Countdown: 90 days to hot weather

I keep reminding myself that winter is ALMOST over. Not liking the feeling of wet jeans sticking to my skin at all.

Anyway, Ron got a job at SG too! I think his is at the Bioprocessing Tech Institute or something. Also part of the biopolis, few mins walk to GIS. So unfair, he's getting paid more... and the person in contact even asked if he needed accommodation and helped him apply for a working visa. -__- And yet I have to apply for a visa myself and find accommodation myself. Oh well, the thrill of it.

Been posting many ads on property and real estate websites, looking for a room for rent. Gotten quite a few replies too, actually. None that stood out yet, either too far away or too pricey. I know shouldn't be that picky, but then I dread the thought of spending 100 bucks a month on transport and waking up super early to catch the mrt. We'll see. God will provide.

Thanks guys who're helping me with this task. Chyi, Julianna, Davina, John, Greg, etc.

So yeah, can't wait to get there.

Out of the cold weather for once. Into the land of good food and shopping. Ahhhh....

Plus, a few people would be there too. Janice, Greg, and Chyi. hehehe.

And of course, looking forward to the trip to Philippines. Still working on the exact dates or travel etc, wondering if there'll even be time to go home to Kuching or not. I have a feeling I'll only spend a week or less back home, probably during Christmas or Chinese New Year. I know it's un-daughterly of me to only go home for such a short period of time, but what to do? Time is unwilling. Oh well, I'll just have to make full use of it, however short the time may be.

***

Cell group last night was... INTERESTING. and that's an understatement.


We had a "music concert" last night. Which just means a whole night of praise and worship, and good food of course. We started jumping a lot toward the 2nd and 3rd song... (Alex's suggestion). Then I got a tap on the back by Greg, saying there was someone at the door wanting to get in. I opened the door, and there stood a Kiwi guy explaining how our jumping has caused the floor (his room's ceiling as he's staying downstairs) to CRACK ("it's very unsafe", and I quote). I mumbled a quick sorry and got back, shocked at what we just did. Goodness, CONCRETE floor can break so easily? Well, maybe it's possible as last night was absolutely packed- 30 I'd say- and the impact of us jumping altogether probably generated enough force to crack the floor/ceiling. OOPS. So yeah, we stopped jumping after that :P

Sang the "Dessert song" by Brooke Fraser/Hillsong too last night as part of the cafe style session. Love love love the song. Love the lyrics, especially the bridge.

All of my life
In every season
You are still God
I have a reason to sing
I have a reason to worship

Alex had the random idea of putting together a video of our beginnings. Of how lighthouse fellowship started- at Arana Hall, 2006, with just the 7 of us- Raymond, Alex, Sam, May, Janice, Rebec, and I. Compared to now- regulars totalling to 30+ (and counting). It was so fun making the video, even FUNNIER watching it, and seeing people laugh =)

Below is a snippet of the video (unedited). *upload failed. lazy to upload again as taking up time* Scene is when Ramon was making some food for us to eat after cell. Note that Greg is narrating as Ramon lost his voice. We all laughed sooooooooo hard- ah, the good times. And yes, I do like eating "chao-ta" (slightly burnt in hokkien) food hehe.

Am I really that forgettable? A primary/school friend just asked me who I was after I sent her a message on friendster. I AM 100% SURE SHE KNOWS ME. Either that or I changed a lot since sec sch. Which is more likely?

`1 more month and winter's over!

view from my bedroom window
the fog and Dunedin.

This week sums up WINTER the best.

Rainy, windy, gloomy, sun-hiding-behind-stubborn-big-clouds, foggy, temperature below 10 degrees etc. The list goes on and on. Oh, and a season to buy new umbrellas (again). I somehow lost my previous Kathmandu one and had to buy another sturdy one (automatically opens with one push of a button, so high-tech rite?) for half price. It's a good thing the flaps don't face the other direction when the super strong winds blow too.

I have a lab report due tomorrow. (progress: 50%?)
A 2000-word essay due in 2 weeks. (progress: 5% eeeks)
2 business plans to come up with, 1 with presentation.

Envy, envy those first year students with only terms tests and 3-hour labs to worry about.

Finding accommodation in Dunedin is hard enough. People rushing to get the flat list once it's out (August 11th I think), signing contracts with greedy landlords eager to make money out of us poor students. I'm still yet to view the flat on Frederick St, somehow the tenant "forgotten" to text me back on Saturday to confirm time for viewing. Someone needs to ban 027 numbers.

But it's not as hard as finding accommodation in another COUNTRY. I've been staying up late these few days searching in real estate websites/property finding websites about rentals in Singapore. Gah stupidly high rental rates. Very frustrating especially when real estate agents want to grab half a month's rental for their "fees".

