Chronic Fatigue Syndrome...


I didn’t feel well this afternoon so I left school early and went to see the doctor. NO, I wasn’t ill on purpose just so that I could see that cute doctor. I was really not feeling very well.


Before I left school, I went to see Dr A to ask him about the return of my assignment as my tutor is a part-timer. He was like “You are the only student who comes and ask about the return of assignment when the due date to hand in is tomorrow!” Suffice to say, he got “monkeytised” by me before I left for the doctor’s. :0)


At the clinic, the doctor told me that I’m overworked, overstressed and suffering from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. He said that I must relax and take time out to do what I like best. Ha! How to do this when I have so many things to do?! He gave me 2 days’ MC and told me to “go and do something that you really like. Go shopping, beach, watch movies, sing, talk to friends” and whatever else that I want. Oh, and he told me “you don’t go to school ah”. Hahaha!


I kind of took his advice that evening. I went home, bathed, snacked and just went to take a nap, without thinking about my homework. Anyway, I’ve finished it some time ago and it just needs refining before I print and submit it tomorrow.


I went out with my parents for dinner. We went to the hawker centre at Whampoa market to eat 鱼头炉. Delicious! And I ended up feeding the stray cat that was looking at me ever so pitifully, the remnants of my dad’s fish bones. We go there quite often though, as the鱼头炉 is the best that I’ve tasted so far. I also like the fried white carrot cake that is sold there. Moreover, it’s near my maternal granny’s house, so we would drop by to visit her whenever we’re in the vicinity. Sometimes we would also bring her out for dinner. :0)


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~ ~ ~ Skye's telling at 10:01 PM ~ ~ ~
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One assignment done…


Today I handed in my assignment on Singapore’s National Identity and the Bilingual Policy. Whew! It took me ever so long just to get it out. I was supposed to write 1200 to 1500 words, but I exceeded and it hit 2000 ++ instead. And this is excluding the notes and bibliography! Hmm… I’m not so sure why I wrote so much, I just hope that I didn’t go out of point!


During group discussion towards the end of the class, the words on the shirt of one of my classmates’ caught my eye. It said, “I only fall in love with the best”. I signalled to her and told her that I like the words, when she looked at me, smiled and rolled her eyes to her right. I was like “Huh?!” and she did the same thing. I looked at the person on her right and it dawned on me that she likes him! Both of us burst out laughing and the class didn’t have a clue as to what we were laughing about!


After class ended, we stood outside the classroom, along the corridor and chatted about the guy that she likes. It seems that we are both in the same predicament – we both like a guy but do not dare to tell him, much less let him know about it. I told her that I’d help her to find out more about him. Anyway, he was my classmate when I was doing my Voice elective during my first semester in year 3. She told me that she wants a picture of him and I was like, “I’ll try okay? But no promises lah.”

~ ~ ~ Skye's telling at 8:30 PM ~ ~ ~
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Summarising.


It was my turn to do the summary for the computer class again. Sigh… I really hate to do summaries. Did you know that I have to post whatever notes that I’ve taken down onto our class bulletin board? Irritating!


Each of us has to do a summary for two lessons and thank God that this is my second time! Mr V, I REALLY, REALLY HATE DOING SUMMARIES! Please don’t torture your future students and force them to summarise the lessons like you do us now!

~ ~ ~ Skye's telling at 9:27 PM ~ ~ ~
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Monday!


ARGH! It’s Monday and my assignments are not completed yet! I wonder how long more would I need to finish the two of them. Hmm… would I be able to complete everything by tonight? Or would I have to try and finish it tomorrow? This is really bad. I don’t seem to be able to rest, relax and let my thoughts flow.


Thank God for taxis! Otherwise I wouldn’t have gotten home so fast to continue my assignments!

~ ~ ~ Skye's telling at 8:15 PM ~ ~ ~
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Temper fraying.


Okay, I am really extremely irritated. No, it’s nothing to do with my family and friends, but everything to do with the fact that I have yet to complete my stuff for school.


I slept in this morning and I’m kind of refreshed after that long, long sleep. Eh, know who I dreamt about last night? Heehee! It was this person from school. Nope, it’s not Panda. I’m slowly getting over him even though I still like him. It’s someone else. Mnemosyne knows who it is. She guessed it on the first try! Sheesh!

~ ~ ~ Skye's telling at 9:03 PM ~ ~ ~
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Homework x infinity…


I spent my entire day doing my assignments that are due next week! I think that I’m really suffering from writer’s block this time round as I can’t seem to be able to form and string my ideas as fast as I usually do. Sigh….


I have an inkling that my Sunday would be spent very much the same way!

~ ~ ~ Skye's telling at 10:12 PM ~ ~ ~
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Tomb-sweeping part 1 .


My mother woke me up ever so early this morning to go and pay our respects to her father this morning. Our entire family went with my maternal granny and my second auntie. I brought my handycam along and spent most of the time filming the process of them praying, chatting and doing weird stuff!


It really was fun at the cemetery. Of all the graves that I’ve visited and paid my respects to, I simply LOVE my granddad’s grave. This is because his is this big one that is so spacious, unlike the newer graves that are so small and boring. My granny told me to go and play on granddad’s grave. She said that he wouldn’t dare complain or be displeased. If he’d dared to, SHE would give him a dressing down for dying so young and leaving her to rear all their children. Hahaha!


I really am the only one of her brood of grandchildren who dares to play on and at his grave. The rest of my cousins are very staid and would just stand there and look around after offering their prayers. BORING! So my granny doesn’t like to bring them along to the cemetery. Heehee!

