Beijing - Part 1

It has dawned on me that I posted photos only from the 1st city (out of 6) that I visited in Vietnam way back last year. Hmmm, guess I grew bored from the sorting, arranging and uploading of photos. Hope this Beijing trip doesn't end up with the same fate. Anyhoo, it was only a 6-day trip and fingers crossed that I'd make it to the end and not lose interest before that.

Going on organized tours has never been my thing cos you're restricted by your fellow tour members, and I've never felt that way as acutely as this trip. When the average age of all participants is 50 (and that's after taking into account an 18-month old toddler), I had the sinking feeling that there was going to be a lot of resting, waiting and general lack of a spring in the step.

Not to be catty, but I was so right, and then some. Didn't realize senior folks had to go to the toilet so many times a day. Shall never take my ability to hold my pee for 14 hours on a train in Vietnam for granted ever again. The horror of a gross toilet can sometimes overcome any urge to relieve oneself.

But having said that, the trip was fun enough, the older folks friendly and jovial; pity the way we were rushed from historical site to historical site. I felt like before I could soak up the culture, I was being herded off to the next destination. The cattle associations are intentional because that was exactly how I felt amongst the thousands of people we encountered at each place. Simply madness.

The flight on Air China was uneventful; the piping of Chinese music into the cabin at the start and end of the flight, coupled with less than appealing stewardesses made me sleep all the way. However, the food, I must say, was better than I thought it would be.

Pardon the shakiness. Was experiencing a long bout of turbulence. And yes, the flight was cold, as evidenced by the poor ang moh guy in the background.

We finally arrive in Beijing after 6 hours, and had to endure a very abrupt landing because the runway is damn short!!! Here, I must caution all visitors to China. In order to prevent hundreds of people from cursing at you, please be aware that there's this arrival form that you must fill up before you can clear immigration. The forms are available at a counter before you reach the immigration checkpoint. Please do not be one of those stupid, inconsiderate assholes who arrive as a group, do not have the arrival card, and hold up the queue for 30 minutes because they are stupid and stand at the counter filling up their stupid forms, instead of moving aside and letting other people pass through. So there. Be forewarned. And I'm sure those people got a massive earache from all the cussing I did.


A long bus ride ensued and I got my first glimpse of Beijing. If you can't see the picture clearly (I was taking through the glass ok), the facade is all crumpled on purpose, like it has been hit by a train. Maybe the Chinese think it's artistic....

The atmosphere in the city is electrifying, to say the least. It seems like the entire city has rallied together to get the place spruced up and ready for the Olympics. You can see it everywhere; massive construction, souvenirs and memorabilia being hawked at every corner, even our China tour guide had an Olympic pin on her jacket the whole way through. Apparently, the government has passed an order declaring that all work not related to the Olympics has to be postponed and the workers have been redirected to Olympic projects.

Our tour guide, Long Jie, was very nice and chatty. Throughout the whole trip, she kept feeding us with ancient China history and for the most part, I found it fascinating. However, most of the group fell asleep promptly whenever she launched into another history lesson. Poor thing man. They only perked up when she talked about current day Beijing and it's practices. Also, things that we had to look out for. Like the beggars and touts that surrounded the tour bus whenever we disembarked, thrusting hands and merchandise in your face. And we had to be especially wary of anyone who got too close as they were all potential pickpockets. Yes, murder may have gone down in the city, but pickpocketing and robbings are still plentiful. And giving you fake money. Yup, very commonplace, especially for the bigger notes like the 50s and 100s. People get cheated all the time.

Our first stop was Wangfujing, this shopping district much like our Orchard road. You see shopping centres that range from Paragon to Lucky Plaza, side by side. And since they are government-run, the service is.... minimal. A common mantra in this city is "Start work on time, end earlier than stated". Simply because there is no incentive to work harder. You work less, you work more, you still get paid the same.


I thought those 2 guards in the 2nd photo were from the People's Liberation Army, akin to our Armed Forces. Turns out they're merely security guards; the equivalent of our Cisco guards. -_-''' And I was so excited at having taken a picture with them. was wondering why they were so friendly, though.

Fake flowers are also very, very common in China. Those next to my mum are fake, fake, fake. I suppose since China is so big, and flowers really do make a drab place look better, fake flowers make more economic sense, and they last forever too.

Wanfujing is also famous for its street food, which is simply heavenly. We only got to walk around for 1.5 hours which was a real shame because we didn't get to do much. I didn't get to sample much either because I had just finished a 10-course dinner. But if you do get a chance, skip the restaurants and head straight for the street food.

Day 2
The day started off brightly enough, but we were soon caught in a brisk afternoon shower. The weather was pretty cold when I went there, so the rain didn't exactly help. Despite the cold weather, the sun shone unbearably bright, which explains why I'm almost wincing in a lot of the photos.


And it's off to the Beijing Sports University first. Here's where they train all their future Olympic hopefuls. The training is of course gruelling but it's such a thrill to watch them perform. We caught a glimpse of the gold medal-winning female gymnastic team and even though they had not perfected their routine, they were still breath-taking to watch. Oh, and we got a tour guide for the school. She's a track and field hopeful, so I told her I wanted to take her picture just in case she got famous.

And yes, Chairman Mao is everywhere; busts, pictures, statues... the whole nation is still incredibly enamoured by him and it's evident in the differential way in which our tour guide mentions his name. Often in the same sentence with other greats like Qin Shi Huang (If you dunno who that is, tsk tsk; he's one of the great Chinese Emperors).


Next stop, Summer Palace. I really loved hearing the history behind Summer Palace. The Summer Palace wasn't anything great when Cixi's husband was in power. But she persuaded her son, Guangxu, to tell his father to use the money originally set aside for buying modern guns and equipment to fend off Western forces and use it instead, on upgrading the Summer Palace so that Cixi would have a nice place to live in. What a fillial son, eh? So Guangxu did as he was told and when the British came attacking, the Chinese military found boxes of sand instead of ammunition. So yeah, Cixi basically destroyed the Chinese empire and let Western forces in. All for a beautiful palace.

But the summer palace is lovely indeed, and is bordered by this long corridor that is adorned with thousands of paintings. The corridor runs along the Kunming Lake, and hence the royalty was ensured a jaunt along the lake even when it rained. How thoughtful.

Our last stop for the day was the Forbidden City. The grandeur of the palace was awe-inspiring. To think that the entire place was built without a single nail. Amazing.


