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profile At twenty and one-point-six-three/four/two (can't remember) tall, I am a girl who loves many things, and detests a few. Not very fond of setting out a whole list of 'about me's, so... just read on. :) tag archives May 2004 June 2004 July 2004 August 2004 September 2004 October 2004 November 2004 December 2004 January 2005 February 2005 March 2005 April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007 March 2007 April 2007 May 2007 June 2007 July 2007 August 2007 September 2007 October 2007 November 2007 December 2007 January 2008 February 2008 March 2008 April 2008 May 2008 June 2008 July 2008 August 2008 October 2008 November 2008 December 2008 January 2009 February 2009 March 2009 April 2009 May 2009 June 2009 July 2009 August 2009 October 2009 friends and credits skin by: Jane |
Saturday, December 31, 2005 @ 8:56 PM
bleahargh The mass dance videos are taking an unbelievably long time to load. (njcians can take a look at them at km! =D) I remember months back when I was still using the 56K modem - kenneth told me to download maple story, adding on later that I would end up sitting in front of my computer for about 20 years before the 'loading complete' flashes on the computer screen. But NOT ANYMORE! muahaha. I just called some year ones in my OG (which is OG FOURTEEN, the one that rocks to the max with Christine, Jestyn, SiYuan and Soks!) to give them some information for their first day of college and this particular guy was so... rude. 'Alright! If you have any questions, feel free to call me ya? This is my no... ' *an audible sigh* ' Oh okay you wait. ' I give my contact. ' Okay! Happy New Year -- ' Click. End of Conversation. Well well. I bet there are more of these cynicalists around. No matter. Things will change, that I'm sure. Push all irritants of 2005 to the back, and pull some optimisim for 2006 right to the front! Happy New Year! Friday, December 30, 2005 @ 10:49 PM
hohoho. I'm taking this chance to blog as often as I can, because I have this creepy-crawly feeling down my spine that when school starts I won't even have the time to sit in front of the computer. hohoho but I feel quite happy about that leh! I am so darned excited for orientation to start I can't sit still! I love IRYL!! Jiali told me today evening after the walk-in rehearsals and skit rehearsals that IRYL's walk in was the best. *sashays in my red iryllian robe* YAY! I admit that I go for for house meetings less often than most of the rest (have reason hor! =p), but that so does not mean my loyalty to ignis wavers at all, okay. There. I have nothing much to say. Haha this entry is purely for the sake of putting an entry for today. What crap! Thursday, December 29, 2005 @ 8:26 PM
seven-ups and explosive laughters OGL camp ended yesterday. It was gruelling in the physical sense, especially during the tryouts for the station games, where we had to go through 18 station games within an afternoon. From the field, we ran to the sanctuary, then to the field again, back and forth, getting splashed with ice-cold water from the firehose and detergent which smells suspiciously like the one my mum uses for the laundry. My whole body aches now, and if it continues tomorrow I think I will borrow salonplas from my grandma. Station games were great! My group SEVEN-UP's most victorious win was in the tug of war, where the opposing team had guys who are really strong. But we pulled and pulled and pulled until we won! Winning itself is a fantastic feeling, but winning in a seemingly hopeless situation feels fantastically fantastic! Haha alright I'm not speaking sense, am I? =p The camp was tiring, but I enjoyed it immensely, perhaps due to the fact that I got to laugh, work and dance the mass dance with people whom I don't and do usually socialise with often. I love all the other irylian ogls, and seven-ups, and aiya the other ogls lah! haha I better get to know all their names huh. And.. today is very special, because I spent it with rapache celebrating Enci's birthday (which is tomorrow!). Spent the day at Sentosa and City Hall and as always we caught up on our lives; it amazes me how easily we can relate to each other, still. Because my bones are screaming for help I shall stop blogging. I sorta can't wait to go back to school despite the unfinished homework! Saturday, December 24, 2005 @ 11:51 AM
