TOUCHDOWN!!!

back on the Land of Unexpected Treasures..... My arrival was quite different from last year's. Well to start with, I wasn't greeted by chest crushing hugs and kisses (the typical way of receiving someone after not being home for ages). Not my parents fault though, cause they're going to land in about 2 hours time. They decided to take the SQ Airbus cause it's much more comfortable, classy and has more range on it's menu (ie. ALCOHOL). Well, feel how pissed I am through this post cause I'm left out..... well....... No, not exactly...

Tiny things that I realised in the past hour (yes.... there's nothing else to do so ended up blogging.. definitely going to blog about things that happened previously before i came back.. but you'd have to wait for that... ).... anyways... yeaa... the list starts.........

- here -

- wow.. not bad.. there's air conditioning in the airport?? lol.. sakai..

- yes.. the airport is as empty as ever other than the people arriving and folks picking them up..

- didn't have to wait as long for baggage claim.. *thumbsup*

- THE SKY IS SO BLUE!!! ^.^

- the air is too moist and hot!!!

- my house helper was actually happy to see my brother and I back!!! :)

- the door knob is replace!

- new shelves bought...

- TV replaced and moved..

- a bed in my room is missing!!!

okay.. well.. there's more but in the midst of typing this, the fact that this post is DAMN boring just struck me... my apologies.. however despite that, I'll still post this. Why erase something that I spent my time typing right?? It may not have taken a few hours, but it's still my precious time.. :)

CAN'T WAIT TO RE-EXPLORE BRUNEI... IN THE NEXT 3 MONTHS?? (i think that's too long)

mood: cheerful and anxious.

-hui-

something random

I WANT A DOG TO GIVE MY LOVE TO... :)

- which will not happen in the near future.. :'(

-

Holocaust......

I posted something on this blog perhaps a few months ago titled.. "Holocaust Rememberence Day"... today, the Holocaust Survivor, Zigi Shipper came to school to give a talk.. basically, he came to give his extraordinary testimony of his experience in Auschwitz.... i feel honored that I was able to hear a first hand account of what really happened and how everything came to be..

Zigi Shipper

just to clear things up, Auschwitz was a Death Camp located in Poland and it's opened now for people all over the world to visit to learn about the past.. obviously there are other death camps and also concentration camps.. if you don't know the difference, a death camp is where the prisoners of war, jews, homosexuals, gypsies etc. were sent to, to be killed (terminated) in ways such as in the gas chamber with the cyclone B.. and a concentration camp is a place where prisoners of war were sent to, to do work such as peeling potatoes, manufacturing stuff.. but they do get punished there too......

anyways, Zigi Shipper is now about 85 years old and he was taken when he was about 14 years old.. imagine it, he's still going around schools, prisons and apparently even synagogues to tell his testimony to everyone...

people tend to ask him.. "It happened so long ago. Surely you've forgiven and forgotten about it all. How can you even remember what happened after all this time..."

He answers,

“ The question is how can I NOT remember.. how can I forget about what happened when my whole family was slaughtered... Do I hate the people who did it? I don't know, but do I forgive them? NO - for a simple reason - I don't feel I've got the right to forgive the people.. Only God can forgive, and the people that are dead can forgive, I can't...”

When the people were at the camp, they were told that a large number of them were going to take a shower in a room.. so they were asked to strip off all their clothes and write their names on their bags (so that the bags can be returned back to them after the shower).. when they entered the room, they were locked in and someone would climb to the rooftop to drop a canister of cyclone B, killing everyone in the room....

the bags belonging to the victims who thought that they were going to get their things back...

the people at the camp had to shave off all their hair... this mountain of hair belonged to the victims.. imagine how many heads have to be shaven to make this mountain of hair..

what stuck to me after the talk was this.......

“At the end of the day what does hate do? If you hate, you are the one that suffers, you become bitter and you hate everybody. DO NOT HATE... It will only destroy your life...”

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

-hui-

WE ARE COMING............

24 hours and 59 minutes left.....

ITALY WE ARE COMING FOR YOU!!!

:)

-hui-

When the cherry blossoms bloom...

