Monthly Archive

last week this time i was hanging out with the msian and wenwen. somehow we always do unhealthy things when we hang out together. thus the yakun full meal appetizer before the kfc meal. laughing at how the msian looked in her ah lian clothes and every small little thing.

after which i met up at frolick in holland v, for a frozen yoghurt treat. and to just sit in coffee bean, drinking nothing but plain water, talking away for hours. till coffee bean had to close for the day at 1am. another “new” friend, i think. i was amazingly comfortable with everything despite the “new” person i’ve never hung out with.

last thurs i was still frantically packing the luggage, worrying about not having time to meet up with others if i couldn’t finish packing.

last wednesday i was out with weiwei and visited her in sengkang. finally, after three months of being in singapore. did nothing except playing with wii with her and her sister.

last tuesday i was hanging out at seahyiyi’s place because of the suddenly-on-suddenly-off decision to bai nian to mama-seah. tried to undo the negative impressions mama-seah had of me but i couldn’t help talking or laughing loudly anyway.

over the three months i also:

1) worked at a redemption counter, something i would never do, if not for seahyiyi’s persuasion. so seahyiyi’s friend became my friend too and in these three months i watched more movies with them than i usually do in half a year. i sang and drank, in a karoke. i stayed out till late at night. i spent christmas eve and new year’s eve with these same people, doing the same things.

2) the brother’s wedding and boy, i am still flabbergasted at how i managed to buy two cheap dresses and heels four days before the wedding day. desperation always drives out the efficient shopper in me.

3) spent a lot of time loitering around, doing the data entry for the fast food chain which sells deep-fried chicken parts.

4) did invigilation, raking in good money.

5) turned up for the last time at The Office where i’ve always worked as a temp admin. thoroughly enjoyed working with the neighbour-in-black and the admin head. even though there were things which saddened me and pissed me off big time over there.

6) went through the same chinese new year rush of apparel shopping and then, doing crazy dashes across the island.

during the last week i somehow kept passing by some places which hold a lot of memories. memories accumulated over these three months. i wouldn’t say they were depressing, but they just reminded me of what is beyond me.

i’m dreading weekends over here. i’ll be all alone with few people logged on to msn cos everyone’s out during their precious weekends.

excuse me while i retreat to the solo crunchyroll summer camp.

greetings from down under!

i’m still loving this place lots, with the super fresh air and the great weather. there’s this smell in canberra’s air and it made me happy to be back.

i was a little moody about having to leave everyone in singapore but the moment i landed in australia, the moodiness vanished. that’s despite getting on-and-off sleep (the kind i detest most) on the plane.

when i wasn’t sleeping i was replaying scenes from the 3 month holiday. i have this habit of going back in time, recalling what i was doing 24 hours ago, 2 days ago, a week ago, etc. etc. there’s so many things i did these 3 months i think i really should put up a summary.

am really glad i made it here safely cos things always happen to me. i would have missed the bus from sydney to canberra this morning if i wasn’t so damn kiasu and inquisitive. the bus didn’t stop where it was supposed to but across the road some distance away. thank goodness i walked over to find out if that was my bus or i’d be stranded at sydney airport again.

there was this bout of laughter within me when i opened my eyes sometime towards the end of the bus journey. the grass was simply brown, a definite hint canberra wasn’t far away.

unpacking is like packing, it’s a pain in the ass. but i’m done with it and i’m all ready for the new semester, just that i haven’t gone groceries shopping yet and i need to clear space for this semester’s books and files.

i’m darn tired but i think i’ll survive.

i’m physically exhausted from all the running around but the promise of good times lure me away from home. my schedule always gets increasingly packed as flight dates near but damn it, i love running here and there meeting everyone and doing the last minute purchases. it just gives me a sense of purpose. darn, if i have to rely on this to feel the sense of purpose, there is no hope left for my life.

but anyway, i’ll probably be in canberra or one of the airports the next time i blog.

