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Thursday, December 30, 2004

Is it just me or is the weather freaking cold these days?I was freezing the whole day today!Haha my day started early..met the band girls at 1030 at orchard to go kboxing!I had no idea that karaoke was so popular so early in the morning..I thought we were the only ones enthusiastic enough to wake up that early to go karaoking..there was already a queue when we reached cineleisure..me and nadine deduced it was cos everyone was there for the free lunch. It was a nice morning of off-key warbling and good company..I love you rgs girls!(by the way I include the twins in this category as well)

After the kbox guy chased us out of the room, we went off to taka for awhile, then I went to meet Lionel for lunch..again..it was then another lazy afternoon of walking and talking. Haha Lionel says we're very boring. We always do the same things..go orchard, eat, talk, walk. Yep I suppose we are a pretty boring couple..but I'm a pretty simple person..and sometimes the simplest things are the things which make you the happiest:)

I came home..and both my parents are in lousy moods..buster puked after eating some rubbish which got my mom into a screaming frenzy..then my dad blew up at my younger sister for going out everyday without telling them where she goes to and what she does..sigh.

Think buster is sniffling away at a corner of the house now. I'll go try to cheer him up.

nicole: *hug*all the best for the coming year dear!don't know when's the next time I'll be able to see you again..take care!:)
nadine: hey dear I'll be praying for you every night..just know that God has plans for you and all this is happening for a reason:)All your loved ones are praying for you:)take care:)
andrew: yeah I feel super sad at the thought of how RJ must look now...but its got to be alot worse for you :P oh well, our memories of RJ will never fade:) I'll never forget playing cards and horsing around in the band room during prac :)
yahui: Yes its so sad and scary..I just wonder when this whole ordeal will finally be over for the poor people over there now. :(
weibin: I just can't help feeling sad at the thought of the deserted grounds now..but yes you're right we'll always have our memories:)

~me~ at 12:40 AM

Wednesday, December 29, 2004

The death toll's now up to 28,000. It feels so surreal and weird..here we are in Singapore, just next door to all the affected countries, and we're still celebrating christmas and preparing to swing into the new year.

I can't even imagine how the people there must be feeling right now. The scary thing is, I've been to some of the places, hotels and beaches before..My dad was telling us how this hotel in thailand we went to a couple of years ago is now halfway submerged in water. My mom said her colleague's family was holidaying and they're now missing and probably dead. Its sad to think of the beautiful places I once enjoyed now ruined, desolate, and littered with human bodies. Its even more upsetting to think of what the people are experiencing..loss of family and homes. And here we are having new year's eve parties...Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that its wrong to have parties or to be doing anything fun, it just feels so surreal..I myself have been meeting up with old friends and laughing and enjoying myself immensely this week. But its now when I'm alone in my room, with the tv outside screaming news updates that I feel sad for all those poor souls..

I guess its times like these that we learn to appreciate more what we have in life.

Thank you, O God, for all the people whose work and whose love give me the things I need, the food I eat, the clothes I wear, the comfort I enjoy;
Thank you for those who have taught me the things which I must know, if I am to do a person's job in the world when I grow up;
Thank you for those who are fine examples to me of how I ought to live;
Thank you for friends without whom life could never be the same;
Thank you most of all for you, my Master, my Example, my Friend.
Help me to sleep well tonight and to live well tomorrow.
This I ask for your love's sake. Amen.

God our Father, source of all health, be near those who suffer in the time of weakness and pain; relieve them of their burden and heal them, if it be Your will.
Give peaceful sleep to those who need rest for soul and body, and be with them in their hours of silence. Bless those who know not what another day might bring.
Inspire with Your love those who bring healing and care to the suffering. May they bestow Your gifts of health and strength wherever they may go.
Help me to pray for my brothers and sisters who have departed from this world. May they be quickly guided into that holy light promised by our Lord. I offer you sacrifice and prayers of praise. Accept them for all the souls of the faithful departed and admit them all to heavenly joy. Grant this prayer, through Christ our Lord.

