River Hongbao Festival

Today after dinner with B.Wong and Anne.... Hannah and I went to walk Esplanade.... and then when we got there... we realized the river hong bao festival was on...

it was CROWDED!!! but quite cool :) got to go on the floating platform and enjoy the chinese tradition we would hardly find in Melb.

Quite interesting to see how the culture of Spore is still vibrant and strong... and oh, Mr. Goh Chok Tong also walked past us with his entourage... i was quite stunned coz we were walking then suddenly this huge grp came with police and all... so i scanned the mass and saw the tallest guy there... i was like.. oooo check it out.. mr goh!!! :)

lolz. fun time.

Aloe Vera

Yesterday my mum came into my room in the morning to wake me up. She sat me up in bed and started to rub aloe vera plant over my burning face... That's coz i went to sentosa the day before and got really sunburnt... the next morning, she drove to the market to buy the aloe vera plant and brought it back for me.

I'm so thankful for my mother and the big and small blessings and sacrifices she always does for me without ever needing to ask her to. A mother's love is beyond words and I'm so thankful for such great parents and a sibling that never stops loving me either.

Thank You Lord for them.

Blog Skin Working!

Yay... oki dokes, apart from small minor changes i might make [look out for a POSSIBLE new header on top]... the blog skin looks good. i like it's simplicity but i love the fact that it separates all my entries into different individual nicely coloured boxes. :)

yayz.

Sentosa today was A BLAST... it was HAWT.. and now i'm a lobster.. all read and sunburnt. but it was good gettin out of the norm of life, away from handphone, emails, internet and even ipod touch... and jus relax on the beach with good friends, a guitar and a breeze... :)

After that, managed to visit Divvy's house for Bai Nian and sharing good times with the Calvary people. :) Going thru all the "fuzzy wuzzy" kind of jokes and random things like that... haha

Then, met up with the Exco peeps for dessert and drinks where good news was shared. :) Glad for the issue and i hope my prayer for them will be true and that God will watch over my good friends in Shalom. :)

Drove them all home and then came home. now i'm going to shower and hopefully let me lobster of a body cool off before i sleep. :) tml's a long and fun day. looking forward to the evenin plans!!! woo hoo. :) oh, and i'm collecting pay tml too hahaa yayz.

Blog skin wonky.

As you can see, the blog skin is still in testing... i'm working on making it work correctly. :) check back again!

Sentosa!!!

Woo! 3rd day of CNY and i'm going to sentosa!!! yay. hahaha.. looking forward to a fun day ahead. see ya!!!

Happy Chinese New Year 2010!!!

Taken from here

First of all, Happy Chinese New Year to one and all... it's wonderful to be back in Singapore sharing this celebration of yet another new year with family and friends. :) Awesome coz it's my year too! [tiger year] yeh yeh, i'm old... but it'll be quite sucky if i wasn't around to celebrate the young fierce tiger year with family and friends...

And so, here's my check list of things i'm thankful for.

1. ...Family...

That everyone's still around [i know it's bad luck to talk bout death on cny but i'm really thankful] and still close. That when we bai nian as a family, we're a whole unit. I still do enjoy the bai nian at home with Sab and my parents... though sumtimes it's hard to form words to 'bless' my parents with, it's still something i'm glad my family adheres to on a yearly basis.

p.s. Thankful to Ivan and Sab... first year taking ang pows from them. So weird... but yay! more money! haha.

2. ...Friends...

Going around visitation today to friends house... Never properly done it before coz most of my friends are from Church so the visitations are done as a family but this year, my melb friends and I are going to each other's houses to bai nian... :) sounds awesomely fun. haha...

Friends from church too are a great blessing. I always love the fact that no matter how far u travel to and how long u go for, Shalom is ALWAYS waiting for you with open arms.

3. ...Relatives...

You never know who will be there for visitations and with changes in the family last year... some things are quite different yet similar. :) My grandma is getting really thin and it's scary to look at her sometimes... Let's jus say i'm glad i'm here for this CNY to still bai nian to her. :) Also, catching up with relatives that we normally just see very few times a year is also a treat... seeing them grow up and get married or get stable relationships and seeing their other half at reunion dinners and all is quite heart warming. :)

4. ...Weather...

This year has been too kind on us... i recall so many CNYs where the sun jus BLAZES down upon us while we do visitation.. but this year, a nice cloud cover has painted our skies and a cool breeze is often not far behind. :) Thank the Lord for such wonderful weather to appreciate our customary celebrations this year. :)

5. ...Life...

Needless to say and obvious to point out, I thank God for life.. for health and peace.. peace of God and peace of mind knowing that we all have come through yet another year and we're still doing fine. :) Things change [like house and years left before i enter the unendless workforce] but the basic point of life is still going strong. Thank the Lord for love, life and joy. :)

May you bring Christ with you to your house visitations and may you be fiercely fervent for the Lord in the year of the Tiger.

Isaiah 29:13-14

The Lord says:
"These people come near to me with their mouth
and honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
Their worship of me
is made up only of rules taught by men.

Isaiah 29:13-14

How true this is... that so often we label the Pharisees as the bad guys, the ones that Jesus always rebuked... the ones that were doing everything wrong despite knowing the one who had everything right. We shun them and we are glad to not be them.

Brethren, think again... we just MIGHT be the modern day Pharisee... the one who knew who God was, and is... and yet live as though we're still waiting for the Messiah to come... When i read the above scripture during my QT today... it just struck me how true it is... that we can go to church, we can sing the hymns... heck, we can even memorize the scripture.. but if there's no relationship... if what we do isn't for God.. then how different are we?

We must repent, return and rejoice [yesh, this is original] in God... in the saving Grace that we have enjoyed and still do enjoy... we must fight against mundane routines in our Christian Walk and claim the victory and promises that Christ gave when He died and rose again. There must be nothing to stop us from breaking out of that dead tomb and rising to life with Christ.

7 Months

I won't even try to recap today coz it'll not do justice at this time of the night but thank you Hannah Wong for a lovely day. I really wanted to make today special for you and treat you to a day that was all about us and you. :)

I'm glad that we carried out the plans we did, that everything worked out and that we were able to spend the whole day together jus sharing our love for each other and for ummm snapping photos of animals... lolz... but seriously, i'm just so glad that we got to share today.

And that we have got to share the past 7 beautiful months of being together. You are such an important part of my life now i can't really see nor remember what life was like before you. I thank our heavenly Father for not just allowing me to meet and love you but also for His continual guidance and direction upon our lives as a WE.

These 7 months have been one of great joy and much love and I thank no other human person more than I thank you for it... for all the times u've put aside your own will and tolerated my nonsense, for forgiving me when i've wronged u [many times] and for being patience with me and holding your tongue from wrath. You are such a blessing and an encouragement to me, i pray the Lord will continue to pull us closer together for more months/years to come.

I love you very much Hannah and I'm thrilled that You're part of me.

Life/Death

Today has been interesting. In one day, I mourned the death of someone at a good church member's father's funeral... followed by celebrating the life at a 21st birthday of a dear friend of mine.

It's weird that both clash on the same day and yet are polar opposites of each other.

Another thing that struck me today was the difference in a Christian funeral vs a Non Christian funeral. the people were sad and crying but i realized in a non Christian funeral, they wail and howl... for they see it as an end... a hopeless end to a beautiful life they cherished and loved.... Christians see it as a next-phase in life... now their loved one has left them but is with Christ... and they have hope that one day, they too will join in that chorus.

it pricked me at times today and i felt very emotional despite not knowing the deceased at all... just seeing Ricky holding the fort so strongly while Stella was uncontrollably crying was very very painful. i dun cry coz of the person but coz of the pain they are going thru... and many times today i had to catch myself and purposefully fill it with other thots before i got lost in sorrow as well.

tough.

Nonetheless, pensive day. Thank god for also the time i could spend with family.. and later on, friends. :)

happy 21st Tricia :) so glad i could celebrate it with u in Spore.

Ask me Anything

Hey, check out that cute form on the right of the blog... you can ask me any random qn and i'll answer it... if i feel like it. :) if not, here's the link tee hee... i blame laura for this. :)

Leopard Preen

Today Hannah and I went to town with a theme.... To Snap Pics of People in Leopard Preeeeeen.

Here's our successful day. :)

Trenchies from UniQlo

I want... should I? the first is $150... and the 2nd is $80 i think...
urhhhhhh

These few days...

