ting:

because today is a special day, i'm gonna snap out of my weird mood swings and make this a really really happy entry.

and why is today so special? :):):) because God had me in mind 22 years ago. 22 years ago, He created this absolutely beautiful human being, crossed our paths 6 years back and made us inseparable ever since. this gorgeous girl, who is flying off to barcelona later tonight (wahhhhh! take me along with you! anything/anywhere to get away from this 30% assignment!), who i'm not even sure will get to read this before her flight.

but nevermind, there's always after she gets back. :)

so why is this particular creation of God so special?

she is so special, because she is one of my bestest and closest friends. one who knows me so well we don't need a conversation to be intuned with the ongoings in each others' lives.


one who will play the silliest games with me, and provide us with heaps of fun in the process.

she's one who is capable of putting a smile on my face when i least expect it, lights up my life with the simplest of simple gestures - an sms, an email, a nudge on msn, a phone call. she's my listening ear, my shoulder for comfort, my "laughing wand".


i love her flair for the dramatic, her ability to make something mundane seem exciting.

i love how she jumps to the funniest of conclusions, her look of pure indignance when i undermine myself, how she fell (despite the fact her inner voice was telling her not to) for the imaginery holiday destination pei and i made up. i love her random suggestions and her "dolphins are fish" theory.


i love how she doesn't say no to my suggestions, how she is capable of laughing at herself, how she puts the needs of others first.

i admire her so incredibly much for her willingness to go the extra mile for the people around her, how she would drop everything when someone in need calls. how she gives nothing less than her best in everything she does, how she is able to still look on the bright side in the bleakest of situations.

i love her sensitivity, the way she sees through the mask i have on, how her emails appear in my inbox the exact moment i need them. i love how i can confide in her without fear my life and problems will become the talk of the town the next day, i love how she'll always be for me irregardless of how bad the mess is.


i love how pei and her would make me feel welcome everytime i go back to singapore, and all our outings simply erase the time spent apart. i love how (other than pei, neela, mel and zu of coz), she's my favourite nyjcian.


i love how, in order to make an event/occasion special, she takes the extra effort and time to make it as perfect as it can get. i love how she tries bridging the gap time creates.

and more than anything, i thank you for all the times i see your name in my inbox. for your rock solid support in the most volatile season of my life - now. you are the reason why i want to be a better friend and a better person, and i only hope i am half as good a friend as you are to me.

God certainly knew what He was doing 22 years ago.

happy blessed birthday sweets. i love you to the moon and back and yet somemore. :)

ting:

i'd just like to apologise for being so volatile lately. even i don't know what's wrong with me. but yeah, this isn't particularly directed at anyone.. just some random thoughts i was mulling over today. so don't read on if you think you're at risk of being offended.

just something that was on my mind.

there's a group of people who you know cares for you and is geniunely concerned about you. they needn't even open their mouths to tell you they care, you know because they're the first to leap to your support/aid should you need them. you don't even need to ask.

and then, there's this other group of people who, try as they might to convince you, you are still dubious of their love/concern/care.

for love unexpressed is not love at all.

i do hope i belong to that first group.

and it's funny how the subject of love keeps coming up this 40 days.

you really have no idea how your words/attitude/behaviour have an impact on those around you, those you claim to "care about". for long after those words have been said, attitudes and behaviour delivered, the effects still linger.

and how is it like to start your day being on the receiving end of something positive, instead of something designed to hurt?

what if you see a friend whom you haven't seen in awhile and the first thing out of your mouth is something tending towards the negative end? you may have said it in jest, but what about the person who is already hurting, who really didn't need to get further eroded by your comments? and what more if encountering you was the first human interaction the person had all day?

what if?

i want to love and to be geniune about it. but first, i just need to find myself again.

i need a break from this world. and more importantly, from the people around me. just for now.

so, if you do see me around for now, i apologise should i be keeping my distance. and i hope you'd do likewise and give me space.

ting:

taking a break from my case study.

God is good. :) i was initially struggling with the lack of motivation and determination. listlessly staring at my case study which is due tomorrow and which, up to an hour ago, i could not understand (not after two days' worth of staring and re-staring at it).

but all i have to do really, is to just commit everything to Him. to fully surrender and let Him take over.

and just like that, He renewed me. gave me strength and newfound determination. it's like the sun just came up. looking at my case study now.. it's like reading and understanding it fully for the first time. :) praise God!

and i love the song "hosanna". everytime i listen to it, He moves me.

