goodbye, and hello.

and there she stood with her head towards the sky

breathing in the laughter from the crowd
the lingering scent of honeydew
the flutter of lights.
And smiled.

Here's to a good 2012. :-)

And the clock begins to tick.

As 2011 comes to an end, I'm still in disbelief as to how it passed by so quickly. Really! I'm not kidding. I can tell you the highlights of 2011 for me that I remembered - MAM comm, stpm results, getting into UM, first experience working, christmas choir...many more events happened but I'll have to think hard hehe. See how fast time flies? Even christmas passed already. And we're stepping into a new year very soon.

2011 has been a good year for me. I enjoyed it because there were a lot of firsts for me, because I saw myself growing, stepping out, learning more stuff, being more open-minded. It wasn't easy but I'm glad I went through it as it made me more..matured I think. :) It was also a year where I had to make some decisions and choices, where I had to think for myself, where I saw how different my perceptions were from my parents and friends which made me grew a lot.

In church, I made bonds with church mates, still serving in a ministry I'm pretty passionate about, worked with a good mentor who indirectly taught me a lot, was inspired by a few & hung out with the kiddos (they're fun to be with ok! made me feel young :D).

At work, I learned lotsa things from boss and colleagues and they're the ones who showed me there is no such thing as office politics. In uni, ah..where to begin? I met so many people from different walks of life, was touched by kind and sincere gestures by some people, was inspired by seniors, made a commitment to serve in the cf committee, made many new friends..uni opened my eyes to many things unseen. Glad to be part of UM, to be part of the vast community that is so different and unique.

I'm thankful and blessed in 2011. :) I'm pretty excited and a lil afraid about 2012 because I feel I'll be stepping out more from my comfort zone and taking on more responsibilities. It's gona be one fun and memorable ride. Sit tight, and hang on to Him! :-)

dear sir...

Dear diary,

Today, my slaves mocked me with a feathery stick. It was oddly tempting. They are messing with my mind. They will not be getting any cuddling tonight. Today I ate a houseplant. Tomorrow I may eat another.

Sincerely,
Cat

:) I was browsing through a friend's fb status and she posted a link that has the most hilarious stuff innit, like the one above. And a few others below!

Dear Justin Beiber,
Ariel would really love her voice back.
Sincerely, King Triton

Dear icebergs,
Sorry to hear about global warming. Enjoy the karma...
Sincerely, the Titanic.

Dear Edward,
You're doing it wrong.
Sincerely, Dracula.

Dear Cedric Diggory,
Vampires don't sparkle! 20 points from Hufflepuff.
Sincerly, Professor Snape.

Yes they're funny aren't they? Check out www.dearblankpleaseblank.com You won't be dissapointed.

(:

I've come to realize something; after entering uni, I sleep mostly past my usual bedtime of 10.30pm. I told that to some of my uni friends and they were aghast. Yeah. You got that right. In a way uni trained me to sleep later. I think this will be useful for the remaining 3 1/2 years here. I've also learned to take power naps of about 20-30 minutes. And believe me, they're not called power naps for nothing. They DO work. Took me that long huh?

Tomorrow is the start of a new day! Time to study. Focus. Try and focus. ;)

I hate to admit it but I'm kinda having post-choir blues right now. oh well. here's to spicy food and chocs!

this is it.

Blessed Christmas everyone! :) my christmas was awesome, despite waking up at 5.30am =.=" coz we gotta be in church by 6.45am. But of course xianjing and I were late as per usual. =D

As we were singing our last song on stage just now, it hit me at that moment that this was probably the last time we're gona perform, the last time of singing this piece. Four months of tough commitment & coming to practices every week...all for today's performance. All for Him. Worth it? Yep. Definitely. It's also pretty cool how I've gotten to know more people through choir, people I normally just say Hi and Bye. So in a way choir unites people. :) I can proudly say I've made new friends this year. Time to mamak with them. hee

So thankful to Him that He pulled us through and stood by us since Day 1 of practice. Thank you Lord. As I look back now, I see how .. He pieced everything together when sometimes things doesn't seem to be going smoothly, He provided people to sing, He provided the piece, He ... did everything. He was there always.

On a comical note, now I can eat spicy food, have cold drinks and eat chocolate! :) 'Til the next xmas people. For now, Blessed Christmas & hope you had a great one.

And why so...?

I was having my family dinner at Domino's Pizza today and while waiting for the food to arrive, my eyes followed men clad in the Domino's uniform going in and out, carrying a huge bag that holds all the pizzas, waiting to be delivered. In other words, they're the pizza-delivery men. :)

Some, who were getting ready to deliver the pizzas walked at a very fast pace to their motorbikes because they have a time limit of 30 minutes to deliver. So short right, the time? But that's the rule, that's what satisfies customers coz they want their food fast. But has it ever crossed your mind that these delivery men have very high-risk jobs? In order to send pizzas within 30minutes, they will have to speed their way through traffic- the good, the bad and the worse- to satisfy customers. By hook or by crook, the pizzas have got to be delivered.

And while riding (and speeding), they could meet with an accident anytime, anywhere because they're rushing to fulfil the 30min time slot. Whoa. When I realized that, I was kind of stunned. It's an irony isn't it. Delivering pizzas but your life is on the line every day. But that's what people do for a living, to support families, to make it out here in the city. My heart goes out to them, to those whom I saw today rushing out to their bikes, to those who came back from delivery with exhausted and drained looks on their faces when their helmets were taken off. I wonder what they're thinking of with those expressions...'Oh no not another round of delivery..". "glad i survived that head-on with that car, or else...". "i need rest...".

