5 Dollars

Watched Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix today at the very cheap price of $5 at PS. Feel envious. mwahaha. Well, thanks to the movie, am now dying for next Sat to come. You know... 21st July. =D =D =D =D =D =D =D

Eternal Sleep

And there goes another one... to doze in the fields of eternal sleep.

Actually. What happened was this. We needed to bury our poor hamster that had died. There was a cleaner in the way, which meant playing a game of dodge and peek and discreetly standing around until he has left. Then, hastily dig a hole in public grass and bury the poor bugger. I've never been so pissed at a cleaner before for being diligent.

Perhaps I ought to be weeping distraughtly, but.. it's the eighth one that went, and the 6th we've buried. I'll miss them all. Somewhere out there, they're happy. Or at least, it's my hope that they aren't sad.

Baking disaster

Ok, so... the chiffon cake was stuck to the cake tin. Any ideas anyone? Had to use a knife to scrape it out. The cake had the wrong consistency too. Maybe whisking by hand wasn't good enough? So, how did people bake chiffon cakes then, before the days of electronic beaters? Hmm? Hmm?

I feel ill. Over indulged on cake.

Time Travelling

So.... guess what this slacker was doing today....

-- Went back in time of course... you know, by leaping off staircases and diving boards...

The Girl who Leapt Through Time (aka Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo) is an animated feature film directed by Mamoru Hosoda. Right now, it is only released in Cathay cinemas, so forget that Lido or Vivo screen... Unfortunately, it isn't showing at the AMK Hub cinema either. A pity, since a grand total of 3 cineplexes in Singapore screen this film.

Anyway, it's one of those films where, well, mercifully, there isn't any guns or some guy getting beaten up or, for that matter, beating someone up. That doesn't mean it isn't funny or exciting though, because it is. The main character is utterly selfish, meddlesome, and totally amusing in her attempts to matchmake her friends, eat pudding and pass her tests with flying colours by turning back time. Still, you've got to give it to her, she does succeed... at all three.

There is something about this kind of film that works so well. I laughed at it of course.. but then, I suppose it's safe to say that the whole audience laughed with it. Perhaps there is something naive in the way the film portrays youth, but then, it is that, that best captures that innocence that the young supposedly are endowed with... Whatever.. huh.

I'm scaring myself talking like that. Let's just say a little innocent fun and nostalgia wouldn't kill us... it's nice to see a film that doesn't try to be arty, but somehow manages to be arty, and successfully, if you ask me. It's a sentimental film, utterly sweet and slapsticky, which is something I suppose only the Japanese are capable of producing... All the same, great film.

A Riot of Colours

I never did get this: why is a bunch of many different colours a "riot"? What? Are they going to rebel?

And when the sunlight struck the window in full force, the coloured glass in it threw forth multiple points of glittering light.

The blues, reds and white decided to get together, against the reds, yellows and greens, throwing the world of colours into great disorder.

Blue: Hey! How come you're on their side too, Red?

Red (to great protest from the oranges): Why ever not? Being on both sides is also a side.

"If you want to talk about sides, then technically, you all should be on mine," adds White.

Red and Blue: Shut up, you!

"If we get together, we can unite and stand against Black," White continues, albeit sulkily.

Hey! Don't get me involved, I'm not a colour! - Black.

Thus, the colours went back to rioting...

Bed Breaking Work

Oww oww oww oww. My new mattress came in today, which means removing the old mattress, and putting in the new mattress, which is heavy. To my utter horror, the new mattress is waaay taller than my old one, and now I feel as if I'm miles away from the ground. The new mattress is also a lot heavier, which makes this somehow...tragic. I feel as if I've been heaving dead bears about, (which to all intentions and purposes I might as well have). Then, of course, I'll have to forget to put the mattress protector on first... and have to remove my beautiful work and start all over again.

Hail all hotel room service. Those beds are NOT fun to change on a daily basis.

Train

After sulking all morning and letting myself getting all pissed for stupid reasons, I'm feeling better (and benign), hence I might as well blog about the mime performance I went to watch and was blown away by...

First things first, The Train, by Dramatic Company Cho-In is a South Korean mime performance brought in specially for... you guessed it, the Singapore Arts Festival! Wheeee! When I first saw the poster and it said "festival outreach programme", I was convinced and prejudiced (with reasons of course) into thinking it was a kiddy show... The poster showed a bunch of mime artists typically painted inn the usual clownish manner and that the programme said it featured a "magician couple" made me think: this is for kids. The number of kids being brought by their yuppie aunties and parents to the show didn't make me feel any better, not to mention, instead of distributing the programme at FOH, they were giving out fliers for other shows... I had to go to the flier rack at the sistic counter in Esplanade to get it. =(

In any case, The Train is for kids the way Spirited Away is for kids. In other words, you wouldn't feel as embarrassed as you would normally feel if you were watching, say, Ronald MacDonald on your primary school stage... Speaking of Spirited Away, does anyone remember the faceless train conductor from the film? There are some eerie similarities between the conductor and the station master in the mime act... Both of them were stern sorts.. and faceless. If I happen to find a picture of the station master from The Train, it'll go up here and you all can compare. There must be something universal about train conductors/station masters...

Note: The picture on top isn't the train conductor from Spirited Away, but this is the closest I could get to finding a match....

See the resemblance?

Apart from that, the performance was really good... Not one word, but my attention was gripped throughout the whole show. Then, there was the scene where it snowed, well, fake snow of course... but still, it was very pretty. And you wouldn't believe the acting... I think it's pretty hard for a girl to play a bratty little boy. Yup. Not easy at all, but you'll believe that it was a boy and girl on stage where they are still obviously female actors...

W*e

Am sulking this morning, and therefore in no mood to post properly about the mime performance I went to watch last night. Better not in fact... a bad review might get me sued. It's rather funny really, that in this (day and age) time, people can get sued for not-even-complaining about distant big brands (am I gonna get sued for this, immensely large organisations???) whilst getting away with flaming people they do know. I do wonder which is a worse crime. Well, actions speak louder than words. I stand by my A**r post because everyone gets what A**r is anyway. If you don't, it doesn't matter.. And anyone suing a blogger is silly. As if ******** really works. And I'm being sillier for listening to that voice-in-my-ear (NOT my conscience). WHY is it that I don't listen to myself but hang on to what others say? And now I'm complaining about myself. Great. Actions that speak louder than words.

On the Other Side of the page

Wow. The first thing that has to be said about SPH is that they have nice air-con. This is how pathetic I must have felt thanks to a wrong turn around what should have been my old turf and walking on the baking tarmac of an unsheltered carpark... walkwalkwalk ... instead of under the nice cool void deck. Ended up dripping sweat under a rain tree (the sort that comes with nasty green caterpillars) outside SPH and wondering how people wearing long sleeved shirts can walk about and not fall into a heat induced dead faint.

Back to the air-con... nice.

Apart from that, I sat on the fringes of the ST office... on a chair/bench that wouldn't have looked out of place at the dentist's, i.e. a really posh dentist. There were even framed photographs facing the bench/chair; of the sort that you can find at clinics.
It just occurred to me... does the ST office get that many visitors? Still, it was a nice chair, and it's nice meeting up with old friends and sneaking into offices. I'm probably only several metres from writers I see in Life! everyday.

Notebook Woes

Got my darling* laptop back yesterday afternoon. They wiped my hard disk. Clean. =( Lost all my handphone photos. I'd thought I had made a backup for them... Guess not. Had to re-install messenger, MSOffice and a bunch of other stuff. Humph. It's just as well I had backed up all my documents.. would have been a major loss if I hadn't... Mysteriously enough, the 1st time I went to the repair centre, just about everybody who was there as well had an A**r in tow... Sad. At least, on the day I went to get it back, there weren't any other A**r toting cases... just me and a guy with a M*****k... Nevertheless, there is still something wrong with A**r laptops if you ask me...

Because apparently I'll might get into trouble for writing what everyone knows anyway...
*Still sulking: guess no one shall know the brand of my beloved laptop now anyway...

Ode to Ice-cream on Hot Days

It's hot today. Yesterday night, I left my handphone at my grandmother's house and had to double back after dinner for it. Bought my first blue ice-cream. =D Ate like 3 of them already.

Lovely, lovely, lovely blue ice-cream...

Maybe I should write a sonnet about blue ice-cream... ... What, in any case is a sonnet?

The Booke Faire Chronicle

Day 1: Sat, 26th May
In which one meets one's new colleagues and seizes up the competition

The morning shift included some rather eclectic people. Curiously, we were all from a so-called arts background. I suppose only us will be stupid enough to take on this job. Our booth had two open sides (one length and one breadth), since we shared two walls with an electronic goods booth and a myopia education booth, i.e. we are a corner booth... On both side of us were our 'friendly' rivals, and truly, they are friendly indeed, since they can't stop smiling: apart from being book fair veterans, they quite outnumber us greenhorns. Was rejected by every customer when attempting to entice them to look at our products.

Friendly rival 1: the Reds. Weapon-of-choice: professional looking and loves to shake hands. Has Rita Skeeter.
Friendly rival 2: the Greens. Weapon-of-choice: hard-sell, jerseys, balloons and a walking vacuum cleaner like thingy that is not a vacuum cleaner.

Day 2: Sun, 27th May
In which one is rejected yet again

The title speaks for itself. Sunday morning was quiet. The same group of girls came in to do a spot of colouring (Finding Nemo colouring book) again. No idea where their parents are. Things only began to pick up after lunch, or at least, slightly before lunch. Everyone going up the escalator to the convention centre seems to be going to Aquarama instead, or maybe it's my imagination. On the way to lunch, met Aaron, who told me he had a set of Americana at home. After lunch, I discovered that our rivals were giving it away for free as a prize in a lucky draw.

