Onew, Taemin, Key, Minho, Jonghyun

I've been wanting to do a SHINee post for some time now, and since I'm free at work now, here it goes!

Basically, SHINee (pronounced shiny) is a group made up of five guys, most of whom are younger than you and me. The youngest was born in 1993! Their fanbase is made up largely by older noonas (which is what boys call older sisters), since anyone born before December 1989 is a noona. And boy, do these noonas lavish their power of love and money over these guys! There's a story about the expensive gifts they bought for one of the members for his birthday. And they do that for every member's birthday!They sing well, and they dance well. And they wear bright, tight pants and strange tops. There's something feminine about more than half of K-pop boybands, but I've taken it as nothing to gasp over. Anyways, most of the K-pop boybands are prettier than you and I.

First up, their leader:

His name's Onew, but his real name's Lee Jinki. IMHO the least good-looking member of the band, but he's cute when he smiles. He's also the oldest in the band, born in December 14th 1989, which could partly be why he's the leader.

He's 181 cm tall, which is tall, whichever way you look at it, especially since the average height of South Korean males is 173cm, and that's the tallest in all of Asia! Haha

He does the vocals in the group. I think he has a rather nice, clean and strong voice. Did I mention that they sing well LIVE? haha

Anyways, for his birthday, the noonas gave him, among other things, a CD player, an iPod Touch, a digital camera, and a whole bunch of expensive colognes like Versace, Bvlgari, Boss and CK (and more!) See, noona-fans are better than pre-teen girls because they have money!

Second:

Jonghyun!! Finally, someone our age! He's an April 8th 1990 baby, and the shortest in the group at 173cm, which is average. His nickname's Bling Bling Jonghyun. Don't ask me why; maybe he likes SHINee stuff.

My first impression of him (when I first saw their A.Mi.Go. mv) was that he's the handsomest in the group. Because everybody else is just pretty. Haha But look at the jaw on that boy! Sharp enough to cut paper!

He does lead vocals in the group. His abilities are off the charts! He sings really high notes, and even live it sounds good. So good! I'm in awe everytime he sings live! He's the one who really carries the group vocally.

Third...:
Key! His real name's Kim Ki Bum, but I guess they changed it since there are like two other Kim Ki Bums in the music industry (one from Super Junior, the other from U-Kiss), and a Kim Bum (as Pat may well know). He's one year younger than us, born on September 23rd 1991.

He was a model before he joined the group (well, most of them are anyways), and he's 177cm if I'm not wrong.

He does vocals, and raps too. If you hear a deeper voice singing in any of the SHINee songs, you'll know it's him. I like him , 'cause I like people who are multi-talented. His looks are a plus too haha. But then, all of them look good.


Fourth is:
Minho!He has the funniest of all the nicknames - they call him Flaming Charisma Minho! I pity the poor boy; I'll bet he wasn't the one who chose it. He's one year younger than us (December 9th 1991) but look at when he modelled for Andre Kim...

He looks older than us, and so handsome! He hadn't even turned 17 when he did this gig. It's pictures like this that make me feel paedophilic haha. But who would have guessed that he was 16? *shakes head*

Minho does the main raps in SHINee, and sings sometimes. He's the other deeper voice in the group, besides Key. Can't say much about his singing, except it's in tune. His rapping's okay too, I guess, but I really hated his rap in their newest song called Juliette (It's a re-make of Corbin Bleu's Deal With It, but I don't mind since I haven't heard of Deal with it haha). My favourite rap would have to be in A.Mi.Go, where both he and Key rapped.


Finally, the magnae of the group:

Taemin! He's the noona-magnet, whom he attracts with his sparkly eyes and cute smile. He's a July 18th 1993 baby, which still makes him an illegal good for all the greedy noonas out there. Too bad! Haha

He's quite tall now, but really too skinny for my liking. I'm thinking their management is purposely trying to keep him skinny so he doesn't grow up too fast and lose all the noona-fans, but seriously, boy needs to eat. He looks too thin to be healthy for a sixteen year old boy! Just watch any Juliette video or performance, since it's the most recent (and while you're doing that, you can check out Jonghyun's singing too! Don't really dig the song, but Jonghyun is an attraction in himself).
He's the lead dancer of the group, having choreographed alot of their moves. Many have commented that they're like invertebrates, since they dance so smoothly that it looks like they have no backbones. Haha such unflattering description, but they really do look good dancing. Taemin doesn't sing solos much, although you can hear him in Juliette.




Okay, so that's it for SHINee. Lots of pictures. =))

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okay, SS501 next!

SS501 1st Asian Concert Tour coming herrrreeee!!!!

hehe

oh, and so are FT Island, although this news is a bit late. They'll be having a showcase-type thing at St James Powerhouse (I think) on the 27th of June, and omgosh did I mention that all the boys are swoon-worthy? And they actually play their own instruments, and the lead singer can really sing.

You can't really see their faces, but they're super adorable in action.

Okay, I'm finally having doubts about travelling to Melbourne. Not really for Perth, still, but Melbourne's really starting to scare me. I was prepared to be quarantined or something when I got home, but then I suddenly remembered that I'll be taking the plane to KL and not into Singapore! So that means when my parents pick me up, all of us will be at risk, and so we can't have contact with anybody else throughout the entire drive back into Singapore. Of course, those precautions will still seem like not enough, because if it does turn out that I got H1N1 then the Govt. would want to do contact tracing, and it'll be harder if they have to trace it back through Malaysia, even if the people I got in contact with were only the immigration officers.

