Archive for the ‘Who Am I?’ Category

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Jupiter was out of alignment…

June 16, 2006

I don't know about all you other Sagittarian's out there, but me and Ah Bet certainly felt that our ruling planet left for a holiday without any notice at all… which really wasn't great as it threw our systems completely out of whack with us going through emotional extremes that also switch at the snap of a finger… [which probably explains the extremely weird blog entries that you've seen for the past two days...] anyways… i think we're both a little more sane now, prob coz Jupes or Zeus decided to come back before we completely wreck ourselves…

KTV last night was really fun, we were still in wacky mode and spent the last two hours of K singing fun scream-out-loud songs and dancing in our seats…. even callie and mei joined in, and we were joking that we wouldn't go home till we actually bring down the door.. (we didn't lar) We actually started at 7p.m., and by the time we finished (coz they didnt stop us) it was aready 11.30p.m…. teehees… haven't had so much fun together fir a while now… and it was great seeing the girls again…

Oh yes, yesterday was actually supposed to be a surprise be-earlied birthday celebration for Callie… who's turning 22 next Tuesday… HAPPY BIRTHDAY GIRL!!! the surprise was actually given away… by a bloody dumb waitress lar… $#%&^*&^$%… she kept asking when she should bring the cake in… urgggghhhh… but we still acted as if we didn't know what was going on and Callie stopped asking what she was talking about after a while… Seriously… the world is bloody full of MORONS!!!

went for porridge with ron after K… don't really fancy teochew porridge coz am not really used to eating dishes with soggy rice, but i created my own little medley with salted egg pieces and mince meat which i quite enjoyed… =)

totally crashed into bed after a very quick and perfunctory bath… and was late again this morning… hehehe (sorry sorry) but it was a great feeling to be sluggish because I had a fun night out… =)

today is looking to be an easy friday… with only one meeting later at 2, of which i'm only an observer so if there are no hiccups today it's looking like a great start to the weekend!!! WahooooooooooOOOOOooooooooo~~~~

tomorrow is full dress rehearsal for the contingent, and i'll get to sit back and watch the performances so yaaaaaayyyy… oh yes… we're also going to paint the hall and prat's room on sunday so here's to a weekend of fun!!!

Cheers!!

Love,

^C^

P.S.: Got this link on info abt Sagi's and other signs… =) Sagi's are so darn complex… *sigh* http://www.soulindia.com/12signes/Sagittarius/sagittarius.html

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Where’s my muse?

June 1, 2006

There… I've gone and done it again…

I realised I lost something else today… 

Well… whats new right?

The news is this…this time Miss Crystal Scatterbrain Chen has gone and lost her muse…. AaaaaRrrrGhhh!!!

*okay dramatics are over now*

I realised today that I haven't really done much creative writing in the last couple of years… and since one of my goals in life is to write my very own novel.. this is not good news…. I used to write a lot back when i was in primary and secondary school…. those were the days of 'got computer but got no internet' so when i got bored of solitaire and pinball, I used to just open a blank word document and write…  anything that popped into my mind at that moment became my subject… and the results weren't too bad actually… a couple of my poems were selected for printing in the school mag, and one short message i wrote for a local newspapers' Millenium Message contest back in '99 won me a horrendously expensive fountain pen which is still sitting pretty in my drawer…

~I should just sell the darn thing huh?~

I was also told by the editor of said paper that i write very well… and that i should consider a career in journalism… I was also offered a chance to be on this young journos programme with the youth section of another paper…. but somehow putting a deadline into the picture turned me off… I guess to me, writing is really a form of expression and probably the only art form I'll ever master…..[ermm... I'm crap at art and average in music...dance is okay but I'll never make the 'Graceful' category] and deadlines will prob stunt that… so i decided that in order to preserve my passion and flair for the written word, I will not sully it by flogging a living out of it… fat lot of good that has done me huh… I've only gone and lost it now by writing nothing but reports…. *sigh*

Anyways, I should probably put my pudgy nose back to the grindstone and start cracking on some stories… I have written some poems lately… mostly for Mr. You Know Who… [no lar... not Voldemort... Mr. Derrick Tan lar...] but those were spur of the moment things… and i guess anyone could easily write mushy love poems when the feeling strikes them… right?…

Well since wordpress is nice enough to provide this 'page' thingy… I'll use one of them for short stories… I've not got any ideas yet… but I'm sure they'll come to me soon… they usually appear when I'm bathing or am still drowsy from sleep….

