under my terrible-child-delinquent-esque influence, denise skipped biology tuition with me.
muahahaha...

hey, don't think that way of me...
today's lesson wasn't important anyway. xP

we bussed down to holland village: my most absolute favourite place to shop.
and shop i did.

i'm not gonna list down the stuff i've purchased because the guilt trip will just about kill me...
so i'm ignoring the receipts i've accumulated and am relishing the very fact that i have shopped. :)
retail therapy at its best. :)

by the way, i've finally found the shop in holland v that sells 72 flavours of gelato.
gelato, is undoubtedly my perfect substitute for ice cream...
something i have sought-after for years.
it is my self-indulgence...my solace...my extravagence...
the quintessential feel-good-food...
it is my chocolate, or at least close to it.

anyway, just as i stepped out of the shop...
i spotted a pet shop across the street.
and goodness gracious me, they had puppies on sale!
i spoke with the shopkeeper (while denise waited outside, holding her nose) and he told me about the dogs i was enquiring about.
i've been trying to save up (unproductively) for the past few months just to get a puppy...
but it's gonna be a looooong time before i hit 00.
that's the average price of a shetland sheepdog or a japanese spitz, the 2 breeds which i think best fit my family lifestyle!
i researched okae...:)

anyway yes, let's hope u'll see me wielding a leash and walking a puppy in the near future.
or would u rather speed that process up and donate to karina's doggie fund?
:)

Tuesday, December 16, 2003 10:07 p.m.

i wasn't able to sign your guestbook. i think it hates me. anyway, i'm writing in your pitas cause i don't think you'll go to mine. or maybe you do. you just don't sign. ok, on with it. i need you bloody address. i'm already late in sending and i guess if i don't see your address somewhere soon, i'll just don't bother sending your card. can you do me a favor and paste your address somewhere? you know, my guestbook is fine if you want to paste it there. waiting for your address.

Monday, December 15, 2003 11:18 p.m.

i have met, quite possibly, the most talkative taxi driver in singapore.
but it wasn't a bad thing. :)

from the moment i entered the cab, there wasn't an instance of silence exceeding more than 5 seconds...
which was, in the very first place, brought about by helpless little me trying to find suitable answers to his incessant questions.

frankly, he did make a lot of sense with his bountiful cognitions on every topic available to us...
but he just went on and on and on and on.

anyway, i learnt quite a bit. :)
we talked about homosexuality...
dating...the education system...etc.
and he also taught me how to cheat my way through singapore. :)

it was all harmless fun though...haha.
for example, he taught me how to weasel my way out of paying the 0 fine if i ever lost my ic. :)

he told me about how he brought all 4 of his children (2 boys and 2 girls) through the methodist family (acs and mgs) from primary school to college...
and how he felt when 2 of them got scholarships to study overseas.
he's a really proud father...
and it's just really sweet how much he loves his kids! :)

i actually felt sorry for having to leave the cab...
but he did give me a discount on the fare!
haha...
nice taxi drivers are a rarity, and this one really made my day. :)

Monday, December 15, 2003 12:50 a.m.

i am in the mood for intricate details and heavy elaboration, hence i will forgo the listing method of blogging today.
prepare for a lenthy entry. :)

the morning was a whirlwind as my dad rushed me down to sab's place (i was to collect something)...
before dropping me at hupseng for breakfast with tiff and charlotte.
the fishball noodles we had were pretty good...
but took incredibly long to come.

its a popular stall...

kim the sleepy-head, slept right through the breakfast we were supposed to meet up for.
haha...but we met her right after breakfast.
brendan joined us and we all attended the 10.45am mass together.

after that kim got hungry because she hadn't eaten anything all day, so we went down to hupseng again for those fishball noodles.
tiff had her 2nd bowl, charlotte had her prata, and i had 2 cans of justea.
i was to regret that with my terrible...
let's say, bowel movements the rest of the day?
xP

after lunch, i suggested going down to suntec city to see spongebob, since it was the last day his show was gonna be shown in singapore.
and so the group of us (excitedly) made our way to suntec. :)

i don't remember much of how we spent our time waiting for the 4.30pm show to begin...
but i do remember much of it bring spent in coffee bean.

