CONGRATULATIONS, unofficial doctors!!!! Feeling so proud of all of you :)

We celebrated Earth Hour today from 2030-2130. I was actually not too keen at first. I really think that 1 hour of conserving doesn't make that much of a difference as compared to a lifetime of energy conservation. But then the family made a point, that the whole world would be participating and it would be good to contribute (or rather, the opposite of that) to whatever was saved. And 1 hour is better than nothing! So we lit up a nice candle and had a non-romantic candlelight dinner. Amma being the kay-poh that she is checked the neighbouring apartments and said none of our immediate neighbours bothered, but the adjacent lobby had only 1 light on out of 23 floors. That was quite nice. But thanks to our immediate vicinity being fully lit up, it didn't seem all that dark! Nice experience. Here's to going green!

finally!

Dear Insects,

I know we have known each other for over 23 years now, but you have to admit, it's been a rough last 20 years. We did have a pleasant relationship till I was 3 and used to carry you around everywhere and nearly gave you insight into my digestive system, but that particular incident made me realise that you have VERY negative influence on me. My parents warned me about you back then, but I didn't take them so seriously. Over the years I did though, and tried closing my doors on you but you have so far managed to prevail. However, you have gone too far lately. We need to end this relationship NOW. And I would appreciate it if you stopped trying to worm your way back into my life in your dumb cocoons. GOODBYE.

Cold regards and lots of pesticide,
arch.

P.S. I Hate You.

Got this from a friend's fb note. How Indian am I? This is gonna be fun :D

[x] you were born in India
[x] both your parents are Indian
[x] your parents expect your spouse to be an indian
[ ] your career choices are narrowed down to doctor lawer and/or architect - HOW did they not include engineers in this list?! :O
[x] you have one sibling
[x] your aunt, uncle, parents and several relatives you have never met in your life have befriended you on facebook
[x] you have clicked 'agree' in response to the above

X's so far: 6/7

[x] You have dhaal at least once a day
[ ] Your mother at this very moment is under the unfortunate impression that you are doing homework - nah, she knows I only chat at night :P
[x] You have black hair
[x] You are a veggie
[ ] Zee TV is (at least one of) your favorite channel(s) - GOD NOO!
[x] you have recently listened to 96.3FM (only applicable to Singapore residents)
[ ] you both have watched and discussed the latest Shahrukh Khan movie

X's so far: 10/14

[x] you have a circle of indian friends, separate from your normal ones - what are normal friends?! but anyway, there's the flowerhood :D
[x] you speak in violent hinglish(tanglish) with the above
[ ] you have a tendency to resent Britian's existance
[x] you have Bollywood posters in your room - well I HAD tonnes. I have no space to put them up now.
[x] more than half your wardrobe is salwars, churidars, patiallas/kurtas,sherwanis
[x] a cricket ball has the power to obtain and control your full undivided attention
[x] you are aware of and have visited BharatMatrimonials.com. - heehee just to laugh at funny profiles.
[x] your surname is your father's first name

X's so far: 17/22

[ ] you are a proud member of Sports-India.com
[x] you have bookmarked Cricinfo.com on your computer
[ ] neither of your parents could care less about phys ed, as long as your academic grades are intact
[ ] if you are hindu, you go to the temple at least once a week
[ ] if you are muslim you perform namaaz five times a day
[x] you have no issues with either of the above
[x] you do, however, have issues with the bombings of the Indian Embassy in Kabul and the 26/11 Taj and Oberai hotel bombings in Mumbai
[x] you own a Nokia phone
[x] this phone at least once has displayed something Desi as its wallpaper
[x] you are familiar with the term 'Desi'

X's so far: 23/32

[x] your iPod is teeming with Bollywood - my comp is.
[ ] you could bite into a red chili and honestly enjoy it - NOOO WAY. I cannot stand spicy food :P
[ ] you are a fan of and are infuriated at the fact that Thums Up is not sold beyond Indian borders
[ ] you use the word 'arre' or 'accha' at least twice a day
[ ] your non-indian friends have picked up on hindi words like 'yaar' or 'blah blah blah, NA?'
[x] you have never called an elder by only their first name, you instead add or use alone 'auntie' or 'uncle'
[ ] you have read A Suitable Boy - I want to tho!!
[x] you play an instrument
[x] you are able to play a bollywood song on the above instrument

X's so far: 27/41

[x] your fridge has at least one Haldiram's box in it
[ ] your mother claims you were born as fair as the moon, but you have lately begun to doubt it - she said my bro was fairer than me :(
[x] you own a Bose sound system
[x] you use fans whenever possible as opposed to aircon
[x] regardless of whether you are buddhist or not you have a buddha statue in your living room
[x] you know what pani puri is
[ ] you are unable to handle chopsticks
[x] your tv remote is covered in plastic
[x] you are genuinely afraid of the Indian Gossip Circuit

X's in total: 34/50

That's 68%. Wow I was actually expecting over 80%!

hiii! In yesterday's Sunday Times or lifestyle, there was an article on calling people 'aunty' and 'uncle' right. Man, it really hit home. I mean generally my fashion sense is still quite teenagey and I've been mistaken to still be in school (WOOHOO!) but there are always these random nutters who call me AUNTY and I get all aaargh. Like last year, when I went from NUS to music class, the mother of the kid there (who knew I was still in uni) said "See how well that Aunty ...smth smth smth" - I couldn't even hear the rest coz my brain just blanked out at the aunty part!! I mean seriously?! The girl's barely10 years younger than me! SIGH. And also this incident. So sad. Just wanted to add in my brainless feedback on that article hehe.

