D' FiSH T@NK

CNYE.

2012-01-23T00:45:00.000Z

Ok. Getting a tad bit lazy now. Was going to start on my lab report, that seems to take forever.. but then I started thinking. (Now that's a thought.) (Or something new.) (Couldn't decide which one to go for as you can see.)

Anyway, so my first CNY away from home. No biggie. Right...? I had a Skype conference with the family after their reunion dinner. And that was nice. Saw my grandma and everyone laughing awaaay. Happiness, pure bliss. Gotta love them technology.

And the people we love back home.

Then 8 hours later, it was my turn to have dinner. I went over to a family friend's place to join their family for CNY Eve dinner. Firstly, their place was amaaaazing. Well, they've got an apartment right beside Thames on Embankment. What more need I say?

Secondly, the fooooood. People are always brought together with food, as my mum always said. Today, the traditional yu sheng (aka prosperity toss) although it was weird because no one was really saying all the "gong hei fat choi", and "nian nian you yu", and "xing xiang shi cheng" etc. (Which was what we did the night before I flew back to London, an advanced CNY celebration at Kai Ma's.) All ang-moh-fied haha. But it was good, cause it was home made.

And it had salmon sashimi. Oh so heavenly. Also we had peking duck from Four Seasons, mushroom and abalone, roast chicken, char siew, and curry pork?! Ok, food may not be as amazing as ah ma's pong teh duck, but it was nice sitting down together and having a meal with such a welcoming family.

And then we ate oranges (or tangerines if you want to get all technical). And then I received an ang pao.

What's there to miss? HAHA. I even changed my sheets, cleared the trash, brought new year cookies; just to hold on to every bit of CNY... as much as I could. I even planned not to shower tomorrow. The only thing different is that I will be calling my relatives and not visiting them. No biggie. All's good. :)

No, but in all honesty... being away from home has made me realise how CNY really brings family together. Sitting down in a round table, offering to serve the elders, talking; it really brings people together like nothing else can. It's not something money can buy (even though you think it does when your aunt buys you that brand new thing that you've been eyeing at for awhile now). It reminds me of the week back home when I slept over at my granny's at the spur of the moment with my cousins. Quality time sounds cheesy, but it does have an enormous impact, that can only be seen in time. But you probably already know that.

So moving on. Another thing I realise is that, coming to London, I'm actually beginning to understand myself and where I've come from better. And all this through the most commonplace conversations, especially with foreigners (or well, locals, now that I'm here).

I remember this piece of literature I read back in secondary school, about this Malay guy who went overseas and became open minded and stuff. That's pretty straight forward. But what didn't occur to me was how people went out in the world to search for themselves. I told my mum I wanted to do that, go travel alone, do some crap soul-searching. (She obviously said no cause I was a girl and that it was dangerous.) But truth be told, I didn't honestly think I would have been able to accomplish that. You see it in movies, how teenagers spend a month in idk Greece and come back being all grown up, knowing what they want. But really? Although yes, I do feel that I have grown a lot in the 4 months I've been here in London; mostly in terms of independence, communication, finance, and drama lol.

But not in the sense that struck me today. And it's stupefying simplicity.

When you talk to other international students, they tend to ask you questions that you take for granted. For instance, "What is the demographics of your country?", "Why are love letters called love letters?", or "Why do people give oranges during CNY?" Trivial, it is. But how it becomes amazing is when you're being asked these questions, you don't know the answer to it, doing research, and formulating sentences to explain it to people, and understanding what you're saying, and becoming aware of the underlying principles, ethics, standards, ideals, morality, societal values that comes from your own culture, customs, habits, traditions.

Anyway, it's 12 am now and 8 am there and I'm calling the mum and the aunts and the cousin now so you gotta figure what I wanna say lol. TTYL!

And HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR FROM LONDON! Love lots. :D

J'habite á Londres.

2011-12-04T23:02:00.000Z

Sorry I haven't had much to say lately! But JUST in case you're wondering, I've been great. I did this a weekend or 2 back when I thought I needed a break from everything. Some alone time.. t'was nice. I walked from Goodge Street to Tottenham Court to Covent Carden to Leicester Square to Charing Cross to Embankment to Sounthbank; basically my UK version of my favourite SG MRT Walk. Hehe. Took some pictures (I think I've improved. Or mebbe it's just my awesome baby 17-55 f/2.8. Haha.) and it was great. Being alone. Having space to breathe. Haha. I'd recommend it some time.

Anywhos yep! Enough chatter. The Busybee will TTYS! ;)

D is 12 Hours of Awesome Company.

2011-12-04T22:23:00.006Z

When:
A is 1 pyrex->pot of cheese fondue;
B is 8+6=3 uber-retarded people;
C is £55.95 worth of groceries from Sainsbury's Local;

D is:
8 Chemical Engineers solving the "how to fondue w/o a fondue pot" problem;
2 "credits to the chef" Thanksgiving turkey mayo sandwich;
a lip-smacking pan of sausage-fat mushrooms;
a chopping board of tender-licious rare steak (or bird);
a mini jam session;
many exciting rounds of minute mysteries and (SG) observational problems;
*DON'T OFF THE LIGHTS!* but we already did;
candles and proposals and fireballs
a 4 AM kaya bread/CM's finger supper/snack;
the Horribly Slow Murderer with an Extremely Inefficient Weapon;
with iPhone surround sound;
our dinner ending at 5.13 AM;
our 6 AM wittiness on FB;

and most importantly ♥ ♥ ♥

*refer to album title please and thank you*

♥
An Alton Knight aka MMOP Detective

Thanks-turkey-giving Dinner at AT127J!!!

2011-11-25T02:26:00.003Z

BEST THANKSGIVING EVER! ♥♥♥
And it's not just because it was my first. :P

PS. I love my flatmates hehe.

I'm telling you this not because you do not know; it's simply because we need to be reminded sometimes.

2011-11-16T22:44:00.001Z

I hate how people get all smug/full-of-air when they're telling people something as if the person receiving this "god-given" advice is d.u.m.b.

No, I'm not a victim, yet, but I do see it happening a lot and I just don't like it much. People need to realise that sometimes their advice works, not because they know more; sometimes, it helps just because people forget. There should be no reason to patronise for the same amount of knowledge you guys share.

Of course, recollection is a powerful tool, tempered by speed. How much we bring to our conscious mind is essentially the "useful" information that we have, which we use as linkers. I'm one to believe that it is the said "linkers"or ability to remember (fast) that gives an intellect intellect.

How? Well, I'd draw you a diagram but.... uh on request. But okay, if you think about it:

Exams. You look at the question paper, you say, "die". At the end of the exam, you get a big fat F. You look at some smart ass' solutions and you go, "OMG WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THAT!?!?!?! @#*!$%!??!"

Why didn't I think of that? Why didn't YOU think of that? You KNOW that already, but why didn't YOU think of that?

Why didn't you remember? With the information that was given, why didn't you link it to the ones you already had in your brain to produce that easy peasy solution?

Well yeah, that's just something to think about. Whether or not memory is an intellectual property, god-given (talent) or something we can and should work on, I still think people should be more humble.

*********************************************************

ANYWHOS STORY OF MY LIFE:

I've been so so so busy! Just today -- French, Transport Processes test, Tennis match (which I won heheehheheheheh sorry I'm so happy it's just cause I'm not in the team and I haven't been training but I played better than people on the team), Drama practice (thank God no Dance today), Intro to Chem Eng coursework, Management presentation, Engineers without Borders meeting prep, AIESEC.

It feels great tho -- mega holistic learning. I've got my acads (I scored 85 on ICE LOL but I'mma fail TP), I've got my sports, I've got my music, I've got my performance arts, I've got my financey shiz (I went for this Trader's Convention £60 but I got in for free hehe), I've got my engineers/social work shiz, I'm being independent and shiz.. and I think I sorta have a social life HAHA. My flatmates have been great and I'm going for Espionage (clubbing event) and Valmont (another clubbing event) the following weeks to come!!!

Ahhh... my life seems so perfect right now. Juggling so many things have helped my self-esteem. It's a good busy. I had a good break at Alton Towers with Shum, Cheryl, Darren, and Khai Chien. 90 degree Oblivion roller coasterrr! But yeahhh... not that it's a huge impact on my life but mum's getting me the 4S heheheh!

Gosh... it's as if my stars are aligning.

Not that I'm complaining. ;)

So yeaaah #busybeebusyme hence cutting things short and signing off now.

TAKE CARE EVERYBODEH!

PS. I never thought I'd see this day, but I just realised how much I love running. in the cold. from my flat to campus. cause 1. you get out of the cold fast, 2. it warms you up, 3. it's sorta healthy even though it's only for 30 seconds. XD

PPS. Things I need to look at: fear, pressure, and performance. It was mentioned by Robert Hall at the Trader's convention. It was a really good talk, key takeaway you gotta "be comfortable feeling uncomfortable" and that "success is an alignment of skills/knowledge and mindset". Hopefully I'll be able to give myself a break to think about how it affects my tennis games soon cause my problem of 5-1 up to 5-7 defeated was/is really affecting me.

PPS. Okay, bye.

PPPS. Oh I went to see Priscilla Ahn again!! :DDD She remembers the photo we took (not us, unfortunately).

PPPPS. Okay seriously bye now.

Oh god I've got so much on my plate right now and I want to do it ALLLLLLLLLLLLL!

2011-11-01T22:28:00.005Z

Well, I wish I could.

But I don't think I can.

So here I am blogging about it. :/

And trying to cross stuff off. :(((

M'Night - Drama - Lead
M'Night - Dance - Hip Hop - 1 of 8 selected ???
Engineers without Borders - Committee (Events)
Engineers without Borders - (Long-term) Overseas Project (Brazil) ???
Economics and Finance Society - Ambassador
Musical Theatre Society - Glee
Musical Theatre Society - Dance
Musical Theatre Society - Drama
~~Tennis~~
~~Lacrosse~~
COURSEWORK + TONNES OF E-MAILS + PRESENTATIONS + FRENCH
Awesome Flatmate Activities :D
Reading Week Getaway + Partyin' Partyin' YEAH! XD

In many ways, I consider myself really blessed; the opportunities here are amazing! It's like I had a problem with saying "yes" in Junior College so I'm now trying to overcompensate. HAHA. Feels like secondary school all over. When I had a problem with saying "no". XD

But you should really see my calendar right now. It's the first time I actually need to calendar my life. And every time someone asks me out, I'll have to say, "Oh let me check my calendar and get back to you." Like some pompous ass. Or mebbe it's my bad memory gone worse. :S

I planned for EWB to be my core co-curricular activity... but it seems M'Night is taking over lol. But yeah... I was keen on EFS because I think I can make/find a career out of it. But I suppose that will have to wait till next year.

Jeez. I'm probably worrying too much about my future right now. But then again, if I don't plan (at least for this coming year's schedule), I'd be soooo screwed. Zzz.

Okay coursework first/now bye!
Oh wait. I need to book the weekend getaway first. Zzz.

PS. How I got here? "Shut your brain off and just do it" -- it works awesome. :D
PPS. I must say, it would be awesome to have it more evenly allocated though. Timeline-wise. RAWR!
PPPS. Omg. No more personal life lol.

Ok. Follow up. Cause it's just amazing how I'm playing a character I grew up with.

2011-10-30T01:39:00.001+01:00

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahsuri

PS. Note how she's supposed to be "the most beautiful woman in Langkawi". Rawr. People are gonna start bitching about me. Zzz.

I didn't have to scroll very far down... ._.

2011-10-30T01:13:00.001+01:00

Ok, I lied about the emoticon. It's more like XDDDDDDDDDDDD! Hahaha my roommate can/will tell you I haven't been able to stop "oh my god"-ing away. And she will also speak of my inability to form proper sentences. HAHAHA. Omg. I know it's just Malaysian Night, not the productions of Chicago or something... but I'm so glad. Mainly cause I've always wanted to try acting (not just our Form 3 sketches for fun or play-pretends way back when).

It's just such a strange feeling... I don't even know how to begin comprehending this sensation.. Is this adrenaline rush? Cause I sure am quivering like how James McAvoy lost his control of motor co-ordination in Wanted. Anyway I love this feeling. Heh.

BUT SERIOUSLY! I didn't even plan to audition for this role! I tried out for a less important part. A lot less challenging too cause it takes place in the modern world. Just your typical "I like my best friend but he likes someone else" girl-next-door. I guess easily related to that. Then the "directors" asked me to just try some scenes for Mahsuri (Langkawi legend, look it up!). I thought it was a bit too drama-mama for me, given I've never done any sort of serious acting in my life before.

But wow.

Although this means I won't be able to join the dance. The routine was pretty cool. :(

But WOW. 8D

NOSTALGIAAAAAA!

2011-10-29T14:01:00.000+01:00

Description's on ze YouTube video page. ;)

The most inspiring thing happened today!

2011-10-23T23:23:00.004+01:00

Well, for starters, I couldn't move out today because HAHA THE FUNNIEST THING HAPPENED A COUPLE OF HOURS AGO! My cousin and I got locked out of the flat. (For 2 1/2 hours.) So we started talking about why asians are smart academically but they don't create* awesome things like Apple. So we started talking about Steve Jobs. Then started dancing. Then started acting. Then started talking in weird accents. Then started singing self-written songs. (Y) ttm. XD

BUT that's not the awesome part. Oh, btw, I went to my cousin's Qualifying Session Dinner (which is a main meal we asians usually call "lunch") today. It was awesome. It was held at Lincoln's Inn Church(?) and it was pretty grand. Harry Potter-ish. We met 2 sisters who were absolutely hilarious! They kept poking at each other. The older sister taught French and she said I actually nailed the "r" when I tried speaking to her. She was really nice, she said I've got a good accent, which is rare for non-native speakers. SO YAY!

