_colour my life_ my monologue

Saturday, June 30, 2007

Skylark 80, Join Seletar 2000 feet, Runway 21, QNH 1011

Haha that's the kind of stuff I learnt today. All the R/T calls to control. And there're so many agencies in Singapore althought we're so small. Skylark Ops, Seletar Ground, Seletar Tower, Paya Lebar Approach, Sembawang, etc etc. Tired. Argh. Haha and Singapore got humiliated. Lolol. Ah well.

I'm so afraid I'll turn out wrong

a moment in time.
22:44

YEAH MAN. Midyears, suck THIS. Hoho. So yeah, Chinese was pretty easy. Then listening which was rather amusing cos it reminded me of primary school. Heh. And then suddenly it was all over, and a subtle wave of bliss rushed over me. WHEE. Went out today! :) Haha finally! After soooo long. :) Travelled all over the island. Haha and met up with da homies for supper. Good times. Tomorrow's the farewell for the stadium. Let's hope Singapore has a chance to win. Heh.

I live a pseudo-urban suburban life.

a moment in time.
00:47

Thursday, June 28, 2007

Haha suddenly so many people are online. Almost five-fold. Ah well. Chinese. But after that, it'll be close to bliss. :) For about half a day. Then it's 0800 hours on Saturday for groundschool. Ah well. Shit, haven't studied for Chinese. Sigh. Ah well. It's not something I care much for. As long as I get Cs and above. As long as laoshi is appeased. Heh. Alright, 'night all!

a moment in time.
23:14

WOO. The worst is over. And chem wasn't even that hard. Wth la it was easier than math. oO Gah. Ok, I think I kinda like phychem now, but I'm still sure I'm gonna hate orgchem. So today was the end of the big ones. Tomorrow's Chinese, which is like whatever. Haha went to Gelare with ch and leon after phototaking. Lolol. Then came back and I've been on the computer since. Damn. No life. Yay can start going out liao. Hope everyone does well!

a moment in time.
17:26

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Finally, half the MYES over :) 2 more to go. Stress levels have decreased. Math was bleh-ed. Like a repeat of IP1 final. Haha somewhat manageable questions but no time :( I realised it's mainly because I take too much time on graphs. Then I saw that question 3 was actually quite easy, but I thought it was hard at the beginning so I skipped. And I saw it at the end of the exam. Argh. Ah well. Hoping for at least a pass! I hate studying in school. Had to study geog at the lib before the exam. But the exam was ok. Just that damn weird questions. Like the last question. How to answer! Wah.

AND I MEMORISED SO MUCH GEOGRAPHY STUFF THAT DIDN'T COME OUT!!!

Every case study I memorised by hazards management as well as population did not come out. From Japan to China to South Africa to Nigeria to South Africa to Kenya to USA to Canada to New Zealand to Singapore. Wth la. Geog is one of the stuff I regret studying so much for. Bleh. And damn big stuff like mass movement, rocks, migration, consumption, development, did not come out. Damn damn damn irritating. I better get some grades for doing all the work. Heh.

Alright, chem tomorrow. Used to be my nemesis. Haha, we'll see tomorrow. Then exco mtg and s41 photo taking! Haha. Then after that, just Chinese and it'll be over. Then comes SYFC flights, PW, drama, and a whole lot more crap heading this way.

a moment in time.
22:47

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

2 down, 4 to go.

Physics was okay. Just okay. The questions were mostly manageable/easy, but not enough time! Wth, I din't even get to read the 2nd part of 1st question of section c. Ah well, what's done is done. Tomorrow's the great day of math AND geog - the two subjects with the most content to cover. I can't believe I really managed to finish covering all 3 today. I've made a graph of stress levels!

Where x-axis is time, y-axis is average stress, gradient is rate of change of stress, and area under the curve the total stress. HAHA. Notice that Wednesday is 6-fold of Monday and 3-fold of Tuesday. That's because (Math + Human Geog + Physical Geog) = 3(Physics) = 6(KI). Hoho. It's almost proportional to the time taken to cover each subject. Yup. :) Ok time to drift. Cya all.

"I never thought that love
Could turn someone into a dreamer"

a moment in time.
22:32

Monday, June 25, 2007

SAFARI FOR WINDOWS IS OUT!!!

I predicted this the first time I got into Apple-love. I experienced Safari, saw the stats, and two years ago, I predicted that one day, this great browser, would be available to those of us bound to M$.

Behold, Apple Safari, the greatest internet browser in the world, now available for Windows.

http://www.apple.com.sg/safari/

KI was FUN. :) Haha I just hope my essay wasn't too skimpy. I shall have to balance my paragraphs next time. Surprisingly, critical thinking, which has been the nightmare paper for me in KI due to lack of practice and skill in extracting arguments, was rather easy. :) So yay, 1 down, 5 to go. Shall go read Physics and have lunch and play NFS Carbon now. Jiayou everyone!

Why KI pwns you GP-boys.
- We end 1.25 hours early! (2 if you consider the GP break)
- We don't have comprehension, summary, and AQ!!! :)
- We write at least 700-800 words an hour

Whee!

a moment in time.
13:27

Sunday, June 24, 2007

Let's hit it.

Day 1: Knowledge and Inquiry.

In 9 hours.

Let's get rolling.

a moment in time.
22:24

Saturday, June 23, 2007

Second day of SYFC today. Damn long day. Super tired now. Haha the test was mcq. So it was fine, then long long mass brief on taxying for takeoff and landing. Haha and all the R/T stuff. And mentoring by alumni. Ended 530. Haha we did flight bookings today. Mine looks something like that:

And that's because our school timetable doesn't allow me to have flights on any other days besides Wednesday, which is actually drama day. Because you have to be 45 min early before flights.

The flight bookings guy told me my progress rate will be slow. Which I'm inferring, is to mean I'll probably get phased out quite early on once I don't complete enough flights for a fortnight. Haha there are like certs for Phase 1 and 2, and Phase 1 is 8 flights and by then I'd know how to fly the plane! I want that cert. Haha not really for the paper (seems everything's based on papers now), just that experience.

I'll be doing my best :) Won't let everyone who has been behind me down. I took 6 months to get into this course. And after admission through grades, medical, interview (my interview has a grade of "VG" oO, din't know interviews had grades) - I'm not gonna let this go so easily, and not let my dreams go so easily.

Anyway, I just watched Princess Diaries and I was thinking to myself it'd be cool to be a prince(ss). Haha! :) But maybe not. I love my life the way it is now, no matter how bad it can get. I've got the greatest people around me :)

6 days to FREEEEDOOOOM so let's hit the papers! All the best everyone! :)

a moment in time.
21:53

Friday, June 22, 2007

It is FINISHED!!!

