i l l

so disappointed.

sore throat, fever, might even have been bitten by an Aedes mosquito today.

went home after my evening lecture, thinking that i could take some medicine and rest.

yet when i was searching thru the pills in the fridge and asked for help to find panadol for fever (all the boxes have been disposed of n all that's left are the pills, no instructions nothing), all i got was a scolding from my mum.

it's not that i don't want to look after myself and rest more. it's not as if i was out playing. i was just rushing my project reports. it's not as if i wanted to fall ill.

if i can't even find comfort at home, where can i find it?

t u e s d a y s

Tuesdays with Simon
(pardon the pun haha)

For the past 3 weeks, Tuesdays have been blissful... =P His 3 weeks of hols and Tuesdays are my free day of the week this sem!! Muahaha... Off we go exploring Singapore with his new camera (btw it's really cool n slim!)... Here's some pics taken.. really like the one above -- the red walls look so artistic haha..

My Red Dot Design Award-winning LG Chocolate phone!! Saw some really cool stuff at the Red Dot Museum -- taps which water cascades out of like a fountain, a word-to-braille book converter and even supposedly innovative packaging for condoms.. -_-'''

"We're going to the zoo zoo zoo, how 'bout you you you?" Haha yupz we actually went to the zoo too!! It's really changed quite a bit (haven't been there in quite some time though)... Our zoo's really full of primates (monkeys, chimpanzees etc)... =O Know quite a few amongst my friends already actually haha..
Quite difficult taking photos with animals k... They keep running around! haha.. This goat pen had quite a stink too... =P Too bad by the time we reached this part of the zoo, it was near closing time, so the horses were back in their stables already, my fav, sigh...

o n e o f u s

If God had a name what would it be?
And would you call it to his face?
If you were faced with him
In all his glory
What would you ask if you had just one question?

What if God was one of us?
Just a slob like one of us
Just a stranger on the bus
Trying to make his way home

Trying to make his way home
Back up to heaven all alone
Nobody calling on the phone
'cept for the Pope maybe in Rome

-- What If God Was One Of Us (Joan Osborne)

Haha interesting.. What if... Though I don't think that nobody would be calling Him other than the Pope.. Bet His phone would ring non-stop with calls from people asking Him to grant them this and that wish... =P Thinking about it, actually God has actually been amongst Man before, as Jesus, ain't it? Or actually there's God in everyone of us!! =D

l y r i c s

"Close your eyes; I wanna ride the skies in your sweet dreams..."

Was at Giant at Vivo City just now and they were playing this song as piped-in music.. Erm, it doesn't seem to make much sense to me, I don't see the logic in how closing eyes can help with riding skies hmm... Am I missing out something here?

b o t a n i c

Went to the botanical gardens with D for a walkabout-chat thingy before the hols ended.. Can't believe I forgot to bring my camera! Doesn't mean that it prevented me from taking shots of purple flowers that caught my eye on the way, with my phone's camera haha... Took this at the Swan Lake (ok it was more like a pond).. Too bad no swans swam past then..

m o o n c a k e s

Made mooncakes with my aunt last Tuesday.. That's the 'innards' of a traditional mooncake! haha.. You won't believe how oily all the ingredients of a mooncake are!! I was actually a little put off by the amount of oil oozing about, don't think I'd have been able to imagine eating one right after making it.. =P

Anyway, we had to leave it at her place to stand (upside-down) for 3 days before consumption.. Was back there on Sat for an extended family dinner and finally got to taste our creation.. Woah!! It's totally hotel-standard! Or even better, according to my uncle haha... (Silly me forgot to take a photo of it before eating on Sat =P )


Other than the traditional kind, we made cheese mooncakes.. The crust's a light pastry with parmesan mixed in.. We had light lotus paste and green-tea flavoured paste for the insides this time... Looks like play-dough eh? ;) We didn't have to stand these before eating, so brought home 2 for my family... Really nice too!! So happy haha... =)

w i s d o m t e e t h

Pardon me for the gruesome photograph... Those are my wisdom teeth (or rather, were)... Just extracted them on Monday, let me do a 'lil orbituary for them before I decide how to dispose of them... The whole-looking one on the left of the photo was the one at the top right side of my jaw. The only one that emerged. But all that did was to wreck havoc in the form of ulcers that never left me for more than a day or two. S extracted that one himself...