I would say that easily this year is going to be a year of big decisions... It’s weird to think that the same time next year, I no longer will be a student [God willing] and I’ll actually either be working in Singapore or Melbourne. It may seem quite a simple natural progression but actually to think about it, all these years of my life, the next step in life would have been the next phase of school. Whether it be Kindy to Primary or Primary to Secondary. Even Secondary to Poly would not be that big a jump as the next year would be.

I always joke about how the only escape from work is either death or retirement and it kinda scares me to think that it’s going to be that way till I stop working at maybe the age of what? 60? Eeps!!! Haha... but it’s an exciting phase I suppose. Something I’ll only need to worry about next year I guess, now it’s jus to build up good networks, work well and place myself in a place that would benefit my job hunting in the near future.

On other things, my friend in Melb just got attached and I know u’re reading this... it took u long enuf. Finally we can label you guys as a couple and not be awkward about the relationship you guys have. I thank the Lord for making His path and decision clear to the both of you and I pray that as you guys journey down this path of self realisation and complimentary realisation, I pray the Lord will keep you close to Him first and foremost and each other later. That with your new relationship, you’ll be able to mimic and imitate the love of the Lord in this aspect of your life. Congrats to Jeero and Josh, may He guide you in your future decisions alone and together and as you be with each other, may He always guard you against temptation and that you remain accountable especially in this aspect of life.

These few days have been spent working for intercruise [1 day a week for 9.5 hours when a cruise comes in] and meeting up with friends. The more I meet up with people, the more I feel like I shouldn’t find a 2nd job and just use the limited 1.5months I have left on this island to meet up with friends and to pray for them and their situations. It’s very very heartwarming to see that the love of God isn’t bound by distance nor time and though I have failed tremendously in keeping up to date with people’s lives here in Singapore, everyone has been so forgiving and generous with their forgiveness and love that it really sometimes makes me ashamed to think back on how I stopped checking up on them online and through emails. Especially embarrassed when I know how easy it is to keep up to date with people thru technology these days.

Friends have always been a big important part of my life for a long time and to hear their genuine words of love, concern and encouragement, it lifts my heart and gets me through yet another day knowing that there can be no other reason why God would send such friends into your life. So to my friends who I love very dearly, thank you for making this boy always feel welcome and for always treating him with such love and trust that I can share in just that small portion of your life and I pray that I will not forget to and not stop in praying for you and what you guys are going through.

I’m actually sitting on an MRT train now blogging and I’m passing by Kembangan as I type this. I just love the fact that I’m finally blogging again and that I only would blog when I have no internet or nothing else to do. Sighhh what has my blog become? Haha... but at least I’m trying. Lolz. Going to meet up with a dude who’s selling me this board/card game called Saboteur... yay! Then we can play it when we’re in Melb. Hehe. Oh that reminds me, I gotta go uniqlo soon to shop for winter-ish stuff coz I think they’ve got nice stuff for sale there. Hehe.

Yep, that’s about it for now, if I don’t stop, this post is going to be super long and no one likes to read a long post. So here’s where I stop. Thank God for everything so far. It’s been a great 2009 and I look forward to God being close and me leaning on Him much more and experiencing and enjoying Him in 2010. :) Praise the Lord and God bless.

110110 Fishing

Today was fun... took the car out for the day [yes i DO love it when i dun need to rush home with the car or take public transport coz i dun have the car] and picked up matt and hannah for lunch and fishing at east coast park.

Drove to bayshore, picked the both of them up then headed to this place called 'Vista Bistro' for their set lunch. The promo is basically $11.80++ for free flow [buffet style] of soup, starters like salads and dessert... then u order one main course. :) the food was alright only... i thot the portions were REALLY not worth it... like i won't go there again... but it was worth a try... ambience was quite insipid too... as was the food... haha oops. :) but yeh, company was good...

so after lunch, we drove back to bayshore. Hannah went to get Ashley [her dog] and Matt went to get his fishing gear and we took a walk to bedok jetty.... left the car at bayshore coz free parking. :) So we got there and started fishing and basically, to cut it all short... i caught 4 fish. but 1 of them slipped off the hook before i got the line over the jetty railing so he managed to escape... so i'd say 3 fish in total today... pretty proud of myself and it was a fun day la.. it is very rewarding when the fish bite the jig and u feel that tingly sensation down the line... wah shiok. :)

thanks for the great day... i really enjoyed myself! No kite flying... but it's ok. there's always another day. :)

MIA

I'm so sorry for being so away from this blog... haven't been bothered to update it although i check it everyday for tags and all. :) i will update it soon but here's a fast recap before i fly off to work at harbour front...

cameron highland trip with churchies was great. christmas was low key but still meaningful. yf camp was a real blessing, sumthing i almost didn't get to experience. watchnight was reflective, shared testimony coz i couldn't keep from praising Him. first few days of jan have been spent with loved ones trying to fly kites and eat steamboats and work. :)

phew. be back soon.

<3 my desktop

I love my desktop pic... thanks matt.

soon.

i will blog. trust me. let me get settled down first... then tasmania blogging.. and back to spore blogging. soon soon. :)

for now....

CONGRATS TO EUNICE AND DOM!! HAPPY MARRIAGE!! haha that's so weird to say. :)

Bye Melb, Hello Spore

Leaving tml for my flight to Spore... i'll be back to melb on the 25th of Feb. :)

yay... finally get to eat spore food... and i SO need to catch up on the lives of the shalom youth... it's been too long. weird... it's only been 5 months since? :)

Tasmania Trip Day 1 cont.

So yep, after collecting our car from the airport, we drove to Port Arthur where we got to take a short cruise ride around Port Arthur's Historic site. After that, we walked around the ruins and took loads of pictures with the penitentiary and other areas of Port Arthur.. It was pretty neat seeing all of the cells and where the convicts stayed in...

Once done, we headed towards Hobart to check into our Motel. It was cool coz the motel reminded me alot of 'My name is Earl'... The standard american motel.. Apparently it even had a trampoline... But we didn't manage to remember that fact when we came back at night to use it. Haha. :)

We headed to Franklin Wharf for dinner and instead of eating at Flippers which my mum suggested... We went to this place jus near it which the brochure called 'Arguablly the Best fish n chips in Hobart'... It's a restaurant called Fish Frenzy...
*hannah thinks it was so-so only*
anyway... Back to blogging... I had the Mixed Fish which was 3 pieces of fish with chips... Can't remember what the 3 fish were but 1 was the soft kind (which i like) and 2 which are the tough kind...

But overall, i liked it and was very glad that we had fish n chips... U know how i love it. Haha. :) yep then we headed back to crash coz it was a pretty tiring day...

And that concludes Day 1 of our tassie trip... Keep tuned in for day 2.
*hannah says keep watching this space*

To be... Yeh, continued... U got it.

Tasmania Trip Day 1

So i know it's gonna be a pain to blog bout the tassie trip so i'm gonna blog as i'm road tripping around. Haven't had much time to jus relax and thus i've already gone thru 2 days without blogging... So here goes. :)

Woke up on the 1st of Dec at 5am.. Had to give Hannah, Phyllis and Lois wake up calls at 5.30, 5.45 and 6am respectively... Since everything was already packed, i jus made myself a cup of milo and got ready to leave... Ren Haw (OCF friend) came by College Square to pick me up and when i was running out to his car from my lobby, my baggage bag strap snapped and the plastic broke... I was like... WHAT THE SHEEEET... Haiz. Haha but never mind, still can be carries by the handles... So we drove to pick Lois and Hannah and Phyllis up before we rendezvous-ed with the other car (driven by Charles) and headed to the airport.

Once we got there and thanked the OCFers fervently, we headed to load our luggages onto the plane. And then that's when Hannah told me she was car sick from the ride and needed to puke... NOT sumthing u wanna hear jus before a road trip... :s she says it's coz of the medicine she ate... Anyways, she puked and since then, hasn't gotten car sick since. Yay. Thank God.

Anyway, we got bumped to the front of the aircraft due to our large numbers and apparently the weight distribution needed us to be in front... So we got on and lifted off for Hobart international airport.

Once we reached Hobart, we got off the plane and literally walked down steps to the tarmac floor. First time i've done that... Get off the airplane and directly be on tarmac... Like air force one where they have a ladder from the airplane door to the floor.

