Today (Friday), I was with little Aimee for almost half a day because I was helping Teacher Anne and Teacher Job a little bit for Destiny Music Festival at a secondary school.

Naturally, Aimee and I would talk a lot and I tell you, this little 4 year-old is the cutest little thing ever. The things she say can be so endearing and sometimes, amusing.

Here are the 2 things she said which put a smile to my face:

1) We were within a secondary school compound
Me: Aimee, do you like this school? It's so big!
Aimee: I'm too young...
Me: Ohhhh.

2) We were sitting in the car, on our way home
Aimee: I am a pink ballerina.
Me: How about your da-ge (big brother)?
Aimee: Da-ge is a cowboy.
Me: How about your er-ge (second brother) then?
Aimee: My er-ge is a cow.
Me: ...... HAHAHAHA!

I had a great Monday!
The rainy morning made it so comfortable to sleep in (I feel ashamed to mention this, especially to my friends who are working... :P Well, if this is any comfort, I'm working too, just that my hours are flexible).

We then walked to Si Hui's house for a spaghetti aglio olio cookout, prepared everything from scratch. Boy, it was a filling and delicious lunch! We watched Forrest Gump on VCD as we ate and while watching, we also poked and patted Dolly and Belle, the cute little hammie hamsters.
They are sooooooo nice to touch, like my teddy bear. It was a really casual gathering but it just feels good.

In the evening, I met up with my jc girlies Char and Yue for dinner.
It has been quite some time since we last met. We just had to meet up because Char is leaving for Hong Kong this week.

Char wanted something healthy so I suggested Sizzler's salad bar but she gave me a big no-no. So off we went to Novena Square's Ichiban Boshi for Japanese food so that she can have her fish.

As we were waiting for Char, I was telling Yue that the few of us girls have yet to catch a movie together. We never watched a single movie together in our 5 years of friendship! Nada. Zilch.
We always met up to eat, shop, eat, shop, eat, eat and eat.

Yue reasoned that we like to talk and in the movie theatre, we have to shut up so it is no fun.
I told Char after that and she agreed that we like to yak over some meal. We just have so many things to catch up and talk about. Moreover, we meet up so infrequently, so all the more we would want to do something that involves more talking.

I guess that's us girls.
We probably won't catch a movie together in the near future.

Next time, I'll bring them to an arcade, my latest favourite place. Muahahaha...

I like food. I really do, trust me.
Maybe it's the Singaporean thing. Singapore just offers me a myriad of food, even Lebanese, which I had with Ching, Denise, Van and SK a couple of weeks ago. I like Indian. Myanmarese is not bad too. Mexican burritos are yummy as well (I only had them once at Cafe Iguana but I still remember how delicious it was).

And so, to celebrate my love of food, I have decided to come up with a few life maxims. Life and food... Ahhhh they go well together!

If life was a box of chocolates, I would want more of the liquor ones - they may look tame on the outside but on the inside, YEAAAA, EXCITING.

If life was a plate of Char Kway Teow, I would want to be the dark sauce and add a dash of perfection by sweetening up other people's lives.

If life was a Japanese Californian roll, I would want to be the avocado - always smooth and awfully rich.

If life was a Popeye's Fried Chicken meal, I would savour and enjoy every delicious episode, lick up every ugly fat that comes in the way, and live life such that undesirable consequences would be the last thing in my mind.

If life was a plate of kway chap, I would be the pig intestine - springy.

Some girls go for retail therapy. For me, it's food. Give me food, and I'll be alright. (:

I have been wanting to make a Facebook quiz, like "Which NTU Sociology professor are you" or "Which RCC Pastor are you" sort of quiz. You know, it can be fun!

I know FB quizzes' results are not very accurate depictions of who you are as a person. I personally feel that most quizzes are very limiting. You are being categorized into very broad groups which seem to describe you as person which you may not totally be. Moreover, you don't know what are the factors that FB use to decide what sort of person you are. The questions are brief and they are just not enough to determine the person.

But in the end, I stumbled into "How Well Do You Know Me" quizzes which some teens posted on FB.
In the name of good, light-hearted fun, I did mine as well!
Some people did them and I was especially surprised by some of their scores. Like how Angie and Aunty Susan scored 100%! WHOA.
Sihui scored a very good 87% (Only one question wrong!).

In general, I thought the questions to my quiz were a bit tricky. So for those who passed, you are not bad.

But as I said, these quizzes do not fully indicate how well you know me. The questions I posed were mostly about my history and my personal likes. But I didn't ask my questions about my personality.

To say that you are truly know me, you must know my character, my personality (my inside), other than my history and personal likes (the outside).

Still, this FB quiz, as I said, is in the name of good fun.

The following is the quiz (they came with multiple choices but I'm too lazy to put the choices here):
1) Which primary school(s) did I attend?
2) I had a lot of money, where would I like to buy more clothes from?
3) How many cousins do I have at my mother's side (excluding my sis & me)?
4) What is one thing I don't mind eating for lunch every single day?
5) What is the name of my teddy bear that sleeps with me?
6)What is my favourite subject in Secondary School?
7) I used to have 2 hamsters when I was 10. What were their names?
8) Who is my all-time favourite singer/musician?

Last week, 8 Days featured a book on how to sleep. It's entitled "I Can Make You Sleep" by British self-help guru Paul McKenna (McKenna?! Lol. He would always kenna teased here if he lived in Singapore!).
His book includes a 21-min hypnosis CD that can help to relax you.
I hope that hypnosis CD is not of him reading some weird chants.

