yesterday went too soon...

2008-12-02T21:32:00.002Z

this was bugging me since forever, but i've realized today that my lecturer speaks uncannily like professor snape, fyi.

goodnight bad morning

2008-11-26T16:33:00.003Z

i realise i have no blogging style. sometimes it's cryptic, sometimes it's just a blatant record of what i've done. i don't know why i've come back, maybe because i'm bored and it's almost end of term. cambridge christmas week always makes me smile, no matter what. it also makes me less productive as i dream of christmas fun.

just came back from a stroll about town. i had to get wine for thursday singapore/malaysia jesus formal and friday medics/vet pembroke formal, plus a box of fancy chocolates for chocolate and liquor evening at johns tomorrow. it felt nice just walking with music in my ears, watching the world go by. christmas lights were out and there are angels in grand arcade. everything seems ready, everyone seems friendly.

good moods have to be treasured, and so do quirky facts.

quirky fact #1: "your brain coagulates at the same rate as egg white" - as quoted by prof rothwell in basal ganglia lectures.

quirky fact #2: the second most screwed up moment in one of ken smith's clinical hospitals is when he mis-filled someone's death certificate. he caused a backlog of cremations when he was summoned to check on the corpse in the coffin! and you wonder what the first can be - it was how a patient died during a 3 hour lumbar puncture and the doctors did not realise until they turned him around. this and other morbid tidbits about dead babies were flying about in pfp review last night, with us cracking up at ken smith's every anecdote. it really makes me wonder how cynical a doctor we'll all turn out to be at this rate.

ok ta, time to figure out how to make a microwave baked pasta dinner yum x

2008-11-18T17:20:00.002Z

where there's gold, there's a gold-digger.
why is everyone so competitive?

sometimes you realise that you only blog when nothing's going right and you don't know why.

home sweet home

2008-06-22T16:57:00.002+01:00

it's going to be a fun-filled 2 weeks. actually no, more relaxing then fun-filled, but who's complaining? especially after the craziness of last week...

we now have 2 rabbits! there's going to be a GPS in the car. apparantly orchard road is quite different now. ohmy, how singapore has changed.

pictures from last week soon hopefully. once i've sorted them out first. xx

mmmbop

2008-06-16T13:36:00.003+01:00

i'm just loving this post-exam life!

since coming back from amsterdam, we've been:
- lazing on the lawn singing songs (and writing one even)
- going for garden parties
- bouncing in bouncy castles
- dinnering with finalists before we never get to see them again :(
- partying (dj sammy played fez last night woo)
- going for bops
- watching boat-burning (pembroke kept the headship of the river during bumps!)
- barbecueing
- floorballing and tennising (finally!)
- EATING

may week officially starts today.
there are so many things to still look forward to this week:
clare may ball tonight, john's may ball tomorrow, pembroke june event on wed.
sherry is coming tonight!!
punting soon. i better start planning what she can do in cambridge..

this is the life :)

there's time

2008-06-13T01:17:00.005+01:00

set out on a little trip to a place i've never been before
looking for all the things in my life that i've been missing
didn't think it would turn out wrong as i lay there on the floor
couldn't see what's beyond the map stuck on the wall

i was on a pirate ship when i opened my eyes
and the man in front of me, well he was so sure inside
wedding ring on your finger, it's still there you'll see
pick and number and count back in your head to me

try to see the things in your mind
pry apart your fears, i'm blind
don't you dare say it out loud, it might mean something to me
it's ok, i'm alright, you'll find, there's time

as we laugh with the joke, as we cry into the well
brush my teeth, the taste of revelation
and the faces in the mirror hitting back at me
colours swirl inside my head, i wish you could see

kicking on the door, it all seemed so dumb
waching as the clock ticks by, it's now

check out the song we wrote, inspired by amsterdam.
t'was an amazing trip all round, in all sense of the word.

2008-06-05T20:08:00.003+01:00

the taste of pimms = summer is in the air!

vodrev and an asian cindies night? it promises to be one hell of a night.

stay tuned. x

the end of some, but the start of something better

2008-06-05T02:06:00.003+01:00

the rest of the pembroke crew finished today.

so we nice people conquered sainsbury's (not marks and sparks because we don't want to be old fogeys) and got the 4 of them (and ourselves) some champagne!! almost didn't make it on time to the path lab all because of that crappy old lady at the till who didn't accept my singaporean driving license. but dave and rich saved the day when they went to another till to buy them champagne and proceeded to conveniently leave out the plastic cups. which meant that we had to head back into the JP to steal some cups off derek...

and so we were running to the path lab, with lorna desperately trying to teach me how to open the bottle of champagne and trying not to get run down by oncoming vehicles at the same time. it was possibly due to all the moving from the running, or that i unscrewed too much of the cap, but that frigging thing i was holding popped too early right into rich's arse. he was dripping wet it was so funny.

pembroke medics live up to our name. we take things easy. when the rest of the medics from other colleges started streaming out of the labs, they looked positively upset, slumped shoulders and all. after a bit, hannah walked out with the biggest grin on her face, shouting it's over forever! then the champagne pouring started. and so did the rest of my fantastic day. :)

s'marvellous, s'wonderful

2008-06-03T16:44:00.002+01:00

i am at a loss of what to do now.
i can't believe it's all overr! wooooooooooooooo :)

finally. no more pressure, no more constant revision.
ahh life is good!

2008-06-02T20:58:00.003+01:00

19 hours, 2 minutes more..

comprising
1 more sleep cycle
1 more non-breakfast
1 more crappy sandwich lunch
1 more nervous wait

and then it will be all over. . . .

AAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH

2008-05-31T16:38:00.003+01:00

I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT.

there's beauty in the breakdown..

2008-05-29T19:26:00.002+01:00

it's funny how i started blogging again during my exams .

ok i forgot the point of the post already - got distracted by:
1. new dresses on asos.com
2. blog surfing
3. chatting to people i've not spoken to in agesssss
4. hunger
5. crossing out 2 more papers on my exam slip and finally TURNING TO PAGE 2.

but i vaguely recall wanted to say that I HAVE JUST WRITTEN THE LAST ESSAY OF YEAR 2 MEDICINE! alrightt.

dinner time and one tree hill.. i deserve this break.

true or false it may be//

2008-05-28T13:12:00.002+01:00

just don't let me down

the killer paper is gone. finished. a thing of the past.
and oh how happy that makes me right now :)
happy enough to comtemplate taking a self-imposed break and watching some online tv.

ok no. self-discipline reigns.

to all the concerned people out there, i am proud to report that i'm still alive and kicking. the bruises that this captive of an examination accumulates increases by the day, no thanks to the insane amount of coffee i'm drinking every day. i wonder if i'll be so dependent by the time this exam ends to have withdrawal symptoms.

only a few days left till...

and here it comes..

2008-05-26T14:20:00.003+01:00

THE WEEK OF HELL.

the one week where all i will be doing is staring at pieces of paper, attempting to internalize bits of random information that made no sense to me whatsoever at the beginning of the year. then, i was amazed at the amount of info they expected us to understand and retain for the exams. now, i feel exactly the same way, except with additional silent curses that go along with the initial amazement.

i have completed 3 papers. out of 13.
one more paper and the number of papers left will be down to one digit.
hooray.
tmr i go crazy and will do 3 papers in one day.
then i'll have 7 left.

the biggest joke of it all is that some people only have 4 papers to sit for. and they complain.

songs to love and die by

2008-05-08T13:36:00.002+01:00

"have you ever wondered what marks our time here
if one life can make an impact in the world
or if the choices that we make matter
i believe they do
and that one man can change many lives
for better or worse"

do you take the non-believer
cos i'm a non-believer
and i'm not the only one

hello moscow!!

2008-04-30T09:25:00.002+01:00

on another note:
THANK YOU LILIAN!
i adore it! it now has a season spot on my table :)

i can't believe i've watched the entire season 4 of project runway!
self-imposed hiatus from work is now over.
back to antihypertensive agents. gosh i'm slow...

I LOVE YOU ALL!

2008-04-25T02:41:00.002+01:00

that is absolutely the best birthday surprise in my entire life!

the video was so touching i cried.
i'm so glad you all are here to spend it with me. i'm just so thankful to have friends like you all. sometimes i wonder how i get so lucky. cambridge would be so different without each and every one of you.

AND thank you too! everyone back home!! the video from one of the saturday night gatherings (starring uncle 2's tummy) was the best :) thanks mum, dad, pers, k2, t2, k4, t4, amanda, mei, di, dan, aunty minda! i love you all.
and my dear friends from home... you guys were there for me since the beginning! i can't thank you guys enough. it's been an amazing, crazy 21 years and it's all the more special cos you guys are here to spend it with me. looking forward to the rest of our lives together... the videos were amazing, made me think of you guys a lot. i miss everyone so.. can't wait to go home and have a proper celebration!

THANK YOU SO MUCH!
especially you nic. i can't believe how much effort you put into coordinating everything, from a whole MONTH back. my god you rock! all the secrets painfully kept, all the times white lies you have to make up, all the massive messenging sprees, i don't know how you did it, but you managed to get everyone that was important in my life in that 23 minute video - no matter where they were geographically or whether you knew them at all. i've already thanked you a zillion times and you know how much i love you. <3 to more good years ahead love! :)

take notice, take interest, take me with you

2008-04-22T01:05:00.004+01:00

thoughts that go through my head when i sit in the library for hours, hours that can be better spent basking in the sun (yes it's getting warmer. finally!) - in chronological order:

1. amsterdam! we are officially going! wooo
2. what to have for lunch
3. what time should i go for lunch?
4. glucocorticoid agonist = prednisolone
5. what to pack for AMSTERDAM!
6. glucocorticoid antagonist = mife-something...mife-what?!... MIFEPRISTONE - how my notes mock me
7. die! how am i going to remember all these drugs?!?!
8. i need to plan my birthday party
9. i also need to start planning for japan! :) oh yeaaaa.
10. oestrogen agonist = ethinyloestradiol! SCORE!
11. who do i invite on friday??
12. i am getting hungry
13. maybe we should cook fried rice for dinner tonight.
14. oestrogen antagonist = ..... CRAP.
15. it's time for toilet break.

and so it goes...

on a lighter note, today i've heard from so many people back home it made me miss home quite a bit. perhaps that's why i'm still up writing up massive replies. summer's going to be so fun! error - POST EXAMS are going to be so fun! i can't wait.

but for now it's bed time. must hit the library bright and early to get my favourite table - the whole world is back. don't quite know if it's a good thing or not at this stage.

night world. x

when you come undone

2008-04-16T10:41:00.001+01:00

i hate work. fullstop.

houses made for one

2008-04-14T23:18:00.003+01:00

thank god the internet is back! the "one-hour job" as proclaimed by the either very optimistic or just plain stupid pembroke IT department turned out to be a 5-day mess. every night for the past 5 days i've been sitting in my room wondering how to entertain myself - i only have that many movies. watched wicker park the other day. if only josh hartnett would stand up straight and not slouch, he would look so much better. reminds me of his pearl harbour days, when i was first mesmorized by his shyness.

everyday i wake up and force myself into the same routine.
sometimes i feel thankful there's the framework
other times i bemoan the monotony
the days seem so blurred
i can't keep track
my existence hinges on each chime of the clock -
there isn't any sound otherwise

yet, i don't want term to start. once it starts, it will break our routine. and stress is not condusive for trying out a new routine. new lectures = more material to cover. people will be coming back to break up the peaceful working air around pembroke these days - they already are. the library felt so crowded today with so many familiar people working, staring, watching, mocking.

i am in such a crap mood.

blue is the colour, football is the game

2008-04-09T10:41:00.005+01:00

let me clarify.
i do not on normal occasions feel like that, but judging from past statistics, my football colours have slowly been turning purple. (good on ye if you got that - you know me well.)

look at how desperately the real chelsea fan is hiding behind his team's colours. talk about allegiance..

i now (proudly) own a chelsea flag. it's sitting (prominently) in my room.

it was such a scrappy first half. sluggish at the start of the second but it started going when both teams realised they needed some sort of drive to get that decisive goal. injury scare galore for chelsea - we even poked fun at cudicini unknowingly and got death-glared at by the person sitting beside us.

and now it's back to work. :(
the only thing keeping me going is probably my next trip down in 2 weeks' time.
on a side note, clinicals in london would be such fun, but also such crazy expenses. well, we'll get to that when we do.

