Here is my ah beng tan [A little dark, I don’t know if the flames are discernable]:
As well as my peeling skin [it peels off in delightfully large plasticky chunks]:
And the cutest advert ever:
[You can’t teach them to “play it safe”. Sterilise your pets.]
More about the rugby match later. But for now, congrats guys, and here’s a picture!
PS Cat [aka fake Wenloong!]: You aren't a lousy instructor. I'm just a lousy student!
3rd Dec
I’m such a big big baby, it’s mildly embarrassing. But oh well.
Saying goodbye has never been harder. The silliest thing is that he’ll only be gone for 11 days. Silly, silly Evelyn. It feels even worse now than last year, when I was in Canada for nearly a month.
“...i guess the best way i can sum it up is this: i love you. don't need to cry k..i’ll see you soon..”
Not soon enough. And then it’ll be my turn to be off.
)':
Missing you already dear.
4th Dec
I have this nasty habit of waking up before 9 am, no matter what time I go to bed. Yawn.
Anyway, many thanks to the numerous people who have been keeping me company online and through SMSes, and together with my filled schedule and long ‘To Do’ list, I haven’t had the time or opportunity to feel bored or lonely or unloved. Thanks everyone, your company is much appreciated!
I was going through my archives just yesterday, and it was interesting to see the many different experiences I’ve been through over the past year. A number of times, I was quite amazed and ashamed at the amount of angst [my goodness, that’s alliteration for you] I felt throughout the year. Guess I’m still in the midst of my angsty teenage years.
Suffice to say, I’ve definitely forgiven all the people who have got me worked up at some point or another ... Yes, that includes Ms C for yelling at me in front of the whole LT [she’s one of my favourite teachers now, can you believe that :P], Ms L for giving me nightmares the whole year round [she progressively got better and nicer], the guys who are forever stealing our seats, even *, and yes even B [I'm just too scared to click then ‘unblock’ button at the moment]. And lots more.
All forgiven a long time ago, because I don’t like bearing grudges! (: Besides, I have an awesome God who forgives me even when I sin and sin and sin, and He has taught me how to forgive, and how to love.
Just felt I had to say that (:
Part 2
Oh yes, I should update about Thursday’s rugby match against SAS. They won!! Congratulations, guys (: It was an exciting match to watch, Sandhya and I were squealing like bimbos especially during the last quarter.
Evidence of their victory: 14 points to 10! It was a pretty close shave, though.
Here is the Raffles Rugby Girlfriend Support Team, not quite in full force though :P But nevermind! Sandhya’s loud booming echoing voice made up for it! Must be those powerful swimmer lungs at work, ooo.
And here are a few photos of the ruggers, yay (: Sandhya and I were clicking at every opportunity! The photos were all terribly small and blurry though, because the field was so far away and we were zooming in as far as the cameras could manage. Justin’s dad, with his powerful and professional camera took much nicer pictures.
1. Warming up
2. Justin passing the ball out of the scrum
[see the little white thing on the left?]
3. Taking a break, with Wenloong and his injured ankle on the bottom right
4. “1 for all, all for 1, R-A-F-F-L-E-S Raffles!”
[At least, I think that’s what they said]
We were sent back to school, the guys bathed and played with a funky super soaker while I talked to Sandhya, we watched the OGLs at work for a bit, then had dinner at S11. Altogether a rather enjoyable day (:
On Friday, choreographed with Amy again, and we’re making good progress! Really proud of us, yay! (: Even though we’re thoroughly sick of the song and the CD player is wacky and sometimes we’re uninspired and helpless, working with Amy’s always fun and full of laughs. <3 to Amy!
We dismissed ourselves early because we were hungry. Haha. Rushed home and augmented [look! Cheem word from the SATs vocab list!] some frozen pizza with tomatoes, cheese and some spices. Yum yum. Walked across the road from my house to meet Justin one last time before he left, for a picnic at Peirce Reservoir.
As you can see, we bought more food [the cute pink polkadotty thing is Jap food] and some of our favourite childhood snacks [5 bags for $4 only!] and drinks, and I do believe we severely overdid it, because we both went home with bags of food in the end.
Eating the delicious pizza with chopsticks, because I didn’t want to use my hands:
Armed with a digicam, who can resist making idiotic faces? Man, we’re always taking the awfullest photos ever! But it’s fun. I mean, how exciting can it be to have photoalbums filled with you smiling in exactly the same way every time? It’s cool to look ugly sometimes lah. [Hehehe ok that’s just an excuse.]
Haha! Well, the scenery was gorgeous, the weather was sunny but breezy and cool, the laplaplapping of the water was peacefully therapeutic, and of course, the company was lovely.
