OH MY GOD (continued)

(Continued)

Day 3


Day 3. Wonderful day. Project FIA. Meaningful talks. Night games. Sigh. (:

I got told during breakfast that Joee, Jabez, Thomas and Claire would be going to Christalite Methodist Home, and me, HY, Serena, Joshua, Harold and Caleb would be going for Project smile.

I learnt one thing from project smile:

ACS boys suck balls at Mandarin. Tsk tsk. (Just like how MGS girls suck at Mandarin too. Okay. Except for Hin yee.)

Okay of course that's not all I learnt, I'm not that shallow. I learned a lot from the people we met, obviously, especially Mdm Majulah, but I'll have to extend this to three posts if I wanna put all of that down. Maybe I'll do that some other day when I'm in my emo self-reflection mood. I bet everyone including myself treasured the fun moments we had talking on the bus, in the lift, at the void deck and so on. I even said good morning to strangers on the way. Just thinking about it makes me smile, heehee.

Then we had talks from three organisations, Prison something, TWC2 and SADEAF. The SADEAF talk taught me sign language, hehehe. But still, that's not all. If I were to put down everything, my fingers will turn to bones tomorrow.

We had night sharing and I did a testimony in front of the entire goddamn camp, holy moly. But I was very pleased with myself after that for having the guts to go up. It wasn't easy at all. Okay okay okay FINE, I cheated, I wrote a script on my phone's memo pad......... :P But I still went up.

Night games were damn fun. HY, Lisa and I were walking around with our hands locked together. I was actually quite scared. And I brought back a wet shirt thanks to Jabez, eeeeeeeeeeee. Omg I don't know where to start talking about all the funny moments. All I can say is that guys cannot dance, LOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL.

I went to bed at 3 a.m. and woke up on the last day feeling like a zombie.

Day 4


Nothing much went on on day four, just a load of goodbyes, sharing, photo-taking and eating. (Glutton lol) And Gabriel got tau poked lol. Rough boys tsk tsk. And after break camp I just sat on the floor because I didn't wanna go home.

Oh well, guess that's my condensed version of how camp was these 4 days. I missed out other things, but I think you get the idea. Camp was fun, the end. :D

GOOD NIGHT AND SWEET DREAMS TO WHOEVER THAT'S READING THIS. Please don't be a malay spammer. (I'm starting to hate myself for posting so casually lol.)

OH MY GOD (literally)

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. OH MY GOD.

Sorry for being mad, but I was just looking back at the year and whew, what a crazy shitass ride it has been.Yeah, I'm laughing at the whole idea. I don't even where to begin talking about all the things that have took place this year, all the events I've been to, all the challenges I took on and all the new friends I made. They're overcrowding my mind, what pests. Tsk.

Okay okay seriously, enough about how exciting my year has been, I'll just start writing about what the title is actually about. (But it seriously makes me damn happy thinking about my year because it was just that fruitful wth. I'm still trying to recover from how unbelievable this is. No kidding.)

Kay today, I'm gonna post a little differently. Instead of being preachy in my posts which I think I overdid a little in my previous posts, I'm just going to write about camp from day one to four and simply let my writing relive the wonderful memories.

Here I go.

Day one of FACT Camp 2011

I met HY at the bus stop in the morning because I was scared of going into ACS alone hahaha. Then I was early and ended up waiting for her at the bus stop for a godly fifteen minutes. Grrrr. Then this guy asked me for directions at the bus stop. Camp didn't start yet and I was already blessing others lol. (Kidding haha.)

When we walked in I realised how big ACS was and shook hands with Gabriel, I think? I forgot whose hand I shook because I didn't look at his face haha. I sat down and met very funny people - Isaac and Grace who helped break the ice. Then I got to meet more of my group members, Lisa, Serena, Caleb, Claire, Joshua, Joee, Kevin and my two shy and awkward (tsk tsk) leaders, Harold and Thomas.

