Invisible barriers...

hmm... a few pple hav tolked to me recently abt them havin a bit of prob wif their frens... sayin tt they r gettin more n more distant... well... my only comment abt this situation is tt this is a "frenship crisis"... (tho smtimes it might not even be an existin crisis at all... but nvm)... dependin on the way u handle them... the frenship can backslide into a state of no salvation or u might juz hav a chance of maintainin tt close frenship as usual... but one special thing abt this crisis is tt it tends to disturb sensitive pple... *like me*... haha... well... cos mayb sensitive pple do take a LOT of notice abt not only wad other pple say to them... but also abt the way u say it... by tt i can refer to facial expressions as well... so pple who r not tt sensitive... do kindly take note of this... n i mean it... u nva noe when u will hurt a sensitive person... *gosh... m i describin sensitive pple like very scary pple???*
back to the pt... hmm... my advice for the pple disturbed by the above prob is tt u shld hav a gd talk wif ur fren... n nva set up this stupid "invisible barrier"... *which costs me a few of my gd frens*... cos the moment u do... u will be reluctant to share stuff wif ur frens... n b4 long... u wun feel like sharin stuff wif ur fren anymore... n tt's when ur close relationship is gone... really... its tough for us... but tt's smthin which we really shldn't do... :)
hope this entry above can help some of u out there a bit... :)

i'm bored... seriously... im bored now... can anyone find me anything to do???... :(

Touched by an angel...

die... i really tink im fallin in love liao... so cute... so innocent... esp wif the wavin of the hand... haha... rantings of some1 who has been mesmerised by this cute little boy (abt 2 yrs old) in the lift today... my comments for him was: "cute!!! cute!!! cute!!!" ... n the nice thing is tt he actually doesn't know me at all... but he juz said: "hi kor kor"... n waved his little hand... haha... i tink my face had one of the most dramatic changes... was fumin abt my idiotic com (it kept hangin again... as usual...) ... n i decided to keep this damn dao expression on my face... but this little boy melted everythin... n i actually smiled... haha... its a miracle considerin my mood... i tink nxt time im goin to hav at least 2 kids... ideally 1 boy n 1 gal... wif the boy being the older one... dun ask me y... i jus prefer it tt way... haha... *wif the improvements in technology, i tink its goin to be possible to choose the sex of ur baby rite???... but i wont let this decide the sex of my baby... its goin to be so fake...*
anyway... i finished my work today... at my dad's factory... did QC work... n i tink im damn proficient now in the micrometer screw gauge... haha... tink no prob for physics pract measurements liao... haha... :)

The Press Conference...

haha... so excited today... its now 8.30pm... almost goin to watch myself on tv... haha... plus there will be footage as well in The Straits Times tml... tho i dun expect it to be very big lah... haha... but juz being there is gd enuf liao... hmm... mayb i tell every1 a bit abt the press conference today... :)
hmm... arrived slightly late... supposed to start at 2.30pm... but well... it only started at 3pm... guess tt's the way press conferences work rite???... :0... anyway... there was this Columbian harpist (who is also a pianist, vocalist n guitarist... wad the!!!) he was damn zai wif his harp... really nice music... n he really enjoyed it... can c it in his face... well... guess tt's wad we hav to learn... den had this streamers performance... hmm... they had a few slips along the way... n one of the performers kept gettin her streamers tangled up... haha... den it was our turn... i dun noe if it was becos we were too nervous, or becos of the mike... but the sound produced by the instruments were really below standard... but we made do wif it... n i must say tt it was still quite satisfactory... tho there were also a few slip-ups here n there... haha... the Columbian harpist actually asked tt we record a CD tgt wif him for his songs... oh my... tt's REALLY EXCITING!!!... dint expect tt we wld get invited juz like tt... but its still pendin... so i will not hav too high expectations on tt... den durin the tea reception, the reporters chose lydia n sarah out for interview... haha... the sisters-duo is so famous... all the reporters looked for them... as for me... well... i was busy hidin my face frm the ever-searchin cameras which were being used by a camera man who tot tt it wld be nice to film us eatin... the grand finale for us was a final filmin wif the Channel i news... haha... quite smooth... only 1 NG... but tt was the fault of the reporter, not us... she forgot to "siam" after finishin wad she had to say... hmm... but the trip home was bad... it was rainin... n we dint hav proper coverin for the instruments... so they were all soaked!!!... :( ... spent quite some time to dry it... hope tt the sound quality is not too badly affected... n nxt wk we will finally be practisin tgt in full strength... cheers!!! :)

