Friday, May 25, 2012
I don't really post here anymore, but since it's my birthday I'll just post something.
I've been surprised twice this week by friends celebrating my birthday, which I really appreciate. Labels: family, focus, friends, university
On Wednesday, I was in the law building on campus using the internet, when Wenyan called to ask if I was in my room, to get back a library book she borrowed for me. Then soon after, Ezekiel called to say that he had milk tea to pass to me, and I was to come down to collect it in 5 minutes. But when I went down I couldn't see him, anywhere in the building or outside, though there was this group of people standing a distance away to the left. Then Jay turned his head and I realised that was them, and for a moment I wondered if Ezekiel was just distributing milk tea like some vendor. So I walked to them and realised that they were there to celebrate my birthday in advance, at which point they sang to me.
Renu made an oreo cheesecake because she knows how much I love it! And I was really surprised to see them there: Renu, Ezekiel, Jay, Reuben, Rachel Chan, Wenyan, Mann Ying and Yi Chen. It was only when I saw Wenyan that I realised the earlier phone call had just been an excuse for her to find out if I was in IH or not! I was absolutely deceived! Retrospectively, I realise her questions didn't really make logical sense, but at that point I didn't think about it. It even occurred to me how odd it was to receive 2 phone calls from friends within like 15 minutes when I normally don't get calls, but I didn't suspect a thing.
Later on we went to the IH ground floor kitchen to eat the cake, and I spent the next couple hours or so chatting to them. It was especially nice because I'd met Renu on Monday night on my way to choir practice, and it just made me regretful that we don't get to see everyone every day like we used to in Phase 1. Apparently her questions about my choir practice time were also for the sake of the surprise! But yeah, it was great to get to hear from them about what their experiences this year have been like.
Then today was my birthday, but I spent the morning and early afternoon in hospital, where obviously only Josh would know my birthday, if at all. So it was actually just a normal hospital day. The exception is that Raja had these magnums, and then I got the last one for free though Jeremy actually paid $2 for one, haha. So it was like indirectly getting a present!
And the thing is that we had Dialogue Night this night, so there was a lot of preparation of food and questions and I thought if my Growth Group was going to celebrate my birthday, it would be during then. And Trish even baked a cheesecake, but it wasn't for me. Since people from Pete's group (whom we combined with) were either unaware of my birthday or knew via Facebook, I assumed that that might be kind of the case with our group. And anyway the dinner was good and the session went well, so I figured it didn't really matter. And my bro Cai got me Chatime milk tea!
Then Simon was in a hurry to get back to IH, so we went back and Ming Fei's and Mike's groups were still there at the ground floor kitchen after their Dialogue Night, so I went to talk to some of them. I met Evelyn on my way up to 1st floor, and then went to the kitchen to keep the food I'd brought back. And I heard her in the corridor saying something like "Sixuan's in the kitchen", but didn't know who she was talking to.
Then my group came in: Jordan, Josh, Trish, Sam and Simon with a cake in the box and a lit candle, singing Happy Birthday! I was surprised, because I genuinely didn't expect this at all! It was this rich chocolate cake that Josh got from Randwick, and he said that's why his first quiche (for dinner) got slightly burnt - made me feel bad! Apparently they thought I was still on the ground floor, went in singing Happy Birthday, only to realise I wasn't there, thereby confusing the people inside, haha!!
This whole surprising experience made me appreciate how the surprise is real and better when you're really not expecting anything. Of course it's not like I forgot my birthday - had to get the free Chatime milk tea, after all - but I don't like the waiting and expecting/hoping for people to remember my birthday. It just makes you more disappointed if they forget. And I wasn't sure if my group forgot, or if Josh (the other birthday IC with me) was simply too busy to do anything about it - it seemed like a real possibility. And it's just childish to be sad that no one celebrates your birthday with fanfare or anything.
I guess the only real expectation I have is of my family to remember. This is evidenced in how I purposely checked the mail pigeonholes to retrieve my birthday cards! I was happy when I got my parents' one on Wednesday - apparently mum sent it 2 weeks in advance so as not to have a repeat of last year when it was like a week late. But I didn't see my sister's one, and was kind of sad. So I decided to make sure, and ran down last night in the cold to check again, and it was there! The sad thing is that I failed to pick up their calls today, which is something I look forward to.
So even though the early part of the day was pretty uneventful - though not un-enjoyable since my hospital group is a fun bunch - I had a great night. I appreciate the Facebook messages, the texts, the face-to-face wishes, and the cards. I especially love reading what people have to say to me. And I'm thankful for the prayers!
Thank God for a lovely birthday :D
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
I turned 21 today! Labels: college, family, focus, friends, university
For a birthday, today wasn't really a day in which I could celebrate, because Wednesdays are my busiest days. It was marked by especially cold rainy weather with vicious winds that kind of spoilt my umbrella.
Special things:
- I received Jiejie's birthday card to me on Monday
- I went to my cousin's house yesterday, and she cooked chicken rice (yum!) for dinner and baked me a cake with chocolate icing and sugar roses that were speedily devoured by her children
- I got calls from my parents and my sister: literally held 2 phones with both parties on the line at one point! note: this made me a little late for my lecture.