No luck still with customers. None of them came into our booth. When I mean none, I do mean none that I approached of course. It doesn't help when our booth is shorter on one side, so the opposite camp can grab the customers first, not to mention their aggressive tactics. By mid-afternoon, it is clear that book visitors have wisened up to our tactics and are avoiding the lanes occupied by us. Rita Skeeter is still annoying.

Day 3: Mon, 28th May
In which nobody comes

A slacky day. Enough said. I can't remember whether i pulled anyone in. Probably not. There weren't many people walking about in the first place. It was the day of the bratty kid, if I'm not wrong. If he isn't lying, he's from Rosyth. Has the attitude of a financial CEO, and is probably not even 10 yet. He said he would have to "consider" buying our product. Good grief. Most of our part-time colleagues have disappeared. Without a trace.

Day 4: Wed, 30th May
In which customers defect to the other side, and one reflects sadly on the gimmicky state of our booth

Back from one day's rest. We chatted to this father-son couple who seemed really really interested in buying. He said he'll consider, and then LATER, they got dragged into opposite camp. (The Reds) The father looks apologetic. At least he did.

Day 5: Sat, 2 Jun
Success at last, and mistaken identities

Our booth has been re-arranged. Now, we have more posters up on the wall, and half of it has become a section for people to sign up language courses. The booth looks tidier, and ever since a large board was placed outside letting people know we do langauges, more customers have been streaming in. Yay. Unfortunately, we were unprepared for talking to them about lang courses (as we weren't taught how). I must have lost a hefty bit of my commision telling them to go back to HQ...

After sitting for 3 hrs (i think), we closed a deal. Not bad, the commission will be split 3 ways. Finally, towards the end of the day, one family came in. They were eager to buy our most expensive set, but the price was a problem... They never came back. Sigh. In any case, for some odd reason, the entire family claims that i look familiar... Maybe that's why I got them to sit down so easily...

Day 6: Sun, 3rd Jun
Closed 2 more deals

The title says it all. It's the end to an exhausting week. ZZZZZZ... Pre-ordered Harry Potter at the same time. Got a second book (worth $15) free.

Thus, my one week stint at the World Book Fair has come to an end. Ugh. I've tried two of the worst jobs anyone could take, apart from cleaners and sweepers i suppose - waitressing (more like odd-job labourer actually) and selling encyclopedias. Up till now, I tend to talk like a salesman and smile too brightly. Hopefully, it's not permanent.

Everyday Heroes

What if, all you had to do to become a hero was leap across the watery chasm to the land beyond? What if all you had to do to become the mighty ruler of a beautiful woodland kingdom was close your eyes, and... keep your mind really open? Your pencil flies across empty paper and then voila! The denizens of Terabithia leap into life from carbon and parchment...

Yesterday, I went to watch Bridge to Terabithia with Shauna. It was a nice movie. The film is based on a book by Katherine Paterson. I used to see this book everywhere in my old secondary school library. For someone who read Lord of the Rings and the Chronicles of Narnia, this book never once caught my eye. =/ I've always felt that watching a movie was a cheater's way out of not reading the book, since all you had to do was sit there for two hrs and you get what would have been a day's (or more) worth of reading.

In any case, the movie was a good one. Some books translate well into small films about the everyday, while others... become a monumental task. Perhaps the reason Bridge to Terabithia (the film, not the book) resonates so well with me is because I do believe in the power of art in the real world. Some people call art and fantasy the opium of the masses, the bridge to illusions and escapism. Not true, as Bridge to Terabithia tells us - there are trolls and monsters in the real world too, and stories help reconcile us to the fact that they exist and have to be dealt with. The ending may come to shock some, since it is supposed to be a "kiddy" film, but I think it works well by anchoring a fantasy film firmly in reality. No worries, I shan't spoil it for people who are planning to watch it and haven't, and if you aren't planning to... nevermind.

So saying, I still don't intend to pick up the book. I never liked it, because it was attempting to explain to me the value of the imagination and story-making, two things which any reader can easily point out. It's not like you can like these things and not understand the value of fiction. Hence, reading it would have been a pain as the protagonist would have to go through the painful steps to enjoy what it is this frantic and aggreived reader already does. I'll keep saying "I told you so" to the character, which would quite take out the pleasure of the book. It's been said that there are two kinds of readers: the kind that just read, and then there is the other kind. I hope I fall into the second category.

Another Review

I've just finished reading Anansi Boys, by Neil Gaiman, finally. I've been trying to finish this book, with little luck ever since I first caught sight of it a few years back. Happily, the deed is done and I can go on to other incompletely read books in my holiday reading list. (For example, Kazuo Ishiguro's The Remains of the Day) In any case, Anansi Boys is...

Let's just say, read it and you'll know. It's a nice little story about finding yourself, through stories, and within stories. As an obsessive-compulsive reader, it isn't too difficult for me to find myself in a fiction world, and it isn't too difficult either to see why Anansi stories are full of wit and wisdom. After all, you take what you need from stories, and each stories' wisdom is peculiar to each reader. Anansi Boys celebrates the power of story-telling, and I don't mean for self-glorification (that's Tiger), but stories' ability to bring laughter and humour to the foibles of human character.

It's all in the attitude, as Anansi would say.

The Dutiful Review

Year Four, and still not graduated I suppose, what with us coming back to watch yet another NY drama performance. It was Othello. Shakespeare's. Not the game. Duh. I remember watching them rehearse. Up till the week before, lines were still being forgotten, and I was wondering if I'll be getting my money's worth. On the whole though, it was clear that the cast and crew had put in their most, and even if I was sleepy (no thanks to medicine), and I didn't half catch what they were saying, I think anyone would agree with me when I say that for any school production, it's the journey that counts. Not the money. Ok... maybe the money too, but sheesh. There was an interval, which was merciful for some (since people who didn't do lit/Othello couldn't understand what they were saying), and not so for others, as they had to keep playing interval music which was oh so helpful when the lecture theatre was so noisy already. Huh. The lt did look really good however...even though the dragon banner on stage was ugly. I mean, seriously, that dragon looked...wormy. A pity. Still, I wonder how much longer we'll be coming back to watch NY drama stuff... It's been 2 years already.

Holiday Fever

I'm sick.

Go Away*.

*pls ignore.

The pros and cons of a Fever:

Pro:

I feel cold. Which is good neh? In this hideous bad warm weather. Free air-conditioning...

Invalids get to boss people around.

Con:

I feel wretched.

I feel lousy.

I feel ILL.

I am going to be ill when I have two busy weeks and a line of activities lined up. Wah.

Cockroach Update

The cockroach died. My dad sprayed it, and it zapped about in its upside down way. In a misguided attempt to spare the critter its pain, I tried to concuss it with the newspaper. It didn't work, and it was only after smacking it (with little effect as far as I can see), it dawned on me that this was a creature that could still be alive if its head got chopped off. There is no concussing of cockroaches. I mean, they are still alive, headless! What's the use concussing them? Cockroaches are a do or die sort. None of your shilly-shallying with the question of health. Darn. You should have seen my sister's face when I told her what I did. Sometimes, kid sisters seem to possess all the sense while keeping none of it for themselves. A pity.

Umm...

There is a cockraoch. No use denying it. And.. it's perched on the computer plug. I feel itchy when I look at it. Eww. Now, it's decided to move. It's on the table now, near the telephone wire. Heeeelllllpppp!!!!

Ok... before I go to bed, should it be the newspaper or the insecticide? Or both?
Plan A, if everything goes the way it should: whack cockraoch while simultaneously spraying it.
Plan B, in the case cockraoch starts flying around madly: spray spray spray! then whack. and spray again.
Plan C: Run away.




Bye.

12 Days Later...

And then the exams are over. You would think I would be elated. I certainly thought so, but then it doesn't work out this way does it... I came home. Smiled maniacally, had a nice bath, ate a nice dinner, and then... couldn't find anything to do. I thought of reading, but the thought really sucked because I feel like I've been reading more than I should have been (and it's true. I HAVE been reading more than I liked.) The next thought was movies! But then, the thought of staring at a screen for 2hrs turned me off, when my mind happily thought in a damned freakish manner (and soooooo... how should this be analysed?) Ugh. I am trying to celebrate my end of exams here!!!! Helllooo!!! Anybody ok up there?? Even reading/watching a mindless (ok, it isn't really) or rather more appraochable piece of pop fiction has become an instinctively analytical task. Darn. Maybe I should just go play pinball on my laptop. At least I don't have to analyse that.
Maybe, tomorrow will be better.

Sparkles

Indulge my obession.. This is soooo pretty!

Be envious

Bought THREE books for the price of TWO. Be reaallly envious of me. =p

On learning from your mistakes

If Man is imperfect, why do we strive for the impossible (i.e. perfection)? Why should making mistakes be so painful?

Things to be doing

3 Down and 2 to go!

Now, I should once again be studying (like really), but I had two depressing head-banging, nerve-wrecking papers today. The first was Lit, and I cannot for my life recall watching that episode of South Park that the exam paper asked me to write about. I don't even recall watching it... Ungh. Philo was worse. I should have studied for it. Instead, felt like sleeping throughout the paper. Darn. I tell you, it's not fair...open book makes you not want to study.

Right now, i shall indulge in A List of Things to do next week.

1)Go Tea Bone & chill
2)Read books
3)Get hair cut
4)Give blog makeover
5)Blog somemore
6)Study for last paper
7)Youtube/Crunchyroll/Veoh... you get the picture

List of Books to read (or planning to):
-Fragile Things, Neil Gaiman [I want! I want!]
-Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, Haruki Murakami
-Tale of Genji, Lady Murasaki Shikibu [must finish this scandalous book]
-The Remains of the Days, Kazuo Ishiguro [it's sitting at home]
-The Polysyllabic Spree, Nick Hornby
-The Magic Toyshop, Angela Carter
-The Gormenghast Trilogy, Mervyn Peake [it's sitting at home]
-and... Georgette Heyer stuff of course. She is like my comfort read. Not the brainy kind. It's the witty kind.

