a prayer

no pictures yet.. coz I wanna do something.. to say a prayer for all my loved ones - my dearest family & loveliest friends, who may be facing some problems or who are stuck in some quagmire or who are suffocating under immense stress...

Dear whoever-is-watchin-over-us, please please please make my loved ones happy. Make everyday a sunny day free of worries. Build rainbows of hope. Make it rain smiley faces and clap thunders of laughter. Coz they are such nice people who do not deserve the bad weather days they have been getting. Thanks.

a book - part 2 - THE END

well actually the title should be many books. Been reading quite a bit recently and I am happy that they were all very worthy to be recommended. I love the feeling when you know you have with you a really good book and it provides a respite from the regularities of your life to delve into another world - a world where you don't have to play a part, where you are merely an onlooker.

1. The Shadow of the Wind (Carlos Ruiz Zafón)
I ABSOLUTELY ADORE THIS BOOK! Put simply, it is a book about a book. Muddled? I am not sure how to classify this book because it is a book of mystery, of love, of friendship, of history, of magic, of fate, of simply everything. I am amazed by how well the writer ties so many seemingly fragmented pieces of episodes together yet makes it so easy for the reader to understand and follow. Very original, attention-grabbing and well-written.

Plot: *****
Words: *****
Thought: *****


2. Shopaholic Takes Manhattan (Sophie Kinsella)
This is the first and only book in the shopaholic series which I have read (as yet), but not the first book of Kinsella for me. I read 'The Undomestic Goddess' last year and had quite a good impression. Kinsella's style is easily digestable - very entertaining. Light-hearted and flavoured with a generous dose of humour. The only downside is that the plot is slightly predictable and tends to cater to the girlish audience. haha. But who can resist a fairytale perfect ending? Not me! Definitely THE book to grab when you are looking for something to keep you occupied on long train/bus rides or a light read before you sleep.

Plot: ***
Words: ***
Thought: ***

3. A Place Called Here (Cecelia Ahern)
Another good book as well. My second book of Ahern after her much-loved 'PS I love You'. The book is about.. hmmmm... about being lost. I like the storyline for its novelty, which evolves in a way that is totally unexpected. And it closes wonderfully with a sort-of-perfect ending. I like this much better than 'PS I love You' and decided to give 'PS I Love You' another try coz I sort of got lost in the windy plot. A small warning for you if you want to give her books a try coz they do get a little draggy and, like Kinsella, favours the pretty-&-smart a.k.a. female species more. Haha. And the book cover is so attractive it makes me happy just to admire it.

Plot: ****
Words: ***
Thought: ****

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Sadly, for me but I am not sure if it is for you, I think I gonna stop my book recommendation thingy. I realize I sound like some boring, underpaid book reviewer, which was not my intention.

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Argh! Poor blog! You have no photos on you but just a boring mess of words. Really gonna stuff in some photos -hopefully- in my next entry.

omg!

was watching <开运万事通> on ch49 just now. And I tried this question which tested my mental age. Guess wat? I am actually not a 'grumpy 45 year old divorcee facing midlife crisis'. PHEW! The results revealed that I am actually an 80 year old trapped in a 22 year old body. FAINTZZZ!

Whoa... told you so. I am not lying when I say that I think a lot. I am glad I still have black hair at the rate I am working my brains out. Arrrgghhh! -cough cough- Ops what just happened?!

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Ok, I do realize my blog is kinda boring without photos... shall try to dig around and see what I have. But I doubt so. I cannot remember the last time I said cheeeeseee!!!

Parts 1 & 2 & 3

so for the sake of my very-not-diplomatic friend... i shall give an update of my 'life... or lack of'

work, eat, sleep, work, eat, sleep

(in increasing order of importance)

multiplied by seven

and to be multiplied by a million more weeks.

There, you got an update of my life this week, a recap of what happened last week, and a preview of my life in the subsequent weeks, succinctly packed into four lines. *beams*

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Here is part 2 of the agenda of this entry...

I was thinking, yet again, about how bizarre the world is. And how scary it is to live in a world where nothing is permanent, where no theory holds true for long, where no relationship is permanent. And that I can do nothing about it. And my pea brain simply cannot process the tumult of new information. It is like each time you think you are standing on firm ground, you realize, much to your dismay, that you are standing on quicksand. Then you struggle to pull yourself out to what seemed like firmer grounds, only to realize that you have misjudged. Logic and reason are like archaic ideas of the long forgotten past. ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN, why care about them?

I remember having this nightmare where I woke up one morning and went to my parents' room where they asked "who are you?" -PANIC DESCEND-

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ok part 3 and the last part...

I want to clarify something. Contrary to my heavy-hearted blog entries, I think and feel I am a generally happy person. I may sound like a grumpy 45 year old divorcee facing midlife crisis but I am not! I think a lot, seriously A LOT, sometimes too much for my own good. Afterall, what I get is only sleepless nights. But I cannot really do anything else when my thoughts run wild but to run after them.

