retail therapy

im happily munching cookies i got from the church i attended this morning as I type this.. haha.. cookies are GOOD in US man... yumz!

aniwez i must make a mental note to keep myself away from shopping malls yet again cos the SHOPPING BUG had gotten into me again! yikes!

i bought:-
1. one aeropostale berms 19.99
2. one pair of exercise shorts 12.99
3. one damn cool old navy tee 10.00
4. one timberland boots for horseriding 69.99 =(
5. one element school bag 45.00 (25% off le!)

which means i spent 180++ just today!! and all i wanted to get was a fridge, the shoes and a laptop sleeve. -_-

oh well.. i DID save money on like textbooks and so on so yeah.. heck it. -_-

decisions

i was actually pretty conflicted the past few days over what courses to take and so on. yeah, it's actually pretty true that when you are handed too much freedom sometimes you just go crazy and become overambitious and just take as many courses as you want.

but stuff from church today reminded me of something somehow...

"do not gauge/build your life on what other's perceive as success"..

and yeah, I realised two things regarding the whole process of course selection - 1. that I "conveniently" forgot to consult God regarding such important decisions 2. that I was being "kiasu" and just following the general Singapore crowd to cram as many courses as possible and try to look damn good if I manage to ace everything. yeah, that and leaving myself with a slight excuse if I *touch wood screwed up in a way or another.

so yeah, after the sermon, I was pretty sure I wanted to drop asian studies. but then, kept feeling a sense of pity since i had spent like 3 fricking hours deciphering one japanese text and actually was quite interested in it.. but then, something also struck me..

"everything has its place and time"

and yeah.. with that renewed resolve, i logged on the JTF and dropped asian studies.

yay! no more homework for the week! =) hahaha...

cravings

I ATE GODIVA CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM!

*swoonz.. now i'm SO getting a fridge to hoard up on ben&jerry's and godiva man!! it costs like 3USD per tub which is pretty much like 5SGD which is practically measly..

and aniwez I think come saturday(ok today) i'm gonna switch on my mugging gears and really start going through my notes and so on le.. I've procrastinated enough, like playing tennis(exercise mah!), going Pmall(shopping for essentials), going fellowship(need what) and then... yeah. it's um 1+ le.. -_-

so yeah.. i chose courses i like irregardless of how tough they were.. so now i must put in the effort le and make my choices justified.

the madness begins

first day of school

had asian studies followed by lasers followed by com science lectures back-to-back from the morning and I was frantically struggling to keep awake. oh my.. i'm startin' to feel a lil' screwed man..

well i(or should i say the insane singaporeans) kinda deserve considering things have somehow evolved into a credit hoarding mad-fest where everyone is taking 20up credits and just like expecting to survive it. i dunno man. i was pretty optmistic till i was slammed a writing assignment within minutes of the first lecture which asked for a SHORT essay. and dude, SHORT ain't supposed to mean 3 - 7 pages long!!

sadistic man. i even thought i was like some pre-class joke until I really saw the assignment. -_-

well, all the homework and crap prompted me to scurry down to cornell store and pyramid mall to grab textbooks and other stationery supplies.. and hey! i packed my room clean!


Voila~!

and of course.. along the way, I couldn't resist but get another self-gratificating item.. viz,


and honestly i think i need a proper camera from now on.. grrr

gorges ithaca

ithaca's actually pretty cool. today as I bade farewell to my parents after dinner we bypassed like a beautiful waterfall that emptied into a magnificent gorge and a arch-bridge was built across the waterfall... was quite captivated by it, too bad i din bring my camera.. but well, i daresay few schools can boast they have a waterfall underneath one of the busiest bridges across campus.. =)

met up with mehmeh today for the first time in like 2yrs since class reunion and she basically said a)i grew fat b)i haven't changed from my bitchy, caustic self since JC. -_-... how nice rite? oh yeah, and she feels more senior.

