Saturday, June 7, 2003 :.

Ooh. Aah. Ow.

6+ hours of fund raising kills. Nearly.

Therefore I am now contentedly ensconced/fixed in my chair. Am never wanting to get up again.

You thought flag selling was tough? This Courage Fund-raising was that and more. It has the same tiring walk-about, the same thirsty!sian! feeling you get after a while. But worse yet, this time it isn't just a (relatively) simple request of asking people to donate any amount... this time it is a minimum of for a *drum roll* Scratch-and-Win Card! Yipee!

So what does common sense tell you? That people will readily donate *10 dollars* for an uncertain chance in winning a prize? That *for goodness sake* about a 100+ of us should crowd out the street along Wisma Atria and expect people not to think we are irritaing?(Some do, y'know) And that each pair of us can actually give away 80 tic-- oops, i mean "S-n-W Booklets"?

Obviously some people feel this way. Why else would the school set a target of 4000 ticke-- ah! I meant booklets-- to be sold?? Do some math and it equals a team of 2 selling about 80 tickets... and after today, we learnt that you are lucky if you got pass the 20-booklets-sold mark... -_-

This fund-raising also promotes the Charlie's Angel new (whatever) movie. But moi thinks "Mission Impossible" sure suit the occasion better.

As a direct result for not reaching the stupid senseless target, we are requested to help out again next Friday and Saturday. Sorry, I am booked. ^^v

If I sound very dissatisfied, well... maybe I am, but mostly I think I'm not complaining /that/ much.
I was on a roll in the morning, selling till I had been thinking: this is not all *that* bad...
But after lunchbreak, it seemed like either we(+friends) lost our charisma over a meal of McDonald's, or the afternoon crowd don't really take to donating. It's probably both.
Me after lunch: woozy woozy groggy can't walk wanna sit don't wanna open mouth to speak there's still hours to go

Miserly number of scratch cards (really felt like selling fun-fair tickets...) sold compared to the morning statistics. Feeling highly discouraged. And there's even the occasional: "The Courage Fund has too much money. They have 25m already!"

o_O
Ooer. These people know too much.

:.

Random Manga-related Ramblings

Can I ask (no one in particular) if Tsubasa - RESERVoir CHRoNiCLES is a cross-over from various Clamp works? Coz today I found Arashi and that wasisname guy from X appearing. And this story's getting my interest. I'm not surprised it's highly acclaimed.

[EDIT 9 June]: Sort of an answer to my mono-query...

CLAMP VS CROSS OVER 2003?CLAMP?2??????-RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE?? ?XXX HOLIC???????????????????? ??????????(?????????),???(?? CLAMP????)????2???? ???CLAMP?????????2????,????? CROSS OVER???????WEEKLY YOUNG MAGAZINE 26 ??,?XXX HOLIC?????,???????-RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE?2????????,??????????? ??????????????,??CLAMP???????CROSS OVER, ????2????????????????

10:21 p.m.

Saturday, May 31, 2003 :.

Way To Go, Mum!

w00.

Am happy that mum got commended by a passenger for her act of stopping patiently for a senior citizen to board her bus.

A letter by the company praising her for that deed is not exactly a small deal. Woohoo!

The thing is, after working for approximately 5 years for another bus company, she has never received anything like this before. Now a couple of months into her new company, she gets this ^^. She's understandably happy~~.

*clap clap clap* ^^v

11:30 p.m.

Monday, May 26, 2003 :.

Went to the library today.

Then mum made the call that changed my life (for today).

She suggested for me to take a bus to return home, instead of going on foot.

I am a non-believer that public transport gets you to a nearby destination faster than you can walk, considering waiting times and all that. So, being the highly-favouring-walking sort of person that I am, I kinda disagreed, albeit with a whit of anomalous unwillingness. This is because today I am just (not)nice gonna be hauling loads of stuffs and stationery and borrowed books home. So...

To digress slightly, yes, I've once again succumbed to the I-know-I-can't-read-that-much-in-3-weeks-but-I-borrowed-'em-anyway syndrome. I've put my will-power to use though... I rejected borrowing 2 or 3 more tempting books...

...So I took my mum's advice.

Bad mistake.

Minutes elapsed while waiting at the interchange...waiting for a bunch of different bus numbers that can all similarly take me home but which were simply not arriving... that's not the bad part. Then I boarded 371 since it came first. I know 371 goes to the stop I had in mind. Sure, 371 had changed its route a few times to accomodate this new and growing district, but I am fairly confident it will go to my stop.

Thus, what should have been a 15-minute stroll turned into a ?? min/hour of a sightseeing trip around the country. Heh heh, I mean, the area. But it sure felt looong enough.

When the bus first took an unexpected turn at the junction, I was thinking: ooookay, another route change...
And then at the 2nd unexpected turn, I went: woah, 'tis gonna be a long day...
Still, I was vigilant (if you could call that) enough to keep my internal compass working, vaguely pin-pointing for myself the direction where I was supposed to go.

After numerous turns and stops, I was oh-shooting and the internal compass... what internal compass? Heck, I've just lost myself in this small country...

