Things I noticed during CNY 2006

1. The roads are empty, other than the occasional car packed full of cheongsam/chinese motiff/generally red wearing 3 generational family, complete with maid(s).

2. The trains are empty, other than the occasional group of cheongsam/chinese motiff/generally red wearing 3 generational family, usually without maid(s).

3. The shopping malls are empty, aside from the lunch/in-between-visit-snack-break chionging clusters of somewhat cheongsam/chinese motiff/not always red wearing most of the time 2 generational (or young couple or group of friends) groups, almost always without maid(s).

4. The top floor of Tampines Mall, where GV is, is full. And all above-mentioned groups are well-represented. It was the first day of CNY! FAMILY VISITING people. Thanks to them I was stuck in the front row of the theatre watching I Not Stupid Too. Painful it was. The seat, not the movie. The boys have grown up quite nicely. And I cried. Having normal tech girls as friends make it all the more real.

You know, CNY is the one festival in Singapore which has the ability to make it effectively close down. It is only during CNY that I realise how majority the majority Chinese really is. Almost ALL my favourite stalls are closed, and the shopping malls are ghost towns. A little depressing, but I had people to visit too, so it wasn't too bad.

Talking about people to visit, I promised photos of my 3 new siblings, so here they are:

That's K, J and M, who are gonna kill me if and when they see this. *grin.

Of course there's more where that comes from (I'm under strict orders not to say exactly where that is). Think I'll just post a picture of the extended family.

I know the Youth Min is gonna revolutionise this year. And not just in our Church, but in churches everywhere.

It's the 2nd day of CNY, and I've done none of the things I told myself I'll do. I should just get started shouldn't I. Seeing that I'll be out most of tomorrow, and I anticipate a small distraction later today :p

Later then. Oh and nic, if you actually find this, leave a comment yeah? I havn't seen you in AGES.

Ahhh.

So much cleaner this skin, no? I know quite a few people would approve.

Anyway, I realised I havn't posted about my current state of employment. Currently it's from 7.30am to about 3ish in the afternoon, after which I come home to recuperate for a while before I'm off again, whether for music min or, in a couple of weeks, driving lessons. I'm happily enthused by my daytime occupation though, although I suspect it's still smooth going because of the lack of assignments currently due. We'll see by next week. 26+26+19+22 300-word reflections should be interesting.

Last night I watched Sing me a Story at the Esplanade - Lee Macdonald and George Chan, if my memory serves me correctly. Amazing fun. And not a few eye candy moments either, although there is a slightly higher than average possibility that they swing the other way. OH well. Would like to go for more of those though. My long-buried love for theatre is beginning to get restless. Wish I had never quit S&D. Wonder how hard it would be to get into the scene now...

Hmm. Rather truncated, that last paragraph. My words just aren't flowing, which is not good, considering the fact that I'm still not done with my psc essay. I'm actually struggling to finish the FIRST paragraph. I really really really need to start writing again. Oh and I'm so screwed for the duathlon. Gai darling we aren't really competing are we? I'll buy you a sundae when we lose I promise. I cycled 5k yesterday and it took me half an hour because my butt hurt. And then there's the road run. SIGH what was I thinking.

Right. Time for a bath, then painting my nails. No. Bath, dinner, and paint my nails during the movie, which M should be bringing. I now officially have, by the way, 4 other siblings. One's real, that's Babe, then there's M and J, the latter of which is Babe's twin, and K. I'm not sure where she fits in the hierachy, but there you go. Oh and of course Rascal, Teddy and Junior. I'll put up pictures soon enough.

Happy CNY y'all.

RANDOM QUOTE OF THE DAY: "I'm hungry. I want a banana." ~ Alvin of Alvin and the Chipmunks, "Japanese Banana".

p.s. Watching Memoirs on Tues. Havn't read the book (yes, there are books I havn't read) yet so it should be interesting. Plaza Singapura, ehque. *grin.

Priorities

I think at some point in their lives, everybody reaches a stage where the phrase "get your priorities right", previously translated into "stop playing, start studying" becomes a lot more complicated. It happens when responsibilities (and thus privileges) morph from scoring in exams (and going out with friends as a reward) to (almost) real work and many new groups of friends, and the need to maintain old groups of friends as well as responsibility to the family. And it's even more complex when friends feel like family, but you know they aren't. And that family is still family.

And sometimes what you should do isn't the same as what you want to do. Or worse yet, you want to know what you should do, but you also want to do something else at the same time. And you ask yourself, who makes the final decision. Do you finally do something because youhave to, or because you want to. Or do you make yourself want to do things you have to, so that you feel better about it. But then that would mean, eventually, that you're doing things other people want you to do. Which really isn't the best way to live your life. Unless it's God we're talking about, but that's really another issue altogether.