but geez. i BEG to DIFFER. i mean, besides the fat part. but honestly, i dunno, i think it's the people around me that err, slightly shape what kinda personality/image i exude .. like if that girl/guy's like saying very qianbian things and like is the easy to tease type then i mean, who wouldn't jump @ the chance rite? haha.. which kinda explained the dsta thing i guess.. -_-

but it was fun.. going to collegetown, rehashing the past and just hearing more horror stories about the no-life-ness that's awaiting once school life starts.. hmmz. oh and i dun get why someone's so interested in selling me her car.. haha.

freshmen 15

there's this schting called the "freshmen-15" syndrome whereby u at least gain 15kg of weight when you study in US cos of the gigantic portions of food and the horrid muggin schedules...

at first I was pretty adamant about such a thing but now I'm wondering whether its just gonna be inevitable and inescapable liao. diaoz. food @ cornell so far is good. it's so good we pile our plates up high and go for seconds of desserts and so on. well at least guanqing and wanjing did.(i opted for bananas instead after before thoroughly scared by the amount of food crap I was digesting)

the exercise is difficult and we are all cheating ourselves if we taking walking to and fro from North Campus to Engineering Quad is gonna make us lose weight. and like honestly weather's freaky here. i was like SO determined to go run today in the afternoon. SO determined i jio-ed like 4 diff people to go run... then it had to rain. AND rain. and it's still fricking raining now after I have patiently waited in my room for 3 hours planning my schedules and so on. and oh, as I'm typing this, the rain is seemingly giving me the nod of approval by raining even heavier. -_-

sigh. so sad. when can i go run man?! =(

guilty pleasure

a bit of an update since today's been relatively slack.. and yeah, since I have no roomie, I'm kinda not having much socializing to do.(do i sound disappointed? haha.. ignore me)

made my first ultimate-guilt buy today @ Pyramid Mall..



hee.. got my first berms @ Abecrombie and Fitch despite the exorbitant prices, where in the process I kept justifying the buy to myself and guanqing that it was like the first piece of clothing for months and yeah, it was useful in the summer and yeah.. it was purely once-off.

ah.. heck with the justifying. i'll scrimp a bit and live with it. -_-

aniwez, that's my bed in view. here's the other views of my room.

depressing? nah.. it's like pretty cosy and nice actually. my photog skills suck. haha.. and i'm probably pretty messy. =)

just came back from my swimming test actually which was pretty pointless. but yeah, no point talking abt it. the other swimming i did this week was @ a waterfall during a the finale picnic for PREPARE. and dude, it was FRIGID. after jumping in from the dive board I was literally enveloped in icy darkness and was swimming for my dear life. no fun. and yeah, i kinda sucked at diving, so my attempts at being graceful fell as flat as my jumps. gosh.. landing completely flat on your back HURTS LIKE HELL.



kk.. i think im gonna nap. ciao! =)

old habits die hard

hmm.. seems like even in america i just will dawdle around till its past midnight before i eventually decide to sleep.. -_-

after international dinner tonite(which coincidentally served chocolate fondue as well... haha), went to HILC to play some long-forgotten table soccer.. hmmz.. still remember the days where I would declare war on xiao-didi at the mess and attempt to snatch a win from him.. very nearly did.. haha

and now it's back to the computer for more dawdling.. =) aniwez, really wanna thank God for guiding me through the whole orientation process now, helping me understand the complex courses credits thing and yeah, generally placing me in good stead to start school(hopefully) even though I was pretty much quite blur at the start. now just need to pay school fees and I'm all ready! hehe..

school's around the corner le.. must start sleeping earlier. i hope. =)

update

PREPARE's started.. meeting lotsa new people, doing quite alot of stuff.. hmm, though having a slight bridge withdrawal.. haha

it's really amazing sometimes when you sorta realise you're playing bowling with people from venezuela, canada and hong kong and then texas hold' em poker with koreans, canadians and the likes.. somewhat really international with a capital I.

somethings I dun quite get though, like why some singaporeans code-switch and start slanging once they've arrived @ US.. hmm.. am I sub-consciously doing that as well? does that make me more understood? i dunno.. hmm..

