Merry Xmas!!! Been a long long time since I really celebrated Xmas properly. Two years ago was in army and had to do duty and last year I was down with chicken pox. I can really understand the feeling of being sick during a festive season and not be able to celebrate it with your close ones. Xmas started early this year for me with Allume preparation followed by the event itself, watched Nativity and The Holiday,Midnite mass at Svdp, went for xmas celebration at chris yeoh place, Artz xmas gathering and celebrating xmas with my family... It was a great xmas spent with friends and family. I must say I really like the song 'When a child is born', heard it at midnite mass - svdp choir was superb and when they sung the song, it seriously has an emo effect. Everyone was super dressed up for midnite mass, and you can just feel that everyone is here to celebrate the birth of Christ. And during any festive season, wine and alcohol is a must rite??? Yes it is, and when everyone is indulging themselves with good wine and alcohol, drivers like myself can only enjoy drinks like mocktails, soft drinks or at most a few sips of red wine.. damn sad, so come CNY, I decided not to drive unless really necessary.

Lydia and me at Chris yeoh's place Xmas commers at Artz xmas gathering

So before you know it, Xmas has come and it is back to the CORS. Think next semester is gonna be damn fun - doing different mods with different friends. More or less confirmed my mods -

2 econs, soci and social work exposure and understanding the universe (that is i manage to bid for it). Counting down to 2007.....

I received an email from a fellow catechist and she was just sharing the following:
"...receiving the gifts of the Holy Spirit is like receiving a present. If you never open it and just leave it on the shelf, you have not received the gift. Over the years, it will only gather dust. Once you unwrap it and start to use it, then you have truly received the gift. The same thing happens when you receive the Holy Spirit, you have to unwrap it and start to use it. Otherwise, it would just be doing nothing - gathering dust on the shelf."

This short sharing struck me quite deeply, esp after watching the Nativity yesterday. There was this part in the movie that mentioned about gifts. And it was said that all of us have a gift, and for Mother Mary, her gift is the child in her womb, for she so bravely received the Holy Spirit and said 'May your will be done!' and for St Joseph, his gift was to also to allow the Holy Spirit to be his guide. For some, they spend a lifetime in search for the gift, waiting for the gift, pondering what their gift is... when actually we all received it during our Confirmation but we may not have fully unwrap it and fully utilise it...
Have we fully utilise it? Have I fully utilise it??

Oh ya, more stuff to add. I must say Ben and Jerry has a way of attracting customers man. Do you know that B and J does not employ male workers? Only the manager of the branch can be a guy. I found that out when my friends actually asked them if they employ guys. Anyway, we went to the branch at Vivo after Nativity to kinda of celebrate Netto birthday and we were served by this super hyper gal/scooper. She was damn enthu at serving Moses, Matt, Jem, Greg and myself and was introducing new ice cream flavours to us and also their promotion of buy 2 pints and get 1 free. She was super 'on' and was 'yaying' to practically everythin. Wad to do, she talking to 5 guys, how not to 'yay' rite. :) Well, good service makes a difference I suppose - GEMS (Go the extra miles for service). That aside, some photos:

Artz peeps @ Allume!

10 of us from Thurs CG

5 of us from Artz Comm (missing in picture: Brian)

Taken at Vivo with Santa, the elves and 2 other kids

Allume! Weeks of preparations for yesterday's CSS Xmas Celebration finally came and gone. Looking back at the past few weeks, it has been really hectic but in the midst of it all - there were much joy and laughter. It was great working with e Xmas Commers - got to know many of them better - through the meetings, buying of DEcor and prizes and of cos filming the video with guest star - Rachel-the babe. And please I dun belong to HSBC!! haha. Seriously, I am really thankful to Him for making so it a good celebration, gathering all of us together remembering that we are rejoicing for His coming. The evening programme was good esp with Marc and Marian being such great MCs, of cos credit goes to Trina and Rachael as well for planning the programme singlehandedly. Elaine for getting us good deals at the Pines and for the beautiful decor, Jeremy, Teresa and Dan Tan for the cool Allume poster and the publicity, Johannes and his team in search for the many sponsors, Teresa, Brenda and Jared for helping us out for mass, Frances for e brownies and Carm and Sam for overlookin the whole picture ensuring everything is running smoothly and also Druce for guiding us along the way. At the end of the day, I am really thankful for the fellowship and of cos I think we complement each other very well too! Kudos to Xmas Comm 2006. :)

Watched the Nativity today - even though you may already know the whole story from the Bible, I think this movie is worth watching! Seriously, you can feel the bible come alive. Though there are some parts with comic relief effects, overall I believe you will feel for both Joseph and Mary. The movie really portrayed Joseph very well as a role model for guys to follow as well.

