Saturday, February 28, 2009

Target Reached

Assignment
Yay, I'm done with the (disastrous) IPIP assignment. There was an 800 word limit but at one point I was at 1400 words. I think this module is going to be the worse module I am going to have this semester. Not only is MAW incomprehensible, convoluted and disorganised, her readings are equally unhelpful for the purpose of doing her assignment. I'm glad I have this done by today, though technically I have reached into Sunday March 1st.

It's already March 1st!! I can't believe the month of march has just started. I just checked the calendar, I only have 7 more weeks to go before the spring term ends. Ar. It'll go by real fast...I can't believe I have so much more to do for the 7 weeks ahead- LP memo, opinion letters, motion; PLT 70% paper; 3 more IPIP assignments. Woohoo~it's either going to be an adrenaline packed peak period ahead, or otherwise a dreadful drag. I hope it's the former!

Taiqi
I was looking through the video recordings of Taiqi just now, month by month. I reached the 'March 08' folder and it suddenly struck me that Taiqi has been with us for 1 year! Time really flies. It seems just not too long ago that she miraculously entered into our lives and we were still struggling to cope with the presence of a child in our home. And now it's been one year. While watching the videos and noticing the positive change in taiqi's apparent constitution in the course of the year, I marvelled at the noble efforts of ah gui to devote her time and energy to nourish and strengthen Taiqi.
Haha...Joey was complaining about what a handful she was just the day before. I guess I won't miss the bubbly taiqi girl once I'm back to join in the grind of being one of her slaves/maid/personal attendant. :)

Relationship Counsellor?
Can someone tell me how to be a good relationship counsellor? Orla seems to be going through a rough patch in her budding relationship...but I do not really know how I should approach her. Anyway I have zero experience and is ill-equiped to advise/console...Hmmm...I hope it'd work out well for her.
If a guy promised to come find you, changes his mind at the last minute well knowing that you'd be upset, and worse still, let you go to his house to get back your cellphone at 10.30pm at night- I think this guy is a jerk. I don't know, maybe the magic of romance can heal anything? But how to forgive and forget?

Haiz. My conclusion is that romancing is just too tiring. I'm going to turn in now, as a happy and carefree single lady.

Friday, February 27, 2009

Yingling, You made my day!


Present!
I received my present from Yingling today! Today is 27th Feb, exactly one month from my birthday, but the present is as good as it can be. I feel so compelled to show the photo. This is the first photo I'm uploading here since ages ago.
Going forward
Went for the yoga class just now and I'm feeling a lot less tensed and more balanced now. The instructor didn't seem as bad as I thought she was yesterday.
I have to get my IPIP assignment done by tomorrow, Ganbatte!

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Back from hiatus

I took a brief hiatus from my blog for the last few days. It was not a conscious choice. Somehow I just did not have the energy and mood to write entries.

Feelings
I am feeling a little homesick again. I haven't talked to ah gui and dajie for a while. I missed the feeling of being surrounded by people in the house who take you simply for who you are. I was talking to Orla yesterday night (over some cookies and green tea), and I found out that she is feeling a little homesick too. We then agreed that it must be because we are feeling a bit down from school work. In a way it is true. The feeling is most acute when you are feeling a little shaky emotionally, when I guess that is when you are most in need of support. Who else can give you unconditional support other than your family? Even if you don't confide in them, their presence somehow gives you faith to go forward. Anyway, I felt better after talking to Orla. I had just gotten back from the bad weather outside, cold with bloodshot eyes. Hot tea, cookies and a conversation was the best available remedy.

I was quite surprised at myself when I found myself happy to hear two chinese nationals girls chatting in mandarin as I walked past them this morning. Have I missed mandarin or my chinese identity to the extent that I will find it inexplicably soothing to hear people chat in mandarin on the road? Maybe.

Work!
IPIP assignment and Hicks moot at the top of my agenda. Next week is going to be hectic-IPIP due on tuesday, jessup volunteer meeting Tuesday night, jessup volunteer friday and preparation for Hicks. I just completed my LP interview assessment this afternoon. It was more fun than scary. The role playing client acted so well, haha...at one point he was even about to burst into tears with a flushed face. The Hicks moot problem is interesting. I had not expected it to relate to a constitutional issue! The good/bad thing is that they have done the research for us. I really hope it'd go well! Oh and yes, talking about moot, adriana fun the fox cup! Wow, she is amazing. Both yy and roger told me that I could learn from her, guess it's true.

Jasmine
Jasmine told me that she is considering coming to Alberta for her summer programme! While happy for her, I had to warn her that canada is not exactly a very exciting place and that travelling within the country is expensive. She thought I meant that I am bored here. Actually no lah, not bored because occupied by several fun things.just that I felt the need to be honest about the description of a place. Life is not boring at Western though. I really appreciate the free fitness classes and the indoor pool (which I hope I can start using in a day or two) in the recreation centre.

