Australia: the Great Land Down Under

Do you know why Australia is often called the Land Down Under?

Australia is the only continent with a permanent population that is entirely below the equator. It lies totally within the southern hemisphere, hence the name. From an Australian point of view, it seems as if the northern hemisphere continents are ' down under'! Look at a globe and you will understand why. "The land down under" refers to its position on Earth.

gimme something to do!

omgoodness, this is the third day of the week that i rot about half the day off... one intern and one perm are on one week's leave and we are supposed to be very busy but we are not! i'm bored to tears haha. that's why office job is not my thing cuz i can't sit still..............i'm sure guan knows what i mean. urgh. but well i must say this internship has been going pretty well for me, i don't even dread coming to work! i know i shouldn't be complaining because:
1. i get to go online and log onto msn
2. i am in the email threads a group of friends are in and the messages are damn funny, one day we can hit about 150 threads? HAHAHA
3. i get to go for tea break at 4pm!
4. i can report anytime before 930am and knock off anytime after 6pm
5. everyone is really nice and patient here
6. i get to meet friends like sanduo, douglas for lunch because they work nearby!

okay i still have another 3 more hours to go before i go meet guan for dinner, yayyy! there's ultimate training tmr after work, yay. ice cold beer and transformer on friday, yay. huiling and bro are coming back on sunday, yay.
research done by experts proved that having random and a variety of thoughts do relax one's mind and relieve stress.

your eyes and my eyes.

you see things in black and white, but i don't. there are infinite shades of all colours for everything. things are never that simple in life. don't try to simplify it, try to understand it.

by the way, the snap judgements, the ones that come to us quickly and easily without hesitation, are the ones that haunt us forever.

how great is out God

when you get hurt really deeply, when you are still struggling so much with the hurting, you will realize that the one and only person who can heal you is none other than Jesus... i'm so glad i took one day off to attend CCS youth camp. i experienced God's love and healing so strongly that i really, really didn't want to leave the camp. so i stayed over at the camp for two nights and went for work straight from camp. thanks be to God, because things that come from Him will never be of waste or redundancy, every single second spent at the camp was worth it. i love worshipping God so much, i really can feel Him speaking to me through the songs, through all the words. truly Jesus is the greatest love that anyone could ever know... countless tears i've shed, but those tears were not of hurt nor pain, it's tears of comfort and relief because God was healing me, He was telling me to let Him love me, to trust Him, to let Him make my path straight... no amount of words can justify how i truly feel. thank God (:

fast and furious to icon

today, my brother drove exceptionally fast than usual. for those who do not know yet: my brother drives a sports car - nissan silvia - and he usually speed, so fast that i am kept at the edge of my seat throughout the whole ride... although i'm sleepy in the morning, i don't fall asleep at all in his car because i am so intimidated by his driving. if i have balls, they probably shrink every morning when i get a lift from him to work. it's not because he has lousy driving skills, he drives way too fast, and swerve in and out, cut lanes here and there. i wonder how his girlfriend managed to get used to it...i still have a month to get used to it. oh and i usually wear shorts and slippers before changing into pants/skirt and heels at tanjong pagar because his car is so low that when i try to get into the back seat from the front, my skirt almost split HAHAHAHA. BUT i am truly thankful i get a ride from him and pass squeezing with the morning crowd on the train (: i am so not whining, just a mini column of my daily fast & furious experience.

please let me go melbourne..!

Marley & Me

i've always wanted to catch this movie, not because of owen wilson or jennifer anniston, but simply for the fact that i adore dogs. i really love them. i may not have an ocean of knowledge about dogs, the different kind of breeds, their specialties, their habits, and such. in fact, i don't know much about them but i can staunchly declare that i just have this affinity for them, really. marley & me is such a moving show, in its simplest yet subtle manner.

i used to keep a dog when i was primary three for two years. i was closest to him, at least i'd think so. he was called charcoal. he used to play hide and seek with me, and he knew how to play with me only! i am not the best owner because i was lazy to bring him for a walk and i didn't train him well. i was only nine but even so, i know i loved him with all my heart. one of the saddest days in my life was the day he went missing, i know he was seized because he wouldn't leave me on his own accord. i cried everyday for a period of time, and i went to look for him after school on my own everyday. when i watched marley & me, i could feel so strongly for john's (starred by owen wilson) love for him, so pure and so genuine. yes it was just a show, but trust me, i think owen wilson probably did a flawless job acting out his affection for marley or he truly felt it from his heart. the show reminds me so much of charcoal, his cutest moments, his mischief, his wit, his misbehaviour, and most of all, his heart for us. i always wanted to keep a dog again but i don't want to go through the heartbreak of losing one again... the phrase below (by john in the movie) describes perfectly about a dog, just what i would say about this true friend.

"A dog has no use for fancy cars, big homes, or designer clothes. A water log stick will do just fine. A dog doesn't care if you'r rich or poor, clever or dull, smart or dumb. Give him your heart and he'll give you his. How many people can you say that about? How many people can make you feel rare and pure and special? How many people can make you feel extraordinary?"

