Matriculation tomorrow. And still no sign of comp bio results. My life is just an accumulation of waiting time. Truly bothersome.

Shall demonstrate the extent of my clumsiness by recounting what happens when I eat. I was attempting to eat a cheeseburger last weekend. I was standing and fumbling with the wrapper, trying to remove the pickle which I hate, and... the top part of my burger, the bread, fell onto the floor, sauce side down. Nice. Luckily, I was at home, so I wiped up the sauce and proceeded to eat my burger. I trust the cleanliness of my home.

The other time, we were at City Plaza, where my family always goes to get the "best steak in the world". My dad had ordered some mee goreng which everyone was getting a taste of whilst waiting for the steak. And we had also ordered some bandung for drinks. I was helping my mum open a packet of chilli sauce and I tugged too hard and since luck wasn't around, I toppled my mum's glass of bandung. Bandung flooded the plate of mee goreng. And voila! Mee bandung. And we had to shift tables.

Another time was when Eunice and me were trying to settle our Gold Coast trip with Five Star Tours people and I was sipping a cup of caramel frappucino. The cup actually slipped from my hand and some ice blended coffee got onto the wall of the counter. I was frantically trying to wipe up the spilled coffee with some spare tissue. Fortunately, the staff members were busy doing work and didn't notice our frantic movements. I swear, my hands just fidget of their own accord.

My dad just came home and greeted my mum with a "Hello, Laling!" Honestly, my dad is incapable of open displays of affection, even within the house, and everything has to be veiled with a joke or distraction.

I think there are two kinds of old married couples: the kind that are so sweet and always lovey-dovey and you want to just sigh at them. Then there's the other kind that pretends they can't stand each other (and occasionally they really can't) and they bicker almost constantly but then it's clear they really do need each other and they are the only people who can put up with each other for so long. Both instances are sweet, but the latter is just entertaining. I mean, I sit in my car, and listen to them talk, and I can have a laugh. Really. I suppose there's a third kind where the couple just drifts apart in indifference. And conversations only happen out of necessity. That's scary. I don't know of that kind. And I guess there could be a fourth kind, where the couple hates each other but stay out of obligation to family and tradition. Okay, fine, there are more than two kinds.

Hate filling up all the stupid forms for matriculation. My arabic is progressing at snail's pace.

Movie rant. Spoilers (of quite old movies) ahead.

Tragic love stories should be banned. I can't stand it. Titanic, Romeo & Juliet, City of Angels, A Walk To Remember, Cold Mountain, and just now - Fanaa. It's frustrating. And for those more predictable stories, there comes a point somewhere in the middle when a death becomes obviously imminent and that's when I get really frustrated and start going, "No! No! No!" intermittently. At the end of the movie, I just feel horribly deflated, no matter how good the whole movie may be overall. Isn't it enough how terribly unromantic real life is?

I want fairytale endings, I can't help mself. I just want to indulge my romantic side at times and tragic endings simply don't go hand in hand with that. Oh yes, all the events that lead up to the death are romantic enough, but all that is spoiled when one or both of the lovers either drink poison, stab themselves, get shot by believe it or not, their own loved ones or albinos, get run down by trucks out of the blue or succumb to a disease. Let them be happy, hello.

Getting away from that: feel sad and wistful that my favourite on-screen heroes are getting old. The new ones just can't live up to the same standard. You know what they say about first loves, sigh.

Sami Yusof has the most gorgeous voice I have ever heard, ever. Mudaris gave me a cd of his songs (mostly about Rasulullah) which he got from God knows where and I absolutely fell in love with the sound of his voice. Way better than Jean-Baptiste Maunier from Les Choriste, and that's saying something!

Computational biology results still elusive. Gah. When will I get to know. I hate it when they take their own sweet time.

Finished Gold Coast video today! I think it helps to have two brains instead of one. Eunice was helping me. Usually, when I get frustrated with video-editing, I just give up and heck it and go watch tv or something. But today, the both of us sat down and battled it through and it got done in one day! I have never managed to do that for any other video except drama videos which had deadlines. Were almost banging our heads over the song selection but eventually settled on some Elvis, Five for Fighting and Simple Plan. Think this may be one of my favourite videos ever! Short and sweet and hilarious.

