Hey friends,

as you all should know(by now) the competition have ended on 24th August so I probably won't be updating this space anymore. Okay maybe I would but it won't be that often.
So yeah, if you're interested to read my own other blog, leave a tag on the blog and I'll give you the URL (:

xoxo,
Clarissa~

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Wanted to delete the spams in the cbox but I realised I have no idea what the username/password is T.T
Failing memory.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JIRO WANG!!




He is part of Fahrenheit (:

Back in Kindergarten, together with both my brothers, we wanted a dog but we never had a chance to have one.

At the beginning primary five, I got a one-year-old Jack Russel(I THINK) from my aunt who was about to give birth. Her name was Cocoa, she was a nice dog, one who is very active and she had a nice coat of fur. According to my aunt, she had won prizes in some magazines before. Unfortunately, I don't have images of her, I used to have them in my phone, but my phone back then was crap and it had long died. Plus, I don't have the cable to connect it to the computer.

Cocoa fell sick. She was sent to the pet hospital and stayed in there for days. I remember that fateful day when I entered the car after school (I was in the afternoon session), my dad told me she wasn't doing well. I cried. I reached the hospital. It was as if Cocoa was waiting for me. As soon as I came, she stood up, wagged her tail, moments later she started vommitting blood. She was put to sleep to end her pain.

I stood outside the hospital, my aunt asked me if I wanted to see Cocoa for one last time. I said no. I regretted it. I was too afraid to look at her. She vommited blood right in front of me. But she waited for me to visit her before she left. If only I did say yes, if only I saw her one last time. I could have told her I love her, even though we spent less than a year together.

At the end of primary five, my dad bought us a dog. This special dog means a lot to me. I chose her. I wanted a beagle. A lemon white and brown beagle. A female one. At the Pasir Ris Pet store [Pet Movers], there were only two of such puppies. I spent less than a minute to pick out my dearest dog. The reason? She was the thinner one. I only thought that I was going to fatten her up(but not overweight please).

I named her Cookie. Don't ask me why because I don't know. I only know she will get a name beginning with 'C'. Ta-da! A sudden burst of inspiration made me named her Cookie (while we were on the way home). So yup, I got her when she was only two months old, and today she turns 4.

Cookie means a lot to me. She is probably the only dog I have such huge affection for. She is a very lovable and cute. Unlike most dogs, she sleeps in the most awkward positions ever, with her four paws facing the sky. She isn't the most well-behaved dog and she has gotten into trouble numerous time before. But she never fails to make me laugh with all her silly actions. She is picky. She doesn't eat everything you give her so it took a while to persuade her to eat. When she starts eating, or when she's chewing her favourite toys, as long as you go near her, she will start growling at you. She loves playing with plastic bottles and is always steal stones from our neighbours home.

They say dogs are man's best friend. I do agree with it because Cookie never fails to put a smile on my face no matter how sad I was. I would spend hours sitting right next to her, ranting to her about everything and she would just patiently lie on my lap, occasionally getting up to lick my face. She brought me so much joy and laughter though I might have neglected her some times.

She means a lot to everyone in my family, even if we don't say so. I remember there was once this year, Cookie didn't look well. My grandma was so worried that she started crying. She was afraid. I never realised how much Cookie meant to her. I called my mum back home and we brought Cookie to the vet. Amazingly, as soon as she got into the car, she started being so excited and happy, she was so active at the vet that the vet couldn't see what was wrong with her. Perhaps she was just upset.

My dad said beagles are hunting dogs, there are nights when she will start barking non-stop and no matter how you try to pacify her, she will keep barking because she saw an animal. Ranging from toads, birds trapped between our plants or rats savaging for food at our backyard, she will keep barking until we do something about it. She barks and strangers, scaring the postman occasionally. In the late afternoon, she would go sit by the gate, under the hot sun looking far ahead. What is she looking for? My parents' car. She is awaiting them to come home. Whenever we reached home, she would excitedly get up and wag her tail, barking for you to pet her. If not, she will continue barking till you do so.

She is a very intelligent dog, she will always bark for her walks at about 6pm. However, if she sees that you're busy with something or you're having dinner, she will quietly wait at a corner until you are free. She would also not enter the areas she's not suppose to go to. She is afraid of us spraying water at her. Whenever she sees us taking the hose, she will run away immediately, but when you carry her to the basket to bathe her, she will stay still and let you finish bathing her. When we travel overseas, we would put Cookie at the Pet Hotel, it's really funny to see how she looks so sad when she was carried away, feeling as if we didn't want her anymore. When we finally brought her back, she was so happy.

