I love the blue sky

Sunday, December 31, 2006
My Two Cents' Worth

Yesterday afternoon, my parents were watching news on TV and I heard the newsbroadcaster announce that Saddam Hussein was dead - hanged by the very facilities he had used to execute his victims.

I'm not going to pretend to be self-righteous and say that the man deserved to die for all his wrongdoings. After all, there is a very fine line between right and wrong, and more often than not truth is distorted by many people (especially in the name of something good) to create a false impression.

Well, it really is not my place to judge anyone. God has that right.

I don't have very strong feelings about the death of this so-called tyrant. I only remember watching news footages of the Gulf War back in secondary school and how the world was adversely affected - especially when the prices of oil took flight. Even though there were no violent sufferings in Singapore (our hardship was nowhere in comparison really to that of those who were directly involved), the act of this one man had caused much distress to the rest of the world.

Then, three years ago, when I saw on TV the celebrations that took place on the streets of Baghdad after his downfall, it dawned on me how much the people there had suffered under his rule. I wondered, how could anyone as evil as him have supporters? I mean, were they blind or something? Or had their conscience been devoured? I finally concluded that the greed for power had turned them inhuman. But all - even their own suffering and deaths - in the name of God?

Digression: No wonder God is the most maligned Being of all times. Sometimes I wonder how He still gave Man free will when He could see all this coming. Some of us recognize it as love (after all, true love can't be forced) while others prefer to see Him negatively or simply deny His existence.

Anyway, I remember thinking that violence in Iraq was far from over even after Saddam's downfall. Even when he was caught, arrested, tried for trial and even now after his death, violence still plagues the country.

Mel asked me last night how I felt about his death. My response was a cynical one: Honestly, I don't think it will make much of a difference.

But on an objective note, I think Iraq will only start to pick herself up when her people are able to let go of Saddam Hussein. People who hate him and people who love him. Otherwise, there will always be this internal strife and the suffering will continue.

Meanwhile, the world still has Osama and his advocates to be wary of. =\

jOyZ blogged at 10:04 AM

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Friday, December 29, 2006
Crappy Rambling

I didn't get to drive my dad's car yesterday eventually. Apparently, I wasn't deployed to teach CPA next year, so I didn't have to attend the CPA meeting yesterday afternoon, which meant I didn't have to go to school at all. Hoho. Just as well because it was raining the whole day yesterday.

My mom let me use her car again today so I drove to and from work. I got home at around 6pm and left the house with my dad at around 6.45pm to pick my mom up from work in the east. So I kind of chauffeured my parents around the whole evening.

We went to Suntec for dinner at Siam Kitchen. I have no idea why my mom wanted to go all the way to Suntec when there was an outlet at Parkway. It didn't matter anyway since I had to go Carrefour to get a box of protection plastic sheets which I need to file my teaching materials. Unfortunately, I couldn't find the kind that I have been using and left the place empty-handed while my parents purchased some groceries. Then I drove to one of the 7-11s along Bukit Timah Road so that my mom could pay her bills.

We just got home a while ago and I'm feeling rather tired. I wonder if I should go to bed early today or stay up to do some work. Sigh. Maybe I should rest early and wake up early tomorrow morning to start work. Since I couldn't get the protection sheets for filing, it's really quite pointless for me to go to school tomorrow. I guess I'll just work at home then. I've even brought the school laptop back.

Okay, this entry is so crappy and rambling. I think I'm really tired. I see stars... *_*

jOyZ blogged at 10:56 PM

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Thursday, December 28, 2006
Driving On My Own

My mom let me use her car yesterday. =) First, I drove my brother to work. Then, I drove to my school. Haha. I had a hard time parking the car. It was a good thing I arrived early so there were plenty of empty lots which gave me plenty of room to manoeuvre the car. After the staff meeting, I drove to Holland Village and had lunch with Cheryl. I drove home after that.

I think I'll be driving my dad's car to school later in the afternoon. He'll probably drive back to school when I'm done so that I can drive home.

Hopefully, he'll let me drive his car on my own soon. I've been driving my mom's car quite a few times on my own. So far so good. Nothing disasterous happened. Thank God for that.

Anyway, I change my mind about having my own car at the moment - especially since my dad doesn't need the car everyday and other than work, I don't really go out much. Two cars are really more than sufficient for 3 of us now. Let's see how it goes when my brother passes his driving.

But I think I should get my own cashcard soon. At least I'll be spending my own money instead of my parents'.

jOyZ blogged at 10:37 AM

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Tuesday, December 26, 2006
What Do You See?

