hang your heart in lights above me.

Merry Xmas!

2008-12-24T00:42:00.003+08:00

For the first time in a long while, I'm feeling super! Enjoying every single moment here with my family, loving the fresh air, the clear skies and the awesome food. It's all great, and I hope everyone's having a good time with their families over this festive season too!

Day 11 of The Porridge Chronicles

2008-12-09T11:29:00.003+08:00

Just came back from the doctor's - can you believe that the stitches have been in for 10 days now? I was hoping he would remove some today, and quite disappointed when he didn't. But he says that the wound was very deep, so the stitches have to remain for another 5 days - which sucks considering how pregnant women have their stitches removed by 2 weeks, and I'll have mine in for at least 2.5 weeks. Shows how bad the wound really is - NOBODY, I repeat, NOBODY should ever have to go through what I went through the past 2 weeks.

It's hard not to feel a little sore about it all. I got attacked through no fault of my own, and what was supposed to be 2 weeks of pre-vacation fun turned into pre-vacation PAIN, propped up on cushions, immobile in my own home. I've been replaced as a receptionist at my cousin's wedding (which I've been looking forward to for the past 6 months), will not be able to wear proper shoes/ flats/ pumps for the next 2 months, and to make things worse our US trip will probably have to be postponed - and when I do go, a large part of it spent in a wheelchair.

To the idiots who have been telling me that it is a "small matter" and I should not "overreact" - if I haven't told you this to your face already - SHUT UP. Your skin wasn't ripped into 2 in 3 separate places with the bleeding continuing for 4 hours after, you didn't have veins severed, you don't have to live the rest of your life with a 7cm scar. This incident has definitely shown me the true colours of some of my "friends" - "friends (who need lifts/notes/favours)" would be a more appropriate term. At least I know now.

I am heeling/ healing

2008-12-04T12:48:00.008+08:00

Just came back from Dr Martin's, and he said that the wounds are healing well - which is great! No infections. There's a part that still quite deep though, and the flesh hasn't come together yet, so the stitches will probably have to be in for another week - but I'm grateful that the bleeding has stopped and the swelling has gone down by so much. This is amazing compared to what I saw on Monday - when it was still raw and bleeding with yellow gunk oozing out. I am sooooooo relieved!!!!!!! Thank You Lord, thank you. And thank you all my friends for your prayers - every single one of them. I know that this healing is only possible through prayer.

And for the sick ones who want to see the part of me that has been Frankensteined, I've attached a picture below. Don't look if you're scared of stitches and bruising (but honestly, Grey's Anatomy shows worse).

WARNING - GRAPHIC!

Here's a photo of how the wound looks like on one side:

And that means no pork ribs for you, young lady.

2008-12-02T22:47:00.003+08:00

Was my mum's birthday today, and I gave Mish some money to bring the parents out for dinner at Summer Pavilion. They were supposed to takeaway some food back for me, so I was sitting at home hungry with anticipation, thinking about the awesome delish food that awaited my hungry tummy.

......... But all they came back with was some steamed rice and baked perch!!!!!!!!!!!! :( :( :(

Because "sick people" are supposed to stay away from most foods, apparently. Love the logic.

The road to recovery

2008-12-01T12:53:00.005+08:00

I was attacked by a dog 2 nights ago. It was the most painful sensation I've felt in my entire life. Ended up with 2 puncture wounds by the sides of my foot, and a deep 5cm laceration across the back of my heel, with 10 stitches. I can't walk, and it's the worst feeling ever.

I don't understand how it could've happened. Especially because I did not provoke it, it just ran out of the room and went right for my ankle, biting down until they managed to pry it off. I didn't even see it coming.

Everytime I think about it I just cry. It's seriously the worse shit ever. I didn't think it would be so bad at first, but the morning after the pain was so so crazy.

Went to the doctor today, and he says that the stitches need to be in for at least 2 weeks because the wound is too deep. And that our USA trip will probably be an impossibility.

It's hard. But I'm trying not to think about it. I know I must be brave. I cannot sink into gloom because there's so much to be thankful for - no toes bitten off and no infections thus far. It could have been much worse.

And I just pray that I will heal in time for the USA trip - though I know this should be the least of my concerns. I pray for God to give me unwavering faith and peace, and for courage, because I need these the most. I know I'll be able to get through this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Late night musings

2008-11-26T01:11:00.004+08:00

Big, even massive, paper tomorrow that may spell over-the-moon or doom & gloom for me, but somehow I can't get around to falling asleep. The past few days have literally flown by, and I've definitely done all I can for the exams. But over the course of the last 2 weeks, many events have happened - directly or indirectly to me - and things just got me thinking about life, and the many facets of it.

What they say about life not being about the grades or the stature? Very true. Once you take away the aspiration for super-material wealth and the hunger for a place in society, you begin to see that there is so much more to life than what we comprehend. The underlying point being, we don't get to bring anything up with us to heaven when we die. So what's all the grovelling for power and the never-ending competition of "Better Than You" for? What we need to do is to strike an equilibrium in our lives that we're happy with - and be satisfied.

Whatever the future brings, I'm grateful for the knowledge that God will always be with me, ready to pick me up when I stumble, comfort me when I'm down, and share with me in my joy. This is something I will never trade.

Many things about tomorrow
I don’t seem to understand;
But I know who holds tomorrow
And I know who holds my hand.

Okay I'm rambling. Gonna go sleep now and hopefully wake up ready to nail the IP paper. Wish me luck!

A most frivolous of posts

2008-11-19T17:34:00.004+08:00

Thanks to Study-Buddy Kelly, I have been inspired to pay tribute to shoes today :)

In particular, I have been loving these Margielas for the longest time now.

Too bad about the price tag (USD$595) or the fact that it's sold out everywhere right about now.

Can I just say that my birthday's coming up, in about 6 more months?

Kidding!

{edit}

I just realised that during the time I took to put this post up, Lawnet logged me out!!!

STUDY STUDY

2008-11-15T13:54:00.003+08:00

I left my cashcard in one of the photocopying machines in the library yesterday.

$25 gone just like that! :((

Went back and asked the librarians if anyone turned it in, but oh if everyone were only that honest.

VERY riled up thinking about it!!! I mean, in all probability the thief was a law student for goodness sakes.

Law? Justice? Integrity? Do none of the above mean anything to the culprit at all?

Can $25 ever justify selling your soul and screwing your morals over?

My non-descript weekend was spent...

2008-11-10T13:43:00.007+08:00

... with the Fahmily, doing daughterly things like being Filial (read: carrying Mum's portable fan from the shop to the car (A VERY LONG PAINFUL WALK)) and Baking (for my legions of adoring fans - ie. family members who were obliged to summon all kinds of praises for my muffins, because blood is thicker than water, obviously.)

Oh, and a (rare) moment of celebration when Arsenal butt-whipped Man U on Saturday! See 2 posts down.

41

2008-11-03T22:22:00.005+08:00

Massive, obsessive love for the deep blue.

***

As terribly unrealistic as it may seem, I wish I could teleport myself 1 year back to the fleeting, carefree non-existence that was Nottingham, where "stress" was but an unfamiliar phrase easily laughed away and living for the day was all that mattered.

But reality bites (as it always does) - 1 term down, another to go - and after that, who knows?

Lost.. Again!

2008-11-02T00:58:00.003+08:00

It started with Adebayor's leg injury.
Then came what can only be described as sheer, utter, disgraceful, stupidity on the part of Van Persie. That foolish prick.
And now Walcott appears to have broken his arm.

How are we going to be able to face Man U next week with no strikers left!!?!!

Plain ridiculous.

2008-10-18T00:30:00.004+08:00

Some people are just willing to do anything for...

... the Financial Times??!!??

That certainly appears to be the case in NTU!

G just told me the strange (but 100% true) story of how his copy of the Financial Times mysteriously disappeared from his bag, while he was busy checking his email at one of the school's computers.

Apparently someone entered the computer room (which contained a stand with complimentary, first-come-first-served copies of the FT), saw that all the copies had been taken, did a double-take and saw a lone copy of the FT sticking out of G's bag, and decided to nick it for himself! And the bugger was so agile that even though G realised it seconds after and ran out the room to chase him, he was gone.

Stealing a newspaper just for a quick read? Or perhaps he needed it to keep warm at night in the cold classrooms of NTU? Whatever it is, certainly speaks volumes about the thief's character (or lack thereof).

That aside, I'm down with a very infectious flu and I feel reaaallly grouchy. Everything's put on standstill for the moment, and I really do hope I recover quickly enough :(

Life's a game

2008-10-14T22:50:00.003+08:00

Been très occupé all week (story of my life) with meetings of the sort: people (good), deadlines (bad), exercise goals (fail.) and alot of other schmuff.

So.many.things.

Sooolittletime!!!!

Believe Achieve

2008-10-10T00:51:00.002+08:00

The past week has been insane. I don't know how I managed to jam-pack so many things into a single week, but I did! Haven't been home to couch-surf in awhile, and I really miss that. I've got 12 hours of unwatched recorded shows on my digital box, and I have no idea how I'm going to find time to watch them all. But I will.

Dinner today was marvellous food tucked away in a hidden corner near Arab Street - what a find, really! :)

2008-10-07T19:25:00.002+08:00

One very reluctant bf followed me to the library today to study, which led to Boredom and 2 of the ugliest caricatures ever drawn, and culminated in a BIG FAT SNORT of laughter from him followed by some Very Evil Stares that prompted us to leave immediately.
Nicely done G :)

Wooosh!

2008-09-28T00:04:00.004+08:00

Friday night, Dempsey.

It was a sort-of mini farewell for Ebt, who flew off to Oxford yesterday.

Babe, you're going to have so much fun there you won't have time to miss home!

But I will miss you tremendously :( :(

The BFFs!!

It was great catching up with everyone, reminiscing about the has-beens and discussing the will-bes.

I need a new pair of eyes that will actually open during flash! Think I'm lacking a flash-resilient gene.

Very. sad. indeed.

Headed to B&Js after, where we paid exhorbitant amounts for ice cream.

$9 for a triple scoop is insane! Especially when you can probably get a whole pint of the stuff at Esso for $11.

Was a lovely night spent with some amazing friends :)

Very blessed.

***

Wizard of Ahhhs

2008-09-24T22:34:00.003+08:00

Tax computation is no easy task. My fingers have cramped countless of times repeatedly punching in numbers onto the ginormous calculator, cross-checking and double cross-checking again. My brain has gone on overdrive countless times, trying to figure out which figures go where, and whether the $6,382 in "other expenses" is actually a tax expense or some other undeclared sum used by Mrs CEO to purchase the latest Fendi Bag. Figures are not my cuppa tea, and I am sooo thankful that I did not pursue Accounting or Finance!

Anyhow, managed to squeeze some time in between lunch to meet Wei & Gill on Monday at Sun With Moon - had the standard tempura & sashimi set. Thumbs up for the uber fresh sashimi, but thumbs slightly down for the tempura, think the standard has been dropping slowly but surely ever since I came back. They definitely need to stop re-using the frying oil so many times! And to my defence Wei (if you were referring to me), I was hard at work! And then the MRT broke down midway....... ok bad excuse you got me there :(

Moments of Brief Insanity

2008-09-21T00:46:00.003+08:00

Put 6 crazy girls in 1 room, throw in a Mac with Photobooth, and all goes downhill from here.

And my personal favourite:

The way to a terrapin's heart....

2008-09-18T22:22:00.004+08:00

My terrorpins - loves of my life! - just wiped out 13 turtle pellets and 6 pieces of shrimp in the past 5 minutes (and almost nibbled my finger off in the process).