How do i know this? Well… there have been a couple of situations when I was stuck for ideas, usually for projects or such… and it was during these two times of the day that i've gotten the divine answers to them, and applied them to very much success at that… *teehee* sometimes i really wonder… how exactly is thinking an action? for me… thoughts usually just pop into my head without warning… and god forbid if i actually try to squeeze out a coherent thought… I usually just find myself constipated then… do clue me in if you know…

cluelessly yours and desperately searching for her muse…

^C^

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Caught In A Whirlwind…

May 30, 2006

Hi all…

The past few days have been a whirlwind of activity… I've barely had the time to breathe… much less sit down and type in a blog entry… Hehe… have been missing this though… blogging kind of makes me feel as if I've downloaded all my thoughts and emotions and am prepared again for more new experiences… I probably just lack the time and the discipline… obviously I'd choose one more hour of sleep rather than staying up to blog… with the exception of times when i really do have to blog to clear my mind before i sleep… =)

I've also missed reading blogs… not because my voyeuristic tendencies have been going hungry but its just that reading about other people's experiences can sometimes teach you lessons/spark off new ideas/ become your inspiration and be generally useful for your own life. I guess its an informal tool for knowledge sharing… and its kinda like a form of storytelling… informative and fun… and if my experiences and classes have taught me right… the right balance of information and fun makes the facts stick to you faster and for a longer period of time… This is also why I strongly advocate experiential learning because when done correctly… activities – whether for individual character or team building, can be very effective.

*okie okie… I'm sounding a little too serious… got to take my facilitator hat off…*

Those of you who have been reading my blog regularly or have spoken to me in the last couple of days would prob know that I've just come back from my SMYC Induction Camp at NACLI a couple of days ago. The whole camp was great and it was an excellent learning experience but I'm still suffering from the sheer exhaustion. Its a small price to pay i guess, coz for me, this camp really marked a significant milestone in advancing my facilitation skills. When I was first told about my role as a facilitator, i thought okay… fine… just need to do what i usually do… so i went about planning all the games and stuff and making sure i had all the tools i needed.. I usually do one serious facilitation stint a year… in the form of orientation in school, and to buffer those experiences, i run mentoring sessions every week… and i've been to countless camps… so this kind of thing is not exactly alien to me… but i had yet to realise that this experience would be different…

I was to have between 25 – 33 participants… aged between 17-25 and all of them were experienced and talented in their respective fields… The enormity of the task only struck me on the morning of the camp itself, when i took a look around the room and saw 20-odd participants… which kind of filled half the room… and I almost buckled with panic!! This was probably my biggest and oldest crowd yet!!! I bulldozed on anyways… and it went well i guess… I hope that goes for the participants as well… hehehehe… I had a fun two days… and i got to know almost each and every one of them…

Administratively, there were one or two hiccups, which could have been sorted out way before they happened, but due to the oversight of the people involved, everything was not as tight as it should ideally be… thankfully… nothing went horribly wrong… I have to thank the participants… as they were an excellent bunch to have… their spirits were really high throughout the entire duration of the camp and I appreciate their co-operation.. =) From the induction, we can really tell that they are going to make a great team together… whether performing functionally or just having fun together… Good luck guys… and keep the spirit going… Am now looking forward to the 1st Contingent meeting… which will be happening tomorrow… we'll be seeing some fresh faces too… will update on how that goes…

I also have to thank the co-ordinators, Shi May [who has a Lab called Honey, loves to make doggy noises and sleeps with her eyes open] and Liza [she's Canadian French btw, with a hunky policeman boyfriend and a bum like J-Lo]… I had a great time both working and horsing around with them and getting to know them better… and also for the great opportunity they've given me by trusting me to facilitate this camp…