We saw this very short video clip today during the workshop. It speaks volumes.

But gosh, he sure has tonnes of black crayons. ;B

jOyZ blogged at 11:36 PM

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Monday, December 25, 2006
A New Song Lost

Believe it or not, I actually woke up with a new tune in my head this Christmas morning. I must have been dreaming about it. I even had the words!

Unfortunately, my laziness got the better of me. Instead of jumping out of bed and scribbling out the song and chords, I continued lying in bed though I did try to memorise the song in my sleepy state. Somehow, I fell asleep and when I woke up again, I'd lost the entire song.

=(

God is telling me many things here. GAH!

jOyZ blogged at 2:10 PM

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Christmas Eve 2006

Christmas Eve at my uncle's place wasn't too bad. We arrived late as usual... which was a pity because the food had turned a tad too cold. But still, I had quite a bit of it. And they are all CARBO!!! GAHHH!!! I've got to cut down on my carbo intake for the next few days.

Sen Sen (my brother's girlfriend) joined us for the first time, and so did my cousin's son Brian who is only 2 month old! The cutest one of all was Joshua, my 2-year-old cousin. He is such a hyperactive boy - one moment he was crawling all over the sofa, the next he was climbing over the table. Haha. I should've taken a picture of him but I forgot! xO

I chatted a bit with two of my cousins Li Min and Wendy. I think the last time I saw them was during CNY this year? Oh gosh... =O

We sang some Christmas carols and worship songs and then ate some more. We left before we could do any countdown though because my brother and his girlfriend had bought tickets for a midnight movie. Since Orchard Road was closed to traffic, I dropped them off at Shaw Centre from which they had to walk to Orchard Cineleisure. I hope they were in time for their movie.

Oh yeah, I was the chauffeur of the day. First was when I picked up my bestie from her place to drive her to mine, from which I drove us to Holland Village and then back to her home. Second was when I drove us all to my uncle's place and then back home. Well, not quite all the way to my uncle's place at first because my dad gave me the wrong direction and we got a bit lost. He had to take over the wheel while my mom attempted to be the navigator. I shall not elaborate on this as there were further complications. Haha.

I had my reckless moments on the road today, but I enjoyed most part of it. By the way, this was my first day driving after a 2-week break (since I left for Taiwan). I was expecting worse driving from myself - like stalling the engine repeatedly and ramming into a pillar while parking... that sort of thing. Thank God I stalled the engine like twice in all today (once in the afernoon while sending my bestie home and once in the evening while driving home) and my parking was pretty accurate. Phew! *mops brow*

I enjoyed time with my bestie. It's been so long since we hung out together. We talked so much that I forgot to take pictures of us together - again!!! ARGH! I really must go Hong Kong next year to visit her. -_-

We went Holland Village for lunch (laksa, otah and fried chicken... as usual I ate up all the oily fried fatty skin) and then had foot reflexology for an hour. It was paaaaaainfuuuul! Oh gosh, I nearly died when the fella kept pressing a certain point under my left foot especially. It was some experience though - my first time doing a foot massage like that. Hm, I'm not sure if I wanna do that again...

There goes my handphone alarm. Time to take the anti-biotics again. Yeah, I've resorted to this to remind myself to take the medication. Otherwise, I'll just miss the timing and cough like death for the next few hours. Hur.

Anyways.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!
*confetti*

jOyZ blogged at 12:22 AM

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Saturday, December 23, 2006
An Interesting Shot

I was so bored I decided to clean up my room. I think I've slept too much in the afternoon. At least my nose isn't as congested as before - which is really a good thing. But I still feel like puking. I only had a bowl of soup for dinner.

Oh, by the way, here's an interesting shot of the room I took at the Oriental. I'd forgotten to post it up earlier! Ha.

Can you guess where I was when I took the picture - in the bathroom or in the room?

It's really very easy. Notice that I was actually sitting down - but not on the covered toilet bowl. So... I was sitting on the bed which means I was in the bedroom. There was this mirror on the other end of the bathroom and it faced the window (with the blinds) that separated the bathroom and the bedroom. Haha. Okay, go figure that out yourself. ;p

jOyZ blogged at 11:43 PM

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Rants About Being Ill

I was supposed to give Mel a morning call at 9am because we had planned to meet in town at 1030am for breakfast and last minute shopping, hoping to escape from town by 1pm to avoid the sickening crowd. But I woke up - more than an hour late - at ten plus, and right now I'm feeling too lousy from the medication to even want to go out anymore. I suspect I'm going to just sleep and cough my day away.

