Purple Blue Orange

making sense to not make sense

2009-03-27T00:11:00.002+08:00

I just have to laugh at how small the world (or singapore) is. And the connections with people you know and their friends and their friends.
Because not laughing about it would make me feel bitter.
And how funny is it, that you trust people and let them know your thoughts. Your personal thoughts. And they agreed with it. Yet, they do things agaisnt that exact thought. very funny. It irks me.
I irk me; my naive-ity.

I'm not making sense, i know. Agree with me, and then go against it. go.

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On a HIGH note, i'm enjoying my practicum in school, minus the ridiculous paper work. I have had high highs and low lows. But all is good.

I've learnt that children's humour is one of the best type of humour there is. One antic/joke would cause me to laugh or smile to myself whenever i think about it. And the kids generously showered me with funny antics/jokes on daily basis. Just imagine how HAPPY i must be. very very.

And i love how kids are very HONEST. they really do tell things like it is. no bends, no turns. Sometimes, they tell you things that you'd rather not know. And cost you a bruised ego. But you'll get over the honesty-shock and appreciate the brutal honesty that you'll rarely get from adults.

There is so much we can and should learn from kids. SO much.

Won't worry my life away

2009-03-19T23:47:00.002+08:00

I watched this video and had the silliest grin on. Yes, Im still stuck in Jason-land. And not intending to get unstuck anytime soon, thank you.

On another note, Hurrah to the March Holidays!

MR.A-Z

2009-03-06T00:07:00.002+08:00

Jason and the superband was MORE than awesome. More.

Every little thing, is gonna be alright

Thank you, Jason. You rock socks.

Ask a Question

2009-02-14T13:06:00.003+08:00

Fifty People, One Question: Brooklyn from Fifty People, One Question on Vimeo

I LOVE this video! It shows how diverse people can be. And it also shows that more often than not, there is someone else who thinks like you do.
I like how the video vividly capture the people's facial expressions and honesty.
A few gave simple straight-forward answers, of waking up on their bed. or waking up at where they're already at.
There were a few duplicate answers. Which is really cool, i think. I'd like to meet someone who would give the same answer as i would for one same question.
Then, there were creative answers like waking up to closets that transport us to other closets.
And I laughed at "...thrilllerrrr with Michael Jackson!..."

What would you like to wake up to, tomorrow?

In my current situation of having to finish 7 assignments in one week, I would very much love to wake up to all-completed assignments, tied nicely with a purple ribbon.
That would be lovely.
(:

gasp

2009-01-28T12:04:00.002+08:00

Izz just had a milestone moment!

He counted his blocks 1-4 by himself!

At 2 years 22 days old!

With that nice, endearing voice of his.

And as clear as water.

Blue is the colour (next to purple, that is)

2009-01-28T11:53:00.001+08:00

The Beautiful Shade of BLUE.

You and I

2009-01-24T01:25:00.003+08:00

"...way up there,
you and I, you and I..."

JM, I'll see you in March (:

A gift, called time

2009-01-21T00:55:00.006+08:00

" A lesson finds the common denominator

and links us all together, like a chain.

At the end of that chain dangles a clock,

and on the face of the clock the passing of time is registered.

We hear it, the hushed tick-tock sound that breaks any silence,

and we see it, but often we don't feel it.

Each second makes its mark on every single person's life;

comes and then goes...

...Enough time leaves us warm;

when our time is gone, it too leaves us cold.

Time is more precious than gold,

more precious than diamonds,

more precious than oil or any valuable treasures.

It is time that we do not have enough of;

it is time that causes the war within our hearts,

and so we must spend it wisely...

...Time can't be given.

But it can be shared. "

-- Cecelia Ahern's "The Gift"

Brilliant, isn't it? Those words.

Cecelia Ahern's books are like textbooks on life.

An addictive-fun-to-read textbook, at it.

How often do we say "time is precious" and "time is money".

But have we used time wisely?

Do we embrace and make full use of the things we have and appreciate the people around us?

Or do we waste time chasing things and waiting for people we know we can't have?

Every millisecond counts. It cannot be exchanged.

I, for one, admit the many many seconds I've wasted.
Just waiting. And wasting.
The later(s) and the maybe(s).

Tick tock tick tock.

Middle Child Syndrome and such

2009-01-10T00:29:00.003+08:00

Scene: Tutorial Room
[script may not be exactly accurate. But the main points are there]

Lecturer: Do you have any children?
Student: Yes, 3.
Lecturer: How old are they?
Student: Youngest is 4, eldest is 11.
Lecturer: How about your second child?
Student: uhhhh... She's about 8 years old.
Lecturer: About??? Uh-huh..... the middle child syndrome!

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See, the issue circulating the middle child is so very real.
Parents, please remember to mention your middle child's age when you're asked of your children's age. We don't appreciate being known as between 4 to 11 years old. Thank you.
And please be sure of our age. If we're 8 years old, we're 8 years old. There's no about about it.

The conversation in the tutorial room was rather funny though. No offence intended to said student. heh.

So 1st week back to school was rather enriching. A few new lecturers, new (and mostly) interesting modules. And we finally had our first lunch at one of the NTU's canteen.
I'm still in a daze-mode though. But oh my, only 6 weeks of NIE left.

Having many hours of lessons in a week can be rather draining. Especially if you have spent the past 2 months doing too-fun things and visiting too-fun countries like Turkey. By the end of the week I was so mentally-drained that I forgot what I wanted to say mid-sentence, jumbled up words when talking, and spelled "purple" wrongly. Everyone knows that SFQ must be really off if she mis-spelled "purple". That's almost a crime.

But some of the tutorial and lecture session were really really fun. We de-coded a Braille passage, learnt about children's motor development and how it could affect their progression as they grow, and practised story-telling. Ah, story-telling has never been such buckets of fun. With props and such. And I got to (sort of) play the guitar! So it was only 2 notes, as background sound during the story-telling session. Only 2 notes, and i struggled a bit. But heh, it was FUN.

There's just something very attractive about children's books. Maybe it's the illustrations. Or the repetitive sentences. Or the endearing characters.
There's just something very HAPPY about the books. That makes you read word for word till the end, with a smile on your face.
Or maybe, it's the realisation that there's always, always that little piece of KID in you.

8 girls and a skyride

2009-01-02T00:59:00.003+08:00

On 30th December 2008, me and my NIE mates, also affectionately known as the shrieking girls, celebrated Sue's birthday.
I absolutely LOVE birthday celebrations. From the planning to the present-shopping and to the celebration itself.
Ah, we had fun. Buckets of them.

We had a black-white-gold theme.
Which included the presents and dress code.
We had plenty of surprises for Sue. Who doesn't like surprises, really? Good ones, that is.

And we surprised Sue by showing up at her doorstep, sang her some birthday songs and gave her a slice of cake and 1/3 of the gift.
Yes, with gold crowns, no less. (Thank you, Siti!)

We then headed to Vivo for dinner.
Irk, no dinner photos. They are in Rau's, Yatee's and Sue's camera!
During dinner, we gave Sue her ticket to the next destination we're going.
And we drove off to Sentosa.

Songs of the Sea @ Sentosa!
It was lovely (:

We then headed to the skyride/luge.
And us shrieking girls live up to our name. hah. With the screams and loud voices.
I've been on the skyride/luge before, but that was during the day. Doing those 2 activities at night was a whole different experience. The view was simply breath-taking.

LUGE! Boxes and boxes of FUN.

We wondered around for a bit, oooohing and aaahing at beautiful and colourful lights.

I like how the girls would scream "Sya....PURPLE!!" whenever they see anything purple (:

The 4 of us went over to T3 for chit-chat session over drinks.
Hot chocolate with marshmallows, was yum.
And talking and laughing till late late hours with these 3 ladies was enjoyable.

School starts next week! Which also means that I'll see alot more of these girls, yay!
No classes on Mondays, too!
=D

Let's fly.

2008-12-29T01:25:00.002+08:00

background music: Ordinary Day by Emilie Mover
"I want to send out a gazillion bouquet"

Up, up and away.
(:

Of beautiful words.

2008-12-25T23:15:00.006+08:00

"People, like houses, hold their secrets. Sometimes the secrets inhabit
them, sometimes they inhabit their secrets. They wrap their arms tight to hug
them close, twist their tongues around the truth....
....people who, not unlike parcels, hide secrets, who cover themselves with layers until they present themselves to the right ones who can unwrap them and see inside."

-- The Gift by Cecelia Ahern

Cecelia always seemed to make sense. Her books are more than just books.
With words streamed nicely.

"When you drop a glass or a plate to the ground it makes a loud crashing
sound. When a window shatters, a table leg breaks, or when a picture falls off
the wall it makes a noise. But as for your heart, when that breaks, it's
completely silent. You would think as it's so important it would make the
loudest noise in the whole world, or even have some sort some sort of
ceremonious sound like the gong of a cymbal or the ringing of a bell. But it's
silent and you almost wish there was a noise to distract you from the
pain"

-- 'If you could see me now' by Cecelia Ahern

How beautiful, those words. Something seemingly simple, being described so precisely.

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Everyone has different therapeutic means; an avenue for us to express, or relax.
It could be drawing, painting.
Or singing out loud. Or whispering songs so soft, only you can hear.
Something that we are good at. Something that we enjoy doing.
And something that feels right to, and for, us.

For me, being around kids is therapeutic.
Just hearing their laughter and voices.
And being part of them.
Reading books is therapeutic too. With something to munch on, preferably. And a nice sofa or bed.

The Dream

2008-12-25T00:50:00.004+08:00

When will i watch you,
at Stamford Bridge?

It has been about 5 months since the day I watched my beloved Chelsea played LIVE at the Shah Alam Stadium. It's a blur now. No surprise, since i have a memory capacity of a teaspoon. But i still remember the feeling of pure happiness when i first saw the players, right before my eyes. It felt great, being there. Surrounded by Chelsea fans alike, and knowing that i'm only 20-feet away from the field.

One of the many many things i'd like to do, is to watch Chelsea play at our homeground - Stamford Bridge. And the desire to go there escalated when i was looking through Faezah's pictures of her in Camp Nou, watching her Barcelona beat Real Madrid 2-0. It's Barcelona vs Real Madrid!! 2 Spanish football giants, no less. I was looking at her pictures with a wide smile plastered on my face. And imagining myself in Stamford Bridge, watching Chelsea beat ManU 2-0.

I've been bitten by the travel bug, i think. I'd like to travel at least once a year.
InsyaAllah, I'm aiming for London either 2010 or 2011.
To include watching Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
And visiting Madame Tussauds London (They have wax figures of Brad Pitt and Prince William!)
Lots of money, a must. I'm guessing match tickets would cost at least S$200?
Faezah paid much more than that. And she said it's worth it.
I'm sure it is. For the atmosphere, the experience, and the excitement.

Anyone keen to be travel partners for this trip? ;)

So long.

2008-12-23T18:57:00.003+08:00

You're near-ideal.

Sweet, and nice.

But, maybe.

Maybe, we belong in different maps.

Thanks for the memories.

See you, when i see you.

--SFQ

Turkey (:

2008-12-20T00:08:00.023+08:00

Ah, Turkey was awesome. Just awesome.

I got so attached to the place. And i miss Turkey.

Flying with SIA was pretty awesome. The entertainment system definitely made the long plane ride (about 11-12 hours) rather pleasant. I watched awesome movies like the sisterhood of the travelling pants 2, crash and love actually. I likeeee!

The transit stop at Dubai helps too. I heart duty-free!

I love the purple-blue theme of the seats, blankets and pillows. Good choice of colours, SIA!

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First stop: Istanbul

At an area near the Blue Mosque.

The Blue Mosque. Also known as 'SultanAhmet Camii'. 'Camii' is mosque in Turkish language.

The beautiful interior of the Blue Mosque.

No matter where i was standing and which angle i was looking at, the mosque is absolutely stunning.

Hagia Sofia Museum

There were autumn and winter trees almost everywhere.

It felt really magical, with the yellowish leaves and whitish bark.

The outside of the Topkapi Palace, a museum that showcases porcelains and treasuries.

I like how it seemed that the buildings are layered, due to slopes and hills.

And i like how it's easy to spot a mosque from far due to its distinctive features. Istanbul itself has over 2,000 mosques.

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2nd stop: Ankara (capital of Turkey)

HUGE red roses outside the Ataturk Mausoleum.

And equally-HUGE white roses too!

At the Mausoleum.

It wasn't very cold in Istanbul when we first touched down. The temperature was about 14 degree Celsius. But as we travelled to the inner areas of Turkey, the temperature began to drop. Ankara was rather cold.

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3rd stop: Cappadocia

The temperature was lowest at Cappadocia, i think. It was 2 degree Celsius at one point. But the tour guide mentioned that it could go below zero when it's windy.

We rode the hot air balloon!!

I remembered in one of my NIE class, we were asked to share of one thing that we would like to do. Mine was to ride the hot air balloon in Europe.

Some may argue that Turkey is not exactly Europe, especially since Cappadocia is at the Asian part of Turkey. But hey, it's close enough. So another wish, fulfilled!

We had to leave the hotel early in the morning at 6 to the balloon place.

And it was worth every cent. Worth, it.

Breath-taking view, please.

There are many hot air balloon companies. So we got to see different-colored balloons flew at different places.

Hello, beautiful.

The gorgeous features and landscape God created.

I was mesmerised.

I've always have a fascination for clouds.

To be above the clouds, was just amazing.

That's how our balloon looked like.

The greens and the browns and the whites.

I took over 100 pictures during the balloon ride, no kidding.

I was that happy.

Next, we went to the 'Goreme Open-Air Museum'.

People used to live in this place. So we got to see the living areas and kitchens.

And we had Turkish ice cream! Yes, we ate ice cream when it was 2 degree Celsius outside. But the ice cream tasted soooo good.

We went to a pottery place where this man showed us how he made those beautiful Turkish pots and plates. He doesn't speak much english so our tour guide translated what he said, to us. But i really really like the sound of Turkish language, even when no words made sense to me.

And there's something about Turkish men which i find rather endearing. I think it's their confidence, charm and delightful sense of humor. There doesn't seem to be anything lame about their jokes. It's just always honestly funny.

The eating places we were brought to were awesome!

Here's one of the places. It is situated underneath a sort-of-mountain.

With a really cool setting.

I'm not a picky eater. So i find the food pretty good. We were really well-fed.

With soup and bread as starters, followed by salad, main course and dessert.

I LOVE their dessert. It's really really sweet. Maybe that's why i like it.

Chocolate pudding, yum.

These are known as 'fairy chimneys', which are formed by continual erosion by rain, snow and wind.

Then, it snowed!

It was beautiful.

Although i was practically shivering from the cold, it was lovely.

I am grateful to Allah for giving me the opportunity to experience hot air balloon and snow all in one day. I was an overjoyed SFQ that day.

Us with 2 ladies from the tour group.

I was soooo jakun when it first snowed. And told anybody who would listen, that it's my first real snow experience.

I looked up to the sky and allowed the snow to fall gently on my face. It felt good.

And i threw some snowballs too!

It was nice to see things covered with snow.

It's the prettiest shade of white I've seen.

Shoeprints were never this pretty too.

It snowed from 12ish pm till late night.

By the time morning came, it was no longer snowing.

But there was still snow-deposits on buildings and the ground. It was a lovely sight.

And look at the gorgeous sky, a mixture of blue, pink and orange.

It's amazing how the snowflakes really look like those depicted in books and such.

It makes me really appreciate tiny details.

The aftermath of snow.

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4th stop: Konya

Mevlana Museum.

Another eating place, called the 'caravanserai'.

One of the many small mosques we saw.
I like how we could hear the azan loud and clear during prayer times.

One of my fave shots, definitely. The stunning sky and its colours.

It was about 530pm, at one of the toilet stops we had.

In Turkey, dawn was around 520-545am, which is pretty much like Singapore's. But the sun sets early. By 6pm, it'd be really really dark.

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5th stop: Pamukkale

The 'Cotton Castle', known as Pamukkale. It's "created by deposits of white limestone from thermal springs".

We saw some ruins while walking towards the top area of the cotton castle.

Liza said this picture is advertisement-ish.

So i made one, for fun. (:

The beautiful features of the cotton castle.

This pretty purple flower stole the limelight for a while.

One of my fave shots, surely.

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6th stop: Selcuk

I got fascinated with this tree, and its nice-looking fruits and leaves.

At Ephesus!

Which is said to be "one of the world's most outstanding archaeological sites"

It really IS outstanding.

Complete with a great-looking sky.

The 'Library of Celsius' in Ephesus.

With Christina and her mum. Lovely people and awesome company.

At 530ish pm, the moon smiled.

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7th stop: Bursa

Street shops.
I love how different shops have different coloured walls. Bright colours too.

In Singapore, the buildings tend to blend with one another. It's rare to spot shops or places with bright colours.

In Turkey, they are all so colourful, but somehow the colours doesn't clash. In fact, they fit pretty nicely.

Outside of the Green Mosque.

We went to a local village. I just love walking around the village.

And meeting the ever-friendly locals.

I just have to take a picture with this purplish-blue wall. I'll paint the walls of my house in bright colours, i will. Someday, hopefully.

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8th stop: Back to Istanbul

We took a ferry from Bursa to Istanbul.