I'm thinking about what phin peng told me yesterday..we finally got the chance to meet up yesterday and had a good, long, heart-to-heart talk about thoughts and dreams and wants. It felt nice catching up with him again..he was telling me how RJ is now stripped, abandoned, littered and desolate. (haha Liana climbed into RJ after they moved out to sneak a peek at everything) Apparantly, they've even stripped the lecture theatres of seats and wallpaper. The canteen's now empty (as in NO tables, chairs) but littered. The field must be a jungle of grass and weeds now. Thats just so depressing..I had many good times at RJ, and although old and small, it was a very homey, cosy place to me. Don't know why I'm suddenly feeling so nostalgic. Oh well, I hope the new facility at Bishan will feel just as nice. But I doubt it.

~me~ at 12:17 AM

Monday, December 27, 2004

I just saw the news..one of the most powerful earthquakes in 40 years created tidal waves in asia, killing more than 3800..and the death toll's still climbing. I really pray for all the lives taken today, and hope for the best for those still alive and families of the dead.

My sister was also telling me about the earthquake that took place in tasmania on friday..It registered 8.1 on the richter scale!what's wrong with the world?2 big earthquakes of magnitudes larger than 8 in the last 3 days.All these huge earthquakes popping up all over the place suddenly.

Sigh. Lets move on to happier topics. I did have a good day today!My sister was telling us over lunch about her 'dowry day' next saturday..its a day where chris's parents present my parents with several gifts..its like paying my parents for my sister!hmm so according to chris's parents, my elder sister is worth one suckling pig, a crate of mandarin oranges, a box of wine, and an ang pow!yep chris's parents are pretty traditional and very chinese. Heh but I think its quite funny to think of my sister being 'sold' to chris for a suckling pig.

Then my mom said that when its my turn to get married, prices will be higher cos of inflation. So I'll apparantly be worth 2 suckling pigs. And my younger sister's got a price tag of 3 suckling pigs. Heh I'm quite excited for the wedding. Sigh but then I'll be flying off the next night.

I met Lionel in the afternoon..We went to the watch shop to make the wrist-size adjustments for the lovely cool watch he gave to me for christmas:)I felt pretty bad cos he spent so much money on me..but he told me a watch will be really useful and its something I'll be able to use for a long long time!Thank you so much!I really love it!:)Afterward was a nice lazy evening spent walking and talking around town.Yawn. Happy boxing day!

ruth: Heh I love you too dear!:)I'm looking forward to lunch on friday!have a safe and fun trip to malaysia k..see you!:)
lynn: GReat!can't wait!12 noon at orchard mrt ok?shall we get debs, chee and noelle too??
clot: haha thanks clot!:)hey when you coming back to singapore to visit??



~me~ at 12:57 AM

Sunday, December 26, 2004

merry christmas everyone!I've had a simply wonderful christmas so far..I realised the other day how christmas day itself is usually just like any other normal day to me..I experience a large part of the christmas spirit through the build-up of the christmas season throughout the whole month of december..with the highlight of christmas being christmas eve night and midnight mass at church..

My paternal side of the family came over to my house to celebrate christmas eve this year..My uncles' families aren't regular church goers and they don't usually celebrate christmas much, I suppose it was more of a family gathering in the name of christmas:)heh my uncles brought so much food!There was the typical christmas food like honey-baked ham(haha I just can't help thinking of debra whenever this comes up now) and smoked beef, and also very yummy singaporean dishes like peppered crab, buttered prawns, pork ribs, fried rice..then there was the incredible cheesecake for dessert!I'm not usually a big fan of cheesecake but this cake was simply scrumptious!I was trying to teach Lionel how to shell a crab..but I think he gave up after his crab went flying across the table. Here's a gist of dinner conversation..

Lionel: Did you know that Julius Caeser and Cleopatra really exist?They're actually real people!I've always thought they were just literary characters from books!
Me:Yes of course they're real!
Lionel: And did you know that Caeser had a servant named Mark Anthony?? So cool. I think Marc Anthony was probably named after him. Wow I learn a lot from watching Discovery.

