Politics

You know, if I was every forced to take part in politics, I'd probably be the one who gets kicked out eventually for redundancy, or... probably the one who gets made use of alot.

I don't like politics. I don't like the feeling of always having to look over my shoulder and guarding my back against knives. I don't like to have to be on my toes and always have to play the hide-and-seek info game with people. It's tiring, and it seems like second-guessing people has to be done alot. I wish Psychology could be like what laymen think it is: reading people's minds. Perhaps then I would know what everyone's thinking and saying, and at least know how to act or behave in front of them so I can protect myself. But then again, reading minds is a disgusting thing to do, cos for one, it's rude. For another, I don't want to know things which I shouldn't know about, such as people having personal problems which they don't want others to know about. That can be very messy, and even if I could have the foreknowledge of knowing how to behave in front of them, can I trust myself to act normal? But I am digressing.

But I guess there's no way to avoid politics. As long as there are people, there will be politics. Sides have to be taken in some way, and even if you don't feel you are taking any sides, and try your best not to take sides, there will be a preference for a certain side. Besides, even if you try to remain neutral, others will always try to interpret your preferences for you. Like, HELLO! Who are they to second-guess whose side you are on? What if you said you were on both their sides? Who would believe you? Everyone wants everyone on their sides. Anyone who opposes anything, no matter how small, or no matter how logical and correct, will be categorized into "THE OTHER SIDE" *cue scary ghostly sounds*. I guess that is how groupthink happens. Everyone's scared of being labelled the alien "other", so everyone conforms and keeps their thoughts to themselves. But what if you were doing it to prevent a fight between both sides? What if you had something to lose if both sides started fighting? What if you stood to lose even if there was a winner?

What would you do?

You Know I'm Having Exams When...

1) I start pestering my father to buy potato chips.
2) I get hungry at weird times like 4pm.
3) I start craving for impossible food like pizza and fried rice from Crystal Jade and Swensen's fries.
4) I start having grand plans for when my exams have ended.
5) I start complaining about not being able to study.
6) I start going online telling all of you what I'm thinking, like now.

Schnoozee

I think Schnoozee likes to eat mushy dog food. Eeew!

Well well, since the last post about me losing my voice, I have since regained it, and got rid of most of my cough (Yayness!). However, I hate to say that I still can't sing! I go off-pitch the whole time, so I probably still can't go sing. So sad! I wanna go k box or something! Haha, hope that will be soon.

I'm not sure why I'm online too, when I'm supposed to be studying the remaining 3 chapters for my exam on Thursday. I'm not taking the paper seriously, which is ironic given the fact that I didn't S/U it and really should be paying more attention to remembering the details. Perhaps it's the holidays and I just can't bully my brain back to studying mode. Crap. Well. I better haul my ever-growing butt back to studying now and hope for the best for Thursday!

Oh on an entirely different and bimbotic note, I'm so happy with my purchase yesterday! I got a top I've always wanted to get, plus 2 other racerbacks! I know I have too many racerbacks, but they're of different textures and give different feels, and I can layer this with the new top I just bought! Haha... Maybe when school reopens you'll be able to see me wearing it. It's really comfortable. Now, if only I could find a job that pays money, I wouldn't feel so guilty. There're so many things I wanna do with money! Haha, but who doesn't? I wanna go travelling, I wanna buy shoes, I wanna go shopping, take up some courses which will occupy my time and give me more hobbies than staying online... I want to take up knitting! Perhaps if I do take up knitting, I'll give some of you something absolutely useless unless you go to a cold country! I'll be sure to ask you for your favourite colour though, so think of some colours you want!! =)

Ok, I'll admit. I'm escaping from my work. -_-"

Darn!

Drats. I'm losing my voice and I've a presentation on Friday. What am I going to do?

Kelantan

So, you all know I went to Kelantan over the weekend. I've heard mixed reviews about that state, and frankly, I myself have mixed feelings about Kelantan. I think it's a very laidback place, good for escaping from the rest of the world, 'cos over there, you seldom see people using handphones. Sure, there are some people who do use it, but I haven't seen anyone obsessed with their phones like us. Even better, very few people use the Internet there. However, I think it's this laidback culture that results in inefficiency. For example, during the time I was there, there was public holiday 'cos of the Agong's birthday, and also 'cos of Vesak day. Added to that, we met with the weekend. Therefore, many shops were closed, which I think is quite a waste, considering the fact that public holidays mean more people will be out shopping, thus making it a good time for shopkeepers to earn more money. And... well, the organization of the roads weren't very well done as well. If we wanted to go somewhere which was just in front of us, we couldn't. Instead, we had to make a huge round around the city just to reach there. Nonetheless, it is very interesting and enriching to visit these sorts of places once in a while; a good exposure too, 'cos in Singapore, where do we find places where we can rough it out? Let me put up some pictures for you to see!

