Day 5 (11 Dec '06)

First Stop: Leo Foo Village (六福村）
This is a place for the young and those young at heart. It is an amusement inclusive of a zoo. We visited the zoo section first, where we took a bus into the carnivour area which had tigers and lions roaming just beside the bus. There were no barriers other than the bus window and the monkeys liked us so much that one climbed onto the rooftop of the bus. It feels as if we were animals on exhibition, not sure whether it was us looking at the animals or the other way round. Then, we took a tram to visit the less dangerous animals. An amusement park wouldn’t be complete without rides. As we only had less than 3 hours to tour the whole park, we didn’t get to try all the rides. It was a pity that I didn't get to try the most thrilling one. Nevertheless, we still had great fun.

"get me out of here!!"





















getting ready for a roller coaster ride...












and up i go.. woohoo..












the child in us..


Next stop: Yehliu (野柳）
Another beauty for nature lovers - artistic display of natural rock formation. Let photos do the talking.


















wonders of nature..









this rock is cool..









beautiful scenery + 3 beauties + messy hair









now this is what i have to do when that spoilt brat refuses to wake up, and she's damn heavy can

Next stop: YangMingShan TienLai Hot Spring (阳明山天籁温泉）
My step to taitai-hood. I had a relaxing hour or so just lying in the warm waters which left all of us with a sulfuric smell. There were different pools sith varying temperature and aroma. Some were really very hot.

Night: Hsimenting (西门町）
More of window shopping. I still prefer the night markets.

Day 4 (10 Dec '06)

First stop: Hakka village (美浓客家村）
where we got to try the traditional lei tea, and viewed some of the traditional items like paper umbrella and other small accessories.









me and my sister

Next stop: “Five Cent Driftwood House”
Lunch was at “Five Cent Driftwood House”. The design of the building is very special, like a treehouse, the toilet too, even the toilet signs were so creative. And so were the furniture and utensil. Indeed a different dining experience.









Cool toilet sign right??

























Next stop: Sun Moon Lake
It is a lake in the middle of Taiwan and on top of the mountain. Very windy and cooling place. According to our tour guide, it is where the Ali Shan tribe is and the centre of the 921 earthquake, which reduced the number of residents from 2000 over to only 200 over. Almost al the buildings were destroyed. Really a catastrophe.















And the day ended with night market shopping again, this time at Fengjia market.

day 3 (9 Dec '06)

The day started with a sumptuous breakfast buffet. After that we travelled further South. Not much activities for the day.

First Stop: 85 Building
The main attraction was 85 building where we took a lift up to the 75th floor in 43 seconds and viewed Kaohsiung city. There was nothing much to see due to the haze.










They look like toy cars from above..




Next stop: Cijun Island (旗津岛）
Then, we took a ferry ride to Cijin island, where there was another temple, which we didn’t go in. Along the street there were vendors selling food. We saw an interesting stall selling flavoured fried corn. As we were waiting for the corn to be ready, we saw fireworks coming from behind the building and there were people lining out firecrackers. Before we knew it, the firecrackers were lighted and deafening cracking sounds filled the whole island. It was not a festival, merely the Kaohsiung and Taipei election day. Politics for outsiders is merely a show and form of entertainment.












I swear I was almost deaf after the never-ending fire crackers.




Our next stop for the day was suppose to be love river, which is a 20 minute boat ride in the river to look at the city. However, when we got there, there was already a long queue in front of us, and our tourguide told us we had to wait for about 2 hours. Being impatient shopaholics, most people chose shopping over cruising, and so, we went to the Kaohsiung night market. Although the night markets sell a lot of clothes and stuff, it wasn't the right reason to go as it was their winter now. But it's not cold at all.

Day 2 (8 Dec '06)

First stop: Chiufen (九份）
It is a street high up in the mountain and we did what we do best there – buy foodstuff. That was our first big bag of food to be brought home. We bought mochi, jelly and taro balls. Of course I didn’t forget to try out as much as possible, especially the mochi, so sweet and soft.













in front of the shop where we bought most of the food from.


Second stop :Nantien Temple (南天宫）
Centre of traditional religion of the locals - Mazhu. There is a statue made of pure gold.


Third stop: Taroko (太鲁阁峡谷）
After our abalone and lobster lunch, the bus traveled along the mountains to Taroko. The scenery along the road was beautiful. On the right was the mountain cliff and on the left was pacific ocean. The scenery at Taroko was even better, the whole mountain is made up of marble and there’s natural mineral water flowing down the mountain.



















getting ready to fill my waterbottle with those natural mineral water flowing down.


Next Stop: Ami Aboriginal Cultural Village (阿美文化村）
We watched a performance of traditional dance and songs by the aboriginal. Wasn't that spectacular but we (especially my little sister) still had fun dancing along.









Joining in the fun.


Dinner was buffet at Hualien Parkview hotel. Lots of good food, and the guilty me went for an hour jog on the treadmill in the hotel gym after that. And that was the only time I exercised during the whole journey.
Some random photos along the way:




















no wonder our noses are flat. haha










see the wide grin on her face. Lucky little girl

what a busy and exciting holiday and either blogger has been down or i haven't got down to blogging. so here's a recount of my holidays. Of course, the highlight was taiwan trip.

Day 1 (7 Dec '06)
Touched down at about 3pm in the afternoon and adventure begins. What can be a better way to start getting to know Taiwan other than food.

First stop: Tamshui Old Street (淡水老街）










fishball soup, which has meat (i think it was pork) inside










mini pink guava. i love this, it's soft and sweet and healthy










sunset at 5pm at Fisherman's wharf.

Second stop: Shihlin Night Market (士林夜市）

A trip to Taipei would be incomplete without a visit to Shihlin. As we only had about an hour and a half to explore the place and have dinner, we did not visit the shopping area. Our main focus was of course food.










the huge piece of authentic crispy Shihlin chicken, which I queued quite long for.










Real authentic Taiwan sausages. They are huge!!

food, shopping, fun, lots of fun, taiwan, here i come...