Yep then we check out of the airport, get our rented cars and find out instead of a Rav 4, we are given a Nissan X-Trail. Davin and I are both quite disappointed coz we were looking forward to driving a Rav4. Anyways, we find our car in the lot and after initial inspection, we realize the car we got is DAMN cool. It's got a big boot space, it's white, powerful and commanding. But the best feature of it all is that it has a SUN ROOF! Awesome rite? We can either push the sunroof cover back or switch on the button and the sunroof retracts back letting u stand out of the roof. It was SO awesome, we were going crazy when we found out... All dancing in the car and all. Haha matt and kenrick's car was a pretty sad comparison to ours... Theirs was jus a normal sedan. :s

To be continued....

tramming

stupid aussie kids suddenly got on the tram and noise level jus sky rocketted.

Gahhhh

whether the weather will wither away

went to yarra valley yesterday with dad mum and aunties and got to drive a bit. Glad coz i need to get the feel of the wheel back in me again before tasmania otherwise i'd be driving with very little confidence...

but when dad was driving there was this sudden freak sandstorm that jus blew into the valley and out. It was amazingly cool and awfully scary... We were sitting there in the car jus picking up speed from a short stop and then suddenly (i mean really suddenly) the sand a bit far off started swirling and lifting off the ground. It started getting more and more and the swirl became bigger and wider and suddenly there was sand swirling everywhere and engulfing everything. It was so cool. the wind was blowing everything up (except trees, cows and our car) but it was sending twigs and leaves and sand all up in the air like some tornado. The cool thing was that u could see the swirl getting bigger and nearer till it enveloped the car and it literally went blank... All u saw outside the window was sand. Couldn't see past 5 metres of the car and u were like in the eye of the tornado... Awesome. So it blew that way for a good 5 mins or so and cars started pulling to the side of the road...

Then jus as quickly as it came, it left... The wind swept the sand past the road and it jus travelled away like a gloom of iminent doom. It reminded me of the Angel of the Lord passing over the houses of the egyptians and israelites... Then it was gone...

So cool. I've got a video of it. I'll post it up soon. :)

Cool experience and thank God no one got hurt.

Whee

EXAMS ARE DONE.... finally. now it's time to heck school till march and enjoy myself... next up.. Tasmania trip... BOOYAH!

Last Paper

Wow...here i sit... 10 minutes before i leave home for my last exam paper as a year 2...

and i feel so unprepared... haha maybe it's the generalization of this subject... or maybe it's the fact that this subject isn't a memorize information kind of subject... or maybe it's coz it's the last paper..

but i know i'm looking forward to getting it done and settled asap. :) then i'm free to not think about school till march 2010... :)

Aye, God, I'm so in need of You today. hahaha yeh... that was me last nite... pleading... lolz...

Ciaoz people!

Studying in Law Library

This is Uni Life... This is what happens when students camp themselves in the Law Library and study for a paper due tml... 

And this is what happens when u have an essay due tomolo. :) lolz.

Love is like playing the piano

Taken from here

Thanks Joash. i think it's really true.

Hawt....

taken from here

the heat here is bugging me... and everyone else..

GUHHHHHH i want to wear jumpers again and worry about whether i would have enuf layers... and wear my winter coat and feel like my eyebrows are singeing off when Crown Casino's fireshow goes up in the air.

heat, heat, go away, come again another day [when i'm not in melb].... :)

blah. one exam down. 2 to go.

mummy's here

yay... So mum messaged to say she's touched down safely in melb... So i take my essay and walk off to sch... Oh gosh it's a hot day...

Never mind that, i submit my essay and decide instead of tramming down to meet my mum at lygon-victoria, i'll take a nice slow stroll....

So i reach lygon-victoria and i call her and oh my gosh, she's STILL clearing customs... That means it's prob another 45 mins till she's here at least... Gahhh. So i asked her to ring me when she gets on the starbus and then i'll know it'll take roughly half an hour to come to the city... Sigh. The long long wait. And then we'll walk up lygon in this heat. thankfully everything, almost everything, is sheltered. :)

But thank and praise God that she arrived safely. Yay. Now jus to get her here and back home and then i'll have mummy with me for a week before she goes to tassie. :)

Yay. Hehe

~ Joel Tan ~
--- Sent from my E63 ---

HAWT WEATHER!

hahah funny how i blogged about it being chilly and now here i am, bloggin how hot it is...

that's melbourne for you. :)

today was SO hot... was going to die... hannah's place was a fiery furnace la. was so worried my place would be as hot. but thankfully it's not. :) Auntie rina and mama came today so we were running around settling some stuff like handphone plan and all. :) but wahhhh so hot can.

mummy's coming tomolo! yay! hahhaa... i guess i'm just glad that she'll be able to come up and see for herself what my melbourne life is. :) awesome.

Chilly

Need I say more? Consider this... it was DOUBLE the temperature yesterday at this time of the day... then last nite it dropped to 13... and now at 10am, it's 15.... 

Don't you just love melbourne weather? It's like the PMS of all countries...

So yeh, pack wisely [however u can] for here if u're coming.

Dripping

Oh My Goodness... dripping perspiration can!
It's so hot i kept falling asleep in the tram back just now. :S gosh. haha

Bad time to come mudder, bad time.

greetings

So I come up to Phyllis on a Sat morning market trip and since it's her birthday yesterday, i extend my arms out in an embrace and say HAPPY BIRTHDAY...

AND SHE SAYS HAPPY BIRTHDAY back to me!!! Like what the heck... Talk bout not paying attention! Haha but she realized what she did instantly and we laughed about it... It's like she's wishing me 9months in advance.. Haha

I've got such retarded friends. :)

~ Joel Tan ~
--- Sent from my E63 ---

So You Think You Can Dance 09 Auditions

So last night, Hannah's 2 friends [Rachel and Tim Walsh] went to audition for So you think u can dance. It's a really cool show [biggest and most popular dance competition show in aussie] that we were all hooked on when it was airing. This is Season 3 and we're looking forward to it coming to the tele soon...

So yeh, we managed to get into the auditions and it was very free and easy. very open concept and we just felt like we were treated to a really lucky experience... it was cool coz the dance floor was just this big flooring and there were cameras and lights everywhere.. but yet it was so simple.. no big setup or anything... jus the three judges [TV STARS!!!] behind a desk and dancers on the floor one by one... :) it was so awesome coz we were so close to the front... like there were prob a max of 40 people in that area and we were just sitting so close to the judges and all... During the break, i was sitting there facebooking with my phone and one of the judges [jason] just came up to the seat in front of me and was like talking over me to this other girl who was sitting 2 rows behind me and asked her to inform this other lady to be at the studio at this date and time... felt so... like i was part of the crew and all... being so close to people we see on tv.

i know i know, dun idolize them... i'm not..it's jus like.. wow... i'm so into the set piece and the whole audition experience that it's like i'm not watching the filming of a show, it's like i'm IN the show itself... well i was coz the camera does pan the audience quite a bit. haha and it zooms in on expressions we have and stuff. :) so it was pretty weird too... to think u were being watched... there's this camera they have on a long beam that sweeps the audience, flies in where the dancer is dancing and dances with them by twirling around them and all [it's REALLY flexible and versatile... the camera on the beam] and sumtimes it'll come to the audience and jus film us. and it's weird coz it's like the camera is literally in your face [or half an arm's length] in front of your face and what u gotta do is ignore it and jus try to watch the performance without looking into the camera... haha.. weird and nerve wrecking too.

but yeh, it was neat... watching some of the dancers.. some were really good and some of them were so-so... we went thru 20 dancers that night i think.. went on from 8.40 to 2.30am... hahaha but it was WELL worth the whole 4 hours... and tim and rachel were the last 2 dancers... tim danced lyrical and GOSH it was SO blardy good... ;) he did 3 pouriettes and it went straight into an arabesque... and it was epic awesome... so good. technique and all... he was given some advice from the judges and then matt lee [one of the judges] asked him how much he wanted the ticket to top 100 [the best kind of ticket they gave out] and he told him he wants it so much.. and that he'll work so hard coz he's already spent a whole year training and working on some stuff he was advised to change last year... and he was really cute about it all... and matt lee pulled out the top 100 ticket and we just ROARED in applause... we were SO happy for him. ahhaha... then rachel came out and danced. the judges were torn.. but it came down to sending her thru choreo first.. but that was still friggin awesome. :) so cool to actually know them and they know me... and to see them dance... so well.... :) awesome experience.

there are 3 kinds of responses... 1. Go away, u're too lousy for this 2. Go through choreo where there's no limit as to how many people get sent to choreo. they'll learn a short choreo piece and get judged again. 3. Top 100. So u advance straight to Top 100 in Australia and dance for your life to get to become Australia's next So you think you can dance winner. :)

I'm SO watching it when it comes out. i can't wait. here are some of the photos. enjoy!

