the past few days have been rather productive and i'm getting back into the mood of actually -doing- things instead of just thinking of doing them.

it all started off on monday morning, when i had a sudden inspiration to make a bag for myself. so i trooped straight off to spotlight where i bought a metre of purple canvas and pink corduroy, together with some zips and ribbon, and was creatively stimulated. then i came back and helped my mom install a seashell seat onto our toilet bowl, which was a slightly disgusting operation but you know me- there's always disposable gloves to keep the hands clean. after this i headed to the gym, where i ran 5k, did weights, cycled 10k on the stationary bike and did crunches. AND i topped it off by brisk walking home, although this is nothing much because the gym is really close to my house. since i have no basis for comparison though, i should think this definitely counts as a personal record.

as for world cup news- i thought the last second penalty goal by totti in australia vs italy was heartbreaking! wtf was the ref thinking awarding the penalty anyway? claerlee this is corruption at work. sometimes i think the refs and linesmen are being bribed by german officials to do what it takes to make the matches more dramatic, especially the asshole responsible for the 4 red cards in portugal vs netherlands. and then last night in brazil's second goal adriano was obviously offside! it certainly didnt help ghana that dida is one helluva goalie, particularly when he pulled that obscene save from mensah's free kick. i think i might have to rethink my preference for casillas now, which is easy since he's greatly diminished in hotness since the last world cup. teehee

oh and quick survey! what's your cure for constipation? everybody has what works best, and for me it's slightly overripe mango =P close contenders are soft papaya and GM oranges with lots of white fiber. but then again some people say milk helps though i think this must be a mental thing because milk has no fiber hence it can't be good for peristalsis!

yesterday germany totally thrashed sweden, klose PODOLSKI ballack were brilliant, henry scored to save france, and today england's winning goal is from the most gorgeous stunning mindblowing beckham free kick i've ever seen so things are certainly looking up!

the only person i feel sorry for is ljungberg who was brought down by a shitty swedish side yesterday but then again he already has a hugely successful career in calvin kleins anyway and if you check out the link bear in mind that i post it in my interest as an arsenal fan and not of anything else :p

in other big news- admire the new format please! i broke into my trial photoshop elements 4.0 (laggy crapshit if you ask me but does anyone have the crack?) today with a pixel-by-pixel construction of the banner at 400% zoom so yes my eyes are not in the best condition now. apologies for the cramped midsection, i realised the disproportion only after i was halfway through the code and was way too lazy and too blind to fix it by then. will try to soon though!

still in a pretty good mood now and yay did i mention beckham scored in a free kick?!!?!

OMG BECKHAM GOAL!!!!

1) First of all, how old are you?
19, barely.

2) Do you believe in reincarnation?
no.

3) Would you rather be deaf or blind?
deaf. did you know 80% of information is perceived visually?

4) If you found out your best friend was gay/lesbian, what would you do?
if i found out my best friend was lesbian, i would die.

5) Do you consider yourself a good listener?
i don't pretend very well, but at least i try.

6) Would you rather be short or tall?
SERIOUSLY?!

7) Would you rather be overly happy and poor, or overly wealthy and happy?
overly wealthy and happy, haha.

8) Would you consider your relationship with your parents bad, okay, good?
they annoy me, i annoy them back; other times we are nice people.

9) Do you like to dance?
i'm shy!

10) Are you shy to ask someone out?
being attached has thickened my skin considerably, i should think.

11) Do you like to talk on the phone?
depends on who i'm talking to and what mood we are in ;)

12) Would you rather go on a walk or watch tv?
watch TV, duh.

13) What's your dream honeymoon place?
paris.

14) What would be the first thing you'd change about yourself?
could i not be such a freak, please.

15) Do you think boys or girls have it easier?
girls 'cos we don't have NS.

16) If you had a round-trip ride in any time machine, where would you go?
i would stay. anybody who's watched kate & leopold would know the consequences of time travel.

17) If you could be invisible for a day, what would you do?
i would rob a bank.

18) Do you like Adidas, Nike, Fila, or Reebok?
i love my nike shox! boingggg

19) If you could change your name, what would it be?
ashley alyssa kylie!