Work has also been quite hectic… a lot of running around to do… and i hardly have time to actually sit down at my desk… Thankfully… this afternoon looks a lot better… I've come to realise that my life is full of extremisms… when I'm free… I'm really damn $&^* $&&^%&$% free.. but when i'm busy… i can hardly take a breather… the upside is that this frenetic activity will probably die down by next Friday, as both the events which I've been working towards will have been over by then… so i can look forward to peaceful days of idle msn chatter with the girls… hehe

My nights after work don't look any free-er either… coz theres the contingent meetings to go to every wednesday night and saturday mornings… and then this thursday we're meeting our new landlord to get the keys from him so we can start moving over this weekend… Friday is the BBQ with my colleagues at work… to celebrate the completion of our last major event… =( I also had to turn down dinner with the girls this week… so sorry… we were looking forward to going over to Settlers to play some games and chill out… but i think the only chilling that will suit me these days is actually chilling out asleep in bed… apologies again girls…

The only ray of sunshine in this huge cloud of busy-ness is that I might be back in KL on the 28th when the twins arrive… shhhhh… coz the operative word here is M-I-G-H-T… will update on this too…

Have run out of brain juice now… hopefully this post hasn't put you to sleep… coz thats exactly what I feel like doing now… If you are asleep… its time to wake up and clap okie… hehehe… signing off now…

adios and cheerio…

Love,

^C^

P.S.: I've added another link to my Blogroll belonging to Liling, a cute and bubbly girl i met in camp… do go read www.lamagoddess.blogspot.com

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*Dead Chuffed* teehee~

May 25, 2006

~WahooooooOOOOOoooooOOOOOooooGAH!!~

*puffs out chest and struts like a proud peacock*

[Please allow me to switch to ah beng engrish for the time being.]

GOT PIPPER LEAD MY BROG LEH!!!!!!

[Thank you. Now allow me to switch to upper class huffy English English drawl... *think Pride & Prejudice]

I-uh say-uh, thisS erm… Blog-uh as you say… it is getting quite some erm… attention… *proceeds to sip tea out of a proper china cup and saucer…* Never did fancy Lapsang Souchong myself but ah… if thats what society is drinking, then *feinted sigh* Lapsang Souchong it must be.

[hehehe... okie back to me]

Enough of that… pardon my lapses… was just trying to say that i'm excited coz there are real live people actually reading my blog these days… out of their own volition…!!! I didn't have to force them at knife point!!! How cool is that… or as ah beng me would say : SssteEEADY LARH! So thanks guys and gals, for clicking on myopiclens :) and i'm glad you enjoy my entries… Oh yes… as I promised Bett… one of my first faithful readers… I'm linking her answer to my previous entry here… -> http://bettster.wordpress.com/2006/05/ =) was just telling simin that my grandma always says… 'when the conversation turns towards toilets and poop… its a sign that you are running out of topics and you should stop the conversation.' *hehehe wise words from a wise old lady… [did i mention i LOVELOVELOVE my Poh Poh?]

oh yes… that reminds me… my individual assignment for Creative Thinking during my first year @SMU that earned me an A- from Prof. Kirpal Singh was on my maternal grandma aka my beloved Poh Poh… will post it when i find it… =) Prior to that, Poh Poh has also been the subject of my O-Level's history project on 'A person i admire'. =)

Those close to me know that Poh Poh is one the recipients of my strongest affections (it works the other way round too =)… and that i'd do anything to keep her safe, well and happy… I've missed her a lot since moving here… and i itch to get back… =) and her cooking…her cooking is ooohlala… no one does simple homecooked meals like poh poh does… i find myself craving her yong tau foo and her re-fried roast pork (she makes leftovers taste gourmet…i swear)

Well, for those who don't know, Poh Poh has been charged with looking with looking after me since i was ever so tiny… coz mum and dad had to go out and work work work… and i literally grew up under her wing… and was inseperable from her… i remember one incident from when i was really young.. i was hanging on to her thigh when she was trying to leave to go see my 5th aunt who was just gave birth to my cousin in London… and had to be pried off and coaxed by my aunts and mum who were there with me to send her off… in the end Poh Poh got away when my aunts diverted my attention to A&W root beer and watching aeroplanes from the viewing area… I can tell you… i kept a closer watch after that..hehe…

