Green Chilli Addict

Red might be the Chinese New Year colour of choice.
This year, mine was Green.

Lots and lots of Green.
It was taking the whole Singapore is 'Green' to a whole new level!
No...
Nothing to do with envy.
Think Singapore's climate.
HOT!
That bottle was filled to the brim just a day ago.
It's only half-filled now.

I took it with everything I ate at home!
Especially Mom's sharks fin soup.
Every spoonful of soup would include a few sliced and pickled chillies.

I took it with chicken rice and pizza and noodles too.
Took it with some steamed chicken as well.
Simply addicted to the stuff.

I wonder if this is going to be a problem...






In any case, the Chinese New Year holidays are coming to an end.
Have not touched my red packets since I got them.
Won't be able to use them till after the 15th day in anycase...

Essie.. no worries.. saving it all for when we go shopping!!

First Year Out

CNY is here!!
Can you believe it?!
It came so quickly that I've not had time to re-plant my aquarium!
I thought I had another week at the very least.
The Sunday Times are here!
Go check!
It's almost like a that show where this guy gets the next day's papers and he saves someone's life because he knew before-hand what would happen.
Psst..4D numbers are also out!

For the very first time...
Our family decided to have our reunion dinner at a restaurant.
Usually, preparation for the dinner starts up to a week in advance.
Granny, Great Aunt and Second Aunt would start planning the menu and buying the vegetables (meat comes in later).
The 2 fridges at Second Aunt's place will be filled to the brim and resemble a tv dinner tray.
They'll bake and pack and tape.
I used to help them every year, learning from them, but this year, it's been crazy with school, so I promise to make up for it next year...
We met at 'Magic Wok' at our designated time of 5.30pm. There would be a few dinner shifts, so they rushed the dishes out.
Seriously, it came one after another till the lazy susan, doing all that work and carrying all that weight, could not be deemed lazy anymore.

We had quite a few courses..
1. Traditional Yu Sheng (A truly authentic S'porean invention)
2. Sweet and sour whole roasted chicken
3. Deep Friend fish
4. Brocolli with scallops
5. Vegetables in a yam bowl
6. Sharks Fin
7. Cold dish (no.. this dish did not come first, which was totally weird)
8. Pineapple Rice
9. Oat meal prawns
10. Mango pudding

Honestly, the food was not that great.
I miss the home-cooked versions.
Of course, I have to keep in mind that granny is over 85 years of age already!
She's still as sharp as ever though.

Nothing really interesting happened, except that the deep fried fish had an amazing resemblence to Angelina Jolie (Think thick lips and a streamline body)
We went off to second aunt's place to gamble!
It was good fun...
I must remember that it is more blessed to give than to receive.
(Yea right.. excuses for losing on my part)
Guni-face and I ended up banging some notes on the piano and reinventing the 'Rugrats' theme...
We mixed it with 'Summer Days from Grease'.

Times are changing...
We've just got to adapt..

Down is...

What can I say?
Life is such a curious mix of ups and downs.
Currently more downs, but hey... down is pillow-stuffing right?

Feeling more positive about the 'downs' in life basically because of something I read last night during QT.
I'm in school at the moment, so I don't have the booklet with me, but the gist of it was that God knows us best.

We go through life in such a way that we sometimes harm ourselves, trying to accomplish too much.
God's way of helping us is subtle.
Downs in your life are usually blessings in disguise.
For example, you've been pushing yourself too much over a sport.
Help might come in the form of a broken bone to slow you down and allow you do catch up with your sprinting self.
Financial woes might also be a way of slowing you down for your own good.

Think all that is silly?
Re-examine your life. Evaluate and reflect on your downs in life.
You'll be surprised.

Seeing Double

TaDaaaa!

Finally met up with Sunitha and Vinitha!
We had dinner at Cine's TCC..
Really wished Essie-poo could join us, but she had a casting call...
We caught up and all, laughed alot, ate alot more...

We were actually so inspired by the recent screening of Victoria's Secret that we decided to put on our very own Fashion Show!


Of course...
It'll only happen when Essie's cast comes off.

See that picture?
We were trying to hard to take a photograph by ourselves without asking for help..
We tried over 4 times without success...
Finally, this passerby marches up to us, grabs the camera and took this shot!
O.M.G
Nice guy though.
Gave us a shock too..

See my flat hair?
I got my hair done today... it's kind of a gold-brown now.
You'll see when you meet up with me.