- Audrey got me a slice of cake from 85 Degrees!
- Gilly got me a brownie!
- Renu wrote me a card!
- I got birthday wishes in person, via SMS and Facebook wall posts from more than 100 people! the ones in person are the best :)
I think a birthday is only as special as you make it out to be (Lin, 2011).
People in Australia seem to make a big thing of turning 21, which is bizarre considering they can do most things when they turn 18. For me, it means I can vote, but I wasn't 21 early enough to vote this month anyway. I don't like the idea of being old - 21 really means that you're an adult, apparently.
I'll be sort of celebrating with my Bible Study group on Friday with another guy's birthday, and then with the Singaporeans in my year with another 2 people's birthdays next week. It begs the question of how important the actual day is. And yet whenever I see the date 25th May pop up anywhere, it makes me feel like it is my special day!
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Today is Yan's birthday! No longer 16 going on 17...
This afternoon after church, we had a KFC+pizza lunch after service as a post-musical celebration. I enjoyed the food and the conversation!
Highlight:
Yue: Xuan, when are you flying off arh?
Hongyu: *GASP* You mean you don't know?
Louis: Even I know! on the 19th!
Then we sang Happy Birthday to Yan and Nicklaus, who each got cakes, as well as Rachel our musical director.
Following that, we went to the mini-chapel to have some programme, with a short worship, sharing session, photo taking and musical screening. I think we really have to thank God for so many things, including how He took care of the costs, manpower, ticket sales and production even though the entire process was rushed within those three months or so. And I fully admit that this musical is better than Giant Faith, with the beautiful backdrops and full audience and great music.
We had to be home by 4pm, and we went to West Mall for Yan's birthday dinner at Swensen's. I shan't go into how long we waited for three of them at the Singtel shop, but suffice to say, I've taken so long to eat a set meal before.
I realise I haven't blogged in forever, and lots of things have happened since my last post, so I'll just backdate them when I feel like it.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
It's a new year 2011!
Yesterday we had our church's annual dinner, and I enjoyed the food a lot, especially the tapioca basket (rather than yam). Pity there was only one youth table so Yue and I were sitting with parents, but that's good too - adults tend to give kids more food!
Then we had the testimony sharing night, which was really encouraging to hear from so many people. And considering how they all condensed their sharing times to fit into 1 1/2 hours, I think maybe next year it'll be extended to 2 hours or more!
I got to drive today on the first day of the new year, and nearly punched out the wrong hole for the parking coupon as 2010 rather than 2011. I felt a bit like an only child today, because my sisters were in church and brother was at work, so parents took me to City Square Mall (which I've never been to before) for lunch and shopping.
As for recent events, I've been going to the Cancer Centre in SGH on attachment, and it's interesting because it's different from my other experiences of hospitals, probably because of the focus on cancer.
I wonder what this new year will be like. I'm turning 21, for one.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Well, the most exciting thing happened today, but I'll save that for last. Labels: choir, church, family, friends, korea
My mum and sisters went to New Zealand, so I was the only girl left at home!
NJ Chorale had our carolling performances outside ION Orchard / Wisma Atria on the 10th, 11th and 12th of December. I couldn't go on the Saturday, on which night the altos were overpowered by number imbalance - what a pity. I was a bit disappointed in how the crowd was seemingly more interested whenever it was the choir performing or group acapella, but many walked away when it was a solo singing. Seems like they can't appreciate solo good singing. Maybe because they see solo singers all the time, but not choirs or group acapella.
I went for a sleepover at Sheryl's house with the rest of them after that weekend. I met XW and KX at Plaza Sing for lunch, and of course RO was late as usual, and then we went to the National Museum to see the Pompeii Exhibition. It was pretty cool, but KX and I were rather tired of walking so much so we took a break at the sitting area where I read one of the books, but XW and RO took so much longer than us!
We had our wonderful sukiyaki dinner at Sher's house after Eliz joined us, and it was just really nice being able to catch up with all of them and talk about lots of stuff through the night!
I had to leave the next morning to go to church for worship practice for camp. I'd intended to stay to do props for the musical, but the people in charge weren't there and nothing was being done, so I decided to go back to Sher's house. We played bridge for a while before I returned home, and then we picked up Mummy and sisters from the airport.
I also was free to go for The Briefing book club at Joanne's house, and we had a good long discussion about our article on prayer. I went home with the idea of eating lunch with sisters, but I was late. I feel I haven't seen them so much, and then they had to go off for Juniors camp so soon after.
I had a pretty busy Saturday then, with NJ carolling practice in the morning, followed by Christmas musical worship practice in the early afternoon, followed by the musical choir practice after that, and then the rehearsal for the musical in the evening, and ending with extended worship playing for the Juniors camp. An altogether tiring day!
We had our Christmas musical event in church yesterday, and I think it went much better than the rehearsals did. There were so many people that the choir had to give up our three pews at the back to sit with the kid performers in the seminar room. The little angels were all adorable!
Today I went for lunch with XW at Bugis, with the aim of buying shoes, because in my absence two pairs at home got spoilt and thrown away. We walked through practically the whole Bugis street and I managed to buy a pair, but since there was still time before I had to go for my Knowing God book club at Kovan, we decided to return to Bugis Junction for a drink and aircon.
