still alive,

i have 13 minutes left on my internet, and i decided to stop looking at apps.

quick update: havent seen much of poland, but the countryside (kembliny) where im at is quite pretty; i think if the world ever runs out of fuels and electricity i would gladly live without handphones and internet, for they only serve to complicate life. wouldnt life be wonderful if you get to make everything yourself and just grow corn and ride horses everyday;) watch the beautiful sun set over the lush green fields; sit on swings perched on a big old tree; have big dogs and they get all the space to run around and be dirty; and breathe fresh, clean air.

its a good break away from the hustle and bustle of a city life; its different.

i admit to struggling sometimes at the centre between what i want to do and what i can do. theres only so much i can do as a listener, as a friend, as someone who will eventually leave the place and maybe never come back again. maybe. but i figure that while im there i might as well make the best of it and even if its naivety, so be it.

ive baked twice at the centre already. shimmie and i spent hours doing it and it gets chomped up in minutes. scary;) but at least i get to do something i like;) eat! i feel like all the weight ive lost in the first week upon arriving at the centre has been put back on;( i dont feel it, i SEE it. damn that tummy bulge.

alright, time is running out. till next time;)

i said yes, you look wonderful tonight

it has been a long string of social engagements, and i am feeling pretty exhausted as i type this entry. but yes, summer has been really fun so far and ive been kept very busy even though my one and only partner has left for singapore and hasnt been replying my emails ;)

highlights of my summer since i last updated:

day 3 of wimbledon. got really sunburnt, and i dont think ancic is that hot. i did want to pinch(dont want to use too strong a word) this little kid who kept cheering for him though. i blame it on the scorching sun. and i do think samantha stosur looked absolutely fantastic. i googled her and someone thinks she lesbian (yay!)

hard rock calling, 28th june, hyde park. we were there for close to 8 hours, and the line up for the concert: jason mraz, john mayer, sheryl crow, and eric clapton. lets just say jason mraz should meet me cos i would make a fantastic mrs mraz ( i felt like a silly groupie but i couldnt stop squealing when he was singing, hes simply soo attractive, well, at least, to me). john mayer looks like an ah beng, esp now that i know he dates blonde actresses; sheryl crow has an amazing voice, and eric clapton is simply a legend. my fav moment was when he did 'wonderful tonight' and all the couples around me jsut started dancing. that got me all teary for a good while;) fav line of the concert :(by a band who did the opening act) i'm a receiver, you're a transmitter, so lets communicate. how original! :)
good music, fantastic weather, loved the artistes, lots of improv and jamming, and i couldnt have ended my summer in london with a better way.

leaving for poland in about 30 hours, and i must say i am looking forward to it. the corporate world, or trying to be in the corporate world, can be disillusioning and tiring, and i think i need to rediscover inspiration, again, for living, for passion, and for all the things i believe in. two and a half months is a long time to be away for, so dont miss me too much;)
http://monar.org/englishcooperation.html

heaven

heaven

i keep hearing this version of 'heaven' by a female singer on the radio, but i cant seem to find who she is! i hate it when this happens;( and trust me ive been searching for quite some time already.

battle.

watch and be tickled;)


back from all my holidays, bournemouth was a tad too cold for sunbathing but at least i got to catch sex and the city on big screen (cos tickets were so much cheaper there). i think they kept it very real and thats why i felt so drawn towards the characters, and obviously the clothes were fabulous to watch as well. dont worry, im not going to become brand conscious, just brand aware i guess;)

diets dont work.

just course,

im waiting for people to be ready and so im blogging.
hello hello, back from salzburg-vienna-hungary, and boy was it a really good trip;) im glad i went with the people i did, cos i think i got to know them so much better (trip defied all perceptions i had of them, esp supsup(which i still think is the best nickname i ever came up for anyone, ever)) and i dont think ive ever laughed so hard and talked so much for a very long time already. so thank you all for the wonderful company and lets do this more often ;)
salzburg was undoubtedly very scenic, and i couldnt help breaking out into sound of music everytime i see green rolling hills 'the hillsss are alivveeeee' cos it really is just as it is in the movie. and the trek up to the ice caves and the ice caves itself was just as gorgeous, i cant decide which one was better. the trek up was so misty we were practically walking in the clouds (imagine that), and inside the ice caves it was pretty much a different world. thank goodness we didnt do sound of music tour.
a pity we were all so broke in vienna, although we definitely didnt scrimp on food. but i think i had enough kebabs and macs to last me for a month. and going for mass on sunday was definitely a highlight; i miss classical music hm. ooh and we got to catch euro cup :) and i actually thought ronaldo played really well, although i know im probably gonna get whacked for saying that but hey he IS smooth!
hungary was really pretty. i know the boys were tired but boy did cheryl and i explore alot of it on our last day. we even went to soak ourselves in hot thermal baths which was definitely a luxury(it wasnt even expensive!) and on top of that we got to soak in the glorious sunshine.

;) bournemouth next, and then, results and poland. why must fun end!

whee

at cheryl's house now for a change (yah i know, like a couple right) and ive been walking around the whole of london. ive just come to a sad realisation that there really isnt much to do in london. when i go out i normally get out early and come back early too(hence nightlife in london is not counted), but after two days of hitting the shops and markets we realised we ran out of places to go. but yeah post exams has been great so far and im flying off to austria hungary tmr. weather looks great over there so im pretty excited;)

may's birthday picnic was yesterday and it was fun preparing for it. although it was supposed to be a surprise but i kinda blew it when i sent her the wrong message. but oh wells HAPPY EARLY 21st my dearest friend/choirpok/flattie(pun not intended)
;)

oh and ive been keeping with britain's got talent and i still think this is the funniest thing ive watched in a while

fyi they came in second. george samson the winner is really cute, and i was rooting for andrew johnston but he came in third ;(

one day more!