After dinner, all the cousins gathered around to play cards, while the adults gathered around to drink tea and talk..The night ended at about 10 plus, when all my relatives went off and my family had to set off for midnight mass..I don't know why I was so tired..I was yawning away during mass but I really did appreciate the choir:)Midnight mass is usually the mass of the year with the best music and the most qi4 fen4:)

Anyway, we got home at about 130am, tired and hungry. Haha so we all scrounged up leftover ham and cake from the fridge..then me and Lionel exchanged presents!:)I ended up going to bed near 3am..and woke up energised this christmas morning, all ready to exchange presents with my family members!:)Haha this christmas I received mostly things to bring with me to tasmania..a scarf, a hot water kettle, a watch!Hmm I'm going to get back into the habit of wearing a watch..ever since sec 1, I've pretty much stopped wearing a watch..(I didn't wear a watch as a percussionist, cos it hindered wrist movement)

To top things off, I spent an extra lovely christmas afternoon with ruth!:)It was so great catching up with her and hearing about her last exciting 10 weeks in London.I'm so glad to know that she's still as childish as ever, and that our friendship has picked up as if she never ever left Singapore:)I had a wonderful time talking and walking with you today ruth!I'm glad you've been fitting in so well in London:)I hope my overseas experience in Tasmania will be as enriching and enjoyable as yours..

I truly had a great christmas. With my family and friends. Christmas isn't just about presents and good food, but most importantly about being plain happy with the ones you love:)Merry Christmas to everybody!

mandy:haha thanks mandy dear!I love it too:)
weibin:Thank you!!A very merry christmas to you too!Glad to know you're still lurking around my blog:)
lynn:hello hello!MERRY CHRISTMAS lynn!!yes yes lets meet!noelle's back right?Is there a saxes outing?how about lunch this tues?:)
lionel:haha thank you dear:)

~me~ at 2:57 AM

Friday, December 24, 2004

The songs from phantom of the opera are running continuously through my mind now..The movie was great!I watched it with the band girls..We probably enjoyed it more because so many of the songs were familiar to us band girls..But listening to the songs also brought back a lot of memories of playing the songs in my band days..I found it a bit funny initially, cos all the characters were singing normal conversations to one another..but the singing sounded great..haha and debra was crunching loudly away on nachos next to me, adding extra accessories to the music..

I was so happy to see the twins again today!Its felt so long since I said goodbye to them back in september. Wow has it really only been 3 months? It felt really nice hearing their cheerful voices and seeing their sunny smiles once again..I'll be sad to see them go off again in january. I love you nicole and nadine!Enjoy your time back home now:) Tell me if you're free to meet up!:)

Anyway, we caught the 10am movie cos a few of us had to go off early..Finally decided on lunch at swensens after a long period of time standing and walking around trying to decide where to eat..I had originally planned to meet my NUS classmates at sentosa in the afternoon, but finally opted to stay for lunch and spend more time with the girls(under deb's, mandy's and cassandra's powers of persuasion) We finished stuffing ourselves near 3pm, and most of the girls had to go off, leaving me, deb and mandy to walk around aimlessly. Haha ok it wasn't too aimless I guess..I bought a pair of pants that were on sale, mandy bought stationary and socks(haha we trooped around quite a while hunting for her socks!), and debra got a nice mp3 player!:) Haha mandy was scolding deb for being impulsive. But I think you made a good buy debra!

I got home and had dinner with my mom and sister..My mom was telling us all about her shanghai trip(she just returned last night)..She had a VERY productive shopping trip..She went with her mahjong kakees, and they enjoyed massages, shopping and mahjong every day!Heh she bought a 'gucci' hand-carry luggage for me to bring to tasmania!Very nice and expensive looking. China imitations are getting better and better. I've been using the 'gucci' wallet I bought in Shanghai last year for S$4 for over a year now. She bought a whole bunch of 'branded' jewellery, lots of 'gucci' and 'prada' wallets(which are of really good quality!), and a couple of cheongsams to wear to my elder sister's wedding! Haha at my cousin's wedding last month, my auntie bought EIGHT dresses to wear for the wedding day. Maybe my mom's trying to beat her sister. My mom's vowed not to spend any more money for a long long time.

Buster was especially noisy tonight..and I don't know why but he keeps licking my knees. and he loves licking my younger sister's feet. Do my knees smell of food or what? Nope, don't smell anything. Oh for those people who don't know yet, I dyed my hair yesterday!!yes yes I know I said before that I would NEVER dye my hair, but I finally decided that this is the only age at which I can get away with coloured hair without looking inappropriate..imagine doctor Toh with red hair?haha yes I have a nice streak of red at the top of my head!And I love it!I just wish my hair would grow at a slower rate now, so I'll be able to enjoy my current hair state for a longer time:)I'm going to look really weird when my black hair grows out again :P

Yawn. It was a good day. But I wish I could have gone to sentosa as well..oh well, hope my class plans something else soon!going to listen to 'phantom of the opera' now!:)

Whoo tmr's christmas eve!:)Happy christmas eve eve everyone!



