My ONE job so far...

I can't complain.
It paid well- $8.50/hr!
Yeah, it was pretty good. But of course, there were trade-offs.

Edlina called me up and asked if I would like to help her company-school (SMa) for a few evening papers.
"$8.50/ hr" she said.
Bingo!
Of course I signed up for it, even if it was so very far... I went to her school last Tues to Fri evening and did tests invigilation. Each paper was on average, about 3 hours long (so typical of Singapore exams right?) 7 ~ 10pm. Add in prep and post-exam time, and I clocked in average 4 hours/ night. Not bad huh?! Except Edlina (and the other experienced invigilators as well) told me that the person in charge of the payroll wasn't quite efficient, so I shouldn't expect my pay anytime earlier than 1 MONTH later. *fainz* Good thing I'm not that desperate for cash.

For the record, it was a good part-time temp job. I could get out of the house and be able to earn some money. I picked up a new skill, made new "acquaintences", travelled round Singapore literally (more about that later) and managed to squeeze in some good reading time (see my last post on "The Last Lecture") while waiting for the bus.

Here are some of my observations:

• It feels MUCH better to be on the side of invigilating the test than on the other side of taking it. I know- I'm sooooooo evil. Bwa ha ha ha ha! But don't worry, they'll get their revenge.
• And it's very very very boring. The worse is when you are "locked up" in a small classroom and can't do much walking around. You aren't allowed to read books, and you can't talk much with the other invigilators. No wonder they pay so well.
• If you don't think too hard, it's really kind of funny that I took 1 & 1/2 hours to travel from my home to the campus in Bukit Merah (Redhill), when, ummm, one can travel across the entire length of Singpaore in less than 1 hour. Now I know what you are thinking- there are bus stops and blah blah blah. Told you to not think too hard :p
• Bus 167 is AMAZING!!! Here's the entire route: Sembawang -> Yishun -> Thomson Road (the entire stretch, passing the Woo's house and Prata House to Clarissa's home to Thomason Plaza) -. Mt Alvernia Hospital and Far East Flora -> Novena then Newton MRT -> TOWN/ Orchard -> P.S. -> Raffles Place -> City Hall -> The Supreme Court and Cricket Club -> Shenton Way area -> Clementi -> Bt. Merah Interchange. I sat from the first stop to the very last- no wonder it took 1& 1/2 hours to get there! But I truly enjoyed the entire ride. It was nice to take a mini-tour round Singapore, and marvel at the changes and new sights of this beautiful city.

Lastly,

• Do you know just HOW MUCH people DO look at you and your clothes? I know it's because I've been to BYU and never seen people wear spheg-strap-tops & short-skirts to school before. If they want to wear like that, that's their choice. BUT THEY NEED TO SEE WHAT PEOPLE SEE FROM THE ANGLE OF UP LOOKING DOWN. You see a lot more than you want to see. They was one girl who's top was so... flashy, I was like, "Woah girl! You need to cover up. You're here to take a test, not go clubbing." And then I realized if I was distracted, can you imagine the other guy invigilating with me? Ewww... Honestly, there is a reason why we are told to dress modestly.

Book of the Season

If there is a book to read out there now, this has got to be it:

I will forever be indebted to Jermaine for introducing me to this book and even lending it to me. You will ABSOLUTELY FALL IN LOVE WITH IT. Despite Jerm's ravings about it, when I first read the synopsis, I wasn't too impressed. It seemed like one of those gazillion self-help "you-can-do-it!" therapy manuals already out there.

What a delightful surprise it was when it turned out completely the opposite of what I expected! It is a simple, easy-to-read, witty, humorous semi-autobiography of a professor about to lose his life to pancreatic cancer. If you read it in one setting, it shouldn't take you more than 2 hours. And the best thing is, it won't take you more than 2 pages (not exaggerating here!) before you smile and start falling in love with it.

I was crying inside when I read the remaining few chapters, especially when he started talking about his family. But yet, you feel "recharged" because it is an inspirational read loaded with such optimism. He definitely bags the award for the "optimism-vs-reality" struggle that so many of us have.
And the "Thank-you-for-making-geeky-stuff-sound-interesting" Award (he's a Carnegie Mellon computer science professor- completely NOT in my league at all.)
And the "Family Man" award- I want to be a parent just like he was... only the female version of course.
Oh yes, and definitely the "Dying-Species-of-Romantic-Males" Award. Oh my word- read the chapter about him courting his wife. I am so jealous of his wife! And the way he talks about his wife throughout the book... if I could find a man who loves God and his wife as clearly as Randy Pausch does, I'm set for life!
The other thing I've gained from this book is, well frankly, you can call me a LDS-missionary-nerd/ geek/ freak, but I just couldn't help thinking at the end, "This family needs the gospel so much, and the hope that the Plan of Salvation can bring." I've even prayed that they will hear from the missionaries and listen to them, even if it's a few years down the road. Yeah, what a geek I am huh?! But I'm not ashame. I am so thankful for the restored gospel and the knowledge it brings, of forever families in this life or in the eternities, and how truly "No success can compensate for failure in the home".