The bits on the right of the photo form the one that used to be at the bottom right side of my jaw. It never emerged cos it's impacted (i.e. it's growing sideways instead of upwards). Same with the bottom left one, but will extract it maybe in about a month's time, so at least I can still chew with my left side. =P It was an operation by a specialist -- plenty of local anesthesia applied and injected (you don't wanna imagine that gigantic crude-looking syringe is going all the way through your gums), totally covered leaving only nose and mouth exposed (supposedly to protect the patient from falling sharp instruments). Thankfully quite painless (thanks to the LA), other than the scary vibrations from the drilling (that's how the tooth got cut up) and the wrenching out of tooth bits..

Totally numb for quite some time, pain only started kicking in in the evening, when I ventured to remove the bloody gauze and started popping the antibiotics and painkillers prescribed at the pharmacy.. Pain wore off after a while, but my right cheek started swelling the next day... It was swelling for days, and finally it's gone down quite a bit today.. Feel so handicapped by it sigh.. Food's a headache, kinda barred from going out since the swelling started (esp when it worsened)... At least it's getting better, still praying that I don't get infection (been faithfully using the prescribed mouthwash despite it killing my tastebuds)..

Guess what? S extracted 2 of his wisdom teeth today too!

c o o k i n g

Been cooking quite a fair bit this hols.. Sometimes being stuck at home and lazy to go down to the coffee shops/food centre to buy my meals or simply just sick of the usual fare.. =P First discovered how easy it is to make shepherd's pie after I found the recipe online and Fiji was experimenting with it haha.. Don't have the photo with me though, sadly... It was wonderful, to say the least... =) Next made it again at ML's place, that the photo of it above.. Didn't have a real oven though, so we used her microwave oven set on 'Bake' haha.. Still turned out not bad, phew...

And that's ML with her lagsane!! Admiring her creation... Heez... It was totally sinful, all that cheese, beef, tomato puree... =P

Erm and that's me n D trying to evade the camera -- evidence of our gluttony in action haha... Wah it was really quite a lot of food, especially since it was all so rich.. But we shared it with all our families of course... Was full to the brim after that, but oh so satisfied...

c a r m i n a b u r a n a

Wooohooooo!!!! pardon me, i'm getting delirious haha... I've been haunted by this piece that I simply love whenever I hear it being used on TV or something, but everytime I ask others what it is, nobody knows.. For YEARS!! And guess how I finally found it? M was showing me some youtube videos of amazingly graceful iceskaters, and one of them had that song as the background music, when I asked my sis, she didn't know either, but pointed out the title of that video clip haha.. Silly me.. =P yupz, so.. *drumroll*

It's 'Carmina Burana - O Fortuna' by Carl Orff...
Feel the immense power... Oh man oh man.. If only I could be singing this in some choir!! Some kind of dream huh... =P Even listening to it sends shots of euphoria through...

This one even has a score that runs with the piece, amazing right.. So now you can know what they're singing haha... Enjoy!


Let me indulge in another one.. So peepz who can't read notes can enjoy the scenery that accompanies the lyrics rather than those beansprouts.. ;)

2 1 s t b i r t h d a y

Ok this is loooonng overdue haha.. Was waiting for the photos from my sis' camera (had to wait for her to return to Holland, download the photos, find time when my niece isn't clamouring all over her, before emailing them to me heez).. Thanks, jie! =)

Having helped a number of friends organise birthday celebrations and surprises, I dreaded the hassle of organising my own 21st birthday's haha... Fortunately, my darling dear actually organised the whole thing for me -- booking, inviting, guest book, bills, everything!! =D Here's a HUMONGOUS THANKS again, dear!! Yupz, so that's how I got to celebrate it despite my numerous hesitations haha... =P

Was thinking of Wiener's Oven, but because of their many limitations with reservations, we decided on Paulaner's German Restaurant at Millenia Walk in the end... Woot! It was seriously quite impressive with the old German photos lining the walls, traditional looking road signs and a May pole in the middle that went all the way up to the dome (just stand in Millenia Walk and look up, and you'll understand what dome I'm talking about)! Finally get to dine there, heez.. ;)

I'm soooo soooo glad that most of my friends could make it for my birthday lunch! And it must've been God's plan that my bro-in-law had to do a project for his company in Indonesia for a few weeks then, so my sis stayed on in Singapore and he flew back the day before the birthday lunch! So they managed to come too, heez..