~me~ at 12:27 AM

Wednesday, December 22, 2004

the view from just outside my residential college!
~me~ at 1:15 PM

in the middle of my campus!nice clouds!
~me~ at 1:12 PM

bottom of Mt Nelson...my college is at the top of Mt Nelson(the hill you see in the background)!

~me~ at 10:23 AM

SURPRISE!!!!haha I'm home!yes yes I didn't expect to get everything done in tasmania so soon but we were efficient and did everything we could do and returned home early late last night!

We only spent about 2 days there but it felt like me and my dad got a lot done..we toured the school facilities, residential colleges, met up with my advisor, had a mini orientation, got my booklist, got a taste of the food I'll be eating over the next 6 years, paid a portion of my school fees, opened a banking account, and even got a bit of time to walk through hobart town centre!

Yeah it was a pretty fruitful trip, and I liked what I saw on my trip. Hobart is just breathtakingly beautiful! The entire city's in a mountainous region, and has a wide river streaming through the centre of it. UTAS is situated on Mt Nelson, which overlooks a portion of the ocean..My residential college is located at the very TOP of Mt Nelson..Me and my dad were huffing and puffing away as we climbed up and down several times to get to different parts of the campus..haha but the cool air made the exercise invigorating, not tiring..It takes about 15 minutes to climb up the mountain on foot..and the only form of public transport lies about halfway down the hill..Luckily for me, medicine faculty's near the top of the hill as well, so I'll have to hike up and down a short distance most of the time..however, I'll have to walk all the way down for other classes located in the science or arts faculties, or for banking and administrative stuff..

The faculty was just so beautiful..the weather in tasmania makes it easy to cultivate so many colourful, nice plants and trees..The images of full-blooming rose bushes and violet coloured trees are still implanted in my mind..They were all over the campus..Yep the weather at this time's great..its about 11-19 degrees celcius in summer now..I met and talked to a couple students..they told me the lowest temperature during winter is about -1 degree celcius. I met a lot of thai, vietnamese and malaysian students there!Apparantly, about half of the people staying at the residential colleges will be from asia..and almost freshmen..

The residential college was small but cosy..there are only about 100 singles in each college, which I'm happy with cos it'll be easier to meet and talk to everyone in a smaller group of people..And the rooms are pretty decent..they've got all the basic ammenities, plus I get a view of the ocean and hobart town from the top of the mountain in my room!:) Yep I'll definitely be getting more exercise..haha my dad was talking to one of the office administrative guys..he asked my dad if he thought I'd get fat from the food here..my dad replied,"I don't know about FAT, but I know she'll definitely get more FIT from hiking up and down everyday.."

The food wasn't too bad..there's a communal dining room located in the centre of the residential college campus..the residential college will provide 3 meals a day for me..a year 2 malaysian medical student I met warned me that the food during holidays was much better than food during the school term..apparantly so because there are a lot of conferences held over the holidays so better food is catered to the visiting professors..in the 6 meals I had over the 2 days I was there, they had a mixture of western, australian, and asian cuisine..we had chinese stir-fried chicken and vegetables with rice one night, which was ok..but I know I'll miss lea's cooking for sure.. Anyway its buffet style so I can have however many helpings as I want..

Anyway, we got everything done after the second day so we flew back tuesday afternoon!And coming home has made me realise how much I miss home once again..I couldn't wait for the plane trip to be over..I was so happily sirprised to see lionel at the airlort with my sister!I had planned to surprise him by my early return but he surprised me in the end. Hmph. Haha yeah I'm happy to be home again. And I'm going to enjoy my remaining one and a half months in Singapore to the fullest!But first, I really need to resume anormal sleeping pattern again. I think I'm still operating on US time..which explains why I'm still up at this crazy hour..I had trouble sleeping in tasmania..the sun only sets at 10pm at night!and it rises at about 430am..but the view outside from my room was really super nice to stare out of..

ok I really need sleep now..sorry for the long boring post! :P

~me~ at 8:14 AM

Saturday, December 18, 2004

goodbye everyone!don't know why I'm feeling nervous about this trip..more likely its excitement..I'm going to see the place where I'll spend my next 6 years!have a great week people!:)

~me~ at 9:21 PM

Friday again!I really don't know where my time is flying off to..I tried to sleep off my jet lag by going to bed earlier last night..unfortunately it just resulted in me waking up super super early today!I was tossing and turning restlessly by 5am..so I hopped out of bed and opened my door o find my younger sister watching television!Yeah so there we were watching mtv and eating breakfast at 5am..