The Maelstrom has passed

So, it's finally over... After months and months of rehearsals, the production is over... Bittersweet feelings of relief and loss sweep through the dressing room once the first curtain is raised... It's weird coz everyone knows it's the end and with that in mind, have vowed to dance their hardest.

Seems like the audience knew it too and roared into life the moment the announcements were made. They kept the mood alive and the noise to a maximum with all the 'GO YUSUF's and 'GO BRONWYN!'s. The dancers danced hard and gave it all they got... Including Lois, Hannah and myself. When i went out for my hiphop piece, i was shocked to hear the crowd WOOO in unison when my spotlight came on. It took me by surprise but only served to motivate and push me to dance full out without holding anything back...

The ballet contem piece with hannah and lois was great too. The steps jus came thru muscle memory and the lifts were mostly great. The last night was the most awesome one. I caught hannah with confidence and turned her with ease. The fish dive was executed really well too and a small mistake was hidden by a cover up that blended seamlessly into the next step.

Finally, our windmill lift and carry lift after that was one of the best we've done and i must say adrenalin really kicked in and i lifted hannah up so high my arms were in full extension. She had such a long air time i was quite stunned when i put her down. :) seriously, it was such a great piece and i'm glad that it's all over.

Now that flare's over, i'm glad to have the time back to finish off the last week of semester, write my 3k word essay and prepare for exams in 2 weeks time. :) thank you to all who came and supported us and bought tickets and all. :) really appreciate it... So here's to (Davin, Phyllis, Kenrick, Vanessa, Michelle, Much and Robbie) for coming to specifically watch us and thanks to others who blessed us with 'good luck's and 'all the best's :) it rocks to have friends so caring and thotful. :)

Pics are in facebook but i'll choose some and post them here soon. Watch this space. :)

~ Joel Tan ~
--- Sent from my E63 ---

Maelstrom: Flare Production 2009

It's finally here. We sit on the night before the production. The precipice of the performance... It's great that we're finally here, not great that some pieces aren't perfect yet including mine... but it's just going to happen and we are going to make it work. :)

It's taken up so much time AND energy [yes loads of that] to rehearse over and over again for these 3 nights where we dance our butts off... Although it feels like another rehearsal, when the crowds come in, the adrenaline would be PUMPED up! we've sold out for Fri and Saturday and Thurs is selling fast.. thank God we managed to sell the tickets coz ticket sales were really bad this year.... till now. :)

Looking forward to getting it done with and performing. This is my FIRST production and that's kinda why it has a special place in my heart... it's quite an experience to finally be doing sumthing i never thot i would... i only took up dance like at the 2nd half of my army life so that's about 1 and a half to 2 years ago... and here i am FINALLY putting up a production. :) i guess u can say it's the culmination of months and months of anticipation. :) never thot i'd ever dance on stage... let alone 2 dances of different genres :)

I'm just glad to be able to share this moment... or moments [coz it's 3 nights] with friends... close friends who man the Lighting [matt's doing an AWESOME job] to sound techs [minglei's manning sound] to dancers [Lois and Hannah and many more i've met thru rehearsing] and audience members [Phyllis, Davin, Michelle, Vanessa, Kenrick and many more]....

Just that this production has taken so much from me... time and energy as i mentioned earlier. every night after rehearsal i come back so tired. no more strength left to shower and do work. and school work has been suffering in a way... and it doesn't help that these weeks before project submissions so everyone's working their butts off and i'm having to excuse myself for flare rehearsals... and time and energy taken away from the gf too... i feel so empty these days... it's like yeh we're on stage together and all but i dunno... like just missing sumthing.... sigh. never mind. it's only a few more days till flare's over... then we'll choing projects [although they should be done by this sunday] and spend time with the gf too... 

ok so here's where i must mandatorially pick up the mood and end on a good note... so...

yay!!! Flare Production!!! Maelstrom 2009. 22nd - 24th Oct 2009, 7.30pm, Union House Theatre. Be there!

Distant

You know how you can be next to that special someone and still miss them and feel like there's a gap in the middle? I dunno... Maybe physical presence doesn't mean you're with each other.

School work's not been great recently. I think Flare has quite a bit to do with it. Rehearsals have been getting more frequent (sometimes twice a week. Thankfully i'm only in 3 dances so that's 3-4times a week) and the intensity of each have greatly increased. More lifting, more running to our blockings and just generally stress level higher so choreographers are snapping.

Put that and place school assignments on top of that and deliverables... it's sometimes just quite a bit for one person to all take at once. And maybe it's tough but there isn't another choice. Just gotta roll with it.

I'm rolling. :) just roll with me. Coz i'm not sure i can do it alone. Thanks for everything so far... :)

~ Joel Tan ~
--- Sent from my E63 ---

New House in Feb 2010

So just to update everyone who hasn't already heard the great news, 3 friends and I have finally found our accommodation for the next year. We were trying to find a 4 bedroom house or place but most of them were quite far out of the city [means traveling time] and most of them also are available NOW which means we can't take them since our current leases expires on the 31st of Jan... so we had a big dilemma and have been searching for a suitable, cheap and good locality place since Aug. :S

So after thinking through quite a lot of things, we decided that we won't totally kill the idea of us all 4 sharing a place but for sake of convenience and all, we might find better chances with 2 two bedroom apartments where the girls [Hannah and Phyllis] stay in 1 two bedroom place and the guys [Davin and i] stay in another two bedroom place... i was telling phy that day that the best arrangement would be if we both found places close by so we'd almost be like we're staying together [can have potlucks and stuff and be close to each other] without all the trouble [like sharing a bathroom or kitchen or fridge space]...

Lo and behold,

We go and inspect this student accommodation down at Elizabeth Street area and it's got 2 two bedroom apartments that we're all pleased with. The location is GREAT coz it's within walking distance from everything [Market, School, Town, Safeway which is like our cold storage] and the price is pretty good for it's location and size [though it's not big, it's not tiny either] and the company that owns it is legit, the landlady is very nice [malaysian motherly like person] and actually, it's the same owner as Lois' place so she's been dealing with them for a year already and hasn't had anything bad to say about them... so yeh, it's a great place and so here's what happened.

We inspected the place then went to have a short discussion at the subway just a few doors away [yeh, there's a subway and a boost juice outlet and CommonWealth ATM all just a few steps away from the door] and the decision was made that we're all happy with the place and we should snatch it up before we lose such a great chance. It really was the best arrangement and we were all pretty psyched up about it. :) so we went to the office, signed the bond, paid the money and secured the place. Most imptly, the rental starts on the 1st of Feb so we literally dun have double rental... and that's great coz we were all ready to pay double rent [old place and new place for Nov, Dec, Jan] but with this new place, our new rental starts when our old place expires... so that's FABULOUS..

Yep, so we're real glad for the God send and greater news, I managed to find a place to dump my stuff so i can fly back in peace and when i shift things i'll know it's at a fren [Xiao Xi's] place... :)

Amen! and I'm so looking forward to us all staying together... it'll demand change for some parts of our lives yes, but i guess it'll be sumthing we live with [literally] hahaa. :)

Calvin's 21st in the 1940s

9am Saturday sees me tramming to the gf's place to change out of my party outfit and into my grocery shopping clothes... Why? Well coz in the afternoon, she, davin and i are going to Calvin's (Meliza's bf from Bridge Church) 21st birthday bash.

The theme? 1940s. Haha.. So we're all donning fedoras, suits, suspenders, huge hats and all. :) i promise you, pictures WILL be up. Haha so excited and i think it's gonna be quite a big party... Bridge church IS quite big. :)

But for now, i've gotta settle the normal grocery shopping for the week. Amazing how queen vic market is so close to my new place so from feb 2010 onwards, i won't need to tram to market anymore! Heh. awesome.

Oh, another good news is that my dearest friend Xiaoxi from ocf has graciously, generously and so lovingly offered her place for davin and i to store our stuff when we move out of our old places. Soooo happy. Now seriously almost everything's settled.. And it's only oct. Haha. Thanks be to God for all His blessings and guidance... And answered prayers... He's really given us our hearts desires. :) amen!

Saw the floorplans of matt's new place yesterday... The pics are Nice la can't wait to see the apartment. The photos are real cool too. :)

Oki. Take care peeps. :)

---- Sent from my E63 ----

Trip To Tesselaar Tulips

Here u am, waiting at melbourne central train stop at 8.45am. My train jus came but what happened before this is surely worth blogging about.