I guess all pet owners will feel that their pet are the best in the world and yes I do feel that Cookie's the best dog in the world. She is just the way she is. So, Happy Fourth birthday, Cookie (:

Picture spam! Starting from the time we first got her :D


Thank you for all the fun.

P.S. this post is titled 'Monster in the house' because people always calls her Cookie monster (:
and yes, she's quite a destroyer sometimes.

Yup, today I shall post about someone close to my heart, my younger brother.
Well, if you are a long-time stalker of my other blog, you would have come across posts about my younger brother before.
Probably you will be thinking 'Is she going to start going depressed again?'

I'll admit I do post about him more often when I'm down and annoyed with perhaps everything in this world, but hey, he did not just leave me sad memories.

Before I confuse everyone, my younger brother passed away when he was five (going onto six), which was... 8 years ago. No worries, I'm not going to start getting emotional, I'm certain I can talk about him without wanting to cry.

So yes, I had two siblings, both brothers, one three years older while the other one year younger.
Comparing both brothers, I was very much closer to my younger brother(probably because of his character and the age gap too). His name was Kenrick.

Kenrick was born with an illness. I'm not sure what exactly is wrong with him and till today am to afraid to ask my parents about it. I only know he had an illness and I was suppose to ensure he doesn't get bullied. Well, perhaps I was pretty much that over-protective sister of his back in kindergarten. The sense of pride I have when my teacher calls me to stop my crying brother that came knocking on the door of my class with his teacher. But he stopped coming after the first year since he got used to school. I remember how he would run around the playground while we're waiting for the school bus back to my aunt house. I would stand at the side and watch him play, very afraid he would fall. He was like a precious jem, something that meant so much to me. I took extra care to ensure he would be fine. The bus aunty would always put both of us in the same seat, no matter how crowded the bus was, she will figure something out, we were both practically inseparable. He would always lie on my shoulder and fall asleep on those bus rides back home.

I ever came across his health booklet, this poor brother of mine, spent his first month at the hospital because of his health. He had an operation. I know he had one, for he has this wide scar on his tummy, back then, I would sometimes touch it gently asking him if it hurt and he would look at me telling me it doesn't. He had to drink this big bowl of bitter soup everday, the least I could do was to drink it with him. So, we would both sit in the kitchen drinking two big bowls of soup everyday. What pained me more was looking at him receiving countless of jabs at NUH, he frequently visited NUH for jabs and I would always accompany him. When I was young, I was terribly afraid of injections, looking at him receiving so many injections just made me feel so bad for him. He was a member of Club Rainbow (a charity helping children and youths suffering from a range of chronic and potentially life-threatening illnesses). He would be able to visit zoos and such places and I would always go along with him.

Kenrick was more than a brother, he was my best friend. The only one who knew all my secrets and someone that gave me so much joy and laughter. He was someone I would go all out to protect and I was someone he would defend. Though much smaller than me, he gave me a sense of security, hopefully I did give a sense of security too. The fact he was ill, the fact that he was different made me protect him. I was proud to announce that he's my brother and definitely proud to have him as one. I wasn't on good terms with my older brother, getting into quarrels and then we start hitting each other. Kenrick would always be the one that stop all these fights, he would protect me and tell me to stop crying. Perhaps all this protection he gave me made me the little crybaby.

Kenrick left in July 2003. It was during the SARS period. He was hospitalised a number of times that year with high fever and other illnesses which the little me do not know of. All I knew was that he came back. But in July, if I'm not wrong, the end of July, he was hospitalised, this time, he never came back. My grandmother believed it was because SARS happened, because he couldn't go out to play, thus he couldn't sweat and remained sick. Maybe that was one of the causes, but definitely not the only one. His liver condition was deteriorating. I remember everyone was donating blood, everyone in my extended family. Kenrick needed a liver transplant. There was this Indian lady who wanted to donate her liver, but my mother kindly declined it as she was going to donate hers. When he passed away, he was just less than one month away from his scheduled transplant. I would often think, what would our future be like if he managed to have the transplant? Perhaps he would be right by my side now, working very hard to make our parents proud. He would probably excel in his studies for he was a bright child, maybe he will knock some sense into that older brother of mine.