My favourite quote:
Brick walls are there to stop the people who don't want it badly enough. They're there to stop the other people... Brick walls are there for a reason. They give us a chance to show how badly we want something."

And he was talking about courting his wife when he said this. *Swoon* Told you this guy is a (pardon my unintentional pun)"Dying Breed". But I totally agree that this fits into almost any kind of situation and what an analogy it is. You got to want it badly enough!
A MUST READ! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

The Lord Moves in Mysterious Ways

Can you see it?
How about this? NOW can you see it?

If all you can see are the words "WIN $100... The best caption wins a $100 CapitaLand shopping voucher" that's okay, because that's the whole point! Wah ha ha ha ha! I entered in to this "caption naming" contest for fun (they have this every week in the Straits Times SundayLife! section), and oh my word! Who would have thought that I'd won last week's contest?!

I've yet to find a steady temp job althoughs things haven't been too bad. I haven't been exactly STARVED financially since I'm super cheap-o now! Most weekdays I stay at home and try to "work" from there (meaning clean the house for my mom and try to apply for jobs), and I only go out with friends if there are very cheap deals (like to the Asian Civilization Musuem which gives a discount on Friday nights, and I got in for free due to Jerms- thanks!) or unless necessary (e.g. not enough food for the Stake YSA Talent Night so no choice, had to go out and eat dinner or would have starved!). Sadly, even at BYU, I don't think I am going to be able to be a TA/ RA because my old professors are either 1) not teaching the courses I took under them or 2) not even teaching at BYU anymore! One of them transferred to BYU-H. I've asked but so far, nothing looks good.

But the Lord has been very kind to me. My paternal 5th Aunt gave me some "tidbits" money when I just got back (and if you know my aunt, you know she is very rich and very generous with her family). My maternal 4th uncle gave my sisters and I some money (yes Abish, you have a share too) recently during the Tomb Sweeping Festival/ "Qing Ming Jie", which came as a relief because I was able to pay for Val's wedding dinner. Edlina recently asked if I was interested in helping her school invigilate for a few hours at night this week (so sorry friends- my weeknights this week are BOOKED!) and now this!

Sweeeeeeeeeeet!

The Lord truly does take care of those who are trying.

Meanwhile, anyone else has any recommendations? Quite willing to try almost anything. Can request for my resume. :)

What a Great Easter Wekend!

What luck- this Easter Weekend was packed, with Valerie's wedding, a sleepover, a classmate mini-reunion and General Conference viewing.

Valerie's wedding:

More pictures up on Facebook from both mine and Jerm's camera. Just a few ones I loved:

That's us doing our job! Although Bro Leonard (the father of the bride) said we were having too much fun posing for pictures- ha ha ha! Well, what do you expect with me, Clarissa, Jerms and Edlina being such "cam-whores"?

I think it's a bit of an (get this) "EPIC FAILURE" of my hair... I learnt this new teenage terminology from my sister and Kandace: "Epic Failure". It means... well, just that- to fail epic-ly. Anyway, I say that because Wong Feng came over to curl my hair and my hair just REFUSED to curl. Isn't that the strangest thing?! Everyone has a problem (especially with humidity) trying to straighten their hair, while I have a problem trying to curl my hair! Wong Feng would curl it and then 2 minutes later (I'm not exaggerating!) it would straighten right back out. My hair was sprayed with tons of hairspray. I guess it's a blessing though so I'm not complaining!

Me and Ashley... awww... I'm so glad to see her.

I'm so sorry that I didn't take one with the bride, but oh well, you can find it on Facebook.

SLEEPOVER!!!

Jerms & Clarissa: I have to hand it to both of you... 7AM!!! By 5.30am I was so groggy I fell asleep. Put us 3 "cam whores" and very good khakis together, and you can imagine how it went- we talked about everyone and everything under the sun. It was very fun, especially since I haven't gone for a sleepover since...Young Women's!