DT finishing within the next two weeks. It better!

Another quote from Wesley Stace's Misfortune:

Time is no healer. It scabs the wound until the injury is forgotten, but the infection festers, eating away, spreading.

I don't think that applies to all kinds of wounds. Some wounds heal with time and reflection and forgiveness. Only the ones that cut really deep stay stuck. Like that boy in Veronica Mars. Who was told by his mum that his dad had died when he was young only to discover years later that his dad had gone for a sex change and left them. Those kind of things scar you for life. Poor boy.

Does foreshadowing happen in real life too? I think maybe it does. Or maybe it's not rightfully called foreshadowing. It's like there's this knowledge of something hidden deep within you and occasionally you recognise it but then you dismiss it, and then when it comes out into the open, you felt like you knew it all along, only you tried to deny it all the while. And in retrospect, you were only kidding yourself for not confronting it then. Maybe it's better called self-deceit.

Oh, why do I allow myself to blather on?

Went to NUS to do x-ray and changed my mind again because of unbelievably long waiting list. This is getting truly unbearable. Also submitted comp bio application.

Put up a tagboard! yay.

Let me just say what has happened here.

I was meddling with the html and then accidentally clicked 'Save Template Changes' instead of 'Preview', so everything got messed up. So I was forced to find a new blogskin. And then found this green one. I think green looks really nice on the screen. Like my old butterfly one. Then! In the process of applying new blogskin, I lost my guestbook html code. -__- So now have to go back to bravenet to scout around for it or find a tagboard or something. In the meantime, this blog cannot receive comments. muaha.

On other things: went to NUS yesterday and spent a freaking four hours at Yusof Ishak House getting the medical check-up done, and I still haven't done the x-ray. Was there from 2pm to 6pm! There was an unbelievably long line of people at the door and up the steps. I even made friends with this girl who was queueing with me; all the waiting allowed for bonding time. Was so pissed when I went home. My whole day was wasted on the check-up. Got out of the house at 12.30pm and came back at 7pm. Ridiculous.

I am suddenly extremely frightened of the prospect of traveling on the train for at least 2 hours everyday. There has to be another way.

I hate the whole Siti-Datuk K thing! How could she? As though she doesn't have enough money already! So dumb dumb dumb. And don't kid me and say it's love. Ugh, puke. My respect for her has dropped, a lot.

Anyway, read off Mugglenet that Shyamalan might direct HP6 or HP7. The prospect of this excites me to no end. I've always loved Shyamalan's works. (Although Lady in the Water looks a bit dubious to me.) And he could have a whole new perspective to HP! It would be so cool.

I think all starbucks, coffeebean and other coffee-selling places worldwide need to send their staff for dictation courses. Since they insist on writing our names or initials on our cups, they have to get it right. And not turn Eunice into Unas, or turn me into Shaf. I almost wanted to laugh out loud when that happened yesterday. I clearly spelled out S-H-A-M, and still they got it wrong. I wonder how mutilated my name would become if I actually simply said Shamiah and left them to figure out how to spell it themselves. And they don't bother to ask when they don't know.

Got a lot of spanking new arabic books! Am very excited. An all around arabic dictionary I can't comprehend yet and 6 volumes of activity books. Wheee. Learning a language is so fun.

A lot of people think I'm someone very serious. Hm. I suppose I can be. I have this tendency to think depressive thoughts anyway; you know, 'the frivolity of life when we're all going to die anyhows!'. But most of the time, I think I just pretend to be serious. Lest the crappiness within breaks free and scares everyone within the vicinity. And blurness too. Life is such a masque, I say.

Meeting Jiawen and Mumu and Turk today!

Pirates 2 was disappointing, did I say?

First of all, in the spirit of family and friendship, I shall promote my cousin's beauty salon here. Visit www.harem.com.sg - spa, massage and beauty services exclusively for women. Jadi sape-sape yang pakai tudung, no worries. It's a maleproof place. There's a July promotion now, so grab your chances. Oh, they also appeared on Suria Segar recently. Prices are reasonable.

Gold Coast photos abound. This will be very random because I am too lazy to be chronological.