Although I only had five years of memories with him, he made a much bigger impact. Even after he left, he was never forgotten. I know he changed me a lot. From the bubbly girl to the quiet, unnoticeable girl at the corner of the class, faced with challenges and the countless of betrayal by her very two best friends. Then, when I faced the truth, I became the much more optimistic me. I took a long time to get over his death. Probably about 3 plus years. Because he played such a huge role in my life, I couldn't accept it. It was as if I was robbed of all happiness.

Whenever I got upset, I would think about him, and then start getting emotional, start crying all over again. That was just one way I could make myself feel better. I remember how much I used to blame myself. I felt that it was because I was not by his side that he got ill. I prayed so much hoping he would recover. He died at night. I think it was early in the morning. He was in the ICU, everyone gathered around his bed, his heart stopped beating. Everyone started crying, I was lost. Before I know it, we were off to visit his grave.

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I sneakily went to look for his medical records, and I was right. He passed away at 0015 on 27th July. I think it was a Saturday. Cause of death, Pneumonia and Bilary Atresia.
'Biliary atresia is a blockage in the tubes (ducts) that carry a liquid called bile from the liver to the gallbladder. The condition is congenital, which means it is present from birth.

Biliary atresia occurs when the bile ducts inside or outside the liver do not develop normally. It is not known why the biliary system fails to develop normally.

The bile ducts help remove waste from the liver and carry salts that help the small intestine break down (digest) fat.

In babies with biliary atresia, bile flow from the liver to the gallbladder is blocked. This can lead to liver damage and cirrhosis of the liver, which is deadly if not treated.

Newborns with this condition may appear normal at birth. However, jaundice (a yellow color to the skin and mucous membranes) [yes I know this word! My mum used to mention it quite frequently!] develops by the second or third week of life. The infant may gain weight normally for the first month, but then will lose weight and become irritable, and have worsening jaundice.

Treatment:
An operation called the Kasai procedure is done to connect the liver to the small intestine, going around the abnormal ducts. It is most successful if done before the baby is 8 weeks old. However, a liver transplant may still be needed.

Early surgery will improve the survival of more than a third of babies with this condition. The long-term benefit of liver transplant is not yet known, but is expected to improve survival.'

credits: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002130/

So that was the operation he had when he was just 60 days old. I finally knew what illness he had. I guessed that first surgery didn't help, he needed a transplant.

Anyway, Kenrick's death made our parents pamper us more, really, I could easily become a spoilt brat. If not for the way my older brother is behaving, I might really just become this spoilt girl. Kenrick made me much more optimistic, when things are going way wrong and I feel crap, I just need to think of his pretty face and bright smile. He made me much stronger, judging by the way how everyone showers me with love, I could never get up from any fall. But Kenrick made me stronger. Much more stronger. I think of all the sick children out there that couldn't get to live, I feel very fortunate.

Although my lower primary years were filled with pain and torture, ranging from the death of my brother to betrayal of friends, I believe he was always guiding me. At least, I pulled through those years and managed to get to where I am now. So yup, I'm living my life for two people. Myself and of course, Kenrick. I'm doing the things he would like to do and I make sure I don't disappoint my parents. He is my pillar of support, even if he isn't by my side. Many times, when I feel sad, I would hug my stuffed toy and start talking to them as if they are Kenrick. There are pictures of us all around my room, I realised in almost every picture, we looked very alike. The kind of smile we had in different pictures were also the same.

However, I would have forgotten most of the times we shared, after all we were so young back then. But, he will never leave my life. We had so much fun and had a lot of fun overseas too. He was a boy that knew what he wanted. He was greatly loved by everyone, but I never got jealous because I loved him with my whole heart. He is my guiding star and I'm grateful for being able to spend his whole life with him.

If you would ask me what I would like to be when I grow up, I will say a doctor. I won't say being a doctor is exactly the dream I would love to have. But there are many reasons, firstly, for Kenrick. I would want to save more lives. Secondly, my grandmother. She yearns to have a grandchild who will be a doctor and we all know very well she had placed her hopes on me. Finally, my parents. Both my parents are doctors and I'm going to follow their footsteps.

I shall end of with a picture.
I know it might be slightly over-used, but these are the few pictures that are uploaded into this computer. The other photos are printed/saved into CDs.

