Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want you to know more about me!However, rules are meant to be broken and I'm going to tag more than 25 people!
Presenting 25 things about me, some which you may not know. Be prepared for a really really long read! I took a month to get this done and I hope you will have as much fun reading this as I had writing this!
1. Sleeping habits: When I was in upper Sec moving onto JC, I had a bad habit of needing to sleep with an eye mask. This habit persisted till the breakouts that I got from wearing those eye masks were really bad!! Then when I was in JC, I could not fall asleep unless I listened to music while sleeping. Nowadays, I can fall asleep quite easily, thankfully. Unfortunately, the random bouts of insomnia still hit me and nothing that I do can help me to fall asleep then.
2. Eating habits: I think I eat pretty slowly. There was once, I went out with my church friends Alex and Sean, and the both of them actually slowed down their eating speeds so that they would not feel so sian while waiting for me to finish eating my food! Or maybe I’m just slow by nature. I really love to shop a lot and retail therapy’s an effective way for me to deal with my stress. But I'm a slow shopper!Wang Rong’s a fantastic shopping buddy, a girl I got to know while working at UOB and we’ve been tight ever since then. I sometimes forget that she’s 2 years older than me! Haha. When I shop, I usually don’t buy things on impulse unless I really like it. I’ll walk around and look at different things, and if I’m thinking of an item that I saw previously, then it’s an indication that I should get it. I’m not brand conscious. In fact, most of the clothes and bags and shoes I own are not branded! I’m a budget shopper!! I would rather stretch my money and get as many things as possible rather than just one branded item.
3. I am quite clumsy in nature. Whenever I went rollerblading, I'll fall down at least once and that's why I have ugly knees. Thankfully the scars are fading away! I think that Kelvin makes a great rollerblading buddy too cos he’s my human rail support! Haha. Thanks Kel!! And there was once, I got on the shuttle bus in NUS and I banged my head against the ceiling. How embarrassing.
4. My chinese really, really sucks. My JC clique guys once asked me to stop speaking in Chinese and to switch to English at this one time. And sometimes, I can't understand what people say when they speak in Chinese and people would need to translate for me. LOL. And when I speak in Mandarin, people say that I have this weird accent! However, I’m proud to say that I got an A1 for O Level Chinese but a terrible C6 for AO Level Chinese.
5. Though my Chinese sucks, I still listen to Chinese music once in awhile. My friends would usually recommend me to listen to some songs and my tutition kid would bluetooth me the latest Mandopop songs. I am proud to say that since my secondary school days, I've been faithfully listening to F.I.R.'s songs and I know how to sing almost all of the songs! (pardon the bad pronounciation of words though!) I love F.I.R's music. They're awesome =) Oh and Josh Groban too. =) And I’m happy to say that I can appreciate almost all kinds of music!
6. I have a penpal called Jonathan and he’s the longest friend whom I’ve known. According to my memory, I was just 7 or 8 and at Melaka’s Century Mahkota Hotel’s swimming pool, when I saw this guy doing somersaults into the pool. I thought it was so cool so I went up to him and said, “Hi, my name is Michelle. I think it’s so cool you can do somersaults into the pool. Can I be your friend?” Or something along those lines. I’ve known Jonathan for 13 years and after our eagerly awaited reunion last year, I realised that his memory of how we became friends differed. His version was that I was sliding down the water slides, without realising that he had not reached the bottom yet and I ended up crashing into him.
7. I really love music and I really love to sing. CHIJ Secondary Choir really helped to shape me into the person who I am today, and along with it, my 2 best friends for life, Bonnie and Livia. Thanks dearies, for all that you’ve done for me! You guys would always be the No. 1s in my life. And I was really lucky to have a really lovely comm. to work with, and the super nice Nikita became another close friend =)
8. However, I chose not to join NJC’s choir because I was unable to adjust to the conductor’s different style as I was accustomed to Miss Jennifer Tham’s style, a really unique one. Being in NUS Catholic Students Society Music Ministry has also given me a wonderful group of friends, and from the bottom of my heart, I love you guys- Desmond, Jeremy, Nicholas, Yvonne and Jessica!
9. I was really nerdy and toot back in the IJ days. My belt on the pinafore would be positioned pretty high at the waist while most girls would wear them slightly above the waist. I also had pretty ugly spectacles that made me OMG so nerdy!! I was terrified of breaking the rules and was considered one of the super guai-kias in CHIJ!
