:: Ping | Ping ::

Reminise... :)

2011-06-07T23:16:00.002+08:00

I just put down the phone with Anna... feeling tired, but can't really fall asleep. It's been like a year plus since I last updated. Feels like a long time but its only a year.

Anna has been called back for reservist. Somehow this separation feels familiar. Although it's the same as not seeing him on weekdays, but the term 'reservist' just gives the entire week of not meeting a different notion.

Well, instead of counting sheeps to fall asleep, I decided to go through the sms on my phone, dating all the way back to 2008, when I started this blog. Man! that's 3 years! Ya.. my darling ancient HP has been stuck with me for 3 loyal years and still not dying on me. (now I feel guilty chucking it away soon to replace it with a smart phone)

Anyway, then ALL THE TONNES of memories just started to flood back!! You know when you start working, good old days just seemed like they happened eons ago? That's how I feel, so near, yet very far. haha.. Then I dug through the stack of postcards Anna send to me while he was in Leeds. I realised, that year was such a honeymoon year for us. Very sweet words, lotsa 'miss u loads', 'can't wait to see u', 'our separation is almost over!'... thinking back, that was very sweet, romantic. All these little words count. Luckily my mum didn't pop by my room, if not she'll be thinking what her crazy daughter is doing laughing alone in the middle of the night.

What was I laughing at? Anna's signature ugly drawing when he signs off his letters and postcards. I teared at the encouraging words he always write 'to be strong, to be independent' despite our separation... Ahh good times. As I looked at the pictures of postcards, I'm suddenly reminded of my traumatically memorable Barcelona trip. The sleazy alleys lined with fugly prostitutes, the crazy guy who slept stark naked in our hostel (luckily I wasn't wearing glasses), the guy who was making out in the bunk bed next to mine (totally gross!!!) and that yisi's bag was almost pickpocketed. haha!

Good ol' times, and I realised 11 Feb is our so-called Lufbra day. haha. which 2 years down the road, we've kinda forgotten it quite completely.

Well, thinking back, i was really glad to have made that exchange trip. Forging good friendships.. and although separation was tough, it did make the reunion sweeter. :)
I miss seeing everyone...

2010-12-05T23:15:00.003+08:00

Recently, more and more people around me are starting to get married. As I attend their weddings, I can't help wondering... what does marriage means to me, and how will we ever know when we are ready for it.

I think marriage just means that a couple being bonded for life, and therefore will stick with each other through thick and thin. That takes so much effort to compromise, understand, trust and to give. It's hard to really understand a person... cuz people change overtime. People have different mentality and they grow spiritually and emotionally through various stages of their life and its experiences.

My friends who're getting married, they've known their partners for 2-3 years. Somehow I think those are prime number of years together before getting married. Cuz I was at that stage. But it passed. Suddenly, career & finances & aspirations & so many things just come into our lives. We're no longer innocently and happily in love. I feel like i'm losing touch with him.

Sigh. 4 years le. The last breaking point was also this duration.

I really need to put in more effort huh...

Attempts on Cartooning

2010-01-04T22:29:00.004+08:00

An gave me a HUMONGOUS book of Comic Drawing for X'mas present.
Totally lurve it!! Really fun to try drawing out the cartoon characters and creating some of my own.

These are my amateur attempts at drawing cartoons :)

Bottom left hand corner is drawn by Ah An. Looks uglily funny. haha

Movies Galore~

2009-09-19T11:38:00.010+08:00

Well, it seems as though I haven't been watching movies for ages. Last weekend, I tagged along with my brother and his mysterious gf (hmm...) to Fort Canning Park to catch the FREE screening (yes, i know v cheapo and i'm a big light bulb) of Ironman and Transformers II, organized by Class 95. It's a pretty cool experience! My mum was in a Jap mood that evening too, so we had nice Unagi rice that she whipped up to bring along as movie dinner. hehe... When we reached it was SO packed! Took us a while to squeeze our mat between 2 families and settled down at quite a nice distance from the screen. Before the movie starts at 7.30pm, the DJs had games and balls passing around to audience for them to answer some really siple questions and win prizes. And the Flying Dutchman and Glen Ong did a pretty good job of entertaining the crowd I must say. =)

I always can't remember when Ironman started showing in Singapore, is it when I was in UK? Cuz I've got no recollection of it being popular and me wanting to go catch it. Or maybe I was just too busy with fyp =\. Anyway, I've NEVER watched Ironman b4, and I must say it was a fantastic movie! haha.. I like action movies with good story and great action and charismatic actors like Robert Downey Jr.

The sound system was fantastic! serious... as good or even better than watching it in the cinema. Will definiely go the next time round it's organized.
*Start of Ironman!*

Anyway, we didn't stay on for Transformers II though I never watch it before too. Yeah I'm like sua-ku, but I totally didn't like the meaningless story of Transformers I, so I wasn't propelled to watch Part II of it. But it was still a great evening! :)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And just earlier this week on Wednesday (my off day this week), I went to catch a movie ALONE for the first time. hehe... it may sound weird and pathetic to some people, but I really enjoyed the experience of being able to indulge in the movie and eating and doing whatever I like. One of the best part was to have Choc Banana cake & tea at Secret Recipe before the movie! $7.00 vs. $7.50 fr nachos from the cinema (haha.. yah i sound like cheapo again)! Nice... =D

The movie I watched was Coco avant Chanel, which was entirely in French. Talks about the life of Gabrielle Chanel, founder of the famous brand Chanel. The movie focuses more on the the events that she gone through in her life that motivated her to pursue the career of being a tailor-cum-designer in the generation where the idea of French women working is absolutely ridiculous. It also emphasizes on Coco (that's her nickname) being strong, independent and always having her unique point of view that eventually changed the entire fashion design scene from tight & cluttered victorian dresses to simplistic yet elegant dresses that we see today.

Entirely impressed - a woman always have the power to make change.

And upcoming movies that I really wanna catch!

Robert Downey Jr stars in Sherlock Holmes =D
Listen carefully to the last 12 seconds of the trailer. Funny. haha

Of course, not forgetting Inglorious Basterds, directed by Quentin Tarantino (Director of Kill Bill). How can I forgo any Nazi-related war movie? hehe

Wooohoo~!

Yay!

2009-09-19T08:54:00.002+08:00

Woohoo~! Super long weekend! Time to be re-energized man.
Sat CSC gathering, Sun Ubin, Mon slack, Tues dear's coming back! Totally psyched up! =D

Things kids say nowadays...

