i love nicky

Who is Nicky?
Haha.
He's my hairdresser!
And a really nice and great one at that...
All it took is a trip to the salon that made appreciate the value of good service.
I walked out of the salon, beaming, and telling myself over and over again that I must go back to find him everytime I need a haircut.
And that good feeling has been lasting for days!
so happy.
___________________________
On a side note, I've been suffering under my huge workload. I can't remember a time where i watched CSI properly, or had the time to sit down and browse blogs or chill out at cafes instead of mugging in them. So irritated.
For like one day, i was excited that my three mid-terms and countless presentations were over. But But right after that day, i realised to my horror that my research papers were due like SOON.. and it gives me no motivation to know that right after working hard for those research papers, another round of tests were coming, followed immediately by the EXAMS!
goodness!

___
Anyway I'm also suffering cos my beloved camera, the one with the pretty floral wrapping finally decide to leave me and died on me!
It showed symptoms like months ago when it vibrated uncontrollably then its life ended when it dropped into a bowl of erm laska from Lerk Thai.
so i'm camera-less and feeling like my life isn't documented during this period.
recommendations for new camera?


I'll blog about my valentine's day and my surprise soon k! after tomorrow. For now, let me drown in citing references for infant development.
argh.

dong dong dong QIANG

I'm not particularly excited about CNY this year maybe because I'm not particularly looking forward to see and greet a houseful of relatives that I don't really know- many of which don't remember who I am, what's my name, whose daughter I am. But to them, I'm probably someone that would appear in their houses once a year to get my ang baos.
But some part of me still loves chinese new year. For one, I finally get a break from school, get a chance to buy new clothes that cost a weeny bit more, new shoes and get together with my cousins for a day out..

So let's begin with the reunion dinner at grandpa's house. I love that house because grandma, like me, adorns her house with bright coloured things and photographs- photographs at document our growth, our parent's childhood, their graduation photos, travel photos and many many ancient memories.

Here's a proud me with my creation before it gets eaten. Ours has an extra packet of crispy biscuits for the kids to enjoy =DAnd here's the grandparents! lovely people. I kinda feel that age's catching up on them bit by bit. more white hairs, they walk more slowly now, they feel tired easily. Its kinda sad really, that its already a fact that they'll be leaving me one day.
Here's the spread! Its a lot more food than those on the table. But the table has no more space for the plates. We normally have enough for lunch and dinner the next day, but they're really great cooks.

Bright and early the next morning , i woke up and started to get ready, wear my nice green dress and make my hair. Please say my didi looks great cos i was his fashion consultant! haha =D
And as usual, we made our way to my grandparents house. And again as usual, we began taking a lot of photos using my camera. And soon, as usual, grandma and jon are going to ask me for the photographs (jon in soft copy and grandma in hardcopy). haha :P

Every year, there would be this period of time after we visit this particular relative's house that we cousins would leave for a day out, leaving the adults to gamble away. We always start brainstorming where to go right after new year has ended because there's always no conclusion and no great ideas. This year, the decision was relatively easier because lunch served at that house was all spicy food, hence where would hungry cousins go? To eat of course! so we ended up at Jurong Point's Fish and Co! Jon kindly asked Marco to join us, so we made a gang of 6.

After we were fed, we headed to the arcade where 6 of us played photohunt and bishi bashi. More hands make bishi bashi easier to win! we were all good at different things! and i was very excited because i seldom get to make it through to the last few stages of the whole game!

Marco treated us to ice-cream later, and yea, we had to head off to another relative's house in the evening.

The day ended with blackjack and lots of winnings! =D i got like 10 blackjacks within 2 hours! i'm a happy girl =) HAPPY CNY people!

food for thought

Haven't really been in a blogging mood recently

I've been desperately trying to inject a certain discipline in my life- on when to sleep, when to wake up, when to go swimming, when to jog, when to stand and sit, how to treat life, treat people...

its pretty tiring to get myself to be more disciplined

but oh well, its making me feel better about myself...

watching more of the Tyra Show works too =)

Many situations have been bothering me..things involving to people i know

i got to know a new friend through lunch just recently.. and the conversation with her got me thinking a lot..

She's tall, pretty, thin, rich, model, beauty queen..

And she was telling me she spends almost 1500 per month, with a monthly allowance from her parents of $500, with her earning the rest to support her spendings.