I don't want to leave my cousins hanging, since I've promised to visit them since three or four years ago, but I'm starting to think I should postpone the Melbourne trip. So if we still get to go to Perth, I should probably book a flight back home and cancel the flights to Melbourne and from Melbourne to KL. Gosh, such a headache. And all I've wanted to do since I finished A levels was to get to travel to Australia and go skydiving. Why must it get so hard??!!

That being said, I think my next post will definitely be about SHINee, whom I think are adorable, and then SS501 who are having a concert here in December. Pat, scream!!!

Haha. And New Moon should be coming out right around that time too, so double reason to scream! I saw the trailer, and it looks like Taylor Lautner (if he can finally act) seems like a good fit for the role of Jacob. I had my doubts, but that boy has definitely been working out haha.

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So many shadows cast over the up-coming Australia trip. Number one on the agenda:

SWINE FLU!

Bloody pigs! Haha Although, I did hear that animal rights (or something) activists were the ones who requested the name-change from swine flu to H1N1 because it's not the pigs fault. Poor piggies. But Australia has over 600 cases now, with 521 occuring in Victoria, and 2 in Western Australia.

Now, this means that Perth is relatively unaffected, and probably safer than Singapore considering that Singapore has 9 (or was it 10?) cases. But Victoria! Melbourne hosts 70% of the Victorian population, which means that of the 521, chances are that 365 or more are from Melbourne.

For now, my plans remain unchanged, since my main priority in heading to Melbourne is to spend time with my cousins and not just to go to tourist attractions. If anything should happen, I'll just have to deal with it. Intense (well, compared to anything else I've done at home) research has proven that H1N1 is like normal flu, and you're more likely to get it if you're a smoker...

I guess I'll just have to see how it goes...

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A must-watch! SS501 practising their Engrish by saying "Sugar Syrup" and "I am a boy, you are a girl", and "Hollywood Bowrrl!" Haha. So cute!

There's nothing to be done at work right now. Hence the blogging!

I'm finally starting to feel accomplished about this Perth trip! I just booked my return flight home from Melbourne on Tuesday. The date's set at 13th July, since my parents want to pick me up in KL. This means I've saved about $300, since I'm flying budget. Looks like I'll have enough money for accommodation, transport, flight, food, shopping AND skydiving! Yay! Now I just need to see if skydiving is cheaper in Perth or Melbourne.

Pat, Dan and I also finally booked accommodation. In a backpackers' hostel of course, but with en suite bathroom, I think it's a great deal. Anyways, we'll try not to stay in too much, so what's the point of a nice, expensive hotel room? Students' budget!

And visas have been booked. Only flight insurance left, but I'm leaving that to my dad. Booking everything else has been tiring haha.

Like Pat, I've been getting to know the Korean language. Everyday during lunchtime, I watch one old episode of "Let's speak Korean" (I'm on episode 5 right now). And I've been memorising the alphabet system, and copying down characters again and again everyday, so now I can write just about anything in Korean! Reading it is easy too, but I'm very slow. I think it's a LOT easier than Mandarin characters, since an alphabet has one sound, and a consonant + vowel + consonant = 1 syllable. It's like English! Except... there's no character "f", so my name's Sa Ra Pi Na. Doesn't look very nice... Haha. I'm still a LOOOOONG way off from actually speaking Korean, so maybe I'll have to wait till I'm on episode 80 or something =D

Annyeong haseyo! Jeo neun Sarapina imnida. Singgaporeueseo waseupnika. Hak saeng imnida!

Hello! I am Syarafina. I am from Singapore. I'm a student! (Well, will be in August)

Okay, that's all for today. Annyeonghi gyeseyo!

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Hey Syaz! Haha

Instructions:

1. Copy and paste the instructions into a new entry.

2. List down 8 stories that you remember watching as a kid.

3. Write why you chose each movie.

4. Publish your answers.

5. Tag 5 friends to do this including the one that tagged you.

1. Land before time

- My absolute number one favourite when I was younger. I cry every single time I watch it - Little Foot's so cute and pitiful! But my favouritest part was how they made eating leaves look yummy, and sleeping in a Sharp Tooth's (T-rex) footprint look comfy, and an egg rolling through a swamp look exciting. And - oh! - the Great Valley! I wanna live there!

2. Anastasia ( Was that when I was a kid? I guess preteen means kid too right?)

- I knew most of the lines cos I watched it every three days! And I'd still watch it now; it's that good.

3. Edward Scissorhands

-At this point I'm already taking inspiration from Syaz's list, because I only remember ever watching Land Before Time as a kid. This I remember ecause he burst the poor girl's water bed! And made snow. My two most memorable scenes.

4. The Lion King

- Did I ever tell you I always acted out scenes from the Lion King at home and in the car? I'd carry a stuff toy up and pretend I was Rafiki (or whatever that baboon was called), or pretend I was eating bugs from the colourful paisley pattern of my last-time couch like Timon and Pumba did.

5. Mary Poppins

-Such a fun musical! Imagine flying everywhere by the handle of your parrot-head umbrella!