It's really times like that when you realise who your best buddies are.
You can be yourself when you're with them.
You can do embarassing things and know that they'll laugh along with you.
You don't have to shut off your emotions and restrict yourself from spewing nonsense just for the fun of it.
It's really liberating.

This is a really weird time...
As in, this day and age.
Looking forward to the future.

I miss Ballet...

While waiting for some friends today, I found myself humming a tune and walking to a beat.

Hum...step step...Hum...step step...
I realised that it was a ballet study from Grade 4!

It was there and then that I wished that life was a musical, so that I would be able to break into a song and dance solo to express myself.

I miss ballet...
Yes, because I was good at it, and because it was an actual passion.
It was total control over all your muscles.
It was a discipline.

I think ballet is a 'show-off' thing.
You have got to want to show your skills off to do well.
It's flashy and you've got to take great pains to show off what you can do.
When doing the various exercises, you've got to keep in mind that everyone else is doing the same thing, therefore you need to come up with some ingenious way to get yourself noticed.
You've got to show the examiner your personality and character without words. Just movement.
That's true expression.

I miss ballet... I truly do...
Rise to your toes and fly...

Heyy all...

Went to East Coast Park for some filming and got to spend some time alone with nothing but a stone bench as my place, the sun as my light, the sand as my carpet and the waves crashing onto the shore as my music.

It was a really good time for reflecting and that I did.

It was so refreshing to be away from anything complicated.
When you're at the beach, the lack of resources really forces one to slow down and just make do with the bare necessities.
The whole place was devoid of human life!
I wished so hard that I could have someone with me to share that quiet joy with.
Always be careful what you wish for because lo and behold, Josh showed up, riding his bike.

I made another friend, of the feline variety.
No.. I did not go as far as to name it.
It just decided to follow me all and sit before me like a modern-day, drastically de-magnified stone lion.

There is is.

My protection, my guard..uhm..cat...

It sat there keeping watch of my things while I strayed to the shore and skipped between the waves and got my shoes wet.

It would be fun to have another day at the beach, slightly cloudy, windy, lying on a towel, on the shore, talking and laughing.

Then again, splashing around sounds pretty good too...

Tell me Kitty.. what do you see?

It's never a win...

Ever feel lost because you think you're finally doing the right things only to find out somehow that you're not?
I won't know what you've gone through unless you tell me and if you don't tell me, how can you blame me for not knowing?
Is it so wrong to be cheerful?
I'm really sorry if it bothers you, but that's the way I am.
I accept you for who you are. Why can't you give me some leeway?
If we were all the same, it'll be boring.
I try my hardest to be competant.
I try my hardest to be a good friend.
I just don't see any results and it gets frustrating.
So I think a little differently from you.
Is it so wrong?
Just steer me in the 'right' direction and I'll try my best to adapt.
I'm not a slacker, this I can say.
I'll work as hard as I have to.
I don't know what else to say.
Apologise?
For what?
For something I did not know?
That's just sad.
I feel very small whenever I'm with you. I feel uncool and uninformed.
I feel scared... scared that I should have known something I don't.
It's just a different area of interest.
Teach me.
I'm willing to learn.
Don't belittle me.
That will be totally uncalled for.
I respect every single person I meet.
Until I get a reason to disrespect you.

The main gist is...
I don't get why it's so difficult to accept who I am as a person.
I get so depressed that I have to rely on my other friends who do accept me for who I am.
Even if you don't like me, try to get along.
I'm not demanding.
Really.
If you think I am, then it's just miscommunication.
Think I'm immature?
I'm still learning and growing as a person.
It's not wrong to make innocent mistakes.
I don't understand you, but I'm trying to.
I'll do whatever it takes to maintain peace and to preserve our friendship.
Don't discourage me from being me.
It's just not gracious.
I'm on the verge of tears.
Not physically.
I'm confused.
I'm insecure.
I'm lost.
I'm sad.
I'm sad...
I try to make people happy.
But I'm sad...

I need my friends...

Come on.. What shall I do?

AND....
It's another week in school...
Counting down the days till graduation, counting down the seconds to deadlines...
Honestly...

Been busy with trips down to NTU...
It's no joke..
Spent at least $45 on cab fares so far, just to get there.
It's all worth it though.
Can you imagine carrying the heavy tripod all the way there?
My back is thanking me.

Now...
Cab rides are interesting.
You make friends with the cabbie, they'll most probably give you a nice discount.
This time however, I was far too bushed to hold an actual conversation.

