I'm waiting for KYLE XY to load on Tudou. And even with Fei Xun Tudou, it's taking really longggg. So I shall blog.

28th May
Took lots photos at work because it was Nicholas's last day. He was leaving earlier than me!! >< Its just one day earlier, but still. I'm happy for him though. I think in a way, the updating the systems can, as he puts it 'drain out souls'. Haha..
Left for bugis to meet my sister for shopping purposes but we ended up buying stuff that we didn't intend to buy and nothing of which that we initially had in mind to buy. It always happens doesn't it. ><
Still had time to head down to clementi so I did, while my sister went home. And we bought 12 tutu kuehs at clementi. When I heard 12 I was like?? How to finish?? But we did! hahaa.. 6 peanut and 6 coconut. And they were good! See la. I need exercise man. Then we walked around and decided hey let's go play daytona. We played twice! And both times I led until the last round and was overtaken just a while before we ran out of time. >< Have to go play again man. Haha..

29th May
Last day at work!!!!! This job has given me a stable income and quite a leap in spending powers the last 6 months. Even though I would never voluntarily go back there to work again, I would say it has been quite an eye-opening experience.
And then in the evening we went to the southern ridges! Its really nice! It would have been much better if the weather was much cooler though. But I enjoyed it and the company. We should all go walk it again in the cooler 'seasons' of the year! And I shall make it a point to one day run from one end all the way to the other. Heh.

30th May
Our long awaited Adidas Sundown Marathon Women's 10km race! We did it in 1hr10mins. Much shorter than we expected. We were expecting btw 1hr 15 to 1hr 30 mins. Heh. Felt great completing it. I didn't particularly like the race route though. Scenery was limited and the return route was really narrow. The pathway is only wide enough for 2 pple. BUT, completing it with dear squadmates made it very memorable. We took lotsa photos after the race, before we headed home in the freezing MRT trains. Freezing mainly because our shirts were wet through =X

31st May
Went for service then headed to Iluma, the new shopping centre at bugis to celebrate Bernard's birthday. We were there for bout 2+ hours I think? Funny how we can always sit around some place and do nth but talk for really long! And we don't seem to ever run out of topics. Haha..
Headed to West Mall after for dinner at Sakae. And the 2 of us finished a PARTY set. Was really full! But the sushi was good and the company even better. Loved the gifts too! Thoughtful, sweet and practical! Had a nice walk to end the evening.

3rd June
It was a Wednesday. We run on wednesdays. So I very routinely got into running gear and headed to Bukit Gombak to meet dear squadmates. I thought I was on time, but apparently yini and xj were earlier. Then xj said she might no be running. I thought oh dear, is xj okay? Then xj said its complicated, she'll explain later. We were walking towards the stadium. When we got there I realised Chen Hian and Kailin were there! Then I noticed there was a cake. Hahaa.. So we didn't run that day. Siew ping came to join us after and we headed to West Mall for dinner. My dear squadmates! I thank God for each and every one of them. It has been 6 yrs! I think we've all grown a lot. But I really hope even in the years ahead, we'll still be able to meet and talk nonsense. Heh.

4th June
My birthday! =)) So basically I did nothing in the day till my electone lesson in the afternoon. And my tchr got me cake! Well, not the entire cake, just a slice of it. But still, very thoughtful!
Went home and celebrated with my family at Sushi Teh at West Coast Plaza. Another new shopping centre. Food was good too! And although I don't exactly talk to my family about stuff, it was nice just spending time with them.

5th June
Went to National Library in the afternoon to enjoy the aircon there. We both found interesting books to read and I borrowed one. Its funny and interesting at the same time! And very intriguing cos you actually know someone who has been through all that written in that what, 2 inch thick book? And then we took a bus to East Coast. You know what, its so much faster and more convenient to go to East Coast from city hall than from bedok like we used to do! We attempted to watch the sunset until we realised the sun was going to set behind us. >< Had good dinner and then a nice walk besides the waters. The breeze at the beaches was really great. Very nice break from the horrid weather we'll been having. Talked and then managed to catch the last trains and buses home. Dead tired by then. But it was a super day! Forgot to bring the cam though.. But that just means we have to go back there again some day. =P

6th June
I entirely forgot what this day used to mean. It never crossed my mind until now, cos I'm typing the date and it just struck me like, oh, the 6th of june. Haha.. Moved on. With much help from lotsa very important friends. =)
Then the 2a people came in the evening! And we celebrated my birthday, again. haha.. Its nice that we're always meeting! Though some people apparently seemed to ahem, lack, morals eh? hahaa.. But I guess we just enjoyed each other's company as usual.

7th June
We picnic-ed after service! Guess where? my house!! Hahaha.. Another failed attempt *thinks about the Marina Barrage incident* This time though, it was due to bad weather, or rather, seemingly bad weather. It looked like it was about to pour so we didn't want to risk it. But after we ate all the food and all, we realised it never did even drizzle. >< But well, we had good food! We're not bad cooks huh.
Went to meet yini for our regular sunday run but realised the stadium was closed for an event. So we decided, hey, lets go run around the neighbourhood. So we ran. And then we got ambitious and decided to run all the way from gombak to jurong east. We did! We touched the MRT station pillars and made our way back. And we thought, good thing we don't have money or ez-link cards so we die die have to run back and not slack. But on our way back, we took a different route and ended up hopelessly lost. =X Thankfully I had my phone, and a living version of a gps, who suprised us by eventually managing to locate us on his bike. =P Took us 2+ hours for the entire 'expedition'. Muscles were very sore but we sort of had fun. Sorry to have kept someone waiting though. Heh. Went to west mall for food then back home.

