I hope to live like this song sings

Switchfoot - Burn out bright

Does it have to start with a broken heart
Broken dreams and bleeding parts
We were young and world was clear
Young ambition disappears
I swore it would never come to this
The average, the obvious

I'm still discontented down here
I'm so discontented

If we only got one try
If we only got one life
If time was never on our side
Before I die I want to burn out bright

So a spark ignites
In time and space
To make it through this human race
You fight and crawl your way back home
But you're running the wrong way

The future is a question mark
With kerosene electric sparks
There's still fire in you yet
Yeah there's still fire in you

If we only got one try
If we've only got one life
If time was never on our side
Before I die I want to burn out bright

I can't clean up the mess I've made
I can't clean up the mess I've made

I can't sleep in the bed I've made
I can't sleep in the bed I've made

If we only got one try
If we only got one life
If time was never on our side
But before I die I wanna burn out
Before I die I wanna burn out
Before I die I wanna burn out
Before I die I wanna burn out bright

If time was never on our side
But before i die i wanna burn out bright

10,000 hours away

I came across this article today : Malcolm Gladwell says that if you want to shine, put in 10,000 hours

In it, a line says, "The best way to achieve international stardom is to spend 10,000 hours honing your skills".

His study cites cases from tennis players (Williams sisters), Tiger Woods, the Beatles and Bill Gates.
I think to myself - I have an average of 16 waking hours daily. If I take away 8 hours at work, 3 hours for meals/travelling/waiting, I would have 5 hours left. Opps, I forgot, I'm a girl so I have to factor one hour for facial stuff/makeup/hair. That leaves me with 4 hours. 1 hour is for praying and 1 hour is factored in for miscellaneous stuff like surfing the net, lazing around, being on the phone.

And if I have 2 hours everyday to practice my drum strokes.. IF I have. It will take 13.sth years for me to be a master in drums. I'm 21 years old. By then I would be 34 and taking way more responsibilities than I am now.

Damn, I shouda started earlier.

love the beach

Life has been all about the same things for some time, the usual things, work, school...bla. And then I realised a part of me was missing something when I saw a few people cycling past me one day.
THE BEACH!

I know people that absolutely hate the beach, but I also know people that adore the beach. One of my old classmates told me he hated the beach because he thinks it was full of hidden dangers. I don't quite like the idea of lounging on dirty, littered sand and soaking in murky grease-covered waters, but being able to be out in the sun roller-blading/cycling and then idling the day hearing and watching the waves definitely perks me up!

I'm not sure how my love for the beach happened, but it started even when I was a kid - I put together a gathering at the beach for my birthday when I was only twelve! When I went to secondary school, I remember having beach outings many many times.

Over the years, I had lesser time to go to the beach. Before I started working, I had a few opportunities to jog to East Coast Park from my home and then sunbathe for awhile. That got a little lonely and I had lesser motivation to do that again.

Thank God for last Saturday's gig at Sentosa, I had a chance to visit the beach again! The gig was in the evening, I was so excited I woke up real early for a run before heading over to Sentosa. And the visit to the beach, was GOOD! I am definitely looking forward to more beach outings.

real excited on the tram to Sentosa. checkout the cool effect in the background (No DI involved!)


We start by cycling. Mr Sunflower has improved in his cycling!

and then the beach!

Basking in the sun...

And it rained for a while.

and then we're off to Summer Party for the gig. In the pic is EIC playing.

Now I'm dreaming of a holiday on Waikiki beach....hmmm

the last time I heard

If you once had a best friend but lost contact over the years, wouldn't you be elated when you hear from him/her again? Wouldn't you want to get hold of each other for a catch up session?

I had a best friend once, we hung out together often. Something changed, and we drifted apart.

The last time I hung out with him - probably somewhere in Orchard in early 2004
and we never hung out ever again.

The last time I walked with him - between 12 - 1am Christmas 2004, we happened to meet at the train station and he walked me to my block.

The last time we talked face to face - met by chance at Somerset station Feb 2005/6, while I was topping up my card and got all jittery with my words.

The last time I heard from him - Weekend of the F1 race on 28 Sep '08, around 5pm. While waiting to enter the F1 gate at Millenia Walk, I received a call from an unknown number with +66 prefix. I picked up the call to hear his voice. It was strange, yet familiar. He introduced himself and asked if I remembered him. Taken by surprise, I was rather monotonous in my reply. He told me he got into a bike accident and was in trouble in Thailand and needed some help, though he couldn't talk for long. He lost his passport and needed me to wire some cash over.

I know. This sounds like a hoax right?

But I decided to say yes first, though I mentioned I couldn't lend him much. I copied down him mobile number as well as POSB savings number. He also said that he was AWOL from the army due to this trouble, as he couldn't come home in time. So I asked if he needed help in informing the army. He said he had settled that. I asked him to take care and I put down the phone, bewildered.