my room's getting done up le.. it's like my own little bachelor's pad, albeit tad pathetic in the entertainment department.. =) but i like it, it's minimalistic and practical and STILL neat. so yeah, hope to maintain that. wanted to take photos but I'm darn lazy. =)

had talks regarding stuff like PE.. wah.. i really hope i can take one PE module per semester man.. so many things I wanna accomplish - horseriding, skiing, tennis, scubea diving, ice hockey, ballroom dancing(hee) the list goes on.. hmm.. THIS is what I came to cornell for man.. haha. oh yeah. and the studies. dunno how it'd be.. hope I can cope bah. =)

zzz

Day 3, NYC to Ithaca

didn't have much time considering the airport scare and my mum hyperventilating over the additional time needed for the tighter security.. so we sorrta reached the airport @ 2.45pm when our flight was scheduled to fly at 6.00pm... -_-

meaning I bummed around in the transit area for like 2 1/2hrs. thankfully i had a trusted book with me to take up the time.

well aniwez, it was to the UN building today for a short excursion where we saw famous statues with deep meanings but sigh.. who actually will abide by such things man.. hmmz.. din have much time to visit, so went to grab a bite at a roadside bistro which served yummy crepes!


My half-eaten crepe with garlic potatoes.. Yummy!


Had choc fondue after that! They gave much larger servings of chocolate as compared to Haagen Daaz, but the fruits given was pretty miserable.. =(

Ithaca we headed next via a teensy weensy plane that had like only 10 rows of seats.. how quaint! Take off was a marvellous experience cos it gave us a breathtaking view of NYC, identifying the unmistakeable Empire State Building and the perculiarly angular Central Park. and so that was it of NYC.. now to bumsville(haha)

i think it's retribution for me laughing at liksin over the ulu-ness of Sengkang.. OMG. Ithaca is like BLEAK. I went down to the Commons(i guess somewhat like the heart of the city) and wow.. it felt like some dilapidated old wreck of a town with crumbling restaurants and like ZILCH entertainment.

oh my... bring me home!! even the supposed visitor's center looked positively like a ghost manor with cobwebs all around. and yeah.. it was closed. I was so disappointed I gave up taking pictures and so yeah.. that's abt it le..

one more day till school starts.. hmm.. looks like its just the trees, the books and the people. haha.. might NOT be too bad. i hope.

Day 2, NYC

i realised something. parents DUN get the meaning of sleeping late. even though they are damn tired or what. haha, they seem to have a maximal limit of how late they can sleep to, somewhere along the lines of 7+.. sighz.. oh well

i realised america's really obsessed about big. BIG buildings, BIG portions, BIG statues.. BIG is beautiful to them.. but not to me lor.. haha! big means i cant properly take pictures of beautiful architecture and awesome sculptures, big means i can't finish all my food, and BIG means we have to walk ALOT. sigh

today my resolve was sorely tested and yeah.. I fell to the temptations of Godiva's Dark Caramel Chocolixir.. WAH.. IT'S DAMN GOOD!!! the people somehow mix it much better and with the added caramel chocolate taste, wah i nearly swooned with my first sip. it really feels like dreams and liquid chocolate mixed together!! haha


YUM!! and seriously, i was destined to drink it. cos i JUST could not escape the clutches of Godiva. Godiva was at the World Financial Center, Godiva was at Bloomingdales, Godiva was at Rockerfeller Center, Godiva was at Macy's.. EVERYWHERE!!

haha.. so liksin u wan me to send u the empty cup? haha.. kk i better stop tempting people. aniwez, Day 2 was more on like on a trail of American History pretty much like the show "National Treasure", as we went from 911 Ground Zero(a complete waste of time considering it's just a gaping absence of building amidst all the buildings), to City Hall, to NYSE, Trinty Church and so on.. the buildings are majestic, awesome and just wow..