For once, i got nothing in common to talk to her when it comes to shopping

Because i pride myself on cheap and nice finds in bazaars, flea markets and far east plaza, I practically didn't dare to speak while she tells me about her spending habits

she was asking me about my belt and i was smiling and said i bought it for 3 dollars.

and she was telling me how her belts are from zara and each cost more than 80 each.

and she mainly eats at restaurants (tts why we didn't eat at the sch canteen) and goes for monthly facials, clubs frequently..

i had to smile politely when she asked me to go to spa with her.. with me feeling like i was in another league as time went by

we're 2 girls of the same age, but we lead so different lives!

i can't help but be envious (afterall, the grass is always greener on the other side).. and i really wonder how that life would be.

haha. the closest i came to the high life is this! (thanks to the boyfriend)

High tea!!!

even the ice cream has like so many toppings to go with it!! (i'm so excited! anyone wanna come along this time? its 20 + dollars only !)

look at those cakes!awwwww

___________________

another incident, involved a friend breaking up with her boyfriend who she was with for quite some time, for another guy,

a guy she met for the most a month or two perhaps?

i saw them hugging one day at the mrt station, which confirmed that fact and i dunno why i was actually quite disturbed..

the scene remained in my mind for several days

and i dunno why i feel so heartbroken, whenever i think about the ex-boyfriend

sigh.

___________________

anyway, on a happier note, i'm glad new year is here!!! =D

feel so happy seeing new year decorations everywhere!

yays. looking forward to the long weekend!

festive love

As crowds of people chose to welcome 2008 with a bang, mine past by relatively quietly..
A quiet dinner at Essential Brew with the boyfriend.
I'm really glad the dinner allowed me to dress up!
I've been wearing nothing but tees and shorts and flip-flops for the entire time I was in Cambodia..
I miss my wardrobe, my necklaces, i miss having earrings on my ears, i miss my skirts and jeans!



Beautiful ambience, lovely company, good conversation, delicious food, and some cocktail to round it up..

I think i really look forward to 2008. New year, new resolutions, new experiences ahead.
My new year resolutions seem to be the same old ones i had last year
but let's hope I stick to them this year.
2007 has been really challenging, especially for school
Struggled through the hard work but i'm glad everything paid off
Its amazing how I've grown in the past year
but i'm learnt so much from so many experiences, i'm a different person all together
i think i've learnt not to mind a lot of things- not to be so uptight and conscious over social interactions , that i don't have to be the centre of attraction in a crowd everytime to be loved..
i'm still apprehensive about the new semester though.
I still plough through the class lists to see if there's anyone to sit beside me during lectures
it would freak me out to find that i take half of my modules alone in the past
but oh well,
its time to find some new friends...
so let's be optimistic about it.
i'm going to the gym now (shall not break my new yr resolutions barely a week past the 2008 :P)
so..
i'm looking forward to the clique outing on sat!!!
=D loves

some random photos to share

Here's a photo of me at 3am in Changi Airport with my lugguage.
it weighed a surprising 15kg! it must be the food and sweets i brought along for the kids...
But after shopping there..
[erm.. tell me i didn't buy a lot...]
this photo was taken just halfway through the trip...
and filling up my extra bag with new stuff (i bought like 7 pairs of shoes for me and my family)
i was certain i would exceed the lugguage weight limit
so i began to throw away old clothes!
haha. luckily my luggage weighed 20.4kg at the end of the trip- not overweight!
This was a photograph taken of my hand at the end of painting one day.
i took extra long baths there to get rid of all these everyday!Towards the end of the trip, the leaders brought us to this place called Dead Fish!
its an old creaky place, which was really scary because it was kinda dangerous
my friend almost fell down 3 stories cos the place was really sqeezy and one bad step could send you down to...

THIS...Eeks!

Cambodia

YOYOYO!
I'm BACK!!
it feels good to be back in modern civilisation, seriously.
though i must say cambodia is a lovely country - peaceful, serene and friendly.
its a place where people smile at you when you smile at them on the streets, where kids wave at passing cars, a place with simple pleasures, nice people.
i'll miss the tuk-tuks
the squeezy vans
the kids that clamour for your hugs, wave excitedly and say hello when you arrive and leave
the kids that cry when you say goodbye
the kids at are so easily contented with so little.
i cannot forget the mosquitos that dive ever so often into my food
the grasshoppers that jump around me as i sit in the hotel
the houseflies in the van
though i can't imagine myself living in cambodia for longer than i already have.
i miss singapore food, i miss modern entertainment, i miss technology!
photos coming up!!!

its the first time i alighted from a plane like that! i didn't even have this in mongolia! haha. so the whole group of us singaporeans were busy snapping away at this "rare experience".