Okayy... I'm supposed to be on the train right now to london... but obviously.. I'M NOT!! :) it's not supposed to be a good thing.. but I'm just too lazy to get my ass off the seat!! LOL!! jokes.... but i mean... to tell the truth.. I'm not done with my packing yet.. i just get so distracted by things around me... if i see my brush, i'll just randomly pick it up and brush my hair.. when i see my makeup kit, i might just put on some makeup in the middle of the night (ie 1am)... like wth right?? =.=

anyways, I've been reading a novel lately... it's called "Into the darkest corner"... it's great... seriously.. i have had this weird interest towards these type of books... I'm not sure where this is all taking me.. reading these type of books that is.. i mean i just find it really amazing how the writers are able to think of such twisted ways and describing them with such detail.. I reached the climax of the book and I'm sorta scared shitless *with exaggeration*... cause i was just so into the book, i realised it was 2am and i showered really early in the morning.. and I was just slightly panicky and for some weird reason I kept on looking behind my back as if someone was watching me...... in the shower...... UGHHH!! it's just getting into my mind... =.="""

here are pictures... last day of school during the Spring term... :)

this picture was taken loads of times.. as the other cherry blossoms were to high up for her.. so we looked for a lower one.. XD

just playing around... :)

xxxxxxxxxx

-hui-

packing.... SUX!!

I've been trying to pack for the upcoming Easter holidays.. which is supposed to be awesome cause it's like a break from studies and everything... but **** there'll be so many things to bring over to london!!! UGGHHH!!!

i've had weird subconscious feeling for some time.. and it's a mixture of anticipation for my trip to Italy and dread... LOL!!! not to be such a spoiler of fun activities.. but i'm keeping my fingers-crossed that it'll be great!! i've not exactly faced the fact that we're going to milan, venice and rome.... in SEVEN days!!! it's bound to be one hella hectic week.... :S

anyways... I know that most of the ppl that actually keep up with this blog, LOVES MATHS... or has some sort of secret love affair... teehee... so here's a video that i came across that's just hilarious!!!!

if you enjoy this video, watch his other video on the fire drill thing is ridiculously funny too!! :)

xxxxxx

-hui-

Boarder's concert

Ｄue to my last failed attempt to blog in Chinese... Now I appreciate the ease of typing in English

23 March 2011

That was a big day for my boarding, St Mary's .

It was our Boarder Concert

This year is our last year and also our last chance to shine contribute to the concert. I had hard time figuring what to do.

Singing?

Dancing?

In the end I decided to play the violin... not that I am a very talented violinst or anything.. just it's the 101 thing that I know and able to use on stage. Ever heard of relative and absolute advantage? I didnt do it because I am so good.. but because that my only choice… that’s how people choose a course and job…!! (in economic term that is…. Since not everyone can be the best in what they do) Okay… I just drifted away.. back to the concert…

So I played canon in D with two other violinists and a pianist... ( I was so busy rehearsing that I didnt have time to blog at all.. cough cough)

Huiyi/ Emily on the other hand sang in a group... I didnt get to watch though as it was right after my performance...

picture speak a thousand word~~ here's some photos:

Spotted someone? Lol....

The group singing that Hui Yi is in.. . this is the other half of the group... cant get hold of her photos unfortunately.....

The final group singing.. st mary's tradition... we sang "heal the world" by Michael Jackson..

The highlight of the whole event:

My friends wearing japanese cosplay costume singing japanese duet..

This young lady here stunned us all with her outstanding singing.... future Already a big star... :D

The whole amount of money that we earned from the concert will be donated to Japan through British RedCross.....

All in all.. it was great fun and memories that we can bring to universities....although there was quite a few hurdle before the whole performance.. our head boarder especially suffered quite a bit. but it was all worth it. Great job everyone.. :) if any of you read this post....

On the other hand, as I mentioned Japan...

thats another great topic to talk about...... for another time......

Snow

假日

這是第一次用中文打部落個。 總感覺中文比較好。

可惡的是，當我拼命的想拼音的時，想寫的內容都回一掃而空。打拼音真討厭！！

不知道大家會不會讀反體的華文。 ＝Ｄ

假日快到了，這個時候終會很想家，而卻沒辦法總讓我很無奈。雪上加霜的學校還把假日延長！

打到這裡，就不懂要說什麼了。下一次再試吧。

～～～無奈啊～～～～

雪

Just a tale?

Have you ever watch a cartoon movie called "UP" before?

I happened to watch it only lately... I know thats quite late providing that the movie was released in 2009... It was a really good movie... touching and nice... but would realistic be the word to describe the movie? An old man flying a house with balloon... how ridiculous could that be? Another disney make believe...

Maybe this make you change your mind a bit.. that not all Disney/Pixar is far fetched and ridiculous.....

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/technology/8220791/floating-house-inspired-by-up

Basically, just recently a team of scientists has created a real-life version of the cartoon balloon house in the hit 2009 movie Up. Surprisingly, the house looked really alike to the one in the movie.

Just like a fairytale come true.. I know its not exactly a "house".. but its an eyeopener.... and perhaps make you think again....

Are there anything thats really impossible?