What a great day it is to slack at home. Last night I was still attempting to plan my day, whether I should go paddle, swim, gym, or do nothing. In the end, I slept most of my morning away, and did some packing of my room in the afternoon, dumped all the old notes and magazines to the storeroom. But my room is as messy as ever because I'm not done with packing yet, not to say to pack my luggage. Went out for a swim in the afternoon, but the shadows of the blocks covered the pool, nevertheless, it was still a good and relaxing swim, I could have gone on forever if not for the fact that it was getting dark and cold.
And I watched tv properly for the first time today since I moved to my current house. I think even my sister was laughing at me trying to figure out how to use the remote and which is which chanel. And if my bright pink nails is not good enough, make it two.









Baby bimbo wanted it too so she had a free and really express manicure.
And dad came home with this:











It's a series of vcds. Thank you dad for borrowing, but MY EXAMS ARE OVER!!!!!
By the way, I still prefer New Balance to Asics.

And I ran my third marathon yesterday. It was great, what else can I say? I went with the aim of creating a new personal best timing of hopefully less than 5 hours. And so I did, with a new record of 4h50min.
Although we reached there rather early, by the time we waited for everyone to arrive, queued up to deposit our bags at different queues and finally found everybody to get to the starting line, the horn had already gone off. So much of our attempt to start with the horn, quite impossible when you're with a large group of people. But due to the overwhelming number of participants, the crowd was still there and walking to the starting line 8 minutes after the horn. Ran the first 18km or so with my teammates, before going off alone for the whole east coast stretch. The first part was rather relaxinb and enjoyable, we still had energy to talk and joke along the way. The second part was lonely east coast. A test of mental power. But it wasn't too bad considering the fact that there were so many people running and there was a constant supply of water and 100plus, not forgetting the powergels that really works. Besides supporters with banners of encouragement, there was also live school band performing and a cheerleading group made up of primary school kids, they were so cute!! And when I thought I had to run the rest of the marathon alone, I had a new pacer. It wasn't planned, neither was it a coincidence, but it just so happens that I found myself running at the same pace as this guy and so we paced each other for the last 10km. having a pacer really made a difference, especially for the last part when my legs were so tired from the monotonous movement and every km seem so far away. Although we didn't speak or encourage each other, plus the fact that we didn't know each other at all, the fact that there's someone running along with you gives you the obligation to keep up, and it's always the case that you feel as if you are trying to follow the other person's pace and the other person thinks vice versa, so in the end both parties give each other a silent form of encouragement and push. It's tiring but good. I still don't know who was my kind pacer although we did thank each other after we crossed the finishing line. So, thank you stranger!!
This year adidas was smart enough to come up with the series of 'reasons to run' designs, and had tags for you to write your reason to run and pin it on the singlet during the marathon. It provided more of a form of entertainment than encouragement. The best one I saw was 'I may be slow, but I'm still in front of you' Nice try dude, though I did overtake you. And of course there were the elite runners who made it seem like a different country all together on the other side of the road. Genes do play a part. But this year I also saw very fit and old runners, and the visually-handicapped who was tied to the lead runner by means of an elastic band, and they were fast. It's these people that sends shivers down your body and impresses you with their ability to overcome the odds to encourage us that if they can do it, it's shouldn't be hard to us fortunate people to complete a marathon. And there was these 2 women dressed in spiderman and catwoman. cool. Not forgetting people trying to create public awareness. Last year was breast cancer, this year there was this environmentalist, dragging a box of 'rubbish' and trash cans, telling people to be more environmental friendly.
The weather couldn't have been better except for the slight drizzle around noon time, and I'm happy for my constant pace throughout the whole run.
You should have seen how unglam we were to limp and drag our feet to citylink for lunch at a snail pace, whining in pain as we walk down the stairs. What a sight.
Looking forward to marathon 2007, but the stress to do a better timing is piling up as the years go by...

someone drag me out of the house or destroy my laptop please cos i'm suppose to study!!!
and I was bored enough to search for my name on google and guess what I found???
http://www.geocities.com/class_6f/
OMG!!! I didn't know it existed!!!!! muahahahahaha

And so today I went for my last long run before the actual one next week. Well, it wasn't the best run I've had, but it was quite interesting for a Sunday morning jog. And I was only wearing contacts in one eye since I've decided to let my injured eye rest, and I will go totally blind without contacts. If you want a tan from running, and you think 6km is a good distance, try Pandan reservoir. It felt like eternity!! I should be thankful that the clouds are doing me a favour today if not it will be scorching and burning hot, and if I do get a heatstroke and faint, there will be noone to save me. And there was this stretch where some construction was going on, and I had to walk through the muddy ground and climb over the barrier. my poor pretty new shoes.... and I must say it was never my intention to go running at that desert-like place. The only reason why I ended up there was due to bad sense of direction. But it was really quite a good mental training. 6km of eternity. But overall still quite enjoyable. My sense of direction may be bad, but my estimation of time is still pretty good. So far, I've been able to make it back home by the stipulated time, means I don't have to take bus and stink up the bus. The best part is 2160 calories burnt!! ok, I think I ate it all back, but oh well, I hope there's no net gain. I wonder how many calories a marathon's going to burn. 3000? 4000? Now my toes feel squashed and my knees do ache especially walking down stairs. But at least I have 1 week to recover and hope I still can walk normally after 42km next week. So for the rest of the week, I think I'll just do some short distances and many cardio machines. Time to be tai tai again.
To people who think running is boring, here's a bit of my advice on how to make it more interesting and enjoyable. First is to get out of the gym and out of the track. What can be more boring than running on the same spot, or running round in circles? So, explore new places to run, or do it with company (be it your running buddy, or music), which I seldom do. And of course how can I forget my ultimate reason to run - run to a good place for breakfast (eg, Tiong Bahru market), or run to buy some chocolates..
Alright, I finally saw my doctor, nothing much apparently, just some inflammation, most probably due to wearing of contacts, which surprises me because I haven't been wearing contacts much these few days. Well, at least I have a peace of mind now..