~ ~ ~ Skye's telling at 9:43 PM ~ ~ ~
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Pre-Marital Sex – What’s your take?


I was sitting with my classmate at the study table of Block 3’s basement, which was facing the car park, when she suddenly asked me, “What do you think of Pre-Marital Sex?”


Honestly, I was taken aback when I heard the question. I mean, I have never seriously thought about this at all even when my friends and former classmates talked about it in the past. I told her that I’m okay with it, as in, I would neither criticise nor judge people who indulged in this. Then she asked me, “Would you do it?” Eh, I was like, “HUH?!”


I said that I might do it, if I could be sure that he’s the one whom I want to spend my whole life with, and not just some one-night stand type of guy. But then again, you can never be quite sure whether that person is THE ONE for you right? Please, I still haven’t found mine yet! It is very hard to be able to discern and yet at the same time, try not to be too caught up in your emotions in the heat of passion. I told her that I would be more worried about getting pregnant if I had done it. I mean, contraceptives may not always work anyway.


I told her that our Singaporean society is still not very forgiving towards unmarried and single mothers, especially so for the career that she will undertake upon graduation. Yes, for all the brouhaha about Singapore being a globalised city, we are still very dated in our way of thinking. Blame it on our Asian values, if they really do exist.


We were happily chatting when we saw Mr L coming down the stairs. I recalled that he brought his classes to the frog farm last morning and this and I asked him whether he fainted upon seeing the frogs being skinned alive. He was like, no, he didn’t see the killing yesterday because he was busy scolding a female student not misbehaving. Then I asked him, how about today? He said that he stood towards the back and just watched and no, he didn’t faint at all! Hahaha!


Ever since I discovered a particular function in my K700i, I’ve been “monkeytising” or “monkeyfying” all the people that I know. And Mr L is no exception. I asked to take a picture of him using my K700i and he happily obliged! I had thought that he would reject me initially because he is soooooo shy. He stood in front of the wall, breathed in deeply and kind of held his breath. It really made him look so stiff that I told him to relax. I switched to the monkey frame and tried to fit his face into it.


He was like, “Why you come so close?! Wait can see all my beads of perspiration!”


I: “No lah, cannot see lah. I also got! Anyway this one cannot zoom.”


Mr L: “What you mean cannot zoom? I can read the words on your phone. It says 4x optical zoom!”


I: “Aiyah, this function cannot zoom lah!”


I took one of him in the monkey frame and another without it. He’s quite sporting actually and smiled real nicely for the second picture. I’ll probably email him these pictures after the results are out.


In Computer class today, Mr V gave me the disgusting task of summarising the lesson for the day. YUCKS!

~ ~ ~ Skye's telling at 9:39 PM ~ ~ ~
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Coincidences.


Do you know the feeling of wanting to see someone, but you don’t? Instead, you get to see everyone else instead of the person who you want to see. Yup! You see all and sundry except the most crucial person. It happened to me yesterday and today.


I was waiting for Ser at the lift while she was in the toilet. An was on the phone with her guy and strolled towards us. Then I saw Kyl at the lift and chatted with him. He has changed his handphone back to the old one, which is the same as Panda’s. We talked about the phones that we are using and I showed him my K700i. By then, Ser had already come out of the toilet and joined us. Kyl’s lift came and we bade each other goodbye.


Ser was like “You know him ah?”


I: “Yah.”


Ser: “Did you know that he was looking at you in a very cheeky way?”


I: “Got meh? Never notice. I was busy trying to take my handphone out of my bag. Anyway, nothing to see mah.”


Ser: “Got ah! Your shirt’s so transparent! Can see your white bra! Got pattern one right and half-cup some more hor?”


I: “Can really see ah? You all never tell me, I thought cannot see mah. Aiyah, never mind lah. It’s not that clear anyway.”


Ser: “You don’t know what’s running through his mind when he was looking at you. Did you know that his gaze was centred at a particular area?”


I: “Don’t know and don’t bother lah! Aiyoh, see no harm lah. Friend friend mah. You hor, think too much lah!”


Then Ser rolled her eyes and we all laughed!


Talking about guys, I’m reminded of something that happened later. We were at the lift again and I saw Mr L. He teaches Geography and Environmental Studies, just like Mr C. In a way, Mr L reminds me of Kyl, because I feel that they are both lacking in the self-confidence department. Like Kyl, Mr L also doesn’t dare look you in the eyes. They both prefer to look down at the ground instead of at whoever’s speaking to them. Look, is it just me or what? At least with Kyl I can tell him directly that he’s being rude by not looking at me. But I can’t tell my lecturer this!


What is it with guys and sticking their hands into their pockets?! I really cannot understand this! Kyl does it, Mr L does it and even Panda does it too. They can just stand there and talk to you, but halfway through, their hands will invariably find their way into their pockets. Someone should really write a book on “The Secret Behind Guys Sticking their Hands into their Pockets”.


I asked him why he still looked so blur and he smiled sheepishly at us and mumbled something which I couldn’t hear at all. Ser greeted him because he is her Geography tutor.


He said to me with a grin, “Did you tell her all about me and how shy I am? You know right? Because you were in my class before?”


I: “Mr L, I wasn’t even in your class! I had Mr C as my tutor last year.”


Mr L: “You mean that I didn’t teach you ah?”


