Happy 2007's Eve!

I'm now waiting for my brother to come out of the shower before we start our should-be long conversation over the webcam with our family members who are in KL. The topic should revolve around my sister who is 99.999% coming over to Toronto in March/April, seeing how she has already started doing some winter clothing shopping and enrolled for a high school in T.O. Sweet.

The itinerary for the rest of the day.. Brunch, aka dimsum, with the house-gang, before coming home. And then my brother and I are off to pick Kaleng up, who should be arriving around 4- or 5-ish. I love the setting at Pearson Airport. Planes and airports. Finally, when we arrive home, we're going back out to celebrate the New Year. I wonder if we will do any countdown with a swarm of people, since I remember being in the living room of our apartment squinting at the fireworks at full grandeur downtown on the eve of 2006.

PS Can someone tell me if Sam is in the UK? Mel?

There really hasn't been anything interesting to do, except maybe watch another movie. That's what we did last evening with the Pursuit of Happyness. It was inspiring, one that motivates you to work harder to reach our goals. There were moments when my eyes watered up, and the part where success triumphs, tears were flowing freely down. So I've watched 3 movies over the past week, but none of them the one I really want to watch, which is Dreamgirls. Soon, perhaps.

The new year is coming. Me and my brother will be heading to Toronto's Pearson Airport to pick Kaleng up, who's returning from HK. About time! And she's gonna be our new homie (housemate + roomie). Yay!

Today's Boxing Day sale was indeed pure madness. The crowd, god. Where did they all go on Christmas and then pop up from nowhere. Unlike the Great Singapore Sale that is held over months, this is different in how everyone turns up at the mall to get goodies from many stores in one single day. Fairview Mall and Eaton's Centre were our destination. And there was an actual long queue to enter the Hollister store at Eaton's. I didn't even bother checking this and Abercrombie & Fitch out. Imagine lining up for even half an hour and then entering to find nothing that suits.

I managed to get a zip hoodie and a sweat pants (for my planned yoga/pilates session in school with Jess) from Roots (50% storewide, how could I possibly resist that?), a nice army cap from H&M, and a black skinny pants from Urban Outfitters. These amounted to about CA$150, which after countless mental calculations after the shopping rush, I'm remorseful about. Here's why: 1) I promised my family that I wouldn't shop till Christmas '08 after our shopping spree in KL, and 2) With the very high likelihood, almost settled, event of my sister joining us in Toronto, we have to cut down on all these 'unnecessary' expenses.

The Roots zip hoodie will most probably be returned (I really want the other items), as I plead for forgiveness for going back on my word. The sweet/bitter temptation of the festive season sale craze. Since I'm beginning my job-hunt right after New Year's, I'll be contributing as much as I can to the monthly rent and allowances.

So much for the festive season. To think there's 2 weeks of holidays to go..

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

It's a green Christmas this year, with possible chance of some light flurries tonight. We had house dinners last night and just now. Just a simple one in light of the festive season. Kind of a boring day, since I spent it in bed. We're going for a movie later; most likely The Holiday. Really wanted to go catch Dreamgirls (to see how J Hudson overpowers B Knowles) but it isn't showing in the theatre at Fairview Mall.

Tomorrow, I'm going to join in the Boxing Day shopping madness!

I just completed watching this Japanese drama entitled "One Litre Of Tears" or "Ichi Rittoru no Namida". The amount of tears I shed in the process of doing so.. good god. I've only cried like this watching the Tae Guk Gi movie, and Grey's Anatomy. It may be an overstatement, but my lachrymal tear ducts sure were in overdrive. Those pesky water beads just automatically rolled out from the side of my eyes, blurring my vision of the scene. Coming off fresh from episode 11 (last one), it's giving me bulging red eyes and a drumming headache. Here's a quick synopsis..

This beautifully moving drama is based on the real-life struggles of a 15-year-old girl named Aya who suffered from an incurable disease, but lived life to the fullest until her death at 25. The script is based on the diary Aya kept writing until she could no longer hold a pen. The book that later followed entitled "One Litre of Tears" has sold over 1.1 million copies in Japan alone. Aya Kito proved her courage and positive attitude towards an uncertain future when suffering such an illness, spinocerebellar ataxia. --- Fuji TV

Please say you guys will watch this J-drama (you can watch the full series via YouTube, kindly uploaded by MoCaJJaR). It's worth every moment. Very meaningful, and a real tear-jerker (use me as a case example, and FREAKING CRY YOUR HEARTS OUT). At points, I couldn't help but put myself into that situation and feel for Aya. Then the crying starts, though it never really stops, awaiting for a small touching scene to trigger it again. But don't worry, there are some really cute moments to take a break from the throbbing pain of your head after sobbing, especially with Rika-chan, the youngest member of the Ikeuchi family (not so much after she grows up).

