Let the pictures do the talking...

It's been more than a week since I've back from Amsterdam and there's still no updates.. Well, everyone's been asking how was Amsterdam and I must say I did not spend a lot of time exploring the place. I guess our primary objective was IDFA, and secondary being touring the place so that was what we ended up doing.. I'll just let pictures do the rest of the talking...

(I'm still missing lots of pictures of myself cos they are mostly in Shun's camera, since she'll be the one taking photos of me.. haha..)



Do click into the album where u can read captions...

it snowed!

IT SNOWED IN AMSTERDAM!!

i'm freezing.

days in Amsterdam

I'm in cold, COLD Amsterdam.

It's been a pretty cool 2 days in Amsterdam, literally and figuratively.

I'm doing nothing much but watching Docu films all day long. Awed by some, touched by others and getting angry too. That's documentaries.

And we also made time to visit the Van Gogh musuem. and I actually sneaked some photos which I later realised I'm not supposed to be taking. haha

Our film will be premiering tomorrow morning! So excited...

And it does seems like it would snow in Amsterdam soon. It's been drizzling and hailing quite a bit today. And the wind is making my hair messy all the time.

Will explore more of the city soon. But I do miss eating soupy stuff esp cos it's so cold here... cos all I'm havng here is bread, bread and more bread.

pre departure jitters

it's the all so familiar feeling of pre-departure jitters.

where you feel like there's still so much to do
and yet you don't really know what is not being done

there seem to be so many things to take care of
and so much you still do not know about the place you are going to

when you feel like you need more time to prepare
and you kind of dread leaving altho you've been looking forward to it

and this time it's even more so cos there IS really a lot to do before I leave
like picking up the postcards, and burning the DVDs, and shopping and P-A-C-K-I-N-G

and cos I've been working really hard recently, all I feel like doing at night is sleep or laze in front of the TV set, so I've not been reading up much on my upcoming destination..

and cos I've nv experience sub-10 temp, I'm not sure if what I bring is warm enough, or would it be too warm.

plus all the nitty gritty details like how much memory should I prepare so I can snap happily away, which bag should I bring along..

there's always so much to do...

still it's coming true.. it's going to happen.. I'll be on my way to AMSTERDAM in less than 24 hrs and soon I'll be sitting in a packed theatre (hopefully) and watching my docu with so many others who may laugh and cry and cringe as the characters in the docu do.

Obama is the man!

The duel has ended and OBAMA had emerged victorious!

It had indeed been an exciting race to the White House, with history made either way. And it is the race the WORLD is watching and I'm amazed at how emotionally involved I got in it, and also how Obama had got the world behind him. I'm not biased.

Which other US president had Indonesia, Kenya and a town called Obama all the way in Japan backing him with his race to the White House?

Kenya even declared that tomorrow shall be a public holiday so that the nation can celebrate for this man, whose father was from Kenya, and still had relatives there.

In true democratic spirit, the world had witnessed the first Black US President. It moves me just seeing how people reacted with tears of relief and true jubilation at their newly elected President. But of course there is the other camp that had reacted dismally at the lost of whom they support. But it is the intensity of the emotions, either way, that struck me.

Would we ever get to see this in Singapore? Would Singaporeans get passionate about politics?

Then and again, the intensity of the emotions came from pent up frustration from the previous administration's failed governance. Just look at other countries in the region which had similar predicament recently and we have no lack of examples - Taiwan, Thailand and to a lesser extent Malaysia.

Does it always take failed leadership for the people to stand up for change and to feel passionate about the country? Would I rather live under a stable, steady and capable government's rule and never know what it is like to feel passionate?

Would you?

making my day

It was an activity filled Saturday with me shuttling between 3-4 places and meeting many, and I mean MANY ppl cos I was covering the Singapore Hit Awards. BUT the saddest thing is I did not manage to take any photo at all cos while the artistes were in the Media Centre, my main concern is getting soundbites from them and I had no extra pair of hands to be taking photos.

And I did not even get to watch any of the performances by the singers, except the opening performance, cos we were all stuck in at backstage, in the Media Centre, afraid that we might miss out when any of the singers pop by.

While my first reaction when I knew that I was going to cover SHA was "yeah!".. now I'd rather be in the audience seat, enjoying the performances and not worrying about what to be filing back to the station from the backstage. Luckily there were journalist frens that I met which made the wait backstage a lot less boring and also gave me a peace of mind cos at least I know someone else will be helping me keep a lookout, or giving me a helping hand while I'm busy running in and out.

Still, there was something that made my day that day. It had nothing to do with SHA. It was my contact lenses purchasing experience. All about good service.

It started out with me having some discount coupons to buy contact lenses at specific optical outlets. And cos the coupons were going to expire soon, I decided to make my way to the Suntec outlet and expected an ordinary contact lens buying trip.