365 cont Reason no. 4 would be, more detailed-ly speaking, me being part of the 2 greatest CCAs and taking the oddest subject combination of all - The Choir and the Student Council, and the PCML combination (figure that out if you don't geddit!). muaha. Nah, honestly. I agree with Christine, that the friendships that I have forged both in my CCAs and in S08 have been wonderful. I've met people whom I can sit down and chat with for a long time - not on the touchy issues of gossip but on serious ones, say religion, society and what have we. Boring, you might think, but as I moved on through the school days I came to realise that it is such conversations that bonds different individuals. There you go. The big 4 as to why 2005 is THE YEAR to remember. I'd love to have more reasons, but most reasons classify themselves under the 4. =D In retrospect, the relationships I have gained will definitely propel me towards 2006. Ha! What a word, propel. Makes me think of physics, in which I still have a bit of holiday homework to complete. Bleah. * * * I coincidentally happened to watch the ACJC choir carol yesterday at the Paragon. Besides the great excitement that stems from being able to see Enci without setting a place and time beforehand, I felt... some envy. Perhaps it is the way they sound. Whole and complete; the chords fitted together like lock and key. The overall sound is rich, and needless to say they sounded mature beyond their years. Is that entirely a good thing? Comparably, the NJC choir lacks that kind of maturity. But I refuse to think that we will remain stagnant or whatsoever, because somehow I feel that this batch - my batch - will make it, be it at christmas carolling, or the overseas competition next year (at Verona, Italy! I am FRIGGIN' excited). I trusted Miss Lim when she said we were 'the best' batch nj has had so far, and I still do. Speaking of which, I'm going for 4 sessions of carolling later at Sentosa - man, my feet had better be prepared. Haha, ciao for now! Thursday, December 22, 2005 @ 10:22 PM
365 What fools of time we are. Two months ago I was on my bed, blissfully in a daydream about me being rid of stacks of notes, shopping like a mad traveller in Orchard with its immensely bright christmas lights, on board an airplane the next minute to China and then shopping as a real traveller along its city streets. One month ago I was jittery about graduation night '05. 2 weeks ago I wanted to watch King Kong (changed my mind about that movie), Pride and Prejudice and Narnia. Today I laid on my bed thinking about the homework I still have yet to complete. Not that I haven't done the things I daydreamed about. Something about the holidays just make you feel as if you haven't utilised them to the maximum, no matter how hard you try. At the end of it all there is a sense of deja vu once again; bah, it's another year gone. But as I approach December 31st that deja vu-ish feeling will seem different. For this year has been one of the most eventful! Reason number one: I went to a new school. An entirely different environment - from a sea of blue, I began to see grey all around. From a canteen which is reasonably small, I saw one that spanned almost an entire football court. And the people - they looked older, but somehow younger at the same time (IP influence, perhaps!). All of that intimidated me. Never has my name xiaohui been played around that frequently (hey, can I call you dahui? You have a sis called dahui? Is that how you write your name? That xiao and that hui?), never have I encountered so many people from single sex schools, and never have I experienced an education system that allows such freedom. But slowly, surely, I got used to it, probably along with the hundreds of other year ones. As I exit toward the small gate every day I started to appreciate the huge grassy field and the breeze that comes with NJ being atop a hill; I knew wonderful people in my CCAs and in my class - amidst the mad rush that comes with the demands of the jc system, I actually enjoyed it. Call me crazy, but I believe I did. Reason 2: Nana left. It was all too quick. She received her visa and told us that in a week's time she had to leave. No fussy farewells, just a simple dinner at home.. and goodbye. In fact, it was too quick, it seemed surreal. A big part of my life once rested on her shoulders, and her departure meant that someone really special left my side. It never happened before, and hence the extent of the impact. Reason 3: I didn't meet my academic expectations. It was a big blow, though it didn't seem so by appearance. One thing gleaned was the fact that I needed a lot more time for revision than I thought. It was a big mistake, but a big lesson learnt, too. uh huh. Many more reasons to be continues at a more reasonable timing. Off to sleep! Tuesday, December 20, 2005 @ 8:52 PM