I have never seen them so psyched up about food before! The first 2 weeks, I had to practically BEG them to eat - I'd pick them up and hold their fidgety little shells and place them in the feeding tank, and 20 minutes later I'd return to find the majority of the food untouched.

Dunno what happened overnight, because suddenly they've turned into little T-Rexes, eating practically everything in sight. When I got home, I turned on the light to find 2 little eager faces peering at me through the main tank, and Jackie Chan clawing frantically at the glass upon recognition of the Giver of Food (me).

Now that they're fed and water's changed, I have once again been relegated to being forgotten for the next 16 hours or so... until the next feeding time.

2008-09-18T00:07:00.002+08:00

Where do I go from here?

Buzzing Fingers

2008-09-13T19:08:00.004+08:00

My fingers have been buzzing non-stop the whole day and it's annoying me to no end. I can't grasp a pen without feeling it press against all the nerves in my fingers, and typing this entry with my ultra-sensitive fingertips is very. irritating. indeed.

And terrorpins are beginning to respond to my presence! Although I know it's only because they recognise me as Giver Of Food the way their eyes light up in anticipation everytime they hear me enter the room. Sadly, this loving gaze and eye contact only lasts until they've had their share of food, and then I morph back into Nothingness once more. Ah, to be on the receiving end of transient love.

Anyway it was IFG floorball today! Happy day though everywhere is HURTINGGG right now :) :)

Kismet

2008-09-07T22:10:00.003+08:00

Past week has been filled with absolutely brilliant encounters of the gastronomical sort. The guy who came up with foie gras should be made king. The guy who discovered ikura shots can be queen.

And Lantern Festival's here, again! Mooooon cakes = over the moon.

On peak hill.

2008-09-02T16:05:00.004+08:00

Right now, I am:
About to successfully wipe out half the box of Royce chocolates in the fridge.
Listening to this amazing band called The Weakerthans.
Streaming Gossip Girl.
Planning what to cook for dinner.

In the process, I also have totally neglected my self-imposed to-read-by-Thursday-or-DIE! case list.

This lack of determination saddens me :(
(As does the empty box of chocolates in the fridge).

Little guys

2008-09-01T00:20:00.003+08:00

My little guys are the cutest.

Nevermind that one of them is perpetually scared of me and dives off his little rock to hide underwater (??!) whenever I enter the room or make a sudden movement.

Also nevermind that they are picky finicky eaters and refuse to eat ANY type of vegetables. So much for being omnivores.

Still, I love them. Love the way they bask on their little rocks and soak in the afternoon sun, the way they climb all over each other frantically to chomp the last floating piece of turtle pellet (selfish little buggers), and the way they scurry around in their little tank like they're the busiest creatures in the whole wide world. They would know ;)

Anyway, we've got a resident snail in the tank now because I nicked him off a piece of cabbage from the fridge earlier on for the terrorpins. From happily chomping on dinner, this snail has suddenly become potential terrorpin bait. *Cue evil laughter*.

Alive! Yes!

2008-08-26T23:52:00.003+08:00

Everything's been going great, save for the fact that I started on my tutorial 1 hour ago and all that's come out of it is 1 written line on Microsoft Word, and 5 windows on Firefox containing websites that have ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with IP law (but absolutely everything to do with shopping, heh).

Best friends are all back from here and there! Also been craving great fresh sushi and bloody steaks, which I suspect will not materialise in the near future the way my finances are looking right now (the words 'gloom', 'bleak' & 'broke' come to mind).

Time to close them Firefox windows.

Apple crumble pie

2008-08-16T00:17:00.001+08:00

Grateful for the little things that keep me rooted in life.

Went jogging with G yesterday. Heard about the free beer law club was giving out at the Botanics, but realised that 1 pint of the golden stuff would put all our efforts to waste, so wisely decided against it. Needn't have bothered though, because we baked a calorie-laden apple crumble pie today and ravaged the entire thing in 1 sitting.

DCFC

2008-08-13T22:36:00.007+08:00

School's started, and it's always nice seeing familiar faces around and stopping for little chit chats on the way to class. Strangely enough, all my Thursday classes got rescheduled this week such that my 10-5 day suddenly became a 3-5 day overnight. No complaints from this happy camper though.

Went down to the Esplanade for the Death Cab concert yesterday, and was totally blown away. Ben Gibbard is a genius, really. Floated out of the concert hall with this amazing feel-good feeling, completely mesmerized. And I'm sure many will agree when I say that DCFC is probably one of the best bands to hit Singapore yet.

Acoustics were amazing. The music was excellent, the singing top class. Too bad about the atmosphere - in my opinion the organisers could have done better by holding the concert in an area with a bigger open space - say the indoor stadium, even Zouk would've been a better option. I felt like I was watching a musical (we had circle seats and no way of getting down) - seeing all the rabid fans jumping up and down in front of the stage did not help one bit either. My best smile & an attempt to befriend the usher to persuade her to let me into the main stage area failed miserably. Then again, I only have myself to blame for being cheapskate and buying the $88 tickets :(

Screamed my tonsils out when they performed Soul Meets Body and Crooked Teeth. Those 2 songs made the night worth every single cent, even though What Sarah Said and Marching Bands of Manhattan sadly never happened.

Really hope DCFC returns to Singapore soon!

Vienna

2008-08-09T01:27:00.011+08:00

VIENNA

\\*

2008-08-07T23:16:00.003+08:00

Caught the latest instalment of The Mummy this afternoon, and am still horrified with the way I found myself so easily persuaded by G to watch the show, despite finding out that it received a rating of 9/100 (Google).

I finally understood what warranted the 9 score. It was during one of the scenes when Jonathan commented that "the yak yakked", this in response to a yak (that just HAPPENED to be in the scene) puking for reasons I cannot remember anymore. I swear that was the most random thing, ever.

Okay, okay. It wasn't THAT bad, but I would still recommend waiting for the DVD.

And school's starting in 4 days! After the 273891 attempts at balloting, and the 273891 times the system messed up, I'm just happy to have any modules allocated to me anymore.

2008-08-03T21:45:00.000+08:00

Recipe for a deliriously fun holiday = Family lovin' + Smorgasbord of food + Endless shopping.

Amazing char siew we stumbled upon in one of the alleyways of TST:

Melt in your mouth sashimi

Delectable desserts:

Still my favourite place in HK

Dimsum for 5

Out of this world.

Sharks fin noodles

Night lights,
bright lights.

---------------

Back

2008-07-25T01:52:00.000+08:00

Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, he is the one who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.
—Deuteronomy 31:6

------------

At the end of the day, sometimes, the world just can't provide any answers to your questions, no matter how hard you search, how many people you ask.

The answers were all there; I just couldn't remember where to look.

Of sunsets

2008-07-19T01:32:00.000+08:00

Our tour guide in Santorini, Greece, told us during the beginning of our trip that Santorini has THE MOST Beautiful Sunsets In The World (hereafter "TMBSITW"). With that undisputed fact in mind, we spent the next 3 sunsets scaling for seats along various rooftops around the island, fending off like-minded tourists with our little tissue packets (JOKING!*), and camping in freezing coastal temperatures, all for that unobstructed view of TMBSITW.

So anyway, it seems to me that said trip to Santorini, Greece, has been made in vain because look what I managed to capture on my nifty little Fujifilm today in Kitchen, Jurong:

---------------------

*But that reminds me of the time I made my first mortal enemy at The Soup Spoon - this lady held me to a full 2 minute argument on why the table was hers (adamantly pointing to her tissue packets, nevermind the fact that 8 of us were squeezing in a table meant for 6 whereas she was a party of 2) before giving up the argument and leaving me with a spectacular roll of her eyeballs - brave!

Girl wakes up to discover that the word "economical" does not exist anymore.

2008-07-15T22:07:00.000+08:00

The price of rice has increased by $1 over the last 1 month.
ERP has increased by $2, with 10 new gantries slated to open within the next 6 months.
Fuel prices have risen by almost 50% over the last 10 months.
My monthly utility bill is at its peak now, despite the fact that aircon usage is at one of it's lowest points ever.
Public transport is going to cost more, notwithstanding the fact that it already increased by 30 cents over the past 4 months alone.
Even the taohuay stall opposite my house has increased taohuay prices by 20 cents since I left for exchange.

Increased costs, stagnant salaries. If this is any indication of the things to come, then it's not looking very well. One thing I don't understand is- why are all the decisions to increase ERP surcharges, increase transportation costs pouring in NOW, at a time when the majority of Singaporeans are feeling the pinch from increased costs in everything else? Surely the government can be more sensitive about this- coming up with a public statement that "Everyone will be worse off if ERP were eased" does not help.

And I quote:

Easing up on congestion charging on Singapore roads will be detrimental to both motorists and businesses in the long run, according to Transport Minister Raymond Lim.
While some businesses within central Singapore, like in Clarke Quay, have argued that it is driving customers away, Mr Lim noted that not having ERP will be even more detrimental to retailers.
He said, "If you look at the experience in London, they have the same concern — the retail establishments. But after congestion charging was put in, their business over time actually improved. It became easier to get into London, to the restaurants there, to shops there. Similarly, the experience we had in Orchard Road was the same."

If you've been to London before, their extensively connected tube system needs no introduction. Over 268 stations are served under 11 lines, with trains arriving every 1 minute during peak periods. In fact, stations built within Inner London are often less than 200m within each other to facilitate passenger flow. Moreover, in anticipation to the surge of demand for public transport after the introduction of the congestion charge, 300 new buses were immediately introduced to the roads, forestalling a congestion of another sort- human congestion on the buses.

If Singapore wants to emulate the London system, the first obvious task at hand right now would be to increase public transport services drastically. Right now, trains arriving from Boon Lay to town during peak period (~8am-9am) frequent about 3 to 4 minutes- and more often than not they are already jam-packed by Chinese Garden. By the time the train passes by Jurong East Interchange, the poor souls waiting at Clementi and Buona Vista stations have but 2 options:

(1) try to squeeze into the pack of human beings already overflowing from the doors;
failing which they
(2) wait for the next train where (1) repeats itself all over again.

Our notorious bus system leaves much to be desired as well. Kudos for bus lanes- that admittedly helps facilitate traffic flow, but more needs to be done to address the human flow RIGHT NOW. Currently, while crossing the road to the MRT early in the mornings, I never fail to pass by completely packed buses- with passengers staring blankly out of the glass windows like goldfishes in atrociously tiny fishbowls. To make matters worse, buses that carry people to the heart of the CBD (for example, 77, 167, 190, just to name a few) have average waiting times of 10-20 minutes during peak periods, which means that Singaporeans die die also must catch that bus or risk being late for work.

Simply errecting more ERP gantries does not equate to the transportation problem solving itself.

Proposals to increase bus service frequencies from 15 minutes down to 12 minutes are problematic- as a result of the heavy traffic conditions on roads, a 15 minute frequency now often translates to a 20 minute wait. Similarly, a 12 minute frequency would probably equal to 3-5 new buses being introduced per selected route- which hardly provides a solution.

I leave you with a comment from the Minister of Transport, Mr Raymond Lim (taken from a press release on 30 January 2008):

7. Singaporeans likewise desire to own cars and our policies, in particular, the use of Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) to manage traffic, have made it possible for many Singaporeans to do so. And so the vehicle population has grown steadily to the 850,000 vehicles today. With rising affluence, not only are more Singaporeans owning cars, they are also using them more intensively. While the number of cars increased by 10% between 1997 and 2004, the number of car trips increased by 23%, more than double.