6. Pipi Longstocking

- I hardly remember much of the storyline, but I think it was from a pretty early part of my childhood. I'd roll down the carpeted stairs (only four steps, in a hotel room) because I saw Pipi rolling down the stairs haha

7. The Snow Queen

- Oooh I love this movie! It was a Soviet film, and all the images were so entrancing! I remember the wooden shoe floating on the water, the mirror breaking, the rose that froze (it rhymes!), the ball, the crow, the dancing... Love It!

8. Back To The Future

- We watch it every year whenever there's a Public Holiday, but that's because we all love the film. Michael J Fox, Saranghamnida!!!!

Okay, that's it! I tag Syaz, Pat, Dan, Diana and Steffoiz, but it's okay if you guys don't do it. Bu it's fun haha

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SS501 after SHINee intro! SHINee's so cuteeeee!!!!

Who Let You Go.

A treat for Pat: Kyu Jong from SS501 (i think that's how his name is spelt...) acting in some lady singer's video

A treat for me: Jaebeom!!! Swoon-a-riffic!

Okay, that's enough for now ;)

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Where The White Boys Dance.

So it seems I'm not the only K-pop crazy person I know! Haha There's this song that I've been listening to Again and Again, by 2PM. Seriously, I always seem to fall hardest for bands that I'm not initially impressed with.

Case in point: Tokio Hotel. I laughed when i first saw their music video for Ready, Set, Go, but my sister slowly pulled me into liking them (and God forbid, even their songs). That train's come and gone though, because I seem to get over things really fast haha.

And now my attention has turned to 2PM! I actually thought they couldn't sing, when I heard their first single called 10 Out Of 10, but their new song's really addictive. Watch them on Idol Army on youtube - they are seriously one group of cute, really funny guys. 2 AM too! (2AM+2PM = One Day. Seriously! They're branches of the same group. 2AM sing ballads, while 2PM are more performance-centric)

From left: Chansung, Wooyoung, Junsu, Jaebeom, Junho, Nichkhun and Taecyeon.

2PM's leader is Jaebeom, who's actually from Seattle, and he's an '87 baby. He kinda looks like Jokwon, the leader of 2AM, although he's not as fruity as him. He has such a fun sense of humour, and at 174cm he's the shortest of the group, poor baby (Junho and Wooyoung are 178cm, Junsu is 180cm, Nichkhun is 181cm, Chansung's 182cm, and Taecyeon towers over all at 185cm How can anyone not look short?). Obviously he's my favourite of the group, even when he's cocky at times, because he is cocky-funny. And he is so frickin' sexy! His upper body is so fiiinnneee... Haha. He's by far the best dancer of the group, and although he falls flat a little when singing, he does vocal runs quite nicely. =D

Jaebeom <3

I suppose besides Jaebeom, my second favourite is Wooyoung, who's an '89 baby. He's so cute and funny (Okay, they're ALL funny), and crazy! There was one episode of Idol Army where he had to fulfill a mission: To go out onto a street alone, get food for free, and get recognised. Woyoung doesn't really have the star appeal of Jae and Nichkhun, so he wasn't recognised by anyone and had to beg for the food. And he was so funny, acting like he was whining and stamping his feet. Cute! He makes the funniest comments, and likes saying "Oh My God!" when something shocking happens. Chances are he learned that from Jae, Nichkhun or Taec...

Wooyoung

Junho's a '90 baby, and he looks like Rain. I think he has a much more controlled voice than both Jaebeom and Junsu, and he's one of the better dancers of the group. Unfortunately, in Idol Army, he's rejected by almost ever single girl/ guy group, poor guy. But he has a good humour about that. And he has random outbursts of English, which some Netizens have commented sounds like he's imitating Rain's English.

Junho

Chansung's the maknae (baby/ youngest) of the group, a Feb '90 baby, but he somehow looks the oldest haha. His 182 frame certainly does contribute to that image. He looks macho-est, but he's realy goofy, and loves to eat aLOT. He looks a lot better since he's cut his long hair, and he's my sister's fave 2PM member. Always bullied by the guys haha.

Chansung

Taecyeon is the tallest, and is from Boston, which he moved to when very young. Born in 1988. He looks like my brother when he smiles with the large teeth he has, which is a little disconcerting for me. Darn that brother of mine, because I really like Taecyeon. He raps, along with Chansung.

Taecyeon

Nichkhun's born Thai, but LA bred. His Mum's Chinese, while his dad is Thai, but with brown hair he looks somewhat Eurasian. With black hair though, he looks more Asian. Like Taec, he was born 1988. He's considered the cutest of the group, with a baby face and smiley eyes and baby-buttock skin (haha). He is a girl magnet, and the arguably the most recognised member of the group. Remember the Idol Army mission that I talked about? Everyone else wasn't recognised at all (since they debuted just last year), Jaebeom was recognised after maybe 7 minutes, and Taecyeon didn't take part. All Nichkhun had to do was step out of the bus, and in 3 seconds girls came running towards him! Wooyoung had to plead for food, and Jaebeom had to sing for a discount, but Nichkhun automatical got two free pieces from the aunty because he's "so beautiful!". How unfair is that? Haha He's near the bottom cos even though he's cute and funny, I don't think he dances or sings particularly well.

