Monday, January 23, 2006

it's a beautiful day!

it's a beautiful day!

i was very very tired yesterday because i walked nonstop for two days in s'pore. yes, i did sleep through the first 30 minutes because...well if you were watching, you'd know why. and no, there's no illusion about it being a deserved win or anything like that. no one said football is fair, right?

anyway, i'm still very very sleepy. i woke up at 1000am this morning, to my horror, and was out the door by 1030am, running errands with my mother.

so here i am, bleary-eyed, faced with the fact that i have a couple of stories to write, a meeting to attend tomorrow, a dog which might be suffering from incontinence, 2 lovely novels to read and photos to be uploaded and sent to about 10 of the best people in the world who took time off their busy schedules to spend time with me.

still, it's a beautiful day! thanks ryan and rio. oh, and djibril too, of course. =)

lishun at 10:15 PM

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Wednesday, January 18, 2006

grass is greener

when i was in singapore - refer to archives (2003-2004) - i didn't really like it there.

alevels was tough, some people were kiasu (not many though, i was fortunate), the education ministry was breathing down our necks, i missed assam laksa and my telephone bill always came up to 25% of my monthly allowance.

now, medical school is tough, alot of people are kiasu (funny i've encountered more kiasu malaysians), i wish the education ministry cared more, i miss good public transport and my telephone bill still comes up to 25% of my monthly allowance.

so now i miss singapore. darn that "grass is greener" syndrome.

well i'll be following the lead of eyeris and minishorts and will be heading down to "that red dot" tomorrow night.

back to that place where no one can do without either an mp3 player or some chick lit, lest you catch the eye of the auntie sitting next to you on the bus.

down to the country where there is good food but i am usually too tired to go look for it.

yes, the return to the good ol' land of short thin girls walking around in racer-back tanks, short pleated denim miniskirts and adidas sneakers.

ah.

i'll be back sunday - no way am i gonna be lying sleepless on the train while liverpool vs manutd is goin' on - so i'll see you then!

p/s: the next moonshine is on 2nd feb at no black tie, kl. if there's anyone who wants to go, is willing to drive to kl late at night (it's after 10pm), and has a face any mother, ok specifically my mother, would trust, leave me a note.

lishun at 8:08 PM

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Tuesday, January 17, 2006

shopping

i don't exactly enjoy shopping.

just because i'm a woman doesn't mean i have to enjoy shopping ok. it's especially frustrating when i've got a pretty good idea what i want to bring home after a walk round the ol' shopping mall, and i return empty-handed.

also, because i don't look like kate moss, it's terrible being in the changing room trying on outfit after outfit and finding out that nothing looks nice on me because the cutting at the shoulders is too small (malaysia is hell for broad-shouldered women), the perfect jeans are cut so low that my less-than-discreet tummy bulge looks even more indiscreet, or the last pair of killer heels i found at bargain price is one size too small.

other than that, i don't like spending more than 3 hours shopping, a sentiment i share with my sister.

going shopping with her is the best.

we hop into the mall at 1030am, 1100am at the latest, while the air is still stale and the air-conditioners have only just started cranking up. we work the shops, going into each one systematically, only picking out the items we need, try them out, show them to each other, and leave once we're done.

the only disadvantage of shopping this way instead of taking our time to browse through everything other than the discount racks (i'm thrifty) is that every shopping trip either yields enough clothes and accessories for the rest of the year, or absolutely nothing. zilch. nada.

it's even worse when shopping for presents.

first of all, i'm a weird person who feels that the better i know someone, the harder it is to shop for them. it should be easier right? well, no it isn't.

for example, my friend lili loves ducks. so most of the stuff i've gotten her are duck-related. however, i get stressed about what kind of ducks she likes, whether she'll actually use that duck-related item, if the duck is a rational gift to give, the possibility she might not want something duck-related, etc.

secondly, i prefer giving gifts that are either unusual or very useful. in the past i have given friends shower caps, toothbrush holders, wooden bookmarks with their names carved on them (love those, can't find them anymore)...all of which took alot of time and energy to find.

it's a pain to shop!

...

having said that, i went shopping for gifts with some friends today. we spent 4 hours at the mall and only bought pressies for two people, and a pair of shoes. i didn't manage to get anything for myself at all.

we left the mall with wallets considerably lighter and feet considerably more painful.

but it was the most enjoyable shopping trip i've had in a long long time!

*note: exams are over! i have a two-month break! woohoo!

lishun at 9:57 AM

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Monday, January 16, 2006

january 2006

January 2006
16 Jan 2006 - mental notes
14 Jan 2006 - little jabs
13 Jan 2006 - pimpin' *hops to the side*
12 Jan 2006 - mnemonics
11 Jan 2006 - spec-tacular! - "i am shallow" day no.8
09 Jan 2006 - who's that guy? - "i am shallow" day no.7
08 Jan 2006 - margaritas in summer
05 Jan 2006 - socially anti-social
03 Jan 2006 - something...
02 Jan 2006 - my very first montage!
01 Jan 2006 - hopes, aspirations...whatever

lishun at 8:57 PM

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Saturday, January 14, 2006

little jabs

you know how sometimes when we feel like God is ignoring us, we pray:

"dear Lord, please talk to me. show me things. if You really hear me, please make lampard have a really bad flu (cuz i don't have the heart to ask for an injury) for the rest of the season. or make the lightning arrange itself into letters that spell out whatever You want me to do. i wanna hear You! amen."

