in thoughts...

tried the surveyor job today. think i'm too shy. haha. find it very hard to approach people to do survey. someone still have to find a certain target group, certain age, then must look like someone i can trust my money with. eh. a bit the hard lah. or maybe my location not good. either see really young ah-bengish people (let you handle my $$? no way..) or old people (which on the survey form dun even have category for them to tick)

but anyway i really completed a pathetic number of survey forms. and ending up chatting with 2 of the people i surveyed while they were waiting for their bus. HMM.. one went overseas to do her degree and masters, and said that it's good to do it overseas. the other one told me he went overseas cos he flunked his chinese, but told me that education here heavily subsidized, very good. HAHA.

was quite an interesting day talking to these people anyway. still i'm not gonna hit the quota if i keep talking to people like that. sheesh. i think i'll stick to tuition. haha.

now i know why people take so long in fitting rooms. especially when they shop alone. if you have someone with you it's another opinion of "Nice!" or "NO, don't think you should get that one." Speeds up the process. And that's useful when the apparel is EXPENSIVE. so if they're alone they tend to keep looking to see how it looks on them, to either convince themself to buy or to put it back on the racks. or they sms or call their friend to get opinions.

hah. that was me. damn it.

***

was in the queue to try on the clothes yesterday. there was this cutest and prettiest little girl (looks about 5 years old) and she was crawling around under the racks of clothes beside the queue. had really big bright eyes and nice dark brown hair. so her mum was calling out to her to get her to stand up. her mum was in the queue too, about 2 people behind.

so i went into one of the fitting cubicles (which in wisma isetan, is separated by curtains that don't touch the ground, they end about 15cm from the ground). it happened that the girl's mum went into the cubicle beside me and the little girl went in with her. so i could see her shoes as she moved into the cubicle. then she got down on all fours (as i saw her hands too) and she was crawling towards my cubicle (could see the shape of her head against the curtain and her hands and shoes all coming my way). and the CUTEST thing? She started getting hiccups. haha. damn funny. so i saw little hands and little shoes and heard cute little hiccups. and the mom was telling her "hey dun open the curtain, dear!"

i'm so bored... :( checking mail...

What is Marketing

You see a gorgeous girl at a party.
You go up to her and say,
"I am very rich. Marry me!"
That's Direct Marketing.

You're at a party with a bunch of friends and see a gorgeous girl.
One of your friends goes up to her and pointing at you says,
"He's very rich. Marry him."
That's Advertising.

You see a gorgeous girl at a party.
You go up to her and get her telephone number.
The next day you call and say,
"Hi, I'm very rich. Marry me."
That's Telemarketing.

You're at a party and see a gorgeous girl.
You get up and straighten your tie; you walk up to her and pour her a drink.
You open the door for her, pick up her bag after she drops it, offer her a ride, and then say,
"By the way, I'm very rich "Will you marry me?"
That's Public Relations.

You're at a party and see a gorgeous girl. She walks up to you and says,
"You are very rich, I want to marry you."
That's Brand Recognition.

You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and say,
"I'm rich. Marry me!"
She gives you a nice hard slap on your face.
That's Customer Feedback.

tuition with B yesterday. hah. joker. we were doing science halfway and he started singing.

B: *sings* 小小 Ahmad bo cheng sa kor (没穿衣裤) 来到新加坡(pronounced sing ka por)
看见别人在洗澡他就想摸一摸...
me: eee... how come your song so perverted one?
B: *beams proudly* my friend teach me one.. hey teacher Joanna, what is "bo cheng sa kor"?
me: *super amused* You dunno what you're singing and you sing until so happy??!!

hmmm just went random blog-reading through links again and saw this song lyrics twice. one blog had the song playing in the background, a version by LeAnn Rimes. Shall just post.

The Rose

Some say love, it is a river that drowns the tender reed.
Some say love, it is a razor that leaves your soul to bleed.
Some say love, it is a hunger, an endless aching need.
I say love, it is a flower, and you it's only seed.

It's the heart, afraid of breaking, that never learns to dance
It's the dream, afraid of waking, that never takes a chance.
It's the one who won't be taken, who cannot seem to give.
And the soul, afraid of dyin', that never learns to live.

When the night has been too lonely, and the road has been too long,
And you think that love is only for the lucky and the strong,
Just remember in the winter far beneath the bitter snows,
Lies the seed, that with the sun's love, in the spring becomes
The Rose.