But the moment I stepped into the store, the staff greeted me with a great smile and asked what I wanted. After I expressed my wish to buy contact lenses, she immediately ushered me to the machine and offer to test my eyes for me. (I remember previous buying trips only asking me what lens I want to buy and did not offer eye testing service unless you ask for it).

And I thought that was it, and she was going to sell me lenses already, but no, she ushered me into the room for more accurate consultation on my eyesight, to determine if I need astig corrective contact lenses since I'm not currently using them altho I do have astig.

After consultation, she told me I'm doing fine without having to wear lenses with astig and proceeded to sell me lenses. She even told me something no one ever told me before - that due to the curvature of my eyeballs, I'm more suited to use smaller lenses, but they do not stock them, so I'll have to wait for them to make the order, which of cos I said ok. (Wow.. I've been wearing and buying contact lenses for 4 years now and no optician had told me that before!)

And cos I decided to change the brand of contact lenses I'm currently using, she decided to throw in a trial pair, which also made me quite happy. (I think they were all supposed to do that when u change brands but not all opticians I go to voluntarily gives me that)

I know it does not seem like anything out of the ordinary or great but it just felt like a really good shopping experience for me. I felt the sincerity in her service attitude and it's been a looong time since I encountered that in shops in Singapore.

IDFA!!!!!

Still can't believe I'm going to be heading to Amsterdam in a month. Well that is if everything goes as planned.

Still can't believe our documentary got accepted in IDFA. It's the best World Premiere we could hope for.

Sooo looking forward to attending the festival. It's really a huge thing for me, for us all.

Happy, excited, disbelief.

Now there's still a lot of planning to do.

Amsterdam beckons...

随想

常常都觉得应该多在部落格上写些什么，但是每天工作时都在打字了，回到家也觉得懒得动脑筋。但想想，部落格应该是不用动脑筋就能写出来的东西。

职业病。总觉得写出来的东西都要有条不紊，都得引起某个思索范围。

最近去了双年展，拍了不少自认不错的照片。但是每次碰到照片就很懒。因为要从记忆卡上载到电脑里。筛选后还要再从电脑上载到网路上。好繁琐哦。过两天放假时再上载好了。

这个周末要和朋友们好好的聚一聚。好期待。开始工作以后长期待和朋友相聚。因为我知道只有常常叙旧才不会同朋友疏远。

期待周末。

***

知道我在电台工作的朋友常要我通知他们什么时候可以在电台上听到我的声音。很不幸的，这非常困难，因为身为记者，采访的项目时间不固定，不到新闻播出时也很难肯定新闻播出的时间。不过，我们也会做feature, 也就是比较深入，也比较长篇的新闻报道，这节目叫《步步追踪》。每天播出由记者或DJ制作的节目。随着播客 podcast的普及，我们也开始赶上潮流，把节目放上网。

要听我之前制作的节目可以到这里搜寻。 其实目前只有一个在网上。9月24号，探讨本地公众是否因为中国毒奶粉事件，已经对中国制造的食品却步。

after F1... now what

I'm never really excited about F1, and now that it's over, it's just life back to normal. It's been a really crazy 3 days at work. And I still did not get to understand what F1 is all about. Tho I did get quite close to the track during the race yesterday.

5 F1 (blur) cars in one shot. Must be an achievement since I'm using a point and shoot camera.

Actually I was there with my colleague hoping to catch some F1 action, and she was there to work but we ended up doing a hunt of where public could get free spots to watch F1. Here u go... things ppl do to catch F1 for free.

ppl climbing up this slope at Marina Sq. We act went up there too just to see what it's like.

Spiral staircase near McDonald's at Marina Sq facing Esplanade. Night skyline dunch ya think? Good free view.

Anyway, chance upon this today at work. Was interviewing the President of World Toilet Organisation today. I must say I did not take the organisation seriously before this. But after understanding what they are trying to do, I think it's pretty commendable. Trying to get proper sanitation for ppl, especially those living in slums. After having visited slums in Philippines, I seriously think we should do more to help these ppl. So ya, pass this on if you can. Donate if you want.







I Sing For Toilets from Gino Federici on Vimeo.

***

I still can't believe that Khaw Boon Wan is looking at compensation for organ donors in Singapore. And this came AFTER he made a visit to Philippines, especially going to Baseco!!! We are following Philippines' footsteps! NKTI must have brainwashed him or something. Lesaca is probably the mastermind. Most of you reading this would have no idea what and who I'm talking about. Baseco is the exact place I went to to find exploited kidney donors. And it's a slum.

Singapore is going to become kidney hub.

