Facing the avalanche.


Ah, it’s the start of school again. The work seems never-ending and I think that I seriously am going to collapse one of these days. Maybe the Institute of Mental Health would welcome me as its patient within the next few weeks. I think that I would make a very good case study for them and probably help to add on to the statistics of people breaking down due to stress and load so of schoolwork.


It’s about 6 more weeks before the end of the semester. Exams are in the last 2 weeks of April and I’m not looking forward to them. Why? Because when they come, it means that I will have to graduate soon and leave the campus. After spending the last 4 years of my life there, I’ve kind of grown pretty attached to it.

~ ~ ~ Skye's telling at 6:12 AM ~ ~ ~
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End of term break.


Okay, today’s the last day of my term break. And how have I been spending it? Buried beneath loads of assignments, that’s how! Hahaha! It’s not that bad actually. I am enjoying them as I plough through them. I feel that work is to be enjoyed, not despised and avoided.


I am learning how to view things in a different light these days. When I face people and things with a big smile and welcome them, I find that it is easier and faster to get things done. Rather then brood over how much work I have to do and dread doing them!


Always look on the bright side of life! :0)

~ ~ ~ Skye's telling at 5:43 PM ~ ~ ~
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Storm…


People say that when you are feeling down in the dumps, the heavens can feel it and sympathise with you. Well, I can finally understand what they meant by this statement.


Today, the skies cried for me. Like they have never cried before.
Today, the winds howled for me. Like they have never howled before.

Today, I struggled with myself and arrived at a decision.

I will be me, the happy-go-lucky girl that I’ve always been.

I will be no other, but myself.

Even if the skies should fall and the seas should surge,
I will be me…, always.


如今，我给你最后的疼爱只能是………. 手放开。谢谢你给了我一年的快乐，幸福。我会永永远远的珍惜它的。


If you CANNOT see the Chinese words above, click 'VIEW', then 'ENCODING', then 'UNICODE (UTF-8).

~ ~ ~ Skye's telling at 6:01 PM ~ ~ ~
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Goodbye my love…


I was in turmoil this morning and still am now. It is not worth mentioning what happened. ‘Tis sufficient that I know.


世界的纯真此刻为你有迷惑。我想我应该轻轻放开你的手，但我却没有力气这么做。为什么？这究竟是为了什么理由呢？真的好想好想让我爱你多一些，但是我知道这是不可能的。这滋味你是永远不会懂的。知道了已经证明我的爱是愚昧的。那一种辛酸憔悴的感觉，是你一辈子也不能体会到的。


为你付出那种伤心，你永远不了解。我又何苦勉强自己爱上你的一切。我还傻傻等待奇迹出现的那一天。直到那一天，你会发现真正爱你的人独自守着伤悲。可是，我想现在已经不用再等了。


If you CANNOT see the Chinese words above, click 'VIEW', then 'ENCODING', then 'UNICODE (UTF-8).

~ ~ ~ Skye's telling at 11:22 PM ~ ~ ~
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Mum and her leave.


My mum's on leave for a few days this week and she has been feeding me till I look like a pig! God, how ever am I going to get through that door? Hahaha! Okay, it's not as bad as you think it might be. With her around, I seem to be eating by the hour. Mother likes to experiment with the different cooking styles and ingredients. Sometimes it's great as I get to eat the delicious outcome of these. But at other times, it's not so good. Why? Because the food may not taste as well as I want them to!


I spent my morning doing my stuff for school and so far, I'm pretty satisfied with what I've done. It may not be the best, but then, I hope that it will be as I refine it during the next few days. Hey! Nothing's perfect at the first try. The challenge is to make what you want, perfect and to your own liking.

~ ~ ~ Skye's telling at 4:33 PM ~ ~ ~
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Last day of the Lunar New Year!


Today's the 15th day of the lunar calendar. It's also the last day of half a month of visiting relatives and getting "ang pows". Hmm, today's also the Chinese Valentine's Day! Eh, and I'm stuck at home rushing my assignments. Sigh...


I'm feeling kind of sad as time this year really passes very fast. Why must time slip through my fingers when I'm having fun? I really want it to stay with me and not leave me in its wake. Why must it be decreed that "time and tide wait for no man"? Much as I love Time, it was never mine to begin with. Why? Because I know that I'm growing older with passing years.


No longer am I the young and hyperactive lass I used to be at the age of 3. Nowadays, I seem to be having the world on my shoulders. But I choose not to show to others. It's enough that I'm carrying such weights, I don't need others to be burdened by this. I think that's why my tutors when they see me, always comment that I look very cheerful and unstressed! If only they knew the truth... Hahaha!

~ ~ ~ Skye's telling at 2:13 PM ~ ~ ~
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Thumbing through...


