moved, only because I can't get used to the new format in blogger. If only I am proficient in javascript.






Jack of all most trades, master of none.
Focus, concentrate and perservere to master.
Stop running away everytime a setback surfaces.
Have confidence Alicia, confidence.
Overcome and become better.




I am in quite the good mood today. I really don't know why. Possibly because it's Monday and it's the start of a fresh week, a new week to start new. Probably its because of the poppy seed bagel sandwich layered with yolk and bacon slices I had for breakfast. Then again, it might be because of the law assignment that I've just presented in class and the positive comments I've got. Or it could be the effect of the global missions convention yestersay and the great worship team I've got to serve with - it's encouraging to find out that people are facing the same trouble as me, maybe doubly or triply worse, all for proclaiming God and their faith and I am not alone :))

Aiya, I'm just so happy today that I can sing my least favourite song - "Oh Happy Day" lol. Oh, happy day, happy day, you washed my sins away, ph happy day, happy day, i'll never be the same... Forever I am changed :)

On a side note. I need to stop coming up with weird vocabularies an I need to stop using so much 'I' - makes me feel real self-centered.




Truthfully, I am really tired. Extremely tired. Exhausted from the mental stress I deal with my personal life, drained from my jobs, dried from my fight to understand my studies and physically sored from trainings and cyclings. Was even running a fever yesterday. But, what can I say? God is good and there's so much more for me to give thanks for instead of to spend my time complaining.

It's Missions' Convention today and seeing the plight of others out there who had not yet come to know of Jesus and seeing how Christians are persecuted in other parts of the world made me feel really really fortunate and I thank God for the security and the luxuries that I have right now. The ability to move around freely, to still breathe and sing and worship him, it's really the grace and love from God. And of course, thank God for iced chocolate, only cause they give you the euphoria (:












A whole string of nightmares are invading my dreams and I feel like I lost my control over them. Woke up shivering, with all my muscles tightened and my hands in a fist. They were familiar because they were a whole replay of what I was afraid of when I was a child, but most importantly they were scary because of all the violence in it and the people who were killed. Reminded me of how much I hate to loss someone.









Toodleloos
























Got really inspired by this post, "50 Things University Taught Me: First Year". It was so brilliant that I just had to do a list too (but a narrowed-down one)! Here goes, my list of 25 things that studying in a university overseas taught me.

1) You will wonder what you are doing in university and question yourself the whole point of paying the tens of thousands of dollars.

2) You start to realise that, at times, you have became the high school geek that you loathe and always bully.

3) Your room piles up with clothes that are unwashed for weeks and maybe months and the table top and blankets are littered with bread crumbs and whatever's dropped off from your plate, especially during assignment time. Sorry, no maid here!

4) As much as you like being independent and away from home and all the naggings, you will miss your family at least once.

5) You start cooping in your room more often and when you meet with troubles, you can only count on yourself.

5) Your real friends are the ones who contacts you and spurs you on despite their busy schedule. They are the ones whom communicate with you despite the distance.

6) Snail mails are way better than emails. Receiving them's just like receiving gold and rubies.

7) Always take risks and chances.

8) Your parents are right.

9) Your parents are wrong.

10) It is possible to watch a movie and procrastinate.

11) It is possible to camp in the library for a week, from 8am to 3am.

12) It is possible to survive on a carton of chocolate milk for an entire day.

13) iPhone (or any other mobile phones) is your new best friend.

14) Consultations with your tutor are totally awkward.

15) You will miss the hugs from your friends.

16) You wrote the best piece you have ever written. You showed it to your friends, they love it. But, it's damn freaking hard to get a bloody H1! If you get a pass grade, remember, it's not because you didn't put in your all. It's just that each lecturer has their own taste. They may not like it, but some boss from some huge ass company may buy it.

17) You see what you like, but then realised you can't buy it because you have run outta cash and your parents now have access to your bank account overseas. They're watching your $$$ like a hawk.

18) It's okay to cry. Really.

19) You will learn things the hard, painful way.

20) You get to stay out as late as you want to!

21) Clubbing in your own room, alone, is common.

22) You buy so much groceries, thinking you have time to whip a nice dish. But they usually ends up in the trash because they have grown mouldy waiting for you.

23) You will wish for a pet, because it might provide you with more company and love than your friends.

24) Your resolution to have a healthy lifestyle and work out everyday will fail.

25) You will realise that being overseas is the experience that you will never get back home and you will definitely grow more matured from it.




I wish life is as easy as plucking strawberries!





