Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in blue_glaze's LiveJournal:

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Friday, November 6th, 2009
10:32 pm	The substance of things hoped for I've extracted last Sunday's reading from the Book of Revelations here, which is now my favourite passage from the Bible. I still remember reading this with Joy when we were in secondary school, and we were both worried and wondering if the "144,000" was to be taken literally! But on a slightly more mature re-reading now, this passage is a beautiful reflection of the substance of things hoped for. I want, more than anything, to be part of that "great multitude", singing and waving palms... But at the same time, it's humbling to recognize that it has to be preceded by "the great Persecution" (as "time of distress" is described in another version of this passage). Those words bring to mind the terrible suffering of the Saints, like Joan of Arc, and I feel horribly inadequate beside them. Then again, God reminds us that none of us can do it on our own - rather, our robes are "washed white again in the blood of the Lamb" - a powerful message of love that transcends our own meagre weaknesses. ___________________________________________________________ Rv 7:2-4, 9-14 I, John, saw another angel come up from the East, holding the seal of the living God. He cried out in a loud voice to the four angels who were given power to damage the land and the sea, “Do not damage the land or the sea or the trees until we put the seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.” I heard the number of those who had been marked with the seal, one hundred and forty-four thousand marked from every tribe of the children of Israel. After this I had a vision of a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, race, people, and tongue. They stood before the throne and before the Lamb, wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands. They cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation comes from our God, who is seated on the throne, and from the Lamb.” All the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They prostrated themselves before the throne, worshiped God, and exclaimed: “Amen. Blessing and glory, wisdom and thanksgiving, honor, power, and might be to our God forever and ever. Amen.” Then one of the elders spoke up and said to me, “Who are these wearing white robes, and where did they come from?” I said to him, “My lord, you are the one who knows.” He said to me, “These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress; they have washed their robes and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb.” (Comment on this)
Tuesday, October 27th, 2009
4:28 pm	I thought I left this all behind in JC! Extract from the case of Genentech Inc.'s Patent 1989 in the House of Lords: "...It was known that, in forming protein, the information in the DNA was first transcribed into messenger RNA (mRNA) of a complementary nucleotide sequence and then translated from the mRNA into the amino acid sequence of the newly formed protein. It was also known that complementary DNA (cDNA) could be formed by reverse transcription from the mRNA, that this cDNA could be inserted into plasmids, that the plasmids could be used to transform suitable micro-organisms or other hosts, and that growth of the latter could replicate the cDNA and produce the protein free of other proteins of the cell from which the genetic information originated. Reverse transcription of a population of mRNAs from Bowes melanoma cells formed a corresponding population of cDNAs. The technique used by the patentees to identify and isolate the individual cDNA corresponding to t-PA involved making short lengths of synthetic DNA which contained the nucleotide sequences corresponding to known fragments of the amino acid sequence of t-PA. Synthetic DNA having a nucleotide sequence identical with part of the sequence in the desired c-DNA would be expected to bind to it and could therefore be used to identify it..." And I realised while reading patent cases on recombinant DNA that the "cutting edge" stuff we thought we learnt in JC was already the state of the art in 1978 (Biogen v Medeva has a brilliant 1-page summary of 2 years of JC bio). Ah well. (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, October 1st, 2009
11:02 am	MORE books?! I'm sitting in competition law class actually trying to listen actively now (obviously it isn't going too well), but just had to rant: I just found out that the "last book" of the Wheel of Time is going to be broken into THREE parts! One to be released this Oct 27, and the others in 2010 and 2011. I understand that Brian Sanderson has to get into the hang of writing and pacing his own ending, which is probably why the next book is going to be titled "The Gathering Storm", but from the point of some long-time readers who've already waited years for this to end, and have been disappointed that every new book since number 5 (or 7, depending on who you're talking to) has become draggier and invented more irrelevant characters, and are wondering if this is just turning out to be a money-spinning never-ending venture, this new development (well, maybe not so new) is JUST TOO MUCH!! Current Mood: annoyed (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Saturday, September 26th, 2009
12:08 am	Sunshine! I never really appreciated the brightening effect that sunshine can have on your spirits until I went to DC. Still remember that day after a week of inhospitable Boston snows when I got back to that lovely city and was on my way to AU, waiting at the bus stop. The weather was brilliant - cold but really sunshiny, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. An old lady obviously also positively affected by the weather sat down next to me and we chatted. The world seemed like a new place. But here sun is something we don't like because sun = hot. Anyway, I'm feeling unseasonably happy tonight, which is why the long ramble about sunshine. This week was recess week, but I think has been quite a hellish week for most law schoolites - my particular brand of horror was a negotiations research paper that I hadn't really had time to do because of Law IV. So right after Law IV ended (more about that next time) I came home and started on it, and was living and breathing good faith in pre-contractual negotiations for a week before I finally handed in the paper before this afternoon's deadline. It was really quite a shock to discover that today's already friday - my concept of time this whole week has just been an countdown to the assignment deadline. After all that stress I had a short swim, then found my way to Sacred Heart church for band practice. Leon offered my a ride from the MRT that could have killed - have you ever tried getting into a car at an Orchard Road traffic light (and no, it wasn't red)? - but it was nice of him :P And I realised that most of these band people were previously from Holy Trinity, so I'd already played with them before. Met some pretty nice people and had lots of fun playing (I really do miss it) - actually noticed myself dancing about after - so I think I'll go back. Don't know how I'll break the news to mum though, I'm sure she'll go bonkers. (Also met Fr Paul T.ay - his mark is imprinted indelibly on the music and the church itself - they actually still sing "I Believe"! - he looks significantly older and frailer than when I last saw him, but admittedly I was probably all of 10 years old then!) Also called Qing Hui and will be seeing her on Sunday for church and some hanging out after :) And will be getting back to TC tomorrow for cell group and a discussion on potential CIP projects, and then of course dinner :) And then celebrating QX's birthday on Monday night :) All of which certainly outweigh the drag of doing the final negotiation journal and annotations, and preparing for PIL and Foundations of IP and thinking of my IP and Competition Law assignments... Current Mood: cheerful (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, September 16th, 2009
12:34 pm	Ramblings, as GL would say :) For some reason I remember one of our principals in secondary school telling us that since everytime we were in the hall to listen to a speech we were a "captive audience", we might as well listen and shut up. Well now with the advent of laptops and wireless internet that's happily no longer the case! I'm sitting in PIL class now with no idea what's going on and thought I might as well take the time to give my blog a much-needed update. PIL is a lot less satisfactory than I wanted - I don't know if it's the vague nature of international law or my lack of preparation (but not always) or the method of teaching that makes me dislike this class so much (when other people actually seem to like it!). I feel we never move beyond vagaries and guesswork, are never forced to think critically and don't do much more than cover what's already in the readings. Very different from the World Trade Law I intensive we had in the first three weeks of class that taxed my brain so much I'm not even sure I understood everything. As for my other class, I don't really know what's going on in Foundations of IP or Competition Law - sadly I haven't had time and haven't been forced to participate / read up since there's no CA component, and there have been so many other things to do. The negotiation course has certainly been the most interesting this semester, but we had our last class yesterday and will be having assessed negotiations tomorrow. The most