ThoughtsJust my thoughts on whatever I want to talk about.
'Ghost Cat' by yannie
Car exploring....fun stuff!! - 3/5/2004
Guys - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly - 2/15/2004Turn-ons: Valentine's Day - Bye bye Ken for Barbie.-2/14/2004Happy Valentine's Day!!  The best boss in the world!Who is the best employer in the world? Bill Gates? Howard Schultz? In the wrong place-2/8/2004Sigh...sometimes I feel I am trapped in a place I don't belong. The Truman Show-2/6/2004I just rewatched "The Truman Show" at fellowship tonight. I watched it before but seeing it again just made me think hard about its religious implications.At first glance, it seems like the movie is anti-Christianity. Let's review the religious symbolisms: The name of the Director in the film is "Christof", or Christ/God/the Creator Truman = "True Man" The film seems to say that God is a distant and faraway creator who has our lives scripted and predestined. He does not give us free will to choose our own path. He watches our every step, yet He does not care about us. He would risk killing us (when He decided to make the weather horrendous which almost got Truman killed at the end) so that His plan is preserved. With Truman exiting this "script" at the end, he is choosing to leave God so that he can write his own script. He wants to be his own author and the one in control. This interpretation seems at first glance the logical explanation. However, the portrayal of "God" in Christof is not even close to our God in the bible.
There are many more ways where Christof is not a true representation of the Almighty God I believe in. Here is my interpretation of the religious symbolisms in the movie: Haircut!!-2/4/2004Hahaha, finally couldn't stand the length of my hair after 7 months of ignoring it, and got myself a haircut today. New discovery: an Aveda institute opened this January (next to 'sun tsiu fad long', the ghetto asian haircut place). At first, I thought it would be really expensive, but I got my cut there for just $14!!! Here's the catch: the haircutting people are all senior students of the aveda school, but they have to consult a supervisor while they cut. The person who did my hair did a pretty good job, maybe not as familiar as my hong kong hairdresser, but she knew how to 'thin' and 'slide cut' my really thick hair. The best thing is they use all Aveda stuff when washing your hair, which smells really good, and I got a mini conditioning treatment for $6 more. They also let you pick one of six massage oils and give you a mini head/neck massage before the cut. Better alternative than going all the way to Briarwood huh? Pretty satisfied. Give them a try sometime. (in case you're wondering, no, I did not receive a commission from them to advertise here =P) How Well Read Are You? 1/30/2004From unnahh's site. Bold the ones you have read and Italicize the ones you want to read. I can't believe there aren't any Judy Blume books on this list! Conclusion from this little exercise? I need to start reading again! By reading, I mean non-Harry Potter books. Aiya!!!! 115. The Mayor Of Casterbridge, Thomas Hardy Lovely Lovely Christmas - 12/25/2003Merry Christmas everyone!!Initially I thought this Christmas would be quite lonely....first one without parents beside me.....and stuck in Ann Arbor....but it has turned out to be quite lovely so far!! During the last week, I: 1. Accepted a job offer :) 2. Saw Les Miserables in Detroit (still as good as ever!) 3. Talked to my parents, aunt and cousin on the phone 4. Talked to my friends in Hong Kong on the phone 5. Talked to my friends in Ann Arbor (on the phone and in person!!) 6. Attended my first Christmas Eve midnight service 7. Played Zelda (for the first time, for the first time any nintendo game for about 10 years) 8. Finally watched Love Actually (so glad I waited til Christmas Eve to see it!! Love it love it love it!!) 9. Gave christmas presents 10. Received christmas presents 11. Watched Infernal Affairs II (....no comment...) 12. Watched some episodes of Sex and the City 13. Had several meaningful conversations with friends and elders from Church 14. Went Christmas carolling at elderly homes :) 15. Went shopping at Briarwood 16. Read people's online journals 17. Wrote in my online journal 18. Watched The Last Samurai (I thought it was pretty good, not the people who watched it with me though) 19. Had Montreal Trip Re-U!!! (fun! we hung out for what? 5 hours? and all the topics were interesting) 20. Had creme brulee at La Dolce Vita (finally went there! next target: Chop House) 21. Finished my finals 22. Got an A in Chinese History!! After torturing memorization of Chou, Ch'in, Han, Wei, Wu, Shu, North and South, Sui, Tang, Sung, Yuan, Ming, Ching dynasties and all the events, people, reforms that occured in each. (the other subjects.....not worth mentioning.....sigh) 23. Slept a lot! 24. Ate at Zanzibar, Hometown Buffet, TK Wu, Whole Foods Market, Sankai, Dalat, TGIF, and ALMOST at Matsu Chan 25. Bought something from my future employer. Not bad at all, huh?? Its a Merry Christmas afterall!! Tonight, we're having Hot Pot, tomorrow Birch Run for boxing day sale, and then we're off to Urbana from 27th to Jan 1st, and staying a day or two in Chicago afterwards!!! Woohoo!!! Something to leave you with to ponder over in preparation for a new year. May it be an even better one!! The DESIDERATA by Max Ehrmann Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even the dull and ignorant. They too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexations to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble. It's a real possession in the changing fortunes of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment, it is as perennial as the grass. Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy. Exhale - 12/18/2003Everyone falls in love sometimes Quiz Galore!!! - 12/14/2003I've collected a bunch of mo liu quiz results over time.....haha....now posting them to help people procrastinate along with me!!Ultimate Personality Test Yannie, you're a Skydiver! <-- Not so sure about that... Your personality is actually determined by two personality sub-types - your primary, or dominant sub-type, and your secondary sub-type. You are a Skydiver which means you are a Seeker / Golden Your primary sub-type is defined by "Seeker" characteristics and your secondary sub-type is defined by "Golden" characteristics. That means you're open minded, extroverted, free-spirited, and independent. Chances are you're pretty liberal. You're like a magnet for love and affection. People adore you. And, thanks to that healthy dose of self-confidence, you're super-flexible. How do we know all this? How do we know you're a great leader at work? Or that you're a self-starter and will always volunteer to take on a job? How could we have divined that you're an excellent communicator and tend to spread your enthusiasm to others? Because while you were taking the test, you answered four different types of questions questions that measured confidence, apprehension, willingness to take risks, and your focus on experience versus appearance ?the primary traits that determine your personality. Based on your responses, we determined your personality type, Skydiver. What color do you see the world in? brought to you by Quizilla  Pink: You see the world in bright pink. The world is a happy, happy place! You love all people and things!! Life is great! You're just like a happy child. Spread the cheer. What swear word are you? brought to you by Quizilla  your shit. Which Of The Greek Gods Are You ? brought to you by Quizilla  Aphrodite/Eros How Old is Your Inner Child? brought to you by Quizilla  My inner child is sixteen years old! Life's not fair! It's never been fair, but whileadults might just accept that, I know something's gotta change. And it's gonna change, just as soon as I become an adult and get some power of my own. What Type of Soul Do You Have ? brought to you by Quizilla  You are naturally born with a gift, whether it be poetry, writing or song. You love beauty and creativity, and usually are highly intelligent. Others view you as mysterious and dreamy, yet also bold since you hold firm in your beliefs. What feeling do you represent? brought to you by Quizilla  You represent... naivete. So innocent and trusting... you can be very shy at times, but it's only because you're not sure how to act. You give off that "I need to be protected vibe." Remember that not all people are good. Being too trusting will get you easily hurt. What Kind of Girlfriend Are You? brought to you by Quizilla  -Sensitive- You're Sensitive, and you'd like to stay that way. Sorry,listened to a bit too much Jewel there. You're sweet and very emotionally charged. You definitely love the person you're with, and always want to know how they're feeling so you can make sure they're happy. What kind of kiss are you? brought to you by Quizilla  You have an entrancing kiss~ the kind that leaves your partner bedazzled and maybe even feeling he/she is dreaming. Quite effective; the kiss that never lessens and always blows your partner away like the first time. What's your sexual appeal? brought to you by Quizilla  Schoolgirl What Finding Nemo Character are You? brought to you by Quizilla Where Did Your Soul Originate? brought to you by Quizilla  You come from Heaven. You're the purest of pure, a saint. You're probably an angel sent directly from Heaven. What Kind of Smile are You? brought to you by Quizilla  You're the loving smile,the one that is entirely devoted to others,especially that one person.You really can't get them out of your head,but then,you don't really want to. What color are you?