The show talks alot about the struggles Aya, her family and friends, experienced through it all, and on society's acceptance of people with disabilities. Life's full of surprises, and things can change in an instant. So cherish every single moment, person, thing, with all your might. There's a movie version (and the mother-daughter of the movie makes a cameo in the drama), and now I want to watch it too.

As part of the 'Keep in contact with Sandy' masterplan, we met up at Scarborough Town Centre today. Taiwanese Sandy studied in Singapore. She, together with a few others from BGYA01 lab, is the group of people who I really got to know in UTSC. 'Keep in contact' as she transferred to the downtown campus of UofT. Boo! Anyway, Sandy had to get a Christmas gift (but ended up buying something for herself at GAP), while I.. I needed to get out of the house and not be a video nerd.

We had lunch at the foodcourt and talked quite a bit. Before that, we got our tickets to see those oh-so lovable penguins sing and tap their way on the big screen in Happy Feet. We were one of the few people who actually were in the theatre, since the movie has been out for a few weeks and most people were busy doing some last-minute Christmas shopping (the mall was bustling with shoppers, people who actually carried bags of purchased items, not window-shoppers).

The movie was great. It had Aaw-shucks moments (oozing amounts of cuteness), it had Pow-wow moments (action-driven penguin escapes), it had La-la-tap-tap moments (singing and dancing mating rituals). Grooving cute penguins with a pinch of adventurism, can you imagine? Message to take home: Reduce overharvesting, conserve the environment and its inhabitants, protect good ole' Earth, and most importantly, human beings suck.

After the movie, Sandy met up with two friend who came from Kingston to spend the holidays in Toronto. Meryl and Yingying. We had a good chat, especially seeing how Yingying grew up in Singapore and studied in KL. They soon left, and I got home to continue my conquest of One Litre Of Tears.

PS Pamy sent me three Singapore Tourism Board postcards, like she constantly has over the past two years. Love them. They remind me of everything in Singapore. The funny thing was the two postcards I was supposed to read second and last came yesterday, while the postcard #1 came today. LOL! But thanks Pamster!

It's officially winter now, and I do feel a tinge of frost in the air. But where's the white fluffy snow that should by now have blanketed Toronto? Ok, that's the exaggerated wonder of snow, since they turn out to be slushy, dirty and annoying after a while. Yet, I really do wish for a white Christmas. Darn you, global leaders who squeak over wars but not over Earth! This a good enough proof of global warming!

3 days have passed since I completed the dreaded Finals. Am still waiting for marks to hopefully appease my constant worrying, for I've good reasons to. Otherwise, I've been watching shows and movies with my trusted laptop. The Devil Wears Prada, The Queen, the continuation of My So-Called Life which I watched the first-half in May 2006 (archived), J-dramas Orange Days and One Litre Of Tears (apparently a tear-jerker). And over the Christmas break, I plan to catch these movies at actual movie theatres: Charlotte's Web, Dreamgirls, Miss Potter, Happily N'Ever After, and Pan's Labyrinth (which apparently my brother's friend ripped off the net already and we have it in our hands, so I'm cancelling this one out).

I am sure I wouldn't be able to watch all of them, but one can hope..

Done with my Finals! I think overall it was okay? But forget the depressing subject of exams, 'cause I'm in a jolly good mood. Christmas and free time! But there need to be more snow for the festive season.. I got a list to do, but I will take it one at a time.

BTW, yesterday was the finale for Survivor: Cook Island. Yes, I watched 3 straight hours of television despite having an exam today. I'm so happy that the Aitu-Four of Ozzy, Yul, Sundra and Becky (picture, from left), made it to the top 4. Love the Aitu-Four because they stuck it out for such a long time after the infamous mutiny, leaving them vulnerable. But they managed to kick eight butts in a row.


And the winner is... YUL KWON!

Just by a margin of a vote, the Korean won over Ozzy. Ozzy was a strong competitor, but Yul made the right moves in terms of strategy and enabled the Aitu-Four to make it to the end. Finally, an Asian person winning. Asian pride! This season was great because of its diversity, smoking hot contestants, and that there were likeable underdogs to rally for, who actually made it all the way. Oh well, next season is in Fiji. Looks like a diverse cast too..

A missing ruler, a tired body and mind, a disinterested mood, and a relieved soul are some of the aftermath of that third out-of-four exam. I only napped at 5.30am for half an hour, so I'm feeling disorientated. I need to go sleep the day away on a proper bed.

Two cups of 3-in-1 coffee mix from this afternoon is keeping me awake right now. Though, I do feel weird all over (goggy eyes, stoning, sudden hyperactivity, disinterest with main task of studying). This is the effect of caffiene yea?

