King of Pop, Rest in Peace

Im still exceedingly sad. I still can't believe it. I do feel lost. I've never felt like this, so deeply, before. But he IS the King of Pop. No doubt about that.

http://wvs.topleftpixel.com/09/06/28/

Good to know there are others affected and feeling the same, from whatever country. Doubt that it truly makes anyone feel better about it all though.

I won't say that Im a fan. I mean, there are so many others out there who have been supporting him throughout his life. Im just like a lot of the people, and feel guilty and bad that I didn't pay him all respects and attention while he was alive. I did like him. But took for granted that he'd always be there.

I've been listening to his CD Michael Jackson Number Ones that my brother got in 2003 in Singapore. The same time I bought Linkin Park's Meteora. Glad he got it. So glad.

Probably the Michael song that is most deeply embedded in my memory is Black or White, I remember that as a kid we had the Thriller LD and we played it on our LCD player. I can remember the MTV and song quite precisely. I also remember getting frightened by the zombies in the Thriller MTV.

Lastly, I think the media should stop producing nonsense speculations about his life. He has suffered a great deal under their hands. That's probably something that keeps making me sad.

However, I still jump at any news on TV, the internet...Something an old lady said that was caught on camera catches my attention. It was something like this:
"They say all these bad things about him (MJ). They said all these things about Jesus and yet he was perfect."

That he passed without being truly happy. I hope rehearsing for the London concerts did give him more happiness.

Michael Jackson, you are forever in our hearts. Rest in Peace.

Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson makes the world go round.
Without Michael Jackson,

the world stops spinning.


Michael, your a really, really special guy.

<3 MJ, the King of Pop.

Moving on....

I saw Rebekah today.
Got out of the house with dad today. He went to sort out some things, then I picked up lunch at Garden City food court. As I approached the KFC line I saw Rebekah. It took a while for her to register my face (as expected, my hair has changed a lot, and i got contacts just the other day). First thing she said was, "I haven't seen you in a loooooooong time!"
True. I hadn't seen her around since I transferred to QA at the end of Grade 10.
We chatted a little in the line, and found out that we're at the same university, just different campuses, and she'd got a day off from a busy week at work (toy sale, haha). Managed to grab each other's contact numbers before I had to grab McDonalds and rush off to work (QA), was really late today actually. It was 3pm when I finally got back to the car, and I reached school at about 3.30pm.

It made my day to bump into her. After all, she's the first friend I made on my first day of high school (Grade 9) in Australia. She'd come up to me while I was standing alone (quite petrified actually, and culture-shocked), and took me around to classes for the rest of the day...had lunch together, was introduced to her friends...
We were really good friends for quite a while (: Brings back the good times. Maybe we'll meet up during the holidays.

I didn't really keep in touch with my friends from Mansfield after I transferred. Don't know why, just not that strong a connection. I did meet up with some of them last year though, when a little barbeque changed venues to my verandah due to the bad weather. And even before that I remember going ice-skating with a couple of others. I guess I move on and adapt to new environments pretty quickly. It'll be good to organize something and relive those friendships this holidays though (:

Going to watch Transformers 2 tomorrow (: High school friends.

I miss my Singaporean friends you know (: That was my comfort zone.

holidays!

Right after Psychology exam:
Yulian: Jess, when're you 18?
Me: December
Yulian: *big big groan*
Me: why?
Yulian: I thought we could go clubbing during the holidays!

oh and
Dad swears when I get old all the fat from the junk food I eat will come back and make me a really, really fat old woman. He says its in my genes (my paternal grandmother is very overweight).

Have started planning where to go and who to meet for the holidays!

Hanging in there

Really need motivation to study for Psychology exam on Monday. Both exams are full of memorizing and its getting harder and harder to do that! Especially since Im surfing the net, read a novel faster than I learnt any content (The Last Chinese Chef by Nicole Mones), and thinking and planning out my holidays at the same time. Whoops!