must get through the next day and last exam and not think about what to wear after exams/where to go shopping/sun sun sun(if it comes out)/where to go eat/what to watch on tv(britain's got talent's finals!)/visiting roshni/austriahugarybournemouth!

so many things to do!
note: i didnt mention running. ;) i still think its too much work as a post-exam activity.

i honestly dont think ive ever been so hyped over post exams before! man the perks of living alone :D no curfew, no one to answer to. gee, rocks! sorry mummy daddy;)

i keep looking back at the old pictures and laughing to myself at how silly we used to look. will post on facebook soon. must show the world how phua's hair used to look like.

exammsss be overrr soonnnn.

grey's anatomy

greys get to me, for some strange, awkward reason. but it does, even though when put next to house it all does seem very frivilous. it'd be cliche to say i can relate to them, because obviously they're a bunch of make-believe doctors who run around having inappropriate moments in the hospital (and the elevator) while all saving lives and touching hearts. but i've definitely felt like ive grown with the characters. so! i do love greys and of course, mcdreamy, very very much.

finally. ;)

captain planet he's the hero!

okay so ive ran out of shows to watch (why must shows end!), and ive resorted to xmen animation, kim possible, and now captain planet! "the power is yours!" hahaha really quite cute im going to start on carebears next. or maybe not.

so two down, two more to go. im thankful for the comforting joys of big fat oily macdonalds after papers :) i swear they have something magical in those filet oh fish burgers. and of course, coke.

in other news, i just realised that i cant get onto the oprah show because to reserve a place you need to phone in. so ive decided to become famous one day so oprah will actually invite me onto her show. please oprah give me another ten years!

marriageable flowers

probably terribly premature to think of this, but i cant help glancing at the flowers when i study and think of how lovely they'd look in a wedding ceremony outdoors.
strangely i think summer makes alot of people sing out very loudly. i have terribly loud singing neighbours.

life.

10 things happening in my life as of now(cos ten is a nice round even number(and cos i have more than 5 things i wanted to write about)) :

1. exams in ten days. strangely panic attacks doesnt seem to be translating into full speed ahead- hm.
2. i have heat rash. which i havent had since primary school. ! its that hot in london.
3. i am mourning the death of my old trusty ipod. it just happened too fast. i was barely out of the house when i noticed my waterbottle wasnt capped properly-- but my ipod was just too weak and old- it didnt survive the mini flood. now my ipod case is very empty.
4. i bought myself lovely flowers from (lo and behold) sainsburys local(just outside my house). i dont even venture into the big sains(10m from my house?) anymore!
5. i'm loving the comeback of grey's anatomy.
6. i was at holborn library when it opened; i was still there when it closed. and i didnt even read comics today. go me!
7. i have been skipping lunch sigh. but no visible results yet. not that im deliberately starving myself! yes ma i eat a very heavy breakfast.
8. we havent been running. (cos someone's a klutz!)
9. the thought of macdonald's breakfast tomorrow is the only thing thats keeping me sane right now.
10. my soundtrack for this year's studying is: kendall payne's 'scratch'; ingrid michaelson's 'breakable'; all of the colbie caillat i have on my itunes. i dont know why they're all girls.

am resisting the urge to go around london in fbts. MUST RESIST.

thank you;)

Dear Gracia and Mayling,

Thank you all very much for the (Very Belated) birthday present and the great lengths you two went to get it (oh the horrors of passer-by stares). i will forever and ever treasure the 21 glorious (aunty) panties. I will keep them (until I'm old enough, or trashy enough, depending on which panties you're talking about) in good condition and promise not to use them as disposable ones.

Yours and always the underwearer,
Jia Yun

mug on!

i made this for my wallpaper and im pretty proud of my work;) in case you're wondering GRA its your lipbalm! and while im at that id remember to go yell at you cos i still havent had the chance to open my birthday present.

anw cheryl has been staying over at my place (really, kai, we're not lesbians and no we dont share a bed.) and its been good studying with her. i've never really got the whole 'study with a friend' thing until erm now. i guess having someone to talk to during breaks (or not) is really quite a good way to release stress.

the funny thing was cheryl remembers having spoken to someone from vjchoir during germany olympics. at an airport before the flight leg back to singapore. according to her, that person looked dao, quite fashionable, short hair, skinny, but was very friendly. (ahem). i showed her all the pictures from germany and she couldnt find the person she spoke to. although she said since i was so skinny back then it might just have been me.
wouldnt it be just hilarious if it really was me!

creepy crawlies

i hate to sound like a girly girl, but there are BUGS in my room. ever since i boarded up my fireplace ive noticed bugs trying to get out from under my cardboard, but then they get caught up in all the tape and all and so i get to see them, stuck, in all their full glory. bugs stuck in scotchtape=3

then today i saw one in my laundry basket, dead=1
and one crawling around, alive=1

and i am freakkking out abit. i googled "brown bugs london" and all other variations, and strangely i cant really describe them. they do have alot of legs, but they're not exactly any of the categories of bugs on the internet. ive narrowed it down to maybe the lavae of carpet beetle though, which is apparently common in southern england, totally fits.
;(

looks like i have to get a bug spray even before i buy my mice traps.

edit: im slightly obsessed i swear. two hours later i spotted another one, only bigger, crawling OUT from under. naturally i changed into my jeans in record breaking time and i went out to get pesticide. only that when i lifted my cardboard to spray into it, i dont see any bugs. none at all.
now i think it might not be carpet larvae but it might be woodlice, which is attracted to damp conditions and is generally not harmful. its not even an insect! and besides woodlice generally die out if its dry (silica gel, anybody??)
;(

bing: "especially for teojia"

One day, when a seamstress was sewing while sitting close to a river, her
thimble fell into the river. When she cried out, the Lord appeared and asked,
"My dear child, why are you crying?" The seamstress replied that her thimble
had fallen into the water and that she needed it to help her husband in
making a living for their family. The Lord dipped His hand into the water and
pulled up a golden thimble set with sapphires.

