went for a sampler jazz dance class today it was not wat i expected. from videos, i thought lyrical jazz is more fluid and smooth... not so much of start-stop and PAH. let's just say i thought it was like how this whole para is written, soothing in a way, smooth, and not a lot of sudden shocks.

now if thiswereAjazzpiEce... there would besud-den starts AND STOPS and loads of sudden SHOCKS. because we were doingthisjazzWALTZ thingy and LOADS OF turns and punchiNG-The-Air and huuuuuug swing PIAK. yeah.

i basically got disoriented by the end of class. so that's the end of michele's attempt at lyrical jazz. oh did i mention that warm ups is about 15 mins worth of stretching and swinging around and balancing and crunches. oh my. 3-5 mins worth of continuous crunches? can die... and to a certain rhythmn somemore. slow then fastfastfast then slower... then fast fast then WAH CAN DIE LA SO LONG but it's a miracle my abs still aren't hurting yet and i hope they don't hurt and yes i'm rambling and i know i sound like i'm this lala 15 year old girl (uhuh Mag you do write like this sometimes) so it's time to sign off and sleep. tata.

Jun told us the other day that a dear friend is in CLEO's 50 most eligible bachelors list.

Sure, ME Thong (his nickname and army uniform name) is a very sweet guy, loves Sherina lots lots, plays a mean piano and guitar to boot, has a mischievous and boy-boy face, and carries himself well.

But, to be told that ME Thong's one of CLEO's 2008 Top 50 most eligible bachelors... i'm so sorry ME Thong, but you're a friend! Thus... please excuse me while i *rotfl* =p

Am I glad I'm just in the crazy-Singapore-search-for-primary-school culture... Why, in NY it's extended to massive PANIC, and to the kindergarten level. Granted, getting into kindergarten can guarantee a place in primary and secondary school but still... anyway, read on.

`Crazy Friday' Hits for New York Kindergarten Parents (Update1)

By Beth Jinks

Feb. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Parental anxiety in New York rises a notch for today's annual ``Crazy Friday'' as the city's private kindergartens issue decisions that may launch youngsters toward Harvard, Yale or Princeton, or not.

Letters, e-mails and phone calls from schools today will say ``accepted,'' ``rejected'' or ``wait-listed.'' Then the kindergarten shuffle begins, with parents balancing waiting-list spots at their top choices against acceptances at so-called safety schools.

Many parents submitted more than a dozen applications to raise their child's chances, according to New York education advisers. The application flood means some of the $28,000-a-year schools including Brearley, Spence, Collegiate and Dalton in Manhattan have more than 10 contenders for each desk, with competition fiercest for about 2,500 prized seats at the most- sought schools.

``Everybody wants to go the same 15 schools, but they don't have 500 kindergarten places. They have 30 to 60,'' said Amanda Uhry, who charges $15,000 to help families through the admissions process. ``It's like a parental feeding frenzy. You can't buy your way in. If you've got $5 billion, there's probably somebody who is applying who has $10 billion.''

The Trevor Day School in Manhattan had 600 applicants for 64 spots, up 15 percent from 2007, a trend repeated elsewhere, said Deborah Ashe, a board member of the Independent School Admission Association of Greater New York and Trevor's application director.

Legacy Kids

Some spots go to children graduating from the schools' preschool programs, others to ``legacy'' kids whose siblings or other relatives attended the same kindergarten. That leaves precious few spaces for parents trying to secure a kindergarten that will guarantee their child's prep-school path, according to Ashe and Uhry.

``Families are in the middle of the, `Where-am-I-going-to- get-in' panic, it's Crazy Friday,'' Cynthia Bing of the nonprofit Parents League of New York said in a phone interview. Her group offers online resources free to anyone and personal advice and workshops for members, who join for $120 a year.

The ``panicked response'' has been building in recent years, Ashe said. ``We don't know if applications are going up because there's more people out there, or if there's just more panic out there.''

New York's five boroughs have 575,823 children younger than 5, according to the 2006 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, up 5.8 percent since 2001. Manhattan's under-5 population jumped 22 percent to 98,361 over the same period, reflecting high-paying jobs that keep more families in the city instead of moving to the suburbs, said Ashe.

Automatic Entry

The 2,500 slots are at 60 kindergartens of private schools that are members of New York's Independent School Admission Association. Acceptance grants children automatic entry into grade school, and can secure their place in the best private high schools. The association represents 127 New York private schools, including 112 in Manhattan.

Families must decide whether to accept admission offers by Feb. 27. If they decline, then those on the wait-list are offered the slot.

Some parents begin angling for the right kindergarten even before conceiving, Bing said.

Amanda Brokaw, a public relations executive, said she and her investment-banker husband are already studying schooling options for their 19-month-old daughter.