memorable class was probably the one on "Culture" in which half of us played development consultants and the other half some tribal people about whom the consultants were supposed to negotiate with and find out about their culture and customs. It was... bewildering, so say the least... a lesson in "cognitive dissonance", but incredibly hilarious. I'll miss this class in the second half of this sem! Law IV is also coming to an end - after tons of rehearsals (I must say I'm really awed by the commitment of the main characters / directors and the amount of pure talent we have in our batch), the performance run is this weekend, and I'm rather excited :D I'm playing the part of a muse cum bimbotic flower in a fantasy world called a-haha land, a small role, but it's been interesting. After all that complaining I think I might actually miss Law IV when it's over (but certainly not its tendency to be a black hole for time!). Made some friends and got to know people from my batch I didn't really know before, which is definitely nice. It's also my first time performing (away from a piano) and I must say I've got more confident with practice. (Oh and I've also made and learnt how to put in contact lenses! Flowers can't wear spectacles, apparently.) And then the criminal justice club is going... well fine I guess. We're having a fundraiser at Law IV, following a rather surprising negotiation with the producers yesterday, so hopefully that goes well. I'll be really glad when this weekend is over and I finally have time to get back to studying though - haven't done that properly in some time, and there are a whole load of assignments whose deadlines are clamoring for attention :( I'll also be glad to get more involved in church again - have not been going for youth group in some time because of Law IV rehearsals. It's also been really nice and I'm grateful for spending more time with friends since I've come back - had dinner with cf and jk yesterday, and went to district 9 and for a lovely birthday dinner with the usual suspects on my 22nd. I still do miss the solitary independence I had in DC (images from that life so far away now keep coming to mind) and the peace that came with it - compared with that life now is just hectic and exhausting - but am seeing it more as something to treasure and move on from. I don't know if that time away from my family has given me a new perspective, but I'm finding it harder and harder to learn over again how to be a good daughter and love my family members like God would have me do. That's my biggest struggle now, I think, and it's made harder by the fact that everything else is so energy-draining that when I get home there's hardly time or energy to deal with things. Oh well that was a quick and rather brainless update - a more reflective one will have to wait till I'm not in PIL! *gets back to class* (Comment on this)
Sunday, July 26th, 2009
10:31 pm	Travails of a perfectionist, and saving grace This afternoon I woke up from a very uncomfortable nap (it was too hot and the bed kept heating up under me) feeling rather grumpy, and reflected that lots of my woes come from feeling just "not good enough". I guess it's somewhat natural to feel stressed and inadequate and want to seek acceptance for what you can do, but sometimes that crosses the danger line and feeds negative emotions instead of encouraging you to do better. I remember a night years ago, when I was in secondary school, my mum found my crying in bed because I thought I was just "not good enough". I just finished a book titled "A Place Called Home", twenty essays by women writers on the topic of "home", and it touched me how home can be so many things and places and concepts to different people. If I were to describe "home", I think it would be wherever I found purpose - which is why I constantly try to fill my life and time with activities and responsibilities, though sometimes I chafe at them too. I've always been drawn by St. Augustine's "our hearts are restless until they rest in You"... and I believe that I'll only be happy doing what God wills for me. So I pray, and wait, and try to listen. And God speaks. He tells me, with the gift of laughter so irresistable my stomach muscles hurt, not to take myself and the problems I see so seriously, because his hand is behind it all. Can you imagine being amused at a pompous, self-important child going about her little duties? I think maybe God looks and laughs and shows me to look through his eyes. He also tells me, in today's readings, that my five loaves and two fish are sufficient - that he is a God of miracles and will provide for all my inadequacies. It is in my weakness that his power is made perfect, and it is a power of love that works for the good of those who look to him. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Thursday, July 23rd, 2009
1:31 pm	This week has been filled with scattered events - isn't it weird that when you look back at life sometimes it just seems to be a chain of unrelated things? There was TC and the youth rally, a funeral, law4 practice, Adrian's coming back and being prescribed Tamiflu (he's fine now and I had the excuse not to go out, which was swell), meeting with Gurjoth over our wrongful convictions project, preparing more stuff for the LSC (some of the questions they ask, really!), finishing "Cities in Flight" and Frederick Pohl's "Gateway" and Jodi Picoult's "Handle with Care", getting ill after going to the gym on the only day of the month I shouldn't have... I guess that's why in a way I can't wait for school to start, just to give some structure to things. Gabriel and I met with the juniors going to Georgetown a few evenings back. I really envy them and Jie Chao their going to a new place, meeting new people, falling in love with new experiences... I think back on us arriving at Georgetown, getting lost in the maze of streets, finding out that T Sweet has the best ice cream ever, learning to see the lights of the Cathedral as home beacons on my long walks, imagining fairies turning the trees green and gold and red on Mass Ave in the fall, then finally standing on the banks of the Potomac looking at the lights of Rosslyn reflected in the dark waters, my heart longing because I knew I'd never see them again. But it wouldn't be the same, going back now, because the people and the circumstances that made that place a second home to me have changed, indelibly, in keeping with the transient city... Still, there's no escaping the fact that I miss it all! (Comment on this)
Wednesday, July 15th, 2009
11:36 am	Ramblings After Monday, it's my humble opinion that the pupillage moratorium is the terrible-st way possible to carry out a job recruitment exercise. The morning started with people walking all over town depositing their applications - I met Isty and Wei Wei while helping to make a delivery to A&G, and we kept saying hi to familiar faces along the route. Then we spent a few hours sitting at the Coffee Club, where perhaps another fifth of our batch gathered... everyone on tenterhooks, jumping at the slightest sound of a phone. Soon people got calls for interviews, and people without calls got increasingly white-lipped... But eventually most of the girls I was with got their top (or almost top) choices, which all happened to be in R&T. Mostly good news from others that I heard from too, which made me really glad for all concerned :) Despite the happiness I started worrying about myself because the LSC hadn't sent an interview notice though my other friends who'd applied had gotten called. And now that there was definitely no second choice left... But as it turned out (after a flurry of calls and emails) I suspect they had either misplaced or were sitting on my application, and they called back to say they were definitely "on top of" things and would contact me again about an interview on august the 14th (after school starts, nonetheless). So it's a waiting game now! Other than Monday's roller coaster, these few days have been rather nice and fluffy - we had a JC class gathering on Monday evening and I'm quite amazed that after 5 years almost everyone still always turns up. Met some other people I haven't seen in a while, uploaded at one go all my photos and started on James Blish's "Cities in Flight", which is turning out to be quite an engaging book. Even tried my hand at lyric-writing this morning for the muses' part of the restaurant chorus, but that was a flat failure and someone else will probably have to re-work that :P And there's a red dot meeting tonight and JD and I are going for Harry Potter tomorrow morning! On the school front, my efforts to incorporate a new criminal justice sub-club for the wrongful convictions project seem to be taking shape - yesterday spent some time looking for videos to show at our first interest meeting. Found this very interesting one that brings up all the pertinent issues: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4069405n (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Thursday, July 9th, 2009