i’m seriously gonna miss everyone (i’m already missing everyone) who means something to me. if i haven’t been talking as much as i did before, it’s because i’ve just gotten used to being quiet. the silences are pretty comfortable for me, even if it freaked some of you out. but it’s still the same loud, screeching laughter you hear, isn’t it?

right, i’m trying to convince myself i’ve packed every single thing i need into the damn luggage. i hate packing, it’s such a pain in the ass. i hope i’ve remembered every damned thing.  i’m sure the return flight will still somehow screw up, cos i always screw up at some point in time.

i’m keeping my fingers crossed the journey back will be safe lah.

we got off at harbourfront station trying to rush to the taxi stand before the midnight surcharge kicked in. with all the peak hours and midnight charges and everything it’s a little tricky to remember everything. in our blind rush we exited a glass door and reached the main road where cabs obviously couldn’t stop. seeing that there was a security guard in a stationary pose within the harbourfront building, we went in to ask him where the nearest taxi stand was.

there was something very weird about the guard. i refused to ask him where the taxi stand was before looking at his card which identified him as a security personnel. he was standing the way uniformed people stand, with both hands at the small of his back, posture straight as a rod and not moving at all. even when we asked questions, he remained motionless. other than moving his eyeballs a little and mumbling through his mouth. he moved his eyeballs to look in the general direction of the taxi stand and that was that.

i tell you, harbourfront sure has a weird security guard.

i bought a new pair of sneakers for chinese new year. there weren’t any kickass puma sneakers on sale and the kickass sneakers i saw were beyond budget so i settled for these, which happened to be sneakers i’ve been wanting to buy for a few years and miraculously, there was a 50% discount.

never mind that they’re not kickass and that they’re actually quite common. i still like them pretty much. so much that i have the habit of looking at them while i walk. while i stand. while i sit.

so a couple of days ago, i was walking to the office pantry, with my eyes fixed on the dream shoes that are finally mine. i was so engrossed and yet, familiar enough with the office to walk without looking ahead.

and so i almost walked right into my boss. almost, to the extent of my spiky hair touching his back.

gotta kick this very bad habit of mine.

it was my last day was as a temp staff for this summer vacation and probably, for the rest of my life. having worked as a temp staff at the same company over five years, it’s weird how i was so familiar with everyone and everything and yet, chose to mostly isolate myself cos of the changes that have taken place.

the sales engineer who used to be my favourite (references: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6) is no longer the favourite cos his values have changed. i once respected him for being true to himself. gone is his sense of right and wrong. he finds it “stupid” to resist or air our honest opinions against unreasonable demands of the management.  that employees should, for their own sake, comply to expectations of the management, regardless of how they exploit the employees. so in his usual uncle-gives-advice manner, he told me that’s how the corporate world is and that probably will be the life i will live when i graduate. he went silent when i asked him if such people were really happy in their jobs, if they really lived a worthy life. maybe he thinks i’m naive to have such values. after all, i haven’t really entered the big, bad working world, have i? yet, i think i can be quite dogged about such things, about being happy,

oh well, i guess i’ll still miss the good times i had there and the fact that i’ve made friends there.

i’ve just placed an order for another pair of glasses, just in case anything happens to the current pair. once bitten, twice shy. for some strange reason i can’t even comprehend, i asked the optician to use lenses with the same power as my previous pair when i got my current pair. which means the currents lenses were according to the eye examination about three years ago.

so when i got my eyes checked again i was horrified to learn that the shape of my eyeballs have evolved again. my astigmatism in the right eye has also gone up by another 75 degrees, now reaching an all-time high of 300 degrees. the angle has also changed, resulting in blurred vision even with my glasses on. no wonder. i thought my myopia has worsened again.

i remember a few years back when i visited the regular optician he was very amused by my eyeballs cos they were becoming triangular in shape. hurhur. i guess i’m gonna have very sharp eyeballs soon, eh?

