a meaningful valentine’s day

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Happy Valentine’s Day.

Today has never been more meaningful.

It is my first Valentine’s Day being attached to someone. Although Deary hasn’t prepared any surprises…and he’s sick. Not very sick, but he’s avoiding spicy or fried food. So, looks like our plan of eating at Woorigib is not possible. Moreover, we both know that we have homework and stuff to do, so there’s not much time to enjoy and have fun. Anyway, I am thankful for him being by my side. Tomorrow marks our first year together.

Lovey dovey stuff aside, 14 February 2009 is also the day my aunt went home to the Lord. She passed away peacefully at 5.35am (GMT +8). We were sort of prepared since she had been suffering from ALS for about 2 years. Perhaps she chose this day to go home and reunite with her husband. She did not get to see her daughter, Sharon for the last time. I guess she didn’t want Sharon to worry too much and she felt relieved of what Sharon has accomplished thus far.

I admire my cousin. She seems to be taking it ok despite losing both parents and being the only child. She has definitely matured a lot. I know that circumstances are as such which leaves her no choice, but to grow up much faster than others. However, I cannot help, but think that life is always a little unfair. Perhaps God has his reasons.

There are some things I never forget. From what happened when I was 18 (or was it 19), I have been careful and always have reflected deeply. Thus, I almost feel guilty when such things happen for I am blessed with wonderful parents and a comfortable life. I have everything I could ever ask for.

people, answer your emails please

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I wish people would answer their emails promptly. I don’t see the point of having an email if:

  1. You don’t check it.
  2. You check it once in a blue moon.

Sure, I don’t expect people to check theirs the way I check mine every few minutes, but I expect to get a reply at least after a day. Let’s see who am I waiting for a  reply from.

  1. Someone regarding my summer internship.
  2. 2 students regarding the interview with them for my JOUR 200 assignment.
  3. 2 people to pay me for selling them some of my lolita stuff

Even if you have no time to entertain me, just reply with a one-liner like “I’m busy.” I’ll get the message and move on with other plans. Regarding number 2 of the second list above, I’m praying that they reply with good news soon. I really don’t want to write on stuff that I am not familiar with (eg. tomorrow’s news conference about digital broadcasting).

2009

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I know this is kinda late, but 明けましておめでとう! I ushered in the new year in the hotel in Anchorage, eating Nong Shim (super spicy cup noodle), and watching the countdown at Times Square, New York on tv.

I am now at Fairbanks. I pray that the new year starts off good. Please let me see an aurora. I don’t make new year resolutions coz I probably won’t keep them. I do have a few hopes though. One being reaching GPA 4.0, even if it’s just once.

I can’t believe I’m still blogging. I’ve been blogging since 2003? Although my archives show 2004 as the oldest date, I remember using one of those other free blogs before Diaryland. I didn’t backup those entries. It’s quite amazing to read my super old entries and feel like I’ve grown up and changed a lot over the years. I was 18 then, I’m now 23 (soon to be 24). I didn’t really give a damn about studies then, I’m now a kiasu Singaporean when it comes to grades now. I was single and hoping then, I’m now attached for almost a year and finally understand that love isn’t just a feeling, it’s so much more. As much as I dream of fairytale relationships and perfection in everything, it isn’t real. I’ve learnt that a relationship isn’t always a bed of roses; it can be pretty trying. There’s a bit of loving, a bit of giving, a bit of taking, a bit of patience, a bit of understanding, a bit of tolerating, a bit of reasoning, a bit of learning, and the list goes on and on.

fall 2008 results

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I tried for 4.0, got close, but still failed. *sigh* On a brighter note, I’ll be on Dean’s List again. 🙂

ATMS100 – A
EALC305 – A-
ECON103 – A+
JAPN201 – A+
MATH161 (same as STAT100) – A+

Total GPA = 3.94
Cumulative GPA = 3.69

PS: I ate a rather expensive dinner of crab and fish today, but I don’t care. It’s my Christmas present for myself and the best thing that has happened so far for the Winter break. If you didn’t know, I was feeling upset all along since our flight got cancelled on the first day of our trip.

of sprees and stuff

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I’m sick and tired of having to see childish and accusatory comments shot at people who don’t deserve it. If you haven’t participated in the spree before, this is something to learn. If you have, you will understand what I say here.

There are the usual spree communities around where random people open random sprees, the drawback is you don’t know who is a scammer or not. However, the good part is you only pay for what you order and the shipping cost is split, no other extra fees. Then, there are those who start independent spree sites. These often charge agent fees, but are more reliable, unless they are out to scam right from the beginning.

I found one such site. The owner is very reliable and reasonable. You can request almost any Taiwan Yahoo shop and she will almost always open a spree for it. Her fees are a little more expensive, but I would rather pay more for the assurance that I’ll get my stuff  than be scammed. Whatever she does is out in the open. She has numerous tagboards for comments and enquiries. Each spree has its status updated clearly; You know when she has sent the order to her agent, when the agent has gotten back to her etc.

Only thing is, her agent is rather slow at making the actual orders and by the time it is done, the item is probably out of stock. Thus, your order of say…10 items would probably end up with only 4 items available. People who do not bother to analyse the situation would just hurl accusations at her. I have seen her tagboard being attacked by unknown people.

