*662 - ubin

First week of school is over; it was a long one. 7 (physical) dance classes a week, and by (physical) I mean the ones which require you to move around, as compared to the "Music and Choreography" class which is mostly talking and just a teeensy bit of actual dancing.

And it's going to increase because Pandora hasn't begun yet, and Meredith's rehearsals begin next week, and I don't know if I want to choreograph for either Pandora or the Schwartz show or both.

-

I love the siblings. It's only recently that we've started doing the whole sibling thing again. Sis and I have always been doing the sister thing, so it's nice to have the brother too. Back in Singapore: cycling at Ubin. Let my front down and, at one point, whispered to the brother that I was "tired," which he rightly interpreted as "OMGasdfasdflkhaf I CANNOT CONTINUE FOR THE LIFE OF ME!!!!" and so he picked an easy trail that ended up at the same place the others were heading and went that way with me. So we sloshed through muddy puddles and huffpuffed up slopes, with the brother constantly looking back and checking on me.

Just thought that was sweet.

Berns tackling the slope labeled "No Entry"


When we got to the top of the No Entry slope


All eight of us!
(Except for the random dude perched next to the bro, who actually fit in to the picture very nicely)


Nuf & I on sandy, sunny, sweaty trails


Doncha mess wid me and ma bike, yo


Aerial view of stranger, sis, Berns, me
(in the Chek Jawa area, I think)

*661 - streets of heaven

It's not been an easy few days. (And I'm not talking about the 34 hour ordeal of travelling from Singapore to Ithaca, or the painful reality of turning purple from -20 C cold.)

First, Popo's funeral; I wish I had been there for mummy. I don't think I've ever felt the type of pain she is going through now. My heart breaks a little for her. Poor mummy :( I hope she will feel better soon.

Then, mummy's cellgroup member's mum also passed away on the same day. And the little boy in the papers who died after playing badminton turned out to be J's colleague's little boy. And mummy/daddy's church friend passed away too.

Then, I heard news about Joshua. I couldn't make it for the wake because I was midair between Singapore and New York. I can't believe it. He was part of the best Spring Break ever. Whooshing down the insanely beautiful slopes. Hairstyling sessions and going out in public with crazy hair. Photoshoots in the bathtub. Oh-ya-peh-ya-SOM-ing for bed arrangements. Vulgar orange peel. All 4 of us falling asleep (very gay) on one bed. A lot of this sounds promiscuous but isn't, haha. He was happy then, I'm sure. Why why why did this happen.

Why why why did all of this happen.

Death has always been such a remote concept to me (thank God for that).

I hope all these people are in a better place now. God, protect my friends and family.

*660 - popo

One of the worst feelings has to be when your body shuts down slowly, bit by bit, but your mind doesn't.

Your body becomes as helpless as it once used to be (having to be carried and fed and bathed and have your bottom wiped), but your mind's been through almost 90 years worth of life and it doesn't seem quite fair that somewhere along the road, your body decides to stop listening and give up.

Popo's up in heaven now. Three years of suffering finally at an end. You can tell by her face that she was gentle and kind and lovely. She wore sarongs, had cute blue eyebrows, snored like a marching band, always made the effort to talk to me with little bits of English, and looked like she was smiling even when she wasn't.

My last memory of her was when we (the family sans brother) were visiting her in the nursing home in Malaysia, and my brother called and talked to her, and she asked about his girlfriend, and told him to marry soon, and said that even though she can't walk anymore, she would crawl the distance it would take to be at his wedding.

I'm sure Popo's happy now. Pain-free and smiling her cute little smile. We'll see her one day in heaven.



The family's leaving this afternoon for Malaysia to attend the funeral. I can't because I have to go back to school. I guess this means that I'll bawl a little bit less at the airport, since they won't be there. Or maybe a little more, because.

*659 - simple math

I'm leaving for Ithaca in, what, three days. Too soon.

But being home can be strange, the type of strange that borders on uncomfortable. People who matter; people who care: awkwardly on the decline. When you're living mutually exclusive lives for the most part, it takes a bit more effort to push at the circles till they overlap again.

*658 - 2009

Off to Taipei tomorrow morning. Will be back on the 6th. Itinerary unplanned, but with 2 Taipei guidebooks in tow, I expect we'll be fine.

A few highlights of the past week:
cycling at Ubin and chilli & black pepper crab,
sisterly love and photoshoots at construction sites,
sashimi paradise, ignorant waiters, and mango beer,
new abhorrence of shopping and rack-rummaging crowds,
surprisingly delicious fish and chocolate fondue at Dempsey,
homemade apple cinnamon rolls and mummy's cooking,
Holland V and missing out on xiaolongbao (boo),
fireworks on New Year's and too much beer,
Kenshin marathons and Richard Bach,
a lot of bumming and a lot of loving.

One of my favourite of the series


Reflections on the past year and resolutions for the new one are a tad too symbolic for (cynical) me to bother much with. Today's the first day of 2009, but it's just another day with an important caption.

That said, 2008 was a year of surprise and change, just the way every year has been, and just the way I want every year to be. When the peaks and furrows start flattening out into a horizontal line (y = 0) on the graph, life might be comfortable but a monotone in fuzzy shades of grey, which isn't what life! really! fundamentally! means!

I believe 2009 will be blessed :) With God, with love, with opportunites, with experiences, with all the little frills and thrills that make life worth living.