BUT AGAIN, that's not the awesomest part. Okay, the awesomest part was sort of the first paragraph(?).

ie. I got locked in a room. And I found myself setting myself free.

Like in doing accents,

I stopped saying "I couldn't do the American accent"

and started playing around with it

and now, according to my cousin, I'm heading on the right track! :D

Like in dancing,

my cousin stopped saying "I can't dance for nuts"

and started actually dancing

(to our own "Apple Bottom jeans, boots with the fur"

and Footloose and Grease and Hairspray lmao)!

Like in singing self-written songs,

I stopped saying "I wish I could write songs"

and started singing pretty decent lyrics!

So I guess what I'm trying to say is that sometimes the most unimaginable things may actually help you with something you've been trying at or have given up on.

Perhaps it's cause we've been giving ourselves excuses/things-to-do that we've been putting it off?
Perhaps it's cause we've been taking the traditional approach and it just didn't work out for us?

I don't know, but so yes, TRY SOMETHING NEW! Every month! Or every week! Or EVERYDAY! (Like lock yourself out for instance!) You might just find something new* worth pursuing seriously. ;)

Moving out of your comfort zone has always been tough.

2011-10-20T23:13:00.000+01:00

At least for me.

But I'm gonna embrace this.
This coming Sunday.
When I shift into my hall.
Arthur Tattersall.
Quite a lot smaller.
And I'll be sharing the room.
But it's now 25 seconds to school.
Instead of 25 minutes. (From Langton Close.)
Or 40 minutes. (From Bayswater.)

So.

YAY! :D

Plus I went for some audition for some play today.
And I think I did pretty well.

FINGERS CROSSSSSED! ;)
With more to come!

Today is Slack Day! ;)

2011-10-17T02:39:00.004+01:00

Or WAS Slack Day. Hehe, all I did was.. well, slack. Sat in the same spot most of the time, just surfing the web, playing the guitar, watching Friends. Yeah, it was mostly pointless. But just doing stuff without thinking felt really good. We all need that sometimes, don't we? :D

But yeah.. speaking of relaxing, I do need to learn how to loosen up (in appropriate situations/times ie.) during intensed moments. Cause I usually don't realize it until it's game over. Which becomes too late. Anyone with tips out there? It's pretty much my usual "up 5-1, lose 5-7" fail (tennis) battles. I suppose I should have spent Slack Day figuring that out. But bleh, it's Slack Day! :DDD

Okay, this post is getting pointless. But before I go, I just wanna say I did do 2 (sort of) awesome things today! ie. I cooked salmon with teriyaki marinate and some vegetables with prawns for dinner FOR MYSELF. (I usually am too lazy to cook if I'm eating alone.) AND. I watched my first French film! Not that I understood much in French, but like my tutor said, it's good to immerse yourself in French accents! Hehe. In fact, I now know that Adele is a French name, and hence, you DEFINITELY pronounce it as uh-dell (because of the e accent aigu), instead of my dear friend Aly's interpretation of add-del-leh (like Adelaide). XD

Anywhos, yes -- The Extraordinary Adventures of Adéle Blanc-Sec!

Too funneh. They do leave extremely cute/smart touches. I WANT MORE FRENCH TITLES PLEASE! :D

PS. To those who got back to me regarding how-to-meet-new-friends, I'm glad it helped! Means a lot to me too. Heeee~ Will try to do more productive things as we go along. But of course, Slack Days will be an exception. ;)
PPS. On the end note of Slack Day, I have 4 coursework due this weeeeeek! Ahhhh! (Okay, it's not as much as SG, but STILL!)

The good days just keep coming in. ;)

2011-10-11T22:59:00.004+01:00

Okay. Awesome update(s). For me, at least. ie. It pays to fight/try for what you want, becauseeee............. I JUST CHECKED OUT OF LANGTON CLOSE! Hehehe. Going to be moving to somewhere A LOT nearer in a couple of days. So yeaaaaaaaash! Hehehehehhehe.

Oh, the other update. I just came back from EWB (Engineers Without Borders) Social Dinner. And it was good. Had a buffet (which was overpriced to me cause I didn't even go for second helpings) at the Indian YMCA and I found out the pretty cute looking guy (I would just die if anyone I know in my class sees this) that was sitting beside me in class today was from Bermuda! And he speaks French too. Haha. Okay random. But anyway, after buying booze (which seems to really be the normal thing to do here in London) and going to that dinner, we went to The Court (We being Shum (Yes like Harry Shum Jr.! :D), Seth (BERMUDA! Always liked that name. Heh. :D), and I.) where we had even more drinks. Well, some of you might have known I recently decided that I hated beer, soooo it was cider for me! Although doesn't really help in cutting down alcohol intake. But gosh, they do smoke a lot. D:

Anyway, I think one of the things that really got me feeling greattt... is . that .. hahaha. I helped a blind man across the street. I think it impacted me a lot because.. you don't really see/do that in real life. At least not in Malaysia. So as strange as it sounds, it felt amazing being able to ask "do you need help crossing the street", even if it's really the littlest thing.

But yeah. I'm happy. :')

PS. Oh yeah, definitely more names again today. It was like a bunch of ang mohs at the pub except us 2 asian girls. They were all smoking. Tsk tsk. But still, ;)

iHeart UCL('s Timetable). :3

2011-10-10T12:01:00.002+01:00

How to meet new friends. :)

2011-10-10T01:54:00.004+01:00

DISCLAIMER: It's not 100% guaranteed to work for everyone cause lotsa factors usually come into play when meeting new people. Eg. diff scenarios, events, etc. But it DID make me learn 20 new names and faces today! And I think that's pretty amazing because although I don't show it, I'm a reaaally shy person. So yeap. It's a bit wordy. Wanted to draw a mind map. But got lazy. Anyway, stick around at your own risk! ;)

Okay. Meeting new mortals. Firstly, if you're not around a quirky/geeky group, please don't call them "mortals".

HAHA. Okay sorry. On to the real deal. Heh. Oh, of course, they're not hard and fast rules, just what I did for today.

======================================================================

Preamble: Where will you be going?

A social event - well, it IS supposed to be social, and it helps if everyone doesn't know everyone yet heh

A park - dogs work well as starters

A queue - talk about how long they're taking

I guess what I'm trying to say is that you can meet people anywhere. I know it's really obvious but I just have to emphasise the fact that it's really up to you. But I wouldn't recommend clubs (unless you want a hook-up) because it's so dark and loud, no one really remembers who is who, unless you're damn hot and outgoing, in which case you prolly don't even need to be reading this.

Anyway, you'll realize that Step 1 applies in cases where there's a planned meeting. Steps 2 and 3 apply to both planned and random meetings. So... uh, onwards we go! :)

Step 1: Be early.

I suppose it helps when you're one of the first ones there because when people start coming in, they would automatically talk to you. Or rather, it would be easier to talk to them. It's simple probability. Also, I find it harder to jump into other people's conversations once they get so engrossed. Just think about how you're like when you're with your own comfortable group of friends, laughing and talking away, enjoying the moments. You wouldn't want anything/anyone to change that, would you?

Step 2(i): Make eye contact.

Stop playing with your phone, pretending to be busy! (It's useful, but after awhile, you're just stuck friendless.) Eye contact is really important, because without it (even if it's cause you're shy), it does come across as "I'm too cool to talk to you" or "I'm a loser I have no friends".

Step 2(ii): Smile.

I used to always tell my mum, "a smile costs nothing but creates much". Lord knows where I learnt that. But it's true! If you're going to put your ego first, then please, do stay as a loner. If you're expecting someone to do that first, you might be waiting your whole life.

Step 2(iii): Say "Hi". NOW.

Now's your chance! If you've already done (i) and (ii) and you've seen an insy winsy reciprocity, SAY "HI" NOW! Talk to them! Don't put the first move in someone else's hand. Because only you know what you want. Shut your brain off. (Asha's bright idea in doing stupid things.) Stop thinking about the "what if"s. Can you tell the future? NO, YOU CAN'T! (If you can, please give me the winning lotto tickets kthnxbye.) NOW, is really important. Because the longer you wait, the harder it's gonna be. The awkwardness is not going to help.

If you don't have luck the first time, move on, and keep your chin up high, because you wouldn't want to be friends with uptight bitches anyway. If you're trying hard to make it to the in-crowd, gosh I dunno, stop trying so hard, it scares people away.

I guess this bit can be quite tricky. Because although you have to give in a little, you do want to make sure that you maintain your dignity. Don't go bending over back just yet, you're not signing up to be a slave or a groupie. You're here to get to know these people. You're equal, and you don't owe them anything. So it's very important to know where the lines are.

Step 3: Be interested.

I think sometimes we get so caught up in not wanting to be alone and wanting to magically make friends in "1, 2, 3, poof", we forget our primary goals. We make friends when we're comfortable with each other's company; and I think most times, we get comfortable when we start knowing them. So get to know them! Ask questions! "Where are you from","what are you doing", "what is that like", "what is it like from where you're from", "how are you coping"; it's pretty much endless. Be polite. Not dumb. Not pretentious. And I think it helps when you relate their answers to your life, so you make them feel like you're not that much an alien.

======================================================================

So yes. I think that's all you should be needing. But I do have a few more tips I've picked up along the way!

3. In having confidence to even go through those steps:

"It's daunting if you think too much. Just do it. Let go of control and you will ace it."

- Adrian

It was more for the acting thing I did last Friday. But the same concept applies. Confidence is a funny thing... it helps so much in all that we do. If we're outright confident-less, we can't get anything done. So just fake it! For one moment, right before you say hi, act/pretend just like you used to play pretend when you were a kid or when you faked sick. Stop being a control freak. Let go of all false fear. Forget all that I've just said, just do it. All you need is to get started, after that everything comes rolling, you wouldn't even notice 3 hours has gone by.

2. In meeting different races (like ang mohs):

"Don't go all, 'omg, I want to be your best friend' on them. It says, 'omg, I'm a creep'."

- Kelly

Treat them like how you would treat people of your own skin. Have some self-respect. Why treat yourself as the inferior species? (Please try not to fake accents.)

1. In overcoming excuses to skip things like these due to nervousness:

"Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart."

- Steve Jobs

Like he said, "almost everything - all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death". Just remember that the thought of it is usually always the scarriest bit. Ok, mebbe the beginning too. The rest is okay. :)

======================================================================

So yeap. If you happen to be needing this right now, I wish you all the best! Go in with a positive and hopeful mind and break a leg! Let me know how it works out for you. :D

*** UPDATE ***

Can't believe I left the most important thing out. ie. Forget everything I just said. JUST TRUST YOURSELF! ;)

WATCHING THIS EPIC MALAYSIAN SHIZ IN LONDON IS AMAZEBALLS!

2011-10-09T01:53:00.004+01:00

It touches so close to home. From the outright inequality in our system, to racial harmony in everyday life, to the inept public utility sector, to our wannabe Proton cars, to chasing dreams, and to finding yourself. Obviously, much is covered in this mere one and a half hour film. (Laughter included.) In fact, I think what makes it so impressive is that the people working on this piece of art managed to capture it all. (Almost all, at least.)

Sure, at moments I feel embarrassed because some parts can be quite lame. But y'know, I'm okay with it being typically Malaysianly lame. Because we Malaysians are cool like that. HAHA. (Ok. I know that makes no sense. And on an unrelated note, I have faith in our film industry. Sincerely. :D)

Anywhoooos! Take it with a pinch of salt (or sambal) and you'd love* it for sure! (* applies to Malaysians with an open mind and a sense of humour; does not apply to bimbos or himbos who will only look at it, well, superficially, and hence think it's dumb, even though they don't realize that they're pretty dumb themselves)

Signing off,
A proud Malaysian.

First week of UNIVERSITY.

2011-10-08T16:47:00.004+01:00

Has been awesome.

I've been sooooooo busy, and I'm not talking about classes. Classes are only 18-20 hours a week, so yeah, I spend more time having fun! :D

Eg.

Monday:-

French Time-tabling
Oxford Street with NFF (New Found Friend), Song Hee (from South Korea)
Lunch at Misato with Jasmine
Shopping at Soho / Covent Garden / Seven Dial Street with Jasmine
Dinner at Home.

Tuesday:-

First day of Classes (Math was nice and slow, allowed our rusty brains to process; Lecturer for Intro to ChemEng was charismatic, looking forward to more; Lecturer for Management Principles was a bit quirky, but oh wells!)
Lunch with NFFs from Singapore
Frisbee at Regent's Park with more NFFs from Malaysia
Dinner with Kelly & Scott & Jasmine & Jan at Manchurian|Chinatown.

Wednesday:-

2-hour Class on Transport Processes
Lunch with ChemEng friends
Slack at Sarah Shum's College Hotel Room
Dinner at Macs (for the first time) with Shum
Pub-crawling from ULU to Roxy with Tennis peeps.

Thursday:-

2-hour Class
Lunch at The Refectory
Engineering Without Borders Introduction Talk
Dinner Party at Home.

Friday:-

Classes for 4 hours
Slack at Shum's (while trying to learn the American accent through YouTube vids)
Glee (where we did Viva la Vida, choir-style, which is something new to me; not really my thing, but I'll stick to it for a bit and hopefully learn how to harmonize), Dance (where we learnt a routine to Footloose), and Drama (which was super fun, I felt reborn and free) under the Musical Theatre Society
Dinner with Shum at Khan's for INDIAN FOOD
Received my first purchase from AMAZON! :D Okay, it was my French textbook. XD

Saturday:-

Supposed to be in Chinatown now and then dinner with Jo / BKT at Shum's but I'm so tired I just wanna slack at home. I did cook my own lunch (my vege was awesome) and then do laundry and clean the toilets tho. HAHA so fun! But yeah will be going out to get some stuff in awhile.

Sunday:-

Spitalfield's Market + Brick Lane
Frisbee at Regent's Park
Girls' Night Out with the Tennis Team.

RAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWR! :D

PS. NEED TO START SHOOTING SOONNNNN! >:(

PPS. Moment of silence for the brilliant Steve Jobs. I may not have known him, but he has given us Mac-ers so much. I hope he's having fun reinventing everything in Nirvana right now. :)

I feel fail. D:

2011-10-03T20:58:00.007+01:00

I know this is basic stuff. I vaguely remember this being nothing, compared to what we did in JC. But like I mentioned earlier, I haven't quite used my brain (I think there's a grammatical error here somewhere but *referring to previous statement* I can't tell) in 11 months.

I wish I had my old notes so badly right now, because I feel doubtful. It all looks so foreign. :(((

PS. Yes, I got this online from the UCL portal in preparation for class tomorrow. Yes, Wei Yi's getting her geek on! XD
PPS. But she's still feeling uncertain. :/

***UPDATED***

PPPS. Okay. Looking at it again, it doesn't look THAT bad. Haha. #joke
(But I still want my notes!)

***UPDATED***

#help #lol

2nd October 2011.

2011-10-03T20:23:00.000+01:00

0930

morning call & cereal for breakfast

- slack -

1200

heat up mum's rendang for lunch

- slack -

1430

make my way to Westway Sports Centre for tennis try-outs

- play tennis w/o mini tennis or proper warming-up so I'm muscle-aching now -

1630

make my way to Kelly & Scott's with Jasmine for another BBQ cause the SUN is out!

- eat and get fat -

1945

watch X Factor UK while eating brownies and milk

- eat more and get fatter -

2100

make our way back home

2130

receive a text saying:

"If you're receiving this text, it's because we're interested in having you play for the UCL tennis team!"

2131

spring around like I just stroke the lotto

2132

think:

"Drats! Should I still do lacrosse? :/"

- yada yada yada -

1130

read my transport processes notes and getting my geek on

0045

sleep :)

I could get used to this. Heh. Went for my French timetabling today, I still have Monday free yay! But I'm meeting my tutor for 10 minutes next Monday. Zzz.

Anyway, tomorrow's gonna be the first day of classes in 11 months. So what's up first? Mathematics for Engineers. At 0900. After not using my brain for so long, I think you need to #prayforme.

Kthanksgoodnightbye. <3

Used my plastic for the first time ever today! ;)

2011-10-01T23:36:00.001+01:00

Both offline and online. :D

Offline - Barclays bicycles. Yes. I went biking around London with Kimmie! It was the first time for both of us. Tooo fun! :D

Online - Priscilla Ahn's show this coming Novemberrr! Too excited. :DDD Looks like I won't be able to properly escape the P. Ahn craze for awhile longer.

Many firsts.

2011-09-27T19:21:00.000+01:00

1. For the first time EVER, a CUTE 3rd year French guy spoke to me when I went

1. for my first interview in (partial) French

1. to sign up for a French course for the first time in my life. :D

Ok. Enough French. I'm just doing this cause I lied, there weren't many firsts. I think it's just so cool meeting so many international students in a day. (Omg. French accents are so hard to get. The same dude spoke about how pretty it is at some hilltop church starting with the letter "M" at sundown in France where you can see all of Old Paree. I couldn't catch the name of the church obviously, but I wanna go there already! And he says, "stay at ze.. uh.. count.. country side, it iz mooch naicer." Even though he's Parisian. Hehehehe. Ok, stopping now.)

But yeah, met lotsa "homebirds" as well, today. (One of the UK girl called herself that after I told her I was from Malaysia because she can't imagine how she would survive if she ever left home/London. Well, I'm doing pretty well now because Mum's still here. Will see how it goes when she leaves. :S) And an Italian girl thought me how to link my Railcard and Oyster 18+ to get more discounts on transport so yay! Just got it done. Hehe.

Anyway, going back to firsts,

1. I did my first ever sketch today!

1. in one of my first few INTRODUCTORY (so it's not THAT important) lecture today

1. in the uh... Chem building for the first time. (Hehe. Just had to add that.)

Yes, I'm not Leonardo Da Vinci. But any tips? Might be the start of something new here.
Chem Engineer turn Leonardo Da Vinci. :D

So yeap. Going for Indian food for the FIRST time with Mum since we've been in London.

So toodles! :D

Okay. Just found out plan got cancelled...

But toodles anyway! :D

First day of Fresher's Week and my cosmopo-list-an thus far.

2011-09-26T19:14:00.001+01:00

Malaysia - Ipoh
Finland
Slovakia
Uganda
Holland
United States of America - Maine
United States of America - Washington
Malaysia - Kuala Lumpur
Ukraine
Bulgaria
Middle East - ??? / United States of America - ???
Singapore - Hwa Chong Institution
Singapore - Raffles Institution
Malaysia - Pahang
United Kingdom - London
Iran
United Kingdom - Manchester (Updated 27/09/2011)
United Kingdom - Canterburry
Italy
India
United Kindom - Norwich
France (ZOMG ZE CUTE FRENCH BOY WAZ SO NAISE! :D)

#win

Feeling a sudden surge of creativity.

2011-09-24T21:07:00.000+01:00

Today, P. Ahn challenges you (and me) to not compare ourselves to anyone or anything. "Just know that you are everything!", she says.

2011-09-20T23:33:00.000+01:00

Just what I need right now.

Anyway, first day of school's tomorrow and I'm pweeeetty excited! It feels like I'm in Primary 1 again! *butttttterflies*

Teehee!

(Like damn mood swing right, compared to the previous post? I suppose I can't afford to be a bitter gourd for too long. So yeap.)

Oh. IT'S MY HOMEGIRL'S BIRTHDAY TODAAAAAAAAAY!

Everyone say:

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY MISS CHOR LOR FELICIA SEE!!"

Okaygoodnight. :))

PS. Blast from the past just for you, FEEEELAI! ;)

On another note...

2011-09-19T23:02:00.001+01:00

1. I've been such a bitter gourd lately.
2. I went to UCL for the first time today. The picture looked prettier. refer to 1
3. I went to Langton Close for the first time today. It looks like crap. refer to 1
4. I'm more vocal now; I like picking fights. refer to 1
5. I keep asking myself why are some luckier than others (or rather, me). refer to 1

PS. Don't effin' ask me to count my blessings, I am a bitter gourd. refer to 1

At this point, it honestly doesn't feel like I've come to a First World country.

2011-09-19T22:39:00.000+01:00

I've always held the Western world high in regard,
but now I'm not quite sure why.

Sure, they've given us a great deal.

Disney, David Foster, and Democracies;
Longchamp, Lamborginis, and Light Bulbs.
Hell, they even got us worshipping Apples and Blackberries.
And of course, this language we're oh-so dependent on.

Oh their accents...
I'm proud to say I haven't faked my accent once since I've been here.
(My friends would know that I could very well do it if I wanted to, mind you.)

Don't get me wrong, I'm thankful for what the Westerners have bestowed upon us,
but quite frankly, "disappointment" is the word after 3 weeks here.

Examples.

Banks with no proper queuing systems, trains that stop between stops;
Efficiency -- whuuut???
People with tonnnnnes of theories but work like... slow;
Economic health -- hmmm...

Perhaps it's a wee bit early to tell,
but the world where I used to want to be in seems so far away,
now that I'm here.

Top of the morning from London!

2011-09-08T16:25:00.000+01:00

So yeap. First day in London and I'm more or less settled here. Even though it's not where I'm gonna be staying when I'm in UCL. Currently bunking at my mum's friend's place. And it's nice. Cosy. Awesome location. It feels like I'm in a movie. Oh and we went out for the famous Four Seasons roast duck for me first dinner in London. It was yummyyum. So yeah.. I like what I'm having, I like what I'm seeing, and I like where this is going. :))

Weather has been great in London. (I'm surprised to see blue skies, quite frankly.) Mum and I went out to get our banking stuff done today. A little chilly, wore a scarf for the first time today. I got it from Pull & Bear with Ollie and co., back in Singapore. Didn't buy more back there cause I know there's gonna be lotsa Topshop and F21 and stuff here! WOOOOOHOO!

Anyway, did a little grocery shopping... and it's crazy! We got 3 items (millk, gloves, 2 tissue boxes) for £7 pounds, which is equivalent to RM35! So could have done that in RM10! Anyway, mum and I tried out the self check out counter. Kinda cool hehe. But if we had that in Malaysia (or any other Asian country for that matter), the place will go broke. Cause everyone will "forget" to check out at least 1 item per visit. (Please don't deny it if you're Asian.)

But not EVERYTHING is expensive. For instance, a bottle of Baileys/Smirnoff costs £12 pounds here, which is practically duty free in Malaysia! So I suppose it's time for me to get drunk? Teehee.

In other news, I think I'm not jet-lagged. Cause I slept at 10:40 PM, which is essentially my bedtime back home (5+ AM?). Heck, I think my sleep cycle will improve now that I'm here. Heh!

So yeap! That's all for now! Pictures soon!

OH WAIT. I CAN'T BECAUSE I FORGOT TO BRING MY CAMERA CHARGER AGAIN! T_____________T

Will find an alternative. Zzz. #fail

PS. Again, thank you for your thoughtful texts and tweets and phone calls. And of course, a huuuge thank you to the AWESOME bunch of people who came to send me off. That one I got picture. But will have to wait cause I left my laptop in someone else's home. XD

PPS. ILU ALL! ♥

The 180 degree turn.

2011-09-06T20:53:00.002+01:00

Moments ago, I was all emotional like some friggin' drama queen.
I was tired.
I was sweaty. (Who knew packing could be so strenuous.)
I was smelly.
I was not the happiest person alive, moments ago.

But since I discovered SONGKICK (cause I was googling to see whether P. Ahn would be in UK soon), I COULDN'T HAVE BEEN MORE EXCITED ABOUT ME LEAVING FOR LONDON!

There are soooo many concerts happening week and week again. (Heh.)
Adele, Jamie Cullum, Joshua Radin, James Morrison, City and Colour, Wakey!Wakey!, Katy Perry, Pixie Lott -- all within a month; you name it, London's got it!

Who's HONESTLY swear-to-God excited now, all thanks to a little SONGKICK magic? :DDDDDD

PS. Funny how I was just thinking I should start a site that consolidate gigs, instead of having to go to individual myspace pages. o.o
PPS. If only everything I think about would come true... ohmy, P. Ahn and I would be best friends. XD
PPPS. Sooo can't wait to see P. Ahn again! (Yes, post-concert craze still on.) :D
PPPPS. I hope going to so many concerts won't make the magic of live shows go away...... I feel noob. TEEHEE!
PPPPPS. I should really sleep now; it's 4:02 AM and I'm leaving for the airport in 2 hours! NIGHT folks!

Sasha's gone (to my uncle's).

2011-09-06T13:45:00.002+01:00

I just said goodbye.
Now all I wanna do is cry.

Which is retarded because I'm not with her all the time.
And it's just gonna be like I'm up in my room and she's down in the garden.

But this sucks like fuck.
And I'm gonna be leaving Precious behind next.

So yeah, sucks like fuck^2.

All my bags are packed, but I'm not ready to go.

2011-09-06T10:32:00.000+01:00

Okay, not true. My bags are not packed.
But even if it was, I don't think I'm ready to go.

Ok. Just being dramatic. I'm sort of ready/half-excited to go.

How to become Jesus in less than an hour. (Although we took 4. XD)

2011-09-03T20:13:00.004+01:00

1. Google "Jesus" to decide what look you wanna go for.

2. Go buy some cloth. I got 3 meters of white and 1 meter for maroon.
PS. You can actually get a bit more. Don't be stingy like me heh.

4. Do a little planning. :)

5. And some measurements. :)

6. Mark out the important points.
Eg. Sleeves, where to cut, where to sew till.

7. Test it out on paper so you don't waste cloth.

8. Cam-whore with the prototype. (optional)

9. Cut away!

10. Sew away!
PS. I started with the sleeve then moved on to the main body thingy.

This was our first failed attempt at using my great-grandma(?)'s sewing machine.

The bobbing thread was probably not put properly. Heh.

11. Fix your error. (probable)

12. Continue sewing!
PS. You might want to just sew it by hand if you plan to take 1 hour to figure out how the sewing machine works.
PPS. Yes, that's the reason why we took 4. long. hours. that. stretched. into. the. wee. morning. of. 3/4 am.
PPPS. Which led to lotsa clumsy accidents like pricking myself. And bumping my head everywhere.

Note: It helps if you have help.

13. Figure out how long you want the sleeve to be so you know where to join your sleeve to the main thingy.

14. Have a break, have a Kit Kat! ;)

15. Continue sewing. Again.

Can see the AWESOME stitches. Hehe.

And here, our almost completed tunic-ey thing Jesus wears. :D

16. Cut a V so your neck can come out.
PS. I cut a small slit first like \_______/ before cutting the V in front so the back doesn't have a weird/inappropriate V shape as well.

17. Flip it inside out so you don't see the stitching.

18. Cut a paper beard out!
PS. I was supposed to use yarn. But I couldn't find it. So IMPROVISE!

This is what it looks like. You can poke two holes for strings/rubberbands so that you can, you know, have a beard without having to hold it all the time.

19. Try it on.

20. Go crazy! :DDD

My trusty sidekick / awesome friend / Yong Sze in the Jesus costume.

So yeap, there you have it! A Jesus outfit ready for anyone to rock in, all in 20 simple/brainless steps! I'm sure you can do in within the hour...................... if you have a functioning sewing machine that YOU KNOW HOW TO USE.

Just so you know, there was a best dress kinda thing at the event (Chao Wee's 17th Birthday; gosh I feel so old) and I came in second. For my mini performance, I did a lame ass (cause I can't/suck-at) hip-hop/shuffling thing like the Jesus in LMFAO. And for the finals (lol), I was asked to do something for 5 seconds.

