I just discovered a new ice-cream yesterday!

It is very nice! It has fruit sorbet on one side and cream on the other. YUMS!

Available at all leading supermarkets :)

I had something more detailed typed out, then I read it through, imagined what my friends' reactions would be, and I edited it to something vague and elusive like this:


Maybe I don’t understand, it could be that I am being difficult, or just different; but I’m getting a little irritated with a few of my friends.

Except, it’s me I guess; and not them. There will always be this majority of people, especially pertaining to those of the ‘weaker’ sex, who act like that.

I shan’t carry on; it’s starting to make me look whiney.


On to another topic: I feel really pathetic.

Domesticating

I'm going to try to make it a point to cook dinner for my family every Saturday since I'm free most of the time :D

However, my mum usually cooks a more elaborate dinner on Saturdays. So if I cook dinner instead, the family will miss out on my mum's cooking :/

It shouldn't put a damper on my social life right? Hahs. Cos my dad eats at around 4 plus going on 5, meaning I have to start preparing at around 3. Hmm. Don't care. If somebody asks me out I'll just go ahead :p My mum can then cook her good food.

"A dream I won’t wake from, a story that will never end.

The ground your feet walk on; let me be there, let me be there"

I used to enjoy meetings until I had to minute them.



These few days, I've been finding myself yearning for something impossible: when I check my email; when I listen to my iPod.

It no longer makes me feel as sad as before. However, there is a chance that history would repeat itself.

BUT! feeling sorry for myself is not a habit I want to cultivate nor something I like to experience. So, yearning's good right? To a certain extent. At least I'll have something to look forward to.



*Jane Sng!(If you're still visiting this blog regularly) Where have you disappeared to? Have not talked to you in ages!

Church Camp!

Church camp was great! Very tiring, but good! I enjoyed it thoroughly. There were times when I was so tired I just wanted to stay in my room to sleep, but they only go to show that the days were spent fulfilled. :))


Day 1:
The journey took longer than all of us expected. The 5 hr journey turned out to be more than 7hrs. As a result, we missed 2 hrs of free and easy time. Those who drove there arrived much earlier at about 1 plus?

The view from my room was much better than the room itself though Krystal kept insisting it's very cosy. She's also going to kill me on Sunday when she sees the picture on the left.

After dinner we had our first worship and theme talk. It was during worship that I realised I was coming down with a sore throat.

The speaker this year was Dr Tan Lai Yong, a former classmate of Uncle Kim Shang. His messages were full of interesting anecdotes and stories of his life in Yunnan where he works as a missionary. It never ceases to amaze me how some people can have so much love for strangers in a foreign land.

However, the messages by Dr Tan were not entirely tied-in with the theme he gave us for the camp: Seizing the Moment. They were thought-provoking, meant to stir us into acting more like men and women of God and they did; but only bits and pieces could be tied back to the theme. All things said, he was good in that he could hold our attention for an hour and a half with both his stories and the depth of his msgs. I learned a lot from his preaching of the 3 psalms.

Went over to Krystal's room with Shirley after bathing and all the first night. We played bridge for a while before the boys came. And then the fun began! We decided to play Indian poker so that all of us could play. The forfeits Krystal and I came up with were crazy: Prayer to open worship, lead the camp theme song, and say grace for lunch.

Actually, while we were playing, I had some niggling thoughts that using prayer as a forfeit isn't very appropriate; but the rest seemed fine with it, so I just went ahead with my crazy ideas. Just now when I told Afiqah about the forfeit she felt that it was rude even though she isn't a Christian. Were we? Rude, I mean, and even blasphemous?


Day 2:
Dragged myself up out of bed after a bad night's sleep to bathe and do devotion. Breakfast tasted better than the previous night's dinner.

We played badminton after lunch; 11 of us sharing a court. :)
Auntie Lily and I trashed everybody until we got too tired and lost to Ben and Kevin. I had a horrible muscle ache in my thighs later that night. That's what you get from exercising so strenously after being lazy for so long. :\

The youths were supposed to go on a jungle trek in the night with Dr Tan while the adults have their Men's/Women's Night. Ironically, the adults were more enthusiastic about the trek than us youths. They should have made it Adult Safari and Youth's Night. *bleah*

Thankfully, it started raining while we were having dinner. We ended up in the sports complex playing Primary school games which were so much fun! :D

Finally managed to play volleyball like after don't know how many years; but it was a joke.

The boys were playing bowling, so we went there for a while and decided to take a few photos.

Thereafter, we went to Krystal's room again. This time, we decided to forgo the games and get to know more about each other instead. We spent more than an hr answering questions like Your Favourite Hangout turn by turn. Spent most of the time laughing.

