adaptation

as my friend also in london recently commented, these days we are often cold, hungry, lost and lonely. living in london really isn't child's play. esp the area i live and study in- it's dead in the city centre and once it gets dark, it gets scary... no kidding, i've made up my mind nvr to come home alone after 9pm. oh and the weather is like shiiitttt... hahah damn cold when the wind blows. but on the brighter side, im getting happier as i make more new friends and get used to the way of life here. yup, the boyfriend has also jus arrived in london so tht makes things even better. i love u all, and i miss u :)

first days in london

ok tts my rm.. very unpacked, very messy, very sad haha. thats my friend gerald using my laptop. hes been helping me out quite a bit.














me in russell square. its jus a square of grass but theres a fountain and a statue of some duke. and lovely flowers of cos. the flowers here are gorgeous. the bombings were very near here if u rmb..

































the busker was pulling myhair!!!! that ass...

shall write more later.. am dead tired now

yo

another weekend whooshed by, and soon i'll be hearing two of your voices with funny brit accents. on funny brits, i got to see terry pratchett and take a picture with him! two books signed by him too... it's so cool to see idols in the flesh. But disconcerting too. People don't turn out the way you thought they were lah. But you can always count on chim to be chim. As usual, it's 1am monday morning and i'm rushing my weekly papers. my resolution to be disciplined for once went poof when wang ning popped by from stanford on saturday and stayed overnight. it's good to see an old face, but again, weird in a way. i'm settling down nicely in a new life now, got over most of the teething problems (except how to be less of a bitch hehehe shup you'll be proud of me my inner bitch is surfacing alarmingly but i'm trying to be genial chim again so too bad less interesting i guess). anyway, yeah somehow i'm just very very very at peace now, no more "insidious waves of homesickness". i'm surprised i was even homesick, cos i really thought i wouldn't have problems. got over it quickly, but hey fuzz and jo i wonder if you guys can beat the pattern of settling in. and shup i don't know how to classify your case leh cos you can still go home on weekends which is a godsend in some ways.

now to figure out how to avoid having to rush 2 papers every sunday night/monday morning with a ton of reading as required preparation. this week is extra siong lah... but how to not welcome wang ning right. see how hospitable i am so you guys MUST VISIT.

on travelling, i think i'm seriously going to south america during winter break with some berkeley freshmen and other people who're friends of morris, berkeley guy. hehehe. rodrigo santoro! gael bernal garcia. just two examples of the fine things that come out of that region. no lah, i want to go there for the history and geography of that area. it's a crazy place man. but if i see rodrigo santoro it's a bonus i guess. now to plan the trip properly so my mom won't veto it. but er please tell me what you uk ferrets are doing in winter k.

okok photos another day. history calls...

jo's such an ass

but i wuv her anyway.
cue: awwww...
ha i shall not publish the events that led to such a title, but will just say that jo owes me big time and will have to kowtow and kiss my feet each time she sees me. she is such a terrible thing!
now on to other things..
life was great last week, when all i did was to wake up, slack, go out, read harry potter. loved each day=) sorry chim, no pics, cos like what jo and i told u, happening people dont have time to take pictures! heh. well, i lived to hate each miserable hour nearing the end of my recess break, trying to finish all my tutorials and projects and reports, which obviously i didnt manage to do so. last night was funny in a bitter sort of way. i kept dozing off and as desperate times call for desperate measures, i gobbled down a packet of Callabee's ( ?) hot and spicy chips to keep awake. well awake i did keep, for the grand total of 15mins that the chips lasted. i finally surrendered and slept at 1 plus am, asking my roomie to wake me up at 2am and setting my hp alarm for 3am cos i knew i wldnt wake up. woke up at 3am, reset my alarm to 6 am. woke up at 6 am to switch off my alarm. finally woke up at 645am freaking out, thinking that it was 8 am and i was going to be late for class. shesh.
what a night/morning. but the most wunnerful thing is that my tutor extended the deadline to friday! whoopie haha.
well this week's another mad rush to try and finish tutorials, projects and reports. social aspects include block supper ( which is a big yawn really) and... err if u count holding tennis tryouts, then ya. but its no kick too. no happening stories to amuse u guys with, sorry! will let u know if i manage to trash all the guys in my tennis team, except for the indian players who are very very good- that might well be the funnest thing all week. ( of cos, nothing beats sitting at jo's stairwell haha)
take care you cheeky babes! chim went, jo's going, fuzz will be gone soon. boo. but anw have a great time =) i must meet up with you more fuzz! chim- dont do so much last minute work! and jo.. well i dunno what to say haha!

it's just your pok laptop

hey chimshupsjo :)

MAF was great, but my pictures were not. so err haha just try to imagine it it ur heads. got fountain, nice centrepiece and nostalgic atmosphere. just did TERRY FOX this morning, and i gotta tell u there's nothing better than running along a nice stretch of beach (ok la we were on pavement but it was BY the beach) (ok la not a great beach, but still. got sand) early in the morning after it has just been POURING, so the air just smells so full of rain and the sea and the sand. ahhh. :)
sorry not much words with me right now but some quick msgs..