My best friends all the way from RVHS!! Women, woah, it's been one long road we've been on together eh? ;)

HC String Ensemble! It's really amazing that we've been keeping in contact despite us being in all different faculties, universities and quite a number overseas even... =) Will always remember the music and laughter we've shared and more to come too!!

MM & CSS peepz! You've coloured my uni life and I really cherish your fellowship and support!! You rockz!! =)

Deutsche Freunde und Freundinnen!! A number of them are in Germany though, schade.. Viel Glück zum Geburtstag zu mir! haha... Und nein, ich bin NICHT böse... =P

And the theme was PURPLE haha... So prepared purple ribbons for those who didn't wear anything purple.. =P Woah despite purple being my favourite colour for ages, this is the first time I've got so many purple presents! Heez...

Too bad I wasn't in time to catch Hübschen Zwerg with his purple-ribbon-necktie haha... =P

More photos at my facebook album: http://nus.facebook.com/album.php?aid=35280&id=748060021 It was such fun!! =)

f o c 0 7

Yay!! I'm finally back online again after long calls with service hotlines of starhub and linksys.. feels weird to be so cut-off from the online world for so long haha.. =P So here's my long-due post on CSS FOC '07!

Started off being assigned to the group that went 'Mooo..' but almost got turned away cos they thought I was a 'Woof' haha.. But in the end I ended up in Fiji group anyway.. FIJI FEVER!! Woot!!! Really had lots of fun in Fiji sia! Never knew cheers could be soo cool haha.. =D And our award-winning 'bimbotic' skit's in video part 2! Many thanks to Nic-lee for putting together this video!! Wonderful memories...

Fiji video part 1:


Fiji video part 2:


We had MM concert cum PnW on Day 2's night at Temasek Quadrangle... Gotta really thank God for clearing the skies after the initial showers in the afternoon... =) Trust me, it's really hell carrying all the equipment and stuff to-and-fro heez.. And really thank God for all the wonderful talents He has granted us and for all who have stepped forward to use them to praise Him... =D Can't believe I fell ill right after the concert heez.. Well, much better than before or during, I suppose.. =P Introducing part of the band in action! And MM-ers after a wonderful concert! Praise the Lord!

We had faculty lunch (and some games) on Day 2 too.. Wow quite a plentiful harvest of freshies, I would say... Pray that they'll continue to serve in CSS... Lunch at our beloved ABEng corner... And plenty of our fav Indonesian Penggang too heez..

Ended off with a big Water Bomb war at Tanjong Beach and basically everyone getting wet and getting thrown into the sea haha.. God actually cleared the skies and thunder and gave us 2 beautiful rainbows! Stunning!

Mass dance and theme song and affirmations done, we had dinner at Vivo City's rooftop, before heading home tired but satisfied... Pat on the back for Main Comm-ers and all involved for such a wonderful, well-run camp! =)

Btw Fiji Fever's still raging sia.. Camp ended on Friday, but the following Monday, we met up for lunch at Miss Clarity Cafe and games at Minds Cafe already! haha.. Fiji and some CSS peepz also went to chiong St Jame's Power Station on Wed woot!! Then cycling at East Coast Park this Monday then dinner at NYDC with some arts peepz, before S and I joined Tobi and (I think) Tonga at Timbre... Meeting Fiji again tomorrow for mahjong and a cook-out (all erm, aspiring cooks haha), and it happens to be my 21st birthday too! CSS is happening sia!!

m a i a

It's all so sudden...

All dogs go to heaven, right?

All I can pray for is that she passed on happy, paddling in the cool waters of Sentosa...

Home feels so empty now... There's so much I'm missing, every second of the day...

No use of thinking of all the 'what if's.. Gotta treat it like she's just out on a super long walk, and with God's grace, I'll meet her again after I'm done with my own journey...

Hope I'm finally running out of tears...