2008-04-08T01:27:00.003+01:00

tomorrow i go down to london to watch chelsea. again.

based on the number of live matches watched, i'm more of a chelsea fan than a man utd fan. to date, it's 3 blues to 2 reds, one of which is a chelsea v man utd match last year, which turned out to be a lame match because it was after the title has been won. what a bummer. all i saw was dongfangzhuo. gosh.

but it's hello didier and co. again at stamford bridge tmr evening.

don't get me wrong, i'm far from complaining! a live football match is A LIVE FOOTBALL MATCH! totally different from watching on tv. all the adrenaline, all the singing, all the passion. the different angle u get to watch the match from. it's a whole new experience. plus tmr's match will be an amazing one given the aggregate from the first leg! i can't wait. it was merely an objective observation..

however come end april, it's HELLO RONALDO for real! :)

in a potential title-decider of a match too!
these next few weeks will definitely be a nail-biting wait.

THANK YOU MENG!!

breathe in for luck, breathe in so deep

2008-04-06T23:55:00.003+01:00

the weather today was miserable. it was cold, but not cold enough to snow (although meng claimed it did). so basically it snowed everywhere today, except here. it's like a trend, i seem to be avoiding the snow this year. where is my snowball fight?

tmr i move back into foundress. i've grown used to this room though, it's so nice to have an uncluttered space where only the minimal amount of things exist. everything is so neat and tidy. i know exactly where all my stuff are. staying in the the older part of college makes me think ahead to next year when we'll be staying in O. gorgeous split set with a kitchen shared between us, it will be absolutely amazing! my room will be bigger then foundress and i pay less (as we found out yesterday on our stroll around college in an attempt to drag our lunch break). our grand plan to both get a first this year and pull mich up to share our floor seems foolproof, except for the tiny detail of working our asses off from now onwards till the end of exams. well, at least we have some motivation to study..

it's been one week in of work since after america, not counting the side-trip down to london on thurs. i am bored already. so much so that i'm looking forward to the match on tuesday. football and a haircut! and yet another escape away from the stress of spending ages memorising a flowchart and forgetting it the moment you start on something else. wahey, i better start finding good eating places in london for dinner! another good distraction.

night x

2008-04-04T22:12:00.003+01:00

"A notable feature of a live show involving Carrabba is that while performing he will stare, almost unsettlingly, into the audience at a particular person. This has come to be known among his fans as "eye sex." Carrabba, in an interview with the Associated Press, said, "You can't help but look at the audience and if you find somebody and they're having that movement listening to a song that gets to you, I'll connect with them and have eye sex with them." "

OMG HOW COOL IS THIS?! NIC AND I ARE GOING CRAZY!!

colour the coast with your smile

2008-04-04T16:20:00.005+01:00

it's the most genuine thing
that i've ever seen
i was so lost
but now i believe

yesterday was so awesome i really want to start all over and do it again, even though it meant having only 2 hours of sleep. but it's definitely worth it, no doubts.

highlight of the day has got to be Dashboard Confessional's acoustic concert at st. james' church in picaddilly.

i think i have fallen in love with chris carrabba's music and him as a performer. such raw emotion, so much passion into his songs. normally i don't immediately listen out for the lyrics, but my favourite line of all time is from stolen,

before the gold and glimmer has been replaced
another sun-soaked season fades away

i don't know why but his lyrics always seem to jump out at me. maybe it's because of all the repetition, maybe because it's an acoustic set, and everyone knows i love anything acoustic. but it was an absolutely incredible night! we were so far in front i swear he could have been just singing most of the songs just for me.. :) definite eye contact on so many occasions oh yeah!

i bought a dashboard shirt, lined up with all the other crazy fans for an autograph, a picture and some priceless conversation. i love it that it was an acoustic set; we couldn't have got such a cosy and close experience otherwise. chris was so nice in person but like nic said, he was smaller then he looked onstage. then again, everyone with a guitar looks cool.

apart from the concert, yest was all about the FOOD!

royal china in the morning for dim sum - heavenly. highly recommended. 5 stars. it has to be the best dim sum in london, on par with all those hongkong restaurants, and that says a lot about the quality of the food. my god, i could actually taste the huge prawns in my ha kao and ha cheung! we left feeling slightly too full but slightly lighter after cashing out on the bill. (which wasn't that expensive for a place of this standard tbh)
gordan's wine bar in the afternoon for some wine and cheese - 4.5 stars. the oldest wine bar in london, with its rustic cellar/dungeon feel. i had to stoop to walk across to our table at the far end of the basement. there were candles everywhere, twas so romantic - the rose and cheese were so good together! i now understand why angmohs can just laze around all day, just sipping wine/drinking tea and chatting.
chinatown's random chinese restaurant for roast pork and duck rice - 4 stars. i've tasted much better duck before but it was good all the same because we were just so hungry after the concert and before we went on to zoobar. ahh how lucky am i to have been born in asia where we get asian cuisine so readily. i couldn't and wouldn't want to live on anything else!

and also a big THANK YOU TO EVERYONE BACK HOME! i've got all my birthday presents and it was so sweet! we were sitting in starbucks opening them all; i felt so so loved :) ahh i wish all of you guys could be here with me on the actual day, and i can't believe i'm actually turning 21! huge expectations to live up to, but i will try my very best don't worry dad and mum!

i guess it's luck but it's the same
hard luck, you've been trying to tame
maybe it's love, but it's like you said
"love is like a role that we play"

chasing the ghost of a good thing
haunting yourself as the real thing
it's getting away from you again
while you're chasing ghosts

picture perfect

2008-03-31T23:27:00.010+01:00

some highlights of america through the lens..

new jersey <3

the princeton bunch and chan on the beach

picnicing outside our house.
all those secondary school memories came flooding back.

piggy and i. always so enjoyable company.
these pictures and going to make me sad tonight...

the girls on the trip.
we then bid cape may goodbye as chan, ren and i head forth to conquer boston.

BOSTON
i think i need a sunrise
i'm tired of the sunset
-
i think i'll go to bostonnn
i think i'll start a new lifee
i think i'll start over
no one knows my name

the harvard coop (dad are u reading this? the one and only..)

boston and the many traffic lights. so quaint.
all those generic american tv backdrops.

it was restaurant week in boston. we had top-end food for low-end prices.
hotel @ MIT. delicious seafood.

at the start of the freedom trail - looking slightly worried about our navigation.

finding the christopher columbus waterfront park. which looked like it came out of a postcard. we spent many a minute photowhoring..

the singaporean spread at the dinner party serene hosted on our last day in boston.
reminded me of home so much..

NEW YORK CITY

the subway was confusing, but i liked people-watching across the tracks.

at the museum of modert art where i found THIS!
les demoiselles d'avignon - something close to my heart and my inspiration for that 'O' level art project oh so long ago.

at battery park, where there were the memorials for all the wars america has been involved in.
a spot of reflection.

the MUD VAN! dad note: gourmet coffee in a van! it was fantastic! i had one just for you :)

and who goes to new york without seeing the statue of liberty?
my token shot. she wasn't that fantastic tbh, i'd much rather go visit the guggenheim.

only in brooklyn will you see cool grafitti like this. new york itself is too proper for such artistic talent.

the brooklyn bridge - should have seen it during sunset. apparantly it is amazing.

ooh. the new york stock exchange! all you financial people, eat your hearts out.
gosh, you wouldn't know it's american, would you?

ground zero.
a sombre moment. you can just imagine how it was like 7 years ago.
can't believe time flew by so quickly..

our happy stuffed selves at the best steak house in all of new york.
our not-so-happy wallets hiding away in vain

seriously the best pancakes i have tasted in my LIFE. i would go back to new york just for these.

chinatown, where everyone assumes you speak cantonese. i say it must be the best chinatown in the world. definitely beats london's hands down.

ahh last day dimsum with the girlies.
i miss them so.
: (

i want to go back..

back to bedlam

2008-03-30T17:41:00.004+01:00

just got back from america. and i miss it so already.

i left for america expecting a busy schedule with lots of sightseeing, expecting also to come back with a whole load of shopping and spending lots of time with friends in america, all of which i haven't seen in ages.

i came back from america with sub-optimal sightseeing, spending time with friends and friends-of-friends, which was good in a way and not so good in a way. ren was with us the whole of the first week, so that wasn't so bad in terms of catching up but mandy's little double room served as a hostel for the 4 of us plus her roommate. tight squeeze so we moved into the lounge where i found out to my surprise that late-night american tv is very entertaining! the next supermodel, top chef.. but we should have hung out more in nyc. blame bad timing.

three words to describe each city i went to:
princeton - scholarly, cambridge-esque, apartment-style dorms
cape may - relaxing, surreal, pleasantville
boston - COLD, brighter-and-cleaner-version of london, beautiful
new york - perfect-foodie-haunt, shove-and-push, overwhelming

there was quite a bit of individual exploration of the crazy city that is new york, which was very refreshing, no limitations, no waiting around for decisions, just me and my plans. taking in the sights in midtown, trying to find my way around the grid-map of newyork wasn't as easy as i expected. the newyork subway made me miss the tube, horror of horrors. but the craziness of times square, the hustle and bustle in chinatown, the quaint history-laden litarary streets of greenwich village, the no-nonsense seriousness in wall street and at ground zero, the majesticity of the brooklyn bridge and what little i saw of central park made up for the confusing transport system. also, after the epic trip to woodbury commons, i find i shop best alone. and yes, i came back with a whole shopping bag full mostly of clothes, which goes to show just how much of a rugged traveller i am inside.

food-wise (and yes, this deserves a whole paragraph), america ranks as one of the top destinations. the food in cape may was amazing, thanks to all our chefs, impromptu recipes and of course, the internet. there i was, stuffed like a turkey every night, any movement was effortful. it was restaurant week when we were at boston, as if welcoming our arrival. all the top restaurants for less than half the price. serene our host was the most sincere and helpful person i have ever met! she went to extremes to make us feel comforatble, giving up her bed in the process.. makes me ashamed of myself sometimes. the final day dinner party she hosted could very well be the top dinner party i've been to in terms of the amount and variety of food served - all home-cooked too! big singaporean gathering at harvard made me think of home.. all the rendang and satay helped too. i have come to a conclusion that america has wonderful desserts. there was finale in boston and a million good dessert places in nyc. there was also grimaldi's famous pizza under the brooklyn bridge, good enough for any renowned italian chefs, good enough for me. peter luger's steakhouse: steep prices but oh-so worth-it. i don't think i have appreciated steak properly until that dinner. perfect desserts at bottega del vino recommended by the peninsula where we posed at hotel guests. magnolia bakery where cupcakes and sweet things ruled the world, and our stomach's afterward. clinton st. baking house - in my 20 years, this is the first time i have enjoyed a plate of pancake sooo much that i have vowed to learn how to make pancakes as good as those. they were seriously a STACK of pancakes, all fluffy and melt-in-your-mouth delicious. and not to mention all the great chinese restaurants they had in chinatown, which beats the one in london. it's much larger firstly, and so authentic they even have wet markets on the streets! everyone speaks to you firstly in cantonese, then in chinese when they realise you're not from hk, then maybe a splattering of english if you're lame and not a chinese-speaker as well. we ended off with dimsum which was dirt cheap.. i couldn't ask for more.