I said, "Turn off that music! Youuuuuuuuuuuu people want me to do something for 5 seconds??? I gave you light (okay, I know God did, not Jesus, but people got me hehehe), I gave you the sky, I gave you the birds, *this is when the crowd started lmfao-ing I think* I gave you the trees; NOT ENOUGH AH? Want me to do something for 5 seconds... you think I not tired ah?"

When the crowd cheered, I just bowed politely and left. LOL. I wanted to say, "Hell, I rose from the dead *again* just to come to this party okaaaay." But I forgot. Hahahaha. #fail

I came in second, behind Cat Woman. Wan Lin (the girl in the shower; no, she wasn't naked, she was wearing a bathrobe) came after me. For the guys, it was Dr. McDreamy (Darren?) who faked a CPR on another guy, then ... Michael Phelps (Sebas) who did like that fish/worm breakdancing thing after "plunging" into the water (ground) -- damn (Y), and then the Muay Thai Boxer (Gim Toong). The transvestite (Cavyn) might have been somewhere... can't remember! But it was an awesome party. Thanks Chao Wee the Black Swan! :DDD

So yeap! That's that for now. See you folks again soon! ;)

PS. Me no bring camera so no pictures. Mebbe I can grab them from FB. Will see how that goes! Till next time! :)
PPS. I drove on the highway for the first time yesterday. #fail
PPPS. Today was my cousin's wedding registration. Like omg she's finally married. Hehe. (Y)

Let me be afraid.

2011-08-30T21:33:00.003+01:00

Because all I wanna do is beat the crap outta my fears after I greet them.

PS. Yes, this is w.r.t. 3:51 AM.
PPS. Yes, it's 4:30 AM and I'm going to sleep for real.
PPPS. Yes, I feel better already so good night (or morning, wherever you are)!

3:48 AM.

2011-08-30T20:55:00.000+01:00

Says my clock.
And here I am counting down the days to London.
It honestly feels like I'm leaving for another planet.
But no.
It's just UK.
And it's supposed to be fun.

3:51 AM.

I'm afraid.
Of the unknown.
Of the thoughts in my head.
Of being judged.

3:53 AM.

Time to get on with life.
Time to sleep.

Rawr.

2011-08-23T19:10:00.007+01:00

There's a lot of clutter in my brain.
I feel so lethargic.
I need a break.
But I've BEEN on a break.
For 9 months now.
What have I done?

FLASHBACK:

Yes, I recently went to

Penang

where there were lotsa

good food

and

fun

and

beach-bumming

and teehee

more beach-bumming

+ singing where we tried to do parodies entitled "Rolling On The Beach" and "Everyday I'm Snorkelling".

And then there was (as promised)

Pricilla Ahn - LIVE IN SINGAPORE

where I crashed at

JQ's

and later

A. Elsie's

where there was lotsa good food and

awesome greens

and there was also

drinking with the Sisterhood + Soh Huay

and our dear KY

drove us for the first time

and how we later got JY a solid

Nokia phone

(It was quite funny cause I was dissing Nokia touch phones and then the guy behind me later said, "I'm from Nokia." LOL. Well, the basic Nokia phones ARE known to be hardy. XD)

and not forgetting the journey to the Northern tip of Singapore to look for

Buckaroo's Buffalo Wings with the RIB-ers

oh and

visitors (ie. Wan Lin and her sister) from back home (says the Malaysian) hence the tour

oh and how I

came with 2 bags

shopped, and ended up with

5 bags.

Of course, there was also

Jia and Tessa in Malacca

Sabah with Asha and Aly

Stef and Aly and Asha and Jas for Hari Koku + Basketball back in IJC

Magic Musicals with Yong Sze and SJ Ho

KL for the Triple Celebration with the KL Fam

Pangkor with Mum and friends

Cameron Highlands with the tennis peeps

Langkawi with Mum

Tioman with uh... these people...

So basically, loads of fun.
Everywhere.
So much fun, I haven't even uploaded 1% of the fun I had.
(Yes, even work was fun.)

But what exactly,
have I accomplished?

I think know that points at previous post...

2011-08-17T17:37:00.002+01:00

...was PMS.

But I'm still :( about it.

I had such hopes!

But bleh.

WHY DID I LIST "SINGLE" AS THE "SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR"?

when I realise now that I'd rather move into a twin room just to be closer to campus.

Sigh... how can I be soooo much stupider when it was only 4 months back.

*emos for a bit, before acceptance*

PS. I think what annoys me now is the fact that I'll look back at this and think it's not so bad because really, it's not that bad. But I could have had better***. But I (future me) wouldn't agree to that because you can't exactly miss what you never had.

*** Better, in terms of housing of course. It all boils down to that stupid form, I expect. But I seriously didn't expect them to put me more than 20 minutes away when "3/4 of our housings are 5-10 minutes away".

PPS. I don't know whether I can even get Langton Close now. Their accepting thingamagig a bit #zzz.

Emergency!

2011-08-16T04:50:00.004+01:00

Okay, "Singapore" will have to wait! But just before I go on about the uh... emergency, did you know I had friends visiting from Singapore just a couple of weeks ago? Linkey-link here! The post is by a dear friend of mine, Feli. :D

Ok. Emergency.

As some of you probably already know (whoa, wasn't that a mouthful) that I'll be reading ChemEng at UCL this coming fall. (Omg, I sound so foreign already. What I meant was. September. Heh.) And I have just been offered accommodation.

At Langton Close.

I know. WHERE THE **** IS THAT?

So I did some google-mapping, apparently it's a 25 minute walk to campus. And the nearest bus stop or train station is 10 minutes away, so basically, the 25 minute journey is inevitable.

Point? No more sleeping in, waking up and rolling into lectures. And that won't do! :(

*RIB spoilt me*

*not that RIB was the best hall in SG, but it did have it's perks of being in campus grounds*

Anyway. I know I'll get used to it once I'm put in that situation. Everyone adapts. I KNOW. But before I'm even put in that situation, I'm looking for a SOLUTION to escape that situation, while. I. still. can.

So now I need help! Advice! Is there any way I can change my hall before starting school? I've heard of swap lists and all but I'd really like to avoid the hassle of unpacking and packing and unpacking again. Loopholes anyone?

Do let me know! I've got 3 (2 more days) to reply my offer and I really don't know what to do! Frankly, I'm not desperate for a place. I think. I'll be going to UK early, so I figured I could look around for private housing nearer to campus. But that means no more hall life. So I'm still kinda.. helpless. I guess the ideal solution would be to get a reallocation to somewhere nearer, like Ian Baker or Schafer, or something! I wouldn't even mind being transferred to an intercollegiate hall.

POI: I think what sucks most is that I'm paying the same price as people who are staying 45 seconds away from campus.

But I hear that's practically impossible (and that I should be grateful I even have a place yada yada yada)... do YOU know someone who's beaten the odds/system?

2 MORE DAYS! D:

Okay. It honestly does not look too bad. But I hear it used to be an old nursing home.
And the corridors -- clinic-ey and musty.
And me -- I'm worried. :(

I didn't want to make this an open letter... but oops! Too late.

2011-08-14T18:19:00.003+01:00

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am a tourist from Malaysia. I recently purchased a bottle of Silica Gel from a camera shop at B1 [Lucky Plaza]. I'm not sure what the name of the shop is, all I know is that I walked down the steps from street level, and there it was.

So, I'm writing to you today because I am very unhappy with the kind of service (if you can even call it that) that was rendered.

On Friday (12/8/11), I bought that bottle of Silica Gel for S$16. The shop owner had the nerve to tell me: "Oh, that's really cheap already, I usually sell it for S$18". A couple of days later, I find out that they're selling the exact same things for S$3-5 at Funan. (I found out online, when I got back.)

Perhaps it's my fault for getting it so soon, not surveying the market price first, etc. But that was my last day in Singapore and I THOUGHT Lucky Plaza's shops were reliable and that they could be trusted. I guess I thought wrong.

Funny, people warn me about Sim Lim Square, but not Lucky Plaza. I know it is just dollars and cents, but just thinking about all the other people he has probably lied to, it just makes me sick to my stomach.

I'm sorry to take it out on you, but I urge you to please do something about it. Because if something's not done about shopkeepers that charge 5 times the price for a measly bottle of Silica Gel, I will see to it that I'm not the only one who knows about the unethical shopkeepers Lucky Plaza keeps as tenants.

You have a tremendous week ahead now.

Regards,

Tan Wei Yi

PS. If it wasn't for this little episode, I'd say my Singapore trip was perfect.
[More on that soon!]

Blogging madness.

2011-08-09T19:51:00.010+01:00

It's been months (I think) since I last blogged and now I'm on fireee/on a roll! (Can't decide which is better.) Haha. Just finished the post for Kai Ma's Sugary Moments. Gonna launch the new blog at 12 PM tomorrow! Ok, today. But you get what I mean. If you're interested, here's the LINK! She does amazing deserts. If you're from KL, you can probably order from her. Details HERE! :D

SNEAKPEAK: HOW YUMMY DOES THAT LOOK!?

Anyway, yeah.. it's been awhile since I last blogged, excluding the one on Priscilla Ahn that is. I think she sorta got me blogging again cause I was looking at her blog and I think it's so awe-inspiring how she's still on friggin' BLOGSPOT! (Y)! It's like she's still one of us! :) Oh and she even blogged about her show in Singapore and she mentioned us! (No, not personally, but still!)

Side note, (sorry I keep talking about her haha it just came to mind), during her concert, I thought she (of course, she being P. Ahn) looked familiar. And not in that kinda seen-you-on-the-internet kinda way. I thought about it and realized she reminds me an awful lot of Kim! As in my doubles partner back in RJ Tennis. I'd show you a picture but then that would be infringement of her privacy! So yeahhh... moving on.

Back to whatever it is/was about blogging.

Remember when EVERYONE used to blog? I remember having like 80 links under my "The Associates". I was looking through that same list and realized half of them are now "error404". And I think the funniest was probably Calynn's old page who now belongs to a guy named Paul.

Ok. That isn't exactly the funniest thing in the world. But it does make me realize how technology shifts. So fast. It's so touch-n-go. First it was Blogspot, now it's Tumblr or Twitter. (Okay, there was a bit of Wordpress and Xanga involved, but you get my point.) Nowadays, few can capture our interest for an extended period of time. Nothing satisfies us anymore. We're constantly looking for something new.

Remember when Friendster used to be the IN thing? Now, we all know which website takes up the largest portion of our lives. It's as if Facebook is our life source. At least I think that's true for most of our generation.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to say technological or "social" development is bad; I'm just trying to say, go out and live a little.

I mean it, stop reading this crap (esp if you've been in front of this screen for hours)!

Go for a walk.

Listen to the birds chirp.

Feel the breeze in your face!

Cause we haven't got 4D on computers yet. XD

Ok. I'm just kidding, I seriously mean the part about living life. GO DO IT NAO CAUSE I SAY SO! :D

Priscilla Ahn.

2011-08-03T18:56:00.031+01:00

She's actually really tall.

*refer to one of the paragraphs to come*

So yeah, JQ and I went for P. Ahn's show yesterday. If you don't want the full narration, just skip all the gibber, get tickets for her next show, and be amazed; because it was nothing short of amazing.

Ok. To the long-winded narration, obviously 'cause it's what I do best. :)

The show started (or at least was supposed to) at 730 PM. We waited for Priscilla for quite a bit.. heh. Everyone was chatting about, but when they turned down the music that was playing at Esplanade's Recital Studio, everyone fell silent. I was gittery. And excited. I couldn't stop grinning, you should ask Jia Qi. I think I lighted up like a spotlight.

But yeah.. there I was, tapping my feet on the ground like a nervous wreck. (Who knew people actually did that.) Perhaps, it was because it was my first concert (ok, maybe it's considered a showcase cause there were only seats for 225, which made it all the better!); perhaps, it was because I've been waiting for this day to come for so long now.

So there I sat. It felt like, for a lack of a better word, forever.

She came in at about 745 PM. She smiled. I can't remember whether she said 'Hi', but that smile was enough. Daintily, she went to her guitar, picked it up, and then proceeded to where the mic was.

A familiar string of notes, she started playing, forming a melody that sounded like angels on the harp.

That was it, I was charmed, I was captivated. Without realizing (until in hindsight), I was transported to a dreamy-heavenly place. And it was a good place to be. That $101 for the tickets? Pfft. I totally got my money's worth, seconds in to the show. And I think everyone felt that way, because everyone seemed to be sitting there, smiling, and enjoying the acoustics in the air.

(It's a really nice hall btw, apparently Rachael Yamagata e-mailed Priscilla, saying that she had to go there, and I'm thankful. PS. I'm still sad I missed RY's show.)

After she finished playing "Dream", there was a huge round of applause. And she replied with a sweet "thank you", which she does constantly throughout her set.

I find it incredibly impressive/mesmerizing that her live performance is as good as her album records, if not better. This is so unlike certain mainstream+overrated artistes, if you can even call them that. All that layers you hear in her songs? She does it live, using loop machines. She makes harmonizing seem so easy-peasy. Here I am, struggling to learn how to do so, and although I do see improvements, I still am failing miserably.

But back to Priscilla, she was so much fun live. Her show felt so personal, I felt like I was looking at the world through her eyes when she sang. Her words were so honest, so truthful, so raw. When she sings, you feel so connected to her, like you can relate. And I think that that's simply amazing, the fact that by definition, she's a stranger to you, but you know so much about her.

Like the fact that she always wanted to live in a tree. *cue "Living in a Tree"* XD

I liked the stories Priscilla spoke of. And I think it was so cute, the way she went "andthatwaswhatIwastalkingabout" between lines of her song, with her eyes wide open, hinting to take note.

