v14: Le Petit Prince

回到最初

回到最初 - 蔡淳佳

最近都流行粉紫色
最新最潮的都有了
为什么富有了什么都不缺了
简单地快乐会不见了
为生活忙碌的跑着
为爱情又被伤害了
当所有变复杂变难懂变苦涩
你流的泪水是不是真的

能不能回到最初最自然最灿烂的笑容
没有钻石的爱情我也会被感动
让自己放空恢复漂亮的脸孔
你吻我一下脸就红

（就）回到最初最晴朗最开阔的天空
伴着摩天轮别挡住彩虹
我崇拜的英雄和最爱的拍拖
全都出现在（我）今夜的美梦

为生活忙碌的跑着
为爱情又被伤害了
看自己变复杂变自私以后
简单的快乐怎么不见了

能不能回到最初棉花糖在手中的笑容
钻石换不了爱情的心动
让自己放轻松
什么都能想通
说爱你爱我脸就红
回到最初再也梦不到的梦

` a shooting star glided across the sky at 11/14/2009 04:48:00 PM

my cambridge experience so far

I realised that it's been over a month since I last blogged. It had been very eventful since I arrived at cambridge and I must say that it is a totally new experience for me to be studying here.

a noticeable difference between singapore and UK is the weather. firstly, its rather cold here, even though it is only autumn. and the temperatures have taken a dip over the past week and are now in the range of single digits. the skies here are almost always gray, and you will have to be lucky to see a bright sun and blue sky. after the change in daylight saving time, it gets dark very early, at around 4ish, and so the nights here seem longer. it took me quite a while to get used to the weather, but thankfully, after getting some nice warm scarfs and gloves, im more ready to combat the adverse weather here.

the food in my college is passable but not exactly fantastic. there are some nice desserts to look out for though, which im often unable to resist :D food is generally quite expensive, especially if u want something good. an alternative to that will be to cook something on our own, and we often hold cookouts where we invite fellow singaporeans to taste our cooking (:

im glad that there are a number of singaporeans in my college (fitzwilliam college). coincidentally, 3 of the 4 singaporean freshers are living side by side in the same block along the same corridor, and its great that we have much in common to talk about. my other corridor and course mates are also very friendly, and some of them are impressively smart and really knowledgeable in their respective fields.

generally, cambridge is a nice place to stay in. the buildings and scenery here are also very beautiful, not to mention the river cam, which flows through several nice bridges such as the bridge of sighs and the mathematical bridge. the only problem about staying at fitz is that it is located at the top of a hill, so ill have to cycle up and down hill to the town centre for lectures everyday. the uphill ride was quite tiring at first, but i gradually got used to it so it became better after that.

on to my math course. the math course here has a really steep learning curve, and i really struggled to keep up with the course. a lot of new concepts and ideas are continually thrown to us to grapple with, which may be very daunting for a first year. nevertheless, im still learning to adapt to the challenging nature of the course and hopefully i will be able to keep my head above the waters :D

that pretty much sums up my life so far... which is quite different from my study experience in singapore. life certainly hasnt been a bed of roses so far. perhaps it is because i was not fully prepared for my studies as i was working right up till a few days before i flew over... i just feel that i am not mentally ready to take on, and fully benefit from all the challenges that my course has to offer. or perhaps it is because i have very high expectations of myself, but so far, i feel that i have been underachieving, and not fully maximising the opportunities here in cambridge. but im still working, learning, and adapting, and i hope that this new experience will be allow me to become mentally and intellectually stronger.