This is pretty interesting, went to collect my standard chartered race pack today and was delighted to see that the bag is a nice gym bag and not a shoe bag, cos I already have 2 similar ones from the past 2 years. BUT..... the singlet is exactly the same as last year's, and when I got home I found 2 new free shoe bags from Shape magazine to add to my collection. I own 7 shoe bags now!! And did I say I won't go shopping till exams are over? Oh well, I just bought a super bimbo, but totally 'me' adidas shirt at the Sports expo today. So pretty and I love it!
Well, another interesting thing is that I was studying at Millenia Walk Starbucks until they chased people away cos it was booked for a private function, so I went to BK and found myself back at Starbucks for the private function. I am really turning into a pig. No exercise today, 2 starbucks drink, dinner at tonkinchi, lots of desserts and chocolates... So full!! Alright, no excuse, I am going to run it off tomorrow!!
Right, I am suppose to be studying for my last paper but here I am, blogging, msn-ing, and reading Shape magazine. Wow, a frozen margarita's 740 calories and long island tea's 780 calories. sure or not??
I'm scared now, having a headache despite having quite sufficient rest (at least more than what I used to have) and there seems to be something growing in my eye that's causing it to be red and dry and is affecting my vision. Feels like there's a layer of misty stuff covering my eyes. Ok, and the headache's on the left and it's my right eye that's affected. Ok, I'm really scared now.. Sigh, I wish it's nothing serious, well, I guess my body is telling me not to abuse it anymore. I always think I'm still young and healthy and my immune system is fantastic, that's why I can afford not to take care of it. Ok, my new resolution is to love my body, sleep well, eat well, exercise well.

Till I bother changing a new skin, I shall at least get my tagboard back.
So there it is, back, and hopefully to stay.. I wonder who reads my blog, but do drop a message if you do...

It feels like exams are over and it certainly feels good, but THEY ARE NOT!!!!!!!!!!!
yesterday I had 6 hours of uninterupted sleep, I think I was like a log on my bed (yes, no longer on the chair), switched off 1 of the alarms I didn't hear the other 2 at all. Woke up on my own for breakfast (yay, mom bought chunky peanut butter!), read newspapers, went back to my room, get changed and flip through my desesrt cookbook (haha, feel like making some desserts..) then going out for a run. Other than the bad air along the roads and the foul smell from the drain, it was a great run!! comfortable pace, fantastic weather, and a new route. Then went to the gym at my house for a bit of arms workout, then went back home to play with my lovely little gym ball. Wow, what a fruitful morning, and it was only 10 plus when I finished my morning workout. Really feels like holiday. Ok, the only useful thing I did today was to print out all my lecture notes. That's it. And I spent the afternoon sleeping again. Don't call me a pig, cos it's a rare opportunity for me to get so much rest. There was yet another article today on the how obesity and lack of sleep is closely related, so many it's good to sleep. But what's te physiological reason behind it? hmm, maybe it'll be my job to find out..
The marathon is next week!! wow, really fast, I think the time when I registered for it, I was still telling myself it's a long way more to the actual day, and now it's almost here!! I can't really say I've trained and is well-prepared for it. I have been constantly running, but I don't take it as proper training, more like leisure jogger. I am quite sure I can finish the run, and the more I run, the more stress there is to break my own record. It's no longer a matter of completing the race, but of doing it better than what I did last year.
I'm totally not in the mood to study anymore..
5 days to last paper,
8 days to marathon,
12 days to taiwan,
30 days to christmas,
36 days to 2007,
43 days to new school term...
the coming holiday will be short, but fruitful...

I think I survive better with less sleep. Can't believe that I concussed after dinner, woke up at 1 plus in the morning, wanted to hug some buddha legs, but fell asleep, yes on the chair again, and so I was in and out of dreamland for the whole night and clocked almost 8 hours of sleep, and that's almost double of my usual sleeptime at night. But the problem is I am feeling more tired than usual, my head feels heavy and saturated, and my eyes feel like they can close anytime. This is definitely not a good sign. And I do know how to multitask effectively, that is, study and exercise at the same time. I think that's the only way I can survive 1 whole hour on cardio machines in the gym besides watching tv and gymming.
As I get older, my memory gets worse... I need some brains...

who says scientists don't have a sense of humour (or rather lameness)
taken from the newsletter 'Fun Science' (a production from Science Centre and A*Star for primary school kids)
Here goes some whacky riddles:
Q1: what sea animal can be adjusted to play music?
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A: the tune-a fish!
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Q2: Why is it so easy to weigh fish?
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A: they have their own scales
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I like the next one (maybe can tell my mom too who keeps feeding me fish nowadays)
Q3: why are fish so smart?
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A: because they live in schools...
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Ok, that's it for lunchtime entertainment.. speaking of schools, my sister just went for her P1 orientation this morning and came back with lots of books and other barang barang. Girl, you're finally going to school!!!

Exam period = more blogging, more staying at home, higher electricity bill, more food, more fats, less exercise, less sleep, lower handphone bill, less spendings
I really hope my puny little laptop won't get overheated and get burnt cos it's been giving out hot air almost 24 hours a day.
Alright, seems like today is not the day to exercise. Firstly I have lots to read and trying to understand for anatomy (not to say revise cos I just printed out the notes for some), then it rained, then when I finally could not take the guilt of pigging and bumming around at home for the whole day yesterday, I overcome the inertia, got changed and dragged myself out of the house for some sweat and sun (yes, the sun came out after a passing shower which lasted for less than 10 minutes). In need for some speed and strength, I happily planned my exercise routine for a 2.4km run and some gym exercise. And so I jogged to the track, and it was closed (damn, should have taken notice of the change in opening hours to public), so the disappointed me jogged back to do some gym and the only pathetic little all-in-one machine was fully occupied by 3 fat guys who were having a picnic there - sitting on the benches sms-ing and beside them on the floor was a carton of soya milk and kinder beuno. Hello, you don't own the gym!! And so I went home and played with my little dumbell and gym ball.
Can SCF decide whether marathon is on 27th Jan (Saturday) or 28th Jan (Sunday). No calendar in this world says 27th Jan 2007 is a Sunday...
Ok enough of my rambling, back to the notes and powerpoint slides (I'm not even using my $45 textbook which is selling at $57 in NTU anymore)

I don't normally kope stuff.. but here it goes...