I woke up feeling extremely refreshed today! At least the dark circles under my eyes are slowly disappearing and looking less like a Panda. My sis-in-law said that I'm beginning to look like a Panda because I've been thinking too much about him. I was like, as if! I'm currently suffering from a lack of sleep because of the mountain-loads assignments that seemed intent to be streaming in.


Just this morning, I was thumbing through all my stuff looking for a certain piece of information which would help me in my assignment. I managed to find it after an hour of searching. At least it wasn't a wasted effort, battling all the mountain forces. :0)

~ ~ ~ Skye's telling at 7:06 PM ~ ~ ~
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Mid-term break.


Okay. This week was supposed to be my break week. But what was I doing in school today? I HAD TO HAND IN MY STUPID ASSIGNMENT! Argh! I cannot understand why we were not allowed to hand it in before this. Fine, so what if my tutor's a part-timer? We used to be able to put our assignments in a box which would be collected by our tutors on the day that the assignment was due.


But this was not the case for a particular module of mine this time round! It has inconvenienced by not only making me travel 3 hours to and from campus, it has caused me to lose my beauty sleep! DUH! What a waste of time forcing us to return to school just to do this. This is SO inhumane and inflexible!

~ ~ ~ Skye's telling at 5:17 PM ~ ~ ~
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Ben & Jerry's.


Recently, my mum bought 3 tubs of Ben & Jerry's ice-cream home. So far, I've tried New York Super Fudge, Vanilla and Chocolate Brownie. They really taste GREAT! I want her to buy the Cookie Dough flavour, but she said to finish the 3 tubs first. Sigh...


I was cooped up at home doing my stuff for the past 2 days. It was a torture, what with my throat not being in top form. But it was so far, so good. I felt better towards the end of Saturday night, though my voice was a bit off. It was too bad that I couldn't go to Ying's and Lil's houses to visit for Chinese New Year. Ying said that it was alright, we can always go after the new year.

~ ~ ~ Skye's telling at 10:02 PM ~ ~ ~
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Hospitalised...


Shaun fell sick on Thursday and I was so worried for him! He wouldn't respond like he normally does and seemed to have trouble with his mental processes. All of us suspected that it was a virus attack. We gave him some medicine and hoped that he'll recover the next day. But he did not. So after my tutorial on Friday, I brought him to the A&E and was told that he had to be hospitalised. The doctor said that Shaun had contracted viruses and had to be thoroughly cleaned up. Poor thing! And poor me too! I can't wait to see him again next Friday, when he'll be discharged from the hospital. I think that I'll buy something for him to make-up for the pain and suffering that he went through.

~ ~ ~ Skye's telling at 9:18 PM ~ ~ ~
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Confrontation, Konfrontasi...


I hated what happened during class this morning! No, it had nothing to my tutor or the lesson. It was WHAT HAPPENED during the lesson that made me detest it.


The lesson started off fine and dandy. My tutor, Dr T, was teaching us about the bio-psycho-social aspects of the learning theories and I was happily taking down notes. If there is something that I excel in, it is note-taking. At least this is something which I will not be tested on. Then she asked us one by one, what we felt about the learning theories and how they have helped us. I said that the theories helped me to understand why others learn differently from me and why I am better at certain things while bad at others. Then, some people started saying that they prefer to see some strategies associated with the theories.


Okay, all went well until this BRAINLESS girl went to ask an idiotic question. I wasn't paying attention at that time, but the gist of it was like this: Should a teacher use different strategies to teach her class? Dr T said that it depends on the lesson. Then that stupid girl said: "What if it's a 3-hour lesson? If the teacher uses a teacher-centred way of teaching, like that of direct instruction, wouldn't the students be bored?" Dr T then asked, "Are you trying to indicate something?" At that point in time, I raised my head and looked at Dr T. She was offended and you could tell from her face. I would too, if my student tells me this. That bitch was insinuating that her lesson was boring!


Dr T then became very defensive and asked the class what it was that they wanted from her lessons. I personally have nothing to complain! I have always enjoyed her lessons. The way that a teacher chooses to deliver her lesson is up to her and we students should not interfere in her choice. If she is comfortable using direct instruction, then so be it. Each teacher delivers the lesson differently and we cannot expect our teacher to cater to our every whim. I LOVE DIRECT INSTRUCTION AND I HAVE NOTHING AGAINST IT! But apparently, most of my other classmates do not! They started attacking her and the way she conducted her lesson and compared it with another teacher (also teaching the same class).