Poh Poh has put up with all my mischief and insolence all these years.. and still loves me the same… this goes for all my cousins and my sis too… whenever i'm back in KL either i'll call her… or if i hadn't gotten to it yet then she'll call me… then she'll nag at my mum and make sure she boils me soup… and always slips me some extra $bling$… she's looking forward very much to my graduation… and making the trip down to the commencement ceremony… i hope i'll be able to get extra tix so that she and my sis can attend too… Poh Poh has always been very supportive of us irregardless of what we do and how well we do in it… she has always delighted in every little achievement of ours… every A that each of her grandchildren achieve in school never go unrewarded… and she's always interested to know what activities we're involved in even though she probably doesn't understand the significance of it…

Much of who i am fundamentally was built by Poh Poh and she is one strong and smart lady so i'm proud of that fact… She's been through so very much in life and come so far from the humble background she was born into… I love hearing her stories about the past over and over again… and i always enjoy spending an afternoon with her, I'm still learning a lot about who she is as a person… even though i've spent a huge part of my 23 years with her…

Although we're physically apart now, Poh Poh is always in my heart and my prayers… and even my darling Derrick has commented more than once about how insignificant he is compared to her… [you know that's not true sweets... =)] I'm looking forward to seeing her soon… probs in mid-July when i finish with my internship… =)

As promised.. I will upload the assignment when i find it so you guys can read more about Poh Poh or this will prove to be one long winded entry… =)

Back to yday night… went shopping with Shi May for the stuff for the induction camp and will be lugging it all to NACLI on Saturday morning… I've got to be there at 7.30!! aaarrgggh… after a great din din… headed home and started on my first wave of backbreaking packing to move… {thank goodness for great help in the form of my guardian angel… :) thanks so much for being my stalwart since last december}… packed till close to midnite, then took my second bath of the night and immediately crashed into bed…

Woke up late this morning and rushed through prepping for work…(again)… oh yes… we're officially moving next weekend i guess… pheww.. thank goodness…

Today has been like all days… little ad-hoc jobs to do… with the exception of a tiny little crisis with regards to a current running project… we were looking at possibility of having to stay late today, but because of a glitch in clockwork… we'll have to do it tomorrrow then… so i'd better go home and pack my stuff for the camp today yar… *sighsighsigh* just in case tomorrow will be late late again… also popping down to artfriend later to grab the Styrofoam boards and paints… hopefully they don't close before we get there….

ermm… i think i hear my name over the cubicle again… will run now…

Ta!

Love,

^C^

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~~Stinky Toilets~~

May 24, 2006

Stinky Toilets = One Disgusted Me…

Thats what I told Betts just now when i came back from a visit to the restroom… Seriously… I usually avoid the toilets in my office at 'peak' hours… which are between 9 – 11 in the morning and about 1.30 – 3 after lunch… thats when everyone's digestive system kicks in and starts working on overdrive and the fumes in the toilet are unbearable… I usually hold out for off-peak visits… but hey… a girl's gotta go when a girl's gotta go.. so i usually get a good whiff everytime i break the off-peak rule… *sigh*… it's always this way…

For us at home, we keep an air freshener in the loo… and house rules are that if you do a stinky… please spray… and we tell that to everyone who visits too… as a result… we go through a can of air freshener every three months… and… we'll never send Prats out for freshener anymore… the last time she bought the spray… the house smelt like a man for ages… we were so thankful when they can finally finished… and now we've got spa fresh… hehe…

My room smells of Lampe Berger most of the time… I've got this one thats supposed to help a woman during her 'time' of the month… and… the miraculous thing is that it also drives mosquitos away… hehe… oooh… another 'Crystal Fact' – Mosquitos flock to me!!! and i hate it soooooo…. they never seem to bite Tere or Prats… but come to me everytime i keep still… weirdly… in my house… mosquito attacks are seasonal… a whole drove would come to stay… have their fill and then it would be quiet for a couple of months… and then the cycle starts again… hopefully, in the new place there will be none… pls pls…

