And so the bumming begins.

I've been travelling around Singapore the past week, going to bo liao places to do bo liao things :D Ok well, it's been sort of educational also. At Little India after my paper (which was quite terrible btw), I learnt about the Indian culinary culture when we tried all kinds of flat dough, from prata to uttapam (ok I don't think I learnt much cuz I still don't know what that is, though it was good hah), and had a vegetarian dinner complete with mock chicken and prawns. Oh and I finally discovered Mustafa!! It's freaking cheap, if you can ignore the clutter.

Then on Thurs, we revisited our childhood when we went to Haw Par Villa. It's become quite old and derelict since I visited like err 10 years ago, which is really sad. Some of the figurines are falling apart, and the ponds have become breeding ground for mosquitos. I wished someone could do more to maintain the place, even though it's actually loss-making cuz there are really few visitors (apart from bored students who have nothing to do). The statues were really life-like and detailed (which just makes them all the more frightening), which is quite a feat considering the place was built in the 1930s. So I think the place deserves to be taken care of, and not left to rot like that.

Other than the excellent workmanship, some of the dioramas were just plain scary, especially the ones of "Hell" (by the way, it costs $1 to go to hell). I can't believe the figures weren't censored or something, cuz there's so much blood and gore! Seriously, all forms of torture and dismemberment were there on display. No wonder I used to have nightmares when I visited as a kid, though my mum had a field day using those gory scenes as a teaching tool: "See, this is what happens when you tell a lie!" *points to scene of man getting his organs ripped out*.

I think we were mostly at HPV to take retarded pictures with the statues haha. Anyway after HPV, we actually travelled all the way to Jurong Point for dinner just for the heck of it. Hahaha, this is boredom to the furthest degree.

And on May Day, I visited this mangrove boardwalk thing at Pasir Ris Park with Jamie and Nina, during which we came to the conclusion that we're not cut out to live it rough in nature (this coming from 2 ex-Guides). Barely 15 mins into the walk, we were already looking for the exit while swatting mosquitos and complaining about the heat hahah. We're sissies. Anyway the walk was ok, we saw a million mudcrabs, gross giant caterpillars, and imaginery mudskippers.

The actual fun thing was actually navigating our way around the roads in Jamie's car haha. Or at least it was fun for me. Woohoo I can navigate with a Street Directory!! But seriously, it's fun to go to places when you have absolutely no idea how to get there and all you have is each other, a car, and a map. But anyway, it's Singapore, so there's a limit to how lost you can possibly get.

Into the wild!!

A few of the gazillion crabs out there.

Everyone say "Eeew!!"

It's a jungle out there.

On Monday, it's the top of the world at Singapore Flyer!!! At only $10 (usual price is $29.90)!! I tell you, it rocks being a student cuz you get all kinds of crazy discounts, which is one of the reasons why I'm happy I only graduate next year :D 1 more year to be a cheapo!! Oh but we didn't manage to get a student price for our movie tickets cuz apparently GV Marina only has discounts for SMU students. What's wrong!! Anyway we failed to negotiate for cheaper tickets with the girl at the box office :( I actually felt bad for her, cuz we kept pushing our luck with her haha ("Can you pretend we're from SMU?").

Oh but the view from the flyer was great! Especially since we went at sunset. I didn't know Singapore was capable of views like these. It'll probably look even nicer once the IR is built, though the flyer tickets will also probably go up.

View of ECP.

Sunset in Singapore :)

I think my house is somewhere out there.

Pretty awesome view.

Yesterday was another baking session at QY's house. Actually we didn't really bake, more like mix stuff and put into the fridge to chill. We made chocolate truffles (which are idiot-proof, except when they fail to solidify after freezing), and some jelly thing QY's mum made for us last time. I think we should give the jelly a name (like err "Strawberry and Marshmallow Surprise"), if not it'll forever be known as "QY's mum's jelly thing". Anyway we made all these stuff for Mother's Day :) And fortunately, my mum loved the stuff haha.

In between going out, I've been reading and watching "How I Met Your Mother". It's hilarious, everyone should watch it.