The most insulting thing is that this other teacher is not even a PhD holder! My Dr T is a very senior lecturer with a wealth of knowledge and experience, and she can speak Japanese and German, over and above the local languages. Man, I stand in awe of her! I felt so hurt for her when they started attacking her in class. I feel that they are really too much! You do not tell a teacher that her teaching is not good enough. It is very hurting for her. What's worse is that they compared her to a non-doctorate person. I wanted to cry for her! Do you know the agony of not being able to speak up for someone who is wronged? That's why I'm complaining in my blog!


In all my years of study, I have never thorouoghly disliked my classmates. But today is the first time where I actually HATE THEM A LOT! Even after the lesson, and we were outside and were supposed to discuss our group assignment, they were still picking on her. I was so damn pissed off that I clammed up and glared at the ground. They were so vindictive that it is really scary. What happened today has irreversibly altered my impressions of my classmates and I wish that I could sever all ties with them!


Dr T, I am sorry that I did not speak up for you during class. Please do not let this affect the way you teach and your love for your job. You are a great lecturer and I've always enjoyed your lessons. Do not despair, for God is around to help us. Thanks be to God.

~ ~ ~ Skye's telling at 11:26 PM ~ ~ ~
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National Identity...


I had a class last afternoon and we were discussing what National Identity is. What is it actually? It's definitely not something tangible which we all can feel and touch. What, then, can be construed as a country's National Identity? For a country as young as mine, we do not have the history to obliterate the memories. But, neither do we have the history to anchor its citizens as one whole united people.


I have always wondered about this. Will we ever have a National Identity? Or will we never be able to have it? Has it even been established in the first place? Can this be marketed overseas to others? Will we, the citizens of the country, be proud of our National Identity?

~ ~ ~ Skye's telling at 10:55 PM ~ ~ ~
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Mixed emotions...


I saw Panda's best friend this morning around 9.20. He was wearing a dull green shirt with black pants and was in a hurry. He shouldn't wear dark colours as he can't carry them off well and make him look very tired, just like Panda. I think that they are both in the Summer/Spring category. I was like "Good morning Kyl!" and he went "Morning!" in a hurried tone. Then I said, "Orrrr... you're late for class!" and he was like "Yah!" He continued on his way like a little lost dog and actually went past his classroom door! He walked all the way to the water cooler when he made an about-turn and picked up his steps before finding his classroom! Hahaha!


You know, I finally saw him after nearly 6 weeks into the semester, though I always see his car parked near Panda's on some days when they have common classes , though Kyl has a somewhat more flexible timetable than Panda. This guy has a couple of cars and they certainly look damn good! I love his cars! Especially his convertible-looking German car, which has 2 doors but 4 seats in them. I find him quite cute actually, though in a different way from Panda. Panda's cute in the ever cute sense of good-looking. Though Mnemosyne and a lot of my other friends beg to differ.


Kyl is cute in the adorable sense. His smile and mannerisms can be very funny at times, like a child. He likes to stick his hands in his pockets too when he feels uncomfortable or when he's thinking about things. This usually happens when we meet along the corridors and would stop for a little chat. He is also one of the world's biggest mobile phone nuts. He changes his phone once every 2 to 3 months when a new model comes out and I really wonder what happens to all of his previous phones. Last semester, about the month of August or so, he had a Nokia 7610. I wonder what model he's using now. Hmm... I think that I'll ask him when I get the chance to see him again. Someone once called me "gadget girl", but I think that Kyl's an even more of a gadget fan than I! Panda too!


I kind of like Kyl, but not in the way that I like Panda. Kyl's more approachable and friendly, unlike Panda, who is liable to snap your head off on his grouchy days. I always feel that Panda is like a female, he seems to have all the symptons of PMS. Whenever I see Kyl, I would feel very happy, because I'm seeing someone associated with Panda. It's different for Panda. When I see him, my heart will skip a beat and I'll be grinning incessantly like an idiot! Thank God that my classmates are always occupied with other stuff that they usually would ask me why I'm smiling after Panda has left. I like talking to Kyl because he's into mobile phones and games, something which I enjoy too.


There's something about Kyl that you must know. He has a serious problem with his self-confidence. He's very scared of standing in front of the class to present and he has also told the class that all pairs of eyes staring at him makes him very nervous. For a guy who is tops in the intelligence department, you would not expect him to behave this way. I wonder why...

~ ~ ~ Skye's telling at 7:20 PM ~ ~ ~
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Happy Birthday!


今天是人日. 在华人的农历日历里, 是正月初七, 就是所谓的人日了. 这天也就是每一个人的生日. 所以小妹我在此祝各位 "生日快乐, 梦想成真"!


I saw Panda today! Mnemosyne told me that since I saw him on 18th January which was a Tuesday, I should just try my luck to see whether I can meet him again this Tuesday. Okay, she was right. I left home very early today, actually, I was early enough for an 8.30 class in the morning. But thankfully, I have no 8.30 classes this semester!