but because i’m getting the new pair of glasses with transitions lenses, i’ll only be changing the lenses in my current pair in july after i come back. why transitions? because i can’t wear shades when i’m with my glasses, can i? if i get contacts, i’ll still need to get a spare pair of glasses. since i don’t wanna spend so much money i thought i’d just get the contacts the next time i’m back. so i’ll just be a geek for the next 6 months. with glasses i’d be blinded by the powerful australian sun so there, transitions it will be.

i hate the way regular glasses look ugly with coloured lenses. i prefer big, cool-looking shades but damn it, i’m just a poor student.

yeah, i seem to find cheaper contact lenses each time i ask. the first time i went to nanyang optical at jurong point, they charged me close to $300 for half a year’s supply. *note: serious astig cases do require special orders, thus higher prices. then i went to jurong east and they charged me $150 for half a year’s supply. while at the optician outside my house just now, i asked again. and they’re charging $140!

i’m beginning to love this new-found place. small little neighbourhood shops are just so lovable.

i thought this summer vacation would feel like a long one, being three months long. but it’ll be over in less than two weeks’ time. i’ve been back so long i’m beginning to forget that i have to pack up and leave this place again. it’s not that i’m feeling sad having to return to canberra, it’s just that i’ve enjoyed myself thoroughly and i’m dreading the cold turkey i’ll face when i’m back there.

three months of rushing through the preparations for the brother’s wedding, for the chinese new year celebrations, several different job assignments and meeting up with people. maybe that’s why the three months seem a lot longer than it really was.

it’s a pain being equally happy in both singapore and canberra cos i hate to leave either place. for now, i hate to leave my life here but hey, i’ll be back in july. for good.

these few days i’ve been thinking how cool it would be if i could just stop time when i want to. when i’m out with friends, when i’m just lazing around at home. fast forward the times when i’m unhappy or cranky. pause during the moments when i’m happy and satisfied. skip the parts when i’m pissed.  if only lah.

great, it’s 1am and i’m starving but too lazy to get food from the kitchen and refusing to sleep on an empty stomach. besides, i’ll be in the air this time next week. why waste precious time sleeping?

i was mentally prepared to collect ally towards the end of next week, as the counter staff at epicentre helpfully pointed out that “all the technicians have gone home for the chinese new year and repair work will only start on the 11th”.

on saturday when i left my laptop there, i received a call in the afternoon asking for my password so that he can access ally. i was a little grumpy cos hey, i wrote it down on the instructions sheet whaaat. but oh well, it was a good thing they started the repairs early.

to my absolute surprise, they called me this afternoon to inform me that ally was all ready to go home. wheee! that’s like, two working days in all? of course i dashed down to epicentre to collect ally even though it meant giving up an hours’ pay. to the hell with the miserly $7 i could have earned.

now ally is back on my laps and man, i am one happy person.

i’ve finally completed the annual chinese new year apparel shopping. it’s usually a pain-in-the-ass mission for me cos i’m not exactly regular sized and it’s hard finding clothes that i like and yet, fit me.

worse, there’s this huge craze with certain baggy designs and big sparkly things on collars this year. or clothes that go with leggings. i can’t wear super baggy tops and dresses cos i look pregnant in them. can’t wear leggings cos i have hams for legs. hate those clothes with big shiny things sewn on them.

i admit i wasn’t in the best of moods this afternoon and when i start to shop during such moods, i go on a crazy rampage and become a lot more flexible with my budget. so yah, my heart is aching cos there goes a huge portion of my salary, which just came in yesterday.

oh well, i’m still glad i’m done with the shopping and that most of my clothes match with the pair of new adidas shoes i bought.

my heart and soul is also aching for the time i’m gonna spend without ally. i’m sending her to the repair centre cos the cooling fan within her doesn’t run most of the time when it should. i should have done so a lot earlier, but hell, i’m a procrastinator. the warranty’s expiring this sunday so ally has to check in by this saturday. amazingly, epicentre will take 5 working days to repair ally. with the fantastic chinese new year timing, the next time i’ll see ally would be approximately 10 days later.

i miss ally already.