A Yin-Yang Mix
It's difficult to describe the mood I'm in now. It's an oddish yin-yang mood.
I'm not pleased because of a boyish crew cut that results in me being effectively recognised as a boy. (NB: I did not request for this hairstyle. The brave hairdresser took it upon herself to make a boy out of me.) SHOULDN'T have trimmed my hair. Darn. I can virtually do a hair-count and trust me, it won't take longer than your dinner.
I'm overjoyed because of a certain phone call. A short-lived joy when I realised how ill-prepared I am. After two months of pointless waiting, I've dropped all hopes of getting called up. I'm a fine mess of a nervous wreck. I still do not own a pair of black pumps. The one pair I had was mouldy and yicky yacky. It had long left my shoe rack. Mum suggested wearing a skirt. For goodness sake, I've stopped wearing skirts after J2! I'm sticking strictly to a pantsuit. Anyway, I'm already an Ah Boy. No point feigning feminism with an A-line skirt. That would be nothing more but a lame attempt at a joke.
I'm excited/energetic/estastic because I've a deadline to meet. The familiar late night working. The sporadic, distant vroom-vroom of motor vehicles from the road. The gentle flapping of the peach curtains against the window grille. The soft chirping of the crickets. The race against sunrise.
Oh my, this is life! I miss working.
P.S. Don't be quick to judge me. I'm not a perverted nut.
School Enrolment Fund & My Bahasa Melayu Lessons
There was a registration letter for Christopher this morning. Never mind that the letter was written in Bahasa Melayu and that I had to flip through a Collins Malay-English Dictionary to fill up the form. A particular column annoyed me.
Occupation of father
Monthly Salary
Occupation of mother
Monthly Salary
Occupation of guardian
Monthly Salary
Total Salary
Salary Per Capita
Why do I feel like I'm filling up an Income Tax Declaration form?
On another attachment, a reminder list was drawn up among which was school donation. The donation request was diplomatic and despite asserting that a donation is not compulsory, the adminstrator has kindly requested the parent to bring along a donation. I would rather they call it the School Enrolment Fund.
It is a common local practice to extort donation from parents to secure a position in school. All of us did though my case was more extreme. I arrived the first day in school without a table and a chair. I had to share with another classmate until a set of table and chair (which the school kindly rang up my parents to pay for) was delivered the following day. The absurdity of the situation is senseless and laughable. Mum and I had fun filling up the form bearing in mind that a Mum's friend was requested to install a new air-conditioning system for the school after a careless remark.
My command of the Malay Language is embarrassingly primitive. Initially we used to call our cousins for help with my pre-school brother's homework. My cousins taught us enough Malay over the line to survive the day's homework. This went on till Mum bought a Malay-Chinese Dictionary. Things improved in that I could spend twenty minutes to decipher the instructions on the worksheet without anyone knowing. However, monsters called essays and sentence making came in Year Two. Matching words to pictures was one thing but essays?!
Dad took over as Cikgu. When he goes abroad, we managed the essays over the phone and sms. It was sheer nightmare. After a work trip, Dad bought me the Collins Dictionary. Armed with two Dictionaries and a modest knowledge of the Language, I became somewhat independent. The success I had is decent. I drilled my brother to a 95% in his Mid-Year Exams. It was absolutely stunning. Unfortunately he didn't pass his oral examinations. But his good written paper mark made up for the dismal oral examination mark.
As I marked down the calender yesterday, three more months and I could be free from Malay homework! Yay! I can save up on that Oxford English-Malay Essay book too. :) Now, I've to get through a pile of Comprehension and fill-in-the-blank exercises.
Back to Collins.
Bits and Ends
I received a post from the school a couple of days ago. It was disappointingly thin. Not that I'm pining for a fat WelcomeBack parcel but I was praying for a result slip or a confirmation letter of some sort. Affixed to the Aug-Feb timetable was a list of instructions among which I was to obtain the signature of my lecturer/tutor for every lesson. Bother.
Good news is I've Jan 2nd, 2006 free. Additionally, the entire month of January looks fairly uncluttered. I've planned my lessons (one part intention, two part mishap) to accomodate my brother's school hours. Christopher will be starting Primary One next Jan in the afternoon session. With my flexible hours, I can take him to school and bring him home in the evening. Between coaching him for homework and finishing up mine (I realised to my horror I've signed up for quite a few quanlitative modules), and sorting out the loose ends of cumbersome tasks that always find their way to my hands, I'll be lucky if I can squeeze out time to slack.
Nonetheless, that's a small sacrifice in exchange for my brother's company :) I gotta master the videocam to shoot his first day in school! Or at least compile a mini first-day-at-school album... Mmm...
My Sony Ericsson handphone said its final farewell on July 22, 2005. It was 1 year and 10 days old. I bought a Nokia model, a replacement which was too thick to slip into my pocket, obsolete in performance and homely in comparison to its predecessor. The Nokia mobile eventually returned to its display case a day later. I requested the salesman for a lightweight, intuitive, no-frill handset and went home happily with a Sony Ericsson J series mobile which is incredibly light and intuitive! LP tagged along that day and got away with a K series mobile (her current phone is only a few months old).
