Oh well.

It's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new liiiiiiiife for me. And I'm feeeeeeliiiing good.

Haha I kid. Can't wait to see everyone again! :D It's going to be three days of awesome friends, good food, stupid movies, music, and hopefully lots of alcohol. Merry Christmas to me!

In other news, I've got my ibanking device. Also in other news, I am still broke.

This post cannot possibly be more pointless.

My farewell gift ♥

Pity. But ah well, people gotta do what they gotta do. I don't see myself having a long-term career here anyway. Time for (hopefully) greener pastures.

HAHAHHA YAH OK WHATEVER YOU SAY MAN. Still funny!

1. dye my hair

2. highlight my hair (NO SERIOUSLY. I have been harping on this forEVER and I should get it done)

3. cut my hair

4. watch the entire of season 5 of Dexter

5. find stupid games to download and play

6. SHOP!!!!!

7. this list is pointless. THE END

And my personal favourite:

It was supposed to be a thing with Jieying, Seah and Jiamin but Jieying had the best timing ever and came down with chickenpox two days before our trip (!!) so Seah's sister took her place.

Pictures all courtesy of Jiamin/Seah's sister because my camera is a 10mgp piece of shite.

Our resort was like 5 minutes away from the ferry terminal and resembles a bigger and nicer Downtown East.

One terrible (but free) lunch later, it was time for our spa treatment! Let's just say it was an... interesting experience. Strangely invasive LOL. Whatever, I could get used to pretending that I go for spa massages and such on a regular basis.

Dinner at A&W! I'm still not a fan of the rootbeer float because rootbeer still tastes like toothpaste to me. I know I'm the only one who thinks so.

The curly fries on the other hand, were AMAZING.

We went back to the hotel after a round of pointless wandering around the dingy shopping centre and because my idiot of a Blackberry decided to not connect to the free wifi, I had to resort to old-fashioned entertainment in the form of reading a BOOK. How very quaint and 2005! It was nice though, not even going to lie.

It was definitely the most relaxing vacay I've ever had because after an early breakfast the next day, we went back to our rooms and read/slept some more. I had wanted to go to the poolside and read with a fruity beverage like every cliched chicklit you've ever read but it was too bloody hot and so back to the air-conditioned rooms it was!

And... that was about it! We took the 2pm ferry back home and I continued reading and finished the book. AM PROUD OF SELF.

UGH for my next vacay I really really want to go to NYC or LA. CAN SOMEBODY PLEASE MAKE THAT HAPPEN FOR ME :(

Who says I should?! If I'm going to (or at least attempt to learn how to), it's going to be because I want to and not because I have to. I will never ever understand girls who seem to enjoy conforming to that sexist notion that they have to know how to cook to be considered a "good wife". WELL THANKS A LOT FOR BEING PROGRESSIVE AND SHIT. And also? KNOWING HOW TO COOK IS SERIOUSLY NOT A BIG DEAL, JUST AS HOW NOT KNOWING HOW TO ISN'T. WHO THE FUCK CARES IF YOU CAN WHIP UP THREE DISHES AND A PORRIDGE/RICE. DON'T NEED TO BRAG, NOBODY GIVES A RAT'S ASS.

Unpredictable is another word which generally applies to the typical Geminian; changeable as quicksilver, loving disguise and mimicry, fascinated for a little while with just about everything, quick to become bored and move on. Interested in many subjects, proficient in few, for the world is too large and there is too much to know and too much to talk about to waste time plunging into depths and missing all those other opportunities.

Gemini has been accused on the negative side, of being superficial and shallow. But this is neither true nor fair. The Geminian mind is perfectly capable of depth and concentration, when necessary. The sphere of ideas is his natural hunting ground. It's just that Gemini's mind works in a curiously non-linear way. He knows that if you spend too long with one thing, you're likely to miss all its associations and connections. And Gemini's aim is not to acquire specialized in-depth knowledge of any one thing. He's after a broad and comprehensive spectrum of knowledge, which can only be culled by stopping at every port. He appreciates satire, and the sentence which in shorthand somehow communicates the whole picture without the necessity of delving into great detail. And he also appreciates what's interesting in the moment. His concentration isn't foggy, like that of many Pisceans; nor is he absent-minded. It's just that he's liable to be distracted easily. Too many things catch his attention. And why not? Life, to Gemini, is full of moving things; and where they move, he moves with them.

