Life as KIA sees it

nearly a dream

2010-11-26T05:00:00.002+08:00

I am an exchange student!!! But why do I feel so tired and overwhelmed by school work? Seriously, taking five psychology modules is no joke, especially when I can't afford to buy the textbook or print notes and readings. I'm killing my eyes staring at my computer screen for more than 15hours a day, squinting at little words and figures. If I have a time machine right now, I want to fast forward time to when I can return to Singapore! I don't mind skipping my West Coast trip as well. I just want to go home and bask in sunshine and sleep to my heart's delight. Thank goodness I didn't manage to change my flight to stay in Japan for a week. I want to reach Singapore AS SOON AS POSSIBLEEEEEEEEE.

Yaks yaks, and complaints. BOO.

told you from the start, baby from the start

2010-11-20T00:01:00.002+08:00

i feel very much loved whenever i see messages like
"come back soon!"
♥

waiting for snow to fall

2010-11-19T04:26:00.006+08:00

life is complicated
it's made complicated because of people
people having different motives, different priorities, and different perceptions
i have learnt that there is no such thing as truth in this world
what we have, are perceptions and assumptions
everyone perceives things in their own way, through their own eyes
and who's to determine what is real and what is not?
if i claim that this event occured in way 'x'
but you remember it as occurring in way 'y'
how do we convince each other of our own perspective?

sometimes it chills me to no end
when i think of how memories and perceptions can be twisted
and distorted into unrecognizable truths
i've seen people who firmly believe in what they remember
and that which they remember just happens to be the opposite of what i recalled
i've seen people who attribute negative events to people they dislike
while conveniently forgetting faults of people they hold in good grace
i've seen people misinterpret others' words and actions
and kept these misunderstandings in their minds
leading to more unnecessary conflicts and quarrels

when i am unhappy over something,
i find it really hard to hold it to myself
either i confront the person in question, or i dismiss the issue
as long as i cannot resolve the issue, i will remain distressed over it
so why not get it out and talk it over?
i dun understand when people are mad and they hide the reason
they are showing others they are angry, and yet not telling why they are angry
will this help in anything?
it'll only make themselves and others upset
but nothing is done with regards to the problem.

if you matter to me, and i treasure your friendship
i will tell you why i felt unhappy
and hope that we can find a satisfactory solution
on the other hand,
if i don't bother to tell you i dun like the way you do something
it will be because i dun foresee any use in saying it
and i am giving up on you and our friendship
since telling you will not make any difference, and nothing going to change
why bother?
thinking this way, i will not be angry for long
because i come to accept that it's simply a difference between us
nobody's in the wrong, nobody has to change
we just don't click, that's it.
i will not expect anything much from you anymore
just as i will not put in effort for your sake

there are many double standards in this world
and i admit holding some of them as well
some people, in my eyes, can do no wrong
whereas others can irritate me easily with just one word or one move
im aware of my own double standards
but i am not sure everyone is
there are some who are deeply convinced that they are being fair and objective, yet all the while as an onlooker i observed how unfair they can be in judging others

is this part of growing up?
seeing and realising that the world is a selfish one
with everyone putting themselves before others
and no one really bothering to think in others' shoes
ultimately, everyone lives in their own little bubble
with their own concerns and own problems
'where is the time to care about others?
i have enough troubles of my own to fret over'
no doubt there are people who look after the interests of those around them
but how far would they go?
how many of these people do you know?
perhaps these seem too extreme to you
but i simply feel too disillusioned

no, the world is not all rainbows and sunshine
people act in their own interests
people see things they want to see
and people change
it's human nature
i'd like to return to my old way of perceiving the world
but that's not how things go
once you have seen the ugliness of it all
it's hard to go back to how you used to be

Take a chance, and don't ever look back; don't ever look back

2010-11-17T11:29:00.003+08:00

Fortune cookies have found a new fan in me!

The one type of cuisine I ate the most during my recent US trip was chinese. After every chinese meal, the restaurant would present us with fortune cookies. Usually I would find the 'fortune' or the 'advice' pretty meaningless at first glance. But after a few days, or a few weeks, I would recall the words and ponder over them. I remember getting this fortune cookie way back during my first New York trip.

"Don't talk about wasted affections. Affection is never wasted."

At the time I didn;'t feel much about it. But when I found it lying on my desk yesterday, the words suddenly struck me as 金玉良言.

我总是抱怨他人不了解我付出的细心，总是认为不受重视。因为这样，就认为我对他们的好是白费了，没有人会珍惜。但是，再想想，其实我并不需要他们也同样对待我。如果我想要对人好，那我就应该对他们好啊。不管怎样，我感觉这样做开心就好，何必想太多。我所做的没有白费！！就算别人没有以同样的真心对待我，我付出过的也不会因此被抹掉。

只是，我会重新评估，接下来我还要不要对你好、你值不值得我对你好。

out of sync

2010-11-05T12:35:00.003+08:00

A friend just reminded me that it's deepavali! Because I refuse to miss out on my right to a public holiday, I am giving myself a self-declared break woohoo. Okay I lie, my holiday was planned a long time ago.

I'm heading to the land of many golds again this weekend till Thursday~

This time to Boston, Philadelphia and Washington DC...a road trip again(:
I hope this will be a super duper memorable trip just like the last time..

To admit that things might go wrong and we might get a little unhappy at times, but to trust that in the end all will turn out fine.

Let it be so, please! ♥

(I'm so going to be dead when I come back. I have tonnes and tonnes of work to do, deadlines to rush. But what the heck. I'M AN EXCHANGE STUDENT. favourite quote of the semester XD)

DJ got us falling in love again

2010-11-04T12:48:00.002+08:00

This has been a pretty bad week, with loads of disappointments and bad news. But I'm not as hung up on stuff as I was in the past. I used to be really rigid in my thinking. Once I am fixed on a certain viewpoint or I have certain plans planned out, I hated changes. Having this stubborn streak brought me a lot of unhappiness. But these days I feel like I've learnt to accept that plans or ideas are never final until they actually become reality. Even though I still get swept up by grand ideas and proposals, I am never really convinced they will come true...till they do. It's a kind of self defense mechanism, I suppose. To avoid believing, so as not to fall from excessively high hopes. Writing it out like this suddenly makes it sound kind of sad though. I think something in me prevents me from trusting. Trust in people, in good things happening to me, and in the world overall. I think..a consequence of being too cautious is that I don't enjoy things to the fullest. I worry too much about plans falling through, people failing to keep to their words, unexpected circumstances that ruin everything.

Maybe if there wasn't hope in the first place, it would have been better. Because someone put the idea in my mind, suddenly I really wanted it. Only to realise in the end, that it wasn't going to happen. I kind of knew for a long period, that it wasn't going to happen. It's just that people keep saying there might be a chance and I hung onto that little string of hope. But today I finally believed that it's a lost cause. Oh wells. Luckily my Libra characteristic is that I will always try to reason things out to feel better. So I got over it pretty quick. There is always a next time, isn't it. I just wished, kinda, that the idea never came up. Then perhaps I could have saved all these trouble and sadness, and focused on other things instead.

pancakes and tatter thoughts

2010-11-02T22:09:00.003+08:00

Even though I said I wanted to come overseas to learn how to get out of my comfort zone and grow more independent, I realised that this is not the case at all. I've merely left one comfort zone and landed into another one...becoming dependent on different people. Maybe this is what adapting is about? Building many many comfort zones in different places, wherever you go and whoever you meet. The thing is I'm happy with a small zone, so once I have that, I don't go searching for new experiences anymore. Bad thing when you are on an exchange=x

I guess all those psychologists are right after all. Personality does decide one's environment, maybe more than we realise. In fact one's personality is such a strong component of one's self and identity that it takes alot to actually reshape it. Much easier to change the environment instead. No matter where I go, as long as I bring along my laziness and dependency, I would somehow shape my surroundings to accomodate me. Whats more, I think my laziness got worse recently...

The few months before coming on SEP, I really felt myself growing. Working with the wonderful kids at CDLC, travelling to Hong Kong and preparing for this trip forced me to get up from my seat and get stuff done. Since I was pretty much alone in these tasks and there was no one I could turn to, I had to get them done myself. I secretly felt great satisfaction on my way back from Hong Kong. Sadly that little bit of confidence and fulfilment faded as quickly as they developed.

Maybe I should go for a totally lone trip somewhere next year. IF I still have any funds.

I think all my close friends should read this.

2010-10-17T10:16:00.005+08:00

It states and explains parts of my character that even I myself cannot put into words. I'm truly truly stunned.

~♥天秤座♥~

几乎所有人都有这样一种印象：

天秤座的人善意、可亲，爱交朋友。于是大家也由此认为天秤是群居生物，必然是害怕独处，喜欢热闹的。

但，事实并不是表面看来那样简单。

的确，天秤是个和平使者。在公众场合可以很好地调节气氛使之均衡。气氛热烈时，他们会沉静的压住阵脚；气氛冷凝时，他们会运用不着痕迹的轻松幽默化解坚冰。总之他们不会随波逐流去助长气氛的冷热，而是像用天秤称量物品一样，加减砝码，使之维持水平状态。

而他们在做这种加减的时候，动作是优雅的，态度是和悦的，看起来漫不经心不动声色。实际上，他们是很有心计的人，尽管众口难调，也可以找到一种万全的方式来使全局和谐起来。

但是这并不是说他们喜欢主宰，只是因为他们看不得失衡，那会使他们如坐针毡。

因此，尽管慵懒的天秤座讨厌麻烦，讨厌得要命，他们还是会不由自主地担负起调节的责任。也许正因如此，使得天秤在公众场合从未放松过自己。性格使他们承担了不必要的责任，无可推卸。

他们不吝惜金钱，却吝惜自由的时间和安静的休闲时光。像所有风向星座一样，他们喜欢自由，喜欢像风一样谁也捉不住他。

他们喜欢自在独立的空间。就算你是他最好的朋友，也不要老和他粘在一起，你要知道他并不喜欢如此，尽管他不会直接说出来。你也得相信，你的天秤座朋友也许半年也没有音信，但是只要一见面，你还是他最好的朋友。因为他就是这种交友方式，你拿他怎么办？

“我懒得……”

这是天秤座的口头语。他们懒得出门，懒得聚会，懒得应酬……所以他们并不是很喜欢参加party。倒是宁愿呆在家里上网，看书，画画。他们自身是均衡的，一个人的均衡总比一群人的均衡来的容易。所以他们喜欢独处。

通常，天秤座的人会给人一见如故的感觉，因为他们有着温婉的微笑和优雅的举止。对初次见面的人，天秤座往往表现出自己最讨人喜欢的一面：善解人意，大方，诚恳，健谈。但是这种热情劲儿不会长久。冷漠何时到来取决于你与他交往的频率。你越是粘得紧，他就冷得越快。因为他们喜欢“君子之交清淡如水”。不是他们不喜欢同伴，而是他们和人交往更多地关注了对方的情绪，总想着照顾对方心情，不要发生冲突，所以感觉像是在工作一样，无法真正的放松。

较之对宫白羊座，天秤是另一种独立的个体。白羊是一种外在的独立，内心是热的；天秤则是表面看似亲和力很强，内心却是任谁也无法融入的。天秤的冷静，连他们自己也觉得惊讶。“我居然如此冷漠！太不可思议了……”他们审视自己的时候，感觉有点陌生。那是因为他们把内心世界掩饰得连自己都骗过了。

他们控制情绪的能力太强了。最亲近的人会感觉到，天秤给人不露声色的隔离感，有时会被埋怨“太冷静了，我都不知道你在想什么！”

可是他们不是故意要隐瞒什么，只是出于本能。一个连自己都骗过了的人，你还能要求他对你坦白什么？

他们不喜欢歇斯底里，不喜欢痛哭失声，不喜欢安慰别人也不怎么喜欢被安慰。因为他们懂得，谁也无法真正理解另一个人。

天秤，其实是很独立的一个星座。他们在霓虹灯影里微笑，在灯火阑珊处寂寞。他们叫你懂得：孤独的最高境界是繁华。

belated birthday to KEY(:

2010-09-24T23:57:00.003+08:00

I got my final module!

I was thinking of removing the last post in my moment of happiness, but then. I figured my getting the module does not erase all the anxiety and frustration I had to endure these past two weeks. So it's staying.

Off to school!

thanks for making me cry early in the afternoon

2010-09-24T00:36:00.008+08:00

I have been struggling to get my five courses in the University of Toronto in a way I have NEVER been vexed with CORS. I have never really hated CORS because I had it easy with my MPE process, but I never appreciated how efficient our system is.

