the official.

Finally, I managed to obtain a copy of the original floor plan- and as expected, I realised that my previous, self made drawing of the place was really out of scale. Well, here's a duper low res version of the plan. You can scroll down, view mine, and appreciate how out of proportion it was. Hah.



well, this just goes to show how original the house is, minus some minor additions in terms of cabinets, and the little touches that makes a house a home. At least my ID chums (you know who you are) and I have something official to work with!

I guess I'm gonna be emotional here by mentioning that I feel a slight tinge of sadness and perhaps nostalgia as I collected the floor plan today. In the past, this was always done by my dad. I would remember how he would religiously enlarge the floor plan and sketch the position of the furniture. As a child, I was fascinated. As a teenager, I would often counter-suggest the way the furniture was placed, and would even re-orientate the positioning in my room several times. As an adult, I guess I would say that this is a trait I would have inherited from both my parents- the habit of visualization and planning.

So much for the emotional segment of today's post. My project deadlines and exams are coming up faster than I think, and its time to floor the pedal!

Blessed week all of ya.

the most nerd post ever.

To start with, I must admit that I am not a fan of public libraries. The one I have visited thus far (including the one near my place and the one located one train stop away) did nothing but impress me with faint traces of cooking fumes, a couple of noisy children and the occasional mobile phone going off. It was more of an amusement park where families would visit rather than a place suited for studying.

You will now understand why I was not exactly impressed when my classmates suggested that we head down to the National Library in town to work on our group assignment. As luck would have had it, I had the dubious honor of providing the directions to the library. And after what seemed like eternity we finally entered the lift that would take us up to the Lee Kong Chian Reference Library.

I was shocked to actually know that there was a security guard stationed at the entrance of the reference library. Apparently no folders of any kind were allowed, and one of my group mates nearly got stopped. Thankfully the folder contained nothing but her netbook, so in we went.

The first thing that struck me about the library was how completely silent it was. Away with the notions that people were generally born to talk. I was, on several locations, inclined to whisper to my group mates for fear of incurring the wrath of those who were deep into their research. The only audible sound(s) were the occasional shuffling feet and the symphony of laptop keyboards.

And blessed am I, that I found a very good reference book to start with. I typed till my fingers were sore and my laptop battery went flat. And then I copied furiously.

The reference library is indeed an interesting place to go. As I delved deeper into the book, I couldn't help but wish that I had made the choice to come here much earlier. There is so much to read, and learn.

Welcome to studying life Fraser.

(:

Monday!

Its a start to a brand new week again.

I woke up several times last night, to the sounds of some stray cat mewing outside my room, my brother's alarm clock, and the flurry of activities associated with the morning rush hours. I finally woke up at nine-thirty. I hope my friends managed to catch a good rest and wake up on time today.

We had a crazy night celebrating a sister's 21st birthday. Somehow that venue is synonymous with 21st birthday parties. Yesterday's would have been the sixth or seventh I've attended. That few of us polar bears hid in a room, staying away from the crowd and heat outside and laughing our hearts out. What a nice way to spend a Sunday evening.

I was pleasantly surprised that M came up to me and spoke to me on Sunday morning. On a very frank note, I had made efforts to minimize interaction with him over the past one month. Predictably, M is always the gentleman that makes the first move, and he's proven it once again by coming up to speak to me. I'm glad we were able to share some pleasant moments and genuine smiles (:

M we should talk heart to heart soon. I guess we need to clear the air?

We ended off the day by heading down to the airport to receive our mission team. The ten days of hard labor showed on their faces (some of them were sick for a couple of days) but it seemed that nothing would dampen their cheerful spirit. I believe that God has used them mightily for His works.

We were on the way to the airport and we started chatting about ministry stuff, and one of the brothers casually mentioned on the topic of the PA ministry once more. I genuinely believe that his intent was to motivate us to be Christlike and loving towards one another.

All that I can say is that I felt misunderstood, and it certainly felt like a slap in the face. That was despite my knowledge of his good intentions. Internally, I was wondering if I was a complete communication failure or what.

I don't even know how to continue writing anymore, but in a nutshell I felt grossly condemned and misunderstood. I hope I will be able to express again that my concerns always revolved around the attitudes, and certainly not by the mistakes they made.

Right. It doesn't really matter now. I just had to express myself. And this wraps up my Monday post!

its a happy day.

This is a fabulous day indeed.

I had a great time learning how to use ProTools at the school's radio unit, got to know my chums better, discovered that I loved the kway chap at the market near my new place...and...

Bro CS is coming back to Singapore in Feb next year! That's the ultimate cheer bringer man.

Even the three ulcers in my mouth aint gonna rob me of this joy right now. (:

So thank you Lord, for even using these seemingly "little" things to bring cheer when I was otherwise so emo over my studies and projects.

(:

thank you Lord for the house!

It could be the fastest collective decision we could ever have made.

My previous entry stands testament to our positive sentiments on this lovely house we viewed on Thursday evening. Some twenty four hours later since we first stepped into the house, we were back in the same house again for the same reason, to issue our first cheque and make clear our intention of purchasing the house.