Nichkhun

Junsu's (child of '88) face I didn't like as soon as I first saw their music video, but watching Idol Army, he's growing on me. The boys tease him alot because they say his head is so big haha, and he's probably the least attractive of the boys, but he's funny. And his face was so funny in the SHINee (another Korean boyband) episode of Idol Army, when he was blowing the ping pong ball. He's considered the best singer of the group, but he sometimes lacks control and goes flat or sharp sometimes in ballads. But he seems like a nice guy.

Junsu

So that's a 2PM intro. I love them! More bands probably coming up. Maybe I'll do 2Am next.=)

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Andy, You're A Star.

I got into NTU Socie! I got the letter yesterday, barely a week after the interview, but for some reason I'm not exactly jumping in my boots. I'm happy, don't get me wrong, just not very excited. I suppose there'll be a whole lot of essays coming my way again. Oh well, at least I'll be coursemates with Pat! Haha. Now, if only NUS will send me a letter - any letter, be it rejection or acceptance - soon. I need closure!

Another day at work tomorrow. Gosh. So not looking forward to it. One thing I am looking forward to, though, is flying off!!!!! Yayy!!!! Only 5 weeks of work left, working towards my goal. Would you believe I have a countdown to end-of-work? I cross out every day that I go through, just to make me feel happier that I'm working towards the end. How sad is that?

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Korean craze has taken me over! It all began with Boys Over Flowers, which I'm sure Pat understands, and now it has gone into music. Super Junior's Sorry, Sorry has caught me off guard - it's so freaking catchy! And the fact that it has 13 members, many of whom are cute, has me watching their videos Again and Again (which is another song, by 2pm). 2am has the best singing voices, as does K.Will who rocks in Teardrops, and Baek Jiyeong's Like Being Hit By A Bullet is so heartwrenching. 

I'm Korean crazy, but that's not where I'm going. Tickets have been booked, and I'm going to (drumroll please):

Perth and Melbourne! 

Weee! First to Perth with Pat and Dan, then when they fly home, I'll fly to Melbourne to see my much-missed cousins.

Of course, I'm paying for everything on my own, which means all my pay between 13 April and 19 June will go towardss this trip. My dad's paying 168 for my return ticket from melbourne, but only because my budget was 600 for that, and that would mean transiting at KL, which my parents don't want me to do.

I'm so excited! It feels so final now that tickets are booked. =)

Just for fun, watch the Again & Again video by 2pm. Their dancing is on point as always, but the funny part is the fake lyrics that are pasted at the bottom of the screen. Hilarious!

:

fin!!!!!*

OMGoodness, I totally bombed both the NTU sociology interview and the written test! Who knew it was possible to write so much without actually having anything of worth to say? And the interviewer said to me after the interview: "Wow, that was a quick interview! Your answers were to the point", which I don't know is good or bad, because when I asked if other interviews were usually longer, she simply said that some students talk more. How??!!

A lot more points for me to talk about just bubbled to the surface on my bus ride back to the station. A lot! Like, did you know that Sweden recently became the seventh country in the world to legalise same-sex marriage? Or that I actually have a lot more questions to ask the lecturer than I thought? I actually (initially) told her I didn't have any questions for her, and then thought up some stupid questions on whether the course covered a wide range of topics, even though I'd told her at the beginning that what I liked about sociology was its wide range! I'm such an airhead!

Well, afterwards, after calling up a few people to whine to and hear reassuring words from, I went home to numb my mind with chicken rice, bubble tea, and a few hours of Korean dramas which I'd recorded but hadn't had an opportunity to watch. I'm almost fully recovered, even though I had my depressed "world-is-ending" face on the whole MRT ride home. Gonna go home after this and watch more. (I'm at the library at the moment.)

Seeyaz! fin!

Everything will be alright.

Finally, blog!

I had my three day stint at Victoria Concert Hall last week for SYF. Although I was pretty much complaining the first day about how boring it was (as i am wont to do), I found the whole experience really fun! I'd rather have that as my job than what I'm doing now (besides the blogging). Why? There were people my age around, there was food provided, and air conditioning. Need I justify more? Hahaha and of course, there is the matter of laughing at the worst choir I've ever heard sing. Really, EVER. Shouting, more like. And I'm not even trying to be mean or anything. That's how bad it was. Just ask the other 6 people who were backstage with me. (I'm so sorry, if you know this is your school and thus are offended. But I highly doubt you're from this school) Clue, it starts with B, it's not my secondary school or yours. Helpful enough? Haha

Anyways, I really miss the Internet! And my computer, for that matter. My computer just shuts down without warning five minutes after it's switched on. Don't know why.

Did I mention I have income now? Feels great! I just got my paycheck yesterday for the work I've done since the 13t of April, but in cash. It scares me to carry so much money that I can't close my wallet. It should have been more, but I took three days off to work at Vic for lesser pay but more fun. Now I'm wondering if I have the mettle to continue in this line till mid-June. But I really need money because...

...We're flying off somewhere!! Weeee! When it's confirmed and plane tickets are booked, I'll reveal where and who, but till then I won't just in case. One place is more expensive to fly to than the other, but it purportedly has more things to do without having to travel too much, so we'll see. And I have enough money to buy a ticket to one of the places! Just $40 short of the other one, but I'll have enough when I get the Vic paycheck. Money is cool!