Day 3:

The day in which I dreaded the stairs, slopes, squatting down and sitting on the floor the most.

Krystal had said the day before that we could play volleyball for a while during our free and easy time. I'd die before I do that.

Dr Tan had to leave one day early for some reason, and Uncle Kim Shang and family had to leave as a result. So we took our grp photo one day earlier.

After that we went to the Botanical Gardens and Japanese Tea House which was basically a waste of time. The Garden, did not resemble a garden at all. It was more of a well kept forest, with a few species of flowers scattered here and there. The Japanese Tea House, true to its name, only had a tea house with kois in a dirty man-made 'river'. They gave us 3 hours for the walk but everyone finished in 1.

We took the most photos on this day I guess, seeing as it is the big outdoors and all.

We even went to the Rabbit Farm after that; to occupy our time before dinner.

I guess I was disappointed because I was expecting so much more. But seeing from the state of the rooms as well their service, I shouldn't have expected so much.

We went to this "French Village" for dinner. It was very charming, a world apart from our resort or anything we've ever seen in M'sia. However, we were there rather early, there weren't any thing happening. I heard from Pastor David that they have live band entertainment in the night.

We had dinner there before heading back to the resort for Creative Night. I was very reluctant to act at first; but... My team won Creative Night! It was more of Aunty Lily's credit than anything else.

That night, the 'youth meeting' came to my room instead of Krystal's as we didn't want to disturb Charlotte her roomie. Played bridge, listened to Kevin's life story. As usual.

Day 4:

Last day of church camp. I can't say that I was reluctant for it to end; I was simply too tired to go through another day's programme if the camp was longer.

We stopped at Mid Valley for lunch and shopping. It was similar to Vivo City, much bigger definitely. And I bought 3 tops for S$30! :)

As I had been telling Isaac and the rest during the camp, I had wanted to make myself sick on Thurs so that I could take MC on Friday. I didn't. When I went back to work, everybody could see that I was tired.

The thing is, I can't really think of anything that tired me out. True, I had late nights and a game of badminton, but it doesn't fully explain. Actually, all the other youths were very tired as well. *shrugs*

Overall, church camp was very fun! Thoroughly enjoyable. :D

I'm really excited about church camp :))

When I got off from work on Fri, I was so looking forward to the 6 days of break; I even told my colleagues I'd deliberately fall sick on Thurs or sth so that I won't have to go to work on Friday as well. Haha!

Anyway, it's not only about the time off from work, but also fellowship, esp with the adults, and a "catching up" time with God.

However, many youths are not able to make it even though they deliberately put the dates to accomodate the students in Poly. Kinda sad. Hopefully, there'll be a year when all the youths and young adults can make it. Soon! haha. Then church camp will get kinda crazy.


Today's weather is really really good; reminds me of Shanghai's weather when I was there! I loved it! I could walk for a long time without sweating, and the wind was refreshing. If only it could stay like that.. *sigh of longing*

'Don't worry, be happy

In every life we have some trouble

But when you worry you make it double

Don't worry, be happy'

"I get to kiss you just because I can"

Zodiac


I just went to watch Zodiac the day before, and it was very very good. I'm sorry to say, but I enjoyed it more than Pirates 3 and Shrek 3. The action started right from the start when the 3rd and 4th victims were killed. Robert Downey Jr was very good as this crazy crime reporter who reminded me of Jack Sparrow. Towards the end of the show, he had been reduced to living on boat (it's not the yacht kind of boat, mind you); and it was just so similar to Capt Jack!

The movie was inserted with quite a few jabs of humour with Jake Gyllenhaal's very earnest, library-frequenting character; the very Jack Sparrow-like Paul Avery(Downey Jr); and Mark Ruffalo's cop character who loves animal crackers. It had quite a few dry wits, which made me and De laugh when the rest of cinema didn't catch it; which is quite duh!

Anyway, it's a show I recommend highly if you like mysteries and thrillers. Catch it soon! It has been screening for quite some time alr.

Internet

Technology

My internet's finally up! However, my sis and I got into a huge quarrel because of it. The kind where we hurl insults at each other through sms. I know, the "sms" part sort of kills the atmsophere, but the both of us were much more eloquent through sms. At least I was. If we were quarreling at home, I'd have just stomped back to my room.

Anyway, I'm feeling terribly guilty now.

In the past, my sis would just come and talk to me after our quarrels like nothing happened. Now, more than 4 days have passed already.