Sharon

Ipad 2!

So Apple has declare about Ipad... releasing next march....

Why should we get ipad? Go to apple store website and they will tell you...

Why shouldn't be get Ipad? http://theoatmeal.com/comics/apple

thats the reason.

Enjoy.

Sharon

Jan + Feb = Jab? Jeb? FAB!!!

This is such a late posting thingie that i'm doing here.. but i just wanted to share the wonderful things that happened recently!! this is also supposed to be an end of exam post which helps me release all the tension in my neck and eye-lids (if even possible).. but it instead stirred up more tension cause it's taking ages to upload the pics!!!

i know i'm supposed to be asleep right now.. need to catch up on my sleep!!! have been sleeping like 1 hour per day!! LOL!!! jokess... but yeaa.. i'm drained!! the three mock papers today, just killed my brain cells!! not everything.. but a large percentage of it!! this is torture!! I checked my June exam timetable and i dont even have 2 papers on a particular day!! if i'm wrong, please prove me wrong asap so i can get my act together!! YES SHARON, this refers to you!! cause apparently NOBODY reads our blog.. it's only for our entertainment!! HAHA!!

so... follower no. 1 goes to!!!! *drumroll*

ZHUZHU8TH!!!

sorry but this is not some kind of.. "YOU'RE OUR NUMBER 1,000,000th VISITOR!! you win a prize!!" type of thing.. LOL!! but i actually posted your name thing on this post!! so BE HAPPY!! ^.^ i've never had my name in CAPS LOCK in someone else's post!! lol.....

so my dear friend (Sabrina QIAN) who's like my mummy is school had her birthday celebration like a few weeks ago!! i wanted to post it but it clashed with CNY so i though i should post the CNY greetings on the day itself and not like this post (3 weeks late?)

this is just a post to enjoy the good memories using photography!! :)

ENJOY!!

sab & hattie (ang moh) :)

Dorthe and I (ang moh?? jokes!!)

irene & sharon

Me & mayang

^.^

sorry this is all for now... stay tuned for more pictures!! :)

hui

Mocks and valentine

After 2 days of mock.. I can finally have a short break...

St Mary's is currently having our mock... traditionally it should be after half term but this year the school organised a ski trip during the half term and to not spoil the fun of the ski trip participants the mock was moved forward.. and thus we, st Mary-ian is having mock which strike on the same day as valentine days... NiCe~~~

Some of my friends had status like "Broke up with psychology and now dating with Economics and M1".. can't agree more....

So I just broke up with Economics and M1.. going to turn back to my Chemistry who i broke up earlier this mon and also my new found lover... C3

Lets me ask.. how was ur valentine day? As I said, my valentine was dating with books... so how about you?

I never fully understand the need for valentine day..... the last time we had a group activity in church which asked about valentine and i said

"A meaningless created by entepreneur to boost sales"

Alright.. i know that sounds quite mean and spoiler.. but trust me its true.. while valentine is all romantic and all.. its also a day where firms rub their hands and await as lovers rush to spend their money.....

No matter what.. I hope everyone had a nice valentine day's

However remember... valentine day is only a day.. falling in love with the right person... you will celebrate valentine everyday... :D

Sharon

Occupation

There are various type of jobs in this world.

What type of jobs would you like?
Whatever you are doing now might not be your favourite. There are a heap of reasons why you might be in a job. Be in for the wages or perks, or the nice working hours you can get.

I came across an article today regarding the most dangerous type of jobs and funny enough we talked about labour market and employment in Economics lesson.

What do you think is the most dangerous occupation in the world?

I could probably come out with a long list but this occupation would not be in my list:

Sulphur mining in an active volcano


It surprised me that one of the most dangerous job in the world actually really close to my hometown: Indonesia

Matches and white sugar are among the products made with sulphur hewn by hand from an active volcano in Indonesia.

The miners have little in the way of protective gear beyond a damp cloth to cover the nose and mouth. Gloves and gas masks are an unaffordable luxury for men paid $10 to $15 a day.

In the past 40 years, 74 miners have died after being overpowered by fumes that can suddenly swirl from fissures in the rock. The poisonous clouds are not steam, but hydrogen sulphide and sulphur dioxide gases so concentrated they burn the eyes and throat, and can eventually dissolve the miners' teeth.

I find the notion of working close to acidic fume really frightening and dissolving teeth......... not very pleasant.... However no matter how hard the condition is... there is still people who are willing to work...:

"Our families worry when we come here. They say working here can shorten your life," says Hartomo, 34, a sulphur miner for 12 years.

"I do it to feed my wife and kid. No other job pays this well," adds Sulaiman.