I was sitting at the study table facing the car park, at the basement of block 3, doing my homework and listening to Kevin Kern on my mobile phone. Then around 9.03am, I saw his car zooming down the road to enter the car park. At about 9.06am, he walked up the little path towards the building. He was wearing a light pink shirt today with that favourite item of his, which is pink and grey-striped. I said "Good morning Panda! And Happy New Year to you!" and he replied "Morning! Happy New Year to you too!" before going to wait for the lift. Sigh... I was grinning to myself from then onwards. My classmate who was sitting with me and doing her homework too, did not have a clue as to why the hell I was looking so radiant!


Before this, I also saw my Social Studies tutor for last semester, Ms T. She looked very pretty today! I said 'Hi!" to her and she came up to me and asked me why I looked so tired. I think it must be all the late nights that I had to endure to complete Dr A's assignment. I found the moment very funny because she put her fingers on my chin and tilted it to peer into my face! Hmm... How I wished that it was Panda who did that to me instead!


As my Social Studies module ended last week, I now have a two-hour break from 10.30am to 12.30pm every Tuesday. After my early lunch at 11.20, my classmate and I walked out of the canteen and past the bookshop towards the study table near the computer laboratory to wait for class to start. We had intended to discuss our computer assignment actually. On the way there, I SAW HIM AGAIN! He was walking with his friends, heading for the canteen. God, it's hard to miss seeing him. What with my dear Panda being so tall and striking in his pink shirt. He was smiling sheepishly, don't know why. But I know that he was looking in my direction. He had to anyway, as he was walking towards me! I didn't look at him this time as I saw Ms T somewhere far in the background and wanted to talk to her.


If you CANNOT see the Chinese words above, click 'VIEW', then 'ENCODING', then 'UNICODE (UTF-8).

~ ~ ~ Skye's telling at 7:52 PM ~ ~ ~
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Happy Valentine's Day!


Hmm... It's Saint Valentine's day today and the media is playing it up for all that it's worth. Well, I'm here at home blogging and watching a comedy on TV simultaneously. Heehee, I know that I'm not the only one who's at home doing this. Quite a lot of people that I know are also doing the same. Even those who are attached do it too.


Mnemosyne showed me the rose that her classmates gave her. Apparently, all the girls in her clique chipped in and bought each other a rose today! So sweet! My friends and I used to do it too. That was when we were back at the convent, my school and refuge for 10 years. Back then, we would buy flowers, chocolates and cards for our friends and some of us would even make little gifts instead of buying them. I miss those days a lot! It was really fun to be with a lot of kindred spirits, like what Anne of Green Gables would say. I really felt loved by all my friends and the love I returned was ten times what they gave.


Now that I'm at the university, all these seem pretty out of place. No longer do people do such things, they would think me weird if I continued the IJ tradition of acting thus on Valentine's day there. Though it's been some time since convent days, I still feel as if time has not flew past so hurriedly. I miss most of my friends, but we are all scattered round the earth now. Despite the fact that we still keep in tough through emails, the feeling's not the same as being able to call and meet up physically.


That's not the only thing that I miss about my convent days. I especially miss being understood by my friends when I speak. Here at the university, my classmates seem to operate on different wavelengths from me most of the time. I can't use words that I'm accustomed to using when I speak, but have to use very basic words, which I feel is not in my character at all. When I use certain words which they cannot understand, they would stare at me and say that I'm too "cheem". They would tell me to speak the English that they can understand! Sheesh! I can never comprehend what the big deal is. I mean, they are in the university now. So that means that their standard of English must be pretty good. We are all considered accrolectal speakers at our level. Yet, some people are just unable to comprehend simple English. Isn't that pathetic?! I certainly think so.


So what do I do? I end up speaking Mandarin to them instead! Why? It's because I simply CANNOT tolerate hearing people speak English with a damn heavy Chinese or dialect accent! Then, I get stupid questions asking whether I'm from China! I feel so insulted when I hear that. But some of my friends told me to look on the bright side. Which is, my spoken Mandarin must be extremely good if people can mistake me for a China girl. Hmmm..... Well, I can put on my Chinese accent when I want to. I like the language as it is very easy and fun to learn, just like English. I got the hang of English by fourth grade and did not need to study for any of my English exams after that. As for Chinese, I only managed to master it at the end of sixth grade, when I finally understood the rationale behind each radical attached to the word that I have to study. It also helps that I had excellent language teachers throughout grade school.

~ ~ ~ Skye's telling at 8:17 PM ~ ~ ~
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5th day of the Lunar New Year!