We walked back to the bus stop outside my place after that ...
Missed a few buses accidentally-on-purpose ...
One last hug, one last kiss, one last watery smile ...
And then he went up the bus and disappeared round the corner.
):
Oh well. Tomorrow’s the long-awaited one-day shopping trip to JB with the girls of the family, ie Mumsies and Elisa! I’m a bit doubtful about the variety and the quality of the stuff there though.
Good quality, pretty, mildly expensive > lousy quality, icky-looking, dirt cheap.
We’ll see, I guess! I’m pretty sad I’m missing Chingay prac though, haven’t practised with Just in ages! Planned the trip a long time ago, and Mummy’s not free on any other day. Sigh.
Still looking forward to the shopping, though. (: Let’s hope it’ll be fruitful!
Part 3
Yes yes, I know about the photos of Justin and myself on some guy’s blog ... it was a furious Glen who informed Justin some days ago. Haha! A tad voyeuristic and rude, sneakily taking photos of people you don’t even know and putting them up on your blog, don’t you think?
But can’t really blame him lah, some Singaporeans still think holding hands, hugging or kissing is eewwwww GROSSSS. Looking at the amount of making out and intimate scenes filling TV screens and movies on a daily basis, it’s a wonder people aren’t used to it already. I mean, groping here and there, salivating all over your significant other’s face, and orgasmic groans and sighs really shouldn’t be done in public, eek, but seeing couples obviously in love with each other is quite sweet.
If we were in, say, Spain, where heavy petting is deemed “normal” in parks and such, this will be an entirely different story. Hehe. But let’s not delve deeper into that.
And this incident brings to mind XY’s SMS some time ago, which shall remain known to only the 2 of us. Tell me if you do find out dear, I’ld love to know ;)
And just in case the blog owner comes across this: I’m not putting you down in any way alright? It would have been nice if you had kept the photos to yourself though, I don’t really appreciate my photo being put up on a stranger’s blog without my knowledge, but hey, it’s up to you I guess! And perhaps we’ll meet in school some day, haha :D
Started planning out my Christmas cards and Christmas gifts today! I’m not that wealthy, so I won’t be able to afford extravagant gifts for everybody, but I’ll try my best to give all my friends a little something when school reopens. Because giving makes people happy, and making people happy makes me happy, yay.
It just struck me that I won’t be in Singapore for the week before Christmas, as well as for Christmas itself! So how am I to get the cards delivered on time? HMM. I guess I better start working on them done soon, before I leave, because it’s better for them to arrive a week early, rather than a few days late. Uh oh.
I’ve been sending out Christmas cards every year, and I wonder who has got the most consecutive number of cards from me, haha! I still remember most of them, from the ones I sent out during my younger, more creative days where I made the cards from scratch [hey, they were pretty and glittery, ok], to the more recent ones I purchased [they were pretty and sparkly!], to last year’s silvery ones sent out from Canada with pressed maple leaves. Mm I’m a sucker for anything sparkly and glittery and cute.
Oh my goodness, I’m blogging way too much! I’ve updated 3 times today, whoops! And I’m rambling and rambling and rambling away. Seriously, the inane ramblings that flow from my fingertips when my mind wanders just astounds me.
I’m in a pretty good mood, that’s why I’m so chirp chirp chirpy! I think it’s the endorphins released from exercising. Of which I have been lacking! Nearly puked from overexertion + carsickness just now though. Hurhh – this paragraph is so out of point and random. Guess that’s just how my thoughts flow when I don’t bother to keep them in check.
Oh well. Since I’ll be gone the whole of tomorrow, I probably won’t be touching the computer so everyone can now heave a sigh of relief.
(:
Still missing you, though.
PS: In case you’re wondering why some words are in purple and some aren’t, it’s just an effort on my part to make the chunks of words more colourful teeheehee. And one of them is a link, because my links are always purple too.
6th Dec
The shopping ‘spree’ yesterday was exciting, no doubt, but wasn’t as much of a ‘spree’ as I had hoped it would be. Each of us only got a couple of items, including some for Daddy & Joel. I got a haircut too, but don’t expect me to look drastically different because I never do, haha!
We popped by my granny’s place in JB before going shopping ... they’re selling that house soon, and she’s moving in permanently with us, so I think that’ll be the first and the last time I’m ever going to see it. It was old and a bit musty, surprisingly spacious and quaint, but I’ll never want to live in a place like that. I need my comfort and prettiness and technology, thanks :P
The girls of the family, sitting on grandma’s couch! In comparison with Mumsies and Elisa, I look chocolatey brown! Eek.
