I have a very short bob now.
So short it'll take 2 decades to grow till shoulder length.

I know some people will ask me questions.
I give you the answers now, so DON'T ASK ME WHEN YOU SEE ME.

Yes, I cut my hair.
And no, I didn't want it to be that short.


Ya, it's about this short. The longest strand is above my chin, like Katie Holmes here.
I pretend to be Katie Holmes lor.

Any suggestions to make my hair grow faster?

You know you are 21 when...

The one week recess break is just a prelude to the arduous second part of the semester.

Things to do this coming week:
1) Get a hair trim
2) Design Destiny poster and get them printed (Any lobangs for printing jobs??)
3) Finish a HA101 report/reflection
4) Complete HS401 participant observation project (must get my butt out of the house to go to the betting shop!)
5) Tuitiontuitiontuition because my students' exams are coming!

**Some random discovery**
Ching and I found out that TCC Anchorpoint is such a pretty boutique.
It's so English and homely, unlike most of its other boutiques which are more posh than cosy.
Both of us want to go back, sit there and have tea.

**Some random shoutout**
Yue, I really miss you! I will always pray for you while you're in France.
Alice, I mean.. Pris (haha), I miss you too! Winter's going to be over soon, right?
Char, you must be having loads of fun now, but I miss you too!
Sigh. I miss my girlfriends.

Sometimes, when things seem too good to be true, you hesitate to take it.
This is so good, there must be something fishy going on.
And so you rationalise why this should not be the case, and that you shouldn't be getting such a good deal...

Doubt - the dreadful enemy that kills all possibilities of hope and happiness. Bah.

Receiving salvation from God is also similar. It seems too good to be true.
A lot of people imagine it to be a complicated process.

Why is it so easy to get forgiveness from God? No strings attached? Don't we need to do something before God can be pleased with us?

And that's it. We don't have to do anything much to get God to save us from our sins.
In actual fact, it is simple.
You merely need to believe in your heart and confess with your mouth, that Jesus is your Saviour and your Friend, and VOILA, you're guaranteed forgiveness and salvation (the passport to being back together with God in Heaven)!

Still, many think that it is too easy. They believe in striving in order to get the things they want. They want to workworkworkworkwork for it. That's why, many people do loads of charity so as to accumulate "points" to earn their way to heaven.
To them, there is no free lunch in this world.

But here, God is offering free lunch and people think it's poison.

We must understand that God always work in ways that are beyond human understanding. He has chosen to make things easy for us but we just like to complicate things by rationalisation.
Sigh.

Doubt is a self-constructed obstacle.
When we cross this hurdle, the rewards are aplenty.

Now, as for me, I have received an offer that is too good to be true.
Shall I go for it?
My Lord, please tell me and help me to make a wise choice.

SMS to my mom: Mom, you cooking right? Did you buy the newspaper?
Mom's reply: Right and no.

Right and no? Why such contradiction?
At first, I was taken aback by her answer because I didn't know why she answered my SMS like that.

Then I realise, she was just being concise.

Short, straight-forward and funny.
I like :)

Some things can brighten up my day...

This is Canteen B. So nice right?

ASK likes to take photos and to distract us. Tsk tsk.

GAHHHHH so many readings and so many deadlines looming ahead!

So many photos for my birthday.

Happy 21st to me.

This card is so brilliant, I'm going to make it the first photo I feature. Anybody who wants to get Samuel, my cousin, to design an animation for you, feel free to approach me. He is trained in this, so don't think his services are free.

The little girl, whom I don't know at all (probably a resident there) wanted to blow my candles too. Little girl, you'll have to wait for another 18 years... Don't you think the lady behind looks like an ex-Mediacorp actress? By the way, that's Little Girl's mummy.

Ah ma, mom, nainai, me, dad and Sarah

My uncles and aunties - some are not here though.

Michelle, me & Lilian

Then I tried to get Ching and Denise to do a silly candid photo

So much wind...

Until I got centre parting. Reminds me of my notorious centre-parting days in Primary 4.

***
Yue, as promised, I shall show you my Kate Spade bag.

Here comes Kate Spade, in a deceivingly modest cardboard box. Thank you Johnson korkor & Stacy jiejie!

Hello Miss Kate Spade! It's hiding in my cupboard now.

Hong Lim Park - Singapore's epitome of freedom
Or not?

Afterall, the Speaker's Corner is over there at Hong Lim Park.
FREEDOM OF SPEECH!
Liberty!
Not.

