Almost Over

After a long hiatus from blogging, I’m glad to throw myself into the throngs of the keyboard and allow emotion to be explained in words.

Ah.. such cathartic bliss

The past month saw a whirlwind of events.
Attachment. Presentations. ICAs. Human dynamics. Money.

There were good memories of makan sessions with family and friends. Like when Leni met Stick Insect and I for dinner at Crystal Jade over in a corner of Orchard Central. Food was cheap and good, with excellent company!

I also enjoyed the outing with Deeva, Su + Rams and of course, Stick Insect! Gorging ourselves silly over in Wheelock and bickering over comparisons between Korea and Japan, bitching about everybody’s fave man, Shu Ger aka "Sugaaaah" (Brother Shu) and just letting the imagination run amok was such a great bonding experience.

School also gave me the opportunity to tour several local nursing homes and care centers, allowing me a glimpse of all the back breaking effort required to keep these places running. Salutes! I especially enjoyed touring Pertapis and Lion’s NH..!

It also opened my eyes to see how much my classmates and Ms Joan actually love the elderly. I can only hope when I’m old, I get nurses like them to look after me.

And Sharon Lee and BF are back. Well, were back. They set off for Australia earlier in the evening. Fortunately, I managed to wish her bon voyage before her journey. I’ve known Sharon Lee for more then half my life. And undoubtedly, like all friendships, ours have been not without rough waters. But I’m glad at the end of the day, we manage to settle our differences and salvage what we hold dear. Each other.

In hindsight, I’m unsure of whether age has brought about my raging hormones. I cry so easily these days. My tear ducts are on hyperdrive. Angry, cry. Sad, cry. Laugh also can cry. I don’t know what the hell is wrong with me. My tear ducts were once bone dry, you know!

And I do not think menopause will strike me this soon. Will it?!

Though besides the good times, December also brought on the cataclysmic revelation on the health status of a loved one. It also saw a series of never-ending events resurface to implicate me in drama that I am not responsible for.

In a moment of severe duress, I asked Ross why such events befall me. He’s answer was stark and simple : “you’ve been given the opportunity to learn patience.”

Trust Ross to match hideous situations with opportunities to “learn”. And as much as would like to have slapped his mouth with a slipper, his words echo a strange reminder to exercise self control in situations that may not necessarily go our way.

Lastly, in line with wrapping up another great year, I thank the Lord for my life. And I pray for strength to remember Him always.

www.3logysingapore.blogspot.com

fantastic beyond words!

Satiated

You believe a man can change his destiny?
I believe a man does all he can until his destiny is revealed.

Earlier this evening, channel 5 replayed “The Last Samurai”. Minus off the bad interpretation of Asians with the persistently thick Japanese-accented dialogue and you’re left with a pretty good storyline.

And yes, I adore Ken Watanabe. I think he’s so MAN. THE man. The perfect face of a gentleman warrior. MY ultimate samurai hero in the movie. But I sure wouldn't want him to really be a samurai... errr.. because I read that they practiced shudo which are against my moral ethics. But that's another story!

I am an old woman. I have every right to oogle at old men.

The misinterpreted protagonists within run in little circles for what they perceive to be at the heart of their existence. We can mock them for their apparent stupidity but we should question; given the same circumstances, environment and way of life, would we end up at the same point?

Essentially, it is a poignant tale of how greed manipulates the meek weak willed. Propelled by what they believe as anomalies in appearances, the ignorant justifies the use of violence by labeling the other party as a threat.

However, when stripped of its façade; No matter what color, race, gender, age, health status or religion you possess, beneath all, red blood flows. We all experience hunger when we don’t eat, cry when sadness overwhelms and smile at the faces of the people we love.

Perhaps the only difference lies in the intensity in which we feel.

You can be bitter about the wars and the suffering that history has dealt, but when you recognize we are but pawns in this propaganda scandal, you’ll know better then to allow yourself to be embroiled in the whole debate.

People were simple minded back then.