Last day...

completed my last day for COH CIP today... well... i must say tt i hav indeed learned a lot frm this service, and really got to c a whole new community tt i wld otherwise hav no chance at all... credit goes to qy for organisin this project, n alvin for introducin me to this project... :) ...
was attached to the autistic class again today... hmm... got attached to another client... he was much milder than the previous one i was attached to... n i had some study sessions wif him... apart frm the fact tt he cldn't articulate very well in his speech, i was very satisfied wif his accomplishments for tt day... u really cannnot doubt their IQ... :)... den helped out wif some cross-stitch work... erm... i must say tt it was the 1st time i ever did cross-stitch work... had a "nice" time learnin how to thread the needle, tie a knot w/o gettin my index finger stuck in the loop (hey... tt's a challenge ok... my index finger is rather big...) n also to locate the hole thru which the needle is supposed to come up thru on the cloth... must say tt i wa quite pleased wif myself... i actually managed to sew quite a few knots... haha... n the teacher was sayin: "so u dun just get CIP hrs here... u also learn a lot of life skills yar..." haha... tt's true... mayb frm now on i can start to sew my own stuff... hehe... :o
after the clients left... stayed back to clean a classrm wif qy... haha... den along the way home... we were observin the window panes (cos we wiped the window panes)... n realised tt our effort did pay off... den qy found a spot which was quite dirty, so he poured water frm his water bottle... n i must say tt his action resembled a person pourin kerosene!!! haha...
oh... den i went out wif my god-sis yday... went for a movie at lido... met ks n her fren, but they siam the moment they got the tix frm me... actually wanted to intro one... haha... watched "The Incredibles"... its very funny... den went to Esplanade to chat for quite a while b4 goin for dinner... i enjoyed it... hope she did as well... haha... n the press conference is tml!!! ... :(

Charity...

hmm... went for a CareCorner Charity Dinner at nite... overall... i must say tt it was a bit borin... prob as a result of the fact tt the programmes were not well-lined up enuf... n there was quite a bit of leng2 chang3... esp durin the auction session... it was very very borin den... hmm... n the songs sung were quite old songs... so dint really fit my taste... n the food wasn't very good as well... n it took 30 min for them to serve one of the dishes... hmm... but efforts for the dinner were commendable... :) ... n it was the 1st time i got to hear a minister singin some old songs... haha... one song for $500, wld u imagine tt??? ... :)

A Gatherin...