I packed my bags and got everything ready the night before... Checked how long the train and tram rides would take and estimated which tram to take in order to meet my transport (Adelene picking me from box hill station) and set 3 alarms... coz today is daylight savings, so was worried my alarm clock would buzz me an hour late, i set a few at differing times. Anyways... i wake up, get changed and all and then to my horror, the next tram was in 40 mins.. And i'm like... What the??? Apparently the trams didn't follow the morning slotted times and the first tram was at 8.20 instead of 7.49. :s ahhh so i sms hannh and ask her to pass along the message that i'll be late and to change the timing.

Everything's fine and so against logic, i tell myself maybe the trams DO follow the schedule but the tram tracker widget is wrong.. So i set out as planned and reach my tram stop at 7.45am. A tram comes at 7.50 and i smile to myself... Only to realize it passes by quickly coz it's 'NOT IN SERVICE'... Hmm never mind, i'm sure there's the 8.09am tram... So i wait... And wait... For 35mins in the freezing cold.

My tram finally comes at 8.20... Just like the tram tracker widget advised. Dammit. By this time, my brain's frozen solid and my fingers following soon after. This leads me to play a few HORRIBLE rounds of Rockband Unplugged... Guess the cold really affects your reaction time. :s

Sigh. So i learnt a lesson today (in the few waking hours so far).. Always trust the tram tracker widget... It's always correct... And never try to entertain self by playing rockband in the cold. :s

Sigh. Now i'm on the train heading towards box hill... A half an hour journey.. Going to the tulip festival... And i'm just glad for my monthly mobile internet plan.. Lets me blog on the train. :) i feel like August now. Haha.. So techy. Blogging on my E63. Heh.

Yep oki. Here's hoping the festival will be smashing and it'll be worth all this trouble. And if all fails, there's alwats delicious muffins that were baked last night. Heh. Epic success... Form still has a lot to desired. One still looked like a scone. But who cares, heh...

See ya peeps!

---- Sent from my E63 ----

Bahhhhh.

Taken from here

you know sum days something just bugs u and it spoils the rest of your day?

bah. humbug.

i'm going to sleep. dun bug me world. i'm not talking to you.

Hum Sup??

So there i was right, during Flare practice... and all thru the sem, we've been rehearsing this song.. the imaginative setting is that we're 4 guys in a club trying to pick up these 4 girls. What happens after is a partner dance that we dance with the girls and alone...

So here we are, in the present day, 3 weeks from production. Nessa comes and sits in our practice and gives her comments [coz she's the artistic director] of Flare... and we dance couple by couple for my choreographer [daryl] to spot mistakes and give advice... and then after yvonne and i dance, nessa tells me that i look like i'm some hum sup guy trying to get yvonne to sleep with me... :S that totally does NOT help yvonne dance properly.. she already can't stand being so flirted by me... :S so anyways... nessa was telling me to look higher instead of so low coz it looks like i'm just staring at her ass and stuff... but the thing is yvonne's kinda short, and i'm kinda tall... so i HAVE to look down. So daryl tells me, look at the top of her head of at her forehead area instead lor. :S

Sigh... spastik la. hahha... then i was like.. ooook. so u want me to flirt with her and look like i want her but NOT to sleep with her... OOOOkkkk. i could do that... :S spastik la... wanted to go there and SMACCCCCK her. i already dun like nessa much.. and her comments dun help. hahhaa. but yeh, it was all fun coz everyone was laughing and all... it's all good...

flare's happening soon. goodness. 3 weeks till we dance on stage proper... weird to actually be involved in a dance production. never have been but apart from the rehearsals... it's pretty cool la. :) looking forward to the jumper and the nights themselves. whee! hope people come and support and watch us dance the nights away. :)

Come on, dun make me hum sup for nothing. :)

Musings from a bored soul on Spring Break

So i've technically wasted away almost 3 of my spring break days just lazing at home, watching movies, playing games and not thinking about anything...

it kinda feels awesome at some points and really boring at others. :) i do need to get out of the house and that's why i'm also looking forward to tomolo... tml is thurs... thurs means people are coming over for pizza AND there's dance tomolo too. :S

Dance has been quite tough. We're 4 weeks away from production [yeh, it's that close] and it's not finished yet... some of the lifts, we're not getting in timing and some of the lifts we're not getting at all. i still haven't even done a successful lindyhop swing thing with i-lyn and it's kinda freaking me out how close this production is. :S

We tried on our jumpers that day for sizing and that was when it really hit me that we're THIS close to performing... like OH MY GAWSH. totally freaking out!!! hahaha. :) My other piece shouldn't be a problem. we've rehearsed that one quite a few times over... so not really worried bout that.. but the ballet contemp piece... goodness. so many lifts one after the other. it's really quite tiring and scary... :S but i'm sure everyone will be fine... or well i hope they will be. hahaa. :)

Other than that, life's been pretty good and it's been flowing very well... nothing much bugging me except a certain few looming things like exams at the end of the year, tasmania trip, flight back to spore, accommodation for next year and flight back to melb... ahhhh it's spring break... i'm not going to let it worry me till later... THEN i'll start freaking out. haha.

Yep. as u can see, it's 2.35am and i'm still awake... why? coz i dun feel like sleeping but my body's telling me to give it a rest.. so i think i'll go sleep after i conclude this totally pointless blog entry. I should end it off with sumthing really random.. :) wherever my brain takes me at this point in the evening. so goodnight people.

Kittens have scary eyes sumtimes, it's like they're trying to mind control you into petting and "awww"ing for them... Scary eyes... yep.

Picture taken from here

Star Wars Exhibition

Photos can be found here

That day was real special. I'm really glad we did it according to plan [well mostly according to plan]... Starting the special day with breakfast was I was hoping to achieve. Yeh i know, not the greatest breakfast but i was hoping it'd fill our stomachs enuf to last us throughout the day.

Then bringing u with me to school to 'meet' my friends was pretty cool too. Sorry u ended up getting a slight headache and having to endure with all the nonsense from my friends during group meeting.

Then we took the tram down to the train station. Remember how we were stalked by aileen... sneaky woman i tell u. :) Then we had lunch at subway... We always eat subway and I purposely kept quiet to see if you knew exactly what i wanted in my sub... and u didn't disappoint... i love how I don't even need to tell u what veges and what meat i want in my sub... u already know. Small things like this remind me of how we're so comfortable around each other that it's so normal to be with each other for lunch and stuff.

Glad we got you some panadol... coz u looked like u needed one. Then we walked to the train station and waited for the train that goes to Werribee. That was the real first time in the day i REALLY felt like i was going away for a holiday with u... remember when the train came and i told u how i was excited about going away... yeh, that was when i felt like i was so lucky and so happy to be having this short one day 'trip' away from routine and familiarity of the melbourne CBD to get away and just enjoy ourselves taking photos and sharing memories. If there wasn't that rule about no photography, i'd prob have snapped a few photos there and then...

Sitting in the train watching the scenery go by was quite fun too. I had flashbacks of our Great Ocean Road trip... when we went past the fields and country side with all the cows and sheep... as the train went through suburb after suburb, i was glad that the distance from home was gettin more and more. no one wants to holiday 5 mins away from their home... so the distance away also added to the enjoyable fact that not only was i getting away from town, but also getting away from town with you. And that was a MAJOR plus point [does the salute action] It really did feel like a small holiday getaway... you know like how they always do in movies or stories... when the character just packs a day's worth of supplies and travels to the country side. :) We had muesli bars, subway cookies, water and muffins ready to face the suburbian world! haha.

So off we went into the GENERAL direction [salutes] of Werribee headed for Spotswood station along the line. When we finally reached [which wasn't that long a ride la] it was CHILLY... and no, it wasn't spicy chili, it was cold! partly due to the fact that it was slightly drizzly.. or at least it was tempting to drizzle. We got off and i HAD to snap a picture of the station coz really, this was the 3rd time in the 7 months that i've been here that i actually took a train... AND it's the first time i was in the suburbs during the day. The other 2 times were to go to the suburb of Camberwell for Sofia's [great pasta place] for dinner so checking the surroundings was pretty impossible the last 2 times. So i snapped a few shots showing that 'yes, i was in Spotswood for real' and then we found our way out to the main road. Thankfully, since there's nothing much in the suburbs, scienceworks was prob THE biggest thing this suburb had to offer so there was no lack of signages and directions to point us to where we intended to go. My girlfriend took a look at the map and headed off in the direction that clearly was opposite from that indicated on the map... thankfully, i was not going to follow her blindly... pulled her back and asked her to take a look at it one more time. After rotating her head upside down and back around, she let out an "oh!" and i reminded her that i was glad i went thru the army...