Once upon a time, there was a blind girl.
She hated the world and everybody else, except for her loving boyfriend who was always there for her.
One day, she said to her boyfriend "If only I could see the world... I'll definitely marry you"!
Soon after, someone donated a pair of eyes to her.
And then... she could see everything!
Her boyfriend then asked her, "now that you can see the world, will you marry me"?
The girl was shocked to realize that her boyfriend, just like her, was another pathetic blind soul.
And so she heartlessly rejected him.
Her boyfriend walked away in tears, and later wrote a letter to her saying
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.
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.
.
"Just take care of my eyes, my dear"

Monday was my second visit to the Novena Square gym and I finally tried the tai-tai machine. Oh man, it is one of the best inventions!! It's like an elliptical machine, those that you put one foot on one piece of footrest that can move, but instead of moving forward and backwards, it goes from side to side. I think it's one of the few machines that can tone the inner thigh. And if you think it's boring and easy, you're wrong!! doing it intensively actually burns more than 800kcal per hour, and doing it leisurely really feels like dancing, especially with the remix they were playing.
And it certainly felt weird studying the reproductive system in public. I was trying my best to cover those explicit photos and diagrams in textbook and hoping no one was staring at me. Oh well, if you think it was the most interesting topic in O level biology or something, think twice when you have a few pages of text explaining the hormonal change bla bla bla. Alright, at least it's over... and now I shall bury my head in the sea of names of bones, muscles, joints, nerves etc etc...

You Are Tofu

Okay, so you aren't exactly meat. And that's fine with you. Even if people think you're a bit bland.There's a good chance you're veg - and even if you aren't, you secretly think meat is gross.

What Kind of Meat Are You?

work can be more fulfilling and interesting than I would imagine. And people always say "don't just complain, give solutions". Now when people writes in a complaint letter, trying to sound intellectual by using as many traditional chinese characters as she knows, together with a whole bunch of wrongly written words, and providing solution, literally in that little envelope, you don't know whether to cry or laugh. We were all so amused.. but since blogger is public, I shall not explain any details in case I really get into trouble.
And I've just added a new expensive item to my collection.










pretty right??? now i only lack the $50 note of the ship series... anyone willing to exchange??

It's officially the last day of lessons of year 2 sem 1. Fast isn't it? Before I know it the exams will be over, holidays will be here and then over, and it will be the start of a new semester. It was quite a busy day to end of the semester. Lessons as usual, and extra lessons to make up for tomorrow, but anything beats going back to school on saturday. I'm lazy to write so let the photos do the talking.










It's a bit small, but these are the guinea pigs of BMS/TCM. And these are the people I see everyday, confined to our own favourite corners of SBS CR7.
Maybe we should be glad the school decided to get rid of some flying creatures before exam starts, but it's quite a sight to see all of them dead on the floor. countless.











yes, the ground was littered with bees. yucks











there you go, the bunch of noisy people always in the middle of the classroom.

From now on, I'll find myself confined to my cosy corner in my room, imagine that my freedom of motion space is only enough for my chair to turn, facing the window, laptop's on my left, table's in front of me, cupboard, hi-fi, food, and rubbish on my right, and bed behind me. Hard to imagine? let the photo exlain itself.











Now you believe me when I say my room is puny??
haha

And so there was another news to spoil my day. Seems like we're not going Australia this december anymore. And I thought for once my dad could plan something really in advance. He did, we booked the resort everything long ago, but now there's the big problem of no air tickets. And because we thought the air tickets sold during the travel fair was over-priced, the only available tickets now are at $4k++. Thanks ar, I don't print money!!! Oh well, just hope we can get tickets to somewhere else and give me something to look forward to.
It's officially down to one week before it starts, the exams, what else? Preparation remains at minimal. I hate it everyday when I had to drag myself to school and force myself awake to absorb as much as possible from my lao shi who talks sooooooo fast. Alright, I'm not going to complain about exams cos I don't have a choice..
Oh well, we learn new things everyday and I just found out a few days ago that vegetarians don't eat onion or garlic. So that's my great discovery when the vegetarian stall cooks all their vege with ginger. yucks. I hate ginger. So much of calling myself a vegetarian.. haha but actually I don't think I'm the only one who doesn't know..

Who says I can't be domesticated? I've proved myself capable of being a housewife yesterday by taking the job of a babysitter. Who else but my dearest little sister. I brought that little girl swimming, COOKED dinner for her, taught her to play piano before finally throwing her in front of the television. Gosh, it has really been ages since I last cooked a proper meal, though I only cooked something as simple as noodles yesterday. The end product was not bad, and that is all that matters. Tasted just like my mom's cooking, but then again, how wrong can it go? The process was another story. Should have seen my confused look when I can't decide which ingredient to go in first, how long to cook it for, how much salt to add, and the impatience of lifting the cover from time to time wondering when will it ever boil. AND I HATE CLEARING UP!!
And yesterday I didn't fall asleep in class at all, finally proved my laoshi wrong that I sleep everyday. I thought she would call me to answer questions but she didn't. Maybe she's just waiting for the right time to catch me red-handed.
It's the time of the year again for me to get whiny. Yes, so many things to study and so little time. Don't I complain about that before every exam. But so what if I were given more time, knowing myself best, I will still leave everything to the last minute. It's no use panicking if I'm not going to do anything about it.. so STOP WASTING TIME!!

The sunday paddler went paddling today. I still love k2.

SKGN in action again at lunch today. and something very interesting happened.
As we sat in the canteen and just started eating, our prof came and joined in and the first thing she said when she looked at me: I see you sleeping in class everyday.
Oh great! damn!! I think from today onwards she'll be calling me to answer questions everyday to prevent me from sleeping. How nice.
Yes, I'm been indecisive again. Should I or shouldn't I? It'll be quite fun to do it, but I don't think I'm up to it.
Well, oh well.........

taking a breather, taking a break, i finally found myself out of this constrained little city. The one-day Batam retreat simply put, was a shopping madness adventure.
Left home early in the morning to catch the 8am ferry to Batam, where the shopaholic was about to start on her mission. Did some typical touristy stuff, like visit touristy shops where things were going for so expensive, had quite a sumptuous seafood lunch followed by a cultural performance. It was short, but good. What's more interesting is the shocked expressions on some of our faces, watching in disbelief how they could eat burning charcoal, and munch on glasss as if it was a cookie.
And then came one whole afternoon of shopping. Quite a fruitful one. Went back with bags and bags worth of goodies. Well, the best part is not having to spend my own money. I think that's the only good thing about shopping with moms. mobile atm.
I remember the last time I went batam was when i was in primany school. Maybe it's because we visited a different part of the island this time, but the feeling is totally different.









