Matriculation
(this post was written yesterday, monday. i wanted to upload a pic but toopid blogspot cannot work. delayed till today, still can't work. so, i gave up.)Hehe, I'm officially a student of NUS FASS. A "freshie" (freshman). Sounds like some kinda vegg or fish... But anyway, today was the Matriculation. I got my matric card!!!!!! Woo hoo! Looks like i'm back to being a student!
Anyway, Matric is super environmentally unfriendly... the Fair, where the CCAs and club booths are...the people were giving out flyers like nobody's business. (I mean, if they were usable freebies...hehehe I don't mind..)
Well, anyway, they offered this matriculation pack for $10. And guess what, the Aunty side of me reared it's ugly head.
I bought it.
Only to realize after I came home that
1) It was too heavy to carry, and I had ropeburn on my hand because of that.
2) I don't really need the things inside.
That pack is more for those who wants to go for the Union camp. There's small freebies sized facial wash, lotion, perfume, gasby oil wiper, clothes detergent. There's also freebies sized sweets, normal canned juice, a glass of coffee, freebie highlighter, a pack of instant noodles and chips. But the supposedly value for money things are the matric t shirt and an entertainment mag.
Looks like a lot of stuff?
yup. But the thing is, I don't really NEED them. I mean, facial wash, lotions.. I've got them and i don't need them unless I am going for camp. juices...not really part of my daily must haves either. Worse, I DON'T READ JUNK MAGS! The mag they gave were mags like Female, NuYou, Mentalk...and another I can't remember. I DON'T READ JUNK MAGS! As for the T shirt, well...not really the kinda shirt i will wear often. It's like any other black class t-shirt kinda material. Common. And it's black - adding on to the tons of black shirt in my wardrobe. LOL! My mom will nag again if she sees this. =P
It was tiring. But kinda fun la. The freebies part. haha! Well i got more stationaries.
Saw a few CCAs which interests me. If the commitment is not too high (there are CCAs which don't require regular meetings) I may wanna join for exposure's sake, to gain experience. Campus Crusade approached me, so did Varsity something Fellowship. But one is definitly charismatic and the other is inter-denominational. Not that their intention is bad, just that there are differences which i don't wanna compromise. So no thanks guys. I'll just pray for you guys. Meanwhile, I hope i can join the few JSM-ers in their Bible study group with their Deacon.
Well...kinda looking forward to Uni...cos slacking around isn't fun since i'm wasting time. Might as well start studying. Paul said don't neglect the first Sem...quite a weightage on the final result.
So what image should I set out to have for my uni days? Cynic? Slacker? Nerd? Haha, i do want to be hardworking enough ba. Because my parents went all out to make my uni affordable. My dad gave me quite a sum of money last night to pay for the whole misc fees which i had intented to pay out of my savings. And my late grandma also left her will solely to my mother, for the sake of my bro's and mine education. So there, quite enough reasons to study. But of coz, the top reason is that it is a testimony to my parents. To them they don't see how being diligent is to please the Lord, but they will see that me being a Christian is doing a lot better than I had been being a non-christian, and glorify (hopefully?) my Father in heaven. Anyway, I hope the modules i take can be of use somehow. Like the chinese-english translation module. I hope I can get it. May help in my translation work in church. =D
Eh, Carmen, review this every end of the Semester to remind yourself what aim you had initially set out for yourself. Remember it!!!!! Don't be influenced by the world!
Cheerz,
Carmen
Baby Blues 3
familiar.... very familiar...
no heading
I emailed Aunty Su Shiang. I miss her terribly. I didn't tell her all those questions I have, nor did I tell her in details what is happening to our church recently.
But I miss her terribly. So many sisters are gone now. The older sisters in Christ....I'm just not comfortable approaching them. Sometimes I wana talk to Aunty Rachel, but I don't know her well enough.
I don't wish to replace the Bible and prayer with Aunty Su Shiang. I just want to talk to someone.
I miss Aunty Su Shiang terribly.
what? which? why? how?
What does "gentlness" in the Bible means?
Just now I was told of some opinions of me, by godly, well intentioned people. But now I duno what to feel.
How much of my character can I keep? What really is gentleness? What is expected of me?
I'm not an affectionate and gregarious person...not one who smiles and embraces explicitely, not one who's outspoken regarding my concern for others. I'm not those soft-spoken, measured stepped, soft wispy action lady. I'm not the society's idea of gentleness.
So far, the faults that I know of are these:
- short temperedness
- unbridled tongue
I am by nature playful deep down. How much of that playfulness is actually ungodliness and displeases God?
I really duno, I really really duno.
Is it wrong to spar with words? To be sharp tongued?
Is it wrong and unbecoming of me to try to speak in subtlety?
What is being harsh with children and being firm with children? What is the difference???
What??
How much of those comments did I reject and question now out of pride? Am I feeling sad now because of my pride? Is it because of that? Or are these comments really wrong? The one thing i can be sure is that they are well intentioned.