` a shooting star glided across the sky at 11/11/2009 05:55:00 AM

last moments before the flight

the day has finally arrived, and in a few hours, ill be embarking on my study trip at cambridge. the past week had been a flurry of activities, and im glad that everything has all been properly settled and im all packed and ready to go (: monday was my last day as a teacher in rjc. i know i said the same thing a few months ago, and ended up joining back the maths department, but this time, it is for real. its sad to part with my students, but im glad that i have spent almost an entire school year with them. i hope they will all do well in promos and do me proud (:

on tuesday, i went back to rj to do my clearance and to join the math department for mooncake festival celebrations. there was a nice buffet spread by manna catering, and i found out that the new manna cafe at rjc is the first cafe venture by manna catering. there were also delicious snowskin mooncakes from swensens, and i tried the mangosteen one (which apparently was so popular that it is sold out and no longer available in the market), and it is quite delicious :D didn't eat many mooncakes though, cos i still had a cough, and many of my favourite flavours such as chocolate were very heaty.

over the next 2 days, i did a fair bit of packing, and cut down my luggage weight from 55 to 40. one of my students commented that she cannot imagine me lugging around 55kg, which is kind of true, cos that is almost my actual weight. hopefully the airlines staff will be nice and i wont encounter much difficulties with my luggage tonight (:

with just a few hours left, i now have mixed feelings of excitement and anxiety. on one hand, im looking forward to my course of study, and to all the fun in cambridge, but on the other hand, im feeling a little reluctant about leaving my family, friends, and nice food in SG ): still, at the rate at which time flies, before i know it, ill be posting something along the lines of my last day at cambridge! so for now, goodbye, Singapore!

` a shooting star glided across the sky at 10/02/2009 04:56:00 PM

saying goodbye is always difficult

its emo time again! ): i knew its coming back just didnt expect it to come so soon! im referring to the end of my stint as a relief tutor in rjc. i remember how sad i felt about leaving my classes on my last day a few months back. due to some unexpected circumstances, i was given another chance to take back my classes and teach them again shortly after my "last day". and ive agreed to stay on till i cover the syllabus for their promotional exams, so i have essentially taught them for an entire school year. never expected myself to do something like that.

and now that im back for a second time, leaving is going to be much harder. for some of my classes, next week will be the last time ill ever see them in class again. i think im going to miss them all alot. and shortly after my last day at RJC, ill be preparing to leave SG and embark on an important leg of my journey. and ill have to bid goodbye to my parents, friends and relatives in SG too ): oh... and also say goodbye to the wonderful SG food! (i still cant cook many dishes decently!)

2 more weeks left in SG! ill make good use of the time and make sure i treasure the last moments with my students, friends and family.

anyway, heres another nice song :D

让我照顾你 - 张芸京

你一个人失了魂清晨哭到夜深
不要别人问
我不出声一直等听你说你心疼
当时好傻好天真
如果可以我愿意这样陪你到永恒

让我照顾你面对再大的风雨　
也能微笑做自己像个孩子躺在我怀里
让我照顾你在这荒芜世界里
就算有新的剧情在明天等着你
然而在你最需要的此刻请让我轻抚你

总有一天会有人一个懂你的人　
让你从此不心疼
如果可以我愿意这样陪你到永恒

让我照顾你面对再大的风雨
也能微笑做自己像个孩子躺在我怀里
让我照顾你在这荒芜世界里
就算有新的剧情在明天等着你
然而在你最需要的此刻请让我照顾你

你看破了虚伪拆穿爱的假面
後悔曾经为他付出一切喔~
我会在你身边当你伤心欲绝
不奢望你涌然泉源喔~

让我照顾你面对再大的风雨
也能微笑做自己像个孩子躺在我怀里
让我照顾你在这荒芜世界里
就算有新的剧情在明天等着你
当你对这世界失去信任请让我照顾你

` a shooting star glided across the sky at 9/20/2009 11:12:00 PM

永远的朋友

one of my favourite songs from weilian's new album! i think he has made tremendous improvements to his voice in this album, and he even composed several songs on his own! very impressed by his performance in this album (:

永远的朋友 - 陈伟联

如果你很忙
我到街上去晃一晃
身为一个朋友
有些事情不该勉强
看你黑着眼圈
今晚很长我睡不着
到底是谁害你这么想

因为太爱你
拼命达到你的需要
虽然只是朋友
总比什么都不是好
借你肩膀依靠
借你关心也借你微笑
我很想给你却不要

爱着你却伤心的只能守候不能拥有
真挚的做一个永远的朋友
看着你旧旧的简讯内容
我看见爱情向我大声嘲弄
爱着你却大方的陪你恋爱替你加油
虚弱的做一个永远的朋友
几次累的想断绝联络
却听见你说情人比不上朋友

