still settling..

hihi i'm one week into school and i've had a crazy two weeks here.. been just such a crazy first week at school...

as a summary, i've had 2 assigments due in the first week and built a water balloon launcher in two days.. which class makes to BUILD a first project in two days??!!??!!

ok but i must admit it was kinda fun building it and 310 is really a great place to meet ppl and make new frens.. =) its cos of 310 that i found out about church, cell groups on campus, viennese ball opening committee auditions, and this salsa group on campus and when the salsa party and auditions are..

its kinda comforting to know that my ME classmates can afford to have a life outside ME, so that mean i can too! heh. will prob try to go for a ocuple tryouts and stuff but haf no idea if i can get in since i'm still recovering and i haevn't danced in AGES. esp salsa.. but oh wells. i'll try for fun.. and hope i can do some dancing to keep me sane..

am working on homework now for a controls class. i was the only one in office hours today.. =s which only mean either of two things-- 1) everyone else is super smart and knows how to do the homework.. 2) no one else has started on the homework.. so hm... i'm kinda demoralized..

oh yes and i got a new bike. i have to bike to class. =S another thing i'm not used to.. def wakes me up i guess when u have to exercise in order to get to class.. and my bike lock cost half as much as my bike itself. bleah.

and i need a brighter lamp in my room.. the light is so yellow. and it doesn't help when i'm trying to study.. maybe i'll make a second trip to ikea.. my study lamp from the first trip isn't quite enough.. need a bedside lamp too.. =P

sigh it seems like these few weeks is like major change time period for my whole family.. jie has to adjust to moving away, and mommie and daddie have to adjust to both of us being away... i guess its a hard time for everyone now huh.. shd just count my blessings.. like having jem come visit me on weekends to distract me from my misery and demoralization..and jie emailing me to tell me its not unusual to feel demoralized..

and although i'm all e way here, i feel really sad that she's leaving home.. as in.. not that i'm there or anything.. but it feels like everything will never be the same again. =( i bet mommy and daddy will miss her and their only grandaughters too.. -i- will at least and they prob will even more... and well.. everything's just so saddening.. bleah. i'm emo now too. sorry.

things are just so unsettled, and so unsettling now....

californiaaa...

i'm here~! officially moved in in sunny california~!

and terribly jetlagged.. been up almost all nite.. and only haf myself to blame-- for sleeping all e way in the plane ride.. i think i'm gonna crash this afternoon..

anyways thank you all for coming to the airport~! it was really nice having all of you there... my whole big family came.. =) and patiently stayed and waited till i went in (we went for an extremely early lunch) =P and thank u sooo much for coming to pick us up and bring my pink bedsheets and extra pillows=)

lets see if i can put pics up.. this is wat happens when i'm jetlagged with nothing to do. =P


oh by e way, my apt is really big and i'm pretty happy with it.. now just waiting for my roomate to move in in a couple of days.. *anxious* haha

this was at breakfast at botanical gardens.. =P

too many things, too little space

just came home from a yummy japanese buffet at miramar hotel, ikoi~! =) now my tummy is full and satisfied (and bloated)..

so i'm sitting in my room now amidst the mess of packing.. one of my bags is filled, the other half filled, and i can think of so many more things i might like to bring with me.. i have too many things dear to me, and too little space =( and too small a weight limit too. *Sighs* but i'm trying to tell myself to minimize.. cos i'm gonna haf to move back here in less than a year anyways.. then i'll haf a big bunch of stuff to bring back. =(

can't believe i'm leaving in less than three days.. the only consolation i haf is that i'm going to a really nice place, and jem's waiting in cali. =) still, i don't wanna leave my family and frens here, esp knowing that when i get back for good my sister and her family wun be here at home anymore. =(

then again, i shd really be looking forward to this last year and cherish it to the max.. after which i'll by slogging e rest of my life away in e workforce and i'll really start feeling like i haf to be an all-out adult.

regarding a totally unrelated issue, my comp has been making weird loud whirring noises =( and my msn messenger is screwing up, it refuses to let me log on~! =( signs of an unhealthy computer-me relationship appearing..bleah.

went out with hwying today just one more time.. am going to miss u lots~! thanx for everything and take good care=) May God bless u and be with you each step of the way.. May He comfort you with His loving hand and heal every hurt and wound..=) *hugs*

great weekend and a wonderful monday~

so despite still being sick since last wed, i had a pretty nice weekend, and a really great monday today~!