Now, earlier on after our lunch I paused at a magazine store to look at those with Korean idols on the covers. There were about 3: 2PM, Miss A and Kim Hyunjoong. And XW said she wasn't really interested in any of them (neither am I), as opposed to if the magazine had Super Junior, for example, or Song Joong Ki even.
When we returned from the shoe buying, before we went back in to get a drink from Macs or wherever, I saw a banner at a stage with barriers and people saying "Song Joong Ki" with his picture on it. XW said she actually had known that he would be in Singapore, but thought it was over.
But we went to check it out and it said he was coming for a fansign meet at 4pm, and at that point it was 2:50pm! Imagine my excitement, considering it was totally unplanned and coincidental! Since there weren't that many fans waiting there, we decided to go in the aircon area to get a drink first.
When we went in, we saw lots of girls crowded outside a shop, and even on the balconies of other levels looking at the shop, and realised that it's the shop he endorses. But there were too many people for us to see anything, so we went back out to the fansign area and waited. Gradually more and more people came, and at 3:45 or so, this lady host came out and started talking, and the fans got pretty excited, and after a few minutes SONG JOONG KI APPEARED ON STAGE.
I was really SO EXCITED TO SEE HIM IN REAL LIFE, I TELL YOU. He looks thinner in real life, and his voice is to die for, seriously. The lady talked to him in Korean and translated his answers, about how he was thankful for the support. The best part was when she asked him to wink as was characteristic of his Goo Yong Ha character in the drama Sungkyunkwan Scandal which was his shot to fame.
They also had these little boys and a small 2-year old to present him with some flowers on behalf of the company, and it was so cute when he carried the little boy! 2 lucky representatives of his fanclub presented him with Christmas gifts of Singaporean food and a handmade personalised travel book, and he put his arm around them!
I left when they started the fansign, and ended up being late for my book club. I've learned my lesson - never take a bus when MRT is easily available, even if you have to keep changing lines.
Anyhow, it was really coincidental and cool and amazing to see him in real life!
Thursday, December 2, 2010
It's been exactly 2 weeks since I reached back home to Singapore. One one hand, it's great to be back home, where: my family and friends are, Chinese people are the majority, public transport is better, food is more diverse and cheaper, etc. Labels: choir, church, family, focus, friends
On the other hand, the weather isn't particularly great. The moment I stepped out of Changi Airport the humidity hit me like a block of water. It's been raining quite heavily the past few days, which barely lowers the temperature but increases the humidity by a lot!
I've been going to church a lot to help out with the musical preparations. I've helped to cut cloth, sew sleeves and pant-legs, and thread elastic for the costumes, cut cardboard, crush newspaper, paint eggshell trays and glue paper for props, pretended to be an Israelite singer, and subbed Yue as 3rd keyboard when she was at school.
Speaking of her, of the 14 days I was back in Singapore, I've actually only seen her for about 5 days. She got me a lovely present (which I haven't opened yet, lol) from her Taiwan trip.
We celebrated our parents birthdays together by having a great buffet lunch! But I've come to feel that buffets are bad for you. You upset your stomach cycle by starving yourself before the buffet just so you can eat enough to make the price worth it, and then feel sick after.
Yan had a brilliant idea when buying the birthday cake, and we got a small general cake, plus a slice for each of our parents catered to their individual preferences. We also surprised the Prima Deli salesperson by asking for a lot of candles. She thought we didn't realise that one large candle = 10 years!
Brother and I have joined the CS adult choir which will be performing a few carols at the Christmas musical put up by our church on 19th December, being its youngest members! I felt really surprised by how much fun these "old-er" adults have :)
Most of my friends were still having exams when I came back - in fact, some of them still ARE. Thus far I've only gone out with Sheena & Yong Jian & Jing An to watch the movie Red, with Michelle Ng & Foo, Yingxuan, Nicolette and Cheryl for our Sunday School dinner at AMK Hub, and I met Clar the other day in town.
Mummy and sisters left for New Zealand last night, and I feel rather sorry for them, because I think Yan had food poisoning and Yue gets motion sickness. If you guys are reading this, guess what: Stephanie and Adeline had food poisoning too! I suspect the prawn mee shop near church! Though the only explanation then would be that I have a stronger gastrointestinal tract than all four of them, since I ate the same thing.
I just came back from the alumni chorale carolling practice (one of three pracs before our gigs) and it was really nice singing with everyone again! Many are surprised that I don't have an accent, but I'm not talented at imitating accents, so too bad.
I regret not being able to go for my first bookclub meeting - hope it went well with the rest! But it looks like our girls bookclub will be meeting tomorrow - looking forward to seeing them!
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Unfortunately, my holiday is over as of today, and I have to start school tomorrow. What a depressing thought. Labels: family, new zealand, university
I spent the last 3 weeks in NZ at my sister's house. It was really great to have both my parents, my brother, my sister and brother-in-law. And of course the latest addition to the family - baby Caleb!