I'm so motivated to find another part-time job now, but not while I'm working here. Maybe if I get the other job I've been wanting. Because here, all I do is think about going home, and staying home, after work. Not good huh?

Okay, gotta start rejecting people now [if you know what I mean. If you don't, it's okay (= ]

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I'm so tirreeeddddddd.... and it's just my second day of work =(

Don't shoot me Santa

The chalet that took place last Friday was omg-falling-over fun! And let me assert that I wasn't the doing the "falling over". Except of course, when it was 8.30 the next morning and I couldn't stay awake any longer. But besides that the whole thing was hell of a roaring good time. Happy (early) birthday Pat! Haha. The actual "party" started around midnight, when we finally congregated in the room and left the barbeque to burn itself to death. Much surplus food left; a whole styrofoam cooler-full. And Pat and I didn't consume that much ourselves because (unthinkingly enough haha) we had a Fish&Co Express lunch late in the afternoon. But Taitee or tytee or tai ti, wtv the game's name is, is really darn fun! And although my bad luck in games was a boon to Bong (Alliteration! HaHa!), I don't think it was much of a burden on him because he stayed awake longer than I did - amazing considering . I was really reluctant to leave in the end, but I did because...

... I was meeting Syaz to celebrate her birthday! We brought her to the National Museum, turned out not to be much of a surprise because beans were spilled, but we still had fun. And I'm sorry I the planner got lost! Haha. My favourite part was probably the swinging chandeliers although they weren't part of any exhibits. They're red - and the swing! I swear, when I'm rich enough I'll have a whole row of six swinging chandeliers in my living room. And maybe rotating ones for my dining room!

Sending resumes by mail is totally not my thing, even though it's easier on the psyche than calling prospective employers. I accidentally sent two resumes to two different employers that had the wrong job name! Like, when I applied for the Temp Receptionist job, I sent a resume titled- Objective: Seeking position as a Admin Assistant- Marketing Position. How blur can I get?!! Seriously, no wonder I've only got one call-back so far this year, and even then I accidentally turned it down. Stupid stupid me...

Yay I'm finally getting my bed today! I've been sleeping on a mattress on the floor of my sister's room so far because I gave away my old bed, but I'm getting a new one! Whee!!! Finally my room may actually look like a bedroom.

I've finally figured out the cause of my cat's shrinking head. It's not shrinking. He's actually ballooning in size! Let me give you an idea of his "diet": At 11AM when I wake up, I see that his bowl is empty, and he's meowing loudly for more food. But my mum's already given him food in the morning- twice! So he has like three breakfasts a day? And then what? Five lunches? My cat is such a glutton. His only exercise is when he paws his kitty litter enthusiastically after his business is done. No wonder I have to clean his sh*t up so many times a day!

Okay, off to get my bed!!!!
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My mum went all out for Earth Hour. It was surprising to say the least, but pleasing. She brought out all the decorative candles that we've collected over the years, and even made me switch the lights off earlier than 8.30. Oooh, I have to tell you about a candle we have that (was) shaped like a half-way peeled banana, which melted about 50% less than other candles and - get this- didn't drip any wax anywhere at all! It just sort of vaporised into thin air. It's mundane information, but I find it cool!

Anyways, I just finished this amazing book called Sunstorm, a sci-fi book, the second in the Time Odyssey series, written by Sir Arthur C Clarke and Stephen Baxter. I've read the first one called Time's Eye which led me to the second one, and I know the third's out there somewhere. But since Clarke died, a fourth book, which was hinted at in the third, is rather uncertain.

The reason I'm talking about all this is because I found some disarming - yet somehow interesting - piece of information from reading the books: Space makes you dumb! Haha. No, the book wasn't focused on that of course, but it's a little nugget of information that's become stuck in my mind since I came across it midway through the first book. Apparently, our brains are particularly vulnerable to cosmic radiation of which there is plenty in space, and they have a limited ability to repair themselves. Hence the dumbing down. Interesting or what? Haha.

On another piece of home news, something's going wrong with my cat, I fear. Either his head is shrinking, or his body has somewhat ballooned, because nowadays his head is looking a mite too small for his body. And in the last month no canned meat has passed through his small cat-gullet! Do heads shrink as things grow older?! I don't recall my parents head having been any bigger or smaller than they are now, so that can't be it. But he really does look a bit weird, that cat...

I did finally pay my admission fees on Sunday, so that was a huge burden off my shoulders. Who knew it was that simple to do? Now I'll just have to play the waiting game to see what I'll be doing for uni. IF I'm getting in? Can't be too opimistic, because then the only way to go is down. So yeah, I'm just keeping soem toes crossed metaphorically.

And so ends another uninspired post. I do go out, you know, but I have a limited memory capacity that somehow prevents me from blogging all my actual interesting-at-that-time thoughts. So I'm left with all these home-bred thoughts that are influenced by little else than the books, tv and computer.

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Midnight Show.

Earth Hour is nearly upon us! Switch off non-essential lights at 8.30! And I hope that it continues beyond the one hour that is the event, because it makes sense that if it's not used, then don't switch on the light!

Oh, and I'll be switching off the computer, because God-knows my family hasn't done that in a long time. Go watch a TV-movie with your family or something! Everyone doing one activity should IMO save you more energy than if everyone was to be doing their own individual thing in different rooms. =)


Good night!
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I saw six aeroplanes at the same time yesterday night. It was so cool! Granted, five were in various stages of descent while one was taking off, so it's not like the flew together.