Taking all that into consideration, what happens when priorities clash. Like, when two issues are on the same priority level, and they both demand to be handled. What then? Choose a favourite? Or the one that would seem to need more help. Do we do things we like to do, or things we want to do. Is freedom in the choosing, or the choice? Or is it in what we do with what we have chosen. Is there really and truly freedom there at all?

Nobody ever said it would be a smooth ride.

And just so I remember. I'd rather be lonely single, than unhappily attached. Remind me.

Just because.

4 Jobs you've had in your life.

Research Assistant at Science Discovery Centre
Catechist in Church
Relief Teaching
Older Sister to numerous kids.

4 Movies you could watch over and over again.

The Sound of Music
Love Actually
Sister Act
Under the Tuscan Sky (or something like that)

4 TV shows you love to watch.

FBEye
CSI wherever
Friends (yes, I know it's over)
You know, I'm really not much of a TV person...

4 Places you've lived.

Norma Terrace, Singapore
Jalan Bangsawan, Singapore
3 hours from London in my aunty's house, England
In a motel opposite Disneyland, Los Angeles

4 Places you've been on vacation to.

Amsterdam
Zurich
Frankfurt
Las Vegas


4 Places you'd rather be.

Cambridge
Montmarde
Solvankg
That beach outside Macdonald's in Brisbane

4 of your favourite foods.

Fish and Chips
Mee Pok
Shepherd's Pie
BROWNIES.

4 of your favourite drinks.

Water
Iced Milo
Soya Bean
Ribena

4 Websites you visit daily.
Enroute
Neopets (Yes. Close your mouth. And put down those rakes.)
Yahoo!
The PSC Homepage (I know. Bordering on obsessive.)

4 people you're tagging.

toot
the red one
wz
ehque

There.

"You know there's something seriously wrong with your life when your ice cubes don't float in your water." ~My Sister.

My 100th post. And typical Vanessa line. Enjoy.

Caution: Random rambling ahead.

I'm not depressed. I'm just contemplative. And that usually leads to morose-like appearances.

It's hard to translate thoughts and feelings on how things should be into how things are. It's even harder when everybody agrees on how things should be, but hardly anybody agrees that's the way we want things to be. Knowing right, choosing left. And as frustrating as it is, I hardly have the courage to turn right on my own. I fear too much. I fear to lose too much. Even when I know there's so much more to be gained.

Am I a substitute person? Like, the person between people, who's there so that other people don't crash and burn, but have a safety net they bounce off. And away. But that never retains, because it's just reflex to let go. A safety mechanism. So that letting go doesn't sting, it actually feels right. Even if perhaps it isn't.

I think they call it growing pains.

and a spirit-filled 2006

Happy New Year you all :)

It's been a packed week, and I havnt slept earlier than 12 for the last 5 or so days. Of course the plus side was that I didn't wake up before 8 for most of those days, save Friday of course. I'm a teacher! Woot.

This isn't gonna be a take stock of 2005, here's what to come in 2006 post, but I can hardly avoid saying that we're now planted firmly at the beginning of a brand new, probably life-changing year. There's this sense of tentativeness, of not knowing really what's to come. Of wondering if I did myself justice in the exams that could decide where I go and what I do for the next couple of years, of moments of panic and impatience for the news to just be over and done with so I can start making concrete plans. But also of excitement, of the knowledge that I'm on the cusp of a brilliant life in His Plan even failure can't take away. Of great love, Love I can feel by my side, see in the faces and hear in the laughter and even tears of family and friends. Of great joy, just to be alive, to wake up in the morning to a sparkling day - and an old but new, potentially intimidating but just as exciting destination every Monday to Friday, starting this Tuesday. And just to make tootsie happy, here's my 10 things i want to do before i turn 25 (Random and totally relevant).

1. Drive.
2. Finish uni and be a fully-qualified teacher.
3. Go overseas on my own.
4. See the Youth Min in OLPS grow to fulfil what it's meant to do.
5. Learn to roller blade.
6. Fall in true, everlasting love.
7. Be in a dance troupe, at least for a while.
8. Go for World Youth Day, wherever it is held.
9. Visit Jerusalem.
10. Go to Vatican City, Rome.

Quite do-able really, if you think about it.

Much to do this year, and much to be. But secure in the knowledge that I'm never alone.

G'bye for now folks, off to watch War and Peace. Happy New Year again, and may it be a spirit-filled one for all.

Cuz we're living for the glory of Your Name.