random snippets of life

Beginning the year of the dragon

2012-01-23T23:52:00.001Z

It was the first day of Chinese new year today. I wouldn't have known better if not for Facebook.

Arising from my 13 hour slumber at 6am, unable to sleep another wink, I browsed through Facebook on my iPhone, and it was a continuous stream of scenes from home and its most colourful holiday of the year. I guess the thing I miss most about home is family. I now have a family to call my own here, but it'll never be the same as the noisy lively and most importantly close-knit bunch I've known all my life. I rang them, and they were at my grandmother's... Tho strictly not celebrating CNY in a show of respect for a supposed year-long period of mourning.

Anyway it was actually life as usual for me, it being a Monday morning. Except that I had woken up unusually early. I even had time to make breakfast, do QT with David, iron clothes and as mentioned, speak to every member of the family at home, before I strolled into work 20 mins to 9.

Other achievements of the day include calling up my phone line provider to complain of a faulty line (sheesh I had bought a spare phone cable and a new phone just in case either was spoilt!), switching my broadband plan from £6.49 a month to £3.24 a month (woohoo!) and sitting at office till 10pm working on an urgent deal.

The calendar day was almost over by the time I got home at 10.15pm. But someone got it worse, only bursting through the door (with not quite as much energy as the word suggests) at 11pm.

Knackered, we are now ready to usher in the 2nd day of the lunar new year in our dreams before we hit the office again bright and early at 8am...

It might be a long and colourful year ahead, much like how we'd imagine a dragon to be!

2011 stocktake - a mixed but very full bag

2011-12-31T00:34:00.006Z

It's time again to pause to remember, as the curtains will soon come down on the spectacular show that was 2011. For me this year, the running theme was "surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life" (Ps 23:6)

Don't know how I survived this year except by the preserving hand of a faithful God. It was certainly eventful and filled with many new experiences. Time for the flashbacks:

January - Fresh back from the trip to Singapore for 2 weddings and Christmas, and gearing up for wedding dress hunting. Pretty much every weekday night was spent researching, and every Saturday spent going around to extremely faraway places I wouldn't normally go to look for that perfect dress, enabling me to explore this great city in a little bit more detail. My journey took me down to Ebbsfleet in Kent, and to Finsbury Park in a Jewish neighbourhood, somewhere else up north, to the expensive Bond Street in Central London, and finally to Wimbledon, where I finally settled, and ended up going quite a few more times. A pity this was mostly done alone. At work, I experienced my first round of retrenchments, and lost my line manager.

February - Night classes for CFA started in earnest. Counting on myself to study on my own accord was a non-starter; going for classes twice a week was tough enough, save for the fact that I could leave work at 5.55pm to make the sprint across Canary Wharf to the tallest building in London where I was cooped up for the next 3 hours. Finally got down to buying the wedding dress.

March - David got a surprise last minute Assessment Centre invitation, and subsequently got some interviews and finally a job! Looked like God wanted us to be in London for a while.

April - SUPER busy month. I had too many holiday from 2010 (can you believe it) so I took a week off and we went to Porto for 4 days. It was a very nice and quiet town with perfect weather. The next day we went to this cool restaurant with opera-trained waiters for dinner. Unbeknownst to me, ah gong was fighting for his life in hospital. Someone (I think it was Sheryl's facebook actually) finally prompted me that something wasn't right early the next week. Spoke to mum about going home, but she said it wasn't necessary. Early the next morning I got woken up by a call to say my final words and for the 1st time ever, I went to the office at 7.30am and booked a flight for that afternoon. I promptly missed the flight and had to re-book another to fly that night instead. While getting from Gatwick airport (where I missed my flight) to Heathrow airport (where the next flight was to be), Ah Gong breathed his last. By the time I arrived home the next day, I only saw brave but tired dry eyes all around until the day of the funeral, but was glad to be back home anyway. It so happened I spent Good Friday and Easter in Singapore but have hardly any recollection of it - church life in singapore is a mess for my family. Upon getting back to London, I went to up to Warwick the following weekend - the weekend Wills married Kate. CFA studies was in shambles - missed too many classes so I actually had to spend some time on my own catching up.

May - Bank holidays wasted on studying for the CFA. Got reminded that trying to sit at the table for the whole day to study is too ambitious as it was never my forte. Got a week of study leave, which I promptly filled with a wedding dress fitting and other various appointments. The sun was out and the weather was gorgeous, but I did spend the rest of the time indoors studying for the exam that I really regretted signing up for. On the brighter side, we received news that we got a HDB flat!

June - The exam happened on the 1st Sat. I have been in large exam halls, but not one with 2000 people, it was overwhelming, but thankfully the exam went well. I even lent the guy beside me my spare calculator and trusted my 6 year old one to do its job. Took a trip to Birmingham to see Sabrina, went down to Lewes for a combined fellowship meeting and stayed the night - really loved it. Took a day off to do our pre-wedding photoshoot. The whole time David was very stressed about his dissertation. I also became a member of the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster this month at the constitution of our congregation in London. One of my closest colleagues resigned and left - she taught me almost everything I knew at work.

July - David's mum comes over for 2 weeks and stays with me. It was a weird but sufficiently pleasant experience. We went up to Cambridge for one of the poshest weddings I've ever been to; was also my first English wedding. Our mummies helped us choose our HDB flat back in Singapore; the next week, David's mum chose us a flat in London. Just like that, we had 2 flats in 2 weeks. What blessedness. I think I got my CFA results as well.

August - Frantic house-packing, household goods purchases, and wedding planning all in one. Professionally, I experienced a second round of retrenchment, I lost another colleague on my team - more frantic times at work. Just as I was trying to focus on my various night jobs, the day job ate into more hours of the evening than it ever had; I got very little sleep that month. Still, at the end of August, I went up to Warwick for the 3rd and final time to help David move down to London. We went to Warwick Castle and Stratford-upon-Avon on the way back. We moved all of David's stuff from Warwick and some of my stuff from my old flat in a Fiat 500 (the smallest car you have ever seen). There is no furniture in the new place but David moved in anyway and sleeps in the floor. He also started work (training) at RBS.

September - Possibly the shortest month of the year. My 1st 10 days was spent sorting out my house-move (the admin, moving bills, setting up new internet and the actual moving). Man have I accumulated a whole load of stuff in just 2 years. I remember my life here started with just 46kg, and realise what a big fat hoarder I am. I move into the new flat for 4 mad days (by this time there are beds in both bedrooms) where the nights after work were spent wedding planning, unpacking slightly (and trying to remember where I had packed things away in my previous scurry), packing for the trip to Singapore, and more wedding stuff. It was a very very rough time at work and I really wanted to quit there and then. The last Sunday before I left the church gave me a big surprise "send-off" even though I was actually only gone for 3 weeks. In their eyes I was going to return a different person, and I guess they knew more about marriage than I did. I also got a surprise hen party from some of my colleagues, I was so touched. I got back to Singapore 2 weeks before the wedding and it was nothing short of ultimate insanity. There was no time for any meet-ups like I planned. Heck, there was still no time for sleep. There was though, time for a Bridal shower which again prompted me to count my blessings in the wonderful friends who've remained friends after many many years.

October - Got married, with all the pomp that came with it. 1 October was the shortest but longest day of my life. I still remember all the details (which I should really pen down soon before they start fizzling away). All the (mostly last minute) preparations came together in the end, not always in the most ideal way, but by that time I just took whatever I could get and lived with it. Pictures and videos survive to tell the tale (if and when I ever get my hands on them). Overall a joyous day though there were some minor disappointments which I had to consciously choose to brush aside. Finally had a break and a holiday (after Porto oh so long ago). Koh Samui left a deep, positive impression on me, so much so that I actually said to David, more than once, that I would love to go back again. Perhaps it is because I will now always associate it with the relief and rest I found there after all those crazy months. The 4 days was what we had to contend with for our honeymoon and it was soon back to London and to work. Things had gotten worse at work, and I spent a few miserable weeks catching up on what had piled up. Back home, I had to get used to the idea that my room is not really mine to call my own anymore. Didn't help that we still had no furniture apart from the beds which means no unpacking can be done and there was stuff and boxes everywhere. We received our 1st visitors 1 day and 2 weeks after coming home, respectively. I finally stopped playing the organ every single Sunday because we finally got sort of a roster going, while I was away. Hello singing! Visited the London Zoo and finally saw the Giraffe David adopted for my 2010 birthday. David turned 26 and I had a cake all ready, except that he didn't come home from work till 11.30pm.

November - The clocks moved back and it starts to get dark earlier in the afternoon. The only bright spark at work was a session with Boris Becker, which I guess made up for the fact that we didn't buy tickets to the ATP finals this year. I turned a quarter of a century, to no fanfare. It was a Sunday so we had our usual 4 hour commute to and from church, and that was pretty much the whole day. But I got a birthday present and a slice of cake from the husband! Both of us were pretty much swamped with work and had little time to spend together apart from sleep time, which we're only reminded of by the occasional jolt or head crash. Still need to get used to this sleeping arrangement. Had to spend some obligatory time with a visiting friend, so went to Canterbury for 1 Saturday and some nights out, which was nice but added to the fatigue. Also attended a 2nd wedding one weekend and took a trip down to New Haven for a surprise birthday party another weekend. Spoke very little to the family back home in Singapore because of the sheer impossibility.

December - The long-awaited Christmas holidays finally came around, but not before a very hectic work schedule, made worse by a plethora of pre-Christmas dinners / meet-ups / parties. Don't get me wrong, they were all nice in their own right, but one a night for 2 weeks can get quite tiring, especially if work wasn't slowing down like it was meant to! But I had my first department Christmas Party, at what we thought was a swanky place in town but turned out not to be. I left at 9pm before the real seedy stuff started happening. Went to 2 excellent museums - the National Gallery as well and the Imperial War Museum. Christmas itself was rather quiet, and finally allowed for some alone time. We cooked a pre-prepared Turkey Breast for our Christmas dinner, and I also had my first Christmas pudding. The weekend at home also reminded me that I had quite enough of sitting and eating on the floor. We had put off buying furniture in anticipation of the post-Christmas sales, but they have been disappointing thus far. We need to bite the bullet now and just get some stuff or I will go crazy. The work year has finally ended - another blow for the team as my boss resigned and left; but for me personally on a positive note after a depressing year as I got a positive appraisal for the year, thank God.

So, much has transpired in the span of a single year. 2011 has been extremely colourful; if ever I look back at my life at some point in the future, I hope never to use the word 'boring' to describe it. Whilst many of the experiences described above was me "going solo", I don't really remember feeling that alone, because I always rested in the blessed knowledge that "along the road of life I have a Friend divine, who walks with me and always leads the way..."

As I flip the page on the calendar, I feel ever so thankful and glad. Each of these events have been a blessing in its own peculiar way - the happy ones are self-explanatory, the sad ones I at least got to share with loved ones, and the difficult ones hopefully made me stronger (since they didn't kill). Truly it was goodness and mercy that led me through, and not my own as I have none. The Source of all goodness and mercy is Jehovah, and he continually provides. Jehovah Jireh.

2012 - what will you bring? I guess I needn't hold my breath for much longer, though life always unfolds in a way you least expect.

I'm so excited!

Keep Calm and Carry On

2011-12-20T23:24:00.003Z

To the unhappy Singaporeans back home, I offer a leaf out of British propaganda:

This poster was first published during World War II, apparently to boost morale. Many say it describes the stiff British character, always unfazed. As a Londoner I have sub-consciously learnt to adopt this sort of a mentality as well. Yes the tube breaks down all the time, it is always delayed for indefinite amount lengths of time and there's always a lame excuse for it (signal failures, person taken ill or even person under train), a tube strike is planned on boxing day, fares go up by 5-7% every year. When i first came here only a couple of years back, a single journey cost £1.50, now it cost £1.90, and in the new year it will be £2. People talk about it, they even joke about it, but hardly anyone complains. People are late for work all the time - there is no mobile reception in the underground, some people have to walk through the dark 100-year old tunnels together with its ratty inhabitants to get out of the train. Everyone is way past that stage, people simply live with it and move on with their lives.

I agree that these things are irritating, annoying and frustrating. Especially in a society spoilt with the highest levels of efficiency where everyone is so self-important and perpetually busy.... but sometimes things don't always go our way. Maybe we are a victim of our own success and ambitions, perhaps the rapid expansion of the MRT system caused these knock-on effects. Bigger = more complex = more room for error? No one ever complains when everything is going fine and well, this is possibly a good time to stop, think and be thankful.

Well i guess I can say all that because i'm quite removed from it all. Not sure how I'd react if I were there, or if I never had the chance to witness for myself this "keep calm and carry on" attitude in a place where nothing works (by singaporean standards). But one thing I've been trying to learn is to complain less, and this is my resolution to take into 2012.

frivolous passions

2011-12-07T22:43:00.003Z

i love watching musicals! but it is a pretty expensive passion, and sometimes just not worth it.

was so happy that getintolondontheatre finally opened yesterday. immediately booked "singing in the rain" and "the wizard of oz" for next year!

maybe i love discounts more.

the last musical was "crazy for you", with lw when he visited. it was nice, too american, but also had too much lost on me because i didn't know who gershwin was, or all his great songs. now i know some..

the 2nd last play was "driving miss daisy", supposedly an oscar-acclaimed film with a deeper theme of racism. again, it was too american, and i was just in a mighty foul mood that day. watched it with P, who is in london for a few months and really has endless energy i cannot keep up with.

a couple of nights ago, i watched a free play at the old vic, called "noises off" as i got some last min tickets. it was hilarious and was a play within a play with 3 acts.

so much for levelling up on the culture front! bring on the next 2 musicals next year. would really love to go for a ballet over Christmas since we're stuck in london anyway, but all the tickets to "the nutcracker" are sold out, and those that remain are out of the culture budget!

just thought i should pen this down before i forget that i'd ever done this (same reason i take photos). but actually, if it was so forgettable, then there prob was no point taking note anyway.

happy birthday daddy

2011-10-22T00:41:00.003+01:00

Happy 52nd birthday daddy dearest!

Thought about the song below the days after the wedding - although most of it is not really reflective of us, it's still very sweet. and i still don't know what went through his head that whole day, or the moments before and during the walk down the aisle....

Butterfly kisses to you from london! :)

There's two things I know for sure:
She was sent here from heaven and she's
daddy's little girl.
As I drop to my knees by her bed at night
She talks to Jesus and I close my eyes and
I thank god for all the joy in my life
Oh, but most of all
For butterfly kisses after bedtime prayer;
sticking little white flowers all up in her
hair; "Walk beside the pony, Daddy, it's my first ride.""I know the cake looks funny, Daddy, but I sure tried."
In all that I've done wrong I know I must
have done something right to deserve a hug
every morning and butterfly kisses at night.

Sweet 16 today
She's looking like her mama a little more everyday
One part woman, the other part girl.
To perfume and make-up from ribbons and curls
Trying her wings out in a great big world.

But I remember
Butterfly kisses after bedtime prayer; sticking
little white flowers all up in her hair.
"You know how much I love you, Daddy, But if you
don't mind I'm only gonna kiss you on the cheek this time."
With all that I've done wrong I must have done
something right to deserve her love every morning
and butterfly kisses at night.

All the precious time
Like the wind, the years go by.
Precious butterfly.
Spread your wings and fly.

She'll change her name today.
She'll make a promise and I'll give her away.
Standing in the bride-room just staring at her.
She asked me what I'm thinking and I said "I'm not
sure-I just feel like I'm losing my baby girl."
She leaned over...gave me butterfly kisses with her mama there,
Sticking little white flowers all up in her hair
"Walk my down the aisle, Daddy-it's just about time."
"Does my wedding gown look pretty, Daddy? Daddy, don't cry!"

Oh, with all that I've done wrong I must have
done something right.
To deserve your love every morning and butterfly
kisses-I couldn't ask God for more, man this is what love is.

I know I gotta let her go, but I'll always remember
every hug in the morning and butterfly kisses.

Tomorrow, we marry

2011-09-29T18:55:00.002+01:00

Never thought it'd be my turn to say this... suddenly, it's happening all too soon. the prep is more or less a disaster and i'm such a wreck from all the lack of sleep!

I will survive the day on sudafed and panadold. heh. as well as a lot of make-up and concealer.

But who cares?

Tomorrow, we start the rest of our lives together :)

highly strung

2011-09-04T23:46:00.004+01:00

it's september! all alarm bells have gone off in my mind. recurring nightmares. boxes everywhere. stuff everywhere. disorganised excel sheets on the computer. frantic online shopping for all last minute items. ten million things still undone.

can't believe i'm becoming inefficient just as it matters most. it's all coming back to haunt me.

STRESS.

last weekend we were up in warwick clearing out his room and moving everything back down to london. even that was so stressful. but we did try to have some fun in between, like spending an afternoon at warwick castle, which is really an atypical castle for kids who dream of living in the middle ages... that was just last weekend, but it now feels like a whole lifetime ago. so much happens everyday, and there's so much more to be done it is all so overwhelming.

last night i had a surprise mini hen party at a lebanese restaurant. it was lovely and i honestly felt so touched that people i'm not even that close to actually bothered to put something together, and went to quite great lengths in effort and cash. i'm so grateful for the night but i could have done better.

ahead of me lies 2 more weeks of work, with a team that has shrunk rapidly in the last weeks. we had 7 at the beginning of the year, by mid-year there were 5, last week, there was 3.5, and for the next week, 2.5.... doesn't really help when the night job gets more and more demanding and i haven't slept before 1am in a long time....!

this week also marks the last in this flat - the one that the Omnipotent led me to when still fresh off the boat, and which has provided some comfort and quality of life for over 2 years now. but somehow i'm quite glad to get out, and i don't even have time to be sentimental about the whole thing.

i wish i didn't have to sleep. i wish i had time to go to the gym so i can get into the stupid dress (i don't even want to wear it anymore...!) i wish i didn't have to work so i can do this night job full-time and in the day. i wish some people would be more responsible. i wish i wasn't moving house though frankly i had quite enough of this place. i almost wish it was I who got laid off last week, though that will bring with it a host of worse problems.

BUT

i know i have a very supportive and loving family, who are actually helping a lot already and it's just me holding things up. i know that we kinda asked for this. i know we are very blessed to have a fabulous place to live in without even having to look. i know this is just a wedding and the marriage is more important. i know worrying doesn't solve anything, neither does crying or pretending to be sick so I don't have to go to work (no i wouldn't even do that because it's not as if the work disappears; it just waits, like a dog for its master, grr...woof!). i know we will get through this somehow.

i know all these but the situation on the ground isn't good. shoot me now :(

London - Looted and in Flames

2011-08-08T21:46:00.004+01:00

I am absolutely speechless. A few nights ago (Thursday night in fact), I met a friend from JC who is in London for a few weeks for dinner. He asked me, "is London safe?". Without hesitation, I replied in the negative. Over the last 2 years, I've started to feel a little safer than when I first arrived. But I never felt completely at ease. Least of all when I pass through some of the most dangerous boroughs in the capital every week. But tonight has left me in disbelief that such uncivilised acts could take place in such a widespread manner in a supposedly civilised society.

In case you are wondering and are concerned, I'm safe, indoors and hope to remain so.

However, the scenes I see on the TV (laptop to be more exact) have been heartbreaking, frustrating and horrifying.

These are a (small part of a) generation of youths who have grown up in the "modern world". Technology has changed the way we think, communicate, and influence others. Or perhaps London is now facing up to years of unaddressed delinquency as loots destroy their very own neighbourhoods and communities. One reporter was asked by the studio, "what are the parents doing? why are the kids on the streets?" and the reply was "the kids are always on the streets". The scale of the problem is obviously far bigger and far more fundamental.

And so I've spent almost the whole night glued to the BBC news watching the events unfold all around me on TV and shaking my head way too often. Now, as I watch cars, buses, shops, and hundred-year-old landmark buildings go up in flames, and people shamelessly looting shops in broad daylight, I reflect on the depravity of man, and the extent of wickedness. These people obviously knew they were doing wrong, for they wore masks, balaclava and tshirts over their faces to avoid getting recognised on CCTV and to avoid suffering the consequences of their actions. The sad truth is that they will probably never be caught or face justice in the courts, but their conscience, if not already seared, will forever pierce them.

As buildings and vehicles burned all around the capital, with Hackney just a couple of miles north of here and Peckham and Lewisham not far south, I tried to imagine what hell would be like. Even in relatively decent neighbourhoods - directly across the capital from where the violence first stared in Croydon (SW Greater London) and Clapham Junction (quite an expensive hip area) - crazy people have gone on a rampage. The video footage from helicopters are terrifying enough, and the firemen stood very small beside flames many times their height which threatened to engulf them. Burnt out buildings are now threatening to collapse, and have to be pulled down and destroyed forever. Grand Dames of the high street that have stood for centuries, gone in an hour. Nothing is sure; nothing stands forever on this earth. Another lesson to never build with wood, hay or stubble.

Across the world over, there is bad news on every corner. The financial markets are in perpetual meltdown, there are uprisings all over - Syria, Libya, etc, and society is crumbling. This is truly a godless and perverse generation. The end is nigh? God, be merciful.

CFA Level 1

2011-07-27T00:11:00.002+01:00

It's been 6 weeks since the exam so obviously I had clean forgotten about the exam. Just remembered yesterday that results were due out today, and then started to panic and get nervous. Ignorance was much preferable bliss.

Work kept me too busy all morning, but as 9am ET approached I found myself checking my inbox quite frequently, and when the email finally came in, I only read the 1st line. and it was enough. it read: "Congratulations. I am very pleased to inform you that you passed the June 2011 Level I CFA exam. You are one step closer to achieving your goal of earning the globally respected CFA charter." Truly thank God! Not so sure about wanting to move on to Level 2, but at least I don't have to repay the sponsors for the amount of the exam and the course. Anyhow I foolishly forwarded on the message to my team to share the good news, and after that realised that there was a breakdown of the score at below... ooooopps...!

These weeks have been very stressful and hectic, but God has still continuously poured down blessing after blessing to make things come together slowly.

on roofs

2011-07-16T00:47:00.001+01:00

suddenly, in a span of 2 weeks, we have 2 roofs over our heads.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

update soon!

PHAT!

2011-05-21T19:21:00.002+01:00

collected my wedding gown today, and like I predicted, those measurements the lady took at the shop last time were too good to be true! size 4, come on... i'd be quite happy being an 8.

the dress fit, but i wouldn't have been able to stay in it for more than half an hour without suffocating; and i'd quite like to breathe normally on my wedding day, thankyouverymuch. anyway, so it's too late to order another dress in size 6 or something larger, so i guess i'll either just pay £30 for the tailors to take it out slightly at the waist, or i'd have to make sure i lose some flab to fit it!

to be quite honest, exercise has taken much a back-seat in recent months. ever since the CFA classes started, the thought of going to the gym or exercising never even crossed my mind. Since i still eat the same amount of food/ junk food, and the miracle of youthful metabolism isn't quite working to my favour anymore, i can feel the inches getting added on. all that will have to change very soon, starting in 2 weeks. though i wish i could go do something NOW.

guess my health is also starting to deteriorate. Just as I was starting to get complacent about not having been stricken by serious illness since moving here, i nearly passed out at work (again!). absolutely hate causing unnecessary drama and having all the boys in the office find out the reason why, but i'm just thankful that they are all so sweet and nice. 2 of them even walked me down to the sick bay just in case i fainted on the way... and the only other lady in my team insisted on taking me home in a cab. i'm truly blessed. on a lighter note, that blue shirt i have in my wardrobe is cursed - was wearing that same shirt when i last fainted at work, and also when i got knocked down by a bicycle. coincidence?

owell, like daddy says, i just have to deal with one thing at a time. and it is now time to study. just finished the 1st part of my 1st mock exam. couldn't sit there for the whole duration of the paper (3 hours), as expected, but just rushed through and did it in 2. the result: a multitude of errors. Somehow just can't seem to remember the gazillion things and grasp some key concepts, especially in the area of economics (yucks! who even cares?). God help me in these last 2 weeks.

better return to the horrible books, and save my story finally using the NHS for another time.

