truth and reconcialiation commissions...
the finals motion for vjs is tough...

i'll be home for christmas
if only in my dreams

met paul at harbourfront for lunch at pasta mania
before going into sentosa to meet kal/aug/joseph/feli and some others...
we were kind of expecting more ppl to be there...
ate sashimi at sakae before deciding to play bridge...
threw joseph's ball around till the rain came...
took shelter in the new zealand's ice cream parlour...
walked to the shangri-la's bicycle kiosk, where sam chan/paul/joseph decided to leave...
the remaining four of us went biking!
pretty relaxing with lots of stops to look at the horizon...
left the island to meet april for dinner at spizza...
chatted a bit outside guardian before taking nel back with april/aug...

christmas wishlists?

john.

walking in a winter wonderland

do you feel the sensation in the air?
i noe i do, and its marvelous...
"it sucks to be single at this time of year"
maybe to some extent,
but there's so much joy to spread, you hardly notice... x)
one is reminded of how much one has to be thankful for...
and also how little one really has, in all totality...
i can't help but have mixed emotions...

vjs went great, and we came out with 3 unexpected wins...
rotated all positions, with varying degrees of success...
stopped by sam's house before going to acs br for "a christmas carol"
it was, in my opinion, not the best i've seen from acjc, kind of repetitive and repeated...
but entertaining none the less...
trained to the hiew residence jake/josh/adriel to sleep...
church as usual, had to leave early coz of family stuff... (how annoying)
though the buffet at the chinese swimming club was delich... loved the sashimi...
tried to plan a dinner at the airport with the jyc comm ppl but too little ppl were available...
josh called from the airport, so here's wishing u guys an excellent stay in NZ!

woke at 130 today, read more of artemis fowl and the opal deception,
watched the rest of desperate housewives, then met javier at wheelock...
had dinner at sun with moon (what's with the name??!!)...
the food was good, but rather pricey...
walked to apple and then to coffee bean for drinks...
just finished 3 more episodes of the OC season 1...
borrowed season 2 also, so should be able to get up to speed by the time
season 3 is released on dvd...
oh and one tree hill season 2's dvd set is in, so i should get that soon...
and season 3 is up to episode 8 in the states, but i've watched up to 7 only...

this christmas, i will...
john.

i've loads of photos to obtain...
left my thumbdrive at sam's house, pet helped us take some during vbc which are hilarious!

vbc '05: hooked on the book...
i can definitely say that the fun level, for me at least, was higher here than during jyc...
most likely coz of the lack of a burden of being a comm member or whatever...
and the company was amazing...
though we were bored most of the time, there were sufficient absurd happenings to keep
things interesting...
most of the free time we had was used to catch some shut-eye...
contrary to the laws of the natural world, nights (during camps in particular), are not meant for sleeping...
especially when the floor is so hard, the room so cold, and the kids so noisy...
most of us just hung around the fellowship deck after lights out till past midnight before auntie dot would chase us to our rooms...

little time's left to blog coz i need to finish writing the case for vjs tomorrow...

so i can stand on mountains,
john.

off to vbc tomorrow till friday nite...
platform, josh?
will probably be prepping for vjs at nite... x)
had training today with paul/sean/josh and joseph...
prepped more at kap over lunch..
cabbed to josh's place to chill till 7 with rachh...
just talked and played cards/com & read the new artemis fowl book...
thanks josh for the one tree hill novel!!

yesterday was really relaxing, no rushing whatsoever...
met javier at serangoon station to go to heartland mall...
lunched at sakae, had gelato from venezia...
bought ashlee's "i am me" from mj, where the idiot
salesperson totally lied to me about their plastic bags not being printed yet...
whatever, at least i have the album...
it is amazing!
chatted and watched DH at my place the rest of the day...

living in the change,
john.

a fun week its been!
cannot believe that jyc just ended on the monday that passed...
it all seems so far away, possibly because of outings EVERYDAY!
from where i left off on tuesday:
was woken up on wednesday morning when josh called on sher's phone...
they were planning to go out to watch "just like heaven"...
i, unfortunately, had to prep for a debate at night, so declined to go...
jake asked to go watch the debate, but i was a bit unsure as to whether it was open-admission...
strange enough, it was!
after meeting aaron at raffles city's starbucks to prep, we met paul/kylie/bryan/sam/auyong
at suntec, only to be greeted by jane/sher/rachh/josh/jake... pleasant surprise...
debated as per normal, narcissitically kept our name-signs, went ot eat...
oh and we received kino vouchers as prizes.. they gave out $550 in all that nite...
ate at bk with the church folk before they went off, then joined the other exhibitionists...
took 70 home along the same route as bryan...
next day was awoken by a conference all at 7 in the morning by rachh and gang...
went for training with paul/sean and the handul of juniors...
lunched with the two of them and sam chan/lloyd at crystal jade lmxlb at holland v...
checked out FOS... limited stock, though some are quite nice, yet didn't buy anything...
went home to prepare for freshen up for harry potter!
met sean/javier/changming/rey at marina square's carl's junior for dinner...
there was this mass exchange of pirated goods...
feeling stuffed, we went to the arcade to play daytona...
its probably my fav game in arcades...
watched javier play street fighter vs x-men till it was showtime at 1025...
the show was pretty awesome, coming from a first-timer...
i'm definitely a fan now, though according to followers of the books, the movie was quite dissapointing...
objectively speaking, yeah it was quite short and unexplained...
but good effects and acting...
cabbed home at 1-plus, watched the OC season 1's first two episodes, konked out...
was awoken on friday ONCE AGAIN by a conference call from rachh at 7 in the morning...
i seriously thought i was in some parallel universe... such an unearthly hour...
they wanted to go out that afternoon...
adriel called at 10plus to tell me to meet them in orchard at noon...
continued sleeping till 11plus, rushed to town, realised they were late,
watched live sesame street met up with them and jane...
in the end we found ourselves at deb ng's place playing halo 2 and what not...
left for the esplanade for dinner/a twist of fate...
"AH SEE!!!!"
madam chang is a really good singer and is hilarious...
the show was entertaining, not spectacular...