Procrastination - 12/14/2003Exams, exams, how can I think about exams when there are so many other things to think about?? Time - 11/23/03I always believe that time is a relative thing. How many times do we claim that we "don't have enough time"? I think that if you care about something enough, you will MAKE time for it. I always try to avoid giving "not enough time" as an excuse. Afterall, everyone has 24 hours a day. You can't deny that the world's very fair in this respect. Einstein had the same amount of time a day as the drunk beggar on the street outside your home. Hello Rose Bowl!!!! - 11/22/03
Blessed - 11/1/03I've been complaining so much on my webpage lately. In reality, I am actually surrounded by things to be thankful for. Really starting to miss this last year of college...Next year at this time, I'll be shaking hands with the real world.....I want to make time stop so I can savor all the people and things in my life. I want to remember all the emotions. I feel like just closing my eyes and grinning like an idiot and keep that feeling forever and ever.
Hold On - 10/14/03I know this pain
Roller Coaster - 10/9/2003Sometimes my emotions can be so volatile: like a roller coaster ride. I can feel so moung joung one minute and be ecstatic the next. What's in a journal? - 10/6/2003Okay......the last few entries make me sound like a confused and pathetic individual. I spent much of the weekend reading other people's journals/xangas and came to the following conclusion:
Seems like everyone in UM is taking this test. Its quite neat and kinda accurate. So do you guys think I'm actually like this? Feedback, feedback!! |
| Good Qualities | Challenging Qualities |
| Cares deeply for a few very close friends. | Has little desire to branch out and meet new people. |
| Comes up with lots of great ideas about how to do things better or improve the world. | Creative ideas are often impractical or unrealistic. |
| Sensitivity to emotions promotes greater insight and compassion for you and others. | Emotions can cloud judgment and thinking. |
| Not afraid to make tough decisions and move ahead. | Jumps too quickly to make decisions, because waiting is so hard to do. |
to table of contents
Pact with myself
I made up my mind on something today.
Its the rational thing to do.
Its the best thing to do.
I should have made the decision a long time ago.
Lord, please give me the willpower and strength I need.
I need your guidance to know what is best for me.
Don't let me be soft-hearted.
Let me stand firm.
10.4.2003
Release
Knock knock,
My heart is crying.
Please take off the mask
Wipe away the smile.
Let her weep contentedly.
After the tears are released
She will be alright.
A new day to face,
She needs to be strong.
But please treat her with care.
She needs tenderness.
Please remind her that she is missed,
Its so easy for her to forget.
She is so tired,
Tired of being tolerant.
Her shoulders are sore
From the burden of pretense.
Is it too much to ask for?
Just a moment of me, me, me.
No more fussing about other peoples?business
Let them deal with their own problems.
Does this mean she's cold?
No.
Just that she can get tired.
Yes, she does get tired, and restless.
Don't look so surprised.
Give her some time to heal
Time for herself
To untie her own knots.
But no matter how much she hurts
She'll still be looking out for you.
Brain Analysis
I took this brain analysis thing where you can see which learning style is best for you and figure out how you think. Here are the results! I think its pretty accurate. Go try it yourself!
http://www.mindmedia.com/brainworks/profiler
Your Brain Usage Profile
Auditory : 61%
Visual : 38%
Left : 63%
Right : 36%
Yannie, you are mildly left-hemisphere dominant while showing a slight preference for auditory processing. This overall combination seems to indicate a well-working blend of logic and judgment and organization, with sufficient intuition, perception and creativity to balance that dominance.
You will at times experience conflict between how you feel and what you think which will generally be resolved in favor of what you think. You will find yourself interested in the practical applications of whatever material you have learned or whatever situation you face and will retain the ability to refine whatever knowledge you possess or aspects of whatever position you are in.
By and large, you will orient yourself toward intellectual activities and structure. Though not rigid, you will schedule yourself, plan, and focus on routine and continuity of operations, rather than on changes and disruptions
When changes or disruptions occur, you are likely to consider first how to ensure that such disruptions do The same balance is reflected in your sensory preference. You will tend to be reflective and measured in your interaction style. For the most part, you will be considered objective without being cold and goal-oriented while retaining the capacity to listen to others.
Preferentially you learn by listening and maintaining significant internal dialogues with yourself. Nevertheless, you have sufficient visualization capabilities to benefit from using graphs, charts, doodles, or even body movement to enhance your comprehension and memory.
To the extent that you are even implicitly aware of your hemispheric dominance and sensory style, you will feel most comfortable in those arenas which emphasize verbal skills and logic. Teaching, law, and science are those that stand out among the professions, along with technical sales and management.
Career choices - Show me the $$$???
It seems like I have been doing various tasks related to job-finding for almost a year non-stop now. Just as I've just landed a summer internship, two weeks to breathe and resume submission deadline for full-time is already next Monday. Chi seen!!
