American Gift Club’s Neighborhood

Just checking the concert listings, got to the Tin Angel site---

Joseph Arthur is going to be playing there!

On 2/20!

and

On 2/27!

and

On 3/6!

and

On 3/13!

and

On 3/20!

(all Saturday nights, and the early shows, mind you)

*faints*

seriously, I almost want to vomit I am so excited.

December 31st of last year was a blue moon, as well as the last day of the decade, and so I assumed things would be relatively normal in my world. I mean, I'm the sort of person who gets GOOD luck on Friday the 13th, and I don't really hold that full moons do much too people's moods (any more than any other placebo).

It wasn't relatively normal.

First, I had my car battery discharge light go on, followed by extremely difficult steering, and then followed by my engine overheating. Thoughts of thousand-dollar repairs in my head, I called AAA and then called GH. GH deduced (correctly, it turns out) that it was my serpentine belt. Attend me: I called AAA at 12:30. The tow truck arrived at 12:50. We were at the repair shop by 1pm. We were done at the shop by 2:30; the C and I spent the intervening time at the local McDonalds where he was supplied with an Avatar-based red bird thing and nuggets; yours truly was supplied with Diet Coke.

Never underestimate the healing powers of diet coke.

Car fixed, we continued about our day; whence we returned I found that Thumper let me know just what she thought about crate training, by having pooped in it. (Dogs are NOT supposed to do this -- but I really do think she's just that dumb). We've left the crate for overnight, now, but the rest of the time she's free to roam. However, the thought of random poop in my house was more than I could stand and so we stuck with a simple NYE get-together at my dad's. I therefore missed Ali's party which included an Ice Luge and fascinating furry hats. I vow to go next year, even if I have to board the dogs.

Thus far this year I have continued my organizing frenzy, had a dinner party featuring Xbox avatar creation, conceived of at least 3 knitting projects I want to do (mind you, still haven't finished my 2x2 scarf), and done absolutely no damage to the 3 pounds I have gained over the holidays.

Tomorrow work starts, and with it the typical coffee-and-stress diet. That should fix that.

Oh-Ten? Two-thousand and ten? Ten? What will you say when you have to say 2010 aloud?

I shall say twenty ten

亲爱的公公和婆婆，

我好想念您们！ 您们在这么远的国家，所以接触自然会比较少。我仍然没忘记您们，但是不懂得怎样开始联络，所以写了这封信给你们，让您们知道还有一个我！

之前，和很多年轻人一样，我都不懂得和长辈沟通。主要是因为少接触而感到害怕。不知道你们会怎样看我，不懂你们是否在乎我，所以我都没有主动跟您们沟通。但我也很希望能够感受到您们的爱。我现在生活得不是很开心，我的家根本不像是一个家，没有家庭的温暖。你们不知道妈妈是怎样对我。天天大喊大叫，忍了十多年，我现在已经受不了。没有一天是安宁的。有几次我真的很想从11楼在妈妈面前跳下去算了，活着真没意义。幸好身边有朋友的劝导，才感到生命没有那么悲哀。妈妈这样心灵上的虐待，要说明也很难，这么多年来的伤我都藏起来。但是现在我终于看清楚了，也受不了了。。我不知道这样对你们说，你们会有什么反应，也许会站在妈妈那边，但是你们不了解，也没跟我们住在一起，不知道家里每一天发生的事。。我又不是一个坏女孩，我自己对得起良心。每天在家面对的压力，真么又心情好好读书。没关系，算了。。一说到这个我就很心烦。

你们在那边生活得还好吗？应该很幸福吧，有Hayley陪在身边，她真是一个开心果。她也是让您们得到做婆婆和公公的乐趣吧。这么说，我应该要向Hayley说声谢谢，因为她帮我带给您们快乐。Good job, 舅舅！哈哈。

好了，我要开始温习功课了，正在考试当中，Stress死了！！！ 不知道还能撑多久。。

再见了！

Zoe上。

4^th December 2009.

The year always goes too fast, doesn't it?

