Wan Ping

You know you're in love, when all the love songs start to make sense

2012-02-12T02:07:00.000-08:00

Beautiful moon out every night.
Denim Jackets and Flora dresses.
Internet memes in the Literature Classroom.
Avocado milkshake, my current addiction in school.
Impressive number of medals displayed during CCA exhibition.
Si Min displaying her cooking skills while selling Hotdogs to raise funds for Fun-O-Rama.
And all the sweet things in life.

I'm grateful for the friends who continue to be a major part of my life. Those who make an effort to stay and bear with me, those who are always there and those who care. They are the ones I'm not afraid to speak my mind to, to open my heart to and to ask things of. The ones I can never thank enough.

Discoveries

2012-02-10T05:58:00.000-08:00

I have learnt several new things and found some.. interesting stuff. I love the internet and I love Google. And did I mention how awesome Youtube is? Meanwhile, I saw an interesting article on Twitter: http://mashable.com/2012/02/09/google-valentine-surprise/

Enjoy your read! :)

Where to go, what to do

2012-02-06T06:32:00.000-08:00

I was talking to my mother today and asking her what I should do after A levels. As in, which University Course I should be aiming for and all that sort of thing.

I realised that I had no idea what I wanted to do. There are so, so many vague ideas in my head but none seem to jump out at me and say: "PICK ME!" As freaky as that thought is, I wish it would. Before I know it, A levels is going to come... and go :) And I don't have the vaguest idea where I should go.

All I know is that this time, I am going to pick something I really like.

Dreams and Reality

2012-02-04T22:57:00.000-08:00

Just this Wednesday, I went on a GP field trip to an exhibition at the National Museum of Singapore:

I'm not really an art person so this was actually my first visit to an Art exhibition. It was quite a small exhibition and if you want to go, I recommend getting the Audio Guide because it would be really helpful. (On second thoughts, this post is kind of useless since the exhibition has ended already HAHA) Anyway, I am here to share with you guys some of my favourite pieces from the exhibition.

The end of Autumn, Eugene Laermans

What I really liked about this piece was how the beautiful scenery of the country side seems to echo the sadness of the blind couple. Without the human figures, it would appear to be peaceful little town but with them in it, the drawing seems to change.

Branch of the Seine near Giverny, Claude Monet

There were quite a few pieces by Monet at the exhibition but this is my favourite. Not just for the technique but also because I really admire how the picture seems so... colourful despite the fact that he used only one main colour.

The Young Girl and Death, Marianne Stokes

The picture reminds me of sleep paralysis, which I sometimes get and it is an extremely fearful experience for me. Interesting enough though, the painting makes use of medieval elements even though it was painted in 1908.

The birth of Venus, Alexandre Cabanel

This was one of the first few paintings we saw and when I saw this, the first word that came into my head was: "Perfection". The body proportion is truly perfect and the other elements of this painting, such as the soft waves and baby cupids accentuate the beauty of Venus, Goddess of love.

The Chemin de la machine, Alfred Sisley

This was another landscape painting I really liked. Sisley made use of geometry really well, to make it look like the picture is 3-dimensional. Can you feel it popping out at you?

A box at the theatre des Italiens, Eva Gonzalez

When I first saw this piece, I assumed that it must be a man who painted this but it turned out to a female painting her sister and brother-in-law. A light gossamer seems to cover her neckline, offering some form of modesty for the married sister. One word: Interesting.

Summer Night, Winslow Homer

The peace the two women dancing seem to share, contrasted against the raging waves made me feel like tearing upon looking at it. The stones seem to form human figures, watching these two lone women in the wind.

Starry Night, Vincent Van Gogh

The artist obviously requires no introduction. For me, the highlight of this painting is really the old couple in the bottom of the picture, and how Van Gogh is able to make a country side night sky look 'bright', yet natural.

The Cavalcade of Discord, Henri Rousseau

This isn't one of my favourite paintings but it was interesting to see this piece, which I wanted to label as 'juvenile'. Rousseau was a self-taught artist, which may explain why the painting doesn't seem as refined as the other artists of his time. However, this painting became highly popular/controversial because of its lack of, well... skill. However, upon closer look, the body parts actually require a lot of skill to draw.

A breath of fresh air, indeed.

Janet's 18th

2012-02-03T05:30:00.000-08:00

Janet Tan's 18th Birthday last weekend :) I actually sent her a message at 12am sharp but I sent it to the wrong number... Love you anyway, Janet you've been a good friend! Sorry for ditching you guys so often :S and last long with Sathia <3 HAHA.

Photos are not in any order. Captions above pictures.

Birthday girl of course must cake. Done by Yong Kai and yours truly ^^

Only the guys are camera ready. Says a lot HAHA.

Bernard (Guy in the light blue shirt) was super lucky that day.. played with coins and he still managed to win $10++. I didn't participate but looks like the zodiac prediction is pretty sure! (Bernard, who is a rooster, is supposed to be really lucky while those born in the year of the dog, most of us there, have pretty bad luck this year.)

I really look damn tanned here zzz.

With the girls!

Can you spot Janet and I?

Samuel willingly being caked. LOL at Han Yun in the background.

With Samuel, Co-captain in Jurong and Nikki, Teammate and good friend! Haven't seen her in so long! She crashed the party that day because she forgot her house keys hahahahahaa.

My Spastic face HAHAHA. (And spot my crocs!)

With Janet and Corene :)

Daniel took this and I was like: "Don't you know it is rude to take picture of people eating!!"

LOL I was still chewing on Marshmallows. Anyway this is what I've been wearing nowadays... comfy tops + denim shorts + belt (If I think I'm under dressed.)

Tallest hehehhe.

Class of 2-4 '08 :)

The boys doing their thing...

SO COOL. Also, spot the couple, Yong Kai and Sheih Li, in the middle! And Ryan's spastic face literally made me LOL when I saw this.

With Fang Ru! I have no idea what Samuel was holding...

With Jolene, Corene and Nikki.

HAHHAHAHAHA. I took this LOLOL.

Had no idea Samuel was doing this behind my back.

I love love love x 12132143213 barbecued Marshmallows. Even tried to make it myself at home.

Shit my skin is even blacker than Janet WHAT IS THIS! LOL no offence.

Supposed to be a 4-4 '10 picture but everyone just jumped in hahaha.

I think corene looks super cute here!

In between the two Snow Whites...

Nikki was damns self-concious of her fringe that day hahahhaa.

I wasn't ready for the picture HAHA.

Cross Country Buddies :)

P.S. CNY post updated :)

When Insecurity Reigns

2012-02-03T02:26:00.000-08:00

Its been a while since I've been to this space, slightly more than a week I believe. School has just begun not long ago and I'm a J2 already, so its time to start hitting my books very very regularly. Today's the last day of Orientation at AC, and I'm feeling a little sad because I can't crash campfire, due to a cold. It was pretty awesome last year, but then again, Orientation at AC has always been this way.

There are no pictures of me in this post because my hair looks like crap lately so I can't be bothered. Hence, it mostly just a couple of pictures.

The timetable for the classroom at North Lodge! NL2 belongs to my class... at least until the J1s start proper classes.

Was Eating Yong Tau Foo in school the other day, I took this set of chopsticks simply because they were of the same colour LOL. But I still managed to eat with it!

Found my dairy from when I was 13. I was such a perfectionist, which hasn't really changed... but the grades definitely did LOL.

I now understand why I got D7 for English in Sec 1. HAHA.

Caramel Ice cream from Pepper Lunch. I love the Matcha (Green Tea) flavour too!

Self-explanatory. Never imagined that I would be receiving something like this :)

I went for a GP field trip to the Singapore Museum, to see the exhibition, Dreams and Reality. This is a painting by Van Gogh, Starry Night. Pretty disappointing for Dorothy and Simin, who wanted to see another painting by the same name, which is also by Van Gogh (the other painting was more famous and done later). I do think this is incredibly beautiful though. And I'm not really an Art person.

Might be doing a post on the exhibition soon, let's hope sloth does not get the better of me.

20 facts about me

2012-01-25T03:41:00.000-08:00

This post is inspired by #30factsaboutme (or something along those lines) which was trending on twitter for the past few days. I present to you.. 20 facts about me.

1. I am allergic to soft toys and most flowers.
2. I wear monthly contact lens.
3. My favourite colour is green, followed by red and blue.
4. I have three brothers.
5. I prefer milk or dark chocolate to white.
6. I love reality television shows.
7. My favourite kpop band is FT Island but I'm not so crazy over them now.
8. My favourite song is 'Fix you' by coldplay.
9. Bananas are my favourite fruit.
10. I am a big fan of yoghurt.
11. I used to be in Chinese Dance in Primary School.
12. I have absolutely zero musical talent.
13. I know how to play Dota.
14. My favourite magazine is 'Runner's' Magazine.
15. Zola Budd is the cross country runner I admire the most.
16. My fashion style is constantly evolving but denim shorts are a constant.
17. I don't have a favourite genre of music.
18. My favourite subject in school right now is Literature.
19. I have been running competitively since I was 13.
20. I have a rather short attention span.

How well do you know me? :)

Up, up and away

2012-01-25T03:01:00.000-08:00

Photo heavy post of Chinese New Year Celebrations. It is the same routine every year, to my Grandpa's (Father's side) for reunion dinner on Chinese New Year eve followed by visiting the relatives on my Father's side on the first day. The second day will be spent at my Mother's side.

CNY Eve: Glasses to hide my horrendous eye bags. I ended up taking a nap at my Grandpa's place as I headed over early... There's just something soporific about that place. #vocabwin haha

Reunion Dinner/ Lunch. Look at the amount of meat... I feel like I need some fibre by just looking at this photo.

Traumatising my grandma while she's on the phone hahaha. My grandma is awesome.

Because she lives so close to school, I sometimes head over after school and she'll immediately want to whip out an 8 course meal for me as lunch... and she loves to give me clothes. Here I am wearing a vintage silk top she gave me.

Awesome Shirt. Un-awesome eye bags. And an almost double chin hahaha.

Chilled at her place for a while with my family before I went back for an early night...

CNY day 1:

CNY make up. Love the bright lipstick colour! Audrey, from NYX.

To match my dress from Oakham Market.

LOLOLOL at my little bro's face.

My older brother and I. And no, we are not twins.

Rare photo with my mum. She doesn't ever smile in photos because she insists she looks better when she doesn't smile...

Another scrumptious lunch... Good thing I hate bah kwa (and most CNY goodies in general) so I can at least save some calories.

