time stood still.

my friends, the Christmas crackers and candy canes are out.
I saw them at Cold Storage today.
God help us while we abstain from the festive mood to pore over our books covering topics such as child language (the horror!). no, this is not early childhood. linguistics. which is better somewhat when you don't have to deal with the little terrors directly while learning about them.
yucks anyhow.
Ok let's press on.
I have a linguistics and european lit paper on thursday.
God please come to my rescue.

Take flight

Today, I have decided that my ambition in life is to own a Chow Chow.

the delicious smell of new leather

I think this has been my best birthday yet.
Tuzi actually WON. i only wanted my friend to play and sing her best on my birthday weekend, at the Grand Finals. yes, yes. MORE tears. blah blah. ok thanks for not teasing. And with that, the battle of the bands came to a dramatic and OMG-HAPPY ending.

I got my own Chanel bag. AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! every girl's dream!!!!!!!!!!! not the 2.55. it's the boxy one; 'timeless classic' so i heard. and it came directly from Paris, the home of Chanel. in a white paper bag, with a camellia on the nice ribbon. in a nice box. her name is Chantelle. AHHHHHHH!!! thank you baby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! you really make me feel like your Dowager! i'm gg to bring her on her first outing soon. will update with pics. i'm so behind!

and i have a lot of ppl to thank for making this celebration swell.

let my pics say everything. but give me time. deadlines ALL looming!!!!!!!

Mirror

i've been very encouraged by all of you have asked after Terence, prayed for him, believed in Team Sailing and followed up on the racing results during this Olympics. Thank you very much, my friends and family, and let's look forward to London 2012!

All my love.

orkid

will probably only start typing in full sentences again when term begins. brain is not up to task as of now. foresee that I will have a hard time on the eve of the first day of school, struggling with the reality of no more sleep-ins.
I, the president of the Tuzi fanclub invite all of you to your sofas and recliners at 8pm tmr to catch the band in action.
Please support! am seriously considering buying a chow chow pup for my 21st, but fail to have anyone's encouragement, including my beloved. when i mention it, he whistles and goes all spacey on me. oh well. hahaha..

recently travelled to banyan tree resort with him in bintan. love the exclusivity of the villas, our's had an outdoor deck facing the sea complete with a jacuzzi. will post some pictures soon. one morning heard some rustling, turned out to be a crow pecking at our breakfast that was brought to us and arranged on our outdoor table ( i know breakfast-in-bed sounds romantic but to me, that's just abit gross. imagine sleeping with crumbs/bacon bits on your bed linen. eww). din get to see much wildlife (i think sth to be thankful for, cos have heard tt the monkeys are aggressive) except tt wretched crow and a squirrel. was continuously fascinated by houses built on stilts in the sea (2 in total we saw within the scope of our villa), and i think tt fascination stemmed from my absolute fear of the water and its endless depth. imagine. how can anyone of us city-dwellers live in such a vast space? watched P.S. I love you in the comforts of the amazing four-poster bed (and btw, i thot the mosquito net surrounding completely lent itself to the exclusive atmos), with a box of tissues prepared. did not cry. did not tear. basically only had to deal with darling's constant checking up on me (every 5min, REALLY). he had a strategy; sometimes leaning over to scrutinize my eyes, sometimes saying sth outrageous so i wld be incited to glare at him (thereby granting him total access to my eyeballs). haha... well this is us. at the end of it immediately sms-ed 2 close friends to boast of my accomplishment. experiment successful: proof that when i bawled over Mr.Magorium's Wonder Emporium, it was only cos i was pms-ing.
to continue, tk and i had a massage session tgt, with a lesson thrown in. while we were seated side by side with our therapists on the floor kneeling massaging our feet, a spider crawled onto my masseuse's face. it was running all over her gentle and serene exterior but either she din feel it, or more likely she thot it rude to us to remove it. so it crawled, and she talked us through the massage, and so terence and i looked at each other, and so i was trying hard not to erupt in a laughing fit (EH! for the reputation of all of YOU singaporeans back home ok. hahaha. kidding), and so the more i looked at terence the more he tried to look nonchalant in order that i might restrain myself. in the end i told her la, altho so paiseh to do so. and she got it off her face, and we continued. haha.. we rode a buggy everywhere. and they served us ginger drinks everywhere (very potent).
once i was standing by a ledge taking a photo of a some rocks at the shoreline, and rather absorbed by my task (we were waiting for our lunch to be served, the nasi goreng is PERFECT). imagine when i turned around, job done, only to face adrian pang and his wife. not face-to-face la (nowhere in the island is ever crowded. it is unthinkably exclusive. like the area around your villa you rarely see more than 5 ppl at once) but you know. i tell you, i was abit shocked and i think my face expressed tt shock until i shocked him too (he prob isn't in denial la, that he has fans or what. haha) and so he politely smiled and i said hi. hahaa. yay. singaporean domination!

