i finally, FINALLY bought my new phone!!! Been wanting to get one since december last year and so i've been looking out for a decent one.

My sony ericsson W710i (walkman cum sports phone) has served me very well for the past, close to 3 years. I've not seen anyone carrying this phone for a while already. Pretty much considered a relic. It's not totally dead but from time to time, it will decide to pull stunts on me like: multiple auto shut downs, forced silence.

I have lots of messages in there that are so precious to me and if the phone dies, all the messages die along with it too since messages are stored in the phone itself. So, i figured it's about time to let it retire.

I'm pleased to announce my newest edition: the Samsung Jet!

It's quite affordable for a phone that's packed with a lot of goodies. I did my research on it, and apparently, opinions on it are quite mixed. :oS. I'm hoping mine doesn't pull stunts on me like some of the earlier batches of Jets that were first released. I usually find that the first batch of phones from a newly released model will have bugs. One of my friends advised me against Samsung, citing reasons like poor service at the repair centres, outsourcing of non-Samsung technicians, tendency to misinfo at service centres, swapping of parts instead of changing to new parts. I was pretty put off, but i guess i decided to take my chances.

It's got wifi, HSDPA, GPRS, 5 megapixel autofocus camera WITH flash (YES! FINALLY!), GPS, DivX, video recording 30 fps/120fps, bluetooth, full touch sceen, AMOLED display, 800MHz Processer, document reader. Shiok a king kong.

I've never liked touch screen phones, i'm quite a stickler for keypads still... But because the Jet is the only touch screen phone that i felt comfortable typing on, it has a nice big screen (for viewing the bible and internet pages), and since most keypad phones now seem to be quite "backward"/ugly/i cannot get used to the qwerty, i decided it was time to "move on".

PLUS. Since i'm a student and thankfully below 26 as of now, i get to opt for the student plan!!!! UNLIMITED SMSES! OMG! Why didn't i sign up for this earlier, since i tend to increase my bill fees through high usage of smses.

I *might* install facebook, definitely a bible software... Mmm, what else? ACK! So fun! :oDDD

I'm just waiting for it to charge for 8 hours straight before i attempt to lay my hands on it since i just bought it and need to charge up the battery to the max level. My lovely white Jet!

(Gem said: You've got a Samsung Jet, and a Sam Seng Jed. *HAHAHAHAHHA* Ok, only those people who've met Jed personally will know what i'm talking about.)

In trying to finish up the leftover melted chocolate/fudge topping, i decided to make a marble cake. HAHA. For someone with close to ZERO experience with baking, who knows only a tiny miniscule fraction about the science of baking, i must say this is a daring attempt.

Instead of butter, i used butter and margarine (because i ran out of butter and i've never read of recipes which suggest using margarine). Instead of cocoa POWDER, i used MOLTEN chocolate. Instead of using the machine, i mixed everything by hand powered by brute strength (bored with doing assignments). The amount, ratio, of butter, sugar, fats, flour, eggs, liquid ingredients, etc, all play a part in whether your cake will turn out fab or flat. That is in addition to the skill of the hand, which is very important. You need to be gentle, firm but cool and light handed. None of which my hands possess at the moment. Hurhur.

It sure smells good, now that it's cooking in the oven. But i can't say much about the insides... The cake has risen, but going by the way it still wobbles when i shift the tin, it's still wet and uncooked beneath and by right, i should be cooking it for only 20 minutes more.

Oh boy. Haha... This is fun.

I ought to join the 3 guys on the show Food Jammers, if only because i get to mess around and experiment with food and see how it turns out. But i don't want to waste anything of course, hopefully whatever i create is edible...

Update: My marble cake is a ridiculous success!

Time to get down to business

To Do:

Practicum 1, Group Supervision (the most crazy module):

1) Presentation of individual session, intake interview WITH recording x 1
2) Presentation of group counselling x 1
3) Comprehensive Report on an individual session x 1
4) Comprehensive Report on an intake assessment session x 1
5) Term Paper x 1
All Due: 2 NOV
Status: UNDONE and Dependent on currently non-existent clients. PANIC.

Program Evaluation:

1) Program Evaluation Proposal x 1(Due: 17th Nov, Status: Undone)
2) Class Project x 1 (Due: TBC, Status: Undone)

Career Development in Counselling (the most ambiguous and blurifying module):

1) Big Huge Term Paper x 1 (Due: 11th Nov)
Status: No one in my class has any inkling on how to begin to do this

While having a trim at HV...

Hair Stylist (HS): You look like a friend of mine...
Jo: *thinks: shucks, i have a common face...*
HS: But my friend is a guy...
Jo: Uh. Ok... (!!!) I wonder what the similarities are...
HS: He is... how do you say. He's not handsome.
Jo: *thinks: huh? haha...*
HS: He's... Beautiful.
Jo: ?!?!?!?!?!

Hawhawhaw, beautiful man! Ok, not sure if i should take that as a compliment. :P

First attempt at making a Chocolate Fudge Cake

This weighing scale might be as old as, if not, older than me. My momma has been using this for as long as i can remember!
Same goes for this dude as well.

Melting the chocolate (Hersheys semi sweet chips) and butter together, in a plate placed on top of a pan with boiling/simmering water. The hot steam is what melts the stuff into a goo. As a health freak making a cake like this and knowing EXACTLY what goes into it... This isn't one of my proudest moments. No way, hosay.
It takes faith to believe that it'll eventually become a smooth mixture. It was so lumpy for quite a while because the chocolate chips just wouldn't melt out evenly. So i used 2 spoons to mash the lumps till it became relatively smooth.

Mixing the 4 eggs and sugar.