we were tourists at the shopping mall











hmmmmm... yummy yummy

so much of the retreat, I still have to come back to reality.. sigh... can't wait to my holidays..

staying on the 25th floor gave me the privilege of a nice scenic view.











now this is what happens when the haze came... and that was on a psi moderate day..
sad isn't it?
It has been a hardworking weekend for me, not in terms of studying, but working. 6 hours on friday, 7 hours on saturday and 5 hours on sunday. Not that i'm complaining when I do make money from working. In fact, I had a real sunday yesterday. Went jogging and paddling in the morning, went home, bathe, eat, sleep, go for work. Isn't that how sunday is suppose to be like?

And there was yet another case of suicide by jumping down the MRT platform. Has it really become the coolest way to die? Or do these people just want to make their death so widely publicized? Reading the report on the guy's family is really saddening. Living in this generally affluent society, it is hard to imagine there are still people so poor they have no money for transport to claim the bodies of their family member. Although I do take pity on the family, I still think it was very irresponsible and selfish of him. So many people had to be affected just because of his one moment of "courage" or stupidity, there are so many ways to die a impactful death, why must one choose the disruptive way?
Ok, I do admit that the thought of committing suicide ever crossed my mind, but I would never do that, because I don't have the courage to. I don't have the courage to forgo the future that may be so beautiful; I don't have the courage to take that step and torture myself; but most importantly, I don't have the courage to let my loved ones suffer because of me. Ok, I think I still love myself to a certain extent...

Sports appreciation night followed by a sumptuous dinner today. I think the highlight remains in the food. A wide spread of meat and pastries, salad and they even had a chocolate fondue. Ok, I think that's not the main point of the whole event. Certificates were given out, videos and speeches were given. Speaking on the topic of sports, I'm starting to wonder what's the definition of sport. This is what is given by wikipedia: A sport is an activity requiring physical ability, physical fitness or physical skill which usually, but not always, involves competition between two or more people.
Seems like sports is getting more and more political. Sports is no longer a mere physical activity which one can enjoy, it has everything to do with money, funding, elitism, and all those illegal and ugly means of pushing performance to a higher level. I do agree that it is competition that motivates people to aim for a greater height and to challenge what was thought to be the impossible, but what about more important aspects in sports such as sportsmanship? if SPIRIT represents Sportsmanship, Perserverance, Integrity, Respect, I(i forgot this) and Teamwork, I think sports is gradually losing this spirit. Sad isn't it?
Ok that was food for thought, it's 3am, time to sleep...

one night of running and a whole week to recover. gosh, facts have proven that my body is certainly aging. Today I finally put on my running shoes, overcame the power of inertia and went out for a run despite the bad weather. It felt good to get moving again, 3 days of not running and i'm starting to feel the withdrawal symptoms. Try running, it's the best way to destress, healthiest way also, as compared to eating.









That's us after the run. See the shagged faces?
I seriously need an external hard drive to keep all the photos, and ink cartridges are not cheap at all, especially when your dad printed a million of photos using the printer and when it finally runs out of ink, he happily says "orh go buy it yourself lor" maybe i should print notes in shcool instead.
Running makes you tired.. think I should sleep soon...

Am I not suppose to use the word, since it will be against my future job scope? But that is how I feel. Died. Yes, everything in me has died. The passion, the believe I used to hold so strongly, the determination and focus, everything.
I want to escape from reality again and go back to the good old times. The times when I could excel in what I loved to do, when I had more self-control and motivation, the times of innocent and sweet love.
Ok, it's just me getting into my depressed self again. It's the time of the year... haha. Sorry if I am not behaving like myself or neglecting people around me. Feels like I just want to spend time by myself, reflecting upon the things that happened and I have done.
我真的想回到过去，过着那单纯的生活，我讨厌镜子里的自己，我向往以前的我。但我也知道这一切是不可能的了，过去的美好时光，如今已是只能回味的往事。我害怕找不回那种感觉，害怕失去你。。。

Am I not suppose to use the word, since it will be against my future job scope? But that is how I feel. Died. Yes, everything in me has died. The passion, the believe I used to hold so strongly, the determination and focus, everything.
I want to escape from reality again and go back to the good old times. The times when I could excel in what I loved to do, when I had more self-control and motivation, the times of innocent and sweet love.
Ok, it's just me getting into my depressed self again. It's the time of the year... haha. Sorry if I am not behaving like myself or neglecting people around me. Feels like I just want to spend time by myself, reflecting upon the things that happened and I have done.
我真的想回到过去，过着那单纯的生活，我讨厌镜子里的自己，我向往以前的我。但我也知道这一切是不可能的了，过去的美好时光，如今已是只能回味的往事。我害怕找不回那种感觉，害怕失去你。。。

running 2.4km sounded easy. 1 hour rest time sounded like a lot. but when you put them together in a duration of 12 hours, you get 9 x 2.4 which is more than 20km and almost no sleep at all. i am still appalled by the fact that we actually did 2.4km intervals through the night. it is certainly one of the crazy things i did this year. from the initial energized and enthusiastic runs, or rather sprints, to the gradually slower runs and the reluctant departure from the comfortable sleeping position, which is none other than lying on the ground outside the rooms so unglamorously, and finally the last few rounds which was almost impossible to carry ourselves up the slope. but i must say it was certainly an experience of a lifetime. although we missed the chance of getting the prize money, it was an excellent training for standard chartered marathon and a night to remember. my legs are aching now..

and so I did, one whole afternoon at lwn, indulging in the best things in life - books and notes. What a torture to look at pages of "ants" sprawled all over the paper and trying to memorize phrases and sentences which totally makes no sense in today's context. I think the headache from trying to memorize is much worse than the haze outside. I think my memory is certainly failing me, so much of not using them.. serves me right
alrights, something interesting stuff for the day..