My younger sister checked her PAE results this morning and she got into NJC!Her first choice. Qt happy for her but I was really sure she would get her first choice all along..Anyway, then my mom commented that there now 3 NJC girls (my mom and both my sisters) in the family!She used to call me a zebra cos she once saw a hoarde of rgs girls crossing the road and she thought they resembled a herd of black and white zebras. Yeah anyway so now both my sisters come from scgs and NJC.

Me and my younger sister went swimming in the late morning..I haven't swum in quite awhile..and the water felt especially refreshing today..My sister was telling me how I should have continued swimming lessons when I was younger..I remember taking part in all those competitions..I loved swimming when I was younger..but the lessons were torture..My scary coach would make the class swim laps continuously for 3 hours..Hmm wonder what would have happened if I hadn't stopped lessons..heh I might have joined the school swim team and never joined band..then I wouldn't have met a lot of wonderful people and I wouldn't have learnt of my passion for music..anyway that was a long time ago..

After swimming, we met up with my mom back home then went for a simple lunch at a nearby hawker centre..then to holland village, where we helped our mom with the supermarket shopping and I bought a multi-adapter to use in australia..Yep I'm almost all packed for my trip to tasmania tomorrow!The house will be pretty empty over the weekend..my mom's going to shanghai with a couple of mahjong kakees, me and my dad will be over in tasmania, chris and my elder sister will be attending a pre-marraige camp held by the church..so it'll just be my younger sister, buster and the guinea pigs at home!hope she won't be too lonely.

I'm hungry now. And I just had dinner awhile ago!Don't know why I've been famished all day..ok I'm going to dig up some food now..

oh yes I just recalled a funny conversation with cheng today..
cheng: Lunch?I'm at NUH!
germ: What you doing at NUH?
cheng: I've got butt cramps!I'm waiting to see a doctor..
germ: Oh no butt cramps??!So the doctor's gonna examine your butt?
cheng: No no..I've got butt cramps from waiting so long to see the doctor.
germ: OH.

What a smart doctor I'll make.

debra: HAHA. Hmph 16?!you sure or not..maybe you heard wrongly and it was 6..oh well you'll always be my LITTLE sister!:)
cheng: haha yeah relax!I'll only be going for 5 days starting tmr!I'll be back don't worry!I'll see you when I get back!:)
nadine: Haha don't worry dear you're not slow ar all compared to me!It took me awhile to get what deb was saying too..luckily I had your explanation..yay you're coming back soon!
pips: Sorry I couldn't meet you..yeah but I'll definitely see you when I get back k!hey do try to take it easy..every job is hard..but its through working tough jobs that we grow to be better people..don't get too stressed! :(
weibin: Hahaha..yeah compared to his appetite in JC, he's eating like a bird now..no worries, I'll do my best to fatten him up!:)
clot: I'm going to tasmania next week to settle all my accomodation, school fees, banking and lots of other stuff!Cos I won't have time to do all this before school starts next year..my sister's getting married on 19 feb..school starts on 21 feb!I'll be missing orientation :(

~me~ at 12:14 AM

Thursday, December 16, 2004

Feeling super sleepy now. Probably cos I still haven't recovered fully from jet-lag..but probably also because it was a happening day. Felt like I got a lot done!I finally drifted off to sleep at about 4am last night, and woke up at 11..then I went out for lunch with my mom and younger sister..aah food is good. especially singaporean food. I missed singaporean food so much while I was in US!Its cheaper, has so much more variety, and also so much more appetizing!I can't imagine having to eat burgers and fries everyday for lunch and dinner..I'll miss the food here when I leave for tasmania..

After lunch, we went to the tailor's to get our measurements done for our dresses for my sister's wedding..quite exciting..only sad thing was that the tailor thought I was younger than my younger sister :( I asked her how old she thought I was and she guessed, "14 or 15?" sob. Haha she tried to comfort me by telling me it was cos I had a baby face.