"heal my heart and make it clean
open up my eyes to the things unseen
show me how to love like You have loved me
break my heart for what breaks Yours
everything i am for Your kingdom's cause
as i walk from earth into eternity"

it's my heart's desire. and even more so, i desire to love Him more and get to know Him more each and every day. :)

ps: neela, i finally commented. go check your blog. :) (it's a reply to your latest post though.. and not the "happy national day" one.)

Hui:

end of exams! nvm abt e fact tt e database paper was a disaster. i think should be able to pass bah.. hahah.. so now... booo, work on monday again. damn sian. need to reach earlier somemore.

did lunch at sakae sushi @ bugis with 2 of my classmates. after which 1 of them left for work (afternoon shift) and we went shopping. haiz.. did onli window shopping in e end.. cant believe i din buy anything today when i had actually went to bugis, suntec and marina square.

jus as i was walking from marina square to city hall mrt station to meet kelen (and mei, but she onli meet us at amk instead), i hurt my little toe. kaoz pain sia.

e skin came off (but still got abit attached to e skin). all cos of one bloody bitch. she open e door (e door along city link which leads to e escalator up to marina square) din notice that i was still around e door area and she bloody hell pushed e door so hard that e side of e door scraped off e skin of my left little toe. nv apologised somemore lor! BITCH. i din noe it was bleeding at first. i tot at most blueblack onli lor.. so i continued walking. after after a few steps i bth sia. damn pain. so i stopped and looked at my poor toe. kaoz. part of e skin was peeling off and it was bleeding. my classmate got freaked out and ordered me to go wash it and offered me plaster. lucky she got plaster sia. i then went to e guardian shop in city link to get plasters.

finally, ok maybe not finally, cos kelen was jus behind me when i bid goodbye to go classmate. haha.. i told him abt my toe, and he was like "how come u bought 2 pkts of plasters but u nv buy cotton bud and iodine?". hmm.. hahaha i aso dunno y.. anyway we went back to amk where we bought those stuffs. da bao-ed mac and went to the block beside amk hub to wait for mei.. and aso to put iodine on e wound. wah lao, e iodine is power sia. it's onli a small amt on e wound lor.. i din managed to "flip" e skin up and put iodine there.. cos it's like "glued" to my flesh liao. haha..

FINALLY mei arrived.. tok kok abit, then went back.. kelen followed us cos i needed to go home and really wash e wound, and mei has something to pass to him. and aso, we were thinking if we should go k, which we decided not to go.. cos its freaking $32 per person. wah kaoz. so in e end, e 3 of us talk kok at e playground (e one near my block) from 930pm till 2am. din noe we are so good at toking kok sia. hahaha.. joked and complained a lot a lot.

haiz. dun wan to go work on monday lehhhh... =(

ting:

after listening to leon tell me about all of ebay's hidden costs, i am now wondering if it's worth the effort, selling the phone. maybe i should just use it. ughhhhh decisions decisions.

in other news, we sent jon off to london tonight. sighhh lucky brat. 3 weeks worth of european sunshine, while the rest of us have to suffer with midsems and assignments here. was trying to talk him into letting me go on his behalf but he wouldn't budge. bleurgh.

so we had dinner, or the "last supper" as they prefer to call it. it was at some sze chuan (did i get the spelling right?) place and by golly, was it spicy! let's just say it would be pei and adel's idea of heaven.



just look at the amount of chilli oil and seeds would you? all the dishes were about the same, so everyone was panting and sweating their way through dinner. though i remembered what adel said about worsening the burning on your tongue should you drink water, so i was just stuffing my face with all the carbs i could lay hands on. was pretty proud of myself when i only got through one and the half glasses of water and one teeny weeny cup of tea. :) plus how everyone was flushed in various shades of red after they were done eating, but i remained normal (according to jo). whee! =D




all the various level of spiciness. the ma po toufu (in the dish that was practically licked clean) was really good though!