america was fantastic. i feel so lost now without a plan of where to go and what to eat for each day. it's back to boring cambridge, where there's not much choice either-way. i also found that i've missed the annual snowfall here. : ( what a waste. i wanted a proper snowball fight this year too!

oh boy. tmr marks the day i start my mad dash to the finish line of tripos. i hope it's a mad dash all the way and not just a jog. or else i'm screwed.

counting down

2008-03-13T01:26:00.003Z

lady liberty awaits ever so patiently. i'm getting increasingly excited, planning all these eating, shopping and sightseeing trips around nyc, to the point where the only useful thing i felt i got out of my dos meeting with zoltan today was the weather forecast in newyork - snow!

i'm attempting to pack for america together with just plain old vacation storage packing. it's not going too well i'm feeling so lazy. i have this amazing playlist on itunes and it's distracting me, not to mention also the facebook aftermath of abacus annual dinner last night.

these next few days are going to be crazy. i will not get any sleep after friday bop. sleepover for all us crazy souls catching insane coach/train timings on sat morning. and then, before i know it i will be in then land of the free! gosh, everythings' moving a bit too fast now.

brighter than sunshine

2008-03-12T02:36:00.001Z

the weekend was eventful. but i'm not feeling that chatty atm.

sometimes i wonder if i only choose to see the good side of people, whether naively or just unconsciously. it makes me quite uncomfortable seeing people when they're not in the normal light, or when the worst in people shine through. i should learn not to be such an idealist, just because nothing in this world is perfect (cliched or not).

my london escapade was timely, had a chance to break away from the unpleasantness of the previous night and just spend some quality time with the girls. sing night was surprisingly good, so was the london food! i'm so tired from the lack of sleep these few days, not that i'm going to get any break from now onwards. i've had a record number of people i had to put to bed in a week, and the week's only just started. it just goes to say how responsible cambridge people are.

but i'm not letting anything dampen my good mood these days. my boredness has ceased due to the absurd amount of stuff i have to get done this week, stemming largely from the fact that i've done nothing whatsoever the past few days. i get what i deserve..

this one's for you..

2008-03-06T01:27:00.002Z

happy birthday daddy!

wish i could be there
lots of love from millions of miles away
xxx

who's to blame

2008-03-05T01:31:00.003Z

today, i realise exactly how untalented i am.

i do not have the courage right now to do humanitarian medicine, no matter how heart-warming it is and how i think it's all for the best cause. the photographs of the utter helplessness of war victims and the innocent kids didn't help matters; it made me feel even guiltier that i wouldn't give up my safety to reach out to help them. such a pampered fool i am.

i do not play the piano/any musical instrument well, and by well i mean great. i define great as playing with such feeling you move the audience, performing without a care in the world, reaching a standard that the perfectionist in you will be proud of. throw in being fantastic in cool dance genres and here you have the ultimate all-rounder. i admire such people, to be able to go the unconventional route and do so well in it too.

i also cannot and will not be able to stand in front of an expectent audience and complete a stand-up comedy act. kudos to the 6 people who actually dared to.

we are compelled to do what we have to.
we are compelled to do what we have been forbidden.

i light my own fires

2008-03-03T22:55:00.002Z

in the midst of planning the trip of a lifetime (hopefully). it may not be as bad as i thought it would be - i do have more friends then i remember ha.

easter seems to be coming up too quickly. time flies when you have nothing to do. but i don't foresee it passing any faster now. good thing really.

i hate this cyclic workload. the worst part is knowing that the essays are looming but not having a clue what they are, just waiting to be buried under the inevitable sudden enthusiasm from supervisors. ok, i lie. that's not the worst bit, because what's even more infruriating is that london beckons this sunday, as does m night formal (which is shaping up to be an EPIC night) on sat, which just means i have to get these work done literally on the day i get them. to think that last weekend was absolutely work-free, so much so that i had to think long and hard for things to do to occupy myself. obviously, timing doesn't favour me one bit. and that feeling sucks.

lazy hazy crazy days

2008-03-02T00:42:00.003Z

so much free time set me thinking...

do i really need to be involved in societies/clubs to occupy my time? next year will most probably be a copy of these few days - just for an extended period of time. (i say this now but will look back and regret it for sure) it's definitely been great not having to do anything, basking in the sun and lazying around in the market, but can i keep up with this freedom long-term? seems like a silly question: i've been provided with a luxury in the stress bubble that is cambridge and i'm complaining.

maybe i'm one of those people who seeks to be busy so that i feel wanted.
or being busy keeps me occupied and my mind from wandering.
i'm still in the process of self-discovery...

i had better see the light soon.

wish upon a falling star..

2008-02-29T01:29:00.004Z

wondering where you are.
do i ever cross your mind in the warm sunshine?

numero uno on my wishlist right now:

if i could, (and i would!) not go to america, i will buy the iPhone immediately.
...
my birthday's coming up, it's the big one too!

big hint.

2008-02-26T19:16:00.002Z

best picture of the night by far!
junming the PIMP

WHAT A BLAST!

2008-02-25T16:44:00.005Z

i can safely say that last night was the best night ever for sure! we were at the hotel since 1.30pm setting up, with problems after problems cropping up (hotel's events manager didn't grasp the sheer scale of our ball - he thought it was only a dinner! av was having quite a few hiccups, projector wasn't cooperating, wires weren't long enough, performances were running late, so many nitty gritty things to take care of. ben was frazzled, junming was running around like a madman, balloons were being put up, stickers were being passed around the comm for signatures, people were TRIPPING OVER ALL THE CABLES ffs!)

however, as suiseng put it: at 4.30, everything messy, by 7.30 MAGIC.
everyone was nervous, getting them damn butterflies. i kept imagining things going wrong, and kept having to hound jumping for the order of proceedings throughout the night. but just before we opened the main doors to the ballroom, i stepped back and turned to look at the room - complete with balloons, place cards, personalized pictures, av and lighting all set up and ready - and i felt all psyched up. it was going to be beautiful.

when the first cue came on, and the GOH settled down, i started up ji pa ban, ben starting gyrating and everything then fell into place. zhengwei was on form last night with the av mixer, jumping, although a little tipsy, was spot on with the timings. i watched as performance after performance went on smoothly (maybe not suiseng's hokkien song on my part though cos the fricking video refused to load - but their performance was so good by itself nobody noticed, i hope), my heartbeat returning slowly to normal with every success. salsa, hokkien song, magic show, acapella, duo dance, gayle, nic zeng, meng. tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick ,tick ,tick.

one thing about the ball was that i couldn't really be at the table for most of it, but karaoke made up for everything! when the beer flowed, when kenrick unleashed his epic hurricane, and when jumping swiftly took over ben's title as mambo-KING with those inspired moves. thank god for alex and his videos! everyone was in such a merry state i half-wanted to just leave the laptop for somebody to man (i thought i remembered someone offering to) and join the rest having absolutely the best time ever.

ahh pictures tell all..

the best-dressed table hands down! we were celebrities in our own rights at that very moment. just imagine being on the red carpet with flashlights popping from every angle possible. josh was kept complaining that the feather boa was tickling him it was so funny. ahh i'm soooo glad we put in effort into our costumes. we looked so good and colourful last night!

ooh when the night became absolute mayhem. i forgot most of the harmonising to shan hu hai and it was our duet too! ever since last year we swore to sing this song at the ball, like a remake of last year's. jm was so emo just look at that expression! dead funny.

ahhh i'm well sad that we're giving up our cumsa posts now. I AM SO GOING TO MISS THIS COMM! best committee ever! the ball was the ultimate high - benkoh you are now officially my idol! you all rock my socks i have never regretted joining cumsa because you guys made all the difference! even when we were slogging our asses off for people who may or may not have appreciated us, we slogged with so much fun and jokes it didn't feel like hard work at all. nothing's going to top this ever.

much love,
xxx

halfway through!

2008-02-24T10:03:00.004Z

this one's for you nic.

and the lovely people who will be here forever. it's not really halfway for us at all, just an excuse to come together and celebrate 1.5 years of fun-filled times.

ahh halfway hall was awesome!

the way we get by

2008-02-24T01:34:00.004Z

i am so sleepy.

you will not imagine what i spent the last 4.5 hours doing - the most tedious thing ever is to be making ball table numbers for tomorrow. the hard part is to make them seem garish, but also professionally easy on the eyes. in the end, we went for a gold with silver glitery lining lettering on a black background.

my fingers are full of glitter. so is the rest of my room.
my feet are asleep now after being sat on in the same position for so long.
meng that fool used my practical book as a cutting board, and now i have holes in my graphs.

today was one big firefighting and errand-running day. if i had been a young little boy scout, i would have reached my good deeds for the day quota pretty early on in the day doing random tasks for people. not surprisingly, the most enjoyable part of today though has to be the oxbridge netball match - oxford, being the silly arses that they are, didn't send enough players to form a team so we basically had to play against a team of boys, which was oddly entertaining.

ok my eyelids can't cope. goodnight my loves
tomorrow will be a busy day indeed
xxx

ji pa ban

2008-02-22T11:15:00.000Z

this silly song has been on loop as i try to organise all the music that we'll need for the ball on sunday. IT'S FINALLY COMING it's in sight! i can't wait, although ideally i will want to wait this cold away. blocked nose, sore throat, constant sniffing - i can't help but laugh at the utterly horrible timing i have. this was the one weekend of all the weekeneds this term which i needed to stay healthy and geared up for

1. a whole freeee day today! NO lectures, NO supervisions, NOTHING! and the medics are planning on a granchester pub lunch too..
2. HALFWAY HALL tonight. omg i won't be tasting the confit of duck, whether it's because of my cold or due to the copious amounts of alcohol that is definitely going to be consumed.
3. oxbridge games on saturday - we'll need to be at our best to thrash their sorry oxford asses at netball, which means that there will be morning practice even before the match in the afternoon... all this cold english air won't do my airways any good whatsoever.
4. the whole of sunday will be dedicated to CUMSA BALL 2008. the one mega swansong event that our comm will organise before we retire on a high into our sad little tripos shells. i really can't wait till we're all dressed up in our frilly outfits, ready to roll.

but right now, i just want to get better. soon. the 11 hour sleep seemed to have helped.. but i'm still crossing my fingers.

the end of an era

2008-02-20T23:52:00.002Z

v day seems so long ago. those feelings of crazy happiness have now but subsided, but not before a very entertaining weekend which followed...

the culmination of 5 weeks (not months!) of blood, sweat and tears literally unfolded on saturday evening: The Malaysian Odyssey. aww i must say i'm so proud of mich and all her actors/dancers/cheorographers. they put up one amazing play; it succeeded in making this chronic plays/musicals-napper sit up and hang onto the characters' every word and action, laughing till i almost cried at certain parts. it doesn't hurt that i knew almost all the people acting in or involved in the play, and it touched me to see how much effort went into the whole thing. I was praying the whole time that it would go without a hitch, and it pretty much did just that, minus the forgetting of lines ("karaoke! karaoke!") and the slip during the dance that went totally unnoticed - nic only told me after the show back in our rooms.

special mention has to go out to:
alex teo, who threw caution to the wind, together with all shreds of respectibility for a single dance item which will be forever more cemented into facebook folklore. ohh i have never laughed so hard in my life!
also: nicole tay and alicia goh, who also threw caution to the wind with those excuses of a dress which barely covered anything. i was crossing my fingers the whole time, but it all turned out fine in the end. the pontianaks even managed to scare a certain malaysian into avoiding dark toilets out of conditioned fear from the dance.
kenrick ng, acting genius. the one most likely to win an oscar for his performance - something to add the the booklet!
voonkiat lai: a singlet-bearing padi boy whose dedication to the role include certain crucial decisions and drastic shaves
and last but not least, the three main actors wuileng heng, even pan and daniel tay aka the cool, the poser and the hamsuplou. roles so defined and apt for each personality that i can't help but worship the queen of all directors, michelle yeo.

so malaysia night came and went with a bang. the next day, i had to wake up to my last official day as CUMSA sports secretary. the agm was boring as expected, but i felt slightly depressed at the end of it when the eager smiles on the faces of the new committee members seemed to mock our quiet stepping-down. watching them convene for their very first cumsa meeting made me reminisent of the past year; it was such a good year i couldn't really ask for anything more to be honest. maybe that's why i was feeling reluctant to hand my post over; it had been just too perfect.

sorry for the emo post. another sun-soaked season has faded away...

locked in time..