The recent governmental move of not having to get a license to speak at the Speaker's Corner is ABSOLUTELY redundant. In my opinion, we Singaporeans have been trained so well to see that place as an amusement park, where jokers like Chee Soon Juan would go protest and get sued. That place is condemned. It is cursed. You go there to be a clown.

Besides, who would go there to be a clown and risk being ridiculed when you can express your views on the Internet without having to show your face?

Therefore, the decision made by the government is USELESS. When technology is so advanced, who needs to be physically there to protest/complain/demonstrate?

But well, a few days ago, there was a buzz at Hong Lim Park. And I was soooooo amused when I saw this piece of news on TV.
Instead of talking about important issues that affect the society, the world and our civilisation at Hong Lim Park, some funny people decided to hold (of all things,) a matchmaking session, specially for parents whose children are still single.
What these parents did was to exchange numbers and information of their children with other also very eager parents.

An uncle being interviewed said very earnestly on TV, (I translate into English) "My daughter ah... studied in Raffles Girls' School, RJ, then went to the United States to further her studies... She has no time!"
No time to date.

Wah, uncle, your daughter very zai. Maybe that's the reason why she's still not attached/married.

So, now the government is also intervening into our personal lives. So now all of us must quickly get married! Our Prime Minister said we must!

Now, do we still see Hong Lim Park as a representation of freedom?

21 years on earth.
Not very long to leave a legacy, but not too short to leave a footprint on someone's life.

Turning 21, as I expected, wasn't anything spectacular.
No falling confetti. No fireworks. No sudden epiphany.
But turning 21 got me thinking about what I have done in my life, what I have been doing and I should do. So, did I manage to leave good foodprints in other people's life?

I hope so.
Well, people come and go in different seasons of my life.
But I hope to see people come, and not go at all.

I was reading today's Sunday Times and there was a short excerpt of a diary of a man whose mother chose euthanasia as a way to die as she was at the last stage of cancer. The whole family had to cope with her planned death.
It gripped me so much because for now, I have yet to go through a major death in my family. I began thinking about it and I was overwhelmed by a sudden wave of sadness. It wasn't a nice feeling.

Turning 21 probably means I have to be mature now to go through such things.
As a Christian, I believe death is just a temporal separation (because all of family members are Christian, including both my grandmothers) and we'll all reunite again when we go back to heaven. But then again, because we are humans, and we are given emotions, we cannot help but grieve.

Deaths in the family are unavoidable, but can it not come too soon?
I'm only 21!

***
Being 21 also means, I get "adult" stuff.
Ok, no dirty thoughts.

"Adult" stuff means I get branded goods - entities that are far from reach for poor undergraduates like me.
But for my birthday, Johnson kor and Stacy jiejie (his wife) got me a Kate Spade bag!!! Imagine my surprise!
When I opened my present, I was like... WHOA!
Uncle Stephen and Aunty Susan got me a Swarovski crystal 'key-and-lock' necklace. Very pretty.
I got plenty of fantastic gifts!

Heehee. I shall blog more about my birthday gathering soon, when I get the pictures.
God gave me good weather throughout, until after I cut my cake, then came SHOWERS of blessing! Still, I'm thankful that it didn't rain before that.

Turning 21 is an experience that all of us should have :)

La pluie, la pluie, allez!

10 hours later, I will be holding a conversation with Weiching in French, in front of our tutorial mates.

Ching: Bonjour!
Me: Bonjour! Comment ça va?
Ching: ça va! Et vous?
Me: ça va bien. Vous aimez l'exposition?
Ching: Oui, c'est intéressant! Qu'est-ce que c'est?
Me: C'est une peinture du peintre français.
Ching: Oh... c'est super!
Me: C'est pas mal.
Ching: Vous connaisez bien art?
Me: Un petit peu.

Will memorise this by heart!

Happy 21st Huiching!
Birthday dinner at Au Petit Salut, hosted by Huiching, was a good one. Thankfully, David went, so at least I'm not alone.

The canapes, together with white wine was a good complement.
Okay, I was quite lousy because I couldn't move on to the red wine, even when we were having our mains. For my main, I had Wildfire spiced black cod fillet on Desiree Mash with baby asparagus and bush tomato jus. Don't ask me what's bush tomato jus. They looked like normal tomatoes to me. Haha!
Whichever way, the french fare served was just immaculate.

There was even a "fashion show"! Huiching's dad and mom were so spontaneous! They strutted in from the main door, like fashion models and kissed on the spot. So sweet, and so fun!

I have to admit I was a bit worried about not having enough people around to talk with (there was only david!), but in the end, the private party was surprisingly enjoyable. At least we could all catch up a bit.

Thank you Lord for such a time :)