my granny's jade earrings are gone. she had a pair set in gold. gorgeous really. but due to a misunderstanding and mistakes, the earrings are gone. like poof.

i feel like crying for her. i didn't feel sad when i misplaced my first diamond ring. but my granny's a sweet thing who never asks for much. she's got a simple lifestyle and she doesn't spend much. she's the type who won't even take a taxi to ttsh for her 9.30 am check-up. and i know she loved that pair of earrings.

i feel sad just talking about it. anyone know where i can get a nice pair of jade earrings set in brilliant gold? budget is prob $300. she deserves it.
***
side note to perhaps lighten up my mood, i saw this crazy couple on the bus. the girl was just clawing the guy and attempting to strangle him. and she thought it was funny. the idiot of a guy actually humored her. when she sat down next to me and her bf in front, she clawed his back, gripped his head with her claws (not fingers. monsters don't have fingers). then she flicked his ear.. flicked his head.. flicked his back.. at one point, she tried to strangle him again.

i wanted to slap both of them..

the girl for being an irrational moron and absolutely torturing her bf. her bf for being a weak spineless nincompoop. urgh.

what do you make of a situation when you instinctively exchange glances with someone just because of something that makes you tick?

confirm it with the other person naturally, right?

i wasn't surprised when he confirmed it. the instinctive-ness amuses me, especially when he said that he had a feeling that i would be the only one who'd notice that 'thing'.

momentary telepathy is really quite cool. i mean, how many people can you find to nerd with about grammar and conjunctions and dinosaur phrases? how many people can you find to discuss abt OB research and quirks of human behavior in situations that they get trapped in just because it's fun to talk abt OB? sitting in the vegan's course makes me miss ferrin's OB classes.

and i can't believe that i had a lift conversation with the vegan with such a huge crowd. i called him tiny. then his director looked at me and said, "if he's tiny, what are you?"

"urm. small?" i tried.

"muy muy petite. 很很小" was his reply. his director looked at both of us and shook his head


i shld send me a memo. like 'STOP HAVING LIFT CONVERSATIONS IN A CROWDED LIFT!!'. *sigh*

note: Lift Conversations are a random, pointless and absolutely side-splitting conversations conducted in lifts. normally happens when the lift is crowded with strangers.

a seemingly normal good friday turned interesting.

i am watching the mtv and surfing the internet at the same time. out of the corner of my eye, i see my father walk up the stairs. after a minute, he comes back down and into the study where my mom is working.

before i know it, my mom comes out of the study, "Your father needs to go to the A&E. come along."

no other information given, i stare at her quizzically. then Pops comes out and with a goofy grin, he says,"I cut myself."

i see the bloodied tissue and immediately, my legs go weak. i hate the sight of blood. the last time i took a blood test, i turned green. worse still, my friend had to remark, "eh, no blood!"

God knows what the stupid nurse was doing. i wobbled over to a chair and was nearly in tears. then when another nurse took over to take my blood, i was still just as green. so given the bloodied tissue, i was ready to faint. my whole body was weak. i swear.. i hate it.

so we bundled into the car. Pops tries to explain how he cut himself and i was just covering my ears, closing my eyes and making enough noise to shut him out. Momsy said i wasn't being helpful. you kidding? i was freaking limp in the backseat.

when we get to A&E, we see other casualties. the wait is long 'cos the doctor mia-ed for a while. we hung around for close to an hour. in total, there were 3 others with cut fingers (one was jap dude who cut himself cooking, or so he told Pops). there was one dude in a wheelchair and looking green and in pain. then one banglah worker with a busted forehead (*faint*) and a lady with a bruise the size of a tennis ball on her forehead.

Momsy brings us to Novena for dinner. scoffing down salmon brings most of my strength back. the final double chocolate from donut factory (the only donut i'll ever eat from there) makes me a lot less weak.

in the middle of "White Chicks" on AXN, Pops comes down the stairs after his shower. he proudly shows off a purple/red band like mark on his finger that was cut. without prompting, he tells me that he tied the plastic bag over his finger "a bit too tightly".

a bit? yar right. he freaking applied a tourniquet to the finger. check it out.

urgh.. what a day, i say..
*****

i had such a strange dream.. it was comforting yet uneasy.. calming yet thrilling.. then at the end of it, happy yet sad... derno. sighz...

updates!!

1. Mellben with jordan and gang
Jordan came back. we finally made our way down to mellban for crabs, crabs and more crabs. thanks to our dear gabe-san who queued for us. very grateful!!! highlight of the night was prolly the added service from the mellben staff.

while waiting for our food, there came a sudden loud whistle. immediately, some people left their seats while we were actually still wondering where the whistle came from. then came the war-cry of a warning..

"MATA LAI LIAO! MATA OEI!"

the incredible auntie of mellben spotted the car park attendant. in a flash, people left their seats and sprinted to the carpark. it was legendary, i tell you. Uniquely Singapore, man. anywayz, i think i gained weight from all the meals with jordan. madness.. we had jap.. satays.. indon.. mellben.. super stuffed.