I have about another 7 hours to go before my third and second-to-last exam begins: EESA01 (Introduction to Environmental Science), from 9am-12pm. I just had one a few hours ago: BGYB30 (Human Physiology), from 7-10pm. It was one of the crappiest exam ever. 70 MCQs, very little relevance to the 7 chapters with a hell lot of concepts it covered. Professor Nash is definitely going to be bombarded with numerous "This question wasn't fair" or even "You suck" e-mails. I decided to spend a night in UTSC since the two exams are close together, and I wouldn't want to waste an hour plus on journeying back and forth from home. Right now, I'm in no mood to study being in front of the computer. Besides, the night is still young! I saw Aisha just now in the Physio. She watched Wicked yesterday! And she agrees that it was smashing.

My current location is in the 24-hour school lab. I tried taking a nap when I was in the Science Wing. But I couldn't, so I decided to come here. I love how quiet the campus is now, not eerie quiet but peaceful silence. The dim lights, empty corridors, mugging individuals scattered across buildings.. The solitude.

I should really start studying again. I'm glad this all ends on Monday.

PS YAY for Golden Globe nommies Grey's Anatomy, Ellen Pompeo, Katherine Heigl, Desperate Housewives, Marcia Cross, Felicity Huffman, Heroes, Lost, Ugly Betty and America Ferrera! But BOO to snubbing Sandra Oh and Kristen Bell..

I don't know what to talk about, except procrastinate about my struggles with the last assignment and my unpreparedness for the pending Fall semester finale - Finals. I just wanted to update a new Wicked song, the second last one in the Musical..

Hooray! Today was the last day of school, class I mean. School wil surely stick around till late December before Christmas with Finals. I still have to go to school tomorrow and Wednesday to finish up and hand in a GGRA30 project, and on Monday to submit the final minor lab report for BGYB52. I thought the prof would cancel the last lab report, but sadly no. Darn it, I need all the time I can get to mug.

And what a nice way to bring in Finals and Christmas. This week is like snow-week. White cold fluffy stuff will be falling from the sky for days starting from today. Plus it's cold! I'm quite glad for snow.. for now.

Another Wicked song. I love the ending where they go "We deserve each other.."

The long-awaited Thursday for attending the Wicked: The Untold Story of the Witches of Oz Musical finally arrived for me. Wicked is a Broadway musical based on the novel Wicked: The Lifes and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West.. The novel is like the prequel of The Wonderful World of Oz. And hello, who doesn't know Dorothy and Toto, those red ruby slippers, the Lion, the Scarecrow, the Tinman, and the Emerald City. Of course the stars for the Musical are none other than the Wicked Witch of the West (or is she?) and Glinda the Good Witch.

It's now on tour, and back in at Toronto for a 3-month stop at the Canon Theatre. So ISC got 20 tickets and I was one of those who paid CA$45 for a Mezzanine W133 seat. I think the usual price is CA$60, and even though the seat is one of the last few rows on the second floor, it was all worth it. We just couldn't clearly see the faces of the performers, but otherwise it was just perfect. Took some pictures (Yes, I'm trying out this FilmLoop) in and out of the theatre. We were stopped from taking pictures due to copyright issues in the theatre after one person's flash got the attention of the usherer. So we put our cameras away and enjoyed..

Golly, the show is awesome. The singing, the dancing, the storyline. Captivating. It made me think of Miss Saigon and AMKSS' very own production, but no. Wicked is in a league of its own. It's... WICKED! At the end of the play, after 2 hours and 45 minutes including intermission, when all the performers came out for their last bow, everyone was on their feet and cheering. A freaking standing ovation! I was howling and clapping and cheering. Especially when Elphaba (the Wicked Witch of the West) and Galinda (Glinda the Good) emerged. I had shivers all over.

Watching the Musical has really got me all reminiscent of my years in Drama and how I stupidly missed a chance to be part of the Musical production in AMKSS. I feel so jealous of my sister who's planning to pursue an education and career in Theatrical Arts. If so, Toronto is so much more of a place to do that. I'm now so in love with the songs in the Musical. I wanted to get this book called the Grimmerie, which includes all the making of, scripts, pictures, costume and set designs, character and cast bios, etc. But it costs CA$60. So I decide to wait a while and see if this infatuation dies away.. If not, I'm going to scrimp and get it! (:

PS Thanks guys for your concern. I'm fine with my Grandma's passing away. At some point we all have to get on with our lives and then head to the unknown. For now, I have to complete assignments and mug for my Finals. And after an unexpectedly warm week, we're heading for a freeze. Though, about time it snowed for Christmas!