haha... guess wad???... kl came back frm Australia... n i met up wif him after guitar today... tgt wif vernon... went kbox to sing... erm... but i must say tt i dint really enjoy myself enuf for the singin... cos only sang for like 2 hrs... not really enuf... haiz... but the gatherin was very short... only abt 3 hrs... wished for more time wif him, since i hardly c him now tt he is in Australia... but i wish him all the best here... :)
its been a long time since i last blogged... been extremely busy nowadays wif my CIP, Kolintang practice n of course... to finish up my storybk... hehe... wish all those goin overseas a bon voyage... n enjoy urselves... n as for those who r stayin in Singapore... take care... :)
mayb i do a brief update of wad i hav been doin these days... well... i went out wif yh n co. on Hari Raya Puasa... thx to yh for the treat at Crystal Jade... den went to hm's hse for the activities... swam, played squash (tho i seriously suck at tt) n some card games... but had to go home wif ks early to prevent my parents frm blowin their top... frankly... i tink its time i hav more freedom to go out wif my frens now... tt nite was the 1st nite i dint feel like goin home... cos i seriously dint want to go home to c my parent's black face... but luckily... it wasn't as serious as i tot...
went to COH on tue n thur... on tue... i witnessed a tantrum thrown by one of the patients... n the teacher gave me a word of advice: " do not be taken in by their looks"... haha... quite true yar... :) ... on thur... i was attached to an autism class... was a bit afraid... cos i hav nva really come into close contact wif autistic students... but i must say tt they r quite highly intelligent... i lost to this student in this memory game... he cheated of course... but i still lost to him... haha... den this student had to be forced to enter the small cubicle to bathe... cos he had a routine of goin to the large cubicle to bathe... n autistic pple hate to hav their routines changed... tt's y everytime the teacher wants to change their schedule... she has to tolk to them nicely... or else when they throw a tantrum... its really goin to be terrible... n i learnt a bit more abt autism thru this... here r some facts tt mayb i can share wif u all:
1) Autism affects more males than females, roughly in a 3:1 ratio. (scary arh...)
2) Autism cannot be explained scientifically as yet, unlike Down's Syndrome...
3) Autism can be diagnosed earliest at the age of 2, n the chances of recovery is higher as the illness is diagnosed earlier...
4) Autistic pple tend to go very often into a trance, where they r absolutely oblivious to everythin tt is goin arnd them... n they might hav some very weird actions in their trance, or could be mutterin some strange sentences which apparently makes no sense...
hmm... interestin facts to note... hope mayb it furthered ur understandin abt autism by a little bit more...
erm... received news tt i might hav to go for a press conference nxt wed for the Kolintang performance on 17 Dec... hmm... dun really like press conferences... esp when im not really tt gd at tacklin questions... haha... but the tot of goin on tv or newspaper excites me a bit lah... haha... :)

Escapism...

face it!!!... every1 will try to escape frm somethin at one pt or another... it could be smth they dun want to c... smth which hurt them a lot... smth which they simply dun want to face... or put simply... smth which they dun want to tink abt... well... i tink tt's smth im havin to deal wif now... i noe i dun want to tink abt some stuff... but den... it juz keeps comin back... if there was this pill to stop such things frm happenin... i will surely use it... sigh...

Events...

haha... been quite a few days since my last entry... a lot of things happened... let me tolk abt my church class outin 1st...
1) gathered at paya lebar mrt station: hmm... 4 pple met there... me, jo, ks n jj... den travelled to the bus stop (we took a bit of chance, but got it rite) to wait for xj's car... haha... cracked some jokes abt the car at the bus stop... meanwhile, i prayed for gd weather in both katong n pulau ubin (erm... fellow 04S73ians... u can c tt my heart is still wif u all... :) )...
2) reached xj's condo: ok... 1st activity was sports... i went for swimmin wif ks, jo n nat... jj n xj went to fetch ben... haha... we did some "charadin" under water... i must say tt my charade skills under water sux... it always seemed tt i twisted everythin... (tink spiderman n baseball)... mayb i shld stick to being a referee for tt... haha
3) hse activity: haha... my 1st activity at the hse was to hog the piano playin "Forbidden Love"... nice song... but realised tt i cant rmb it now... nvm... but ks made a lot of noise abt my playin... haha... but my playin put her to slp in the end... so mission accomplished!!! :)
4) lunch was KFC n Pizza Hut... wah... nva knew tt ben could eat so much... nth else abt lunch...
5) had a rnd of questions each had to answer... got to know quite a lot abt them... esp jj's "embarassing moments"... haha...
6) photo-sharin: erm... i tink the thing eventually became "jj n xj photo-sharin session"... cos they had 100s of photos while the rest i tink had at most 15... haha... had a lot of chance to c the life of others...
7) went back to the piano... n played a duet wif nat (erm... not really a duet lah... juz each person take one hand part)... hmm... n i realised tt the 2 grade-8ers erm... hav a slight sight-readin prob... but im proud to announce tt our playin really put ks n jo to slp for like 1 hr... :)
8) went for our movie, "Shark Tale"... haha... really funny show... highly recommended for enjoyment... :) ...
haha... this summarises the events for 11/11/04... hmm... pls bear wif me arh... i hav a lot to write for these few days... :)

