The past week went by in the blink of an eye, and here I am, back in my own little room. Things feel the same, yet different. Some subtle changes in my routine; some things becoming permanent fixtures while others vanished into a different part of my life - the past. Some other things make me nervous. I hope I'm not being a hypocrite by saying that I'm counting on God to make a way.

Other than that, I cannot wait for more meet-ups with people! Wednesday will be a grand day - half for studying and half for slacking. I hope Nat and I meet up as well.

No matter how exciting something is initially, the novelty always wears off. I'd like to think that that can be changed if we work hard at making each day special and new.

You Are My Sunshine on Flickr © Pink Sherbet Photography

I don't like how a place can hold so much memories. I'm sure that's a good thing when it reminds you of happy times. Yesterday, however, I felt like I'd rather give up the way places trigger your memories, just to forget the bad things in the past. I find it truly difficult to come back out of my head once I've crawled into some gloomy places.

It's nice to be a listening ear, especially when no advice is expected. It makes me feel better for both myself and the other party, because I know I could never have provided help through any other means anyway. This way, at least, I feel useful to someone else.

Fun Happy Colourful on Flickr © Pink Sherbet Photography

I wish everyday was a fun-filled kiddy day. I want to dress up in bright colours, sing songs, dance and play with colourful stuff. I can't wait for my 21st birthday themed party. (Or Halloween, or D&D, for that matter)

A Pink Day

Oh my goodness, the urge to blog came over me while I was walking from the bus stop back to Thomson Grove. It was so sudden and foreign after such a long period of writer's block that I was truly repressing the urge to run the last few hundred meters home, just to whip out my laptop.

So.

Yesterday was the day the Foongs and Phaus had been waiting for for months. The day we all would dress up in the same shirts and walk around Singapore taking unglam shots. That never actually happened, because we just spent the day at Mt Faber Safra, but we DID wear pink polo Ts throughout the day. With 13 people in pink, we were kind of hard to miss. It was a day essentially dedicated to taking photos of ourselves, thought up by me (right, Athalie?) and finetuned by Athalie Phau. Designed specifically for a family of posers and narcissicists.

The funniest moment of the day had to be during bowling. Besides the usual competition to up one another (nothing big, Dad kept emerging champion with the ultimate GRAND total of 112 in round 2), we made fools of ourselves trying to carry Jared. The first time, I was supporting his hips and we ended up sliding lower and lower against the wall, collapsing to the floor with Jared's butt in my lap. After a few more tries and adjustment of position according to individual arm strength (in decreasing order: Adelia, Athalie/Agnetha, me), we got a successful shot.

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When I took up Weidi's offer to help choreograph and dance for Quadfac, I only thought it would be a rare chance to dance after starting Dentistry. Besides, everyone knows I can't resist a chance on the stage. =P Throughout the weeks, it never occured to me about winning or about what was at stake. I never once thought about how we'd match up against the others, and I didn't feel the pressure or competition. Only in the last week did it truly sink in that we had mostly first time dancers and that our competitors would probably be older and experienced. Which is why it came as utter satisfaction and a dream come true that we won!

Ah, glorious night.

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I never carry my backdoor card with me, and so I just deal with walking the entire periphery of the estate to get in through the front entrance. This afternoon, for the first time, I saw a guy jump over the back wall! I am totally inspired to try it someday!

Time Goes By, So Slowly

The Passage of Time on Flickr © ToniVC

There is always a certain kind of satisfaction you get upon seeing a completed project. Now that the dance is practically complete, it's pretty nice to look back and see how far we've come. Sometimes I wonder which is harder to believe, that 6 weeks have passed, or that ONLY 6 weeks have passed.

I am still dreading the pageant horribly. I can only imagine how much guts it takes to get up on stage and have everyone scrutinize you. Dancing is at least anonymous; at best you get a compliment, at worst you're someone else's shadow.

Now if only I could apply the same diligence to my books as I do to dance.

Girl Power

One of my favourite things in life is making new friends, and making true connections with people. Which is why I'm thankful for my puny part in Touch Rug, because team sports really bonds people. I only fully realized that after I got home and thought about my day - how nice and cosy it was to sit around with the other players, to have people care about you, tease you, support your decisions and give you advice.

I'd love more opportunities to hang out with the girls, outside of our formal wear and the confinement of classrooms, to be part of a girly crowd again. (Ironically, it's been hard to find that kind of clique, ever since JC).

That's why they say, boys come and go, but (girl) friends are for life.

Today was a series of unfortunate events.

As much as I belittle my sense of direction, at least I know how to make a detour when one is needed. I suppose it could've just been bad karma on his part, but boy, was I annoyed.

First, we ended up walking the opposite direction of the MRT, into foreign worker construction zone. When we finally did a turn about, we had to walk across the longest river/drain canal on earth, which doubled as a jogging path. Even after that, we were no where near Jurong East station anymore, which was ultimately confirmed by a swift climb up the hill.

No worries, we decided to just cab. But a mental lapse brought us to Bukit Batok instead of Bukit Gombak, a mistake I didn't rectify when he told the cabbie.

Next time, I must just SPEAK UP.

Sometimes it takes something like a fire drill to get to know the people who live on your floor.
I came back to PGP, drawn like a moth to the horribly annoying siren. I was pretty dismayed that it was coming from the foyer area, near my block. When I realized it was a fire drill, I trudged grumpily to the basketball court.

And there I bumped into some floor mates, including my cluster leader. She's from Korea and super sweet (and I cannot believe what I thought of her once). Also met this girl who has a non-identical twin from NJ, so I'm totally gonna ask someone from S11 if they know her.

We were stuck with each other for awhile because the lifts were inactivated. I found out that they came down by staircase (which only opens for you to go down). At first I couldn't believe I missed it! I've been wondering forever how do people go up those stairs. But I realize they're probably not the cool stairs outside the building, just lame boring internal ones.

I love it when the clouds have a silver lining.

When I Grow Up

I like rituals, especially silly rituals. I think it's nice having something to look forward to, even though it's something you made up on your own. Something that is senseless but brings about so much fun.

Yesterday was our first (and hopefully the beginning of an annual) sleepover at Chriselle's house. I love how it's so near NUS - it's been so exciting popping by each other's places for random reasons. We were ambitious about watching Disney movies all night, but ended up only successfully finishing Sleeping Beauty. Mulan and A Simple Wish, I kinda slept through. Who knew Disney oldies could be so sweet and funny and everything you could ask for in a movie? Prince Philip is such a hottie, hahah.

We coordinated our jammies and in the spirit of things, I suggested we wear them to McDonald's for breakfast the next day. I almost chickened out, but in the end, there we were, riding the bus and walking into the fastfood place full of people. The tables beside us were staring and smiling in amusement. I bet we made their day and gave them something to tell people.

After eating, we went to the playground and went crazy as usual. By the way, something has to be done about those playgrounds of doom. There has got to be a safer way to achieve 'balance and coordination for 5-12 year olds'.

If only we never had to grow up. Like Peter Pan in Neverland.

Pink sunglasses on Flickr © greenapples

I feel like I'm in a bubble of my own. A bubble detached from the external world. No television, no newspapers (not like I've ever read many), no other people. As comfortable as this routine is and as occupied I am with accomplishing small feats daily, I am bound to get tired of this container.

The trip home was good, though. Traveling may be tiring, but every time it's over, I feel sure I can make the effort again, just to keep a balance between my family and my pursued future.

I'm waiting for the hype to die down. So I can see whether things are the same when the rose-tinted glasses are removed. It's not very nice to live realistically, but some things just have to be done.