Happy New Year to one and all.. one year has gone past which means that i've been in nz for coming to a year too.. starting anew in a foreign country hasnt been easy too. missing all your friends in singapore while trying to keep those friendships from drifting apart too hasnt been easy.. if i havent learnt anything else in 2004, i sure have learnt to be independent, to depend on urself but not others and also most importantly not to take others for granted..

looking back at 2004:
1)foundation year has been a breeze through, and i sure miss my previous classmates in HSA.. Keiko, He Xin, Jamie, Gieun, Jawhara, Pretti, Tubz, Mahmood, Naihau, Nien, LiLin, Robin, KoKo aka Denny and Linh.. i must say that we've been through quite a lot too, all those boring lessons until five.. haiz, cos of our lousy and pathetic time-table that wasnt well-planned at all.. the break times in between classes were great, had so much fun talking and stuff..

2)okies, and not to mention the hanging out lunch sessions with nadia and keiko.. all the krap that i said and also every little thing that we joked about..

3)to nadia, a big thanks for being my great pal here.. really appreciate it lots..

4)to keiko, he xin and denny.. thanks for sitting beside me in class and making up the last row gang.. always fighting with me for the corner seat in class.. but i always ended up being the last to get to class instead.. wonder how fast u guys actually walk manz.. the speed of lightning or speed of sound? to keiko esp, thanks for being so patient with me when teaching math.. i must be a pain in the arse to u..

5)to jamie, thanks for always planning and organising the prayer group meetings.. its great and i love it.. hope to have more of such sessions with you, jessie, nad, zhou and denny next year if possible..

6) to ren hui, hmm even though u havent spent much time with us.. but yeah just to let u know that i treasure the times when u were here.. u really brighten up our sch days..

7)sorry to my friends in singapore, esp the ones that i havent got much time to talk too.. last year has been crazy with some of u having the A's.. well, i sincerely hope that our friendship(s) havent drifted apart, so far out that it cannot be drawn back to shore.. hahas, i dont think its that serious though.. its just because of the time difference and the distance.. imagine that, i'm miles and miles away..

8)i'm beginning to miss schooling in sg too.. the regimental type of setting.. and also wearing school uniform.. definitely, den i wouldnt be like what to wear to school today ar?

9)i miss PE lessons terribly.. hahas there isnt any pe lessons here for ur information.. its like all DIY stuff.. I miss pjc too.. always throwing books into the locker and chilling out at pjc cafe during break times.. going to school early to drink dou hua sui.. rmbr the dou hua sui joke? i still do..

10) also not forgetting sec sch life at fairfield.. bumming around in class in the morning until flag raising.. and being forced to sing the national anthem if not would get punished to sing after school in the parade square.. hanging out at pb and going out with cai, sk and gang.. oh yeah, i didnt forget my sec 4 class.. u pple rox..

Resolutions for 2005:
1)like i said above, to be more independent and not to take others for granted

2)to get into the course of my choice in uni year 2

3)to keep in constant contact with my friends in sg

4)making sure i go back to singapore for hols next nov by hook or by crook

5)to enjoy myself and to make the best out of everything

well yeah, the past yr has been challenging and fulfilling in one way or the other.. and i just hope that the next yr 2005 would be just as challenging.. cos i'm going to the uni.. yay, am no longer a kid.. anyways, whatever am just looking forward to a better and prosperous new year ahead.. do i sound so chinafied? lolx..
okies, and erm the guys would be going ns soon.. in a few days time.. hahas, cant imagine them being botak actually.. well guys, not to fred.. ur hair will definitely grow back soon..
on a final note, bye bye to 2004 and hello to 2005..

PS: pple if u were wondering, i didnt forget how to speak chinese or singlish.. and erm i'm letting u guys know before hand that my chinese standard has deteriorated so yups dont expect too much yeah.. it was already bad before.. but my singlish standard hasnt improved or deproved.. this is something which is hard to get rid off.

talked to juan today for a while on msn and to my surprise found out that so many teachers have left fairfield.. ms song, mr wee, mrs chew and mr lim.. quite surprising though, it never came to my mind that they would choose to leave.. well, i guess people come and go and its all part and parcel of life ya.. as i look back, sec sch life have really left a mark on me.. hahas, quite lazy to carry on typing.. can i do it another time?