So we took a short stroll to the junction and one thing hit me at that point in time [and no, it wasn't a car thankfully]... that the traffic in the suburbs REALLY is minimal to say the least. It was like a long road all the way and i saw maybe one car or two? so crossing the road was a breeze [in a breeze too]. But before that, we stopped to take a picture with the railroad crossing... i think it's pretty cool seeing railroad crossings coz it's sumthing we RARELY ever see in Melbourne... let alone Singapore...

[just realized how lengthy this blog is and she's already scolding me for being naggy so i'm gonna cut to the chase]

so we had a nice stroll to the place and checked out the surroundings while walking thru the suburbs.. we both agreed that it'll prob be quite scary to be walking through this place at night, with the low light visibility and the lack of human traffic... quite scary... and then it started to drizzle so we made a break for it and ran to Science Works... but aiyah it was fine and fun la.. nothing too bad.

Upon entering, it was quite cool coz it's like u enter from the outside world bringing with you your outside world self and u enter into the universe of starwars. It's like after u pay the entrance fee and walk through those turnstiles, it's like you're teleported into a whole diff world, a whole different universe. People are walking around dressed as jedi.. even the ticket punching lady looked a bit like Princess Leia... although i dun think that was her intention. lolz. But yeh, the first thing u see glaring at you is the AWESOME AWESOME AWE*wait for it* SOME X-Wing fighter.... i know i may sound geeky but it's THE best plane/ship/jet fighter EVER. :) so that was a sure plus point... :)

Through the whole exhibition, we saw many props, costumes, science behind starwars and even interacted with a few stations and guides. It was really fun being able to get hands on with some stuff like building your own hover craft and using magnetism to propel it forward... and backward too if ur magnets were placed in the wrong polarity... like mine were when i first made my hovercraft.. darnit..

Then there was this really cool exhibit that had a turnable table and discs that u could place anywhere around the table. the webcam in front recorded all your movements and fed it to the computer system that made sense of your movement, placement of discs and turn of the table... it created a 3D rendering of a typical starwars desert setting and you were tasked with placing some stuff around at proper logical places to harness water and supplies for your Jawa camp in the center. It was AWESOME coz all you're doing is holding and placing discs and on the screen in real time, a 3D world was being setup and interacting with u... i'll post up a youtube clip of it... it's pretty amazing. :)

Then we viewed some other exhibitions and cracked some lame jokes like PADME amidala and Holy Smoke... :) oh that was super funny la... Holy smoke... smoke!! holey!!! [sorry guys, u had to be there to get the joke] and posed with some stupid dumb computer rendered image of a face... basically, u could adjust how the facial expression was... and adjust it to make the person seem more angry, sad, happy or sneering or whatever la... and control all the different facial parts like the eyes, mouth, eyebrows... :) then we created this really dumb looking facial expression and hannah and i posed with them... ahaha life imitating art [if u can call it that].

Oh and another key highlight was robotic legs... they had a pair of legs that was controllable via 4 switches [levers] and u basically controlled it such that u had to make the legs walk from one point to the other... easy sounding but it was quite hard in real life... when we first tried it [we took one leg each] we were basically jus running in the air coz we extended the leg but didn't extend it downwards to touch the floor.. aiyah hard to explain but that really gave me a respect for the robotic animators that work on films like starwars... damn pro to make it look so life like and stuff. :) hats off to u.

Yep, we ended with a tour through the gift shop and got on our way back to the city...

All in all, it was such a wonderful day. Special for so many reasons listed above and some not listed at all.. but we both know that it was an experience that we were glad to share with each other and it was a chance to just escape from the melbourne CBD and school life and everything... for that one afternoon, all we needed to think about was how to enjoy ourselves there.. and i'm glad to say for the both of us, it was really really fun... so guys, if u're in melb, go for it.. it's like $8... super cheap for starwars... and yeh, makes us BOTH feel like watching the show.

Thanks hannah for always never failing to make my day special. I'm so glad we could go to a geeky thing like starwars and BOTH enjoy it so much. heh... as u already know, i'm thrilled to share my life and time with u... to many more fun memories and joyous times... HOLY SMOKE. :)

May the Force Be With You all... :)

!@#$%^

!@#$%^& my internal spirit wars with my external flesh

times like this i just have to get to bed to shut up... sigh.

Jellygish, u know all i have to say.

For the first time...

There are times that things happen and you never wanna forget it. For
reasons such as it's special or it's something that doesn't happen
often... For whatever reason, it's why i blog. To never forget what
the event was or how it made me feel.

I thank God for times like yesterday. They remind me how much God
blesses me and reminds me that He's saved a great gift for me for this
time period and i'm jus thankful that He allows me to have the special
experience with someone dear and special to me.

It's like such a simple thing yet i guess i'm glad that we shared it. :)

and on other news, get better soon hannah. It's not good to be sick
during your one week break... And muffins are waiting to be made.
faster. :) i'm super excited bout the new muffin tray i bought. Heh

--
~:+: Joel :+:~

Free Juice

There's this franchise in Aussie called Boost Juice and it basically is a real cool, but not cheap, way of drinking fresh. They're scattered all over melbourne and they offer freshly blended smoothies, fruit juices and soups on the fly. So u go there, order what u want [u can even choose which fruits u want and make your own combi] and take it away and drink as u go.

Recently, i haven't been too keen on BOOSTing up coz the weather is quite cold and putting sumthing soothing but cold in your body does NOT help with the chill factor that runs through your veins... but recently, Boost has been having this promo. it's called the Name Game whereby they pick one male and one female name randomly every day and those 2 people get to claim free boost juices from outlets just for that one day.

On wed, it was MATTHEW. so matt went to get like 3 juices from diff outlets [it's in the Ts&Cs that it's perfectly ok as long as it's one free redemption from one store each] awesome right? Anyways, he grabbed me a boost and so i got a free juice on wed... it was awesome coz i wanted to try some of the flavours out but it's not cheap so normally never paid for it... it's about like $6 - $8 per boost depending on the size of your drink... ANYWAYS... 

yesterday, turns out, the boost name game NAME OF THE DAY was HANNAH... :) so guess wad... hahahha... yeh, i ended up getting free boost too! but becoz when she met me in the evening before cell, boost was already closed... so i ended up having 1/4 of her boost that she already redeemed... so no, didn't get free boost per se.. but i got her left overs... which is still free so.. YAYZ. hahhaa. :) was hoping today might be JOEL.. then that would be SO neat... but nah. it was sumthing like SHANE and ELLA... lame.. who names their kid shane?!??! hahaha okok sorry to all shanes out there... JOEL day will come one day i hope. but the website says the promo ends at the end of sept. NOOO. hahaha :) will keep checking back.

Anyway, reason why i wanted to blog this is coz i'm really happy for friends around me. the boost thing just made me think about how much i feel loved coz the friends around me offer so willingly to get free juice for me.. esp matthew [sorry hannah, u already know how much i love u... and everybody goes AWWWWW. yeh yeh get over it people... goodness... -_-] coz he literally came out of the house to meet me to get free boost. then we did some grocery shopping but yeh, it's not like he needed to come out to help me get free boost.. so yay! thanks bro. i know u're not going to read this but yeh, thanks. :) and also to my darling girlfriend, thanks for the intention of getting me free boost. i blame the closed boost outlet, not you. :) PLUSSSS i DID get to drink some boost yesterday. hahaha.

booooooost! 1 more week till mid sem break!

Mid Term Break Coming Up

In 2 weeks time, i'll be having my mid-sem break. It's quite good that we can all have a break from school and the break's coming at just the right time. I think that having a break in the middle of the semester is so clever and very integral for a student's life. I dun think we, as students, should be studying for like 13 weeks straight. we'd prob go crazy and die.

Some people are flying back to Spore during this 2 week break but i think it's quite crazy and expensive to do sumthing like that. You fly back and spend like what? a week and a half and then u're back here again. There's no point. It'll be much better to jus tahan and then fly back at the end of the year and spend a solid 3 months with friends and family.

Alas, this december will be a shorter one for me. I end sch on the 27th of nov if i'm not wrong. Then 8 friends and i will be going to have a short getaway in Tasmania... driving and having road trips and all. you know, the things u read of in friends blogs [grinz] but never really get a chance to do yourself? yeh... that's why i'm doing this and it's going to be FUN FUN FUN. :) can't wait.