Gemini excels in the media, particularly at journalism, the kind of writing or reporting which communicates the entire picture in a few clever images. And the urge to communicate is powerful in this sign as is the urge to learn. There is something eternally childlike about Gemini's mind. If you take the cycle of the zodiac as a symbol of the different stages of man's development, Gemini, being the third sign, represents the stage where the thinking processes begin. Watch a child when he's interested in something. His interest may be short-lived; but as soon as he discovers something, he must tell everybody about it. It's as natural to him as breathing. Gemini's often monopolize conversations for hours, not because they want to draw special attention to themselves as many Leos do, but because if they know something interesting then it's the most natural thing in the world to tell it to everyone else too.

And Gemini is also the great democrat of the zodiac. You couldn't really expect him to be otherwise, he treasures his own capacity to think and certainly isn't prepared to give over the right of decision-making and concept-forming to anybody else. Tell him what to think about something and you'll see his back receding in the distance very quickly. The immense pleasure that Gemini takes in discovering something for himself, finding something out, learning something, is so obvious and so bright that you could scarcely imagine him following someone else's opinions with any docility. And because he likes to be well-informed, it's hard to fool him or swing him emotionally. He's interested in people, from a distance, and loves to find out how they tick; and he will talk to just about anybody to find out a little something about something because to him everything is interesting. You'll rarely find conservatism or prejudice in Gemini's lively, stimulating mind.

No, Gemini doesn't care for responsibility very much. He's usually got a strong ethical code - all airy signs do - and he'll deal with people fairly. In that sense, he's one of the most responsible of the signs, because he's an idealist as far as how he sees people and their interrelationships. But duty for duty's sake doesn't interest him; he likes to travel light. He's generally happier with a few back doors open, in case he decides he needs a little journey to refresh him. Tie him down to one place and one job doing one thing for any length of time and he'll either go to pieces in a mass of nervous fidgeting, smoking, nail-biting and paper-shredding, or he'll leave. Gemini needs mental and physical mobility. Put him where he can talk to people, travel a little, and he's fine, and perfectly capable of discharging responsibility. Put him with a partner who talks a lot about duty, and you're guaranteed a failed relationship.

Words are fascinating things for Gemini. Whether he's the more verbal type of Gemini who talks a blue streak or the quieter type (yes, there are some) whose minds may be spinning with all kinds of things but who are too introverted to tell you about them, language is usually a wonderful and eternally stimulating game to him. I have met many Geminis who are incurable pun-makers - a form of humour which seems to be peculiar to only a couple of signs, Pisces being the other - because they love to play with language. Self-expression through language is extremely important, and Gemini also often loves to hear himself talk - not because he thinks he's so wonderful, but because he's fascinated with what words can do. Often he'll learn other languages quickly, and word-plays amuse him where clumsier forms of humour leave him cold. And language means a lot to him, too.

Life isn't a terribly serious business for Gemini. For this reason many Geminis drift, uncertain as to where their skills or vocations lie, because so much is interesting and they often show little talent at a lot of things. Even if Gemini has one definite talent, he'll generally be pretty restless and dissatisfied dedicating himself to it, because, well, only one thing to do is pretty boring. In some ways it's good general advice to Gemini to always have either two jobs, or a job and an important hobby, because that way when one gets boring the other seems fresh and interesting. We aren't taught to look at careers like this; we're supposed, in this world, to do one thing and do it well. Often the Gemini is sadly short-changed by this policy, because his real gift isn't at doing one thing well, but at finding the links between two completely disparate things. He's really a bridge-builder in ideas. And he's happiest when he can translate one sphere of life into the language of another.

You can generally spot Gemini by his eyes. Not that they're peculiar or anything. It's just that they're generally moving, even when he's talking to you and deeply interested in what you're saying. But he simply can't help noticing someone new who has walked into the room, or some new object which has appeared on the table or the wall. This is pretty disconcerting to many people who like to feel that all his attention is focused on them. If you're the sort of person who needs this kind of concentrated attention, avoid Gemini. He's simply not capable of shutting out the stimuli around him. It doesn't mean he's not interested. It does mean he's not that involved. Deep involvement or commitment is difficult for him. It's not that he needs a lot of rope. It means he needs no rope at all. Then, if you're not paying too close attention, you might discover to your surprise and pleasure that he's still there.