On the other hand, quite excited that Shine '08, Lighthouse Fellowship's first ever camp is coming up! It's going to be held from 28th to 31st August (hopefully when the weather is nicer and sunnier) at Wairoa Scout Camp, about 30 mins drive from town. So much planning and thought have been put into it, I'm sure it'll be a camp to remember.

I've been spending precious time googling about travel tips to Philippines. hehe. It'll be something to look toward to once my parents give me the OK sign. If all goes well, will travel to the country with over 7000 islands right after my work placement- mid Feb- with Jaq and Ron. Airplane tickets are surprisingly affordable, return from MAS costs RM500++ including taxes!!! So I guess I'll have to scrap my Goldcoast/Brissy plans for a Philippino trip (sorry Jess...). I'd rather spend money sight-seeing another place I've never been before- plus Ron has offered to plan our itenerary and be our tour guide, haha!

Another thing to "look forward" to. Resigning from my job at ACC. Should be sometime in early Sept as that's when all my assignments are due. It's been an insightful experience, now I know how working in an office environment is like. Which makes me even more thankful that I'm studying towards a degree to work in a place where ROUTINE doesn't exist. Where it's all about discovering about something new then win the Nobel prize , not about doing data entry & staring at the computer screen for 8 hours a day.

For all who are still working there, I salute you. Such discipline needed to NOT go crazy and complain every 5 seconds.

I've got it!!! =)

I've been dreaming hoping for that ONE reply for weeks now, and when it finally arrived in my inbox last night, I didn't know how to react.

So I reacted by:
` calling Sam right away. I had to tell somebody.
` searching for churches websites. Especially Joseph Prince's church-New Creation Church.
` searching/asking for friends' help with finding accommodation at Sg.
` keep reading the email again and again to convince myself.
` was so happy dreaming about being there I almost missed my 9am BIOC lab today.

This is almost like a dream come true. Being able to work (though only 4 months, from 17th Nov till 15th Feb '09) at the Genome Institute of Singapore. WOOO, and get paid for that too- not as much as what I would earn if I work full time at ACC but oh well, at least better than nothing. Let's just say I think it might just cover rent in Sg.

So now I'm busy bugging ANYBODY who knows anything/anyone about renting places in Sg to please help me. Even a little hint of info would be much appreciated. =)

I'd have to apply for a certain Work Holiday Pass- requires me to fill out a local address, so now wondering if I need to find accomm fast, or can just fill it with a friend's address... Thank goodness only need to pay $40 for the visa thingy, if worked in Aus would cost me at least hundreds. Will need to start applying for that during Oct, I was told.

So yeah, thank God for making this possible. =D And thanks to whoever helped/encouraged/prayed for me in getting this work placement. Yes I know need to chiah you guys hot chocolate soon- just let me know when/where is convenient. ;P

janice, u're 22!

Janice Lee (aka Lenik the menace) is 22!

Once a neighbour, always a neighbour! ;P
Once a friend, forever a friend.

From Jane Malthus (Studholme Hall) to 4/777 Great King Street last year, and this year (well, still sort of neighbours) at 157 Queen Street. Oh, should I say from the high school days since we were on the same car to school (provided by Mr P'ng, haha!)

So we planned a surprise dinner for Janice at the Cargills Hotel's Chocolate, Jazz, and Shiraz night (in conjunction with Cadbury's chocolate carnival this month) on wednesday, 16th July. $45 per person, not too bad. It was a 4-course dinner with lots of chocolate involved. Well, actually 3-course, the fourth being chocolate(s). Everyone took home a BIG bar of chocolate, and even the whole table was randomly scattered with roses choc. The jazz quartet was good, all of them being more than 2.5 times my age.

We had the jazz band dedicate a birthday song and announcement for Janice ;P
She's looking very pretty here, agree?

Very distracted by the lady in red behind Janice. Ahhh, my eyes!
The BIG card we gave her (plus a brand new cybershot camera)

Black and white shots- Greg with his slr.
I like this pic.

Jaq being shy.

My choice of entrée- "red wine poached pears on chocolate ripple
tea bread with Baileys and a milk chocolate ganache". couldn't resist typing in full =)

dessert- choc marble cheesecake. very yummy.
I got quite fascinated with the shape of the mint leaves- looked like the shape of a butterfly

Jaq and I

The guys

Sam- where's my food?!

So full, happy, and satisfied at the end. Birthdays are fun (and expensive).

***

We did something quite random yesterday.

The weather was as usual, a typical Dunedin mid-winter day. Gloomy, cloudy, no sunshine, a bit drizzly, temperature below 8 degrees. So nice to wrap up in my duvet and sleep.

But we chose to go swimming instead at Moana Pool.

Sharon, my flatmate, was like O___O!!! when we told her that.

