Thursday, May 31, 2007
Heart of Gold
"Too bad all of you guys have a heart of gold, 'cause you'll sink in water."
Com dead today- Nokia PC Suite doesn't go well with some computers.
Boo, Nokia.
I'll update tomorrow again.
PAINTING TIME.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
I'm Back!
"I'm back, stronger than ever. YOU HAVE RUBBED OFF YOUR NICENESS ONTO ME! "
... THE ELECTRICITY'S BACK.
WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
I apologise, no pictures of the place was taken today. Kinda forgot, haha.
Again, empty promises to all you people- but I'll remember to get pictures posted ASAP.
Okay, now to business.
First off, I'll like to thank everyone right now who has been helpin' meh. It has really been a trying period, and I appreciate all that everyone's been doing for me.
Really!
Don't know what else to say other than that, leh. I'll get broke if I say "next time makan my treat". Mwahahaha!
Oh yeah, before I continue...
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Lalala: do it with don get your house burnt down.
IP Address: 220.255.138.144
My, my.
What are you driving at?
Time to pull your head outta your ass and
Bring it on, baybeh.
Edit:- I'm feeling nice now.
Come on, be nice! =D
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I'm
horrible that way.
Yeah, I'm back!
"And when you've hit rock-bottom, the only way you can go is UP!"
Ha, I'll still have to see a councellor one day, but I think my mental state's back.
Rested, relieved, and ready to take on whatever the world can throw at me again.
"It's the times of adversity do you grow and learn to overcome..."
I approached YJC this morning, tired as heck.
Looked for the Miss Tan, my CT. She wasn't around. Nevertheless, I went to look for the Mrs Ng, le principle. It was waitin' for her that I got to talk to the clerk. It's amazing how powerful her pick-me-ups were. I felt a new strength stirring within me.
For that one time in months, Life was actually worth livin'.
Okay lah, so I sounded emo in that last sentence, but walau, Life is worth livin' lor.
I read Phyllis's blog a few moments ago- She mentioned something about faith. No offence ar, I'm going to respond to this as impartially as I can.
It goes like this:
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" Firstly. I dont know if Weiwen will read this or not, but if your friends list exhaust and need my help, just give me a call/message and i'll be down in a jiffy.
Okay that's not my main point, the thing is, he mentioned something about religion in his blog after his house caught fire. He mentioned something like although his Buddha statues are all burnt, he still lit the joss sticks and prayed for safety.
More like for him to hang on to something when there's nothing more to let him rely on. I guess that's why so many people have a religion. In times of desperation, they will only have their beliefs to rely on and pray for safety/goodluck/to seek solace/etc.
Im not saying that religions are serving the sole purpose of giving people the pillar of strength to carry on when all the others fail but think about it, why do people seek help from the unseen rather than from other people? There are so many people in the world, surely at least one can be of help?"
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You're such a dear, haha.
When this incident happened, I felt lost.
I lost not only my house, but my home. The one true thing that I hold dear to my heart.
It pains me to see my mother in such a state- Her injuries comprised of both the mental and physical aspect. There was no way Mum could do all these on her own.
As for Dad, I am not ashamed to say that he's no longer there for us.
When I called him, all he said was "I will try to help". When asked for a definite answer of "yes" or "no", he told me that he couldn't answer that question. It's alright, I'm accepting it, I guess. He's still my father after all.
So then, I was on my own. I admit, I did lose hope for a while- I thought that there was nothing else for me to hold on to. I'm still trying to understand this, but Man has somewhat created religion in order to invoke inner strength, or something.
Troubled times require reassurance, and that's what religion to me is about, partially at least.
I lit joss-sticks and prayed not for safety- I was thankful.
Grateful that my family came out of this alive.
I respect the Buddha for his teachings, however (I'm so going to hell for this) weird it can be.
It is through his words that I live my life, even though I may stray from the path set for me.
I chose this religion for myself when I realised that I was no longer bound to accepting what my parents set for me- They have taught me to be independent via His teachings.
And I'm glad it has paid off- This is being put to good use now.
I'm not the best example for fellow Buddhists- trust me on this one, because I have violated at least... all of it. I don't abide, I take into consideration, I guess.
I didn't seek help from the Buddha- I realised that I was seeking self-assurance. I had to clear the self-doubt before continuing.
And to achieve that, I had to seek help from others.
And I have.
Hella grateful that my call for help was answered.
.
.
.
Religion is one thing- Belief is another.
It's not a question of what religion to choose, but what you believe in.