After Lunch, we headed to my Aunt's house. Do you guys still remember Joey from last year? (You can also click to reminisce how I looked like with Braces... and I think I put on weight!) Anyway, Joey went missing... :( My Aunt's family got a new dog instead and it's called Zack!

Zack is super cute and obedient. He looks distracted here but most of the time, he doesn't even struggle when he's being hugged. In fact, he loves being hugged.

Yes this is how short my little bro is. Can you believe he's 13?! But guys only start shooting up later so there's still hope for him hahhaha.

Blurry photo but its a much more flattering shot of him. Because he had slanted eyes in the previous photo!

It was one house after another and I got home around 1,2 am? My phone was completely knocked out... and so was I. (After a shower of course HAHA)

CNY Day 2: Mother's side for visiting. I was so red that day Nian must have been damn scared of me hahhaha. (For those who don't know what Nian is, just go and google: "Lunar new year legend of Nian")

Initially wanted to wear a pastel green midi dress Si min gave me for Christmas but I thought of all the sitting and standing and walking and settled on pants instead.

I have really pretty cousins. We actually took a group photo, with the 'young' and 'old' generation, will post once its uploaded (and if I'm not lazy hahaha)

My favourite Cousin, Natasha.

Gorgeous photo, love the lightning.. must be the application. Its called Fx Camera and is really good for the slightly vintage-y effect. Its free from the Android app store!

There were a few more house visits after that but I had school the next day so I called it a night around 6.30pm. Did a bit of studying and gave up on the GP package after half an hour. (which was sort of a good decision because the test today was easy hehe. But I know I just got lucky and that it probably won't happen again!) I spent the later part of the night pretty happy.

Until I woke up this morning with massive eyebags again... those who follow me on twitter might have seen this:

Not Joking.. fxtxpx is Michelle by the way, just in case you were curious.

Update 3/2.12: Group photos!

Arranging ourselves according to age..

My brothers and I are somewhere in the middle..

No idea why the younger kids are looking so sad LOL.

My older brother looking likabeng telling people where to stand

Love this shot on my aunt's armchair!

A thank you note

2012-01-21T04:52:00.000-08:00

If you are wondering what a picture of Simba birthday is doing on my blog.. it is Daniel's birthday present to me. He requested a blog post specially to thank him so here it is hahaha:

I really appreciate you always talking with me and sharing with me your many woes and problems whenever we're out with the group. I am glad that even though its been a while and I stood you all up a lot of times (for various reasons you should know) that you still see me as a good friend. Enough to give me melty kisses for my birthday! (They were damn nice I finished it in like 2 days.. you should consider giving me food all the time LOL) I know your birthday is coming soon, you haven't told me what you wanted. If you don't I'm just going to anyhow.. warn you first.

If there's one thing you should do this year, it is to be louder please. If you really like or want something, go after it. Stop being the behind-the-scenes guy all the time. Yes, it is very nice and everyone will appreciate what you are doing. But do you really want to be standing behind watching people get their fairytale story while you end up being the forgotten and lost person? Buck up a bit and be more like a man can? And please, study more! Don't end up like last year. Things aren't going that great for you but just so you know, I am willing to listen to your woes anytime. Recover soon!!

And oh ya, thanks for your present haha.

2012-01-20T05:31:00.000-08:00

My mood has been like a roller-coaster ride lately... not that it hasn't always been. I find myself being ecstatic one moment and depressed the next and they seem to become increasing erratic. My heart and mind are separate and I find myself having difficulty focusing on so many things, I am distracted so easily. Where has the Wan Ping who used to be able to sit down for 5 hours reading just a book (and visiting the toilet occasionally) gone to?

Now, I can't even concentrate on completing this blog post, I keep finding myself clicking on the other tabs and procrastinating.. Is this what happens after pro-longed exposure to television and internet? I do think that the interactive and fast-paced nature of both seems to have affected me. I am able to multi-task much better now but my level of concentration is practically non-existent. If you are an active reader you would realise that the recent blog posts seem rather fragmented. That is because I do not sit down and finish it in one go which explains the fragmented sentences and thoughts.

Letters to you

2012-01-18T05:16:00.000-08:00

Outfit last Sunday.

It is the middle of the week and for once, I am ahead of task for most of my subjects, with the exception of General Paper. I should be satisfied but instead, there is a sense of restlessness within me, as if I should be somewhere else. I am actually looking forward to training tomorrow, which is pretty rare. Mostly because we will be doing an easy long run as there is a race on Saturday. Not to mention, the trials for the appeal students will also be worth looking forward to.

As I am seated in front of my laptop typing this, the ink on a letter for a very special person is slowly drying. Often, the simplest things in life are also the best.

Joy

2012-01-14T22:17:00.000-08:00

Yes, another contemplative post. Recently, I have been obsessed with the fact that so many things in the world are relative. Temperature. Time. Happiness. Joy.

Everything depends on how you look at it. I always think that I am a very lucky girl. I have been blessed with so many thing that others don't have. Sure, there are ups and downs in my life. There are people leaving, but there is always someone new coming in. There are exams that I've failed, but they motivate me to do better next time. There are opportunities that I've missed, but there's always a new one heading my way.

There is really no dead end in life. Another way to put this in perspective:

"For every upslope there is a downslope."

You are probably sick of things related to running since that seems to be all that my blog posts are about nowadays but think about it. For every rise, there is a fall. If you are at the top, you have no place to move but down. If you are the bottom, you have nowhere to go but to rise!

When you meet with difficulties in life, keep hope and have faith because once you're down, there's nowhere to go but up. Similarly, don't dwell in your success for too long because another difficulty will come along for things are never that easy. Sure, enjoy the moment, but remember that life is a on going process and that it doesn't ever stop for one single success of yours.

Always believe, always remain happy because know that something better is coming your way when you are down. Always keep going and keep trying to improve because you want to keep rising.

Happiness is a state of mind, how you choose to see it.

It will be all right

2012-01-11T05:00:00.000-08:00

I know I said I was going to study but here is one last post (double post today!) as I realised this blog has been about nothing but training lately. Just looking at it makes me feel a little tired so here are so non-training photos:

Recycled Fashion (Meaning I have worn this exact combination before) but un-recycled hair and footwear (not pictured here)

Ribbon Top and my favourite pair of High Waist Shorts

Pencil Cases from Fourskins. Planning to get the green one for Shi Hui.

Skull Necklace for Shi Hui, to go with the bracelet I made sometime back.

I know my accessories have been kind of boring lately, mostly just a black watch but that is because I'm so lazy! The classic black watch from my mum goes with virtually everything and so I'm tempted to just go with that every time instead of throwing on something else. Just saying.

Heart and mind in a frenzy

2012-01-11T04:38:00.000-08:00

Joined Dorothy for lunch after my open house shift today and our study session at Starbucks turned into a chatting session. I'm confused about so many things that I'm not even sure how I myself feel. Her words made me smile a lot today because I realised those little passive questions she made actually hit all the rights spots... and made me question what kind of person I really am. How I perceive myself and how others perceive me is so very different. But I guess this contrast is natural in life.

Moving on to something a bit more frivolous, ACJC opened its 'house' today! Hope everyone who came had a good time :) Below are some photos from the open house (preparations):

Stringing through all these Tag numbers and pictures made me feel really grateful for the past year with the team, despite needing to sacrifice some sleep to finish this.

Cutting out a 'X' Template...

For Decorations!

Initial idea for door gifts.. ice creams sticks with running quotes.

Better and improved! Esther's suggestion to wrap a ribbon around its top

Pretty :)

Everyone cleared the booth except for a sleepy (and sick) Lester

Who woke up for a group photo!

Time to do my job as a student... study :(

Voyage de la vie

2012-01-08T02:49:00.000-08:00

Was looking for photos that could be used for the open house, which is happening on 9th Jan 12, Wednesday!

I'm trying to shortlist 10 that we can use on the day itself but its a pretty hard decision. Really grateful for this team, looking through all these photos makes me feel sort of proud to be the captain of this amazing team. Sure we may not always perform our best but I'm glad many of us managed to forge friendships and further their interest through this CCA.

I remember the first training at AC (I trained with the team earlier as I was under the DSA program) where coach just made us jump cones. Look how far we have come! Now we're jumping hurdles instead of cones! Just kidding. But still, it's a long journey that will be ending very very soon. 10 more weeks to National Cross Country, that's 21/2 months. We can do this.

Its as easy as for you to let me go

2012-01-05T07:03:00.000-08:00

Hey, do you guys still remember the post 'In Cold Blood'? If you do and happen to be interested in watching that particular episode, you can watch it here:
http://video.xin.msn.com/watch/video/episode-4/1tnoyf7y1

Today, we did slope fartleks for training and due to a combination of factors, it wasn't... easy. Not to say it normally is, it just so happened it was harder than usual. Coach was pacing us (the group of us doing the same workout) and during the last set, he tried to motivate us by making us envision that we were running the last 200m in National Cross Country.

In that moment, I actually saw it in front of me and for a single split second the pain was gone.

Until it all came crashing down again.

Update: 18.1.11: An anonymous reader found the link to the story:

http://www.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne%2BNews/Crime/Story/A1Story20080310-53651.html

Oh, this has gotta be a good life

2012-01-02T06:01:00.000-08:00

Currently Playing: One Republic: Good Life

I will admit, I was pretty apprehensive about starting this new year. Some things haven't been going as well as I hoped they would and this probably contributed to my sombre mood also. In fact, I was feeling pretty depressed on new year's day. But today my mood has cleared up today and I'm feeling chirpy and optimistic about this year!

I've decided that this year I should try to be less controlling, to let things flow, to take a step back and enjoy life as it is :) After all, this might very well be the end of the year! Not that I believe it's true...

Anyway, Below are a couple of outfits I wore out and since I thought I'll post it here! Fashion for the past few days :)

Christmas: Floral Denim Shorts and Blue Top

Cross Farewell: Military buttons Shirt, Denim Shorts

New Year's Eve: Floral Crop Top, Belt, High waist Shorts (Recycled fashion)

Today: Tank Top, Vintage Polka Dot Shrug with flare sleeves

I've been pretty bored for the past few days so today I decided to put on a bit of make up and.. camwhore hahahhaa. Reason is because my make up is so neglected I think its rotting.. no Joke. When I was using the make up base today I realised it was a little dry. I hardly ever use it so it still more than 3/4 full. So wasted haha. Another reason is because I'm finding all sorts of stupid excuses to avoid doing homework.