For balloting, we simply key in what we would like to drop and what to add in, and the computer will deal with the rest.

In NTU, there is the add/drop system where you have to camp by the computer and grab whatever spaces people give up.

It works the same way here at University of Toronto.

What is different is when you are an EXCHANGE STUDENT.

Here, in the campus of St George, and apparently for another campus too, we have ONE coordinator who deals with all course enrollments for EVERY SINGLE INCOMING EXCHANGE STUDENT.

This guy helps 300 students, or so he stresses, to add/drop their modules. Which also means, he monitors all the courses that these 300 students are interested in, for space. And he checks every 30minutes at best. I'm not discounting his efforts, but as every student with add/drop experience can tell you, it's a fierce fastest-fingers battle.

And here we have someone doing fastest-finger, for 300 students. And he has ten fingers. And he has lunch breaks. And he has limited office hours. And add/drop is a 24-hr thing.

WHAT ARE THE CHANCES WE WILL GET ANY MODULE AT ALL?

Not to mention how frustrating it was before the start of add/drop, when I had to email him all sorts of module-codes to check for availability, which always seemed to be none. I ask if there is any other way I could get my modules, but "you can ask a UofT student to use their ROSI account to check for you" or continue spamming him with module codes.

So I borrowed my friend's account and religiously check the website for available space every one minute. I spot two spaces. I get excited and email him. An hour later, the spaces were gone, but I was not added in. I phoned him, and he gets indignant.

"You need to look at this from my perspective. I am already trying my best to help, but we have 300 students to help."

Can I call him if I see a space then, is that easier? I asked.

"Ooookay........... if I am not in with a student..." the response.

I continued checking for spaces in the module. The next day, I spot one. I immediately phoned him, but he's on lunch break. I phoned the office.

Ms Ruth Tanaka: "None of the officers available now have the authority to help add you in the course, you might want to check back TWO HOURS LATER."
Me: "But the space is not going to be there for so long!!"
Ms Ruth Tanaka: "Well there will always be other people dropping the course, and add/drop is until Sunday."
Me: "It's not like the whole class is going to drop right, this is a rare chance!!! Isn't there ANY other way, someone else to help and to contact the coordinator?"
Ms Ruth Tanaka: "No, he is on lunch and does not have any computer to do it. No one else here can help you to do it."
Me: "But there must be SOME way! This is so inefficient, how am I going to get any module like that?"
Ms Ruth Tanaka: (getting pissed off and starting to sound so) "Well, this is part of the challenge of exchange."
Me: (fuck.) Bye.

The actual conversation is much much longer, with my pleas and her repeating how freaking often people would drop their courses, and how easy it would be to add, obviously not putting herself into the shoes of students at all. She kept saying to call back 2 hours later, like that space is just going to sit there and rot. I was speechless when I put down the phone, because she so plainly did not care whether I have a module at the end of the day.

It's near the end of my 2nd week of semester here, and I still don't have enough courses. Classes are progressing, assignments and tests are dued, textbooks are bought, but I'm not enrolled yet.

Isn't the job of the Centre for International Experience to facilitate and help students while they are on exchange? I guess not. I must have misinterpreted it. Their job is to help us realise precisely how challenging exchange is supposed to be, and to add more challenges so we can grow. Hmm. I see.

This is an example how the U of T treats their incoming exchange students. Do you think they're going to be nicer in helping out in other aspects of the exchange students' lives? They freaking don't care about other students at all! I am never going to recommend the school to anyone I know, unless they're my enemies. Oh wait, even I am not so cruel to my enemies.

freebies

2010-09-15T22:42:00.004+08:00

Since I'm on the topic of freebies, I want to say this! Body Shop is freaking generous here!!! The SA kept offering me samples like nobody's business. They whipped out empty little jars and start stuffing it with products, then ask whether you want more. My kiasu self is very happy hehe. I did buy some products la, cos it really is cheaper here. But I really liked the sample jars hahahah, so PRETTY. Eaton Centre has larger jars somemore xD

Stuffed with potatoes every meal. Grrr.

something cool

2010-09-15T09:44:00.003+08:00

I was walking out of the school library today, where I slacked for a few hours, when I heard "FREE BOOKS!". Being a typical Singaporean, when I heard "FREE", I went, "where? what?!". And guess what! There was a trolley full of books, in the middle of nowhere, for everyone to take! Some were old, but plenty were brand new-looking! The lady was generously inviting students to take a look and select any books they want. How cool is this! I've been wanting something to read before bed..and this was perfect(:

Happy with my new book<3

unhealthy lifestyle

2010-09-11T22:47:00.001+08:00

I just microwaved my breakfast!

From my dabao-ed dinner last night.

it's never gonna be a dream

2010-09-10T11:29:00.003+08:00

Why must everything be about you?
Sick of it.

again & again

2010-08-25T00:52:00.002+08:00

I think...I am leading a very slack life right now. I wonder if I will be able to readjust to school life? If only life only consist of dramas, Arashi, SHINee, SuJu, 2PM and food.

Less than a week to go.

it's a long, long journey

2010-08-23T01:28:00.002+08:00

Less than 10 days to my flight! I'm so scared, yikes.

I met up with my wonderful colleagues today for a post-farewell dinner. They are such a fun bunch to be with! I think colleagues make all the difference in the workplace. If I can't get along with people I work with, I feel really uncomfortable at work.

We had dinner at Swensens, and the cheesesticks were so niceee. They reminded me of Cafe Whatever. I wonder where it moved to, and whether it still exists? Anyone who knows of its current status please drop me a message! I loved the days back in secondary school when we would waste our youth away sitting at Whatever, munching on cheesesticks and fries. Life is much more complicated now.

P.s. Baker King Kim Tak Goo (or Bread, Love and Dreams dunno-wad-name-exactly) is a super super super nice show! Makes me feel like eating bread all day sighh.

seung gi ah (:

2010-08-08T19:03:00.005+08:00

I have so many to-do tasks on my mind, but I am feeling very sluggish and sickly.

Applying for accommodation is freaking troublesome!! Idk, I think getting Chestnut might have been a better, albeit more expensive, choice. Much simpler, much less headache. And in the end I might get something that's around the same pricing, with lower quality service too. I'm losing interest in my preparations, and starting to feel tired of SEP, before it even started! Grrr. I hope this feeling goes away soon. 23 days or so to departure..

I'm soo going to miss the kids when I quit! There's one more week of work for me. I skipped Saturday this week because I had stuff on, and I suddenly miss my favourite brat alot:( I hope he's not going to skip class or something next week, if not I'll be terribly sad.

Topic skip. I chanced upon a nice show last week. I was looking for Lee Seung Gi's My Girlfriend is a Nine-tailed Fox (it begins only on 11 Aug). So I went to tudou.com, clicked on a show named 九尾狐姐姐传 thinking the chinese translation was kinda strange. I actually watched one full episode before remembering, hey, where's Lee Seung Gi?? I'm a cheesehead.

updates

2010-07-29T14:52:00.005+08:00

Some updates.

- Down with food poisoning and fever =(
- Gloating over facebook grumbles about CORS and its many sins
- Having severe headaches over booking flights and accommodations
- Finally finished the 50-episode "Myth" since I'm sick at home

suicide

2010-07-06T20:33:00.006+08:00

So many problems with module mapping! Brah. I hope everything goes smoothly and I get positve email replies asap~ I can't believe I made such a dumb mistake on my module choices..must have been the Hong Kong stress messing my head. I'm glad I withdrew from the Psych Camp this week, just nice I get a week to slack around and get everything on track again.

Suddenly I regret not putting Korea Uni as my first choice for exchange. I know I have been saying that..but that was because of SHINee/K-pop hahaha.

Now I'm really interested in what the psych people in Korea are thinking, especially regarding their country's high suicide rates. For instance, copy-cat suicide behavior following a high-publicized suicide case has been known to happen, and this is precisely what's happening now...I wonder how they feel about it. There's quite a bit of stigma in the country for seeking psych help and all that too, which could be a reason for the deaths and the possible depression before that. Then again, I probably won't get an answer for all these even if I were to go there.

OKAY. And I want to go there because SHINee's comeback is like THIS weekend (excitement, excitement!!!!), and I am also addicted to Super Junior's new song. Heh.

after such a long while

2010-07-03T00:26:00.004+08:00

不當情人很可惜的十二星座朋友組合
第七個：天秤座的女生與天蠍座的男生

這兩個星座若只是當朋友的話，實在是太可惜了，因為當朋友的你們，彼此之間有的也只是打哈哈，但若是談戀愛的話，可是很能互補的；像天秤座的女生看似強悍，其實她很需要另外一半的陪伴，那天蠍座的男生還滿優柔寡斷的，需要別人給他一些中肯的建議，而天秤女的理性就相當適合他，所以他們兩個湊在一起除了性格不合，其他都很合。

更多内容 http://youtest123.blogspot.com/2010/06/blog-post_8126.html#ixzz0sXjI8Ekv

Recommended by Kia Hui since we were on the subject. I found it super hilarious.

天秤座的女生與天蠍座的男生---
他們兩個湊在一起除了性格不合，其他都很合。

The main thing is..性格不合, isn't that the worst already...

Anyway I find Scorpios scaryyyyyyyy.

nus guys are so irresponsible!

2010-06-14T23:07:00.001+08:00

Why is it that Arashi only ever appears on local printed media when they get into car accidents? (with the exception of MatsuJun of course.)

Are car accidents so interesting?

oh you sweethearts

2010-06-09T22:17:00.001+08:00

After so many months, I still can't get over how weird it is to see Hwa Chong and Chinese High without the row of trees hiding them! The mysterious air surrounding both schools are gone now, and the bus stops look soo empty. I didn't realise how much I liked the row of huge trees along that stretch of road.

maybe i should be using twitter instead

2010-06-08T22:13:00.001+08:00

The best thing after a long, tiring day is a cosy dinner with someone I'm comfortable with.

little red riding hood

2010-06-05T23:37:00.000+08:00

I need to shut up and stop bitching.

third party

2010-06-04T21:58:00.000+08:00

Such an emotionally, physically and mentally draining day.

little angels

2010-05-30T19:29:00.004+08:00

SUCH AN ADORABLE KID!

J: I went to Marina Barrage to fly kite.
D: We went to Wild Wild Wet.
J. WOW. So high-class!
(The rest of us: Where is the high-class?!)
J: That's because it's expensive. I can't go. *Looks sad*
T: So where else did you go?
J: Ah. My mother brought me to a concert yesterday. I like Alan Tam.
(The rest of us: THAT is the high-class lah!!!)

flipping the dictionary one day to find love gone

2010-05-15T02:33:00.005+08:00

I'M HOME!
and I bet you didn't even know I was gone(:
I'm back from Shanghai, and no, I didn't go for the Expo lalala.

I love SIA in-flight entertainment!
They have ARASHI All the Best 1999-2009, SHINee World and KARA!
All my favourites!!!!
And I finished Nodame and Avata just now, woohoo.

Ok need sleep.
Sigh I'm already missing my daily dose of 85度C coffee =/
Lousy Breadtalk!!

YANKEE-KUN TO MEGANE CHAN

2010-05-08T00:38:00.006+08:00

Now watching: Yankee kun & Megane chan
Woohoo, Narimiya Hiroki kun!!
Which reminds me, I haven't watched BLOODY MONDAY 2 yet. Hmmm.

I think the most well-hidden thing in this world is not gold or silver,
it's one's passion.

Where does my passion lie!!!
I still can't decide, which field I am more interested in.

ANYWAY.
My friend found a cheaper place we can rent near U of T so perhaps I am not going to live in the crazily expensive Chestnut after all. I was kind of getting use to the idea of Tai-Tai lifestyle...and burning big big holes in my wallet. But I still like the idea of being a poor student scrimping over every meal better. Hahahah. Fits my schema of an exchange student.

HONEY is still my favourite KARA song.
Check out all the guy fans with handmade signs and waving balloons!
Somehow that amuses me to no end.
Go go fanboys! =DDDD

i miss you, mike miller!

2010-05-04T21:52:00.002+08:00

I DON'T WANT TO MUG ANYMORE!
I don't even know what he's going to test us on tomorrow, and how.
So frustrating!
I want to fast forward to 24hours later.

I miss the good old days of mugging nihongo
and watching funny Mike Miller!!
GRAHH.

begone, mosquitoes

2010-05-03T14:40:00.004+08:00

I was feeling devastated about my horrible Abnormal Psych answers.
Thank goodness for epic fails by silly idols...like KEY!