Anyway, I have given up on finding an internship, and have re-dedicated the next 3 months to fruitful bumming. Which means I slack purposefully, and on a budget of course :D But as of yet, I have no idea what to do. I reallllyy need to earn some money, so I'm hoping I'd be able to find a part-time job or something. I'd like to volunteer somewhere, or learn a new skill. But my problem is I have a short attention span. I get distracted too easily. Once something picks up my interest, I lose it immediately when something else gets my attention. This is bad.

So there, this ends week 1 of "Eng Eng Bo Dai Ji" (which translates to super duper free and nothing to do) haha.

Don't get offended

If I seem absent minded

Just keep telling me facts

And keep making me smile

feels like insomnia ah ah

Don't you just HATE insomnia??? I abhor it. Being the pig I am, sleep is one of the few pleasures in my life and being robbed of sleep involuntarily (excluding the times when it was work-related) just SUCKS.

This usually happens to me when I have to wake up really early the next morning, or when I am particulary troubled (usually the former haha). How ironic to lose sleep, just when you need it the most. Anyway what I really hate is the tossing and turning in the dark, when you can hear every little sound in the house, and when your head is full of crazy thoughts. It's really just the helplessness of it all, because nothing you do seems to be able to lull you to sleep, whether you try to read your notes, read a book, or even count sheep. Then the next morning (after a short nap), I'll get a bad headache and will get all cranky and have to survive on large amounts of coffee. And for the next few nights, you're afraid to go to bed because you have developed a phobia of insomnia haha. Argh it's horrible.

"People were always getting ready for tomorrow. I didnt believe in that. Tomorrow wasnt getting ready for them. It didnt even know they were there."

"You forget what you want to remember, and you remember what you want to forget."

"Listen to me, he said, when your dreams are of some world that never was or some world that never will be, and you're happy again, then you'll have given up. Do you understand? And you can't give up, I won't let you."

"Borrowed time and borrowed world and borrowed eyes with which to sorrow it."

- Cormac McCarthy, "The Road"

Even if you wanted to
Even if you could,
You can't say no

Is it weird if I said I miss school? Ok la, not really the lessons (esp. Prod and Brand eew), but the people. It's kinda sad that many of my friends are already graduating this sem :(

I miss the times spent gossiping about other people in class, complaining about lecturers, doodling on each others' notes, and those Entrep meetings spent thinking up classy and zai names for our products then anyhow making irrational decisions for more serious stuff. Oh and of course camping at QY's house hahah. I'm joking about the last one.

It's been a tough, but enjoyable last sem :) But school's gonna be boring next sem sigh.

I'm extremely bored now. I don't wanna watch webcasts. I don't wanna apply for internships. Speaking of which, I think I should start making backup plans in the (very likely) event that I don't get any internship. I wanna do something meaningful. But not rag, no no.

And I MISS WWF and everyone else!! We better meet up soon before we forget what each other look like hahah.

Never say
You'll never leave
Cuz you'll never know til you try

Rachael Yamagata!

Just came back from the Rachael Yamagata concert I was so excited about. And she did not disappoint!! Honestly, FOB really paled in comparison to Rachael Yamagata (RY). Or maybe I'm just biased cuz I'm a big RY fan haha. But really, tonight's concert felt more personal and sincere, cuz of all the audience interaction and quality performances. Her voice was superb, even though she said she had a cold (she was coughing between verses on one song). That's one cold I wouldn't mind having, cuz she sounded really good haha. I think even better than on CD.

I really enjoy concerts that are intimate, at smaller venues, and that aren't so rowdy. The acoustics are better, and you feel even closer to the singer. RY really made an effort to let the audience know her better, cuz of all the funny banter and interaction. Like about her past relationships and her experiences during the recording of her album. She also revealed some of the inspiration behind her songs, which helped me appreciate the song even more cuz at least I know the context. This also helped the audience to really see her as a person, and not just as a voice, albeit a really good one haha.