What a way to end Christmas eve. What a way.

Feliz Navidad

Christmas reminds me of:
1) Jesus' birth! that we sometimes forget and take for granted
2) how time flew like 'the speed of sound' (Coldplay) and 2011 is coming to an end
3) all the past christmases I've had :)
4) presents and chilling time with family
5) choir, drama and carol-singing

Don't wanna be a party pooper but after christmas I've got to hit the books. Time to study for my finals. =( But but, in the meantime, let's all be in the christmasy mood and enjoy ourselves.

blessed christmas my faithful readers!

could you look me in the eye..

..and tell me that you're happy now?

and they started singing "Glooria..."

I love the picture above. So nice. Feel like doing it
sometime. =p

This week has been busy and relaxing at the same time. Busy because of choir, of christmas dinners and outings. But relaxing because 1 or 2 classes have been cancelled and all, I repeat ALL my assignments are finished and passed up! *big smile* I deserve a golden star. =p

Countdown: 3 more days 'til christmas! *eggcited, eggstatic, eggtastic* hee

Eggstatic

And so I came back from youth camp yesterday because I have class today. This year's camp was pretty fun eventhough I'm not a participant :) It was like a mini-break for me amidst uni and studies and other commitments. So it was a good rest to just chill and have fun with the youth. And yeah they made me feel young again! 'twas so refreshing to joke and talk with them :) I've also noticed some who've grown in talent and faith at camp, and it's encouraging.

I'm off to take a short power nap before class. Power naps always work, even if it's only 20 minutes.

Countdown: 6 more days 'til christmas!

and the fun, begins.

finally, for the very first time in this week, my night today is free from activities. :) When I came backfrom class and I thought about this, my heart skipped a beat. Meaning to say I'm glad and happy that tonight I can just chill and relax and be in my zone. :) Times like these make me appreciate the free time that I used to have. Note the past tense 'used'. Haha

Tomorrow I'm off for my youth camp. This time I'll be there as a helper instead of a participant, just because I'm too old for it. Yep I'm not kidding coz the age limit is 12-19years. But oh well I guess it's sort of like a mini-retreat from the busyness of uni and other commitments.

I can't help but say this every time; 1 more week of lectures and then comes study break, and then exams, and then Sem1 officially ends.

Countdown: 9 more days 'til Christmas!

19days left...

And so, 12 weeks of uni has come and gone. I know I've stepped out of my comfort zone and did things that I thought I wouldn't be doing, and that's because of God :) Although the fear is there, but I told myself I wanna learn and try new things, I wanna be a different and a changed person (for the better la) in uni. And I'm taking small steps which will eventually lead to other things He has installed for me in uni. It's quite scary to be honest, but ... I gota see things from a different perspective, from a bigger picture! <-inspired by the movie Soul Surfer.

This movie is a true and inspiring story of a girl who lost her arm during a shark attack while surfing and how she courageously overcame all odds because of her faith and determination. This movie inspired me greatly in so many ways I can't even write it here. You have to see it to know what I mean. I felt it was a good "closure" for PKV to sum up 2011 :)

Cheers! The remaining days leading up to christmas will be a bit tight because we have four more pracs before xmas comes so I can foresee practices will be a wee bit stressful. But oh well I should enjoy it I think. I'll be narrating about 3 lines hehe. =p

have a nice week.

p/s: 2 more weeks 'til Sem1 is OVER!

fantastical

Ok. That's it. I'm removing my chatbox because there have been so many spammers. So just click on the "0 threw confetti all over" and comment away! No spammers allowed. This time I can filter my comments.

I'm satisfied today because I've done all my christmas shopping :) See, simple things make me contented.

Here's to more wrapping. =D

taken from facebook. :)

and that's what's more than studies and normal routines.

"it is done"

Yes that's the beautiful view from my room in uni. :) it's raining though, that's why you can't really see the skyscrapers located all the way back on the picture. But it's a beautiful view. Wait 'til I take a picture at night, then you'll see what I mean :)

A pretty major presentation is up next thursday: Teaching using Linguistics. <- I still haven't got a clue how my group and I (me and 2 other girls) are going to present. Or teach. :O But. i have faith & trust in God to help us do this :) We can do it! yeah.

other than that, everything's going fine. Just slightly busier than usual. But looking forward to the 3-week break after exams. Then there'll be a time of dinner-ing/lunching with peeps. And nothing's gona stop me! :D I need rest. And rest is on its way.

This sat i'm going christmas shopping! Must do it already or else I won't have time. So i'm gona shop for my family and friends :) That means, i'm gona have to spend some extra cash..oh well..once a year so it's worth it? lol yes it is.

bye. have a splendid thursday and friday before the weekends come <3

"i think she looks like joseph"

haha the statement was made by rachael yapp about a girl wearing stockings who sat cross-legged. i was like whuuut?? lol funniest statement of the week

can't believe we're in Dec already..and I've been in uni for 10 weeks. I mean, December? whoa 11 months passed just like that. I think 2011 is my favourite year :) haha.. And christmas is coming.. after all our hard work since september, us choir members are going to perform in...22days. woot. 4 months of practice just for christmas. Worth it? yeah definitely. More importantly, how God was and still always will be present during our practices, and how He brought all of us through.