Having a baby isn't all it's cracked up to be. Sure, he's adorable and has big eyes and smells nice, but he cries a lot, and has to be carried around, and strapped in the car seat, and there's a whole bag dedicated to him: milk, pacifier, warmer, cloth, diapers, changing mat, rattle etc.
I spent most of my time waking up later than everyone else, reading my sister's books, watching Yang Jia Jiang (while not understanding it), and eating out with everyone.
Parents, Brother and I went on a 3 day trip; first to Mt Ruapehu in an attempt to take a beginner's lesson at snowboarding, but the winds were too strong and the slopes were temporarily closed, so we didn't do it in the end. Then we moved on to Lake Taupo and spent most of the time watching the free DVDs provided by the motel. On the way back to Auckland, we visited Hamilton Gardens.
I'm really glad I got to eat lots of Chinese food, whether cooked or bought. I'm especially thankful to my uncle for cooking carrot cake for our breakfast, and my aunt for making chicken rice TWICE!
Among other things, we went to Mt Victoria, visited Queen street, did two jigsaw puzzles, had fish and chips by the sea, bought oysters from Clevedon, and saw lots of sheep, cows, horses and alpacas!
Parents left on Friday, and I left NZ this morning. We had to wake up really early just to get there by 6:15, only for me to find out that my flight had been delayed by 1 hour 15 min! I spent a lot of time just sitting around waiting for the gate number to be shown.
Spending these three weeks with my family makes me miss them all the more now that I'm back in Sydney. Four months to go!
Saturday, July 3, 2010
I probably should be sleeping now, but my body clock seems to be adjusted to Sydney time still, which is 2 hours behind Auckland. Labels: family, friends, new zealand
I had my first flight by myself from Sydney to Auckland on Sunday, and I'm thankful that I was kept safe throughout. Plus I had an impressive welcoming party at the airport of 6 people!
I've spent the last week or so staying at my sister's house, staring at my nephew, eating, watching The Big Bang Theory, using the Internet and reading books. In particular, I've read about 14 books since Monday, I think.
Today Mummy, Brother and I went to my uncle's house, where my mum and uncle made pumpkin cake, and I finished the jigsaw puzzle (with 2 pieces left over, imagine!) and read my sister's newly bought Poirot murder mystery. And my aunt and uncle made chicken rice for dinner, where we were joined by my sister, brother-in-law and baby!
My younger sister was on the phone in the evening, and she told me that my ex-classmate from MGS, who was also in GB, recently passed away due to leukaemia, after being critically ill. It was shocking to hear this, especially because at the age of 20, you don't expect ANY of your friends to be dying from illnesses.
While I wasn't a close friend by any means (the only memories I have of her is that she was impossibly skilled at Five Stones, which was a post-exam activity in primary school), I just felt really relieved that she was Christian, I'm pretty sure, which means she's in heaven. My condolences are with her family.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
So today's my 20th birthday. My age now begins with a 2 instead of a 1, signalling that I'm no longer as young as I'd like to be. I got pretty depressed on my 19th birthday, because you're still a teenager up to 18, I think? I guess I just have to accept it...and then dread turning 21! Labels: college, family, friends, university
So, I had a pretty great day today. I received a birthday sms from Jiejie at about 8am, and then Mummy called about 10 minutes later to wish me as well! Not to belittle all the other wishes, but these were the ones that mattered the most to me.
Subsequently, I got a lot of wishes from my fellow med students, college people etc. It did kind of make me feel a bit special!
Another good thing is that I only had 3 hours of class today! If my birthday had been yesterday - 7 hours of class - it would have been kind of sad. As it is, I went to have a Chinese lunch with Christabel and Audrey, which was fun. And they bought me a slice of cheesecake - so sweet of them!
Afterwards I went to Sze Hui's house to kind of celebrate, and even though she didn't have time to make a cake (not that I expected her to!), she managed to whip out 12 tiny cupcakes and put them together with a candle! And I've been invited to her daughter's birthday party too!
Then I returned to find my room decorated prettily by 2AB group members, after which they had a cake that Stanley baked, and two birthday cards!
I'm currently trying to respond to the mass of Facebook birthday wishes that people have posted on my wall. I suppose it won't be finished by tonight, though.
Even though I'd have loved to spend my birthday with my family, I guess living here and having so many new friends just multiplied all the well-wishes that I received, and it really made me happy!
I'm really thankful to God for the past 20 years of my life, in which He has given me so many things that I don't deserve, and always protected me and loved me. I hope that I can become more mature and wise as I continue to grow wholly as a Christian.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Today is an extremely special day. Labels: family
Today, my first ever nephew was born to my sister and brother-in-law in New Zealand.
I've been waiting for this day for the past eight months or so, and I prayed every night that my sister and her baby would be safe, because this is a precious miracle baby.
And God has taken care of them all and produced my nephew, Caleb Matthew Chang Yi Jie.
The first time I saw a birth, I nearly teared at the sight of new life entering the world, even though I didn't even know the person. But this birth today is of course much more special.
My status has been upgraded to that of AUNT! Praise God!
Friday, March 19, 2010
So it's the end of my third week here! And I was looking forward to it because my cousin Sze Hui invited me to her house to have dinner!