10:30 pm	Ugh I can't wait for school to start. Have been feeling restive the past couple of days - law 4 rehearsals take up lots of time but are rather boring since I'm not involved in the dance parts, meetings with friends are swell but that still leaves lots of time to be hanging around at loose ends doing pretty much nothing except tinkling on the piano and reading various things and watching TV. Today there was some parental drama while sending D to the airport, reinforcing my belief that family is nice in small doses only. Visited 2nd aunt and uncle and ah ma but the cousins weren't there. I'm starting to have flashbacks of DC - the road past the Cathedral, my house and friends and work and the general carefree quality of the whole enterprise. I wish school would start and return a sense of purpose to life... since this last year might well be critical. Tonight I'm reminded of St. Augustine: "our hearts are restless until they rest in you". *edit* Thought I might as well do an update on reading. I'm starting to find fiction a lot less satisfying nowadays, or maybe it's just the wrong choice of books - Neil Gaiman's "American Gods" was uninspiring, somewhat like the "War of the Flowers" (lots of action but nothing significant). I've been trying to get through "The Virginia Woolf Reader", but her writing isn't easy to get through - I think "Three Guineas" was really interesting, but I don't understand the fiction, at least not in the chopped-up reader version. On the non-fiction end, "The Working Poor: Invisible in America" was rather edifying, especially to me situated as I am in the comfortable middle-class. I'm now on a book titled "Cause Lawyering: Political Commitment and Professional Responsibilities", which is even more instructive - all about the motivations, work and potentialities of cause lawyers around the world. Guan Lin's also lent me Jodi Picoult's "Handle with Care", which I'm looking forward to reading since coming across an intriguing review of the author's writing in the Straits Times. What I really can't wait for, though, is Harry Potter book 6 coming to screen next week! Whee :) Current Mood: restless (Comment on this)
Monday, July 6th, 2009
12:30 pm	By grace This Sunday we read one of my favorite passages from the Bible, which goes: "My grace is sufficient for you, my strength is made perfect in weakness... " (For when it is when we are weak that we are strong.) Speak about contradictions, and a tad bit of unfairness. But what entices me; makes me catch my breath, is the un-deserved-ness of "grace", and the assurance of sufficiency in weakness, the thought that I (and we) never walk alone. Talking about this during cell group on Saturday made me realize anew the importance of being aware of God's presence in the everyday, so what I describe below are really instances of grace. The rest of the week I spent at home because of swine flu fears was actually rather productive. I thought loads about my planned wrongful convictions project, got in contact with some people who offered some useful and some ambivalent advice. I polished (summarized!) a paper I wrote and... sent it to the SJLS. Well, probably nothing's gonna come out of this latter effort, but no loss trying, right? And I spent a lot of time with dad, going out to lunches, taking the wrong buses and watching the mummy 3 with D. (We also watched a little of my Just Praise concert DVD, about which the most positive comment came from mum who, looking around at our reactions, said "why like that? I don't see anything wrong with it!" :P ) So that was rather a blessing in disguise. I'm rather worried about the parents these days - the year past doesn't seem to have changed much, and dad has just quit badminton, citing age and poorer reflexes. Since officially coming out of self-quarantine I've been busy running around and meeting an assortment of people from my previous life, doing some of the things we used to do. After returning from band practice and supper at the opposite kopitiam on Thursday, I had the most surreal feeling that my whole last year didn't exist - the house in Georgetown, the school, the friends, the walks - they seemed a whole different world that connected not at all to this one. I suppressed the most ridiculous impulse to shoot immediate emails to Janet and Ellie demanding to know if they were just figments of my imagination. I was immensely surprised and rather impressed at the changes in my little brother. Hearing snippets about his problems with conducting the seraphims over skype the past couple of months gave me a very different mental picture from what I actually saw on Friday during practice. The choir is now doing choir-istic things like exercising and shouting and blubbering for warm-ups (I supposed I looked very shocked when I saw it, and people kept catching my eye and laughing), they sound great (if not according to D), and they seem to actually like him, for some reason haha. I thought Darius had charisma, but didn't know little brother had it too, if not in the same way. (Melvyn: "your quiet little brother isn't quiet anymore!") Mum was surprised I didn't already know since we'd seen all those nice notes his school choir people used to leave him. (D did say he didn't like it that the seraphims kept talking among themselves and giving suggestions to him so he couldn't be authoritarian like he used to with his school choir. I noticed to my vast amusement that someone had made a little sign saying "SILENCE, please be quiet" and hung it up on the whiteboard, and now and then when D looked pissed the person sitting in front of the sign would start pointing at it and people would notice and shut up.) So... am glad. One person I was REALLY glad to meet this past week was of course Joy. We haven't actually talked properly since she left for Guangzhou last summer, then I left for DC the day after meeting her plane at the airport. She's been mainly responsible for holding TC and weekly cell groups together, which I'm immensely grateful for, and her commitment has been no less than admirable. (But of course!) I can't say that she's changed too much over the past year and a bit - Joy's always been good-hearted and inspired and bubbly and concerned about other people, and she's now even more... HER. :) I can see why Joy's been struggling with TC. The con 3 kids and some younger members have joined in the past few months, which makes cell group rather more difficult since there's now "WE" (the old guard) and "them" (the younger ones), and a rather pronounced "generation gap" (that makes us feel old!). So it's very difficult to talk freely about our opinions, since they may not be relevant for our new ones, and they don't share too much - understandably shy. Some of the old guard were rather distracting too (food should be banned!) though that was understandable too - we hadn't seen each other in a while since Cheryl and E also spent the summer abroad in France. This week's readings spoke much to me though, especially since I feel that God has been calling me to something new (but which I haven't entirely figured out yet, though there are glimpses). After cell we had some nice talks and went for dinner. Seeing all the TC-ers again made me really happy - I'd really missed them! Victor with his exuberance and David himself as ever and earnest Felix and capable Jul and the two lovebirds Cheryl and E ... Tim Seet and Julian were also there, just having come out of YISS, and I spoke to them like I hadn't really before - there were all the tell-tale signs: visible passion and excitement and the urge to just go on and on telling their new-found relationship with God and how awesomely indescribably it is. I was excited just listening to them. It minded me of little blades of grass growing after the rain, in the field that is the youth of HT. Then there were of course the HC-ers. QX and JK and I had a round of Jalan Kayu roti prata + badminton at Seng Kang CC (I'm now in the NEL gang, gosh), after which I ached for 2 days. Yesterday we met up again with CF and GL for a tour of tampines one (I've now been there 3 days in a row), board games at settler's cafe and 3 hours of "20 questions" over dinner. Wow I really didn't expect that enthusiasm when introducing the game but they were really serious and debated the questions like strategy. They'd make good cross-examiners after some practice, lol! So there's nothing much planned for this week - should probably get some more work done, and meet some more people. Later there's my beloved Jie Chao :D then Gurjoth and Isty on Tuesday and Kenneth on Friday, and still a mental list I have to translate into actual plans. Oops D is calling for lunch. Till next time then! Current Mood: cheerful (Comment on this)
Saturday, June 27th, 2009