I thought one of the most compelling reasons given by the government to introduce the ERP in the first place was to reduce car ownership in the first place?

Sick. Again.

2008-07-14T01:12:00.000+08:00

I am 22, and I'm invincible.

NOT.

And that I found out this morning after I woke up at 1pm feeling feverish and chilly at the same time with a Very Sore Throat. I suppose this is karma for dragging my poor friend in and out of the Ubin wilderness yesterday, in search for durians (because it is the durian season now, after all - why pay $5 for a durian when you can camp in the mozzie-laden thickets of Pulau Ubin and wait in eager anticipation for durians to come a'fallin from the sky?)

So all plans cancelled for the week- I still haven't decided what modules to take next semester, my house has officially run out of tissue paper (crisis!) and gas prices have risen to a record of $2.30 a litre.

Bad week.

JB

2008-07-11T01:36:00.000+08:00

I know I haven't updated in yonks- honestly I've just gotten to lazy to update this little blog.

Well, headed to the other side of the causeway for a half-day trip with some friends today. Had my first taste of go-karting, stocked up on enough magazines to last a lifetime, and ended the day with a sumptious seafood dinner with a great view of Sembawang wharf. I'm amazed how 2 countries separated by barely 2km of road can be so different. Crossing over to JB this afternoon was akin to entering an entirely different world- the streets littered with every thinkable form of transportation, signboards in Malay & Chinese, shophouses lining the roads selling food ranging from goreng pisang to fishball noodles. It intrigued me- made me feel like I'd taken a step back in time. And I really liked it, liked the hustle and bustle, the commotion and chaos. Can't wait to head back for another day trip!

The Prague Experience

2008-06-29T01:47:00.000+08:00

Home has been a wonderful welcome compared to the past month of living out of a backpack. Very very excited to see my family/boyfriend/friends after such a long while :) :) Also, have been doing the post-exchange food rampage across the island in search of favourites: laksa, char kway teow, chicken rice, nasi lemak, and making reservations for one too many japanese buffets. Definitely happy to be back in the land of sub-4 pound movie tickets, where water served in restaurants is neither still nor gassy but free.

Anyway, will be doing short posts on my trips occasionally starting now- first up, where it all began: Prague!

Prague = stunningly gorgeous city. Especially loved the Charles Bridge- which by day was extremely crowded (littered with tourists and buskers alike) as can be seen from this aerial shot taken from St Vitus Church:

The bridge looked even better by night, and so did the view of the castle from it. Really beautiful- we spent a good hour snapping photos and just admiring the view from afar.

List of useful Czech phrases given to us by our hostel. We were searching for a cute Czech guy to practice the buttocks one on but we couldn't find any :(

Fell in love with the old town square and its cobblestoned streets, imposing churches and quaint shopfronts. If I could pick a favourite square in the whole European continent, this would be it! The laidback atmosphere of it all was tremendously charming.

Chanced upon an outdoor photo gallery smack in the middle of the castle grounds. The rest of the castle was a pretty interesting experience- for the first hour at least. Most part of the castle housed various museums, and after going through our 5th museum we all got bored of looking at random exhibits and so decided to skip the last 2 museums, even though we bought a pass that covered everything.

Parliament house, which we stumbled upon while aimlessly wandering the streets of Prague. Very impressive stage and garden, and also this particular peacock that kept showing off its fan of feathers to anyone who cared. Just look at it go- it made a 360 degree swivel and made sure that every single tourist armed with a camera took a shot of it! If there were ever an award for narcissistic peacocks this one would win hands down. It even ignored the pea hen during the entire time we were there!

Eurodog- if you go to Prague and discover that horror of horrors- you only have 2€ in your pocket for lunch, then Eurodog will be the answer to your prayers as it was to ours: 1€ for a hotdog!!

Headed to the Jewish Quarter and did a tour of the famous historical synagogues. But what really impressed me was the graveyard smack in the middle of the quarter, because graves were vertically arranged instead of being horizontally arranged! Apparently more than 100,000 individuals are buried under this ground, and only 30% of the original tombstones that were here presently remain. Very interesting!

Our last dinner in Prague- funny thing is, none of the 2 pictures below were planned! Boon just happened to be doing the same hand-pose but different facial expressions during both shots.

This last dinner was particularly memorable, because it being our last dinner in the Czech Republic, we wanted to get rid of all our Czech korunas, and so made sure to order enough food to spend every single cent we had with us. So imagine our shock when the bill arrived and we realised that there was a 10% service tax which we hadn't pre-empted! Thank goodness for the numerous money changers all round, nevermind the shitty rates- the fact that I had enough money for 2 boxes of KFC hotwings after more than made up for it.

One last time...

2008-06-23T09:17:00.000+08:00

Sitting in my room now, with everything pretty much thrown/packed/boxed away. So this is how it feels like to be ending exchange - everytime I look at my shell of a room I feel sad - wishing I could have some time to myself chilling over a cuppa, or preparing for another afternoon run around the lake. Even though I know I've had more than enough time here in Nottingham, I can't help but feel a little greedy and wish that I could stay, for just a little longer.

Hungarian adventures

2008-06-16T05:41:00.000+08:00

Because of our lack of foresight, we only have 2 full days in Budapest because we took a late flight in and we're taking an early flight out. Bad move!!! I have fallen in love with this little gem of a city, and I do not want to leave so soon.

After enduring through a night spent on a sofa (because the hostel overbooked us) in the same room as unidentified Mother of a Snorer, we woke up at 7am because smart gepper Boon did not realise that Greece is 1 hour ahead of Hungary, and thus started the aimless wandering around Budapest in search for food to fill our tummies. Unfortunately all things do not open on Sundays in Budapest, and we ended up seeking solage in McDonalds with a McHashbrown for breakfast.

Took a bus to the Statue Park- where all the statues in old communist Budapest were put together as a stern reminder of their stark past, and spent a good 2 hours in the Museum of Terror which I daresay is one of the best museums I have ever been to in my life. The Museum of Terror was built to commemorate the prisoners and victims of the communist and soviet regimes when both were in power in Hungary. Very compelling exhibits, and very interactive- they recreated prison cells and torture chambers where visitors were allowed to crawl in and looksee. Icing on the cake was that students get free entry on Sunday!

Stumbled upon Mango which incidentally was having a storewide 50% sale, much to Boon's horror. Plus 20 points for Budapest! We're going to climb some hills and see some castles tomorrow, will update soon!

P.S: Yes I survived the 16km walk through Samaria Gorge, but that's a story for another day.

Greetings from Greece!

2008-06-11T04:45:00.000+08:00

Greece lost their first EURO match and I am feeling :(

As soon as I find a stable (read: does not die in 10 seconds) internet connection, I will do a proper update. But for now, we've just braved a very harrowing 2 hr ferry ride from Santorini to Crete - had a wonderful surprise at dinner when our dinner turned out to cost us only 4.80 euros each for a pork gyros + Fanta.

I can safely say that Santorini has been and probably will be the most enjoyable part of my Great European holiday. The 3 of us stayed in this split level loft in Oia, caught the sunset everyday, also had delicious seafood everyday, and I even managed to wake up for ONE sunrise (Boon woke up for ALL 3 sunrises, crazy guy).

Rented a Chevvy and used that to get round the island - swam and tanned at the red sand beach, went to the black sand beach Kamari (which I didn't quite like because it was too touristy), took the ferry to see the volcano + hot springs, discovered abandoned castle ruins, AND did this insane 10km walk from Oia to Fira in 6 hours, which on hindsight was just plain disgusting because it turned us all into a darker shade of brown than before (Berlin bike tours should NEVER be done without sunblock!) And in 2 days we're gonna be crawling through the 15km Samaria Gorge - despite my attempts to talk Boon out of it.

Till then, I leave you with some of my favourite photos of the trip. Oia, you will be missed!

DCFC

2008-05-20T02:49:00.000+08:00

In this world, there exists only 2 types of music: Music you Like, and Music you Don't Like. And the latest Death Cab single just happens to fall under the former category, nevermind the emo title. If this is a sneak peak of what's to come, then I'm really looking forward to the release of Narrow Stairs :)

DCFC: "I Will Possess Your Heart"

And I've discovered my panacea for stress - nothing cures frustration better like a good cup of green tea, chocolate, and an episode of Friends!

The countdown begins!

2008-05-17T09:32:00.000+08:00

The end is finally within sight!

By that, I mean 3 days till my next paper, and 4 days till my last paper. And then my Massive European Holiday starts!!

And after 30ish days of travelling, I will be HOMMMEEE!!!! :)

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Was thumbing through the pages of my journal just now, and I can't believe it's already been 8 months since exchange started. Time has literally swept me by, leaving me in its aftermath with nothing but memories and photographs to hold onto. And pretty soon I'll be back to Singapore, back to my family (who I miss tremendously tremendously). So fast!!!!!!!

But I've learnt alot over the past 8 months. Picked up some decent cooking skills, became more independent, and I now declare myself an expert at packing light for long haul trips. The only thing exchange probably failed to do is to make me into a neater person. The room's still as messy as a minefield, shoes have somehow made their way across the "no-shoes" boundary and under my table, clothes are strewn all over the furniture with countless of empty hangers hanging in the wardrobe, and I STILL cannot find my keys in less than 5 minutes before leaving the room. Guess some habits are just hard to kick :)

Terror attack?

2008-05-16T06:23:00.000+08:00

Yesterday, I noticed 3 police cars parked outside my dorm. Didn't think much of it at the time, because police often patrol the area anyway. That was, until I saw this on BBC:

"Two men in campus terror arrest"
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7403654.stm

Two men have been arrested at the University of Nottingham campus under the Terrorism Act, police have said.
Police said the men, aged 30 and 22, were arrested on Wednesday morning. One is reported to be a student and the other a former student.
They are being questioned while premises connected to them, including campus property, are searched. [....]

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Apparently there's going to be a huge police presence on campus over the next few days - which explains why I met so many Bobby Heads while walking to school today. It's scary to think that students who could potentially be staying in the same building as me could be planning a terror attack on campus. What is the world coming to man, honestly.

2008-05-13T04:43:00.000+08:00

"The world — especially Myanmar’s neighbours — does too little"

http://www.economist.com/opinion/displayStory.cfm?story_id=11358899

Interesting article - prompted me to go dig out bits of information as to how much aid's been directed towards rescue operations in Myanmar so far - and I came up with the following figures (representative of state contributions towards aid):

Spain: 500,000 euros

France: 200,000 euros

Indonesia: $1 million USD

Japan: $270,000 USD

Singapore: $200,000 USD

Germany: 500,000 euros

Malaysia: $160,000 USD

China: $5.3 million USD

Canada: $1.98 million USD

-----------------

It doesn't take a genius to figure out that the sum of these figures falls far short of the $187 million USD the United Nations predicts Myanmar requires in immediate aid. And I'm wondering - why the inertia in donations from states worldwide?

The best reason I can think of is probably due to the ban the Myanmese junta imposed on foreign aid right after the cyclone hit. Since most aid efforts were rejected, monetary aid was probably subsequently halted as well - seeing that the money would not be able to be put to use anyway. But aid aside, it was only reported today that ASEAN has decided to hold a meeting discussing possible measures to boost relief and recovery in Myanmar - though the date of this meeting has yet to be confirmed. This strikes me as extremely delayed and ineffective. The most crucial hours where aid was needed in Myanmar have now long passed - the cyclone hit more than 1 week ago (!!) Though rebuilding and reorganizing Myanmar is no less important, this meeting comes 1 week too late - immediate ASEAN involvement and pressure against the Myanmese junta could possibly have weakened the government's resolve to ban foreign aid, and result in more lives saved in the aftermath of the disaster.