So she picked me up at about 5, and we went to her friend's house because she had to discuss something, while I played with her friend's two cute children! And the little girl gave me a sticker!!
Then we went back to her house where her kids were watching the Wiggles. And they are so cute! There were these books with cutesy cakes for kids and we flipped through them as Zacky kept asking me what the cake decorations were made of. I'm a little scared of Max, because he's only a year old, and he cries a lot! Maybe he doesn't like me.
And here's a funny thing. During the break between lectures today Cheryl and the UNSW village people were talking about having chicken rice for dinner - and of course I was terribly envious because chicken rice is like my favourite Singaporean food!
AND THEN. Sze Hui cooked chicken rice for dinner!!! HURRAY!!! Dinner was just her and Danny and I, because the kids had their dinner earlier.
I piggy-backed Ashleigh and was invited by her (so cute, they call me Aunty) upstairs where they were supposed to go to bed, after which I got driven back to New College.
I'm so thankful that I have them here, because Sze Hui looks after me so well! Much love to Danny and the children too! (SO VERY ADORABLE.)
Friday, January 15, 2010
Yesterday my brother and I went to the much-advertised Body Worlds exhibition at the Science Centre, and it was pretty interesting and informative.
They showcased specimens that came from real people or animals, sometimes showing the muscles or the skeleton or particular organs. It took a long time to get through the whole thing because there was lots of information to read, in the glass cases or on the walls.
I liked the quotes they had on certain large posters on the walls, generally talking about life or age or the mind. They also had these blood pressure machines, but both my brother and I tried and the machine didn't put the final reading, but it worked for the lady after us!
I was really tired after it because there's no place to sit down at all! And after we left I bought a notebook which says I <3 My Body, only that the heart picture is like a real heart and not a valentine. So cute!
Today I went to NUS Co-op to get my textbooks, with Justin's help and member card for a discount! Then we saw Gloria, Melody, called Liu Xuan and Kai Xin to meet them (I thought KX might be going home too but she still had class) and Jessica as well! It must be so fun to go to uni and bump into your friends like that!
Brother and I made spaghetti for dinner, with our maid's help of course, we'd probably fail otherwise. It was quite nice!
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
I came back from the Model Bag Retreat that my parents brought us along to in Johor from Sunday afternoon to Tuesday morning.
The actual people in the Model Bags include Pastor and wife, plus my parents, plus 9 more adults. This makes 13 people. And then they brought along their kids, which totals to 18 children.
We had to eat lunch by ourselves first (at Serangoon) before reconvening in church and leaving. One car was supposed to follow ours, and since Yue and I were the ones sitting at the back, we had to keep turning our heads around to check that they were still behind us!
The hotel was really nice, apparently 5 star, and the bed was super king, so all three of us sisters could sleep on it! The only problems I had with the room was that the aircon wasn't working properly, and the bathroom couldn't be locked. So you kind of go to the bathroom in mortal fear that someone will accidentally open it!
I think I spent the most of my time watching TV! The room had KBS, Star Movies, plus the local channels, MTV, Hallmark, NHK, ESPN. We got to watch Beverly Hills Chihuahua, World Mixed Doubles Billiards, and some show that Minho from SHINee was on. (Dream Team?)
Most of the meals were eaten together, and REALLY GOOD. Lots of seafood! One of the meals we had just as our family was Monday's lunch at this big Jusco building. I was more concerned about finding new sandals because the bottom of my left sandal came out!!
And then my mum and Yan abandoned us, claiming they didn't want to eat lunch anyway, while we were busy getting the sandals, so it was just my father, brother, Yue and me eating at this Chicken Rice Shop on the 3rd level.
Guess who we found having "tea" at the 1st level? THE TWO ABANDONERS. HMPH.
On Monday night there was a mass gathering of them in parents/our connecting rooms playing the Bible games we had brought! I'm no good at In Other Words, but I think Outburst and Tribond are somewhat easier!
Then four cars left on Tuesday, while Pastor stayed and one car went further to KL. We had a combined lunch at this Bamboo place, though I was pretty full from the wonderful buffet breakfast!
Last night I went for my first caroling practice. I'm kind of panicking because there are so many new songs to learn! Twelve Days of Christmas is a KILLER. It was good seeing the choir people and singing with them again!
Today Yan and I went to watch Gokusen: The Movie at Marina, because it was only showing at GV cinemas there and at Vivocity as of today, and I think today was its last screening!
I think we were cheated by the ticketing girl. She gave us 3rd row from the back aisle, when we really should have taken the 2nd row from the back, if we had known that those were more centred!
In order to watch it, I went to re-watch most of the 1st and 2nd seasons, and watched half of the 3rd for the first time. In retrospect, I should have watched the 3rd season Special, because some of the characters in the movie were only from the special.
I don't recommend people who haven't seen any of the dramas (i.e. people like Sara Chan!) to watch the movie. It's exactly like the movie reviewer in the Straits Times Lifestyle section said - it's like a big reunion full of old characters that are familiar only to those who've watched it!
It was great seeing the older characters, especially Oguri Shun and Koike Teppei, and I think it's a pity Matsumoto Jun and Akanishi Jin didn't have cameos.
