New found Evolution

Somewhere tucked in the corner of CCK... a human is slowly evolving into a panda..

That's me.

***

Cold, rainy night is wonderful.

The best time to do your work and accumulate those rings under your eyes too.

When was the last time I danced in the rain? Can't remember.

Walking to CCK from school I guess, tiptoing from earthworms which were swimming on the ground.

*YIKES* shivers* So gross *

But I would love to do it again.

Maybe later... no wait.

Finish project first. =( WTH...

***

Searching for that ray of light in a long dark tunnel seems almost impossible.

Like I said, Shit never comes in a small drop.. it usually comes in a huge bolus and it uninvitingly slaps itself onto your face.

Christians call it the SPIRITUAL WARFARE... i call it... "Crap Tornado"

***

Starting from Sunday, things might begin looking brighter. Or so I hope.

Sunday fellowship had better be crazy enough for me to release those tensions...

Bah... I love kairos. It's growing bigger, cosier, closer to be my place of refuge. A God-sent grp. Love it.

***

A RaRe Visit

Well, who hasn't heard of 881.. even Koreans went wild in Busan with the 881 cast.

anyway, my prof had so excitedly invited Royston Tan - the acclaimed young successful director of 881 came down to class last night.

not exactly his fan, but I do admire his courage & passion in film making.

It was a nice evening with him in class, sharing insights of his experience from 881 to with the government and other local directors.

Just some interesting stuff from the hour long Q&A session: -

@ The initial proposed title for 881 was "The Papaya Sisters", he wanted something obiang sounding. But because Royston misheard his cast saying "881", instead of papaya, he decided to use the former as he thought it sounded cool

@ 881 almost didn't make it to through the board of censors as the law states that there should not be more than 30% of dialect in a local movie. The movie has approx. 80% of Hokkien. But after going through tonnes of Ministers, they decided to give it a go-ahead explaining Hokkien is Singapore's cultural heritage.. *ok, let's start to to be true breed Singapore cultured people NOW :P*

@ One scene was filmed in a warehouse where ventilation was absent and two cameo maidens fainted while LingLing claimed her underpants were soaked throughout. *yikes*

@ In the scene where QiYiWu was supposed to pluck the rooster's feathers, he had to pluck 22 times to get the take right. *Poor cock*

@ Before its release, a famous local director claimed that 881 will never get past S$1 million in local box office, he called in to apologise after 881 went past the S$2 million mark. Now it's at S$3.6 million mark. *bite your feet you Mr. Balding Jackfruit* @_@ did I just mention his name?!?

@ The same local director was highly suspicious of being the one who contacted Shin Ming Daily to notify them that the newspaper was misused in 881, as well as the egg assault on the 881 cast that happened at PS. Many more stuff he said.. *sigh Mr Director, haven't you heard? Ape don't kill Ape?"

@ Despite 881's success, 4:30 gave Royston the greatest sense of satisfaction after production due to the low budget given, and the film was done with mostly 2 takes max for each scene.

@ Working with the young lead actor, Xiao Li Yuan, made Royston realised he was more than ready to become a father because he has to stay in the same room as Li Yuan, he took extra effort to 'father' him.
E.g. Hiding in the toilet to smoke so as not to let the boy become a passive smoker, stay awake to listen to Liyuan's singing at night (a quirky habit of his to fall asleep)

@ During the shoot of the last scene for 4:30, a usually 1 take Li Yuan still did not get the scene right at the 6th take. Exasperated at the amount of money they were losing for getting each take wrong, Royston chided LiYuan. In response, LiYuan said "I know if I get this scene right the first time, it will also be the last time I am seeing you" *Awww..* ...

* Sidenote: I realised Xiao Li Yuan looked like somebody I know. My lil' bro, GCH! You know who you are. HAHAHA... :P

@ 15, the first film Royston made, went through 27 cuts from the censorship board. This definitely came as the biggest slam on his ego.. Angered, he marched into the office and screwed the people there with his beautiful language. That got his name mentioned first time ever in the Parliament as the most terrible Singapore director. Boy, was his whole family proud of him.