2. New Hair
ok, part 1 of make-over. not drastic makeover but i got tired of being bored with my hair. so i made my way down to Kimage students. now i've got red streaks in my hair. the most exciting part of it? my hairdresser was fabulous.

he was really slow.. not that it upset me. in fact, it impressed me. he'd ask me occasionally if i was comfortable or if he was hurting my scalp. when it was really bearable. he's a student, i give it to him. and the head massage during the hairwash made my toes curl. i didn't even realize it until he was washing the suds away. it was really comfy. i get lucky most of the time when i head over to kimage students.

at the end of it, the student took his time with my hair.. straightening it out with the hairdryer. quite fantastic. it was straight but not poofy. i had straight red gorgeous hair.. absolutely in love with my hair and adoring the hairdresser.

yes i know. bimbo moment. owell, i'm vain, alright?

3. ICPAS pre-admission course
2nd day. and it got me rethinking my choice.. my future. any regrets? nope. but i def don't see myself in kp for long. and when i say that, i mean beyond 5 years. i think the concept that 2 years is a long time is pretty warped in a screwed up way. 2 years is short, mind you. in today's fickle gen-Y culture, i can only shake my head in silent disgust as i watch the world take pride in its indecisiveness. sigh.....

i derno. we'll wait out for 3 years which is a moderate period and wait to see how things go. if according to the plan in my head, i'll be in the comforts of melbourne, studying and who knows, maybe going into the academic field full time. but who knows? time's screwed with my plans and secular hopes too many times for me to care anymore. still, a plan doesn't hurt. :)

and oh yea, the little cold cynical girl is somewhat back. urgh. it's fun company.. but scary as well. am i losing myself? or am i finding myself? remember.. remember..

Be it unto me, God, according to Your word.

songs are funny things. there will always be songs that "hit the spot". i'm a lover of music. always have been. always will be. i express myself better as an "writer". simply because sometimes, accepting reality is scary. you then put it into a song and make it all better by telling yourself it's merely a song that just happens to reflect what you think you're feeling. just because you look beyond the upper facade of the words and connect something deeper with what you hear.

Where'd you go? i miss you so. seems like it's been forever since you've been gone. please come back home.

yet there used to be a time where i avoided "superficial" songs that just spoke of love.. songs that if you replace the "impt" words with would become a mere secular pagan love song. now, i listen to secular song and reflect on the journey i've taken with Him.

Here I am banging on your front door. My pride spilled on the floor. My hands and knees are bruised and I'm crawling back to you.

i used to be the one encouraging people with His grace. now i'm on the other end of the stick. praying for prayers to get me through the night. vulnerabilities pushed aside, distractions cleared from mind. i'm coming out of it slowly but surely. i'm going back to what i've held dear to my heart for the past few years.

Begging for a second chance, are you gonna let me in? I was running from the truth and now I'm crawling back to you.

it's even more dangerous when comfort lures you into a false sense of security, thinking that all will be fine. but when you sit back to reflect, you notice how far you've deviated from the course in life you thought you were living. life shld never be too smooth-sailing. and i thank Him for the distractions and temptations that make me love Him more and more when i realize my folly.

nothing more to do right now but to keep holding on, right? to recognize this struggle and to embrace it as a weakness is probably the hardest thing i'll ever do. and to continue to grasp on feebly to memories of lucky stars and promised ben and jerry's because that's all that's left behind. but this car crash of a heart will mend. i know it will. it already knows the safest place to hide. :)

"It is animal friendly!" - Yong on the fact that Jack Johnson's new album was recorded on 100% solar energy

*****

"John Lennon. Is he white or black?" - Yong

"He's how white! He's a beatle!" - me

*****

"They are so happy 'cos they are surrounded by naked men!" - Yong on two seemingly gay male swimsuit designers during their summer fashion show

*****

"Bernard Low! ...oh. he's my friend." Teik after arguing about Bernard Lim's name with me. I think i know my ex-DJs better than people give me credit for...

*****

"That's an armpit?" jing rong after i point out armpit hair in between very flabby fair and otherwise hairless meat.

*****

"Must write QA" - Yong to teik on why he needs to sleep for his GP exam. QA is qualitative analysis for chem. AQ is analytical question for GP.

i said i would update on the bruise, so here goes..

that was last night. but it's no fun anymore. the scab came out. so yea. never turned really bad. which also meant that it wasn't internal bruising but it was like external skin broken so yea. not as exciting as it thought it wld. oh well.

last night we were watching american idol and it was quite mad. we laughed 'til we cried. thanks to aunty yong. but it wasn't just her quotes that made it memorable. it was actually an idol contestant. the last dude. David.

he sang "Imagine" by John Lennon. a whimsical piece that needs a voice like john's to float around you in a dreamy state. David took it and made it his own.. and he was actually good. Paula Abdul even teared. when i saw her, my first thought was, "she's obviously never heard Rascal Flatts."

if you have a chance, look for the little bit Rascal Flatts had in "Yes, Dear". i tell you, it's just such an incredible song. no one beats Rascal Flatts man..