Many of the buildings were undergoing refurbishing in order to be ready for the Olympics, hence we didn't even get to enter the main palace. But as we strolled through the palace, the guide was telling us about the history and practices that took place in the palace, which made the tour all that more interesting. The long corridors that signified how special the emperor was; even old court officials had to walk great distances, climb many stairs, simply to speak to the emperor. The fact that the emperor changed where he slept every night in order to confuse assassins; how the chamber maids would be locked up with the emperor so that no one could tell the whereabouts of the emperor. Was the royalty decadent? Perhaps. Thousands of people could be starving and the royal family was cocooned in the deepest boughs of luxury. But for someone who was purported to be the descendent of the Heavenly King, I suppose it could seem justifiable. Do you know that the Forbidden City has 999.5 rooms, 0.5 rooms less than the palace of the Heavenly King? This was to show deference to the Heavenly King and acknowledgement that he was still ultimately numero uno.

We ate a lot on the trip; it was only after the 2nd day that my mum told me we were on a gourmet tour, and here I was thinking that I was in China to soak up the history and culture.

Silly me.

No Man's Land

I'm stuck in limbo. Or rather, I've been royally screwed by my results this semester. Officially the worst semester EVER. And that's taking into account my C from last term... damn. B, B, B+, B+. I'm BORDERLINE. I'm BLOODY screwed. I'm a BO DOH.

So why am I in the middle? My dreams of a magna cum laude have flown away. I'm now at a cum laude. In order to maintain a cum laude, I need 5 Bs and 1 B-. Not too difficult. In order to get a magna, I need 3 A+s and 3 As. Impossible. Absolutely fucking impossible. I might have a better chance if I slept with all my professors, but what happens if I get a female prof???

Anyway, if I give up and accept fate, I can pretty much relax a little. But I feel so dissatisfied. On a logical level, I know there's no way I can achieve such results. Can you imagine how gutted I'd be if I got like 5As (Which is already over-the-moon results)? How can I subject myself to such torture and self-loathing?

So how? What to do? Que sara sara? C'est la vie? Stick it to the man?

I hope the graduation gown doesn't make me look fat. (I know, how random).

Bad Karma Sucks

Went for an internship interview this morning. I applied for this 6 months internship and if I get it, it would mean pushing back one semester and I'd effectively graduated on my original date, i.e. July 2008. However, looking at the signs, I doubt I'd get the job.

Signs of Bad Karma Indeed:
1. I arrive 2 minutes late for my interview when proper ettiquette dictates that I should be at least 5 minutes early.

2. The building (Suntec Tower 4) was damn freaking far from the MRT, which partially explains why I was late, hence causing me to semi-sprint to the building, and arriving kinda crumpled from the heat.

3. I was still sweating throughout the hour-long interview.

4. Worst of all, because I had previously applied to Visa International and proceeded to use pretty much the same template for this internship application (Starwood Hotels and Resorts), and having brazenly declared that I am METICULOUS, my interviewer pointed out that I had referred to Starwood as Visa in my application. -_-''' "It's interesting that you mention you are meticulous because do you know which company you addressed your cover letter to?"

5. And to cap it all off, as I was leaving, I met Regina, this year 4 student who is a) graduating NOW and hence able to take on a full-time position after the internship and b) highly capable and too smart. A quick call to my girls confirmed my worst fears: she's too good.

I'm fucking screwed.

I'm back peeps. And starting summer school in exactly 8 hours and 30 minutes. Someone wake me up from this nightmare.

Beijing was fun, for an organized tour anyway. Plenty of old folks.

Oh, and I sprained my ankle on the last day. So graceful, right?

Update soon. Photo blog to come (I'll try my best).

P.S.: Beijing is a bloodsucker. Ensure pockets are full of green before embarking there.

Cheerios XOXO :)

And I'm Off...

Well, my exams ended (badly, may I add) officially yesterday and I'm off to Beijing! Typing this at the airport while waiting to board the plane... China Airlines - expectations, nothing really. I saw one of their air stewardesses and already, the bar has been lowered significantly.

Ok, I'm currently running on a lack of sleep (3 hours! Football is taking over my life! I love Manchester United! Haha, too bad Watford!!!) and too much coffee. Great.

By the way, Changi Airport has a big problem: stupid, inconsistent immigration officers. Do you know that Changi Airport is trying to implement an automated system? So there I was, lining up like a law-abiding citizen waiting for my passport to be checked. I'm second in the line. Suddenly, this stupid immigration officer asks me to use the automated system. He asked my family specifically. But a bunch of aunties (and I do mean old aunties) got flustered/kiasu and decided to move to the automated queue. Like a huge bunch of old people. Cue lots of problems and taking 3 times more than it would have taken if I had just stayed in the original queue. Stupid, stupid immigration officer. My dad was rightfully outraged. Assholes. Sheesh. What a way to start a vacation.

Ok, it's getting weird typing this cos people are peeking over my shoulder. And I need to board. Toodles! Be back on the 20th!

Miss me. (:

"Me" versus "We"

The dangerous thing about being in a long-term relationship is that "me" starts to blur and "we" seems to take on a stronger persona. Other people start seeing you as part of a unit, and your individuality takes a backseat. I find that fucking annoying. It's like hellloooooo, I'm still me. How about focusing on me for a while, and not just fucking assume it's always we? Don't get me wrong, I love being in a relationship and all, but when fucking ignorant people attempt to address 2 separate people as 1, that just sets me off.

I hate it when people start defining me by using Fadz. Who the hell starts a conversation with "Eh, where's Fadz?" or "Isn't this football night? Where's your better half?" Erm excuse me, who died and made you the expert on what is proper football watching ettiquette? And whatever happened to a simple "You're watching football?"

Of course that pissed me off. And when I tried to reverse the tactic and use the same line of questioning, some people are simply so oblivious, or in this case, lacking in a strong personality, to realize a taunt. Maybe I'm being overly sensitive. But the point is, I refuse to be defined by my relationship. I'm ME. I just happen to be in a relationship, My life is still mine, and you can begin a conversation by asking after ME, thank you very much. It's nice that you enquire about my boyfriend, but when you start a conversation by directly enquiring after him, what does that make me? Chopped liver?

I suppose some people have utterly no character, no personality, no sense of being, other than that as defined by one's surroundings, group associations or friends/family.

Well screw you, you pathetic excuse for a human being. This is ME, Joanne, Goddess of unstable emotions. You acknowledge me, and then perhaps I might acknowledge your existence. Attempt to define me by other people, and you become insignificant to me. Because you obviously don't understand. And you're not worth my time. So bugger off.

You've been warned.

Ramblings

Have moved into Cheryl's digs for the exam period. My block is currently getting a facelift (lift ungrading) and the noise is absolutely intolerable. Coupled with some new neighbours moving in and all that insufferable knocking at random hours of the day... Let's just say I'm not even a mugger normally. But all that noise just seems to make it too easy for me to throw the towel in. Besides, I was getting incredibly cranky. I was starting to glare at anyone who even resembled a constructoin worker. I know, I know, it's not their fault. But hey, I need to channel my angst towards someone, yeah?