Got to NTU, then got an sms about an hour later.
It was from Mike Goh.. the cabbie...
I had called for a radio cab and he decided to use my information that way.
What an infringement of privacy!

I thought.. why not have some fun eh?

Ess said: "Report him!"
Essie..no thrill there...

Derrick said: "Say loan sharks are after you and that you need to borrow some money!"
Nice!

Now, I would have done something, but believe it or not, I forgot about the sms till it was too late for a proper response.
Dang it...

What would you have suggested I do?

Decked

"Deck the halls with..."

Only this time, I'm the one all decked up.
Going to Anchor with Amin later... For Broadcast Journalism.
I'm wearing a full business suit and the choice of jewellry... PEARLS!
Earrings and necklace! The works.
The earrings are just studs while the necklace is no a string of pearls, but it's more like scattered pearls on 2 lines...
I feel so old!
But it goes with yellow (colour of my top) and.. basically...
I lost a half of my favourite pair of earrings...
They're diamond studs on a chopstick-like cross that Godma gave me..
I wish I had never taken it off...
Must have left it in the hotel room when I went to change for Dad's surprise birthday bash..
Dang...
Pinning for it...

FriendShip is a very important boat...
If you invest enough and treasure it enough, it will bring you through any storm.
You can rest assured that it will never sink.
I did some thinking...
Why have I been so enthusiastic about floorball?

Is it passion for the game?
Not likely.. My passion is still ballet..

Is it just a form of exercise?
Nope.. don't think so.. I'll prefer to swim.

Is it because I have nothing better to do?
Hell no... count the number of assignments!

Then I realised that it is the friends... the team spirit and loyalty I crave...
God knows I'm not getting much of that in school...
Nothing against my coursemates...
It's just that the lack of time and certain resources have made things the way they presently are...
I'm willing to sacrifice a lot, but when it comes to friendships and relations...
I'm not willing to budge.
I don't know if that would serve me well, but I'm keeping to it.

Another GIRLS game coming up tonight..
SIM Blacks vs SMU
I'll be there as soon as I can girls...
Waiting to hear from Essie-Poo about our first and continuous goals!
ADD OIL!

It gets old...

Been schooling for the past 12 - 13 years...
There's so much to learn and so much more to think about.
Education will never come to an end.
Which is a relieving thing I guess...

The only thing I look forward to these days are floorball and driving..
Not that I have much time for either.
A few more weeks...

Someone in heaven must have died...
I mean, the sky has been crying so much!
It's a wonder there are no reports of floods...yet...
The craziest thing that could happen now is if a Nature Reserve caught fire.
Technically... almost impossible.
Too much rain, too little to burn.
I'm sure places like the Zoo or Birdpark are making losses.

It's also times like these where you are grateful for having a dryer at home.
How will your clothes dry?
You may as well not bother to rinse the soap off and leave it hanging in the rain.

I'll start taking photographs to document living in Singapore as a teen...
Technically, I'm no more a teen this year.
Suddenly, I envy youth....

The Next Step

Oh k...
Surprise surprise...
I'll graduate in another month, then it's out into the World.
I'll most probably be studying... currently thinking of UNSW Asia.
It's the most practical really.. and their Media course sounds so good.

Spent last night doing Scriptwriting's Beats and Scene-by-Scene breakdown.
Had a little help from a friend...
Honestly, thought I could be done with it really quickly, but I kept getting stuck at certain points.
It's not easy to come up with nice transitions.
It's really writing visually.
I imagined everything I wrote happening.
I'm pretty happy with the story idea.

Shall I post the story here, as in the actual script?
I could post as I write it ...
What say you?

Currently in school and waiting for JB...
Oh! I finally found my organiser!
It had precious photographs in it and all my appointment cards, not to mention Birthdays and other important dates.
Felt so lost without it yesterday.
Anytime someone asked if I was free on a certain day, my answer would be 'I'm not too sure'..
What kind of answer is that!
Found it quite by accident. In the Publishing room at a tiny deserted corner.
Thank God...

It finally stopped raining and I can finally get some filming done.
I think I film better in a studio than using a hand-held camera.
It's way easier to see anyway.

Got to sleep at 4.30am and woke up at 5.30am...
I need sleep quite badly.
It's even affecting my memory...
HELP!

Losing Control...

This has been an eventful week, peppered with joy, salted with sorrow...
Maybe I need to take a look at my life and prioritise.
Sometimes, I feel like I'm enjoying myself too much for my own good.
Then again, you're at this age only once, so make the most of it!