2008-02-15T01:19:00.004Z

it's valentine's day today and i'm feeling nice and warm inside, despite the chilly weather outside. i thought it would be depressing and couple-y all over town today and was dreading the potential lonely walk up to teriakis for dinner, but it all turned out well :) it's the first vday in a long time where i actually felt like it was something special.

i have to say before i go any further, nicole: you're the best friend ever and i mean it. that was one hell of a nice surprise with the barbershop quartet! when they came in, i knew immediately that all that oxytoxin nonsense you were sprouting was a secret ploy to get into my room and film the whole thing! awww u know i'd fall for a serenade and i did! how can anyone not with voices like those? (plus not to mention they were 4 hot guys in black tie singing just for me!) i need to find a way to top this.

yes sir, that's my baby
no sir, i don't mean maybe
yes sir, that's my baby now

everything went perfect today:
valentine's lunch with the girls and dinner with the usual gang minus 2 (both with valid excuses hehe) were really nice with the usual good chat.
i also totally creamed everyone at sup today (thanks to mich dragging me to waterstones to mug and almost forgetting a little something called the surprise acapella dedication at 5pm - i was quite suspicious why nic was texting mich all the time knowing i was with her too) and that is always a morale-booster.
we managed to scout around for costumes for cumsa ball - our table is going to look so so hot; glittery fedoras and feather boas are just a little taster of our outfits...
juno was such a good film, even though it's a bit ironic to watch a show on abortion on vday. the soundtrack was awesome though, quirky yet sacchrine sweet.
it's also always a pleasant surprise when you find out you've underestimated how romantic someone can be. oh phooey not to me obviously but to come up with a vday plan that would melt any girl's heart. awww.
and what doesn't make u smile more than receiving flowers on vday :)

goodnight all
i know i'm going to be smiling in my sleep tonight

xxx

let it go

2008-02-13T23:23:00.002Z

the damage in your heart
i can't tell you how the words they made me feel

the mnight girls are over again, making their costumes this time. there's so much bad blood behind this production (mainly directed towards a certain someone) i really hope it goes well on saturday, if only for mich's sake. post-mnight celebrations will definitely be something to look forward to! :)

i have finally sorted out karaoke! now i can sing to jaychou in my room to my heart's content.

where bright lights and angels meet

2008-02-12T14:15:00.000Z

feels so good being altruistic. i guess i'm going into the right profession after all.

i can't explain it; we were possibly moved by all the hard work that the malaysia night crew was putting in day after consecutive day, going for multiple rehearsals each day, especially the 3 main characters. so we decided to cook them dinner on a whim. t'was one of the best dinners this term - chicken was already marinating in the fridge for the past 5 hours, we had just the right number of noodle packets for 5, mushrooms and onions completed the taste, which if i say so myself could be classed as gastronomical heaven. add to the fold pizza, spring rolls and cartons of juice and you have the perfect meal, complete with that good ole fuzzy feeling of doing something nice out of the goodness of your heart. :)

couldn't hurt that the company was fantastic, so much so that out altruism even extended to offering them our sacred b&js!

i feel so happy.

today's another cumsa day. photoshoot for the ball and figuring out karaoke to come.. something to look forward to? bring it on!

-overload

2008-02-11T01:01:00.000Z

just as i bemoan the dearth of activites in my last post, this barrage of tasks come flying in. i had to see it coming.

within the space of an hour, i had to:

decide on clare may ball tickets, taking into account the dynamics of the group and the limbo i was in concerning trinity tickets on the same night
discuss easter plans with chan
discuss easter plans with mandy
confer between the two and decide what i want to do
get distracted by a scintillating offer from the usual gang (dang why did u guys have to plan it so late..)
find out how incredulously quickly clare got sold out (half an hour!)
worry about people stealing my laundry
find out i have another opportunity of doing osca in hk with tom and matt if i wanted to ie they can pull strings.. hmm
help out with cumsa ball photoshoot and check out hotel av equipment with jm
arrange when to book the music room for meng
contend with multitudes of blinking msn convos

i don't usually note down such a detailed manuscript of events, but that is what i call multi-tasking. keeps you on your toes.

you don't know me

2008-02-10T22:16:00.000Z

you don't wear my chains
essential yet appealed
carry all your thoughts
across an open field

i'm in a rather dazed mood. i have achieved absolutely nothing this weekend. also, my reflexes are becoming less sharp. i missed the crux of sweeney todd last night and got very confused about the numbers on the yellow cards when watching chelsea vs liverpool today. thank you meng for bringing this to my attention, or lack thereof apparantly haha. something's amiss. i must just be very SIAN. it seems as though hopes are slipping away each day and things aren't turning out as i dreamed they would be. but then again, that explains why they will remain just dreams and wishful thinking. i have to learn to not think so much.

valentine's day is 4 days away. nic's made a wonderfully sweet present for james (i really hope you're not reading this james). i also wish a certain somebody luck and courage for what he intends to do. ooh the necessity for anonymity here is paramount. i feel like a detective trying to write a code hehe.

i was wearing a home-made padi field hat in the corridor a few minutes ago, courtesy of our corridor being malaysia night HQ for the timebeing, when shreena walked in from badminton and said "i must be dreaming!" she stood staring and laughing for awhile and i felt it best to leave her in her incredulity with mouth agape and all. i love being comic relief!

on a more administrative note, cumsa ball preparation is in full swing. pictures need to be taken, posters need to be done up, cheques need to be sent in, dining preferences need to be finalized, performances need to be rehearsed. mmm my free week suddenly seem to have ended.

don't shrug your shoulders

2008-02-09T18:11:00.000Z

we got beaten by queens' today. totally could have washed them but i'm quite happy cos i scored all the points this game. good shooting percentage, unlike the previous thrashing we received. i realize how unfit i am compared to angmohs. it's true, even compared to james of all people, i'm so sluggish, and no one (not even nic) could believe how fit he actually is. (maybe i should go running with him as a sort of test of fitness.) and to think i wanted to join the football team! now that would possibly kill me. where have those days where i could just run forever disappeared to?

i have decided agms are the most boring things ever. especially when what u expected turned out to be a much tamer affair. ours is on next week. our second to last hurdle. let's hope it goes well.

ahh i'm such a geek! i somehow managed to mutilate my thumb and all i can think about are clotting cascades and innate inflammation.

wake me up..

2008-02-08T14:29:00.000Z

when the accusations end. i hate this ambiguity.

but i won't let it spoil my otherwise top-of-the-world mood today, stemming from the fun that was funkyard II last night. like ben said, our bop thrashes theirs hands down man! maybe that's why we were feeling so damn good about ourselves the whole night, checking our watches and comparing the crowd size at regular time intervals to HSM, compounding on our proud belief that we're the best committee. ever. the crowd was literally cumsa-esque; nic and i were the only people who knew how to follow instructions to wear RED. it's chinese new year after all!

you're simply the best, better than all the rest.

we have found our song. oh definitely. :)

good mood was potentiated by firstly, FREE POPCORN along the way to lectures. good timing cos i was absolutely starving. breakfastless mornings and i just don't go hand in hand. secondly, FIRE ALARM at lectures after about approximately 7 minutes meant we had an extra hour of our weekend! i am so happy.

here's a funny quip from prof. stanley: "i hate mobile phones. i can go berserk and invoke physical injury if any phone goes off. please turn them to vibration mode, even if it's just for the cheap thrill".

i was laughing so hard.

reunion dinner!

2008-02-07T01:47:00.001Z

i just had the most wonderful reunion dinner with nic ben wv ym alex voon ian rui mich. we had TEPANYAKI! i realized today that the most wonderful invention in the world is the tepanyaki grill; it cooks to perfection! but i am blatantly taking away credit from the crazy marinating by the queens' crew - can u imagine getting ready 5 hours prior to cooking? i feel so inadequate. mostly nic and i only remember to add the seasoning as the meat is already on the grill/in the pan, and a hasty scramble for the kikoman/pepper/teriaki sauce follows suit. such blur fools we are..

i'm still feeling contented in my bubble of happiness even as i sit in my quiet room reminiscing. i'm smiling even as my kitchen reeks of garlic and the floor stays slippery despite the bravest of efforts from ben and i. my teeth are chattering because i had to open my windows to let the smell of leftover japanese style noodles topped with a generous serving of chicken and eggs dissipate. even the fact that we got porter-ed seems down right hilarious now!

i love karaoke i love loveletters i love the food i love b&js i love red packets but most of all,

i love my friends!

it wouldn't be the same here without you guys. i sincerely thank you.

xxx

it's back!

2008-02-06T15:32:00.001Z

my computer's back!! thank god

just felt the urge to do something internet-related, leave my mark where i haven't been able to for so long (hey, 3 days is long enough) !

it's also CHINESE NEW YEAR EVE!

to everyone at home:
新年快乐!
万事如意!
i miss you guys & i want to be home...

you do it to yourself

2008-02-03T09:56:00.000Z

you do really.. i've come to realize how all my backlog of work is down to my own procrastination and faffing around. without the internet connection in my room, it's making me more focussed when i come to the computer room. i can't explain it, but even though there's usually nobody (but this really pretty girl with her black hat and scarf - even indoors!) in the computer room, i still feel as though someone's always watching me, judging me - so i work better. there u go, the cliched silver lining in every situation!

2 formals in the last 2 days. christ's formal on friday was surprisingly good despite all the warnings and danger signs. good company, (can i say) good food, limited wine but i still enjoyed myself all the same. post-formal fun times were most entertaining. i haven't felt so awkward yet have such an urge to laugh in a long time. after all the second-hand description by nic about how kenneith demonstrates the dance moves with one of the guys, it turned out to look exactly like how it plays in my mind's eye! the dance itself was hot stuff, i will never let you live it down nicole! hah. there is only one phrase to describe kenneith: bold like hell. so unrestrained because of his passion, being his own person in every sense of the word, bursting with self-confidence. i quite admire people like that, even though i may not see eye to eye with what they subscribe to. yaoyu's another example, speaking of which.. tuesday will be, um interesting to say the least. it's funny how something i was so looking forward to can become something i'm apprehensive about going to now.

vedics formal yesterday was seriously the best menu pembroke could ever come up with! as jane put it, best line up ever! risotto for starters, salmon baked to perfection, treacle pudding. plus loads of wine! it definitely was an all guns ablazing game of pennying as dave had so kindly warned us in his earlier email. unfortunately (or not) i chose the wrong place to sit at - directly opposite the mastermind himself and before i knew it, after a 'hey jas, remember what i said?', the carnage started. i had a whole bottle of wine to myself, which might explain why i may have agreed to get some cheap boots and go for football practice in the next 2 weeks. best part of formal, given my inherent asian women sweet tooth syndrome, was most undoubtedly the pudding, of which between the 3 of us, we had 5 of. we had to find ways and means to hide servings of puddings under the table and in our gowns in an attempt to confuse the catering staff. i must say i'm quite disappointed in our dining staff. it was too easy. far too easy. king's cellars after became such a weird affair (complete with random spanish lab partners) that jane and i decided to call it a night. fun times...

ffs

2008-02-02T00:44:00.000Z

i got disconnected from the pembroke network today. totally sucks because it wasn't my fault too. someone sent one of those msn viruses and now my "machine has been exhibiting symptoms of having it's security compromised". so here i am, sitting in the freezing computer room wearing 3 layers and still not feeling my toes, cursing the computer officers who were MIA when they were supposed to be there to provide assistance. gah!

ok, no point in being so upset.. we shall just think happy thoughts... happy thoughts.