Meanwhile, wish me luck for my IPIP assignment, which I am quite unmotivated to do~

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Some Things to Say

There are a couple of things I want to write about in this post. Somehow I could not give a summary of the content in the title, as I usually do because of the randomness. So this post is just titled "something to say".

Tomorrow
I'm going to Toronto to watch adriana moot tomorrow. I'm quite excited about it as it'd be the first national moot competition that I would be watching and of course, I get to see adriana in action and give her my minimal support.
Somehow being some sort of privy to this competition has renewed my interest in moot. I have the urge to pick up mooting again. Being able to present an argument in a limited time, being able to master relevant authorities, being able to respond directly and accurately to questions, and above all being articulate are essential skills. I don't think I realised the importance of moot in first year and was so sloppy in my work. Stupid me.

Anyway, when she heard that I'll be going to Toronto tomorrow, Anne-sofie asked me to help her return her boots and get a refund. She started off by saying that I should not feel bad about saying no. Well, of course I'll feel bad if it is within my ability to help but I refuse to help because of the inherent trouble and inconvenience. I decided to help anyway as it means she can get back CAD 70 if I am willing to carry the boots and help her to return it. Since she has the courage to ask, I'll pick up the request. I don't think I'll be able to bring myself to do that if I were in her shoes.

CLS
Duty at the cls went fine. The life of the potential lady client is so dysfunctional that it is quite incredible. She was so candid and apparently non-chalant about the dysfunctionality of her children that at the back of my mind I was wondering if it bothers her at all.
Anyway, the interview and the discussion with deanna went fine and I'm starting to feel abit more confident about handling the file on my own. I felt much better about cls today.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Onset of Stress and Obiter Dicta

Obiter Dicta

I just got back from Obiter Dicta, the Western Talent Show. There were about 20 performances, most of them vocals and guitars, one violinist and one talkshow. All of them were volunteers and apparently this 20th Obiter Dicta is part of a long-running effort by Western students in support of a hospice in London. So $10 for a good cause and a night of entertainment, not bad. Most of the performances were not bad at all. The finale band medley item was the best, as the lead singer was spontaneous, had a very good stage presence and in our words, 'groovy'. I almost thought she is a professional.



Onset of Stress

Some stress from work has started to set in. IPIP classes are disastrous as I can't follow what the prof is trying to say most of the time (and I'm not alone), I'm lagging a little behind Private Law Theory readings, considerable readings for corporate finance and casework from litigation practice. Somehow cls seems to be a stressful place, though I've not even officially started work there. I don't know, it's about a certain substratum of the place.

I have to meet up with Margaret tomorrow morning for an entrance interview, do duty hour and see Deanna regarding my case file. I read through the file and has an idea of the background. Hope everything goes well tomorrow.



And lastly, I'm entering the labour law arbitration moot with Adriana! Honestly, felt quite honoured that Adriana proposed it :) I had my reserves at first firstly I've not mooted for a long time and I'm not necessarily very confident of my moot skills after first year LAWR. But I guess I should rebuild my skills from somewhere. Anyway, I guess it'd be less formal since a factum is not required and we'd be competing with internal teams first. I really hope I won't let my partner down and that we WOULD be the team to present Western at the competition. It'd be the greatest miracle of my life that could keep me happy for the longest time!

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Valentine's Day Movie Night

I just came back from a valentine's day movie night at Ruth and Toni's. The girls are so sweet, they baked cookies and had chips and drinks ready for us when we reached.

All the single ladies snuggled up in the TV room and watched two movies together: Sabrina and Under the Tuscan Sun. Sabrina was ok - it was a retro movie (in black and white) telling a story about a chauffeur's daughter who has been in love with the young master of the house all her life until she accidentally fell in love with the more boring but gentlemanly older brother.

Under the Tuscan Sun was great- typical hollywood movie. It was adapted from a book and has a meticulous and well-rounded plot peppered with good humour. I've never seen a movie casting Diane Lane. It was about an american writer who, being devastated after a divorce, decided to go to Tuscany in Italy for a tour. She ended up captivated by an ancient villa and decided to buy and restore it. She fell in love again, got heart-broken again but made some good friends, one of whom got married in her villa. In the end she settled down in the villa with a fellow american and it was happily ever after (as usual). The cobbled streets, architecture and great scenery formed the backdrop of the movie. I had the urge to visit Tuscany and Europe in general while watching this movie :)

Well, what a way to spend Valentine's day! Sitting back, munching chips and watching movies with a bunch of friends can be quite relaxing, I realised.
Anyway, to all friends who are missing their loved ones- Happy V day :)

Friday, February 13, 2009

Snow is Back, IPIP and Pilates

I'm going to start to be a good student and use headings to organise my writing from now.

Snow
The snow has come back today! It hasn't snowed since I returned from the reading week. The huge piles of snow has started to melt and the roads were slippery and wet instead of being covered in snow. However, this morning, I woke up and was surprised by the sight of snow-covered carpark outside the window. The snow has come back but i'm not really excited. I guess my romantic conception of the snow was totally annihilated on the second day of my stay in London, when I walked for 20 min to Masonville in the snow and was trapped there for a further 2 hrs as I was too intimidated by the snow to walk out of the mall.