Above are pictures of the train we were on. I tried to take a whole row of the beds, but it wasn't possible. =( Anyway, the trains are not too bad- at least the beds are rather comfortable, and they give cutains so we can close the curtains and avoid others if we wish to. As you can see, the beds are bunk beds, and, well, though there are curtains to block out people, these curtains are not enough to block out sound. So if you happen to take the train with a group of students or other people who like to "share" their music, you might find it a little hard to sleep. In the last photo, the one with the straw? It was dropped onto my bed by one student who was drinking coke. It stained my bed!! And I don't know if that student knew that he/she had dropped it, 'cos nobody took it off my bed. -_-"

So after like 15 hours of the train ride, we finally arrived at Kota Bahru, the town of Kelantan. My granduncle brought us to this stall selling Nasi Dagang, which is supposedly famous. However, because we arrived late, there was no more Nasi Dagang left. That's my father's favourite food actually. Nasi Dagang is actually the unpolished rice with curry- fish or chicken curry. The irritating part about this dish is that the fish has too many bones, and small ones at that. Bleah. It has never been my favourite, so I'm glad I didn't eat it. Anyway, on the day we arrived at Kota Bahru, it was Vesak Day, so I went vegetarian, and at the 豆包, as you can see in the picture. It is a sticky dumpling-like thing, the outside is sticky, and it surrounds a big chunk of 豆沙 inside, which is mixed with a bit of pepper. It's very nice! But there's a problem with it. It's too sticky! It's kinda hard to scrape the skin off the banana leave, and when u bite it, the texture is kinda like the malt candy we eat- you know, the one where they put the malt on a pair of chopsticks and you are supposed to twist it occasionally so that it doesn't drip?

After brunch, we went to the cemetery to 扫墓 for my grandfather and great grandparents. I didn't take any pictures this time, 'cos I think it's rude to do so. Anyway, this is my second time visiting a cemetery, and the place is soooo quiet! Rather eerie actually. But I'm glad I went, 'cos I think it's a good experience to 扫墓. Anyway, it was an eye-opener. The cemetery was like a maze! I am really amazed by my father's ability to be able to recognize my ancestors' tombs, 'cos there are simply too many tombstones there already. When we went to my grandfather's tombstone, guess what? Some idiots had smashed his photo! All the pieces were gone, leaving only the stone behind the picture. I was, and am appalled by that behaviour. There's no respect shown for the dead! Talk about manners and respect. My goodness.

We were all pretty tired after going to the cemetery, as the weather was too darn hot there. We were just perspiring all the while we were there, and the sun was soooo painful! And smart me didn't put her sunblock. -_-" Our next item on the agenda was to find accommodation. Guess what? The hotels only had space for the first night we were there, and ALL had no more rooms for the next night because of some conference which people from other states were coming to attend. Talk about bad timing man. So we had to go from hotel to hotel to enquire about the rooms, and luckily, we found one which had a room available for the second night, albeit the most expensive room. But beggars can't be choosers, can they? But in the end, we didn't have to stay in that more expensive room, 'cos the receptionist at the hotel we were staying in on the first night told us there was a room available for us if we wanted it. Oh man, that room sucked! The carpet was stained, the blankets didn't feel clean, and the toilet was a wet toilet! Argh, I hate wet toilets. What made this worst was that the carpet hadn't been vacuumed for goodness knows how long, so when you have just washed your legs and stepped onto the carpet to go to the bed, hair and other unidentifiable objects cling to it, making it as dirty as before. -_-" And I don't like that feeling. Oh, and the room was so damp! I had left my books, foolscap and magazine inside my bag, and I didn't even touch it, and the next morning, everything was damp and limp. Argh.