chim: eh i didn't mean to be brutal when i said that weeks ago! and i'm glad ur having fun *wink* oh, and the things you say in that article is damn pro. i bow humbly to you. *insert that ridiculous picture where i'm actually doing just that*

jo: whoa! i saw you at dinner and had to read this bloody blog to discover ur teaching where ur teaching.(??!!) amazing. haha. but its ok. one (not so) long letter coming right up. see you in UK, and hope ur doing alright packing up life here.

shups: eh don't be elusive leh. but i hope you had fun during ur break? this week right? meet up soon! again! hahaha.

all: today marks another start of The Period of Pilgramage to Changi. grrr. cross country travel here i come.

ok that's all from me.
whoosh!

eh why

eh why doesn't the tagboard show up? is it just my pok laptop?

anyway, here's what my lovely floormates did to me past midnight on a schoolday wheni was trying to sleep:
i'm under the green piece of paper and there is scotch tape (MY scotch tape) above my head from my bed to my wall. lots of it. i slept throughout the whole bed makeover and woke at one plus am to be majorly pissed off grrr these are the times when i feel very old. i'd try and retaliate against morgan and tie him to his bed if not for the fact that he said he may actually like it hence freaking me out and i'll stay out of his room indefinitely.

another friday night gone by, another satisfying late night hanging out. i'm born to bum but there's something horrible just pushing me on in my work why why why
shu ping you must be living the good life now right

just to say hi

hey y'all.. seems like forever since ive last had time to really sit down and type smth to my chkygrls :p :) anyways, im VERY SAD that shup cant see me off anymore!!! haha. of cos i understand that u cant skip the presentations, but i jus wanna whine man.

have been teaching at chinese high for the past wk or so, im not sure if all of you know. Geog to little boys. geog really is a very boring subject. even when i teach it i feel like yawning. can only imagine what it's like when im teaching the boring parts of econs.. prob fall asleep in my own lecture!! eeps. met fuzz yesterday at this dinner w other schlrs... (as u are reading this i hope u rmb the promise to write) but havent seen the faces of the other 2 in a while.

watch the motorcycle diaries! the movie has inspired me to learn spanish. ok i may not learn spanish in the end... but if i do, credit goes to it. heee.

ms chim

check this out man hehehe

http://www.moe.gov.sg/corporate/contactonline/2005/Issue17/big_pic/difference.htm

teachers ms chua and ms daud and ms big time financial person chien let's not lose sight of our more long term purpose here i guess amidst the fun and pain of exploration in this strange time of growing up.

these are our salad days, when we are green in judgement
may we not blush too much at too many mistakes like the tomato did when he saw the salad dressing (heh heh) and also enjoy this greeny start to a hearty 3 course meal of Life later on. wah i'm very lame right, but it was a good weekend, and good things always make me weirder.

friday nights

after a week of academics and mundanities of life it feels to good to just hang loose with people you've unspoken mutual understanding with. not partying with morgan and smoking hookah nope and i'm glad he and americans in general respect personal decisions in general which makes hall living very pleasant if not very noisy every night cos they're so playful. darn you john for bullying me even though you're my siao3 di4 now.
fuzzy: dont worry no one here will read this blog it's just a way of me whining as i always did back in singapore. so yes you could occasionally show your face you elusive shadow.
ok just a quick note before i leave for a bbq have a nice day everyone! the sun is finally shining and i'm feeling good michael buble. i want to spread my warmth! read tuesdays with morrie it's very... warm.

ok my roommate is laughing at me cos i used the word mundanities. harumph

of kiddies and being AS

hello you guys! haven't typed here in a while. for some confounded reason i just spent the last 3 days entirely in the company of younger people! helped conduct a leadership daycamp for primary 3s at ahmad ibrahim. really cute. of course i dont think they really learnt much. hahaha... im not naive. but im sure they had fun cos i did when they dragged me into playing their games... :) met my chinese high sec3s for lunch and LAN too. but since theyre nowhere as adorable as these girls i wont bother with the photos, heh heh.

am kinda apprehensive cos i realised i dont know any singaporeans going LSE! as in, they had a camp and clubbing thing- both of which i didn't attend. so errr... die la my social life will flounder. or maybe it just means that i'll hang out w non-singaporeans and non-LSE ppl. *crosses fingers* shit maybe shouldnt have been so anti-SingSoc hahahaha....

oh yeah do all the cheekygirls have skype? shup- fuzz? add me leh. take care y'all... :)

anality

thanks fuzzy for being brutal that day and telling me to my face not to go all anal on you hehhe. i needed that whacking man cos i realised i may have been and probably still am kinda uptight. i will learn to appreciate the kind of humour america has. like D said, things are funny cos they're stupid and they make you feel smart.

hmm seriously considering rugby now cos now i feel settled in i've this restless urge to start doing something and i'm starting to feel really fat with all the food i've been eating. just going out to explore with friends doesn't feel really satisfying leh. Maybe try out rugby after a week of volunteer work? Oh and also i'll be going for bible study once a week i think (as long as they don't put me in a cell group) cos i really liked the ABSK's pastor's message that day. It was the first time in a long while that i thought about life from a larger perspective, and so long as i don't blindly accept the conclusions that provide i think i should continue going for the christian group sessions hmmmm.

ok my neighbour keeps on coming to our room and last night he stayed till 2am. argh! that's why i've 500 pages of history to read and a paper to write. as nick says, i'm f***ing screwed! but here are the interesting results of a disturbing guy hanging out with girls:

those are my jeans and di fan's shirt and jacket man! i think he's very secure about his masculinity to do that. Bwahaha. And so it went on for abotu an hour, culminating in a dress which i don't dare put up.