20) If you were in a theater and someone was crying, would you laugh?
i always do.

21) Have you ever thought you were going to die?
when i woke up on results day, and before trips to The Butcher.

22) What's the hardest thing about growing up?
being a mature and responsible adult.

23) Have you ever gone skinny dipping? Would you ever?
no. if i had a good body, yes.

24) What little unknown talents do you possess?
i sleep with my eyes half opened.

25) Would you eat a bowl of live crickets for $40,000?
i think so. do they squirm?

26) If this Saturday, you could do ANYTHING you wanted, what would you do?
i would spend time with the people i love!

27) What's the worst word(s) you know?
fuck? i don't speak dialect :(

28) If there would be one thing about yourself that you could change, what would it be?
hello, freak???

29) Have you ever wanted to run away? Run where?
yes but then i never know where to run to.

30) What's your worst fear?
being incapacitated in some way or another.

31) What is your dream car?
the 2005 jaguar xk8. i don't mind ferraris or porsches either, but lamborghinis are too boxy.

32) Do you sleep with a stuffed animal?
a pink teddy bear, a blue teddy bear, a turkey and a dog.

33) Have you ever felt you were in love?
i certainly hope so :p

34) If you were stranded on a deserted island with one person, who would it be?
the man of my dreams.

35) What is your favorite color?
pink, and sometimes blue.

36) What guy/girl do you want more than anyone else?
i want the boyfriend, aww.

37) If you could be any animal what would you be?
a pegasus!

38) What is your favorite gum?
wrigley's spearmint because i can just chew and chew for hours and hours until i find a place to spit it out and i know, i disgust myself too!

39) How do you eat an Oreo?
like a pig.

40) Do you eat chicken fingers with a fork?
if i have clean hands, no.

41) Do you eat the stems of broccoli?
i only eat skinny stems.

42) If you could do anything to the person you hated most what would it be?
i would kill the person and take his money!

thanks for the concern everyone :) things have indeed started to look up and i've been reminded that there are lots of things to be grateful for. not least of all, love and friendship, because without them rainy days would seem so much colder ;)

sigh. things are not going too well at the moment, and i have a sick feeling at the bottom of my stomach =\

about the holiday camp: it definitely turned out a lot better than i had anticipated. initially i was highly bummed out about the whole thing because it meant cancelling many debate hours which meant losing much $$$ and rescheduling what should have been the most intense training period before nats. plus there's the bone marrow busking drive which is happening now and i'm sure claud is irritated with me for not being around to work the canners during opening week. ah well, you can't please everyone. the thing about the camp is that along the way i realised that it actually does change people for the better, and i feel really good about being part of the whole process. plus some of the things were pretty cool, like the steel rod demonstration and the high beam. i would have enjoyed the outdoor stuff a lot more if i hadnt spent most of the time perched on metal scaffolding which was hell on the butt. especially during the second day when bert kept kicking the beam while the campers were walking on it cos it sent vibrations up the entire scaffolding. i need more fats in Strategic Places, ha ha =P

the other crappy thing about the camp was the sleep deprivation, especially since i'm on my plan to reduce caffeine intake and experiencing major withdrawal symptoms. did you know that caffeine is the world's most abused drug and that moderate caffeine users' brains function at only 70% of their usual capacity when they don't drink for a day? that definitely can't be good. plus i had to room with 2 girls, and as we all know girls take longer to get ready because we are vainer and have more clothing to wear. plus there were morning calls and messages which meant i got quite a bit less sleep everyday, which on average was about 2-3 hours i believe. i'm thinking of finding caffeine pills because they are supposedly better if you're trying to control your intake over a period of time and it's what researchers at harvard and other hoitytoity places use.

apart from this, i'm glad to have met really good people like sheryl bert gillian yehong gabriel who made me not feel like a terribly outsidish person the whole time. i think it would have been better if nobody knew about med school or found out about how i flavr savr so early on though. otherwise i have been quite inspired to not produce royal fuckdom out of my first year, as i have invariably done with JC and secondary school. cadavers are not easy to come by, after all ;)

in other news, i am horribly frustrated with having to put off running plans, especially since me and aud now have a Goal to meet. i contemplated getting up an hour early to go jogging around copthorne a few days, but i considered how the stupidity of this could mean another 6 weeks to a perfect rib cage and was deterred. my sis wants to start using the gym regularly which i think is a good thing because it's been a while since i've used a proper weights machine and i dont care if josie says i should stop lifting weights because they are enlarging my triceps. one day i will become the world's best pilates instructor and then they will all wish they never said anything about my muscle-flab combination, so there.

