what I think..

Greetings from Perth, Australia in the humble grounds of Acacia Hotel where the room's quite nice and the food's yesterday's. I'm currently using the internet station where it's actually $6 per hour per account..

The games so far had been not bad.. oh well.. at least we learnt something on the way. First game was against England and we lost 33-0. haha yeap. then the second game was after the opening ceremony, where the Australians were there to witness our massacre by the Aussie team themselves. we lost 31-1. that one goal by lynnette. wha after she scored that one goal, her head grew so big that she forgot that there's the rest of the game. heh. tsk tsk.. the most recent game was last night against Scotland - whom we're expected to win hands down cos they're considered the weakest team among the rest (besides us)..

anyway, my time's running out now.. gtg . will continue another time......

We're leaving tonight!

It's SO exciting. My adrenaline's up already. not really for this afternoon's IVP meet.. but for tonight's flight to Perth! I like going overseas..experiencing the new weather, see rare sights, encounter different cultures and accents.. so fun so fun. I wonder who I'm gonna room with. I'm ok with everybody lah..close to a few.. oh well, it's just that your room mate sometimes might determine how fun the rest of the trip will be.

Last night's movie screening of Memoirs of a Geisha went well..despite the initial hick-up.. We were supposed to meet at Cathay at 6pm. I finished lecture at 5.45, had to zoom home to pass my bro the van then take the car manage to zoom down by 6.30. Only Net was there. Oi came soon after and we were like, 'where's our room? where's everybody? where are the tickets? where are the brownies? the bags? where's su?' wha... this continued all the way till about 7 where panic legally sets in. But low and behold, as soon as everything came in, we were surprisingly quite efficient! one table did the cards, the other the cakes, and oi at another with the tix. haha.. lots of complication won't go into detail but end of the day it was ready by 8. not bad huh.

When the people came, haiyoh, they not happy with seats eh.. all say want to sit here ah, sit together ah, lost one ticket ah, too many tickets ah and what not. Tickets sold full house so we girls were not able to get seats and watch. But when Oi said, 'Hey guys, there're extra tickets cos some people didn't come' .. we were like 'YAYAYYY!!!' and we all got one ticket each and went to our respective seats..though all scattered all over. I was alone man.. hahah but by the time i wanted to move with the rest the lights dimmed and I didn't want to look like those late comers walking up and down looking for seats. But i'm not complaining. I sat between Sai Meng and Marcus and we were like, righhhht at the back. (note: Cathay's new cinemas 10-12 just opened, hint: BEST seats are the LAST row! not middle!) One's the Captain of the guys' team (left this morning), the other one (though not going) but was the one on the cover of Men's Health. haha.. teased him too. at least I wasn't between any old grannys/aunties or what.. So yay, manage to enjoy my movie nevertheless.

Anyway, I think I better keep packing.. after IVP no time to pack already.

See ya after the Games!

something I 'stole' Abel's blog - thanks man! hee..

I think this is so meaningful and true man.. just read it, and think about it.

C.H. Spurgeon's Morning Devotional
Thursday January 19, 2006
"I sought him, but I found him not."-Song of Solomon 3:1

Tell me where you lost the company of a Christ, and I will tell you the most likely place to find Him. Have you lost Christ in the closet by restraining prayer? Then it is there you must seek and find Him. Did you lose Christ by sin? You will find Christ in no other way but by the giving up of the sin, and seeking by the Holy Spirit to mortify the member in which the lust doth dwell. Did you lose Christ by neglecting the Scriptures? You must find Christ in the Scriptures. It is a true proverb, "Look for a thing where you dropped it, it is there." So look for Christ where you lost Him, for He has not gone away. But it is hard work to go back for Christ. Bunyan tells us, the pilgrim found the piece of the road back to the Arbour of Ease, where he lost his roll, the hardest he had ever travelled. Twenty miles onward is easier than to go one mile back for the lost evidence.

Take care, then, when you find your Master, to cling close to Him. But how is it you have lost Him? One would have thought you would never have parted with such a precious friend, whose presence is so sweet, whose words are so comforting, and whose company is so dear to you! How is it that you did not watch Him every moment for fear of losing sight of Him? Yet, since you have let Him go, what a mercy that you are seeking Him, even though you mournfully groan, "O that I knew where I might find Him!" Go on seeking, for it is dangerous to be without thy Lord. Without Christ you are like a sheep without its shepherd; like a tree without water at its roots; like a sere leaf in the tempest-not bound to the tree of life. With thine whole heart seek Him, and He will be found of thee: only give thyself thoroughly up to the search, and verily, thou shalt yet discover Him to thy joy and gladness.

been super busy lately yeap.

I've been 'avoiding' my blog for quite a while yea.. it's just too much to talk about.. Swimming IVP day, my sickness, the fund raising, our training sessions, my team mates, my module bidding, the module i'm taking/observing at NIE, the whole saga that led to me FINALLY getting all the modules that I want (that is seriously God's grace..), emails from universities here and there and endless contemplation on the option to stay for Honours.

I'm just gonna jump here and there and miss a few things.
I caught the flu during Singapore's winter fling period, plus I had been training twice a day before that, plus my mum was sick. yeap must have got it from her. then. wou, I can't train for a WEEK. that's was last week. now it's been a week i'm gonna go down - finally! - for a game tonight. argh. and we're leaving for Perth this weekend already. (for those of you who have been following, Commonwealth Games is actually in Melbourne this March. This one we're going for is actually the Commonwealth Championships, an adjunct of the Games).