Wild Wild Wet...

haha... today was pure fun, fun n fun... but 1st, let me write abt my COH experience yday...
COH: hmm... the day's work was still classrm activity... so nth much to do... 1st job of the day was to sharpen pencils after pencils... n i seriously tink its time they bought new sharpeners... cos halfway thru my job, i realised tt the sharpeners cldn't work liao... n the borrowed one was w/o the handle... so had quite a hard time tryin to turn the handles... but i saw another side to this class tt day... well... they r quite cute in their own way... if u r willin to really spend time wif them n interact... u will grow to love them as i do now... haha...
ok... now to the impt part: Guitar Club games day!!!... ok... as the organisin secretary... i must really thank the exco for their help... as well as the support of all those who turned up for the activity... really thanks a million times a million!!! :)... n im glad to hear frm them tt they enjoyed it... well... to me... tt was wad really made all my efforts to plan n organise fruitful... hmm... for those who missed it... i must say u all really missed out a lot of fun... :)
1) turnout: erm... i must say tt the turnout was quite disappointing... at the peak time... only abt 20 pple turned up... when i alr expected abt 40 (which is quite a lowered expectation)... but nvm... 20 pple is gd enuf...
2) captain's ball: haha... dis captain's ball game was certainly "unique"... cos it was EXTREMELY quiet... the game was like being played by a whole group of mute pple... well... guess its cos we r still not very sure abt each other's names bah... so had a brief intro to the grp members... n the situation imporved... nva tot tt the captain's ball game can be quite fun... n wilbur is really the SUPER defender!!!... 5 consecutive saves in a row... wow!!! :)
3) lunch: erm... ok... our main prob at hand was how to deal wif the extra 20+ pkts of rice... so had to sell it off... sold 2 to teachers, and the rest went to 04S7B... haha... i must say we r quite enterprising arh...
4) charade: dis is certainly the most entertainin game of the day... esp when u c how the intial msg got distorted until like... gdness... juz ask anyone who was there n they can tell u how wacky it was... notable qns are: zoo, mr ang wee hiong, astronaut (thx to taige for his "wacky" performance), fan, even zebra crossin n washin powder... oh... n i still cannot understand how jay chou's song: "kai1 bu4 liao3 kou3" eventually became "fart gas"... erm... frm this... u can conclude tt those who came today had quite some "imagination" yar... n u can imagine the game master (me) laughin until i cld almost fall to the grnd... :)
5) water bombs: haha... this is our grand finale... mass barraged each other wif lot n lots of water bombs... rough estimate will be abt 400 to 500... made sure every1 got very wet... but sadly... when the game started... every1's 1st target was me... n i became a wet man in an instant... haha... really fun... den we really bombed each other... n i found out tt joshua smashes the water bomb real hard... alvin low as well... hit a few times... n trust me... it was painful... but it was truly fun... haha
hmm... on the whole... i truly n thoroughly enjoyed myself today... hope all who attended it enjoyed it... :)

Another Day At COH...

