Wrong Decision..

Was pleasantly surprised after getting back the essay for my GEM. Didn't even want to collect it in the first place. Under normal circumstances, I would have been really delighted with the result. But since I've opted to take the module as S/U, I'm beginnning to feel a tinge of regret, especially after today's exam. It's too late to revoke my decision now. Don't know why but I always seem to be making the wrong choices in life. Anyway, the ironic part was that I didn't put in much effort in doing the essay. The 30% essay was done in less than 3 hours. The reason can be attributed to the topic of the essay, which was something to do with sports. Guess I can really write a lot about sports, but nothing about economics. Sigh. Of course, I wouldn't have done that well without the help of someone. Here, I would like to extend my appreciation to a certain Karren Tan for the very useful books. Without them, I wouldn't have obtained that grade. And as of now, your friend here has yet to borrow more than 5 books out from the NUS library :)

Was rather disturbed upon reading someone's blog. Ok, may be the word 'disturbed' is too exaggerating. He mentioned that he cannot stand people who joined teaching because they can't find other jobs. Well, to him, he would rather remain jobless than to teach. But given a choice, I think most people would rather teach than be unemployed. Why? Sitting and rotting at home while waiting to be called up for an interview or receiving news is no fun at all, especially after getting many rejection letters or even no replies, it can be very demoralising. Anyway, what's wrong with teaching? The pay is high and the job is indeed noble. Before getting a job, most people declare they would never go into teaching. But people do change because of circumstances. The world is evolving and if one continues to stick with one's stubborn principles, they would be left behind in this competitive society. So, if there's a job offer waiting for one to accept, why not take it up instead of slacking at home? Earning money to contibute to one's family to clear debts is more important than any other matters. There's a saying that money is not everything. There are other things like kinship, friendship, love etc. that cannot be overlooked. Yes, I agree with that. But for survival, money is not everything, money is the ONLY thing. In reality, most of the time, we are 'forced' to do things that we don't wish to do. Btw, the above arguments do not only apply to the less well-off. Even the wealthy ones have to play a role in contributing to the family, regardless of the size of the family income. In their case, working and getting a monthly pay cheque is to relieve the burden of their parents' heavy workload. Parents' hard-earned money is not something that we should take for granted. Many parents have been slogging hard for their families and children. It's about time these children learn to shoulder the responsibility and quit being selfish when they grow up. After all, not every family owns a gold mine in their backyard.

Aiyah Whatever..

I'm proud to announce that The Sunday Times blog of the week belongs to my cousin! Hmm, not entirely his actually. Co-written by his girlfriend as well. Was quite surprised to see his picture upon checking the website. After glancing through the articles and the pictures, I had no doubt it was him. Who else has such a strong command of the English language? Which guy would be so crazy about toys? And a few minutes ago, I was very sure it had to be him. Who else has such musical talent? Almost died laughing at the song he composed. The lyrics are hilarious and the tune is so catchy. He sounds like Ah Niu.(His voice is not that low in reality). And the piano recital of the song found in Ray was just sheer brilliance. Literally put a Grade 8 holder like me to absolute shame. I didn't know he was so musically talented till today. He would only play the piano in Granny's house during CNY when I wasn't around. The moment I stepped into the room, he would stop playing immediately as though he was ashamed of his own music just because he didn't have a complete portfolio of musical certificates like me. It's ironic that most of the people around me who have completed Grade 8 have all treated their pianos as white elephants after graduation while those with no proper piano foundation are actually the ones composing songs and enjoying the beauty of music now. It just goes to show how unimportant certificates are. Learning for the sake of passing exams defeats the whole purpose of education.

So, here's a brief introduction of my cousin. Mr Tan is a mere 4 DAYS older than me and would be graduating soon with a Masters in Law. Besides the obvious vast difference in intellectual level between him and me, we actually share many similar interests. Love of soft toys, soccer, tennis and of course needless to say, music. Guess it can be attributed to something called genes. But come to think of it, no one in Barbara's family is even muscially inclined. Perhaps KK Hospital was surrounded with beautiful music during the end of November 1982 while we were peacefully lying in our baby cots ? That I won't know. Whatever it is, I'll make sure I witness him playing his piano pieces when he gets back from the States. Perhaps we can even compose a few pieces together.

At the meantime, I shall continue figuring out the lyrics of his song, which mocks at both Jay Chou and Lee Hom's low standard of Mandarin.

The Letter..

After enduring a couple of weeks of skipped heartbeats whenever the postman arrives, I'm glad I would no longer need to suffer from disappointments during this exam period. The letter finally arrived today when I wasn't at home. And I am seldom NOT at home. Anyway, I expected either an appointment letter or a rejection letter. Instead, I was summoned to go for a music audition. At least the audition is scheduled right after my exam period.