Thank you Lord then, for even making that 10K reduction off the sale price possible, and for even seeing to it that the financial considerations fits nicely to a tee. On the flip side, it was SO accurate that we've left with nothing to renovate the place, since my mom intends to have the entire affair possible without loans.

Both my mom and the agent we had engaged remarked that I must have prayed really hard- and without a doubt, I did pray that the house would be ours if He was willing. Last night, I prayed that the Lord would provide for us, and I received and invitation for a part time job (: I'm actually posting this to warm up my engine before I begin work on the document proper.

Ok, and here's the essential renovation works I would consider necessary for our new beloved house:

1. Kitchen
- Isolation from the house. There is a bar top counter and full height entrance to the kitchen. All these means that the cooking fumes will traverse to the rest of the house, so I will need to seal up the original entrance, demolish the bar counter, and place a glass wall cum glass door to allow sunlight from the balcony into the otherwise dark kitchen.

2. Electrical works
- Since the new glass wall will replace the original concrete wall that holds the existing light switches and power points, I will have to relocate them along the toilet wall. This will allow me to place my washing machine and clothes dryer outside the toilet, too.

3. Cabinetry works
- The kitchen cabinet and worktop could be reconfigured for better utilisation of space and storage. The fridge can be located nearer the entrance of the kitchen to allow for easy access.

4- Flooring works
-I've destroyed the kitchen tiles by removing the concrete wall and by re-doing the kitchen cabinet. I will need to have the wall and floor tiles redone. And these works affect a portion of the hall tiles, too.

5- Painting works. When all these is said and done, Id need painters (:

My desired reno list is actually longer than this but I feel that several others (air conditioning, replacement of flooring for living areas etc) could be done bit by bit later. The kitchen remains very much an important part of the home, and i feel that it'll be super inconvenient to hack the wall tiles and tear down walls the moment we move in! And so, the kitchen will have to be fixed.

And to help you appreciate my thoughts, here's a home made visual (:




God help us all.

its thursday already?

Good grief. Time flies, and its already a Thursday before I know it.

We've just came back after a viewing another house that was up for sale today. This time round, Leon (my brother) was with us and almost instantly, I fell in love with the house. It has a north-south facing, with the windows opening to the North East direction (read: lots of wind), lovely laminate floorings for the bedrooms, a kitchen with a service counter- and lots of other elements that were rather appealing. I could see the smile on our faces as we left, and I hope and pray that the price will be in our favour so that it will be ours! And since its pretty nicely done up, there's less to renovate, which translates into less cost and time needed.

God I ask and pray that You would help us with this if its in Your will for us to have this lovely home.

We had a class debate on Tuesday, and as per the lecturer's direction, had representatives from two sections of the class- the newer ones like me, and others. I had the dubious honor of having my name on the roll, and trust me, I was super unprepared. I was jittery about losing all my points for class participation- the penalty IF we lost, but we had a great time which ended up in a draw. As a result, everyone was awarded the maximum points for class participation. And I am both encouraged to know that I am in the midst of very passionate and capable classmates. (:

I shall try to sleep soon cos I feel all out of place. My head's throbbing, and I have an ulcer attack. I'm not sure if this is because of the duper delicious Indon food I had the night before, but I was feeling wierd to begin with. There's a 6 hour intensive lecture tomorrow and I really need the strength and stamina to pay attention in class.

So there I go, anticipating a good night of rest. I'm so darn tired now, so please forgive the spelling errors- those that I've noticed, and those I've not.

Cheers.

monday blues

Im hitting this post before settling down to shower and to ponder over information thats not related to school stuff- just for tonight. The last ten hours spent in school have left me severely craving for a respite from the crazy psychology lecture I had earlier.

The last week has seen some really interesting happenings. In the short span in between my posts, we (as a family) got down, listed criterias for our new house, and believe it or not, even decided on the colors of our rooms. I guess such things can still materialise regardless of the house that we end up with.

My mom and I concurred that we would not consider the second floor unit that I was rhapsodizing about in my previous post. This relevation sparked off a feverish search for a suitable apartment, of which is still ongoing until now. A few houses we shortlisted were really remote in location, not available for purchase by chinese, and more regrettably, taken right under our noses! There is a unit we're looking out for at Block 431, and we hope that the good Lord will allow us to have it. I'm secretly glad that my mom and brother are with me in this- believe me, I'm clueless about such stuff. Who wouldn't?

By the blessings of God, I was able to do well for my IPPT which was held on Saturday. In the course of the tests, my shoe soles came off, but held up till I finished my 2.4km run. I shall be sad to part with this pair of shoes of mine, which has been serving me well since 2003. I must have invited wierd stares with my severely deformed shoes while walking around IMM after that. As a bonus, I met this guy who reminds me of a pal in every aspect- age, appearance, mannerisms and almost everything. CS, I really hope you get to meet this guy!

And so today, I dragged my reluctant body out of bed at six thirty so that I could make it to the recording session for the school's radio unit, which is taken of by my class. This is the first time that I've been in a radio studio all my life, and I must say it was a very interesting experience. I want to thank all my new found friends, these bunch of massively talented people, who have made my learning journey a ver fun and exciting one.

