wheeeeeeeeeee

I'm dizzy with elation now. :D
Thank you papa mama for letting me go reluctantly.

the Good old days

I always picked this up around school, studied it really carefully and then pinned it up on the noticeboard on the wall in my room. I wanna attend the back to school flirt!. It says -
flirt! ‘F’ Party
‘F’ is for Flirt and we are having our first ever ‘F’ party! All you need to do is think of the most imaginative thing you can beginning with the letter ‘F’ and dress up as it! Here are some ideas in case you get stuck…fairy, Flipper (the dolphin), farmer, fireman, freezer, French maid, flapper girl, flasher, fish finger! Prizes for the best costumes of course!
Vodka Red Bull drinks promotion
Rubix
10pm – 3am
£2 super advance £4 advance £5 door £7 guests

Hmm... I think I'd go as Fook U/Fook Mi from Austin Powers. Haha. Why don't we have anything like this? Only pretenious dinner&dance events with a spam of photoshopped emailers?

I am feeling especially 'exchange-sick' after completing the "compulsary feedback form" posted by the OIR. It forced me to recall all the details about the last 4 months - the initial apprehension & difficulty with adjusting and then accepting, the intimidating process of finding new friends, how I happily socialised, where I hung out and everything. Seems like it was all a dream.

Check this out too. East Vs West - graphically represented here.

Winter must be cold for those with no warm memories

I've been too busy to post up pictures but neither did i bother to write some captions for the photos posted on FB. Now that its the weekend and I have a longgggg to-do-list, suddenly I'm keen to put some pictures up & feel the bittersweet nostalgia about last December once more.

Edinburgh

This is a place i miss so sorely.
Oh please give me a real English pub!
Alright, this is actually Scottish. But I'm not fussed.
I bemoan the absence of proper pubs here!
I love pubs for the warm atmosphere, friendly vibes
AND for having good & cheap beer, ale or cider on tap.

The city is networked by these eerie alleyways where vengeful spirits lurk.

Haymarket, the pretty area which my hostel was situated.
First one was taken on the first night,
Second was taken during the sunset.

For once, I actually agree with a marketing slogan.

On the hilltop, overlooking the new town!

That's Authur's Seat. Its the name of the mountain with the pointy cliff.

Gnarled trees are dotted all around the city spaces, framing interesting scenes.

The Edinburgh Castle.

German styled Christmas markets- the entire of UK is crazy about them!
Stuff your face gleefully with German sausages, german weissbeer & mulled wine!

Amsterdam

This is extremely coveted prime waterfront property.

Lovely postcard-perfect scenes like these are taken for granted everyday.

They take their green efforts really seriously.
Notice the shadowy silhouettes of the bicycles(fiets).
The city is infested with these fiets.
Enough about the red-light-district, check out the bike culture here.

Paris

Notre Dame with a Christmas Tree in front.
They should really do away with the unnecessary trees at their attractions.
Sometimes, its an eyesore.

Guess where!
Looking at this again, really reminded me of this---

Hahahahaha. The irony of the artiste & the song title.

The gorgeous night scene from the top of the tower.

French gastronomy!

The Basilica of Sacre-Coeur.
Notice the 'bleeding' horses.

In comparison, the night-time one looks mysterious & beguiling.

If you've noticed the artist in the foreground in the previous picture,
you can tell that its a vibrant artsy area.
Street art is littered all around the streets of Montmatre.

Not forgetting the sleaze, we were near the red-light-district too.
That's Moulin Rouge. DUH.

Palace of Versailles ... looks like all other European palaces.

Extremely huge and extraordinarily pretty garden grounds though.

My rendition of the Da Vinci Code movie poster.

Alp D'Huez near Grenoble

Little french children all wrapped up in their colourful ski suits,
waiting in line for their turn up the ski lift! haha.
I miss these naughty little rascals,
always threatening to cry while trying to cut your queue.

PraguePrague Castle & the cathedral I believe.

Another romantic scene from this beautiful city with amazing architecture.

OOps.

Czech NYE celebrations at an outdoor stage-
everyone was dancing- young, old, women, men.
It was so infectious and electrifying!

At the other much larger but more commercialised arena.
It was transformed into a battle field of fireworks as the clock ticks towards 2009.
Happy New Year everyone.
Give thanks for all your beautiful memories. xx

Impermanence

Since I've been back, everyone's telling me different things.
Some say I'm shorter, some say I've put on some weight,
Some say I'm slimmer, Some say I'm prettier,
Some say I'm so white, I'm transparent but some say I havn't changed at all.
So to hell with everything they say, I know what have changed.

