Today's alr.....hmm...27th December to be exact. Which means 2 days after Christmas, just over boxing day.

Well, this Christmas is spent mostly in Orchard I'd say. Went to Orchard as mentioned on Christmas Eve cos mum and I agreed that it sucks to stay at home on Christmas Eve. So we went shopping and yeah, same old story, bought stuff again =) This time mum bought stuff too, for CNY, which is coming really really soon! Like another 3 more weeks?

As for Christmas, well, dad's side had party the sat before alr, mum's side gonna meet on 31st for countdown party! Yeah! So basically spent Christmas at Carrefour while my parents went to buy the lamp chop for the 31st party. Bro and I shopped ard and found that the discounts were much better than that of Orchard. Bought some shirts AGAIN and erm went home with 120 dollars worth of lamp chop in the boot =D

During my visit to Borders the last few days, I read 1 book called "The Purpose of Christmas" by Rick Warren. Its a very very inspiring book. It shows how much some of us have diverted away from the true purpose of Christmas, why is it celebrated, the meaning of joy and peace. Of course these seems too harsh a "theory" for anyone to accept in such a practical and chaotic world. It just re-aligns our hearts back to God, our Saviour, who was born in the Human Form on this day to interact with what He has created. So its a day of celebrating, to show our joy and thankful-ness for His presence. To care for others, to live up to what He has been waiting to see us do. I've not read the whole book but Im very very determined to spend that amount to buy that book because I believe in quality reading and to keep those "doors of precious thoughts" on my shelves. Its easy to read, but deep in meaning. All in all, even though I've not read till last page yet, I know what's the main thing to say. God is GREAT! =)

Dear Father Lord, You are the greatest of all. Your son was born on this day and He came down to spread more about You. Lord, You are our Saviour. Abounding in Love, You forgave our sins by sacrificing Your only Son. No words can describe Your greatness. Now for this christmas, I want to thank You and only You for blessing me this year throughout, for seeing me through tough times, to guide me and to help me whenever I need it the most. You have been around me, walking side by side along me, to guide me, to show me the path. Sometimes I may not have seen the light, but I know You will be there to guide me back to the right route, to allow me to grow under your Care. Lord this Christmas its good to know You are here with me and that's sufficient. Its the best that I or anyone can ask for. I thank you Lord. In Jesus name I pray, AMEN!

I was listening to Gold 90.5 fm and I heard this song called "All at Once" by Whitney Houston. It was just fabulous. Simply sweet, nostalgic, and breath-taking song. You guys gotta go hear it.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

FINALLY!

Yeah, this is the word I've waiting to say for so so so long.

Im done with my IS at long long last. The Wine tasting event got up and running on Sat evening at Mackenzie road. Even though we did not meet the 20 people we were expected to get, it didnt matter much anyway since the lecturer just came and left in a short span of 10 minutes. Perhaps he only wanted to see if we were doing work and whether it was an "empty" event.

Met Marcus at Little India MRT station and we walked up to find the Wine shop itself. Took us quite a while cos it was quite hidden in some corner. Our parents arrived shortly after. Mum and bro couldnt drink and so they left to eat at Little India, leaving Dad to chat with his colleagues. The Wine owner then started his speech on the different kinds of wine, the "levels" of wine, lifespan, and quite surprisingly, table manners. It was interesting and the food was good! Pizza, Ritz biscuits, Blue cheese, Cheddar Cheese, Raw carrots and Celery, Hotdogs, Chicken Wings. Add that to tasting 1 portion of White Wine and 3 glasses of Red Wine. All for 27 dollars. Atmosphere was fantastic, Dimly lit place and nicely done up decorations. The Owner was nice enough to give us more chicken wings at no cost when we requested for more. Praises all over for the chicken wings. Dad and Mum went over to talk with Marcus's parents and had their "praents" talk. Took photos of everyone from the 4 tables and Marcus's mum insisted that I joined them inside the photo. Lol. It was nice to see Dad's colleagues mingling well with the Ngee Ann people even though they have a significant age-gap. All in all, I felt that it was a worthwhile event and everyone throughly enjoyed this short little session together.

