penang

hi i'm back frm penang.

sadly, my ixus 400 is not working too well, n i dunno if its a twin-y thing or wad but this time rd, my camera is in tt dire state as wendy's camera was last yr. n i only managed to take 1 team pic at the airport. yah tts ALL the pics i took this time rd for penang.

Day 1: woke up at 5am at bc's, ate breakfast, n she drove down to changi airport. checked in all the stuff, vic came to send us off n i remembered her hugging me and saying, 'hey cindy, row well!' on the airplane, wenting was sitting beside me n marcus.

touched down, changed into our trg gear n den headed down to telok bahang dam for test water session. talk abt mad rush, well this aint the worse la. anw we headed down n den we tested water. assigned 20 pple down for test water, leaving behind 6 of us who were involved in mix category for change over, aft a supposed 4 sets tt i hoped we cld have. In the end aft 2 sets (we were ald the only pple left at the dam coz test water session was long over), the pple were furiously chasing us out n asking us to disembark n leave. coach went down with e 6 of us to let us test e water condition, amidst all the violent objection by the authorities on shore. they were almost yelling for him to turn back.

Headed to the hotel--Cititel, checked in n den bathed. had late lunch at this nearby local shop tt sold alot of food. ate 2 bowls of prawn mee soup tt cost RM2.50 each. tt was how hungry i was lah. went ard to walk ard, n i kept repeating to cheeling 今朝有酒今朝醉 hahaha. basically i was juz trying to say, RnR whilst we still can! n aft tt we came back n den wendy asked if we wanted to go for jacuzzi n 3 of us went.

met for dinner at 730pm. made a huge mistake, much to the inconvenience of 5 pple. for tt i truly apologise.

had debrief, den turned in early with my roomie, angela. No, i didnt bully her. the by default secretary heh.

Day 2: In for 3 events today. Womens Open(12 crew), Womens Open(20 crew) and Mixed Opens (20 crew). Let's just say, though i was initially supposed to be row for 3 events, i only made it for the 1st one. Shit happens. Yah ok i really dun wanna talk abt it, but if i dun den pple are probably gonna ask me to repeat the same story like 1001 times, so i'd juz type it here for ur reading pleasure.

Team B did well n we came in 2nd for the heats, letting us be qualified for repecharge the next day. coordination, n the much needed fighting spirit was present. Despite the many Ups called by boon chin, we responded (1-ah, 2-ah..) n hence managed to take 2nd place. Team A came in 3rd for the heats n also qualified for the repecharge. In e end, we were up against each other in the next day's repecharge.

Next up was the Women's Open(20 crew) We had done our warm up, as well as simulation. About to go down to register, when i noticed tt there were no bottles of water. So i told yirang, 'eh u all proceed to register first, i'd join u all shortly. i go take 3 bottles of water' Instead of taking the conventional way down, ie the concrete steps, i took the shortcut way coz there was not much time left. i had previously did tt n it was alright.. The shortcut way is juz a soil slope. i kinda accelerated down, n e area above my left knee whammed into a a metal pole[those erected to hold those tents up] It so happen tt there was a protruding edge on the metal pole n e next moment when i looked down, i saw alot of blood n a huge gash across. it was like a chocolate fondue machine, juz tt this time it's like, blood fondue? i saw my open skin, pinkish in colour. yah rather gross.

I remembered muttering, 'shit..SHIT!' n den i went back up[the same way i came down..the soil slope]. had to do something! I had wanted to row, but situation did not permit. saw angela, phyllis, qianyi, yuen ching, twin n rendy at where we warmed up, n den i shouted, 'Who here is a left rower!?' n stupid twin answered, 'Me!' I was like, 'Duh of course i know!' n den re-phrased, 'Who here rows left n is NOT gg down for this set!?' A few hands shot up. Den i decided, 'ok yuen ching, u go down for me.' Dat's when they all suddenly realised that my left leg was covered in a bloody mess.

What proceeded next was the 'Oh my gawd, oh my gawd!!' n the 'Cindy, r u ok!??' n lotsa frenzy. Was rendered first aid n den there was the 'is it painful?' n the 'cindy u r so brave. if i were u i'd b crying now.' i dunnoe y but somehow it wasnt painful. What was more painful was actually not being able to row. There were juz loads of commotion n many pple came to wipe the blood n apply direct pressure. This really nice guy, i think it was the coach of singapore aircrew, rendered first aid on me. Was surronded by the guys team, the girls, n alot of curious bystanders. Ok next i was being transfered onto a stretcher n den into an ambulance, taken to a hospital.

i held back some tears in the ambulance, coz i felt so helpless. The thought abt not being able to contribute, not able to be there, of being a liability to the team. N also the 'if only..' No, there wasnt the blaming God part, neither was there the 'why me?' coz i have come to accept tt shit happens.