gah! I watched kids central's ' The Fairly Oddparents ' with my sis, where the lead boy timmy was transformed into a 16-year-old hunk and his new norwegian name is.. Gah. So the little girls screamed over him and said, ' OOoOOoO!! I'm going GAH GAH over GAH!! ' Errr hur hur. How's caroling? You ask. It's been fun fun fun! I have here some pictures, courtesy of mavis's super cam. =D  Taken at Redhill Mrt! We were done with carolling at Tanglin View, which is a pretty nice-looking condo.  At Tanglin View. See Dewei conducting? Haha and the fact that we girls in our bluish-green shirts look like sbs bus conductors.  The esplanade!  After the perfomance, at the marina square food loft.  This mavis ah. Toilet at esplanade dressing room also want to take. But seriously eh the toilet ought to be an exhibition. So clean! And purple!  Sheet look at that double chin. waha and cherie blinks, again! ;))  Superanos: Me and Xiangting and Tiffany and Linda. =p Hohoho! Caroling is kinda like chocolate. It induces endorphins into your system, which makes you really quite very happy indeed. Next sessions are at New Park Hotel and Rasa Sentosa, and I'm looking forward to them! * * * Today I went back to Commonwealth for the choir's annual farewell for its graduating seniors, along with YinSing, Alison, Kenneth, Schumann and Janet.  Haha doesn't this look like a jia ting (family) picture? At the bus-stop where we used to always take the bus home after school. Laughing at ourselves after using the timer function in our cams to take that picture, we walked towards the food shops opposite the school to get some food. And the first thing that strikes me whenever I approach the orangey-bluey-white css building is how much memories it can conjure.  The music room where we always had our practices in. It smelt of guy's socks, which is slightly revolting but ah, who cares? =)   I have a lot to say, but I think I'll just say this: Nothing is like the css choir, nor the nj choir. Both are really special to me in their own ways, and I'm glad to have picked up the love for choral singing. Cheers to that! link to pics: www.tengahdai.shutterfly.com Saturday, December 17, 2005 @ 1:05 PM
The GP Question by Oscar Wilde Cynics are people who know the price of everything but the value of nothing. Haha that didn't come from my head! I'm not Oscar Wilde. Been reading quite a number of his plays these days and he is definitely one of those writers I wouldn't classify as trashy. At all! But one thing gleaned from reading his works is a very different perspective of life, which is likely to get you nowhere. What do I mean? Well, Oscar Wilde makes me feel that my actions towards people are, to an extent, hypocritical. Morality is simply an attitude we develop towards people whom we personally dislike - from the play An Ideal Husband. The way in which he phrased that particular sentence - I don't know how - made morality a quality that should be doubted. And if you doubt that, where does it get you? Nowhere far. Nevertheless I enjoy reading his plays immensely. At least I understand them without having to read footnotes all the time. Shakes--ahem! Alrighty, caroling tonight - whoopey! Have a happy early weekend before Christmas! Friday, December 16, 2005 @ 11:10 AM
Comets and Cupids Caroling is really fun! I can't remember how long ago I felt so happy singing with the nj choir again. After such a long absence from choir (almost a month??) due to grad night and the holiday, I feel SO GLAD to be back singing! My favourites are currently 'Silver Bells' and 'White Christmas'. Haha if you wanna come see the nj choir carol, we're having a session this sat, 7.15+pm at tanglin view (its a condo area, no idea where it is yet haha)! Another one is on the 19th at the esplanade, about the same time I suppose. *contented sigh* I love singing! Saturday, December 10, 2005 @ 2:47 PM