at about 4pm, the line of people queueing to get into the spongebob arena was already snaking its way to almost a full circle around the level...
and so we (embarrassingly) took our places at the back of the queue and tried to act oblivious...
despite the fact that we were quite possibly the only 4 teenagers in the line.
haha...
the show was quite alright...
i wasn't really paying much attention to it.
the kids around us were adorable...
and i was making faces at them. :)
we were also held busy helping charlotte take photos of her cute spongebob-show-helper-holding-the-letter-F guy.
his name was lu yao zu gordon john or something...
really pan-asian. :)
anyhow, we did manage to get a few shots of him. :)

right after the show was the photo-taking session...
and kim, charlotte, brendan, brandon and i went up to take photos with spongebob, patrick, the captain, and patty.
tiff was our photographer. :)

sam came...
and dinner at nydc followed our spongebob encounter.
kim and i shared a hot chicken pie...
and it was tiny.
but we weren't exactly starved, so it was just nice. :)
after a lot of yakking (sam and her stories)...
we quickly rushed to get tiff's jeans, and hurried down to marina mandarin to hail a cab.
we split into 2 groups...
and kim, brandon and i shared a cab.
i personally thought the taxi driver was really efficient. :)

we went down to church again for carolling, the real thing, with all 35++ carollers.
took a bus to carmel's house, had the singing and prayers, then ate the food provided for us.
it was pretty good stuff...
loved the bee hoon. :)

the 7 of us passed on the carolling at andre's place...
and brendan and brandon went home.
kim, charlotte, tiff, sam and i went to visit a house near charlotte's...
and oh gosh, what a laugh.
haha...we went to charlotte's place for some grapes and chocolate, then returned back to that house.
poor kim...she was so majorly embarrassed.
i'm leaving out all the details...
but it was fun and i bet she's really happy now! :)

anyway my dad picked me up at about 10.30pm and i left the house...
reaching back home around 11pm.

its been a looooong day, but definitely great fun. :)
i'm gonna hug my new spongebob make-a-face soft toy to sleep now...
so i'll leave u with photos of today.
check the updates to the right!

till then, barnacles! :)

Friday, December 12, 2003 11:14 p.m.


Congratulations! You are Spongebob!

Spongebob: Which Citizen of Bikini Bottom Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

yes yes yes!
i got spooongebooob!
got the quiz from jo's blog. :)

anyway, here's my day summarised in 3 points. :)

1) went for lunch (meepok!) with my mum and sis.
swei smsed from shanghai saying that they sell nike presto watches at s0...
worth it! :)

2) had a haircut at united square before meeting tiff.
we then bussed down to church for carolling with the rest.

3) had supper (of tau sa pao and mango) at kovan before dad came to pick me up, henceforth i've just reached home. :)

altogether a good day...
albeit the dreaded december showers.

blast the icky weather. xP

Thursday, December 11, 2003 11:23 p.m.

3 "significant" things i've done in the past 2 days...

1) watched love actually...
(rodrigo santoro! :))

2) earned on a job.
so proud of myself (and sab)...xP

3) eaten a whole lot...
thereby spending all that i've earned/inherited from my allowance.

oh but i must declare: i love gelato! :)

well, because christmas is the time to write lists (wishlist, christmas card recipient address list, new year's resolution list, etc)...
i'm writing my entries here in list-form. :)

now isn't that just annoying...
haha. xP

Tuesday, December 9, 2003 09:57 p.m.

legally blonde (both the original and its sequel) is so inspirational, it makes me wanna do 3 things real bad...

1) go on a fanatic shopping spree and spend oodles of money.

2) walk the dog in manolo blahniks, no less.

3) wearing lotsa pink ala elle woods. :)

i hope they do a 3rd movie...
u gotta admit, occasional airheaded-ness is essential.

Sunday, December 7, 2003 11:47 p.m.

hooolalalalalala...
i saw the owner of cream bistro again, when i was at pac plaza (my dad parks the car there).
:)
he was wearing a skin-tight top to match the snug pants!

haha...sexaaaayy. xP

anyway, today has been draining...
woke up bright and early to attend the 8.30am mass with tiff, kim, sam, charlotte and lari.
i had prata for breakfast...
and then it was off for our first-ever post-con session!

okae, so maybe it wasn't technically a proper session.
we watched this film called romero...
and i kinda enjoyed it.
but there were these boring parts here and there that made me really feel like dozing off, especially because i hadn't had much sleep the night before.

anyhow, we went down to orchard after the movie and had drinks at bloodcafe.
oh yes, their beverage selection is pretty good. :)

after chit-chatting for awhile...
i left to meet my parents and sis at wheelock place.
together with my family, we walked across the entire stretch of orchard road and back...
my feet were aching pretty badly, which was strange considering i was wearing flat and comfy slippers.

