20 and 2

20 and 2.. i'm 22..

no longer 20 and 1... i'm 22

birthday is essentially just like any other day in the year.. it's not like i grow another white hair on this day or grow an age ring around me like trees do (ha thankfully)..

still.. it has a special place in your heart, knowing it's your birthday.. that N years ago on this day you came to this world..

last year i was in Taiwan, away from home, away from my family..

this year i'm with my family around me.. it feels like it's been a long time..

my damn delicious bday cake from Hilton Hotel.. dun ask me why there are 3 orange 'balls' on the cake.. i also want to know why..

-20 and 2-

procrastinator

my internship logbook was due at the end of march

but i'm still not even half done writing it

i'm doing everything else except writing my logbook.. like writing this entry :P

i've been reminding myself thru my msn nick for the past week.. but it's still not done..

-the procrastinator-

bad taxi experience!!!

had the worse taxi experience ever today!!

was rushing for an event at vivo so was keening awaiting a taxi and i was really relieved when this one showed up.. but it turned up to be a really horrible experience.. and it made me realised how vulnerable we passengers are and they can actually like bring us anywhere and there's nothing we can do about it.. luckily i still made it to the event on time..

anyway it's this super hamsap taxi driver in his late 40s that totally freaked me out.. first he told me the back door of his cab is spoilt so i had to sit in front.. ok.. so i sat in front tho i though it's weird.. and the next moment he said it's his first day hiring this cab and i should give him an ang bao for good luck.. like 'huh?!'... that's not so bad..

he then started singing praises at me.. and then about himself.. says he's a really good singer and wants to teach me singing, say i should go into TV and he can be the king of property and i can be the queen of tv land (like 'huh?!' again!) and then the worse part came, he demanded we be friends.. i was totally lost for words..

and i realised he was not keeping his eyes on the road but on me.. i nv knew i had such powers seriously.. that was when i think he planted the stupid story saying the back door is spoilt to make me sit in front.. omg.. and he was driving damn slowly possibly purposely taking a longer route to vivo then is needed.. and he kept saying we should exchange no.s.. that point i was contemplating rejecting him or juz simply giving him a fake no.

finally.. and i say finally, i reached vivocity and was all ready to jump off the cab.. and he still demanded he wanted my number.. i figure it's easier to juz give him a fake identity and number so i did just that.. got my change in lightning speed and sped off..

one HELL of a scary taxi ride..

_____________________________

luckily what's to follow is much more pleasant.. cos i get to meet with JJ Lin up close.. he's not exactly the most good looking guy around but hey he's talented and he's not bad looking la.. plus he's pretty nice and sincere.. i believe 1 most impt trait an artist must have is sincerity! can't stand those who don't even want to look you in the eye or just give half hearted answers like they dun even bother to process it in their brians..

tho i had to wait more than an hour with the whole lot of other reporters from all sorts of media for my turn which happens to be last on the list but that's cos i wanted to do the interview together with limin who was there for chinese tv news.. she was so poor thing having to handle the dv camera and digital camera by herself and with a malfunctioning tripod.. figured she couldn't be interviewing and shooting at the same time.. so i did the interviewing and she did he shooting in the end..

and so the highlight of the event.. photo with JJ.. (lighting sucks tho!plus my camera is not the best around)

my previous entry got copied and pasted on digital life this week..

not happy... not happy at all..

wanting to share it online and wanting to share it in print is 2 different things altogether.. giving ppl (unwritten) permission to read it online does not mean that i'm giving others full use of the content anywhere else..

still i guess that's the internet.. perhaps i should seriously switch to using a blog with lock entry features or friends only features...

1st time live on 958

had my first taste of being live on local radio.. and during drive time somemore manz.. so for those who heard a lin hui btw 815 to 845 on Capital 958 sharing her sad stories while she was in TAF club.. yah that was me..

actually i was 'sabo-ed' by my colleagues cos i happen to be made to do a reax report on MOE scraping TAF programme from next year. then i told them i used to be in TAF too.. and becos of that, plus also i think the DJs were desperately looking for topics and subjects to go on air to discuss some current topic, i got a call yesterday night to get me to go on air this morn..

and yes i used to be real fat.. like REAL fat.. my weight in p4 is more than my current weight.. (that's all i can reveal :P)

and yes all members in TAF in my pri sch were made to wear bright orange t-shirts to school everyday to differentiate us from the rest.. so they can make sure we run before eating during recess and to make sure the canteen dun sell us unhealthy food like soft drinks and fried food..

sounds like a sad and depressing experience? actually it wasn't that bad la.. i think at least it inculcated in me that exercise is important for healthy living.. but whether or not i do it now is another thing.. haha.. and i guess i was juz the sway batch that kena the orange shirt thingy.. cos the program juz started and they were trying things out.. i think that onli lasted a year or 2.. still i can still remember it like 12 years on..

it kinda amazes me on how much i can rem from so long ago.. either my memory is good, or it really did have a great impact on me..

and i do still feel fat.. not directly a result of the program (they keep trying to draw a link) but cos which gal dun wanna be skinnier? and of cos i have my siblings to remind me that i'm fat all the time too.. hah

amazing race asia 2 is open for applications!!! and i haf made a peg with my dear ex roomie to take part!
eh.. but i dunno how to drive... and cycle... and we need a audition video that will compel the producers to give us an interview! sounds like a daunting task at the moment..
brain is dead with all the work.. anyone can offer anything cool for the audition video for me n my dearie ex roomie?
*deadline is 30 March*

la cremeria chocolate hazelnut temptation!

chocolate and nut ice-cream lovers out there, you HAVE to try this ice cream

it's the La Cremeria Chocolate Hazelnut Ice-cream!!!

