Tuesday, June 28, 2005

:: Morning, Youth Guidance! ::

today's my second day at work officially as a project servant with SYFC, the place i've been volunteering at. being in this line of work, you get to forge really close ties with fellow workers. the job is testing, and the level of interdependence that exists among the workers really encourages me to no end. on one hand you exercise a sense of responsibility over someone else's life, but on the other hand you learn to depend on the complementing abilities of others when you face difficulties.

many of my colleagues, like myself, are going through rough times in their life. that's why we're more than peers at work. we've become close friends who often exchange heart-to-heart conversations in our free time, and to have fellowship in the love of God together.

it is a precious oppurtunity to be immersed in a working environment where the people put God in the center of their work. where people come together to pray for directions, guidance, wisdom, stamina and strength. where people use God as the main reference point of their work instead of themselves. where people live simply and are encouraged to wash their own office toilets instead of hiring janitors. where God is recognised as the CEO who makes decisions, offers encouragement, inspires His staff and unites them in His love.

this month-long journey has only just begun. i'm looking forward to the days ahead. amazing.

Sunday, June 26, 2005

:: Leftovers ::

Leftovers are such humble things
We would not serve them to a guest
And yet we serve them to our Lord
Who deserves the very best

We give to Him leftover time,

Stray minutes here and there.
Leftover cash we give to Him
Such few coins as we can spare.

We give our youth unto the world
To hatred, lust and strife;
Then in declining years, we give to Him...

The remnant years of our life.

Saturday, June 25, 2005

:: Japan-ish ::

today tomodachi and i headed down to Ken's Noodle House to visit tree at work!! after A LOT of walking and searching, we finally found the place at orchard plaza. i must say the noodles were very authentically japanese.. (unlike ajisen) cos they were made by a japanese.. their boss Ken-san! hahaha.. he looks really stern when he's making the noodles..

the whole interior of the shop is really jap-ish.. authentic japanese architecture and food, japanese magazines, newspapers, comics, and japanese customers. i felt like i was right in japan. it felt good..

sigh.. i can't wait to apply my Waseda scholarship.. i sure hope i can go there for a year.. and have someone else pay for me. this is really exciting! i must resume jap class at JCS next yr muahahahaha.

*daydreams about watching Mika live, waving green glo-stick to Yuki no Hana.*

Thursday, June 23, 2005

:: Issues with the B ::

today i had my medical checkup and once again, was given a dreadful little plastic bottle to tinkle into. i've never been good at this, not since i had a urine-obsessed doctor in my sec sch days who loved to look at patients' pee... even if they were just having a cold. (the patients, not the pee.) once he told me to "go home first, bring the bottle with you, pee at home then come back." apparently i had been depleting his clinic's water supply and still nothing came out. and home i went.

i never treasured my urine more than i did today. i hid in the toilet for about half an hour with sherine (the poor girl had to wait for me.. thanks!), trying to fill the plastic bottle labelled "Teo Pei Jean, SMU". i was getting desperate. i tried everything i could (apart from finishing up 500ml of water), including praying, rubbing my tummy and concentrating on the urinating noise of other people (i heard it stimulates). oh, how i envied them, and mentally smacked myself as i pictured their pee wasted and flushed down the toilet.

when i finally did pee (the nurse thought we went shopping), sherine was delighted, and so was i! i've never felt so happy peeing before.. but its not everyday you're told to urinate into a bottle and have someone else scrutinize it. my pee is precious ok!! more precious than gold and diamonds. it would tell me that i'm a healthy girl, and health is wealth! follow the logic?

after peeing, getting my chest x-rayed, and examined by the doctor (i do love having my blood pressure taken. the inflating thing is really fun), sherine and i held our very large paper bags of our own chests (!!!) and trottled down to century square. i had my yummy teriyaki salmon set again (everyone should try) at the foodcourt and we watched Initial D!

batman begins beats it hands down. and i really think jay chou should go back to writing songs. i thought the ending really sucked, and jay needs to put toothpicks between his eyelids haha. but japan is really nice.. which only makes me wanna go there even more.

Wednesday, June 22, 2005

:: Blogger diarrhoea ::

i spent the whole morning curled up with a book (guess what kind). i don't know how people can "curl up with a book" and claim it is their hobby because seriously, i think i would die. my eyes are bleeding and falling out of their sockets, i'm dehydrated because i didn't take in any water the whole morning except for tea, my whole body is getting numb because i haven't moved a muscle for 4 hours except for flipping the pages, and a mosquito was flying around sucking my B+ blood out of me. i suppose its too heavy to even life a leg now. hoo boy. talk about "lor sor".