235 of 246

2011-05-13T22:20:00.004+01:00

as with all other singaporean couples out there trying to settle down, we tried to apply for a HDB flat. Both times it was just a formality, thinking that we were probably not going to get it given the high odds against us (9:1 for the 1st time and 8:1 for the second). but time was running out for us, and we needed to double our chance quickly (but failing twice).

So the first time in Mar, i was quite relieved to have received an email from HDB essentially saying "thanks for playing, try again". afterall, I didn't really fancy Sengkang.

However, to my pleasant surprise this morning, I got an email this morning saying that the ballot for April had been completed and I have been assigned queue number 235. Was quite happy (ok, more relieved) at first, until i found out that actually the number of flats available is 246. This essentially means that we'd prob be left with not much of a choice at all. but then again, some choice is better than not having the option at all. not that i really like punggol... but what God gives, it's probably better just to take and say 'thank you'.

so, we'll see what happens, but at least that is one thing settled! all in all, i'm still thankful that the process went so quickly for us, as so many people before us have tried countless times and are still unsuccessful.

Dear Diary (13 Apr)

2011-04-27T21:47:00.000+01:00

13 Apr 11

Dear Diary,

Today, Ah Gong died. While the rest of the family was gathered at his bedside as he slipped away, there I was, 10,000 miles away, frantically trying to find a way home.

But I didn’t make it in time.

Was still on the way to Heathrow when Sharon told me that he was gone.

My last words to him, in very broken hokkien, was a mixture of “wait for me to come back today”, “please believe in Jesus now, don’t’ delay, there’s no more time”, and “remember I’m getting married this year?” and then I couldn’t say anymore, I didn’t know what else to say. Aunt Carrie sounded distraught enough, telling me in a hurry to speak to Ah Gong because he was passing away, and that was 7.20am in the morning. He finally went his way at 4.15pm. (All London times)

I’m still waiting for the flight, after missing the 1^st one I booked for this afternoon. Can’t seem to do anything. I didn’t bring any book, save the CFA, which I have absolutely no heart to read. I didn’t pack much with me this time, travelling light for once. After all, when it’s a matter of life and death, how much can one carry?

I’m not sure what Ah Gong left behind in material terms. He worked hard all his life, especially in the earlier days. Ah Ma used to tell me the stories of how he would do back-breaking coolie work to feed the family of 5 children. He was always skinny from the time I knew him, his lean fame definitely carrying more muscle than fat. It didn’t take me very many years to overtake him in weight. At his healthiest, he was 45kg at most. The grandparents had a large role to play in bringing Sharon and I up, given how much time we spent with them before and after kindergarten each day (remembering that school only lasted 3 hours then). They gave us breakfast, lunch and dinner, and we used to be at their place everyday. This has now evolved into a Friday night tradition, where the whole family gathers for a meal every Friday night, only missing out in exceptional circumstances. Any attempts to arrive late would be thwarted by his constant phone calls. He must have looked forward so much to having everyone together. Ah Gong’s culinary skills were top-notch, and he used to rule the kitchen, making all kinds of food from sting-ray on freshly plucked banana leaf, crabs, the clams we used to pick from Kranji beach, curry, and the best egg toufu with ketchup dish in the world. But he stopped cooking quite a few years ago. That was when his health started to fail him. He has been in and out of hospital since, and never really recovered fully.

Ah Gong was also very cool. He used to have the funkiest things like tinted glasses, chunky rings and crocs. He had no qualms walking to the market to have a sit down meal alone, where we bumped into him a few times. In his latter years he also had a mobile phone with a very cool ringtone. I also remember him asking me to help him put Ah Ma’s picture on his phone wall, which was very sweet. He didn’t get much education, but he tried to teach us English when we were in kindergarten, copying out months and days of the week from the calendar, practicing with us.

He was also a true adventurer, and really the 1^st one in our family to migrate. Coming to Singapore from the sleepy fishing village of Pulau Ketam was his idea. He came, found work, and went back to bring his family over. Just a few weeks ago, he insisted on making a trip back there, which my parents obliged in taking him. I hear that he endured the whole journey in the car and was truly happy to have made it there. Maybe at that point he knew the battery bar was running low.

The only thing that remains a mystery, and will continually haunt us for the rest of our lifetimes, was whether he was saved. He has heard the Gospel many times, but never wanted to believe, mostly because he was afraid about how the rest of the relatives would view him. Afterall, he used to be the Taoist medium who got into scary trances. Apparently, Uncle Kelvin and Auntie Bee Pheng spoke to him a few days ago, and he nodded twice, when asked twice if he wanted to believe. That is a huge reaction, considering the next day he could only move his eyes. He did try to react by closing his eyes when my mum mentioned Jesus, which could be taken in 2 senses. The whole day today, I prayed that the Lord would be gracious to him and not harden his soul any longer. If he had been snatched from Satan’s grip, even at the jaws of death, then God could take him away into eternity even if I don’t make it home in time. Because I know it would be goodnight, not goodbye. I didn’t make it home, but I’m not sure if it’s a prayer answered. Afterall, who am I that God should listen to me?

I don’t know what to do when I get back, and I’m not sure I’m prepared for what I’m about to witness. But no amount of preparation will prepare one for the final moment. Yet, I can’t wait to be home, to be with the family. It is truly a big family that has gone through thick and thin together. That was one wonderful thing Ah Gong left behind, one that surpasses everything else. I love all of them, and I know we all miss Ah Gong already.

Now get me on that plane; it will be the longest flight of my life but I know at the end of it is a family that grieves together.

Heathrow Airport Terminal 3

London

1929h

200 days

2011-03-15T00:36:00.003Z

That sounds like quite a lot considering the CFA exam is in 80 days...

Went for a free medical check-up today which threw up some rather interesting results! Never really done anything like this before, so i didn't expect to have to take my height and weight. Really hated doing that in school. They used to waste whole PE lessons taking everyone's measurements and I used to be depressed on those days, because 1. there was no proper PE (which was prob my favourite subject in school) and 2. i hated reaffirming how short and heavy i am. Today, I was instructed to strip down to underwear (which i think they never do in singapore?) but considering all the wedding dress shopping, I'm already quite used to that... and then I had to step on the scales. boo. The funny thing was, the doctor measured me to be 162cm (dont know where the 2cm came from!) and then told me that i was borderline underweight. Never, never in my life was I ever underweight (I guess I'm still not) but that was the incredible news to my ears. haha. this was after this elderly lady in church told me yesterday that I put on weight. It was only the 2nd time I was properly talking to her! love these little old ladies though, they are so funny.

The next funny thing was that she wanted to test my knee-jerk reaction. So she took a hammer, and hit my knee, and then my lower leg moved (isn't that what's supposed to happen anyway?) but she said I was cheating, hahaha. ok to be fair, I knew that she was trying to get a reaction out of me so i must have subconsciously moved my leg when she tapped it. owell.

Anyhow, thank God for general good health. Test results will be back in a week plus, and we'll have the fuller picture then I guess.

Ok i digress. So, time is running out for us. But between now and then, a million uncertainties and things undone.

Am I excited? Fairly.

Prepared? Not really!

Panicking? Soon will be...

I Hear the Words of Love

2011-03-13T23:30:00.001Z

I hear the words of love,

I gaze upon the blood,

I see the mighty sacrifice,

And I have peace with God.

(Horatius Bonar)

Landmark discovery and buy

2011-02-20T02:00:00.004Z

The Discovery - How to save money in London if you're under-26

This was motivated by yet another trip to Wimbledon, with great expectations of buying The One, whatever it might be. I had done my research on the TFL website, and realised that the young person's railcard can be used to get 1/3 off the overland train (which i would have to take from Waterloo to Wimbledon). Feel quite stupid because I've had this railcard for 5 months and I just found out about this, so obviously I go to the ticket office to get my Oyster card linked!

Turns out, that when I tapped out of the underground at Waterloo, a tube journey that would normally cost £1.90 only cost £1.25!!! I was so thrilled :)

The Buy

Today I finally concluded the long and arduous search for a dress. It's been rather tough going. 5 or 6 wedding dress shop appointments, 1 national wedding show, 10s of dresses tried on both in London and Singapore, countless hours spent on www.preloved.co.uk and various other 2nd hand dress websites, I finally bought something today.

Stumbled upon Teokath actually, and boy I'm glad I did. Was actually just randomly calling up stockists in London for Pronovias, because I was convinced (and bought over by their amazing website) that I wanted a Pronovias dress. The flagship store at New Bond Street was fully booked, and the next appointment was in April, which I booked in January. Actually, it was also Teokath's website that actually made me interested in going all the way to SW19 to visit the shop. Researched like mad for reviews online and couldn't find any. Was really worried that the prices would be overpriced and the alterations would cost a fortune. But the lady on the phone sounded friendly and she assured me that "we will find your something". Obviously, anyone who had been through what I did would find that difficult to believe.

When I finally got to the shop on Wed night, I was actually very impressed with the layout of the shop, it was classy and spacious. The other bridal shops I visited had amazing websites but a pathetic store layout - almost disappointing. The service was excellent. I was offered a drink while I browsed through the dresses. There must have been about 100 dresses there, but I already knew the styles I wanted, which made things much easier. Maria was amazing, she actually listened to what I wanted and then helped me pick out some dresses to try according to the criteria. At other places I just had to go around and pick 4 or 5 myself. Throughout the fittings she sounded very genuine in pointing out the characteristics of each dress, and telling me what was nice and not. I finally narrowed it down to 2, and she didn't even mention anything about buying the dress, just a simple invitation to return during the weekend for a 2nd try. I was convinced that I would get something from this shop. It offered the best services out of all the shops I went (which did not include the high-end designer boutiques which I would think have good service to justify the prices!)

I'm glad I went to the other boutique inside Elys the departmental store for the 2nd fitting. There were other different dresses there, and I was sipping my orange juice while picking out a few others, including a dress that was quite similar to the one I was actually going to buy (spent Thurs and Fri doing a survey among some colleagues and friends and was decided.) Before I put on that dress, the ladies at the store seemed to have their doubts, though they encouraged me to try it on anyway. I did, and when it was on, I could see the amazed look on their face. There was a WOW factor, and they really looked impressed. I guess that was what confirmed it for me, since no one came with me to the appointment. To be sure, we tried on the 2 dresses a few times, and the last thing that sealed it was the price. This dress looked a lot more elegant, was in the material I wanted, looked more expensive, but was actually cheaper. So I said I would buy it. Maria took some pictures of me in it (I must say that the background was actually even more amazing because the boutique is really really pretty), while Daniella got the champagne out.

Then, measurements had to be taken, and to my surprise, my measurements were actually smaller than the smallest size! Plus I have a waist size that surprised me and made my sisters jealous :p Actually one amazing thing about trying to get a wedding dress in London is how everyone thinks I'm tiny. It's so funny, because the sample dresses are always in size 12 or 14 and I always look like I'm drowning in them and they have to be pinned in to fit. In Singapore, the dresses were all either fitting or slightly too tight, which made me feel extremely fat. Maybe thats why I didn't fancy any of the dresses I tried on in SG.

So, I guess I'm (almost) done getting into fitting rooms with complete strangers and having to strip down to the bare minimum.

Congrats me!!! and thank God for bringing this to a conclusion - I was seriously about to give up! My only regret is that I had to do most of this alone. It would have been a lot nicer if mummy were here, and not just on skype looking at the Pronovias website with me. Or if the sistas could stop me from picking ridiculous dresses tell me what suited me instead of me having to go back and then showing them via email how the dress looks like on a supermodel on the website (but generally my taste was not bad, right? :p). I guess I learnt (the very hard way) to stand on my own 2 feet and make a big decision. Now I just have to hope that I don't change my mind about this decision in the next 7 months or so because there is no turning back.

Now I can move on to other things, like the bridesmaid dresses, evening dress, shoes and the gazillion other things that never end.....

Had such a horrible, long and tiring week but I'm glad it ended on a good note, despite being quite a lot poorer :)

something old, something new, anything!

2011-02-15T22:55:00.002Z

really hope that tomorrow will bring the dress hunt to an end! last shop, last hope. all the way to wimbledon. I pray that it will not be another wasted trip.

Loss of Boss

2011-01-13T00:05:00.002Z

So I experienced my first firm-wide retrenchment exercise today, and it was not pleasant at all. Was quite looking forward to it at first from a process perspective because i'd never seen it happen before and because I was convinced that my team would be OK. After all, we had finally completed the build-out of the team in Nov and we had hired an extremely and undisputedly smart boss from a top-tier competitor.

The morning started out pretty slowly. Nothing was happening, just lots of senior directors and MDs meeting in offices and walking around, but no word was given. We carried on with our daily business and discussions. At abt 11.40am, the phone rings, and we all see that it is for P, and from the room downstairs where these retrenchment meetings were going on. Not good. The junior people on our team start to panic, and I find myself starting to tremble uncontrollably. It was either P or one of us. I was convinced that it could not be P, so i plugged out my iphone from the charging point and made a mental note of what things to take with me, just in case. Then P sent out an outlook invite entitled "Short meeting", in 4 mins. I knew then that it was not one of us, or the person should have been told individually, not collectively. My neighbour came back to her desk, completely oblivious, I told her that P got a call but it didn't seem to register. Then I thought maybe there was nothing to worry about and that they were just calling up the team leaders of those teams that would be fine. But then i turned around and saw that P had logged out of his computer. I could not believe my eyes. Nothing made sense, but P was his usual smiley self when the 4 mins was up, and he came around to gather us.

We went into the 1st free room we saw, and I guess I'll always remember what P said, "So I got a call from [the room], and they told me to take all my things. I guess I won't be coming back, so it was nice working with all of you. I'm sure you will all be fine for the rest of the day." Silence. Everyone was speechless for a good 5 seconds, until someone managed to find the voice, "Very sorry to hear about that." And that was it. P was gone.

Harsh. 10 minutes later, another team leader got a similar call. But he did not tell his team. He just got up, put his hands up in the air, took his coat, and left. No logging out of the computer, nothing. Casualty number 2. He did what any logical person would have done actually, but that pales in comparison to what P did. The sense of professionalism P showed in such a time was tremendous, as well as the thought for his immediate team. For that, I respect him.

The rest of the team had lunch together, and we could not understand the move. Surely it is a stupid short-sighted saving which negates all the time and effort spent getting P in the first place. Not a single person I know who have dealt with P on a professional level has failed to be impressed. Eloquent, intelligent, and perhaps over-qualified. As a manager, P was fair (as far as I could tell) and was always on top of everything, from analysis to even the admin. He even sent me a text with well wishes when I went home early from work after fainting one day. It was difficult to fault his performance. It was definitely more our loss than his loss, let's not kid ourselves. I was completely at a loss for the 1st 2 hours, and then everything started to seem so surreal. I don't think it fully hit me until I texted P a few hours ago to finally say goodbye, and got what I thought was a nice reply, "I will miss working with you. You have a great future and a great career ahead of you. Keep in touch!" I guess that is some sort of closure, and tomorrow will be the start of something different, something unknown.

I saw today the ruthlessness of the industry, and the stupidity that causes it to hire and fire in short cycles. Yet, I also saw some semblance of humanity amid it all. People banded together, and faces were mostly long. People in this industry do have emotions too.

Needless to say, very little work was done in the day, and shortly after 5pm, it was down to the pub.

The next few days and weeks will be interesting, and the start of a lot more unsettling to come.

I'm thankful that I do not entrust in any man or organisation for they may fail, but a sovereign God who always has the perfect plan. Amen.

活该

2010-12-14T14:59:00.003Z

so it has been a whirlwind of activity since coming home. so madness is not territorial. still haven't slept that much, which was a key thing i was looking forward to on monday. most things have been nice and sufficiently familiar.

flight was terrible, landed at CDG (Paris) and there was a big screw-up. they didn't announce my connecting flight (which was actually at another terminal) - i'm so glad i speak a few sentences of french, sufficient to understand that i had to take a train and get off at the first stop. legged it there only to find a long queue at security, which wasn't moving at all. it was 25 mins to my flight. found out that everyone else also had flights in 15-30 mins, and the crowd was getting increasing nervous and impatient. a lot of shoving and shouting later, all the flights were delayed. they had closed all the security counters for the night and had not enough personnel to re-open them. the flight was uneventful except that i was quite uncomfortable and couldn't really sleep. nonetheless still glad to be back on homeground in one piece, with my luggage (i guess once you buy insurance, nothing bad happens... heh)

1/2 hour after landing, arrived at adam road hawker centre. realised i left all my $20 in the car, so had to borrow money from S. He lent me $5 which I thought made me invincible in a hawker centre. WRONG. i bought prawn mee (the cheapest at the entire store, they were mostly $8!?) and spoke what i would consider fluent mandarin. and then the uncle told me it was $5.20 because i was taking it away. i told him that's all the money i had because i just landed, and he let me off. btw i was very grateful to the clowns for going all the way to the airport to pick me up! spared the fam car hassle or an mrt ride for me.

monday came and still jet-lagged, had to wake up earlier than i normally would for work. 6.45am. got myself downstairs and saw the bus. everything came back to me in the instant i started running for the bus - it was all too familiar. and then i began to dread the train journey, which proved to be terrible. but i didn't hear the dimsum dolly song like i thought i was supposed to. got to the CPA pre-admission course early, and even had time to buy kaya toast and tea-c. collected the humongous file of notes and my stomach flipped. all the pain in accounting class came back to me, and i can't believe i signed (and paid) my holidays away to wake up at the crack of dawn and subject myself to a week of torture. nonetheless, i survive 2 days so far. and now i have the prospect of a 125-qn, 90-min exam on friday to worry about.

stood on the right of the escalator and quickly realised.

also rediscovered squatting toilets and noted that the toilet bowls were much lower.

had a haircut + wash + style for $15. had to do all 3 because a cut alone would cost have $16. i don't understand them sometimes.

by tues night, have visited both grands and met the cousin who can now speak. after much difficulty he decided to be friends again. took the mrt and bus, and realised that they now charge by the distance and it actually costs $0.00 to take the feeder bus home!!! amazing, love how affordable it is to take the buses. i thought my $10 card was depleted in a day actually and got quite worried.

back home, i'm still worrying about home in ldn. i think J's really pissed with me from the unfriendly email i got this morning which was very unlike her. i wonder what happened and now i wonder what to tell her about what's about to happen. sigh, i wish i just never opened my mouth or tried to be nice. damn right, i wish i'd stop bringing worrying situations upon myself. need to remedy this asap if not i fear the next 10 months wouldn't be pleasant. and it wouldn't really have been my fault. tho by 1st principle, I was the cause of it all and i guess could technically be considered my fault.

真的是活该！！！

Star-studded week

2010-11-24T00:50:00.003Z

Rafa (Nadal) yesterday, Josh (Groban) tomorrow and who knows who's next on Sat!

Had free (crappy) tickets to the ATP finals last night and it was an epic 3 hour battle between nadal and roddick. got to leave work at about 6pm, yay.

D bought us tickets to a josh groban concert tomorrow night, i hope it's good. at least i get to leave work early again tomorrow.

Lots of stuff undone in the office, and i need to tell myself that I have 2.5 more weeks and that's plenty of time, because it isn't! getting chased left right and center and my mind is swirling with all the different company names and profiles. i just hope i don't start dreaming of them, because that would be REALLY sad. i actually did a couple of WEEKENDS ago. i dreamt that i discovered a new species of insect, whose name was actually the name of one of the new companies I was looking at that weekend. ARGH. job hazard.

In other news, rumour has it that the first snowfall is due. Google says it will be -6 on Friday. Now that's insane. it's already snowing in Copenhagen - wish I was back there.

Also, William and Kate are getting married on 29 Apr! yay to a 4 day week, followed by a 3 day week, and then another 4 day week. i think I wouldnt want to go back to a full working week after that! wooo hooo!!!

better sleep now before i start seeing stars in the morning, dizzy from tiredness.

the ironies of life at 23

2010-11-19T00:10:00.003Z

so many things to look forward to, but so many things to do before i get there.

too few hours to have, and yet too many wasted...

"the right thing at the wrong time is the wrong thing" - Josh Harris

it doesn't hurt when you've spent the last 2 years thinking you're 24, but are still barely there after 2 years.

addicted (part 2)

2010-11-17T23:40:00.002Z

oh crap. boots is doing it again. another round of that crazy £12 worth of points for 2 days next week, ARGH! at least i'll be busy checking out josh groban next Wed night.... heh.

Addicted.

2010-11-15T23:14:00.004Z

to online shopping. argh

I never thought i'd live to see the day... i see the merits sometimes, esp when there's free delivery and free returns. it's cheaper than going to the shop (£1.80 to get to town and another £1.80 to come home). it's faster, and 24/7.....

my massive boots order just arrived today (boots is a pharmacy btw.... heh). the box was so heavy the concierge had to help me carry it to the flat. haha... i didn't even ask, he volunteered! how nice is that. i now have a whole year's supply of shampoo, conditioner, soap and cotton wool. i think. i don't even think i need 8 bottles of soap for 1 year (half price). or 6 bottles of shampoo & conditioner (buy 1 get 1 free). but i kinda convinced myself that it's much easier to have them deliver everything so that i don't have to carry everything back. of course, there was the "spend £50, get £12 worth of points" which makes it even more attractive. to be fair, i will offload some of these stuff to D when i next see him so that he can help to use.

but then again, they just had ANOTHER round of that same offer the week before, and i also succumbed. i bought foundation 4 shades too dark for my skin and got scolded by the skin specialist at the clinique counter today when i went to get it exchanged, haha. but it was >20% off, plus another £7.50 of points.

i also think i have enough boots points for all my shopping there for the next year. heh. at least £50 worth. and i just found out that i can get boots points by shopping at asos too! HAHA, it's never ending. you can literally buy anything online in this country. i have never done more online shopping in my whole life than this year alone. tsk. i even bought a whole camera (my Canon S90) from ebay for £250 when it was $800+ in singapore.

(of course, this post only shows that i am super auntie, for i neglect to talk about all the virtual shops i visit too. let's just keep it that way for now.)

the last step i have not degenerated to is grocery shopping online. and the only thing stopping me is the lack of free delivery because of the special refrigerated trucks they use to deliver the stuff. the day will come (hopefully not, fingers crossed). but for now, i shall continue to carry cartons of milk etc physically back home. Afterall, I don't think I could buy a year's supply of milk, can I? :p

i need therapy! not the retail sort....

Rainy Days and Sundays

2010-11-15T00:29:00.005Z

always get me down. (badly misquoting the Carpenters)

it's so depressing when I take ages to get to church and after 2 buses and 2 trains, i'm still late. and then, repeat 4 times every sunday. the journey really stresses me out. i estimate a total of about 5 hours every sunday spent feeling sick on the public transport network, bleah.

today was especially bad, because the jubilee line was down (again) and it started pouring after church so I was entirely drenched. I guess the lack of daylight makes it worse because when i was on the DLR going to church at 5+pm, the operator was asking some people if they had far to go before getting home, and i was actually travelling AWAY from home, knowing full well that I have to come back the same way. in the night, coming home after YF, it was freezing cold too, winter's just depressing. i also forgot to tap my oyster card when i got off the DLR today, so i incurred another £4.30 penalty charge on top of my already maxed out my day's travel (£6.30 or something like that?)in the 1st half of the day.

it's remembrance Sunday today, maybe it's meant to be a sober and sad day anyways.

i also don't really like having dinner at 10pm on Sunday nights and then sleeping late and starting Monday feeling really crabby.

therefore, i REALLY need to find a solution, and i need a solution fast. this is driving me crazy. every week i feel more and more like giving up.

in other news, work has been stressful too. it's appraisal season - i meant to write my appraisal over the weekend but never got down to it. there are also a million refinancings. why do all companies decide to do the same thing all at the same time, grrr. and project por cu pine flopped, it was just announced :(

3.5 more weeks to finish up for the year. come on Carol, time to man up. :( SO MUCH WORK.