Elisa and I went around exploring, and taking photos. Quite interesting lah, I’ve never really been to such an old house before.
1. Old larder for storing cutlery
2. Elisa discovers an unexpected sticker on the wall
3. Lovesick Evelyn, upon seeing colourful hanger-hearts
4. Antique sewing machine
Sisters!
And that’s my granny:
At about 10.30, we hopped into a cab and left for JB’s City Square, supposedly Singaporeans’ favourite place in JB to shop. Mainly because it’s in walking distance from the JC checkpoint I think, haha.
The 1st floor of the shopping mall was pretty normal, with quite a number of brands you can find in Singapore like Mango, Levi’s, even um Giordano and Baleno ... Nothing very interesting. The factory outlet was cool, but some clothes just looked too fake for words! But I think they do sell authentic factory surplus, I found a top my sister had bought in GAP when she was in Canada.
2nd floor got kinda trashy, and the 3rd floor and above looked rather Far East-y, all the ugly ah lian clothes. So ... It wasn’t all that great, but it was still fun looking for bargains and buying things on sale! My favourite purchases: Pierre Cardin undies (: You can find the same designs all around Singapore but they were slightly cheaper there, so yay!
I bought only 2 or 3 other things for myself apart from the underwear <3 but I do believe I could have uncovered more gems if only we had more time and I wasn’t so tired. Oh well, a few is better than nothing at all!
This is the view from the food court on the 5th level. Somehow Singapore just looks prettier, don’t you think?
My haircut was a much needed break for everyone. Mummy and Elisa went off to have high tea and to rest their feet while I spent a very shiok 45 min getting my head massaged and hair cut. Now my hair looks a lot shorter when in a ponytail [it’s tiny!] but quite normal when let down. And I can still French braid it, but with some difficulty. Quite pleased with the layers, I always try to get as much layering done as possible! Ohh by the way, the hairstylist asked me why my Chinese was so lousy, ahaha :P
Shopped some more after that, bought Auntie Annie’s at about half the price of the pretzels you can get in Singapore, and got home by 7. It’s really quite easy to get into and out of JB, next year I intend to drag some friends to go along with me! (: Tell me if you’re interested, it’ll be fun.
Total damage for the day was about RM 500 plus, including [surprisingly sucky] food and my haircut hehe. Which is very little if you think about it!
That’s the loot ... Not that you can see anything but yeah. Everyone in the family got a little something (:
When we got back,
Me: Daddy, we bought something for you! Guess what?
Daddy: A work shirt, or underwear.
Me: HAHA -bingo-, we got you underwear.
We’re getting too predictable I think.
I still need to shop though. Somebody rich please befriend me and take me out now, thankyouverymuch!
8th Dec
It's not everyday a girl gets flowers from a friend ... Pretty, aren't they? They're real, and I didn't even photoshop them, haha!
Thanks dude (:
Will update more later!
[edit 10.48 am] Being the early bird that I am, I reached school at 8.50.
Maddy SMSed at 9 (when we were supposed to meet) to say she just woke up.
Listened to Amy's and my 'favourite' song about 5 times on repeat, wondering why Amy wasn't turning up.
Called Amy at 9.20 to find out I just woke her up and she thought we were meeting tomorrow. Since she lives 1 hour away from school, it was too late for her to turn up.
Listened to the 'favourite' song about 10 more times on repeat, trying to choreograph in my mind, wondering why Maddy wasn't turning up.
Called Maddy near 10 to discover she was at her house bus stop and would take half an hour to arrive. Cancelled today's meeting and went home, lugging the CD player along with me.
To conclude: I was pang sehed!!
Haha you guys ahr ... Next time we better plan to meet in the evenings instead :P
[/edit]
Perhaps going to swim a couple of laps later, and if I do, I'll drag Elisa along and challenge her to (a few?) games of pool, since I became an expert after yesterday's "coaching" by Emerson, haha! And after all, the staff billiards room at my dad's work place is free of charge, and right next to the swimming pools too, whee (:
Part 2
Folks, this is what you call an arabesque:
Hearing it being pronounced as “Arab’s kueh” has got to be the funniest thing I’ve heard in a while XD
[My goodness, she’s so thin and hyperextended and LONG and her hips are so squared and she’s so poised and so perfect ... AHHH.]
Part 3
Met up with Emerson yesterday ... Because he was despicably late, well not really but, he got me flowers! Aww so nice (: I’m also not sure why he did because he wasn’t exactly late, but um -shrug- flowers are flowers so yay! Thanks Emerson!