The first half felt like one of the typical episodes, while the 2nd half was more different and interesting. I like how the problem was resolved in the end. No romance this time, though!
Saturday, December 5, 2009
So today was my father's birthday, and I must say it's the most things we've ever done for someone's birthday! Labels: family
We woke up early to go to this Bukit Batok Nature Park place to go walking, though it was only about 1.6km therabouts! We then had a late breakfast in one of those under the hdb places.
Then I was allowed to drive with Yan to collect the birthday cake from Fiona. It started raining soon after I'd left, and in the end I nearly missed the turn, and there was a sense of panic, but I managed to go there and come back without causing any accidents!
We went to Tiong Bahru Plaza to watch the movie Mulan, followed by our dinner.
I thought the movie was pretty nice, though predictable at many points, and the transition between scenes and length of scences in the first 30 minutes weren't that good compared to later in the film.
For anyone thinking of watching it, I say it's an enjoyable watch. My father's watched at least 2 drama versions of Mulan, and this one has "entertainment value", according to him!
One touching part was when they were cornered, and their men who had stayed back to allow them to escape back were being tortured by the enemy, and Mulan started singing the song they sang for the dead soldiers.
It's a pity about the ending, Yue said the plot wrap-up was anticlimatic, though I was okay with it, but of course both my sisters were upset about the ending, pertaining to the romance, while my brother and I were more pragmatic about it!
We're going to Malaysia tomorrow!
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Yup, today's my mum's birthday!
We were supposed to eat at Quality Hotel for lunch, but because Brother had practice, we went to Parkway Parade instead. And I looked around the shoe shops, but didn't see anything I liked.
Actually yesterday at Toa Payoh I went into 3 shoe shops, saw 3 pairs I liked, and didn't buy a single pair. It's not just that I don't want to spend the money, I also have no more occasion to wear such pretty shoes. I felt depressed after that, and indulged in Burger King! Mushroom Swiss FTW.
Just tried a hand at seeing available Qantas/British Airways flights to Sydney from Singapore - the tentative departure date is 14th February, 2010, i.e. Valentine's Day, i.e. Chinese New Year 初一.
Anyway, during sermon today Pastor told a funny joke, that's actually based on a game some people play, called Fortunately, Unfortunately, where people take turns in telling a story that alternates between being fortunate and unfortunate.
So Pastor's story was about a guy sitting in the cargo area of the plane, and fell out, unfortunately.
Fortunately, he had the parachute and opened it.
Unfortunately, the parachute had a large hole and he began to plummet down.
Fortunately, there was a very large haystack below.
Unfortunately, there was an upright pitchfork in the haystack.
Fortunately, he missed the pitchfork.
Unfortunately, he missed the haystack as well.
THE LAST LINE CRACKED ME UP!
Saturday, November 7, 2009
So, last Saturday was Zi Jie's and Shan Yi's wedding! A joyous occasion indeed! In the line of cousins, I think Zi Jie is about one year older than my sister.
We went for the tea ceremony in the morning at 5th (note: 4th) Uncle's house, where we got to see the tea-serving, tea-drinking, the pretty bride in her impressive gown and the groom in his shiny suit! We also ate lunch there, while the couple had to run off to her family's side for the same thing.
There was much fun playing with Gwen, though her parents weren't there - the grandparents brought her along. Yue played with her like a lot! I even took a photo with my phone :) She's fascinated by the pictures of herself on Yue's phone as well!
I had to go for tuition, then went home, and the solemnisation and wedding dinner was held at the Marina Mandarin Hotel, I think. Their wedding invitation was so cute, like a movie promotional postcard titled The Proposal!
The wedding dinner started rather late, and for once I was at a table with some people I don't know.
On Sunday we went to see Yan's performance at the Sounds of Hope charity concert held by MGS, in which the performing arts groups each did their own performance. I quite liked The Happy Prince play by the drama group, and the secondary dance troupe, and of course, the string ensemble!!
Today is 1st Uncle's birthday, and as always, we celebrated the dinner, cake and all, at this Ah Yat Seafood Restaurant at UE Square. Actually because my tuition ended at 5:30, I was prepared to take a straight bus from Toa Payoh Interchange to UE Square, but in the end I met my family at Newton and got fetched, yay!
Our table had the four of us kids, the four from 8th (note: 7th) Uncle's family, and Gabriel and Angie. Natalie was MIA for more than half the dinner - I think she was fascinated by the fish!
The babies were evenly 'distributed' at different tables: Natalie, Ke Xuan and Anthea, who are all terribly CUTE!
Zi Chong's table kept passing food over to our table, and at a certain point we had to redirect the food to Anson's table, haha!
The cake was pretty nice, with milk chocolate flakes and blueberries. Apparently there was some alcohol in it too. This might explain why Natalie spat it out after being fed by Grace. Clever girl.
Anyway, it was kind of funny seeing all our relatives again, because it felt like we only just saw them a week ago! I love how our family is so big!
Friday, October 16, 2009
Well, so far I've just been doing my data coding job, getting used to the programme.
I'm also currently waiting for the responses of the residential colleges I applied to. I'm feeling rather nervous, but perhaps they're not used to applicants so early in the year, since their Year 12s haven't finished their exams yet.