I don't think I'm made out for the loner lifestyle. Cheryl is gone for most of the day so I spend my time pottering around an empty house. Locking myself in my room at home is still a vast difference from being all alone in a house from 8am to 9pm (yeah, that's how long civil servants work, so maybe people should layoff them for earning so much). At least I know that if I need some human contact, I can simply walk out of my room and talk to me mum. But over here.. I know no one. I can interact with no one. And I'm BORED STIFF. Where's my cable tv????

Sigh, I'm so looking forward to Beijing. The guide told us to expect sandstorms at least 2 out of 6 days. Goodie. I want a facial but that'd probably take my skin off. Or blow me off the Great Wall. What a spectacular way to end my life.

Hmm, definitely cranky. When I take such great pleasure plotting my own demise, something has GOT to be wrong.

Beijing, Oh Beijing!

I'm off to Beijing on the 15th of next month! No, not for an internship or something studious, but just a holiday jaunt to my ancestral land to celebrate me Dad's birthday.

Great Wall of China, are you ready for moi? *excited*

I just hope the pollution doesn't make this trip memorable for the wrong reasons.

I Heart Morton's

Double cut fillet mignon, $79.

Tattinger Sparkling Wine, $160.

Tuxedo-ed maitre d speaking Singlish, priceless.

I luurrrvveee Morton's Steakhouse. It serves handsdown the BEST steak in Singapore. Seriously. I think I ate a piece (or many pieces) of heaven last night. Plus, the service was impeccable, save for that one shock of hearing the maitre d speak Singlish to my Dad. It was so shockingly out of place that I had to stifle a giggle because our server of the evening was a Malay girl who spoke flawless English with a slight British accent, and yet the maitre d was a backslapping, laugh-out-loud Singlish speaking Chinese dude who seemed more at home in a Chinese restuarant.

My family had dinner at Morton's last night to celebrate Cheryl's promotion. She was treating, hence I had no qualms about eating well. Hey, how often do you get to indulge in decadent steak?

Cheryl and I wisely decided to share a double cut fillet mignon because the portions are insanely big. When the steak first arrived, I sniggered slightly at the seemingly small steak. After halving it, it looked even more pathetic. Well, looks are deceiving. While it may be small in size, it's thickness more than overwhelmed me.

But my first bit into the steak has made me a lifelong devotee of Morton's steak. Morton's is famous for its aged beef, hence its steak is incredibly tender and moist. Never have I tasted steak that is so incredibly tender that it seemingly dissolves after a few light chews, and yet retain enough texture so that you don't feel like you're eating air. Lightly charred on the outside, but beautifully pink and juicy on the inside. A light sauce accompanies the steak, but seriously, the steak in all its wonderfully beefy juices was more than adequate flavouring.

Geraldine devoured a prime rib steak by herself, Dad ate a steak and king crab legs combo till he became slightly sick from all the food, and Mum delicately polished off a fantastic pan-seared peppercorn tuna steak. That too, was amazing, and my one single bite afforded me a peppery, substantial tuna that was still beautifully raw in the middle.

The steaks are served without any side dishes, so we ordered a couple. Even the side dishes are deserving of worship. The sauteed mushrooms and onions (I know, I know, onions) exploded with amazing flavours. The potato skins were tasty, but disappointingly pedestrian.

And the desserts. Oh god, the desserts. We were all really stuffed, but hey, what's a meal without desserts right? And people, we always have stomach for desserts.

Morton's Legendary Hot Chocolate Cake deserves all the accolades. Lovingly warm in the centre with gooey chocolate oozing out, the crust is crunchy and not overpoweringly sweet. We also ate the creme brulee that felt like a gazillion calories with every bite, but oh so worth it. A crispy, torchblown sugar crust hid a deliciously light whipped cream bottom.

Sparkling wine throughout the meal complemented a great meal. Oh god, I love Morton's so much. And more importantly, I love my crazy family. A lot of people may think that we are very rich and extravagant, but it's not true. We stay in a HDB flat, my family doesn't own a car, Cheryl has one but it's so embarrassingly banged up that it's heading for the scrapyard (boy, was that embarrassingly when we passed the car to Oriental's valet), and I wear clothes from Far East Plaza and Bugis.

But we love our food, man do we love our food. We have no qualms about spending big on food; it's our one biggest vice and pleasure. Food is the source of life. We truly, truly appreciate gastronomic delights and experience. So Amen for that attitude and I can only imagine better things to come.

A Rose By Any Other Name...

I'm fucking annoyed. Some people are really, really stupid turds of shit. Seriously, how difficult is it to get my name correct?

It's like a global virus hitting the stupid button. Brains are freezing. The ability to discern between similar names has evaporated. A lot of the people left standing just call people by whatever name they deem fit. Fuckfaces.

It started with York during Leadership and Team Building. He kept calling me Joanna. Presentations, group meetings, emails; even on the cover pages of our projects. He would introduce me as Joanna to the class, directed work to me as Joanna. I was beyond mad.

I love my name and I refuse to allow it to be bastardize. So I took action. I specifically emailed all our group members and signed off as JoannE. I explicitly told him to please take care because my name was spelt as JoannE with an "E". You know what he did?

He replied, "I'm sorry, JoannaE."

I nearly fell off my chair. It was only after 6 weeks of constant bombarding, a feedback session during which I told him it was rude that he mis-said, misspelled my name because I felt it showed a lack of concern to properly learn my name, before he finally got it right. Sheesh.

Over the years, I encounter people who are so accustomed to Joanna that they slip up occasionally. But usually, they get it right once I politely correct them.

But never have I met such a fierce adversary. She's relentless, aggressive and stubborn. She's also my prof. Not only does she call my by the wrong name, but also by the wrong SURNAME. I don't even know how she comes up with it.

It started harmless enough. She called me Joanna, I said Joanne. She persisted, I countered nicely. But then she started calling me Joanna Lee. And I'm totally like, What the Fuck? Not only do you disrespect me, you disrespect my surname!

But she's my prof. I can't tell her she's a blatant retard, right? I was so exasperated once that I just yelled out "Joanne Chan!!!!". But no, she's old. She's a spinster. She's my prof. How much more can I protest?

Someone please tell me what I can do. I'm despairing. And if any of you call me Joanna, I'd have to kill you. :)

And to all those people with similar sounding names, I completely sympathize with you.

Abused Names...