Ironically, fancy phones are getting bigger as they're packed with more functions. For me, weight and size of the handset are crucial. I'm a simple gal, fancy phones don't appeal to me. :)
During my internet trawls a few days ago, I found an exellent JK Rowling interview at MuggleNet.com. I confess I'm a fanatic HP nut and have re-read my set for unknown number of times. On my second reading (or perhaps the third) of the Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, I've a new conclusion on the morality of Snape. This is a major spoiler and I'm not about to spring it on folks who have not read the book. Read between the lines; Things are not what they seem to be. Chuckles
Signing out now, lovely week to everyone! :)
Nail-biting Wait
Btw the May 2005 examination results will be released on the first week of Sept instead of the last week of July as Irene had mentioned.
Preparatory Workshop for POA
28 & 30 July 2005
9.30am to 4.30pm
Fee: S$31.50
Register before 28 July with the customer service counter.
Check the student portal for details or download the registration form from here
A Wasted Wednesday
School is starting in 6 days' time. I can hardly believe it. As evidence to my growing senility, I lost my way en route to school 2 days ago. In any case, I've seldom taken the train to school and thus, my little misadventure is not entirely the fault of my senility. The tale began like this...
I alighted at Clementi MRT station on a lazy afternoon. The platform was sparsely littered with frowning youngsters muttering engineering formulae under their breathe. It was the polytechnic common tests period. Not that I am gloating but how could anyone frowned and cursed on such a glorious wednesday?
So it was with much leisure that I took the familiar right turn at the ticketing booth and strolled down to the bus-stop. The worn-down newspaper stall was peddling some glaring, glossy magazines and the football-pundit favourite New Paper. Buses were taking a longer time than usual to arrive. Students in uniform filed out of the neighbourhood fast food joint, chattering in high voices. Just another typical school day for most and for some lucky ones who have all the time in the world to waste, a holi-day. Nothing was amiss.
I took a random standing-spot at the crowded bus-stop and waited for the prominent red 154 or fading yellow 184. 10 minutes passed. 7 buses had probably unloaded their passengers. Another 10 minutes crawled slowly by. I could have sworn three 186, four 105 and blah have made their rounds. And there I was, stranded on a run-down bus-stop with peeling blue paint, no bus, no watch and no cellphone. I was as good as lost. I should thank my stars that I had a few crumpled notes and coins squashed in my bag. And so I continued my wait.
A fair-skinned girl carrying a pink backpack had stood there just as long as me. I figured out we were both victims of the highly inefficient 154 and was convinced I had seen her in a marketing class before. And (thus), I waited. And waited.
I had almost drained my 500ml of water. The sunlight was fading and the crowd was thickening. If I was not wrong (and bless me if I was), the after-work rush hour was approaching. And I was still stuck at this antiquated bus-stand! Alright I conceded that I had all the time in the world to waste but to spend this precious half-hour guarding a bus-stand? Oh man, I'd rather allocate this insignificant half-hour to a more profitable exploit such as a duel or a light snooze.
Getting grouchy and irate, I confronted the murky bus route map and thumbed through the bus numbers impatiently for 154 and goodness me, when I did find the number. I was on the wrong bus-stand! It was the left turn I should have taken 35 minutes ago at the mrt station. A 154 taken in this direction would deport me to the outskirts in Jurong. I was such an ingenius spark of a thing. Stupid me.
There was no time to lose. The roads were exhibiting the first sign of a major traffic congestion and if I wanna get home before 7 (to get comfortably and sufficiently settled for my night anime), I'd better make a quick dash for the right bus-stop.
The rest was history. Never had I, or ever again, take 1 hr to reach school from the Clementi train station.
A Grey Day
Was it the drizzle from yesterday or the heavy downpour this morning or perhaps both, I've no idea. But one thing I'm sure of is I'm down with influenza. Harry Potter didn't make my day any more cheerful unfortunately.
Drowsy with medicine
Sisters Who Bite
Finally see my sis, Jo today. Have not seen her for close to 3 weeks. We are a quarrelsome duo, bicker more than talk. During school term, even though we live under one roof, we hardly see each other much less talk. Quite unbelivable if you consider the area of living space we have. Communication was down to short notes, sms and msn. Character difference aside, our schedules played a part too. However eccentric we are, the gunfire we puffed through our conversations disappears during weekends. Maybe it's a reflex action based on locality.
When Mum suggested we stay together, our response was unanimous. I was surprised my head did not fly off with the violent shaking. We'd probably bite each other's head off within 2 days. Nonetheless, moving plans proceeded. Today was Day 1 sharing a room with Jo. Went unexpectedly well though tempers did flare at one interval. Thank goodness, the other did not respond to the temper challenge.
At home, I'm contented to listen to the lively exchange between Jo and LP. When Jo goes off for school term, it's me and LP. LP is a great sister to have, the most resourceful person in the family who manages the security and stock. You can never hide anything from her. Ask her where anything is and she'll produce the very item in 5 minutes. I gave up locking up my drawers cos LP would probably know where my keys are. lol
I shared a close conversation with Jo tonight. As we laid on our backs, I updated her on the recent going-on at home, with my friends and general issues. Her complex school tales usually bore me but today, they're especially intriguing. Everything from class to faculty and committee to student leadership. She has worked for her achievements today and though I never tell her this, I'm very proud of her.