You've been a wonderful friend and part of the family... Have and will always love ya...

r e s u l t s

Yup, results for Year 2 Mechanical Engineering students were out today at 9am.. Kinda disappointed, thought that after S/U-ing German this sem, should be able to get results all in the region of As... Got a B for Mathematical Methods in Engineering, sian... Oh well, gotta be grateful for the rest of my modules though, did well for them despite feeling quite horrid when doing the papers haha... =P Irritating thing is, that math module's gonna be taken out of the syllabus after this! Argh, if only they did that earlier sigh... Perhaps this goes to prove that I was meant to be an engineer instead of a Mathematician phew haha...

Actually had kinda gotten over the disappointment after chatting to some of my friends and indulging in some NWN and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.. But now I'm disappointed for a different reason... Thought I would get some encouragement but it felt as if I'm falling short of your expectations. I've always studied for myself, nobody else. Yes, there are people out there in all facs getting a SAP of 5.0, but no, I'm not one of them. Yes, I'm striving for it, but no, it's not cos of THEM but cos I'm competing with myself. Period.

So don't come forcing YOUR expectations upon me. I'm no trophy.

I'm not perfect.

t r a i n i n g

Can hardly believe it, just had a free trip around Sentosa and quite a number of its attractions, and was paid some more, as part of our training yesterday! =P Was really quite fun, quite a relaxed environment, get to know your colleagues better (though we're mostly going to be posted to different places in Sentosa)... Had some memory work to do though, which buses go to which stations etc, wah, my memory has never been very good haha... But easier to remember after having actually been to the station and seeing the different lines that go there.. =)

That prawn mee was the Staff Meal of the Day, which wasn't bad, quite big chunks of chicken meat and big prawns, other than feeling a little thirsty after that.. We had it in the restaurant "Tastes of Singapore" in Images of Singapore... Yupz, that pic on top was taken outside after lunch, when we were walking around the Imbiah Lookout where it's located... 7 attractions within 7 minutes of walking haha... Quite a happening place, went to Sky Tower (nice view) and Merlion too...

Most didn't really like the trip to Fort Siloso, cos there was quite a bit of walking and under the hot sun haha.. Our last stop was supposed to be Animal Encounters at Palawan, but we were treated to the Skyride and Luge! Everyone definitely loved it! (Seems like the batches of trainees after us won't get it already hee..) Woah, really quite cool riding above all the trees, other than being a little afraid that your sandals might just fall off and into the forest below haha.. For those who dunno, the Luge is this ride on a go-kart looking thing with a simple brake or no brake mechanism, and you ride it down a slope... Fast and furious! and FUN!! We all went back to our 'classroom' happy after that haha...

Had a bit of testing then went to discuss our rosters with our ICs... I got posted to Information! =D Seems like a really nice place to work at! It's at Vivo City, where the Express is, in the inside area beside the ticketing counters... Pop by there when you next go ok? ;)

s e n t o s a

Went to Sentosa yesterday with my parents n dog... Was just playing around with my phone's camera... =P Some jap tourists came over to pat Maia... Very sunny day, tide was quite high... Dunno why, but last night, after we got home, Maia was walking round and round the house without sitting down at her favourite spots like she usually does haha.. In some kind of a daze after too much waves and swimming? She's swum more than this before though.. Haha...

Some painted cannons along the beach... Oh, and I've got a part-time job as an Admissions Host at Sentosa heez... Ticketing stuff, answering queries of guests, giving guests tip-top Sentosa experience, that kind of thing... Just had training last Saturday in a classroom setting, and they're bringing us on a tour around the attractions in Sentosa tomorrow! Most fun training I'll ever have, I think.. =P All the other HREs (Hourly Rated Emloyees) under training are also around my age and half of them are actually NUS students on vacation too! haha... Hope it'll be a good experience working in the tourism and hospitality sector for a bit... Maybe get to practise a little bit of German someday haha... ;)

f r a n c a i s

Super busy day yesterday.. Started off with MM comm meeting, went to Botak Jones for lunch (my goodness, the portions are ENORMOUS!), went for an interview at Sentosa, then finally met up with S to celebrate his birthday...