hahas, i finally got my laptop thanks to my pups.. the reality finally sets in and i'm going to uni next feb.. so exciting.. cant imagine myself in uni, maybe am still the immature, kiddish, happy-go-lucky me.. i believe everyone is like that to a certain extent, just that they dont show it.. suddenly it dawned on me that i wont be going to the same uni as all my pals in pj.. at first in j1, i naturally presummed that we would be in the same school, same course and same class until a degree is attained.. but i was so wrong.. little did i know, that everything would change for better or for worse.. nevertheless, we shall remain pals for as long as i live. oh ya, did i mention that few days ago, i drank my first cup of fresh dou hua sui.. my first cup since jan 11.. tasted so sweet and fresh.. yeah rite.. in open-inverted commas.. anyways, it reminded me of our dou hua sui joke.. cant remember who it started with though, but can vividly remember the details.. shall we have another one soon?
PS: U'll have to book the day, time and place first.. muhaha.. :D

okies, its christmas finally.. one yr is gonna pass soon.. was talking to some senior of my yesterday.. and was giving me an insight to next year's stuff, wadever he said really blew me away.. of how tough it was to enter the professional courses. wow.. i think if i really want the course of my choice, den i better start mugging hard liaoz.. if not, dats it man.. something really hit me den, realised tt i'm like driven by my folks more than i'm driven by myself.. they have influenced me to think the way in which i'm thinking now.. so i guess all the credit goes to them den, for helping me mature and think in which the way they want me to think.. ahh, alrites.. enuff of krap already.. so excited, i hope i can get my new laptop tmw.. i really do. waited for this day for such a long long time.. =p

Where's Santa???

PLAYED POKEMON THE WHOLE DAY AGAIN! REALLY COOL GAME THOUGH
where's santa, i would like to see him though.. to see if he would come down the chimney to fulfill my xmas wishes.. hahas.. where's santa? or issit just a hoax to trick naive kiddies out there.. i think so man.. u noe something? those tv shows always portray santa to be a very fat man.. den how can santa climb down such a skinny chimney? wouldnt he get stuck half-way down.. and since its cold during winter, wouldnt people burn more wood to get warmth.. and in turn wouldnt santa get his butt burnt before he could reach the houses.. muhaha..

ok, gues wad? i'm bored again.. but thankfully, i found a new companion.. someone who can accompany me when i'm bored, down, and even when i'm happy.. someone to share with me my joy, happiness, sadness and anguish.. someone tt i can spent hours and hours with without boredom intervenning.. i guess this someone is in to stay.. hahas, wad were u thinking.. did many names cross ur mind.. well, just joking.. i was referring to my newly found love, gameboy.. started playing pokemon today.. cant believe it, but true.. an 18th yr old gal playing such childish stuff.. hahas, but it really had me occupied for hours and hours.. practically the whole day, i just turned off the game to have some time to type this.. den maybe, i might continue playing.. muhaha..

how bored can i get?

boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring

hey peeps,
just came back from my round South Island trip.. and i must say that it was a blast. alrites, where shall i start.. lets see.. my relatives arrived here and spent a couple of days in Dunedin.. hahas, one of the most unforgetful experiences was the time we went to cadbury chocolate factory.. me and my cousins actually got locked inside a cadbury vintage vechicle set on display.. den celebrate my b'day at Tokyo Garden.. a dinner fit for a king. bleah, i just love japanese food.. (to keiko: when i visit u in japan, be prepared for a busy time)aha, anyways.. thanks uncle khei hong for the wonderful sumptous meal. oh ya, and we went to this town in the deep south called BLUFF.. supposedly to try the bluff osyters, unfortunately it wasnt the season.. but i was ok with it, i'm not a real fan of osyters and shell fish.. i have to say that the wind there was super strong and i would have to emphasize the would super strong.. when u open the car door rite, u could feel as if the door was about to get blown away.. i bet the wind was like gusting to say almost hundred knots.. okies, will try to remember the events of the ten days trip, before i forget them.. my memory is failing aint it.. hahas..

1st day:
hmm, had to wake up ard 4am cos my dad wanted to start the journey early.. first time in nz i got up before sunrise. hahas.. i have to be sleeping about three quarters of the journey.. the ride was long and boring.. it wouldnt be boring for someone who hasnt been to nz.. u'll get to see the sun, sea, sky.. with hills, mountains, lakes, rivers and wad have u.. all those scenic stuff.. i think the ride itself took 4-5 hrs plus, excluding the stop-over that we made.. after a exhausting journey, we arrived at the town of Twizel.. spent one night there and one night at Mount Cook.

2nd day:
surprisingly, it happen to snow at mount cook village.. by the time we manage to drive up there it had already stopped snowing, and even though the snow was started to melt we still played with the remants of wadever we could find.. making snowballs and throwing them at each other.. had heaps of fun just playing with snowballs.. arhh, the joy of childhood.. took heaps of photos too.. its a scenery that u wouldnt want to miss..

3rd day:
left the breathtaking mckenzee district for central otago. yet again, the ride was long.. this is wad u would expect from big country.. unlike singapore, u could travel from east to west in like abt an hr.. here, the minimum time needed to get to the next big town would be 4 hrs.. went to Cromwell aka big apple and big pear, for it is the fruit belt of the south island or so i think.. it felt as if i was in a totally different place.. wasnt just warm, it was hot.. dropped by Queenstown too on the same day itself.. Queenstown is such a place of fun and adventure..wanted to do some cool stuff, but u know when u r with the older generation, somehow or other they would find some way, be it by force or talk thru, to dispersuade u from going to do so.. yups, in the end we only ended up going to take the gondola up to the top to look at people doing bungy and paragliding, etc..