Classes
Today is the last day for add/drop. I've settled all my courses: Litigation Practice, Corporate Finance, Private Law Theory and Intl Protection of IP. I think taking up LP required a kind of huge leap in faith in myself because it is alot of work (rumours abound) and it requires advocacy skills. But I do not think I am going to regret this choice because the practical skills would be so useful to have as a pupil. I guess it is never too early to start to learn how to manage and organise a case file and do docketing etc. One other issue was that I may be overloading a little for this semester as I am taking the max of the required credit hours. But I think it'd be fine cos I'm quite used to juggling 4 modules in a semester, just that this semester is short so everything would be a little congested in the course of the term. Hope it'd work out anyway.

I just completed a special permission form and gotten Prof Wilkinson's signature so that I could take IP IP despite not having fulfilled the pre-requisite IP course. Although it feels quite scary as I am effectively waiving my right to appeal of the basis that I have not completed the pre-requisite course, I guess the waiver is inconsequential as I could not imagine myself sending an appeal by saying "I do not deserve this grade because I have not taken this course before". This does not make sense to me. Anyway, the course is about international conventions which I think it should not require a great amount of background knowledge on IP law. I've borrowed an IP text so that I can have a quick read-up, although I do not foresee myself going through it in detail, of course.


Fitness
I went for my first pilates class at the Recreation Centre! It was good, the 50 min passed by so quickly so I guess the lesson was enjoyable that's why it felt like a short session. As quite a few of us were first-timers, we did mostly simple stretches and I think the pace was just right. I cannot tolerate slow classes because I'm impatient by nature. I wonder how the yoga class this evening will go.

I'm looking forward to more fitnesses classes this term! Haha...actually I guess it's good that London is quite boring except for dining, cos then I will spend more of my free time in the fitness centre. I hope the swimsuit and cap that Joey is helping me buy would reach me soon- everytime I look down at the pool from the pool gallery I just feel like jumping right in and do the laps. But Joey was highly sceptical that I would swim everyday once the swim suit reaches me...haha I think then I should have at least 3-4 times a week as a target?

News
And one exciting news this week: Adriana is coming to NUS for exchange in Jan 2010! Woohoo~ I didn't expect that at all. I'm already thinking of what we'd do when she comes over :)

Monday, February 9, 2009

"If I Were a Boy" by Beyonce

This song has quickly become my favourite song, ever. I heard this song in New York somewhere that I can't remember, but I think it etched on my mind sub-consciously. On my last day, while I was packing at ISC, William played it on the computer and I just swivelled around instantaneously and asked for the name of the song. That was it.

I think I will be replaying it over and over again for a long time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVTyLqkez6A

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Reading Week

I'm back!! If you have been following my blog and realised that it had stagnated one week ago, it's because I was really away.

After a gruelling IO paper, I thought I deserved a nice break. The one week break came just in time. It was such an incredibly eventful week that looking back now, I wonder if it has even happened at all.

I'd really like to write a long post but I'm so tired now that my eyes can hardly open. So I shall make a quick broad brush of the reading week activities.

NYC was fun. Three fully packed days with lots to see and do everyday. The very nice people, especially Joanna, at ISC makes me want to go back to stay there again. Visits include Columbia Uni campus, Times Square, NY public library, Bryant Park Herald square, Liberty Island, Chinatown, Little Italy and the museums. I think Times Square left a lasting impression simply because of the loudness of everything. Gawdy buildings, neon lights, billboards and digital screens. Taking the subway was a little depressing though, when homeless beggars approach people in the train for money, food and water. It's quite ironic to encounter this in a city brimming with money and power. At the same time I was thinking that the culture is really different. No matter how poor or destitute someone is in Singapore, I don't think he would ever stand in the middle of a train and publicly ask for help-that's also why we never see such people on the mrt trains. It's to do with the asian reticence in contrast to the western openness. Overall I would say NYC is a must go, although 3 or 4 days are enough for the whole city.

Returned to Toronto on Wednesday for STINT at Cassels &Brock (which was a nice and neat session meeting with lawyers from different practice groups) and Women Connecting Seminar on Friday (an eye-opener and quite inspiring discussion with different panels. Cocktail was good as well as there were more people to talk to).

Went to stay with Adriana's family on Thursday evening. I think it is and will be the best part of my exchange experience. The friendship, the warmth and the hospitality is compelling. I must say I can't be more fortunate to have had met Adriana and her family. Even now as I am recalling the last 3 days, it feels nostalgic and kind of surreal. I will miss Richmond Hill.

Anways, school is starting again tommorow and it marks the beginning of the Spring term. I have 4 modules to juggle next term. Let's hope I wake up tomorrow renewed and refreshed, ready to start a new term!