Finished Physical Geography today, faster than any other subject! :) Haha there was so much NZ stuff in it and it reminded me of all our long walks looking at stuff in NZ. :( Sigh I miss NZ - the places and the people! Haha I wanna TRAVEL. Ok, I'm starting to fall sick. Hopefully I won't. We'll see tomorrow. Tomorrow's the SYFC test! Lalala.

Monday: ~~Human Geography~~, Knowledge and Inquiry
Tuesday: ~~Physics~~
Wednesday: ~~Mathematics~~
Thursday: ~~Chemistry~~
Friday: ~~Physical Geography~~, Chinese
Saturday: Geography case studies, SYFC test
Sunday: Knowledge and Inquiry

a moment in time.
23:05

Finished CH-CH-CH-CHEMISTRY!!!

WOOHOO. And it was pretty easy compared to math, in retrospect. I think I din't really like chem cos I totally din't listen during lectures or tutorials. That's probably why I've been failing chemtests. Haha omg I still remember sitting with Xh and talking during the polarity/dipole lectures and I was lost when it came to the tutorials. But today, in one reading, I understood EVERYTHING. Omgomgomg. I just hope I remember it all during the midyears. :)

Last big (half-)subject later today! Physical Geography. Then I'm DONE. Omg woo!

Monday: ~~Human Geography~~, Knowledge and Inquiry
Tuesday: ~~Physics~~
Wednesday: ~~Mathematics~~
Thursday: ~~Chemistry~~
Friday: Physical Geography, Chinese
Saturday: Geography case studies, SYFC test
Sunday: Knowledge and Inquiry

a moment in time.
01:16

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

WHEEE. Finished mathematics today! Haha I really thought I couldn't finish, because I ended series A at 8pm, but then I love series B! All the matrices, progression. Haha whee. So it's chemistry tomorrow. My (currently) most hated subject! Actually now I'm deciding whether I hate chem or math more. Gah. Haha yay. It's going to plan! :)

Monday: Human Geography, Knowledge and Inquiry (DONE)
Tuesday: Physics (DONE)
Wednesday: Mathematics (DONE)
Thursday: Chemistry
Friday: Physical Geography, Chinese
Saturday: Geography case studies, SYFC test
Sunday: Knowledge and Inquiry

A typical study day goes like:
1300: Wake, brunch, start studying first series/A/term
2000: Dinner, start studying second series/B/term
0000: Go on computer
1300: Sleep

So I'm getting 12 hours of sleep!

But it's not very complete, or good. :( Never do any past year papers, or do the questions. I've been reading through all the notes and all the tutorials and just trying to understand everything and how I go about answering everything. Maybe that's good enough. :)

Haha somehow I still don't consider this mugging. I really need some mug-EXP points.

Jiayou everybody!

a moment in time.
23:50

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Haha. Well, I'm studying! :) Hooray. Yes yes I shouldn't be online but I finished reading Physics notes! So it's 12 now, and I've got till about 1am or so to finish the past year paper and random questions to see how much I remember. My one subject a day study plan is coming along quite well. Of course, I'm aware that I should have given myself extra weeks to do the questions and go through answers and all, but I don't have the time. And I finished Human Geography yesterday, including all the readings *is proud of myself!*, and finished the Physics notes today quite on time. But tomorrow's a challenge - mathematics. And the whole year, I haven't touched tutorials at all. Hoho. I really want those A's :(

a moment in time.
23:56

Monday, June 18, 2007

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MICHELLE! :)

Have a wonderful sweet 17th darl!

a moment in time.
00:10

The rain started to fall again. He strolled through the empty park, step by step. Under the dim glow of the foggy streetlamps; his arms limp by his sides as he took each step towards no end. There he saw the shadow of a figure, a silhouette of a familiar face. As he got closer, he remembered everything. As the face got clearer, it shimmered into the night sky. He stretched his arm out, as if to reach for something, but stopped. She was gone.

Hmm. I might need more than a day for each subject. Sigh. Never mind. Trust God, trust myself, and hope for the best. :) I start... TODAY! Monday. Today I'm studying KI and Geography. WOO. Here we go.

a moment in time.
00:09

Sunday, June 17, 2007

There and Back Again

Day 10 and 11 2007 06 06 – 2007 06 07

The utter angst hit me the moment I woke up. We spent the day in Auckland, after having the last NZ meal together :( It was a Western breakfast at the bar (served by the pretty bartender!) – hard toast, sausage, butter, scrambled eggs. Then we walked to the University of Auckland! I LOOOVE walking in the morning in NZ! Such wonderful weather :) There was this huge billboard “All the best for your exams” haha how appropriate. Our schools never do that :( And we went to the Geography department. NZ is the perfect place to do Physical Geography studies, but Singapore’s better for Urban Studies. And we toured the school. They had their own marae! And we were let off for sh-sh-sh-shopping! :)

I had COOKIES!!! And went around with Chris Melissa Enid Soongteng Nicole. Haha din’t buy much. Chris was bored too. So I left them to their shoe/clothes-shopping and went to find Wingyan Jinghan Michelle. Haha and we took photos with a cute blonde kid! :) And they sat around eating sushi. I bought some honey yay. :) Then it was time… :(

We got onto our last bus ride. Set off for the airport, and the scenery changed and changed, till we finally reached the airport. Said goodbye to Paul (Jon left after Mt Eden) and we entered Departure. That was the time I went shopping. I saved all my time and money for the airport. I spammed cash and literally ran around spending money! Haha I finished 5 shops in 15 minutes spending more than a hundred. Haha. Bought lots of teddies :) SHEEP! Baabaa. And we waited at the gate. :( Sigh.

Then they announced for us to board, and we got onto the plane. At least I got to sit with Wingyan and Enid :) Haha and found out we could call everyone else on the plane! So I called everyone who was bored too. Haha damn cool. And we played “Scrambledash” game and I won :) Haha “QUICK THINKING!” :) Stopped off at Brisbane and I got the only souvenir I got from Australia that trip – FHM. LOLOL. They have damn funny stuff inside. Then it was the final leg. 2am – we reached Singapore. Said goodbye, and went our separate ways. :(

a moment in time.
16:49

Today was my first day at SYFC. A full 8 hours from 0830 to 1630. Briefings and all. And collection of materials. LECTURES from 130 to 430. It was really like taking yet another H2. It can be like Phase I is H1, Phase 2 is H2, PPL is H3. And next Saturday, the Saturday just before the Midyears, we have a test. Yes, a TEST.