4th day:
went to try our hands at gold mining in a centre at cromwell too.. the place was real huge with lots of hills around and it was literally in a gorge.. no wonder one of the attractions was the shot-over jet.. but sadly didnt get to have a ride on it too.. oh wells.. it is wad u get when u are travelling with the older generation.. so in the end just had to go for gold mining instead.. but before that, my dad, me, brother and my lovely three cousins went for a 20min walk, which in the end ended up in more or less a hike.. by the time we got back, the tour had already started and the guide was busy showing all the different samples of gold and how much it actually was worth.. cant believe so many people actually showed so much interest in gold.. seriously i prefer silver to gold.. argh, wadever.. ok, to cut the long story short, the guide showed us how to mine for gold and count her blessings, she found a small piece of gold.. then, it was all on our own.. we had a go on our own at mining. guess wad, we could spent as long as we wanted there too.. no time limit.. so dumb, mining isnt easy work at all.. washing the stones and panning slowly in a steady, circular motion.. and the piece that didnt move was the stuff tt we were soughting for.. for ur information, gold has a very high density.. after wasting so much time there, gave up panning and decided tt there were other better things to do.. and headed off for makan at the cafe there..

5th day:
as usual left early for franz josef glacier.. a super long journey again.. we must have spent nearly the whole day driving there and as far as i can remember, we reached there like in the afternoon. anyway, we spent two days there.. so its no hurry.. take things easy!

6th day:
another day at the glacier.. this time, we had booked with an agency for a walk up the glacier. cool rite.. ever walked on a glacier, it was my first time too.. it was like climbing an ice mountain.. had to put on nice climbing boots, spikes, thick thermal socks, gloves, and a raincoat.. i must say tt it was indeed an eye-opener.. i can say, that this is the first adventurous thing tt i have ever attempted this year. think about it, how often do u get to climb a glacier.. it was a 45min walk to the foot of the glacier.. den we had to put on our spikes for easy grip lar.. before i knew it, we were already walking on the ice.. it was a steep and narrow route up.. and one wrong move, it would mean u noe wad.. thousands of meters down.. the view up there was just spectacular.. no words can ever describe it man.. it felt like i was on the top of the world.. it was tiring but worth the trip.

7th day:
hmm let me think again ar.. for a moment i forget where we were heading too.. now i rmbr.. its my favourite place rite.. to Picton.. it was like a farm-stay for two days. the road conditions there was totally horrible.. absolutely terrible. anyway, met a singaporean family there.. spent most of the time playing with their son, luke. one of my cousins was the same age as him larz.. so cos same age group, i guess tt's why they got along pretty well.

8th day:
today, had a farm tour in the morning conducted by our lovely host..den it was down the winding road again to picton.. went for a cruise through queen charolette sound. nice place to be in, when u wanna rewind and get away from all the stresses of city life. got to see nice lovely natural waterfalls too.. oh ya and did i mention, dolphins.. yes, dolphins swimming in schools and dancing away when the boat stopped for us the admire them. on the whole, it was great..

9th day:
okays, again travelled.. but this time it was to christchurch.. halfway, we stopped by this shop selling crayfish.. my uncle bought two.. by the way, the crayfish looks like a lobster too.. argh, dunno the difference anyway.. it was like thirty plus for one.. fresh and had the natural taste.. this year, i have not eaten any crays so ya.. yum yum! wonder how it would be like, when i return back to singapore and have some chilli crabs.. my favourite.. argh anyway.. christchurch is so different from life in dunedin.. its more or less like the same in singapore.. even though nothing is gonna match up to it. just looking at the shopping areas, is already enuff to sastify u.. where can u find esprit in dunedin.. have to be joking.. krap lar, dundein shld learn more from its sister. well, at night went to willowbank wildlife reserve for a maori thingy and also to view the kiwis.. the first time i went in there, i only manage to see one.. but the second time round, saw six kiwis. they are definitely much larger than i expected..

10th day:
this is the last day of our south island tour and its back to dunedin for another three days before my relatives head back for sg and i will only get to see them next year again. went to my granduncle's house for dinner.. but before that, father happen to chance upon this chinese food court.. had some light snacks there and ordered some food for sharing.. and for the first time this yr, saw singaporean food again.. how cool was tt aye.. the food tasted like home. char kway tiao and laska and fish-ball noodles.. great stuff.. will nv waste food anymore when i'm back.. wouldnt be so choosey woosey anymore.. haha den did some shopping in christchurch..

to end off, the trip was very fun and its great having ur loved ones ard u.. thanks guys for coming over to nz.. next yr would be my turn.. hahas! be sure to bring me ard sg kkz.. i'm positive tt there would be lots of changes.