sent him off to the airport after dinner (and a quick trip back to his place). also forced him to take my 1gb SD card because hello? who on earth can survive on 512mb for 3 weeks? plus the fact i plain REFUSE to let him come back with only 200 photos. it's EUROPE he's going to for heaven's sake!

so all our group shots are now on their way to london (because my camera became SD-cardless and he was doing all the taking). he is apparently gonna help jo and myself find hot european boyfriends. haha.. that should be interesting. i'd love to see what he comes back with. =p

since we had the car, we swung by fitzroy for dessert after. death by chocolate isn't as hardcore as i expected.. i think the chocolate lava cake adel had at TCC all those years back was heaps better.

in other other news, i have 3 forms of assessment due next week. yucks. will attempt to go on a virtual world hiatus and get some work done. so do kick me if i blog before the 31st.

ting:

this is to end the "trilogy" of my phone uncertainty.

so yes, i headed down to optus again, and yes, i made a decision (after consulting every single person i crossed paths with today).



i got the w880i. in flame black. it was the only black one in the store.

it's sitting happy and contented beside my laptop now, trying it's hardest to seduce me but.........................................................

sigh. i dunno! it looks too much like a toy/remote control! with ridiculously tiny buttons!

and i checked out ebay. phewwwwww. here are some of the on-going bids for the w880i now:

$414.87 with 24minutes remaining.
$459 with 20 hours remaining.
$459 with 2 days remaining.
$459 with 2 days, 20hours remaining.

ahhhhh! this is good money man!

so i can:

1. sell the phone, get the cash and go on a trip.
2. sell the phone, get the cash and get a phone i actually want.
3. keep the phone and use it. *wrinkles nose*

options 1 or 2 looks more enticing. so now, i think i need someone with an ebay account. anyone? *hopeful look*

ting:

sigh. i cannot decide which phone to get!!!



there is obviously the samsung u700, but my complain is that it's too shiny. and it has no colour whatsoever (ok ira, don't kill me! different people have different tastes!). plus, fingerprints will be a real pain. read the reviews and apparently, the interface isn't too great, plus there were problems of the keypad being overly sensitive. memory space isn't fantastic as well, battery life is average.

my reason for getting it: i've never owned a slide phone before. plus samsung's functions aren't all that difficult to get used to.



the other option is the W880i. users were pretty split on whether this phone is good or rubbish (no complaints about music quality, but i have my mp3 player/laptop for that. heaps of complaints about the camera, but i have my beloved s8 for that as well). the main problem is the impossibly small keypad (when i saw it in the shop today, i thought "what the heck??".), but battery life is awesome apparently. interface and memory space are a plus as well, though some said their phones "crashed" (and they were all UK users. must have been a problem with the batch of phones sent to the UK), others said their phones never died on them at all.

my reason for getting it: i've always wanted a SE phone. and i sorta promised myself my next phone would be a SE. plus i like their ads. and they have really good marketing strategies!

howwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww???

admittedly, function wise, SE is definitely better than samsung, which is just a pretty thing to look at (like the nokia phone i have now. it's pretty, just rubbish in all other aspects). but how in the world am i gonna sms in peace with such a teeny weeny keypad? i have fat fingers man!



i was originally eyeing this phone (the white one is really pretty) in the shop but alas, it isn't under the "free phone category". and i refuse to pay an additional $5/mth for it.



and then there's this phone, which i think is stunning, though jo hates it (and just because it's green. tsk. discrimination.). only hitch in the plan is that it's not out in the market yet. boo.

since when did getting a free phone become such an elaborate consumer decision making process? it shouldn't be a high involvement product because it's FREE (plus i'll probably change my phone in about a year's time again anyway)!

maybe i should take vanessa's advice, get any phone, sell it on ebay, then get the phone i want with the money.

which gives rise to yet another problem. even if you present all the phones currently out in the market to me now, i still wouldn't know what i want.

**edited**

ok, i know. maybe i'll go to youtube and search for samsung's and sony ericsson's ads. and the ad that appeals to me the most will be the phone i get.