City Hall and Ground Zero Site


had better luck with regards to food today as breakfast was the traditional american deal of bacon, cheese and egg on a roll(i dun get the american slang.. sigh) which was YUMMY!! lunch was taken at some chinese restaurant @ Chinatown whilst dinner was a delicious burger @ Macy's.. haha..not much ketchup this time round.



Oh.. and I managed to catch Carrie Underwood's performance for CBS Daily Show just outside the apple shop! she's really chio lor! haha.. quite amazed i could get quite close and take pics.. and yeah.. her voice IS good. it's like crisp and flawless one.. haha.. the pics are for u gy.. haha




NYSE, Winter Garden @ WFC, Trinity Church


Oh yeah and the trip to Macy's was really pretty fun.. it's like Linken's paradise bah.. haha.. the store is big, I spent like 1hr+ and couldnt finish the first 3 levels.. haha.. and i dunno.. are SGD$76.80 levi's jeans cheap? haha.. resisting the urge to buy first.. also spotted the project runway winning design by Angela on sale at INC.. it's not that nice lor.. haha

that's abt it.. today's more about waiting to go Ithaca le.. stupid airport security's been ramped up.. -_- ciao!

Day 1, NYC

writing this damn early in the morning @ the hotel cos I got awoken by my parents and also cos the sun rises horrifically early here so by now it's like 3 hrs+ of daylight le. -_-

first impressions of NYC? hmm.. the bad first lah.. I MISS JAPAN! haha.. where's all the nifty grocery shops that sell all sorts of cheap food and nice confectionery? where's the brightly lit malls and idiot-proof layouts, as well as loads and loads of different restaurants serving a whole host of exquisite and delicious food?

hmmz.. if there's one thing I really wanna complain in NYC.. it's the FOOD. basically since wednesday I've been trying my best to get different food, and you'd think eating teriyaki chicken at a gourmet cafe @ rockerfeller center, then fish filet at Bloomingdales, cheese steak @ a local diner would mean variety. but no such luck man. problem in USA is that everything is served in such humongous portions and just laden with mountains of fries and salads that yeah.. after awhile everything tastes the same. the main course gets the same fate cos all the meats are in huge chunks which ultimately compensates for the taste, meaning you add loads of ketchup and then of course.. everything tastes the same. -_-

so i've been having ketchup meat with (uggh!) tasteless lettuce and oily fries for every meal. =( I've some grouse with the salad as well.. WHAT is NYC's obsession with all these greeny greeny stuff that they would actually consider that a completel meal!? eww man..

kk.. the bleak things aside, NYC is FUN!!! visited alot of places and was gathering an arsenal of photos and names to namedrop(haha!) and its just fun to see all your reality-tv stories, book-described locations and favourite brands all literred across the well-known avenues of Park Ave, Madison Ave, Lexington Ave and so on.. cool man!


view outta my hotel window.. skyscrapers galore!


Abercrombie and Fitch mainstore!! my mom hated it cos it was dark, with the music booming and she complained the clothes were ridiculously expensive for pieces of rag-like clothing -_-.. parents.. aniwez it feels kinda like the NUM predecessor lor.. like the salespeople and bouncers and all good-looking babes and hunks.. haha.. then TRUMP TOWER just opposite..


Inside Trump Tower.. when u get fired u walked out shame-faced from these doorways.. and hey.. there's Godiva @ Trump Tower!!


More Godiva goodness! wah.. liksin and xf drooling le mah? haha.. and they got chocolixir at every store lor.. hmpf!


more shopping goodness! the biggest disney store, the famous SAKS 5th Ave, that sells like Miu Miu, Jimmy Choo, Prada bags side by side.. WAH, the NBC store @ Rockerfeller center with merchandise of Fear Factor and Days of Our Lives(that's for u Linken!)



Rockerfeller center!! I wish it was winter.. then the eating place below the golden statue would be a skating rink!!



