<body>

A Little Person

Michelle Nguyen
Harvard College '13
National Junior College, Singapore '08
Trung Vuong Secondary School, Vietnam '04
Loves shopping, eating and gossiping
Email : blackreds1113@yahoo.com
Facebook: Michelle.Nguyen



Follow Me

Plurk.com




I Follow

♥ Click ♥





Categories

♥ Around The Web
♥ Book Review
♥ Fuck My Life
♥ Harvard Life
♥ People I Love
♥ Rants
♥ US Application Stuff
♥ Writing & Snarky Commentary


I Read


Magazines
Vanity Fair
The Economist
TIME
The New Yorker
Webpages
BBC
The New York Times
TED
Books
Faith of My Fathers - John McCain
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot - Ashley Gilbertson
The Forever War - Dexter Filkins
Dispatches From The Edge - Anderson Cooper

I Watch



Archives

April 2007
May 2007
June 2007
July 2007
August 2007
September 2007
October 2007
March 2009
April 2009
May 2009
July 2009
September 2009
October 2009
November 2009
December 2009
January 2010
February 2010
March 2010


Credits

Designer: Agnes & Yours Truly
Base Code: Tammy
Image: Enakei
Image Host: Photobucket




Friday, July 20, 2007

My Petite Life ♥

end of CT1 :D

Jeremy Yeo i think you are nuts. 24/25 and 43/50 for history essays? that's not humanly possible! And how i admire people's ability to gauge how well they have done for exams and tests after finishing the paper. I mean, for me, i will forget everything right after i write them down, which means i normally have no idea how i do for tests, except when i leave blank 22 marks for Functions la. That's another story :D
Have been acting like your model student (or mugger) these few days. Like, you know, i come to class having completed all my tutorials, knowing exactly what the teachers are saying and, not falling asleep half way through. I don't know if i can maintain this attitude that i am supposed to have for a long time. I mean, i don't really have much thing to do this half of the year, which is so vastly different from what the situation was a few months back. But then again, in return for my time (shitload of it) and energy, i had many opportunities to make good friends and meet great personalities who, to a great extent, help me retain some beliefs and hopes in life and people.
Today is astro's handover. YAY! I'm finally free from all this shit.


Michelle: Auf Wiedersehen!

7/20/2007 03:53:00 AM

0 comments / Post a Comment
View this post only
Home



Thursday, July 19, 2007

My Petite Life ♥

streetdirectory

You know i think streetdirectory.com can be real stupid sometimes. Like i was looking for this hotel on stevens road, and set preferred method of transport to be MRT and Bus. And guess what? It guides me to take bus to Buona Vista MRT. Take train to Raffles Place station, change to North East Line, and take to Newton MRT station, which can be reached in ten minutes by a direct bus. Still ask me to walk for 1.35km some more. Laugh.
Tomorrow's SEA history paper will mark the end of my, should i say, pretty horrid common test 1.
I received International History paper, the worse half of History (i think, but you never know. Remember chem!), today and although i sort of complained to almost everyone that i met, i kinda felt numb inside. Like after going through several "surprises" the past week you really have no idea how to react to your less-than-expected grade anymore.
Talked to PZM for the first time today. I mean, I have heard enough to write an essay about you, but never really had the chance to talk to you. The conversation included this part:
Me: "Um, so how was History?" (Since i'm already well aware of your triple ... for the other three subjects *grin*)
PZM: *smiles sheepishly* "Ah, not bad..."
Me: "So you get A la"
PZM: *still smiling* "Ah, yah."

O M G

Why am i not surprised.
Ohwell.

And then there are biatches who are putting frowns on my face every now and then. I really don't know how people can go from good to bad, and/or from bad to intolerable, until the extent that you can't even stand the sights of their faces and everything that comes out of their mouth sounds like some piece of hypocritical bullshit. And to think that you used to think quite highly of them and even, at some points, regard them as good friends. It is indeed tough to get involved in relationships with people. One day they make you happy and can very well throw you down to the rock bottom and ruthlessly crush you like a cockroach the next, which is probably why i once thought it might be a good idea to just close your heart and you know, be superficial. They expect you to be "nice", "sensitive", "understanding" and don't really think that they should display the same qualities too. And they say, "You should stop thinking too much about people and things... It tires you out and makes you have a negative outlook on life."