2009-09-10T08:17:00.002+08:00

P6 Class:

Student A: Ms Loh! What's ur PSLE score?? Tell us leh!
Me: *ignores*
Student A: Is it very high? Did u get A* for Math??
Me: *ignores*
Student A: Wow I heard that for teachers to teach Math here, u must get A* for Math. Den ur PSLE score must be very high right??
Student B: Aiyah u stupid ah. Maybe she get A* for Math, but C for English leh??
Me: *giggles*

P5 Class:

Student A: Ms Loh! Are you from Singapore?
Me: *simi sai...*
Student B: Ya Ms Loh are you from Singapore? You look like u're from Indonesia!
Me: *HAAaa....*
Student C: Ya lor, why u speak English like Korean?? Can you speak Chinese??
Me: =.=||
(At end of class...)
Me: Zai Jian!
Students screamed: "SHE SPOKE CHINESE! SHE SPOKE CHINESE!!!"

sigh... all kinds of weird things kids can say...

2009-09-02T21:32:00.001+08:00

Stop the gloom. Stop the gloom. Stop the gloom. Argh.

That's what friends are for :)

2009-08-27T23:09:00.001+08:00

Today, I left work feeling quite sian and distant from the world whirling past me. It just seems a though the days are just passing by without myself remebering what happened. Suddenly... it's almost coming to 4 weeks at work. I recalled how excited I was on the first week, can't wait get down to teaching a class. But now... the enthusiasm have died down.

Being quite isolated from the other trainee Ts by a clear glass panel, no matter how I try, I just can't seem to get into their circle. Always see them laugh and gossip on the other side of the glass, sometimes I can't help feeling a lil' lonely. But when I go over, conversation is ever so limited. Hm... Maybe it's me that's not putting enough effort making relationships work. I'm quite at a loss too.

But, after meeting up with my ME gang, I feel so so much happier. Glad to have others to emphatise with me (sadly they're in the same situation), and just really elated bout finally meeting up with real close friends around me. My day has definitely ended on a higher note :)

Now that I feel so much rejuvenated, I shall try to be MORE ALIVE and find back the MEANING in my work. Jiayou Wan Ping!!!

Fly~~

2009-08-25T22:53:00.001+08:00

So many pple are flying overseas soon. First is Minghui on Fri, next is my Ah An on Mon. =(

Minghui's leaving for the fantastically far and expensive Denmark, while Ah An is leaving for the fantasically wild South Africa. One lacks chilli sauce, one lacks civilisation. One's gg for 3 months, one is gg for 3 weeks. *Ahem, remember souvenir hor* hehe... So having dinners and send-offs on Thurs, Fri & Sat, Sun.

Then again, SzeWei *panda!* came back from Shanghai a few weeks ago, finally had full attendance at gathering (only 4 pple lah, but usually meetups are like 2 a time). haha... it's really funny listening to her anecdotes - pple peeing on trains and McPork (Zhu Liu Bao).

Things are so different now that everyone's working. It came so sudden that everyone is on different path, unlike when studying we're always hanging out tog and the common goal is to pass exams. It's interesting to see that from now on we're all heading a separate path of our own. Kinda sad tho... but on the positive side, that only gives us more things to talk about during gatherings and appreciate presence of these people in our lives =)

Tired Ramblings..

2009-08-20T22:19:00.001+08:00

Yay~ tmr's Friday. I dunno why I've been so tired this week. Must have been the morning OTs I've doing. Well, it's not required, but I just wanna get some things out of the way. Anyway, today had an entire day of meetings - had other trainees sharing their kid's miraculous behavior which touched everyone. Kinda makes me wanna have a class of my own. hahaha... I guess I haven't really found my place at work yet. Probably bcuz I'm not teaching classes most of the time, so I haven't found a meaning in the work I've prepared. I'm sure the chance will come soon...

Anyway, covered a Science class yesterday. Pretty interesting, and I realised I like to teach Science! Feeding them with eztra info that I found more applicable and relevant to daily life. Math is essential, you'll need it for everything, but just find it a little dry sometimes. So now i'm considering whether I should teach both....

Heard that quite a number of teachers gg on leave this end year. That puts me in a a deeper ocean of work to drown in. Hm. =.=

July Haps

2009-08-15T12:13:00.003+08:00

Ok. I know this came really late. =P

Canele Pastry @ Paragon
Totally couldn't resist the colourful spread of dessert cakes. Canele restaurant took over where Delifrance used to be at Paragon. It looks like a classier version of Bakerzinn. Tried the Strawberry Shortcake & Blackforest & Caramel & Choc macaroons. Blackforest was fantastically chocolatey with tinge of alcohol taste. Yum! Shortcake could've been better if it's more moist. And no macaroons in S'pore can compare to those from Switzerland shared by Yisi. =P

DaVinci Outing
Went to Science Center with NUS peeps to the world of DaVinci. Not as impressive as I thought it'd be. But nonetheless, it was good fun :)

Ah Jin's Convo
Congrats gal!

Found my Gelare!!! ^.^
For those who didn't know, Gelare cafes at Suntec, Citylink and PS have all been converted to an unappealing restaurant called "AC2 Cafe".
Totally disappointed as Guijin & I searched all 3 places for Gelare during our outing. Did my research and found that Gelare had moved to Orchard Central instead!
hehe.. so it was total happiness to finally sink my teeth into those fragrant waffles and flavourful ice-cream! Thanks Yisi for gg there w me :P

Venti Starbucks
Took a break from shopping with mum @ Vivo. Ordered a 'venti' size coffee. Venti is the largest size they have... and that mug is HUGE. Even my mum started to play along to show how big it actually is. haha

CSC Gathering - Mt Faber, Henderson Waves, Vivocity
Yo ho! Gathering with long-time-no-see CSC mates. This time.. decided to take a stroll up Mt Faber. Ok, I had a little trouble getting up there cuz (1) totally no stamina after not exercising for so long (2) wasn't sure if that much of walking is okay for my tummy. But we all made it up in the eventually, and had a nice dinner @ KimGary :)

Super weird egg
Okay, sidetrack. This was my lunch @ work - Jap ramen. Got a really weird egg. It's like some kinda genetically twisted twin egg. Looks horrible & disgusting. Didn't eat it in the end.

My first lesson

2009-08-14T22:33:00.000+08:00

Before I entered the classroom, the boy shouted "YOU SUCKERS!!!" at his classmates. =.= A sign of super terrorizng kid. The teacher leaving the classroom patted my back, "haha.. good luck to you hor".

Well, overall my lesson plan didnt go according to plan. hahaha... that boy took me some time to handle everytime I'm going through a question. Not bad lah, altho after the class was feeling quite demoralized, but upon some reflection, it actually turned out to be a motivation. A challenge for me to ponder on how I can handle these type of kids.