Rafael. You're most like the ArchAngel of Healing.
You want people to shape up, and you nag. But
you mean well, and you're well loved despite
it. Or because of it. You bring the donuts
even as you tell people to eat more veggies.


Which ArchAngel are you most like?
brought to you by Quizilla

my goodness. i'm quite tired. haha. 2 hours plus of kayaking today felt like my whole 2 days of one star course. haha.

well considering that i capsized twice, haha, it's really not much wonder that i'm tired. sheesh, i prefer doing rescue much more than being the one rescued. haha. feel so helpless just floating around there.

and i think next time i rather have a couple of difficult launches than launch with my kayak half full of water, since i'd capsize just a while later anyway. i turned back to head for shore but changed my mind in the end and just headed out. haha. now i know what that skill our instructor taught at the very last part of 2nd day was for. he said it's not for one star, and we didn't practise much - trying to prevent capsize with either a low press down of paddles, or the one where you lock your arms tight to your body and paddles high near shoulders. that's when water level's much higher. it felt damn silly practising that in low calm waters. but today's waters, wah lau, i think it would have been put to good use.

anyway i capsized and was just floating around with my kayak. and i just felt for a moment, hey, this is how i feel now. my life. helpless. being pushed around. having aim but UNABLE to reach it. waiting for help. and feeling alone. my goodness i think i waited damn long before rescue came cos all of them had difficulty launching. haha. just damn glad to see shiyun coming my way. at first thought no one saw my paddle up. haha. for a moment i wondered if i would float out to sea, like really out. haha. stupid me. never mind. cos when the waves really go up and down i can't even see shiyun and XT's kayaks.and i seriously wondered if they could see me. and san mao is my hero for the day. haha. :)

How to make a infeeneetee

Ingredients: 3 parts success 5 parts self-sufficiency 5 parts empathy

Method: Add to a cocktail shaker and mix vigorously. Add a little cocktail umbrella and a dash of lustfulness

just got something from zhen through snail mail. *smiles*

let's just say it's sweet, extremely appropriate and timely. and i just love to get snail mail. so there.

thanks babe! somehow you knew when i needed you. :)

了解 - 孙燕姿

作词：易家扬　作曲：凌伟文

等于结束的爱情　我和你　从两个窗口看出去
往事远远地　演着一场无声的电影　没人注意

躲着回忆的生体　带领我　和你的名字向前进
作废的曾经　留在离开你那天　挥不去

因为太了解　所以很伤心　没有你只好听着风的呼吸
却有种叫做时间的东西　说没问题　最后我们会痊愈

因为太了解　我无法坚定　这一次会要掉眼泪的决定
有些遗憾只能一个人听　很对不起　我还是珍惜　所有的事情

本来说跟我拥有同一个目标，为何做的和说的却截然不同？
你说你已经忍了很久，现在真的不顾一切。
我又何尝不想抛开一切，我也累了。
可是要我狠下心来，做到和你一样， 我做不到。
我不忍心。我还想努力，我还不想放弃。
我没有叫你和我一起作战。
既然你已经绝望，我也没办法。
但最低限度，你不要把别人的努力作费。

i'm tired.
i think i need to sit somewhere and cry.
i feel like a kid who was given a toy that i've been wanting, but told i've to share with other kids. Not a problem, i dun mind sharing, more people might just make it more fun.
and now the other children are tearing the toy apart.

and ladies and gentlemen,

i'm sunburnt again. haha. i'm bloody lobster red now. i just never learn what sunblock is for huh.

went RDA for the Sunday Funday with XL.

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO many cute angmoh kids!!!!!!!!! Aud should have been there... haha..

at first both of us were tending the golf game - those small golf sets - 5 shots for $1. when it gets busy, it really gets busy. haha. i think kids are like that; they see people playing, they'll want to play too. then it was lunchtime, we let the boys go for lunch, so XL stayed at the golf game while i went over to tend the stall for "Ring A Bull" - throw hoops into 2 short sticks that stick out from a picture of a bull.

and the boys were gone for lunch for so bloody long that i think i was seeing white from feeling faint from the BLASTING SUN. then J asked if i wanted to throw wet sponges while he stood behind those funny boards with holes at where your head and hands are to be. and i was so desperate to get water over my head that i told him, "I WANT TO GET HIT WITH WATER ON MY HEAD!"

