OK. SO ANYWAY. (Ps. This is gona be a long post. I can feel it in my hair that it's gonna be a long post. Run along now!) Haha whuut. Ok. SO. *wondering where I should start from* *deciding* *decided* HAHA. I shall begin from the end of my exams. SO. (take three, action!) The exams were super tough. STUDYING for the exams was crazy tough. Hands down, it was the most effort I've ever put into ANYTHING. Well, I guess there has been other stuff that I've put in loads of effort too before, like the school bazaar where we sold lasagna and spaghetti in S1, and the class trip in J3 too. I'm rambling. Ok soooo. It was really tough. A month or so before the exam, I was really pushing myself. My timetable was something like, study study then sleep at 11.30p, till like 12.30am or so, then study till like 4am. Like sometimes I'll feel super sleepy. While I'm sitting there studying, all that goes through my head is "I wanna sleep I wanna sleep I wanna sleep" but I KNOW that I can study more. So just that moment you know! When I'm on the verge of giving up and going to sleep, to PUSH myself NOT to go that direction and continue to study. I don't think I've ever pushed myself that hard. So it was a good experience. But GOSH. It was really horrible in a way. Saw my complexion slowly deteriorate, pimples exploding, back and neck aching all the time. Etc etc. A lot LA. But I really believe that God's grace allowed me to pull through lo. With faith in God. Of course, sometimes I would be totally hopeless and stressed and just wondering how in the world would I be able to complete the exam successfully. But then the hillsong You Are More says, "I will see the season through, I will fix my eyes on You, only You". So that's what I really tried to do. In the end, my exams were pretty good I guess. Well. Considering that I studied a year's worth of stuff in a few months. Hopefully it was enough la. Results come out on the 15th of Aug. Dreaded? Anticipated? I can't decide. Let's just be nonchalant and hope for the best. And RELIGION. Oh the dreaded subject. I worked my brain off trying to understand and condense everything, writing up all those essays. I really did loads of work on that subject. In the end, I didn't actually have enough time to study all the essays I typed up. I had so much fear you know, because I left out LOADS of stuff. Like, the topics I typed essays out for were already shortlisted from ALL the topics there are in the course, and the essays I actually studied were shortlisted again from those that I typed out. So you can imagine how much I actually left out. I was really scared that loads of the exam would be on stuff I didn't study. But lo and behold, trust God, what do you get? There were only two questions I didn't study for. Well, one I had typed the essay out but didn't study so I couldn't remember, and the other I didn't type it out at all. So yea. It wasn't amazing, each question is worth 40marks and there are 8 questions in total. But it's certainly more that what I studied for, considering the amount I left out. So yea. It was an absolutely JOYOUS day, the last day of exam. I did my Applied Maths (went head to head with the time! had jusssst enough time to finish 6 questions, with no time at all to check!). Got stuck on two small parts, with no time to go back and correct it. But apart from that it was quite good. Then was isolated at lunch, and I studied for religion. Then sat for the exam with just one other girl who was doing Japanese. Kind of sad, if you ask me. The last paper of the whole Leaving Cert, and just two of us. Haha. When I finished I was just. Wow. It was so surreal. After how many WEEKS of not sleeping before 1am, it was really incredible. :D I kinda wanted to cry lo that night when I was going to sleep. Whoopeedo!! :D The other papers were so so. Maths paper 2 was absolutely ridiculous. I could do it la, not perfectly though. There's this question I got all wrong. But then it was really a weird paper, and I have no idea how they're gonna mark it. But I would have to say that I'm most worried about Bio lo. Couldn't be entirely sure about any of the questions. But. OH WELL. We'll just wait for the results to come. And hope for the best?