5:21 pm	Home I'd intended to write a long time ago, but the best of intentions don't always work out! Especially in this weather: hot + humid = extreme lethargy. But then I'm getting ahead of myself again. So since the last post, various things have happened - I went to New York with Qing Hui and Ellie, flew 10,000 miles to Japan then home, and spent a week in sushi land with Jingdi. New York was by far the most pleasant. Having finished off my papers a day early (or rather getting sick and tired of them), Qing Hui and I left early and got to W 28th street and 7th Avenue on Friday afternoon. So Qing Hui has turned vegan and due to her interesting habit of trying only to eat new foods, we spent some time looking at the menus of half a dozen eating places on the way to lunch (what she ended up eating was a bagel with tofu + scallion spread - apparently it tasted like cheese). New York in spring / summer was a rather different experience from New York in winter. The summer incarnation of the big apple is actually a very walkable one. By the end of the first day, Qing Hui and I had walked Lower Manhattan and seen quite a few of the little neighbourhoods. I realised on Sunday while walking through a farmer's market in the East Village that despite its monstrosity as a jungle of concrete skyscrapers at first sight, once you get off Broadway, it's almost like a different world, and there are actually pockets and neighbourhoods that have their own character and actually look livable! (Still, I give vote to Singapore playgrounds - the NY ones must be rather disappointing to the kids.) We saw lots of streets and some tourist attractions that I didn't enjoy the first round because it was too cold to walk then, including Ground Zero (the actual exhibits, which were very moving). A friend of QH's in New Jersey was kind enough to put us up even though we arrived there at 1am (!). Her house was in a beautiful residential NJ district with green everywhere - gardens, yard sales and families out in the mornings. On the second day Ellie came in the afternoon, and after a walk in Central Park we went to watch the Little Mermaid in Times Square (and of course I noticed and got irritated at the sexist portrayal of Ursula and some other characters). It was very interesting that the dancers rolled about the stage in heelies! And the songs were great. After that we took a romp (a really quick one) on Brooklyn bridge under the rain, which was not too fun and nothing like doing it slowly in winter with a bunch of photo-y friends, then arrived at the subway station at last only to find that our train wasn't running (maintenance etc.). So we missed the last bus into New Jersey, and after some subway adventures, were picked up at Penn Station by Qing Hui's very kind friend (and her father!) at 3am, who had been very worried that something had happened to us. The next morning Qing Hui left for the airport on another leg of her US tour, and Ellie and I walked Central Park where the Puerto Rican day parade had just started - a loud and colorful affair with much red, blue, white and flag-waving (and camera snapping). Then we had Coldstone at Times Square (*heavenly*) and walked all the way down to 14th street to eat at this funky Asian restaurant (the food was actually rather good!). After that I dropped Ellie off at the station (for the last time! *sob*) and walked around the East Village. Then I decided to walk to mass at St Patrick's Cathedral on 51st street (from where I was on 8th street, nonetheless). By the time I got there, my shoulders and legs were dropping off (I definitely walked more than a hundred blocks that day!). They really should upgrade the sound system in the church. After mass I walked to and hung around Penn Station till the 1.30am bus back to DC. I really appreciated the chance to go to NY again (despite swine flu fears - I didn't tell my parents and don't think I ever will let my mum in on the secret since she's so paranoid about the flu) - it was a good opportunity to TALK to and catch up with Qinghui since we hadn't spent much time together in DC, and also to spend some more time with Ellie before we parted ways for good. The city itself was also amazing to see again. When I got back to DC, it was just all the last-minute things - visiting the bank of america three times (you could really see the difference between the branches on Georgia Avenue, the poorer area, and that in Georgetown, the more affluent area - it's sad the way even services are segregated!), packing up, visiting my favorite crepe and bubble tea shop in Georgetown a last time :P ... The last night I had dinner at our favorite Union Station rice shop with Janet, and she volunteered to send me to the airport. I was quite touched since she isn't earning from her internship now and is rather strapped for cash, but must have paid at least $10 on transport costs just getting to and fro from Dulles! I wouldn't have made it without her too, since lugging two luggages, a backpack and a laptop bag definitely wasn't the breeze I thought it would be. We said goodbye at the airport (*sobs again*). The plane ride was extended by 2 hours to about 15 hours in total because a volcano had blown up somewhere in the Pacific Islands. When I got to Japan, though, it was only to realize that Jingdi, who should have arrived an hour before me, was stuck in some (5 star!) hotel in Honolulu because of that same volcano eruption. So our holiday plans were derailed at once and I panicked slightly at being alone in no-English land (I'm not exaggerating - the average Japanese hardly knows any English). With the help of some young people from Toronto, I finally found the hostel after much wandering around the night streets of Asakusa. Japan wasn't too thrilling, if you ask me - Jingdi and I hardly found anything interesting in Tokyo because most of the tourist attractions seemed to be shopping. We did eat a lot of nice Jap food though, especially since Alfred's friend Ying Loong brought us around to expensive (!) restaurants and dessert places. YL was really friendly and walked us around a bit to the Tsukiji fish market and the Yasukuni shrine that JD wanted to see. We also met some of the other Singaporeans working in Japan for dinner, which was interesting though JD almost fell asleep at the table! Then we went to Kyoto, where it was temples galore and HOT at 36 degrees celsius. JD and I took turns being energetic, lethargic and temperamental, but she hit the jackpot when she decided to go to Nara (while I languished in the really comfortable hostel) on the last day, which looked much nicer than Tokyo or Kyoto and where there were apparently free English tour guides to bring you around! Oh we also did enjoy a tour of Gion the Geisha district in Kyoto. I think Japan was probably the holiday I enjoyed the least just because of the terrible weather, and because I was looking forward to home so much, having left DC. Japan was like 7 days of limbo. Anyway, on the last day after the ordeal of dragging our luggage all over the Japanese metro, I finally boarded the plane for home in delightful anticipation. The plane ride was 30 min shorter than expected (Pilot: "we will land in 25 minutes - hell, make that 20") and I got to Changi Airport early, so the parents weren't there yet. After half an hour of so, only dad turned up because mum apparently was down with fever (they'd just come back from Victoria state in Australia, a hot spot for swine flu). I was rather worried, but when I saw her the next day she was more worried about ME passing the virus to her! (She was fine by then - slept it off.) Not exactly the welcome I was expecting, but our new home is very nicely done and after all the bedrooms I've slept in the past year, this one is like heaven. I went for lunch with dad to a foodcourt in Sengkang (I always thought it was such an ulu place but looks like that's the nearest one now, gosh), then mum suppressed her paranoia long enough to go out for a nice dinner with us, involving the long-awaited sambal kangkong! But other than those two illicit outings I think I'll stay home for now. The Singaporean news channels are replete with swine flu warnings and expositions. But one thing I found out is that the difference between attitudes towards swine flu in the U.S., Japan and Singapore lies in the different approaches by health ministries - while in the U.S. and Japan the spread was too quick for containment so the only thing they could do was mitigation by treating the most vulnerable, Singapore had prior notice and tried to employ a containment strategy by stopping people at borders etc., which led to anxiety about people returning from foreign parts. Now with 350 cases though, that obviously didn't work and we're in mitigation phase. The Q&A section in the Straits Times today said that people returning from foreign parts should just go about their daily lives while monitoring their health, but mum obviously wasn't convinced and started expounding on the infectability of people two days before they show symptoms, all the while looking warily at me (ok, that was an exaggeration). Anyway for her peace of mind I shall stay in, and away from my brother. (That last isn't actually very hard, considering the fact that he was asleep when I got home 2 nights ago and has been in army camp since! So I haven't seen him at all.) As for my new place, it feels strange living in a house. It feels like too much SPACE for the four of us. The parents are very happy though. (Mum: shouldn't we have moved in a long time ago?) But I'm more concerned about inaccessibility: the transitlink website says that I have to take 2 buses, 2 trains, walk 1.5km and spend $3.10 (in total about 55 minutes PLUS walking time!) to get to school, and that's a one-way trip! The parents say they'll fetch me to the bus stop when I need to go out, like they've been doing for the brother, but besides the hassle on their part (they say it's not but I'm sure it is), I'll be dependent on them for transport, and they'll always know when and where I'm going. A far cry from the independence of DC, certainly. And this afternoon I told mum I was thinking of going cycling later (you can't pass the swine flu cycling on deserted roads right?), and she vetoed the idea very strongly, saying I shouldn't cycle on the road and if I really wanted to I should take dad with me. That seems to be really weird logic since I'd be more worried about dad's safety than mine (he's now a few days past the 60 year old mark! gosh, quite scary to think that), and besides I've been cycling on the road for years (though I suppose she doesn't know it. She might actually have thought all this while that I always cycled in pasir ris park). Anyway, this family living is going to take some time getting used to again. Living in a private estate is also strange - they always say HDB estates are the Singapore "heartlands" - so now that I've moved out of