anyhow, we had a big dinner at marche and now i'm back home. :)

ooooh christmas time is really the best season for shopping...
it's discount galore, and all sorts of gimmicks are running amock.

the food selection is fantastic too...
i went slightly dotty over this stupendous array of christmas candies at takashimaya.
fruit-flavoured candy canes...multi-coloured lollipops...marzipan shaped into cartoon figures...
and then they have all those delectable cuts of different meats.

but most sinfully divine of all, they had an exquisite display of chocolate in about a thousand different flavours and shapes by the biggest brand names of chocolate. :)

as garfield once said...
a thing of chocolate is a joy for life!
:)

Saturday, December 6, 2003 11:11 p.m.

photos uploaded in bestfriends album!

haha...i was at cream bistro in pacific plaza with sab today...
and the owner of that bistro totally amuses me.

he has such slim legs (and a tight butt) which look oh-so-sexy in his snug pants...
and he gives out health tips ("yeah too much carbo...").
:)

haha...he's nice and such fun.
i tried taking photos of him...
but they turned out kinda blurry.
oh do go check him out...
:)

Friday, December 5, 2003 11:46 p.m.

just got back from suntec...
we (kim, tiff, brandon, benedict, desmond, nich, benjamin and i) went to see spongebob!

and that's really all we did...
just watched spongebob.

the security guard wouldn't let us in to take photos because we were late and didn't queue up...
damn irritating.
it's like a so-close-yet-so-far kinda situation because we were stuck outside the arena!
but it's okae because i'm going back again. :)

anyway, the 8 of us went for dinner at pizza hut after that...
and wow...we ordered quite a lot.
i was stuffed.

u know, i just realised my appetite's back.
because i kinda lost it ever since the thailand trip...
and now it's back with a vengeance.

anyway, we walked about after dinner (because kim didn't wanna go home)...
and now i've just got back!

anyhow, i'm really piqued at not getting to touch spongebob...
i wanna squeeze his nose so bad!
but i'll be better prepared the next time to take photos and buy the fantastic spongebob merchandise. :)
till then!

Thursday, December 4, 2003 11:05 p.m.

i went jogging yesterday!

okae, so it was more of a walk.
but that's my first time really exercising in quite awhile! :)
i met denise at the botanic gardens near her house, and we walked, talked and jogged for...
close to 3 hours.
we ponned tuition together, see. :)

anyway, my 3 cousins, aunt, and grandmother came visiting today.
our house is like their stopover i think...
to eat, use the bathroom, and relax.

and my cousin daniel is just too cute...
photos have been uploaded!

church - new album!
bestfriends - photo 13 onwards.
family - photo 14 onwards.

side note: i'm writing christmas cards this year! :)

Tuesday, December 2, 2003 11:11 p.m.

woke up bright and early at 12.30 this afternoon...
and rushed down to orchard to meet sab, mitch and tanny.

i can't stand rain, seriously.
i know how warm and fuzzy people feel when they listen to the pitter-patter of raindops outside as they snuggle up cosily under their fluffy blankets...

u know, that whole cliched scenario.

but it is totally unglam to get caught under incessant pelts of heavy raindrops, or get stuck in a shelter, waiting for the downpour to stop.

anyhow, it was raining this entire afternoon...
such a spoiler.

at 6pm, i went to meet kim and tiff so that we could make our way to church together.

oh yes, i found this awesome shop in wisma that sells my favourite wooden nutcrackers!
i intend to collect nutcrackers...
so this shop is god-sent! :)
haha...but they're extremely expensive.

anyway, we took the train down to kovan, and walked all the way to church.
and what a walk it was.
should have taken the cab...

we were actually in church for a christmas caroling practice. :)
so kim, tiff, sam, charlotte, emilie and i sat at the back of the room as the others sang...
the 6 of us just couldn't catch up. xP

but it was fun anyhow...
with our eyecandies!
haha...stupid sam kept laughing at me. xP

anyway, i want to send christmas cards this year!
i say this every year, but my procrastination keeps me from actually doing it...
i'm just too lazy.
but i want to!
irony...