Lotsa things gg thru my head as i lay on the stretcher in the ambulance. Pestered Mr Heng [the sports officer] to call sean at 1330, coz i wanted to know the results of how the gals did. Deep down, i prayed hard tt wendy n yuen ching did not break the news as i didnt want to make them lose focus. The last thing i'd need is for pple to worry for me, n i dun like the excessive attention. Really, i dun like it. I very much enjoy being low-key, fading into the background. With tt amt of blood flowing out, i was given both. worry from everyone, and attention.

I dun like it! And i'm fine, really. Thanks for everyone's concern but yes i can walk fine, i dun nd a chair to sit, n i can carry stuff. Don't juz let me do ntg juz because i'm injured. Juz as i trust u to tell me if u r not feeling alright n opt out if u really cant row, u muz trust me when i say i'm fine.

The gals came in 2nd, n qualified for Opens Finals [20 crew] the next day. Now tt's smth to smile abt as i walked out of the AnE room, aft having had 10 stitches. Ok, i'm not tt brave, i was groaning inside when the paramedic injected local anesthetic around the wound to numb the area. When Mr Heng handed me a bottle of mineral water to drink, when i came out of the AnE, i just gave a big sigh.就是为了这三瓶水，换来十个针. If only..

Anw, tt's day 2 for u.

Day 3 Up against each other today. Team A n Team B. In e end, Team B made it into the Womens 12-crew finals. Ok, i rowed today. Dont start nagging at me n saying i shdnt be rowing, yada yada. Rowed 2 sets in the 12-crew event, with Team B. Fighting spirit was indeed commendable n there was this extremely cheesy moment at the starting line, for the Womens 12-crew finals. All 6 boats were lined up BUT we received news tt we had to wait for the VIP to come. So the race marshall said, 'Team Captains, get ur crew to relax. While wating for the VIP to come, let's listen to some music.' Then they played this.

My Valentine by Martina McBride

If there were no words
No way to speak
I would still hear you

If there were no tears
No way to feel inside
I'd still feel for you

And even if the sun refused to shine
Even if romance ran out of rhyme
You would still have my heart
Until the end of time
You're all i need
My love, my valentine

All of my life
I have been waiting for
All you give to me
You've opened my eyes
And showed me how to love unselfishly

I've dreamed of this a thousand times before
In my dreams i couldnt love you more
I will give you my heart
Until the end of time
You're all i need
My love, my valentine
La da da
Da da da da

And even if the sun refuse to shine
Even if romance ran out of rhyme
You would still have my heart
Until the end of time
Cuz all i need
Is you, my valentine
You're all i need
My love, my valentine

like seriously!? Yes. i'm not kidding. Then i resisted the urge to smile, aka arm chiou-ed, n glanced back to wendy, who was sitting behind me. So, this has officially been our 'theme song' frm now. Terror twins strike again..

Got into the finals but we didnt really do well in terms of placing.

Think we've got loads to work on aft this race. Shant elaborate further coz this aint a debrief. heh. quite thankful for everyone, n everything. Including the accident? i think everything happens for a reason. juz to thank a few la, like my roomie, who really took care of me, as much as i took care of her. ok i'd probably offend some pple if i dun include ur name inside here, but anw, thanks. for e enjoyable trip with loads of tau sah pia.

Personally, i feel tt smth to take away frm this race is another invaluable learning experience. Seeing things in a different perspective as i come here a 2nd time ard. Some aspects i truly overlooked, n i have to admit tt despite e need to look at the bigger picture, i tend to b myopic n accidentally miss out some aspects. At times, it juz dun occur to me tt i shd do certain stuff. I think i'm very hard on myself, esp when i've made a mistake.

a dlog entry

maybe i shd try to have a particular post written by sunny.

here's it.

Top 5 things tt make cindy very mad! [annoys cindy]

-Coming back from a tiring trg day, on a tues nite..stepping into her room and be greeted by an unknown wet puddle on the floor. Only to realise it's pee. Opps *act innocent*

-Chewing on almost everything i can find. i can now stand on my hind legs n reach into cindy's wastepaper basket to take out used tissue paper to munch on!

-waking cindy up every morning at 5am with my whining, i still cant bark too well yet. but i guess i'm hungry n scared of the dark at 5am so i nd someone to attend to me.

-Making cindy clear up e mess that i leave. I'm currently gg thru a stage called shedding hair so it's like, cindy can make cotton candy aft stroking me! hehe

-Being a hum sup dog. i'm sorry but i juz lick everywhere.

Top 5 things tt make cindy smile

-responding when she calls my name, a variety of names. eg sunny, sunny boy, lek zai, naughty boy, gd boy, handsome boy [heh]

-fetching the ball to the her when we play catch

-her opening her eyes in e morning n realising tt i'm being let out of my territory[the kitchen] and beside her. I can almost lick her face when i stand on my hinds now!

-Shitting n peeing at my designated spot

-Licking her toes when she comes back from a long day at trg.

I can see tt my co co co-owner is quite tired. I dun really wanna tire her out even more but i'm not old enuf yet n cant control my bladder too well. I wanna shower her with loads of affection n not create too much trouble for her. I dun like to get spanked by her coz she spanks me quite hard, n i wanna be an obedient dog. I hope her love for me is not out of mere obligation, but tt she truly loves me.