A Reminder that there is life beyond exams

Desiderata

Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantmentit is as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.


Max Ehrmann, Copyright 1952.

The Exam Hush

Hello everybody!

It's me again! It's the exam period now. So guess what I should be doing... OK, so sociology paper is over.. now it's one down, four to go. I don't believe I have ranted about how abysmal my exam timetable looks (now let's not even start to describe my future grade, but yeah...) My last paper (before anyone else comes up, asks, and then looks smug at me), ends next Friday Afternoon. Good. Now, that's done. What shall I rattle on about next?

Hmmm. Has anyone attempted to study in the library recently? By library, I do mean the one at NUS... It's freaky. It's quiet. It's like that hush before an orchestral concert in the Esplanade... only ten times more stressful. If someone so much as gets off their chair.. u can sense it without looking up. The floor by the way, is carpeted. The chairs by the way are heavy. If anyone walks past... it's as if a rhino or elephant or some huge... African savanna mammmal trotted past. That's how quiet it is.

Maybe I'm exaggerating.. but only a little!!!

Argh!

Please... Keep all dancing in virtuality

A bird caught something wiggly today. Then, when I was politely trying not to stare, since I can't abide by wiggly things, the bird hopped over (wiggly thing in tow), and I had to make a wide berth round it. The two cleaners who were walking out of the rubbish dump area stared. Can't blame them.

Then, an over-excited person decided to spray me with water from her cup. An over-enthusiastic twirl from the chair did that. Never knew playing Audition could get you wet... especially when you weren't the one playing... ...

Sometimes, it's easy to feel what it's like in the twilight zone.

Of ramblings and musings

The deep breath before the leap.
The edge of the cliff.
The space between the frying pan and the fire.
The damne void.

Thou haste reachede the ende of thy roade. Whither will thou go now? To blogge? Or to studye, as a goode student muste? I saye, the ende is also the begininge. Of what? Of depressinge studyynge ande revisione, what else? Buggere alle this. The daye is too beautifule to be spente studyynge. I will blogge insteade; it is a muche bettere occupation to hath.

One of these days...

I was nearly struck by lightning at a certain faculty that shouldn't BE struck by lightning. I fear for my safety when I know these people are the future builders of our wonderful garden city-state...
It doesn't help either that a week later, back at said faculty, the electronic exit barrier at the car park refused to budge, and a whole train of cars and shuttle buses formed. Any longer than it actually lasted and it would have formed a most lovely bottle neck. Anyway, people ended being late for class. No surprises there since we were stuck for a good ten minutes or more... and of course, someone's hp/bus radio (i don't which) HAD to be blarring the damned lyrics "I like the way you move..."
Now, you tell me: can this really be just "me"?

5 Things to do to cure essay block

For all those who suffer from that sub-species of writer's block: Essay Block (EB)!
(And also for those who suffer from the further sub-categorisation of EB: specific EB which only targets certain kinds of essays, like literature essays for instance.)

1. Sleep. Divine intervention might just occur, and your essay miraculously saved. Other than that, it's tons better than agonising over it...

2. Get Drunk. There must be a valid reason why artists, with their famous amount of creative juices are also alcholics and smokers... There is... right?

3. Eat Sweet Foods. Eat something sweet; the walk taken in search of food will also do you good.

4. Play Rabbit Games. This doesn't work. It's just fun.

5. Take a Walk, Ladies. The walk will clear the stuffiness from your brains. Besides, walking around in anguish will ensure that no one will disturb your study territory, since they'll avoid you as they think you've gone mad.

Chat with Su.Z

Me: Hello myself, how have you been?

Moi: Not very good I'm afraid. Why?

Me: Oh...nothing...I'm just sick and tired of my essays, work...MORE essays

Moi: Dear dear...it's not like I have it better. For instance, I'm talking to myself...

Me & Moi: True.

A Lame Joke. Don't take me seriously.

nus: rhymes with "moose", and spells like "nose"

Lost!

Wanted: One blue, heart-shaped earring, lost on campus, between Art and Science Faculty, following the shuttle route: A1/A2.
Disappeared between the time of 1200h-1800h

Reward: My heartfelt gratitude. And MAYBE lunch [not from tent].

Damn you cashcard stealer!!

Beautiful Rain

Once again, I seem to be heading nowhere with my essay, which is due today. I stared at it. And stared at it again. Typed one word. Or two. Then give up altogether. Looking out of the window behind me (I'm in school by the way), I see the top of the trees in the park behind the library and feel a sense of calm. There is nothing like rain to cheer you up; that is, of course when you happen to be inside a building and not outside, which while aesthically pleasing and charming to the eye, is mighty wet. Drippy. Ugh weather to be wearing jeans.

Then, there is the sound of rain which should have been refreshing. Unfortunately, it is currently making me fall asleep. The outside is too pretty to be ignored. I should take a photo, but this is the libarary, and because I'm using the powerpt station, everyone is facing me. Weird stares are NOT welcome.
Right. I am instead going back to my essay.

Horoscope of the day [Libra]: It could be that you feel ignored or that no one is really listening to you today. This won’t actually be the case; it’s a sun/moon aspect that is distorting the way you see things. Indulge in a pampering session or a facial to banish those negative thoughts. A piece of hematite will help too.
From http://www.horoscope.com

Ignored? I'm ignoring MY work...

Food! or CNY (2)

A list of new year goodies at home:
(In decreasing order of what I like best)

1.Rainbow candy

2.Pepperridge farm's rainbow fish [it's not a traditional goodie but who cares?)

3.Kueh bangkit

4.Cornflake pastry/cookie thing

5.Almond cookie

6.Fragrance bak kwa (Lim Chee Guan has fallen out of the list)

7.Garlic cashew nuts

8.I HATE pineapple tarts

9.melon seeds

10.Kueh lapis (I liked this until I found it it's made solely from egg YOLKS)

11. Prawn rolls - every year, this does not fail to give me a sore throat, hence, I am avoiding these

New Year Cheer (1)

So what have I been up to these few days? Hah. Happy indulgence and procrastination of course. Somehow, it seems as if I should begin the new year with an excessive amount of eating, smiling, and visiting and playing host - to the point that I think that the stars are against me doing my work. Just so that you can imagine my horror better - imagine the following scenario happening to you:

You wake up really happy and excited of your break on Fri morning, happily thinking that you'll take a well-deserved break. Then, of course, stupidly, the next day, when you decide you had better get on with your essays, you get writer's block. You just stare at that badly written thing and wonder how you'd accomplish 7 pages last semester without less fuss than this time. Then, of course, all essay writing and mid-term revision goes out of the window at the approach of evening and reunion dinner (yum! Of course, you helped too). The next day is given. No work done. Monday was meant to be the last day you'll be having fun. Turns out your relations arrived and one must you know...smile and be the filial daughter etc. Then, the rest of the day was spent agonising over the stupid essay, with nothing done, and then go to granny's for dinner (not so yum again: after 2 days of meat excess you felt like dying). The highlight was learning how to play mahjong! Lost. Badly.
Tuesday dawned bright and clear in yet another attempt to write essays. Emailed your lecturer about consultation time. Then of course you realised how stupid that was when you haven't eve began writing ANYTHING. Then, in dismal horror you find out it's due this Monday. Plus, there is still that in-limbo essay wailing for attn. Darn.

New Beginnings

Happy Chinese New Year everyone! Tis the year of the pig!

Balm for sore feet

On Tuesday, py and me went to watch "Multiple Personalities Disorder" starring solely, Hossan Leong. Apart from almost going to the theatre late (thanks to non-existent waffles), it was a night of laughter, laughter and more laughter. As a measure of how funny the entire performance was, I totally forgot about my sore, blistered feet (thanks this time, to my shoes). Unfortunately, the pain returned, and I had to limp all the way home.
It's rather funny. I remember feeling so utterly light and care free, like all the troubles in the world, ok. my world, at least, had just vanished into thin air. Some people were staring, which I suspect had to do with me smiling in the middle of the stupidly crowded bus stop when everyone else was feeling cranky (bus not coming...bus not coming...). Hah! Who asked them not to go and watch a perfectly laughable show to de-stress!

Actually, I'd plans for a really long review, but it's been two days, and sadly, all that's left is that echo of hilarity, people sniggering appreciatively at the funny bits in the theatre and how, for me, the play had made my week already.
Even if it was only Tuesday.
Even if I'd nearly lost my $50 textbook to the Faculty of Long Staircases (aka Science).
Even if I have two mid-terms, and 3 essays due after Chinese New Year, and several drafts to prepare by next week.
Credit of course, goes to py, who managed, by default of cca membership, to procure half priced tickets.

Old hat, new hat and thinking caps

As usual, this blog has become the place which I visit only because I have nothing else to do. However, before my conscience and weird stares at "nothing to do" arrives to bug me, I'll like to point out that I blog here only when nothing else stands in the way of looking at school work and reading boring course packs. Hence, there really is a lot to do. I'm just not doing it.

So, what's this business with the hats. Right. Reviewing all my tutorials to date, I find myself most enamoured by sociology. Ok, maybe "enamoured" is coming on too strong. Perhaps "like" is a better word. Sadly, lit has been ousted from it's cushy "I love Lit no matter what" position and there must be reasons why this is so.

So let me count the ways:
1) I have done lit for two years - almost instinctively the answers and queries are on the right path. Clearly, I have somehow lost the knack for asking literary questions.

2) This, I suspect have to to do with how I am working less hard at it, plus I fear making a fool of myself when I have not said anything remotely stupid about this subject and fear doing so now.

3) It doesn't help either when you think everyone else is smarter and your lit grade has been sliding.