Its not such a blue monday after all. Perhaps its just that I am looking forward to getting home and being confined within the blue walls of my room (:

Untitled

When it rains, it storms.

No puns intended. This liner just illustrates how things can go wrong and really wrong. Like what happened today.

I decided to catch a nap last night so that I could wake up later, and catch MJ's memorial service that was scheduled to air at some ungodly 1.30am. I did wake up, although at 2.30am, wondering why I had no recollection of my alarm going off earlier, or of me waking up to turn off the alarm. I realised, within a few seconds, that I had forgotten to activate that blessed one time alarm after having modified the time.

Blunder #1: I went back to sleep, not knowing that that memorial service would last until 3.30am. Had I known, I would have just turned on the telly and watched the remains of the broadcast.

And so, having installed a new cable TV point in my room, I wasted no time in having my brother's PC record the encore broadcast that took place at 5.30pm. The darling tuition teacher decided to come early today and I had to set everything in a hurry to minimise any disruption. It wasn't a surprise then, that the broadcast recorded without the audio element. It was as good as the glorious days of silent TV, albeit rendered in all the wonders of HDTV.

Blunder #2: I deleted the entire recording and emptied the recycle bin.

So that was it. I never got to catch that memorial AT ALL. The little snippets of the service I found online, and while watching the news channel. All impressions were of Paris' emotional speech, as well as Mariah's and Trey Lorenz's rendition of the song, I'll be there.

So long, MJ. I wont be getting the DVD of your memorial service (if there's any to begin with) but I have a mind about including your magical, radical influence on the music scene in my upcoming project on performing arts. Would that be okay with you?

A close brother asked me about my love life. We have this mutual understanding with each other such that when he goes "so how?" I'll know that he's referring to my love life, or rather, the lack of it.

I'm really starting to wonder if I'm some social inadequate or what- I'm finding it progressively hard to socialise, and even approach that lady. This sounds really mushy, but for now, I'm content to be able to catch her smile and even talk to her occasionally-yeah!

And that's one thing that hasn't gone wrong (:

oh seven oh seven oh nine.

Im remembering 7th July plainly because it happens to be the birthday of my two secondary school mates. At age 13, it's kinda amazing to learn that two people in the same class share the same birthday. At age 17, I stumbled upon that fact once more- that two of my classmates share the same birthday. What's more, I found a "twin sister" who was born in the same hospital, but a couple of hours earlier. (

Im taking some time off this somewhat cloudy Tuesday morning to pen this entry before I get some errands done and head off to school later. Its been an amazing six days spent in school thus far, with more blessings coming in the form of friends. Yet another two new friends were discovered yesterday, all thanks to the assignment of a three thousand word project. So with the four of us, I am sure that we could manage seven hundred and fifty words per person. Hah.

I find myself constantly praying for wisdom and discipline to handle the rigors of school life, and of course, in exhibiting Christlike behavior. Contrary to what some may think, I am not an exceptionally hardworking person, nor one that possesses great intelligence. Interestingly I find myself lost, to a certain extent, in the midst of  lectures (read: Psychology) that demands a great amount of concentration, and prior reading. I am glad I'm realizing all these now than much later.

Of late, we've also been looking around for houses. I've got my eyes set on a 5room apartment thats not too far away from my current house. That makes moving a breeze, and with the fact that this owner is actually leaving all his furniture behind gives me that added advantage of having to move even less things. I love the inviting ambience and the fact that there's a big bedroom for Leon to have all his musical instruments in. For me, Id be content with the smaller room- it cools down way faster and is easier to co-ordinate given its squarish shape. HOWEVER its on the second floor, and I hope the study corner downstairs wont result in too much noise coming into the house at night. (:

Credit goes to iproperty.com for providing some visuals of this house...

:

its back to skool!

Once again, I've fallen into the almost predictable sin of not updating this post regularly- so much that I had problems signing into Blogger.com and even loading the page that would have allowed me to pen this entry. I seriously hope my account hasn't fallen into the category of dormant. heh.

It seems only like yesterday that I experienced the sheer joy of knowing that I've been accepted into school and given the opportunity to read mass communications. It seems like hours ago when I checked out of the apartment room, ready to head back to Singapore after our church retreat- my last holiday before school begins. Now, I am typing this entry with a brand new identity- a 5 day old student in MDIS- still very much lost in transition and of course, excited at all that's gonna happen.

I must admit that I find it almost difficult to settle down in a brand new environment. The sight of many new faces and the unfamiliar environment certainly didnt help in easing my nervousness. I had a huge shock when I first stepped into class. I swear that there were more than fifty students- and it would seem that most of them were pretty well acquainted. I spent my maiden three hours wondering if I had entered the wrong class at all. Worse, I couldnt (and still cannot) make any sense out of that first lecture.

God works in mysterious ways indeed. He must have saw it important to attend to my social needs. On the second day, we were tasked with a short presentation of our cultures and religions. In that eventful day, I got acquainted with a group of nice Christian classmates, and we had tons of fun and laughs sharing all about the Christian Protestant faith the following day. It was a relief hearing others laugh, and being able to laugh along with the jokes, occasional blunders, and learn of other cultures. I have had the privilage of getting to know the class better on the third, fourth, and fifth day of lessons as well.