He's forever in the middle, forever the center of attention (:

I know we all look cute.

My grandmother and her favourite grandson.

Yes, I'm proud of you Kenrick. Eight years ago, now and the many years down the road.
You know whenever people asked me about my siblings, I'm always wonder if I should say two brothers or one older brother. In my heart, I always have two brothers. Two brothers that love me unconditionally, they express it differently, but I know they love me. No matter how much my older brother might annoy me, I know he still love me. Both my brothers did impact me a lot, my older brother? well posted about it before. They both forced me to grow up and I would have to thank the both of them because everything they done changed me (positively).

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'Biliary atresia seems to affect girls slightly more often than boys. Within the same family, it is common for only one child in a pair of twins or only one child within the same family to have it. Asians and African-Americans are affected more frequently than Caucasians.' - Wikipedia.

I still do think it was unfair to take his life. But then again, he existed in my life for a reason and I think I know what that reason is.

HI FRIENDS.
I am a fan of food, especially desserts and baked stuffs.
So today, I shall share ten of my of my favourite desserts (in no particular order).

1. Egg tarts
I love egg tarts. I still think the best egg tarts are from Bengawan Solo! These oval-shaped egg tarts have really nice crusts.


2. Pancakes
Pancakes are easy to make and eating them with maple syrup makes me feel like I'm in heaven. Great for breakfast :D


3. Honey Cornflakes Cup
Another easy-to-make treat that takes about... 15 minutes or so? A good way to finish up open packet of cornflakes if you get tired of eating them with milk.


4. Creme Caramel
Gosh, this is the best ever. It is made of custard with a soft layer of caramel on the top. [Creme Brulee has a hard layer]. BEST.


5. Brownie Addiction (mini) from Emicakes
I love the cakes from Emicakes. Especially the mini ones!! But they are super expensive so I eat them once in the while. They have many flavours and my favourite is Ultimate Brownie Addiction!


6. Banana Walnut Cake
Banana and walnut. I guess it's quite a common cake?

7. Bread & Butter Pudding
Super good way to finish your expiring bread. It's easy to make too and super yummy. Well, this is the best picture I could find online so yeah...


8. Cookies
I love cookies and I like experimenting them with anything I can find at home... I guess I like pure butter chocolate chip cookies and white chocolate with raspberry cookies best. I SHOULD BAKE SOME COOKIES SOON. But I don't have any flour left...


9. Fruit Tartlets
They're easy to make too. Unless you're making your own shortcrust pastry. If I'm not wrong, in this picture the fruits are placed above whipped cream, but I prefer using hazelnut cream or custard.


10. Raisin Scones
Scones are delicious and you should really go get some soon if you have not tried them before.

(I do not own any of these images)

oh gosh I feel like baking now.

Recently addicted to this song (:
(sorry it's in Chinese...)

SC Camp Group 3 '10 IC with Wan Xuan and Chong Wei ^^

WDP SC Alumni Batch '06 '08 '09 :D

WDP SC Camp '10

Alumni (L)

Hello!
I'm always proud to be a Woodlander. Being part of council is just one the many reasons.
Woodlands Primary is probably one of the few primary schools that had a council. At least that's what our teachers told us back then. We have a prefectorial board too. Yes, I'm part of both the Student Council and the prefectorial board. Back in primary school, we don't do as much as the councillors in Nanyang. We might be fully recognised, but I love being part of it. I won't say I know every single one of them, we weren't a 'bonded' group but to be honest they are a pretty special group of people in my life. Or at the very least, the alumni. We might not have made significant impact on the student body, but throughout my experience in council, I learnt a lot. From my peers, seniors and teachers.

My school prefects wore a tie. The boys wore a long one while the girls wore a short one. The Student Council had collar badges to pin on their collar. Unfortunately, I lost mine in Primary 5, from then on, I never wore a badge. ( D: ) We have a council tee, but in the past, for some unknow reason, it was stated 'sports leaders'. I guess it was probably due to fact that we were more active in sports related activities. But in the year 2009, we had a proper shirt that says 'Student Councillors' and I got the shirt when I went back to help out.

I remember the day when I realised I was accepted into council. That sense of thrill. WDP SC started out with three core committees, namely Sports, Publication and Welfare. Later in 2008(if I didn't remember wrongly) Publication and Welfare were merge together. I was part of the Sports Committee. The group of people who were mainly in charge of loaning of P.E. equipment before/after school and during reccess breaks as well as the annual Games Day.