100种生活

要不是被朋友拉去了卢广仲的活动，我就不会认识这个非常有特色，而且有才华的歌手。


出席活动之前，对他的认识几乎是零，连他的成名曲是什么都不晓得。不过他的歌曲都非常有辨识度，而且有亲和力，让我听了一次就喜欢上了。而且因为词不像那种常有的情情爱爱的调调，非常写实，相当有新鲜感。

尤其觉得主打歌 《100种生活》 的词是我身为刚毕业的大学生的心情写照，找到了共鸣。

整个世界 停止 不转动 很寂寞

走在海边 数着 萤火虫 好困惑

想要的生活怎么有一百种

不想掉进这深深 漩涡

整个海洋 摆动 柔软地 举起我

孤独给我 自由 犹豫得 好感动

想要的生活怎么有一百种

该怎么走 谁来告诉我 wow

每当我背对星空 抱着地球

发现自己其实脆弱 不敢说

当我背对星空 孤独摸索

爱情渐渐萎缩 我猜不透

无边的宇宙 哪里有我想要的生活

我那一百种 要在很就很就以后才会懂

我一百种生活

还有 《早安晨之美》 让我非常怀念台湾的早餐店。蛋饼、萝卜糕、馒头、饭团、三明治。想到流口水啦！

后来了解了一下，发现他是因参加台湾政大的金旋奖比赛后被唱片公司发掘的。大学的歌唱和歌曲创作比赛也可以成为这么棒的平台真难得。又开始后悔在政大交换时怎么没有去参加金旋奖 （当工作人员啦，不是参赛者 ：P）。

我都非常欣赏创作歌手，尤其欣赏会自弹自唱的歌手。卢广仲都符合条件啦。而且他就是很有喜感。没有英俊的外形，但是我总觉得才华比较重要。

1 gold, 1 silver, 2 bronze

Hasn't kept up with my blog posts.

But if u still dun know how many medals Singapore won in this Paralympics, u deserve to kok ur head on the wall.. or on the floor. which ever u like.

1 Gold, 1 Silver, 2 Bronzes.

Team Singapore for Paralympics will be back today. I'm truly proud of them.

A summary to my feelings on Paralympics here.

Good night.

Singapore's 1st Paralympics Medal!

Singapore's got her first Paralympics Medal!! A bronze medal but no less pride goes into it.

There had been so much talk around the Olympics as it happened, but how many actually realised that the Paralympics is taking place and actually is interested in knowing the results? I think the Paralympics sportmen actually deserve as much respect, if not more, than those who represent the country for Olympics. But I've come to know that if the Paralympics sportmen win a Gold for Singapore, they'll only be getting $100,000. That's just a mere 10% of the amount for a Gold in Olympics!!!

Paralympics sportsmen have to face even more difficulties while training hard to represent the country. Their disability probably already cost them a bomb to treat, plus the money to be spent to allow them to continue training, the kind of effort they have to out in for everyday activities, much less into training, stretching themselves.

Our first Paralympics medal came from Equestrian, from 29 year-old Laurentia Tan, who suffers from cerebal palsy and is profoundly deaf. I felt so touched when I heard her soundbite, proudly saying "I'm proud to win a medal for Singapore." It was only 8 words, 4 seconds of speech and even slightly muffled but it showed all the more effort she had put into this sport that she loved.

And she does have other achievements as well. Laurentia is a university graduate and is working as a mental health worker in London where she is based. Goes to show so much that persons with physical disability can well achieve more than what you and me could.

Well, I supposed she came from a privileged background which provided her a chance to achieve her potential. But I think what they really need is a platform to show that they can contribute duly to society.

Incidentally, I saw a local documentary today on the profile of a cerebal palsy patient. She was not as fortunate as Laurentia. She lost her mum when she was 12, her dad left her and she was sent to a home when her grandma could not longer take care of her. Her biggest wish in life was to be a useful person, to contribute to society and she finally found her calling in art. She went on to paint many master pieces which helped raised a lot of money for the home.

They all yearn for a platform to make themselves useful, to contribute to society. But as able people, does the idea of contributing to society even come as naturally as it does to them?

running on adrenaline

I'm running on adrenaline the whole night. Left office only at 1am and had dinner only after I reached home. Why?

Cos I was covering the STTA press conference. Covering the conference is only half the excitement. I had to file 'live' report back to the station. It's my debut filing live and I felt the anxiousness from the moment I was told of the assignment as soon as I got into office today.

I have more or less been following the saga that had gone on for the Singapore Table Tennis team. The Gao Ning incident, Lee Bee Wah wanting to sack the manager, Head Coach Liu Guodong's job being on the line. It has gone on and on, casting a dark cloud on the Women's Team victorious return from the Beijing Olympics with the medal that Singapore has been waiting 48 years for.

And the media knows that the whole saga perpetuated BECOS of the media. I would not have known who Gao Ning and Yang Zi are if not for this saga. So in a way, it has risen the profile of the men's team which have been living under the shadow of the women's team for the longest time.

Anyway, yesterday's press conference was the first time I saw so much media at one event. Every single news platform was represented and each publication/platform had like 2 reporters, and there were at least 5 photog. We even had live feed back to the office. It felt like THE event to be at.

The Table Tennis Team were also there in full force. From the president to the coach and manager and everyone from the men's and women's team. And that was when I realised I have no idea who the reserve woman player is, what is her name. Nor the other male players other than Gao Ning and Yang Zi. It was as if if did not matter if they were there or not.