In "Lullaby", she told us about the town she grew up in--Bernville, Pennsylvania--where there was this cop that no one liked. You see, it was a small town and there was this dog that everyone simply adored. But one day, it wandered off and this Officer Hicks, shot the dog. (All the dogs will die | They can't seem to stay alive | Cause in this town, where cops shoot them down, and we just let them go inside)

"Wallflower". She was 19 when she moved to LA. This girl was really nice to her and she started inviting her to all these parties. But she wasn't one to dress up, unlike the girls of the Hollywood Hills. She told us she "went in [her] cargos and big baggy T-shirts" and that she "sorta looked like a lesbian". We laughed. And she giggled like a teenager blushing. Which makes it hard for me to believe that she's 27 and married. She's just too cute!

Speaking of marriage, she was talking about this song she wrote, called "The Boobs Song". I know right.. wtf? Haha. But it was good! Heh anywhos, the story goes something along the lines of:

So my boyfriend, ok, that was 5 years back, we're happily married now. *giggles* So my boyfriend was going out of town for a couple of days, and he told me that I could stay over. So I thought that was great, maybe it's the next step of the relationship or something. *cute face and everyone laughed* So I was at his place, looking at the books on his book shelf. And there I saw this book on poetry. And I thought, "Hey, I've got this pretty great guy! He reads poetry!" So I flipped the book open and I saw there was a note written inside by some girl. It said, "Dear Mike, I hope you like/will read this poem I picked out for you. I know you're a sensitive guy. And I hope they remind you of my boobs." Signed Tiffany "or something". *waves her hand in the air like saying wtv* Then I was like "what the fuck?" (Even the way she said "fuck" was cute. XD) First of all, who writes such a stuuuupid note?

So when my boyfriend came home, I told him, "Oh guess what! I wrote this song! You have to listen to this!" *with the most innocent/cheeky expression*

Well, like I said, he tossed the book out, and so we're now living happily ever after. :)))

So yeah... there I was, sitting 5 metres away from this amazing talent with such a great personality. I felt so honoured. She sang "A Song About Nothing", which she never recorded. I don't know how to put it in words, but all I know is that it was just so real.

Oh random fact! She was talking about how she tried durian, smelling it at first thinking "Oh I don't know about this... :/", but really liking it in the end. She says she loves Singapore, lol, and she "wished she lived here". I wanted to reply "Yeah! We wished you lived here too." But I lost that outgoing me. I hesitated. The moment passed. But she did say in the end that you shouldn't be surprised if you hear Priscilla Ahn is now staying in Singapore, because she loves the culture and... the rain (cue "Rain").

So yeah, that was that.

There was a little M&G session afterwards. She was so friendly and again, CUTE! We took a picture together and I went like "Whoa... you're so tall." Then just as the shutter was being released, she ducked with a soft "teehee"! *refer to picture above*

I told her I came all the way from Malaysia to see her and that she should go one day! She told us she was supposed to go there but it didn't happen. But she wants to! She asked whether JQ and I were studying here. *babble babble* I told her there was a lot of good food in Malaysia and her eyes opened wide, saying she's all about food! Plus points like +785298347981!!! (Y) :DDD

Suddenly, the "what the hell" bubble popped up in my head. I took of my blazer and asked her to sign it, because it was my first concert I ever been to and all. She said it was pretty. I told her she could have it. She just giggled. :)

"See you in Malaysia! <3 Priscilla Ahn"

Dear Priscilla,

Those Hollywood Hillbillies (okay, that's mean heh) are fools because anyone would have been so truly blessed to be a wallflower friend of yours. And I forgot to thank you for writing the songs you wrote and for singing the songs you sang. Like "The Boobs Song", I mean, how authentic is that? Totally doing today's music industry a favour. So yeah, thank you! I will see you again! At least I hope so. ;)

<3 Wei Yi

Today, I hereby retract my "sunscreen is just a scam" hypothesis.

2011-06-21T18:01:00.014+01:00

As some of you might have already known, I was in Tioman last weekend. I must say, it was great, I had a blast; good snorkelling, good drinking, good company. Basically, all's good.

So today, just a few moments ago, while I was changing, I noticed a MEGA dark solid circle on my back. Huge, the size of a basketball. And it was easily 10 times darker than my recently sun-tanned skin, which is essentially my whole body except areas covered by the swimsuit, and that circle. I was wondering where that came from.. for a moment...

Then in struck me.

I had my shirt on when. I. was. putting. on. sunscreen.

Yes! I covered my face, my neck, my shoulders, and everything else I thought I thought of. BUT. I just had to miss the "hole" in my swimsuit, the one right at the back, where the mega dark circle now conveniently lies.

Like WTF. Now I'm Chinese, Malay, and Indian. (<--teehee!) Can you just picture that? Zzz.

...

Anyway, since we're on the topic of Tioman, here's a picture of the mega awesome us!

Of bus rides and butt aches. Of ferries and kiasu queuing. Of crystal clear turquoise seas and mega cold waters. Of pretty beaches and sunburns. Of generous BBQ buffets and antisocial iPhone moments. Of German big bands and people too cool to sit. Of vodka and loony loons after the 7 game. Of private boat-Ferraris and vomit. Of corals and the attack of the fishies when bread is present. Of turtles and baby jellyfishies. Of fried chicken and fats. Of an awesome group of people and irreplaceable moments the camera couldn't capture.

I enjoyed every single second.

I would have uploaded a picture of my nekkid back. But it would have scarred you for life.

So yep! That's all for today, folks! Cheerio! :)

First day of work, in my life. (Yesterday.)

2011-06-02T15:54:00.009+01:00

Mummy says I should write this down in my journal. But I don't have a journal anymore, so here I am! Haven't been blogging for quite a while anyway. But again, I'm here only to say..... what I tweeted. ie. I thought I was gonna be Betty Suarez, but things turned out pretty awesome! :DDD

BYE!

Ok, before I go, elaboration! (Sorry, couldn't help it, you know how long-winded I am. :P)

Yes, it was my first day at work, yesterday, and it was great! There I was, worried I'd be underdressed (I don't even have a pair of slacks that fit!) and/or out of place (hence the Betty Suarez). Being put in a new setting, it was a refreshing feeling, having been in my comfort zone for quite awhile. But all that worry was just interest paid for trouble that hasn't occurred yet (quoted from the awesome Meryl Streep "Dark Matter")!

I'm now working for 2 super doooper friendly sisters who founded thepoplook.com. Yeap. I'm part of the NEXT BIG THING YO! Haha. Be envious, be very envious. But small part, I must say. I started of with packaging, then moved on to the uh customer service, replying e-mails to process orders, etc. The working environment's nice and casual, complemented with super friendly colleagues. I think it's very conducive for work productivity. Time passes real fast when you're there, and you feel pretty accomplished at the end of the day. Perhaps it's time to revolutionise offices around the globe? ;)

Ok. I know it's probably trivial to most of you guys out there... and it isn't even relevant to what I'll be studying... But uh... this is proof that I'm doing something useful with my 10 month holiday! Ok. Irrelevant nonsense following the "but" cause I don't really know what to say. No insights at this point (or since ever), but at this point in time, I'd say it's been a great experience. I think the days to come with thepoplook.com IS going to be great! Albeit short.

But yep. Done narrating. Sorry if I bored you, it's just for self-reference. For the future and all. If the changing of magnetic poles doesn't wipe out all electronic data. Or if the world doesn't end... so yeapers! Here's me looking forward to the days to come!

(Especially the days to come when I'm a proud owner of a Canon EF-S 17-55 f/2.8 IS USM. Which should be in 2 weeks. WOOHOO! Mebbe a red band lens since I'm now on a payroll? Just sayin'. XD)

A prize to keep my eyes on.

Except change the 1:4 to 1:2.8-ish?

How awesome it'd be, complemented with my 17-55-to-be, on a crop.

*dreams with smileyface :)*

Did I make the wrong choice?

2011-04-04T09:03:00.010+01:00

Omg. I'm suddenly feeling a rush of panic about the choices I have made regarding my tertiary education. I was so excited initially! But now I just ain't sure.

Scenario #1:

I've accepted a conditional offer to study Chemical Engineering in the UK. My firm is UCL and my insurance is Edinburgh. UCL has always taken precedence over Edinburgh, but I keep receiving mail from Edinburgh, containing information about course and funding and accommodation -- everything UCL is not doing.

Evaluation #1:

Is it just me or is Edinburgh a whole lot more efficient? Would that affect the teaching quality? Should I have chosen Edinburgh over UCL? After all, Edinburgh does rank higher in ChemEng, just not overall, in the world rankings.

I've met the conditions of UCL, so essentially, I've accepted an unconditional offer and ten to one, I will most probably be going there. I like the sound of UCL, no doubt -- city life and of course, there's just no place like London. BUT THE PICTURES IN THE INFO PACK FROM EDINBURGH LOOKS SO PRETTY! And serene... Somewhere I'd really like to be as well. Plus, I might be able to find myself a doctor for a husband and not work my entire life. LMAO.

(Failed) Conclusion #1:

I'll prolly stick to UCL. Lazy to make ze changes. RAAAAAAAAAAAWR!

Anyway.. more importantly:

Scenario #2:

There has been a lot of talk (and a lot of movies as well, might I add) about the end of the world. I have always been fascinated. Needless to say, I'm not a believer of 2012. That, to me, is just a bag of gimmicks and I feel that all the publicity has one sole purpose -- filling up the bank accounts of clever opportunists. (No? Publicity has made 2012 a huge selling point. Think 20 Dec 2012, BIGGEST PARTY THE WORLD WILL EVER SEE. Cover charge priced at... let's say RM2012 per pax, throw in 3 bottles of Heineken. Oh, hell. Why not free pour! Would you pay for it? Don't think of it from a student's POV. Imagine you're working.. you'd be able to come up with that kinda money, easy. I mean, this could very well be your last day! And we're only slightly above average people here, just you imagine what the rich and famous are paying.)

In a nutshell: I know that the world will one day go through a series of transformation that will eventually lead to a "doomsday"; but I don't think it will be that soon. Well, that's just my take.

Evaluation #2:

Thinking about doomsday always make me feel like everything else is trivial, like Scenario #1. Ok, bad example. That is trivial, I was just rambling. But you get what I mean, don't you? So, what I'm thinking is... what if the world really ends tomorrow. What good can I do as a Chemical Engineer? Investment banker, remisier... the things I can see myself doing (because, sue me, but I love the money and lifestyle that comes with it, at least till I'm 50, after that it's prolly spiritual richness etc. -- another topic there but focus!) That's not much of a calling now, is it?

What can making tonnes of money do for me when we're all gonna die in the end? It's the age-old question and but we're still plagued by it. Why can't I just make enough and be happy? Why can't I do something that will make me happy? I know I want to know more about the world that I'm living in. Can't I be a researcher? Is being a professor that bad? (I never wanted to become a teacher/educator because of the low pay in Malaysia. It aggregated my intolerance and impatience towards such a career.) What happened to that little girl who was interested in the finding the answers of the world? Isn't that important too?

Sure, she had to grow up. But why not a career that will allow her to still do that? If I'm so interested in the world, why not Geophysics? It's a pretty on-top-of-my-head idea right now... but it might just work! I always thought understanding our world, our geological history, would allow us to understand how us homo sapiens have come to being. I'll prolly be a researcher... earning a steady pay. Wouldn't that be perfect? I wouldn't be driving Porches or Lamborghinis.. But I'd be happy, won't I? Food on the table and my life questions answered. Unless of course my whole journey is futile and I never get an answer... then I'd be dead pissed. But I can't think of failure before I even started... I can't allow myself to.

But am I really going to jump into the rickety raft of Geophysics when I'm on the safe platform of a Chemical Engineering oil rig?

(Failed) Conclusion #2:

RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWR! This brings me back to Scenario #1. Not in terms of which university to go to... but more regarding the course choice I have made. And I'm lost. Maybe I ought to find out more about my course options. About Geophyics... Cause I'm not sure why I think it's not a safe career option. In knowledge we find answers and a peace of mind maybe? I have half a mind to not go through with UCL/ChemEng, take a gap year, and go straight to the States, like I always wanted. But I don't know whether I'm brave enough.

Oh God. This is so messy.. and unorganized. But I'm guessing you can probably relate, one way or another.

Are you really happy with what you are doing? Are you going to stick to the "dreams" you spoke of in your personal statement? Or are you going to take that plunge and go for something that will make you feel really fulfilled?

If you're reading this, I hope I'd hear from you. I'd really like to see what you guys out there are thinking. :)

Yes...........

2011-03-08T03:06:00.008Z

The Tumblelog lives once more!

New link though. :)

http://thestateof---.tumblr.com

(CLICKEYCLICKEYCLICKEY!)

PS. I wanted underscores for the dashes. Stupid tumblr. Kinda laggy too. :(

PPS. In case you're wondering, I did okay for my A-levels.

Not good, not bad; but enough to get me into the uni I want heh.

PPPS. LONDON HERE I COME! (I think.) :D

PPPPS. Yesterday, I told someone a secret. It felt good.

Though things didn't turn out the way I hoped it would.

But oh well.. now I can say that

I left high school with nothing left unsaid.

Kinda proud of myself that way. Heh. :)

NOW I CAN HAVE CLOSURE.

OMGOMGOMG! :D

2010-12-17T16:56:00.006Z

Okay.

I wanted to blog about 1. some uh sorta profound realization (ie. about living in Singapore vs. living at home) which I should really get it penned down before I forget, 2. some pretty emo stuff (ie. the day - 2 days ago - I realized how obvious it is that I've become a hypocrite) and uh 3. another something something that's pretty neat (ie. Sasha can now sit AND lie down AND fetch and return)!

But I got lazy.

Cause I didn't wanna think of how I should put them into words. And I'm lazy to construct sentences. What more paragraph stuff. Cause my brain has been pretty uh... rusty. Since I stopped using it after my last paper. On 29th November. So yeah...

