Time Elapsed

:p sudah lama aku tak ber-blog. Sorry! Merry Christmas, Happy New year, Happy Chinese New Year, Happy Valentine’s day and all that shiz.

Edinburgh is still lovely, and less cold than when it was in winter. Nothing beats my experience in a Canadian winter, though. Haven’t even used the winter jacket I brought over–it’s now dumped into storage in the living-room closet.

My punter & I on the river Cam! He wasn't too happy about looking unglam in the life jacket.

I’ve been travelling a LOT. I went to Cambridge to visit a friend, and was awed by the 36 different colleges and how they fit together as the University of Cambridge… It’s a very pretty and quaint town, and punting on the river Cam was cold but fun. :) We also went to a beautiful orchard in Grantchester–which was, unfortunately, quite dead at this time of the year! I’ll be back in summer to have tea there again.

Portree harbour, Isle of Skye!

The flatmates and I went on a crazy impromptu roadtrip to the Isle of Skye! :D We saw highland cows, heaps of sheep, waterfalls, cliffs, rolling hills, countless lochs… Photos are on fb. Apart from that, it is a year of musicals… Since coming to Edin, I’ve watched this Glee tribute show, The Secret Garden, HAIRSPRAY!!!!, Annie, and am going to watch Fiddler on the Roof today, as well as Footloose tomorrow :)) Excitement excitement!!

Steph & I strutting the scrubs. Yeah, I'm having stress zits on my chin.

Have gone through my gastrointestinal and locomotor rotations and emerged (somewhat) unscathed! Hallelujah and praise God for the results I managed to get :) Still need to work on my clinical skills, but at least my theory is solid enough. Currently on my cardiovascular rotation, which is quite fun. :) Have an AMAZING professor guiding us (not that my previous two weren’t equally amazing).

Daniel and I were fairly amused that one of the cardio consultants we shadowed for an evening still games (WoW, Doom, etc)… FULLY INSPIRING. :) That has made up my mind to purchase Starcraft II after my cardio exam on the 11th of March.

My Valentine's surprise! :) a hand-made pendant, from old silver rings.

I had a good Valentine’s day :) received stuff that made me smile in the post, and had a nice long skype call.

Not much else to say, apart from the fact that I’m finally fitting into church and cell and whatnot… a year of new ventures! Instead of singing on the worship team, I am playing the keyboard (albeit somewhat badly). Everyone is very nice and forgiving :p

Till next time! xx

German Christmas Market @ Princes Street Gardens

It’s been a while since I wrote a proper blogpost, apologies. With the advent of Aria, my leetle iPhone 4, I’ve gotten lazier and resorted to micro-blogging on twitter (see sidebar on right). But yes, Christmassy treats in Edinburgh! Went to the Christmas market with flatmate Gillian and her friend Nicola. Walked there, but unfortunately, we got splashed with SLUDGE from the road when two cars sped by…ugh. Gill and I got the brunt of it, but thankfully my black polka-dot coat didn’t show it, and she managed to use this miracle cleaning thing her mum gave her to get rid of the stains. Phew! So much for pleasant drivers…

I was quite excited as it was the first time I was going (first time in Edin, duh), and a couple of days before I’d seen them setting up a Ferris wheel (squeeeal!) and other colorful rides. :) So sue me, I am amused easily.

Behold the Christmas Market! :)) Whee~

Anyway. We arrived and honestly, I was surprised at how many stalls had been set up! Yours truly, being a hopeless city girl, had only previously ventured along the commercial part of Princes Street (cough, Miss Selfridge and The Body Shop) and neglected the gardens portion–never realized how much space was in that stretch beside the road.

It’s the SEASON OF THE YEAR! the musical

I know it’s quite late to do promo, seeing that the show is less than 2 week away.. but nevertheless! PREEE-SENTINGGG….

Yes, you already guessed it–I’m playing a role in it hence the shameless promo, ha ha.

Showtimes are~
25th December: 10.00am & 8.00pm
26th December: 2.30pm & 8.00pm
27th December: 7.30pm

5 SHOWS, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!

You will require a ticket for entry, but tickets are FOC! They are merely to prevent overflow of the auditorium.

However, I heard that tickets are running out really fast, so please check out my church’s website for more information!

What’s the musical about? Well, its a journey following the Lee Family through the Christmas season, and the various events that crop up along the wau. The central message of the musical is that there is more to life. If you’re expecting a shiny, Las-Vegas-y musical filled with sinful fun and delinquents, you’ll be surprised. Season of the Year! takes Christmas and life down to a gritty, truthful, even uncomfortable, core.

