Sunday, December 25, 2005

2:52 AM

have a blessed christmas.

niseko was beautiful. just don't know where to begin. i think i'm in love with japan.

white christmas

Friday, December 16, 2005

11:28 PM

leaving on a (jet) plane to sapporo, hokkaido from the 17th to the 25th of december. here's wishing everyone a very happy holiday - merry christmas!

Wednesday, December 14, 2005

11:35 PM

saturday 10th dec: mt alvernia dinner and dance. bollywood and hollywood theme. more bollywood than anything but still a blast. thomas was all moody about going at first but couldn't resist jumping up for the stage games and literally butt-ing his contestants out of complacency.

sunday 11th dec: church than shopping at orchard. tom traded in his dying ipod for the new 30gig ipod video. it looks so pretty but i guess i really have no use for it. caroling at uncle john's place in the evening. the place was overrun with little kids i totally didn't recognise. i'm old!

wednesday 14th dec: certified level one windsurfer! haha, 11 of us (pearlly, wenxian, daniel, wongyi, natwoong, daniellewoong, glenda, chengyu, siying, and this m1-guy-who's-actually-our-age-but-who's-name-i-still-don't-know-after-1-whole-day plus me) took a one day course which pearlly organised at east coast sea sports club. poor ky was supposed to be number 12 but she sprained her ankle yesterday so she couldn't make it. we were really lucky; the weather was perfect - light winds in the morning so we could learn to balance and slightly stronger winds in the afternoon for a bit of a thrill. but the currents were rather strong so most of us drifted pretty far out. i had to kayak back while stanley the instructor sailed my board back. fun but exhausting! especially the cleaning up. met renjun and jianbang there. rj tried to make me pull up their 7m board again but i'd already been struggling with my 3.5m one the whole morning, so i couldn't lift it at all. see, size does matter.

windsurfing 101:
try to stand with your back to the wind.
place feet equidistant from the mast in the midline.
use your weight to haul up the sail.
grab mast with both hands below the boom.
shift back foot just in front of daggerboard and front foot to the base of the mast.
transfer back hand to the boom and pull in like closing a door.
when steady transfer front hand to the boom.
front hand for steering - pull boom towards back of board to tack.
back hand for power - nearer the board = more power.
180 degree turn with back to front of board.
if (once) you start drifting, let up of the sail, try to pull rig onto board and paddle to shore - self-rescue.
if all else fails, stand on board and wave 2 fists and shout desperately to be saved.

Sunday, December 11, 2005

11:38 PM

i'm 20!

thanks to everyone who've helped make this birthday really memorable. especially daddy and mummy and the sibs. and uncle john and auntie pris. love you all.

Saturday, December 10, 2005

12:01 AM

trivarsity thanksgiving mass at cathedral of the good sheperd. it was celebrated by the archbishop, and co-celebrated by father fred and another indian priest. attendence exceeded expectations; we had to cut the nametag stickers in half because there weren't enough. granted 90% of the attendees were from NUS CSS, but still, we definitely had more than 120.

i think the gathering was a wonderful idea. met esther perh (SMU) and kelly ann (NTU) from my catechism class. sometimes i see kelly in church but i haven't seen esther in ages! didn't really how much i missed chatting with esther. pity joyce zhuang didn't go, too caught up with her bf? ;p haha...that girl...wonder if she's changed at all. it's very fun to interact with different sorts of people; future businessmen and financial advisors and engineers have seriously different views of the world. but it's all good.

the tour agency gave us some handmade chocolate bicuits from hokkaido. they tasted really good, but i guess that's to be expected, since dairy is supposed to be one of their specialities. can't wait for the hols (study break????) to start...

Sunday, December 04, 2005

11:16 PM

didn't study a page this weekend, but at least i managed to finish the first very very very rough draft of the latest transcription thing from pasir ris. after spending 8 hours plus in front of the computer. my poor myopic eyes...haha... anyway, hope claire had a happy birthday today. she ran off to celebrate it with her obs watch at marina bay, so the rest of us had sakae for dinner without her. me, i'd much rather have a nice dinner somewhere with my immediate family, but we're different people i guess.

some of claire's friends are really nice; 3 came over yesterday at 11.45pm with a home-baked oreo cheesecake to wish her happy birthday at the stroke of midnight. of course, that means we have yet ANOTHER cake sitting at home. sigh.

thomas went off for a class chalet till tuesday i think. getting quite used to his frequent absences. guess there'll be more to come once he gets into army and if he really does go overseas for university. what ever happened to my baby brother???

11:15 PM

something daddy sent me...

ONLY A DAD
By Edgar Albert Guest
Nov 27, 2005


Only a dad with a tired face,
Coming home from the daily race,
Bringing little of gold or fame
To show how well he has played the game;
But glad in his heart that his own rejoice
To see him come and to hear his voice.

Only a dad with a brood of four,
One of ten million men or more
Plodding along in the daily strife,
Bearing the whips and the scorns of life,
With never a whimper of pain or hate,
For the sake of those who at home await.

Only a dad, neither rich nor proud,
Merely one of the surging crowd,
Toiling, striving from day to day,
Facing whatever may come his way,
Silent whenever the harsh condemn,
And bearing it all for the love of them.

Only a dad but he gives his all,
To smooth the way for his children small,
Doing with courage stern and grim
The deeds that his father did for him.
This is the line that for him I pen:
Only a dad, but the best of men.


~Edgar Albert Guest (1881-1959)~


PRAYER
"Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred let
me sow love. Where there is injury let me sow pardon. Where there is
doubt let me sow faith. Where there is despair let me give hope. Where
there is darkness let me give light. Where there is sadness let me give
joy." (Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi)

12:56 AM

had dinner at orchard hotel, hui4 ting2 restaurant, to celebrate mahmah's and claire's 76th and 17th birthdays respectively. the decor was amazing, not to mention the service! all those individually laid out portions, eaten with WMF cutlery and customized crockery... on a laquered wooden tablemat no less. talk about decadence. the longevity buns were a class apart as well; a tiny tree with little lotus buns and leaves hanging from the branches was the centrepiece. and we got to try some culinary award winning wasabi prawns. they weren't all that great if you ask me, but maybe that just goes to show i'm no gourmet. cream vanilla and chocolate sponge cake for mahmah AND a rive gauche chocolate one for claire. i appreciate sweet things in small doses but this is ridiculous. i am getting so very sick of cakes. have a sinking feeling that there are going to be more to come as christmas approaches....somebody save me......

well, anyway, God bless mahmah and my baby sister on their birthdays and the year ahead. :)

12:55 AM

happy 17th birthday claire...

Friday, December 02, 2005

11:59 PM

thomas wong. njc prom king 2005.

the sky is falling on our heads.