"Is this your thimble?" the Lord asked The seamstress replied, "No."

The Lord again dipped into the river. He held out a golden thimble studded
with rubies.

"Is this your thimble?" the Lord asked. Again, the seamstress replied, "No."

The Lord reached down again and came up with a leather thimble.

"Is this your thimble ?" the Lord asked. The seamstress replied, "Yes." The
Lord was pleased with the woman's honesty and gave her all three thimbles to
keep, and the seamstress went home happy.


Some years later, the seamstress was walking with her husband along the
riverbank, and her husband fell into the river and disappeared under the
water. When she cried out, the Lord again appeared and asked her, "Why are
you crying?" "Oh Lord, my husband has fallen into the river!"


The Lord went down into the water and came up with George Clooney. "Is this
your husband?" the Lord asked.


"YES!!" cried the seamstress. The Lord was furious. "You lied! That is an
untruth!"


The seamstress replied, "Oh, forgive me, my Lord. It is a
misunderstanding. You see, if I had said 'no' to George Clooney, you would
have come up with Brad Pitt.

Then if I said 'no' to him, you would have come up with my husband. Had I
then said 'yes,' you would have given me all three. Lord, I'm not in the best
of health and would not be able to take care of all three husbands, so THAT'S
why I said 'yes' to George Clooney.


And so the Lord let her keep him.



The moral of this story is:

Whenever a woman lies, it's for a good and honorable reason, and in the best
interest of others. That's our story, and we're sticking to it.


Signed,

All Us Women

holborn library

studying at the holborn library turned out really well today. although this is what making notes for fundamental rights in the EU looked like;) during my lunch break i read the league of extraordinary gentlemen! i didnt know they were so... hm twisted. anw the foreword had something like 'there are three things that you need to know... blahblah.. the chinese are smart, but evil. ' haha.
;)

holborn library!

edit: how can the americans vote carly smithson out?! i am truly upset. argh;(

all i ask of you

i know i should be studying, but damnit why am i always so caught up with american idol(ie andrew lloyd webber night). if theres one thing i hate about old brits its the coloured pants that they love to wear- be it green, dirty yellow, or hey, burgundy coloured ones that andrew lloyd webber was wearing. why cant they be boring and just wear normal coloured ones and leave the coloured ones to the mats!

anw im falling in love with michael ball's dimples, and i really want to catch les miserables, again.

i can listen to those songs over and over again, and never tire of them. ah, the magic of theatre.

always be my baby

i absolutely love that rendition
"you'll always be a part of me i'd be a part of you indefinitelyyy"
listening to it really cheers me up:) im glad we (tan and i ) got cheryl hooked on it as well! boo archuletaaaa.

went for a run today and it was really much needed. weather was fantastic (finally, spring!), and the stopover later at cheryl's place was really fun;) im glad we sorted out whatever we could for summer, although bummer, our glorious plans for a complete eastern europe trip seems to be pretty out of the window (although if i defy my parents and book the cheap air ticket and come back early anyway id be filthy richhhh and yes im still sore). but if no one wants to tag along anymore, you and i baby, we'd be tanning our skins off at that oh so heavenly santorini beach and feeling the greek winds in our hair as we cruise along the, erm, greek sea. ;)

am definitely keeping up the runs. feeling strangely restless recently.

personality test

my morality score is 3. haha;) but i kinda think the test is pretty accurate even though it says i procrastinate.

test results

arghh

i cant read my own handwriting. grr;(

my secret admirer(s)

here's the confession letter, and since they're not online for me to strangle them, here it is. ;)

Dearest most-loved yunnie, tjy, jy, Jia Yun, (in that order of frequency!)

I think it’s time for me to finally say, my favorite yellow spark, how I really feel about you.

I never thought I could really love someone as much as I love you. We started out as friends just talking, you that obnoxious tkg girl, but over the last couple of months I've truly fallen for you the way you’ve fallen for Clooney — head over heels. You're not one to admit how you feel but I know somewhere in your heart you have feelings for me too because I know you would not have just wasted your time, over girltalk, dark chocs, pizza hut lunches, Friday dinners, 7-11 visits, shared secrets, bus rides and showers, for nothing.

I am sincerely sorry that I cannot be there with you to celebrate your twenty-first birthday, because of this distance that separates us; Toa Payoh + Tampines (or for now, Seattle) + Simei + Pasir Ris is a veryyy long way from you. The fact that we're a thousand miles apart is not a matter at all because you are always in my heart. But I want you to know that I miss seeing you around in 04s22, or in Singapore, for that matter, and I am, and will be, always thinking of you breaking my bed.

I cherish any thought of you, prize any memory of you that rises from the depths of my mind, and live for the day when our physical separation will no longer be; i.e. December of 2008

Until that moment arrives, I send to you across the miles, my tender love and my warm embrace, to keep YTT warm. J

Till we finally meet again,

Love now and always,

Your favourite teetees (:

i want my mariah carey cd

mariah week at idols never sounded weirder. poor guys;) but i really really liked david cook's version of one of my fav mariah songs, always be my baby. ah i know mariah's weird nowadays(e=mc2, really??) but i really liked her songs when i was younger.

way to go david cook!

go orange

two days ago i bought a pack of carrots, 2kg worth of all the orange fibre goodness, simply because it was only 99pence. and it tied in with my new diet- more vegetables in my foods! besides i love eating raw carrots, im quite a rabbit at that, and on the first day i easily ate like ten sticks- five for lunch, five for dinner.

