It starts from my toes, and I wrinkle my nose

Tuesday, January 29, 2008 With great endurance Lord
I'm gonna run this race
Pressing towards the goal
I will follow You with eyes of faith

You're training these hands for war
You're showing me how to fight
Standing on the Word
Taking up the sword of truth and life

The kingdom of God,
The kingdom of God is here
We believe the calling is urgent
The kingdom of God,
The kingdom of God is here
We're alive for something eternal
We're gonna fight the good fight
Givin' it all for the Saviour's sacrifice

Teach me to walk in love
Shine as a light in me
Even in the dark
I will live to be your hands and feet

I wanna see like you
So open my eyes I pray
Lead me to the lost
Send me for the glory of Your name

Doing bible study was a refreshing task away from school projects. Just going back to the source of strength and how apt that the chapter was about His Strength. Reading about David, Moses, Paul and how their strength comes from God and not their own. A very good reminder for me during this period especially. Physically, mentally, spiritually, it all has to come from the Lord. I'm only an empty vessel for His use. :) But there's joy in receiving his strength cause it never runs out.

Taking girls for bible study and being accountable for them has really made me to be a more responsible mentor. Its open my eyes and heart to so much more of Jesus and his amazing works. Frankly, I was struggling last year with 2 of them but thank God for his endless mercies for its new every morning. :D

'My sins are gone,my debts been paid,You gave away your life for me'-Paul Baloche: Our God Saves

Thank You Lord. I just want to thank you Lord for everything

Training today was a little piece of heaven. Though it poured for an hour, thus leaving us with only abt 1 1/2 hours to paddle yet it was a blissful 1 1/2 hours. A private session with coach. 2-on-1. Damien and I with coach. and i've finally moved up to K1. After what feels like a trillion years on Junior K1. yay. :D I've got a satisfactory balance now, its just a matter of water time to improve and start sprints. cant wait cant wait. I'm gonna 'chiong' all the way for sprints. I'm secretly not a fan of marathons, give me sprints any time.

Monday, January 28, 2008 Wine lists are currently the bane of human existance. I spent 5 minutes waiting for Chile's harvest report to download only to open a microsoft word file filled with gibberish Spanish. -.- Erghhh. If it was a human being, i would have promptly sat on it and squished it till it spoke in English and told me whether the harvest is worthy to be in the wine list.

What of Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Nior, Pinot Grigio and Cabernet...I've still yet to fully comprehend the vastness of it all. It'll probably take me my whole life to understand and know truly what wine is what and the difference between them. The pairings with food is enough to make me pull my hair and run around like a maniac. Theres only so much that wine books can tell us about pairings. But if we're clueless as to how Farfalle alla Genovese matches Gavi (a white wine) then how are we to justify our pairings in the report?

Helppp!

The report's due on Friday and we're only 1/4 complete. Theres still the wine list, menu design, justification report and pricing to complete. On top of that I have to finish up my 5 minutes worth of French conversation with Viona thats suppose to be assessed this Thursday. Its a mad rush to the end as always and I forsee an overnight session at someone's place.

Old world, New world-Red, White, Dessert, Sparkling wine. Yes its interesting. But it also kills.

Oh gosh, i just remembered that i have a test tmr. Wow sam.

Sunday, January 27, 2008 Life's the pits when your friend misunderstands you.
So this is what it feels like to have a friend crush your heart...

Bestfriend for that matter. You broke my heart.

Thursday, January 24, 2008 I'm done for the week. But next week's the ultimate- POM presentation, public speaking, french, FnB submission. all within 3 days. Yet i dont really have much to prepare for since its only presentations. Apart from FnB. I'm totally lost for that project i must admit. Like clueless. Totally.