Footsteps for the next few dayz...
23th - CAW meeting, 7pm novena followed by flyboys
24th- Xmas celebration w relatives, midnite mass @ Svdp
25th - Xmas celebration at Chris place
26th - Xmas celebration at Magic Mark place
27th- release of exams results (damn!)
28th-Ubin!

Decided to join CAW for next semester... but prob just rally sub comm and see what the event is actually all about. And Artz needa fund raise next sem also., we intend to sell goodies like brownies (danielle can help us with that?? haha), cookies, new year goodies and provide services like revealing the secret magic tricks of Mark etc... so got more ideas or lobangs just suggest man!!

You Are 19 Years Old

Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe. 13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world. 20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences. 30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more! 40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax.

What Age Do You Act?

Came across this test and decided to try it... since recently a lot of peeps are calling me uncle so must c if really uncle not.. haha. but the test shows that i am still a teen man.. of cos! young at heart wad... 19 y/o quite close to 21.. so at least I am behaving my age. haha.

Went for my con class bbq today, spent a total of 120 bucks, good thing the cost is split between Fel, Nigel and myself or I will be super broke man. Nice seeing the teens again and we played Indian Poker. The dares that they came up with were damn disgusting. The winner will chew something and the loser will have to eat it up. And i kena two times - one was eating chewed sausages and the other was to drink Sprite that was gargled by someone else before. The sight of it was sick but when you actually put it in your mouth and try not to think that it was in someone's mouth b4 then it actually taste alrite. haha

And i finally applied for my UOB Campus Account - this means more discounts at restaurants. Totally online banking, they offer the highest interest rates in town for personal savings and they even gave me a personal cheque book. How cool is that. Okay, I sound damn 'shua gu'.

Finally had the time to get my new tag board. The old one expired ages ago. So can just tag/drop a msg there. :)

Watched another 2 movies - Casino Royale and Flags of our Fathers. Didnt really enjoy Casino Royale but I actually like Flags of our Fathers. It is not your typical hollywood blockbuster war movie like Pearl Harbour with romance in it, this movie is more like a documentary - an account of the battle at Iwo Jima. What makes it interesting is the definition of the word 'heroes'. Who exactly are heroes during times of war - those who survived or those who are dead? It is also interesting to just think and try to picture yourself as one of the characters in a war movie, which character do you think you will be - the self sacrificing 'hero' or just the soldier who try to just keep himself alive. Oh well, guess u will never know unless you are really in the situation. Anyway, watched Flags with CSS peeps - 9 guys and Elaine... Its worth the money - at least to me. Have yet to watch Deja Vu, Saw 3 and Flyboys.

Update of activities:
- Finally the four of us managed to meet up and just chill out (Daryl, Samantha, Mallery and myself), we have been trying to plan an outing since FOC. The gals were crazy tAking photos, we took lotsa embarrassing photos (will post them up next time when i get the photos). Well, what Mal said is true, to be young and not be jaded by the immense stress from school, we should just have fun and do all the stupid things. Before dinner we had Ben and Jerry's. I realised that it is actually really really much cheaper getting a pint and share. You can choose and mix 2 flavours for just $12.80 and you can also enjoy the sinful ice cream in the outlet. Each pint actually states 'Hand PAcked'. Their ice cream is damn good man. Every scoop can bring you all the way to cloud 9. haha. We had dinner at Ichiban- ordered sushi as if it was a buffet and went bowling. Had a good time and a good laugh with them, I guess these are the little things that make life more interesting and make the holidays fun!

- Had my first tuition with the twins yesterday. They are really identical man. Their mum purposely made them wear different colour t-shirts so that i can differentiate them, but dun think it is much of a help. Can sense that their mother is super anxious for them to start studying and get good results for PSLE. They have tuition for all their subjects, and enrichment lessons at centres. Wad a holiday for them. haha. Went to Rochester Park for dinner with Gladys and Russ in the nite - my belated birthday treat. I agree with Russ that Rochester will be a nice place for wedding receptions, at least its not cliche. The ambience was fantastic coupled with good wine and of cos good company. Thanks for dinner Glad.