Today’s the last day of the long weekend off and I spent it at home, indulging in the serenity before the start of chaos tomorrow. I’m going to wear my new clothes to school tomorrow and I hope that Panda will be able to see me in it! Otherwise, there’s not much meaning for me to dress up for lessons, sigh…


Did you know? I dreamt about Panda a few nights ago, can’t remember when actually. In my dream, he was smiling at me and despite me talking to him, that idiot still persisted in smiling. Weird! Some horoscope book said that the rooster year is a very good one for those born in the same animal zodiac year like mine, to fall in love. It was mentioned that I should wear red, pink and ruby to increase my love luck. Hmm… maybe I should just heed the advice and go buy some new tops that are of those colours. :p


On a happier note, I counted my ‘ang pow’ money and I love the amount that I’ve collected! Yippy!

~ ~ ~ Skye's telling at 9:13 PM ~ ~ ~
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4th day of the Lunar New Year!


This is the day where my friends came over to visit. My parents were up at the crack of dawn preparing food to feed all of us. We are without a doubt, a few of the world’s greatest eaters!


Lil, her husband, Lun and Ying arrived at around the same time and we spent the day eating, chatting and playing mahjong. We also watched the video that I took of Lil and Lun on their wedding in the living room. It was hilarious! You should have seen this person with a VPL (Visible Panty Line) and she doesn’t even know it! And she was happily strutting away. Talk about embarrassment. Lil and Lun had to give Ying and I ‘ang pows’ because they are married and we were laughing our heads off about it! Hmm… I wonder when it’ll be my turn to give ‘ang pows’ to my elders and the kids. Panda, are you reading this?


After they left, I went downtown to get my hair done before I go back to school on Monday. Because once school starts again, I will not have the time to get it down. It’s an avalanche of assignments!

~ ~ ~ Skye's telling at 11:39 PM ~ ~ ~
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3rd day of the Lunar New Year!


In case you’re wondering, I do not have to go to school today. This is because I asked my Psychology professor last Friday, whether the class could be let off today to celebrate the New Year. And she said, sure! So while people have to go to school or work, I get to stay at home and enjoy!


We paid a visit to one of my granduncle’s sons, at his stall in a hawker centre. His fried carrot cake is SUPERB! I love to eat this dish! Too bad my mum can’t master it to perfection. He fried a big plate for me to eat and I savoured every bite of it. On our way to the carpark, I heard a funny mewing sound and found a kitten in the drain. Poor thing! It was drenched, shivering, and mewing away at the top of its voice. I got a rag from the vehicle, pulled up the iron grilles over the drain and used it to pick the kitten out of it. Then I rubbed it down a little to give it some warmth before leaving it at the corner of the nearby building. Before I left, I replaced the grilles so that it would not fall in again.


After this, we went to visit my granduncle. I haven’t seen him for a very long time, but he still looks the same anyway. He’s the only old man in the family, apart from my maternal gran, who is capable of getting my jokes. Other old folks would just stare at me when I crack jokes because they cannot understand them. My granduncle also has the ability to talk to me one-on-one, and not talk down to me like most of the older people. I can also shoot my mouth off when I talk to him. My dad and him talked about people they know and other stuff which I wasn’t interested in. But when they talked about seafood, especially abalone, I decided to listen in. They were talking about where to find the best abalone and the best way to cook them. Very informative! I was happily eating the tidbits and using one of my mobile phones (I have 3 of them), to take pictures and videos of him without his knowledge. Heeheehee!

~ ~ ~ Skye's telling at 11:11 PM ~ ~ ~
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2nd day of the Lunar New Year!


This is the day where I would stay at home and wait for people to come visit my family. My 4th uncle (on my mother’s side) and his family arrived in the later part of the morning. I got a shock when I saw my cousin, Nic! That guy is damn tall now! He’s like about 1.8m tall this year and seems to be growing even taller. I wish that I could be as tall as him too. Nic’s in 9th grade this year and is studying in the northern part of the country. His is one of the 2 all-boys “school villages” that have evolved in the north recently. This guy is hopeless in Chinese! Even he admitted it. I sent him a funny new year SMS in Chinese but he was unable to read it, much less understand it. Sigh…


Later on in the afternoon, another 2 of my cousins came to visit with my 2nd auntie. Spen’s the same age as Nic, while Ben’s a year older. I enjoyed being with them, as they are very chatty people like me! I appreciate people who can talk, especially those who can just talk non-stop with me. Ben’s changed a lot. He’s no longer the timid guy that he was a few years back. It also helped that he’s slowing developing muscles due to all the push-ups that he’s been doing in his physical education classes. He also has some pimples on his cheeks! Spen’s the same old guy, never looked a day older. They asked me whether they could come and stay over during the holidays this year and I said no problem. It would be fun to have them, just like old times. In the past, when they stayed over, they would be glued to my playstation and fighting over which game to play.


