time seems to be moving faster, compared to say, five years ago? okay i know that didnt make any sense, but its true. my aunt, cousin, and uncle are leaving later tonight, dad on saturday and mum next sunday, i never saw these days coming. ahwell, all good things come to an end right. we caught lion king at the lyceum last night, i loved every minute of it, guess that speaks for itself yeah. oh and i haven said anything about brussels yet, so brussels in brief: food glorious fooooood: waffles, escargots on the streets, hot wine, mussels, seafood paella, sausages, chocolates, good ol edward who took us round the christmas markets and to his friend's house, ice raining down, lousy hop on hop off cheat money bus, meeting yuwei at the kebab cafe, european parlement by myself, shopping here and there, taking the wrong train to the airport, waiting for the delayed flight. all in all not bad, ed and the food more than made up for the lousy service, rainy weather, and lack of solid places to visit. i need new trips to look forward to...
its not good to fall in love, with clothes. haha. ooh i love everything in the pepe jeans shop in covent garden, gimme gimme gimme, and all the funky shops down carnaby street which andrew showed me on monday, now all i lack is money (and a good bod la). for the uninitiated, it is currently the post christmas season in london and all the brands are slashing their prices, so everywhere you see shops with sale plastered all over the glass, people carrying huge plastic bags, and big stores like topshop turned into some pseudo warehouse with clothes hanging in parallel racks if not strewn on the floor. im getting pretty sick of the sale for obvious reasons, though i would say the best places to go are fcuk, mango and mambo. my present haul stands at 1 h&m top, 1 levi's top, 1 fcuk top, 1 fcuk cap, 1 mango skirt, 1 zara sweater, 1 mambo bag. i am satisfied really, but all i ask for is this lovely black and white adidas jacket going for 45quid, please let e price drop further ;P
last thing, i had a really strange dream last night. i cant believe those bad memories are still there, somehwhere deep in the recesses of my head or heart. go away go away. or someone make them go away.
have yourself a merry little Christmas
let your heart be light
from now on our troubles will be out of sight
have yourself a merry little Christmas
make the yuletide gay
from now on our troubles will be miles away
here we are as in olden days
happy golden days of yore
faithful friends who are dear to us
gather near to us once more
through the years we all will be together
if the fates allow
hang a shining star upon the highest bough
and have yourself a merry little Christmas now
merry christmas my dears, i miss all of you back home and thats whats making me wish i were back home spending this festive season with you guys; rara, belle, durian, kid, grandpa, butterflyboy, forrest gump, dice, mojo, han, vid, and the london ppl who deserted me ;P i guess my first christmas in london will be a pretty simple affair, can you believe everything, even food and transport will be closed on christmas day? struck down by a persistent cough, i spent the night of christmas eve watching polar express and supersize me on my laptop, and later it will be church and home cooked dinner, not christmas but spicy and oily singaporean fare ;) and on boxing day we shall hit the streets for the post christmas sale, on your marks get set go.
thank You God for Christmas, above everything its all about You.
Coming on as flyhalf for the Newcastle Falcons in the second half, Jonny Wilkinson breathed life into his black jerseyed team who left the field at half time trailing the home team Saracens 5-17. The overwhelming home support meant that the Vicarage Road Stadium in Watford roared resoundingly whenever the Sarries touched the ball, but cheers were saved for just one away player, jersey number 20, Jonny. It can be imagined that every single eye watched him, for each time he ran anywhere near the stands, cameras clicked and flashed away more than ever. The Newcastle Falcons started the second half on a high note, with a quick try and a brilliant conversion by Jonny despite the awkward angle. A successful penalty kick by Jonny and a Saracens try later, the score stood at 15-22. The match was brought back into contention when Jonny dazzled with a mazy run and was rewarded with a try by a teammate which brought the score to a heartstopping 20-22. Converting from close to the sidelines, Jonny sent the ball agonizingly wide and failed to bring his team level with Saracens. It was a nerve wrecking final 4 minutes (especially for yours truly, the lone Newcastle supporter among the Sarries crowd) as the Newcastle Falcons fought hard and Jonny sent two drop kicks wide in tense circumstances. At the final whistle, the score remained 20-22, painful.