we all expect some huge sign to pop out of nowhere, some very obvious message from God, like the parting of clouds and a beam of light shining on you.

but what we don't count on is that God loves to poke us with little jabs instead of big big punches on the arm. it's just up to us to respond or ignore those jabs.

there was an ushers' meeting this evening before service. it was at 5pm, a full 1 1/2 hours earlier than the time ushers are normally expected to meet for briefings.

plus the heavens had opened up and there was a torrential downpour outside. no doubt a nightmare for a reluctant driver like me.

i have an exam on monday. the countdown makes sure i'm reminded of that. i still have to review lipid metabolism because i'm almost certain that it will be asked.

i also have two football matches to watch, one of which was the 840pm manchester derby that, for some reason, man utd lost - if you want a full taunting courtesy of probably eyeris or...ok, most likely eyeris, please go here. i only caught the last 10 depressing minutes cuz was at church - and the liverpool vs spurs fourth-place tussle which has now unfortunately turned into a fight for second.

besides that, my bed looked especially tantalizing, what with the rain pouring down outside and a nice mug of coffee sharing a spot with my stacks of notes on my table.

it was very tempting to just skip the ushers' meeting, take a short nap, have dinner, and wait till the rain stops before heading to service.

or worse still, send my head usher an sms saying i won't even show up. then i would have been able to watch the entire derby.

but God gave me a little jab.

"eh, go for the meeting la."
"dowan."
"go la. the rain's stopped for a while. go."
"DOWAN."
"haiyah don't argue with me, can? just go lah. go. shoo."

so i reluctantly got out of bed, dressed, grabbed my bible and wallet, and went to church.

the rain was unforgiving. the roads were flooded and i couldn't see a thing. it's only now, after having driven in a full rainstorm, complete with a lightning show (no letters arranged, though), that i understand why people get so pissed off with drivers who turn on their hazard lights in heavy rain.

it's confusing lah! i mean, i don't even know if the feller is stalled ke or is still moving! whether to change lane or not! yeesh!

anyway, it wasn't a pleasant drive. i was seriously freaking out.

and it was then that God gave me another jab. i received an sms while driving and, after determining that i wasn't gonna move anywhere for the next 2 minutes, i checked it out.

ok fine, not being a good example. i hope potential drivers aren't reading this.

the message was from my friend lili, and it was a forwarded message containing words of comfort. the one that hit me most was: God is behind you - to protect you.

o_O

well, i got to church (safely, praise God!), and found out that *surprise surprise*! i was scheduled to be on duty...today! i didn't know that!

it was like a huge burden lifted off me!

you see, i'm going to singapore next weekend (yay!) and won't be attending service. i thought i'd be on duty next week. which means i'd have to break the news to my head usher that i won't be able to make it next week, and the week after next because of chinese new year.

which is bad. cuz i've missed usher duty twice last month and was a bit the irresponsible about it (sorry michelle!), so i'm doing my ultimate best never to miss usher duty again for no good reason.

but hey! God gave me another jab and said, "now, aren't you glad you resisted the temptation to lie, trusted Me with your safety on the road, and came here? now you can go to singapore in peace and celebrate chinese new year with neither guilt nor burden!"

i sure am glad, Lord. i sure am. *jabs Him back*

haha. =P

lishun at 11:18 AM

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Tuesday, January 10, 2006

i'm at diary-x!

in case you're wondering...i'm here. =)

lishun at 9:10 PM

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Tuesday, January 03, 2006

something...

something old

when i was 8 years old, i had a crush on a classmate. his name was timothy and the reason i liked him was because he was the only boy in my class who was taller than me.

one day, when we had pe with mr. thomas, a stray tennis ball hit timothy right on the noggin. i felt so sorry for him that i gave him my last bar of chocolate before i alighted the bus we took home every day.

he never talked to me again.

something new

a couple of friends and i had a sleepover on new year's eve. we are all pursuing our undergrad studies in different countries and we shared our frustrations of not being able to find a niche to belong to.

frankly, i am terrified at the prospect of having alot of friends but not really having any friends, if you know what i mean, for the next 5 years.

it's ridiculous to still be insecure about making friends and having cliques once in uni. so why on earth does it bother me?

something borrowed

prasad has celebrities linking to him now. lol.

edwin sumun's one of 'em. i looked through his blog today and came across this entry.

it made me think of the times i blamed everyone but myself for all my misfortunes.

it was jpaandimu's fault for my whole scholarship mess. nus is run by idiots who can't recognise an asset if bars of gold were placed under their noses. father time is playing with the clocks in my house, making them run faster than they should. the reason why i hate starting again somewhere new is because people are so tight-arsed they won't be my friends.

...and that little voice in my head says, "everytime you point your index finger at someone else, there are 4 other fingers pointing right at you."

it annoys the hell out of me because that little voice grows louder and louder every day, but i guess that's the price to pay for growing up.

something blue

a couple of years ago, a senior of mine had a university admission interview with the folks at cambridge. one of the questions they asked him during the interview was, "why is the sky blue?"

although the answer isn't exactly very complicated - it's something to do with sunlight being scattered as it enters the earth's atmosphere; same concept as why the sky is red at sunset - the question stumped me the first time i heard it.

it's one of those questions that hardly anyone thinks of asking simply because...well, because.

the sky is blue because. lapis lazuli is blue because. there are no naturally blue roses because. girls have this thing for tall blue-eyed boys because.

you and i are here on this mostly-blue earth...because.

lishun at 11:06 AM

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