day of success, surprises and so much fun!

two events today that make up the title.

today was the angel-mortal reveal party!
and the art project was a success!
was so worried that my mortal
wouldn't like the shirt that i painted for her
but it turns out that she did!
woohoo~

when my angel came up to me
during the reveal, i was totally not prepared!
i initially had someone in mind,
so was looking out for her, THEN..
surprise, surprise!
i got a boy. heh.
hmm, come to think of it,
he did put a lot of effort
in the gifts for me,
contrary to my initial impression
of an absent angel. =P

anyway, the food brought was not bad at all!
my class brought potato salad, fruits, jelly.
other classes did chocolateystuff, nuggets,
pandancake, potatowedges, crisps, drink, etc.
yumyum, overate.


--

i caught a wheelchair basketball match
and it was so much fun!!
greatbritain was playing southafrica.
the two teams came to s'pore
to acclimatize before the paralympics
in beijing take place.
what a privilege to see them play. =]

the atmosphere of the sportshall was amazing.
held at the unitedworldcollege,
there were many students who came to watch.
the cheers of encouragement for southafrica
were strong, however it seemed that
whoops of joy were heard from the same
crowd behind me each time greatbritain scored.

well, i rendered my shouts for southafrica.
and although they didn't win,
i admire the way the captain of the team played.
some members were rowdy,
even though they're on wheelchairs!
bumping into opponents
and even 'locking' others' wheelchairs
by strategically interlocking the footplates
of their chairs with the wheels of others'!

but number7 was mostly calm.
he played well, keeping his eyes
on the ball and on his teammates.
which was a contrast to some players
who were expending more energy
blocking competitors' paths.

i'm glad i went for the match today.
i learnt more of how the game is played,
the meanings of the fancy actions referees/umpires
made to denote certain types of fouls.
i got to see the importance of
directing your attention on the right
things/people during the match,
note to self: must practice that the next time i play.
i also had the opportunity to witness
the grace and swiftness of movement
by the players on the court.
strength in the arms i don't have!
but most of all, i realise
how privileged i am. to be able-bodied.


wow.

HAPPY(okayla.)HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME! =D

okay, so this was what i'd planned
would take place on my birthday:
- wake, shower up, meet classmates!
- spend the morning-> afternoon
hanging out with them, even lunch.
- head back home, tutoring at 4pm
- end at 6pm, have a nice dinner
- return home before 9
- have sweethappy memories..


BUT
IT WAS NOT TO BE.
haha. =P


first of all, my dinnerdate
postponed the meeting.
saddd.


then the night before THE day,
i texted my classrep if we were meeting
and she totally ignored my message!!!!

received a buzz from sylvia instead
to meet at around 3.20pm
on THE day before my tutoring.
though it was a disappointment
that instead of hanging out,
i'd just, like, "NAHH, here you go,"
receive a gift and go back home,
i thought that it was okay, i guess.

so i agreed lastminute to a lunch
with another coursemate of mine
to meet at westmall's pastamania!
yumyum. =D

we then walked around
(too full for swensen's dessert)
to buy stuff from shops i like.
wah, felt superrich
though i really wasn't.
heh. the banes of using NETS.

got fabric paints and stick dyes
from popular.
hehe, the art project i'm
currently working on...
whee~

got a CD (on impulse!!)
from hallmark.
i just seriously bought
what was playing overhead.
haha.

got a birthdaygift for my daddy.
his' the next in the family
to be celebrated!
[since i doubt he'll read this:]
i got him two tabletennisbats
and a box of tabletennisballs.
would be nice to have
a game with him someday.

almost bought hairsoap.
don't know why, just felt like it. >.<
thankfully i didn't.
guess, the ego was overriding the id.

oh, ego, where were you during
all the above purchases?
haha. =P

last purchase, a gift for me:
a black tanktop! *beams*
haha, dearLaLa was commenting
that i need to get the basics!
hehe.


then i rushed back home to
help my sister with something


and then sylvia texted to say
she'd arrived below my block.

so i hurried down to meet her
expecting to see her holding
a paperbag of present for me
but NOOOOOO....
in her hand was just a bunch
of... plastic bags??
y'know, those big
transluscent green ones
that hdb occupants
receive in a bid to
encourage recycling?

so i was: hmmm?

