Marching On

Not that anyone I know is any different, but I'm really no good with breakups. I'm not sure if it gets easier with experience, but I can attest that the lack of it doesn't help.

I'm just very glad I'm not the sort to turn to food for comfort.

But as was saying to all the unfortunate people who had to listen at some time or other, it doesn't seem quite right that I haven't been properly alone for the past half a decade, and that mustn't be a very healthy thing.

Does the word "mustn't" even exist??

But I'm also very glad that my friends are very realistic and pragmatic people who will discourage any form of self-pity/whining/general-wallowing/listening to sappy music. =)

And a trip to Borders really makes me wish a truck would come along and dump a shitload of moolah on me to spend. Other than the Get Fuzzy paraphernalia, there's also all the Banville books, all the Stephen King's Gunsligher series, and other assorted very yummy things.

If you so happen to be a Stephen King fan, I would like to inform you that the new National Library actually bothered to stock up with multiple copies of most of his stuff. Try your best NOT to look at the "Changing Faces of Terrorism" exhibition, but if you must, try to refrain from reading anything. Just look at the pictures.

They did not, however, bother to do the same for Get Fuzzy, and I had to spend the $1.55 to place reservations. It's worth it though.

The Orchard Road lightup is not very good, but I think its become an instinctive thing to diss the decorations. I no longer have a "good" to hold up as a standard. And I realised that the "God of Fortune" hat has GOT to be a ribbon on you get on top of a present. I find it hard to imagine it as anything else.

Also, I'm not sure if anyone will believe this, but my mom and dad collectivlye FAILED to spend a $100 voucher at CK Tangs. In my mom's own words, "I really couldn't find anything!" My brother made three trips there, and returned all three times still with the voucher. There is something VERY wrong with that shopping centre.

*wry smile*

Er ok I admit it. It's true! I follow the ANTM website! And I really do care who wins the new season!!!!! (And it'd better not be Nicole).

Heh.

And it gives me little tingles of celebrity-sighting-type-infantile-pleasure that Elysse from Season 1 thinks that SIA is "the world's best airline". I always liked her form of bitchiness on the show.














I do NOT read too many blogs. Bleah.

Late last night and the night before,
Tommyknockers, Tommyknockers,
knocking at the door.
I want to go out, don't know if I can,
'cause I'm so afraid
of the Tommyknocker man.


Update:

It's 23:14 - No reply yet.

I have been avidly following the Dawn Yeo/Yang saga. Wow. People are nasty.

As of 1.30 am, Tuesday, November 15 2005 - Shyam has not replied me. An enlightened source tells me he flies to Sri Lanka on Wednesday.


I'm very sorry to all the people who has had to bear my talk about this incident. But not sorry enough to stop it. =p Thanks lah.


Kitty just gave me a bad scratch. She was tangled in a plastic bag that wouldn't "let go" of her, and she was duly distressed. It makes me feel so sad, I wish she didn't have to feel so helpless.


I really wonder when I will stop jumping when my phone beeps with a msg after midnight, and think that it means more than it always turns out to be.

Unprofessional Jess

Well yes, here's some news.

Prof Shyam called me to stay back after a very awkward group FYP meeting the other day to express his utter displeasure at my "unprofessional behaviour" and "lack of discipline" and that "he has consulted the committee and is on the verge of dropping me from FYP".

Er.. ya. I think this is the MOST trouble I've been in for my entire academic life, save for that trip to the principal's office in St Nicks when they found I had set up some kinda anti-teacher voting website.

He said he'll make the final decision on Monday, which I intend to accept entirely.

From our conversation, during which I was extremely upset, I gathered that the key issue here is that:

1. I'm "always late"
2. I "do not show up for class"
3. I don't take my work seriously.

And that he "does not wish to work with someone who is not capable of professional conduct".

So until I find out on Monday what is going to happen to me, I'm reserving personal comments.

Er ya I'm ok now.