We played MRT to break the ice and I have to admit that I seriously suck at these games, I really do. If you wanna win me in something, choose to play scissors paper stone, animal, MRT or something. I suck balls. This is random, but I'm practising my Reversi now and I'm able to beat the computer, so if you wanna lose, pick that.

Okay I shall skip the group interaction (where we came up with our cheer), briefing, the hostel check-in, lunch and then skip to games. We met Jabez during games and actually danced for him. We played human table soccer (1st place), captain's ball (2nd place, thanks to HY), shit I forgot what else. Everything was really damn fun. Dinner was good, Caleb was trying to socialise lol, worship and sermon was even better. Impacted me quite a bit. I got a Kinder Bueno for being a nice friend and offering hugs to HY and Joee, hehe. (Even though I needed a hug more than they did, haha. But it's okay, I live a worry-free life. :D)

I went back to our dorm, got chitty and chatty with my room mates, got told that I look like a primary school kid by a sec two (SHIT), and then, zzzzzzz.

Day two

This was the day where our group really became like a group heehee. Everyone was more or less talking like friends already. Joee was stoning, Hin yee was at a netball match, Lisa and Claire were stoning too. Caleb overslept, Jabez and Thomas were the earliest guys at the breakfast table, Harold........ LOLLL.

I'll skip morning sharing, worship, and go straight to games. OH HOLY. Games were a shitload of fun. They were dirty games to be specific. So everyone got splashed with egg yolk, flour and rainwater that went through a pipe while playing scissors paper stone on a mat. And SHIT, I don't even want to think about the smell of my clothes.

After lunch we had two very fun workshops hehehe. We had to do a silent play on the character Esther in the bible and we decided to switch the roles around - girls would be guys and guys would be girls. The guys were hilarious. And I was Joee's guard.

Our night sharing was getting even more fun. I think it's safe to say that my group is full of funny people, lol. (Y)

Okay and then we went back to our dorm again, I chatted with HY until one, talking about who I like wth. (Not my idea lol. Apparently all night gossip sessions have to be about boys.) Then..... we went to bed.


(Continued)

I love surprises

P.P.S. [In this case this stands for pre,pre-script] I love surprises. A lot.

P.S. [In this case this stands for pre-script] This post is a little late oops. In fact, almost a month late. And it's also a little inappropriate to be used as an article for the CMC newsletter so I'll write an article myself and why am I so luo suo? :P

Days after I chose to work during the November holidays, I was wondering what the hell I was thinking when I made that choice. A normal Sharmaine would have been daring and smart, and went for something big and bold, like OBS Sabah. OBS was created for people like me, okay. And it sounded almost like a temptation. I must have been high on crack when I chose work. (Kidding lol. I just wasn't in the right frame of mind. Or was I?)

It seemed like luck wasn't on my side too, judging from how I had to run around so much to get prepared for work. I went to Jurong point to get a bank account created, went to get a skirt and...... (woopee I forgot where else because my memory sucks.) I also had to go through the horror of asking for permission to borrow my sister's camera for video-taping purposes. That really wasn't easy. I also had to ask for permission to borrow my Dad's mobile broadband. Then I used up a week trying to get friends to come for focus group discussions, which was again, quite tough because people are very lazy. That's a very cruel fact about the world.

But I did manage to get nice friends to join me during those discussions in the end, after much asking around. Thank God.

So I refer back to my first sentence - "I love surprises. A lot." That's why I really thank God for constantly giving me these huge surprises, these blessings in disguise. They're seriously starting to make me wonder what I did to deserve all these.

The main reason why I was feeling rather down about working was because most of my friends were having the time of their lives at their other ROCs trips. Seriously, it was quite agonizing not having friends to talk to during that period.

But God gave me so many bright sides to look on.

If there wasn't a Japan Earthquake early this year, I wouldn't have made a bank account at Jurong Point, wouldn't have went to the Watsons at the basement to get meds for Ah Gong, wouldn't have went to Fairprice to buy Vitamin water, Dad wouldn't have thought of buying 4D despite the sickening queue, which means I wouldn't have money for braces. Seriously, the logic is scary. That's why I love the future, because the future gives you these kinds of surprises.