OMG i just ate it after dinner and boy i think it's even better then those ice creams you get from Haagen Daz or Anderson's. It's not chocolate bits that goes with the chocolate ice cream but it's gooey sticky semi-liquid rich dark choc! and plus the slight hazelnut taste and the real nuts that gives you something to chew on.. it's like the greatest ice cream i've had in a long time... the best part being that i din even haf to pay for it and it's sitting nicely in my fridge now!! i do think it's pretty affordable and can be found in all major supermarkets... go try it ok.. (i'm not getting paid for advertising this alright)

anyways it's been a long time since my last post.. let's just say a lot have happened since and mostly because i've been sick the past week but still forced myself to go to work.. so it's really just work and sleep, work and sleep for many many days.. then well something happened that is still leaving me in shock and some getting used to.. and it's just been busy busy lah..

still wanna congratulate my brother for getting 4 As in his A levels.. wah 1st one to get 4 As in the family ok.. now i'm no longer the one with the best results.. boo hoo.. but i'm really happy for him. then and again, 4As dun guarantee that you can get whatever scholarship or enter any university or course of your choice. So, why are we even studying so hard for anymore?

searching for my pri sch classmates

i have this sudden urge to get into contact with them.. act it dates back a bit when my friend told me abt a gathering of her pri sch classmates on the 10th anniversary since they've graduated.. i tot it's really cool.. well this year this the 10th year that my batch graduated from primary school.. think it's really something.. plus the fact that i've lost touch with pretty much most of them since i was the only one from my pri sch to go to dhs..

and i would say it was also fuelled by a talk that i had yesterday with a malaysian friend studying in taiwan and was in singapore on transit on her way back to taiwan.. well it's complicated.. she was asking me about whether i meet up with my friends often and stuff, said she and her pri sch friends are still quite close n all.. you know that kind of thing.. that just made me realise how 'disconnected' i am with my friends..

but the point is that i actually already got 2 responses from them just by tracking them down on friendster and sending am email on friendster to them.. within say 4 hrs of sending out the emails.. much better response than i expected really.. and everyone would still be in contact with at least 1 or 2 other friends.. so that's cool.. friendster is indeed a good 'invention'.. haha.. i really did not expect ppl to be checking it (cos i dun..)

so looks like my 10th anniversary gathering is still going to happen!

有幸福的感觉

今天同时收到2件从台湾寄来的包裹。赶在农历新年前收到真是开心。
感谢婉瑜和湘怡特地分别从桃园和新店寄出包裹，而且好巧啊，你们俩是同一天寄出的呢。
（虽然你们俩不认识彼此，但还是觉得太巧了！）

感谢婉瑜特地从高雄买了鱿鱼丝。收到鱿鱼丝真是有点惊讶。应该很少人会寄这类吃的吧！不管怎样多谢拉！还蛮好吃的呢。

感谢湘怡的口香糖和《17岁的天空》DVD.. 哇，这两样在新加坡都是禁品也，想不到可以顺利收到，谢谢你煞费苦心啦。看了DVD后再告诉大家如何。想看的新加坡朋友也可以向我借:P

先祝大家

猪年诸事顺利，心想事成！！！

all hell broke loose on budget day

it's total chaos in the news room today.. and it's the first time that Budget Day is actually a big deal for me.. well not that i was in the heat of action cos i wasn't one of them that had to listen closely to the speech, or busy writing news scripts, or doing post-budget interviews.. just that i was around the heat and cos so many people were involved today, poor interns like us got displaced and had no desk to sit so was just wondering around the newsroom trying to look relevant..

and Mediacorp actually is quite good on welfare.. specially catered buffet dinner for the newsroom in view of how crazy it could get doing the budget.. whooo... so i hung around to get a share of the buffet even though technically i had nothing to do with all the budget flurry..

so how was everyone's Valentine's Day yesterday?

I would say this year V-day feels the most un-valentine's of all the valentine's day i've had.. i mean i've never really celebrated a v-day with any valentine but at least in school there's usu the friendship day thingy and people will be busy exchanging gifts.. and those angel and mortal games where you are more or less obliged to get each other something.. there is usu the hype there you see.. but this year there's really not that mood at all..

cos it's really just another day of work and i had so much work to complete cos of the impending CNY, was really numb by the end of the day and i still had to go to Chinatown to do a report on the CNY bazaar..

yes.. so i spent my valentine's day (or rather night) at Chinatown.. like i said, my beat is unofficially Chinatown!

new skin, new begining?

i started this blog to update ppl and to chronicle the happenings during my exhange in Taiwan. It's been 1 year and 1 day since i first stepped into Taiwanese shores for my exchange. (meant to write this yesterday la.. so it's 1 day late :P) so in a sense, the new look is to commemorate the 1st anniversary of me going to Taiwan for exchange..

All i can say is that it was truly an eye-opener and i definitely did not regret going there.. and having been there and done that, i really wanna go out again, go out more.. nothing beats going out there and experiencing a different lifestyle. so anyone comtemplating exchange or whatever chance to go overseas, don't have to think so much, just go! but it's also important to go with an open mind...

this was me, a year and a day ago..

my first meal in Taiwan.. it's some beef house and the food there is delicious.. i rememeber it's just opposite 华视... do i look different?

new skin!!!

like the new skin? heh adapted from something i found on blogskin.. since i do not have the know-how or the time to make one of my own, i shall juz try to personalize it.. comments anyone?

this blog shall have a new look soon..

i'm sick of this skin.. cos it's not been appearing right for a long time.. i've given it enough chance.. shall change it soon... :(

diya will always be our superstar!

ok this is a little overdue... still i tot Diya did a really great job on Sunday! it was really like watching a concert and i totally enjoyed myself (haha screaming and all..) sitting on the 3rd row... well and also getting recognised by friends and colleagues in the VT.. so now i'm known a as a Diya fan.. haha..