I remembered the behind-the-scenes when choosing the christmas piece; spent hours going through loads of christmas pieces, a few discussions jo, a meeting where we had to convince the MAM that this Searching for the King piece is The Thing etc.. a bit stressful at times la but..as I look back now, it's so amazing how He really brought the whole thing together even when sometimes things doesn't look too good. Here I learned about having faith not by sight ;) And we've made it this far 'til today, and that's because of God. Not me, not jo, not MAM, but yeah God.

on a different note prosperity burger from Mcds is back!! YAY *throws confetti*

What about now?

Let's play pictionary! :)

What I'm feeling right now:

What I feel like doing (!) :

busy busy bee. i have to juggle between studies and church choir, college choir, persatuan tahun baru cina (PTBC) and assignments -_- not easy, but so far i'm surviving, but occasionally I feel a wee bit tired, and a slight pounding of the head. Who said uni was easy hee.

Will I get busier in 2012?

Only God knows.

on a different note, I have some decisions to make...and pray about... should I? Am I available? Will I commit to it? Can I balance between serving in church and in this?

Thoughts. =)

Ok. I'm off to bathe. bye

Fav :)

I love this song. I want it played during my wedding

Boot camp

I'm back from the camp!! :) Feels really good to be back. I'm just gona write my experiences in point form k. Easier to read.

1. It was a tough adventure camp for me, but the experience is priceless. Night-walking, water confidence/water-rafting, flying fox and jungle trekking. Was a lil takut but I thank God I survived all of it. I can't swim and am afraid of the dark so the water-confidence and night walk were a little tougher than the rest.

2) the toilets there - open aired, nothing like the city toilets. nuff said

3) we stayed in huts without fans. Huts made out of wood ( i think). And they're not even chalets like the organizers claimed! but it was ok. bearable lah

4) i bonded with many other tesl people besides dear nadia :) and this was the best thing that happened in camp! hopefully our friendship remain

5) on the way back the bus driver lost the way -_-" i was a bit bummed out coz i was be late for choir

6) thankfully I didn't have any leeches on me after jungle-trekking.

yeah i think that's all. It was a hardcore adventure trip with little sleep. But it was a once in a lifetime experience. :)

Back to assignments!

Going for a camping trip tomorrow until sunday with my coursemates. It's compulsory though so it looks like I ain't got a choice. I shall enjoy it while I'm there, and look forward to comin bk from the camp.

kind of tired, but oh well. sleep needed. (:

"how was your day today?"

"not good."

*tearing up*

we're together again...

I feel like I'm becoming busier. Assignments to do, some studying to do (seriously this is important), church and college choir practices (which fall on wednesdays. Which to choose?), caroling practices (only until next week) and a camping trip to go to on this friday til sunday. But with God's strength I'll be able to pull through. Yes I can.

Outing with mikha and nadia today was pretty ok. Mikha, being a gentleman decided to treat nadia and I to lunch ;) yay! It was refreshing to be away from UM food haha.

christmas is coming. preparation for choir is becoming a wee bit intense, but bearable of course. through choir i got to know a lot more about the people innit, and i felt a sense of 'togetherness' if there's such a word. in a month's time christmas will come and gone, we'll disperse off and the 'fellowship of the ring' will be broken, but in september or so, the 'fellowship' will be united again with new or old members. but in the meantime, let's enjoy this fellowship under the One whom we sing to. =D

exciting moments in december! can't wait. :)

pic from weheartit on 'icecream'. =) haha i search for the most random stuff.

lately i've been wanting to try starbucks' toffee nut frappuccino. friend said it tasted nothing but amazing. ok i shall! hee.

one thing, i shall try not to do work on sunday, starting from tomorrow. why? because sunday is the sabbath! a day of rest. "therapeutic". <-from a senior.

yeah. i'm gona do that!

there must be more than this..

there must be more to assignments and the normal routines of uni. There must, and I believe there is.

there must be more than this

O breath of God come breathe within

....fill us anew we pray

and everyday...

when stressed, take a deep breath, close your eyes and say, God, please help me.

don't worry I'm not that stressed up. I feel some pressure, but not that stressed - YET. December will be quite a month for me - preps for exams in Jan, helping out in yf camp & christmas choir. and not forgetting practising my driving skills. :) and assignments.

whoever says uni is easy after going through form6? Even my brother said uni is so much more tougher than F6. And in a way I have to agree. F6 doesn't have assignments. It's just studying and studying like mad. But uni, it's different. You have to be do well in assignments as well as exams. Like whuttt..?

Happiness is to know the saviour

Living a life within His favor

Having a change in my behaviour

Happiness is the Lord

Real joy is mine

no matter if teardrops start

i've found the secret

it's Jesus in my heart...

I got rhythm

I got rhythm, I got music...who could ask for anything more? - ella fitgerald

urgh Linguistics. I need to master you. :( I don't wana be lost in the next class. Why are you complicated in your own way?

Writing about literature, you're my fav subject. :) I wish I could study you in depth. But my course allows us to study you on the surface only, unless if I switch to English Lit under Arts & Social Sciences.

Should I? Tempting. I saw their list of stuff they're gona learn. So interesting. Better than my current course. =( switch or not to switch? but then, if I do I'll miss a semester in the Eng Lit dept, I'll have to do so many changes and registrations etc.