And I would like to sincerely thank GOD, our Lord, for pulling me through this obstacle and to show me what He can do for us. Seriously God LISTENS and ANSWERS to our prayers. He gave help when we needed it most desperately. He showed us the way when we were in the midst of the dark. And lastly, He Loves us. For He is the greatest of them all. Praise the Lord!

Rewind to the Thursday before the event. Mum and I went to Orchard to do some Christmas shopping. So after lunch at Delifrance, we went our separate ways to shop. I strolled all the way to Kinokuniya to take a look at the books on offer and to flip through some. An hour later I went to Taka and window-shopped through all the stuff. Nth really much to buy. I have almost everything I need. And my uncle recently gave me some G2000 long sleeve shirts and brand new G2000 pants. So no need for clothes. No need for shoes too since I have a new Timberland pair. And the rest of whatever materialistic needs I used to have were all satisfied or disappeared long ago. =X

Until.......today, when I packed my room. Threw away alot of things and the display cupboards, shelves, drawers looked sparking clean, neat and tidy. But at the same time I realised I could do with more books, a new bottle of perfume, backpack and lots more. All minor stuff but adds up to quite a lot =P Therefore, tomorrow Im going Orchard with mum again to buy stuffs =)

Backtrack again to the night after my event. I went to my aunt's house in Sembawang for a Christmas gathering. There was turkey, nasi lemak?, donuts, kueh lapis, fruit cake, ham, and alot more food! Felt a little tired and asked Dad to go home at abt 9.30. That was when my uncle suggested we all sing Christmas carols. Though feeling a little tired, I still agreed. I did not regret it. It was super duper fun and funny! We sang loads of Christmas songs and my big aunt wanted to dance and sing along to a song. So she danced and sadly, she made a joke of herself. LOL. We were laughing like mad and mum couldnt control her laughter. Oh well, she thought it was normal, we felt that she was a clown. LOL. Later on we had a sharing session, and everyone was to share what we felt about 2008 and how thankful we were in those difficult times we had. So everyone gave their testimonials and it was indeed a good sharing session. Heard abt the tough times my relatives had and how God pulled them through. It was another session to show everyone yet again how great God was. Heart-inspiring sharing. Maybe God didnt want me to go home that fast during that moment. He wanted me to know more about Him, just as I had prayed for the last few days to want to grow with Him. =)

Oh, and Christmas carols keep "circulating" round my head. I dont know why but somehow I keep humming and singing it while moving abt the house. =D

The Lord was here. He still is now. And He will be forever.

Time check: 4.40 am now. Yeah and wondering why am I not asleep? Because of my damn IS project. So out of the 20 people we were suppossed to get, we now have about 12. What makes it disappointing is that I have 2 members in my grp who currently have 0 people and they say it will remain that way. Why? Because their mind tells them that since our whole grp might not hit 20 people and we gonna have to redo it, why work so hard now to get "close to 20" people.

Now now, see, this is a mentality and attitude problem. Sometimes, people get successful for 2 reasons, Luck and attitude. 1 can be controlled, 1 cant. And I guess both of them arent people made for success. The number 1 mistake would be giving up hope when yours truly here is trying v v hard to get people and even to some extent sponsering people some part of the cost for them to come to the event. So if we fail, the number 1 guy whom they disappoint and let down is ME! So I get the people to come, even more than the 4 Im expected to, pay $ for them to come, and I have to redo the whole project?!?! No visible effort seems to be present. I mean dont tell me you cant even get 1 guy to come? Oh man lets evaluate if those around you are called friends. And my mum doesnt drink but she still comes down to support me! So dont give the excuse of "my parents dont drink". Now I know who are the ones destined to succeed and those who will be living average lives unless $ falls from the sky.

Yeah so this is what keeps me damn stressed and thus sleepness at this moment in time, when I guess they are in their "winter wonderland". Lucky for me I dont have people like them in my Year 3 project because I get to choose my OWN group members! Sometimes I just hate working with these dumb and useless people. I only appreciate effort, nothing else. Call me a half-elitist if you like, but Im sure anyone else will blow if in my current position.

So unhappy and dumb people aside, lets talk about my outing ystd.

