Crystal’s Corner

Mushroom, tomato and cheese ciabatta from Starbucks.

Tazo Iced Shaken Lemon Zen Tea with Vanilla Syrup from Starbucks

Jamoca Almond Fudge ice-cream from Baskin Robin’s.

Sigh.

Bliss.

Oh before I forget. We’re in the papers!!! =)

Click here to open the online article link.

You guys know how lazy I am to post photos on my blog when there’s Facebook but since I’m at it, I post a few la okay??

I lazy to caption la. But looking at all these pictures with me in it, I FINALLY understand why Nielle says I look like a hamster. Because I always look so busy!

*looks up with two cheekfuls of food*

*scurries away*

Oh oh wait!!

One more nice pic! I love this picture!! With all the rocking college people hanging out at Klang!! =)

Peace.

… a very very special friend who never ceases to surprise me with the things she says, who can leave me shaking my head in frustration or laughing at the conclusions she draws.

Whom I can tell (almost) all the deepest darkest things in my heart to, because I know she won’t judge me or try to ‘fix’ me. Who is opinionated about almost everything but listens to me and respects my opinions.

A friend who’s honest and not afraid to admit that she doesn’t always have the answers. But in doing so, manages to make smarter decisions than I sometimes do. A friend who upon reading this, would go, “Sometimes?? More like all the time.”

A friend who can annoy me like no other person can (probably because I respect her opinions so much) and who can also make me smile at the most ridiculous things she can come up with to say. A friend who thinks I miss her every second of every day (lol), but at the same time, knows how to respect my space when I’m busy and understands that not communicating doesn’t mean we’re not friends anymore.

A friend who was the last person I thought I’d end up being so close to way back when we were kids, but a friend who’s now the first person (or at least, first female) I would think of telling anything important to. A friend whom I used to think I have nothing in common with, from taste in boys to fashion to opinions about life, love, and relationships - but with whom now I share many opinions about life. Mostly because I’ve had to form those conclusions and opinions through stupid mistakes and actual experiences, because I was so sure I had it all figured out, while she’s never afraid to question. A friend who’s said more than once, “You will never know what you will do unless you’re actually IN the situation.” And because of that, she’s avoided a lot of stupid mistakes I wouldn’t have made if I weren’t such a smart-ass.

In conclusion, what I wanted to say was that it’s ironic that, with a friend like that, I’ve never blogged about her before. And I think it’s about time I did.

So, Kathryn Marie George, this post is for you. And yes, you can say, “You know you love me” now.

Every time people compliment me and I say that seriously, I’m not THAT talented, they think I’m just being modest. But if I’m talented, then what are my brothers la?

This is a piece of work by my 12-year old brother (who listens to Viva La Vida and the Once soundtrack - how many 12-year olds have such cultivated tastes??):

And one by my 16-year old brother:

No seriously. This is no DC comic drawing. It’s drawn freehand and colored in Photoshop.

And no, they’ve never gone for drawing or art classes. And they’ve never taken Photoshop lessons. And there’s no way we have ever been able to afford drawing books or Photoshop tutorial books. All this is the result of picking up a pencil since they could hold one, and figuring out how to use it. That’s what you call talent la.

I can multitask, yes, but heck, I can’t do that okay.

More recent art here:

Cedric’s art blog

We watched a 1957 movie in Film & TV class today. Althought it was draggy at parts, surprisingly, I really enjoyed the dialogue. It’s a love story that actually uses intelligent dialogue and implied innuendo rather than explicit scenes to portray the characters’ relationship.

I suddenly feel like going on a classic movie marathon. But until I have the time, here’s some of my favorite classic movie quotes:

An Affair to Remember (1957)

Terry McKay: What makes life so difficult?

Nickie Ferrante: People.
Terry: Tell me, have you been getting results with a line like that, or would I be surprised?

Nickie: If you’d be surprised, I’d be surprised.
Nickie: There must be something between us, even if it’s only an ocean.

Nickie:But you have such an honest face.

Terry: I have?

Nickie: I can trust you can’t I?

Terry: Yes, I suppose so.