I still remembered what a mentor frm church told me when I told him about this before i enter uni: If you really want to change course, then why not? I think going through the hassle is worth it, if it means being in the course that you REALLY like.

hmm.

back to routine

Semester break is over and it's back once again to the normalities of uni life until the study break comes which is on the 24th dec - 2nd Jan. 24th dec?! That's a day before christmas. :( I won't be able to enjoy December. Right after christmas I have to study for my exams SIGH.

The feeling of dread was on me the day before coming back here. I felt so urgh, so blurgh and eek and pfft about going through lectures and lectures and blabla. But then yesterday night before I sleep I thought, hey, why so negative? Be positive la.. I have God with me through the seasons, through bad and good times. It's not that bad really. It's my mindset. sighs. "The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged". Deut 31:8. this verse is pinned up on my wall in my room in uni. An assurance I need to look before I go out for classes everyday haha

tomorrow i'm going for a 'vocal testing' for my college's choir team. er, i'm sure vocal testing means audition right. on a sunnier note, I get to go home every wednesday nights because I have church choir practice! this means, I can have home cooked food once on weekdays (yay). TQ Lord

why so short

I'm calling the best friend tomorrow to have a nice chat. =) It's been a while since I spoke with szewei since I entered uni.

anyway....my semester break is ending. and, i suppose it's not enough for me haha. <-greedy. The break has passed by so fast I can't believe it's a Flyday already and after the weekend it's back to lectures again. argh... someone, please tell me it's going to be ok, that I'll be able to adjust back to the normal routine of lectures and blabla. =/

I want to go on a makan trip to penang or somewhere other than PJ with some friends! Wana go to the beach too. Love the feeling of tiny grains of sand sinking to my weight. That would be really fun. i should organize a trip soon with nadia & co.

i realized that when i entered uni, I'm able to think much much more and my opinions are different from my parents. It shows that I'm able to think for myself instead of them thinking for me! yay. *achievement. Like sometimes, I see things in a different perspective compared to them, because they're from a different era, and were raised differently. Whereas for me, I'm much more open-minded than them. Which I think it's a very good thing. :)

just sayin'. ;) okays i'm off now, got a wedding to attend tomorrow. pretty excited ;)

all the best to spm&stpm people. ;) just to let you know that the war's gona be over, so hang in there. and then one day you can, like me, look back and say, "Hey i've been there done that!" <-this is especially for stpm peeps because stpm is one ride that IS SO NOT easy. so to survive stpm, (and uni) is . a blessing. :D

NITES.

Decisions to make. To do it or not to do it?

To push fear aside and step out or to sit in my comfort zone and let fear be my friend?

dress + ring

I was planning not to blog everyday but since today isn't the typical boring Thursday where I stay at home and bum, I shall blog ;) bear with me ya haha.

I have renewed my license after so long! :) I'm a Competent driver (no more P) for at least 5 years yesh. =)))))))) *happy* and I went out shopping with xianjing to shop for her dress for The Wedding. Had fun with her walking from A to Z, and I just found out that Nose has pretty nice and reasonably priced shoes. It shall be the nxt plce for me to shop!

And I bought a ring from forever21 to spice up my very plain but nice dress (yep it's plain. and grey in colour, which adds to the plain-ness). XJ bought this nice shapely dress frm there too..but at the end of the day it's about the fellowship with her..getting to see her crazy side (tsk tsk) :P lols. but it was fun. :) really, u shud go out with her 2

k lah. bye. urgh my blog lacks depth. Quite shallow. =p On certain days it has some isi, but on certain days like today it's just the surface of how my day has been. ta

:)

HI NADIA. IF YOU'RE READING THIS, GET A BLOG YA :D HAHA

ok so I decided to have this little to-do list that has no expiry date (hehe):

1) do my assignments with enthusiasm and to the very best, and not do it for the sake of doing it.

2) er..study?

3) visit PD beach with friends.

4) be a good testimony

5) try new things (i've said this gazillions of times)

6) be a good person. inside out

7) go on a holiday trip (to penang or wherever) with friends!

8) practice my driving until the level of nirvana. or perfection

9) have sleepovers with nadia and the lot.

10) buy some nice clothing. Consumerism. :(

11) to reach the "level of awesomeness"(jo's quote, not mine!) when playing piano. this one quite hard because I can't play like a pro yet. but still, I'm thankful la to God for this talent in the music area. It's the only thing I like and enjoy doing, compared to studies lol

erm. that's all I can think...for now? bye, tomorrow I'm going to renew my P License to a normal one. Yay happy. :) then if got time I am temaning the woman, xianJing for dress-shopping for YS's wedding. which falls on a saturday. In two days' time eek so fast

reverse

Day 2 of semester break.

i've been cracking my brain on how to do my linguistics assignment. The questions aren't even complete (and not exactly grammatically correct either). This is by far the toughest assignment I've to battle with. And I'm determined to win the war. :(

Other than assignments, I'm doing good, thank you for asking. :) I've been chilling at home and finding my zen to face uni next week. lol.

Should I go back for youth camp to help out? hmm. I think, at the end of the day I feel that I'm gonna say yes, but for now I'm procrastinating (nothing new here) again.

my display pic on my laptop is this :) hahaha i'm so unbelievable right.

thankful

I think I'm lactose intolerant. :( This afternoon I was eating Cheerios with milk and now my tummy doesn't feel so good. I think it's 'cause I didn't drink milk for a long while so that's how it happened. <-- random fact #1.