then she folded the bags
and blindfolded me.
well, actually 'cos the bags
were many and were big
she ended up
masking close to my entire face.
haha.

and let me on trail
to i-don't-know-where.
only sensory inputs
were sounds of cars passing by
SO WE WERE WALKING BY
THE ROADSIDE WITH ME
LOOKING SILLY LIKE THAT?!!
and her 'ngiapp' and 'warmth'.
haha, flashback to when we were
learning Mobility with a VI client.

then she got lost.
BUT found her way again,
and we met elisabeth!
well, at least, i heard elisabeth.

they kinda got me into a car
(it sounded like a taxi)
but not before bumping
my nose into the side of the door.

and i heard voices of
xiaoyuan and tricia as well.
"hmm, this will be interesting,"
i thought to myself.

they refused to tell me
where we were going,
so i gave up asking
and just chatted as
normally as i could.
note: i was still blindfolded. (?!!)

then it got quiet
the vehicle stopped.
the door opened.
i somehow got out?

someone grabbed from behind
and tied my hands together
and tied my legs together.

totally freaking me out now.
not sure
whether
to laugh
or to cry.

and then there was a
total change in atmosphere.
i was hauled up
onto what seemed like
another vehicle.
knocked my head against something
but the confusion proved
a damper to the ouch.

in the van
i knew there was someone behind me
a bunch of others beside me.
there were sounds of sobbing
coming from my left
and noises of banging on
the sides of the vehicle
coming from all around.

a male voice rang out
to shut up the wailers.
i wasn't one of them.

i sat at my corner
shivering
with my hands behind my back.
i tried not to roll about
i tried to balance
against the movements of the van
under the control of
a seemingly terrible driver.

a monologue of the
fate of all victims took place.
suggesting that we'd
be shipped to m'sia.

i kept quiet.
to struggle would be unintelligent.
i kept still.
only to be poked at
to check if i was alive
and viable for sale.

a few times the wailers would start.
and be silenced again.

there were sounds of spitting
and snips of a pair of scissors
coming dangerously close
to my ear.
from the left, a sharpening of knife.

it was a long
and uncomfortable ride.

i teared,
but no one could see under the mask.

i dreaded when the van would stop.
not knowing what would happen next.

yet the time came.
the vehicle started reversing.
bleeps accompanied the backward motion.

the door railed open.
light flooded the van,
piercing through the blindfold even.

i was dragged along my bum
towards the edge of the van,
and pushed off onto the ground.

my knees made raw contact with
the rough concrete slabs making up
the floor of the carpark.
the impact of falling onto my knees
jerked out tears
and i burst into sobs.

there was a moment of else silence
and even i waited
for the next thing to happen.

then the blindfold was removed
and in front of me
lay a birthdaycake and a present.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

haha.

i think i was crying
so elisabeth lent me her shoulder.
i said thankyou
haha, think i was still in a daze.

then everyone else started
to reveal their faces.
there was (in order of appearance)
elisabeth, tricia, sylvia, denise,
jonathan, xiaoyuan, justyn.

haha. you buncha sneakyfellas!

i remember asking in the van
who there was
and they insistedthat
pooja was driving and
syams couldn't speak
because there's a surprise. >.<

thanks, ah... =P

anyway, so we started chatting
as we sat out on the ground
beside the van.

turns out that there was
only one vehicle
but 'cos the backdoors open via hinge
and the sidedoors open via sliding,
it seemed that i was transferred from
one vehicle to another.

the first checkpoint where they
walked me to was actually the
coffeeshop area 4-5 roads
away from my place! >.<
sylvia must've looked real silly
walking beside a blindfolded me.
haha, thankfully i was spared. =D

then the next destination was actually
some carpark at hillview, bukit timah.
whoa. far, aye?

finally, i found myself at another carpark
beside the bukit batok nature reserve.
so many places in less than halfanhour.
what an adventure!

i really appreciate the planning and
all the arrangements to my bday celebrations.
it turns out that they sneakily
engaged my sister's help!!

haha, it was a real surprise
and in some sense,
it was a fun experience.

i imagined that the stuff
i went through was kinda like,
persecution?
maybe the experience would
be good preparation
for the future? hmm..

haha, but anyway,
i really like the presents!!
got a really long chunky necklace
and a black long-sleeved sweater.
girlystuff.
SWEET!!!