4) New subjects (like sociology): everyone makes a fool of themselves anyway, so... why not?

5) New subjects (like phliosophy): I am thinking too hard to say anything. Plus, they think so fast! Argh!! Someone should invent thinking caps that come with a mental speed booster.

Actually, 5) doesnt count as to why I can't seem to do lit right now: it's just griping. Then, there is 6): I don't enjoy lit class anymore and I think it's the tutor's fault (partly).

It'll be great if lit was the way it used to be, but then again, no progress means no advancement in my love for this subject right?
Haha. I wish!

P.S. I have also decided to label all my posts (past and present and future). It will be an uphill task though.

A guide to buying textbooks

Book XXX

"The Master said: To buy a book, one should not do so by herself; instead call a friend to do it, and then the book shall be in your grasp."

Black Week.

And it's only Monday.

Clarifications and Updates

Clarification no.1: I do NOT like caterpillars - whether they come in red, black, matching green or modish black n white stripes. Or spots. Or checks. Or whatevers.

Update no.1: My opinion of my current modules as it now stands:
Classical Chinese Philosophy: bewildering and expensive
Geography: I miss geog! What a welcome opportunity for nostalgia and the gd ol' jc days!
Soci: Neutral.
Intro to Film Art: I don't know and I don't care. (See below for explanation)
Genes and Society: Somebody shoot me so I don't have to do this module. Plus. It's expensive.
Film n Cultural Txts: Likewise: a "somebody shoot me situation". It's not expensive though.

What lovely weather we've been having... and I've watched my first film in Spanish! Pan's Labryinth is an excellent film, hence I shall weather Film n Cultural txts because in some vague, currently unknown way, this module will help me better my movie/film watching experience. I can't wait for this semester to end already!

Update no.2: 10 reasons why I should like media studies.

It's er. updated.
It's interesting.
Helps you be consumer aware.
Helps me update myself with the hottest tv programmes, and media trends
It's a little bit like soci and I am neutral to soci.
It's a good break from airy fairy lit.
Some ppl must like it. Pity it isn't me.
One should diversify from dusty moth eaten books [NEVER!]
I like film
I hate ads (now I'll know why)

Clarification no. 2: If it sounds forced, it's only because I'm prejudiced, and am trying to like it. Do help me out by adding on to this list. A semester of surprises indeed.

School Reopening!

Back to school, as usual. When I think about it, I've been in school (different ones of course) for over a decade. How appalling.
6 years in primary school
4years in secondary school
2 years in a junior college
and ___ years to go in university.
In all: 12 full years and one semester (less than 6 months) of academia so far.

Funny how it took 6 years to NOT miss school holidays and dread school. Thank you, secondary school then. And then I think of how it's been like all those years - maths, chinese (horrors). I have the greatest respect for my mother tongue - it's just that it is beyond my grasp; so, come to think about it, is logic. Er. 12 years and what do I have to show for it? School's back - another round of reading (ugh), research (ugh) and essays and projects (double ugh).

Here are my modules for next semester as proof of the amount of reading amd thinking involved. Come to think of it, thinking is hard work too...
Daoism and Confucianism [Qn: WHY am I doing this when I don't even like the idea of patriarchy??]
Film art - an Introduction. [yay!]
Film and Cultural Texts [May I be more consumer savvy with this module.]
Soci [duh.]
Geog [please oh please don't make me go on field trips!! The hot sun...rocky paths...icky humid air...]

Well, at least, with 12 years of studying and exams, tests, pop quizzes and such other "surprises" I can safely say I am as unprepared as I was 12 years ago. A new semester of surprises awaits... not to mention that it's a new year. Whoop.

Merry Christmas!!

Now what is it again?

Peace on Earth and Joy to all Men (and Women)?

Now I can't be sure but who cares?

Merry Christmas to everyone out there!

Going Away

Won't be in Singapore from the 12th to 16th.. Hong Kong here I come!!

Indulgence

Hmm. My first paper [the exam kind] is tomorrow. Indulge me ok.

Fantasy no.1: Kick back and relax in a nice cafe with a good book

Fantasy no.2: Sleep without horrid dreams relating to school work

Fantasy no.3: Watch unlimited TV/VCDs/DVDs... ...you get the picture

Fantasy no.4: NO ringing telephones or rude neighbours

Fantasy no.5: A day trip to a mysterious castle deeply secluded in unspoilt forests*

Fantasy no.6: Catching up on all my fiction reading. There is this whole list waiting to be devoured

Fantasy no.7: Movies!

Fantasy no.8: Chill out with pals without going broke

Fantasy no.9: In which Fantasy no.8 and Fantasy no.1 do not clash - but that is just a fantasy

Fantasy no.10: I can somehow accomplish all this in er. my very short break?

* This is here just for the heck of it obviously. Does Hong Kong count as a cement forest?

And...the verdict is out!

Our group got a grade worthy of that absurd overnight/24hr marathon rush to meet the project deadline! Yay! Today is a memorable day!

Pandemonia!

A Short Play by yours truly.
As opposed to a Looooong Post.

Note: The authoress delines to associate herself with the characters you will meet below. Whether they are fictional or not will be up to you.

8:48pm: The brain. There are two white armchairs facing each other across a small table, also white. The furniture is set in a square room with 3 walls, all painted gray. One of the armchair has a box, also white in colour on it. The front of the room is "open" to the audience, i.e. no wall. ficklemiss enters stage right, and sits in the empty armchair.

ficklemiss: [looks around nervously] Did you hear that?

A loud burst of crackling interference from the white box is heard, and ficklemiss jumps nervously again

The other voice in my head (hereafter known as ToViMH): No, hear what?

ficklemiss: Shh! I heard something...didn't you?

ToViMH: No...can't you see I've no ears?

ficklemiss: Ooh! I heard it again! [springs up agitatedly and runs to hide beside the armchair]

ToViMH: I REALLY don't hear anything...

ficklemiss: [peeking from the armchair to stare at ToViMH accusingly] Listen HARDER...now shh!

ToViMH: Wait! I heard something... what's that odd sound?

ficklemis: Elementary, my dear Watson - it's the voice of Hysteria! [laughs]

FIN.

Can't the weekend breeze by? I'm agonising for Monday to come. Damned 24 hr marathon. If we are going to do badly...I'm going to cry...

A Looooong Post

In honour of a friend (who asked for a post), and since it IS her b-day, it'll be a long one. So bear with me.

Thus! We shall begin with Su.Z's very first Looooong Post!!
It was a fine day, as most days are regardless of whatever you may be feeling, which as it happened, can be put simply with this facial expression: a long face. So, to cut a lengthy story short, let's just get on with this verbose post...

This morning, my train journey was delayed for some mysterious reason. Now, I run on a tight schedule trying to get to school on time, and I could not be more relieved when the train started moving after a protracted wait in the dark tunnel. Miraculously, I got to class in time, but that was after a ridiculously ardous climb up Biz Fac. What a horrible place filled with continuous flights of stairs!
So, after a drawn-out day at school, with the end finally in sight, me and a pal decided to take a bus down to Harbourfront for ice-cream. Luckily the slow journey was made better by the unusual perspective provided by us sitting on the upper-deck of the bus. Now, I've never sat on the upper-deck of Bus 10 before, and the view was amazingly different. Makes all the difference when you are tall, I suppose... ...you feel like you are towering over all that strectched out expanse of shorter shophouses before us.

Unfortunately, there wasn't any good ice-cream place at Harbourfront, so we both decided to train down to PS. Yay! Ice-cream! That sweet delight is all the more enticing after that absurdly roundabout bus/train ride. I ordered a Frosted Malt Choc (I think that's what's it's called). It has been noted that prolonged starvation makes food taste way better, and it's true when FNALLY, my sweet treat which I had yearned for appeared magically from thin air in front of me!
Of course not. Duh. What happened to thanking the waiter/waitress who served you your long-awaited meal? Too long has it been since we all indulged in a little courtesy!

We had a wordy discussion on haunted houses (halloween may be over, but it wasn't that way back ago) while waiting for the food to arrive. When it did, we spent so much time laughing that we took an extended time trying to finish our ice-cream.

Well, I got home soon after that. Now, my only desire is that I somehow wrap this post up tidily and go off to bed without typing my fingers off! What a terribly draggy day!

Murphy's Law or Plain Bad Luck

The title sums up everything about this film module I'm taking. Shoot me.

Time is EVIL

Not enough time. As usual. Who films and edits in one week? Considering we actually have absolutely no experience whatsoever with the editing programme, some really mysterious pixels and whatever other stuff that can't be put here for the sake of diplomacy. I'm supposed to be doing the immensely boring accompanying report and I hope my draft of it doesn't kill us all though if it sucks it is our fault for procrastinating. Huh. No time to yak more - here's a lovely orchre [I hate yellow] space for me to hide in, if only for a few minutes. I might even go for lunch after I leave. Hah!
Hey. Someone wanted an update. I'm ruined. But at least it's more than 2 sentences long. Only one person will get that line before this line, fortunately.

Pick Me!

These are my Lit paper questions. Pick one for me and tell me why you chose it. I think they're all horrible. That said, I still have to do them. I think I ought to watch Sympathy for Lady Vengeance for the first question. That said... I don't like Korean films...
The winner doesn't win anything obviously. Though if you like candy I'll get some for you. =D

1. Ibsen's Hedda Gabler forces us to see domestic frustration, disappointment, and fiasco as forms of violence against women in society. Discuss.

2. The title of Duras' film script, Hiroshima mon Amour [Hiroshima My Love], is equivocal about its proper subject: the address to "my love" can refer equally to an unnamed lover as well as to the proper noun 'Hiroshima', the city itself. Reflect on this ambiguity.