THEN today cheryl had to tell me that eating too much carrots makes you turn orange (freaking oomphaloompa) i dont remember this but she thinks it was in greys, and anyway she really knew someone who turned orange from snacking on oranges and carrots.

i dont want to turn orange!!

so please, if you see me and you think i look orange, TELL ME. even if you have to point a finger at me and laugh.
in the meantime, im taking a break from carrots;(

falling slowly

i know i should be studying really hard but i couldnt stop thinking about this song after andre showed it to me;)

i miss choir

i had my radio tuned to the classic fm as i studied today, and then there was a short clip of interview with eric whitacre. then they played 'sleep', which to be honest has never been my favourite song. i always think it boring compared to the other whitacre songs. but then the choir sang it so well- the control, and oh man the sopranoes just kept the top line so well. then i lost my concentration for studying and i just had to come on my computer to listen to our past recordings. i tried to find that choir's recording on youtube but i cant -Polyphony, and apparently in some cd called cloudburst which topped charts. well, they should be:)

but of course my all-time high is leonardo.

nelson really is a genius i think he did the song with us very much the same way whitacre did.
ps. confession: okay im a lousy sl. i never sang the last part right hahah i just anyhow lala throughout :D bing was probably the only one who got it damnit.
pps. i still think of caroline and her 'ma-a-a-a-a' everytime and i want to laugh;)
ppps. sopranoes are the best.

sometimes when we touch

original by dan hill though.

"and sometimes when we touch, the honesty's too much
and i have to close my eyes and hide"
:)

letter.

Dear Ashraf,

I don’t really know how to tell you this, but you’re a pervert. I think I realised it when your dwarf bit me in women’s clothing and pulled the toupee off my best friend.

I’m sure you’re middle-class enough to understand that there is no solution to this.

Im returning your love letters back to you, but I’m keeping the results of your blood sample.

You should also know that I was interviewed by the Times about a new life as a clone.

Fuck off now,
Jia Yun

ps. thanks to nab:) i did get a shock when i first read it (esp the ring part!)
pps. sorry ashraf:D

yummy brown kaya

So. ive been having alot of fun since easter started- southern france, mummy, paris. and now, study. no panic attacks yet, but thats probably because i havent looked at anything that slightly resembles lawly studies;)

went to paris with mum and we were brought around by her friend. the only regret i have is not having walked the streets of paris more (we were tramming around alot and driven around) but i think versailles and louvre alone are worth it. i wish i could have spent more time in both places -i truly felt very excited looking at all the big paintings, poor mum had to follow me around;) although i think she enjoyed it as well! i didnt really make it to marie antoinette's gardens, i thought that was really quite a pity. but oh wells, one more place to visit again. ;)

so mum's gone back just this morning, and its back to the books. till summer hols!

ps. WE MADE BROWN KAYA and its quite heavenly;)

american idol

i believe i just heard the best song, ever, on american idol. when he first sang the song i was thinking hey i know this song ;)

bock i think ramiele should go home! :)

edit: okay i realised its a version by chris cornell. chey.

i am part 1 hear me roar

alright yes bock no more emo posts or else no one will want to talk to me ;)

i just read mr brown's blog and i came across this blog of this autistic lady. as some of you might know my cousin is autistic and therefore im always interested in reading stuff about autisitism and finding out more about it.
it amazes me at how this universe works- she is able to express herself perfectly well, it wouldnt be wrong for me to say that she might just express herself better and coherently than alot of young adults out there (me humbly included). the very first post talks about hatred and erasure- and she writes it with such wisdom its almost strange. yes she is autistic and she is unable to speak- she simply communicates in another manner which is not the norm.
i find my cousin highly artistic - he is extremely good with plasticine (i kid you not) the detailing of cartoon characters that he does leaves us in awe all the time. and i hear he's picked up piano and getting good at it.
im glad that they can do what they can do despite being labelled as autistic- strange as it sounds that one has to do so much just to prove a worth; i simply hope that this world has enough space (in their hearts) to accommodate their ways.

安宁

突然很想用华语表达自己,应该是因为很久没用母语交谈了,所以有点想念. 现在的心情比昨天的平静多了,思乡也较有次序;心,也几乎镇定多了. 原本已经定下的心又被起伏;瞬纳之间那些已被埋藏的情绪又回来了. 不想逃避的我,却发现地自己没有那种勇气. 但我想我已找到答案. ;)
就如我人生中其的故事, 这个也有个主题曲.

"我努力的想哭泣却哭不出泪滴
一次又一次的违心才发现早已麻痹
终于发现自己已经不在乎你
原来分手也能如此的安宁"

此时此刻,我想我是找到了安宁.以后的事,以后再说.

now i can vote (and watch RA movies)

officially 21 years 22 hours old.

not much reflection on life yet, just quiet, peaceful time to myself after everyone has gone back and all the party is over. france trip was fun and pretty, oh those roaring nights of german bridge until 2ams. yes we were a random group of friends, but it turned out great or so id like to think;) id always remember that pot of 114mussels and ian's 12 escargots as starters. and ian's horrible driving; me grabbing ENSHRINE; poor joanne being labelled throughout the trip (blame ian!) and florrine's cheese. and gangwei's random intellectual sprouts. ;)

came back midnight of my birthday- celebrated that, twice, on the plane. first time they woke me up at 12 midnight france time, to a cupcake with four stirrers stuck in the middle (as candles), then second time they woke me up again (london time) to pop champagne. quite funny cos i was obviously very groggy and sleepy :)
then i came back home to a room filled with streamers and balloons and lightsticks that spelt happy birthday. and roshni was already in my house which made it even more of a pleasant surprise.
i woke up that morning to a home cooked breakfast by roshni and mayling, but haha (oops) i went back straight to sleep cos hey, i slept at 4am! when i finally did wake up roshni couldnt stop giggling about what was going to happen that day ;)