My career interests have changed quite drastically over the course of the year. I had always been interested in marketing, but, inevitably, b-school tempts one to think in terms of DOLLARS EARNED.......Its hard not to be curious about i-banking when every nine out of ten people around you are yapping away about Merrill and Goldman.
I must admit there WAS a period where I was quite i-banking crazy. I guess the interest was I wanted to challenge myself, to see if I could survive in such an environment, to test myself. It does have exposure to many unique circumstances, and has such a glamourous and exciting appeal. So I applied to many of the big-shot I-banks, read up on each one before my interviews, and devoured all vault and webfeet publications on i-banking. Quite an i-bank expert, haha. I actually interviewed for quite a lot of them. To give you an idea of what I went through, here's a list of all my interviews:
For New York positions:
Bank of America Securities
UBS Warburg
Goldman Sachs
Lehman Brothers
Lehman Brothers Final round (flew to New York for this and interviewed with 4 people non-stop in 2 hours)
Salomon Smith Barney
For Hong Kong positions:
Goldman Sachs (flew to Chicago)
In the end, after all this work, no offers.....
My interviewer from Salomon Smith Barney actually called me up and told me to try again next year for full time, and when I asked for some feedback, he said the person who got the offer beat me because he showed that he was very interested in the industry and had been paying attention to the markets since high school. I can't beat that, can I? I think the guy's right, I am just curious about i-banking, but am not passionate about it to work fulltime in the industry. I couldn't survive the lifestyle, I just don't think its worth it. I don't buy it or want it enough. I think my interviewers somehow could sense this. One thing I learnt from all this, I don't like i-banking enough to get into the industry. (and maybe the B in Finance jaded my interest somewhat, haha. Hate Adair, hate Adair!)
All the while, my true interest was really in marketing, but because I didn't have a greencard, I couldn't interview with any marketing companies for US internships. The only companies who interviewed I-20 candidates were accounting firms (I'd rather teach piano for a living than be an accountant!) and i-banks.
So there I was, end of January, no internship offer. Too tired to start another round of applications for Hong Kong. I put off job search for a while due to procrastination and frustration (well, all those interviews for nothing wor.....even optimistic Yannie got a bit depressed la!), but it was still always at the back of my mind.
Enter SARS in March........plan to go back to Hong Kong......bombed. Didn't know what to apply for in Hong Kong. So applied and found some research work to do in Ann Arbor from May to June. However, I got interested in Advertising sometime in May, and suddenly resurrected from my slump. I read up all about the industry, ordered books about advertising and copywriting (writing and scripting the text for ads) from amazon, and e-mailed/mailed almost every 4A agency in Hong Kong (www.aaaa.com.hk). Then found a website from icered (www.wowwowtank.com) and was inspired by all the crazy things people send to ad agencies to get a job that I did something crazy myself. So SARS was still hot and heavy, right? Well I got some masks, wrote a fake news article about myself as a cover letter, and wrote "Intern wannabe with contagious ideas wants to work for you this summer" on the masks, and sent the whole package with my resume to 10 executive creative directors/ managing directors of international ad agencies with HK offices. Yep, don't remember how much I spent on postage. ( I did all this on top of my boring research, haha)
All throughout this process, of course I prayed and prayed for God's guidance and to let me see what was best for me. I think He made me go through all those i-bank interviews to make me realize it wasn't right for me. When I told my parents about my interest in advertising, they were quite skeptical about me finding an internship in HK as I was going back so late (beginning of July). Well, I had four interviews in two weeks after I came back to HK (2 for non-advertising actually.....long story.....mean people who broke my heart.....bleh to them......), and landed a job at M&C Saatchi (no connections ;p). Yeah!!
The atmosphere is totally different from banks and accounting firms. People still work very hard (common for them to leave at 1 a.m. from work), but they are more off-beat, less rigid. People listen to music. There's a snooker room at the office. No office rooms(not even for the big bosses), just desks cluttered together in groups of 4-6. Fruit cut and served everyday at 4:30 (heehee, love this part). Everything is fast-paced and constantly changing. However, it is a very high stress industry (i think 80% of the people at my office smoke, bleh...., don't like this point at all, makes my hair stink, and just hate the smoke. Quote to ponder about:"Kissing a smoker is like licking an ashtray").
And amazingly enough, my direct supervisor is also a Christian who is one of the few who does NOT smoke. Very nice, and teaches me a lot. She and her boss get me into meetings and try to get other people to tell me more about the different departments. So in the end, all the work and worrying pays off, and I get to know what I truly like and dislike. Thank you God!!!
Right now, I am more certain that the marketing-advertising path suits me more. I might also consider consulting/ management, but finance-intense jobs are really not for me. So a word of advice to those beginning their career search, it takes a lot of hard work to find out what is really for you, and not to be a sheep and just follow the crowd, but once you find your direction, you'll be grateful for all the ups and downs that lead you to your choice.
In Memory of My Fish - January 30th, 2003 to June 3rd, 2003
Yesterday night, when I went back to my room to sleep, I found my goldfish floating with its belly up in its fishtank.
I think I must have sat in front of the tank looking at him for ten minutes. Hoping he would move, or maybe just twitch. He didn't.
That very same morning, I had just switched the water for my fish. (and yes, I remembered to dechlorinate it.) I remember watching it swim happily in its clean home before I left for work. I also gave it a pinch of yummy fish flakes before I left.
When I got home from work, I went to my room to put my stuff down, and as usual, checked on my little friend. He was still as lively as ever trying to find food to eat.
A few hours later, imagine my surprise and shock when I found it dead.
I didn't realize it before, but I had grown quite fond of my little fish. It was comforting to come back from class to watch him swim around, or hide behind his fake seaweed, thinking that I wouldn't see him if he did so. When I sprinkled his daily pinch of fish flakes on the surface of the water, he would swim directly upwards, like he was standing upright, and quickly snatch the flakes and munch busily at them, even though there was noone else to fight over the food with him. He has watched me sleep, and even seen me naked.
I was always thinking of a name for him, but usually gave up before I thought of an appropriate one. Just a week ago, I almost decided to name it "Weebo", but didn't officially settle for it. Now, my fish has passed away without ever having a name.
My fish was my very first pet. My friend Edward caught him for me at an HKSA lunar new year game of "Catch the Goldfish". So he was a free gift in a sense. I think he is quite a trooper. He should be one of the last, if not THE last surviving fish from that night. He survived a week without food or tank-cleaning when I forgot to give him to someone to take care of during my spring-break trip to Toronto. I thought that when I got back to Ann Arbor, he would be gone for sure, but there he was, still hiding behind the fake seaweed. He has moved to three places since he has lived with me. From my dorm room in Baits, to Candace's place during my Florida trip (this time I remembered to ask someone to look after him), to my new apartment at Wilmot this spring. When I first received him, I thought he had gone insane and was trying to commit suicide. He would always stay at the bottom of the tank and be very still, not even coming up for food. I considered buying a friend for him, but never found the time during the semester to go to Meijer. By the time I was more free, I was afraid that he would fight with any new members sharing his tank.
