Chinese New Year in a box!

The new year passed without a single pineapple tart... until today.

My mother for the first time heeded my pretenses of "haiyah, dun need to send new year goodies lah, so far, so expensive" and really didn't send anything this time! I only got the token angpow.

Lionel and family, however, took pity on me and decided to send me a box of their homemade pineapple tarts. And so I've been checking my pigeon hole everyday for the last week until I received this:
Of course on seeing the pierre cardin box, I realised I'd give up new year goodies for a new pair of shoes. But it was not to be.
This is aunty's typical way of packing stuff to minimise impact. Also because she says "tissue paper in London very expensive one! Singapore very cheap!"

And to my surprise, it wasn't just pineapple tarts (which thankfully haven't gone mouldy), but also cashew biscuits (my favourite!) and shrimp rolls (which I'm devouring now!).
Finally, some REAL festive cheer!

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In other news,

MSoc's CNY dinner was crap

The tiny ISE dinner (which I wasn't present for, but joined later for drinks) was fun and nice to have Hai back.

Shisha and chill out at Chrissy, Jun and Wui Seng's place was a nice way to end the day. No mahjong though. That's the only dissapointment.

Unmotivated

I knew this would happen. I CANNOT be left alone to do a research project. I hate FYP. I hate reading papers. I will NEVER do my PhD BECAUSE I hate reading papers. I can't manage my own academic time. I need short milestones and lots of goals.

My FYP is going up in smoke. My exam results had better be absolutely brilliant!

Ash Wednesday 2007

Today also marks the first day of Lent.

It's an incredibly trying period to be good.

Should I skip my 12pm lecture so I can make it to the Union Dining Hall early enough, since I have to be Eucharistic minister today?

It really is difficult to be good.

Recustomising

I did a stupid thing and forgot to save my old template.

In the meantime, I haven't got the time to redo the layout just as it used to be. I'm an idiot. Yes.

Later.

On the subject of Birthdays!

And you know I never fail to embaress Sugi every birthday!! LOL!

Happy 24th Birthday Sugs!!! The older you get, the better to marry you off!!!
Hope you had a great birthday with family, nieces and nephews, and with any luck the guys remembered and did not torment you too much on your special day. Hugs all the way from across the... erm... Atlantic? One day I *have* got to look up a world map.

Sorry for the late wishes... I only got back at 11pm after being tormented by the EE 3rd years (AGAIN!! why do I do this to myself???) at Chong Ka's birthday feast prepared by the folks at Emperor's Gate. I miss my old flat... a lot!

Alright, that's all I can muster today... I'm falling asleep already. Everyone's birthday is special... zzzZZZzzzZZzzzZZZZ

My response to "A Response to the gay adoption article" in this week's Felix

Re: Letters to the Editor, Felix #1373 and "Gay Adoption - Where's the Crime?", Felix #1372


The Felix is getting out of hand recently. Earlier this academic year, it allowed a writer to come forth and write most insensitively about Islam. All further editorial responses to the mass of letters to the editor were mostly defensive with liberal use of "freedom of opinion and speech" and further ridicule of the writers of the letters.

Last week in Felix #1372, an anonymous writer addressed the issue of the Catholic Church's stand on gay adoption. While it is fine to question the controversy, I believe it is not in any way alright for one to use this issue to belittle Christians and Muslims (as the article also added).

The real issue in the article, as Andy Sykes suggests, is "that adoption cases should be sonsidered on an individual basis, whether they come from hetero- or homosexual couples". However I am of the opinion that the editor failed to recognise that the writer was attacking the Christian community under the pretense of addressing the adoption issue.

Much of the article did not include the Church's true statements on the adoption issue, nor the government's stand (led by a Catholic nonetheless) but instead merely focused on the homophobic Christian/Catholic Church.

It IS a misconception that Christians are homophobic. What Christians condemn are polygamous sexual relationships, which happen to both hetero and homosexual couples. The main problem that Catholic adoption agencies have with placing a child in the care of same-sex couples is that, after much research, the Church has found same-sex relationships to be very unstable. Using the same argument, Catholic adoption agencies are unlikely to place children in the care of unstable hetero-sexual couples.