Rainy days and Mondays will get me down-er. so it better not rain tomorrow!

Windy Remembrance Day

2010-11-11T22:52:00.002Z

11/11 is remembrance day in the UK and other allied forces of WW1, also known as armistice day. At 11am, there was a tannoy (what we know as a PA system) announcement that there will be a 2 minute silence marked. the entire floor fell silent, without even the sound of tapping on the keyboard. everyone had their head bowed (well, except for me because I was busy looking around), and just like that, the entire nation remembers those who gave their lives for the fallen empire, and continue to do so in various lands.

as autumn gives way to winter, the process of dying is almost complete. the walk to work today was an insane battle against the wind. it was reported that this week the winds would go up to 70mph (113 km/hr). i dont think it was that drastic here, but it was crazy enough to make me feel VERY insecure in heels walking to work. i was actually panting by the time i got there because it was super tiring. walking home today down a flight of stairs i was holding on to the railing for dear life. both ways, i couldnt decide whether it was better to have the wind with me (such i feel like i'm falling over forwards and i was literally propelled forward dangerously), or against me, where in order to move forward, a great deal of force was required. as i walked further on, i saw that nothing was spared, not the strong sturdy trees, as the wind ripped through their branches and raped them violently, resulting in their yellow leaves stripped off. those already fallen leaves were not left to rest in peace either, as they were repeatedly swept up in circular motions upwards, almost as if they were possessed by spirits.

severe gale warnings have been issued across the country, heralding the start of the weather warnings i remember from last winter. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11734050

of all days, today I took an excursion out of the office in the office. a group of us were headed to a business school in the city to speak to a class of Masters students. it was a very interesting experience, though I thought i didn't do a good job answering the simple question my big boss made me answer in front of the class, sigh. the contingent comprised our overall team head, 2 other directors from the team, another director from another team, another grad and me. really strange but was a very good opportunity. for some strange reason we decided to take a 15 minute walk from the DLR station instead of taking the tube to the station 5 minutes away from the university, and when we emerged from the underground, it was pouring. That on top of the crazy hurricane like winds, we arrived in style indeed, all drenched and windswept. They certainly expected bankers to emerge from a cab or limousine, first reality check. haha. didn't quite realise how much i talked to the students during the refreshment session. at the end of 1 hour plus, I was exhausted. we went to the pub after (where i had coke (how unlike me!) in an attempt to pump caffeine into the system). the top hunchers decided to call it a day and not return to the office, which was my perfect opportunity to escape as well, but i stupidly didnt. got back to the office at about 5.30pm and found that I really couldn't function.

I wish i had a chance to work in the city, it's so charming and it's actually London as everyone knows it... maybe one day, or maybe it will always hold its charm for me because I don't work there?

this is such a pointless post, but i thought it was a day worth remembering anyway. i'm losing it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 1 more day to the weekend, 1 more month to Singapore, and a million things to do in between.

Befriending children is a rewarding investment

2010-09-19T23:00:00.002+01:00

especially when they learn to call your name before all the other names and can't stop saying it :p

Lucy loves saying "Hi Car-ol"! Immediately after the service ends, she'll run up to the front and shout "Hi Car-ol" and then try and climb up onto the organ seat. And then she spends the rest of the time saying that again many more times to the point that it's actually embarrassing...

today when David and I entered through the front door, she ran out and "Hi Car-ol" and then continued blabbering on. I could only make out the word "dog", I think. Or maybe it was because she was holding a doggie stuffed toy.

but she still made my day anyway :) need to teach her some other words so that maybe we can have a decent conversation in a few months :)

Carol goes walkabout!

2010-09-12T23:59:00.006+01:00

What a weekend it has been!

Saturday: there was a church outing to Hever Castle in Kent. As usual, I left home in a hurry and accidentally dropped the passport photos I had put aside. I needed to make the young person's railcard to get 1/3 discount off the train ticket I had bought... but there was no time to take another photo in the booth or make a railcard by the time I got to London Bridge! There was a train that only runs once an hour to catch! Made it on with time to spare, met Jonathan on the way, and arrived at Hever station. The ticketman came, and I froze. As calmly as I could, i showed him my ticket, and to my amazement he didn't ask for the railcard. Relief. Hever Station was a rural, unmaned station. We arrived at 9.49am, leaving us plenty of time to walk that 1 mile to the castle. But less than 1 min after leaving the station, a lady called from a car and asked us if we wanted a lift to the castle. I suppose we looked touristy enough, and the ONLY attraction at Hever was the castle... How very kind of that lady - it was the first time I experienced such a random act of kindness!

It was a good day, albeit rainy. However I must add that it was the strangest church outing I'd ever been to! Everyone arrived on the bus at about 10.30++am, we went in together as a group, and that was about the last thing we did together as a group. We then all went our separate ways around the castle and the sprawling gardens. In little groups, and some even alone. It was so bizzare, as I had imagined some sort of a structure to the day, and I thought we'd be spending a good few hours sitting around on the grass, maybe with an exhortation, some singing, and maybe a picnic lunch. I even brought quite a lot of food to share! But there was nothing of the sort! I was fortunate to have James and Hannah and Jon (who left after lunch andleft me feeling like the gooseberry) to go around with.

Hannah and I on the man-made 38-acre lake.

When it was time to go home, everyonejust met on the bus. Of course, I was taking the train, and had to walk that 1 mile to the station. So i left, with my little hand-drawn map in hand. It was a rural walk indeed. I hadn't quite appreciated what they meant when they said that. It was really a walk on a dual-carriageway, no pedestrian footpath. The road was winding and went in between farms. I tried to be careful at every bend, with memories of the bicycle accident fresh in my mind. I thought maybe I could hitch a hike, but had no recurring fortune. The roads brought me alongside farm animals, like sheep and cows, and plants with blackberries and raspberries on them. There were hardly any road signs or road names so I just walked in the general direction according to googlemaps. My hand-drawn map proved to be utterly useless. After about 30 mins, I found the station. Deserted. Time-check: 4.30pm. The next train was at 5.05pm. There was yet another problem. I didn't know which platform to go to, and the train wouldn't stop for long enough for me to figure out when it arrives. I wasn't about to wait another hour! Chatted with Liangsi on the phone while waiting, until a train arrived from London at 4.49pm, which then allowed me to figure out it was the other platform I needed. More horror awaited me when I got onto the train. I spent most of the journey a nervous wreck, knowing that I still didn't have my railcard. Thought the worst was over, when I passed through all the stations and no conductor came to check the tickets. until, about 10 mins from London Bridge, they arrived. He charged me £20 for not havng a railcard, so I immediately when I got off the station, marched straight into the photobooth, paid £5 for 5 passport photos, and made a railcard for £26. Will write in to get a refund of the £20 fine- i'm not about to spend £46 on train tickets to Kent which actually cost all of £6.26!!!

Walked this kind of road for about 30mins to get to the station.

Checked out the Thames river Festival - the last festival in summer. Before I knew it, I had walked from London Bridge to Tower Bridge, and then I thought there was no point going back to London bridge to catch the tube 3 stops back home. So i decided to check out St Katherine's docks. On Tower Bridge, I had a better idea - I would visit my old flat! Gave Kelvin a call, and he was home, so I popped and had a short 10 min chat with him, and looked at the refurbished place of where I used to live back in Summer 2008. Then I decided to walk home. Figured that if I just followed the river, I would eventually reach home. And I did. Was really glad I did too! For one, it was good exercise. I also discovered a whole neighbourhood - Wapping. it is actually quite posh! Along the way there were also some riverside walks. Was curious what that was so I went to check it out, and it turned out to be a long flight of steps descending onto the sandy bank of the river Thames! Quite cool! It took me an hour to walk from St Katherine's docks back home, and my legs were aching towards the end, but oh what a great sense of achievement! I then proceeded to eat a BIG bowl of meepok. HAHA.

The Thames Festival at Tower Bridge

On the sandy bank of the Thames at Sunset (presumably at low-tide).

Total distance covered in 1 day = walk around the castle (a couple of miles in total maybe)+ walk to Hever Station (1 mile if I took the short-cut but I prob did more since I couldnt find the short-cut) + London bridge - Canary Wharf (5 miles along the river) = c. 7-8miles. That's pretty good!

Sunday was eventful too, but since this is getting way too long I might come back tomorrow. But work beckons :( and my horrible project which I have completed about 10% of (due end-Sept :( :( :( ) pray for plenty of wisdom, and super-efficiency this week.

Overnight Rice

2010-09-09T19:50:00.002+01:00

So there has been rice left in the ricepot since either Saturday or Sunday night (today is Thurs).

I have been reluctant to clear it, and I didn't cook rice the first few days anyway, but apparently, neither did she.

Yesterday (Wed), we had a short exchange:
She-who-must-not-be-named: Oh you're cooking! Can you help me cook some rice?
Me (straightly): There is already rice in the ricepot.
SWMNBN: hee hee, oh mine ah? I think spoil already, I better clear.
Me: I'm not cooking rice.

Today (Thurs), 24 hours later. The rice is still in there, not forgetting the rice scoop which has a couple of grains of rice on it...

In better news, it's her last night here! Tomorrow she moves out, though her things remain for 3 more weeks.... ADIOS.

Not sure what the new girl will bring, but one can only hope for the best (though I'm actually not that hopeful based on a couple of encounters.) But nvm, it's only 1 year, I must survive.

Summer Trips 2010

2010-08-31T00:14:00.016+01:00

With the close of August, and the windy reminder that summer is fast giving way to fall, I thought I'd do a little recap of the many trips I filled my summer with, lest I forget.

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April 2-5: The Drive up to Lake District and its tranquil vicinity-

Kendal, Windermere, Bowness, Ambleside, Coniston Grasmere, Keswick, Ullswater, Penrith. And then the drive across to Leeds, and back down to Peterborough and Cambridge.

Love travelling with Si - always pleasant, easy-going, relaxing. She drove more than half the time, and even climbed up Cat Bells fell (pictured above), with a broken knee. It wasn't exactly summer yet, nay, not even Spring actually. There was still snow on the hills and it was actually cold. This was also a trip with she-who-must-not-be-named, not pictured.

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April 30 - May 4 & 5: Amsterdam, Keukenhof, Antwerp, Brussels

Amsterdam on Queen's Day, 30 April 2010, when the entire city turns ORANGE and orange people fill the streets and the canals. This was the trip I was tricked into doing all the planning when there were already bigger plans in place... We even flew in in style, via LCY instead of a budget airline - what was I thinking!

Keukenhof Bulb Fields, Lisse, Holland. Revealed: the location.

Brussels: The big fight after, the luxury chocolate stock up, and missing the eurostar back to London. And then having to walk all over brussels to find 2 beds for the night. Rushed straight to work from St Pancras the next morning. I will always check train timings properly from now.

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May 27-30: Paris & Versailles, île de France

Finally, I kept my promise from back in 2002, and brought him to Paris. One of the best trips we've been on, in a different way because we didn't rush at all but still managed to see a lot. Also checked out Versailes and the Roland Garros. Too bad Federer was on centre-court then, and the walls were slightly too thick.

It was also amazing finally being back here to one of the places I remember the most from 2002 with the same great friend I had first come here with :) Si was again a fantastic host, and I especially loved chatting away every night till 2am and not being able to wake up the next day till 11am. <3

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June 12-13: Stonehenge, Bath, Bristol, Wales

(Cardiff, Breacon Breacons National Park, Three Cliff Bay.)

Reunited with the 2 sisters, and the whole family. I nearly didn't make it for this trip because it was the 1st weekend ever I had to work - thanks to B.P. and their oil spill. Nonetheless I went anyway and it was a mad trip going to so many places in just 1 weekend! Finally visited the stones but once was probably enough...!

Stopped over in Bath for lunch and for a quick look-see around the pretty town. Most memorable thing was probably lunch at Sally Lunns, the oldest house in Bath. Also went to Bristol after and had another quick walkaround for an hour or 2.

One of the most iconic pictures of Wales, and the little massive trek we did to get to the Welsh sea, and the three cliff bay. Also had dinner in Cardiff and a drive around the Breacon Breacons National Park and stopped by a few places amongst the sheep. Not forgetting the one night super cheap stay at Hilton Newport which was an experience in itself!

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June 18 - 22: Ireland- North and South

Northern Ireland was especially green and blue, and all the colours and sounds of nature. Rope Bridge (Carrick-a-rede) above. Beautiful is an understatement. We rented a car and drove around Derry, along the northen coast to check out the amazing rock formations at the giant's causeway (pictured below), to Belfast, and down to Fermanagh to check out some marble arch caves. Oh, not forgetting a titanic boat tour - loved their caption "She was alright when she left here!" Ohoh, and we checked out Carrick Fergus castle too. Also we went to chruch where everyone was dressed so nicely, hats and all :)

And then we took a bus down south to Dublin, the capital of Eire. Leprechaun alert! We were not too enticed by the city, to be honest, but we did spent the nights watching the world cup in the wonderful hostel! In a country that ITV has honoured by calling France, Ireland in all their games, until they got knocked out anyway...

And again, just to reinforce the point about the bluest blue and the greenest green, and some people very intoxicated with the beauty of nature at its finest :)

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July 18- 25: Spain - Barcelona, Madrid, Sevilla

Strolling down La Rambla, the main tourist street in Barcelona, where we had our all-you-can-eat Tapas and nearly died eating. Barcelona is also where the quirky buildings were, which we did check out but couldn't be bothered to queue to get in. Not forgetting the day trip to Montserrat which was quite nice but the ticket we bought was nowhere near value-for-money.

Arriving in Barcelona via a horrible overnight train experience, this is Puerta del Sol, the centre of Madrid and of Spain, an amazingly varied country. Temperatures were rising, and it was about 38 degrees. Sleeping in a non-airconed hostel was quite an unpleasant but it wasn't a bad place overall. We walked around the entire city in the sweltering heat, taking a few siestas too many in between. It's the only way to survive the heat. I never felt so glad to step into a supermarket.

This is Sevilla, capital of Andalucia, southern Spain. This time we arrived in style, via speedtrain, in the 1st class carriage (on 2nd class fare, heh). This is the bullfighting arena. Temperatures shot up to 45 degrees, and there was no respite even in the shade. Thank God for the overly cold aircon in the hostel. Alv also fell in love here, with Sangria. Travelling with them is quite fun - kinda reminds me of how I was like just a couple of years back, so eager to chiong everywhere. loved the Moorish architecture and the orange trees everywhere, and cheap tapas. oh yes, we saw a record number of weddings in a day too, and most of them started past 9pm at night. I think I almost qualify to become a Spaniard with my night owl sleeping habits. Eating and sleeping at all the wrong times. If only I could actually speak the language, and that would have taken more than a semester of Spanish at university. I'm definitely going back to Spain one day, but not in summer!

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Aug 14: Legoland, Windsor

Suddenly we became giants from a foreign land, even the pigeons looked bigger. It wasn't the best day weatherwise because it just kept raining all day, but that didn't stop me from being amazed in miniland, where landmarks from many european cities were built out of lego and put on display, complete with mechanisms in the pieces to make the buses and people move. The level of detail was mind-boggling, but more about that in my post on legoland, sometime soon. Also, meet my friend, Naomi, pictured here at half the height of the Canary Wharf tower. Unfortunately, my other little friend, Lucy, was in a terrible mood that day, but maybe we can go again in about 5 years. I should also add that the started with a little dinner party the night before and a stayover at P&N's. We had the most hilarious time playing UNO, and Smartass (a trivial board game), as well as comparing accents. I also had to sleep with a giant spider stuffed toy hanging over my head... who on earth buys SPIDER soft-toys!?! But I was too tired to notice Itsy Bitsy anyway.

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So there, a selection of little adventures throughout the summer of 2010. Not to say that the rest of the weekends were not fun. They were all pretty packed. We also went to Bicester, Oxford, did a London walking tour, played paintball, and a host of other things.

Ironically, also never worked so hard all year till summer, when everyone goes away on holiday and all my names starting with B refused to leave me alone.

Now that summer is over, what will Autumn bring? I know! It's not a question of what, but who... and the answer is, someone special! :)

Yummy Delights

2010-08-29T22:20:00.003+01:00

Got some goodies from Singapore! I didn't even know it was mid-Autumn already. And can't be that it's duan wu jie also right? But I got both Ba zhang/ nonya zhang and mooncakes!!! yay

Quite sweet of Auntie C to bring these for me, Goodwood Park somemore, so atas - I never eat before! And I can't believe D knew that I didn't like any yolk in my mooncake... how on earth did he find that out? I'm suitably impressed...

Double yay to not having to cook for the next few days... plus we had dim sum this afternoon because it was Ava's 1 month celebration (though there's ANOTHER 1 month celebration in 3 weeks, haha) and there was so much leftover I also have glutinous rice in the fridge to feast on.

In case you're wondering, I did manage to complete the Salmon challenge! Cooked the claypot rice another time, and thought those were the last of them. Lo and behold, after the freezer was defrosted, 2 more fillets appeared... grrrr!!! So bo pian, had to eat Salmon for 2 more meals. This time, I pan-fried using the sambal chilli - stingray style (sauce also lost in the freezer for many months).

Health and Safety

2010-08-25T23:10:00.003+01:00

Looks like that run wasn't such a good idea afterall. At least, it wasn't such a good idea to go running in t-shirt and shorts. The days of summer are fast fading, and we've been getting a streak of bizzare wintry weather. The winds are strong, cold and heartless, cutting the skin and sending chills not just to the spine but to every nerve in the body. It has been raining.

That night, after the run, I suddenly came down with serious runny nose that a few pieces of tissue paper couldn't solve. Took panadol flu and went to sleep, hoping that I will not be too sick the next morning. Miraculously, I was perfectly fine the next morning. My body was physically tired, not to mention the poor underused thigh muscles, but I was fine. Went to work and continued till the afternoon till I started sneezing irrationally, in a moderated temperature environment that was actually a tad too warm. Strangely enough, the runny nose disappeared when it was time to leave the office. I'm allergic to work, already.

I'm probably playing with fire a bit. 1 year on, and I still haven't signed up with the nearest clinic to me, so if I fall sick, I actually have no where to go. There is that private doctor that employees are entitled to go to, not far from work (and hence from home), but even for that you need to make an appointment 1 or 2 days in advance. It's ridiculous, by then one would probably not even be sick anymore. I will get my act together and register with the clinic opposite my house, but thank God for health - He's the great Physician. Back in Singapore, I would fall sick about 3 times a year, serious enough to see a doctor (at least by Singaporean standards of seriousness), but I have been preserved for 1 year, 4 seasons now. I'm not taking it for granted.

Finally am going to check out the BBC Proms tomorrow, can't wait, and I hope work passes quickly so I can shoot off to the Royal Albert Hall :) :) Maybe we'll stay for the late night prom too - it's Jamie Cullum!

Prom 54: BBC Symphony Orchestra

In the second of his two Proms this season David Robertson conducts two enduring works by composers who fashioned a new aesthetic out of Romantic roots.

The expansive melodies and edgy pace of centenary composer Samuel Barber are at their most powerful in the Violin Concerto, played here by Israeli-American virtuoso Gil Shaham. Sibelius's Second Symphony traces a path from terse drama to great affirmation.

For his new commission in his 50th-birthday year, jazz-inspired Mark-Anthony Turnage has resolved not to write 'an old man's piece'.

Mark-Anthony Turnage Hammered Out
(BBC co-commission with LA Philharmonic: world premiere) (c15 mins)
Barber Violin Concerto (25 mins)

interval

Sibelius Symphony No. 2 in D major (40 mins)

Gil Shaham violin

BBC Symphony Orchestra
David Robertson conductor

Gone crazy; went running.

2010-08-23T22:47:00.005+01:00

This deserves a blog entry because it was a historic deed, probably never to be repeated again.... I ran today. As in, I went for a run. Not a jog, a run. Voluntarily. The last time I did this was actually back in year 1 in uni, the 1st fateful frisbee training I went for, and promptly passed out after thanks to my lousy 7-11 mashed potato dinner.

It has been gloomy and rainy all weekend, but as I was strolling home, the sky was especially clear and blue, so I thought I'd explore the Thames path (that runs along the river Thames, duh) in my t-shirt and shorts. The concierge was especially nice and actually opened the gate for me to get out, so it was a good start. The thing is, I had no idea how fast or slow I should go, because it has been way too long. There was a small sense of familiarity, but then, I felt a lot stiffer and heavier than I used to in eons past. I felt like I couldn't really move, but I just forced myself anyway, and I think I ran too fast. Don't get me wrong, I was tired after like 5 mins, but I just kept going. The stupid Thames path actually got cut off halfway so I ended up along the road. I thought I'd run for a long long time, but when i got back, it had only been 20 mins, SIGH! but I did cover about 2 miles (3.2km), so that's pretty decent I think?

Ai yah, not that it really matters, I never have to do the much dreaded 2.4km run again. I will forever remember the time we resumed hockey training after the long december holidays and had a surprise NAPFA test sprung on us. The 5 stations are easy-enough (ok except sit and reach), but I really really hate the 2.4km run. It was the worst run I had ever done, clocking something like 16mins, yikes! There's something about running round and round that I have no affinity for; don't know how I survived all those years in track!

Anyway, I thought I'd continue the feat by going to the gym after that and trying out some of the weights machine that I had last properly touched back in RGS track days.... but when I got home, i promptly changed into swimwear and decided to go to the spa instead, HAH.

So there, a record, and a first in London. Probably last too, but who's to say another stroke of insanity will not strike again?

The Salmon Challenge

2010-08-21T23:12:00.000+01:00

Background: When David visited in June, he went to Billingsgate market one morning and bought 7kg worth of salmon, all in fillets and vacuum-packed. While the gesture was kinda sweet because I love fish, it turned out to be TOO MUCH fish. We gave quite a lot to J&S but the entire freezer was till stuffed with fish. That is not really a problem, except that I have a frozen freezer, which makes it impossible to take things out once you put them in... and it's been a problem awaiting a fix for a long time now. The landlord and I finally managed to get our act together and finally the engineers are coming to replace the freezer door on Thursday, and in order to do that they need the entire fridge and freezer to be defrosted and switched off for a day...

#1: Fish Pie

Inspired by Luyi's attempt something like 6 months ago, here are the things that went into the pie:

800g salmon (supposed to mix with Haddock but i didnt have any Haddock and A LOT of salmon), sliced into bite sized pieces
1 lemon
c.900g mashed potato
c.200ml single cream
parsley (leaves only), chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
1 carrot
4 eggs, hardboiled and sliced
butter, for the oven tray
single cream, 300ml, to ensure that the pie stays moist underneath the crispy potato top.

#2 Salmon Clay-Pot Rice

The other thing that I did as a quick fix for lunch today, was to make salmon clay-pot rice without the claypot. Pan fried a fillet and cooked rice in the rice cooker in the meantime. When the rice was cooked, I added sesame oil, soy sauce, pepper, chilli oil, a little bit of sambal chilli paste, small cut-up pieces of ba kwa (because they have expired and I was clearing out the kitchen cupboards today...), added in the deboned salmon in slices, and set the rice cooker to cook again.

At the end I added some chives and pork floss (also from the cupboard clear-out, this packet had no expiry date...)

This was the result, it was yummy-delicious!

There is yet more Salmon in the freezer, and I only have about 3 days left. Considering that the Fish Pie is gonna last me a good 3 days, I'm not sure what else to do!!! Help!

Echidna

2010-08-17T23:18:00.003+01:00

Remember how in primary school we learnt that the only 2 mammals in the world that lay eggs are the platypus and the spiny anteater? Well, I learnt today that another name for the spiny anteater is Echidna.