Make up is Jap inspired, which is why I seem quite fair. Would do a tutorial except I am no expert either. Just added wing tips for the eyes, spam mascara (I don't use fake eyelashes... a bit too much) and I finally have visible eyebrows hahaha!

This is my favourite photo but I don't like the weird strand of hair sticking out.. haha.

This is quite Act.. don't slap me! I already said its Jap inspired!

Yes I can see my eyebrows! Hahhahaha.

First post of the year and I am already so self-obsessed. I must really do some self-reflection hahaha... All right! Good bye!

P.S. Selling post updated!

New year resolutions 2012

2011-12-31T00:15:00.000-08:00

As 2011 draws to an end, let's review some of my resolutions from last year:

1) Be a more responsible person

I don't think I succeeded.. I tried but I don't think I did very well in this aspect.

2) Get a new Watch that can record lap time (any recommendations, anyone?)

I still haven't found one yet! Was thinking of getting a polar one but have to save up hahaha.

3) Study hard and get into my desired course

Not bad. I think I did get into my desired course.

4) Not get retained. DO very well!

First part done. Second part not done. HAHA.

5) Stay committed to running

Yeap, we're still married.

6) Get at least Top 20 for running next year

Done also. But truthfully speaking this wasn't that difficult an aim.

7) Better my sec 2 timing for 3k

I was one second off.. So my PB is still 12.48, which is not very well done.

8) Keep my room organised

In a last minute attempt to fulfil this, I actually cleared up my room today.

9) Keep in contact with all my old friends

Okay, erm not all but I did keep in Contact with some.

10) Make new friends

Definitely done.

All right, for this new year 2012, let's set some new resolution:

1) Be willing to try new things and take more risks

2) Less Procrastinating.

3) Overcome my dislike (since hate is a strong word) for Math

4) Set a PB for 3km and 10km (I'm feeling quite hopeful about this)

5) Do our very best for National Cross Country '12. Girls, if I might say so, let's go for gold.

6) Stop making promises I can't keep

7) Not to fail any common test/ exam.

#2 Running Cross Country

2011-12-30T05:59:00.000-08:00

I would assume that this means running a race and my first competitive Cross-Country Race, (I mean outside of school) took place when I was thirteen.

I was in the cross country team in my secondary school for less than 2 months so I was naturally nervous before the race. I remember the race was SAA cross country, which is kind of like a friendly match/ trial test run leading up to the nationals. It was held at East Coast Park and Coach decided I was to be placed in the first team, which is a great honour. There were 2 other teams and I was the only newbie in my team so it was really a privilege! And I wasn't even a DSA then. But it wasn't because I was good, it was mostly because there were too little seniors!

Anyway, we were sitting on the grass patch before warm up and I remember a caterpillar crawled up kehui's shirt (Kehui really dislikes insects, especially those that crawl) and Junko (my captain then) the hero shook it off. Till today, it is still a joke hahahha.

Honestly, I can't remember what we did for warm up and cool down but I do remember that the race was sort of a relay, where there were 4 people in a team and each one had to complete a 3.2km along east coast park. And because I was the only sec 1 in the team, they bullied me and made me the first runner. Super stress which is why no one wants to be..

Anyway I don't remember how the flag off went but I remember the baton looked like a yakult bottle HAHA. I don't remember much about the run but I remember thinking it was EXTREMELY BORING. 1.6km there and back and east coast park is basically straight and looks the same the whole way...

In retrospect 3km is really quite short for cross country, considering I don't find doing 10km races that boring. Must have been how I felt when i was young (er) and was used only to the 1.6km we do for NAPHA in primary school.

That's about it.. I don't really remember how I FELT during the race. Only know I was quite proud of myself for completing and was very tired and I needed the toilet urgently I think. I might have had stitch too I don't remember hahaha it was almost 5 years ago!

My timing was 14:31 I think, which even today I still think is not that bad, considering it was my first race. As a team, we got 5th postion, no prize money but we did get a medal, which was also my first medal for cross country. (School Sports day not counted LOL.)

My race tag:

I actually keep all my tags, as well as a note of my timing if I have it. And I actually have a box full of all these as well as my used training logs. Hahahha sounds like a lot of things but its actually not that much when its done race by race. Now, you might be interested the photos taken during THAT race. As well as how I looked in Sec 1.. where I ran with glasses.

Prepare yourself for the shock of your life.

Can you spot me? Hint: Tag number.

Save you the trouble. Cropped + enlarged.

High socks? Checked.

Ugly red PE shorts? Checked.

Ugly red polo PE Shirt? Checked.

Tucked in Shirt? Checked.

RED Harry Potter specs? Checked.

This is arguably the ugliest photo of my life... I actually found this photo while searching for photos of some other event on SAA's website. Thankfully they have already taken it down. I know that everyone changes but you've got to admit my change is really quite drastic haha. But it doesn't matter how you looked in the past, so you shouldn't dwell on that. For the longest time, this photo was hidden inside an album because I couldn't quite find the courage to take it out and laugh at myself.

But a new year is coming soon and I figured, its time to forget and be more accepting of myself, no matter how ugly I was. The way I looked in the past shaped the way I am today and I am grateful for that. 5 years doesn't sound like a lot but as I look back now, I realised I have changed a lot. Both inside and out. And I will always be changing so perhaps 10 years later, I will be laughing at how I look now.

All right, this was supposed to be a recount but I see now that it seems to have become a reflection sort of post. Its the new year, take a chill pill and have some fun! :)

And have fun laughing at how I looked...

P.S. Can you see that my legs were pretty buff, even when I was only 13?!

Save my wardrobe tyvm

2011-12-30T04:45:00.000-08:00

Finally! The long awaited selling post, even if I say so myself...

Envelope Clutch that comes with Strap in Camel Brown

Can Fit A4

$12

Justamaze.com Jeggings in black

Size M.

$10

Vintage Granny Print Paper Bag shorts.

Free Size fits UK 6-10

$10

(Tucked out)

Pink Chiffon Top.

Selling cause I don't like it anymore.

Frilly dress

Size XS

Selling because its too small for me now

$12

Knit top in apple green

Size S

Knits are not really my thing..

$15

Coral Top

Fits UK 6-8

The colour doesn't really suit me.

Reversible Chiffon Top in Teal and Yellow

Fits UK 6-8 best I feel

Pending

High Waist Shorts

Size M

Polka dot dress

Free Size

WAYYYYYY too frilly for me

$10

Pink Dress

Free Size

This dress somehow reminds me of something you'll wear to meet your in-laws...

$12

Socialite Paperbag shorts in WHITE.

Too big and baggy for me.

Fits UK 8- large 10 better I think

$10

Rubi nude heels

Really pretty but I don't wear heels that often and I don't want to let it rot.

Meet up only.

$12

Prices are excluding postage, email all enquiries/ order to chuawanping@gmail.com!

BEHIND THE SCENES:

Was contemplating whether or not to sell this A&F top because I hardly wear it but I decided not to :)

Damn Act but I like this photo hahaha.

Denim on Denim.. but it looks okay somehow!

Was dissuaded from selling this after Manoj's words..

Crop Top which is wayyyy to oversized. Should I sell this?

So that's it for my selling post. Actually there are a lot more clothes but I got sentimental while trying them on to take the photos so these are the only ones in the 'reject' pile. I think the plan to save my wardrobe is still quite fail sigh.

On a side note, conversation with Manoj the other day:

Manoj: "You look okay in this why are you selling it" (or something along those lines)
Me: "I look okay in all of it if not I wouldn't have brought them in the first place right!"

Does anyone else agree with my logic? Yes or Yes? Hahhahaahhaa.

I must really stop talking to myself.. ok bye.

China Trip part 2

2011-12-28T00:13:00.000-08:00

Part 1 is here. Go read it first if you haven't!

Day 6:

A copy of their English Worksheet.. Rather interesting I suggest you enlarge it and take a look

After the PE/ Wushu lesson. I swear the teacher is damn cool. Super patient and nice.

After class, we actually headed off to this place called the 'Muslim Snack Street'. By far the best shopping place in China I think. I got damn a lot of stuff there (especially food and dried goods) so you can buy stuff for parents/ grandparents/ people who like dried stuff there. But you have to be very good at bargaining!

And watch where you walk because that wet splotch you are stepping on might be pee.. LOL.

Day 7:

Day 7 was our last day spent at Gao Xin High school. Honestly, I did not really got a chance to interact with my buddy so I wasn't that close to her. My buddy from the previous time (they came in July) were actually from the International Section (yes, the school is rich enough to have two different campus) and so I didn't see them at all! They were supposed to come on the last day but both of them couldn't make it. However, Maomao got someone to pass a gift to me! So nice :,(

The gift my buddy I didn't really know well got me. Rou Jia Mo I think.. Its a kind of patty with meat inside, speciality of Xi'an!

She's the girl on the right, emcee for the day!

They had a couple of performances.

This guy has a really really really high voice. Amazing vocals. (Though I really don't know anything about music haha)

Nonetheless, she was gracious and treated me well for the 5 days.

We actually performed for them too but Marcus gave me a chance to be the 'sound manager' so I could bail on the dance item. But I still had to do the singing and you know.. Short people Always stand in front ==

No pictures though.

After that, we went to ChengHuangMiao street. Thing is.. there's going to be 2 chenghuangmiao, one in Shanghai and one in Xi'an. The one is Shanghai is actually the more famous one, with the xiaolongbao and stuff but the one in Xi'an has good buys too.

It was so cold someone's hand froze and fell off while working.

Just kidding it's a glove HAHA.

Unisex toilet... I was damn self concious while taking this because a woman was staring at me...

This is in Parkson's I believe, which is sort of like our Paragon. Funny Chinglish worth a read.

The reason why you see so many random photo of strangers is NOT because I'm a creepy stalker but because we have to do an assignment and my group's topic was 'clothing' so I needed pictures of how they dress!

KFC uniform also must take.

After that, it was back to Muslim Snack street, where we dined at a Muslim restaurant.

9/10 dishes were spicy.. I nearly died.

Day 8:

Morning was spent on the flight to Shanghai so I didn't even bother with contacts since plane ride = made for sleeping. #justsaying So excuse me for looking so cui!

Hotel Breakfast for the last time in Xi'an. There were hardly any fruits so Esther and I spammed Watermelon every morning.. This is about 1/2 of the watermelon we eat every morning. And that's my daily serving of yoghurt you see at the side.

Last picture in Xi'an!

In case you were curious about how stones tasted like..