A big thank you to all of you who have shared my anxieties and nervousness. I appreciate your ears, prayers and concern for me. Its an ultimate blessing to have each and every of you journey with me, and I couldn't ask for anything more. (:

I must applaud my lecturers and some of my classmates for having the courage to share and present in front of a massive class. To date, I have yet to summon that amount of courage to be able to do anything like that. Our graduation project requires a presentation no shorter than three hundred seconds, and I am feeling the heat even as I work on it- since ideas are fresh and I could use the spare time to make changes along the way!

Of course, there are other areas in my life in which the good Lord has been dealing with me- and I am glad He is surfacing these issues one by one, and a little at a time. The past few weeks were chaotic and certainly painful, but the Lord has granted me immesurable grace and strengthened my faith even as I learn not to rely on my own will and strengths, but that of His to couragously battle the conflicts and pressures around me.

And this wraps up my long overdue post for today. There's a class outing planned on next thursday- and I can't wait! I'm sure it will be a great time.

Peace out.

Monday ramblings.

We've a new addition to our family, Xiao Bai. Its a replacement unit for Xiao Hui, who's starting to get a little noisy after ten years of use. And that's Ah Kong KDK, our veteran blade spinner, on the extreme left, who weighs a ton and has been serving us (and is still is serving us) faithfully for close to twenty years. KDK makes lasting stuff indeed (the company has been around for a hundred years) and I'm sure Xiao Bai will continue the tradition of providing us with cool, quiet comfort.

Im on a spree to replace all my fans with KDK/ Panasonic ones when their time is up, because fans of the following brand have proven themselves worthy of the slogan "over the generations". No other brand I've used comes that close to offering that level of reliablity and peace of mind.

Xiao Bai's arrival did cause some complications, of which needs to be resolved. I am a tad crushed and disappointed that my good intentions seemed to have been received wrongly, but it shall not stop me from loving my family and contributing in whatever way I can.

And for those who seen the last post (which has since been removed) and were so forthcoming with your ears and kind words, thank you. I am so blessed indeed.

I shall end off this extremely short post on a happy note: I have been accepted into MDIS to pursue my dip. in Mass Comms! I'll be starting in end June- and thats enough to make me lose sleep for another week (albeit for a good reason) Hello Queenstown!

noed resarf.

hello may. goodbye april

I'm simply typing this before working on a bunch of articles. With a frozen brain that is low on ideas and equally distracted by the time showing on the bottom right hand corner of the screen, its impossible to come up with any quality work right now. Nonetheless I'm writing this to gear up and hopefully at least plan the article or even invest quality thought on it.

I'm remotely thankful that tomorrow's a public holiday- that's just one more day of rest and attending to what needs to be done. Attending to what needs to be done these days seems more like an never-ending goal that I am still trying to fulfill. The later part of Tuesday was spent running around the entire island. But I did manage to submit my application for school, and the results should be made known by mid-may! The day ended with a meeting that ended at 12.30am. Good grief.

I should say that I am experiencing God in a very evident manner of late - the way of which everything seemed to fall into place is by no means a series of unplanned coincidences. So thank you Lord for taking care of these details (: And of course, a great thanks to all those who've heard my ramblings and have prayed for me.

Speaking of which I have been very challenged in the area of patience. One committee in which I am serving in requires me (or rather, us) to deal with a lady who isn't exactly the nicest of people. From my personal perspective, her fickle mindedness and inability to commit has brought forth much uncertainty and perhaps a certain degree of frustration to some of us. Notwithstanding I reckon its an opportunity for me to really trust and wait upon God for this; that His sovereignty holds.

Call it my hunch or what, I've a feeling I will learn loads about trusting God in the months to come, when I officially transit from the working world back into the life of a student.

I just realised the spell check isn't working because I discovered three typos earlier on and they weren't underlined in red as usual. They've been taken care of, so you shouldn't be spotting any from now (:

I am SO LOOKING FORWARD to the weekend and the outing to Marina Barage!

fras <--that's my fifth un-official nickname I've been referred to of late (:

With a little help from my friends

What would you think if I sang out of tune
Would you stand up and walk out on me
Lend me your ears and I'll sing you a song
And I'll try not to sing out of key

Oh, I get by (the crazy day) with a little help from my friends
Mm, I get high (doubling over in laughter) with a little help from my friends
Mm, gonna try (and be a better person) with a little help from my friends

And so indeed I got by the day with help from my dear friends, and of course God. I can't help but confess my off key mode over the past few days. Thanks for not walking out on me.

In particular, I was blessed with Psalms 27 and Psalms 28:

27:4
One thing I ask of the LORD,
this is what I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD
and to seek him in his temple.

27:14
Wait for the LORD;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the LORD.

28:7
The LORD is my strength and my shield;
my heart trusts in him, and I am helped.
My heart leaps for joy
and I will give thanks to him in song.