I wouldn't have found out what a great but tiny place CMC is too, how convenient the place is, how amazing the staff are, how nice their pantry is (they've got Mentos and Milo), how comfy their office is, how smelly their toilet is, how auntie Joanna and Jovis' desks are (Jovis has a dartboard and Joanna's desk is a Mama shop), how nice a person Zhang xu is, how fun office gossip is, how fun conducting focus group discussions were, how fun our final presentation was and of course, how nice the food over there is. They have the best tau huay at Maxwell hawker centre, oh Jesus.

So you know, after ROCs 3, I've only got one thing to say.

My friends took home jet lag. I took home experience. (The fun kind, hehehe.)    

This is Love.

Love is a powerful thing.

This sentence alone isn't sufficient to fully define it, honestly. Not even a dictionary. Not even a teacher. It speaks for itself. "Powerful" defines love accurately only to a certain extent. When we talk about the word "power", spiritual force comes to my mind. A good kind of spiritual force is what love is. At least that's what I feel up to this point. But my definition isn't complete yet.

Before SALT camp 2011, I've ever thought through the definition of love so much to the extent that I thought I understood it completely. But boy was I wrong. In reality, I've never actually understood and grasped the meaning until today. That was something I wasn't even aware of. Therefore, the past two days spent during SALT camp have reconfirmed that definition for me and definitely opened my eyes to many new lessons.

During the camp, there were two instances that were really thought-provoking for me. The first was our first day speaker session and the next was definitely the very very very powerful worship experience.

Our speaker, Ms Toh, mentioned some very powerful things during the session that I'd like to share here. I honestly found these points so real and true. So it really touched my heart to hear about such good news. One prominent thing that was repeated constantly during camp was "Love others". So my first step to loving others today would be to share my lessons learnt, whether people believe them or not.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 says "Love is patient, love is kind. Love does not envy, love does not boast, love is not proud. Love is not rude, love is not self-seeking, love is not easily angered, love keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails."

Then Ms Toh said that Love is God.

And then she asked us to replace every word "Love" with the word "God" since both were equals.

Doing that, you'd get, "GOD is patient, GOD is kind. GOD does not envy, GOD does not boast, GOD is not proud. GOD is not rude, GOD is not self-seeking, GOD is not easily angered, GOD keeps no record of wrongs. GOD does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. GOD always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. GOD never fails."

I was stunned and amazed, naturally. That's when I realised I was getting closer to the true definition of Love.

Another point I wanted to point out was how Ms Toh answered one of my burning questions I've had since I was this young, innocent christian girl. What exactly is the difference between a christian and non-christian?
Yup, I believe that everyone has asked themselves this question in some point of their lives. And I finally got it answered.

Ms Toh said that humans were made up of three parts - the physical body, the soul and the spirit. The physical body is tangible, available to the touch. The soul leaves our body when we pass away. The spirit is different. It's like another of yourself, but not tangible. A spirit is able to feel and function like you will as a human, except it isn't tangible on earth.

The difference? A christian spirit is alive and seated on God's right hand in heaven. I was awed by that fact.

Okay, so on to worship experience. Yes, I cried again. (Emo lol.) You can't blame me, because it's reasonable for me to cry. Things like "you suffer because God loves you" really make me guilty. I frequently ask myself why I always get scolded and I even complain sometimes. It sucks to know that I'm actually questioning God's love for me.

Yes, Sophia had a very good point I wanted to mention. She said that whenever you feel discouraged, whenever you're suffering, think of how God actually put you through the pain to make you an even stronger person. I fully agree with her on that. There's a reason and purpose behind everything God does and that's what spurs me on.

Many might doubt the presence of a God. But the many that doubt are the many who have yet to experience the presence of a God. I for one have had experiences with God. Every year in MGS have been a living testimony to this. Not just that, I've felt God. And the feeling's powerful. You'll really know God and the holy spirit is there because it's nothing like you could ever experience.