~ Joanne/Joanna ~

~ Martine/Martina ~

~ Christine/Christina ~

~ Florentine/Florentina ~

~ Coral/Coralla ~

Ok, this is spiralling out of control. Will take it as my personal mission to exterminate stupid people. So I say, vote for me. Bring me to power. And then I'll go about reducing the number of idiots walking this earth.

It's The Small Things In Life...

...that brings tears to my eyes. Sometimes, we get so caught up with grand ideas that the little things in life get forgotten.

And these are the small things that make me happy to be alive...

1. Making it to the toilet just in time after holding your pee in for the last hour because your professor/annoying class mate simply won't shut up.

2. Biting into a warm bun after having missed breakfast because you woke up too late.

3. Knowing that the weekend is just around the corner.

4. Letting rip a burp after a great buffet.

5. Receiving a flower even though the giver thinks it's a waste of money.

6. Offering to hold my laptop as an act of chivalry.

7. Walking into sunshine after being cooped up in an air-conditioned, sub-zero temperature room.

8. Getting a compliment on my outfit.

9. Taking off my killer shoes after a long day and relieving the pressure of the blisters on my toes.

10. Getting to the end of an annoyingly boring class.

Yup, like I said, the small things in life. And also, I'm easily contented. Haha!

You Mean It Was Chinese New Year?

This has got to be one of the toughest Chinese New Year's I've ever experienced... Ok, the 1st 3 days were fun because all I did was eat, gather ang paos and play mahjong. Played lots and lots of mahjong and I just kept winning. Even when I didn't want to win, even when my mum and sister threw the winning card one after another and I refused to win because I felt bad, I ended up zi-mou-ing the card myself. :)

But the days after that were simply hell. I was in school from Wednesday to Friday doing the stupid case competition, getting riled up and let my emotions run high, annoyed myself to the high heavens... sigh. In the end, we didn't get chosen. Mixed feelings about that because on one high, I was ecstatic that I didn't have to see those 3 people anymore. But to think that I wasted all that time for naught, and caused me to do shoddy work for my school work. Merde...

I had a term paper due on Monday and could only start doing it on Sunday because I still had Waikiki (an annual school beach event) to attend and help out with. I was burnt to a crisp as usual. Ah, the curse of being fair... :(

But when I handed in the term paper, apparently we were supposed to choose a research paper (i.e. hypothesis, research, with numbers basically) and I chose a research article (qualitative information). I think my face fell so rapidly that my prof tried to comfort me and said what was done was done. Haiz...

So yup, my Chinese New Year was fleet and painfully short. At least I won money.

Sadomasochist

The above title would apply to me. Why, why, why do I persist in making my life miserable? Why do I seem to enjoy engaging in activities that are bound to end in suffering and pain? Why, why, why, indeed.

No, I'm not talking about whips and physical torture, but more of a gigantic headache and miserable emotions when I subject myself to working with people of a certain nationality. No names of course, or else later the government hurls me to court and charges me for racism. That, or for scaring foreign "talent" away.

Let me now explain my situation/predication a little...

There's this Citibank case competition that I thought would be good exposure to join. Crotch (you remember him.. from my OCBC days) asked if I was interested in forming a team with him and in a moment of folly, I agreed. Even though my OCBC working experience wasn't a joyful thing to remember. It's a woman thing... recall how women forget how painful childbearing is, therefore allowing multiple pregnancies? It's the same logic. We know it's painful, but having forgetten HOW painful, we allow the same situation to persist.

Anyway, the team Crotch formed eventually consisted of 3 people from the same nationality and ME. No price for guessing what happens next.

I simply don't get it. How do they manage to live with themselves and their inflated egos? It's like having to deal with 2 people within the same body. In fact, I'm quite certain a person of that nationality would be able to have a lengthy discussion all by himself/herself simply because he/she loves the sound of his/her voice. It's simply amazing. It's like, Hi, I'm Sam. This is my inflated ego, Am. Now shut up bitch and listen to what we have to say. Any lapse in conversation is meant as a breath-intake and NOT for your contribution.

I hate it how they ramble on and on. I hate it how they can spend 8 hours talking BULLSHIT and then declaring the meeting a success. I hate how they can go round in circles, never quite hitting the point, then suddenly declare a division of work, throw you something, and expect it within the next hour. When you dare to give a "huh" face, they make this annoyed sound and proceed to speak SLOWLY (but still in CIRCLES) about what they sort of, perhaps, maybe think the situation is about and what it calls for.

Fuckers. Truly, motherfuckers. There's this one team mate, let's call him FuckFace. He's the kind who thinks he's so damn great, thinks he knows the whole damn world, thinks he's so damn good. Excuse me, if you are so damn good, why didn't you get picked for the Cognitare (this prestigeous elite club in SMU) team? Yes, you speak well, as you rightly pointed out. But the way you frame and present yourself is an INSTANT turnoff. I feel like spitting into your face.I feel like raining punches down on you. You're condescending, arrogant, self-absorbed and an all-around asshole. Maybe the reason you didn't get picked was because you aren't personable and people immediately feel like puking when hearing you speak.

A good speaker is not just one who can speak well, but also one who can connect with the audience. And you, in this aspect, have failed miserably.

Why, why, why, did I think this team was going to work?

Like I said, I'm a masochist.

Happy Valentine's Day

The Fadz man and I decided to beat the crowds and eschew tradition by celebrating V Day earlier. After all, I had a test the day after V Day so it mad more sense to celebrate early. Thank you baby for making the day great and romantic!

A beautiful rose to start the day (5 points!)

So what happens when 2 broke people want to get away for a little romance? A picnic at Botanical Gardens sets up the day nicely.

We had to walk damn far in to escape the smattering of maids, foreign workers and maids with foreign worker boyfriends who hovered near the Tanglin entrance. Lo and behold, we ended up at the same tree when we last visited Botanical Gardens 3 years ago. Talk about deja vu. The tree seems to have remembered us cos it kept dropping its fruits on us. :P

The bandstand where every wedding photo in Singapore seems to be taken at. When we were at the Botanical Gardens, we saw 2 couples circling the swan lake to take wedding photos. -_-'''

I asked Fadz to give me his best commercial pose. I suppose you can interpret this as "What do you mean you've never heard of Bunderburg rootbeer? Nuff said, it's great stuff stupid."

My darling made this outing all the more memorable and wonderful because he prepared all the food and I didn't have to lift a finger! In his exact words " It's my turn to wine and dine you." Awww...

Salad first! Grape salad with cream cheese.

Yummy, I say!

Cheese sausages! Slurp!

I'm eating here.. whatcha looking at?

Boo!

Just lazing around and looking as the white fat clouds roll by...

Chill out time!

What's a meal without great dessert?

Oatmeal peanutbutter cookies... man I'm gonna get fat.

My contribution! Chocolate cupcakes.. There's a 'heart' and 'U' too..