The last few days in Ireland was kinda fun, with my parents. I feel like God somehow answered my prayers. I feel like I really grew closer to them. Got to know them so much more and saw how my dad is quietly considerate like I am and like those "aiya just chillax" kinda person. It was really nice la. Went for pub food the night of my last paper. It wasn't that yummy but it was still fun. They brought me to O' Donoghue's pub after that. They had a pint and I just sat there kinda awkwardly. But it was really fun la. I like pubs. And then the next day, we went to Cork!!! ROAD TRIP! I love road trips! It was pretty fun. But honestly, I spent a lot of time looking down at my phone, whatsapping Denise instead of looking out the window or getting much needed sleep. Haha. Couldn't resist catching up with her after so long of not talking to her. Cork is a really small town. I liked it though. A little bit more modern than Dublin I would think. The shops are all along the street, not like in Dublin, where they are mostly found in shopping malls only. We didn't do much. We just walked around the market. It was pretty cool. All the food they had!!!! And some Asian stores too that sold MAGGI!!!!! Then we drove around University College Cork, one of my possible future unis. It was quite big. Not as glamorous as I thought it would be. But nice regardless. Then we drove by the coast, went to Old Head Port, if I'm not mistaken. Really nice!! I LOVE THE SEA! But it was freezing though!!! And there were people in the sea surfing! CRAZY! Oh ya, we also went to see some Brothers, (yes, monastery brothers) who administered some schools in Malaysia, and taught my mum and my aunties and my dad too (in different schools though). Pretty cool. They were all under good care and are really old. It was quite nice to see how well teachers are remembered. :) :)
Then my parents flew back to KK and Elaine and I went to London. London was pretty meh. I think it would've been better if I went with other people. Gosh. How I WISHED my friends had the chance to be there with me. Denise or Jason or Pei or Steph or Tur. Just anyone who wasn't preoccupied with trivial things like INSTAGRAM and TWITTER and FACEBOOK. Gah. Haha. I'm one to talk. I'm kinda bad as well when it comes to wasting time. But I just... couldn't get why Elaine and Michelle, whom are close friends that hadn't seen the other in a year, were just talking about what was happening in the social networks instead of catching up and chatting till their tongues fell off. Other than that, it was nice to meet up with Gee and eat food and stuff and met Khai Ling too, who's from Penang. She's super friendly and comfortable in her own skin lo. She's pretty cool. Then finally. Whee. Fly back to KL. YAYYYYYY.
KL was pretty funny. Kev told me to take the train to KLCC and stuff, but mum said he was in KLIA. I was just gonna listen to Kev cuz KLIA is so far from anywhere. It made sense for me to take the train. So I bought my train ticket and everything for RM35 and was on the way to the elevator when Kev came up from behind me and he was taking a video! It was a surprise! Surprise I indeed was. So happy that he drove out all the way to the airport to come get me la. Haha. Then as we were walking out to his car, lololololo and behold, he was getting a summons cuz he had parked at the waiting area or something. He ran over to talk to the police but I knew it wasn't gonna help from the look on that police's face. So mean. Meanie poopie! Someone who has no compassion! Bet he doesn't have anyone loved that he will pick up from the airport. HMPH. Haha fine I take that back. Bla blaaaah. But I didn't really mind la. Just felt a little guilty. But a ticket is a ticket is a ticket. It's just money. :) Then Kev said he needed to pass something to his friend before we headed for dinner. So we went to the place and he said that his friend will be late. So we waited and chatted. Then he showed me the lame videos he took of me walking in the airport when I was looking for the train. Then when I looked to the road, CHENG CHENG!!!!!!! LEEPEI WAS THERE!!!! I was so shocked!!!!!!!!! SURPRISED!!!! Another surprise from Kev. It was so. :O :O So I went down to hug her and stuff and it was just so amazing! We headed to Klang Bak Kut Teh, really really yummy I must say!!!
All the way there and while we were eating, Pei and I were quite noisy. We were catching up like mad! Telling each other stories and stories of this and that. It was so good. :) :) Gosh, you know then it really really did struck me how I hadn't had those types of conversations for ages! Where there aren't really any boundaries, you be who you are and you just speak what's on your mind, shout loudly and wave your arms wildly to illustrate what you're saying, and laugh and laugh without restraint cuz no one is there to judge you. It was really amazing la. So so thankful to Kev who had the heart to plan it all out. :) I didn't think I would have the opportunity to meet Pei cuz I was only in KL for one night. But wow. So grateful I did. :D After dinner, had to send Pei back to her dorm cuz she had a chem EXAM the next day!!!! Luckily she still could meet me! Then Kev and I went to find Cha Time but by the time we arrived there, it was closed! :( And so we had Moo Cow yoghurt ice cream which was REALLY yum. :D Then finally back to Aunty Lucy's house. :D Laura and Dave were at their signature spots on their respective computers/laptops. Then shower and SLEEP in that humid, hazy, hot place I call HOME. Well, almost home I guess. ;)
The next morning, flew to Singapore. Uncle Chin Thye sent Pam and I to KLCC. It was nice to see him and talk and stuff cuz I thought I might not get the chance to see them at all this short trip! (Didn't even see Aunty Lu!!). Then we flew flew flew to Singapore! Took the MRT to the hotel. And I crashed! I was SOOOOO tired. Jet lag probably. I woke up at like 4 the night before and couldn't get back to sleep until it was like 20 minutes left before we had to wake up. We got ready at like 3pm and I checked my email and realised that I had missed an automated interview for Belfast University. So I emailed them and etc etc and got another interview scheduled. That was quite a scare. But it was all good in the end. Then Pam and I headed out to the concert!!!!!!!!! YAY!