Im posting this here- and may this be a timely reminder for me always. Indeed, I've got son-shine, in my every-day!

Thanks folks. You're a great bunch indeed. (:

i am going bonkers

I am going bonkers i am going bonkers I am going bonkers I am so going bonkers.

I have become so tired and I cant even sleep well anymore.

I'm sure every nanometre of what lies around me knows what I really don't like to do what I have to do now. There's so much work to do and there's so little time left. And I cannot OT because I have an important appointment later.

The days are getting draggy my patience is running shorter, and I feel like a time bomb approaching the nearing end.

UGH!

random weekend ramblings

I am better, I felt. Or so I thought when I woke up early on a Saturday with a sense of purpose and expectancy.

It was one of those rare occasions where I could finally have breakfast with mom (Leon was unwell with a sore throat and high fever) and so we decided to take a walk down to the market to have some kway chap for breakfast. As we walked along, I dismissed the sharp pains in my stomach as the gastric acting up, and I assumed that it'll go once I had something to eat.

God knows how torturing it can be to sweat buckets because of the sheer pain. Our lovely breakfast date was punctuated, and eventually cut short by my frequent visits to the dumping ground. I should be awarded a Public Service Medal for the amount of seats I wiped clean with my own toilet tissue and for making the effort to flush properly.

I never loved my clean toilet and endless supply of toilet rolls more than before. And so after some time, we put it down to the tofu that tasted sour on Friday night. Being the only family member who ate it and the only one who suffered an extremely bad stomach, it wasn't that hard to figure the sad reasons behind my predicament. Just when I thought the worse was over, the alarm bells sounded as I was nearing church on saturday. It would be quite a sight to review the CCTV recordings of me running at top speed towards the loo.

The weather has really been trying and I am really thankful that it rained today. It was such a relief and I wasted no time in wasting it by sleeping in. It was all hot and muggy when I woke up, and thats the reason why Im awake typing all these when I should be asleep.

Finally, Im gonna register for school on Tuesday while attending the open house. I am both excited and nervous. I could shrug off exams, tutorials and presentations of the past, and they're literally my future right now. I guess all that matters is that I focus and do my best- but its all easier said than done!

Im quite tired right now, and a restful week's all that I look forward to right now- and I pray for a equally peaceful week for all of you!

peace,
noed resarf

the longest friday

I can't believe it. Two posts in a day!

This has got to be the longest work week ever. Blame it on my fever- it begun with a headache on Friday that won't go away, amplified by the crazy weather on Saturday. And I was ultra sleepy on Sunday.

And so on Monday Mr Gastrics decided to pay me a visit- and I was curled up in a ball trying to ignore the pain in my tummy at the wee hours of Tuesday morning. I dragged my zombified body to the polyclinic, and put myself at risk of getting flu.

This has to be the draggiest fever though. I'm just thankful that it didn't explode above thirty-eight, and it kept me sleeping early for the past few days. 6.30pm feels like the end of the day for me, literally. I'm still aching all over and I do hope that this fever spell goes away soon.

Mr Toshiba has been keeping my family cool for the past few nights. Good grief- my air con is actually cool even with it set to twenty nine degrees. I'm glad I was able to sleep much better later on without it- all it had to do was to bring down the room temperature comfortably enough!

And so this is the end of a crazy, turbulent week. Ive never felt so hungry and cranky before in years. Add to that my emotional roller coaster ride, and you could say that it is indeed a memorable week.

There's always a silver lining though. I am grateful for God's faithfulness- and I believe that it was by His empowerment that I lasted through the week. Needless to say I am also heartened by those around me who have made this week less painful. Thank God for all of you!

wishing and hoping,
noed resarf.

psst.

dear you,

I found myself on the wrong train. I boarded this train-feeling full of confidence and emotions which I thought would bring me safely to my destination- being your pride and joy, being your pillar of support, someone you could talk to and count on emotionally, spiritually, just as I would have found my solace in you.

Unfortunately dreams aren't the best source of fuel that hauls the trains across. I guess that is what's severely lacking in this case.

Forgive my fragile heart, and those incidences where I may have misled you, caused you much misery, or even given you the wrong impression. That's good enough to offset all the nights I spent thinking about you, attempts to strike a conversation with you, or even try not to show my nervousness in front of you.

Today, I have decided to alight this train. It sure did not lead me to my choice destination, but I am not wallowing in regret. If anything, I shall treasure those rare moments we got to know each other better. Thats a major consolation.

Let me not cross the platform and board the train that brings me back to where it all started. Let me just sit along the platform for the time being. Granted unless you are the right one for me, it remains best that I spend some time here, until the time is right.

okay?

its the 6th of april

and so this date marks the beginning of yet another work week.

Sunday night was the first time in years I knocked out early, and really fell asleep within seconds of hitting the bed. Truth is, I haven't had this kind of feeling for a very long time, and I'm glad to have woken up on a monday morning feeling refreshed, albeit reluctantly so!

That wouldn't have been a surprise considering how I spent my weekends:

Sat morning: Reccee for my church's YA retreat

Sat evening: YA BBQ! 