BUT NOW I JUST HAVE TO TELL THE WHOLE WORLD THAT I AM SUPERCALIFRAGILISTICCALLY HAPPY BECAUSE OF uh... PRETTY MUCH THE SAME REASON AS THIS!

Gotta love those little midnight ecstatic packages from UK! :DDD

Well, they send it during the day but we only get it here around midnight. 12:50 AM this time. Woohoo! Early Christmas present! :D

(Mum got me Lacoste and H&M for Christmas btw. Idk what to get her. Zz.)

PS. 4. Streamyx is a bitch. It works sometimes. But doesn't most times. When you need it most. Zzz.
PPS. 2. is about uhm me quarreling with my mum in the car and all the way until we arrived at a family friend's place. We were still bickering at the door. But when my mum's friend opened the door, we smiled and offered our greetings as if we were all happy and chirp. Imagine what else I could do if I could pull off that kinda shiz? Bleh.
PPPS. 3. I'm just not used to living around people.. family...? Something like that.

7 hours.

2010-12-07T05:00:00.010Z

Zzz..

It seems like forever;

But the moment's gonna be gone in a sec.

Zzz..
I don't know;

Really, I don't know.

What happened to nothing left unsaid?

The day after tomorrow...

2010-11-29T01:42:00.013Z

Yesterday, I was young.

I ran around with my water tumbler in hand, with not a single care in mind, with pebbles beneath my feet.

I had nightmares about volcanoes, with lava pink and fluffy, bubbling its way into my bedroom, taking away my favourite shoe.
I went to school in the day, and to the courts at night; I started picking up tennis balls; I started playing tennis.
I got stitches on my chin when I fell and hit the faucet, and I watched The Lion King.
There was some piano involved.
There was some basketball involved.
There was some dancing involved.
There were a whole lot of friends involved.

Yesterday, it was clear cut.

Today, I am still young.
I am here in junior college; secondary school, primary school, kindergarten... they were all a thing of the past.
I met many new friends, all intelligent, kind, and fun, but I'm glad to say that I still have my dear old friends close to heart.
I have learnt much from the brilliant minds, the harsh tennis training sessions, and the god-like musical talents that overwhelm this place.
In a couple of hours, I will be wearing my uniform one last time to sit for one of the most important papers in my life.
In a couple of hours, my 2 years of education in Singapore will come down to one A Level Physics Paper 1.
In a couple of hours, I will find myself asking, "Is there more? For it all happened so fast.. too fast."

Today, it is still structured;

but today, the lines begin to blur.

Tomorrow, I would've grown up a tad, but I am still young.
As my life begins to unfold before me...
It snowballs into something bigger.
I start making sense of this world...
Perhaps by trying to make as little sense as possible.
My friends, who knows where we'll go?
Is it down the same path? Probably not.
What am I going to do?
Who knows? It is still unwritten.

Tomorrow, it is all bleary;

tomorrow, the roads will be long and winding;

but oh, tomorrow, I will seem to have all the answers,

though along the way, I will probably know not more than I ever did,

but hopefully, I will find my way through to the end.

When that day comes, the day after tomorrow,

hopefully, I remain young.

Sorry for the sudden FAME-craze but...

2010-11-20T14:55:00.004Z

I'm in ACSI's school mag (and some Chinese newspaper but newspaper nonetheless) but not in my own?

Blasphemy, RJ!

As promised...? ;)

2010-11-20T12:23:00.009Z

Part II of FAME 2010. Yeah I know I went off key. Couldn't really hear myself, quite frankly. Oh wellz. :)

Vocals: Me again!
Guitar: Boyle :))

PS. There won't be any more vids on FAME 2010. The rest is just the announcing of winner+runner-up+etc., the winning song, and the closing song. Nth much. So yeah.. if you're interested in future covers and you don't already know,
subscribe HERE! :D

PPS. Omg. I major binged today. Fake Shih Lin XXXL Chicken and bubble tea. D:

I must say...

2010-11-16T14:28:00.007Z

There is this girl, I have come to dislike.
She is obnoxious and rude.
And she indulges in bringing people down-
Loathsomely, whenever she can.

She complains almost every second of the day-
At every given chance that she has.
She criticizes and hates everything.
Sadly, for the most trivial reasons.

Honestly, that girl sounds a whole lot like me.
Quite frankly, I wish I could be all artsy fartsy-
And say that that girl is, regrettably, me.
At least then, I would not have to put up with her transgressions.

But no. They are the ~~pricks~~ people that I have to deal with.

Truth be told, I admire them a whole lot-
In a sense that they dare speak their mind.
Perhaps it is friends like these that I can trust.
For it is the nice words that we should be wary about.

Bleh. I just wish she had more EQ. Wtf.

POST A LEVEL MATH RELEASE!!! :DDD

2010-11-13T04:38:00.004Z

So yearp, this is FAME 2010. It's an inter-boarding singing competition in Singapore and it was actually held in April but I JUST GOT HOLD OF IT. First preview, people! Anywhos, I'm in the midst of A Levels now so I shall release one at a time. EnjoY! :D

Vocals: Me
Guitar: Elys :)

PS. This is just the semis.. so stay tuned for more! Michael Jackson? ;)

PPS. Subscribe HERE! :))

JP Morgan's reply to Ms. Pretty. :)

2010-11-04T03:44:00.009Z

I'm not sure how much of this is true 'cause there were no sources or citations. Nevertheless, its message remains embedded and it is after all, pretty entertaining. Very much an eye-opener. Heh. ;)

CEO of J.P Morgan Fantastic reply to a Pretty Girl
by XXXXXXXX XXX on Saturday, October 30, 2010 at 3:55pm

A young and pretty lady posted this on a popular forum:

Title: What should I do to marry a rich guy?

I'm going to be honest of what I'm going to say here. I'm 25 this year. I'm very pretty, have style and good taste. I wish to marry a guy with $500k annual salary or above. You might say that I'm greedy, but an annual salary of $1M is considered only as middle class in New York. My requirement is not high. Is there anyone in this forum who has an income of $500k annual salary? Are you all married?

I wanted to ask:

what should I do to marry rich persons like you? Among those I've dated, the richest is $250k annual income, and it seems that this is my upper limit. If someone is going to move into high cost residential area on the west of New York CityGarden(?), $250k annual income is not enough.

I'm here humbly to ask a few questions:
Where do most rich bachelors hang out? (Please list down the names and addresses of bars, restaurant, gym)
Which age group should I target?
Why most wives of the riches is only average-looking? I've met a few girls who doesn't have looks and are not interesting, but they are able to marry rich guys.
How do you decide who can be your wife, and who can only be your girlfriend? My target now is to get married)

Ms. Pretty

Awesome reply:

Dear Ms. Pretty,

I have read your post with great interest. Guess there are lots of girls out there who have similar questions like yours.

Please allow me to analyse your situation as a professional investor. My annual income is more than $500k, which meets your requirement, so I hope everyone believes that I'm not wasting time here.

From the standpoint of a business person, it is a bad decision to marry you. The answer is very simple, so let me explain. Put the details aside, what you're trying to do is an exchange of "beauty" and "money": Person A provides beauty, and Person B pays for it, fair and square.

However, there's a deadly problem here, your beauty will fade, but my money will not be gone without any good reason. The fact is, my income might increase from year to year, but you can't be prettier year after year. Hence from the viewpoint of economics, I am an appreciation asset, and you are a depreciation asset. It's not just normal depreciation, but exponential depreciation. If that is your only asset, your value will be much worried 10 years later. By the terms we use in Wall Street, every trading has a position, dating with you is also a "trading position". If the trade value dropped we will sell it and it is not a good idea to keep it for long term - same goes with the marriage that you wanted. It might be cruel to say this, but in order to make a wiser decision any assets with great depreciation value will be sold or "leased".

Anyone with over $500k annual income is not a fool; we would only date you, but will not marry you. I would advice that you forget looking for any clues to marry a rich guy. And by the way, you could make yourself to become a rich person with $500k annual income. This has better chance than finding a rich fool.

Hope this reply helps. If you are interested in "leasing" services, do contact me...

Signed,
J.P. Morgan

One word -- PWNED. XD

Oh.. today? A good day. :)

2010-11-02T14:16:00.007Z

A very balanced one, if I may say so myself.

I woke up early, I did the work I was supposed to do, I read Newsweek and watched TED, I ate well, and I watched an episode of Gossip Girl; nothing could have been better.

Especially since

I've been waking up too late, slacking too many hours a day, surfing the internet too blindly, eating too much, and watching too much online TV; it's a good change.

And about time, if you'll have it.

Let's do it again tomro! :D

PS. Right now, I'm trying to remember all the things that are making me smile today. :)

PPS. Kai Ma made me a "Good Luck" card for my 'A's next week! Snail mail is best; my godma is best. :))

PPPS. There's something I'm dying to tell the whole world and this little secret is yearning to get out there 'cause it feels like the exact moment when I found out I got accepted into RJ. And those kinda things, my dear friends, believe me, are hard to keep bottled up. Hehe. But! I have decided to keep it to myself for now. This way, it'll serve as my personal motivator to hit the books. Believe me, again and always, that this kinda drive is AWESOME. (Like my mum. Random. Heh. Was just on the phone with her. Now my day/life's perfect.) :)))

*Note to Self for Future Reference: If you ever do forget what was it I/you were so happy about, track Gmail -- 30 October 2010, 1:16 AM. ;)

I know, I know; prelims. But... I have a stalker? You tell me! :D

2010-09-12T16:38:00.011+01:00

I found this on FB just today.. I thought it was pretty interesting to see myself (or at least my silhouette) on some one else's profile. Is that really me? I could have sworn I was the only one wearing a hat that night.. I think. Bleh! I'm just gonna post the pictures and the rest is for you to decide. Although it could be great if you could simply just humour me, please. I need to boost my self-esteem for tomro's chem paper 3! (Yes. I know it's not even related the slightest bit. Teehee~)

Pfft. Whatever you say, I feel truly honoured. :)

PS. This picture prolly doesn't say much but anywhos, more pictures at this link etc cause it's almost midnight and I'm gonna get cut off soon ahhhh!

PPS. Yes, I'm Cinderella wtf.

Updates when Twitter is a wee bit too un-accommodating.

2010-09-07T15:15:00.009+01:00

1. Yesterday's impromptu KFC with Nyon was fun.

2. Slacking a lot. So me.

3. Binging a lot. So Ollie.

4. Sleep-binging too. So Muzhi. Or Ollie. Debatable.

5. Soy sauce on IHC tee thanks to Jia Yan's squirting of uh.. soy sauce.

6. Realized why JY's shirts have so many random splats on it.

7. Discovered a pretty cool and efficient method/system to aid in uni-selection.

(Sounds grammatically wrong. Anywhos, still at investigative stages. Prototype not ready to be shared. Though I kinda showed Jac when she came in the room to get me studying.)

OKAY. THAT'S THAT.

STUDDAAYYY TIME NAO!!!

(Supposedly) short update on 5th September before hitting the books. :D

2010-09-06T06:06:00.013+01:00

RC and Joel emcee-ing and starting off the night. Confetti + loads of balloons = win.

Btw, RC danced that night and Joel was in a band. They were both great. :D

Dance by Oldham Hall.

Christian and the guys (Alvin, Kevin, Dustin, Jason) performing "Sunday Morning".

Random talent alluring the crowd and dancing the night away.

As you've prolly guessed, the day did in fact came to a close as well as it began.

The night was a great one, filled with exhilarating performances. The dancers were great, especially that one Indo guy from CJC. He did something really JabbaWockeeZ like and it's amazing how he captured the crowd just like that. Did I mention he was doing a solo? Amazing.

The bands were great. I loved Bagus and Maura's performance. Marian was great too. In fact, I was introduced to this Indon guy named Edward. Gosh.. he's a real talent. It's amazing what he does with the guitar. Before the show, we were all just chilling out and jamming. Marian was playing the guitar with Edward (who happens to do lotsa fingerstyling and might I add, he's really fast) while Dustin was drumming the table and Jason was on the harmonica?! Improvising and comping away. I just go OMG at the music that comes out of their instruments. It's mind-blowing, how they can make music just like that. You know what you see on TV/films.. like one of those recesses in music schools for sensationally tuneful Einsteins, where everyone, bursting with talents, makes music with whatever they have? This was just like that, except it wasn't staged. 100% extemporized. The Indons never fail to amaze I tell ya.

Anywhos, I performed alongside Christian, Jason, Alvin, Kevin and Dustin. I don't have the group shot of us but I'm sure it'll be up on FB soon. :) So yeah.. With Christian, we did a little song that goes by the name of "Dynamite". It was something I never did before. So yeah.. it was a good experience. I had loads of fun. It was good having the crowd sing along. It was a real uh.. sight(?) seeing one raving audience take off his shirt, waving it around, climbing up on stage and jumping beside me. LMAO. Anyway, Christian then continued on with the band with "Sunday Morning". He was really good on stage, natural performer who clearly enjoyed himself.

So yeah.. I think our performance went preeeetty well. I wouldn't say the performance was my best but I suppose it could have been worse. I think I did alright.. although I could barely hear myself. At the end of the night, some one even approached me for my autograph. LOLTTM. But I didn't have a pen. Nyon and Anas says I should carry a pen wherever I go from now on. Teehee~

After the performance, I hit the floors with the rest of the guys. It was gooooooood. I miss dancing, although there wasn't much actual dancing going on cause we were just jumping and headbanging (till my neck's sore) and stepping most times. But it was good. I missed that. I miss prom! It would have been totally awesome with the girls back from high school. It just feels so weird without them. I suppose it's also cause I barely knew anyone there.. most of the RIBers didn't come.. sadface. (Side note, I met Stacey! Haha.)