My body's been feeling funny this week. Its like soft all over and i'm trying to fight a sore throat at the same time. Training has been stagnant because of the kallang competition going on this sunday. So i cant exactly go down by myself to the reserviour cause it aint allowed :(. CDS later is pretty much a pain, especially public speaking. French aint too bad with Mings, Viona and Cherina :)

Reading other peoples blogs doesnt help much in lifting ones spirits. Everyones basically complaining and lamenting about broken hearts, struggling relationships and a confused mind. Why bother to go through all the heartache darlings? Maybe its not time yet, so why bother to hurt yourselves? I mean life is so much easier hanging onto God instead of someone. Not that im reprimanding but maybe because thats how i see it right now. Even so, i'll always be free for any of you if you need a ear that can listen yea? :)

Sunday, January 20, 2008 oh weee oh woe, i just realise how intimidating the food and beverage project really is.

Italian cuisine may seem like a piece of cake, but if you're sourcing for current dishes to use for modification, the pairing up of soups, salads, main course and wine will only make you go "eeks!"
Yours truly freaked out when I started researching for pasta which only caused more turmoil instead of a sense of achievement in starting off in my research. French wine is enough to kill, and now we're expected to produce a wine list with Italian wine which I have not a single clue about. I'll try my best with Ravioli and Fettuccine that is already enough to kill. What more Aglianico del Vulture-Red wine. :( -and i thought that vulture is a kind of bird that you see in the Lion King-

We have 12 days to produce a menu fit to be seen and served to guests, a wine list as well as the report that will explain and justify as to why we have paired such utter rubbish of red, white and carbonated drunkard drinks together with 10 of our dishes.

God bless us and let us remain sane. Amen.

Sunday, January 20, 2008

Friday, January 18, 2008

I love this boy. :)

Thursday, January 17, 2008 i keep on looking out of my window to see the blueblue sky and the sunnysunny sun while im cooped up in a messy room. Boo.

So blue so blue! Pretty weather please wait for me. Let January fly by and then i'll be out of the house into the sun!

Wednesday, January 16, 2008 I Need

-rest
-sleep
-coffee
-time
-brains
-energy
-enthusiasm
-to row
-Kiang Ang's PSP to play bomberman
-to laugh for real
-hugs
-God
-TAG
-my own TAS
-did i mention sleep?


1 down, 6 more to go. Come on Sam, come on!

F&B tmr 9am lecture, groaaaans.
I'm so grumpy, i could whack a cow.

Tuesday, January 15, 2008 All that i need and want now is a warm cup of hot chocolate with fluffy white marshmallows and a big big hug to tell me that everythings gonna be alright.
God, can you throw down from heaven the hot chocolate?
Then I'll just run into your arms for the hug.
I really need one right now.

Friday, January 11, 2008 A day off from assignments. Just one day. One day I promise. I'm so tired, my fingers cramped up during worship practice today.

I feel so detached now. As if everything around me is moving and i'm standing still. Like my life's stagnant. Its really nothing right now except for school, school and more school. Even canoe is only getting 1/10 of my time. Apart from that, I hardly have time to myself, let alone sleep without having the alarm wake me up every single morning including saturday and sunday. Mondays and Tuesdays were suppose to be 1.5 hour days and now its turned to a horrible 6 hour torture chamber in school, or more specifically the project room. Where lunch is sneaked in, enemies made with the noisy group next door, conversations evesdropped on through the fake walls and so forth. We're trapped and confined to the 4 walls of a 4m by 5m room for 4 hours facing the computer typing out 6000 words and analysing every single point.

Its come to a point in the school semester where nothing else matters except projects, presentations, powerpoint slides and full suits including stockings and fugly ties. With hair done up, make up applied and cue cards ready, the group launches into its proposal for the hotel and their menu. After scouring through thousands of books in the library, wines will have to be paired up with dishes, and the company's hierarchy explained. Stronger bonds are forged and you know who you can work with. Sadly, a handful of people are outcast by others due to their own inefficiency. Its dirty work, nobody likes it, but the job has to be completed.

No mention of studying has been made thus far. Everything is hands on learning through application and discussion. I can proudly say that the knowledge gain was through our own hard work and effort and no spoon was fed into our mouths. Tutors tore down our proposals during consultation, they gave us endless naggings and lectured us on finding past reports to study. Yet if you listen real closely, these teachers tend to spout rubbish. Precious rubbish. You've got to be sharp to pick the garbage up and fight for whats yours.