My favourite ride of all. Goes 85 km/h and about 270 degrees. Dreamworld.

Matrix exhibit at Movieworld. I tried to open the door but cannot.

Super-scary superman ride. Was practically flying. Note the 90 degrees incline.

My favourite polar bear picture! So cute right! It was doing routine exercises with the ball.

Beach. Surfers Paradise. Beautiful waves.

Another view of Surfers Paradise. Crowded with people on a Saturday.

Random psycho shot.

This was hilarious. On the last day in Gold Coast, we had ample time to kill, so we sat in Starbucks to read a little. Eunice bought our drinks. Apparently, the counter heard her say 'Unas', or maybe they thought she had to have some weird exotic name, being Asian and all, and couldn't conceive of the notion that her name was in fact Eunice. So there it is - Unas on a cup. Horrifying and amusing. Had a great laugh over it.

Here's my favourite picture. Credit goes to wonderful 10s timer that managed to get both of us with Surfers Paradise in the background.

Damn, I wish we were still there.

Past two weeks have provided an experience overload that will be memorable for a very long time. Gold Coast, then Reperio.

I was truly 100% happy in Gold Coast. And being the kind of person who usually finds trouble being happy, this means a lot. It was liberating; we could go back to the hotel anytime we wanted, do what we wanted, buy what we wanted. I also had an awesome time on the scary rides at the themeparks. Also had a great time chatting with Eunice about all sorts of things, from Paris Hilton to Adam and Eve to kookaburras that cost AUS$2.95 (which I think I should have bought). I still haven't uploaded photos to computer, but when I do, photos of roller coaster rides etc will be here.

A day after I came back from trip, went off for camp. I was already so tired from trip and I hadn't rested enough, but I went anyway. Reperio was extremely fun, and sweet too. There was a night walk that was super scary; pontianaks and pocongs trying to grab you or scream in your ears.And an amazing race from masjid to masjid (mostly). And a lot of cheering too. The sweet part comes from the grand finale event, which was an array of entertaining performances prepared for the freshies whilst having dinner ala kampung style. Was damn nice.

Now though, am so deadbeat tired, I'm drifting off into slumber every few words that I type.

Heartbroken.

Not just that France lost, but that Zidane headbutted Materazzi and got sent off from the last match he'll ever play. WHY WHY WHY did he do it??? What did that irritating Italian say? Bet it's something really horrible or racist. I didn't like Materazzi from the start. Uuuugh! Zidane, however, still rocks and is still the only sportsman I ever had such respect and love for. The French still love him.

President Jacques Chirac says:

"I would like to express all the respect that I have for a man who represents at the same time all the most beautiful values of sport, the greatest human qualities one can imagine, and who has honored French sport and, simply, France."

More about Gold Coast later.

Update. Wikipedia says this:

The game ended in a 1-1 draw and Italy won the championship after a penalty kick shootout. His team members later reported to French media that Zidane was reacting to a racial slur from Materazzi. The Italian side has catagorically denied that Materazzi had any role in the provocation of Zidane, but both the French coach and many other members of the media believed that Zidane had snapped due to Materazzi. Following the game, Zidane still was applauded as a hero in Paris and throughout France, and Materazzi was subsequently booed for the remaining portion of the game following Zidane's red card by the majority French crowd.

Hah! I knew it!

I can't believe this trip is happening, really. It feels truly surreal. I suppose when good things happen, you always second guess them, lest they're a dream or a big joke. Good things are hard to come by. Which makes them all the more wonderful when they do happen. (:

Have packed 85% of stuff - only the little things are left. I'm mostly worrying about my passport and how I'm either going to lose it, set it on fire, accidentally throw it into a bin or let it get stolen along with everything else. I have to stop imagining such scenarios, or else I won't be able to enjoy.

Have been sort of following the World Cup. My mum's throwing it all back in my face, saying how I used to hate football so much (I just get annoyed at how everybody goes overly nuts about it) and how unreasonable I was then. Well, it's not like I'm morphing into a full-blown fan. I'm just getting sucked into the whole competition. Zidane is amazing, I must say. I'm rooting for France, I think.

When I get back, will paste photos! Yayee.