It was really really fun. I think getting there was almost as fun as the concert itself. Well, not really, but it really WAS very fun. Haha. Omgosh whuut. We kinda got lost and I was so excited so we were half running the hwole way. From this MRT station to this MRT station. Trying to follow signs and failing. We went out to the shuttle bus to Marina Bay but APPARENTLY Marina Bay is not the same as Gardens By The Bay. WHO KNEW. So we had to double back all the way and go a different direction via MRT. We were skipping along and both singing together all the Jason Mraz songs we knew. It really was awesome. We were both all sweating and kind of out of breath but just kept half-running-half-skipping and singing and singing. YAY! We finally got there after asking some random teenage dude on the MRT whether that MRT we stepped onto was going to Gardens. He turned out to be going to the concert too. Haha but didn't really walk the same way because we ran when we got off the MRT. HAHA. Gosh we were so sweaty!!!!
So Gardens. Big. Artificial. Not all that I would say. I guess it would be a nice place to just chillax and maybe go jogging? But I look at it and I just think it's a big waste of money. How sad. When they could've actually planted more trees with that kind of money, instead of using it to build artificial gigantic tree-like structures that don't even contribute to the green movement. We hurried to the entrance only to find out that we couldn't collect our tickets there, and had to walk all the way to the Flower Dome to collect our tickets. That totally did not make sense to me. WHO WOULD PUT THE TICKET COLLECTION SOMEWHERE THAT'S NOT THE ENTRANCE OF THE CONCERT! Or they could at least put up signs or informed us you know. UGHHHHH. So, already tired, we hurried to the Flower Dome and collected our tickets, went for a toilet stop, filled our bottle, back to entrance and entered concert venue, only to have to throw out our bottle (no outside food and drinks zz) and went to the merchandise stall. Bought shirts for $45! Quite pricey and not even thick shirt, but I did really like the picture of Jason Mraz and the date at the back anyway. :D Pam got the same one. Then we went to the stage there and there were loads of people sitting down just waiting. So excused and danced our way to a spot a little bit off-centre to the left and stood there. It was really close!!!!!!!!!! But maybe we could've gotten closer then maybe I could've gotten a guitar pick from him!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GAH!!!!! But it was really good.
So I think we arrived there around 5pm and waited till 8pm when the concert started ON TIME. There were some annoying people who came really late and tried to get to the front, and some people (good for you!!!) didn't let them pass. And the new-comers had to find an alternate route. Sniffy. So unfair!!! Cuz in the end they did make it to the front. Anyway. After getting slightly impatient, watching the sun go down, all sticky and hair all messy, WHEEEEEEEEEE the musicians of his SUPER BAND started playing and JASON MRAZ CAME OUT.
JASON MRAZ. IN PERSON. Made of FLESH, made of SAND (?). Haha. It was soooooo SURREAL. And he was wearing a HAT!!!!!!!!!!!! Which he hasn't worn for ages since he started growing his hair out. So that was pretty cool man!!!!!!! It was. Wow. I was honestly on the verge of tears a couple of times through the whole concert when it really struck me that he was just there a few feet away, giving an amazing performance that, for once, I wasn't watching from my laptop screen. It was really. Wow. Thank God that I'm fortunate enough to be able to see him live, that I have the privilege and also the capability of doing so!!!!
This is his setlist, a total of 2 hours and 15 minutes.