Bleh. Lazy type summor. Bottom line: ASEAN Dance was epic. St. James Power station is epic. I had a blast. Words ain't enough to describeeeee how good it was. :D

5th September started off as a good day as well because...

2010-09-05T10:50:00.008+01:00

I had this epiphany at 4.30am this morning about what course I intend to pursue in university. It was raining and I could not sleep. My Mac was beside me and I started typing away to what might become my personal statement? Perhaps. I've been having trouble with it for awhile now. The very slight glimmer of hope that this little problem might not be mine to worry about soon is making me happpppppppppay.

Would love to elaborate and share but I'm at a gig at St. James Power Station -- The Boiler Room and it's starting soon. The band I'm playing with is jamming and improvising away. Aren't they a talented bunch. :) So are lotsa other's here in fact. Well, show's starting soon so I suppose this has to continue another day.

Omg. Excited much. XD

Let's hope the day ends as well as it began. :)

3rd September was a good day.

2010-09-03T15:40:00.004+01:00

Aside from my Econs prelims paper which went okaaaaaaaaaaaay but not great, today was every bit fantastic. (Aside from the constant headache that I've been getting of course.

Anywhos, after my papers I had a really good talk with this guy from school about what I wanna do for uni. Although I still don't know, I think I'm one step closer to deciding. Between ChemEng/GeoEng, computing, finance & accounting, international relations and psychology, it's once again a choice between shit loads of money and doing something I reaaally love. From the talk I had with the guy, he made me sorta see that I seem to have an apparent flare for psychology. Which is awesome cause I never thought I had passion for anything, seeing that I'm always so cool about thing. Enthu is just something I thought I faked. So yeah.. after a bit more of research into these few courses, I think I should be able to finallllllly decide. :)

I was supposed to catch a movie with Jia Qi today, but my meeting went on pretty long, longer than I expected andddd movie timings wasn't really in favour of our scheduleee. So we decided to just sit down and have a good long talk instead cause it's been awhile since we had one of those with prelims and all. So I met her at Plaza Sing's BK andddd I binged on my favorite Turkey Bacon Burger. The best, I swear. :)

The next is gonna be a list cause I'm lazy to construct proper sentences. :P

After BK, decided to take a walk around Singapore city
Did some PS survey on the way out of PS
Met JQ's cute tennis junior (LoL)
Got a free bag from the survey (which is actually something I prolly I'd never use)
Walked out of PS again, had some Ferrero Roche!
Walked to Bugis
Went into those old school party shops with LOADS OF BIKA AND SUPER RING!
(Didn't buy it cause JQ's says it's unhealthy D:)
Went pass some art schools (Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts)
Saw lotsa funny dressing people
Walked pass a cool sculpture shop
Walked passed the temple JQ goes to??
Walked pass CHJIMES
Walked to Raffles City aka City Hall
Had Soup Spoon!
(Omg. I swear my stomach shrank. I ate kinda little. Mebbe it was the burger.)
Went to Jaben@Adelphi
Tried loadsa in-ears
Guy in the shop gave us a chance to dip into the lucky draw box
He said girls special, we had 2 chances
The first dip, we both didn't get anything
The guy offered to pick for us the 2nd time
He blatantly searched for the winning ball before taking it out
Then he went "OMG YOU'RE SO LUCKY!" (LoL)
We both won a pair of Hippo Epic-Sparkles in-ears costing S$68=RM157
JABEN IS AWESOME! (They gave me amplifiers the last time :D)
I finally found a pair of in-ears I liked but the colour I wanted was JUST SOLD OUT
So I left my number for them to contact me when stock comes in
We walked out of the shop without purchasing anything D:
(I feel like such a jew lol)
We walked toooo Boat Quay
Walked pass Timbre
Walked pass the awesome water feature
Finally headed to the MRT at Raffles City
Finally headed home

5 hours together, 3 hours of walking around Singapore. I felt like I was in a foreign country exploring new places. It was great. I loved the feeling. I'd do it again. :)))

3rd September was a good day. But aside from that, as what the brilliant Anas and the okay Greenday said, wake me up when September ends. Bleh!

PS. Prelims end late September.

The good life I've been living at Auntie Elsie's. :)

2010-09-01T02:46:00.008+01:00

Stress-free studying.
Laid-back timeouts watching Taiwan drama and the US Open.
Ample rest and beauty sleep.
Cooling, quiet and comfortable environment.
Klean and fresh laundry accompanied by hygienic sanitation.
Exercise from walking around the house and dancing on the smooth wooden floors.
Regular, balanced, healthy and yummy home-cooked meals.

Life's good. ;)

PS. Sorry I have yet to reply the comments to the previous post. I can't seem to leave a reply using my phone and I don't have my Mac with me. Oops! Teehee~

What have we become? by Jason Limanjaya

2010-08-17T16:16:00.008+01:00

[Me, Dustin, Jason, Alvin, Boyle, random guy crashing]

This note was written by my friend, Jason, an Indon scholar. This is the second time I'm sharing a FB note from one of my friends.. and again, I (obviously) wouldn't have done so if it weren't worth reading.

So yeah.. first thing you need to know about him that he is always playing at gigs.. In fact, he always comes up with the arrangement when we're doing a performance together. He's a reaaaal talent, I tell ya. He's a mind-blowing genius on the piano, guitar, base, drums, etc. It's amazing that God makes ppl like that. And on top of his musical brilliance, his thoughts are pretty profound too! He took the words right out of my mouth and honestly, I couldn't have put it any better. So yeah... here you have it, Jason and his reflections. Enjoy! :)

A Reflection (1)
Monday, August 16, 2010 at 5:22pm
by Jason Limanjaya

I suddenly had an urge to write about my life in the past few years after attending the briefing with a certain MOE (Minister of Education) officer this morning. Just as how I was reminded of the importance of academic excellence, I was also reminded of what it takes to be a scholar. However, what I really want to know is not only what it takes to be a scholar, what it takes to be a human.

The ultimate question remains, have I become a human being and how? Or am I just a rope strained between animals and Overman, to borrow Nietzsche's words?

I have known Nietzsche's ideas even before I arrived at Singapore. I was much more a child than a human back then.

I came to this tiny red dot on the world map with a simple overarching idea. "You have been selected. You are among the best and the brightest and the lucky ones to be here. Do well and life cannot go any easier."

Yes, academic excellence is the core of my scholarship therefore my scholarship here. However, as time passed by, with ups and downs in my grades, I discovered that I am more talented in certain areas than others. I faced a rather grim reality that there is only one choice out of two: master something or try to master everything and end up mastering nothing.

I always want to look for challenges and venture to uncharted territories in life. Thus, I don't think I would settle on something in particular for now. That is when I started to get disinterested with my life here. That happened around the beginning of Secondary 4. I felt that I was nothing more than a photocopier machine who restlessly devoured 'lessons' in the classroom and notes only to be regurgitated into exam papers. There was hardly any creative fervor.

It almost led me to a complete disarray. I was utterly disillusioned with the quest for knowledge in school. All those school and CCA tasks appeared to be menial if not burdening to me. How could I become someone if I kept doing what everyone else did?

I sought for remedy in anime, manga, AMVs, online forums etc. At the same time I disconnected myself from the society. I started feeling like a stranger in the middle of the familiar faces around me. When you feel like an alien, that is when you are very prone and vulnerable to negative thoughts and even hatred. And my main target was the Mother Tongue Language subject. Being a hapless, naive kid, I blamed it for my melancholy and apathy towards life.

My innermost passions, philosophy and music, also seemed dead. I could not develop them further because I was doing it all alone. I became oblivious to my friends and surroundings. Looking back at those memories, I really think that is when I became most autistic and selfish. And I was unaware of it. Shoot.

And 2009 ended so soon. The dreadful Mother Tongue class and EOY exams were over in no time. I survived academically, but I feared I would not survive as a human if I continued that way of life.

One evening, I walked alone to the rugby field and lay down there. Facing the stars so far away, I muttered a secret wish that I though would never be materialized. I laughed at it as soon after I wished for it and left the field, dismissing the possibility that it would ever come true.

God, please let next year be an adventure that I will never forget.

To be continued...

Thoughts? :)

Cause I'm sorta plagued by the same problems.. in life and in choosing a university course. A levels is approaching.. uni applications are open.. and the mind-boggling question remains.

Should I do something pragmatic that I can force myself to "love" and live my life as a wage-slave seduced by material possessions?

Or should I do something that I already love but may not guarantee a realistic income and pursue the non-material aspects in life that make us human?

What do YOU think?

OMG!

2010-08-15T03:06:00.004+01:00

I just woke up from a 3-layered dream and conclusion?

I really reaaaally want to read my notes now.

My mum knows Inception! O_O

PS. On normal circumstances, I would have typed the dream out. But given the fact that my preliminary exams are in 2 weeks (omg) and that I just concluded that I wanna study (omg again), I shall leave the pretty interesting dream for later. Although I'll prolly forget...... Ooooops. XD

What the...

2010-07-30T09:06:00.005+01:00

For starters, I didn't even know I authorized the Dropbox post belowwww.

Anywhos.. omg. Wasn't thinking about blogging but since I'm here already, I just wanna say...

Omg. Studies. Dying.

Don't know what course to choose.

Never thought I'd ever come to say this, but right now, I don't even know whether I'll get accepted into uni, at the rate that I'm going.

Pfft.

Kill me nao!

(Figuretively, of course. Although if I don't get into a uni in UK, you can kill me for real. Thank you very much.)

Or give me the strength to snap out of my super my current slow-witted pace.

Yes, yes; I need a brain capacity and RAM upgrade.

Wtf.

I don't even make sense.

Wei Yi Tan has invited you to Dropbox

2010-07-28T14:31:00.003+01:00

We're excited to let you know that Wei Yi Tan has invited you to Dropbox!

Wei Yi Tan has been using Dropbox to sync and share files online and across computers, and thought you might want it too.

Visit www.dropbox.com to get started.

- The Dropbox Team

To stop receiving invites from Dropbox, click here

Raffles students get World Cup holiday. Teehee~

2010-07-12T14:30:00.004+01:00

Seeeeee.. I told you, Wan Lin! And I kid you not; it was on the front page of The Straits Times. XD

Jul 9, 2010

RI students get World Cup day off

By Amelia Tan & Hoe Pei Shan

MUCH of Singapore will be glued to television sets on Monday morning, when that once in four years event - the World Cup Final - rolls around.

Not schoolchildren, however. Many want to watch the game, but having to throw off the covers at the crack of dawn to head to class rules it out.

Unless they are from Raffles Institution (RI).

The school was the only one among 30 The Straits Times contacted that is giving its students a bye. It has declared Monday a holiday, allowing students - and not a few teachers - to head to bed after either the Oranje of Holland or Spain's La Furia Roja lift the coveted cup, which will occur well after 4am.

RI's principal, Mrs Lim Lai Cheng, said she had promised her students a day off to celebrate the 28 national sports titles and nine gold awards for uniformed groups the school landed this year. She had not decided on a date, but teachers and students dropped not-so-subtle hints that July 12 was their choice, and she went along with it.

Students elsewhere were not so lucky. Other principals contacted rejected the idea of declaring Monday a holiday, though they have the flexibility to do so. Their reasons mainly centred on a lack of curriculum time.

Hwa Chong Institution students, however, have a hope. Its student council has made what it thinks is a win-win proposal: Let there be class, but let it start one to two hours later.

The proposal is being reviewed, with a decision expected today.

Random Updates RE: My Top 5 Aspects of Life as a College Student.

2010-07-06T13:01:00.010+01:00

1. Academics.

I prolly did very badly for CTs, hence I am gonna start to...

complete all my tutorials on time (during weekdays)
revise for prelims during the weekends
read for at least 15 minutes every night before I head to bed (be it newspapers or books)
live on my MacBook without charging it during the weekdays so as to limit Internet usage (yes, I can only plug it in on weekends; that means I have 1 hour tops each day; 2 of my friends actually swore off their laptops for land but I'm not that extreme XD)
head to the study room / library every time possible so as to prevent falling asleep

TODAY/NAO!

I've been pretty good so far, let's hope it keeps.

2. Extra-curricular.

No more busking.. No more tennis.. But I should try to play once a week? Will find a way around it soon. In the meantime, I did go cable ski-ing with some of the tennis peeps last Friday and my arms are still sore as hell. Can barely lift my phone. Zzz. (Btw, Indon immigration fail. You can actually go straight to the ferry in Batam without passing thru the metal detectors and customs. LoL. Wtf.)

Oh. I have been playing the piano a lot though.. Fell in love with my PETROF again. Yay!

3. Health / fitness / physique.

While 2 of my other friends swore off meat (except fish and mutton LoL), I decided to take the middle path, once again, by implementing a calorie quota! I need to lose weight sooo... an average person takes 1800 calories a day, I'm going to take 1251 calories max. I have a calorie counter on my iPhone. How awesome is that? I've been pretty on track (except that one time at Brian's where I ate 1.2k over my daily allowance!) so I'm gonna keep that up and hopefully lose about 10 pounds (or 4.5 kg) by August 20, 2010. Will let you know if it works. :)

Oh. But on a side note, that is partially related, food at boarding has been really good. Apparently the new chef is from Shangri-La. BUT I AM GOING TO STAY STRONG AND RESIST! I have been cutting down the sweet drinks etc. Proud of myself much. :D

4. Budgeting / wealth.

Ugh.. I've been spending so much. Just last weekend, after our exams, I spent about $350, including the Batam Cable Ski-ing trip, uhm clothes, flip flops, movies, food, etc. (I even got a ring engraved for meself. Teehee~ Retail therapy translates to lifted spirits. Hence, retail therapy FTW! I got free movie tix summor after spending. XD) Haven't devised a plan around that cause I've got lotsa birthdays coming my way sooo... I'll work that out later.