The big acquisition was finally announced in the press today and we can finally speak about it freely without referring to it as Project Porc.up.ine and we can start calling the companies by their real names instead of silly things like Bad.ger, Ro.dent, and yes, Echidna. Looks like BH.P is not in for a easy ride given such negative press, but I do hope they get through so that all our hard work will not be in vain! To be fair we wasted most of the weekend waiting on M&A to provide a working financial model, which one would think they are paid to be competent for. We would have gotten everything done much quicker had we started on our own model, sheesh, and at least I'd know what the model's trying to say, even with my half-baked modelling skills. Already started getting teased by people today about "the failed deal that we spent so much time on"; was at a buddy lunch so I missed the action in the office today when SR first saw the news on TV and shouted across the floor to R about it so everyone knew.

I've become buddy supreme. Just added another buddy to my collection today, so now I have 4 official buddies I need to ensure integrate well into the firm, heh. Been doing so much of this peripheral stuff I haven't had a lot of time to do proper work, not that I'm really complaining. Having some sort of variance in work is always nice. Having said that, Amee and I are rather appalled with our intern buddies, who were given a Brera coffee voucher each for 2 coffees + £10 worth of anything. We set up a coffee session this evening, only to find out that they have conveniently lost the voucher, didn't apologise and didn't even volunteer to pay for our drinks! Not that we are being petty, but surely that reflects quite poorly on character, plus they are quite awkward socially and would only answer questions posed at them! One would think that going to some of the best universities in the country and world would contribute to some character-building, but no!

Am gonna film part of some new campus recruitment video tomorrow too. I suspect they were just trying to prove diversity, and I think I fit that quite nicely, being 1. Female in a male-dominated workplace 2. Asian working in a European Bank 3. Not in Front Office, and 4. having a strange accent when I speak.

One day I'll look back at the things I do at work, and laugh.

I miss Singing

2010-08-15T23:34:00.004+01:00

Haven't used them vocal cords in ages, a huge contrast from a year and a half ago, when my entire weekends were actually filled with choir practices.

Occurred to me today that I haven't actually sung any song at all in a long long time. It's not really that I have no song to sing, but no occasion to. In church, I'm stuck at the organ every time I'm there and there's definitely no room for multitasking on that monster. At home, I don't really want she-who-must-not-be-named to hear me.

Miss the good old times back home when we would always burst into song. Someone would start humming a tune very softly, and very soon, another person would pick it up and start "stealing" the other person's song. When we got bored with work (which was quite often) we would often sit at the piano, play and sing something together. Sometimes we would go through an entire book and sing everything in it, just for fun.

Listened to the CD we cut back in 2006 on the way to church. Obviously it didnt sound very professional at all, but just hearing the blend (or lack thereof) of voices made me feel quite sad. I heard my own voice, and nearly couldnt recognise it anymore. TBH it could very well have been sharon's or karen's voice I can't tell, and I can't remember which parts I sang for each song.

I wish I could sing again, I wish I could play nice songs on the piano. I miss just sitting at the piano and trying to figure out how a song went. And this is the closest example I have: imperfect, for it was unpracticed, but therein lies the beauty of spontaneity. This was back in February when I was home for 2 weeks, and Sharon said she had bought a scorebook for duets and was waiting for me to come home and play with her (i think this is just the 1st half of the song before the complications kicked in...heh):

It is a privilege to sing, and a greater privilege when there are people to sing with. Why do people not want to sing in church, or at YF? I can't understand.

Home in December

2010-08-10T23:32:00.004+01:00

In better news, i finally plucked up the courage to speak to my boss, P, about going back to Singapore for 3 weeks in December. I offered to work from the Singapore office for a week to provide cover when people take holidays at year-end, and also as an opportunity for me to meet the team there...

He agreed! I was so relieved, and also found out in the process that in this country, you don't "lose" your public holidays when they fall on Saturdays. So I actually get 27 and 28 Dec off for Christmas and Boxing Day, and 3 Jan off for New Year's Day! Wow, that's the most awesome news to my Singaporean ears since National Day yesterday.

Not sure how many days of holidays that would mean, might only be 8, how cool is that!

Next tasks: book those exorbitantly priced air tickets for 10 dec - 2 Jan; and sign up for that 5-day course at ICPAS, though it costs a flipping $525!

The day Thou gavest, Lord, is ended

2010-08-08T23:55:00.002+01:00

The day Thou gavest, Lord, is ended,

The darkness falls at Thy behest;

To Thee our morning hymns ascended,

Thy praise shall sanctify our rest.

We thank Thee that Thy church, unsleeping,

While earth rolls onward into light,

Through all the world her watch is keeping,

And rests not now by day or night.

As o’er each continent and island

The dawn leads on another day,

The voice of prayer is never silent,

Nor dies the strain of praise away.

The sun that bids us rest is waking

Our brethren ’neath the western sky,

And hour by hour fresh lips are making

Thy wondrous doings heard on high.

So be it, Lord; Thy throne shall never,

Like earth’s proud empires, pass away:

Thy kingdom stands, and grows forever,

Till all Thy creatures own Thy sway.

(John Ellerton)

Fun Facts: Queen Victoria chose this hymn to be sung at the 60th anniversary of her reign in 1897; it was also sung at the ceremony when Britain returned control of Hong Kong to China in 1997.

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Went to work on both Saturday and Sunday :( I hope I never have to do it ever again. It wasn't like we did that much work anyway. How sad for those who work day in and day out, where the boundaries of day and night are so blurred the days fuse into one, completely oblivious to life and the Giver of it.

Basic Manners and The Lack Thereof

2010-08-05T00:04:00.004+01:00

There are incredibly rude people in my home.

1. They do not make an effort to say hi or introduce themselves.

2. When I say hi in the morning, she looks at me like I'm mad and then ignores me. When I say hi a 2nd time in the night, she completely ignores me.

3. I proceed to offer her a mattress considering how she has been in my home for 3 nights now and will be for 2 more, though not my guest; and her host has only offered the sofa when there's a mattress sitting in the storeroom. She just says "no it's ok" without looking at me, and does not offer a word of thanks.

I know that Singaporeans are not the most polite people on the planet, and maybe my standards have been raised after months of being in a country where gentlemen actually exist (to some degree, definitely greater than SG) and it's actually basic courtesy to greet people, even strangers with "Hi, how are you?"...

But seriously, if you went to stay at someone's place, for FREE, could you not muster some basic manners, even obligatorily?

I must say I'm greatly appalled, but not surprised. As they say, birds of the same feather flock together.

Those things I thinks.

2010-08-03T23:16:00.007+01:00

Those Housing Agents from a very reputable firm called Knight Frank, they can't seem to get my surname or address right even after a whole year, and they want to charge me to renew my contract! Blatant daylight robbery and sheer incompetency, I say. Makes my blood boil every time I get an email from them.

Those Singaporean gatherings I used to go for, I can't really bring myself to go for them anymore and be all fake. I don't know if they are friends or not. Helps that they now love putting things on Sundays and I can't go anyway.

Those countless packets of frozen salmon, lost in the ice in in my frozen freezer, what shall I do with them? They need me to defrost the freezer before they can repair it. Maybe I'll make lots and lots of fish pie this weekend.

Those time slots I try to set aside, be they for exercise, sleep or quiet time, where do they go? I think I do set them aside, but only in my head; and a cobweb now covers that recess in my brain.

Those tickets I bought for Paintball this Saturday. I need 3 more people. Either I have no friends such that I can't think of anyone to ask, or I'm being way too choosy.

Decisions, decisions, decisions. Looks like it's not enough to just think those things.

Happy Birth-day, Ava!

2010-08-02T23:44:00.004+01:00

I was her first visitor!!! :) :) :)

Took some photos but I shall not put it up because it's the privilege of the parents to showcase such a beautiful baby to the world, their baby. 2 days old, and an angel.

Was so excited on Saturday that I went to buy some flowers, which is really un-me by the way. Still didn't know at that time whether it was going to be a girl or a boy because Ava was too big to come out and she loved keeping everyone in suspense (and pain), so I bought sunflowers! I really love how cheery they looked I think I might go back and buy some more for myself, when my bank account allows me to :)

One Dinner Too Many

2010-08-01T23:26:00.006+01:00

Another blessed and inspiring day.

Did not start out too well because the jubilee line was down again and the D7 refused to come, which caused my hopes of arriving early to evaporate into thin air. Wanted to get to church early to practice as I have no touched the organ in 2 weeks, and figured that someone must have messed up the buttons again and i'd have to spend time figuring out how to re-configure.

So there I was practicing, and playing the prelude. 2 mins before the service started, James goes up to the hymnnumber board and takes it down entirely - turns out that the hymns I was given were all from last week! I didn't even get to see the new hymns before the service started and the worst thing was that I had no idea how 2 of them went. Now being on the piano is easy, you can hide behind the organ and kinda sightread. But on the monster of the organ, I had to play the introduction and then figure out the tune and how to play it organ-style: was a semi-disaster but quite a funny incident anyway!

The afternoon was great. Had dinner at P&N's. Still can't get over how they call lunch, dinner, but only on Sundays. I haven't been over in quite a few months, and it's always nice to be there. Was slightly less tiring today because Lucy was in a sleepy mood and wasn't trying to play all her toys at once (and get me to play along)... but she can walk now, and boy is she good at it! She's done really well and a longlong way, I hope she catches up with everyone her age soon. Quick background: Lucy was born pre-mature, with 2 others in a triplet. She was the sole survivor and has mild Cerebral Palsy, so her muscles are stiff and loose at some wrong places. She never did manage to crawl, only shuffle, but she has found strength in her legs to walk perfectly normally now, at 2 years and 3 months! She's really intelligent too, and I'm sure in no time all the babbling will turn into words and sentences...

Because we were not busy playing with Lucy today, and because P was on holiday, we managed to have some good conversations. It's so inspirational talking to them because they always have all their priorities right despite the simple life they lead. They're not much older than me, but about a million times more mature and capable in life itself, and their secret is an open one - they really love God and walk in His will. Guess I can relate to N in a lot of ways - her Christian upbringing, values, sense of humour and her intellect (ok she far surpasses me in that faculty with her superior PhD). I really respect how she's given up a promising career after working so hard at university, to stay home and bring up Lucy and Zachary in the most remarkable way. She understands their every expression and reaction, and interacts with them in such a loving yet professional way. She balances control without being over-possessive; care without over-fussing. Her creativity and energy level ensures that the children are always entertained even with the simplest toys, and her humility really makes everything she does very very understated. I am never failed to be amazed just sitting there and observing.

Anyway, back to the title. So I came home after the evening service, and had my 2nd dinner. There was some leftover food from yesterday, and a Waitrose "reduced" chocolate trifle that expired yesterday, making it my 2nd full meal cum dessert for the day. Seriously bloated now, which is a bad thing to be when you're meant to be sleeping. Another week of challenges lies ahead, and I can't wait for the next weekend already!!!

And, we're going to Legoland in 2 weeks, wheeeee!!!! :) :)

The Garden of Life

2010-07-31T16:54:00.004+01:00

There are no flowers in the "garden", just some shrubs that form the natural wall that surrounds my flat and separates it from the public pathway.

Amazingly, we have not stepped out all too often, much less rendered any care to anything on it. Yet somehow, I noticed that weeds started to grow through the gaps in the concrete slabs, and I conveniently ignored it.

Winter came, they were quite resilient, event with the snow and frostbite temperatures.

Spring followed, and they continued growing, but I still wasn't too bothered - I figured that one day I'd go pull them all out at one go. I then promptly got caught up with the rest of life, and neglected to even look out of the window.

And then one day last week, i noticed that the weeds have now grown to a height that reached my waist, then i got worried that they would be too tough to pull out now.

Today, i decided to do a big clean-up. The weeds looked intimidating, and i protected my hands while yanking them out, yet i felt the slash across my palms as i pulled them out, roots et all (mostly, I suspect I didn't get some of them and they will regrow...). After that I spent a good 45mins trying to clear all the long-dead, dried orange leaves that have accumulated underneath the shrubs. Amongst the whole trash-bag full of dried leaves I also found at least 100 cigarrette butts, along with all sorts of trash like kitchen towels, plastic bags, containers, a Sony Bravia TV box (which I always knew was there because the wind kept playing with it and scared me with great noises in my sleep). No doubt the previous tenants had used the patio a lot more, and left a lot more behind. Who knows what went on in that "garden"?

I also found a host of creatures at the corner just outside my room, but that was just disgusting and I refuse to document what I saw.

I've never been a keen gardener. I only lasted an hour out there and didn't even manage to clear out all the leaves. I told myself that I'd come back out another day to finish the job. The big question is: when?

What an analogy of life -

who are the flowers in your garden of life?

who's the sun who even gives life to all creatures?

and what are the weeds you need to pull out today?

Happy 1 year anniversary to me!

2010-07-12T23:12:00.003+01:00

today marks exactly 1 year in this country not as a tourist but a tax-paying resident.

my 1st week here was probably the best. i distinctly landing at heathrow at 5am on a Monday morning, and was surprised at how smoothly the baggage clearance went. hopped into the pre-booked cab, and i distinctly remember the strange of feeling of familiarity as the cab across the whole of central london, from west to east.

i remember the 1 day. arriving at sarah's and james' at about 7.30 in the morning. it was just another monday morning for them, and it wasnt time to wake up yet, but they dragged themselves out of bed and helped me to lug my heavy bags in, all 46kg. they then left me to sleep, which i did for a few hours. why not more, i don't know. i remember waking up thinking it was so surreal, and i didnt know what was ahead of me, or what i would do on the 1st day of a new life. but time went on, as it always does, and i found myself trying to take in the whole scene. i lazed around at home, still kinda jetlagged. i took a walk to the nearby roman road market, found an atm, and keyed in the 4 numbers making the pin i used to know quite well. thankfully it went through.

i remember the 1st night, when sarah and james got home, we had dinner and they said, "let's take a walk in the park after dinner". i couldnt believe my eyes - it was still bright as day at 9pm. the experience of the previous year seems quite a distant memory. within a year, sarah got mugged in the same park, and the length of day was shortened drastically.

people here are obsessed with the weather. the default weather is gloomy and bad. some days, it is good. and people REALLY cherish each day of sunshine in a way i've not quite appreciated. no ray of sunshine is spared and no inch of green grass uncovered when the sun was out. my days here have been like the weather - by default, quite dreary, lonely and mediocre. some days, i really think my dream of having an abundant life is going to come true. these are days when work goes well, and only takes place between the hours of 9am and 6pm. there is some time for shopping, cooking, exercising, and then relaxing - maybe reading a book or something. and i'd never be tired in the mornings because i'll go to bed early and have a full 8 hours. every night. but it was not to be, the independent life has also brought a whole wave of issues i always classed too "grown up" for me.

in the space of a year, i learnt about putting a roof over my head, and making sure it's functional all the time.

i also learnt that if you don't think about what you're going to put on the table, there's just going to be nothing there. period.

i learnt that dealing with people is the trickiest of skills to master, and that i should never expect people to treat me the same way i treat them, or i'll be disappointed. it is a lot easier to have a generous and "forgetful" heart, and never expect anything in return, then i might be pleasantly surprised once or twice. but i've also learnt that not every one you speak to on a daily basis automatically become friends. in fact, there is a time and place to be selective and to keep a distance.

i learnt that there is no room for falling ill in this country, and no one to fuss over me when i am, and it would be horrible. so i learnt to listen to my body and know when i'm coming down with something - and tackle it then. thank God there has been nothing full-blown yet.

i learnt that money has an unimaginable grip on people and can turn them into beasts. i re-learned that there is no profit for man to give anything in exchange for his soul. i learnt that the wager on the soul is so great, and the financial industry is a terrible industry to be in this respect. too much interaction with billions of dollars is not a good gauge of the real world. i need to stop adding letter abbreviations after a string of numbers.

i have learnt that self-pity doesn't get me anywhere. some things does not require any emotions, just get up and get on with it. it is an unfeeling world out there, and the other 6.999m other people in this city probably doesnt even know i exist.

i learnt that no one is going to tell me what I did wrong or right. only i am accountable to God and God alone. there's no point leading the superficial life and meaningless "eat, drink and be merry" life, like so many people do.

in so many ways i'm still the same old me, still can't stand inefficiency, still wanting to do way too many things, and still getting myself into situations i can't get out of.

but in a myriad of other ways i'm a new me, learning something new everyday, not just about me, but about life.

what a difference a year makes, and i survived!

Thank You God!

searching for The One

2010-07-03T23:14:00.003+01:00

Today marks the start of the search for the perfect One. Hopefully it's not too long and tiring a search, but given my sheer indecisiveness i suspect i'm a long way off.

Sarah very kindly brought me to the 1st shop and it was quite fun! stepping in and out of countless (ok, more like 10) different ones only made them all fuse into one and at the end of it, i was still quite confused, though i did manage to pick 2 out.

the budget? no idea. but i hope i can get a VAT refund, lol!

the silliest thing was, we forgot to get the model numbers at the end so now i cant even look it up online. and no photography allowed!

blatant convenience

2010-06-10T22:12:00.003+01:00

love the way you conveniently hide in the room when i'm trying to clean up, and then coincidentally wander out when it's all done.

also, love the way you never clean the house, or even after yourself.

(sounds like something my mummy would say to me too, actually.)

but,

i love the way this whole experience has shown me the pathetic human condition. people are generally quite good at hiding the evil within, but it's so blatantly manifested in you.

the cost of security

2010-04-13T23:48:00.003+01:00

is HIGH.

am contemplating the price of safety. never felt like i want, no, need a car so badly. but even then, buy or rent? when is it too dangerous, when is it too expensive?

decisions.... please give me wisdom.

Blessings in Big Packages

2010-03-29T00:01:00.002+01:00

It's been a long time. There is so much that this blog has missed out on, and a lot left unthanked for.

Today was a good day.

Thank You God for a great church with sound preaching and extremely nice people. Spent the afternoon with Patrick, Naomi, Lucy and Zachary. They're so kind to invite me for dinner every Sunday.... Lucy is so adorable, watching the way Naomi interacts with the children is so inspiring, and Zach, well, he's so tiny and cuddly (for that, i'll forgive him for belching milk onto my sleeve).

Thank You for teaching me to be content with what I get, and to live within my means.

Thank You for a job and the pleasant people I work with.

Thank You for sustaining me week after week despite my slacking off. Thank You for the reminders every Sunday.

Thank You, for seeing us through 8 years and the testimony of Your grace.

Thank You, for numberless blessings, in big fat packages that I cannot miss.

Journey to the (North) East… Of Europe (V)

2009-06-23T19:08:00.001+01:00

u know what, the wait for the st petersberg entry is rather futile. let's just move on. :)

Days 8-9: Riga, Latvijas Republika (Latvia)

7-8 May 2008

Couch-surfing and a truly Latvian Experience

by carol

So after spending some 16 hours on the bus all the way from St. Petersberg - and being held up 3 hours at the Russian border in the dead of the night and one poor random guy being interrogated on behalf of the rest of us who were sound asleep on the bus - we pulled into a bus bay near the Riga market. Boy, were we glad to get off that bus. These overnight buses are no joke man....

Since we were relatively unprepared for most of the trip as it was organised for us, we had no idea what Latvia was about, except that it was a baltic state. Yocksong the STB man did all the research and even got us our place to stay through couch-surfing (what is that? read more to find out!), so we planned to follow him cosely.

After exchanging our remaining Russian Ruble for the Latvian Lat (not a very creative name, but it was a surprisingly strong currency - even stronger than the pound at that time), and refusing to deposit our big backpacks in the lockers at the market, we set off - on foot.

The sun was still rather low in the sky as we headed south into the historical old city. We had about 2-3 hours to kill before it was time to meet our Latvian hosts for lunch. The old city was very pretty, with many narrow alleys and cobbled streets - and extremely peaceful, with the exception of the ocassional tour group. But what I remember most about that morning was trudging around the place with that huge backpack. David and I took turns, but it got heavier as time passed. I dunno how those people on the amazing race do it!

There are 2 prominent meeting points in Riga (oh it's a very small city by the way. you can literally walk around in a day) - the Freedom Monument and the Laima Clock nearby. A little about Latvia: it has a very troubled past, being ruled and occupied by many nations. It declared independence in 1918, after being part of the Russian Empire for some 200 years. The Germans and then Soviet Army later occupied it again, and oppressing the people greatly and depleting the population of Latvians. Independence was finally declared again in 1991. Today, only 60% of the population are Latvian. The older Latvians still speak Russian, as much as they hate them. Anyway, we met our host, Agnesse and her husband/boyfriend at the Freedom Monument, and they brought us to the University of Latvia (one of 2 unis in the country) cafeteria for lunch. It was supposed to be cheaper to eat in the cafeteria but it was still quite expensive to us... :( It was traditional Latvian food but didn't make much of an impression of me, but i remember there was a huge variety of salad and jelly for dessert. We chatted a bit to our hosts and found them to be extremely nice people who spoke rather good english. They gave us directions to their place, and then we parted as they had to go back to work.

Yocksong wanted us to walk to their place, claiming it wasn't very far; but we protested vehemently, and so we ended up taking the tram a few stops down the main road. We proceeded to look for their apartment and it was a nightmare of a search. The address led us to a very very rundown block of flats, off the main-road, and all the way to the last block. The stairway was very dark and musty and really really scary. Still, we braced ourselves and ventured to knock on the door, hoping that Agnesse's brother would open the door. Alas, no one answered, leaving us to wonder if we had gotten the right place at all. As we milled around the dodgey place, thinking and praying hard, we saw some people go in and out of the apartments, some giving us weird looks but no one really offering any help. We tried to stop one or two to ask if they knew 'where Agnesse lives', but of course, why should they know? After a long while, we got quite desperate, so yocksong ventured into one of the shops along the road and tried to borrow a phone to call Agnesse at work. Thank God he managed to get through to her and she said she would get hold of her brother. So we had to wait again. Some time later, a young chap walked by and we asked him again, if he knew where Agnesse lives, and this time, a positive reply! :)

Gratefully, we followed him back up that dodgey flight of stairs (think of singapore in the 60s or something) and into their apartment. It was rather basic, but sufficiently homely. Oh i forgot to mention the weather. For some strange reason, while it was super hot up north in Russia, it was freezing when we got to Riga. It was inexplicable - it was May and the flowers were blooming, but temperatures just dipped, so we were tired, cold and miserable. That was when the next bomb was dropped on us. Agnesse's brother told us that the hot water supply in the house was spoilt, and they haven't been showering at home because it was too cold. However, the last time we took a shower was probably 2 days ago in St Petersberg (since the hostel there was terrible too) we didn't have much of a choice, so we decided to quickly shower while we could, while it was still day. Obviously, i showered with minumum water, and at the end wondered if it was effective at all. Still, it felt good to at least have a roof over our head in a country I know nothing about, and no one.

This couch-surfing thing is very interesting though. It is really based on trust. You meet a complete stranger, let him into your house and then expect him to be a good person. Soon after Agnesse's brother showed us in, he left us all alone in the house. Agnesse wasn't going to be back till late that night, and she had invited us to join her at a party at some warehouse. We were so tired, and not interested in the party, but yocksong obliged on our behalf. So off we trooped again, on foot this time (it's a lot easier to walk without the bags), to complete our tour of the city (we spent a lot of time at the free Latvian Museum of Occupation, which was very educational and fascinating). Dinner was a simple affair and we had Georgian food, which is generally somehow very popular in the former Soviet bloc. Yocksong went off to meet Agnesse; David and I wandered around the place somemore, thinking we could see Riga by night.... But we didn't get very far - only to the train station, where there was a 'shopping mall'. Reminded me a lot of bukit panjang plaza before it was renovated (i.e. pathetic). Still, we amused ourselves in the supermarket before we decided to head back because we were so tired by then. We spent the rest of the time chatting with Agnesse's brother.