Joolin The Man

Characters involved:

1. Joolin, Teh
2. hows-the-curry-PH
3. assorted friends
4. Vodka and A&W rootbeer
5. A deck of cards


Set up:

PH suggested introducing stakes when we were playing tai-ti (???). This involves everyone topping up a common cup with alcohol, and the loser at the end with the most cards will drink it.

The Plan:

Joolin the man decides to rig the cards so that PH will end up drinking. When PH goes to get the drinks, Joolin proceeds with his masterful plan.

The Build-Up:

Joolin pours HALF a cup of vodka while the table sniggers at PH's fate. PH laments "wah lau! my cards are damn bad!" GQ turns red trying to control her laughter. PH decides to pass on adding into the cup (as the rest of us did).

The Fall:

In a spectacular game, holding nothing higher than a '10', PH deals TWO sets of 5 cards... and yes. Joolin loses the game.


Joolin is THE MAN.

Deelicious news!

Diya is heading to Singapore and I'm estatic. I don't know why exactly... but ya I'm estatic.

On a cold night in a guesthouse in Bangladesh, Diya and I put frozen beer cans in boiling water in an attempt to melt the beer because we were stupid enough to have left them in the freezer for too long... and proceeeded to hack away at the can to try to get it open so as to get out as much of the half-mush beer as possibly possible. Erm.. a chopper and a knife are deemed insufficient materials to open an alumnium can safely.

The results? Beer-slurpee... which is NOT good.

But ya, I'm estatic. Diya!!!!

On a dark and stormy night, Alvin...

Alvin's trying to be placid. And I totally support that! I am an avid supporter of placidity-niceness-all-round.

So Alvin, these are some statements for you to practice your "placid-ness" on.

1. I believe that Journalism can change the world. And Truth comes with a capital "T".

2. I believe that there is a white-picket-fences-happy-ever-after.

3. I believe that optimistic people are the smartest people around.

4. I believe in the good in people.

5. I believe that you can always trust and depend on your friends to be there for you.


For the record, three out of the five are accurate (as far as what I believe anyway). Chew on THAT.





It isn't easy, I don't need to pretend that it is.

At various points in my short life so far I always end up back at the doomsday-teenage-pessimism statement of "you can't rely on anyone for happiness but yourself".

But I think during this return trip, instead of arriving on a dark and stormy night soaked and miserable and lonely, its coming back wrapped in a neutral-beige white wrapper with a twig of wild flowers and scrawled in friendly pencil-writing.

And that really isn't such a bad thing.

I'm all a-tingling with the prospect of being able to spend a full day reconfiguring the blog, colours/words/tags/sidebars/table widths etc.

The way I'm with tech is the way i was with science (aka physics and chem) in secondary school - I don't know/understand what I'm doing, but I manage to get it done anyway.

Its a real blessing I suppose, since the periodic table scares the shit out of me and don't even get started on what's protons and neutrons and electrons and covalent bonds AHHHHH.. but I still managed to get an A. The wonders of blind mugging.

But ya I like fiddling with HTML (have not advanced) and seeing what's there to do.

Manbitch Alvin: the 565 was part of the template design lah. Don't ask me what it means.



Am procrastinating at Macdonalds (oh the horror!) but sigh I have been sold out by the 24-hourness of it all because I hate having to stop studying when I don't want to.

And hows-the-curry PH is here as well, cursing at Greenwalt.

"Ya lah, and then the girl with the mole fly up and push him down into the spikes."

It's quite something to wake up and hear your mom say those words. Damn these Sunday morning period dramas.

Procrastination Version 3.2

After a crazy 12-hour marathon photoshop/indesign orgy I'm glad to announce that I can start studying.

I don't know how certifiably Singaporean this makes me, but I actually like studying. But only and only if there's a really nice open air bench (with a wall to lean on), a coffee machine/shop nearby for emergency purchases, and a good buddy to watch my things when I need to go to the toilet.

Its just so calming. Everything has to be so organised, files books notes readings... coffee on the right, laptop on the left, the occasional food binge/surprise from visiting fellow-studiers.