3. Discuss the language and attitude to the subject of love in any one of the following three poems:

Jonathan Swift's 'A Beautiful Young Nymph Going to Bed'
T. S. Eliot's 'The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock'
Leong Liew Geok's 'Love Songs'

An observation and commentary (unrelated)

Today, it started raining at approximately 12.30pm. Terrible smell of smoke accompanied the rain. Everything was grey(more than usual)and if you looked clearly, you could see tendrils of smoke with the rain. Must be the first time that I saw such nasty pollution. Eyes are itching too, possibly as a reaction to the smoke which is currently also clogging up my respiratory system.

I went to the library yesterday. With the opening of the Bishan Library (YES!) a significant number of books have been left on the shelf for the newer facilities down the road. Hence, I had a field day picking my way through full shelves. Execellent if not for the fact that I have several papers to write, a number of non paper projects and no time to spare for some of the really good finds (in a damn long time I tell you) that have mysteriously turned up despite the abject mess of the shelves. What is Tom Holt (HOL) doing on an M shelf I ask?
In any case must put that list of books to be read/reread/completed somewhere and it might as well be here. The holidays never seemed so far away. Actually, it isn't, just that I'm procrastinating quite successfully and feel that while i require more time to get assignments done, I also don't want to be kept away from a nice long break.

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell (or is the other way round?)
The Prestige, which popped up from nowhere like Magic!
I am a Cat
Anansi Boys
Ender's series (don't remember exact title)
Onion Girl, which makes the list not because I'm dying to read it but because in all my time at that library, it's the first time I've seen it - and it's not new.
(The list seemed longer yesterday)

In retrospection

A few days ago, I went to return VCDs which I had borrowed for schoolwork. I was in one of those on-the-go moods, feeling as if nothing could disturb my sense of finaly broken through procrastinating and getting down to work at last. With such determination to get SOMETHING right for once, I walked into the one VCD shop that I frequent in the jolly, bustling heartland.

Looking back from where I am now, i.e. in the present, it was all some absurd nightmare. I happily breezed into the shop, saw that no one was at the counter for me to return my VCD to and decided I'll browse around. It was really a half-hearted attempt to waste time, because I had somewhere else to go, and better things to do than browse around. So, in boredom, I puttered around the shelves wondering why no one was appearing at the cashier.

On my way in, I recalled having seen a couple of slackers smoking at the door. Assuming these were the staff taking a break, I civilly decided to wait, being empathetic about work dissatisfaction. Looking up from browsing, I saw that one of the fellows that worked there staring at me. Since I possess a natural dislike for being stared at, I huffily wondered why the slacker was staring at customers while obviously slacking. It wasn't any business of his to examine what I was looking at. It didn't matter if I'll gone to the shop 3 days consecutively. I had to borrow the discs on my 1st day, returned one that I'll watched on the second and was now back on the 3rd to the same. In the end, glancing at my handphone which I'll fished out of my bag to look at the time, I decided to approach the cashier who was standing outside the shop.
I held out the VCD and said "I want to return this." He took it back, and said, "Where's the other one?" Thinking that he had an amazingly short memory, I reminded him that I had returned it the day before. Looking back, it was ridiculous.
He said I had another in my bag. Amazingly, I who had frequented this shop had been accused of being a petty thief! Insulted, I threw him my bag for him to look through. He clearly believed in the existence of 'The Invisble VCD' because he made me remove my jacket as well, so that no large objects would be obstructing his view. (I dimly wondered how I could be accused of stealing anything when I'll asked him 2 days before if they had a VCD I had wanted, but they didn't have.) He couldn't find anything (duh), and gave me back my bag and went to get my real VCD which I was returning, scanned. When he was done, I icily retorted if I could leave, and left fuming silently to myself.

Looking back, it was funny. I was browsing half-heartedly (I've been there 3 times), fidgety (hey I was bored) and possibly must look guilty-stricken to smog covered eyes. There it was, a polite customer here to return borrowed goods, and an over eager sales assistant. Thinking about it now, I can't seem to find it funny. Isn't it strange that one can have dual feelings about something that has happened? I find it strange that while I can review that unfortunate episode with a good deal of bemusement, I can't help but feel angry the instant I pass the shop, while cursing it smugly- Ha! Not only has competition just opened across the road, your once valued customer is GOING there too!

Interlude: The Jumbled Mind of Me

Just had lunch in school. Will be going for second lunch in half an hour's time. Whoopee! While waiting, I decided to go print notes in the library, but there was a long queue, so decided to read notes using laptop instead, with notes magnified to 120% for easy reading. I intend to maintain my 6/6 vision (though it could be 9/9 by now).

I've made a discovery: someone has been keeping secrets from Me! The fact is: it's a conspiracy that no one has informed me that Marmite n Cream Cheese Toast is an absolute and fabulous gourmet creation. Perks include: cheap. easy to make. tastes heavenly. I'm obessed by it.

Apart from that, I'm reading Kafka as my Lit text. Bureaucracy? It's all a conspiracy too - of a cosmic size in this case. My Marmite n Cheese Toast pales in comparison with this delectable text. You should read it - it's brilliant. Why is it brilliant? I don't exactly know yet, but it appears to deal with Life, the Universe and Everything, in particular, bureaucracies, which we all have dealt with now and then.
Ok. Time's up. Lunch is beckoning enticingly.

Blogging from the Far Side

Far and away!! Every morning, it takes me approximately one and a half hrs to get to school. I know, I know, quit complaining, yadda yadda, in other countries, it's a blessing if u can make it to sch in 2hrs, that sort of thing. Unfair comparisons aside, I can't help but be just a little envious of those who live near university. Two years of walking to school must have softened me. Shopping sprees do not count. I used to wonder what it felt like getting up really early to get to school. Well, now I know it. Not really, I just wonder how they wake up early and have no complains, unlike whiny old me.

As it is, shall we go on to lighter matters then? The food is nice in NUS. As in, what I've tried so far anyway. There are also many stairs in NUS. Some of the stairwells are dark. The place can get creepy at night. My bus has no aircon. The stuff in NUS are cheap. Isn't the last one cool?? Campus is huge though. I've been spacing out lots during lectures. Why is that? During lectures, when I'm not paying attention, my head feels really buoyant and happy, like it's about to float away on fluffy white clouds if I forget to hold on to it...

Life at the edge.

First Day Blues

School started proper today, meaning lectures. Woke up early, caught the bus early, and made good time to school. Upon reaching NUS, I decided to drop at the library, which seemed to be closer to the lt that I was headed for. At least, I recalled that it had appeared closer on the map.

Since it was the first day of school and all, there were lots of people walking around, and most of them were moving at a sort of half-jog, half-walk hybrid pace. The woes of rushing from lecture to lecture. To prevent myself from being squashed by incoming students, I had to walk at that odd pace too, and got to the lt with 20 minutes to spare. Sat around then, and did a little people watching. Then, it when it was about time, I went in to lecture. Sat around somemore, while waiting for p.y. to appear.

Then. I find out that I'm in a Soci lecture. Hahaha. Wrong place. Whoopie.
Rushed to the correct lt. Mercifully, I had not missed anything in particular. What a way to start my 3 years at NUS. Joy to me.
As a side, I realised that somehow, my wonderful module combi is such that I have a lecture EVERY SINGLE DAY of a working week. So that means that I've got to go to school everyday. Way to go miss. Must remind myself to arrange a better schedule the next time round.

Bargains!

Went to the library used book sale today. Everything is going from about $2. Reached the expo at about 0830, and there was already a sizeable crowd waiting there. Most of them had come prepared with newspapers to while the time away waiting for the sale to open at 0930... Some came even more prepared, with huge backpacks and market trolleys.

Then the sale started. At first, we could approach the carts of books with ease, but within minutes, you had to fight increasing numbers of bargain hunters that had absolutle no scruples when it came to pushing, shoving and/or scratching. Don't forget the elbowing too. If you can withstand the maniacal crowd, it's really worth a visit. Of course, we didn't stay long. Got in at about 0930 and we were out by 1100. Honestly, the crowd was unbearable by then, and most the er. hunters had by then settled down amongst the crowd to peruse their trophies. We left the place exhausted. And to think it had been less than 2hrs!

The Notebook Hunt

Got my laptop today. Yay! First of all, I really must recount [yet again] the process of getting my laptop collected and processed. Amusing actually. Sort of like a treasure hunt you know. Walked all over NUS while lugging said notebook to search for the Staff Club where it was to be processed. Map was inaccurate, even if it featured only 3 places - the IT- Co op, an overhead bridge and the opposite end of the bridge. Lost lost lost. What a fun game. Embarrassed myself walking back to the IT shop to ask for directions. lol... what a sight.

After getting the laptop, decided to take cab home. Only.
The one available cab in sight zoomed into the distance before I could stick out a hand to flag it down, being weighted down with heavy tech stuff. So took a bus back instead. Never ever do that. It's heavy, inconvenient, and the bus ride was LONG. Mercifully, both buses were quite empty, and they would have been emptier still if swarms of student fresh from a day of doing good had not chose that precise moment to enter the bus. But I guess I can't really blame them, since it's a hoilday, and they are naturally excited. I remember loving the National Day holidays. Red all round. Actually, I prefered having the whole day off. Besides. I like white better. Red on the other hand, entails a trace of bloodshed.

Now, I'm at home, waiting for the laptop to finish charging or whatever it is that it has to do. Apparently, the plug from the charger came loose, and I've wasted one perfectly good day for charging it. Huh. Well. At least I'll get to play with it tomorrow. Whee! My own laptop!

Skool's In!

School's in again. I'm not an organised person, and at times like this, really wish I were. The bulky stack of forms I received through the mail gives the illusion that I'll be signing a million forms. Actually, it's only 4 for local students, but a lot more for foreign students. Then, I go online and download this stack of instructions that is a disheartening 20 pages long. The modules list goes on forever too, not to mention the time table.... Ugh. Then, there are 3 different kinds of modules...? Not sure how this is gonna work out.

