PS: To navigate through my blog, move your mouse cursor over the words 'ME, SCRIBBLES, TAG, ETC' and just click on them :) i know. it's cool. Thanks, Fedoragirl ;)
"There is no frigate like a book
To take us lands away."
--Emily Dickinson
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The Reader
-Is an English Language major undergraduate who likes to Take It Easy.
Adores
Words and languages, Jane Austen, period dramas/films, Vitagen, Korean dramas, good songs, better books, Green, wanderlusting, Culture, writing, Experimenting
Things I'd Like
- A Nitendo Wii gaming console - My own set of rollerblades - More nail polish (bought just one, neon pink in colour)
- Concert DVDs! (Back to Basics: Live & Down Under by Christina Aguilera, The Black Parade Is Dead by My Chemical Romance , Mika: Live In Cartoon Motion, Where The Light Is: John Mayer Live In Los Angeles )
- A cat
Here's what I wore to school today...and let me say, the shirt & fishbones earrings are just purrrrfect. Meow.
I bought this shirt sometime last year I think, when Giordano's (I googled for the spelling and it seems like a Singapore brand?? Can anyone clarify with me??) was selling it as 'limited edition' and my mum saw that those shirts came in green, with a cat on it, and bought it immediately for me. I was kind of mixed about it at first, cuz I thought it looked a little too cutsie...but, I have grown to love it! Mainly cuz I love the colour green and I love all things feline! What can I say, mum knows best.
Anyway, thoughts on Halloween, I'm wondering what's this day all about....cuz in Singapore, people don't go trick-or-treating & all that shebang...cuz Halloween is like, a Western holiday. Is this the Western version of Hungry Ghost festival??? Hungry ghost festival just ended not too long ago...is there a connection at all? And what are those Jack O' lanterns popping up for on this day? Questions questions...I wanna solicit some answers from you! Personally, I think pumpkin is a very nutritious fruit/vegetable and it's a waste when people throw away all the flesh when they do carvings for this festive occasion.
Anyway, this kitschy day where people dress up as spooky ghouls and such, reminds me off the one and only time i had a walking tour in a haunted house. In Genting Highlands in Malaysia. Where the staff wear 'I know what you did last summer' movie masks and weave in and out of the darkness to surprise you, and where you walk past exhibits. I remember one such exhibit was a skeleton person sitting on an electric chair. I was very intrigued (for some reason) with it and kept staring, and leaning foward to get a closer look. Imagine my amusement when my bro told me that the 'person' sitting on the chair was a live one and indeed, when I next turned my head, after walking ahead a few steps, I saw the chair was empty. I thought to myself, "luckily, the person didn't move while I was almost nose to nose with it." And then there was this staff who kept trailing me. With that mask. I was very spooked. I knew it was irrational to be spooked but, with a face like that, in such a dark place, who wouldn't be? I tried to scare him off by laughing hysterically everytime he/she came close to me. Hee....it sorta worked. Anyway, haunted houses, contrived haunted houses, are a fun experience :D Definitely not for the weak-hearted.
I better start blogging down a little piece of my life before October closes :D and of course, before I start procrastinating (i.e postponing) and time-wasting on the internet with the kinda-sorta addictive online Pictionary (isketch.net) & Scrabble (scrabulous.com. Can be added as a Facebook application) games.
Yesterday! I had my very first German Oraltest (in Deutsch, the words are usually joined together as one). It was also the first time I was having a full on conversation in German with someone. Definitely nerve-wrecking, but I managed to make sense. I think I didn’t speak in broken German…only maybe I had my genders a little mixed up ;) German is getting a little easier to handle each week….it’s really quite similar to English. Of course, English is the so-called bastard language. It’s a mishmash of Germanic languages of the past.
Anyway, check out this job ad that came in my inbox yesterday. It really seems like one of my dream jobs, after I had read through it. Because it is like, the first step to setting up my own magazine.
Time management, speed reading, train your brain, improve your memory, write right & tongue fu. These are the kind of books I borrowed yesterday as my school semester nearly draws to a close. And as my schedule is a little freed up this week. Just a little. Yay.
My mum and I kind of got caught with our pants down just now.
Today is the first Wednesday of the month! And in Singapore (very just recently), it means 'bring-your-own-bag-to-grocery-shopping' day... or pay up for those plastic bags!
How exactly does it work? If you want to use the store's plastic bags (i.e NTUC supermarket, the franchise/monopoly official trade union's brand. Yes, we actually have a trade union in Singapore!)for today, you'll have to pay an extra ten cents each. And all proceeds go to charity. You don't pay the extra change to NTUC, you pay it directly to charity, out of goodwill/trust. So, you actually place the money in the tin boxes at the counter, out of your own initiative.
Or you carry the goods with you-to go.
Now, NTUC's intention is all well and good, but do they have to be so stiff about it? That is, you can't purchase plastic bags from them at all!
And today, my mum merely brought along her 1) NTUC membership card and 2) savings account card to the nearby supermarket to shop. And we didn't have any small change whatsoever on us. While at the payment counter, the realisation hit us (actually, hit my mum. I had no idea how the First Wednesdays' no-plastic-bags day works). For a moment there, we wondered if we had to carry all our chosen goods (which added up to about 20 items) home by hand, and look like we brazenly robbed the store... or, to put everything back on its shelves.