as with all the strange adventures that came with my two previous rugby matches, today was no different. my dad, my cousin darren and i waited for 20mins for the metropolitan line tube to watford but were forced to hop onto the train to uxbridge as our train just bloody never came. i toyed with the idea of taking a cab from the harrow-on-the-hill tube station but dad feared the fare might come up to 200 quid, which sounds absurd but you'll never know. thankfully we managed to get down at wembley park and hop onto the next train to watford, the train which we thought would never come. our intital plan was to take a cab from watford station to the stadium, well it turned out that there probably wasnt a single cab in watford cause everyone appeared to own a car. so what do we do? walk, then run to the stadium, haha sounds familiar? we missed quite a bit of the first half but at least jonny only came on in the second half ;) keeping my fingers crossed that he will be playing when tien and i go watch the Newcastle vs Sarries again in jan. a funny thought crossed my mind as we were walking back, you know, the vicarage road hospital is just beside the stadium, so the saracens players must feel really safe playing at home yeah.
i havent done any work this hol. since my family arrived i have been up the london eye (lovely), travelled to bath on a day trip (ooh peanut butter fudge), visited the national gallery (again), watched the changing of guards at buckingham palace, watched a rugby match. tmr its gonna be decadence at harrods, hard rock, and roast duck at four seasons bayswater ;) then flying off to brussels on tue where edward will be taking us around for a day, and then there will be more decadence with belgian chocolates and seafood for the next 2 days. ooh.
don't let me fall again for nothing more
don't say you love me unless forever
don't tell me you need me if you're not gonna stay
don't give me this feeling i'll only believe it
make it real or take it all away
*don't say you love me by the corrs
the dust has settled. goodbyes have been said, photos taken, hugs exchanged. and i have turned nineteen...!
let me count my blessings ;) blacks bkk tour teeshirt sent all the way from home by jane, sweet. london guide from tien. birthday song and cake from bb, yirong and jus. a call home to hear the voices of mojo, val and ms lee. sweet sweet words from rara. a call from mum at 4am. smses from mari, ayl and den. a call from dice all the way in the usa, how good does it get. a card from the singaporeans. trip to cardiff with sam, moo and his bro, and yirong; cardiff market, rugby shops, poundzone, cardiff castle and millenium stadium, and dinner treat at chinatown to top it off. guitar and songs with the cardiff crew in bb's room. polar express downloaded by bb. ecards from tabi, eve, kelv and neptune. tags and birthday wishes from butterflyboy, kid, jon, princess, dice, tien (yes, thats our beanie!), belle, hunny (il be back next june. been a long time since we last caught up, miss you...), forrest gump (i am always always reading ;) ), and lizzy. and the icing on the cake, the photo video which took 13hours to make, thank you so much ;) even though im 8hours and thousands of miles away from home, this feels like the best birthday ive had in years, from start to end, all 24 hours. thank You God, i havent felt so blessed in a long while.
you never know what you're missing till its not there. oh, for a shoulder to lean on anytime, anyday, anywhere.
last day of michaelmas term. spent my day falling asleep during ir class, freezing my butt off at berrylands with the team doing our 'thing' -winks-, sitting beside the director of our school in spanish class (cant believe i only realized who he actually was on the last day of term), daydreaming through my last econ class, and playing silly games at crush with sharon. there was a general air of happiness in school today, people with luggages, people going back home sweet home. but i am strong enough.
last day of michaelmas term. i felt strangely sad, cos this term has been so special to me, growing up away from home and among new friends from everywhere. i felt strangely sore, cos i knew i could be so much more. some places i havent journeyed to, some matches i havent played hard enough, some friendships i havent tried to hold on to. but i shant mope, cos the Lord has blessed me in amazing aways, He is faithful and He has great plans ;) really happy i had a good chat with lizzy during dinner too, she loves my pineapple tarts, and im gonna visit her hometown sutton during lent term or easter. that, and i shall stayover at ellie's house someday too, what cheer.
im off to pretty paris tomorrow till moday. then i'll be off on a day trip to cosy cardiff with sam, weeyang and bro, and yir on tuesday. then my family will be down on wednesday till the new year, can you imagine, christmas and new year countdown in london. i am t h r i l l e d!
a long december
remember everything i told you
keep it in your heart like a stone
and when the winds have blown things round and back again
what was once your pain will be your home
i miss forrest gump. late night conversations on msn about anything and everything, you knew all my secrets. God's gift of a friend to me, but the distance seems so much now.