haha.
thankyou
dearFarah, sylvia, xiaoyuan,
denise, tricia, jonathan, syams,
elisabeth (who actually wanted to
leave me tied&blindfolded somewhere
with just the cake&gift in front of me)
and justyn (who was the voice
behind all the mental torture).

haha, now have some scrapes on the knee
to proudly say that this is the memorablest
birthday ever!

happybirthday~ =]

got a new phone!

queued up for 3hours to get it.
AND ITS NOT EVEN THE iPHONE!!
haha.
an old model, but i like it. =D

CHOPPED.

haha. my hair, that is.
looks.. like a kids' now.
haha. oh, well.
one more month before
school starts so i guess
its not TOO bad, aye?

hanging out with my babes! minus rox.. =(

so excited to see them again!!!

met at orchard mrt
walked to kinokunia
walked to other places in orchard
that i do not know how to get to
if i had to make my way there again. =P

oh! then we headed to wheelock place
where we were deciding between
eating sakaesushi or big-O
and the latter won.

after that we walked around
looking for a decent hp pouch
couldnt find what we were looking for
but i bought two prettybangles
for my sisters! haha.

then Mel had to leave =(
she was going to attend the
summer japanese festival!
cool, aye?
i've heard quite a bit about it
her and some other sec schmates
who used to attend.

anyway, after that dearlinda and lala
brought me shopping!!!
haha, trying to find girlystuff for me. =P

then they found some pretty tops
for me to try on.

haha, of those i tried,
i liked two of them.
one was a tube-like blouse
with a cute ribbon thing on the front.
and the second was a long spag blouse
that had a sporty look.

eventually chose the latter.
the first one was too shameshame!!
but 'twas a pretty one. =]

it's a pity that rox couldnt join us today.
hopefully next time ba?

a splendid way to celebrate.

he surprised my family
-and me included-
when he asked my mum
for permission to take me out.

he knew the event'd end late
so he asked if i could be sent home
by 11:30pm the latest.
at his sincerity, i believe,
mummy agreed.

he picked me up from home,
me all dressed up by my sister
(no, without makeup, thankyou.)
and we had dinner at pastamania.

made our way to cityhall
for reasons he still didn't
want to reveal to me.
got squished up in a huge crowd
and we ended up at the marinabay.

YES. he'd brought me to
see the fireworks. =]
and it was.. splendid. *beams*
(pity, i didn't bring a camera)

really didn't expect it,
was a very pleasant surprise.

and the most important thing:
he sent me home on time. =P

exams are over~

woohoo! haha.
seems like it hasn't kicked in?
not really, come to think of it..
on thursday after our last paper
it was like YEAHHHHH!!

we were all revved up to hang out
(despite the 1hrplus debrief)
and so let loose, we did.

had lunch at koufu in school
then the whole troop of us
66.6666666666% of the class
farah, syams, justyn,
denise, xiaoyuan, sylvia,
xueyi, tricia, shuhui,
xinling, jonathan & me
made our way towards
the jurong entertainment centre
for ICESKATINGGGG!!!
haha.

we had truckloads of fun!
at first there was some apprehension
that we'd spend
the whole two hours plus
clinging onto the sides of the rink
but it wasn't too long
before most of us were able
to wobble on the ice
away from the sides.

oh, special mention:
farah and i were superamused
by justyn's first attempt on ice!
haha, the minuspoint about
being so tall is that you have
a higher CG and that equates
to extra wobbliness! =P

we did silly things
like forming a 12-people train
with jon/xyuan leading
(they're the better skaters).
but the train broke into two
a few times
'cos it was too long.
(got reprimanded by someone
that we cannot hold more than
two people's hands)
--"but (in protest)...
we only held the waist of
one person in front of us!"
aiyoh, so cheeky. =P

also tried racing on the ice!
basically it was some kinda relay
but everyone from the first line
ended up only tapping dearbeaver.
it was like, huh?
haha.
i wonder if she knew what
the rest were up to. =P

another sillything we did:
getting the tallman
to stand with feet apart
and jon to try skate through.
it was hilarious!
mostly because the attempts
were somewhat.. unsuccessful? >.<

it was real fun,
a good destressor after the exams.

the happiest thing:
mainly, just revelling
in the company
of such great friends.