I still think the best study place in the whole of Singapore is the canteen in St Nicks. Imagine a huge auditorium with really really high ceilings, rows and rows of benches which you can push together to form a little island for yourself, and an always-open drinks stall that you can buy Ribena at 50 cents, over-looking the track and field... yeah.



I miss Xanga's protected posting. Does it exist on Blogger?? Am I a total tech idiot?

And oh yes, it was time for a change. Kitschy my ass!

Bondhu

Below: Nabir, Nazrul, Mr. Foreman. Saiful cooking in the room.

Although the photos don't show, I think Nazrul minus is moustache and plus a nice fancy get-up, would look very good in some portrait shots.

I've been quite a fan of Break.com (i refuse to use their old name), since they've an EXCELLENT video collection of college pranks.

I'm a big fan of pranks.

I've been following the one below.. its not hilaroius compared to some stand-alone stuff they have, but still! I love the continuity! If I lived in a dorm, everyday would be a nightmare! I'd love it!

Part 1: Crap Attack!



Part 2: Revenge of Milk



("I talked to Jason tonight and he told me the whole house lives in a constant state of paranoia. They cant shower, crap, eat or anything without fearing someone will jump out and scream. Round 3 tomorrow! ") AW man.

Part 3: Revenge.. again..



Heeehee.

Erm. Yeah.

The Keys to Your Heart

You are attracted to those who are unbridled, untrammeled, and free. In love, you feel the most alive when your lover is creative and never lets you feel bored. You'd like to your lover to think you are optimistic and happy. You would be forced to break up with someone who was ruthless, cold-blooded, and sarcastic. Your ideal relationship is lasting. You want a relationship that looks to the future... one you can grow with. Your risk of cheating is zero. You care about society and morality. You would never break a commitment. You think of marriage as something precious. You'll treasure marriage and treat it as sacred. In this moment, you think of love as commitment. Love only works when both people are totally devoted.

What Are The Keys To Your Heart?

I swear, ignore the horrible cutesy title and just take the test. It's fun because they only ask questions about animals, and I keep trying to figure out how they linked it.. It IS fairly accurate, and I really like the questions - only because they are the ones I ask people all the time - and no one has bothered to really ask me back, which is silly because I ask the questions because I like the questions.. but nevermind.. go!

Scram cat.

I love Bucky.










Look at his fat tummy! My god!
I wonder how may cats Darby has in real life.
I wonder if he looks like Rob.

I would like to come back as a Bucky in my next life. It ain't so bad. No matter how nasty I am, my fat furry tummy will set people at ease!

But I don't want to be Catbert though.

(ok just found out Darby doesn't have pets, his Boston apartment landlord doesn't allow or something.)

This is not cool.

Now I know why most Singaporeans dislike having to look at their cleaners in the eye. If I were responsible for throwing down that kind of rubbish, I wouldn't want to face them either.

Today the guys had to take out all the bins from the chute so that they could turn on the water supply which automatically flushes the rubbish chutes from the top floor.

Pretty cool. I never knew it was automated.

What's NOT cool, is that once the bins are out (since you can't have water collecting in there, and besides the point is to wash the area inside) whatever rubbish that gets thrown down within that half and hour has to be picked up.

I tell you, there are only 6 or 7 chutes in my block. And within that time, I saw Nazrul pick up about 3 or 4 diapers, and two sanitary pads, and a packet of half-eaten Macdonald french fries which was obviously much too heavy and torublesome to put into a plastic bag first before throwing it down.

Now the way Nazrul works, you'd think he was channelling the spirit of a bulldozer. He's efficient and fast.I always have to run to catch up with him.

And he's not going to bother walking to and fro to get extra equipment (like steel gloves and a gas mask) to clean things up when he's just trying to get the washing job done.

And just in case you think that they're used to the smell and the dirt, well Nazrul's face is scrunged up in a perpetual frown of disgust.

But yes, in the name of time and efficiency, everything is picked up with his hands.

I salute this guy lah.