But I know I shouldn't be complaining. I've gotten everything I prayed for, everything I wished for, and that God has graciously granted me all my dreams, despite how bad I can be. I'm in Drama Exco, I'm in SYFC, and it seems my opportunities never end. I am grateful for my life, but sometimes, I feel like though I can get all these, I just don't have enough time to do everything I want to do. From probably around 3 years old, my first toy was an aeroplane, and I ALWAYS wanted to be a pilot, but now that I've gotten that chance, I can't believe I'm so ready to let it go.

The BFC takes 8-10 flights, and if I do well enough, it should be over in 3-4 months. I'm not considering the license because it'll clash with SYF and I'm committed to Drama. Yup. So yeah.

Thanks to everyone who has stood by me from the very start when I first applied, all the way till now :) Thanks for the support and encouragement. I won't let you down. :)

Is it love?

PS. New NZ day9 post below!

a moment in time.
00:33

Saturday, June 16, 2007

There and Back Again

Day 9 2007 06 05

It was our great shopping day. :) We had a Chinese breakfast at the Chinese restaurant. Haha so weird. I always felt that we should never have food we can have at home when we go overseas. But it wasn’t food we usually have here. It was Chinese Chinese food. MANTOU :) Omg I so love mantou. And I had plain porridge. And warm milk mixed with sugar. With mantou dipped in it. Haha my own recipes :) and we left for Mt Eden, one of the many volcanoes scattered throughout the city in the Auckland Volcanic Field. Haha it’s actually quite freakily cool to be living amongst all these volcanoes which could go off at any time.

It was covered in pretty green grass and was really really windy. Not very high, but the best natural place from which to get great views of Auckland (for free). Haha! A great place to walk and enjoy the sunset with loved ones :) And we learned about Auckland and it’s quite a nice place to live in. Almost all the areas are low-rise, with restrictions to build beyond a certain height to maintain the natural landscape. That’s damn cool! But a bit sian because you don’t really get nice cityscapes like Singapore. We took a LOT of jumpshots there. :) And there was this compass pointing to all the “major cities” and Singapore was one of them! At 8410km away. :)

We went for a ride through the city centre and the coast and bay areas. Wow. Retirement villages! I know where I’m gonna retire :) I love taking rides through cities :) Just soaking in the sights and sounds haha. Then it was SH-SH-SH-SHOPPING!!!

The main shopping street is Queen Street. And it’s more like Orchard Road than Oxford Street in London for the sole reason that there’s literally Chinese people EVERYWHERE. And at least a third of the stores, including and especially NZ souvenir stores, are Asian-owned (Japanese and Korean mostly). But it’s less like Orchard Road than Oxford Street because it’s mostly low-rise. Haha I started off at the All Blacks store and got a cute teddy! :) Then I roamed around with Chris for a while. Eating Dunkin’ Donuts, arcading, looking through books, and spendings HOURS at one particular cd/dvd shop. Haha. (No, it wasn’t porn. Lol.) It was like a Gramophone in NZ.

The Timezone there had this cool new game! 2 Spicy (http://2spicy.sega.jp/) It’s not an ordinary shooter. You can zoom in and headshot, and learn skills, and use pedals to go left and right etc. Haha quite cool. But I prefer the Japanese one where the cameras capture your movement and your character moves exactly. Then can hide and all. Haha that one has yet to be beaten. Then after that, we tried going back to our apartments because we had a lot of time to waste and nearly got lost haha. But it was fun. And after that, I went off by myself to emo around Queen Street.

I went up SkyTower myself. Because everyone else pangsehed me and went shopping. Haha I spent a good two hours up there, just admiring the view and taking lots of panos. I met a Singaporean family up there haha! Oh! There were lots of Singaporeans in NZ the same time as us. Including HCI, RGS. Hoho. We met them along the way, here and there. Anyway, it was really beautiful as the city started to light up. Wow. Every city I visit, I make it a point to go up to the highest viewpoints. Because that’s where you can really soak in the life of the city. And it’s especially beautiful at night :)

Met up with the others and we went to Wendy’s for dinner! :) MMM…BURGERS. And they had meaty chilli! Like the meat thingy at Carl’s Jr but for 3 NZ dollars! And a LOT of stuff. Gosh. Could have been a meal itself. And yay! I had a sundae with peanut butter crisps on it :) *happy* Haha then we took a stroll back to the hotel for our LAST NIGHT IN NZ :( Spent most of the time in the girls’ room again. Sigh. :(

And I went down to the lounge and had two shots of Bailey’s with Chris Melissa Enid. Haha no questions asked. Just pay and it appeared. And the bartender was PRETTY :) But I din’t get to take a photo with her :( Haha then there was a fight at the lobby between some Indian homies. LOLOL. It was more amusing because it was pretty childish and they just made lots of noise and vulgarities. Haha. Then I was tired and went back to my room at 1am. Last night :(

a moment in time.
23:39

Friday, June 15, 2007

Tomorrow's my first day at SYFC. I don't know if I feel happy or frustrated that I got in. I'm happy that I got through the whole application process, apparently out of thousands. Wow. But I'm frustrated because I'm stressed about midyears and worried about the consequences, and scared that SYFC will cut away the little time I still have left. My commitments now include Drama, Subjectif, SYFC, PW and schoolwork. And I'm hoping to take 2 H3s. Or maybe one - Geography, and if possible, Physics.

But I'm commiting myself to getting at least the Basic Flying Certificate. The Private Pilot License is still quite a long way. The Basic Flying Course takes 4 months including 1 month Orientation which starts tomorrow, with 20 sorties (flights) culminating in the 1st solo flight. I'm gunning to get that BFC, which will probably be around October. Hopefully it won't affect my Promos. The PPL will clash with Drama SYF and Drama Nite, so that will be another issue. Wish me luck people. :)

Haha. My first time playing BF2142 and I get 2 kill assists, 1 kill, 1 silo capture, and my team wins with the destruction of the enemy Titan. HAHA I got da mojo man. :)

a moment in time.
22:18

There and Back Again

Day 8 2007 06 04

Another wonderful breakfast, and we left National Park, setting off into the cold dawn for Waitomo. It was a damn long journey, nearly 3 hours. And there was an astounding sight – the green hills were blanketed in soft clouds! Omg so beautiful. TOTALLY TELETUBBY LAND!!! We stopped off at a Caltex in the Te Kuiti, the “Shearing Capital of the World”, but most people din’t know cos they were sleeping. Haha! And I bought jerky and mints there :) And they give out cute cute cards to kids! And I got one. Haha yay.

