[C'EST MOI]
living paradox. individualist with anarchistic tendencies.
eludes eminence but appreciates subtle recognition.
capricious yet dependable. clandestine and unfathomable.
cynical realist who succumbs to the occasional idealism.
[J'AIME]
music. films. feasting & drinking. team sports.
good company; family, friends and those who share similar interests.
When I'm not blogging the past week, I'm at the lab working on my FYP and doing the little things that I like in between - that is, bumming, spending time with loved ones and visiting lala-land.
The whole week was pretty packed with experiments to carry out and reading up to do, and when I was more or less done with my weekly checklist, I only had half of Saturday and Sunday to myself.
The non-lab rat J: Met up with TNT on Friday night and we ate ourselves silly after the long starvation (we were all busy and could only meet for dinner late).
First up was sushi, which ended on a not so pretty note coz the scallop Tresa ordered turned out to be pretty RAW and unappetizing. There they were: 4 cold, slippery, whitish and gooey glops sitting in otherwise rather pretty shells. It felt like Fear Factor/Extreme Gourmet. *shrudder*
Tresa tried to trick me into eating two of those glops even though I insisted that I'd eat some while she eats more when we were placing our order. Maybe it was her bad throat; cos she didn't argue much with me over who should eat how many globs, and she downed all 3 of them. *applaud for being so gungho!*
Then piggy us headed to NYDC for the heavenly desserts, and we ate and ate till we were so full, we wanted to do some shopping to digest the food but it was so late, all the shops were already closed =(
Spent the whole Saturday evening at home, bumming, watching DVDs and resting my tired out legs, while the entire Sunday was spent out.
Did some shopping with my little sister after church, had a steamboat dinner at Marina with my cousins and aunts and to wrap up the wonderful day, relived my childhood days by invading the nearby arcade!
Wish I had some pictures to share, but I've been scuttling here and there that I forgot to carry my camera along.
Lala-J.
Lala-J spends a good amount of time in lala-land. Almost every second with her eyes closed is time spent in lala-land/fantasy world/dreamscape.
Been having rather weird dreams lately. Dreams that hardly reflect my conscious self. For instance, the waking J has a pretty assertive stand about the no-kids policy but lala-J has been having dreams about children and babies. MY children, to be exact. A friend tells me it's maternal instincts kicking in and I wonder if it's true.
There was this one vivid dream; I was married and had two boys (yikes). But I wasn't happy because I was married to someone I didn't love (double yikes). There was even this part in my dream where I actually confided to my little boys that 'Mummy doesn't love Daddy but Mummy will stay on because Mummy loves her children' <-- yikes yikes yikes. And that's not all, I was actually in love with someone else (incidently someone I know in real life *gulp* but not on a personal level though) but we couldn't be together because I was already married. A zillion yikes.
How sucky is that??!!
Horrible dream.
Then last night, I had this amusing dream about Dr. Derek Shepherd (watching too much Grey's Anatomy, must be) trying to seduce me with his dreamy eyes but I was yelling at him to stay away from me if he didn't intend to marry me.
Gosh. Marriage and kids seem to be flooding my unconscious.
Maybe it really IS the biological clock ticking.
Freaky.
[Time of Confession] 10:24 PM 0 Wisecracks for Me
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Saturday, May 20, 2006
Update!
Haven't dropped an entry for quite a while due to several factors, mostly being preoccupied with my FYP, among other little things like chores, sleeping, reading the James Herriot's 'All Creatures Great and Small' and smiling to myself cos he's such an amazing writer with a wonderful sense of humour.
Anyone who has the time, loves animals and has that unfulfilled dream of being a vet (like yours truly), should really get his/her hands on his books. If you can't live it out in reality, the closest you can get is to live the fantasy life of being a country vet through the first hand account of Dr. Herriot. Brilliant guy he is.
My FYP.
I've been spending all 5 days of this week hanging out in a pseudo-North Pole (my lab at school). Sometimes I get to follow a grad student around, observe her every move and learn the different techniques that I'd be using in the weeks to come. But most of the time, I'm sitting around the office and devouring research papers. Literally. So much so I was really itching for some labwork of my own to do, but sadly, my professor was still AWOL and I had to wait for his instructions before I embark on my own lab adventure.
My mentor (the graduate student) is a really nice, sweet girl who's patient and helpful but there's still a small problem.
She's from China.
Not that I have anything against the Chinese but the thing is, my spoken Mandarin is almost hopeless now. Really. It's so rusty and jerky that I'm sure if my JC tutor heard me attempt to converse entirely in Mandarin, he would definitely regret commenting that I was 'effectively bilingual' in my testimonial.
