Let it all begin

This is a recount; please skip if you're not into them tyvm! (:

cuzzie's room

Just spent my first night in Penang and going on to completing the second; woke up extremely early (by my standards, that is) today at 9.45 a.m. and dug into the yummy Hokkien Mee that my uncle got for me for breakfast. Made myself a cup of Kopi-O and exchanged morning greetings with Bingo, the black little Pompom that's been running about in the kitchen.

Helped out with some household chores and I thought it took me quite awhile to get that mopping and wiping done; when I looked at the clock again it was only noon. Spent the next three hours watching movies from the hard-disk (thanks to yf); okay more like fast-forwarding really. There was 10 Things I Hate About You (didn't realize it's such an old movie), America Pie 7 (don't bother at all seriously), Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging (first time I actually am aware that I'm watching a British film because of the accent) and Anger Management. Tried to squeeze in as many sets of crunches as I could without breaking out into too much sweat, and also tried hard not to get too teary-eyed when I reached the aww-so-sweet happy endings.

Bingo the pompom.

Cuzzie came back from nursing school at about 4 plus, and drove us to Gurney; lots of girl-talk in between. Paid the full sum for the dslr that she's paid a deposit for, and we made our way down to Gurney Drive for dinner finally. We had lok lok, deep-fried chicken skin and calamari, and laksa to share among the two of us. The dinner fare made me realize I've been missing out on so much good food the past two years I haven't been back to visit.

gurney sunset

Went to get myself a Digi prepaid card after dinner, and now, I officially have a Malaysian number! After all the visits to Malaysia... I'd probably have saved a lot on my phone bills if I got one much earlier. blah.

Drove to Gram's but the lights at her place were out and it was pitch dark through the windows. Thought no one's around but later learnt from my aunt that they're trying to 'save electricity'; apparently there's some internal strife that 'little kids like us' do not need to know going on. I have no idea what's going on but I really hope things get better; I mean, everyone used to get along so well and it was what I looked forward to coming to Penang for in the past.

cuzzie dearest

Gave cuzzie a very simple crash course on her new camera before she drove back to her hostel at the nursing school (they have some "be-back-by-10p.m. rule") and I'm here typing away happily on my lappy. Going to take a quick shower and I'm going to... start planning the UK/Europe itinerary proper!

Happy holidays everyone!

Lub.

The view from my window (again), taken yesterday evening. Are you guys ever sick of me posting the views from my window? Sometimes I feel really bored of taking pictures at/from the same place over and over; but I learnt how not to be, the different factors that make up a view can differ so greatly so it's really about playing with the differences and learning to deal with them.

okay, back to Singapore English!

coming this May

I'm so excited about it! I know they're old girls, but what gives, that doesn't make them any less fabulous; I'd kill to be just like them when I'm in my forties.

not the best time to say this but.......

have been on Operation Idle since I got back from tutoring this noon. It's time to get started to Operation Chiong.

one more to go!

 

I don't think Language Acquisition today was very difficult; hopefully we'll all be able to do well. That leaves me with just Singapore English (Ludwig's paper!) next Tuesday, I'm kind of looking forward to it. Real  madness. I think I'm the only one who looks forward to exams.

Oh, I got back one of my assignments for English and I'm really upset (with myself) that I didn't do too well, considering it's the first time I (more or less) took charge of things for assignments in uni. I told G last night that I'm going to be an irresponsible member for group projects next semester since they seem to do much better; by focusing so much better on individual parts rather than group parts what. G rolled her eyes at me blah, and in case you take what I'm saying for real, I'm really just joking pleasepleaseplease don't put me on your group assignments' blacklist! I promise that I will put in my 'bestest' efforts for group assignments.

Totally dislike the unfairness in life sometimes, but we really need to learn to chew on that, simply because, it happens. Bitching about things will just make you look bad and sound like you're over-rating yourself, when it's really just a bad case of sour grapes (read: paragraph above). Blah.