IT DID NOT SNOW TODAY! despite all the talk of it.. i am so disappointed. it did not help that the temperature was crazy low and the winds were relentless.. okk happy thoughts c'mon...

this week's the week of formals: 3 since sunday, one more tomorrow - the big vedic's formal yet again, the last of which ended with 2 freshers and 1 second year being brought down, according to some of the third years. such arrogance. revenge will be so sweet!

i am so tired i can't think i need sleep i will go upstairs to thaw now.

we're distracted by the heart..

2008-01-31T22:52:00.000Z

and yes it's going to snow again tmr. or so says the BBC weather page. and again on sunday.. yay? or nay? i'm in limbo. i remember last year we were so excited seeing snow fall, where everything was nice and pretty and everyone looked so picturesque framed by the dirty white. it was like pictures taken on a small budget camera, untouched yet so profound.

all my lawyer friends are getting their dream summer internships which will most probably turn out to be their eventual careers. seems so sudden that we're in the middle of our degrees already and the hot topic for everyone around me (sans the medics and the scholarship holders) is how to get a job. the finality of finishing schooling and going out there is pretty scary. but all the same, i'm so happy for them. they've worked hard and they deserve it. when they end up working in london, hopefully i'll be there for clinicals too. those will be fun times ... ..

this is yet another night when i'm sitting in front of the com at 2.27am, after having dozed off at my slumber hours of 11pm - midnight. didn't really do anything draining today too so i have no good excuse to be feeling so tired. on another note, it's a love/hate relationship i have with musically-talented people. love them because they entertain me, and hate them because they are just so fricking good it's depressing. owell i guess i just have to be contented i'm not tone deaf and just e n j o y the music. hah i had this transient urge to join a choir earlier this term. would have been such a blast except i suddenly recalled the need to be able to sight-sing. i almost failed every single piano oral exams because i can't sight-sing. greattt. it's back to singing as loud as i dare in my room before morna/the porters come around haha.

tomorrow will be good. snow and a formal.. what more can i ask for?

night xx

land of the free...

2008-01-30T01:12:00.000Z

i'm being such a geek. i actually pay attention during supervisions to notice the jokes kojiro makes. like today, he said "when i was in liverpool, there were lots of dysfunctional families on tv. it seems that there's a higher rate of dynsfunctional family units in the north", to which lorna replied with a loud and indignant OI! ok, it isn't technically a joke on all accounts, but kojiro belongs to a different class so we'll give him that. haha

i finally booked my tickets to america amidst lots of hoohaa with the stupid website. the more we used it, the dodgier it gets: random price hikes, stopping over at detroit (which we decided was a city straight out of rap songs), and the incredible journey time for a trip which should supposedly take around 7 hours. somehow, the cheapo in me wasn't really awake. granted we chose the cheapest flights we could find, but that's out of the grand total of 3 websites we checked.
however, the ORDEAL IS OVER! now for the actual itinerary of the trip .....

eating something other than my own cooking is refreshing. i have now learnt/stolen the recipe for steamed egg with minced pork. my new favourite sauce: black bean sauce! yumm

another sun-soaked season fades away...

2008-01-27T08:35:00.000Z

i had these beautiful pictures to upload, but blogger is being such a pain. maybe i should just move this somewhere. maybe.

the weekend was nice and relaxing. sporty, but relaxing. just how i like it. netball, badminton, netball. funny how my sporting life here just consists of netball and i never used to play it competitively (if you don't consider netball carn). i'm nowhere near good, but it's enjoyable. one more thing, it feels as though i'm actually on top of my work! it's probably because we haven't really have that much work to do as yet, but i'd like to think it's due to my "singaporean organization" as lorna put it.

m night's thriller dance is to die for. i was showing nic the moves outside on tennis court road in the middle of the day and it's safe to say i looked like a total crazed woman picking up some indian bangrah steps. she was laughing nonstop, so i guess i amused her, together with the other handful of pedestrians who looked totally bemused.

dinner last night was good times! i can't wait for summer to come so we can go lepak with mich!

just a glimpse was all i needed

2008-01-26T00:26:00.000Z

t'was the start of my comparatively sociable week when i decided i couldn't take the hermitness anymore! and so called up friends, went out to watch perspectives (nic's dance show), ate out more. feels so good

perspective was one word: sensational. much better than last year's, plus the fact that i knew some of the people dancing too! nic's hard work throughout the term and the holidays definitely paid off. from all the things she's been saying about how everyone seems to be loving her item AND more importantly, the special mention in Varsity today! whoa, that really upped her mood as well as strengthened my resolve to go watch this show of hers. the dance itself was also very cute. two young girls agreeing, fighting, working it out, then resolving everything. v charming. i likeee :)

(i realise that not all dancers have very nice bodies. but when they do, omg they are gorgeousss!)

on a side note, cumsa ball ents are going to be awesomeee! the performances especially. i (dare i say) initiated a great cross-instrumental collaboration that will definitely bring the house down on ball night. it's all so cryptic now because it should be kept a secret for it to have that necessary ooomph. i can't wait!

just a thought: people are turning 20, and i'm turning 21... gosh, sure does feel different.

can you read my mind

2008-01-21T15:44:00.000Z

today the lecturer said that "depression is characterized by insomnia or hypersomnia nearly every day, which is gettin up early without any reason". i've been getting up every day at 7am, which is pretty much hypersomnia in cambridge. he went on to mention " fatigue or loss of energy" as another symptom, and i bemoaned my perpetual tiredness all weekend.

but then he continued with "markedly diminished interest of pleasure in all activities most of the day, nearly every day" and i immediately went - i take immense pleasure in EATING every day. - so i'm alright. phew. hahahaa.

seriously, the things i think about during lectures...

i'll take another chance, take a fall, take a shot for you

2008-01-20T22:03:00.000Z

tests are over and i've resorted to blogging again cos i just don't want to start reading neuro. again.

today i was a good healthy girl and went to the gym to EXERCISE. and found out exactly how unfit i am. i was on the stairs-climber thing (cos in pembroke the treadmill is there for show and refuses to work) for 5 minutes and was huffing and puffing like a madwoman. and so i decided to utilize all the machines in the gym one by one. i had the whole gym to myself.. until i almost completed a round and was doing sit-ups on the mat when this old woman came in, at the very moment when i was struggling to finish my upteenth sit-up. embarrassing. m u s t e x e r c i s e m o r e.

start of term has been draggy. i have:
1. way too many lectures to read up for (what's new)
2. way too many supervisions to worry about
3. feeling too much like a hermit
4. cycled up the hill for netball which got cancelled again :(
5. on facebook for too long

g a h.
next week's going to be horrendous. even my itunes seem to know that. it's on random and all the emo songs are playing now. at least someone sympathizes.

daydreams

2008-01-08T07:24:00.000Z

life moves along, and it trickles down the face of every beautiful boy
time comes along, and it breaks every bone in your spine

and into the flight of night
insomnia strikes, and hopes alight
set ourselves up to fall
as we stargaze and we write down all the things that we'll do
fall into the river, pockets full of stone
full of stone

a sky full of hope

2008-01-08T05:52:00.000Z

sometimes doing something out of the ordinary wakes people up to what is real. and special.

scenes from home are not always the typical frenzy of orchard road, or the multitude of dishes waiting to be consumed. sometimes, there only needs to be something simple, something peaceful for you to reflect on how crazy the world is now.

cycling through the north of singapore opened many new fascinations for wide open spaces, beautiful blue skies, wind-in-your-hair freedom and green green grass. i never knew how pretty reservoirs are. the still waters, gentle ripples. that blazing sun on your skin. reminded me of softball trainings of oh-so-long ago where we baked under the crazy afternoon heat, turning into our famed golden brown/black as some people will emphasize.

images of yesteryears. attap huts with their zinc roofs and unmowed lawns. the imperfection of wild cow grass and houses on stilts in the foreground of a pristine golf course. i felt a bit nostalgic in the face of such juxtaposition.

i don't know how singapore will change in the coming years, but it is said to be moving forward at an exceeding rate. we can very well be in the top 10 richest countries in 5-10 years but somehow i do not really look forward to the fast-encroaching concrete forest.

last week.. finally!

2007-11-26T03:34:00.000Z

i keep trying to catch a breather, and now i just have to hold on till the end.

christmas week in cambridge is coming up, with a huge spoiler in the form of a 3-hour-long pathology test to come. :( but after that, it's all good till i reach back to sunny shores in 3 week's time.

since last, i've learnt how to play the hardest song in my repetoire on the guitar: cannonball. all those practising has given me hardened fingertips but it's all worth it. i LOVE playing the guitar and just chilling and relaxing. it also explains why i'm up at this ungodly hour revising. i'm giving myself a goal: in 3 year's time i'm going to be able to play as well as meng. HAHA nic are u listening? motivation enough eh?

updates for all u loyal readers (which i don't suppose will amount to many..)

been to london again for temasek forum and abacus boat party. it felt so good being in an environment where singlish was the main mode of communication: even the VIPs were speaking in singlish! listening in to discussions about singapore policies and news from home just made me feel all the more.. home-y. :) boat party wasn't as good as everyone hyped it up to be, but twas enjoyable all the same..

blogger's being anal and not allowing me to post pictures. rarr :(

2007-11-04T03:01:00.000Z

and so it is

just like you said it would be

life goes easy on me

most of the time...

i'm taking a mid-term break from all things cumsa. hurray.

this week has flown by, especially with the midweek escapade to london. twas a refreshing change to the monotony that was cambridge life. supervision after supervision, essays after essays, sleepless nights galore. that being said, it's been a rather sociable term thus far. i'm glad for the balance.

on one of the many roofs of johns, trying to take in the beauty of the pitch black sky that night..

early in the term osca meet up. these people made screaming kids bearable for 6 weeks in hk during the summer.

first pembroke bop of the year: night at the movies.
unadventurous as i was, i still managed to crap up some form of costume (battle royale: classic school uniform excuse of a costume).

no points for guessing who chris came as..

i love props!

then came the notorious pembroke medics/vets formal. first of the year where freshers get taken down... and taken down baadd. first and only picture of all the second year medics so far..

the singaporean frenzy catches on real quick.. either that or all of them were wasted.

funkyard: where things got exciting..

A&E night! when everyone thinks medics are way cool and tries to dress up as one, finally realising that there isn't much room for creativity as a medic.

yay for bold pembroke domination of the central podium!

meng, the one night he behaved himself..

well, not quite.. hahaha!

espionage. a night of sultry decadence.
love the black and white photo chan

jish: all the way from oxford! reliving our oxbridge success...

i didn't get what the themed booths were,
from the looks of it, apprantly u just get hats.

the great london midweek escape ended on a high, like anything involving football should really.

chelsea vs leicester city with meng and jesh

i got my money's worth: 7 goals! and all that excitement along with it!

all seems good now that i'm done with the hexamathonium man. :)

only nic will understand...

haha

ta!

lazy days

2007-08-22T08:22:00.000+01:00

haven't been up to much since my return: seen a few people, met up with family, had a huge humungous japanese dinner courtesy of some lucky rich people with 6 months bonuses. brought helen around the tiny island that is singapore, i had to think really hard where to bring her cos there isn't really much choice here is there?

and most recently, I'VE FALLEN SICK. bummer. and not just any plain old sickness, it has to be the mother of all illnesses. struck me down and made me do nothing but lie in bed the whole day on monday, i'm not kidding. feeling much better now, but i'm gearing myself up for my first public appearance since the virus attacked, at a class gathering no less.

yesterday was recuperation day, together with pineapple tart baking day! ahh the smells that were wafting from the kitchen... too bad my stomach was still feeling a bit queasy, else there wouldn't be that many pineapple tarts left now. all this food's for the fresher's tea party on saturday, where we finally get to see the new blood going into cams. these people are scary. ok, i have to say, in a fit of boredom and when facebook stalking seemed interesting, i have found out that these freshies have been interacting with the other newcomers from all over the uk going into the same college! sounds like how dave, lorna and tara first "met" one another way way before we stepped into pem. gosh, i wish my children will be nice and enthu.

jiayi and i were just lamenting how we miss osca. although we all said it was the most tiring thing we've ever done, but it was so much fun. i wouldn't give up the experience for anything. maybe next year, another country, another 6 good summer weeks? mmm.

back

2007-08-16T07:33:00.000+01:00

6 weeks in honkers. and now i'm back.

it's been great. i'm already missing it.

now's the start of some serious slacking, chilling and bumming. woohoo.