Treated him to a dinner at Au Petit Salut, a french restaurant at Holland Village, they're moving right after that tho, lucky us haha... Only decided on it after lots of research on the internet for reviews on french fine dining haha... Glad that the reviews are really quite accurate heez.. ;)

OOOooohhh... The foie gras really really is marvellous... Superbly melt-in-your-mouth insides with a roasted slightly crisp outside... MMmmm... Though after that you know that you really should go on some exercise spree to rid yourself of all the additional fats and cholesterol.. =P

The other dishes were rather heavenly too, other than the dessert which was 3 types of farm cheese, which could be described as 'piquant' haha.. But cheese is still cheese and some repect's needed there... =P

Was arranging with one of the waitresses over the phone for a little surprise for the birthday boy... S couldn't finish his souffle, while I was still having my cheeses, when suddenly the piped music in the restaurant changed to the birthday song haha... Got a bit of a surprise myself too haha.. Was expecting them to spring it after my cheesy endeavours.. =P Anyway, out came a chocolate fondant with a scoop of chocolate ice cream and chocolate fudge birthday wishes around the plate...

Some of the customers even clapped at the end of the song and wished him a happy birthday haha.. And the waitress was saying, "Don't worry, it won't be too embarassing." haha... =P We were totally stuffed after that, almost thought we couldn't down one more cup of tea/coffee haha.. Oh well, just hope he enjoyed the whole experience of french fine dining heez... =)

Hmm will try some other place next time... Ooh was just thinking of tapas that day.. Was just complaining to Ll that day about how this palate of mine's gonna burn a big hole in my pocket haha... =P

p a p e r s

Was just tidying up my drawers this morning and clearing my files of notes from last sem... My goodness, the number of trees I'd have killed my now... What murderers education teaches us to be tsk tsk...

What memories of the pain n suffering we were going through, with more to come argh... Just finished reading Terry Pratchett's Going Postal and to a non-engineer, sweat, swearing and mathematics seem to make up an engineer... How true, except maybe 'mild swearing' in my case haha... Never regretted my choice though...

Took my notes of each file, strung them with those strings with metal ends and searched for some nook and cranny in my drawers to stuff them in... How like trying to rid a body haha...

a r t m u s e u m

Went with MJ to the Singapore Art Museum today! =) Felt really good catching up with her again.. Irritating how uni semester seems to rob you of all your time sometimes... Took this picture in front of a Chalcography print of a mural.. Do I hear the 'huh?'s haha... It's about making replicas of famous paintings etc by etching on copper plates and applying a special mix of ink on the plate before rolling a sheet of moist-ed paper on top of it under high pressure... Quite amazing, the skills of these engravers, with their abilities to create light and dark with just different densities and angles and depth of etch lines... Yet never heard of it as a form of art, yar...

We were stopped from taking more photos by the security guard after a few shots, thought that it'd be fine since these were prints instead of the actual paintings and are easily reproduceable blah blah (you know, vs the usual reasons they quote for not allowing you to take photos in art museums)..

Quite lucky that we went today, cos it so happens that quite a number of exhibits were on.. Think we mostly liked the Chacography and Idealism (by Zeng Fanzhi) exhibits.. The above was done by Zeng Fanzhi using colour pencils... He seems to have a few different painting styles though.. He has a few like the one above, with school children with the red scarf-tie thingy which MJ says was compulsory for schoolchildren in China, and some wearing masks, which represents the feeling he had that his friendships in Beijing were superficial unlike those he had in his hometown Wuhan... Only realised after a few of such similar ones that there's a bit of surrealism too, most evident in the one with 2 schoolchildren just standing upright facing you against a beautiful clean background of mountains and sky... The flesh-coloured paintings of humans and raw meat were kinda grotesque... We had some fun guessing what the oil paintings of stark strong brushstrokes hid, wonder whether he even knew himself haha..

Couldn't really appreciate the abstract expresionism exhibits though.. It was a pleasant building, the former SJI building, especially when it's air-conditioned now haha... We had some fun scribbling with crayons at some tables like kids again haha, maybe you can find it there if you do visit that place soon! ;) Maybe it'll fetch a reaaallly high price in a few years' time haha..

s h o p p i n g !