我总是有让你想出声的方法
我却没有让自己离开的力量
也许友情才能地久天长

on a side note, Singapore Hit Award voting has opened! If you are a c-pop enthusiast, head over to this link to vote for your favourite singers:
http://www.singaporehitawards.sg/awards2.htm

my votes for the various categories are:

最受欢迎男歌手 - 周杰伦
最受欢迎女歌手 - 陈绮贞
最受欢迎新人 - 梁文音
最受欢迎团体 - 五月天

quite a tough decision for the female singer category though, cos there were many nice albums by female singers in the past yr. in the end i chose cheer chen because i thought she made a breakthrough in her latest album, by striking a nice balance between commercialising her songs so that they are more well-received, and maintaining her personal feng ge (: all the best to all the nominees of SHA 09, though im pretty sure it will be another 分猪肉 ceremony :/

` a shooting star glided across the sky at 9/09/2009 10:51:00 PM

Happy Teachers' Day!

my blog had been terribly dead for a while, and it's time i post another entry (: anyway, today's teachers' day, and it is a different experience for me this year, as it is the first and last time i am celebrating it as a teacher.

for once, im both on the giving and receiving end of the gifts. since im working back at rj, i could conveniently give all my teachers a teachers' day gift (: it was a pleasant surprise to some of my tutors, except cheekie, who, as usual, said something hou lian pi like: "oh, don't need to get me a present, just get my bank account number and go to the ATM downstairs to transfer some money into my account."

the teachers' day celebration was quite nicely done, and i helped ms ong and the 29ths council with some of the preparations the day earlier so i got a mini sneak preview haha. after the celebrations, some of the teachers went to the staff lounge to sing on the karaoke system, and i joined in the fun. it was certainly an interesting experience to sing in the staff lounge with my teachers.

sat and sun were quite crazy for me. on sat, i went to the cambridge freshers' chalet, where we played several icebreaker games and got to know each other. after that, we played a variety of games like saboteur, random card games and mahjong. a number of them even stayed up throughout the night. i eventually conked out and fell asleep at around 3+ to 4 in the morning.

the next day, after leaving the chalet, i went home to get a quick shower and rushed down to kwanie's BLING birthday party @ kbox. it was the first time i kboxed with so many people + strangers (: but it was fun, and the birthday cake was good. given that im a non-cake lover, it means that the cake was really awesome :D after that, sheenie's parents were rly nice and gave me a lift back to bishan where i had my dinner and then went home to catch up on my sleep.

today, i had to wake up at an ungodly time of 5.45 AM, so that i could rush down to the uk visa application centre to get my application done. i reached there at around 6.55 AM, and CAN YOU IMAGINE there was a queue outside already! and the application centre actually opens only at 8am. i was the 9th person, and after i arrived, more and more people started queueing up behind me. by the time the centre opened at 8, there were around 30 people queueing outside already, so good luck to anyone who arrives promptly when the centre opens. thanks to the advice of my friends, i was cleared very quickly and was done by around 10.30. im so glad i sacrificed a little bit of my sleep and saved up on so much waiting time at the application centre :D

on to cpop songs... soda green is releasing their 2nd album of the year! (not surprising, since they already said they are releasing 4 albums in 2 years, which will be named after the seasons of the year) anyway, following their first album, 春.日光, they are now releasing the 2nd album called 夏.狂热. im really impressed at how they managed to come up with so many songs to be able to release 4 albums in 2 years, and how the songs are organised in the albums according to their themes. so the first album contained many warm songs, whereas in 夏.狂热，the songs are all very lively and rock-ish. i really love their first hit, 狂热 (:

during this time, i also sampled a few older albums which i havent had the chance to sample, and found this nice song in 徐佳莹's album, which i would like to recommend. 词曲 both written by 徐佳莹 (:

