To a Childhood Best Friend

Today is a special day!

Do you know why that’s so?

I came to think that it was fate

From times so long ago

Remembering all that we shared

Adventures we’ve been through

I’d like to list down all the gifts

I wish to give to you.

Evidently via mail

The package will be too heavy

My first gift is for miracles

To brighten your life daily

An angel to be by your side

To grant you with protection

The gift of accepting who you are

To gain self-realisation.

Suppose next a sturdy ladder

That leads straight to the stars

May you then receive the freedom

To be truly who you are.

Undoubtedly the next gift would be

A life with full of love

With happy never-endings

And the strength to rise above.

Remembering all that we shared,

You deserve to get the best.

It took me long to figure out

What to wrap with all the rest.

Everlasting friendship

Is one thing that I can promise

And a future of contentment

May these gifts stay ever timeless.

Dear Mei Shan, we both know

How subtle we can be

I just hope by decoding this poem,

you’ll see what you mean to me.

~Rachael Lum~



Happy 19th Birthday!!!

Rhyming Fight

It was so sudden and spontaneous but it gave me a laugh! I guess we may never know if the chicken or egg came first, and which Rach came first *though we know it is me*.

Dramatis Personae
Rachael & Rachel

Setting
MSN

Enter the cast

heheheee
MUAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAa
*chokes*
*pokes*
it rhymesss

what does?

your choke my poke!

Er…
shall we talk in rhyme tonight?
And we can have a rhyming fight!

but I can never speak in rhyme
i find i'll take an awfully long time
friend friend friend! wherefore art thou?

oh really! why in shakespeare's tone?
oh stop just stop OH! being my clone

your clone I most certainly am not
really I have never heard SUCH rot!

either that or you r my evil twin!
and in this game only one can win!

the winner is already set, we all know
and I think i'll be the one with the face that has a glow!

The face with the glow? Then it must be in red!
Cause the winner is me. you've been awfully misled

Wrong you are, my dear friend,
The champion I am, and the story thus ends!

Wrong you are too, the trophy is mine
Because I'm to have the very last line!

Mistaken you are, that is for certain,
For here I am; hark! there falls the curtain!

There falls the curtain! And falls straight on you!
For who is the winner? I am! That's true!

It falls not on me, but for us
Because I am the winner, and that is just!

Justice is blind, you said, but should it not be,
She'll see a clear winner. And who? Oh! Me!

Justice knows best; she makes her choice,
It is me! You are just making noise!

I'm making noise? Oh am i amuse!
So are you, my dear friend, does it mean we both lose?

We both lose, let us concede,
for Shakespeares, we will never be!
AHAHAH!
slow are you, my dear comrade!

Ah! Before this concludes, I really must say,
if you see this in my blog...don't glow red in any way!

*eyes*

*eyes back*

Exeunt

Sigh. I enjoy our 'battle of the wits'. What say you, Rachel?

Little things

Sometimes it is the little, random yet spontaneous things...

...that builds itself into memories you cherish.

Shortlisted the short list?

"So have you shortlisted?"

"Well..."

In fact, despite having researched for an entire day, I have only so few choices.

"Well...my list is short..."

Perhaps you may have noticed how tensed I was looking through countless numbers of institutions, and maybe you saw the 9 tabs on each window I opened over the past few days.

The course, however unsure I was before, seems clearer now. 'Where' would be the question.

Two weeks, two weeks. I better get started. I'm going to have to go through more personal statements to get a brief idea of what to include, as well as brush up my CV. No no no...first thing on list.

Answer the 'where' question!

I say love it is a flower

They say it only takes only a moment to sit back and simply indulge in our hobbies. I haven't had much time to practice this hobby for a while now, but I guess the sudden news of a friend leaving got me going again.

Doesn't this reminds you of a song? It does for me.

Some say rose it is a river

That drowns the tender reed

Some say love it is a razor

That leaves the soul to bleed

Some say love it is a hunger

An endless, aching need

I say love it is a flower

And you, its only seed

When the night has been too lonely,

And the road has been too long,

And you feel that love is only

For the lucky and the strong

Just remember in the winter
Far beneath the bitter snow
Lies the seed that with the sun's love,
In the spring, becomes the rose.

~The Rose~

And never forget the logo.

PS. Yes, handmade. Old trick learnt from years ago.

"Must be the solar eclipse..."

"Must be the solar eclipse..." Jen said, when our boiling tube mysteriously cracked and released its contents, some sodium hydrogen carbonate, aluminium foil, litmus paper and all.

Well, I thought. I know when they say there's a full moon or any sort of 'supernatural' occurrences in our daily lives, queer events start to take place, but a solar eclipse?

Cleaned the crime scene we did. Quick, quick as we can.

When our other classmates asked us how we did that part of our experiment, we could only reply, "We're not exactly the best people to ask..."

How the bottom of the tube simply broke off puzzled us. Now we had to get to the bottom of it.

The book said boil gently, didn't it? Maybe it's because we put it under direct flame. Yet the others all did the same.