Anyway, it was WARM at the pool! Even went to the sauna section, so hot la. The angmohs were all red in their faces from the heat. But very nice and relaxing. The waterslide was the fun part- we kept bumping into each other. The aqua jogging is a new concept to me, mostly old people use that exercise as a form of therapy for arthritis?

My neck and abdomen muscles are hurting a bit now. But so fun! 9 dollars for swim and waterslide. I think we might make it into a weekly event now, haha! Exercise for the lazy people.

Thinking as positive as possible

It's not a YES (yet), but still, it's a positive response.

THINK POSITIVE ;P

I'm not superstitious or anything like that, so I don't care if blogging about this is going to jinx my chances of getting the work placement.

Ok. So about a week ago, after being frustrated not having heard back from potential employers, I decided (well, Michelle helped in making sure I did that hehe) to call one particular investigator (researcher) which I was interested to work for in one of his research labs.

Problem was: he was in Singapore, I was here. Also, I'm terrified to speak (over the phone especially) to people of higher importance, especially if it concerns my future. I started to think about the what ifs. What if I say something stupid, eg mispronounce his name, or mention the wrong institute, or worse, stutter and not manage to get any info through? Or what if I sound TOO keen, aka desperate, or not interested enough to want the job?

So many factors on the line, ok.

And it's not like I'd never handled (important) phone calls before. I've had experience dealing with grumpy, racist, drunk customers calling to Domino's Pizza, and more recently, having to call dentists to settle claims/payments at the office.

Anyway. After 1 week of no reply, Mr (Prof/Dr?) Seielstad of the Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS) (part of A*Star) finally replied my email/cv/letter of endorsement. It wasn't a yes, like I said, but just another email to ask about the dates of my attachment (Singaporean term for internship -__- ), and who/how the report would be assessed etc info.

So yea. I have been stressing over the past few weeks (still am) over this. Only 3 or so months to go before it starts, so scary! I don't even know whether we would get paid for this, and trying not to think about the loooooong report we have to complete to pass the APPS499 paper. And also other details to consider: booking air tickets to/fro, accommodation (super expensive walao), whether or not I have enough lab skills to prevent from looking dumb to the researcher/other students.

Hopefully can get an answer soon, then start consulting people on accommodation (near uni preferably), book air tickets, plan a possible traveling trip (Taiwan/Philippines/Brissy- yes I am being a bit ambitious) before uni starts again early March.

***

Chyi: you owe me coffee sessions for making me answer this. In BM some more! *faints*

7 fakta tentang saya:
01. name saya kalau ditranslasi kepada bahasa Cina jadi "sayur dengan udang"
02. kawan-kawan saya panggil saya KAKAK
03. saya suka menyanyi semasa mandi- syoknya
04. saya selalu pergi ke "restaurant asian" sampai orang yang kerja di situ sudah tahu muka saya
05. rumah saya sama sejuk dengan peti ais
06. saya patut tulis repot sekarang
07. saya "tengok depan" pada malam esok- ada makan malan fancy! woohoo

7 perkara menakutkan saya:
01. lelaki kacak tertengok saya mempersiasoikan diri.. tak ada muka
02. orang yang ikut saya pergi sini sana (stalker)
03. komputer saya hangus
04. balik malaysia- tak pandai cakap BM lagi lah
05. orang "buat letak sama" (matchmake) saya dengan orang lain
06. kawan-kawan saya hilang dari dunedin
07. terpelanting apabila jalan di uni

7 lagu buat sekarang:
01. langgar (collide)- Howie Day
02. peeeeter-pet (pitter pat)- Erin McCarley
03. anak kuda (pony)- Erin McCarley
04. bodoh untuk kamu (stupid for you)- Marie Digby
05. cinta kamu sampai habis (love u til the end)-the Pogues
06. itu hanya hayat (it's only life)- Kate Voegele
07. lagu desert (desert song)- Hillsong

7 perkara yang selalu disebutkan:
01. kamu tahu tak...
02. OHH. saya tengok
03. lapar lah. ada makanan?
04. pergi mana makan?
05. sangat sejuk
06. saya mahu tidur
07. saya mahu beli barang

7 perkara yang amat bernilai:
01. tangan saya
02. mata saya
03. kawan-kawan
04. lagu
05. memori
06. air
07.minyak

7 "pertama kali" dalam hidup saya:
-__- pertama kali buat quiz yang bodoh macam ini

7 orang bertuah (JAWAB TAG INI BALIK)
saya sangat baik hati. tak payah jawab balik.

***

Finally. GOSH. No more BM for at least 4 months.. phew.

Anyway, a special Happy Graduation wish to bunny aka Chok! Wah everyone's graduating soon already, feeling a bit nostalgic knowing I'll have to leave uni after next year.