ok well, i had the best time (aside from the hour-long ferry ride). VERY scary, cos the waves were choppy and the ferry was really rocking it.

thank you for reading. i will see you soon, along with my photos of bintan and tmr's QF round live at mediacorp studios. bye =)

petit bateau

Congratulations sweetheart.
I love you, and I am so proud of you.

groupie mode.

i address you all today as president of the TU ZI fan club.
i don't care how silly or ridiculous i looked on tv just now with my bunny ears and so forth, waving the banner like a madwoman.
i just am SO proud of my friend Carissa for making it through to the next round of SuperBand. She looked so cute jamming away on stage, in her element, and i was thinking to myself: there she is, my age-old friend who truly makes me happy.

see you at the next round of competition.

pre-fall.

i can't believe that just like that, spring/summer'08 is almost ending.
JUST WHEN IT WAS GETTING SO FUN with the florals and colours!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
argh.

Polar Express- the REAL deal

If you're here, there's no reason why you shouldn't go here also: http://www.wecansolveit.org/page/s/polarbears

i LOVE polar bears and dogs and raccoons and almost all furry things with all my heart. and i hope you too, maybe just enough for you to put your name down. PLEASE DO. the Bush admin have until May 15th to decide if they want polar bears on the endangered list. do your easy peasy part and then please spread the word. PLEASE.

God loves His animals too!

the case of the mysterious disappearance of mundane and moody mondays.

life update in brief:

1. exams are over; and i'm slowly learning to deal with my freedom. it's a feel-good adjustment, as compared to pre-exams when i had to adjust to working hard. haha.. it's good fun now. life is (more of a) joy.

2. grandparents are staying at my place while their's is being renovated. quite fun. it's been ages since my granddad came over. every morning i wake up at 11plus and come out of my room, an absolute bedhead, and say: HI!!!! to my grandpa and i start laughing cos he looks so amused at me. i think he wonders how i can wake up so late (i hope it's not my hair anyway). and he announces to everyone else that: da xiao jie qi lai le. ahaha. i feel like a mini empress! well. i always knew i am a princess cos terence tells me so. now i'm a princess in a different cultural context. ahhaa..

3. i permed my hair recently. i know 'perm' still carries a very strong ah-soh undertone, the same way 'rebond' recalls to mind schooling lians. but reiterating what they always advise in beauty mags: tell the hairstylist what you want. be precise and don't be persuaded if you know what you want. today someone asked me if the curling of my hair is natural. AWWW! you see. you get what you want if you only ask. perfect.

