Tuesday, February 28, 2006
"move to stop teens from loitering 'not a curfew'"
ah yes.
my mom was the first one to inform me of the police's latest announcement that they would report any under-17 children to their parents if they found them loitering outside after 11pm.
she sounded as if the idea was the most ludicrous she'd ever heard. she mentioned this sentence with the phrase "police state" in succession.
and hands up all of you who heard about this and thought about a world like orwell's '1984'?
well, but according to the police in the channel news asia article, it's not a curfew.
in fact, according to the official report:
"Police advice parents not to get excited if they do get a letter informing of their children's activities at public places after 11pm.
Police say parent can go to the nearest neighbourhood police centre to seek clarifications and find out what they can do to address the situation.
Police emphasise the letter does not reflect any judgement on them or the child."
(note: i know tt these paragraphs contain a number of grammarical and spelling mistakes [i.e. it is "ädvise" and not "advice" and it should be "the police" and not "police" per se]. but i'm not editting this so as to uphold the um... 'journalistic integrity' of this article. and maybe the hope tt the writer wrote this at 3am at night after 48 hours without sleep and no coffee.)
right.
how would you feel as a parent if you received a letter from the police about your child? or if you were a teenager having supper with your friends at fong seng and the next morning or 2 days after your parents got a letter telling them what you were having for supper two nights ago?
i know the rationale for this. the problem is tt when you're below 16 and you do stuff tt would otherwise get you in trouble (i.e. shoplifting or eating potato chips instore without paying), you usually get off with a warning and at most, probation. you don't actually get charged.
however, in spite of this for every case tt gets into lock-up, the police have to open a new file for each and every one of them with no exceptions, whether they eventually charge or not. as such, there is a mountain of paperwork to do even when there aren't really cases to solve. and it becomes a hassle, esp as teenagers are apparently rude, disrespectful and unafraid of the law or of officers of the law (yeah i know. i'm going to draw flak from all sides here).
so the police's solution: impose tt 11pm curfew *cough cough*... oops. it's not a curfew. erm. i'm not sure what to call it then. hmm. tt 11pm thingamajig i guess.
but the thing is if i look at it from any other point of view apart from the force's official stand, it doesn't make any fucking sense to me.
we are living in the goddamn 21st century for crying out loud. liberalisation schliberalisation. we're supposed to be some open world-class city. we have 24 hour eating places, shopping centres, entertainment areas. we want to be a vibrant tourist hub (heaven help me if i hear another "hub" word...). we're opening 2 fucking casinos to pander mainly to the rich chinese and indonesian tourists in the region. if we can disregard our morals for tt (okay. this is my personal opinion. fuck the money and the tourist dollars. i know tt the casinos are def going to ensure tt i will always have a job, but it's extra work tt i can do without. and society too. but then again politics and moral are divergent entities), why the fuck are we moving 40 years back into the past and curbing our youth?
yeah. i understand about the rise in juvenile crimes. i understand the so-called rationale regarding the risk of youth being targets for crime, or being perpetrators of crime themselves. but don't you see? crime is a symptom, not a fucking root cause. it's a symptom of something much deeper and more troubling, more due to things like socio-economic factors, to money and the lack thereof, to a system tt maybe suggests tt the only way out of a poverty trap is thru illegal means, or tt delinquency is the only cure to boredom, or even to a culture where family relations are no longer enough to keep the kids out of trouble.
one of my criticisms about the singapore system, is tt we have a knack for curbing the symptoms, but rarely ever the root causes. we seem to assume tt just because we can't see something, it isn't there. just because you don't see kids on the streets after 11pm, they're not there to cause trouble? it doesn't mean tt they won't be in trouble, or tt society will be any better for it. "out of sight, out of mind" is the mentality of a 1-year old. you know, the kind whereby the cognitive skills have not yet kicked in, such tt if it closes its eyes and no longer sees you, it thus assumes tt you are no longer there?
i know tt singapore is very economically-successful, and i am both proud and appreciative of tt. but at the same time i feel tt we may never really be a developed country for some time to come. we don't fit the category of a developed country. sure, we've got the wealth, we've got the money, we're more bustling and vibrant than a lot of other cities - some of which are in developed countries (as listed in global magazines such as the economist); but we seem to have a third-world mentality. i never really thought about tt until i came here. during my eu law module, i was no less than surprised by the amount of emphasis placed on the importance of something like environmental law. and my professor told me tt the reason for this was tt earlier on when the eu was still developing, they had pushed the importance of the environment to the bottom of their priorities, citing the importance of concentrating on economic productivity and growth (does this argument sound familiar? link it to politics and the concept of democracy)... until some people got the bright idea tt this was a third world mentality. a really developed nation is able to consider and balance all factors. sure tt there has to be some measure of opportunity cost somewhere or other, and tt some areas have to have more importance placed on them than others... but still, there is more balance.