I hate being ill. My throat hurts. My nose gets blocked. I sneeze incessantly which leads to constant tearing and my nose just gets more stuffy. To prevent my nose from being completely congested, I blow it every few minutes, which has caused my ears to be blocked half the time and the skin around my nose to peel! And then, there's the cough. I could cough until my stomach hurts and my lungs wheeze with every breath. x(

Yesterday, at the Oriental, I had to wake up early to eat the free breakfast (for 2) with Gina and Jocelyn (Mel had to rush off for work), so that I could get to my doctor's as soon as possible to get the medication for my nose. (By the way, we found out that it cost a whopping $41 per pax, so we had to pay for the 3rd person. And being so early in the morning - plus the fact that I was also feeling ill - our appetites weren't really that good. I think we didn't manage to eat $40 worth of food really. So, what a waste of money it'd be if we'd to pay $120 for 3 persons!)

After that, we shared a cab which first sent Gina to the temple to meet her family and then me to my doctor's clinic. There was a long queue by the time I arrived and I had to wait for a good 45 minutes before my name was called. During the whole time, I was running in and out of the toilet to blow my nose and cough out the stubborn phlegm, coughing so hard that I almost threw up my breakfast. I felt that I could die there and then. I was sure the other patients could hear my nose trumpeting away. A few were looking my way each time I exited from the toilet to return to my seat. -_-

My doctor finally called me in and declared I was fevering. She prescribed me a whole LOAD of tablets (the hateful anti-biotics included) and a bottle of GREEN cough mixture which, according to Gina, looked like some detergent. =\ Anyway, I was ordered to finish ALL the tablets (NOT just the anti-biotics). *shudders* My doctor also gave me a day's MC which covered my absence at the afternoon SEL workshop at work. Thank God for that.

I took a cab back to the hotel, took my medication and drifted in and out of sleep until Gina came back at around 2plus. We had the option of checking out as late as 6pm, but I decided to leave at the same time as her and rest at home instead - since I was in no condition to have dinner with Mel. So we packed up and left the hotel at around 4pm, going our own ways. Upon reaching home, I slept and slept and slept some more. Then I ate porridge for dinner and spent the whole night posting pictures for my previous blog entry so that I could stay up late enough to take the disgusting anti-biotics at 1am. I'd have missed the timing if I'd slept earlier.

It's such a hassle to take anti-biotics. They always leave a bad taste in my mouth, causing me to lose my appetite. Ironically though, because I was so desperate to remove the taste from my tongue and couldn't find any mints at home, I actually went to cook myself a packet of instant noodles after popping the hateful pill. Like I said, I was desperate.

And now, I can't stop coughing because the body is trying to flush out the phlegm that's tickling my throat and lungs. I think I may just die from a coughing fit! x(

Falling ill this Christmas is just absolutely bad timing. I've got quite a bit of programme this year: meeting up with bestie on Sunday morning and we're going to chill together until mid-afternoon, family Christmas gathering at my uncle's in the evening, and a Christmas party at Jane's place on Monday evening - which I have yet to agree to attend due to this darn flu. I mean, I can't very well attend it and infect everyone else there with the flubug right? Everyone will shun me anyway when they hear my cough. =(

Shoot. I missed the timing. It's 20 past 1pm now. Time to take the distasteful pill again. I'm already counting down: 10 pills - 3 down, 7 to go.

jOyZ blogged at 12:38 PM

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Friday, December 22, 2006
Oriental Ooh La La

I love our stay at the Oriental. It was fun hanging out together especially when all of us rarely get the chance to spend time together like that. Honestly, I miss the good old days when we had so much fun.

But I couldn't help feeling that I was quite a spoiler last night due to my flu. We had intended it to be a girls' night out, but because of my stuffy nose, everyone was kind enough to agree to go back to the hotel after the late dinner. And in my deep slumber, I must have snored so loudly that Mel didn't have a good sleep! Apparently, she almost elbowed Jocelyn twice in the face. =O Jocelyn said Gina slept like a log - literally. Haha. That's what you get with 4 girls sharing 2 adjoined beds. ;p

Okay, I promise I'll go and check out the Marriott package my parents bought and see if we can stay at the one in Singapore. Hopefully, we can get a better room - bigger, more beds, more days. And then, let's all decide a good time for another round of this next year so that I can make early reservations and we can work our plans around this. x)

Alrighty, here are some pictures I took of our room at the Oriental before it became really messy. Haha... I should have taken the "aftermath". But... I didn't! ;p

The doorway. My pretty shoes on the right. Haha. ;p

The beds upon entry of room (taken without flash).