On a brighter note, Grotesque is really good. Enchanting, and very dark. People with high moral standard (who shriek at the idea of homosexuality and the like) should stay away though. The book's highly twisted and controversial storyline can induce throw-ups :D Ohwells, i have an accomplished taste i must say xD And then there's this main character who never once knew what is love throughout her thirty-something years living in this world although she's a prostitute - a monstrously beautiful one at that. It's tragic right, and ... I AM SCARED OKAY. Knowing how emotion-less (as i have often been accused of) i have been these seventeen years, i have been thinking what if i will end up like her too? Like not knowing what it is like to really like someone my entire life /:


Michelle: Auf Wiedersehen!

7/19/2007 11:37:00 AM

0 comments / Post a Comment
View this post only
Home



Sunday, July 15, 2007

My Petite Life ♥

grotesque

That's the title of the book i bought today in Kino with my CHAOS vouchers from 1 year and ten days ago (which means that they had technically expired but after andrew did his magic... :P). Its a long book but i kinda really enjoy reading it so far. I guess its the kind of book for me, you know. Cryptic, dark and, of course, grotesque. What a nice word :)
I tend to read books when i am stressed and confused or just don't want to do work. Instead of TIME or Newsweek or the like, i will find myself indulging in novels, the totally "waste time" kinds, for hours. And hopefully miracles will occur after i finish reading those hundreds of pages. Like someone will come and offer me the solutions to science/maths tutorials or online quizzes.

HAHAHAHAHAHA :D Miracle did happen today! Thanks to a particular someone whose name i shall not reveal here, i got 25/25 for online physics test! :D


Michelle: Auf Wiedersehen!

7/15/2007 09:34:00 AM

0 comments / Post a Comment
View this post only
Home



Saturday, July 14, 2007

My Petite Life ♥

pub stunt

To reward myself for having completed maths differentiation and graphical analysis's bloody thick stack of tutorials (and probably getting 40% wrong like usual but so what?), i decided to go online and blog "for a while", which will most likely be translated to forty something minutes given how darn good i am at rambling and digressing.
See, only the "intro" and i wrote four lines (as in in blogger's composing mode. dunno how many lines it will look like on my blog la. prolly 6?).
I wonder why the heck I couldn't do just that during CTs. Instead of staring blankly at the papers and start cursing life. Or teachers. Or both.
Well CT results were unexpected. No, it were bad, in an unexpected way. I screwed up maths and physics as usual (which is why i'm wasting half of my saturday doing maths tutorials - but like andrew said i wonder how long this drive to mug will last). But chem was a major heart attack. I mean it was not good. But i so didn't expect it to be SO bad. Like so eff-ing bad i completely blanked out when i saw my grade, not knowing what to say or think. It is my worst one so far and i was a chem student back in vietnam. Now what the F is this? Anyway i think i have tortured my friends' ears more than enough with all this cursing and stuff so let's just move on. (Save a major CT-ditching session until after i receive the other half of GP and, say wheee, history.)
Only went to school for three days and it felt like three weeks have passed. Friday was the only "early" day when i reached hostel at 6:30 - more like forced to because school closed at 6, a(nother) desperate measure by the school to make its students less studious and CCA-obsessed. Won't work out i am sure. Next week promises to be worse when the Korean students come (yes i examined the photos - there's only one who can be considered cute but screw that. We all know koreans-without-plastic-surgery are generally not very good looking with their single eyelids and stuff). I had a hard time deciding whether to opt out of the programme, considering i won't go to korea end of year anyway (Mom and Dad's 20th anniversary! and what does that spell? PARTIEEEEEEE!! with wine and good food and music and cute boys - not sure about the last one though. of course i will choose the party right xD). In fact i believe a considerable amount of my hair has bid me goodbye because of the stress created by this. But in the end, heck la. I decided to go with it anyway. I won't deny part of the reason is because i will get to slack (big time) during community service day (because my job is just to "bring the K. student around" and i have very much decided the place i'd bring him to: canteen), and there's free food - delifrance and more. My love for freebies have suddenly ballooned these days - prolly under Jo's influence. Or maybe because my relationship with my wallet has been deteriorating so rapidly it has declined to let me see money inside it nowadays. *sigh*

A big sorry to all those who have, secretly or otherwise, accused me of being insensitive because of CT results /: *sigh again* we all have different expectations and restraints put on us (like the fact that you know, i am a bloody scholar and so not proud of it), so our definition of "bad" might not be the same. Which is why i have been so careful about telling my grades to other people. But shit happened la. In the end you were upset and that made me feel bad and sad too!
The past three schooldays have got to be one of the most mentally exhausting days in my life.