Now I ask all of you readers this question: What do you believe in, and why?
Sometimes the answer may just be around the corner, sometimes it may be far from what we expect.
Think about it.
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UPDATE:-HAHAHAHA ELECTRICITY'S UP. One month of work, completed in three days.
Mum's room kinda finished cleaning. Window frames were installed today, instead of the scheduled Friday! Yay!
Patching of wall has somewhat been completed. WOOT.
Master Bedroom's toilet has been pretty much restored except for the lack of lighting- I'ma have to go get some from a lighting shop soon. YAY SHOPPING.
I made myself a small "pad" to rest in the balcony. It looks pretty decent. Must get pictures!
Jerico, Joo, and Anson came down today to help out. SUPERVISE HAHA. Bhanglas need supervision! >=(
The house is drier than yesterday! I can clean the dust off with BROOMS now, zomg.
Mum's gettin' better. She even cracked a joke with me today. LAME.
Approached YJC for a consent to submit a bursary form. Le Principle was very, very nice. She sent YJC'S Operation Manager to HELP ME, HAHAHAHAHA.
Everything's taking shape right now.
Very appreciative.
Let's make me a home!
WOO!
TO-DO LIST:-IT'S VESAK DAY TOMORROW OMG CRAP. Need to relocate the Buddhas while I clean up this sanctuary.
CLEAN FURNITUREEEEEEEEEEEEEE.
Submit forms.
Buy paint and furniture- GET READY FOR PAINTING!!
Change doors and arrange for window panes to come in.
Choose paint colours! Pink looks good, but blue looks awesome too!
Go to temple and pray, haha. Vesak Day!
Pictures- Because all of you have been super supportive! RAWR.
Friday- PAINTING BEGINS. NEED HELP PL0X!
I love being back.
CHEERS!
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Touched
"Guys, really, I thank you all so much for your help. Rock on. :)"
I'm so touched I feel molested.
Many people came today to help out.
Meigui, Chun Ying, Jerico, Aozy, Jiaru, Lynnette...
Chun Ying had to leave later because of a class- How nice of her to come down, lar! Poor girl looked so dirty as she left for her class.
Sarah and Shah! Both of them rushed down, hearing what happened, from school somemore!
Even Aaron, the twit that he is, came down to help. He went home wearing my belt. -.-
Jasper cabbed down, upon hearing my plight. Mad leh!
Alot of others sent their regards, too! Thank you, people!
Can I like, mount a plaque or something with your names on it?
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UPDATE:-I'm livin' with Wei Hong's house now, a stone throw away from what used to be my house.
MP came at 7pm today- sent his regards and saw to it that we would be looked after (I hope).
Some things were said, to which I fear may happen. Nevertheless, I'll only divulge it only if the time is ripe.
Most of the debris has been cleared from Mum's room. Wiring would be continued in there tomorrow, along with the mains.
Wiring has been up and going, will be finished tomorrow. Three months of work in three days.
Doors and windows have been measured- Be made to arrive in a few days' time.
Walls have been scrubbed, it looks more decent now. May be ready for repainting soon. The room not scrubbed thoroughly is the Buddha's room, I'll have to postpone work on that for now- don't know if it would be okay shifting them around.
Gas was checked and reconnected- No leaks, all was okay.
Paint was chosen- Pink Frost as our main colour theme. Pink kicks ass.
So, electricity, gas and water are most probably going to be reconnected tomorrow.
At least the foundations of the house has been set.
Tomorrow would see the finishing of electric works.
As for Friday, painting would start, while the windows would come in during that time.
Hopefully, everything will be up and done by next Tuesday.
Funny thing is, the contractor that's managing this will be on holiday from this coming Friday all through next Wednesday, and not to mention this Thursday would be Vesak Day, a public holiday. All work would stop then.
I'm not expecting too much, am I?
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TO-DO LIST:-I still have to look for my CT tomorrow- She wasn't in today. Need to inform her.
Gotta look into Mum's toilet. Dum dee dum.
Start cleaning and packing stuff into boxes- The boxes now are too wet to be used again.
Visit Golden if time permits. Poor thing.
Sigh, Granny too. I miss her badly.
I'll show pictures tomorrow if it's possible.
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As for now, I thank all who is helping.
Thank you all very much.
Monday, May 28, 2007
Fiery Aftermath
"It was total carnage like I've never seen before."
"Now Mount Sinai was completely covered with smoke
because the Lord had descended on it in fire,
and its smoke went up like the smoke of a great furnace,
and the whole mountain shook violently."