Anyway, that night, we visited this place near the Chinese Chamber of Commerce famous for their Nasi Kukus, a certain type of Malay rice where it's rice, fried chicken, and a small scoop of 3 different types of curry and chilli, and you can choose whatever else you want to add on. This Nasi Kukus is very shiok. Don't judge a book by its cover. Though one small spoon of each type of gravy seems too little to satisfy you, it is actually enough, because when all the gravies are mixed, the taste would become much better. If you had requested for more of one type or the other, there wouldn't have been a balance in the taste of the rice already. Some of the dishes featured here are the barbecued chicken intestines, and ground coconut stuffed in chilli, like the yong tau foo chilli, only that this is with coconut while the yong tau foo one is with fish paste. The chicken intestines look kinda disgusting, don't they? I thought so too actually, and was reluctant to try it, but then again, if I didn't try it, how was I gonna tell you all what it tasted like? Well, try it I did, and it was rather nice. Sweet and a little spicy, with a barbecued taste. It was rather chewy as well, a bit like sotong. The ground coconut in chilli was good 'cos the chilli was fresh, so you could taste the chilli, and so was the coconut. Good experience! Then we ordered ice kacang from the neighbouring stall. It's run by this old couple, so cute! Their service was very good. Their ice kacang came with a small scoop of neapolitan ice cream, and real kacang! Haha we seldom see that in Singapore these days. And what I liked about it was that the ice was crushed really very finely, not like that of Singapore's, which is coarser. And all the while we were eating our dinner, the smell of the longkang kept wafting over into our nostrils. By right, it should have thrown us off our appetites, but strangely enough, it didn't. We still had a good time eating our food. =)

The next day, we went to the Thai wholesale market. We heard that they only sell their goods until 9am, after that, they are chased away. Everything was sold wholesale, including watermelons and chickens. Haha, how do people manage to finish so much watermelon? But I guess this is good for those with large families, and those who are running food businesses. It's so crowded I tell you! But very fun. There was so much to see, so much to take in.

And finally, we went to eat my father's favourite Nasi Dagang. He has been looking forward so much to it! Well, I didn't eat it, 'cos as I said, I don't really like it, and I don't have to try it to let you all know how it tastes, 'cos I've eaten it before. Personally, I find the curry too coconut-y and a bit too thick for my taste. So besides Nasi Dagang, we bought food from the food van outside the kopitiam. We bought kiam kui, and Nasi Kapit. I forgot to take a photo of the kiam kuih, but it's something like zhui kuih.

You see the building in the first set of slides? Those buildings house swallows. This enterprising idea sprung from some relative of my father's, and the idea has sparked off the birds' nest craze. Now almost 2000 shophouses are used to house the swallows. Of course, the swallows are not owned by anyone; they are wild swallows looking for places to build their nests. It's not legal to rear so many of them, so what these people do is that they create an environment that would lure the swallows into their shophouses, and then build their nests, after which the nests are harvested and voila! You have birds' nest! It doesn't take much maintenance to house them, actually. All you need is a big, dark room, preferably with many floors, and to build grids into the ceilings. You don't even need lights, 'cos swallows like dark places to build their nests. However, you need to provide some kind of system to make the place cool, as swallows like cool places. It's a really lucrative business; 1kg of the birds' nest can fetch about 4.5-5k! And it's easy money. You just do whatever was mentioned above, and hope and pray the birds come in. When that happens, you just sit back, relax, and wait to harvest the nests. Doesn't it sound too good to be true? How to tell if a shophouse houses swallows? Well, you know it when you see many many swallows circling around a building, and also when the interior of the house is sealed with cement. I took several videos of the swallows, lemme show you... Too bad my camera didn't have microphone to let you hear the birds.


For lunch, we went to eat my mother's favourite: kau jum (read: cow jump). It's a dish with green rice, the green coming from I think 18 different plants, topped with beansprouts, cucumbers, parsley, basil, chilli, fish and keropok. It's a rather healthy meal actually, so full of fibre. I never really liked it much when Mira cooks it at home, 'cos the rice always turns out mushy, but over there, I got hooked. It's really much nicer there than at home. The taste of fresh bean sprouts and chilli was good, especially the chilli- it really whetted my appetite! There's also the Kelantan laksa, my all time favourite Kelantan dish. Except here, they call it lakseh, because they use kway teow instead of the thick bee hoon. I much prefer the thick bee hoon though. I've always like the lakseh from this stall, but that day, the texture of the kway teow threw me of. It was too mushy! Nonetheless, the gravy was still very good. Oh, and a special mention here. I've never seen someone so happy in his work before! The ice kacang man looked so cute, smiling as he made his ice kacang. How often do you see people doing that? And he went about doing his job with such contentment I couldn't help but enjoy my own bowl of ice kacang. Haha..