see the thing picked up using chopstick? it's a worm found in Can A ban mian. So next time look before you eat if you don't want added protein..

it has been more than 2 months since i last blogged and now i'm counting down to the days of exam and holidays. As for now, I must heave a sigh of relief that BMS203 is over and both my lab report and assignment have been handed in. So for now my only worries would be exam, yes very big worries. Even with the pressure of the warning letter and the almost impossible GPA to meet, I have no motivation to study at all. I know I should stop complaining since it was my choice to take up this course, but I absolutely abhor BMS202! Worse subject that I've ever seen!! Alright enough, start memorizing and stop whining!
On a lighter note first, this year I had the best birthday surprise ever. On the actual day of me entering my 20s, my mummy gave me a huge box of rocher and my dear little sister also gave me chocolate and played me a birthday song. I was almost melted by her sweetness. Ok sis, I shall be nice to you for the time being until you start being your usual demanding self again. But nothing beats THE SURPRISE you planned for me after sava first day. I really jumped and screamed in shock when I opened the door walked in and heard a "SURPRISE!!" from the goup of crazy friends. It left me in shock for the rest of the night. But it was soooo sweet of you!! I feel so blessed and loved!!! muackz... haha ok, I'm so guilible, easily pleased and innocent, right?

Well, of course there was sava sprint. Cannot say that it was the best of our dragonboat races, due to the lack of trainings and to a certain extent our complacency, but I must say it was vertainly an eye-opener to see the Philippines team race. Their frequency was madness!! wonder where they get all the energy from. And I won my second medal as the drummer. The aggression was more than anything. With every determination to pull away, to win, be it for the school, for themselves, for havaianas, or whatever reason. It was sure inspiring to be on the boat, seeing the guys grit their teeth and plunge their paddles into the water, tensing up every muscle and pulling the water hard, screaming, shouting and finally pulling away from the boat that was thought to be impossible to beat, but they did it. The sense of achievemnt, knowing that they had done it, written on their faces after crossing the finishing line was unmistakable. I think i will let the feeling stay there, paused. It sure is exciting to see your team win a race, but the feeling of watching and actually rowing and earning it is definitely different. No havaianas for us, but somethings gained which cannot be bought.

Alright, end of season, time to study. Help!! I need the motivation, I need the strength..
I'm scared..

'most dreams die a slow death. they're conceived in a moment of passion, with the prospect of endless possibility, but often languish and are not pursued with the same heartfelt intensity as when first born. slowly, subtly, a dream becomes elusive and ephemeral. people who've let their own dreams die become pessimists and cynics. they feel that the time and devotion spent on chasing their dreams were wasted. the emotional scars last forever. "it can't be done," they'll say, when you describe your dream, "you'll never make it."'
- ultramarathon man by dean karnazes

once upon a time, i dreamt about living in a beautiful big palace having everything i wanted. then i dreamt about living in the moon. as i grew older, i dreamt about being the best in what i do, i dreamt about being the top student, being a president scholar, marrying the guy who will become the president and live my whole life in luxury. then i dreamt about being the singapore's fastest canoeist, smartest and prettiest girl.
yes i was greedy, i was insane and i thought i could do it.
but look at me now, i am nowhere near any of these dreams. people always say we must have big dreams and aim high, but now i choose to be realistic. yes, no more of that supergirl who could do everything. sometimes i look back a wonder, what is the purpose of life. my dad asked me that one morning and i told him, i want to be happy with whatever i do. he shook his head and immediately replied, i'm so disappointed with you, not even planning ahead and only aiming for such simple goals in life. i know you want me to be your pride and i think i've already done enough, i'm sick and tired of hearing what i should be doing and achieving. it's not that i don't want, it's that i really can't do it anymore.
sometimes i really ponder about this question: is it worth it? for all the time and effort i've put in, all the sacrifices and at the end of the day no spectacular results. perhaps i really shouldn't have even started. girl, it's time to take a break, go breathe the fresh air, let loose and just follow your heart.
please, let it go....
(i'm super sleepy now.. to be continued when i've time)

so it was 3 months of intensive insane training for the 2 days of proving ourselves and now it's over. results were quite expected and the winners really deserve what they should. i believe we have already done our very best, set our new personal best timings, even if it wasn't good enough to get us a gold medal. we rowed our race, put our heart and soul in it, started, burst, ended knowing that it was the best we could give. i don't know how to describe this feeling, on one hand, i am happy for clocking my best timing, on the other hand, there is still this unfulfilled desire to get what is the best.
i remember when year 1 sem 1 started, i got a phone call from our dear lesley asking me to go down for training, half-heartedly, i went, thinking that i would probably use it as a chance to get some exercise and to see how the trainings are like. but i stayed on, i don't know why. maybe it's the hope of achieving something for the school, to do a bit of what i can. then there was round ubin, mr500, sdbf and now ncc.
i remember the last day of exams marked the first day of our full time training. it was madness indeed, when others are enjoying their holidays, working and earning money, we spent almost everyday in macritchie, soaking up the sun, devoting our whole holidays to canoeing. the crazy mileages we did, almost 30km a day of paddling, spending half the day in the water and the other half eating or chilling out with one another's company, crazy stuff we did, many food we ate. then came the first month anniversary, then higher intensity training, then a big headache deciding the line up, freezing our brains with icecream while thinking and only finalising it last minute.
tonight was fun. chilling out at brewerkz, stuffing our face with food and beer and games of indian poker, marking the end of this season. tomorrow will mark the start of 7-day long sports camp. after that it would be one week of break and finally school will start again. i must say luckily ncc is near the end of holidays, if not i really don't know what to do after that.
round ubin follows, which means training is not going to stop. should i be glad or should i be sad? part of me wanted to bid goodbye to canoeing a long time ago, but the other half me can't bear to leave the fun we had, the times we spent together...
i'm back to the state of confusion again.... someone help.....
ok someone please give me some photos to post up... really tired now