-- Exodus 19:18
I finally fell asleep at 5 AM- was waiting for the shock to set in.
It didn't.
Woke up at a quarter past nine, HDB called.
Mum's handphone was with me- She's in no state to handle these kind of matters now.
Being the control freak I was, I took charge of the situation.
Time for me to look after Mum.
Called AIG, got our policy number, arranged for the contractor to come down and fix everything.
Good, at least we had basic fire insurance. That would cover the four walls of the house.
Electrical wiring and painted walls.
Okay, that's a start.
So, an appointment was fixed with the contractor for 12.30PM.
Great, it was 10.30AM then. Quite a bit of time for me to handle police reports and the Fire Investigation Bureau.
They would be coming down at 4PM.
11AM came fast, and the contractor called again, saying that he would have to meet me earlier, at 12PM, instead.
Great, so Jerico and I walked over to Rivervale Plaza to grab a bite- Not that there was much to eat, anyway. No appetite, either.
It was 11.45AM when I got another call- The contractor has arrived.
Talk about punctuality.
So Jerico, the nice guy that he was, offered to get me food while I rushed to my house.
This was what I was greeted with.
Huh. Televisions aren't as hardy, I suppose.
Mum looked worse today. She must have spent the night worrying.
So did the Buddhas in the room, I suppose.
Just had no time to save them.
Funny enough, religion kicked in. Maybe I needed faith during that time, but I swore that I could see that the Buddhas were actually still there.
Y'know, in spirit.
Or maybe I'm just turning mad.
Still, I lighted up the candles and set a few joss-sticks.
The sight of the Buddhas... existing in spirit- It kinda gives you assurance.
Strength.
Well, I heck needed alot of that.
Mum's room was devastated.
Well, at least everyone got out safe and sound.
Town Council and RC came down, offering their assistance.
They sent some help to clear the house.
A foreman, with his four workers.
I thank the Sir who offered his men for this work.
But.
Damn, bloody Bhanglas.
There is mucho reason for me to feel this right now- Bhanglas are blood-sucking leeches.
They were LOOTING the burnt coins on the floor while cleaning up, even right in front of me.
It's alright, really- The coins can be given to them. Coffee on me, lah, for helping with this.
But I flipped when they just... Didn't stop.
Oei, too much coffee = Lao sai, leh.
On top of that, the shit that they were clearing had Mum's wedding ring.
(I was pretty hopping mad when I heard that.
WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'RE NOT WEARING IT RIGHT NOW?!)
I'll have to leave that pile of melted piggybanks and jewellery boxes to another day as I differentiate them from the rubble.
It was just a huge mess.
Air conditioner melted and molded to the metal bed frame.
Walls cracked.
Glass on the windows, broken.
And the bed?
Well, whatever's left of it. King Koil does prove to be partially fire resistant, though.
At least it did better than this Dell.
And I just fixed this little baby up less than a week ago!
So, this was what I was faced with.
Crap.
Right, faith, right.
Okay, let's start with...
Maybe the...
Or the...
This is bad.
*blink blink*
Really bad.
At least we did get most of the job done today- Most of the stuff that could be saved, were salvaged.
I thank Jerico, Jasmine, Meigui (most efficient person, ever), Jia Ru and Yiling for taking time out of their busy schedule to help with this.
Even the neighbours were awesome.
Sponges, old cloths, pails, brooms...
Hong Xuan and his father, from the thirteenth floor, contributed their help to cleaning up, too!
You just had to be there.
Everything has to be cleaned up ASAP, so the wiring can be TAKEN OUT.
Then installed.
Then the paint can be applied.
Well, after the scrubbing of walls.
And the walls in Mum's room has to be plastered back.
It would take approximately 3 months to complete the job, they say.
And block tests start in 3 weeks.
I'm so gonna retain.
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.
.
WHAT YOU GUYS WANT TO KNOWI know, everyone's asking what happened, and what's happening now.
The fire was caused by some aromatherapy oil.
It ignited when it struck the fire accidentally, and Mum was burnt when it combusted.
One thing led to the next- And there was a flash fire due to all the flammable liquids in the room, like perfume, etc.
Mum, Granny, Yati, Golden and I were at home when it happened.
Don't ask what happened yet, I'll talk about it when I finally feel ready to.
Mum is alright now- Recuperating at an aunt's.
Granny is at another aunt's place for good, all her needs are being taken care of.
Yati is going back to Indonesia to visit her family.