hmm... 1st things 1st... i changed my blog skin... n credit goes to ks for helpin me search for this wonderful blog skin... thx a million ( i tink tt is better than writin 10 lines of thx rite??? :) )...
went to COH again today... got attached to a new class, cos tt class had a lack of teachers... haha... so they got low n i to be stand-in teachers... haha... fortunately... they were still those high-functionin ones... so low n i dint hav too big a prob gettin along wif them... n for this class, most could speak quite well for their standards... started work wif each of us being attached to 1 or 2 students... den got them to do activities... well... simply put... the activities were repeated for like dun noe how many times... aim: to train them up in tt skill until they get so tired of it tt they dun want to do it anymore for tt day... but low had a very fun time interactin wif his student... haha... n he drew the attention of my student away lor... haha... but its also gd... cos i myself was not sure of what to let my student do... he was obviously bored... but well... i tried my best to interact wif him... learned some more sign language... quite useful in communication wif them...
oh... n i guess low n i had a really "gd" experience doin our CIP... the 1st time we went there... there was the outin in which one of them got lost... but ltr found at his home in Sengkang... gdness... East Coast walk all the way back to Sengkang... amazing feat... den today... another volunteer in our class suffered frm a relapse... either frm stroke or slight heart attack... really shocked us quite a lot... 1st time i've encountered this... tink its the same for low as well... :)... but on the whole... it was a really meaningful experience... guess im startin to love those pple more n more... :)

Holiday Plans Galore...

hmm... seems like some pple r puttin their holiday plans on their blog... so i tink i will also giv a brief write-up on tt...
1) mug for CIP: ok... i seriously hope to finish my CIP by this yr... or at least a large part of it... so tt i wun be so tied down by it nxt yr...
2) brush up on my guitar n piano skills: ok... frankly... i hav not much of a confidence in my piano skills... particularly when i suddenly realised tt i hav forgotten how to play Canon in D on the piano... n its quite the basic piece for any pianist... n the worst thing is tt i've lost my score!!! argh!!! for guitar, nxt yr is SYF liao... n wad do u tink of this??? the MI actually fails the auditions!!! n so... i will strive to prevent tt frm happenin...
3) repay my sleepin debt: hmm... i realise tt my brain cells r really slowin down... n i got very disappointed wif myself when i cldn't master smth which i cld hav done so ever-so-easily in the past... dotz... mayb its the lack of slp bah...
4) chiong my sword-fightin novels: will try to complete at least 2 sets by the end of the hols... but den... GP requires us to read 2 English non-fiction/fiction bk to do bk reviews... sigh... :(
5) go out wif a lot of pple: ok... tt's not really a plan lah... but i've quite a no. of outings set liao... wif class, wif serena, wif my church class, wif my sec sch classmates... oh... n not forgettin a leadership camp!!! ( jas, i hope i can c u there again this yr... :) )
6) do hmwk: ok... last on the list... smth which i dun really wish to do... but forced to do... :(
ok... above r the holiday plans for me... hopefully i can achieve them... haha... :)
P.S: if u all r interested to c some exotic instrument performance... do come down to orchard rd on 17 dec... there will be a grp of pple there playin the kolintang n angklong (the wooden "keyboard" frm Indonesia)... n mayb u all can c a familiar face there... haha... details will be informed at a ltr date...admission shld be free... performance proudly brought to u by Chen Li Church Kolintang Ensemble and the Singapore Tourism Board... :)

Societal Stigma...

hmm... suddenly feel like writin abt some views of society on some pple today...
1) pple who dun dare to strive for wad society wants of them cowards: ok... obviously the flaw is tt its too over-generalised... mayb these pple tink tt by not pursuin those stuff, they can lead a better life???
2) handicapped pple deserve to be pitied: well... i will like to pour a bucket of cold water on any1 who has this mindset. Wake Up!!! Havent u heard of many stories of courageous pple who r handicapped??? n they way to treat them is wif love, not pity... so pls get tt rite...
3) money makes the world go round: erm... this is only 80% true... pple wif a lot of money tend to become very very greedy... n the only way to be content is probably to hav nth at all...
ok... pardon my rantin again for this entry... if it makes sense to u... it will... if it doesn't... well... it wont...