Well, to dispel any dubious thoughts even before any surface, Emerson and I are just friends. Felt a bit HMM walking about with him and a bouquet in my hands though, goodness knows what some people might have thought.
Thank God for a loving understanding boyfriend who won’t ever doubt my intentions! (:
After a shopping failure [him: gift for a friend, me: shoes] he brought me to Meridian, and to my initial horror, led me into a billiards room. Before this, I had played pool only once, so I made a lot of terrible mistakes. The ultimate had to be completely missing the white ball when I tried to hit it with the cue.
But guess what. During the last game we played ... I won the game!!! Yes, this is the first time Emerson has ever lost to a girl, bwahaha. If he ever tries to persuade you that he let me win or that it’s beginner’s luck or whatever, don’t listen to him! Yay :D
I actually won a game before that but that one was because he let me try about 8 times to get the black ball in, before I finally did :P
1. I look pro
2. Emerson looks pro-er
3. I look silly
4. Emerson looks sillier
Walked to PS for a Crystal Jade lunch ... I was so full after that, even though Emerson ate about ¾ of everything. And seeing how we went dutch and paid $20 each, I conclude that Emerson got the better deal :P
Evidence: Small plate = my portion, large plate of noodles = his.
Sat at Starbucks, walked around, sat at BK, and talked and talked and talked. Quite enjoyable, I can’t think of any guy I suan more than him and vice versa. But we had some deep talks too, and subsequently came to the conclusion that he would make the worst boyfriend in the world [for someone like me] and vice versa. Haha. Not only because of the fact that we’re both in love with different people, obviously, but also because we disagree so vehemently on certain issues.
A lot of funny things happened along the way of course, like how we realised that on the escalator, even though I was a step above him, I was still shorter, so we tried to take a photo, but we reached the end of the escalator too soon, and I sank out of sight and didn’t appear in the photo in the end. Hahaha.
Our height disparity:
[Yeah, he isn’t tiptoeing, nor am I stooping.]
Being the gentleman he tried to be :P he sent me to the bus stop and I went home, while he took a TRISHAW and went back to CHIJMES, where he had a concert after that. The image of him in a trishaw is hilarious XD
Anyway thanks Emerson for the company ... I enjoyed myself (:
10th Dec
Please stop playing with my feelings. You've done this once too many times, or should I say, 3 times too many. I thought I could trust you, now I'm not sure anymore.
You could try to trick me into thinking I once promised you I would buy you a car for Christmas, or that your favourite colour is green, or that you just enrolled into gymnastics lessons, or other trivial and nonconsequential matters like that. We would just have a laugh over how gullible I am, but it will stop there.
Please stop kidding around with issues you know I hold close to my heart.
Please stop hurting me, and stop hurting our friendship.
:'(
[Edit 8.43 am]
It’s ok, I forgave you the moment you apologised ...
... but a part of me remains chipped, and that part of me twangs whenever I have to make a decision whether or not to trust your words again.
I’m not sure what to do anymore. Perhaps I’m just overreacting again.
[/edit]
11th Dec
Part 1
I’ve been feeling sluggish, sluggish, sluggish. But looking back, it always seems as though the entire day just whooshed by in a whirl of events. I know you can’t get more contradictory than that, but things don’t make sense sometimes.
Strange happenings and knotty issues unravelling themselves in front of my eyes. Everything that was puzzling becomes clear in an instant, yet new mysteries surface. A sigh of relief, but still, a gnawing worry nibbling on the corner of my mind.
Doubt, trust, hurt, forgiveness, trust, resentment, fatigue.
Yeah, in that order.
Man, I’m getting too dark and gloomy for my own good.
Well at least Justin comes back tomorrow night. I’ve really missed him. A lot.
Part 2
Sleeping at 3 plus and waking up around 8 two days in a row isn’t exactly doing wonders for my disposition.
It feels like The Return Of The Eyebags And Terrible Skin. And lethargy, of course. Yeah yeah, I prosper on sleep. I didn’t even have the energy today to extend my arm fully to reach the abalone on the other end of the table.
And to make things worse, my stomach’s acting funny these few days ... Anyone else suffers from post-menstrual cramps, or is it just me? Hm.
Perhaps it’s time to give myself a shake and snap out of it.
Yep yep.
Went for my ex-church’s (read carefully, EX-CHURCH not EX’S CHURCH :P) service today, first time in perhaps about 2 years! Met up with Bim, or is it Bo, we never figured that one out! “Bim and Bo”, that was what everyone used to call us. Those were the days, when the two of us always came as a pair.
We turned up for the J8 service for the first time ever, and so didn’t manage to meet many of our old friends, because they were all attending the “usual” youth services held in the church itself. Company was still good though, everyone was very friendly and welcoming, and some people even remembered us after 2 years of absence!