then she revealed the treasure hunt around london ;)
we were off to a very slow start cos i brought them on the long way to get to soho. but we did get there, eventually, and first stop- haha. (sex shop). well basically they blindfolded me and made me choose my birthday present. lets just say even for the adventurous side of me, i see no use in my present so if you're feeling sexually adventurous come ask me and i might just lend the present to you ;)
next was a blindfolded walk to st jame's park for a picnic, and well i can imagine the amount of stares i got. :) then ian kept pretending to be a dog chewing at my knee and i kept falling for it. you know how terrified i am of animals arghhh.
then i had to do a sudoku puzzle at buckingham palace but no one brought a pen so that was kiv'ed haha.
piecing together a jigsaw puzzle of the picture of us choir girls at big ben :)
last challenge- to busk at embankment tube station, and i couldnt be let off until i got two pounds. well lets just say i did explain to everybody what i was doing, i did sing (albeit for ten seconds, i only knew lk two lines of that song hahah) and i did get two pence. thank you fans.
;) then lunch with mayling, and a surprise musical - monty python's spamalot. i know, id never have watched that musical unless someone paid for it, but hey i was laughing my head off during the musical. you'd be surprised, but i actually get the jokes. sigh i am cheap to entertain.
dinner at los locos, really nice place, and we had mocktails ahhaah. no more alcohol for me!
oh and ian's erm cheesecake/lemon milky digestive thingy ahhaha thanks babe for (attempting) the cake! :D

then to top it off, nab's email came in that night. ;)
reading that email really made me think. about what i cant exactly put my finger to, just that i am humbled by what she wrote;all my grouses now seemed small and petty; and that i am very inspired to live life, passionately, again.

my birthday wish, as with every year, is to be truly happy, and that everyone around me will be happy too. ;)

surprise 21st

and so me the big doofus didnt know that my conniving friends (the only two people i actually hang out with in london) were plotting a surprise dinner-21st celebration for me for the past two weeks.

i should have seen the signs- caleb asking to borrow our cake mixer and all our measuring cups; them always whispering behind my back (i thought they had some new gossip that they didnt want to tell me!!); that dubious (test cake) banana choc cake that surfaced mysteriously during clique break (which i totally slammed, for more details read her blog haha); how ian lied to me and said he couldnt make dinner (i was truly very sad); how cheryl was insisting that i dress up vintage for that night (which was the theme of the dinner) and well how i basically met everyone along the way to the party- how rude hongcheong was when i met him at covent garden, he simply muttered that he was going tesco and headed the other way!; and how i met ian and ian and his hsehold in the same tube carriage(!!) and they were carrying the cake and all, and i pointed to the cake box and asked 'whats that' and he said 'box lah'. and i totally left it at that; and how cheryl made me drop off one stop before and made me walk all the way there so that ians and company will be at the restaurant before me.

so imagine my surprise when i get to the restaurant and i see everybody there singing me a birthday song. ;)
dinner was gd, i think i was grinning a little too much throughout the whole dinner, and obviously (being us) the highlight of the night was when the cake came out. :) it was THE CAKE.
i love you cheryl;)
banana choc cake was AMAZING. true it was a bit too gelat, but man it was really chocolatey and so pretty! huge though :) but we managed to finish almost all of it. duh, its us.

;)gay clubbing was really fun too. i love gay music. they played spice girls and hairspray!and britney spears haha. had so much fun omg.

rosh came down today and that just made everything even better.

so yup im very happy. whenever i think about that night it just puts a big smile on my face;)

weekend

this has got to be my most effective weekend since my time in london. (notwithstanding the fact that im still procrastinating on my essay) but i did notes! i now have little hearts as bullet points (as long as it makes me happy to look at it ).

and im feeling so much better already. i think watching antm till 6am actually helped hm;)

then i went around surfing for jimmy liao's pictures. i got reminded of how much i love his little books although i never get down to buying any. i think id try to fashion my next blog layout on his pictures. i actually found one that i really like - but im no genius at html so it'd prob take me forever to get it right. shall wait until i actually have the time. meanwhile id just change my laptop desktop pic (bye bye mister ck man)

am listening to sov 05;) i actually feel my spirits being lifted which is an amazing thing. i think i really miss choir despite how i always claim that i was never really a part of choir. i think its the singing i miss;) and the fooling around (outside sectionals yes haha) and all you choir girls sigh.

oh what id give to be a silly frivolous jc girl all over again.

then again roshni promised to come down nxt week so that makes me very excited ;)

racism?

oprah has been running this series of awareness for domestic violence on her show for quite a while now; the current story involves this lady (who looks white but is actually mixed) who has been verbally abused by her husband from the very first day of their relationship, it gradually escalated into physical violence and even involved having her children ridicule her and being brainwashed by their father to put their mother down. one of the incidents actually included having the son videotape the abuse and participate in the abuse.

and people accuse oprah on her messageboards of racism. simpy because it shows a black man abusing a white woman.

i understand racism is still a very sensitive issue, and that, it essentially is wrong to discriminate or form judgments based on skin colour. but racism isnt the only issue in the world thats of pertinence; issues like domestic violence is as of equal importance. by focusing on the racism issue really takes the focus off what oprah has been trying to emphasise through her shows - that there are women out there who are in an abusive relationship and that they need a way out, a plan, to get out and live a life without fear of their husband's crazy whims.

but is there such a thing as trying too hard to make racism disappear?
from CNA, "Halimah Yacob, MP for Jurong GRC, said: "For instance, when I attend residents' wakes, I make sure I bring other races as well, so in Chinese wakes, there'll be Malays and Indians. In that way, we break the barriers. "
im not sure what this helps in breaking the barrier. bringing other races to wakes as an educational trip seems to belittle the sombreity of the wake. i understand her point- that we should have an inclusive programme, but i dont know. that statement doesnt seem to resonate with me.

of course there is always such a thing as striking a balance, which i think is quite hard to do. if you over address the issue it highlights the issue even more; leaving it in the dark sends signals of condoning the issue.