2007-07-02T16:21:00.000+01:00

ooooh i'm in heaven...

hongkong!

2007-07-02T05:19:00.000+01:00

the week back in singapore just flew by. and now it's 6 weeks of hk.

it was a good week by any standards, saw most of my friends but too little of the family. then again, some of them are flying back to different parts of the world while i'm here in cantoland, so i'm justified. i hope.

we missed the fireworks last night. 10th anniversary of independence. i can't believe it was that long ago.

owell.. DIMSUM soon! i'm starving.

2007-06-20T10:24:00.000+01:00

a quick update before i fly off tonight into a champagne world set right on my doorstep that is the pembroke may ball...

it's been a week since the last day of hell and i've grown significantly tanner. the sun came out for cumas' garden party, but decided to snub us at cumsa. but i am thankful to say that the rainy season seems to be over now. just in time for mayball.

john's june ent: around the world. made the hugest mistake to join the 2 hour queue for crepes in the rain. i can't complain about the free food and ice lollies though. the dj was fantastic.. i haven't had that much fun for time.. well for 3 days to be exact.

i can't believe jesus had the feeling play for them! and we've got noisettes. female lead singers don't bode very well for me, gwen excluded. bummer. i was hoping for a good band this year. we'll seeee...

not even the rain can stop us

2007-06-15T03:45:00.000+01:00

today was such a blast!

notwithstanding the showers which threatened to spoil my garden party day

before when all was nice and calm...

then it got a bit more messy...

after all the mad rushes to the food trays as they come out of the makeshift kitchen

we started getting a little bit more desperate and chased each other for that last bit of sausage/juice/crisp

news of the release of hom results unsettled some of us...
but WE ALL PASSED!

the second years had to endure all our screaming and celebratory hugging.. it was quite a sight. we had concluded that us pembroke medics are one smart bunch by the end of the day. :)

post-exam euphoria

2007-06-13T21:57:00.000+01:00

yesterday, the end finally came.

tara and lis were waiting outside histology armed with bottles of champagne. there were lots of bottle popping; people were being drenched in champagne; hugs all around: it was such a good feeling. then anita shelly charged up bull-like and threatened us with our lives if we didn't bring our celebratory din somewhere else...

back at pembroke:

lazying around on the lawn. more champagne, g&t with a little too much gin, cheese and crackers, chocolate mousse, drunken croquet (always a blast), loads of talking and catching up cos i feel i haven't seen some of the medics since the start of mugging season, guitaring, then cindies!

the cheese was great, especially on an end-of-exam day.. got back to bed with sore feet and a rumbling stomach, but i was happyy. happiest i've been in awhile. :)

picnic with the medics today. we bought too much food as usual... that's what you get with a bunch of kiasu singaporeans. the sun was glorious and i was actually burning. went shopping after and went a bit crazy. haha garden parties tmr and now i've got a nice dress to go in!

ahh the start of fun times...

2007-06-11T17:07:00.000+01:00

yessss! 3 in a row now :)

steeplechase was fine. more importantly, steeplechase is over!

one more to go...

phew..

2007-06-08T01:40:00.000+01:00

after cramming for a whole afternoon, night and morning, with a maximum of only 4 hours of sleep, the week of hell is finally o v e r! thank god. i don't think i could have sustained that amount of work every single day. i dread to think what i'll become next year with almost 8 consecutive days of exams.

the new secret weapon for taking exams = caffeine. i've never had coffee before an exam, just mostly during essay crisis nights. but it works perfectly :) ipoh white coffee - the superdrug. hehe.

i'm loving this taste of freedom, even if it's just for tonight. makes me think of all the things i can be doing other than studying. 2 more papers and i can start burning my notes!

2007-06-06T15:21:00.000+01:00

i thought it couldn't get any worse

but it did.

2007-06-05T17:21:00.000+01:00

cambridge - where your best is never enough.

speaks a lot about today's papers.

sucks.

2007-06-02T20:03:00.000+01:00

funnily enough, once i step out of my room i feel good. even if it's going to the library. for one, it's bright and sunny, and i can concentrate.

then they kick us out and i lose my motivation. so i sit in my room and mope.

i don't get how some people can be so carefree.

down in the pits

2007-05-29T08:18:00.000+01:00

there are people raking the leaves out on the lawn - the aftermath of the storm that was yesterday.

very soon i will be able to rake away the info overload too.

everything will be alright.

up on a cloud..

2007-05-24T19:23:00.000+01:00

ahh bliss.

i've waited for this day for ages :)

the first of many visits from home. and i can't be happier that it's lilian to kick start them all.

another fantastic day, sun shining brightly, cambridge at it's finest.

i'm just so happy that everything came together perfect.

now as i sit in my room reminesing,

it all seemed so fast.

conversation blurs into one as we catch up on lost time

it's the same comfortable feeling :)

i wish it could happen all over again...

breaking the monotony

2007-05-22T22:18:00.000+01:00

nothing can quite compare to strawberries and cream

on a bright sunny day

a picnic on the grass

taking all inhibitions away

if just momentarily...

but i'm happy enough

today has been a good day

a refreshing break from routine :)

2007-05-20T16:10:00.000+01:00

nic was right,

when it comes to the exam period, you start questioning your aims in life.

why are you here?

what are you doing this for?

it suddenly all becomes quite meaningless.

every day is filled with superficial rote learning

i don't see the point.

2007-05-17T13:16:00.000+01:00

my sleep cycle is all screwed up. all because of anatomy. boo.

but i've passed both steeplechases! woohoo. with the amount of revision i've done, it's quite an amazing feat. in fact, i think because of the steeplechase-overload, i'm getting the hang of it. some questions also seem to repeat... and i have to actually be able to recognise the different muscles to know that! hehe

the weather's getting slightly better. monday's forecasted to be SUNNY. my god, it's been awhile since we last saw proper sunshine. ahh all the better for tennis!

this is such a boring post. my life is pretty uneventful these days. mugmugmug. when the highlight of your day is reduced to mealtimes, u know something's not right.

the massive july babies birthday formal..

2007-05-13T23:19:00.000+01:00

the july babies decided to hold a combined birthday formal since they wouldn't have the chance to on their actual birthdays. and so, we had the pseudo-birthday formalities today: present-exchange, formal, and the usual birthday banter..

now, normally this would only happen to the birthday girl. but since everyone was merry, why not 5-pence everybody in sight? made a whole load of sense then, now it just seems like silly fun. my tongue wasn't long enough to reach the bottom of the glass as lorna's could, and in the end i had to resort to stealing my dessert spoon back to finish my pudding.

one of the many pseudo-birthday girls.. lornabean. love. :)

another day has passed. i'm counting down...

lilian's coming next week already! i'm looking forward to her coming, but at the same time, that means i'll only be a week away from the exams! :S boo. i hate exams. however, if i choose to think of it as an inevitable hurdle before months of freedom and playtime, i might just have the motivation to work hard till then.

there, i've consoled myself sufficiently to start work again. sometimes i amaze myself.

2007-05-12T13:14:00.000+01:00

today i played 3 hours of tennis. shiok. clara couldn't make it, so one of the guys coached me instead.. i can now hit a proper backhand! but i also have a huge blister on my thumb. well, as they say, no pain no gain. i hope it's a sign that i'm improving.

tennis is one of the best sports ever. i think i will play everyday when i get back over the summer. it'll be the one sport that i will be following on tv AND playing. too bad roland garros has to be held during my exams, or i'd be glued to the tv in the bars in june. works out perfectly: after the premiership season ends, it'll be 2 grand slams in a row - french open then wimbledon. AHH if only i had tickets for wimbledon...

ok, anatomy calls.... i will finish it all this weekend. yes i will.

LONDON~

2007-05-10T21:01:00.000+01:00

mou-rin-h-o!

are u listening?

u've got to keep the trophy glistening.

cos we're coming back in may

to take it away

walking in a fergie wonderland!

nothing can ever beat live football matches, although yesterday's match was a bit disappointing in the build-up. it was meant to be THE match of the season, with the top 2 premiership teams fighting it out for the title. but not before chelsea tamely gave the fight up by not being able to win arsenal over the weekend. booooooo.

so there we were, watching the the chelsea and man utd second stringers in action. sootet: u got to see keiran richardson up close! bahhh.

our seats were reallly good though. 10 rows from the front. behind the goal...

here's rooney during half-time, showing off as usual. kept the ball off the ground all the way from the goalposts to the sidelines. OK i know that might be nothing to some people, but i'm a girl. i don't play football. i tried to see how many times i could juggle with the ball, and it only got up as high as 2 kicks. so pathetic..

solskjaer, terry, smith, essien all in one picture. haha that dongfangzhuo spoiling the prefect picture. owell, he had a special chant from the man utd fans:

ding dong ding dong
wherever u are from...

then i can't rmb anymore haha.. wad to do? i have such a goldfish memory.

yea, so the match went fine. 0-0 draw. but what else could be expected given my recent run of bad luck with these games?

the remainder of the time i was in london was spent hanging out with meng and his winchestonians. peas in a pod. i swear these schools churn out almost identical final products! they were pretty cool though, so that's fine.

and before i knew it, my one-day escape from cambridge ended. just like that. :( and now it's back to mad revision. tata.

boredboredbored..

2007-05-07T22:18:00.000+01:00

after finishing an essay, i always get this down time where i feel satisfied and contented with myself, at the same time not doing anything productive.. and hence this entry. but yes, i'm done with my fab essay! :)

the weekend was all about medics/vets dinner. the big annual 25 pound 5 course dinner in the old library. and as always, the brits will try to get the money's worth of alcohol.

by the end of the night, they were all so tipsy they couldn't even get their own names correct.

nic and i rushed off for spiderman 3 after dinner. best decision made, or else we'd be lying on the floor in H10 passed out or similar. as i warned, it WAS carnage. just carnage that i missed. for spiderman, which wasn't as great as everyone made it out to be. cheesy lines galore...

"everyone needs help sometimes, even spiderman"

oh, so true! in every meaning of that phrase.

it was mabel's birthday yesterday.. all 20 years old now. just like me.

lunch at spoons.. oh the sharers! where were they all my life? hahha barbecue chicken wings and ribs with chips. a huge mountain of them. mmmmm

i realise i always end with food. haha. it's one of the loves of my life!

GAH.

2007-05-07T14:35:00.000+01:00

chelsea always disappoints. now i'm just going for a party celebration at stamford bridge for all the "starry eyed man u fans" as prof puts it.

it's been raining all day today. somewhat depressing, but yet somehow comforting. i'm glad that i'm done with all my lessons for today and now can sit in my room and get down to slogging. no, take that back. i'm only happy to sit in my room. i have 2 essays looming, of which i have to finish at least one today so that i can do my other one tmr before london. PLUS i need to revise and not get sucked under all these supervision work... :(((

somebody save me.

johns formal swap.. again.

