Dinner Gathering @ Lyells', shoppaholic at it again, wishes for end of semester.

Finally the updates from Dinner at Lyell's and Nancy's 2 Sundays(20 May) ago. I know chaboh loo's gonna "kill" me when she sees this cause she's gonna get "oh-so-jealous" about the food. Yup, there were 15 of us in total, heaps of delicious food to go with rice or bread, and awesome desserts for the sweet-toothed. After dinner, we went on to the hilarious game of taboo, where all the shouting and excitement didn't even cause the sleeping Dom to twitch one bit... :D

Then just last Saturday was the long-awaited City shopping trip. I've gotta say I've been deprived of the city for almost 2 months already. And when that happens, it just doesn't bod well because I spent a freaking few hundred plus in total! Ah well, twas to make up for all the "lost" time, or maybe it's just self consolation for the burn in my pocket. :P But anyway, here's the shopping! For a precise item description, please check out my Shoppaholic Blog.

Last week was also the last week of badminton. It was good meeting some new friends over the past couple of weeks of playing. And so, someone came up with the idea of "round-the-court" badminton on the last 2 days. You line up and each person hits the shuttlecock once and run to the queue and the next person has to hit to the next person on the other side of the court and so forth. Whoever misses needs to run around the whole of Binishell. We had a pretty fun time! :)

So it's end of the semester again. Darn, time sure passes really fast. It seemed like just yesterday Mum came back to Gippy with me, and then I met Eileen and Dom and got to know Ying, Ammie and their Dalpura 4 housemates better, started playing tennis with Kal, and got to know 2 cute guys (Don't worry, just lookin!) Ah Hao and Wangwei. All this happened in a time span of 6 months that have just gone by in a flash! Well I'm glad for meeting the new friends to keep me sane (while I miss my chabohs & pooh gang), thanks! Meantime, best of luck for those who have exams coming along! ;)

S.H.E's Play Album 3 songs: 中國話, 五月天 & 聽袁惟仁彈吉他)

Well, the moment my pal told me about S.H.E's new album released on 11th May, I zoomed to google to find out about the album tracks and youtube to find the MTVs. Since it's a really new album, I only managed to find 3 of the more popular songs. They are really cute and good, and of course I love em! So take a break and enjoy!

中國話 (Zhong Guo Hua) - Chinese Language
This tongue twister of a song was so addictive that it got stuck in my head the whole time, after listening to it! 扁担宽 板凳长, 扁担想绑在板凳上 (Bian Dan Kuan Ban Deng Chang, Bian Dan Xiang Bang Zai Ban Deng Shang) - Carrying Pole is Wide Wooden Bench is Long, Carrying Pole wants to tie itself to the Wooden Bench. It sounds right in chinese, cause it's a tonque twister!

五月天 (Wu Yue Tian) - May Day
This song tells of a story between neighbours Selina and May Day's lead singer Ashin who falls in love. While Selina wants to take the step faster, Ashin teases her by taking it slow and kissing her only after they have gone for a few dates.

聽袁惟仁彈吉他) (Ting Yuan Wei Ren Tan Ji Ta) - Listen to Yuan Wei Ren play the guitar
This song is super funny! S.H.E raps about the life story of song writer Yuan Wei Ren who tries to play the guitar. It's really interesting! Ella raps really well. ;)

S.H.E's New Album "Play" and Chinese Music Rocks my World.

S.H.E's (Selina, Hebe and Ella) New Album "Play"

I want it, I want it, I want it! My pal pal just told me about S.H.E releasing their new album, titled "Play". I'ma waiting for him to send it to me next soon. *eyes open wide and shining*

Oh have I told you that I prefer chinese songs to english songs? Not because I'm a blardy "chi-nah" person, but because some english songs these days have no meaning at all. I'd prefer crooning to the oldies love songs from the 60s to 90s. Compare the music videos and you'll see what I mean.

English MTVs: Women in skimpy outfits dirty dancing, men doing hip-hop down the street or people doing silly things. MTV is lame and repetative.

Chinese MTVs: Love stories of happiness or heartbreak, marriages, inspirations, respect, dreams and a whole heap more. Each MTV tells a story.