It's so fascinating to watch videos of experimental photography, videography and production by professionals. Their heart for constant learning and thirst for creativity is something that I aim to have.

Seeing their videos made me wonder.. What the bloody hell am I doing, wasting my time in Melbourne studying dead and intangible materials when there's a whole world out there for me to explore? Sighs. Better get back to my assignments.

Ps, check out these awesome producers
1) Ross Ching, the director who directed several renown music videos and advertisements
2) Keith Loutit, the master of tilt-shift photography in time lapse videos
3) Jay Burlage, the master of panning, motion and dollying in time lapse videos
4) Tom Lowe, the master of astronomy photography in time lapse videos

:D









What and If placed together becomes a really strong word that could throw us off our course.
This old friend of mine never fails to pop up a few minutes/hours/days/months/years after I have chose the path, from the crossroads, to thread on. Especially when I meet with slimy mud, irritating insects and tough obstacles, I would always look to "What If" to reveal the better state that I would have been if I had chosen the other path.

What if I have continued my music lessons after polytechnic? I would have made it big now!
What if I did not come to Melbourne. How would my life in Singapore be? Definitely better because all my friends are there?

What if...
What if..
What if.

"Ask the questions the other way," the inner voice spoke. "Think about what you gained during the course of your choice!"

I tried.

What if I have continued my music lessons after polytechinc? Would I still have met this bunch of awesome friends I have from volleyball?
What if I did not come to Melbourne? Would I still have become this stronger person with a wider knowledge and experience of mingling with different people and living alone?

I feel way better now.

Sometimes, we drown ourselves in regrets - regrets of making the wrong choices and missing out on opportunities that we might have enjoyed. But, a friend of mine told me that there's never a right or wrong choice. It's what I would gain out of it choice I made. Each choice is a different journey, something like if you ordered Strawberry Milkshake, it would definitely taste different from Ice Coffee and it would offer you a different satisfaction too. The point is, I found the way to overcome obstacles and I feel that the best way isn't to wallow in sorrow, but to find the bonus/blessing that came with the choice that we had made and it would make the walk so much easier. Wouldn't it?

(:









Okay, fine. I am a terrible person.
The horror of choices.




The house is about done, and boy am I glad!
No more moving for the rest of the year, till I graduate! It's a really troublesome task. But then again, the feeling of having a place that I belong to is shiok (:

Can't wait to finish furnishing my room and the living room and the kitchen and the bathroom and and and... can't wait to catch up with all my school work.

Ps, am looking for another job. Does anyone have any recommendations?









This is in an attempt to write something very english, after seeing Fishy's really expressive "prose", to comfort myself that my writing skills are still up there... Who am I kidding? To think of the phrase "expressive prose", I even had to engage Isabel and the vocabulary bible - my Oxford dictionary.

May the rain cover the tracks we left behind.

It's subjective. Tracks are double-edged. At least, when we're lost in mistakes, we can have absolute faith that the tracks will lead us back to the very beginning, where all was still innocent and pristine and the unfolding of the story? A mystical, whimsical intrigue for the adventurer.

Happy 43rd (:




The only reason I am still standing is because there's no one to catch me when I fall, and I simply do not want to fall onto the hard concrete, alone. Wouldn't it be nice to faint and have someone to catch you and nurse you back to health? At least, I got the warm feeling in my dreams! (:




It is said (during lecture) that news is determined by its commercial value and its relevance. Pretty much, news is constructive and subjective, so are our lives. What we do, the priorities we give to things, events and people come from our own personal judgement of their value in relation to us, and sometimes, they're also measure by what we stand to gain. It's a pretty self-centered world, really.

And perhaps, that is the reason why I am slowly losing the purpose of attending lectures, doing assignments and getting myself stressed and busied with the process of studying. What can I really gain from that, other than a 50% possible chance of a higher entry level pay and another 50% possible chance of landing a job - that may not even be related to my course of study.

The constant cycle to strive for academic excellence is starting to get a little pointless, because when we graduate, the society does not only see us for our grades, but also, our colour, where we come from, our attitude and our productivity. No matter grades, we all become monotonous robots in the end - a part of our fate relies on the engineers' determination on our value. The finale? We all die and fade away, as if we were never born.

And now, it comes to having to strike a balance on the scale between just learning and striving for excellence. It's hard, especially now that my weight's entirely on just learning, but the thought of not striving for excellence and wasting the ten of thousand dollars on just a normal certificate with no extra credits is troubling and just sucks.

It's just a thought.









