No end to the Week
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Why is it that diary's often leave smaller spaces to write on for weekends as opposed to weekdays?
After all, people work or study on weekdays and enjoy on the weekends. So should that not translate to more appointments on the weekends and hence more space to write on in organizers?
Or maybe I am just the exception who has way too many things going on during the weekends to squeeze them into a meagre 3 lines for Saturday and Sunday each.
Shoe and the City
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Sometimes you really can't understand the axiom that "God works in mysterious ways" until it actually hits you.
I suppose even with some ranting on the blog and to some close friends, not many people actually knew how afraid I was, other than God. It was a fear and actually still is something that can hardly be articulated in words to convey its actual degree.
But as if in a way to tell me that it was going to be all better and knowing that words weren't enough along with the fact that I cope with stress best when I shoe-shop, He dropped a huge ass sign with a MEGA Charles & Keith shoesale at Causeway Point. And I really am not kidding. Like really. From tuition being cancelled to the queue in the co-op being so long so I decided to drop by Popular at Causeway Point on the way home instead and in I go and wham! it was the massive annual shoe sale.
And in case you're wondering, its not the 30%-50% kind of sale that is going on in all other malls. It's the special one that occurs once a year at Causeway Point that sells almost every shoe at $10.90. And as luck would have it, the pair of white heels that I had been eyeing since like March this year but were like $30 and Eunice refused to let me get it, was now on sale in my size for $10.90!!!!! WOOHOOO!! Thanks Euns for saving me 20bucks! haha
So along with that pair, I got a bag (that I had also been eyeing but was way too expensive) and 2 pairs of black heels- one strappy and another with a pretty blue ribbon. I am so happy. Just when I thought I was out of luck, I am now!! haha Well even if I am now $50 poorer, I got 3 pairs of shoes and a bag! Beat that!!
haha I am so happy. Shoes always, always solve problems. Carrie Bradshaw was so right! Thank you God!!
Lead Thy Sheep O Lord
Sunday, August 20, 2006
Sunday, August 20, 2006
How come you decided to do honours year?
I don't know. Isn't it natural?
Sigh. That's the thing. For someone who tries to plan and is so risk averse, there are just some things I don't seem to think or plan very well.
It's just like JC. When people asked me why I decided to go to JC and my answer was simply of non-chalance. I mean at 16 or for that matter since I was 12, I just assumed I would go to JC. It didn't even matter which one. Probably why I didn't care about rankings or aggregate scores and just stayed in CJ.
But yet again, now in university, I am faced with this question and well I have no answer. Maybe because everyone is doing it? Maybe because of the pay rise? Maybe because I am in USP and a direct honours programme? I mean my scholarship doesn't expect me to do honours. I don't necessarily need to stick with USP. But again, it just seemed so natural. Like it was never a question of debate.
Now that just sounds weird. Even what I wear to school is of debatable quantity but studying more never seems to be. Weird eh?
So then maybe that is what my attitude to my honours year should be-natural, come-what-may, take in my stride and trust in God's faithful plan in leading me. For afterall, I didn't blindly walk into JC or honours year. I did know that they would be rocking good times punctuated with way too much stress. I didn't regret the first one so why should I regret it now when God is and always was on my side. :)
Talking to Aunty Soon Lee and Sharon today really did help calm me a little. It makes you realise that it always is and will be a question of priority, choice and perspective- not of school but of the Lord. And really Lav is going to try to do just that. :)
Thanks everyone for the encouragement. Especially dear Euns and her ever-supportive optimism. What would I do without my number one priority? :)
Bridging?
Saturday, August 19, 2006
Saturday, August 19, 2006
Ok so apparently now I'm the artsy-fartsy person who seems to think theatre is a Friday night ritual. To be precise, I watched yet another play yesterday, in a bid to support the Singapore Theatre Festival and to see what other rabbits Eleanor Wong and Ivan Heng planned to pull out of the Wild R!ce hat. Armed with my trusty artsy companion, Andrew, we headed off to a dinner of Thai food, evening of anticipated laughts and hopefully dinner with our Chindia gang- as if in an attempt to make this a Friday night ritual (since the same pattern did occur two weeks in a row).