Then I still have to fit in tuition, which is frankly disastrous, and am now opting for a way out... Then, there is all those things to do...I feel kinda queasy thinking dealing with the admin, and a new, strange environment. A new beginning. Again.

Anticipation

OK. I'm sitting around at home avoiding the TV because Idol is on and I don't watch that show. Right now, I'm just fidgeting about online feeling vaguely unhappy and impatient and edgy. The neighbour who has just beaten her son because he kicked up a big fuss about not being allowed to go play badminton since he has to take care of his kid sis is making an even larger anount of noise, which is adding to my headache. I'm sad to say my neighbour is loud (which isn't doing her justice) and has contributed much headaches, present and past. Ah well.

The only reason why I'm rooting about round here is because. I'm bored. Duh. Life has come to a stand still again after my Malaysian trip, and the only highlights have been eating out with friends and packing cupboards (again), which aren't much as highlights go. Umm. Been pacing about, trying to distract myself. I have all the time right now to bolt out there and watch Pirates, which I really want to, only I said I'll go with my sister who is currently having her exams, but is't putting in any effort to revise. This means going to the movies with her isn't exactly wasting her time since she is already wasting it. Someone tell me restraining my impulses for that twit's sake is worth it. I'm losing it right now.

Not Here

Will be in Malaysia from tonight till Thurs. So don't bother calling me. You can drop a message via my hp or this blog though. I'll read it when I get home Thursday night.

Skeletons in my cupboard

Finished cleaning up one of the 2 cupboards that I had planned to clean. But!
That is merely a third of the war won. You wouldn't believe the amount of junk I threw out. Actually it is believable if I describe them to you. Some of the stuff date back to the time when my age consisted of single digits.
They really had to go.
I mean, it is dead embarrassing for a 18 going on 19 girl to be caught storing pink and white party hats and a huge doll won from a lucky draw in her cupboard... not to mention all those numerous nameless thingys. So, I tidied up of course, peeled down my doll display which I had been so proud of when I was like... 12? I can't even remember when I did that, though I'm still proud of the now gone display.

Now, the upper shelf is devoted to clothes and some books. I'm considering transferring some more clothes from my 2nd cupboard over as the latter is threatening to smoulder me in a T-shirt-jeans-underwear-skirts avalanche one of these days. OK. Consider that done. haha. Eh. I'm so lame.
I think I'm never throwing out my Phy/Chem books. Though I've already disposed of my upper secondary Geog text since it is virtually useless, even as toilet paper. If you geog electives out there can still recall, that geog textbook was made of the shittiest (no pun intended) paper ever. You can't doodle on it. You most certainly can't use it for toilet paper. And most importantly, it wasn't a very good textbook. How frustrating could it get?

Certified Fun

Went back to school to eat fishball noodles. Ironically, there weren't any fishballs in my soup noodles. It was very nice though. The school is very quiet - because they are HAVING EXAMS!!! Hahahaha. Was called crazy. Well, I can't deny that it wasn't a very sane thing to do. But I have my excuses:
A) I've quit my job. So I don't have anymore pocket $$ and where better to get a cheap meal than gd ol' sch?
B) I've quit my job and it's time to do something odd.
C) I need to collect my A Level Certificate. I happen to know that many of you haven't collected it yet! Mwahaha.

In any case, it's good to be back in school. Such a lovely feeling. You should do it more often too. I've never felt like I missed school so much. And teachers turn stalkers!!!
Drama is holding elections next week, which means we actually got juniors of juniors or mini mimions! I didn't think we would get enough to hold an election... not meaning any offence of course.

Just remembered that I won't be able to go... =( Going to Malaysia next week. So if any of you out there see this, do pass on the info to all ex drama sorts.

Off Line of Duty to Customers n such

You cannot imagine what it feels like to finally leave your part-time job behind you. For instance, I decided to finally risk looking at the damage that nearly half a year's worth of washing up did to my fingers. I think I can safely say that my right finger knuckles have thickened, and it looks wider than those of my left hand, which has led a sheltered life since Fate decreed that I was going to be right-handed. Ok. Actually, I'm taking it better than what it looks here.

On the other hand, the day after I quit, my mummy descends on me with a long forgotten list of cleaning that had been pushed back due to my job. One type of cleaning up to another. Frankly I don't know which is worse. It's not that I'm dirty or like living in a hovel (as my mum likes to call the room that I and my sis share) but that I am incapable of tidying up, and more importantly, maintaining the level of neatness that my mum can tolerate. Books have a mysterious habit of spilling out by themselves. I wish I can attribute it to my neighbour who screams at her children everyday and I can hear her even when I'm sleeping in my room. It must have terrified my books seeing as they and their owner share a remarkably low level of patience for people who scream at their children be it to fetch their school things, correcting homework errors or to settle petty sibling squabbles. I actually HEAR what they are saying. Hah. I'm digressing again aren't I?

But seriously, now that I'm off work there isn't anything for me to do. One wonders if I should take up that offer from a hotel manager that I got last Sunday and pick up part-time work again. Nah. I'm hapy to bum around at home, and there is still two cupboards and a shelf to clean up, and possibly my secondary school stuff to throw out if I happen to be in the mood. I'm a sentimentalist and I can't bear to throw away that stupid Physics/Chem TYS.

I shall probably think of something to do. Like read some more. Currently, Sense & Sensibility is sitting at home trying its best to catch my eye. My quest to understand why Jane Austen is so good at what she does (and what exactly it is that she is so good at) is still an ongoing one. Various people have tried to explain to me why it is so good, but I like to read more and find out for myself. There are 6 other books at home, and the only one that I've completed is 'Notes form an Even Smaller Island' by Neil Humphreys. It is quite funny. It is also the thinnest. Makes me apreciate home a little more eh? Maybe you would too if you read it... Try the libraries. They stock an astonishing number of that book.

Well. You'll probably see more of me. I mean seeing as I am bored enough oops. I mean have more time to blog from now on. Do remember to leave a message. I might actually reply.

Simple Things in life

Simple things in life are the best. Whoever came up with that notion must be under appreciated.

Simple things like laughing together over how every good eating place for miles around are closed.

Simple things like des[s]ert.

Simple things like a walk at night and looking at the pretty lights round the Esplanade and Fullerton Hotel.

Even simpler things like nearly geting lost. If it's not a desperate situation, it is funny. Really.
The company is important of course.

The simply nice cool breeze and mildly warm sunshine at work.

A smile and thanks would be nice from customers. It's a simple gesture. Really.
Please don't make things difficult for me. I'll hate you since I still have to smile.

Please don't renovate/demolish/"spruce up" any more of our nation's treasured past, if we value our identity. Clifford Pier looks awfully lost under the white glare of construction work; and the red string tied acros its wide entrance is worse. Let's just restore it and liven it up instead. Or is that too difficult?

A Simple Life. And I don't mean Paris Hilton and whats-her-name.

When reality is this ridiculous you actually start believing crap

It wasn't Friday the 13th. 06/06/06 was 2 weeks ago.
So, it was I assume, an appropriate time for all these to happen since I wasn't going to expect anything out of the blue. Was happily locked in yesterday and found out 2 minutes before I was due to leave the house for work. What happended you see was that my mum took her house keys and MINE out with her when she left earlier to meet her gal pals.

You can imagine what I did to the gate to get out. Of course, the next thing to happen would be that the bus would take an unusually LONG time to come, and then conveniently stop at every traffic light between my home and Tanglin Mall. That by the way is a lot of red lights even though part of the bus route involved an express way. Upon cursing everything there could possibly be to curse in this situation, I rushed out of the bus and to my work place. Dramatic entrance was quite ruined seeing as I was 5 mins early. Then I broke a Snapple bottle.

I decided to research on Murphy's Law which took on some interesting routes like how: what we usually refer to as Murphy's Law is actually known as Finagle's Law (whatever that is). Truly, what can go wrong will, including the fact that people will actually mistake what your Law is named for... which is bad.

BUT!
Here is an interesting sample of dear ol Murphy's Law:

When you need an item that is in a heap, it will always be the one at the bottom.

Buses take ages to arrive, but when they do they always arrive in sets of three (in Britain "you wait ages for a bus, then two come along at once!"). There actually is a logical explanation for this: the first bus is slowed down because of the time needed to let passengers get on and off. The subsequent busses are (typically) not allowed to pass the first bus, so you tend to end up with a full bus followed by a line of empty ones.

Everything takes longer than you think, or twice as long as it should. Except that which appears easy, which takes three times as long.

Anything that can go wrong will go wrong, and at the worst possible time.

If there is a possibility of several things going wrong, the one that will cause the most damage will be the one to go wrong.

If something simply cannot go wrong, it will anyway.

All small objects of value will disappear when set down.

Airline Travel Variation: The time you have to catch a flight is inversely proportional to the distance to the gate.

There is even a military variation known as Murphy's Law of Combat operations:

Friendly fire - isn't.
Interchangeable parts - aren't.
You are not Superman; Marines and fighter pilots take note.
Never forget that your weapon was made by the lowest bidder.
If your attack is going really well, it's an ambush.
The worse the weather, the more you are required to be out in it.
The complexity of a weapon is inversely proportional to the IQ of the weapon's operator.

Full list is available at Wikipedia's: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murphy%27s_law
That in case u don't know, is also where I got the sample list from. Duh.

Watch with Me: an update

My aunt's taking me to watch Cabaret! And I didn't even ask her! So long as she doesn't suddenly change her mind, Yay for me!! Hahahaha

Watch with me

Is anyone interested in watching Cabaret (a musical) with me?? Please say yes!

Summer Movie Report Card

Hello.

And hello again! It's your friendly blogger pal Ms Fickle again!!