But seriously, I think it's time to let the matter rest and a more or less happy ending have been set. The men's team will get their own head coach, Liu Guodong will stay as the women's coach and manager Antony will move on to SNOC after he's done with matters pertaining to the Olympics at STTA.

And after tonight, I have new found respect for Dr Vivian and Teo Ser Luck, seeing that they have handled the situation pretty well and I think it's only right they called for the press con to set the matter to rest.

While I think my debut live report is far from perfect, not even good, and I had to race for time to release soundbites and packages for every hour after that, on an empty stomach, I felt a sense of satisfaction that is indescribable at the end of the day. I think I'm still on adrenaline rush now. Remnants of the chain of events that happened today. And this is how I'm reminded why I chose to do what I am doing now. This is job satisfaction.

我看北京奥运

08年北京奥运会已经圆满落幕。届时，有种不舍。因为可以说今年的奥运是我最投入的一次。

今年的奥运在亚洲举行，而且又是中国。身为华侨的我，就已经有种自豪感，也更想去追踪关于主办奥运的一些周边新闻。加上没有时差，可以让我观赏到自己喜爱的项目。因此觉得奥运非常贴近自己。

而最重要的原因是，身为新闻工作者的我，追踪今年奥运成了工作的一部分。奥运开幕式当天我在工作，必须留意开幕式的点滴，制作成新闻。陶李游100米蝶泳决赛时，我也在工作，全新闻室的人都非常紧张地在关注她的表现。李佳薇打铜牌战时，我也在值班，关注她每一步的表现，希望她为新加坡再添一面奖牌。就算没有新加坡选手出赛，我还是可以大方的在办公室里看奥运转播，上网追踪奥运赛事，因为是工作的一部分。

我必须说，我给北京奥运的网站打101分，因为资讯确实非常的及时而且全面。很多时候当电视没有转播我国选手的塞程时，我们都是靠网站的及时赛况了解当下的赛况，而心情也会被网站上显示的分数牵动着。虽然只是看着数字在跳，但是全新闻室的同士还是非常的紧张，甚至比看现场转播还紧张。

这就是奥运的魅力。它可以让你屏气，让你心跳加速，让你雀跃也让你失望。最重要的是在观看比赛时，有很多时候我都被这些选手们感动了。为他们的努力，他们的成就或是他们坚持不懈地精神而感动了。这一面面金牌后面，包含着多少汗水，多少牺牲，多少人的期望。

新加坡拿到了跨别48年的奥运奖牌。4百万人，48年的期许，这奖牌意义非凡。感谢李佳薇、冯天薇和王越古3位乒乓女将为新加坡圆梦了。虽然她们原籍中国，但是我觉得在运动场上，运动精神第一。选手代表哪个国家还是其次。荣耀首先是运动员本身的。说奖牌是买来得也好，但看着她们穿上印着新加坡国旗的球衣奋战，还是带给新加坡人一种自豪感和观注赛事的动力，让新加坡人认识了乒乓这个运动。最重要的是，在他们身上我看到了她们对乒乓的热忱，还有她们最求梦想的执著。不是每个人都可以有这样的坚持，所以不管怎样，我还是很开心有这3位杰出的女将为新加坡争光。特别是冯天薇。在他身上看到顽强的心理素质，在落后时绝不服输。虽然没有看到她对垒张怡宁的女单复赛圈，但单看比数进展就令我非常敬佩。虽然最终是输了，但是每一局都不输超过2分。1分1分的紧扣着对方不放，这种精神让我为她感到骄傲，真的是虽败犹荣。这次奥运中应该没有另一个人让张怡宁打得如此辛苦，相信她是捏着冷汗打的。所以要向冯天薇敬礼！期待她将来再为新加坡争光！

on ndp and olympics and everything in between

finally.. a day of total slackness today after an exciting, and slightly exhausting week...

actually it's been an exciting day today just watching the semis of the Table Tennis Women's Team event. heart racing with each point they fall behind by. even tho none of them were born Singaporean, there is still this pride that they are going to give Singapore her first Olympics medal since independence. I guess it felt most close to heart as Li Jiawei was playing cos she felt the most Singaporean among all. Her 3rd time representing Singapore in Olympics. We've seen her grow in Table Tennis, saw her fall in and out of love, seen her at NDP saying the pledge... I guess it's these little things that made us (or me at least) to be able to acknowledge her as a Singaporean. I've nv even heard of Feng Tianwei and Wang Yuegu before this Olympics, so pardon me for not being able to feel for them, altho Feng did really well and is really the heroine for Singapore now. SILVER for Singapore!