So, here's whats included in the audition. I'm supposed to perform prepared pieces of songs and bring a copy of the pieces that I would be playing. This means that I can't play songs composed by myself as I do not have written scores. Neither can I play drama serial theme songs as I do not rely on scores to play them. All these comes naturally. Why in the world do they need a copy of the music score? I've no intention of preparing a Bach, Mozart or Beethoven piece. The last time I played classical music was a donkey 8 years ago! There's no way I can master a Symphony blah blah blah in 2 weeks. Somehow I wish the interview was tomorrow. This kind of stuff should be impromptu. Besides playing the prepared pieces, any one of the following may be included: sight reading (confirm fail), sight sing (should be ok), harmonize simple melody (what's that?), improvise a simple piece (I do it all the time, but on pop music).

10 more days to the start of exams. Schedule for the next 1.5 weeks: Wake up, brush teeth, eat breakfast, read newspapers, study, eat lunch cum watching tv, bathe, study, eat tea (if hungry), study (with 'surfing internet' breaks in between), eat dinner, stroll, bathe, study, and finally sleep. Piano practice sessions will be held whenever I feel like it (i.e. sick of studying). How I love exams.

The Weirdo..

The following brief abstract is written by Duckass, which gives a perfect description of a particular weirdo. No prizes for guessing correctly who this weirdo is.

"This weirdo is a creature of habit, powered by a clockwork mechanism. everything she does has to be in accordance to her ever irritating schedule. any diversion n she becomes terribly annoyed. try sitting next to her in the car n giving her the wrong directions. she'll freak out n start screaming her head off at u... but glad to say i'm beginning to attain immunity.. haha... this weirdo possesses a laughter that is more infectious than sars. she laughs at the slightest thing n cant stop altho its not funny. she can make someone as sane as me laugh till i have to gasp for breath. esp when relating her mother's comical actions.. this weirdo is a fan of korean drama.. she adores watching those lovey-dovey tear jerking romance shows. she's so mad about it that she is prepared to pay much more just to get a packaging that she likes.. n she claims that she resembles this korean actress.. which i still fail to agree...however, due to her clockwork mechanism as mentioned earlier, she only allows herself to watch a maximum of about 4 discs a day, depending on the length of each episode...this weirdo is also the person who doubles as my consultant. esp when we go shopping. cos i cant seem to make up my mind. she's also my nonsense absorber, never failing to kick me back to reality when i indulge in my unrealistic fantasies.. and also my informer, bcos i'm just too lazy to check things out for myself.. oh yes, and my saviour, always providing me with info on what will happen to me whenever i was caught flouting the traffic rules... and much much more..during this 10 years, we have irritated each other immensely n i'm still trying to figure out who is the more irritating one.. well, this weirdo is XXX, my friend of 10 years, since the "tabbymohan" days in secondary school. "

Sack Fergie..

One word to sum up Manchester United's performance. PATHETIC. A 3rd place team losing to a team rooted at the foot of the Premier League table. A guillable me even thought that Man U could make use of this opportunity to improve its goal difference against Arsenal. It's no coincidence that Man U's form went down hill with the return of Ruud. His re-emergence disrupted the team's formation. Without him, Man U went unbeaten for many matches. Ever since Ruud came back, Man U has had problems scoring and winning. To be fair to him, he didn't start the match against Norwich. But who cares. The statistics speak for themselves. There are good players in the team but Fergie doesn't field them often. The players seem to only play properly against Arsenal. The motivation to win is missing now. Now, who's to be blamed? Obviously the manager, Fergie. That senile old man has been warming that seat for way too long. He's running out of ideas. It's time for him to let go and enjoy his time playing in the garden with his grandchildren. I hope he automatically retires by himself at the end of the season to spare his blushes. If he still refuses to, I hope he gets sacked. No one bothers about past glory these days. It's all about the future, and it looks pretty bleak with Fergie around.

Tired Swiss..

Exploded today. Snapped at someone as I couldn't tolerate it anymore. My patience was wearing thin. Must be the lack of sleep. It doesn't pay to be nice. The returns for being kind is a whole load of whining and unappreciative words. I've had enough. After shouting, I went to have my hair cut. Went pass ITE. I wonder why they do not have a standard uniform. Some are dressed in grey, while others in blue and a few even in green. Anyway, I was really pissed with this ITE student. Just as I was about to board the train, she cut in front of me just when the train door opened and rushed to the empty seat. Hello. Didn't your mum teach you manners. This is Singapore, not China. I was already in a foul mood at that time. I felt like giving her a tight slap but I refrained myself by moving to the next cabin. Glared at her before doing so. I was not annoyed with her for snatching my seat. I was infuriated with her for being freaking rude. Asshole.