One one hand, that was my friend that I missed so much and I couldn't believe that I just heard from him. One the other hand, I couldn't decide if that strange, yet familiar voice was that believable. I was also worried that he might be injured, kidnapped or was in other trouble. This matter continued to bother for the entire evening in-between performance breaks and dinner break. I don't know if it was because I was falling sick, but I actually lost appetite that night.

I thought and thought, and considered and considered, made a few calls. I decided that the person who called was really him and I would transfer the money over. Even if he didn't return it, I would have helped a friend. So I did, thanks to the clever management which decided to have makeshift ATMs at the F1 sites, I managed to transfer a sum to him.

Tried calling him back at the Thailand number and mobile, but to no avail. After I went home that night, my worries about him kept me awake. I msged him at 2am and he finally replied to say he lost his ATM card. I decided not to bother him anymore with smses as I figured he must be in much dilemma then.

The next few days I tried calling, just to check if he managed to come home.

He came home on Wednesday and I was elated to see him online that night. He explained that he managed to recover his passport after paying off the bike damages with his ipod and mobile phone. And then he called his mom reluctantly to arrange for a ticket home. He told me he was trying to catch me on MSN the entire day so that we could meet, but I didn't go online. I asked if we could meet the next day. He agreed and said he would call late in the afternoon to confirm. I was so darn excited, I couldn't stop thinking about it though I was supposed to studying for my exams.

So instead of studying seriously, I waited, and waited. and waited. He didn't call.

I went online, he wasn't there

I haven't heard from him since

I wonder why

What color do you feel like today?

After Hari Raya & exam break plus two days of MC.. I kinda don't feel like going back to work.. However,
Mr Sunflower is always there to make my day. I knew I was going to meet him for dinner tonight.
At noon he sent me this sms:

I just randomly replied "Pink", the first color I thought of.

Time passed relatively slowly after lunch... and finally it was 6:30pm and I was ready to leave to meet him! He sent me another sms:


That got me a little puzzled, but I played along...and these were his replies.

To my surprise... he rushed down all the way from camp with this!!! Here I go again..*blush*

That was sweetest thing ever! I asked, so why all these man.. He said, "I just wanted to court you all over again.." Aww...
Hmm wondered what he would have gotten me if I had responded during noon with a color like black, green or cyan...

Dangerous heels this season

I have never been a heels person. I swear by Vans and Onitsuka Tigers, if I can help it.
I could never understand the excitement of friends that shriek at the thought of Charles & Keith sale, or why they would spend on sky-high Nine West heels. I also wondered why women could get pairs and pairs of shoes week after week.

Then something happened. I became a woman. (sort of.)

My wardrobe became less androgynous, less kid-punk, and more feminine. I needed pumps, heels and sandals fit for the ladies to go with different looks: corporate, boho, lolita, rock-glam, sweet and more. I would never know what unexpected surprises could spring forth, thus that gave me an excuse - to buy more shoes.

Since the start of this year, I've had at least 7 new pairs of footwear, including running shoes. It is a personal record for me, since I've never been a shoes person at all. However, as I recall, only two of these are real heels, only barely two inches each. I could never walk properly, or rather I don't have enough balls(not that I have any) to wear anything more than 2 inches.

And despite its calf-lengthening qualities, I doubt any of these killers will come under my feet anytime soon. Even models trip on them! Watch models fall - here and here.

I've been seeing quite a few impossible-to-walk-in heels on magazines/sites lately. Here are some of them:

This pair from Dior looks ok with a rather full base, but is it really that stable? (from Geometricsleep.com)


Love the color palette and wavey lines from Miu Miu this fall, but it seems models have problems with balancing on the front of their feet. (from Geometricsleep.com)






Again, this piece from Louis Vuitton might trigger imbalancing due to unstable front base. Check out the behind! Killa! (from blog.theshoegoddess.com)







Ehm, Mr Marc Jacobs, the heel is reversed. (thebudgetbabe.com)


Erhm,...Can meh? Marc Jacobs (shoewawa.com)





This is an even more unbelievable pair from Antonio Berardi! No this is not a camera trick. (getglamorous.blogspot.com)



Victoria Beckham is walking on those Anotonio Berardi! (hrfashion.com)

(hrfashion.com)

How do these amazing women strut around in their heels! I suffered a severe ankle sprain once when I scrambled down half a flight of stairs. That was a nightmare. And these heels above, these are absolute nightmare!

i feel darn emo and down.
and i don't know why.

i want to breathe easy

filled with anxiety
finding it hard to breathe easy
losing appetite though i wished to enjoy food before me
restlessness struck me on my head since Sunday
I wonder why.

A dreaded exam paper? Can't escape this.
An anticipated meeting with an old friend? He stood me up.

I pray for peace within.