Love...

hmm... im not goin to tolk abt mushy love... but its the love tt enables u to care a lot for others... even pple whom u are not very comfortable wif (initially)... went to start our Service Learnin CIP today officially at COH... frankly speakin... i was a bit scared of the pple there... not so much of tt their behaviour scares me... but its more of tt i dun noe wad to expect there... n i've nva gone so in-depth into interactin wif the mentally challenged pple... but as time went by... i realised tt they r in every way the same as us normal pple... they hav emotions, able to communicate in their own unique way... n they r quite fun-lovin as well... haha... :)... expect a very very long entry...
"eventful" should be a very apt word to describe my day today... im sure alvin low will agree wif tt, iseneh???... :)... mayb i shld write it out in a list format:
1) 1st activity of the day: outin to East Coast park... gosh... the pple there r really the lao3 jie1 fang4... showed me a shortcut to walk frm COH to East Coast... rather useful... had my 1st hand-interaction wif the "clients", as they call them... well... kinda nervous... esp when i've nva done such a thing b4... had to guide them along, tho some of them r rather independent... hmm... den at East Coast park... had some fun watchin them play arnd... tho was smtimes harassed by some of them... but i guess they were juz wantin to seek my attention... den the event started... 1 of them strolled off w/o any1's notice... n we spent the next 30min to search... futile... n the rest of the grp went back... leavin a few others to search.. in the end... heard tt they made a police report... hope tt the guy will be fine...
2) 2nd activity: lunch... well... nth much to say abt this... so shall skip it... :)
3) games n video: ok... video was not available.. cos the cd-player is spoiled... n one of the gals there got quite pissed... n wanted repeatedly to meddle wif the tv... had to stop her... haha... n a funny thing is... she is 21 yrs old, but she kept callin me n low as "ge1ge1"... haha... den they had some games... my class was still considered not bad... they cld still move arnd n "tolk", which mainly was thru makin sounds which u dun understand at all... but u can juz somehow guess it frm their body language... another lesson learned... den alvin n i had a gd time learnin sign language frm one of the clients... haha... mayb one day we can teach other pple??? ... :)
all in all... i enjoyed myself today... felt the love tt came thru me to the pple... glad tt i am part of this proj... n lookin forward to my next session there... :)

Taking For Granted...

hmm... went to COH today... was deeply touched by wad i saw... some of the clients there had some difficulty in juz holdin stuff n puttin down stuff... but cld still c tt they were tryin their very best... I pray tt i will hav the love for them to help them... n to treat them as equals... reminds me tt pple shldn't take things for granted... really...
ok... PW's finally n truly OVER!!! i must say tt i had an excellent team... n here r some of my comments for them... haha...
1) hooxy: thx a million times for ur invaluable support... either in doin up stuff, takin minutes or anything... if some1 wants to recommend u for the post of an assistant... i will second tt wif my hands, legs, head, hair... haha... *lame*... :)
2) john: u really gav some very very gd ideas... as well as support for us... appreciated ur efforts... apart frm some times when "er hem"... better not say lar hor... :)... u created some distraction... haha... but truly truly enjoyed ur frenship n partnership durin the course of the entire proj... thx a million as well... :)
3) lt: thx as well for ur ideas n artistic sense... must say u did a gd job in doin up our OP... n other stuff as well... esp when u started shootin the loopholes in our WR... haha... if i appeared pissed den... its not ur fault... im juz a bit mad tt i dint c the loophole earlier... n tho we had some unpleasant friction in the course of PW... i must say tt i hav learnt a lot thru it... n i sincerely hope all is fine now... thx a million as well...
4) yiwen: hmm... must thank u for ur contributions to the grp... tho at times u were not wif us... but i tink u offered quite a no. of invaluable comments... n for addin quite a lot of fun for the grp durin discussions... haha... thx a million lots gal!!!... :)
haha... altho PW's now over... i must say tt i do miss a bit abt the times when we had to chiong our stuff... had lame meetings... where ER = endoplasmic reticulum, and all the ribosomes, reverse transcriptase... haha... the memories of it will stay forever... but of course... if they giv me a chance to do PW all over again... i will tell them: SORRY!!! DUN WANT!!! ... i tink all of u all will also do the same rite???... :)
P.S: its all cooled over now... thank God... n i guess its almost time i work towards rebuildin the lost frequency... hope u will giv me the chance... :)