Sun morning: the usual sunday service, but with an added twist as part of the worship band that needed to come early.

There were two ongoing rehearsals after the service on Sunday, and I am so grateful to Arthur for taking over to facilitate the rehearsal for the skit to be performed on Good Friday, and to Andy and Candy for staying back and accompanying me for the rehearsal that lasted till 6pm. Thankfully I had friday to rest, and with this being a short week, I'm sure it won't be that difficult to manage. (:

I wasn't in the best of mood on Saturday, but the BBQ really perked up my spirits. I guess you could call it the highlight of the day! Kudos to Christine, Sarah, Samuel, Daniel and Shirley for their selfless efforts in organising this event. Our satisfaction is evident through the smile on our faces:

 

and thats me with a very bad hair day, and that explains the cap:

On a separate note, I just learnt that my dad has lost (or rather, experienced a loss) his hearing- and what can help him are hearing aids. In his brief letter to us yesterday, he also mentioned the potential loss of his job this year.

I'm lost for words right now. After almost a decade of him out of our lives and after picking up the pieces and moving on with my life, I'm not even sure how I should react to this. I'm not sure how I would react if I met him somewhere. I do, to a certain extent, feel sorry for him. But as much as I do, I know that its all in the hands of God- and in control.

me,

fraser

there is always more to it than meets the eye...

(that's all of us at our third and most successful group shot for the night. And no, my eyes are not THAT small =p )

Ok I confess. Planning surprise birthday bashes is certainly not my area of expertise, or profession.

The brief was simple: to stage a surprise party for W and S. W is not supposed to know about the party at all. S knows of the party to be for W only. She does not know that we have a surprise in store for her, too!

It was pure madness right from the start. W spotted S, and spotted J and D soon after. That's like three out of the six "committee members". How splendid.

We had a really fun time hiding from W and his girlfriend, who happened to be part of the committee as well. To think that we had to spy at them across the street! The best part was that W innocently suggested a change of place to eat dinner. So, poor S (having been spotted by W earlier) had to queue up for a table for seven at Ichiban's. That's no easy feat and the poor lady stood in line for close to an hour! ):

Out of sheer desperation we had to attend to our hungry tummies by then, and fortunately, were able to get the couple down to where we were to present the surprise. It was at this moment that S realised that we haven't forgotten her at all (:

What a crazy night! Happy birthday, folks.

eardrops

Thank God for ear drops, especially those that work.

Out of sheer desperation to end my pain and misery, I invested in a small bottle of magic solutions that claims to "soften ear waxes for easy removal". Complete with an ingenious drip that makes the recommended dosage of ten drops possible, it's indeed an unassuming package, with absolutely nothing to hint of the wonders it could have done for me.

For one I wasn't even certain that it would help- I was just taking this gamble on the pure assumption that it was something in the ear I had to clear, and not any underlying ear problem that I needed to seek medical help for.

And so I applied the ear drops, obediently stayed in position for five minutes as instructed, and resumed normal position in 6 minutes.

All the solution came out. Not what I've been wanting to clear, but the ten drops of liquid I placed in my ear. Thinking that it would need time to work, I tried to go to sleep.

It didn't work. Blame it on recurring insomnia problems or what, I just could get to sleep-it was a night of turning and tossing. At 2am, I had enough. I woke up, and applied another ten drops of the said solution in my ear.

At 3.30am it occurred to me that I could have been causing myself more harm by exceeding the dosage. Although there was no mention of any possible harm caused by overuse, I did recall seeing something about the product having a certain degree of side effect. And worse, the solution didn't come out when I flipped my head around this time round.

I am so in trouble, or so I thought. The incessant pain and crackling sounds in my ear made it impossible for me to sleep. I remember fervently praying and asking the Lord for mercy and not to take my hearing away. And throughout the entire sleepless night I was snapping my fingers to make sure I could still hear ):

And for those who're wondering why I am so sleepy today, you'd have a better idea now.

Fast forward to 8am and I drag my reluctant frame out of the bed, grab the ear digger and aim for that obstruction in the depths of my ear canal. You can imagine how relieved I was when I excavated tons of rubbish from that ear canal of mine. And almost instantly my hearing on the left ear was restored!

What remains to be fixed is the right ear, and I'm so looking forward to see to it the moment I get home. I'm certain I can go underwater with confidence now.

(: noed resarf

 

earth day, and then much more

Last saturday marked Earth Hour in Singapore. 

And as any law abiding citizen would have done, my entire family decided to participate in this global activity by turning off the lights for an hour. 

It was unfortunate, though, that I decided to have my shower at 8.35pm. Not wanting to spoil this occasion, I fulfilled my daily activity  without the lights on. And this was the only thing that was illuminated in the shower. I couldn't have turned it off, even if I wanted to.

It feels disorienting not being able to hear the clatter of my otherwise noisy keyboard as I pen this entry. Having taken the day off, I wasted no time in hitting the pool in the morning (believe me, that was my first quiet time spent by the pool), and later on, with Adrian and Samuel in the evening. The garang me decided to go really deep into the pool. Yes, I managed to sink to the bottom of the pool, but not before the pool water entered both my ears in rapid succession. Blame it on the buildup of the yucky stuff or what, I don't know. It will lead to an ear infection for sure, but I pray that it heals in time for Saturday!