So that makes communicating with her a little tricky.
Honestly, I have never felt so handicapped in expressing myself, but I guess with some time, all the forgotten vocabulary would eventually return to me, marking the end of my woes.
Hopefully.
My professor was finally back on Thurs and for a professor with a PhD in science research, he's a funky professor!
The first thing I noticed when I entered his office to discuss about my project, was two shining ELECTRIC GUITARS.
I know what you're thinking: It could be for show only what... you know, display?
But no. That very evening, I swear I heard some blues-a-playin' from his office. Impressive lah...
Shopping.
After months of abstaining (partly because of the exams) from retail therapy, I've finally released some of my pent-up shopping hankerings and bought myself some stuff. Whee!
Biting off more than I can chew? Vainty pot me and my beauty buys, L-R: MAC Powerpoint Eye Pencil (for the smudge-free smokey look), Ettusais Concealer (for those pesky blemishes), Shu Uemera UV Under Base (for sun protection and setting the makeup), MAC eyeshadow pots in Knight Divine and Mulch (for colour... d'uh) Finally found the shade I've been scouring for - dark purplish plum Done up nails
And I also got a new pair of sneakers with a long story behind it.
And here's the long story behind my new shoes: I was searching for a new pair of sneakers for casual wear since my old pair of LA Gears (who ever wears LA Gear now right? that's how OLD it is) have worn off so bad that I'm practically sliding everywhere I go in them. Once, I couldn't even stand up from a bus seat because my shoes were too slippery. An obvious sign to get a new pair.
So when Von and I was out shopping today, I decided to put the vouchers she gave me last Xmas to use and get myself the needed shoes. We went to Stadium at Ngee Ann City and a pair of PUMAs caught my eye.
A striking vintage colour combination of blue and orange.
I tried on several sizes and finally found the right size, but only to wonder if the other colours suited me better. Thus I grabbed the seapink (wth is seapink anyway? i mean, there's rose pink, pale pink, neon pink, and maybe grapefruit pink but SEApink?) and the golden-beige ones from the display and started to ponder a bit.
I decided that the pink pair actually looks better on me and asked the salesperson if I could have the pink one instead. He went and came back empty-handed, telling me that they didn't have the stock in my size for the pink and gold shoes.
He was very helpful and called several branches around the area to check if they had the shoes I wanted but to no avail. Being quite a nuisance already and with no shoes, Von and I left and decided to check out the store at Marina Square (which the guy didn't manage to call for me).
Like on a compelling shoe hunt, we made our way to City Hall MRT and finally to Marina Square. With much good fortune, they had one LAST pair of the seapinks. I thought the search had ended and I would go home happily with my buy, but no. Being a woman, and being the sometimes indecisive person I am, I thought maybe the golden-beige one would be nice too. So I asked the salesperson if I could try the golden ones instead. I wanted to be absolutely sure the seapinks look best on me. But again, due to popular demand, no stock for my size.
I paid for the seapinks and left.
On my way home, I had that gnawing feeling that I've made a wrong choice getting the seapinks. Pink is girly and young. Gold is classy and versatile, and would match dark jeans better. Plus, I don't want to look any younger than people think I am, so... I decided to change the shoes.
I forgot that the Orchard branch didn't have the golden beige ones in my size and called them up only to be told the bad news again - no stock. It was the same for the Compass Point, Junction 8 and Suntec branches.
I took a deep breath and made my final attempt to change my shoe fate.
I called up Raffles City.
They have my shoes!
Thus I got on the train again from Dhoby Ghaut back to City Hall to collect my prize.
And now I'm content.
[Time of Confession] 9:11 PM 0 Wisecracks for Me
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Sunday, May 14, 2006
The end of the beginning... or not?
Come tomorrow, I will embark on the journey to complete my final undergraduate year. So, that marks the beginning of the end.
Or the end of the beginning?
Whatever it is, it means that my one week of nuaing and bumming is O.V.E.R.
Not that I've been bumming all week.
But I guess it's good that I start work tomorrow; my eyes do need a break from the tv/movie/laptop glare. Been watching a couple of movies and catching up on Grey's . Did I mention that Chris O' Donnell plays a rugged and handsome vet??? Oh I have... I beg your pardon. I'm feeling a bit woozy. Too much TV.
Come to think of it, I haven't been to the cinemas for months and I feel completely out of touch with what's on the big screen now. But then again, no matter how much like a mountain turtle I've become, I would never have been able to hide from the bombastic promos and brazen pictures of Tom Cruise ( and sometimes with his still-dopey missus) sprawled across the papers and magazines.