Meg Cabot is draining the life out of me, i had half a mind to skip lunch and just finish up the book. fortunately i was rescued by my mum before i turned bonkers, and managed to snap back to the real world and eat my yong tau foo.

talking about blood, there's those blood donation advertisements on the tv and on trains where they show people fighting, falling down, and bleeding. then someone extends a hand. the scene changes around the hand and we find tubes stuck into it, connected to an expanding bag of blood nearby. they mean that instead of making yourself bleed because of fighting, why not donate the blood you lost instead. (i rephrased the forgettable slogan.)

my point is, why didn't they show a case where a girl just sat there and let mosquitos sting her? that's wasting blood too. (or am i the only moron left who does that nowadays?)




before you proceed, the following content is not for the faint-hearted.



speaking of mosquitos too, i've been meaning to share about a sighting i encounter almost on a daily basis. you see, i live next to Tampines Stadium, and would have to walk down the pavement that lines the side of the running track if i want to get anywhere more than 200m from my house. there's this row of green fence that separates the elevated track from the pavement, and you would find Animal Planet-worthy scenes as you trot down......















*scratches mosquito bites on arm*











sorry.
















no that's not a huge lump of oxidised iron... they're ANTS! they're better at mobbing than the taiwanese papparazzi. they built 4 nests along the stretch of fences. one has been vandalised with black spray paint, but they probably prefer it tinted to block the sun hahahaha.

they've been there for months, and the very sight of them would give some goosebumps. however, i never fail to pay them a visit whenever i remember. just watching them do what they do (namely mobbing, stacking... and mobbing) always amazes me. when i stop to stare at them, people in turn, stare at me. can't i admire mobs of ants working hard? its the little things which make the big scheme of things possible. what a shame.

aren't they the cutest things? i just wanna freeze them with hairspray and create ant pudding. how would Bakerz'in like a new dish? or poke them with a twig. hahahaha. i proudly showed them to my cousin and she thought of holding a lighter near the mob and spraying an aerosol can at the flame. as much as i adore the ants, sometimes i conjure images of various methods of annihilating them in my mind. they just look so vulnerable, small and very, very exposed.





something IS wrong with me. must be the books and the bugs. (hey it alliterates.)





meg cabot beckons. resistance is futile.

Monday, June 20, 2005

:: Gai-gai ::

gai-gai means shopping, jalan jalan.. walk walk, see see, buy buy..

i haven't gai-gai-ed for quite a while, so it was really refreshing to have an appointment with my retail therapist again - my wallet.

where else to find cheap and nice stuff but Far East? that's where val and i headed down to.. she also had to run some errands, buying gifts for her mum's dutch clients. have fun in amsterdam girl! pluck a tulip for me.

mum wasn't too happy though.

me: *flashing new top* meeeeee wo mai xin yi~
mum: YOU MAI YI?!?! mai jiang duo yi zuo shen mo?
me: mei ma......
mum: zhen tian chuan xin yi, jiu yi mei you kan dao ni chuan.
me: ..... *scurries away*

this always happens. but somehow, i will always have enough to spend. i don't buy much lah.

mothers.......




shinjite yadoru ai wa utsukushiiiiiiiii~~~

Sunday, June 19, 2005

:: Just another sunday ::

well, technically speaking, it isn't. its actually Fathers' Day.

i have yet to wish my dad a Happy Father's Day. for the first time in my life, i feel a surge of reluctance to offer my dad any pleasant greetings. Happy? far from it. to tell him Happy Father's Day, i would have to lie. some things are better left unsaid.

i used to take Father's Day for granted. at the least, i thought my father would always be there, and be the perfect father that he had always been. for the first time in my life, i experience father's day as a child who actually has to struggle to come to terms with the significance of a day like that. a day of bitter reminders, a day of unspoken and bottled up frustrations, for fear that the day may be ruined.

keeping silent on this day might also be something i will come to regret later on. i'm disappointed in myself, that i bear this grudge against someone who brought me up. that i'm being so petty and unforgiving, and not doing what is right.. but the betrayal is hard to ignore. he hasn't even said a single sorry since all these hoo hah began. i don't know how he can live with his conscience, but i've seen pride get in the way one too many times. i haven't come to a stage where i could forgive a person who is unrepentant.