and subsequently, a better quality of life.
i mean, sure singapore has a high standard of living, i'm not quabbling with tt. but seriously, everytime you ask your friends in singapore how it's going, you always *always* get answers like:
1) life sucks
2) damn sian
3) bored
4) stressed with work
like wtf. are we really a society of unhappy dumb boring fucks? have we really nothing better to do with our lives other than whine and complain (okay. i have a low tolerance for people who cannot see beyond themselves and move above this recurring state of pathetic self-pity)?
one of my mottos is this: "bored people are boring people." thus as far as i can help it, i never allow myself to get bored (the only times i do get bored is when i am in something like a really draggy intellectual property class... sorry but as long as trademarks and patents are inanimate non-living entities, they will never interest me. anyway tt's forgivable coz i *need* the education. sigh.)
but i don't think tt singaporeans are boring per se. in fact, a lot of us are interesting. and a lot of the people i know (thank god) are interesting. and fun to be with. i think tt there is something wrong with our culture, tt makes us the way we are.
i mean in canada, you can say hi to any one in the lift, around the store, at the counter etc. whenever you ask "hey! how's it going?", the answer is always "i'm good." or "ëxcellent!" or something along those lines. and even if you aren't exactly feeling stellar before, trust me after this exchange you *always* feel uplifted.
and yes i've majorly digressed again, but you get what i mean, don't you?
anyway my point is... if the police want to lessen the paperwork...
why not just do away with the paperwork involved for everyone in lock up? why not just limit it to cases whereby they are charged?
i mean, if the case is closed, the case *is* closed. if the kid's not charged, the kid's not charged. why bother with paperwork tt won't be around in a while?
it's a ridiculous waste of resources tt can be put to better use. yes the police force is efficient, but seriously, i don't think tt the force should put so much emphasis on paper work.
look at other forces like the new york police department, the vancouver police department... any other police department.
no one puts in as much paper work as we do. and they still function all right. they get more cases to deal with, they get more tough stuff to handle, and they do all right all the same. we got less crimes, and yet we have so much fucking work.
don't blame the kids. you're only young once. and while i understand the difficulties with having to deal with errant kids who come into lock-up for getting caught for things like taking stuff from stores, especially if you get a couple dozen cases of tt, underage sex, disorderly behaviour etc...
maybe it's time to look at our own laws and our own procedures.
are we criminalising too many things, some of which shouldn't even be criminalised? *cough s377 cough* are we putting too much weight on procedures and sets of rules regarding things tt need not even have them?
i mean. it's understandable tt we have everything the way they are right now. we are after all, singapore. kiasu like hell and we'll put everything in the rule book as much as possible.
but seriously. it's the goddamn 21st century. we want to be creative. we want to open up. there is no way to encourage creativity among our kids if we won't even allow them to go out at night or to do anything. there is no way to encourage so-called "thinking out of the box" is society continues to place some kind of moral burden (if this police thing isn't putting a moral/legal dimension to something as small as staying out with friends, i don't know what is) on our kids.
if we keep on regulating, we've gone back to 1984 all over again.
i'm just waiting for the advent of the thought police.
and then, "truth" will really be what written by those in power.
my mom was the first one to inform me of the police's latest announcement that they would report any under-17 children to their parents if they found them loitering outside after 11pm.
she sounded as if the idea was the most ludicrous she'd ever heard. she mentioned this sentence with the phrase "police state" in succession.
and hands up all of you who heard about this and thought about a world like orwell's '1984'?
well, but according to the police in the channel news asia article, it's not a curfew.
in fact, according to the official report:
"Police advice parents not to get excited if they do get a letter informing of their children's activities at public places after 11pm.
Police say parent can go to the nearest neighbourhood police centre to seek clarifications and find out what they can do to address the situation.
Police emphasise the letter does not reflect any judgement on them or the child."
(note: i know tt these paragraphs contain a number of grammarical and spelling mistakes [i.e. it is "ädvise" and not "advice" and it should be "the police" and not "police" per se]. but i'm not editting this so as to uphold the um... 'journalistic integrity' of this article. and maybe the hope tt the writer wrote this at 3am at night after 48 hours without sleep and no coffee.)
right.
how would you feel as a parent if you received a letter from the police about your child? or if you were a teenager having supper with your friends at fong seng and the next morning or 2 days after your parents got a letter telling them what you were having for supper two nights ago?
i know the rationale for this. the problem is tt when you're below 16 and you do stuff tt would otherwise get you in trouble (i.e. shoplifting or eating potato chips instore without paying), you usually get off with a warning and at most, probation. you don't actually get charged.