Happy Valentine's Day!

And you know how he made the day even more special? He consented to take me shoe shopping and stood by as I tried on shoe after shoe, nudged aside frantic shoppers and maintained a cheerful composure.

Once a year only mah.

Confused

Hmmm, either his hypocrisy runs much deeper than I thought, or maybe, just maybe, he didn't hear what I was saying. Or he is in supreme denial. I dunno. The not knowing is semi driving me nuts. Chill, I need to chill. I shall play the waiting game.

He messages me to ask for my class slides, like we're on good terms and doing favours for one another is expected. Once again, his superb prowess at making use of people rears its head. Applause, applause. Perhaps due to a guilty conscience, I acquiesced to his request (demand?). Silly, sill me. I should have just said that I had already deleted them.

And then we meet in class. Everything seems fine and dandy. He smiles at me, talks to me. We have a common event to go to after class, so we walk together. We talk some more, he does his patented back rub on me, I can't even be bothered to cringe in annoyance. Close up of his mug follows. Do I even have the strength to feel revulsion?

Perhaps the lack of energy has dimmed my fighting spirit. I simply gave in and couldn't be bothered. He offered to carry my books. At least I had enough self-preservation to reject his offer.

Or maybe I'm reading too much into all this. I should stop all the wondering and thinking what kind of mind games he is playing. What will be will be. What a fatalistic view that is, eh?

The world will always present hypocritical people upon my doorstep. Either I pretend they don't exist (not bloody likely), step on them (how I wish I could!), or do what they do unto me. Smile when I don't mean it. Cooperate when all I want to do is avoid him. Hold my tongue when I want to release a lashing.

Pretend I'm not emotional when I'm really this hysterical drama queen. Sometimes I feel like I want to shout at the world for playing its cruel games with me and ask the world to stop. Scream and rant and hit out at some invisible force that never ceases to make my life uncomfortable and emotionally unbalance.

No, no, not feeling suicidal. Angsty and emo, yes. But tired of living, never. Thank God I take equal delight in hedonistic pleasures that are love, passion and excitement.

The Bitching Bites Back

Oh oh, I was bitching about him to Kristin and Sylvia as we walked back to class, not knowing that he was just behind us. In my typical fashion, I was animated, expressively and above all, LOUD. So suffice to say, he knew who I was talking about.

Yup, bad karma. No wonder his face was so black. And to think that I still have to do project with him. I just hope that we can separate personal from work. At least be civil to each other. Hohoho...

Yes, all that bitching has turned around to bite me. Not the first time, probably not the last. I know I should try to be a better person, but hey, some things need to be said.

Or maybe, I should be more mindful that there are ears all around. Note to self: look around before launching into tirade. You never know who's around the corner.

Another note to self: need to gather more good karma. Hey, does anyone need me to be nice to? You happy, I happy. Muahaha.

Déja Vu

Great, Mr Touchy-Feely is back in my life. No names mentioned, but I'm guessing some of you would know who I'm talking about.

I haven't spoken to him, like had a proper conversation, for close to 1.5 years. And suddenly, just because I'm in his class and happened to be assigned to the same group as him, he starts being all chummy and acts like we're the best of friends.

When we were still on good terms, he once asked me if I felt that he was too touchy, especially with the opposite sex. Since we were quite close (or so I thought), I said I didn't have a problem.

Well, times have changed, bucko. You don't start sms-ing a person you haven't talked to for a long time and ask to form a group even before the school term starts. Luck would have it that even for preassigned groups, I cannot run away from his claws.

And I hate how hypocritical he is. He sees me in the school canteen, smiles at me across the room like some longlost friend, saunters over and leans over, resting his fucking arm on my shoulder, resting all his weight on me, and gives me a close up of his fake, fucking face like I should give a shit.

How is that appropriate? And he continued to do so until I was so irritated 5 minutes later and abruptly stood up. Only then did he move his arm. And the entire conversation revolved around him whining about his grades, his GPA, and whatnot.

Some things never change, I suppose. He would always be only concerned about his grades, never know real friendship, always using people to his own advantage. Well, at least this time I'm not going into the project with any delusions of friendship. I'd be making full use of him to obtain my grade. And once the project is over, there would be no reason for more small talk.

SMU Lexicon

Terminology dedicated to the students of SMU.

Word: SMUck [noun]

Explanation: an SMU student who is annoying, annoying here being relative because some find studious people annoying, people who participate too much annoying, people who are free-riders annoying, and of course, people who are just plain annoying annoying.

Usage: What a SMUck! Only know how to talk, but when ask him/her to do work, no where to be found!

Word: SMUgger [noun]

Explanation: an SMU student who studies too much. Can usually be found reading textbook in the library right from Week 1, and is usually the one who does all the supplementary readings/obscure readings/whole life is doing readings.

Usage: He/She is such a SMUgger! Did you hear some of the questions and comments he/she made in class today? Don't know what the hell he/she was talking about!

Word: SMUgathon [noun]

Explanation: prolonged studying session, usually before exams, that can extent to a week or more. Usually conducted in school, it is an exercise that is carried out in one of the hallowed rooms within SMU. A personal space converted into a madhouse of studying.

Usage: Do you know that he/she has been in school since last week studying? Wah lao, major SMUgathon, can!

Word: SMUgging [verb]
Explanation: the act of furious studying by an SMU student.
Usage: Yeah, I know where he/she is. He/she is SMUgging in the library, what else is new?

And of course, all the words can be used in a single conversation.

What a SMUck! Act like he/she knows so much, very great meh? A chao SMUgger who is always SMUgging in the library! Whole life is a SMUgathon. Loser.

Teehee.

On a lighter note, SMU Volleyball Girls beat SIM and NYP! Woohoo! I never knew sitting on the bench can be such an exhuasting experience, especially this year. The match against NYP was nail-bitingly close... I lost all dignity and voice shrieking to keep morale up when the team lagged behind.

Oh yeah, and I finally got to play. Whoopeeee! Since I'm such an agressive person, of course I would love to be on the attacking end. However, considering that I have a height deficiency (average height in volleyball is 165 - 170cm can...), all I can do is defend. Boohoo. Don't want to be like Liverpool. I want to be Man Utd.

Life is good, just incredibly, incredibly busy. Recorded my trial DJ session... I still need to work on that. Tend to stumble over my own words from being nervous. Oops. And I realize I gesticulate a lot. And I mean a lot. Luckily studio is empty aside from myself. Haha!

Being a TA is exhuasting work. I'm the TA for a leadership and teambuilding course, so I have to act as a facilitator sometimes.. which translates not only to attending the actual lesson, but also attending the meetings that the team of freshies assigned to me have. And let me tell you, there are many, many meetings. Sheesh. And of course, I have to be constantly responsible and remind them of their datelines.

