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...

Dog's Year

Speaking of Man's best friend...WHY do people dress their beloved pets like so?????? If I were a dog, I'll think that my owner must have gone crackers. Maybe I'll blame the alcohol. OK, as a pet owner myself, I can understand why indulgent owners want to dress up their pets. I HAVE tried my hamsters, but the ribbons never stay on. I just think that some of the er costumes are over the top. Poor doggies.

Now, then, lets go on to the 'Man' aspect. CNY is very fun, except for the food part. It's been only one day, and I am already sick of bak kwa and pineapple tarts. Actually, I've been sick of the latter for a few years now. Other than that, the yusheng was nice, reunion dinner was grand, and vegetarian (I think) lunch at my gran's yummy. I'm not sure what's it called actually. It's got a proper name. Now, I can hear lion dance coming from somewhere. Been hearing such things for some time now. Met up with LOTS of relatives. Funny...they ask the same questions every time I see them, but I guess I can't blame them for doing so.

Every CNY, I also end up playing with my neices and younger cousins. Played blackjack and lost handily. (Thank goodness no money was involved, but still!) Pillow fight was won easily. So was hide and seek. Hurhur. Money has never been my forte. Oh well...at least the other card game went well...sort of like improvised Uno.

Spent CNY speculating on Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. It was very nice by the way=D. Does anyone still want to read the book??

I find that there isn't much to blog about, CNY. I guess all the excitement was in the week preceding it. Going to Chinatown...braving the crowds and aunts. Decorating, cleaning... now I'm like, at a standstill. Speaking of Chinatown - we spent an entire eveing trawling only one street. It was that bad. My aunts even spent like 20 mins picking cushion covers but eventually decided not to buy anything, much to my disgust. Hello! Who subjects themselves to smoke inhalation, and then go away empty handed? They also spent more than 1/2 hr picking jewllery at a road side stall. (I must admit being one of the culprits, but that's because I didn't want to buy anything, and had to spend time persuading myself that I needed a pair of earrings ;) )
So you see! CNY is boring. The shopping...decorating...I don't know...the air of anticipation is always more fun isn't it?

May I never see It again!!

Yesterday, I was FINALLY officially discharged from the NDC!! After more than 3 years, I can safely bid au revoir to that place!! I still have to wear my retainers at night though, to prevent my teeth from moving about too much. But that, is a personal choice, and so not counted. Woohoo!! After hearing a good year's worth of "indefinitelies" I am so happy to see the last of dentists!

It's not that I hate dentists, it's just that I'm so happy to be not trudging off to a far off clinic again. At least I had nice dentists...can't imagine facing one of those poker face strict-about-dental-hygiene kind.

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!! This day, the 23/01/2006 goes down in my personal history as "The Day I Got Off those Retainers Officially".

Weirdness

After receiving 2 creepy emails at night...THAT JC near my home decided to play the National Anthem in the dead of the night, at 10.17pm. It's perfectly nuts...what were they DOING??

No name - it's not like there is a logical sequence to this post

Here I am. Two weeks to CNY. I am now reading the Neverending Story. It is written by one Michael Ende. He writes in German, which means I read the translated version. First of all - kudos to translators - if they do a terrible job that, means one less good tale for the rest of the world to discover. I'll always remember reading Totto Chan, How I became Stupid and Sophie's World. Such nice books. But hey, I'm rambling, and that's not a good sign.

Now, then, on to the book. The Neverending Story is about a boy called Bastian Balthazar Bux, who is not very brave, or adventerous, and is built like a hobbit; in other words, not meant for heroics. The Puffin edition I read suggests that the book is for 10 years and up. If I were 10, I'll have found the creatures that reside in the pages of the book really scary, and I'm absolutely certain I would've not finished reading it. Well, I'm not made for heroicsm either right? The book IS meant for 10 year olds however, [isn't it that age when horror stories get a firm grip on the imagination?] if you are to go by the logic that at 10, we hit a milestone between being infantile, and growing up. Most stories feature 10 - 12 year olds that do well, things. Bastian has to learn that heros aren't what they are cut out to be, and the 3 heroes he meets up are like overenthusiastic sorts from Chaucer. Actually, maybe Sir whatshisname from Harry Potter is nearer the mark... but I can't resist making a dig at poor dead Chaucer. Haha...