My mum gave me some money and told me to bring them out for dinner. We went to Swensen’s and had a bash there, discussing about topics which ranged from school to politics and even to boy-girl relationships. I received a compliment that I will never forget. Ben told me that is was a pleasure being with me today. He said that he found it very enjoyable and Spen seconded it. The funny thing is that they admitted that they found me very intimidating in the past, because I would snap at them for not acknowledging me when they entered the house. Hahaha!

~ ~ ~ Skye's telling at 11:58 PM ~ ~ ~
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1st day of the Lunar New Year!


Yay! I ABSOLUTELY love this holiday! It's the only holiday where I can get to earn money by just sitting on the sofa and looking demure. Heehee! Apart from the money part, I like this holiday because I get to see people who I have not seen for a long, long time. People like my cousins, who like me, are extremely busy humans, and other relatives I never knew even existed.


Okay, so for the first day, I went to my maternal granny's house and just hung out there for most part of the day. It makes no sense to go to my paternal grandparents' house as they are no longer alive and anyway, I dislike the people from my father's side, save for his youngest brother (my 6th uncle) and his uncle (my grandfather's younger brother, my granduncle). They have this thing against English-speaking people and seem to resent the fact that I dress in nicer clothes and have better stuff than them. God, I can’t help it if my parents shower me with stuff can I?! Besides, it was my granny who brought me up while my parents worked. And I am loved by all from my mother's side of the family. It's hard not to love me (*wink*), as I've stayed there since I was one month-old till a few months after I reached legal capacity.


As I was saying, I was at my gran’s house, happily chatting away and making sure that the whole world is alerted to my arrival. The food’s good too! Every Chinese new year, gran will always cook her specialty soup – cuttlefish stew with mushrooms and abalone. And every year, she will insist on ladling the biggest slices of abalone for me to eat. She doesn’t trust me to scoop the soup, saying that I always take the smallest pieces and only a bit of the soup. So she makes me stand beside her while she transfers the soup and abalone to my bowl! Er… apparently she does this only for me. The rest of the people who want soup would do best to take it themselves or incur her grumbling, though she does ladle for them occasionally. Of course, after the biggest slices have been taken by me, those poor souls are only left with the smaller ones! In my gran’s words, “You want eat, you don’t complain. You complain, you no eat.” Hahaha!


I caught up with my cousins and we chatted a bit. But I spent much of the time chatting with this cousin of mine, Qing. She has just completed her 10th grade and is in a college in the eastern part of the country, while waiting for her results which will be released on 28th February. She has just gotten a new phone, Nokia 7260. Not a bad-looking phone, but I don’t like it because it doesn’t have the bluetooth function. We were exchanging gifs and other funny phone stuff, while talking about the guys that we like. :0)


Towards the later part of the afternoon, my family and I left to visit one of my dad’s distant aunties. It was Boredom City as I sat there and ate the tidbits, while the adults chatted. Jeez, it got to a point where I could not tolerate the boredom that I called my sister-in-law on my mobile phone and talked to her instead.

~ ~ ~ Skye's telling at 11:56 PM ~ ~ ~
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Reunion dinner.


A dinner that comes but once a year and usually requires a lot of time and effort to put together. My mum started preparing for the dinner last night! Can you imagine it? She was hard at work chopping up the ingredients for the soup base, preparing the food for the dinner and doing laundry, to top it all. My mother sure is good at multi-tasking!


My uncle and his girlfriend came over for dinner tonight. He has been with her for slightly over 2 years and we're wondering when they will get married. It'll be nice if they can get hitched soon, then I'll have a little cousin to play with! It gets pretty boring when all your cousins are grown up, with the youngest in secondary 2. I'd like someone whom I can make funny faces with and basically be goofy! Some of my cousins can be quite staid and very quiet. Argh! I dislike people who are overly quiet! I like to talk to people and I like them to respond to me. My classmates say that I'm a very sociable person, read: talk too much. I feel that there's nothing wrong with it anyway. I'd rather be myself and talk a lot, than be like some people who rarely utter a word.


Yay! My parents just gave me my first red packet ('ang pow') for the year! I can't wait for tomorrow when I visit my granny and wait for all the 'ang pows' to enter my bag. Hmm, I think that I will enjoy my day tomorrow! A Happy Chinese New Year to one and all! :0)

~ ~ ~ Skye's telling at 11:15 PM ~ ~ ~
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Surprise!