it was kinda sad that she did not win.. but then i dun think it's such a bad thing cos i do think that she'll still be offered contracts and she will make it big one day!! and she get really get a much deserved rest..

but now i'm looking forward to seeing her around 958 next week.. haha..

and speaking of 958.. oh well, my topics are mostly about work these days la ah.. what to do.. work 5 days a week so everything i see, i hear, i do is about work.. but the point is that i was praised today thru a mass email about a report i filed last week! haha doesn't sound very impressive ah.. but first time get praised mah.. it's the holland v rat story.. i shall go n copy n paste the contents of the email here man.. ok buay hiao bai.. still i'm happy..

email excerpt..
"另外一个是林卉追踪有关荷兰村老鼠为患的热线新闻。这则新闻的报道全面，投诉受鼠患困扰的受访者的 soundbite相当精彩，记者也访问了附近的居民和有关当局，让人留下深刻的印象。"

i think i'm crazy.. cos i'm happy when they give me many many things to do.. so much so that i might haf to work OT.. cos it means that they trust me, that they think i can do a good job.. i hate sitting in the office trying to act busy.. :P

i remember during a 301 class that we were told to rank what we look out for in a job or sth liddat.. there were things like money, power, recognition, being appreciated blah blah... i dun remember what i chose but now i know what's my no.1 criteria in a job.. to be appreciated for what i do..

ok time to sleep.. hotline morning shift again tml *yawnz*

photos...

some random photo updates...

IH Opening - Cheerleading competition

hall seven cheerleaders striking a sexy pose.. haha.. seriously i thought they should have won the cheerleading competition.. great dance and stunts as well, totally max entertainment value but they say it's kinda un-cheerleading like.. oh well..

really cool stunts they have.. always do not understand how cheerleaders can pull them off..

my hot ex-roomie.. cheerleading is her passion..

one of my fav mascots.. ninja turtles!! aren't they cute.. haha.. reminiscent..

i salute him for his courage to do this really.. haha.. golden cupid.. but i think it's still quite tastefully done.. i was quite disusted by the other cross dressing mascot.. esp the sailermoon.. yikes! shall not disgust u guys with the pics..

Reporting snap-snots..
(Holland V)

we received a complaint about rat problem in Holland V.. it turns out this alley is really totally infested by rats the size up to those of a kitten.. huge rats and up to 20 of them can appear in teh evening.. crazy!! and you know wat this is the alley behind all those restaurants such as Crystal Jade and Thai Express.. so guys beware!!

the stacks of rubbish that served as good hideout for the rats.. but i must say the waste management of the restaurants are pretty well done already.. i believe the problem lies....

here! at the clogged drains.. so disgusted by it.. and according to NEA they found like 10 rat nests (or equivalent.. dunno wat's the right to call it..) and by the way this problem seemed to have existed for the past 4 years at least.. omg.. what have we been eating ?

Lim Chee Guan Bak Gua

was told to do a story on the bak gua market for CNY.. you know la 958 listeners are aunties that are really concerned about such stuff.. and it was 10am in the morning but already a queue of 30-40 ppl have formed outside LCG bak gua.. and they were selling it at $44/kg already.. but it was Fragrance bak gua and Bee Cheng Hiang that were nicest to me.. gave me samples of their bakgua.. oh.. Fragrance had this really cute pig-shaped bak gua but my colleagues gobbled it up before i could get a snap shot of those piglets..

life's differences

accountants are a blessed lot.. my ex-roomie is one.. they spend 3 yrs in school and get an honours degree and even before they graduate, prospective employers are fighting to get them.. seriously.. if you are an accountancy graduate, you are almost certainly secured employment by one of the big 4s.. as my ex-roomie puts it, the interviews with the big 4s are more of the company selling you their company and why you should choose them rather than you selling urself.. my roomie got selected by all 4 companies in the end..

and just when she thought she had made up her mind, one of the big 4s decided they want to offer her $200 more for her starting pay for her good results.. but she hasn't even graduated and do not know what honours classification she'll be getting.. anyway it seems like they are offering almost everyone this $200 more to lure them to the company..

now you see what i mean by accountants are a blessed lot.. the companies are FIGHTING for them.. wow.. what am i doing in the media industry where the starting pay is probably a good 1000 away from an accountant's.. hmm... and i even have to fork out money on my own to complete my FYP and accountants don't even need to do FYP..

then i remember.. i hate numbers and hate sitting in the office...

story of the day...

on hotline shift again today.. damn tiring to be on hotline shift 2 days in a row cos it means i have to wake up at 530am... such unearthly hours.. but the stories i get nv fail to amuse me at the end of the day.. here's the story of the day:

A couple just moved into this unit at Bedok and they are making out in their living room every night for the past week or so with the lights on. With tinted glasses, they probably do not notice the crowd that had formed outside their unit when they are at it the whole night. Yes, it's not just for a while but for a couple of hours a night. (Great stamina i must say) And the caller said that it gets unbearable when the guy starts to lick the girl (i dun wanna know where la ah...)

damn happening leh this one.. if i'm from Xinmin Daily or Wan Bao or even TNP, I would definitely send a reporter to cover.. haha.. this kind must haf graphics one.. radio cannot la ah.. but it's really funny cos the caller refused to tell me his name or contact and he was half mumbling those words when he was recounting the incident.. i mean come on, i dun know who u are la so i can't and won't judge u.. such story muz give me clear description ma.. haha.. so all those interning at SPH, maybe u wanna take up this lead? can ask me for more details.. :P

but i totally hate it when ppl treat the news hotline as

1. complain line - u give constructive feedback ok but dun act like we owe you a living..
2. phone directory - pls call 100 to get no. of whatever org you are looking for
3. aunt agony - dun tell me ur problem and ask me "so what do i do now?" i'm not trained to give advice, i'm not a social worker.