First stop upon reaching Shanghai.. FRESH AIR. Just kidding.. but kinna true. Oriental Pearl Tower, where we spotted two men playing Tennis with themselves.. #forever alone.

Just kidding, it's actually just a racquet with a string and ball attached. Quite cool actually.

I have been to the pearl tower before 2 years back and everything's about the same, maybe a bit more.. commercialised? Even the security dog is the same one I think!

Oh yes, another thing's changed.. IT WAS WAYYY MORE CROWDED. And btw, Jesmond took this photo. All the photos he takes of me are quite unglam...

I think got HK movie star feel! Don't slap me.

Standing 200+ floors above.. its not scary la, maybe a bit dizzy though cause the whole place is circular and cramped!

Ya I must take off specs for photo.. Cannot arh? But seriously, can you blame me?!

Sleeping with Esther and Adelson HAHAHAH. Must put photo of him here because he took a lot of photos of me during the trip so must credit him! But he doesn't have fb so Idk where the photos are now...

I'm dead sure Jesmond took this...

LIKE A BOSS.

Our new Tour Guide.. and check out our tour flag LOL. It's just some ornament because they couldn't find anything to hang on it...

Next we went to some wax museum which was in the same building.

All so lifelike! Madness.

Let me test my ability to write a lit essay on this...

Funny mirrors hehehe.

After that, it was a cruise along Huang Pu river, the most famous (and only..?) river of Shanghai. It's like Singapore River.. but bigger. The cruise was so crowded we couldn't get a good picture at all!

Jesmond took this. I swear he's damn good at taking all my unglam shots zzz.

Since all the shots are so terrible, I shall compensate by showing you some of the nicer shots from my visit 2 years ago.. Never been posted on fb/wherever.

2 years ago.. I think the cold made me quite insane haha. But can you see that it is a LOT less crowded? Also that my teeth was crooked last time. And.. I can't fit into that pair of jeans any more :(

Day 9:

Early morning visit to Museum... My hair was too screwed up that day so I decided to just pin everything up. I was so desperate I went to buy conditioner == Finally found the one I normally use in Watson's! Even Walmart doesn't carry it...

Look like a not? It's a mask used by ethnic minorities in China for rituals.

Quite scary.

Must Camwhore because Shanghai Toilets are so much cleaner!! #nooffense

Urban planning centre! This is really cool its the whole of Shanghai city I think.

After that, we took a 15 min walk along the bund, which was also crowded like mad but we managed to find good spot!

Pointing at Ben Tay because he was the birthday boy, we were damn thoughtful, had a celebration and everything for him!

Doesn't look like somewhere in Shanghai right! This one really got movie star feel...

I think as long as you slip on shades can already.. Fake ray-bans belong to Jesmond by the way. And they were brought in China. LOL.

After that it was the CCP Museum, which was a pretty solemn place but we saw some crazy dressing anyway...

Like I said.. Solemn place.

I don't know what face Jesmond was trying to make..

After that we went to Nanjing Road for shopping! I have been here before and it's not really a place for bargain hunters. Like Uniqlo here is more expensive than Singapore's and it's crowded like mad. Think when H&M just opened crowded...
So Esther and I sneaked off to this area beside the major shopping mall where I got the cutest loafers for.. 34 yuan. Which is 7 bucks! For loafers!!!

The point of the above photo was the word.. 'MAX'. Can you see it? Hahaha.

Day 10:

Three places that day. Love box Storage, this enterprise which became quite successful and even had a Singaporean Intern! Visit to Volkswagen Factory :) And Chenghuangmiao street in Shanghai.

Decided to make an effort to dress up since we were going back to Singapore soon and Shanghai wasn't that cold.. Freakin regret my legs nearly froze in those tights == And yes, those are the loafers. I love the striking colour but I'm going to remove the eyes and nose of the shoes LOL.

Volkswagen Factory!

How cool the toilets were opened specially for us :)

We were given a tour around the factory in these mini cars. No photography allowed but it was a pretty cool experience I would say. And the ride was super comfortable..

Followed by a Q and A session. Photo has no relevance but.. eco car so must take photo!

After that, 11/2 hour ride back to the city (traffic jam), where we went to chenghuangmiao street. Ate at the same Xiao Long Bao shop I did 2 years ago, but this time we went to the restaurant upstairs. Totally not worth it la. Pay so much more than if we queued downstairs.

But still, the food was good! And it was warm inside the restaurant.

I feel like eating some now. Super juicy and the skin is so tender. Honestly nothing beats this authentic XiaoLongBao from Chenghuangmiao.. wished we ate this downstairs in the cold! Would have been able to appreciate it a lot more!

Crazy dressing..

Audrey damn pretty I cannot tank!

Esther is satisfied :)

We had an extra long reflection that night.. this is my awesome group.

Day 11:

Last day of the trip! Spent it at the aquarium where I got rid of all my loose change.

Eel with polka dots!

The seal swam too fast so I have another photo here :)

I know what you are thinking.. Gross, why you put picture of worms!!

Just read this okay.. HOW SWEET!

The jellyfish exhibit they had was the best. So beautiful and graceful...

SHARK ATTACK! Thanks so much to Esther who captured this :)

Last meal in Shanghai!

My heart sign a bit fail but you get the drift..

Before I end off.. This was taken with my phone!! Vending machine in the hotel in Shanghai.

THEY SELL CONDOMS. And also a card that allows you to redeem cup noodles from the counter LOL.

And that was how my trip went :)

In cold blood

2011-12-27T07:21:00.000-08:00

I was planning to blog about part 2 of my China Trip today but I watched something today that evoked this blog post. It was the 4th episode of In Cold Blood (Channel 5, Tuesdays, 10-10.30pm) where they show Ordinary people doing extremely scary/cruel/horrifying acts.. in cold blood.

This episode was about a maid abuse case that made me cry freakin badly. Like snot and everything. Not a pretty sight. Anyway, the story was a maid abuse case that happened sometime in Early 2007. I tried google-ing for the actual news article but there wasn't any so here it is, narrated to the best of my ability.

Basically, this Malay family of 4 (Mother, Aunt, Daughter, Son) abused their maid for a period of 2 months before she finally got the courage to jump out of the house in an attempt to escape the torture.

It first began when Mother spotted the Maid touching her earrings while cleaning the house. The Mother accused the maid of stealing and then gave her a hard pinch and a strict warning.

That was the beginning.

When the Daughter lost her phone, she accused the Maid of stealing it and demanded her to strip (in front of the son/her brother) so she could do a body check. When the Maid refused (obviously), the daughter made her brother tie the maid up.

And they poured hot wax on her neck.

Freakin piece of crap. And the best part is.. when they searched her belongings later, they couldn't find the phone. Obviously. BECAUSE SHE DIDN'T STEAL IT.

After that, it was one incident after the other. These included:

Punch to the face when the maid didn't 'ask for permission' before showering
Made to stand on one feet with the other lifted high for the duration in which the son was gaming
Repeatedly punched and kicked
Locked in the house, with her hands tied up at night (to prevent her from stealing)
Two front teeth pulled out because she didn't 'confess' to her 'crime'
Made to endure all of this pain without any medical attention/ help for 2 months.

The part that really moved me was that she didn't have a choice. She had a son to feed and the family was her only source of income. If she was sent back to her agency, it will be another period of time before she can be hired again. If any of us had a choice, I believe not a Single person reading this would want to be:

1) Sent to a foreign country where you have no relative/ friends
2) Abandon the only family you have
3) Call someone 'Mam' and clean their house/ toilet/ clear their shit.

Can you believe having to endure the physical pain on top of all of these? The show also said that each year, there are 80-100 of such abuse cases here in Singapore. That's 80 to 100 lives that are out there, waiting to be saved. That's 80-100 families who are waiting for these maids to feed them.
Why can't these employers understand that? If you think the maid cannot perform things up to your standard, maybe your standard is too high, maybe you should clean it up yourself. If you are frustrated because you can't understand the maid, remember that the maid is equally frustrated but still has to smile and you because you are her 'Mam'. If things go missing, maybe you misplaced them. Don't freakin jump to conclusions.

MAID ABUSE REPORT/ MAID HOTLINE

6 539 5298

Just in case you hear things coming from your neighbour's house, or something.

The employers were jailed for a period of 6 weeks to 2 years I believe. But they abused the maid for 2 months. How is that fair?

We despise foreign workers because they are different from us and their appearances seem to be taking up space/ unwanted. We mock their culture, the way they speak, the way they act. I am guilty of this too but have we taken it too far? Have we managed to alienate them from us so much so that we no longer see them as humans? While we are on this topic, I would like to touch on another. Foreign Brides.

Ever since I read a Straits Times Cover on this topic earlier this year, I have felt some pretty strong opinions about it. I know many of us have prejudice against these brides because we feel that they are living a better life in Singapore, as compared to their home town. We feel that they deserve whatever treatment they get because they can never afford in their home town what they can afford here, with a husband.

Let me ask you something.. does your idea of 'better treatment' include:

1) Having to stay at home all day taking care of 2 old folks you know nothing of?
2) Not being given an allowance?
3) Made to have sex with a man you barely know?

My guess is probably no. Especially the last one. And the reason why is because... if you were an eligible young, successful man, would you need to go overseas to look for a foreign bride? That is why majority of these men are blue collared workers in their 40s, who are still living with their (possibly invalid) parents. They can hardly afford to treat their wives well and many of these foreign brides seeking a 'better' future are probably going to be very disappointed.

There are cases of these brides being abused and they cannot voice it out because they have no way of going back home and are pressured to stay in Singapore to take care of the kids they might have. There are even cases of husbands leaving home and abandoning them to care for the children and their ageing parents.

I know that all these cases I have listed here are probably the worst case scenario and that there are optimistic figures that these maids and brides are happy. But I do feel that even if it was just one abuse case, it says a lot about us, Singaporeans. It is telling about the culture, about our belief that we are 'superior' to them.

Bullshit.

This is the 21st Century. Superiority is no longer defined by race or anything really. We have no right to treat others in a lesser way, especially if you do so due to your OWN prejudice/ thinking.

I apologise for the wordy post but I don't regret a single word in it.

Update 18.11.12:

An anonymous reader found the news article:
http://www.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne%2BNews/Crime/Story/A1Story20080310-53651.html

To watch the episode on xinmsn:
http://video.xin.msn.com/watch/video/episode-4/1tnoyf7y1

China trip part 1

2011-12-26T05:09:00.000-08:00

Its been a busy couple of days and I have finally found the resolve to sit down and blog about my China Immersion trip, which happened from the 26th of nov to the 6th of dec. Which was more than 20 days ago.. #veryefficient

I went to two cities in China, Xi'An and Shanghai, starting with 7 days in Xi'an, where 5 of it was spent at a school. (School in the morning, Sightseeing in the afternoon) I know the 'votes' said that I should do a general summary + lots of pictures but... I realise I have nothing to summarise so I'm gna do the summary + pictures + captions thing.