9th June
Went to cck for dinner. It has changed quite a bit! Even the food court seems impressive. Re-lived the old times walking through the huge pasar malam outside Lot 1. Learned that there is a malay version of the tutu kueh that has brown sugar for fillings instead of the usual coconut and peanut. It's good lehh! I shall look out for it the next time I see a pasar malam. Haha..

So there. That about sums up the past few weeks. Time flies.. It's mid june already. I shall enjoy and relax for the rest of June. Then start gearing up for uni in July. Let's hope uni won't be too much of a culture shock.

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.

Ah I never expected to draw that many comments on the last post. Lol.

But in any case, I had my Keppel assessment today and it was seriously challenging =X I felt quite stupid after the tests actually. They were a little like the IQ tests on fb. The first one was short passages followed by true/false/cannot tell statements. The second was mainly intepreting graphs and data. The third was the pattern kind where you are shown a sequence and asked to decide what comes next. I left TEN questions blank for the last one. That's 1/4 of the total number of questions. And to think I was still kinda proud of myself for being able to figure out the answers as I did the first 30 questions. Righttt. Logical thinking and math are supposed to be my strengths. >< I was quite relieved though, that Keppel's idea of "verbal reasoning" was nothing close to a group debate/discussion. I don't think I would do well for that.

The essay question was unexpected but I suppose still manageable. I managed to write something sensible - or at least I think it is sensible, although my essay was clearly sorely lacking concrete examples. I realise though, that my EL has deproved tremendously. I seem to write very colloquially now. I really need to start reading and writing more.

That about sums up the assessment. I might not do well for it, but like all the others, I think it was a good experience. I met people I knew though! Shiju who did 你怕黑吗？in J1! I did sounds for that play. He went to VJC after the first 3 mths but we didn't know each other very well so we never kept in contact. We found each other familiar at the waiting area and somehow figured out how we knew each other. I think interviews and assesments are good for getting to know more people! Acquaintances they may be, but you might very well see them again. After all, only that many people intend to study overseas, and we only have that many universities in sg..

Electone competition was atrocious. Don't ask about it. Let's pretend it never happened! Hahaa. Rightt.

And mel! I only found out today what TGIF means!! Waaha. And I found out cos my sqdmates kept going TGIT cos tmr's the LAST working day for the week! Happiness. Hehh. And Geraldine and I are heading to Pizza Hut to make good their super attractive meal deal before we head to FaithActs.

I love the life I lead.

I've been accepted at SMU! Double degree in Econs and Accountancy. Yeshh. Must learn to be content. No scholarship ehh nvm la right. I'll ehh go earn and save my own money for exchange. BUT I think I still have a slight chance at keppel's. I was quite happy with my performance at the interview and I have been 'invited' for the next assesment on wed. Its the part I hate most in all the scholarship selection processes but oh well. In any case, it'll be a good experience? After all, I think the 2 interviews that I flopped before I did the keppel one, were very useful for preparing me for the keppel one itself. Experience helps. But it kinda also reminds me that I'm not the type who'll excel at things I have never done before. But NVM.

On a side note, if anybody's going to smu, kindly let me know? I don't want to go to school on my own...

...I sound like a pre-schooler =/

I feel more and more stupid after each interview =X

I would say the SMU one that I did this morning was way better than the CAAS one. The professors were friendly and they didn't put on airs. But I'm very disappointed with my performance because the questions were so simple and expected yet I didn't have the proper answers.

One of the highlights of my interview
Interviewer: (Pause) Well that's a really optimistic view of the econs crisis! *looks at other interviewer and laughs*

Me: Errr yah *laughs* (thinks: I would love to disappear now cos they know how little I know abt the econs crisis)

Awkward silence

Another highlight
Interviewer: So are you intending to go into teaching?

Me: Well, no. *laughs*

*interviewers laugh*

Interviewer: So what do you intend to do then?

Me: Eh work in the econs/finance department in a firm

Interviewers: *nods*

And then they decide to change the topic.

Me: *thinks: huh? That's all???*

Yet another highlight
Interviewer: So how familiar are you with the resilience package?

Me: *stumped; realise I've completely forgotten about it* Ahh, somewhat familiar.

Interviewer: Okay so tell us what you know about it.

Me: *thinks: oh dearrrrrrrrr*

There's a lot more that I rmb actually. My mind was whirring the moment I stepped into the interview room. I spoke so quickly and yet so fluently I suprised even myself. It didn't feel like I was the one speaking. The words just came and though I know I have shown myself to be an ignorant applicant with what I said, I thank God that at least I could string sentences at lightning speed.

I'm not optimistic about the scholarship. Not at all. I'll just be a normal student. Yea. It's not that bad is it? =X

You see that's the problem with aiming high. You, or at least I, will only give my best shot for smth I am convinced I want very badly. And so I usu convince myself that I want smth real bad so that I would see myself put in my all. But when I fail to get what I want in the end, the disappointment becomes real. Although in the first place, I wouldn't even have felt anything cos I was content with what I had and I didn't exactly want that additional smth. But oh welll. Who ask me to be so lazy I won't try hard enough for smth without first believing that I really want it?

Tmr's keppel. I'm not hopeful bout this one at all.