I: “Lecture yes. Tutorials no lah. Think you know me because you gave me the game that you used for your research for my Nokia 6600 last January lah.”


Mr L: “Orrr….”


And all the while he was talking to me, he had one hand stuck in his pocket! Okay, hands in pockets habit aside, Mr L’s quite a nice guy too and he can be very funny at times. But he really should get some help with his self-confidence. I remember during Geography lecture last January semester, he spent more time lecturing to the floor and screen than to us students. He also said that he had no idea what he was lecturing about and would appreciate it if we could just sit and listen to him for 2 hours. Sigh…


This afternoon, I met another of Panda’s friends. But he wasn’t with them. I know that I promised my friends that I wouldn’t even attempt to see or think about him, after what happened. No, nothing major happened. He didn’t do anything. It was all me. I just decided that I didn’t want to drag it any longer. I know that勉强是没有幸福的, so I might as well put a stop to it. I think that up till now, he still doesn’t know the reason why. It’s enough that I know. Never mind him. Sometimes I just have to let go, even though I know that it really hurts. But I think that this way is better for the both of us. 长痛不如短痛, 但我还是会想到他的。I am human after all.


After our Singapore Studies class, An and I went to Mr V’s mailbox to hand in our CD containing our assignment. Upon passing Ms T’s office, we went in to thank her for agreeing to be interviewed for our Governance presentation, which didn’t come through anyway. When I was about to enter her office, some people appeared on my right and I snapped to the right to see who they were.


I saw Dr A holding a mug and he was with another guy. But by then, An was pushing me into Ms T’s office. I was halfway in when I heard Dr A saying, “Ay, I changed my phone already leh, you know?!” By then, they had walked quite far up the corridor. I went out of Ms T’s room and asked him: “What phone you change to ah?”


Dr A: “Nokia one! But no bluetooth lah.”


I: “What model lah?”


Dr A: “Don’t know leh!”


The friend was like “Tell her you changed phone only, number still the same.”


Dr A: “Yah, I changed phone only, but my handphone number still the same.”


I: “You tell me also no use! I don’t have your number!” This is really DUH!


Dr A retraced his steps and used his right hand to take out his phone from his pocket and put it right in front of me. It’s a Nokia 6020, I think. I must have had this really weird expression on my face because he said, “Why you look at my phone until like that? No good meh?”


I: “Why you downgrade? This one no bluetooth one.”


Dr A: “Eh, it’s very cheap leh. S$18 only, I sign up new plan. It’s selling for S$500 leh.”


I: “…”


I can’t remember what he said after that, but I said something like “You very bad one, I don’t friend you already lah!” Hahaha! I find Dr A really very comical. In a way, he reminds me of the actor, Adrian Pang. You know, the theatre guy who ventured into the small screen.


I returned to Ms T’s office and we chatted for a while. She told us about how she had to supervise 4 students who are on attachment now and how good 2 of them were. Then she whipped out her digital camera and took photos of us. Hey! I did the same for her too, except that I used my K700i instead. I was grinning incessantly when Ms T was talking to me, because my mind was on what I suddenly remembered about someone. Ms T must have thought that I was crazy!


Ms T asked me whether I’m going to China at the end of the year and I told her that I could go if she wants too. I asked her to let me know if she wants to go and whether anyone else in her department is coming along. Because I have to arrange for beds in the house. Otherwise they’ll be stuck sleeping in the hall, or worse, by the well in the yard! :0)


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~ ~ ~ Skye's telling at 6:27 PM ~ ~ ~
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Missing you.


Dear Panda,


How are you getting on? I haven’t been seeing you in school lately save for that chance encounter last week. You must be very busy too, like me.


I know that I’m not supposed to feel this way, but I really miss you a lot. I wonder whether you’d feel the same way too. Do you feel a void in your life, like I do mine? I don’t know why, but I feel like there’s something missing in my life. I think that something is you. Life was so much more fun last January semester, when we were in the same classes. At least we got to joke around and got on each other’s nerves. But we’ve never had any more common modules after that semester. What a pity!


Sometimes when I see your car parked there, I would hope for a sight of you, but I always do not get to see you. Life sure makes sport of us all. When I want to see you, I don’t get a chance at all. When I least expect to see you, you’d appear right in front of me and take me unaware. And this always happens when I’m not nicely dressed for school!


Did you know that I’ve started to dress up because of you? Did you know that I’ve worn a skirt to school fewer than 10 times in my first 5 semesters on campus? All this changed when I met you in my 6th semester, in January 2004. I started to be conscious of my appearance and began buying skirts and dresses, wearing them on days when we have classes together, hoping to catch your attention. I caught your attention all right, but it was certainly was not due to my clothes! I’m sure you know why!


I remember that Saturday morning during the January 2004 semester when we met by chance outside the lift at block 3’s basement and took the same one up. You gave me the once-over from the corner of your eyes. I really do not understand WHY you had to look at me from the sides when you could just look me straight in the face! I felt funny when I caught you looking at me from my feet all the up and then down again. But what the heck! I was doing the same thing too, except that I wasn’t looking at you out of the corner of my eyes!


I want to see you again, even a glimpse of you would be enough. But sad to say, not everything that one hopes or wishes is liable to come true. I love to see your smile and hear your voice. They are like the rain that refreshes the parched flowers. So long as you are happy, I am too.


Even if it hurts.

~ ~ ~ Skye's telling at 8:08 PM ~ ~ ~
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Shopping!