The next day, we went to the market, both indoor and outdoor. Basically, they sell the same things in both places, except in the upper floors of the indoor market, they sold clothes and other stuff. They sell turtles' eggs too! So cute! But it's illegal, and stock for the eggs are usually rare. Unlike Singapore, where we have stalls and the stall owners stand behind their stalls and serve you, in these markets, the stall owners sit among their goods and sell their stuff to you.

That night, we went to a Thai restaurant my parents have been raving about. It was in such a secluded area, just look at the photos and you know what I mean. However, many people still managed to find their way over there, so you can imagine how popular the food is. They had so many customers that we waited for about an hour for the food to arrive! -_-" But when the food came, it was a bit of a disappointment, 'cos the food was only ok. None of them made you want to eat again and again and again. The fried eel in vegetables was the most disappointing I feel. It was too spicy! They added peppers in their whole chunk! It was so hot that you couldn't even taste the food except for the pepper. Besides, I think they cut the eel too small, such that we couldn't really feel the texture of it. There was an interesting dish which we didn't order- the standing chicken. They deepfry the whole chicken, and then make it stand up, and then they put a tea candle directly below the chicken and serve you. The novelty is in the standing chicken. I'm not sure how it tastes though.

And then after that night, my battery went flat, and I didn't charge the battery. Any way, we went to the border of Malaysia- tat bai- to shop. That is Malaysia's border leading into Thailand. In the past, we used to go into Thailand to shop, but now, because Southern Thailand is in chaos, nobody goes there anymore. Even the shopkeepers have moved away. Tat bai sells mostly clothes and toys. Just think Far East Plaza meets Mini Toons, and you get the idea. So many Spongebob Squarepants stuff were sold! Bags, soft toys, key chains, etc etc. Yi Lun went crazy over there. She wanted to get the furry Spongebob slippers, but unfortunately they didn't have her size.

So, the day at Tat Bai was our last day in Kota Bahru, and at night, we made our way back to Singapore, and we spend 14 hours on the train.

There was not a single moment of hunger during the trip there. We just kept eating and eating and eating, plus, I don't think I want to see curry for a long while. All the meals there consisted of curry! I'm glad to be back in Singapore, eating food that don't involve curry. Did you know, during my stay there, I only saw one stall selling chicken rice?!

Back and Lovin' It!

It feels soooo good to be home! Posts on Kelantan coming up when my battery has been charged!

Bitching V200

You know, they should really invent this robot where you can fix the face of whoever you want to beat up so that you can just beat the hell out of whoever you want to beat up. Perhaps that way fewer people will resort to repressing their feelings and there might even be fewer reports of violence.

Speaking of which, I wish it were legal to beat up people to a bloody bloody pulp. Imagine the satisfaction. And I do wish some people would just know when to keep their freaking bloody mouths shut when people are already giving signals that they don't like the topic and have no freaking desire whatsoever to explore the topic further. But then again, to be rude is to go against the darling Confucius values that we hold oh-so-close to our stupid hypocritical hearts. And all for what? To give face. Oh, if it's who I think you are thinking that I'm angry at, it's not. There are more than one person who can make us go against our wonderful Confucius values.

On an entirely separate issue, this is about the Sabah issue.

I know I was supposed to book the hotels today, but the house is so freakishly bloody noisy that any attempt to speak on the phone makes me want to smash the phone against the wall. I'll make the reservations when I come back k? I know it's procrastination on my part again, but if you were staying in my house, you'd know what I mean. AND my parents have suggested us going to kinabalu park in the middle of our trip. That is, like maybe the 27th or something, then after that one night we go back to the original hotel where there will be transport to the airport when we leave. IF the original hotel that we are staying in agrees to let us do that, I shall go on and book it like that k? But of course, hopefully the conference itinerary doesn't clash with our plans. OK, here's the case:

1) we go to the Kinabalu Park in the middle of our stay there.
Pros: we can easily get free transport to the airport, and this is good because our flight is at 1015, and we need to check in 2 hours earlier, so if there's free transport, and this hotel's really close to the airport, we don't have to wake up earlier

Cons: we face the possibility of the itinerary clashing with our plans.
the hotel might not let us do so.