*Looking forward to classes!*

End of a happy work week :)

2009-08-14T22:17:00.000+08:00

I'm feeling happy today. Into my 2nd week at work... I felt much better cuz I finally get to know people better, have a better idea of how the organisation runs and had really good advice through trainings with the senior teachers.

Compared to the first week, all I had to do was worksheets - solving problem sums one after another. And I have to say, TLL's standard is PRETTY high, cuz I have problems solving them!!! hahaha.. so demoralizing lah! I'm sure everyone else has no problems solving them in algebra, but in units and diagrams form, man.. those are the ones that really give me a headache.

Besides, first week was quite tough. Although the HR pple did introduce us around, but most of the trainee teachers are out having lessons, some are not in etc. The cubicles of another new colleague and myself are separated from the trainee teachers section cuz they ran outta space there. So... first week's basically "Do your own things and go eat on your own".

This week was much much better. Got to know some really kind, helpful peeps around, and the senior teachers are REALLY great! Training sessions are full of advice and tips on class management, company's culture etc. So my spirits getting up! :)

To-fu Design Results are out!

2009-08-11T12:35:00.004+08:00

Results for the To-fu design competition are out!

Sadly I didn't get into the top 3, but still in top 10. Actually it was stated that public voting takes 50% and a panel of judges will award the remaining 50%. But it turns out that the top 3 are the top 3 from voting too. So I wonder what the panel of judges are doing. In fact, don't you think that the winner for 3rd prize should have gotten first?? Haa.. I feel like a sore loser. hahaha...

But in anyways, I still won a limited edition To-Fu stamp series being in top 10. It even comes with an authentication cert. haha.. So not bad la!

And of course, THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO HAS VOTED FOR ME!! *mass hug*

Click here to view the results :)

Amazing UFO catching tips!

2009-08-11T12:00:00.003+08:00

Last few weeks, An & I got into UFO catching after walking around Iluma's arcade. There are SO many cute disney stuffed toys positioned in such a way that look so easy to win, but seems impossible to catch. So with the thought of not wanting to waste any $$, I searched some pretty cool UFO catching tips! these are really amazing! haha...

So after watching it, I was totally excited to go try and win one. hahaha.. So we headed to the arcade @ Bugis, and aimed for huge Chipmunk. After many tries (and spending about $8?), I felt that Singapore's machines are rigged!!! *Argh* I'm supposed to catch a round pig in place of Chipmunk, and exchange it if I was successful. I definitely caught the pig, the claw held it and raised it all the way... and jerked when it hits the top limit - and the pig dropped!!! And it happened again and again! I feel totally cheated manz =.=

So we were really frustrated and decided to try another arcade. This time @ Suntec. There I saw the same Chipmunk placed in a precarious position over the hole. But the floor it was lying on was placed with a anti-slip kinda mat, and everytime we managed to hold it up, it hardly moved. So quite sian diao... we tried for Mickey which only needs $0.50 a try (the rest are $1 a try). hahaha.. This time Mickey was sitting near the edge too. After trying once or twice, Mickey slowly inched to the hole. *got chance* So An tried again and again to press it down, and it moved bit by bit, but still didn't fall through the hole.

We're left with the last coin... and when the claw pressed down on Mickey, it seemed to be in a position where it won't drop into the hole. But when the claw lifted, Mickey started to moved over the edge and toppled into the hole! *hooray!* hahaha.. I literally jumped up the moment Mickey fell in. haha. And here's the photo of our prize! ^^

Anyway, S'pore's machines aren't as good as those in ithe videos. Most of the time when the claw is retracted upwards, it can't carry the weight of the prize and really, it just claws the side of the prize while moving up. =.= So do look around and observe some of the claws with higher 'integrity' where they can really hold some bit of weight. If not, the real idea is to PUSH the prize until it falls through, rather than to literally catch it. :)

Slow heal... 22 Jul '09

2009-07-22T23:26:00.002+08:00

It has been 3 weeks since I had my operation. The wound is just taking so long to heal... or maybe i'm just impatient. My belly button is taking the worst hit from the op cuz the incision is larger and the muscle around that area generally takes bout 1 month or so to fully heal. Every now and then, this clear liquid will keep oozing out from my belly button. Doc says it bcuz the inside hasn't completely healed.

But the experience is quite annoying, and worrying... and tiring at the end of it all. The day it was worst was on graduation day. All the walking, rushing around, carrying so many things at once, driving... it oozed so badly that at the end of the day it hurts. From then on, everytime i'm out, it'll ooze and stain my clothes and tires me out quite badly.

Just came home from Harry Potter movie. Almost late so walked faster, and it oozed again. Sigh. PLus, i'm feeling pretty down. I'm just, really tired.

=(

Graduate lo~!

2009-07-16T10:19:00.002+08:00

We've all graduated! :)

Tofu Oyako Design Competition

2009-07-09T21:16:00.003+08:00

Exciting Happenings!

I recently participated in a SingPost stamp design competition which is held in conjunction with Singapore Toy, Games & Comic Convention. My design has been selected to top 30 and now voting has begun for Top 10 placing.

Please vote for me!

Just click on this link and vote for the design under my name: Loh Wan Ping (NUS).

Voting ends 12 midnight on 31 July 2009.

This is my design :)

Also, I really think this contestant has a very incredible design too. But her votes aren't very high though. So if you think hers is good, vote for her too!

Each voter is allowed to vote for 1 design only and you stand a chance to win $100 cash prizes (3 winners)!
So get your family, colleagues & friends to vote too!

Thanks a lot!! :)

War with Appendicitis - 8 July

2009-07-08T17:21:00.006+08:00

Excruciating abdominal pain, visit to doctors & hospital, surgery... and finally relieved from the ragin monster inside me - an infected appendix =.=

Last week I had one of the most horrible experience of my life. Appendicitis.
It started out with a mild and persistent tummy ache which my GP thought could be indigestion. Just after 12hrs through the night, my condition worsened and I went back to the GP, with her concluding that it's high possibility of appendicitis.
And off I went to surgeon which my GP recommended in the hospital. He kept pressing my tummy all over trying to locate the specific spot where pain is most intense. But my pain was all situated on the right side, no specific location.

Then he said, "You know what? It may NOT be appendicitis... cuz usually pain is localized". So I was whisked to radiology dept for further diagnosis. There I puked all 4 glasses of contrast liquid I drank...and I could barely stand.