Bleurgh I don't feel so good. Why did I drink the milk ;( uck.

I can't believe November has arrived. 2011 has whizzed by so swiftly I still cannot fathom that the year's coming to an end, that I've been through stpm, got my results, worked part time and am in uni by God's grace. I did many new things in 2011, mostly church related stuff. And I'm blessed as to how far I've come since form5. I can safely say I've come a long, long, looong way, grew from strength to strength, learnt many amazing things from amazing people, had some falls and down moments but that taught me valuable lessons.

I'm contented by the truckload of experiences I've gained since form5 because it has helped me so much, in every way possible. But there's one thing I know for sure; there will be many more experiences to be gained in uni as well as in church. =) Thank God for wonderful and kind people I've met along the way, mentors I look up to, peeps who give me some good advice during the period before entering uni. =)

sem break, you have arrived! *opens a tub of icecream and feed on it* things to do:

1) brush up my piano skills. <- after hearing da mentor play, mine pales in comparison to him.

2) watch TV. apparently they don't have the shows I want in UM. Yes, there's a TV somewhere but they play weird shows.

3) indulge in home-cooked food. Nothing beats this lah. FTW

4) hang out with 'neglected' buddies :( and call up the best friend.

5) Relax. Take it easy.

6) Do assignments. :/ What a killjoy.

my tummy doesn't feel so uncomfortable now.<-random fact #2.

bye.

listen to it! :) happy holidays. I shall blog about my outing with my seniors tomorrow or something la. kthxbai

Dare..to move.

In these 4 years here in uni, I plan to try out new things and step out from where my comfort zone is. I know I've said this like a gazillion times, but ... somehow, writing it here acts as a reminder for me whenever I want to read all my blog posts. But whenever I plan to step out, fear holds me back. A lot of what if's. Some doubts. It happens every single time you know. I don't know when will I be able to overcome all these and just, step out without any distracting thoughts.

Then again, to easily step out from my comfort zone is a process, not like a snap of my fingers and voila, I'm outa my zone with ease. It's a process of overcoming fear, changing of the mindset, being positive and having faith that He is there with me all the way. Yeah. I think that's that. bleurgh..I need courage.

swee kit gave me a journal book to journal everything that I'm gona go through in these 4 years so that when I graduate, I can read back all my rants and whatnots to see how far and how much I've come to grow. :) I hope it will be quite a big leap of change.

thank you God for the sem break. It is much needed to break away from the routines of The Hole. btw, The Hole refers to uni. haha.. can't wait to catch up with some close friends I have neglected :( sorry.. uni is quite draining.

so. here's to a happy and fun break!

I dare you to move

I dare you do move

I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor

I dare you to move

I dare you to move

Life today never happened

Today never happened before...

He is greater than all things

And so i found out that eventhough we were given semester break, it is not given out of compassion or pity for those who stay so far so that they can go home. And it is not given free of charge either. (nothing is free in this world. Not even sem break!) There're strings attached: assignments. :( so i guess a sem break isn't a break after all. Nah, it's not all that bad lah. I'm glad there's a sem break so that I can be away from The Hole and back to My Crib.

the view's pretty nice right from my room. You can see some skyscrapers from here.

pelt

Today has been a really rainy day. It rained heavily from 5pm til 7pm, and now it's raining again at night. It rarely rains at night though. I suppose the rainy season is here. :(

In uni, rain makes me feel thankful to be sheltered safely in my room. Like this evening, I was walking back from my faculty and about 5 minutes to my college it started to drizzle, but not heavily. The rain started to show its true colours only when I was already protected by the rain and was walking up the stairs to my dorm.

I thank God for waiting for me to reach the shade before letting it rain. ;) And as I reached my room, I looked out my room window and saw the rain falling heavily as if buckets and buckets of water being poured down at a fast speed from above.

**

But now there's only a slight drizzle as I open my room window. Rain, in uni, sets me in a more contemplative and reflective mood. :) whee. today so far has been pretty good. The bus driver was cheery & made jokes some more despite the packed bus (which made my morning not so dull), my loan was settled (really thank God that it went smoothly), I ate a pretty yummy chicken chop at a relatively reasonable price (I didn't even eat dinner coz it's so filling) and how I wasn't caught under the heavy rain today.

I should take a picture of my the view I get from my room windows. It is magnificent and sometimes quite breathtaking. =) so, wait for the picture ya!

November is here already. So fast la for me. 2011 has been a pretty good year with many surprises and first-time- experiences for me. 2011 is also the year where I had to think on my own and make my own decisions. In other words, I had to grow up. Haha. The process of growing up is not easy.

I also had the opportunity to observe other people (mostly older than me) on how they carry themselves, how they make decisions, how they lead a certain group etc. It has been eye-opening for sure.

And I learnt something from amie : Fear is a false illusion becoming real. so true. I have to remind myself that. Fear holds back someone from growing. And fear can be overcome with God's help.

on a diff note, semester break is in 4 days! Four! YAY can't wait for it. I always mention about my semester break. This shows how BADLY I want and need it haha. I make uni sound like it's a boot camp.

ok bye, till then until my next update :) thanks for reading.

how great thou art

Greed:	Medium
Gluttony:	Medium
Wrath:	Low
Sloth:	High
Envy:	Medium
Lust:	Very Low
Pride:	High

Discover Your Sins - Click Here

I know I took this test some time ago, but I decided to take it again to see if there's any difference. Well it's still the same, except that the Pride bar has gone up from medium to high. =/ Ah well. It's uni I tell you. lol. How is it that the Sloth bar still remains the highest?! urgh.