I had a lecture on Singapore's Foreign Policy this morning and after that when I was heading for my next lecture, I saw Panda! I was SO happy! I really did not expect to see him at all today. I was walking along the open corridor behind my classmates when I happened to turn my head and saw him. He was wearing a light blue shirt and this red and grey striped favourite item of his. As he walked, he was playing with his mobile phone. I wondered whether he was really messaging or simply taking pictures of me walking and strutting along in my new short skirt, bright pink polo tee and heels?! Or maybe he was videoing me?! I wish! Then, it'll be for his own private viewing pleasure! Hahaha! Oh yah, I was about to enter the tutorial venue, room 27, when he walked past me on my left. So I said "Hi 'Panda'!" And he looked at me and replied "Hello!" in a very upbeat tone. I was swooning! :0)


I went out again after school today! And I bought 4 tops to match with the skirts that I bought the other day. 1 of them is this frilly white thing while the others are pin-striped ones. I really had a hard time looking for my tops! I only found them when the shop was about to close. Whew!

~ ~ ~ Skye's telling at 11:05 PM ~ ~ ~
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Clothes crazy!


Last Wednesday on the 2nd February, I went to town with Mnemosyne to buy some skirts for myself. I was getting tired of always wearing the same old skirts to school and out that I told myself that I absolutely have to buy some new ones! Ha! I ended up with 6 skirts and 2 Ralph Lauren polo tees! I usually buy polo tees from their Spring and Summer collection because I like their bright colours. They suit me quite well as I'm a Summer.


I had a hard time looking for my skirts because I'm rather picky! I don't want them to be too short or long. Sometimes, it's very difficult to find things that I like. I bought 2 skirts from this weird shop. Apparently the clothes are designed by local designers, which I am unable to tell anyway. They look pretty nice so I bought them. But 1 skirt is nearly the same price as 1 RL polo tee, a bit steep for something designed and made locally. Topshop was having a sale on undies that day, so I bought 8 G-strings! Heeheehee! Mnemosyne said that I was nuts to buy so many at one go. But I like the colours and patterns, so I just bought them. In all, I think that I've spent over $600 on the stuff!


Oh yes, I went to Muji and bought a bag too! I really think that I don't have enough clothes and bags to match. Hmm, I think that I need to buy some heels too. You know, most of my clothes are just school clothes -- jeans, bermudas and tees. I want to buy something that's not too staid that I can wear when I feel like dressing up slightly. Preferably something flirty and sweet. I already own quite a few halter tops and dresses, but I can't seem to find an occasion to wear them to school. Every morning when I stare at my clothes I always feel that I have nothing to wear at all! Do you have this problem too?

~ ~ ~ Skye's telling at 6:53 PM ~ ~ ~
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Homework.


I think that the word above is pretty ambiguous!


The term "Homework" can refer to work that the teacher makes the student bring home to do and it can also mean housework! Really, I'm not joking. For the whole day today, I've been stuck at home trying to complete my work for school and cleaning up some parts of the house. So far, I've only managed to get my reflection for Social Studies done and cleaned up my piano area. I've still got my room and the rest of the living room to do!


If only I had 48 hours or more in a day. Maybe I'll be able to get more things done. Heeheehee! :0)

~ ~ ~ Skye's telling at 11:21 PM ~ ~ ~
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Teacher-student relationship...


I had an interesting discussion with my Psychology tutor during class about the teacher-student thing this morning. She said that in the local context, it is definitely not permissible for a teacher to be involved with a student. This is especially pertinent for those at junior college level and below. Such things are severely frowned upon in this country. Then I asked her about the teacher-student relationship at the tertiary level, as in, that of university. She said that it is morally incorrect for a lecturer to be involved with his or her student, especially when the lecturer is the tutor for module(s) that the student is currently taking. Both of them will be liable to face disciplinary action by the school board if any misconduct is found. She also said that it is a conflict of interest on the lecturer's part.


I next asked her: "What if the student is not taking that module which the lecturer is coaching, then is it all right for one to be involved in a teacher-student relationship?" She said that it is still morally incorrect to do so! WHY? I simply do not understand the logic behind this. In the event that both parties are of legal capacity, that is 21 years old and above, and one is not being taught by the other, why can't they be together?! We are talking about a tertiary institution where people are capable of thinking, unlike those in the junior colleges and secondary schools. There is no longer any conflict of interest when the lecturer is not teaching the student anyway.


If both parties fulfill the above criteria, are consensual and unmarried in the eyes of the law, then, I feel that there is nothing wrong with them being together. I am sure that they will not draw attention to their relationship during the student's duration of study at the institution. Why separate 2 people from indulging in their love for each other? The country is facing a steady decrease in the birthrate these days. Instead of saying "no" to such a relationship, I feel that they should be allowed to develop a relationship and not forbidden. One hears that graduates are encouraged to procreate. Yet, by frowning on this type of a teacher-student relationship, we are effectively restricting procreation! Isn't this somewhat contradictory?