Nickie: Good, come with me.

Terry: Yes, but the Captain has an honest face too! Why can’t you tell him your troubles?

My Fair Lady (1964)

Professor Henry Higgins: Damn, damn, damn, DAMN! I’ve grown accustomed to her face! She almost makes the day begin! I’ve grown accustomed to the tune that she whistles night and noon. Her smiles, her frowns, her ups, her downs, are second nature to me now, like breathing out and breathing in… I was serenely independent and content before we met! Surely I could always be that way again… And yet… I’ve grown accustomed to her looks, accustomed to her voice, accustomed… to her… face.

Eliza Doolittle: [singing] I shall not feel alone without you, I can stand on my own without you. So go back in your shell, I can do bloody well without…

Professor Henry Higgins: [singing] By George, I really did it, I did it, I did it! I said I’d make a woman and indeed, I did. I knew that I could do it, I knew it, I knew it! I said I’d make a woman and succeed, I did!

Professor Henry Higgins: Eliza, you’re magnificent. Five minutes ago, you were a millstone around my neck, and now you’re a tower of strength, a consort battleship. I like you this way.

Eliza Doolittle: Goodbye, Professor Higgins. You shall not be seeing me again.

Professor Henry Higgins: [quietly] You’ve never wondered, I suppose, whether… whether I could get along without you.

Eliza Doolittle: Well, you have my voice on your phonograph. When you feel lonesome without me you can turn it on. It has no feelings to hurt.

Professor Henry Higgins: I… I can’t turn your soul on.

Eliza Doolittle: Ooh, you are a *devil*. You can twist the heart in a girl the same way some fellows twist her arms to hurt her!

I think I’ve grown a few years older in the past week. My list of life experiences has had a sudden jumpstart after slowly crawling along all these 18 years of my life.

In the last week, I’ve had an accident, been pulled over by a policeman, gotten saman-ed TWICE for parking overtime, been late for classes, and done things I never should have.

I’ve discovered what it’s like to be independent, drive, manage my time, juggle a job and work, and take responsibility for my own mistakes. It’s not all that I thought it was - in terms of being a independent adult, because that means more responsibility. But at the same time, it’s a lot of fun.

I’ve learnt that some secrets are best kept secrets, not all “what-ifs” need to be found out, sometimes we hurt the people we love the most, and that you should never trust your heart more than you would trust anyone else.

Things that used to be a bigger deal in the past seem so little now, and that’s because I realize I have just climbed a mountain only to find that it was a molehill compared to the one I’m looking up at now.

And yes, at times it’s hard facing reality and being accountable for everything you do. Sometimes we make the very mistakes we swore we never would. But that doesn’t make the journey any less meaningful, or the scenery along the way any less beautiful despite the bends and bumps in the road.

First off, BRATs totally rocked my socks! Who would have thought such a random combination of people would have so much fun together. I met the coolest people with all their different opinions and ideas and I realized that I’m not that opinionated and special as I thought I was … I just haven’t met other people who are too. I mean, Su Ann was one of those girls I never thought I’d meet here in Malaysia and certaintly not a 16-year old one. And my brothers and friends call me a superwoman, but Carmen - she’s another superwoman and she might probably even blow me away!

Everyone I met in camp was cool in some way, no matter how they talked, looked, and acted (yes, even some weird ones). Because the most important factor that made them interesting was that everyone had ideas and a personality they knew how to express in words.

Anyway, I could write a whole long post about camp but I think it’s easier to sum it up into my favorite moments of camp. So, here they are!

(For pictures, just go to my Facebook and look at my recently added ones la. I’m too lazy to copy, paste and post here.)

Yummiest meal: The poolside barbeque on the last night - NOT the Kajang Satay. It tasted so like any other normal satay. And there was not enough. I only had five sticks. And by the time more sticks were ordered, I didn’t even feel like eating anymore.

Most awesome group: Mine! Of course from my perspective la.

Cutest person: Nicole a.k.a. Bambi

Biggest camwhore: From what I hear, it’s Chern Yao, and I have no reason to disagree.