I got so sick of doing my assignments that I headed for Orchard straight after my Translation lecture this afternoon. It felt really soothing to immerse myself in some retail therapy. And it’s not like I’m not going to wear any of the stuff that I bought.


Hmm… I bought 2 skirts and a pair of white heels to go with the clothes that I bought last week. I’ve never worn the tiny type of heels and I pray that I don’t fall in school tomorrow!

~ ~ ~ Skye's telling at 11:39 PM ~ ~ ~
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Food Fair!


I went to the food fair at Suntec City this afternoon with my family. Boy! You wouldn’t believe the spread of food available there! I felt like such pig, feeding my face with all the scrumptious food that my parents bought.


This really made me forget about all my assignments that I had to do!

~ ~ ~ Skye's telling at 10:35 PM ~ ~ ~
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A very “springy” butt!


You know, I’ve never accorded any attention to how “springy” my butt is until just now. As I was towelling dry, I accidentally slapped my bare butt. Boy, was the feeling good! It’s really very nice to see it bounce. I never knew that it was so bouncy! Now I finally understand why SOME of my friends love to slap my butt! Sheesh!


Oh, and I know why men like to slap the butts of females. According to one of my nutty but fun friends, when a man slaps a woman’s butt, he’s showing his stamp of approval for that woman. Just like when a horse lover slaps the rear of a thoroughbred, he’s showing his appreciation for the horse. Hmm… weird but interesting!


How I wish that a particular someone would do this to me!

~ ~ ~ Skye's telling at 11:48 PM ~ ~ ~
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“Translatese”.


I spent the entire day doing my Translation assignment! It wasn’t that bad to do actually. What I found very tedious was that I had to analyse every single sentence and see which category it fits into. Like whether I would be able to discuss a sentence under the lexical, syntax or discourse section. Eh, I don’t think you’d understand what I saying anyway! Hahaha!


I think that some of my classmates are trying to rush through their Translation assignment too! Everyone’s like asking me whether I’d finished or even started on it. And I was like, no, not yet. Even if I had indeed started on it like a month ago! The aim is not to incite panic amongst my classmates. You’d never know what desperate people would do!


Have you ever seen highly stressed-out people before? Come to my campus and you can find them everywhere. They have this “HIGHLY STRESSED” sign emblazoned across their faces. If they hear that you’ve started your assignments waaayyyyyyy before them, they will snap at you and try to wheedle as much information about what you’ve done, out of you.


Help me! My classmates have turned into WEASELS! Heehee! :0)

~ ~ ~ Skye's telling at 11:56 PM ~ ~ ~
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The doctor’s in!


I was suffering from menstrual cramps and backache this morning. But I still went for my Computer class, as I hate missing classes. During the lesson, my back was aching so badly that I had to put a cushion between it and the seat, so that it would be better.


Fortunately, Mr V ended his class early, as we didn’t have a break during our 3-hour lesson. It was hurting so much that I decided to just go home, dump my school things, and go and see the doctor. Well, I saw him just now. Guess what?! HE IS SO DAMN GOOD-LOOKING! He wears black-rimmed metal glasses and is at least 1.7m tall.


Eh, he really is! I’ve never seen such a cute doctor at my clinic before. Usually I would get the Uncle type and the Ah Pek kind. Sigh… I told him about my back aching so badly that I had to leave school early. He made me lie down on the bed and started pressing (poking!) my stomach and asking me whether it hurts. Of course it hurt lah! DUH! Then, we chatted about what I’m studying and he commented that I must be very artistic. I was like, “Huh?” Then he said I must be a linguistic person. I was like, “Yah, ok lah. I can’t do Maths anyway.”


I asked him for an MC for today and he said “I give you 2 days ok?” and smiled at me! I didn’t have the heart to tell him that I have no lessons tomorrow. Heehee! He has the same Nokia phone as me. So I asked him whether he wanted any screensavers and he said ok. I was like “On your bluetooth!” Sounds familiar? Then I sent him 3 gifs.


God! He really is cute! Me thinks that it was worth suffering from the pain to see and talk to such a cutie! Now I know which day to fall sick and go see the doctor! Hahaha! :0) Oh, by the way, he’s called Dr Derek Yong.

~ ~ ~ Skye's telling at 8:17 PM ~ ~ ~
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Farewell my friend…


Dear Girlfriend,


When I received the news that somebody from school committed suicide, I never thought that you would be the one. To me, you would be the last person to take this way out. You are someone who is always so full of life, bouncing here and there and just basking in life’s every moment.


I remember the first time that we met. It was in Social Studies class in July 2003. It was a Wednesday afternoon in the small tutorial room in Block 2. Our tutor, Mdm Y mixed all of us up and I ended up in the same group as you, Dav and Sher. I remember that we had to introduce each other to the whole class then. Dav and Sher paired up, so it was just you and I. You introduced me to the class and I too, you. I remember that you like water sports, wakeboarding I think and you were in the same faculty as I. Our group assignment was I think, done quite well. And we all got along and worked fine together too. I remember that you called me at home once and asked me for ideas how to do certain things for your individual assignment. That afternoon was quite fun, as we chatted over the phone over school and other matters.


WHY DID YOU HAVE TO DO THIS?! Why can’t you wait until after Friday, when it was the start of the term break to confide in someone? What actually happened, such that you felt you had no way out? Couldn’t you try and look for a way out? Killing yourself does not solve anything at all. It may be a temporary relief, but the hurt that you’ve caused everyone will never disappear. This pain is so acute that no medicine in the world can soothe it at all. In the dead of the night when one is alone, that is when the wound starts to throb.