Will you allow yourself to tread that same path?
It’s your choice.

And parallel to the storyline in the movie, adversity breeds courage. It’s ironic that we need such drastic events to stir otherwise dormant courage. And like many of life’s great lessons, we learn through defeat.

You learn to pick yourself after you fall.

A friend (Zul) once said something so miraculously clever its been burnt into memory…

"And sometimes things happen to me at the time that may seem horrible, painful and unfair, but in reflection I realized that without overcoming those obstacles I would have never realized my potential, strength, will power or heart.

Without these small tests, life would be like a smoothly paved, straight, flat road to nowhere. Safe and comfortable but dull and utterly pointless."

Updates

Last week proved to have an exciting spat of eye popping events. Firstly, we had ‘ang moh’ mania. Our ad hoc lecturer was this dishy Owen-lookalike who had the class erupt with enthusiasm.

(almost) anything for Mr Herd!

Who would have thought Podiatry and compression bandage could be so fun?!

Campus also held an IT fair with Ipods and other IT paraphernalia at discounted prices. The new Ipod Nano that comes with a camera and video function is so damn super cool! My neurons weighed the consequences of armed robbery versus starvation while caressing the sleek, smooth edges that encapsulated the vibrant dancing colors in the LCD screen.

dontcha' just want one too?!

It took a great deal of will power to wrench myself off that potent magnetism to return to reality.

And with fairs, food follows! So, lucky for my ravenous appetite, the school brought in Ramly burger!! Hohoho.. no need to beat down the Mats and Minahs plastered beside the burger stalls at pasar malams!

Alas, the majority of the student body was also mesmerized by the wafting smells of frying patties and I had to join the snaking queue for my dose of Ramly heaven.

See the ooze the burger made! Unfortunately, the burger looks better then it tastes. Though at $2/burger and made fresh on-the-spot, it was passable.

Our research lecture is by far the MOST boring subject in the curriculum. Having slept through and blatantly skipped lectures, I can assure you now that anything I learn, or will learn about research will probably be garnered online or vomited by the lecturer during tutorials instead. Hahaha…

The runner up to the most boring subject is taken by Counseling. With video after video of emotionless actors and a lecturer with an absolutely irritating pseudo-minnie mouse-ish voice, it becomes such a chore to sit through lectures.

the cabbage patch kid lookalike in the vid

Counseling ICA begins next week, with mine due in week 6th. I will be putting on my “Golden Horse” (the Asian equivalent to the Oscars, because I am rooted in my Chinese-Asian culture!) award winning acting chops for Stick Insect in her rendition and vice versa.

Topping off the week’s adventure must be the comical ‘dancing man’ we met on the MRT. He sang, danced and ‘interacted’ with grab poles, his own reflection and other commuters on board.

My gawd, it was hilarious!

our 'star' is the one in stripes!

To protect the anonymity of the abovementioned, alongside the possibility of a civil suite, the man’s face has been strategically obscured by way of impressive camera angling and artistic vision.

I wish all classes were like this! Haha

Drama Mama

jam session on campus

I’m into my 2nd week of the school term and I already have an assignment due 3 weeks later. Haha.. Apart from the pig shit cheap assortment of readily available (junk and non-junk) food choices littered all over campus, I don’t have much else to look forward to.

Instead, an endless stream of drama prevails.

Chicken Rice and the Yong Tau Foo! $2/each!

the insanely cheap noodles @ $1.30!
and the FRESHLY cooked, super crisp peanut butter waffle $1

Initially, I had thought that the school environment would bring a lot of excitement and joy.
Instead, school has brought an uncanny array of disturbing mix of Rambo-Korean Drama minus the good skin.

People just love to quarrel.