2007-05-05T12:54:00.000+01:00

this is the pembroke medic crew yesterday at johns. a girls' night out...

theo the john's boy.. with kat and alasdire from magdalene. across the table, talk was about how people wake up in awe everyday in cambridge, and that makes them work. or does it? and of course, when u put a pembroke medic together with some madgalene medics, who else do we end up talking about but cecilia? haha dear cecilia. i have found one of the 2 medics whose supervision i'm crashing on thursday!

these 3 girls are obviously disillusioned. they think they are having an intellectual DR conversation.

ahh these formal swaps... johns is normally one of the better places to go visit. the food last night was fantastic! smoked salmon for starters, chicken with mushrooms, spinach and gnocchi for entree and icecream!! all for 3.85 pounds.. i was in heaven.

yes, and up on the schedule tonight: medics/vets dinner. it will be carnage. be warned.

arghhhhhh!

2007-05-02T22:50:00.000+01:00

i can't believe how shit man u played tonight! destroyed my mood to study now.. maybe i should just drown myself in comfort food. there're loads of chocolate/sweets/pineapple tarts/cookies in my room anyway...

sigh, on a brighter note: croquet yesterday! like, finally!

it was nice and sunny. 3 hours lazing around on the croquet lawn meant no work done. but it was such a good break... the sun here is amazing, bright but not scorching. the wind makes all the diff too. ahhh.

we even had an audience!

hehe.. according to lorna, it was a "good tactical game", which ended up with me winning cos the rest just took turns kiling each other off! when u hit the colourful pole in the middle before u've gone through all the 6 hoops, u lose and start from the beginning again. the best part of croquet is when u get to whack other people's balls against the pole when they're about to win and make them start again! and so the game continues... and continue it did.. all the way until 6pm. (we started at 3)

and then it was dinner+ugly betty time. and more time-wasting on the liverpool-chelsea match. that result was rubbish, but not as rubbish as tonight's. :( sigh.

evergold...

2007-04-29T11:07:00.000+01:00

oh yea and after picnic, there was evergold: the play. :)

bryan and yaoyu were fantastic! the whole play was in cantonese, thank god for the subtitles. i loved the costumes.. nic was saying how cooling they would be, esp in that furnace of a dramatheatre. or it could have just been us suffering the after-effects of being sunburnt from the picnic.

picnic in the sun

2007-04-29T09:57:00.000+01:00

today i struggled out of bed due to sheer exhaustion, and i figured that it all boils down to being in the sun for too long yesterday.

christina will agree with me that the sun was scorching down parker's piece. and i must say nic's sunglasses are guaranteed to give you 360 degress of protection! i tried it. oh yea.

more at the picnic, there was good food: macdonals-worthy milo and heaps of the best sandwiches in cambridge in the spread...

everybody seems to be enjoying the foood more than anything else..

ben gives affirmation to the lip-smacking egg mayo sandwiches

so do ym and wv who even volunteered to be our food models and be in this advertisement.

darryl got a bit confused as to what to do with his food...

but ben shows the way... fighting for yet another advertising opportunity for our pristinely catered food with his colour-coordinated outfit.

and so, all the compliments on the food left ym and i puzzled at the amount of egg mayo sandwiches left at the end of the picnic... but thankfully there were other activities that distracted us from our misery..

ym got straight down to work filling those damn water balloons,

but not after taking an impromptu bag-tying tutorial from the hawkerman himself.

and what else does meng usually get up to , other than disrupting our efforts by threatening to destroy all the innocent water bombs lying all ready in the sun.

there were patient people trying to fly a kite. all i did was hold the string when the kite was already safe and flying in the air, and i still managed to let it drop back down. i have no affinity with kites, but that can't be said for cricket!

it's softball all over again! :) chrees, ym and i had a ball of a time playing cricket modified to softball.. if only we had our gloves...

yep, it was a great way to spend an afternoon, with games, friends and food. it'd be awhile before we get to go all out and do this again.

(: till then.

egg paradise.. OR HELL?

2007-04-28T00:44:00.000+01:00

Recipe for disaster:

Give 2 starving people the task of making 3 loaves of egg mayo sandwiches in a night.
Throw in another 3 loaves of ham & cheese sandwiches and 3 extra pairs of hands.
Ensure that the people do not know exactly what they are doing, inducing hilarious one-liners as a result:
"that's my template" - meng, trying to hide the fact that he has no clue as to how to cut a sandwich into triangular quarters when he proudly showed off a slice of bread neatly sliced into um, 2 rectangles.
"return of the bread monster!" - chrees on the monstrous growing pile of egg mayo sandwiches.
Make sure there is always some wastage of food, be it by the horribly inaccurate estimation of ingredients required or easier still, by the accidental flipping over of the plate of completed sanwiches.
Next, and most importantly, insert a dose of creativity and a tribute to the very reason why we were slogging through a friday night:

But somehow or the other, the sandwiches still managed to get done before sunrise... mission accomplished.

and now we're ready for the picnic tomorrow, where other poor souls will have to consume our snacks. haha :)

20 years and counting

2007-04-26T22:06:00.000+01:00

boy oh boy. i'm 20 already. all the jibes about being old has already started. check out the facebook message i received yest:

Dear Ms Ho Hui Ying Jasmine,

Allow me to warmly congratulate you for having been granted membership to the Club of 20-year-old Fogeys. I sincerely apologise if you have been kept waiting for more than 19 years just to join this exclusive club, but unfortunately our officers do take a while to decide if you have the maturity, the intelligence, and the character to handle the responsilities expected of a young adult. And I am very happy to inform you that they have all unanimously agreed that you are far and above one of the best qualified candidates by far.

As a member of the Club of 20-year-old Fogeys, one of the biggest previleges of such an exclusive club membership would be the fact that you are now only one step away from the most esteemed position of Old Fogey, the official title for adulthood. As a 20-year-old Fogey, you are basically an Old Fogey in training and will receive more or less the same priveileges as they do, only with more strings attached - all part of the learning process. For more details, please visit the School of Life website at www.schooloflife.com and sign up for some of their talks and classes, like Grey Areas 101 and Tough Choices 06 to 10. You will find them very informative and useful in your bid to be an Old Fogey.

Please do reply if you are willing to accept this prestigious membership (even though there isn't any reason not to) asap so that we can aid you in your training process. And once again, congratulations on being such a well-rounded and qualified individual. I hope that we will have many long and fruitful days together working on your development.

haha, well then a recap of yest in true bridget-jones style:

no. of birthday surprises: 4

no. of midnight surprises: 2 (one singapore time, one uk time)
no. of birthday songs sung: 3
no. of chocolate cakes: 2
no. of chocolate cake slices left: 4 (i just couldn't eat any more..)
no. of candles: 24 (i'm afraid my friends can't count very well)

no. of espresso makers: 1
no. of assorted cookie mixes: 3
no. of birthday cards: 4
no. of football match tickets! : 1 (oh yessss!)
no. of chocolate stains on my carpet: 4

no. of random people wishing me happy birthday: 5
no. of birthday wishes on facebook: 72

no. of main courses i had at dinner: 1.5

no. of wine glasses downed: 2 (poor show...)

and the wonderful core bunch of people that made me lie in bed at night and wish that it could all happen again:

thank you guys.. yest was one of the best. :)

i am doing everything

2007-04-22T22:41:00.000+01:00

but study.

today i sat in my room

staring out the window

looking at people playing croquet

and admiring the greeness

of pembroke.

had bakkutteh for dinner,

the best ever so far. :)

i think i might become a masterchef after 6 years of cooking for myself

and other brave people who eat my food,

people i admire.

i found this amazing site (thank u sara!)

that gives me discounts

for everything!

food, shopping, bars

and i have now found the perfect restaurant for my birthday dinner!

with a 25% discount too..

huge number of chinaman points to me! haha

i dunno why i wrote my entry

as a poem

but it looks cool.

so there. :)

happyday!

2007-04-21T20:18:00.000+01:00

there're so many reasons to make me smile today..

i just had one of the best skype moments ever! the class were having a stayover at lil's house and they called me to SING ME A BIRTHDAY SONG! awwww. :) albeit a little early but everyone was there! so i guess it warranted a skype birthday call! haven't seen all of them in a long time! the guys especially, shawn, junyang, junyan, jialun. i think that was all, it wasn't very bright at the other end. haha. and they were playing mahjong too! sighhh.. goodtimes...

i have already started making plans for my homecoming in june! it's going to be full of mahjong, gigs, and friends. and of course, family. i want to explore singapore and find where all the good bands are hiding. mr. siva's band seems pretty good but i have yet to see it...

sporty day today. tennis in the morning. then went on to freeze myself with a double chocolate flake milkshake sitting out in the wind. meng's silly idea... frisbee in the afternoon. now i feel all warm and exercised! fit fit fit.

PLUS i now am the proud owner of so much excellent new music AND 17 episodes of ugly betty! bliss.. all thanks to meng. i now ask for the willpower to not be TOO distracted by them.

most people have moved back into college now. lorna and tara almost banged down my door this afternoon... just had a huge trough gathering with everybody and got updated about holiday time-wasting and exotic foreign travels. going to the bar in a bit too just to catch up with people. i now feel that having people back in college isn't all that bad.. distracting, but not bad! it probably has something to do with the pancakes that tara promised later tonight... mmm. :)

birthdays...

2007-04-20T21:42:00.000+01:00

2 birthday surprises and 2 dinners in the span of 2 days. everyone's growing older and wiser..

we tried a 1am surprise for voonkiat, cos obviously midnight surprises are so passe. haha. it kinda worked, especially with aaron aka darth vader leading the way. got told off by the porter for making too much noise, he must really have had some crazy hearing aids to hear us from the other side of college.

out of teenhood now. shit it's my turn next. :(

boy does the cake look yummy. i had 3 slices and everyone was trying to guilt-trip me. bah.

lucky lucky boy... only on his birthday! food was good, as all pizzas would be..

midnight surprise no. 2 went underway after vk's dinner... it was a much much larger than expected turnout...

and this wasn't all the people that were there.

ben the birthday boy, being all of 22 years old, was actually working when we descended upon his room, and carried on working throughout the day...

until at dinner, someone told him that studying on his birthday was unlucky... and then he wasn't smiling quite so widely any longer. haha

food wise, d'arrys turned out to be a lovely restaurant which could do with much much faster servce. we almost died waiting for food.

and here's wowo. synonymous with ben. and how he was meant to look like throughout dinner, party hat and balloon. poor wowo would have gotten a nice new shirt had we managed to find one in time.. now he has to settle with ben's leftover party supplies.

ahhh, i'm sadly counting down the days to my own exit of teenhood.

what's keeping me going...

2007-04-16T10:38:00.000+01:00

i've been listening to music all day, everyday. basically whenever my computer's on, there's music in my room. this holiday i've found some amazing bands which i'm quite surprised i haven't uncovered before. all this lazyness is not good, especially when it comes to collecting good music.

today is muse day. (and kidney day, but i shall not spoil my mood further talking about work). muse takes some getting used to, but i've reached the point where all the songs seem confortably right. :) it's my ever-reliable work buddy, accompanying me through the night and into the morning...

our time is running out

and our time is running out

you can't push it underground

we can't stop it screaming out

now that you know I'm trapped

sense of elation

you'll never dream of breaking this fixation

you will squeeze the life out of me

and that is what tripos is all about...

work week

2007-04-15T22:11:00.000+01:00

people have started moving back into college. that is not a good sign. that means:

1. term is starting (nooooo....)
2. tests are coming up
3. TRIPOS is sniffing distance away (argh!)
4. it's going to be a madcap term once more. no more picnicing in the sun, no more frolicking around, no more jokes, no more fun and laughter. morna just came in and reviewed the urgency of how close the exams are.

it's workworkwork from now on. c'mon! :(

2007-04-09T20:08:00.000+01:00

it's 8.07pm and the sun has just started to set. ahhh i'm summer-loving. :)

easter hols...