Seeing her tired makes me feel sad. i want her to fulfil her dream of being able to run alongside her next time when she goes for her runs. Now wouldnt tt be fun? Most of the times now she spends it in her room, i dunnoe what's she bz with but i juz wanna stay beside her, though she wld not let me on her bed coz i'm shedding hair now. N i juz found out she has got a sensitive spot, tt's y she wont let me go near her. hehe.

I cant wait for my owner's internship to be over, den he can play with me everyday. Also hope tt cindy will b able to spend more time with me aft her race. I miss mummy..she'll only be back from taiwan on 28th. I know daddy dun like me coz i pee n poop all over the place, but i'm making progress. I'm juz a dog n i also wanna be loved n accepted, juz like humans.

i scream

heh i passed my basic theory test today. Lek! Had my 1st driving practical lessons ytd, my gawd, i was assigned to car no. 164.

Like seriously!? I'm not a superstitious person but got so 'heng' or not??

164=一六四 (一路死)

So it was really an orientation lesson. The parts of a car, steering wheel, odometre, tachometer, signal switch, etc. I learnt how to change gear, move forward n reverse. yah smth like tt. And i dunnoe y, i really dunno, but my instructor taught me how to change a car tyre shd it malfunction. Also open the bonnet n explained how u shd fill e battery with water, how to check if ur car is in gd condition.

I only found out today tt it seems i'm the only one whom e instructor teach abt how to change tyre? Yah he spent like 15 min explaining how to fix a punctured tyre. He demo-ed, n den asked me to try unscrewing the bolts. So yes, i know how to fix a punctured tyre. Seriously i thought wad u shd do when u've got a flat tyre is to juz wave for help n hope some kind guy stops n help u out? (Shut up la, whoever who's gonna say i'm very ---)

Den i tried gg round the circuit like say, 5 times or maybe even 8 times. Think i'm like some chiong-ster in disguise? he kept asking me to slow down coz i was stepping quite hard on e accelerator pedal. Well, i think it's juz a subconscious thing. I really cant stand slow moving vehicles. The thrill of speed, heh.

u noe how sometimes there r those moments when u wonder, 'how many person does it take to change a lightbulb?' tt kinda qn? There was alot of tt moment today, as we were keeping the boats.

I still cant believe i screamed today. arghhh.

sunkissed

i'm burnt and very shagged. Really sunkissed ytd[pun intended] Like, really red and all. My face seemed like i've applied an overdose of blusher, my neck is red n painful.

the sun was a killer i tell u. it really saps away every bit of energy n left us all extremely drained, n may i add, quiet. 20 gals hopped onto the canadian boat leaving angeline, me, cheez n bc on the sdba small boat. got towed back but didnt juz slack. instead we did our very own 3-women time trial, with 1 coxwain at the back to lift up rudder. every time the rope got taut as it was being towed, both boats wld jerk. it was a pretty jerky set back, i muz say. Tested alot on endurance as well.

stupid things tt can came out of pple's mouth, aka blooper moments

hold 1-2 metres away frm blade.
lai, pull back to the back.

Like seriously..

ok sunny's really licking everywhere, n he juz managed to kiss me when he got too close to my face. Argh!! He's a hum sup dog ;[ I shant elaborate further.

lunched at liang seah st aft trg ytd. was quite worth it. 4 dishes n each paid $6.60. Damn, shd have chosen to sit at the other table e next time. Sat at the table with pple who r big eaters. so hungry tt we were more than willing to play the Number Game n kena the forfeit.heh. The other table actually had leftovers n passed to our table 0_0 [too bad it wasn't no. 45..] We den proceeded to Ah Chew dessert place, n i ate 炖旦

u really have to stay away frm me when i'm very drained/ or very shagged. can be either extremely lame, or plain bad tempered. recently the trend is tt i'd be very crappy when i'm shagged. poor pple who ate at Ah Chew dessert n had to endure my crappiness.

things not gg too well at home. mum's went away to taiwan for a getaway with her friends. coming back on the 28th. when mum's away, it juz means i'm the next most convenient person to arrow. Why? Just coz its a bloody stereotype. I'm female. juz coz i'm a girl doesnt mean i have to be thrown all e housework, which includes washing their underwear[eeeew], and sweeping/mopping the floor. Anw, i'm a girl but its not tt ez to arrow me. Heh, i'm quite a terror at home actually. No1 dares to touch me coz i really ROAR at home.

As for sunny, u can say i think too much. I wont deny it. I really do. I'm juz thinking tt my brother ald messes up the house quite abit, and now with sunny, the house's in an even bigger mess. i can b stepping on pee when i walk into my room aft a tiring day, or be woken up at 5am each morning coz he whines every morning at 5. it can be emotionally n mentally draining. i told twin, 'i dunnoe if my love for sunny is out of obligation, or do i truly love him?' she replied, 'cindy u really think too much!' Yes of course there r the shining moments, like when he really runs to me when i call his name, or when i play catch n he's really active, or when he juz licks me[at the not so weird places] as a sign of affection. it's like, aww man. sweet.