I should try the tea that CH bought for me on Sunday-it was a pleasant surprise-that kind Godly brother had seen it fit to suggest that I try Green Tea with apple extracts to cure my recent bout of headache attacks. I'm really touched and surprised! CH, I owe you one. (:

This morning, Ben Oh shared some interesting insights about an educational path as offered by private institutions, and for that I am grateful. Most people, in my opinion, would be quick to shun private schools. But Ben advised otherwise, and I must admit that I never considered things from that perspective before. In my quiet time, I sincerely committed the whole plan to God, asking for strength and obedience to make the right, Godly choice. Co-incidental or not, I received an email from MDIS inviting me for their open day. I had a similar conversation with a concerned auntie today- and I am glad that I am not in this journey on my own.

This week's unbelievably crazy with the upcoming worship practice, reccee sessions, and the YA BBQ coming up. But boy, I am excited. And there's every reason to!

oh beloved mixwizard

Oh mixwizard,

I could come up with, in a spur of the moment, ten reasons why you'd be the perfect addition to our humble gatherings at Level Three.

1. First and foremost, you belong here. You fit right into the space allocated for your kind. And you leave us space to place my monitoring headphones by the side.

2. Next up, you meet all our needs. I didnt have to hook up another mixer to accomoate the rest of the inputs. Sweet.

3. You take your job seriously, and your elder sibling has proven its prowress- limitless bandwidth, clear mixes, which translates into great sound! I can't imagine how much better you will sound.

4. Try as I may, I could never coax you into producing any form of feedback at all. 

5. Your sweepable midrange allows me to boost as low as 35hz. That means I can now boost 45hz (for bass and the kick drums) and 50hz for the piano. Did I ever mention that you were always able to do them so well?

6. Despite your dimunitive dimensions, you're about the only lean machine that allows us to do grouping- a rarity in mixers of your class. Thanks to you, we can ride the band and vocal sections seperately.

7. You've a wealth of outputs- perfect for our setup that needs to cater for the needs of the cry room, the adjoining halls, and even the basement.

8. You've individual phantom powers for every channel- perfect because we dont have the luxury of many active DI boxes. Now, we're sending current to the right stuff, and sparing the vocalists from a shock should their lips decide to kiss the mic. Ewww...

9. You're simple - I'm sure the rest of the folks warmed up to you pretty quickly. 

10. You're sorely missed by us all! We were all waiting for you to come back- but alas, you were already in the loving hands of someone else. Never had I had so many questions about you, in the likes of "Can we trade in our existing system for the loan set we have now? It sounds so much better!" 

Unfortunately, you're elusive. You don't come cheap. At $2,500 thats just part of the equation, we'd need another sum of investment for a proper, healthy mate (power amplifier) that will bring out only the best, and keep you singing in the right tune.

So, pray tell, can you drop from heaven into our loving hands?

good riddance

and so I received a very frantic call from my mom this evening, claiming that someone from my uniform group had called her and informed her about my non attendance at the recent recall. Having got the name and the number from her, I wasted no time in getting in touch with the division.

It appeared that I was "uncontactable". This is close to impossible, especially when I had updated them of my new number the moment it was changed, and confirmed the new number at the recent reporting excercise. One would wonder how they could find me uncontactable. I've been receiving calls and messages from others but them. Good riddance.

In any case I am SO paying them a visit on Friday to have this matter settled once and for all, and to present the medical certificate for, co-icidentally enough, the day the recall took place. As Adrian puts it, its certainly a blessing in disguise. I won't have wanted to return there when it is raining, not when Im having a hellofa headache.

Im gonna meet a client tomorrow to wrap up a project that's been dragging for months. I won't take delight in elaborating here, but I'm really praying and hoping that God will see this project through (aka no more nonsense or whatsoever) from the client anymore. It could be totally worse if not for the understanding , and loads of help from my boss and those I'm working with in this project.

In the meantime I'm so in need of help for scores- will some kind soul who has scoresheet for Don Moen's songs please stand up?

Till then,

noed resarf

the return of the prodigal writer

for those of you who thought that this blog was deserted for good, I forgive you. Who's gonna think otherwise when the latest entry was in Jan 2009? Its really been some time.

Perhaps I should stick to the winning formula of writing short and sweet posts consistently as opposed to the oh-so-long entries that I never fail to pen. (especially the comeback posts) But then again there is so much to share here...

and I shall start off with the recent night cycling trip I had! We started about 9pm and ended at 6.30am the next day. I came down with flu on the very same day, but miraculously that wasn't enough to stop me from having fun.

Here's me taken along the route to Fengshan for bak chor mee! And the green in my bag pocket isnt a water bottle.

Next up, here's all of us at the Changi boardwalk, on our way to Changi village for our second supper stop!As you can see all of us look quite fresh. This wasnt certainly what we were looking at after the end of it...but the time of fellowship was priceless. Then again I'm greatly blessed to have these bunch of buddies, and many more not captured here!