My character is the daughter in the family. If you want to know what she’s like, you have to watch it to understand. All I can say is that it’s been a real challenge to undertake the role because she’s nothing like me in real life… You might be afraid of me even, haha.

Nothing to do for Christmas? Interested in seeing a great show for free? Call the SIBKL office at +603-7957 2701 now!

SEE YOU THERE! :DD

Sense of Accomplishment

Yup. It’s been an okay week. Despite not being able to meet my 1.30 target bedtime since the “treatment” plan started on Monday night, I’m on track with everything else. Tonight, I was able to write about 50% of my selectives report, leaving the other half for when I get more data about the treatment phase in my project. Ah, bliss; one worry lessened. Hung out with Rae & David while writing it. Rae studied for her last exam, which is tomorrow. All the best, love! :) Dea’s at a camp right now, can’t wait for her to come back so we can all hang out and update each other fully!

Also, I bought the OldTown White Coffee 2010 organizer. I couldn’t resist after Rae showed me how she customized hers to look very chio! Having second thoughts now, though–I’m really quite attached to my Starbucks 2009 organizer and was really looking forward to making my own refills… We’ll see how I feel after selectives end and I have less on my mind.

Attended meetings for the IMU Ball and MEDT1/08 convocation magazine planning this week. There’s a lot to do, and not that much time left; need to make good use of time. We have good committees for both things, so hopefully the enthusiasm keeps up and everything falls into place before deadlines creep up on us. Semester 5 won’t be as light as Semester 4, especially with the heavy-duty MSK & CNS! 

Musical rehearsals aren’t letting up anytime soon, with performance dates approaching mercilessly. Oh, if you want to attend, you need to tell me by Friday so that I can put in my request for tickets! They’re fast running out. For more information, see the Facebook invite that I sent out for “Season of the Year! the Musical“. :) It’ll be held in my church, SIBKL. A 5-performance run beginning Christmas day. You get to see me play an interesting character–very unlike who I am in real life. It’s been a real journey. The script for the musical is completely original, as are the songs (with the exception of one parody). Admission is free, so what are you waiting for?

It’s a little sad that I can’t do much in the days leading up to Christmas–will be heavily involved in the final practices for the musical. But at the same time, when all the performance excitement is over, I’ll hunger for more again… Self-control, Jade! There’s a flipside to every coin. :)

I’m in a strange mood right now. Don’t know how to describe it–somewhat peaceful and wistful about life. 

Had a nice dream yesterday.

(Could be the caffeine from the xi mut milk tea I had earlier.)

IMUCF+CSS: Christmas 2009

NB: Long post, so it’s been truncated into a “click me to read more” format. :)

So! These two days have been nonstop days of sugar and fun. :)) MERRY CHRISTMAS! For this year’s Christmas celebration by IMU’s CF+CSS (Christian Fellowship + Catholic Students’ Society), I didn’t sing/perform, but instead, I helped plan the doorgifts. I love making pretty things (and no, Ben, not babies).

Yesterday, the CF peoples helped make the doorgifts, which were customized bookmarks + shiny plastic star accessory + swirly lollipop + pretty ribbon! I’d pre-bought everything on Monday & Tuesday, so it was just an assembly line last night as we bertungkus-lumus-ed to finish making all 450 of the gifts… phew!

A separate bunch of 24 were also made for lecturers/staff, which were decorated tealight candles + glass tealight holders wrapped up in fancy tissue wrap. The extras ended up being given out as trivia prizes. Many thanks to everyone who helped to make the doorgifts: those who sketched stars, cut the stars, punched holes in the bookmarks & stars, glued the bookmarks, cut the ribbons, tied the ribbons… et cetera. :) Many hands really made the work more enjoyable & faster!

Back to today!

Tis’ the season

It’s Christmas fever all over again! :) As commercial as it gets, Christmas still boils down to a celebration of the gift of Life from God, and a time to draw near to family & friends as the year peters out to its last few days.

I’ve changed my banner for the season, and yes, you get to look at my happy little face every day of the Christmas month when you visit to read, nyek nyek. Like the obviously-drawn-on Santa hat? :)) AND MY 1337 PHOTOSHOP SKILLS? 