Finally, when the scans came out - confirmed a swollen appendix, cunning enough to hide behind my large intestine... "No wonder the location of the pain is so funny," said the surgeon =.=

Then I was admitted immediately, totally tortured by the stupid, infected & useless appendix in my body. Luckily for the painkillers, I was able to tahan a few hours until my op. All I could think of was "Damn appendix! Just quick get it out! Argh!".

Some pics whilst in hospital. That's me on second night after op.

This is my first breakfast meal after op. Hospital food is really... bland.

And a balloon from my bro & flowers from Ah An to cheer me up! Thanks!!

All these happened last Thursday... luckily not this Thursday, else I would've missed my commencement. I came back from a checkup a while ago. The surgeon showed me pictures of my swollen and dying appendix. *OMG* can't imagine a part of your body dying within you. yucks. And worse of all, I just can't imagine how swollen my appendix can get. Just read from the report, max diameter was 2.4cm wide!!! OMG!!! Wah lau eh! Ji da yi xia~!

So I asked what caused my condition and are all those old wives' tales bout appendicitis true??

Well, for my condition, dunno why a blob of faeces got stuck in the middle of my appendix - so that's why it got infected, and the rest is history. As for the tales that our parents, grandparents & gret-grandparents told us...

- "Tell u dun eat so much chilli with seeds! Later the seeds get stuck in ur appendix!"
- "Eat and jump some more lah! Wait the food gets into your appendix then u know!"

Actually when we exercise AFTER we eat, our tummy might ache because: When we're digesting our food, blood flows to the intestines to aid digestion process. But when we start exercising, blood is drawn away to our muscles. So with this lack of blood supplied to the intestine, it'll cause some pain in your abdominal area.

As far as the doc is concerned, those tales are baseless. Nobody knows exactly why the appendix will get infected. Sometimes even with nothing stuck inside, it can get infected too! Needless to say, no one knows why this redundant appendix is even present in our bodies.

Yup, so I'm glad that this painful experience is over. Now looking forward to commencement on Sat, 11 July!!! Woohoo~!!! I'm still jobless... but heck. Woohoo~!!!

A Short Day Out with Mum

2009-06-16T23:45:00.004+08:00

My mum has been doing some voluntary work at different organizations. Last Friday, during her routine trip, I thought I'd tag along and find out more about what she does, and I'm quite free anyway.

We drove to one of the HDB blocks at Aljunied - to a centre "Kampong Senang". The name doesn't really sound like a voluntary organization, it can be easily mistaken to literally be a kampong or just a name of a place to any unknowing person. We walked in through the back door into a huge kitchen, in front of which is a mini cafe - they all serve healthy organic food.

It was later that I found out that one of the activity of this organization is to promote organic food - healthy living & a balanced environment. Part of the organic food which they obtained (in cartons) are to be packed and distributed to needy cancer patients. Well, I think that's quite a nice idea - donating fresh organic food once a week to these patients - I'm sure they will benefit from these vitamin-packed fruits & vege.

So just like my mum's routine every week, she got a list of fruits/vege to pack from the person-in-charge, and we begin to distribute carrots, apples, potatoes and beetroot into smaller packs.

that's my mum opening a huge bag of beetroot for packing.

I've eaten beetroot in its 'food' form, it's this dark reddish-pink colored vege that actually tastes sweet when boiled. And it can be eaten raw too (just like carrots). This is the first time I see beetroot in its original form! haha... so 'mountain-turtle'. =P

Yay! Packs of apples & carrots & beetroot to be distributed to needy people. Although it seemed very laborious to do all these packing, I'm sure my mum do feel some sense of fulfilment knowing that she has indirectly contributed to the process & helping out needy people. Well, I'm proud of her! :)

Birthday Treats :)

2009-06-15T15:50:00.005+08:00

Celebrated dear's birthday by having an eating feast throughout the day. First stop is Tatsu Sushi Restaurant @ CHIJMES, Mango sundae during tea time @ MOF and lastly a hearty dinner @ Australian Outback.
In picture: my order of Alice Springs Chicken & dear's Sirloin Steak *YuM!*

GSS - Comics for Sale!

2009-06-11T12:07:00.008+08:00

Hi everyone! In line with the Great Singapore Sale, I've decided to put up my comics for sale too! They've been taking up too much space and still in great condition! Well, I've got 2 sets of comics to sell. Click on the pictures to enlarge - you can see that they're good as new :)

1) The Celestial Zone (Vol 1-18)

2) The Return of the Condor Heroes (Vol 1-18: complete set)

Both sets are illustrated by our very talented local cartoonist - Wee Tian Beng, and they're in English. As you can see, although second-hand books, they are still in very good condition - no doggy ears or yellow pages - and they are at bargain prices of $45 each set, considering the original price of each book is close to $10.

Also, I have individual books from 'Adventures of Wisely' for sale at $3 each. Please see the picture for individual titles - still in good condition - can make great gifts for children too :)

SO PLEASE please help me spread the word to whoever's interested. Thanks!

I've been to the Zoo Zoo Zoo

2009-06-10T18:39:00.005+08:00

I've been to the zoo thrice since I finished exams for rackey, trails, and zoo camp. I'm glad that at least I can earn some income from working part-time in the zoo, especially now that i'm still jobless. hee...

Here are some pics I've taken during my rackey. That rackey was necessary cuz I haven't been working for at least a year since I'm back from exchange. So... need to do some homework before facilitating in school excursion trails.

Talking about lemurs... I was conducting the zoo trail into Fragile Forest with P1 students. FYI, Fragile Forest (FF) is an enclosed dome shaped exhibit where the animals within are free-ranging i.e. the mouse deers, butterflies, sloths, lemurs etc will all be roaming around the visitor.

So I was trying to calm the screaming P1 girls down, I told them, "Don't worry! These animals won't bite".

Right after I said that, this lemur suddenly jumped onto the railings of the balcony, grabbed my arm, opened its mouth wide and bit me. *ARGHhh!*

Immediately after that, a terrified girl commented, "But that one just bite you!!"
=_=... super suay. Well, luckily there's no blood, just a few scratches from its teeth. Didn't know my arm looked so yummy.

The zoo camp was held last weekend - 2D1N family camp. Maybe it was the presence of parents, it gave me higher pressure to facilitate well. The other 2 facilitators were Azilah & Haniman, long time regulars (still part-timers) as education facilitators in the zoo.

I felt that I've learnt alot more during this camp, especially from observing how both of them facilitate. I'm always impressed with the amount of animal knowledge that Haniman possess. Despite starting out as a guide at the Night Safari, he sure knows a hell lot about animal behaviors and how they interact. There are definitely ALOT of info I can get out of him than my notes and research from the net.