These seagulls flew next to the ferry because the locals threw pieces of bread out, for the seagulls to catch and eat. It was quite a sight.

We went for a ride around the Bosphorus River too, where we could see both the European and Asian part of Istanbul.

A castle. They still exist!

It really is a super huge castle.

Luxury houses.

The bridge that binds the European side of Istanbul to the Asian side.

Our bus drove on it (:

It feels good to know that I crossed Europe to Asia within minutes.

An area near the spice bazaar/ Egyptian Market.

Besiktas Stadium!

We drove past a few football stadiums throughout this Turkey trip. I was thrilled.

My sister and I were considering catching a football match there but we concluded that it wouldn't be very wise because from what we see, the fans going in to the stadium are all men. Furthermore, it was not time-permitting. Maybe next time (:

I'd love to watch a Fenerbahce match, please. There's Emre!

Taksim Square. It felt like Orchard Road, but with more crowd. Still, it was a really nice experience, shopping there.

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Now, meet the people who made this trip extra special and memorable.

1) My sister

Minus the few squabbles we had, i thought we made quite a good travelling-pair, especially the shopping bit. More trips, yes? =D

2) The tour group mates

The group was awesome. Jenny (in green) really looked after us, especially at Taksim Square.

Christina and mum are fun to be around with. And the 3 young ladies were good company.

3) The tour manager

Mark must be the bestest tour manager, ever.

He was organised, funny and really easy to be around with.

And he helped us carry our many many many shopping bags back to our hotel room.

4) The tour guide

Bestest tour guide, too. He fed us with detailed information of the Turkish culture and history. And he has that charm and delightful sense of humor too. His jokes are honestly funny. Honest.

5) The tour bus driver

Yes, the bestest driver, no doubt. It's puzzling how he can squeeze through a narrow passageway with cars parked at both sides. And how he drove so smoothly. I felt really safe. Even when he was driving on slippery snow-cemented roads. Up the hills, and down the hills.

Many would say that they would like to drive like Fernando Alonso or perhaps Lewis Hamilton.

But you know, i would love to be able to drive like Mr. Farouk some day. Fearless and confident.

6) The Turkish people

A shopkeeper at the Grand Bazaar, with his son.

Oh my, the Turkish people are such friendly people.

It was nice conversing with a few of them.

I didn't manage to spot Ilhan Mansiz or his look-alikes. But i did saw a few Emre and Hakan Sukur look-alikes. =D

With a girl from the local Village in Bursa. She has pretty features and was very friendly.

During transit in Dubai, i saw this handsome boy and (shamelessly) asked his mum's permission for me to take a picture with him. It's a pity that the picture turned our blur-ish. But it's ok. His mum was really nice and the little boy was simply adorable.

I took over 600 photos in total. I've uploaded them in my multiply, if you would like to view them: http://purplechelc.multiply.com/photos

InsyaAllah, I would like to visit Turkey the 2nd time. Let's go, anyone?

TURKEY!!

2008-12-06T17:03:00.002+08:00

I've finally finished packing, yay!
Meet my suitcase.

It has a pretty blue-pink-purple butterfly on it.
The sticker made me happy. It has been unpasted for about 5 years.
Now, it's looking ever-pretty.

I'm excited to see Turkey!
The no.1 thing people has been telling me to do is to take lots of pictures! Sure i'll do (:
And the no.2 thing people has been telling me to do is to look for/bring back them turkish guys. Akki said "Maybe you'll see some ilhan mansiz around, try to snap pics!" That got me laughing for quite a bit.
All jokes aside, I'm looking forward to witness the great beauty Turkey has to offer. Those incredible mosques and archeological sites.

And to all my girlfriends who has sent well-wishes and funny messages, thank you! (:

Meet my mates

2008-12-05T17:11:00.000+08:00

All these pictures are long overdue.
Taken with the NIE mates. I am thankful to God for giving me the opportunity to meet these lovely people. Life at NIE is so so so FUN with them around.

Us 7 SNOs at the LT.

Having fun whenever we want to.

My NED 104 groupmates!
We've gone through hours and hours of tedious editing and research work.
And learnt to accommodate one another's ideas.

Thanks for the stories, which kept us sane while doing those assignments (:

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Had an ice-cream date with the lovely ladies. Which was awesome!

Many thanks to Sue and Siti who drove us to places. InsyaAllah, when i get my license and purple car, it'd be my turn to drive you ladies around ok. =D
Everyone singing out loud in the car to Michael Fredo's "This time around" was rather therapeutic. It does not matter that we sang off-tune.

Awesome date, awesome people (:

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Lunch and games before we go off to respective destinations.

We were kecoh. But we had lots and lots of FUN (:

I still have yet to post the camp/bbq pictures. But i'll save that for another day and entry. (Making scrapbook-picture is rather tedious)

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I also met up with the polymates recently. And it's the first time after a LONG time that ALL 6 of us met. Just a simple dinner with good company does make a big difference.

Thank you girls, for the meetup and the talk. For the random talks on Girl Guides, ladders, dislocated jaw, Fajar Road and many more. The talks that got me laughing hard till i teared.
(:

Breakfast on sand

2008-12-02T22:18:00.006+08:00

We had breakfast at the beach.
With picnic mat and basket.
And the hot, hot sun.

I like the idea of bringing a picnic basket for picnic.

Meet the lovely ladies.
Food-shopping the day before was fun too (:

Enn made TURKEY sandwiches for us, on the spot.
She made it with lots of love.
When you make food with lots of love, it will be tasty.
So we had a very tasty and filling breakfast.

And Sheena made yummy eggs for us!

As a wrap-up, we had food salad with yogurt. Yum.
Kiwis and apples and blueberries and bananas. A healthy colour of green, red, purple and yellow. And white.
We discovered that Sheena is good at cutting fruits. And SFQ takes forever to cut kiwis.

After filling our stomachs, we walked and skipped on the sand and feel the water hit our feet.

Shadows are fascinating.
A heart a day, keeps u smiling away.

"...ONE thing
TWO do
THREE words
FOUR you
...I love you"

Fun in the sun, totally.

We took turns with 4 different props- Akki's bag, pink frisbee, Enn's red shades, and Enn's camera.
I think the hot sun depleted our creative juices, where the shots are concerned. Plus, the 10-sec timer.
But we still had great fun, and that's what matters.

Girls, another meet-up after Japan and Turkey (:

Witnessing Fairy Tales

2008-11-24T23:50:00.014+08:00

Since i'm all for being a kid when i grow up, why not start the campaign off with watching the Disney 3 Classic Fairytales, correct? Front row seats too (:
Ah, i was a happy happy kid.

The brilliant stage set-up with pretty purple-blue-with-sparkles curtains.
Front row seats was simply awesome. Everything was crystal clear. Crystal.

And purple seats, of course.

With Sarah, my partner for the day.

Yes, i bought a gorgeous Belle purple mug.

I. Love. It.

So the show started off with goofy, minnie, donald and mickey reading the fairytales from a book.

First stop was Snow White & the 7 Dwarfs.

The prince was rather dashing, i must say.

And the evil queen/stepmother was convincing.

I love her purple coat though.

The mirror!

I love the dwarfs. The costume/mask are well-made. Doc, Sleepy, Bashful, Grumpy, Happy, Dopey and Sneezy look exactly like they do in books and the movie.

I find it rather funny that the dwarfs are taller than Snow White.

But they are incredible, still. And the heigh-ho song!

I'm a little disappointed that Snow White laid on the bench instead of a transparent glass coffin, after she ate that apple. A bench! But no matter. The Prince did come to rescue her anyway.

And, they live happily ever after (:

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Next was Cinderella, who is pretty even in rags.

They did a pretty good job on the costume and make-up of the stepmother and stepsisters.

See, i told you the stage set-up was brilliant. They have those door-openings, with little surprises.

Anastacia wore pink-purple dress la. My favourite colour-mix! What a spoiler.

But they were convincing enough, with the shrilling laughter and voice.

Remember Cinderella's mice friends? And how they pronounced Cinderella's name as Cinder-rally.

The infamous fairygodmother. Picture is blurred due to smoke that came out. Effects were great.

So the fairygodmother worked her magic and gave Cinderella that beautiful blue dress. She went for the ball and met her prince!

Then the clock strike twelve!

And Cinderella left one of her glass slippers.

No worries though.

Prince Charming found her, and the slippers fit.

And yes, they live happily ever after.

Aki, we're watching Cinderella next Jan!! (:

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Beauty & the Beast is next. The songs in this part of the show was really really good. "Be our guest" and "Beauty and the Beast" and the song about Gaston. Ah.

I did mention about the incredible stage props, did i?

I was a little disappointed that Chip, the teacup, was not part of the cast. But i guess there is only so much they can include within the relatively short period of time.

A shot when the cast sang "Be our Guest"

Sarah and I ~~had~~ has a tiny crush on the fork-guy, who happens to be Snow White's prince (i think).

Beauty, with Beast.

When i see such red roses, i am always reminded of Beauty & the Beast.

Gaston, who also played as Prince Charming aka Cinderella's Prince. Convincing acting, i must add.

When Belle told Beast that she loves him, the spell was broken and the Beast changed back to how he was before.

And...they live happily ever after. Of course.

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I like Minnie. I really do. But i'd like her better if she didn't just went in front of the princesses and princes when i took this shot. She blocked Snow White!

When the show was ending, streams of papers fell down. Since we're seated at the front row (yes, i have to repeat that multiple times), many of the papers fell on us. And kids came streaming out in front of us to play with the papers.

We had TONS of fun, we did.

Disney on ice: Disney Princesses next March!

the beauty with kids

2008-11-23T23:06:00.004+08:00

"it's easier to strike a conversation with kids.
....becoz kids dun judge. to them, everyone is equal.
....the beauty with kids are that they embrace diversity and differences"
-- Siti

Siti hits bingo with those statement about kids.
We shared our experiences interacting with kids.
And gave advices and views.

Siti, i think we should set up a pro-kids club, or something.

I heart ketupats

2008-11-09T20:14:00.004+08:00

Yes, i know Hari Raya has ended some days ago.
But October was rather busy.
So Raya pictures has been organised only recently.

I absolutely love Raya visiting with the cousins and family.
Abundance of laughter and stories, guaranteed.

The little ones! The ones who always always brighten up days with their acts and innocence. And the ones who invite me to play with them.

Singing Barney and Hi-5 songs together.
Playing with Barney and Spongebob.
Skipping and holding hands while walking.

You little ones are the essence of joy and love.

The super awesome ex-colleagues.

My Princess friends!
Girls, I miss you.
See you soon (:

Raya with the coursemates was madness. FUN madness, so all is good. =D
12 houses in 15 hours is quite something. and reaching home at 3am.
But Oh My, was it LOTS of fun.
The talks, the laughs, and the random acts.
More random & crazily-fun meetups, i'm sure.
And when school finishes and we get our diploma, I know I'll miss them.
[We're going camping soon! yayyyyyyyyyy]

Catching up

2008-10-30T00:28:00.006+08:00

I am finally finally done with assignments for this semester.
So now, i can look forward to cairo/istanbul! yay yay yay.
And there are so many things i'd like to do. Like reading the 5-6 books that i so ambitiously bought but haven't read. And decorating the blank calendar i bought with the decorating materials (which cost more than my Chelsea tix last July).

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Catching up with friends = awesome. Always.
The stories, and the news.
You people rule tools!

I see the light

2008-10-23T23:35:00.008+08:00

"You'll be so proud of yourself once you complete them!"
-- Aki

Aki, i'll vote for you for the person-who-is-always-always-right award. totally.

After handing up the 3 assignments on Wednesday, I can't help but feel proud of myself. 3 assignments in 4 days. It was madness. It was MORE than madness. But Alhamdulillah (and yay) i did it, i did it. I'm not so proud that i did it all in the very last minute. And i know I could have produced a much much better work if i started on those assignments much much earlier. People, doing all 3 assignments ALL in the last minute, is not to be proud of. Please don't model me. BUT, i'm locking my worried-self for now and letting my happy-self freeeeeee. I'm just glad I've completed those assignments.

So, 1 more to go. I've granted myself 2-days break before i start on this last assignment. I better kick some bottom for this one. 1 assignment in 4 days sounds better than 3 assignments in 4 days, aye.

Some people questioned my sanity in going out on Monday when i still have not completed those assignments. But truth is, I think i'd be less sane if i were to go through with all those assignments and not meet these 2 lovely ladies in between.
Ladies, thanks for the much needed break. You both know i love the talks and laughter we shared (:

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Ever wondered how i'm still young at heart at 21 and forever cheerful and upbeat? (hah. self-assumptions and portrayals, i know).

Try hanging out with a 1year 9month boy whose favourite TV shows include Thomas & Friends, and Bob the builder. And a 6year 11month girl who draws triangles as body.

My 2 little ones has provided me with endless entertainment.

Here's a video of Izz eating prata. Look at how he tears the prata into super small pieces and dipped into sugar. I reckon he liked the sugar more than he liked the prata.
I know prata is not very healthy, especially for a 1+year old body. BUT be assured that we don't feed him prata everyday. And eating prata helps in a child's fine motor skills i think, with all the tearing and the dipping. heh. ok, excuses.
And i'd also recommend allowing children to eat by themselves whenever appropriate. It helps them develop faster, i think. And prevent the child from being too dependent on an adult. Yes, allowing child to eat by themselves = messy kitchen & messy child. But hey, a 5minute clean-up of the kitchen (and the child) doesn't hurt.
Ok, video. Nisa's voice can also be heard in the background.

And here is Izz, half-face covered with sugar.

Nisa crawled underneath the table and of course Izz followed her. He always does.

I believe in giving children the chance to explore environment and things by themselves; allowing them to gain knowledge by experience, and not restricting choices. Of course you still have to be there; to ensure that the child's safety is not compromised.
Discovery is pure.
Pure fun.
Pure innocence.
Pure knowledge.
Pure.

Meeting Meg Cabot

2008-10-11T21:52:00.006+08:00

Meg Cabot, author of the Princess Diaries series, was in Singapura for a meet-the-fans session. I'm a huge Meg Cabot fan. So, OF COURSE i MUST go. And so i did. With Aki, who is lovely and agreed to come along (:

I like that the ad says "All princesses are invited to meet Meg Cabot". It makes the event feel really really special.

I know technically i am too old for Princess Diaries. But i read the first book during secondary school and got stuck since. I'm just loyal that way, i think. AND the books have feel-good elements.

Please ah, I got excited already when i saw this poster outside Borders. Meg Cabot wasn't even there yet.

And there she is! All pretty and glowy. Aki and i agreed that the black with pink ribbons coat looks so nice on her. In my opinion, it looks like it'd fit only her. And that it would have looked really ugly if any other people put it on.

I wonder if writing books on teenage princesses makes one looks and feels young and happy.

We shook her hands and took a picture with her.

yes yes, i just had to blink, at that millisecond moment. Thanks eh, photo-taker. BUT, a photo with Meg Cabot IS a photo with Meg Cabot. At least i was still smiling. heh.

[P.S: Enn, looks like Aki, Sheena and me has already gotten the close-eyes-in-picture disease. Your turn, next. ho ho ho]

Yes yes, she signed using a purplish-pink marker! How awesome and absolutely girlish. I LIKEEEE!

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On another note, I'd like to wish all Muslims a Selamat Hari Raya. Maaf Zahir and Batin. (:

Raya post, soon.

Iftar Dates

2008-09-29T06:03:00.016+08:00

I have had 3 iftar dates this month and they were all AWESOME. So here's a picture-post.

Rau's Birthday

Can girls ever successfully organise a surprise celebration? The person always somehow suspected that there is something going on before it happens. BUT, a great outing still. And Rau did seem a bit surprised.
I LOVE surprises!

School would have been much less fun without these girls.
I like how we are all of different ages but it doesn't feel like so.
These girls, they have hearts of gold. Maybe that's why they are in this career line (:
And I know I can depend on them to catch me when i fall. With purple-coloured net, no less.

And we went to the Henderson Waves bridge! I'd like to go to the Alexandra Arch, one day. It's in my top 100 to-go list. But for now, Henderson Waves is good enough. I was HAPPY.

I think i now have a fascination for bridges. It's lovely when you look down and see things shrinked to 1/3 its size.

Us, shrieking girls. We were so noisy, that people walked away from us. But talking and laughing out loud has its therapeutic effect, i think.
More meetups, please!

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Iftar with Princesses!

We have known each other for at least 8 years. And it took us that long to have our first iftar together. As always, company was great. We were sooooo happy, it was silly. But i'd rather be silly and be with them, than be sane but be without them.
The adventure started as early as after Maghrib prayers, when the girls were running towards the bus stop so as to not wait another 20 mins for the next bus. Thanks for making me laughed out loud =D

Hei Sushi was a really good experience. I am not a huge fan of Japanese food but that day, all the food we ate were tasty. See that black plate there? Tasty.

The girl who i can never have lack of conversation with.

The girl who played games on paper with me during lessons.

And the girl who has helped me through the best and worst times.

Let the powers...unite!

I brought along some of our secondary school days pictures. And we realised how much we really have grown.

We winced at our sixteen year old self.

We laughed at high-waist skirts and funny hairstyles.

Tempura ice cream was YUMMY.