sports injuries are common. my younger sister stubbed both her big toes during netball, thus resulting in two very purplish black toenails. my older sis has taken one too many balls smashing into her unprotected upper thigh, leaving bruises. me? the ususal blue-blacks on my elbows from hitting the boat when paddling and shoulder/back injuries.

my younger bro finally got a taste of his first official sports injury 'cos cramping up before a race at the swim meet does not count. but check this out!

an absolute shiner. ok, it's still in the early stages of being red and very painful. but check it out!

it's how fabulous. i'm proud of the little boy. he's finally gone thru the official initiation of being a sportsperson. we'll be monitoring the progress. see how long it takes to turn blue then purple then maybe black and back to normal.

welcome to the club, dude!

on saturday, i went for my x-ray. the center was crowded. i reached at 11 and there was a long queue. obediently, i joined the queue. once in a while, random people hassled the poor counterstaff to try to get ahead but they were directed to the back of the queue.

after about 45 min, i was behind 5 more people to the queue. at the crowd control ribbon, there was a little indian boy playing with the ribbon and smacking people along the way. I put my hand to stop the ribbon. the little boy looked at me with a frown.

i stared back.

he stopped and ran over to his father. the lady in front of me looked back gratefully with a smile.

it was quite exhilarating, i have to say. later, i decided to walk over to funan from chinatown. at a junction, a man accidentally runs his pram into another man. the man with the pram apologizes.

the friend of the man who gets hit isn't as nice. He rants and raves, shouting angry words and vulgarities at the man. even though he wasn't the one who was hit. the ranter was exceptionally angry, and one thing he shouted rang deep in me.

"Red man! You blind ah? Not educated isn't? RED MAN CANNOT CROSS!"

i stared at him incredulously. his lady companion notices my look and shushes him immediately. he continued for a while more before finally shutting up. within 2 min, he stepped on the road despite the "red man" still reflected in the traffic light. this time i frowned and his lady companion, as if psychic, turned to look at me. she noticed my frown and hurried the man along.

i wait for the "green man". ironic, isn't it? to be ranting and raving at the side of the road about people not being educated. embarrassing too. to add to the double irony, to jaywalk after that. oh well. *shrugs*
********
on a lighter note, i finally have movies that i wanna watch! 3 movies..
1. The Leap Years
2. L Change the world
3. Persepolis

who wants to watch with me?

I'm sitting in the client's place before lunch, trying to focus while being distracted by the email alerts popping up and distracting myself by reading the emails.

We're spamming one another again. It's one of those one-email-every-minute spam. We seem to thrive on spamming like we thrive on breathing. after a series of boo-boos on my part, i try to push my mistake out of my mind, continue with my work and reading hilarious emails while listening to Mika.

then oli asks, "btw whilst i have your attention... could you please possibly explain to me the meaning of... 'huat ah!!!'... i don't get it o.O"

it started from the email invitation from OPT to his place for CNY. once i got the email, i clicked "forward" and emailed all the G2s, asking them if they were going to the party. being in the festive mode, i greeted everyone with a "HUAT AH!". oli isn't from around here (he's a spurs fan. i think that says enough) so he's still picking up bits of singlish.

The following spam ensues within 5 minutes..

SL> SK can do a realli goooooood demonstration of "HUAT AH" she will throw in a chinese rendition of "FA CAI AH!". And to express your gratitude, (Oli) can do an english or canadian rendition of "Prosper and win big MONEY AH!" *Take note that you must add a singlish accent(AH, LOR, LEH...) into it to retain the local flavor.

Oli> ooo now i get it, thx!

Me> Anyone remember "Wheel of Fortune"? When they spin it, they always shout, "Big Money! Big Money!". same same. Next time, we'll all go on the show if given the chance and when we spin the stupid wheel, we'll shout, "Huat ah! HUAT AH!"

Prior to the email, i was caught up in the highness of the morning and i even role-played a contestant on Wheel of Fortune, shouting "Huat Ah!", coupled with the action of spinning the wheel and clapping my hands excitedly. SL and i went off like hysterical idiots laughing.

and as all morning spam, the hype from 9.44 am dies by 10.52 am, everyone is clearly tired from the laughing and drained of any sugar left in their system. we all go back to our work a lot more mellow.

let it not be said that KP RAS/IAS people are boring old farts. we're vibrant young farts.

finally finished screwtape letters last night.

it was rather.. abstract. but so real. C S Lewis is really quite brilliant.. he had gone beyond all cliche-ness of most books on temptations. he pretty much punches people into the dirt and makes them think abt their "holiness". good stuff, i tell ya.

If anyone wants to borrow the book, lemme know!

I do apologize.

in my raging grouse about the morning crowd, i accidentally wrote "left" as "right" and vice versa. you stand on the left. and people walk up the right. just like on the roads. the right lane is the fast lane.

mich, thank you for pointing that out to me. :)

but nevertheless despite my boo-boo, i still think the morning crowd needs to wake up their ideas. it's stuff like that which make me miss the mechanical politeness of the japs.