But i juz dun feel comfortable, or happy for tt matter, tt my bro n mum didnt consider deeper aspects of owning a dog. Spontaneity is gd sometimes, risk-taking is too; i'm not saying we shd stick with convention, n to have to always keep thinking bout everything b4 making decisions. I guess, perhaps i juz think too much for everyone else. Character trait can also be a character flaw.

Perhaps i'm juz tired.

I'm rather thankful for the twist of fate, or events, that has somehow got me closer to some pple. Like u noe how u previously nv really talked much to a person, or confided in a person b4, but somehow by a spark[yah, it only takes a spark to get the fire gg..] u somehow can juz connect all of a sudden? I'm thankful for such pple in my life. I'm slowly learning to open up n not bottle everything inside me. thanks, whoever u may be. You may not even know it but yah, it means alot to me.

a 'rudder' bad experience

i'm a bad story-teller with no element of excitment as i recount incidents. Here's an account of wad happened ytd.

ok, the big brown rudder hit me. first it hit amanda, den it hit me. i flew off my seat n plonked hard on e boat, near yunshan's feet. my butt took the impact. basically wad happened was tt 2 boats were out n e canadian boat was coming towards my boat, the champion boat. the coxwains estimated enuf dist btwn 2 boats-- for the left[of their boat] n the left[of our boats] to pass each other w/o hitting. But..

Then came a wave, courtesy of the wakeboarders. It shifted the canadian boat closer towards our direction. in a split sec moment, i saw the big brown rudder of the canadian boat moving towards us. i was like 'arghhh..watch out!!' n b4 i knew it, it hit amanda off her seat, followed by me.

When 2 moving objects collide, u can imagine wad's the impact huh? If the rudder can hit 2 persons off their seat, like succesive bowling pins n produce a somewhat domino effect, u can almost imagine the impact of how it whammed into us? All i can say is tt it was definitely, 'rudder' painful. The edge of rudder slammed into the portion below my left rib cage. It's 1 of those pain when i couldnt seem to produce any noise. 2 boats were kinda lodged with each other aft tt.

Then it was many 'r u ok?' tt followed. n i replied my usual, 'i'm ok' I wasnt exactly very ok, but at the same time it wasnt tt bad in the sense tt there was no broken ribs etc, so i managed an 'i'm ok' reply.

Yah, end of story.

Moral of the story: Watch out for ur team mates, n be alert to surronding dangers. Inform early to avoid accidents from happening n stay calm.(Like seriously, i think i've been ending too many driving theory lessons consecutively.)

Damn bloody shagged. I'm no devil, got no horns. wad u have to go thru, i have to go thru as well. Anyway, i was nv meant to be liked, so hate me all u want. my life is destined to be shortened [from all the cursing] and i have long accepted my fate. i'm suddenly reminded of wad david ever said, 'if trg is not shiong, u wont wanna come back for more. not exciting enuf ma'

No room for self pity.

I liked today's pace, the transition, e fighting spirit, e feedback, e echo-ing together. Needless to say, at some parts the timing was off, other moments there was a bit of gan-jiong spider effect, n sometimes back will chase. however, it's a nice feeling when we finally polish up on our weakness n learn from the mistakes of the previous sets.

Watched 'Lie with me' with twin, yirang, geoks, zhenyi n bc. makes me wonder if there's anything beyond sex. do u just fuck someone because u love the body or, is there emotional attachment involved?

Eyes r closing on me. Shagged.

TEAM

TEAM-Together Everyone Achieves More

A long debrief today, quite upset actually.

there's a distiction btwn rowing tgt, and feeling tgt. i can still rmb it so clearly, 'i can't believe we r so happy though we came in 2nd!' As much as victory is important, i guess at tt pt in time, ntg else mattered. the greatest feeling is when u really trust ur team mates so much, u trust them with ur life. That feeling was so overwhelming tt getting 1st didnt matter anymore. we genuinely felt for each other, push for each other, from the heart.

archived blog entry Mon July 4th 2005
I felt it, i finally did. The thing tt the snrs talked about. Feeling for each other. Today i can truly say, i've not only seen, but i've felt it, with my heart. We came in 2nd. There were no regrets, we fought hard.

When we ez rowed back, wenting said to me, 'u noe e thing u asked me on e mrt tt time bout which i preferred? A gd set but we dun win or a messy[everyone row own timing] set but we win? iunderstand wad u mean now by a gd set but we dun win[win=1st].' we hugged each other aft tt.

can u trust tt she will take u thru it, and carry u thru, every stroke of the way?

6 weeks, n we'll know

what's been on my mind..

some pple wait a lifetime..for a moment, like this. -kelly clarkson

5 more weeks. Every step brings u closer.

i want to smile again.

there's really been alot gg thru my mind recently. No1 ever promised an easy way, no1 ever did. i pray every single day without fail. For strength, courage and direction to lead, to push, to unite. For each n every one. If He puts u to it, He'll see u thru it. I've stop asking why, there's a reason for everything. Perhaps i dunnoe, i'd nv noe. Thus not my will, but Your will be done.