The Gemini Woman

If you think all women should be sweet, emotional creatures without a great deal of intelligence, whose true role in life is to bear children and devote themselves to their mates, you shouldn't be reading this book in the first place. And you particularly shouldn't be reading about the airy signs, since women born under this element are even less likely than anybody else to want to fulfill that lovely traditional image. Air sign women think; and the Gemini woman, in common with her Aquarian and Libran cousins, can generally out-think most anybody you know. Her thinking might not always be either scientific or consistent, but she's a person of ideas, who needs mental stimulation and interesting people in her life. It's not that the Gemini woman is incapable of being loving, or maternal, or domestic. It's just that these things aren't usually at the top of the list of priorities. Gemini, whether male or female, must have air to breathe and space to explore.

There's often a quality of sophistication about the Gemini woman. Whether you see her in a small country village tending her home and children, or at an art gallery opening in New York City, she'll usually be the one who's read everything she can get her hands on about just about every subject you can think of. She may know something about Iranian politics, and Persian mythology, and knitting patterns, and rare butterflies, and the breeding of horses. One thing she's not: provincial. She needs company and stimulation, and you can't expect her to be happy with a life of strict routine. And she needs to be appreciated not only as a woman, but also as an interesting person. Many Gemini women become neurotic and terribly unhappy because they try to adapt themselves to somebody else's - society, family, husband - image of how they should behave, and underrate their own versatility and restlessness.

Yes, restlessness. The Gemini woman, like the Gemini man, often needs two jobs, or a series of hobbies, or a regular class or group discussion, to keep her happy. Her desire to learn is one of her strongest motivations, and needs to be developed and encouraged - whether this means attending university, or attending evening courses in one or two subjects which interests her, or just going down to the local library a lot. In career terms, the Gemini woman often makes an excellent solicitor, advertising or marketing executive, translator, teacher, journalist, or photographer - and the whole world of the media, films, radio, television suit her admirably. She also needs contact with more than one person. The Gemini woman, limited to just a husband and children to talk to, will often vent her frustrations by becoming an intolerable gossip, because she simply must communicate.

Problems with emotional expression are characteristic with the Gemini woman as they are with the Gemini man. The natural Geminian tendency to hold in emotion, to negate it, to analyse it away, often means that the Gemini woman lives a kind of near-hysterical extroverted life running and running away from feelings of loneliness or unhappiness. A good case in point is Marilyn Monroe, who perhaps might have been spared the tragic conclusion to her life if she had been more emotionally honest with herself. Her attraction lay as much in her sparkle as it did in her looks, for Gemini radiates a kind of fascination whether he or she is conventionally attractive or not.

You often see Gemini women who are terribly highly-strung and nervous. It's a characteristic Geminian response to repressed emotion. It's got to do with that other twin, the one we talked about earlier. For the Gemini woman, the polarity in her nature often consists of her feminine self and her intellect, which are frequently at odds with each other. She'll have in equal proportions the same needs and drives which motivate any woman, and the Geminian intellectual drive as well. And they don't always get on too well together, these two faces, because if you pursue the mind with all its butterfly weavings and turnings, you can't afford to commit yourself either to love or to maternity. It's a hard tangle for the Gemini woman to sort out. She's often more at home in conversations with men than with her own sex: and unless her children are interesting themselves, and able to keep her mind fascinated, she often finds the nonverbal side of communication with children difficult. Many Gemini women have great academic expectations from their children, especially if they have not developed themselves along this line; and it's probably a more sensible exercise for the Geminian woman to satisfy her own love of learning and travel and excitement first before she attempts to raise a family. Otherwise the low boredom level, and the dislike of routine, can become pretty difficult.

No astrological sign is deficient in any basic human need or expression. It's just that each sign suggests a bias, a propensity to learn one way more than another. With Gemini, ruled by Mercury, the need for knowledge and experience and stimulation is often greater than the need for security. It's a question of trying to allow room in one's life for all one's needs to be fulfilled. This is why Gemini, as a sign for a woman, requires plenty of room for personal freedom, development of ideas, and contact socially beyond the family circle. Air signs, as we've said several times already, need air.