act no. 3 is not that bad.. some ppl are really lost and just need someone to listen to them and will feel better after that.. just that too many ppl are treating the media as a means to get their way. like if their complain to the company dun get thru quickly enough they wan to use the media to give pressure.. tho i muz say a call from the media do work wonders sometimes.. still we are not ur slave!!!

ok enough ranting..

interview with SUPERSTAR!

assignment for the day: cover superstar press conference at cineleisure

and who's the superstar?? 陈迪雅!!! haha i was so excited about the assignment.. it's really weird interviewing a friend and really still trying to be professional and at the end of the day file a report.. but i dun think any of you would haf caught it cos it came out at 6pm, 7pm and 11pm yest.. and the best part is that not only do i get to interview them one-on-one, i also can take photos with them, and i get a copy of their singles free, a day before it's released.. now, i like the perks of being a reporter!

i did a relatively long (6mins each) interview with them but radio news can onli be less than 1.5 mins so basically it was cut like hell.. i think i'm not doing justice to some of the answers they gave me lah.. so sorry..

but now shall let photos do the talking..

the location for press conference.. they juz used photoshop to change the colour of their clothes lah.. so duh~ i was thinking it's looks weirdly familiar..

the superstars with the host.. yunying..

the superstars and their singles.. go get a diya one!!!

close up of their singles.. the sales figures will form 30% of the final score in the finals!! so go get one.. plus of cos it's nice la.. and got license one leh.. so cannot anyhow rip n send.. so advanced sia..

haha 自拍 photos with the superstars! damn song4! i know u all jealous! (ok i look quite cui3, when did my eye bags appear?)

yeah.. with diya! think the last time i took photo wif her was when she was still in top 40!

little brother no more...

it's enlistment day for my little bro today.. and i got to go with him all the way to pulau tekong to see what it's really like.. it's actually my first time out of mainland singapore other than to sentosa manz.. and we ge tot take a ferry which actually reminded me of my trip to penghu which i had to take a 4 hr ferry.. but that's besides the point..

i guess if i were to just say bye to him from home, i wouldn't have felt that strongly of his enlistment.. afterall i had an elder bro who had been thru it.. and ns is definitely what it used to be and these recruits seemed to be treated pretty well nowadays..

but being brought thru the tour of their living and training spaces really made the fact that "my bro is going to be enlisted and going to train to be a man" thing more real.. haha.. quite an experience.. and now i can say i've been to tekong..

one thing i feel quite strongly is that parents these days are really quite overly protective.. come on they are sons and they can take care of themselves so don't get worried about things like what they will be eating, how much they will be eating and how often the ferry will come when they book out.. and demanding to know when the air con in the recre room will be fixed? come on, i dun even think that they should have air con there in the first place.. i just think that if it's going to be an easy life in ns then what's the point of putting them thru it to waste their time and tax payers' money. i guess it's easy to say this cos i'm a girl and i dun need to go thru it but i do believe that one can really grow in face of hardships and adversities and that is when u learn not to take things for granted..

so good luck to my dear little bro for his BMT.. enjoy your time in the 'chalet'.. till i see him 2 weeks later.. maybe i'll miss him..

the 'chalet' that he's going to be living in during the whole of his BMT... looks good from here doesn't it? but i heard it's especially depressing when you stay in those rooms that face the sea and see teh ferries come and go everyday.. cos you know those ferry can take you out of there but you can't get out!

i'm sure you can spot my geeky looking enlistee bro straight away.. the black plastic rim specs and long unkempt hair.. and they made all of them tuck in their shirts..

daddy and mummy say bye to their little boy..

as we were leaving tekong, we see these guys booking out.. and many of them seemed to be struggling to run with their heavy haversacks.. quite funny to see them running in that.. ok i'm just being mean..

was just thinking how surreal this place actually feels.. this is near the ferry terminal.. if not for it being a military training ground, i think it has potential to be a great resort place.. haha.. my holiday mood kicking in..

busy but fruitful...

the reason why i decided to take up the internship at 958 news was cos I wanted to come out of internship knowing i learnt something and also cos i like the medium - radio.. and 1 week into internship and i think that, yeah, i've chosen the right one that really fulfilled what i set out to achieve..

as reporting shift starts, i'm really just thrown into the world to survive on my own and at the end of the day, produce. with zero news reporting experience (din even do cs203 leh), i was just thrown out there to do the thing.. so glad that i was from ebm cos at least i haf some knowledge of using the md recorder and not screw up my first reporting assignment. a senior was supposed to be there to guide me yesterday but cos she overslept and couldn't get a cab, by the time she got there, i was already done with the interview and got the soundbites needed, thinking up sth to ask them on the spot.. *phew* this is not like school assignments where i can redo if i dun like.. it's going to be broadcasted to all the listeners leh.. stress.. but then u realise they are actually really not that uptight about sound quality and everything.. cos wat matters is it's fast and there's content to be broadcasted..

and today.. went to crime conference... it's really not serious at all, despite it being at the Police HQ and it being a crime conference. I've learnt that conference is but a nice name to use.. it usu juz consist of like 5 ppl from the media showing up.. face it, how much media do we have in singapore? and after the conference we juz spilt into 2 camps to share cab back to the office.. the mediacorp camp and the sph camp.. haha..

luckily, other than the crime conference, i was also assigned to follow up on another story so i went out again, all alone, to bedok in the rain (of cos in cab la).. interviewed like 20 plus ppl and got all the soundbites then head back to piece my report together.. i realised the good thing about radio is that i can get soundbites secretly, without them actively consent to it cos i can hide my md recorder behind my note pad.. so they can onli see my note pad and think that i'm juz harmlessly asking them questions... hahaha.. so that's the power of the medium! an cos i'm not furiously scribbling away as they speak, ppl are actually quite willing to talk.. which is nice...