Alas, even the best laid plans can be foiled. After looking forward to the play for a week, the weight and pressure of school got to me and fatigue was overwhelming as I spent the whole day running from errand to errand to tuition, instead of studying. But well, Andrew always perks me up so after dinner, I must say, I was quite literally back to the July version of happy-go-lucky, sarcastic, fast-talking Lav. A delightful change you say? Well apparently not. My sulleness got passed to Andrew in the form of a dreaded tummy ache as he set through a first act with me puzzled at the deep intensity of Singapore literature acted out by sardonic Malaysian actors, puked during the interval, looked forward to an enthusiastic rendition of Malaysian literature by Singapore texts, only to be ridden with more nausea and pain that caused him to eventually leave me companionless for the latter 20mins of the play as he really did need to head home to a bed.
So there went the attempt at finally having an intact Chindia, all in one country, one venue at the same time. But well, the 4 and momentarily 5 of us who did come,had fun fooling around nonetheless, in our usual boisterous fashion in the middle of a very hot and humid Newton Circus. And to think that less than 4 hours before meeting them, I was in a mood so low, it was almost depressing.
But I digress. Second Link was really different.
Perhaps not blatantly satirical or for that matter explicitly humorous as JBJ had been but it possessed a certain depth that enchanted me. First hint of this should have been seen in the different crowd this play attracted as opposed to JBJ which boasted of a youngish more yuppy crowd than the more arty, distinguished and polished audience of Second Link. The ability to act out poems, historical biographs and even fictional novels into a play amazed me. What perhaps was even more intriguing (which I would have died to discuss to greater lengths with Andrew, had he not been so ill) was how the Malaysian actors portrayed Singapore lit as stern, deep, controversial, emotionally and dramatic while the Singapore team all too readily portrayed Malaysian lit in a carefree, satirical, tongue-in-cheek humorous sort of way. It was as if each had chosen a distinct way to portray each other- remnant of our bilateral ties. Although, this was quite possibly more the work of playwright, Alfian, it made me realise how strangely crossed not just people's but country's signals can be- even when a shared history conjoined the two. Like sister and brother who never see eye to eye but sit at the table and respectfully eat dinner as a family. Artifice you say? A tragedy by my measure.
Perhaps the ending when both casts worked together on the finale, would be the most apt way to describe the Singapore-Malaysia relationship: a rongeng- a dance in syncronized harmony, hand never touching, bodies only moving in the same motion over and over again.
Is there really any better quote than that? Ok so maybe this one is better.
"So you see that is why we need all of you here. The Chinese do the work, the Malay gets the credit, the Indian gets the blame."
A Fresh Cut
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Thursday, August 17, 2006
I think today is one of those days when you somehow feel like you've lived the best days already and are now doomed to live the worst. Yes, I know that is simply a question of perspective but well it's just difficult after having such a wonderful 2005/2006 with family, friends and travel, to think that this new academic year could quite live up to the excitement of the last.
School's been depressing..again, but then again I suppose it always was but those other things like church, family anf friends helped reduce the pressure if it all. So after my last class for the week, I throttled off to HollandV to meet Darlene and her sister (who are here on a short holiday from the USA) for lunch, hoping it would perk me up as we reminisced of the semester and the crazy partying that ensued. But alas after lunch, all that set in was the grave realisation that this semester was going to be far from rosy in that way. I suppose that was why I finally got the courage to get a haircut. Unfortunately, I forgot how I don't respond well to short hair or how it feels to have all my effort growing my hair snipped off in a matter of seconds. Sigh.
But tomorrow is a new day and I have to chin up and look towards the future. For at least, I know that I am not alone in my fight.