Monday, December 1, 2003 10:42 p.m.

argh!
i missed lisa on tv!
was in the bathroom when swei msged, and only then did i realise that lisa was on tv!

pfffffffffffffftt...

anyway, this morning was one hell of a ride.
shan't mention it here for personal reasons (haha), so i'll just skip it all.

anyhow, i cabbed to junction 8, passed a book to someone, bussed down to sab's house, and caught up on some stuff with her.
we ate yummy oatmeal prawns too!

anyway, i wanna check out this place called don's personal pie club at china square.
that's where trish's delectable cheesecake and the yummy chicken pie i ate at sab's place is from...
muthu will love this shop. :)

*lynette! :: i dunno when u will see this...but best of luck for your sea games competition! sorry for not being able to go down to the airport with the rest to see u off...i'll see u soon anyhow! on tv as a finalist! :)

Sunday, November 30, 2003 11:30 p.m.

yipperdeedoodah yipperdeeday...
my-oh-my what a wonderful day!

haha...okae i'm just really happy about getting confirmed. :)
this has been such an enriching and fun-filled journey, and i'm quite doleful about it's end...
but as they say, don't frown because it's over, smile because it happened.
so yay...i believe we'll have better times ahead during post-con meetings yeah?

anyhow, i broke my previous record by being 3 hours late today.
but hey, it wasn't my fault. xP

tiff woke me up at 1.30pm, when i was supposed to be at sam's place at 1pm.
so i dragged myself out of bed and rushed down...

we arrived early at church for photo-taking...
and everyone was looking so smart.
:)

i'm sorry to say this, but the archbishop's speech was just plain dreary.
but the significance was there.

after the whole ritual, and the end of mass...
we adjourned towards the bell tower for more photo-taking.

my digicam failed me and i had to use other people's cams...
in fact, i don't even know who's cams my photos are in...
i just smiled at whichever cam was infront of me.
i'll upload them once i track them down. :)

my parents, sis, aunt, cousins, grandparents and i went for dinner after everything...
and we had a huge, hearty meal. :)

anyhow, a great big thanks to everyone who came down to support me (my family and friends), those who congratulated me, the letters, the gifts, the smses, the handshakes, the hugs, the hand-squeezes, the grins, the head-nods...

it really meant a lot to me on this very special day! :)

and we took photos with brendan our slutTEEe idol!
haha...damn happy about that.
now if only i could find those photos...

.....

sweet dreams are made of these...
who am i to disagree? :)

Saturday, November 29, 2003 10:56 p.m.

tiff's bought a skirt! :)

we went shopping for confirmation outfits again today...
and tiff and sam were searching for their elusive white skirts.
we finally found this really simplistic piece at chaos, and it looked fantastic on tiff...
so she snapped it up. :)

anyhow, i feel that i must mention this, if only in honour of the pitiable dead rat.

while on my way to town this afternoon, i saw a couple of crows picking at this fleshy portion of body mass on the road.
the only giveaway as to its lineage was this long, pointed tail hanging from the beak of one of the crows.
cars and other vehicles were incessant as always on the streets of orchard road, and the sight of that rat getting perpetually run over really sickened me to the bone.

but it isn't something u see everyday, so i'm glad i saw it.
as ironic as i sound.

anyhow, i'm dead beat from today's escapades (hey, we walked a whole lot)...
and all i'm looking forward to now is for a good night's sleep before we have fun at sam's place tomorrow...
afterwhich the long-awaited confirmation might finally come into play!

yay...alright, i'm gonna charge the digicam battery now. :)

Friday, November 28, 2003 11:59 p.m.

yay...saw church people again today. :)

met tiff, kim and sam in town in the afternoon.
due to unforseen circumstances (the rain, the traffic jam, and my blisters), i arrived 2 hours late.
but it isn't my fault! xP

they kept calling me mak nenek after that...
newae, kim and i bought heels while sam bought her white shirt.
tiff bought this navy blue giordano umbrella that she loves oh-so-much...
haha...that silly girl.
her laughter is very infectious. :)

anyhow, we took neoprints and rushed to church in the evening for our confirmation rehearsal at 8pm...
and we were surprisingly on time!
met my mum and godmother in the church...
and my godmum is really terrible.
she kept calling the priest long-winded and cracking jokes at his prolix speech.
to think she's my godmother...haha...
but she's nice.
lord, forgive her.

anyhow, my aunt just told me that for christmas this year, all the children in my family (me included!) are getting money instead of presents!
yes yes yes...no more underage stuff for me. :)
but then, the novelty of opening presents is gone...

...oh well.

