Fireflies

You would not believe your eyes
If ten million fireflies
Lit up the world as I fell asleep
'Cause they'd fill the open air
And leave teardrops everywhere
You'd think me rude
But I would just stand and stare



I'd like to make myself believe
That planet Earth turns slowly
It's hard to say that I'd rather stay
Awake when I'm asleep
'Cause everything is never as it seems

'Cause I'd get a thousand hugs
From ten thousand lightning bugs
As they tried to teach me how to dance
A foxtrot above my head
A sock hop beneath my bed
A disco ball is just hanging by a thread



I'd like to make myself believe
That planet Earth turns slowly
It's hard to say that I'd rather stay
Awake when I'm asleep
'Cause everything is never as it seems
When I fall asleep

Leave my door open just a crack
(Please take me away from here)
'Cause I feel like such an insomniac
(Please take me away from here)
Why do I tire of counting sheep
(Please take me away from here)
When I'm far too tired to fall asleep



To ten million fireflies
I'm weird 'cause I hate goodbyes
I got misty eyes as they said farewell
But I'll know where several are
If my dreams get real bizarre
'Cause I saved a few and I keep them in a jar



I'd like to make myself believe
That planet earth turns slowly
It's hard to say that I'd rather stay
Awake when I'm asleep
Because my dreams are bursting at the seams

- OWL CITY

ONE MORE SLEEP omg.

I woke up at 3am this morning with my tummy churning and gurgling like a Calcutta sewer. I wondered if it was caused by last night's dimsum supper @ the Manor.



Impossible; Eddie had eaten exactly what I ate, and yet he was sleeping like a baby.

And then I remembered the pan-fried scallops I had for a snack earlier on yesterday. There could be no other culprit; I recall that the center of the juicy scallops were still a little cold when I bit into them, and nothing else could've induced diarrhea as effectively as half-cooked seafood FML.



Half a dozen trips to the loo later, I finally felt better and dozed off for a couple of hours before having to wake up to send Mariah to the cat motel.

Eddie drove while I sat with her at the back seat.



Poor darling had no idea where we were sending her, and even though it was only for three weeks, it broke my heart knowing that this was the first time in her life she'd be spending the night confused and alone in a totally alien place.



You couldn't see in this picture, but behind the chalkboard there's a hole leading out to a private balcony where the kitties can sit and watch the birds and the bees outside. This was one of the features I loved about this cattery. The kitties also get to play in a communal play area for an hour or so every day.

I hope Mariah would be too distracted to miss us too much.


Mariah's beautiful neighbours!

Nevertheless, I still burst into tears upon leaving our babygirl behind, thinking of how she had refused to come out of her carrier and thinking of how terrified she must be of the foreign smells and noises and having to be left all alone for almost a month without her daily hugs and cuddles and treats :'(

Yalah I crybaby. I hate goodbyes. Even when parting with a cat also wanna emo.

. . . . .

After my sniffling and snuffling, we made a pit-stop @ Sunnybank. Even though it was already 11am, most of the restaurants werent open yet, so we opted to grab a bite at Malaya Corner.



Went shopping @ Indooroopilly for last minute pressies, then went home and attempted to start packing.

Eddie is officially on holidays already. He cut/punked up his hair this afternoon and dyed it in streaks; he looks like an ah beng now! Totally hot. x)

(not that I think ah bengs are hot OK, I meant Eddie looks hot with his ah beng hair. Must clarify!)

As for me, it's my last day of work tomorrow. Staff Christmas lunch, and having to return my teacher laptop. I felt a bit sad on Wednesday as I started packing my stuff up. Took a few pictures of my cosy little ESL room for memories as I won't be back next year.



I think I'll leave these students' scribbles on my whiteboard so that the new teacher can learn how to say "Hello/How are you" in Tamil and Arabic too :)



Poster of stars I made of our ESL students who achieved academic awards for 2009. It's been an awesome year indeed.



Sigh.

Okay I'd better resume packing, the bedroom looks like a disaster zone right now.

My Christmas wish-list

1. iPod Shuffle



My iPod is my running companion. So far I've coped with either holding the thing while I run, or stuffing it down the side of my shorts/undies or in my sports bra. 越极麻烦!! ... and yes it ends up wet and gross. I haven't bought an armband because I assume it wouldn't hold up on my skinny arm very well. I need something tiny that clips on and weighs close to nothing. Also, I seem to have misplaced my iPod this week... I can't find it anywhere. It's a sign muahahah

Eddie has said he'd get one for me when we're in Singapore. Thanks darling! ♥ :D

2. Bike



Been wanting one forever, but somehow have never succeeded in saving up for one :( Resolution 2010!! There's so much more of Brisbane waiting to be explored, and running can only cover so much distance.

Not that I've been having too much motivation to run these days either...

3. Wok



Like a nice, high-grade, non-stick, flat-based one, big enough so that half my fried-rice won't end up on the stove top! I think I shall ask my parents to get this for my Christmas pressie... Good quality cookware is so freakin expensive here in Australia. Besides, mom loves helping me shop for these things x)

I also need a nice little mortar, a new grater, and a silicone batter spatula. Hah! The aunty in me speaks.

4. Watch



The one I'm using now was given by the ex before my ex half a decade ago. 'Nuff said.

5. Sunglasses



I really should invest in a good, proper pair of branded sunnies. The one I'm using now (and have been using for ages) is a $5 pair I bought in a closing-down sale in China. It doesn't look too bad, but it's flimsy, doesn't sit well on my face cos it's too big, and I can't bring it anywhere cos it didn't come with a case and it doesn't fit in any of my other cases!