I've been sending emails back and forth with the NUS office admin and I really want to thank the lady who was helping me solve me appeal cases. She's been so patient with my requests man.. I was like, ' oh can i get this module and this module pls? cos i wanna graduate. oh i heard spaces are opening up for this module, but for the other one, can help me get in pls? oh no spaces? oh I've got a friend who wants to drop it, can i take her place? oh now you're giving me another module? er, nah, can i have this other one instead? oh hey my friend has dropped the module! can i have back that module again? oh great thanks!'

I probably sounded like.. haha.. she probably was complaining behind her desk what a demanding person i was.. haha. but anyways, i'm really thankful for the outcome.

waterpolo trainings. sigh. sometimes i feel as if the team hates me. sometimes i feel as if the team needs me. sometimes, i'm just numb. I dunno i'm just gonna play the best i can (singapore sports fan, I'm one of the goalkeepers by the way, i can't not play for the Commonwealth. =) )

anyway, I'm getting quite dry now.. blogging - as i expected - might be just a phase if driven by superficial inspirations. I think it's time I wrote stuff that are more indepth.. maybe less about myself too.

Memoirs of a Geisha Movie Screening

Hi all readers (yes singapore sports fan, that includes you), YES we girls are going for the Commonwealth Games and we're actually leaving this weekend (right after swimming IVP)!

However we are unable to secure funds for the trip hence we're having a private movie screening of "Memoirs of a Geisha" this friday. Tickets are selling at $50, $150 and $200. You can contact me ASAP if you wish to supports us in this event. Thank you.

Happy New Year.

heh yeah I know I'm about 5 days late but happy new year to all anyway and hope this year, new miracles and life can only get better for you guys.

Celebration was quite MEMORABLE. Kenley and I almost past the new year in a BUS. haha.. we were only our way to the Esplanade to catch the fireworks..Kenley wanted to see that very much cos it was really magnificent and beautiful (according to him) and so I was quite interested to catch that too. While on the bus still, with NO TV mobile (how sway can we get?!) I was quite upset when it was nearing 12 (such moments mean quite a bit to me) and Kenley couldn't take my whining (haha.. and I think I looked in quite a bad shape) and got us out of the bus wherevere we were (PS that is) just 3 mins before countdown. We were just walking about less than 10 steps and we could hear the surrounding people starting to cheer. Then I was like, 'Oh great! Happy new year! OK we can go back on our way to Esplanade again..' haha. But we manage to catch the fireworks from a distance while we walked from PS to Esplanade. Wha.. damn crowded man. We manage to walk all the way to the river, just the two of us.. quite tiring.. the both of us were tired to start off with.. But we succumbed to our physiological demands and took the train home. hah. We both were gone the moment we reached home. At least we caught the fireworks.

After the new year's day, I was obviously busy with lots of stuff like trainings, parties, module bidding, trainings, module biddings and trainings and module biddings.

So far, i've only got ONE module.. yeah, after all that, i've only managed to get ONE .. it's already round 2B.. I'm not getting the modules that I want just cos I've not enough of the bidding points to start off with. People think that this bidding system is fair, cos depending on how much you want that module, you put that amount of bid points that you can afford. But you see, if you have not enough points cos you used them for various modules on the previous semesters. It's like, why should a student be deprived of the modules that interest him/her so much, AND, which, by the way, are of paramount importance in future studies should that student want to further in that particular major?

Yes I'm talking about my situation. Currently I can't get two particular modules that are really useful and good for my future studies in psychology and I can't get them just because of this rigid, stringent system of numerics, coated with a layer of the code of conduct as cultivated in the academic society in this country of being, what we call 'kiasu' (afraid to lose)... so basically, whoever spoils the market first, wins. And those who truthfully want that certain module but can't afford it, lose out.

Now i'm just waiting for next week to come cos it's the week of 'trial' where students go for the first lecture of their modules and can decide to drop it if they do not want it. So yeah, I'm hopeful.

Arghh.. It's just so exasperating. So frustrating. So (as usual) stressful.

Maybe there's no need to be so hard-up on this after all. Maybe I can get it by appealing. There's always CORShelp. There's always the hotline. There's always emails. There's always the sincere effort to go down personally to ask.

Yea so I've got options. Best thing is, I think I'm not gonna stay for honours. I wanna graduate. People might say, 'goodness, why the hurry to start work? why not get that title?' For me, I've got my reasons, I guess. Yea it used to be my dream of having that '(Hons)' at the back of my 'B.Soc.Sci. Psychology'. But if I'm aiming for something higher, this '(Hons)' shouldn't matter.. It's like, if I'm gonna get an A' Level certificate in the end, the O' Level cert might not be necessary anymore. And *poof* schools like RGS and ACS(I) - ('I' that stands for 'International') - have a separate program for students who proceed straight to doing their A's.

I dunno if that's a good analogy, but you see my point. I HAVE to attain a higher degree in order to practice Psychology in S'pore. Since I know I already can't make it for both first and second upper class in honours, I'm not gonna waste any time. I'm not really hard up with the extra inital salary that I can command plainly with a honour's degree. It's merely about $200-$300 difference compared to a non-honour's grad. If I spend that one year pursuing my honour's degree working, I think I can earn more in one year than when the honour's grad comes out.

No hard feelings but this is just my plan. Of course, getting an honour's degree is best - it's our only chance! But looking at my chances and my options, I think this is my possible route. No confirms yet, just thinking .. thinking quite seriously..