- Encore:
I really really enjoyed the performance man!!!! The fact that he wore a hat was pretty awesome. But he also sang really old songs that he hadn't really been performing in big concerts!!! Well, not that I know, just that it's pretty hard to find nice recent videos of those songs in youtube. But yea. I'm soooooo happy that he sang songs like Unfold (I LOVEEEEE THAT SONG!!!!!!!), put it a bit of Curbside Prophet (pretty awesome cuz Pam and I kept singing it before the concert, and kept saying like, Nah he won't sing such a super old song), Bella Luna, and You and I Both! AAAAAHHHHHHHH! My first guitar song! Haha. Also, no Toca, but also no Mona!!!!! So that was good, cuz I would've wrinkled my nose at Mona if there was no Toca. It was really great. I used to always like his acoustic performances, probably preferring them over him and his band. But now, I think I super love him when he's with his Super Band! It's just awesome! Love all the brass, played by the three bald dudes. They're my favourite!!!! Makes the songs so much more fun. GAH. It was just. Perfect. Amazing. I WANT TO GO AGAIN!!!!!!! The concert ended with the awesome encore. I KNEW I WOULDN'T HAVE NOT SUNG I WON'T GIVE UP. AND IT WAS a really great way to end the show man. The song, well. I love it. Cuz if you actually sing it with all your sincerity, it's actually an amazing feat. To not give up on someone I mean. To wait for them when they need time by themselves, and also learning who they are as a person. It's so BRAVE. Haha. Ok. So bottom line is. No other concert would top that one. It was great. :D Thank God, thanks mum, and thanks Pam!!!!!!!!!! (You see! Everything happens for a reason. How it all worked out so that I ended up going with Pam. :D)
Exiting the venue was really tough. After standing for so many hours before the concert and during the concert, we had to spend like an hour just trying to get out of the crowd. The Gardens were so dimly lighted, the exits were so narrow and couldn't handle the amount of people. So it really was super PACKED. It was pretty much a standstill!!!!! GAH. It was so testing! No one really knew which routes could or could not be taken. So in the end Pam and I just took the path less travelled (haha) and kinda found out own way to this shopping mall. Went to find a taxi and found the taxi line SUPER long. Like, I've never seen a line that long in my whole life. So we sat down in a Java Coffee place thingy and got cold drinks. And we went to wait for a taxi in the line which hadn't moved! Well, the line had moved, but it was the same length due to the amount of people coming and going!!!! It was almost midnight at that time, mind you. It took us 30 minutes for it to get to our turn!!!!!! When Aunty Flo, whom Pam was texting, said it would only take 10 minutes. WHUUT. Hahahaha. So finally. HOTEL. Showered then I whatsapped Denise. Then SLEEPPPPP.
Haha. LASTLY. We took the MRT and met up with Aunty Flo in a food court. I was SO SLEEPY cuz only slept at like 2.30am or something and was still jet lagged. Ate some food. Then went to find PINEAPPLE TARTS at this apparently famous Chinese bakery. Bought a pack of 20 tarts for mum and dad, from Aunty Flo. Then went to meet Amanda and Ben at Crystal Jade for some Dim Sum. :D It was pretty fun. Meeting Aunty Flo and Mandy and Ben properly for the first time. In the sense that I got to know what kind of person they really were and got to talk to them properly. So yup. It was really enjoyable. Ben's really funny. Like those straightforward, down to earth kinda person. Like we were talking about car parks and people getting kidnapped etc. Pam was saying she wouldn't have any idea what to do if that happened to her. Then Ben said that if it were him, he'll be like. Ok la. Prostitute? Sell me la. I don't mind being a prostitute. Use me la. Kinda thing. Haha. He kept saying those really whuut stuff.
Then we went back to the hotel, got our stuff then met Ian at the MRT station. He was gonna accompany us to the airport! Unexpected!!! So kind! Haha. It was fun to catch up with him after so long. I asked how my mum knew he was in Singapore (he moved there, working there) and he said that my mum's on the distribution list, whatever that is. He asked what I've been doing and I told him about Dublin and he was kinda shocked. And I said like, how come you tell my mum stuff, give her updates but she doesn't do the same to you? Haha. And he said that he's gonna take my mum off the list. Hahaha. Funny. Had some Burger King in the airport. Yum yum!!! Then I went to my gate with Pam, then goodbye then Pam left for her gate to KL.
WHEEEEEEEEEEE. That is basicallyyyyyyy the end of my four months away from home. It's good to be back. :D :D :D :D And so far, it's been great. Busy. But. Meh. Kinda disappointing. As in, not productive I guess. Haha. Gonna go sleep. Been typing this post for days!!!!!!
BE SINCERE PEOPLE! GIVE LOVE!!!!!!!!! And just. Be kind yo. :) That's the best thing you can give everyone around you. :) Good night.
Tue 10/7/12 00:59
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