The many worship experiences I've been to have really helped me to experience more of God's presence. That's why after being in SALT for two years, or rather, being in MGS for nine years, I've grown so much as a christian and I could say with an 80% certainty that I know the true definition of Love. 

From baby cots to office cubicles

A few nights ago I was talking to my mom about how giving birth to me was like. Apart from the painful parts of her story, the rest was kind of funny.

Okay then you know how every time you talk about your childhood you somehow start to wonder how you grew to become so big and bulky and annoying? Thereafter you would mentally run through every year that you've lived in your head. For me I can't keep it up there, so I've to put it down here.

So I present, the best of my fifteen years.

When I came out of mom I was the one of those rare babies that didn't cry. How many can say that they're like that huh? Hee hee. One more thing, my eyes were open, huge and staring at mom. Don't know staring at what la. I must have been a breeze to give birth to, being so dead and silent.

A large time of my childhood was spent at my Ah Gong and Ah Ma's house in Bukit Batok, no longer existent because of upgrading works, sadly. That was the place I ate at, slept at and pooped at. That's all you ever do as a kid anyway.

I've always loved bathing, I don't know why. So when my Ah Ma placed me into the red plastic tub I would get damn excited. Then after my bath I would run out with my towel barely even covering me, screaming "I'M CLEAN!" to my Ah Gong. Then my Ah Ma would scold me for wetting the floor. :(

Then my Ah Gong would take out the Lego and I will build houses.

Then when I was too alive to sleep I would jump onto my Ah Gong's bed when he was about to sleep and dream of trampolines. He used to sing chucka-chucka-choo-choo with me while staring at the ceiling. And then one day would pass.

Then when I was feeling bored I'll wear my Ah Ma's over sized wooden clogs and hide in between the laundry out at the balcony. Ah, good times.

When I went to Kindergarten it must have been like a theme park for kids. Hee hee. I remember there was delivery from some mystery man one day and I stole the cardboard box together with my friends, drew a lousy air-con and window on the inside of the box and locked ourselves in there.

When I started Primary one in MGS my first achievement was winning a packet of cheese balls from my form teacher for killing the stupid lizard in the cupboard with the broom. And I don't know why I'm so scared of lizards now. Ah and last time red bowl noodles only cost 60 cents. And the bookshop sold country erasers I always bought and played with. And the scented highlighters that smelled of grape, banana, apple, orange and lemon. My favourite was grape and I hated lemon. And then came water babies. And then came blu-tack lamian- okay my paragraph is too full.

Then when I started Sec one I cut my hair which made me look like a weirdo. (A neat weirdo.) Actually I cut it when I was in Primary five. Macs at King Albert Park was an alien place to me until I went in and screwed up my order. Embarrassing memories are the ones you keep.

And then when I turned fifteen.............................................................................................................

Fast forward.

And then today I'm wearing heels to work and getting blisters. Smart girl. When you grow older do you become more stupid? I wonder.    

I secretly dream of...

Today I'm going to do a short but (hopefully) fun blog post. Call it a poem if you will. And it won't be so secret anymore once I type it out here, so just shelve my title.

Here I go. (:

I secretly dream of (not in order)...

1) My favourite singers. (Literally) And the dreams can last for hours. But they're not sick dreams. They're just lovely teenage fairy fantasies. Okay, I think I should stop here if not I'll sound like a lovesick fangirl. I have a life, okay.

2) Becoming an inspirational speaker. I've always wanted to touch hearts with the experience I have. I even create impromptu speeches in my bathroom sometimes and just murmur them to myself. Maybe I don't have that much experience yet, but I'll definitely pick up more experience along the way as I grow older. This is also part of my love for helping others.

3) Someone in my life, be it present, past or future to tell me SOMETHING. I'm not going to reveal what that something is. I'll leave it for fate to decide. Oh look, I'm still quite secretive (;

4) Having that happy ending. Oh pshhh, what girl wouldn't want that?

5) Exams. Yes, I dream of me writing on exam papers. Sign of stress?