A replacement for company while the missus is on maternity leave?
My point is, I caught MI:3. While I'd like to give a full review on how good/bad the movie was in comparison with the other first two instalments, I can't because :
1. The first MI was so long ago, I really don't remember much of it except the infamous scene that had us tethering at the edge of our couches.
PS: check out this cute parody of the same scene!
2. I didn't watch MI:2 (and I know some people will boo me here but... whatever)
All in all, it was pretty much your typical blockbuster - the flying bullets, blasting bombs and what have you. The director even tried to make it more 'artistic' by doing the backwards storytelling thing, you know when they show a scene from somewhere near the end of the story before jumping to the beginning. Something we've all seen before. Nothing new.
Von did make an interesting observation though. She commented that the reel-life missus looked alot like Mr. Cruise's real-life missus. At least, it seemed that the stylists put in quite a bit of effort to make Michelle Monaghan look like Kate Holmes. The hair, the wardrobe....we wonder if it was all intentional. The fake missus The real McCoy (any resemblance?)
Then I went a little off-centre to catch a Palestinian film 'Paradise Now'.
Strapping up for what they believe to be a greater cause
It's a refreshing change from the trashy, feel-good movies I so often indulge in (read: no brain activity involved; just watch and laugh/ cry); the film captures a short part of the lives of 2 Palestinian best friends who have been given the honour (in their perspective) to sacrifice everything they have for what they believe is the greater good in the prolonged war between the Israeli Jews and the Palestinian Arabs.
While the humour is rarely blatant, its subtle flavour in between the morbid theme of violence as a subversion to oppression does make the 1.5 hours more endearing. Not that it was necessary though.
The film does give an interesting insight to suicide bombing - an account far more intimate than covered in news reports and it would be probably fair to say that this is more of an educational than entertaining movie to catch.
[Time of Confession] 9:21 PM 0 Wisecracks for Me
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Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Snip snap chop chop
The four words that will presumptively outline my holiday of one short week. 7 days. That's all I've got left of my uni days. A one week holiday. And I'm stuck here in freakingly hot Singapore.
And it's already Wednesday (which also happens to be my good friend, Grace's birthday... HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEETIE!).
Monday night was spent with the girls and we had a looooong chat over dinner at Santa Fe's Grill Restaurant (or something along that line; it's an open air restaurant just outside Far East Plaza). We were supposed to be out celebrating our dear Carol's birthday but the birthday girl was MIA! Poor girl had to do OT at the last minute and missed our dinner date... interns are so overworked and underpaid!
Haven't met up them for almost half a year, and I realised I haven't been to town for the same length of time. Gasp. Orchard Rd's almost foreign already. Anyway, the food was good (serving's a bit too LARGE though; even Bernice with the stomach of the bottomless pit could only manage HALF of her grilled mushroom burger!!) and conversation was good too. I smell romance in the air and wedding bells very soon! Girls, hurry up and drop your red bomb on me so I can be a pretty bridesmaid!
Tuesday, I met up with my high-flying gal pal (literally high-flying; in the pretty kerbaya ensemble and the dazzling smile) Joanne and we thought of being a little more adventurous than usual - we headed to East Coast to blade! (Not THAT adventurous... but compared to the usual shopping routine, it's a fresh change!)
It was her first attempt and she got the hang of it pretty quickly... really puts me to shame. I must have started blading since I was 10 but with the on-off relationship between me and my brother's giant sized blades, up till now, I'm still barely wheeling along comfortably. But anyway, point is, we tried something different and got a good workout! And I can proudly say that after the two hours, we've both improved by a notch.
Joanne is now aiming to get the hang of the sport so she can hao lian like this guy in yellow we saw at the BEGINNERS' corner. I'm not very proud of the fact that we were stuck there but I need to emphasize that the corner's exclusively for BEGINNERS, and it's not just because I say so. There was a large sign there clearly indicating this. So this guy, obviously not a beginner, was so blatantly showing off his stupid stunts, zipping here and there at 200km/h directly in our paths, threatening to knock us off our feet/blades if not for our stopping in time. Show off!
We had dinner at a quaint little Japanese restaurant, ZEN, at Marine Cove and I really like the place! It's a tad tiny, but it's cosy and the staff there are so friendly and warm. Brownie points for the yummy food too!