Then, we walked to Pasir Ris Park. (Aki, I still really like your bag!)

And just talked for over an hour.

We reminisced about the good old secondary school days. And went overboard a little when we talked about our primary school days. It's sad how i cannot remember most of the things that the girls can. But talking about the past leaves a tingling nice feeling in me.

Yay to lovely girls!

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Iftar with DISE Mates

It's nice to have all of us together, outside school hours.

The SNO vs SST riddle-game.

The pseudo con stories *points finger at Siti*

The talks.

And the great company.

Let's have another outing, people!

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Ok, i was rummaging through old photos and i saw this:

Try spotting me and Aki in this photo.

Can you kindly study these faces and let me know if you're in this picture, or if you know anyone in this picture. Because I would love to meet up with any of them and have a good chat about our kindergarten days and where everybody is at now. I can't even remember their names. And it's disturbing really, not remembering.

I remembered that the uncle's name who drives us to school is Cik Ahmad. And that his van is brown-white.

I remembered feeling sad when I found out that Aki is not in my K2 class.

I remembered calling Aki and excitedly told her that my younger sister's name is also Aqilah.

I remembered that we have to bring our own school books to and from school. As compared to kids nowadays whose books are kept in school.

I remembered the boy (top row, 2nd from left), who passed me my homework when I had chicken pox and couldn't go to school. And i remembered that he smiled alot.

I remembered during sports day, I had to ride on a girl's back, horseback-style, in a relay race.

But that's about it that i can remember.

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Ok, im officially going to be late for school. And i have a presentation later. yay?

because i feel like sinking my face on purple goo

2008-09-24T00:42:00.004+08:00

I like it when people make sense for me, when i don't make sense myself.
I like it when everyone around me is as calm as the ocean, when i'm as crowded and chaotic as the present situation in geylang serai.
I like it when people still gives me advice, when i don't feel like i want one.
I like it when people laugh at my jokes, even when they are not very funny.
I like it when people provide me directions, whenever i feel lost.

And, I like that I have friends. Lovely, lovely friends.

Children see, Children do.

2008-09-23T13:16:00.002+08:00

A groupmate sent the link of this video to us, to be included in our presentation on the Social Learning Theory. So i thought i'll share it with you people. Because the video, though slightly disturbing, has a very clear message on the influence adults have on children.

Kids, especially the very young ones, get ideas of action via observing and modeling. And it really is true. Like how Izz copycats me when i take big giant steps and went "FEE FI FO FUM" [see: jack and the beanstalk]. And when he saw how i blew bubbles, and does the same.
So, be mindful of the things you do in front of kids.
Because when children see, children do.

When toast gets pretty

2008-09-20T15:20:00.002+08:00

If I own this toaster, I'll have those CFC toast for breakfast, lunch and dinner. And supper, maybe.
Breakfast--> CFC toast with jam
Lunch --> CFC toast with tuna
Dinner --> CFC toast in curry
Supper--> CFC toast, dipped in hot chocolate

How awesome. If only it's a bit less expensive. 38.29 Pounds for a toaster sounds a tad too much, right? And that's not including the overseas delivery fee and such.

But.... i want. Tempted, so tempted.

If you're happy and you know it, laugh out loud.

2008-09-09T22:34:00.003+08:00

So i was at home and working my fingers out infront of my laptop when the telephone rang. My elder sister answered the phone and went "Hello. OCBC premiere banking". It took me 3 seconds to take in what she has just said. Then i burst. Out loud. Laughing, out loud. Eyes wet, tears streaming down and just laughing uncontrollably. I laughed so loud till the person at the end of the receiver could hear me, even when i'm 6 feet away from the telephone.

Such a classic example of thinking too much about work. So much, that you bring a piece of it to home.

Ah, i forgot how good a feeling it is to just laugh (freaking) out loud. Thank you sister, for the 2 minutes of therapeutic laughing session.

(:

21st on 21st

2008-08-28T23:42:00.029+08:00

My 21st was A.W.E.S.O.M.E.
Thank you so very much to those who played their part in making my 21st extra special - from the meetups, to the phonecalls, to the SMSes. You people are the sequins to my purple socks!

So, pictures!

Lunch and Bowling with super-fun NIE mates

the girls who planned the unexpected surprise

=)

Us! We're a party of 7 in NIE. One couldn't make it for this meetup.
It's really amazing how each of us are significantly different from one another, but we fit like the colours of the rainbow (and i'm violet!).

And bowling was fun!

Dinner with PPS darlings

There are 2 things i miss about my previous job:
1) The kids
2) My clique of friends.
Nancy, the aunty who calls me aunty. I miss how she'd remind me the things that i have to do for the day because she knows I am freaking forgetful.
Mu, the quadra-lingual. I miss how she's protective of me at work and gives me honesty-slaps when needed.
Di, the no-nonsense go-getter. She's with me in the DISE course at NIE, so yay!

Miniature golf and dinner with lovely poly mates

It was our first time mini-golfing. And it was SUPER. We didn't know Farhana has some talent in golf! I, on the other hand, was HORRIBLE at golfing. Horrible.
But i had great fun. So that's what matters (:

The girls at the esplanade station.

There are many things I like about the mini-golf session. But 2 things in my top-five favourite list are:

1) the fact that we have to take off our shoes and put on socks. because this way, my purple socks are able to see the world

2) the fact that they have purple golf balls

I really should have bought one golf ball, for keepsake. Plus, it was relatively cheap.

So silly, SFQ. So silly. Should have bought, should have.

My wish to mini-golf has been fulfilled. That's one thing crossed out from my wishlist of 126 wishes. heh.

And I had another surprise birthday cake!

<3!

Meetup with the Princesses

August marks a HAPPY month for the Princesses because 2 of us turns 21!

Aki on the 20th, and SFQ on the 21st. How fitting (:

We're happy on that Sunday. Definitely.

And we received pretty watches as presents!

Mine is PURPLE.

Thank you girls, for the plans. The initial plan to stargaze had to be cancelled due to the rain, but you girls planned great!

The star shall TWINKLE.

The heart shall spread LOVE.

The sun shall SHINE.

And the moon shall GLOW.

We found a nice, cosy, cave-like space. So we plopped down and took some impromptu shots.

The "don't smile" shot.

The "don't look at the camera" shot.

The "I feel blue" shot.

The random shot.

And my fave! The "let's squeeze!" shot.

I like how this shot is just so girlfriends ish.

And i suddenly thought about those posters of images with motivational message. Those you see pasted on walls of schools and some clinics. Like "teamwork" and "courage".

So, i decided to make one myself.

heh. see, when SFQ was supposed to do school assignment, she choses to do this instead.

Girls, appreciate and keep hold of your girlfriends. You may think that you don't need them. But you do. You really do.

And I'm grateful to Allah for giving me special gifts in the form of girlfriends.

To ALL my girlfriends (from my sister, to my mum, to the princesses, to polymates, to NIE mates, to Lin, to my PPS mates, and [since it'd be never-ending if i list everyone] to the girls who I've been privileged to be friends with), you girls are total gems. <3!>

Hi, you.

2008-08-20T23:40:00.002+08:00

What I like about little kid's drawings is the simplicity of it.
No rigid details.

So nisa drew me with 2 strands of hair- one on each side of my head - and a pair of star earrings. And about 2 cm shorter than her. So i said:

SFQ: Ah, nice drawing. But how come i'm shorter than you? And can I have moon earrings?
Nisa: Ok! Can Can.
SFQ: Eh Nisa Nisa, can you also draw me wear tudung?
Nisa: Ok!
[Few minutes later]
Nisa: Kakak! If i draw you wear tudung, then cannot draw earrings!
SFQ: Oh, ya! Ok, no need earrings. Just bracelet.
Nisa: Ok!

So end result is below. I know I'm fussy. And i would have insisted on her using purple marker if there's one. But I do love her drawing. And look at that heart-shaped tudung. hah! And the 2 fingers on each hand.
BUT, the drawing is still lovely.

Don't laugh at me

2008-08-19T21:55:00.003+08:00

At the start of the lecture of one of the modules i'm taking, the lecturer played a song on the CD player. The cd came with a book so she was also showing us the pages of the book, which basically has lyrics (with illustrations) to the song. It's a lovely song called "Don't laugh at me". It mainly centers on the topic of bully. Usually when I listen to a song, i'll notice the melody first. But this particular song, the lyrics struck me. I realised how too many times I've looked at a person and treated them differently just because they are different. Because they are special in their own ways. How ignorant i was, possibly hurting many hearts without realising.
I'm sorry.
I'll strive to be a better person.
And I promise I won't laugh at the differences in people.

And yay, i found the song in youtube! with illustrations from the book. so go look, and pay attention to the lyrics. Do share your thoughts, if any (:

Don't get your pleasure from my pain...
...Someday we'll all have perfect wings

my 2 little rascals

2008-08-17T00:14:00.002+08:00

A video, taken some days ago.
Starring Nisa, the bubble-blower. And Izz, the bubble-catcher and the camera-stalker.
notice at time 01:00 when Izz saw my camera, made a "ah, camera!" face and ran towards it. Nearly made me drop my camera and cover the lense with his fat (but adorable) fingers.

I like how Izz shadows Nisa around the house. I can see that he looks up to her as a big sister figure. And i like how Nisa doesn't mind that. Though she do get annoyed sometimes.

Ah, those two - they are my little rascals.

My True Blue Adventure!

2008-08-09T22:28:00.004+08:00

My training cum match date with my Chelsea boys was slightly more than a week ago and yes, still no entry. I should really write one real soon shouldn't I, before it gets old. I'm still in yay-i-watched-chelsea-LIVE mode but the excitement has expectedly died down a little.

The trip ~~was~~ is awesome! Seeing them play LIVE is rather surreal. Because i know I have mentioned too many times that I'd like to see them play LIVE. But I've never really thought it'd happen. BUT it did, it did. And i was a HAPPY SFQ when it did!

So i will try to recount details of the trip via pictures I've taken. Please close one eye and not be bothered by the lack of quality of the pictures. Thank you very much (:

1) Supposed autograph signing session with Michael Ballack and Frank Lampard

Supposed, because it never happened. The papers reported that there will be an autograph session with the 2 players at an Adidas shop in a mall in KL. But it ended up to be a private event where only authorised figures can enter, which really is a bummer. Because we stood there for freaking 1.5 hours. But then again, i heard some fans waited for more than 3 hours.

Even when we found out the autograph session wasn't going to happen, I still insisted on staying. I wanted to catch a glimpse of the 2 players. I know I'd get to catch more than one glimpse of them during the training and match. But i'm just kiasu that way.

Unfortunately, I didn't get that glimpse. It went too fast and the crowd were unbelievably more kiasu than me. Lamps didn't even show up ok. Only Michael Ballack did.

I was about 3 people away from the front row. I tried to snap a picture and see if i'd get at least a picture of his face. From this shot, i thought chances were pretty good. But that was pretty naive of me...

...because when Michael started to walk in, somehow people from behind managed to squeezed themselves in front of me. And even the tiptoed me couldn't see whats happening. So all i got was a picture of people holding up their camera...

...or so i thought! When i was looking at all the pictures again for the 10th or 11th time, i realised that Michael is indeed in the picture i took! ok, more like the back of his head. But that's good enough.

Can i be a sports reporter when i grow up? So i can go to press conferences and score chances to interview sportsmen. And maybe sent to places to cover news on the World Cup or EURO Cup. Or even sent to Stamford Bridge to cover a Chelsea FC match.

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2) Chelsea FC training session at Shah Alam Stadium, 28 July 2008

I may not get any autographs of the players. But i have the pretty training pass for keepsake! And i placed it right next to my bed so i'd be constantly reminded of the awesome 2 days I had with my Chelsea boys. And i still wear it sometimes, because i like the feel of it around my neck.

Thanks to the supposed autograph session that never happened, we reached the stadium late. The players are already out on the pitch. BUT i was still happy. Very happy. Because that was the first time i set my sight on my Chelsea boys. And not via a TV screen, mind you. Though i can hardly make out the faces of the players, seeing them LIVE still feel pretty good.

My two favouritest goalie EVER - Carlo Cudicini and Petr Cech. I always somehow snapped pictures a fraction of a second too late. Else, I would have gotten snapshot of their faces.

TV usually only show snippets of training sessions. But we saw the whole 1+ hours of it. From the warming up, to the practice match to the warming down. And i get to see John Terry, all fit and tall.

Yes, I was THAT far. But with the help of the person next to me, we managed to figure out who is who.

Petr Cech during his training with the goalkeeper coach.

Even Stamford, the Chelsea mascot, was there.

Ballack and Deco. Ballack is freaking tall. Freaking.

I like how the players moved like they did on tv. It'd make me appreciate them more i think, the next time i watch them on TV. Like how Lamps kinda slouched and put his hand on his waist before taking a free kick. and then move back a little before kicking the ball down low with a move that is uniquely his. and how JT looked so calm, collected and cool when he tackled a player off the ball. Ah!

Even the LIVE Lamps looked alot like the TV Lamps when he did that arms up, clap pose. Again, a fraction of a second too late. He was looking over at my side just a few millisecond before this shot was taken.

Deco! I tried taking lots of shots of Deco, because Sheena is a fan of his. But sorry Sheena, most of the shots i got are all very blur.

Deco is definitely a promising player and one to watch when season starts. He really impressed me, during training AND match.

Sheva. I pity this guy. He's really having a psychological battle, with himself. Which explains the many lacklustre performances. But i'd still like to see him do good.

Steve Clarke (asst manager) and Michael Essien, the hardworker.

Wayne Bridge, Obi Mikel. Err, i don't know who is the third guy. I was contemplating if it's Franco Di Santo. But i highly doubt so.

Ricardo Carvalho! I like this guy. But then again, i always have a liking for defenders. And i wondered if the guy behind him is Franco Di Santo. Even if Di Santo is the one in this picture or the picture before, the shots didn't do justice to him. So I just have to post a picture of him i found online.

Girls, meet Mr Good Looking. He's Argentinian and he's 19 years young.

Boys, meet Franco Di Santo. He's a striker, he plays some great football and scored a couple of goals during the pre-season Asian Tour.

I save the best for the last - John Terry!

One of my favourite part of the trip has to be meeting other Chelsea fans from all over. Like Tiffany and her mum, who are Malaysians. We first met them in the train on the way to Shah Alam. They spotted my dad's Chelsea shirt and asked if we're heading to the stadium and that we should stop at that station. Or else, we would have missed the stop.

After the training session, my dad and I, together with Tiffany and her mum, met a couple from Sabah and had a great time talking about all things Chelsea and lamented about the tragic loss agst manU during last season's Champions League Finals. It's comforting to know that they were equally distraught as i was.

It feels really good, being in a place with sooooo many Chelsea fans.

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3) Match Day - Chelsea vs Malaysia, 29 July 2008

I'm so keeping the match tix! And laminate it. Or frame it. Or something.

Petr Cech, warming up before the match.

We got a pretty good view, much better than we had during training session.

I can figure out which player is which and see the numbers and names on the back of their jerseys. Thanks to Tiffany! Who saved us 2 seats. In fact, Tiffany helped us alot throughout our True Blue adventure. Chelsea fans are such nice people (:

I like how the Malaysian fans proudly put on the Malaysian team kits and support the team with so much passion and zest. Even those with the Chelsea jerseys still root for the Malaysian team when the players attacked.

My Chelsea boys rock clocks though. They played awesome, in my eyes at least. I've gotten feedback from other fans who said Chelsea didn't play good this match. But I think they played great. I'm probably blinded by the fact that i'm freaking watching my boys play LIVE. I insist on only seeing the good and see past anything bad.

What i like about LIVE matches is you can choose what you'd like to see. As opposed to watching matches on TV, where you see whatever view the TV people chooses for you. In LIVE matches at the stadium, you can look at what your goalie is doing even when the ball is at the other side of the pitch, and scream "Cudicini! what are you doing so far out from the box?!"

And I can even hear the players shouting at one another. Brilliant.

This was a few minutes after Wright-Phillips was fouled.

Frank Lampard, about to take a free kick. I like it when this dude takes free kicks. And corner kicks.

The stadium was almost fully filled.

Atmosphere was breath-taking. Though I'd still like to experience the atmosphere in Stamford Bridge.

What's not fun is when we were queueing to enter the stadium. The crowd got pretty rowdy. There was alot of cutting queues and pushing. But we got in unscathed, so all is good.

And the match ended 2-0 to Chelsea.

Experience is needless to say, PRICELESS.

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he, who agreed to come along for the True Blue Adventure. I have the bestest dad in the whole wide world, no kidding.

I got this poster from the Chelsea fan from Sabah i met during the training session. I'll take any souvenior i can get. Jersey from John Terry seems too much to ask for. So poster is good enough.

And another poster found near the stadium. Apparently the organiser didn't distribute it but just left it on the floor. So a few of us, me included, saw them lying helplessly on the floor and gladly picked them up. Yayy.

Totally.

And I'm looking forward to the next season which officially starts next weekend!

2 Days of Blues

2008-07-27T22:48:00.006+08:00

I have every intention of writing 3 entries-
1) my attachment to a mainstream school
2) my attachment to a Special Education school
3) meetup with the cousins

But all those 3 are picture-filled entries. And i get extra lazy when picture-filled entries are concerned. Which is strange, because they should be easier shouldn't they? Just pictures and captions. As opposed to just-words entries, which consist of well, just words.