It's funny how the older I get, the closer I get to graduation, the more desperate I am to do all the things that students should do. I sort of coasted through my 2nd year at SMU... aside from volleyball and the internship at OCBC, I don't really recall doing much else. Wish I had been even more involved.

Yeah, I definitely think that students should have CCAs. I simply cannot understand one's desire to merely study and miss out on the entire part of having fun as a student. I just cannot. Going home straight after school ends? Not knowing the highs and lows of being in a team? Scary. Well, that's just me.

School, school, school

I'm having a flu and sore throat, and it's so not fun going to school when you are sick. No wait, it's not fun to go to school, period.

My prof for Analysis of Equity Investments just told us that he doesn't expect us to do our readings before class because we should have better things to do.

I like him. He has balls.

Goodbye 2006, Hello 2007!

2006 saw me...

1. Turn 21 on 24th May.

2. Travel to Vietnam, Taiwan and Melbourne.

3. Jump off a boat into the open sea even though I can't really swim.

4. Nearly break up with Fadzli on 3 occasions.

5. Attain my first A+ and C in school (how sad right?)

6. Finally watch an R(A) movie (Borat.. hohoho).

7. Get my IC checked by a 12-year punk at said movie.

8. Reaffirm my love for Civilization IV.

9. Realize that I'd never be able to play volleyball well.

10. Strip and paint my room all by myself.

2007 will see me...

1. Attempt to DJ for the first time in my life (SMU students, tune in for that!).

2. Sit on the substitute bench at IVP for the final time (goodbye splinters in ass).

3. Be a TA to unsuspecting year 1s.

4. Have a healthier relationship with Fadz.

5. Be in closer contact with my friends (KB gang, are you reading this???)

6. Travel to another glorious country for my parent's wedding anniversary.
7. Do another internship, hopefully at a good hotel.
8. LOSE WEIGHT (yeah right).

9. Make more money.

10. Graduate from SMU and unleash myself upon the working world.

I hope 2007 will be a good one. My final year at SMU. My 5th year anniversary with Fadz. My 10th year anniversary with the KB gang (wah piang, we're damn old can!).

And I've started the year with a big bang by having a flu and sore throat. Brilliant, Joanne, simply brilliant. Alright, I'm off to bed to forget how miserable I am.

I Heart Christmas

Despite Fadz trying to put a damper on my parade by reminding me that Christmas is (a): a pointless religious festival because Jesus Christ was NOT born on December 25 (b): it has become too commercialized and (c): too many damn people squeezing in Orchard Road doing God knows what (usually just sitting around and stoning), I refused to be let down and kept the festive spirit.

I simply adore Christmas. Ok, so I'm one of those people who try to celebrate every holiday - English New Year, Chinese New Year, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Children's Day, Teacher's Day (used to, anyway), Deepavali (until Rajeeve upped and went to bloody England), Hari Raya Puasa, Christmas and Hari Raya Haji. Yes, as you can see, I'm not very discriminating. Ahh, the benefits of being atheist. I do it for the people, for the people I say.

But I really love Christmas despite it having become a frenzy of shopping for gifts and whatnot. I love the holiday for the happy feelings (usually) invoked by knowing that it's the holidays, it's bonus time, people are happy and chilled out. I have wonderful meals with the people I love, receive presents that are thoughtful and labor to find the perfect gift for my loved ones. Seriously, what's not to like about the holiday?

So I spent Christmas Eve with the Fadz man. We do it every year. It's our thing. So even though he was incredibly grumpy and mean and Scrooge-like, I finally cracked through his thick skull that I really want to remember Christmas as a good one and he gave up being sullen. In fact, he was downright positive and cheery. Jolly good chappy.

We decided to go to this Lebanese restaurant at Holland V, Al-Hamza, for our Christmas dinner. Let me just say that I'm deeply sorry that I ate lamb chops. In case you didn't know, I'm the leader of a new religion, Pro-Lambology. No, not pro in the sense that I practice eating them. But rather, because lambs are so fluffy and adorable, I have taken it upon myself to never eat lamb. So far the religion's total following is 1. Oh well, I'm sure it'd catch on. But yeah, I broke the number rule and ate lamb. Whoops.

I love the decor of the place. As expected, the patronage was mostly ang moh families, ang mohs with Asian girlfriends, or ang mohs with Asian wife/girlfriend and Asian family members in tow.

I loved the falafels! Amazing fried chickpea thingamajigs. Definitely a must try. The lamb was pretty good, but the other reason for me not eating lamb is because I think it tastes funny. Oh well. It was pretty good, but seriously, I don't find it as a great loss not to eat lamb.

We then took a slow bus ride to Esplanade, careful to avoid Orchard. Our bus did pass through Orchard, and can I just say it was utter chaos. Not as bad as last year, with the stupid idiots spraying foam everywhere, but the human crush was appalling. Esplanade was crowded, but in a pleasant, hey, there are people around.

We are such gluttons. Even after eating a full meal at Al-Hamza and finished off a plate of diabetic but amazing Lebanese desserts, we still had room for more. A new shop at Esplanade has opened, Earshot, and it's a pretty cool concept. The food is not bad, a new chillout joint.

After that, cos I wanted to count down in town, we walked around aimlessly to pass time. At midnight, we were standing in the middle of the Padang, all alone, and shared a Christmas kiss. Yup, quite quite perfect.

Merry Christmas, baby. Hope to do it again next year. =)

Christmas was spent with the folks. After the opening of presents (whoopee!), my mum made us play mahjong (humpf, lose money again). Of course the highlight of the day was Christmas dinner at the Fullerton Hotel. The service was impeccable. The food brought tears to my eyes. And I overate, but it was for a worthy cause. And I love my dress!

Hope you guys had a good one too!

Talk To Me

*pout* see lah, never talk to me on my tagboard, and it keeps getting deleted cos it thinks that no one is using it.

I know you're out there, reading this silently. So tag me.

Bah.

Reflection

It seems like the neverending rain is causing me to be a little melancholic and reflective. Or maybe it's just the end of the year. Whatever the case, it does seem appropriate to reflect on the past year as we are about to usher in 2007.

I always imagined that my 21st year of existence would be memorable, but I didn't think that it would be such a great mixture of wonder, elation, bitterness and heartache. And perhaps a dash of weariness for extra measure. At times, it seems like the weight on my shoulders can be so terribly, terribly heavy to bear and I can either take a deep breath and carry that burden or just collapse from sheer exhuastion. Not great options, don't you think?