But there are lots of books and even films out there where children set out to find their identitites. I don't have to name them. However, while most of them start at the age of 10, I wonder if they are still searching for themselves. I doubt their stories end where the books/films do; because the quest for identity is continuous, and changes with time. Of course, most such stories end happily [how else??] and the reader is imbued with a sense of hope for the future. As CNY looms round the corner, I see it as the second chance to get the year right. If you have had a rocky beginning this year, there's CNY. That's why I love home - celerations like this will always be a mark of hope and happiness on the calender. At the very least, it is a holiday, which means no HOMEWORK. Cheers people.

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Hauru no Ugoko Shiro (It's Japanese, not gibberish)

Yesterday, I watched Howl's Moving Castle. My DVD player is nuts - yesterday, the disc worked perfectly, even though we decided to skip the beginning, because we had watched it at least 5 times without getting any further due to that mysterious error in the sound.

Surprisingly, I enjoyed the show far more than I did the first time watching it, which is rather strange. I really loved Spirited Away, and the film never fails to amaze, despite mine watching it several times already. The funny thing is when you watch a film and find it nicer and nicer with each watching; watching a well cherished film and lovin' it over and over again is well...nothing new.

Perhaps, one reason for this change is that watching the show from the comfort of my own home makes each scene funnier, more real and closer simply because I'm much more willing to laugh at it. It's true - I blame that horrid cinema for totally ruining my movie experience. It doesn't help if the cinema was cold, draughty and too empty, or that the sweepers were standing right next to you before the show had ended properly or that your sister kept shushing you throughout the show dampened the entire affair.
I might have to explain that last reason - since Howl's Moving Castle (the movie) is based on a book of the same title, I found myself automatically comparing novel and film, mostly directed at my sister's benefit. You see how wrong I was.

As you can also see (or might have noticed by now), there are no big capital lettered words shouting "spoiler!" or "read with caution" that usually accompany my movie reviews. That is of course because this isn't a review of the film in the first place. Go watch the show. It's fantastic; I can honestly say that I enjoyed it. Oh by the way...it doesn't matter if it doesn't make sense. My theory is that to appreciate this film, you'll just have to accept what's given you. Which if I may add, is a lot - everything about it is just right, right down to the perplexing bits.

Note: This would have been a proper review, but my brain has fled in terror after having to review the film in Chinese for someone who still has holiday homework. It was shitty I can tell you. Can you imagine reducing one of your favourite films to broken Chinese? Ugh.

A second Note: My brain has just decided to compromise. The film can thus be described as whimsical, sweet, dark, entirely for romantics at heart (or heartless ;) ) and really...it's quite funny too. Not ha-ha funny, but still funny.

Stemflow: Defined as precipitation (rainwater or snow) that follows the path of a tree trunk down towards the ground surface.

Thought I'll explain that to non geography students or to those have studied this but have forgotten

On days like this...

The rain never fails to amaze me. On days like this, when it pours and pours relentlessly, and the sound of rain drops thudding maks me calm, and all I want to do is watch the rain sliding off my umbrella while I walk home, nevermind that the hems of my jeans are soaked, shoes ruined. Back home, all I want to do then is listen to the rain. It's always there, this comforting sound in the background. It's not a distinct sound, but then, that's why it's so soothing I think, to hear the rain, when it is a sound that is so familiar at this time of the year, and particularly for the last couple of weeks.

Then, while all is calm and tranquil, you are all of a sudden astounded by the little everyday things that you never see normally... I don't know why it fascinated me, but watching little runnels and trickles of water flowing down the partially dry tree trunk was just...amazing to watch, especially when as you walk on, and the rain continues to pour, the trees you walk past are increasingly soaked, and the trunks turn a darker brown where the rain water has touched it.

I wonder why the rain makes me feel this way...lol. I guess I'm just weird on this point - haha. to think I'm fascinated with stemflow.

DVD players!