Thursday, November 27, 2003 06:38 p.m.

i've added photos to the off-shore album! :)

newae, i'm so relieved to be back home where there's my dearly-missed bed.
i've been dozing on mattreses in thailand and the confirmation camp - and it's definitely no joke.
got bruises all over now...argh.

anyhow, confirmation camp was fantastic and i hope to do it all over again. :)
i got a really quiet group (st luke!) and i'm pretty surprised we actually won in the games...
it could've been the silence which pulled us through.
you know, no quarelling...just blindly following.

as always, a lot of crying was involved during the sessions...
and every time i thought about the children in thailand, i cried.
i can imagine swei rolling her eyes now...haha.
many other people cried too and it's really comforting, ironically, to have people crying with you.
i guess it's because no one felt alienated. :)
though it's actually quite painful to see grown men cry...

anyhow, i've learnt a great many things, of which i don't think i have the energy to express in words...
but we also had lotsa fun!

i dunno abt the guys' rooms...but our's definitely stank.
tiff, christine, kim, sam, jeanette, syl, charlotte, lari, emilie and i squeezed onto this platform of mattreses to sleep every night...
and i already miss our bitching sessions. :)

at least we're gonna meet again tomorrow! :)
okae, i've just got back from sam's house (mahjong!) and i'm dead beat...
so i'll stop here.
god bless!

note: i must learn to speak thai and go back to thailand after the o's next year!

Sunday, November 23, 2003 08:32 p.m.

so i'm hooooome! :)
and already, i miss thailand.
it's not what u would deem the most relaxing of holidays...
but it's definitely the most memorable one to date.

sunday
dad drove me down to the airport for the 8.30am flight.
there were 19 of us on this trip...
so everything was easily managed.
we reached the bangkok airport in time for some lunch and shopping...
whereby chow, swei, tanny, charm, jan, tiff, meiyan and i travelled around together.
chow's luggage had a huge crack running down the side and a wheel had come off (probably manhandled)...
which was damn funny cos she really looked silly tugging it along. :)
so then we had a great smoothie and yummy tomyam soup at a restaurant there...
followed by some duty-free shopping. :)
i saw the nike presto watch i wanted, but decided not to buy it cos i felt it was too early on in the trip to be spending so much money.
we took the transit flight to chiangrai and spent hours on a bumpy ride down to the catholic mission home.
too bad the children were just about to sleep so we couldn't talk to them yet...
but they were all looking really cute. :)
jan, charm, tanny, swei, chow and i got this cosy little corner in the room where we laid the mattresses to make this huge comfy bed...
then jan, swei and tanny went to bathe in the cold weather.
chiangrai hits like, 10 degrees at night and in the morning, and we didn't have any coldwear with us...
so to bathe without a heater is madness.
but we did it in the following days so it was fine after awhile.
after a great dinner (the food there is really simple but delicious), we snuggled up on our huge bed and played bridge till we got sleepy. :)

monday
woke up bright and early to work with the changkul at the nearby fruit orchard.
talk about tiring...we got really shagged after awhile.
visited the animal farm there...
and the pigs really stank.
after that we visited a village closeby and had a fantastic lunch of yummy noodles.
when we got back to the home, we played with the children and taught them a linedance.
that's when i got to know cileum, this really really really adorable little girl who dances spectacularly.
she's just so sweet and i love her to bits. :)
then everyone started talking to the children...
which was pretty tough, cos our sheet of thai phrases was really limited.
anyhow, we played a great many games...
mainly running ones, cos they all run so incredibly fast and obviously enjoy all the action.
there were many dogs in the home too, from puppies to third-time mothers...
and they're all just so lovable. :)
while having dinner (it's the only meal we have with them), i got to know a few of the older girls...
and they actually know F4 and meteor garden and stuff like that.
i was in blatant shock man...
especially since they wanted me to sing F4 songs in mandarin so that they could sing along in thai...
and i'm like possibly the worst person to ask to sing F4 songs.
haha...but i pulled janice the taiwanese-pop-group-fanatic to sing for them and yeah it was all good fun. :)
after that we washed dishes together and i think everyone hit off really well!