6) Fame. Myself performing on a big stage in front of a hugeeeee audience. Even though chances like that are one in a million.

This list is endless. I'm tired. G'night.

Dreams

Last night I had a horrible dream. Like, really horrible.

I dreamt of 3 of my close friends dying. They say that dreaming of a loved one dying is a symbol that you lack one of his/her's qualities. Okay, I think I know what it is. Sigh.

Anyway, virtual dreams aside, let's talk about my real dreams, like my dreams for the future, those that will determine my place in the society.

There are a million and one things I want to do when I'm old enough. I even have a list. But I'm not sure if Blogger has a limit for their posts because it's damn long. Am I ambitious? You could say that.

For my career I'm okay with anything to do with the media industry. But I'd be an idiot to start off in Singapore.  No one really appreciates local TV shows or movies here. Only a minority. Of course I'm not obsessed with getting noticed, but I don't want to waste my time doing something that won't get me far. I'd rather direct or produce a movie than act in it. Because I love writing, I'd also be okay with being a columnist or journalist. I think those are pretty cool.

No one knows it, but I'm pretty fascinated by the sea. The sea is just this amazing, vast, pool full of things you can never see in person. I mean if you go 5000m below sea level you'd probably die. I don't even know how deep the sea is and that's what I wanna find out someday. Deep sea creatures like the angler, vampire fish and electric eel amaze me.

I love interacting with people. And I love boasting that Singapore has a beautiful Ferris wheel that lights up at night. Combine those two, and you'd get tour guide. Yes, I wanna be a tour guide. Don't judge me. This is another secret, but I want to be a counsellor. There's just this thing about helping people and giving me advice that I really like. I was just talking about volunteering to speak to suicidal patients anytime now. But my mom told me that I'd have to know dialect or else the patients might go "biaokin, wa ke si!" Then they'll jump down.

I love animals. So bring me to the zoo. But I'll be sick of the smell within a week. Oh if I work at the night safari then it'll take two weeks. Because it's cold at night.

I love travelling too, so when I was younger I'd constantly dream of flying on an SQ plane with my hair bunned up and my body adorned in those pretty kebayaks. (Did I spell that correctly?) But this dream was kind of crushed by my genius lit teacher who told me that drunk passengers like to handle boobs. So I guess being a tour guide would suffice.

I'd also love to have high paying jobs like a surgeon or doctor, but those are totally out of the question. The things is, I like watching dramas and the human body being opened up. Nah, kidding. It's just very fascinating and I'm not prone to puking.

I don't mind owning a bakery either, because one, I LOVE baking, and two, I love doing business. In fact, my sister and I used to own a "bakery" called SH delicious treats when we were younger, operated over phone and sms. The only ever business we had was a box of 12 muffins sold to my uncle. But when I think about that now, I wonder what our loss was, because we kept on giving discounts. I am a hundred percent sure that we didn't even make a profit. Ah, kids.

I know this list is longer, but I have absolutely no energy to type everything out.

The things that are completely off this list are sit-in-the-office-cubicle type of jobs, teacher, boss blah blah blah. I want my life to be interesting.

That time of the year.

So at the start of every October I go through hell. Then at the end of every October things change.

And when things change I tend to forget all the hell I've been through and just think about the year as a whole. Of course that's not the only thing I do. I do other crap like shop, watch movies (usual girl things), tweet, chat, exercise, sing, dance, write, fantasise about skydiving, SLEEP, but that's not the point.

Point is, I'll probably be reliving my precious memories through this post, so don't blame me if things start to get all fluffy and perfect. Of course I have bad memories, but those aren't worth remembering. If you ask me, I'd rather save all my brain space for the happy ones. I always stick to believing that right now, on earth, we need to experience happiness. Death is inevitable, so when we die we'll be deprived of the chance to ever experience happiness again. So why not treasure the chances we have now?

Back to the memories.

I remember finding out my class at the end of last year through the school email. After a bad 2010, I was hoping history wouldn't repeat itself. I got the wonderful news that my good friends were with me and what really comforted me was the fact that it would stay this way until we graduate. Now that was a good way to start the year.