the "heartland", does that mean I'm less Singaporean? [Interlude: the brother just came back. It turned out that he went from camp to church choir retreat to final driving theory test, which he passed. Thankfully he's not worried about swine flu transmission.] Subject registration for next semester is starting on Wednesday - they've sent us instructions. We're gonna be allowed to take courses from the LKY School of Public Policy, a few of which look really interesting. One silly thing is that I have one compulsory course left - Evidence - which at 8 credits is really a drag, and the school allocated us either classes in semester 1 or 2. I've been allocated sem 1, but there are so many great modules this sem so I wanted to swap. The thing is, the school wants us to do mutual swapping only, which means you have to find someone to swap with you. The most stupid system ever, especially since most of the sem 2 class is the junior class that my batch (that makes up the bulk of the sem 1 class) doesn't really know. So this morning I was desperate enough to spend an hour and a half personally emailing every one of the 103 people in the sem 2 class asking if they want to swap. And I've had 6 positive replies so far and obviously can't take up all of them. In the meantime, some friends I know had the same problem as me but haven't been able to find swappers since they obviously weren't as desperate as me and didn't use my tactic. I have half a mind to mass email the sem 1 class now and ask who wants to swap, then hooking interested people up with each other - a matchmaker role the school really should be doing! Anyway, that's about it for now. The next few days hold nothing much more than more unpacking and reading and lounging about the house. Oh, and I contacted some of the crim law profs about wrongful convictions research next semester and got some edifying replies, so that's another intriguing thing on the plate... (6 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, June 8th, 2009
1:13 pm	So. So I went to confession yesterday at the Basilica after a really looong time, and got a well-deserved ticking-off by the priest, who told me (nicely) that I'd been treating people as either (1) those who can help me or (2) those who should get out of my way, and that I should instead start loving them because they are God's creatures. The truth of it is rather embarassing to think about, and I am thoroughly admonished. A horrible testament to how far I've strayed, spiritually! These few days I've been worried about going back home just because of the sudden influx of people back into my life (me-centric-ally!), especially after hearing Joy give an account of all her trials and tribulations in our church's youth ministry (not least her expectation that I will go back and "fix" things). How un-ready I feel to go back to an old life! I told Ellie about the priest's remarks and she promptly said "how American you've become!" Well, it's high time to adjust. The past few days have been good. Met Janet for coffee and a movie at the E Street Cinema titled "The Brothers Bloom" - a rather funny comedy about two brother con-artists and how shading the truth makes it so difficult in the end to tell what is true. That, and something about being in control of your life. Went walking around with Qinghui too - we toured the Capitol, which was really interesting, then took a walk round Eastern Market on a VERY hot Sunday afternoon. After that walk Ellie took my driving in her car: we went to a (large) supermarket carpark somewhere in Bethesda and she taught me to drive! Quite a fun experience - like bumper cars (but thankfully without the bumping - a few close calls), though of course it was on the wrong side of the road. Today I'm going to hopefully bring Janet and Diane for dinner at Penang. Work-wise, the peace paper is coming on slowly... I think this intersection of feminisn and pacifism is really interesting and only wish I had someone to talk to about it when I get back home. The sad thing is that people I know even in school don't really seem to be interested about the issues I've become interested in this year... I've talked to some people and written the law club about starting a new sub club for like-minded people in school next year on social justice issues but there seems to be some clog in the pipeline. Anyway since I only have 4 more days to come up with a 20-page paper I suppose I'd better get back to it! Current Mood: calm (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, June 5th, 2009
10:44 am	Domestic Stuff I am becoming well-acquainted with dust. Lying here looking into the light, there is a veritable world of swirling dust particles above me, parachuting down but never falling (it seems). Ellie sent me a really hilarious email just now titled “how are your lungs?” and containing a picture of a family sitting down to dinner in black gas masks. But I’m getting ahead of myself. The days since I last wrote have been eventful. My lazy paper-writing law-and-order-watching days were rudely interrupted by the 31st of May, the day the lease to our beautiful house in Burleith ended. (Note I say beautiful – I’m sure some of my former housemates would like to object, but ah, what a dose of reality can do to you!) Anyway Saturday before the move was spent packing everything up, then going to Target and Walmart in search of a vacuum cleaner. [The excellence of my lawyerly persuasive skills was evident in this transaction: I’d expressed an interest in getting a vacuum cleaner because of the state of my new house and its cobwebs (more later), but by the time we’d gone through 2 Target stores and got to Walmart, where stuff is REALLY cheap and we found a likely-looking vacuum cleaner, Ellie decided she’d buy it and make me a loan of it for my new house! Persuading without even thinking of it = good future lawyer.] On Sunday Ellie and I rented a U-Haul truck (she drove, of course) and moved all our things, first to her new house about 3 blocks north then to D’s place, where I’m now camping. After this experience I’m really glad I was here when my family moved to Mimosa. After all that we treated ourselves to a nice dinner at that Indian restaurant on M Street Sushila had said was good – and it was. Though we’d moved our beds I really didn’t feel like spending a first night away so soon, so we slept over at our place in the living room. Monday morning, Callie’s movers came, and we spent the better part of the day cleaning up the house after returning the U-Haul. Then in the night Qinghui came on a Chinatown bus and we both went to Diane’s to spend our first night. I’m really missing Georgetown already – on the last night after mass I walked to the waterfront (I’m always drawn to the water when I want to think and be alone) and looked over to the lights of Rosslyn and the Kennedy Center, reflected in the still water… then I walked through M Street and up Wisconsin Ave and thought of all the times I’d done that and the people I was with. The Safeway runs and the returning home to Kristi’s light and watching TV with Ellie and Callie coming in with a bang… Anyway, where I am now: my host D was in the gospel choir with us and is a really nice, sweet and kind elderly lady. She does seem to have a problem with accumulation, though. From the looks of the house, she hasn’t thrown anything away since she and her husband moved in 20 years ago, including things belonging to the last tenant. You can’t move through the house except through narrow paths in between stacks and stacks of stuff – even the bathtub has a cat litter box in it that you have to remove when you step in to bathe. Because of all the stuff and the non-opening of windows and I suppose, non-vacuuming of house, the place is just DUSTY, and before we aired out the room I was coughing every time I left the house. That said, I’m really grateful to D for letting me stay and not accepting rent, and for cleaning out the room for me (I did come down one day to help with most of the carrying, I think). (Her idea of cleaning was to move everything in the room to other places, like the attic.) Hence Ellie’s email. I’ve also been rather stressed out because D seems to want to spend time together doing things like visiting museums and cooking and eating out and going to church events… I suppose one of the reasons she invited me over was for company. I wasn’t expecting it, though, so was rather taken aback. Having Qinghui here is lovely but also stressful, trying to bring her around and do my paper at the same time, and I feel quite bad that she had to stay with me – she also complains about the dust and noise from the road that wakes us up in the morning and the kitty smell – and dislikes it so much that she’s moving out to stay with a friend who just came to town. She asked if I wanted to move with her too but I thought it would be bad to do so after D went through all that trouble to accommodate me. So with my weird domestic arrangements and stressful housemates, the past few days have definitely not been as pleasant as the past few weeks at home (now when I think of “home” it means 3612 T, *sighs*). The upside is that I’ve finally finished my wrongful convictions paper (at 44 pages) after the process dragged on for weeks! It’s the most complete first draft I’ve done so far, and minutes after I sent it to him Prof Edlmn returned an amusing note saying “thanks… will read with great interest”. I think I’ve become unplugged from God again in the past few weeks, and desperately need to get re-centered. After the Pentecost readings I