St. Nick's Classmate Reunion

Friday night was spent with my very good friends from my Sec 1 & 2 days. I can't believe that we have already known each other for close to 10 years! Wah say... I think it's so funny because the clothes we wore really do reflect our individual personalities. Walked down the entire Orchard Road all the way to Dhoby Ghout's Fish & Co. for dinner. It was nice to get a 10% discount on the bill because it was YL's and Koko's birthday. They serve yummy "chips"/ fries by the way.

And to sweetly end off the weekend...
General Conference
What another great Conference viewing! We are very blessed to be able to listen to the General Authorities speak to us. And the music- everytime I listen to the Mormon Taberbacle Choir, I just listen in awe.

Really, it was such a great weekend. Soooooooooo tiring but sooooooooo much fun!!!

Oh I'm definitely from the city!

2 days ago, I was having a conversation with my sister and my mom, and we were talking about pigs, and I was telling them how Taiwanese people love to cook and eat every single part of A PIG. *oink* Myra got a bit disgusted, which reminded me the time I went to visit a Jiang Jie Mei while serving in Bade (my last area) and how she lives on a farm, which on top of growing their own vegetables, also rears their own PIGS.

Laugh all you want, but that was the first time I can recall that I had seen pigs that were alive. Okay, that is an exaggeration, but like I said, that was the first time that I can recall seeing live pigs.

And these pigs aren't those cutesy little "Oh-so-cute-Winnie-the-Pooh-and-friends-Piglet" pigs. These were HUMONGOUS BLACK TOUGH MEAN (alright I'm not sure about the last 2, but you get the point) PIGS. They were humongous- definitely bigger size than me. They were surprisingly not too stinky though, because the pigs and their sty are frequently washed. It was so fun and cool to see these pigs, although if you think about it, it's kind of "disturbing" to think that we ate their poor brother or sister that very day for lunch (and may I add it was a delicious lunch too). Hmmm...

Which prompted my Mom to quip "Oh you are both such cities girls!" I didn't mind actually because it's true and I'm proud of it! It was just a casual observation.

And then my Mom went on to tell us how she used to live in a kampong her younger days and her neighbours reared those gigantic black pigs too, but at that time, the pigs were allowed to ROAM FREE. Now that was a bit more "disturbing" to me because imagine yourself one day walking down the road and a pig suddenly cuts in front of you, or walks beside you... like a dog or something. What do you do?

"Shoo pig! Go back to the farm"?

Or like, "Here piggy piggy... fetch!" and then run away?

Then, yesterday, I went to help out the Cemetery Project for the last time (if you have no idea what I'm talking about, refer to one of my earlier posts).

And talking about being "sua-gu" guess what I stumbled upon?

And you have no idea how excited I was! It was probably because I love history so much, that it's so cool to me to see something as "historical" as this. But tell me, how many of you have seen an authentic well, other than in a museum or as a picture in a story-book? Doesn't mean I want to draw water from a well for my living- gracious no! I'm so thankful for the excellent Singapore water system that we have and water heaters (another one of the world's greatest inventions).

However, you got to admit that seeing a REAL well is quite cool, or at least agree it's not a common sight you see now. I think this is the first time I've seen a "true-blue" well in its "natural habitat". Can you believe it, those wells were once used by the people going to visit and worship their ancestors? It's so exciting!

Which just reinforces the fact how much I'm a city-person.

Yeah yeah- whatever. I love being from a city.

But I do think I think I can live in smaller cities in the future. I served about 6 months in the heart of Taipei City itself and loved it! Then in my last 7 months, I got transferred to a much much smaller, slower-paced, more rural area called Ba De. We also covered part of the Tao Yuan City.
AND I LOVED BADE. ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT. I loved the marathon cycling trips we took there, cycling past fields and farmlands, and once (unintentionally stupidly) into the mountains. I loved the people there- just so more friendly and "qing qie". Plus not to mention the clothes and food there is slightly cheaper as well. In fact, every time I went into the Tao Yuan city, I could feel the change in the atmosphere and the air and the "feel", you know? I loved Tao Yuan too, but I absolutely ADORED Bade.

So, maybe, just maybe, I'm a little-bit-country, and a little-bit-rock-n'-city!

I sit here....

And stare.



And everything just seems to fade away.

It's so surreal.

Nothing seems real anymore.

Life is too transient.



What am I typing?

Just my subconscious mind



I'm so sick of it

Of the frivolity

The money spending

The extravagance

The wastage

The shopping

Even that- the shopping



I want to vomit