We arrived at Waitomo and went for a walk through the Aranui Cave area. It was sort of a rainforest with limestone caves all around. The stratified layers of limestone were clear in the rock all around and it was like seeing the physical geography diagrams in real life. Haha. We went into one of the caves, and walked through some caves, got to see waterfalls and stuff. With limestone everywhere! Then we lunched at the Kiwipaka YHA at Waitomo! PIZZA! Omg. Pizza buffet! :) Mediterranean-style pizzas with thin crusts and loads of toppings! Like venison and random chunks of meat and all sorts of cheeses. Including feta cheese (read: Oedi!) :) So nice! Haha. Then while everyone was doing the fieldbook thing, I went out and took nice photos :)

After lunch, we visited the Waitomo Museum of Caves. Like every DoC place we visited, it was full of physical geography stuff. Limestone diagrams everywhere, samples of rocks, videos, and a “cave” tunnel which everyone, including the teachers, tried. I was the last to try and apparently got through the fastest :) Haha! Then I bought some coins from there, and we left for the glow-worm caves! :)

We were guided by the great grand-daughter of the Maori guy who found the caves! :) That’s quite cool. And almost all her relatives have had their weddings in the cave. It’s such a beautiful place! In a weird, freaky limestone-stalactite-stalagmite sort of way. Full of limestone and karst. Haha it was almost too real to be true. Like you always see this stuff on TV and in books, but seeing the caves is an experience. Then the choir people sang at the “cathedral” and it was heavenly :) Haha!

We got into the boats for a trip around seeing the glow-worms. WOW. It was really really pretty (if you forgot that they were larvae), and it was like a night, full of beautiful stars – a starry starry night! :) Haha sooo pretty! :) So sad no photos allowed :(

It was time for the last leg of the North Island loop – a 3-4 hours drive from Waitomo to Auckland. There were amazing sunset scenes but the bus din’t stop for us to get off and appreciate the views, and it was the last time we saw the countryside that week, so those of us not sleeping (i.e. those at the back of the bus), Chris and I, spammed our cameras. Got some nice shots. And we stopped somewhere along the Waikato River. I got a beautiful sunset pano there :) With a geothermal power station in the background. Yay!

I fell asleep, and woke up when we were reaching the hotel. And I was so freaked. I thought we suddenly arrived back in Singapore because there were Chinese people everywhere. You have to understand, they weren’t New Zealander Chinese, they were Chinese Chinese, not Singaporean Chinese, and there were Asians everywhere. Our hotel, Empire Apartments was a serviced apartment owned by Chinese, and inside were East Asians everywhere. Wow. And that’s because the third largest demographic group in NZ is “Asian”. And our guides were saying that the Asian/Chinese influence in Auckland is really strong. And it was evident even when we left the hotel. At first I thought we were staying in a sort of Chinatown, but it became evident that Auckland was just that way everywhere. Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Thai, Malaysian stores and stalls everywhere, along the streets. We ate at a Denny’s restaurant in a Korean area.

Omg. I totally love Denny’s! We used to have it here. And I used to go there for waffles and great American diner food. But now, it’s gone. :( And all we have is Billy Bomber’s. My dinner was a surf and turf with tomato juice. :) Whee! That night, I went to the girls’ room (somehow, all the guys in my room left for girls’ rooms) and we watched Juice TV. And other random stuff. Our hotel’s really nicely designed. Clean look, marble and glass and whitewash! :) With a great view of the city centre. And near the city centre as well. Haha I’ll consider living there if I ever study in Auckland :)

a moment in time.
19:52

Drama camp today :) Haha a VJC-TJC collaboration! I hope everyone enjoyed it :) Haha TJC says they want another camp next year! This time held at TJC. So yay :) Haha we had a movement and character work course and a mime course today. Really refreshing because the applications and techniques are all new. So I definitely learnt something today :)

written in the stars :)

a moment in time.
00:08

Thursday, June 14, 2007

There and Back Again

Day 7 2007 06 03

Day 7 was a wonderful day of snow, long walks, two new phrases, and m-m-m-MORDOR!!! :) We started off with a traditional NZ breakfast, like we did everyday. Roast and cereal! :) Whee. I love the life there! And there were cute little packets of butter, jams, honey, and vegemite! Haha and we set off for a wonderful day in Tongariro National Park! :) We left the village, passed by a railway station, then went through miles and miles of grassland and fields to the DoC centre (Department of Conservation) for that National Park. It was like some museum full of stuff about flora and fauna and volcanic eruptions and earthquakes and all the cool stuff in the area. It started to get pretty cold up there.

We carried on through gravel fields with the snow-capped peaks of the volcanoes constantly looking down on us, until we finally drove up Ruapehu, and the snow-virgins (one phrase I coined that day) started screaming out in ecstasy at the first sight of snow. Haha I was happy to see snow again. Snow ALWAYS makes me feel happy :) And we literally ran off the bus into the snow and started throwing snowballs and sliding on the snow haha! And camwhored like crazy there. Then Mr Najib pointed to the sign and said that was the surprise. Those words seemed to be in all their glowing glory, with the undeniable evil menace cast upon them:

“Meads Wall Walk (Lord of the Rings Filming Location)”

WOO! :) I had found out earlier the previous night, in the hotel book. Tongariro National Park is also known as … MORDOR. M-M-M-MORDOR. :) So after the great camwhore, I ran to the edge of the cliff and looked from there down upon the great mountain, with its craggy peaks, snow and gravel-covered slopes. Sadly, we spent just 15 minutes on that splendid snow-covered slope. We went down the mountain and set off on a 2 hour walk through the silica rapids, which we completed in 1.5 hours because we’re strong, fast and fit Victorians :)

I saw lots of cool cool vegetation, and the moment we got onto higher ground, I had a panorama of the whole park in that direction, just stretching into the horizon, damn big. And it was then that I noticed MASS MOVEMENT!!! There were landslides on the slope. And the words “Fisher would be proud” were spoken by me that fateful moment. It was only after we saw the whitish alumino-silicate deposits in the weird red river and carried on did I realise the scale of those landslides. Wow. The whole landscape was pretty surreal (but not as much as Hells Gate).