Pat and I finally applied for universities, which makes me relieved. I haven't paid yet, but I've still got time. Just remind me a day before the deadline because I have a habit of forgetting this sort of thing.

On a random note, in case you've ever wondered how "budget" the budget airlines are, their so-called tickets are just a piece of printed receipt-material paper. And the officers just highlight your name. How much more budget can you get?



We (Steph and Dan and I) were supposed to meet Dan today for her birthday dinner, but Steph couldn't make it so we took a raincheck. I made a bouquet [Cos I'm unemployed and thus can't really buy gifts at the moment :( ] but it'll wilt soon, so here're just pictures! Don't worry, it didn't really cost anything, and my mum was delighted when she proclaimed that I could arrange flowers (which I totally can't; it was more trial and error).

And my mum put a butterfly on it when she put it in the vase. Doesn't really match, but everyone loves butterflies right? And it kinda matches the flowers on our dining table!



I seem to have forgotten all I've wanted to blog about, as usual, so I'll end here. Good night ya'll

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DFS day was fun! We hogged the table at Island Creamery for a long time after the ice-cream had gone down to gastric-juice-land. We should have outings more often!

I'm way super glad to be back at "home", because I've been staying at my grandparents' place since I got back from KK on Wednesday. It gets a bit boring when all day, all that's available to do is watch cable TV. Even though I'm still having to sleep on the floor, at least it's home. No cable tv because the painters are coming today, but at least I have the computer. And - hey! - the kitchen cabinets, sink and stove are in, so that means we'll be able to finally put away some things.

I'm so so so leaning towards the idea of staying at the NTU hostel, maybe even be roomies with Dan! It'll solve the distance problem, and I get to enjoy a little more autonomy. Maybe it'll even motivate me to actually study everyday instead of getting hooked on television, my number one vice.

Speaking of vices... I unfortunately was overruled in wanting to celebrate Jeremy's birthday today with the gang. Oh well. Being old enough in the eyes of the law definitely does not mean old enough in the eyes of the allowance-givers.

I really seem to have nothing to blog about huh? No all-important opinion-touting, or insights, or revelations. I think that's an indication that I'd be in way over my head in Uni. Scary!!!

Highs of the week:

Going to the Mount Kinabalu base camp because the views were breathstealing. I experienced a zen moment while driving round and round on the mountain roads.

DFS! Need I elaborate?

Smoked salmon, edam cheese and crackers for breakfast. Oh. My.

Finally reaching a decision about uni that has me feeling actual excitement, albeit in an atmosphere still charged with reservations and fears about uni life and my ability to cope with it.

My proper use of "albeit"? Would K still have circled the above usage and commented in her just-as-loud-as-her-voice handwritten script? Haha (This was one of the DFS coversation topics)

Being home. Awww...

Liverpool thrashing ManUre 4-1, and Arsenal also beating Blackburn Rovers 4-0. (This technically didn't happen this week, but what the hey?)

Lows: I'm not in the mood to rehash the bad stuff. I'll make like Class 95 fm and think of "only the good stuff".

Seeyaz!

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In about 4 hours I will be leaving for Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. Of all places, why KK? Because plane tickets were cheap in December, that's why!

Somehow, me and university open houses don't mesh well. The SMU one left me confused, and I didn't attend any talks as a result. Pat and I sat through only half the FASS talk because the other half wasn't relevant (and we were hungry). And we somehow managed to miss the Soc Sci talk at NTU. Plus we walked around aimlessly lost because we're clueless weird people, on a hot stuffy Singapore afternoon. So ankles hurt. I should have just skipped open houses. Blearggh.

Anyways, life AM (after move) really sucks because nothing is completely the way it should be. Guess what happened among all the silly misadventures that I went through (with Pat, for the most part) today?

I managed somehow to flood the kitchen. FLOOD THE KITCHEN! Only in story books does that kind of thing happen. And somehow I, Syarafina, who really is weird on the inside, managed to accomplish such a feat. In brief, the washing machine hose wasn't connected to its pipe because it's not done yet (surprise), and since it was just hanging there in the kitchen, the washing machine expulsed all its water out of that hose and onto the kitchen floor, hence the flood. And I have to mention this, the floor was covered in cardboard sheets to protect the tiles while renovations are going on, so everything, needless to say, got soggy and useless.

Thank goodness my dad stepped in and somehow managed to get everything into order.

Oh yeah, I got my first and I hope only scolding by the K-ster yesterday, because I wrongly thought that mistakes in our testimonials were to be reported BY the thirteenth, not BEFORE the thirteenth. And I just discovered another mistake in my CCA testimonial after I got the scolding and she's done the ammendment. Obviously I will not report it. I don't have a death wish.

Alright. Good night ya'll!

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So here I am, back at the library which is across the road from my house because my computer and internet are still in limbo!

I just came back from watching Slumdog Millionaire with Patricia, and the verdict is... the movie is fab!!! Wayy better than even The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - it made us cry in the end! The directing, for me, was good not in the shots and all, because I'm kind of used to that from watching so many Bollywood films, but in the way they planned the sequence of shots. It creates such a buildup of emotions and feelings that you just can't help but break into unbelievably happy tears at the end of the movie when something happy finally happens. Awww!!