I guess what Pastor Sandy said was true - The biggest problem lies not with not having a job or monetary issues, but in being lonely and isolated.

I hope I am not becoming a victim of this "disease". No more frequent lonely lunches/dinners. It's time to make more friends and neighbours, me thinks!





Sooty's growing real fast and adorable and she changed my opinions on cats! She is one crazy, hyperactive and cute cat and like how parents melt when they recall how their little baby grow, I kinda felt that way too. Here's just some recollection to show how much she've grown.



















Hickory Dickory Dock, the mouse went up the clock. The clock strikes one, the mouse ran down, HICKORY DICKORY DOCK! Tick tock!

I wish I have 48 hours a day, maybe more, 72? Time to head back to Aussieland tmr. Sighs. Not prepared, totally. It's like going back to war zone after 4 months of holiday in comfort zone. But, boy, am I glad that this warzone shall end at the end of the year, hopefully, I get to enjoy time after that and that the world does not seriously ends by 2012!

At this time, when my heart is just totally clammed up, the best relief I can possibly ask for is love from my family - particularly my siblings. I mean, my dad and mom can be pretty unreasonable at certain times, but, they can be awfully nice that I feel bad for rebuking them sometimes. You know, the funniest part? When my mom started mentioning how she would miss me and how it would be like when I am gone, my brother started tearing! Silly bro (: Adorable, silly, whiny(?) but still always the one who makes my heart melts most.

I am most certain I would miss my friends, the four months in Singapore, really showed me how much I needed to rely on our relationships, on their encouragements and their presence. Especially Codfish's. It's even more affirmed that I can't do without him. Thinking back, a huge reason for my survival in Australia was due to his constant support. I even recalled one really awesomely sweet moment when he specially researched about the clinics I could visit so that I could claim my insurance and at the same time get my sickness treated. He even helped me with my law homework. How do you find such a nice guy in the world, seriously? I am really gonna miss him loads.

Ah wells, what's to be done has to be done, and one year will pass really fast. It better, since my holidays passed like how a meteor travels - instant! See you guys real soon and thanks for making my holiday in Singapore a great one!





Another year where beach vball lovers gather at the beach. The first time I played on Siloso ever since I'm back, since every one patronises Tanjong Beach now. I miss Siloso. Still think its a better spot to play, since the location is more convenient with food and beverages stalls nearby - especially my favourite STRAWBERRY ICE KACHANG!

It was fun catching up with friends, but it would have been more fun, if you were there.




So little time left. Shivers.




My days in Singapore are numbered :(
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Just kidding! It's only numbered because I am leaving for Aussie, REAL SOON.
Damn. I'm missing home already and I have not even left. Sighs.
How do I bear to leave when you are this sick? Hurhhhs.
I will miss you.... Sooty (:




It wasn't all that grand, wasn't all that elaborate either, just a simple home cooked meal and a movie (that, may I add, cost only five dollars for two tickets and comes with a free drink) afters. But, it was good enough. Really good enough (:

With Valentine's made so commercialised in this era, I can't ask for this day where I simply get to spend quality time with my loved one(s)! So what if my candlelit dinner was at the volleyball court and the menu was made up of chips, childhood time's sweets and many other junk food, but it was definitely well spent. Hahaha and we - Xueyi and I, and the six other vballers who turned up yesterday - seriously had a great time. Though we hadn't enough players, but we still managed to make the best out of it and laughed our heads out, especially at our silly mistakes and at little "forever alone" boy with that little smirk and that little tolerance to hold his laugh every time he trashed the other team!

Really enjoyed my valentine's this year :D I am just glad that I have a valentine's!
Ps, thanks for cooking that awesome meal for me yesterday ((:




Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.




It's been awhile since I've been to ECP.









The 1000th post, on the second last day of January.




Post 999 (:




The reason why I love Disney, other than for its famous, and always cliche, happy endings, is because of its wonderful and encouraging songs. They light me up particularly in moments of frustrations and discouragements at work. Here's one of my fav (from the Lion King):




Happy birthday Grandma :D




One happy family, Sooty, Fishie and me :D
Haven't took a photo yet, soon, soon (:

Labels: Photo Challenge

Labels: Photo Challenge

Labels: Photo Challenge

t-h-r-e-e n-i-n-e brave the storms.




And if our God is for us, then who could ever stop us? And if our God is with us, then what could stand against? What could stand against? What could stand against? Run the race Alicia, you are reaching the end point soon. Don't give up Alicia. DON'T GIVE UP.










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