We carried on walking, and exited one forest to the next. And we crossed some bogs. Alpine bogs; and on instinct, I knew that was the Dead Marshes. Haha! And Encik confirmed it later on. After walking through a big big forest and finally exiting the walk, we sat down to a lunch of sandwiches :) We left Whakapapa Village and travelled a looong way through the desert (DAMN COOL) to the lahar at Tangiwai. A mud flow recently occurred in March, so the place had been left that way. Freaking surreal place. Step out and the stench hits you without warning. The mud flow is evident everywhere, with trees bent out of shape the same direction, and the boulders carried down from the peaks all still there, grey and grey everywhere.

We went for our last walk at National Park, at Ohakune – a walk through an “ancient forest” and saw tall tall trees! :) Then we went out to town for some sh-sh-sh-SHOPPING!!! Haha and I saw … chocolate milk. Not any lame Marigold or Magnolia, but CADBURY chocolate milk. Imagine drinking melted chocolate with milk. Not chocolate in milk, but milk in chocolate. OMG it’s an orgasm for the tastebuds. And so was the icecream sold at the dairy across the road. I had a scoop of my favourite NZ flavour – hokey pokey! And scoops are not Ben and Jerry’s scoops, or Scoopz scoops – one scoop is the size of three here! OMG the generous old shopkeepers! :) They were probably quite freaked seeing so many Singaporeans in their store. But they were really nice and generous and it was sooo worth it! :)

We returned to our lodge, and there was lots of time. I decided not to sleep in, so I went out into the cold evening air to take a short walk. Then it started drizzling, so I hurried back. And the streets were deserted. Haha. But I got some beautiful golden shots there! :) Sunsets are beautiful in NZ :) Then we watched the DVD the teachers bought. And they kept repeating loops haha. So retarded. Then it was dinner!

The owners of the place brought out the BBQ!!! Omg have barbeque in winter is damn nice. The smell of smoked roast, the warm flames, and the great great meat. Mmm… served along with the usual side dishes of roasted potatoes and soup. Wow. And there wasn’t much space in the dining room so I went to the lounge to watch the SIMPSONS with nic. Omg omg SIMPSONS! :) One of my utter favourites! Haha and Jon was there and he said the Simpsons is the best American export ever. Haha! It was some special about revenge. Lol! And the credits were damn funny cos they had random Star Wars stuff all over. Like “Hutt, Jabba the” HAHA! :)

We had a quiz and I was with Jac, Liqin, Yvonne and Brenda. Haha and we won :) Because I was the only person bored enough to read NZ travel guides AND remember that Wellington is the capital, not Auckland, and that Auckland has 1.2 million people. Haha. Then after everyone had gone to their rooms, I made myself some chocolate shake and went to the lounge and watched V for Vendetta with the people still there. Haha. Then went off to bed. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful times :)

a moment in time.
23:12

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Life. :)

a moment in time.
23:59

Monday, June 11, 2007

Haha "class" outing today. Haha come on S41 YOU CAN DO BETTER THAN THIS!!! In the end, it was us 6 guys - me ch erik leon daniel shannon, arcading and lanning. Haha eh my DOTA is improving! Slightly. Just that mana somehow always runs out even when I don't use spells. Wah. Haha but my CS is yay. Eh, I'm ready for next year's gamefest la. Really! :) Woo! Ok, tonight I won't blog about NZ, it takes too long and tomorrow's a long day. Goodbye.

a moment in time.
22:29

Sunday, June 10, 2007

There and Back Again

Day 6 2007 06 02

Our stay at the marae ended that cold, cold morning. I had a breakfast of cereal with peach melba! Haha quite a nice combo. There was a farewell and we were off again. We headed for Rotorua in the Bay of Plenty, famous for the geothermal areas. The stink of sulphurous gases filled the bus the moment we got near Hells Gate, and woke everyone up. It a freaking crazy place. Craters and fumaroles and geysers and boiling mud pools and sulphurous gases flowing out of holes, rising through the mist, covering everything. That’s why they call it the gates to Hell. It totally looked like something out of a scifi flick, like some alien planet.

There’s little to be said – you have to see it for yourself. And smell it. And feel it. We got to see one of the mud volcanoes that pop up randomly from time to time. Haha! I got to test the pH of the mud and it was freaking off the scale! It goes up to 1 there. ONE. Like wth! And we saw some thermophillic bacteria. And just admire the ugly, ugly landscape. Damn surreal. Haha on the way out Mr Josef suddenly started talking to me about Singapore and the education system and IP and H3 Geog. Haha it was one of the most fulfilling conversations I had in NZ.

Then it was something really touristy! We were brought to Skyline Skyrides! LUGE!!! If you think those Sentosa luges are cool, think again. The Luge was INVENTED by the NZ-ers. We took a gondola ride up the mountain (yes, a mountain, not like some lame hill at Sentosa) and had an international buffet lunch at the restaurant overlooking the whole city of Rotorua and the huge lake. I’m a total sucker for that kind of crap. Having meals overlooking picturesque panorama scenes. Some say that was the best lunch we had. There was NZ, Western, Japanese. Carved beef and lamb, seafood everywhere, dessert pies of all kinds. Whee! :)

Then I took the luge. WOO. Almost like go-karting but much more dangerous cos there’s no protection! And so it’s way more fun and you do everything with the handles. Went down the scenic course first, then took the chairlift up with Chris. Haha freaky la. Hanging in midair with the ground waaay below and shoes can fall off and be gone forever! Then somemore it suddenly stopped in the middle of nowhere for a looong time. Haha then we went for the advanced track instead of intermediate. Haha fun! Lots of twists and turns. But then we made the whole bus wait for us haha. Ah well. But omg fun.

At that point, we travelled to the Taupo Volcanic Zone, which includes Lake Taupo, caused by a caldera that blew up land bigger than Singapore. They kept repeating that to emphasise the size of it to us haha. It extends throughout the Bay of Plenty to Tongariro National Park, which kinda defines where we travelled for most of the trip. We visited the Volcanic Activity Centre. Sort of like a museum of volcanic stuff. Totally pwned Fisher’s lessons. Everything in one room. Haha. And watched a video on volcanic hazards – we were the first to watch! Then after the video, Najib said that the next day the teachers had a surprise for me haha. Quite excited.

Then we went to Huka Falls, full of turquoisy blue water surging through a small gorge. Haha that was the point we became typical Singaporeans. We were running from place to place, stopping just to take photos, and running again. Such as described in Humphrey’s Notes from an Even Smaller Island. Haha the typical Singaporean tourist. Then a stop for shopping which was the only one I din’t get off at, and a LOOONG bus ride to Tongariro National Park. Haha that was when I really got to know the A14 people, aka those who camped at the back of the bus with us. Chris, Melissa, Enid, Michelle. Haha. Cos I started singing, and soon we were all singing, and Mr Najib started singing, and we sang WESTLIFE!!! And duets. Haha. We only dared to do that because the bus was covered in darkness and most people were sleeping haha!