however, in spite of this for every case tt gets into lock-up, the police have to open a new file for each and every one of them with no exceptions, whether they eventually charge or not. as such, there is a mountain of paperwork to do even when there aren't really cases to solve. and it becomes a hassle, esp as teenagers are apparently rude, disrespectful and unafraid of the law or of officers of the law (yeah i know. i'm going to draw flak from all sides here).
so the police's solution: impose tt 11pm curfew *cough cough*... oops. it's not a curfew. erm. i'm not sure what to call it then. hmm. tt 11pm thingamajig i guess.
but the thing is if i look at it from any other point of view apart from the force's official stand, it doesn't make any fucking sense to me.
we are living in the goddamn 21st century for crying out loud. liberalisation schliberalisation. we're supposed to be some open world-class city. we have 24 hour eating places, shopping centres, entertainment areas. we want to be a vibrant tourist hub (heaven help me if i hear another "hub" word...). we're opening 2 fucking casinos to pander mainly to the rich chinese and indonesian tourists in the region. if we can disregard our morals for tt (okay. this is my personal opinion. fuck the money and the tourist dollars. i know tt the casinos are def going to ensure tt i will always have a job, but it's extra work tt i can do without. and society too. but then again politics and moral are divergent entities), why the fuck are we moving 40 years back into the past and curbing our youth?
yeah. i understand about the rise in juvenile crimes. i understand the so-called rationale regarding the risk of youth being targets for crime, or being perpetrators of crime themselves. but don't you see? crime is a symptom, not a fucking root cause. it's a symptom of something much deeper and more troubling, more due to things like socio-economic factors, to money and the lack thereof, to a system tt maybe suggests tt the only way out of a poverty trap is thru illegal means, or tt delinquency is the only cure to boredom, or even to a culture where family relations are no longer enough to keep the kids out of trouble.
one of my criticisms about the singapore system, is tt we have a knack for curbing the symptoms, but rarely ever the root causes. we seem to assume tt just because we can't see something, it isn't there. just because you don't see kids on the streets after 11pm, they're not there to cause trouble? it doesn't mean tt they won't be in trouble, or tt society will be any better for it. "out of sight, out of mind" is the mentality of a 1-year old. you know, the kind whereby the cognitive skills have not yet kicked in, such tt if it closes its eyes and no longer sees you, it thus assumes tt you are no longer there?
i know tt singapore is very economically-successful, and i am both proud and appreciative of tt. but at the same time i feel tt we may never really be a developed country for some time to come. we don't fit the category of a developed country. sure, we've got the wealth, we've got the money, we're more bustling and vibrant than a lot of other cities - some of which are in developed countries (as listed in global magazines such as the economist); but we seem to have a third-world mentality. i never really thought about tt until i came here. during my eu law module, i was no less than surprised by the amount of emphasis placed on the importance of something like environmental law. and my professor told me tt the reason for this was tt earlier on when the eu was still developing, they had pushed the importance of the environment to the bottom of their priorities, citing the importance of concentrating on economic productivity and growth (does this argument sound familiar? link it to politics and the concept of democracy)... until some people got the bright idea tt this was a third world mentality. a really developed nation is able to consider and balance all factors. sure tt there has to be some measure of opportunity cost somewhere or other, and tt some areas have to have more importance placed on them than others... but still, there is more balance.
and subsequently, a better quality of life.
i mean, sure singapore has a high standard of living, i'm not quabbling with tt. but seriously, everytime you ask your friends in singapore how it's going, you always *always* get answers like:
1) life sucks
2) damn sian
3) bored
4) stressed with work
like wtf. are we really a society of unhappy dumb boring fucks? have we really nothing better to do with our lives other than whine and complain (okay. i have a low tolerance for people who cannot see beyond themselves and move above this recurring state of pathetic self-pity)?
one of my mottos is this: "bored people are boring people." thus as far as i can help it, i never allow myself to get bored (the only times i do get bored is when i am in something like a really draggy intellectual property class... sorry but as long as trademarks and patents are inanimate non-living entities, they will never interest me. anyway tt's forgivable coz i *need* the education. sigh.)
but i don't think tt singaporeans are boring per se. in fact, a lot of us are interesting. and a lot of the people i know (thank god) are interesting. and fun to be with. i think tt there is something wrong with our culture, tt makes us the way we are.
i mean in canada, you can say hi to any one in the lift, around the store, at the counter etc. whenever you ask "hey! how's it going?", the answer is always "i'm good." or "ëxcellent!" or something along those lines. and even if you aren't exactly feeling stellar before, trust me after this exchange you *always* feel uplifted.
and yes i've majorly digressed again, but you get what i mean, don't you?
anyway my point is... if the police want to lessen the paperwork...
why not just do away with the paperwork involved for everyone in lock up? why not just limit it to cases whereby they are charged?