2) we follow our original plan to go there on our 2nd last day and stay the night
Pros: no disruption of the itinerary

Cons: on the day we go back, we have to wake up really early. 2 hours before check-in, that's 0815, right? then it's another 2 hours to the airport, which means we have to leave by 6 plus, which then means we need to wake up latest 5 plus.

We could change the time of our flight to the one at 2105, but I checked the price, it's RM30 more expensive than what we paid for, which is RM89.99, which is not feasible I think.

So... what do you think? Leave your comment on the tagboard k? I probably should have emailed you about this, but I think it might be better like this, so the person who replies first can see the other's comments... =)

Ok I'm going to get ready to go off to Malaysia. Sorry for the delay in arranging accommodations. It's my first time organising it, and there seem to be so many things to consider, and new advice given, so hopefully I'll become better at this given more practice...

The Significant Other

Have you ever wondered why they called your other half your "better half" or your "significant other"? I've been thinking about it these days, and I think the reason is that your partner is supposed to be the other part of you that completes you. Like, you know how they say that nature occurs in a circle?

Just like Blue's song, "Best in Me"- " 'Cos you bring out the best in me/ That no one else can do/ That's why I'm by your side/ That's why I love you"- that's why our other half is supposed to be the better part of ourselves.

Of course, as the other half, you're supposed to bring out the best in your partner. That's how a true relationship works, I guess. I guess from this, I sound rather idealistic, but blame it on those romance stories that I always read. The two leads always seem to make each other see their faults more clearly, and thus make them more willing to change for the better. Similarly, I've heard some of my friends saying that their boyfriends have made them into better people.

We know that we show our ugliest sides to people whom we love. The more we love them and care about them, the uglier the sides we show them. I guess we do that because we feel safe with them, that their love for us won't change because of it. Perhaps during the course of showing our ugly sides, we are allowing that side of ourselves to be changed? Of course, we won't immediately show that sides of ourselves to that important Other. Sometimes, it may just so happen that we see what the Other has done, and it impresses us so much that we might want to emulate him/her so that we may feel even more validated and perhaps, more loved or closer to him/her, because we know that is what we lack, and that particular action is something we know which is right to do. In emulating the behaviour, aren't we changing ourselves for the better?

In times of problems, isn't it that support for the Other is often emphasised, urging the Other not to give up, to persevere? Isn't this also an act of making the Other become a better person? After all, what doesn't kill us, often makes us stronger and wiser the next time round.

The value of the significant other doesn't apply only to partners, of course. Everyone provides us with a chance to better ourselves. I used partners because they are the ones who will be with us for the next rest of our lives after our family, and they will be the ones whom we will spend the most time with for the rest of our lives, and therefore, be the ones with the greatest impact on our lives. Don't you think so?

Yes! I managed to put it up! Thanks Merrilyn!

Watch TV!

Youtube

I wish I hadn't "upgraded" my blog now... I can't even post up videos on youtube! so irritating!! Does anyone know how to post up videos with a gmail account on blogger?

Long long belated post

Haha I know this is a very very belated post. It's a post about my birthday(s) that was over, like, 3 months ago? Haha, nonetheless, I had such a memorable birthday it wouldn't seem right not to blog about it and show you what wonderful people I've been surrounded by. =)

The first celebration was held early in February, at Hotel Intercontinental. It was meant to be a family celebration, with Evon, Yi Lun and me staying in the hotel after that. But unbeknownst to me, Evon and Yi Lun secretly invited Alvin, Merrilyn, Pony and Si Huan there. And I got such a shock! The surprise was rather well done. I never suspected anything until they were there. And imagine how puzzled I was when Evon told me to go help her to take the KFC when my father had gone to the door and came back empty-handed. -_-" The photos are below. Because Blogger takes such a fantastically long time to upload the photos, and when they are uploaded, the texts get pushed so far down, I've compiled them into one file:

I had a wonderful time that day, thanks to my family and PASYM. Thank you so much for coming! I know you were all busy by that time, but still you managed to come celebrate my birthday with me and went home so late some more. Thanks! =)