@ After 15 was made, Royston was criticised and thought to be a communist, terrorist, anti-govt, crazy, gang-leader cum director. It was also his inspiration for Cut - his short film, which got him into greater trouble with the govt and he disappeared to Japan for 2 years because he was constantly under the scrunity of BIG BROTHER.

Anyhow, last night was nice. Royston's extremely sweet and candid. Very personal and inspiring.

He told all aspiring film makers that to survive in the industry, you have to be hardworking, perservering and lastly, able to take into consideration that you will not be rich.

Well.. I guess this is it.

*sidenote: Anyone who has the full length film for 4:30 and 15... PLEASE... lend me k. :P Cheerios.

Techno Rat Race

In a bid to catch up with the rapid advancement of technology, I decided to hop onto the FaceBook wagon..

After receiving loads of friends' requests/invitations and bugging I finally got 'more' friends as well as uploaded an ugly cam whore looking profile pic..


After friendster, I really had never accepted other forms of networking invitations to other sites.

Really... I think it's silly.

These network sites just suddenly make you realise "Hey, where did all these 'friends' appear from?"

It's nice if it's old school clique.. but not people from the ends of the world adding you and suddenly you both become friends.

Who knows, he could be a psychopath, a pervert, a paedophile... whatever! *groans*

Some people gets 400 friends on their friendster list..

Come on, we know they can't be all YOUR friends. It could be.. "Hey, I was the one who lifted your skirt the other day at Newton Circus Food Centre, remember?" *rolls eyes*

Seriously, my conclusion is: People who needs a sense of security, incessantly adds people onto their list of friends - a proof of "Hey, I'm not that cranky nerd who hides in the corner of the class, I am that MR POPULAR with tonnes of girls dying to be on my friendster list!" *Snigger*

Anyway, back to Facebook... seriously, I see people going into the site during lectures, or people telling me how fun it really is..

Erm... So giving pokes is your idea of FUN?

I guess to a certain extent, YEA.

Now I know who wants to BITE me,
BODYSLAM me,
BUY me a drink,
CAST A SPELL on me..

and FACEBOOK gives them that virtual reality to do it ON me. *comforting* :P

Maybe Ivy & I share another warp sense of FUN..
we love doing other stuff together which not many people know of yet :P

FACEBOOK? I guess it's just something to keep me updated and not be a techno-lag.

*To my friends who ARE into FACEBOOK - hey, no offense... one man's love is another man's.... enemy. Whatever :)

Updates XYZ...

drama rehearsals are kicking in, yesterday was great!

im glad everything's moving.. and i thank God for sending the cast in..

it feels odd to suddenly be like Dr. Loon... but it made me relive those moments.

suddenly i'm doing a recap on all i've learnt last time... living on stage is a DREAM

***

Well, sad news.

my childhood dream will never materialise

performing aero-acrobatics will remain an unfulfilled dream...

it's ok... im looking to the bright side! God's fingers are pointing elsewhere..

***

seriously... i hate wednesdays..

2 hours with a bunch of 5 year olds feel like 10 years of jailterm..

i would trade my place with daniel, anytime, to be in the lion's den than be with them...

now, let me salute childcare teachers.

***

year end graduation trip has been put on hold =( no time to plan.

ying will be upset

***

the kids are getting back their results... remember.. no use crying over spilt milk

if u think u did badly, find out where you went wrong and don't make the same mistake next time.

there's nothing wrong in making a mistake, but you'll be a fool to make the same mistake twice

i'm only disappointed in one.

i gave him so much yet he gives up on himself... just hope he doesn't fall back to where he came from. :(

what i couldn't say....

sometimes it pays to have an elder sister who is so eloquent.

she becomes my mouthpiece..

both of us finally visited our long-ill uncle last weekend, it was an extremely heart-breaking and painful sight and i was tearing uncontrollably at his house..

I was reminded of Tuesdays with Morrie and I knew what a brave man Morrie is... the things he said are things we have to learn to embrace and be reminded constantly.