I’ve certainly missed Becky, although we’ve been out of touch for so long, the moment we met we pretty much clicked as if we meet each other everyday. From the looks of it, everyone was quite surprised when they found out we only contacted each other last night and suddenly decided to pay them a visit.
I still remember how we were always notoriously late, how we could even be late enough to miss the entire worship section, how we slaved over billions of Christmas cookies and were late for the Christmas party, how we would go out for lunch every week, how we were made to dress up and act as Dove girls, hence the Bim and Bo, how we sucked (and still suck) at choosing what food to buy, how we both can’t speak Chinese to save our lives ...
Mm yeah. I sure missed that girl.
On another note, after attending so many New Creation services, the Methodist customs all seemed a little foreign to me. The funny strappy neck thing that all Methodist pastors seem to wear, singing the Doxology, the slow and less contemporary worship songs ...
But the greatest difference lay in the preachings. Accustomed to the animated and hilarious Pastor Prince who strides around and preaches with nothing but a Bible in his hand, watching the Reverend stand before the pulpit reading from a script and flashing PPT presentations on the screen was quite a change for me. More importantly, the focus is rather different. The reason why I love NCC sermons so much is because of the depth, because of the way you learn so much more about God, and everything else comes naturally after that. As opposed to concentrating on what we should do as Christians, for example, “how to handle worry” (title of today’s sermon). It’s hard to explain, and I guess different types of preaching work for different people!
After lunch, mummy and daddy came to pick me up (ohh the luxury) and we dropped by Chan Brothers to make the final arrangements and payment for the Korea trip. I can’t wait for the skiing/snowboarding! That’s definitely going to be the highlight of the trip, at least for me.
Made a stop on the way back to get sports shoes. Ended up with 3 pairs, one for each of us, haha! Mine kinda make my feet look fluffy/fat, and aren’t anything out of the ordinary, but they’re purple (again!) and bluff me into feeling as though I could run faster or jump higher, if only I bothered to try.
And they’re purple, have I mentioned? (:
Business venture with my dear sister is proving to be very exciting. And slightly risky if it doesn’t work out. But I can’t wait to get started, and people like Emerson should stop poking fun at it.
That’s about all I have to say, the rest of my brain’s one big woolly mess. A good night’s sleep ought to sort it out nicely though.
My goodness, I just spelt “ought” as “ort”.
Yep. A good night’s sleep should do the trick.
12th Dec
Part 1
I had this horrible choking dream where Justin had to force me to down mild poison to benefit mankind in general (storyline resembled something Dumbledorish, like the ending of the Half-Blood Prince) and after that, he tried to get me to take vitamins and medicine and cod liver oil to offset the symptoms, but I stuffed so many pills in my mouth in a frenzy and they all started becoming soggy and disgusting, so much so that I gagged and really felt like throwing up in my dream.
-shudder-
On an entirely different note ... I just realised Christmas is 2 weeks away. Which explains the sudden festivity and joviality of my estate’s security guards, who have liberally decorated the lampposts, gates, railings and even the playground with Christmas baubles, tinsel, fake “snow” and poinsettias. Amazing, really.
The flowered, ribboned, baubled lampposts:
One of the playgrounds, and a close up:
So that’s where our monthly “miscellaneous funds” goes. What a waste, honestly!
I still haven’t bought my Christmas cards. Oh dear.
Being asked what I want for Christmas always traumatises me. I don’t understand how people can rattle off their “xmas wishlist”s just like that.
To be perfectly honest, there’s nothing I want more than love and friendship. So ... you can give me anything from an SMS to a new condominium or whatever, and I would be equally grateful if I can tell you care about me enough to bother making me happy.
I know that sounds cheesy and ‘model answer’-ish but that’s just how I feel.
Oh but I can tell you my Christmas Non-Wishlist:
1. Anything ornamental but useless (like stuffed toys, unless they have a deeper meaning)
2. Anything too expensive
And yeah that’s about it. (:
Part 2
The past 2 days have been pretty family-outing-ish. Out with the parents on Sunday as previously mentioned, family dinner, and out today with Daddums! Cool eh?
Initially, I wanted to follow my dad to J8 to get some Christmas cards since he had to drop by there to buy something. So I grabbed my wallet and left the house wearing what I went to bed in last night [ie FBTs and a gym shirt]. In the end, we came home some 2 hours later, carrying more than 10 plastic bags in our hands, haha!
