Change

This December, it is time for some change. A time to venture out of my comfort zone. First, time to dye hair.

Its Holiday!

The long awaited day has finally arrived. Last paper on the 30th November, it was such a relief. Furthermore, the paper was surprisingly do-able. Maybe it was just nice that the readings that I have done came out in the exam, but you never know, NUS bell curve can change everything.

People have been asking me what am I going to do for the holidays. Honestly I wish to do nothing, but I know I can’t. Hopefully I can find some part time jobs. My initial plan was to travel to Japan, but due to so problems I have to cancel the plan, but I’ve gotten over the “omg-I-can’t-go-Japan-anymore!” phase. To Felicia and Isabella: do enjoy yourselves in Tokyo and bring back the essence of Nihon!

This Thursday and Saturday are days to look forward to!

Ironic

I’m in a holiday mood studying for a module concerning holiday. The paper on Sociology of Tourism will be on Monday, but damn it I can’t concentrate at all. Its the last paper but I am already enjoying my freedom (in advance).

Jess passed me a R4 for my DS, and for that I have downloaded several games to try it out, but as you know, its like Pringles, “once u pop you can’t stop”. I sat down playing games for hours, totally abandoning my notes. Blame me for my lack of self control.

Mei Mei came back from sterilization, but she was drowsy for 2 days and completely lost her appetite. Not that she was bubbly before but after the surgery she was sleeping like she hasn’t slept for 10 years. It must have been a torturous process I reckon. Yes Isabella, no more Little Mei Mei anymore.

Christmas in November

It has been ages since I watched a movie in a theatre, or walked on the street of Orchard. So after my 2nd last paper (the gross Food Science), Shaun and I went to Orchard Cineleisure to catch a movie. It was a pity that there weren’t many seats left for Mulan, so I thought why not a Christmas show?

A Christmas Carol was boring at the beginning I would say, a little slow and draggy. However it started to get exciting and hilariously when Ebenezer Scrooge changed into another man. The merry feelings of Christmas came and how I would love to spend a white Christmas. I would recommend watching the 3D version because the non-3D one was a little blurred (as you know the blurred parts are the 3D effects), and it got irritating at times watching a blurry movie. Overall it was a warm and happy show.

If only it is cold in Singapore for Christmas, then everything would be perfect. The huge Christmas tree outside Orchard Ion was awesome, one of the best Christmas trees I’ve ever seen in Singapore.

Get the Cut

Mei Mei will be going to the vet tonight to get sterilized. She will also be spending 1 day in the clinic. She will be back soon. Ganbare!

Non-Focus

I can’t seem to keep my focus on one thing for long. Whenever I watch a show, I would pause in the middle of it (or several times through the 40 minutes) and do something else, like pouring a cup of water, etc. As for reading a book, after flipping through a few pages, I would either get sleepy or started walking around. This lack of concentration is a terrible habit and it has to be stopped. A man without focus is not a man of success.

I think if one cannot concentrate for long, one is unable to appreciate things around. Taking the appreciation of tea for example, if one cannot calm his mind, the wandering thoughts would disrupt the harmony and peace between the surrounding and the tea.

Onto another issue, Japanese would often say that whenever they do something, they would 「一生懸命する」, which means doing it with utmost effort. It struck me, either Japanese are really determined in whatever they do, or they have exaggerated their effort linguistically (or maybe they really do, which explains the incidents of “Karoshi” – death due to overwork).

Come to think of it, I have never done anything with ‘utmost effort’ before. It became a reflection on whether I have truly did my best in anything, because I don’t think I have. To me, doing it with ‘utmost effort’ is working on a thing and making it into perfection till the last minute before it is being presented, and I would wonder if anybody have done that in their life. Sometimes we would give perhaps 80% effort to what we do, or maybe 90% when we were really into that thing, but 100%? I don’t know…

Lipton

I have been to a tea shop in Chinatown once, and the owner of the shop told me that those tea leaves in “normal” tea (I vaguely remember him mentioning Lipton as one of the “normal” tea) are second or third grade tea leaves, which means they have been used before and recycled and produced into sachets of tea leaves. I don’t know how true it was, because all salesmen boast that their products are the best in the world. I would definitely prefer Sweet Sakura Tea to Lipton, but the price is a little too high for me, at the moment. So Lipton is just fine.

Leonids

The Leonids ([ˈli.əˌnɪdz] lee-uh-nids) are a prolific meteor shower associated with the comet Tempel-Tuttle. The Leonids get their name from the location of their radiant in the constellation Leo: the meteors appear to stream from that point in the sky. The 2009 display peaking on November 17 may produce more than 500 meteors an hour.

That’s today!

Overshadow

A friend told me London is gloomy and cloudy most of the days throughout the year. I was thinking it wasn’t a big deal that London has cool temperature and dark sky whole year round. However, it happened here in Singapore these few days. Dark and cloudy, and raining everyday. It wasn’t completely bad, at least the weather was much cooler, but the mood wasn’t uplifting enough. Dark clouds overshadowed the sun, even the evening sunset was hidden behind and could not penetrate through the dark layers. So much like my imagined ‘Hard Times’.

The Rose

Came across this singer by chance online, while searching for some songs of “Kitaro” (ゲゲゲの鬼太郎). Nice clear voice which sounds like Spring. Refreshing yet a touch of melancholy. Apparently she is not very famous according to her wiki page, but her songs are worth listening to.

Watch the Youtube video here