DAY 1:

Airport in Shanghai has priority seat too!

5pm and its already dark

DAY 2:

First stop in Xi'an: Small wild goose pagoda. We went to 2, the small and the big one haha.

Esther! My roommate/ new sister

Apparently only the rich could afford to have this outside their homes to 'protect' themselves. But if you ask me the headless things seem more sinister than protective.

You can't strike the bell but its supposed to make your wishes come true!

Esther, Audrey, Me, Jermaine. We are standing on Xi'an on the map.

Go China must do China pose.

Trying to imitate ah pek Chess players... I love Esther's expression!

Esther damn sporting haha.

Creepy Adelson taking photo of me in the background.

They had real maple leaves! Of course must pose.

All the food were freakin oily.. swimming in oil I swear.

Apparently, it is rude to finish up ALL the food the host serves cause it shows that they haven't been courteous enough... We were very polite :)

The places we went were all extremely commercialised. This guy was just sitting inside a room waiting for people to buy his books and sign them. For 150 yuan? But the street vendors outside were selling it for 50 yuan or something.

Can you see it?! Freakin wolfskin. Shops like these were everywhere. Barbaric but its a way of life there :(

Beautiful Scenery though. Near the terracotta warriors excavation site.

Pit 1.

Boring Pictures of terracotta warriors interrupted by me.

The warriors were actually quite large. About 2metres? And ALL of them had different expressions!

Marcus and Kai Jun, the two extremely talented performers

Have to thank Audrey for lending me her gloves! Or I would have no more fingers...

See what I mean by commercialised!

This is supposed to be an Archer.. or something.

Man trying to sell mini warriors. They just kept lowering the prices once you start walking away..

Esther and I didn't slack! Staircase training.

DAY 3:

Polluted Air + Fog + Cold

The school treated us damn well la. We sat in the VIP room.

And were served VIP food.

This is quite interesting and I'll bet you won't know this!

Normal people are supposed to use:

Left door to enter

Right door to exit.

The middle is for the monks and nuns

In the past, Gold/ Yellow Temples were for Emperors only.

This is the BIG wild goose pagoda. Can you see that it's kinna slanted?

Leaning Tower of China LOL... Its actually that way because too much water was drawn from underground, so the tower base became uneven.

China Studies in English (CSE) students who went. That's Jesmond you see on the left.

The reason you don't really see a lot of photos is because we spend most of the morning in school where there's hardly time for photo-taking. So most of the photos are of the afternoon. And scenery shots bore me.. so there's not much.

DAY 4:

Sneakily took a photo of the class. Functions and Integration in Chinese.. MINDBLOWN.

This guy was quite funny.. giving some lesson on Chinese History I think. I fell asleep/ did my vocab book.

Shopping in Bell and Drum Square

Hardly took any photos cause I was too busy shopping.

Policemen uniform I think.

The shopping there is actually not bad, the stuff seem quite FEP but I think it could've been better in Summer. Spent lots of time in Walmart too fooddddddddddd.

DAY 5:

Chinese Painting Class

I used to be in Art Club in primary school (don't judge) and we actually learnt Chinese painting for about half a year.

And yet..

My drawing is still a far cry from the teacher's haha. Look at the awkward black splotches. Yucks.

But it was quite fun!

Esther gives a sheepish smile when I ask her to pose..

Meanwhile Yan Lin is proud of hers!

We actually had a PE Lesson after that, where Esther and I did a run. #whatsnew. My cheeks turned pink omgomgomg so cool natural blush!!

But Esther's is more obvious!

Went to Ming City wall after another heavy lunch in school.

The brick was freakin huge.

Crazy people running. Hahhaha I was too full from lunch so I didn't join them.

Esther and her kung Fu poses.

This should be made into a GIF!!

Audrey is damn cute hahaha.

I also must act a bit.

Take from different angles haha.

Chinese Gangsters. I don't mean Aaron Tan...

The place was really pretty.

Photo ruined by Ugly but useful jackets at the side..

Much better.

Doing disrespectful things in front of a Chinese Temple hahaha.

Ben Tan the weirdo. He was wearing the bus driver's Jacket because he left his in school. Looks like a freakin Mao suit...

Jesmond and Esther

Marcus wore his striking yellow glasses..

So I loaned him my Jacket HAHA. Which was equally striking.. damn embarrassing I swear you see a yellow blob and you know its me ==

I'm kinna tired now so I'll finish up the rest another time!

A smile like no other

2011-12-25T02:59:00.000-08:00

Cookies with wayyyyy too much baking powder.

Meet up with my best friend who's in the States right now.

Out with Esther to get farewell gift for the seniors.

Christmas Celebration with the girls (and boon) at Mind's where my secret Santa Simin got me a gorgeous Maxi/Midi. (Maxi for her, Midi for me HAHA)

And Dorothy baked her lovely espresso chocolate cake.

Christmas lunch and an early birthday celebration for Jun Xian, my favourite co-worker

And a Christmas gift exchange once more.

Shade me from the world, save my little heart

2011-12-24T07:20:00.000-08:00

Deep in my heart, I know that something's wrong and that some things have changed. Nothing will be the same again. Words I crave for, they never seem to come. I tell myself I have to stop but you always manage to draw out the reactions I promised not to give. Why is it that I am weak and become satisfied with so little from you? Why is it that i tell myself to keep believing, just one more time, that things will change. Maybe its the little girl in me, from a long time ago.

Nights like this, I curl myself up in bed and tell myself I am worth more than that. Even if it isn't true. How do you measure your worth? Why is it that I keep trying to justify. I tell myself not to care, I tell myself to forget but I can't. You can't control your memory like that for if I could, I would be a much happier person. I can feel myself being crushed by all these emotions but I do know that I can push them away. That I can turn and run, like I always did before. This time though, there's nothing to run away from. But there's a sense of fear, that something or someone is nearby, ready to engulf me in a wildfire, in a tornado.

What ails me, I wonder.

That was my favourite song.

2011-12-21T06:25:00.000-08:00

I wasn't kidding when I said my wardrobe is exploding...

Wardrobe clearance post coming soon.

RAGE DAY

2011-12-20T20:17:00.000-08:00

Yes, this post is a rage post filled with angst!

1) SMARTPHONE RAGE

WHY FACEBOOK AND TWITTER FOR ANDROID SUCKS?! Seriously, I get that lots of people are using iphone but still... its totally unfair! People like me still exist, you know. I can't see my follower request on twitter mobile! And with the new fb interface for android, I can't even tag people in the photo! Nor can I remove/ like comments. Also it take about 30 years to load. And I'm very sure its not my WiFi connection because it states FULL BAR. FULL BAR. FULL FREAKIN BAR.

*Gives up and throws phone on the bed*

I was tempted to change the bullet to 'Android rage' instead but let me get on to the next part, which is a problem that almost all smartphones have:

Sync. Bloody annoying! Every single time I try to log into Facebook, they ask if I would like to sync. I already selected 'NO' about 10 billion times and the next time I log in, they still ask me if. I. would. like. to. sync! Bitch. I like to keep my Facebook friends and my contacts separate, TYVM. And every single time it syncs, it adds in 3 billion contacts. The first contact is the original one, saved in my google account. The second is the one from my SIM card (exact same number). The third is their email (auto synced from my gmail account). The fourth is the duplicate number from I have no idea where.

So each time I want to send a new text, they give me 3 freakin numbers to choose. And if I happen to be having a conversation with the person that I'm sending a text to, I have to choose the correct number so that the text that I send will appear in our conversation bubble. Some of the numbers have +65 and some don't, so if I choose the wrong number, it will appear in my inbox as two separate conversation.. WITH THE SAME PERSON. WHY CAN'T YOU JUST SYNC MY TEXTS TOO, SINCE YOU LIKE SYNCING EVERYTHING SO MUCH.

And I'm grateful that they inform me every time my friend creates a whatsapp account, they inform me but.. it makes me feel like a creepy stalker. #justsaying

Third thing. Battery life. Enough Said. But what I cannot get over is that its 'battery saver' mode seems to make my screen even BRIGHTER than it normally is. How does that make any sense! And because my phone has a notification flash that blinks every time I have a text/ whatsapp message, it turns RED when the battery is less than 10%. And I can't turn it off. Annoying little red light. I can turn the notification flash off when the battery is not dying, but I can't when the battery is dying. Again, HOW DOES THAT MAKE ANY SENSE!!!

2) MONOPOLY RAGE

Lately, SMRT has experienced quite a few break downs and I was a victim of a not so serious one (i.e. didn't make it to Straits Times front page) and I do understand that its normal for breakdowns to happen every now and then but I always feel that we should have a back up plan. Which we don't because.. SMRT CONTROLS EVERYTHING.

Honestly, this idea scares me a lot. That if one day it breaks down, the workers go on strikes etc. (Unlikely but possible) we would really be stranded. Strikes like this happened this month in England and it really set me thinking.

WHICH IS WHY I AM AN ANDROID SUPPORTER. Because you can never leave total power in anyone's hands. I mean, sure, it makes doing stuff a lot easier, like if everyone has the same thing but.. its so risky! Another reason is because I don't find it worthwhile to pay just for the Apple Operating System (OS), which is why I really really dislike macbooks. I wouldn't buy it even if it is sold for half-price. Microsoft is just fine, I don't see the need for change.

3) MATH HOMEWORK RAGE

Enough ~~said~~. Shown.

Rage comics from reddit.com

Gay has two meanings

2011-12-17T04:11:00.000-08:00

Just a few photos so this blog doesn't look dead. Day spent with Dorothy, Cui Ling and Si Min. It was Mind's Cafe this time because apparently Pitstop is.. Defunct. I always have a good time with them and we discovered the most boring game.. some train thingy and the best game (by far, in my honest opinion), DIXIT. It's the game with the cards that Si Min is holding in the first picture. Extremely fun game that truly requires creativity and integrity! So you won't troll other players. Title of this blog post is also inspired by the game.

Ended our session with PAYDAY, followed by picking lots to decide our secret Santa :) Afterwards, made a spontaneous decision to go to ION with Sm and Cl, which resulted in me leaving the place at 10:20.. Had a good day though and I finally brought the Marks and Spencer's Cookies that I have been craving for the longest time.