Most interesting person: Su Ann, the very opened minded 16-year old with a lot to say! Followed closely by Kathy, who makes cool Vlogs. And has a cute accent when she talks.

Most annoying part of camp: No free time

Funnest part of camp: Truth and dare on the last night

Most well-written sketch script: The group that did the family dinner sketch. Whoever wrote that is brilliant.

Most interesting conversation: The one that lasted till 7 AM

Best acting: The group that did all the impersonations of the most interesting personalities in camp, from Niki to Harry to “Nicole”, to Stewart, a.k.a. the “Aiyo Ping Pong Piang boy” (okay, although technically, that wasn’t an impersonation:P)

Most hilarious statement: During the “banana game” - a game in which everyone is supposed to think of an action word for all the players/bananas to imitate (eg. split, run, jump, etc) - in which Wen Jie, under much pressure I’m sure, blurted out, “Blow banana, blow, blow banana!”Totally innocent and oblivious of course, so he wasn’t really to blame. Um. Su Ann’s answer to a question that was asked during Truth or Dare was pretty funny too but I think it’s too obscene for readers of this blog. But those of you who were there, you know which question.

1. Never assume.
2. Never judge a book by its cover.
3. And never trust anything without investigating it first.

On the same note, the media has been alive with scandals, lies, and people doing things that look picture perfect on the outside but which are nothing but fakes.

Case #1 - Beijing Olympics: Faking scandal over girl who ’sang’ in opening ceremony 

Chinese officials have admitted deceiving the public over another highlight of the Olympic opening ceremony: the picture-perfect schoolgirl who sang as the Chinese flag entered the stadium was performing to another girl’s voice.

The real singer was a seven-year-old girl who had won a gruelling competition to perform the anthem, a patriotic song called “Hymn to the Motherland”, but was considered unsuited to the lead role because of her buck teeth.

“The main consideration was the national interest,” Chen Qigang, the musical director, said. “The child on the screen should be flawless in image, in her internal feelings, and in her expression.”

Case #2 - Fake illness preacher Michael Guglielmucci told to go to police

Pastor Michael Guglielmucci has been told by church officials to report to police, who will investigate what has happened to money raised during his cancer deception.

…an email sent on Wednesday from Sydney’s Hillsong Church detailing the hoax was obtained by The Advertiser. It also said Mr Guglielmucci’s wife and family were unaware of the deception.

The former pastor with one of Australia’s biggest youth churches, Planetshakers, inspired hundreds of thousands of young Christians around the world as he performed with an oxygen tube in his nose. Healer became an anthem of faith for believers, many of whom are suffering illnesses and were praying for Mr Guglielmucci.

Hello people!

The YWC 08 camp form is out! Please do sign up if you’re between 14-20 and love writing!! Also, please feel free to invite your friends whom you think may be interested as well, but do take note that this is a Christian camp BUT it’s opened to non-Christians as well.

You can download the form here: YWC 08 Camp form

SIGN UP QUICK AS PLACES ARE REALLY LIMITED!

Here’s more information about the camp for those of you who have not heard about it before:

The Young Writers’ Camp is a series of camps organized by the Scripture Union that has been in the running for nearly ten years. Originally a project to get the works of young writers published in Phases magazine, the Young Writers’ Camp is now letting its campers choose the kind of projects they want to work on.

This year’s camp will be held from November 29 - December 2, and is open to young people between the ages of 14 to 20. However, those who are slightly above or below the age limit can still attend the camp, provided they’ve contacted us to negotiate their attendance first.

Check out our Facebook page here:
http://www.facebook.com/posted.php?id=16231039366&success#/event.php?eid=16231039366
and our blog here:
http://youngwriterscamp.blogspot.com/

Hope to see you guys at camp!

I reread my last 10 posts and I realized that if I were reading similar posts on another blog a few months ago, I would hate myself. Because it sounds almost good good to be true how happy I am with life. How content I am with where I am and so truly, truly, overwhelmingly grateful for all I have been given. How can life go from normal to amazing so suddenly in such a short period of time? I would hate myself.