Anyway amidst all that shitload of frustration and stress, some exciting things happened too! Which makes me wonder how shitty/suicidal my life in school would be if it only revolves around academics. There was SnT farewell on Wednesday. It wasn't the best party that we had (ohwells we are party animals ;D), wasn't as emo as i thought it would be (due largely to CT's shitty results for everyone) but there were nevertheless good food (as always), fun game and priceless moments. And the fact that it was the last time i would actually have a SnT session with you guys all the more made it so worthwhile. It's funny no matter how shitty (i do realize i use the word alot today! because its mild vulgarity? its better than if i use, like, you know..) my day has been i'm gonna grin from ear to ear once i get to see you guys. Desmond and his i-am-lost face, will and his emo look, paul and mushroom hair, feiqing and piglet, lisha and colorful accessories, rong'en and hideous hairstyle, xiuhui and pink-ish stuff, yibo and his usual "how tall are you" question. Too bad woonpeng and his curly head and zhaowei and that annoying "i-don't-know-you!" stare weren't there. They say you only realize something's true value when you are going to lose it forever. Not say i'm going to lose you guys as friends, at least i hope not, but the thought of not having you guys to add fun and laughter and juicy gossips to my dull wednesdays is really saddening. You know you guys make up this huge vital part of my NJ life and what am i going to do without it? I'm going to feel lost during the next session because, admittedly, after all this while i still don't really know the new people yet. It sucks to be an IP3 at times. You practically lived one and a half year with this batch of people and were supposed to love them. Which you did. And then after that one and a half year they are all going to leave you and a new batch of people comes in. And how are you supposed to love them with all your hearts?
And you know somehow i always felt so protected as an IP2 until now. Like the way i was treated really made me feel like it was one whole huge family and i was the youngest. Maybe not only when it comes to bridge and i get slaughtered by woonipedia. Like how Yibo always calls me "Junior", and i will sulk refusing to respond. But deep inside, i really feel like a little kid who kept getting wowed by how incredibly smart and capable and nice and GREAT its sisters and brothers are.
I guess everything i wanted to tell you guys, i have written them all in those super long cards. It's funny how i am really bad at consoling people verbally and can get really emo in cards. HAHA xD

Ohwells, but like they say all good things have to come to an end. Another really memorable chapter of my life has closed and hopefully all the great memories i had with you guys will make me strong to be ready for anything that comes my way. It was a long ride and we faced bumps here and there, but i am so glad we survived it all and came out of this whole experience stronger a bit, more mature a bit and most important of all, closer together a bit.

Off track abit, what an emo song i'm listening to now :D - Here without you by 3 Doors Down :) But i'm not crying la (although for some reasons i am increasingly becoming a crybaby nowadays). I won't. Because i am stronger than i was when i first met you guys remember.

And i gave Jingjie a big hug during the handover. LOL. It was part of the event at first that everyone will have to hug their predecessors. Somehow everybody didn't do that and after i went up and gave you a really big hug, i could see jaws dropping and eyes popping. I was surprised that people were so stunt by it! (it wasnt meant to attract attention okay xD) come'on its just a hug la :D i can give all my friends one big one any time :)
That was really funny. The J2s were like "wah you not bad ah!" while the J1s were apparently uber surprised. And someone still commented on it on the next day. HAHA. See, you guys have your own way to make me smile :) Even now <3

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket


Michelle: Auf Wiedersehen!

7/14/2007 11:14:00 AM

0 comments / Post a Comment
View this post only
Home



Tuesday, July 10, 2007

My Petite Life ♥

addiction to personality tests :P

Global Personality Test Results
Stability (40%) moderately low which suggests you are worrying, insecure, emotional, and anxious.
Orderliness (26%) low which suggests you are overly flexible, improvised, and fun seeking at the expense too often of reliability, work ethic, and long term accomplishment.
Extraversion (63%) moderately high which suggests you are, at times, overly talkative, outgoing, sociable and interacting at the expense of developing your own individual interests and internally based identity.
Take Free Global Personality Test
personality tests by similarminds.com


trait snapshot:
likes attention, messy, open, rash, irritable, likes large parties, low self control, weird (WHAT? xD), fragile, does not like to be alone, emotionally sensitive, worrying, depressed, heart over mind, does not respect authority, independent, not rule conscious, not good at saving money, more interested in relationships than intellectual pursuits (wrong wrong xD), likes to fit in, very social, frequently second guesses self, phobic, suspicious, not careful, outgoing, vain, compassionate, aggressive, likes to make fun, hates to lose (OMG)