Price was paid this morning when I overshot my bus stop at Macritchie. Thankfully, it was only one stop so I could still walk in and managed to still be punctual! Training today was good and fulfilling, especially when Coach told me my timing for Northern Route 8km was not bad. Vast improvement from the week I just came back from China, anyhow. I hope my form is finally coming back and that I can maintain this standard. The girl's team can be Champions next year, we just all got to work on it. I'm looking forward to breaking a few PBs.

Precis

2011-12-11T07:57:00.001-08:00

The word above means abridgement/ summary. I love dictionary/thesaurus.com. Basically this post is just pictures caption thing of what has been going on in my life lately! I still don't know how I should blog about the China trip.. Do you all prefer pictures+Caption, A general summary + lots of pictures, or a day by day Journal thing? Choose the :) box for a few pictures + Caption, :D box for a general write up+ lots of pictures and -.- for a Journal style blog post! Help me out okay :)

This was for Simin's birthday celebration even before I left for China. Cake that Dorothy, Cui Ling and I designed for her. The theme was Cheena.. did we succeed!

Money sign so that she will earn more money

Boon! With a cheena red lantern...

Cupcakes that Dorothy made when I joined her for lunch after training last Thursday. I think we can get her to bake for AC Fun-o-rama already!
And ya I know my legs are very buff. And that there are a lot of scars.

My sexy new racers that I brought some time ago but didn't get to take a photo of yet.

Only grouse is that the base of the shoe is in pink :(

Photos from massage session with Lester and Max today. Retarded shot of both of them.

Lester ditched us so the two of us went explore Chinatown, where I went to OM.

Pretty shot taken near OM.

Brought some stuff to make a bracelet for Shi Hui.

Lunch was Matcha bean curd. Honestly wasn't feeling hungry.

Max and his $2.50 bak chor mee. LOL I have no idea how to spell it.

Bracelet done! Only took a while + I think it's totally Shi Hui's style.

All right, Guys (and girls) remember! Choose the :) box for a few pictures + Caption, :D box for a general write up+ lots of pictures and -.- for a Journal style blog post about my China trip!

Bye :)

Being 17 #2

2011-12-11T07:07:00.001-08:00

Yes, I do realise that that this post is overdue.. So overdue that Being 17 #1 is not even on the same page.. its here. So overdue that Being 17 #1 was written almost a month ago. Anyway, this celebration was at Ewf at orchard central with the class on the 15th! And yes, I came after training... Obviously a lot of people were late and obviously we ended up playing bridge. #trite #mustdosomethingnew

Miss seeing some of them and Rachael and Jolie were really sweet to give me a present! Nail polish in pastel colours! I was planning to buy them soon but now I don't need to! I'll get round to painting my toenails soon, once I stop procrastinating hehe. It was actually a joint celebration, because Jia Qi and I have the same birthday :) Class surprised us with an ice cream cake nut sadly I had CCAAB on the 16th so I had to leave after one bite. Left with Dione who still owes me a present hahaha.

My mum told me that you can only blow one birthday cake once a year, so even though it looks like I'm blowing, I'm actually not! Cause I already had a birthday cake earlier that day :)

Group photo with the class. Looking at it makes me miss some of them already!

The other part of the celebration came after CCAAB, dearest Shi Hui invited me to watch the movie première of breaking dawn with her on the 21st (I think)! She got me the perfect birthday present. Actually I already told her what I wanted so she just had to get it haha!

The invite was totally wasted on us.. neither of us were Twilight fans so we basically spent the movie in confusion, trying to figure out who was who and basically getting freaked out by the gore scenes. I think you have to be a fan to appreciate the movie. Both of us were looking pretty bad that day, I came right after work, so we didn't camwhore. Also because we were running late. Hence, I included a photo of us here!

Now you know how huge my phone is. A couple of blog posts coming up after this, at least I hope that I have the motivation to continue. And lots of people still owe me a present! i.e. BEST FRIEND. Though I'm currently rethinking that status...

The SYE Experience

2011-12-07T03:01:00.001-08:00

Hi guys! Did you all miss me? If you were a friend of mine, you would have known that I was away in China, Xi' an and Shanghai, from the 26th of November to the 6th of December! Took lots of photo while I was there and I had a lot of fun but before I blog about that, I am going to blog about the Spotlight Youth Exchange event that happened a while back, on 111111 :)

There were quite a few parts to the event! The first was this competition on facebook where we had to get people to post on Spotlight Youth Exchange (SYE)'s wall to garner support for our team, AC CROSS COUNTRY. Max, Ying Zhi, Belle and I were spamming our friends like crazy hahaha... and andrew didn't even do anything! His excuse was that he had PW. But he did help us to exchange coins and stuff in the end so we forgave him :)

We did eventually win the facebook competition, thanks to you guys! So grateful for those who bothered :)

The second was the event itself, which was an amazing race! The five of us got down to Temasak poly around 3pm to register and started asking from donations from the students there. The event aimed to help raise funds for the Budding Artist fund so throughout the whole race we had to collect money and carry two huge cans :( I didn't really carry anything, gave it to the guys heh.

The event was actually pretty big and there were a couple of performance before they flagged off the event!

But everyone was too restless/ excited about the flag off!

Sheik Haikel was the host and he was so funny! You see those Green things in front of him? Those are actually Sakae Sushi bedroom slippers that were super fluffy. We had to run in those for the final challenge.. along orchad road. Gosh....

We actually made a flag for the event. Using chopsticks and the flag leftover from RUN AC. Hideous... but ying zhi likes it hahaha.

This man is called Mr Delane Lim I think. He was very nice and friendly and chatted us up when he realised we were the champions from the facebook event. You could tell he was extremely passionate about his job!

Hahaha can tell he's really passionate look at the way he talks...

Everyone grabbing for the first clue card hahahha.

FINALLY! You can see from the background that some teams already started moving.

Well, the organisers announced to us that there were several shuttle buses leaving for specific venues but because we didn't open the card yet we didn't know where exactly the first station was. Our team actually thought that it might be East Coast Park (ECP) because I was super hardcore about the whole event and went to analyse every single clue they posted on their facebook on the days leading up to the event. #competitive

But because I wanted us to slowly solve the clues and didn't heed Ying Zhi's advice to just chiong for the first bus, we missed one bus and arrived at ECP at a later team. We were still in top 20, but we were aiming for top 3!

Teams were already coming back by the time we arrived! This team finished second, I think.

At this station, we had to go on roller skates to the jetty, where we had to solve a few puzzles! Remember the facebook competition I was talking about? They awarded us with super fast-forward cards so we solved

2 puzzles instead of 5!

Not everyone could roller skate so they offered 4 packages, 2 skaters + 3 runners, 3 skaters + 2 runner, etc. Max and I were more proficient so we chose 2 skaters + 3 runners.

Unfortunately, I couldn't quite go so fast so I ended up being dragged by Ying Zhi and Andrew.. quite an enjoyable experience actually, except when I fell.. But I only fell once so it wasn't so bad!

Random photo of a team solving their puzzle.

Thanks to the super fast forward card, we moved from top 20 to top 5! I told you how I did intensive research before the competition right? It really helped because we didn't even have to think before we knew where the next venue was. Because we came to East Coast Park the day before the competition, (they gave us free skating lessons there) we also knew the direct bus stop and the exact bus that would get us there.

Rushing in like mad people.. as the first team!!!

This challenge was an easy one for us because it required us to spilt into two teams, where we had to do Archery and Rock Climbing.

I say its easy because Andrew used to do Archery... (Andrew the Archer hahahahahhahaha.)

And Ying Zhi has a Rock Climbing proficiency.. He scaled the wall in less than a minute. The time given was 7. (Chua YingZhi the Climber LOL) I love alliteration.

Max and Andrew did the archery challenge while Belle and I were kinna useless haha. We just cheered!

Reading the notice after we completed, Can you see Andrew giving Max a Hi-Five? Love this photo!

We had to wear light sticks after we were done. Here is a photo of me helping Ying Zhi. Super funny cause my hands were sweaty so I couldn't do it at all!

The next challenge was at Kampong Glam. We knew it because of the intensive research that we did and so we took the right bus.. but we weren't sure which part of kampong glam it was at! The clue said it was carpark and while we were on the bus, Ying Zhi saw one but I didn't think it was the right one and so we spent precious minutes in the wrong carpark.

Until one team came to save us! They knew the right one and told us to follow them there. And it the one that Ying Zhi pointed out... I should really listen to him more!

There, we were very frustrated because the challenge required us to keep a chapteh up for 10 times, either as a team or one single person. Teams were coming in rapidly.. and Ying Zhi just couldn't hit 10 no matter how hard we tried. But with stubbornness and determination, we eventually got past it and the next part was to eat kueh and name the kueh we ate.

But we ate the kueh before the station master saw it so she had no idea what kueh we ate. She let us go after we named three random kueh! So nice! I thank Google for those names...

After that, we had a mad race to the train station with this other team that finished ahead of us. We beat the traffic light by a fraction of a second but ended up taking the same train as them to orchad anyway. We were stuck here again for some time, because the clue said MRT Station but there was nobody when we tapped out.. Until someone figured that they couldn't possible hold the challenge in ION and decided to run out to the streets! That was when we spotted the Station Master.

Here, we had to parade in our bedroom slippers while asking for donations till it reached a required amount (5kg) After a while, I guess the station masters realised it was impossible to reach that amount and so just sent us on our way to the finishing point! (Scape)

Once again, it was a mad run. (In bedroom slippers this time!) Like this...

We wore the slippers for the most part though! And I thank god for the fact that we are crossers because we won the second team by about.. 2 seconds.

It was an incredible feeling when we burst through the doors and the whole mall erupted in euphoria and the clangor of the drums assaulted our ears.

They took a few photos of us and we were sick of just standing there and smiling so we did a jump shot instead :)

First time in my life anyone wanted to interview me...even if they were just students. Thank you SYE :'(

Hosts, and a couple of interesting performances before the prize giving. Also a few speeches made.

CHAMPIONS :)

Group shot with the top 3 teams and the VIPs of the night.

These people made it all possible.

There were a couple of interesting performance and a concert lined up, but we were so tired and exhausted and smelly and basically half-dead so we left after the first few. Some of the things we missed:

See what I meant by half-dead? Andrew started behaving like a homeless Hobo.. Hahahaha.

Took the last train home and finally got a good sleep. They were pretty nice to print us a photo on the spot.