一样的月光 - 徐佳莹

倔强的表情就这样隔离了
我们想触摸的脸庞不在体贴退让
沉默的对话就这样取代了
我们想聆听的愿望不在交换悲伤

太自以为的世界
被你离开的反作用力
锁进黑暗陷阱

一样的月光
怎么看得我越来越心慌
你留下最清楚的步伐
竟是指引我孤单的方向
喔~ 一样的月光
怎么照不亮未来的形状
喔~ 就这样吧我的爱
让寂寞的月光占据我的窗

自由的路况就这样阻挡了
我们想加速的逃亡不在戒慎坚强
独处的时光就这样取代了
我们向搜集的拥抱不在殷切需要

太多理智的世界
被你离开的反作用力
锁进黑暗陷阱

一样的月光
怎么看得我越来越心慌
你留下最清楚的步伐
继续指引我孤单的方向
喔~ 一样的月光
怎么照不亮未来的形状
喔~ 就这样吧我的爱
让寂寞的月光占据我的窗

一样的月光
其实看得我越来越心慌
怎么你留下最真实的回忆
都是提醒我失去他声音
喔~ 一样的月光
已经照不来未来的形状
喔~ 能回来吗我的爱
让疯狂的爱情占据我的窗

` a shooting star glided across the sky at 9/01/2009 04:56:00 PM

谁

谁 - 蔡健雅

现在的我
还是对爱充满疑惑
没对或错
还不想给什么承诺

保持沉默独自走过
空虚和寂寞它们陪伴着我
装作洒脱其实很懦弱
有太多的借口终究没有结果

谁让我感觉他最了解我
眼神交错话都不用说
就抱紧我让我感受
他多爱我

谁让我感觉不需要再躲
过去心痛从此被淹没
就抱紧我让我感受
让我感受他多爱我
让我相信他是爱～爱我的

未来的我
一个人过也算不错
冰冷的手插入口袋也算暖和

日出日落都差不多
若有谁陪我那一定更好过
天空为我一直闪烁着
用太多的借口我在拒绝什么

ive always enjoyed tanya's compositions, and this time round, her first hit certainly lived up to my expectations!

apparently tanya was travelling in france, and saw this guy chatting happily on the phone, with a smile that can only mean that he is speaking to his loved one on the other end. and a short distance away, she saw another lady who was also on the phone and was also carrying the same smile of one that is loved. as the man and lady walked towards each other's direction, tanya wondered if the 2 were actually speaking to each other. her question was answered when the 2 met in a warm embrace, and the rays of the sun seemed to encircle them with a glow. it was such a beautiful scene that it inspired tanya to compose this song immediately.

its such a sweet story, and i guess the scene must have really touched her so much, that she filled this song with so much emotions. :D this song is highly recommended, and im definitely looking forward to her new album in late aug (:

` a shooting star glided across the sky at 8/08/2009 12:24:00 AM

back where i started

the number of hours im sleeping can be described as a strictly decreasing function for the past month. and the strange thing is, i dont feel tired at all. in fact, my body has kind of adapted to the lack of sleep and is requiring less and less sleep by the day.

this week was supposed to be my long-awaited break, but quite evidently i cannot allow myself to relax, and im back teaching all my 5 classes in rj once more. it had been quite a struggle for myself. on one hand, i wanted to give myself a break after having packed schedules since the start of the yr. on the other hand, i was really excited to meet my students again, and also, teaching them pure maths would be a different experience from stats since theres much more room for exploration in pure maths. thus, when the opportunity presented itself, i debated with myself for a long time, but i guess the largest deciding factor were my students, and i gave in and agreed to return to teach my classes till the end of term 3.