Visitng MoMA in the afternoon.. it just feels so unreal to see ultra-famous works from Dali, Miro, Picasso, Monet, Matisse, Gaugin so close to you for you to savour and salivate over.. wah.. ultimate art high lor.. loved the room-spanning Waterlilies by Monet and was mainly head-scratching through alot of Picasso's works.. that guy has issues man.. haha


more shops! Apple shop with the ultra-classy cool glass elevator as well as zoo-themed FAO Schwarz(some toy store)


aniwez i was darn tired after the whole thing cos we basically WALKED to all these places and didn't quite rest.. quite amazed by my parents also that they managed to follow along the whole way.. wah.. really NYC is just BIG.. and everything else seems to follow suit and upsize itself whether it is the meals, the salads, the shops or the buildings..

hmm.. kk.. gotta grab breakfast and headout le.. ciao!

jet-lagged

woo hoo! i'm at New York New York! haha... reached hotel at around 8.00pm, where the sun still hadn't set, then went finding some cheap dinner and now just stoning in front of the computer, sucking someone's network yet again (oops)

haha.. boh bian lah.. the insane hotel charges usd$9.95 per day for usage of wireless.. honestly damn turn off lor. aniwez this is a short entry cos I'm darn darn jet-lagged.. gonna hit the bed asap.

just wanted to REALLY REALLY thank everyone who took the time to wake up and send me off @ the airport yesterday.. wah.. really touched by your cards, gifts (yeah.. THANKS jack for the surprising Godiva chocolates.. hehe.. liksin jealous le mah?) and yeah.. was quite stunned and supremely touched by the number of dsta peeps that took the time to come send me off.. haha.. guess that's the benefit of leaving early rite? but yeah.. thanks thanks!!

kk i gonna go sleep le.. tired le.. bb!

great leap forward

i'm emotionally pretty confused tonight, being the last nite in Singapore le.. it's a mixture of regret at not being able to spend more time in Singapore with frens, anticipation of going overseas mixed with slight apprehension/fear of the unknown and having to adapt to a radically new change in my life.

looking back, sometimes I think I've quite lost my rationale for wanting to go overseas so desperately during JC time le.. think it was a combination of wanting to do liberal arts as well as just the prestige of going overseas and experiencing winter, the great outdoors and so on.. now, when reality settles, I'm actually pretty scared. it's a great leap outta my comfort zone, outta my overreliance from my oft-paranoid parents, outta the circle of friends I have built up through the years, outta the 7 months of holiday and fun... I have a feeling it ain't gonna be easy adjusting, but well think it would do me a helluva good being more independent, being self-sufficient, and just "growing" up.

haha.. so maybe this was what I needed. whatever it is, there's no time for backing out le.. everything's been set into motion le, and I barely have time to sit my last 410 trip back home, to eat chunks of satay and fried rice amidst the sweltering heat at joshua's party, to get squeezed in the mrt train back home, to spot all the NUS students wearing that blue flag day shirt today and consciously avoiding them(haha)..

it's really happening. heck, i can't blog le.. msn flooded tonite. forget it. =)

sleeping optional

actually quite in panic mode le.. scrambling to buy the last few stuff and just getting everything prepped before going there..

this weekend produced my first 36hr non-sleeping stint with zh's bday chalet then church, then going out for my last LAN session. wah.. i was spouting absolute rubbish during fellowship, sorrta like going

Qn: What qualities are most important in friends?
Me: Alive (everyone rolls eyes)
Girl Proceeds to Answer: Oh.. must be loyal, faithful
Me: Then get a dog lor..

yah.. i was pretty -out- by then. but got an adrenaline rush during LAN and grasp one victory away from edwin and alvin, even though it is painfully obvious to see that edwin's daily late nite sessions have benefitted him immensely. oh well.. screw dota. =)

had lotsa fun @ zh's chalet playing bridge, german bridge, big2 and the likes.. damn fun playing bridge with liksin, darren, daniel cos yeah.. the intellectuality was THERE(haha) hence very fun gameplay and bids.. well, mostly. =) will really miss such late night sessions of carefree and fun le..