and of course he was happy to oblige. :) That guy gave quite a few direct hits on my face. bloody good shot. but the water felt like lifesaver lah, so i'm not complaining. so when i was feeling better, of course must have my revenge. HEH. but i'm a lousy shot lah. damn.

but he's very game to get hit. haha. and he's very good with the kids. they had real fun trying to hit him. haha. and he'll try to 暗算 me and XL by trying to throw at us when we don't notice. and he really very 不客气 to pour water over my head, even used the dirty sponge wipe my face, still dare to say it's senior-junior bonding. HAHA. EEEDIOT. so of course i gave him a nice dirty water face wipe too, just for reciprocation. but hey, really saw a couple of seniors from J's batch - ZW and HM, and also saw a couple of juniors from the '02 batch :)

oh and there was this group of kids speaking German, so when one of them came to play again with hoops when i was tending the stall, i asked him "Noch einmal?" and he said "Ja." most naturally. :) Noch einmal means one more time.

and the young angmoh kids are so game for everything. they actually quite enjoy getting hit by the wet sponges too. haha. and their parents are really game too, to get hit by their little boys and girls with the sponges. :) and it's really nice to see how they dish out encouragement generously when their kids are trying.. "good try!" "Close one!" "Almost there!" "Nice shot!"

another look at possible parenting styles. :)

oh my gosh. they're playing 20.30.40 on 93.3

suddenly reminded of Yizhen, and all the stayovers we had in Ext A, all the singing while drifting off to sleep.

miss you babe.

Would you survive a horror movie? Find out @ She's Crafty

went to LY's place yesterday to do some catching up with 3 of them - LY, XL & Ting. Almost couldn't get out of the house cos it was raining so heavily and my mum din want me out of the house with all my fever,sore throat, cough and running nose.. haha..

but LY offered to drive over to get me, so all 3 of them came over to get me. :) so touched. hee.

anyway LY revamped her room... looks really nice and girly now cos it's quite quite pink.. haha...

and we sat down and talked and talked and talked. and i must say LY has been damn tight-lipped all this while about her boyfriend - kept us in the dark for so long. Anyway i've ALWAYS wondered how her boyfriend will be like, cos i always thought she'd make a perfect girlfriend, cos she's such an angel... but anyway turns out that she makes quite a different kind of girlfriend from what i expected..:) interesting...

which makes me wonder how XL will be as a girlfriend too.. haha... ;)

Ting shared many many moments with us - just had her first year anniversary couple of days back.. and my goodness, how time flies... so fast and it's been one year for her and her guy already..and i must say it was really sweet - the surprise she planned for her guy.. :)

waiting for steph to get back before we have another talk talk session together..:)

be sorted @ nimbo.net

Hey folks..
Riding for the Disabled Association (RDA) is having a fund-raising funfair thing this Sunday 13 June on its own grounds. My senior is in charge of games and needs people to help run the game stalls. Anyone game?

basically, some background info:
RDA "provides free, therapeutic horse riding lessons to children and adults with disabilities from all over Singapore."

can go explore the website for more info about them.

the Sunday Funday itself is from 10am to 5pm, you don't have to be there the whole day if you can't.. and if you wanna take a look at the horses and ponies during less crowded times it can be arranged too. :)

let me know if you're interested to help out, thanks!

went to watch yesterday night with my sis. it's really not as good as the previous two. for a movie that's got a title saying "prisoner of azkaban", there's very little character development on that prisoner guy. and the story itself doesn't seem so impressive to me. and i still dun get it - who was the female voice screaming "Harry" when he first saw the Dementor on the train??

and the Dementors reminded me of the Dark Riders of LOTR. no good no good. like not very original.

Dumbledore changed actor - and you can really tell the difference - this Dumbledore speaks with much more strength. :)And this Dumbledore's got more spirit in his eyes - seems slightly "naughtier" in a way..

oh and there was this SUPER CUTE infant sitting in front of me, carried by her mom. :) very pretty and sweet looking girl.

and a not so sweet girl sitting diagonally behind me who answered her phone during the show and happily had a conversation for about 5 minutes. Duh... "I'm watching a movie.. harry potter loh...*slightly louder* harry potter..with my mum... *slightly loudly* with my mum... you call me for what? *pause* is it? got meh?" and so on and so on. sheesh.

woke up much earlier than usual this morning cos my nose was leaking badly. and had enough sleep i guess - went to bed much earlier than usual last night.