10. However, it was National Junior College that I really changed a lot. Climbing over gates, climbing under gates, cutting class etc, I would never have done so back in Seconday School!! Plus I also ran for Student Council and it was such a stressful time. I reckon that if I was not a Student Councillor, I may have done better in my studies because I preferred to do council-related stuff rather than to study :/ And in my class, there were a lot of cliques but I’m glad to have a close friend like Dillon, whom I term as a golliwog (those black dolls in Enid Blyton books!) because he’s super tanned and people mistake him as a Malay when they first meet him! I think I really dislike the academic-related stuff back in NJC because it was so stressful and competitive! I’ve always wondered how I would have fared if I had gone to another JC!
11. And it was through NJC’s Student Council, that I became a Tai-Tai in training. I have no idea how the Tai-tai club started in my comm but Vivien, Dency and Xiaoting became my closest friends in council =) And we love doing girly stuff like shopping etc! And having really nice dinners! I also got to know Huiyang through council and though he was a year older than me, we’re still close friends. A unique atheist friend who always makes me reflect about my faith. And one who never fails to scold me just like an older brother, who always looks out for me.
12. In CHIJ, I was in the best class while in NJC, I was in one of the worst classes. 05s22 was the worst triple science class in our cohort. Everytime the Common Test results were flashed during our lectures, the lecturers never fail to say, “ 05s22! You’re at the bottom of the cohort again! You guys must buck up!” And I wonder why since we did put in the effort into our studies. However, I have 2 lovely juniors who are now firm friends with me from my class who thankfully, scored Alevel results better than the senior class. Well-done Shubha and Samantha, you girls really deserved the results you both got for the Alevels!
13. I love going for camps. The only thing I worry about would be the toilet facilities. Did I mention that I take a pretty long time to bathe as well? I need at least 20 minutes to shower! Hahahaha. And it was through the NUS Rover Freshmen Orientation Camp in 2007 that I met my closest circle of friends in NUS- Sarah, Shawn and Ser Kheng. They were the first group of close friends I made, and we’ve done pretty crazy stuff together, be it stealing a countdown sphere to doing funky jump shots! I love SSSM! This is a pretty cool clique! And we all share one thing in common, we all have short hair! And they were also the first group of friends that I had an overseas holiday with. My parents are really strict and it was really a miracle that they allowed me to go to Bintan with SSSM!
14. It was through Science Orientation Week that I got to know Kaiwei, a guy who’s a lot like me in the sense that his beliefs, values and thinking are aligned with me, and it’s so hard to find someone who’s as sentimental as me. I never thought that we would be such close friends but I’m glad that he’s someone I can have earnest heart-to-heart talks with. I also got to know Khoi Mun, an easy going guy who always reminds me to relax and chill whenever I feel the need to do so! And through CSS FOC 2008, I garnered a big sister in the form of Cheryl! Though she’s 2 years older than me, we can still click pretty well and so, thanks big sis, for everything that you’ve done for me! And it was through a church camp in 2006 that I got to know Alex, who’s been a special part of my life and through another camp in 2008, I got to know Shermaine, a pretty funky girl who’s 4 years older than me and someone I can flame and gossip with in church!
15. I actually learned German till the advanced level, ie all the way from level 1 to level 3. However, I regret to say that I don’t have the aptitude for languages and till now, I can only speak conversational German. Wasted!! It was through German 1, that I met a really friendly and cheerful girl and 3 semesters onwards, Sheryl and I are still pretty tight. Thanks for being such lovely company, my fellow cousin!! And did I mention that the 2 of us passed ourselves off as cousins in our southeast asian lectures?? Hahaha. We’re so naughty right. And it’s also in NUS that I met Yawen, a girl who also went for Math Clinic. Though we were not in the same major, we somehow ended up talking and became close after that. It’s funny how I make close friends in NUS quite randomly.
16. If there’s one thing I could change about myself, it would be my height. I’ve been one of the tallest girls in my secondary school class since sec 3 and subsequently, the tallest girl in my JC class and then one of the tallest girls here at NUS Science. My ideal height would be 1.68m tall! And I only own a pair of heels (for work/interviews/formal events), if not you’ll see me ALWAYS IN FLATS because I don’t want to tower over everyone else! And because of my height, I tend to stand out in a crowd, enabling people to recognise me easily. And wherever I go, I get stared at. SIGHS! My tallest guy friend is Jen Jong, who stands at 1.83m and probably the only person I wouldn’t mind wearing heels when we go out together!