I'm now sitting in my room all alone, waiting for time to pass me by, recollecting the day's events, thinking ahead of some stuff I need to do, day-dreaming, zoning off. And I feel cold in my room coz the night's cold and the fan speed is fast. I like quiet nights like these. I get to chill and just relax and break away from the plain routines of everyday lectures. I mean, lectures can be so mundane. And brain-draining.

Oh and my semester break is coming in a week's time! yay. *jumps for joy* It's coming all right, it's coming.

xx

Many things about tomorrow,

I can't seem to understand,

But I know who holds tomorrow,

And I know who holds my hand.

tugging of the heart

"When you are a teacher, you can touch lives."

"Being a teacher is a noble job."

Huh. Quote #1 came from an aunty from church. Quote #2 came from a church friend.

In my opinion I think what they said are true. But I find myself shutting out the word 'teacher'. My heart is hard as stone towards teaching and I refused to open it up to be receptive towards all the teaching techniques learnt. Because all these while teaching never crossed my mind, and I never wanted to be one.

I don't know how I suddenly realized that the problem lies within me, how stubborn my heart and mindset can be towards my course. Wait, I think the realization hit me in church. Yeah so appropriate kan of all places. But what will happen if I become a teacher? Will I be able to touch lives? Will I be contented? Where will I be posted? Kelantan, Terengganu, rural areas?

An aunty came up to me yesterday at church and we bersembang about teaching and yada. One thing she said was that I should ask God to prepare my heart for teaching, to be receptive towards all the stuff in tesl.

But am I ready? argh I don't know. =/

love

my course mates. the people are awesome, not the course.

btw spot me! :D we were all wearing coats because we had our photo session. we all looked so prim and proper kan?

this coming tuesday, i'll be going on a rendezvous with nadia and michelle to midvalley ! i was thinking of doing some shopping. :) can't wait to berbonding with my two lovely course mates. or three, 'cause pearly might go too.

have a great weekend.

and so we had this today. outings like these make my dull days sunshiney. Thank God for people like them here in The Hole.

cold seeping in

i would love to do that right now. so relaxing, so syiok, all her woes fade away.

sometimes i get tired physically and mentally. Tired from all the assignments and tasks and lectures. Tired from walking from my college to my faculty. Tired because I lack sleep. Tired from the stereotypical and closed mindsets. Tired from all the judgement people give. Just tired la.

and amidst all the tiredness a first year student can feel, I remember this verse:

"call unto me all who are weary and i will give you rest".

And rest indeed is on its way. Next week (deepavaleh) I have some loose ends for lectures (yay!) and then comes the LONG-AWAITED 1 week sem break.

stay grounded, TM. stay grounded.

monkey invasion

so yesterday I came back to my campus after choir practice at about 10.45pm, and the first thing I saw when I opened my door was the window was opened. It was pitch black 'cause I haven't on the lights and I was stunned for 2 seconds.

I thought, Why on earth is my window open?? And when I switched on the lights, my room mate's side of the table was a lil messy, cookies and coffee powder spilled on the floor, her cookie jars were opened, MY orange kena stolen (!!), bites on my paper bag and sachets of my favourite Boh Iced Tea Peach Flavour were scattered on my desk.

Guess what happened? Obviously my room was invaded by A MONKEY!! I'm not kidding. UM is full of them. I was so shocked yesterday night and scared too (room mates weren't here) as to why my room was messy. Yeah, I was scared la. Imagine coming back at night to your room that has been messed up. Of course takut la right.

Thank God our beds weren't touched, just food only. And thank God nothing else was stolen.

anyway I want to show you my desk :) i mean, not when it was messed up by the monkeh. But after I cleaned up.

Ok it doesn't look that glamorous, but I'm used to it already. =) a bit messy kan? hehe my desk is pretty messy. Can you spot the Boh Iced Tea?

zeeebra

Do you think a lot? Every time before you sleep, does your mind play back the day's events on what happened, or what could have been, or what if's? If you do, then we can have coffee together. =) really.

share your hopes and dreams with me. I would love to hear them, so that I can be inspired too.

On a completely off note, I'll be heading back to 'The Hole' today. Yes, uni. A test on tuesday and many more events to be unfold. It'll be week 6 of uni, two more weeks 'til a much-awaited break!

A quick question: would you rather be a listener, or a talker?

I opt for the former. Why? Because listening to someone can help lift a load off that person's shoulders. Even if you don't give advice, it's completely fine.

Just listen. And give him/her a hug. Or ajak them to go makan. It'll make a difference to them.

Ok. Time to prepare to go back to The Hole. Take care all~

angelic

This week, :

1) Every night was busy for me; we had rehearsals for our Senior-Junior (SJ) Night for my college's Chinese Community (CC) until... 11-12am!

2) I sang on stage, with a mike, with three people. This time we sang More Than Words. The Banana people of CC. :P

3) I had a glimpse of how meaningful and awesome uni life is going to be. Like what someone told me; uni is the best years of one's life.