Now, having exhausted verbally abusing X-Men: The Last Stand to all those long suffering souls out there, let's just say that while it was a really cool movie and all that, I do really really wish that the director focused more on developing the characters and their relationships rather than exhibiting his prowness with pyrotechnics. What with blazing cars that sail above the protagonists and collapsing iconic American bridges, I think we KNOW what Mr. Ratner is capable of... Wait! Did I mention that those scenes in which Jean Grey uses her awesome psychic powers are really cool too? Hah.

I think X-Men was one of those early comic hero adaptations that actually worked. No one really wants to see them as perfect. It was always their imperfections, being flawed and very human that connected me to them. It's so much easier to relate to a flawed character than sleek fighting machines. At least that is so for me. Depth? What happened to depth??? All ths same, it was a jolly good summer blockbuster. It just wasn't a good enough ending to a well loved movie trilogy, though kappa IS right in saying that there is no way they could continue this even if the whole world begged for a sequel. Well, if you ask me they can always go backwards like Star Wars.
Ha. ha.
Action? Check.
Romance? Check.
Epic-scale fight? Check.
Comic bits? Check.
A-List actors/actresses? Check.
Optional: Really angsty, tragic and tough issues? Umm.

Movie Mania May

Well well, the month of May seems to be providing a bumper crop of summer flicks. As it is, there is MI3, Da Vinci Code and XMen: The Last Stand... and of course all manner of kiddie run-of-the-mill shows like "Over the Hedge" (sounds like what Aunt Petunia likes to do or a really watered down Desperate Housewife-y thing). Frankly, is suburbia this interesting? and some Disney thing that looks like Madagascar... However, this post is not to throw nasty and uncalled for insults at the movie industry... rather we should forge ahead and hope for the best.

Woohoo!

Someone said that the Da Vinci Code is all bull****. That all those rants about finding mysterious codes are all fictitious. (Well ofcourse they are! That is my point see for here onwards) Hmm. Has that someone been quoting the friendly newspaper?? I know for a fact that the person has not touched anything as intellectual as a novel for well, a very long time.

Obviously.

Since when did Xmen, MI3 or any other popcorn worthy movie had to suffer from bouts of reality checks? Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!! Men with claws and pyschic abilities - the future of super beings are here. We must squash em!! Or well... there is this conspiracy see, where there are secret organisations of spies that are NEVER seen rapelling down HUGE skyscrapers in the heart of the CBD.

Likewise...
There is really no cause to raise such a brouhaha over what is clearly a piece of fiction no different from other pieces of fiction. Jeez. The characters Robert Langdon and Sophie Nevue are essentially non existent*. The Mona Lisa does of course, but so do guns, skyscrapers, spies, and human genome research. So er? Why the big fuss? Just because it claims to debunk centuries of belief doesn't mean it has to be true. Or even taken seriously. Latey, religion HAS become an even more touchy subject(think 9/11) but treating popular fiction in such a defensive mode isn't going to help. I recall reading this last year and what a phenomenon it was. So many who thought it was real ( i was one of them until i realised that all his books follow the same basic plot line so it couldn't be anything except a tool to make sensational news and therefore greater book sales) So. I do wish people would stop making a big fuss over the show and just go enjoy it as a summer movie (i.e. plain entertainment). Worldview shattering symbols and clues? A thriller and an adventure awaits...

* By the way. Wolverine and Agent Ethan Hunt don't exist either.

Exam Fever... or not?

How do you make some one worry about their exams when their own school apparently doesn't care??? I mean... seriously, which school has their sports day the weekend before their exams??? Ok, so maybe primary students don't need as much time as us to study (is this even true?) seeing as they have a lot less t er...study? I'm certain that when you were in Primary 3, it probably took more than a weekend to stuff everything you've learnt back into your heads...

Perhaps I'm taking this from the wrong viewpoint... perhaps the school wants their students to take a well-deserved break before their exams, and sports day is the best for students to just take a break and partake in good wholesome fun and forget their studies for a few hours. I approve of that, but honestly, I do wonder...

Things to be desired

Desiderata

Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantmentit is as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.


Max Ehrmann, Copyright 1952.

Different kinds of Exhaustion

There is physical exhaustion, and then there is mental burnout. These are the two most common ailments of youth today. A further inspection will reveal that there are in actual, a variety of "exhaustion" and sub-categories.

For instance - Exhaustion to the point of boredom, and boredom to the point of feeling a general sense of lethargy aka GcE (Gradual change to Exhaustion)...

Also there is frustration, a lack of goal in life which also results in a slightly nastier version known as "I'm so sick of my life"... (usually mentioned in accordance to work life) which brings about the said physical exhaustion and/or mental burnout.

Of course there are also that blessed few which are happily exhausted which is usually brought about by physically and intellectually challenging things like projects, school and cca.

These are just some of the things in life that are currently bugging me. Get me haribo anyday (it's one of those sweets u can eat regularly without being sick of them), or failing that, werther's original (which u can get sick of soon) or even that, ricola's elderflower lozenges and then again... how about one of those imaginary chocolate confectionary from "Chocolat"?? Actually beard papa's is just fine. Or was it bread papa's?? Funny how candy makes u feel so much better emotionally. I suppose it's the after effect of reading PY's blog. All that talk about candy there. Skool's fun. Lucky all those who relief teach or are still in an educational instituition.

Drama Nite 2006

IMPORTANT

Dear interested persons esp. ex NY drama club members or otherwise:

Required: 6-8 persons to usher, particularly on Opening night, i.e. 5th May
Assuming that you all would also like to watch our juniors (and their juniors) in action on the second night.

Pls leave a note in the tagboard if you are interested, or email me...
I am also assuming that you all would luv the opportunity to er...dress up..like what our seniors did last year...
Suggestions are welcome of course. Please do spread the message... thanks.

Reminiscences

Sometimes, I wonder where those thoughts pop out from, but that I suppose is a matter for another time. Having just woke up, I was sitting in the living room stoning when I realised that with a little more than a month to go, the drama juniors will be working at a frantic pace towards their big night. Well. Like last year... and the year before that. To have a goal in the near future aand to be working towards it. Thinking that they have something to work towards brings back some memorable moments. I suppose that that is the difference between them and me now. Just last year, I'll have been doing the same as them, but now, work seems such a monotonous thing. There isn't a goal anymore. No big production, no rehearsals to work towards that, no planning, just work. There doesn't seem to be a point in serving people, smiling and smiling and cursing inwardly after that. That polite service smile. Day after day. Washing washing and more washing. And then what? To what purpose? I suppose you can say that the only thing I can look forward to is my pay at the end of the month. Thankfully, no one day at that place is the same. If it were, I think I might just crack. Now I see why people portray work as a dull, endless cycle that crawls snail pace everyday. To get over one day seems like such a momentous relief.

Dungeons & Dragons

There is a new Studio Ghibli film in progress. Although the film may never be released in cinemas in Singapore, I have come across a trailer for the film online. It looks promising, though knowing how they have a tendency to twist source material to their own themes and interpretation, I hope it'll still be good. A trailer does not reflect the film in it's entirety after all.

Entitled 'Gedo Senki", it is based on Ursula le Guin's Earthsea series. Those were entertaining books which were also mercifully short for something so obviously on an epic scale. Recall Lord Of the Rings, only more condensed, though the action is no less grand or vivid as Tolkein's Middle-earth. I think that if I were 12 when I read the Earthsea series, I would have been blown away by it...

In any case, the trailer certainly seems to indicate a film that deviates from the latest Miyazaki fare involving grandiose flights of fancy; of spirits, wizards, and mechanical contraptions. Of course, the Earthsea world isn't as filled with pretty elegance as Kingsbury or bureaucrats in suits, which might explain the more sparse and natural scenery. The director has also made it a point to keep the background and action simple so as to focus on the characters. Set in an archipelago setting, le Guin's Earthsea books are really a cross between LOTR and jedi lore. Sort of. As it is, being Goro Miyazaki's debut film, he has a lot to live up to, especially with a father who is already established as a master of animated films...

Needing & Wanting - a guide to Nanny McPhee

I watched this film yesterday. Heck, IF I had KNOWN earlier, we would have been watching V for Vendetta. However, Nanny McPhee wasn't so bad. Of course, being a Friday and all, Lido was packed with screaming bratty kids. You would think that Nanny Mcphee with her 5 lessons and knobbly stick would have struck terror into little bratty hearts but no... Most of them were giggling away, though I do admit that the film's appeal lay in how childish it was. Humour was mostly slapstick, punctuated with typical British dry wit.

Most of the characters were quite obviously stock types, from an overbearing aunt with hideous hat in tow, to a nasty vindictive stepmother in even more ridiculous dressing (it HAD to be the sort that revealed cleavage). As I said - these were Fairy Tales stereotypes. One must recall that the target audience of the film was children. Still, I think parents and young kids would have enjoyed it. At least, the audience at Lido were screaming with laughter.
Still, the film set was very pretty. The house where the children live in in the movie had a blue staircase. How cool is that?? A wooden country house staircase.... Walls were red and blue. Very pretty. Had the feel of children living in it - children with rather unorthodox tastes, at least it looked like a fairy tale house... very ideal for a film with typical fairy tale conventions, including a happily everafter of course.

Almost the only intriguing thing about the film is Nanny McPhee herself. Emma Thompson slips into the role of strict nanny with all apparent ease, to the extent that she seemed to have enjoyed herself immensely. A mysterious character that pops up whenever she is NEEDED, be it by the adults who run the house or the children themselves, her ending in the film is equally shrouded in ambiguity. Who is she? What IS she? I guess the answer is something we can only speculate about.

Have you been to the ACM?