Alright I'm going to take a quick nap now as a reward for myself, for completing the 203 paper smoothly. Meeting Uncle David for NCAP lecture later on, looking forward to the XO Beehoon for dinner!


update: no xo beehoon for dins; apparently they relocated to Dover.

congratulations.

there is no end to the lies you can tell, once you get started on the first. they accumulate and escalate.

- do not think that there's nothing harmless in a little white lie; that's a lie in itself.

cure for a really bad headache?

Right now, I feel like taking a deep plunge into the pristine blue waters of some tropical island; I hope the coolness of the water will be much more than what I can usually bear, so that all the discomfort that I'm experiencing now can reach a point of saturation, and disappear when I surface for air to meet the warmth and light, and the gentle breeze that will blow it all off.

Feeling slightly better just thinking about it.

Stupid things I do

Having forgotten to bring a new tube of facial cleanser to hall, I had to borrow G's one day. She made her way into one of the shower cubicles a few moments before I did. I scanned the toilet quickly when I entered and saw that only one cubicle was in use (or so it seemed), so I took the cubicle just beside that; there was also an exchange student brushing her teeth at the sink. After hanging my clothes and towel and placing the rest of my shower barang under the shower-head, I told G loudly that I'll be going over to her cubicle to get her facial cleanser. She asked how was I going to do that so I stuck my hand right up her cubicle door and said "like that la", but she continued to ask how. Thinking that she didn't see my hand, I said that I was already at her door and she just had to look down and pass it to me from under but she insisted that I was not. After a few more seconds of me squatting awkwardly in front of the cubicle (still with my hand there), I finally realized what's going on; I stood up immediately and said "Shit!" kinda loudly to myself. The exchange student laughed, looking at me from the mirror. G let out a laugh and exclaimed "You're at the wrong cubicle!"

The person who was in the cubicle was silent throughout; I think she must have had a fit from suppressing all that laughter.

deux: that time of the day, again

teeny: yawns... good morning fellows... yawwwwwwns.

un: the start of something new

teeny says: Hello!

Bin's belated 22..

some days back

At Marutama's today.

comfort daikon

gyozas

chicken balls

I forgot to take pictures of the ramen when it's supposed to be the highlight of our dinner tonight wtf. Will make a terrible food blogger; by getting too excited and 'attacking' the food immediately when it's served. :x

Jon drove us to Ben & Jerry's at Dempsey for our once-in-a-special-occasion serving of Vermonster (500g of fat and 14,000 calories wow).

girls on the swing

20 scoops of ice cream, hot fudge, cookies, brownies, whipped cream, bananas, and 4 toppings.

ready? let's get fat together!

In the end, Vermonster - 1, Pri Sch Clique - 0. We came to conclude that we're getting old and can no longer eat as ferociously as before. The very tummy-filling ramen dinner didn't help a lot either. After talking for ages about religions, Lombok (actually Lombok was just bin & me) and telling each other how fat we are, we left the place with heavy stomachs and a very tired driver, Jon.

I love nights out with these guys.

ps. Shir got us some supar cute stationery from Bangkok! Lubs

Alice.

Saw these underwater pictures here and I think they are really beautiful. You can find more of them here if you're interested.

I was really happy to be greeted by some old, musty smells when I walked into a few second-hand bookshops at Bras Basah this afternoon. I guess I'm not alone in my 'book-smelling fetish' since they have products like THIS wtfomg! There were great (though super messy) collections of second-hand books; & so much enjoyment in walking around the shelves (and shelves and shelves) of colourful books, craning my neck to read the titles on the spines, and finally, picking horizontally laid ones up to reveal even more wonderful books underneath. I don't know how other people feel when they buy books (from second-hand sources) that they've been meaning to read for the longest time, but I feel like I've just discovered treasure; excited and all-ready to bury my mind and start on yet another new fiction/non-fiction journey.

