*Saturday, April 26, 2008*
With Archuleta's rendition of 'When You Believe' playing... it really is hard not to believe that one can survive the exams.
Secretly though, i'm actually not looking forward to the end of exams. i harbour a little apprehensiveness about the post-exam activities.
i'll be looking at work, work and more work... and also a lot of tedious planning.
That's a lot of cakes for that matter.
God, give me wisdom and grace.
8:32 AM
... Elle a parle
*Monday, April 21, 2008*
Life isn't exactly all peaches and cream after all.
Sometimes i just get overwhelmed by a sense of animosity.
Perhaps, i've been seeing too much chocolate of late.
6:16 AM
... Elle a parle
*Saturday, April 19, 2008*
This post is going to be awfullyfragmented. For there's awfullyalotofstuffgoingon. Thanks to awfullychocolate.
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First and foremost - Thanks everyone for all the birthday smses and gifts. They're really well appreciated and there's nothing more precious than to be remembered.
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Yes!! David Cook's studio recording of Always Be My Baby is finally out!
Currently, he's tied with Chris Daughtry at number 2 on my list of favourite singers. (Position 1 will always of course belong to Deacon Jeff.)
He's so gonnnnnnnnnnnna win. okay, he'll definitely be in the top 3.
Sans Aucun Doute. ---
I've started work at awfullychocolate. Day 1, 18/4, at vivocity, in 3 words - one heck of a day. sold out of all chocolate rum and cherry cakes, and had technically 3 left of the other 2 flavours. was despatched at the eleventh hour to this outlet, and i'm still fretting over tuesday as i'm working with the old cash machines, which i sadly am still 'zero' at operating.
visit me at either katong mall on tueday or vivocity on wednesday, people. i love people.
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Exams are happening pretty soon, and this means that the immersion is drawing near too. Although i am both excited yet filled with dread from being apart from my family for more than a month, I trust that this is the route for me. Somehow, I was filled with peace when i decided to go, and while i was applying for the exchange, "grenoble" was unconsciously written into my intended choices. And i've been allocated just that.
So january to june of '09 will be spent in france, okay, more like europe because i'll definitely visit the mates in sweden, germany, uk. you know who you are, and here's an early warning. tsk tsk. mum cried and had a major headache when she found out about the news, while dad was nonchalent. but somehow, i just feel in the spirit that there's something for me in france. and i don't know why...
So there definitely won't be any cobwebs on this blog during that period. I will pass the blog address to family as well.
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of course, there was the class gathering at rj's house today. rj's house is really a games haven. she had this foosball console, a mahjong table, cards, a piano and board games all laid out when pam and i arrived. there was definitely serious gaming going on, although there were only 10 of us who turned up. (sidenote: nessa! what was with the facial? haha) the highlight of the day among the many highlights, was probably sister's soprano singing. it got us all rolling on rj's marble floor and countless carpets, and clara would probably be the epitome of laughter. milkshake was indefinitely the star of the night, of course being handsomely rewarded for being such an attractive darling.
i would label the night as the night of balls, where sister ruled them all. she was adept to ivan's ball-wrist-twisting-thingamajig, where she remained the only one to be able who was successful.
she's really good at foosball too, finally, her 'hidden' talent has surfaced!
of course a game of twister concluded the night, and of course it was a horribly twisted affair. poor pam was en face to sister's butt, and there were just fingers and toes everywhere. horrenduously funny...
...BUT IVAN HAS ALL OUR PHOTOS. which is extremely dangerous, even more so than a certain wanted man on the prowl.
hence vanvan,
if you know what's good for you, keep them off facebook.
10:30 AM
... Elle a parle
*Friday, April 11, 2008*
Where i went, with whom, when.... i guess it's self-explanatory. i really have been looking forward to this trip since i reurned from the first one exactly a year ago... and this year... le charge d'affairs was monsieur jerome jacquet who was accompanied by a whole new team of lecturers.
the trip meant to me so much as to the extent that i was willing to sacrifice part of my grade for french... 13% to be exact... although it did upset me that the test was originally scheduled a week before my departure and wasn't supposed to clash with the trip.
but having said this, no regrets here for having made this choice.
i guess pretty much of every part of China has been "olympicized"... where i gave kudos to the state for propogating support for the games in every single possible opportunity given. this was just one of the initiatives.
But most of all, bless my soul, there were countless cherry blossom trees in suzhou! the first i saw in shanghai at the children's rehab centre had already amazed me. thanks to monsieur jerome, the kids had a really nice picnic lunch by rooster lake... where some of them flew kites, rode three-wheelers, froze in the cold and of course... marvelled at the beautiful trees. i had wanted to perch myself under one... but alas, there was some lawn-mowing thing going on.
doesn't this remind you of japan?
the perfect place to recite, "chuang qian ming yue guang...." and just i got tied up in the heat of the poetic moment, i got confused with the farmer poem we did in primary 1 i think? the one which goes "li li jie xing ku" and then charlie dropped his hopes on my chinese.
suzhou's tiger hill, which appears to be tilted at a different degrees when viewed from different angles. this photo features one of the groups, t03 i believe. chinese scenery is really pretty, and every bit comparable with that of japan.
there was also a flower exhibition at tiger hill... which charlie said was held every spring. so of course we were there at the right time, right place! these imported hollandaise tulips were really really pretty. the horse-drawn carriage also made this scene tres picturesque.
i was super glad to have taken this shot while this skilled artisan was doing his craft. he actually takes warm honey and dribbles it on a cold slate of marble, it cools and voila! you have edible craft. it kind of made me feel cheated that i paid so much for a tiny piece at tcc's.
and of course, the must see sightseeing spot and place to visit for me was H&M! i wasn't particularly impressed this time though, by the brand which i considered my favourite among all the high street fashion retailers. prices as usual, skyrocketed which i felt, disincentivised me from spending the limited yuan that i had. but having promised my little sister... i bought some stuff for her just to fulfill my promise- much to the displeasure of the ebenezer scrooge in me.
i really, really like the lecturers in tp. my sister is going to have a hard time worming out of the plan for her to take french in tp. jap wouldn't be too bad either... kubo-san's really nice! it was so funny because my bus had both french lecturers... carolyn and jerome... and i could roughly make out what they were saying in french. the students even tried to bribe me with pokey sticks to teach them some french phrases but to the peril of my singlish accented french
no visit to shanghai would be complete without a visit to the bund. although this time i was met with a very foggy view of pudong. here's one of the students posing with me in attempt to capture one of the 3 balls of the tv orient pearl tower.
carolyn and i. love her personality and eloquence. she really made the trip enjoyable. i know she'll look gorgeous in her cheongsam top at the wedding!
and of course.... dear charlie... the tour guide and who till this day, thinks that it was uncle luxin who prank called him. "qiao yong gang, qing ni li ke dao 2101!"
it left auntie gerri and i in hysterics for poor 'farmer' got the blame because charlie was so sure it was a "nan ban nu" voice.
saving the best for the last, it would have been perfectly excruciating if not for these two. from the moment i arrived at the hotel lobby to find a bottle of milk tea waiting for me... to the foot massage... to the last night where we had drinks at heng shan lu. i can't wait till you come to singapore, uncle luxin!
... Elle a parle