5. Social life / status / welfare.

I haven't been doing much social work. Zzz. But Dom and I are planning a community project soon.. It'll prolly be a tennis clinic for the less fortunate kids from broken homes. Not very big scale, but we do hope to give them a chance to try something new and hopefully make something out of tennis, ie. find talent, get them into good schools, get out of the vicious cycle that they are in, etc.

As for my social life. LoL. I dunno whether it counts, but I got drunk for the first time on 4th July 2010. After approximately 12 to 15 shots of vodka (which contributed to the 2k calorie intake for dinner that day, which in turn caused me to run above my quota by 1.2k as mentioned earlier). K. I wasn't exactly drunk lah... more of tipsy and stuff. Mebbe it was cause I ate so much.

I kinda hate the fact that I didn't hate drinking? But aiya.. I did have fun with my friends, in a very odd way.. and I did uh.. meet some new friends. LoL. I would have preferred to meet people, like without the booze but oh well... that's them college-ing days, eh?

All in all...

I've got lots to work on to get my top 5 right. Gonna get my ducks in a row y'all!

Anywhos, would love to elucidate further but this is just supposed to be a short update and besides, I've got my tutorials waiting for me in the study and I am gonna stick to my plan!

But seriously. I gotta stay away from booooze. XD

Oh, btw, just so you know, this Top 5 Aspect list was modified from the 5 Points of Merit (or whatever it's called cause I haven't gotten it a name yet) I came up with to sorta see where you stand IN COLLEGE. It's basically 1 point if you have good grades, 1 point if you're good in your sport(s) or whatever activities (be it sports or music), 1 point if you are a looker, 1 point if you've got the ka-ching and 1 point if you're popular and good with people and the society.

Did you know the ppl in my college have an average of 3.5 out of 5 points? And many in my tennis team have a 5/5. I'd prolly give myself a 2.5 or 3 tops. It's scary and demoralizing, I swear. :(

PS. FREAK! After typing for so long, I only have 48 minutes left on my Mac for the rest of the week! (Thank God for my iPhone, lord knows what I'd do without it. XD)

PPS. My roomies and I streamed the Argentina-Germany match in our rooom! It was so fun. There was a screening in the boys block and the girls. The girls block was so noisy so we came up and online streamed ourselves. You could hear 3 diff parts of boarding screaming at different times due to the time lag. World Cup WINZ! :))) Too bad Argentina lost. :((( *CRIES FOR ARGENTINA*

PPPS. Kk. Really going now. BYE! Lovelots! :D

PPPPS. Toy Story 3 was da bomb! Hilarious and sentimental. Ingenious lines.

Live the life you love; love the life you live. by Asha Blake-Casiraghi-Venkatramanan-etc.

2010-07-04T02:17:00.005+01:00

A lil intro before we start -- this is a FB note written by my dear dear friend, Asha. I met her back when I was in secondary school. She was the loud girl from the next class and I was prolly the cool kid from the other. LoL. Mebbe the latter ain't true but in any case, like any other great stories on friendship, we hit right off and put together, we were chaos. Okay. Not really, again, but we did make helluva lot of noise together and those 5 years we spent together was jammed pack with lottttssaaa fun. A million times more compared to the average SMK IJC student, along with Stef, Jas, XL and the rest of the bunch, defo. (Remember the dog in the box thing? LMAO.)

Anywhos.. to an unknowing outsider, she may come across as... actually I don't quite know cause I've never heard anyone speak ill of her. Except mebbe that she gets a lil too loud / out-of-hand most of the time. LoL. (Remember those stupid morning senamrobiks shit? ROFL.) But that's hardly a weakness. So, I'm gonna jump right to conl -- she's an extraordinary friend (and a great singer and a great dancer and a great person with extraordinary talentS) and I'm glad I've had the pleasure of knowing her. :)

Ok. Back to this article, yeah.. I thought it was really good so I asked her if I could post it on my blog to have it shared with the world. Or at least whoever comes here. ;) Every single word is hers. No editing required on my part cause what she wrote is the truth. In fact, there's lotsa important day-to-day reminders you can pick up by reading this, sooo.. enjoy! :D

Life the life you love; love the life you live.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010 at 1:02am
by Asha Venkatramanan

I've seen the above quote on Stef's anklet that she wears, only that was in chinese, I got the translation from her.

I've been reminiscing and been watching gymrama videos. I like Italy's coreography. It's like putting beautiful words into a routine. Like artwork, no? I mean that's probably the fundamentals of art; making it speak and reach out to the audience and at the same time being vague and different to each and every person.

The hard work and amount of training hours put into the routines barely show, because of the ease in which it is executed. The little quick things get missed, if you don't watch closely. It's become more complicated I think. With the new rules and marking system's and stuff. The collaboration done is made up of a million different intricate parts, something that is missed quite often, if you look at it in the macro sense that is.

Oh but it is so beautiful. Looking at the macro part of it. Because once you look too much at the intricacy, you lose the beauty of the entire thing all together.

Funny how it is so closely related to a lot of things in life. We sometimes worry too much about catching the petty details that we just forget how to live the macro life.

We constantly live our life, putting the people around us as yardsticks. As if their actions would justify ours?

Dad always said, never compare yourself to anyone whom you think is less than you, compare yourself the ones you look up to, only then you'd feel the drive to be better. I don't completely agree with this, but there is some truth to it.

I know I worry too much. About a ton of things I don’t have control over. I don’t spend enough time with the people who really matter. I dwell on the stupid things. I don’t even spend time doing things that are beneficial to me, other than the long hours of sleep I’ve been having.

Life is a learning process I guess. Some things take time to sink in, some things are instant.

I hate putting so much effort in things that aren’t working out right, or putting so much effort with the best hope, only to watch it all fall apart. Can’t say this for the academics though, these so far seem to have been going pretty well, with the mediocre effort I’ve been putting in. Oh, but let’s not jinx that now.

I want to be doing things I love, filling days with doing things that I enjoy and feel comfortable with. I want to lie in bed at night and feel satisfaction. Something I haven’t really felt in the last couple of months. It’s frustrating, knowing that I really want to be doing more, but lacking the drive to get out and do it. Instead I continue complaining and being unhappy.

I’ve learnt a lot though in the past year, especially from being in a relationship. It’s also like a gymrama routine sometimes, focus too much on the tiny things, you lose the fun in things. Always seen it from a third person point of view. In those cases, I only thought with my head, not my heart. Now, it’s hard to suppress the heart. One important thing I’ve learnt it to really be yourself, and accept the other for who they really are. It’s hard sometimes, clash of ideas and emotions. It’s a continuous effort, something you have to work at everyday, even in the smallest of ways. Effort, is what drives it. Don’t lose yourself. This is where it gets tricky. Something I’m still getting the hang of. It’s like swimming in the sea. It’s pretty underwater, but going too deep, and you may get into unwanted trouble. Stay on the surface and you never really see things from where it all happens. It’s a lot of give and take. Achieving the right balance of this, is also hard.

Fortunately, everything done, is worthwile. And this is what makes me happy.

It's amazing how she can produce so much noise and still have the brain capacity to think about such profound stuff at the same time. Most ppl can only do one.

So, tell me again, how awesome is she? :)))

It was as if Isner and Mahut were playing in the NBA instead of Wimbledon. :)

2010-06-25T05:06:00.013+01:00

70-68.

One word -- amazing.

103 aces, 244 winners and 183 games for Mahut's long and painful knockout;

112 aces, 246 winners and 183 games just to get Isner into the second round.

One word -- whoa.

“ [T]his match in one fell swoop reminded people of what sport is supposed to be; intense and competitive, but also with fair play, respect, class and sportsmanship. Isner and Mahut reminded the world that winning might be important, but how one wins is even more so. Today Isner may have scored one more service break than Mahut, but they both, and sport in general, won a much grander victory. These two gentlemen returned class and respect to the field of competition with their sportsmanship, grit, determination and mutual regard for the abilities of their opponent. They were playing for the love of the game, something almost all professional athletes seem to have long ago forgot. In that sense, they won a far more tremendous victory today than simply a tennis match. In ten years, few will likely remember who won this year's Championships. However, people will be telling their great grand children, who will tell their great grand children, about the day that sport regained its soul. ”

- a commentator from the Guardian, joining John McEnroe
in commenting on the way that both players conducted themselves

And finally...

In uh.. commemoration of the longest match ever played,

THE John Isner - Nicolas Mahut match.

11 hours and 5 minutes at Wimbledon 2010.

One word -- respect.

Okay... I know the comic ain't exactly respectable, but hey! It's cute and it's the legacy Isner and Mahut leaves behind. Of course, it can (and it should) be thought of in a much much better light. :)))

PS. Yay for live online streaming after mum cancels sports on Astro. :D
PPS. Although, I'd like to thank my Internet connection, Streamyx, for crapping out during the final moments of the match. Perfect timing, I must say. T_T
PPPS. I sure hope John Isner doesn't lose in the second round 'cause of the exhaustion from THE match. :/
PPPPS. John is the taller one, on the left; Nicolas is the one on the right.

Proudly presenting... Rachael Yamagata! :)))

2010-06-19T17:33:00.007+01:00

Rachael Yamagata. American. Father's a Jap; mum's of Italian and German descent. Dad's a Harvard grad, now an attorney; mum's an artist/painter. They're divorced. She grew up dividing her time between them.. Tough luck. But oh well, she has a twin brother! How cool is that? :D

K. Enough about her family and more about her. She's got this blues rock thing going on and I absolutely love love love her! Her songs have been featured on TV shows like "One Tree Hill", "The O.C." and "Grey's Anatomy" and we all know how amazing their soundtracks are. Teehee~

Anywhos, she writes her own music, she plays the piano and the acoustic guitar. Her vocals are dark and smokey and unique. Reminds me of Priscilla Ahn.. Fiona Apple.. A Fine Frenzy... and a light touch of Adele / Joss Stone / Melody Gardot? Haha. I can't seem to find someone that resembles her 'cause I guess she's just special like that? :]

So yeah.. do give these songs a go. No regrets. :)

Be Be Your Love
1963
Worn Me Down
I'll Find a Way
Reason Why
Elephants
:3

Midnight Jamming Session with Chicken O Seven! :D

2010-06-16T13:19:00.012+01:00

PS. On a random note, Sasha, my German shepherd pup of 2 months whom I initially wanted to name "Kitty" is finally home with me! I haven't got pictures of her yet but it'll come as soon as I stop being lazy and shoot that lil' QT pie who's so energetic and full of life. :)))

PPS. I'm lazy cause she's always jumping around and running all over the place and that makes it hard to take close-ups of her.

PPPS. Construction of the kennel for both Precious (my older doggie) and Sasha will commence tomro and it'll be ready in a week! Mebbe I'll take pictures then? :D

PPPPS. Speaking of construction, my blog layout/skin -- the one I promised myself I'd work on -- needs revamping. Oooops!

D' FiSH T@NK

CNYE.

J'habite á Londres.

D is 12 Hours of Awesome Company.

Thanks-turkey-giving Dinner at AT127J!!!

I'm telling you this not because you do not know; it's simply because we need to be reminded sometimes.

Oh god I've got so much on my plate right now and I want to do it ALLLLLLLLLLLLL!

Ok. Follow up. Cause it's just amazing how I'm playing a character I grew up with.

I didn't have to scroll very far down... ._.

NOSTALGIAAAAAA!

The most inspiring thing happened today!

Moving out of your comfort zone has always been tough.

Today is Slack Day! ;)

The good days just keep coming in. ;)

iHeart UCL('s Timetable). :3

How to meet new friends. :)

WATCHING THIS EPIC MALAYSIAN SHIZ IN LONDON IS AMAZEBALLS!

First week of UNIVERSITY.

I feel fail. D:

2nd October 2011.

Used my plastic for the first time ever today! ;)

Many firsts.

First day of Fresher's Week and my cosmopo-list-an thus far.

Feeling a sudden surge of creativity.

Today, P. Ahn challenges you (and me) to not compare ourselves to anyone or anything. "Just know that you are everything!", she says.

On another note...

At this point, it honestly doesn't feel like I've come to a First World country.

Top of the morning from London!

The 180 degree turn.

Sasha's gone (to my uncle's).

All my bags are packed, but I'm not ready to go.

How to become Jesus in less than an hour. (Although we took 4. XD)

Let me be afraid.

3:48 AM.

Rawr.

I think know that *points at previous post*...

Emergency!

I didn't want to make this an open letter... but oops! Too late.

Blogging madness.

Priscilla Ahn.

Today, I hereby retract my "sunscreen is just a scam" hypothesis.

First day of work, in my life. (Yesterday.)

Did I make the wrong choice?

Yes...........

OMGOMGOMG! :D

7 hours.

The day after tomorrow...

Sorry for the sudden FAME-craze but...

As promised...? ;)

I must say...

POST A LEVEL MATH RELEASE!!! :DDD

JP Morgan's reply to Ms. Pretty. :)

Oh.. today? A good day. :)

I know, I know; prelims. But... I have a stalker? You tell me! :D

Updates when Twitter is a wee bit too un-accommodating.

(Supposedly) short update on 5th September before hitting the books. :D

5th September started off as a good day as well because...

3rd September was a good day.

The good life I've been living at Auntie Elsie's. :)

What have we become? by Jason Limanjaya

OMG!

What the...

Wei Yi Tan has invited you to Dropbox

Raffles students get World Cup holiday. Teehee~

Random Updates RE: My Top 5 Aspects of Life as a College Student.

Live the life you love; love the life you live. by Asha Blake-Casiraghi-Venkatramanan-etc.

It was as if Isner and Mahut were playing in the NBA instead of Wimbledon. :)

Proudly presenting... Rachael Yamagata! :)))

Midnight Jamming Session with Chicken O Seven! :D

I think know that points at previous post...