Of course I enjoy the process of studying. There’s Bio, which brings back wonderful YKJ and T Tan, my loopy course coordinator, amongst other interesting ‘specimens’ in the form of ad hoc lecturers.

sooooooo cute!
and super smart

Consisting of 48 students from all over the island, my class is made up of a melting pot of people from all walks of life. We have drama queens (with me at the top of the list), fashion divas, cam whores, eager beavers and those that look as though they prefer to haunt the shadows at night.

in class

Seeing Saz always alone in a corner, I invited Saz to hang out. Though sometimes she craps about her relationships from yonder years, I felt bad when she confided that she doesn’t eat during break because she doesn’t know her way around. Sad eh?

There are many more like her.

Being a mature student is not easy. I guess it’s easier when you look like a student. But when you obviously do not fit into that mould, then life gets a lot harder. People mistake you for a lecturer, or someone else's mom.

And with a large group of women (and only 2 males), you can be sure of an estrogen tsunami. Though most of my classmates don't bother each other and try to mingle, there are still people that prefer to stick within their own circle.

With repeated drama sparking a slew of never ending scream fests, its getting harder and harder to control my emotions.

Rage is extremely difficult to control.

What used to be a slow burn I can snuff out, explodes in a snap. It’s so bad I can feel myself turning violent. The best solution I can think of now is to avoid such blardy situations.

On the home front, life’s ok. Gremlin’s having his exams and revision’s underway. Hopefully he can pass. Though through time, I’ve learnt that its wise to not have undue expectations. Haha.. As long as I’ve done my part, I have the courage to say it’s alright.

I can live with it.

Right now, I'm looking forward to Sharon Lee's return in Dec. This round, Berji will also be popping by mid Dec so it'll be awfully nice to finally meet him!

Food Fest

Today, we decided to venture down Raffles and have lunch at the insanely congested Market Street Food Centre right next to the Golden Shoe carpark. We arrived right smack at lunch time so most stalls already had snaking queues.

Pushing through an ocean of office workers and using our noses (and the queues as a deli-index) we shorlisted a few stalls to try before deciding the claypot over on the 3rd floor. And my goodness, what esctasy that was! Even Stick Insect's hooked! She looooves the Claypot!

Claypot fried mee sua @$4
this is really super!!

Claypot chicken rice @$4
much MUCH much better then chinatown's

Nanyang Old Coffee's Iced tea and Milo
@$1.20/each
the taste is average, only comes packaged nicely

We also saw some mobile adverts outside the MRT station. Quite silly don't you think?

Then we popped by Lido to watch "Cloudy with a chance of meatballs" in 3D, costing $10/tix. The movie is chock full of silly antics with the usual underlying morals highly suitable for children and adults alike.

And I spent the evening making some cards to express a little thanks to the people that have guided and selflessly protected us through all this while.

Updates

Last week brought on a series of activities to fulfill. Firstly, we had to attend the orientation over in school, where we met our soon-to-be lecturer in-charge and course mates.

Strolling back into school brought fond memories as the regular convenience stores and cheap food loomed into horizon. I also noticed many renovation and new additions in the food department as the central court gave way to new stalls and pushcarts.

We managed to spot a few familiar faces amongst the sea of people over in the lecture hall along which brought whispers of gossip as people eyeballed each other’s dress sense and shoulders parading branded bags.

Students looked trendier compared to the past, as they strutted about in tediously styled locks and micro mini dresses, more becoming in the streets of Orchard rather then in campus. If they put in half the effort of dressing up in their studies, I bet they’d all be able to attain merits!

In the evening, we went to our company’s annual dinner and dance. Our table, determined to rebel against this year’s theme of rainbow colors, wore mostly black.

Once again, the food was mediocre. And like clockwork tradition, we pimped out the merlion! This time with strands of jellyfish hair and half a cherry tomato. Quite reggae don’t you think?

The highlight of the evening must have been the emcee blatantly announcing a particular senior ward manager as “aunty” repeatedly as she vied to win the hula hoop contest. Decked out in a skin tight chilli red dress showing off all the wrong curves, I felt my eyes explode into flames as her paunch gyrated to the music.

my eyes! oh.. how they burn!

We even had MJ and a tranny!

and Cheers to the people who made it all special..

The finale!