Talk about being a certain age only once, Dad just turned 50.
It's half a century and 18250 days on earth!
It's a heck of a lot of experiences and wisdom.

Celebrated it at Garden Hotel where we, all 76 of his friends and family, threw him a surprise!
It had been planned for the last 2 weeks and it was a hit!
Mom booked the whole of the 'Courtyard Cafe' and the place was donned in party balloons!
It was a good night....

One thing...
Dad got drunk.
It was the first time ever I've seem him drunk.
It was all the toasts and rounds of alcohol that everyone 'forced' him to down.
I offered to take a few rounds of beer for him but, being dad... refused.
All I can say is that alcohol does not really allow you to drown your sorrow..
It magnifies it.
There goes my plan to drown mine.

I'm glad this week is over.
I know I've got to take control, I know I've got to better manage my time.
I'm really worried about project work.
I'm really worried about graduating.
I'm really worried about so many other things.

Maybe take one day at a time?
One event at a time?
Maybe be more sacrificial?
Maybe be less sacrificial?

Take charge of your life Mich!
You're the only one authorised to do so!

Hellish Night

It was an 'Act 2' night for me...
'Act 2', in scriptwriting being the worst of the worst, where the character asks in exasperation,'What else can go wrong?'

Never in my school-life have I been faced with such a situation.
Never have I felt more frustrated.

Spent a whole lot of time reflecting.
Tried to point out specific situations where I went wrong, but I could not definitely pin-point it.

Felt so insecure and worthless.
I think I understand a little more about myself now, as in...
Believe it or not, almost like a puppy, I thrive on praise and encouragement and loads of positive or negative feedback.
If the feedback does not come in, how would I know if I'm doing alright, or if I have to improve on something?

Thanks to those who helped me with my sanity.
I don't know what I would have done otherwise.
Sometimes just talking about a situation helps you to see things more clearly or at the very least, release some anger.

Dad just kept repeating 'You will go though these things in life. You just have to learn from it'
Thanks Dad.. what a load of help..what encouragement...
-_-"

Don't know how things will turn out, but all I can do is hope for the best.

One bright spot in the coming future...
Floorball IVP!
SIM BLACKS vs NTU
Tomorrow!
I'll be going down with loads of Ricola to cheer!
Play well Blacks! Show them all who will rule the court one day.
Supporters, shake out the pom pons!

Yes...
Pom pons...
The Cheerleader's prop.
It's one of the most mis-spelt words of all time!

See... Even 'Bring it On' can teach you something...

Receptionists...

Call us...
Mac Cam
The Elements...
Something...

*Shouts over*
Belle, Jing.. we need a new name...

I pray to God my soul, please take...

Merry things have happened, yet, talk about it, smile about it, I find tough.
I don't know what's not right, or maybe, I just don't want to admit it.
Maybe it'll be wise to just go through the motions...
The emotions will just come later.

Graham's wedding luncheon is over.
Annabelle, Cui Jing and I were the receptionists.
We actually practiced our lines so that we would not end up sounding amateurish.
"Good Morning and a very Happy 2006 to you!"
"Are you here for Graham and Chae Eun's wedding?"
"Welcome! How shall we address you?"
"Would you like to sign the Guest Banner?"
"Thank you very much for the gift..."
"Western, Chinese and Japanese cuisine to your left, and Italian cuisine to your right!"
"The Bride and Groom will be here shortly"

By the way, the bride is Korean.
She's so pretty! I'll get her picture up here as soon as I can.
She's really nice too.
Really sisterly and gives the impression that she's totally dedicated to what you're saying.
I'm really glad she's joined the family.

It's really weird how all my cousins seem to be getting married at the same time.
Paternal and Maternal sides.
See...
Just attended Eugene's and Evelyn's wedding mid 2004.
Was bridesmaid for Joey (Eugene's sister) and Edward's wedding in end 2005.
Graham and Chae Eun's wedding yesterday.
Going to Emcee Cui Feng's wedding this March.

Waiting for the next wave man... wondering whose turn is next...

Waiting for 2008 as well... It's going to be a special year...
All because I'll be turning 22 on 20/08/2008
See the unique factor yet?
2008/2008
22
It's a year of double numbers!
Not that I'm a whiz with numbers or anything.

Righto...Here are 2 pictures...


Glennise and I as Bridesmaids for Joey...

Annabelle, looking groovy and I...

I love my cousins...