He grew more and more accustomed to tank-life. He would swim around more, and I found that he LOVED to swim to music. Since his tank is next to my stereo in my spring place, everytime I turned on some music, he would swim rhythmically to the song. (I am serious, watch the clip below if you don't believe me). The first thing I did every morning when I woke up was to check on him and watch him swim a bit.
Now, I still find it strange whenever I catch a glimpse of the empty fish tank. I miss my fish.
My first pet has taught me a very important lesson. Just when I thought my fish was extra strong to be able to live so long, he passed away. Just when I thought he was getting used to his tank-life and even enjoying the peaceful solitude, he was gone. Things happen when we least expect them to, and we usually don't miss them until we realize we can't get them back.
To my fish almost named Weebo: Wherever you are, I hope you are enjoying life there. Thanks for being a special friend. I'll miss you.
See my fish dance
Remember to turn on your speakers.
Sweet - 05302003
Do you believe that doodles can reveal what you are feeling? Well, for Veron's birthday (my roommate for the last 2 years), I got her a kit to analyse people's doodles. I always have this urge to doodle happy faces, and the analysis is:
"You have an incredible need for sweetness in your life."
-_-'''
So people, BE SWEET TO ME!!!!
There is so much &*^$ on TV these days, so much so that it makes me wonder what we've come to. Here in the US, there are like 20 so-called "Reality TV" shows. Some are actually quite amusing (The Osbornes, Real World, Battle of the Sexes) others.........Joe Millionaire, The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, Married By America, For Love or Money, ....the list goes on.....
Why do men and women turn to TV shows to find love?
Are our lives more dramatic than the twisted plots of the supposedly creative tv writers?
Why do we still watch this crap when we know its crap? What about our own lives?
I don't know either. But I do have a theory:
We are so afraid to face the problems of our own life that we prefer to watch the lives of more dramatic individuals to take comfort in the fact that our bland lives aren't that pathetic.
Sometimes, I start to wonder if bland is necessarily a bad thing. Bland is settling, you know, routines provide security and comfort. But there is always this voice nagging me to shift away from routine and try something else for a change. Sometimes it seems appealing, then it seems too intimidating or too much work. (Yes, the lazy gene can prohibit many great things)
Sigh.....I keep on thinking that life will get more exciting when I get back to Hong Kong, but then when I think about it, life in Hong Kong is pretty bland too. I really hope I can find an internship in advertising. Its the one thing these days that gets me excited. I've been reading up on the industry, and I really want to be a copywriter. I don't care about the money. Really. As long as I have enough to live comfortably, I would rather settle for less and do something that truly stimulates me intellectually and that I enjoy doing, rather than make loads of $$ in a job that I'm good at, but don't particularly enjoy.
Wish me luck everyone!!!!
My 19th Birthday!!!
My first birthday at UM was on Saturday (yeah!) on a long weekend (yeah yeah!!) and was filled with fun fun fun!!!(yeah yeah yeah!!!)
I had a total of two birthday cakes and four free meals.....actually feel kinda guilty about it, but the food was SO good!!
A recollection of what happened:
January 18th ~ @11:00pm
Dinner at Great Lake
A very very hungry Yannie was busy eating all night and did not sing a single song (unbelievable?) but got to hear many of the UM K kings sing, as well as some Taiwan ppl who were also really good (but not as good as Sam Siu ma, right?). I sneaked in a spoonful of rice to Michelle, heehee. Edward constantly looking in the mirror and fixing his hair (coz he has "nothing to do") all night....-_-'''
***
12:00 midnight
Karaoke TV starts playing a very corny mtv of the Happy birthday song. Yannie is very honored to have the UM K King Sam Siu sing Happy Birthday. Ros comes in with my first birthday cake (chocolate cheesecake of some sort, which was really GOOD...and fattening)
***
January 19th ~@ around 1:30 am
Yannie receives long distance call from Zoe!! talk talk talk........then I realize that it is 2:30 and I have to go to cell at 10:30 am. Yannie and Zoe finally hang up
***
January 19th ~@around 9:00 am
Yannie receives morning birthday call from Vicky. Very sleepy but very happy!!!
***
January 19th ~10:00am
Hang up, I get a phone call from a sleepy sounding Lydia saying noone can wake Brian up and therefore noone can drive us up to WIllow Tree for cell.
10:15 am
First birthday card from Veron. Thank you!!!
10:20am Mom and Dad call!! heehee : )
10:30am - 11:00am
Eva, Lydie and Yannie harass Brian with phone calls trying to wake him up but to no avail. Eva saves the day by banging on his door. Brian finally wakes up.
11:15am
Finally arrive at Candace's place for cell. Denise is also there for the first time! cellcellcell, all are appalled by Sam Siu's disgusting "treatments" to the candy and attempts to destroy Carly's lamp.
1:00 pm
Yannie opens her eyes from prayer and finds a present and card in front of her! Snuff now has friend/enemy Muttsy (from Auntie Denise)
1:15pm
Arrive at Applebee's for lunch. Whole table of ppl already sitting there waiting for us! They've been waiting for an hour or so, aiya, sorry ah, thank you guys!!
Eat eat eat (again) Chan yea and Ah Au cannot stop taking pictures. Sam Siu cannot stop complaining about how noone celebrates his birthday (Remember guys, April 16th ah)
2:30pm
Second cake!!! It does not occur to the waitress that she's supposed to actually LIGHT the candles before she brings out the cake, and that, YES, EVERYONE (not just 8 ppl) needs plates and forks to eat the cake
All gulf down cake. Brian drives "fast but safe"ly to East Hall. Ah Au can still not stop taking pix from Sam siu's car!!
3:00pm
East Hall. HKSA re-elections.
Congratulations to our new exco!
Promo Sec: Jessica Ho
Sports Sec: Michelle Lin
IT Sec: Dorothy Leung
Pub Sec: JY
Pictures, and MORE pictures. President Herman gets thrown around in the air....
7:00pm
End 0f elections dinner at Middle Kingdom.
Very yummy ah.
Pictures, pictures again
Sucessfully negotiate with boss to hold SA lunar dinner there. Yeah!
8:30pm
Too early for movie
Yannie and Michelle head back to Stockwell to kill time. Denise joins us. The others all seem to have some sort of meeting to go to....MFC??