It's creepy, costs only 2 bucks, and I enjoyed myself though by 1830h I was begging my aunts to get out quick! Before the place closes at 7pm. Other than tht, I enjoyed myself. It's cool to learn abt the poweer play in ancient China. The robes that officials wear actually shows their ranking. Different kinds of birds for civil officials since birds are a symbol of wisdom or something like that. It was really dim in there though, and the robes looked kinda scary, since it reminded me of the kimono room in Fatal Frame. eeee...

A New Start

It has been a week and a day since we all got our A Level results. Some of us would have jumped for joy, others feeling a little (or a lot) less bubbly. I guess we all have some idea of where we would like to go from now on. It seems like I've been living in limbo for the past few weeks till last Wednesday, worrying on the path that my future would take, everything that could happen hinging so much on that little piece of paper. Now that that is over, I can look forward to a new beginning.

Some of us will be going to NS, others working. And then what? I'll always miss my NY days. My secondary school days. Primary school, sad to say, I was too happy to leave behind. I would never have anticipated some of the paths chosen by my friends, and I am only glad that despite our irritatingly different timetables, we still keep in touch. I hope I can do the same with my jc mates. We are all walking to different tunes now. Some of course are marching to them. Heh. That was lame. Sorry. I hope that wherever we plan to go from now on, we'll still be able to keep in touch.

Doomsday

No matter what, my stupid body clock insisted that I get up at 0730h this morning. So there I was, awake in bed listening to strains of the national anthem coming from 3 different schools, the loudest which comes from the JC, since it is the nearest, and they are blasting it from the quadrangle/parade square, so even I can hear it. Seems like today of all days, my old sch wants me to wake up early. Oh, I know it's not on purpose. Usually, at 730 I'm dead to the world, and therefore don't hear anything. Funny how it is that on days that you don't ever want to wake up to, you wake up earlier and more awake than anything. Guess that's how the world works - in mysterious ways.
Or it's just a sadist who wants to torture you as long as possible so it wakes you up earlier to prolong the pain...

I should be scared.

A levels are out next week. There is a horrible feeling of well... suspense. I guess I'm just freaking out. Or not. I keep thinking of how, if I do horribly and get the most absymal results... I'll have wasted 2 years. Or not. Sometimes I wonder if I could choose again, would I have made a different choice on where to go, and from there, if I did JC, what life would be like if I knew how the A levels were going to be. I remember how Mr Ng said on our first day back as J2s, that time was running out. I thought he was being overly paranoid, but with exams appraoching I had wondered if 2 years were actually enough to let us prepare for the A Levels.

I guess that even if I do get horrible results, I don't regret how I spent those two years. I only wish that I knew exactly what it was I was getting into. However, that is only wishful thinking, Like what that Tom Hanks character, Forest Gump said, "Life is like a box of chocolates, you don't know what you'll get." (Or something like that - it was a long time since I heard that quote.) One can say the same about exams.

Do you believe in ghosts?

Yesterday, me and a couple of friends went out for dinner. We went to Pepper Lunch, which had nice food. However, if you like your bean sprouts well done, please skip that place, or else order something without bean sprouts. While we were queueing at Swensen's after wandering around Taka, the talk wound its way round to the topic of ghosts. Do you believe in them? My two friends go by numbers - look at the amount of ghost stories and retellings of encounters with 'them'. While I wonder how many of them are seriously true, and are not hallucinations mistaken for ghosts, or simply creepy tales to scare an audience, I'm not a non believer in ghosts. On the contrary, I want to believe that some inexplicable mystery still exists in our practical, tech oriented world. But I've never seen a ghost. Why is it that we all choose to believe in something that has no scientific proof. Very possibly, ghosts are the one thing that most people sort of believe in, and crosses linguistic, cultural and religious borders. It is also something we don't often talk about.
So are there ghosts in the world? You tell me.

By the way, if you've walked past HMV recently...they are having a clearout sale. Some really good cheap deals. VCDs from slightly below 8 bucks. I still feel ripped off. Don't ask why.

Did you know?

Terrapins can sneeze. It's true! It sounds like a yap, the kind that those irritating small dogs sound when they bark, only more dragged out. (It is after all, a sneeze.)

Work. Food. Me.

I'm too tired to really blog properly. I just felt I needed to properly thank all those who came down the day I started work at the cafe for dinner, especially poor ill-used someone who trudged ALL THE WAY from Grand-Copthorn without first collecting his pay. The work is seriously back breaking. I hate washing up because your back really hurts after that. Other than that, dishwashing is fine - almost therapeutic because it means you don't have to deal with all those customers. I still have trouble opening beer bottles. By the way, people do order the weirdest things....

Oh and one more thing. Don't EVER tell me my work isn't tough, particularly when you have NO job experience whatsoever. I'll throw something at you if you dare say so. My sis got a crab claw thrown at her for being preachy. So. There.

Good ol' days

Today, I met up with you. Again, in the space of two days, I'm reminded so much of our days in NY together. Heck... I truly miss those days, and that tale you told me, about the secret admirer is just so funny. Never did I think that he would be such a brilliant actor. But that is not surprising right? All those times in drama club. (Allow me to boast about my cca will you) As I said, if I had been there, I would not have stopped laughing too. I miss the way you always laugh, even when things weren't that funny - but lame things are funny too. We NY geog students ought to know.

We got lost, embarrassingly enough. Thank goodness we found our way back. No thanks to me. I do not envy your job - after all, I'm no musician and I'm disorganized. But I do envy your workplace. The environment is enviable, and the surroundings are so quiet and peaceful. VCH brings back so many fond memories too - I even saw (Mr) G. Singh standing there, right where I saw him the last time my Project Work group went to interview him at his workplace. That was two years ago. Yup. That corner of the concert hall fencing where we first spotted him. Dear members... if only u lot were reading this. That scene of him brought back a great sense of deja vu.

This week seems to have given me lots of opportunities to reminisce. It has been a sort of relief to talk about the good ol' days. Never did I think I would miss it this MUCH. I do not have so many good memories of my Secondary school days, and definitely ten times less good days in Primary school. May we all ace our A's and complete our A Level education with even more sweet memories!

Memories and much more

I miss NY. That was the first thought I had when me and Jane made it past the security guard at the front gate. Seeing our juniors... the canteen vendor (whoi gave us a free drink each)... the stupid canteen which was more often than not overly crowded... our tutors... even the building itself brought back wonderful memories of my time there. Now do I truly grasp the feeling that those two years were far too short. 4-30 has been completely revamped of course. Stages to one side, new green and orange bean bags, new wooden desks... and far cleaner than anything we were used to.

Strange then, that the room still contains the same atmosphere. I felt perfectly comfortable on the floor, but at the same time, am aware that I don’t belong there anymore. I’m only a visitor now. It is too easy to fall once again into the life of NYEDC. Already, though I'm at home now typing this out, I instinctively started thinking about the publicity. Poster ideas flow into my mind naturally; the problems faced by the set construction, the logistics, the overall performance, the cast all slip into my mind so easily. But though I want to be a part of it again, and experience the sheer nightmare, the sense of purpose, the camaraderie, I have to remind myself that hey... they are the new ones, and I've to let them do it their way. It's hard. My fingers itch to interfere. I have to constantly remind myself that I'm responsible now for my new job, my tuition, that Primary 3 girl that needs eye opening to the world, and that drama is something I need to think twice about before committing. Well. Look on the bright side (or the good side) - with new obligations, hopefully, I can't interfere too much.
Like 4-30, I've got to let go, and make way for the new masters of this place.

Curiouser and Curiouser

I watched "I Not Stupid 2" today, right before I went to my very first tuition class - First lesson - that children are Not stupid. I shall try to keep that in mind. Hmm... tuition is a lot more trying than I thought it'll be. Lots of patience involved, and not to mention, logic and humor, which both left me at the front door of the girl's house. I guess expectations were too high; the girl seems to like drawing (Hey!!) but seems to be lacking in curiosity. I hope it is only in science, but chances are, I might be wrong, since she doesn't like to read.

I've made it like a sort of part-time life long mission to interest my sister in reading. The success is limited. Manga ISN'T reading, and my disapproval of comics means it wasn't even me who influenced her. I got her to FINALLY take an interest in what I read, but she doesn't bother to read it herself. The ONLY book that ever piqued her interest was Howl's Moving Castle. And it was for a short while only. LOTR - the sheer volume to be read automatically makes it a hopeless task see.

Anyway, my point is, reading widens general knowledge, builds language proficiency and heps to solve most of the girl's academic problems. That, however, is just speculation. I talked at it with Kappa (thanks for listening and being patient with batty ol' me) who thinks the child's problem is a lack of curiousity. Hah. Maybe Spirited Away will wake her up. No..just kidding. I know better than to encourage cartoon watching with her Mum just a hair's breath away.
Well. I'll end here for tonight. Plesant dreams to whoever's out there right now.

Geisha in Hollywood

Watched "Memoirs of a Geisha" yesterday. It was quite nice...er. The kimonos were gorgeous. THe scenery and cinematography can be said to rival the kimonos. The one problem is that it is all too lovely, that is, to be a real memoir. The movie is like a sort of dream, really pretty, but about as realistic as an illusion. I

It looks and sounds deceptively like a Japanese film, but it isn't. It is well, basically, Rob Marshall's idea of what a film about geishas looks like, which is hardly accurate - for one thing, geishas are not kabuki dancers (P.S. was that dance Zhang Ziyi did with a paper umbrella even remotely akin to kabuki??). In other words, they move really sedately, but gracefully, and really not much twirling about. I'm not a geisha expert, but at least I'm absolutely sure they got the hairstyles and makeup wrong (from travel guides that my mum borrowed).

This film is not meant to be taken seriously. It has umm... some beginner's tips though, like how an apprentice geisha or geiko is called a maiko. And some other itty bitty facts. The thing is, it's one of those movies where u go to enjoy as a pretty movie experience. Nothing else really. I can in some way understand why people got really upset over the film though...