Why I do not have Facebook

You may or may not know this, but I do not have a Facebook account.

This fact probably irks the hell out of many people. Many have asked the reason and I think I shall try to explain it a bit.

Why do I not have a Facebook account?

To put it very simply, I think that it intrudes in my privacy, I do not see a need for it, and I think its time-consuming. With Facebook, I feel ‘obliged’ to update my page, tell people what I am doing, and where I went. Worse still, I could be at some place where I’m not supposed to be, accidently shot into the background of some picture, and have myself tagged on it (I know I can untag but damage is done). Sure, I do not do things that would warrant such cover-ups but I think it intrudes in my privacy.

You cannot deny this. Facebook is probably the second or third, if not the first website that you go to when you surf the internet. It becomes a ‘bad’ habit and you spend precious time checking out other people, finding friends, updating yourself about others, updating others about yourself, generating gossip and passing on gossip. Ya, you can upload many photos there, you can share photos, but what if one day Facebook faces a technical error and everything is lost? My point is – print your photos!

BUT BUT BUT – I do not deny that it is a good way of keeping in contact with others and organising meetings/gatherings. I am losing out in this aspect I know.

Busy Beeee

Recently, I have been busy busy busy.

Busy catching up with friends, spending time with family and enjoying the holidays. I feel that this is the least I could do for myself before the school term starts.

Met up with Sherry and Leslie just last night and had a really enjoyable time with both of them, catching up mostly. Had a great Christmas gathering with my lovely SMU freshie friends (I haven thought of an appropriate name yet! Sorry!) There was also the failed ice skating session with SMUSAIC EXCO which ended up being an arcade and bowling session. There was also the yearly gathering of the Tan Family at Jalan Kayu and how much fun it was playing games and eating together! I’m looking forward to two other gatherings on the calendar!

I thank God too, for the last service of 2008 that I went for at NCC. It revived in me my faith, and I got to meet Mich J. Tan too! She happen to visit the service after mine and I was really glad to be able to catch up with her albeit for only a few minutes!

Currently, I thinking of my 2009 goals, and what I am going to do in my 3rd year in university.

The Duchess

I watched The Duchess recently. I thought it to be quite a good movie. I’d give it 4 out of 5 popcorns!

The show had the potential to be a really boring one. The plot could be predictable (and might be considered so by some) but I thought that the whole movie was done very well. Keira Knightley played the role of the Duchess really well. And I dunno what’s the technical term for it but I thought that the movie was well shot, like the angles, the perspectives and the scenes were all very well done. The emotions that the Duchess felt came across very strongly and caused me to tear at some points in the movie. There wasnt any minute in the show which caused me to think ‘this is draggggy’ and everything was done sufficiently and there was a good and informative ending.

But then again, I like the Victorian era alot so I could be biased.

I’m back home.

I’m back home.

After visiting Laos and KL, I’m glad to be home.

Laos OCIP was indeed an eye opener. Our main activities occured in Luang Prabang, where we stayed in a guesthouse called MuongLao, and visited the Kuang Xi Waterfall, and also the Phousi Mountain (where I lost my hoodie!) The town is really QUAINT. I love it to bits although I’d say its a tad bit too tourist-y. Alot of the restaurants there are opened by and for tourists, with few good local restaurants.

MuongLao guesthouse was good and had good facilities except that the decor isnt as nice as it looks in the pictures. But it is a good guesthouse to stay in and its location isnt too far from the city centre. There are a few good pubs and bars in the vicinity for a good night out.

The night market in Luang Prabang was just fascinating. Its amazing how so many people can gather in one street and sell similar if not identical items. It’s what I’d call ‘mass-rip-off-of-willing-tourists’. And I declare that I was one of them. It was just amazing to soak in the atmosphere and buy gifts from the night market.

Laos itself is rather backward. The schools that we went to help still use blackboards, chalk, 5 children to a big wooden table, wooden chairs and their field is a big sandy compound. Really really sandy and dustry. I had the privilege of interacting with children in the schools, and I believe the whole Laos team would say that that morning at the school was the most enjoyable moment of the trip. We had tug-of-war sessions, volleyball games, the traditional game of eagle-catch-lil-chicks, and of course a good game of soccer between the big and small boys.

There’s just so much more to write and say. Some pictures might do good. Look out for next post.

Livre Laos – Off we go!

We’ll be setting off to Laos tomorrow! I’m quite excited to make this journey because this would be the second time out of country without my parents. Haha. The first time was in P5 when I went for some cultural immersion programme. The above information is correct unless my memory fails me. Haha.

Do pray for our safety and health!

I’ve had enough!

I have had enough of Hong Kong food.

I can safely say that since day 3 of day 5 in Hong Kong and I am already sick of Hong Kong food.

Well, Hong Kong is very similar to New York. Except I think more crowded, and more comfortable for my family because its an Asian country. Moreover, the food is really not that much different or better from Singapore’s. I think there’s a limit to how tasty dishes can get. There are some things I think are better in Singapore than HK, like the har kau and fishball noodles.

I stayed in Regal Oriental Hotel, Kowloon City, and the hotel itself was okay except that it was under renovation so the view from my hotel room were scaffolds. The other disadvantage is that it is really far from the shopping areas e.g. Mongkok.  The fastest way to Mongkok is taxi and it costs about 30HK dollar, but to Tsim Sha Tsui is about 60 HK dollar. There is a bus to Mongkok from outside the hotel, and it costs 6HK dollar. But the drivers can be a little reckless. Next to the hotel are many small shops and there are some good places for yum cha too.

One thing good about HK is the information board of the MTR line in the MTR itself. There are little bulbs next to the stations and it lights up or blinks etc when the train is at the respective stops etc. This is better than Singapore’s one where only an announcement is made. This is so much clearer.

No matter what, I still like my good ole Singapore. The variety of food here is so much better and so is the crowd level. In HK, some of the roads are closed just so pedestrians can walk on them. HAHA. Photos coming soon – hopefully!

And and… congratulations to Stanley and Madeline!