am blessed. =]

brought a smile to my face~

hey sam! how's your week?
hope everything has been
going well for you!
haven't seen or
talked to you for awhile. ):
stay strong throughout
the week! *big hugs*

HAPPY [EARLY] BIRTHDAY TO ME~

celebrated my birthday early.
today, in fact.

reason being,
it's the only available time
before Daddy goes overseas.

as usual, we went to
our favourite place;
the place we go to
each time it's anyone's birthday.

indulged the company
of my most lovedones.

only regret:
i'm bloated.
haha. =P

FAMILY NIGHT.

finally caught THE DARK KNIGHT.

rushing from home,
my sis and i made our way to JP.

parents and other sibling
were coming from another direction,
so we arranged to meet there.

really thank God that
we managed to book/buy
the tickets early online.

we arrived at JP just 25minutes
before the show started,
it was full house at the cinema!

hmm, hasn't the show been out
for quite some time?

anyway, we bought food first.
nachos, icelemontea, popcorn.
we entered the theatre
and i enjoyed the privilege
of sitting in the middle of my family.
it was(left-->right):
parent,parent,me,sibling,sibling.

the show was SCARY.
should've brought my pillow/bolstee
or at least a sweater to cover my eyes
when it got frightening.
but i didn't. >.<
totally didn't help
that i needed to pee. =\
aiyoh.

but other than those frighteningmoments,
the movie was really cool.

only understood the title
nearning the end.

on the car ride back,
my family kinda discussed
the stuff we understood from the show.
something not done before?
as far back as i recall,
this is the FIRST movie
we've watched as a family!

it's usually just
Mummy&theGirls
or Mummy&aSibling
or Mummy&Daddy
or Daddy&aSibling.
so this is really precious.

i'm not sure if we'll do this more often,
but i'm sure that today is one day
that i'll treasure. <33


I LOVE MY FAMILY. =]]

THE COMPETITION.

well, actually today's title
should read:
THE COMPETITION?

with the girls.
it was a bright sunny day
and i was geared up
for a good time of sports.
(felt the need to exercise,
getting BIT flabby again.)
heh.

well, despite living
just fifteen minutes from SP
where the competition was held,
I ARRIVED LATE.
aiyoh. >.<

anyway...
turned out that
what 教练 predicted came true.
at our last training before the comp,
he mentally prepped us
not to expect too much.

and well, when we arrived,
we found that the only campus(es)
that had teams represented was NYP.
aiyoh.

thankfully we had two teams.
otherwise it'd be a disaster.
(heh, exaggerating..)

so we played amongst ourselves
in the groupings pre-assigned.
two other CCC people came
and since it was insufficient
to form another team,
they just joined a team each.

and we had fun.

as 教练 said:
"friends off the court,
competitors on the court"
-or something like that..

so we really played our best
despite the circumstances.



i now have a slight tan, so
today wasn't at all a waste?

haha.

more importantly,
i got to know more girls

and learnt to appreciate
the different strengths of
the members on each team.
(and i felt exercised!)

i really enjoyed myself.

thoughts to end with:
will we carry on having
CaptainsBall games after LM?


--


stuff at the guys' side.
the guys played excellently well!
won all the matches
until the final four.
then the two NYP guys team
had to compete with each other.
hmm..

i guess it was fair
otherwise it would end up
NYP v NYP in the finals, aye?

so obviously NYP made it to the finals.

the opponent: TP.
and the guys played hard.

it was a really intense match,
a game of rollercoaster morale.

TP scored early
NYP then raised their defence.
NYP scored.
the morale was boosted.

TP scored again,
i don't think i'm biased;
it seemed purely luck.
NYP played harder.
NYP levelled the playing ground.

TP scored again,
a nice one, at that.

and then
just when no one expected it,
the referee blew the whistle.

it was really an intense match.
but both sides played well.

am proud of the guys
for their hardwork and sportsmanship.


--


and it's now time for all of us
to STUDY.

i miss MW at SA.

at SAJC, we used to have
daily MorningWorship at LT2.
with just a guitar, and lyrics,
we'd worship and pray for
things of concern.
awesome way to start the day.

and it's cool that some people
at NYPCCC have initiated MW too.
it's weekly (fridays) at 8am
and we meet at BlkE.

although it's just an hour
of worship and short sharing,
it's a good time of refreshing.

we've had about 4-5 MWs so far?
and today was differentspecial.

in light of the 2008 BeiJing Olympics,
we had worship in mandarin!

here's a song i learnt
that i was really encouraged by.

point to note:
it must really have touched me,
considering my chinese is like, bleah.

and um, i'll try to translate it
(not word-for-word, though)
to the bestest i can..


