clean linen

Yesterday, Alekx gave me a link to this comic strip about hippos (Sorry about the size, I can't seem to make it any bigger! Click on it to get a bigger image): I wonder what the artist was thinking when he/she drew this comic strip! Erm... the hippos are cute, yes. But, a hippo with wings? I don't get the message behind the comic strip... if there is a message to begin with. My family and many of my friends know that my favourite animal is the hippopotamus. It has been the hippo ever since I was a kid. And I think the one who began my love for hippos is my soft toy named Hippo. If you look carefully, actually she (yes, I've given it a gender, and it is a "she") is a cow, something my siblings tried pointing out to me many years ago when we were much younger. But I refused to believe them. Hippo was a hippopotamus. I have since realised I was mistaken, and my siblings were right. She is a cow named Hippo, because hippos don't have horns. But cows have horns. An...

On Monday, I was really glad to be back in school. On Tuesday, I woke up with a ridiculously bad sore throat. Throughout the day, I was talking really softly. Hz also had to cook 'sick food' again - 'ABC' soup with rice: On Wednesday, I woke up with a stuffy nose. My throat wasn't as sore anymore, but my nose was being very annoying. My voice had already begun to deepen. And to top things off, I was trying to put on my contact lens before leaving for small group, and I think I accidentally washed the left side of my contact lens down the sink, because it has mysteriously disappeared. So I'm stuck with having to wear my glasses everywhere I go for the next two weeks or so. Good on you, Lynn Ern. Last night, small group meeting was simple and good. We also ended earlier, and I actually got home by 10pm! It was really nice to get home by 10, and to be in bed by 10:30 on a small group night. So I may have slept a little earlier, but I didn't sleep well at all la...

My last semester in uni has begun! As weird as this sounds, I'm actually glad that I've readings to cover and classes to attend now. The past week of doing absolutely nothing was great, but it felt wrong wasting time like that! So, I'm happy school has begun again. I also went over to Tzen's house for dinner with Tzen and Trang. Tzen cooked green curry, while her housemate made Paneer (an Indian dish) and dark chocolate cheesecake. THEY WERE ALL DELICIOUS! We had a FANTASTIC time chilling, chatting and catching up with each other. As usual, we talked about the future and what we had in mind. And it saddened me to think about how we were all going to be much further apart in terms of physical distance after we graduate. Well, Tzen and I will graduate this year. Trang has another year in Nottingham before she graduates. On Sunday, I stayed on in church for Impact Leaders' Training after attending the 11:15am service with John and Johnston. And a few people, upon hear...

All too quickly, my one week of slacking has flown by and less than half of the weekend is left for me to waste away. Today was one of my most productive days out of the entire week. First, I wrote a letter to be posted. Then I went to Beeston to do a little bit of shopping and to get groceries. I wanted to get a mini address book for myself to put everyone's addresses together into one place. At Ryman, I found a simple address book, and I also spent time looking at nonsensical things. I ended up buying this sheet of stickers! They are bright and colourful. And they had hippos! So, I bought it impulsively. I have decided to seal envelops with these very happy stickers. So, if I send you snail mail, you'll get one of these stickers! When I got home from Beeston, I had a very simple lunch, took out pork to defrost. In the meantime, I vacuumed my room, cleaned the toilet a little, vacuumed the ground floor, and cleaned my muddied shoes. Then I painted my toe nails. So productive r...

Previously , I blogged about watching the Petite couple on We Got Married Season 2. Well, Jo Kwon (the guy) from Korean boy band 2AM has released a mini album together with his other 2AM-mates. The tune is easy to catch, and apparently it has claimed the number 1 position in all major music charts in Korea. As I've mentioned quite a few times already, because I don't understand Korean, I usually just listen to their songs for the music arrangement and the melodies. And, as mentioned before, it makes for great 'studying music' because I don't get distracted by the meaning of the lyrics, since I don't understand what they're singing about! I found this youtube video of the song's official MV, and it has English subtitles. After reading the subtitles, I had this random realisation - love songs can be so melodramatic, and can be unhealthily possessive. "I can't let you go even if I die"? Not good to cling on to a relationship that does not invo...