The beds upon entry of room (taken with flash).

Spacious work area. Yep, that's my laptop.

The television! We watched Les Choristes on it after returning from a late dinner.

The shower area. I had a hard time trying to figure out the taps there though. LOL.

The sink and toilet bowl area. Hehe.

The bathtub where Mel was supposed to soak in her luxurious bath.

Check out the bedroom view from the bathroom!

The pool that we never got to swim in. Sigh!

View 1 from the window.

View 2 from the window. The same highway from the previous picture.

Okay, I know. So there are no signs of us in the pictures. I took these in the afternoon while I was waiting for all of them to arrive. The next time we have this again, I'm going to take lots of pretty shots of all of us! So... I've got like at least a few months to shed more weight. x) Hopefully, I can also get rid of more wrinkles. SIGH!

jOyZ blogged at 8:47 PM

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Thursday, December 21, 2006
Oriental Luxury

Yes, so I'm now blogging away in one of the Ocean View rooms on the 13th level of Oriental Hotel. The other 3 will be late so I've been having the entire room to myself since 4pm! And yes, I've taken my shower. I decided not to take a super long bath - let Mel be the first to use the bath. Haha! She's so into long, luxurious bath.

I think we should have such fun once a year at least. After months of hard work, we ought to pamper ourselves by living in style - even if it's just only for a couple of days and that we have to splurge. ;p

The Internet connection is expensive though - $30 (excluding GST) for a 24-hour package.

Okay, I'm finally getting bored. Where are the girls???

jOyZ blogged at 6:13 PM

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Potent Flubug

A potent flubug has infected me so badly that I'm losing my voice. =(

I've been ill since touching homeground on Saturday night. The flight home from Taiwan was bad. My nose was completely stuffed. I think budget planes are just not as clean as the usual ones. Then I started having sorethroat on Sunday and my nose and lungs have been wheezing since then. GAH!

The wet weather over the past few days didn't help of course. I thought I'd recover when the sun finally came out yesterday. I actually felt better: nose was only partially blocked. But ever since I woke up this morning, my nose has been blocked again. I think it's the cool temperature. I don't see the sun this morning. =(

I'm wondering if I should see the doctor later and get MC. There's SEL workshop tomorrow afternoon in school. Who arranged to have a workshop on a Friday afternoon just before the weekend of Christmas anyway? SIGH. Since I'm in no condition to attend any workshop, I guess I should take MC. I'll probably sleep during the workshop anyway. =\ I might as well have a proper sleep in bed.

Meanwhile, no talking for me. Thank God for the invention of SMS and MSN. I have other means to communicate despite losing my voice!

I must recover fast this time though. It's going to be a busy weekend with friends and family and, after that, week at work. I can't believe the holiday is ending so soon - just when I'm starting to have fun.

jOyZ blogged at 11:17 AM

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Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Photos from Mag and Zhiwei's Wedding (Part 1)

The photos are finally ready - thanks to Mel dearie for taking them, scanning them and emailing them out. ;D

Oh yes, one thing I've learnt: not to perm my hair when I'm fat! I look positively BLOATED.

I'm waiting for Mag's versions. Ha, she's still on honeymoon.

Meanwhile, let the following speak for themselves...

A bevy of beauties:
Jocelyn, Gina, moi and Imelda aka Mel

We were vain:
Jocelyn, Mel, moi and Gina

At the banquet table:
Fangling, Gina, moi, Jocelyn and Mel

In the suite:
Mel and the pretty bride, Mag

jOyZ blogged at 2:16 PM

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Yayness!

Yays! My bestie's returning for Christmas! I miss her so much! I was supposed to go to Hong Kong to visit her this December, but I couldn't get an air-ticket. It's a good thing that she's returning. =)

I've got TONNES to tell her!

Here's my favourite photo of us together. This was taken a couple of years back when I was slimmer. Hahaha!

Funny how we've known each other for almost 2 decades but we have so few photographs together. We'll have to take more when she returns for Christmas. =)

jOyZ blogged at 12:40 AM

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Monday, December 18, 2006
The End and A New Beginning

Yani sent me a message in the morning: Congrats! 100% for 4NA EL.