Back to School
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
They say that the first week of school is usually slack and is the time that lectures introduce the module, tutors get to know the class and all that jazz.
Unfortunately, they must have never heard of an honours year or for that matter a cohort as kiasu as the History honours cohort.
Imagine waking up bright and early Monday morning with a horrible sore throat and cough and rushing to school, only to face a small classroom mix up. Then you enter class 7mins late and the lecturer is already talking and going through the class schedule. Ok so that doesn't sound too disastrous, does it?
Then wham, he opens a new file to show that 3/4 of the class has already picked presentation slots and books to present on both as a group and individually. I mean come on. Don't you guys believe in a holiday? I mean the professor specifically sent out an email last week to tell us that we would sort things out during the first class not to inform him about our choices by the first class. And then I find out that almost half the class has zapped the compulsory textbook from the library that can't be bought because its out of print. Can you imagine? My lecturer himself was shocked as my classmates had borrowed the book out barely 5mins after he had sent the email telling us about it, that even the library didn't have enough time to react and place the book in the RBR as the lecturer had specified. Crazy eh?
Well as luck would have it, my individual presentation choice was still available even if the group presentation one was not. But well, I have a good group and I hope to God we will pull through this.
Then comes the almost traumatizing HY4101 under a nice but stern Dr. Hong who started class 5mins early and went on for a good 3hrs. This is a compulsory class for all history honours students and has some of the brightest brains in class. How am I ever going to survive? It just makes you realise how difficult this year is gona be and how within hours of the end of class, almost half the class has posted in the forum in the IVLE and the comments are off the hook in intellectual debate. Crazy eh? Did I mention that I am crazy for thinking that I could do honours?
Well at least there were highlights to this week like watching Click with Euns, hearing of a friend's wedding, finally seeing Edmund, tix to a new play, stumbling upon a much coveted dress which was on sale etc. (Euns, if you read this, this dress is to die for and oh-so-cheap from Zara! I will definitely wear it when we go to One Rochester when Brandon comes and stuff)
Haha, small pleasures. I think if anything, this semester is going to teach me the art of juggling my responsibilities, family, friends, school, tuition and church. Well as Euns said, its in these difficult times that you draw so much closer to God and cling to him.
And if there is one thing I know for sure this semester, and I usually am about these things, I am not going to be able to do this by myself or by anyone's strength but through God alone.
How do celebrate a 21st Birthday in Style?
Monday, August 14, 2006
Monday, August 14, 2006
Well first you have to pick the coolest venue in town.
The Upper Club @ CHIJMES
Upon which, you send out fabulous invites to your chichi friends.
Then you proceed to pick the best decoration for the tables and venue.
The Beautiful Floral Centrepieces
Which is closely followed by picking a really good dress for yourself.
But of course, what good is a party without some entertainment?
Which of course, must enthrall the audience.
Naturally, the birthday soiree's VIP is the birthday girl herself.
Jac's all clad up in our surprise gift to her! Oh and I tied the saree myself with some help from Eunice. It's my first saree-tying even if it wasn't even on me.
Oh and if the entertainment of the night also turns out to be the birthday girl in a cross cultural outfit, then you definitely have a formula for success.
Oh and did I add that the more costume changes, the bigger the bash?
So let's congratulate the birthday girl on the wonderful performance by giving her a Barbie doll cake!
But amidst all the partying, singing, dancing, eating and drinking, we forgot the most important thing: THE GOOD FRIENDS aka the guests.
The other two prettiest girls there that night apart from the Birthday Girl.
And the goofy yet adorable boys that yearn for more romantic duets.
The Other Non-Garment Gift we gave Jac
Dhoby in his first non-PM like shot
So now here's one of a more distinguished Dhoby and his First Lady.
While the best man and receptionist look on.
And of course, every good party needs to end with a post Ministry of Sound party.
Jac and I in the Cab Back
Happy 21st Jac! We love you.
And you have to admit, we are a photogenic lot.