Fixed my plane like finally and all worked well. Then play pool with jow, joel and mel tan at Mambo. Proceeded to PS to watch Bolt with joel and mel tan. Well Bolt was CUTE for a dog and I was appalled by the animation. The hamster was funny too, with 1 sentence I remembering clearly, "I eat danger for breakfast!!"LOL.

And since I was carrying my plane ystd to the movies, I was afraid I might not make it back so early since I would hv difficulties carrying it into the packed train during peak hours. So I just did a short prayer in my mind and said with a little tinge or urgency "God, come-on I wanna go home but I just cant squeeze into the train because its too crowded so I need a less crowded train ASAP, Amen" And guess what! After this super packed train left the platform, another train came in the matter of seconds. And there were only 4-5 people standing! So basically it was quite an empty train and it remained that way all the way to Toa Payoh. Mum was like "wah empty train at around 6 plus going to 7, somemore at Dhoby Ghaut?" So see, God does listen to our prayers! Thank You Lord,my Saviour!

As for today, mum, bro and I did some spring cleaning of my cupboards and wardrobes. Also, I opened my 3 money containers and there was a total of 1000 bucks! But of course majority goes to banking it in and I only took 250 out. Yeah so a little extra cash to sponser some ppl for my event........

Tried flying my plane at the nearby grass patch at ard 6pm and guess what, the propellor shot out! There was a failed attempt to get it to fly and the whole nose just hit the ground, fortunately not from such a high height. So I had to replace screws, fix the gears and stuff the whole turing shaft into the motor.

Oh and I think Im starting to get a little tired now so better get back to sleep while I can. =)

Finished CTs...like FINALLY!! MPI was totally crap cos I didnt even knew what the qns wanted? And DCNT was a little tougher than expected, as in more tricky than estimated. Oh well, all thanks to some ppl who said that poly standards were easy and therefore the examining board had to "up" the standards.

The days before the CTs were just so mundane. Studying after every eating session, i.e. lunch or dinner. Serious mugging of papers, quizzes, notes, tutorials and even practical labsheets! Sometimes I just have to force myself to sit down and not walk around but....I did it!

Now for days after the CTs. Just tmr I alr have stuff planned out. Going to fix my plane tmr morning with TH, then going pool with joel and mel tan, since its mel tan's 18th birthday. Then we gonna go town to catch a movie and hopefully get "infected" with the christmas atmosphere there. But of course we wont be going crazy. Then for the days after Im gonna exercise alternate days cos NAPFA is knocking on my door soon and perhaps meet up with some of the sec sch ppl. Hmmmm...not forgetting reading assignment and continue to buck up on my current studying progress. Oh and reading too! I just saw this book that was so cool, 50 PHYSICS IDEAS YOU REALLY NEED TO KNOW . All the 50 most famous and significant equations were in tt book and a short history of the scientists who made them possible were mentioned.

And of course the most immediate task after the CTs was to play my Red Alert 3! Yeah managed to complete till the second last mission of the Allies and its time to wipe out the Soviet army! Then its Japanese faction next and poof, not it became koko krunch, but poof, all missions over!

ok, time to recharge for tmr! its alr 2.35am on my clock. And guess what, I just received a mail from the LEO club. Oh well, the lions do sleep late though. =P

IS is just damn damn damn damn damn dumb. Actually it isnt to a certain extent. At least I learnt more during writing reports and doing powerpoint presentations. I can say Im quite good with doing a full report and giving v innovative and good presentations. But to organise events SUCKS big time. Esp when yr event is just so expensive and the le*d*r is so bloody dumb as to choose tt event and doesnt wanna inform us about the progress despite the event nearing. As I thgt, smth would crop up and now Im getting dad to help me get more ppl to the event. I think I should just do a mini-coup and usurp throne of the leadership. Im very very sure under me the group would do stuff nice and neat. I mean, Im getting more worried about IS rather than my core modules because its damn dumb to fail a "pass/fail" subject?!?!?!

Im gonna pray very very hard and sincerely to God to bless the group, that we can get 20 people, that we are able to hold the event very very smoothly, that we can get it done at least a week before the event takes place. Lord I know you do wonders and I sincerely hope you can see us through this crisis. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.