This year was marked by traveling and the feeling of true independence. I would never, ever forget my Vietnam backpacking trip. In a way, I felt a little more grown up, a little more worldly; being pulled away from the comfort of luxury hotels and being pushed into situations out of my comfort zone - non-English speaking natives, bare necessities, navigating a foreign land and living 24/7 with my boyfriend. The Taiwan trip was fun too, but that was more of a shopping thing. But the Vietnam trip.. now that was living.

But this year was also marred by a lot of emotional strain and heartache. Fadzli is such a big part of my life that sometimes I really wonder what it would be like to live life without him. 4 1/2 years. That's like 1/5 of my life spent with him in it. To laugh, cry, shout, fall in love, and go on a crazy rollercoaster ride with that one person. I do think about my dependency, I do fear that I'm losing my identity as a solo person, but at the same time, I delight in knowing that I love and am loved. If only there wasn't so much bitterness to sieve through.

People always say that NS is the toughest time a couple has to go through. But I disagree. To me, those 2 years felt more like a honeymoon. On hindsight, it felt like we tried to make ourselves perfect to each other and minimize any abrasive actions because our time spent together was so short. We held our tongues, our temper, kept emotions in check and because we only saw each other during the weekends, any unhappy thoughts could be ironed out during the week and we could cool down before we said anything stupid or hurtful. But ever since Fadz entered university, it seems like he has become a new person. And I know that people are always constantly changing, but I sometimes feel like we are moving in completely different directions. And I fear that we are holding each other back because of distant memories of good feeling. And as we make the transition from teens to adults, do we still have a place for each other in our lives? I certainly hope so, but I think back on all the dreams and promises we made to each other, and all I can think about is getting from one day to another. Long term planning is for the idealistic and perhaps I've grown a little too jaded for that.

3 near breakups in 3 months. The intensity was driving me crazy. To live in constant doubt and pain for those 3 fucking months. I felt messed up; I felt drained. I felt like I'd aged 10 years. Like optimism and hope was sucked out of me. It came to the point when I was so DAMN SURE that NOTHING could be worse than this and perhaps a complete, clean separation was the answer. To be alone. To not be hurt another. To not be affected by another person's actions and words and be only answerable to myself. To be selfish and take care of my incredibly fragile heart and refuse to let anyone near me.

But in the end, I couldn't do it. To keep yourself safe from pain is to prevent yourself from experiencing the full joy of being loved. Because when you close yourself to pain, you also prevent anyone from getting close enough to you. So I guess, the stubborn me wants to be loved to badly that I just have to risk being hurt. Yes, Fadz may hurt me over and over again by his lack of sensitivity and sometimes sheer stupidity. But is that enough to make me give up the man who makes me laugh, who makes me cry; who makes me want to beat my fist against his chest and collapse in his arms; who kisses me and makes me feel weak with butterflies. Someone whom I can talk to for hours and not get sick; who remembers the smallest details and surprises me.

No, I'm not that brave. Or rather, not that jaded. I suppose all I can say is, bring it on. Walk through fire and hell to be proven worthy. Even if it comes to an end, at least I know I tried. And I was loved.

And as for school, I'm tired of it. The pleasure and delight that I felt when I first entered SMU has diminished. The spark that kept my enthusiasm has died. For the first time in my entire career at SMU, I'm dreadfully affected by things like projects, GPAs and exams. I despise that I can't do better, I'm horrified by my lack of commitment, I despair when I lack understanding.. it's just all too much. The comparing, the arguing, the competition... it's all a rat race, and it seems like that's all I have to look forward to in the corporate world. Great.

2006, you've been... interesting. 2007, what secrets do you hold?

Post Exam

Haven't really blogged in a while. In case you were wondering, yeah, last post was about Fadz. Yeah, we fought. Yeah, these past few months have been very, very, difficult and we're trying to work it through. Thanks for all the concern! =) We're ok now, trying to be more understanding towards each other and all. But I still say men are stupid creatures. Hur hur hur...

Anyway, just because my love life is not going great, doesn't mean I can't enjoy my friends!

The last day of the exams ended on a Saturday and without wasting much time, I was off having fun with fellow SMU-ers (eh KB, when are we getting together???). Ate too much and overdosed on alcohol and mahjong. 'Nuff said.

FYI, the guy is Jerry, Sylvia and Kristin's poly friend. I think he's quite cute, in a tiny squirrel kinda way. And he's single! And peels prawns for all the girls! How's that for a gentleman?

Ate 麻辣火锅 at Bugis, before scooting off to EskiBar at Holland V for some drinks. The freezer room is... COLD. And I walked in without a jacket cos I thought it'd be funny. Not funny. I felt my insides freeze up. And finally, we retired to my house for an all-nighter of mahjong. Lasted till 6am, before they dragged their bones home. Haha, we played for alcohol instead of money. Yes, such alcoholics, right?

Apparently, that wasn't enough mahjong because exactly one week later, we found ourselves playing mahjong again at my house. Except we switched guy. See, men are so disposable. Haha.. kidding Shawn! You know we love you for all your Ah Pek glory!

Told you he looked like an Ah Pek.

I think I was falling asleep.

Aiyah, pose for what? Supposed to be candid, can!

Yeah, mahjong!

I was a bit embarrassed though, cos I "ate" all 3 of them.

At 5.30am, our stomachs expired and we hopped over to MacDonald's for a lovely breakfast.

Ah, holidays, a time for debauchery and fun.

And I'm bored already. Gaahh.

Trust

Trust is such a funny little thing. It is bandied around casually, but when it comes down to the crunch, it may sometimes prove to be the deciding factor.

I believe a strong relationship is built on the foundation of 2 things: trust and great sex. Kidding, kidding lah! Don't have a heart attack on me, grandpa! Trust and respect. That's what I really meant. Seriously.

Trust can make you stand up against the world when they are against you, casting a disapproving eye, shaking their heads in disbelief, but when you trust that your other half will be there, you can really conquer anything.

But such a priceless trait is incredible fragile. Break or shatter that trust, and the whole building (foundation, building, geddit?) can come crashing down upon you. Pity there isn't a clean up crew or contractors to rebuilt it for you. You simply have to pick up brick by brick, laying the cement. Oh, don't forget the water proofing. Otherwise, it would be a shoddy patch up job and the building is still vulnerable to attack.

So should I trust my brain or my heart? Neither, they're both equally fucked up. The brain thinks in a logical, sinisterly cold manner that is devoid of all feeling. The heart, however, is all touchy-feely and has nary a logical thought. So when hit with crisis, the brain, in a very logical manner, would seek to protect the heart, a vital organ, from further injury by disengaging from combat. Either that, or batter the opponent to emerge victorious.

The heart, however, would be screaming at the brain to have some warmth and trust in feelings and intuition.

Why can't they meet somewhere?