Folded in the flour.

Into the oven!

Out of the oven! It looks a bit burnt hor. The new oven we have tends to be on the "powderful" side, for some reason. Have to be extra careful when baking stuff.

Cutting up pieces.

Slather on the fudge! (more melted chocolate mixed with pure cream). I had run out of Hershey's chocolate, so i dug around the kitchen and used up some Lindt and Royce dark chocolate that had been lying around for a while. Had to be careful during the melting process though, because the chocolate is meant for eating directly and not meant to be melted for baking. Since I didn't know the boiling and melting point of ready-to-eat choclate, had to be careful not to over melt it which will result in carbonized burnt chocolate.

Ok, ready to give to next door neighbour! :D

It's a weird cake. When i first baked it, it was moist inside. At night on the same day, it became dry. Then subsequently, it became moist again. Hur.

I typed out an email telling my pastor that I am unable to go to Maliana for the mission trip this december. I had tears in my eyes as i finished typing out the email. It is due to school, finances, due to family issues, that made me sigh and decide that I could not afford to go.

Maliana (in East Timor) was my very first mission trip destination, and that place and the children there have a very deep and special place in my heart.

I was about to click on "send". But something in my heart pulled back and i just clicked on "save now". I don't know when that email will be sent.

God, is this you telling me to go, is this me being reluctant to allow you to make a way for me? Or is this just a fact of life that I have to give this one a miss again?

Attempting to make a chocolate fudge cake... ;) But i'm calculating if i can afford the time to do so...
Well, if it happens, stay tuned for photos!

Thoughts at 9am in the morning:

1) Had put the car wind screen wipers on max speed this morning due to the rain... They were moving at such a madly frenzied pace that i giggled to thought to myself that they looked like they were on drugs.

2) So i got out of the car and got some rain on myself. When i entered the lift, my first thoughts and instincts were: "Cold. Wet. Now shake your fur from side to side." (A sure sign that a human being has been living for a long time with a dog)

I just got one of the periodical passion card promotion emails and wow, they're actually promoting tickets for upcoming Christmas events (artsy performances) in december.

I'm smelling and FEELing Christmas around the corner! It's my favourite time of the year... For some odd reason, i'm appreciating the efforts put into sprucing up Singapore for this particular festive occasion. I used to hate how it always looks so commercialized and how everything just crashes once the 25th of december is over. Well, i still don't like how it crashes.

But somehow, the glitter, the music, the cheer, the company of family, er, sales (hurhur), the rush or absence of activities seems to leave my heart with a warm, contented feeling.

I can't quite put my finger on it. I think it's just that... it's, well, Christmas. And i've always had happy, loving, fun-filled and fond memories of Christmas when i was young. Maybe those buried feelings from those years gone by are resurfacing and though it's going on replay, it's giving me a refreshing perspective and sense of wonder and appreciation all over again.

A group of 11 of us went down to Bottle Tree Park at Khatib and boy, "fun" is an understatement in describing our experience!

We paintballed for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours, and it was awesome. The adrenaline rush, the speed, yes, the pain, teamwork, strategising, etc. The instructors were really nice, and they were really accomodating to our requirements and managed to customize the games for us.

While we were there, we got to talk a bit to this guy whose nickname is Kiko. Little did i (later on) realize, we were actually talking to a REGIONALLY KNOWN paintballer okay (out of curiousity, i just googled him)! He's apparently well known in Asia for his killer paintball skills.

Singapore's hosting a paintball competition at West Coast (ah, near my place!) on the 18th of October, sunday. It should be fun to watch!

Been driving on my own recently for short distances, like to gleneagles and back, to church and back. i find that i'm way less tense when i'm driving alone than when someone else is in the car.

anyway, PEOPLE WHO DO NOT SIGNAL ARE BIG FAT CAUSES FOR ACCIDENTS!!!

I almost got mauled by this goon (sorry, but i'm really pissed with people like this) who was whooshing down the lane next to the extreme right lane. So as i was turning out from my u-turn onto the extreme right lane, this fella zoomed into my lane WITHOUT INDICATING. SOMEMORE CAN HORN AT ME.

This caused me to swerve to avoid and I ended up driving onto the curb of the road divider. Sheesh.

Then today, as gem and i were about to cross the road, another goon came whooshing down and turned into the minor road WITHOUT SIGNALING. AGAIN. If i didn't somehow pause to see if the fella would stop, gem and i might've been tomato juice by then.

RAGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Methinks.... God still wants me alive for a higher purpose. Hur.

Now that i think of it. It's quite amusing to see a mother's reaction when some ungracious driver bullies her kin who is driving.

I wouldn't go so far as to say: Beware, do not step on mommy's toes when daughter is driving (because after all, what can she do right?), but i would say, boy, my mommy ain't afraid to give 'im a good stare through the window!

You can sense the motherly instincts rising, her sense of justice and her protective support for her offspring (of course, if i ain't in the wrong lah).

***

Happened to watch a pretty old show called Centrestage (2000) last night. I am SO awestruck by the dancers (ballet dancers, in particular). I mean, the acting was so-so, no big names, but it was the grace and beauty of their movements whether fast or slow, and i could somehow understand a tiny bit what they were communicating through their bodies! I was ENTHRALLED.

Although i've got NO training whatsoever in dance, there's a part of me that just knows a good performance from a not so good one. Of course not as zhai as professionals, but somehow the sense of structure, flow, beat, angle, just resonate inside me so much so that it's just a sense i get.

I was so inspired that i wanted to get onto my feet and dance but i knew... my neighbours downstairs wouldn't be pleased with a bumbling elephant thumping above them at 11pm.