i mean, if the case is closed, the case *is* closed. if the kid's not charged, the kid's not charged. why bother with paperwork tt won't be around in a while?
it's a ridiculous waste of resources tt can be put to better use. yes the police force is efficient, but seriously, i don't think tt the force should put so much emphasis on paper work.
look at other forces like the new york police department, the vancouver police department... any other police department.
no one puts in as much paper work as we do. and they still function all right. they get more cases to deal with, they get more tough stuff to handle, and they do all right all the same. we got less crimes, and yet we have so much fucking work.
don't blame the kids. you're only young once. and while i understand the difficulties with having to deal with errant kids who come into lock-up for getting caught for things like taking stuff from stores, especially if you get a couple dozen cases of tt, underage sex, disorderly behaviour etc...
maybe it's time to look at our own laws and our own procedures.
are we criminalising too many things, some of which shouldn't even be criminalised? *cough s377 cough* are we putting too much weight on procedures and sets of rules regarding things tt need not even have them?
i mean. it's understandable tt we have everything the way they are right now. we are after all, singapore. kiasu like hell and we'll put everything in the rule book as much as possible.
but seriously. it's the goddamn 21st century. we want to be creative. we want to open up. there is no way to encourage creativity among our kids if we won't even allow them to go out at night or to do anything. there is no way to encourage so-called "thinking out of the box" is society continues to place some kind of moral burden (if this police thing isn't putting a moral/legal dimension to something as small as staying out with friends, i don't know what is) on our kids.
if we keep on regulating, we've gone back to 1984 all over again.
i'm just waiting for the advent of the thought police.
and then, "truth" will really be what written by those in power.
mi is a happy girl!!!
tickets to watch:
1) rob thomas on 31st march
2) franz ferdinand and DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE(!!!) on 28th april
*beeg beeg grin*
P.S. i have jumped on tt damn ego bandwagon.
http://kevan.org/johari?name=IzzyTan
do me? (the quiz i mean. don't think otherwise. *bish*)
THE BOOGIE THAT BE
- by The Black Eyed Peas
Yo, you hear 'em sirens
I know you hear 'em
Don't get scared
It ain't five-o (naw)
That's the funk yo (yeah)
Don't act like you didn't know (hun)
It's just the way it goes (yeah)
When you messin' with the funk (yeah)
You bumpin' in the trunk (yeah)
You it's what you want (yeah)
So just bump, the bump, da-bump
Bump, bump, bump it up
[Chorus:]
Bounce boo, to the boogie that be
You know I
Want you to come boogie with me
We can
Dip left, slide right, all night
It's time to be wild, freestyle
It's on and poppin'
Ain't no stoppin'
Us from rockin'
From tonight till ten o'clockin'
In the morning
Got neighbors knockin' (sign 'em now)
Fuck 'em go call them cops and
Watch 'em kids walk and start boppin'
Heads to what that DJ droppin'
He play funk punkin', hip-hoppin'
Breakin' laws, yeah culture shockin'
We be pop lockin' and moshing
I get down and groove to cuts (yeah)
Check mark on all groovin' butts
Now days cats is scared to dare (that's right)
This beat plays, whoo
Here's my chance
Come on girl let's go out there
Dance on the floor, haaaa……
[Chorus]
[Bridge:]
We can dance, and dance, dance
(Come on baby) Said we can dance, and dance, dance
(One more, whoo) I wanna dance, and dance, dance
(Yeah, yeah, yeah) Oh, we can dance, and dance, dance
[Jaime Gomez:]
Fergie's chillin'
Always illin'
The way I make you sway, ya feelin'
That's how it is
Get down and jam
If ya'll don't understand
Check it
Heat rock makin'
Street block shakin'
Club life's great when its house breakin'
Speakers thumpin'
Whole joint jumpin'
Disco funkin' get your booty bumpin'
This beats bangin'
I'm rap talkin'
Sweet beats bangin'
Keep your feet hopping
Dirty dancing
Nasty, naughty
Move that Jessie
Pump it hottie
Cause when I hear music
I just lose it
I wanna do it, with you, you, you, you
And when I hear music
I get in too it
I wanna do it, with you, you
Awwwwwwwwww
[Chorus]
[Bridge]
Come on, freak, freak
(Haaaa)Freak to the beat
(Haaaa)Yeah, freak, freak
(Haaaa)To the beat
(Haaaa)Yeah, freak, freak
(Haaaa)Wanna sound sweet
(Haaaa)Let's freak, freak
(Haaaa)And groove to the beat
Haaaaaaaaaaaaa
Ya'll, what the hell y'all come here for
If your ain't out there on that floor
Your asked me to bringing it, I brought a little more
I'll give it to your warm
Give it to you hardcore
You're all contaminated
I'm gonna keep this pure
Just for your, for yours pleasure
Cause all I wanna' do is have a ball, ya'll
Get on the floor y'all
And freak, freak y'all
[Bridge:]
We can dance, and dance, dance
(Come on baby) Said we can dance, and dance, dance
(One more, whoo, whoo, whoo) I wanna dance, and dance, dance
(Yeah, yeah, yeah) Oh, we can dance, and dance, dance
(Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)
[Guitar solo]
(Haaaaaaaaaaaaa)
[Computerized police siren]
****************************************************************
Feel like clubbing. Hmm.