true, london deals with this issue by being indifferent. in many ways i guess being in london, and lse makes it easier for me (chinatown is so near;) i guess settling for indifference is always better than outright confrontation. as Avenue Q says, 'Everybody's a little bit racist!'

damn the cold

yeah so im down with the cold, again. and this time im slightly feverish and so ive been feeling pretty terrible. sleeping really helps, and try as i do i cant seem to get any work done. i feel cold and hot at the same time and its just horrible. thank god for friends who make dinner for you when you're sick;)

have been watching alot of house lately, and i just realised the lure of hugh laurie. he IS hot, in that little arrogant but im damaged kind of way, and he's just so smart. and i love his little jokes.
woman: no i havent been having sex, so i cant be pregnant.
house: wow, immaculate conception
woman: what should i do?
house: well isnt it obvious? start a religion!
i like the part where he went on a date with cameron ( yes im only on season 1) cameron's seemingly innocent 'high sch teacher crush' on house turning into a need by cameron to make damaged cases right, wow what a lovely twist.

really want to get better so i can have my week-long celebration next week. ;) ah i hate being sick

天天都有落叶, 特别是今夜

;)i really had alot of fun this afternoon with may, preparing our songs for tonight. but no matter how i try to justify the (really really bad) performance today, it all comes down to this - i have a confession to make. i get really bad stage frights. and even though ive been on the stage a thousand times, with choir, sometimes alone, been in front of crowds, talking, teaching, presenting, i still get really bad butterflies in my stomach. and it shows. sigh, its not one of those things where you can just 'go ahead and do it and it'd be alright'. and its not one of those things you can simply hide away because it shows;)
hm maybe i should reconsider my plans of being a travelling musician :)

on another note: i have a new drink creation. haha. its lemon sorbet in cream earl grey tea;) i made may drink it and she said it was nice! so one more item down into the little recipe book of the future shop that cheryl and i are gonna set up. (although as i type she doesnt know of this concoction yet)
;)

yes, we can.

everything about him has been refreshing and uplifting; the fact that he's so young, that he's of colour; or the fact that his speech writer is merely 26 years old. i am a woman who wants my rights, and i never could figure out how to choose between him or clinton. how do you make america choose between fighting for women or the coloured? but watching this video under the enthusiastic urging of caleb really made me think-
there is still so much we can do. ;)

"and together, we will begin the next great chapter in the American story with three words that will ring from coast to coast; from sea to shining sea -- yes, we can."

mika - big girl, you are beautiful!

AH i just came back from mika concert and i think half my voice is kinda gone (although i think kandy has got it worse) but its all worth it the concert was a blast! :) really energetic performances, great crowd(everyone was singing along and dancing jumping) and he has a really quirky set! haha very showtime kind of performance, with lotsa glitter and rahrah girls, i loveeed it. i love you mika! and yes big girls are indeed beautiful; too much candy do rot your soul; relax take it easy; oh i could just list the whole album out here.
then at the end there were big balloons and confetti ah. life in a cartoon motion indeed.

hello gorgeous

okay im actually quite excited about the mika concert tonight. shrieks;) 'cos its my interpretation and it dont dont make sense' 'i was walking with my mama one day when she warned me what people say live your life until love is found or love's gonna get you downn'

anw i was thinking quite hard about what to sing for victorians night this sat. duet with mayling kinda turned into a 'i play and you sing' affair, even efforts to harmonise kinda failed. ;) then i got reminded of this song.
REMEMBER GRA??

;)muacks

ouch, ankle.

i just spent the whole morning watching the berenstain bears *breaks out into song* and surfing the net for the most senseless things. okay fine i was surfing blogs;) i think its amazing how much you can find out about people through the internet. me, im an open book.

my ankle's getting better, but it was really quite painful yest. blame me for thinking that tackling bigfatiancheng during floorball is fun, that all 183cm tallness of fats and burstingego. well now we know. when i told him 'eh my right ankle feels bigger than my left one' his reply 'why you blame me for being so fat!'
(im exaggerating really, but only about my ankle heh the swelling's gone down already)
boys are stupid throw stones at them.
oh i forgot cheng is part of our sisterhood. ;)

pinks and blues

well i just had the best end of week celebration ;)
first of all i msned with george clooney (i kid you not) and just because i know no one else believes me i took a printscreen

then for yanneng's 21st (happy birthday babe;) cheryl and i (again) did really pretty strawberry cupcakes and blueberry muffins. we didnt take alot of pictures this time round cos i was feeling sleepy. but anyway the strawberry cupcakes look amazing (the batter was a very pretty pink( remember our pink cookies??) ) and then we did frosting on the top and it was a crowd favourite. although some seem to prefer the healthier tasting blueberry muffins. those were gd as well.

foods

(pictures kinda not in order but who cares they look pretty)
let me send you into the throes of heavenly fats: banana muffins( we made over twenty and at the end of the night the IR warriors left only one surviving muffin); lemon meringue pie and cupcakes (it looks too pretty, also because this is all before i dropped a clip onto it hahaha. i loved the lemon paste thingy so much i finished one whole pot of it. im serious!); kaya (its really yummy despite how it looks, and we cant really seem to get it to not curdle) ; oyako don (inspired by Sakura's menu and delicious foods we decided to try our hand at it. okay fine who am i kdding- cheryl tried her hand at it. it was really gd! )

and obviously there'll be more to come, and thats why ive started running with cheryl (yeah i know hey you stop laughing) and well a start is always something. lets hope we keep this up! both the running AND the foods.
:)
shawn is evil.

aLive

;) come for aLive!
yet another charity gig by students in London, but this time its really special cos of who we're actually raising money for. i think its amazing how much of a global citizen we all are. and fact is, we are all part of this world. so lets make it a better place to live in.
its cheesy, but hey. world peace!