You jumped on the morning before going to your attachment place. Was it that bad and scary that you had to choose death over it? I cannot help but wonder how YOU felt when you made the decision to climb over the ledge. I wonder how you felt then, seeing all the things beneath you. I imagine seeing you fall… fall… fall… all the way down, with nothing to cushion your fall.


I recall what Dav said to me when January 2004 came along and we had to choose our tutorial slot for another Social Studies module. He said that you didn’t want to take Mdm Y’s class because you did not get an ‘A’ in her class. He said that you are a perfectionist. If you were one, I think that I can at least understand a tiny bit, why you took this path. I heard that you were unhappy because you received a ‘Pass’ grade for your attachment. But Girlfriend, were you aiming for a ‘Distinction’ instead?


Do you know the agony of being recommended for a ‘Distinction’ and never getting it? I know. Because I was recommended, and had to face the moderator, but I was not conferred that grade. BUT! That was not the end of the world for me! As long as I know that I’ve done my best, I’ve done well, and other people know that too, it is enough for me. Never mind about that idiotic moderator.


When Dav and Sher told me about your death, I was flabbergasted. Really, never in my whole life would I have thought that girl to be you. Girlfriend, Dav told me that you had other problems, family ones to deal with, in addition to the stress of your attachment. Sher said that you had been going through depression for a long time. I remember the time when we were talking about whichever guy was cuter and what songs you listened to.


We may not have been the closest of friends, but you will always be my friend. I cut out your obituary and kept it in my drawer. Girlfriend, that is the only photo that I will ever have of you. Forgive me for not keeping in contact with you. Lack of time is not an excuse at all. I should have SMSed you, Dav and Sher before you all went out on attachment, but I failed to do so. I am sorry.


You said that we would graduate together. But now, I will be graduating alone instead. This is so unfair! Why did you have to go? I miss you, can you come back? I keep on seeing flashes of your face, smiles, hearing your voice and laughter. Yet, I believe that wherever you are now, you are happy.


May God keep you with him now that you are no longer with us. May He heal your wounds and fill you with the hope and love that was difficult to find on earth.


My Dear Girlfriend, farewell…

~ ~ ~ Skye's telling at 5:58 PM ~ ~ ~
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Tragedy in school…


I heard from An on the way home that a girl committed suicide last Friday. She heard it from her Counselling classmates yesterday when they were having lessons.


Why would a person take her own life? What is so bad that she cannot persevere and try to solve the problem? I feel so bad for the girl. Is it worth it to take your life? You may think that you are going to some place good after death, but are you really? When you leave, who picks up the remnants for you? It is your loved ones. You may have left, but the agony remains because your loved ones are constantly reminded of you.

~ ~ ~ Skye's telling at 7:07 PM ~ ~ ~
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4 more weeks to go.


ARGH! It’s the last month of school and I’m rushing all my assignments! Time really passes very fast. WHY? Why can’t I enjoy what’s left of school before I face reality this summer?


I have a presentation on the topic of Governance and I’ve finished everything with my partner, An. I feel that it will be a very good presentation, as we’ve covered all the grounds and done our readings for the lesson. I can’t wait for Wednesday to arrive!

~ ~ ~ Skye's telling at 3:20 PM ~ ~ ~
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Work done.


I slept in this morning and work up in time for lunch. How nice it would be if I could sleep in everyday and lead a relaxed and carefree life. But I know that this will never happen, no matter how much I yearn for it. Sigh…


I managed to finish editing all of my video files for my Psychology presentation that’s due in 2 weeks’ time. Yup! I’ve also finished some other things for school and ironed all my clothes before dinner. I’m so proud of myself!


There’s something that I can never understand. Why is it so difficult for certain people to complete their stuff over the weekend? I know that the weekends are for one to relax and have fun. But there are some people who prefer to place schoolwork at the end of their To-Do list for the weekend. When Monday comes, they will beg me to give them more time to finish their parts for the groupwork that we are working on together.


I also have lots of things to do and I also want to relax during the weekend. But at least I know what are the more important things will try to steer myself to complete them for school before the weekend is over. Someone called me a workaholic a few weeks ago. Hey! I don’t mind being labelled as one. At least it’s better than being called a couch potato.


Sometimes, I feel that when groupwork is to be done, it’s not groupwork at all. It’s individual work, all of mine. Why? Because it’s all my work! Who’s the driving force behind the group? Me. Who’s the one who gets work done? Me. Who takes charge of all the technical aspects of things? Me. Who edits and collates the stuff? Me. It’s always Me, Me, Me. I often feel like I’m taken for granted. Sigh… What can I do? It’s the last semester and I don’t want to blow the matter up.


At least when I do all the stuff, I know that I am learning something. :0)

~ ~ ~ Skye's telling at 10:58 PM ~ ~ ~
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Weird dream…


I had this really, really weird dream last night! It was weird to a point that it became hilarious! Want to know about it? Read on!


Okay, I dreamt that I was in this apartment. My dream apartment! Yup! I’ve been seeing the same one in my dreams, whenever I happen to dream about it. The furnishings are always the same, but the flowers on the dining table and the sheets on my bed seem to change every time.


I had someone with me in the dream. Er, you wouldn’t want to know who it is. You’d probably baulk at the sight of the name! Suffice to know that it’s someone from school and he’s the really jumpy sort. I sometimes wonder whether he’s ADHD! He wasn’t feeling very well and I brought him back. That guy’s on the verge of puking anyway. And I was just doing a good deed by bringing him home.