The IMU CF Christmas event is this Thursday, 3rd of December, at the IMU BJ campus! Do drop by in the afternoon to be blessed with a sumptuous lunch, and then at night to see the special program that’s being prepared. For what but the greatest gift of all comes from above? 

What are you doing in the days leading up to Christmas? Don’t let it all go to waste!

p.s. – for the sake of having a cute and functional tag cloud, I have spent the last hour or so tagging all my 2009 posts. When I hit the mid-point mark, I couldn’t take it any longer… SO YOU WILL ALL HAVE TO DEAL WITH 2008 BEING UNTAGGED. x______x luff, Jade.

Blessed Christmas!

:D Merry Christmas, from the bottom of my heart!

The day to commemorate our Lord’s birth has finally arrived, and in full swing! For He came to give us life, and that we may have it abundantly.

I hope and wish that everyone will have a wonderful Christmas, celebrating with family, friends, and loved ones.

For those still having exams around the corner, may this be a time of refreshment and encouragement to you! All the best!

<3

Copper-colored Curls

…are exactly what my hair is right now. :) Whee!

After running some errands with mummy, we went to get our hair done at Trendz Salon @ Subang Sheraton. Jayne, who owns the salon (and its newly-opened branch in Hilton PJ), was trained in the U.S. of A. and is really good at coloring hair, perming, AND cuts too, for really reasonable prices!

:DDD I reaaaallllyyy like my new hair! It’s a subtle, coppery shade, with freshly-permed curls. She gave me cute bangs that aren’t too lala, but just right. Took aaaaages for the perm + treatment + coloring, but it was definitely worth the wait. The only thing I dislike about perms, though, is not being able to wash your hair for 2 whole days, blergh. I usually wash my hair everyday because I can’t stand how grody it gets…

I’d post a picture, but when I tried taking pics of my hair, the color didn’t quite show up… SO you’ll have to wait until you see me in real life, k? :) Hehe.

While at the salon, I was flipping through multiple copies of women mags, all chock-full of Christmas partying tips, makeup advice, wardrobe suggestions, event information… SO COMMERCIAL LAH. I can’t deny that I was all wide-eyed, absorbing all the pretty shimmery new looks and dreaming of owning more than one of the new dresses I saw. Guilty! Hah. But all the fun served up to us during Christmas is pretty hedonistic, and misses the reason for the season (oooh I rhymed). I guess there should be a balance between the two, because there’s nothing wrong with having fun gatherings with your friends, but at the same time, the main reason behind Christmas is remembering our Lord Jesus Christ’s birth.

BUT BUT BUT I’M SO EXCITED! :D I have two weddings to attend that are coming up: one is at the end of December, and the other is during the first weekend of January. Just managed to get dresses for both events yesterday, only because mummy dragged me away from my incessant RO-ing. That means dressing up, MOREEEE photos, and a celebration of love between two people (where all the guests get to oooh and aaahh at the gorgeous couple). Makes me wish I was getting married. :))

Yeah, right, Li Yen. WAIT FOR AT LEAST ANOTHER 10 YEARS K. Finish up your studies first and wait on God’s timing.

^_________________^ Mehh. I just had a good day, and I feel pretty.

SO SUEEEE MEEEE.

“It’s the most wonderful time of the year~~~”

Once Upon a December

<3 It’s December! And that means it’s also the beginning of the Christmas season. I miss having white Christmases, though this is the second non-white Christmas I’ve had in the past 5 years. There’s something sentimental and peaceful about watching the snow fall, drifting lazily down in the dim moonlight, while being snuggled up in a wool blanket with someone special… clutching a mug of steamy hot chocolate / mocha with mini-marshmallows. And right beside is the gently glowing Christmas tree, all adorned with tinsel, lights, and tiny ornaments. Siggggh. :))

Futsal today (Monday, the 1st) was quite fun! I think I was more tuned in today, though I got tired and had no energy to run around by the last hour. Patrick and Ashvin, Rae’s boyfriend, joined in today. I think they both had fun, because they said they’d be back. :D

I’ve been tagged by Rae! Yet another meme.

Rules & Regulations:
1.Do not copy answers
2.The tag questions must be 100% the same
3.Tag people after doing tag
4.No tagging back

I tag:
1. Dea
2. Cecilia
3. Joel
4. Brian
5. Joe
6. Jason
7. Boon Hong
8. Teddy
9. Darren

Click to read. :) I’ve decided to do this so the memes don’t stretch the page unnecessarily.