the weekend started with the family(except kale) taking a breakfast trip to botanical gardens to eat prata.. its soo changed now! and pretty nice too.. next time i come back home i def haf to remind myself to visit the gardens properly.. =) then i had vietnamese noodles with my sister at great world city before heading home to konk out and try to slp away the flu bug (again, and again to no avail)..

and then my parents and i headed out to TMCC for another dinner/dance thingey.. this time it was elvis/retro themed~! =) my mommie got me these bright pink hoop earrings and hairband thingey to match my pink top! haha surprise suprise..
anyways, dancing a little with my dad really lifted my spirits and cheered me up and make me feel better.. i miss dancing so so much!

so saturday ended with a late nite and a lost voice.

sunday morning was spent in church seeing my lovely church frens for e last time this year... went home to a nice lunch from my family's fave vegetarian store in pek kio market=) yummy. then we headed out to the photoshoot place with the whole family to take studio shots of graduation and stuff.. =) amusing cos its a really tough, if not impossible task getting a 2 yr old and a 3 mth old to pose well for the camera at the same time.. =P pictures did turn out quite ok in e end, altho i still insist that make up covering my eyebags makes me look strangely oriental and not me.. *Shrugs*

the day ended with a nice italian dinner and a trip to the flyer~! and meredith was totally thrilled to be able to ride the "big wheel" =)

and then came monday..

i had so many plans for today.. didn't manage to fit everything i wanted to do in e end, but it -was- quite a fruitful day, and i feel happy refreshed and contented now=)

wanted to hit clementi bookstore and the optician and get my flu sorted out at the doctor's all in e morning.. (overly ambitious, i know) ended up only accomplishing the last task, but along with doing tt i was able to get my laundry bags and foldable laundry baskets and bath mats for use in my future grad sch life=) then i got dropped off at city hall for a really pampering pedi with my sister.. thanks jie for the treat!=)

was supposed to meet May for the rest of our baptism class/discussion thingey.. but i wandered ard bras basah for awhile, looking for a cd compilation of singapore songs for my sister.. she's rite, its impossible to find it in singapore.=( popular din haf it, and tried to contact the supplier.. they later told me the supplier din bring it in anymroe either=( bleah. so i'll try HMV next i guess.. anyways i got my stationery from popular at least.. then wandered around the Christian bookstore there.. really wanted to get a chinese bible for my grandma, but they had discounts for members only, so decided to wait for may to get it some other time..

so then i met may and jesu at e national library! and we ate a little and started a long conversation and intriguing discussion abt various issues.. it was really a very enlightening and wonderful time of sharing, learning, and fellowship =)

was supposed to head home for dinner, and was kinda sad that i reached home too late. i missed an opportunity to haf dinner w my sister and e kids and all.. =( and i told my sister i'd be home for dinner too.. =(

but its ok, i haven't been v active in cell and church activities, it was a realy refreshing time to hang out with may and talk abt deep things, getting a renewed sense of peace and joy, and spending time in fellowship with others and in His presence=) thank you for taking e time to meet and talk with me~!=) and thank you jie for understanding.. i'm saving friday for you!=)

don't she look adorable~?

us flag and a bright pink bow=)

scratchy throat and sniffy nose~

looks like my immune system has finally given in to that potent bug that been going ard the family.. =S

oh wells.. hopefully i can slp and rest it off and it'llbe gone before i leave.. which isn't far away~! as of now.. i have 8 days and 17 hours (ish).=P

i've gotten my apartment block and number and the feeling of finaly starting grad school is suddenly becoming more real.. i can spot my future home as a dot on the campus map =)

meanwhile, packing has to start soon.. i'm wondering how i ever got my life into two suitcases when i first moved to michigan, complete with all e lovely farewell gifts and notes from my wonderful singapore frens.

now i don't even haf all e added extras to carry and i alr feel like there's not enough space.. but i shall try my best to minimize.. after all, i'm gonna haf to face the pain of transporting everything back here in less than a year..=(

*sniffs* i think i shall go to bed now. tried to slp this horrid flu bug thing off the whole day.. but it resfuses to budge. will try again tonite and tmr. wish i cd haf some tlc..

new phase, new face~

haha my blog has undergone a change tt resulted from an accident..

i guess its about time i changed my blog layout anyways, the picture was disappearing, the falling hearts were getting annoying, and the links are totally ancient and out of date..

ps. thanks lyd, for letting me know that at least someone reads my blog.. i was starting to think that NO ONE visited my blog anymore, following the draught of posts.. (which may not be a bad thing compared to blogs overly visited by unknown random strangers.. =P)

so.. to a new phase of my life tt i'll be embarking on in less than two weeks =)
Lord, teach me and guide me~

happy 30th jie~! =)
pics of our Dozo dinner..

chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate~!

just back from a yummy feast in a realli nice place with my sister, kale, and hwying..thanx jie for a lovely treats to the fullerton choc buffet~!=) it was a realli nice 21st bday pressie.. altho it was redeemed 1 year + too late.. =P

am way too full now.. i really wanted to save my stomache for the chocolate heaven but i got too tempted by the yummy homemade curry and beehoon.. hence i ate too much dinner =( but nvm, i dont really think i cd haf fit in muchmore choc even if i starved myself beforehand.. =p

tmr we're gonna celebrate jie's birthday at Dozo! =) yay. yet another day of stuffing myself..

not v ordinary appearances on msn~

if anyone noes me well enough they'd noe that i'm hardly online msn wise and i'd hardly chat online either.. cos there's just not much time and not much point in chattng online.. or so i used to think =P now that jem's left and one of the cheapest (or free) ways of talking to him is through msn chatting and webcamming, i find that i'm online every morning and every nite~! haha -and- chatting alot more... i think i even got meredith hooked to webcamming to see "hamie" on in the computer, which in her mind must be that weird tv thing that captures people inside so that she can only vaguely see and hear them due to not-so-sonderful internet connections..

oh wells, she seems to love the webcamming anyways.. so that makes two of us.. =)

haha just a random thot abt web camming..

anyways, was webcamming w jem today, and suddenly felt like taking a pic with him, feels like forever since the last pic we took tog.. sooo, smart jem had an idea~!

so here's e cyber-shots of us.. =P a normal one, then one that captured e unknowingly similar tilted angles. haha

tinges of sweetness~

one tinge of sweetness-- yay, i received a postcard from cali today! =) thank u v v much =) i luved it and it meant alot to me..

another tinge of sweetness-- dawn and lyd came over to bake yummy cookies~! very very chocolatey ones... and peanut buttery ones too

one more ting of sweetness-- hwying came over today too=)

out of randomness, why did anyone ever invent angular pokey door knobs =( i've bumped my elbow and my back into the same corner of the doorknob twice in 5 minutes. =( *winces* it hurts. =(

or maybe that's just me being clumsy. =(

a long time coming..

goodness i didnt realize i haven't updated since such a long time ago.. its been almost two months since morgan's first month.. which was when i last updated..

morgan has grown alot now.. (and so haf i over summer after feasting on all sorts of food in singapore and esp in perth)

so.. its been a long time since i last blogged.. and a much much longer time since i saw most of the 23rds, so it was great to be able to meet up with them in rj last saturday.. was glad i went, and glad to see many familiar faces.. just a little disappointed not to be able to catch some of e old frens i was hoping to see..ppl like br and kooifei and pam and other wonderful frens who were a huge part of my jc life.. i was just telling my mom that some of the councillors are truly the nicest people i've ever met.. and perhaps the nicest ppl i'll ever meet..

so i guess i've been reminiscing about jc since then.. i realized my favorite mainstream songs are divided into three main categories.. (1) sappy mushy old love songs, (2) songs from my jc era, and (3) songs from my college era..

(1)- Dreaming of you, Wonderful tonight, Love me, Christmas shoes, Everyday i love you(=P)..
(2)- Accidentally in love, Iris, Reason, Time of your life, You and me..
(3)- Ever the same, Buttons (serheng and carriage girls!), Far away, Wherever you may go, Fix you, Gravity, Blind...

songs just haf a way of invoking emotions and feelings in me.. they're just so powerful and can set the atmosphere and mood of any occassion. they speak powerful messages of life and love, they express and convey wat mere words cannot.. lastly but prob most importantly to me, they give me the inspiration and drive to release myself into the only world i can truly be myself in-- my world of dance..

even if some day i haf to give it up and let it go for whatever reason, the impact it has made on my life and the way it has shaped me is so great, and i'll be just so thankful for this gift and many past opportunities that God has given me.. =)
oh the sweet memories...

hms.. i guess this is quite a rubbish post in some sense..

anyways, i hope you're doing well on the other end of the world=) i miss u too and will be keeping u in my prayers. =) may God bless you and guide you with His loving hand no matter where you're at =)

some pics?
i can never get the lines to run proper when it comes to titling the photos so i shall not try this time.. some shots of long time ago in mich and cali before returning to sg, in perth with morgan, in bintan a few weeks ago, and the little tennis star..