It was no doubt a piece of good news that somewhat brightened what the dreary weather has been bringing. I can't say I'm overjoyed. Somehow, it's a different feeling altogether when I received the same piece of news 2 years ago for the 2004 batch.

Still, I'm glad for the kids.

Then again, I'm faced with greater stress for 2007 N level results. A lot more work has to be done with next year's batch of class 4E.

Honestly, I'm not sure how I'm feeling towards 2007. I'm just praying and hoping it'll be better than 2006.

This year has been an extremely trying year - a stark contrast to 2004 and 2005 (which weren't exactly smooth-sailing either but they bring me plenty of happy memories). I must admit it has a lot to do with the different batches of pupils I've come into contact with.

With 2007 fast approaching, it seems that I'm about to reach a closure to the present phase of my life. I'm glad and sad at the same time. I'm glad because the acute depression which I've been suffering is about to end. Actually, I'm just hoping that the new changes will end this bout of depression. Then, I'm sad because I've had a couple of friendships at stake this year. I've not sorted these out yet, but I'm hoping things will improve. Both don't look very positive and I'm tired of trying. I think it's really up to them now. I think I've done what I can: I have already said and acted in ways which tell them how important their friendships mean to me. If they don't feel the same way, there's nothing much I can do anymore. I don't think I will ever feel happy when I think about them in future (unless things turn for the better) because I will always feel that it's such a great pity that the friendships had to end on such an unhappy note when the potential for them to grow into a deeper level of friendship was just so great.

That said, I hope 2007 brings new friends into my life. And I don't mean new pupils. Haha. ;p

The past decade has been a series of ups and downs - the end of schooling days and the start of my teaching career. I wonder what the next decade will have in store for me...

jOyZ blogged at 1:41 PM

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Sunday, December 17, 2006
Back From Taiwan

I'm back from Taiwan. And I think I'm falling ill. ;( Nose is blocked and throat's itchy!

Going to Taiwan was mainly a shopping trip, so I really burst my budget. I'm already starting to regret having bought some of the items, which I usually don't buy when I go shopping in Singapore. Well, I'll just have to force myself to put them on otherwise it'll be an utter waste of money.

Until I blog again...

jOyZ blogged at 10:30 PM

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Monday, December 11, 2006
Vibes

Somehow, the reason is always 'busy' these days. If it isn't 'busy', it's something that's too reasonable for further discussion.

It's turning into a total cut-off.

Honestly, the agony never went away. It gets worse with each passing moment. What's even better is this is being ignored for far greater goals, greater calling... whatever they're being called.

Life. Purpose. Vision. Joy. Eternity.

No abandonment?

The vibes speak for themselves.

jOyZ blogged at 2:24 AM

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Monday, December 04, 2006
The Start Of December

Ah! December's finally upon us!

It's been a short while since I last blogged. I've been lazy. x)

My parents flew off to USA on Saturday at 6am. As usual, they left with a lot of bickering. What a way to start a vacation trip eh? Anyway, at 3.30am my dad drove us all to the airport because they were too late for me to drive. When they got off the car at the airport, I took over the wheel and drove my brother and I home. I didn't dare to go faster than 90km/h because on our way to the airport, we saw a couple of police cars stationed along the highways, ready to issue summons to speeding drivers.

It was really boring driving on the highway at 4plus in the morning. There were hardly any cars. And because it seemed to take me forever to reach the exit at Eng Neo Avenue, I kept thinking I'd missed it. Haha. Eventually, my brother suggested we could exit at NUS, which I did and ended up taking a wrong turn to go into Science Park. Haha. So, I had to make a U-turn to drive out. That error actually woke me up a bit. Hohoho...

The rest of the drive home was easy enough - I was familiar with the route after so many 'familiarisation courses' with my dad. We reached home a little after 4.30am. I thought I'd be tired enough to sleep once home, but I was wide awake. So I watched a couple of my HK VCDs but I still didn't feel sleepy. At 6.30am, I decided to force myself to sleep. Heh.

The weekend was boring - except for a friend's birthday dinner celebration I attended at Sentosa. Other than that, I stayed home throughout.

Well, I'm supposed to meet Imelda for a movie today. She hasn't replied my SMS-message yet - probably still sleeping after more than 12hours of work yesterday. Well, I'm thinking if I should drive my mom's car to meet her later. If it's too early, I'd have to pay quite a bit for the parking in town. But it also has to be early enough before the ERP hours begin. Oh well, I'll just have to wait and see what time she calls.

Hm, think I'll go take my morning shower now. Byes!

jOyZ blogged at 9:54 AM

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