It was a wednesday (definitely weekday) night, but Agnesse was volunteering at this party thing, and her boyfriend picked them up about midnight. When they got back, they still had energy to talk to us (david and I were leaving the next morning anyway) about their lives and what they do. I guess they characterised Latvians for us - very resilient, determined, passionate, zesty and full of life. They were building up their country almost from scratch after all the years of opression. Yet, they do barely form the majority in their own country. Their parents speak russian but this generation does not hold that much contempt for the Russians - they would rather move ahead, and watch their country win the next ice-hockey world championships (yes, with a population of slightly over 2million, and coming out from war after war, they have produced a sporting team of world standard. how about singapore?). it was very very good talking to them, but we had to give in to our tiredness too soon.

It was time to couch-surf. literally. Agnesse had also informed us during lunch that their inflatable matress was spoilt... and all that was left was the couch that could have its back flattened out to form a bed. 3 of us slept on the couch that night. Because we slept vertically instead of horizontally, there was lots of space between us. I think i had a swimming float for a pillow. But i also think we all slept so soundly that we didn't move at all.

The next morning, david and I had to leave early for the airport. Yocksong was staying for another day. We had kinda finished the whole city the day before and there wasnt really much to see, but Agnesse had taken the day off to bring YS around (how fortunate!). From the pictures, it looked like they had a lot of fun! But David and I were really happy to be going home to copenhagen. This trip had been one of the longest we've been on, and it's only fun being a tourist for so long. Yet, the couch-surfing experience made it one of the most interesting experiences we've had throughout the exchange. It's a great way to get to know the locals and their culture, and get free accomodation! www.couchsurfing.com

The next morning, our hosts offered us breakfast. But we were too paiseh to take any, except for a hot tea. We felt quite bad for staying only 1 night and wanting to leave their country so soon without talking to them much. (it's not their fault, we just had enough of travelling for the moment!) Agnesse even gave me chocolates to bring along and then sent us off. We went around a bit more that morning, to try to finish spending all our Lats (we hardly spent anything in Latvia!) bought some souvenirs and some famous Laima chocolates and sweets at the airport and still had change out the remaining Lats into kroners/euros.

For once we were not running for our flight. And it was a nice feeling of familiarity and home to be back in Copenhagen. We had come round in a circle: Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki, Moscow, St Petersberg, Riga, Copenhagen. The countries we visited weren't backward or dirty, but those places just weren't home. Also, we had brought our Danish textbooks all around, but hardly touched them. Now we had to sit for our Danish exams the next day....

prayer meeting

2009-06-23T08:24:00.002+01:00

i don't like it when i get called to play the piano for prayer meeting, cos then the whole world thinks i only go to prayer meeting cos it's my turn to play when i was already going anyway. pffft.

An introduction to the Inner Mongolian Grasslands

2009-06-22T09:08:00.003+01:00

chocolate fondue + water

2009-04-24T09:08:00.002+01:00

was craving for chocolate but there was almost none in the fridge except for a packet of expired chocolate fondue chocolate. so i decided to make some chocolate "fondue" for myself, but since i couldn't find the chocolate fondue set, i decided to improvise...

put the chocolate (solid) into a bowl and boiled half a pot of water. when the water was boiling i placed the bowl into the pot and let it melt.

then, david called. so i talked to him and happily forgot to keep an eye on the stove....

what resulted was....... ferociously boiling water spilling into the chocolate bowl and mixing into the chocolate. it looked gross i tell you. but how can anyone waste good chocolate?

and there was another problem. how was i gonna to get the bowl out of the pot?! ans: with much difficulty. (c.f. JJ Williams)

so anyway, FINALLY, i'm sitting here eating my half diluted chocolate 'fondue' which is actually just melted chocolate. with cut up apples. fuji apples, my favourite.

and the chocolate still tastes as good.... ahhhhh :)

six and decreasing

2009-04-19T13:06:00.002+01:00

i just realised
that i have only
6 more weeks left in singapore

tomorrow i have my last exam ever

6 more YFs left, 6 more friday dinners, 7 more sunday services depending on what time i leave.

oh man, there's so much to do and too little time!

Passion Week - a lighter side

2009-04-06T18:30:00.001+01:00

rev quek was so funny today. we had our quizzes marked and he realised that one of the questions could be misinterpreted, so he said 'ok both answers are correct - passion week what'...

ok i think i was the only one who found that funny (as usual)

but, maybe it's time i start finding some passion from somewhere, about my work at least! in about 2 weeks i won't have the chance to anymore!

Knowing the end from the beginning...

2009-03-31T05:23:00.002+01:00

Apologies for the rather emo nature of this post, haha. it's the last week of school now, and i mean, LAST, for the rest of my life. I can't really decide how to feel: a bit of excitement, a bit of nostalgia, some regret, and plenty of anxiety. Not sure if i'm overplaying the significance of this last week but I don't really want it to slip by (like all the other 15*7 weeks) and not take a moment to think about it all.

lately i've been really worried, for the first time, and arguably too belatedly, about my faltering GPA. i have no idea why it is that only at the end of it all then i start to notice how close i am to attainment of an academic accolade. kinda regret that i didn't put in sufficient effort in the past semesters that i might now have to live with that narrow miss for the rest of my life. but it's too late for regrets now, and it's never time to worry, because why should i, if God already knows the outcome, and He knows that it's best for me? at the end of the day, i guess i've to ask myself if this pursuit for academic pride, glory, or to say that i've fulfilled my vocation and did the best i could to glorify His name (because i know i could have have a lot better?)

I believe that all things will work out for good. good does not mean I will get what i want, but I will have what i need. sufficient for me - the way He meant it to be. Truly, i've already experienced more mercies than i deserve on this academic journey - can i still doubt its availability? Shall i not rather rest in the peace of the knowledge that the One who knows the end from the beginning will bring whatever He deems fit to pass? all these are but head knowledge - so difficult to translate to heart knowledge... herein lies the test, and the challenge. Give me grace, and greater faith.

All the way my Savior leads me,
What have I to ask beside?
Can I doubt His tender mercy,
Who through life has been my Guide?
Heav’nly peace, divinest comfort,
Here by faith in Him to dwell!
For I know, whate’er befall me,
Jesus doeth all things well;
For I know, whate’er befall me,
Jesus doeth all things well.
All the way my Savior leads me,
Cheers each winding path I tread,
Gives me grace for every trial,
Feeds me with the living Bread.
Though my weary steps may falter
And my soul athirst may be,
Gushing from the Rock before me,
Lo! A spring of joy I see;
Gushing from the Rock before me,
Lo! A spring of joy I see.

tour of singapore: National Orchid Garden (with a very cool model!)

2009-03-27T14:46:00.010Z

19 March 2009

We were supposed to go to botanic gardens for a surprise picnic to celebrate Karen's 18th birthday. Sharon and I wanted to bring joel and chloe, who wanted to bring shermin, which then made it necessary for aunty carrie to come along, who also brought sean and sheryl, who then called sayuri. and ah ma decided to come along too.

we finally arrived at botanic gardens, after a long-drawn process of trying to get karen out of the house first before we could pack everything. It was a long long walk to the amphiteatre, where we were supposed to lay in ambush. This is the first time i'm visiting the gardens again after a good 5-6 years, and it really does look slightly different. It was ah ma's first time there too, and along the walk, she commented (in hokkien), 'what's there to see here? all grass and trees...'

until...

we went by the national orchid garden and it seemed that we were still quite early. I offered to go in with Ah ma, since it was free for students during the school holidays. it costs $5 for adults, so mummy stayed out and handled the kids.

in we went, it was quite big, and surprisingly, it was a very pleasant and colourful experience. there really was a large variety of orchids and some other plants too, and i think my grandmother really loves flowers. i tried to make her pose for pictures and it was personal satisfaction when i got one with a smiling face, haha.

a bit about the place: It is located in the western end of the botanic gardens, and is about maybe 6-7 acres. There are over 1000 species and 2000 hybrids in the collection, and the landscaping is very well-done. there was also a section for VIP orchids, where special breeds were presented to visiting dignitaries and an 'orchidarium', which housed the more exotic species i believe.

here are some pictures:

at the entrance... i really wanted a picture of the 2 of us and the background by my arms weren't long enough...

so i got a random schoolboy to help us, but he did a terrible job... the above is edited, and still quite bad. heh. so i gave up and decided to be the photographer from hence on...

touching the petals and telling me about how the orchid is one of the hardiest flowers around, and what some of the other plants in the garden were for...

i made her go into this huge birdcage thingy... part of the rather interesting landscaping.

plus, there was a big photo sign, which means, 'TAKE YOUR TOURISTY PICTURE HERE'. so we did.

presenting... the national flower of singapore... vanda miss jochaim...!

inside the orchidarium, there were interesting breeds...

this was like 5 mins after mum called to tell us to get out of there cos karen was coming... we were trying to find the exit, and saw this mirror. some quick thinking resulted in this, but we were kinda still moving so it's blur... wasted :| she was very amused indeed.

my ah ma is so cute, half way through, she whipped out her handphone from her handbag and told me to take a picture of her and the flowers, but i didn't know how to read the chinese words so i couldnt figure out how to activate the camera, so i used my phone instead. just put the photos onto her phone just now, it's proudly sitting on both her's and my ah gong's phone desktops! :)

i wonder when this liking for purple started. aunty carrie likes purple too, so does sharon.

anyway, bottom line is, it was a very fruitful day, i came out very happy, and it's been a long time since a buck has gone such a long way... :)

i <3>

some of the other photos from that day are here:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=96649&id=692471387

SUPER-marketing!

2009-03-27T07:12:00.002Z

i love going to supermarkets! maybe cos i love buying food - or just food in general.

i think this was developed back in an ulu town called Sandusky in Ohio, USA, where the huge wal-mart and meijers offered a lot more than our daily necessity - bying junk food (betty crocker's brownie mix, ben and jerry's for $2.45 a tub, etc) brought much comfort, and so did our shopping trips which usually only happened at midnight when we were all free and the mall was empty. i never really thought about how unsafe it was to be out so late at night, how naive. Thank God for His unfailing protection though i didn't even think to ask for it.

on exchange, this supermarket obsession turned to a hunt for the best bargains for the staples. Having supermakets near our home was one of the main criteria, and we landed in a place with about 4 supermarkets within walking distance. I distinctly remember the layouts of the aldi downstairs, the netto near church and the føtex opposite school. I think we went to the supermarket almost every day, it was kinda kua1 zhang1 we would always buy rice, eggs, ham, sausages, corn flakes, sugar and milk. those were more or less what we ate everyday.

went with the parents 2 sundays ago to NTUC and i quite enjoyed it. actually, i think going to NTUC was one of the "second" things (after the first things) i did after coming back to singapore. haha, i know, so auntie.

anyway i was craving a bratwurst just now, so i trooped downstairs to giant and came back with quite a lot of things. oops. bought mustard too, which we never have at home. my mum scolded me for being extravagant but i don't do this all the time.......

A normal day which will soon cease to be

2009-03-13T19:25:00.004Z

this was written on thurs on my handphone, and i just never found the time to put it up, so here it is (warning: boring post ahead, unless your name is sharon or debbie :p)

Yesterday was a rather normal school day. As usual, i couldn't wake up, despite the fact that class was at 12. Rushed to school, as usual, bursting through the door something like 10 mins late. Luyi, chian and I took longer than was given for break, having had to check out one of the first successful bazaars in the concourse. Alas, the queue for Ramley Burger was too long n not only did I not get the burger in the end, I was late, for the 2nd time that day. What a disaster!

Met debbie at 315, in a valiant attempt to keep to our weekly wed meet-up after we stopped taking at least 1 class together abt a yr and a half ago. She was attacking the international fair, and I would soon find out her intentions...

We checked out the photo booth. "Flaunt it", it was called; for me it will probably be one of the last times i get to flaunt my student status for special student deals. We made plans to return today to get a resume photo taken. I say "plans", because that's what we always do initially, with noble resolves to stick to them, but we both knew that things change all the time, as we would later see...

I then found out about the free international buffet / potluck - the requirement was to visit 4 booths to get 4 stickers to be eligible... Now we know why debbie was attempting a quiz on vietnam when i found her... She already had 2 stickers, so we needed 2 more. (we rationalised tt we could share e stickers, or the food.) She simply brought me to e same 2 booths to do e exact same things she did, and then we shamelessly went for the food. Yes I guess it's true that we would only do such cheapo things together... :) the corner we chose to hide our faces while we ate turned out to be not much of a corner, and we were spotted by asilah, joan, eugene, weeleng and yangwei. Owells.

Headed to the gym(!), for the 2nd time this year and probably the 5th time in the lasy 4 years. Earlier this semester i decided that i should make use of what remaining short time I have left in SMU to fully utilise the "state-of-the-art" facilities. Alas! One doesn't turn from an absolute gym-hater to a gym freak overnight, and I only lasted 25 mins on the cardio machine. The TV shows were boring and no matter how fast I tried to go my heart refused to beat faster to my "target" heartrate of 180. Guess my mind told my legs tt I was too unfit and so it didn't go too fast. Nonetheless, i was sufficiently tired and bored watching channel 5 I decided to call it a day, or half hour, depending on how u look at it. Was looking forward to a shower in the nice showers but found that I had forgotten my toiletries! To think i spent way too long packing them in the morning, resulting in my being late for class! Sigh! Figured that i was going home anyway, i didn't really need to shower... Haha. I mean, since when have I showered after smelly hockey trainings, or muddy frisbee training for that matter?

Met sharon @ raffles city and she gave me a ride back on her shiny black vespa. It's only my 2nd time pillioning behind her and I was quite scared (the 1st isn't even counted cos it was within cck!). Going up the circular ramp of the carpark was bad enough, but being overtaken by another motorbike while already being in between 2 cars was too much of a close shave for me. When that guy went by he was literally 3 cm away! and then, while still on the BKE, the inevitable occurred - it started to rain. Sharon rode into the shoulder where many other bikers were busy putting on raincoats, and guess what - she changed out of her moccasins into slippers. Shoes, we love our shoes way too much... Haha. We didn't bother with the raincoat (there's only 1 anyway)because we were almost home and the rain wasn't tt heavy anyway. But still, it was funny.

Much later that night, at like 345am, while I was still having my strat meeting online (which started at 930pm btw), i got a notification tt debbie had posted a video of me on facebook. memories of tt fateful drive into boston where our faithful car broke down and we had to abandon it. What on earth was she doing awake at 4am?!? She came on msn and we knew there and then that meeting today at 11am was impossible.

The time now is 2pm, and i'm standing in line for the photo thing, and waiting for debbie to turn up.

This is the story of our lives, for now.

Journey to the (North) East… Of Europe (IV)

2009-02-13T14:44:00.002Z

Days 3-5: Москва́ (Moscow) , Россия (Russia) Part II

2-4 May 2008

by David Ho

Goodbye Moscow… Hello St.Petersberg

I walked hurriedly under the mid-day sun, breaking out into a jog every now and then as the wave of panic and paranoia got closer to overwhelming me. As I approached the entrance of the bazaar I readied my 10 ruble entrance fee, a fee which was non-existent for the previous 2 days. At the gate I promptly handed over the money as I strode through the entrance, barely pausing to receive my “entrance pass”, all the while cursing this supposedly communist gate keeper for his opportunistic, capitalist hypocrisy. As I walked further into the bazaar my mind hardly registered the familiar rows of dolls and soviet memorabilia, I was focused on one thing and one thing only- finding Carol. She had missed our meeting time some 45 minutes earlier and the concern that I initially felt had quickly slipped to worry with each one that passed. The fact that she was supposed to be with Yock Song, our unofficial tour guide who “always keeps the time”, further exacerbated my fears that something had gone horribly wrong…

The day’s events were turning out to be a sharp contrast to the placidity of the previous 18 hours. Nothing much had happened, after we left the Kremlin we walked around the city. We took a look at the famous Bolshoi Theatre and tried in vain to find tickets for a cheap opera/ballet/show. After having dinner (at KFC) we headed back to the hotel and that was about it…

I headed deeper and deeper into the bazaar in my desperate search. Panic had started to gnaw its way into my heart, causing it to beat faster as I despaired over how large the bazaar was; there were whole sections that we had left unexplored. Just then I bumped into another of our (Taiwanese) travelling mates, and I asked him if he had seen Carol and Yock Song. He said he had, about a half hour ago, and that they said they were heading back then. With no news to allay my fears and no plan besides frantically tearing through the whole bazaar, I decided to head back to the hotel to touch base with Debbie and the others who were waiting. My mind was quite a blank on my walk back, the only thing I can remember thinking was how hot it was, how sticky I had become and how we were supposed to be heading to St.Petersberg that night. Supposed to be- if I could find Carol… Without over dramatizing, it would suffice to say that morbid thoughts had started to creep in. In that frame of mind, there was no way I could have guessed what would happen just 20 meters from the hotel. From about those 20 meters away, I saw someone round the last corner that would lead me to the hotel entrance. She was wearing her black jacket, faded blue jeans and green shoes. With a concerned look on her face, she hurried towards me as I did the same, and we shared a moment of relief. Carol quickly apologized that both she and Yock Song had forgotten the time, as well as causing me so much worry. I was just so relieved!

The 5 (or was it 6) of us did the usual thing of depositing our bags and the train station and did more shopping and eating at Arbatskaja. Carol and I managed to find “moo moo”, the restaurant that served reasonably priced local food, while the rest ate at a Georgian restaurant. From there Carol and I split from the rest to try and visit more places. We landed up at a spot where, slightly less than 200 years ago, a Frenchman by the name of Napoleon was stood up by the Russians. Poklonnaya Hill. Napoleon’s Grande Armée had overrun the city and he had expected to receive the keys to the kremlin, which was the symbol for surrender. The Russians never surrendered. The victory park is dedicated to the wars that Russia has fought, but has a particular emphasis on the Napoleonic war and the Second World War. In the far western side of the park, the huge museum you see in our photos is the Museum Panorama “Battle Borodino”. The Battle of Borodino took place just a few days before Napoleon took Moscow, and was a particularly bloody and indecisive battle, after which Napoleon had remarked: “Of the fifty battles I have fought, the most terrible was that before Moscow. The French showed themselves to be worthy victors, and the Russians can rightly call themselves invincible”. I could go on and on about the park, the obelisk, the always awesomely cool St.George slaying the dragon, or the blood-red-lit-by-night-fountains, but the pictures will suffice. We tried visiting the museum but were too late, and so we left the park in our efforts to cram one more attraction into our schedule.

Read what Wikipedia has to say about our final attraction in Moscow: “The Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts is the largest museum of European art in Moscow, located in Volkhonka street, just opposite the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. The museum's name is misleading, as it has nothing to do with the famous Russian poet. After the Russian capital was moved to Moscow in 1918, the Soviet government decided to transfer thousands of works from St Petersburg's Hermitage Museum to the new capital. These paintings formed a nucleus of the Pushkin museum's collections of Western art. But the most important paintings were added later from the State Museum of New Western Art. These comprised Impressionist and Post-Impressionist artwork, including top works by Van Gogh, Gauguin, Picasso, Dufrénoy and Matisse. In 1937, Pushkin's name was appended to the museum, because the Soviet Union marked the centenary of the poet's death that year.” – Doesn’t it sound awesome and cultured? We never found it… After strolling through a park with some interesting sculptures, we made our way to the train station.

It was finally time to say goodbye Moscow, and hello to St.Petersberg!

From Moscow Magic!

closing moments of 2008

2008-12-31T15:56:00.005Z

year-end service has always been special. The closing moments of the year, spent in church, provides an excellent opportunity to reflect on the past year and think about the next year. It is also one of the few times in a year that the church truly feels like a big family- one that can share openly even about rather personal stuff, and the blessings and trials of the year.

It is pitch dark outside, and the windows reflect clearly the faces of everyone seated inside.

I'm a little disappointed this year. the message was wayyy too long (and i still dun get where the 3 Cs fit in lehhhh... i asked jiahui a million times during the msg...) but anyway, there just wasn't a lot of time for testimony, which is usually the very heart-warming bit that makes this service so special. there was like a big rush to finish the whole service by 10pm sharp. the chinese service had about one eighth of the people and they ended much later.

I wanted to share, but of cos i was a bit too scared and by the time i found the courage, after taking a short toilet break, there was no more time. there probably won't be a next time. not soon anyway.

I honestly don't know when I'd be able to experience this again, but may I never forget this 'family' that He has provided in Him. I don't remember any other form of countdown my entire life, other than the kind sharing stupid jokes with the aunties like 'see you next year'.... :)

Blessed new year!

Journey to the (North) East… Of Europe (III)

2008-12-31T04:00:00.004Z

Days 3-5: Москва́ (Moscow) , Россия (Russia)
2-4 May 2008

by David Ho

kinda long, but really interesting, i promise...

The cabin was silent. Well, as silent as it could get at least. All that could be heard were the bumps as the train rolled across the small gaps in the tracks. The glare of the sun was coming in through the window, and the carriage was rocking gently from side to side. I sat up on my bed with the realization that today we were arriving in a place that was completely new, completely different, and most definitely unique. Today we arrived in Moscow.

I honestly can’t remember what the view outside looked like. Probably country-side-ish. I guess we were all preoccupied with getting ready for the day we had ahead of us. We arrived at the train station really early in the morning, and it was slowly coming to life. The shops were opening and more people were starting to walk about as we waited for the tour guide to come get us. Looking back on photographs really does not do justice to the way the station made me feel. In the photos the train station just looks like the interior of any other building, and I can’t help but wonder why it was that while I was there, I was really conscious of the fact that I was in a strange and foreign place. I just felt so cautious, and have no doubt that my sense of awareness was heightened. I remember us trying to draw lots of money because we were supposed to share with some of the others, but the ATMs had a pretty low cap, so we actually tried most of the ATMs in the station. Well, enough said about the first hour in Moscow, I think I’ve said too much!

The tour guide eventually came and led us onto our bus. This tour guide deserves a special mention. She was so boring! She just kept telling us what this building was, or what that building was, when they were built etc. There was very little mention about the history or the motivations behind the buildings, which is really the most fascinating part of travelling. I’m glad Carol and I share this view. Oh, and I’m really certain this tour guide got some of her facts wrong, in fact, some of the things I thought she said were completely absurd! For instance, she’d tell us that such and such building was “yay” high, and “yay” would be physically impossible.

Anyway, our first stop was Red Square! It is considered to be THE central square in Moscow and perhaps all of Russia. This square was used as a market place, for coronations, and parades. Parades are still held there, and at the time we were there, they were preparing for the Victory Day (day commemorating the defeat over Nazi Germany) parade which was to occur later that month (May). That parade was also to be the first one since the collapse of the USSR that military vehicles were paraded. The bus parked across a road on the far south eastern side of the square, and we had to walk a bit to get to the square itself. No one minded though, because all along the way we got to feast our eyes upon the intricately designed St.Basil’s Cathedral. I think it is almost a curse to view such marvelous buildings, because from then onwards, few buildings can measure up to awe and wonder that such buildings inspire. Legend (and Wikipedia) has it that Ivan the Terrible had the architect’s eyes put out to prevent him from building anything that would rival the cathedral’s beauty; However, I think the architect did design other structures after this one…

After walking around the cathedral (we didn’t get to go in) we arrived at the square itself, where our tour guide blabbered on about more things that might not have been very factual. Heh heh. We were also waiting to enter the G.U.M shopping mall (built by merchants) because it was that early in the morning. From where we stood we had a good view of the State Museum and the Kremlin Wall. When G.U.M finally opened its revolving doors there was another (Chinese?) tourist group waiting outside as well. I’ll always remember what happened next: People started rushing through the doors, which wasn’t very smart because each revolving partition could only take 3-4 people. It was probably bad judgment on this particular guy’s part, because he was like the 6^th person to squeeze into the partition and it looked like an unpleasant few moments for that group of people as they went through the doors…

After breakfast at G.U.M came the bus tour, in which made up “facts” and “figures” were forced down our throats. We did stop by here and there to take some photos of this and that though, including a bridge with metallic structures where newly-married couples lock padlocks onto them and throw away the key. A Japanese whirlwind tour (with made up facts) later, it was about lunch time and we headed down the main shopping street… Which shopping street was this? What did we find? Where else would we be going next? The day is only half done folks, there is much to write about, but I bet at this point you’re really bored… Till next time!