anyway woke up and felt like watching "Minority Report". Not really sure why, maybe because watching Tom Cruise in Last Samurai made me think of him in Minority Report.

this isn't the first time i'm watching Minority Report, but i'm still amazed by the story. it's one of those movies that i love for the "woah" factor - with concepts that set you thinking, in ways you never considered. The Sixth Sense is another one.

anyway. Minority Report. Set in the future, where the police, with the aid of technology and "Pre-Cognitives" can foresee murders - premeditated or on the spur of the moment. Difference is that premeditated murders give the police much more time to track down and prevent the murder. The department is given the name Pre-crime.

and thus the question comes - if i want to murder someone, and you stop me from doing it(say just before i strike the fatal blow), ie I din kill that someone, am i still considered a murderer?

Tom Cruise's character, John Anderton explains to Witwer by rowing a ball across the table, which Witwer caught as it dropped off the table.
Anderton: why did you catch it?
Witwer: it was going to fall.

therefore - same analogy - the ball was going to fall - the murders will take place; Pre-crime seeks to arrest these murderers even before they attack, thus preventing the murders. All these is fine until Anderton sees the incoming case - a premeditated murder of Leo Crow, and the murderer is Anderton himself. And this is weird because Anderton doesn't even know this man, but according to the Pre-Cogs he'll kill this man in about 3 days. And thus begins his great escape, and his search to solve the mystery.

I suppose what's wonderful about the story is how it creates this tension, between knowing what's supposed to happen (somewhat like your destiny) and whether you choose to live out that supposed destiny, or defy it. When Anderton was at the hotel where the murder was supposed to take place (at this point he still doesn't know who Leo is), Agatha asked him to leave this place, but Anderton said he has to find out what happens. When Anderton was about to shoot Leo Crow, Agatha (one of the Pre-Cogs that he had with him) kept telling him that he has a choice not to kill. And the greatest irony of this part was that Anderton decided not to kill Crow, but Crow just pulled the gun Anderton was holding towards him, and just pulled the trigger. It's as if a man can't change his destiny, even though he makes a decision to.

but if you look at the story as it develops, you find another messages.

1. That for perfect systems, no matter how perfect, can still have loopholes, which humans will no doubt abuse. When Witwer was at Pre-Crime, he said he was looking for flaws - Anderton replied that the system is perfect. Witwer said that any flaw would be human. and BINGO. True enough.

2. The truth will come out, sooner or later.

3. And yes, i think the take-home message is that sometimes you feel like you can't change destiny, but always remember, you still have a choice, and your choices will affect your destiny, in ways that we cannot foresee, but it will take place.

brother borrowed dvd from his friend. asked me to check it out. MY PLEASURE. :)As i was telling SY, sometimes i'm quite reluctant to watch certain movies when they're showing it in theatres, cos if it's a good show and something my brother will watch, i'm quite quite sure he'd get it soon. so i save money. :)Unless i really really like the show, and cannot bear not to watch it when it comes out, otherwise i'll just wait for my brother to buy it. And the great thing about dvd he buys - comes with extra features, behind the scenes etc. The Last Samurai came with a FULL commentary by either the director/producer - so they're showing the movie while he comments on the movie, the characters, the plot development, the actors AS you see the movie on the screen.

So i watched the movie once last night, watched the fighting scenes again this morning, followed by the full commentary. Two and a half times. And yes my goodness, it is a good movie. when you listen to the commentary you really get a glimpse of how much effort and thought went into each scene. The subtle little bits you didn't really get.

my favourite lines of all:
Katsumoto: You think a man can change his destiny?
Algren: I think a man does what he can, until his destiny is revealed to him.

beautiful.

Ken Watanabe is wonderful. He's just got that magnificent look about him, the way he carries himself as the character, the English he just picked up but spoke rather well. Particularly liked the contrast of the various sides of the character that he brought out - as the lord of the samurai, as father to Nobutada(the scene where his son dies, just watch the emotions on his face), as "servant" yet "teacher" to the Emperor, as equal with Algren... the multitudes of that, all brought out beautifully by Watanabe...I thought the character was wonderfully charming as well. The way he could be an all-powerful samurai lord, yet he acted in the kabuki play, making people in his son's village laugh.