Well, not only did we look like stingy buggers who intentionally did not bring any money to pay for plastic bags,- we were caught in a tight spot. Luckily, the nice lady at the check-out counter just bagged our items neatly in 3 plastic bags and waved us off when we asked what we could do. We left the store with a mixture of the feelings of: children caught with their hand in the candy box, and the relief of being saved. :P
So yeah, I took a shot at that cottage I talked about yesterday. Check out its rustic charm and designs. Loves it. The first time I saw it (which was yesterday), the wheels in my mind were turning and I was picturing my dream home :D
PS: Click on the pic to enlarge and see what I wrote & love about it :)
1st October…I think this should be a holiday for ALL students. After all, we’re not yet, as they say, working adults.
And giving this day off only for little kids? It gives them more excuses to be chaotic brats. Speaking off little kids, when I was on the bus today on my way home there was this little Malay girl sitting in front of me, with her mother. She was very well-behaved but curious, kept looking out the window and around the bus. And you know what? She turned around twice and when she caught my eye, (or was it I who caught hers?), she gave me the sweetest smile. It was so sweet and innocent, she smiled at me like I was something really pleasant to her. I hope her innocence is not tarnished anytime soon.
You know, her smile really caught me off guard, cuz usually I’d be the one who is smiling (kids scare me and I don’t want to be the one who set them off crying, so I just give little smiles to them) at restless, irritated kids and they’d stare back at you like you were crazy or they’re reaction would be slow, and they’d give you blank looks.
The first time she smiled at me, I thought it was a reflex for her shyness, cuz she was scooted low in her seat when she turned around and looked at me. The second time, I saw that it was indeed genuine. She had turned around full to look behind her and caught my eye again and on came that magically personal smile. I wish I had caught it on camera.
I think my digital camera is underused…so I’ll try for the next few days to bring it out with me (to school and such) and whip it out whenever I come by nice scenery or scenes. Take today, I saw a spot in my school grounds where the greenery was beautifully arranged, the lighting(the sun) was so right and the green-ness of the whole thing spoke to me, and I stared at it, mesmerized for those few seconds I walked past it, and thought, “yeah, I wanna capture this spot, this moment”. And then while waiting for the bus home today (this is only my 2nd week using this particular busstop), I turned to look behind me and spotted this charming cottage-like building some distance away, I think it’s a church or something: I loved its weathered-looking roof, it also had some motifs on its walls, made of white plaster I’m guessing, and it had sticker decals on its window. I’m gonna try to get a picture of it sometime soon
I think I’m really up there in the Environmental Intelligence (one of the eight intelligences as identified by Dr Howard Gardner). The other name for it is Naturalist Intelligence, where one is fascinated by nature and see things in it that pass others by. You probably like being outdoors and are fond of animals. You take a keen interest in your home environment inside and outside.
PS: I'm listening to this young, new, up and coming 21-yr-old female singer, Kate Voegele. She belts out songs like there's no tomorrow. I really recommend listening to songs from her two EPs and the unplugged album.
This song, one of my favourites, is called 'I won't disagree'
Ignorance is bliss You'd always hear me say But at times you can't deny Those eyes lookin' your way
Let me begin by saying what I mean It's a crime against the heart you know To be somewhere in between
Well don't be shy I've got an open heart and hand And I just might have to confess just where I stand
'Cause lately you make me weaker in the knees And race through my veins baby every time you're close to me Take me away to places I ain't seen They say you've got a hold on me' And I Won't Disagree
Rock a bye my baby Don't be blue tonight Oh I'm on my way And I'm gonna make it right
'Cause I've got the feeling You'll be needing love And of all the lonely hearts You're the one I'm thinkin' of
I've been told it's gonna take an iron hand To break the mold and stand above all of the rest
Well lately you make me weaker in the knees And race through my veins baby every time you're close to me Take me away to places I ain't seen They say you've got a hold on me' And I Won't Disagree
I'll be thinking of that evening When there's nothing for me to do And I'll be wondering if by some slim chance You're wondering too
Lately you make me weaker in the knees And race through my veins baby every time you're close to me Take me away to places I ain't seen They say you've got a hold on me'
Oh lately you make me weaker in the knees And race through my veins baby every time you're close to me Take me away to places I ain't seen They say you've got a hold on me' And I Won't Disagree
Finally, another song I can't get outta my head, a new song by Jason Mraz called Beautiful Mess. It may appear on his upcoming album. ENJOY!
Lyrics:
You've got the best of both worlds You're the kind of girl who can take down a man And lift him back up again You are strong but you're needy Humble but you're greedy And based on your body language and shoddy cursive I've been reading Your style is quite selective Though your mind is rather reckless While I guess it just suggests that this is just what happiness is Ya yes And what a beautiful mess this is It's like picking up trash in dresses Well it kind of hurts when the kind of words you write kind of turn themselves into knifes And don't mind my nerve You can call it fiction but I like being submerged in your contradictions dear cause here we are Here…. We…. Are… Although you are biased, I love your advice Your comebacks they're quick and probably have to do with your insecurities There's no shame in being crazy depending on how you take these words I'm paraphrasing this relationship we're staging ya ya But it's a beautiful mess, yes it is It's like picking up trash in dresses Well, it kind of hurts when the kind of words you say kind of turn themselves into blades And kind and courteous is a life, I've heard but it's nice to say that we played in the dirt Cause here… here we are, here we are, here we are, here we are, here we are, here we are, here we are, here we are, here we are We're still here, and it's a beautiful mess, yes it is… It's like taking a guess when the only answer is yes Through timeless words and priceless pictures, we'll fly like birds not of this earth Tides they turn, hearts disfigure but that's no concern when we're wounded together And we tore our dresses and stained our shirts but it's nice today Oh the wait was so worth it Here we are.
7:15 PM