6. Mixer :D



Already sittin' on mah kitchen bench, baby!

. . . . .

Maannn I've officially screwed up my bioclock.
And I'm not even on holidays yet :(

Three more sleeps till we fly!
Sleep goddamnit.

And I judged a book by its cover again

*edited*

On Friday night, we went fishing at Shorncliffe again. Eddie caught another stingray, and as usual, people crowded around to check out the catch.



Two swaggering drunks joined in the commotion. One of them hung around Eddie and kept talking to him.

A group of friendly Serbian youths packed up and gave us a nearly-full bottle of Ricadonna they couldn't finish. I took the big bottle, gulped a mouthful, swayed around and said to Eddie, "Look, I'm an alcoholic!" (intending to be comical, not to offend the real drunk in any way)

The drunk snorted and muttered something along the lines of "Pfft right. If you're looking for a REAL alcoholic, here's one for you."

God, he reeked of alcohol.

"I've got a bigger bottle than you," I smiled back, while at the back of my head thinking- At least I'm not you, you sad fella. How can people like you be so stupid and choose to piss their lives away like this?

I put the heavy bottle of sparkling down and continued to busy myself trying to get a nibble from something other than a puffie or an eel-tailed cattie.

Anne and Afiq and their friends arrived shortly.

Now I have always admired Eddie for keeping an open mind, unlike me being skeptical of everything and everybody. However, I was starting to get a little annoyed at the hovering drunk because we had come all this way to fish, the tide was high, and my boyfriend had stopped fishing because he was sitting on the bench at the end of the jetty yakking away to the smelly drunkard like old friends.

The drunk guy hung around, plastic cup of wine in hand, all the way until we packed up. As we left, he waved us goodbye. "See ya Eddie!" he beamed, and to me, "see ya babe!"

I looked at Eddie and screwed up my nose, repulsed. "Did he just call me BABE??"

On the road home, I asked Eddie why he had kept chatting to the drunk guy.

So he told me his story.

The man had just come out of jail only two days ago. He had been in jail for six years for accidental manslaughter. He got into a fight at a pub, and because he knew muay thai (Thai kickboxing), his moves came out and he elbowed a guy. That guy slammed into a pole nearby and died. The drunk was sentenced to ten years, but he got out early. He had never meant to kill anyone, and Eddie said, "You could tell he was definitely not the sort of person to kill someone". He was out on the jetty drinking by himself to celebrate his early release, soeaking up the fact that he was free again, and was excited about going to visit his son the next day.

I burned with shame.

Here was an innocent man holed up for more than half a decade, who was celebrating his newly regained freedom alone, and I had looked down on this poor man and labelled him a smelly useless drunk without knowing anything about him.

Here was a man eager to share his story and celebrate with anybody who would share in his happiness, but people don't want to have anything to do with him because they see him like I see him- a smelly useless drunk.

And if Eddie hadn't been there, maybe he would've been convinced that the world had turned its back on him.

Sigh.

I have so much to learn. And more than anything else, I need to remember that people are not always who they may seem to be.

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;

the courage to change the things I can;

and the wisdom to know the difference.

- Reinhold Niebuhr

Feeling restless UGH

Haven't gone for karate training for more than a week already. It just takes sooo much effort to muster up enough motivation to drive all the way to the dojo, especially after a long day...

Anyhoos, I went to the city today for my Thursday lunch date with Eddie :)


Christmas tree in the city

After our yummy kebabs, we went to Mont Blanc to get Eddie's Christmas pressie for his dad.

We loved SA Lyoko, who was bright and chirpy and extremely helpful! And nice too... she even chucked in a refill for free :)


Lyoko polishing the precious pen to its blingest, before putting it in its box and giftwrapping it beautifully


This one pen can probably buy a thousand million kilometricos...

After Eddie went back to his office, I stayed in the city and walked around a bit to scout for Christmas pressies.

As usual, got distracted and ended up buying stuff for myself :(

Top purchases of the day!



Crocs Santa Cruz in white/berry :D
I bought the size 8 rather than my normal size 7 cos it fits much better. (Are my feet getting bigger?? O.O ) It looks kinda big on my feet, but it fits nicely and is super comfy... I hope it stays that way and won't stretch too much.

Also...



A bag of JellyBellies in Strawberry Cheesecake and Buttered Popcorn from Darrel Lea. (Buttered Popcorn rocks!)

. . . . .

RIP to Daph's chihuahua [ Pumba ], who died suddenly of unknown reasons (but suspected heart problems).

And it seemed like only not too long ago, that poor [ Twistie ] had to deal with the loss of New York.

I hate it when these things happen. Why do pets have to die? Some might think, Mehh big deal, it's just a dog/cat/rabbit/bird/mouse but somehow these small creatures quickly find a way into your heart and become such a big part of it. When Rocky died, I cried for a week, and (embarrassingly) burst into tears at Cakiepoo's potluck party when someone brought up the topic of dogs (much to everyone's alarm). I was just as depressed when I lost Elvis (my guinea pig). Just thinking about having to go through this pain every time a pet dies is almost enough to put me off getting another one.

:(

Almost.

Stay strong girls. You know you've fed them and spoilt them silly and loved them with all your hearts; your four-legged darlings would not have wanted to live their lives any other way.

Acceptance

You don't question, and you don't hate
'Cos that's not gonna change the way things are.