4. thot of probably looking for some part-time work come june. for now, i'm quite content to focus on three upcoming events: 5th year anniversary celebrations with TK, making a banner for dear car who is in the finals of fei chang Superband (haha. i am absolutely cheena-fied sometimes, if you must know) and providing the support, and a trip to hk. looking up on Nars cosmetics and H&M (which, as mentioned, i found to be overrated when i finally saw the brand in London and therefore i hope this time will prove itself better). Nars is a fab brand. i use Scarlet Empress, a blue-ish red lipstick that is perfect in brightening up my yellow skin tone. immediately i look white when i put it on. hahaa. not ghostly white. just snow-white white. HAHAHA. so i say. lala. i discovered the lippie while reading UK Glamour. never before have I been so stunned by a lip colour. i saw it and had to get it even though i could not try it on myself and even though it was 17 pounds ( approx SG$51), which is a ghastly price for a lipstick. but i took a risk and it worked *beams

5. i removed the colour from my last pedicure. and oh no. my toe nails are monsters. all ten of them. i have never seen such ugly things. just as well my next appt is coming up. nice to know that all i have to worry abt now are such trivial things as what colour to paint next. for now. i'm not saying that these are my most urgent thots all the time.

6. current booklist: a compilation of Sherlock Holmes, and Eat,Pray,Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. new mag discovery: a fashion weekly with a little bit of tabloid from the UK, Look magazine. it is the best thing. minimal words. lotsa product pics and fashion spreads and gorgeous (slim) celebs like Cheryl Cole, Kate Moss, Agyness Deyn. can be found in Kino.

Have a GREAT week ahead. and congratulations my friends, those who will be clearing their papers this coming week. Enjoy too!

the midway monster

I mean, when I'm sitting there trying my darndest to focus on my very-challenging paper which requires me to identify 4 quotes from abt one million that we have covered in the syllabus, the least you can do Mr.Invigilator, is NOT sit in one corner and pick your nose right? It's so distracting!!! Do you know, dear reader, that I think I wasted about 5 min of my precious time glaring at him and willing him to stop when I could instead have started to wear my tired fingers out from writing olympics?

then when he stood hovering near my table, I found out why he was picking away with such fervour and enthusiasm. ALOT OF NOSTRIL HAIR!! omg. I mean, ok man. It must've been hard work foraging through that forest! To think that I was so cruel in almost wanting to ask ANOTHER invigilator to tell him to stop. I am so mean. But you know. Exams bring out the worst in people. And I never was for public nose-picking, as I'm sure many of you are too.

and then say, ten minutes later I looked up to check the time on the big clock and I saw him right in front of the hall, picking his ears. Or is the term 'digging his ears'? I'm not sure. Same same but different but EQUALLY gross. I have never seen so much bad behaviour in a day. Absolutely terrifying.

I was hoping and crossing my fingers and toes that he would not be the one out of the maybe 8 invigilators in the exam hall who would check my matric card. I did not want him to touch any of my belongings!!!!!! ok well. He didn't. A lady invigilator did the job. yay.

so ok. this is day 2 of exams. I have 3 papers to go. I am getting increasingly happy by the day.

In the Spotlight this April!

well hello there =)

exams; tres au courant!

got 5 papers coming up and rather ill-prepared.

i'm trying not to be too lazy.

i can't say i'm succeeding. but i'm trying!

i can't stop being restless and fidgety.

am currently reading Lord Byron's Don Juan (contrary to popular belief, pronounced joo-an, not wan).

it's rather witty.

i bought a purse companion for my Guccisima wallet yesterday and was sufficiently cheered up from my boredom by it.

i fell in love with it sometime ago, hesitated (hoping to get one from the LV patent heart-shaped series), learnt that the LVs were all limited-edition and sold out, considered a Prada fire-engine red one, lamented that the heart wasn't symmetrical, then went back to Gucci. Alas. from a selection of colours of silver, purple, pale pink and off-white, only the off-whites were left at the Gucci standalones. they looked kinda dirty to me. and i foresaw myself dirtying them further. then aha! spotted the pale pink one at Gucci at Duty Free. got the last piece apart from the display one. oh yes. don't think it's visible from the photo but the zipper is heart-shaped too! =)

pale pink is the sweet sister, the berry-hued one more sexy and sophisticated (terence bought it for me maybe 2 years ago). so nicknames are lulu and lacey. their real names are lauren and loretta (say: lor-ron and lorrrreta, the italian way).

i love the smell of new leather.