Father's Day might forever remain a scar in my mind, ugly and permanent. i can cake it with foundation, but the scar will never disappear.

its amazing how i can make Will & Grace references even when i'm feeling down.

for what its worth, i hope all you guys out there enjoyed this special day with your dads. =)

Friday, June 17, 2005

:: Compricated ::

i just received my matriculation package from SMU this morning. it hardly holds a candle to the Britannica-like proportions of my acceptance letter from NUS but its filled with just as much rubbish nonetheless.

matriculation. i had never heard of this word before today.

it's disturbing, no doubt, and i find it highly intimidating that they're throwing foreign terms like matriculation and pedagogy at my face. like i HAVE to know funny words like that in order to prove my worth as someone entering university. ohh i'm so scared.

i don't want to sound like a bimbo getting freaked out by terms that have been appearing since the whole uni application hoo-hah began, considering school is starting soon. but really, do they have to make something simple sound so complicated? couldn't they have conveyed their intentions in simpler english? will i see more things like that when i come out to work? i don't need this. my english just has to be good enough to understand the bible. the recesses of my brain is needed for other far more meaningful thoughts.

should i join orientation? the package is intimidating enough as it is. the last thing i need is someone cracking eggs and pouring flour on my hair, body surf me through the crowd (amidst loud cheering), and dunk me into a pail of tuna oil. oh, the mockery, all in the name of fun.

so many forms to fill in. so many dates to remember. and i know i'm not alone where this great big confusion is concerned. if they're out to throw us off before school starts (by giving us a glimpse of their arsenal of funny vocabulary), congratulations tertiary institutions of singapore, you've done just that. do all adults act and write like this? because i feel like throwing up already.

or maybe i really have to start reading more. and by more, i don't mean chick literature, which i've just borrowed 4 more of from bedok library. God help me.

as for the orientation, i'll think about it later. apparently my day has been ruined by the knowledge that something called urine therapy (urotherapy) exists. they swear by the mantra "Your Body's Own Best Medicine" and claim that it can cure all diseases, including cancer.

i quote from a website who quoted from a man:

In India, urine therapy is called "shivambu": "Had our shivambu rishi (sage), great devotee, propagator and mighty supporter of shivambu movement, centenarian former Prime Minister of India, respected (late) Morarji Desai not boldly and emphatically declared before the world that he drank his own urine regularly and that was the secret of his longevity and exuberant health, the most valuable and beneficial information that is being given to you through this booklet, which can prove to be a boon to our poor country and which is capable of curing a host of diseases ranging from common cold to cancer and arthritis to AIDS, would have remained hidden in some unknown quarters and the entire mankind would have been deprived of shivambu. Really speaking, late Shri Morarjlbhai by his frank and honest declaration has accorded world recognition, glory and greatness to this free yet priceless therapy otherwise considered to be nauseating. The whole world shall ever remain indebted to him for rendering this great humanitarian service. " G.K.Thakkar


for goodness sake. its PEE. what God meant to be discharged, you don't put it back in. that's what toilet bowls are for. next thing you know, there will be SHIT THERAPY. smear it on your face and any skin disease is emeliorated. i know of many other centenarians in rural Japan (famous for its impressive life expectancy) who didn't have to drink their own pee to live that long.

furthermore, longevity should not be one of our aims in life. but thats another topic altogether.

right, i think i've ranted enough. i will go dig a hole, bury myself, and fill out the tuition grant form for the gahmen, or i'll have to pay 20K a semester to study at SMU. good day.

:: In conjunction with the Reading campaign... ::

Chick novels rock my world. I just finished a book by Princess Diaries' author Meg Cabot called Every Boy's Got One. one of those soppy romantic novels about commitment-phobic guys changing their minds when the female-lead came along.. and yes, i'm a sucker for happy endings. what happens after that, i do not care. just end happy.

call me a hopeless romantic but at least these stories have failed to thwart my perspective of love in real life, unlike what it has done to more impressionable female readers. i just like reading them i guess, because your brain doesn't have to work as hard when you read about people falling in love, as opposed to, say, how oil will run out in Saudi Arabia in 35 years and the geopolitical consequences that will follow. i enjoy the simpler vagaries of life.