the beneficiary


and our dear wesley doing the iron man

(its not funny to run in cold weather(not that id know ahah))

we have two extremely talented singer-guitarists- gangwei (mr cool) and ashraf(the man), and andre and i are (kinda) guest singing if i may say, a few songs, just to spice it up a little. ;) but who cares bout us right haha its those two you wanna see, and hear of course.
come! :)
oh and its happening wednesday. kings college chapel. ;)

yummy yum

i cant believe i actually forgot to post pictures of the egg tarts. i thought this picture puts it more in perspective - ie my messy kitchen ;) kinda makes me feel that at least my kitchen is fully utilised. i quite like my kitchen- we get lots of natural light (when its actually sunny in london) and i like to sit on the table top and just drink my juice. or eat my snacks. whichever, and just sit there, and be quiet. food is indeed comforting ;) away from all the awful technologies in my room (sorry tv).

oinkyshawn told me to stop eating so much. roarrr!

last night something really scary happened in my room. my tv started switching itself on, and i was obviously alone at home and it wouldnt stop even after i switched it on and off. i couldnt help but think that sadako has come to get me (i blame it on that one conversation we had at gig prac) and i actually didnt get out of bed to switch on my heater. i also refused to actually stand infront of the tv.
but at least im having company for the day, so it isnt that bad. ;)

back to fundamental rights in the european union!

fun foods

and so we baked (okay so cheryl baked but hey its my kitchen) alot of stuff over the past few days. we did egg tarts (I KNOW HOW AMAZING) butter cookies spring rolls banana fritters and then we did banana muffins the next day with all the leftover bananas. and we still have alot of bananas left.all because i said i wanted to have alot of goreng pisang sigh.

and roshni says she love me.
;)
duh. shes my lover.


reading week ahead of me, and somehow im having mixed feelings about it. im glad for the time off to get started on my exams, but both my flatmates are going away (im trying my very best not to be spiteful about why im not going away)
luckily for me the rest of lse doesnt have reading week hee so basically my 'clique' will still be here. i cant wait for kaya day;)

paint your nails red

paint your nails red, it's chinese new year!

just finished spring cleaning my room, and its 2am now. yay.
while spring cleaning my room i realised that not just one plank of my bed broke, but TWO. die alr lah. im actually quite excited bout the supper thingy tmr night, even though its underplanned and underorganised, but at least there'll be ppl to eat the food, and we have plans to erm make food. ;) i shall not publicise the menu just in case we dont make it. grins;)



as you can see i was more fascinated by the fact that it snowed than anythign in stockholm. when it first snowed i kept taking pictures of the few pieces of snow flakes on my friends' hair or scarf, without their faces in the pictures haha.
anw 3 things i picked up on this trip:
1. when i hear cheryl say 'gay team', she doesnt actually say what i think it is (ie a team of gays) but shes actually asking for the time, in cantonese.
2. never speak of the words 'dayung' and 'sampai' (spellcheck?) to kevin. hint: i have arrived. he can go on for hours on those two words.
3. its okay to go sweden and not have meatballs ;)

im quite excited bout chinese new year woohoo

the bear came over the mountain - alice munro

i think tuesday afternoons have become a sort of laze around afternoon for me- mid wk blues coupled with an early day in school. i was reading cna entertainment and i read the reviews for this film 'away from her', sounded really gd, so i watched it.
;) dont think i teared so much at a movie before so i guess thats really something. i think i have a thing for old couples(or old people in general), its as if i feel that they shouldnt have to suffer so much given how much they've already gone through with life and all. but oh well, old couples are sweet.
its from a short story by alice munro

the end song by kd lang is beautiful.

and i kinda like the old guy in the show as well. ah small eyes, just like me. gordon pinset.

pics for trip to stockholm another day;)

i wish i was a punk rocker with flowers in my hair

"yunie, here's a video of a nice girl singing a nice song. " and then my friend showed me this link.
;)



and i found the song that ive always liked.



adibah supports my decision in quitting law sch and becoming a travelling musician.

art outside my window

last night i think i saw my neighbours(if im not wrong they're ex students of central st martins) doing some art thingy on the pavement just outside my place. ;) i felt so privileged to have witnessed it from my window. basically they stenciled in the words 'nothing is a waste of time if you use the experience wisely' - in water. i just thought it was pretty ingenious. in less than two hours (it was an exceptionally windy night) the words disappeared. and i felt so inspired;)

ive been thinking back on my original intentions in coming to london to study; the words a senior said to me when i first got here 'its very easy to be lured by the big money' and my easy dismissal of her words; my friend when he said 'its all based on the assumption that i derive greater value in money than spending time with my famliy and friends'. so true, so true.

and 'the golden path' from channel 8 is really not too bad a show. :)

and im starving myself for dimsum later;)

a rainy afternoon with jane austen

so i got home today and it started to rain really heavily. its been quite a cold day today, so i thought, well why not. made some tea, plopped down on my bed and started on karen joy fowler's 'the jane austen book club'.

i love reading books - its a cheap escape out of the real world. i feel like my world is widened with one more book read; then i wish that my whole life is all about reading books, and that i'd never stop. id just keep escaping into their little worlds.

and so on this random cold afternoon i feel a strong sense of wanting. wanting to go back to whats familiar, what defined me, who loves me, where id always have breakfasts in the mornings, and where the radio doesnt play alicia's keys' 'no one' ten thousand times over.
:)

nutella woes

my bed broke. its broken. one of the wooden planks, is snapped, in half, hole, in my bed.

i knew we should have had so many bottles of nutella!!