ok back to my books. studying is abit evil. it makes me shop very impulsively and compulsively to 'reward' myself for my 'hard' work. i never fail to find things to spend on, no matter how impractical. someone enrol me for the shopping Olympics.

have a great week ahead

of not belonging. of self-alienation.

eh ok. i am not really done with my tirade here.
i want to discuss those who wear coloured contacts.
like green/light brown/purple/blue.
that sort of very unrealistic colours for Asians.
can i ask just WHO you are trying to fool?
and what exactly are your intentions behind looking so strange?
enlighten me.

the rules of skinny.

well. someone sure didn't fool me with his overcompensating cockiness today. he only succeeded in justifying my self-congratulatory mental note that he is a PURE beng. i was right all along. don't have anth against bengs except if you are one who tries to fool others into thinking you're really well-read, smart and you know. fluent and well-spoken. in english. so. i hope said person gets a hold of his ridiculous self-assuredness. it was on the tip of my tongue to tell him to shut up this morning. imagine that. so dangerous! someone stop me. and stop him from his warped ideas of body size. He called a slim friend fat. while he's obese. and a walking joke; as sauve and macho as porky pig can be.

on the topic of obesity, i might be on to sth REALLY bitchy now so stop reading if you're really pure and innocent. and i don't care for opposing views so don't bother. if you're a friend, this DOES NOT apply to you. it's my friends-exclusion policy that applies to all of my bitch fits.

you see. i get REALLY upset when i'm flipping through magazines that feature 'plus-sized' models in their fashion spreads. a swimsuit on a 'plus-sized' model is really vulgar by my books. to me, it is a major turn-off and COMPLETELY does not justify and even discredits the piece. 'plus-sized' is a politically-correct term that disgusts me. fat is fat. don't try this oh-the-new-term-for-secretary-is-now-executive-administration-officer thing on me. i don't buy such lies.

the fact is this. skinny models are the driving force behind this huge economy that is fashion. so people should stop the whole "let's not teach our young that this is the size to be!" outcry. PLEASE. that the young are easily-influenced and impressionable is too much of a sorry excuse for every crazy teen who starves herself to death/ghastliness in the quest to be thin. i believe that models either work really hard to maintain their physique because their livelihood depends on it, or are just natural beanpoles. and well, if they are indeed eating what is barely enough for their bodies, then you can't really label them as air-heads can you? because AT LEAST they know how far they can go before the symptoms appear and people call their bluff. if teenagers (or immature adults) cannot discern, that is another issue altogether.

fashion spreads are exaggerations (NOT the equivalent of a delusion as per above.) and the body sizes featured don't necessarily translate to that of the average person we see on the road. SO WHAT. if you are that interested in seeing "the real thing", go people-watch for your very own touch-of-reality fashion spread then. and i'm sure that the majority of high fashion is not wearable anyway. haute couture, wearing neon pink, orange and yellow in one outfit, the laughable headgear and accessories etc. they are meant to be artistic expressions, a means to inspire what we wear amidst the inability to incorporate the trends wholesale into everyday wear. and thin models just make clothes look better. full-stop. the larger-sized population will simply go out and buy that SAME runway-inspired piece in a bigger size. people with poor body image just better go deal with it elsewhere and quit whining.

if people want reality so much, then let's try putting clothes on really average-looking and fat "models". If you think the pieces will STILL sell, then i am sorry to say that i do not understand your foreign thoughts. and if, better yet, you think that people will go "finally! what a refreshing change. the clothes appeal to me so much more now!", then i think you can proceed to change planet (psst. this is EARTH!). don't lie to yourself. we all know that the ONLY reason why a selection of fat models are allowed into our glossies is this: that they remain a mere fraction of the saturation of stick-thin models in the pages. fat models are a novelty, and those lobbying for them to be a norm on the catwalks and the magazines shld stop wasting their precious time and face the reality of exaggeration in an art form that only succeeds when it uses thin models as artistic devices. no other size works.