We're not only well-matched in terms of temperament, we're also very candid and frank. I'll laugh off any reserved civility from her and vice versa. She who always leaves the housekeeping to me, changed my bedsheets while I was out. A small gesture that speaks volumes.
I never think much about cherishing my siblings and family. To the extent of mocking at friends who dote on their siblings. But with the coming-of-age, family is the most important to me.
As I write now, I'm glad Jo moved in. I look forward to lunch with Jo tomorrow.
Sweet dreams and good luck to your MI common test tomorrow.
P.S. The bet is on. As well as our vision after graduation.
My Fascination with Hong Kong
It began a couple of weeks ago amidst a heavy dose of HK TVB drama, and a brief mention of F.L who was back for a vacation from her work at HK. I'm very much intrigued with the idea of living & working on the canton island rather than a transient 1-week sightseeing tour. I wonder what draws me to this northern Chinese island.
Through the centuries: The history of dress
I almost forgot this, 21 hrs to Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
The Bug In My PC
0335
Working my toes off to fix the home desktop and still getting nowhere. The pc had been an angel after the previous doctor's visit. Peak performance, brilliant colours, exellent sounds, and fast processing time. These were too good to be true. Embedded deep within the innards, malicious .exe files recoiled restlessly. Our heap of praises for the pc have stirred them awake. There they laid, snarling and spitting out abuses with incessant erroneous messages, restart-your-pc countdown timer and the all-time favourite, freeze the system to an incurable "hang". The ailing desktop, drunk from hangovers of a massive scale, is tottering on jittery nerves.
Gotta fixed it by 1700. Or my ears will suffer.
Out (for sleep) now. Ciao.
頭文字D
I've not watched any HK movie for years but I sat through 4 runs of Intial D. I'm mental. Fav character: 涼介 played by Edison Chen. :)
UniSim
Not being in Singapore has its setbacks such as reading about your school from The Straits Times Online. While we are away, SIM has become Singapore's 4th university targeting a unique audience quite unlike the other uni. UniSim is expecting a sustantial number of working professionals and adult learners in its first recruitment drive.
The founding President is Professor Cheong Hee Kiat. Before this appointment, Professor Cheong was the Deputy President, Dean of Graduate Studies and Dean, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Nanyang Technological University. (Courtesy of www.sim.edu.sg)
Congrats, UniSim. :)
Bloggers Beware
I think this is alarming news to us, bloggers.
Bloggers Need Not Apply
3 more days to Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Home is where the heart is.
After-Anger-Rush
I feel more at peace now after purging out the toxins. The gnawing problem still persists, jo. Nevertheless, there are certain few things to celebrate for.
1. New Burberry wallet!
2. Bought a Great Big Book of Everything for Christopher and seeing his happy smile is extremely satisfying.
3. Pre-order my copy of Harry Potter and the half-blood prince at long last. Remembered the last time I called the different chains of bookstores across the country (both sg and msia) to procure a precious copy of Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix. What a nerveracking experience it had been. Not that eager to repeat the same telephony game again this year. And thus, the pre-copy receipt, which Mummy paid for.
4. Mummy seldom indulges in herself. The pink Burberry tote Mummy bought today takes a couple of years off her. A lovely change from the brown Gucci.
5. I intend to purchase a large bag for my next sem. Hope to find a sizeable Burberry tote or just any tote. LV just looks too odd on me. The same goes for Gucci and Chanel. Anyway, it's a waste to carry fine bags to school. The killer stack of notes will kill any hardy/pretty-to-look-at leather strap.
6. Looking forward to school. A very strange sign.
7. Making a trip down to the crystals and gemstones shop soon. Apparently I have a miraculous charm over jade. A fengshui master said the stone of my destiny is jade and I suppose he is right. The dull jade bracelet turns into a beautiful coral green, sparkling with clarity. According to the ladyboss, the movement of our bloodflow or qi in our veins can bring 'life' to the stones. Something which I find to be pretty true. Unlike my mum or sis, I think it's a waste to wear crystals to school/on a daily basis. What if I scratch them? Besides, the worst and most durable should be reserved for school. (My personal opinion)
8. Fix up my home IT facility finally after sinking a sizeable capital on it. Courtesy of dad.
9. The 3 musketeers who came to my house today. Man drivers who spent close to an hr to locate my home even with carefully written down directions. Thank god, dad was around to rescue the distressed threesome from some odd lane.
10. Other than the unwanted disturbance, this summer vacation was a holiday well-spent. As August approaches, I feel reluctant to move out of the comfort of my home and camped in a refugee site. However, much as I want to deny this, the latter is an excellent 'motivation' to study. I conclude that I study best in adverse circumstances and not comfy places like home.
My problem is yet to be fully resolved. But at least, I can sleep with an emptier mind tonight. Peace to all.
11 days to Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince
Cage. Anger. Naked. Trapped.