--


祷告(Pray)
Verse
祷告因为我渺小
祷告因为我知道我需要
明瞭你心意对我重要

祷告已假装不了
祷告因为你的爱我需要
你关怀 我走过的你都明白

Chorus
有些事我只想要对你说
因你比任何人都爱我
痛苦从眼中流下
我知道你为我檫

在早晨我也要来对你说
主耶稣今天我为你活
所需要的力量你天天赐给我
你恩典够我用

the song is entitled: Pray
the verse speaks of recognising
the need for prayer.
because I'm not self-sufficient,
because I know I need to,
understanding that the plans
God has for me are important.

it then goes on to say that
prayer is something that cannot be feigned,
pray recognises the need for God's love.
because He cares for me
and knows what I go through.

the chorus captures bits of
what the author feels.
he mentions that there are some things
he would like to tell God,
because God knows him
better than anyone else.
God wipes away
all sorrow expressed in tears.

the first thing in the morning,
he also wants to acknowledge
that he lives for God.
because the strength required
is daily provided by Him.
and it concludes with this:
"Your grace is sufficient for me."


--


the original lyrics of the song
is really beautiful.
unfortunately i am unable
to fully capture its meaning
after attempted translation.

but, ya..
gonna try memorise the lyrics!
maybe could introduce it to
the QuietTime girls?
hehe.

inspired.

the holidays are here!

two weeks of the term break have come
and almost half has gone!
time passes so fast >.<

i'm gonna have to make the rest of it
(mostly spent at camp) worthwhile. =]

trials past

biomechanics test
- felt it was okay, yet disappointment with results =\

sociology test
- thankyou PaPa God for the topics to study =D

ottp test
- time TAK CUKUP! stunned at the way i froze.

ugh.

BUT
shall not happen again for my other papers.
no, no, NO.

jiayou, samantha.. jiayou.

birthday plans on the way~

wanna watch a movie with my family.
妹妹 picked out The Dark Knight.
姐姐 totally insisted that it's not scary.
well, if they want to.
haha.
kidding la!

well, i am aware that
it may get nightmare-inducing,
but my curiosity is piqued.
shall arm myself with a good babybolster
to squeeze when it gets frightening.
NO MORE catching people beside me
unaware by my sudden pinching..! >.<

secondly, the family tradition of dinner together.
we'll be going to the usual place.
haha, i'm not too picky so i'm oaky with it.
bit far, though. heh.
okayokay, i'm bit picky with distance.
oh, well. =P

can't believe i'm hitting the BIG TWO-OHHHH. >.<

two things to consider (after the exams)

to buy (a new handphone) or not to buy?
that is the question.
--well, not really.
the question is: which phone to buy?
my current one is totally dying out on me.
turning itself off whenever it pleases,
not waking me up when i've set FIVE alarms,
and totally making me send double messages.
ugh.
haha.

to chop (off some hair) or not to chop?
that is the question.
--well, not really.
the question is: how much to chop?
i definitely want to cut it.
have a change in hairstyle!
i do admit that it would make me
more vulnerable to badhairdays
which i would easily avoid
by tying long hair up..
BUT aiyah.
a change would be nice, aye?
haha.
we'll see..

sense of achievement for sheefoo/masterwooguay?

haha.
played tabletennis after lessons today.
i think i improved from the last time,
that kinda pleased sheefoo?
but i was enjoying myself too,
so that was nice. =]

i got to practise using forehand.
although it took some time,
the method that sheefoo adopted
to coach me worked, i think.
i initially quipped that credit goes to
having a good rest the night before
but i have to admit that
to a certain extent,
the extra patience that sheefoo
had when teaching
must've boosted my morale?
ya. haha.

didnt get to play squash today,
but i got to kick some soccer!
haha.
cool, aye?
it was just bits of kicking around
and i scored a goal!
the people we played with
were really friendly
and that was fun.
whee~

happyhappy
supertired
evening.

and i'm now off
to sleep.
Zzz. -.-