Don't believe me? Go watch it on YouTube then. :p

Tennis over Badminton, Neighbours around and Culture Night 2007 Photos

Just had another tennis lesson last night. After weeks of badminton over tennis, the coach had one thing to say, "You are both using badminton styles! You can't mix both, it's either one or the other." *sigh* The people who have a knack for tennis or are interested are getting less. Ying now prefers badminton to tennis and tubbs got frustrated playing as well. But I'm still a passionate tennis fan and I think I'd quit badminton after this year to fully concentrate on tennis.

Anyway it's nice when you have neighbours all round who are friends. You can just pop over for a chit chat, ask to borrow some garlic, or go disturb people when you're bored. And the guys at Kal's have a nintendo DS as well, so they've asked to go over play wireless games sometime. So I finally pop over to get the photos and so, here goes the Culture Night Photo Outbursts:

The pre-evening dress worn for my "Rainie Yang - Dream Lover" singing performance and also to match Eileen for our "Atomic Kitten - Eternal Flame" performance. Top photo: Sookie, Sharon, Me, Eileen and Ying. Then some shots of the performance. Honestly, my couple casts looked really compatible, but they are not an item in real life la. *evil grins* Casts: Ah Hao as photographer, Sharon as Ballerina and actor's love, Sookie as photographer's model.

Our "Atomic Kitten - Eternal Flame" performance by Ying, Eileen, me and Ammie. Pardon the fleshy arms la I know. *pouts* Bottom right photo: Ammie in her pretty sari, Alex, Eileen, me and Sharon.

Finally, a change in costume. Top photo: 2 "extras" from the Churchill Soccer Club, me, Eileen, Ah Hao, Kal, Leon and GF Cindy, and Alex. Centre right: Me, Dominic and Eileen. The rest I'm sure need no more introduction. Tubbs was being teased as looking like a kungfu master or something and a chubby one at that too. haha. :D

Lastly, it's Singapore VS Malaysia in the flag photo shot. Of course, there's the extra "angmo" in the shot again. We were arguing about how the numbers of Malaysians overpowered the Singaporeans. Well, that's another story which I shan't go into. :p

So that's all for the Culture Night 2007 Ball with the theme "Shanghai Night". If you feel like looking at more shopping, the Insane Shoppaholic blog was also updated last couple of days ago. Till next time then..

May the Lord take her into the Kingdom of Heaven

R.I.P in the arms of God, Aunt Mary

My mum just sent me the sad news when I got back from church on Saturday evening. My auntie, who had also been battling the same Colon Cancer as my beloved Grandma and Aunt Janet, had passed away on Sat 12th May. That same disease had taken away the lives of 3 of my loved ones already, will it slowly take us all away too? Since my auntie was the 3rd case, the doctor had warned my mum and other aunties and uncles and maybe even the next generation down to have frequent checkups as this could be hereditary.

Whatever it is, in a time like this, I wished I could be back home with all my relatives and loved ones, to be with my cousins, nephews and nieces, just to be there for physical support. It brings tears to my eyes knowing I can't be there. So in respect, I would put off displaying the Culture Night photos for the time being. You might see a couple on friendster or my gamespot blog.

Culture Night Pre-Photo Comments

~ Last year, the PA System guys forgot to turn off the right channel for my song, thus I had to sing louder to outpower the actual singers, this year they actually stop short my song midway, and I had to stop abruptly on stage with my other casts, walk off stage to see what went wrong.

~ Then for our english song performance, the mic cackled so loud that it actually sounded like something was cackling in flames, ironic or what? Since our song title was "Eternal Flame" - by Atomic Kittens.

~ Then I forgot that my freaking camara could only record max. 3 mins, so the "oh-so-perfect" pre-ball rehearsal we had was painfully cut short since my song was 4min 24 secs.

~ Then as usual for every year, every ball, sweet darling buys me a corsage, but this time the flowers were "oh-so-big" that I looked like I'm wearing a bouquet on my wrist, so it was displayed on the table all night.

~ Then the food was actually great, but because they had come all the way from Springvale, they tasted a bit cold and not fresh or crispy(for the fried finger foods).