10:00pm
Edward FINALLY calls and says he needs to SHOWER?!?! Michelle and Yannie tell him to forget about it and just CHANGE and come over....hai
after a very long "ten minutes", Edward finally arrives. Turns out there was no meeting, they went to get a present for Yannie ah. Thank you!!! Really like it!!
10:15pm
Start running towards State Theatre. Meet Weisen and Ah Yan on the way. NO Lord of the Rings at 1030?!?!?! AARRRGGHHH!!!! swear to try again on the 20th at 930pm
Weisen (that evil girl) says she is hungry and makes us go to Cottage inn. Yannie cannot resist and orders (and finishes) a tiramisu......hai,hai, hai........
11:30pm
Everyone comes up with the very stupid (though THEY all think its brilliant) idea of all throwing snow at Yannie. Yannie's just-washed hair gets all wet with snow and is given "cold mandarin" several times. HMMPPPHH!!! Yannie cannot retaliate because she is holding all her presents and has no gloves on. Watch out you guys. Revenge...revenge.....
12:00pm
Back to Bursley....liu around on icq and have the liu est icq session EVER with Charles.........I surrender la, he is the king of sweat inducers
January 20th 2:00 am
ZZZZZZ
End of report
Inspired to write something...by what? I don't know
First of all, what the HECK just happened to cityslide????? Its getting the html all wrong! Arrgghhh!! Just live with it for a while, okay?
Tomorrow I'm going with a bunch of ppl to see Monsters!!! YAY!!! and Joey is going to cook me and eva dinner before we go to fellowship. Ah, feel so blessed and fortunate. Can't you see me beaming.
Thanksgiving is JUST around the corner, and because my parents basically made it very clear (no, they weren't subtle at all...) that in no way was I going to ride in someone's car they don't know (but then who DO they know here at UM?) on some highway with other cars and larger vechicles such as trucks for six hours on which my dad also managed to drive...........No I'm not going to complain....I'm not going to complain about how almost all the people with cars are driving somewhere and I'm stuck here in my dorm with my freezer filled with frozen dinners and a 16 inch tv which is fuzzy with no cable (*XY@&*^!!!!) and nothing to play with but cards and dead, inanimate stuffed toys with fake nylon/ polyester fur........NO of course I'm not going to complain!!!
You know what ELSE I'm not going to complain about. Oh, you know, I won't complain about the fact that ann arbor is 30 minutes away from a decent theatre and that without a car I am going to have to wait half an hour to get a bus to central and my days will be filled with exciting activites like sleep, homework, sleep, picking classes to register, sleep and sleep. Can't you just TASTE the excitement?
Hmm...what else is there? Okay, in Abnormal Psych discussion, we had a presentation on sexually deviant behaviors and got flavored condoms when we answered questions correctly......whoopee.....
UM, CMU, USC and Imperial are PROBABLY going to hold a xmas dance in hk at ING, so save up and remember to get the tickets from me! (BEAMING SMILE THAT IS BLINDING......)
Dorm life series
After living here for about three weeks (Gosh time flies), I've learnt to adapt to dorm life.
I'm going to begin a series of campus life thought entries:
On Campus food
Every day at 12:30 - 1 pm and at 6:30 - 7 pm, lines will start to appear at Bursley dining hall. At Bursley, there are two-three choices for main dishes, a salad bar, yogurt bar , soup counter, bread counter, cereal shelf, waffle makers, sauces and veges and pasta counter, dessert table, drinks table, soft drinks plus water counter......and the most evil and deadly of all: a soft-ice cream dispenser.
You know how people say that everyone gets Freshmen 15? Well, I believe it now. Here's an excerpt of what goes through my mind at the Bursley dining hall
'Hmm....should I have cheese pizza or pepperoni.....okay, I'll have a piece of both'
wait a second...they have chicken caesar too....I need vegetables right? "Can I have some salad too please?"
'lets see...soup........mushroom barley....chicken noodle...OOOHHH!!! Chicken noodle!' Yannie gets busy with scooping soup
what else is there? Oh my....mash potatoes! (scoops some onto another plate) and Chicken gravy! (drenched potatoes with chicken gravy)
'Those waffles look really good.....but I've already got four plates of food on my plate! No more room....tomorrow breakfast....yes yes'
Okay..what are we going to drink tonight? Orange juice again? Nah...lets go for the milk.......but 2% tastes so much better! okay 2%...wait a minute, lets add some chocolate milk to that.............
(heads to table full of HK people........yap yap yap yap yap....laugh laugh.....slam hand on table....laugh LOUDLY.......WAHHAHAHA........korean guy sits down at table....HK ppl continue to yapyapyap.....WAHAHAHHA.........big hand gesture.......more HK ppl come to our table......korean guy scared off and pissed......goes off to another table...Hk ppl stop talking.......SILENCE in cafetaria...HK ppl laugh at how loud they are.....Hk ppl continue to talk and laugh WAAHAHAHAHA....)
Yannie by now has finished her four plates of food and drink........time to get some fruit.....
Yannie gets her banana...and passes by the desert table...
'Hey, those brownies look really good.......oh what the heck....just one small square. (lady give her big chunk. Person walks past Yannie with Humungous self-made ice cream tower. Yannie cannot resist.
"You can't have brownies without a la mode, right? (Squishes twist ice cream all over brownie.)
Yannie heads back to table with HK ppl, now filling whole long rectangular table. The HK ppl start to laugh at the math Professors who can't teach and engineering students complain about the torturous amounts of bizarre essays they have to write for Engin 101. Yannie starts feeling really glad that she's not in engineering as she devours her ice cream brownie plate-of-sin......
HK people and Yannie finally finish dinner.
Yannie promises herself: "Okay, I've got to cut down on the food starting from tomorrow...."
Tomorrow...same thing happens
to table of contents
Politics...Politics....
Its that kind of time again. The elections for UM's HKSA are coming up.
I'm suddenly reminded of those times in Form 6.....its during these times that people's ambitions start to surface and show. Its actually a good time to take a peek at what people are REALLY thinking and what they are REALLY like.
Am I going to run for anything? I still don't know. Somehow, I want to do something to make HKSA better, but I also don't want to go through this whole fighting for posts phase.............I wish we could run in cabinets, as in a team of people, because right now, even if I run, I'm not sure that the other people who are elected will be the ones I feel comfortable working with. Already, I can sense that some of the people running aren't really serious about contributing to HKSA. The fact that noone in last year's exco is running for president also has me worried. Anyway, I have until Nov 6th to decide. If any of you read this, send me an e-mail and tell me what you think.
I'm Back!
After a week of endless flying around and driving and campus visits, I'm finally back in HK! I missed HK so much, and it was only for 7 days! What am I going to do for the next four years?