awe. 99% of this entry is going to be about the holiday I just came back from this morning at 2am, but let me just --  yeah. Kudos to andre for this picture! And now. The holiday. =D It was not what I expected. Before I stepped foot into Kunming, the capital of Yunnan, what I imagined was yellow flowers, mountains, farmers with hay on their backs, ladies from a tribe dancing the ali shan dance, i.e. the one where you get into a circle and go round and round, singing? Boring. My imaginations were true lah, but true in an entirely different way. A guy in his late twenties greeted us at the airport - tall, big-built with a goofy smile that showed his cigarette-stained teeth, Xiaozhao was our Kunming guide. Bleary eyed from the early morning flight before, I was brought to 九乡 (jiu4 xiang1), one of the famous sights in Kunming. I thought I walked right into my sec 4 Geog text.  The gorge in which we had the chance to row a boat through.  Steps, steps and more steps through the caves where we saw magnificient things. Gorges, underground stalactites, rock formations, waterfalls, rapids - Now I know why Mr Chan (geog teacher - darned funny) speaks of these formations with such gusto and volume! Surprisingly, the food was really alright. Every meal was similar in setting - tea, rice, the works - and the sides were good.  Each meal had about 10 sides - I swear I am fatter now. But the toilets.. argh. The worst of the worse was one I went to without a friggin' door in Dali. And it stank like a nightmare! Another deliciously beautiful sight was 石林 (shi2 lin2), or the Stone Forest. It being the First Wonder of the World, the place was packed with tourists, majority of them being men (I have no idea why) who smoke and smoke like nobody's business. But somehow, the smokers there were more forgivable than Singapore's , perhaps the bitterly cold weather being the reason.  Call me suaku I don't care, but when mist emerged from my mouth when I spoke I got very excited. waha! The Stone Forest is a place of many stones. Not the pathetic ones you see in parks where the elderly walk on to stimulate their feet, but huge, towering ones that grow naturally. Amazing.  Because Yunnan is a country of many ethnic groups (even the Han - the china chinese -are considered as a minority group there!), women are addressed as ah1 shi1 ma3 and men as ah1 hei1 ge1 in Kunming. Quite funny really when it gets to screaming ah1 shi1 ma3 to a saleslady who can't seem to hear you. An immensely interesting ethnic group is the mo1 suo2 ren2, who reside in Shangri-la in a place called 女儿国 (nu3 er2 guo2), or girl country. In brief, women are the head there. The people don't marry at all, instead they follow a custom of 走婚 (zou3 hun1). At the age of 13, a lady has the right to bring a man into her room to reproduce. If a lady finds that she can't live with her man anymore, she can leave him to find another. If a child is born, the man who looks after him/her will be his/her mother's brother. There are rules, of course, like for example, you can't two-time a man. If I were to put it in crude terms, it just seems like a weird form of prostitution!  This is Yun Han, a very inquisitive 8 year old whom I got to know in the trip. See the hat? It's the one that jing1 hua1 mei4 s wear - jing1 hua1 mei4 is the term for girls in Dali who belong to a different ethnic group from the one in Kunming. If a man touches the white dangling strings at the side of the jing hua mei's hat, it means he is interested in her! So one cannot anyhow touch - for the consequences are dire, i.e. 3 years of slavery/hard work in the jing hua mei's house for a man who touched the strings for fun. Seriously! Dali was okay. We spent only a day there, but it was a jam-packed day with tea and jade appreciation, up a mountain and some shopping in the heart of its village centre. A good-looking earring costs 1 sing dollar. Like whoa. Lijiang was a lot better! Scenery wise, culture wise.  The amazing view from an open air cable car I sat in with Dad.  玉龙雪山 (yu4 long2 xue3 shan1) , or the jade dragon snow mountain was painfully awe-inspiring. Painfully, because my lips were peeling, my nose was blocked and my skin became awfully wrinkled from the cold (7 degrees in the morning, it's no joke) . Nevertheless my eyes almost popped out at the view. Back to Kunming on the 6th day! Historical sights once more, and this time one of them was to a huge gong2 dian4 built in the Ming dynasty (I forgot the name leh) overlooking a pretty lake. Seagulls from Russia flew to this lake to spend the winter; sis and myself had a ball of a time feeding them.  