1) rob thomas on 31st march
2) franz ferdinand and DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE(!!!) on 28th april
*beeg beeg grin*
P.S. i have jumped on tt damn ego bandwagon.
http://kevan.org/johari?name=IzzyTan
do me? (the quiz i mean. don't think otherwise. *bish*)
THE BOOGIE THAT BE
- by The Black Eyed Peas
Yo, you hear 'em sirens
I know you hear 'em
Don't get scared
It ain't five-o (naw)
That's the funk yo (yeah)
Don't act like you didn't know (hun)
It's just the way it goes (yeah)
When you messin' with the funk (yeah)
You bumpin' in the trunk (yeah)
You it's what you want (yeah)
So just bump, the bump, da-bump
Bump, bump, bump it up
[Chorus:]
Bounce boo, to the boogie that be
You know I
Want you to come boogie with me
We can
Dip left, slide right, all night
It's time to be wild, freestyle
It's on and poppin'
Ain't no stoppin'
Us from rockin'
From tonight till ten o'clockin'
In the morning
Got neighbors knockin' (sign 'em now)
Fuck 'em go call them cops and
Watch 'em kids walk and start boppin'
Heads to what that DJ droppin'
He play funk punkin', hip-hoppin'
Breakin' laws, yeah culture shockin'
We be pop lockin' and moshing
I get down and groove to cuts (yeah)
Check mark on all groovin' butts
Now days cats is scared to dare (that's right)
This beat plays, whoo
Here's my chance
Come on girl let's go out there
Dance on the floor, haaaa……
[Chorus]
[Bridge:]
We can dance, and dance, dance
(Come on baby) Said we can dance, and dance, dance
(One more, whoo) I wanna dance, and dance, dance
(Yeah, yeah, yeah) Oh, we can dance, and dance, dance
[Jaime Gomez:]
Fergie's chillin'
Always illin'
The way I make you sway, ya feelin'
That's how it is
Get down and jam
If ya'll don't understand
Check it
Heat rock makin'
Street block shakin'
Club life's great when its house breakin'
Speakers thumpin'
Whole joint jumpin'
Disco funkin' get your booty bumpin'
This beats bangin'
I'm rap talkin'
Sweet beats bangin'
Keep your feet hopping
Dirty dancing
Nasty, naughty
Move that Jessie
Pump it hottie
Cause when I hear music
I just lose it
I wanna do it, with you, you, you, you
And when I hear music
I get in too it
I wanna do it, with you, you
Awwwwwwwwww
[Chorus]
[Bridge]
Come on, freak, freak
(Haaaa)Freak to the beat
(Haaaa)Yeah, freak, freak
(Haaaa)To the beat
(Haaaa)Yeah, freak, freak
(Haaaa)Wanna sound sweet
(Haaaa)Let's freak, freak
(Haaaa)And groove to the beat
Haaaaaaaaaaaaa
Ya'll, what the hell y'all come here for
If your ain't out there on that floor
Your asked me to bringing it, I brought a little more
I'll give it to your warm
Give it to you hardcore
You're all contaminated
I'm gonna keep this pure
Just for your, for yours pleasure
Cause all I wanna' do is have a ball, ya'll
Get on the floor y'all
And freak, freak y'all
[Bridge:]
We can dance, and dance, dance
(Come on baby) Said we can dance, and dance, dance
(One more, whoo, whoo, whoo) I wanna dance, and dance, dance
(Yeah, yeah, yeah) Oh, we can dance, and dance, dance
(Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)
[Guitar solo]
(Haaaaaaaaaaaaa)
[Computerized police siren]
****************************************************************
Feel like clubbing. Hmm.
