tree top walk..

a hot and sunny afternoon was spent travelling all the way to the MacRitchie Tree-top Walk with biyun.. and it was a damn long journey all the way from my house.. hey, i live in the west manz.. from Jurong East MRT to Ang Mo Kio MRT, and then still had to take a bus down to Upper Thomson Road.. and you may ask, how come we did not enter from the MacRitchie Reservoir car park.. because that will take us a 4.5 km walk in from there, which would most probably take about 2 hours of walking.. so we took a shorter route through Venus Drive, down the road to the Singapore Island Country Club, and then into the forest..



and so while we were walking along this quiet road with occasional cars driving by, and then suddenly, a gust of wind blew and... ... ...



a tree just fell right in front of us!!! what the?!?! it was only a gust of wind, and plommph the tree fell!! just a few steps right in front of us!! now i'm thankful i'm alive.. =)



and then we reached the flight of steps that would eventually bring us to the bridge of the tree top walk.. after a near 2.5 km walk, we finally reached the bridge, to get to see this -



i won't say that it was magificant.. we were only 27 m high from the forest ground, and all we could see was the canopy, a peek of the reservoir water and a trace of urbanisation from faraway HDB flats.. so much for a tree top walk..



and it was only 250 m long.. huh..

after walking for so long only to walk across this 250 m long bridge, me and biyun stood there and took more pictures (and also munching our raisin bread.. haha), so as not making it a wasted trip.. haha..




biyun took out her umbrella because it was drizzling slightly for a short while..


biyun says this photo looks like i'm on a boat on sea.. haha..



and then we headed back to where we came from.. along the way, we saw many of these concrete well-like structures, and then we started having wacky ideas of our version of Sadako.. haha..



and then there were monkeys around too..



as unlucky as i could get, my sandals gave up on me.. boohoo..



with shoes like that, we couldn't continue walking the entire MacRitchie Reservoir, but to take the shorter route again.. on the way out, somehow we were again lucky enough to miss a bird shit, which landed just in between us.. haha.. and also a very nice gentleman offered to give us a ride out to the main road.. sorry Mr Nice, if we stink your Peugeot car with our sweat.. haha..

so we counted ourselves lucky, not to be hit by a falling tree and a falling bird shit, and also having Mr Nice to drive us out to the main road.. =) except the fact that my sandals refuse to hang on until i get home.. hmmph..

the day ended with a walk around Junction 8 and an attempt to shop.. again i didn't manage to buy anything.. haha.. but biyun did!! finally!! haha.. and then i took a bus back home.. i refused to take the train during the horrible peak hours, and would rather take a bus and having able to get a seat throughout the entire journey.. haha.. thought that the ride would probably take me about near 2 hours to get me to Jurong East, but i was glad that the bus was travelling at quite a fast speed down the expressway.. haha.. so i got home in 1.5 hours, same if i were to take the train.. haha.. whee..

remarkable that i could walk for so long with a broken sandal, and now they are down in the chute.. a good sweat, brought back a tan on the arms, but probably no more next time to the tree top walk.. haa..

a good day..

today was a good day.. =)

first thing i did, was to check my results.. haha.. the sleepy pig me woke up at near 1pm, just in time to check the results.. phew.. results were alright, CAP was maintained.. well, i have no high expectations, so i have no disappointment.. wahaha.. anyway studies is not my main priority in my life, so it wasn't much of a big deal anyway.. hehe..

then went out for some retail therapy with joyce.. =) i very long never shop le.. even if i come out to shop, usually i end up buying nothing.. because i'm choosy, i want cheap bargains yet nice and comfortable.. haha.. but today not bad wor.. at least i managed to buy something.. a sweater from Esprit at 50% off!! so it was only $29.95!! hehe..

together with joyce, we went to a gathering for the new sponsors for the WorldVision child sponsorship.. it was just to get to know better how the whole thing works.. and at some point i was a bit inspired and touched by it.. =)

and today i ate a lot.. venezia ice-cream at taka, pepper lunch for dinner, and then some japanese ice-cream again at marina square with another big gang from CO - joyce, jiahui, suyi, hweeming, changsheng, yihui, yanyi and her sister.. now i think i have overeaten..

and now i'm going to make the night better by watching the final episode of my philippino drama Panday.. =) meanwhile, here's the MTV for the theme song Makita Kang Muli (I'll See You Again) for you guys to enjoy.. =) it was the first pinoy song that i learnt when i was still in Bago, and it holds a special meaning to me.. =)

it's not the original MTV, but there are some scenes from the show.. not very well done (not by me.. haha) but the main aim is to enjoy the song lar.. so here you go!! =)

man of letters..