In addition to the Christmas cards and a few secret Christmassy things I bought, my dad got me a nice thick stack of CDRs, more contact lens solution, a 1 GB memory stick, and his own stuff like electronics thingies, an assortment of pastries for breakfast, a handful of new work shirts, contact lenses, etc.
It’s lovely how Daddies can peel off those gorgeous blue 50 dollar bills and shove them into your hand with the same ease with which I peel off my $2 notes and spend them. Haha!
Daddy: Ok can we have a 512 kb memory stick please?
Salespersons: -trots off to get it-
Daddy: Hm actually the 1 GB stick is only $60 more ... Wait sorry! I want a 1 GB stick please.
Easy peasy.
In addition to the unlimited supply of money, and the transport to and fro, of course it’s fun to spend time with your Daddums! (: I realised Daddy’s really quite hip, like when he was looking around for black work pants,
Daddy: These are quite cute, but the material’s a bit fuzzy ...
Me: -pause- Did you just call the pants ‘cute’??
Daddy: Yeah ... aren’t they?
Haha! And when I was deciding between different CDRs to get [there were croc and giraffe and and cheetah and ostrich designs] he told me to get the ostrich ones because they looked the most benign. Hehehe. [I got the plain ones in the end though.]
We shocked Mummy when we walked back into the house laden down with our plastic bags, because she didn’t think we were going to buy much at all.
Yay I love my Daddums. Teeheehee <3
14th Dec
Random selection of photos I found in my camera!
When my sister and I played pool using a snooker table some time back ... well, being the shortie I am, I had to resort to extreme positions to attempt to get the balls in. As shown below. (It’s not technically allowed in the game, but what the heck :P)
Funky dinner the other day ... we baked pork and apples! Recipe from Jamie Oliver. It was really cool, watching the apples sizzle and produce apple juice, which flowed around the meat and turned into sauce.
I finally got to meet the boyfriend for the first time in 12 days yesterday after he had training! I was so excited my heart was going bangbangbangBANG when I knew I was only a few minutes away from him (: We went to Sushi Tei for dinner ... Sushi whizzing by!
We ordered our favourite, unagi! Yum yum yum yum yum (: [The neon yellow strips are nasty though.]
Thanks for dinner! <3
Today, I went out him again! Yay ... Bought some Christmas presents for various people ... they’re all rather small and not too extravagant, but I hope they’ll like them anyway! Some time in the day, the model agency called us up and tried to get us to go down for interviews but we couldn’t be bothered :P Many of those things are scams anyway! One day when I’m less lazy I might say okay and see what happens, perhaps, haha!
Anyway, the boyfriend bought me the coolest earrings ever from Australia! They’re twisty and you have to ‘drill’ them into your earhole, haha! He was telling me the chemistry behind the colours (something to do with oxidation) ... I didn’t understand anything he said but nevermind YAY they’ve got a very pretty gradient of gold pink and purple! :D
And here’s what they look like worn ...
Thank you thank you thank you! <3
15th Dec
Writing Christmas cards is making my hand cramp. But hooray, I’m nearly halfway through! I’m going to get them all done and posted by the 18th, because I’m leaving for Korea on the 19th and will only be back by the 26th. So if you receive a Christmas card from me absurdly early, you know the reason why!
I don’t think I’m going to write many this year, due to a lack of time and unforgivable laziness. So sorry to the rest of my friends, don’t think I forgot you because I didn’t! (:
[edit 6.45 pm]
I’m done with all but four cards! Putting thought into every card and finding something personal and sincere to say is quite time-consuming. And in the end, it all sounds very clichéd ... but what to do, it’s what I want to say, and I’m not that creative :P
Trying to be resourceful and find sneaky ways to ask people for their addresses isn’t working well.
Hope you guys like the cards anyway! <3
[/edit]
I’ll be spending Christmas overseas for the second year running. A white Christmas – beautiful, no doubt, but it’s just not the same.
I’ve almost forgotten the excitement of attending charming Christmas church services and welcoming Christmas parties, the carolling on the streets (yes, I’ve carolled!), the flurry of gift exchanges and well wishes, the little mismatched Christmas tree sitting in the corner of our living room, the honey baked ham with pineapples and lovely array of Christmas delights, the love and warmth in the air on this special day when a very special baby was born.
I’ll miss everyone.
I’ll be completely uncontactable as well (unless the hotels have internet access) because our handphones don’t work in Korea. Hmm. We’ll see if I’m able to blog there, haha!
I’ve got a sample of the “Evelyn Rose” fragrance (from Crabtree & Evelyn) in my bag, and every time I open up the bag I am bathed in the lovely sweet flowery scent. Mmmm. And I’m not just being partial because it contains my name!