Recently my msn nick said, "You learn to die, you learn to live"

I didn't literally meant that I wanted to die... just because of the stupid two weeks long sickness I was bogged down with.

But I meant that sometimes, you need to go to an extreme bad end, to learn to appreciate the good extreme of it.

I always took good health for granted until I fall sick to realise how precious it was to be in the pink of health.

Anyway, back to my uncle... after looking at him, I prayed that should the day come for my parents to go, I hope they will be taken in a flash not be left to die slowly...

Fallen from Grace

It was a heart wrenching moment to witness the downfall of an athlete...

one that was caused by her own moment of folly.

I'm not an ardent fan of sports.

But I love watching sportsman in action.

why....?

because that is when you see:

... the display of their years of hardwork...
... their determination to win...
... their full concentration...
... their glorious moment...

that's what makes them suddenly so attractive, so admirable because they have something I don't, they're doing something I'm not.

You appreciate their beauty in the midst of the competition because you know this didn't come easy for them

You know the years of training they go through, the unceasing passion that burns in them, the number of falls and injuries they carried along.

You know it was not an overnight victory for them.

***

But when their craving for victory turns awry...

it just breaks your heart to see the ugly, useless, cheating, lying side of your hero.

To see her stand in front of the jury, the nation & the world to admit all those wins were not worthy of our cheers...

To hear her swear that she will give up her love & passion because of her own wrongdoing...

really... it's ok to see you fall on the tracks... we'll be there to pull you up on your feet.

but if you give your life to steriods... we really can't do much to help.

***

Big Sigh.

Marion Jones is a beautiful girl and great sprinter. I've seen her on Olympics.. not exactly a fan..

(I'm only fans of swimmers... M. Phelps... I. Thorpe... wth I'm digressing)

Frankly, she's not the only athlete doing steriods, just today, China's Wang HongNi triathlete is banned from 2008 Beijing Olympics for consumption of the same drug.

Really... is it worth it?

The worst part... sometimes it's their coach who feed them with it saying it's flaxseed oil and only to reveal much later to them that it's actually steriods.

If it was you, would you have stop immediately and report your coach?

I did question myself... it's easy to judge these people when you're not them.

But when you're in their shoes... you know it's too good to be true..

***

Remember... think before you act...

Don't do something that makes you regret your action for the rest of your life...

IT'S NOT WORTH IT.

Beat Me to Death... >,,,,<

Just as I thought my appetite was getting better, I went home right after visiting the school doctor....

jumped onto my couch with a bottle of yakult and two TINY packets of cheezels...

finished... fell asleep....

woke up....

VOICELESS.

*sigh. see... aileen cannot resist temptations. the consequence?

Thank You!

THANK YOU & BIG HUGS

to all my well-wishers!

I will get well soon!

*Keep praying for me still...

- to get my voice back

- to get back on track with studying & projects

*mmffph*

Ignorance is Bliss...

It sucks when you know what has infected you, swimming in you and making you sick... :(

No thanks to my 'microbes' knowledge, I knew what was causing my gastric flu.

Greatest SuSpect: Salmonella
The stuffed toy version is so harmless looking...

Sob sob... being sick is no fun.

Just let me whine & then die... .... .... ....

SunDay....

As I've promised... not to miss...

It was all worth it, on a Sunday afternoon :)

I just love Kumar.

He's a complete drag, bitch, gay, transvestite and a person, Singaporean guys have no balls to be like.. that's why I love him!

Typical local standup comedy, the jokes are just dirtier, more crude but still.. what's new to joke about Singapore?

From our One MAN government to convent girls then to Singaporean's Kiasu-ism... it's all the same old jokes.

Just the way they say it and how you crave to hear it over and over again.

Really, Singaporeans do need a break from being so uptight 24/7.

Dodge into a Kumar show, laugh along with his incessant spewing of vulgarities.


But you should have caught him in the England tube dress and bob wig. He was sooooooo Victoria Beckam can?

He's making me freaking jealous about his figure. (But certainly not his looks)

Anyway, I appreciated his talent... standup comedies are never easy.