____________________________________________________

After a long hiatus, this post continues. Even though, to all those who are reading this, it would seem as if it was all written at one go, in fact, this post has stretched over a couple of months, maybe slightly longer.

So anyway, where I left of, our brains had just received an (faulty) information overload, and we were deposited at the hotel (near Izmailovosky Park and Narodnyi Prospekt Metro Station). After checking in, we went to the nearby bazaar to shop for souvenirs and look around. They sold all the usual things a tourist would buy; Russian (matrioshka) dolls, Soviet-themed magnets, and fake branded goods. The shopkeepers were basically friendly and were open to the bargaining. When we took photos of their goods they’d joke about having to pay them a fee. After quite a bit of bargain hunting, we left with a few trinkets. Back at the hotel Carol and I arranged to meet with Yock Song and a couple of others later that evening in the main shopping area of Arbatskaja. There was another group (including Debbie, Jia Min and Anson) that went to watch Swan Lake, and though it was not at the Bolshoi, I’m sure it was an unforgettable once in a life-time thing. Then again, you can say that for the whole exchange.

Carol and I went there first in the hopes of having a typical Russian meal. We spent an hour or more walking almost the whole stretch of Old Arbat in search of “Mu Mu”, which was supposed to be a budget sort of place. We couldn’t find it and landed up eating Kebabs. We walked back to the station to meet Yock Song, Jen and Stephanie, as time was getting on. The metro stations are all quite beautifully decorated, with soviet themed statues, art, and tiled murals on the walls and ceilings, we felt as if we stepped back into the Soviet era. Taking the metro is an experience worth mentioning. First of all, it is dirt cheap. Anywhere you want to go along its 292.2km of route length, 12 lines and 177 stations will cost you approximately one Singapore dollar, or 17 rubles. Even then we still saw many people climbing over barriers to avoid paying. Second, all the station names are written with the Cyrillic alphabet, which, Assyia won’t let us forget, the Russians adopted from Bulgaria. The problem, as you would surmise, is that we didn’t read Cyrillic. We only got by thanks to some of us being a little bit clever, or having taken New Testament Greek. Third and probably most frustrating, is that very few of the locals speak much english. The ticket lady certainly didn’t. That’s when numbers become so beautiful and useful, because no matter what language you use, signalling for 10 tokens worth 150 rubles result in us getting 10 token by paying 150 rubles.

We all headed Eastwards back to the Red Square. We spent quite a bit of time taking photos of this and that, since we couldn’t really get into anything as it was early evening.

One of the nicest night shots we have is of the back-side of the State Museum. There were other fantastic night shots including one of Carol and I with the lighted St.Basil’s in the background, but it was taken with Yock Song’s camera, which was pick-pocketed from him in St.Petersburg a few days later…

Of great curiosity to me was the double headed eagle, which seems to pop up all over Europe. It’s actually the emblem of the Roman and Byzantine Empires, with the dual heads representing the Emperor’s sovereignty over both religious and secular matters. Of course I found this out much later, and only thanks to wikipedia. At that point of time I tried to smoke Yock Song with some fictitious reasoning and history but he didn’t buy it. Carol would’ve though. Starting out at the red square, we then walked the entire parameter of the Kremlin on the outside because somehow Carol thought it’d be nearer to the metro station. I thought it was a silly idea. Maybe she did too, but secretly wanted to see if she could make the walls of the Kremlin fall down. Well, she couldn’t. She only succeeded in making all of us tired and me crabby. Oh well, honest mistake.

By the time we got back to the hotel, some metro stops away, it was quite late, and we prepared to go to bed. I think we went back even later than the Swan Lake people. Anyway, after a quick discussion about what time to meet to go to the Kremlin, we turned in for the night.

__________________________

The Kremlin: Once the home of kings, this sprawling complex is now the current seat of the Russian Government and is also the resting place to many prominent figures of the Soviet Era. Steeped in history that spans a millennium, this, would be our first stop on our second day in Moscow.

The buffet breakfast was a little strange. The best way to describe it is as a Russian interpretation of a Continental Buffet. We theorized that everything was manufactured from nuclear power plants or derived from enriched uranium- Supposedly natural products didn’t taste very natural to us. We ate anyway, and took more food for lunch. Standard Operating Procedure… I guess we’d only start worrying if we started glowing in the dark. The thing that was pretty amusing to me was the food labels. Everything had the definitive article added to it! The labels would read “The Meatballs”, “The Sausages”, “The Pancakes” and so on. Heh. We didn’t reach the Kremlin early enough, and a long queue had formed outside. There were queues to buy tickets and to get in. The group of us split up to queue for both at the same time. Half an hour and an unpleasant episode with a local-tour-guide-queue-cutter later, we were on the other side of the wall.

Whenever I think of Russia and religion, I think of communism and get the impression that the country has always been largely atheist. The Kremlin proved me wrong. (The majority of the population is Orthodox Christian.) In the heart of the Kremlin lies 7 cathedrals (http://www.moscow.info/kremlin/churches/index.aspx), all distinctly Russian Orthodox with their gold-colored domes. I shan’t go into the details of what lies in the different cathedrals (nor can I really without relying on wikipedia), it would suffice to say that they have been turned into tourist attractions and were a little bit too crowded to spend time taking in the history, significance or iconostases of the various cathedrals. Sadly, we were caught up in a traveler’s greatest natural disaster, the Japanese Whirlwind.

Fortunately, we have our correspondents (us back in May) who can provide coverage live from the Kremlin:

Beside this square of cathedrals are the world’s largest cannon and the world’s largest bell, the Tsar Cannon, and the Tsar Bell. The Tsar Bell has a large crack in it due to a fire, and the subsequent rapid cooling when water was used to extinguish the fire. The bell is covered in relief work depicting Christ, Mary, John the Baptist and the Russian Rulers. I honestly don’t remember much of it, all I remember is that it was nearly impossible to get our picture taken with either attraction; there were just too many people! We somehow managed anyway. We had a nicer time walking around the rest of the grounds, because it wasn’t as crowded. The gardens were exceptionally beautiful with all the flowers in full bloom. We left the grounds soon after and had a little picnic just outside the walls.

I guess this is getting too long, we'll continue again soon!

turning 20 two with too many cakes (not tt i'm complaining)

2008-12-10T15:24:00.001Z

for the last time in my life, i was a student on my birthday.
and, for the last time in my life, i took an exam on my birthday. whee!~

advanced financial accounting was from 1-4pm. it was a colossal disaster, enough said. luyi and i were still talking about it, into the toilet, out of it, hanging around the lobby waiting for the clowns so that we could go grab a snack. in the end i got lured into this obscure lift which i never knew existed, leading down to B2. of cos, we were still talking about the paper, and when the lift doors opened, i got the shock of my life (and so did luyi - shame on her since she was in the surprise as well...) the clowns were there: adrian was holding this super chocolatey cake, and stanley was holding this big box.

yum, check out the number of layers the cake had... it was also luyi's birthday not too long ago! which we also celebrated after an AFA quiz :

and then i did something really dumb. (what's new). because we were in an enclosed area, the echos were especially powerful, and when i was handed the box, i felt a lot of vibrations, and i thought whatever was inside was alive. so i took a long time opening it. and luyi, again, screamed when i opened the box slightly, compounding the effect. (sheesh she's SO bad at surprises :). anyway it turned out that there was nothing alive inside at all, and i totally stunned everyone with the vibrations. :

debbie was really sweet too, she appeared the in carpark, 15 mins before her exam! :) to think i was lured into going into the carpark, heh.

the big box, and... the carpark...

went home after devouring the cake (which had melted by then) because the MS exam the next morning demanded that i sit down and figure out what's been going on in class.

the terribly melted (but still delicious) cake after all the drama...

and it was very pretty too, complete with gold dust :p

very yummy too...!

i dunno why we didn't take a group shot but this is the closest we got to it. rachel, tiff and hilda were there too..
________________________
david came over at 9pm+ with dinner, and a slice of cedele cake. no wonder he sounded so disappointed when i told him i had a chocolate cake in school... but it was the first time in the last 3 or 4 years that he actually spent a part of my birthday with me, so i guess it's quite a record.

a slice of our favourite, very very rich, cedele cake! :)

yeah this was what i was studying for - my last paper the next morning. but there's always time for distractions

and then, karen came back with another cake - not chocolate this time...

_____________________________________

when the terrible exams were done and over with....

surprise cake after 'savage-seven' at west coast park 2 days later.
thanks debs and jiams!

erms, i can't remember what the other side of the equation was... but i remember it was quite sweet...

besides that, all the facebook messages were very much appreciated. i got about 70+, which is slightly over 10% of facebook friends (i dunno how it all amassed). i spent some hours the next few days after exams replying them one by one, but i'm not complaining cos lots of these people i've not talked to in ages, so it was a great excuse to catch up! :)

not forgetting the smses too!

thanks also for the presents - the clown gang, ryan, david.

credit goes to auntie alen for the ingenius present for which i'm geuinely touched. it's hilarious.... but i haven't smelt it yet... i think it's more for display la huh.

and the dearest family, who got me and did the whole birthday song thing before mummy left for cyprus:

now i've gotta figure out how to work an iPod. and i know that sharon would love to borrow it every now and then :p

An English Summer

2008-12-10T08:24:00.004Z

So here i am, as the year draws to a close, trying my bestest to create some written record of what the year has brought. This episode is the one spanning mid-June to late-Aug.

photos are at the end...

the musicals

i had an ambitious plan to watch as many musicals i could, but i achieved little. The first musical david and i watched was 'Wicked', with Amy and Adeline, though we didn't manage to sit together. It was fantastic, and set a high benchmark of musical standards for me. The 2nd was 'Les Miserables', which i loved but David didn't appreciate that much. and... sadly, that was all we watched together. The trouble was that student tickets only applied on weekdays, and I had to rush to Leicester Sq after work to try to get tickets. Unfortunately, i didn't get much further on my own either, though i did try to catch 'Mama Mia' and the 'Lion King' but was turned down because they were sold out by the time I got there. The only other thing i managed to catch was the world's longest running play, 'The MouseTrap' by Agatha Christie, an acclaimed 'Queen of Crime'. That was with Zhuang in a crummy tiny theatre with almost no ventilation. It was so old-fashioned and slow-moving that zhuang fell asleep. But i thought it was decent, if you appreciate a mystery.

the food (and drinks)

The work routine meant that the copenhagen lifestyle was broken. Breakfast was still mostly cereal and milk, or a 'reduced' pastry from Waitrose bought the evening before. I almost always had lunch at the office cafeteria (except sometimes when I wandered around Canary Wharf with some other pple, or once when I came home for instant noodles because I forgot to bring my passport to work). I got used to having 'the grill' for lunch (= a burger + sometimes chips), i also got used to being set back about S$10 every lunch.

Dinner was a homely affair, at least for the 1st half of my stint. Home-cooked food was the best and cheapest, and i was totally spoilt when David was around. He would cook most of the time. He even cooked me stew to last a few days before he left. and after that, it was downhill from there. Kelvin was still around for a couple of weeks, so sometimes he would offer to cook for me and vice versa, but after he left, i got rather lazy. my excuse is that Aug was when i had a lot of 'visitors' and I went out a lot to meet people for dinner. but other than that, I was also usually too lazy to cook even on weekends. I would skip lunch and dinner would be someting really simple. it's terrible cooking for 1 person. It was so much more fun in copenhagen.

drinking is another matter altoghether. it was almost a ritual for the English. Everyday after work, the place you head to is the pub. Well, at least it seemed that way for the interns. Also explains why I didn't make that many friends among the intern class. I just wasn't happening enough. too bad.

the house

Thank God for the provision of the apartment through Ling Li, my JC friend. The location was great, until the DLR station from which i could take the DLR to work closed for repairs till Spring 2009 a week after i moved in. Nonetheless, the 15 min walks to the next station was great exercise and going into the dodgy neighbourhood where the next station is was always interesting. (I refused to take the tube becuase of the horror stories I hear about the peak hour human squeeze). The location was also great because it was incredibly close to Sarah (David's sister) and James. It was also at the edge of Zone 1, which meant that going into the city wasn't a problem, and London Bridge was within a 15-min walking distance (a distance i found myself walking rather frequently to meet people)

More important than the location, my house-mate was great. Rather easy-going, very nice and helpful. We had some mutual friends so we always had things to talk about. His bizzare sleeping hours helped ensure I was never late for work (He wakes up at 5am, so I told him to bang on my door if i wasn't awake by 8am). Without him, I would have died getting to the airport to come home.

the church(es)

I attended about 3 churches while in London. The first of which was the Metropolitan Tabernacle, in which Charles Spurgeon preached to packed congregations in the 1800s. Today, Dr Peter Masters preaches to not-so-packed crowds, but the solemn style of worship was a welcome respite from church in Copenhagen, and closer to home. Also had a chance to attend some sessions of the 'school of theology' (similar to DVBS but for adults who come from all over the UK) and those trips proved to be rather scary considering that the church is situated in a not-too-good neighbourhood.

Also attended New Life BP Church twice. Saw some familiar faces like Josiah (tho i didn't recognise him immediately) and Nancy Too on the 2nd time. The congregation was really small (like 30 people) and mostly Singaporean. It was also very far away in the Northwest of London, far out in Zone 3, but i had to go check it out.

The last church i went to was an Anglican church, on my last Sunday before I left. Juline brought me (she was another highlight of my summer actually!). I was rather apprehensive, but after the denmark experience i thought it was not that bad. The preaching was sound and it was in the 'ok' part of the spectrum of the Anglican denomination, save the band. In fact, it didn't seem anglican at all, except for the building. There were no rituals that i always associate with the denomination. I told Juline that i thought that the church was quite decent and she said, 'of course la, that's why I attend it!'. haha.

Thank God for church, it kept me sane, and ensured that Sunday wasnt another day of lazing around like Saturday. It was also nice to meet up with Sarah and James and then go for lunch after. They very kindly picked me up when we went to Met Tab so i didn't have to tube. Also met James Seow's (from SMU/GLCC) brother and sis-in-law @ Met Tab towards the end of my stint and they were very friendly as well, shame time didn't allow more interaction- perhaps next time.

the work

work was sufficiently enjoyable. everything gets boring at times i guess. there were good days and bad days. towards the end I started feeling quite sian too. maybe work just isn't for me :p But the nature of the work was what I feel I've always wanted. Easy enough in the sense that you really just need a lot of common sense and none of the cheem theories you learn in school, but challenging enough in that you need to be resourceful and you need common sense - i.e. you need to be able to think.

the people were nice and helpful too. my team was quite huge, about 10 people in all and i'm glad that i managed to work with all of them for something or other. My direct report was a rather strict German lady but i managed to impress her sufficiently within the 1st week (only by His grace) so we managed to work on very good terms. My director was a jolly 'old' man who had a quirky habit of wearing a polka-dotted tie with striped pants, making him look like a clown (sans suspenders). Interestingly, for an British company, the British were in the minority. No one was really foreign because almost everyone was. My buddy was Kenyan, but Indian and studied at Warwick. She was extremely pleasant and good-natured and we had good fun sitting side by side at work. It was a good thing that we are the same age too (except that she has a 2 year headstart at working!)

I knew full well that at the objective at the end of the internship was to get a job. the whole 10 weeks i prayed really hard for God to show me clearly if it was His will for me to work there. He's brought me thus far, and it was definitely not by my own strength that so many doors opened for me to be there in the first place, so I left it up to Him to decide whether to open the last door, or to slam it into my face. I was really ok with the latter, because all it meant was that I would go home, which sounded quite good to me too (before the whole catastrophe in the markets). God is sovereign. He knew that i wouldn't be able to find anything else in Singapore because He knew how crappy the job market would turn immediately after i finish my internship, so He provided. I know it is His will because almost all the circumstances were against me. i didn't come from a branded English school, neither was I the most eloquent person, or the quickest learner, I knew almost nothing about the Europena markets (heck i didn't even know what the 5 largest banks in the UK were); but He enabled, and helped my superiors to see me in a light that I would never view myself, and He gave me the job. So i guess it's simple from there, i just follow, trust and obey. The peace in my heart prevailed throughout. I didn't have to stress myself about performing throughout the 10 weeks, or about the outcome at the end.

AD (after-david)

after david left for Singapore/Australia, weekends were a rather lonely affair. Surprisingly, i found the time spent alone rather refreshing and interesting, considering I have constantly been around people the past x years of my life, and in particular, the last 7 months with friends. I never truly felt alone for prolonged periods of time until mid-July. i slept in on saturdays and spent many hours on the phone, calling home, talking to bren and david, and other random pple i called because the time difference didn't allow me to do so during the week.

i went shopping alone (the way i like it) - took my time at some shops and sped through the rest. Actually, i went shopping A LOT. sometimes after work I would wander around the shops @ Canary Wharf because the 'further reductions' signs looked rather inviting. I went to Hyde park intending to play frisbee but chose a particularly cold and windy day when the team wasn't playing. So i ended up strolling through the park, freezing in a sleeveless top but enjoying the peace. I walked to the Christian bookshop quite far away to look at DVDs and stuff; went to Borough and Portobello markets; watched Shakespear's 'King Lear' @ the globe one day after work, but again choosing a wrong day when it rained and it was wet and freezing in the open-air theatre.

I even did some touristy stuff. Went to Greenwich after CIP (which i've blogged about), and also decided to visit the Tower of London because my tube station was closed for the day and i lived at Tower Hill (and again chose a rainy day, sigh). It was a different sort of enjoyment i guess.

But no, i don't think i'm a true-blue hermit. I wasn't alone for that long. Then again i wasn't totally alone, there was Kelvin my house-mate, Sarah and James, whom i met almost every week for church and for some other random meals, and other people who dropped by like Zhuang, the rest of the ops team from Singapore, and SMU people who were arriving for their exchange.

Man is a gregarious creature.

Carol is man (as in, part of the human race).

Hence, Carol is a gregarious creature.

(Great Analytical Skills at work. Prof Ta.n Y.oo Gu.an would be so proud of me, I remember my stuff from Year 1 Sem 1)

Conclusion

All praise and thanks be to God for allowing me such an incredible summer experience- one i never ever dreamed of in my entire life, and that was to change its course forever.

Soli Deo Gloria.

________________________________________________

click here to view a summer's worth of photos!

and here for a slice of british corporate life, but only the fun bits...

Italia Reflections: Rome (II)

2008-12-08T10:24:00.003Z

Roma

Vatican City and the Like

The next day, we opted for all things religious, so we headed to Vatican City, the smallest sovereign state in the world with an area of less than 1km^2. We wanted to employ the same strategy of waking up early to beat the crowds wanting to get into St Peter’s Basilica but david only managed to get back to the campsite that morning after the metro stopped running at 10pm the night before. The queue for the basilica extended around one half of St Peter’s square, a massive 17th century gathering place for Christians designed by Bernini lined by 2 semicircular colonnades. The basilica was impressive. It was a notch above all the other basilicas I’ve seen around Europe, because of the many sculptures that adorn the interior. Many of them are of catholic saints and funerary monuments of popes but have been beautifully carved by the masters of that time. It is the 2nd largest basilica in the world, and took 150 years to complete. Michelangelo’s (yeah the orange one!) light-filled dome which made this basilica considerably brighter than all others was a highlight but we couldn’t afford the energy (or money) to scale all 119 meters to the top. No, we didn’t go down into the grottos to see the burial place of St Peter and the popes, and neither did we catch a glimpse of the current Pope. But we did test the efficiency of the Vatican post, but sending a postcard back to the other 2 at home – we’ll see how long that takes to get to Singapore. Heh. We didn’t get to use the Vatican currency too.

The other highlight of Vatican City is the Musei Vaticani which contains the Sistine Chapel. The former had an extensive collection of sculptures, sarcophagi, ancient Christian paintings, tapestry, and art pieces. But I liked the Map room best. It was a long hallway with huge painted maps on the walls. Among the many rooms boasting paintings by Raphael and his students, was a well-known masterpiece ‘La Scuola d’Atene’ (‘The School of Athens’), depicting Plato (a guise for Leonado da Vinci), Aristotle and philosophers and scholars around them, including some of the other Italian artists and a self-portrait of Raphael. But like most people, we only visited the Museum because we wanted to see the famous Sistine Chapel, where the papal conclave is locked in to elect the new pope. It is also home to the most famous pieces of art in the world. We had to go through a million rooms before we finally came to it. The chapel was originally built in 1484 for Pope Sixtus IV, hence the name, but it was Pope Julius II who commissioned Michelangelo to decorate it. He was reluctant but eventually spent 4 years lying down on the scaffolding under the windows, to complete the impressive frescoes on the ceiling, which depeicts 9 scenes from Genesis and some other prophets. He also painted one of the walls with a highly complicated piece called ‘The Last Judgment’. The rest of the walls were completed by other important Renaissance artists like Botticelli and Pinturicchio, and depicts scenes from the lives of Moses and Christ. The small chapel was packed with people, all controlled by a very fierce guard who forbad anyone from sitting down or talking too loudly. The result was many strained necks from trying to appreciate the paintings on the wall, and recognizing the scenes, as well as a headache from the myriad of colours and intricate details in the paintings. The last thing worth mentioning about the Vatican is that the guards are dressed in really cute outfits, one variant makes them look like clowns, but I’m sure they’re highly trained soldiers. Check them out in the pictures!

After 6 hours inside the walls of the Vatican, we thought we were done, but when we headed to San Giovani to check out the church where St Peter’s and St Paul’s heads are kept as relics, we were barred from entry because apparently the Pope was going there to give a speech. So, instead of seeing the interior of yet another church, which was the 1st Christian cathedral built in Rome, as well as the pope’s seat as bishop of Rome and supposedly very beautiful inside, we had to contend with groups of clergies and nuns literally running into the cathedral to get good seats after passing through strict security checks. People were gathering in the square outside the cathedral but we didn’t want to wait and followed our (empty) guts and went a-hunting for lunch/dinner instead. Side-tracked once again, we stopped by Scala Santa, the holy staircase in Pilate’s court in Jerusalem which Jesus was believed to have traversed a few times on the day of his condemnation. It was brought back to Rome by St Helena, the mother of Constantine. We didn’t get to the top of that staircase because you had to climb it on your knees, and the Pope’s private chapel at the top demanded an entry fee (hmmm, does he have to get up the same way too?)

We had kebabs that night, and great fun watching the Netherlands-Italy match on big screen back at the campsite. It was especially interesting to be in the midst of the Dutch, all decked out in orange shirts/jerseys, jumping up from their seats every time they scored; and Italians, waving flags and cheering their losing side on. There, we watched a football match in Italy afterall. :p

On the last day, everyone overslept, and we had to abandon plans to head to Florence early in the morning. First, we headed back to the Colosseum and tried to sell off our Roma Passes because it still had 1 more free sight visit left in it. Sharon and I sold it to a couple, but apparently it didn’t work because we had already used to pass once at the Colosseum. Sigh. In the end, David and I went outside the Capitoline Museum and sold off everything. Took a lot of courage there, standing right outside the ticket office and trying to stop people before they went in to buy their own tickets. Heh. All to salvage some of the value of the Roma Pass.... I would still recommend tourists to buy it though, i think it might still be cheaper.