But my J’adore and FCUK perfumes are still more than half full, so no buying new scents for me yet, or it’ll be quite a waste I think. Boohoo.
Why the heck does our class list not include mailing addresses on it?! And why don’t I have the dance contact list? Annoying annoying. This makes my life a few notches more problematic, sigh. My plans to send surprise Christmas cards out are pretty much ruined, haha!
Bleughhh.
MUCH LOVE TO XY! <3 You’re too sweet, for remembering my Korea trip and for remembering me! Hehe (: I loved it! [And yes yes we’ll make full use hahaha]
The calendar quote’s stuck up on my desk! If I could tell you what it meant, there would be no point in dancing it.
And the beautiful postcards to “post all over (my) blog” in her words ...
Dog with condom on tail, cat playing with balloon condom, hamster crawling in condom. Brilliant :D
18th Dec
Flying for Korea tomorrow! How exciting! (:
I’m going to miss everyone ... and if you’re reading this, and thinking “aww she’s so not referring to me” don’t be too sure, really! I’ll miss you guys.
And just so you don’t miss me, here are some photos from the ‘mini-photoshoot’ I mentioned previously! Enjoy, and I’ll be back on the 26th!
MERRY CHRISTMAS to everyone in advance!
<3!
29th Dec
A quick update on the first and second days I spent in Korea! (:
Our very first meal was pork roasted on a hot plate, wrapped in fresh leaves together with some seasonings.
First stop: Outdoors museum, where we looked at ancient Korean ways of living ... my family didn't exactly understand what our tour guide was saying the whole time so we pretty much wandered around by ourselves. It wasn't too exciting, really. My sister and I amused ourselves with imitating the stone statues around the area. (Any idea what they symbolise? We saw these statues everywhere in Jeju!) Wow, do you see the likeness??
We climbed to the peak of this mountain! Actually, Elisa and Mummy gave up halfway. Haha. Very pretty scenery, and the incline was pretty gentle! Easier than climbing the Great Wall I believe.
Next stop: Orange orchard! We each got to pick a few oranges (: Look, a heart shaped design made from the oranges! One perculiar thing - there were fake oranges and real oranges on the branches. Hmm. Spot the fake orange in the 2nd photo, haha! And for the life of me I can't figure out if the insect in the 2nd photo is real or not. If it's real, that's a mighty gross insect, ew.
Plucking an orange for myself (:
4 wheel motorcycle thing that we did! We were dressed up army style, and each got a vehicle to ourselves. Bumped over the rough terrain and had a load of fun :D The 2nd photo is of daddy on his vehicle! He went in the 1st group, namely the men's group haha. They all went hurtling off first :P
A typical Korean meal: Steamboat. After we had dinner here there was a huge snow storm ... Our guide went to take a peek outside to see if it was safe for us to run to our bus, so she bravely stepped out of the door ... 2 seconds later she came flying back in because the wind was so strong that it blew her back! I had thought things like that only happened in overexaggerated TV shows, haha.
In our hotel for that night: The coolest toilet bowl ever. It had a heated cover (really nice when your bum's all cold from the temperatures outside haha) and if you press the right buttons warm water and soap will come spraying out at your butt. COOL I want one of those at home!!
Breakfast at the hotel. And the significance of this photo is that it's the first family photo we took, haha! Ignore the poor quality, I had to balance the camera on a plate of serviettes and use the timer. By the way, my brother didn't come with us to Korea because he ran out of leave. Haha.
The Mysterious Road! Trust me Cerise I was as awed as you hehe! And thanks Bryan for enlightening me on how it worked :P But even in this photo, the road looks as if it's inclined upwards, but the engine was off and we appeared to be climbing up the slope! Very cool (:
We got out to play in the snow! Nice nice (: But we were frozen stiff after that.
We went to see the Dragon's Head Rock after that ... but the wind was too strong and I got blown off course and was too scared to make my way there again. Didn't get to see the rock itself but I got to see the hugest waves EVER. Quite magnificent but scary at the same time!
Lunch by the ocean and then off to the airport to see if we could catch our flight to Seoul. Unfortunately ALL the flights were cancelled due to the terrible weather (snow and strong wind)! So we were stranded in Jeju Island for one more day. Boohoo.
To pass the time, the guide took us to an underground shopping mall. To be honest, it looked like Far East Plaza gone crazy. Ew. Everything looked very ah lian-ish, and besides it was all winter clothes. Quite boring honestly.
We walked out of the mall after a few hours and were greeted by a heavy storm! Daddy and mummy look windswept, hehe!