And let me say this: the little boy who plays the younger (not youngest) Jamal Malik is so so cute! He (Tanay Hemant Chheda) is definitely going to grow up into a handsome young man. I'm so not a paedophile, but you can't help but notice the potential. Hahaha.

He's the leftmost guy in the second row. Cute, right!

The library is closing in about 10 minutes, so I'm ending my post for today.
Good night!

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Okay, my entire house is in limbo, computer is gone to Don't-Know-Where Land, and internet's not gonna be put in until this Friday. So this post will be mega short.

Briefly:

My A-Level results has me feeling happy and grateful. Happy because they came out way better than expected, and grateful because it seems that my lack of studying last year doesn't seem to have taken effect on my results.

SMU Open House left me feeling high and dry. I don't want to enter the school, as Dan can attest to. And I'm so sorry to everyone who saw me on Saturday, because my eyeliner and mascara from the day before made me look like a raccoon while I was blissfully unaware.

New home is in a huge mess, things left undone, some walls not painted, kitchen cabinets not in, we're all still walking around in our shoes because the floors are still dirty and we're sleeping not on bed but just mattresses because, well, nothing's ready.

Okay. Short post over. Library is closing, so I gots to go. See ya!

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I suppose it's a bad omen that I got a fever the day before getting the 'A'-level results. But that's as far as I will go in talking about the dreaded results, because I have only one more day left to not worry about the future. So I am going to enjoy every minute of it! Even as I am writhing about on the couch from headaches and stomachaches etc.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

My OOTM (Obsession Of The Moment):

Boys Before/Over Flowers!!!! (A Korean drama)

Ya'll have probably heard of Meteor Garden, right? Well, that drama was spawned from a Japanese manga called Hana Yori Dango (which I'm also watching right now), and now the Korean version of the dramatised manga is out! And has been for a few weeks now... But the Korean version IMHO is the best by far, because the cast are waaaayyyy better looking than both the Japanese and Taiwanese ones.

Here's a self-written synopsis: Geum JanDi, whose parents own a dry cleaner's, saves this boy from committing suicide at the Shinhwa High School, school for the rich, after he's been ragged and bullied by other students. The school gets bad press, and as a result, JanDi is invited into the school to silence the critics. Unfortunately, she gets on the bad side of the leader of F4, Gu JunPyo, and gets a Red Card from the F4, which was the reason the initial bully-ee was bullied in the first place (since the F4 are like superstars in that school and every word they say is like a pearl dropping from the heavens to the other students). She declares war on them F4-ers, by way of a spinning back kick (way to go!), which strangely enough, sparks JunPyo's interest in her. Did I mention she happens to like another member of F4? JiHoo is the quiet, mysterious guy who always wears something white no matter the occasion, and his hand in saving JanDi's behind a few times makes her fall in love with him. Etc. etc.

(Some background info: Shinhwa Group is fictionally the biggest company in Korea, and Shinhwa High is an elevator school, from kindergarten to university, owned by that company. Guess who's the heir to that company? Right, it's Gu JunPyo. So he's pretty big shit in this fictional Korea. Hence the power and adulation of the nation)

I obviously can't get a job as a synopsiser, if there was ever such a job, but the story is great. Great!

As I said, the Korean F4 floating up up up above the other versions in terms of good looks and pedigree.
Don't believe me? Here's a comparison:

Japanese Hana Yori Dango

Taiwanese Meteor Garden

annndddd...

Korean Kkotboda Namja!! (Boys Before/Ove... you get my drift)

Is there even a comparison?! The Koreans have nicer, more prestigious-looking uniforms, not that the F4 (Flower 4) actually wear them. They guys even seem to have more awe-inspiring credentials - you know, they have richer and more powerful backgrounds than the Taiwanese and Japanese F4. And then there's the matter of looks. Hands down, the best-looking F4 everrr. It amazes me how they managed to get such handsome young men into this show - and four of them at that! And there're more coming, such as the mysterious model HaJe who makes an appearance in the later, not-yet-screened-on-KBS World channel episodes. Plus, they actually look plausibly like high schoolers. Hard to find.

And thus, I conclude that Korean dramas are THE BOMB. Such an empty superficial post, but gosh I am obsessed with the show! Watch it at mysoju.com (;

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p.s. I find it strange that JiHoo is prettier than JanDi.

p.p.s. I found JunPyo's curly hair disturbing at first, but I got used to it.

p.p.p.s. more pictures...

Lee Min Ho as Gu JunPyo

Kim HyunJoong as Yoon JiHoo

Kim Bum as So Yi Jung,
another member of the F4. I didn't include the other guy (WooBin)
cos he's not that cute. Only my mum seems to disagree with me...

Anoop is OUTT!!!!! NooooOOOO!!!!!

only missed by 20000 votes. Which is peanuts compared to the 24000000 votes cast. So wildcard round, here he comes!

And Pat-lookalike didn't do so well in AI. Oh well, she's only 16.

Next week: Adam Lambert and Nick/Norman Gentle. I hope they get in!! And the girls? Bah, who cares about them girls? Haha

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Okay, so my date for yesterday was Pat haha. And no, it does not sound pathetic, because two girls going out together on V-day is definitely way more logical than two guys. Alone. A group - sure, why not?; but a couple, only two guys, reads sad. Okay, I'm just being mean.