Monday, February 27, 2006
orh che galore
on sat, i went to cypress mountain to snowboard with ben. was the first time i was going to cypress. we had to take the 7.45am bus from burrard and 4th, and we reached cypress a little before 9am.
got our rentals, passes as well as lessons with a good hour to spare before lessons began, so we tried out boarding for tt hour or so. ben had never boarded before, but tt didn't stop him.
i finally learnt how to turn on sat. albeit really really sporadically and lousily. as always, my highlight of the day were the number of times i fell - on my butt, on my knees, face-first. you know, the usual. the stuff tt gets the snow into your jacket, gloves, pants, beanie etc. and makes your butt really uncomfortably wet. brr.
and it was so cold at cypress! base temp of apparently -11 degrees. and it had to snow. i thought snow would be good coz powder is ALWAYS good, but not when it just snows consistently, it's windy, and you are dealing with snow half the time and ice the other half. cold cold cold.
but yeah, post-lessons we took the chair lift a couple of times. and besides me consistently falling off the chair lift, we took on a few runs. tmd ben is better than me. his first day and he can already turn in both directions. i'm still trying to turn in one. BAH.
when the sky started darkening close to 6pm (yes. we were boarding for 8 hours, excluding lunch, coffee and cigarette breaks!) we took the lifts up to the panorama run. and then somewhere along the way, ben fell into a ravine. which was a horribly traumatic experience for him coz it was cold, he was alone off the trail, and it was sheer hell to get back up. besides the fact tt it was quite some fall and he'd lost all his cigarettes.
but it was all good, cold aside. we took the 7.15pm bus from cypress to lonsdale quay, wet and cold from the melted snow, esp the snow in our pants. brr. were severely famished, and i was developing a cough (i had been falling sick prior to cypress. but with cypress, i was no longer falling. just sick).
craving soup, we decided to brave more cold and travel to the end of robson st for korean hot pot. which was REALLY good, esp considering tt it could be our first meal (the first was half a burger each for lunch, which is quite insubstantial) of the day. hot pot with ham (luncheon meat), sausages, tofu, rice cake, mushrooms, onions, and tau gey in this kim chi based soup. YUM. i was so hungry and happy tt i just gobbled down everything tt i could. it really helped chase away the cold. for tt time in the restaurant, we were warm and happy.
until we went back out into the cold. and my cough came back. i bought a hot chocolate to warm my chest, which worked for a while, except tt in the end the chocolate served to irritate me further, such tt i spent the rest of the bus ride and walk back to totem hacking and coughing so much tt i couldn't even form a coherent sentence. tt wasn't fun. sigh.
and my body rejected the food too. argh.
beyond tt, i concussed at around 1am last night.
only to wake up past 2pm this morning with my legs aching something fierce, with aches in my arms and upper back... and with super huge orh ches from the boarding. my knees are 2 big orh ches, and my butt hurts when i sit down or laugh suddenly. bleah.
but today was rest day, fortunately. if you consider rushing your assignment due the next day and a project thingy due this very night restful.
nonetheless, i got both done by 9pm. met ben for dinner (but only coz i needed cough syrup and i'd realised to my horror, tt my dad *hadn't* packed cough syrup into my bag) at our 2nd fave hangout, and then went over to ka cheow diana. for almost 3 hours. wahaha.
the high and low note came when we ended up watching stupid videos regarding 2 chinese boys lip-syncing to cheesy bsb songs on her laptop.
and so it's 1.48am. and i think i ought to sleep. my cough is irritating the hell out of me. my neighbour actually asked me if i was choking.
got our rentals, passes as well as lessons with a good hour to spare before lessons began, so we tried out boarding for tt hour or so. ben had never boarded before, but tt didn't stop him.
i finally learnt how to turn on sat. albeit really really sporadically and lousily. as always, my highlight of the day were the number of times i fell - on my butt, on my knees, face-first. you know, the usual. the stuff tt gets the snow into your jacket, gloves, pants, beanie etc. and makes your butt really uncomfortably wet. brr.
and it was so cold at cypress! base temp of apparently -11 degrees. and it had to snow. i thought snow would be good coz powder is ALWAYS good, but not when it just snows consistently, it's windy, and you are dealing with snow half the time and ice the other half. cold cold cold.
but yeah, post-lessons we took the chair lift a couple of times. and besides me consistently falling off the chair lift, we took on a few runs. tmd ben is better than me. his first day and he can already turn in both directions. i'm still trying to turn in one. BAH.
when the sky started darkening close to 6pm (yes. we were boarding for 8 hours, excluding lunch, coffee and cigarette breaks!) we took the lifts up to the panorama run. and then somewhere along the way, ben fell into a ravine. which was a horribly traumatic experience for him coz it was cold, he was alone off the trail, and it was sheer hell to get back up. besides the fact tt it was quite some fall and he'd lost all his cigarettes.
but it was all good, cold aside. we took the 7.15pm bus from cypress to lonsdale quay, wet and cold from the melted snow, esp the snow in our pants. brr. were severely famished, and i was developing a cough (i had been falling sick prior to cypress. but with cypress, i was no longer falling. just sick).
craving soup, we decided to brave more cold and travel to the end of robson st for korean hot pot. which was REALLY good, esp considering tt it could be our first meal (the first was half a burger each for lunch, which is quite insubstantial) of the day. hot pot with ham (luncheon meat), sausages, tofu, rice cake, mushrooms, onions, and tau gey in this kim chi based soup. YUM. i was so hungry and happy tt i just gobbled down everything tt i could. it really helped chase away the cold. for tt time in the restaurant, we were warm and happy.