After that, we returned to the hotel (the one with the funky toilet bowl) and bummed around. Will continue another day (:
30th Dec
Part 1
The new batch of J1s are coming in soon. And the majority of them will be from Raffles schools, how repulsive!
RP creates such an elitist environment, and the poor kids won’t get to experience for themselves the wonderful diversity of all the different school cultures blending into one. Guess they’ll have to endure another 2 years of seeing the same old faces. Sure, it’s great to have your existing friends around you but surely it’s more enriching to interact with new people?
Oh well, I shouldn’t say so much or the government will come after me and I’ll be put into jail.
Welcome, to all the new J1s, enjoy yourselves during Orientation, trust me when I say it’ll be one of the most enjoyable times in your JC life.
Anyway, that aside ... presenting ...
Korea, Day 2, 3 and 4!
To continue where I last left off, we went for dinner and were hit by the biggest snow storm ever. When we opened the restaurant door trails of snow started gushing in! The wind was howling and blowing the snow around in spirals and all sorts of directions, and we couldn’t quite see past a few metres.
That night, when everyone else on our tour group camped inside their warm, safe rooms, my crazy family decided to brave the storm and risk our lives.
So, we bundled up in 4 layers of clothing, together with ski gloves and hats and scarves etc, and stepped out with our primary aim being to walk across the road to the minimart to get some snacks! What courage!
After an arduous journey, and being stuck momentarily in the middle of a road with cars honking at us from all directions, we finally skidded our way into the “minimart” only to discover it wasn’t a minimart. It was a hardware shop selling cool toilet bowls (as mentioned previously), washing machines, etc.
Sigh.
The next morning, we woke up really early and went out to have a breakfast of abalone porridge (supposedly). Unfortunately the breakfast reminded me very much of prison food, grey gruel and all, ewh.
We discovered our flight had been cancelled yet again, so we trooped back to our hotel room to pass the time, while our dear tour guide went to the airport by herself to try and get us a flight later on in the day. When we went back to our rooms, we found out the cleaners half-cleaned the room and left midway, so we had to sleep on beds without sheets!
We got really excited when the sun peeped out at us for the first time in ages, because it meant we could finally leave Jeju ...
... Only to witness heavy snowfall about 5 minutes later ):
And this happened a few times in a row. Erratic weather! After bumming around for ages, our tour guide finally called us up and we quickly trooped off to the airport to await our flight (: And this is the most crowded airport I have ever seen. I guess everyone was sick of been trapped in Jeju island! We settled down against a pillar and waited and waited for hours. Mind-numbingly boring.
But thank God, we finally managed to get a plane to Seoul! I know some tour groups were stranded in Jeju for another day. We had a typical dinner again (the only vague difference in this one is that it had a few dumplings) but we were all ecstatic to be out of Jeju (:
After dinner, we embarked on a long bus ride to the ski resort. The bus driver put in a DVD of the famous Korean serial (the one with a lot of cooking) but I can’t remember the title. Hehe. We finally arrived at the resort after 3 plus hours! Quite a pretty resort, there was a real fire with logs burning in the middle of the lobby, and a snowman on a bench which I greatly resembled in my opinion (red hat, round, etc)!
Oh yes, they had really cute staff because all of them adorned fluffy animal hats! This one’s wearing a bear hat, and there were some wearing pink furry rabbit hats. So adorable (:
The next morning, the temperature was a nice warm negative 10 degrees (no I’m not being sarcastic, we were all delighted to see it wasn’t the - 20 degrees our tour guide warned us about)! Breakfasted and then went for a cable car ride to the top of the mountain. The scenery was great (everything was white and frosty) but watching skiers and snowboarders tumble down the slopes was slightly disturbing.
And dendendenDEN ... it was skiing/snowboarding next! :D :D :D
BUT. I shall leave that for another update, because my homework is beckoning and my conscience is yelling at me to go get it done. Haha.
Sorry for the anticlimax :P But here’s a taster: all of us in our ski suits! (Nope, we didn’t choose the colours ourselves.)
<3
Part 2
The world forgetting, by the world forgot.
Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!
Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd ...
For reasons few know, this beautiful poem (though I don’t deny I don’t understand it fully) never fails to bring back a flood of memories.
Harsh memories of a childhood friendship that blossomed into something more, that died down and blossomed again, that was beautiful for an instant but rose way too high and crashed down again into less than nothing. And now it’s merely an emptiness, and a touch of shame, sometimes.
Forgiven, but never forgotten. Healed, but scarred.
I think I’ve said too much. It’s something of the past I don’t like to dig up, something I try to keep buried under layers of time ... and I don’t know why I’m dwelling on it now. I’ve been too moody the past few days.