But I think the scariest outcome is when the heart goes cold too. Stops feeling. Stops believing. Stops hoping. All the blood being pumped into the brain so that it can logically work out the next step. To do that, you need to think that there's no more pain, no further pain... only salvation in the blissful arms of numbness.

So should I be safe from all harm and be numb, or jump into the abyss of doubt and fear, hoping that the outcome would outweigh all troubles?

Don't complain about all the metaphors that I'm using. I have never met a fur I didn't like. Hiak hiak.

It's inappropriate, and severely lacking in respect for me.

When you are in a relationship, you think about how your actions affect your partner too; you do not make decisions based on your own gratification with nary a thought for me. When you start acting and behaving like a single, it becomes reality.

You've made the decisions, now live with the consequences.

Random Thoughts

Exams start tomorrow, for 2 consecutive days. Am I prepared? Don't think so. Fingers crossed and hopefully I don't fail.

3 construction works going on simultaneously around my house. Neighbour tearing up kitchen. Government tearing up the parking lot. Some other work. Noise is killing me. Am retreating to Cheryl's house for the remainder of this week. No, this time I'm seriously gonna study. I have to! And I'm NOT bringing the swimsuit.

What do I want to do once the exams are over (in 3 days time!)? Hmm, no one wants to employ me, so that means I'd be broke, but damn free. Great. And Christmas was is coming. What do I want, what do I want.... Prada Gucci Dior Fat chance. Need to think realistically. What do I want indeed....

Told you it was random. Too much last minute cramming does that to the brain.

Whoopdeedooooo.....

The Incredible Blahness of Being

Nothing's happening in my life to blog about. Exams are around the corner, so that basically spells the end of any social activity. The only thing that gets me worked up these days is that my supposedly straight, rebonded hair ain't so straight anymore. Damn my genes. It took Cheryl (my sister) 7 years of rebonding her hair to tame the beast. Geraldine (my other sister) also rebonded her hair, but has the financial means to keep going to the hair salon for touch-ups and professionally washed and blown hair. Me? I just have my hand held that smells burnt. Great.

Random photos of me and friends doing projects in school. How pathetic can life get?

Hilarity ensues when the clock ticks past midnight.

See? Sylvia is crying.

And here she is looking sleepy. I swear that girl only has 2 moods.

You don't say.

We were in the library. Yes, I wrote that. Yes, I'm antisocial. Bite me.

Oh yeah, and we hung out at the pool one day after class. Yes, my school has a roof top pool. Yes, it also comes with a sauna. Yes, it's under-utilized.

The pool men were definitely happy.

Tyra Banks on ANTM: "I have a couple of rules. When posing for a men's mag, legs apart. Women's magazine, legs together. Men's mag, chest out. Women's mag, chest in." Ah, what wise words indeed.

No lah, not free not free.

And that's the small pool. But peace and serenity lasted all of 1/2 hour before guess who turns up? My Investment Banking Professor. Talk about awkwardness. Hello, half-dressed prof with us in a pool? Besides, it was disappointing. I thought he would have a better body. After all, he swims and jogs every day. But, nada. His body was DEFINITELY not equipped with a 6-pack.

Sigh. People always say Fadz is malnourished. Whatever it takes to plump up my feller, right?

You've become toxic, instead of intoxicating.

My health is suffering as a result. Enough is enough.

I come first now.

Keeping the Faith

Sigh, I should really be wary of what I wish for. The cliche has never bitten back with such vengence before. I was musing the other day that I've never stayed over in school before. Not at the new campus, neither at our beloved Bukit Timah campus. Nada. It's like I've missed out on an entire component of student life.

So this semester, time management has basically sucked and one week before all the projects were due, my group and I found ourselves with half-finished projects, meaning, we were fucked.

So what did the brilliant moi suggest? Let's stay overnight, yo!

Somehow, I was envisaging more slumber party and running around City Hall at 3am, and less huddled up in some godforsaken room, typing till my hands trembled.

Guess which happened?

We had to churn out a 90-page financial project and towards the end, I was typing gibberish. LOL, can you imagine doing the same project from 10am to 10am the next day and still not complete? People walked in and out of the common area, stunned that we didn't sleep the whole night and still not be able to complete. No, I do not want to hear any talk about our inefficiency. Some things don't need to say.

Highlight of the whole fiasco? Laughing like bimbos even at 2 in the morning. Being entertained by our himbo sole male team mate. He's from China. He listens to China songs. We had military songs blaring out of his lap top at 12. It vibrated throughout the whole building. We were all tempted to line up in rows and march to the tune.

Oh oh, and eating at the 24-hr kopitiam at 2 and 3am. Fishballs have never tasted so good.

I'm really glamourizing the whole event. Most of it was tedious and back-breaking. And not sleeping for so long was bad for my skin. And my temper. Cranky Joanne is a sight to behold.

Worse case: We had to go back the following day (SUNDAY!!!!) to continue because there was just too much work left. And everything was due on Monday. Haiz.

This week has not been good. Bad, bad, bad. I can't wait for Friday.

Hell

I'm in school. On a Friday. Staying the whole night through. To finish a project. It's due on Monday. After 14 hours, it's still no where near completion.

Please, please, please let us finish the project by today. I can't imagine having to come back on Sunday to continue doing it.

My eyes are drooping. My darling lappy is screaming in heat at the abuse from being switched on so long.

I'm overheating too. The school turned off the air-conditioning in a bid to save money. AM.BURNING.TO.DEATH.IN.GROUP STUDY ROOM.

I want some comfort. Perhaps a midnight jaunt to 7-11?

Haven't blogged for a while. Life is sucking at the moment. 4 projects concurrently. 2 not going well. Fingers crossed and heart willing, the next 2 weeks would pass mercifully quickly.

It's like an injection. Let's get it over and done with ASAP.

Hee, not to belie my miserable position, but I still managed to spend some time with Fadz.

FINALLY checked out Vivocity. Can I say, so totally hyped up? I was bored after walking around for 10 minutes. I couldn't find anything worth parting money with.

Plus, the scenery was so-so, thanks to the stupid haze rearing its ugly, stinky head. Sigh.

Am I too fair? Why would fair equate sickly? *pout* I'm going for the snow white, shiny straight black hair look, can? I want to return to my Oriental roots, can?

Yes, Vivocity paid some artist to construct a giant snow man.

Smile! Why you never smile!!???

Ok, try again.

The harbour front. That's Sentosa across the water. Not very spectacular, hor?

Oh yeah, and we cam-whored a bit in school. Hey, it was Saturday and we had been doing project for 8 hours.

Kawaii!

Very thirsty work.

Jo is not happy.

And... it's almost Monday again. Save me.