On Wednesday my sister and I followed my mum to NIE to have a nice sushi lunch and watch this Japanese acapella group called Permanent Fish perform at NTU. They have 5 members - one vocal percussion, one bass, and three others sharing the lead and chorus parts.
And they're really good! Okay, perhaps I'm not an expert on acapella, though I have been in a group before and watched other groups from choir, and I think it's cool that their total singing is pulled off by 4 people, since the 5th guy does the VP.
They really had a lot of energy! I think the VP guy really just went on and on without needing to drink water! And the bass guy went pretty low! And the 3 chorus guys all have excellent strong voices! Plus one of them can make these cool sort of electric guitar sounds with the mike!
Apparently they've also released Korean albums, including a version of the old Korean song Balloons, which DBSK sang a remake of! I bet that there were some DBSK fans in the audience, because they looked excited when the middle guy introduced Balloons as their next song!!
They had a concert on Wednesday night at the Esplanade, but anyway I couldn't go because I had tuition. I think it's cool how they just keep singing non-stop, and don't seem to need any time to get their notes for the next song immediately after finishing the previous one!
I hope they really can go 'from Kobe to the world'!
Monday, August 31, 2009
My gosh, I'm not sure I've ever had a job that felt like it just dragged on forever. Labels: family, friends, MGS, work
Data coding was my job for one of the projects done by CRPP in NIE, and it was essentially to assign codes to the answers given by the survey-takers in an Excel file.
Now, there were 13509 survey takers, and 4 responses each, though not all of them filled in all the entries, so there were blank cells here and there.
So thankfully, instead of 13509 x 4 = 54036 entries, it was only about 46400 entries. And also, there were already pre-assigned codes, so it wasn't as if I had to come up with a whole set of codes by myself.
It was really easy at first, because being an excel file, I could arrange the column in alphabetical order, which would put all similarly spelt answers together, and then just put the correct code in the next column, click and drag until wherever necessary.
Unfortunately as it went on, I had to try to figure out typo errors as well as make decisions on creating new codes, or conforming to older ones.
I kept doing it, until the point where I thought I was going to go crazy because after entering the codes so many times after a while you it kind of just sticks in your brain.
And FINALLY, as of 11:15am this morning on the 31st of August, I finished the last entry, completing my job!
The good thing was that I got to work from home, so I didn't need to go to NIE like every working day. I think my general knowledge has increased as well.
Now I'm going to have lunch with Jane and Adeline (old MGS friends!!), and they just missed the Teachers' Day celebrations at MGS. I THOUGHT SO, they wanted to be there at what, 11:30, but my younger sister came home at about 11 already, so they must have been late!
EDIT: We had lunch at the Soup Spoon, a first time for me. And it's really filling, until I couldn't finish the bread bowl. It was really nice to see them again, but they're both flying off this month to the UK for university studies! I actually didn't know that Addie had been studying there for about 2 years already! She talks a little like a Brit now, how cool! And Jane's gonna do medicine (in Scotland), like me!! Yay!
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Firstly, today's my brother's birthday! Happy Birthday!! You're now a quarter of a century old!!
So today was my last day officially working at Graduate Programmes and Research Office [Teachers' Professional Development] in NIE, but not my last day in NIE.
For the past two weeks, I've been kind of like a regular worker - I would wait for the chartered NIE staff bus for the Holland - Farrer - Bukit Timah area, along with Dr Joan Fry (and for a few days, Mark as well) at the small side road beneath the train railway.
The people on the bus are Auntie Kok Mui, Auntie Lek Cher (both of whom know my mum), Joy, Shih Fen, Dr Fry, Mark and Mary. The two of us would always sit in the back with Mary. Mark was there for the first few days, but wasn't there when he went to Japan.
And then I'd reach NIE at about 8:05am and go to Block 3, hoping that someone would be there to let me in, because I have no pass-card.
I'd be working/slacking from 8.20 - 5.40 or thereabouts, with an hour-long lunch in between. Before my mum went to NZ, I'd just stay in office until about 6.15 to wait for her to be done, and then meet her at the carpark. But for the last two weeks, I had to remember to close everything at about 5.37pm or so, and leave before 5.40pm so as to get to the bus by 5.45pm.
Jun Qiang from the other side of GPR left on 29 June, I think, because the person he was relieving came back from maternal leave or something, and Amos was complaining about all the baby talk, haha.
They also shifted my seat, swapping places with Radha, so that she now sat beside Charles, and I sat in front of Jiahui. At first I wasn't too happy, because I liked being tucked away in my old corner, but at least in this new place I could talk to Jiahui! Madeline also got shifted to one of those tables near the pantry/toilet. (The computer guy, who's Grace's husband! shifted the computers around.)
Sitting at the new place was quite different. The aircon was less cold (made my old corner feel like the North Pole), and I occasionally directed people who came in to the right people to ask their questions to. Also, my desk was right outside the meeting room, where the people inside could be noisy despite the closed door! And once, Mavis came in, I wonder if it was on behalf of my mum?