re-evaluated my harried past couple of days and realized that I’ve been rather selfish and definitely a lot more “flesh” than “spirit”. Dear God, please grant me patience and kindness! I’m looking forward to the interludes over the weekend of skyping with the parents tomorrow morning, spending time with Janet in the afternoon then going driving with Ellie over the weekend, in between taking Qinghui around and working on my next women and peace paper. (With respect to that last, I think I’ve bitten off more than I can chew – what was I thinking, saying that I’d try updating Virginia Woolf’s “Three Guineas”? I read the whole of Three Guineas last week but have no idea how I should even start defining myself, the letter writer. *sighs again*) Anyway, as I was telling some friends then sitting in the bus thinking about my ludicrous new situation, I realized that bad experiences are so much more manageable when you can laugh about them. The trick then is to start laughing when you discover yourself in them than after the fact – that colors everything the way it should look! All the same, I can’t wait to go home now, and almost wish everything in between – DC, New York, Japan – would just go away. I probably wouldn’t wish that after I’d been through those weeks, but well, one is always entitled to make silly wishes on a blog. __________________________________________________________________________ *edit* - I'm rather tired of speculating on the vagaries of human nature. Qinghui moved last night and D said she hoped she hadn't had a bad experience in the house. I suspect before Q moved D checked to see if she'd stolen anything. Anyway she doesn't seem to like Q, or maybe it's my imagination. When we were bringing Q's luggage down the stairs it bumped against the step and D went "careful! bang bang! that's old wood!" - Wood in question was peeling away anyway but it was probably important to protect it because there's only so much of it you could see - the rest was hidden away under stuff! D also asked this morning if I wanted to go to her church on Sunday. I think I have to draw the line there - being there last time made me acutely uncomfortable and a service would be even more so. An art museum and a meal should be enough, I think. *sighs* Let's go home, drey. Current Mood: dorky (Comment on this)
Wednesday, May 27th, 2009
12:20 am	Since I last properly wrote, these things have happened: 1) I've written all of 7 pages of my wrongful convictions paper. 2) Andrew came to stay and we got to know each other a whole lot better... chatting with someone at the waterfront of Old Town, our legs dangling over the jetty's edge, having a wonderful southern dinner at King Street Blues then going on a midnight stroll to MacDonalds up Wisconsin Avenue will do that for you. 3) Ellie and I went to watch Star Trek at Gallery Place, and after this long drawn out paper nightmare is over, I shall track down and watch all the films. 4) Georgetown Law Commencement took place on Healy Lawn, and the speaker (one of the professors who's apparently one of the foremost public interest lawyers alive) gave an inspirational speech about using your legal mind for public service. There was lots of free food (of course) and it was nice to see everyone so happy about graduating and celebrating with them. (Well, I felt maybe a little cheated that I didn't get a degree too after going through the same things this year :P) What made me really happy was being able to make Janet really happy - I got her a Georgetown Law T-shirt that she'd said before she couldn't afford, and the smile that lit up her face on seeing it was priceless. 5) Celine's gone home, but before she left went to some place in Falls Church (or was it Fairfax?) for Vietnamese food with her cousin. Then we had a last tryst at this amazing hidden gem in Georgetown called "Blues Alley Jazz" in a little alley just down Wisconsin Ave near the river. The music was amazing, the food interesting (baked brie! but not the rest) and the ambience awesome. She slept over and we had a good conversation before bedtime. Said bye the next morning at Foggy Bottom, but this goodbye was a happy one - the start of a new friendship instead of the end of one. 6) I've been to Janet's house twice for dinner, first with Jacqueline and Carol, then with Angel, and I'm completely speechless at her culinary skills. We had a kind of cornmeal cake they call "ugali" (phonetic) that is a Kenyan staple and reminded me of the ketupat we have back home. Apparently everyone who's not Kenyan hates it at first try, but with my liking of tasteless things I took to it at once and am looking forward to making it myself. That's about it... the rest was skyping with the parents, lots of TV and reading harry potter (don't ask) in the way of procrastination, going to church at Dhalgren Chapel, finishing a chart for MAIP and skyping the parents. Ooh and I'm now also the proud owner of two new books by Virginia Woolf: "The Virginia Woolf Reader" and "Three Guineas". "Three Guineas" I actually bought for school - my next paper for the Women, Gender and War class is actually supposed to be a contemporary re-write of that letter, but after having reading the first few pages I've realised what a gargantuan task I've undertaken. Tomorrow I'll be going by Diane's place to help her clear out the room she's kindly letting me stay in after I get kicked out of here this weekend. It's so difficult to concentrate on work when everyone else is on holiday. I must say now that my short list of friends in DC has gotten so short as to be almost insignificant, I'm looking forward to going home... and to Japan! And in the depths of my ill-discipline, I've also realised that one BIG reason why I want to go home is just so I can stop caring only about myself and start meddling more in the lives of other people. Back home I always defined my life in its relation to those around me, but since coming here I've learnt to be very selfish. It's been an interesting experience, but I'd like to go home now, thanks! :P Current Mood: awake (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, May 21st, 2009
1:50 am	?? "The master discourse constituting criminal law and procedure in the United States shapes the discursive presentation of systemic reforms consistent with system maintenance. That is, those options available to criminologists and legal scholars emerge from within the already existing administration of justice narrative, and as such, will inevitably be insufficient to generate the kind of changes necessary to realize dramatic change to the way criminal law and procedure are practiced. Needed is a replacement discourse, one that articulates new categories or meaning by reflecting on cultural and systemic knowledge. As with Amsterdam and Bruner's admirable attempt to generate a reflexive analysis of legal discourse, skillful deconstruction of the meaning and latent product of the creation of innocence commissions requires legal scholars to inject a pedagogical propaedeutic, thereby avoiding reproduction of political and ideological biases inherent in the constitution of master narratives. My contention is that the replacement discourse that has emerged to challenge conventional justice narratives manifests as an alliance politic that has served to coalesce the combined wisdom of legal activists largely affiliated with innocence projects." (2005) 42 Am. Crim. L. Rev. 1301 _________________________________________________________________ And here I'd thought criminal law would be a lot less dense than my other subjects. Anyway, what struck me as I was typing out this passage is how it could have fit right into an article on feminist legal theory. Replace the "innocence commission" and "innocence projects" with other contexts and the same proposition could hold for any sort of social change. It's distressing to think how HARD it is to make change, or even to get people to think: hey, something else is possible. It feels like the status quo is magnetic north and it's so hard to make the compass needle point somewhere else - you need to find a whole new way to tell direction instead. Current Mood: gloomy (Comment on this)
Thursday, May 14th, 2009