i'll ask you this. if you HAD to choose, which do you think is more attractive: fat or skinny? i know my choice. i really wouldn't rather be stretching my clothes thin. i'll rather be a walking hanger. suit yourself.

there. i feel better. now i think i can face my last 2 weeks of school. if you cannot accept my opinion, don't visit anymore.

essays are in VOGUE for spring/summer'08!

i'm currently working on my Victorian Lit. essay; i chose to do a close reading of The Adventure of The Speckled Band, a Sherlock Holmes story. the lovely thing abt literature is what you can uncover inside something that superficially looks so empty, devoid of deeper meaning. i mean, i read it (it's a short text) and although i was captured by Holmes' genius, i was wondering how i cld derive an 800-word (yes, short essay i've been told) paper from some detective fiction. but the undertones are aplenty, stereotypes of the east abound and i'm quite excited to finish formulating my work and handing it up. and then sighing to myself in delight. 2 papers down, 2 to go. let me shop to reward my progress =)

i've been trying to work on my dressing table instead of my bed cos i feel rather lazy lying on my belly all day (plus ALL my magazines are within reach so i get distracted easily). haha. but my dressing table is very distracting too. although it's not really a dressing table cos there's no mirror (it faces my bed you see. don't like mirrors facing my bed!) it's the girliest thing, complete with all my pink bottles of perfume (dior addict 2, gucci's envy me, agent provocateur's eau emotionelle, kate moss edt, sarah jessica parker's lovely and escada's ibiza hippie, just to name some of them) and my cosmetics collectibles. then all my accessories, my pink pen collection in a giant glass cup from Hard Rock London, and a figurine (not sure if it's wax) of terence and i in traditional chinese wedding garb. he had it done for me in china and it's been customized with our faces (he passed a photo of us to the sculptor). hahaha. it fascinates and amuses everyone who sees it. i'll take a pic of my dressing table some day and put it up.

i have been chastised for being materialistic. and i know some people think that abt me but don't say. i tend to buy stuff sometimes for decorative purposes (and even cos i just simply like the name; i.e. my new Clinique lippie A Dozen Roses) but i think that's ok. i mean, i know i've a tendency to just hoard and hoard even though i've already got plenty of bags/clothes/pretty stuff. but i'm a girly girl, and ok. don't believe in horoscope but librans are known to love beauty. i see colour, shine, bows, butterfly motifs, florals and i go slightly mad. haha. HAVE TO GET IT. well. i cherish very much the acquisition of knowledge now that i've found sth i really love dg, i cherish the relationships that are impt to me, i cherish my faith, and i think i have alot of compassion. and i love dogs. so i think i'm ok. call me what you like =) life's too short to hold back. life's too short to just pass over that dress you love and thereafter dwell upon and regret your decision when you see it on someone else. on someone else who doesn't do the dress any justice. hahaa! that's just me anyway.

shall excuse myself now. i have abt 650 words to go. yeeeha! have a great long weekend ahead.

grumps

the weather. is unbeleeeeeevably bitchy.
i get toe cramps from curling in my toes so that they don't touch the wet surface of my flip flops.
i wonder if that is instinctive? does everyone do that or just me? pls drop me a msg telling me how you deal with this crazy big thing called rain.
i rmb back in crescent, where my friends and i resented mass runs so much that we did rain chants/dances whenever the sky was threatening, cashing in on our moment. haha. sometimes we had our wishes, but mostly not.
i don't wish for rain now.
i am gg to scream, so cover your ears for i do get really loud:

THIS IS FREAKIN' SUMMER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
BRING BACK MY SUNSHINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ok there. i feel better. you don't know what it's like reading all the glossy mags and it's summer in aussie, uk is headed for spring (well. supposedly. but the rain is mad there too i hear), and well. guess what. i think singapore is scheduled for some sun too? yup. so i see these to-drool-for fashion spreads of bikinis, light summer dresses, shorts, flip flops, florals and get excited for? for this amazing gloominess that is real life.