morgan's first month~

morgan had her first big celebration of her life today.. her first month~! =) all e relatives came over and had a nice local feast with freshest fruits and a pretty pink cake..=P

had a nice little swim, or to be more exact, a leisurely dip in the pool with my cousin natalie and jem =) jem was trying to teach natalie how to swim breastroke, but i'm not too sure how far that got accomplished..

in e meantime, i shd try and post some photos of morgan and some shots of the summer thus far.. can't believe i've been home for exactly a month once its past midnight or so tonite~! =P goodness, i only haf less than three months left of my last long holiday before i start working.. FOREVER. =S

on second thots, i think the next three month holiday i'll get would be like wat my sister is having now, if and when i ever get a kid =) heh.

pixie time~! =)


meredith and i awaiting the arrival of her new little sister.. *anxious*


there she is with a happy, relaxed(and experienced) mother~!


my hair cut and meredith's hair clip =)


morgan's comfy and sleeping like a little smurf~! =)


my lovely grandma's birthday~















and my 22nd birthdae pics~ =)
small little celebrations that made up a really sweet birthday..
notice the same birthday dress i had on last year.. =P i realli like it~! and it has now become my "bdae dress" *beams*





























on my birthday: delicious cake from sweet secrets and fabulous dinner at Dozo~
*happifying thots*




















and a great meet up, catch up, shop, and eat session with hwying and yingling on the day after.. anna~!! u were greatly missed... =P

oh not forgetting the special little surprise that jem brought me to on our pre-birthday outing.. no pics with me but basically a nice little flight on e flyer was e highlight of it all~
thanx for the thoughts and efforts.. they are def greatly appreciated and remembered no matter wat.. =)
and thanx to all my lovely frens near and far for their birthday wishes.. (i'm extremely late, but better late than never rite? =p)

back home once again~

am back home in (overly) sunny singapore~! =)

and there's a new baby who's 3 days old now and absolutely adorable... she has the CUTEST little chin and lips and little nose and she's so tiny~! she has the most heart melting "smile" and various scrunched up faces that will just make anyone go "AWWWW".. meredith too is absolutely adorable and so much fun to play with.. she can say so many words now and some of the things she does is just plain funny~! =P she's being a nice big sister too, wanting to kiss and touch morgan whom she calls "baby" =P aw so sweet.=)

in my jie's place now bumming around and admiring morgan since meredith's taking her nap and jie's tired out too and mommie's out settling lunch or smth.. am really glad that my sister seems much much more radiant and happy and tons more relaxed and less in pain than she did with meredith =)

went to church yesterday and felt really glad to be at home and to see the warm smiling faces that made me feel so welcomed! so thankful for all the thoughtful prayers that have brought me through my college years.. hung around to talk to dawn who's still the same nice dawn =) had a great time catching up a little before heading to tiong bahru where i got myself some long john silver's! my childhood fave=)

am thinking of getting a haircut this afternoon.. *ponders* its getting terribly long and out of shape.. the length isnt so much the issue i guess, i've always liked long hair.. just the split ends and the no-longer-existent fringe. maybe i should get a change in hairstyle? *apprehensive* i'm not exactly the most adventurous person. i know i'll prob regret it right after i get one if i do.

oh yes i have tons of pictures from graduation and post grad trips but i already took 5-6 hours uploading them on facebook so i think i'll leave it there and not upload them again. hee.

starry starry nite~

the sky is pretty amazing.. its kinda nice to have taken that astro class cos now i can identify more stars in the sky and its so amazing that everything's as it's supposed to be from the lectures and the planetarium and everything..

the big dipper is really very pretty.. too bad we can't really see it from singapore.. its supposed to be a winter constellation... and i didn't know that the stars you see in the sky vary from where you're at on earth.. like in singapore there aren't circumpolar constellations (constellations that will always be in the sky all day, all night, and all your the year..) so interesting right? =P

now i just have to study for this exam on monday and write a paper on last friday's trip to the observatory.. we saw the big dipper and we saw mars and saturn througha telescope~!! saturn really does look like that picture in our primary school textbooks~! you can actually see the ring..

so.. the expo is over.. we apparently did very well =) but we have to type up our final report. =( its due next tuesday and there's tons to write..

on another note.. mommie's arriving next sunday~! and its only a week and a half till my whole family's here=) i'll get to see meredith again.. she's been super adorable on the webcam and i kinda miss it not having webcammed her for a week already.. this week has been way too crazy..