My day at the office today shows promise of being relatively quiet… as my mentor will be on a half day's leave… you know the saying… 'when the boss is away… the monkeys come out to play…' hehehe…

check back on ya later…

love,

^C^

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I work in a Fishmarket…

May 23, 2006

Currently a little dazed from my day… just out from a meeting and boyohboy… 'fishmarket' IS the correct term…. I think it gets like that when you put a lot of highly energetic people into one room with two projects to discuss and a hair's breadth of a time constraint… Anyways… came out from that to a bit of a physical runaround and guess what? I'm now officially braindead… so excuse me if i'm writing crap… *teehee*

Just sent in my form for the 11th MSYC – Induction @ NACLI this weekend… going shopping with Shi May tomorrow evening for the stuff…. Am considering changing one of the games… will work that one out with Tere when i see her tonight…

Other than that will be trying to get down to packing bit-by-bit for the move.. solely dependant on whether i get hold of boxes or not… *sigh*

Thursday is slated for a night out to dinner with the girls… confirmation of this depends on the response i guess… Seah Street Deli is going to be the place of choice… which according to ah Bett… serves damn satisfying American style food… YUM YUM…

Further to that… work events happening on the 2nd and 9th…. both on Fridays for the first two weeks of June…

Then I've got to pick up my passport, which was ready last Friday… the people at the embassy say that i have 1 month exactly before my passport is sent back to Johor… god forbid…

*Sorry for listing down stuff to do like that… probz just sorting out my thoughts for the rest of the week…*

back to yday afternoon… my day after lunch was relatively free.. was chatting with Betts and Mich for a while… we all have so many unfulfilled cravings!!! Betts wants to go for a holiday somewhere, Mich wants more rest… and I want to binge drink!!!!!! hehehehe… binge drinking crave was over by this morning… but am craving something equally as bad now… *COFFEE* … people who know me know that i'm scarily allergic to coffee.. the last time i OD'ed, mum had to take me to the ER, and i was shaking and drenched in cold sweat… that was aeons ago. but i think not having had any coffee for quite a few years now has made me even more allergic… *i hope not*

For those who don't really know me, my body system is really funny… its over-reacts to caffeine… as in… if i need to keep a late night… i drink coke instead of coffee… and that is enough to keep me awake… so i rarely drink coke as well… especially at night… i do miss coke a lot though… especially coke that comes from a McDonald's fountain… with a little erm… no… make that A LOT of salt… so please please… don't take me out for coffee and don't let me drink too much coke coz i'd either need you to send me to the hospital or bug the heck out of you by being hyper.. hehehe =) oh yes… and some types of chocolates make me bounce off walls… so you know what to keep away from me…

anyway… moving on… *i feel so much better now… having sat down and typed all this… finally getting some of my brains back…* we slept really early last night… Tere bedded down at 10:30p.m. while i was about an hour behind..

woke up early this morning and got in to work at 8.30… *hee* shooting to leave at 5.45… since i came in early… hehe.. its now 5.13… YAYYYYYYYY… will leave off here and go visit some other peoples bloggies…

talk to you again soon….

^C^

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Sweet Like Chocolate…

November 7, 2005

CHOCOLATE THERAPY!
You scored 92% SWEET, 66% CHUNKY, and 77% UNIQUE!

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Welcome To My Life

September 6, 2005

I feel the need to justify this space…. both to myself and to the ppl who will be visiting… my blog is gonna be a lil different from normal blogs…because this space is gonna be random and spontaneous thoughts and photos…simply because

1. I thrive on chaos… and
2. It's gonna be so difficult to start from somewhere and not refer back…

so you guys are just gonna have to tune in to my life as it is… chaotic, spontaneous & reflective….at the same time…

there is also gonna be a huuuuge variance of stuff you are gonna find here… you'll see me doing lots of different things with lots of different ppl… =)

Also I love to take photos… [not be in them mind....] and having a blog is just to encourage me to take more pictures and to remember what each of them were about…

So with that…. i hope you don't expect up to date happenings in my life and an organized thought or recording process…

element of surprise is key here… *hee*

Enjoy….

Love,

Crystal

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