I know that beer is the elixir of life, not coffee. Historically, people drank beer first & foremost on a daily basis, before they started to pretend to be the chi chi coffee connoisseurs of today.

I know that I've been rather irritable at many of the scenes I've seen since I'm home.

Why are there so many shopping malls being built??? I dont see the point when they are just going to be filled with brands which we are oh-so-familiar with. We don't need more shopping malls to fill our free time! I rather have more space on the pavements to walk on, rather than jostling with the crowds.

Why are the roads perpetually choked with traffic??? I live on the outskirts of the central city area, but for goodness sake, even outside my house is a long line of cars waiting to turn right at the junction!

Why is my campus getting overcrowded with students, with insufficient facilities to support all of us? Why do we have to allow for inconveniences for ourselves- when the root of the problem is that the school has accepted way too many students than it was being built for. That's only the microcosm of Singapore today. They want a whooping 6million people on this island, I swear it'd sink as fast as Venice. Even if it isn't going to sink, I'm going to be so annoyed at the sheer density of the population, I'm going to turn cannibalistic. I guess my critics would say that it's common across all large cities, so I shouldn't complain. What's different between us and big cities in other countries is that ALL singaporeans live in A city. In other countries, you have a choice of escaping the city. You can live outside your city, you have the countryside, you can travel for 2 hours and see something completely different. In Singapore, you can live in Boon Lay (extreme west of Singapore) & still have to fight with 10,000 other people who wants to watch the latest blockbuster at the movie theatres.

Living in a small town for the past 4 months, I grew to like the serenity, space & greenery. Take the train & you end up in another town to explore or spend the weekend in another city in Europe. I saw how the end of summer glide into the depths of winter and the subtle changes in the foliage around me. Not that having a hot & wet or hot & sunny weather in Singapore is bad. Neither am I saying that Europe was like a paradise compared to my home. I missed Singapore while I was experiencing quite a number of inconveniences and annoyances. What I realised is that, I would love to be able to have the same lifestyle I had when I was back there. Take it slow and easy, without having people brush past you every day at every hour. Stand in the queues for ages, not because there was a long line, but because they were inefficient. In Singapore, your wait is mostly because the queues are long. I might not be able to live in Singapore for the rest of my life, now that I have seen too much. I know that I now have the choice, if I'm given the means. But that's only my choice. I don't think my family is going to be nice about me having itchy feet (as put by jut). We'll see?

Even though before you leave, you worry about how much you're going to miss your family & friends. How you're missing out on their lives - 21st birthdays, weddings, funerals etc. Eventually you realise that you can actually live without them for a period of time. It's tough, but it's not impossible.

Singapore is a gorgeous place, really, if you ignore all the horrid construction occuring at the moment. We have fabulous weather, if you don't mind the humidity. Thankfully, it's been really cool weather for the past few days. Maybe its Global Cooling, not global warming now. The current winter season has been bitterly harsh, I think. Justin Low thinks that its the start of the Ice Age. haha. On top of that, we have zomg, the best food on the universe. Great local food, and good cuisines from all over the world as well. No more unrecognisable bastardised food! Great infrastructure, you can shop till you drop. Great transport system - hardly any breakdowns, only that it's being undermined by the sheer numbers of users which it is only borderline coping with it. Living here, makes you think that travelling for 1hour a ridiculous waste of time because you are so used to the small land area. It's such a safe place, you can walk fearlessly on the streets at night. It's almost true that it's disneyland. So comfortable in its own cocoon, I feel twitchy & unease.

What I really mean to say is that, the grass is always greener on the other side and I know that it's only about perception- simply because it looks greener, not that it truly is. I dont think Europe is superior to Singapore, it's just how I prefer it there, despite all its flaws, because that's how I like it. It's more like choosing the lesser of 2 evils. For example, I prefer paying less for fabulous beers on taps in English Pubs and not be allowed to drink on the streets, to paying an exorbitant amount for bottled beers and be allowed to drink on the streets (which no one here does). I hate having to deal with breakdowns & delays of train services, but apparently everyone is used to it, you won't be blamed for your lateness because of it.