Man of Letters, a NUS Centennial musical, was my first local musical, after The Wedding Banquet and The Broadway Musical that featured Willy Yang.. haha.. back to the musical, i think this is quite a well-done performance, considering that it's a local production, and not forgetting all the big shots involved in this production.. local music talent Dick Lee, music director Iskandar Ismail, Emma Yong, Robin Goh, Lim Kay Siu and Neo Swee Lin.. =)

inspired by Dr Arthur Lim's From a Doctor's Diary, this is Dick Lee's first romantic musical and i must say that his composition has indeed touched me a little.. haha.. the big cast with all the experienced singers and theatre actors has also made this musical a recommendable one.. haha..

although there were little glitches (like how Robin Goh always goes off-tune when he starts singing the first sentence of Dear Roseanne), it was still quite an enjoyable musical to watch.. the orchestra was good too.. and there was a harp playing too!! wow.. besides, i had the good seat eh.. haha.. second row with unblocked view.. whee~.. haha.. and it was free!! haha.. we got free tickets yesterday during the orchestra practice, and so i invited biyun, aline and waipeng to come watch the musical too.. hehe..

and i find the programme "booklet" quite creative, as it was in a form of newspaper.. suits the theme, and cost-saving too.. haha.. and then i realised that my ex-mentor-cum-boss when i was working in Singapore National Eye Centre Dr Adrian Koh is one of the committee members for this musical.. both him and Dr Arthur Lim are opthalmologists and they work in the same clinic.. hehe..

and so after the musical, me, aline and waipeng went holland v for early dinner at NYDC, with a bit of catching up to do.. haha.. and then.. ... ...



ice cream at Haagen Dazs!!

but the ice cream scoops were pathetically small.. not worth the money.. might as well buy a cone or a pint =(.. shall go somewhere else for ice cream the next time..

oh thanks biyun, for the cute little volcanic rock foot scrub from korea.. hehe.. will put that into good use.. haha..

back to the same old saturdays..

it's back to orchestra practice.. =) no more lazing around at home on saturdays.. although i don't really treat practices that seriously, i still enjoy hanging out with a crazy bunch of friends, whom every now and then you can discover something new about them.. haha..

and these people have been quite supportive towards my philippino trips, i must say.. haha.. especially with the one last december.. i've managed to gather quite a lot of stuff from them, and of course they show their support by not deterring me from going.. haha.. =) that, i really appreciate it a lot..

and of course, i get to travel to switzerland with these people, and it was really fun.. =) i bet my parents won't let me go, if not for the excuse of having to perform.. oops.. haha..

even though there were moments when i was down in the orchestra, somehow i'm still in there now.. haha.. i do need a space to rant on unhappy things happening in the orchestra at times, yeah? haha.. the recent harp incident has been quite an issue, and as an half-pail-water-harpist, i can't help but feel a bit helpless when it comes to providing solutions for the problem.. even though it's not anyone's fault, and nobody wish that to happen either, but still.. sigh..

copying scores for the orchestra isn't any easy job at all.. besides the low pay for a laborious and brain-cells-killing job, it is stressful too, especially when the orchestra starts to find mistakes in your work, and finds it hard to comprehend or when the mistakes get too bad.. worse, if you are sitting there listening to people pointing out all the mistakes.. =(

but laughter keeps one going, which perhaps explains why i'm still in there.. haha.. yesterday's barberque was fun.. although my 'twin' helen wasn't there and i was a bit lonely at times, but it was still enjoyable lar, with other people around.. food was good, with vodka too.. *i'm not an alcoholic!!* haha.. and we ended up playing lame and stoopid games till 1+ am.. haha.. now at least i know i not stoopid.. haha..

now i have to seriously consider whether to take up private harp lessons with Ma Lao Shi.. time is not so much of the issue here.. it's (again) money.. it's always expected that private lessons would be expensive.. and i couldn't possibly ask my mum to pay for it, besides, it is my interest, and my parents have been paying for all my music courses for almost 10 years.. the money i've been earning are for other purposes too, like my end-of-year mission.. haha..