Let's Confer that Public Star!
Saturday, August 12, 2006
Saturday, August 12, 2006
Gosh was this play a hit. Albeit rather poor reviews in The Straits Times, Andrew and I ventured to watch the play and see exactly how political or for that matter how apolitical the play really was.
I suppose from the onset of the play, we looked set for a hilarious night with mistakenly identifying a woman as the former president of AWARE, only to have her sit in our row later in the play. Andrew of course met every single friend he had, at the play while I played the quiet and smily sidekick. haha
Then came the truly hilarious part of when we sit down and he suddenly covers our faces to whisper to me on the presence of two rather controversial characters from his Himalayan expedition team who are seated right in front of us. So upon much coaxing, we say hi to them (since one of them was from my class) and were almost thrilled to bits by their shock or should I say supremely surprised faces. I wasn't too sure if the surprise was at seeing him there again or at seeing us together. Oh well, both were just as funny.
So as if that wasn't enough, the show began and to say that it was hilarious would be an understatement so Andrew and I of course spend much time giggling, laughing, exchanging looks and assorted comments until the lady next to me leans over and asks us to maintain silence. Now come on, obviously we weren't like shouting out our comments to each other and it was very much a hush whisper so how on earth could we be disturbing her. So after wrestling a potentially belligerent Andrew to not confront her, we continue to watch the play and at the next hilarious scene which was like 5mins later, he leaned over and asked the lady for permission to laugh, only to be met with her unable to meet our eye or give a comment. haha
So let's just say that night was extremely eventful. Even if we gatecrashed Dhoby and Euns supper at TCC after the play. I suppose some things are best kept etched in my memory.
But before I end, here are the most quotable quotes of the night.
"Don't cry over spilt milk when it can be made into lassi."
"Imperfect past makes present tense".
This was definitely a poignant political play that was subtle yet direct that made me think alot more about political apathy, the PAP and the civil service. It was almost scary at the end to think that I could one day be like Clara Wong and let me tell you, that that is probably the scariest thing that could ever happen to me.
Nationalism
Wednesday, August 9, 2006
Wednesday, August 9, 2006
So it's National Day and to some it may just be a public holiday of sorts while to others it is quite literally the only day that patriotism manifests its bold head.
Yet amidst all this fanfare, have we actually stopped to ponder the significance of this entire celebration, parade and festivities? I mean hey I'm always up for a public holiday but it becomes almost futile if people barely recognize the significance of it.
This afternoon as Sharmaine and I went to get lunch, I noticed how all the signboards on the CTE had the recurring message of "Happy Birthday Singapore" sprawled all over. Now, as weird as this may seem to some of you, I find it almost odd that the 9th of August is deemed Singapore's birthday. As far as I recall, birthdays are the day we commemorate the birth or the once-birth of someone or something into this world, not the day we became free, independent or liberated. I mean really, if I were to take this saying literally, this would mean that Singapore was created on 9th August 1965 which is far from the truth for God didn't suddenly decide to create an extra island in this world he created a billion years ago.
Then comes critics who say that was the day the nation of Singapore was created. Well as true as that may seem, it doesn't sit well with me for Singapore always existed as an entity since the Straits Settlements, attained self government in 1959 and and actually achieved independence upon merger with Malaysiain 1963. That was when we were free from colonization. In fact, 1965 is the year we split from Malaysia, who to begin with did not have very much control over Singapore to begin with, hence the separation.
So then if I am to be corrected, and Singapore's birthday is apparently the day she became independent. Does that now mean the day I move out or for that matter, the day I get married and become Mrs So-and-so, it will be my new birthday? Don't get me wrong, independence is a big thing and all the hardwork and co-operation of our forefathers should not go to waste but really, why can't we just call it our National Day, Independence Day, our version of the 4th of July? Why do we then have to call it our nation's birthday?