So anyways, those 3 picture-filled entries will come, maybe soon, maybe not so soon. And maybe all in 1 entry. It all depends on what mood SFQ is in.
So now, i just feel like writing. And im self-challenging myself to continuously type without pauses of more than 5 seconds. Which explains this nonsense. so, hmmm, okay I have happy thoughts.

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1) I received my 3 Shanna Swendson books on Saturday. Those books i bought online. Yes, my first set of books bought online. And sent by the postman. The books can't be found anywhere in Singapore, that's why. Thank you Aki! For making all the arrangements for me. From the ordering, to the money transferring, to the sending of address. You're pampering me, you really are. I love you, bestfriend! And i'm so going to be reminded of you everytime I set my eyes on the books. <3!

2) My sister scored a First Class Honours for her degree. i'm not really familiar with the terms. So i was like "that's the highest achievement that you can get right?!"
Of course it is. Alhamdulillah. Congratulations Sister! You SO deserve it. You so deserve it very much. I've witnessed you working so freaking hard for that degree.
You never did last minute work, like i do. You just really work every sweat off. So really, you deserve it (: And im happy for you.

3) I'll be off to KL tomorrow. To watch my Chelsea boys play the Malaysia XI team. And i also have the training pass. How exciting, how exciting. And it'd be a father-daughter trip. Our first. We did have father-daughter trips before, but that's together with my 2 sisters. So yes, exciting. Luggage is ready and I've collected the match tix and training passes. I'll be watching my boys training, in less than 24 hours.
!!
I suddenly feel nauseous.
Is it too much to ask for John Terry's signed boots?
Like how the lucky 12 yr old Singaporean boy got Anderson's during the Brazil training session at the Kallang Stadium last Friday. All because he sang a song about Anderson.
So my Dad asked after dinner if I've prepared a song for John Terry. I haven't but I randomly came out with one. Only problem is, my sisters asked me to stopped singing, right away. And left me in the kitchen, with all the plates and cups to wash by myself. Because they say they can't stand my voice. And they added if i did sing for JT, he'd ask the guards to bring me out of the stadium. Yes, I have such mean people for sisters. But it's ok. I kind of agree with them, about my singing that is. Not about JT asking the guards to bring me out.

Okayyyyyy, this is very exciting. Pardon my nonsense.
I think friends will understand. Understand how this makes me nonsensical.
But ok, i should stop.

InsyaAllah, I'll be back in Singapore on Wednesday evening. Hopefully i'll have wonderful stories to tell. And another picture-filled entry to write.

=))

Heart Rock Princess

2008-07-14T23:40:00.012+08:00

Okay, an entry which should be posted 2 weeks ago.
So Henny Dearest turned 21 on 1st July and we threw her a mini celebration! It went pretty awesomely i must say. Girlfriends totally sprinkle glitters.

We picked the theme "Heart Rock Princess".
How fitting, really.

Venue is DVD room at Cineleisure. We watched Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants. Which also really fits the mood and everything else. It's a feel-good girlfriends movie. and i like how the girls fit the characters in the movie.
Henny is no-nonsense, confident and would so box the face, or any other part of the body, of boys who mess up the lives of her girlfriends. Just like Bridget.
Akki is smart, loyal and speaks almost too fast most of the time (heh). Just like Carmen.
Sheena is reflective, soft-spoken and mysterious. Just like Lena.
And me? I'd like to think that I'm like Tibby. Because she's witty, cool and does her own thing without caring what others might think. But Enn says i can't be Tibby. hah, nevermind.

A smart birthday-celebration organiser is one who would come up with the idea of having goodie bag for guests, when she herself is a guest. Because that means, she'll get to bring something home too!

Pretty goodies in the goodie bag.

The Princesses of my <3

We made Enn the Birthday Princess!

With sash, wand and a pretty crown with '21' on it. Enn really looked very miss universe ish, with her sophisticated pretty dress.

The really lip-smacking tasty hazelnut cake. Heart-shaped, with pink roses. How fitting. and those chocolate pieces. I can still remember the taste of that cake, seriously.

The girls decided to try blowing the bubble, found in the goodie bag. Until Princess E shouted for us to stop, because we are going to poison the cake. Honestly girls, how can we be so dumb la, blowing bubbles straight onto food. Tsk.

Another successful 21st, yay. Princesses, August is few days awayyy. It's good to start planning early. Akki and SFQ are expecting a great 21st, thank you very much. SFQ shameless, i know.

Dear Princess E,

I hope you have had an awesome 21st. And that it's filled with tons of wonderful memories (:

Check.

2008-06-17T23:26:00.021+08:00

I've been out of work for the last 2 weeks and it has been pretty splendid. But i do miss working there, a little. Omg, I so miss the kids. And i didn't even get to bid a proper goodbye to those awesomely awesome kids. And i miss my friends there - Nancy, Muhaini and Diana. We were such an awesome foursome. One other thing I've missed is the morning journey to the school. It's one of the few routine things that i like doing. The 8-minute walk to the bus stop, the 25-minute bus ride. And the familiar faces at the bus stop. They're like my lateness indicator, those faces. Familiar faces at bus stop = I'm on track, i haven't missed the bus. I wonder if they missed me like how i missed them. Hah, ok crap.

One good thing about being out of work is meeting and catching up with friends. I've being doing quite alot of that, and other things. How fabulous.

So, some pictures.

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1) Explorer Kid outing with Diana and her son, Feroz

Diana told me she knew I'd like to come along. That's why she invited me. Yay.

I think i have "I'm a kid at heart" written on my face.

We braved through those tunnels and slides.

If you're wondering, yes, adults are allowed to go in the obstacle. Supposedly to look after their child. Feroz is our excuse to do just that. (:

Look at those tunnels and tell me you are at least a bit tempted to go Explorer Kid at this instant.

Weapons for battle.

Little Feroz loading the bullet.

And the bullet, they're pretty purple and yellow soft balls.

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2) Discovery Centre and Sakura International Buffet Outing with Muhaini, Diana and Feroz.

Discovery Centre was just OKAY. It wasn't as exciting as expected. But one cool exhibit is the news broadcast corner. We got to pick a news to broadcast, sit on a chair, hold up the microphone and read script from the screen. I've been wanting to have a feel of that since primary school days. So that was nice.

Diana and Feroz at the news broadcast exhibit (picture taken off the screen)

They presented the news on launch of the first TV station in Singapore. Hence the black and white backdrop.

Feroz loves the microphone.

And i presented the news on launch of the MRT.

One evident thing about Discovery Centre is it revolves around happenings in Singapore and its culture. Which is good, really. That explains the cardboard bus - we were at the Singapore Bus exhibit.

And we headed to Sakura.

Feroz refused to just smile sweetly for the camera. So Muhaini had a phototaking-spree of him to get a decent shot.

Failed shot #1 : Feroz with fork.

Failed shot #2: Feroz playing tough superhero.

Failed shot #3: Feroz, more interested with his plate. He ate 4 slices of blackforest cake ok. See, he's licking his lips.

Successful shot #1: A-ha! finally. He seriously has a killer smile. And those killer big eyes.

Successful shot #2: Killer smile. Killer eyes.

Muhaini, the person who made me aware of the existance of SNO. We are more than ex-workmates. We're friends (:

You know you're really comfortable with someone when she's 5 years your senior but you don't feel it.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

3) Dinner with polymates - Liza, Farhana & Jiaying.

Omg, poly was 4 years ago?? And we're still together! You girls are in my thoughts ok. You put "shine" in "sun" (:

And i'm still waiting for the second attempt on kite-flying. Sam, please be around next outing!

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"I believe every girl MUST have girlfriends."
--Enn

And i agree. Because really, girlfriends see you through all sort of situations.
They will be there, right outside the dressing room, if you need opinions on which dress looks better on you.
They are a phonecall away, if you had a bad day and just need to talk, and cry.
They are always around, to tell you the truth even if it hurts.
And they know when to lie to you, to hide the truth just a little, when absolutely necessary. Because they know you that well.
They know when your yes means no and vice versa.
They know when you're hiding your true feelings and won't rest till you confess. And by doing that, they make you feel tons better.
They somehow are always almost-magically around, at times when you need them most. Not necessarily physically around. But your girlfriends, they have their own ways of making their presence felt.

As much as you choose to deny, your girlfriends know more about you that any guy does. It's just a girl-girl thing. And if you have guy problems, who do you turn to? Your girlfriends. And you know they will have your back. Like what Enn said, even if the guy is right, girlfriends always stand by you.

So to all my girlfriends, thank you. You girls are love.
<3

Because i love PURPLE.

2008-06-14T23:45:00.002+08:00

i can totally imagine u being those girly girly girl who wears purple gowns everyday and collects purple berry with her purple basket while skipping around in her purple hairband with ponytails.
-- Lin

I like it when people make references of me with the colour purple.
It makes me HAPPY.
And 4 PURPLE references in 1 sentence?
Awesome.
(:

Scolari yo.

2008-06-12T23:05:00.003+08:00

"Omg Omg Omg you guys are getting scolari, that rocks so much!!"
-- SMS by Akki

HAHA. Thanks Akki. Reading that SMS made me break into a wide smile and made me laughed for some seconds. You know I love getting such random, energetic SMSes from you (:
And please, you might as well be a fan of Chelsea FC, can. Heh, ok joking.

So, yes. Luiz Felipe Scolari, who is currently Head Coach of the Portuguese national team, will be Chelsea's manager starting July 1 2008. [sidenote: What a date eh Enn ;) ]

And I'm happy, i think. I only have positive things to say about him - the teams he has managed ,the evident respect players have for him. Hello, he won the WORLD CUP with Brazil. And i like how he'd calm down players and staff at the bench when there's a foul of some sort.

Can August come quick already? So that the Premiere League can start.

Barneyful!

2008-06-10T22:19:00.016+08:00

So, Barney post.
It was quite a good show i think. It's a GREAT show if you're like 1-8 years old.
As for me, I've finally came to a realisation that i am indeed 20. Like, really.
So Barney, it has been a great journey singing, dancing and believing in you. I was a HUGE fan as a kid. At one point i really believed if i tried hard enough, my Barney doll will blow up and start singing and dancing with me. Going to the Barney 'Let's Imagine LIVE' show has been a closure for me. You're still no.1 in my top 10 favourite ~~dinosours~~ dinosaurs.

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I told Nisa to be in PURPLE. But my elder sister bought for her this pink dress and told her she could wear it for the barney date with me. And so Nisa did.

And she brought along her barney bag.

Okay, so the seats we got seems really far. But we still had quite a good view. And excuse me, the tickets i bought are the 2nd most expensive ones ok.

Nisa with the too-expensive Barney film-torchlight.

Barney! And i'm seriously in love with the barney shade of purple.

The smaller kids stepped out of their seats and danced along the stairway. Which really is an awesome sight. And i like how i am surrounded by little kids.

The little kid who sat next to me, i think he likes me. He kept nudging me and touching my hand. Sorry kiddo, i don't date 2 year olds. (hah, ok ok, SFQ crapping. Next picture, please)

Babybop and BJ joined shortly. I find it annoying that barney's people friends are rather old. In the shows, his friends are no older than 12 years old. But these 4 people, they're at least 20 years old. I guess they need older cast for a live show. But still, it's too hi-5 ish.

Riff (the orange dinosaur - BJ & Baby Bop's cousin) joined in later to make up the awesome foursome.

What i really like about this show is the colours they put in. And the props. They were all SO colourful.

So, videos.

There was a tree (there was a tree)

The biggest tree (the biggest tree)

That you ever did see (that you ever did see)

if all the raindrops
were lemondrops and gumdrops
Oh what a rain that will be
Standing outside with your mouth open wide

It's delicious!
Would you like a bite?

Err, excuse the vigorous hand movements in this clip. A small boy wanted to give a box of popcorn to Nisa so i had to err, solve the problem. Long story short, the popcorn lost its owner. That small boy must have picked up the popcorn somewhere.
In a show like this, the adults kept a lookout for each other's little ones. So when a child wandered too far away, there's always a nice adult stranger stopping him/her from going further.

And the crowd's favourite.

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Euro 08 is hereee. I'm pretty much a neutral when Euro/world cup are concerned. But i'd like to see Turkey and Italy do well in this Euro.

Turkey, just because.

Italy, because Akki supports them. She has been their ever loyal fan since a long time ago. And she knows the team inside out. I think she knows more about the Italy team than i know about my Chelsea. And doing LIVE reaction with Akki via sms was funnn. Akki, next Italy match ok!

Izz with his Italia Euro 08 ball

Slow down, please.

2008-06-06T15:48:00.002+08:00

Telephone operator (TO): Canyouwaitforamomentplease?
SFQ: Huh, Sorry?
TO : Canyouwaitforamomentplease?
SFQ: Err, sorry, i didn't catch that.
TO : Ah, can you hold on please?
SFQ: Oh. Ok.

Why must TOs speak so freaking fast?? I don't get it. I just don't. Ok, maybe theres a long line of people waiting to be served. But still, wouldn't it save more time to speak in normal speed than to speak 10words/second, only to have relatively slow people like me to ask you to repeat what you said more than twice?
Honestly.

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Barney post, soon.

Best Days.

2008-06-03T21:53:00.017+08:00

Remember Aniq, from November/December '07 entry?

This Aniq, yes.

Well, he's backkkk!
6 months older. And lots cuter, if that's even possible.
Look at those eyelashes. Aniq had gorgeous eyelashes! It's just like the eyelashes of snuffles, that elephant from Seseme Street. Seriously.
Aniq loves to pose for the camera. But i think the camera loves him more.
And please, he's adorable when he tried hard to make the peace sign.

Step one: Lift up your pointing/second finger and close the other fingers in a clench.

Step two: Open up your middle finger, WITH the second finger still up. Trick is, you have to keep other fingers closed. And Aniq, who has small kids' hands, just couldn't do that part.

So he asked for help.

And there you go, a peace sign. Not perfect, but pass-able.

Aniq with Muhaini's kids. See, even boys adore Aniq.

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Last week, i went around the school by my own to take in details of the school. I'd like to still remember vividly how the school looks like, when i leave that place.

I'm a girl. So i have emotional rights.

And i took pictures. Because i remember best through pictures.

Ok, this one was taken last year by Muhaini. I just have to post this, because it is a beautiful shot.

The EcoGarden has Sunflowers!! Pretty and tall Sunflowers.

Say hello, gorgeous.

I'll pick sunflowers over roses. ok, maybe purple roses still win.

6 X 4 = 24

Beautiful koi fishes. and i like how the building is reflected on the surface of the pond.

If i request for my very own garden, would you set up one for me?

and would you paint the stepping planks purple, for me?

Because you stand tall. And pretty.

I'll miss the school. I will.

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"July, September, October, November, December"

Thanks, Enn.

You are one of my faves, still.

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2 days ago, I watched my mum hang the laundry and wondered out loud "Eh, why are the clothing pegs NEVER in purple?"

And tonight, I saw purple clothing pegs, in the basket. And I screamed. Or i tried to. But no voice came out. Because I'm having a sore throat.

Point is, there are purple clothing pegs, in the basket. And i found out mum bought it. But I didn't get to ask her about it. Because she and Dad left for Bangkok today.

She bought purple pegs. Purple. Call me syiok sendiri, but i think she bought it for me. That's love.

I miss my mum, already.

JT, Our Prince

2008-05-28T23:07:00.002+08:00

A prove that mean people exist:

SO not funny. Ok ok, it is a little funny. Only a little funny.
Not very humorous if you're a Chelsea fan. Chelsea fans LOVE John Terry.
The creator must be some sadistic ManU fan who has too much free time, seeing that the board was flawlessly edited, with addition of the ball.
Thanks ah.

Letter from Terry

2008-05-25T15:32:00.004+08:00

Taken from Chelsea FC official site :

John Terry has written an open letter to Chelsea fans following the Champions
League Final.

The Chelsea captain wrote:

"To all the Chelsea fans, all my team-mates, the manager and staff at the club.

I am so sorry for missing the penalty and denying you the fans, my team-mates, family and friends the chance to become European champions.

Many people have told me I don't need to say that but I feel I need to, that's just me. I have relived that moment every minute since it happened. I have only slept a few hours and wake up every time hoping it's all been a bad dream.

I have had some amazing support from fans, current and ex-players, family and friends and I need to thank everyone for that. But I am a big man and I take
responsibility for us not winning.

I am and ALWAYS will be Chelsea through and through. (SFQ's thoughts: He's staying!!) I will give my all on and off the pitch to win this trophy as a player and one day as a manager. And I am sure we will win it.

That night in Moscow will haunt me forever and I feel I have let everybody down and this hurts me more than anything. I am not ashamed about crying. This is a
trophy I have tried so hard year after year to win and it was just an
uncontrollable reaction, I wear my heart on my sleeve, everybody knows that.

The road to Rome starts here, we have to try and turn this experience to
our advantage. I am very proud of how far we have come this season with everything that has gone on.