*pouts* i can't think any more..

slacker is happy..

whee~~ tricia and family and friends received the things i sent over!! yeah!! thanks to zhaoyuan, who helped me pass the stuff over to them.. =) though she won't get to read this anyway.. haha.. very happy lar, they got to see the pictures, and read the letters i wrote.. i think it was quite mushy, the way i wrote.. haha.. kept mentioning "thank you"s in all the letters.. haha.. but it's all from my heart.. =) was grinning to myself all the way, when nina texted me this morning that she received the stuff.. she said everyone had a good laugh looking at the pictures.. haha.. awwww.. i couldn't get to see their reactions manz.. would miss out all the fun.. oh well, like i always say, I'LL BE BACK!! hehe.. hope the mondia's family would have received my letter and photos by now.. =) oh.. thanks tricia!! =)

anyway, i've been slacking at home since my last paper.. not that i'm not finding a job k.. just that i emailed the companies, and yet no replies.. now left with 2 months how to find a job.. i still want some extra cash for my end-of-year mission, and hopefully a shopping spree with giftsy my thai friend in bangkok this coming end-july wor.. if not a MP3 player would be nice, too.. haha..

so what have i been doing? other than teaching tuition (which only constitutes to 5 hours a week) i have been watching philippino shows and listening to pinoy songs all the while.. haha.. can predict that lar har? haha.. think i spend more time in front of my computer watching the shows compared to watching tv.. hahha.. they have new drama coming up!! whee~! haha.. now's a good time for me to master my tagalog.. haha..

some interesting facts..

some interesting facts about left-handedness.. look out, lefties.. haha..

1. Most cases of left-handedness are thought to be caused by minor brain damage before or during birth. Many scientists believe the damage is due to reduced oxygen supply before birth.

2. 65% of those suffering from autism are left-handed. Left-handedness is more common than usual among the world's artists and the world's gays.

3. Left-handers have shorter life spans. This is because, in an admittedly right-handed world, left-handers have more accidents, some of which are fatal.

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and i realise, it's theoretically possible to transfer memories from one person to another - by injection.

"In a number of successful laboratory experiments beginning some 40 years ago, so called 'memory molecules' have been successfully transferred via injection from one organism to another. Although the experiments so far have only involved simple life forms, the implications for human learning are immense."

imagine acquiring the works of amazing people like Einstein, Shakespeare, or even from the huge pile of study notes, not through painstaking study but from a hypodermic syringe.. how shiok is that.. wahaha..

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i still haven't finish writing all the letters to my friends in Bago.. *pouts*

different..

yar, it was nice to meet up with friends whom i have not seen for quite some time, but everytime when i see how well they are doing, i can't help but to compare myself with them.. yesterday's birthday party struck me kinda hard, that i'm still in a daze.. until now..

people are going away for internships and exchange programs.. to Neatherlands, Denmark, the States.. people are going away, or are already there for their courses, Australia, London, Boston.. i cannot compare with them, because i'm different.. i'm not born rich, i don't have 10K to go for exchange programs, i don't have a million to go overseas to study..

because i'm different..

people are doing well in their studies, having internships and attachments and are doing well.. i cannot compare with them, because i'm different.. i chose a different path, to enter into science when most of my friends are in business or accountancy.. when i now realise that i don't have that enough passion to keep me going on..

because i'm different..

people are looking good, mature, pretty, slim whatever.. i cannot compare with them, because i'm different.. i don't have a good body to start with, i enjoy eating and i'm not disciplined to keep myself to a diet.. i have a natural chubby face and baby fats.. i like to sit cross-legged with my legs on the chairs, and i can sit anywhere on the floor when i'm not wearing skirts.. i don't deny that i'm very "chor-lor" because i cannot restrict myself to be so girly.. i sometimes speak loudly because that's the way i am.. my hair is forever unkempt and frizzy, because i'm born with it.. because i'm not born rich to do frequent treatments.. because i'm not born rich to buy myself pretty clothes and shoes and bags..

because i'm different..

but i'm true to myself.. i don't act girly, i accept my baby fats as my characteristic.. i know i'm not rich, so i will never understand how some people can have the entire wardrobe of pretty and branded stuff and still think that they are not enough.. i'm not born rich, i don't live in condos or landed properties.. i never had a discman, and i don't have a mp3 player, a laptop.. i know i'm not studious and so be it.. i find other things that can keep me going..

because i'm different..

i know people can never understand why i'm so passionate about going back to philippines and learning the language, so be it.. don't tell me how dangerous, how backward it is, i know that.. but do you know the pleasure and the sense of satisfaction when you see the smiles on the children's faces? do you know how good it feels when you have become part of the people's lives, part of their families?

because i'm different.. because that's the way i am.. and i shall be contented with what i have.. because true happiness cannot be measured with what you have..