I was kinda the first to notice we were crossing OVER mountains and stuff. And it occurred to me that National Park to NZ-ers don’t mean crap like Bukit Timah or Sungei Buloh but freaking land BIGGER than Singapore (by about 100km2) with multiple summits and volcanoes and this Tongariro NP happened to include snow-capped volcanoes, an active volcanic zone, a desert, grassland, multiple towns and villages. But we would only find that out later. Just that the mist and fog covering everything and the shadows of the mountains at dusk sorta hinted that to me.

We finally came to a stop at Howards Lodge. A wonderful family-owned lodge with wonderful stuff! Small rooms, but damn homely! Lounges with a fireplaces and plasma TVs, communal kitchen. Haha and the food! All homecooked by the couple themselves. Generous servings of roast (: It’s a wonderful life up there!

That night, I was introduced to the A14 game invented, I think, by Chris – the Peg Game. A sick, twisted game involving cards, pegs, and skin. Little else needs to be said. Haha fun, but painful.

a moment in time.
22:22

There and Back Again

Day 5 2007 06 01

Our last day at Thermal Holiday Park. I was already missing the sunrises and mist. Then we took a walk to the beach! The choir people started singing and it was really nice! :) Haha it wasn’t really a beach. Not sandy or nice to swim in. It was actually the harbour and it was an estuary! Haha full of mud and sediment, weird coastal creatures and a rather level gradient. Which meant that we could literally walk out to sea!

And I walked a long long long way out into the sea! And it was damn cool, the mud in between my toes! Haha quite scenic in a weird, almost ugly way. I took some successful, beautiful panos there. We collected stuff like cockles and crabs. Fun! Haha like a childhood I missed out on. And they use the size of the cockles to check if there’s too much sedimentation. Haha biological indicators! Whee.

The fun part was mostly going out digging through the sediment looking for cute stuff. I got two shrimp! I’ve actually never seen live shrimp before. They’re nearly transparent! Ok. I just found out they were krill. There’s a difference between shrimp, krill, and prawn. And it’s not based on size like we like to think haha. So cute! Haha it was cool to walk out in the middle of the harbour. Hmm. But then the walk back to the Holiday Park was quite terrible. Cos our feet were dirty and we had to walk barefooted. Then lunch was a surprise – cup noodles and yoghurt haha. Ok I used to love cup noodles, but now I totally lay off them. So I din’t have lunch that day, I drank milk and ate yoghurt haha.

It was then, just as we were about to leave, that I found beauty in the Holiday Park’s flower gardens. The buildings were all surrounded with flowers. And I went around snapping shots of the flowers. Haha pretty! We travelled to a community conservation project, just off Tauranga, which pwned anything Singapore schools can come up with. It was a huge park, planted by the community and it was PRISTINE. Freaking clean and green everywhere.

The Maori guide took us around and introduced us to all the cool plants that can only be found in NZ. The silver fern, NZ flax plant, etc. And every plant has uses to the Maori – medicinal, craft, food, art. The connection Maoris make between themselves and nature is amazing and inspiring. How they care for the earth, and how the earth cares for them, the great respect they hold for nature, for each other - something we should look up to.

Then we had some time to waste so we were brought up to a lookout and it was like wow. I could see the entire Bay of Plenty (which is freaking huge) from that single point, the different cities and towns and regions, the mountains and rivers and valleys. Whee!

At that point, we had been taught the procedures at the marae (the Maori home, now more of a socio-religious communal centre). We had to wait at the entrance and listen out for the wailing to commemorate the dead, enter the marae flanking the girls, into the visitors’ shelter, and watch the Maori warrior performance and return with our own song (VICTORIAN ANTHEM!!!), and then greet them with the touching of noses. And it was so amazing because they were so warm to us even though we were foreigners from a country they’d probably never even heard of, and the hostess was especially wonderful because she embraced us one by one. My heart totally melted in the warmth of their love and hospitality.

We had some time to chillax (I learnt “chillax” from the Maori hostess!) there, then it was dinner. And it was totally wonderful! It was hangi – food cooked in an underground pit with hot stones. The lamb and brown sauce. Pasta salad, chicken, mixed veg, garlic bread, all downed with a wonderful brown sauce! Second helpings went out quickly. The lamb was super nice! Tender and delicious, especially with the brown sauce! Mmm. And there was a traditional Maori pudding, sweet and spicy! Then we watched a Maori performance by their teens, and our girls went out to join their girls in a dance, then us guys went up to join their guys in a haka. Cool! :)

That night, we all slept together in the wharenui (big house – they have a big meeting/sleeping house, and a food house for eating and cooking) and it was like one huge geog fac chalet. Haha I roamed out into the night, and we played cards and had tea in the foodhouse. I slept in the middle of the corner of guys haha. By that time, I was so tired, I drifted to sleep right away.

a moment in time.
17:26

Saturday, June 09, 2007

Hmm. Interesting. Even though it was so damn hard to get perfect panoramas of the countryside in NZ, I got some really good single shots. I'm proud of my flickr :) But I reached my upload limit for the month so everyone'll have to wait for the WONDERFUL panoramas of Auckland I got from Mt Eden and SkyTower which stitched PERFECTLY. They're like my stars. Haha. *is happy* I love it when I take good photos. Haha. And no, I don't try to be artistic. I was just that at the right time, at the right place. HA. :)

New Zealand is too beautiful to be true.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/markhsx

Haha and today was Mr Yang's wedding! So wonderful and nice and happy! Congrats! Haha it was like IP reunion la! Haha so cool. Congrats and God bless!

a moment in time.
23:44

There and Back Again

Day 4 2007 05 31

Woke up to another pretty misty sight. Had the same sort of breakfast as before. I was still enjoying the surroundings but we had to go travel to fieldwork. We entered this area where the Wairoa River flows through, at McLaren Falls Park. Which TOTALLY looked like what I imagined Bridge to Terabithia would be. Haha. And we did fieldwork there, IN the river.

I was the first to step in. And the sensation was thrilling. Imagine standing in a pit of flowing ice water in the middle of winter. After 10 seconds, my toes went numb, then my feet. And it was damn nice! Suddenly you don’t feel cold anymore. Haha. And we measured stuff like the velocity, gradient, widths, height of the river etc in what is called “channel morphology”. Then after that, we went for a walk in the rainforest.