also, i heard Schubert's Impromptu No.3 in G flat being played about 16 million times a day during camp, which is sad because i thought being able to play it would make me special. now it's almost been reduced to fur elise standards though not quite because the right hand of the piece is still kick ass. i have been meaning to conquer chopin's etude no 10 in C minor (aka the 'revolutionary') but everytime i see the chords i get a feeling of humji which really shouldnt be there because apparently by now i should be able to sight read shit like that. i really am the world's most useless pianist but this is all because my parents never sent me to NAFA when i was young, ha ha ha.

lastly! my sister's taste in boys disgusts me. it's so typical of her to pick the jocks, especially she who publicly lists her criteria for boyfriends as being "drop dead gorgeous, eight pack, not so smart". at her age i think i was already onto bigger things such as johnny depp and michael vartan, though i'll have to fish out ancient blog posts to verify this.

'tis all for now! i'm typing on my lifebook in bed and it's resting uncomfortably on my bladder which needs emptying. toodleS :D

since my last post life has been very Eventful. there's a bit too much to post so i'll have to narrate according to importance:

MY BIRTHDAY!

the big deal of the day was that i got to open presents (which are always welcome, btw) and eat cheesecake. the significance of me entering my last year as a teenager was kinda lost in the excitement of other things, although i did have a reflective moment or two where i felt sad about nearing the point where i can no longer commit crime and be tried as a juvenile. i am definitely too immature to be nineteen. what i really need for the occassion is a driving license with a DECENT PASSPORT PHOTO but since i invariably look like shit on every single passport photo i've ever taken in my whole entire life, i guess this is not going to happen anytime soon :'( luckily though, i had to get started on finishing an entire oreo cheesecake all by myself, so i was happily distracted for the most part.

apart from that, a major part of my big day was spent at the doctor's cos i had to get xrayed for a fractured rib. don't ask how it happened; it's depressing for many reasons. the good thing is that it seems like the fracture is most probably only a hairline one so it's not like i have a broken rib floating about in my abdomen waiting to puncture my lung or stomach or anything. the bad thing is that i am In Pain, especially when i like breathe deeply or laugh. and on saturday i went jogging with audrey again and it seems like i'll have to add jogging to the list of things which will be have to be put on hold for the time being. i'm kinda worried that the impact of running might have partially dislocated my rib because at the end of it i could hear clicking noises everytime i walked as if two parts of bone were hitting against each other AND it hurt like serious shit. i'm not usually one to complain about aches and stuff like that so i thought that the dull pain i was feeling meant that i was getting a really good workout and the thought "pain = good" kept motivating me to run. fyi i'm not into S & M or anything. i've just been trained very well by china gym coaches and i like a good workout ;)

then saturday was class reunion day at nick wuan's house, which is shockingly big. i kept thinking of all the times he complained when we had to collect photocopying money and was disgusted. i cooked teriyaki beef for the party which everybody liked, so i was quite happy. then i got to watch the england match where beckham ALMOST SCORED! too bad that it turned out to be an own goal but i swear if not for video cameras everyone would have had to believe it was a beckham goal. nevertheless it was a Beckham Moment and an england goal, which is good because i think england is probably my third favourite team for this world cup. first would be germany because i (heart) ballack and second would be brazil because they are always a pleasure to watch. i started panicking when costa rica equalised early in the opening game but luckily klose saved the day and btw did i mention that klose is my second favourite german player? and of course lehmann plays for arsenal so that's three reasons why germany should win the world cup. anyway, about the england match, i would have enjoyed it much better if not for having to share the couch with a snuggling josie and yakky, who were full drive into PDA that i had to leave by half time. plus i was already depressed because mark was still in his safti shithole so i escaped to the basement where i actually had a really nice cosy talk with darryl and paulee and nic and i realised i really do miss them. sigh. i never expected to find such nice people at RJ and it'll be really sad when they start leaving to go overseas for uni and stuff.