anyways.. i'm excited aout going to tenessee with my mommie and her best fren.. =) i've booked a lovely cabin overlooking the smoky montains national park =) it should have breathtaking views and i think it has a hot tub in it and jacuzzi, and living room with fireplace( not sure it'll be lit in spring)... 3 sleepers~!! (this was the smallest unit available).. and we'll hopefully be able to drive up to see a gorgeous sunset=) and just maybe see a waterfall or two. And possibly take a few short hikes?

we're selling our stuff in our apartment already.. bleah. was putting it off cos i didn' wanna face having to move out. heh. i -am- excited about grad school.. but this apartment has def been a great home for me.. val and i were just saying how we'd miss it and it really feels like home now...

i guess this is another spurt of ramblings.. a lot of things on my mind.. i kinda needed a break and needed to spit some random things out.
have NOT had too much sleep this week cos of senior design. and it should be a well known fact that i cannot survive without sufficient sleep. i get grumpy. =(
need to catch up on sleep.
*yawns*

some photos from senior's day..

winter in spring~?

*warning: super long post. thank goodness for autosaving drafts, i almost lost the WHOLE thing cos xplorer died on me! =(

happy easter sunday! =)
bet mommie and daddie are having fun in guangzhou.. (is tt where they went?)

there was a winter storm last friday~! snowed 10 inches or so i think.. and the ironic thing is that one of these days over the weekend was supposed to be the first day for spring~! hah. michigan weather. i guess it should be melting soon.. its not really -that- cold now.. around 0-ish i think=) but its supposed to snow bits and pieces over the next week or so.. how wacky.

oh yes, really wanna thank God for opening doors for me =)and also the ppl who were praying for me and supporting me and encouraging me.. and ppl trying to be there.. esp like mommie, daddie, jie, kale, hwying~!!, and jem.. just really thankful and can't wait to start on a new part of my life! =) jem is going to berkeley too.. so we'll be only an hour or so away..

it'll be nice.. distance makes the heart grow fonder.. it'll prob make us cherish each other more and take each other for granted much less. =) and we'll be able to visit each other really easily and often.. its kinda like we're living on both ends of singapore. =) say changi and junrong west??? haha.. with much nicer weather. and i'm excited about possibly visting jie in LA next time=)

i have so much stuff to clear, its totally insane =( and i'm not really starting any of the clearing yet.. partially cos i don't have time.. and partially cos it means my time here is ending.. heh this place has grown to really be my second home..

that doesn't mean i'm not excited tho.. i -am- very excited. about graduation, about seeing my family here and showing them this place that's been my cosy little cove..(which may not be very presentable in its current state, haha), excited about summer at home to see and catch up with old frens again, possibly some summer trips (? *hopeful*), the addition of a new baby to the family!!!!, maybe starting some dancing at home, then heading to grad school and enjoying my last year away.. =)

hms, all those nice little plans in my head, but now i have loads of things i have to overcome that's sitting in a pile in front of me.. mostly senior design stuff i have to tackle and clear. possibly another ballroom comp...

most of all.. i must remember that all these plans are in His hands... and be thankful that He's brought me safe thus far.. and has been so so good to me =) what better time to remember than easter? yay.

*lets out big breath*
wow. that was one long post. probably no one will read this. haha oh wells. guess i'm kinda making up for the long time absence and sporadic short updates that weren't really updates..

just saw the adorable pics of meredith on my jie's blog and thus inspired on this sunny (yet snowy) sunday afternoon to update and hopefully get some pictures up. so here goes.=)

michigan comp, 9th feb '08~
didn't get many pictures from here, mostly videos.. got a couple of good ones from steph tho.. =)

this looks exactly like another picture we took a year ago.




















two of the shots from steph's pro camera of us in the silver and novice latin final~




our final blue ribbons. =)



























spring break in cancun~!
this was an amazing catamaran ride =)




















the girls and the catamaran..





































jem and esther play with the sand.. =) i think its a really cool picture..






















sun and the sea~!




















stopover at isla mujeres for lunch~








































went to coba.. one of the mayan ruins.. and esther is holding siew in the palm of her hand!!! siew is so little. haha.



































the view up here is amazing.. we climbed all the way..













































girls and the la isla shopping center on our slack day..


s


















one famous place i didn't really know about till we got there.. its quite an interesting concept i would say... lots of interesting performances and acrobats.. open bar is a real waste for me tho. i never get anything but cokes and diet cokes out of it anyways. *shrugs*



















one of the few pictures we got of the two of us..




























okies thats enough cancun.. now for
arnold comp 08~











again.. not many photos of us dancing cos we had more videos instead..

okies that's enough for a sunday afternoon.. now wat shall i have for dinner?? *thinks about my food* =)