and so, i managed to come out with a full report today! feel accomplished.. and the editor liked my report.. hehe.. it's only 1min 30sec but well i'm proud of my first full piece of work.. tho i still dun get to do the VO but yeah i'm pretty satisfied.. it's onli 1.5 week into my internship yeah.. so if u see this post in time, u can tune into 958 at 8am, 10am, 12noon and 5pm tml to catch my report.. :P

热线班

本来我对值热线班感到有点压力，因为最及时地新闻都是从热线来的。要是我收集资料不好，或是没有及时告知，那就是我的错了。而且又要和不认识的人打交道，好像不容易。

但是值了热线班，就觉得还蛮好玩的。打热线的人真的是应有尽有。真正提供新闻的没几个，要求多多倒是，骚扰电话也有，真不知道是该哭还是该笑。

很多人都把新闻热线当投诉热线，不管在哪里受气就打电话来说媒体应该去揭穿XXX。不然就是不知所措时也打来问该怎么办。反正就是各种人类，各种问题，各种要求都有。

昨天有个骚扰电话，打进来就拼命骂卫生部长林文兴。他练了一句话，然后打来就一直重复那句话。一口气会重复十几次。我问他话，他也就只重复那句，真是怪胎一个，而且还一天内在不同时间打进来3、4次电话，有够无聊。

值热线班可以接触到各种各样的人，真不错啦。而且会很忙，因为要一边接热线一边剪外电，所以时间会过得很快，也不会觉得闷或无聊。开始喜欢值热线班，但是觉得值多两次我也会闷了。

明天要去采访。第一次做采访好紧张。

first TVC voice-over

had my first try at doing a TVC voice-over yesterday! haha.. it was pretty fun, and well pretty good money.. perhaps i should consider making it my career ah.. hahaha...

so be sure to catch my first TVC voice-over starting tml.. it's the Singapore Maritime Foundation TVC.. cos they sponsored the channel 8 9pm show that's going to start airing from tml.. so be sure to catch the show.. and the TVC.. on channel 8.. hehe :P

and of cos must thank shunyi for the lobang..

there are actually 2 versions of the TVC and the other version has my hall mates and roomie in it.. so must catch it too.. and i think the tvc is quite well directed too..

2007 :: life as an intern

2007 started with bang bang bang!!! too many bangs lah..

it's not exactly very exciting but still i was kept really busy.. i act went to a countdown at vivocity and was down at the mosh pit (is that how u spell it?).. it did not feel as high as i expect it to be.. prob cos u need tics to enter and all.. but the performances were not too bad.. got JJ Lin enough liao.. plus i was really surprised to see the Superstars there and managed to say hi to diya and witnessed her stumble on stage (oh no.. am i spoiling her image here?).. that was like the 2nd time i ever went for a countdown.. first time was millenium party at orchard which was disastrously crowded and i was out till like 5am.. this time we siam even b4 1230am to beat the crowd... haha..

anyway new year's day came and passed and i've started my intern life.. there are really a lot of interns from sci at mediacorp so everyday's lunch is like a mini gathering of sci students at the canteen.. haha.. but i think i shall not just stick to the sci ppl and mingle more with the other colleagues la.. must get out of my comfort zone..

i haf been feeling really tired after work everyday.. tho i confess the workload is really minimal.. i think it's the adrenaline rush in getting the news out that tires me out.. even tho that only happens once a day for me for now.. and ppl really get short-tempered when the time comes for news broadcast and have to rush stuff out.. i believe i will too.. so that's sth i have to get used to..

so things i've done these 3 days... watch tapes and tapes of taiwanese, hong kong and china news and edited snippets and write their leads for broadcast.. learnt how to man the hotline and have to start manning it next week..

news is truly a dynamic environment and the pace they work in is fast fast fast.. the ppl ard me are always either furiously typing away, making calls to check this and that or doing a telephone interview or voice-over.. whereas i'll juz be making myself relevant in the office.. haha.. i guess my days will just get busier! will be out to do reporting next week.. sounds really exciting!

here comes the end of 2006.. welcome 2007..

i must say this year has gone by in a flash.. i guess it felt faster than ever cos i spent a good part of it overseas and time spent overseas juz feels like a dream now.. unreal..

and as usual i like to do those customary recaps at the end of the year.. what have i done? what have i learnt? what resolutions?

well, the greatest 'achievement' this year would definitely be going away for exchange in Taipei.. 5 whole months away from home.. Taiwan is like familiar, yet unfamiliar place.. we see so much of it on TV but still i dunno much abt the country beyond that..

but thru the exchange, i've definitely learnt more about myself, know what is truly independent (can't even go home for the weekends u know..), appreciate my friends, family and country more, tried many new things, got to know frens from HK and Taiwan, improved my Mandarin, travelled a good portion of Taiwan, understand Taiwan better, understand the importance of having a global outlook and many many more... it's quite a self-discovery process that I went thru and it was really an awesome experience.. of cos it was not 100% smooth-sailing and there were the down moments but I would still go for it again.. so i really really recommend anyone who has the chance to go out and see the world and Singapore from another angle..

other than the exchange, everything else that i did pales in comparison.. after settling into life back in Singapore, my life feels very much routinised.. going to school on weekdays, going to work on weekends.. it's so fun to be able to plan weekend getaways and round-the-island trips.. i simply adore planning my own trip cos the sense of satisfaction is so much better and also i would truly look forward to going on those trips.. there's always so much to do in Singapore that trips would get postponed and in the end cancelled.. argh!

life in yr 3 as an ebm-er has been pretty good so far.. i'm actually enjoying it.. but then u also know the importance of having good group mates, and learn to appreciate them when you actually find them... and also getting to know a lot of ppl that i hardly interact with before this.. CS is so small and yet i must say there are still a lot of ppl that i dun really know.. and now that we are divided into out divisions, it's quite hard to get to knoe those outside EBM liaoz..
then taking audio and video together is not as bad as i thought it would be.. i survived it and thought that my results are not too bad either.. next up is internship at mediacorp 958 and i pray hard that i'll be enjoying my time there..