saturday woke at 1pm, went to meet the same bunch for dinner in town...
spent some time talking/shopping near borders till deciding to go the pines...
cafe was close, cabbed to jelita for pizza...
rented pink panther to watch back at sam's place...
complete musks stayover since goodness noes when...
played cs/watched the movie/studied cold war history/did the jyc report...
sam/jake/adriel slept at 2, leaving josh and i listening to music till 340 before turning in...
church was typical, had dedication service for vbc till 2plus...
met sam/paul at cine to discuss case...
shopped at kino with paul before going home...
bought cherry's present!!! and nicholas spark's new novel..

and so i'm offering this simple phrase
to kids from 1 to 92...
though it's been said many times, many ways...
merry christmas to you...
*bought by first christmas card on impulse!*

john.

JYC 2005 IS COMPLETE

its been a fun ride with this year's comm...
for the first time, all 5 musks were officially in...
(adriel was absent in '03 and josh in '04)
besides us, the ENTIRE comm were first-timers, so i'm jolly impressed that everything turned out so well...
there were old faces like deb lam. deb ng, jane and her advisors...
new friends made like shermaine, rachael, tiff...
there is really quite alot to say, so i'll try to remember as much as i can...
day one was boring enough, ok worship at night, i totally screwed up...
i received a note from my secret pal which was hilarious! it included things 'bout jake...
day two began much like the first, and strangely, unlike last year's first nite of 2 hours of sleep, we had close to 6...
during pastor alvin's session, just as i was to fall asleep from boredom, jake called me on my phone although we were separated by just 10 metres of hall space...
i fumbled to open my phone and was summoned to the front to help type, possibly because i typed out two slides of songs for jane's first worship the previous day in under a minute...
worship was good, didn't screw up as much as the last nite, nice selection of songs...
night games were far less exciting than '03, talked lots with josh...
received a second note from my secret pal, along with a wax apple candle... the note was written with her left hand, assuming she's right-handed...
third day dawned after an hour-plus briefing after midnight... stayed back with josh to give jake support since he had to work on the games through the early morning...
games was fun for me/adriel/josh, since we basically jammed, chatted at delifrance and walked around the beach...
the water games were fun, though severely cut short and we didn't have our own committee time...
but there was sufficient dunking/pushing/splashing/screaming/throwing/carrying for one day...
COP was amazing, though a sore choice of songs...
during the free worship and what not, jo tng borrowed my chord file and was playing random songs from there like "one voice"...
alter call was tremendously touching... played toiled-paper crew with bernie/deb ng/charmaine...
played cards till 4 plus, turned in at 5...
woke up amazingly late (though not as late as the commandant)...
photos were cool!
and it was back to church, but by no means the end...
packed up for 2-plus hours/debrief in the rol...
went to the hiew residence for movies/pizza/junk food... (monster-in-law btw)
played cards/taboo and laughed loads before heading to century scare for dinner...

trained the sec 2s/sec1s today coz no one else was free...
its interesting to be back in ac...

sometimes you can't make it on your own
you don't have to make it on your own
i won't let that happen...
john.

that's the camp coordinator for tomorrow and i!
big smiles, but will they be in tact througout the next 4 days?
hopefully... x)
jyc '05: "one step more" begins tomorrow...
sunny sentosa beckons...
all i can hope for is anything close to the success of jyc '03,
since we are going back there...