Azilah, on the other hand, is the one who's really good at conducting the camp, controlling the crowd and she's always the one that calms my nerves. Well, being the most inexperienced amongst them, I felt that the families who were in my group probably did not benefit as much in terms of extra info on the animals. But, every experience I have in the zoo is a learning experience for me.

I'm really glad that I went for this camp with a positive mind. It's this positive mindset that makes me open to learning skills and knowledge from them. :)

Desaru Bike Bash 30-31 May 2009

2009-06-08T14:03:00.017+08:00

Last weekend, Weiann & I participated in a Bike Bash to Desaru. We joined other 30 peeps from his company at Changi Village to take a ferry to M'sia (blue), then cycle all the way to Desaru (red).

It's my first time taking part in such a LONG cycling trip, approx 100km from the ferry terminal to Desaru and back. We started cycling at 1030am, went past alot of kampong houses and coconut trees, a sight that's also quite common in Pulau Ubin. We were pretty lucky cuz the sky was covered with dark clouds - it didn't rain and the breeze was cooling & fantastic!

After 2hrs of cycling, this is our first stop for lunch break at Restaurant Good Luck! @ Sungei Rengit.

Oh, I also spotted one of the uncles that looked so much like HK actor. Anyone watched Gem-of-Life? This uncle looks so much like the actor portraying HoFung in that show. hehe...

The second part of the journey was super challenging! First of all, the seasoned cyclists keep telling the newbies bout the high slopes and they always gestured it to be like a deep valley. Then they warned us to be cautious of them and learn how to adjust our gears properly so that we won't fall down etc. Quite daunting k! Secondly, the rest of the journey is practically treeless and the sun was blistering hot already! :( Oh well, was too focused cycling up and down the slopes that we didn't take any pics, but the rustic scenery was very nice. Fields of lalang moving in the wind, little boats sitting stationary out in the sea, beautiful sight :)
And thanks to dear for all your encouragement!! The slopes were really tough to take on... but when we finally reached Desaru, that sense of achievement was immense!

At Pulai Desaru Beach Resort! Beautiful sandy beach~ ;) Buffet dinner & breakfast the next day!

Ah An floating~ *and his face looked super calm*

Sumbodies shoe...

Nice sandy beach!!!

Amazingly, some of the guys still got energy to play volleyball! *Ayez* but weiann & I still joined in, haha.

Well, after day 1, dear fell sick - had high fever - everyone was really worried bout him, especially the uncles. They all took turns to tell him to drink more water (so did i) until Ah An got a little irritated, hehe.

Yup so I had to cycle back from Desaru to the ferry terminal on Day 2 without a companion cuz An took the safety car following us. Well, but most of the journey, I was really motivated to reach asap - cuz Ah An was still being super encouraging.

Despite being sick, he still waved at me whenever the car drove past, showed me 'thumbs up' gesture, and shouted from inside the car "Jiayou!" Thanks alot dear, it's a pity we don't get to cycle back together cuz the return journey was really more manageable & the downslopes were shiok!

But most of all, I still enjoyed the trip and definitely learnt a great deal bout cycling - sense of achievement! ;)

Just Saded.

2009-06-02T19:06:00.000+08:00

For the past month ever since exams are over, life seems pretty mundane for me compared to friends who are flying all around the world for their grad trips. No grad trips for me yet.

So began searching for jobs, and that's no easy task at all. Applied for a few jobs, got 3 replies and all ended up unsuccessful. Even my biggest hope as product designer ended up in rejection, quoting "You do have talent in design, but we're looking for a person who is industrially trained". Sigh

I'm beginning to feel pretty demoralised. Everytime I look at available job positions related to engineering, they just look so unappealing to me - requiring us to know specialised softwares, design & calculations, need experiences. Then when I look at design-related jobs, they all require knowledge of Illustrator/Photoshop etc. I feel so lost, and feeling full of regret that I never pursued what I liked. Now it seemed that whatever I'm interested to do is not related to what I've studied at all, and it feels terrible cuz it's like I've totally wasted my parents' money and effort putting me through university. Everytime I felt this way, my FYP prof's words will come to mind... "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail". Yes, I failed to plan my future for myself... now I just need some positivity, some direction & guidance in life. Cuz I really dunno where to head from here on.

Exams are OOoover!

2009-05-07T19:34:00.000+08:00

Wow.. thanks guys, for all ur slaps and punches & supporting me! Well, the worst is over le. And I also mean exams are over liao!!! Woohoo~~ on the road to graduation! Feeling kinda lost, cuz no jobs secured for me yet.

BUT...Tmr I'll be meeting my profs to submit FYP bounded thesis (oh ya, Hazel said must take photo with it. haha!) & then meeting up Lufbra peeps for ktv & dinner! *excited*

More happy updates coming up :)

Totally Irritated

2009-04-06T14:09:00.000+08:00

Hypocrite = a pretense of having a virtuous character, moral or principles that one does not really possess - Here's a perfect showcase of hypocrisy.

Today, I was very irritated with one of my groupmates. This person is so hypocritical - in class she's all participative, and out of class she can't be bothered with our group project.

For countless number of times, she's always late for meeting. I'm not saying like 10-15mins, it's like 45mins to 1hour for the rest of us to wait la! Today, she's late for meeting, giving the reason that she's getting some snack for lunch. Any considerate soul on earth will dabao some snack over, it's OK with all of us. In the end, she spent 45mins with her lunch and turning up for meeting an hour later, with no work done. She's NEVER ever once appeared on time for meetings except for attending tutorials and getting all enthu about class participation.

And to show how responsible she is in her work, she ALWAYS turns up unprepared and saying things like "oh, i'm not done with my part, I'm so ASHAMED to show it to you guys". Oh please, if you're so ashamed you would have done up your work, and its clearly obvious to everyone that she didnt do ANYTHING at all. And she also said "This project is not important to me at all. It's very easy." *rolls eyes* I totally feel like slapping her manz. She just don't understand that what's not important for her may be important for others. And this is group work, if she's gonna give s**T, everyone in the group gets s**T too!

How nice. Why on earth are there people like that around?? Wth.

Lovers in Japan - Coldplay

2009-03-25T13:52:00.000+08:00

One of my fav songs. :)

Chingay '09

2009-02-27T19:30:00.001+08:00

Really lag post. haha.. comp's running low on ram, takes forever to even rotate e image.