Of course, it was fun. When has going out ever not been fun? Chocolate truffle cake, in halves, was divine. Sinful. Devilish! And Pat gave me macaroons before I could give her! (I'm so sorry, Pat, they crumbled in my bag! =( but they taste good all the same (=)

Slumdog Millionaire, which I so want to watch, was only screened at 9.30, which is uber late, so no movie for that night. But that was replaced with a long trip from Wheelock to Plaza Singapura busstop to walk off the non-transfat cake. Mmmm. Haha

I'm so unproductive. It scares me.
):

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Oooh here's something for disturbing news: A 13 year-old boy just became a dad in Britain. Really! And his girlfriend is 15! The link is here:http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article2233878.ece And he looks so so young! His girlfriend looks like his nanny, more like.

Yesterday was spent, from 1.30 to 10.30, being a sales assistant, I suppose you could call it. At Causeway Point, John Little was having a sort of sales promotion at the atrium, and I took over Syaz's job for one day taking care of two carts, of Hush Puppies, tees and polo tees, and Levi's and Dockers men's socks and underwear (Eeek! Haha). Actually, it was kinda fun! I liked it when nobody came to shop, but I also didn't mind opening up package after package of shirts because it gave me something to do. The only thing I didn't like was of course standing for hours on end, but my knees aren't sore now anymore. How's that for exercise? Haha

As soon as I came for work yesterday, I look ed through every single box, arranged them according to size and colour, checked how many were in stock, etc. But still got a few things wrong. Oh well. Today I'm semi-unemployed again.

Bad Luck though, came in the form of me forgetting to return my Visitor Pass for my I/C. I'll have to go back today to return it. Darn.

V-day date today! And you'll never guess who with... Hahaha! If you do, I'll give you 10 cents (=

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The girl who looks a bit like Pat on American Idol!


And she made it through to the top 36, which should make you feel good, Pat hahaha.

My favourites this year are Danny, Anoop, Adam and Jamar. This year has the most enjoyable talent so far!

Watch Anoop Desai's Hollywood Week audition here:


and listen to his first here! He looked like a geeky joker, but darn could he sing!:


okay i am so going to sleep now...

Sometimes I think I'm so stupid. Because I won't say anything when the hairdresser cuts my hair with those infuriating "thinning" scissors! I didn't say "thin my hair, please". I said "Trim". But I guess she misheard. Damn! And still I didn't say anything! I just sat and stared wide-eyed as she went ahead and used those infernal scissors on every part of my hair. And now c'est horrible! Meina Haare ist sehr shrecklich! Sehr schlecht! Uuhhhh.... Tying my hair looks terrible cos of all the little shorter hairs coming out and poofing and being all annoyingly untie-able...

On another note, yesterday was another fun day out. Cycling between 12 and 2 in the hot afternoon sun, resulting in a red Pat and a two-toned brown Fina, then The Curious Case of Benjamin Button which was a one-time epic much like Big Fish, shopping at Marina Square where I fell in love with Marc who's my hero now (Price War!!!), a cheap yet good dinner at the food court upstairs, before culminating in an MRT ride back to Marsiling with Pat. Really productive. Yay!

I'll post the picture of my kuih lapis arm next time. It's 3.20 in the morning, I am not sleepy, and I'm signing off.
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Cycling in an hour or so. Yay! Yesterday I'd pretty much resigned myself to going to the gym alone this morning, but turns out now I'm going cycling which totally rocks.

I swear, my house is infested with mosquitoes now. Already I've got 16 ++ bites all over my arms and legs. Even after we've sprayed all over the house with mosquito-killer spray! Damn you!

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Yay, Rafa won yesterday's Australian Open finals against Roger Federer! I'm one of those people who shout at the tv to cheer on the athletes, and yesterday was one of my loudest days, maybe because I know how much harder it has to be for Rafa. I mean, he's only had 1 day's rest while Roger got two and his last match was five hours and fourteen minutes long (even yesterday's one was only four hours plus). So imagine how much more tired he must be compared to Federer. Plus Nadal's been known to be better at softer sufaces like clay and grass, and yesteday's match was on a hard surface. So yay for Nadal!

A pumped-up Rafa after winning a point.

Poor Roger cannot control his emotions after being denied a 14th Grand Slam title by Rafa.

Roger was a good sport, though, even though he has all the reason in the world to hate Rafa for standing in his way. He couldn't deliver his speech at first because of his tears ("God, it's killing me"), but came back a little later to congratulate Rafa on his win. Aww... Roger's one of the greatest and nicest stars, it's hard not to feel for him.

Rafa consoling Roger on his loss (and Rafa's win).

Rafa's a good sport too, and the first words he said into the microphone was to say "Sorry for today" to Roger and that Roger will go on to surpass Pete Sampras' record 14 Grand Slam titles. And he seemed really genuine.

Isn't it amazing? Rafa's world number one at the tender age of 22, while Roger's at his prime at 27 years old. Imagine being that age (which isn't that far away) and having achieved that much. It's simply mindboggling. Sometimes I wonder if such people are even real at all, and whether all this could be an elaborate hoax by the media (because that's the only way we know of such things). Sometimes I even wonder if there's really a world beyond Singapore! Haha, how "Truman Show"-esque of my thoughts.

I've got work to do now...
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