I tucked him into MY bed and unbuttoned the top few buttons of his shirt. Otherwise, he’d die of suffocation in my house! That guy was running a light fever, so I stayed up the entire night to sponge his forehead. And he slept like a swine, that hog of a man! Towards morning, I rose and went to prepare breakfast for the both of us, lest he gets up and complains of feeling hungry.


Seeing him eat (I fed him plain porridge in bed), you wouldn’t know that he was ill the night before. The man really can eat! I wonder why he wasn’t surprised to find himself in my house. I asked him whether he knows who I am and I was taken aback that he knows my name! Hmm… We’ve never had any tutorials together, only lectures, and I wonder how he knows my name and who I am. Ah well, it’s my dream anyway.


If you were expecting more, I’m sorry to disappoint you. But I woke up at this instance! Hahaha! Maybe I can continue it tonight! It’s really funny because we do not know each other well at all and have nothing in common. Do I dream about what I think about in the day? Maybe, but I haven’t been thinking about him what! So what went wrong here? Sigh…

~ ~ ~ Skye's telling at 11:54 PM ~ ~ ~
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~ ~ ~ Skye's telling at 5:55 PM ~ ~ ~
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An interesting talk.


I went for the SAAL talk with An this evening, after our visit to the Dyslexia Association of Singapore. It was particularly informative! Now I know why Dr L always encourages us to attend talks of this nature.


The speaker, Dr McKay, talked about how English is divided into the Inner, Outer and Expanding circles. This will then affect the way English is perceived in each country and by others, on any one country. I realised that culture also affects the way people learn the English language. It’s like, if the students were to learn about the culture of the target (UK or US) language, then they’d probably spend more time figuring out what phrases like “Uncle Sam” and “Midas Touch” mean. But if students were exposed to aspects of their own culture during English lessons, they can then spend more time learning the language, as they would have no problem understanding the text on their culture.


The part about Pragmatics was interesting as it reminded me of the issue of International Intelligibility. Are Singaporeans able to speak a standard form of English such that we are understood by foreign speakers of English? Or are we hampered by Singlish or Singapore Colloquial English (SCE)? What is so good about it that we persist in speaking it even though we know that there are people who cannot understand us?


Well, SCE has evolved such that it has become a very efficient code. We can cut away all the unnecessary parts of a sentence in SCE and just get straight to the point. Take for example, this incident that a tutor of mine, Dr K, mentioned during one of my Singapore English lessons:


Student: “Dr K, can I hand in my assignment next week?”


Dr K: “Yes, you may.”


Student: “Huh? What you say? Can or not?”


Dr K: “Can.”


Dr K said that she found that she was better understood by her student when she replied using only one modal, never mind that is was grammatically incorrect. She also said that she liked the efficiency that SCE brings, as she doesn’t have to spell out every single thing in her sentences. What she needs to do is just to state the gist of it.


I know that SCE is damn nice and comfy to use, but it gets on my nerves when I hear it being spoken when I’m overseas. It is particularly jarring on my ears to hear it and I’d try to conceal my nationality. Yet, it doesn’t make me less of a Singaporean when I do this. No, I am not ashamed of SCE, having grown up with it. But I find it very weird to hear it when overseas. Sad to say, it sounds very unrefined. It’s fine when everyone is speaking it in Singapore. But when it comes to a foreign place and no one speaks it, SCE can stick out like a sore thumb.


Eh, my computer tutor, Mr V, was laughing as he read my post on the BBS in class this morning. He said that he’d always laugh when he reads my post. Hahaha! I think that he finds me very weird. He said that I should let him have the url for my blog. Ah, another avenue for him to seek some laughs. So I told him that I’d let him have the url after I’ve graduated.


There are some things that can be quite offensive to certain people! T’were be best that no one in my course reads my blog until after I’ve graduated and well out of harm’s way!

~ ~ ~ Skye's telling at 11:59 AM ~ ~ ~
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The Bluetooth guy.


An and I went to ask Ms T, or rather Dr T (as the name on her door now shows), for us to interview and video her for our Politics assignment. But she was in a hurry for a meeting off-campus and suggested that we go and find Dr A because he is “very liberal”. Eh, I really wonder what she meant by that, but she didn’t elaborate!


Outside her door, I asked her pointedly whether certain people have a sexual disorientation (read: homosexual) and she said “No lah! You very bad ah! You naughty girl!” Then she laughed and left. An and I next went to knock on Dr A’s door (which was less than 10 steps away from her office) and asked for permission to interview and video him. He was like “No lah, cannot! You can quote me but cannot record me! I know a lot of people in some places lah.”


Ah, another example of one who’s scared of the repercussions. Then we told him that it’s for his module and he said “All the more cannot! 不可以啦! 我不要!” He was really reluctant in being interviewed on video. But he said that we could ask him questions via email and he would answer. We were like, don’t need. We also complained to him about our tutors being changed so suddenly and he said that our original tutor had a timetable clash, that’s why there was a change.


He asked us which tutorial group we belonged to and we told him and said that he wouldn’t want us in his class because we are very noisy people. Then he said he welcomes people like us, who can contribute to the class discussion. Then we said “Why didn’t you put us in your class?” And he went, “不关我的事! It’s the Foundation Office who arranged the people! 是他们做的! I can’t do anything what!”