- Went to Ubin today! Rosie and Ya li pang sei us.. so only russ, joe and myself went there. Been damn long since we went last stepped on the island. Their bikes improved a lot, now with double suspension and all.. whole day for 5 dollars. Quite cheap. Though never go anywhere for holiday, at least got step out of mainland Singapore and into the rural ubin. It was fun getting all muddy. And those memories of my army days came back to me, walking along the muddy tracks, bashing through the trees, executing missions and being contacted. And of cos, we were also trying to find the different campsites used during SJI Aces Camp. That was when we were in SEc 2 man. Russ and I climbed all the way up to have a good view of one of the quarries. The water in the quarry was really blue (the shade of copper sulphate) and we had a good view of Singapore too. Thanks for a day well spent guys!

Upcoming stuff:
14th - Church Meeting
15th - Con Class BBQ
16th - Ian and Mervyn B'day PArties
17th - Artz Comm meeting
18th - Carolling with MM
19th - CSS Xmas Celebrations - Allume
20th - Artz Advent Outin followed by clubbing with CSS peeps

The holidays are too short for too many stuff. Sometimes, I really wanna just stay at home and just slack and read a book. Oh ya, wanted to buy a new book by Mitch Albom but it cost some 30 odd dollars... damn ex. Shall just wait for the price to drop. Enjoy the hols guys b4 sch starts again... :)

Feels soooooooo good without having to study for exams. The feeling is just damn damn good. Just relaxin at home and not doing anything can be a real joy too. I miss these kinda days. Lotsa upcoming stuff this hols - preparation for CSS Xmas Celebrations, artz comm stuff, preparation for next year cat class stuff and gotta prepare for the Con 3 confirmation which is fixed on 28 Jan 07 at 6pm.

Watched Step Up yesterday. Cool dance moves and was really in the mood for clubbing after the movie. Was supposed to watch it with steph but went to watch with Lasap gang instead. We decided to go either Zouk or Double O next week. After the movie, I was just thinking how i should tell steph that i pang sei her when someone called me from the back. It was steph!! haha. Small world man, so we actually did 'watch' the show in the same cinema after all. More good movies to catch this hols - Saw III, Flags of our Fathers, Deja Vu...

And yes.. i declared my major already.. and these are the modules i should be taking next sem:
EC 2101 - Microeconomics I
EC 3303 - Econometrics I
SC 1101E - Making Sense of Society
GEK 1052 - New GEM module - Community service and social work (non examinable)
Sw 1101E - Intro to Social Work or a Statistics module...

Most importantly, i do not have any 8am lectures so far, all starting at 10am at least. I dunno how i survived coming to school at 8am almost everyday this sem. But the Sci, engine and medicine pple have lessons at 8am almost everyday also.. so i better shut up and dun complain. Secondly, no two exams in one day as well, its hard studying for 2 papers in a day. And hopefully they pre allocate me these mods so I dun need to bid...

18 more days to 2007..............................................................................

4 down, 1 more to go. Had 2 papers today and both were not that fantastic. Had JS from 9-11am, chill out awhile at Subway with my Cold Cut Trio. (Think subway is the best lunch you can ever get man. Damn nice and healthy - eat it fresh!). Followed by a 4 hour mass information processing of Calculus into our brains (Russ, Josh and my brain). And came the dreaded paper at 5pm. The first few questions were quite ez and I was asking myself why the hell did I S/U Calculus and I got my answer really soon. Come Qn 4 till the end of the paper... the questions were bloody difficult. Think i might just fail the paper. Oh well, hopefully still can get a 'S' since i think most pple found it difficult too. Feeling quite numb, just glad that the day is over and so its just left with 1 paper.

And finally the long awaited hols will begin on Tues for me. Gonna highlight my hair and start giving tuition again. Got a new assignment, gonna teach a pair of twins (pri 6 next) starting from next week. Both of them are from St. Mike.. I need $$ so tuition must go on.

And yes today is the opening of IKEA (tampines). You can see it from my window. They are damn kiasu man, 3 big big signs stating IKEA and all 3 are facing at my direction. Shall take a photo of it soon. haha

Some random photos:

I like the background.. (Fel and my grp)


Con 3a /06'


Josephians!!


Its Xmas time in the city.........................