Even though she had a cold, and was really suffering after the 25-hour flight (she looked super chui up close, like with puffy eyes and all), her performances were still top-notch, especially those quiet songs where it's just her and her piano/guitar. You can hear all the raw emotion coming through. There was a good mix of songs too, with both quiet and noisier numbers (complete with a full band, including a cellist).

This one's about her intending to cheat on her boyfriend ("evil thoughts"), but not doing so in the end.

I only managed to take a few videos, cuz I didn't want to get scolded by the Esplanade ushers. And it's a pity my camera's zoom isn't very powerful, so I couldn't get a nice shot of her performance :( I did catch her up close during the autograph session though, and as you can see, she looks seriously messed up haha.

All in all, tonight's concert was seriously the best I've ever been to. It's the little personal touch that made the difference, cuz if I only wanted to hear songs I'd rather listen to the CD than go to the concert. If anything, this concert made me a bigger fan! It made me want to rush home and start listening to all her songs again haha. And of course, I can't wait for RY to perform in Singapore again!

It's not about geography or happenstance
Your need to fly and take a chance
Your need to shine to emptiness
And float on high and forever dance alone

This birthday, all I want is to..

Get through tomo. Argh Asian Markets is killing meee!! 10 chapters!! It doesn't help that I have no idea what's going on for Product and Brand, when my test is in 2 hours.

Get a freaking internship. Seriously la, am I that lousy and unqualified??

Go to Europe! Ok maybe that's asking for too much haha. I just want to go overseas.

Otherwise, I realize birthdays become less significant as you get older. Or maybe cuz I'm just too pre-occupied with other things.

And omg, where did the previous year go?? It seemed like only yesterday when I was blindfolded and packed into a car, surprised with a cake, got drunk and puked, among other things haha. And now I'm OLD.

Ok anyway, tata, gotta go salvage my academic life.

by His wounds

Because it is the Good Friday and Easter Sunday weekend, I feel that I should share this video with everyone out there. It's part of an email sent by another friend, and I hope this will be able to touch you as much as it did for me.

Why did this man have to die, if he was innocent?
Then really consider these implications:
-IF this man died for the reason said in the Bible,

1) then we all definitely will face judgment.
2) then we all will face the consequences of our sin--> eternal death and separation from God (this one no joke man)
3) then we all will have no hope, because there is nothing we can do to redeem ourselves, or make ourselves acceptable to God.
4) then only by His Wounds We are Healed--> meaning only His sacrifice make us acceptable to God, because He doesn't see our sins anymore (overlooks it)
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. Isaiah 53:5
5) then only when we accept this sacrifice, we can have a personal relationship with God,
-we don't need to pay for our sins, we are no longer subject to God's wrath
-and we can have joy in our lives, living it with true purpose and meaning.
-we realise we no longer need to live our lives to please Man or by their standards(which is rather corrupt I have to say), but please God.
-we can look forward to spending eternity with God.

I am really blessed to have a friend who cares so much that she bothers to take time out to type out emails like this to remind me of my priority in life, which is to love and glorify God. And of course the constant need to reach out to others that do not know Him yet. Sometimes we get so carried away with our busy schedules that we forget that the person who is supposed to take top priority is Jesus. Even now, sometimes I forget to behave like a follower of Christ and instead lose myself in the frivolities of the world. And I'm really afraid that one day I may just get so caught up, that I will forget about His sacrifice and take everything for granted. Therefore it is really important to continually renew my faith in Him, and re-examine where He stands in my life.

I'm not trying to convert anyone, and maybe you have heard this all before, but I'm just hoping to share what this important occasion means to me (and to every Christian) :)

"You can sleep when you're dead!"

Look familiar?

And here's the motto of the sem (or rather my whole NUS career):
Haha! 14 more days!!

I hate it when life suddenly throws something at you out of the blue. It leaves you floundering and lost, not to mention extremely stressed. Thus the self-imposed insomnia and ponning school. But I need to get used to this.

Today's project/gossip session was hilarious. Remind me to share the story of the horny, towel-draped, track couple from hall who had a midnight run to the SRC. Oh and the Prince at KE7. Hahah! NUS is happening.

Well now everything dies, baby that's a fact
But maybe everything that dies someday comes back