interesting format i must say.. written in the form of email exchanges and travel journals both handwritten in books and recorded in PDAs. there's the occasional document sample of menus, boarding passes, receipts and telegrams. so cute! most were in Italian, since the story was set in Le Marche, an obscure part of the boot-shaped continental plate.

its quite an unlikely pairing portrayed in the story. Guy is super-smart and hides in bomb caves in Libya and Baghdad, writing articles for The Journal. Girl is a cartoonist and is so bimbotic that all the Colosseum reminds her of is a Britney commercial, rather than its historical significance. she also avoids squatting toilets at all costs (like me), and can crap a whole lot about it in her travel journal. but alas, a novel is a novel, and Meg Cabot managed to execute the whole flow of events with great poise and wit.



gawd i can't believe i just blogged about a book. in the kind of english you only have when the book's sentence structure is still fresh in your mind. tmr i shall head down to bedok library to hunt for more Meg Cabot or other chick novels with colourful covers and blurbs describing chic urbanites falling hopelessly in love.

and that's only because tampines library sucks no less than the door-less toilets in china.

Monday, June 13, 2005

:: Sando-ichi ::

today at volunteer work, the kids had a sando-ichi making competition for lunch! our group had a blast buying ingredients and getting to work. here are the very happy-looking end results!


edmund's sandwich cleverly exploits the mushroom's curvature for eyebrows.


eldridge's sandwich has blackcurrant bogies! *dig dig dig* how appetising.


jerome's sandwich has tomato ears. his won the "nicest sandwich" award!


jia min's the culprit for depriving me of anymore roller coasters to decorate my sandwich with. he does love his roller coasters..


warda's sandwich looks neat and tidy! typical girl sandwich hahaha. everything must be in place.


ohhh guess whose guess whose?! (clue: its roller coaster-less) YES IT'S MINEEEEE~ i also used spicy tuna instead cos i love me spicy food.


we had lotsa fun making the sandwiches and eating them.. after which we played Wheel of Fortune and had an anagram solving competition!

this holiday program is also a good oppurtunity for us to share the gospel with the children. although they might not understand its implications yet, (heck, even some adults don't) we're just planting the seed and praying that someday it will grow in their hearts. will post the group pictures real soon! just have to wait for yoke khee to come back from frolicking in the Alps and gorging on Swiss chocolates. oh boy, that would be in 13 days.......... sigh.

i have such great fun interacting with these kids, getting to understand them, teaching them, listening to their innocent nonsense.. they make me understand how important it is to guide the younger generation and how adults are responsible for making or breaking their future and lives. what a meaningful thing to do! not to mention getting to make kick-ass sandwiches hahahahahahahaa.

Sunday, June 12, 2005

:: So long, and thanks for nothing! ::

the world thrives on meritocracy. you see it everywhere.

you see it in school.
teacher: ok. those who can get 90 and above for the next test, teacher treat you all to meh-donner happy meal. whoever can get full marks, teacher bring you to zoo eat Ben and Jerry ice cream.
students: yay!!!

you see it at home.
mother: ah boy ah, if you can get 2 band 1s or more for this CA, mummy buy you new heely shoes. chinese not band 1 neh-ver mine.
son: yay!!!

you see it at work.
boss: eh mark, our client loved your idea! next time give you more projects to handle. will put in a good word for you at the next board meeting. wahh you torkong ah. keep up the good work.
mark: yay!!! (ok he didn't.)


however, we don't see it at church. as Christians living in this world, we were told to sing to a different tune. no work we do is worthy of praise and gratitude because they're just our duty. and nothing we do can go beyond the call of duty either.

but its never easy isn't it. it isn't easy to slog off for something and let the efforts seemingly go unnoticed and unadmired. it isn't easy to do that extra bit of household chores and have your mum not see it. it isn't easy to have studied hard and not get into the course you wanted. it isn't easy to have worked for 20 years and get no promotion.

it isn't easy to be humble and think that you do not deserve something in return for all you've done.

but who ever said it was easy to take up the cross and follow Jesus. we constantly have to be out of step with what the world teaches us. and we have good reason to, but that would add another 1000000 words to my entry.

submission is the new promotion. i hope any desire i may have for self-glorification will disappear like the tropical rainforests.