We had many training sesssions, ranging from working on Microsoft spredsheets to being referees. The experience was wonderful. I won't say I'm a best referee, I don't know the rules at the back of my mind, but nonetheless, I did have a lot of fun.

Moving on, the council alumni. Technically, if you were a part of council, you are in the alumni. But not everyone is willing to go back to help out. Thus, the alumni is reduced to the group of people who go back at the end of every year for the larger Student Council activities.
WDP SC only started in 2006, which explains why there's only up till the '06 batch of councilors in the pictures above. I don't know how big their batch was, but (if I'm not wrong), there's seven of them(mainly those in the first row of the last picture) who are dedicated to this council. They help out ever since they graduated... (I think) They are really nice seniors and a batch of people I (secretly) look up to.
For the '07 batch, currently, there's only two of them who go back to help out... '08 batch, which is my batch. Well, in 2009 there were more councillors that went back, but then in 2010, those who went back in 2009 didn't go back. But there were a few others that joined in. I'm not all that close to all of them, so I can't say for sure who will be going back again this year. But throughout the past two years, I did manage to forge some new and strong friendships, with the people I never once spoke to.
I never loved the council that much in primary school. But I love the Alumni. After graduating, I would try my best to go for all council activities and I'm proud to be part of the alumni. The activities the alumni help out in are the annual Games Day and the annual Student Council camp. In 2009, my batch helped out in the annual camp as group I/Cs. We didn't do as much but we basically lead the juniors. The seniors(batch '06) did a lot of work and they definitely did a good job. That was my first year getting to know more seniors, and seeing them in person after hearing stuff about them back in primary school (cough).

Last year, through a rather close senior (Chong Wei), I was also involved in Games Day. I helped co-ordinating the people in my batch to help out in Games day and training sessions. My seniors have my upmost respect, last year, many of them were having their O'levels examinations, yet they still went back to help. The teachers wanted to get the Alumni to train the juniors so they can do more referee-ing during the actual day. However, only a few managed to go back for the training sessions. Chong Wei definitely help a lot, if I'm not wrong he's probably attended the most training sessions. I remembered him asking me to go for the first training session which happened to be on the day of my last paper for the End-Of-Year Examinations. I took a cab from Nanyang all the way back to Woodlands just to help out because there were only two members of the alumni there. For the actual day, there were much more alumni helping out, so we were guiding the juniors as they refereeed.

SC Camp 2010. My batch were in charge of the morning activities for day 2. It was fun typing out the proposals, mass-emailing others and freaking out when we almost screwed up. I definitely forged closer bonds and managed to meet up with the people I barely have the chance to. Although our activity wasn't as successful as we hoped to be, at least the juniors enjoyed themselves and we're happy. I'm thankful for my batchmates who came for the camp namely Edina, Huilynn, Kyle, Faith, Linshan, Xuan Hao, Joshua and Wen Xuan. We definitely aren't as close as our '06 seniors and do not have the experience. But I'm glad we managed to do a rather good job.

I had a lot of fun in last year camp along with my fellow group I.Cs, Wan Xuan ('10 bactch) and Chong Wei. The '06 seniors did not join us for the morning activity at Treetop adventure park (or whatever that place is) as they had to prepare for the night activity. Throughout that activity, I knew much more about Wan Xuan and he is a great help. We (batch '08 '09) did let our seniors down when we did their night activity after the juniors, but at the same time we learnt a lot. I did learn a lot from the camp, mainly on leadership as we did our reflections on how we performed as Group I/Cs and I'm glad I went for the camp.

I don't meet these people often. But in actual fact I do like them a lot. I love the council and I wish we could have more outings which are quite impossible judging by the fact we all have different commitments. We had a chalet during the June Holidays this year at Aloha Changi. Though I couldn't stay over, but I had a super fun time though we did nothing much except slack in the rooms playing games, guessing riddles, blasting music and simply just talking.

Yup, Woodlands Primary Student Council do mean a lot to me and I'm proud to be part of this big family. I'm not sure if I can go for this year Games day but I do hope I can. As for the camp, I am rather sad when I realised that GCP was going to clash with it. Most likely, I would be back in Singapore on the day of the camp. Nonetheless, I hope I would be able to contribute and help in the planning as well as to go for the camp.

WDP SC - To lead is to serve.