i can't get enough of you baby...

yes it's true... baby yes it's tru-ue...


Josh is coming to spend the next few days with me so please excuse me for being MIA (online, answering e-mails, meeting up...) since i have absolutely no idea when i will next get to see him (it could even be as far away as Christmas).

i will be "back" on Monday.

driving lesson anecdotes a.k.a. words of wisdom from the driving instructor

"your tester is an old man, probably in his 50s. he needs to be reassured that you are a safe driver because if he is not, he will not want to pass you. remember - he probably has a weak heart."

"erm, your left blind spot ah, is virtually non-existent (translation: you hardly check your left blind spot) and your tester sits on the left so he will notice it more. and it's harder for girls with ponytails? do you know why? because when you turn your head your ponytail will flick so if he doesn't see a flick from the corner of his eyes he will know you didn't check."

"why are you in such a rush to get through the course? the slower you take, the less things you have to do to fill up the 40min test time so you should go slow. then you will have less chance of losing points."

"sorry if it seems like i am dosing off. because i am. but your driving is pretty safe so good for me lor."

"remember, it's all about wayang... give the tester the impression that you are a safe driver... although you SHOULD also be a safe driver, not just act it."

oh what a beautiful day!

woke up to a lovely surprise today - Josh made a surprise visit to my house! see, he's en route to KL from London and had a 5 hour transit. complication was that i had already booked my driving lessons and could not cancel so we figured, nevermind, i'll see him when i do on Wednesday.

but he decided to get out of the airport and catch a cab to my place early in the morning simply to say "hi". and on the cab to my place he was getting worried i might have left for my driving lesson already (thank goodness i am the queen of maximising sleep time - and only wake up at the latest time possible).

despite only having half an hour together, it was very worth it! :)

oh and to top that all off, Bob Fitts led worship today - and there was extended praise and worship after the benediction since it was the last service of the day. wheee!

it's so bad it's good!

i feel like a total junkie now.

Moon lent me the ENTIRE series of Gilmore Girls. ENTIRE. SERIES.

it's like caffeine. administered via IV.

and i have a 3 1/2 hr driving lesson tomorrow morning.

like Lorelai would say, "COFFEEEEEEEEE..."

All around the world, let the praise begin

there's something very exciting knowing that you've got a prayer buddy halfway around the world and that you are both standing in faith together on matters close to your heart.

this week i was reminded that in all things, God will provide and that thought is enough to keep us going strong through the tough times.

Earworms

Main Entry:	earworm2
Part of Speech:	n
Definition:	a song or tune that gets stuck in one's mind and repeats as if on a tape; also written ear-worm, ear worm; also called cognitive itch, sticky tune

earworm for the day was 'Somewhere' from West Side Story - somehow my dreams seem to have a soundtrack and last night, it was 'Somewhere' and everything looked blurrily Technicolour-ish. sort of like in the film where all the colours were so rich and seemed to bleed into each other.

and speaking of earworms and dreams, i realised i havent mentioned any of my weird dreams recently. the oddest in recent memory has got the works (not to mention the very random pop culture references)! let's just say that there was Stephen Collins (as Rev. Eric Camden from Seventh Heaven), Swan Lake on Ice, Amy Winehouse (?!? - exactly what i was thinking when she popped up in my dream) and some very Paris Geller-esque behaviour (references to Harvard included). and soundtrack for that? 'When the Doves Cry' (version by Quindon Traver).

ah but perhaps the weirdest earworm this week must be 'Count on me Singapore'. i rest my case...

i am amused at all this talk in the air

about weddings, ever since word got out that someone got engaged. (congrats again!).

there's a buzz of excitement and wistful sighs once the story is repeated to the umpteenth person.

makes you feel a tad old but very grown-up indeed!

people watching on the train

a while ago i was on my way home from a driving lesson and sitting across from me was a teenager/boy in his early 20s who was solving the Rubik's Cube. and not like normal people do but in a puzzle-wizard sort of way. like speed-Rubik's-Cubing. amazing! (and i feel it was totally justifiable to be staring!) He was twisting the cubes randomly about 10 times and took only about 15 seconds to solve it. once in a while when he got stuck, he'd look at the pattern intensely and miraculously figure out what previous step he did wrong so that 1-2-3 rotations later, the colours all lined up.