Yes. A rainforest, in winter. High humidity. Doesn’t really depend on temperature. Just humid. Quite cool. It looked a lot like Malaysia just that the climate was different. And we got to see the falls. McLaren Falls. And collected the sediments and leaf litter to discuss infiltration. Then it was lunch. Sandwiches and fudge at one of the grounds.

That was when I got the most beautiful photos NO ONE else got. Because I decided to go explore the lake I saw alone. I just found out it’s Lake McLaren. And I walked down the long lonely road, and ended up by the lake and it was AMAZING. Rolling green hills, sheep roaming around freely (because they do that in NZ – the parks have sheep all around), clear blue waters. I was astounded. So beautiful, so untouched. Wow. But the pano I took doesn’t stitch perfectly. Sigh. Can see different shades. But it’s still damn nice. I’ve named that place… teletubbyland!

After lunch, we got to see some real potholes! Haha damn huge. And we climbed onto huge boulders in the middle of the river, and it was pretty dangerous but I got some good shots there as well. And like seriously, it was like pothole land. Haha.

We headed to Longridge Park for a JETBOAT ride. WOAHHH. It’s like flying. On water. IMBA. The 360 deg turns were DAMN FUN. And it’s super fast. It’s JET on water. and we travelled down the river damn fast and it was like a rollercoaster without the ups and downs, without 360 turns on the spot. Woo! They’re powered by freaking v8s!!! wth! Wow. Freaking wow. Haha.

After the adrenaline, we went to the kiwifarms! Kiwi 360 is some kiwi theme park. Haha quite cool. And they kept repeating that kiwifruit is the healthiest fruit in the world. The cool kiwitram thing stopped for us to pick ripe persimmons to eat on the spot. Haha cute! And we got to throw them at random stuff as the tram moved along. And me, lucky with the camera always, somehow caught a persimmon in midair, which hit the model of a kiwi bird! Haha. Cute.

We visited a packhouse and it was some Malaysian place so it was full of Malaysians! Haha and we just stood there and watched them pack fruit and end their working day at 5. and then it was our first real souvenir shopping! I bought kiwi spoons and a cute sheep! :) then they brought us to a shopping centre for sh- sh- sh-SHOPPING! Haha I was actually quite disappointed. Most of the CDs and games were more expensive than Singapore, and I had a sushi which cost NZ$1.80 and a jerky stick which was quite ex too. There wasn’t much for me. The girls went wild though. All the clothing. Haha. I din’t buy any clothes from NZ! And I’m proud of that.

That night was our last night at Thermal Holiday Park and Omokoroa, but not out of the Bay of Plenty region yet. I stayed up talking and chillaxing but slept quite early. I still remember that night’s dinner was damn nice and everyone finished the tuna casserole. Haha and they always serve icecream! And that night’s was ice cream with cheesecake and peach melba. Mmm. Wonderful times.

a moment in time.
22:57

There and Back Again

My flickr has been updated with the best NZ photos! :)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/markhsx

Day 3 2007 05 30

Haha quite stupid actually. I set the alarm on my phone, but I wouldn’t be woken up by it. Chris would wake up at 630 by my alarm, and then wake me at 7. Haha so I showered and walk out into the morning air and that was when the cold mocking weather hit me. WOO!!! And there was a beautiful sunrise, birdsong all around me, the ground covered in dew and the mountains in the distance layered with mist. I was thinking to myself “I can wake up to this everyday.” Hahaha wow. And I sat down to a breakfast of cereal (with cool coconut shreds) and hot milo and then a traditional hot Western breakfast of sausages and the like and it was wonderful eating a hot breakfast in the cold dawn with friends :)

"I sat down to a breakfast of cereal"

And then, we set off on our first New Zealand field trip! :) Haha and it’s so obvious we’re city kids because everytime we passed some sheep or cow there’d be gasps of wonder, but eventually they faded because we saw animals everyday. I think it’s so different seeing them on green pastures instead of on TV or locked up in the farm/zoo. Haha. And we arrived at Maunganui Beach, a hotspot for New Zealanders on holiday. But it seemed so… quiet. The silence was kinda hard to get to at first. Throughout New Zealand. Everything’s so laidback, so quiet, so peaceful. And it’s a weekday and you see people roaming and trekking and climbing and going around town and chillaxing (new word from NZ!!! Like, chill-lax, man.) instead of working frantically 9-5 like in Singapore. It’s a life too good to be true.

"We set off on our first New Zealand field trip"

Got to see the Port of Tauranga full of sailboats and yachts with the sunrise reflected in the bay. Haha pretty sight! And we reached the beach and it was like wow, ECP just got pwned. Haha not totally beautiful like Kuching or Waikiki, but the scenery was wow. In Singapore, when you look over the coast, the horizon is either covered by boats, random islands, or Johor. But in places like NZ, it stretches beyond sight. And the shore was covered in shells! I collected some. And we did some geog discussion. Then chilled there. And went for a walk around Mount Maunganui (Mauao) to look at different weathering, landforms, beach types, landuse etc.

"the Port of Tauranga"

"The horizon ... stretches beyond sight"

"We did some geog discussion"

The Geographer at work

"The shore was covered in shells"

Then it was our first lunch in NZ! And it was something familiar – Pizza Hut! Not in a restaurant, but out on the open fields below the Mount! It so reminded me of lunch outside the Imperial War Museum in London! :) The grass was green and dry and nice to frolic in! Whee! And the seagulls surrounded us looking for food and it was damn funny haha! And we had FUDGE which was so totally good.

"The grass was green and dry and nice to frolic in"

After lunch, we climbed Mauao. Haha it was quite an easy walk, because it was much shorter than Fuji or Chemerong, and the view up there on the summit was worth it. So wonderful for panos! We could see Maunganui on one side, Tauranga on the other, and the horizon stretching beyond. It was a time of great camwhoring. We did some landuse stuff there and descended from the summit and I got a perfect photo opportunity few others got – I captured a paraglider in the dusk! Photo moment!

"We climbed Mauao"

"Wonderful for panos"

"It was a time of great camwhoring"

"A paraglider in the dusk"

On the bus, started to get to know the other J1s – Mr Najib Medina’s CT. I call him Encik now. Let’s all start calling him that! Anyway, yeah, we stopped for sh-sh-sh-SHOPPING!!! Haha bought this wonderful chocolate shake mix which you add to cold milk and stir and get a chocolate shake! :) And I fell into deep sleep once again. After bridge and randomness. Haha.