I wonder why people love to ask me for directions or do stuff. Do I have such a friendly face or does my forehead say 'street directory'? In the space of an hour, a middle aged woman asked me whether bus number 17 goes to some temple and another old woman actually asked me politely to look after her bag, which contained bread and water, while she went to the ladies. This is not the first time. I always get stopped by tourists and old folks asking me how to get to the nearest MRT or some place. Don't get mistaken. I love helping people but I always wonder why people approach me.

My head feels much lighter after the hair cut. I actually fell asleep in the saloon during the hair wash. I think I'm getting old. I doze off easily these days. Will be retiring to bed right after the last episode of my police show later. I'll miss Lihua. She's like a reflection of myself. To think that the character is fictional. Enough of blabbering.

Swiss Revival..

It's official. I am Rog's jinx for matches played in USA. I'm never ever going to stay up to watch him play anymore. It's just not worth it. Flash back to last night. Or rather this morning...

Sat at my 'lucky' spot on the sofa at midnight. Started watching. Rog got broken in the 1st game. Damn. Told myself to calm down. Rog was looking relaxed. So I relaxed too. But after a while, it became evident that there was no way Rog could beat Nadal. Rog was totally outplayed and it didn't help with those numerous unforced errors. And Nadal was chasing down every single ball. 1st set gone. 6-2.

Things became worse. Rog got broken again in the 1st game of the set. That's when I decided to change seats. Sat 1 metre away from the tv as I needed the lightings to read something. Finally he started playing well. I quote the commentator "Normal service resumed". Rog broke Nadal twice. Ok, I thought he would cruise through the 2nd set. Began to lean back on the sofa as sitting 1 metre away from the TV could have caused me to go blind anytime, and it was at some awkward position. That was the beginning of the downfall yet again. He couldn't serve out at 5-3. What the hell. Anyway, he got broken and the set was pushed to a tie break which he promptly lost. It was 2am. I made the decision to retire to bed. I couldn't bear watching my hero lose. I went to bed a depressed girl. But before that, I smsed my lucky charm to stop studying and go watch Rog play.

Fast-forward.. 9am this morning.

Got woken up by this freaking song on radio. Immediately reached for the controller to switch it off. Accidentally reached out for my hp. Ok, switched it on expecting to get no sms as Rog lost. 1st sms. My lucky charm said he's watching. That was a sms from early this morning. Then came the unexpected sms screaming " HE WON!! HE WON!!" I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I grabbed my spectacles and re-read the sms. Started laughing to myself like a lunatic from the mental insitute of health. Couldn't refrain myself from jumping out of the bed and running to Mr Lim's room to switch on the internet access even though he was still sleeping.

Till now, I'm still on a high. I've never witnessed my Rog come from 2 sets down to win. I'm so proud of him. I know I'm a nut case. I dreamt that he got beaten in straight sets. It goes to show that dreams are opposite of reality. Anyway, the reason why Nadal lost was he ran out of steam and inexperience caused him dearly. I really hated him to the core for the 1st 2 sets. Now that he lost, my dislike for him has subsided. But I know he'll be a major threat to Rog in the French Open. I'll worry about that later. Now, just let me enjoy the success of Rog's remarkable comeback.

Current Obsession..

Woke up an hour late for Rog's match. I did set the alarm. Blame it on the wet weather which made it so cosy to just continue sleeping. The body was willing but the mind was weak. I was confident that he would win which explains why I didn't climb out of bed. Ok, he's in the finals against Spanish youngster Rafal Nadal. I must stay up to watch, after all, the match is at 1am. Nadal is a real threat to Rog. Can't take the match lightly.

Anyway, I've been slacking too much lately. Supposed to finish my international essay last week but I've been suffering from a massive brain block. And the fact that the dateline was extended certainly didn't help. The urgency and motivation to finish it were lost. But after lazying around and chilling out the past few days, I feel totally recharged and ready to embark on the unfinished journey.

Bought David Tao's latest CD yesterday all because of my latest obsession, a song titled, Who Do You Love. Just when I started liking the song, the radio stations decided to boycott it and deprive me of hearing it. Anyway, having heard the whole album before, I thought it was a worthwhile investment. Seriously, I can't even remember when was the last time I bought a CD. With people like me around, no wonder the music industry has been suffering.

I thought I would feel tinges of jealousy upon seeing the picture, but I felt nothing at all. I was surprised by myself. Somehow the person's significance to me has disappeared a long time ago without me actually realising it.