I know I shld go talk to her, but........
____________________________________________________________________________________

One con that would definitely be on my list of the pros and cons of internet connection at home (if I have one, that is) is sleeping late, like now. I shld be doing my QT now and preparing to go to slp. Instead, I'm typing this and forgoing my precious slp :\

Please take a look at this. I got it from Daniel Wu's blog and at the risk at sounding like an ABC bimbo, this is just soo cooool! The words below are apparently not by him. His friend sent the video plus the words attached to him.



And you thought those people that set up roomfuls of dominos to knock over were amazing? There are no computer graphics or digital tricks in the film. Everything you see really happened in real time exactly as you see it.
The film took 606 takes. On the first 605 takes, something, usually very minor, didn't work. They would then have to set the whole thing up again. The crew spent weeks shooting night and day. By the time it was over, they were ready to change professions.
The film cost six million dollars and took three months to complete including full engineering of the sequence. In addition, it's two minutes long so every time Honda airs the film on British television, they're shelling out enough dough to keep any one of us in clover for a lifetime.
However, it is fast becoming the most downloaded advertisement in Internet history. Honda executives figure the ad will soon pay for itself simply in "free viewings" (Honda isn't paying a dime to have youwatch this commercial!).
When the ad was pitched to senior executives, they signed off on it immediately without any hesitation - including the costs.
There are six and only six hand-made Honda Accords in the world. To the horror of Honda engineers, the filmmakers disassembled two of them to make the film.
Everything you see in the film (aside from the walls, floor, ramp, and complete Honda Accord) is parts from those two cars.
The voiceover is Garrison Keillor. When the ad was shown to Honda executives, they liked it and commented on how amazing computer graphicshave gotten.
They fell off their chairs when they found out it was for real. Oh, and about those funky windshield wipers. On the new Accords, the windshield wipers have water sensors and are designed to start doing their thing automatically as soon as they become wet.

Gra

Graduation photos!

I think everybody who knows that I'm graduting this year knows that I didn't want to go for the ceremony even though I had already taken leave.

However, I decided to go last minute 'cos Corrin, Jiahong and Denise asked me to. Heh.

I'm quite glad I went 'cos we took so many photos though I don't have all of them : I'm still waiting for photos from Corrin, Bryne, Jiahui and Jolleen.






With my long ago teacher from sem 2.1

I look like an aunty :\

Our favourite teacher!

Menotti!

Had lunch fellowship with the Leviticus band members a couple of weeks ago. It was quite fun, with Gin's lame jokes and all. We rarely get a chance to hang out together. I seriously wonder why we don't go out for lunch after practice. :x

Anyway, the food was good! Cheaper than I expected too :)

Ginnette and Dorcas goofing ard..

Jason Mraz
Life is Wonderful

It takes a crane to build a crane
It takes two floors to make a story
It takes an egg to make a hen
It takes a hen to make an egg
There is no end to what i'm saying
It takes a thought to make a word
And it take some words to make an action
It takes some work to make it work
It takes some good to make it hurt
It takes some bad for satisfaction

La la la la la la la life is wonderful
Ah la la la la la la life goes full circle
Ah la la la la la la life is wonderful
Ah la la la la

It takes a night to make it dawn
And it takes a day to make you yawn brother
It takes some old to make you young
It takes some cold to know the sun
It takes the one to have the other
It takes no time to fall in love
But it takes you years to know what love is
It takes some fears to make you trust
It takes some tears to make it rust
It takes some dust to make it polished

Ah la la la la la la life is wonderful
Ah la la la la la la life goes full circle
Ah la la la la la la life is wonderful
Ah la la la la la it is so....

It takes some silence to make sound
It takes some loss before you found it
It takes a road to go nowhere
It takes a toll to make you care
It takes a hole to make a mountain

Ah la la la la la la life is wonderful
Ah la la la la la la life goes full circle
Ah la la la la la la life is wonderful

Ah la la la la la la life is meaningful
Ah la la la la la la life is wonderful
Ah la la la la la it is so wonderful

It is so meaningful
It is so wonderful
It is meaningful
It is wonderful
It is meaningful
It goes full circle

I want to blog. But I have no idea on what to write abt.



I do have "joy" that I want to spread. But that'll have to wait till I get the photos I've been taking over the past few days :))

Graduation, dinner with Cheng and the rest, birthday celebration for the May babies in the office..



However! I must say that I miss sch loads :(

I miss the slping in, the aftnn naps, the huge amt of time spent with friends, the food at the canteen (!), the lecturers, the loong semestral breaks.. I miss school! Feel like going back to studying :/



I'm going to try scrapping soon! My first project will be on my OSIP days in Shanghai. Good topic? :D It's gonna use up a lot of my funds; but it'll be so fun!