17. I have an extended family which consists of a xiaomei,(sam eng!),a xiaodi (brandon! Who’s really so cute and funny and nice to talk to) and a big sister!(cheryl!) Whee. If only we were really related by blood. That would be so nice!! The cousin I’m closest to has to be Butterdi aka Melodi who’s my Little Miss Sunshine!
18. I am a really absent-minded person, I carry post-its around with me and write down reminders on what I need to do, if not I would really forget. For instance, if I am printing my documents in school, I’ll actually write down what I need to print, if not I might not print everything that I need to do so! I even use the post-its functions in my handphone for reminders as well!! And I can be blur at times. There was once, I woke up early to do a Stats tutorial and I had that tutorial on that day, and guess what, I forgot to bring my worked solutions to school and it was such a tedious tutorial!!
19. I am a frank person and always speak my mind. However, sometimes, I can be too frank and that can be a flaw. For instance, if I’m not happy with something, I’ll voice it out immediately.
20. Being an old-fashioned romantic at heart, I don’t believe in love at first sight. How can one just like someone whom he doesn’t know at all, based on that person’s looks and the “Gut feeling” that he has? I really don’t think this can happen in real life. Anyway, Korean drama serials are so nice to watch and I really love Princess Hours and My Girl. However, I don’t think that my love life would be that juicy and dramatic as the ones shown in such dramas.
21. My favourite colour is pink. I’ve liked pink ever since I watched the very first version of Power Rangers. The Pink Ranger was just so cool and so girly and ever since then, my favourite colour is pink. Most people are quite amused when they see the contents of my bag because I always carry my pink shawl, my pink wallet ,my pink handphone wallet and my pink Billabong pencil case around with me. My umbrella and water bottle are not pink though! I think the versions of Power Rangers really suck right now. And did I mention that I love Carebears too? I have a pink carebear with me right now! “Carebear Stare!!” Anyway, I used to have a teddy bear which I called Marsha when I was in Primary school, and I would dress her up with shirts and my PE shorts. One day, I came back from school and found out that my mum threw her away because she was tattered and I cried. I still miss Marsha today! And I really love teddy bears too!!
22. My nicknames are quite varied. Most of my friends call me Mich (pronounced as Mitch), with the exception of some calling me “Meesh” (*ahem guys in MM comm.), to “Wee Wee!” (*ahem Von Von!) to “Michy Mich (darling XT, you’re the only one to call me this!) to funny ones like “dude”. Hey, I’m a girl ok! And the funky ones like “AGOGO” by Darryl Song (cos he finds me quite retro) to “Miss Clarity” (cos people think that I resemble the Miss Clarity girl at that café cos of my love for pink.
23. Being a sentimental person, I really love to write letters, cards and make stuff for my friends. One of the best things I’ve made has to be a noticeboard for Sean as his Xmas present last year. (you’re damn lucky, sean!) as well as journals filled with entries for Nikita, Bonnie, Livia and Samantha as farewell presents when they went overseas to study.
24. I have such a sweet tooth, I wonder why my teeth have not rotted yet. I really love desserts. Brownies, Cakes, Waffles, Ice-cream, Pies etc. You name anything sweet, I’ll eat it! I love places like Dome, Gelare, Secret Recipe, Changing Appetities etc. I’ll choose to eat desserts as main courses anytime man.
25. Ever since I graduated from NJC in 2006, my hair has never been black. I’ve been dyeing it brown constantly. And I was a hair model for Toni and Guy in 2008. I helped out at a student’s varderer presentation, which I had a really nice bob in a red-wine colour, and for the second show which Toni and Guy presented their Flux collection, the top layer of my hair was bleached brown and the bottom was brown and red, causing Desmond to call me “Chocolate Girl with edible hair!” And I had hair extensions put in. OMG I looked like some Manga/Anime-inspired girl. So not me. I really hated how my hair looked like after the hair show and I was quite upset, cos my hair got cut really short and there were 3 colours in my hair. I looked so ugly then. I’m thankful my hair’s much better and less damaged now. My new year’s resolution for this year: Not to get anything done to my hair and to let it grow longer.