GEEK!

yesterday on the way to work i was standing next to a lady reading a guide book on Paris. ahh... i was completely reading over her shoulder (alas! she was tall. but she was holding up her book pretty high - perhaps to show off that she was possibly travelling to Paris in the near future?). looking at pictures of gay Paris (no, not that kind of gay! it's the phrase commonly used to describe Paris - very Hollywood...), i imagined myself back there, and reminiscing about the good times spent wandering the streets of Paris (and lounging in the gardens, browsing the museums) made the journey to work so much shorter.

Oh how clever

when i was a student in the UK, i applied for tax-relief on the interest paid by my bank to me. every once in a while they send me a form that i have to complete (which includes a section that i have to fill regarding the number of taxable days i physically spent in the UK in the past few tax years) for them to verify that i am still eligible for it.

i recently received this form again. clever me made a note the last time to save all my calculations somewhere since every time i get the form i end up manually counting the days (it gets tiresome, especially since i travelled a fair bit). however, the not-so-clever part of me forgot where i saved my calculations. i spent quite a bit of time searching all my hard-drives for the document (frustration set in after 5 mins) to find nothing. good thing i spoke to Josh (to check if i had saved it on his desktop) because he remembered that i had posted it on my previous blog so that i wouldnt lose the file/info.

genius me, oh what a genius.

so now the form is filled and will be posted tomorrow! all for the sake of a few more pounds...

By faith, I declare the year ahead blessed

'Free' by Hillsong United
From the album 'To The Ends Of The Earth'

Would you believe me if I said
that we are the ones who can make the change
in the world today?
Would you believe me if i said
that all of your dreams in your heart
can come true today?
Would you believe me if i said
that life could be all that you want it to be today?

Chorus
And if had wings I would fly
'cause all that I need, You are
And if the world caved in around me
to You I'd still hold on
'Cause You're all that I believe
and the one that created me
Jesus, because of You
I'm free


Would you believe me if I said
that God can make miracles happen today?
Would you believe me if I said
that you don't need to wait for the answers before
you step out in faith?
Would you believe me if I said
that nothing is ever impossible for God?

Bridge
Just live your life with God inside
you won't regret one moment of it
and give all that you can for God
For God

Ice Kachang reprise

the past few days, i've found myself having lots of ice kachang (blame it on the weather and my family's choice of food for meals). and everytime my parents suggest we go for ice kachang, the song (lyrics have been previously posted) pops into my head, and i start to sing it to myself, much to the partial amusement of my mom.

it's catchy, it's funny - i'm spreading the joy!

how do you explain the concept of happiness?

over coffee today, R talked about how there is nothing really to be happy about, that success only brings feelings of relief that you've not failed.

i disagreed, saying that there are many things in life that he/people should be happy about, not just merely relieved for. his reply was "what then?". and it took me some time to answer that question. i guess i've never really thought about why i feel happy. i just feel it. there are so many things that make me happy. and happy as in 'brings a smile to my face' rather than 'not sad'. my answer was 'friends and family'. he said, 'but you can't choose family'. i replied, 'you can take steps to making things better'.

it amazes me how pessimistic and disillusioned with life a young person can be. or maybe i'm one of the abnormal ones. i'm happy with my life. genuinely happy. i've got a great family (and even though they may annoy me at times, there's something warm about being with family), a boyfriend who wants to be with me even though he is miles away (thousands, actually), a job where i'm trusted with a reasonable amount of responsibility - a job i rather enjoy doing, friends who are quirky and loveable. life isnt perfect but hey, i dont need it to be perfect to be happy. in fact i like it the way it is, idiosyncratic and all.

'tis the season for giving

this year, my brother gave me a Coach key-holder. my immediate reaction was, "is it because i carry my keys on a mini swiss army knife key-chain?"

"it's a weapon you know!"

i stare at the key-holder. he looks at me and says, "i don't think your swiss army knife will be able to fit in it."

"oh." and i look crestfallen.

"i still haven't gotten you a present. what do you want?"

"right now i just want a tick-free dog."

"oh."


there are some things that money can't buy. for everything else, there's Mastercard?

isn't it funny that all Hollywood/TV portrayals of Santa Claus

have him sounding like Sean Connery? maybe that's where his real fortune comes from - vocal coach to all aspiring Santas!

like "The Sean Connery School For Santas" where they train current and new talent to sound like Sean Connery.

ironic really, since Sean Connery basically can't do any OTHER accent/voice...