Italia Reflections: Rome (I)

2008-12-08T08:44:00.006Z

ROMA
7-10 June 2008

After finally arriving at our camping site at 11pm at night, we got some hot pasta from the restaurant and settled into our cosy little cabins. First thing the next morning, we headed to the legendary Colosseum for our first sight-seeing stop. The moment we stepped out of the metro, there it was, standing majestically exactly like in the pictures. Complete with people dressed up as roman soldiers, ready to pose for a picture with you for a fee, there was no mistaking the fact that we were right at the very capital of the ancient world, and it almost felt like we were stepping back into new testament times. The inside was impressive as well, and we learnt about the games involving the gladiators and thousands of animals which lasted up to 100 days; but I personally preferred the look on the outside, with one half taller than the other because it was dismantled from the top for the building of other buildings. The amphitheatre actually derived its name from the colossal statue of Nero that once stood nearby. Also, it could seat about 50,000 – 70,000 people, but wasn’t the largest amphitheatre in ancient Rome, the nearby Circa Maximo had a capacity of 200,000. I can’t quite believe people could actually enjoy such ‘games’ though, watching gleefully as people or animals get literally torn apart and meeting certain death.

We spent the rest of afternoon exploring the nearby ruins called the Roman Forums, a complex built by each successive emperor to be the religious, commercial and political centre of his kingdom. Among the ruins we found Julius Caesar’s remains, the supposed tomb of Romulus- the founder of Rome, innumerable temples, churches and basilicas, the rostrum from which Marc Antony in Shakespear’s Julius Caesar declared “Friends, Romans, Countrymen…”, the arc of Titus which was erected after his successful invasion of Jerusalem. We also climbed 2 hills in the same area – the Palentino, where there were more ruins of what used to be the palaces and official residences of the emperors, and Capitoline Hill, home to the world’s oldest public museum and a little church called Carcere Mamertino where Paul was said to have been imprisoned while in Rome.

Just a short walk away (darn, we wanted to take as many buses and metros as we could since we had already bought the Roma Pass which was valid for 3 days) was the Pantheon. It is supposed to be a great architectural achievement because of its perfect hemispherical shape, the internal diameter being exactly equal to the height of the dome. It is also the best preserved structure from 2000 years ago still standing, complete. Originally built as a temple to all (Pan) gods (theos), it is now a functioning church as well as the burial place of 2 Italian kings and the famous Italian artist Raphael (yeah the red ninja turtle). The weather was really weird, with alternating periods of extreme heat radiating off the ground, and drizzles of rain. We needed our gelato relief, and we found it at this shop which had at least 50 different flavours which made us so confused as to which to try. But it was so yummy even mummy liked it.

We then walked (again!) over to the Trevi Fountain, which wasn’t that great but crowded to the last inch. Visitors are supposed to throw 3 coins into the fountain to ensure a return to Rome in the future, but we weren’t about to part with a single cent. We left quickly, wondering whether the homeless people on the streets had some sort of system as to who gets to pick the coins at the end of each day. The Piazza Navona was our last stop for the day. David split up with us to meet his cousin for dinner, and he never made it back that night. We had barely read about the sights on the piazza from our trusty lonely planet when we heard unfriendly ramblings of thunder. We decided to quickly head back before the clouds released their watery bombs onto us. Alas, the terrible bus system left us drenched anyway. Our camping site was pretty far out from the city, so we decided to stay at the train station for a while to wait for the rain to subside. The cheap pasta was our only consolation that night.

RIP, Sterling - our best airline friend.

2008-11-03T17:10:00.003Z

returning home from amsterdam

Over the months, you've been our faithful 'escape-from-copenhagen' partner. the 0dkk flights to stockholm, amsterdam and i can't remember where else. the not-so-cheap flight to oslo and quite cheap flight back from vienna.

without you we might have been stuck on the danish island of zealand more, the gulf separating us from the rest of europe being the lack of money to pay for expensive SAS.

jiamin must love you for always allowing him to be check in and board late.

*unglam* pic of debs rushing onto the waiting plane (ooops i resized the pic to small alr, please dun kill me!)

i'm eternally grateful to you for allowing me to carry 40++ kg of stuff as i relocated from copenhagen to london. which other airline charges only 20dkk (S$5.70) for a 20kg bag, and allow up to 2 bags a customer?

no wonder you're folding.

well, i'm just thankful that we're not stuck somewhere out there with no return flight back. it's good for those people on exchange now that the euro is so terribly weak and exchange rates are generally favourable to singaporeans. but well, you win some, and you lose some. i hope no one i know is stuck.

the pretty carpeted wall behind the last row of seats

_________________________________________________

Dear customers, employees and other stakeholders,

During the last few weeks, the management, board of directors, and the shareholder of Sterling Airlines A/S have been fighting a battle to keep the company alive. Sadly, this has not had a positive outcome, and we have therefore decided to file for bankruptcy which will be done later today.

Background
During the last three years, Sterling Airlines A/S has been through a lot of changes and since acquired by new shareholders in spring 2005 the company has taken on a merger with Maersk Air A/S. In 2005, the total loss of both airlines exceeded 800 MDKK and both owners wanted out one way or the other. Therefore, all jobs in both airlines were at stake and so was also the competitive landscape in Scandinavian aviation since only the presence of a low cost carrier would ensure healthy competition and pricing on the market.

The merger process started in the autumn of 2005 and lasted until mid-year 2006, and by that time we employed over 1,200 employees with far more job security than before, and we had expanded our route network to enable more customers in Scandinavia to travel for less money.
Our operation was progressing positively and our finances were improving considering the massive losses that had been encountered in the preceding years. In 2007, we were doing very well and saw that more and more customers were choosing Sterling, and we ended the year with a positive EBITDA (operational profit) for the first time in many years.

Oil and financial crisis
With the global financial recession that started in the autumn of 2007, Sterling by winter 2007 – 2008 was seeing signs of stagnation in the market. Significant fuel cost increases, and at the same time a planned heavy expansion of our activities, made us more exposed than we would have been otherwise.

By spring 2008, the airline industry was hit by decreasing demand and rapidly increasing fuel prices. That led to Sterling accumulating large losses. During summer and autumn the management of Sterling implemented a restructuring plan of the company resulting in a reduction in fleet and manpower, and a pull-out of a lot of loss-making activities, without compromising our services. The full effect of these actions were planned to have impact start of 2009.

To get the company restructured, the shareholder of Sterling gave financial support from the end of July 2008 to the end of September 2008 transferring 444.5 million DKK to the company. The plan was to continue financial support into 2009. On the 29th September 2008, the Icelandic financial environment started to collapse. Over a 3 to 4 weeks period, the whole financial system melted down, and that resulted in our shareholder being unable to continue his support to the company. Negotiations have been conducted with several potential investors, but it was impossible to make ends meet. The inevitable result is that Sterling Airlines A/S has no option but to file for bankruptcy.

Sterling Airlines’ trademark has always been excellent staff and service. Among the staff the Sterling spirit will continue to exist. We have made our mistakes over the years. But hopefully we have done more right than wrong, and at least we have made the market more competitive to the benefit of our customers.

Information to Sterling Passengers
Customers who have directly purchased their tickets on Sterling’s website will unfortunately not be refunded neither will their return flights. You therefore have to book your return flights with another airline company.

If you have paid for a flight by credit card, we advise you to contact your bank or credit card company to ask for a possible refund.

Customers who have booked their flights through a travel agency or tour operator should initially contact them.

Passengers who have booked their tickets through Sterling, but is flying with Norwegian, should contact Norwegian directly on one of the below phone numbers:

+47 21490015 (from outside Norway)
815 21 815 (from Norway)

Passengers currently staying abroad in hotels, or hiring a car through Sterling business partners, are still able to stay in their hotel or keep the hired car for the relevant period of time, as such services are paid for through our business partners and not Sterling. However as for your return flight, you will need to find alternatives for your final destination.

Please note that if you have booked your travel/hotel/car through a travel agency or tour operator, please contact them upon your return for possible refund of expenses for your return flight.

We understand that most travel insurance does not protect holders from airline insolvency but should you have taken insurance please contact your insurance company for clarification. We will later put on a FAQ and hope that this will help you in this very unfortunate situation.

Sterling Airlines A/S
29th October 2008

reconnecting with the stick

2008-10-19T14:59:00.008+01:00

it was 6+pm, and we just got back from church. i was just relaxing at the piano when sharon started kicking a football around. she must have been feeling rather 'on the ball' because she then went into the storeroom to dig out the hockey stick bag, and decided to try her hand at juggling the ball. she looked like she was having a lot of fun so i decided to join in. dug out the other stick and we started playing around in the house, dirtying the floor in the process (mummy wasn't home yet, you see...)

then we started to get ambitious. so we went out to the lift landing so that we could actually do some hits (which required a full swing of the stick backwards). it was fun. there was a familiar touch to everything, tho of cos we weren't as skillful as before. neither was prancing around in our sunday wear (minus shoes plus slippers) very complimentary to the sport. since karen was never in hockey, she was the photographer. she did a pretty good job too, considering how i'm a complete failure at juggling the ball, and how she caught a perfect shot of the ball some height above my stick! (yes that was an illusion and sharon won't let me forget how hopeless i was)

me and my TK stick...

sharon and her grays stick

some sort of cross between a sweep and a hit, haha.

and sharon still remembers how to cushion the ball..

and then she tries and gets ambitious with reverse stick

more juggling.... and acting (on my part)...

and then we got tired so we just decided to take pictures...

ball balancing.

ready, get set, smile...

daddy saw this and reminded that we were in raffles colours. hahaha. how true. it's been years since those green, black, white days...

this is such a BFF photo...

and then we put aside the sticks, and i guess they'll remain in the bag for another ___ years. until another day like this.

in other news, after i changed my msn nick to 'i miss hockey', the boyfriend proceeded to change his nickname to 'Hockey'. haha! he's so funny. (no wonder his columns are more popular than mine...)

on vacations

2008-09-30T09:32:00.004+01:00

No man needs a vacation so much as the man who has just had one.
- Elbert Hubbard

certainly an apt quote for such a time as this. coming back from an extended holiday, i just cannot bring myself up to speed with everything around. now, all that stands between me and my next vacation are the horrible AT presentation and midterms (which i should be studying for now, actually...). woe is me. 2 weeks to go, bren! :)

tis a never-ending cause and effect chain: i need a vacation because i just had a vacation, how logical. and a perfect excuse for a permanent vacation :p

on another note, i just counted the number of public holidays we have in singapore - really important once one starts to realised that days of regular school vacations are fast coming to an end...

the answer: 11. number of days of leave: 20?

(not bad, right!)

number of public holidays in england and wales: 8. (hmmm i just noticed that they don't have 'national day' or 'independence day', how come?!?) number of days of leave: 25

hmmm, i think this holiday thing is quite a big consideration too, better think hard!

Journey to the (North) East… Of Europe (II)

2008-09-28T17:15:00.002+01:00

Day 2: Helsinki, Suomi (Finland)
1 May 2008

by David Ho

The island…

The boat…

The others… And, a mysterious floating creature… By the end of this post, some won’t make it off the island. Friends will part ways. Who remains on the boat? And who are the others? All that’s certain is, nothing will ever be the same again!!! Now, the producers of Lost may come after me with intellectual property laws or something... However, unlike them, I actually know the answers to MY questions, and HOW my story is going to end. Heh heh. Probably the biggest issue here is… Intellectual? Really? All people are is confused!

I’m rather un-enthusiastic about typing up what happened today. I didn’t really find Helsinki very interesting. Still, I’ll try my best to carry you faithful readers on to the next post. Plus you get to look out for all the answers to the above! (You just got to figure it all out for yourself)

The day started out pretty good, we had a buffet breakfast… That’s MY definition of a good start! Buffet breakfasts are good for 2 reasons. The first is breakfast, and the second is lunch. Enough said. Of course while you’re busy helping the poor boat people not waste food, make sure you are well equipped to pull this off. Wrapping your food up in tissue paper and your jacket, doesn’t really fall into the definition of well-equipped, but was what 2 of our buddies did anyway.

With lunch quite literally in the bag, we set off to explore Helsinki! First off, to where it all began. Suomenlinna! (I spelt it right on the first go, so klever!) Suomenlinna is one of the biggest island fortresses in the world. It was originally built to protect the Eastern parts of Sweden, but then in the 1800’s Napoleon and the Russians decided to take it. The Russians invaded and occupied Finland, and used the fortress to guard the shipping lanes. It was really quite a strategic piece of land, and it was this that helped fuel Finland’s economy which in turn helped Helsinki to prosper. It cost us a few Euros to get there by ferry, but I thought it was pretty worth it to go have a look-see. We spent half a day at the fortress walking around and seeing all that “had to be seen”, most of which isn’t very memorable. The only thing I can remember is me running around, up and down hills, onto cannons, walls… Basically anywhere I wanted to go. I also raced Yock Song up a hill in a bout of childishness, which really is a testament to how relaxed I felt there. Yock Song must’ve been pretty light-hearted as well, though we all speculated, (and I’d vehemently insist though he denies it) was because of reasons slightly more sinister than walking around an island. It turns out that all that energy I had was going to come in really useful, because we had to jog/sprint across the island back to the ferry point to catch the boat back to Helsinki. That makes it 2 for 2 days we were rushing… We made it without a minute to spare. Seriously, the other tourists right behind us didn’t make it.

Back in Helsinki, Debbie went back to the boat while we went off to see the Olympic stadium which looks like any other stadium. Olympic stadiums are white elephants, you build them, use them for one spectacular event, and then no one ever hears about it again, unless they’re tourist who find themselves with a travel pass with nowhere else to go. I’m sorry to say that there really isn’t much in Helsinki. Sure we went to city hall and a church that was supposed to be half carved out from a rock, but in terms of architecture there is nothing that really left an impression on me. If you want some more details, go look at Debbie’s blog.

Oh oh! The one highlight in Helsinki was probably the flying pig. Yep! A pig balloon was released and started its ascent to the heavens. That really left Carol in a fit of laughter. I never knew a flying pig could make her so happy…

We eventually got our bags from the ship, bought some food at a supermarket and went to the train station to meet up with all the others, where we would take an overnight train into Moscow! Somewhere that no-one that I know of has written about. Not Carol, not Debbie, nor Jian Feng… It would be unfair to say that the Russian experience started the next day, for it really began that night. Consider this for a bedtime “farewell”: “Goodnight, sleep tight, try not to think so much about the bed bugs, lock the door, and oh, stuff bits of cloth into the gap between the floor and the door so you don’t get gassed and robbed.” All I’m saying is, Russia is not the safest place for tourists, and we were going to be very careful.

Next: The imposing, the incredible, the irresistible… Red Square! (and other touristy places)

Journey to the (North) East… Of Europe (I)

2008-09-28T15:39:00.009+01:00

Day 1: Stockholm, Sverige (Sweden)

30 April 2008

by David Ho

This journey begins pretty much in the same way as all our journeys begin… “Hurry up! We’re late! We were supposed to leave half an hour ago!”

“What time’s the flight again?” “So do we have to check in 40 or 45 minutes before the flight?” (Those 5 minutes are often very crucial to us.)

So let’s see, the metro takes half an hour to get to the airport, we take 15 minutes to walk from our apartment to the metro… Which is the same as a 7 minute run/jog… We’re not gonna make it, we’re not gonna make it… It’s like that all the way to the metro. On the metro, we talk about the same things too…

Rather breathlessly- “I’m never going to do that again. I’m going to be early next time.”

“Ok, so the plan is, once the metro doors open, we have to run ok? All the way to Terminal 2, which is a kilometer away.”

“Ok!”

This time, like all the others, we made our flight. Thank God for that! We were bound for Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, where we’d embark on our 10 day trip from Denmark to Moscow, the heart of Russia, to St. Petersberg, and then a pit-stop in Riga, Latvia, before heading back to Copenhagen.

We landed in Stockholm after a 2 hour flight. As usual, we both knocked out on the plane, and missed out on the only time the airlines served food. The only reason we knew this was because Debbie told us, and also because I ate half her sandwich. In Stockholm the first thing we realized was that we wasted 600DKr each because of the stupid visa thing. The second thing we did was collect our bags and bump into Ansen. Ansen is the meek looking Taiwanese guy with glasses. He may be soft spoken, but he does have his opinions about stuff, and most of the time I found him really entertaining. Either I was struggling to speak to him in mandarin, or he’d be telling me what he thought of this and that, which, more often than not, would be pretty funny.

So the five of us made our way down to the city, where we split up. Ansen came with Carol and me to the Vasa Museum, which is built around a great big mother warship. Now now, don’t go calling it a Viking ship, the Swedes insist it’s a warship. Yep, a great big mother warship that sank quite soon after it set sail on its maiden voyage, sounds quite familiar doesn’t it? The only difference is that in those days, they didn’t have Celine Dion to sing about it. We spent the better half of the day there because the ship was just wicked cool, so much so that when I grow up I wanna be a pirate, or a king. Yeah, a king would be better, because then people would build me great big ships like the Vasa, carve my family coat of arms on the back, and then have the ship sink 2km after setting sail.

Now here’s where it all becomes a little fuzzy, we met Yock Song somewhere in the middle of the old town, also known as Gamla Stan. We then had lunch on the grass of some little park in front of the parliament building, and walked around taking photos of things like the palace, and the opera house and some other churches up North from Gamla Stan. We had left our bags with Debbie and Jiamin who were lazing about on the grass. Bums… Heh heh. After gathering the crew, the 6 of us headed wandered around the palace and “Storkyrkan”, which is the oldest church in Stockholm. Oh, this was not before Carol got shooed off by a guard on the palace grounds. She was taking a picture of him and he was gesturing for her to stay away, but she just thought he was doing some kind of drill, and decided to stand right where she was to observe. Haha! The church is located just behind the palace, which made it pretty convenient for the king to go to church. There’s the other reason to be king. Kings were crowned there as well. Ah, to be the King of Sweden. Meatballs, superfluous ships, what’s not to love? Then again, the Swedes were always getting into fights with everyone else in the region because that’s what people do. They are, in my opinion, in one of the worst geographical places. They had to contend with the Danish in west, and the Russians in the east. Somehow during the Great Northern War of the 1700’s they managed to find themselves at odds with both these parties, as well as with the rest of the ominous sounding “Northern Alliance”, and they got their’s handed to them. Maybe Europe just wasn’t ready for Ikea’s cozy furnishings yet. I digress.

Storkyrkan is a pretty cool church because it houses the famous wooden carving of St. George and the Dragon. Now this guy, George, was the real deal back in the day. You know the story of the guy who killed the princess and saved the dragon? No? Good, because the story is the opposite of that. St. George is everyone’s patron saint. He comes up all over Europe. I know what you must be thinking- They canonized this guy for killing a mythical creature? Not exactly, the real story was that in the 3rd Century or so, George was a Roman soldier under Diocletian, who had made Christianity illegal. George was tortured and executed for the faith, but not before converting others through his steadfastness. There are only 2 reasons a man would be willing to be tortured and executed. Either he’s on to something, or on something. However, since this wasn’t set in Amsterdam, I’m pretty sure it was the former case. The dragon bit came quite sometime later.

After the church we wandered around the old town heading south towards where our cruise ship would be. We made our way down to the ferry point (which was half an hour away) and after meeting up with the rest of the 30 odd tour group (which took like another hour), boarded the ship which would cross the Baltic, sail into the jaws of the gulf of Finland and dock at our next destination, Helsinki! If that doesn’t sound exciting enough, we also had a buffet dinner that night! It was really the main highlight of the cruise. It was my first time on a cruise though, so everything was pretty exciting for me. We explored the entire ship; the deck, the restaurants, the shops and the lounge/bar, which had old people dancing. Carol and I forgot to do the titanic thing! The buffet was really good though, it was the first time in a really long time that I could eat all I could eat, so that’s exactly what I did. We went to sleep at a pretty reasonable time, because the next day we would be exploring the capital of Nokia Land!

Stay tuned! We’re not quite Finnish-ed.

Accounting Heaven

2008-09-26T08:29:00.002+01:00

In accounting theory, we learn that from the day we were in 'accounting diapers', we all want to get to 'accounting heaven'.

I'm not so sure I want to go to accounting heaven.
The thing is, i'm quite sure 'accounting heaven' is somewhere in hell...
The journey there is fraught with difficulties, and the destination isn't even desirable.

No thanks, Prof JJ.

finders and keepers

2008-08-29T17:25:00.003+01:00

a few days ago, karen asked me if i am a finder or a keeper...

i told her i am a loser.

what are you?

(as usual, sharon did a better job blogging)

moving on

2008-08-28T18:15:00.002+01:00

is never easy.

but finding out that people and things have moved on, sans toi, is worse.

my sentiments exactly. been back about 4 days now, and things have just been moving ahead at full-steam. at home, it feels that there's no more space for me or my things; in school, i've been fumbling around, feeling lost and incredibly dumb every single class i've attended; friends, well, i'm still finding out (but it was nice to see familiar faces again - deb, luyi, bren, sj, yinglu, etc etc).

took a walk to lot one (yeah i now walk when i'm not in a hurry because it's actually quite near- new perspective. heh), and it has been transformed. felt a little uneasy squeezing with the ungracious crowds on the trains in the morning, and hearing an unfamiliar voice over the PA system. instinctively jaywalked across the entrance to the central and got stared at. stood on the right of the escalators instead. realised that i could no longer get around with just a few dollars in my wallet. decided that i wasn't ready to play for service this sunday- i don't want another shock when i find out that more things have changed.

the pace has been relentless. there's no time for jetlag. my 7 hour sleeps are no longer to be, and i've to stop being a tourist- there are now responsibilities and gardens to tend to.

it's nobody's fault- just the nature of life.
we're all just going down a river. a river called time. and i'm just trying to get back into the flow of things.

home

2008-08-24T19:03:00.003+01:00

i'm home.

there's so much to be thankful for. getting out of heathrow was a nightmare, but yes, God did answer my prayer to let 32kg of baggage through. exactly 32kg, the lady didn't allow a single kg more. thank God for kelvin and lingli, i dunno what i would have done without them really. now i still have a bag sitting somewhere in their apt. oh no :(

totally missed church today. tho the reason why i decided to leave on sat morning and arrive on sun morning was so that i could go to church. i shouldn't have rushed and left on sat evening instead, bleah. totally slept through, tho ren claims that she tried to call me up. i honestly don't remember a thing. was i that tired? heh.

Balik Kampung

2008-08-23T03:05:00.003+01:00

After 216 days, 31 cities, 17 countries, 3 seasons and 2 homes, i think i am ready to go home. the real home.

the last barrier now standing between me and the plane is the c. 32kg of check-in luggage i need to clear. (which is not bad already!)

everything seems so surreal. i go to sleep now, wake up, and fly to a different world. one i used to know. so much has happened in the last 7 months+, so many changes to go through and i'm finally coming back a full circle. at the same time, so much must have happened at home too, so much from which i've been completely cut off.

what a mesh of emotions, expectations and events.

it's been such a whirl that i have to catch up with myself.
and i have 13 hours to do so.

dear God, please let the person at the check-in be sympathetic and kind, i need to move my life back to singapore, and all the stuff in my bags too.

Italia Reflections: Venice

2008-08-18T23:15:00.001+01:00

VENIZIA
5-7 June 2008

Our Italy trip started in Venice, the sinking city. By the time we got to our hotel and settled in the first day, it was already early afternoon, and we didn’t have much time left. Mummy, Sharon and I were exhausted from all the traveling the day before, doing a whirlwind tour of London and waking up early in the morning to catch the bus to Stansted. But we pressed on and decided to walk around Venice. It was supposed to be small and walkable, but the many waterways and narrow streets formed a complicated maze that it was impossible not to get lost. Essentially, Venice is built on 117 islands, and has 150 canals and 450 bridges. Yet, only 3 bridges cross the Grand Canal, the main waterway. The problem with not having any vehicles on the roads and water taxis costing €6 per trip is that once you’ve committed to walking, the only way to get home is to walk out of the island, no matter how tired, far away or lost you are.