My sis, frantically throwing bread to the hungry seagulls. It seemed they didn't eat for ages! At night was a critically acclaimed musical 'Dynamic Yunnan', featuring very talented dancers and singers from within the ethnic groups of Yunnan. I can't describe it, it's one of the best stage performance I have ever seen. Hmm. If I were to elaborate on every single day of the holiday, it'll take forever. But in short this holiday was nothing like the rest. An eye-opening one, both in terms of the scenery and the way the people live over there. Once in a shopping area in Kunming a very young girl came up to my family and offered to polish our shoes for a dollar (RMB) - 20 cents sing. Aren't we lucky here. I feel quite different now. Not just because my spoken chinese is slightly slightly better after seeing and speaking everything chinese there, but because I appreciate Singapore a lot more for her cleanliness, her weather, her prosperity. Not in the work attachment anymore I suppose. I called the lady i/c a few days before the holiday regarding my period of attachment, that I can only make it later than the 5th and so if I am shortlisted for an interview would she please call me after the 9th - and she replied me with a pretty uninterested 'yes'. I doubt she'll give me a call. But..this means I have more time for what I want to do - good or bad? I am unsure. Friday, December 02, 2005 @ 2:17 PM
Blues, and China in 10 hours I'm having a bit of graduation-night blues now that everything's over and there'll be no more late nights rushing out performance schedules, work plans and emails; no more meetings at the oasis and laughing at our own retarded comments and, simply put, no more hanging around each other as often as we did before the event. I'm not going to burst into tears, but I am definitely going to cherish the time and effort we all took to organise the event from scratch together. Andre, Linghui, Shuying, Jiali, Grace, Alfred, Shawn, Fangyu, Huilin, Jo lynn, Mr Tan and Mr Cheng - they have made my Grad Night experience a wonderfully memorable one. Truly! How did the night go? It was fantastic (in my opinion), because there were no screw-ups and the seniors seemed to be having a great time. But I cannot deny that Jo lynn, Shawn, Alfred and myself (the procom! programmes committee teehee) were on tenterhooks all the time, each of us breaking out in cold sweat everytime our walkie talkies cracked with sound, or whenever there seemed to be the slightest hint that something was about to go terribly wrong. Something hilarious to share - when the prom king nominees were struting their stuff on the stage, before one of the nominess (the notoriously funny Thomas Wong) had his turn, Shawn and I were speculating what he would do this time to get the crown. 'Scully he catwalk down the aisle, take off his jacket and throw it to the audience! And Mrs Cheng (our principal) will catch it!' And guess what? Thomas really did it. hahaha! Except Mrs Cheng didn't manage to catch it lah, it fell too far away from her. Everyone of the seniors looked like they came out from the cover of Vogue. I was dazzled. (ahem lala I'm sorry I couldn't bring myself to do it ;)) The good thing about attending a grad night which isn't yours, is that you actually pick up some tips on dos and don'ts for your own prom. Like, don't wear something so revealing that you don't even dare to look at the receptionist in the eye when you enter the ballroom for reception. *shakes head* I suppose the utmost important thing is to feel comfortable in what you are in, and have the best time of your life. The A levels have ended, come on! Ah. *contented smile* I'm dead tired after spending a night at a complimentary room in swissotel with the rest of the committee, (we yakked till 3am and ate Mac till 4 - I slept for 3 hours. I'm going to konk off soon!) and so I am going to end this entry with.. No lah not so fast. I'll be leaving for Kunming/Dali/Lijiang in 10 hours' time (It's a very very early morning flight, 2am I think) and I haven't entirely packed my whole wardrobe of long sleeves and jackets into the luggage yet. I heard from many that it'll be friggin' cold! But I like. A bit excited already wuhu! I momentarily forgot I only slept for 3 hours last night. ;dfhkjladshfl Have to catch 40 winks. Update in a week or so! I love gn, by the way. :) |