This school year for me has, without a doubt, changed my life in so many ways. I thank the school for organising these priceless class-bonding activities. OBS makes it into my hall of fame without a doubt. It was by far the best thing I've ever experienced. And honestly, I think I would die for a chance to go back there again. A couple of hours of rock-climbing and kayaking would be quite perfect. They say it's the hardest stepping stones you remember and I gotta say that I agree fully.

You know, the year has really forced me to come out of my little shell and make more friends. Right now, I think I'm probably friends with the whole 3E. And of course, I treasure the other friends I ever got the pleasure of meeting this year, last year and every year I've lived. I'll never forget all of my friends.

So June arrives. Then July. And after half a year goes by, you always wonder why time passes so quickly. July 15th and 16th. RYC. I was grouped with Sheryel and other lovely people I had the chance to meet. I met even more during my meaningful CIPs at highpoint. Up until this point, I think I lost count of how many great people I met this year.

Then September arrives, and the next thing you know, October arrives. I turned fifteen in the funniest way. Then I realised how simplicity actually creates the best memories, unless you're a materialistic dick. Celine, thanks for being the first to wish me on the phone even though twelve midnight isn't an appropriate time under the circumstances. I'll always remember how you counted the minutes.

Now, it's mid October. In 2 days time I'll be proud of the fact that my sister would grow a year older. Strangely, it feels like I cannot get enough of the ending year. So many wonderful things have took place this year and a mere blog post isn't enough for me to describe this amazing year.

But hey, ROCs has yet to arrive. I shall wait until November. There'll be more. 

5th October. 10:38.

Okay. I've finished with the day's revision, my head's on the verge of explosion, my hands are numb and my eyelids are heavy. About time I relaxed (I think). I thought I should sit down for a good old five minutes just to write. I don't write about crap usually, so my blog isn't really considered a distraction. Writing actually helps me to find my center and calm my nerves, so I guess it would be the perfect remedy for this killer stress trying to suck the life out of me.

Where do I begin. Exams have been good so far, but I have a feeling that tomorrow will definitely be the cause of my sad demise, judging from the way I couldn't even keep awake while revising for tomorrow's papers. Friends, you can prepare for my funeral.

Oh, I'm really just waiting for Friday. Once Friday comes I can make up for all the sleep lost and of course, practise my Chemistry until I have not a single question left.

This is beginning to sound boring, uh, how do I add life into this blog post? It sucks.

Oh, I ate ice-cream just now.

I'll end here?

When I write

I always feel that writing somehow lifts my spirits. When I write, I feel like I'm talking to a friend. The pen will be my mouth, the book my friend's trustworthy ear. Well, for a blog, it's the keyboard and dashboard respectively. Whether I'm writing the old-fashioned way or the express way we normally do in today's advancing world, I still express all my emotions successfully through this significant way of communication. Writing makes me happy - that's cliche.

You know what writing is about?

Writing lets me see the world through another perspective, an ability that most teenagers nowadays lack. Writing has ripened me. You know, most authors dedicate their books to someone at the start. That's because they write with someone or something special in mind. It could be a message or an idea they want to convey. So, no one writes without a purpose.

I guess it's because I've been through so much in life that I want to pour out all my experiences and shape them into enjoyable stories. When people read my writing, I get the kinds of reactions I want - smiles, warmth, "you made my day", sometimes frustration, anger, often because I can't write long enough to please. But when I share my stories, the only thing I want is for people to smile.

Mama, I'll write more for you, because I'm aware of how proud you are of me for singing and writing. But most of the time, I do it for you already. When I was up on the stage singing you raise me up in 2009, knowing that you were in the audience rooting for me gave me confidence to pull through the anxiety. I'll never forget the one thing you said to me after my performance - "I'm so proud of you." That's why I thank the Lord everyday for giving me someone like you. I have no frickin idea what I'll do without you. (:

Ah look, I'm already shedding my tears of joy.