Extraversion |||||||||||||| 53%
Stability |||||||||| 36%
Orderliness |||||| 26%
Interdependence |||||||||||||| 56%
Intellectual |||||||||||||| 56%
Mystical |||||| 30%
Artistic |||||||||||| 50%
Religious || 10%
Hedonism |||||||||||| 50%
Materialism |||||||||||||||||||| 90%
Narcissism
|||||||||||||||| 70%
Adventurousness |||||||||||||||| 70%
Work ethic |||||||||||||| 56%
Self absorbed |||||||||| 36%
Conflict seeking |||||||||||||||| 70%
Need to dominate|||||||||||||||||||| 83%
Romantic |||||| 30%
Avoidant |||||||||||||||| 70%
Anti-authority |||||||||||||||||| 76%
Dependency |||||| 23%
Change averse |||||| 23%
Cautiousness |||||| 30%
Individuality |||||||||||||||| 70%
Sexuality |||||||||||||||| 63%
Peter pan complex |||||||||| 36%
Physical security |||||||||||||||||||| 90%
Physical fitness |||||| 24%
Histrionic |||||||||||||||||| 76%
Paranoia |||||||||||||||||| 76%
Vanity |||||||||||||||| 63%
Hypersensitivity|||||||||||||||| 70%
Indie |||||||||||| 45%

I think it shld be quite accurate becos i took quite a number of tests (see how slack i am xD) and the result always came out almost exactly the same :D


Michelle: Auf Wiedersehen!

7/10/2007 11:53:00 AM

0 comments / Post a Comment
View this post only
Home



Monday, July 09, 2007

My Petite Life ♥

Which famous leader are you?

I took this funny test with Jingjie FQ and Paul and GUESS WHO I GOT?
*cries out loud*


Michelle: Auf Wiedersehen!

7/09/2007 12:39:00 AM

0 comments / Post a Comment
View this post only
Home



Sunday, July 08, 2007

My Petite Life ♥

ENTP! :D

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

I did the MBTI personality analysis again! "Again" because i did it once before i started my IP1 year with everyone else but the result was not disclosed to us if i remember correctly. It's kinda fun, and accurate to a very large extent. So i have a six-page analysis of my personality type which got me at times laughing with tears in my eyes because it's just so true! Decided to write down some of the negative points (ya but very true xD) here :) There's this one portion which talks about your inner and possibly ugly self which i recommend everyone to go and find out theirs! It's good to reflect sometimes la :D
E(xtroverted) (i)N(tuitive)
T(hinker) P(erceptive)


- The least developed area for the ENTP is the Sensing-Feeling arena. If the Sensing areas are neglected, the ENTP may tend to not take care of details in their life. If the Feeling part of themself is neglected, the ENTP may not value other people's input enough, or may become overly harsh and aggressive.

- You find it hard to keep yourself organised and disciplined. Because of this you often let everyday matters get out of control. You find it especially difficult to understand other people's true disposition towards you. After you have intuitively understood a person you tend to lose interest in them as if you do not know what to do after. This occasionally turns people against you. You have difficulty identifying your enemies. You may also accidentally show tactless behaviour often destroying maintained harmony.

- The main peculiarity of ENTps behaviour is an incredible absent-mindedness -laugh crazily. They usually leave items where they used them and have a tendency to constantly lose smaller objects. ENTps work place and personal belongings are often kept in disarray. They invariably forget what they have already done and what they need to do.

- If you let an ENTp openly know that you do not like them, you will probably earn yourself the title of enemy #1. And beware to have them as an enemy. ENTps are great masters of tricks and deceits, and what's more they do it in a very skilful manner. (xDDD)

- ENTps also have the unique ability to make a deal with their conscience. They can successfully justify almost any wrong doing, thus ensuring that they will sleep well at night *raise eyebrow: do i really =)*


Michelle: Auf Wiedersehen!

7/08/2007 01:50:00 AM

0 comments / Post a Comment
View this post only
Home



Saturday, July 07, 2007

My Petite Life ♥

YAY!