The quality of delicate romanticism exists in the Gemini woman as well as the Gemini man. It isn't a heavy or strongly emotional romanticism; it's light, cultured, and airy. Gemini needs to be frivolous, and love for Gemini must contain some humour and some frivolity as well as more intense emotion. Also, it needs to be talked about. The Gemini woman loves words as much as the Gemini man, which means that the tacit assumption that your presence bespeaks your love doesn't accomplish any miracles. The Gemini woman appreciates a man who can be articulate, especially about his feelings. And Gemini also likes a few games; things shouldn't be brutally honest or stark or without style.

Sometimes you see a strong aesthetic sensitivity in the Gemini woman. Taste is important to her. She's often fashion-conscious and trend-conscious. She's rarely the old-fashioned type for whom the sentimental memories of Victoriana suffice. More often she'll be intensely modern in her tastes, from clothes to cars to the films she enjoys and the books she reads. Nostalgia is a Cancerian trait, not a Geminian one.

The Gemini woman can be a fascinating creature. She can also be an elusive one, and a thoroughly confusing one if you attempt to type her. She's particularly confusing if you expect her moods to be consistent and her interests focused. But once again, remember the butterfly. Butterflies aren't provided by nature for utilitarian reasons such as our food supply or the wood from which we would build houses. Whatever nature had in mind, we enjoy butterflies for their beauty, for their grace, for their freedom, for their brightness. To stretch the analogy to unbearable lengths, we do derive one useful commodity from the efforts of this kingdom of nature: silk, the most delicate and luxurious and exotic of fabrics. Gemini is often like silk: you can't expect to repair your car in silk, or subject it to the brutalities of a washing machine, but treated delicately and appreciated for its beauty, it's the most cherished material in the world.

For the most part, I know I am looking forward to it, very much so. But on some part I can't help feeling way out of depth and a complete fraud and that it'd only be a matter of time before I blow my own cover - I actually don't belong.

OH FOR FUCK'S SAKE SELF, WHAT ARE YOU, 18? Leave that self-esteem shit behind. No time for self-doubting.

Oh dual personality, how you confuse me so.

OKAY I DON'T GET IT AT ALL. I REALLY DON'T.

I MEAN, I HATE (OK I DON'T HATE. I DON'T HATE ANYTHING HE SINGS) THIS SONG ON THE ALBUM BECAUSE IT SOUNDS LIKE SOMETHING DAUGHTRY/DAVID COOK WOULD SING AND THAT'S JUST A NO-GO MAN, EVEN FOR ADAM. SO I SKIP OVER IT EVERY SINGLE TIME. THE 16 PLAY COUNTS ON ITUNES IS PROBABLY BECAUSE I LEFT ITUNES RUNNING WHEN I WENT FOR LUNCH.

BUT OMG THIS. THIS ACOUSTIC VERSION OF THE SONG. I CANNOT DEAL WITH IT. IT'S SHEER PERFECTION. THE VOCAL RUNS, THE GUITAR RIFFS, THAT GORGEOUS TIMBRE OF HIS VOICE, THE PITCH PERFECTION (HOW DOES ONE DO THAT?! HOW DO YOU SING LIVE AND SOUND LIKE YOU'VE BEEN RECORDING IN A STUDIO?!), OK BASICALLY HIS VOICE. IF THIS HAD BEEN THE VERSION ON THE ALBUM IT'D HAVE 30948034234 PLAY COUNTS BY NOW.

HIS. VOICE. IS. LIKE. HONEY. TO. MY. EARS. AND. MY. SOUL. I MEAN HAHA D'OH I KNOW HIS VOICE IS AMAZING, INCREDIBLE ETC ETC BUT OMG ESPECIALLY WHEN IT'S RECORDED LIVE IT'S LIKE A MILLION TIMES BETTER IF THAT'S EVEN FATHOMABLE. HOW IS IT THAT SOMETIMES I AM STILL STUNNED BY HIS VOICE?! LIKE LITERALLY, STUNNED INTO SILENCE. I DON'T UNDERSTAND! WHAT IS THIS HYPERBOLE YOU SPEAK OF. THERE IS NO HYPERBOLE WHEN IT COMES TO HIS VOICE. IN FACT, IT'S PHYSICALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO EXAGGERATE. I CANNOT EXAGGERATE ENOUGH. THERE ARE NO WORDS! HOW DO YOU DESCRIBE PERFECTION!?

Wow that was a lot of capslock. I feel tired just reading that. And now I am also hungry. LUNCH TIME!