on a separate note, I went to the Padang on National Day for the second year running, hoping to soak into some celebratory mood and of course to see the fireworks. did not start well cos it was raining, then there were these tentages blocking our view from the huge screen and finally, because of the rain earlier on, the air was really stagnant causing the smoke from the fireworks to not be able to disperse fast enough so we only managed to see the fireworks in the first 2 mins or so. the rest were all hidden behind thick smoke. still it wasn't a trip wasted cos I made a new fren! haha.. and she turned out to be my senior from DHS. the world is just too small. i think everyone in Singapore is probably just 3 degrees apart at the most. ha!

and on Sunday, I was at the 12 Lotus premiere. quite surprised to be sitting right behind the cast. well, can't help but want to compare it to 881 and after some long hard thinking, I still think I preferred 881, esp in terms of storyline, tho I think 12 Lotus does have great cinematography. 12 Lotus has a very solemn story definitely but I felt it did not develop very well and the characters do not resonant as much. well of cos I feel sad for Lian Hua and all, but the feeling is not as strong as that I felt for Little Papaya. Also, there some points were I will actually question the development. Well, Royston still had his signature weird song sequences ala 881. I was more awed by the fact that he could sing a Hokkien song so well. Still worth a watch but I think it might not go down as well as 881 for most.


Now a photo treat. NDP 08 as seen from Padang!

picnic at the Padang, while waiting for the parade to start...

the flag fly past.. love this shot.

signature shot of Singapore.

this really sweet family of 5 trying catch some NDP action. my parents would nv had done this.

spectacular performance by the Black Knights. definitely the greatest highlight that day.

so this is where our taxpayers money go. train pilots to perform at NDP.

sarang hae Singapore!

雨后总会有彩虹！

nice sky ain't it?

one of the few nice fireworks shots. think the fireworks were a little disappointing for those at the padang cos the smoke was blocking a lot of them from view.

毕业感言

It's over. My life as an undergraduate is officially over since last Saturday as we don the Harry Potter Gryffindor House look-alike gown and put on that "mother-board".

It was not the most exciting ceremony around, listening to people's names being called and waiting for your name to be called to enjoy that 20 seconds of fame on stage. But sitting there with the 100-odd people whom you've braved the last 4 years together is indeed fulfilling.

Once again I feel the love I had for school. For WKWSCI actually. For the people that make up my batch. People who know what work hard and play hard meant. People who are enthusiastic about work, who take pride in what we do, who slog together overnight in school, people who bitch about the sucky project group mates together, people who have been great group mates., people who stick to passion. Teamwork had been a crucial part in SCI and I thank god that although I had my fair share of SPGs, the greater part of my studies have been blessed with great group mates. Well and also the faculty that made lessons so much more interesting and bearable, faculty we could openly challenge. I could not have imagined how my life would be like looking and numbers and formulaes for 4 years and doing past exams papers to prepare for exams.

My parents and grandparents. I think the ceremony meant even more for them than it was for me.

我们是台妹。去过台湾的小妹。

The Kinky Scandalous Six once again.

And our fav jumping shot.

Wish I had more time to take photos with everyone that played a part in my 4 years in SCI.

Just yesterday, I went back to school once again, well in a glorified manner cos I was there to collect prizes. And I was actually late, so the ceremony was over and I had to listen to Lee CW give the freshies a lecture on what life will be like in WKWSCI. The mundane division talk, scoring system, what is edventure, who you can approach for assistance blah blah. Suddenly I realised I did not sit thru that when I was a freshie cos I pon first day of school. Must be pay back that I had to listen to that AFTER I'd graduated.

完美的记忆

Just as I was reminiscing the 19 days spent in the land with the best sashimi in the world with the Scandalous Six, and wondering if we would ever be traveling together and having such a ball of a time together again, Dee showed us this video she made.



Photos and songs that mark the great trip! 19 days of laughter, fun, craziness, screams, baggage lugging, rushing for trains, deciding which good food to eat, counting corners to find hostels, frantic photo taking and everything else came rushing back.

Thanks Dee. Truly touched.

一对一的对换

今后，又可以在另一个地方看到我的网志了。其实也算是工作的一部分啦。

昨天刚上了我工作以来，以记者身份的第一则blog post。

就在这里。

没事可以上958 网站看看。（应该不会有多少人去，哈哈。）其实我们很努力让网站上的新闻更新。偶尔也可以看到我采访的新闻在上面，照片也是我们自己拍的哦。所以我们不只要当新闻记者，也是摄影记者，不过当然没有专业的拍的好看啦。

累

这个礼拜上班有累的感觉。休息太久了，需要时间调试自己。

这个礼拜的累，也因为在一个星期内值了早班、中班和晚班。身体和脑筋都不知道要怎样应付。

的确，当了正式职员就有更多的责任，包括在958的网站上写blog. 毕竟是代表公司、代表新闻室的blog, 所以文法一定要正确，所以要先从练习一下。

换个话题。

我确定我有大众脸。连续3天有人跟我说他们觉得我很面善，但我确定没有见过他们。那天在公司还有一个我不认识的人跟我笑了。是那种对你见过面但不太熟的人的笑容。我第一个反应是以笑容回应，但不确定他是不是在跟我笑。后来看了看身边没有其他人，他也看起来蛮正常的，才确定他是在对我笑。

我估计我每遇到的10个素未见面的人当中，会有一、两个说他们觉得我很面善。我真的有大众脸。

Celebrity Collage

A celebrity commented yesterday that I have 明星脸。haha. Actually I think I have 大众脸。 A lot people I meet for the first time tells me I look like someone they know or find me familiar.