10:32 am	Thoughts from a long day It seems as if such a long time has passed that it's hard to believe it's only been a day since I handed in my L&ED paper. The day started really early - I hadn't been able to get any proper sleep the whole night for some reason, and the roommate was leaving for the airport at 6am, so I got up and said goodbye. After which I moped around for a bit (the sight and sounds of an empty room where there was once someone you spent 9 months living with can be really depressing) then went out for a walk to contemplate how it is that people come into your life and leave again like a room that's filled with light and life (and Hawaiian songs on a ukulele!) now empty with only some cactus and dead grey floors (no crickets). I felt like a tomb raider when I went in to check the provisions she'd left behind. So I walked around Rosslyn and its surrounds and saw some things I hadn't seen before - suffice to say it obviously wasn't DC. And walking over the Key Bridge looking at the Potomac River I think I have acquired a new appreciation of nature. I never admired green trees and bushes because they had always been there in Singapore, and when we came here in the summer Gabriel and I were similarly dis-appreciative of DC's green offerings. But after the lifeless winter, to see this green is to know that hope prevails! Later I went to make another farewell call, this time lunch with Kavya at Bethesda Row. Bethesda looks like a real city, and Kavya too was full of praises. After getting lost (blame the talking while walking) and popping into about a dozen restaurants we finally find ourselves in the "fine mexican restaurant" I'd seen that first time we went to Penang. Mexican restaurants are marvellous, I learn - they serve a big-ass basket of nachos with bean dip at the beginning that Shubhangi could probably have eaten for lunch. It was a good lunch, and we talked about ships and shoes and sealing wax and the like, and I again I was struck by the irony of getting to know someone more just before you part ways forever. (If only I wasn't so slow at making friends!) But I guess I'll see her again - having made a few friends from NLS now, it would be a real bummer not to at least go to India some time... and it's not that far away, anyhow. Having eaten too many calories as was good for me, I proceeded to Eastern Market to look at a weekly rental house I saw on craigslist. I'd never been there before and it turned out to be a marvellous neighbourhood just a stone's throw away from the Capitol. The house itself was fantastic with a small room that looked like it was transplanted from a hotel, complete with screened in porch in the back for the renter's sole use. It was $300 a week, though, and I left pondering. The next stop was a unification church on Columbia Road, where Diane from the choir had invited me for a talk on "feminine energy as the alternative foundation to collective peace". I agreed to go since it sounded kind of related to my Gender & War class paper on women in peace movements (and which I haven't started working on at all). Turns out this talk was organized by a women's peace movement, the "Women's Federation for World Peace", whose members were rather articulate, very overtly friendly and truly international. The talk itself was by a World Bank economist-turned-spiritual guru and was rather thought-provoking. For some reason I thought the unification church was a Christian denomination, and discovered it was not only when Diane took me to see the sanctuary and I asked her why there wasn't a cross in sight. Learning that it was not explained the talk about "feminine ENERGY" and made me aware why I had been feeling slightly uncomfortable. As I was on the way home I wondered why I felt more uncomfortable than I would have felt in a temple or a mosque or a gurdwara - perhaps it was my mistaken expectations and the way they talked about the precepts of my own religion with a slightly... different perspective. Anyway it was a new experience and I think I might read up and write on the WFWP for my paper. Diane also dropped another bombshell - a good one - when I told her about my house-hunting difficulties: she has a room in her house currently used for storage that she offered to clear out for me! We realised that she has a room and I have furniture and hopefully this means we can make a beneficial trade-off and turn her room into a livable spare bedroom. God-sent, I thought, after all those house-hunting woes. Anyway I got home really tired and feeling a little off-kilter from the events of the day and almost fell into bed. Today there's picking Andrew up from the airport, taking him around (?) and perhaps seeing a house in the evening (just in case) and cleaning up the bathroom and my room and doing my laundry and working on my paper and... Current Mood: blah (Comment on this)
Tuesday, May 12th, 2009
10:22 am	2 down, 2 to go! So I finished my last paper last night and just have to go print it out in school later and traipse down to the registrar's office. And I'm SO glad that I can now put gender equality in the workplace behind me, because writing about it for a month and a half can really make the topic smell like old cheese. (Not that I know what old cheese smells like, but it looks bad - couple of week ago I took my box of cheese out of the freezer, and it was growing mould!! :S ) Now I can finally move on to something new... the next wrongful convictions paper. *sighs* The past few weeks have been paper-writing and TV (In Plain Slight!) interspersed with sporadic going-outs. I went back to M.AIP (haven't been there in so long I almost walked into the wrong building!) and was given a new case. It arose from the post-conviction DNA-testing campaign in Virginia that was initiated by Governor Warner last year. The Virginia justice system had for some reason found that they had many DNA samples from the 1980s and beyond taped to their police files and decided to test them all (probably a reaction to several high-profile DNA exonerations). Some time later, on my first real day of work, I spent a morning listening to S fielding calls from startled people who had received a letter in the mail saying that their DNA samples were being tested by the Virginia forensic lab. The problem was that Virginia had sent out letters that didn't really explain what was going on clearly enough. They hadn't taken S's suggestion of getting pro-bono attorneys to call people up instead of sending letters out, and the only thing they did was to list her contact details at the end of the letter. Some of the people who received the letters (and their angry / frightened / confused spouses) were afraid that they were going to be re-arrested for something. Also, some of the letters were sent to the wrong people who happened to have the same names as people whose DNA was being tested (and some of these people had never had a run-in with the justice system before). So S had a "field" day. Anyway, back in the present, M.AIP has taken up a case from a client who was convicted, imprisoned, and now excluded by DNA testing. He was actually in prison for 3 offenses (rapes and attempted rape), one of which was the rape he had just been found innocent of. There was no evidence from the other 2 offenses he was convicted of, so he's still languishing in prison. The real perpetrator (of the DNA-tested rape) was a man who had later been found guilty of several other rapes that happened after M.AIP's client was arrested. The context was a period of several weeks in the 1980s, and there had been a series of rapes in a Virginia district involving black men and white women in the early hours of the morning or the evening, and the attacks were escalating, making for what must have been a scary situation. I read some of the news reports on file and they sounded... scary. So our guy was picked up for some rapes at the start of that period, but the attacks didn't stop after he was arrested. And he apparently lived on the same block and looked very much alike with the guy who had actually committed that rape he was excluded from by DNA. (In a weird turn, that latter guy had apparently asked our guy to appear at his trial so that he could try fooling the witness into mis-identifying him in the courtroom!) M.AIP finds it rather unbelievable that there would be two serial rapists who look alike on the same block, and so is working to spring our guy from the prison where he has been sitting for "somebody else's mistakes", as he says, since 1985. (It's impossible for me to imagine a young teenager picked up for something he hadn't done and spending time in jail for it longer than I've been alive. It's incredibly... *sighs* no wonder S says she has to laugh to not cry.) On the social front, it was quiet for a while because everyone was feverishly preparing for exams, then Ben and Jon Kao came to visit Gabriel and as usual we ended up sitting in Thomas Sweet, our favorite Georgetown ice cream shop. (Yes, I'll miss you, T Sweet!) We then adjourned to the waterfront and on the way back stopped by Barnes and Noble, and I'm now the proud possessor of "Mists of Avalon" by Marion Zimmer Bradley! Apparently it's the King Arthur story written from the women's point of view. I've heard of it before and have not really tried this historical reenactment stuff, but on Gabriel's shining recommendation decided to get it. (And of course it was on sale.) The next day Gabriel had his farewell dinner, and the guys cooked for us (Celine, Sushila, Kavya and me). A fantastic meal, and my exchange buddy was gone with the wind. I can still remember when we found out we were going together, and the end seems almost too quick to be true... dream-like! We played some silly reaction game that Jeremy told me about once, I think - a console with several metal sticks each person holds onto, and when a button on the console changed colour, you'd better be the first to press the button on your stick or you'd be jolted with a bolt of electricity! And Sushila and Ben were going at each other in a really hilarious way. It was fun! Then we had our "discover DC" trip - Ranjini and Celine and Kavya and Desmond and I made a round of the American History museum and the Air & Space museum (again!) then went to watch an art-house movie at the E Street Theatre. I was struck by the horrible images of slavery in the History museum - nothing like the romanticized version of it in Gone with the Wind. It's kind of hard to believe that people would do that to other people, especially after declaring that all men are equal! The arthouse film was also very ... impactful... nothing like the brainless flick Ranjini was gunning for. It was about a group of people from Honduras who were trying to immigrate to the US (by foot and train through Mexico into Texas), and their run ins with the Honduran gangs. All the needless violence and suffering... I left the theatre wondering in stunned awe why some people