tuesday
got up early to help at the orchard again...
then we visited the hmong hill tribe, where most of the kids were originally from, and saw how the conditions were like over there.
it's very kampong-ish with no hint of electricity...
and a great many young kids were running around the place.
when we got home, the children had come back from school so we talked to them and stuff.
by then, friendships were established...
so we communicated through handsigns, sister bernard, and the translation of 2 of the older children who could speak english.
after that was mass, and i lectured the 1st reading.
it was really interesting because most of the mass was conducted in thai, and the group of us sang most of the hymns in english for the children.
it was so sweet when they sang us a hymn in thai cos they did it so wholeheartedly!
after mass, we played more games and settled for the night.

wednesday
sister bernard took the group of us up to the mountains to watch the sunrise at 4.30am.
if only i'd known earlier, maybe i wouldn't have worn jeans.
the climb up was torturous...
cos we ran most of the way, and in the situation of freezing-cold-zero-degree-kind-of-weather, it's not very advisable.
my ears were ringing from the air pressure and everything...
but the view was magnificent.
so we just sat up there taking many, many photos.
after that sister brought us to visit a childcare centre in the village and the children's school where we handed out sweets to everyone.
their school was surprisingly big, and the facilities were not too bad...
and they just looked too cute in their uniforms. :)
i was looking for cileum and nareewan, and jan and chow were looking for their duangchai.
after that we went back and started rehearsing for our item for the farewell concert.

gosh, i think the farewell concert deserves a paragraph on its own.
the children put up a few dances for us first...
which were really good.
some of them were just amusing (the guys' dance...ahahahahaha. sorry.), and some of them were just plain cute (cileum's dance!).
so then we performed a linedance and sang their fave F4 song in mandarin.
after that, the children gathered together and sang the F4 song in thai.
omg, that one really got me.
i started crying, along with charm, jan and charm.
then we got into a semi-circle and the children came round hugging us one by one...
and yes, i cried even harder.
haha...it was just so sweet and touching!
and seeing the children cry made me feel worse.
then patchara and nareewan came with their kisses, which were so sweet and comforting.
and cileum started crying when we hugged (i think it's because i was crying so hard that it would be quite impossible not to get influenced).
then they gave us handmade bookmarks and we began exchanging gifts.
they went round asking for our names and addresses and stuff, so we just sat on the floor writing for a full hour.
after that suparnnee put me into this tribal costume she was wearing and i cried even more.
haha...i must sound so silly but everything was so sweet and nice i couldn't help it.
after a lot of crying and photo-taking, we finally went to bed and began packing our luggages.

thursday
as if the previous night wasn't enough, things got emotional in the morning too.
we gathered in the canteen for breakfast with the children, for a quick bite before setting off.
as we were waiting to leave, the children came with their friendship bands and drawings and photos and notes they had written the night before, and that got me crying quite hard.
then sister bernard helped me translate a few of the notes and i cried all the more.
i gave cileum a hairclip and hugged her because she was crying...
but no, i might have been trying to comfort her, but i think i cried even harder than her.
then finally everything was ready and we had to leave, so we said our last goodbyes and got on the van.
and when they did that i-love-you handsign thing, u know that 3-finger thing, i was so extremely touched.
haha...and yes, i started crying again.
that ride was quite bad cos i was so depressed...
newae the driver dropped us off at big-c, which is this huge shopping centre, and i bought notebooks for cileum, nareewan, patchara, duangchit and orapan.
then we sat at the foodcourt and i wrote letters to them in the notebooks.
haha that was quite emotional, cos i began crying as i was writing the letters.
on a different note, something quite funny happened in the foodcourt.
because we didn't notice that there was this area of the foodcourt sectioned off for beer-drinkers, we happily sat inside thinking that we were such lucky people to have found a nice huge table to sit all 6 of us.
only when we realised that people were staring at us and that beer-girls were strutting around in mini skirts and heels, did we realise where we seated.
but we didn't care too much and continued eating. :)
the 6 of us also bought this huge photo album that we decided to give to the home...
so that they could put the photos that we were going to send to them inside the album, as a memoir of this trip.
after all that, we took a flight down to bangkok and rushed into bangkok palace hotel, checked in, changed into our investiture suit, and made our way to another hotel where the rotary club of yannawa, thailand was hosting a dinner for us.
the traffic on our way there was terrible...
now i know what they mean by Bangkok Traffic.
at the dinner was where i spotted the first gay in thailand.
gosh, he was a laugh.
very girly-girl and everything...
swei mimicked him quite well. :)