Thank you for all your support for the team this season."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And now, Avram Grant's contract as team manager has been terminated. I really don't know how i feel about that. I used to despise that fellow. But I've grown to respect him. He must have been hated by thousand thousands of Chelsea fans when he took over from Jose. Although technically, it is not Grant's fault that Jose had to leave. Jose is afterall our beloved manager, the Special One. I wouldn't say Grant did a brilliant job because it seemed that Jose already built a solid team and Grant simply enjoyed that benefit. But I admire the fact that he stayed rooted and unfazed. That he kept on going, although people (Chelsea fans, included) taunted him and labelled him as the Normal One and the Grumpy One. Thank you Avram, for the things you have done for the club. Getting to the UCL finals was such an incredible feat. Thank you.

This season has been a long, crazy rollercoaster ride. But i enjoyed it, very much. Chelsea, I'll miss you. And I shall see you again in August for Season 08/09.

Let's keep the blue and white flag flying high (:

Cupless

2008-05-22T23:31:00.003+08:00

So Chelsea didnt win the UCL. The loss has been quite hard to swallow.
What's worse than losing is losing via penalty shootouts. The ultimate nightmare.
Knowing Chelsea's bad penalty-shootout reputation, I was a nervous wreck. Alas, the Cup wasn't meant to be ours. But that didn't stop me from being a complete emotional mess.
I refused to do leceh work.
I poured out my sadness of losing, to workmates who didn't care at all about football.
And my voice quivered when doing so.
I snapped at Muhaini for wearing a red-black (United's colours) top.
In other words, I was pathetic. Was.

I'm more sane now. It's comforting to know that I have friends who really do care. One called me early in the morning to check on me. Check if i'm handling the loss well. One SMSed at noon to check if I'm doing ok. Another warned me to stay away from newpaper (pictures of manU lifting the cup would just destroy me). And another steered my view away from a stranger wearing manU jersey.

What's depressing about this loss is the fact that it is the third time this season that we finished second best in competitions - first, Carling Cup to Tottenham. then, the Premiere League to manU. Now, UCL to manU.

So, cupless this season. After 3 seasons of winning silverwares. That must have been hard to digest for the fair-weather fans. I, for one, am proud to say that my affection for Chelsea has not deteriorated. I'm still a true blue.

John Terry, it's really ok that you missed that penalty. Be proud, for you lead the team with much character and determination. Be proud, for you certainly have tons of guts to step up, take that ball and attempt to slot it in the net. Yes, if you had done so, we would end up winners. But honestly, where will "what if's" bring us to? And after the million things you have done for us, - being a great motivational captain and showing great attitude by playing on even when you're clearly injured- missing that shootout is peanuts. Costly peanuts. But peanuts, nevertheless. So chins up terry, as what Jose would say. You did not disappoint us. And don't be fazed by insensitive people who mock at you for crying.

Ah, such an emotional season for Chelsea. And now, no Chelsea till August. That's depressing.

"All the season, what we have done together, we can be very proud - but because we don't have another game now, it will take a long time to get over the pain."
-- Avram Grant

Sheena turns 21

2008-05-21T00:25:00.023+08:00

Princess Sheena turned 21 on May 15. Her Princess friends threw a mini birthday celebration for her 3 days later at Singapore Botanical Gardens.
An awesome day spent with awesome friends.

Pre-celebration preparation. Poster/card and pretty corsages.

The A-team! Akki has brilliant partnership with words, so she composes the message. Enn has brilliant handwriting and creativity, so she writes.

Pretty corsages for us! And I gave that brilliant idea of putting symbols on the corsages (:
Akki --> Pink --> Star
Anu--> Green--> Leaf
Henny--> Red--> Heart
Sheena-->Orange--> Sun
SFQ--> Purple--> Moon

Enn and I laid out the picnic mats and the other stuff. It was supposed to be done before Sheena came by. But that didn't go as planned. Nevertheless, i think we did a fine job. Enn, High-5 please!

The birthday Girl!

I like how the wallet reflects off light in this picture. That made it seemed really shinyyy.
And Sheena seemed genuinely happy with the gift. 4 days of gift-deciding, paid off.

I'll have Pizzas with good company please.

Girls, let's plan another good one for July (:

Do you see what i see?

A heart, a heart! A purple heart.

I freaking love you girls.

If Allah wills it, let's grow old together.

We shall go on quadraple dates with our respective future partners.

We shall be closely present on each other's wedding day.

And we shall still meet up, with our kids in tow.

Anu came at night. That's when massive photo taking session began.

And the full moon says hello.

Let's stay as five.

And then we got into Captain Planet/Power Rangers mode.

Another awesome meetup with the princesses.

The next meetup in June is already under discussion.

Yayy.

My love for you girls is more than my love for Chelsea FC. Seriously.

fly kite, no?

2008-05-20T23:35:00.005+08:00

We were supposed to go kite-flying at Marina Bay area. But instead of the image of people flying beautiful kites, we see endless construction sites. It was a huge disappointment because we really were set and ready to fly some kites. And we couldn't find any other open space to do so.
So off we went to the Leisure Park at Kallang. We presented Sam her advanced birthday cake and played some arcade games, which were awesome.
Jiaying, please don't get me hooked to Time Crisis. Because i already have more than enough addiction as it is. Being addicted to something usually requires alot of moneyyy, you see.

Happy 21st Sam! =))

SFQ & SMT

JY & LZ

Girls, let's attempt another kite-flying session sooooon.

Science Club.

2008-05-17T12:23:00.008+08:00

Handling the Science Club was never part of my job scope, until i was told to so some months ago. Strangely, Science Club is one of my favouritest task. Mainly due to the kids. Because they are such a joy to work with.
They are a noisy pain in the bottom most of the time.
They made my throat hurt badly every Wedenesday.
They annoy me by asking unnecessary questions every 2 minutes.
BUT, they're lovely kids, really. And I'll miss them, alot.

I adore my P3/4 science club kids (:
After taking charge of them for about 8 sessions, they're practically my own.

The kids from the PURPLE table.

And I really dote on these 3 clowns. After taking this shot, i showed it to them and Jonas literally rolled on the floor and laughed out loud.

Have i mentioned I'll miss these kids?

My kids togther with a teacher who is also part of Science Club.

I told them to do a serious pose. But a few clowns refused to listen. And they still do those peace sign. But i like how most of the kids took my instruction seriously.

FUN shot. And i took a good 5 minutes to look at each and every one of them in this shot.

I'll miss them, i will.

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Science Enrichment lessons with the P6 classes have also been tons of fun. This year's batch was so much better than last year's, in terms of responsiveness and attitude. I like la. It makes conducting the lessons so much more enjoyable.

The lesson is on Genes and they had an activity titled "build an animal". It basically teaches the kids about dominant and recessive genes. Pretty interesting, i'll say.

2 boys with the animals they built.

I asked this class if they had fun, after the lesson. Because i know they did. And it's really assuring and ego-building to hear a loud "yes!"

Singapore River

2008-05-08T22:14:00.014+08:00

It's always nice to find out that there's someone who has been wanting to do the things that you want to do.

Things that the majority of people are not interested to do.

So when we were out and Nura told me she has been wanting to ride that boat along the Singapore River, my insides were celebrating. Because, I've been wanting to the exact thing too! And that led to the the impromptu boat ride. Which was more than awesome.

Thanks Nura, for sharing that experience with me. It's amazing how this is the first time we met since many years and we did something that not many people would go for. See, how wonderful God's plans are. There's always a purpose and reason for everything. (:

Cashier Person: "Are you Singaporeans? Why take the boat?"

Yes, we're Singaporeans. AND paying customers. Please laaa... Not necessary ok, the question.

Local tourist attraction attracts me, that's why.

I find that black dot in the middle there a bit curious. I really think it's the Sun because the Sun was there when i took the picture. But why is it black?

Nobody else seems to believe that it's the sun. Nobody.

If bumboats can be used as a mode of regular transportation, I'd like to own one. I'd paint it purple and paste Chelsea FC stickers and display the Chelsea flag. It might look ugly, but the bumboat is mine.

The other boat riders are all foreigners. But i like it that way. It fits the atmosphere.

Beautiful.

I'm obsessed with lights reflected on water. Pretty, pretty sight.

Hellllloo. Stunning.

The best thing about being on a boat is that your view is not obstructed by trees and such. We see things from afar. Beautiful things. Beautiful things that may not seem as attractive when you see them in land point of view.

And i love cloud patterns! As if the sky is telling us a story. I like!

And we spotted a glimpse of the sun setting. It was beautiful.

I'm in love with many things. Nature, makes the list.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Im broke but Im happy

Im poor but Im kind

Im short but Im healthy, yeah

Im high but Im grounded

Im sane but Im overwhelmed

Im lost but Im hopeful baby

What it all comes down to

Is that everthings gonna be fine fine fine

Ive got one hand in my pocket

And the other one is giving a high five

--Hand in my Pocket, Alanis Morissette

Go Chelsea Go!

2008-05-05T16:51:00.002+08:00

A random teacher said to me "Syafiqah! Tonight, how?"
I was taken aback for a while. Tonight? Since when i made plans with him tonight la. But oh, then i know. Tonight, 11pm, Newcastle vs Chelsea! Cheyyy. He added, "Chelsea can win or not?" Ha ha ha. "Can win la!"

That's probably the most number of words that the said teacher have said to me. It never cease to amaze me how people who hardly know each other can still communicate when it comes to footie. See, it's indeed a beautiful game. Because it turns strangers into friends. And another random teacher asked me the same question when he saw me "Chelsea can win or not?". "can la can la". He lamented that Arsenal is not in the running for the EPL cup anymore. So, I asked "But you rather Chelsea win than ManU right?" "Of course!" And that made me so happy. Ha Ha. Like me, he was cheering for West Ham to beat ManU last Saturday. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. So...Chelsea have to win tonight! And hope that Wigan beat manU in the final game and we win agst Bolton. There's hope, however little.

Ah, i like how Arsenal fans are rooting for us. And Liverpool's Carragher said he'd rather see Chelsea win the UCL than manU. Thanks for the love, people. I'd remember to root for you next time.

lunch love

2008-05-04T01:02:00.009+08:00

Last Sunday, I had lunch with the family at Sakura International Buffet. Good food, good food. Carousel is still the obvious winner in the dessert department though.

So, some pictures.

I've seen pictures involving optical illusion, where the object appears big. So i attempted to try taking some shots myself, with the help of my 2 sisters. Nur gamely agreed to model the shots. And i think i love giving directions. To the model and to the props holder.

I know what you did last summer 5. Heh. but ok, not very convincing.

sipping from a big, long straw.

meet the parents.

Daddy with his girls. the independent one. the caring one. the random one.

I love the blueness of the sky. A clear sky makes a hot day. but its pretty! and those clouds, they are such unreachable inedible cotton candy.

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Ever experience a moment when you try to remember something but it just refuses to enter your mind?

Few weeks ago, I tried to sing my secondary school song. but the words won't come out. and the tune refuses to play. So i got annoyed. Because i can sing my primary school song but i can't freaking remember the secondary school one, which is more recent. I only remember the word 'zest' is in the song. because i was so fascinated by that word.

It was only just now that i got around to asking people if they remember the song. I MUST find out, you see. Or my mind won't rest. I asked Nura, and she too can't remember. So it's ok to forget i think.

Lucky, Zoal saves the day. He typed in the first line of the song and i finally, finally remember the tune. I shared the line with Nura and she too began to remember how the song goes. I love chain reaction!

I know it's rather err, weird. But remembering how the song goes makes me happy. I realised that i could have googled for the lyrics. But then, asking fellow ex schoolmates is funner.

And i thank them for answering my question of "Do you remember how our secondary school song goes?", without questioning my sanity.

Chelsea is through to the UCL finals!!

2008-05-01T13:02:00.005+08:00

Chelsea will be playing in the UCL finals in Moscow!! And it'd be our FIRST EVER UCL finals! How exciting, how exciting. And to finally, finally beat Liverpool in the semis. After failing to do so twice. I guess there's some truth to the "three time's a charm/ third time lucky" theory.

An awesome 2nd leg semis, i must say. The match ended 3-2 in our favour after 30-mins extra time.
What's scary was when Babel scored in the 26/27th min of extra time. One more Liverpool goal, and it'd be them in and us out. I was so freaking nervous, I couldn't sit down for the last 5 minutes of the game and i bit my fingernails, after kicking that habit 10 years ago.

Few moments after the final whistle, the commentator said "there are heroes all over the pitch". I wholeheartedly agree.

Here's to the heroes on the pitch.
To Frank Lampard, for his bravery in stepping up to take the penalty. Lampsy, I'm sorry i selfishly doubted you for a second when you were about to take the penalty. I initially thought Ballack would be a better taker. But how blind i am, to not see how much scoring a goal would mean to you. A goal, that would be wrapped up as a gift for your late mum who passed away less than a week ago. A goal, that would give you some form of closure. So Lampsy, you very much deserve to take the penalty. And what a beautifully executed penalty that was. You're our hero (:

To Didier Drogba, for scoring 2 awesome goals and sealing us the trip to Moscow. Your determination and fierceness never fail to awe me.

To the awesome centreback partnership of Carvalho and JT. Yayyy to Carvalho for being on first-class top form for the past few matches.

To Petr Cech, for not chickening out after the head and recently, chin injury. People may laugh at you with your headgear on. But you look fine, really. And you still make good saves.

To Michael Essien, for working your bottom off every single match. Your work rate is admirable.

And because this entry would be ridiculously long if i mention anymore names, here's to the other Chelsea players. You are ALL heroes in my eyes. Great team effort being displayed. From the tight backline to the harmoniously-working midfielders to the tireless strikers. You guys are my favouritest favourites.

And let's not forget the Liverpool players. They gave a tough fight. and they do have their share of heroes.

And and, i have people to thank.
Thank you Mr.Benitez, for saying the things you've said about Drogba diving and the crap. You gave Drog the drive to work extra hard and score those 2 goals. So thank you.
Thank you Anelka, for being our super sub. You always surprise me with your contribution in any game, even when you fail to score. The assist you made for Drogba was brilliant.
Last but not least, thank you Mr.Avram Grant, for not giving up on us when we may have given up on you. I still hard-headedly think not all 100% credit should go to you. But you did contribute. And you help secure that finals for us. You did your job. A good job, i should add. Many fans may still be against having you with us next season. But I, for one, am open to the idea of you staying. You are not the special one. But the fact that you got us through the UCL finals, is special enough.

Ok ok, maybe i'm being too longwinded and dramatic.
But awesome win, still!

Goals from the match:

It'll be Chelsea vs ManU in the finals.
Blue vs Red.
So, let's paint Moscow blue!
(:

On Medication

2008-04-29T20:34:00.002+08:00

"Be careful what you wish for", they say.

I was in no mood to go to work. I wasn't exactly feeling very sick. But i did have a minor cough and sore throat. And because i forced my mind to think so, I had a runny nose too. So i made up my mind to not go to work and go see the doctor instead, hopeful of getting a one-day MC. Which is really uncharacteristic of me. Because I've always insisted on going to work or school, even when i've used up one whole packet of tissue paper in space of 1 minute and am having an overworked coughing throat.

But anyhows, instead of getting one-day MC, i got two-days MC. The throat must have been really bad or something as it was on-going. So i took the medicine and it was awfully drowsy. Awfully. I slept and woke up at awkward hours. I thought i could fight the drowsiness off but it only worked for 26 seconds.

The last time i ate the medicine was about 14 hours ago. But i still feel like i'm walking on mid-air and i feel the need to babble non-stop. I felt more sick than i did that Monday morning. Yes, so be careful what you wish for.

Ok, i think i'm making no sense. But my fingers are still moving away. So while they are at it, allow me to gloat about Chelsea's latest win. Yes, that is soooo 3 days ago. But the win makes me smile, still. It'd be awesome if the winner of the EPL cup will only be decided during the last match. Even if, manU end up winning it. The fact that we hold them up till the last match is comforting enough. I might bawl, yes. Chelsea deserved a cup. But so does ManU, i think. Like us, they have had a heck of a season. Or maybe more so for Ronaldo. Errrkk, i think i've gone soft on manU. Or maybe it's the medicine taking over.

"Blue is the colour
Football is the game
We're all together
And winning is our aim
So cheer us on through the sun and rain
'Coz Chelsea, Chelsea is our name"

Did you know?

2008-04-23T23:00:00.004+08:00

Did you know?... (not solely based on hard-core facts. More to tales from people. So pardon me if statements are inaccurate.)

1) It takes 3 months for something you do to become a habit.
So let's say you'd like to maintain a low-carbohydrate diet. Train your body to get used to it and after 3 months, the habit sticks. Perhaps this is also why it's hard to lose a habit. Maybe we need 3 months. So if you stopped a certain habit for 20 days and then restart it, you'll have to try quitting all over again, starting from Day 1.

2) The information you store in your brain goes through a process called 'pruning'
This is when un-used information gets deleted from your brain, and stored in your brain's recycle bin. That explains how we sometimes cannot solve a primary 6 maths question. Because we stopped applying those formulas. Hence the information gets deleted. It's only when you revise it again - restoring it from your recycle bin- and practising it, that the information will come back. Do you actually remember the formula for area of trapezium? and surface area of cylinder?
It's disturbing really, knowing that whatever you pick up from school will mostly be short-lived. I'm beginning to forget meanings of medical terms taught in poly. Terms that were drilled to us consistently. And now, it's going to be pruned away. How sad.