With lien's help, I finally changed my template :) I quite like it la, and its like mix and match between 2 templates on blogskins so i'm keeping my fingers crossed that no one's gonna have the EXACT same one! :D
Enrichment week has been pretty...okay... It's a good break after CTs. Just that, you know, i think i'm just not meant to do physical activities. I signed up for the cycling trip at pulau ubin, because i really like cycling (serious!) and that's basically one thing i can do relatively well. But guess what! It was cancelled because of the rain today! Rejoice. So basically i woke up early (6:40am), walked to school and took the long bus ride to changi jetty point only to be told that the trip has been postponed to next saturday when i will be having my OP make up workshop. And there's no way i can change my class anymore because i already made a last minute change once and ms. lim is going to strangle me and chop my head off if i still want to change some more.
So no more Pulau Ubin cycling for me. Cycle in Vietnam then (and risk getting ran over by a car or more commonly, a bus- you know how crazy traffic over there is). Thing is, the bus might knock you over and the bus uncle will still have the guts to jump out and scream at you because "don't play play on the street ah girl! It's MY lane y'know! Go home go home!".
Going home in 1 month and 23 days time! :) Miss all the food and my room and parents and friends x) Oh and the lovely language which, i stress again, sounds nothing like Thai. I mean if i don't know English i'm gonna think it sounds like Tagalog. Okay a bit extreme but the point is! Vietnamese is a beautiful and unique language :D although quite a number of words have Chinese roots but whatever! So do many words in other Asian languages.

Ah rambling again :P Its quite amazing to see how i can digress from the first topic and talk about everything in the world.

A minute or for my dahling friends:
- I like Jingjie's new hair! (and i still rmb that u said you're gonna tag my blog OFTEN)
- I heart Pauline's new fringe! (its cute la xD really. it looks like you :P)
- I admire Jiahui's egg-breaking skills..
- I LOVE eesha's new specs (sense the sarcasm? jk haha xD)
and of course,
- I totally adore Lien's new blog! xD *smile sweetly* hahahahahahaha


Michelle: Auf Wiedersehen!

7/07/2007 10:09:00 AM

0 comments / Post a Comment
View this post only
Home



Wednesday, July 04, 2007

My Petite Life ♥

screwed!

I thought the History VA is due 20th July.
SO, 2 minutes ago, at 8:40pm, 4th July, i happily started choosing the topic.
I looked for the question paper. And read it.


AND


HORRIFIED!


Its due 6th July!


Which gives me a teeny bit more than 1 day to do an interview with an undecided someone, that inclusive of preparing questions, and put that onto paper. I haven't even chosen the topic i want to do on, and of course i haven't confirmed it with Ms. Oon (aka my history teacher).


I AM SCREWED! LOL


Michelle: Auf Wiedersehen!

7/04/2007 08:42:00 AM

0 comments / Post a Comment
View this post only
Home



Tuesday, July 03, 2007

My Petite Life ♥

continue frm last post :)

BUT first of all, I AM SO ENJOYING MY POST-CT! :D yayayayayayayaya its been really GREAT so far, like eat-sleep-slack-go out-watch movie-sleep some more- it's HEAVENLY :) (ya i'm so gonna gain back the few pounds i lost during the 1 week down with food poisoning :( - but i kinda dun mind! XD) Four days after CT (i allowed myself to completely forget about Maths VA and History VA - i am starting to panick as i list them down. They are due soon) felt more like holiday than 4 weeks in June. I bet i'm not the only one feeling that way.
So continue, the last 5 weird/fun/lesser known facts about myself:

6, I prefer one-on-one outings than group outings. Haha although i do go for group gatherings/OG outings quite often but still if i have a choice i'll prefer going out with one friend. (Or at most 2) Simply because i feel that way, we can give each other the full attention, talk all we can and there won't be awkward moments like when there are only 2 seats left on the bus or someone feels left out.

7, I am quite scared of embarrassing myself, and i always try my best to AVOID that. Its quite childish la. Like if i go to a restaurant and must order food, i will choose the dishes and drinks that i know how to pronounce the name so as to avoid embarrassing myself. I still remember something that happened when i first came to Singapore. I was ordering drinks at Breadtalk and didn't know how to pronounce "Frappe". As expected, i ended up saying it wrongly and i never will forget the kind of laughter that the shop girl gave me. And i swore to myself i am never gonna let it happen again. Not in a public place. But when i am with friends... er... that's another story ;)

8, I have a hell lot of insecurities. I don't fancy the feeling of being left out - like whoever does? Which probably explains why i talk a lot, especially when i meet new people, don't like crowded places and don't dare to go for something if there's no one i know there with me.

9, I draw a very clear line who to go out with when i'm doing what. Like i have splurge-partner, bugis street-and-far east plaza-partner, just-eat-and-talk partner and the list goes on. Maybe its like OCD.

Haven't thought of what to write for the last on e so.. :D


Michelle: Auf Wiedersehen!

7/03/2007 07:53:00 AM

0 comments / Post a Comment
View this post only
Home