I saw this on my friend's blog and decided to give it a try. So do you I look like these celebs? (Tho I kinda dun know who some of them are.) Or do I look like someone else you know? I would like to know who you think I look like. Haha! Kinda interesting.

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities - Collage - Morph

Who Do I Look Like?

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celeb - Collage - Morph

我是上班族

7月7号：我正是成了上班族。

The only reason I'm still awake at this time is cos it's my off day tomorrow. The past few first days of work have been quite tiring... mentally. I been feeling really sleepy and tired and don't really wanna do much after I get home other than eat dinner, bathe and sleep. I think I've been slacking for too long and still have not gotten used to the pace of work in the newsroom.

But it gets quite satisfying after a fulfilling day of work. Finished 4 packages this week, got to to my own VOs, nice start. And there will be more challenges to come. I think the biggest challenge will be filing live reports. I'm nervous just by the thought of it.

Anyway, 7th Jul is also the day I collect my Convocation Gown. It was only when I looked at myself in the mirror while trying out the gown that I thought, "I'm really graduating".

I didn't think that Convocation is a big deal, and I was really preparing to give it a miss if I had gone for Work and Travel. But now with the academic gown in hand, I'm really looking forward to the day I'm going to wear that and commemorate the survival of 4 yrs of numerous sleepless nights and crazy deadlines, saying goodbye to SPGs but most of all celebrating the friendships that have been made.

Now a treat. I crazily went for K Lunch with the J trip buddies，Jan and Carrie before heading for my first day of work. It's stressful to sing with great singers around you know. But it's also great to hear them sing.

Here's Diya's rendition of 你是我的眼。Sweet.

the calm before the storm

my final day before starting work tomorrow.

have been busy meeting sec sch frens and jc frens lately and it's so nice to see that everyone is doing really well. most have graduated, starting work or started work. most of my gal frens are blissfully attached. ppl getting married. hmmm.. when will it be my turn?

i'm abt 90% recovered from my nose surgery. able to breathe normally thru my nose now, after a "nose toilet" session a couple of days ago at the clinic, my first follow up. i got to see the insides of my nose which was well... hairy and slimy. and i'm out and running about a lot already. haha.. a sign that i'm well!

and it's nothing but good news recently. ha going to win quite a bit of cash prize for the various awards that i'll be getting from school. a nice ending to my school life i would say. getting my academic gown tomorrow. never realised how i look forward to be wearing that until now. a real sense of achievement. I AM PROUD OF MYSELF!

我想我已经休息够了，做好了心理准备开始工作。回到一个熟悉的环境，和熟悉的人一起工作，面对全新的挑战。虽然还是不确定这是否是我最终的梦想，但至少我知道我是喜欢这份工作的。问我5年后的我会是怎样？我真的不知道。

我的生活准则是：走一步算一步。

back with a new nose

i'm back!! at home at least... but won't be back in action so soon cos i'm supposed to be avoiding crowded places to prevent myself from getting cold or flu which would aggravate my nose.

it's been a hell of an experience getting my nose "fixed". lost like a couple of litres of blood and still suffering from a blocked nose cos i'm not supposed to blow my nose and just try to let it clear by itself. (and when will that come? i want to breathe thru my nose!)

here's to the before and after of me (and my nose).

me still nice and cheery before the operation, oblivious to the suffering that is to come after the op.

this is me a while after the op. all puffy-eyed and unable to even give a little smile. bleeding thru my nose. and at some point i was puking blood and felt like a vampire cos the blood from my nose is back flowing into my mouth. yucks.. i know.

this is me a couple of hours into the night, feeling much better as i'm no longer bleeding as profusely and there were Jen, Jing, Shun and Diya with me, trying to entertain me which was not very wise cos i could only breathe thru my mouth and laughing hard means i can't breathe. also does not help that my ear was blocked badly cos of the nose pack that was stuffed in my nose. think there was a lot of pressure build up in my head.

spent a night at the hospital with a whole room to myself, not cos i stayed in A class ward but that there was just no one else. which was good cos then my visitors got to stay till 10pm before the nurses chased them home. haha.

many many thanks to Xinpei who was the first one to come visit me and brought me a little yellow flower. and to Jing, Jen, Shun and Diya who were with me till 10pm and did not have their dinner.

i'm still having a perpetual nose blood of sorts but i no longer need the white gauze over my nose other than when i go to sleep. and that's expected for about a week after the op. sigh.

the flowers that helped cheer me up at the hospital. from Xinpei and Jingyi. it's a bit cui cos there was no vase at the hospital, only transfered it after i got home. but it's still sitting on my desk now.

nose job!