Our walk into the heart of the city was a pleasant one. We gave up navigating using the map halfway because we found signs leading us to San Marco, where we wanted to go. So while going through the tiny alleys and small canals which lead up to the doors of the colourful houses, we enjoyed the tranquility and uniqueness of the place. Going in and out of shops selling Venetian masks, glass, Italian leather and the like was fun, and stopping by each Gelataria to check out the prices helped make the way seem shorter. On the way in, we shared our 1st Italian Gelato, and it didn’t disappoint. We reached the Rialto bridge, one of the 3, and also the icon of Venice, watched the gondolas and other water taxis go by and went shopping at the nearby market place. Piazza San Marco also looked spectacular when we finally got to it. We were transfixed for a while, trying to take in everything from the Torre dell’Orologio, a high clock tower on which stands 2 bronze Moors which strike a gigantic clock on the hour, to the long Procurative Nuove, the Ala Napoleonica, which Napoleon used as his palace and ballroom after commenting that the Piazza was the ‘finest drawing room’ in Europe. Most of all, we were observing how ferocious the pigeons on St Mark’s Square were. They were totally unafraid of the human species and made their way to the shoulders, arms, heads and backs of tourists who stupidly have food on them. There were hoards of them (I’m not sure if tourists still outnumber pigeons!) and they all decided to fly across the square towards us as we were running across it, and since they’re so fearless, they flew so low, brushing past faces and intimidating pigeon haters (like Sharon) who had to face the whole flock coming straight at them at eye-level. Very disgusting indeed. But we did make it safely to the other side of the square towards the water front, where the doges’ palace still stands. It was the seat of the Republic’s bureaucracy, government and main prisons. Walking along the waterfront where rows of shiny black gondolas are parked, we crossed the bridge of sighs, so called because of the sighs prisoners made on their way into the dungeons. By this time we were completely spent and ready for a good night’s rest, though the sky was still bright. Once again, we decided against navigating and decided to follow the signs back to the mainland. Little did we know that the signs would bring us on a huge trek around Venice, and only brought us back some 2.5 hours later. Poor Mummy suffered the most because we had to cross gazillion bridges on the way, and her knee was hurting, no doubt from lugging all the suitcases up and down the stairs in the tube stations the day before. On the way we grabbed some more gelato (actually we are quite proud of ourselves for finding that particular shop that we wanted to patronize, tucked in some corner on some small street).

David finally arrived late that night. Long after everyone had fallen asleep and the (1-star) hotel’s reception had closed for the night. But thank God he arrived safely, because the last time I saw him was back in Copenhagen.

The next day, we decided that we had enough of walking, and that we won’t scrimp on the water taxis anymore, so we bought a 24 hour transport pass and made sure that we made full use of it. We headed to 2 islands off Venice. First, Murano, which is famous for its glass making industry. So we visited the glass factory to watch some glass-blowing, which is pretty amazing, I could never imagine glass to be so soft at some stage that you can actually blow it like a balloon. Next, we called at Burano, famous for its lace-making industry. The houses are pastel-coloured there, so pretty! But, the islands were a lot further than we expected them to be, so we wasted another few hours just traveling on the water taxis. (After a while, it wasn’t so fun anymore). We managed to get back to San Marco Square just minutes before the Basilica di San Marco closed, but they didn’t allow bags inside so I stood outside to watch the bags while the rest went in. Don’t think they managed to see the remains of St Mark though it’s supposedly there. After walking around a bit with David (because he didn’t get to the day before) and attempting to buy train tickets to Rome at the train station, we decided to take the water taxi back to St Mark’s Sq just to see it at night, and to make use of the tripod we’ve been carrying around for nightshots. It was pretty fun just posing around with the 2 partron saints of Venice (St Mark and St Theodore) and comparing whose pictures were better, then we decided to be more cultured and listen to musicians playing for restaurant guests on the square. They were pretty good, and the square was almost romantic at night, with old couples dancing to the music and the crowd swaying to the beat. Leaving Venice was a lot more convenient and less strenuous on the legs that night, thanks to the water taxis.

Leaving Venice (the area) for Rome, was a lot more complicated. Train tickets cost a lot more than expected, some €59 one way, so we opted for the slower train which would take us about 6 hours to get to Rome. Alas! Our lack of knowledge of Italian caused us to make a huge mistake. We got onto the wrong train headed for Verona instead. (because that was the train that was to depart from the same platform before the one we were supposed to take, but it was late so the signboard showed our train instead. Sigh). Good thing we met a kind Italian family (the 1st nice Italians we actually met) who tried to help us read the time table. Not that it really helped (but the gesture was nice), we ended up having to top up about to the €59 ticket anyway, to get the next train to rome by that night…

RIP, little red umbrella.

2008-08-04T00:05:00.002+01:00

london is not the place for umbrellas, regardless of how heavy the rain. either the rain will stop the moment you try to open an umbrella (since the weather changes once every 2 mins), or the poor umbrella won't survive the winds.

the latter was the fate of the red umbrella ren left for me. i used it a grand total of ONCE, before it met its fateful end. been carrying it around regularly, but never ever used it. until today. today was quite a disastrous day. planned to go to the market in the morning to get something for sharon, as well as check out king's cross station (for platform 9 and 3/4). alas, i walked to the tube station, only to find it closed for the entire weekend for renovations. sigh. they ALWAYS do things like that in london on weekends. grrr. so i made a rash decision to check out the tower of london instead, since it's been sitting within my view since i moved here and i havent stepped inside. it wasn't that spectacular, and i'll post pictures some other time (i.e. it's not gonna happen haha.)

went home and got ready to go to church but it was raining again outside. and with the station closed, i had to walk 20 minutes to the next station. i was barely 5 minutes into my journey, crossing good ol' tower bridge, and the wind was just tearing the poor umbrella apart. 2 spokes broke, and i decided to walk in the rather heavy rain. sighhh. (then again, european rain isn't really heavy heavy in the singapore sense la huh, as jiamin would say - gu niang rain). until the wind blows, that is.

sorry sharon, do you want me to go buy you another red umbrella from primemark? haha.

10 things i did this week

2008-08-02T11:06:00.002+01:00

1. forgot to put detergent into the washing machine

2. played ultimate frisbee at hyde park (at last!)

3. cooked beef stew that lasted me 3 nights

4. bought a new bible

5. ached the whole of sunday and monday, and half of tuesday, from comm service last friday and frisbee on sunday.

6. not talk to david on the phone all week because of the horrible time difference :(

7. stayed at work till 8.30pm - record time for me. and arrived at 8am the next morning - another record time.

8. tried to catch up with other people's lives by reading their blogs.

9. watched 'facing the giants' on youtube

10. forgot to set my alarm for friday morning but woke up at 8.10 anyway, in time to get to work by 9am. thank God!

to the place where time begins...

2008-07-27T11:13:00.007+01:00

every single day. time is a strange concept. how can one actually decide where time begins? i can't even begin to fathom what a genius God must be, to even create time. when He created it, how did every place on earth start with a different time and then starts to run non-stop till the end of its course?

anyway.

a compulsory day of community service in the south-eastern village of charlton brought me close to the borough of Greenwich, home to the prime meridian of the world, established in 1884.

Some background info if you're actually interested:

What is a meridian?

A meridian is an arbitrary north-south line used by an astronomer as a zero point from where to take measurements. By comparing thousands of observations taken from the same meridian it is possible to build up an accurate map of the night sky. The meridian line in Greenwich represents the Prime Meridian of the world, Longitude Zero (0° 0' 0"). Every place on the Earth is measured in terms of its angle east or west from this line.

The creation of Standard Time
Since the late 19th century, the Prime Meridian at Greenwich has served as the reference line for Greenwich Mean Time. Before this, almost every town in the world kept its own local time. There were no national or international conventions which set how time should be measured, or when the day would begin and end, or what length an hour might be. However, with the vast expansion of the railway and communications networks during the 1850s and 1860s, the worldwide need for an international time standard became imperative.

Why Greenwich?
There were two main reasons for the choice. The first was the fact that the USA had already chosen Greenwich as the basis for its own national time zone system. The second was that in the late 19th century, 72% of the world's commerce depended on sea-charts which used Greenwich as the Prime Meridian. The decision, essentially, was based on the argument that by naming Greenwich as Longitude 0º, it would be advantageous to the largest number of people. Therefore the Prime Meridian at Greenwich became the centre of world time, and will be the official starting point for the new Millennium.

Anyway, let me first talk about the day of comm service. As part of the internship, we had to contribut to CSR (corporate social responsibility). All 200+ of us were split up into 3 groups to go to 3 separate venues - i got to go to a special school at Charlton, and the work there was really really physical. the plan looked like it was drawn for some major construction work that would take professionals about 3 weeks to finish. "The challenge mainly involces transforming an outside area into a sensory garden. The work will range from the construction of a timber pathway, removal of Tarmac path, removal of a very large area of turf, construction of a timber pagoda, concreting an area of ground in preparation or a shed and constructing a raised wheelchair accessible flower bed, work at the riding stables, etc etc." sounded quite crazy to me. and it was. i was part of the group that had to remove a very large area of turf. we were armed with spades, shovels and gloves. it was tough, took about 9 of us to literally dig up an area of about 100 sq metres of grass, weed, whatever was on it. there was also a metal slide that was fixed on a slope which had to first be removed, and some huge metal beams with concrete slabs below- too heavy for anyone to carry, so some of them had to drill away the concrete and free the slide first. the idea was to create a completely blank canvas for the special children to decide what they want to do.... heh. at the end of it my hands and back were completely aching. it was a lot harder than last year's comm service- bringing some special children to sentosa for a day (but i didn't even go for that heh). but it was quite fun, the group of people i worked with were really funny. there was a couple of english, some irish, a canadian, and i dunno what nationality the rest were. but they were talking about history and geography (as we removed the turf we left some plots to resemble countries in continental europe). i learnt quite a big deal about european history and geography haha.

So, after a day of back-breaking work (such that i'm still aching 2 days later), i decided to take a trip to Greenwich, since everyone tells me that it's really nice there. no one else wanted to come with me. everyone just wanted to go home and shower, and my friends were assigned to another group in another location.

I was quite scared once i was alone. it was the first time in a long time i was venturing into an unknown place alone- and it was already evening. i hopped on the bus, flipped open my map (courtesy of juline) and tried to locate where to alight. where i alighted was some ulu place. when i alighted and the bus pulled away from the busstop i felt like i was just abandoned in a vast field. there was no one around. so i used the map and walked towards the famous Longitude 0º that was shown on the map. i came into the grounds of the royal gardens (the royal palace used to be here a long time ago) and slowly some people appeared in my field of vision, lying on the grass just busking in the sun and reading or sleeping. i was tempted to do the same but i had quite enough of the sun for one day (they must have chosen the hottest day of the year to make us sweat!) and besides, i had a higher purpose - to search out that prime meridian. and, i was getting this familiar feeling in my head. the kind i used to get every saturday after frisbee training. i think i'm allergic to the sun. it gives me headache. and it's so not because i don't drink enough water- i hydrated myself quite well (mainly to get away to take breaks. haha). so my walk around the most beautiful borough of london was rather short-lived. i'll let the pictures do the talking...

the view from the top of the hill. (thank God i started my walk at the top of the hill, not from the bottom, for once...)
that's the royal naval college and the old queen's house. today, it is home to the trinity music college (you know, the alternative to ABRSM) and the national maritime museum. the tall building in the backgroud is canary wharf, the newly developed 'shenton way' of london, where i work.

another UNESCO heritage site. it's the 2398745th i've been to in europe already. ok, i exaggerate, but you get the idea. almost every old touristy place is a UNESCO heritage site.

after crossing the gardens, i found the royal observatory, where the english astronomers used to work. it's now a museum, and it was free. i'm not that interested in astronomy, plus i was quite eager to go home and shower, but i had to go in cos the courtyard was where the official clock was located.

some other meridian's used by other astronomers in the past...

but there's only one in use today:

ta-dah! (yeah i'm referring to that red line thingy in the sign...) this was where the 3rd millenium AD began. the digital clock under it used to countdown to the millenium, but it now records the time that has elapsed since then, to the millisecond, or something precise like that.

you actually have to queue up to take a picture on the line. and while queuing,
i found singapore, at latitude 103 degrees.

there, my obligatory tourist photo of me standing with one leg in the western hemisphere and one in the east. it'll be a lot cooler to be there with at least 1 other person, at least you can do something more creative...

this is the official clock that first showed the official GMT to the public since 1884. too bad i had no watch to align my time with. then again, i trust microsoft. when mr gates says its 10.59 (as it is now), i take it as that.

after getting over all the excitement, i decided to go down to the village to look-see. it actually does look a bit like the greenwich village in new york cos it's a little out of the city and strangely quaint and slow-paced (or i'm just anyhow associating because i assume that the americans must have copied something more than just the name.)

this is the verse than adorns one of the entraces to the famous greenwich market. how apt.

shops around try to ride on the GMT fame...

and greenwich has its own eye - called the greenwich wheel, quite a recent addition to the traditional village.

like i said, it was a terribly hot day. so i went into an air-conditioned bookshop, cooled down a bit, and headed for the train station, across the Thames and back into busy busy London.

____________________________________________________________________

crossing over, back to the eastern hemisphere- soon, soon! :)

of mathematicians and punting

2008-07-23T23:13:00.014+01:00

Cambridge (the original), UK

19 July 2008

I've always wanted to see for myself how the land of geniuses is like. Having visited (the fake) Cambridge in Massachussets (where Harvard and MIT are) in 2005, it was finally time to make a 'pilgrimmage' of sorts to the legendary town where all our (Singaporean students') misery begin and end.

With an overwhemling percentage of fellow interns hailing from there, it wasn't too hard to find one who would be willing to bring me back home. Lots of them study mathematics, descendants of our beloved prime minister, a respected alumni. I tagged along with my Vietnamese friend, who works in the same dept, when she went back to Cambridge for a dinner. The extremely unreliable weather forecast nearly thwarted our plans, butI decided that it was today or never, let it rain for all I care.

The ride there was pleasant enough. Getting out of the hustle and bustle of the city and being transitioned slowly into the countryside with its rolling plains, fields of flowers in full-bloom and cattle grazing was therapeutic enough. The length of the train ride (1.25 hours) was lost in the nice chat we had.

meet my friend, thuong! :)

Upon arrival, things weren't quite as serene and quiet as I had hoped it to be. Alas, it was a summer saturday and the student town was transformed into a giant tourist attraction. The streets were full of people and the university has cleverly (what do you expect?) cashed in on the visitors. There was a long line to enter King's college (the most famous college of the university) and one had to pay about 5 quid, or something like that just to go see the chapel and grounds. Thankfully for me, all Thuong had to do was to flash her student card and we just walked right along the queue and into the college. The King's college chapel is home to the King's college choir- one of world renown, especially at Christmas time ('Festival of 9 lessons and carols', et cetera). The chapel is supposed to be the most magnificent in both Cambridge and Oxford, but it's really nothing compared to all the other great European cathedrals, so i was none too impressed. but still, for a college, it's not bad; and considering that they hold services in there every day, and students actually attend it, that i find more remarkable.

the line starting to form outside...

outside king's college

side profile of the chapel -->

in the choir

inside the chapel...

on the grounds of king's college the flag is up, and the fountain filled with water, only because it's graduation day!

I never understood the complicated education system of the university of Cambridge until this day. Thuong explained to me that within the university there were 31 colleges, each independently run. These colleges house students, and organise what is known as 'supervision', which are 1-to-1 sessions between the student and a senior supervisor (usually a PHD student) once a week for each subjecy. It's the equivalent of 'tutorials' at normal unis. Wow, i never knew they had such personal attention. Every college thus has their own administration (and separate, different entrance fees for visitors), own chapel, hall, library etc. The interesting thing is that students are not split into colleges based on their fields of study. Each library has a collection of books across all disciplines. Amazing. Obviously, the colleges also represent the heart of student life and there is a lot of rivalry among them. I only visited 5 colleges that day (Downing, King's, Trinity, St John's and Queen's). Each was different in their own right, but all beautiful, full of grandeur, and awe-inspiring. i can totally see how students are so motivated and clever there.

downing college (looks like some resort!)

Queen's college
looks like some place out of a fairytale!

'mathematics bridge' in queen's. (some great engineering feat, apparently)

Thuong is from Trinity, which also explains why we spent the longest time there. Wasn't entirely bad though, since Trinity is also the biggest and richest (the amount of land they own in the UK is only 2nd to the queen). More importantly, we had picked the right day to come, because it was graduation day for the masters students, so there was a banquet, and you can walk on the grass. only on graduation day :) we were slightly late for the lunch tho, but we did manage to get some dessert and drinks. the cup of strawberries in milk & sugar was sooo good, and the bottle of apple juice lasted me for about 4 days. haha. we totally blended in with the guests at the graduation. the garden at trinity was especially beautiful, with carefully planted flowers which had a violet colour theme, all in full bloom, and trees that were manicured with equal care. more importantly, within the walls of the colleges, it was an oasis of calm, a world of difference from the noise and crowds just outside.

me and my apple juice bottle (and the library in the background)

thuong and her porter.

the hall of trinity college (where they have their meals)

more lawns (except you cant step on the grass!)

in the beautiful garden

with the manicured trees (can you spot them?)

one of the manicured trees had a secret opening at the back - it is her secret hideout!

another part of the college's sprawling grounds!

The river Cam runs through the town, and through some of the colleges, and is very pretty. A favourite activity along that river is punting, which really reminds me of what we always do in Chiangmai, but the people here would rather think of it as 'Little Venice'. It was quite a crowded day though, and the narrow river was quite full. It was also quite chilly with threats of rain (remember the weather forecast?) so i decided to give it a miss (anyway, how different can it get from the rafting we did down the mekong, right? haha.) it must be quite romantic tho, and james & sarah mentioned at lunch on sunday that their friend proposed to his girlfriend there - hired a boat and filled it with rose petals, how terribly sweet, awww :)

a typical cambridge postcard picture :)

boats for self-hire (i.e. not a chauffeur punt)

Another reason why it resembles Venice, is because of the effort that has gone into trying to replicate what they have on Venice. In St John's college, one of the bridges over the river is called the Bridge of Sighs, after the one in Venice.

there! the bridge of sighs. (i think we saw the wrong one in venice last time?)

we then went shopping a little after lunch (for books, what else?), and walked around somemore till it was time for me to leave, and for Thuong to go for her dinner. She very kindly invited me to stay, but i wasn't keen on walking back home past midnight alone, plus i was tired out from all that walking (and waking up early on a saturday morning!).

the market

graduation takes place in the white hall.

that all-too-familiar crest that adorns every GCE booklet cover!

no prizes for guessing the name of this cute church!

cambridge is a bicycle city - even 'car park' actually refers to 'bicycle park' - unless genuises have their brains wired differently?

My storybook accompanied me half the way, and i was dozing off when a rowdy bunch of youngsters got onto the train, bound for the saturday night life of london.

GCE- the average singaporean student's much-feared nemesis.

there, i've paid homeage to those conspirators. too bad the closest most sg students come to know about cambridge are the exams, not the beautiful town i had the privilege to visit.

a day of homesickness

2008-07-19T01:30:00.002+01:00

this morning, i woke up homesick. i had a really strange dream about my family, where joel was actually 5 years old, and i hadn't been home for 4 years or something. the rest of the family was intact, except that joel wasn't really joel, he/she was joelle, and she was a 5 year old genius. i remember she came crawling (i dun know why she's still crawling at 5!) to me, but spoke in perfect english, asking if i was carol jie-jie. i was really surprised that she knew i even existed was quite affectionate. in reality, i really dun think joel (who's about 1.5 years) will have any idea as to who i am and he'll prob cry (or cen prob run away now) if i try to get too close. i think it's time to go home, because people grow up/older and things change.

i try not to feel homesick and head to work. i dunno how the week has passed and it's friday again. the office is exceptionally quiet - lots of pple are on summer holiday this week. met ben koh for lunch and talked about singapore again, and school and the usual. it's been a long time since i've thought about smu, and i'm not sure if i'll be able to cope next term.

the highlight of my day was my mid-term appraisal. again, i can't believe 5 weeks has eclipsed and i'm halfway through my stint. it was a good appraisal, which went much better than i had anticipated, and left me realising that things could turn out in the next few months that would take me away from home again in the not so distant future. i ponder a bit about this prospect but i really have to seek God's will because i had never planned for any of this to happen.

the appraisal also gave me a sense of finality, and i felt that my time left here is quite short, so i went shopping after work. by the way most people left by 6pm, it was nearly a ghost-town. got to my favourite store at knightsbridge and bought stuff for the pple at work. the kind to give pple in appreciation of their kindness on my last day kinda thing, you know. i felt almost as if i was leaving next week.

came back to have 'lak cheong and egg' cooked by my housemate, and i thought of my ah gong, cos he's almost the only person i remember who cooks 'lak cheong'. i wonder how he's doing now? chatted for quite a bit about the singaporean education system and whole bias towards overseas grads thing. who knows, our conversation might get featured in the papers back home.

when i stepped into my room, there was a postcard sitting on my table - all the way from good ol' singapore, sent by good ol' luyi. (thanks so much babe! yup it's super cute but i dun get that spanish connection at all! anyway, please take a rest after all that crazy euro-tripping and help me with school prep etc! hee hee :p)

i almost felt like taking out my luggage to start packing, but that will be a little too early, ain't it?
i think i shall just go to sleep and try and dream about home more. but wake up tomorrow and head to cambridge instead. i need to start touristing around UK, because i'm heading home soon...

singapore-style discrimination

2008-07-08T23:03:00.004+01:00

i can't stand people, singaporeans, who think they are better off than their fellow countrymen.

ok, let me first explain that this is in the context of singaporean students studying abroad. just happened to bump into some of them during my time in london.

after a quick round of introductions, and the usual 'are you malaysian/singaporean' question that will inevitably follow whenever fellow singaporeans recognise each other's unmistakable accent, the succession of questions would revolve around which school one goes to. i've never had any problem introducing myself to anyone from anywhere else - when i say i study in singapore, people appreciate the diversity, at least, they are polite and don't seem to start looking down on you just cos you don't study in the united kingdom or in europe. even the malaysian and bruneian students talked to you like you were on the same level with them.

not with singaporeans though.

they will give a really shocked look, and after a few seconds of recovery, they will either 1) try to cover up their surprise by saying something pretentious in a mocking tone, like 'wow, that's really impressive', or 2) give it to you straight in the face that you must be a lot worse off than them. one of them even went as far as to say, in an attempt to hide the fact that he has committed the crime of discrimination, 'well, you know the discrimination between local and overseas degrees right?' (or something to that effect, qing, can you remember what were the exact words?) and then, they proceed to talk down to you and dish out 'advice' about living and working in london.

of course, not all singaporeans are like that- i've a singaporean colleague at work and she's very nice and geuinely amazed that i managed to put the logistics together, and loads of friends who study overseas who haven't shown themselves to be like that. but meeting those few black sheep is disgusting enough.

but for those i've met in the banking world recently, i would love to give them the benefit of doubt- that they were not implying anything with their reactions. but i don't really want to meet them a second time to find out...

Buda, Pest and the blue Danube

2008-07-07T22:05:00.002+01:00

Really sorry for the long break I took from posting my travel chronicles. This entry on follows the on from Poland, and starts from the overnight train we took from Krakow to Budapest.

Budapest, Hungary
24-25 May 2008

Hungary is another country with a long history. Just to give a brief overview from my limited knowledge: the Huns (yes that's how they got their name!) settled in Budapest in the 5th century. However, the foundation of Hungary was laid in the late 9th Century by the Magyar chieftain Árpád, whose great grandson István (Stephen) ascended to the throne with a crown sent from Rome in 1000. The Kingdom of Hungary existed with minor interruptions for more than 900 years, and at various points was regarded as one of the cultural centers of the Western world. It was succeeded by a Communist era (1947-1989) during which Hungary gained widespread international attention regarding the Revolution of 1956 and the seminal move of opening its border with Austria in 1989, thus accelerating the collapse of the Eastern Bloc.(thanks again to wikipedia.org for most of above)

will post the rest of the words soon. for now, enjoy the pics! :)