Stumbled across some beautiful photography of the Masai Mara Nature Reserve in Kenya , which led me to check out the photographer, Kalyan Varma's website. His work is STUNNING. Words cannot suffice to describe his extraordinary ability to capture the poised, simplistic, breathless beauty of the Kenyan landscape in artistic monochrome. His journal, too, speaks of far-off adventures that one can envision in his or her wildest dreams.

Africa is such a mysterious, surreal place. I wonder if I'll be able to live and work there someday.

I'm itching to go hiking sometime this year. The Overland Track in Tasmania looks amazing. Abel Tasman Coast Track in New Zealand is another dream destination. My mother chided me in an expaserated tone this morning not to be so adventurous and focus on my studies.  Needless to say, I am innately neurotic and will channel my utmost efforts into my studies, but who's to say you can't live life in perpetual excitement?

Pa bought a new bike yesterday, so I took it out for a test run in the evening. Given that I'm hardly the most confident/competent biker around, I could taste fear in my mouth as I whizzed downhill around my estate and to Kong Meng San temple. But it was cool, nonetheless, taking in the cool evening breeze. And I found an adorable litter of kittens mewing while nestling under the neighbour's car with their mother, looking bewildered and wary. :)

AO men's finals tonight! May we see Rafael Nadal lift up the champion's trophy on Rod Laver Arena tonight. :)

To be honest, I didn't have the highest of expectations for the indoor camp these 3 days at St. Hilda's Primary - my friend who had just gone for the Live! Ops outdoor camp raved incessantly about how tiring but fulfilling the program was, on the other hand complaining about how boring indoor camps were.

But looking back, being a coach for the past 3 days has been nothing short of a great learning experience. I was allocated to the GEP classes for the first day, and Amin's style of training didn't really appeal to me - too militaristic/dictatorial, and one boy even cried! But after I moved over to the sports hall group with the mainstream and foundation classes, I found the atmosphere much more lively, engaging and light-hearted - not so burdened with expectations (and intellect O.o) YY and Freddy were strict but entertaining trainers, so things were never really boring. Throughout the camp, it was like stepping back in time - I could almost see myself back in my pinafore, tense with anticipation of the PSLE looming ahead.

Overall, what I really took back from this assignment were moments of interactions with the kids - they were rude, naughty, interactive, amusing, endearing, cunning, clever, stupid and slappable all at the same time. I was literally bombarded with questions during the 'set your life plan' segment - some of their ambitions were hilariously incredulous/impressive (depending on perspective) - like the boy who wanted to score 289 for PSLE, be a supreme judge and get rich from stock investment. One boy was particularly memorable - he wanted to be rich and donate his savings to help children in Africa (incidentally, the same kid who wanted to take a photo with us at the end of the session).

The second day of the afternoon saw a powerful session - learning to forgive, let go, and own up to mistakes - that caused many of the students to cry.  On the last day, Freddy made the students go up on the stage for confessionals - and my eyes smarted a little when the first boy stammered into the microphone - and to my utter astonishment, some students with the toughest of exteriors (by that I mean ahbeng-style) broke into the tears and had to be escorted to the toilet.

When I was walking out of the school, it was heartwarming to receive smiles, personal goodbyes ('Bye Coach!') and even a 'I'll miss you!'
:)

Hi folks,

I’ve got a list of ‘vintage’ stuff to sell. I keep my stuff in excellent condition (some are still in their wrapping), so no worries. Photos of the items are attached.  Leave a comment or email me at crystal_star1990@hotmail.com for interested buyers/inquires. Prices are negotiable (especially if buying more than 1 item) and do not include shipping/postage fee. Payment by Paypal please. Thanks!

 

:)

Sometimes, I feel almost like an alien. I don't take interest in some things that other girls of my age are obsessed about; my outlook on certain things are different, and i seem to be interested about things people don't give a flying shoe about.

It's kind of worrying, wondering whether your buddies will accept parts of you that have changed.

Things that used to be now seem strange and unfamiliar.

So, tonight's my last night in Sydney before I head home for the winter holidays. Most of my coursemates/hostelmates have flown off, and I'm one of the few left here to soak up the quiet atmosphere and whatever sights and sounds I can of Sydney.

I won't say that the entire semester has flown at an incredible speed. It did during the weeks of normal curriculum time, but time positively crawled during the examinations.  That period of time (just a week ago, now that i think about it) was the time when many people cracked under the pressure. For the first time, I had a 'breakdown' - started having doubts about my abilities, losing faith in myself to run the race to the end. Fortunately, what made me pick myself up somehow or another was nothing but drive/willpower and self-motivation. There were times when I cried/teared when receiving handwritten letters in the mail, looking at photos thinking and remembering about past years in Singapore, friends, family etc. Vet school is more tough than i ever imagined.

After I came to Sydney, I realised countless things about myself - what is really important to me. I see some people who are more suited towards university style, and others (like me) who really miss the JC days where the culture is less independent, and the community more close-knit. I feel i am no longer the naïve, wayward, narrow-minded girl in JC who was just content with living day to day; somehow something has changed, though I can’t put a finger on what it is. But anyway, the few months here haven’t been easy – I didn’t realize how bloody much I would miss Singapore, my pals and family. Being overseas makes you bond with people you normally can’t and wouldn’t bond with, and sometimes it shows clearly and you suffer from it. There were many times when I got angry, frustrated, depressed about things because I felt so restricted. And then I realized, it’s up to me to change my own circumstances – go out, broaden my horizons, and not be afraid to take a leap of faith. I can't keep comparing myself with other people and feel inferior, I have to count my blessings and learn to find happiness with whatever i have. But all in all, I did make some pretty awesome friends, and had a blast  :)

Now, every time i see or hear an aeroplane in the sky, something stirs within me - and i realize how a plane trip can bring someone to a new place, new people, new life altogether; or bring someone back to places which hold so many irreplaceable memories for him/her. As it does for me. :)

Spent last night watching Roland Garros finals with Nick, Rach, Daph & Nanako at the International House. We couldn't find the channel on normal sports tv (damn you Australian tv!) so we had to go to Marly Bar on King's Street which was closed. Luckily, IH had a tv with coverage! How lucky is that.

Anway, the match was intense for the first set thereabouts, but after that Nadal's blistering shots took over Soderling for the rest of the game.  There were moments of really epic shots, something you only really see in the highest level of tennis (and everybody in the room went 'ooohh') but overall I felt Soderling could have put up more fight. And they should have a challenge system on the clay courts really, I felt like the umpire/linesman was wrong on some calls :S

It was hilarious cos the winning shot from Rafa (or more likely Soderling's unforced error) was not captured in camera view but as I saw Rafa throwing his racket and sliding onto the floor I knew he had done it again!  And he did all of this in front of his Queen - how majestic and surreal it must be. But I was really surprised when he sobbed, like really sobbed into the towel straight after that.  It felt very foreign cos he didn't shed a tear when he lost last year and in the US Open, when he retired from the QFs of Australian Open. I didn't realise how much this must mean to him - undergoing a long injury-caused title drought for a year, not being able to defend his title at Wimbledon, all the hard work and countless hours spent towards acheiving this moment, and most of all, doubting himself and if he could ever make it to the top again.  In all, I felt like I was enclosing on a very personal, sacred moment only he could understand and savour.

Anyway, Rafael Nadal now has re-established himself as King of Clay and the World No. 1 to boot! I shall use that as a motivation for my studying, which has been pretty dismal.

C'mon Chelsea, stop slacking! So many things to do, so little time...