The poor thing, got accused by us of making our lives worse by saddling us with a not-so-nice tutor. We were just joking with him!


Then I told him: “Dr A, switch on your bluetooth!”


Dr A: “You are forever asking me to on my bluetooth one. Okay, I on now. Where is it ah? It’s under ‘connectivity’ right?”


I: “Dr A, you press the ‘more’ button like this.” I used my K700i to show him. “Why don’t you use shortcuts?”


Dr A: “I don’t believe in shortcuts in life lah. Why you have so many phones?”


I: “One is default number, one free incoming calls and this one is free lah.”


Dr A: “What you mean by default number?”


I: “Means everyone can find me by calling this number and I can call overseas. Incoming’s only for family and close friends.”


An: “Like me, I’m her close friend mah.”


Dr A: “Orrr, I know. Free incoming’s so that people can talk longer with you right?”


I: “Yah lah!”


Then he rattled on about how his teeth are white and not blue. A bit stale right? He used this joke before and I reminded him and told him that I wrote about him and his blue teeth joke in my blog. That guy probably thinks that I’m nuts!


I said to A, “Let’s see how long he takes to find his bluetooth!” He asked me what I wanted to send to him and I told him jokes and cute pictures.


Then he asked: “You mean the whole Singapore can find me using bluetooth ah?”


An and I said: “No lah, only people within a certain radius on campus.”


Dr A: “So you mean that I can send all these to people by bluetooth ah?”


I: “Yes lah!”


Then I sent him 3 gifs and reminded him to turn off his bluetooth.


Dr A: “What would happen if I leave it on?”


I: “You might get ‘bluejacked and your phone might be infected by viruses lor.”


Dr A: “Orrr….”


I: “Your neighbour is one who doesn’t like to on his bluetooth.”


Dr A: “Which neighbour?” (He looked very blur.)


I: “That one”. (I pointed to the wall on my right.)


Dr A: “Orrrr, that one ah!” (Then he laughed.)


I: “Yup!”


Then his boss came and knocked on his door and asked him to go to some lecture theatre to support some of their colleagues. He thanked me for the pictures and I told him that I’d send him some more nice pictures and/or gifs when I get them.


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

~ ~ ~ Skye's telling at 10:01 PM ~ ~ ~
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Another attempt!


You wouldn’t believe this, but Ca just tried to try and create an opportunity for Mr C and I. Sigh…. When will she learn that he and I just do not click?! She had trouble completing the map-reading exercise for her Geography class and SMSed me about going to find Mr C to clarify some parts of the exercise. I told her that it’s no use me going with her. Anyway, I’m not in his class any longer and my presence would just be redundant. Moreover, if I had gone with her to his office, it would just mean another opportunity for him to pick on me. Then I’LL be irritated beyond measure! Sheesh… Yes, he’s a big bully! Hahaha!


She later replied. “Thought of creating an opportunity for him and you mah”. Mnemosyne thinks that Ca’s mad, because it’s very obvious that there’s no chance for a get-together between Mr C and I. Everyone knows this except for Ca. I wonder how I should bring it to her attention? Sometimes some people are really slow at getting hints.


Something else to ponder over… I saw a certain friend of mine today. An and I were waiting outside the computer lab at around 12.19pm waiting for our class with Mr V to start at 12.30pm. The doors to the computer labs are always locked, so we have to wait outside somewhere.


We were happily chatting and my 6230 was on the music player mode, playing Kevin Kern’s Sundial Dream and The Enchanted Garden. Then I saw THIS person walking towards me. I know that he had seen me from far. He was with a couple of his friends and they were talking as they walked. He was wearing a white shirt and that favourite thing of his, red in colour, or something like that.


When they reached the middle lobby and was about to turn left into the lobby and then the lift, any normal person would just turn his head to the left and continue walking. But no….. he inclined his head to the right, smiled at me (because An’s back was facing him) and then turned towards the lifts. I pretended not to notice him at all. 以牙还牙嘛! Because he always does this to me and when I return a greeting or see him along the corridor, he’ll pretend to ignore me.


Smile at me, get my attention, then the next time we meet, he’ll simply ignore me. I’m just giving him a taste of his own medicine!


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

~ ~ ~ Skye's telling at 6:49 PM ~ ~ ~
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Singapore Association of Applied Linguistics (SAAL) Talk


My professor told us about this talk during lecture this morning. It sounded very interesting, especially as the speaker will also talk about Pragmatics, my favourite topic!


The details are as follow:


Date: 10th March 2005
Time: 6.15pm to 7.45pm
Venue: Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Staff Hub (near the swimming pool).
Speaker: Sandra Lee McKay
Title: English as an International Language



I’ll be attending the talk with my classmate, An, that day. I think that I need to get permission from my tutor to leave her Psychology class early so that we can make it on time for the talk. My class that day ends at 5.30pm. So, we’ll probably need to leave at about 4.30pm to make our way to Ngee Ann Poly and find the venue.

~ ~ ~ Skye's telling at 6:01 PM ~ ~ ~
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Family dinner…


I finally went out with my family for dinner! Yup! That’s after like, so many weeks, ever since the Lunar New Year. It’s really been some time since we went out as a whole just to eat and relax.


I felt really good going for dinner and car ride after that. Whew! There’s really too much things to do these days. I feel like a robot! It’s like day in and day out, all I have to do are just assignments and nothing else. Sigh…

~ ~ ~ Skye's telling at 11:45 PM ~ ~ ~
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Not at home.