I am against the rigid way of thinking. If any of my unmarried male lecturers were to show an interest in me (which I think would never happen at all) and subject to my liking him too, I would not hesitate to develop the relationship at all. One important thing that I would consider is that he is not lecturing my module, before I say yes. Why will I deny myself a chance to get to know someone else better? If it doesn't work out, I will be consoled that at least we have tried. Who knows, something wonderful may blossom from such a relationship!


Opportunity knocks but only once and leaves, never to return again.

~ ~ ~ Skye's telling at 5:25 PM ~ ~ ~
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China's national treasure.


I haven't seen the treasure around school lately. And I'm dealing with it very badly. Absence not only makes the heart fonder, it also makes me pine for him to a very horrible extent!


I miss Panda! I want to see him! I want to hug him and tell him that I actually like him A LOT! I want to let him know that when I say "Hi" to him in a bored and listless tone, I am actually very excited to see him! I want him to know that I've been waiting for him to make the first move, even though it's impossible for him to do so now even if he is willing!


我的熊熊, 你何时才会理解我对你的一片心意呢? 熊熊, 你何曾想过身为一个娇小玲珑的女孩子, 为你这么一个毫无知觉和知情的男人而等待的痛苦吗? 为什么你到现在都无动于衷呢? 是什么原因让你对我如此的冷漠, 如此的远离我呢? 你可知道, 每天当我到学校第一件所做的事情就是看你的车子是否停在那个停车位里. 若车子不在你所喜欢的位子的话, 我便知道你那天到学校的时间是迟了少许的. 你去年的三月份病倒的时候, 你曾发觉我是那么的为你担心和心疼的吗? 我心疼你病倒了还得上课, 怕你会累坏自己的身体. 我在课室里看到你咳嗽到很辛苦的样子, 觉得自己好无助好无奈. 我并不能帮得了你, 只能默默的坐在一旁看着你, 心里头好心痛好辛苦.


为什么喜欢一个人是那么一件痛苦的事呢? 他, 何时才会明白这么一个小女生的心呢? 熊熊, 你对我有点偏差啊! 神啊, 救救我吧!


If you CANNOT see the Chinese words above, click 'VIEW', then 'ENCODING', then 'UNICODE (UTF-8).

~ ~ ~ Skye's telling at 7:59 PM ~ ~ ~
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Funny...


How the time flies past when I am having fun enjoying school. Today is the middle of the 5th week of school and already, I have to hand in some of my assignments. Why must time go by so fast? If only time could stop at this moment and let me savour the happiness that comes with it. How wonderful it would be!


Did you know that I dreamt about this history lecturer of mine last night? It was a very weird and funny dream. He was running after me with his handphone and attempting to hit me on the head with it! I think that I had too much of him at the start of the week and it caused me to have a nightmare! Hahaha!


That guy's quite nice to talk to, but I don't think that he knows my name. He probably remembers me as the girl who keeps on asking him to turn on the bluetooth function on his handphone! You know, before lecture on Monday, I asked him to turn on his bluetooth and he was like "You don't know my number! How can you send things to me?" And I was like, "Bluetooth doesn't require number! Duh!" Then he said "My teeth are white, not blue. See!" And he pointed to his teeth! Hahaha! I think that he got influenced a tad too much by his neighbour, who always makes lame and corny jokes which I will always rebut when I hear them. What a lame joke to make here, but damn funny!


Ah well, you do know that some lecturers are prone to making such lame and corny jokes and we can't blame them can we? I think it's because of all the research and marking of assignments that they have to do! :0)

~ ~ ~ Skye's telling at 11:42 PM ~ ~ ~
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Apple's Powerbook.


I had a computer lesson today and during it, I was concentrating on 2 tasks: 1) surfing the web and 2) discussing an outline (required by my tutor) with my classmate. I was more interested in the former actually, as we've already done most of the latter last Thursday.


My tutor saw my screen frozen at Apple's Powerbook pricing and towards the end of the lesson, he came over and told me where I could get it for a couple of hundreds off the web price. He also showed my classmate and I, his 12-inch Powerbook. That's the one that I want! It's so handy to just slip it into my file or bag. Much better than the laptop that I have now. Then, he told us about the Powerbook's performance and system requirements and also, about the software. I really like the software that Apple has. I feel that it's much better than Microsoft's.


My school has this PC loan for all students, but when I searched the FAQs, I found that it is only limited to certain models, like Acer and Fujitsu. Not my type anyway. I prefer a Powerbook. I want a Powerbook! Why does the stupid school limit the type of computers that students can purchase using the loan scheme? Ridiculous! It should let students choose which model they want to use, rather than limit our choices. Shucks! Where has democracy gone to?

~ ~ ~ Skye's telling at 7:17 PM ~ ~ ~
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