Dearest Moomy, someday, we could turn our lives into a book, and it'll have a happy ending. 

Emotions.

3 more days to an exciting day.

A month more to another psycho period of exams.

Words cannot describe the intense excitement I feel towards the coming of 10th September. I mean, heck, it's SHINee World day, what do you expect? But let's leave that aside, and let's talk about the fact that oral starts days after that, which makes me kinda worried, honestly, because after oral, comes the papers. I've been constantly having a runny nose on those days where I'm supposed to study. Coincidence? I think not. Shitty situation? Likely. 

My eyelids feel heavy even though I slept 12 hours last night. I'm telling myself that I should continue with math after dinner. Kay, yes. I'll continue after dinner. Shevonne tells me that there's a quick one minute way to "make your arms smaller" which she saw from tv. I repeat, tv. I doubt it. I think ideas like that are too good too be true. On the other hand, if you do convince me, you convince me. 

I'm going out for thai food again later, you know, being the crazy person I am. I could do that for Japanese food. I mean, going out consecutively for Japanese food. Scary, but doable. (: 

So I'm gonna end here. I've nothing else to say.

King of anything~

Yeah, I fell in love with the Sara Bareilles charmer, so my blogpost title is just a little tribute to the amazing song. Oooops, I haven't wrote in two months. I guess that's sad. It's just that school's been hell, I mean, I'm just fifteen but they just can't resist stressing out their students. Anyway, I shall not wallow in self pity thinking about the sad misery of school. I mean, I'm happy-go-lucky.

Exams have ended and I'm just anticipating my results right now. I've got almost all of the results back so far. As for math and amath are standard requirements, so says mom. I worked hard for the rest, but I'm not too sure. I hope for at least four As to put that little smile on my face.

Oh you know what else will make me smile?

My recent obsession with Glee. (Okay, I'll have to admit, my obsession with sweetie Finn and badass Puck as well.) That show is genius. I just realised the beauty of the show last night. Hey, it's not about high school teens who can't make up their frickin minds on which girl or guy to pick. I look up to them. Apart from the fact that Glee kids are rather promiscuous (insecure much?), hell, they're so talented. And they fight for their dreams no matter what. Isn't that what Disney movies teach young kids all the time? Yeah, Glee's similar, just with that little bit of punkass in it.

Adding in a bunch of sweet photos. Love these.

Memories of June~

Lend a helping hand - CIP at Beacon

Darren. You're gonna grow up all nice.

We never forget jump shots.

?????????

I see you.

No, not under there.

Nothing but footprints left behind. 

<3 Sharm

OBS~

It's been awhile since OBS, but I think it's time I write about it. Currently, I'm suffering from the annoying OBS blues. I'm missing it badly, I feel like going back, I want to sleep in a tent, yadayadayada. Did I forget to mention the fact that I'm kind of...suffering? Actually, it's the same thing almost every student will feel as they come and go. Some might not have had as much fun as I did, but for me, I definitely had an experience of a lifetime. I honestly have no idea what the exact cause of my blues are, but there's one thing I know, and that's the fact that OBS has changed my life.

On day one, bluntly putting it, Amundsen was a sad, lifeless group - the faces of my group members looked like they were absolutely reluctant to leave the addicting comfort of their bed at home. It was an abomination to the outdoors and to our instructor Nicholas. He tried very hard, to get us together, to get us to talk, but we made him say this one same thing multiple times after looking at our faces and hearing the awkward and utter silence. Oh, his famous sentence was - "Yall look like you want to die like that." For that, I think I might have to apologize. No no, cancel the "think" part. He really deserves an apology.

This made me think that camp was going to suck, but things started to take a turn for the better at around day three. We were getting used to the discomfort in the tents, the outdoor cooking, meaning the toothpaste applying, the mess tin washing, the belaying, the climbing, the constant application of mosquito repellent and sunblock, the heat, Nicholas and his quotes and Ah Seng stories, the corny jokes, the bad habits and of course, everything the wild had to "offer". We tried things we never tried, we talked to people we never talked to and most of all, we created memories.