Anyway, went for my first Chingay with Si & Von! *woohoo* Actually we went just to give SW support, but the entire event turned out pretty well! Now I understand why audience on TV always look so un-enthu. That's bcuz there's really too much going on everywhere and we just can't take our eyes off the amazing floats and colourful performers! Totally enjoyed it :)

February Snapshots

2009-02-21T22:43:00.000+08:00

My first time baking cookies! Pretty exciting and tedious, cuz my oven is so tiny and one tray of 9 cookies are already squeezing each other out of shape. hehe... imagine how many rounds of baking I had to go through for dough that makes 30 cookies.

I baked them for An, it's our first Vday together - I was so worried the cookies won't turn out well. But, overall received pretty encouraging comments, just bit too sweet though.
To all those who have tasted the sweet sweet cookies, hope u had a sweet vday ;)

To my dear An-na~ hehe.. thanks for the handmade Vday gift. Really sweet :)

What you can learn from animals...

"Relax and enjoy life!" This cat is so indulged in its afternoon nap she totally ignored my presence. And see how she sleeps with a cheeky grin!

"To scare another bigger sized animal - Me. "
This insect: some bee-striped grasshopper - made me jump while I was opening the door to my home. It's like 2inches long! What weird colors and big eyes it have...

"To smile no matter what happens"
Took this picture at a little corner shop selling fishes at Square2 basement. This one goldfish took the opportunity to smile at me, despite the duck happily eyeing it =P

2009-01-22T23:32:00.000+08:00

Well, as all of my peers are gg to graduate soon, the topic of "Jobs" is inevitable, and depressing for me cuz I think the worst situation has happened to me - I don't know what I want. *sigh* Let's just say, I'm an insecure and indecisive person.

Insecure - I am just that. I can't find any other word that can better describe myself. While everyone else is busy getting their resumes done up, I feel so lost. I'm envious at those who has a direction in life, who knows what they like and don't, who dare to venture out... while I'm like a timid and pathetic mouse finding a place to hide safely and watch the world go by.

And other than being insecure in my personal development, I'm also very ruled by my negative emotions. My tear ducts are unbelieavbly active (As many shld know). I can't suppress them as strongly as I think I would. I always blame my weak character on some other reasons, but largely it's because my indecisiveness and ignorance - because I don't know what I want, I don't know who I am. And also because i'm so bad with words, some friends just don't have the patience listening to me. So I keep to myself alot.

I dunno what to say. All these emo-ness sux. I need some positivitiy in life.

Trivia of the day!

2008-12-29T09:00:00.000+08:00

Have you ever wondered why your papers turn yellow overtime? It got me wondering, for no reason yesterday, so I did a little research.

Paper is usually made up of cellulose and a polymer called lignin. This substance are found naturally in trees and their stiffness property helps trees to grow tall. The main reason that papers turn yellow is the oxidation of lignin upon exposure to light and air.

So in white paper production, much of the lignin is removed and bleaching is done to make papers pure white. Still, the small amount of lignin in papers can oxidise and turn them yellow. While for brown paperbags and cardboards, they contain a higher amount of lignin in order to make use of its stiffness property.

Now you know ;)

Macau

2008-12-21T11:34:00.000+08:00

Ocean Park & Repulse Bay

2008-12-19T15:21:00.000+08:00

On the third day of our trip, we checked out Ocean Park and Repulse Bay

From Hong Kong

We reached around 9.45am and there's a huge crowd already waiting outside the park. The gates only open at 10am.

From Hong Kong

Ocean Park is like a theme park-cum-aquarium-cum-panda showcase. Once the gates opened, the crowd rushed in. We thought everyone was excited to see the Panda Habitat but when we reached, there was no one there. Anyway, started to camwhore.

From Hong Kong

Panda looked so distraught by me eating his bamboo plant. haha

From Hong Kong

At the Panda Habitat:

From Hong Kong

This is So cute!

From Hong Kong

There are a total of 4 pandas here - An An, Le le, Jia jia, Ying Ying. It's my first time seeing real pandas! They are SO adorable lah. hehe

Panda sleeping with a smile

From Hong Kong

Portrayal of Panda is pretty realistic: See this

From Hong Kong

and this!

From Hong Kong

Time to take the cable car over mountains to the theme park

From Hong Kong

Nice view on the side of the theme park :)

From Hong Kong

Watched amazing dolphins and sealions show. The show emphasized on how we should love animals, and only with the love and respect for each other that friendships can be formed. Nice ;)

From Hong Kong

Scary rides at the theme park. We conquered ALL! except the vertical drop. haha

From Hong Kong

There aren't that many exciting rides though. Paris Disneyland is still better. haha... and the theme park is quite big, getting from one ride to another needs a bit of walking. So at the end of scare-ourselves rides, we headed back to the entrance, moving on to Repulse Bay.
The ride back was quite steep~

From Hong Kong

We took some time for Froggy to camwhore with the decor while walking towards exit. hee

From Hong Kong

Can you see him?

From Hong Kong

There he is.. haha

From Hong Kong

Me and Froggy (sitting on reindeer's head)

From Hong Kong

OK! finally out of Ocean Park, taking a bus to Repulse Bay~!

From Hong Kong

We board the bus but overshot our bus stop. So we crossed the road to catch another bus back - we paid a flat fare of HK$8.90 for 2 stops! *omg* we were shocked. SO EX!!! Only to realise that HK bus fare system works on paying a flat fare the moment you board. So the nearer you are to the end destination of the bus, the lesser you pay, regardless of the distance that you board and alight. =( $$

Anyway, Repulse Bay is such a beautiful beach place!!!

From Hong Kong

Spot Chopper? His time to camwhore. hahaha

From Hong Kong

Beautiful sunset! Then came alot of China tourists who stand in front of us like we're transparent =_=|| C'mon! We're taking photos too!

From Hong Kong

The beach, the sunset and us.

From Hong Kong

That's definitely one of the nicest sunsets ever. With the nice cooling weather with An, it's the best :)
It's getting late, so we headed back North to meet SeeMan at Causeway Bay! We were famished~ and spotted this claypot rice stall with SO MANY pple queueing up! Many people = Good food. And it's the best claypot rice I've ever eaten :)

From Hong Kong

Fried Tofu~ the taste is one of its kind

From Hong Kong

My beef claypot with raw egg. *YUM*

From Hong Kong

Then after dinner, we walked around SOGO area. It is VERY VERY crowded. Everywhere, it's just people, people and more people. *Claustrophobic*
And how can anyone miss out desserts in HK?? SeeMan brought us to one of the popular dessert stall (i forgot the name) - Cold Mango Sago & Durian wrapped in mochi-type skin. The durian dessert is fantastic!