1 boat, 1 stroke, 1..

i passed my basic theory evaluation today, but gotta wait till 22nd may b4 i take my btt.

yah to those who dun ald noe, i'm taking up driving lessons. trying to clear it by july? i'm juz a pawn in my mum's hand. she happily sponsored me to take up driving lessons coz if i get my driver license, it gives my dad more reason to buy a car.

apparently she says dad favours me, huh like seriously?

well in any case, i really dun mind an xtra set of key for my 21st bdae u noe? :]

i finally went to get a haircut ytd aft having lunch with weili at jp. no more toot hairstyle. i can style my hair, if i bother to. but den again, i'm pretty lazy so i'd probably comb it down.

had team outing on mon, n we celebrated mona's 22nd bdae. happy bdae! still rmb how we celebrated her 'surprise' bdae at ps swensen last yr. pou-tousters who unintentionally sent sms to her wishing her happy bdae. -_-^ still remember aft tt we proceeded to acid bar for drinks.

Last year

happy 22nd bdae!

rang, may be ur last time as vice capt to cut cake heh


this time rd, we proceeded to rendy's house aft lunch. watched 'kambate ikimasheu'[dunnoe how to spell la]. it's a japanese drama abt sculling. i guess the essence of the show somewhat parallels to db? managed to watch the 1st 2 episodes b4 leavign for bbdc. it's really not fun watching them carry the boat out.

flashback to 2 yrs ago, when we carried the sculling boats out. wah lau eh, e shorter ones n even the tall ones really suffered when we carried the boats up the stairs. overall, it was quite a fun experience, but i dun really wanna do it again. it's no fun when u go for like 3-4 crash course sessions n the next moment, u r in for the competition. Just when u got the hang of it, the 'feathering' and balancing.
jul n yirang in doubles

geoks n i in doubles

womens quadraple scull. angeline, me, meiping n geoks.


ok, on request, here's a shot of sunny. managed to get him to stay still. silly boy who's down with flu/blocked nose coz he fell sick. he's been chewing lotsa weird stuff, resulting in him falling sick. stomach had lotsa 'worms' as a result of him being too curious. chewed my slippers, sandals, socks, dirt off the carpet. to summarise, he chews on everything he sees, including my toes and my fingers! arghhh

Naughty boy


btw 约定 is a very nice song.

birthdays

juz came back from celebrating sally's 21st bdae[advanced celebration]

ok here's the souvenir i got frm HK for e crescent clique. didnt pose it earlier coz must have surprise mah. 1 of the very few souvenirs i managed to get frm HK so muz appreciate k?


think we r all getting older and the so called 'hype' abt bdae is not really tt exciting anymore. i remember how i used to terrorise everyone in sec sch, esp 1 mth b4 my bdae i'd do the so called countdown. proclaim to everyone, '19 aug..19 aug!' i feel embarassed to even recall bout my childish behavior last time.

so much so tt even till this day, 4 years aft i left sec sch, pple like weining and jasmine still msg me on my bdae, with sms tt goes smth like, 'tay cindy!! u n ur 19 aug..till this day i still remember la!'

talk abt terrorising pple. no wonder when i did the MBTI personality test in sec sch, i was clasified an Extrovert. i had lotsa frens in the past.

Now tt i do the MBTI test again, i'm classified an Introvert. u wont find me gg ard telling u bout when's my bdae and all. I very much like things low key, low profile. Quiet. i am comfortable with a few very close frens. was talking to lipin abt how we'd be holding our 21st [yup, its juz 3 of us in e clique who hasnt celebrated..] and we both agreed upon making it a low key thing. She said she'd prob juz be inviting the crescent clique, jjc class clique [wenjun, chengwang, chonglong, fanelle, jinwen, meiling, bird, i] and her SIM frens. I guess mine's also the same. prob juz 3 bunch of very impt pple in my life-crescent clique, jjc class clique, and my gals, which will be come up to bout 30+ pple. of course, i'd not forget my family as well.

and surprises, hahaha hmm. can i have a surprise? maybe u all shd attempt to make me cry, since i'm such a tough cookie. actually, not really lah. u juz nd to noe what's close to my heart. sometimes it's the silliest n most unexpected stuff tt can trigger my tear ducts.

ok, juz to clear everyone's doubt. Sunny is a new addition to the family. he's not a kid. he's a puppy. a very naughty one for tt matter. currently teething at the moment n is 4 mths old. fell sick and gotta take him so see a vet on tues..sigh. I'm quite annoyed actually, not with him la. but more so coz i feel like my mum n brother made a rash decision in getting a dog. I mean, yah i adapt quite fast to changes, but u noe the thing is tt i feel they shd have given more consideration, more thought into things b4 getting a dog.
Sunny. [ok it's very unclear but he keeps moving ard so i cant get a still shot]

Who's gonna take care of it in the day? What makes u assume that i'd be free and not be staying in hall next sem? Have they actually split the responsibility, like who takes charge of what aspect, b4 getting a dog? What makes u think i'd be home juz coz it's the hols? Have u considered tt I nd to train? Yah, i've sold my heart to db. its not that i wont take care of sunny. i love sunny very much, tt naughty aquarius. i juz realised i'm living under the same roof as 3 aquarius-es n 1 cancer. -_-^ like seriously..