ミスター味っ子 aka 伙頭智多星

cant get the youtube video to embed in here, but heres the link ;)

and here are the videos, so you guys know what my childhood tv is like ; ) 伙頭智多星
i kinda think my mum will be watching them..

im quite happy staying under my covers watching the glorious foods fill up my stomach ;) katsu don and ramen! argh.
right okay back to my second essay sigh

new things in my room

a new food corner (and the snacks just seems to be piling up although i havent been buying anythg!), my guitar, gymball, and of course, george clooney on my family wall. ;)

hellooo 2008

now its really back to school, back to a normal life of a student in london which i am almost tempted to say "bah, boring" but hey im glad i had a great holiday (i love all of you) but 2008 isnt looking to be all that bad ;)

firstly i bought a gym ball, so i dont have to go outside into the blithering cold just to move my ass. and by cold i mean coooolllddd.

then i bought a 3/4 guitar *shrieks* and im really excited about it. yay! my sis was helping me tune it, now that shes gone i tune it myself. well the strings are in tune with each other i just dont know if they're the right notes :) haha. but they sound alright when i strum it. so yay! i can finally be cool and play the guitar.

i cleaned up my room today (no more sis' stuff around my room ;( and got down to doing a bit of work. (stress: abit)

anw im glad my sis came down. ;) i really miss her silly presence. and now i have coffee in my house and no one will drink it! ;( but well girl, im glad you're happy. love you lots :)

ps. george clooney's picture has made it to my wall of family and friend pictures. ahha now he's family! :)

and im starting to miss everyone back home ;)

happy new year pull your ear

(my dad used to say that all the time. heck, he says it even now! :)

anw my holidays have been great so far. italy was very beautiful: rome is very rich in history, and the structures and buildings are all very huge; venice is unique in the water sense but other than that maybe it was a little too cold to feel the romanticness of the place. ;)

and i love rachel. (: (: (:

yeah. well. and that too. ;) we had loads of fun and i think poor sis deserves a medal for being around us three very loud and noisy girls for ten days. applause!

so a very happy new year to one and all;) much love from london!

one fine day

and so this marks the end of the michaelmas term. ;) what was meant to be a shopping trip to primark again (and my initial plans of *gasp* wanting to go crush) went down as a lazing around in front of my tv together with dearest shimmie. we were such couch potatoes i think we watched what three movies? and friends and charmed in between. and curled our hair in between with the new curling tong i got for her;) it was the first time shimmie got to see the song 'i wanna grow old with you' in the movie itself so she was shrieking throughout and i just felt quite high as well. its an incredibly sweet scene and i just love those two when they do films together. i just need to stop mixing up adam sandler and ben stiller ahah.

then we watched my all-time favourite, one fine day! i cant seem to find a big photo but this will do cos i think this is the nicest scene in the whole movie;) what better movie than one with george clooney michelle pfeiffer and two really adorable kids. i think one fine day trumps all other favourite movies at this point of time;)

then we gradually dissolved into a lump of fat as we ate fish n chips frm fryers delight(oh by then we already had a tub of ben n jerrys) and stared into the black box until entrapment finished and we concluded that catherine zeta jones had the daddy complex in that show cos sean connery is way too old for her.

what better way to spend the last day of term;)

getting old

conversation between me and bra
bra: hey sorry i was afk when you pst me
me:??
bra: you noob(or smthg like that)
me: yeah im getting too old for your lingo
bra: yeah me and yj and shawn on the vent now
me: (gives up)

am i really getting too old for lingos? who the hell says afk and pst??

work it, girl!

i had a crazy time for the past few days just thinking bout the amount of work i have before the term is up. but actually ive been having a great time, which sounds really ironic since im supposed to be head buried in work, but whatever;) did some christmas shopping, then had my first floorball prac since forever and it was gd fun walking around rainy london in shorts and everyone around us was just like 'arent you cold??'. aiyah we wanted to run to sch and then head back alr mah didnt know we would feel like having lunch and walking around brunswick.
then there were the ocf outreach where i thought the choir sounded really good;) and i really liked the play. and the food. and i think malaysians are really funny people. and mayling's primark scarf is pretty!
then of course there was cheryl's birthday party (happy birthdayy hun!) where i think was the first time i spoke to so many singaporeans, at such length, for the first time here. anw it was fun just hanging out and drinking punch (i refused alcohol see so responsible ian is evil) but after the main crowd left we started camwhoring and thats when we got quite high ahha. cheryl's house is one diva house;) i think we watch too much america's next top model haha we were all trying to be jay alexander(is that her name) :"work it girl! come on give me more face!" sonya had really funny commentary on our fashion runway shows "tourist, or international spy?" omg hilarious.

:)
and now i have a mini christmas tree from may as i am feeling quite festive already. explains the lack of work done!

dances around in holiday mood

you get high watching them play! i love alison krauss, really wish i can get my hands on her album soon. too bad my fav song of hers isng famous at all. its some weird song called stars but hey that was the first i heard of her and i really liked her for that. then cold mountain came along and i fell in love with her music;)

anw this is prob the first nght i have free. well pretty much by chance cos i was planning on doing work tonight until i realised my textbook doesnt have what i needed to read up on. so too badddd. i prob shd be doing something useful ;) since greys isnt up yet i guess i shall return to work then!

oh breathe, just breathe

was supposed to be writing my european law essay, but ive read my articles and i have pen and paper and all my materials in front of me. ive bathed, in my pjs, with a bowl of granny smith apples drizzled with sugar and cinnamon (muaha) and the choc cake is still on my table. the things i put into my body:)

i have a confession to make.

oprah makes me cry;) whenver i watch her show id be so inspired or moved or just feeling so thankful that she's there making all the difference in this world. well minus the drama whenver she gives out all the (oh gloriously expensive) presents, she really is an inspiration!
today's episode was about heroes and how people saved other people. there was this mother who used her body to shield her two boys from a tornado. broke her back and is now paralysed, but her little kids were so adorable 'my mum is my hero'. and the marines who returned from iraq war after 7 months, and when oprah says 'whether we support the war or not, we're grateful for those soldiers who are out there protecting you and me' she makes so much sense in such simple words.

i am a woman when i say i love watching oprah!