I liked how long and pokey this plant was. Fuzzy: pokey and poca! This was from exploring the botanic gardens up on a hill yesterday. No photos yet from today's three hour hike to find the Big C which normally takes normal people one hour only.

History calls to my soul now. Shu ping i'm starting to sympathise with you regarding homework. Americans mug like hell! My roommate is disgusted at how slack i am i think, her mom regarded me disapprovingly when she came yesterday. Oh yeah must say something about language. Somehow my American friends here are amazed that i know and use words like "persevere" and "appeased" and "defamed" in everyday conversation. Apparently they don't use them except in essays and sometimes not even then. I shall learn how to say "sweeeeet" and "naaaaaasty" from now on.

when the dust settles

hey babes, thanks for all =) im very touched, truly am. woke up this morning to see a sweet msg from jo and then all your encouraging comments online, thanks millions.
that post came at a particularly bad time when i was stressed out and looking for a dinner companion. eventually got a neighbour who was going out to buy back for me cos i cldnt find anyone. it struck me then that after all the whirlwind socialising at the start, when the dust settles, that's when you see clearly again. that im pretty much standing alone, despite having met so many new people. there are the occasional card games in neighbours' rooms, chats, studying together blah but it takes time to form close friendships again i guess, and it gets pretty tiring.
quizzes coming up next week. sucks big time cos for the first time, i actually HAVE TO get an A. have to cos my scholarship stipulates so. sigh. so its pretty stressful.
and i have a lot of church commitments as well.


looking forward greatly to recess break in a week! starting from MAF weekend, so if you guys wanna go back, im free! haha.
anw better go back to mugging, take care!

wheekend!

hello i think the main source of my discontent was that i was falling sick crazy weather that turns cold overnight and i insist that i'm not cold (remember hong kong)??? you know once you step into the shade the temperature drops about ten degrees then you walk a bit and it's sunny and warm grrr. morris said i'm the alpha female cos all the guys were wearing jackets last night and i was walking around in my full tshirt glory. whee. hope to achieve no running nose status soon. thanks cheekygirls and pet for being my muscular weeping shoulders. i think shups and i need some solid things to feel now in our time of transition.

fuzzy: thanks for all the rainbows it'd be nice if you could come over and paint the sky for me too hehehe after all it's just a plane ride away.

jo: are all the secrets on that website yours?!?!?

shups: do you check your hotmail account or do you have a gmail acct ah?? or should i start a long distance relationship with my darling you (and you and you) thru snail mail? take a break from uni life with something else!

Here're matching trishaw photos of fuzz and me. shup and jo please get the exact same one too if you can heh heh. hunt out that trishaw person near clarke quay. Don't take the techno trishaws.

post your secrets

not sure if you guys have ever been to this site before, but i love it and the idea behind it

http://postsecret.blogspot.com/

was jus reading this particular letter that you guys wrote me in class, that time when i broke my collar bone and y'all visited :) damn hilarious and sweet. miss everyone and hope things pick up for you guys!

unhappening

i wanna whine and bitch and complain, but being the unwhiny unbitchy uncomplaining me, i shall not =(
just to let you know, life's pretty much in the dumps here.
i have some to be thankful for, so i shall count and recount the miserable few bits.
chim dearest, you have that lovely californian blue sky to be thankful for, cheer up! and you do look very cute in that horsey pose =)
meanwhile jo and fuzz, i hope you guys are having a good time =)

insidious waves of homesickness

every time i fall asleep after eating something i get this strange dream where i'm back home and getting ready to leave. I'll somehow end up in a quarrel with my brother and mom and i'll be desperately trying to make up with them because i'll be gone for a while and they're really the people i'm closest to, at which point i wake up and feel really miserable. today is the second time it has happened so far, probably due to the stress of school (so much reading!) and the relative lack of socialising activities as compared to welcome week which distracted me somewhat from the fact that i'm an ocean away from the people i've depended on for 19 years without thinking before about how much i rely on them as my emotional supports. you know how i'm a bitch at home right... well i think it was my way of releasing my angst that i kept inside me while outside of home. and now i'm a mixture of guilt and a longing to go back to those times when my mom would be so nice and understanding. But i cannot look back i guess especially with so much that is giving me grief now. and also it wouldn't be fair to my mom and brother at all if they're onloy my punching bags.

oh well, eat less, sleep more, and hopefully i wouldn't have such horrible dreams.

on a happier note, i really like my history and poetry classes. And i'm looking forward to tutoring kids here on a volunteer basis.