You know all tt kinda things? Sometimes i just wonder if they really considered all these stuff. It's not tt i think too much. Sometimes i juz feel tt more thought nd to be put into stuff, esp if its smth very impt. perhaps i have really been too much of a stranger to the family. Am i a minority in the family juz coz i'm the youngest? Hear me roar. Now i juz wanna spend more time with my family.

now he has got blocked nose and when he cant breathe properly, the sniffy sound juz breaks my heart. naughty as he is, only his whining got effect. though i always smack him hard on his buttock. Like i damn strict with him la, coz he keeps peeing n pooing all over the place. Have u watched the show 'Beethoven'? Countless times i walk at home, den step onto smth wet only to realise, to my extreme horror, tt he pee-ed. It's like the 'Beethoven' moment when the father was abt to go to work n put on his shoes, only to realise that beethoven pee-ed inside his shoe. Urghh. Been letting him sprint ard the house by holding the chew toy in my hands, den as i sprint he'd follow. cant wait for the day when i can bring him out to run alongside with me. tt'll be like, damn cool

the process of socialisation is actually quite fascinating. I actually realised [a eureka! moment] while having dim sum in hk, tt perhaps the reason y i always let others take their food first, or take food for others when food is served on the table, is due to the fact tt i'm the youngest in the family. Not tt my parents were exceptionally strict abt table manners or wad, but somehow we'd juz wait for the more senior ones to take their food b4 we take our food. Or it wld be tt we take food for the older ones. No wonder pple sometimes have to prompt me at the eating table, like say, 'take the food la! wad r u waiting for?' i'm juz not used to eating first la. Not tt i'm stoning or wad. Upbringing is an implicit form of socialisation? ha i dunnoe la. i nv learn tt, i not soci major. i only noe keynesian and classical economist.

anyway here's a photo of the 21st bdaes so far. been very slow in updating coz i havent really been TP-ing alot these days. and the pple close to me told me i've got a typical pose everytime i TP. now tt they mentioned, i went to look thru my photos n darn, they r so right. hrmf. walau eh, it's really a case of 当局者迷，旁观者清。meaning its the by-standers who have a clearer picture of the entire situation, rather than the person who is in the siutation. even i dunno i have this particular pose. note:

wenya's 21st

sally's 21st

tsk. n bc had to ask me to pose for this pic, using my typical pose -_-^ like seriously!? even i didnt noe it was my 'typical' pose.

Fast facts: anw, if u ever wondered how does the water from the merlion taste like, well i can tell u. it tastes extremely salty. And if u r wondering whether we'd bail faster or the merlion 'vomit' faster, i can safely say, the merlion will win. You have just been learnt smth new, courtesy of the 'did-u-know' section of cindy's life experience. hahah

i found out i can be a very bad fren sometimes. kinda insensitive n slow n not observant? i juz found out during sally's party, tt lipin has been updating her blog quite regularly recently. to think i stopped checking her blog coz she's been MIA-ing for so long. i assumed tt since she hasnt been blogging for ages, i stopped checking out her blog. Just checked n realised so much has been happening.

Hong Kong

hi all, i am back from hong kong.

买东西，吃东西

here's a long update (pictures included)

left for changi airport on 27th April, aft my paper. spoke a smattering of unimpressive cantonese to zhenyi's parents. we had intended to head down for some drinks upon arrival but the plan was cancelled due to some coordination problem.

So we headed down to our hotel—Mayfair Garden-- and turned in early coz next morning we were heading down to Disneyland.

Woke up at 8am in the next morning and then we spent close to ½ hr searching for a dim sum eatery which boon chin had recommended. The ambiguous hint was as follows: ‘Walk out of Majestic Hotel, turn right and turn right.’

Yah, turn right and turn right. Like seriously. -_-^ we really couldn’t find the dim sum place. In the end we found a dim sum place which is at basement 2, turns out its not the place she recommended. N it only start business at 11am. We were there at 940 or so. So mission aborted and we walked elsewhere in search of local breakfast.


The agreement is that we’d eat local delicacies for meals as far as possible. So no KFC, or Macdonalds, etc. Our first meal, aft an unsuccessful search for tt ‘turn right and turn right dim sum place’ was 波罗油 at a local eatery below our hotel. It was like, yummy-licious. Set breakfast tt was served with coffee/tea.