I hope that I will never ever take what I have for granted, and if what I have should be taken from me, I will still be able to see the beauty in life. Because beauty and meaning in life isn’t found in things - it’s found in the heart. I’m just lucky (and blessed) to be at a point in time where I have both.

I was asked what my dream in life was.

Strangely, I didn’t have the quick answer I usually do.

I didn’t know how to explain that I didn’t have any motivation to achieve a certain goal for myself anymore.

Somehow, achieving things for myself doesn’t matter so much to me anymore.

Somehow, I’ve found a place in life where I am content and secure, and it’s not a physical place - it’s a place not limited to my location or the things that happen to me, where I’m happy with who I am and what I have done. Somehow, I feel that I’ve been given so much more than I ever deserve at this point in life. And when I say that I don’t know what other specific dreams I want to achieve, it’s because I can honestly say “What else could I ask for?”

Somehow, I love my life exactly the way it is. I’m 18. I should hate it, right? I still sometimes do I guess (when I argue with my parents), but expect for a few parts, I love it. I love being who I am. I wouldn’t trade being Crystal Cha Jing-ying for being anyone else in the world. Somehow, for the first time in forever, I am at peace with myself and my life and I don’t wish I was born somewhere else and was somebody else prettier, smarter, thinner, etc anymore.

Somehow, seeing and appreciating the little things that make life so special - every day - has become important. Somehow, making a name for myself has become less important than asking myself what I am doing to make my life count for something other than myself - and to people other than myself.

It’s one thing to say and learn these things theoretically - such as that a life lived for something or someone other than yourself is the most meaningful kind of life. And I have said things like that in the past. But it’s quite another thing to experience these things and to know that saying anything else would be denying the truth.

This is what I want to live for. And for the first time, it isn’t because I think I should, because that’s what good people do, because that’s what people expect of me, because I’m a Christian, and so on. It’s because it’s what’s real in my life and somehow, at this point in life, it just suddenly makes perfect sense to me.

I’m feeling two things at the same time:

That no one will ever fully get me or understand me,

and,

that I’m thankful for one person who understands, although not fully.

And somehow, that is enough.

for the next four days for the Star BRATs! Whee…

See ya guys on Tuesday!! Okay off to pack now then SLEEP. So freaking tired after one whole day of work and classes.

Toodles!

Before I forget, here’s my top two most memorable customers of the day:

• An old Chinese man in old tee shirt and shorts who smelled of cigarrette smoke walked in and invited Mia, the Malay girl manning the cash register to a church event in the Assumption Catholic Church next to Assunta even though it was SO obvious she was Malay and wearing a tudung. Then he didn’t order anything but a glass of hot water. Then he walked to his seat and five minutes later, gave us some International Catholic newsletter thingy!
• A cute guy came into the store to buy something. The store manager told me he was a regular customer. Then he came back later with two other guys who were his cousins, and my other manager told me that they were looking for me! Lol. Then later late at night before they left the hospital they walked past again

There were more, but all the excitement was really during the morning shift cos they were having some function at Assunta and they asked Starbucks to help host it but I missed it cos I had class and did the closing shift.

Anyway, gotta go hit the books now!! Toodles…

In as little words as possible because I need to finish my tutorial and sleep:

New babies - two hamsters, Tiramisu (female) and Truffles (male).

First day working at Starbucks Assunta. Learnt how to make some basic drinks, pull shots, steam milk, grind beans, clean the store.

Enjoying my other baby - Sky, my guitar.

Saving lots of time with my fourth baby - my laptop- but I never seem to have enough time.

Waking up earlier than usual and going to bed later than usual but actually being motivated to brush my teeth in the morning and take cold showers at night.

Love driving even though it’s a manual car with no power steering. Being on the road helps me clear my mind and relax, but ironically almost every time I’ve driven I’ve had to rush due to meetings that stretched overtime - three in total in this week. One would usually make me frazzled enough, but these three haven’t even yet.

Animals.

Coffee.

Music.

Productive college work.

Wheels.

What else could I ask for? I could do this every day.

I am so grateful every time I think about it. How many people get to have so many things they love at the same time, all in one day, day after day? I know I am blessed.

My cup runs over.