my class chalet stay was cut short when i received a call from sam on tuesday
while playing mahjong (first chalet activity) with darius/lou/celle...
i had to meet him/paul/sam at holland v to prep for some try-out debate at mediacorp...
after such a taitai game for the first 3 hours, cherry/darius/lou/me walked the uber long
way out to get a cab to tanah merah, where i went to church and they went to town...
waited in the fellowship deck with jasmine/rupen/gouliang before adriel/deb/josh tay arrived...
practice was aided by the ever-helpful joanne (i'll try the slide!)
train-ed to the airport to meet the 3 for supper...
had a subway 6-inch before they came, and met them at the pacific coffee company..
its got free internet!
chatted and laughed (russian ballet movements!) till 1 before cabbing back to the chalet...
played bridge/game of life/uno till 4, retired to our room and fell asleep at 5 to the
sounds of my "for a lull" playlist (sleepy songs!)
i didn't really sleep, so was the one to switch off our 3 alarms...
first was cherry's hilary duff's so yesterday alarm...
then was darius' simple plan's happy together alarm...
finally my own phone alarm... they all continued sleeping lah!
woke at 725 to see weiliang sitting in the room talking to joel...
he was one of the few ppl who slept really early in the next room...
BUT terrence and jo were the ppl who slept LONGEST... 7-11plus...
played indoor badminton/squash/cs on terrence's com/mahjong with sam/darius/lou
before going to bowl with darius/cherry... weiliang/lou/sam/johnson/joel/zhirong
were already at the club house playing pool...
played daytona and the motorbike game at the arcade...
(i canNOT drive a motorbike, ever... requires lots of rump muscles)
bowled with cherry/darius for 3 games before the rest joined...
played one final game with joel/darius/weiliang...
some of the mulan-ese came and went to the beach...
lunched at the deck's cafe, withdrew cash, watched bridget jones' diary...
joel's parents came and dropped darius and i off...
cabbed home before going to holland v's crystal jade lmxlb...
prepped at starbucks, went to josh's house to get pants, cabbed home...

debate today was so-so, mediacorp's new show format is kind strange...
now hammering together the last details for camp...
cyu cherry tomo! x)
will be back on monday...

i let go,
john.

class chalet for the next three days...
hope its gonna be fun! x)
spent the entire yesterday out, first to watch sky high and have lunch with darius and cherry at marina, then after cherry left, darius and i went to funan to look around... he too then left, leaving me to go to orchard to buy stuff for the camps ahead...
dinner was good, lots of chatting =)

if we all stand together this one time
then no one will get left behind
stand up for life
stand up and hear me sing
stand up for LOVE
john.

went to nj to get my stuff back and to get the signed offer letter...
met darius coz we were both looking for wei chai for various reasons...
cabbed home before heading for orchard...
shopped at the new apple centre at orchard at wheelock...
finally bought the audio splitter i was looking for...
walked to forum to meet paul for the exhibition debate...
it was against the national team, but both paul and i didnt't get to watch the debate in the end...
coz during prep we decided that we wouldn't be speaking,
instead it would be aaron, kylie and bryan...
but once the set ended, aaron (maniam) needed us to help him with the
handouts for the school coaches, so we folded, stapled and arranged stacks of case notes... x)
heard about the debate during yong wei's debrief and everything, so didn't miss out much...
had dinner at macs with the 4 of them before going home...

stayed at home doing practically nothing before jyc's last meeting...
camp's in 5 days!
went for supper with adriel and jane...

i don't know what it is...
john

seems that i'm updating on a rather regular basis these days...
i forgot to add that we had worship practice last nite...
cabbed to the hiew residence after induction and dropping cherry
and darius at his house on the way...
had dinner there with adriel before walking to church...

this post is mainly to talk about OTH and the other
tv serials i'm pretty addicted to at the present moment...
just finished watching OTH season 3, episode 4...
its quite an exciting season, definitely a must watch!
desperate housewives season 1 is about to finish on star world,
and smallville season 5 should be starting soon...
and i need to get the rest of the OC episodes after season 2 epi. 18...
class chalet is gonna be so cool, what with jolynn, cherry and i
agreeing to watching endless hours of tv/dvds... x)
tell me which dvds ya'll are bringing ks!
and which seasons of what shows ya'll have...

gonna bring everything home from locker tomo...
momentous?

standing up for love,
john.

november the 2nd, the beginning of a 2-month break from school...
hard to imagine that the holiday season is already here...
i've been looking forward to it so much i completely
missed it when it arrived...
here's a gentle reminder:
take some time to relax, u deserve it =)

i'm kind of expectant as to what the next two months
and what 2006 will bring...
taking the tone of adriel's nostalgic reminiscence
in all his posts that come at the end of every year,
i too am feeling rather melancholic,
thinking of all the things that have passed,
all the things that could have been,
all the things i still want...
more importantly, the people i've
failed to build friendships with,
failed to maintain friendships with,
failed to strengthen friendships with...
it can cast quite a shadow on one's countenance...

played squash with cherry yesterday...
realized how unfit i am, and how out of practice
i am with racket sport...
and then there was ip induction today!
went to school at 11 plus, mass danced, ate fruits for lunch...
started preparing, but in the end, my survivor-styled game
was way too complicated to fit in such a short time...
had to modify it halfway through...
sadly, not all teams could get to play...
oh and i must mention this rather irritating brat from
06ip02.. she was totally out to annoy me
and when i was explaining the game and how they
would definitely get wet and whatever,
she just said really loudly "what the hell"...
i mean, look, u dun wanna play the games
then jolly well don't come into the IP...
its the spontaneity that makes it such a fun place,
not such crass, rude and impudent behavior...
i must definitely find out hu she is...
oh shoutouts to my station masters;
joel, cherry, weiliang, zhirong (and darius who
happened to drop by)...
yay station 4!

L-o-v-e
was made for me and you =)
john.