4) i was encouraged to start a journal, and to try to step out of my comfort zone to try new things. trying is way of growing up, of moulding myself to the person I want to be when I graduate ;) thanks for the great talk S.K..

5) i had so much fun through CC rehearsals and the SJ Night!! It was so ... inspiring and memorable. Albeit it took most of my sleeping hours, it was so, so worth it. Can't wait for the next one!

6) I was reminded, twice in a day on different occasions by different people of God's purpose for placing me in UM. now that ain't a coincidence, yo.

7) it was the most memorable and awesome week among the five weeks in UM. Tq God! <3<3

chains be broken

I love this show. Every saturday I have to watch this. It's a must. It's the only show I watch on tv because i don't have a tv in my room in uni. So this show is like a breath of fresh air after a long and tiring routine in uni. That's why I always look forward to weekends!

My weekends are so precious. I wouldn't trade it for anything at all.

Grey's A. spices up saturday nights. If you haven't watch it, YOU MUST. you will love it. Confirm la.

How does one survive in uni? hmm. Survive? I made it sound like uni is so hard to live in. Well actually it isn't to be honest. It's just my mindset and how I perceive it. Uni will always be there, it'll never change, the courses are always the same. It's how I take it in, whether in a positive or negative light.

on a different note... i want to go home!! homehomehome. nothing beats home.

going gets tougher

is uni all about assignments? nothing else? the assignments are eating up my weekends 'til i have no time for myself to just sit at home, laze on the couch and not worry haha. I confess I am a worrier. =/

I can do ALL THINGS (assignments too) through christ who strengthens me.

7 things

I have:

1) a pair of medium shade of grey coloured converse shoes which costs RM***
2) 5 pairs of dorothy perkins jeans (i'm so proud I bought them from there because them jeans are awesome)

3) a new lappie! red in colour some more

4) 3 to four assignments to do. :-(

5) two weddings to attend. one for Oct the other for Nov.

6) so many dreams! :)

7) to reconsider my mindset, whether to go through this 4 years of tesl with a heavy heart and doing it for the sake of doing it or be thankful and ask God why am I in tesl.

My favourite all time cartoon show, Bananas in Pajamas. I love love love this show. I remembered vividly I used to sit directly in front of the tv watching this. And I thought the lighter coloured female bear will couple up with the male bear. lol what a thought.

ta. have a great weekend! I know I will. :) God bless you all. For those overseas, teresa, diana, nigel, lucinda, keep safe. really hope to see you all soon. xoxo

of rain and segregation

In which I have met some queer chinese who segregate non-chinese speakers a.k.a bananas like me. Thank you for never failing to alienate us bananas.

Definition of alienate from dictionary.com: to make indifferent or hostile. There you go.

But but, i've met some truly nice mandarin speakers who took the time to explain to me when someone speaks in mandarin, or who doesn't give a hoot about alienating bananas. And for that I am grateful for their kind understanding and friendship. :)

It's all about adaptation to a new environment with less english speakers and more mandarin speakers. I long for PJ people to speak English to me! <-only on weekends la when I balik rumah. Actually, I balik rumah every single week lo. Even Nadia, my closest course mate also tegur me about going home every week. But I can't help it. I am a homey person. =)

tata!

breathe in

And so today I came home and I saw MY new spanking red laptop waiting for me. :) Whoopie all worries faded away haha I get so satisfied over such things.

So my week has been normal, lectures as usual, assignments piling up weekly. And I volunteered to help my college's chinese society with the performance for the Senior-Junior night on oct14, me singing 'solo' with 3 other people! Like huh, what did I signed myself up for. But hey, for the fun of it la wtv just take it all in and enjoy uni to the max.

I went for my second pkv meeting today and some things the speaker said touched a chord in me. He said if God has given me this course, I should be thankful and make the best out of it. When he said that I was like, whoa... make the best out of tesl. It was something that I needed to hear, some encouragement, because honestly I haven't felt the passion for tesl. AT ALL. I kinda dread going to classes, and all the assignments. sigh. yeah I know I'm terrible.

But what Dr. Living Lee said was a path which I had not seen; maybe a path that I was looking for, and I kinda found it. "Make the best out of it". Yeah. I'll try to do that. Maybe tesl isn't THAT bad. hehe. =)

anyway I'm glad to be home! I get to feel all PJ-ish again and do my washing and recuperating.

TATA

the world won't wait for you

Hello! It has been an exhausting week for me, assignments keep piling up. But fret not I did like 2 or 3 of it already so yeah ! *pats self* Actually campus life is truly awesome because you have the freedom in the whole wide world to do anything hehe. No lah not anything that goes against my religion or family values, but just to live with your friends without parents, and it feels kinda cool. Although sometimes I do miss my parents. That's why I go home every weekend. <-also for church and choir prac and to de-stress & recharge to face another week of uni.