2006 is indeed a fruitful year.. a year that is really relaxing for the first part and really busy for the second part.. i still can't believe that it's already the 31st and i'm going to start work in 3 days! bye 2006!

明けましておめでとうございます！　良い２００７年を！
HAPPY NEW YEAR AND HAVE A GOOD 2007 AHEAD!

被骗

我被邮局骗了。

原来六毛钱的邮票是足够我寄卡片到台湾的，而且只需五天就可以收到。

希望香港和英国的朋友也可以顺利收到卡片。

可能寄到日本其实也不需要一元一角那么多。

总是被邮局骗。

postage charges

i knoe the postal charges increased but din know it increased that much..

now it costs 65cents to send to taiwan and hong kong.. and $1.10 to send to japan and europe.. god.. and cos i lazy to go out early before the post offices closed today and also not knowing that SAM machines no longer haf the weigh mail function, i had to guess the postage which resulted in my underestimation.. looks like my mails are going to reach my frens via sea instead then..

so Siok, Christine, Iris, 思惟 and 婉瑜... you all will have to wait for a while before my Christmas cards are going to reach you!! so sorry..

and thanks Siok, Christine and Iris-> I received your Christmas cards!
Christine-> god your card is noisy.. haha but i like..

to everyone else out there..

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

somehow i've always liked christmas cos it;s the season of giving.. and i guess also cos my bro's birthday falls on christmas and we'll always have some family gathering which i always love! and of cos there are the presents (tho i do get less of them as i grow older..) still the christmas mood is joyous and ppl are generally kinder during this time of the year you see.. so ppl get out and enjoy this season of joy!

________

yesterday was my last official day working at IRO and all of us were treated to an organic lunch at this place called Bollywood Veggies.. it's an organic farm and it's a pretty cool place.. the IRO director drove us there and the ride there felt so surreal.. like we were travelling out of Singapore and we even saw a couple stopping in the middle of the highway to take wedding photos.. But it would be hard to get there without a car cos it's located in ulu Lim Chu Kang.. where the army camps and cemetaries are.. but i do think that there's a shuttle bus there every hour.. will definitely wanna go back there for a little tour of the farm.. feels like kampong with good fresh air..

anyway also like to say that the staff at IRO have been really great to us.. only discovered the wild side to them over lunch that day.. the pranks they do in uni, the things they say are so hilarious.. even tho the work can get monotaneous at times.. at least the ppl there are nice which made it a lot better..

36 christmas cum farewell party!

after the gruelling competition and now that i'm officially off work.. time to do some back tracking.. i was so tired yesterday at work that i was falling asleep and my head was hurting me.. din realise playing darts could be so draining..

anyway.. 36 had our annual christmas party on the 20th.. it was also meant as a farewell for those leaving the hall for GIP/overseas attachment/internship/just moving out... tho not everyone was around but most ppl where there and there was a lot.. and i mean A LOT of food.. jason n joanne do know how to cook.. very good dinner and many drinks later.. we are as usual fooling around..

click here for pix (and videos.. :P)

i guess it's really fate that brought this group of ppl together under the same roof of 36.. there were those that loved our spirits and joined the 36 family later but still we live in lotsa fun and laughter and sometimes a lot of noise too.. it's a pity that this past semester we din get together as much.. cos there's no more can 3 that we can go to together for our mass dinner.. and also cos everyone is busy with their own stuff.. still it's nice to know that there are so many frens around and that no one can qi1 fu4 us.. hahaha..

it's sad that so many of us are moving out next sem and after that many of them are also graduating already.. time passes, things change, ppl move on.. but we muz let the spirit live on ok? muz meet up often, do the usual crappy, crazy stuff we do and juz haf fun! even if i move back to 36 after my PI, i guess everything will be different.. i will def miss all of you.. every single one!

dart IH SILVER!!!

yeah!!! my first (and prob last) IH medal.. hmm act i think i had a swimming silver in yr1.. but somehow it just doesn't feel as good as this... haha..

it might be a silver, but i think it's already as good as GOLD for me.. went there with no expectations, so the happiness is even more... guess we are an experienced team so it's no doubt that we are among the tops.. i've believed at the bottom of my heart that we cn definitely reach semis.. finals was a PLUS! of course it's good that we won SILVER while i was the captain (but i must say that i did not really fulfill all the responsibilities of being a captain... do feel very sorry about it) must really thank the team cos i think they are really really great.. i am prob the weakest player so they are the ones that made it possible -> Shawn, Dickson,Alvin n Angeline..

there's also special special thanks to the official sponsor of hall 7 darts IH-> bob. he's like the greatest manager you can ever get and he sponsored 2 dozen cans of beer for the guys.. that must have done it to put them in good form for us to progress so far.. haha.. and also he's the one that sets up the boards everyday for training and basically i think he's the pillar behind the team this time! he chose the gold coloured team flights, so either way hall 7 darts team already had gold in us.. haha! BIG THANKS!

act before this, i was really looking forward to the end of darts IH.. cos it was getting bothersome to go for training and also the title of captain was really putting strains on me cos i really dunno wat is expected of me and wat i should do.. i know i had to do sth but i juz dunno wat.. so i juz kinda feel bad abt it.. i did not set any goal for the team cos i know that they are all senior and experienced enough to just be left to do their own thing.. and perhaps it's this that act worked for us.. not trying too hard just do our best and no stress.. hope at the end of it everyone enjoyed the IH experience.. as much as it's a chore going down to training sometimes, once i get started it's act fun to be playing those games with the guys (esp when i get to beat them.. haha).. also ultimately at IH knowing that my trainings had paid off.. tian1-ing ppl, beating ppl by 3-0, checking out my double ones and having 1 dart check-outs.. of cos i also got beaten 3-0 but luckily i nv get tian-ed.. haha..