until we went back out into the cold. and my cough came back. i bought a hot chocolate to warm my chest, which worked for a while, except tt in the end the chocolate served to irritate me further, such tt i spent the rest of the bus ride and walk back to totem hacking and coughing so much tt i couldn't even form a coherent sentence. tt wasn't fun. sigh.
and my body rejected the food too. argh.
beyond tt, i concussed at around 1am last night.
only to wake up past 2pm this morning with my legs aching something fierce, with aches in my arms and upper back... and with super huge orh ches from the boarding. my knees are 2 big orh ches, and my butt hurts when i sit down or laugh suddenly. bleah.
but today was rest day, fortunately. if you consider rushing your assignment due the next day and a project thingy due this very night restful.
nonetheless, i got both done by 9pm. met ben for dinner (but only coz i needed cough syrup and i'd realised to my horror, tt my dad *hadn't* packed cough syrup into my bag) at our 2nd fave hangout, and then went over to ka cheow diana. for almost 3 hours. wahaha.
the high and low note came when we ended up watching stupid videos regarding 2 chinese boys lip-syncing to cheesy bsb songs on her laptop.
and so it's 1.48am. and i think i ought to sleep. my cough is irritating the hell out of me. my neighbour actually asked me if i was choking.
"just let me hold you while you're falling apart"
EVER THE SAME
- Rob Thomas
We were drawn from the weeds
We were brave like soldiers
Falling down under the pale moonlight
You were holding to me
Like a someone broken
And I couldn't tell you but I'm telling you now
Just let me hold you while you're falling apart
Just let me hold you so we both fall down
Fall on me
Tell me everything you want me to be
Forever with you forever in me
Ever the same
We would stand in the wind
We were free like water
Flowing down
Under the warmth of the sun
Now it's cold and we're scared
And we've both been shaken
Look at us
Man, this doesn't need to be the end
Just let me hold you while you're falling apart
Just let me hold you so we both fall down
Fall on me tell me everything you want me to be
Forever with you
Forever in me
Ever the same
Call on me
I'll be there for you and you'll be there for me
Forever it's you
Forever in me
Ever the same
You may need me there
To carry all your weight
But you're no burden I assure
You tide me over
With a warmth I'll not forget
But I can only give you love
******************************************************
This song alone is reason enough for me to not regret buying a ticket just to watch him in concert on 31 March 2006.
- Rob Thomas
We were drawn from the weeds
We were brave like soldiers
Falling down under the pale moonlight
You were holding to me
Like a someone broken
And I couldn't tell you but I'm telling you now
Just let me hold you while you're falling apart
Just let me hold you so we both fall down
Fall on me
Tell me everything you want me to be
Forever with you forever in me
Ever the same
We would stand in the wind
We were free like water
Flowing down
Under the warmth of the sun
Now it's cold and we're scared
And we've both been shaken
Look at us
Man, this doesn't need to be the end
Just let me hold you while you're falling apart
Just let me hold you so we both fall down
Fall on me tell me everything you want me to be
Forever with you
Forever in me
Ever the same
Call on me
I'll be there for you and you'll be there for me
Forever it's you
Forever in me
Ever the same
You may need me there
To carry all your weight
But you're no burden I assure
You tide me over
With a warmth I'll not forget
But I can only give you love
******************************************************
This song alone is reason enough for me to not regret buying a ticket just to watch him in concert on 31 March 2006.
Sunday, February 26, 2006
bienvenidas a la vida mexicana!
Welcome To The Mexican Life!
The 8 Feb 2006 - 19 Feb 2006 Mexico Trip Photolog is now up.
Enjoy. :)
P.S. The photolog is very picture-intensive. Please allow for between 5 and 10 min of loading time.
Saturday, February 25, 2006
i hope i never lose that sense of wonder
i was walking to class today (which i was 1 hour late for and would decide tt i would not attend in the end) when i happened to be looking upwards instead of straight ahead.
and for the first time i noticed snow capped mountains framing the buildings of UBC. pretty snow capped mountains, the ones you usually only see in postcards unless you're say... fortunate enough to be able to travel.
it hit me. i was living the dream. ever since JC i'd wanted to study in an overseas institution other than singapore, and while i never did get to go to chicago or LSE, i was here at UBC in canada for 8 months. and who would have thought tt?
and yet, it seemed tt i'd become too desensitized to this place. i'd lost tt sense of awe tt i first experienced when i walked through the airport doors to a pleasant breeze and passed over the lion's gate bridge with its view of the mountains in north van.