Timing, jokes, manner which you say it all has to be well coordinated, otherwise it's a flop (to get an idea of flop, catch Jack Neo's Monday variety show).

****

I believe I am a true SINGAPOREAN.

and am very proud of it.

Because I loveeeeee food. and food.

Recalling the joke Kumar made about Donut Factory, I decided to troop down to Suntec after dinner to grab a couple to try.

Yes, after its opening, I have been refusing to look like a fool - stand hours just for a round baked flour with a hole in it.

The last I heard, if you dine in at Suntec's donut factory cafe, you don't have to queue.

Dang. They sold my Spicy Cheese out and now I've got to eat this shit looking mocha donut and double chocolate.

Looking ever happy with just two donuts... :P

The double chocolate one is good. When cut into half, there's chocolate oozing out.

Unfortunately... my play companion finds it... a little too sweet.

This pic was taken secretly and it tickles me.

"As if one old man isn't enough, now it looks like there's two. scary. :P"

***

Teach... not Teach.. Don't Teach... Teach >.<

It's nearing the end of week.. this means good news for me :)

I've been so tired for the whole of the week, so bad that I fell asleep while studying for Advertising last night.

Thank God I took the same module in Poly so it only took me an hour and a half to finish mugging over lunch today. *phew*

One more paper due for submission tmr.. and obviously I'm refusing to get down to it.

***

Mom was telling me this morning, that those who join teaching after working a few years outside get higher pay.

What was she hinting?

Frankly, I never considered teaching as a career option.. I guess I really don't want to be like my secondary sch teachers.

Why?
- Some teachers look like they are so ready to get out of school once they finish their bond
- Others have been in this career for too long they are becoming so stale & boring
- Some bring their personal problems to class and vent it out on us
- While one, in his goodwill, torture, frighten, employ all the harsh techniques to make us do well.
- Some are just in it for the money, they don't care if you learn or not. Once e bell rings, they're outta school
- Some are just not cut out to be teachers because they lack patience & skill of imparting
- A few become teachers so they can the kick of showing their prowess, exaggerating their splendid achievement when they were our age... *urgh*
- All of them think they are RIGHT and we are always wrong! WTH!!!
- It's hardly you hear a teacher APOLOGISE, or at least during my time. Even if they are wrong, they TWIST the situation to make US in the wrong.

Believe me and when you try to correct them, they either think you're rebelling, got problems at home or psychologically unsound.

That was what happened when I was in Sec 4.

My fantastic, superb ex-air steward EL teacher is one classic example of one who doesn't teach, come into class, shows his chest hair, suffocate us with overpowering cologne, flaunt his wealth and his great taste in the luxuries of life aka Bang & Olufsen home audio equipment. One day while sharing about the stupidity of some Bangla pple who doesn't know how to operate his B&O set, he whipped out the catalogue, passed it around to show how it looks & how much it cost.

In a moment of anger, I just asked him to stop showing off, be considerate to the not-so-well-off classmates. My buddy agreed aloud & in the end he asked to see us during recess. For some freaking reason, he took 45 mins and psychoed us into admitting that we had some personal emotional problems and that was why we had to defy him in class, when in actual fact we are FINE, and he was in the wrong! -_-

That was my one & only time for talking back & that was what I got in return....

I am afraid to be like one of these teachers =(

***

Of course, I'm not saying all the teachers are bad.

Some are really nice.... like Ms Grace Chong Really... I mean it. She's forever with that... mimi eyes whenever she sees me...... ^_^

***

I enjoyed my relief teaching stint in BP, but i probably would have given the boot if I'm a permanent MOE teacher.

That's because what I tell/show/do to the kids are unconventional and certainly unapproved in the eyes of other teachers.

But then, the others are so caught up in trying to finish the syllabus.. they not only suffocate the kids, they make me so NOT fun too... -_-

Esp for English. *urgh*

There's so much more fun in the subject and it doesn't just lie in essay after essays after essayssss...

***

God... I didn't realise I've written that long. Anyhow... this entry is just kept between U (my readers) & ME.. current teachers shall hear nothing of this =)