Have resorted to the curious and potentially destructive habit of snipping off a bit of my fringe whenever I'm extremely frustrated with studying. Somehow, I feel just a little better without all that hair in my face. Entertained whimsical thoughts of collecting hair from individual snips, putting them in a little glass bottle and labeling them with love - "2oth Nov 2007, 3.14 pm, Qn4(b)", tie it up with a fancy lace and then toss them out the window.

Well, for now, the aesthetic consequences are putting a very quick stop to this new inclination.

In other more exciting non-follicular news, I've been checking out on the fantastic phenomenon of the "aurora borealis", commonly known as the "northern lights", which are visible from the tundra terrains of Manitoba. Plus I also found out that there are polar bears to be seen around this time of the year! Whee, the adventures that come with the Arctic. :)

The bad news: actually traveling to the outskirts from Winnipeg and finding accommodation is hellishly expensive and might snuff out any chance of me getting to witness these beautiful sights. Will have to contend with Google Images to satisfy my wanderlust for now.


A picture I pilfered off the net - the aurora borealis in Manitoba.

我很想家，但是我要离开这个国家， 到一个很远的冬天， 去哪儿看北斗星。

Yet another awesome Sunday, Amen.

Was pretty discouraged in the morning, cos I witnessed a caustic little argument between my parents and realized that my father can be a difficult man to be married to. And when I got to church, things were a little frenetic and people were generally irritable. (Mostly due to feeling sick I suppose) But then I heard an absolutely cutting lesson from ZQ, and I'm thankful that there are always people who really give it to be and tell me what I need to hear, although I don't necessarily want to hear it.

ZQ started off by asking if we think God meant to deny certain things from us, by giving us so much, but yet forbid us from eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Then he said that as much as God loves us, there are certain things he reserves for Him and only Him to define for us - mainly the prerogative to define our moral framework, to give a truly universal definition of Good and Evil, because we obviously don't know how - as evident from all the wars people are fighting over controversial issues, where each side thinks they are doing the "right" and "good" thing. Then he just said that we are so stubborn in living our lives in our own terms that we don't want to follow God's will for us.

Man. Just what I did NOT want to hear. Since I've been pretty much self-absorbed and neglecting other people. Timely reminder indeed.

Cookies were generally well received, save from a brief moment when I caught someone trying very hard to bite into one. Ahem, since I baked them in different batches, some were unfortunately not up to standard. Hee. Ohwell, there were some good ones from the other batches though! ;p

Then I headed to Ahyi's house for Simin jie's 21st Birthday Celebrations. Woot! Had sooo much fun just catching up with my cousins, cooing and fussing around my newborn nephew, getting advice about stuff, listening to my uncles talk shop and of course, stuffing my face silly. :p On the menu: Ee-fu noodles (good!), Cereal prawns (juicy!), Breaded fish (good!), mango pudding (sweet!) and other stuff. Generally had a good time just letting my hair down, talking about girly stuff (boyfriends, or the lack thereof (but we agreed that we are generally nonplussed about that:)), hair, shopping, traveling, studies, work). I like my extended family (well, most of them anyway...). And Daddy managed to coax Mummy with some very shiny birthday presents. ;p

Ok, back to prepping for tomorrow's presentation :)

I spent a lovely afternoon mixing, kneading, and baking in my little kitchen. Here are the fruits (cookies?) of my labour of love :)

The batter

The happy baker. (The shine on my face is testament to my hard work slaving over the oven ;p)

Made the mistake of baking the cookies till they were slightly brown. While they tasted absolutely delectable when they first popped out of the oven, the moisture has since evaporated and the cookies are now a tad hard to bite into. Well, a lesson learned for the next round of culinary adventures in Blk 232 Westwood Ave ;p

It's been a relatively good week, save from the initial grief at David's passing, but I've now come to accept it. Helped that we were all mentally prepared for the worst for a couple of weeks now. Nonetheless, I'm sure our brother is now enjoying far more exquisite delicacies in heaven. The rest of us will have to be contented with TW's chocolate cinnamon cookies. :)

Went to watch "Stardust" with the Bizaders last night, and I have to say that it's a Fantastic movie! Reminds me of why I love Gaiman so much. Am now lusting after the novel because I'm dead certain it will be eons better - all of Gaiman's subtle humour that cannot be translated onto the cinema screen will be made apparent on the humble pages. But for now, it will just have to be on my reading list, after I complete my current fixation "Cloud Atlas" (which is quietly hilarious and a really good period adventure/murder mystery/tragicomedy all rolled into one.) Anyway. Back to Stardust. Yavine was absolutely gorgeous, but what I relished most was Robert De Niro's turn as a gay pirate. Woot! Arrr! (I guess you'd have to watch it to get the joke ;p) Michelle Pfeiffer was suitably evil as the witch consumed by her vanity and the rest of the supporting cast were all pretty up to par.

Friday was movie marathon for me. After watching Stardust at Vivocity GV, I came back to my room in hall, snuggled up with a tub of BnJ's (strawberry cheescake!) and watched "Elizabeth". Also set in the Tudor times, but this movie had a totally different tone. Cate Blanchett was mindblowing as the titular Queen, and Geoffrey Rush chilled me as her scheming but loyal advisor. Bloody murders galore, double espionage, accusations of heresy, assassinations and high treason - very action packed Elizabethan drama, led by a very manly Queen. (Oooh, a memorable line: "I may be only a woman, but I am my father's daughter and if I so choose I can have the heart of a man." - imagine Blanchett's steely grace and baritone...*shiver*) Now I'm all psyched up to watch the sequel "Elizabeth: The Golden Age", which chronicles her reign, since the first one was about her ascension to the throne.

So, 2 very good movies back to back, managed to get my Finance done, now working on my UWC paper. Am doing a paper on "The Rise of the Prosperity Gospel: Faith and the Promise of Conspicuous Consumption", focusing on New Cr***ion Church in Singpapore. Must constantly remind self to remain objective and neutral. Definitely learning alot from the research, and just listening to some of the sermons scares me a bit. Something's a bit warped about their doctrine, and it's a bit suspicious that I can't seem to dig up any information on their founder Jose*h Prince (is that even his real name?). But ohwell, helps to strengthen my conviction on certain things. If you can't learn from their example, then at least learn from their mistakes.

Whoa, look at the time, better get back to my essay. :p