A sad tragedy is unfolding in front of the world's eyes. It seems too cruel that aid is currently only trickling into the devasted nation, and states refusing to outrightly condemn the Myanmese junta for obstructing international help. Whatever the outcome, it is almost certain that by the time foreign aid is allowed into Myanmar, it will be too little, too late.

On Singapore

2008-05-11T01:08:00.000+08:00

At some point in time, most of us have probably experienced various unpleasant encounters with fellow Singaporeans - common stories abound of rude drivers who abruptly cut lanes without signalling, the auntie who squeezes past the throng of people queuing up just to be the first to tap her EZ link card to enter the MRT station, the young schoolboy who comes up to you selling charity tickets of sorts and when you politely turn him down, mutters something vulgar in your face.

People have spent days, even years, complaining about the "unbecoming behaviour" of Singaporeans. Many have lamented about the degenerating standard of behaviour of our fellow countrymen, and others have commented how we are all turning into "kiasu", "kiasi" and "ugly" people lacking basic social ettiquette.

I can scarcely keep count of the number of times friends/ people I barely know have remarked:
"Aiyah, nevermind la, Singaporeans all like that one. All so ugly!!"

or

"I cannot stand living in Singapore any longer!! Everyone is just so rude/ kiasu/ etc. I would be so much happier living in (*insert name of random big Western city*)!!"

Well, I strongly feel that these remarks have got to stop.

Like it or not, all of us have to learn to become that bit more tolerant of other people. There's no way to prevent rude behaviour from infiltrating our day-to-day lives (I personally believe that politeness has to do with upbringing, which is out of our hands anyway and would be more appropriate for a discussion some other time). Many major cosmopolitan cities around the world like New York and London display similar symptoms that we have in Singapore: people rush rush rushing around trying to squeeze their busy schedules into 12 hours of daylight, highways are jammed, trains are filled to the brim with jostling people and during peak periods the concepts of orderliness and politeness are non-existent. That's just the way living in a crowded city is - tempers flare and voices blare - and with 5 million people sharing only 682 sq kilometres of land, Singapore is definitely crowded. Overcrowded.

Even still, that doesn't mean that every Singaporean is a life-sized mold of rudeness personified. We give up our seats on MRTs all the time, we generally abide by the laws, and I can safely say that the scenario painted of people fighting for tables in food courts is highly exaggerated.

Leaving the country isn't going to solve anything. Criticising other people's behaviour won't work either because scarcely has anyone been enlightened by a gnashing of words, nor do people like to be told by total strangers that they're wrong and have to change.

But we definitely can try to empathise more. Tolerance is one quality that every society can afford to have a little more of, and if we focus on the goodness of people instead of highlighting their bad bits for the world to see - maybe we'll end up appreciating our island city way of life just a little bit more.

On the pari passu rule:

2008-05-08T22:49:00.000+08:00

"It may be best to follow the modern media approach and to see these issues, like nearly all others, in terms of Manchester United Football Club. The pari passu principle is like Ole Gunnar Solskjaer--it is not always given much of a game but it is difficult to think of a better substitute to bring on when the chips are down."

Nottingham Castle

2008-05-08T01:07:00.000+08:00

Last week, Boon Kiat added his name to the list of people tricked into visiting me at Notts (so far the list includes Gillian, Wei, Longjin and Navin) - and after much persuasion on his part, I finally agreed to go see Nottingham Castle, even though I hadn't the slightest clue where it was! Brought him around campus to see the cute geese and monstrous lake, and then around the city centre where the equally monstrous Primark gloriously awaited us:

Well we finally managed to find the castle after nicking a useful map from the tourist office. It's hidden just at the top of Friar Lane - where I take the Rainbow 5 to and from my dorm to the city centre everytime - I never realised it was tucked away just metres away from the bus stop!

Anyway, the building that greeted our eyes was definitely NOT the castle. It looked wayyy too modern to be something from the 15th century! Upon closer inspection, we finally realised why:

Turns out the castle was destroyed as a result of various battles, sieges, etc. across the centuries. What a bummer! But I really liked the gardens, the flowers and greenery.

Plus, we got a pretty semi-aerial view of Notts from the top of the castle! I love the disparity between the rain clouds and the other clouds in this picture.

And what would a trip to the Nottingham be without a picture taken with the legendary Robin Hood? :)

Anyway, it's official: SPRING IS HERE!!!!!!! Birds are out singing awfully optimistic Snow White-ish songs at unearthly hours, all the eggs have hatched and there're an awful lot of geeselings and ducklings waddling around the lake (adding to the list of obstacles to dodge while jogging, alongside poo and puddles), and it is an AMAZING 23 degrees in the day!!!!! Woooot!!!! :)

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Like an apple on the tree
Hiding out behind the leaves
I was difficult to reach
But You picked me

Grey's!

2008-05-06T02:42:00.000+08:00

As of this moment (which isn't the best of moments considering exams are in 2 weeks), I am officially. addicted. to. Grey's Anatomy.

I love the show! Managed to finished the entire Season 3 in less than the total number of days there are in a week (yes, 4) and now I'm at Episode 10 of Season 4. Alarm bells keep going off inside my head everytime I settle down in front of the computer with a cup of hot green tea in my hand (they go something like this: "EXAMMMM!! EXAMMM!!"), but somehow I just manage to ignore the alarm bells and that probably explains why I have only covered 2 chapters in a short (erm) span of 1 week.

This post is probably my way of freaking out. Like I said, not good.

A Fine Frenzy does a Death Cab cover!

2008-05-05T06:21:00.000+08:00

If you've got 5 minutes and 3 seconds to spare, watch this video! A Fine Frenzy does an awesome cover of Death Cab's "I Will Follow You Into the Dark" - one of my all-time favourite, albeit overplayed, DCFC songs.

I daresay it's a mighty good cover!

Switzerland 3: The one with the weird 1-seater bicy-car.

2008-05-03T22:25:00.000+08:00

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Last post on Switzerland!

On our last day in Lauterbrunnen, we decided to hike through the valley because the American couple we met at Kleine Scheidegg told us they'd hiked for 3 hours to a neighbouring village and back - and that it was worth the hike because they saw at least 10 waterfalls!

So we went hiking... except that we only managed to hike for a grand total of 35 mins before deciding to head back because we were hungry and wanted dinner, heh heh :)

But we did get to see some waterfalls though - about 6 if I remember correctly. They weren't very big - just tall & cascading because most of them were the result of water seepage through cracks from the cliff walls:

Early next morning, we checked out and left for Luzern for a daytrip. Photos taken from the train: (as usual, we were seated on the wrong side, again)

Random pole of signposts:

Luzern was lovely. Spent a great deal of time staring at the lake....

.... and staring at the chickens (before Wei had to drag me away):

We also saw some sort of dam which according to Wikipedia was a needle dam designed to help maintain the level of Lake Luzern throughout the year:

Walked along the famous Chapel Bridge (which had random paintings of folklore on the whole stretch of its ceilings); apparently parts of it was wrecked by a giant fire back in 1993, but it's been largely reconstructed since.

We intially gave ourselves 4 hours to walk around the city and see all the sights - but instead we managed to finish everything under 2 hours and still had time to sit down and have some ice cream! :)

Random squares, cute kids, fountains and marketplaces.

Walked to see the famous "dying lion" monument, which apparently Mark Twain commented to be the "saddest piece of rock in history" - and pretty understandable why; it was erected to commemorate the loss of lives of Swiss soldiers in battle:

And it was also here that a Korean man tried to snuggle up to Wei! (ok, I exaggerate). It was quite funny, because we were talking and laughing when she suddenly gave me this stunned look and said in Mandarin that she felt a strange hand behind her on the bench.

With slightly over an hour left to kill before our train to St Gallen (we decided to take the earlier train because we were done with Luzern pretty quick) - I managed to coax Wei into renting a paddle boat on the lake! Best decision ever because it was fun paddling (err I confess Wei did alot more paddling than I did, but in my defence I was trying to take photos hehe). But thanks anywei Wei!

Fellow paddlers!

Well I didn't take any photos of St Gallen, and I haven't been able to get pictures from Wei yet so I'll just blog about it first. We stayed over at Lu's place (I stayed for 1 night and Wei for 2) and I had alot of fun just chit chatting and catching up and reminiscing about our RJ hockey days! :) Left my towel behind though - I always have a habit of leaving my towels behind - my other towel's currently soaking up the post-graduation fun with Esther in Michigan. But thank goodness I only forget towels though and not my camera instead!

That's Lu in the centre with the white T!
(sorry Lu, it's one of the few photos I have with you la).

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In a giant lemon tree
Alone my friend and me
We both climb down, and cross the sand
Until we reach the sea.

Switzerland 2: The one with the cute ginger cat.

2008-05-03T06:40:00.000+08:00

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We shared this dorm room with 2 other girls, and in 2 days we got super attuned to their sleeping habits! They would wake up daily at 6.30am, and in the process wake us up as well cos they kept talking to each other & zipping and unzipping their bags (for some reason).. it wouldn't have mattered if they were fast (ie. left the hostel quick), but they took really long to put their make up and get dressed! It was quite annoying. We would finally wake up at 8.30am, and by the time we got dressed and were ready to leave (ie. 9.10am), our roomies would just be getting ready to go too, and we would leave the hostel at the same time! But for 17 euros a night I guess I shouldn't complain. It was pretty funny.. I have no idea why they took so long to get ready!

So anyway, Day 3. We headed up to Kleine Scheidegg, which was the last train station before the Jungfraujoch (apparently the highest point in Europe) - and when we got there, it was really really cloudy and I was really bummed initially. But the clouds cleared later in the day; see the difference!

While the sky was being emo and cloudy, we couldn't really see much of the mountains. And after awhile it even started to snow! Which was terrible. Because we were cold, in very snow-unfriendly shoes, AND we couldn't see past our 5 fingers! But we befriended this Thai family (who get to travel yearly because the father's a pilot for Thai Airways - lucky right!) and they lent us their sled!! Sledding was sooo addictive.. totally worth the effort even though it took us about 5 minutes to lug the sled up the slope and only 15 seconds to zoom down!

And even though there was snow all over, when the billowing clouds tumbled away and the sun came out, it actually got quite warm!

Random poses, schmoses.

So we pretty much hung around, had lunch, chit-chatted with random strangers like this American couple who hiked 2 hours from Wengen to Kleine Scheidegg (definitely fitter than us I bet!), this sweet Japanese guy who volunteered to help us take photos, and the 2 cute German uncles who shared a table with us for lunch and told us what to order cos Wei was staring at their food for super long. This was what they were having: luncheon meat!!!!! I haven't had luncheon meat in ages, and I hear they've banned Ma Ling in Singapore (why!) so this meal really hit the spot, nevermind the 17chf price tag.

The views at the top were superb! We didn't go up to Jungfrau though because it would've cost us 170chf per person and we weren't prepared to pay so much. Switzerland was really expensive - my 4 day rail pass cost me more than my return flight to Geneva.

A "chocolate advertisement-worthy" pose, I said.. and this is what she came up with.

One of the reasons why I especially loved this trip is because it's as close to nature as I will probably ever get. I love nature- I love bright blue skies, chasing waterfalls, hiking through valleys, marvelling at canyons and watching the clouds rumble by. It's really quite refreshing to be out there by yourself, in "no people" mode, away from all the hustle and bustle. Puts things in perspective a little. So many awesome things in the world to appreciate- makes everything else seem tiny and obscure and insignificant.