Can't let this spoil her trip- Not fair to her.
Golden is with Mum- I may have to relocate her soon.
I'll be livin' with Wei Hong for the next week or so, as I clear up the place.
No one was hurt too badly in this.
I'm handling matters in the meantime.
AS FOR NOW...Town Council is helping- and has helped with cleaning.
Mr Palmer, the MP of our constituency will be coming down tomorrow- Mum wasn't feelin' too well today and re-scheduled the visit.
The electrician would come at 9AM tomorrow.
Cleaners would arrive around 12PM, if memory still serves me well.
Nice Jia Ru volunteered to help me from the morning. I owe her big-time for that.
I would have to call YJC tomorrow, and inform my CT.
.
.
.
And now... Yeah.
Please,
I'm asking for help to tide over this crisis.
I would appreciate if you could help me with the clearing of the junk in my house, and cleaning.Gloves, sponges, old cloths.For all those reading this blog and knowing me, you should have my number.I'm now asking all of you as a friend, an aquaintance, or as a fellow human being, while trying to handle this situation as calmly as possible.Please help me.I thank you all.
P.S. There may be some HTML coding errors, do pardon.
It's kinda hard to type on a thrashed keyboard.
Sunday, May 27, 2007
From Ashes to Ashes
" And I could have done more..."
The house caught fire today.
Raging fire.
House was badly burnt.
I'm still in shock, or at least waiting for the shock to set in.
Everyone's alright now- every one of us came out safe and sound.
Mum is alright- discharged from the hospital.
Grandma is staying at Aunt Rosalind's house, for good.
Mum, Yati, and Golden are staying at Aunt Catherine's house for tonight.
As for me, I'm 'thonning' at Jerico's place for tonight.
Went back to survey the scene. The master bedroom was devastated.
As for the rest of the house... I haven't really looked at it- Just came back from there to salvage whatever I had left, for the night.
I'll have to take pictures tomorrow morning for insurance claim.
Michael Palmer, the MP for our constituency, would be coming down tomorrow, for a "visit". Hopefully, we can get help from them.
I'll update more about it.
And to all the people I've approached tonight, I thank you for what you've done.
Friday, May 04, 2007
Catching up
"I have a life? Damn, didn't notice that."
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DOUBLE UPDATE:-
Love the new layout?
You better. I spent hours on it.
Oh yes, I discovered the joys of brushes.
I also changed the general look of the blog-
It's no longer -just- black and white.
Still, I hope to achieve a professional sepiatone colour one day.
This would just have to do for now.
General changes:-
; Text is much bigger, that's for sure.
I realised that a few people were turning blind reading DiwD.
There's something called...
View -> Text Size -> Increase
Meh, it's larger now, anyway.
; Notice the Books section?
Yeah, it's called Literature now.
I've added a few must-reads- Enjoy.
; Oh yeah, the sub-headings are iconic now.
Haha, get it? Icon, just like picture- Never mind.
; Tagboard is changed-
Cbox was pissing me off with advertisements.
-Edit: Cbox is back. Wasn't Cbox's fault.
It was something else. Now a pretty grey.-
; And of course,
THERE'S FINALLY COLOUR!
WOOT!
I'm still updating the back-dated posts.
Stay tuned.
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UPDATE:-
As of now, there are 6/10 back-dated entries posted. You can read them via scrolling down or using the archive section- Just click on 'April 2006'.
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Just a short note here to readers/fan/freakin' stalkers.
DiwD was not updated due to uhh... Renovations. Yeah, that's it.
We were- um... upgrading the, um, tagboard.
And installing new RAM into it.
To make it nicer.
*grins*
Okay, so I was just being a lazy little prat. Anywho, I'm dedicating these past few days to update my past entries. So if they're alittle short and/or aren't interesting, yeah. Ain't my fault. Okay, actually it technically is, but-- YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN.
So then I'll just keep you updated for abit. Watch this spot.
And don't worry, I'll keep on updatin' normally in a few days' time.
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More to come... (ones in
BOLD are the ones already completed slip-shoddily)
Solitude -
If you were the only one.
Photo-Moronic-I'm in the news.Happy Birthday to Me-Many things have happened since.Catharsis-
What have I become?
Google's Fools-It's up to no good, again.
What would you do?-When you've got her.The Road Not Taken-
Self-realisation.
Friday the 13th-DAMNIT -censored-Basketball's Demise
LITTLE SUNNAVA- -censored-Why not take a crazy chance?
You'll never know what it might bring you.