It’s off to An’s house later to do our Governance assignment. She’ll be coming from the east by bus later on, as she stayed over at her boyfriend’s house because he was ill.


I really hope to be able to finish this assignment by the evening so that we can both concentrate on our other assignments which will be due soon. We both have a Computer assignment that we are doing together, but that is due on 22nd March. The Governance one is a presentation which we will have to present in 2 weeks’ time, due on 16th March at 10.30am.


I sure hope that we can complete at least 1 assignment later on in the day.

~ ~ ~ Skye's telling at 12:08 AM ~ ~ ~
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A Sumptuous feast!


Ca, An and I went to Marriott Hotel for a buffet dinner with Ylh this evening. It was a very enjoyable dinner and we were laughing continuously. All of us were caught up in the frenzy of taking photos and whipped out our mobile phones to snap each other.


I think that the dinner was a welcome relief to Ylh, who has not eaten in nearly 24 hours! He said that last night he was so tired that he just fell asleep on his hotel bed and missed going out for dinner with his other friends. We treated him to the dinner, as we didn’t get a chance to meet up with him after exams last semester before he flew back to Korea.


I think that his flight just took off and he’ll be landing in Incheon at about 6am or 7am on tomorrow.

~ ~ ~ Skye's telling at 11:47 PM ~ ~ ~
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Ex-classmate…


I saw my Korean classmate this morning before computer class started. An opened the door of the computer laboratory and asked me, “Guess who is here?!” And I was like “Ylh! What are you doing here?!” He was supposed to be in Korea as his new semester starts in March. He took advantage of SQ’s offer and flew in here for about $1000.


I was really surprised to see him as we were supposed to meet for dinner tomorrow night instead and I didn’t know that he would be coming down to campus. He still looks the same, never changed a bit. I asked him whether he went to visit 2 of my professors, Dr L and Dr D. Ylh said “NO! I don’t want to see them!” Hahaha!


Computer class was pretty good today. We spent an hour trying to develop an outline to meet the targets set by our tutor, Mr V. My partner, An, and I managed to finish the task set and post it up onto the class’ bulletin board before the lesson ended. Whew!

~ ~ ~ Skye's telling at 11:07 PM ~ ~ ~
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Match-making!


Today I took the train with one of my classmates, Ca. She told me that her geography tutor is very funny and remains her of me. When I heard this, I laughed out loud! She said that he is like me, who would always laugh at any and everything. And that he always observes the most unimaginable things. Like when I pointed out to her on the way up the escalator, “Look! That pigeon is sleeping.” She said that he is also liable to do such impromptu things and can change topics very suddenly too.


Ca said that she has been observing him during class today and finds him quite good-looking actually. She commented that we are quite compatible, character-wise. And suggested that I consider him instead of Panda who, up till now, has not taken any action yet. It was recommended that I forget about him and move on. My reaction to this? Loud guffaws! Hahaha!


I said: “Huh, me and him, er, don’t you think that it’s kind of impossible? Moreover, he might already be married.”


Ca said: “Don’t think he is lah. You all two can communicate quite well what. Why don’t you consider him?”


Me: “But he’s my lecturer what. Anyway, I don’t think that he likes girls of my type.”


Ca: “哎呀， 年龄不是问题啦！ 反正你跟他都很谈的来， 每次见面都有吵架, 斗嘴。为什么你不要考虑他一下呢？”


Me: “Hahaha! Aiyah, he’s still my lecturer who likes to bully me a lot. And I really don’t think that he likes me in that way mah. I will tell you when I start to like him the way you want me to.”


Ca: “你应该主动一点嘛。You really should consider him lah. He’s quite rich also mah. So what if he’s your lecturer, you’re going to graduate soon what.”


Me: “Rich or not, I’m not bothered lor. He must be nice to me, can liao. If the guy is rich and does not treat me well and nicely, what for ah.”


It was a damn funny conversation and I was laughing throughout! She seems adamant about wanting me to be paired up with him and I was like trying to get out of it because I know that I am certainly not Mr C’s type and he will NEVER like me in that particular kind of way. To him, I am just a student, albeit an irritating and noisy one, who always squabbled with him in Geography and Environmental Studies classes. Moreover, I look like I’m still in secondary school or college, and has been labelled “little girl” and “gadget girl” by him. He called himself “old man”, which I find hilarious because he’s not a tad old at all!


I think that Mr C’s a fun kind of guy from what I’ve observed about him during lessons and he’s very knowledgeable too. If there’s one thing that I bow to, it’s knowledge. Though he has been labelled a “broken wrist syndrome” kind of guy by some of my coursemates, I seriously don’t think that he is. He’s probably just a metrosexual or a kind of sensitive new age guy. He might have a girlfriend or even be married for all that we know. :p


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

~ ~ ~ Skye's telling at 9:25 PM ~ ~ ~
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Classmates’ presentation.


For my lesson on Singapore Studies today, I sat through 2 presentations by my classmates. There were 2 pairs presenting on the topic of Singapore's Ssociety. I thought that the second pair was better, at least the presenters looked at the audience when they were presenting!


The first pair’s presentation skills were really much to be desired. They used colloquial English and even the word “sucked” for about 6 times at the start of the presentation to make their point about a particular part. Content-wise, I think that it was quite okay. They REALLY SUCKED man!


Gosh! I hope and pray that my presentation with An WILL NOT be like this! Such a presentation is really ATROCIOUS!

~ ~ ~ Skye's telling at 8:00 AM ~ ~ ~
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