can you believe this is the international airport?
Ooh, this is the room i shared with a friend! the boutique guesthouse was really pretty, much better than expected! its a project by the organisation we're helping, so we got the guesthouse at a special rate! the place's not fully renovated though..pictures of the lovely countryside...

and the things i love most about Cambodia- all the street kids, village kids...

its saddening when you learn about the stories behind these children- children who have been abused, sold for 100 US dollars, discarded.

this little kid i'm carrying is HIV positive..heard she only has a few more years to live and i couldn't help but grieve at the thought. left with a heavy heart.. :( i think i'll go back to Cambodia very soon to take more presents to the children, to give them more hugs, more love, and a little more attention..

i can't help but feel really blessed. and really fortunate.

Utter-rubbish

Marco accompanied me to various Singapore Design Festival art exhibions and they had really interesting designs there!

i think designers are amazing people.. they always explore and push new boundaries that one would probably never think of

See this...

I dunno if the picture is clear enough, but this is a biscuit with various demarkations on it (1, 2, 3) to tell you how to eat the biscuit (as in which bites to take first and subsequently) .

Isn't that weird? haha! And look at this sofa! a bit errie ah...haha.
This one is a design from Japan- disposible toilets! its supposed to be environmentally friendly cos all cardboard boxes will be marked with instructions on how to convert it into a disposible toilet, so people won't throw the boxes away... -_- a bit controversial ..don't really think its practical.

On another note..

I'm leaving for Cambodia soon.. Kinda having mixed feelings over it. Really excited about going there to see new sights, and help the locals.. But as with every overseas trip I've gone for, the anticipation is matched by strong emotions of missing everyone back here.

.. i hope i'll be back safely... think the recent dragonboat accident at Cambodia really made me see that i shouldn't take that for granted..

Bon Voyage to myself =) *muacks* be back on the 28th! with lots of nice pictures to share.

miss me k! =D

Perfection

It's amazing how when some people come together, they form a perfect blend, the best companions you could ever ask for to spend an evening with.
Loads of laughter, lame jokes, joking around, bitching, finding out about the latest affairs, having supper, and simply just enjoying everyone's company.
With everyone really appreciating the night, and not wanting to leave....

I miss you guys tremendously already..

HOORAYS to more friend's love! I'm meeting lala for mac breakfast tomorrow! =D

Leaving for Cambodia in less than a week..

Ps: Cheeks, hope you like the preview of my curls!! with uneven fringe somemore =)

reborn

I think i have a threshold for sustaining a single hairstyle- can't seem to sustain anything for too long, before my whole body craves change.

my straight hair has been boring me for such a long time, i didn't even wait till the last exam was over to get rid of it ..
so while my health psychology paper looms dangerously close by, i popped by a new salon for some hair change!

actually i don't really like how salons smell
nor do i like sitting down for hours there reading the magazines there probably because i bought most of them and read them all before that already..
but stepping out of the salon for me is like being reborn, being transformed into another person!
I don't really restrict what the stylist does to my hair
so this time, i simply told her i wanted a different look,that that i was open to anything she'll proposed.
i think marco almost didn't recognise me
and i think opinions would vary a lot but oh well... =) the girl's happy...

show you guys pictures another time.. heh. alternatively, you guys can ask me out soon to check it out. (this is a hint to ask me out after exams)

i think i got so excited i forgot mugging for a long while...sigh..

joke of the day

i thought i might as well share a joke that i heard
wonder if you guys heard of this one before
(read this aloud to get the joke k :P)
the joke was abit racist so i modified it a bit . haha.

okay.. it goes something like this..
__________________________________

On one episode of NS outfield, a commander took 3 of his cadets out to the jungle..
so they reach their campsite and the commander said to his first cadet: " Cadet! you are responsible for pitching all the tents!"

and he said to the second cadet :" You! you're responsible for gathering food and water!"

and he said to the third cadet [Ah Beng]: " You in charge of the supplies okay!"

and they were given 2 hours to complete their tasks and were supposed to meet back at the same place..

after 2 hours, the commander only saw the first 2 cadets..
Puzzled, he asked them whether they seen Ah Beng..


Suddenly, Ah Beng jumped out and said: " SUPPLIES!"