From Hong Kong

SeeMan ordered this Mango Pancake:

From Hong Kong

And my my, is she the Mango Queen! haha... she had one bowl of mango sago on her own, and finished all the mango pancake! We had a great time with her ;)
And to SeeMan: Thanks for everything! Bringing us around and sharing with us so much about HK. So sian diao we actually forgot to take a picture tog =_=. But still, hope to see you soon in S'pore gal!

Lantau Island & Peak

2008-12-14T23:06:00.001+08:00

First day was exhausting with all the walking. Definitely lost stamina from the backpacking days during Easter. Well, this day is packed to the brim! Starting from going to Lantau Island (aka Da Yu Shan) to The Peak at night :)

We woke up early to catch the famous Starferry from HK island to Southeast of Lantau Island at a place called Mui Wo. Well, according to our guide book we're able to see nice coastal view of the island before reaching our destination Ngong Ping.

This is An reading the papers while waiting for our ferry to arrive.

From Hong Kong

Gate to board Starferry to Lantau Island - Mui Wo:

From Hong Kong

Transportation in HK is pretty convenient, we can pay all kinds of transport with our Octopus Card (Ba Da Tong). It works the same way as our ez-link card and is used for most of the public transport and even food payment.
View of HK's skyline in the day.

From Hong Kong

Me & Dear

From Hong Kong

Upon reaching Mui Wo pier...

From Hong Kong

This is the area where we queue for our bus to Ngong Ping, just a few metres from the pier.

From Hong Kong

Then we waited, and waited and waited... and realised that the next bus only arrive after 40mins! OMG... the queue is getting longer and longer! Luckily we didnt leave the queue, cuz when the bus arrived, only half of the passengers queueing up can board! and the next bus is 1hr later... *heng*

Actually, there is SOME coastal view... and they are pretty much being obscured by trees and bushes =_=|| Ayez, but we still did see some impressive mountains that were so densely covered with trees and a nice view of a lake (which we only know later it's a reservoir)

YEAY! Reach Ngong Ping~ Home to the famous Po Lin Monastery and the Big Buddha. Truly a sight to behold :)

From Hong Kong

Pardon my excitement, but this area is literally the ideal place to Shang Shan Xiu Xing! *looks at Xueyin* hahaha... Huge open areas surrounded by green mountains and the sea in the distance with a magnificent Buddha sitting serenely in the middle of nature. *Amitabha*

From Hong Kong

Climbing up the steps to reach the Buddha...

From Hong Kong

And finally at the top!!!

From Hong Kong

the BIG Buddha

From Hong Kong

Scenery behind the Buddha

From Hong Kong

I love this picture...

From Hong Kong

We came back down to go into Po Lin Monastery. It's nice being greeted by Laughing Buddha at the entrance *happiness* haha...

From Hong Kong

and into the main square of the monastery:

From Hong Kong

Interestingly, there are many Poinsettia plants around. With its vibrant red, I'm sure it doubles up as a prosperous and lucky colour for the Chinese in the Christmas season :)

From Hong Kong

An is fascinated with the intricate carving of this dragon on pillars of the main hall.

From Hong Kong

Done with Ngong Ping~, we took a bus to Tung Chung for Factory Outlet mad shopping!

From Hong Kong

That place is a must go for tourists! haha... Levis, Adidas, Puma, Nike, I.T., Esprit... it's a factory outlet MALL! Woohoo~ Whilst An had a very fruitful shopping trip, I returned to HK island without any buys :(

Anyway, the next highlight for us is to head to THE PEAK! and guess who I saw?? Jackie Chan!

From Hong Kong

That's a prelude to what tourist will see at Madam Toussauds up at the peak.
Taking the tram up!

From Hong Kong

I think the Peak is like a showcase of the best in HK's history. Most popular movie stars to the essential transport for the rich and famous to reach their super duper expensive homes at the peak.
Famous Person 1 - Bruce LEe

From Hong Kong

Famous Person 2 - Maggie Cheung & Famous Person 3 posing behind the pillar - Jackie Chan

From Hong Kong

Best of Hong Kong skyline from The Terrace:

From Hong Kong

And a nice meal to celebrate our 2 years together @ Forrest Gump inspired restaurant - Bubba Gump! *happiness*

From Hong Kong

Shrimp Platter~~ *drools*

From Hong Kong

I'm impressed how patient An can be while peeling prawn shell

From Hong Kong

Popular quotes from the movie -

From Hong Kong

What's the difference between being stupid and an idiot?? Oh no, is that a stupid question? Or an idiotic question? *Arghhh~*

From Hong Kong

Heading down from the Peak - Peak hours for cabbies

From Hong Kong

And tony Chopper finally makes his appearance on MTR.
YAW!

From Hong Kong

Zzz...

Hong Kong here we come!

2008-12-10T22:40:00.000+08:00

My first trip overseas with An! After all the semesters that we were separated from our own exchange programmes, we're finally on our first holiday together in Hong Kong! Woohoo~~!

Our flight was at 6.40am on Jetstar~ gotta check in at 4.40am. Ayez, budget airline always fly at this kinda hour. Well, I mistook the time so we reached airport at 4am instead. *Yawnz* but, that's enough time for us to enjoy some BK breakfast @Changi T1.

From Hong Kong

Oh, Froggy's coming along too! hee

From Hong Kong

Saying 'Bye~' to Singapore...

From Hong Kong

And 'Hello~ HONG KONG!'

From Hong Kong

Okay, this island is definitely NOT HK. haha... some fish-shaped island we saw while descending to our destination. Landing in HK soon...

From Hong Kong

Here we are~ taking Airbus 21 to Tsim Sha Tsui - the location of our hostel. Just look at the intensity on Tony's face.
"YAW!"

From Hong Kong

Sights while travelling on Tsing Ma suspension bridge.

From Hong Kong

Hong Kong Port

From Hong Kong

Towering skinny skyscrapers - evidence of the large population & land contraints in HK
After checking into our hostel room, we were shocked to find out the size of the bathroom!

There - this is literally the size of our toilet - brush your teeth and bathe in front of the sink. It's the tiniest bathroom I've ever seen man! In the picture, Tony gloats about how big the bathroom is for him "YAW!" =.=

On to the streets we go! Along Tsim Sha Tsui (TST), we saw some ah pehs crowding within a smally pavillion watching a game of chess. So HK drama! haha...

From Hong Kong

All these signboards sticking out may be en eyesore for some, but I think they are pretty effective in helping pple to locate shops. The streets are crowded with people, gotta weaving through all the padestrians on the sidewalk is exhausting. Moreover, we've been looking for this mall called Tao Da around Mongkok area as recommended by An's friend for really good buys for Gundam. It's nowhere in sight! We walked from TST to Jordan to Yau Ma Tei to Mongkok. That's 4 MTR (we call it MRT here) stations in a row! Super tired!