Views taken during the train ride down. I especially love the aerial shot of the village! :)

Sorry for the irregular posts- things have been busy busy busy!

Switzerland 1: The one with the elderly couple in cute red socks.

2008-04-30T02:57:00.000+08:00

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After spending 36 straight hours in my room, I receieved 2 urgent emails telling me that my library books were due today! The weather was so bad, and it took a great amount of self persuasion to get dressed, put on my boots and make the 15 minute trudge up to the library, ....... only to realise that I'd forgotten my books. The point when I realised that I had to walk back down to my room to get my books and then walk back up again? -> that was the point I really wanted to curl up and die. Oh well.

Was thumbing through the Switz photos while deciding which ones to upload, and some of them made me laugh out loud! Especially the ones of us sledding, and the ones of us paddling & chasing swans on Lake Lucerne. And of course, those many embarassing pictures that'll never make it onto my blog - though I suspect they'll make Wei's so feel free to click over for a good laugh :D

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Switzerland - Days 1 &2:

Day 1 doesn't' really count for much, because I flew from Paris to Notts to Geneva and then had to take a 2 hour train ride to Interlaken to meet Wei - by the time we got to Lauterbrunnen (our base for the next 3 days) - it was 9pm and I was exhausted. Everything was closed by then, so we ended up catching up over yummy cup noodles (they have never tasted so yummy, really!) and went to bed at 11.

I really liked our hostel room. We picked the rooptop bunk beds, which meant we had to climb precariously high up every night and down every morning - but the view we got from the window was totally worth it.

The view!

The next morning, we decided to head to the Schilthorn - the place where the super old school James Bond movie 'On Her Majesty's Service' was filmed. We had to take a huge cable car up to Grutschalp, where we connected via cogwheel train to Murren, and then another cable car up to Schilthorn!

Click to enlarge and see the route we took!

I still cannot get over the fact that those 2 thin cables were all that kept us safe from imminent death.

The trainride up was awesome. 'Cept for the fact that we picked the wrong side of the train to sit, because the magnificent view was on the other side of the train:

Here's the view we got on our side instead: pretty, but still uncomparable to the towering peaks!

Was originally planning to stay in Murren, but because ski season just ended and summer wasn't here proper (ie. tourist swarms weren't here yet) - the village was closed.

Many tourists were trawling the streets of Murren to get to the cable car station to Schilthorn: we met this kid being towed by his mum - how cute is that!

This is the monster that brought us up to Birg, the viewpoint just below the Schilthorn:

Murren from the cable car

Takes al fresco dining to a different level!

The first thing we saw when we reached Schilthorn - I thought this was hilarious!!!

I know the ride up seems like it was very long, but it actually wasn't. In any case, the views at the top were amazing!!

We met the group of chinese postgraduates we'd befriended earlier cos they stayed in our hostel as well. That's them on the far right doing some strangely cute pose :) They drove 4 hours here from their university in France for a weekend trip!

We were both starving because we didn't have breakfast - so we decided to have lunch at the restaurant Piz Gloria. It was a rotating restaurant, kinda like the Top of the M in Singapore. It was really funny though cos we were discussing whether the waiters could remember which table to serve what because the table positions kept changing due to the rotation. And we concluded that they probably had a system to work it out - but right at that moment, our server forgot where we were seated and almost walked one round with our food hehe.

The ever-changing view

This plate of sausages+rosti cost me 20chf = 23sgd (!!!). But oh well, you know what they say about eating as the locals do.

Thought this photo was hilarious cos the lady behind looks like she wants to kill me!

Wei folded the cutlery napkin into a bird and then excitedly told me: "Look! A bird!"
Note: She did the flapping thing and all with the paper origami too. Hur.

More pictures. I think I could've stayed there all day if I had the chance!

Topshop, anyone?

We got a little bored waiting for the next cable car to bring us down.

The view from the cable car as we left the Schilthorn: Check out the photo on the right - that cylindrical building is the Piz Gloria restaurant!

Met this BEAUTIFUL fella on the train down... isn't he gorgeous??

When we finally got down, it was already 3pm, so I decided to bring Wei to see one of the lakes near Interlaken. Here's the Lauterbrunnen train station! Lauterbrunnen was an awesome place for camp base, because it was easily accessible from anywhere by train.

We headed to Spiez, and then Interlaken for dinner! Didn't do much, we just walked around the towns and went supermarketing and then headed back. The thing about Switzerland is most places close by 5!!

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Last of Days

2008-04-28T21:11:00.000+08:00

Work It

Make It
Do It
Makes Us
Harder
Better
Faster
Stronger
-------

Will post Switzerland pictures soonish, ie. when my 15 page essay is over and done with. Am currently working on page 12, which though encouraging, leaves me feeling rather anxious because I still have many points to opinionate - but there's only so much I can write in the 3 remaining pages.

Anyway essay aside, Sharon & I baked yesterday :) Wanted to make oatmeal raisin cookies and banana muffins, but ended up with oatmeal raisin cookies and 2 huge banana cakes instead (because we forgot to buy muffin liners drats!) Wish I had a bigger oven in my room though - with the current one I have, we could only bake 10 cookies per batch. And after that my room smelled of burnt cookie dough for hours!

Rolling the cookie dough :)

Oatmeal cookies with yummy raisins

Bananas in pajamas

On another note, Esther graduated 2 days ago! Very very happy and proud of her :):) - and at the same time this got me thinking how fast time flies. Seems like yesterday we were just little J1s in RJ worrying about how to pass the next Physics paper, and now we're all just about done with university. It's at times like these when I really wish I could slow down the hands of time, just a little.

Sleepless disaster

2008-04-26T19:13:00.000+08:00

So my British neighbours living along the other end of the corridor decided to throw a huge party last night, and invited around 20 of their friends over. Normally that wouldn't have been a problem, except that:

(1) Our dorm rooms are the size of hamster cages; barely enough room for one human to walk around decently, let alone 20.

which led to

(2) The 20-or-so friends all happily lounging along our common corridor and smoking (think the stench of cigarette and weed smoke x20)

plus

(3) They were all dead drunk, which led to random spurts of yelling ("I LOVE JACCCCKKK") and screaming ("NOTTINGHAM UNI SUXXXXX BALLS") and cursing ("#$$^&*^% YOU STUPID COW") and singing that sounded more like whales mating :( :( :(

AND

(4) It was 3.30am in the morning

which eventually led to the entire flat waking up.

Well, obviously somebody called the reception to complain, because 10 minutes later the wardens come barging into our flat, yelling at the top of their lungs for everybody to "BUGGER OFF, NOW!!!!!"

Lots of giggling ensued, door slamming, loud dissenting, more cursing, wailing, and it took the wardens another 30 minutes to physically remove every single person from the room, because apparently they ALL ran into ONE room, and everyone refused to leave!

And then at 5.00am in the morning, as an obvious sign of revenge to the "whistleblower", said drunk British students made a furious rampage down our corridors, banging hard on every single door and cursing at the top of their voices.

Rarrrrrrhhh!!!

Napoleon's Tomb and Versailles!

2008-04-24T18:05:00.000+08:00

Random pictures along the Seine at St Michel:

So Napoleon's tomb was at the Hotel des Invalides - a grand structure near the Musee d'Orsay which also houses the French national army museum. Look at the sheer size of the building!!!

And a close-up:

There were tons of cannons lining the entrance of the compound - a display of the strength of the French army back in the days I presume.

The interior of the compound, leading to the large golden dome where Napoleon's tomb is:

It just so happened that we were there on a Tuesday evening (after 5pm) - and on Tuesday evenings, students under 26 years old get in for free. Was an extremely good deal, considering it would've cost us 6euros to get into the tomb on another other given day, and after seeing the tomb and all we concluded that it was definitely not worth paying the 6euros for! The only reason I can come up with as to why they charged so much is probably cos they need the money to upkeep the maintanence of the place - the entire building was dripping in opulence - marble and gold everywhere, definitely the most expensive tomb I have ever seen in my life.

Just look at this: the interior of the dome where the tomb was. Paintings up down left right centre with gold trimmings adorning every single one of them. Massive golden pillars, and just about everything else that was not made of gold was made of marble!

Napoleon's tomb surrounded by guardian angels; check out the size of the tomb in comparison to the group of men standing behind.

Apparently dozens of military officials were buried into the vaults in the Les Invalides alongside Napoleon - including many of his family members. Some of the sarcophaguses of other famous generals - all lavishly decorated in marble.

The coat and hat apparently worn by Napoleon during one of his battles - there was a section dedicated to his personal effects BUT it was under renovation when we were there - so thank goodness we didn't have to pay the 6euros cos there honestly wasn't much to see!

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The next day, we woke up at 11am cos our stomachs were still feeling super shitty. But because it was our last day in Paris, we made way to Versailles for a day-trip! It's worth mentioning that we took the wrong train AGAIN because the RER system in Paris is just so confusing!!! Instead of labelling the trains based on their final stop or the route that they take, the RER trains are given names instead. Yes, names like LANA and EVAN and VICK. Really funny don't you think? :) Took us awhile to figure out which train we were supposed to take to Versailles.

When we got there, we were greeted with hoards of tour buses and yep, swarms of tourists. The crowd was incredible - and got a little unbearable at times when people kept pushing their way through one small room in the chateau to get to the next.

Just look at the never-ending queue of people waiting to buy tickets for the chateau:

Well everything worked out in the end because we managed to grab our tickets at 3pm and snagged an awesome reduced admission fee.

Instead of heading to the main rooms, we somehow ended up in these smaller rooms one level below - and these rooms all had an entrance but no exit, so we had to walk through them all to get out. They contained miscellaneous paintings related to the chateau, all painted across the last 3 centuries. And it was super crowded in there!! We were stuck in this human traffic jam for 15 minutes.

The Royal Chapel in the chateau:

The chapel was situated next to the drawing rooms - around 5 drawing rooms in all if I remember correctly: we were given a free audioguide to explain the detail and significance of each room, and I thought that was really useful! Otherwise we would probably just be wandering around aimlessly like we did in the Lourve.

The clock still works - after nearly 400 years!

One of the drawing rooms where all the courtesans and royalty would gather before being called into the main drawing room to meet the king.

The main drawing room with the huge bed where the King would sit on while receiving guests.

Probably the nicest corridor in the chateau - the Hall of Mirrors - so named because of the row of mirrors lining the entire hall. See the number of chandeliers hanging from the ceiling.. and think of how much the king must've spent back in those days! No wonder the citizens eventually got pissed off at the royals' opulent lifestyles and started a revolution (that got the later King Louis XVI and his wife Marie Antoinette beheaded).

But really, really magnificent:

And next to the Hall of Mirrors was the King's bed (King Louis XIV) - apparently he was conceived on this bed, and later died on it:

The Queen's quarters: strange that they didn't sleep on the same bed though.

The Dauphin (prince)'s room: I can't remember who this is, but according to the audioguide he became king at the age of 5! This painting was painted when he was around 7 years old. And his room was green in colour because the popular belief then was that green was good for the eyes and relaxing for the mind!

And many other rooms for the Dauphin - like his study room, his living room etc:

If the restorations are anything accurate to what the rooms resembled last time, the chateau must've been quite something for the standards of that era, judging by the chandeliers, plush upholstery and beautifully crafted furniture.

And these rooms had the best view of the huge gardens and grounds that lay beyond:

The gardens were so big that it would take a person 60 minutes to walk from the palace to the furthest end! We were too sick to walk (sickness is always a good excuse for everything) and decided to invest in a tram ride that would bring us round the entire grounds instead.

