unpacking status 3% done

I'm jetlagged!

It's now 3.18am and I'd just finished assembling the L-shaped computer desk and the computer by myself! *feeling accomplished* =D

I was awake since 6am Malaysia time Sunday, and didn't sleep until 12midnight yesterday NZ time. So I was awake for approximately 37 hours.

Plus, my room was filled with boxes. MANY boxes if you know how much stuff I have. So just hours ago, I shifted all the boxes temporarily to the living room (hence the mess there now =P), vacuumed the room, and started assembling the huge computer desk. Thank God I found the right screws to go with the right furniture! 2 more shelves to assemble tomorrow before I can start unpacking all of the 15+ boxes I have.

So I arrived at Dunedin at 2.30pm ish Monday afternoon. Lotsa drama on the plane; those stories for another day. Had a conversation with 2 first years students on the shuttle back to the new flat. One of them, a girl, is staying at Aquinas :S Pity her having to walk this far to uni on cold days like these.

Speaking of which, I'm adjusting to the change in weather. From 30 at SG/Msia to max of 15 degrees at Dunedin... (include the rain and wind chill= numb fingers and toes)

But all's good! So happy meeting with all of you still here at Dunedin =) Got heaps of things done today and yesterday: woke up early and went to do course approval with Sharon, ran some banking errands, chatted with Michelle about her pregnancy and just about everything :P), saw their cosy flat up at Cargill Street, had potluck dinner/housewarming at Valerie/Bernard/Ping's place at Forth Street. REALLY nice flat + location!

Tomorrow, I'm hoping to get the visa renewal application handed in, buy some deco stuff for the flat living room, have a flat meeting, have photo ID taken, and do more unpacking!

For once in a very long time.... it feels good being busy =D

and of course, it's good to be back.

:)

I'm leaving tomorrow!

My luggages are desperately overweight.

I'm starting to miss going to expo for church every Saturday. and the dinner outings after that.

last cell group- 06.02.09

thanks so much guys for the presents & well wishes.
for the laughter & unforgettable friendships.

parasailing @ KK with mum

the goooooood & glorious Asian food. home cooked meals.

temperatures up to 30+ degrees. ugh. sweating

the occassional meet ups (and last minute cancelations)

Chinese New Year. fireworks. ang pows.

bye bye slow dial-up internet.

***

After a great + hot and humid 4 months here in Asia, I'm ready to go back *waves*

See you guys in Dunedin in a few hours =D

Dear time

WOW. It's been a while.

First of all, I'm fine. I didn't mean to make the last post sound so erm depressing. Thanks for those who cared. During those times, I'm always somewhat comforted by a simple text sent by a friend months ago about how we shouldn't let availability heuretics rule our life and determine how we would go by the rest of the day feeling: the most recent occurance is NOT the only occurance.

I just got back this afternoon from my Kota Kinabalu family trip. Hundreds of photos taken in total, I'll definitely sort them out, upload photos, and blog about all the adventures as soon as I get back to NZ after next Sunday. That is, after I unpack and get settled into my new room at the new flat. Yay! During the last 5 days, I ate a lot, spent a lot of time under the sun: island hopping, white water rafting, souvenir shopping, and more feasting.

Also, not forgetting happy birthday wishes to two of my most favourite buddies thousands of miles away now- Alex (aka Canai) and May May. I'm missing you guys like maddddddd! >_< 4 months of separation is too much! haha gosh this sounds so cheesy. I'm really praying and keeping my fingers crossed for the Welly/Hawkes Bay trip during Easter would go on as planned. It feels sad not being there to celebrate this special weekend with you guys.

But the good news is... I'm going back next Sunday! =D Well, technically. I'll be flying off to Singapore on the 22nd (Sunday morning), then connecting to Christchurch at night. So I'll only arrive at Dunedin on Monday- afternoon I think. I've never felt anticipation this great to get back to NZ before; and yet I have a feeling that it'll be at least 2 years before I would go back to Msia again. As much as other people seem to miss coming home, I can't seem to find a reason why anymore. Besides my family. I'd even trade the good food here for home cooked yummy food by the great chefs I call friends. hehe =)

Then again, I would miss the group of people I'd grown attached to in Singapore for the short 3 months I'd spent there. I would miss: the sparkling clean toilets, public transport, accessibility, malls, going to church and cell group, and the awesome libraries. I wouldn't miss: crowded mrt rides, the intense heat and humidity, the Singlish accent OOPS haha, the ants at my room, and not being able to cook.

If I ever do decide to come back to SG to work (for whatever reason!) in the future, it'll be great to catch up with them again. But right now, the plan is clear: to graduate, find a job (hopefully at Wellington =P ), apply for permanent residency, then decide again on where to go by then. Being back here at Msia reminds me again how discrimination is halting the progress of EVERY single thing we try to build (and if we ever want to achieve the vision 2020); though Msia is always being advertised as a country where people of multiple races coexist *peacefully*. I'm not escaping or being "unpatriotic" by staying back where the land is greener; it's just basic human survival skills to build lives at where the environment best fits us and where we feel most happy at. But who knows, change could occur at the most odd moments and when we least expected it.

Torn

I should have known.


Have you ever felt a deep yearning to find out about something- a secret, exclusive information that no one else knew? But when you finally know what it is, you wished that you were better off NOT knowing about it. Because now that you DO know about this news, you don't know how to react, who to talk to, what to say.

I've always relied on my conscience, more than facts, on making decisions. And now that I've found out about this, it saddens me to know that I am once again, wrong.