Today, I got myself a copy of Eat, Pray, Love for $6(!) that's in a rather good condition. Have not started on it yet; my SgE textbook is what I've been reading on my train journeys these days, but I'm looking forward to reading that.

On a more random note, I found a quaint little shop in a corner on the 2nd floor (that I really like) selling pretty notebooks, lomographic postcards, quirky film cameras and really nostalgic tin toys.

The end is near.

xuanie, yadah and rongster; the 3 lovely girls who've tolerated my nonsense this semester

The semester is coming to an end soon. We had our Electives briefing this afternoon and as usual, everything seems interesting when you know nothing about them. I've been keeping a better track of time this turn round, but it still feels really fast. Have been much more consistent in readings and lectures (save for the last few 203 lectures) and we'll just have to see if that's going to pay off!

ps. I had my first Couchsurfing meet-ups last afternoon and night! Might talk about it soon :)

Contentment 101

go.slow.stop

Is it really better to want what you have than to have what you want?

It's so easy to tell someone to be happy with what they have when you look at it from the perspective of an outsider, but when you look at yourself, you realize that it's not that easy after all; there's just too many clothes/shoes/books/shoes to buy, achieve, etc.

When you do not work a little harder to go beyond what you have (because you are actually content with the way things are and not because you are lazy), people judge you for your lack of ambition and label you as a good-for-nothing. When you strive really hard and go all-out to achieve something that you really desire, they say you are overbearing and domineering.

If you're like me, you might probably be thinking 'striking a balance' as key here... and once again, that's something that's so easy to say but difficult to put into action.

If you're not like me, then you must definitely be thinking why the hell am I even talking about this right now. meh.

Time of the month again!

G's just helped me to trim my fringe again. She's been doing it for the past 2 months at least and we always end up laughing a lot on the floor where she does the trimming. Today took longer than usual because she was trying very hard to make sure that my new straight-cut bangs are straight.

When I first saw what it looked like after she was finally done, I went on to Google immediately, typed "Melon Cat" and showed her my search results:

We both can has straight-cut bangs! Haha! I have no idea why I remembered it as Melon Cat when it's clearly pomelo! But still... what an uncanny resemblance eh?

Great weekend, as usual.

I am thankful for the extra rest day we had this weekend; managed to catch up quite a bit on rest. Rest = good, and good = something to be happy about for me!

Quick recount:

Met up with Doug on Good Friday Eve, and we headed down to Dempsey (the usual hunt; NO I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT BEN AND JERRY'S PLEASE). Had a good time catching up with him, and Kenny too! I'm really happy for him now that he's more or less certain of what he wants to do post-ORD, and that life's treating him well so far. & I'll be even more glad to hear if everyone whom I've not been in contact with lately are doing well too... I miss hanging out with a lot of people these days but it seems like everyone's busy! With school deadlines, work, boyfriends, other friends... Either that, or we just lack the initiative to organize meet-ups! We suck.

On Good Friday night, I went skating with Shir & ZhuBaJie (ZBJ) at ECP. I left my pair of Bumblebees in the car boot and YF had driven off with them earlier in the evening... so, I wore my hockey skates instead. That's probably like the 6th or 7th time I wore them so I wasn't too used to them; it was a bitch lacing up and there were a few near-blisters when we were on our way back to Carpark B1. Enjoyed the session nonetheless (it's been awhile...), and the vegetable fritters as well as fries at Carl's Jr's too. What a healthy way to end the session!

ZBJ & Aileng at Vivo earlier on; they'd just collected their Contiki Cairo tickets from Chinatown before that and I'm so excited for them! We bought Bin a wallet from Ted Baker and had dinner at Swensens (Salad Buffet's seriously not a bad idea). I love meeting them because we eat and get fat together a lot!

Now that the group essay's nearly done, we only have 2 more lesson plans to go. I can't wait for that, and then we're all set for the exams!