IH is definitely an integral part of hall life i guess.. i dun think you can say that u've experienced hall life until u trained and took part in an IH game.. i'm glad i took up darts, i'm glad i represented my hall, i'm glad i left hall with a silver medal to my name.. thanks darts team 2007 for all the memories!

Sneak peak...

The winning team! (shawn, alvin, angeline, me and dickson) Yeah! *peace*

group b's score.. hall 7 was top of the group and moved on to the semis.. and then finals! (this is a confusing chart to follow, really)

The stressful playing arena.. games in progress.. *check-in* *check-out*

Celebrations at Sakae Sushi.. Look at the sizes of the guys and you know why we can clear so many dishes.. Ha!

Formula to success: Golden dart flights and lots of beer!

More photos here.

stomach pain pain

greedy me must have eaten too much at the buffet just now and am suffering from stomachache right now.. tho i must say that Sakura buffet is not exactly the most delicious buffet around..hmm.. but it was well earned dinner i guess and a treat from the lao shis at hui guan for the birthday video that i did.. i'm really really glad that everyone liked the video cos i really did put in quite a bit of effort, spending every night after work for a whole week to do that video.. and strictly speaking that is really a video i can call my own cos i made all the editing decisions myself, without anyone's help (well other than the shooting of the footages lah..), so i'm really proud of that too.. :P

ok enough bragging.. i guess there's a lot to update cos it's really been some time since i last blogged.. turn out that holidays (as always) is not exactly much slacker than school days.. my typical day goes like this the past week..

wake up.work.lunch.work.off work.nap.watch goong.dinner.watch tv.darts training.watch goong.sleep

and with this routine, i managed to finally finish Goong! Yeah it's a good show... cos i really feel irritated at what's happening to the characters, wanna kill someone in the show and loved the OST. See, Korean dramas have interesting plots (actually it's juz the usual 4-way relationship and a evil/irritating female character), beautiful sets and costumes and also a great sound track to go with it.. and not forgetting chio and yan dao casts... no wonder they can succeed internationally.. when can Singapore's drama ever make it? i'm really hoping for that day.. tho i do believe that sg's shows are pretty favoured by chinese in malaysia..

next thing.. Diya made it to the next round of Superstar!!! really happy for her.. but i can really see the discrepancy in standard between the male and female contestants.. the overall standard for the males are really a notch better than the females.. so it looks like it's going to be more trips to Mediacorp and more calls to make.. tho i'm going to commute to Mediacorp everyday from Jan next year anyway.. hmm.. kinda looking forward to that actually.. just wan a change of environment.. and really pray that i'm going to like it.. i realised that i do get bored easily doing repetitive things and just sitting around.. like my current job.. i mean the people there are really really nice and all but me having to stay put in that chair staring at the computer all the time actually kinda bored me out.. tat's why i'm actually glad that it's going to end soon.. and i'm positive i'll die doing an office job..

looking at my schedule, i'm not really going to get any long breaks before I start work next Jan. My trip will nv materialize liao... sigh.. i actually really really wanna go on a holiday to somewhere.. anywhere.. but things just keeps popping up and I just have the habit of taking many things up as long as ppl ask I'll prob say yes to it.. so schedule for next 2 weeks looks like this..

1. last 3 days of work at IRO
2. Darts IHRG
3. blk 36 christmas cum farewell party for those leaving (for exchange, internship or just moving out)
4. maybe meet up JC frens
5. do recording for iGlobal07 after Christmas
6. go on shoot for documentary on last painter of Haw Par Villa

and i still need to pack and move out of hall.. that's like a lot of things to be done.. there's so much things going on sometimes i think that i;m doing everything with only half my heart.. i must learn to put my whole heart into what i'm doing.. cos i'm just going to regret it afterwards if it's half-hearted work cos I'll know that I won't be proud of it in the end...

ok i'm just babbling.. on and on..

7th Dec 2006

8:10 am	Wake up (tho most unwillingly)
9:00 am	Report for work
1:30pm	Break for lunch
2:30pm	Return to office to continue work
5:50pm	Leave office
6:10pm	Reach hall. Start to clean up room - clean ceiling fan, change bedsheets, wash laundry
6:40pm	Start to edit video
7:30pm	Have dinner in Comm Hall
8:00pm	Rush back to watch Superstar (meanwhile continue to do editing)
9:00pm	Go for darts training
10:00pm	Return to watch pilot show (still editing)
11:00pm	Go back to darts training
12:30am	Return from training. Continue to edit video
1:45am	Bathe
NOW	Still editing...

It amazes me how packed my day is... And it's the holidays...

superstar!

this is an overdus post actually... haf been wanting to comment on last week's superstar results since, well, last week..

I'M SO SAD KENNY IS OUT!

man, he's like the cutest of all the male contestants la and we really tot that he would be kept in the competition by the sheer amount of fans he has.. but i guess most of his fans are all talk no action ones like us.. so *sigh* he's out... still moaning his lost from the competition really.. tho i muz say that he's not the greatest singer in the competition.. then and again, how many singers in the industry ARE good singers? looks CAN get you somewhere. period.

and so, i must make sure that good singers stay in the competition.. that's why all of you reading this post should vote for TAN DIYA this wednesday! she's F6 and she really did a splendid performance and she garnered the highest score among the female contestants in the 1st round.. dun pray pray..

so be sure to catch project superstar, pick up ur phones and vote for

F6 TAN DIYA this wednesday!! (u'll probably see me on tv screaming my lungs out for diya also.. really 没有形象）

_______

actually i think that the conspiracy theory is working here.. they purposely kick out the hot fav in round one to make ppl feel the pain and therefore will vote more from now on.. sigh.. this is the media... out to make money..

yAy exams OVER!!!

another rainy rainy day today.. can't it stop raining for a day.. been like this for the past.. 2 weeks? but i guess this kinda weather is still better than weather in Taipei.. one day it's 32 degrees, and the next 13 degrees and then going back to 32 degrees.. really CRAZY! i was obsessed about checking the weather forecast every morning when i was there.. had to plan what to wear for the day based on weather forecast.. i dun even give a damn about weather forecast in Singapore.. it's just rain or no rain so just have to have an umbrella really all the time.. haha..