SIGNING ON THE TABLE INSTEAD OF THE FRAME.
Key's expression, when he realised his mistake, was priceless(:
OMG, I feel for his embarrassment.
All woes about my abnormal psych paper are suddenly gone!

oh oh oh oh oppareul saranghae

2010-05-02T17:17:00.006+08:00

I'm so SICK of studying.
I'm going to develop Major Depressive Disorder soon.
maybe a manic episode would work better for me now.

It's so amusing to watch girl band performances on youtube. Instead of the usual high pitch screaming and shrieks, you get guys' voices in the background! Equally loud in volume and tons more enthusiasm...I am so addicted to the song but the PV makes me go "EW." I guess that's good news though. I'm straight! -__-

game over!

2010-04-30T19:40:00.002+08:00

Suddenly think Lee Min Ho is super shuai after watching Personal Preference!! I used to dislike him because of the lousy Boys Before Flowers, but his new show is nice ♥ Hairstyles and scripts are important after all..Can't believe acting in a gay show makes him more handsome compared to the awesome role of Domyouji.

OK I KNOW I SHOULD BE MUGGING HARD INSTEAD.
Looking forward to next week's episodes! I'll be free by then. Woohoo.

new pillow! excited!

2010-04-30T18:50:00.004+08:00

Applying my studies to real life situations.

Using the Door-in-the-face Technique from Social Psychology

How to convince your mom to let you marry a girl she don't approve of:

Step 1) Show her the girl.
Step 2) Let her overhear you saying you are gay.
Step 3) Let her panick for a while.
Step 4) Tell her you want to marry the girl and you are not gay.

Sure work!

"This is an openbook exam.....oh, I mean, closed book.....-- HAHA YOU WISH." - wonderful lecturer

2010-04-30T17:37:00.003+08:00

Defence and Diplomacy really didn't appear in the exam questions at all!
The power of wishing hard...

Bye bye National Education policy and history learning!
Bye bye Lim Bo Seng, Lim Chin Siong, Elizabeth Choy, and Raffles!
Bye bye Merger and Separation and neo-colonial plots!
Bye bye HDB and Ethnic Integration Policies!
Bye bye Industrial Restructuring and KBE!
Bye bye George Yeo and his famous "Banyan Tree" speech!
Bye bye All Party Report and Goh Report and whatnot!
Bye bye SAF, FTA, NOL, DBS, HDB, LTA, MOE, ASEAN!

I enjoyed you guys! Please grant me a good grade!

Side thought. It took less than 30 years to kill dialect in Singapore: from >60% who speak dialect at home in 1979 to less than 2% in 2001, who knows how much fewer people do so now. How many years will it take to kill Mandarin in Singapore too?

monster!! monster!!

2010-04-29T18:28:00.002+08:00

I fell asleep 5 times while reading about SAF's defence problems and capabilities-__- Prays hard that nothing comes out on this topic (and Singapore's foreign policies) in the exam.

Grrrrrr. 3 more papers.

it never gets dark in our land

2010-04-13T19:54:00.009+08:00

My souvenir from Huang Cheng night.

I think the lecturers are secretly much happier than us about the end of semester. After all, why shouldn't they be? They don't have to give anymore lectures or make anymore powerpoint slides for the term, and they have no examinations waiting for them two weeks after...Every lecturer is looking so cheerful and being so humorous this week that I almost thought I was sitting in the wrong theatres. Feels strange.

I am looking forward to April 17 because Riida's new drama is coming out!!! I hate it when a drama season ends and there's nothing to look forward to each week. Big ears Kaibutsu-kun!!

I am addicted to nonsense Korean girl band songs. They are insanely catchy and chirpy!

arashi on 娱乐百分百

2010-04-12T17:35:00.000+08:00

Riida's chinese! LOL.

hello over there, airhead

2010-04-10T15:27:00.007+08:00

彭于晏的首张个人EP！！
还不错听，至少歌唱得比罗志祥好。。

Should I get it? Hmmm.

Recently Youtube videos cannot be embedded and played properly! The changes are so irritating.

moving now! moving now!

2010-04-05T13:52:00.003+08:00

I am puzzled over why I wrote such a long post on Fish & Co, but am too lazy to write about other things I am forever thinking about.

Anyway.
Everything you want to know about ARASHI and more.
Spread the loveeeeeeeeee ♥

I'm not a girl don't tell me what to believe

2010-03-29T16:11:00.010+08:00

Who cares about B&J Free Cone Day?
Fish & Co is my new best friend!

In support of Earth Hour, Fish & Co has a super duper great deal for customers who help to spread the word! If you had seen the advertisement on facebook like I did, or gotten the email from any of your friends, you would have known about this promotion. And starting from March 29, everyone can go and redeem a set of fish&chips for only 1 buck at the outlets!! Cool or not?! I only printed a copy because I wasn't sure if anyone was free to go eat with me. Anyway the coupon stated that only one coupon is allowed per table so I thought of going alone. But since my mother is home on leave, I asked her to go and eat instead. So after tutorial today I rushed back and met up with her. (We were scared that the 10,000 sets were going to run out before we got there, kiasu right!! HAHA)

I was thinking of ordering some calamari for myself since we could only order one set of fish&chips. But while we were queuing, we realised that nearly all the customers in the restaurant were sat one person per table...even though they clearly knew each other and were conversing across the aisle. (Think Restaurant City..)

I felt so dumb for only printing one copy of the voucher. We have all experienced those dumb restaurants that lure customers with discounts, but which are limited to one per table, and your friends have to order some expensive dish right? I thought Fish & Co was trying to do the same thing! In my mind I imagined that the snooty waiters would coldly turn down our kiasu requests to sit at different tables and prevent us from taking advantage of the offer. But!! 我误会它们了！原来是我以小人之心度君子之腹！ Not only was the service crew happy to grant customers' requests, they did it full of smiles(: At the end of our meal, the crew member getting our bill eagerly chirped,"One dollar!" Yupps. No GST, no service charge or hidden costs!

The funny thing is, we only just dined at Fish & Co two days ago, and we had fish&chips too. My brother got served a severely cracked glass, and we complained to the staff. The lady who got back to us left her contacts and advised my brother to go see the doctor if he didn't feel well. Then she got his contact number. So this afternoon the lady called him to check if he was alright, and he took the chance to ask her about the promotion. It turned out that the 10,000 sets was just a figure. What they would do is total up the number of sets redeemed at the end of each day, and as long as 10,000 wasn't fulfilled yet, they would continue the offer the following day. (The whole thing was supposed to last til 30th April but seeing the numbers today, I don't think 10,000 would take that long). Luckily they set the number limit, or I think the company would fold before the end of April lol. So, according to the information we got, the implication is that, today being the first day, we can redeem all the fish and chips we want as long we keep to the two rules. 1) One coupon for one set, and 2) One set per table.

So..in conclusion my point is, I think they are very sincere in offering this promotion. Not only is the food as delicious as ever, their service is also excellent (at least at the AMK Hub outlet). I wasn't made to feel like a cheapo or had inferior service because I held on to the huge coupon. On the contrary, I had a happy meal and we left fully satisfied. I am guessing that the word on Earth Hour spreaded far and wide too? Judging by the queue at the restaurant..

p/s. Don't understand why they want customers to waste paper and ink printing the hugeass picture coupon though, why not a digital image to be saved onto the mobile phone or a short ringtone etc. And one piece of paper for one customer..why not more? Save paper! I guess they simply wanted to get people to spread the message about Earth Hour..a little paper wastage along the way is considered small price?

~~And...being a typical kiasu Singaporean, guess where I'm going for dinner later? =D~~
Back from dinner! Hehe.
Longer queue than there was in the afternoon, and the crew was clearly busier. But they were still very nice, and even asked if we wanted seats that were side by side. So considerate. My father was suspicious of them, and guessed that they had too many fish left over, hence the great deal. But I assured him that we ate the same thing a few days ago, and they tasted the same..that cost me $13.90++ though. The gang of friends in front of us were planning to go back tomorrow for more haha. I had enough though, any more and I am going to be sick of the fish&chips. I don't want to overeat.

spotted: handsome angmoh in suit looking like he stepped out of the movies

2010-03-26T18:41:00.007+08:00

Presenting.... TRUTH!
(Because it seemed Maou was revived in Tokujo Kabachi's last episode! ^^)

Only sadness...
Even if a faint light is born, the grief returns over and over
This is the truth that disappears like a lie
Even if I spread my last wings, I can't change my fate
As the lily blossom is short-lived, the pain never fades
I could only love in my dreams

Only sadness...
No matter what kind of ending we create, the heart is a mystery
This is the truth that closes in like darkness
No matter what kind of world we create, tomorrow is yet to be seen
As pure as the untainted lily
While our wishes remain transparent

lyrics credits:taijiproject

Today's final lab session was disgusting!

My humble personal opinion.

I don't like having to gurgle unknown substances in my mouth and spitting them out! I know it's salt solution, but I don't know where it's from and who did what to it! I really needed to rinse my mouth after spitting it into the little cup, but I didn't want to seem so OCD boo. Anyway that was for harvesting our DNA which I dumped like, one minute, after I extracted it. All the trouble for nothing! The last few labs were more interesting. Poking insects around under the microscope to determine whether they are males or females, that was my favourite. :| Sadistic!

I'm bored.

we got married not

2010-03-16T01:26:00.007+08:00

The other day, my sister told me about this incident when we were talking about artistes lip syncing. It sounded so funny that I tried to search for the video. I was going to give up because it's an old video and people seemed to have taken them off already. Then I noticed some weirdly named video, and another version under a chinese title. Perhaps someone was taking the videos off youtube, but didn't manage to remove these because of their discreet titles?

Anyway it's freaking hilarious.
I'm having a nice laugh before going to bed.

Yamapi was performing Daite Senorita when he knocked down the mic, and the music continues to play. If you want the exact moment, it's around ~0:14? I found the mad scramble for the microphone especially entertaining. The poor guy! I wouldn't know what to do in the situation. He reacted the best way he could I guess. Furthermore he continued acting cool after that! Lol. And the guys dancing behind him didn't burst out laughing! So professional sia. I think I would have laughed so hard I won't remember my dance steps.

The song still rocks though.

Version with better colours: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZ9RZ7kFjt4&feature=related

my troublemaker

2010-03-16T00:24:00.007+08:00

[edit] wah liew, they removed the Troublemaker video from Youtube already! [/edit]

Seems like I am always alternating between posts on SHINee and Arashi.

I am also getting confused recently! I was telling Bek about Ohno when the name "Onew" popped out of my mouth instead. Freudian slip? Then the other day I was asking a friend about Finding Nemo....and I couldn't stop myself from saying "Finding Nino" twice. Haha!

I don't like this song that much,
but I ♥ the smiles on their faces during the performance!
They cheer me right up after a tiring day(:

This is why, for me, Arashi will always trump SHINee,
even though their singing and dancing may not be as zhai.

I love how Sho's ending pose is classic sho-FAIL.
I love how Nino was bullying Riida at 2:27 as usual LOL.
I love how they are doing stupid things like this even though they are idols.

So sad that Arashi no Shukudai-kun is ending :(

♥

I am so relieved that today is over!

That's my last presentation for this semester.
Actually, I only have two of them, and zero term papers this time round.
Having my last Nation Building tutorial this week, and lab lessons for General Biology are ending soon too.
Super slack can, this semester!
Only loads of mid-terms and end-term exams that never seem to stop..
but I can't complain lah.

I still miss my busy busy weeks of Japanese lessons with endless cramming and drama acting!! Felt so envious when I chance upon classmates who are taking LAJ4 this semester..I really hope to take it up again next year. Even though I know I will fall behind, and mess up all my other modules due to LAJ, I'm prepared to spend my S/U on it hahah..I've been saving my S/Us for LAJ4 (and hopefully more advance levels). Definitely my favourite lessons in university ♥

pear and osmanthus drink

2010-03-14T20:28:00.006+08:00

I SAW SHINee LIVE!
and heard Ring Ding Dong LIVE!
and Replay and JoJo ♥

I'm one of the thousands of screaming fans in the video hahahha. I agree with the DJ in that we were screaming over nothing since we couldn't understand what Onew was saying! He was just mumbling some korean in crazily fast speed. He's randomly very respectful...I saw him bowing to all the other performers, like the older Singaporean singers, on stage at the end even when they weren't looking at him lol.

They looked very tired though. And Jonghyun had a wtf expression, as if he would pay a million dollars to be elsewhere. Which I thought was very unprofessional for an artiste on a stage, and just rude. In fact he strode off real fast (leaving the other members one yard behind him) right after Ring Ding Dong was over. At least Key and Taemin were smiling and waving at the audience, and Minho was being his usual solemn self.