We proceeded to Disneyland aft tt. It was raining the entire day la! We die die also had to go Disneyland coz it was the only weekday possible, and we didn’t wanna pay more to go during the weekends. Intended to stay till 9pm for the fireworks but damn it la, it was very boring. This is a warning to all those who r thinking of gg to the hong kong Disneyland. Don’t go..it’s pretty boring. Thought there’d be outdoor roller coaster or those exciting theme rides, but the most ‘thrilling’ ride turned out to be an indoor roller coaster. Like..wow?? The 3D show was quite nice though. Managed to cover almost everything and we left at 4+. Oh btw, the Tigger is very ‘hum sup’— meaning he is very horny. Hahahah, very touchy la. Wont keep his hands, i mean, paws, to himself. He was practically rubbing his paws up and down a small boy’s chest all the way till his belly.
train we took to disneyland

this character from lion king. He's quite horny as well?

tigger and pooh. on top of each other. makes u wonder if they r gay? ahaha

Piglet mail


Lion King. had to snap this picture. Stroke a Leo's pride. heh


We decided, no wait, I decided (coz this silly gal juz don’t wanna make decision) tt we cover some of the stuff I wrote in the ‘must-go/ to-do’ list. So off we headed to Victoria Harbour, aka Avenue of Stars 星光大道. Hmm Twin, this is for u man! Initially was really damn cock-eye to walk past it without realizing. Almost got tricked into treating zhenyi a meal coz she said she’ll tell me where it was if I treated her a meal. But I found it!
Just when u thought the terror twins r only in s'pore..

This is for u twin.

de hua.


Bruce Lee moment


We walked ard Tsim Tsha Tsui in search of a stopwatch but was unsuccessful. You noe the famous 许留山.. The one tt serves really gd mango desserts? I was very sure that it was 许留山 but e aquarius was even more sure that it 许留仙, so we made a bet. In e end who win? I win..wahaha. Loser got forfeit.
Obviously rite!?

Aft tt her friend Jacky took us to Lan Kwai Fong for drinks. Lan Kwai Fong was one of the place I wrote in my ‘must-go’ list. Walau it really had a very happening night life. When I say happening, I really mean happening. It’s 1 whole long street filled with pubs and it was so freaking crowded and packed. Almost like an outdoor disco? We had to squeeze past a huge crowd of Caucasians, some who were quite cute. Heh. Me and another 3 of her frens went to a pub to drink. I ordered a shot drink-- blowjob. Whip cream is like..yummy. Then we had supper and den we shared a bowl of fish cake kuey tiao soup. Terry ordered a plate of pigeon meat and being adventurous, I tried. It tasted like, duck?

Only got to sleep at abt 3am.

Next day was even more exciting la. Jacky took us for dim sum lunch. The must eat, xiu mai, har gao. N we also ate char siew soh. Met her another fren, Joyce and then we went shopping. Aft which we met up with another 2 friends. Oh btw, the 珍珠 奶茶 is really smooth. They add some cereal flakes inside which made it have a very chewy punch to it. The oomph factor? Hahaha
Char Siew Sou

Har gao, xiu mai

if ever u wanna find the place, this is it. we wont leave clues like 'turn right and turn right' hahaha

this is really gd bubble tea. check out the queue!

joyce

if u ever go to 旺角, remember to check out this stall. serves really gd bubble tea.


Then came Miranda and Desmond. Jacky also joined us for dinner. Was at this place tt is equivalent to our local crystal jade. The texture of the 小龙包 was smoother and the skin was firmer though. Meaning none of the juice spilled out when u took it. Anyway I thought Desmond looked somewhat like Grace. Heh. As I was eating with them, I felt. like I was living the life tt I’d see in those HK serial. Like u noe, aft work, go chill out with a grp of frens and chat over dinner/drinks? Yah tts wad I felt. Though I didn’t really talk much coz erm, I’m shy. Also coz my Cantonese is like shit la. So I refrained frm speaking but listened and laughed. I can understand what they r saying, just tt when I speak it’s quite funny. It comes out bit by bit. Not fluent. But it turns out tt Joyce mentioned that my Cantonese is better in terms of the intonation, compared to zhenyi. hahaha. 'Sorry ah'[said in the Cantonese accent] But in terms of speech, tts another thing.

Group picture. From left:Jacky, Desmond, Miranda, me, Zhenyi. [yah i think desmond looks like grace]

Name of the shop near Tsim Sha Tsui.

After dinner marked the start of our ‘adventure’. In short, we covered all forms of transport tt night. Ferry, bus, monorail, trambus, and finally the 小 bus. We took a bus up to the peak and we were greeted with a breath-taking panoramic view of Victoria Harbour. It was magnificent!
Bird's eye view. Marvellous eh?


Then we took the monorail down. Steep like mad la! Really steep. We went to 铜锣湾 (Causeway Bay) and had Haagen Daz ice cream while waiting for our turn. Then we went to this place which served really gd mango dessert. Just when u thought xu liu shan was gd, this is like, superb. Xu liu shan is perhaps like macdonalds over there, every 50 step u take there’s 1 branch. But this place, ok let the pictures do the talking. The mango pudding n 芒果稣..orgasmic. whahahah.
From left: Jacky, Desmond, Miranda, Zhenyi and i.

mango pudding!

芒果稣..mouth-watering.