How many people can make you feel rare and pure and special?
Give him your heart and he'll give you his.
How many people can do this? Not even your loved ones can do this sometimes. A man can betray you, but a dog won't.

i hope

i hate to admit this but i jump to conclusions too quickly and i do it too often. i keep telling myself not to think too much but these words i tell myself just keep falling though. i ignore wise words and higher powers, why do i defy? too many unanswered questions i have... guess i still have a lot to learn, a lot to listen. well, somestimes after all, life comes up with a better idea.

don't sweat.

cold water

i'm losing the warmth of your hands. i thought the nightmares found their way out but to only realise that they lurk just underneath my bed, ready to get out and jump on me any time i fall... i still can't see an end of this darkness. all that surround me is cold water - deceitful hopes. right now, at this moment, i wish i have never made that mistake. a mistake that led to a series of painful afflictions. you won't understand because you never had to go through these, because i won't allow that.

fuck you.
fuck these cold water around me.

faintheart

there are many things i want to do, i want to say, i want to change. but i just can't bring myself to put my thoughts into actions... as a result, i'm in a constant dilemma. also, (and you're right) i get frustrated very easily recently. you don't even need to spill coffee on my dress to get me upset, you just need to whistle beside me and i get annoyed. perhaps this is a little exaggerated but i'm just generally in an unpleasant mood haha. i don't know whether is it because of the past, or is it because of the current situations i am in. then, the news about H1N1 flu in melbourne is making me feeling worse. i can't imagine how i'd take it IF i can't go melbourne in the end, seriously. i'd say the highlight of this vacation, to me, will definitely be the melbourne trip... of course, there are other stuff like my internship, the return of jiunn, huiling and youcai and that one particular thing. i just have to go melbourne, it's really my last chance to find bro before school officially ends for me, spend time with him. and it's also almost the perfect way for me to sort some things out and...unwind myself. i seriously need to take a break from everything here in singapore. it's true i tend to think a lot, sometimes too much for my own good. but some things remain, facts don't lie for they speak for themselves.

has something changed?
have you changed?
have i changed?
has there been a problem?
has there been an issue?
have we found the solution?
have we found the answers?
have we gone our own ways?

tell the fainthearted.

time plays cheat

i can't believe this is my second week at ICON already, time passes so quickly. i was working on the same assignment - a hotel group's competitive analysis - the whole day today. i was initially quite frustrated that i spent so long on it until my director appeared so relaxed about it and said "sure sure, of course you pass it to me anytime you are done tmr!" so it means i'm actually ahead of time since i haven't done the pie charts and summaries only. it's amazing how fast time passes when you are occupied... Watching an one-hour show seems quite a long time when you are bored. Having an one-hour lunch break at work is, however, damnnnnn short. i went to meet another friend from hall for lunch today. i called him, walked to the hawker, found seats and waited for him -- all these took up 20 minutes already! so we only left 40 minutes to eat, to chat and to drink, including time for me to get back to office! but well, i overshot by 15 minutes today haha. the three hours in the morning before lunch break always feel like an hour plus dota game to me! i remember how painfully slow time was during the exam period............it was torturous. you see, time plays cheat. they slow down or fast-forward as and when they like...

i just wanna fast-forward to mid-june when jiunn and huiling come back and slow it down again as i spend time with them then fast-forward to mid-july when i go over to melb and slow it down again while i am there. yes i am wishful and foolish.

don't eat and shit at the same place

today i met my good friend from hall for lunch, really glad to meet her again, i miss her a lot. i realised that there are so many friends whom i miss and haven't met for a long time, it's time i stop getting too involved in my own pursuits. actually do i even have concrete pursuits? okay, i don't even wish to touch on spiritual pursuits... anyway, my friend told me that these two friends were talking about us. i'm not surprised at all... but well, it reminded me of some unhappy stuff and got me so bothered again the whole day. i hate it... i don't blame my friend. everything happens for a reason. on my way home, something another friend told me last month struck me, "jo, don't eat and shit at the same place." so i asked myself, "am i still doing that?" i know it sounds a little senseless but really, i think the reason why i feel the way i feel now is because i'm still eating and shitting at the same place. i should start eating at somewhere clean and pristine... the reason why you have your problems...or had...is probably cuz you ate and shit at the same place too many times and it's...detrimental to our health. of course i worsened the conditions by injecting it with a little of my insanity and a little too much of my sensitivity. then why the hell are we still hanging around this place, may i ask?

what a weekend.

i've been stuck at home for the past few days cuz i'm down with flu. good and bad. good: i got a realisation. bad: i missed church. anyway regarding that something good, i realised i've stopped doing something which i was guilty of. perhaps the distance helps... like really stopped for good. but even when there's proximity and opportunity, i don't do it. in fact, i don't even have the intention to, not even the slightest bit. can't believe i'm not gonna stay in hall anymore, i'm really upset but oh well, i have to do what i have to do. so, i shall have no regrets, no complaints, but i do have a lot of longing still. aiyah screw it, it's where a lot of bad things happened too. okay, work resumes tmr.