it had been very very windy yesterday. the kind of wind tt you fight against to walk through; the kind tt chills you to your bones. and fighting tt wind on my way to the law library it hit me tt i was in a temperate country. i mean, i'd always known tt, but it's one thing to know something as a piece of information, and another to know it intimately and personally.
it scares me, tt i am wasting all the opportunities tt i have here. there is so much to do and see, so long as i take tt extra effort to go do what i want to or see what i want to. there is a wealth of chances to do things like camp, bike, hike, snowboard, travel far and wide, take long long rides out to new places, do things tt i would otherwise not be able to do in singapore...
and yet i have so many wants and not enough actions taken.
the clock is ticking. i can't honestly say tt i am going to come back here again once i return to singapore. if i want to properly live my dream, i have to live it now.
i cannot be desensitived. i cannot lose my sense of wonder.
because without tt wonder, what else is there worth looking forward to?
and for the first time i noticed snow capped mountains framing the buildings of UBC. pretty snow capped mountains, the ones you usually only see in postcards unless you're say... fortunate enough to be able to travel.
it hit me. i was living the dream. ever since JC i'd wanted to study in an overseas institution other than singapore, and while i never did get to go to chicago or LSE, i was here at UBC in canada for 8 months. and who would have thought tt?
and yet, it seemed tt i'd become too desensitized to this place. i'd lost tt sense of awe tt i first experienced when i walked through the airport doors to a pleasant breeze and passed over the lion's gate bridge with its view of the mountains in north van.
it had been very very windy yesterday. the kind of wind tt you fight against to walk through; the kind tt chills you to your bones. and fighting tt wind on my way to the law library it hit me tt i was in a temperate country. i mean, i'd always known tt, but it's one thing to know something as a piece of information, and another to know it intimately and personally.
it scares me, tt i am wasting all the opportunities tt i have here. there is so much to do and see, so long as i take tt extra effort to go do what i want to or see what i want to. there is a wealth of chances to do things like camp, bike, hike, snowboard, travel far and wide, take long long rides out to new places, do things tt i would otherwise not be able to do in singapore...
and yet i have so many wants and not enough actions taken.
the clock is ticking. i can't honestly say tt i am going to come back here again once i return to singapore. if i want to properly live my dream, i have to live it now.
i cannot be desensitived. i cannot lose my sense of wonder.
because without tt wonder, what else is there worth looking forward to?
Friday, February 24, 2006
the 99 b-line
left campus for the first time since coming back from mexico, to assuage my restless spirit. this evening, we took the 99 b-line to broadway and willow to eat almost-singaporean food at banana leaf. but not before visiting the casino in a bid to win money. not tt i played today, seeing as it is tt i have a habit of reversing things tt shouldn't be reversed, but i nearly got a heart attack much more than once nonetheless.
but i guess the casino affair made the food at banana leaf all the more appealing. the char kuay teow and the hainanese chicken rice tasted almost like the real things. but when you're in a place where you have no choice at all, almost like the real thing is almost enough to throw you into an emotional miasma.
it was bright and sunny today, but the wind was strong and oh-so-chilly. one of those rare starbucks-free days, but hot chocolate never tasted better.
oh. and my back is itching and peeling so badly tt i feel like a snake during the moulting season. the flakes of my skin fly off my back almost as easily as the feathers do from my down jacket. most fascinating. i can barely tell the difference. i need moisturiser.
but i guess the casino affair made the food at banana leaf all the more appealing. the char kuay teow and the hainanese chicken rice tasted almost like the real things. but when you're in a place where you have no choice at all, almost like the real thing is almost enough to throw you into an emotional miasma.
it was bright and sunny today, but the wind was strong and oh-so-chilly. one of those rare starbucks-free days, but hot chocolate never tasted better.
oh. and my back is itching and peeling so badly tt i feel like a snake during the moulting season. the flakes of my skin fly off my back almost as easily as the feathers do from my down jacket. most fascinating. i can barely tell the difference. i need moisturiser.
just to whet your appetite...
Things To Do When In Mexico:
(in no particular order)
warning: very unglam photos ahead.
1. Walk (i.e. tour and sight-see)
2. Taxi (coz it's cheap!!!)
3. Drink Coffee (namely, Mexican cappucino)
4. Eat
5. Sleep
6. Engage in Vice
a) Drink
b) Gamble
c) Smoke
d) Others???
"Well. Whatever happens in Mexico, stays in Mexico."
now playing: hotel costes - cafe de flor
(in no particular order)
warning: very unglam photos ahead.
1. Walk (i.e. tour and sight-see)
2. Taxi (coz it's cheap!!!)
3. Drink Coffee (namely, Mexican cappucino)
4. Eat
5. Sleep
6. Engage in Vice
a) Drink
b) Gamble
c) Smoke
d) Others???
"Well. Whatever happens in Mexico, stays in Mexico."