Merry Christmas one and all!

i love how

RGS girls don't seem to limit themselves to Singapore.

at a reunion organised by 2 very connected people (i.e. they know/are still in contact with a lot of influential people to get the message passed around), it was pretty amusing how the conversation went:

"how are you? what are you doing now?"

"oh, i'm working now, doing PR."

"in Singapore? permanently?"

"yup, in Singapore. it's a permanent job."

"cool. do you see yourself going back to the UK or anywhere else anytime in the future?"


it felt good to see some old friends again. the sort that you can just strike up a conversation with and it feels like secondary school was just yesterday.

then again, there will always be the "cool gang" that hang out among themselves and even after all these years, things don't seem to change...

the power of music

Currently listening to: "Every Summer Night", The University of Warwick Big Band Live at Montreux Jazz Festival 2006

music has the amazing ability to bring a smile to your face, yet fill you with sadness.

listening to your playing helps me feel closer to you - if i close my eyes i can imagine being right there at one of your gigs and enjoying myself. yet when i open my eyes i realise i'm not. that you are still there and i am still here.

and somehow night there seems more magical,more inviting there than here. there's something about the cold wind, the not-so-bright lights, walking/sitting beside you in the car and watching the scenery go by...

driving in the fast lane

i have learnt several things about myself the past few weeks:

1) i like to speed.
2) i'm not afraid to accelerate quickly to overtake a slower-moving car in front of me.
3) i tend to make turns in 3rd gear.
4) i tend to make turns in 3rd gear and at speeds of 30-40km/h.
5) i tend to make turns in 3rd gear and at speeds of 30-40km/h without slowing down before entering the turning lane.
6) i am able to brake in time when travelling at 60km/h as the traffic light turns amber (while on a downward slope) and stop just behind the white line.

i wonder why my driving instructor asked me if i've driven a car before. he actually said, "erm, you don't drive like a learner".

Gee...

childhood TV memories

i just found out that the actor who played Cory Matthews on Boy Meets World is the younger brother of the actor who played Kevin Arnold (from The Wonder Years)!

then the memories of other TV shows i watched in my childhood flooded back - does anyone else remember any of these "classic" late 1980s-early 1990s sitcoms about American High School like Saved By The Bell, Parker Lewis Can't Lose or Teen Angel?

nostalgia is kicking in.

The Wonder Years

i caught an episode of The Wonder Years today that my mom taped for me due to hers and my curiosity (we'd heard of the title but never watched it before) and was emotionally blown away. it is a beautifully narrated and filmed series where Kevin Arnold, the youngest son of the Arnold family recounts memories/episodes from his childhood (aka Wonder Years).

the episode i watched was episode 13 (in season 2) titled 'Coda', where Arnold looks back at his childhood decision to give up playing the piano even though his teacher believed he had so much natural talent simply because he was afraid of failure. the lines were well-written, the acting so compelling (so much was said in between the lines through the eyes and body language of the actors) and i felt so overwhelmed at the end of the episode. i even think the episode got me right from the beginning in the opening lines:

When you're a little kid... you're a little bit of everything. Artist, scientist, athlete, scholar. Sometimes it seems like growing up is the process of giving those things up, one by one. I guess we all have one thing we regret giving up. One thing we really miss... that we gave up because we were too lazy... or we couldn't stick it out.

no wonder it (the episode) was nominated for an Emmy.

intrigued, i read up on the series and after going over the synopsis for the final episode, i felt a tinge of sadness, nostalgia even.

if only TV these days made you feel so engaged with the characters. but for now i'm definitely going to try and catch as many episodes as i can.

God bless reruns!

i would like to throw this question out to the virtual world...

how is it possible to get hooked on a drama set during the Warring States period about some feud between the Kingdoms of Chu and Han? (considering we all know that in history Qin comes and eats them all up sooner or later...)

i've asked this question to my Dad and brother who both seem to love this show on Channel U and basically (since I posed this to them in the middle of an episode), they were too absorbed in the fictional plot to provide me an answer.

then again before this they were hooked on that drama about the Qing emperors, which according to my brother, a History graduate, completely throws facts out of the window (albeit rice paper-lined. hur hur hur).