I am so tired now after all the hype mann.

One wish fulfilled!
Happy!!!
♥

because I'm Weary

2010-03-09T18:14:00.005+08:00

我不戴headphone，可是我想要！！==
　
♥

前天刚问的问题，想不到今天我就有答案了。
原来不笑真的会让心情变烂！

其实我今天早上起来时心情挺好的，一边听《学习之神》的OST一边搭巴士 ^^
可是到了学校碰见朋友，才发现，我笑不出来！
不因为什么，就因为我牙痛。。。
早上在家只有我一个人，不用开口，所以没怎么察觉。

应该是智慧牙吧，我烦恼了几个月了，可是今天特别难过。
牙齿一直顶着我的脸颊里面，真的超不舒服的 (——||)
想笑，笑不了；说话也会不舒服。
不能笑，心情就自然而然变得蛮不爽的，
结果我今天一直摆臭脸~

对不起啊，（今天面对我臭脸的）朋友们。。偶真的不四故意的啦！！

Uncomfortable but I don't really want to remove it...the comments online make the extraction and post-extraction process sound damn horrible!!! I absolutely hate having blood in my mouth.

big splash

2010-03-07T17:10:00.007+08:00

是快乐时才笑，又或者大笑能让我们心情变好呢?

我超级喜欢这样灿烂的笑容！
让人感觉很舒服，不自觉也想要跟着一起笑~

人就是有这样一种本能，看到别人哭，自己心里也会涩涩的；
身旁的人笑了，我们也似乎可以感受到他们的喜悦。
这是有科学证明的噢，不是我在瞎扯。
研究显示，人们本身感受某种情绪并流露出来时和看到他人流露出同样的表情时，脑部里产生的反应是相同的~
所以spread the happiness绝对不是空谈！

♥

我希望，我周围的人也可以常常露出这样的笑容~
虽然有很多的烦恼很多不开心的东东，可是一定会有值得微笑的人事物等着我们.

修读心理学看到各种案例，让我觉得，人看待事物的观点好重要。
太过偏激，太过压抑，都要不得。
虽然对于很多患者来说，心态悲观不是他们能控制的，
可是还是会有方法帮助他们改正不正确的想法。
就是相信有这样的可行性，才会有CBT的存在必要吧。

啊哟喂，美男啊。
笑容可爱得难以抗拒！（：
这位，长大后一定是大帅哥！！！！！

大家有时间的话，我建议可以看看这部《学习之神》！

韩文名字我不会啦，不过真的不错看。如果有看日剧的人，可能看过《龙樱》吧？是同一本漫画改编的。听说日版的比较好看，可是我还没看过。内容是日剧常有的题材，所以这次用韩剧的演绎方式表现我觉得蛮不错的。故事主要是说一名律师如何让五名“烂学生”振作起来努力学习；途中遇到很多的困难，考验他们要克服心理上的障碍。。。总之超催泪啦！

想起自己二三年前也当过应考生，那种想要奋斗却总是力不从心的心情还记得很清楚呀。等待成绩的几个月，是由期待又害怕。真不是人过的！哈哈。现在也是，每个学期排山倒海的测验，作业，报告，各种的压力迎面而来，真的喘不过气。成绩好时超开心，不理想的时候又很沮丧。这样的心情起伏很难受。偶尔看看这一类的励志片，发现也许大家都有着同样的压力，我已经算是幸福的了。

反正。。。必看啦！

circadian rhythm

2010-03-04T23:35:00.002+08:00

Korea is turning me paedo!
ugh.

I don't care lah, after the long day today all my brain cells are dying.
I need to rescue them!!

dreaming, you will always be mine

2010-02-23T01:34:00.004+08:00

OMG blogger deleted my post! I am too lazy to retype.

I am so reluctant to go to sleep because that will mean the end of my recess week!!! The whole cycle of lectures, tutorials, midterms and stress would begin again when I wake up tomorrow. Sigh. I spent the last few days staring at my Abnormal Psyche textbook and nothing seemed to be getting in.

The other day I took a break and went to read the Nobuta Wo Produce manga. I ended up digging out my sister's Nobuta vcds and spent the whole day watching it. I finished the entire drama in one day. Kame-overload, seriously..ew. I haven't watched vcds for ages..and have almost forgotten how inconvenient it is having to change discs every episode. It's just like how kids today cannot imagine not having digital cameras. They think polariods are so fascinating because you never know how the picture will turn out before it develops..Honestly I also cannot remember how we survived on holiday trips without digital cameras. Asking strangers to take photographs would be scary because you may end up back home two weeks later staring at the photo which shows your head chopped off or something. Zi pai-ing is also impossible unless you waste like ten rolls of film.

I'm thinking of buying a practical and not-so-zai camera. I wonder where I should start looking?

And I feel very cheated because I stayed up to watch Autumn's Concerto, thinking it was the final episode, and it wasn't!!!

So many korean artistes coming to Singapore this year! JGS is coming this april too. I am shocked at how much korean artistes charge for 'fan meetings'. JGS's tickets are selling for $250! Mad expensive can? It's even more expensive than official concerts' best seats! The poor teenagers' parents... I wonder whether the hardcore fans would really shell out the money to go and see their idol? I mean, I like JGS too but he's really not worth my paying all my angbao money just to see. Spoil market lah, korean artistes! Fan meetings are supposed to be FREE!

p/s. I miss kiakia and yenyen!

love should go on just like this

2010-02-15T00:51:00.003+08:00

I learnt something new over the weekend.

Never underestimate the possibility of an impossibility becoming possible.

it's a beautiful day out

2010-02-13T22:02:00.004+08:00

Happy bling bling ~~jonghyun~~ tiger year, everyone!!

I was at my uncle's house for reunion dinner just now..and surfing through the many scv channels which my own house don't have (boo). AND I happened to pause at a channel showing an ARASHI pv!!

KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA ♥

And if I ever lose my power to "FRY", then your love takes me high (Hongki)

2010-02-12T23:05:00.007+08:00

Dark mood! I have no idea why, might be the long long day of lessons. I desperately need some sleep, and a break from school.

There's a super fascinating thread on my Nation Building of Singapore module forum recently and I was reading through just now. So this guy made a suggestion about the possibility of Singapore merging with China...and immediately there was a flush of patriotic replies telling him it's never going to happen. The funny (and irritating after a while) thing was that the guy kept copy-and-pasting his comment repeatedly as replies to others' comments. And someone decided to post the thread on other online sites such as facebook..which blew the issue up further. Since I am usually too lazy to check out the forum, I had no idea this thing was going on. A friend outside the module had to tell me about it, that's how ignorant I was. Next thing I know, the department sends us a long email about keeping the content within the forum. I feel like making a comment too but I'm too tired to think.

Anyway, I made a blood donation today. Perhaps that's the reason for my fatigue now. I even fell asleep during Bio lecture. I don't know. It's a hypothesis. Next time I should choose a short school day to donate blood. Still glad I did it though.

Got pangseh-ed by stupid ahshu today. But in retrospect I think it was a lucky thing, given how exhausted I feel now. The sleepover probably would have been ruined by me.

This video below reminds me of Happy Tree Friends. Suitable for my dark mood now.

Still I have Romantic in my ♥

2010-02-10T00:40:00.004+08:00

I like this song alot!
Video, with glimpses of FT Island who performs afterward.
I wonder why HongKi looks kind of fat here..

tick tock tick tock the time goes by

2010-02-09T22:27:00.005+08:00

I am extremely happy today because we met up with xu shu who's back from Australia!!! ♥ ♥

I am really depressed today because I have just paid my hideously expensive credit card bill.

I am very happy because I am done with the first Biological Psych mid term exam!! ♥

I am still stressed because I have Nation Building test tomorrow and I have not touched it at all.

I AM EXCITED BECAUSE SHINee IS COMING BACK TO SINGAPORE! ♥♥♥

The "他们会来！" made my day hahaha(:

BUT THEY FORGOT TO WRITE ABOUT KEY!!!

In the bottom left corner, they have pictures and names of Onew, Taemin, Min Ho and Jong Hyun (clockwise direction)....BUT where is our ALMIGHTY KEY??? =(

Then again.

I am pretty tired of wanting to see them and getting disappointed when I did not, so maybe I'm not that happy they're coming back.

Sidenote:

Oh yeah, I saw ANOTHER piece of news regarding MatsuJun's accident in UWeekly, which is a duplicate of the one in MyPaper. (Entry below)

Irritating.

I no like lab lessons and microscopes=(

2010-02-06T02:27:00.007+08:00

我报, are you even being serious?

After reading this, I wondered how much I could trust the other news reported in the paper. Do they just come up with their own content as they like?

Looks like it's either going to be no news or unreliable/fake news on Japanese entertainment.
I think I prefer the former...

Actually, to be fair, I think someone just did a terrible job translating the news...and distorted the information. For instance, he knocked into a car, but it was reported that his car was chased after and banged into. And although it was reported that both he and the other female car owner were uninjured, here it became him and the female friend on his car.

Still, ....unreliable.

(Underlined are false/unsubstantiated information)

(source: 4 Feb 2010 MyPaper)

sing a little song

2010-02-03T17:11:00.007+08:00

I don't like this poster.

Not because it immediately reminded me of Last Friends (below), but I think it looks very messy. The concept is there, but it lacks 美感 in general.

And this one below reminds me of the Crime Prevention advertisements around bus stops hahah. The ones showing spilt images, eg. a rich woman wearing loads of jewellery versus her bruised face after being robbed.

(photo credits to their respective owners)

I can see why people always say Huang Cheng productions are gloomy and dark! I look at these posters and I imagine myself getting depressed after the show. Not that our postcards were any better...they featured a little doll with its head chopped off! Anyway we only made posters for the general production and not the individual shows...(defensive over the horrible posters for each show in our year). Why is Huang Cheng still at Victoria Theatre this time? I feel cheated every year la-__-

I'm still planning to go anyway(:

黄城夜韵2010
地点：维多利亚剧院
日期/时间： 4月9日 (7.30pm)
4月10日 (2.30pm, 7.30pm)
票价：$10, $12, $14 （午场）
$12, $14, $16 （晚场）
订票热线：81194682
预知更多详情，请浏览www.hcchisoc.org/huangcheng/

because it's a lovely world

2010-02-02T19:34:00.007+08:00

Somehow I always manage to sit near smokers during my lectures. The other week I was sitting behind this row of guys, and during the break they went out to smoke. After the break they came back and I was choking for the rest of the lecture. Today I got even luckier, I sat right next to them -__- I'm so smart I can't believe myself. I don't find cigarette smoke as repulsive as the smell that lingers after someone is done with smoking. The smell that stays is ten times worse for me. The worst is during long bus rides when some elderly person (who smokes) sits down beside me. There will be this sour-bitter smell that comes with decades of smoking which I can't stand at all. Nevermind, I recognise the smoking guys already. Next week I shall be more careful choosing my lecture seat hmpf.

On a side note!

I kept looping this song on my song list today! It's not a new song, and I must have had it on my playlist for months. But I usually skip it and go to some other songs I like. Today I listened to it and suddenly I fell in love with it! Honestly, I wouldn't say ARASHI is excellent at singing (other than Ohno, of course), but their songs always have the best lyrics. The song writers and the guys who choose their songs are marvelous! ♥ Right from the start their debut song had this optimistic style to it, and this same style remains even after ten years. It's especially healing to listen to their songs when I'm feeling moody or stressed out.

Just wanted to share it!
This is one of the clearer versions I can find with subbed lyrics...Yes, I found their little speeches in the middle cliche and cheesy too. They sound too scripted=/ But I'm so happy I can understand parts of it!! There were some videos which translated the lyrics differently and I could spot the errors! So pleased with myself(:

I hope that someday my Japanese can be good enough to understand or even translate such stuff too...*wistful*

to be a better girl

2010-02-01T20:58:00.016+08:00

I ate Gallus gallus Oryza sativa seeds for dinner yesterday!
Yums yums.
The marvels of General Biology ♥

I'm going to share another of my favourite videos today!

What's there not to love about miracleboy, I ask you? ♥♥
He tells bedtime stories to lion cubs!!!
Okay I shall try to sub the video below with my limited Japanese.
(Omg it's my first ever attempt at translating, so you must watch!!)

Safely got back to Shimuken (the cub's name) with the milk.

(All Aiba talking below)

Shimuken, I'm back!!

Is it difficult to drink? How should I do it?