Most of the photos are from SYE's facebook page! It was honestly, an amazing experience. Amazing race, amazing experience :) Much thanks to James, Lester, Elaine and Ruth for coming down to support us too!

After the event, SYE was nice enough to invite us to a dinner at Arts House, where we got to interact with the other participants and some of the organisers. Max had already flew off to Yunan by then so he didn't join us. The Arts house was really pretty so Belle and I spent some time taking photos :)

Gay love heh. Max missed out on this.

Pretty Belle. She was dressed for her intern work! And heels made her taller than me :(

Had a really good time. Will blog about the China immersion trip soon!

Too tired for words

2011-11-22T08:56:00.001-08:00

Honestly speaking, CCAAB was an amazing experience.

Being 17 #1

2011-11-20T08:21:00.001-08:00

The first part of my birthday celebration :)

Met up with Si Min, Jie Si and Dorothy at 8 freakin AM on the 15th for a breakfast at Dempsey. They lied to me and told me they made a pandan cake for me when really, it was a really pretty rainbow cake! Breakfast was so good and the cake was so pretty I felt like tearing a little.

And look at the shocked look on Simin's face in the last picture! You would think she was the birthday girl but really, Dorothy and her were the ones who made the lovely cake. I have to say though, it was the best birthday cake I have ever got in my life, got to buck up before the two of them own my (meh) baking skills haha.

So blessed to have friends like that :)

After that I headed to training (yes, training) and then to EWF at somerset to have another celebration with the class! I miss Sudhirr! As usual, we ended up playing cards and Manick screwed up my twitter because I laughed at him ONCE. I left a while after Michelle came as I haven't finished packing for CCAAB camp then!

Will blog about CCAAB another time and post pictures of the graduation night! Goodnight!

Horoscope Freak

2011-11-14T05:22:00.001-08:00

From: http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/family/november-17-birthday-astrology.htm:

Scorpios born on November 17 have the ability to read the hearts and intentions of others. Their great wisdom gives them a spiritual view of life; they refuse to get caught up in life's superficial aspects. They carry themselves with great personal dignity. Although known for their sense of humor, they know when to display it and when it's not appropriate.

Friends and Lovers

People born on this date make excellent friends. Romantically, they are intense. They believe in fate and may feel only one perfect person exists for them. If their love is not returned, or if they're unable to find their soul mate, they're likely to sink into the doldrums.

Children and Family

There often comes a time in the lives of November 17 men and women when they feel they must separate from family to achieve autonomy. This has nothing to do with problems within the family circle. They may be unsure of their abilities as parents, yet they are affectionate and caring.

Health

Although people born on this date are not health fanatics, they understand that if they fail to handle their lives in a certain way, they'll lack the vigor and energy they need. Music has a healing effect on these people, who may use it to induce meditative states.

Career and Finances

November 17 natives gravitate to careers that let them indulge their contemplative side. They have a practical attitude toward money. They usually manage the family budget and can be critical of a mate who spends on items they believe to be frivolous.

Dreams and Goals

People born on this date seek to strike a balance between the serious and comical sides of their nature. November 17 men and women aren't hung up on labels of success. They have their own idea about what constitutes achievement.

Hahahha everything here is freakin true. But my main point is,

MY BIRTHDAY IS IN THREE DAYS.

Delusional

2011-11-13T06:21:00.001-08:00

Okay, this topic might be kind of old but I somehow feel the need to blog about this. Do you guys still remember how 2 days ago, it was 11.11.11 and everyone was making wishes at 11.11 am/pm? Supposedly it only happens like once a million years or something, I don't know my maths is really bad. #nojoke

And I made a wish. Normally when I make a wish I won't tell anyone (Because I'm scared it won't come true, superstitious wtf) but I'm going to tell you what I wished for. I wished for happiness.

Then I realised there was no point wishing because it doesn't matter if its 11.11.11, or 3.3.3, or 8.8.8 or whatever. No matter what date it is or how cool it sounds, IT IS NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN AGAIN. Time won't ever stop or go back for you. Every single moment you live and breathe is a lucky day, a magical day, because it will never happen again.

Hence, there is no point making wishes because you could have used the time to make those wishes come true.

But I guess if it makes you feel better, go ahead.

I guess my point is, I want to live life to the fullest and do what I want to do. But there are always boundaries, they are always expectations and I am embarrassed to admit that I conform to them. At the same time, I don't know how to change. Not enough courage but that's just me. I guess if you really want something, you'll have the courage to do it.

I believe that if you want something badly enough that you work hard to achieve it, you will never have any regrets.

Don't just stay there making a wish, make it come true.

p.s. It may seem like this post employed the technique, 'steam of conciousness' and well, it's true. it's what I think, it's what I feel.

RELENTLESS FORWARD MOTION

2011-11-12T19:57:00.001-08:00

Materials for decorating the Cross Country Board

Motivational Running Quotes, mostly from yours truly :)

(Nearly) completed Cross Board

Cool idea, from James and Shaun

TEAM AC CROSS COUNTRY, spotlight youth exchange amazing race'11

Ying Zhi is proud of our (poorly-made) flag

Sentosa with Dione, Zhi Jie, Derrick and Billy (R-L)

DING-G!

Group Photo

Lots of stuff going on lately and all I can say is:
1. Karma is a Bitch
2. Be Careful what you wish for

But you would have already known this if you follow me on Twitter. But I mean seriously, because you just might get what you wish for and I'm not copying the lyrics from Chris Daughtry's Song here. Also, my big toe is swollen because I played soccer barefoot yesterday and it hit... something. I'm not sure what but, #lessonlearnt

And a kind reminder, it's 4 more days to my birthday :) Hahhahaha, too bad I'll be away at CCAB camp though, from the 16-19th. It seems I'm busier than ever when exams are finally over. There's so much things going on, I'm struggling to breathe and I'm not even kidding.

Meeting Shihui in 10 minutes so I better start getting ready now hahaha.

Three way swap

2011-11-08T07:28:00.000-08:00

OP IS FINALLY OVER :)

Celebrated, Coach's birthday today! It was pretty epic. Kenn Siang actually got a really nice mango cake for Coach but Wei Ting took the wrong cake, (they were left together at the bleachers) and they cut the cake already so Coach had to make do with angry birds cupcakes!

And we were in a state of panic because of the cake and I was trying to stall Coach (Failed LOL) before he went for his run and in the end we started singing while he was heading off to his run. EPIC moment. Best part was, the candles weren't even lit..

It was pretty cool anyway, Team photo, though most people aren't here, thanks to pw :(

And after we gave Coach the cake, Wei Ting came over to tell us that the angry birds cake was most likely swapped too! At the cake shop... so it became a three way swap!

Which explains the title :)

Why Running?

2011-11-04T07:05:00.000-07:00

Now, this question is something I have pondered upon for a long time. There are many other sports that offers training that are not as repetitive (i.e. Boring) but are just as intense. So why running?

I don't know if I really love running but I do feel a sense of attachment to it. It is something I have been familiar with and something that defines me. Don't deny it, I'll be willing to bet that you guys have all said something like, "You know Wan Ping? That Cross Country girl?" or something along those lines. Well, at least I'm not defined as something bad. I've never been unhappy with this label and so I don't see the need to change it.

Running has been a constant in my life. It's been through so much with me. Pass an Exam? Run. Fail an Exam? Run. Broke up with your boyfriend? Run. Feel Fat? Run. It's just my shoes, the wind and my body. And they don't ever judge. Its just me and my thoughts and when you are focusing on completing that last kilometre, or to hit the timing, troubles are usually the furthest thing you will think of.

Its something I'm relatively good at. I'll never be the best but I can try and this trying is what gives me determination and will to do other things in life. Determination is not something you get, its something you train yourself to get used to.

Teammates. How can you ever do without them? A lot of people think that running is an individual sport but it really isn't. You have a coach who tells you what to do, team mates who encourage you to finish what you have to, parents who are there to feed you after the run and friends who cheer you on.

Privileges. The feeling of throwing your cup on the ground during a race is so liberating. Of course, this is only for those who don't ever litter normally. (i.e. me) Ability to use Running language like PB (personal best), OTOT (own time own target) and act like you're cool.

If you think this post sounds sort of familiar... you are a freakin stalker hahahahaha. But thank you :)

20 things I learnt this year

2011-11-03T07:53:00.000-07:00

1. Stereotypes exists for a reason
2. Behind every "just kidding", there's a bit of truth
3. The best things in life are often free
4. Money is the root of all evil
5. Bananas taste really good frozen
6. ~~Don't~~ Never judge a book by its cover
7. Mulan's name in the movie, Mulan, was Ping
8. The quote, "To be or not to be" is from Shakespeare's Hamlet
9. When you have tried hard enough, you will know
10. No one is completely evil
11. You can't get everyone to like you
12. Things often get easier once you get started
13. Technology improves your life... sometimes.
14. There is always another side. Listen to it.
15. Sometimes, some people are just not worth it.
16. Time is the only limit you should have
17. No matter how strong a person looks on the outside, there is always another side of them that yearns for comfort and love
18. Running barefoot feels really good
19. Nothing is Forever
20. When all else fails, just pray really really hard

Now or Nothing

2011-10-31T07:26:00.000-07:00

Vivo today with Dorothy, Yusa, Jie Si and Cui Ling. Si Min joined us for dinner with Boon Ping and it was a rather enjoyable day. So much so, I almost forgot about A level Mother Tongue in the morning.

And yes, it was a rather difficult paper, I didn't find it easy and right now, am not really guaranteed of an A. The words were relatively easy but somehow the questions weren't and were rather tricky. Which is good because it means less content to memorise but it also means it is more difficult to score...

Oh well, its over now anyway.

For those who did not know, I actually have a blog shop! Scroll up to line of bright green, its a tab called 'buy my stuff'. I just updated it, everything there is seriously cheap so go see go see! Unless you're a male, then there's nothing for you.

School tomorrow, likely to be followed by a long run for training. I need my sleep, good night darlings.

Don't know why I felt like saying that.

P.S. How was my first 'firsts' post? What topic should I blog about next!

#1: Getting Hit On

2011-10-29T03:51:00.000-07:00

To the best of my memory, it was last year, December. I was working as a waitress then and I remember it was an extremely busy night. I was actually quite irritated, especially because we were short of staff that day, which meant more work for me.

I was also really worried that I wouldn't be in time to catch the last train if I didn't knock off on time and so I was quite flustered that day and was trying to rush about, serving everyone.