I suppose that is why I ain't too much of an NDP fan. I recall that as my boss gave our NDP Preview tix to the staff, he asked if I wanted and I politely declined on the pretext of not being much of an NDP person. That is to say that I am very much a Singaporean, just not much of an NDP person and the false connotations that come with it. I've always been one to only follow with things that sit well with me and well "Happy Birthday Singapore" and other such propagandic shows of might and opulence don't sit too well with me, so while I may not actually participate and go into a nationalistic frenzy, I will stay home, spend time with my family and be a Singaporean at heart.
Is that not what is important? To be Singaporean at heart and not just in show? Afterall, didn't I just plough all the way down to Esplanade to watch the fireworks show on National Day eve and support the Singapore team? :)
Wednesday, August 9, 2006
Sometimes when a beautiful memory is over. Only the pictures can continue to tell its tale. haha
So here are the long awaited pictures from Ballet Under The Stars.
The Three of Us albeit a busy Dhoby
The Picnic Before the Show
And the next picture will tell you why Andrew is not allowed to take pictures of us anymore.
I mean like seriously! It's an anti-shake camera and you still can't snap. haha Look how it goes when we camwhore ourselves.
Brilliant eh?
Euns and Andrew being silly
Need I say more?
The Remnants of Our Feast
And to end it all, here is a very scandalous picture that can only be published in this blog, of the one who doesn't drink holding the bottles of those who drink.
Accumulated Fatigue
Friday, August 4, 2006
Friday, August 4, 2006
If anything, this week has been as busy as ever. Almost doesn't even feel like I ended work as I'm out almost as early in the day, back for a bit in the afternoon and out again in the evening. And again the rouse is that I enjoy what I am doing. So here's just a quick recap.
Mon
Ended work. Treated to lunch by the GM. Kickboxing class in the afternoon with the dept as a staff bonding trip. Treated to dinner by the CEO. Rushed to the airport to send Sipei off. Went on a roadtrip around Singapore with Joyce, Jason and Vincent. Supper with the guys before heading home.
Tues
Early lunch meeting with ex-CGers. Rush to school to fix my lappie and meet Euns and Amu for thesis topic hunting session in the library. Meet Amu's new and definitely not chauvinistic bf, groaned over honours pains together with the girls. Bumped into many a PS friend who were in school for a seminar. Began to sort things out for school. Whisked off to meet Satish for dinner and movie.
Wed
Taught tuition in the morning. Rushed home to finish work from internship and straighten out some module info. Went printer shopping with the folks. Had some family time. Was majorly worried for Andrew and his workaholic streak.
Thurs
Woke up bright and early to send Vincent off at the airport. Came back took a nap then headed down to school for Prof Farrel's briefing on his new module. Caught up with old friends for a bit. Rushed to Jac's to visit her. Finally saw Dhoby and Cheryl! Had dinner with Euns and Jac. Andrew came down for drinks albeit some persuading.
Fri
Morning meeting. Tuition in the afternoon. Rushed off to meet Jean and Joanna to brainstorm about the bake sale and buy ingredients. Headed home to respond to much procastinated upon school work and emails. Comforted a very stressed Andrew who's flying to Bali to destress without me. :(
Sigh and that was just the weekdays. But I must say if anything, amidst all that chaos and fatigue, I've been realising alot of things about me, God and my walk. Now I sound like Euns but its true. It's like things have been made clear or I know what I have to think about or do next. Unfortunately, it doesnt mean that my life is all that much simpler but it definitely makes my walk all that much more exciting.
Gosh, maybe Euns and Dhoby have really rubbed off on me. haha well off to bed for now! I really have so much sleep to catch up on and rebank for the new sem. Sigh. Thank goodness I have a new concealer. These dark circles are horrendous! (Excuse the bimboness of the last two sentences. One has to realise that this late hour does things to one's mind.)
From Ball to Chain
Monday, August 1, 2006
Monday, August 1, 2006
First day of from work and I'm in the library.
Sigh. Doesn't quite sound like liberation does it?
"