"Sh-sh-sh-SHOPPING!!! "

a moment in time.
19:34

Friday, June 08, 2007

There and Back Again

And so another journey ends. This time, I have travelled to a faraway land. A land of sheep, cows, and hobbits. A land of mountains, lakes, caves, volcanoes, and Mordor. I have returned from my voyage across land and sea; my trek through time. The time comes for my annual school trip travelogue. And so we begin with an ending, as stories always do.

Day 1 and 2 2007 05 28 – 2007 05 29

It was all so familiar. Year after year, at the same terminal, at the same time of the year, the same feel. Yet this time, without the familiar people being crazy all around, without the groups and camwhoring from the start. But I knew it was going to be a blast nonetheless; and how right I was.

I stepped into the cool evening air; the blue sky slightly blemished by clouds just before the monsoons hit Singapore; entered the terminal and saw familiar faces. My IP2 juniors were leaving for Italy the same day as us! Haha. So cool. Said some quick farewells and went back to wait, and more familiar faces appeared.

Found out my roommate’s (chris) mother and my mother knew each other from before – they both worked at the MPH building when it still existed. That was a long time ago. That’s quite cool too. We queued for check-in together and got to know each other quite quickly haha. Then I went in to departure with nic and we got Delifrance! And stoned till the flight. Haha sat with wingyan and a senior, brenda.

Emirates like so totally PWNED Royal Brunei that night. Not only were there SCREENS instead of MIRRORS, they were freaking TOUCHscreen. Like poke and you select stuff. And multiplayer games. And LOTS of alcohol (when I say lots, I mean like freeflow lots). Which are actually quite expected. Hmm. Haha dinner was salmon with mashed potatoes! And I had some (cheap) red wine with it which suddenly made zits pop out on my otherwise perfectly clear face (cos, as some people know, I have been prepping for the trip with multiple brands of creams, gels, and washes).

The flight was redeye, so we arrived in Brisbane in the morning and I started getting smses already. Hoho. Thanks to everyone who remembered me! :) Went around and got some candy, and water, for which nic and I were desperate for. Whee. Then it was the second half and this time I sat with nic. Breakfast was a wonderful cheese omelette! (like way better than the Royal Brunei omelette which put me off omelettes the whole UK trip) Haha both wingyan and nic slept most of the way, so I played the games and watched movies most of the way. I watched music and lyrics (argh the lameness!) and the simpsons! :)

And so, we arrived in Auckland! The weather was surprisingly mild (because winter had not kicked in fully yet) and I was hoping for the wonderful blast of cold to hit me but was disappointed. And omg people in NZ are so wonderfully friendly and lovely! :) So different compared to Singapore haha. Ah well. And we met our tour guide, Jon, and our driver, Paul, and began the long ride out of Auckland to Omokoroa, Tauranga.

Stopped at Paeroa for our first NZ meal! It’s like the hometown of Lemon & Paeroa, the drink that’s "World famous in New Zealand". Hohoho! It’s really damn popular there. And took photos with the (phallic) L&P bottle! And headed off to Karangahake Gorge for the first of many walks. It’s an old gold mine of quartz. Haha quite cool, our first real look at the flora and fauna and the whole geography of NZ.

Then it was off to our first dinner at our… accommodation. Not really a hotel, more like a chalet. They call it a holiday park. Haha. Thermal Holiday Park at Omokoroa. The first meal was weird la. Most people din’t eat much. Haha soup, stuffing, meat, ice cream. Haha and nearly everyone was damn cold by then (besides me) and complaining about eating ice cream in the cold. Haha it’s damn nice can! Haha I did it at Kawaguchi and I did it again in NZ! :)

Then I looked up into the night sky and it was filled with stars! SOOO PWETTY! :) haha! And then I finally got to my room. Haha stayed with chris and 3 seniors. Nice people haha. And after showering and all, I drifted into lalaland in a land so blissful already.

This travelogue is way longer than the usual cos there's just so much! I don't know when I'll finish, but... stay tuned! :)

a moment in time.
22:31

"And where your love has always been enough for me.
I'm not running from.
No, I think you got me all wrong.
I don't regret this life I chose for me.
But these places and these faces are getting old.

Be careful what you wish for,
'Cause you just might get it all.
You just might get it all,
And then some you don't want.
Be careful what you wish for,
'Cause you just might get it all.
You just might get it all, yeah."

a moment in time.
12:58

Thursday, June 07, 2007

Whee I'm back! I know you missed me, don't have to say. Hoho. Haha it's been such a great experience! Not as glam as UK, but probably the best trip I've had! =) Haha saw so much environment and culture - flora, fauna, urban, rural, native, migrants. Woo! =)

And I realised on the last day, no matter how much we complain, Singapore is the perfect case study for urban studies, political studies, economics and also natural studies. We're anomalies in all. Our suburban areas are high-rise, high-density, our government is democratic but conservative, while our economy remains highly liberal. Auckland and NZ are anomalies on the other end - urban areas are low-rise, low-density, the government and society is socially and politically liberal but economically conservative. Hmm.

Great thoughts, for a great nation.

Oh. Forgot to say.

Perhaps the only reason I love you
Is because you remind me of someone I left behind.

It's so weird - everyone reminds you of someone else. Maybe that's why the whole world is connected, such that no matter how different you want to be from others, or no matter how different you are, everyone's still the same. We're all part of the human race. =)

Hmm. I feel like I'm in a rocking boat. oO

AND...

"That's why
(your eyes) I'm over it
(your smile) I'm over it
(realize) I'm over it

Wanting you, to be wanting me.
No that ain't no way to be.
How I feel, read my lips,
because I'm so over..

Moving on, it's my time, you never were a friend of mine.
Hurt at first, a little bit, but now I'm so over.
I'm so over it.."

But am I really over you?

a moment in time.
19:55

Wednesday, June 06, 2007

i'm at the airport. it's sad, seeing our guide jon and driver paul leave. i don't want to go home because once i'm home it's homework, midyears, pw, drama and so much more. i don't want to leave new zealand because it IS the most beautiful country in the world. i've got LOTS of photos so yeah you'll get to see them. i hate this feeling la. like a country full of rolling green hills, sheep, cows, great food and photo-worthy scenes every minute, snow and LOTR (which the teachers made a surprise for me) - it's just so hard to leave.

i've experienced so much, made so many new friends, and it's THE life i'm used to now. this is the first time i haven't missed singapore when overseas. sigh. alright, back on flight ek433 at 150am 7th june at changi. i'll see you all. miss you.

well, it's back to home again.

a moment in time.
11:18