friday
pathathai came to join us and we had a wonderful buffet breakfast at the hotel.
everyone was attired in our school uniform...
because we were going to visit the all-girl st francis xavier convent school.
over there, we got split into groups of 4 whereby 2 girls would bring us around the school.
swei, jan, charm and i got these 2 really nice girls (one of whom looked uncannily like varissara) who brought us to visit the more prominent places in the school.
it felt good, though people were oggling at us wherever we went.
we went into a few classrooms to talk to the students and everyone was really friendly.
their school was of the rich sort, with the girls all fair and clean...
which was poles apart from the conditions back in chiangrai.
newae, the food in the canteen was fabulous.
omg, if our school sold such food, i'd probably be a permanent member of the taf club by now.
the green curry and chinchow and cup corn and chicken ball and chee cheong fan and everything was great!
yum²...
after that we went to visit the national museum, which was quite a bore.
all we could think of was the haagen dazs store outside the museum that looked so inviting.
but with mrs gurung breathing down our necks, we raced through all 7 blocks of the museum and quickly rushed into the waiting van.
we didn't want to waste any time...
and were eager to get to mbk for some serious shopping. :)
unfortunately, we didn't actually buy as much stuff as we would have liked to...
partially because we were lazy to raid the shops, and also because i suggested speedwalking.
haha...after 3hrs of loitering and buying inconsequential stuff (i spent S on bubblegum, of which i've now misplaced), we decided to go for a foot massage.
charlene got a manicure (yes, it's true, in pink), and the rest of us had this oil foot massage.
it wasn't very painful, more relaxing actually...
but i got a red bruise from it anyhow.
then because we hadn't spent much and still had lotsa spare cash, we kindly tipped the masseuse of whom had attended to us respectively (haha...that felt good), and quickly made our way to the meeting point.
yes, we were late again.
mrs gurung really got quite moody towards the end of the trip because she kept scolding us over every little thing.
newae, mr simpat (however it's spelt) took us to chinatown for a seafood dinner and i got really bloated over the number game (we'd been playing this at every meal to force ourselves to finish the food).
back in the hotel, we ordered different flavours of cakes and took them up to swei's room where we stayed up till 4am playing cards.
haha...we've also found out who snores and who drools in bed. :)

saturday
the day started off bad cos we were like zombies from the late night...
so much so i actually slept in the restaurant and skipped the whole of breakfast.
mr simpat brought us to a plaza for some last-minute shopping, but i was so groggy, i couldn't even walk straight.
i slept against a pillar, on the table, basically on anything i could lean on.
finally, we reached the bangkok airport where i spent the last few notes i had on preserved goods and books, then embarked on our way home.
the airplane ride was fun...
jan, charm, chow and i were sitting in a row, as hyper as ever.
we laughed and giggled and cracked all sorts of lame jokes...
sang disney songs...
i think we were worse than the huge group of united world college students onboard.
after touching down in singapore, an announcement was made that the steering wheel of the aeroplane had jammed, and that we had to wait for a tow-crane or something.
so then i decided to ask the stewardess to translate one of the notes from the children that i was really eager to un-crypt.
it was so sweet...i cried.
after that chow and jan wanted to find out what duangchai had written in their notes so they too went to ask the stewardess.

i could go on forever about the trip...
because it's really touched me in so many different ways.
i definitely wanna go back to chiangrai and see all of them again...
but for now, i can only fax letters and fed-ex parcels to them.
haha...anyhow, i'm determined to learn the thai language (it's beautiful! especially the writing!) and return there one day.
but till then, i'll leave u with photos of the trip so that u can see a little of what fun we've had there. :)

also, i wanna add that the psle results are out!
haha...my sis was contemplating between raffles and nanyang, and she's finally decided on the latter.
that will mean she's still gonna continue being in the gep...
except now she'll be taking french...
and will follow her secondary education with hjc due to the ip programme.
i hope she doesn't get too cheena over there.

newae, my mum's like this telephone operator now...
all her kaypoh friends are calling up to ask about my sis' results.
sheesh.
most of their children are going to rgs...
ooh, the school of the nice uniform.
my dad's explaining to my mum how the p6ers get sorted to the different sec schools...
and he's doing it in his usual lame-o explaining-to-a-5-year-old-kid way.

anyhow, to all puritians, remember to do the amaths homework or mrs soh will (gladly) pull us out of amath!

*jan charm swei chow tanny tiff meiyan! :: i love u guys. :) i bet we'll all remember this trip for life and treasure the memories. it's been great fun - i've learnt so much! - and i hope to do it all over again. see u all in class soon. :)