``I'm amazed that I'm dealing with this so early,'' she said. ``I grew up in Manhattan. Looking at the future, between the finances and competitiveness of getting in somewhere, it's causing anxiety. No sleepless nights yet, but anxiety.''

Brooklyn's Crazy, Too

It's not just crazy in Manhattan, said Ana Patel, who works for an international human rights organization and lives with her lawyer husband and 4 1/2-year-old son in Brooklyn. After applying to five schools, they won acceptance at a private kindergarten in Brooklyn Heights, where the child can continue through high school.

``You find yourself having the most inane conversations with other parents because it suddenly becomes a big deal whether they get in or not,'' Patel said. ``Do you call the head of development during the first round? Do you send her flowers? Do you send her a thank-you note? Is e-mail OK or should it be handwritten, or on some kind of stationery?''

Application fees, interviews and waiting lists are features of most private New York kindergartens, even those far down in preference lists. Parents submit essays explaining why they'll fit in with the school community, and toddlers take aptitude tests and have ``play dates'' with other hopefuls.

`Melissa Moms'

At first-come kindergartens, parents or their nannies line up before dawn on application day. Other schools began applicant lotteries to avoid the spectacle.

Uhry said that her business, Manhattan Private School Advisors, has doubled since 2005 to about 1,400 families and that 2009 will be the most competitive yet. The key, she said, is selling your family and customizing each application to fit the school's criteria.

``You don't want to look like every other person who lives on the Upper East or Upper West Side. The husband works on Wall Street, probably for Goldman Sachs, the wife doesn't work any more, her name is Melissa, she's 40 years old, has a 2-year-old kid and wears those pants with the word `Juicy' across the butt,'' Uhry said. ``You know how many of those `Melissa Moms' we see around here?''

To contact the reporter on this story: Beth Jinks in New York at bjinks1@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: February 15, 2008 17:20 EST

whoever invented heels ought to be shot.

and whoever wrote the social rules that mandate the wearing of heels for formality's sake and business' sake ought to boiled, deep fried in a vat of oil, boiled, and then deep friend in the same vat of oil.

whoever you are, your names are forgotten but your instruments of torture live on.

Incessantly ringing phones drives me nuts. Not kidding. I realised every time a phone rings I get all tensed up. And my head 'vibrates' with each "druu druu". I need to invest in more CDs... and find my external CD drive! Where oh where have you gone my CD drive???

Every Promise
Words: Bryson Smith
Music: Philip Pervical

Every promise of our God
Find its 'yes' in His own Son.
Blessings to His people come
In abundance through the One.

Chorus:
In Christ, God's glory is revealed.
His grace, His faithfulness is shown
And so we live in certain hope
The God of Truth our fortress strong.

As foretold the Servant came
Sacrificed to rid our shame.
Promised Saviour, Lamb of God
Full atonement by His blood.

(Chorus)

By God's Word the Christ did come
Great King David's greatest son.
Lion of Judah, King of Kings
He whose rule will never end.

(Chorus)

i'd never seen it this way before. JUST names they were, at least to me. just names showing the generations. a long list that's somehow there written into the book. but it goes far deeper than that.

this list of names begins the book of the Gospel of Matthew in the new testament in the Bible. A long list of names spanning 42 generations. all along, i thought it was just a way of introducing the reader to the book. but no.

the names are chock full with meaning.
david, the king of Israel who committed adultery and killed to cover it up.
abraham, the patriach of Judaism, Islam and Christianity who wasn't a stellar example at all times. rahab, a Canaanite prostitute.
ruth, a Moabitess who was displaced and widowed.
judah, a man who didn't keep his promises.
tamar, judah's daughter in law who gained what she wanted through questionable means.

i guess what hit me the most was that in spite of all these people's shortcomings, God still worked through them. God, in His mercy and kindness kept His promise to send a person to deliver us from our rebellion against Him. as i read the Bible, i'm just amazed at how faithful and patient God is. All the promises He made, He kept. And all this, despite the unfaithfulness of human beings.

everytime i'm reminded of God's grace, i'm reminded of His faithfulness - and my shortcomings. i'm reminded how often i pay lip service to God. i'm reminded how often i break my promises. and i'm reminded how opposite God is, how constant God is.

Got my RAK today! For the uninitiated, it's Random Act of Kindness in scrapbooking talk. Pics of the stash are below. Thanks so much Lia for the RAK! It made my day!


The papers and stuff came in a pretty tin and was packaged so nicely with a ribbon and other wrapping paper. Such an eye for detail!


There were 3 rolls of paper, mulberry paper flowers, a pen, buttons, tags, journalling pieces, chipboard shapes, ribbon, alphas, stickers, a stamp and a magazine on making mini albums (this last item coz i mentioned to her that i was making a mini album for a friend who's so heavily pregnant i hope she's given birth already, and asked for tips!)