...Drink it, drink it..♪♫♪♪ dddrink it..drink it, drink it ♪♫♪♪ ddddrink it..drink it, ddddrink it ♪♫♪♪ ddddrink it..drink it..drink it..ddddrink it ♪♫♪♪ Yup, drinkkk it ♥

Are you ready to sleep, Shimuken? It's about time for bed...

If you don't sleep early, you won't be able to get up tomorrow yo...
You can't go to sleep?

Shimuken, come! I'm going to read you a book.
This book here, it's a story about Momotaro, right?
(Shimuken: Meoww)
This is a Japanese story...
(He goes on to read the story by himself happily, even though the lion cub was totally ignoring him ♥)
Blah blah blah...heheh what's this?? (Extremely amused by the story)

*Snap!*
Ouch ouch ouch...Don't do that, it's dangerous yo, Shimuken! ♥

In the end...the lion cub apparently got irritated by his noise and decided to bite his face off HAHA. The silly boy ♥

Hahaha very very very short piece of translation!

But gosh, translating is difficult!! I really respect the people who sub hour-long videos and go through the trouble of inserting them in the video etc. Even though this is only a one minute video with little talking, I had trouble phrasing some of the Japanese into English.. I think only around 80% of the meaning is translated properly haha.

Can you imagine a video 60x longer, with several people fighting to speak at once? It's no wonder they get so pissed off when people steal their subs and sell for money!

End of another weekend!
I hope you guys had a happy one!

Still I have romantic in my heart

2010-01-31T00:23:00.007+08:00

So excited!

Maybe I should be like Seow-san and replace words with Youtube videos on my blog. SPAMMMM.

Onew is too cute.
Basically he's saying that he can imitate Jonghyun's part in their song Love Like Oxygen. They got Jonghyun to sing his part to see how it is like originally. Then Onew proceeds to do his imitation. It cracks me up no matter how many times I replay it! ♥

Pre-debut pictures are freaking hilarious

2010-01-30T00:10:00.003+08:00

I am really annoyed with this person recently!!!!!! Very very very frustrated with some of the irresponsible comments made and the attitude of this person. I wonder if it's just me, but it feels terribly exasperating to hold a conversation with this person these days.

Just want to complain (again).
This is a complaining blog?

I ask Sky, I ask Sky.

2010-01-29T23:54:00.005+08:00

While I am sitting at home typing this, SHINee has arrived on our little Singapore island already!

I kind of decided to go for the fan meeting(:

Not going to fight with the xiaomeimei-s for the 1000 limited autographs...I'm not that hardcore. I just want to see SHINee! I REALLY hope they dance Ring Ding Dong!!!!!

My sister and I wanted to buy the tickets to the Korean Drama OST concert at first. But after thinking it through, we decided that it's not worth the money. Although I like "Stand By Me" alot too...I don't feel like spending money to watch them sing it live. I would buy the tickets without hesitation if it's their own concert with RDD and other songs I am looping now(:

Hello, my name is Harry Lee.

2010-01-29T21:56:00.004+08:00

I don't know why, but recently I am very sullen and hostile to people around me! I don't feel like speaking up, even when I am with my friends. I don't want to go to school at all, and I fall asleep in lectures and tutorials. (I ALWAYS sleep in classes back in JC, but I enjoy university lessons!)

Life without Japanese classes this semester is SO BORING AND LIFELESS. Without the stress of attending my multiple Japanese tutorials, school feels extra DEAD. I met so many of my past sem's classmates and I feel envious!!

Biological Psych is killing me!!!!!!!!

Complains, complains.

The only happy thing is that I managed to keep my Wednesdays free! My alternate Mondays are free too, but I work best with a midweek break. Usually after two days of school I will be exhausted.

SO many readings to catch up with, and two midterm exams coming next next week :(

Thank goodness for Arashi.
Happy that they are going to have a primetime variety show(:
But I am crossing my fingers they won't stop Arashi no Shukudai-kun!!

blue sunflowers and silver stars

2010-01-27T19:07:00.005+08:00

AMIGO! AMIGO! AMIGO!
FANTASTIC! FANTASTIC! FANTASTIC! FANTASTIC!
ELASTIC! ELASTIC! ELASTIC! ELASTIC!

Sorry, korean pop drives a person crazy sometimes.

Happy! I met someone I know in SSA2204 yesterday, a module that I am taking alone now. I sat through the lecture alone for the past two weeks, with another four hundred plus students. Actually I found it pretty comfy to go for a lecture alone. Since there's no one for me to disturb, I could actually concentrate for the whole lesson. But still, it's fun to find an unexpected acquaintance in a module. And that person is Eng Soon! From JustEd! Okay so we don't actually know each other well, cos I was in the English dept office and I ~~quitted~~ quit soon after he joined. Ho, it's still a happy surprise~

(Special thanks to Ma Jun who kindly informed me that there is no such thing as "quitted" hahahah!)

(This reminds me of Yan Wen's Zi Zhao-ge ge O.o)

omg I am a SHINee fan

2010-01-24T14:19:00.003+08:00

I am pretty sick of blogging, so I will most likely only be venting stupid frustrations like these here.

Just finished watching Hello Baby SHINee...cho kawaii!! It reminds me of the Himitsu Caretaker series of Arashi and babies...variety show-producers are so predictable, but smart at the same time(: And I am officially a SHINee fan now...looping their songs all the time~

I want to go for SHINee's autograph session!! K-pop fans are so lucky..so many korean stars visiting our little island. Where are the Japanese artistes!!! Ok I doubt Johnny would ever allow his Arashi to come to Singapore for big performances.

I was hoping to pop over to Choa Chu Kang to catch a glimpse of SHINee and perhaps a live performance of Ring Ding Dong ♥...but I have something on that day SHUCKS. Anyway there's no one to go with me and solo fangirling is no fun. I so need fellow Arashi/SHINee fan friends around me!!!!

My face is all red after facial. No face to go to school sia, can I skip tutorial tomorrow???

Rambles.

the zombies ate my brains!

2010-01-05T21:38:00.006+08:00

AHH.

I really really really hate having a new year. Why? Because everywhere people are taking breaks, and nobody's filming new episodes for shows I'm chasing after! Regardless whether it's Japanese, Korean or American..all the dramas are resting for one/two weeks. And this is my last week of holidays from school! =((

So I went to watch some older shows that I wanted to watch....

and I'm mad hooked on 海派甜心 now!! No kidding. I spent the whole of today and yesterday glued to my computer, watching the episodes available...and now I have to wait a few weeks till the whole drama finishes=((

I'm such a sucker for lame and exaggerating taiwanese dramas casting Rainie Yang.

I know I said that I want to strive for a more meaningful life this year but...
GIMME more 海派甜心 nowww!!!

2010

2010-01-01T00:06:00.010+08:00

Video Link: 我爱黑涩棒棒堂091221（未成年人适不适合进演艺圈)

迎接新的一年那一刻，我没有在外头狂欢或是庆祝什么的。可是意外地也有所收获。原本并没有因为是新的一年就准备要特别来更新部落格，可是……正巧有点想法想要记录下来吧。

说起来就是我在家里闷得发慌，随意在土豆网上想找点东西消磨时间。就看到“[我爱黑涩棒棒堂091221（未成年人适不适合进演艺圈）]”……正好最近某友人在部落格上PO了类似的VIDEO，这个标题又蛮有趣，于是决定看了。

很意外，因为我竟然看得很投入？……节目安排了一场小型辩论会，邀请了台湾“华侨高中”的辩论社的成员和棒棒堂等艺人争辩这个课题。看吧，光是这学校的名字就足够吸引我看下去了！不知道是节目效果还是什么的，辩论社的同学……实在不怎么会辩论？可能是上节目紧张，可是我看他们也没很认真准备辩论的论点和内容。反而是艺人方面，让人觉得有在认真争辩……或许这话题对他们来讲很RELEVANT吧。现场的SETTING的确是对他们那一方比较有利，毕竟是熟悉的场合，评判又明显是在帮他们（那女人超欠扁）。

但是很明显，这些人他们真的比较成熟,很有自信也很会说话。我相信除了本身的性格，也是因为他们身为艺人接受训练的成果吧。相对来说，虽然辩论社的同学一直强调读书可以让自己有前途，懂更多等等，我却觉得两者比较下他们比较像井底之蛙。

想到了我自己……除了死读书应付考试，老实说我有什么才艺呢? 我的未来真的就很有保障吗？比起进入演艺圈的‘未成年’艺人，我懂的其实很少，很狭窄。其中有一位棒棒堂迪底（好烂的称呼），叫阿本，他的口才让我挺佩服的，于是就去GOOGLE一下。哇勒，‘弟弟’这名称超误导的好不好，明明就是27岁了…可能最近看太多韩国团体（平均年龄16？），所以吓了一跳。后来发现他的学历是硕士，是政治大学研究生？？哇塞，难怪辩论社的同学输得一塌糊涂啦。也难怪他坚持“在演艺圈不是就代表放弃学业”。他的POSTs很有想法，我蛮喜欢的，可惜好像最近都没再写部落格了。

到他的部落格看了看，当中有这么一段：

記得第一次錄棒棒堂時，是在2006年7月底~

有一段是大家有看到的，

堂主叫敖犬小傑表演舞蹈，他們的舞蹈真的是帥炸了!!

有一段是大家沒看到的，

堂主叫阿本表演RAP，阿本當場亂念了連外星人都聽不懂的東西…

我很懊惱，我真的沒有才藝，

過去的人生裡，重點要認真讀書，然後平常喜歡畫畫、寫東西，

無聊就看看電影、玩玩電動，有時候會上網、看書、看電視，

能跟朋友開個聖誕派對或是去烤肉，就是不得了的大開心事件了!

考上政大時，我覺得人生已經沒有遺憾了，

像是看完電影，THE END的心情~

我沒有否定我人生這十幾年的價值，

畢竟還是完成了許多自以為的豐功偉業，

不論是高中、大學或研究所的日子…

但我的確太自以為了，這世界還有太多不懂的事情，

就算天真以為用不著，但事實擺在眼前，

我就是不懂，就是不會，甚至連聽都沒聽過。

記得第一天晚上錄影完，我回到家睡不著…

Credit : (阿本, 2007)

我觉得，里面有反映到我的想法。觉得自己考上名校，有所谓的好成绩，就像是完成了很了不起的事。可是有很多人事物我都没有接触过，很多国家地方我没去过，很多东西是我没经历过的。我想要学手语，又想过要学肚皮舞（哈哈！），很多事是有想没行动。不能说这些艺人太年轻进入演艺圈会错过很多，我认为他们也得到很多。

阿本的ENTRY让我联想到SHO-KUN的经历。从一个偶像，走到今天成为新闻播报员，都是因为他想要有新的尝试，新的挑战，做一件其他人不会的事。现在的他不只是ARASHI成员，在自己的领域里也得到了认可。这一年来ARASHI真的让我想了很多，也很羡慕。他们十多年来的经历，真的太丰富了。……OK 我离题了。

但我时常在想，十年后，我会是经历过了什么？或许还一成不变呢。虽然我一直向往的是平淡低调调的生活，可是同时我也想可以接触不一样的东西，可以成长。

可能也是因为这样，我才会想出国…到别的大学做交换学生。因为我发现，交流回来的人，他们真的有不一样。不是在表格上填写“扩-展-视-野”就算了，而是真的有成熟到！觉得他们的思想变得不一样，有了更多的经历，处事方面也更好。

好吧。

希望我最后真的出得了国。
希望我也可以变得成熟。
希望我的视野可以更宽广。
希望可以找到和（以上提到的两位）他们一样的勇气，让自己前进。

一篇短短的ENTRY,
我想这就是我对2010の自己的期许吧。

以上。

happy aiba day ♥

2009-12-24T00:09:00.017+08:00

IT'S THE DAY!

Nope, who cares about Christmas eve, when you can celebrate the birth of our miracleboy AIBA MASAKI? ♥ I hope he stays healthy and continues to bring joy to millions of fans around the world(:

"I figure that more so than smiling because I'm happy, I'll probably become happy if I smile."

Aiba Masaki, translated by say_it_again

お誕生日おめでとう、相葉ちゃん！

Oh great, I think I'm losing my japanese..I forgot how to 'spell' omedetou for a moment.. Must be effects of trying to memorise the Hangul alphabet recently:(

Credit source: unknown

Unfortunately it's also the day of my dental appointment, yikes. Since I predict that I will be suffering at home all day in pain after my dental trip, I've decided to bake a cake to celebrate Aiba Day(: Anyone wants to have the cake, and to risk food poisoning on Xmas?