as for sunday, i spent a bit of the morning in a bad mood because camp was looming overhead like a grey cloud and then it really started to storm, as in literally. which is my most hated weather because storms ruin all going out plans. so i sat about at home and resumed sewing my pencil cases (btw that's my new hobby!) until mark surprisingly popped over and i stopped pouting for a bit. haha :p then i had to rush off to camp, but not before forgetting a few essential items on the way there, such as my spectacles and contact lens cases and pencil box and wallet... this being a scatterbrain thing mightn't be too good for my career as a neurosurgeon, i'm afraid.

more about the camp later! it's time to give my hair the good shampooing it's been deprived of for the past week or so =P

O.M.G. my mom just managed to pull off a sorta surprise birthday dinner for me! my sis and i were supposed to be picked up by our dad at the station so that we could have dinner with our grandma, but as it turned out, we ended up waiting for half an hour and arriving late at the restaurant, where of course everybody was already waiting for me. i was HORRIFIED! thankfully it was only the lees (although 8 kids minus 1 should really count as more than one family) and audrey, whom i noticed immediately from her back view. it was a bit surreal- NOBODY gets to punk me! plus i was in a bit of a grouchy mood because i was not feeling well from eating a rotten mango in the morning, so i was already annoyed with having to eat out. and to make things worse there was a cake which meant candles and singing and i swear i wanted to just die and sink into a little puddle and seep through the floor tiles where nobody would be able to see me flavr savr*. i suppose this is payback for all the pranks i've pulled in the past. well, we all have to learn from the masters, and it's clear now where exactly i inherited my practical joke genes. the mother may have won this round, but she should be warned: there WILL be hell to pay!

*flavr savr = genetically modified tomato known for ripening to an extremely radiant red

anyway apart from the excitement of the dinner, today has actually been a very productive shopping day. i think me and my sis are forever 21's Customers of The Day. i managed to get 2 very pretty tops and a gorgeous sweater. the tops weren't for me but the sweater definitely was! it's like black and the most comfy zip-up thingy ever with cute little flower motifs embroidered along the sides. in fact i just laid it on my bed and stood back admiring it for a while. nowadays it's not often that i find stuff which i really really want to buy, but when i do, i hold on till i get what i want. and ahhhhh, the satisfaction!

apart from buying the sweater, my other big purchase this week has been my brand spanking new fujitsu lifebook! i got it at the PC show where they were giving out all kinds of freebies like free RAM upgrades and mice and like 50 lucky draw tickets which needless to say were hell to fill up. most importantly, i have met the new love of my life. it's black and 13.3 inches and 1.6kg and very very very cool indeed. plus, i paid for it with my own money so it's like the most precious thing ever. except maybe my debit card, because from that i can accrue more Precious Things. but we all know that is a different story. so far, the lifebook seems to be living up to its specs, which is good because i've always been a bit skeptical about AMD processors. apparently the only problem is the power usage, which i can't really comment on yet, but otherwise they're supposed to be comparable to intel but since they're underrated their systems are also a whole lot cheaper for a whole lot more. maybe i'll find some huge shittifying system flaw in a few weeks, but for now, i'm quite very happy!

in other news, my debaters were at pre-U sem for the past week so it has been a rather slack one indeed. which means that i've had lots of time to cook! so far i have conquered lasagne, barbequed pork ribs, grilled chicken, roast vegetables, watercress and mushroom soup. out of them all the lasagne was the most disgusting to prepare, because it involved like 2 hours of chopping vegetables for the meat sauce and then making the cream cheese sauce which kept annoyingly coagulating the moment i stopped stirring the pan. but eventually everything turned out pretty well, so it was worth the effort. i love cooking so much that i could definitely do it for a living! it's like the perfect way to channel my OCD tendencies because everybody knows that food that's been fussed over to the tiniest detail is very well cooked food indeed :D

oh! and i guess i should strike Comfy Sweater off my birthday list, yes :)