I'm quite apprehensive about putting this test up as I'm scared all my friends will fail the test. :D

Must do well k!!


Create your own Friend Test here

Boat Asia 2007

Oks! Photos!

The cutest boy!

Nice nice pictures of Sentosa Cove and the event!

The registration counter..

My favouritest exhibitor. He entertained Afiqah and I for all four days with his jokes. :)

My favouritest boat!

Afiqah and I at Simpson Marine's party..

More pictures to come in future entries :D

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him.
When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.
The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full they agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar . Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous "yes."

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

"Now," said the professor, as the laughter subsided, "I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things- your God, family, your children, your health, your friends, and your favorite passions--things that if everything else was lost and only they remained ...your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, and your car.
The sand is everything else -- the small stuff.

If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out to dinner. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal."

Take care of the golf balls first -- the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand."

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented.

The professor smiled. "I'm glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee%2A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him.
When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.
The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full they agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar . Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous "yes."

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

"Now," said the professor, as the laughter subsided, "I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things- your God, family, your children, your health, your friends, and your favorite passions--things that if everything else was lost and only they remained ...your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, and your car.
The sand is everything else -- the small stuff.

If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out to dinner. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal."

Take care of the golf balls first -- the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand."

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented.

The professor smiled. "I'm glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend."

**When things in your life seem almost too much too handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 cups of coffee.


It seems that there are a number of professors going around teaching their students life lessons dueing lectures. :D

Singapore wows Vancouver vistitor
Posted On: 30/4/2007

Singapore wows Vancouver visitor
By Michael Geller (The Straits Times, Review Section, Friday 27 April 2007)

IN THE early 1970s, I worked with British architects and planners at the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp in Ottawa, helping to design public housing projects across Canada. In the evenings, I 'moonlighted'. My after-hours job was a residential high-rise along the Rideau Canal.

The developer was Mr William Teron, who would go on to become president and chairman of the national housing agency. At a public meeting, one of the neighbours opposed the development on the grounds that it would block her view of the Parliament Buildings. 'Furthermore,' she said, 'the building is just for rich people.' I will always remember Mr Teron's reply. 'Well, the rich have to live somewhere too, you know!'

I thought of this when I arrived in Singapore. Here, the British tradition of public housing has continued in a significant way; here, a large percentage of the population resides in housing developed by the government, many of them in homes they own.

Both renters and owners take great pride in their homes, most of which are in large high-rise blocks. In fact, each year the government has a competition to determine who lives in the cleanest public housing estate in the city. A prize is given to the winning residents.

This got me thinking. Perhaps the British Columbia Housing Management Commission should consider a similar competition in B.C. My hope would be that Vancouver's public housing residents would start taking a similar sense of pride in their buildings. I am confident that the savings in maintenance and repairs costs would more than offset the cost of prizes!

Sense of pride is very evident around Singapore. While we often hear people ridicule the country for its public prohibitions - no chewing gum, no spitting, no littering - Singapore has to be the cleanest country in the world.

During my stay, I did not see any litter on the streets, despite the daily handout of flyers and the presence of numerous fast-food outlets. There is no graffiti; the streets are beautifully landscaped and maintained.

Singapore is also one of the safest cities in the world. I believe there is a connection. To fully understand life in Singapore, one has to know what goes on behind the scenes.

I was fortunate in having Warren and Rilla Buckley show me around. This is the same Warren Buckley who helped make the Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Centre an international success in the 1990s. For the past seven years, he has been CEO of Singapore's privately owned Suntec Convention Centre.

As we drove around the city, past the magnificent new concert hall and sold-out new-home projects, Warren spoke about traffic management and the sense of order on the streets. In an effort to reduce congestion, some cars have red licence plates and can only be used on weekends. Cars have a box on the dashboard that calculates tolls for using downtown roads at peak hours. There are lanes designated for public buses only at peak hours.

Although there is a high degree of government control, Singapore is not a 'dead' city. It is very vibrant and active 24/7. Its residents are obsessed with eating and shopping. Every street feels like Robson Street on a Friday night! This is partly due to the government's efforts to encourage people to live close to where they work. Major new mixed-use communities are being planned adjacent to the downtown on lands being reclaimed from the sea.

Singapore is an incubator for new urban ideas. Many taxis are fitted with speed monitors. If a driver exceeds the limit, a sound goes off in the car, and a light flashes on the roof. Most transit riders have an easy-to-use pre-paid plastic card. It calculates fares based on the distance travelled, and can be topped up as required.

When I first arrived in Singapore, Warren suggested that I visit the Urban Redevelopment Authority's City Gallery. It contains scale models and other displays to allow visitors to see what has been built and what is planned for the future.