Then I'll be back to spore till maybe mid feb? not sure yet but i DO want to stay for CNY... but we'll see what happens... coz accommodation and employment in melbourne isn't easy to find. :)

Yep, sorry i've been out and inactive for a few days. It's been quite a crazy 2 weeks. been setting up my Windows 7 and studying for tests and assignments and all. Currently now, i'm going to blog then go do my essay again. sigh. that's why i think this break is important. :)

But yeh, everything here's going good thank God. :) wanna keep living a carefree student life but i know i'll have to make big decisions at this time next year. Whether to go back to spore or stay in melbourne. :) Where God leads. :)

Take care people!

Windows 7

Hey check it out... this is my new computer's OS... i got no energy to blog about it coz i've been installing this and that over the whole day [tml still need to bring my laptop to sch and use the internet to get some drivers downloaded and all... but here's how it looks like now. :)

I love my desktop... hhaha

Drifting along committments

It's not that bad this sem... the workload has been very very manageable... Projects haven't been due but i can see the wave coming from a distance. It's like we stay here on the shore seeing a tidal wave coming at us and we try our best to get our homes ready, we stock up on supplies and save money knowing that when it hits, we'll prob be stuck without the normal amenities like having everyone at pizza nights and the time needed to cook steak saturdays.

But the wave is coming and we better get ready for it. Grab your surf board and ride it coz if you don't, you'll just be swept away. And my style is to list everything i have to do before due dates so that when i do look at them, i can focus on one item at a time rather than having the whole list somewhere unlisted in the back of my mind to worry about. So here goes.

1. TV & Pop culture take home exam this friday
2. Informatics Mid-stem test next week
3. SAD Weekly deliverables starting from next week onwards
4. Informatics Assignment 2 [to finish before mid sem break]
5. Booking flight back to melbourne from singapore
6. Booking tasmania hotels/car rentals/itinery/flights [thanks Davin]
7. Juggle Bible Study prep
8. Juggle OCF worship commitments [once a month in the middle of the month]
9. OCF MCing for Evangelism Week [2 fridays starting from next friday]
10. TV & Pop culture tutorial presentation due in 2 weeks time
11. The ever present Girlfriend. [Not that it's a chore, but it's still something i set aside time for]

Woo! and the list goes on. This is just off the top of my head. i hope i'm not missing out on anything. :(

Anyhoo, life's pretty good. Thank God la. He's been blessing me with loads of things and sustaining me throughout. I'm glad that things are sailing smoothly now... maybe it's really what they say, it's always calmest before a storm... but I know who holds tomorrow, and I know, He can calm the storm. :)

Mid Review 2

So last night, Flare had it's 2nd mid review for our production in Oct. I recall the first mid review. it was kinda nerve wrecking coz i've never performed dance before... all my previous dance experience was in a small room with people who couldn't dance anyway... so to be presenting an item... no, 2 items in front of a whole room full of people who are dancers was quite scary...

but it went well and we managed to pull it off. Last night, we had our 2nd mid review and it was cool seeing how much people people improved and changed their styles. It also was quite amazing to see how MANY people were there... Flare really had a whole bunch of people who really didn't have much dancing background but were willing to give it a shot and it was fun getting to know people too and seeing them dance their butts off. :)

It still does give me a lot of joy to know that I can dance with like minded people and not be afraid of how they'll judge me or think of me when i dance and it is SO much cooler to also dance with my friends and gf. It's a different kind of experience when you're dancing for yourself and when you have someone or something to dance for. And that's kinda what Nessa [the creative director of flare] said, and i agree.

Other than that, school has been good. Workload this semester is vastly different from that of last sem. It's more tutorial presentations rather than homework and doing tutorials. So that's quite cool. the subjects are also a bit different. The coding that i had to do last sem is easier this sem coz it's stuff i've done before in poly. Also for the arts subject, until i actually get an assignment, it's pretty ok. :) haha... yeh.. so school's doing good.

The biggest worries i have nowadays are finding accommodation for next year [to save money] and juggling church commitments with school commitments and of course, the ever present gf commitments. But it's a good balance of everything and I shall stop talking about it now before i start sounding like ... Buddhist or sumthing.. you know with balance and all.. full circle of life and all that jazz.

Yep, so i hope that everything back home is doing well. it is a joy seeing things in the church weekly [the e-version] and blogs and emails.. :) so yeh... that's all for now i guess. :)

As the aussies say,
Cheers Mate!

Branded

This is what happens when your girlfriend has a pen and too much nonsense in her head... PLUS an distracted moment during sermon... tskkk yessss during sermon. :S



OK FINE! so the 2nd picture is HER hand.. but it's called revenge. :)

impromptu basketball fellowship

So here i am sitting here watching my friends play basketball. It wasn't planned. I was on my way home from school coz of open day and decided to jus drop one tram stop earlier and check if they were playing there. Turns out they were and i decided since i had some extra time, why not?

'Shoot a few hoops' slowly became 'one short game' which finally
progressed into a full out game... Ahh it was tiring but as always,
rewarding and satisfying...

Exercising releases this chemical called adrenalin and with it... the
mood and sense of achievement and happiness. Not sure what the real
name is called but u always tend to feel good after exercising.
So it was a time well spent and surely would have been better than
going home to slack.. :) who am i kidding, no way would i have studied
if i had gone home on a beautiful sunday afternoon. :)

Also... I jus wanted to blog coz i am jus happy to see my frens having
fun and enjoying each other's company... Sitting here watching lois
play and laugh along with them jus makes me smile and know that
although we have a gang, i still think we should also hang around more
with other frens, esp christian brothers and sisters. :)

Oh and can't wait for laksa dinner tonite thanks to xiaoxi. :)

Life's real good.

-Sent from my e63-

--

~:+: Joel :+:~

Random Phone Pictures

So i realized when i take pictures in my phone, i really should upload them. :) so here's some nonsense i snapped with my phone cam jus coz i had it with me. :) enjoy

---

Rainbow I spotted on the way back from school yesterday. The building in the background is low-cost housing where living conditions are quite bad. Thot the contrast was beautifully sad. Color-wise and idealogy wise too. Was hopin it'll end somewhere so i could take a picture and show people there was no pot at the end. but yeh.


Our dearest Toh-ster with PCK hairstyle. I think she looks very funny here.


Timo Chong sporting the hairstyle too. Super funny wig.


My Lecturer trying to fix the projector. When she got up on the table i whipped out my phone and didn't want to let the chance go by. How often do u see a lecturer climbing the table in front of the class? :)


Picture taken on my trip back to Spore. Driving the girls to Tampines to drop divvy baby off at her place coz it was raining cats and dogs. :) I miss driving.

Jesus is Enough

I 'hmmph-ed' an air of snigger when i read my QT for today... it was about Jesus being enough and that thru temptation and trials or whatever, Jesus is all we need.

I snuffed at it and smiled coz last night, i prayed for God to remind me that all I need is Jesus... that nothing or no one should take His place and as long as I have Him, i have more than enough... i needed to be reminded of that coz i was feeling like short changed... i felt like what i had wasn't enough... and that i could have been happier if i had more... not financially [though that would be nice]...

and God jus shoved it in my face today and thru the day [before i did QT coz i do mine at night in melb] i kept praying that God would hold me strong and give me love and peace to not need to rely on my 'supposed life support'... it was an interesting experience which concluded with a nice QT passage.

Praise God for Him speaking to us thru these small things...

raise the red lantern

spent the evening last night with good friends at the arts centre...
Hannah's sch gave out free tickets to watch the National Ballet of
China's production, Raise the Red Lantern.

I must say that at the start, i wasn't blown away and it was good but

i didn't think it was jaw dropping. The dancing was top notch yes, the
lifts and jumps were amazing... The scary precision and mould every
dancer had was mind blowing... But you'd think they have how many
billion pple to choose from la so finding all of a certain mould
wouldn't be that hard to find. Ahha.. But still every dancer looked
the same in grps... Height, kicks, skill... It was scary.

Yeh but i thot it was good till the middle and end... Then wow..
Seriously... If i had missed the last scene, i'd have been very short
changed...

the last beating scene was AMAZING and i thot they really used the
whole imagery of the red chalk on tight canvas really well... I was
really immersed in the beating scene and wow... Was it powerful...

And then there was the last snow scene... HOLY SMOKE i tell u... the
effect was SO BLARDY good... How they can keep replicating it every
night is GOODNESS GRACIOUS ME crazy...

The snow was so real looking, the image of death and fall was so clear
and yet the purity of it all set on the background of red blood was so
contrasting.. I could go on forever about how much significance that
scene had and imagery but yeh, hard to stop if i start.