So anyhow, I came back and my friends sprouted this alien name of the Marina Barrage, which is a reservoir in the Marina Bay area. We no longer have our open fields to fly kites, or our steamboat restaurants, or the bowling alley which we frequented so often when we were 15. Now we have this snazzy looking reservoir with flyover ramps lined with grass and lamps and a nice expansive rooftop grass patch and benches to enjoy the seabreeze. You can see the marina promenade from here, all the bright city lights and skyscrapers. It is beautiful, until you see the mess of cranes and drillers and pilers next to it, all busy working on the new Integrated Resorts.

This is the first thing you see, when you walk in.
There was a traffic jam at the entrance.
We Singaporeans have nothing else better to do, than to to visit new places on weekends.
My friends, being my friends have chosen this area to lao our Chinese New Year YuSheng.
Good choice anyhow. I approve.

The cool ramps leading up to the grass on top.
Makes for a nice romantic stroll,
if you can ignore the baby prams & big families.

This is our version of the London Eye. Its called the Singapore Flyer.
It has cool changing colours. Quite a visible landmark, because it's so big.
Apparently it broke down recently, trapped 173 people within its cabins.
And now its still not in operation yet. What a joke!

Missing?

I'm back and there's no fireworks or red carpet cocktail reception to receive me, but i had an enthusiastic mother & some kind relatives who dropped by at the airport, on their way to Tampines town to play some hardcore Mahjong. Haha. What more can you ask for?

And I have to get dressed soon to have a dinner with my family, but I have no idea what to wear. I've been wearing 5 layers of clothes (the same layers of outerwear too - makes dressing a no brainer), with my boots & brown bag. Suddenly, I have too much choices. I can't even remember what shoes or bags I have! I'm a walking fashion idiot once more now.

Oh yeah, there's school as well. Someone please remind me when my classes are again?

My room feels empty despite all the furniture & clutter which I've left behind in September. So i peeled off all the old leaflets stuck on my wall & stuck up all my newly purchased posters & prints & postcards & cards from friends. It's as if I don't want to forget the people, the places & the experiences which I had over the last few months, so everything is up on the walls to help me with that.

I'm glad to be back to see my family & friends. I'm glad to be able to have showers & not freeze to death. I'm glad to be back in familiar surroundings except that it doesn't feel so familiar anymore. Something is missing, I can feel it. I think I left my heart in England.

Au revoir

Here i am again, sitting alone in a room which is not mine - I'm staying at Richard Berry's house, and shivering in his youngest daughter room. Tonight is the last night.

The past 4 months whizzed past- of flights, train rides, coach rides, hostel beds, new places, foreign languages, postcards, wind chills, snow, school, karaoke nights, beer, grocery shopping at Tesco & cooking in the kitchen.

My last trip which spanned 3 countries & 4 cities, involving painful 12 hour & 18 hour coach rides, was all in all an eventful one. (It's always eventful for me eh?) Not everything went smoothly as planned, but ultimately, it's all part of travelling, isn't it?

Amsterdam was really cool. It's one of my favourite cities now. The highlights include smelling weed everywhere, getting space cakes, having those red lighted windows, pretty slanting/sloping houses, a terrifying history & a sound economic reason for every single thing that they do. It's amazing how they balance pragmatism with freedom. Only in Amsterdam, people have sex in hostel rooms with the lights on. Don't need to pay for peep shows anymore!

Paris was pretty alright, but it has its own grotty places as well. Most visitors skip those areas, so everyone thinks that its the prettiest city in Europe. It might be, but it's not my favourite city. We met some scary characters in seedy neighbours and many places including the supposedly hip latin quarter were just uber touristy. I like French people though. Especially the French boys we met in the French Alps in our dorm in Alp D Huez. Alright, before that, we visited the really gorgeous Versailles. The gardens i mean. the interiors were just like any other castles you would have visited in Europe. The Effiel Tower was nice & it felt pretty surreal to be there, being physically there with such an iconic landmark. We saw the mona lisa in the flesh as well & it's actually a small painting in a huge room with a huge crowd of people taking tons of photographs of it. Not a pretty sight.