have been like having those insane second thoughts about going overseas these few days after imagining what things I will be missing in Spore and just generally hearing abt the hall life, orientation and activities @ local varsities from my cousin, liksin, derui and so on.. HAIZ.. one can't have all things good rite?

final days are here. bags packed. farewells being said. it's really happening le.

food fest

err.. for those i slightly misinformed.. (hee)

i'm departing on 9 AUG on SQ22 (Terminal 2) @ 11.10AM.

err.. meaning those who wanna kindly come and send me off,(and slightly waste ur public holiday time) do come at about 9.30AM bah.. hee

* * *

went out with alvin and co for like my farewell meal and was er.. very pleasantly surprised that we were going to Soup Restaurant @ DFS and also that I was getting a treat! wah.. thanks alot guys!! that really was nice and heartfelt! =)

had a sumptuous delicious meal of sanshui chicken and the other famous dishes there whilst enjoying the view of orchard road.. of course alvin was (hehe) priding himself for having made such a wonderful choise of location and complainly slightly matronly that we were eating too much western... haha.. thanks alvin!

then went walking around for dessert and finally settled at Bakerzin. honestly i've always wandered past Bakerzin looking longingly at the mouth-watering desserts as well as admiring the cool light decor but never dared to enter cause of the exorbitant prices.. decided today it was now or never le.. so went to try..

the verdict? the photographer for the menu should be given some award man.. i dunno, but to me, most of the desserts looked better than they tasted lah.. or maybe it was my continuous stomach bloatedness problem(sianz) but it was pretty blah lah.. maybe it was the high expectations due to the price and the photos.. haha.. though mine was still pretty yummy! haha.. good choice.. =)

save my bank account

i just don't get where all my money's getting flushed to. i've like completely stopped buying clothes and the likes, been trying to scrimp by going to hawker centers to eat and so on, otherwise hiding at home if there ain't any activities.. and STILL my bank account is like massively haemorrahging.

nowadays my shopping is like completely utilitarian. like i dun buy unless it's rationally a damn useful buy and so on and yet I can't stop the bleed. like there was once my bank account was at a healthy 4-digit sum and like I had no worries with regards to eating and spending at more ex places.. and now I'm scurrying like mad to scrimp and save and yet my money keeps disappearing. sigh.

kinda regret all the dumb impulse buys in Thailand and Taiwan as well as the shopping that I did with LK. LK was a terribly bad influence with regards to shopping for stuff with his whole act-high-class schting and his whole spoilt-bitch Paris Hilton wannabe act. sigh..

oh well.. financial woes aside.. life's been pretty fun still. went NUS today to find alvin to go book-shopping at the NUS co-op.. saw a whole bunch of diff frens there cos it was matriculation day for them as well. darn cool but I kinda din achieve anything for the trip cos there were like n books on my list that were available. met xiao didi who (gasp!) went to dye his hair to a complete brown and wah.. look like some ang-moh little boy le.. haha.. both of us were damn lost walking around the NUS compound trying to find the IT co-op or something.. little boy wander astray le..

nite was spent with GY, Clement and Sunny at one of my fav places - minds cafe! wah i think I've quite played most of the games le and know the shop assitants quite well le.. haha.. think he's darn amused by us also cos we always wanna get the damn noisy games and just bitch and create an uproar over the games. wah i kinda will miss these sessions also le.. esp the afternoon session where you could play non-stop for 4hrs+ with free flow of drinks and then pay only 6 bucks. and then u also get the undivided attention of the assistants to explain games to you since you're the only people there..

seriously a little sad that my 7 months or so of holidays is gonna end soon.. a little unsettled actually cos now I'm in like a sortta transition phase towards becoming the more muggerish serious me... but seriously i will miss traipsing down orchard road on weekdays and just enjoying paying everything at cheaper prices and shopping without the horrendous crowds. kinda will miss mixing up weekends and weekdays and preferring to go out on weekdays cos less crowd. movie tickets so much cheaper. it's really gonna end le.. haiz