**edited**

oh no! i like both ads! though maybe the samsung one a little bit more. hahaha check it out! (i refuse to load videos on this blog.. so copy and paste the link yourself. =p)

http://youtube.com/watch?v=r_t4ZCle_po

ting:

wow. it's in times like these i realise how scary hui can be (see post below).

since my group meeting was in the city today, i dropped by the optus shop to ask if i could get a change in my phone plan. no thanks to the ridiculous number of calling lists the church is giving me, i officially blew my credit in a mere week. *groans* why can't the church sponsor us phone lines too? :(

so anyway, i was looking at this rather attractive phone plan: $49 cap, with $300 credit AND "yes-time" (i get calls to optus lines for free from 8pm-12am). plus they'll throw in a phone for free too! was talking to the guy about it and he smilingly informed me that because my contract has not ended (i've 7 more months to go), they'll be charging me cancellation fees. and how much is that? $499! WHAT? i'm pretty sure i almost got a heart attack there and then.

but thank God that the fella serving me was a guy, and i'm a girl, and guys tend to treat girls better no? so after he saw my expression of absolute disbelief, he hastily said he'd go persuade his manager to see if they can waive the fee for me. after a lot of prayer and stoning, he got back to inform me that the guy on the other end of the line agreed to reduce their cancellation fees from $499 to $20. PHEW. THANK GOD.

so i think my cap plan officially starts now. hmm. well, it'd BETTER, because i've heaps of people to call up for camp registration. sigh.. though why can't australian phone charges be as low as singapore's? my phone bill here is like triple of what i pay in singapore.. and my usage in australia is one-quarter that of singapore's! grrr. stupid singtel (which owns optus) is such a rip-off.

anyways, i was deliberating over which free phone to get. was contemplating getting the samsung U700 (as it is seemingly the hottest phone in the market now), especially since i remember hui wanting a similar model. i thought i could send it back to singapore for her or something, but she told me she got the model she wanted already (samsung U600) so i can keep whatever phone i choose to get for myself then. :) i want a SE, but the model they are offering for free hasn't quite succeeded in attracting me. yet. hmm.

SE users, is the alarm function LOUD? because i've been sleeping through my alarm a lot lately these days and it's a habit i can't seem to break. gah.

Hui:

he pops by everyday and rant abt govt, politics, critisize ppl like his relatives. FUCKING LOSER. if u dun have a job, freaking go move ur ass and find one. stop ranting and critising. LOSERRRRRRRR. FUCKING LOSER. irritating. but of cos, perhaps not as irritating as some ppl in e office.

almost blowed up and shouted: SHUT THE FUCK UP!!

----------------------------------------------------------------

hmm i dun wan exams to end. not that i like exams, but i hate going back to work and face those useless bums more.

one paper down! one more to go! tml night. siao liao, haven start studying. chiong ah!

Hui:

went out to orchard for a little while to buy some stuffs. i boarded e train at 330pm, and wth... so many ppl! first thing that comes to my mind: they no need to work ah??


nvm abt the poor quality of this pic.. jus see how many ppl are there!

PS: i took this pic "sneakily" and hence this lousy pic. well, i cant be taking pics in a train packed like this right.. ppl will think im crazy or something..

----------------------------------------------

was really bored studying last night, and i observed one of e 7 tortises i have in my house. this is being "quarantined" becos it's e smallest and it's always being bullied by e rest.


check it out! it's always trying hard to get out of e container. haha damn funny and cute la..


and i "taught" it to climb onto e pebble so that it can be "taller" and stick its head out of e container. damn. i think i mus have made it felt so anxious into getting out. well, at least it got to stick the head out! =P

Hui:

let me jus take a few mins off from my revision. so sian man...

when we are always too busy to pay attention to e ppl and surroundings around us, we often end up in a situation whereby we blame ourselves for not being observant enuff.

when we think that we have all e time in e world, or when we think that 'there is still time', there's actually not much of it left by e end of those thoughts.

when we have more / new friends, we neglect some of our old friends.

when we say 'maybe tml', tml may nv come, or we forget wad needs to be done. or, to put it off again by saying 'may tml'.

when we think that nothing (of something) will ever change, things (every little single damn thing) do change. onli for e better or worse.

and when i do not feedback/remark, it doesnt mean i do not care/understand. i was simply digesting. putting myself in ur shoes. understanding. thinking. and most of all..... listening..