The reason for such stringent regulations is not deeply rooted in the Church's moral beliefs (as many would like to resent) but in the fact that children from Catholic adoption agencies are usually the most difficult cases to place (i.e. children with disabilities, etc.). Rather than risk putting a difficult child with an unstable couple, the agencies would rather safe guard against it.

There is nothing immoral to be viewed about this entire situation nor the Church's view on morality. However it amazes me what little it takes to provoke any form of resentment against the Church. If freedom of opinion and speech are so greatly prized, then freedom for Christians to believe should not be compromised either.

Gongxi Gongxi lu sama family!

In the spirit of Chinese New Year and muhibbah-ness, my mother sent me a CNY greeting in... Malay?

Anjing pegi, Babi mali
'sueh' pegi, 'ONG' mali
Untong untong manyak kali
Hali hali suka hati
Kena ekor kena loteli
Gongxi Gongxi lu sama family

And they say we don't integrate enough? I think, just like Manglish, there should be a special way to term the brand of Malay the Chinese speak and have come to call their own.

And for once my mother actually sent me an entertaining forwarded sms!

San Nin Fai Lok!

Before the doggie year goes out, and because I was born at the tail end of it and deserve to wag ecstatically, here's wishing everyone a Happy Chinese New Year.

Kong Hei Fatt Choy!!!

I will be buried under mountains of cooking from this afternoon onwards, and towing a bunch of freshers (the non-Chinese ones probably) to Chinatown for the massive celebrations (and I hope they'll escape alive).

And I will be refuting all claims by Sandip and David that I'm being racist by holding a reunion dinner in Linstead only for the Chinese. Just because I didn't invite them. It's not like Dave invites us to any Canadian celebrations!

Spice up your coffee!

Here's a tip... the next time you brew that next cup of coffee...
try adding:

whole cloves (just a pinch)
a cinnamon stick (just a stick)
and a star of anise (just a star)

for extra kick - add chilli powder!

Just the extra sizzle for a cold rainy night!
and for more hot drink recipes, click where it's pink!

It's times like this I think I'm going to miss London's cold winters.

And then I think how much I'm going to miss the theatre
The old cobbled roads
The quaint little shops
The Thames
And the lovely old buildings
And the cars whizzing by on those old old roads
Yeah I think I'm gonna miss London.

As well as making my own lunch like this:

Tiada masa lah...

Sebab malam ini aku akan dihibur oleh Evita. Janganlah menangis untuk aku...

On another note... I need to stop acting like a fresher and grow up. And that includes getting my work done on time and not yak away until 5 in the morning.

Meanwhile heard in room D5...

"You know I have two grandmothers? Eh, you also got two grandmothers???!!!"
"Erm, doesn't everybody?"

USA just wanna kay poh China's business only...

This made me laugh out loud (something I don't normally do to avoid disturbing the neighbours) this morning.

Mr Brown's response to the US's response to China shooting down their own satellite.

China Rocks

Click and listen lah!

Everyday I try to go out and grab lightning... but it always strikes me down...

Charlotte is still busy, with this:


At least she's done with the designing part, and hopes to see the pillars at the Sherfield walkway plastered with eyes when she walks past them today. The fruits of her labour had better be... well... fruitful.

The week ahead looks stormy, with her many many to-do lists set to rain upon her.

If she had more time, she'd wanna finish this:
but lately her head hits her pillow before she can even pick it up...

When she isn't busy drafting up her to-do lists, she's humming the following songs in her head, the ultra stylish I write Sins not Tragedies, and (forgive her for taking a liking to American Teeny Rock Wheatus-sound-alikes) Geeks get the Girls by American Hi-Fi





and if she finds her guts, she'll be singing this at the EE Revue next month:



(the Mandy Moore version lah, but the New Radical's video is cooler)

She still has no time to read the papers or browse news-blogs, but recently this made her happy:
Fun programme to teach students about integration
because she's mellowed and become optimistic and hopes this will not fail (and if all goes well should replace the ridiculous National Service tragedy that has befallen her country), oh and because she likes camping anyway.

And because she leads such a fast paced life and finds it difficult to leave time for simple things like sitting in the park, enjoying the sun and praying... she's had to download prayers-as-you-go to her iTunes to well, pray as she goes. Religion in the 21st century? Or just a reminder not to worship her laptop and feel like life is crashing down on her when her internet is taken away.
And now its back to starting her busy schedule for the week. Thank you for listening.