Credit source: unknown

The picture of Aiba above reminded me of Alvin!! I just went for the free movie Alvin and the chipmunks 2 yesterday, courtesy of NTUC. Whew I must have watched more movies this past two weeks then the entire year of 2009 (In cinemas, at least). We had an extra ticket with us since Fan Di couldn't make it at the last minute, and I was trying to find another person to go. It's strange how the freebies always end up having no takers. Overall I didn't find the movie very impressive. The songs were cute and all, but there wasn't much of a storyline to it. It pales in comparison to the other blockbusters being screened this holidays. But I must say the organisers were great! I was exclaiming to Sie Yen about the free popcorn and chilled pepsi provided, with straws no less haha. Okay I'm easily bribed by food. Since we had extra tickets I actually gobbled down two buckets of popcorn within the first half of the movie. No wonder the jeans is getting tighter these days...I need to go for some cycling soon!!! (:

The only unhappy thing that happened to me was this little boy who stepped on my toes. Or maybe stomped would be a better word..I woke up to find my toe looking purplish today. On closer inspection, I realised that it's a small pool of dried blood underneath my toenails. Ouch.

p/s Next week 王仁甫 and 孙协志 are going to be on 三菜一汤？Since when have they plummeted to such levels?

in deliciously rich tomato sauce, RESULTS day!

2009-12-22T15:46:00.008+08:00

To S/U, or not to S/U, that is the question.

Things are much simpler when I don't take modules that I can S/U..When I do, there's always the temptation to S/U it..along with reluctance to do it, because you never know how badly you can do the next time. The pessimistic me believes in "The worse is yet to be".

Now what? =S

Anyway, happy Winter Solstice, don't let NUS ruin your tangyuans!

Cold ice, baby

2009-12-19T00:35:00.005+08:00

I recommend Bodyguards and Assassins!
No, I'm not going to do a review and evaluate it point-by-point, I'm not that hardworking. Please, my word is like more than enough, deshou?
That's all I want to say before flopping onto my bed and sleep.
Good night ♥

以我爷爷之名发誓！

2009-12-14T09:05:00.010+08:00

I probably shouldn't read Kindaichi comics right before sleep. The murder plots and crime scenes always give me nightmares=x Yesterday my brother was telling me about the exam results release dates, and my nightmare turned out to be about my results. The last, and only, time I had nightmares about exam results was before getting back A'lvls. I think it reflects how worried I am about this semester's. But as my friends always said, I complain too much about results and they usually end up fine. I hope this is the case this time too then(:

In the dream, I had grades with numerical values and also letter grades. I can't remember the numbers though, I could have bought 4D with them sigh. I remember getting BBBS, even though I have five modules...and S doesn't even exist now! The setting was in a classroom and I was there busying trying to figure out my CAP but I obviously couldn't because I don't know the CAP point for S..I woke up with a fright and went back to sleep because it's so early. Scarily, the dream repeated itself and I 'lived' the nightmare a second time.

How come funny or nice dreams don't do that? You know, like when you get a really sweetdream and you try to get yourself back to sleep to continue it..and it never works. Anyway so I woke up drenched in sweat a second time and decided not to go back to sleep. That explains the unearthly time at which I am typing this. (Yah, I know 9a.m is perfectly normal for boringly normal people, but I am exceptional.)

I digressed. I wondered why I am so concerned about grades. Perhaps it's the one thing I can rely on to gain self-confidence. I don't have any particular talents. No musical talents, no spectacular sports abilities, no outstanding extracurricular achievements...so to counter this negative view of myself, I have to convince my mind that academic results are really really important. We all know it's not reflective of a person's worth..but it's something that can be seen and weighed, so it's something I can count on. On the other hand, there are times I feel as if I cheated somehow. I don't work that hard, I don't read the newspaper unless I am bored, I don't know much about what is going on in the world..and somehow I get through life and school. I marvel at how my classmates seem to know names of cities in countries I haven't heard of, or recognise faces of mayors whose names I don't even know. I wasn't being closet-muggish when I claim to have muddled my way through schools. As a result I am quite convinced of the idea that academic exams do not predict workplace performance. In fact that was the main idea for my developmental psychology term paper. So it gets me worried, how will I survive work life in the future?

As typical of me, when I get to this question, I would decide I have thought too far ahead and stop thinking haha. And it's too early for reflective thinking. Frankly I just thought I should type something to keep you on the page, hoping you wouldn't mute the music, so you get forced to listen to A.N.JELL~ I am hungry, so I am leaving this post hanging for now, byebye.

Babay, my lady

2009-12-14T00:52:00.021+08:00

听说明年初，《听说》就会在本地上映了！而且我有在CINELEISURE发现这部电影的巨型海报哦！等了好几个星期，原本我还以为这部电影不会在新加坡上映，正打算通过*咳*非正式的管道观看呢。不过既然可以在电影院看，那我就乖乖等待咯！

After keeping from embedding songs here for months....I've decided to add a song after all! I will probably take it down soon, because I open this page 100 times more often then you, and you think I won't be sick of it earlier? It stays for now though. Don't worry, it's not Ring Ding Dong again. It's a song from YAB looping on my playlist too.. featuring the ever cool and popular A.N.JELL!(: I couldn't decide between this and Still. Hmm. Haha is anyone even able to keep up with me changing boybands every blog post?

(I can hear Kok Hong repeating his words on how I should start to end my idol-ing since I am now twenty! Bleah.)

I hope A.N.JELL will become a real band too!
And I don't care if you don't know what I am talking about(: Go wiki.
Korean lyrics are ever so 骗小妹妹-ish!

p/s. Occasionally when I type posts like this, I would try to picture people reading them. More often than not they will include Lee Heng. In my imaginations, Lee Heng would frown and mumble, "What the crap is this??"..then he'll close the page and return to wikipedia for more enriching information hahaha.

Promise by A.N.JELL [English Translation]

I will promise you to live with only you in my two eyes
I will promise you to live with only you in my two arms
From the time I open my eyes and till I sleep I will only yearn for you
I love you don't forget these words I love you forever

I will become the shade in the hot summer
I will become your umbrella when it rains
I will become the small chair when you become tired from walking
So that your happiness will be doubled, I wll laugh with you
I will become the towel when you cry to wipe you tears

I'm disgusted with this messy japalang post.

Santa Claus is coming to town

2009-12-11T00:24:00.004+08:00

LOOKS LIKE I WILL BE SPENDING MY 21ST BIRTHDAY OVERSEAS. WOOHOO.

I finally got my SEP results, after so many people said they have gotten theirs. Whew. Thought it was never coming.

Don't know why I am so excited, it's not happening till like 7 or 8 months later and I still gotta live through another torturous semester at the University of Stairs. But I so thought I wasn't going to get it! And my second and third choices are Japan and Korea respectively so if I can't get Toronto I can forget about the rest..I kinda wished I had put Korea actually..because I got into the Korean fan craze like a month after applying for SEP. But it's okay, Korea can wait for ME. ♥

Sometimes I think I am really lucky. Loads of good things happen to me that I feel I did not have to fight hard enough for. That I might not really be deserving of. For instance, academic grades, great opportunities and an easy life. Not that I am complaining, of course, but if one day things don't come as easily anymore I am afraid I'll be too weak and helpless to fight.

Nevertheless, all in all this a great end to my great day out!

Jeremy entry is GONE!

2009-12-09T14:43:00.006+08:00

Because I am past the mood, and because I want Ring Ding Dong at the top for just a while more.

This performance has wayyyyyyyy too much feathers.

I am in a JEREMY mood ♥

2009-12-07T23:44:00.005+08:00

[Note: Fangirl post alert! Looking for something intellectual? Sorry lor, holidays are meant for dramas and idol-ing!]

Say hello to JEREMY (:
I think I nearly drove Kia Hui mad today because I kept repeating "Jeremy, Jeremy, Jeremy" to her randomly. And Hwang Tae Kyung-ssi!

Are you reading this, kiakia?
Stop singing christmas carols and quick go and watch You're Beautiful!
Hahaha!

I think he suits blonde hair more than black. Or maybe its just my recent interest in blonde hair. Must be the Jonghyun-Effect! (To Kiahui: Jonghyun is the blonde in the video above!) Korean guys born in 1990 somehow suit this shade of hair HAH.

Let's go dye our hair blonde~
Jeremy disagrees. (Points downwards)

I am very happy these days after exams! I had this idea of transferring my videosinto my handphone, but the format is kind of different. Couldn't do anything during the exam period, so right after my last paper I went to surf the net. And 果然皇天不负有心人，I found this program that allows me to convert the video into a suitable size and code so that it's viewable on my phone! Insane happy, I tell you!! Whats more, the product filesize is really small; like smaller-than-one-song kind of small. So I can throw loads of videos inside to watch on the loong bus journeys ♥

Secondly, I bought this real cute pair of sneakers which totallymade my day! I wasn't even looking for sneakers. Just happened that there was a sale and I was curious about the funny shape of the shoes so I tried them on. It's a little uncomfy at the toes though, because my second toe is frustratingly longer than my big toe. I heard that people with longer second toes die earlier than others! Superstitions, hrmm. Kia Hui was so impressed with my cute sneakers she's going to buy two pairs! Wahaha, my good taste. Now I want the mad chio purple-gold hairband from Heeren~ ♥

Thirdly, I keep getting treats this holidays! Very happy news for me. Had a delicious meal at Shokudo today ♥ Many thanks to kiakia and OMY.sg!

Okay, so Bling says HI too:

credits@pinkcakerocks

I hope the good mood continues for the entire holidays! =D
One last photo, of Aiba, to be fair ha!

No credits, I forgot who I got it from le..

Nights!

Don't be silly, Girl; You're my miracle

2009-12-04T02:03:00.008+08:00

EXAMS ARE OVER!

Crazy addictive song!
Stuck in my head while I was doing my papers!

THE BLONDE! THE BLONDE!!!!!!=D

Arashi, Arashi, FOR DREAM.

2009-11-29T23:43:00.001+08:00

I AM SO SICK OF BABIES I WANT TO PUKE.

Ooooonce in a while, You gotta send Somebody a Smile

2009-11-24T14:03:00.010+08:00

First exam of the term!

And.............

For the first time in my university life, (and perhaps my whole life), I was late for my examination!!!!!

Luckily, it was the only one paper (out of my five) that I could afford to be late. As predicted, it was the kind of paper whereby the entire examination venue empties after just one hour. But even though I know there will be sufficient time to do the paper, I couldn't help feeling quite anxious on the bus mah..and the venue is some ulu place so I got to wait for internal shuttle.

Luckily again, I met Croix on the shuttle bus! Safety in numbers=D He looked super relaxed about being late haha...so that made me feel loads better. I can't be late next Monday though. Yup yup. That's when my second, and third, paper will be held. My morning paper, PL3234, is at PGP and I have never been to PGP in my entire life...Happy sia.

I can slack until next week liao.

But I still don't dare to watch You're Beautiful because I have no self control, later cannot stop! Sigh. Safer to watch dramas that only have one new episode per week for now.

考完试元气大伤！该去休息了。
BYEEEEEEEEEE.

Raining woes and dismay

2009-11-19T14:11:00.009+08:00

I read an article yesterday regarding the MM's thoughts on his bilingualism policy. It seems that he is feeling regretful about insisting on bilingualism in the early years, and many people seem to agree that it was a wrong step. Ironically I agree more with his earlier policy than his current stand. Apparently he thinks that "teachers in completely Chinese schools who refuse to teach the language using English" were at fault.

All along, I felt that it's nonsense to teach Chinese Language in English to children. English and Chinese have different grammar patterns, use different phonological sounds and have different sentence structures. How is it useful to teach someone how to swim using a hula hoop? Not to mention, what kind of message are we sending to the children? It's okay if you cannot speak Chinese, there's always English to fall back on. Chinese is an 'extra', the teachers are teaching it because the government says so, and I am learning it because I have to pass my examinations. Children were not born hating Chinese, they learnt it from adults' attitudes. If everyone is telling you, "Mandarin is VERY difficult and VERY boring, but you have to learn it because otherwise you cannot get into a good secondary school", then obviously you are not going to like it! Contrary to the schools' aims, when we try to use computer games to teach very young children Mandarin, this is precisely what they will think. "I will not like Chinese if I were not playing these computer games." That is the attitude they will adopt.