Today is a FANTABULOUS day! The sun is out! It is not that cold. AND I GOT SNAIL MAIL. The best thing about it was that it was COMPLETELY unexpected. I was actually thinking that my letter to Jennifer in Korea had not been delivered because she had changed address already or something. SO IMAGINE MY DELIGHT AND SURPRISE WHEN I GOT THIS FROM HER TODAY! She gave me the cutest, 'pinkest' organiser ever. And I'm going to abandon the present one I'm using to use this pink one. I've been meaning to get another organiser anyway, because I wanted to start from January 2010. The present organiser I have is from July 2009 to June 2010. I want to start "switching back" to Singapore-style years, if you get what I mean. Yesterday, I spent most of the day jailbreaking my iPhone, then trying to do things with a jailbroken iPhone. It was really fun! And I love the themes. But, I've a problem. I can't decide between these 2 themes, because they're both pretty. ...

I can confidently say that, in March 2009, I kind of started off a mini craze in church for the Korean variety show called "We Got Married". I blogged here about how I was not going to follow the show anymore because the couples I liked had left the show and it was exam time for me anyway. Well, recently, I've started watching it again. The ratings for the show had dropped radically and the producers were struggling to bring it back up again. For Season 2, they thought they would involve a real-life Korean celebrity couple. But they realised that this new concept wasn't helping ratings at all, so they reverted back to their original idea of fake married celebrity couples. Ratings started to improve when they added in the fake couple consisting of Jo Kwon (from ballad boy band called 2AM) and Ga-In (from girl group Brown Eyed Girls). At present, besides this "Petite Couple" (nickname given by viewers, or otherwise known as the GaKwon couple), there is anothe...

One thing I like about this one week break with nothing urgent to be done, is that I can 'waste' more time on cooking. On Sunday night, I cooked claypot chicken rice for hz and I. On Monday night, I used a packet of the Hainanese Chicken Rice mix, and then I tried out my maid's chicken recipe that is supposed to go with the hainanese chicken rice. It didn't turn out that fantastic. I think it is because I did not put enough ginger, and I had put too much soya sauce... Nevermind, it was still fun to cook! Last night (i.e. Tuesday), I cooked 'pei(3) tan(2) chok(4)'(literal translation: century egg porridge) for myself! I added in mince meat as well. It was satisfying! I have also started revising the stuff I learnt in semester 1 of Trusts Law. But of course, it is still more sleep and a little bit more play, as compared to reading:)

Friday, 15 January I had my Family Law exam at 4:30pm, which was just sad because it meant walking to the Sports Centre (examination venue) as the sun was setting, and walking home 'in the dark'. The exam was not as bad as I thought it would be, although I am not sure if I can get the marks I need. But, I will not think about it now, and just beg God for the results I need! Most importantly, I have no more need for my Family Law statute book, with all the nice colourful tabs I put on important pages to make it easy to flip to the important statutes during the exam itself. You were great while you were needed, Fam Law Statute Book. But I'm glad I've no more use for you! I also came home to have a very happy dinner of hz's fried rice! YUMYUM. Saturday, 16 January I had my Japanese exam at 9am. It didn't turn out as well as I hoped it to be. I completely forgot my kanji, and I felt like I fumbled through the comprehension, which may cost me the 75% I need/want. But...

My family law exam is looming before me, with my Japanese exam right on its heels. For Family Law, there are four big topics: 1) Marriage, civil partnership and cohabitation 2) Domestic violence 3) Divorce 4) Financial relief Please forgive me for my crudeness, but, financial relief is a big pain in the backside I tell you. There are at least 4 cases of the same name, A v. A, but of different years, demonstrating different factors that the court should take into account when making orders on financial relief. A v. A (1998) : Earning capacity and age Mrs A was 45 years old and had not worked since she married and had kids. The court held that it was not reasonable to expect her to earn a great deal upon getting a job after the divorce, even if she had a degree in engineering. A v. A (1998) : Standard of living enjoyed by the family before the breakdown of the marriage Mr and Mrs A was a wealthy couple who lived frugally because Mr A insisted on it. The court suggested that Mrs A's r...