The day of my birthday, I had a celebration at home with my family again! This time, 'cos it was the 3rd day of CNY, most cake shops weren't open, and of course, my FAVOURITE tiramisu shop- Tiramisutra- wasn't too, which meant we went to other cake shops to look for cakes. We combed the Siglap area, and it was a toss-up between Temptations and Polar. Polar's selection wasn't very exciting, and their chocolate cake selection was... well, not exciting as well. So we went Temptations! The cake was not bad, but not exactly memorable. Prima Deli would have been better, really. BUT: being able to celebrate it with family was really good. Imagine, on my birthday next year, it would just be my parents and I celebrating my birthday. So... my birthday can be said to be the last one that the whole family can celebrate together for a good long while. And what's more significant was that it was my 21st birthday! How good is that? =D

Next, the day after my birthday, we went to the Teochew restaurant. This time, was Catherine, Merrilyn, Pony and Si Huan and I who went to the restaurant. Alvin was busy with AIESEC stuff I think. It was the first time I'd been to a Teochew restaurant, and it's a good first time I think. Teochew food's not bad. A bit on the bland side for me I guess, but still, I heard that the purpose of its blandness was for the original taste to come through. And come through it did, and that's what I liked about it. When I was compiling the pictures, it occurred to me that I should have taken the namecard.

And then, was a get-together with Jie Ting and Jiun Pey for my birthday. So nice! We went out on a weekend, I think it was the same week as my birthday, to Orchard to shop! Haha I like going out with them, and, just a sidetrack: JT and JP: when are we going out again? 25th May? Haha.. We had dinner at Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao, one of my favouritest places.

The jacket I'm wearing in the photo on the bottom left corner is the present from them. It was bought 'cos my Fila jacket (you know, the super oversized, super obiang one?) is too "childish" for a person who just turned 21. Haha and I agree, just that the Fila one's too comfortable, and is one of the warmest jackets I have. =) But I'm glad for this jacket too, coz it's just as warm, and looks so much nicer. Haha.. Thanks! =)

And then, the finale of my birthday. The train set I've been lusting after since I was young!

Ok, so it's not the train set I've wanted since I was young. Well, to be more specific, I never had a model in mind. I just liked seeing the trains moving on the tracks, moving up, moving down, making noise... You know, all those train-ey stuff? Well, I finally got it! This has got to be the most expensive present. Though I don't know how much it costs, I have a pretty good idea where the price range is, and it's definitely not cheap. This train set is a collector's edition leh! My first train set and I get a collector's edition! How cool is that?! And it runs on electricity, and the tracks can change, and it's so detailed and it's so big and long.... Haha it's my dream come true, and I should really, again, thank PASYM for going to so much trouble to find it. Of course, alot of other people have to be thanked as well for this present. It's too long to list it all, but let me group them together: Psych majors, Deli Aprecio Main Comm, my Hall 6 neighbours. Of course, I should thank Venus as well, for lending them her credit card to make payment, and for being so patient when there were problems with the payment. I wish I could display my train set at home, but currently, there isn't any space, so I have to keep it wrapped in its original form until I can display them properly. I can't bear thinking that the colour will fade, or the tracks will become rusty if I don't take good care of them, so take care of them I will, even if that means I can only look at them every now and then. Haha.. =)

Well, this has been a really long post, and, well, to all those who sent me well-wishes on my birthday, and those who in any way made my birthday such a memorable and wonderful one, I'd like to say a BIG THANK YOU to you! =) It's not the presents per se that I'm grateful for, it's the knowledge that I'm being remembered by you on my birthday that makes me feel all nice and fuzzy inside. Really, thanks for everything! =D

Here's a nice quote Yi Lun told me about yesterday. I think it's quite cute. What do you think?

"The Earth is full. Go home."

I am craving for....

Bah Chor Mee
Nasi Lemak
Prawn Noodles


I'll tell you more when I think of more... I'm so hungryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

SMS-ing

Hello hello, just a note to tell you all, if I don't reply your SMS, it's not cos I dao you or don't want to talk to you or anything k? It's coz I'm trying to save my SMS-es. Last month I sent 800+ SMS-es, so my parents are not very happy. This month and the nexts I'll need to try my best to keep it down. So I hope you all understand! =)

Thanks!

Haha today's presentation went very well, thanks to all those who showed me support in one way or another and those who listened to me complain and complain and complain non-stop about presenting! Haha I know I was a pain in the you-know-where, but really, thanks alot. =) In no order of preference...