~ Then half the time, because the venue was small and the stage not up high, everyone's talking was amplified and no one really paid attention to the performances.

What a night, you tell me. Although I'd still like to thank those ISA members who put in the effort, but it's definitely something that should have been better. Photos will come in the next few days after I've copied from everyone else. Videos however, *fingers crossed* that I can get it successfully from Ammie soon. So have a good weekend everyone.

A competition that wasn't "me" and missing those that matter a whole heap

I lost every single match in Badminton last night. Yes, every single Mix Doubles or Womens Doubles match. Could it be because this is the first time I've been in a badminton competition or this is the 2nd time in five years I've played badminton again or maybe because I've been the biatch for choosing someone else to pair with instead of tubbs? Whatever it is, the feeling is numb and there is no such sore or whatsoever. In fact I'm glad at least tubbs will get a medal home, like he always does. And perhaps, I'm more of a tennis person, at least I win more games at tennis. Yes, that's right and we shall stop at that.

So it's the ISA Culture Night again tonight. Every year, it gets a little less meaningful, probably because the people that matter alot to me aren't around. I remember we used to be so excited about it days before, thinking of what to wear, getting ready hours before hand and stuff. Of course this year, there would still be an effort to look nice, because there are new friends around that care and I shouldn't have a callous attitude, otherwise it'll be unfair to them. But the feeling's just different. It just is, you know what I mean.
~ I miss my chabohs, my fun-loving and wild shoppaholic chabohs
~ I miss us going on a retail therapy trip down melbourne
~ I miss us going out for our Yum Cha sessions
~ I miss the crazy parties, clubbing and drinking till we're pissed sessions
~ I miss cooking meals, having dinner and chatting together

~ I miss Miko cooking "Mee hun kuey" for us and asking us go round to eat
~ I miss my pooh gang, going out for dinners at traralgon and the potluck
~ I miss the shopping at Chadstone and the short trips we took together
~ I miss going to church on Sundays with Tigger and to Midvalley after that
~ I just miss every single thing we did together as a gang or just a couple of us.

Oh how I "hate" Gippsland sometimes. It brings people together in the beginning yet tears them apart later. Maybe not mentally, but physically is bad enough.

Friends from Venus and Mars

(Edited Post)
I've read the book "Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus" before. And in the beginning, the author starts with his wife needing his attention and getting him to run some errands just awhile after childbirth. And when the author doesn't understand her complains and forgets the errands, she told him one thing that made him reflected about himself; she said something like, "John Gray, you're a fair-weathered friend! When I am happy and all, you are willing to be with me, but when I'm sad or in times of need, you ignore me or walk away from me".

I can't quite remember if those were the exact words, but the point is there. Sometimes I can't help but feel that it's the same with friends as well. When there are happy posts of good food, handsome guys and fun stuff, there will be comments and chatter on the cbox. But when a post reflects sadness or my thoughts occasionally, where did everyone go? It's astonishing that there are more comments on my Gamespot blog; from people whom I only know through the Internet. What happened to the care and concern from real friends? Does "life" really take you away from everything?

Congrats to Stacey on her lovely twin girls and the relationship crystal

Firstly, congrats to Stacey, the first of "Pooh Gang" to get married and just gave birth to two beautiful twin girls Angela and Belinda, Belinda really looks like her. :) With that, I pondered about when will it be my turn? Or at least to walk down the aisle in that pretty white gown with my future husband; the one who is supposedly the "right one", who understands you best, who loves you and only you, who is supposed to be together with you, for better or for worse, in health and sickness, and to live happily ever after.

But it's not always the case, isn't it? The "right one" might become the "wrong one" after a few months, or a few years? When you quarrel, you start to see only the ugly side of your partner, you might forgive, but you can't forget. I've always wondered how couples quarrel and yet their love for each other remains the same or gets even deeper. I salute them for their honour of love.

Being single is a pain, but sometimes, being attached can be an even bigger pain. To me, a relationship is like a piece of crystal, with every quarrel and bad karma comes a scratch, and with each scratch it loses its significance. In the end, would the piece of crystal be able to sustain the wear and tear? Would I try to hide the flaws and keep it or would I put it away and never wanting to see it again?