Anyway, I've reached a decision...........(drumroll)..............
I'll be heading off to UMich! Although the campus is huge amd a little old, and the nearest Gap is 20 minutes away ( you have no idea, I already did all my research on where to shop/eat. Take bus route number 6 to go to Briarwood Mall. We asked the waitress who served us at the Japanese restaurant we ate. And Yes, there is a japanese restaurant! Yay!), the community atmosphere was strongest at Michigan and more united. Everyone I met seemed pretty friendly.
The McGill campus was gorgeous, but somehow I felt a little alienated in Montreal, and the people were 'cooler' (negative connoctation). Its a great city to visit, but I'm not sure I would want to live there.
Toronto is....big....and it has a great Chinatown and downtownshopping scene and everything, but UTM, while peaceful and nice, seemed too much like high school. The dorms were wonderful though....four room suites, with TWO bathrooms, kitchen and living room area. Sigh....nothing's perfect...so sacrifices are inevitable....
I had really nice tour guides at all three schools and the groups were all really small so it was very personal. I met up with Maple in Toronto and we spent a half day together! She took me and my family downtown to shop and eat! Thanks so much!
So in the end, I've decided to go for Michigan. I hope its the right choice!
Meanwhile, back in HK, I have so many things to do: Miss Saigon, social dance, brush up on Stat and calculus, learn to drive (I'm still persuading my mom), go to TW, tutor my cousins, pick up piano again, maybe go to Shanghai, sing K, meet people who are back for the summer, ocean park, read my books (Hey, I FINALLY read the first Harry Potter on the plane! congratulate me!) and see lots of movies like Lara Croft, Pearl Harbor, The Mummy Returns and the two Sammi Cheng ones. I can't wait to see the dieting one! Haha! They look so cute!
20th HK Film Awards
Hai...what can I say? HK Audience.......they really need to learn how to show some respect to the ceremony and to themselves.......
So many people chewing something in their mouth and not caring, weak and scattered applause, it took about 30 seconds before people were willing to stand up for Anson Chan, no reaction whatsoever to the people speaking on stage. (Hey, some people did NOT know how to tell a joke, but at least the audience could have laughed out of courtesy....)
Moments of disappointment:
1. Ah B, singing Leo Ku's 'Foon lok Gum sui' out of tune AND singing the wrong lyrics several times...in what....one minute? Can't he at least get the lyrics right?
2. Michelle Yeoh caught on camera playing with her fingers and picking at her nails(!)
3. What was wrong with Eason Chan's voice? He sounded sick....like his voice was about to break any moment........ugh......(I like that song! Geez! He ruined it!)
4. EWW.....I just realized that Richie Yum Yeen Tsai looks like a woman when he sings on stage
5. Was Tony Leung drunk? He seriously looked like it. I read from his interview with Mingpao that he brings a bottle of alcohol into these film award ceremonies to drink because it doesn't say that alcohol is not allowed. From his tie in disarray, his tipsy walk, his strange 'thank you speeches' and his yelling at the reporters, I seriously suspect that he was drunk.
6. What the heck was Wong Tseem trying to do? Maybe Tao Dun was really preoccupied with something.....what right has he to diss people and say they shouldn't be given the award if they don't come....
7. How come for the past three times Maggie Cheung has won best actress, she didn't come? She only came last year when she wasn't nominated....Bad timing...
8. Ugh...how could Coco Lee's song win? If it wasn't for the Oscars, noone would have even known about her song. And she sings mandarin like English......amd that song is such a typical and commercial love ballad. I definitely agree that the score for Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon was excellent, but the song doesn't even remind people of the movie. Any other song winning would have been better.......even KXlly ChXn's song....(the Lavender song is actually decent...for her). I thought Sammi's song would win. 'On the love line' is just so cute and totally suits the movie.
9. Stupid Johnnie To! Arrgghh!!! Hey, if you don't support the HK Film Awards, you can't make everyone else work on your movie on that night! Just give Sammi Cheng a break and let her come! I wanted to hear her sing 'On the Love Line'!!! But I was really happy that at least she made it for half an hour or so in the end.
10. I think Sandra Ng Kwun Yu's Thai translation thingy was bad taste and quite disrespectful....Take a hint! You were already criticized last year! and you just HAVE to do it again! oh...and did I mention that her dress was horrible?
11. I won't even mention Wong Ka Wai's shades and that attitude....
The only three moments I liked were:
1. Nicholas Tse and Anita Yuen presenting the best Newcomer award. Hehheh...of all people..
2. Shu Qi and that Japanese girl doing the cantonese thing. She was so cute!
3. Chow Yun Fatt presenting and faking that Sammi Cheng won best actress. Hey, she could still laugh and smile afterwards, she deserves a best actress award just for that!
Wierd Dream (REALLY wierd)
I have no idea what sparked off this dream.....
Me and my family were at this really big hotel and we were carrying our luggage with us. Our room was on the 19th floor. But this hotel was so big that it had lots of different kinds of lifts. Some to certain floors, some to some kinds of rooms. Anyway, our room was supposed to be facing the habour so we could only ride a certain type of lift to get to the room.
There were so many different types of lifts that we couldn't find the habour room ones, so we tried to ask the staff at the hotel where those lifts were, but they were all really rude. So we randomly waited at each type of lift to see if it was the right one, and while we were waiting, we would complain to the other people waiting for the lift about how rude the staff at the hotel were.
After tons of complaining and waiting, we finally found the right ones and lulled our luggage into it. There was another family of three in the lift with us. Before we got to the 19th floor, the lift door opened and in walked these three nurses and four men in turquoise green er scrubs. They surrounded us in the lift, so the hotel guests were pushed back to a corner and the three nurses stood facing us, while the doctors, stood behind the nurses, two on each side of the remaining walls of the lift. (the doctors all looked really macho, like security guards.)
One of the doctors said "You always hear about how people say strange people barge into lifts, well, there are four of us now" and then laughed this bad-witch laugh.
Then, one docter pointed a scapel to each of the men and said to each one while doing it,'Your throat has just been slit" The nurses then ordered the others to close their eyes.
So I closed my eyes and was really freaked out. Finally, I heard the lift "ding". Then we were all pushed out of the lift along with our baggage, leaving the doctors and nurses in the lift. Then one doctor said "You think you've reached the 19th floor? well, you're on the third floor! You'll never get to your room! Just leave this hotel!" And then they all laughed their cackly laugh as the lift doors closed. Then I woke up.
Note: I did NOT watch any ER prior to having this dream, and its just so wierd. My dreams are usually related to something I've seen or done previously, but i can't think of anything that sparked off this one! Anyone want to psychoanalyse it for me?