oh yay. my curled up toes are currently un-curling themselves in gladness.

bababa. bata. boonlay. back to books.

going back to school today was tough.
I dreaded it with every fibre of my being last night.
but I'm back. back to the endless queues to get on the bus into campus. back to seeing ppl I don't like and thinking nasty thoughts in my head. hahaha. back to the crazy deadlines. back to worrying but not working on assignments till the very last minute. back to crash-reading to keep up with the schedule. back to thinking of what to wear, what I've worn and the whole I-don't-repeat-outfits mindset. back to occasional guilty bitchfits.
tk darling surprised me by fetching me from school today. =) he chased away my Monday blues on a cold, dreary, rainy day.
well, we shall press on towards the goal of getting through Year 1. then we'll have a long lazy break and return to school non-freshies. what a thought!

more clothes, please.

yummilicious update

Ok. mani colour: black cherry chutney, pedi colour: yoga-ta get this blue!
from OPI's new India collection.
hahaha. they look gorgeous! my manicurist told me my last toenail is gg to drop off. i was slightly horrified and she thinks it's probably cos i torture it during dance. well.
IT'S NOT GOING TO DROP OFF! I'll make sure.
it's our week-long recess now and I am QUITE feeling it although still trying to rush through a couple of books and an assignment proposal.
tonight is dim sum dollies at the esplanade with terence and sis. yay!!! and exploring Haji lane with mel. double yay!!
shall be wearing a bright yellow chiffon dress.
am finally getting enough sleep now so feeling quite fresh.
and mommy let me renew my subscription to Aussie Cosmo and Shop and suscribe to Aussie Cleo too (cos it keeps gg straight to the censors here in Sg so I keep having to wait endlessly)! I am so happy!
bye bye friends!

Love never fails.

This is Asal. And this is me. We are playing: cousins-spoofing- Vic-and-David-Beckham. well. we try our best.

This is Asal. This is me. We are playing: cousins-spoofing-celebs- trying-to-escape-the-paparazzi. Like. AS IF they don't enjoy

the attention.

This is us again playing: cousins-spoofing-paul-twohill-and-his-very- excited-fan (fan-see in HK speak)

We are Rachel and Rebecca. We are the Super Duper Mario twins!

He is Terence. She is his cousin. They are a very cute couple. =)

This is Terence's cousin and I. We are the Spice Girls. GIRL POWER!

HAHA. it's been awhile hasn't it? well hello again. Happy New Year. May the good Lord bless you, and may all your dreams take flight. =)

Jesus:

"Come live in me,

All my life take over.

Come breathe in me,

And I will rise on eagles' wings."

I want, will get.

not in the mood to study.
want to play.
want to wear new clothes (designated for cny, that is).
want to go for my mani pedi.
want to play with tk.
want to buy new clothes.
want to cry at the horror that the limited edition heart-shaped patent purse at LV has sold out.
want to escape on a beach holiday.
want to ponteng.

new beginnings (again)

feeling rather festive again =)
next week so busy with cny (and preparations). booked in for mani pedi (yes again YES YES YES!!!!) on monday, tuesday i've an appt with my derm (which I presume will be my last regular visit because my skin has recovered. Thank God!). tues night reunion dinner with one side of the fam, wed the other side. I've got new outfits for both. but rach and I decided we'll be wearing our mario t-shirts to one of the dinners (I bought them for us at a school bazaar). act cute but you know, it is our united front. SOLIDARITY! haha. so political. well, big families are political. cny is a time to testify of your personal progress in all aspects of your life since last year (or maybe I'll just admit that I am competitive). SO. I AM READY!!!!!!!!!!!!! skin a-ok, loving being in uni and enjoying my course (last yr I was toughing it out at ngee ann. eeks), reaching 5 yrs with Terence soon, still having plenty of nice clothes, healthy, having a much better attitude towards life and of course, all the above because of God's providence and blessings =)

finally finished Jane Eyre (by Charlotte Bronte) last night. I was tearing away. Qiulin, if you are reading this, please go get a copy. am sure you'll like it. It's so romantic but still grounded in reality. neither airy-fairy nor cheesy. as a reader, you really feel as if you've been taken by the hand and journeyed through all of Jane's experiences with her. I really enjoyed it.