One of the tables I was serving consisted of mostly foreigners and because I was juggling between three tables, that was the table I neglected because they looked like nice people who would forgive me if the service was slow. (Sad but true, demanding clients get the better service)

While I was busy serving, this (sorta) cute guy was smiling at me, but I just brushed it off because I thought he was just being friendly. And anyway the guest there were all quite old so I guessed he was 23, 24? Maybe? To this day I still have no idea how old he is.

Anyhow, when I was serving one of the dishes and refilling the drinks, I accidentally spilled RED wine, on his chair and the chair of this lady he was sitting with. In case you didn't know, spilling red wine on a customer is the SIN OF ALL SINS. Difficult to wash away, manager will need to dry clean the dress, send bouquet of flowers etc.

The red wine didn't really get on the lady but she was quite angry and I was really really afraid that she would make a fuss and I would have to pay for everything. However, the lady was a Thai and I think she didn't really speak any English so the guy sitting beside her (he also spoke Thai) tried to calm her down.

And luckily, she did.

I think it was because he was quite charming.

Anyhow, after that incident, I tried to avoid their table but obviously I still had to serve them and this guy continued smiling at me. I thought it was because he was trying to reassure me that the lady was all right.

Then during the one of the course, he asked for a pen. Of course I readily gave one to him, I didn't want to offend him anymore. And during the last course, he passed me a piece of paper, it was folded up, like this:

I thought that was the nicest thing anyone had done during all the time I had worked there. And I honestly thought the paper consisted only of a smiley face (didn't know there was a note inside) so I smiled tightly at him, slipped it inside my pocket and continued serving the other customers because I was really afraid I would miss the last train. I mean, I thought he was a nice guy, probably just trying to cheer up a overworked waitress. I thought he was cute, but rather old.

When he left, he smiled at me but I didn't really think anything of it. In fact, I forgot all about the note until I was waiting for the last train alone, because my friends were all working Overtime.

Obviously I opened the note but I'm not going to say all that he wrote but it sounded very cute and eh, not old. He wrote that he used to be a waiter too and that he hated being hit on but blah blah. Nearly a whole page. And he gave me his Facebook account (A Singaporean name) and said he wouldn't mind hearing from me even if I doused red wine all over him. (Cliche, but girls love stuff like that)

He sounded confident and funny, so I added him and we chatted for a while and he tried to ask me out for lunch but I didn't go. What if he tried to kill me or something? Haha. After that, he flew back to Thailand (I think) and I didn't really hear from him again.

He's still my friend on Facebook and occasionally I would take this note out and read it and remember that someone once thought of me as cute or interesting enough to leave a name. Do remember that I was looking at my worst when I was working as a waitress, hair pin up, ugly uniform etc. But someone still thought of me as interesting and I think that counts for a lot.

Nothing came out of it but it is a good memory :)

And that, was my first time getting hit on.

Just Keep Swimming

2011-10-28T01:47:00.000-07:00

Currently at the Sports Complex now, waiting for Dorothy and Si Min to finish their swim before we go for dinner!

I just had my oral presentation practice hahaha. How, do I look like a professional? ^^ It wasn't that bad actually, the whole thing was relatively casual so I think that really helped me in terms of the nervousness part. Perhaps because I went through the script quite a number of times too.

Really grateful that my group is so great and easy to work with, and Jie Si was totally in sync with me! In terms of speech and the clicking of slides. Love her ^^ (Jie Si are you looking at this?)

I am however, aware that PW is far from over, we still have many things to work on and more slides to edit and complete. Nevertheless, I'm confident that we can do it! :)

What I Would Do To Have You Here

2011-10-27T06:51:00.000-07:00

Hi guys (and girls), really happy that 5 people actually bothered to tick a :D face! I can't wait to get started on the post (rub palms together excitedly) BUT I have my Oral Presentation Prelims tomorrow! So I can't do it today :(

Meanwhile, a good song to patronise you:

Promise you it'll be worth your time. Just looking at her tear make me feel a little like tearing!

Relatively Narcissistic

2011-10-25T10:04:00.000-07:00

I apologise for the fact that you have to endure the horrible quality of my web camera but it was one of those good-hair-after-I-shower days and I got my braces off so... bear with me.

Well, after reading Yusa's and Si Min's blog (links are at the side), I was inspired to do a continuous post sort of thing. For example, Yusa's is: "Friend a day" and Simin's is "Random Facts", something along those lines.

So I was thinking of doing one called: "First Time _________" Fill in the blank. But I don't know if I should because it will likely be the kind of wordy post that makes people claim I'm narcissistic because I'm constantly talking about myself. But at the same time, I think it will be pretty interesting! Pretty sure no one will, but if you do happen to want to see this, tick the :D box, or post a comment telling me what you me to talk about!

I was thinking, "First time getting hit on". Tick the :D box or something so I know someone actually comes here! Hahaha. Narcissistic people need approval.

Comments are moderated though, just so you know :)

The Perils of Smartphones

2011-10-23T00:17:00.000-07:00

(Warning: This will be an incredibly long post)

So, the reason I have not been posting lately is this:

My new HTC Incredible S. Cost about $100 with my Smart Surf plan. Running on Android. Rather comparable to the iphone in terms of function and even though it occasionally crashes,i think it is still worth the money, since the iphone 4 costs about $400 for the plan I'm currently using.

I used to have the perception that HTC was a 'business phone' which has a difficult interface but now I realised that it is not true. I actually like the interface but I have one complain and that is I the inability and lack of flexibility in creating folders and arranging contacts, which was quite vexing for me. but I guess you can just download apps to solve the problem. However, if you do not intend to get a phone plan with internet connection, you shouldn't get this phone because practically everything requires 3G or WI-Fi.

Initially, I was rather undecided on which phone to get. The one you see above is the HTC Sensation, which looks almost exactly the same as the Incredible S (the first picture). One way to distinguish between the two is the battery pack. Now scroll up and look again. See the difference?

Now Sensation is actually the more powerful one. It runs on dual core, and a 1.2GHz processor, whilst Incredible S has a single core and a 1.0GHz scorpion processor. The processor basically affects the speed and of the phone, while the core determines how well the phone can multitask. Hence, the Sensation is definitely the more powerful one since their other specifications were about the same.

(You can skip this part but these are the extra details: Dual core means the battery of the phone will run faster, since it means that two cores, or engines, are running at the same time. However, the Sensation has a longer battery life in that the talktime (time used for talking on the phone LOL) for it was longer, hence if you think about it, their overall battery life is about the same. Imagine it as the Sensation having a 'larger' battery pack but also using up the battery at a faster speed as compared to the Incredible S)

Both were going for the same price, due to a promotion.

Obviously the smart choice would be to go for the Sensation but the Sensation was HUGE. Both were slim and sleek but the Incredible S was somewhat smaller. Maybe only a centimetre shorter but for phones, that is a rather considerable difference. I really liked the feel of the Incredible S also, so I got that in the end, even though the specs (specifications) for the Sensation was a lot better. My brother got the HTC Sensation.

And because I can now access the internet from my phone, I don't have to wait for my lousy laptop to start up (takes about 8 minutes because its processor is really slow) anymore. Which is why I can't be bothered to blog... The blogger app for my phone seems to have received a lot of criticism, which is also why I didn't bother to download it.

Another major thing that happened in my life:

FREE FROM BRACES!

Photo was taken in the toilet of Alexander Hospital right after I came out of the room. Right now, I will be on retainers for about 6 months before going back for a review. The retainers are not the old-school metal ones but are like invisaligns! Will probably blog about that another time. Meanwhile, you can google that term if you're curious enough.

Last night, Saturday, I went down to Imbiah Lookout at Sentosa with Shi Hui and Bernard for a job. It was for some socialising event and we were receptionists/ miscellaneous workers. It was quite fun, albeit busy, but the pay was really good so I have nothing to complain about.

Taken with the app: Fx Camera

Shi Hui's skills with the app, photowonder. One eye big, one eye small, FAIL. Haha.

This was taken with my front camera, and it sucks because it is completely covered by the screen protector.

It was some Halloween event that night and so there were a lot of 'wandering' ghost around that night and one of them was seriously freaky, I didn't manage to get a photo with her but I screamed and screamed the first time she scared me. On second thoughts, I'm kind of glad I didn't take a photo with her.

I was in charge of 'stamping' the game card of some of the participants and was pretty bored so I started taking photos with these wandering ghosts. After I got over their scary make up, I realised that they were all rather sad, cause they couldn't even drink water while they were working and they had to continually endure flashes from people's camera. One of the 'ghost' got laughed/ ridiculed and I heard some guy tried to hug a female 'ghost'... Many of them were so tired and exhausted and they had to do it for two days straight! Poor things :(

(The flash from my phone's camera made it a lot less scary.)

Extra large cause the make up is so scary.

Shi Hui was a lousy photographer because the photo she took of me with this 'ghost' was super unclear. Whereas the one I took was so much clearer! HAHA.

Even the Merlion was dressed up for the Halloween. A little ridiculous actually. Haha.

And that night, I discovers my phone's camera has an adjustable ISO!!! Which is like the light the camera produces in the dark/ badly lit places. Also something I thought only DSLRs had. Hahahahaha.

Okay bye.

Schadenfreude

2011-10-18T06:44:00.000-07:00

Feels like I haven't done a proper post in a long time. These are some of the things I've been up to post-promos.

Went to one of my relative's wedding sometime back. It was my mother's mother's sister's son's wedding. Or my mother's cousin. I like to complicate things heh.

My cute and annoying brother.

Only one in the family who can compete with me and my camwhoring skills.

Prettiest cake base I have ever seen. Please do not say it looks like dung :(

Although I know the slight cracking at the side does look a little like it.

Used to make the top layer of this cake. Chocolate Tofu cake with whipped cream. It was really really good. The best of all my cakes, Si Min said. I think the decoration was really cute too, though it looks like the sort of colour you would use for a baby's first month celebration or something...

Bye!

2011-10-16T05:41:00.000-07:00

It's eating me up. Gnawing at me. Threatening to push past all the gates and traps I set. It'll fall. It'll fall one day. Or maybe it shouldn't be falling. It should be breaking free. Out of this. Out into somewhere else. How do I start explaining? These emotions. Thoughts, feelings, memories, senses. Bombarding, exploding. I want to lie back and tune myself out to the world. Wish the world would go mute and let me barrow in my sorrow and anger for a little while more. Wish that dreams would continue for a while longer, so I won't have to wake up and face all this adversaries. Don't pretend to think or know or care. I'm a bigger hypocrite than I let known.