I stink.

I'm just tired of talking. I'lll try not to talk about myself, I'm tired of that.

And no lah, i don't stink.

I did spend 12 hours sitting in a rubbish dump and being around rubbish in general, but I don't think I stink. The cat had a real good time sniffing me up when I came back though, in that quizzical way that seems to mean "where the hell have you been?".

Nabir and Nazrul has been working at my blocks cleaning and doing the stuff that no one wants to do for the past 3 years, and I have never said hello to them till this week.

When I tell them I want to do something about cleaners because we Singaporeans don't appreciate them enough, you guys really should've heard the kind of laughter I got in response. Not spiteful, more tragically amused.

"Singaporeans 1 is good, but 10 will be bad."

We're pretty shitty people, as I've noticed. Nazrul tried to prove a point I think, and shouted out a cheery HELLO!!! to an auntie bringing her kids home from school, and she had this confused look of disgust (why the hell is he talking to me) on her face.

And you know the funny thing is, the rubbish dump doesn't stink. I could sit in there all day. Sure it's not the cleanest place ever, but its like a little covered up hole, it gives me anonymity and safeguard from all the prying eyes following me around.

Photos to come, I promise.

Taking a hiatus from blogging (not that I was ever very regular), but yes. Shall spare all of you the doom and gloom!

"You call yourself a free spirit, a wild thing, yet you're terrified that somebody's gonna put you in a cage. Well, baby, you're already in a cage and you built it yourself." - Fred darling.

I really do think it's the walls that you built around yourself that are the highest and the most impenetrable. Rapunzel rapunzel, let down your hair.

Am stuffing myself with chocolate eclairs and durain cream puffs - the frozen kind. Which taste nossogood, but is very convenient and because it's all in the freezer, I get to eat 'em still very cold and quite "crunchy" which I like! Compared to warm and gooey.



And my mother just told me how my grandparents and uncle and aunty spent five hours hunting for the cordless phone handset all over the house, and the house next door (where the other set of grandparents stay), and in the kids' school bags and everywhere and everywhere..

Only to find it in my grandfather's pocket.

I really shudder to think about what kind of amusement I will provide for my grandchildren when i'm that age - given that at the age of 21/22 I take about 3 trips on average to leave the house proper without having to go back because i forgot my ezlink/handphone/rubberband/money/sweater/tissue what not.

I really have to stop finding excuses for my utter disrespect for punctuality.

Things that make Jess happy.

I'm simple that way. Er, I think.

This has been happening a lot.

I type things, finish the blog, then delete everything and just don't feel like posting it.

What? Jess not feel like talking?

Ya, so out of this world right.

We're the very finest university in Asia! Really! We is really the bestest!

Lucky for Ah Mooi, no one reads emails from Career Hub. Not that I believe, or want to believe anyway.

So credit goes to the girl in the west, who's still giggling about it (an hour later).

Bumboat

Bumboat
Originally uploaded by elsija.

This is gonna be one of the last photos I take for the sake of taking for the sake of "pretty-ness".

Foul.

I'm in a foul mood. Not stormy grey sky foul, but black and lighting and thunder kind of foul.

I am quite upset over the presence of this under the block of flats across the road:


I just rattled off a rather unhappy letter to AVA, and CC-ing the top honchos in the division, courtesy of this, just so they will have to reply me. I hope.

They'd better not be culling anything in my area because I haven't seen these two for the past two days.

And I'd really hate to think that something happened to them the day after I considered getting them collars.














Whereas this one hasn't quite learnt how lucky it is. But it's getting fat.

I think its funny how all the wires are calling it a "colonial law".

I also think it's funny the way the judge romantically recalled the racial riots.

But what was the funniest of them all was how the judge said the Sedition Act was a "red line".

More like a red sea, if you ask me.

How do you draw a line with this set of vague laws that is of no use unless they want it to be used?

And technically, I now could be charged with 3(c) "[bringing] into hatred or contempt or to excite disaffection against the administration of justice in Singapore".