I love a happy ending.

bold is beautiful!

just a snippet of a conversation I had with terence recently. just for your entertainment.

r: darling i know! i will have 3 dogs next time. one black chow, one brown chow and one samoyed!
t: no, you only can have one.
r: nono, you listen first. the names are SO cute! One will be...
t: no, you only can have one.
r: ok wait you listen! the black one will be Chin Chow, the brown one Mr.Chow, and the white one Chowder! so cute right?!! *squeals and laughs madly.
t: hahaha! quite funny. but you only can have one.
r: no dear. one is not enough. the kids must all have one so they can ride them to kindergarten. we just put the saddle on and the leash then they can ride to school.
t: that's so mean!
r: (in all earnestness) no what. chows are dogs from the working group.
t: you promise?
r: no. HAHAHA.

ok. haha. i dunno. i thot it's rather amusing.
today was manipedi day =) i chose sth totally not like my usual colours. BRIGHT coral. name is Sunbody loves me. the code for the colour was KO4 and mel said it is actually KOH. awwww. i love him very much too! and all my friends who can love me for who I am. those who accept my ocd handwashing habits, listen to me list what I want to buy, remind me that terence is truly a gem (well. an outside perspective only serves to reinforce what I already know and cherish) and wait while I hem and haw whilst deciding between two. oh, and who will patiently type directions to me when I am so lost. =)

loving, praying, reading, dancing, shopping. in that order.

been thinking abt my weaknesses. and i think one major fault of mine is not knowing how to say no. it's really tiring trying to please everyone; thinking up ways to broach subjects without hurting feelings, being afraid to offend. i suppose some of you can't imagine me this way. cos i know how to put my foot down when displeased and i damn well make sure i'm heard. but it's more along the lines of people i care about. i don't believe in horoscope, but apparently it is a common libran trait to love harmony. and perhaps this is why i always try to please. and i'm also overtly sensitive abt people hurting my loved ones. i take it upon myself to always try to make them feel better. hmmm. at times i admire straight-forward people. i think: just how do they do it? but then again. i feel abit taken aback when they exhibit their directness. haha see! there's no escaping this!! anyway i'm gg to try and liberate myself. just to say no and not feel guilty abt it. let you know how i fare =)

been CRAZY shopping the past week. trying to squeeze in time when not in sch/reading Jane Eyre to hit town. been buying every possible thing under the sun in the name of Chinese New Year. my friends like to tell me everyday is CNY/Christmas cos i always have new clothes. eh hey. this time, i'm really hoarding everything i can. not just clothes ok. new sheets, dresses, bags, lingerie, accessories.. well. you know my resolution. and i'm proud to say life's much more balanced now. shopping= spending time with mom. and dg my readings everyday= less guilt when splurging. dancing over the weekend = even less guilt. AHAHA. i am so pleased. i am a champion shopper. a new week dawns tmr; more opportunities to hit the shops!

FINALLY FINALLY i am gg for a mani/pedi on thurs with mel. i have been un-manicured since Christmas cos i got back to dancing and i feel very unpresentable with my nails that i refuse to cut myself. i have completely sold myself to having my talons pampered regularly. this week taking some time out from dance to catch up on MORE readings so i booked in immediately. you have NO idea how much i look forward to the appt. just sitting there and being attended to. it's a habit alr. and i don't see it as extravagant. manicures and pedicures complete every girl. if you haven't, GET STARTED.

wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

unmasked.