Merrilyn
Thanks for:
- listening to my complains
- the sms today
- staying back to listen to the presentation

Si Huan
Thanks for:
- driving me to wherever yesterday just so I wouldn't be late for the meeting AGAIN!! Haha... In the end I wasn't, but I had to make them walk all the way from North Spine. Haha... Felt rather bad, but oh well... Hee...
- listening to me go on and on about the presentation
- wanting to know how the presentation went. =)

Si Jia
Haha you're probably not gonna read this, but oh well, since I'm thanking you all, you are included too! =)
Thanks for:
- volunteering to listen to me and giving me comments!!
- yes, and also listening to me go on and on about the presentation... -_-"

Alvin Hong
Thanks for:
- volunteering to come over to help me to rehearse my presentation. Haha... I know, he's prob not gonna read this either, but what the hell... Haha...

JK
Thanks for:
- yep, you guessed it right, listening to me.
- listening again... Hahaha, these few days I think you've been listening to me go round in circles about many many things, thanks for ur patience!! =)

Yep, I guess what's going through your mind now should be, "Why is this Yi Ling so ke qi again?" Well, I think I should let you all know how much your gestures meant to me. They may have been small, but they showed that you cared, and I really appreciate that. =)

And I shall stop being so incredibly soppy and mushy and ke qi. =p

Happy studying!!

Your Birthdate: February 20

You may watch someone from afar before you finally decide to make your move. It takes a long time for you to develop an attraction to someone. Generally, you prefer to pick who you love. Anyone who tries to rush you is in for some heartache. Number of True Loves You'll Have: 4 Number of Times You'll Have Your Heart Broken: 4 You are most compatible with people born on the 2nd, 11th, 20th, and 29th of the month.

What Does Your Birth Date Mean For Your Love Life?

That's rather depressing...

Don't Forget to Remember Me - Carrie Underwood

18 years have come and gone
For momma they flew by
But for me they dragged on and on
We were loading up that Chevy
Both tryin' not to cry
Momma kept on talking
Putting off good-bye
Then she took my hand and said
"Baby don't forget:

Before you hit the highway
You better stop for gas
There's a 50 in the ashtray I
n case you run short on cash
Here's a map and here's a Bible
If you ever lose your way

Just one more thing before you leave
Don't forget to remember me"

This downtown apartment sure makes me miss home
and those bills there on the counter
Keep telling me I'm on my own
And just like every Sunday I called momma up last night
And even when it's not, I tell her everything's all right
Before we hung up I said "Hey momma, don't forget:

to tell my baby sister
I'll see her in the fall
And tell me-maw that I miss her
Yeah, I should give her a call
And make sure you tell Daddy that I'm still his little girl
Yeah I still feel like I'm where I'm supposed to be
Don't forget to remember me"

Tonight I find myself kneeling by the bed to pray
I haven't done this in a while
So I don't know what to say but
Lord, I feel so small sometimes in this big ol' place
I know there are more important things, but
Don't forget to remember me
Don't forget to remember me



Go find this song!!

I realise there have been quite a few posts about death these days, but... well, nothing makes a person feel closer to the reality of death than when you hear someone around you or someone close to the person around you passes away.

I just learnt my groupmate's mother passed away last Thursday night. I'm not close to him, but I can just imagine the shock and the dread and the pain he must have felt when he went back to see his mother. If it was me, I'd probably be numb now. I just can't imagine losing any of my loved ones. I never want to let them go. Even though it's another person's mother, when I think of it happening to me, I just feel this great urge to cry.

I know when a person's time is up, it's up. But it doesn't make letting go any easier. I just want to hold on for as long as I can. I know I said I'd opt for euthanasia if I ever came to the stage where treatment was no use for me. But what some people have told me about my loved ones not wanting me to opt for that have made me consider it deeper. If my loved ones were to opt for it, I'd probably refuse to acknowledge it too. Regardless of how silly it is to hold on to someone who can't respond, I'm sure at the back of their minds is the small small hope that as long as life support is given, there's a chance that he/she will wake up one day. That's why I'm afraid of death. I don't want to leave anyone behind. You could say I'm afraid of the unknown, and I'd agree, but only because I don't know if there's an afterlife. If there is, probably I won't be as afraid, because it means I'll be able to bring my memories with me and still watch them. But if there isn't, would it mean abandoning them? I really don't want to.

Oh man, I'm sounding like a soppy sod now... Oh well, maybe it's just hormones, or the realness of death....