Even putting their life at risk..they are willing to work in order to support their family....

Wage differential is prevalent in our economy. Footballers like Rooney actually earn more than the prime minister! Celebrity like Beyonce could earn up to $55 000 000 a year and yet enjoy her job and be safe and comfortable?

Lets say a job like sewage cleaner. Not risky (I dont think people die from inhaling too much smelly stuff can die right) but utterly disgusting. How much do you think they should be paid? In Singapore, rubbish collector is one of the highly paid job, obviously as a compensation for the work involved.

Should the miner be paid more than celebrity or the sewage cleaner? How much each should be paid differ greatly from each person's opinion Market forces is at work (demand and supply). However what is fairer might be different in our eyes.

Here's the link for the article if you would like to know the whole story about the sulpur miner:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12301421

Sharon

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!!!

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!!!!!!

恭喜發財

年年有餘

It's going to be the second year that we're not spending Chinese New Year at home... :'( sad thing is... there's more years to come... when we get back in i dont know how many years, we'd be older and more mature and i guess all the perks of CNY that we used to enjoy won't really be how we used to imagine it to be......

TO THE PEEPS IN BRUNEI!! enjoy this CNY cause it might be the last as you'll be coming over to UK next year!!! ^.^

i wana eat nian gao.... wana eat mandarins... tapak kuda (lol.. i know it's a malay cake)... and all the other wonderful thingss!! SHARK FIN SOUP!!! <3

pics of CNY eve in St. Mary's.. if you think this is boring, it's a great improvement compared to last year!!

the closest we can get to CNY decor (not including chinatown)

handmade CNY decor... should be made by the junior boarders...

gong xi fa cai,

hong bao na lai,

if you dont gimme hong-bao,

i give you black-eye.

poem.. with compliments from my singaporean friend.... :D

- hui -

Holocaust Rememberance Day

Holocaust - genocide of Jews during the World War II

I know it's not the Holocaust rememberance day today... but it was on the 27th January... to tell the truth, it wasn't like marked on my calendar, reminding me to remember of that day.. but isn't it normal?? nobody actually remembers the bad things... well.. nobody actually tries to remember them...

But in this case, it's a part of history that was seriously in humane... against human rights and being racist (religionist?).... yet... it's a day that we should forever engrave in our hearts, to remember the mistakes of our forefathers and learn from the past.....

Sir Nicholas Winton did something great back then...... he's a Briton who organised the rescue of 669, mostly Jewish children from German-occupied Czechoslovakia on the eve of World War I (think about great timing!!)... Winton found homes for them and arrange for their safe passage to Britain... starting a new life with foster parents....

Here's a touching video.. get ready to be touched... :')

what he did was, is and forever will be remarkable and remembered... he might not have looked at it thinking that he's going to make much of a difference.. but it did...

" Sometimes you'd think that you've not been heard. Your presence, your thoughts, your voice doesn't matter anymore... shout a little louder.... don't ever let it pull you down.. cause He's listening.... God's definitely listening... " - huiyi :)

have a great week!!

remember....

MOVE ON..... DON'T DWELL ON THE PAST... BUT LEARN FROM IT....

- hui -

rainforest of the sea

If I ask you to picture a scene underwater what would come to your mind? 1) The beautiful, majestic coral teeming with beautifully coloured fishes or 2)a dead sea with hardened ground and no life?

Before I go on,
Do you know coral reef, called the rainforest of the sea house one of the most diverse ecosystem in the world and is largest structures made by living organisms? (Coral reefs are living structure) Unfortunately, Coral reefs that took millions of years to build have been disappearing within just decades as a result of human activities.

This video makes a summary of coral reef:



The greatest collection of coral reef is located at the north-east coast of Australia, the Great Barrier reef. Does that location strike a bell? Yeap, the great barrier reef is located close to Queensland, the land currently suffering from flood. As water floods into the seas west of the reef, it inevitably freshens the environment around the reef; which is not good news.

Freshwater kills corals.

Pesticides, herbicides, fertilisers and sediment - mud - are washed off the farms, into the rivers and then onto the reef. Floodwater, with is cargo of mud and nutrients, is pouring into the sea from the Fitzroy and other riversThe fertilisers do in the sea what they do on land - stimulate the growth of plants.But here, that is a problem, as the marine plants cover growing coral, choking it to death

Not only are properties destroyed, human lives lose, even the marine life suffer!

For more info: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12190895

Back to my inital question: whichever picture you had in mind. You were right. However, the former scene is slowly disappearing, replaced by the latter.

I hope you found this post interesting and helpful.

Regards,
Sharon