were just stuck in such places while others (me) had so much undeserved material well-being. (Pretty much the same sentiment I felt while watching "Born into Brothels", a documentary about children in a red-light district in India with Kristi while doing my citations last night.) Celine said "I didn't know it was so hard to get into the US," an under-statement that seemed funny at the time but now in hindsight quite profound, too. It almost seems a betrayal of humanity to say that I very much enjoyed the afternoon with Ranjini and Celine talking about our thoughts and our hopes over frozen yoghurt at a cafe outside the theatre. Over the weekend, the housemates and I piled into Ellie's mini cooper and drove down into Virginia's farming country to meet her dad at a farm equipment auction. Of course we stood out like sore thumbs among all the men in their overalls and caps, not to mention all the tractors and other assorted equipment (grass cutters / bailers etc.), some of which looked verily like torture machines! Then we went over to her dad's farm and had a tour of the house, which reminded me of the house in Charleston's Magnolia Plantation. It had been in the family for decades, apparently, and was built long before that (was it in the last century? I forget), and had all the trappings of history - framed wall portraits of ancestors and ancient wood and wallpaper, down to recent and very cute photos of Ellie and her brother growing up. The family resemblance was quite amazing. Her dad then took us out to Ellie's stepmother's farm, which had a more modern house (she'd just bought it in '98), and we rode some small open-framed vehicle they called a gator (?) to a platform on a hill some distance away (still on the farm) for a picnic lunch. The weather was splendid and the food was good and the company was enjoyable and the view of green hills and farms and the blue ridge mountains in the background was "flippin' fantastic" (as Ellie would say), and I really enjoyed it. After that we hopped on the gator again (riding it was really quite an experience - while I was on the outside I kept feeling that I'd fall off any moment but apparently Kristi was a lot more expert at it) and drove around to see the animals they were rearing - cattle and sheep. Cattle poo is green, and looks kind of like diarrhea when coming out the anus. And Callie was quite perturbed that the sheep didn't look like they'd ever cleaned the shit from their wooly behinds, lol! So that was a nice morning - Ellie's parents were very genial and hospitable, and we stopped by for some sweet green on the way home. I wonder how it would be like to live on a farm. Just skyped the parents on Sunday night (after the very last mass of the semester - woohoo!) and mum was saying "come home la" (in the context of the swine flu, but I think she misses me), and I'm having mixed feelings about staying on now since all my friends are starting to leave. Oh, and news from home was more welcome after all that jazz about AWARE the past few weeks - they caught Mas Selamat! Better not let him "wriggle out a toilet window" from our "maximum security prison" again (as the BBC reported). Several people have asked me what my plans are when I get back, but beyond applying for an LSC job and meeting friends again, all the rest are still really castles in the air. Anyway, in the more recent future I've got myself a place to live in June... a weird little basement room on Lamont street with a... weird lady who talks about yin yang! (And keeps a dog... I wonder how this will work out.) I wouldn't have got the place, only I'm: 1) desperate and 2) it was going at a good price. Well that was a long update and I should stop before you my faithful readers wear your eyes out ;) Hope everyone's doing well! (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Thursday, April 30th, 2009
12:44 pm	I'll miss... It's a peaceful Thursday afternoon. I'm sitting in my living room: Callie's calm green sofas and Ellie's beige futon and the dishwasher going in the kitchen. It's cool out - a nice 15 degrees though it looks like rain and I'm trying to decide when I should go out for a run and where to. I could go down to the Potomac park, or up Wisconsin and the Tenleytown route that I so often go. Or maybe down to Dupont along Q street, or across the Key Bridge. Birds are chirping and flowers are blooming - spring at last! Alone at home for the moment but we're going to have a dumpling party tonight: Kristi's idea. I'm trying (but not quite managing) not to think that in a month and a half more, all this is going to be gone... or actually sooner since school is almost over and Kristi will be gone in less than two weeks, and then I'll have find a new place to move into till I leave in mid-June. We had the last week of classes already and I already miss them. Though many times it seemed so much of a chore just to pull myself out of bed and go (and sometimes I didn't), I really enjoyed my classes this semester and learnt so much in them. Going back to classes at NUS just doesn't seem like it can compensate. All my friends are preparing to leave. Those from NUS on exchange are taking "last pictures" and writing sad blog posts, and those here in DC are planning catch ups that we don't say, but all know, will probably be some of the last times we see each other. Gabriel's having a farewell party next week. I wonder how the weeks to come will be like - partings and last things, finishing up my papers, going back to work at MAIP, maybe going on a retreat, hopefully finding and moving into a place in Tenleytown or Bethesda. I'm afraid of being lonely the last two weeks when my friends are gone. I'll miss Georgetown and DC so much. I'll miss: the familiar streets and the quaint row houses, the interesting weather and the housemates I've lived the past year with. spending time with people just enjoying the moment because we know the company's not going to last. greeting and smiling at strangers. school, the interesting talks and the class discussions. not having to dress up for anything. the freedom to go anywhere I want at anytime I like. walking everywhere and the interesting sights along the way. the fall leaves, the spring flowers, the winter snows... everything but the summer trees! I won't have to guess that the grass might be greener here because I know that it is, in the spring. But I have learnt over the past year that God, whose good earth this is, is in every leaf and wind and person and always ever at my side. Here, or anywhere else. Current Mood: contemplative (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, April 20th, 2009
2:09 pm	Home It looks like I'm missing home more than I thought, despite the heat, humidity and lack of dishwashers. Dad booked the air tickets for me today and sent me the confirmation, and when I saw "Singapore, Changi Airport" in the email my heart leapt strangely. Well, well. (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, April 17th, 2009
11:45 pm	Today! Was the Just Praise concert. I've just come home after a very long commute - for some reason I missed D6 both today and yesterday by about 30 meters. The concert... did start too well, about 45 minutes after we'd planned, actually, because of keyboard transportation problems, which got all the girls rather upset (we practiced while waiting in this little broom closet-thing, and forgot our words to Crown Him), so I was rather nervous and agitated all through the first 3 songs. I thought we slipped up a lot more this concert than last - for some reason people forgot their words, and we didn't have time to test the mikes beforehand, so I really have no idea how we sounded. Of course, everyone had only good things to say at the end, but after last concert, I was less ready to believe them. Lol! I did have a good time with my delightful kakis who turned up and stayed through the concert and after that for dessert, so thank you all! :) The best parts of my stay here in DC have been the talking and appreciating of friends' company, enjoying the moment and not thinking about what happens next. And it's been just GREAT being part of Just Praise... Sean gave us all a frame photograph today and looking at it after the concert, I feel really blessed to have had this chance for bible study and rehearsal week after week with a group of really wonderful people. (And even though as a choir we're hardly stellar, it's the process that matters!) Before the concert, I'd met with Prof Santos about my Law & Economic Development paper, which is about gender inequality in the Singapore workplace. After about 40 minutes, we were wrapping up when - He: "So what's this 'Ministry of Manpower'?" Me: "The labour ministry...?" He: "Ha ha - it's funny - you're writing about gender equality, and here it's called the Ministry of MAN-power!" Me: ... It IS funny though. Hur hur. *cries* Singapore, Singapore! I'm really going to write into the forum one of these days. Tomorrow I'm going to skip the family skype session to go volunteer at "citizenship day", organised by a group of immigration lawyers at some public charter school down in Columbia Heights. I'm supposed to help LPRs who are interested to apply for citizenship fill in some forms, and apparently they're expecting some Chinese people to come forward (since they have a Chinese version of the citizenship day flyer!) - and I might actually have to help some people in Chinese! This will be... interesting. I've just learnt who to say "permanent resident" in Chinese! So, time for bed... Current Mood: bouncy (1 Comment |Comment on this)