Look. Nobody forced you to join the spree. If you had doubts on joining the spree or don’t even trust her services, DON’T join the damn spree. NO ONE is putting a gun to your head. If you join it, that signifies you agree to her terms and conditions and you are aware of the consequences you will have to bear in the event that anything goes wrong. Yes, you can comment the service was slow, but put it in a way where it is a constructive comment and not an accusation.

Like whatever manz. If you are so damn smart, go find your own agent to deliver your stuff in a blink of an eye. You think you’re the only one suffering? Everyone knows that joining a Taiwan spree can take up to a month or longer than that. So you can jolly well stop whining.

Ok, that last part sounded mean, but I just had to rant.

cosplay and lolita

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I think I’m just…old. Parties are just not for me. Hmmm…or maybe it depends on the company. SSA had their Halloween party last night at Yongji’s one-bedroom apartment. I have to stress that it was a one-bedroom apartment coz the number of people in there was…IMPOSSIBLE. While everyone was so freakin’ high, KS and I were just relaxing at one corner on the sofa. I sort of vowed to take more photos this time round since I was in a full proper lolita dress, but I just couldn’t bring myself to have that mood. It started out pretty ok, but then later, half the time I was trying hard not to get my toes being stepped on. Worse, some bugger started emptying the jack-o-lantern buckets filled with candy and throwing the candy. At that point, I totally wasn’t enjoying myself. Besides, most of the drinks there were alcohol. KS had to help himself with a can of 7-Up in the fridge. I don’t think anyone was really drunk at that point, but most of them were high, crazed, and were pretty much acting drunk and TOTALLY ANNOYING. :angry:

It’s not like I can’t get high. I have had some really fun moments with 7ners where we do crazy things together and get all high. They drink too, but the difference is they DON’T act drunk and stupid. Anyway, that’s not the point of the entry. So much for thinking I could get a pretty decent shot of myself in my lolita outfit and possibly send it to the USA version of Gothic & Lolita Bible. I think the best costumes at the party were Lin Yan’s and Zhan Fan’s. Lin Yan cosplayed as Evil Alice, though I think the dress was not totally correct? Evil Alice has puffy sleeves to her dress. Zhan Fan got a Ghostbuster’s suit complete with an inflatable backpack-machine-thing. So cute! If I ever tried cosplay, I would want to cosplay Evil Alice or Shinku (Rozen Maiden). Maybe Suigintou (Rozen Maiden) wouldn’t be a bad idea too. But, like I told Shine, it’s no point cosplaying if you don’t really sew/make your own costumes.

Anyway, earlier in the day, I wore my lolita outfit to class. Ki-san wore hers – she was a hot librarian. She told me she saw this row of guys as Spongebob Squarepants in one of her classes and they were taking their notes with crayon on paper. Hilarious!

I wonder if the helicopter flying around last night was meant as surveillance? Campus Police got alerted when someone found a note in the toilet saying that he (person who wrote the note) had damaged someone’s car window in Savoy and would shoot someone on Green Street on Halloween. In sensei’s words “I am not going to Green Street. I want to see November.” I guess most people would have stayed away from that area.

Last but not least, a photo of myself in my lolita outfit. Not the best shot, but at least it’s something. (I think I look fat. Ok, I AM fat.) Photo credit: Peiyi

ugly behaviour

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Just read Jo’s post on 3 PRCs displaying ugly behaviour on the MRT.

I need to learn how to take photos without people knowing it. I think I’ll have a huge collection of such photos. What of ‘POLE LEANERS’ (I freakin’ HATE them) :angry: and people who just cut your queue. The poles in the MRT are NOT for people to LEAN THEIR WHOLE BODY ON. They are there for people TO HOLD ON while the MRT is moving. And it’s WORSE when these people decide to lean on the pole while someone else’s hand is already there. I met one such ‘pole leaner’ yesterday. I kept quiet coz she was an Indian old lady. If not, I would have said loud enough for her to hear ‘some people have NO BACKBONE’.

People who cut queue? They need a freakin’ twack on the head. I had an urge to do that to this man who tried to squeeze past me while boarding the bus.

how to deal with disappointment

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I thought I had it planned and settled all nicely. Contact the relevant person, secure a spot, and include that in my application. Things were going pretty well until I received bad news in the form of an sms. I was denied internship coz 3 weeks is just too short. Huge blow…but I’ll push my luck a little. Replied saying that I don’t mind a job shadow which means I won’t be paid. The reply I got was that it could have been explored, however, HR must be rather busy so in short…no. Just politely replied to end off the conversation.

Dazed. Blank. What am I going to do? You don’t know how much this would mean to me. What it would cost me. What am I going to use to prove myself? Is it my fault? Did I bring this upon myself? Should I have just gone ahead as planned instead of cutting the time to 3 weeks? But I was really tired… 🙁

Thank God, I was with Deary. He gave me hugs and the strength I needed to deal with the disappointment. As everyone knows, I recover quickly from such unhappy episodes. I’m fine now and have some little plans in mind. Hopefully they work out fine.

Looking on the brighter side, at least I get the time I want to fully relax.