While I was there, school children were enjoying interactive displays on storm-water management, park-space planning and other urban concepts. I started to chat to one well-dressed man examining a portion of the model with great interest. It turned out he was a real-estate investor, curious to see what was planned for a site near one he owned.

Many years ago, Mr Ray Spaxman and a group of civilly minded Vancouver urbanists had visions of a similar centre for the city. They called it The Urbanarium. Having now visited Singapore's centre, and an even more impressive facility in Shanghai, I think now is the time for Vancouver's real estate community, public and private sectors to sponsor something similar in Vancouver. It could be a venue for Lighting The City, an exhibition currently on display in Singapore's centre. It offers creative ideas to improve night lighting around the city.

While we are all increasingly conscious of the need to conserve energy, I particularly look forward to the proposal for 'shimmering floating lights along the river, to bring out the sense of water'. I can visualise a similar proposal for portions of False Creek or English Bay.

Perhaps we might also implement the red licence plates, plastic transit cards, and taxis with flashing lights! Now, as for the ban on chewing gum and littering...

(The writer is a Vancouver architect, planner and property developer. This article first appeared in the April 14 issue of The Vancouver Sun).

_________________________________________________________

Why are Singaporeans still complaining?

I'm back! :D

Two things have prevented me from updating the blog over the past weeks. First, I was simply too busy to do go online, not to say blog. Second, when I finally had the time to, my modem went crazy on me and is currently malfunctioning.

The event was crazy. Pre-event too. 8.30am to 10.30pm or even later days straight for almost 2 weeks. Wonder where I got my stamina. But, it's finally over! Working on the post-show report now, but it's not an urgent thing. So I can finally go home while the sun is still shining!

Show days were fun-interesting-tiring-frustrating-and a lot more. I'll upload the pictures another time!

Oh yes, I have another blog actually. I decided to set it up cos I was feeling that a larger part of my life should be dedicated to God. Go take a look at www.child-ofgod.blogspot.com :D

Have had a good long weekend. It wasn't like happening, but at least I managed to spend time with my friends.

Spent the entire day at Orchard on Saturday after worship prac. Went shopping with Candy and Cheng. But all three of us had no intention of spending much money that day, so the shopping was a little boring. We just walked past shops without really, you know, shopping. Spent more money on food actually :)

But, we managed to watch a movie. Meet the Robinsons. It was, a little lame, but the story behind was good. And we watched it in the Grand Cathay! It was really cool, like a theatre with curtains and all. Something funny happened before we went in. We were actually deciding between Reaping and Meet the Robinsons when buying the tix, and somehow I decided on the latter. However, while we were waiting for the time to enter the cinema, Cheng and Candy suddenly regretted the decision, and I told them that we can try changing the tix and the box office. After much hemming and hawing, Cheng finally plucked up enough courage to ask. But it was too near the show, so they couldn't change it for us.

Then, came Sunday. Combined YA was fun, though a rather messy at the start. Thank God it got better after that. Went for lunch at Serangoon Garden with the cell grp after that. It wasn't that good at first cos Country Manna refused to join tables for us despite the space they have, and Cafe Cartel had a full hse. So, we were left with no choice but a new Thai restaurant. The ppl there are friendly and polite. But, this girl made tons of mistakes, and the food was bad. It really not a place I'll recommend. Nth good to say abt it. They even made a mistake in the bill - they did not charge us for two dishes we ordered. There was a hair in one of the dishes and my friend was nice enough to not ask for a new one. But they shld at least volunteer to change it right. Seriously bad. But the company was good, so ya.

Next week's a new week. Things are getting busier in the office cos the show's only 2 weeks away. Why can't these ppl just pay up???

Oh yes, I've finally finished watching the CSI:NY dvd! Two seasons. So feel like buying the dvd in Singapore though it'll probably cost a bomb. The show's really really good. The CSI series are one of the few shows that do not turn sucky after the first or 2nd season. Friends is another one. Others like Desperate Housewives, Felicity, The O.C. and several, the 2nd seasons and so on were bad. I mean Desperate Housewives was very nice and funny in Season 1. But after that, those ppl really got desperate. Its like, all the men, but Mike Delfino and Lynette's husband are the bad. Most of the neighbours have sth wrong, Susan slps around like nobody's business, Brie has "control problems", Edie is, no need to say, a _ _ _ _ _, Lynette is manipulative, and Gaby is, self-explanatory. I like Lynette the best, cos whatever she doe is for somebody she cares abt. Other than that... Fraser is another good show. I can see why he wins an Emmy every yr :)