The guy who played Ujio is great as well. Realized that he was the guy who acted as the father of the boy in The Ring. Yes, the first & original movie. not the spin-offs. well i dunno if he acted in the spinoffs and sequels, but i remember his face from the movie. and he's great. The character is no nonsense, tough and steady. The way he fought in that last battle, you really see that never-say-die spirit in his character. And his undying allegience to Katsumoto. The way he moves with the sword is a pleasure to watch - apparently the actor himself practises martial arts, and in the commentary it was said that he's almost like Japan's Tom Cruise - he had had a great many leading roles, but he agreed to be casted as a smaller character in this show, because he believed in what the character was about. :)

thought that Katsumoto spared Algren's life in the first scene where they met because he was impressed with his fighting spirit. Not really so. It was because he had seen the white tiger in his meditations or something, and at the moment when Algren was desperately fighting the samurai which outnumbered him, he happened to be holding the samurai's flag as a weapon - the flag was blue, with a white tiger painted on it. Katsumoto believed that Algren was destined to play an important part, and therefore spared his life. got this from the commentary.

and the fighting bits. to see dead men on dead men - Japanese in samurai outfits upon Japanese in new western army uniforms. And you realize that all battles are like this. the dead don't have any more differences. All the difference in skin colour, causes they fought for, weapons they held, whose side they were on - all blurred. it didn't matter anymore. and you wonder if there could have been another way, another way that didn't require people killing one another.

the part where the soldiers clad in western army uniform all knelt down and bowed to the dead samurais, was very moving. the guys holding the national flags and signal flags also lowered the flags ever so slightly - something subtle you might have missed, but it's my own observation, so i dunno if it was specifically supposed to be like that.

there. a very long entry again. actually still got more thoughts, but can't remember now.

and my brother just reminded me that it's anniversary of D-Day today.

i've got one large size bruise on my left thigh, near my knee, from cycling that day. It's now reddish-brown due to my efforts at rubbing it. Mosquito bit right in the middle of it. so now the bruise has a very peculiar "white" normal-skin colour spot in the sea of reddish-brown dead blood cells. interesting. you wanna get rid of your bruises quick, get the mosquitoes to help. ;)

went to east coast with Ali, D, WF, ST & HY and WF's fren, JY today.. was learning cycling... so must thank all of them for holding my bike at one point or another ;) and yes, my teachers D and HY... :) but still very unstable.. will keep at it... and try not to langa into you all... :)

was walking to bus stop with ST, WF and JY to go tuition after the cycling... WF was walking behind me and she commented that my leg still got dirt. i glanced back and thought, hmm, okie never mind, later then clean.

but realised afterward that other then one small smudge, the rest were bruises. damn. and now all of them are starting to 给我颜色看。ouchie. but it was still fun. haha... :)

let's do a sidetrack even before i start...

conversation with Mao and SY at dinner just now:
there are some things which we call not using their actual names (nouns) but rather, we call them by the most famous or common brand of that commodity. For instance, for diapers we may say "Pampers", for PDAs we may just say "Palm" or "Palmtop", for toothpaste we may say "Colgate" etc etc...

in any case, you just replace the noun with the famous brand when you say the sentence. Eg "Hey can i borrow your Colgate? Forgot to bring mine." instead of "Hey can i borrow your toothpaste? Forgot to bring mine." And the person hearing this sentence usually won't refute that sentence even if the brand he/she has is not Colgate, and will just pass the toothpaste over.

***
right. back to what i wanted to talk about.

was turning on the lights of my living room and thus facing the corridor when i suddenly realized that my mom's ang huey plant was growing very nicely. Now this is surprising because not so long ago it looked like it was gonna die anytime soon.

"咪啊，你的 ang huey 长到很美了leh!"
"是loh, 我给它吃 Panadol。"

Now anyone who has talked to my mum before, especially on the phone, will say that she likes to joke. If you call my home and i'm sleeping, my mum will say, "oh, 她在做猪" or if you call and i'm not home, she will say, "oh, 她失踪了"

so i thought she meant she gave the plant a plant type of medicine, but she just called it Panadol. In a way like what i sidetracked to talk about above - calling medicine by the most common type or brand - Panadol.

after a few retarded seconds i realized she looked quite serious.

"真的吃Panadol 啊? 我们吃那个啊?"
"是loh， 上次二姨的水梅生病也是吃Panadol好的。放在水里面，一天浇三次水。"

*blink blink*

like that also can. best.