Had my FIRST class-teaching experience today!!! For the Art Outreach programme. It was such an interesting experience! In Cedar, I remember as art rep and chem rep, I used to hate going to the front of the class and asking everyone to hand in their stuff. It was really unnerving. I always used to get the people around me to help out (yes yes scaredy-cat I was). And thankfully today, when faced with a whole class of 40 primary 5 students, that didn't happen! I actually managed to shout and kill my throat instead of being all shy. It was great. The only problem I had was when some nut in the class made a dumb joke and started talking and making noise, I felt compelled to smile/laugh instead of asking him to shut it. I need to work on my 'anger' skill heh.

And finally, to the 5th year meddies, the much-anticipated day is finally here!! Just 3 more weeks and you'll all be doctors, making everyone proud of you and ready to start a new chapter of your lives :) Even I can't wait for it to end! heh. So All the best, Good luck, God bless (and everything else of that nature)!!!

Jai Jai Jai Hanuman Gosahin, Kripa Karahu Guru Dev Ki Nayin
(from Hanuman Chalisa)

btw, I've updated my SEAfaring blog. I've still got about 2/3rds of the trip to cover though :P

gosh. the rain's crazy. wicked lightning. and falling every 2 minutes. and each strike is HUGE. i'd hate to be out there right now. hope everyone's alright.

quick one:

saw in the papers today that there's a new "application" that's getting circulated on facebook which tells users that their friends have problems checking out their profile, and to activate the application to rectify this.

If you see such a message, IGNORE IT. It's a virus. Sigh.

I'm gonna slowly start deleting my older photo albums.. signs of facebook-fad dying away heh.

Lame random post but I can't get these songs outta my head!

1. Tere Naina - Chandni Chowk to China (RUBBISH movie) - Shankar Mahadevan & Shreya Ghoshal
2. Aahista Aahista - Bachna Ae Haseeno (again RUBBISH movie) - Lucky Ali & Shreya Ghoshal
3. Khuda Jaane - Bachna Ae Haseeno - KK Menon & Shilpa Rao

heh all non-ARR but I love Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy too, and my impression of Vishal-Shekhar is going up steadily! :D

Slumdog Millionaire has done amazingly well in the Academy - of its 9 nominations, the movie won 8 awards. That's quite a success rate! Congrats to all the people involved :D :D I have got to see what this movie's all about soon.

Wasn't planning to sit and watch the whole thing, just towards the end. But Hugh Jackman was the host and I couldn't resist. *swoon* Four hours gone :P

CONGRATULATIONS TO

A. R. RAHMAN

FOR BEST MUSICAL SCORE

AND BEST SONG!!!

JAI HO!!!!!

finally had a chance today and blew it.

edited to add:
something's totally off. dunno if it's me or my surroundings. or maybe it's both. but i'm feeling angry (with myself), v guilty, slightly upset and well, just not right. and it's all engulfing the tiny spurt of confidence that's trying to show itself. feel like just brooding in my room with a book.

hiii! Got inspired by nutti's really cute new template and decided to check out the website for something less boring than my previous one. So here it is! It's called Pyjama Party and it's blue so it works :D

Still doing job apps but there have been a coupla breaks here and there. Nothing has changed yet but will update when I actually sign a job contract. Other than that, I've started volunteering with the Art Outreach Programme which is a non-profit organization that aims to promote and teach art to the society. It's highly interesting and I look forward to the sessions! Also signed up with organizations like SINDA and NLB but have yet to do anything useful. There's also paatu class keeping me busy as usual.

Yesterday's Art Outreach session was at Jurongville Secondary School. Since I'm a novice, I opted to just sit at the back of the classroom while a veteran, also an NUS graduate, did the teaching. It was great. I was back in a classroom (complete with the class joker, action bedek, back-bencher and over-eager-beaver) for the first time since '01. Since it was a non-examinable art lesson, the kids were typically noisy so I have a feeling it'll take me a while to get used to teaching. Really good experience and it'll make me decide whether or not to consider teaching as a career (since relief teachers are not at all needed at the moment!).

Celebrated Valentine's Day a few days late at East Coast Beach. We went to Scruffy Murphy's, an Irish pub, for dinner. Totally NOT a romantic atmosphere but the beach more than made up for it :D but anyway, it was wonderful! Food was really good and reasonably priced. Best veggie burger I've tasted so far. And they have a TV screen inside so just imagine how exciting it would be to watch a soccer match with all the fans! Felt all nostalgic with Euro '08 memories. Very nice feel. And what better place to walk off all the heavy food than the long stretch of beach. It was great.
And thanks for the lovely roses, they're now making my table look a 100x prettier :)

I'm trying to pack my days with as much activity as possible as my productivity turns out much better this way. There's always something great to look forward to everyday!

K, time to plan out tomorrow. byeee.