( surprise)

_______________________________________________________
get it?? :) haha.
oops i hope making fun of someone's poor english doesn't give me bad karma. haha.

a crappy entry

I'm like slacking in the library, in front of a computer terminal with everyone seemingly doing some serious mugging around me..
so i decided to just type some random words to try and constitute a blog entry. haha
this is to please lala, who is too stressed ( i miss you my friend)
and to to destress yours truly..

eh.. okay i just decided to blog about the muggers around me.

girl number 1: at computer terminal C7
cute hair, mugger specs with a huge stack of notes in front of her
i took a random peek and eew, it was filled with tiny maths equations (not my cup of tea..)
but she's typing something really slowly..
like really slowly
(somewhat like my mum who types using like 1 finger)
i think she's falling asleep..
but a guy comes up to her and talks to her and asks her out for lunch and she readily agrees and like prances up immediately... looks like she would do anything to get out from the mugging.
( shit..i'm hungry)

boy number 2: at computer terminal C10

me makes me scared i have't studied enough cos he got a greater amount of books and stacks of worksheet..
(a very handsome angmoh walks past at this moment. weeee weet.. i think he looks like leonardo di caprio..)
he is in a very ugly ah-pek-sit-at-coffee-shop pose..
looks abit scruffled
like he's been mugging here for ages and have no time to bathe
erm. his sense of fashion.....(no comments)
i can't believe someone would wear socks with slippers nowadays.
way to go.


aiyo! i realise i'm stereotyping..
no..i'm guess i'm just bored.
haha.

Silly Me

I've been laughing a lot at myself lately. Heh.
I wonder if people do more silly things when they're stressed..

Up my portfolio.. i introduce...

Case 1:

Was going to dance lessons with Marco on Sunday.
Typical day, crowded train, we board the train at Jurong East and grabbed ourselves a corner...
I really forgot what we were talking about that day, but we were really engrossed...
At one point, the train jerked and i grabbed ' his hand'...
But we were really engrossed right.. so i held on and on, putting all the weight of my bag on that hand..
Until, marco raised up both his hands enthusiastically to talk to me...
OH OH.....
dramatically, like they do in the shows...
My eyes opened wide in shock...and i lowered my vision slowly.........
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
I saw myself holding a wrinkled arm..that was so not familiar
Silly me grabbed an auntie's arm and held that arm for minutes lah!
MALU LIKE HELL!!!!
oh my gosh
no wonder the auntie looked at me like once...
she must have thought i was damn weird!
but the auntie was really nice.. and she didn't even tell me i was holding the wrong arm.
haha!!!
i scrurried away of course~
feeling silly :P

Case 2:

just recently only, i was so bored from studying for hours at JE library so i immediately went off to JEC to catch a movie...
i was in the mood for some brainless chick flick, so i caught Bratz!
I miss watching movies alone!
haha.. that's beside the point..
anyway, JE cinema plays really nice music before the adverts and movies start..
and they were really hip, upbeat songs..
So i sat myself down, and just went along singing Avril Lavigne's "Girlfriend" ....
Got myself super high. haha
screaming " hey hey you you, i don't like your girlfriend....no way no way..."
Then thing, they suddenly cut the song off.
And i couldn't keep the last few words in my mouth..
So i think everyone in the cinema heard those last few words of lyrics...
damn loud lor.. -__-
Panic, instincts took over, started coughing, to pretend i was coughing and not singing...
On hindsight, that was damn lame lah..
but it got me laughing quite a bit. haha

i think i'm going crazy. i'm entertaining myself all the time!
haha

Random pictures

I was talking to a random friend one day..
And somehow the topics got to the gazillion magazines I buy religiously every month..
Huge stacks of them, occupying shelves and shelves in my room..
And she was shocked I didn't bother sending in the lucky draw coupons..
So i told her i was lazy to cut those coupons out, the stamps needed money, plus, so many girls would do just that and I'll probably have no chance of winning at all..

But somehow her words enlightend me and for the first time i sent in some coupons ...and TADAH!!! I WON!!!
it was as though i got some educational bursury lah.
They sent me a letter and asked me to collect it from genting lane..
I won some perfume that costs hundreds of dollars (how can a perfume cost that much?!)
And even though I don't really use perfumes, its FREE mah (minus the stamps)...so off i trudged to Genting Lane to get my prize
Its super duper whoooper ULU, and off at the other part of the island..
but oh well, its free right i won't complain...
So i got this thing home...
2 bottles of heavy French perfume...


I won. I'm happy. and by right, i should believe that I'm actually lucky and I actually have a chance of being picked right. And by right, i should continue sending in those coupons right...

But i didn't. Half of me was lazy to get my butt over to genting lane ever again.
And the other half of me believed that I won't win again and they gave me a prize to bait me into wasting money on stamps and sending in more of my coupons. lol. university has made me skeptical..