So we took the train to Grenoble after Paris. We didnt explore much of Grenoble, except to the supermarket to fill our tummies while skiing up in the Alps. We took a bus ride up to the winter wonderland, the alpine scenery was breath-taking. Our first day was pretty much ruined by lots of waiting & miscommunication with the people there. And it feel downright disappointing to know that your dormitory has no linen, pillow or blanket when the weather is subzero degrees & you have been freezing your ass off for the past hours waiting for the man to pick u up. Thankfully it got better from there, as we made friends with the Parisian boys who could speak English. Just imagine our excitement! Well, they were reallyyyyyy cute as well. Now french boys are ranked number one in my books. haha. Especially the shy one who offered me some sausages when i popped into the kitchen. haha. Other than boys, we did proper skiing and our skii instructors were Cute tooo. The alps were just overflowing with goodlooking french boys & adorable french kids who always tried to cut the ski lift queue. haha. Great times skiing in the bright sunshine (i got sunburnt!), having self-prepared meals & sleeping at 8pm every night. It was too cold for us to get a proper sleep, so we were tossing & turning in fitful half-asleep state amidst loud snoring sounds.

Getting from Grenoble to Prague was quite a nightmare. We had to travel to town in the dark, through fresh snow & ice with all our luggage. I'm glad we survived a 2h bus ride to Grenoble city centre, then a 18h bus to prague with a ridiculous number of stops & a horrible wait in subzero temperatures in Strasbourg, Germany while we changed buses. Prague was frighteningly cold which is why beer is dirt cheap & its good. Everything is cheap, unless u end up at a tourist trap, which is more expensive than in the UK. :( The countdown party was so strange, it was really really cool. I felt like i was in the 80s with all the cheese music & old musicians performing. Combined with the free-for-all, set-off-fireworks-at-your-own-risk option, the town square transformed into a battle field. We described it as controlled anarchy, it was a really fine line between violence & just having fun. One wrong move would have tipped the situation into a really ugly one. We were running along the streets trying to avoid fireworks which were going off 2mm next to your feet on the sidewalk, & then taking cover in the underground metro station. That was how cool NYE was. This more than made up for the unfortunate Xmas eve which we had.

Weary & frozen stiff from running around western & central Europe, I actually look forward to the balmy weather in Singapore to thaw my poor bones. But this means no more wearing of nice shin high boots. :( No more large coats to cover any excesses up. :( I take comfort in the fact that I can finally wear dresses, skirts & shorts & expose my pasty skin to the blazing tropic sun. I get to wear pumps & flats & slippers & sandals. I don't have to use the same functional brown bag for every occasion. Yay.

I still don't want to go back. :(

The final hours

Here I am, sitting in my bare room 2 in Hazel Farm. I threw out an insane amount of rubbish and i cant believe I actually have more bags now than I arrived. It was hellish trying to pack everything which I've accumulated here into 2 suitcases and also trying to pack for a 11-day trip around Europe at the same time, PLUS trying to finish my bloody marketing principles report with useless group mates. grah. All these things happening over the frenzied exam week has made me too busy to update my blogs & upload the new pictures. I've visited Edinburgh by myself after my exam, on the tues 2 weeks ago, next went for parties every night since I've came back, in an effort to spend as much time with all my friends here.

But most of my exchange friends have left to go back to their homes over the last two days. I wasn't around to say goodbye to them, but I'm hoping to catch them again if I have the chance to. So now, I'm just waiting for Richard to pick me up & my things at about 8+pm. Well, you can imagine the last week was especially emotional for everyone. Saying goodbyes are extremely hard to do... but I guess after a couple of months, people get on with their lives and eventually get caught up with their routine, no one really cares about you anymore, especially if you were just casual friends & not someone who has touched their lives deeply.

The most difficult thing now is having to say bye to dear Justin. All the talk about how I'm going to take it like a man & suck it up totally failed me. I usually end up being an emotional wreck who is trying to hide it as much as possible. That is well unpleasant. It doesn't help that I've met his lovely family - his sweet mother, his charming father, his muscle-bound brother & his girlfriend & the girlfriend's daughter Ruby. Then the inevitable awkward questions come - what will happen when you leave? Then this ache in my heart shoots up again & I have to bite my lip, shrug my shoulders and reply - I don't know... I just hope I can see him again. Then I feel so guilty for letting them down, for making their son sad. Both of us left in a hurried fashion on Thursday morning to catch the morning trains and his mom gave me a Xmas card, thanking me for making her son happy. You know what - people shouldn't be too nice to me, I can't take it. I don't deserve it.

In all my misery & sadness for having to leave him, I am grateful for having someone who loves me that much too. Amusingly, our conversations now tend to be a mix of genuine jokes & humourous banter, but often tail off with bittersweet smiles. I guess that's how it'll be when we say our farewells on 3 Jan 2009- Bittersweet smiles peppered with salty tears.