Just a couple more days and it'll be all over. End of semester. 5 weeks of holidays! (that's counting next week) Doesn't seem like I'm going overseas during the holidays...but both parents have raised the question. Not sure, not sure. I'd jump at any chance to fly away if there are bargain tickets, but if it still costs $1000+, chances are not likely?

Been putting off submitting my subject credit application form forever, just the thought of doing it makes me lazy.

Back to work yea?
I need to meet A, B and C during the holidays......I've got my outfits planned out from bag to shoes.......well, sort of!

Im also thinking of working my blog in one direction...e.g. music, fashion....
think about it later!

Hard work

Hard work studying for anatomy exam...which is going to be in about 7hrs!!! About to go to bed now....just saw Pascal's sketch on his blog which is what I need! Except the exam is still looming...

So tiring memorizing everything!! Wish it was over.

Travelling friends

There're some friends in life that you only get to see every few years. That even applies to my cousins! So ho....nowadays, since Im out of high school and don't have a massive workload, I tend to think in a sort of all-embracing way. If these good friends do happen to drop by in Brisbane, yea sure I'll set aside all other things and spend all the time I can with them.

Jeab is our Thai friend - originally my mother's friend from a language school in Singapore. They met even before my mum got married. So that's about 20 years! (I haven't had any friends THAT long...you know how hard it is to have a long-lasting friendship?) I remember her coming over to visit us while we still lived in Singapore...it was a lot of fun! I also remember going on a family trip to Bangkok to visit her when I was in Primary 4. Since we moved to Brisbane she's visited us once I think, while we were still residing in the town house. So today was the first time she set foot in our home.

She's on a business trip this time, so the schedule was really packed, flying among Australian cities with her colleague...stopping over for just a day before taking off again. It was no different for yesterday, when she had to fly over from Sydney to Brisbane in the morning for meetings with a client, then she finally came over to visit at 1pm. As casual friends, we just had some pizza, home-made and cooked dumplings and curry puffs, cakes, fruits etc. We were planning to eat out but the time scheduled for her meeting to end wasn't confirmed until she got out of it and was on the way to our place.

After having a chat and catching up, we took her to Woolworths so she could get some Tim Tam chocolate biscuits in a variety of flavours and other chocolate products. My brother stayed at home even though he really wanted to go - he has 2 exams tomorrow, still caught up in the middle of high school end of semester 1 exam block. Then we window-shopped at the Duty-Free shopping mall next door...they decided not to buy anything because they had to travel light on the business trip. Then all of us finally went to Brisbane International Airport to check-in for flight to Auckland, New Zealand. We shared a Subway etc. before they entered the departure gates. (Haha....we might be going to Thailand at the end of next year (that's the plan) after my brother's university-entrance exams...Thailand is one of those countries there's lots to miss. For example, its DURIAN SEASON right now!!!) After bidding farewell to them, we decided to make a trip to the washrooms before the trip home (in case there's a bad traffic jam, you know).


When I came out my parents were at the bookshop reading the headlines of newspapers on the stand etc...I turned around and saw Jeab walking out from the departure gate! I was pretty surprised and alerted my parents. Jeab saw us and told us that she couldn't find her passport (!!!!!) We scouted around the eating area....the trolley they used...the money changer...and told Jeab to go back down and search her bag again (she remembered putting it into her bag). Mum told her not to worry and that we'll walk around the airport (pretty small actually) and ask around. We asked the wool apparel store we walked into...the check-in counter...the money changer...

All said they had no idea and didn't see a passport lying around. As we were turning away, Jeab called to say she still couldn't find it in her bag. (Mum said her voice was so shaky and nervous)Then the money-changer lady suddenly asked us if the passport was in a Louis Vuitton passport holder. (YES!) and that her manager had just taken it down to the information counter in the arrival hall 2 floors down. At that moment, Jeab popped out of the departure gates again, and we all trooped down to the counter (Jeab rushing down first and already thanking everybody...She back was wet with perspiration...). When she got there, the lady at the counter produced the passport and asked for her name and when she was born (She replied with "bangkok, thailand" and before realising and saying her date-of-birth, and already produced her business card to prove her identity when the lady handed the passport over).