Then Jiahui's last day was on 3rd July, because she was going to Taiwan on the following Tuesday, and the manager had been officially hired already, so Chris 'terminated her employment', lol. We had Canadian pizza on her last day - good stuff!
After that I was the only one left in my column, the three people in the other column belonging to the other side of GPR (Emma, Asmidah, Mazian). I think it's called GAP or something.
The new manager's name is Wei Ling, I think. She's pretty tall! But then Chris had to go eat with her and the higher-ups, and Su-Ming and Madeline would go by themselves, so I ate by myself once or twice, and once with Amos (we boycott Broadway!).
And they had this TPD lunch-meeting thing on Friday where they ordered KFC. I wasn't even sure if I was supposed to go, but it turns out, I was! Apparently the lunch time was like the manager getting to know everyone's family, work history etc. Hers is really colourful, even more than Charles, but no one can beat Radha: working at NIE all her life! And she looks way too young to be the mother of a 20-year old! Then they had their meeting while I did my work outside.
Yesterday I took a half-day off to go to school to get my SGC, so I only spent the morning in office. Because I took the cough medicine, I was literally falling asleep at my desk! And then the LP people (Audrey and Ros) came in with lots of leftover samosas and fruit tarts, which I admit I stuffed my face with. Kept me awake!
Today I went in (with Cindi) and it took a while to realise that my computer was missing! Rather, they moved it to two desks in front of Madeline, so that the entire column was now empty, and anyone looking for TPD would have to walk to the right, my desk being the first in line.
The good thing about this desk is that I could eat my pau without being seen! But a lot more people walk by it, and I feel a bit paiseh if they see me playing games - not because I'm a slacker but because Chris didn't give me work!
Today at least TPD remembered it's my last day, so Madeline, Charles, Imelda and Su-Ming kind of wished me well with my future endeavours. They're so cute, they all like to shake hands or something. Even Dr Tan!
It's currently the teacher investiture going on, so Charles and Madeline got volunteered to be ushers or something, so my last lunch was at the Cafe by the Quad (teri & yaki chicken!).
Anyway, despite it being my last day, I just realised that I left my earphones there, so I'll pop by tomorrow to get them. I'm going to start my new work at CRPP (thanks to Shih Fen :D), so it's still NIE!
I think NIE is so fun. I don't know why. It's like everything works together. Like how the Foundation Programmes people are all involved in the TIC these 3 days, where teachers previously trained under the various AGs are now released into the schools, and they'll later come back to GPR for other courses! Cool.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
My family went to Malaysia for about 3 1/2 days, 7th to 10th June recently. We stayed at Kuantan in Pahang from Sunday to Tuesday morning, and then went downwards to Kuala Rompin for the last night, in order to cut our return drive home into two shorter distances. Labels: choir, church, family, work
My mum wanted to go to the beach (I personally don't really like it), and I think my parents just like going on holidays.
We didn't really do a lot of stuff - mostly driving around, going to the beach, staying in and playing games brought from home (I stuffed 6 games into 2 game boxes!) and looking for places to eat.
My mum really wanted to see the sunrise on the sea, since it's the east coast, so every morning we got up to see the sunrise and take pictures, but it was really cloudy for the first two days! At least the Wednesday morning one was nice.
We also went to this turtle sanctuary where they keep these turtles in mini-pools and feed them lettuce! They also have an exhibit there for information, and a hatchery where visitors go to at night in hopes of spotting a turtle laying eggs there. My parents and brother went, but didn't see any.
The villa we stayed at for the first night was nice, even with a small private jaccuzzi pool, but the maintenance was bad! At one point there was a very short blackout, before the lights came on again, but some of the aircons stopped working, and we had to keep calling the maintenance people over to fix the stuff!
The second place was a golf resort, and my parents booked a chalet that IMO was in need of repair (the manager claims it's due for renovation), so we switched to the hotel-type rooms for very little money! Thank God for that! I wanted to go kayaking with my sister, but the seasports centre was closed, sigh.
One thing I really don't like about going to Malaysia is all the mosquitoes and flies. Another thing I wish they had were big shopping centres, but I suppose you'd find those in more densely populated areas like KL. Finding nice places to eat was hard! Lots of seafood though.
And my parents bought lots of DURIAN for us!!! Well, mostly for me, but who cares, right? DURIAN, PEOPLE.
I guess it's nice to be able to go away and just relax, doing nothing, but eventually we have to go back to work and school and whatnot. E.g., the moment I went back to work on Thursday, Jiahui and I had to continue organising and filing the stuff. At least we got it finished by Friday! Just need to put labels and we're done. (I got 2 paper cuts...)
This Saturday I felt like everything was so packed, because I had choir alumni practice from 10am - 2pm, and I thought it was going to end at 1pm and planned to get a haircut, but then I couldn't because I needed to bathe, pack for camp (which starts later), go for my penultimate driving lesson at 4.30pm - 6pm, then go to church for worship practice at 7.30pm. GAH.
I haven't finished packing for camp! And my driving test is tomorrow!!! In the words of my mother, "You're a busy little girl, aren't you?"
Thanks to all the blogs i referred to (countless) for html code help :) (esp. cyn' and sixseven)
Adobe Photoshop Elements for supernatural abilities
