It's been a while since I last blogged but basically you can sum up everything into 2 words: Unexpectedly Exciting

8 May
Watched Star trek. It was much better than I had expected. The intro was already very touching. And the plot wasn't that simple! Had a nice chill-out evening walking from ps to the esplanade after that. We met a whole group of plain clothes police/petrol officers at the esplanade. You would never think them to be officers if you didn't see them go up to people to check on them. There were really old people in the group, though they did look fit for their age.

9 May
We celebrated Marcus and Yong Qiang's birthday at my place. Meeting time was 1pm but we started celebrating close to 4pm. I think our punctuality problem is really serious now. But in any case, we still really enjoy each other's company. We had an impromptu 6J outing and all the girls pangsehed so it was just me and 5 other guys. We wanted to try this place with latin american cuisine but it was closed cos of the holiday so we ended up at Hogsbreath at Chijmes and they sure do have good steak there! Went down to the flyer after dinner. It's my second time on it but it's still really pretty. And I still intend to go on it at different times of the day and in different weather, some time in the future. Hehh. Went down to Marina Square for waffles after that and really, they have solid waffles that are super value for money.

12 May
All 3 of us - Qiao han, Rachel and myself, took an entire day off from work to go Haji Lane and Marina Barrage. Haji Lane wasn't open when we got there so there wasn't really much to look at. We headed down to the cold storage at Parco to get our food for the picnic at marina barrage and I received my call from SMU about the scholarship offer! And the weird thing was that I was actually feeling kinda disappointed listening to people talk about their scholarships and all, and then suddenly the call came in. Felt like God was deciding to make things a little more dramatic. Hahaa.. At my place, we started preparing the food but we got too impatient, and well, hungry and lazy in the process so we ended up finishing the food before we actually left for the barrage. We eventually made it to the barrage, where we took lots and lots of photos and had a nice chill-out session at the 'top' of the barrage. We were almost stranded there though. The taxis wouldn't come into the area, there was only one bus service and nobody would stop for a group of unarmed, harmless girls looking to hitch a ride. But in any case, we very fortunately caught the very last bus out and amazingly still made the trains.

15 May
Dinner at Dempsey hill. Its a really nice place. Its right smack in the town, yet it feels like an island all on its own. Food there was good too.
It was a memorable evening. Significant and really important to me.

16 May
I was awakened by a call I had least expected to receive. Keppel was calling for the 2nd interview, which means I made the crazy ability tests though I am quite sure I did quite badly. But in any case, it confused my entire morning. From 16 May onwards, I wasn't so sure I wanted a bonded scholarship.

22 May
Went to pool after work at AMK hub. And someone proved that 4 yrs not touching a pool table isn't a lot of harm done to one's pool skills =P Went down to town cos its a Friday night and ended up chilling out at Hip Diner at Cine. They have good soup! But their waffles cannot be compared to the ones we had at Marina Square.

23 May
Went cycling around the Bukit Batok area! And had quite a fall. Hahaa.. Then we went all the way up rifle range road. I almost died at the hills. I don't know how I made it but I was really aching all over the next day. But I really enjoyed myself!
We made Julie try her first durian at Geylang! I think we got ripped off. 57 bucks for a durian! But it was really good. And it was the first time I was having durians at Geylang. So many first times in the last couple of days huh.

24 May
We went to collect our Sundown Marathon race packs and they actually ran out of the exclusive women's 10km race tee so they printed new ones in a completely different design! We really wanted the purple ones so we ended up going for a bigger size but i think it fits quite well still. We ran 8km in the evening then I went on an exploration of the bukit batok area with a tour guide and a bicycle. How Bukit Batok links up to almost everywhere is an idea that still eludes me completely.

So there. I would never have expected any of this at the beginning of the year. There's a lot to commit to God. But He's making life really really exciting. Hehh.

The first time I did my interview with Keppel, I was notified of the next assessment the following day. It has been almost an entire week since the last assessment and I have yet to receive any updates. I think that means it's bye bye to the Keppel scholarship, and well, basically to all my hopes of getting a scholarship.

Some people don't think I am very ambitious. Maybe I'm not. But I like pushing for more each time I reach some new level of achievement, whatever it may be. When I did my A's, I thought, yea, just let me get a double degree in SMU and I'll be glad enough. Now that that has happened, I find myself looking for a scholarship - and its not as if my parents can't afford my uni education. Yes there is prestige in a scholarship, there is a brighter future blah blah. But I think what makes me want the scholarship this badly now, is just so I have some tangible proof of my abilities. I did well for my A's, I play the electone, I'm doing volunteer work, I was a councilor, I run and I have good friends. I think I sound impressive (or at least I somehow managed to sound impressive to my interviewer), but really, I don't think I am that impressive. I'm just an average student who happened to get into a good school and to get many opportunities. But who wouldn't want to think they have potential for more? Who wouldn't want to see themselves grow and suprise themselves with what they can actually do?

I wouldn't say I am very easily contented. I have my dreams and my aspirations. But I am a realistic person; I've always been. If this is what I am capable of doing now, fine. I'm perfectly fine with that. But it doesn't mean that I'm not keen, not on the look-out for more. I wanna push my boundaries and suprise myself with what I can, or cannot do.

Perhaps that's the most important lesson to bring home from all the applications: To experience, discover and appreciate what I see in myself. I've never taken failure too well. But I think I'm slowly understanding that it's perfectly fine to fail. We all have our weaknesses. No one expects a perfect human being. And without this fear, I won't be afraid to take on challenges, to live life to the fullest.

Maybe (or rather, most likely), I'll end up without a scholarship. But so what? I'll make sure my uni life is just as, if not even more vibrant.

I DELETED A SUPER LONG POST COS THE HTML GOT MESSED UP.
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I'm too lazy to re-write. I shall just put in the main points.

Friday
Watched Xmen with squadmates!
Grandma's dinner at Copthorne King's Hotel
KTV at chinatown from 10pm to 1am!

Saturday
Wakey wakey at 6.30am when I slept at 2.30am the last night. >< It was pouring when I woke up. It stopped when I was in the train. It started again the moment I stepped out of Newton mrt station. BUT it stopped once we got to MacRitchie! And so we had a cool morning. See I bring the rain for a reason! Hehh. We went around MacRitchie and I realised it's quite a pretty place! But I think the main reason for me surviving that 11km was because we walked some of the parts. Had we jogged the entire thing I would have died. Hahaa. But I enjoyed it. And it was quite funny seeing Shaun meet so many of his friends along the way. Like they somehow or another were all at macritchie that saturday morning.
Brunch at Adam food centre
Bible study preparation with geraldine
Electone lesson, and realising when I met victor to pass him some stuff before that, that my phone had messed up and no one had been able to contact me the entire morning/afternoon. Received an influx of smses, of which many required action, but it was alrdy too late to do so. ><
Dinner with my family
Supper at Holland V. Missed the 970 back home cos I assumed the people waiting at the bus stop curb were going to flag the bus. But had company waiting for the next 970 so it wasn't that bad.

Sunday - comparatively less packed
Church service
Brunch at Ikea (I insist its ee-k-ah like ee-logical)
Bible study at my place
Hair cut at queensway
Dinner at Bukit Batok with relatives

I have tuition tmr!! I detest tuition. Even if I'm paid. I'll never join the teaching profession. Never.

I'm too tired to continue. Hahaa.. Time to get some rest.