Another reason she was so anxious was because her boarding time was 6.15....and it was coming to 6pm! She told us she had never lost her passport before (and she being a seasoned traveller), and that she was lucky it happened in Australia and the airport was relatively empty...If it was in a country like Indonesia, she said her chances of retreiving it would be close to none. My dad said maybe it means that she's supposed to stay behind in Brisbane with us for a longer period of time (she only spent an afternoon with us this trip)! But I guess if she really didn't find her passport, she'd be in no mood to stay behind and have fun anyway.

Then we escorted her back to the departure gates, where her colleague was waiting for her. We said we'd wait till we saw them through the boarding gates (in full view from the departure hall) just to make sure! Fortunately nothing went wrong this time, and she gave us another call to say bye and that she'd call again when she's in transit in Melbourne in 2 days' time on her return flight to Bangkok.

When I travelled alone for the first time in Jan-Feb this year, my parents called a dozen times just to remind me to keep my eye and hand on my passport at all times during the flights and trip. Rather annoying to be reminded so many times but definitely no joke if you lose it!

Khalil Fong Live in Canada

Here are some links to blogs re Khalil Fong 方大同's concerts in Canada this past week.

Vancouver

Toronto

Hope I'd be able to see and hear him live oneday (:

Update more next time.

Skin change: will fine tune changes along the way...

Ray Chen

I strongly urge everybody to take a look at this, classical music-lover or not.
ABC classic fm radio mentioned Ray Chen on saturday afternoon (7June09) as part of their 'classical music news update' for the week. Glad they did. Was waiting in the car outside my cello teacher's home, and lucky enough to catch the name.

A link, that provides info on the buzzing recent news.
www.yca.org/chen_ray.html

and also some video clips of the competition (same ones as on the site mentioned above):





This guy is hard to miss. A real talent, and I think besides the music, its the personality shining through his facial expressions. Tells you that he's honest and passionate about the music he's playing, not forced.

Otherwise...speechless.

Wishing him all the best in his music career!

must-see

http://wvs.topleftpixel.com/09/06/03/
MUST-SEE VIDEO by Sam Javanrouh, Toronto city, Canada!!!

the rush

don't know why adrenaline is pulsing through me. maybe its from finishing the psychology reflective statement (500words) in just a few hours tonight, and scanning and sending documents to lovely dental classmate Hantao. because...i stupidly have been putting it off and forgot that since i only go on campus mondays and wednesdays, I'd have to hand it in today..........Thank God she's helping me print it off and hand it in since THANKFULLY she lives on campus and she's a really nice girl!
And I have to study ctr (aka anatomy)
And I have to practice cello.
And I want to do this drawing I read about today...
http://hk.myblog.yahoo.com/soulboy_khalil/article?mid=11349
but 1) my drawing skills............*ahem* (but i think i'll try anyway)
and 2) its due 14 June
and 3) I have my anatomy exam coming up in that period of time.

ANYWAY. im prepared to give it a shot and email it in. HAHA. Theme is abstract environmentally-related imaginative piece of art.
Woo.......
And by the way, today was the last set of lectures I had to go to for sem1. Teaching weeks are all over! Next week is 'study week'. and then 2 weeks of exams. but since I only do 2 subjects this sem...

My calendar looks like this:
6 June - Tutor Emily in IB English 9-10am
Tutor Anny in IB English and Chemistry 10-12pm
Cello lesson 2.30-3.30pm

8 June - Queen's birthday (referring to Queen of England)
13 June (Sat) - Anatomy exam 8.30-11.30am (must fly (get driven) down to campus (gold coast) early in the morning.
22 June (Mon) - Psychology exam 1.30-3.30pm