But what made uni life less stressful is the PKV (persaudaraan kristian varsiti) there. I met a lot of bananas like me which made me happy haha. I found my species horay. From there I met many juniors like me too, fresh and young and nice and different backgrounds. :)

One of the best things about local uni is that you can meet people from everywhere in malaysia, from different races and ethnicities. And local uni is where true malaysians practice the 1malaysia thing. Really! My eyes were opened to their cultures and the way they speak and, well I won't trade it for private uni's because you can never get to experience this ever. Not even when you set out to work. :-) I sound like I'm promoting local uni haha. But yeah, there're some hmm funny or strange people (like there are in the whole world) but it shall not dampen my spirits to enjoy campus life. :-)

But there're assignments to be done! =/ That's why I look forward to come home every weekend because, home is always the best place compared to anywhere else. Home is where I recharge my energy by hanging out with PJ people and getting back in touch with my PJ-ness. :P

So.....yeah. uni life. is. pretty cool. minus assignments.

it's good when it rains

I survived the first week of lectures :) *pats self* Haven't found a subject which I like yet. If they have Teaching in Music I probably would la, but too bad don't have. I need to talk to tesl seniors and asked them what can I do with tesl besides teaching. Sorry, haven't jumped on the bandwagon of enthusiastically becoming a teacher. *shrugs*

Oh I have something to share! Two incidents that really *piak* me on the face. On tues, while walking back from my faculty, it started to rain quite heavily and I was caught under it! How unfortunate right. I was like 5 minutes walk from my college when it rained. =(

So here's what happened.

While walking to my college gate (yeah I couldn't be bothered to run because I was drenched already) someone from behind yelled "run! run!" and I thought who is this person asking me to run huh! But - wait for it - he tiba-tiba said "come let me carry your bag" and I gave him my bag and we both ran to the nearest shade. (he ran ahead of me of course. my stamina = zero) But so nice right he offered to carry my bag :P I made a new friend that day. His name is Daniel and he's also a first year student like me. Sincerely nice and friendly. He also offered to teman me to wait for the rain to stop!

If you think that's nice, here's another one. So both Daniel and I were talking la to wait for the rain to subside. Then from far we saw a guy walking with an umbrella looking at us. He then approached us and ... offered us his umbrella!! Like, what?? I was touched by his gesture. Then the kind guy and Daniel went off under the rain. And the kind guy looked real clean, like he just bathed, and he had to walk under the rain and clean up again. I didn't even get his name to return his umbrella.

These kind gestures really hit me hard and made me ask myself, would I do that if I were in both the guys' positions? They barely know me and yet they willingly and sincerely helped me without expecting anything.

I was feeling like crap when I realized I was drenched from head to toe, but God is truly good all the time and He provided two people to unconsciously cheer me up in a way.

So, yeah I learned something valuable that day. =) Looking back I'm glad I got wet. Little things like these that God can do amaze me!

btw I crave mcds!

Uni :)

So on Sunday I went to Uni for a 1 week orientation :) IT WAS TIRING like mad. Schedules were jam-packed with activities like visiting our faculties, trips to the DTC (dewan tunku chancellor) and sports activities. My faculty is pretty far from my college but we had to walk there so, of course everyone sweated like mad too. And sports! Sweat and sweat and sweat. The best part was - wait for it - we were only given TWO jerseys to be worn throughout that 1 week. TWO!! There were times when I had to dry my extremely sweaty jersey under the fan and wear it the next day because we just don't have the time to wash.

And everyday I had 3-4hours of sleep. The day started at 5am all the way until 12.15am. And only at 12.30am I am able to bathe! By the time I finish bathing it's 12.45am and I'm too tired to wash clothes so just plunk on the bed la. Every night there's always a queue at the bathroom because every sticky person wants to clean themselves so sometimes I didn't even get to bathe so I ended up sleeping without bathing. Major eew. That's orientation. =)

Overall it was quite ok la, tiring but fun. We had to do some CheerLeading for our college. Cool right haha. That's campus life. lectures are starting tomorrow! And tonight i have choir practice at church. Luckily UM gates close at 12am phew.

Okies I'm signing off now. BAH BYE~!

of fear and procrastination

university is starting in 3 days omg. Freaking out? YES. :( i'm so big already, entering uni. but my mind still like a 15 year old sigh <-denial. Anyway there's lots of stuff I haven't do yet, mostly paperwork, simply because I procrastinate. Or I don't want to deal with it yet, only later, last-minute.

tsk tsk. I'm entering uni on 4th sept and orientation starts from then, and it's 1 week. Some people say UM orientation is tough, some people think that there is no ragging. Duno.

But argh! I'm trying not to freak out for uni.

What IS THERE to freak out ? Erm. I don't really know. I'm freaking out at the idea that I'm entering uni.

I hope that, I'll meet some nice people, and I won't dislike the courses. (FYI the course that I got, I wasn't exactly happy about it. blehh joseph i need your advice again)

in 3 days = HERE I COME UNI.

Here is love, vast as the ocean...

mood: reflective.

and about uni and everything else, i should...

zomg

i tried mcd's GCB burger and omg it's the 2nd best burger mcd has created after spicy mcchicken. YOU MUST TRY really nice. a tad pricey for just a burger, fries and soda but, oh well, GCB is for limited time only and you only live once. So enjoy the life of consuming fast food before regretting it at age 50 and above when diabetes and cholesterol etc comes knocking. Ok that was meant as a joke, pun intended. :)

I think starting from now till 3rd sept all my blog posts will have a count down on when uni's starting. BOO. I am reluctant to go and I can't help but feel negatively towards uni argh. A lot of doubts and what if's.

Ok I shall not let worry get the best of me. I shall take my boss' advice which is to not overthink, and just relax, see uni in a positive light, 4 years will come and go just like that, uni won't be that bad, it'll be fun *deep breath*

Countdown: 9days to uni.