Tired? Very. And today is only the beginning of the submission of reports. No breathing space allowed for us right up to Chinese New Year like what dear Zainal said. He's an angel from heaven sent to help us with FnB.

Next week will be a mass of blur. Rushing out marketing presentation, submitting POM report, editing and doing up the slides for Public speaking, drafting out Comm skills letters and minutes of meetings, Japan's economics and so much more. I'm just about exhausted. So exhausted mentally.

Forgive me for such lengthy boring laments. I just need an avenue to relieve myself.

It's a cycle over and over again. :( Somebody, revive me. Even today's rest was worrying. Though i got to see the little boys inside a big guys body (dragonboaters spraying water everywhere with water guns at us and each other) the rest was...unsettling.

Thursday, January 10, 2008 VC? I dont know if im up to it.
For the first time ever, im not feeling confident of carrying out the role given to me.
It has so much expectations. and im not exactly the best candidate either.
I feel think that Chrys should stay on as VC.
Oh God, how how how?

Confidence level: -10.

Monday, January 07, 2008 An exciting start to a new year.
Receiving back mid-semester papers was bittersweet and more are to come.
My first C grade in school. POM was a disaster - 25.5/40. I did not expect much when I walked out of the exam room though. The MCQs were...cold blooded murderers.
I faired much much better in F&B, 86/100. No doubt thanks certain friends such as Joel, Darel, and Sam who made studying F&B much easier. Especially Joel. :)
Thank God for them during the retreat.

Planning surprise parties aint no easy job. But the guys did well. They had the resources; capital included.
What of Koala Bears and Oreo Colgate, Pikachus, noisy noisy music, cutting and stringing construction paper words... my my. hahaha.

Right. So i've got to concentrate on school now. Though its only 2 months, or 7 weeks to say the least, but its gonna be 7 weeks of hell. *pardon my language*
Endless meetings that last forever, consultations with tutors, scouring the 10 storey library for research papers, reading up on suicide rates in Japan, life's pretty much filled up right now.

TP Open House- 10, 11 Jan
Marketing Report- 11 Jan
Marketing Presentation- 16 Jan
Public Speaking Speech- 17 Jan
Econs Report/Presentation- 23 Jan
POM Report- 25 Jan
Comm Skills Submission- 25 Jan
Canoeing marathon- 27 Jan
POM Presentation- 30 Jan
French Conversation- 31 Jan

Looking at the deadlines only gives me a headache. Its no wonder why they call it DEADlines.

Thursday, January 03, 2008 i have to admit that my french teacher is the most amusing tutor one can get. Her expressions, tone of voice and all. French classes has never and will never be boring.

"you come and speak not a word of french for the assessment, i still have to give you 1 mark!"

" just come and show your face. I can give you 1 mark here and 1 mark there for standing in front of me"

" Please, Pleaseee humour me. Sometimes i like to be humoured and not be bored with your dialogues"

" S'il vous plait? S'il vous plaaaait?!(please pleaseeee) I will not only give you bad comments. Dont worry. Good comments also."

"During the holidays I was smiling when I marked your test papers. So you should be smiling too. But whether it is big smile or small smile we shall see next week. But all will smile."

As quoted from Karen(French Tutor).

Tuesday, January 01, 2008 so 2007 is over. Hello 2008. :)
Welcome, welcome.
No resolutions, just promises to the Lord.
Truth to be told, I'm scared that I wont be able to stick to my promises
I'm afraid that I'll just forget it all
But with the Lord's help, I'll live the year for Him.

Eventful, eventful year.
Ups and downs. Sometimes I felt like sitting on people and digging their guts out, I admit
Sigh. So fast so fast.
I've got to know my friends better. To know their other side.
I've had thousands of chances to kick butts and learn how to be idiotic in class

Well thank you Lord for everything. Even the hurts, the difficult times, the learning how to forgive, teaching me to let go, telling me that it wont be a smooth journey but you'll be with me. Thank You.

May 08 be another great year.

Tuesday, January 01, 2008 facebook has some really nice bumperstickers:

I've concluded that its a widespread epidemic thats attacking the 1990 batch horribly. As i've put it to my girlfriend: "its a relationship disease!"