don't really follow celebrity gossip like a bloodhound, but i saw a feature on my homepage (yahoo.com) just now that got me: celebrities without makeup.
ha! i never felt shortchanged by God in the looks department (cos long ago, i learnt to live with myself and accepted that there'll always be someone prettier) even when perusing pictures of celebs all glammed up, glowing on the red carpet, lalala.
I mean, there's no desire to emulate them. I simply love how I am because me being just me; THIS is who terence fell in love with. THIS is who has a happy life.
the celebs, ya they look great. but i am a champion of asian beauty and i don't appreciate all the jessicas (alba, simpson), nor the jennifers (lopez, aniston) at all.
today, i saw for myself a reason why kids really SHOULDN'T diet/surgically-enhance themselves because of the saturation of images of gorgeous celebs. cos warpaint aside, they are as normal as normal goes. without the airbrushing, the professional artists primping them, haha.
perhaps this doesn't really affect asians. apparently a news report of late indicates that singaporeans are the least concerned abt their weight in the world.
but i think plastic surgery is picking up here.
and i read in the papers (papers ah! not tabloids) that hollywood stars cite breathing difficulties as to why they fix their noses. HAHA. i can lie better than that.

please people. live with your imperfections and love yourselves. think yourself as the best, but somehow not quite better than others. I'm still learning how to maintain that balance but I know that no matter the struggle, humility will ultimately make me more beautiful.

forget that REALLY crap cliche: there are no ugly people, only lazy people. that's a joke ok, not mantra.

just live with yourself. and believe that someone up there watches over your coming and going. you'll do much better, trust me.

schooling style

second semester starts tmr. WHEE! excited! (the trans-seasonal sales are SO horrid anyway. i don't even want to shop! more abt that later)
my core modules are Asians in Hollywood, Victorian Lit, Singapore Lit & Culture (yay!!), survey of English Lit and my elective is Fundamentals of Linguistics.
i still dream of being a well-paid private-practicing speech pathologist, so i think i stand a better chance at getting that Masters of Speech Pathology spot if i do a minor in linguistics.
it's early days yet, but i hope it interests me. i heard linguistics is like a science (eeks.)

back to the shopping, sighs all around. the post-christmas/new year sales are driving me mad. Mess, mayhem, flawed clothes, YAWN... so what if prices are slashed. plus they advertise via ugly-looking-just-for-the-sales plastic bags that everyone totes all around. oh please stop the bargains. bring back the normally-overpriced clothes please!

a word of warning on Mango bags. i used a birthday voucher to get a white one recently. drawstring. gold-accented. A4. perfect for school. i used it on the day itself cos it complemented my outfit and guess what! the whole inner lining tore. how badly sewn! bad workmanship! i think my wallet in the zipper compartment was too heavy and dragged down the whole thing but STILL. no excuses. high street better start being high quality too. i was very displeased and got a cash refund. =) now i'm happy. but i mean, maybe might consider getting the same bag again. when the raw disappointment has faded off (haha. SO dramatic). cos i really like it and need a cheap white bag for school so there's no heartache when the pen-ink stains/dirt marks start to set in.

on a better note, i recommend those in favour of the nautical trend (that is very telling of spring's arrival. oh yea!) to hit topshop. tons of navy-and-white pinstripes, gold buttons, red, sailor-esque french-riviera-reminiscent stuff. i was so excited when i discovered a pair of tailored shorts at the wisma branch. navy-and-white pinstripes, gold buttons. HAHA. sound familiar? $90. shorts are good for school. good investment. no need to dwell on the price further. proceed to cashier. pay. browse somemore to check if neglecting any hidden good stuff. leave shop.

VERY HAPPY. now, i need a manicure. but i can't. cos i'm back to dancing. which is another topic worthy of squeals and shrieks. but i'll leave that for another day. heart rate rising. haha. take care

love at first sight

yesterday at pet safari at vivo, i asked to see a 2mth old chow chow puppy.

instead of just allowing me to stroke him, the guy passed the baby to me.

as i held him on my right shoulder i was the happiest girl in the world.

he stank so bad, but he had the softest fur and the most adorable face.

dogs are one of God's best creations ever.

they completely own cats, rabbits, hamsters, fish and all that jazz. bah.

dogs rule.