The gardens were very nice.

The gorgeous canal running through the grounds:

Sorry the post was damn descriptive - I was getting quite sian of blogging also cos I couldn't think of what else to write.

So that nicely ties up my Paris trip! It was quite a fun trip la, but I think the indigestion and food poisoning incidents just made us too tired and weak to appreciate everything much. Didn't help that Pierre Marcolini was closed by the time we got back to Paris, AND I lost my Lauduree macarons on the metro! :(

Up the Eiffel, into the Louvre, and on the Notre Dame!

2008-04-24T01:07:00.000+08:00

We originally wanted to walk up the Eiffel, but by the time we got there it was 6.30pm and the steps were closed! Oh well. So we ended up squeezing with the masses, and taking the lift up instead. There was this father and son who cut the lift queue by sneaking in from a section that was sealed off, and they were super blatant about it! The son kept announcing (to the already very frustrated impatient crowd in general): "Dah-ddy! Dah-ddy! Look at the queue! We beat the queue Dah-ddy, we beat the queue!" - confirmed death wish. Dunno if anyone else told them off, but we were nearing the front already so we just let them be.

The view from the top of the Eiffel was pretty. Nothing spectacular, but pretty views of the Seine river nonetheless. We stayed on the top until the sun set completely! Check out the super cool search-beam radiating from the top of the tower across the city. Dunno why but it really reminded me of Batman and the Batsignal!

I also noticed that they stopped playing cheesy music in the elevators on the way up and down now. Good call I say! The last time I came with my sister, they were playing Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On" as we made our way down the tower - not the most appropriate of songs considering how very high up we were and how our fates were resting upon the tensile strength of 2 very thick ropes.

So that kinda sums up the Eiffel - one of those "been there done that" sights - with amazing architecture and design! Really wonder how they manage to pump water up&down the tower, considering the number of toilets and restaurants in the whole structure - all that waste has to go somewhere! Pretty amazing for a 100+ year old building.

By the time we queued and finally managed to get down the Eiffel, it was already 10pm! So we decided to train down to St Michel where apparently all the good, cheap food was. Got there at around 11pm, and popped into the first place we saw, which had a pretty decent 3-course set menu for 14.50euros. That turned out to be the WORST DECISION EVER, because the next morning, Daniel and I woke up with indigestion (which would later become yet another LS incident for me).

We were still alright the next morning - woke up bright and early and headed to the Louvre!

It. Was. Packed. Squished to the brim with visitors teeming from one room to the next, and gargantuan tour groups everywhere, trailing their umbrella-wielding tour guides around the entire museum.

After awhile, we realised that ALL the explanatory signs were in French and French only, so we couldn't make head or tail of the significance of certain exhibits, such as:

... which was featured as one of the "must-see" exhibits in the brochure!

Daniel obviously had better things to do then look at them paintings :)

So we decided to pick and choose, and to see only the exhibits we'd at least heard of before, to maximise time.

First up, the Mona Lisa.

Check out the crowd! It was an insane sea of madness trying to wait our turn to get to the front, patiently waiting behind the swarm of tourists - all intent on taking as many photos of the Mona Lisa as possible so as to justify their 9euro Louvre entrance fee.

Next, The Winged Victory of Samothrace:

This sculpture is supposed to be dated between 220-190BC, and was apparently made to commission the victory by Rhodes (one of the islands of today's Greece!) I won't pretend to know much about art because I don't, but this sculpture was pretty impressive.

The Crown Jewels of France: (sorry about the lousy quality of photos)

Venus de Milo: Stylo de Milo! (sorry, couldn't resist)

Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss:

I can't remember what this famous sculpture was, but look at its pose, and tell me how we could NOT have taken this picture!

It was around this time that our stomachs started churning like there was no tomorrow, so we decided to take a break.. I think it's funny how Daniel and the lady behind him both yawned at the same time! But yeah, we were feeling under the weather and by that time I was in really bad shape, so we decided to head back to the hostel to rest.

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The next day, with weak stomachs and light heads, we made our way out of the hostel, only to be greeted by this sight: Don't you think it looks like one of the HDB flats in Singapore?? Got void deck and longkang somemore!!!

This place sold awesome Nutella-Banana crepes:

The garden behind the Notre Dame offered some great views of the cathedral. Helped that the sky was gorgeous as well. Look at the kids having a go on that strange toy in the playground, it looked damn fun!!

We had to queue forever just to get to climb the Notre Dame.. we waited for at least 1.5hours! It was really sian at first, but our boredom was alleviated slightly by this strange man donning a Quasimodo-ish mask, who made it his pleasure to scare random passers-by in the funniest manner!

First, he snuck behind a woman, pulled onto her scarf, and when she turned and saw him she SHRIEKED!!!!!!! It was hilarious. Well, to everyone except her at least.

Then, he spotted a family of 3 walking toward him - father mother & 8-year old son, so he crept in from behind, and within 2 seconds he removed the son's hand from his mother and held her hand instead! A split second later he pulled her sleeve and when she looked down she YELLED bloody murder!!! Damn skilled! I was very impressed.

There was this girl who got tricked by him TWICE! It was super funny, the first time he trailed behind her as she was about to enter a shop and tapped her shoulder. She turned around and screamed super loudly. Then 5 minutes later, after she got out of the shop, he pulled the same trick on her and she still screamed like crazy and ran away!!!! I would've thought she wouldn't have fallen for the same trick twice!

Didn't manage to take photos though cos I was too busy watching the show, haha.

Anyway, the view from the top: got to see the Eiffel tower from afar, and a whole bunch of other stuff:

The different faces of the gargoyles guarding the church:

And the famous bell that Quasimodo rang in The Hunchback of Notre Dame!

Anyway, we were happily trying to take photographs, but this French lady kept waving her hands at the scenery while talking to her friend, so we had to time our photo properly so we wouldn't get her hand in the picture! As can be seen, we failed rather miserably, or rather, her hand was perpetually outstretched! Even when we purposely waited for her hand to go down, our reaction time was always too slow because 1 second later it would be up again!

See!

But nevertheless, it was a very fun day - we headed to Napoleon's Tomb after this at the Hotel des Invalides - but I shall save that for tomorrow's entry!

À Paris!

2008-04-22T22:59:00.000+08:00

I really enjoyed this trip, even though I was damn scared we'd get robbed cos my parents had their laptop stolen at Gare du Nord last time. But my fears were unfounded, save for the suspicious man who "bumped" into Cai from behind at Cité, we were pretty much left alone, even on the subway at 1am.

I was supposed to meet Daniel at Gare du Nord cos I didn't know how to get to the hostel. So right after I landed, I turned on my phone, and called him.... and that's when Murphy's law kicked in. I called him, and called him, and called him. But he didn't pick up!!! And at this moment, my phone decided to die on me and bounce back every single sms that I sent. It didn't help that I got approached by random people in the station asking me for money! That's when I got really panicky, cos my French vocabulary consists of a grand total of 5 words (Je ne parle pas Francais) - not exactly the most handy of phrases to get by in Paris. But thank goodness for the Canadian people, who got me in touch with Daniel in the end!! Turns out that he was charging his phone downstairs cos our hostel room didn't have electricity in our powerpoints, and he was sleeping upstairs cos they only let him check in at 2pm and he hadn't slept in 48 hours, which is why he didn't hear the phone ring. Super drama right! I have never been gladder to hear his voice over the phone!

Finally met up with Cai and Spencer, and we headed to Montmartre! Stopped by at the Sacré Coeur (which literally translates into "Sacred Heart" in French because it was built to store a piece of Jesus Christ's heart after the crucifiction), and we got a good look over the city of Paris. The weather was miserable though, so the view wasn't fantastic.

Montmartre is this quaint village on the northern outskirts of Paris, and probably one of my favourite neighbourhoods. The streets were lined with rows upon rows of shops, all selling fresh produce from heaps of juicy red strawberries to shelves of smelly cheese. We stopped by this oyster stall and had 6 freshly shucked oysters on the spot - all for 1€ an oyster! Nottingham could do with a place like this - I'd be their biggest customer.

Met up with Bern after, and we headed to the Amelie cafe for dessert (Cafe Des Deux Moulins) - where we ordered the creme brulee and each took turns happily cracking the caramelised layer à la Amelie!

Also went to check out Moulin Rouge, and get this, tickets for a show go for 170€ per person! Damn expensive, so we could only afford to stand on the outside with the other tourists-on-a-budget and take photos.

The next morning, we went to Sainte-Chapelle, a chapel built for the sole purpose of housing the Crown of Thorns and pieces of the crucifix cross. The interior of the chapel itself and its top-to-bottom stained glass windows were really really beautiful. I have no idea how the windows managed to survive the revolution undamaged!

The first floor of the chapel.

And the top floor:

Check out the metro stop signs all around Paris that indicated where the metro stops were. I have no idea why it reads "Metropolitan"!

En route to Notre Dame:

Notre Dame: My second favourite building in Paris, after the Eiffel Tower. I really liked the architecture - had an especially strange fascination with the ugly gargoyles protruding out every single corner of the church, which we later found out served the very useful purpose of draining rainwater.

Too bad about the lousy, disgusting weather. Though we did get some nice shots when we returned to scale the Notre Dame 2 days later - pictures to come!

The interior of the cathedral was gorgeous - loved the stained glass windows and the paintings that lined its never-ending hallways.

There was a service going on, and I managed to catch this cool shot of candle-smoke going off above the altar.

Walked around the canal beside the church enroute the search for ice cream and crepes, and got a neat side-view of the Notre Dame; the small unassuming front of the cathedral does not do it's massive size justice!

Back!

2008-04-22T07:21:00.000+08:00

I'm finally back!!

Sorry for the lack of updates, just got back from my insane 10-day adventure: Paris with Daniel Cai and Switz with Wei. Today was this massive day of travelling; took a 4 hour trainride from St Gallen to Zurich to Geneva, and then another 1.5 hour flight back to Notts and finally my 1 hr bus ride back!! I am SOO glad to be in my little room this very moment - back to clean clothes, familiar linen and internet access.

Pictures to come!

Home, soon.

2008-04-10T04:58:00.000+08:00

Sometime approximately 2.5 months from now, I will be on a plane somewhere over the Indian Ocean, making my way back to sunny old Singapura and my life of normalcy. I say this with a little sadness, but I say it mostly with joy, because I definitely can't wait to get back home, to be able to drive to Holland Village for beef fried rice (加蛋!), or to just lounge in the familiarity of my room and know that my friends and family will all be reachable within a 1 hour drive, not a Skype phone call away.

That said, I am definitely going to miss Nottingham, the only place I've known as home for the past 8 months or so. To be honest, I didn't like it very much when I first came because I thought it was too quiet, what with the campus being located a 15 minute bus ride away from town and the shops closing at 6pm everyday.

But I guess familiarity breeds attachment, because I've grown to really like it here. The campus is lovely, it hardly ever storms here like it does in Singapore, awesome Thai food awaits just a 10 minute walk away, and by far my favourite place in Nottingham - the beautiful lake in campus that gives the most brilliant views across the Trent Building clock tower.

So the countdown begins. Better start relishing the last bits of my exchange while it lasts.

Attack of the quack.

2008-04-08T03:14:00.000+08:00

Yesterday, I decided to stop procrastinating and to try the recipe Jon passed me for his very delicious CNY roasted duck. Was a little apprehensive about it at first (read: having to put my hand into the backside of a webbed beast does not top my to-do list), plus I didn't know what to do with the leftovers since practically everyone I know is away from Notts on holiday, but in the end I decided to give it a go, because what the heck, exchange is all about new experiences!