and theres another problem. now that im back, its harder to leave than ever. im even contemplating to see my students through promos (leaving me with only 1-2 days before i fly to UK for my studies). there are so many decisions i have to make... and amidst all these considerations, i still need to do much preparations for the upcoming lessons (since i was asked to come back at a short notice). the next few weeks now seem quite intensive, but i dont think ill ever regret this decision. and the warm welcome by my students really helped me affirm that i made the right choice (:

anw, today afternoon i came across this interesting intellectual game in the maths department, which was called "tipover". it was one of the "rush hour" series kind of games. for tipover, u had to push over crates across the board so that u can get from one place to another. it was very fun, and i spent an hour solving the puzzles together with another math dept teacher. after that, he showed me some tricks which he used to introduce some mathematical concepts and they were really quite impressive :D i tried doing some of the tricks but realised i was always too obvious and will let slip some part of the trick. and my teacher pointed out that at the crucial part i will probably turn red anyway and hence the trick will be a failure. LOL

` a shooting star glided across the sky at 8/05/2009 09:15:00 PM

Kenneths 21st and Back to Work

went to celebrate kenneth's 21st last sunday. met up with matthew, grace and vanessa before that to make him a puzzle card. we wrote our messages on the card, then cut it out into many odd shapes, unlike a regular puzzle, so he would have to put in quite a bit of effort before he can read our birthday messages to him :D

anyway, the whole party was very well planned, and the food was good too (: met tons of random friends -- some from work, from army, from pri sch etc... so it was quite interesting to find out that i actually have so many mutual friends with kenneth! zhaowei also came, and he brought his gf along, and introed her to us.

after having our food, we had a photo presentation showing how kenneth grew up over his 21 years and how he met us along the way :D it was quite amusing and nicely done up (: following that, it was the special item prepared by his bro, which even kenneth had no idea about. we soon found out it was his bro acting as lady gaga. it was quite funny at first, but then it started to get a bit wrong as he tried to flaunt his body HAHA. and when the performance was finally over, we had cake cutting and gift presentation, and then people started making kenneth drunk haha. when we left, he had already downed 7-10 shots, poor him haha.

and that was the last day of my 3 week "break" from work. so im back to work this week, to tidy up my report and then ill have some time to myself to settle all my uni stuff before i fly overseas. but as it turns out, surprises come when u least expect it, and i think i can say goodbye to any thoughts of a break for the next 1 month or so already! its a pleasant surprise which i dont mind having, but it means that ill continue to be BUSYYYY ):

` a shooting star glided across the sky at 7/28/2009 09:02:00 PM

PDC

my 3-week long predeparture course concluded last week with the scholarship award ceremony on saturday. looking back at the experience, even though it had only been a short 3 weeks, it was really fun and enriching, and i have grown in some ways after the course.

the fun came from OBS and cooking lessons. even though i had been to OBS several times, it was the first time i climbed the inverse tower there. seemed easy on the ground, but the spaces between footholds and logs seemed to be 10 times wider when u are actually up there haha. we also had some trebuchet making competition, where all the materials cost money and had to be purchased with points earned from the completion of team games. it was quite fun cos our trebuchet was built by this phy whiz so it actually worked :D and the finale was a sea ex followed by a land ex the next day.

for our cooking lessons, we went shatec, where we learnt how to make some really simple fool-proof dishes. so now at least im assured i wont starve... but of course, how nice the food actually is will be yet another story. oh yah i kind of cheated and teamed up with a cooking pro so "our" final products tasted quite delicious ;)

however, i felt that the most memorable part of my course was my 1 week community attachment with HCA hospice. quite unlike the other community service that i had done in my secondary school and jc days, working at hospice does not necessarily bring u the satisfaction which usually comes with helping people out. the patients are terminally ill, and many of them have only days to live. some of them are really discouraged, and merely lie in bed and stare blankly into space the whole day, when they could possibly be doing something more enjoyable. others are ridden with much pain because many of their organs are failing, and its really heart wrenching to see them undergo so much suffering.

the experience really makes me treasure what i have at the moment -- my health and my family members. and i am very impressed with the dedication which the doctors and nurses have displayed. they could be working in hospitals and clinics, but they chose to work in hospice, where they have a much larger job scope, which may even include helping to resolve family problems. most importantly, they try their very best to allow the patient to live their last days to the fullest. as their motto goes: we cannot add days to life, but we can add life to days.

` a shooting star glided across the sky at 7/28/2009 08:32:00 PM