On the week of Christmas '09, a few of my church friends in Singapore posted a parcel to me. Yesterday, one of them asked me if I had received the parcel. The postman hadn't delivered any parcels, neither did I receive any "while you were out" cards, so it is not like I missed the delivery. Eugene gave me the tracking number, and I called Royal Mail to make enquiries. The nice, female phone operator told me that the address on the parcel was completely different from the address I quoted to her over the phone. I quickly checked the address he put on the box and discovered that he had gotten my OLD address from Joanne! They had sent the box to Broadgate Park, the flat I stayed in LAST YEAR! That is why I never missed a delivery because they tried to deliver on 5th of January, to the wrong place! The Royal Mail lady phone operator was really patient and kind. She told me that the parcel was delivered by Parcel Force, a delivery company that works together with Royal Mai...

I handed in my two coursework essays this morning. As I left the house, it was raining and snowing (mostly raining). I had half the mind to stay at home and wait until there was no snow and/or rain. But I just had to get it done. So I walked on to school. I got two cover sheets from the Law School reception, one for each essay, and sat in the café to fill it up. With each word I wrote, I was repeating this very short prayer that consists of seven syllables: "God, please give me a two-one". After awhile, 7 syllables got too long so it was reduced to 2 syllables, like a chant, "two-one-two-one-two-one-two-one..." I REALLY NEED those upper 2nd class ("2-1", i.e. 60 marks and above) grades for both 12-page essays!! Anyway, they're in. I'm done. No turning back now. Then I walked over to the library to return the books I had borrowed for essay research. It was nice reading you, Books. Temperatures seem to be increasing slowly, and the snow seems to be m...

Wed, 6 Jan It snowed on and off, covering the ground in white snow. Dinner:- Left - Oyster mushrooms with egg tofu Right - Pork, mince meat and thinly sliced potatoes. With lots of ginger. Thurs, 7 Jan Before I carry on with photos of food, let me say this: HAPPY BIRTHDAY FAITH!!! I posted you something so I hope it gets to you soon! Lunch: TANG YUAN! Hz was so cool to buy tang yuan from Fresh Asia, the Asian mini mart in Beeston. Since it's the new year and all... By the way, I took this photo with my iPhone! WHOO!:) Dinner:- Left - Lemon chicken Right - Fried egg with tomato, onion and luncheon meat Today, 8 Jan As an aside, I TRIMMED MY FRINGE AND DIDN'T MAKE A MESS OF IT - THANK YOU GOD!:) The sun is out, but, thankfully (for me at least, but definitely not for people who need to drive), the snow isn't melting! Do not be tricked by the sun. Apparently, it's a bone-chilling -4 degrees celcius now. And according to the weather forecast, we are going to be in the negat...

WHOA. Negative temperatures in the day for both the high AND low temperatures?? I am staying at home. And if necessary, I'm going to sit by my heater for warmth.

Yesterday, John arrived back in Nottingham from Singapore. On his way to Sainsbury's in Beeston, he stopped by the house with TREASURE! Well, at least I consider it to be treasure, because John came bearing things from Singapore! From my family (John had so graciously agreed to make a trip to my house to get the stuff!): My Christmas present from my parents - an IPHONE! My mum also packed in green tea sachets (YAY), 'lup cheong', pork floss, camisoles and a pair of shoes (the shoes aren't in the photos). Oh, and on the left, is a weekly planner from Tina! My mum packed it in with everything else. I have started to use it (the planner)!:) From Amy, my BF(F) (Again, John had so graciously agreed to meet Amy to get stuff from her. Luckily, they stay walking distance away from each other - REALLY close by): She gave me a 'happy kit' consisting of Hello Panda, Pocky, Haribo gummies, Hichew sweets, a pair of earrings and the shaker fries seasoning from McDonald's...