ting:

here's where i really really thank God for providing me with such a fantastic cell. :)

and may i say i've learnt a lot from the selflessness of my cell members themselves and i'm more than grateful to be in the midst of such fantastic fellowship. :) it has been a tiring, but fantastic weekend.


one quarter of the stuff needed for our fundraiser preparation


where is jon???


the things i do while waiting...


still waiting.....


finally in the car :)

his place is absolutely gorgeous! check out the view!






thumbs up for view!

and then the first stage (ie. jelly making) started.






the type of jelly aussies like


and this is OUR kind of jelly. :)


the end result of boiling, stirring and more stirring. :)



and then our chef, shannon, came. so it was a whirlwind of peeling, chopping, mixing and ermm.. photography? =p


the kitchen hands hard at work


we made roti jala (it's a malaysian dish. kind of like lace crepes/noodles with chicken curry).


shannon's professional knife kit


the amount of boxes waiting to be filled.

we originally thought we would be done in a relatively short amount of time, but we didn't count on how labour intensive it would be. here's a visual timeline of our sunday "morning".




we still had three-quarters way to go in terms of filling the boxes with roti jala. the first batch of curry was still cooling.


fastforward time an hour and this is what we got.


one of the four owners of the place we were making a mess of, and also the fella who fights with me over the slightest bit of things. *shakes head* he fought with me over the PACKING of the boxes. like hello???




1.40am saw the tasting and sampling of the second batch of curry, while work for frying the roti jala continued.






taking a brief rest, as well as starting work on designing the posters.


still patiently hard at work.




by then, we all needed a little music to keep us awake. though jo and i were groaning inwardly when tim had to pick mariah carey of all singers in shannon's ipod playlist. jon's speaker is one fantastic filter however, considering how it plays non-mariah carey music perfectly fine, but when it comes to her songs, the song either skips or the speaker just dies. haha! this was taken when tim was attempting to figure out with much annoyance why he couldn't listen to his favourite singer.




me dying on the couch (and hence out comes the camera), while hard workers tim, shannon and amelia packeted the last bit of curry.




kester and jon's fridge were filled to the brim and so, to keep the food fresh, we stuck them outside on their balcony (temperature was roundabout 10 degs then?).




and finally we are done! (camera was on the wrong flash mode, hence the dark picture but everyone was too tired to care.)

got home at 6.20am, and i fell into bed straight, the only thing running through my mind being "dear God, please wake me up". didn't hear my alarm again (sigh. like i told sk, i need an alarm that will SHAKE me up) and only woke up with a shock at 8.10am. eeks! rushed like crazy (i didn't have time to wash my hair, so went to church smelling like curry. bleh.), but still made it in time for shannon's pickup. :)


what we were working so hard for


our hard work from the night before, under the table, waiting to be sold. and how awesome, before our stall even opened, we sold 5 boxes! whee!

was too busy thereafter to take photos. the initial 15 minutes at our stall was totally insane, then, after things quietened down, we went around church to push out our products (ok, this is definitely not consumer orientation here.. but who cares? it's fundraising!). i basically sweet-talked a lot of people into making purchases (never knew i was this persuasive. haha, God really answered our prayers. :) ) and made strategic placements, such as planting myself directly in the way of pastoral staff. and i cornered our senior pastor into buying 4 boxes! whoohoo! (i should have taken more boxes with me. ish.)

so we sold every single box, made a profit of $400, kept $50 for cell fund and the rest went to camp sponsorships. :) awesome stuff! thank you God! it would not have been possible without You. :):):)

and it would not have been possible without the rest of my cell members. seriously, when i think of how they kept at it without complaints till 6am this morning and how despite the lack of sleep, they still turned up to give their best... wow. i must say i learnt a lot from them. :)

so we were all on a high after our success. calls out to members not physically present, who, likewise shared in our immense joy.

and then, we just started fooling around.


jon attempting to fit himself in the bag


whee! success!


HAHAHAHA!


the tired, but jubilant bunch of us still hanging around after the entire thing was over


and there you go. :) a portion of the awesome people that makes up my cellgroup.

boy, am i looking forward to our cell meeting on wednesday. :)

and haiz, one less person to laugh at for the next 4 weeks. boo. upside is, i get to come up with a list of 30 items worth of european souvenirs! =D