Celebrity Sighting
For my dad's birthday, I gave him a Burberry pen (thanks everyone who helped me with the choosing!) and I THINK he liked it. If he didn't, he did a really good job pretending to like it.
My parents are like children. Yeah....my mom pretended to be jealous........and this is the person who always treats me like I'm still three......
Anyway, the HIGHLIGHT was dinner. We had Japanese food at Happy Valley. You know how I always complain that I never bump into celebrities or never seem to see them even though they walk right PAST me? Well guess who sat at the table behind us? §d°ê·q Eddie Ng!
For those who don't know, he composed songs like ¶V§k¶V¶Ë¤ß , §Ú̪º¥DÃD¦± etc. Most importantly, he hangs out all the time with Andy Hui and is friends with Sammi Cheng, right?
I didn't know it was him cause I was sitting back to back with him, but then he walked to the washroom, and I saw that it was him, and my first thought was: Oh my god. Is Andy Hui sitting behind me?
Then I realized that it was Famine 30, and since Andy Hui is the Famine star this year, he would NOT be sitting in a restaurant!!! Sigh
At one point, Eddie Ng answered his mobile and rather loudly said ' §A«Yø«Y¦P¦w¥J¤@»ô§r ?' and I was kinda straining my ears to hear what he was saying, but then my DAD started TALKING to me, so no such luck....
Anyway, Eddie Ng was with this other girl who looked like an actress because she had on really heavy make-up and walked in with these big shades (at 8:00 pm) When I walked out from the washroom back to my table, she looked up at me like she really wanted someone to recognize her, but I had no idea who she was and totally ignored her. Then she lowered her head. If she was an actress, she probably was pretty pissed.
Another interesting thing that happened last night. My mom was buying this magazine from a shop, and a couple walked in behind us. The guy said 'Lets buy books'. I thought he was really going to buy a book, but then he pointed to a Mingpao Weekly Magazine. Yeah, at least it wasn't Sudden Weekly or something like that.
University
I am definitely leaving Hong Kong, can't stand the regurgitation of memorized facts which they call an education here. I still haven't chosen which Uni to go to yet, right now its more of a choice between U Mich and McGill. UToronto simply has too many Asians, it'll be just another Hong Kong, and I think Columbia probably puts around a billion people on their waitlist, so as if I would get in ( Hey Eleanor? Could you just request that they give your place to me? Yeah...wouldn't that be just 'perfect'.....)
If I go to McGill, It'll be about 4 or 5 times cheaper since I'm Canadian. Also I love Montreal, (though I hate their so-called French). Another downside is that I'll be stuck in their Arts Faculty because they separate EVERYTHING (arts, science, management...etc) and I took ARTS subjects for A-levels. Also, there is no guaranteed housing. I still have to wait for the results of the draw.
If I go to UMich, Denise will be going with me. There will also be tons of other DGS people there. The majors I'm interested in (Psych and Business/econ) are both very strong at Michigan. However, Ann Arbor is quite.....dead....and without a car...hai..don't want to think about it. Also, the fees are pretty steep....
That's why I'm leaving for a one week trip to visit the campuses right after the A-Levels. (You guys wait for me to come back before you start your fun ah!!!Sigh.....so 'mo yun') Hopefully afterwards, I can reach a decision.
Hehheh, if I decide to turn down Michigan in the end, I've thought of a cool (and lame)explanation/excuse. (just for fun)
'After seeing President Bush's attitude in regards to the treatment of the Sino-US conflict, I am sad to say that I have lost confidence in the ability and competence of the United-States Government. As an Asian, I feel insecure studying four years in a country which does not show visible signs of logic or humility, and gives me the impression that I will be treated with scorn and condescendence. Therefore, I have decided to study at a University in Canada, and have to reject your very enticing offer.
I am certain that your institution will be successful in future with other applicants which you decide to accept.' (This line is for all the fun they had composing all those beautifully-worded rejection letters.....)
The Best and Worst Oscar Dresses 2001
Here are my picks for the best and worst-dressed at the 73rd annual Academy Awards
The Winners are:
Michelle Yeoh. elegant and dazzling!
Angelina Jolie. Simple and tasteful.
Julia Roberts. She looks classic in that dress!
Ashley Judd. So beautiful. She looks like a fairy!
And the Losers ......
Kate Hudson. The shawl and the curls make her look like she's thirty
Juliette Binoche. I just HATE the pearls!
Bjork and her swan (I can't even find a picture!)........She gave a wonderful performance, but what was with the swan?!
A LEVELS!!!!!!
Hai...Although we all hate them, we still have to take them......sigh....Here's what happened at the exams I took so far:
English Literature. May 4th, 2001
"This is the last one, then I'm free!"That's what I kept thinking to myself before the exams. My mind was more on Sharon's SE Asian feast than on how Shakespeare wrote about women. Anyway, I think it was okay. The questions were more interesting, and as a result, more difficult than our mocks, and I thought the appreciation was harder because there wasn't much to say! (I chose the labour one)
In between the AS and AL, Me, Rita, Myra, Phyllis, Jack and Grace went to Mac. Yvette went home for lunch (lucky her, so close). The six of us started to worry that someone from mac wold kick us out so we went across the street to eat at the public soccer field.
Here's what we discovered:
1. Other schools actually have PE lessons at a real field
2. Other schools actually have PE lessons that are CONSTRUCTIVE
3. Guys LIKE to kick the ball over the fence and then go into a street full of traffic to pick it up. (maybe it was because they had an audience)
We concluded that if our school tried to have PE lessons else where, we would need 10 minutes to change, 15 minutes to walk to the place, 15 minutes to walk back and 10 minutes to change back to our uniforms, and our PE lesson would last approximately 20 minutes or so. Plus, we would probably just stand around and do nothing......so in conclusion, its not such a workable idea for DGS.
Needless to say, the feast that night was FANTASTIC and we were all so full and SATISFIED! =)
There we have it, an end to the A- Levels. CLOSURE at last!
LS Human Relationships. April 19th 2001
Um...to sum it up....composition for two and a half hours. Some of the wierd things about this exam:
1. When I got to the school, I saw one girl avidly reading from a thick, hardcover book titled 'Developmental Psychology'........Scary.......
2. The narrow, dark and twisting passageways with wet floors to the washrooms reminded me of a decaying Haunted House
3. The girl in front of me wore a light purple twinset with dark purple pants and had a baby pink (clashing) jacket and bag.........ugh....eww.....top to bottom pastelly colours, in see nai cutting.........its even too much for this purple freak! (looks like there is someone more crazy about purple than me!)