it's been a long time since i last blogged.. so just a quick update of things that happened while i was busy or rather just lazy blogging..
SDBF was an exciting weekend especially sunday's PM cup, ntu managed to get back the PM cup trophy with just a less than 0.2 second difference. I used to dislike dragon boat, cos it's tiring and makes you ache on one side, but after that weekend's races, i've seen what's called a real fight to the end, refusal to give up and giving it your all, as if there's no tomorrow. as for our mixed boat, i dare say we have no regrets when we left bedok, though we missed the gold by just that millisecond, but we were close to impossibility. and it was my first "men's open" medal, haha. drumming is fun...
then there's crasy nights spent watching world cup, sy's birthday party that we all went so crazy, so high and did lots of stupid things, really lots of stupid things. not forgetting pigging out, dimsum buffet, oh man, we love food.
then there's senior's camp, 3 hours of sleep in total and everyone completely concussed when they got home. i slept from 7pm till around midnight when i was so glad i managed to wake up to catch the world cup finals, but i still fell asleep after halftime.
primary school registration for my dearest little girl yesterday was quite a breeze, though i spent 15 minutes finding the gate, she officially accepted to nyps yay.. didn't know nyps was so hot on demand. lucky girl to have a sister like me..
A div nationals today, must say i feel quite old and out of touch with the juniors, but results were quite expected and now the big challenge is ncc. i still can't believe it's only next weekend, scared? excited? i don't know.. i think i haven't got into the competition mood yet..
totally out of point here, but girl wake up, don't do this, you can't do this, mind, please win your heart.. this should not and must not happen. noooooo....

great singapore sale is on and the shopaholic in me is on the loose. last week i finally got a taste of my anticipated holiday tai-tai lifestyle. on the first day of GSS, after a carbo-packed lunch with the ntu canoeists at cafe cartel for energy, the time has come to shop. the set lunch at cartel wasn't that appetizing but bread was nevertheless, bread was good. i think they should seriously employ more waiters and station some of them permanently cutting up bread and serving.












that's us at cartel and sophie trying eat that gigantic burger of hers













the shopaholic was well prepared. i dumped all my stuff in the gym and even brought a small bag which i can carry with me whilst shopping. after joining the fun of shopping on the first day of GSS, the tai tai wannabe went for a relaxing yoga class before meeting up with the rj canoeists for dinner at lemongrass and the usual swensons dessert followed, which we could never get sick of. it's been a long time since we met up. everyone looks more or less the same and lyd's got her gigantic hair done again.














that's us at swensons.










with lydia and her big curly hair and fengyi and her google tanline.


we love desserts but nothing beats the marche desserts which got devoured in less than 10 seconds by very hungry and greedy people after the southern island expedition. and how can we forget carol's waffle with extra bananas after sdba. and cake binging at secret recipe not too long ago







does this sinful picture look familiar?


that's the end of day one of tai-tai life. on the second day of GSS, the shopaholic is out to shop again before making our way to indoor stadium for grease. it was great watching them sing and dance on stage and made me wonder don't they get tired jumping around so many days in a row?
i'm totally love food and am looking forward to tomorrow's buffet at ikoi. sometimes i think i train so that i can eat all i want and not feel too guilty. ok i just had lunch about 2 hours ago and i'm feeling hungry already especially when my mom and sis are just in the kitchen making dumplings for dragon boat festival tomorrow.

it has been at least 2 or 3 weeks without my weekly long, therapeutic run, and by long i mean at least an hour. and why are the runs getting more and more expensive each year. AHM is 18 bucks and real run is 25 bucks. i don't remember paying so much last year. now i'm contemplating whether to sign up for real run. i'm just hoping that standard chartered marathon's registration fees won't increase anymore. it's already so expensive and they have lots of sponsors. oh yes and to all those girls who like running. there's a shape run coming up in july. eh it's literally free cos it comes with a half year subscription. i think those who hate running must be wondering why people are willing to pay so much just to run when you can do it absolutely for free. well, it's just nice to run.

i realised i should never made resolutions and swear that i'll keep to them because they never happened. first was to sleep before 11 everyday but look at the time now and i've been sleeping around this time for the past few days and waking up early. second was to refrain from eating chocolates, but seems like i've been eating chocolate bars everyday and i don't know if it's psychological or it's really the sugar rush, but training feels better after eating chocolates. well, at least there's something for me to be proud of, and that is i haven't drank coffee at all since the end of exams.
it's already a month into the holidays and i don't know if i should be glad or sad.. glad because i don't have to touch books anymore for these 3 months at least, and that to me is a huge relief. sad because i can't realise all my holiday plans. isn't it strange how you badly look forward to something and when you actually get it, the feeling of excitement/euphoria doesn't seem to exist. maybe it's just me, but i was so impatiently looking forward to the end of exams but after my last paper, it wasn't the expected feeling of happiness and relief. instead, i felt numb/lost and tired, very lethargic/exhausted, as if i just wanted to go home and have a good rest. in fact, i think i had more fun planning for my holidays than living it. i planned to be a good sister, to send my little sis to kindergarten and back everyday, teach her stuff in preparation for school, go swimming with her, doing a fun job and making some money while having fun, like working in an ice cream shop, spend my free time sun tanning, jogging, canoeing for the fun of it, gymming and attending classes like yoga, and how can i possibly forget shopping, ktv-ing, travelling, sleeping, there's so much things to do and it felt like there was so much time to do it.
and now i have to squeeze everything into the days when i'm free. majority of my time comprises of training, not that i hate it, but it does gets boring at times. sometimes i'm in the mood to really focus on training and strokes etc, but sometimes i'm just so sick and tired of it. on the last lunch in JB during the retreat, when jr was talking about why he doesn't want to try out for national team again and he said this phrase which really struck me: once you're out of it, you can never get it back again.
is it true? i've been pondering over it. perhaps. i remember lifting freaking heavy weights in that little weights room, running intervals like mad on the track, doing pull-ups like nobody's business, paddling my heart out at kallang river. and now? i don't know... i came back from sibu and tried a 2.4 just to see how's my running now and it was very disappointing, can't even sub 12 for 2.4 when i used to be able to do that for intervals of 2x2.4. after that i struggled to get my chin above the pull-up bar, which used to be no-kick. perhaps things should just have stopped at the peak because it's quite impossible to get another higher peak. perhaps you're right.
sigh, ok, ignore all my incoherent ramblings, it's 2am in the morning. time to sleep

