many, many things have happened. and to me, they are very significant ones. i shall be talking about them here and there, could be a lengthy post. please be prepared (that's to those people who still check my blog. i think most people would have thought the blog's dead for good hahaha).
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End of Work at Polo Ralph Lauren: 02/11/07
it was a fantastic work place. completely different dynamics from NCC (national cancer centre). the people were different, and more of the chinese speaking sort. the lack of obvious egos was refreshing. of course, egocentric people exist everywhere, but it was surprisingly lacking in PRL. perhaps it was also because the people i mixed around with were "small fry". and that was the best part, the small fry couldn't really care about the politics around. not as much as NCC hahaha. amazing how at NCC, even the smallest fry can inflate their egos so much to the extent of hurting other people. and how unfortunate that this is the nature of the work force! it's really saddening. but at least work has taught me to appreciate what i have right now, and also hopefully keep me mindful of how i treat people in the future.
photos taken on the last day of work :).
some of the younger folks! kian wee and judy :)
all in all, i met wonderful and amazing people there, and they were very very kind to me. probably also because i was the youngest kid there (the next in line was 22 years old). Thank you all :).
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Trip to Melbourne and Bodhinyana(Perth): 06/11/07 - 13/11/07
went to melbourne with my parents and brother tan kah tee to check out my school, and most importantly to unload my stuff (think it was 6 or 7 boxes worth of life savers).
met up with xue ling(4th year med student in Melbourne Uni, bf member) on the first day for dinner in the city area. good food! fantastic ice cream. vibrant city. happy happy :). xue ling was like.. bubbly wine. so full of energy and fun! amazing girl. she was very nice to us, brought us around, and went to her home.
on the 2nd day, met up with ivy(5th year med student in Monash Uni). dumped my stuff at her garage (life saver. really. if not i'd die when i go over next year) and she brought us around the campus and halls. monash is in the suburbs, so it's rather quiet. in my opinion, it's even quieter than Perth (like omg, that's like oh-so-quiet already!). she's very nice too! saw a room in one of the halls. not as small as i had imagined. can survive lar. hahaha.
think i'd need some time to get used to the place. especially given that i'm such a direction idiot, hope i don't get lost all the time. think i need GPS. hahahhaaaa.
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Then we went over to Perth! brother marc picked us up. very nice guy too (a very blessed trip. everyone's really nice).
goodness, the place was FULL OF FLIES. how horridly scary summer can be. to give you an idea of how bad it was, i was wearing a white shirt. my mom was walking behind me, and she was thinking, "ehh how come huilin's shirt got pattern one? what a huge black flower on her back with small dots here and there." and then she realised, those black spots were not part of the design, they were FLIES!! waaah then she started yelling and laughing.
we went to Bodhinyana the next day. Bodhinyana is a forest monastery somewhere in perth, with Ajahn Bhram as the abbot. loads of ang mo monks, also have an american of vietnamese descent, a singaporean monk.. aiyar loads of nationalities. pretty interesting.
met up with my eldest brother, renshang (or resh for short). apparently he was told that if you haven't eaten a fly, you haven't stayed long enough in australia. whenever we talked, we had to use at least one hand to fan away the flies. the flies loved moist areas so they usually attacked the eyes and mouth. thank goodness i wore specs all the time there, a bit more protection hahahaha. in the end, i usually used the sleeves of my jacket to fan away the flies, like how cows use their tails to wave flies away from their asses.
resh left for bodhinyana in april this year to become an Anagarika for a year.
(wiki: An anagarika is a term used in Theravada Buddhism to refer to a lay attendant of a monk. The monastic rules or Vinaya restrict monks from many tasks that might be needed, including the use of money, or driving to another location, so lay attendants help bridge this gap. All anagarika take the Ten Precepts, and often have the intention of becoming monks at a later point, though not always.)
about a month before we went to visit him, we got news that he wants to ordain as a monk. yes, you read it right, a monk. my mom was livid when she heard about it. anyway to cut the story short, we went to talk to him about it when we saw him, and he managed to convince us all that he's ready. plan goes that he'd come back to singapore in april 2008. work for a year, pay off the remaining bond, and then go and ordain as a monk, IF all goes well and nothing funny happens.
anyway, i thoroughly enjoyed myself at the monastery. recharged. had lengthy chats with this wonderful bro that i've missed tons. i didn't feel like leaving (only thought that made me wanna come home was wj. goodness. baaad baaaaad. too much attachment hahahahhaa).
Lunch Dana (the act of giving, generosity)
a pair of adorable twins with me and resh!! i simply LOVE THEM. *squeals* :)
a total sweetie pie :).
auntie ber(left) with my family.
bro and me :).
just before we left for the airport.
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Dinner: 30/11/07
auntie helen and big hui ling gave me and wenjie a treat, because we are leaving for australia. they are such sweeties :). had a fantastic meal!! big stomach. hahahha.
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Driving Test: 03/12/07
i passed.
ok i know this photo is oh-so-irrelevant, but well, as it's a happy event and i have no photos of it, i shall put a photo that makes me happy! hahahaha :)
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Buddhist Fellowship Youth Camp 2007 - Unbinding Boundaries: 07/12/07-09/12/07
waaah, have been preparing for this camp for months. or was it just 2 months? was in charge of publicity, almost died doing it. but well, somehow survived hahahaha. must thank thow, mandy, wen jie for it. thow, my poor boy, had to endure my craziness and help me run here and there. mandy had to do up the amazing poster. wenjie had to endure my pms too and also be the pr man. without them, i buay sai la!
wah, the organising part during the camp itself was crazy la. cuz only have 8 comm members (and one of them could only come from 2nd day onwards), and we had to handle around 30-40 ppl. plus being their leaders at the same time. quite tough. went crazy. hahahaha. but managed to survive.
it was really fun. of course, there were moments when we thought that things were screwed. (many of the activities were outdoors, and tee gong kept on calling the clouds to rain. fantastic lar.) but we managed to rise to the occasion and deal with it well(personal opinion).
camps are wonderful events. you get to meet new people, and you are forced out of your comfort zone. amazing to see how very different people interact, the dynamics of human interaction, and how tempers rise over the smallest issues.
overall, it was a good camp. lots of new people, and got positive feedback. may we be able to keep the momentum going, and keep them in. most importantly, may we grow as individuals together, and as spiritual friends. all in the direction of good.
this photo was taken a few days before the camp at vivo. went to recce at sentosa. pre-camp craziness showing up already.
Unbinding boundaries!
my team, Chummers Champions! woohoo :)
BUDDHIST FELLOWSHIP YOUTHS! :)
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India Pilgrimage: 14/12/07 - 25/12/07
coming up soon ;). yup, so i'd be going to india with bf. should start reading up on the places we are visiting, don't wanna waste my trip there. good kamma of mine to be able to go there at least once in my life time!
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there's no telling to when i'll next blog. i'm currently very happy. life has been good. very blessed to have all these wonderful people around me, wonderful friends, great family(it's just that i have to learn to appreciate them more hahahaha) and a fantastic boyfriend. i can't bear the thought of leaving them all in singapore (or in canberra, regarding the guy).
happiness. *beams* :)
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