Again i go unnoticed

I am gutted. Stupid musicians & their whims of fancies. GRAH!!!
I still want to see Dashboard very much, but I dont think I can anymore.
Instead of a great gig to attend, I have a redundant ticket left on my hands,
which I havn't received AND yet I need to post it back to get a refund.
&*%^$#@&^%*&(*^*&_)*&^%&$#%$!

On another note. I love Sex On Fire.
By the Kings Of Leon. I'm really digging their grooves now.
They remind me of The Killers. From the US, yet has a distinctive Brit sound.
Oh, I like Use Somebody as well.
Whee... These are on top of new likes - Damien Rice &
new sounds like Bon Iver, Zero 7, Sigur Ros etc.

Apparently, I need to write some song lyrics. Haha.

English Ironies

WTF? First, they found out that their NHS is letting them down with all the random baby abuse cases gone undiscovered and ignored until the babies have died tragically.

Next, they are beginning to find out that alcohol COULD be a problem for the country's rising crime rates.

Now, they think that they need to keep an eye on foreign students who skip classes?
Come on now, who is the education minister? Don't be daft. If you havn't realised by now, it's YOUR students who are skipping classes. The international students have to pay a fortune to come here to study, so they are the ones who fill your lecture theatres and classrooms.

Just how ridiculous can you get?

Remember December

Student No: 6076137

Dear Miss Chua

Date of departure from Room 2: Saturday 20-Dec-2008

According to our records your contract for your room will shortly be coming to an end. We remind you that the room should be cleaned and left tidy, in particular you will need to:

· Leave your telephone handset, telephone power supply unit and blue cable on your desk.

· Remove all of your personal belongings from the room.

· Remove all of your equipment and food (including items in the freezer/fridge) from the kitchen.

· Place all of your rubbish into waste bags and take them to the blue rubbish bins outside the building. Please note there is a charge of £5.00 per bag of rubbish left in a bedroom or kitchen.

· Leave the room in a clean and tidy state i.e.:

Vacuum your carpet

Wipe all surfaces including the bookshelf, window frames, desk top, inside of drawers and telephone.

Clean your shower room

· Leave the mattress cover, duvet and pillows folded at the end of the bed.

· Lock the windows and door. We strongly recommend that you do not leave your room open for friends to use or rely on friends to hand in the keys because, in these circumstances, you are responsible for any loss or damage.

· Return your room keys to the Caretaker’s Office (next to the Launderette in Hamilton Drive) , the Accommodation Office (open Mon-Fri 10.00-12.30 & 13.30-16.00) or the Security Office on the ground floor of Senate House (open 24 hours)

The rest of the flat should also be left in a clean and tidy state and it might be a good idea to discuss with your housemates which additional area you will be cleaning on departure. This includes the hallway and kitchen.

If the flat/room is not left in a clean and tidy state you will be invoiced for the cleaning of these areas. The cost depends on the condition of the flat/room on inspection, plus an administration fee of £12.00.

You are required to move out by 10.00 Monday to Friday or 12.00 on Saturday/Sunday on the above departure. If you have any questions please contact Valerie King in the Accommodation Office on ext 2464 or v.king@surrey.ac.uk before your departure.

Have a good journey home.

Best Wishes,

Yes, madam. Oh well... You know, being on Hazel Farm is so UNHIP, its bloody hip. You get to hang out with the coolest people who gives shit about school work & only sleeps at 4am after downing their livers with copious alcohol. I will miss my fun-loving exchange friends. On the other hand, you get to live with nice, down to earth, studious international students and share the dirty kitchen with. All that cultural exchange, social activities & beer chugging that went on at Hazel Farm was definitely memorable.

Alright now... Some Guildford pictures taken very recently, as I became a rare tourist when WH dropped by while visiting London to stay with me.

Pewley Downs still look almost the same as 2+ months ago.
While the trees below my window are bare now,
the grass is still green here.

At the castle's grounds,
there is a WW2 memorial for Guildfordians who perished in the war.
Memorial day was in November,
but I'm glad the plastic red poppies wreaths survived way longer than that.

Pretty garden, good for eating your lunch at.

Guildford looking gorgeous from the top in the sunshine.

This is the entire castle. hahaha.
I like how everything in Guildford is mini-mised.

More quaint stone walls to add to the medieval charm.