iti'm back from my only weekend getaway from singapore for the entire 3 month break. retreat to pulau sibu for 3 days 2 nights and here is how it went:
day -1 night 10 pm:
the packing just started. took out all the clothes from my cupboard, all the toiletries, passport, money etc. dumped them all on my bed and had a hard time deciding what to bring and what not to bring and which bag to bring. in the end i just threw everything into the big black bag and the tired me went to sleep.
day 1:
woke up extremely early to go for a short morning run because i realised i would probably not have the chance to run for the next 2 days. if you think my usual 6am morning run is early, well, this time it was 4.30 because i had to be at kranji at 6.30. and of course i'm not stupid enough to run into the forest so i went to the stadium and realised i wasn't the first. caught the first bus to the mrt station and took a train to kranji. and of course we didn't set off at 6.30 sharp and by the time we got on to our bus in jb it was already 8.30. after about 2 hours of bus ride, which i slept through it undoubtly, and about half an hour of ferry ride. we finally arrived in sibu. it is a small and rather laid-back island, no fanciful shopping centres, entertainment. basically it's just the sand and the sea. we spent the first afternoon at the nearby beach, playing beach volleyball, frisbee and playing in the water. after dinner was night games and i concussed on the bed before 12.
day 2:
after breakfast we set off for snorkelling. everyone was in a high spirit although the sun was not as good as it was the day before. we spent the whole ferry trip taking photos and when it was finally time to get off the boat and to the beach, we suddenly hesitated about snorkelling. there were jellyfish everywhere around the boa, but we still put on our googles and went down the water, thinking that it wouldn't be too bad in the shallow waters. but we were wrong. it felt like we were playing catching with the jellyfish and instead of looking out for coral reefs and fish, we were looking out for jellyfish and trying our best to avoid them. it was quite a traumatizing task and although i did try very hard to avoid them, they were faster than i am. nasty little many-legged creature gave me a nasty little sting on my arm and left it in pain for the rest of the day. it was definitely not a pleasant experience but was an unforgettable one. of course, we had to give up on snorkelling in that area. perhaps it just wasn't our day, it rained after lunch and left us stucked in the resort playing hunter. when the sky finally cleared, it was time for more sea and sand. and we refuse to give up on snorkelling and so we finally did, at a beach with no jellyfish (at least i didn't encounter any). dinner was barbeque and i think we're a whole bunch of greedy and hungry people. we had to ask for extra dish and rice every meal. and we finished 2 big tins of biscuits after 2 nights of indian poker. i think our humongous appetite scared the resort owner.
oh ya, i didn't mention about the place that we stayed. it was nothing like a hotel, more like a chalet kind, where around 4 of us shared a room which only has a bed for us to sleep. the whole level had 4 toilets to be shared among 36 of us and there's no hot water. what's worse is that the tap water tastes rusty.
since that was the last night, of course there was minimal sleeping. we played murderer, indian poker and those who slept early knew the consequences.
day3:
it was the last day, or rather it was go-home day. we didn't do anything or go anywhere that day. after breakfast we packed up and left the little island which we spent 2 relaxing days. it's really sit around and wait for time to pass. it felt great for the time we were there, like a transient escape from the hectic city life, but i don't think i want to stay there for my entire life.
short holiday, but better than none.
now it's back to where i am. and here are some photos for viewing pleasure:









that's the whole group of us when we arrived.











before the "snorkelling"









the girls









153 club. make a guess why the name










s cube










the view from where we stayed









brokeback!!!!!









are you sleeping? are you sleeping?? yes, the whole bus is sleeping

check this out... i thought it was hilarious
http://flash.cyol.com/product/05121802324416.swf

today i took a last look into the mess that i've been staying in for the past 2 sememsters, yes, my not-so-lovely, quite convenient and used to be very messy room in hall 14 of nanyang crescent. will i miss the hostel life?? i don't know, shall blog more on my thoughts for the first year of my uni life when holiday officially starts, which will be in 2 days time.
today i also had the most unpleasant bus ride which i must comment. as i was happily taking the bus from boon lay to jurong east library, trying to make sense out of my notes, occasionally looking out of the window to enjoy the scenery, and drinking my soursop juice (ok, i admit i do eat in the bus), this old man got on and sat beside me. the first thought that came to my mind was: hello, can't you see there are empty seats (in fact quite a lot), why the hell must you place your ass on the seat beside mine? then i began to smell something funny, yes, it was from that dirty old man who smelled like he hasn't bathed for days. i decided to be nice and tolerant so i just looked out of the window so that my nose can be as far away from him as possible. and then, as i stole peeks at him, i realised what he was doing... he was putting his hand into his shirt and scratching himself and then flicking (some dead skin i suppose) off his fingers. i was already quite grossed out by him right from the start and now here's the climax. he scratched, took his hand out of his shirt, towards his face, in front of his nose, smelled it, and then moved it a little lower and yes, into his mouth. oh my god, i almost felt like puking when i see him chewing and nibbling at whatever stuff that was. yucksssssssss!!!!!!!!!

有人无法看见美景，有人无法听见声音。
有人无法唱歌，无法倾听。
有人闻不到花香，有人不能四处跑动，有人没脚穿鞋。
为什么我还要不停抱怨，不能像小鸟一样，飞入云端玩耍？

i've been blog surfing recently and just to pen down some thoughts on life...
it's strange how some people try so hard to maintain that breath of life while others try all means to take it away... yes, it's so vulnerable yet so strong. seems like some things are not within our control, if someone wants to take it away just like that, what can we do to stop? and it's ridiculous how some people tried to commit suicide for various reasons and tried all means but failed in the end. what losers these people are? why are they so unappreciative of the beauty of life?
yes, and i've just called myself a loser. honestly, i've ever thought about it, but i didn't have the courage to. because i can't bear to leave my loved ones, or rather i don't want to be remembered as the coward who does not have the courage to face reality.
i know that there are so many people out there who are so much less fortunate than i am, and if they can live on so happily, why can't i do the same? really, how do you define happiness? it's not about money, not about achievement, nor results... i think it's more of a phychological thing...
i will stop complaining about my life, because i'm lucky enough to be given this chance to live and i will treasure it and spread it around. i just did today, by donating blood.