Anyway, here are the 14 Golden Rules of Sleep that he suggested. Let me, the ocassional insomniac, evaluate some of his methods for sleeping.

1) Get up regularly half an hour earlier than usual.
My say: I find it difficult.

2) Go to bed only when you are sleepy.
My say: Duh~!

3) Don't take any naps during the day.
My say: Okay... what happened to the strong advocates for short power naps? I think it's okay to take short naps still. He probably means "Don't take any 3-hour naps during the day".

4) At least three times a week, exercise for at least 20 minutes.
My say: I will feel very tired, definitely.

5) Stop eating at least three hours before bedtime.
My say: Not true. I myself feel the most drowsy after I eat.

6) Don't have any caffeine after 2pm.
My say: I don't have the habit of taking coffee, tea or Coke anyway.

7) Cut out on alcohol
My say: I don't drink frequently.

8) Switch off the TV one hour before you go to bed
My say: I do it! Yea, it helps.

9) Do only three things in bed: Sleep, make love or use this book or CD.
My say: I eat, read, play my laptop and use my handphone on my bed. But I still can sleep!

10) If you are awake in bed for more than 20 minutes, get up and do something boring.
My say: There was one night I did just that because I can't get to sleep at all! I sat up and read the newspapers and got even more energetic (-_-") Maybe reading the newspaper is not boring enough for me.

11) Keep your bedroom dark at night
My say: This really helps! When it's near bedtime, I would switch my room's lights to a dim orange glow, and I would really feel sleepier! Apparently it's biological. Lights can simulate daytime/nightime which would send signals to our body whether to rest or get up.

12) Have a warm, comfortable bed in a room that is not too hot.
My say: Doesn't apply to hot and humid Singapore!

13) Don't watch the clock.

14) Use the CD.
My say: Tsk tsk tsk. Blatant marketing.

Okay. He has some good ideas.
For myself, I do some other things to get myself to sleep...

1) I would read and read, until my eyes get very tired and dry. So I just close them and sleep.
2) I would pick a particular part of my teddy bear's butt and poke it until I feel relaxed to sleep.
3) I would pray desperately to God.
4) I would try to empty my mind of cluttered thoughts and think of a big, blank, white canvas.

Having said that, sometimes, these things that I do also do not guarantee me sleep. Human efforts are often futile.

So ultimately, the solution to this problem would be this.
In vain you rise early
and stay up late,
toiling for food to eat—
for he (our Lord) grants sleep to those he loves.
Psalm 127:2

This is what I call the start of post-exam freedom!


The uni girls day-out at Siloso (: The wind was blowing our hair in so many different directions!



And look at the spread of our potluck picnic! Yummy! We had macarons, nuggets, seaweed chicken, KFC, agar-agar and my own sandwiches.

After Sentosa, I was off to PS to celebrate Sihui's exam liberation. She had her last paper today (on 4 May) and we went shopping and even shot some loops and competed in Daytona in the arcade! Haha! The arcade is like my latest favourite place. Hee.

This was followed by a great dinner at Astons at Cathay. On my way there, I even bumped into Tania! What a coincidence...

Well, anyway, it was my first time there at Astons. Didn't know that sirloin steak can be so affordable! I had steak for $11.50. No GST, no service charge. SO CHEAP.
Pity their sides were not piping hot. Pity.

We talked and talked, ranging from what who is your favourite parent to the 3 body parts we hope to change about ourselves. Interesting. Well, we realise that we should just be satisfied with our body despite the numerous imperfections. What we don't have, we would probably want it. Instead of dwelling what we don't have, why don't we just appreciate what we already have?

The insatiable lust for perfection will never be quenched unless we learn to embrace our bodily flaws and just learn to love ourselves, just like how God loved us unconditionally. And trust me, there is no perfect human. Really.

If you have thick, flowy long hair, you may not have a nice row of teeth. If you have a straight row of teeth, you may not have great, toned legs. If you have a lean figure, you may not have flawless, pimple-free skin.

So there. Imperfections. We should just accept them and focus instead on our strengths and the love that God has for us despite our flaws.

And so, the fruitful day ended after our dinner.

It's the start of the post-exam freedom! Yay!

I like Taylor Swift's Love Story. There is a video that got me so inspired to want to learn this song on piano (Funny how the previous song I tried to learn playing on the piano was the almost similarly-entitled Sara Bareilles' Love Song).

As I look back into my life, I thank God for giving me the opportunity to learn how to play a musical instrument. My family isn't exactly affluent but my mom saw the potential in Sarah and I learning the piano to serve the Lord. So no matter what, she paid to let us get through our piano lessons.

Godma was equally supportive. She and Godpa forked out 5k to get us an exam-standard piano. See how blessed I am to have such a great and supportive family!

Even though my highest grade is only a Grade 5, I appreciate the fact that I can still use these skills to play contemporary music, which thankfully, is not as tedious as classical music (or maybe I think it isn't)!

Enjoy this video. I love this song and when it transits to Coldplay's Viva la Vida, I love it even more! Note the transition. I'm mesmerized by the pianist's finger speed and precision on the grand piano. The cello was an amazing complement as well!



P.S Strangely, the pianist reminds me of my Social Psych professor, Patrick Williams! Hmm. It's probably the T-shirt or his head.