I spent 30 minutes in the supermarket looking for Marsala wine, because the very helpful lady stationed in the wine aisle told me to give it a go myself because "for the love of god, I have no idea where the Marsalas are!" So she left, and after ages of scouring the racks and shelves to no avail, I was about to pick up some random French dessert wine and leave, when I FINALLY spotted the Marsala smack in the middle of the Port and Sherries. Woot!

The whole process took me about 3 hours from start to finish - 1 hour for dicing, 1.5 hours for the roasting, and another 30mins to make the sauce - but the end result was definitely worth the wait.

Ingredients; and everything nicely diced up into a bowl.

The stuffing.

I thought it freaky initially when I was washing the cavity of the duck, and bits of intestines fell out into the sink, all pink and curly wurly and slimy. GROSS.

So I popped this baby into the oven......
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

and 90 minutes later, this comes out!!

Check out the juicy goodness of fats I extracted from the duck.. I had to clear 4 bowls of fats altogether during the roasting process so the fats wouldn't splatter all over and create a catastrophe in the oven.

The time spent scouring for the Marsala proved worthy, because the sauce complemented the duck perfectly. Didn't pour the sauce over the duck because I didn't want the crispy skin to turn soggy, but it worked really well as a dip. Also, I didn't really like the taste of rhubarbs, so the next time I make this I'll probably cut down on the amount of rhubarbs used.

And there you have it! Roasted duck, enough to last me through all meals for 2 days! :)

For all out there who may be interested...

RECIPE
(taken from Food Network here)
2 (3 1/2 pound) Aylesbury ducks (1.5 kilograms) (can substitute Pekin ducks)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
9 ounces (255 grams) fresh ginger
2 long stalks baby rhubarb
2 handfuls fresh sage
1 bulb garlic, cloves removed and chopped in half
2 red onions, roughly sliced
2 wineglasses Marsala or Vin Santo
1 cup (285 milliliters) vegetable, chicken, or duck stock

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).
Season the ducks generously, putting some salt in the cavity as well. Make sure you save the fat and the giblets for the gravy.
Coarsely grate half the ginger and rhubarb. Mix this in a bowl with half the sage and all the garlic and onion, and stuff the mixture inside the cavity of the ducks, ensuring there is an air cavity.
Place the ducks on a tray on top of the chopped up giblets and roast in the oven for one hour. Turn the temperature down to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C) and cook for another 1 1/2 hours until crisp and tender. The ducks are ready when the skin is crisp and the leg bones can be easily removed.
During this time you will need to drain the fat maybe 3 times into a bowl, this will separate into a clear fat which you can keep for roasting.
Once cooked allow the ducks to rest on a warmed plate while you make the sauce. Drain off any remaining fat from the roasting tray.
Pull out all the stuffing and any juices from the inside of the duck and put in the roasting tray and warm this on a low heat.
Add the Marsala and loosen all the sticky goodness from the bottom of the tray, and reduce. Add the stock and reduce to a good taste and consistency.
Pass the sauce trough a coarse sieve.
Remove the breasts from the ducks with a knife and, using your hands, remove the thighs. Arrange the breasts and thighs on a large serving plate.
Finely slice the remaining ginger and fry off in a little hot oil (or you can use the duck fat) in a non-stick pan. As the ginger begins to color, add the rest of the rhubarb, finely sliced, and the rest of the sage. Fry until crisp. Sprinkle this over the duck and drizzle with the sauce.

Enjoy!

Of insomnia and more.

2008-04-05T19:16:00.000+08:00

I had the worst case of insomnia ever yesterday. Went to bed at 2am, and thus began the agonising process of trying to fall asleep.

I tried counting sheep, and when I ended up mentally killing Sheep #24 by making it fall into a ditch, and thinking how delicious Sheep #25 would look on a roasting pan, I decided it just wasn't going to work.

So I tried thinking of my childhood days (don't ask me why) - and spent a good 1 hour reminescing about how I begged my mum to let me keep goldfish as pets - and finally persuaded her (on the guise of a Very Important Primary 6 Project). I named them Brazil and France, in view of the then oncoming World Cup. 2 weeks later, Brazil tragically died when it leapt out of the tank during a cleaning session. No surprises which team later went on to win the World Cup :)

At 3.30am, I started willing myself to sleep. "SLEEEEEEP!! Or tomorrow you will wake up with huge eyebags and everyone will look at you with those pitiful eyes and ask you gollygeegosh why do you look so tired today Dee!!"

At 4am, I really couldn't take it anymore, so I decided to call the one person I knew who could help. Or so I thought.

"Hello?"
"I can't sleep!"
"TRY(!!) I'm-studying-now-ok-talk-to-you-tomorrow-bye".

So some 3 hours later after getting into bed, I finally fell asleep.

I digress. Now comes the fun part - photos of NYC!

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The Broadway Craze

We managed to catch Little Mermaid, and tried for the Wicked Lottery - where if you're lucky, you can get front row Orchestra tickets for only $25! Unfortunately, as can be seen from the picture above, it was a lost cause statistically and we ended up not getting anything.

But it was funny hearing the random shrieks of joy people let out when they heard their name being called, point in case being this Japanese man who yelled "HAIIIIIIIIIII!!!" and shot up his hand enthusiastically while running to the front.

THOSE chicken wings!!!!

This was one of the crazier nights we had out in Ktown - where the guys each took turns to buy Melon Shoju and play cai quan, which obviously led to some pretty comically disastrous endings by the end of the night.

Best, best, best scallops in the world.

Lunch at Nobu with friends from law - thank you Boon for taking this photo and forever immortalizing this meal!!

Chelsea Market - my highlight of NYC!

- And for good reason. Check out the $1.10 oysters - and these weren't the cheapest cos there were other oysters going for $0.89. And the sashimi. And the joyful look of greed all over my face before I proceeded to devour everything and then order another box to eat at the airport.

There was this aptly named brownie shop (The Brownie) which sold really good brownies. Not the Betty Crocker do-it-yourself kind, nor the (usually) soft, bland ones you get at most restaurants serving dessert. These were intensely flavourful, with a crispy layer of crust on all edges of the brownie, and they were moist, without being overly soft.

Ahhhh.. to stay in NYC.

This caught our eye at one of the display windows of a bakery - that isn't really an LV bag, it's a CAKE! I wonder who would be willing to spend so much money to buy it and then have the heart to cut it up into tiny slices though...

Other random photos taken -

(L-R) Ebt & I with Val, who very nicely let us crash and occupy her room for 4 nights, the friendly Columbia people outside their hall, delicious sweet potato fries for breakfast, and dessert at Kyotofu!

This was definitely one of the most memorable trips ever in a long while. Delicious as well! My only regret is that I didn't get to shop as much as I'd hoped - but ohwell, the good food more than made up for everything.

Back!

2008-04-02T01:24:00.000+08:00

The last week spent in NYC, in 1 word: Unforgettable.

I'm still waiting for people to send me photos because I was too busy eating to take any myself - so here's quick summary of the trip, sans pictures.

The most memorable meals were probably at Nobu, Fette Sau and The Lobster Place.

Nobu was value for their lunch sets; I had the sashimi/ scallop set, think 5 huge succulent pieces of jumbo scallops complemented with amazing sauteed shiitake mushrooms.

Fette Sau on the other hand, was much more value for money at $13 per person - and for that we got generous servings of pork belly, beef brisket, beef ribeye, pork ribs, potato salad AND root beer out of a bottle!

But The Lobster Place definitely topped all of my dining experiences in NY. As the name suggests - lobsters were going for $10/ pound, sashimi boxes for $16, freshly shucked oysters started at $0.90, and the lobster bisque was definitely one of the best I've had in my life. A slice of heaven, when compared to my seafood-deprived palatte over here in Nottingham.

Managed to catch another musical, this time Little Mermaid with Ashley & Boon Kiat. For a somewhat cynic wrt cartoons-turned-Broadway, I must say I really enjoyed this one! The costumes and stage sets were a sparkly, sequinned affair, Flounder was too cute (think an 8 year old boy flitting around the stage wearing an obscenely yellow costume and singing songs of joy), and the songs were so catchy! Definitely worth the money spent.

Esther and I also managed to miraculously find our way to Woodbury and back without a GPS or map. It was fun driving out of NY, mini-roadtripping across the bridges and along the coast of New Jersey, though I suspect my mum would flip if she found out I drove without telling her.

So it was back to England this morning - and amazingly the temperature today was 15 degrees! Much warmer compared to the 2 degree average in NY, which is really surprising. It was still bright as day at 8pm! I definitely could get used to the weather; anything beats having the sun set at 3pm during winter.

More updates when I get my hands on them photos!

Washington DC

2008-03-28T15:42:00.000+08:00

Check out the awesome view from the plane - I had a great view of Manhattan and even Central Park!

It was nice being in DC again; this time round I managed to see more beyond the Smithsonian area, and had some of the best Japanese ever in a long, long time.

But because it was Easter, the museums were packed beyond belief over the weekends with precocious kids and their parents, and after the 100000th kid whizzed past me on his Wheelies (nearly causing an accident in the process) I swear I really wanted to kill them all.

The Smithsonian museums were super (helped that they were all free entry as well) - I loved the Natural History and National Art Gallery best though, the collection in the latter was pretty sizeable, what with Rembrant, van Gogh, Bellini and all.

Check out the following:

(1) Museum of the American Indian - with exhibits showcasing all things related to the Native Indians that occupied the Americas right up to the 15th century before the Europeans came in and conquered the land.

(2) The National Art Gallery - from modern art pieces by artists like Lichenstein and Warhol to some of Rembrant's more famous works - though not as extensive as the collection in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, it was still pretty good.

Then after that I got lazy and stopped taking photos and all the other museums we went to.

Also went to Capitol Hill; unfortunately didn't manage to get tickets for the tour because of the huge crowds over Easter Sunday - tickets were gone by 9am everyday! Madness right. And because I only ever managed to wake up at 10am everyday, it was abit of a lost cause I would say.

Met up with Hanting the next day, and check out the cherry blossom trees that were in bloom! The weather was quite weird though; some trees were barely budding, whereas others were already in full bloom - apparently spring is late this year because of global warming etc. Well anyway we very happily started posing next to the trees:

Saw the White House as well -

As well as the Washington Monument (which served as a very handy landmark reference for whenever we got lost, haha).

Visited Abe Lincoln's memorial, which looked like this when I came to DC 3 years ago - damn sad right!

view from the memorial

It was nearing noon by then, and Hanting was getting a little hungry, so he kept trying to devour all the kids we saw! Damn terrible!! I had to keep dragging him away la before we got yelled at by protective parents.

Righto, so I'm in Ann Arbor now - just woke up because Ebt made a 100m dash from her room out to the front door upon realising she was late for class. AA has been pretty awesome, even though I didn't take any pictures of the place, I guess it warrants some mentioning :D (KIDDING Esther, KIDDING)

Anyway everyone here has damn nice cars! In 3 days, I've sat in a BMW, an Audi TT, a Volkswagon (Golf I think) AND my favourite car of all, the Mazda RX-8 - super super super chio!!!

Also, I've been to the first ever Borders that opened in the world, had some pretty awesome burgers and sweet potato fries(!!), took a stroll down a really pretty river/ park near campus, had some of the best creme brulee and tiramisu ever, and had bubble tea almost every other day. Yes everything seems to be revolving around food, I know.

So anyway, I'm off to get some bubble tea now and then we're off to Noo York (and then back to England after that, so sad). Update soon!