Did I achieve what I set out to achieve this year?  Yes and no.  Somewhere along the way my aims changed.  But that's the nature of life .... things change.  More changes this year, more changes next year.

Luckily photography looks to be a constant within those changes.

Hmmm I just realised that I've come full circle and I'm back to where I started with photography and my view on life...

... the glass is half full and I love taking pictures of the beautiful things in life!

本年もよろしくお願いします。

• 22:53 Does anybody really still care about the whole Tiger Woods thing? Why is it STILL a news story? #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter

There is no doubt that I'm blessed to be borned and live in Singapore. The government is nearly uncorruptable, and there're policies set in place to take care of the people in their later years. Crime rate is low, we're able to walk our streets at ease. There is almost zero incidence of natural disasters thanks to our geographical location, save for minor tremors due to devastating earthquakes and haze blown over from forest fires in neighbouring countries. Everything is easier when you're just a tiny red dot on the map.

However, there are downsides to living in a thriving city state. The pace of life is so fast that you would be left behind if you couldn't catch up. Standard of living is so high, inflation so rapid, that one plate of chicken rice has quickly risen from $2.00 to $3.50 within, say 5 years (and this is just one example in our everyday lives). All these are inevitable.

So there are times when I wished I lived on a farm instead. Slower pace of life, less worries and stress, more happiness and joys in living. I use to want to migrate to somewhere which is more serene, perhaps when I'm older and retired.

~

After watching Avatar the movie, I realised that our Earth is as beautiful as the fictional Pandora, just that we don't have the evolutionary advantage to roam the forests. We humans have made Earth to suit our needs, and this somehow goes against the natural order which organisms evolve to better suit their environment. We thought we could make life better for ourselves, but our doings have destroyed the natural balance of life and sadly, we are already facing the consequences. If 2012 is true, I'd say we deserved it. And hopefully some traces of our existence remain so that the next cycle of inhabitants could learn and not follow in our footsteps. 

This day we went for an early morning walk to Kata beach which was about an hours walk. Maybe 45 minutes. A lot of longboats there that will take you out snorkelling.

 

 

Like Karon beach it is lined with hundreds of deck chairs. You hire them for about $3 a day.

 

 

They start filling up at about 10am.

 

 

A lot of europeans go to Thailand, and I can tell you that the sun safety message is not getting to them. I can't believe the amount of purple people I saw. Terrible sunburn, being sunburnt again. They line up out in the sun, with their faces pointing upwards like little rows of sunflowers.

 

 

I'm pretty sure I'm one of the few people who have been to Thailand and come home the same pale colour as they went. We saw one woman who looked ridiculous because she had this red raw burnt face but with big white sunglasses marks.

This is one way to protect yourself from the sun I guess. Bet he had trouble getting it off though. The sand there is very fine and really sticks.

 

 

You could hire a jet ski from this guy and he had a long boat as well. You don't see any thai people sitting out in the sun. The hawkers walking the beach wear full length pants and shirts, hats and scarves around their necks. They must think tourists are crazy the way they bake.

 

After lunch we went back for a swim in the resort pool to wash off the sand. You can sit on the beach and have pad thai or grilled corn on the cob or whatever you want.

The place where we stayed had three huge pools, all with bars, but this was where we hung.

 

We liked to try and nab the sun bed. We could fit about four on it and it was more comfy than a deck chair.

 

 

After lunch we went for a walk about the streets.

 

 

I saw another police car that was a Getz. Lots of Tsunami evacuation signs around but they all say things like - evacuation point 1.2kms or 1.7 kms. You have to run a way to get to them. This guy looks like he might not make it. The wave is pretty close.

 

 

 

And early on, it somehow became the agreement that we'd meet in the lobby bar at 5pm for happy hour to see what everyone was doing for dinner.

 

 

 

This was the day we had our first ride in a tuk tuk. Definitely the best way to get around the place. Even though you never feel really safe in them. This one is very new looking. Most of them are red. You can't walk outside anywhere without someone saying - tuk tuk??? But if you say no they don't hassle you. But you never have to worry about how to get somewhere. Just don't expect to wear a seatbelt the whole time you're there.