He made this comment at the opening of the Singapore Centre for Chinese Language. "It is too chinese an atmosphere," he said. Erm, pardon me, but...what kind of atmosphere should it have then? French? If one is to avoid 'chinese atmospheres' like this, it is no wonder so many Chinese teenagers today cannot speak their mother tongue. It is very disheartening to hear friends say they cannot speak Chinese and they do not care. People are saying, "Oh it is too difficult to learn Chinese! There are so many strokes in the words and so many words in the dictionary." Don't you think you need to put in effort to get better at Chinese? It is the intrinsic motivation that is lacking. When all they are thinking of is the economical benefits and academic requirements when flipping open the textbook, it is hard to push oneself to learn. I believe that when children have someone consistently speaking to them in Chinese from a young age, they will embrace the language. In school, everyone is encouraged to speak English (I remember all the times my class got scolded for speaking in Chinese during Math, Science or other lessons). So why are parents still afraid that they do not get enough chances to speak English? Talk to them in Mandarin if you want them to score in that subject too, they don't magically learn it!

MM Lee said,"Nobody can master two languages at the same level. If (you think) you can, you’re deceiving yourself."

I disagree. It is certainly not impossible for someone to attain proficiency for two languages, even three, four, five or more. Learning two languages at a young age, as long as one has sufficient exposure to both, is definitely easier than learning one first then the other. Researchers studying bilingualism even found that when you try to master a second language after you have mastered the first one, it takes at least five to seven more years before you become proficient in it. In comparison to children who learn two at the same time, I mean. And adults are usually unable to fully grasp the grammar of languages they try to learn later.

It is during their young years, before 6 years old preferably, that we should allow children to see, hear and try to experiment with the languages. That would build the grammatical foundation for them to learn with ease later in school. Furthermore, contrary to what our MM thinks, I don't agree that rote learning is bad. Anything that we learn, we depend on memorising it first. Only when we get it into our mind can we think about it, reflect upon it and assimilate the new information with our prior knowledge. We learnt our languages by rote learning, by imitation, by social learning. Through exposure to Chinese and English in the media, from our friends and relatives and books, we slowly understand how to use the languages. The foundation has to be built in childhood, with the help of adults.

I don't even want to comment on his gender stereotypical views.

For reference, you can go here.

My Curtain has Colourblinds

2009-11-16T23:14:00.003+08:00

WTF. I spent a full 10mins removing the pear's skin, just as I was washing it, I dropped it into the bag of washing powder! What a waste of time. I have hands like legs!

Okay.

I want to share a story I read from my tutee's assessment book.

Once upon a time, there was a farm. One day, the old farmer told his wife, "The dog is getting old, she is unable to help us anymore. I plan to put her to sleep one of these days." When the old dog heard this, she grew very sad. She had been on the farm since she was a puppy, and had guarded the farm loyally. She had not expected this kind of ending to her life.

With her spirits down, she sought out her best friend, the wolf, to bid her farewell. "I am to be put to sleep soon, and I have come to say my goodbye," she wept. The clever wolf listened to her woes and came up with a brilliant plan to help her dear friend. "Have no worries, my dear. Act according to my plan and you shall live on long and well," she comforted the old dog.

The next day, the farmer went to care for his crops along with his wife. As usual, they left their child under the care of their loyal dog and set off with an ease of mind. The young child was playing along the bank of the river when all of a sudden, the wolf appeared. She snared at the child and let out a low howl. The old dog immediately leaped in front of the wolf to protect her ward. With a few barks, she scared the wolf off. When the farmer heard of the old dog's heroic act, he was very pleased. He declared,"Thank you, my dear dog. I am so sorry I ever thought of putting you to sleep. Do not worry, I will keep you with us till your very last days."

The dog was ecstatic when he heard the farmer's words. She was saved! The wolf's plan had worked. The next afternoon, her friend came to visit her on the farm. The wolf asked to be allowed to steal a chicken from the farm as a repayment for her help. However, the dog was determined to be loyal to the farmer. She gave several loud barks and alerted the farmer. The farmer came out with his hunting gun and chased the wolf off the farm. The wolf never dared to go near the farm again.

End of story.

What do you think? I think the dog is a bitch! (I wrote the story out myself but the main points are there...and I purposely used the female pronouns haha) The farmer was planning to put her to sleep and there she is, demonstrating her 愚忠 to the family... the wolf helped her out and all her friend asked for was a miserable chicken. What if the farmer came out and shot the wolf dead? Would she be able to live on with a peace of mind? What about loyalty to your friend, isn't that important anymore huh. Stupid dog.

Okay 太激动. But I seriously think the way the story tries to portray loyalty is very wrong. What kind of things are they teaching kids and putting into their young impressionable minds!

Last Promise

2009-11-12T00:53:00.008+08:00

ARASHI IS GOING TO STAR IN A DRAMA TOGETHER....FIRST TIME SINCE 1999!! Where was I in 1999? Primary 4? Oh my tians. (I bet most of you don't care anyway, but WHEEEEEEEEEEEE ♥)

Okie. Calms down.

I can't believe I managed to survive my last day of semester 3. FINALLY. Feeling so relieved now!! Not only was Pl3234 term quiz quite tolerable, my oral was a swift and painless death too. hahha. I managed to use my intelligent guesses to score in the test. They told us the answers immediately after we handed in the papers so we could check. Cool right, but just a little traumatising. I got quite a few questions wrong but I was feeling too ecstatic over my correct guesses to care. I got a pretty decent mark for the term paper too! Well worth the pain I underwent while writing it ♥

My throat is so sore from practising my Japanese for oral examination today. Popping Strepsils like nobody's business. Please don't speak to me for the next two days...oh wait, you won't have the chance anyway because I am going to be a full-time 宅女 and rot at home! YAY.

Just a quick note to commemorate the moment. (Can you sense the hyperactive tone)
Now I'm going to reward myself with dramas and SLEEP.
Oyasumi, minnasan!

Want to whine about my partner but sigh.

2009-11-07T01:13:00.003+08:00

Awww now I can't bear to blog anything because I like opening my internet browser and seeing Miura Haruma's face first thing. Since my blog is my homepage desu ne. FuFuFu.

Today my TA makeup class only had FOUR people!! For reference's sake, usually we have like around 15-17 people each lesson, so four is quite pathetic. I heard the others went for the earlier makeup classes, one of which had 35 people alone! Sugoi desu ne. I got a shock when I entered the classroom to find the sensei and only ONE other classmate inside. Luckily, two other people came subsequently. Stilllllll, it was a real intensive lesson because since there were only four of us, we had to take turns practising the sentence structures for the week. Usually we just wait for sensei to call on our names, mutter something in response and slack for another 15minutes before we're likely to be called on again right? Not today! It was real tiring, because we were basically going on and on, talking and talking and talking f nonstop for the entire two hours. Must think real hard about which sentence structure to use, which vocabulary and which tense form is suitable for the situations ugh.

Although... I admit that it's really beneficial for us, because we get sensei's full attention for the entire duration. And with oral coming next week, examination coming in another few weeks time, having sensei correct our mistakes and intonation is very very useful. It's like a consultation session! 如果这样想，好像是有赚到了嘞。。。别人要都没有的机会！I shalln't grumble too much about it then, fufufu ♥ Furthermore sensei was really patient and friendly! She burst out laughing at some random comments we made and told us about the hentais (perverts) in Japan trains who molest people at every chance they get..eww....Having Walker Sensei do the makeup lesson also means....Fujii Sensei is still sick! It must be very serious, since it's been one week already and she's not getting any better. Hopefully she'll feel better soon and be back in time for our oral! It'll be more reassuring to be interviewed by a sensei we are familiar with deshou..and being sick for longer than a week is surely a terrible feeling=/ odaiji ne, sensei!

Bleah. Waiting for my video to finish downloading so that I can go off to sleep sigh.

Feeling extremely exhausted. It's going to be a madrush weekend mugging for the developmental psychology test next week, preparing for the oral and writing the Gakushuin report=(

I want to go shopping with Kia Hui and Sie Yen tomorrow tooooooooooooooo. I miss you guys!! ♥

the night before statistics quiz

2009-11-04T00:15:00.010+08:00

Remember this guy from Koizora?
(screams)

While waiting for the newest episode of My Girl to be uploaded yesterday, I randomly decided to watch another drama...and got hooked! Okay so it wasn't that random. I saw that Miura Haruma was in it and decided to give it a try.

This is my favourite image of Miura Haruma ever!

The left side image is the cui-est, ugliest hairstyle I have even seen him don ahhahaa. It's so funny reading comments on Tudou discussing why he became so ugly. Okay now I want to take back my comments (a few entries ago) about how guys should not be more concerned about their hair as compared to girls. HAIRSTYLES REALLY DO MAKE A DIFFERENCE! This is why I felt the need to post the first picture, to show that he really IS kakkoii one!!

But the Samurai image on the right is KAKKOII to the max! Even better than his famous white hair in 恋空 or the ahbeng one in Gokusen or the normally-cool one in Bloody Monday.

The drama is about this cui dumb high school guy who does not have any aspirations or dreams, is a coward, and plays the clown every day. He chanced upon an ancient book while researching for a history report, which talks about a young samurai who died in the war several hundred years ago. Curious, because the samurai shared his name and his age, he read on about the man. After reading the book, whenever he encountered dangerous incidents, he would be possessed by the samurai. Through the samurai, and through many hilarious incidents, he learnt lessons about what it means to truly be an honourable man.

Okay, this is my newest recommended drama, Samurai High School. By the way, please watch it with chinese subs if possible. The samurai uses a lot of ancient Japanese and I feel like it's best translated with 'ancient' chinese way of speaking also.

But STILL, must watch My Girl first okay =D

bus journeys are made interesting

2009-11-03T23:03:00.006+08:00

Fujii-sensei still has a high fever, so we have to cancel TB 4 (4-6pm) tomorrow.
TB 5 (6-8pm) will be conducted as usual (Yamaguchi will substitute for Fujii-sensei).

SADDDD. Why they never make us change our tutorial timeslots? I thought I can finally go home earlier for once when I saw the first sentence. sighhh. I would rather have fujii sensei really, hope she'll get well soon! She's been sick like since Monday I think? =((

I just realised that THE SEMESTER IS COMING TO AN END. Brrr, I don't feel as if thirteen weeks have passed leh, I don't want classes to end so fast. Although everyone's hoping the holidays will arrive faster, I kinda wish for the opposite hahaha. This sem's classes have been pretty enjoyable! I made some new friends from translation especially, and that made me very happpppy(: I am so glad I was in my project group. I was almost thrown into another group because of a mistake on my teacher's part. He wrote my name down for two groups, and I emailed him about it. At that point I was choosing which group I wanted to be in, as in when I email the tutor I can tell him to remove my name from the group I don't want to be in mah. I just randomly picked one, and now I am thankful for my decision♥ Through Social Psych and Stats II I also got to know Xiaoqin and Croix much better, unlike the previous semester when we had the same modules but never talked. This time round I feel that I did not enjoy my Japanese classes as much.. but still, the Gakushuin visit kinda gave us more opportunities to interact at the last moment. I found a NY and HCI junior in my TC class! A check on facebook revealed that we have many common friends too haha, mostly my Xuan Chuan juniors actually. Hmmmm things would have been better if I didn't have to write the term papers and do projects of course, but compared to Semester 2 the workload this semester is lighttttt=p

I don't want next week to come, not only because it is the thirteen week but also because there's developmental psych test and JAPANESE ORAL. Turns hysterical at the thought of it. I've been underperforming for the whole of this semester..hopefully I don't pull my CAP down by alot?

Btw.

These days I keep hearing comments like "Oh, I think you are the kind who......" and "Your character is......." which I find frustrating. Usually because they come from people whom I don't feel truly understand me. As in we don't have that much contact or spend alot of time together, so..why the comments? I don't like it when people think they understand me well simply because we met a few times or talked over lunch once or twice. For instance, maybe you feel that I enjoy studying because I met you in the library twice this week, but that may be due to me having exams the coming week. Or maybe you think I am a sporty person because I was carrying a baseball bat the other day when we met at the bus stop, but it might have been a present for my brother. Based on these limited experiences you think you understand me very well, as a sporty girl who likes to mug everyday. Does that sound like me? No. So I do not appreciate it when people act like they know me inside out and make open judgements (you can make them silently in your mind for all I care) based on such incidents.

More random things.