Turns out the fault might be my player... At least the HMV people were nice enough to give me a new DVD...

Utterly devastated

OK...not really. I am not reduced to tears of frustration and despair yet. I just bought a Howl's Moving Castle DVD from HMV (yes..yes indulgence) and there is somethig wrong with the sound. Can't HEAR a single word half way through the movie (damn it). Kicked the well...something and stubbed several toes and 1 knee. Walked drenching in the rain which by some infernal coincidence starting pouring as soon as I left the general warmth and safety of a snug home to my grandma's to borrow her DVD player and see if it's just the disc or the player's fault. Apparently Howl and gang likes my grandma's DVD player. WhenI came home from gran's... it behaved before I went for dinner, and when I came home...it died again. I feel like suing somebody.

Tomorrow, I'm going to have it changed. I think the alternative title to this post should be 'Murphy's Law strikes'. Ugh.

By the way...I read Christopher Priest's book entitled 'The Prestige'. It's a bit slow, and really complicated (or maybe my illogical brain just dun get the clues) but it is also downright creepy. I kinda liked it...a rather more intellectual read...but hey...I thought it's rather nice. I do not hog em. If you wanna borrow them you'll have to hop down to a library and stake it out or you can just borrow them from me and return it on time. =p. Does me a favour anyway - returning it for me. By the way, 'The Prestige' is Christopher Nolan's next film er...after the Batman sequel or before it I dunno, so those of you who liked Batman Begins, maybe it'll be nice to read up on his next film...

Lights...Camera...Walkway

The stage is set.

Twelve contestants will compete to be the three finalists...and the winner gets all he/she needs to start his/her own fashion label.

Yup. If you don't still get what I'm driving at...forget it. You probably don't watch Project Runway and/or you live on a planet where the words 'runway' and 'catwalk' don't exist. It doesn't really matter if the words don't exist in your sphere. They hardly registered in mine.
So...this post is rather belated as I've only started watching PR like...three days ago on Monday. I caught a glimpse of the sci-fi episode and nothing more since then till now. Well I guess what caught my attention was dear ol' Wendy. The crazy bitch. More or less. Haha. Not really...the 'special episode' where they got back all the booted out contestants (all 9 of 'em) showed that apart from possessing a generally cool and calm head, Wendy (er..can't remember last names) is remarkably composed (COULD have been scripted of course - there is no reality in reality tv) and answered questions not vindictively (as expected) but logically and fairly. It doesn't help if the fellow she had a hand in booting out kept nodding his head as if in agreement with what she said. Having said that...Austin is just weird. What's with that hat and cape ensemble??? He looked like he was getting ready for some cosplay event. Or possibly an audition for the role of Count Dracula + Edward Scissorhands, which is a role I assume he created himself.

Right...enough of all those insults (some ppl can't help being a fop right? Or a bitch for that matter...) and let's get on to the proper comments. Project Runway, like most reality tv shows...aim to get the most varied and colourful of personalities together and pit them against each other in various tasks. Oh joy. A modern day gladiator fight, without the gore of course - gore became unfashionable after WWII. Funny how they like to portray the contestants as bitter rivals underneath a veneer of encouraging smiles and camaderie. The idea is far more ancient than you think. People are merely fighting with their minds rather than brute strength, scissors instead of swords. This goes back to how everyone seems to despise Wendy. Most are convinced she got into the final 3 by sheer backstabbing and strategy, and not by talent. Admittedly, her designs are rather dull compared to Jay's flamboyance or Cara Saun's well balanced designs that mix practicality with creativity (I like Cara Saun..most steady character in final 3)

Admittedly my views may be biased since I've watched like 1 and 1/2 episodes only. Then again, even if I've watched the entire series I'll probably still be biased.

P.S. I've just finished reading the latest in the Artemis Fowl series - 'Opal Deception'. Having completed it, I think I still enjoy 'The Eternity Code' better.

Sparkle!

Cleaned the windows today (it was fun!) I can also snoop on ex-school. The council is having a field day. Poor poor 1st 3 mths intakers. The nice wind blowing in from the windows helped a lot.