i miss kid. 'cos we had so little time together between finding each other again and my departure. i need swensons, with you. i need to email you, its me being late again right? ;)
when we get a little distant some things get clearer
yeah give them the space some hearts grow nearer
i ran as hard as i could i still ended up here
and its alright
i miss rara. best friends forever, no matter the distance. our paths have separated yet again, but there are some things that remain constant. always a pillar of my heart, your optimism, comfort, strength and cheer. i need you here now.
you were around when i needed a friend
you were the means you were the end
you'll be the one i'll turn to now
theres gonna be some hard times coming down
i miss belle. i want to be part of the little adventures you always have. i miss our own little adventures: job hunting, kaifai gripes, mission 'b', operation bangky, stayover at rara's, the big peach eating video at jacks place. you make me laugh.
and theres always retrospect
(when you're looking back) to light a clearer path
every five years or so i look back on my life
and i have a good laugh
i miss durian. ah, why must the time zone and term holidays in down under clash so brutally with mine.
dont it seem like the road is oh so long
well everybodys moving out
and we're staying on
i miss mojo. come out from hiding, i need to save the world before bedtime. tell me secrets and listen to mine, just like old times.
thanks for the joy that you've given me
i want you to know i believe in your song
rhythm and rhyme and harmony
you've helped me along making me strong
i miss den. favourite cousin in the world, shopping, swimming, tanning, movies, good food, whinning. what more can i say?
i'm trying to tell you something about my life
maybe give me insight between black and white
and the best thing you've ever done for me
is to help me take my life less seriously, its only life after all
i miss blacks. some things will never be the same again.
its been some time now that i saw you in a photograph
looking just the way you did so long ago
i could almost see you throw your head back and start to laugh
in that gentle way that used to let me know
things were okay and a hurting song is just a cliche
and whats the use if they only always fade away
just like the sun just like everyone but you
(all lyrics from indigo girls)
ministry of sound takes it all. i dont know why some people say it is overhyped, i loved every bit of last night, plus it was only 4quid and free before midnight. ooh the rnb was solid stuff, though not always my fave, the rnb music was so good it kept us dancing in the dark smoky room for the most part of the night when we were actually not getting drinks or prancing around in the other near empty room. got high seeing so many friends there: mansi and nihaad n co, aletta and heini, my govt classmates, liam n co (celebrating his birthday!) and the motely crew of our other friends. sharon and i had a wild time being hyper starting from the kebab place even before we hit MOS, tackling and whacking each other and belting out our romanian song. its strange though, how tien and i concurred that our threshold has increased by so much that nothing takes us down that easily anymore. last night i had (in order) half a glass of white wine, one peach snap shot, one whisky shot, another whisky shot, one tequila shot and some bacardi breezer, and though the usual thing happened and i turned redder and somewhat higher, i reached home sleepy, but sober.
...now in search of the elusive cointreau orange.
slow down you're doing fine
you cant be everything you want to be
before your time although its so romantic
on the borderline tonight, tonight
*vienna by billy joel
twickenham, the home of england rugby ;) it felt a little like our national stadium, but there was no track, just a rugby field, and a rugby shop, and a rugby museum, everybody say r-u-g-b-y. today was the oxford-cambridge inter-varsity rugby match at twickenham. tien, jus and i skipped school to make our way to twickenham and sit in the cambridge wing and cheer for cambridge in stripes; but oxford in navy duly won, they dominated the game for most parts though cambridge snatched the lead early in the second half. one of the things i really love about uk is that rugby is in people's blood. the oxbridge lads played valiantly, their mates cheered wildly (one of the cambridge songs is 'shoes up, if you love cambridge' whereby everyone removes one shoe and holds it up while singing), the kids bought up lotsa rugby balls to throw around, and 2 streakers added some entertainment to the second half. three things i want right now, to catch another match at twick, to play rugby again, and to buy that size10 ball. -laughs- tien and i went crazy over it.