Nonetheless, as we anxiously placed the bottomless boiling tube onto the rack and continued with the rest of the many experiments, cautiousness left us not every time the book mention 'boil' and 'flame'. We kept nervously laughing.

"It's the solar eclipse," Jen added, "It happened to me all day..." First she didn't bring a book. Then this happens. She claims that was why, as I am typing, the water supply at her house has been cut.

Coincidence?

Anyway, we decided that we should share the cost. So brought we the broken apparatus to the lab assistant. Now we faced the music. Did she say RM20?!

Then she asked, "Did it break while you were heating it?"

We exchanged glances. "Erm...yes."

"Oh in that case, no need to pay."

Slightly dumbfounded but awfully relieved, we hurried back to our seats and the crime scene.

Queer events on such a coinceidental day.

Come to think about it, I was supposed to go walking with a friend around the neighbourhood this evening but a sudden haze hit the streets.

What say you? Solar eclipse? (Not that we saw it, actually)

Not that long, no.

How long has it been? Not that long, I think. No, not that long. For some reason the state seems to be announcing holidays. I just received a call from yet another friend who has come back for a break. Nevermind about that for the moment. Mei Yee will be around for 2 weeks, and as promised we made our way to 1 Utama.

The Garden Restaurant is such picturesque place, but we were only there for the colourful decorations adorning the lounge.

It's been long, hasn't it? Since the four of us met?

Congratulations upon 'winning' your college's unofficial 'poll'! Although we've already told you countless times that we think the same of you, at least now you are reassured. See you around, neighbour!

Anniversary of a Sponge

Spongebob Squarepants turns 10 on this very day!

Seldom are there cartoon characters that come up sparkling wit. Of course, you have to get pass the nonsensical nonsence first, but once you do, it'll simply be one hilarious episode after another.

What I absolutely love about it is that you don't really have to think too much for it the story to flow. It'll all come together in the most peculiar and comical ways. There's just the laughable gang, and Sunday mornings.

"F is for friends, who do stuff together. U is for you and me. N is for aNytime, aNywhere and all, Down here in the deep blue sea!" ~F.U.N. Song from the Series

Which reminds me, someone is back from Negeri Sembilan, who loves Spongebob too but a little more fanatical. Spongebob and Patrick unite!

Sometimes it just happens. Again.

Coming back for the second semester does bring about dispiritedness. Once again, we have to bid farewell to yet another friend of ours. Of course we are happy. Securing a scholarship is a huge leverage, even if that means having to leave.

Just yesterday, Miss Eevon sitting in the middle here received the jubilant news and today was her last day here.Having such an impromptu farewell outing meant several people, including the Chemistry class, couldn't make it.

Nevertheless, we decided to gather a group together for it. Wind in the willows? I particularly like this photo.

Starbucks, here we are!

Great days have to end with a perfect group shot, doesn't it?

Sigh. All the best, Eevon through your new journey.

You've always been the top scorer in classes so frankly, it was only a matter of time before such an opportunity falls before your feet. Yes, I know we've been saying how dare you leave us. Of course we're kidding and we're cheering for you!

And after all, you're one of the earliest friends I made this year, and it won't be the same without you.

May you continue to excel pass everyone else there, and don't forget to remember us!

Knock knock.

Knock knock.

Oh my goodness.

Right now I don't know what to think. I don't know what that was. I know lately I've been telling myself to be spontaneous, open the door when opportunity knocks, bungee jump when it comes. Maybe that's too fast a leap.

Deep inside shock waves are smashing against my grey matter and slowly shading away the crumbling sides into dusty debris. What was going through my mind? A second chance? Redemption? A difference? Madness? Perhaps my mind wasn't there at the moment. It still isn't here.

Need to think. Need to think a lot. Guilt and regret theory appears in the test again. And what if there weren't ropes on my feet so I'm falling flat? STOP THAT!!

Knock knock.

Moo and Baa

There is a certain air that lingers within the college. Day in and day out, it had been all about university applications. Where to go? What to do? And most deadlines fall around now until August or September! What's more? Everyone's discussing about the future.

Speaking of the future, last Friday, our Chemistry lecturer let us in on a daunting fact of our either melancholic or interesting future: "Diamonds are carbons formed under high pressure and high temperature. We are all made up of carbon, oxygen, nitrogen and... whatever we are made up of. Who knows? A thousand years later, we may end up on a ring..."

Well, how cliched when they say we can all be 'diamonds' of today if we give ourselves high pressure and lots of polishing. Perhaps a comfort to know that we can literally be diamonds of tomorrow!

Speaking of the future, there was a University Application Briefing last Friday, which was extremely helpful. Yet I look around and most people have at least one name on their list, otherwise having a good idea of what life could be for them after graduation.

Speaking of the future again, as the four of us were having lunch after a University Application Briefing, I decided to break the silence, "Would you consider staying abroad after your studies?"

One said no, which I suppose being the only child is a filial deed. One said yes, since there are bigger and better oppurtunities, and the third isn't sure. I only hope I don't get attached.

Then we moved on to retirees who want to live in peace by migrating to Australia or New Zealand. Peaceful, we concluded, because of cows and sheep.