Wednesday; dragged myself outta bed at 8.30am after a long night of Grey's Anatomy (Chris O'Donnell has decided to ditch his latex Robin outfit to play Meredith's new love interest - yummy McVet) to find out more about my FYP to prepare myself for the next 3+ months of intensive research work. Having a wild mix of emotions; excited yet a tad apprehensive. But I'm sure everything will work out fine... after all, I've got a big God backing me up ;)
Then I spent the entire afternoon climbing up and down 5 storeys, moving my stuff to my relocated hostel room cos my block's gonna undergo some renovation works. Why must they choose to renovate it now of all times??!! Sheesh... all the inconvenience and time wasted.
When I first entered my new-OLD room, I got a horrible fright. Other than the fact that it's old, it was so DIRTY. There were cobwebs on the ceiling and probably almost everywhere. *shrudder*
It took alot of cringing to finally spruce up the place to some decency and I hope the spiders go find somewhere else to play and leave my room alone.
For now, I need sleep.
[Time of Confession] 11:39 PM 0 Wisecracks for Me
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Sunday, May 07, 2006
Muted deliberations
apathetic Main Entry: ap·a·thet·ic Pronunciation: "a-p&-'the-tik Function: adjective 1 : having or showing little or no feeling or emotion : SPIRITLESS 2 : having little or no interest or concern : INDIFFERENT synonym see IMPASSIVE
It has happened more than once, that the youths of today are accused of being plain apathetic and disinterested in important matters of our modern society. Put simply, the younger generation doesn't give two hoots about politics. I don't pretend that I'm an exception and am able to ride along effortlessly on political waves - in fact, it is probably fair to say that I don't even know enough for my own good... but one there's thing I know: if politics is about what we've seen, read or heard these past 2 weeks, I'd rather be labeled indifferent than be caught following a messy ball of yarn that threatens to reduce the most respectable of men to mere kittens who scratch and hiss for that extra length of fibre.
Of course I don't deny that there are the few good souls who deserve support and due regard, and these are those who demonstrate passion and sincerity to serve the people, EVEN IF they fail to garner the complete support of the people. But on the other end of the spectrum, it is beyond doubt, that despite the almost naturalistic facade, some are just out for power and total control.
We all know that it's arguable and we will probably never know the real agenda behind each individual because 1. they are really know how to conceal their thoughts behind those Darlie-white commercial smiles and 2. even after years of rallying for the freedom of expression and press, we still see a distinct bias in the media reports;
And then there are the sore losers.
After failing to sway the people by dangling millions worth of incentives in front of them, a resolute statement was made in the papers that since 'the people have made their choice' (to support the opposition parties), they will be left at the back of the queue for the upgrading of their quarters. The statement is continued with an argument that resources are scarce and to maintain the credibility of the party, the portion of the tiny pie will be and should be bestowed upon those who have stood behind them.
Talk about equality and social fairness?
Firstly, when the majority (in the 2 constituencies) 'made their choice' and voted for the opposition, I doubt that they were implying, "We don't want the upgrading." Isn't this general election not just about upgrading and what have you?
Isn't it about rallying support to ensure that capable leaders have a seat in the parliament so that they can debate over consequential issues like mature adults and make informed decisions as a team so as to secure the rosy future for our nation? Why then, do they take it so personally that if they don't get the certain number of votes, the people are not supportive of them? I think it's called looking at the bigger picture. In fact, we should all feel proud that the people of our nation are thinkers who are not easily moved by the lure of a more comfortable abode.
Credibililty.
Giving the incentive to those who showed support. Favouring those who favour you. That is credibility? Is that the credibility we so yearn to see in our leaders? Is it not easy even for a layman to love those who loves him? It is disappointing to know that even with the constant 'preaching' that our nation stands by equality and fairness, the unequal distribution of the pie is blatant.
Don't those who voted for the opposition not pay their taxes and abide by the law like every good citizen? Why then, are they treated differently? Just because they have an alternative perspective? Even if it is so, that our resources are so limited, shouldn't it go to those who need it more first? Rather than those who deserves it more? And who is to judge who deserves it more in the first place? Everyone contributes to that resource.
It's an unfair deal, if you ask me. But who am I to complain? I am but an apathetic person who don't know what I'm saying. Right?
[Time of Confession] 1:55 PM 0 Wisecracks for Me
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Thursday, May 04, 2006
And then...
... my exams are over.
Finally.
After 3 gruelling weeks (okay, maybe not gruelling but still less than comfy) of spending alone time with my notes, it's time for us to go our separate ways and pursue our own happiness - enjoying a one week break for me, and for the notes, eternal rest in cardboard boxes.
Time is ticking as I'm thinking of what I'm going to do with my one week. But before that, one last lab report to complete. Being a student is never easy. And no one gets to argue with that.
[Time of Confession] 10:58 PM 0 Wisecracks for Me
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