Went shopping with M today! muahaha.. =P Bugis Village is insane.. Found more sanity on the 2nd level.. And 3 for $5 earrings! haha we were going like 'oh-my-goodness..' =P The problem's that we keep getting attracted by the more formal, posh-looking stuff, which one usually doesn't wear to school, sigh.. We stumbled upon this gem of a shop, and bought a blouse each! M got a really schick blouse that can be worn as a tube top or halter or spaghetti, n i got this satin-y rather deep red blouse, ooh like the feel and the look.. maybe i'll wear it on wed! heez.. she found quite a few other nice blouses too and a skirt, but I was feeling kinda broke, didn't really have the heart to seriously shop for stuff for myself hee..

Almost forgot I'd brought my camera today! Until we were having dinner at Mos Burger haha...

M n her corn soup.. Can she get any corn-ier? haha.. Was saying that it looks like a tv programme in which they check out good eating places haha.. Mmm..delicious!

That's me n my hole-y burger! Actually it's the paper wrapping that's hole-y.. Know the scotch-tape thingy on Mos Burgers? Can't believe I managed to tear a hole in the packaging when opening it.. =P

Off to Bintan tomorrow! Time to get sun-kissed! Yay!! =D

e x p l o r e

Was exploring Singapore as Singaporeans today with D haha... Talked lots and saw lots and walked lots... =)

Started from China Central, which is behind Hong Lim Complex, first time we were there... Quite quiet, mostly cafes.. Then passed through a bit of ghostly quiet Shenton Way (cos it's a saturday), before reaching Central shopping mall, the latest shopping centre at Clarke Quay, but quite a number of shops still aren't open.. Then across Read Bridge we went, to Clarke Quay.. Wonder whether there's a 'Mugging Bridge' muahaha.. =P

Colourful shophouses after the renovation.. Though mostly restaurants and pubs/clubs...

Couldn't resist not taking a photo of this interesting purple flower along the river.. =)

The very first restaurant we saw after reaching the banks after crossing the bridge was the Ivory Indian restaurant, and D made a racist joke, can't believe it aiyo..

Noah's Ark.. Taken through one the displays of this german toy figurine shop thingy at Clarke Quay.. Think M took her photos of the figurines playing musical instruments there too!! =P

Thought this was some cool-looking museum thingy, with big years printed across the glass and some antique wheelchairs inside.. It ended up being The Clinic haha.. Freaky looking operation theatre exterior for a club sia.. =P

Went to Meidiya Japanese Supermarket at Liang Court, then ended up at City Hall area.. Started feeling hungry, then went in search of the elusive pie haha.. Think must be cos we saw Sheperd's Pie at Don Your Own Pie store at China Square earlier.. =P Walked through Raffles City but didn't find any reasonably-priced pies, and by then was almost time for dinner, so decided to go for that instead.. Went in search for red meat (ask D why haha) and ended up at Carl's Junior (her 1st time there!)..

The dastardly brew of Groke!! D's mix of grape and coke haha.. Surprisingly quite comfy high barstool-seats we got beside the window (near the drinks refill too haha)..

Beautiful gigantic hanging lamps in Marina Square!
Exited Marina Square to go to Esplanade and chanced upon this octopus-looking fountain sort of place at marina Square! Bet most didn't know of its existence! Woah, from Chinatown to Esplanade, are we nuts or what? haha.. =P

s u n g l a s s e s

Yippee!! Got my 1st pair of sunglasses!! =) and they're Gucci somemore! =P heez..


And yes, they're purple! muahaha... what's new? actually it started off with my mum bugging me to get sunglasses for my Bintan trip and for my SEP in Germany, which I think was started cos of my sis complaining about the super-bright sun over in Holland haha... So went around scouting for sunglasses... At first, was thinking of the big kind (think Prada) but that kind somehow cuts into the top of my cheeks..

Then we both spotted this one at the Gucci shop at DFS and noted the model number (though I actually kinda forgot it already haha).. Saw it again at some specs shops at Suntec today, and really like it the more I see it haha... Feels comfortable too, and not too narrow either.. =) Then finally got it at a store that offered 30% plus 10% discount heez... Thanks S for my early bday prezzie!! =D

Get to use it on Mon at Bintan already! Or shall I try it out tmr? haha... Glücklich! Woopdedoop!!

Erm, the photos don't actually do it justice haha... My phone cam ain't that pro and my digital cam's batteries just ran out! argh... Time to get shutter-happy this hol! =)