twickenham aside, getting there and back was one helluva adventure for a trying tuesday yeah. running to the hounslow bus station only to wait wait wait and wait some more for 281 to take us to the stadium, then waiting even longer for 281 to take us back to hounslow after the match, before finally realising that all buses were diverted two hours before and after the match. everything spiralled out of control after that (jus's luck we say, haha), tried to walk towards hounslow but we lost our way then found our way then lost our way again so we ended up hopping onto a bus after the diversion ended, then when we reached hounslow tube station service on the picadilly line was suspended indefinitely, great, and by the time we finally reached london it was too late for harrods and thorntons ice cream, great. unforseen woes always befall tien and i whenever we watch a rugby match together, just like the at watford too ;P but today had its good moments, our shish kebab and lamb doner and chips while waiting for picadilly line to resume service, all the loony wisecracks we threw at each other while we were lost and while we were lumbering around at hounslow, and recounting little memories of blacks every now and then. well i guess everything happens for a reason yeah.
fnally finally, all my essays are done and homework handed up or forgetten ;P tomorrow theres rugby team dinner at cafe mode and ministry of sound with fern n co, aint life picking up. looking forward to the christmas break, but just how did 10 weeks of michaelmas term fly by just like that? time is a sprinter.
i felt it the moment i opened my eyes after having been knocked out cold on my bed for ten hours. remember the aching void i used to feel after a rugby tournament or a dance concert? its back. i dont know why i should feel this way over even the barrel, especially since i felt so sick yesterday. maybe its cos i come crashing back to earth now, essays and looming deadlines, from the dizzy highs i was yesterday. next year, next year. when i dont have class to attend at 5pm after the barrel, its gonna be swell. next year, come now.
gotta get a bit more of Machiavelli done now, theres a singsoc meeting later in the morning, and then il be watching rugby (nz vs barbarians) with tien at her place ;) looking forward to that, good friend, good rugby. perfecto.
man we were killing time
we were young and restless
we needed to unwind
i guess nothing can last forever, forever, no...
and if i had the choice yeah, i'd always wanna be there
those were the best days of my life
*summer of 69 by bowling for soup
btw colin, that was not a poem! ;P
pardon my truncated-ness, this is not a poem.
only managed to catch 3hours of sleep
did half of my Machiavelli essay till 3am
my barrel costume took up the next two hours
rolled out of bed at 840am, much unwilling to uncurl from my duvet
and guess what, only 4 people turned up for IR class
but the discussion was good (btw is our home a true democracy?)
after class my tutor taunts me for going for the barrel
but im young and i wanna have fun
met the team at the law common room to get ready
we had the best costume, whats new ;)
i wore my japan rising sun flag as a top and my lil black skirt
bloody bloody cold. i need boots and thights
free flow of drinks at the barrel, that kills i tell you
one snakebite, two snakebite, two and a half, three
and then i puked everything out, glorious red puke
fourth snakebite was the killer
but it was all jons fault, kept making us compete to down the pint!
so fourth snakebite also came out of my throat into the loo bowl
and while fines and spin the wheels were going on
patrick, jus and me were huddled in a corner
lotsa lovely photos, with ashleigh, nathan, liam, and the team of cos
and my local boys and girls
i was red and bloodshot, jus spouted rubbish, jon couldnt stand
and jk was the clown, a very high clown
i fell asleep slouched in a couch for an hour!
opened my eyes to running boys and girls
liam beckoned jus and me to quick join the barrel run
follow the naked rugby fresher round the school and into classrooms
in glorious athletics union tradition
not very good, running aroung the school in the cold
couldnt stand straight, kept getting shoved around, and head throbbed
but not drunk (like jon, he couldnt even stand at one point ;P)
but not being able to walk straight did feel kind of scary
could not even join the team for pizza buffet
so it was wrights bar chips and brunch bowl stir fry
but head still spun and leg still jellified
and jon was sprawled in the cubicle
then it was econ class at 5pm, can you believe it?
it was awful, my head just died and died and died
ouch, i almost thought i couldnt make it home
but here i am, about to sleep
the earliest i have slept since i came here
cant make it to crush, next week perhaps
and next year after the barrel il try again
but for now, it was fun while it lasted
despite the spilled beer, puke, crushed feet and jelliness
these things never happen back home
well mansi laughed at my low tolerance, katie too
but when i go home, il be so good. mwhaha
down the pints!
down to bed.
.
JESUS BE THE CENTRE, BE MY SOURCE, BE MY LIGHT JESUS
JESUS BE MY VISION, BE MY PATH, BE MY GUIDE JESUS
BE THE FIRE IN MY HEART, BE THE WIND IN THESE SAILS
BE THE REASON THAT I LIVE, JESUS JESUS