"Haha...Imagine, while they live here they say 'Ma' and 'Pa' (Mum and Papa), when they retire and migrate they'll go 'Moo' and 'Baaa'..." ~ Jia Yu

I'm telling you, I need to get pun pills before it infects me! And if it does, you'll be the ones to receive 'pun-ishment'!

OH-NO!!

To a sister

Dear Joyce,

May your year be filled with fun

Blessed with love by everyone

May you achieve all that you do

Grant your sky of brightest blue

And your soul forever free

May you be all you can be

Trust to be caught when you fall

Hold on memories you long recall

No matter what continue to thrive

May fear fear you whilst it's alive

Nothing broken can you not fix

Life will reward you as it predicts

Make lemonade when handed a lemon

Swing high above for that grasp of heaven

And while you hope to live with fate

Trust your heart and cast your bait

Chase the dreams you’re bound to find

Leave your troubles and woes behind

Now that I've come to number ten

I’ll wish them all to you again.

Woman, child, or still in between,

May you cherish being sweet sixteen.

~Rachael Lum~

Happy Birthday 'Mui Mui'! One thing about being sisters is it's not perfect but it's as good as having a best friend around. Thank you for being there.

Sister to sister we will always be,
A couple of nuts off the family tree.

~Author Unknown~

And I think to myself...

That's it. Fun time's over. Now back into the routine we have long forsaken. I'm not going to think too much about what lies ahead in August. I really got to start looking into universities, prepare my CV, and start attending all those talks. It made me wonder if I can go back to all that.

That's what I thought at first.

As we sat awaiting our new Economics teacher, Sher Min mentioned, "And I think to myself..."

Both us Rachael and Rachel finished off her sentence."...what a wonderful world..." Hey, you would have thought of that too, right?

"WHAT?? I wasn't talking about that!!" She said, while we broke into laughter.

"And I think to myself..." She repeated, as we struggle not to laugh again. "...I have to really study harder this semester."

Oh yes, of course, that's for certain. This will be the busiest term yet, especially with the many units we are to take, plus the coursework.

Pushing that back to the back of the mind, I'm surprised I managed to wake up early this morning and didn't feel the 'First Day Blues'. Everything is going back to the flow again. Only that this time, half a year is gone.

Nay, the fun's not over. It's just getting started again.

This is for you guys. Stay happy!

Cheer 2009

It never occurred to me that I'll go for an event like this. It wasn't like I had to, not when school rules dominate the co-curriculum. Well then, I thought, first times are often exciting and enthusing, so why not give it a try? After all, we do have a reason to be there.

Supposedly, for the first time in the competition, BRATs have to do live broadcasts on the event as it is going on. That meant blog posts, articles, videos and Twittering.

Twittering isn't something my fingers can tolerate, not every minute of the day. Still, we managed to update as much as possible for each performance, slightly challenging upon not repeating descriptions. To me, it still is a language birds communicate in.

Never mind about that. With our shirt and tag, we were graciously allowed to run about. We had the backstage, our little booth and the tiny room we were obliged to work, which explains the alternating dashes to and from the arena. Where once only cheerleaders may gain a brilliant vantage point and snap close-up photos now had us happily clicking away.

Sooner or later the competition started to creep into us, and with every cheer, yell, jump, toss and pyramid, we'd have a rush of exhilaration. Scream and applaud the energetic and spot-on accurate teams, hold our breath when stunts are to come, and express shock when some fell. For a moment or so, it did seem a little repetitive, but that's alright.

I liked it best when their avid supporters ROARed. It's literally a cheersquad for the cheerleaders, and at times our eardrums vibrated with their ear-piercing screams and stomps.

They really were passionate about what they were doing; it's not just some sport (which simply reminds me of marching)

*smiles*

So I conclude. It's definitely different when you are part of it.

Quote of the day:

"My camera's memory card is illiterate. It can't read."

Kara? Ok!

Assembling at the Mid valley cinema, we decided to chuck away the idea of watching a movie. Someone promptly suggested strolling over to 'The Gardens' for a karaoke session. So there we were, sitting ourselves comfortably on the couches and randomly picking out several songs.


I came to realise that all of us have highly different tastes in music.

We figured that certain oldies can never go wrong while certain modern songs have been played far too many times for us to not know the lyrics. Of course we are allowed out own picks. You have to hear Sher Min sing 'Bohemian Rhapsody'.

Later on, they announced that it's supposed to be partially a double birthday celebration. Thank you for the 'Minigami' book! And happy be-earlied birthday to Pei Pei. Be relieved it's nothing pink and frilly.

Group photo: Charles, Eevon, Jennifer, Sher Min, Rachel, Pei Pei, me, Janice, Sher Lynn, Bryan

Every song we belted out made it hilarious and really entertaining. Next time we head out, this will be on our things to do list. I don't know about you all, but I'd say the peak of the session was when all of us went..."WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS, MY FRIEND..."

Despite the huge portions of our lunch, there were still starving souls among us. Well, I suppose this is it before we return to college. Until August, that is, yet that is an entirely different story.