This could have been a leisurely trip around this part of the country, but for the fact that it was getting dark, and my destination seemed further and further away.

By then , I was reprimanding myself aaah why didn't I get off at that stop where the hell am I heading to... I shoulda taken note of whether this is a loop route! ARGH, while the passengers significantly thinned out. And thinned. And... 3 passengers, including me. -_-;;

Normally I... normally I just won't feel anything at all. But oh, curse my sudden interest in Stephen King's works... Suddenly, the bus with me, sitting at the very back, and 2 others, both sitting at the front, seemed very... empty. Hurray, the sky's darkened as well.

What I felt then was not pure anxiety(hey, this is just your usual board-the-wrong-bus routine) nor fright (no way can you scare me~), but just "a simple fascination of how I was actually analysing myself on how I was reacting to this situation"... mmmmm.

A few stops off, and the old man raised his hand to... no, he didn't... press the bell...
Another couple of stops off, and the old man again raised his hand, and pre... no, he didn'--

DING DONG

...aaaah! He did! The other passenger was getting ready to alight as well! ...to leave me in this *hollow* bus...
They alighted -- the old man extra slowly -- and... am I alone now?
Wait, there's a jingle of coins, the clanking of metal against metal... ah, somebody had boarded!! ^^

**Why do I feel like I'm narrating a ghost story?**

Someone in bright red. At least I've got company.
He alighted the next stop. -_-;;;

At long last, I'm really alone, apart from the bus driver. Where was I heading to? I don't know. What? Why? When? Which? How?

To cut a truly long story short, I alighted somewhere I felt I should alight, and walked all the way home.

Moral of the story?
If your destination is near enough, walk the distance for goodness' sake.
No, really, Follow your heart, Don't listen to Mum.

10:32 p.m.

Sunday, May 25, 2003 :.

After watching Matrix: Reloaded, I am suddenly reminded that:

When I was younger-ish, a few years ago, (heck, I'm still habouring these thoughts nowadays anyway) I like to fantasize that, hey, what if the world we live in is just a big illusion.

A little note: Matrix hadn't even come out yet then.

My little fantasy interprets this modern world as the prehistoric world. Yep, we're actually living in the stone-age. This very computer you are facing now, is actually a boring stack of hay (yes, a dry brittle haystack), powered by, say, some tortoises...

In case I seem like jumping into the deep end too quickly in terms of the explanation, well, I probably am ^^ but hey, who cares.

Essentially, I envision 2 'parallel' worlds, where one is where all our actual, real-time actions are done in. This is the prehistoric world. Imagine us all shuffling in a barren desert, or living in some caves...
But, due to some technical err-- I mean, for some reason, all of these actions are simulated in another world... every movement there, are objectified in this world. So, right now, my real being is typing words on pebbles in that world, while the very same action is simultaneously externalized onto "me"-- the person of this world.

Confused yet? Of course not.

Therefore, for all we know, we (who get to sleep in beds) are actually sleeping on stone beds. But through the technology of illusion (^^ haha), we get to conceive of ourselves luxuriating in silky sheets and soft pillows...

...zzzZZzzzzzZzzzz

*Argh! It's only 11.30 pm! ...Only?*

Anyways, therefore, thus, in conclusion, ah~ the joys of phantasm (in other words, pipe dream -_-).

By the way, I don't believe in this belief... confused yet? Of course not.

I just like to... imagine.

P.S. Hmm, this entry isn't as long as I'd thought it to be... or maybe I'm just plain bad at conveying my train of thoughts.

P.P.S. After I watch M: Reloaded, the particular phrase "bound by the perimeters of..." stuck onto me. Perhaps it is the way "parameters" was enunciated in the American way... "per-REH-meters"...
Anyway... I CAN"T GET RID OF IT! It's in my head!
...so I fully expect myself to forcibly insert it into my next chapter of (whichever) fanfiction (,whenever it may be.)...

11:59 p.m.

Wednesday, May 21, 2003 :.

Played football today after training! YESSSSSS! Finally!

Happily, my skills hasn't actually dropped too much... As they say, "Form is temporary, Class is forever".

Muahahahaha.

09:56 p.m.

Saturday, May 17, 2003 :.

Bad sportsmanship leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

This particular match has always been an enticing affair over the years -- in terms of the excitement and tension, that is.
But for me, the prospect of having to face another couple of hours of whatever forms of unpleasantries is enough to drown out an iota of the build-up.
Maybe I'm just biased, but after a few years of watching this school's performance in the moral sense, my impression has never changed.

Too bad.

I can actually conclude that today's match was in fact a more "friendly" one compared to some of past years'. But that didn't mean everything was eradicated.

Let's not even start to talk about their players.
Hmm. What can we do to distract the pitcher? Ah yes! Reflect light into his eyes!
Unfortunately, today was a perfect day to pull off this trick, with the sun blazing and all that...
And yes, that was exactly what a couple of their supporters did: use a tin can and *adjust tilt tilt adjust* and ooh! see the blinding ray reflect towards the pitcher~

*Incensed*
WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TRYING TO DO?!