2007-04-09T02:24:00.000+01:00

it's been a week since i returned from my european adventure as so many of my facebook friends have been calling it... and what have i done you may ask? other than suffering from chronic facebookitis due to the never-ending influx of picture-albums and wall-posts, i've been slogging over the outlines for my hk english lessons, albeit catalyzed by one abrupt email from the director of my hk camp yesterday. haha. poor george, to have such a member on his team. i've missed his first 2 deadlines, and will probably miss the rest. just can't be bothered. i'll do things at my own pace. hehe. if our roles were switched, he'd probably have no end of my grumbling and ribbing.

yesss, but now i have the framework to come up with the worksheets and detailed minute-by-minute plans. haha, but that just means more time diverted from actual revision. :S

on a brighter note, tennis has become my new favourite sport! especially since the weather's been fantastic... i'll finally get a tan and not look so pasty white. played yest, playing again tmr morning. (which means i have to go sleep soon in order to get my average 5 hours of sleep a day) i still have that urge to play squash though, relive those memories, run my body through the whole routine of running up and down the court trying to hit the ball off the back wall... and being the initiative self of late, a squash date has already been arranged! wooo :) i'm going to get real fit by the time easter term comes.

other noteworthy news: i've finally touched the piano again after so long! moonlight sonata by beethoven being the culprit. and i'm living off The Killers now. their playlist has been on for about the fifteenth time today on my player. Pers, if u're reading this, go listen to When You Were Young by The Killers. its awesomeee! :)

alright. sleeeeep.

cambridge wins the boat race...

2007-04-07T22:10:00.000+01:00

woooo! look at that! just watching it on live feed was exciting enough, imagine if i actually went down with the pembroke crew to watch it! mmm. oh now it's making me seriously consider continuing rowing next term.. weather's nice and that winning feeling is all too alluring.. when we win that is. haha. i can't wait for may bumps! from what i've heard, it's even bigger than lent bumps and that already was AMAZING.

well, pictures taken from the boat race website...

not your typical rowing picture where all you normally see is the painful expressions on the faces of the rowers.. nice scenary as well along the river thames... oxford is actually surprisingly in the lead here approaching hammersmith.. but according to their cox, "it's men (cambridge) against boys (oxford)", and off the start, it was just juvenile brashness off the blocks that gave oxford the lead... not to mention their boat was almost 30 kg lighter than the cambridge blues! phwar, those heavy monsters! all due to the muscles i would assume.

and nearing the end, it's cambridge pedigree outlasting oxford passion. muaha! AND we had the female cox! no wonder we won... :)

jubilation.

i wonder what it takes to be in that boat... hours and hours of gruelling training and loadsssss of passion i expect. now i see why rich goes out to train ever so regularly every morning... those guys were impressive! boat was sat, power was down. you would think there was something special about them, but all the cox's calls were exactly similar to peter's! leggggs! leggggs! relaxx. relaxx! sit up sit tall!

i think i might row next term...

spain!

2007-04-05T01:06:00.000+01:00

a week in italy, and now a week in spain.... this trip was slightly different cos i've never been to spain before and it was more of a sight-seeing trip more than anything. the girls were so fun to be around as well, reminded me of old times in secondary school, training in the squash courts and in class...

at barcelona, we stayed at the sea point hostel. and this was the view from the hostel entrance. magic... it would have been better if the weather was nicer for us to go out onto the beach and just relax.. not that we didn't try..

it was so windy that day we hurried out to take pictures then had to hurry back before we were blown into the sea! sightseeing came after and we did the most touristy thing ever and hopped onto the tourist bus to see the city...

barcelona was filled with the works of antoni gaudi and his revolutionary designs that incorporated nature and dissolved the use of straight lines. makes everything seem very smooooth in my opinion..

this is the casa balto, one of the more famous works from gaudi. for some reason, his works kinda grew on me throughout the tour of barcelona. it felt intriging, like a mystery world of fairytales just because of its shape and how it's so out of place with the rest of the city.

la sagreda: the museum which we went in for the explanation of gaudi's work and how he managed to accomplish it all. it all reminded me of AEP in upper sec when i had to come up with mocks for my instillation piece and sketch out inspiration and designs after designs.. gaudi did practically the same thing, but on a much larger scale with his hanging models and architectural plans..

serene and i on one of gaudi's chairs. it's supposed to be mouded to you cos there're no straight lines, but i didn't feel any more comfortable.. the design was cute though. :)

and his most famous work of all time: castle la sagrada familia, which is still under construction after hundreds of years. we went in and it was literally a construction site! there were workers and machines of all sorts inside continuing the building process...

park guell next: gaudi's dream of a residential estate where he and other people could retreat to, however not many people shared his idea of beauty and in the end, only 3 units were sold, one was bought my gaudi himself. haha so eventually it because a public park instead!

the famous gaudi lizard's in park guell.. there were so many people trying to take a picture with it we had to squeeze our way through and fight with those japs/koreans for space!

the view from the top of park guell... u could see the whole of the barcelona skyline from here. we should have stayed till sunset! but no time la.. had so many other places to visit..

las rablas: THE shopping street in barcelona. it's always crowded, there're artists and mucisians everywhere and tons of indian souvenior shops. seriously, where do they all come from? even in italy they were everywhere...

and then we headed to the seaside again to catch the view.. all yatchs in he background.. OC-like.. ahhh the life i could have if i had all the money in the world..

i love this shot.. :)

plaza del toros: bull-fighting arena! too bad it wasn't sunday or we could have caught a bullfight.. but apparantly it's rather ghastly but still, i would love to see one.. maybe next time.

and how can anyone come to barcelona and not visit the nou camp?! ahhh home of the best football club in the world (after man utd of course). we took a tour of the grounds and pers now has a new barcelona training kit! he better be happy, it's the most expensive item i got in the whole trip!

inside the press room where the managers and players get grilled about their performances after the match, and where the man-of-the-match usually gets his trophy. woooo. legends have stepped into this room before. the smell of ronaldhino and messi.. ahhh!

so that was that for barcelona... onward to madrid for 2 days:

i don't know how i managed to last this long through an entry without talking about food! woooo the paella and sangria! heavenly. we had that almost everyday for dinner, together with the spanish tapas (side dishes of mostly seafood, potatoes and the likes)

this is me being the greedy pig that i am. tapas = yumyum!

and chiros in the mornings with coffee.. that's the daily menu for 7 days haha

madrid, being the capital city, wasn't very touristy but was like the concrete jungle that is singapore. spain is surprisingly clean! there were trees everywhere and somehow it just reminded me of home. in madrid, all there was to see were fountains, plazas and shops. it's the puerto del sol above, the main shopping district.

and plaza mayor... which i felt wasn't that spectacular. it was just a miniature st. mark's square, even with a few pigeons around.

yet another plaza, this time with colourful buildings.. haha i really can't rmb its name now.

only one word can describe valencia: BEACH.
the weather was fantastic, the sand was soft, the wind was refreshing. it was the life.

and last but not least... our parting shot from valencia...

darn, my holidays have effectively ended. now back at the bridge, moaning about the tons of work to be done, yet not having done much at all. 3 weeks to go...

italy!

2007-04-02T10:32:00.000+01:00

italy was FANTASTIC! ahhh. even though i've been there before, it's always not the same with friends. we had so much gelatos, walked like a thousand miles, saw the minimum of sights and basically had a wonderful time! ahh soooo want to go back again with those people!

here we are waiting for our flight into rome at stansted airport. being the ultimate travellers with the ability to sleep anywhere, anytime.

speaking of sleeping, we slept so much during this trip, esp on trains/buses/anything that moved really...

sleeping on the trains. having to be proden awake to get off at the right stop...

on yet another train...

especially if u try to be a party-pooper and study while on holiday (note the criminal law book), this is what u end up as.. another victim of the sleep monster.

even on buses, when the journey isn't thattt long. we still succumb.

after all the shopping, the guys were too tired to even think about their image...

and then there was the FOOOOOD! we stuffed ourselves silly with pasta, pizzas and of course, gelatos! i'm proud to say we had an average of about 2.5 gelatos a day. hehe.

there we were at our first gelato stop in rome.. grinning like mad chinamen.

several stops down the way in florence.. and still going strong

we were all feeling a little bloated by this time.. in venice on our upteenth gelato stop. i think it may have been here that i had my 2 consecutive gelatos cos we managed to find uber cheap 1 euro gelatos! score!

of course there were the other food. here's our ravioli ragu at the most amazing family-run restaurant ever in florence.

attack of the yingsters on the poor roasted rabbit. tasted like chicken, as does everything.

this is ben and his "famous" panini shop. errr.. right. we walked for ages just to reach this puny shop that was famour for its salads and we, being misinformed that they were good for their paninis, started drooling at the puny unappetitizing paninis on display. the shopkeepers must have thought we were weird chinamen who couldn't tell delicacy from peanuts.

and finally, the actual sights in italy...

this was in rome near the roman forums. THE camwhore pose of the trip. all thanks to weevien! the weather the first day was good. it got worse...

and this was after walking miles to get to castle st. angel just to see the sign saying: closed on mondays. you can imagine how we were feeling.. *%&#)$^$*#

back at our hostel and getting the full after effects of walking around rainy rome for a whole day. we were shivering and not happy. thankfully the free bus rides made up for it, not that we intended to cheat the roman governement but we just couldn't make our way to the ticket machine due to the amazing number of people that managed to fit into one public bus.

during nicer weather in rome.. we went to see the colosseum..

and admire the beauty of the archo di titus, while the rest of the monkeys fooled around.

at the trevi fountain... i'm back again! now to make a wish. hmm, world peace or more gelatos?

the choice was obvious. hahaha

posing on the spanish steps... there were hundred of people there that day. i think we manged to piss off quite a few of them by trying to get into every picture possible since we were sitting right at the foot of the steps. haha.

italy does some weird things to us, like for example making the guys all gay and proud.

and no, it's not only in rome. it continued into florence... they could even come out of the fitting room in exactly the same outfit! talk about being close...

and then they all attempt to mimic the real man david... hmm not helping their lost cause.

it was shopping and more shopping in florence, although i didn't buy anything at all, before we moved our little chinatown to venice!

in st. mark's square, aka pigeon paradise for a certain mr. teo.

who just happens to have a debt to pay against pigeons in his past life...

meng and ben doing their bit to get us that little bit more gelato fund we so desperately needed...

eeeeeeeeeyaa! fooling around in venice.. reminded us of karate kid when he was training by the beach. so we reenacted it, what else?

and finally, after 7 tiring days, we turned our backs on venice and italy... the 5 of them headed home to the bridge, while i trudged onward to bright, sunny spain...

it was a seriously wonderful trip. one not to be forgotten in a longgggg time.

2007-03-25T04:38:00.000+01:00

i'm presently in london, lse hall with shimmie, in between holidays to italy and spain. having a one night rest in london before flying off again tmr for bright, sunny (hopefully) barcelona.

italy was AWESOME!! great food and gelatos (they're food, i know, but they deserve special mention cos it was our staple italian food together with pasta and pizza), great sights, and greater company! had loads of fun... evening entertainment with wine and crap food or sometimes homecooked pasta were always something to look forward to, as were all the heavenly places to eat. as with us chinamen/women, we walked ages to get to the cheapest but nicest reataurants for the best food italy has. someone was saying how it's good that we walked so much this trip and was replied with "we walk to get to food", so it actually doesn't count much. hehe. ok pictures should be up in a week's time together with those of spain. i need to sleep soon.

oh before i forget: visit http://cumsa.blogspot.com for what happened at the BOP! :) ahhh it all seemed so long ago now...

i should really get some sleep soon so i'm all prepared for a long day again tmr. nite.