Didn’t manage to catch the last train back. But being resourceful, we took a xiao bus instead. Figuring our way back in a foreign place, using the unconventional way. Oh not forgetting me being very ‘lek’—smart (self proclaimed), helping us to save quite a bit of $ by playing cheat. Paying for ‘student concession’ fare each time we took the MTR, which was half price compared to if we were law-abiding and conventional?

Woke up the next day, ie Sunday (30th Apr 2005) at 1145am. Checked out but left our bags in the hotel. Had breakfast at Mongkok Station. We chose local food at some streetside shop. I had satay beef hor fun. That’s aft eating some streetside food, my fav 鸡蛋仔 and 鱼旦. Den we ate 龟苓膏which cost HK50!! Like wtf!? Happily ate n didn’t noe it cost like SGD10? Damn expensive la! Then we went to search for a seiko stopwatch again but unsuccessful attempt. I made a resolution tt if I didn’t eat鸡蛋仔 and drink another cup of 珍珠 奶茶, I’ll not come back s’pore. So die die also must do la. In the end Joyce brought us to buy the珍珠 奶茶 and this time rd I ordered chocolate flavour. Was damn bloated aft tt, to the extent tt I really wanted to puke. I couldn’t bring myself to see any kinda food. Any sight of food was puke-inducing. Urgh, such a terrible feeling.
this is 鸡蛋仔

this is 鱼旦


There was a procession gg on, by people who practised Falun Gong. It was quite a large scale demonstration. A peaceful demonstration where they marched across the street with banners and loud hailers. Not quite smth we’d see back in s’pore, maybe tt’s y I felt it was quite fascinating.

street demonstration by Falun Gong


Tea break was at this café which has cats walking ard u as u eat. Then joyce brought us to eat which is a dessert. Smth like steam egg? Ok den its e happening part la, we were out to explore on our own coz tonight we had no place to stay. Headed out at bout 1030 and only came back to the hotel to grab our stuff at 530am. We went to eat (like when do we actually NOT eat?) a bowl of mee sua b4 we set off. Tried to find a pub but in the end didn’t manage to find the one we were looking for, so we chilled out at Avenue of Stars instead. Also coz my legs were damn suan frm all the walking. Like coz we were walking in circles? thanks to *ahem*, who!? Walked back to our hotel and passed by a foot reflexology shop, so we decided to pamper ourselves. 45min for HK$98. abt S$20. Eh frankly I was kinda scared? My very first time. Scared pain la! Walau..but it felt quite shiok, a little ticklish at times.
Eating 旦旦


advertisement. ha satisfied customer

Walked back to our hotel aft the 45min session was over, and then we were feeling kinda hungry so we went to hunt down some gd food (again). It was like the best breakfast ever la. I think u can easily find many food eateries open 24hrs. Here’s wad we ate. My gosh, the 鲜虾 smth[I forgot the name] but it was like damn nice. The prawn was fresh and succulent. Oh the fish porridge was smooth and really gd as well? It’s one of those breakfast where I’d see on those HK serial where they’d always, like always have porridge with fried dough stick.
our last meal(choy!)..in HK

By then, at our last destination, we were ald quite shagged ald. i started spouting lotsa crappy shit and she had to endure my lameness. Oh btw, i was crapping in Cantonese! The wonders of 潜移默化 man. Just in a span of 5 days being in the environment of Cantonese speaking people, my cantonese had really improved and i was kinda proficient in it. Lek! heh. Off we went to the hotel to get our stuff, and then took the public bus A21 to the airport..N b4 we knew it, we r back in s’pore.
Hong Kong Airport


Ah..really miss Hong Kong. Other then the cigarette smell which chokes up the air con system. Yah, they all smoke in the air conditioned eateries. It was very enjoyable, but really didn’t accomplish the 买东西 aspect. So I wanna apologise in advance first, if u dun receive a nice souvenir, or any souvenir for tt matter. I didn’t even get anything for myself la, really. Somehow things there didn’t appeal to me so I didn’t buy anything, other den gorge ourselves silly with the food.

And den as I came home, it was a sudden realization of how much I have became a stranger. To the surroundings and to the pple ard me. 陌生人. Zhenyi’s dad sent me home and I asked him to alight me at the bus stop across my house. That’s wad I usually do to save them the trouble. Dun usually like to impose on others. Den her dad asked, “真的吗？这样可是过得了吗？”

He was referring to the centre of the road, which had barricades erected. Previously it was ntg so I cld cross over the other side. Den I replied in an embarrassed manner, “对不起uncle　我很久没有回家了，所以我不懂。”

Like seriously, I’m now a stranger to my surroundings. How long have I not come home?

I reached home at 2pm, and at 4pm, I had a new addition to my family. Had I really be so out of touch?

Sunny.

To be honest, I’m quite a hard person. Hard-hearted I mean. When pple whine to me I dun respond, but when sunny whined, my heart juz went out for him. n the way he looks at me, dun even nd to whine and i'd shower it with love. Aww man. And he’s currently teething at the moment so he keeps chewing on my finger. Sometimes it hurts when he bites, but I can take it. naughty boy. bleh.

P.S. thank u ng low xi for producing a leck[action included] lui. ahahaha.