OMG OMG OMG!! can't believe i'm going to get a nose job in less than 10 hrs from now.

yes. i'm going under the knife not to look prettier but to unblock my nose. and hopefully get rid of my nasal voice for good.

i think i was pretty zen when i decided to go for the operation but i'm getting a little nervous now. i'm going to be under general anesthesia for about an hour to get the septum of my nose (which is the part separating the two nostrils) corrected cos it's now crooked and is making one side of the nostril really narrow.

it's actually not the first time i'm going under the knife and now that i'm going thru that again reminds me of the ordeal i went thru when i was like 8? i was also at SGH and trying to get a lump off my back. it was also a small op but when u are 8, it's like a really big deal to have needles stuck in your hands and being wheeled into the operating room alone. kinda scary. the last thing i remembered before i went under anesthesia was a nurse chatting with me and asking me to take deep breathes. well, at least i think it was a nice nurse.

i dun think i would be coaxed like i was 8 this time but i hope the nurse is still nice. hates fierce nurses who barks at you like u whole them a million dollars.

i'll need to be fasting from 12am (which is abt 10 mins away) so i shall go get my last sip of water. and i'll prob be MIA for a week.

will try to give updates of how my nose look like after the op. haha! if i'm up to it.

wish me luck!

photos up! phew!

Yeah!! Finally done with photo uploading and found a way to embed the slide show on my blog!! (Tho it's really tiny cos I can't figure out another place to put them liaoz.) Pls view all 7 installments. Haha

Choosing and uploading photos have been keeping me off boredom the past few days. (Act not like I don't have anything else to do, but i'm just putting them off - things like settling my FYP account so that I can get money from SFC!)

Anyway went for something exciting the other day too! A movie premiere with Mr President and stars like Zoe Tay. (Ok not forgetting Diya too since she was the one who gave us the tickets :P) It was a charity movie premiere for YMCA for the movie Get Smart. I seriously DO NOT understand why they chose this movie cos it involves the plotting of an assassination of a President in LA and there was a line in the movie that goes something like this.

"Why did you choose to bomb LA?"
"Cos the President will be there."
"Oh, then it's too bad for the stars."

And we were watching the movie with our President among the various stars from Mediacorp. Hmmm....

As for the movie, it was funny, but the best I can say is it's low grade laughter. Would not have paid to watch it. And it does not help that we were sitting on the third row and I was getting giddy with all the fast action happening right in front of me.

Japan photos!

I've finally gotten down to uploading photos. But sieving thru 8000+ photos is no joke so it'll be done in batches.

First installment. Kinky Japan Grad Trip Day 1 & 2. Features us at Aeon Shopping Mall in Narita, Mt Fuji and Hakone National Park.

I will try to put captions if I'm i the mood to but right now it's more of uploading photos first.

Enjoy!

reformat.restart.refresh my life

finally got down to reformatting my lappie after my task bar disappeared on FYP judgment day. now it's like new again and it somewhat signifies my life henceforth. and since i'm in the mood to reorganise my life, i'm looking to upload Japan photos soon, now that I've got the photos categorized according to dates, thanks to Jen. Promise it would be up by next week.

just signed my one year contract with Mediacorp last week. selling my life for a year. it's not that i do not like the job, in fact i'm afraid that i would get too much in it and end up like when i was during internship - have no life. i'm a workaholic.

results out, job sealed, i'm just about to start the next phase of my life but not after a good hard break! it's GSS so time to shop!

drowsy sleepy zzz

i'm very drowsy now... very drowsy from the medication i got after i finally decided to go to the doctor's for my bad bad cough. since i can still claim from my travel insurance.

should have asked for non drowsy medication. i tot it should be find but it's not. i got interview tom morning and post grad trippers gathering tom afternoon. argh. dun wanna be drowsy.

but i'm going... going... gone.

post grad trip

i always tot that no one actually checks my blog so i got really lazy to write anything..

but recently to my surprise, ppl ARE actually visiting my blog and are hoping to know wat has been going on in my life and i'm kinda touched. so for these ppl, i promise i will post more often, and spice it up a little with more pictures.. (even i am sick of my blog, i think it's time for revamp again. but till i'm in the mood to design - i'm one miss procrastinator)

so now, here's ONE picture to show u how crazy i got in Disneyland.



not a very well taken picture but these are the card holders i actually bought in Disney. On impulse. because they are just sooo cute. and soo Disney. i have no idea who i'm giving them to still. can let me know if u wan one. ha while stocks last.

It's actually the second time i've been to Disneyland AND Disneysea but i still truly enjoyed myself there. I think it's that kind of place you'll never ever get sick of. It's just magical to be there and the child in you really just creeps out. Plus i've always believed that WHO you are traveling with is more important than WHERE you are traveling to. So i'm really glad i'm blessed with great traveling mates this time that made everyday a blast.

and my fav pictures from the trip - the jumping shots! don't we look good half way up in the air?