Thursday, June 09, 2005

:: Uneager? ::

after a long hiatus, i've updated eager4heaven again! had half a mind to ditch the 2-blog bandwagon and post everything here but i realised that there are still some materials i can put up there. plus, i like the layout alot hahaha.

douzo~

Tuesday, June 07, 2005

:: Coldmail ::

From : Hotmail Member Services
Sent : Monday, June 06, 2005 4:00:01 PM
To : jean_teo@hotmail.com
Subject : Coming Soon: MSN Hotmail Storage Space – Free Upgrade

Exciting Upgrade News!Dear MSN Hotmail Member,As part of our on-going commitment to improving our customers’ experience, by the end of August we’ll increase the storage capacity of your MSN® Hotmail® account from 2 MB to 250 MB, and increase your attachment size from 1 MB to 10 MB, at no cost to you.!





they have finally come to their senses. but alas, i have my gmail. handy for file transfers when one's router is failing.... or in the event of a windows-mac war.... or both.

who wants invites?

Sunday, June 05, 2005

:: Plasir de Chanson ::

tpchoir's concert title, which i cannot pronounce until today.

Plasir de Chanson took place last night.. thanks to yunjun, hau yiang, the two kelvins, shu juan and cliffton + cliffton's BMT mate kevin for attending!

special thanks to tomodachi for attending and for the chocssss. thanks to tree for the sms~

thanks to the juniors for putting in lots of effort for this concert too.. i know we may not be the best around, but i'm very very proud of you guys because you have come a really long way..

to amadeus, we've done well for the concert~ now lets work hard for WASBE! can u imagine... if japan hadn't mixed up tuesday and sursday, we might have been able to peform there........................ AHHHHHHH WHAT HAVE THEY DONE......

there are always interesting sights and sounds during a concert i guess. for one, nelson has gotten heavier yet again. his tie swished around and never touched his beltline. but alas, its nelson's rotund-ness that makes him so nelson doesn't it?

and then there were the guys who put on more make up than i did.

last but not least.. my very special junior edwinnie is really quite a sight. people who never saw him in action would have been stunned by his antics, but the flamingo is seemingly unperturbed by stares that come his way. before the concert he had come up to me and pointed to his yet-again-caked-face asking "is this natural? is this natural?" i found the question underserving of any comments to say the least, but one must patronise.

"is it ever?" i retorted.

"aiyerrrr you very bad lehhh." he said, and jokingly stormed off in a huff.


when the concert ended, i found him standing at the edge of the stage, waving and blowing kisses to a mob of MJchoir friends at the bottom, most of whom were my ahs juniors. "hold my hands first!! hold my hands first!!!" he exclaimed excitedly. i went off without ever knowing what happened after.

if you think you've seen every kind of person, you haven't met edwinnie.

Thursday, June 02, 2005

:: Yummylicious-ness ::

haven't gotten around to posting pictures from my outing with tomodachi and tree on sunday. after much delay, countless obstacles and setbacks, we fought hard and Happy Exchange Day materialised in the end! we trekked through the ghost town that was Raffles Place on a weekend, found the place, and happy eating commenced. had such great fun with them.. hanging out with them never fails to renew me. here are the pictures of the cakes we had at Bakerz'in/Baker's Inn.. i dunno about the inconsistency in their shop title but the cakes rock anyw-- aye aYe AYE!! WATCH THE DROOL!! *wipes wet keyboard in disgust*



Tree's Mocha souffle was practically edible foam. it had amazing texture and the small cup of expresso packed quite a punch! i didn't know it was humanly possible to create foam like that. very coffee-ish and eye-opening!


leslie's apple tart thingy. boy it was pretty big in proportion to its price.. (mine was smaller and more ex. -_-) oozing with warm apples from its crispy crust and topped with vanilla ice cream (and a useless piece of peppermint leaf). oishii desune~


my warm chocolate cake. your typical big plate, small food dish. (leaf makes its appearance again.) the chocolate cake had a piece of sweetened orange peel at the bottom to act as a base. i ate it, not feeling very sure about whether i was supposed to. quite diulian.

went to town after that.. Cine, Palagon.... and i bought two packs of jap karee (pronounced kah-rehh). time spent with good friends always flies by quickly. such are the simple pleasures i enjoy in life. it was a happy sunday indeed. =)

Descant

Will your anchor hold
In the storms of life?
When the clouds unfold
Their wings of strife?
When the strong tides lift
And the cables strain
Will your anchor drift,
Or firm remain?

We have an anchor
That keeps the soul
Steadfast and sure
While the billows roll
Fastened to the Rock
Which cannot move
Grounded firm and deep
In the Saviour's love

Social Butterfly

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