I met Lionel after that..poor guy..he was starving cos he had missed both lunch and dinner..we bought tickets for 'National Treasure' then went on a major food spree!He started off with fish noodle soup at cine food court, then we hopped over to marche at heeren for yummy crepe, rosti and calamari!We would have eaten more but it was time for the movie..haha then as we passed the food counter at the cinema, we got greedy and decided to share a hotdog!Ugh. I can't believe how much food we put away today. And all in the span of 2 hours!Oh its a good thing to eat more. My classmates told me I had lost weight the other day at the chalet. Which doesn't really make sense cos I've been holidaying away and eating rubbish!Esp all that unhealthy fast food in the US!

The movie wasn't too bad..It was fun but forgettable I suppose..can't wait for Phantom of the Opera to come out!

pips: aah sorry pips I can't make it fri night!:( and I'll be leaving for tasmania on sat..sigh. sorry guess I'll only be able to meet you when I get back..

~me~ at 1:38 AM

Wednesday, December 15, 2004

I just woke up from a power nap.

I am still super sleepy, but super happy cos I had a lot of fun at my NUS class chalet!I went to costa sands yesterday afternoon, and we played volleyball by the beach the whole afternoon..hence the bruises on my arms right now..we got all hot and muddy and sweaty, but volleyball's always a blast!esp with my class.. :)

We then went to rent bicycles for the night..JJ flirted with the bicycle auntie, and she agreed to lend us bikes until 1030am the next morning for $8!We then went for a short bicycle ride. and back to the chalet to eat dinner, play bridge, watch tv, sing songs and of course play mahjong:)one of my classmates played guitar while the rest of us gathered around the single piece of sheet music to sing along with his playing..we made a huge racket..the neighbours must have thought we were crazy..I can just imagine them going, "The crazy nieghbours are opening a bicycle shop." (We had parked all of our rented bicycles in the tiny porch area) or "They must be a choir group having rehearsal during a chalet."

We headed out for our cycling marathon at about midnight..the plan was to cycle to changi food village for supper and head back..it was a LOT further than we all thought it was though!The guys took the lead, and they took good care of us girls..making sure everyone stayed single file and nobody got left behind..it was a pretty exciting but exhausting trip!There were even a couple of scary dogs which chased us along the way!scary. And the weather was just perfect for a night of cycling. The cool night wind was invigorating and it felt so great zipping through east coast park without having to worry about crashing into any other cyclists..It took us about 2 and a half hours to finally get there..We were super tired, and quickly fuelled up on wanton noodles and iced drinks..we left changi at about 330am..we decided to opt for a different route back, which didn't involve us cycling along long, boring, dangerous stretches of roads, where cars tended to zip past us alarmingly..

We ended up cycling from changi to loyang, tampines, bedok, marine parade and finally back to east coast!whew. By the time we parked our bicycles and staggered back into our chalet unit, it was 6 am and we were literally dead tired. All of us just sat there dazed for a moment, then we looked at the mahjong table and my classmate asked, "Anyone up for mahjong?" And 4 of us crazy people proceeded to shuffle the mahjong tiles at 6 am in the morning. The more sane people headed upstairs for some well-deserved rest. I ended up playing mahjong until 9am..After which I was so tired and zombified I was seeing everything in a daze. I had slep 2 hours in the past 48 hours!I had definitely not recovered from my jet lag yet..

Think I'll go bathe and go to sleep again now..oh my poor aching legs..haha but it felt great cycling the whole night through..thanks cn5a for the great time i had!

lynn: yep US was great!sorry I only just checked my blog and realised you're already leaving today!:P but I'll defintely see you when you get back k?have a great time!I'm sure you'll have a superb trip as well!:)
meiling: haha thanks!yeah I'm glad to be back too:) ooh you going for the band chalet coming up soon?
clot:hello clot!*hug* yep I'm back!haha but I'll be going off again to tasmania this sat!
pips:hey hey!!yes yes lets meet up!how about a date with me, you and chengyee??u free this friday afternoon?
ruth:so nice to hear from you again!!:)and very excited that you're coming back!yay!haha oh no but I'll prob only see you after i return from tasmania on the 23rd..have a safe trip home dear!:)