Then there was the more common of the supporters tactics: jeer.
Pack your stuff and go home!...
was one that was heard.

Too bad our guys were not hitting (the balls, I mean)... peaked at the wrong time huh... I woulda dearly loved them to whack 'em and thrash 'em. Of course, that was not a practical wish...

My parents have always been perplexed over why I was adamant in not wanting to study in that institute. Perhaps this is why.
Well I certainly do not have anything against all the good people of that school, who, hopefully, are the majority. But a few bad examples are enough to turn one off.

Anyway, THANKS to my dear classmates who came to watch the match too ^^. domo arigato yeah yeah yeah

Onto happier(/sillier) topics, my English-bastardizing friend ("jewellery is pronounced as jew-well-lery...") provided a source of lemonade-spurting moment.

"Ack! *cough cough cough* *slam tabletop slam slam slam* (after a while) I was *hack* choked *cough* by my bread!"
I didn't really spurt lemonade (mainly because I wasn't drinking it at the time), but the mental image of an evolved X-Bread growing arms and choking my friend was enduring. For those of you who also frequently have bread strangling you *heh heheh*, the source of my mirth is that the correct claim should be: "I choked on the bread(crumbs)".

......

Okay, so sue me. But as friend goes: "Oh! kyahahahaha I didn't notice that! I got A2 for English!" I guess picking out hilarious English is a pastime for me...

And about why I mentioned "lemonade-spurting moment" just now... it's because it nearly did happen @_@. On a different occasion though. Could feel the drink coming up the nasal passage and almost had it spilling out the wrong orifice... forgot what joke triggered it (but I know it's something /that/ friend said -_-;;), but luckily I managed to, um, control it. Whew.

Still on that friend, she's been trying to convince all and sundry to agree that I look like Huang Biren "especially now got that commercial with her ah...then yue4 kan4 yue4 xiang4". The thing is that one of my secondary school juniors had been saying that all the time too.
"Got that classy look and blah blah blah" Why thank you. I guess.

* * *

Hey! Cindy messaged about that confest thingy! You interested??
And speaking of anime, weeell~ nothing short of a miracle is needed for me complete an entry for the a/m drawing contest at my school... eheheh. The deadline is drawing closer, and I have all of 2 vague ideas for the respective themes. And I don't even know if I have the ability to draw those out XP.

Skipping swiftly onto other totally unrelated things, guess what?? In one of those Newsweek worksheets, under the vocab section, there were these words...

1. Debut
2. Fractured
3. Adaptation
4. Egocentric
5. Infantile
6. Womanizing
7. Psychologically
8. Hilarious
9. Vulnerable
10. Nuanced

Nothing, I guess.
But being the slightly mad me that I am, I see these words... "egocentric, infantile, womanizing..."

=>Sanzo, Goku, Goyjo IN THAT ORDER!! XD XD XD

Geez ^^, I wonder if Hakkai can be categorized as "psychologically" something...

09:04 p.m.

Tuesday, May 13, 2003 :.

Hm. I just don't know what to say about today's experience. Maybe you can say I learnt life lessons from this? ("Choose wwhat you love to do... cater to your own personality... <-cliche but, yeah) Oh, by the way, out of the 6 awardees, only 2 of us are for the O Levels award; the 4 others are all receiving the A Levels award. In addition, that (SA)JCian is the daughter of a rather high-ranked (I presumed) employee. Bleh. That leaves, like, me who felt sooo young and had to stuff myself with Delifrance and mineral water to keep myself in action. (Yeah, you know, loitering around can be so awkward.)
Ah. You would have thought that I was there alone to receive the award... as a matter of fact, my dad accompanied me (ok, duh) but didn't make the situation any more comfortable...

Actually, having said all these, the impression I gave must have been that I despised this little trip to Raffles City (hell yeah, the MRT there is sooo quiet and the air of 'professionals' there is...choking. One would have thought one'd ventured into an open space of a library...) Hm. It's not that bad.
Although the beginning moments are stifling, after I got used to it (the BREATHTAKING view from this 32nd story glass windowed room helps ^^), it was all a matter of engaging in the conversations, albeit those 'future' ones...

"So, what [courses] are you going to do in the future?" Me, screaming inside: ARGH! ANYTHING BUT this kinda QUESTION!! Actual response, while trying to sound mature and contemplative, "Well, I havn't really decided yet... since I'm currently taking XXX subjects, maybe I'll consider engineering... (<-liar! ^^) ETC ETC

Anyway, there /were/ plenty of light-hearted moments. ...I'm glad to say I *kind of* cracked/initiated a joke before offically leaving the building. Yaay~
Before that, I also experienced first-hand -- agressive marketing... eheheh, though I did not register for the cool Flash Cards in the end. Yep, definitely cool.

I don't know whether I should say that this has been quite an experience... or not. Hey, I just said it... -_-

Let's hope this will give me some sorta exposure to the handshaking, smiling and adult-conversations-happy world out there. *Armed with handshakes*

By the way, this entry content has deviated from the topic sentence and tone that I had set at the beginning... ah. Who cares.

Check.

12:01 a.m.