Point is, thank you hannah for the tickets and i'm very sure matt and
lois also had a great time. :)

If it goes to spore again, u guys must watch. :) if u can get tickets la. :)

Wonderful evening.

--
~:+: Joel :+:~

Happy Birthday Hannah

To my dearest Girlfriend whom I Love very very much...

Happy Birthday Hannah... I'm praying hard that the Lord will bring to you more happiness, joy, love and peace this year than He has done before... and that You will constantly walk in His ways, obey His word and hearken unto His voice for the coming year and many years to come. :)

Love Always,
Your BF. :)

I've Learned... by Omar Washington

I know this is long... but take some time to read it.. it's AMAZINGLY brilliant... thanks Jason for sharing it with me. :)

---

I’ve learned that you cannot make someone love you.
All you can do is be someone who can be loved.
The rest is up to them.
I’ve learned that no matter how much I care,
some people just don’t care back.
And it’s not the end of the world.
I’ve learned that it takes years to build up trust,
and only seconds to destroy it.
I’ve learned that it’s not what you have in your life,
but who you have in your life that counts.
I’ve learned that you can get by on charm for about fifteen minutes.
After that, you’d better know something.

I’ve learned that you shouldn’t compare yourself
to the best others can do,
but to the best you can do.
I’ve learned that it’s not what happens to people,
It’s what they do about it.
I’ve learned that no matter how thin you slice it,
there are always two sides.
I’ve learned that you should always leave loved ones with loving words.
It may be the last time you see them.
I’ve learned that you can keep going
long after you think you can’t.

I’ve learned that heroes are the people who do what has to be done
When it needs to be done
regardless of the consequences.
I’ve learned that there are people who love you dearly,
but just don’t know how to show it.
I’ve learned that sometimes when I’m angry I have the right to be angry,
but that doesn’t give me the right to be cruel.
I’ve learned that true friendship continues to grow even over the longest distance.
Same goes for true love.
I’ve learned that just because someone doesn’t love you the way you want them to
doesn’t mean they don’t love you with all they have.

I’ve learned that no matter how good a friend is,
they’re going to hurt you every once in a while
and you must forgive them for that.
I’ve learned that it isn’t always enough to be forgiven by others.
Sometimes you have to learn to forgive yourself.
I’ve learned that no matter how bad your heart is broken,
the world doesn’t stop for your grief.
I’ve learned that our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are,
but we are responsible for who we become.
I’ve learned that just because two people argue, it doesn’t mean that they don’t love each other.
And just because they don’t argue, it doesn’t mean they do.

I’ve learned that sometimes you have to put the individual
ahead of their actions.
I’ve learned that two people can look at the exact same thing
and see something totally different.
I’ve learned that no matter the consequences,
those who are honest with themselves get farther in life.
I’ve learned that your life can be changed in a matter of hours
by people who don’t even know you.
I’ve learned that even when you think you have no more to give,
when a friend cries out to you,
you will find the strength to help.

I’ve learned that writing,
as well as talking,
can ease emotional pains.
I’ve learned that the people you care most about in life
are taken from you too soon.
I’ve learned that it’s hard to determine where to draw the line between being nice
and not hurting people’s feelings and standing up for what you believe.
I’ve learned to love
and be loved.
I’ve learned…

pensive...

so here i am. Sitting in my elective's lecture. This sem i'm taking Television and Pop Culture.
Jus watched this film about how this quiz show was rigged and the contestants were given the answers beforehand and all...

when the show ended, it made me think of how tv really is quite a deceptive thing... We dun really know what we watch is the truth... Oh.. lecturer's starting to talk.. Better listen. I shall try to blog later. Haha.

Whee. :( kinda feel sian now. Like quite alone. Hmm owells.

Restrung... finally.

Finally... after being stripped for 2-3 days, my guitar has finally gotten it's new strings... long story... but here's the summary...

Decided to bring a couple of strings up to melbourne to restring them when i got here [tension 0.11 strings] and then when i finally got here, i pulled out the pins of the guitar... and one broke... :S so i had to go and get new pins... immediately left the house and got new pins.

Came back, restrung the first string and stupid me, didn't follow proper technique... so the string snapped... and i was like.. OH... MY... GOSH... no... :S

so... had to go out and buy new strings... :S
Went out yesterday to run some errands [buy strings too] and i managed to do everything... but i FORGOT to buy strings. how retarded is that! :S realized it on the way home.

Finally, today i went to get the new strings...OH MY SKY... $17... :S siannnn. so yeh, went home, made sure i spammed youtube videos on how to restring acoustic guitar properly.. and then restrung the guit.

As always, after restringing it, it sounds like heaven.. the sound is so crisp, sharp and whole... i love it... :) but this was ONE HECK of a long re-stringing process... hope the bridge wasn't too loose when i left the guitar without strings for a few days.. :(

on other news.. i'm jus glad that i can cook again... Managed to cook up a meal for the gf and i and it was delicious... i love cooking [ok, that statement only applies to meals that turned out well] and it's jus a thrill to see someone else enjoy the food u cooked. :) ESPECIALLY if it's your girlfriend.... awww. yes yes yes... suck it up people. it's my blog. :) lolz.

an hour to go before i head out for a birthday social dinner with some frens... not for me... for Bing.. his bday was last sunday if i'm not wrong. :)

Then don't...

One of my favourite clips from the show Twilight....



Edward: I don't have the strength to stay away from you anymore....
Bella: Then don't...

Landed Safely

Just so you know,

i'm in melbourne safe and sound. thank God for a safe and enjoyable flight.

Real tired now coz i just came back from spending time with the girlfriend after being apart for 2 whole weeks [oh shuddup, it felt like 2 years] and yeh, will blog tml la. after i get my groceries from safeway. :)

thanks for prayers and wishes!
And for those who couldn't send me off, dun worry bout it.

12 Hours till I fly... again

Sitting here in my room, waiting to go to church while my bags are all packed... I wonder to myself whether i'm going to miss Spore more this time around or whether the feeling of lost would once more be taken over by the excitement that living overseas in melbourne has to offer.

I try not to think too much about it because when i do, my heart does ache to once more leave this place. Family [this time with a new brother in law], friends [this time with additions from Hannah's side], places [new malls, i might even not be coming back to this house the next time].... it gets hard sumtimes to think it'll be another 5-6 months till i'm back... or maybe even longer.

I always know God will watch over each and every one... Them, Me... but that doesn't mean it's easy to say bye over and over again. :) so i'm just going to do it and not let it settle in my mind...

See You Soon Singapore! It's not a goodbye for good... it's a i'll catch you later. :)

Pray for my flight... MAS Flight 7.15pm... touching down melbourne at 5.15am [spore time]

God Bless you.

Rush-ians

Today i was sitting around waiting for my friend to arrive, an hour and a half late, but i noticed that Singaporeans walk around with a frown on their face (could be due to the heat) or stress but also they rush here and there... I get the feeling like they're always angry bout sumthing or late to get somewhere...

Rush rush rush... That's why i like the pace in Melb too... Of course there are loads i things i prefer bout spore... But this is jus one thing i think melb wins over spore. :)

But sorry, i can't blog much, gotta rush off to meet my fren. Toodles!

Lucky

Because some people have complained that stuff I say are very mushy and stuff... so i shall just say that I am a very happy guy right now... Happy because I'm very fortunate to be blessed by God with such awesomely blessed gifts from Him.

He has known my heart's desire and my heart's cry and He's blessed me with a treasure that I have been given to guard and keep. I pray that God will guide me through this process and allow me to love the gift He has given me with all that I am... and that all these years of preparation would come in useful as I also aim to allow this gift to bring me closer to God as I also try my best to do likewise.

All that said and done, I sometimes wonder to myself how fortunate and blessed i am to be given this gift. Coz to me, this gift is so beautiful and so precious to me that I will never want to ever spoil it or the chances of me keeping it.

Thank You Lord and I Love You Lord.

I love my Gift... :)

Bday MADNESS!

Check this out... A MASSIVE amount of birthdays this weekend... so scary... ahha
Facebook is evil. :S hahah Logging on to my facebook nowadays is scary...



So here goes.... *takes a deep breath*
Happy Birthday to....

Yusuf, Eugenia, Sharlene, Lawrence, Jun Yew, Rin, Zhiqiang Kho, May Ann, Sophia, Glenda, Steve, Gabriel

*exhales and breathsssss*
Happy birthday to you!!!

Out of that whole list, i think only May Ann reads my blog... HAHAH so happy birthday chiamster!