Or maybe, at the very back of my head, I had always known it- but I made myself believe otherwise. I wanted to fix it, wanted to believe that I could do something about this to make it better. And then there's that other little voice that's telling me it's time to let go.

***

I'm being really vague about this as I'll let you (who I feel need to know about this =P ) know in time. Don't worry though. I'm fine.

Anyway I'm looking forward to the last cell group session tonight =)

festive fever

Happy CNY!

I know, I know. I've been lazying in the festive mood: eating, visiting, traveling, doing nothing, eating my favourite char bee hoon (YUM), meeting up with friends, taking photos- that I have not blogged for > 1 week.

I went back to Kuching 2 weeks ago, came back to S'pore last Friday. Some say I'm wasting money by traveling too often. Bleh =P

Anyway. Some of the happenings when I was back in Kuching:

It rained every single day. But it didn't stop the meet ups hehehe.

Debs & Agfa (aka princess lollipop & princess pei pei) =P
my besties (including Stef at UK now) from church: stef cutie, we missed you!

We went from cafe to cafe. haha! From Life Cafe at main bazaar to the new Bing outlet at Premier 101 where we met up with Eric the oddball. =P Poor Eric had a knee surgery done recently due to torn ligament/tendon can't remember which after playing a game of basketball. -__- Skipped the annual youth visiting on 3rd day of CNY as I had another reunion with ex schoolmates from Kuching High. Instead, we went to Stef's house on Tues night (Guinevere's bday) then headed over to John's house where we stayed till midnight.

Hanging out with the youth again reminded me of why I miss Kuching (at times). Deb's driving skills and blur sense of direction hehehe, Agfa arguing with John about the littlest things, Eric's lame pick up lines nobody should ever use unless they want to get slapped, Joanna's big hugs, Agfa's contagious laughter, etc. Reminds me of the good times we had in 2004/2005- the Point 1 outings, cell group till very late at night, and church camp sabo-ing. We are all getting old(er) for sure, looking at the younger youths getting taller each year sure brings back the nostalgic memories. I only wonder why we took so few photos back then.

random: a praying mantis @ my house.

Met up with the 38 gang (as we used to call ourselves) on the 3rd day at Ching's house. I was the earliest (as usual). Ying was the last to arrive, together with Hui Yi, Agnes, Yii Ching, and Robin. I only found out on the spot that the latter 2 were dating, haha!

Anyways. We stayed at Ching's for quite a while before going over to Connie's place. It felt a little weird as I'd never spoken to her at all during my high school years. =P Though the others probably have. Different cliques, you could say. Congrats again to Ching on her 2 equally enticing job offers: I wonder which one she chose at the end.

I'm forever traumatised by Ying's driving skills (or lack of). Those sitting at the back seat that day would remember and agree with me. =P Speaking of which, I might take up driving lessons in NZ this year after graduation if all goes according to plan. =)

from left: jOSs, Kelly, Julianna, Ching, Ying, Hui Yi, Agnes, Yii Ching, & Robin.
at Ching's place. Jess, we missed you too...

Met up with Grace on Sunday: Ron and I went to her church (Bedok Methodist Church) in the morning (I only had 4 hours of sleep that night gah) then headed over to town for lunch with a random friend of hers who just came over from Dunedin to SG to work at the hospital. Walked/window shopped around a little after that then headed home for my much needed rest.

our discovery: somewhere near Marina Square. I think the area is called Sky Garden.

While we were enjoying the view, Ron pointed out to me that there was a couple with serious PDA going on to our left. Fair enough, the place where they were sitting at was quite secluded. Later, I don't know what led Grace to ask them to take a group photo of the 4 of us. Shock took over me when I saw the person walking towards us (with Grace) was in fact, a GIRL dressed in a guy's clothing- and another girl remained at the spot where we first saw them. yikes.

Later, we stopped by at a Danish ice cream cafe for dessert. =D Definitely 100 times better than the ones we had at Batam weeks ago. Thanks to Grace who paid for our orders! It was such a blessing hanging out with her since we barely spoke to each other back in Dunedin.

my order: puffs & ice cream!
very nutty, just how I like it.

with Grace

If you're not already asking: yes I had (another) haircut! I'm not particularly happy with it: the lady was a little scissors-happy and chopped off a huge amount of hair. Now, it looks super layered... and the colouring was terrible: a huge patch in the middle was significantly lighter. There goes my hope of having long, curled hair during my graduation. =( I'll try getting another haircut to fix the damage when I go home again next week.

***

Work/attachment started today. *grumpy face* This week will be my last in SG (at least for this year). WOW.

Things to do before I leave:
~ SHOP! haha. (aka leave behind my mark at Orchard Road) High 5 Ron
~ take a group photo with cell group in SG (Friday night), add them on facebook heheh
~ meet up with Julianna & John again
~ have my favourite SG chicken rice 1 last time =P
~ go to Ministry of Manpower to cancel/return my work permit
~ get my salary for Jan and Feb woohoo!
~ close bank account. transfer $$$ over to NZ bank account
~ pack & leave (again!!!)

Now everywhere I go (except on the way to/from work), I imagine that it'll be the last time I ever set foot there. And today while having lunch with a cell group friend, Xue 'Er, she asked me if I'd miss the people at cell group. I wanted to say "3 months isn't long enough to miss someone" but then I realized that time is never an issue: I will miss their hospitality, their friendliness, their fellowship.

Time is sprinting like never before. And before I know it, another phase in my life is coming to an end (in a good way, of course). =)