2008-03-26T12:19:00.001+08:00

How eyeliner pencil saved the day.

2008-03-24T11:11:00.000+08:00

So I didn't miss my flight to DC, but here's what happened instead:

On boarding the plane, we taxied to the runway, only for the pilot to announce that due to the heavy winds, takeoffs were being delayed and currently 20 planes were ahead of us waiting to take off, ie. we would have to wait at least 40 minutes before our turn to take off.

Nevermind that.

30 minutes later, he sheepishly announces once again that, sorry "but we have run out of FUEL" and we would have to go back to the gate to refuel, and THEN head back to the end of the queue again (by now, the number of planes waiting had increased to 25!!). The passengers around me start to grouse. When the stewardess comes around and asks the rather big-sized man next to me to buckle his seatbelt, he mutters that the seat is so small, he couldn't fall out even if he tried.

In the end, we reached DC 3 hours later than scheduled - it would've been faster if I'd just driven from NYC me thinks, especially since I woke up at 6am that day to get to the airport.

So I headed to the hotel, checked in, decide to freshen up, and upon closing the toilet door, realised immediately that I was done for, because the toilet door had no doorknob!!! Normally that wouldn't have been a problem, but the door somehow auto-locked upon closing, and because there was no knob I had no way of getting out. Insane in the membrane. My cellphone was on the bed outside, AND I'd double locked the door and put the chain across so there was no way anyone else would be able to come in.

So after opening the window and screaming my lungs out for help (to no avail btw), I decided to fiddle with the lock, and broke my MAC eyeliner in the process. Wth. So with no other sharp object left in the bathroom, I used my Sephora eyeliner, fiddled like crazy for another 5 minutes, before I heard the joyous "snap!" of the lock sliding in the opposite direction, and I emerged unscathed, though extremely pissed off. Marched down to reception immediately, short of creating a scene, and they promised to send someone up to my room to install a doorknob. What kind of a bloody 4 star hotel is that???

That aside, DC has been nothing short of fun, sashimi, museums, and cherry blossom trees :)
Will be back soon with photos!

New York - day 2!

2008-03-21T10:13:00.000+08:00

I haven't eaten SO MUCH in such a long time. Seriously. Met up with Marcus, Yixun and Soo Tet today, and between the 4 of us we ate: 1 whole roast duck, 1.5 pounds of beef ribs, 1 huge plate of roast pork and 1/2 rack of ribs! Disgusting. I'm seriously considering going vegan over the next couple of days....

First up, we headed to Chinatown for a fix of Chinese food, bubble tea and egg tarts. It was a picture of hustle and bustle, people scurrying here there everywhere, wet markets and fruit markets, and touts lined all along the street trying to peddle their "handbags, wallets, watches, sunglasses, cheapcheap!!!!"

After which, we were off to the Financial District - visited the WTC memorial site again - which gave me the heebie jeebies - seeing the 2500+ names of the innocent people who died in that disgusting act of terrorism made me feel a sad and a little angry at the same time. Walked around Wall St - took a photo with the infamous bull, and then headed to the South Seaside Port where we had an awesome view of both the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges!

Check out Trinity Church... smack in the middle between the skyscrapers of NYC:

The view at the pier was lovely - the mild blueish midday skies dotted with magnolia white clouds - and we had a super view of Brooklyn across.

What I love about New York is how it is always so unpredictable; I've been here 3 times previously and I always learn something new about the city every trip. There're always new places to eat at, new people to meet, new places to go. And of course, the shopping. I can't wait to comb 5th Ave when I return.. Ebt you have been warned!

Dinner was at Fette Sau in Brooklyn, loved the meats and the price.

And of course, the day would never be complete without......

Oh yes, and pictures from yesterday.

Macy's is having an ongoing flower show from now till Idunnowhen, and check out the pretty flowers adorning the aisles and ceilings on the cosmetics department. It was super pretty!

And pictures of the Majestic Theatre; the cast and crew of Phantom - it was vaguely weird when the Phantom came out right after the last scene and immediately started pitching the various albums/ posters/ memoribilia to us.

So there you go; I'm off to DC for 4 days of museums, cherry blossoms, monuments and shopping (!!), hopefully I'll be able to wake up and not miss my flight tomorrow!

New York, New York

2008-03-20T12:46:00.000+08:00

So this is my first EVER trip to anywhere by myself, and I must say that I had tons of fun on my very first day of independent travelling. (Of course, the 1-day spectacular sale at Macy's helped up the mood a little, hehe). Made friends with the lady behind the Clinique counter and she gave me 2 free goodie bags - filled with tons of good shit like moisturizer, lipstick, concealer and facial wash! WOOT!!!

Thought I would be done with 34th in a day, but boy, did I underestimate the staying power that Forever 21 had on me. And I haven't even smelt 5th Ave at all! But I did get a chance to walk over to Bleecker St to check out the wonderful, wonderful Magnolia Bakery, bought a couple of their famously famous cupcakes, cheesecakes, and banana pudding. After which I caught the subway back, fell asleep, missed my stop, and ended up in Brooklyn.

Caught the Phantom of the Opera musical at the Majestic Theatre at night, and boy that was fantastic!! I loved the artsy scenic backdrops the best, and the singing was perfectly on-key. So after that I decided to treat myself to a nice steak from Applebees - and got a shock when I realised that the Times Sq branch charged more for the same stuff compared to other branches. On hindsight I should've expected that something like this would happen though, after all, it IS Times Square: Tourist Trap Land.

And I love New York. My favourite city in the world, nevermind the neverending confusing subway maps and irregularly placed stations. Hanting, if you're reading this, have fun in California - I promise to pack up your currently very messy room before I leave!

Dublin, deux.

2008-03-17T22:24:00.000+08:00

St James' - motherland of Guinness stout and all things wonderful, so they say.

It was quite an eye-opener - I've never had a Guinness before, and the first taste was amazingly quite good, this coming from someone who cannot drink to save her life.

Check out the original lease that Arthur Guinness signed - a 9000 year lease for the land on which St James' is situated on! Obviously to him, failure was not an option.

The storehouse was HUGE - with levels upon levels of exhibits. My favourite was the advertising section though, look whose familiar face I spotted among all the exhibits! :))

And right at the top, we were richly rewarded with a pint of Guinness each - well deserved I say considering we paid 10€ per person for entrance fees :( Check out the awesome view we had from the top!

The next day, Winnie popped by from Galway to visit!!

It was raining like crazy, so we decided to take refuge in this quaint shop called the "Queen of Tarts" for some wicked brunch. And that must've been the best decision made all day, because the tarts were just awesome. I had the roasted chicken with potatoes and peppers, and it was so so flavourful and delish! Topped it all off with dessert after - the blackberry and apple crumble was amazing, and so was the Baileys cheesecake.

We camped in the cafe for a little while before realising that the rain wasn't going to stop anytime soon, so onward we went - off to Trinity College to looksee!

Behold: the miserable, miserable weather. And us being miserable in the weather.

So after seeking shelter in the Trinity library for a good 20 minutes, we decided that enough was enough - trudging in the rain and getting our toes sloshed and wet was just not going to cut it - and so off we went to O'Connell St for some good ol' retail therapy!! :)

Dinner was at Temple Bar, check out the yummy seabass that set us back a good 17€:

The company was all that mattered that day - I loved sitting around and just laughing, catching up, reminiscing. It's been a long time coming, and these past few days were probably some of the most carefree ones I've had in a long time since my JC days. Until our next gathering guys! :)

Dublin at first glance.

2008-03-17T03:28:00.000+08:00

The short weekend spent in Dublin was wonderful! Met up with Chuns and Winnie, both of whom I haven't seen in ages ages ages, and boy did we have a blast catching up and reminescing about our JC days :))

Before Winnie met us, Chuns and I did a bit of exploring around town. Too bad about the gloomy weather though! This was around the O'Connell St area - check out the monumental Spire that served as a handy reference landmark when we weren't sure which direction we were headed towards.

After seeing Edinburgh castle and Sterling castle in their great gargantuan glory, this Dublin equivalent was a little disappointing. But still pretty in its own way. Most of the castle had obviously been refurbished - the most obvious of which was a section of castle wall that was painted bright PURPLE - definitely not the 13th century landmark I was expecting.

Headed to Christchurch and St Patrick's cathedrals after - recall my neverending misfortune of always encountering sights that are under renovation - St Patrick's was (unfortunately), no exception.

Christchurch was really nice though! I loved the sprawling grounds, the facade, the structure.

And of course, what would Dublin be without getting into traditional St Patrick's garb and trying out some famous Irish boxty? :))

And yes - we bought those nifty leprechaun hats at the 2€ shop the night we arrived!

London in a day.

2008-03-13T08:30:00.000+08:00

Popping down to London proved to be a great idea, and I fell in love with the city all over again. Helped that the weather was amazing - I have never seen the London skies so clear and so blue - and the day ended off at an unbeatable high with awesome roasted duck at Bayswater!

Train ride down wasn't quite as eventful. My train was delayed due to the inclement weather, and because of the heavy winds when our journey did start, we were restricted to a mileage of 50mph, which resulted in a 2 hour long train ride down instead of the usual 1-ish hour.

Had the misfortune of bumping into one Mr Slime on the train - who made some lame remark about the weather and then proceeded to ask me if he could listen to my iPod with me like we were best friends. So I raised my voice and gave a curt "NO" - and after other failed attempts to strike up conversation (such as pointing to some picture in his magazine and asking me if that place was in London when the title of the article read: "LONDON, UNDISCOVERED") - he finally gave up and moved away. What an idiot.

On reaching London, I hopped onto the Victoria tube line to Green Park where I was supposed to meet Chun. 2 stops before Green Park, one huge suspicious-looking man jostled his way out of nowhere just as the doors were about to close, and tried to grab my bag with him on the way out! The doors closed just as I managed to yank my bag away into the carriage. Thank goodness I was alert and holding onto it tightly, or that would have been one huge unhappy ending.

So anyway - we tried to see as many sights as we could in one afternoon, and with our adroit toes we managed to see Green Park, Buckingham Palace, Tralfagar Square, Chinatown, Thames River, Westminster Chapel, all in one day. Woot!!

Presenting: Green Park. Beginnings of spring and one amazingly beautiful sky.

Trafalgar Square: where the winds were horrendous and the pigeons everywhere.

And along River Thames - Big Ben, Westminster, London Eye, never before have I seen blue skies over this part of London before. Was nice!

And so begins Easter - New York awaits!

Reflections

2008-03-12T04:08:00.000+08:00

Life is one hugeass series of unpredictable events.

If I'd known myself, 7 years younger, round-eyed and innocent, I would have told her to stay away. If I'd been there in April 12, 2004 - maybe things would've been that much different. If I'd been able to gaze into the future, I would've stopped him. If.

Tribulations and trials they say, can only make you stronger. What of the pain and bitterness that takes so long to ebb away though? What of them. People wax lyrical about time healing all wounds. But I believe God does a better job. Looking back at the canvas that has my life etched out all over - bits here scribbles there - I see only one constant. Faithful and unwavering. Through the hues of grey: my tears, confusion, utter despair, self-rebuke. And also through the brilliant colours of joy, hope, happiness, peace at heart.

Looking back at the past 21 years of my life, from childhood to what must now considered adulthood (oh adolescence, I will miss you so) - I find myself hard-pressed to deny that God has blessed me tremendously.

For what reasons I don't know; may never know. But what I do know is that I am infinitely grateful: for abounding love, opportunities, and never-ending reassurance.