But don't worry. I have an optimistic outlook towards life. I am positive that the future holds infinite possiblities if I seize the right opportunities. And I am really grateful for my circle of support - my family and friends, including the *ahem* not-so-tactful ones haha.

hmmm

Don't we all know that 'Singapore is a country free of natural disasters'? And as a child, I always thought - rather naively- that Singapore is located at such a strategic location where tornadoes, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, tsunamis etc etc cannot, and will NEVER, hit us. I never thought that I would one day feel the building shake on this island I have called home for 22years and go 'another tremor... ... oh well!'

Maybe I should start to worry.

Worry about whether Volcano Ah Beng will erupt in my backyard.
Worry about whether Typhoon Durian will blow my HDB block away.
Worry about whether Earthquake Ah Lian will reduce all shoppping centres to pieces and where else I can shop.
Worry about whether networks will be down so I can ask my friends out via SMS to chill.
Worry about staying overnight in a sleeping bag at some school or community centre.
Worry about whether the delivery man will still deliver food when the roads are flooded.
Worry about whether the makeshift shelter has hot water for my 1 hour bath.
Worry about whether canned food is tasty.
Worry about whether I can still munch on peanuts when I feel like it.
Worry about whether my blog can be updated so my friends can know how I feel when a natural disaster strikes coz they are so nosey they wanna know ALL about me.

hahaha GOTCHA!.. ok this is a weird entry... coz BEDTIME!

zZZZZ

the little ironies

THEN: You were not allowed to address any one older than you by their first names. You have to call them Mr/Mrs/Miss/Aunty/Uncle/KorKor/JieJie.
NOW: You are told to drop all formalities and address superiors/lecturers directly by their first names.


THEN: You had to stand up when voicing your opinions in class.
NOW: You can just sit down and talk to your lecturers during lessons without having to stand up and attract unnecessary attention.


THEN: You were instructed to return your plates and utensils to the respective pails of the canteen vendors.
NOW: You have people four times your age to clear your table and clean up after you.


THEN: Getting 4As was all that matters.
NOW: You ask so what?


THEN: You were encouraged to dream.
NOW: You know it is reality that matters.

latenighttalk

Life.

It is its many twists and turns that makes even the self-proclaimed-most-boring-person's life seem like a blockbuster. Just when you think you have seen it all, it swerves and heads off in a completely different direction before you can shout 'stop'. Or it thrusts you something completely unexpected.

We are so minute, even insignificant. Just where do we stand in this amorphous concept/definition/space/dictatorship/thing called Life?


Life.

It may be a rollercoaster, according to Ronan Keating. Or a box of chocolates, according to Forrest Gump.

It may be a bed of nails, or equally bad, a bed of unidentified creepy crawlies. Or it may be a bed of roses or sunflowers or any type of flowers which you can possibly feel comfortable lying on.

It may taste like a bad cup of coffee on a Monday morning. Or it may taste like a steaming hot chocolate on a cold winter night.

A thousand million gazillion -or more realistically- infinite possibilities awaits you the minute you open your eyes in the morning (though you probably feel like closing them for another 5 minutes).

Well, what can you do except to rise up to the challenges? Coz brave souls we are.

Or are we just hapless beings embroiled in a struggle of power between reality and dreams?

I, or rather, we, can only find out tomorrrow. I am optimistic... I really am. (=

my-oh-my

Sometimes, on one of my many biscuit-munching or nut-stuffing escapades that has almost become a ritual, I wonder if someday, I might just die of cardiac arrest while gorging myself crazy. Imagine the amount of trans fat that is already clogging up my arteries, and my brain too!

evolution?

"Apes, that's what we get in the classrooms.
Darwin was a dreamer, I can assure you.
No evolution or anything of the sort.
For everyone who can reason, I have to battle with nine orangutans."
~The Shadow of the Wind, Carlos Ruiz Zafon


Don't you find it weird that we keep talking about the advancement of Mankind and the progression of society, yet when we try to look back, we find that we are barely just a few steps from where we started?

It was 1854 when Dickens wrote Hard Times. Victor Hugo penned Les Misérables in 1862.

In 2007,
We are still selfish and still greedy.
We are still obsessed with power and with money.
Our society is still plagued with discrimination and with poverty.


Do you hear the people sing?
Singing a song of angry men?
It is the music of a people
Who will not be slaves again!
When the beating of your heart
Echoes the beating of the drums
There is a life about to start
When tomorrow comes!

Will you join in our crusade?
Who will be strong and stand with me?
Beyond the barricade
Is there a world you long to see?

Then join in the fight
That will give you the right to be free!

Do you hear the people sing?
Singing a song of angry men?
It is the music of a people
Who will not be slaves again!
When the beating of your heart
Echoes the beating of the drums
There is a life about to start
When tomorrow comes!

Will you give all you can give
So that our banner may advance
Some will fall and some will live
Will you stand up and take your chance?
The blood of the martyrs
Will water the meadows of France!

Do you hear the people sing?
Singing a song of angry men?
It is the music of a people
Who will not be slaves again!
When the beating of your heart
Echoes the beating of the drums
There is a life about to start
When tomorrow comes!

~Do You Hear the People Sing?, Les Misérables

Sorry Hugo, your tomorrow never came...
Sorry Dickens, Bounderby didn't die...