Sayonara Nippon!

Back from my 19 days Kinky Japan Grad Trip!! (And I'm missing Japan already)

Summary of trip

Places visited in Tokyo:
Mt Fuji (where I saw real snow for the 1st time!)
Hakone Park
Tokyo Disneyland
Tokyo Disneysea
Asakusa (witnessed a huge festival there)
Odaiba
Yasukuni Shrine (the controversial shrine)
Ginza
Tsukiji Fish Market (with the BEST sushi in the world)
Harajuku
Shibuya
Shinjuku
Omotesando
Ueno

In Kyushu:
Fukuoka (had yatai dinner)
Nagasaki (atomic bomb museum, peace park)
Kumamoto (Mt Aso, RAFTING)
Beppu (Hells of Beppu which was super boring and totally out to cheat tourists; tried sand bath; played with fireworks!)

Others:
Osaka (Universal Studios, Shinsaibashi, Dotonbori)
Kyoto (Kiyomizudera - a famous temple, Gion - to see Geisha)


It's been a great trip with great people and Japan is just an awesome country. People are nice and courteous and mostly considerate, service is great, food is good and is full of things that are so wow! But mostly I'm very happy that I've not lost my Jap ability even after 5 years of not using it. It's a bit difficult to hold conversations but at least I could get myself understood and get around really well.

And I'm really happy that I got to meet my Japanese frens again, those that hosted me when I last visited Tokyo and Osaka. It's so nice to have friends that one can visit there and it's a pity and I can't meet with with them all. Wished I could spend more time to visit all my frens and to go to Waseda University which at a point in time was my dream school.

I am seriously considering my friend's mum's suggestion of working in Japan. My Jap is not THAT good but enough to get by. BUT Japan seems like a place full of workaholics. We see people in suits even on weekends. And it has the highest rate of death from overworking. Hmmm... KIV.

But maybe I'll make Japan (and Taiwan) places that I would visit on a regular basis after this. For the friends I have, for the great people and great food and of course great shopping(although it's a bit ex to shop there, but they have lots of quirky stuff that I'm so tempted to buy.

Looking forward to the gathering of the Scandalous Six to exchange photos and probably make a scrap book of the experience in Japan.

It's truly an unforgettable trip. Thanks Jen, Jing, Shun, Hsu and Diya for making it unforgettable.

久違了！

親愛的部落格：

不好意思最近都忽略你了。還以爲沒人會來看，今天卻被人發現我最後一次的entry是大年初一的，超尷尬。蜘蛛網要來清理一下。

這一個月來，或者說這整個學期的情緒真的是非常緊綳的。明明是大學的最後一個學期，幹嘛還覺得有點喘不過氣。但是現在一切結束以後，也沒有覺得很輕鬆。我想腦筋都坏掉了。

最近都充滿者離別的感傷。算是畢業了吧，要離開校園了，離開受保護的地方（其實CS真的很多時候都在自生自滅）到殘酷的職場上去了。雖然轉換過程應該不會太辛苦，畢竟還是自己熟悉的環境，但是還是有差的吧。很怕自己很快就會jaded.我要堅持我的理想！（但它又值多少錢呢？）

另外，我的兩個臺灣朋友也走了，回臺灣了。畢竟她們是我兩年前在政大交換是的同班同學，跨別一年以後，竟然還可以碰上，而且在一起玩得蠻開心的。（雖然平時也沒什麽時間跟她們出去玩啦。）讓我好惆悵，想要去見一見我交換時交的朋友們。真的是緣分。

還有就是搬了新家。雖然只不過搬到對面街，但是還是會很捨不得住了23年的家。我在那裏出生的也。從懂事以來的記憶都在那裏。新家雖然是裝潢的美美的，東西都是新的，但是感覺總是遜色不少。剛知道要搬家時還充滿憧憬，腦子都在想自己的新房間要使怎樣的，但是搬了就很懶得去幹什麽。當然也是沒有時間的關係。

總之今年將是我人生大改變的一年。希望一切是往好的方向。

Happy RAT year!

祝大家在鼠年里有鼠不完的钞票！

大年初一啦。今年是我第一年完全不庆祝农历新年。起得晚，然后就慵懒的在家里看电视、DVD。不必买新衣新鞋，就平平静静地过年。

超久没有来po 东西了。从菲律宾回来之后就忙着剪辑、上课、工作，还有忙着搬新家的事。

忽然间意识到自己要毕业了，彷徨了一阵子。见到大家是常被问道：“你毕业了要干嘛？” 虽然有点头绪，但是还是有茫然的感觉。这是个重大的决定！读书时，什么决定都好像很自然，也不必想太多。现在可要头痛啦！

最近也开始意识到自己老了！开始有觉得不像过生日。

好惆怅啊。怎么大年初一这样。