What? What? What? How? How? How?
i'm very confused now. I feel a little accused but I am wary of this unjustice feeling that I have. Becuase I know I can be prideful. But i really don't know how much of those comments shoud I take? I tried to look back on the things I do. Am i wrong herE? am i wrong there? is this wrong? is that wrong?
i duno i duno i duno i duno.
I really duno.
And I duno how much of my character should I change!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Impt note: I am not going against God or those godly people. I dun ask the above questions out of defiance. I really am asking.
I believe if those part of me that God wants me to change it is not to tie me down, and I won't lost my individuality becoz of those. Those that God is displeased with are the very things that i ought to change.
But I just want to know....which are those which I really need to change becuase it's God's displeasure, and which of those are because of their (though well intentioned) social stereotype, which of those out of misunderstanding?
which which which?
pray pray pray.....
Bukit Ho Swee CC Market
Aiya, no picture.
Well, yesterday and today I went to SEAB (Singapore Examination and Assesment Board) to work as temporary stuff. Ok lah, mindless saikangs but alright. I don't mind doing. People there are nice, and I learnt a life skill of binding documents and tying parcels....hehehe.
Anyway, there is a food market there, just opposite Bukit Ho Swee CC, not Tiong Bahru market though. I love it there.
1) Cheap food (e.g $2.50 lasi lemark consisting of 1 BIG chicken part, 1/2 luncheon, 1 egg, ikan bilis, 1 cucumber slice, a full rice bowl of rice, generous spoon of superb chili.....WOO I'M DROOLING~!!)
2) It's got the old style kampong feel.
What got me to actually blog about that eating experience is actually point no.2. As I was eating this afternoon (delicious yong tau foo...7 pieces plus noodles for $2.30!) I observed some stuff. First, the hawkers are helpful to the customers AS WELL AS each other. They are those older generation hawkers you'll expect in such an old food market. But they are kind and helpful to their customers. Particularly, at the yong tau foo stall, the lady helped us take the utensils, ask whether we want chili or sweet source (when it's actually self service), and recommands, like, "this will be great with this sauce". Another ban mian stall i patronized yesterday also has hawkers who really do sound like they value you as a customer. They may not LOOK friendly, but you can feel it. This is so unlike the modern coffee shops, or worse, FOOD COURTS! The hawkers there are stony and cold, I don't really feel as comfortable as it was at that old food market.
Second, they help each other! The drink stall uncle helps clear bowls from other stalls when he doesn't have business. He doesn't give me the pissed off look when I sat right in front of his stall but said no to getting a drink. The hawkers talk to each other across stalls when they are free. They are not rivals - they are business partners. How pleasant!
This foodmarket looks really old. It has got the usual old market things, like cramp seatings, old fans. But it is actually quite clean on the floor and utensils! It's not hot and stuffy, and trust me, the hawkers attitudes really marks their value up.
I hope the gahmen won't touch them. Don't go and "upgrade" that place such that these hawkers don't want to continue business and thus replaced by new generation robotic food businessmen. Don't cause the rental to mark up because it makes it hard for the hawkers' living, and causes them embarressment at having to mark up their price even fr old customers. If gahment really wanna upgrade, please ensure new generation workers are as friendly and have the right attidtude.
Hai, I can't stop gahment one la. I can't stop changes. It will be touched one day. So before it's gone forever, I hope to visit it often.
But whosoever wants to know how to get there, let me know! =)
Cheerz
Wow...
o.O" From a letter addressed to my home. So is it for me, my dad, or some non-existent male alter ego of me?
Muse Con't
Just to make the blog colourful, here's the 4 musketeers, in June 2006.
Muse
I'm blogging at, like, 1.45am in the midnight. Thoughts have crossed through my little mind. After looking at some photos in my Friendster, it suddenly dawned upon me that I've grown up.
I saw photos of my fellow Swiss Cottage 2003 musketeers, dear friends of mine whom now I still contact. I realise we've all changed. For better or for worse? (Depending on your moral standard...) It's a sort of bittersweet feeling. I get this mental picture of us walking 4 different paths (but not too far away, we can still see each other) but I see them having different results, meeting different people, and sometimes see their character changing with as we all walk down the separated paths. We still remember to turn our heads and say Hi to one another, but each with each glimsp I see them changed.
Changes - the only constant in life. (As the cliche goes.)
And there's church people. People I grow up with and should be the ones I turn to most. People left, people changed, people grew. Even the kids are growing. Soon they'll experience problems I experience, they'll enjoy things I enjoy, they'll be tempted with things I'm tempted with. It's not that far away. Changes makes everything sooner than expected. Even totally unexpected.
Family: my parents growing old. Backs getting more hunched. Gray hairs more. Wrinkles deeper. Action slower. Giving more freedom and control to their children. The greatest change that I hope to see is not happening yet. I'm not doing my job well. I haven't tell them the gospel. I haven't urge and plead for their souls. That's one thing unchanged from the past. Yet this is a bad thing. Haha...
Along my life I'll let out a few melancholic laughs. Brush aside some pain. Freeze some emotions. Lower some expectation. By grace I have not turned into a cynic. By grace I have hope in the Most High.
Muse ends.
But not changes.
Ciao.