3) Famous Scientists - Einstein and Edison - has Dyslexia (learning disability in relation to reading and writing).
I got to know this information from the Hindi film, Taare Zameen Par [every child is special], about a boy who has Dyslexia but nobody knows of his condition, which leads to him being ill-treated as his father and teachers perceived him as being lazy, stupid and having a bad attitude towards school. Then came a new teacher who understands his condition and taught him strategies to overcome the learning disability (enter: SNO :)) A nice movie, really. I have the VCD if anyone is interested to watch.
Ok, back to my 3rd point. I was told that for people who has Dyslexia, their right side of the brain is more active than the left (left - logic. right - creativity). This probably explains how Edison came out with many hundreds of inventions.

4) If a baby skip the crawling process, he/she is more prone to get Dyslexia.
So don't go "So smart!" on babies who can walk before they crawl. It's advisable to let nature take its course and allow babies to undergo all the processes. The process of crawling is important as the hand and knee movement will somehow get the muscles in the body moving actively and information gets transported to the brain (or something like that).

Enlightened, yes?

because he loves you

2008-04-20T22:37:00.002+08:00

I think it's good to have some friends who are much older than you. Older is mostly wiser, really. Their insights and views on matters can be inspiring. And since they've been around longer, they really do know more than you. At least on most matters.
2 of my closest workmates are 5 years my senior and another is 24 years older than me. 2 of them are married with kids.
I love love the talk sessions we have at work. Although sometimes they talk about things that i'm clueless about. Like the things that make it so expensive to owe a car nowadays. Or HDB-related matters.
But most of the time, they talked about interesting matters. Like their pregnancy ordeals, their married lives and how they first met their husbands. And other random topics.

There was once when they talked about the things they asked their husbands to get for them, when they were pregnant. One of them asked for fishball noodle BUT without the fishball. Ok, i don't know if it's only me but i find the request rather odd. Fishball noodle, without fishball. Just imagine asking the stall owner that. And see what reaction you will get. The husband actually got for her that ok. Ok, so maybe there's a possibility that he took out the fishball himself before giving it to her. But i'd like to think that he ordered the fishball noodle, without fishball. Because it's more romantic that way. Risking being ridiculed at by stall owner, just so your pregnant wife gets what she requested. How sweet.

Err, maybe im making too much a big deal of this matter. My point is, you can actually show your care, love and concern towards someone by just doing the little things. You don't always have to spend big bucks and get gifts to make one happy. It's usually those little things and actions that capture the hearts of your loved ones. Things that make them remember you by. Like how Nisa leaves me 'I love you' messages on my notice board. And how my lovely friends call me up to check on me or when they sense that something is bugging me.
So one day, when you get pregnant and requested your husband for ONLY purple-coloured Smarties chocolate. And he went an extra mile by presenting you those purple smarties in a purple bowl just because he knows you'll like it that way. Doing things not only when asked, knowing the person well enough to differentiate the person's likes and dislikes. During those moments, you'll know it's love.

Trains.

2008-04-16T21:55:00.002+08:00

4 common bad habits of Singaporeans in the MRT:

1) Slapping the 'hot seat' after someone just left it.
I think this is a very rude gesture. Especially if a person actually gave away his/her seat just to see the ungrateful person slap the seat like it's diseased. But now, the aunties have come out with a new strategy. Instead of slapping those seats away, they parked their belongings on the seat first. You know, chop the seat. They don't want to immediately sit after a person left. And they don't want other passengers to sit either. Such kiasuism is ridiculous. And it happened to me ok. I got tired of sitting down so i stood up. This auntie immediately parked her paperbags on the seat and only sat down abt 3 mins later. and she sat near the edge ok. She didn't even want to sit back. Well, I'm sorry im warm-blooded and you're not. It must have been fun laying eggs. (cold-blooded --> lay eggs. get it? ok, nvm)

2) Sleeping like you have not done so in 10 days.
I'm okay with MRT passengers sleeping. I do that too, sometimes. But it gets really annoying when the person next to you got so deep in his sleep that he decides to use you as his pillow. First, the head will slant slightly. Then it'll touch your shoulder. Slowly, his whole body will lean towards you. And you'll feel suffocated. And embarrassed. Because a stranger is leaning on you and 10 other strangers are staring at you like it's your fault.
I'd be fine if the passenger sitting opposite will return a sympathetic look and mouthed "I feel you". Or smile and acknowledged that it's a funny sight. Or do a circular motion of the finger near the temple, the sign used against people who is err, not right in the head. But no, the other passengers had to stare at me with a straight face, as if daring me to make a move. Thanks ah, strangers.

3) Tuning your MP3 player to speaker mode.
They just don't get it, do they? That people don't need background music in the train. It'd be perfectly fine if the music they played is listenable. But most often, it's something that you'd rather not hear. Haven't they heard that earphones exist?

4) Going in the train before other passengers alight.
Ah, my biggest train pet peeve. This point is not even worth discussing. Because Singaporean are so stubborn, they wouldn't listen. Why can't they just wait for 4-8 seconds for passengers to alight? Yes, you can't afford to miss the train. So it's ok for the others to miss their stop? Sick. And helllooo, if you're right at the side of the door, there's 99.8% chance that you WILL get to enter the train. So stop worrying and give way already!

Ok, I'm not angry. I'm just, concerned = )

Carouseling with the Princesses

2008-04-13T22:35:00.012+08:00

Every girl should indulge in regular Girls' Day Out. Because I recently had one with my girlfriends. And it was more than awesome.
We had hi-tea at Carousel, which was errr, not bad. Ok, the food is pretty good, really. Especially the dessert. I think i'm in love with bread pudding. But the people who shared the same table as me, they're better than any good food. So Cheesy, so true.

The Princesses who made my day.

Enn kidnapped my camera and took alot of shots with it. Which i really like, because it's fun to later preview pictures that someone else took from your camera. Get my drift?
But on this occasion, Enn took alot of candid shots of Anu la. They are all very nice shots. But still...
I think Enn has a crush on Anu. heh.

And thanks Enn, for reminding me that my camera has the colour options. Black & White shots are pretty.

Royal Plaza on Scotts has gorgeous lobby and sitting area. The rooms must be even more gorgeous. And we girls got obsessed with the candles displayed.

Anu left earlier. So we were down to 4.

And what's better than candles are lighted candles!

We talked through the night. And gaze at beautiful stars and half-moon.

And had tons of fun, as always.

You'll know the company is good when you have had a good time even if all you did was talk.

Thanks girls, for all the talks on types, hair dropdrop and everything else.

You girls have parked yourselves at a special lot in my heart ; )

Everything happens for a reason

2008-04-06T12:24:00.002+08:00

Sometimes, when you want something so badly, you tend to overlook other things. Other important things. It is only when hiccups take place that you start to look at those things and appreciate the things that you have. We really can't take things for granted. Because in life, nothing is guaranteed. Yes, you can hope and wish. But ultimately, you don't decide. God does.

Quote passed to me by Akki:

Imam al-Ghazali writes that the more we are attached to something, the more agony there is when we are separated from it. Most of us know this through experience. Now all that remains is the question of whether we can meet the Imam's second challenge- to be daring enough to entrust our affairs to God, admitting that He knows best for us in whatever He chooses. When something is taken, why not trust that what is received in exchange will be better?

-http://www.fazilmunir.com/batam.html

Thanks Akki, for the much needed slap of a reminder =)

Kids Spells L-O-V-E

2008-04-03T22:49:00.003+08:00

I saw a SONY Handycam Ad some weeks ago and instantly fell in love with it. It depicts little kids doing innocent things that really is adorable if you look at it as an outsider. But a total nightmare if you're the parent of those kids. So far I've only seen the ad from cable's StarWorld channel and i couldn't find it anywhere online. So i took a clip of the ad using my superphone. Because EVERYONE should see the ad. It's seriously freaking awesome. Pardon the lack of quality of vid. And i was so selenge, i did not change the vid time setting to maximum so it automatically stopped recording after 20 seconds.

I would so scream my purple head off if my daughter smeared ugly paints on my car. And if my son decided to play interior designer and had painted hand-prints on my walls and sofa.

But all the kids in the videos have such an innocent face expression on them. See "00:09". That is something i would do when i was young, i think. Dressing up with clothes and accessories that does not belong to me. And then slip and fall.
"00:07" made my jaw dropped. Like alamak, no vase would be allowed in my house with kids around ok.
"00:02" is my favouritest. But they cut off the part that i like. After shifting the orange cup vigorously from right to left, the little boy flipped the cup up and looked into it, as if expecting something to appear. Freaking adorable la. Freaking.

I have witnessed a fair share of innocent-doings of young ones. Though they were not as violently damaging as what was seen in the ad.
Just last week, my 3-year old cousin Alyssa was playing with this miniature bobble-headed doll. The doll has a hat firmly glued on its head. Alyssa ripped off the hat from the doll's head ok. And placed it on her own head. She then laughed at herself. Like she just realised that the hat won't fit her. It was priceless la. I like to observe kids doing things from a distance. Somehow they will only do the most ridiculous things when they thought no one was watching them.

I believe little kids learn through discovery. They are not yet aware of what is wrong and what is right. It is only when they are scolded for their actions, that they realised what they shouldn't do.
I think we should allow kids that space to venture. To be kids. And just discover things by themselves. Even if it means a broken china plate. Or a badly vendalised car. Or damaged make-up kits.

I was blog hopping and saw this line: "when I grow up, I want to be a child"
Yah, me too.
That would be barneyly awesome.

Delighted.

2008-03-25T19:03:00.003+08:00

Yay, I'm accepted for the Special Needs Officer (SNO) position! Interview was 6 weeks ago ok. And finally good news, Alhamdulillah.
And getting this SNO position means im going to NIE for my special education diploma. I'm going back to schooling. Yayyyy.
Goodbye work politics. Hello lectures, tutorials and projects.

I'm still in jumpy happy mode. And i feel the need to give a speech. Because there's so many people who have been giving me so much support and encouragement. (Ok, so soap-opera)
Thank you friends, for consistently reminding me that the ultimate career for me is really one that involves kids. And also to those who insist that SNO is my calling and that i'll do great in it. Thank you for listening to me babble about the experiences i had dealing with kids. There'll be more to come, I'm sure. So I hope you're not bored yet ; )
Thank you for allowing me the space to be fickle and doubt my choices but at the same time assuring me to go for it when it feels right and shaking the fickleness off me. Thank you for assuring me that it's ok to go for another diploma course when i already have one dumped somewhere in my cupboard. You people are really something.

I may not have as many friends as say, Paris Hilton. But the ones that i DO have, they are total gems. And i like having just a small circle of really good friends.
You can hang out with 50 friends yes. But you'll only know peanuts about them. On the other side, you may hang out regularly with only 5 friends. But these friends, they read you like an encyclopedia and vice versa.

So im rarely personal in my blog entries, i think. But this will be an exception.

Here's to the greatest people that I'm fortunate enough to have contact with.
To my oldest friend ever (from kindergarten, no kidding). Thanks for always, always saying the right things at the right time. You're the rainbow to my drizzles and the jumbo umbrella to my thunderstorms.
To the person who knows me the longest, shared a room with me for donkey years, and had night talks with me when neither of us feel sleepy. Thank you for the blunt honesty that i hated but needed.
To you, who stayed up online with me till 2am when i watched my team lose the cup final (and your team was not even in it). Thanks for being around and just listening to my whines of annoying superiors and everything else. And also for remembering the little details that matters. You're probably the only person i know who can say the lamest stuff but still managed to make me laugh.
To the Princess, thanks for all the online talks and reliving the fairy tale world with me. Your energy is infectious. And your self-confidence is admirable.
To the sizzling seven, hurray for all the meetups. Many more to come please. We're colours to the rainbow!
Last but certainly not least, To my awesome duo. Dinner dates with you beautiful babes are always new set of adventures filled with countless laughters, tons of fun and many memorable moments. Thank you for laughing at my jokes like it's the funniest thing you have ever heard. Every meet-up adds a knot to our already tight bond. To the sophisticated one, I like how whatever you say always make sense. Thanks for always giving me your honest opinion on matters. To the gossipy (heh) one. One who listens without passing harsh judgement. Thank you for being my reliable cheerleader. I'll see you in NIE/NTU soon ; )

AND thank you Allah, for these wonderful friends You send as gifts. Thank You for the plans that You have laid for me. And also the wrong turns and obstacles that I have encountered. Because they have been nothing but blessing in disguise.
"When Allah brings you to it, He'll bring you through it"

I don't have silver and bronze as friends. I only have gold =))

Blue is the colour.

2008-03-23T22:20:00.002+08:00

Yay. I've found a chelsea-themed blogskin! Like finally. I've been waiting for one since i first start up this blog. And such a pretty one.
But the blogskin won't stay here for long, i think. I'll change it soon enough. Because it's weird to see Crespo on it when he has left the club 2 seasons ago. And Gallas. Omg, Gallas! The current Arsenal captain. And one of my all-time fave, when there was the Desailly-Terry-Gallas defence line-up. Ah, such great memories.
That aside, the other players on the skin are still around.
The Captain Marvelous, John Terry.
The good-looking Paulo Ferreira.
The fierce and determined Didier Drogba.
The charming and creative dude, Joe Cole.
The ever reliable Makelele.
The bestest second-choice goalie EVER, Carlo Cudicini.

I freaking adore my Chelsea players. Every single one of them.

Izz at 1 yr 2 months

2008-03-17T22:29:00.009+08:00

Question, how old must you be before the tag 'baby' gets inappropriate?
A 1 yr 2 months old boy should still fit the category yes? So anyway, baby Izz has grown.
He has about 3 english words and 4 malay words deposited in his word bank.
He crawls like a champion but has yet grasp the art of walking without holding any pair of hands.
Last time i checked, he has 8 teeth on him. I normally like it when babies bite on my fingers but i haven't got the chance to try that on Izz. He don't seem to like fingers very much.
He's on a high-carbo diet. With all those rice, bread and biscuit.
And he likes to play with soccer balls. Especially with my mini Chelsea ball. It's a sign, people. He'll grow up a Chelsea fan. yay.

Ah, there he is. With smiles and teeth. And such unglam hair-do. It's so much funner to style up girls' hair.
You can barely comb a baby boy's hair.
But with a baby girl, you can tie their hair up high. You can tie their hair down low. You can tie it on both sides. You can braid their hair pretty. You can clip their hair up. You can secure their hair with a hairband of different colours and such. And you can use those really gorgeous stretchy and ribboned hairband. Ah, so pretty.

And Izz loves to stare at nothing, just like his Aunt SFQ. I could just leave him on the bench, let him stare at the roadside and trees by himself, and just go back home. He wouldn't even realised I left. And have you any freaking idea how tough it is to make him tear his eyes off from whatever he's staring at and drag him home? He may weigh less than 10 kg, but his feet surely has a high attraction to the ground. Still, he's adorable. And so easily entertained. I try to bring him down to the park after work whenever i can. But when time doesn't allow me to do so, even a trip down the lift, around the lift, and back up the lift, is enough to make him break into a wide toothy smile.

Yes, babies do emo too, see.

Yay to all the little kids who have given us joy and sunshine. Who have taught us the litle things in life. Who have made us appreciate those little things. Who have allowed us to be in their circle. Who have helped us to see better, hear better and feel better.

Little kids, the most honest human being there is. Because they don't mostly think. They feel.

Z is for Zoo

2008-03-14T21:27:00.011+08:00

Went to the Zoo with sisters and Nisa on Thursday. Free admission tickets are awesome. Yay to sister who works at a place with freaking cool benefits.

Again, my camera/memory card went bonkers, which resulted in the disappearance of a large quantity of pictures.

Meet Nisa. She's 6 years old and is a Primary 1 student. Like most children her age, she asks many silly questions. Like when we were at the polar bear enclosure, where there were 2 polar bears (a mother-son pairing), she asked if the mother polar bear is fierce. It might not seem as hilarious now that i write about it but it was wayyyy funny la when she asked the question with such innocence.

I love staring at penguins. They are the prettiest white-black animal, i think.

and elephants! We contributed an amount of cash in exchange for a basket of bananas and apples to feed the elephants.

A cheetah..

..and a giraffe

Laughed buckets. Walked miles. Breathed animals. Had fun.

Curtsey the Princess

2008-03-12T23:15:00.002+08:00

Someone said my name sounds Egyptian Princess -ish. Yayy. Funny how something silly can make one so happy.

Night Tour

2008-03-10T20:44:00.009+08:00

I was out on Saturday for a night tour organised by the school's Parents Support Group. Overall, it could be better but ok, shall not complain. Afterall it's their first time organising such event.

The event was from 8pm to 8am the next day. We went to Boat Quay, T3, Jurong Fish Port, some vegetable wholesale place and Mount Faber. It is probably more meant for the mothers. They seemed really happy with the tour la. And bought boxes of fishes and bags of vegetables. No prize for guessing that I ended up empty handed.
I enjoy going to the market with mother. I just leave mother to do the buying. I'm more of an observer, see. Market-shopping with mother has never been a chore. I regard it as a form of entertainment. Especially if it's at Geylang Serai Market. That place is so freaking cool ok. I'd find myself grinning idiotically when the fishmongers say "Lai, lai..1 kilo $5" with a croaky, robotic, almost sexy voice. and also when my my mother starts to bargain and emerge victorious.