~me~ at 2:57 AM

Sunday, December 12, 2004

hello everybody!!yes I'm back from the US!:) I'm at home now..feeling happy to be back and feeling VERY happy to have survived my 20 hour flight from New York..I feel happy to have finally bathed after 48 hours of non-stop travelling and waiting around and happy to be blogging once more!:) oh and Lionel says hi too!I was so happy to see him at the airport this morning:)

Yes as everyone can tell, I'm very very HAPPY to be back home:) Not that I didn't have a good trip, but I was really quite homesick..here's a basic outline of my trip..
1) days 1-4: Disneyland in Orlando, Florida!Super fun. It was worth the long plane ride to florida just to see disneyland!The place was so huge..even with 4 days, we didn't finish touring the entire place..Even my parents had fun on the rides..haha we screamed ourselves silly at all the scary rides!There was this ride called the "Tower of Terror", where they put us in an elevator and dropped us free-fall from 13 stories..I was screaming into my sister's lap..I'm definitely bringing my children back there:)
2)days 5-7: Daytona Beach, Florida!It was really pretty quiet there because of the recent hurricanes..There were a lot of buildings with roofs that were half torn off or in repair..But we visited JKF NASA Space Centre just an hour's drive away!Very cool. We got to see real space shuttles and there were space simulators as well..
3)days 8-12:Fort Lauderdale/Bahamas!We took a free cruise from Fort Lauderdale to Bahamas..There wasn't much to do on the cruise except play cards, sleep and eat!Thank goodness for the free buffet lunches and dinners..haha we were literally the only asians onboard..before dinner, my sister and I would guess how many times we were asked "Where are you from?" by the waiters..heh one waiter asked if we were from Japan. Then he asked if the capital of Japan was Jakarta. The beach at Bahamas was really beautiful. Unfortunately, they had just experienced a hurricane as well in October..so some areas were in repair as well.

I had an interesting experience..but I kept thinking of home the whole time..I don't know how I'm going to last 6 years away from home..anyway, the bad news is that New York JFK airport lost our luggage on the trip home..there was a snow storm in New York that day so our flight got delayed..we had to run to make the transit and I guess our luggage didn't make the transit in time..so we'll only be getting back all our stuff in a couple of days..for now, I'm just happy to be HOME!!:)

Yep I'm glad to be back to boring, humid Singapore!Haha and I'm glad Buster's doing fine as well. There was a night in Bahamas where I had a horrible dream in which Buster died from depression!Cos there was no one around at home for him to disturb..I dreamt that he was hospitalised and died and all the mean doctor told us was, "If only you had come home earlier." He was pretty happy to see all of us. Lea told us that he ate up a big bunch of fake flowers while we were away. Glad to know he was still as greedy as ever even with us not around. I just don't understand how he can find FAKE flowers appetising though.

My elder sister and chris had an incredible experience in Nepal as well..Though of an opposite kind from my US trip..It was 14 days of hiking through freezing weather, with no proper bathes, yellowed drinking water, native dances at campfires and sandstorms. I've got to try that too sometime in the future. She showed us the hundreds of pictures she and her friends took..It was really sad to see how the people of Nepal were living..there's no proper drinking water, people live in run-down shacks out in the middle of nowhere, people die from simple fevers. She was telling us how her guide once had to carry his pregnant sister who was in labour on his back for 3 hours across the mountains to get to the nearest hospital. But the nepalese are very happy, simple people..children would run up to them to play or just to say hello..they were so happy with the pencils and pens my sister gave out to them cos it meant they could go to school!Apparantly a pencil is your ticket to education in Nepal. Heh my sister is now going to send over stationary to her guide in Nepal on a regular basis, where he can give them out to the children.

ok I'm feeling jet-lagged now..didn't sleep at all on the plane ride home..yawn.

weibin: hello!haha yes I've been lurking around your blog for awhile now too..I chanced upon it when I was visiting andrew's blog..hope you don't mind that I linked you..haha thanks I had a great trip!:)
clot: haha yes I had FUN!!but I really missed everyone too.. :)
nadine:Haha hey I'm finally back to blogging again!And I'm looking forward to seeing you guys when you get back!I'll be flying off to tasmania on the 18th though..argh just realised thats in about 5 days!
cheng: Haha oh no poor levina!He's going to pollute her mind!Haha ok so when we gonna tell her?
Lionel:HELLO dear!:)

~me~ at 11:30 PM