I think studying has driven me bonkers. As many of you know I don't like to eat chocolates. Yet this past week I could be spotted buying chocolates from candy empire and NTUC and munching on them in lectures and while mugging in school! Today I suddenly have this craving to listen to Jay Chou songs and have been busy getting them from my friends hahah. What on earth? I need to go find some psychological theories that can account for this bipolar behavior.

it's a love story baby just say yes ♥♥

2009-10-29T00:06:00.006+08:00

It's my self-declared I♥HC day today!! (:

I finally got to wear the I♥HC shirt today, and it made me feel really happy for the entire day! The shirt is super comfy and nice-fitting (glad i chose the loose-fit size because i got soooo full eating at megabites today). In fact it was so comfy that it made me sleepy during my afternoon lectures boo. I concluded that the reason i enjoy wearing the shirt so much must be due to cognitive dissonance again (YA, I BET U ARE THINKING: DON'T THEY TEACH HER ANYTHING NEW IN NUS FASS?!?!). Too bad, it's the one I can recall best.

Anyway i figured that I love the shirt so much because of the enormous effort I put in to get it. If I had gotten the right size from the start during MAF, I probably wouldn't like it so much. Since I spent so much time and effort, going back to school more than just a few times and troubling my junior too, to get the miserable shirt, I had to convince myself that it's worth it. So the result is: I♥myI♥HCshirt! (: (:

Anyway, I just wanted to comment on a, erm phenomenon?, I noticed. Most of the people I met said things like "Wah, so 爱校啊?" or "What's the occasion?"; But what made me feel rather indignant was when people say things like "Ehh, show off ah?"..even though it's said jokingly, it reminded me of something I observed during orientation and subsequent school terms. We see many people wearing ACJC or CJC shirts all year long, and everyone thinks that's perfectly alright; yet when a HC or RJC person wears his P.E shirt or Faculty shirt etc, it's call SHOWING OFF. It makes you feel like, "Come on lar, it's our school so aren't we allowed to feel proud of it too?" It's not like the shirt says "I am Superior" or "You suck" right? I don't care about your inferior complexity ♥

Okay, end of short rant.

OMG tmr's my off day and I need to go back to school to give a presentation for the japanese students. Sigh, somehow I don't feel excited about meeting the japanese students at all. And it costs me 15bucks to have the dinner with them, cries. NOT TO MENTION THE ONE PAGE REFLECTIVE ESSAY DUED AFTER IT. Hopefully it'll turn out well ba.

Just now my laptop blanked out suddenly and this screen appeared. I was so worried that it was gonna crash, along with my arashi videos and all! Omg. SCARY.

Hooray I'm done with my SEP application! Finally~
good nites!♥

be with you

2009-10-26T15:28:00.001+08:00

人を強く　愛する事　気づいたから
目に見える全ては輝き出す
その笑顔を　その全てを　守って行く
そしていつも君とともに

dinner at midnight: pizza slice and drumlets.

2009-10-26T00:52:00.005+08:00

i am so so dead for presentation tomorrow.
i can't stuff anything in my mind already, it's full.
editting the powerpoint now=(

HOW DID MY WEEKEND FLY BY?!

this must have been the fastest ever weekend, everything just flew past in an instant! yesterday i dug a hole at home and hid inside all day to write my part for the stats group report, and went to teach tuition at night. today i went to teach tuition at 9am in the morning, then rushed straight to school for the group report meeting. alllll the way till 11pm when i caught the last bus and came home. that concludes my weekend. UGH.

i want my weekend backkkkk.
=(

there was a silver lining to these stormy clouds today though.

i wan to eat kfc

2009-10-24T23:46:00.005+08:00

i changed my top choice destination for SEP liao!
it's no longer JAPAN.
i am so disillusioned by their limited courses available.
struggled for a long while, because i REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY wan to go
but all they have are japan studies and international studies courses.
which totally does not fit into my study plans.
seriously they have the most limited modules out of all the universities i checked out, such as korea and western places.
so far only 2 ppl know which is my new choice of destination,
because it's uni-wide and i don't think i can get it.

want to take a guess which country i want to go?
=D

i don't like to post lyrics, but this song has been in my head all day!
need to dump it somewhere.
i'm in an oldies mood =x

铁石心肠 (巫启贤)

每一张笑脸，背后都有一张流泪的脸
每一个大声说话的人，背后都有难言的心声
每一次成功都经历过矛盾抉择挣扎
每一次接受喝彩掌声，闭上眼睛回味无情的嘘声

我的心，铁打的心
不怕狂风暴雨不怕冷嘲热讽言语
我的心，坚强的心
不怕明枪更不怕暗箭难防

我的心，铁打的心
不怕夜黑风高不怕独自走在梦里
我的心，脆弱的情
逃也逃不过你温柔眼睛

damn, i'm addicted

2009-10-24T00:30:00.002+08:00

IT'S FRIDAY!
aiya too bad fridays always 来得快,去得也快
at most gonna be a short-lived relief.
i'll need to chiong for stats report starting tomorrow liao!
today just let me rest and do mindless stuff like facebook can,
oh wait, i do that everyday.
i need need need arashi therapy.
no time no time.

not to forget, my sep application!=(

fine i admit, this is a totally aimless post,
i just wan to type something while waiting for the final episode of 神雕侠侣 to finish.

hello, it's orange week in school

2009-10-22T22:38:00.001+08:00

i think...it's damn weird when guys are more anxious about their hair than girls. seriously, it just gives me the creeps.

to use れば or not to use, that is the question

2009-10-22T17:32:00.002+08:00

BY THE WAY.

random fact of the day:
did you know that Hana Yori Dango is a Japanese proverb that means "Substance over Appearance"?

p/s if you have no idea what is Hana Yori Dango in the first place, you haven't been in the same world as me. bye bye! (\^_^)

a kanji a day keeps the brain awake

2009-10-22T17:19:00.006+08:00

today i realised how easy it is to stalk and to be stalked by someone though the Internet. scary. or maybe i realised that long ago, probably that is why i don't like talking about very personal things in blogs. most of the things you can read here are stuff i would tell you if u had asked me about them straight (only thing is i also add things that most of you probably have no interest in as well ahahaha, too bad). or maybe it's just in my character to keep things to myself.

the counter intuitive behavior then, is why i can blog about things like my school, my neighbourhood, the buses i take and post photos with me in them. aren't these things considered private information that i should be careful about sharing online?

were you expecting an answer to that question? didn't i mention that it's counter intuitive. if i had the answer why would i pose the question, lame.

peach milkshake ♥

2009-10-21T23:51:00.003+08:00

Uwaaaa, My Girl is soo sweet ♥
watching second episode now, and so far both episodes made me cryyy
i'm not being biased k,
(i actually thought Aiba-kun's acting was only so-so for the first ep. opps!)
the kid actress is sooooooooo kawaii !! ♥ ♥ ♥
koharu chan! ♥

project meeting in sch till 11plus pm \O.O/

2009-10-21T01:18:00.005+08:00

so i happened to drop by hwachong this afternoon because i had a bit of time before my lecture begin. wanted to buy the teeshirt which i had the wrong size for. i'm kind of irritated over it coz its like this nagging thought at the back of my mind, something to do but has not been done. so anyway i thought it was a nice, fine day and hopefully the council room would actually be open for once.

unfortunately, this was the sight that greeted me.

blearh, what an unfriendly alma mater!

luckily i thought of calling my junior before walking all the way to the main gate to enter. because, (surprise surprise) the council room is closed! i'm so thankful for the insider info.

want to eat more and more and more wasabi

2009-10-17T15:45:00.008+08:00

thing that make me happy recently:

when people agree to help me with my statistics experiment!! really feel very pleased whenever friends help me out with it, especially since its such a booooring task and i feel bad asking. of course, there's the social psych technique of asking, what is it again, foot-in-the-door technique? getting them to do part one, den WHAM, there's a second part! hee. i have such NICE FRIENDS!

okay, next.

there's this social psychology finding that's really interesting: did you know that after doing someone a favour, you would actually like that person more? in layman terms, this is because when we help someone out, thereby 'wasting' our own time and effort even though we don't really think that person is worth it, we will experience cognitive dissonance which is uncomfortable. so we will try to change our beliefs and think, "oh, maybe i helped her out because i really like her as a friend!".. and TADA, you like that person more!

okay, vague explanation.

but what i simply want to say is- ahahah, to all people who have helped me out: too bad, now you will have to like me better! ♥

okay, enough zi highing.
gotta continue with my term paper=(
i shall NOT watch "MY GIRL" until i'm done with the essay! =(

ganbatteru yo

2009-10-17T13:37:00.003+08:00

i got into a heated debate with my primary three tuition kid just now. the topic of our debate was...hanayori dango! haha. she insisted that the korean one is the second version, after Meteor Garden. seee, this is what happens when they refuse to show Hanadan in Singapore! eeks.

okay, back to researching for my pl3234 term paper.
psycINFO CANNOT FIND ANYTHING ONE!
PISSED.

mountains of work to be done

2009-10-12T00:24:00.006+08:00

the phone hang again and again today.
and since it is the world's most difficult task ever to remove the back cover of this handphone model, i couldn't off it by taking away the battery

(really, just type 'remove battery w580 sony ericsson' in youtube and count the number of videos dedicated to teaching this task!)

this is the first time one of my handphones showed signs of retirement,
so i didn't know where to bring it to repair or whatsoever..

hence!

i bought a new handphone!

uwa, i'm so decisive (and a spendthrift) today! proud of my swift action hahah. social psychology says when u make a decision without thinking about it consciously, it will be the best decision. and since i've already paid for the new phone, the action is IRREVOCABLE so cognitive dissonance will kick in to make me love the phone more and more and more. i will end up being ecstatic and satisfied with my purchase! wheee! ♥

the phone can only be collected tomorrow though, and its nowhere as prettyyyyy as my current phone. kinda sad. on a happier note, i can look forward to new earphones! yay mann..just pray hard that they don't spoil fast, as all sony ericsson earphones do.

or maybe i'll get the old phone repaired and alternate between the two phones bah. they are both sony ericsson products anyway, sure can 相亲相爱 one=D

okay, back to my readings=(

twitterish post

2009-10-11T12:27:00.003+08:00

my handphone is going haywire, i think its time for its retirement
but i don't have any phone model in mind to buy
there's no phone chio-er than mineeeeee ♥
now my phone is almost always off because it keeps hanging anyway,
if you can't contact me, you know why!

wadde

2009-10-10T00:43:00.004+08:00

i think,

if people wants to spend their time doing useless and meaningless stuff, they are definitely free to do so. but there is no reason to make other people waste their youth listening to your groans and squeaks over these stuff.

i am not young already you know.
twenty liao.
no time to waste on such meaningless things yah.

i should learn how to reject people firmly.

a recommendation

2009-10-10T00:25:00.006+08:00

i had a happy birthday today, so thank you to all my friends who made it an enjoyable day for me! =DDD

and next:

Letters From Iwo Jima will be screened on OKTO on 18 Oct'09 Sunday 10pm.

do take a look if ure free! it's not the most objective portrayal of the world war, (definitely full of american stereotypes of the japanese) but it's worth a watch. i almost cried while i was watching it in the school library sia.

not to mention, NINO's so kawaii inside the movie=DDD

the BIG TWO

2009-10-09T00:09:00.005+08:00

happy birthday!
生日快乐！
お誕生日おめでっとう !
selamat ulang tahun!
joyeux anniversaire! (no, i dun remember anything from my 10wk french course, totally googled that haha)

Aiba-kun lighting up candles for my cake lol ♥♥♥

i know, cheap thrill=)

because i'm too lazy to blog anything else

2009-10-08T11:16:00.001+08:00

Listen, listen! =)

Dear you,
Who's reading this letter
Where are you and what are you doing now?

For me who's 15 years old
There are seeds of worries I can't tell anyone

If it's a letter addressed to my future self,
Surely I can confide truly to myself

Now, it seems that I'm about to be defeated and cry
For someone who's seemingly about to disappear
Whose words should I believe in?
This one-and-only heart has been broken so many times
In the midst of this pain, I live the present

Dear you,
Thank you
I have something to tell the 15-year-old you

If you continue asking what and where you should be going
You'll be able to see the answer

The rough seas of youth may be tough
But row your boat of dreams on
Towards the shores of tomorrow

Now, please don't be defeated and please don't shed a tear
During these times when you're seemingly about to disappear
Just believe in your own voice
For me as an adult, there are sleepless nights when I'm hurt
But I'm living the bittersweet present

There's meaning to everything in life
So build your dreams without fear
Keep on believing

Seems like I'm about to be defeated and cry
For someone who's seemingly about to disappear
Whose words should I believe in?

Please don't be defeated and please don't shed a tear
During these times when you're seemingly about to disappear
Just believe in your own voice

No matter era we're in
There's no running away from sorrow
So show your smile, and go on living the present
Go on living the present

Dear you,
Who's reading this letter
I wish you happiness