4. After I finished the fourth question, I turned back to read my answer for the first question...and had no recollection whatsoever of what I had written down...
Anyway....just ONE more and I am DONE with A-Levels! I kinda half-released myself anyway......yesterday was fun! (The part after 11:00 am)...Dan Ryan's, Movie, shopping, cheesecake, chocolate truffle cake, Latte....Yum yum!!!!!!
Psych! April 18th 2001
SHOOT! I realized I got Broca's Area wrong right after I took the exam, before talking to anyone! Why does that always happen to me? Oh well......AS IF I CARE.........IT's OVER!!!! YAY!!! BTW, I HATE eleanor!!!! She is DONE ALL her A-Levels! ARGGHHHHH!!!! (Although I tend to think that I'm done too...technically I'm not.....so I'm not done yet......I guess...)
Let's see, whats there to mention?
1. This morning, my mom handed me this Anne Geddes picture of these babies dressed up as bunnies, which was really cute, but unfortunately, the first thing I thought of when I saw it was....IDENTITY CONSTANCY......I am so pathetic.....
2. The answer books were PURPLE!!!
3. Yvette siu jeh's GUNG YUN brought her lunch.........ai........and as always, she's ever so stressed out and talking about what she wrote and how she wrote ONLY two pages for part a...yeah,yeah,yeah........I bet she's studying lit right now!
4. My lunch just would NOT come and I stole most of Janet's spaghetti (hehheh...thanks!)
5. Diane sat right next to me during the exam!
6. The chief examiner was just SO long gas......geez, just LET US LEAVE, would you? There was this constant background noise during the last 15 minutes or so, I KNEW he was speaking, but what he was saying wasn't exactly registering in my brain, if you know what I mean.....
7. The chairs at the school's cafeteria were a nice shade of blue
Umm... yeah....that's about it After tomorrow, I am treating myself to some FUN!! (I so deserve it) Movie! Play! No work! no study! No!!! No!! No!! Me want fun!!! And I have to 'entertain' Ava siu jeh. See Ava? I am just so nice!
LS HK Studies. April 11th 2001
Hmm...I studied a total of one and a half hours for this subject. Yesterday, I was busy talking on the phone and icqing with my friend in Canada, asking her about Uni stuff. I don't know how to study for LS!!!!
Sigh...and worst of all, the paper was actually hard, I didn't even know what water to blow for some questions! I was the very first one who arrived at the center (I got there at 7:45...so..yeah...) and was greeted by two teachers and two students standing at the door. (I didn't know schools still did that)
This school has their own morning radio program, which was pretty cool, and they also played Leo Koo's cantonese version of Sun Yanzi's 'sky black black'! Yay! Music!
Best of all, the exam was like a mini DGS reunion! It didn't even seem like A-Levels, more like Mocks. I feel sorry for the girl who wasn't from our school though. poor her! She was probably wondering what was wrong with the other candidates....so hyper for their exam.....
Economics!!!! April 9th 2001
First of all, what 'perfect' weather to complement this 'perfect' subject. I woke up to see everything covered in a mist of fog.....just great, REALLY cheers me up for my Econ....
At the school, the floors were disgustingly wet and filthy. I wore Hush Puppies (not very wise) and so had to focus 100% just to avoid falling flat on my face. I hate waiting before I go in!
Now: Micro: eerrrr....die ga la....expected ga la......but a little better than I thought it would be. I kept erasing and writing again and again for the Jimmy Lai ad@mart one, I just couldn't decide which curves to keep. I just wanted to put down something so the page wouldn't be empty.
For lunch, I went to the nearby Maxim's (yum yum...) and as I was desperate I attempted to do some last minute studying on Foreign exchange. It was okay at first..then at around 12:30, some kindergarten nearby must have ended school because there were these hoards of little kids with their rather loud parents who came into Maxim's. After 5 minutes with these two little kids screaming and circling my table in some kind of chase or game (it just HAD to be my table..) I decided to just give up and leave.
Macro: when I started the paper, it was sunny. By the time I finished, the sky was black and it was pouring......It looked like it was 9:00 pm in that hall. I was also feeling a little tipsy after the 6 hours of exams. BTW, I met Fiona Hui at this centre, and after the ordeal, she still had the energy to ask me what I put down for the last question. (I was already half comatose). I said I don't remember......
UE Paper E April 3rd 2001
I am so stupid. I used a PEN to write down my name and subject on the MC answer sheet. I discovered this after I had filled in all the other little boxes. But then I didn't want to fill out another one (The exam had already begun) and I began debating in my head whether leaving it in pen would be okay. (When they say pencil, do they mean only for the boxes?)
So I was all stressed out while reading the comprehension passage and I knew I couldn't concentrate until I was sure it was okay, so I asked the guy, and I waited for him to ask the chief examiner, and he walked all the way back to my seat to give me another MC sheet (I was the very last one in my row, so it was a LONG walk) and so by the time I finished my comprehension, half an hour had already passed!
Fortunately, I managed to catch up on time, and at least now I'm not worrying over whether my MC sheet will get messed up. (Sigh of relief....) Geez, I was just SO STUPID!!!!!
UE Paper B (Compo) April 3rd 2001
What topic did you guys choose? I did the Christmas one. My type of thing. Once I saw the words 'foreign custom', I was like "Excuse me?" Yeah right....foreign custom.....Do these people know what they are talking about? Do they know what Christmas is at all? Pretty pathetic....They could have at least given a more acceptable reason....but oh well.....
UE Paper E April 2nd 2001
Okay, did anyone else find the paper very very long?!?! It was so frustrating! Fitting stuff from 10 pages into 2 and a half. I didn't like it. The people on my left and right both did tasks 2 and 3 first, and they couldn't finish task 1. What is the HKEA trying to do? Fail everyone?
UE Listening April 2nd 2001
Nothing special, but guess who I bumped into at my centre.......Szeto.......!..... Yeah........and one girl from my oral group......and I still don't know her name
UE Oral March 21st 2001
I was at the 6:15 time slot......and I was in the very LAST group. So I got to my exam centre at 5:30 and my exam was not til 8:00! There I was, waiting and waiting for the guy to call out my name to get the sticker, and everytime, I wasn't called out.
Hey, may I just ask one question? How come the invidulators (? can't spell) speak to us in CHINESE for an ENGLISH oral exam? Even when they told us to write on the note cards....Chinese again.
My topic was so stupid, we had to plan a farewell party for our English teacher and decide what food to include, and you would think that for A Levels, they would give you something more challenging...I guess not....But at least all the people in my group were nice
On a lighter note, I spent my waiting time trying to study Econ (unsuccessfully), so I decided to watch people. There were actually people who STUDIED for oral........I don't know how they do that.