Ok, back to the trip. I'm a morning person. At night, i sleep. So staying awake the whole night was a challenge by itself. I KO-ed at around 4:30. Diana and me went up the bus and had a quick nap while the others were busy shopping for vegetables.
Ironically, i must say that it's pretty refreshing to be up in the wee hours and be walking around.

So, pictures.

View from Boat Quay.

I love how the colouful lights are reflected on the surface of the river. Awesome.

While in the bus, we spotted the Singapore Flyer. I love this shot. It is so accidentally pretty.

A view from the top of Mount Faber at about 6am. The purpose of going to Mount Faber was actually to observe the sunrise, which was the only reason why i was so interested to go for the night tour in the first place. But turns out the clouds were very heavy at the side where the sun was due to rise. So we can't see the sun rising. I was sad ok. But this just shows that we humans can do the planning. But things don't always go as planned. Nevermind, as what mother pointed out when i complained to her, i have already witnessed the sun rising beautifully at beautiful Pulau Redang. So i shouldn't feel that disappointed. Well, we can never get enough of good stuff, can we?

This should be the time when the sun begins to rise, or halway rising.

And, morning says hello.

Diana, my partner throughout the night tour. Trip may not be great but company is good. Overall, the trip gets 3.1/5

Trip to Kahang

2008-03-03T23:30:00.021+08:00

I was asked to follow the P6 students to their Johor overseas trip to Kahang EcoFarm last thursday and friday. It was a pretty pleasant trip. The place is calming and i feel that i've got a healthy piece of peace there. piece of peace, hah.

Sometimes, it really does one good when she steps out of her comfort zone. I wasn't very close with the other staff who were going for the trip. Hence I wasn't looking forward to the trip at first. I feel like i've been forced to go. But silly me, really. It was an incredible, eye-opening experience! That's the art of taking chances. You'll never really know the outcome unless you take that leap.

Ok, pictures!

This picture doesn't make a good introduction of the place, sorry. My camera decided to have an off-day and all (except for 1) pictures i took form the first day vanished. I had a good backdrop picture of the place which i took on the first day. I really really did.

The kids slept in tents. While us adults get to sleep in apartment-like rooms. Which i must say is pretty well made. We had proper beds and showers with heaters. Ah, such luxury is precious.

3 of the many clowns in the class that i was attached to. The class is awesome! I laughed buckets at their effortless jokes and antics. Their form teacher is equally humorous. Such quick-witted humour and sarcasm are charming, yes.

The class with one of the instructor.

The kids get to do water-rafting, which looks like loads of fun.

They also did the water obstacle course.

Besides the water activities, we went for a nature walk at the nearby jungle. There were numerous rubber trees and a few kampung houses with local villagers. And later at night we had night walk at the same place.

A few of the school staff who went for the trip.

And I found a new object of interest..

..lotus! It's so lovelyyy. The lotus are all opened up due to very heavy rain.

A white-coloured lotus. Which is really special because it's the only white lotus there.

And there were plentiful of ducks quacking away in an almost irritating way. They sounded like donald duck X 100. Apparently the farmers uses the ducks' poop as organic fertilisers.

A beautiful green beetle.

There were alot of interesting insects/animals that we normally don't get to see in our everyday lives. I saw leeches, dragonflies and a type of flying insect which looks alot like a leaf.

One of the special features of the farm is its plantation and absolutely gorgeous flowers. I got so jakun-ed ok.

The dragonfruit plant belongs to the cactus family. Interesting, aye?

Meet Anastacia.

Such a fittingly adorable name for a cute, pretty flower.

And i saved the best for the last.

Is this the prettiest flower you have ever seen or is this the prettiest flower you have ever seen?

And it looks like 3 different flowers combined into one.

Now, go pluck me some pretty flowers.

I'm a True Blue. Yay.

2008-02-25T22:45:00.002+08:00

I was highly anticipating the Carling Cup final match between Chelsea and Spurs. I was expecting us to win. Not because I don't think Spurs can beat us. But because I know Chelsea can win. There's a difference, see.

Alas, it wasn't meant to be. Spurs beat us 2-1, fair and square. They secured the win few mins into extra time. Some may argue that Wayne Bridge didn't touched the ball intentionally, hence the penalty that gave spurs their first goal shouldn't have been given. But i prefer not to dwell on what-ifs. Let's give Spurs the credits they deserved. Like us, they fought hard. Which brought the match to extra time. And anyhow, I still have soft spots for underdogs so it's somehow a win-win situation.

And the loss could be a blessing in disguise. My Chelsea guys better work their blue socks off and gun for the remaining 3 cups we are still in the running for .

"We have to take our hats off to Tottenham, they won the trophy today, but we move on and go forward."
--Joe Cole

bowling for rainbow

2008-02-17T21:55:00.008+08:00

Went out bowling with the secondary school group yesterday. It was a simple yet nice day out. Thanks guys, for saving time to meet up. Cheers to the recruit who came down few hours after booking out of camp. And yay dude, Chelsea is in the FA cup quarterfinals!

Ok, i'm not in a much babbly mode. So, pictures:

The 3 princesses..

..and the 2 knights (minus the shining armour)

Meet the bowlers.

And what's a bowling entry without a picture of the scores, correct?
I can't even score a spare, and the others did. How sad.

It's fascinating how different a picture without flash turns out in opposed to one with flash. We took the 2nd shot like 2o seconds after the first. But it's as if the first shot (without flash) is taken during the day, and the second shot (with flash) taken at night.

Guys, Carousel next, ok?

scribble

2008-02-16T12:20:00.006+08:00

I was browsing fonts online when i came across this one:

The font is so primary school!! I like. It's like what we did on our PETS worksheet, tracing all the letters by following strokes and dots. And i always, always have red-pen lines on my alphabets because i don't follow the dots perfectly. It's still fun nevertheless.

I was so happy when i chanced upon this font. Like what Enn said, "happy people do ridiculous things". I tore out a piece of paper and began writing the alphabets by following the strokes as taught by the font. I got so engrossed that i actually wrote a story:

Ok, ignore the story. I was in nonsensical dreamy mode. Look at the handwriting. I think it's my best handwriting yet. It's a pity they dont have the font in small letters. Writing those alphabets by follwing the strokes was somewhat therapeutic.

It's fascinating how even small random things can make your day.

Princesses + old trees = Magical

2008-02-12T23:05:00.000+08:00

I had a Princess Day Out with the babes at Botanic Gardens last Saturday. It was awesomely awesome! The 2 A's - Akki and Anu - were not able to turn up. Which was a huge pity because Botanic was Akki's idea and Anu was already on excitement mode. Nevermind babes. we'll go there again next time. This time we shall bring frisbee or a football! And maybe get the guys to come.

Anyway, picnic at Botanic is really a brilliant idea. It reminds me alot of tea parties in the garden. So Princess-ey! Ok, i'm starting to sound like i'm 10 years old. So, pictures!

Sheena's picnic mat fits the 3 of us (and our huge bags) nicely. We had sinfully good food. Well, what's a picnic without that, correct?

And there were soooo many squirrels! Which is lovely. Coz it feels like we're in a scene of Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs.

My favourite thing in botanic gardens has to be the trees. Alot of the trees looked like they've been there since 200 years ago. So ancient. With many many trunks and incredibly long and thick roots. Trees has never been this fascinating.

Sheenarella. Ennriel. Bsyelle (The 'B' is silent)
You Princesses made my day.

I found my favourite tree! It's sooooo gorgeous. A few of the roots were not touching the ground. So it makes a great bench. I like. Gorgeous, huge old tree turns me emo. Well, it's not everyday that you see Syafiqah in Emo Land.
I want to adopt this tree. And demand it to be transferred near my house.

This tree is really special. Because it introduced us to a new friend.

Meet Ashley. She's 4. She's pretty. And she climbed the root of the tree with ease.

And she gamely took a picture with Sheena and Enn.

She got so comfortable with us that she sits in for another shot. I was like "Ashley, can you help take a picture of us. I'll teach you how" She went "Ok!" and started to climb back up the tree. It took me a few seconds to realised that she misinterpreted my question and thought that i told her to go back up to take another shot. But it's ok, the camera loves cute, adorable 4 year olds.

Ashley is my favourite stranger to date.

The current Botanic Gardens is filled with soooo many variety of plants. There's a cactus area.

And this one on the picture is the bonsai plant area. So pretty.

We laid on our backs and i took this shot. Ahhh, so green, so blue, so peaceful. And i love the sight of birds flying above. It really is a whole different angle when you look up to the sky while lying down on the ground. In normal days, we are too busy (or so we claimed) to take a moment and just appreciate nature as it is. So i'm glad we did that on that day. This is one time where silences are never awkward.

So, that's the end of another chapter of meetups with the princesses. Singapore Botanic Gardens is great. We've only covered like 1/5 of the whole place. It is seriously huge. We'll cover the other 4/5 next time.

And oh my, my bag look so huge in the picture above. No wonder Enn and Sheena calls it the Barney bag.

I don't want flowers. I want a huge old tree with bench-like roots.

Trip to Istana

2008-02-08T23:22:00.000+08:00

Tagged along with elder sis and her friends to Istana Open House during 2nd day of CNY. Quite an experience, i must say. And don't be jealous, I saw the President. AND the President's wife. They were only like 3 arms-wide away from me. (mental note: strike off President in my 'People I Want To Meet' List)

Ok, back to serious business. The land is super huge ok. We walked for like 20-30 minutes before we reached the main building. But it's so freaking worth it. Because the interior is awesome! The gorgeous chandeliers, the perfectly-polished floors, the cupboard-aircon. The building make me feel like i'm in a set of National Treasure.

Pity photo-taking is not allowed. So no interiors pictures to share, sorry. But do go there next holiday.

Ok, pictures of exteriors:

I want a miniature Istana. Or an Istana magnet. Or something.

Girls with a mission. Mission to find treasures. Treasures in a form of a map. Map with a big red 'X'.

Thanks, Sissy! For asking me along. I love you, even when you straight-forwardly rejected to be my partner in Amazing Race Asia 3.

We got a picture with smart-clothes guyyy~

The company i had that day was great, thanks. Marina and her boyfriend Awadh made me laugh buckets. Such a fairytale-perfect couple. It amazes me how some people are effortlessly funny. Like they don't even have to try to make jokes. Everything that came out from their mouth is funny.

I'm thinking of visiting the national museum next. Arts appreciation, anyone?

Smiles & Frowns

2008-02-03T20:35:00.000+08:00

Smile (noun):
An expression on your face in which your mouth curves upwards to show that you are happy, amused, friendly, etc.
Frown (verb):
To make an angry, unhappy, or confused expression, moving your eyebrows together.
[adapted from Longman dictionary]

Smiles and frowns are probably the most-used expression of all time.

When you see someone familiar, you'll smile. When you see someone familiar but can't quite remember who that person is, you'll frown.

When you read a random SMS, you'll smile.

When you don't agree with what someone has said, you'll frown.

It's fascinating how even small changes can trigger different expression in a split second - be it smile or frown.

Smiles make happy days while frowns make bad days. Do they, really? Again, it boils down to an individual's perception and choice. I think there is always a balance between these two. Surely frowns creep in into our faces at least once a day. But does that mean the day is doomed? Life is no fairytale. Wouldn't it be creepy to be smiling all the time?

My point is, life's hiccups and challenges are unavoidable. There will be times when something or someone pisses you off, causing you to frown. But there are also times when something or someone does things that makes your mouth curve upwards, or make you laugh out loud, or make you grin like an idiot.

We can't only expect good things to happen all the time. I personally think a balance of smiles and frowns, is healthy. It'll keep us content, more appreciative and less arrogant. It gives us perspectives and enable us to make choices.

So the next time something or someone causes you to frown, don't fret. Just keep note that smiles are on its way.
=)

I still love fairytales. So sue me.

2008-01-24T23:45:00.000+08:00

Impulsive:
(1) Inclined to act on impulse rather than thought
(2) Characterized by unthinking boldness and haste
(3)Acting or happening without apparent forethought, prompting, or planning
[Adapted from education.yahoo.com]

I think i've just bought something impulsively. With 'unthinking boldness and haste', totally. But is it true that it is only impulsive if you regret it? Because I don't regret buying it. At least not yet. I bought this:

A collection of fairytales - Beauty & the beast, Snow White & the 7 Dwarfs, The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty.

Yes, you can laugh now. You won't be the only one. Both my sisters think i've gone absolutely nuts. And i get uncomfortable when they ask me for the price. Hello, that is sensitive ok. I don't need the i-cant-believe-you-spent-that-money-for-that-thing look. That will cause me to go into major defensive mode. And say stuff like "but the book is heavy! and it has lots of pictures! and it has 6 stories!" hah, like that will justify anything.

It's like love at first sight ok. I did contemplate on whether i should get it. Muhaini convinced me that i should if i really want to. So i did. And i am as happy as a kid with 10 lollipops. It was however a little embarrassing when the cashier girl was asking another girl what category the book is in and she said "children". Weii, shouldn't it be classified under classics?? So age-ist.

I don't even know what made me buy that book. It must be due to all those fairytale talks with Henny la. We always somehow include fairytales in our conversations. Right, Princess Enn? =)

I've already started reading the Beauty and the Beast chapter. It's so freaking awesome. I'm planning to read The Little Mermaid next followed by Cinderella. Anyone wants to join me? We could read the stories over tubs of ice cream and packets of french fries. Total feel-good moments.

I think i'm floating.

And no i'm not childish. I'm just, eccentric. =)

babies. adorable.

2008-01-13T22:49:00.000+08:00

Last week was baby Izz Zuhairi's 1st birthday and he had a birthday bash. The party however is honestly, blah. Ruud is right, it's not a good idea to have a birthday party for a 1 year old because they are way tooo small. They can't open their own presents, blow the candles of their birthday cake and remember details of the party. After the official cutting cake ceremony, Izz actually sleep la. The VIP, sleep, during his birthday party. hah. But he can't be blamed. So i did not get a shot of him at his party. But i have a pretty recent picture of him.

Izz in Tigger costume. heh. and he has teeth!

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Izz is adorable and all. But i have my eyes on another cutie that day:

Baby Qistina! She's about 3 months old. And she looked quite alot like me when i was her age. Even my mum agrees. She's so freaking adorable ok. I carry her at every opportunity and squeeze her tight. I would have pinched those super soft cheeks if her mum wasn't anywhere near. This picture is set as my handphone wallpaper and it earned me 10 energy points everytime i look at it. She's that cute, seriously.

see those pouty lips?

I'm amazed that a seemingly tiny mouth can open into a wide brilliant smile.

Qistina made my day =)

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And my hug counter has reached the 1000 mark. Thank you, hug-givers! Awesome la. I have this blog for about 3 years. So that's an average of 1 hug/day. Ok, don't ask how even virtual hugs can excite me. I'm weird that way. And I'm a happy person. Yay.

Must have done something right by Relient K

2008-01-06T12:08:00.000+08:00

There's just something very appealing about this song. It's probably the catchy tune. And the endearingly sweet lyrics. "We should get jerseys cause we make a great team" and "I know that it's so cliche to tell you that everyday I spend with you is the new best day of my life" Cliche indeed. And a tad cheesy. But very sweet, still.

And the video rocks socks. I tried juggling a football with my feet a few times but mum accused me of trying to break things in the house. It's not my fault that my brain, eye and feet refused to work together, isn't it?

i should have my own cartoon series

2008-01-05T09:48:00.000+08:00

Caricature of my sisters and me. Drawn by workmate Umrah. She draws caricatures as a side job. So if you would like to see more of her work or order a caricature of your own, just ring me, beep me or write me. (Wah seh, free ad right here ok)

She draws and outline the drawing first before uploading it onto the computer to colour and shade it using Photoshop. I find it pretty pricey at first. But it's an art piece afterall. And you require some serious skills to execute something like this. So i'll say it's money-worthy. And you can pick your own theme if you like.

That aside, i think i'd make one comical cartoon. Muhaini reassures me that i look much better in person. Hah, thanks. But i must say, the cartoon us really look like us. That Umrah can seriously draw.

And yes, i really should have my own cartoon series. Maybe a bit like As told by Ginger. Or Kim Possible. Or about my obsession for Chelsea FC. Or the colour purple.

No?

Avram Grant

2007-12-30T16:22:00.000+08:00

Read this somewhere:

"The referee said that Ashley saved it with his hand, but the television shows he saved it with his head.Now they're saying head to chest and maybe touching his hand. So is it an anatomy lesson now? I listened to everybody and they're saying it has maybe gone from his head to his chest. It's like an animal, this ball. No. It was clear that he saved it with his head."
-- Avram Grant

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OMG! That got me laughing bad! Avram Grant *gasps* has a sense of humor!! That's NEWS la ok. GOOOOD news. The way he fights for his players - awesome! Kinda reminded me of Jose Mourinho a.k.a The Special One.

Background info: During the dying minutes of the match against Aston Villa, Villa attacked. Ashley Cole saved the ball at goal line using his head. The ball bounced off his outstretched hands. Referee spotted it as foul, gave Ash a red card and awarded Villa a penalty. Which the rather good looking Gareth Barry scored almost cool-ly. That made the score 4-4.