If there was anything personal I gained from this trip, it had to be the stress relief that the immense amount of cycling provided. It wouldnt take a genius to figure that I'm mentally, physcially and emotionally stretched as we speak.

The past few months have firmed my decision to further my studies and I've set my eyes on a mass communications course, through the polytechnics. Fact is, I applied way too late- only in end Feb when the closing date was on Jan 16th! So it would mean that I will have to try again next year, or pursue a faster route through MDIS.

MDIS, being a private school evokes waves of concern within me, and for one, the recognition of the certifications. I would be hesitant to embark myself on a course of study that won't bring me anywhere, especially when Civil Service is concerned. However, this seems like the only open door now, and I'm praying hard and seeking a confirmation if this should be the direction I should be taking.

I'll be joining the ranks of the unemployed in end May 2009. Having decided to pursue my education, I tendered my resignation yesterday. It wasnt an easy process though- and I was contemplating tearing the letter on a couple of occasions. Its not easy to do such a thing when your boss is a dear friend of yours, and what needs to be done has to be done. These weren't exactly easy to bear...emotions isnt something I deal with very well, and I was already feeling sore from all the rejections that I had faced earlier though.

If anything, Im grateful for all the concern, timely advice, support and encouragement offered to me from all around- they contain useful perspective and opinions that helped in making better decisions. Worth of special mention is my dear mom, who pledged her full (financial and emotional support) for me. She's been a great listener and advisor in these few months...way to go, mom!

And this ends my super long post for now! Finally.

2009

Okay, so this is my long overdue first post for the year 2009. For those of you who were waiting, holding on to, expecting, and anticipating updates to this little space: thanks for holding on. Here we go again...

I had originally intended to update my blog after I returned from Australia last year, but as they say, you need a holiday to recover from your holiday. Yeps, it being Australia, was way much colder, taking into consideration that it rained close to seven days out of the nine days we were there. Still, I’m sure my lungs never felt better with that fresh air I revelled in while in there. More about that in a separate post, perhaps.

I shall begin this post proper by sharing some resolutions for this year. So keep me in check alright? I won’t really mind if you hit me with a sledgehammer if I fail to work on these resolutions...

1. To work on my temper. Fine, I’m not exactly that explosive, and in the words of many people, I’ve toned down a lot in the last few years. Maybe it’s the age factor that prevents you from your explosive instincts. I’d say it’s the grace of God.
I just want to stop feeling irritated at what certain people can do, like hog the right lane of the escalators when the train is coming, (trust me, I wish I had a stone and a catapult in hand) behave in manners in which you see no logic to, like cutting queues, or making excessive noise, and in that make a spectacle of themselves. Irritation breeds anger, and this is what I have the rest of this year (and perhaps my lifetime) to work on.

2. To be more careful with my spending. You would have realised that I used the term “more careful”. In all honesty I don’t see myself as a compulsive or impulsive shopper, but I could certainly work on being prudent (read: less cab rides, less indulgence on CDs and magazines, and things I can do without). My family has plans to relocate, and I do want to be able to help my mom with the finances. To furnish a bedroom would set us back by a grand already!

3. To love somebody. I’ll be frank. I’m jealous of my attached friends, and it both encourages and discourages me when people wonder aloud why I am not attached yet. To think I can be perceived as “qualified” and “eligible” but not there yet.
Nonetheless, I am not going to get attached for the sake of losing my singlehood. I want to be in a relationship because I want to learn to give, and to love another romantically. That was my birthday wish last year, and it would be a major bonus if I could be blessed with the realisation of this wish, this year.
Psst. Works in progress, yeah!

4. To learn and play a musical instrument. With the arrival of a musically inclined brother and with the blessings of God, my house is, over the past four years, progressively transforming into the likes Swee Lee Music. Throw in a keyboard (the Korg PA-50 perhaps?), an electrical guitar, and a drum set, plus the people, and we’d have a full band already. My mom aims for a house with “that extra room” for my brother and I to transform into a music room or something. Thanks mom =). With all these incentives coming my way (and to really challenge myself) it’s hard not to be tempted!
In particular, I pray for the ability to master the bass guitar- and be able to serve back in church. As a pledge, I’ve just invested in a guide book for that four stringed instrument yesterday. Music lovers and gurus, please be patient with me!
Okay, so you’ve heard from me with regard to my four resolutions. I’ve an inkling there are more... oh yes there is just one more!

5. To run a marathon this year. 10k, 21k, 42k. The distance doesn’t matter, it’s just something I’ve wanted to do so badly not as a means of self gratification, but once again, to test my limits. And to those of you, who think that this quest is going to be dovey easy for me, think again. I’ve just recovered well enough from a leg injury and I might just end up crawling, not running to the finish line.

Any interested buddies?

On top of this five- there’s so much I want to do this year, including going back to school, a year end trip to the States, being a more efficient worker at work, and that much coveted pass for my IPPT test.

Come 2009, I do hope I’ll be a better person for the sake of myself, and those around me. So partner me as I grow and mature. In the meantime- thanks for being a blessing- and have a sizzling year ahead!