I can still remember the belay calls. I can still remember the name of our soup. I can still remember the stars in the night sky. I can still remember the messy store. I can still remember the insane, no-one-except for Nicholas and Yu Han-can-climb rock wall. I can still remember the only clean toilet in OBS (which was not so clean after a couple days). I can still remember the digestive biscuits. I can still remember the lightning splash. I can still remember the orange peels and the apple cores. Okay, you know what? Basically, I've not forgotten a single memory that OBS has given me. That's the thing.

Oh, my personal favourite? Day four's lunchtime. Sure, it was simple, but nothing beats being huddled under one roof with practically 16 of the damn fifteen kilo backpacks blocking the way. We laughed, we ate, we talked (Nicholas, don't think I don't know what you said when I wanted to throw my apple), we discovered YY eats apple cores and don't even get me started on the prunes, and that weird ass insect. Actually, I loved the whole of day four. Sure, it made you want to jump off a roof and die, but at the end of it, it gave me an experience of a lifetime. How many of us can say that we trekked eight hours in the forest and made it possible? Before OBS, none. After OBS, hell, everybody.

Rock wall of terror makes a good background. Guess where I am? 

<3 Sharm

Not writing~

I haven't been writing recently. :/
I'm just going to make this short and sweet.
EXAMS. ARE. OVER.

Books~

Lately, I've been reading.

I don't just read for the sake of reading. I read what's good. Damn, what I read has to be addictive. And some books did it for me. What books? Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Once I picked up the first book, started reading, I couldn't stop. I was on fire. No, actually the pages were on fire. So far, every book in the series has been a spectacular, heart stopping read that I can't stop shouting praises. I can never put the book down. It draws me to it. I even stay up late during school days just to read it. The thrilling, fast paced action I got to read startled and drew me to it. A pure page turner. I must say, I love the series immensely now and I feel proud of it. I can't imagine what the emotions on my face will be like once I close the last book. It has brought back to me the joys of reading. Reading, which slowly left my hobby list year after year, now is on the top again, thanks to Percy Jackson. (:

Finally~

What is with the weather nowadays? The windows of the house are shut tight in the midst of this cooling February. Cold mist forms on the glass surface of the windows as I look out relaxingly to the pool. What irony, because at the same time the house looks so warm and festive, ready for the Chinese New Year. A dazzling firecracker hangs from the ceiling, oranges fill the plate ready for exchanging and candies fill the container that resembles an orange. My visiting clothes are already laid out neatly, anxiously waiting for me to put them on. It's the starting of February and not June, or December, but everyone seems to be in a holiday mood. Time to breathe in the fresh February air with the start of Chinese New Year. Before that, there's just so many things I want to put down but they just never cross my mind. While I come up with the many more things I have to write about, I shall put my cake I made for Granddad up here just to sweeten things up.

<3 Sharm

Midnight~

Again, I write at midnight. It's a pity our night sky isn't usually covered with twinkling little stars otherwise my blog post today would sound poetic. It's Saturday. The week ends soon. Time reaches it standstill again. It's probably time to flip the pages of my diary to see through the whole of this week. I'm awed at the amazement I myself get at the rate time flies. There's no such thing at stopping the clocks. The only thing anyone can ever do is treasure it. Well.

What have I got to treasure? Plenty. It's endless that it scares me.

Wonderful and amazing parents (Probably the only reason why I'm even here writing in the first place), beautiful friends, an inspiring class, a talented sister, a warm home, the fact that I'm able to live, God, food to fill me, bliss, water to quench me, and... it just goes on.

<3
Sharm

Memories of 2010~

It has been a week since the start of 2011. Time ticks. Fast. It flies by without anyone knowing. That said, a month has passed since my trip to Turkey. I think it's time I relive the wonderful memories splendid Turkey has left me by letting my pictures tell some stories. What more can I say about Turkey? It's indescribably beautiful, and until today, it has never left my mind, and probably never will. I'll miss that place forever and ever.

Pictures, do your stuff.

<3 Sharm