I think the penalty may indeed be a penalty. But the red card is total rubbish. It's ball to hand what. Not hand to ball. But if it's not handball then the penalty shouldn't be given? Ok, i'm at a rare lost-in-footie-rules mode.
Boo.

Meetups are awesome!

2007-12-28T23:40:00.000+08:00

Met up with the poly clique, minus 2, last sunday. It was a great day of catching up over games, at Mind Cafe. The girls have soooo grown up. but I still adore them the same. Totally.

Us.

Playing 'choorodles' (or something along that line). It's charade using props. Fun!

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I like those toy soldiers. They look so brave. And stiff. But brave. Heh.

Ribbons make good accessories for trees. But i'll recommend using purple-coloured ones. Because purple and green matches really well. Seriously.

Thanks for the ideas la Liza. Or was it Sam's? I like this picture! We make umbrellas look sooooo IN. Right Liza? =) And my umbrella is purple yo!

Jy, Liza, Sam. The girls who are often in my thoughts. You lovely ladies totally rocked my poly life. Biomedical aren't really my cup of tea but i dont regret taking the diploma. Because I made such awesome friends! =D I'd even repeat the whole 3 years all over again. With them.

Thanks girls, for the wonderful times spent. Lectures would have been unbearable without you gems. I miss going bedok reservoir with you girls to just lepak. Ah, such awesome times. And lets not forget all the dvds we have watched in TP library. The best would have to be Kate and Leopold. Or the french movie he loves me, he loves me not. Omg, i remember we went in for tutorial like 10 minutes late because of Kate and Leopold la. Must be the Hugh Jackman factor. Right Sam? ;)

Liza, I will always remember the time when we got caught playing tic tac toe (or was it hangman?) during lecture. If i ever have to get caught doing something i should not, i'm glad it was with you. Hah, ok that sounded a tad cheesy. Liza rocks ok! And so does Jy and Sam!

You girls sparkle. Like diamonds.

=))

Girls Day Out

2007-12-24T23:30:00.000+08:00

I had an awesome weekend with the secondary school darlings on Saturday and the poly clique on Sunday. Both outings totally deserve an entry each. First stop is the Sweet Saturday spent with equally sweet individuals.

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The initial plan was to go bowling and the guys were supposed to be present. But sometimes things don't go as planned. It really is ok. We probably do need a girls-only day out (no offence to you guys la ok. hah) So we girls decide to go sit down somewhere and have ice cream. We had a really nice catching-up session and just talked almost non-stop. Yay to that!

My awesomely-fun girls.
Anu --> The happy-go-lucky, animated and totally fun to be with girl. We love your stories and am looking forward to hear more. It's ok that u're wearing a ManU jersey and that u're a fan, i still love you the same =))
Enn --> The no-nonsense, infectiously-energetic and entertaining girl. She who agrees that Prince Eric is hot! Heh. Thanks for the endless convos on anything and everything.
Akki --> The intelligent, bubbly and ever-sweet girl. One who always say the right things at the right time. Thanks for being there through thick and thin moments.
You girls totally spell out L-O-V-E.

"Sugar, spice and everything nice" (as extracted from Henny's blog)
Akki is sugar, Enn is spice and SFQ is everything nice =))
It's so fitting, i think. Heh.

Fandi finally came like 2.5 hours later. Just in time for some crazy photo-taking session. Thanks la Enn, for the pose ideas. The camera soooo love you ok ;)

We're happy. Therefore we pose.

Ok, we thought of copying the pose of the models at the background. But that didn't happen, obviously.

I think this picture sums up the day. We had SERIOUS laughing-spree. Thanks la babes, for the talks, laughters and such. More to come, yes?

=))

Art & Craft

2007-12-21T22:42:00.000+08:00

I'm relishing every single minute of my leave days. So every small thing i do somehow seemed like the most interesting thing ever. Few days ago i had a painting session with Nisa and it was super fun!

I told Nisa to come up with a theme and she said "rainbows!". so we spreaded out the old newspapers, tear out some paper, took out the paints, prepared a cup of water, arm ourselves with paintbrush and we're good to go. I felt like such a kid (I paint like one too) but it was nice laa. I miss painting. I LOVE mixing the paints to form new shades of colours. Cheap thrills!

Just after 15 minutes of painting, Nisa looked over at my paper and complained that my painting is nicer than hers. Well, it has to be right? I'm only 14 years older than her. I'd be a sad case if my painting is worse than hers. But of course being a small ~~brat~~ kid, she just don't see it that way so she started to sulk and throw a tantrum. She threw her paper aside and was like "I don't want to paint anymore". By that time i was already obsessed on finishing up my painting so i totally ignored her. I was as obsessed as Isaac Mendez from Heroes laa ok.

To make a long story short, i eventually convinced her that she should just have fun painting and not bother about how everyone else's painting looks like. Because if everyone's painting is exactly the same, it wouldn't be nice wouldn't it? Then there will be no stories to tell. And i went on about how she's 6 yrs old and i'm 20 so our standards are different bla bla bla. Oh man, i can really crap my way. But the amazing thing is she was convinced la ok! See, i know i have a way with kids =)) She resumed painting, but used a new paper and totally scrap off the rainbow. Kids will be kids.

Nisa with her final painting.

My masterpiece. Heh. I can so compete with other 6 year olds laa. No older competitors, because i will only embarassed myself.
Painting is now open for bidding. Bidding starts at $1oo. As if eh.

You don't have to be very good in art to have fun doing art.

-- SFQ =)

Good times with good friends

2007-12-18T16:09:00.000+08:00

I'm on leave the whole week and i am soooo loving it. It's the perfect time to do things that i can only fantasize doing when at work.

First stop is Sentosa outing with Jiaying. The highlight was Underwater World. Call me jakun but that place is awesome!

I think it is different when you go there at 7 years old and again at 20 years old. One, there are definitely a whole lot new variety of displays. Two, perspective is different.

When I was a kid I only care if the animals are interesting and will go 'wahhh', 'ahhh' and 'eeee'. Anddd, that's it. Now that I'm older (and hopefully wiser) there's really more to it than interesting animals. I don't only appreciate them for their appearance.

God is truly great and fair. It's plainly amazing, how each animals have a survival feature to make up to whatever inferiority that they may have. There's this small-sized fish, which will surely be made dinner by bigger animals. However it has a feature which enable it to blend itself to the corals. So cool laa ok.

When i was a kid, 30 minutes at the Underwater world was more than enough to cover the whole place. This time, Jiaying and I spent over 1 hour there. We can just stare at the different displays and be fascinated. And i'm sure we annoyed quite a number of tourists by staying rooted at the same spot for quite some time. Well, they annoy me by refusing to set their cameras on no-flash mode. If the animals decide then that the flash is getting to them and start to attack, i will so make those tourists my shield. They are so freaking inconsiderate.

Ok, pictures of animals you don't get to see everyday:

HUGE sea crab! (Proper name unknown to me, sorry)
These bunch gave me serious goosebumps. It's like being at a scene of the movie 'Arachnophobia' or something. I think they are about 1.7m tall.

Ermm, see the purple circle i've placed on the picture? I think this crab is female. If it is male, the underside would be more triangular-shaped correct? I remember learning this in primary school science.
(note to self: Yes, purple is a pretty colour. But it is not very smart to use it on dark-coloured pictures.)

The shark looked more dangerous when it is blurred. Yes?

Spotty Stingrays.

Leafy seadragon. Wouldn't it be funny to see leaf-eating fishes nibbling on this seadragon? Ok, probably won't hppen.

Weedy seadragon. It's beauuutifuuul!

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When we were walking at Vivo, we spotted a few girl guides selling the famous girl guides cookies!!

Chocolate-coated mint flavoured cookies. Yum!

We both went on i-was-once-a-girlguide!-mode and probably scare off those girl guides selling those cookies. Man, i remember those times when i had to sell these cookies during my brownies days. (Eh Nura, did we sell them during our girl guides days?) All those guiding memories came flooding back ok. Good memories, good.

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The girl responsible for making me talk and laugh so much, that my jaw seriously hurt. Thanks Jy!

In school, we see our friends almost everyday so i don't find much need for meetups. But since working, i miss my friends a whole lot ok. Meetups become necessary! Yay to the regular meetups with the poly darlings Liza and Jy (you are in my thoughts, babes!) And hopefully the same goes for the best buds, secondary school mates (Enny Wenny, i still want the fairy tale dvd marathon ok!) and the other poly mates.

And more meetups soon!

the way i am

2007-12-14T16:05:00.000+08:00

I'm so so in love with this song. I can't stop listening to it, humming to it, singing (badly) to it. It has great meanings too. "and you-uu take me the way i am"
ah, sweetness.

Also, i like the concept of the music vid. It's as if Ingrid is the odd one out, amongst all those clowns. And those 2 kid-clowns doing the claps- the cutest clowns ever! and the claps are addictive. Yes.

Cute little kids should not be allowed in work places

2007-12-12T22:00:00.000+08:00

The object of distraction from work: [like i don't already have enough distractions, thank you]

Object name: Aniq
Scientific name: dopey-eyedcutiesaurus
Target user: ~~People who loves kids~~ Strike that. Anyone would like Aniq, really.
Indications: 1) Brighten up boring days almost instantly
2) Puts a smile on ANYONE'S faces
3) Makes user feel like a kid again
4) For anyone who needs a good laugh
Contraindication: 1) Aniq is unsuitable for people who should be doing work
Side effects: May lead to severe addiction

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Hah, crap.

Ok seriously, Aniq is adorable! He's the 19-month old son of a teacher from school. She brought him to school a few days ago. So that he can interact with people, she says. I'll gladly interact with him laa. And i so like the way he says "byeee!" I'd go out of the room and in again countless of times just to hear him say "byeee!" He's going to be such a charmer.

It's a nice change to step out of the sci lab and do work in the staff resource room during the mornings. There, i get to socialise a bit more. In the lab, there's only Nancy the lab tech (who really is great company) and me. In the resource room, there's the counsellor, IT trainer and Teacher's Aide. Add me and Nancy in the mix and we'll make one chatty quintet.

The resource room is also where i first met Aniq, see. It's amazing how sometimes you'll get something good when you stepped outside your comfort zone. As amazing as how something minor/small (meeting an adorable kid) can seem like a big deal if you choose to see it that way. It's a matter of perspective, really. If you can make small, good happenings seem big, why can't you make a big problem seem small? wise, aye? =))

Purpink!

2007-12-09T18:41:00.000+08:00

My mum said " Effa, your colour!"
Oh, yes it is. Purple + Pink = GORGEOUS!
I don't care if it's Barbie-ish.
I love it.
It's fairytale pretty.

Science is not my forte. really.

2007-12-05T23:27:00.000+08:00

You Failed 8th Grade Science

Sorry, you only got 5/8 correct!

Could You Pass 8th Grade Science?

I only got 3 out of 8 questions wrong! How is that a FAIL?? Wah, paiseh la ok. So much for having a science-related diploma. To be fair, i think those questions i got wrong are mostly physics-based questions, which are like so 5 years ago. Oh, and i screwed one biology-based question. I really know the answer, really. Just kind of misread the options.

Ok ok, fine. I'll say it. I'm NOT smarter than an 8th grader!

Ok?

Revolted

2007-11-29T23:33:00.000+08:00

Today, I was absolutely sickened by the lack of concern shown by a mother towards her son. I was at the taxi stand when a little boy of about 3 years old fell face down on a slope three feet away from me. My immediate reaction was to go straight to him and picked him up. And where is the mum, you'd ask? She was standing four feet in front, somewhere. It was when the poor child wailed in agony that she came over, looking unfazed. Whereas i was practically stunned. I only managed a lame "your son fell down." Well isn't that obvious, Syafiqah?

What really got me was the son reached out for my hand when he cried. This could mean 2 things:
1) He mistook me for his mum.
2) The mother must be so un-motherly that he'd rather resort to a stranger to calm him down.
I'd like to think that it's reason 1. Because i simply don't like the idea of a child who feels that he could not depend on his own mum to make him feel better. That's plain sad.

And that child's gums were bleeding la ok. And the freaking ignorant mother either failed to notice that or simply don't bother. She just picked him up and moved away. She even said "Go jump2 la" to him loudly. Ah, great job mum. Firstly, he wasn't even jumping. I think he might have just slipped while walking on the slope. But of course the mother didn't notice that, because she was in front, probably forgotten that she has a son to look out for. I wanted to offer a tissue paper for her to wipe the blood off the son's gums. but she just walked away. Like im the one who caused her son to fall. Whatever laa. Ignorant mothers irritate me like mosquitoes.

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Remember folks, when you mess with a kid, you're messing with me.
Hah, like real eh.

Free Rice

2007-11-25T22:22:00.000+08:00

I landed myself at this website from Akki's blog. It's so fun la ok! and not only that, you'll get to do some good too. for each word you got right = 10 grains of rice donated. So go and try. Be addicted (like me) and do your part to help people in need. I got so addicted, i clicked and clicked and was surprised that i've donated over 1500 grains! that's more than 150 words! oh wow, if only i have a super strong memory, my vocab bank would be celebrating. But alas, the capacity of my memory is comparable to that of the teaspoon. So out of the many great words discovered, i've only registered probably 1/30 of it.

So go try it. But i shall hold no responsibility for any case of addiction. Remember, you've been warned.

And i like the warning stated on the website.
"WARNING: This game may make you smarter. It may improve your speaking, writing, thinking, grades, job performance..." Hah!

piece of mind

2007-11-23T23:31:00.000+08:00

" You've come to give me a piece of your mind," I repeated, looking at her."That phrase is really beautiful. The mind is the most powerful thing in the body,you know. Whatever the mind believes, the body can achieve. So to give someone a piece of it... well, thank you, Elizabeth. Funny how people are always intent on giving it to the people they dislike when it really should be for the ones they love. There's another funny thing. But a piece of your mind...what a gift that would be". I looped the last stalk and formed a chain. "I'll give you a daisy chain in return for a piece of you mind." I slid the braclet onto her arm.

-- Quote from Cecelia Ahern's If you could see me now

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Would you like to give me a piece of your mind?

It's Personal

2007-11-19T23:42:00.001+08:00

My first ever decorative cupcake, y'all! So pretty. So purple. Thanks to Julian, who presented these cupcakes to the school staff as farewell gift because he's transferring school. Ah, such thoughtfulness. And cupcakes!! Guys, take note: Cupcakes are the NEW roses. Give a dozen personalised decorative cupcakes to your princess, and she'll be smitten.

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I bumped into Nisa on my way home from work and she was like "Kak Qah! (pronounced as 'kor') I made you balloon! At home at home! Surprise! One for you and one for Kak Dila!" She was so excited, it was infectious. I went home and search for the balloon.

My very own personalised balloon! My sister told me Nisa wanted to write down "I love you" but she got it wrong. Ah, it's the thought that counts. Nisa is my adorably sweet diva.

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By now, you would have probably concluded that i have a thing for personalised objects. I'm fortunate enough to have received a number of personalised gifts. My friends rock, you know?

Puffy Purple Pillow. 15th birthday gift from the sec sch clique- Enn,Akki,Sheena,Oda.

17th from Nura.

Again from the sec sch clique. There is supposed to be "effa" on top of the "16" but it got washed off when my mum put it in the washing machine because she thought it was dirty. (It seriously was not laa ok)

See how personalised it is with the handprints? Such great ideas. It was so fun putting up personalised birthday gifts with the sec sch clique. Henny was our Creative Art Director. heh.

Yay to personalise-ism! (if there is such a word).

Purple Blue Orange

making sense to not make sense

Won't worry my life away

MR.A-Z

Ask a Question

*gasp*

Blue is the colour (next to purple, that is)

You and I

A gift, called time

Middle Child Syndrome and such

8 girls and a skyride

Let's fly.

Of beautiful words.

The Dream

So long.

Turkey (:

TURKEY!!

Meet my mates

Breakfast on sand

Witnessing Fairy Tales

the beauty with kids

I heart ketupats

Catching up

I see the light

Meeting Meg Cabot

Iftar Dates

because i feel like sinking my face on purple goo

Children see, Children do.

When toast gets pretty

If you're happy and you know it, laugh out loud.

21st on 21st

Hi, you.

Don't laugh at me

my 2 little rascals

My True Blue Adventure!

2 Days of Blues

Heart Rock Princess

Check.

Because i love PURPLE.

Scolari yo.

Barneyful!

Slow down, please.

Best Days.

JT, Our Prince

Letter from Terry

Cupless

Sheena turns 21

fly kite, no?

Science Club.

Singapore River

Go Chelsea Go!

lunch love

Chelsea is through to the UCL finals!!

On Medication

Did you know?

because he loves you

Trains.

Carouseling with the Princesses

Everything happens for a reason

Kids Spells L-O-V-E

Delighted.

Blue is the colour.

Izz at 1 yr 2 months

Z is for Zoo

Curtsey the Princess

Night Tour

Trip to Kahang

I'm a True Blue. Yay.

bowling for rainbow

scribble

Princesses + old trees = Magical

Trip to Istana

Smiles & Frowns

I still love fairytales. So sue me.

babies. adorable.

Must have done something right by Relient K

i should have my own cartoon series

Avram Grant

Meetups are awesome!

Girls Day Out

gasp