AND.. exams are over!! woohoo~ tho i din actually feel especially relieved or released after my last paper yesterday cos i felt as if my exams ended last friday.. haha.. and also i think this must have been the most heck care exams in NTU i had.. and also one with the least number of papers.. just 4 and 1 of them GE.. so naturally quite slack la.. my poor roomie has 6 and still have 2 more papers to go.. my neighbour better, got 9 papers (like taking O levels liddat).. so to all out there who's still struggling with exams.. work hard so you can play harder later.. 加油！！がんばって！Baxia!

since i've gotten into EBM, there are lots of production and hence lots of production stills.. so to end of the semester, here's a peek into what goes behind the scenes.. thanx to all those who took pretty pictures of me.. tho they might not be the glamourest side of me.. haha (photos galore.. enjoy!)

Kejar (The Chase)

my personal fav shot! hard at work PA n cameraman; ready, get track, go!


trying to feel relevant on set; academy award winning cast (both in blue)


break time!; nat, the mastermind behind these shots (we obviously have a love-hate relationship with the camera)

Artitude (on-location)

somehow i look good when caught with the camera but i'm not good AT the camera.. ha!


setting up.. always setting up; showdown!

Artitude (in studio)

cameraman (and woman) hard at work; view of studio from control room

thanx Trio for their splendid performance, really cool music they have..


and before we know it, it's over.. *sob* time to dismantle sets but before that we juz haf to goof around a bit first; (right) the MV team behind the BEST MV muahahah!


there goes the set.. everyone trying hard to haf fun doing all these.. ha!


getting up close with the notes (wif serene, the artist behind this huge musical set!); my masterpiece piano key blocks :P

Finally.. the team behind ARTITUDE! "Remember, Singapore has Art with an Attitude!"

雨天

雨天 果然不是读书天

整个星期应该没有一天是没下雨的，所以每天都不是读书天

天气又凉又阴暗，真是睡觉的好天气

更可恶的是，因为这一场又一场的雨

有好多东西飞出来叮我，叮得我不得安宁。

救命啊！

juz one more...

it's come to the time where i've juz got one paper left.. but i'm acting like i'm done with my exams..

things i did this weekend:-
watched 2 epis of deperate housewives, 1 epi of lost (which is going to stop till next feb.. wth?!?) and 4 epis of amazing race season 10.. and also snippets of amazing race asia.. haha

TV addict me is making a comeback.. but actually i was staring at the computer screen la.. wat would i do withour BT manz.. ha

for now i shall get to studying for my audio exam on thurs :P
____________________________________________________________________

on different note here..

my former maid came to visit today.. she left us when i was in taiwan.. so did not have a chance to say a proper goodbye.. actually it felt kinda weird having her visit us.. i dunno to treat her as a guest and serve her drinks or wat.. i mean it's like reversal of roles.. (not that i always get her to serve me la.. still...) i guess she must be feeling weird that we are fussing over her arrival too.. haha..

but it's nice to see that she's doing well somewhere else.. owns a sparkly new handphone better than mine.. haha look forward to seeing her again..

exam jitters

exam in 12 hrs.. here i am blogging..

this must be the most unprepared exams.. considering i started proper studying only on saturday? but then i'm also not very uptight about the whole exams this time too.. it has come to a stage where results dun matter that much already..

____________________________________________________________________
外篇

昨天做了场梦。

我回到了台湾。

想做的第一件事：去买早餐

想念台湾的早餐阿！ 尤其是古早味的萝卜糕和红茶豆浆、肉松蛋饼、火腿起司蛋饼、饭团、三明治。这么这么多选择阿。

新加坡的早餐相比之下好无聊。我现在每天啃面包，快变面包超人了...

adrenaline rush

i think i've been surviving on adrenaline rush the whole day.. so much so that i dun feel hungry and am eating for the sake of eating..

studio recording is really a stressful experience.. sitting beside the SD i totally feel the stress and nervousness from him... as much as i feel that we could have done better in the studio works, i'm actually very happy with our caption story and the MV.. it's just the interview section that could haf been better i guess.. but under the pressure at that time.. i do pity the SD.. i bet i would have broken down manz.. plus with IO kinda breathing down ur back.. it's even more stressful...

still.. i had many happy moments working on this projects as much as the ugly moments.. very happy that i've made new friends thru this.. gotten closer to ppl that i've practically not talked to the past 2 yrs in CS is refreshing and of course joyous.. there are ppl who you would not know them till you work with them and they are the SPGMs.. juz haf to pray that i dun haf to work with them again..

now that the video recording has come to an end, marking the end of the module, it suddenly dawned unto me that exams are in a week's time and i've NOT started studying at all.. there is also a strange sense of emptiness in me.. like there's nothing more to work towards.. even tho i still haf a 2000 word chinese essay to write, it juz does not give the same level of satisfaction as when you complete a video project or audio project.. guess that's why i'm an EBM-er.. haha..

i would say that i've gotten away with more great moments than sucky moments in this project and even tho we went thru A LOT to get to this point, (almost) everyone have been great mates!!

remember, we have ART with an ATTITUDE! (i'm proud to say that i came up with the programme name "Artitude" tho i might have actually heard it from somewhere else and juz use it in context.. heheh)

*adrenaline still accumulated and totally not giving much damn to the pending 2000 word essay...*