We also walked through Ladies Market (Nv Ren Jie) on our way back. Pasa Malam style street that sells all kinds of lady products - fake branded bags, kinky lingerie, soft toys, accesories etc.

Classic HK Minibuses parked along the roadside in the evening.

As night falls, we went to Avenue of Stars to catch the 'Symphony of Lights'. This place is very much like Esplanade in Singapore. Across the harbour is HK's famous skyline. The show happens everyday at 8pm, where the colourful lights on skyscrapers will dance to the music played. It's a beautiful sight at night especially with all the Xmas decor up.

Well, that marks the end of a very tiring Day 1. Next day to Lantau Island and the Peak! Will update soon :)

Reminiscense

2008-12-09T11:48:00.000+08:00

Today is a quiet day for me. It's a nice day to reminisce everything that has happened :)

Well, this semester have been really hectic. Though there's only 3 examinable modules, my FYP and design modules really took up bulk of my free time. All the lab-going and computer simulation has been pretty fruitful.

Design Project
My design proj grp has 7 members this sem - Jinyang, myself, Yisi, (Prof Wong), Jiarong, Yifeng, Junhao, JunSiong - We sure have put in loads of effort into our Snipebot.
Basically, our minirobot is a shooter that has to shoot balls at 3 targets in the arena. This sem mainly is about building the robot itself and competing with 9 other groups. And I have to say, all the D&T-like manufacturing lab-going, meetings to troubleshoot our problems, and all the late nights in school calibrating have paid off. We emerged champion in the competition!!! woohoo~!

Thanks guys for all the effort, especially JS - i think u really motivated everyone in this proj with your Energizer spirit! Really glad to have bonded closer with everyone else this semester too! That's definitely one of my proudest moments in NUS ;)

New Hobby
Yes, I've picked up a new hobby, thanks to weiann. haha... It started out with buying a SD (super deformed - big head small body) 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms' Gundam for gift exchange last Christmas. He bought 2 and kept one for himself. And from then on, he has been collecting the entire set of that Gundam series following 'Chi Bi' movie
Courtesy of Bandai-Asia

while I've been choosing Gundam which I like to fix and paint it :) Dear gave me a blank tofu from his trip to Toyfair earlier this year. And from then on I think tofu's pretty cute. hee... This is the series featured by pi(Play Imaginative)

Blank Tofu is being transformed to...

I coloured everything on my own leh! hehe.. and added a little personal touch to it :)
And there's also Justice Gundam from Gundam Seed (1/144):

I find the painting the gundam more fun than assemblying it. I remember buying a Gundam to fix back in secondary school, but somehow, I think I fixed a part or two wrongly, so it never stood properly. haha.. can't seem to find that model somehow.

Also, there are my Arms Astray P.M.C. (1/144) and Aegis Gundam (1/100). hehe

Yawnz... Oh, i bought another gundam on my HK trip. haha... hoping to fix it real soon, and update on my HK holiday too :)

Sexy Justin Timberlake?

2008-11-24T09:15:00.000+08:00

This is a parody on Beyonce's new MV "Single Ladies(Put a ring on it)" starring Justin Timberlake and Beyonce herself! haha...

Check out Justin Timberlake on the left in tights and heels~ Sexy~~ *pukes* hahaha

A moment being out of sorts.

2008-10-05T11:58:00.000+08:00

I thought I've became more independent. Maybe I did for a while, during the months overseas. Maybe because life reverts back to how it was... Maybe I didnt change afterall.

He told me way before, that I was a naive person, I need to stand up on my own. I felt like I'm a burden to him sometimes. And most of the time, I needed other pple more than they needed me. The worst case, I just wasn't there for other pple. I felt I'm living other people's life more than my own.

Then I wonder... what the hell was I doing the last time I was alone? I'll play my piano. I'll read manga, and I'll draw out my fav characters. I'll edit them over a few days and show it to my mum. And she'll smile, I'll pout, "that's all?" and continue pestering her, "Is it nice??" haa.. I haven't done that for the longest time. My last drawing, I think it's still SamuraiX. I didn't really get back into the manga interest ever since. Partly because my mum complains I spend too much money on them and there's no space to keep them. What's the other part?... I wonder...

My piano playing... I feel that I'm no talent like what some others think. I admire people, continuing their passion. Like zx, he doesn't stop composing even after he stopped lessons. He and his friends created more music sparks while jamming tog. For me, I'm not sure if i'll pursue my diploma in the future. Maybe diploma isn't really suitable for me cuz the only times I play my piano is when I'm sad, or frustrated. Really, I dun think I play when I'm happy. Conversely, I play best when I'm upset, cuz I put all my emotions into it. And that translates to either strong, loud and heavy pieces... which nobody really appreciates.

Whatever happened to me? sigh.

Mama Mia

2008-09-20T09:09:00.000+08:00

Caught Mama-mia movie last night. thanks to engrg club cheap tix, only $4 wor! haha... Weiann, his 2 other fencing friends - Nick & Yanling, and I went for the movie tog. Ayez, because it's free-seating, so there's already a long queue by the time we reach at 7pm. (the show is 7.30pm)

The entire movie theatre at Marina GV is filled with NUS students! Prior to the screening, some peeps were trying to take photos of everyone in the theatre. And everytime the flash goes off, i'm doing sth unglam... like opening my mouth wide to fit nachos in. haha. Yup was pretty excited to see the movie rendition of the musical which I missed in London.

Anyway, the movie was good. Alot of the popular ABBA songs - which brings back some memories back in Cedar band. There're also some that I've never heard before. But I think they actually fitted the songs into the storyline pretty well. IT's kinda like 'We Will Rock You', where they try to insert songs into the story whenever they can. But this storyline is definitely better. Here's a short trailer :)

Oh yeah, Pierce Brosnan's voice is totally not suited for singing and I felt that his expression is a LITTLE... constipated. haha, he's better at being a cool Bond guy.
There's one scene where they started singing 'Dancing Queen'. And for the first time watching movie musicals, I thought it's very Bollywood. hahaha... She started singing, and the rest of the women put down their daily chores and started to join in the singing and dancing. hahaha... Found a clip on Youtube - Enjoy!

2008-09-03T19:37:00.000+08:00

Although this sem's timetable is alot more slack - 4 day week, and 3 days of 2hr lects only... but I still feel a little overwhelmed by the amount of work to do.

The rest of the time, I'm either doing tutorials, revising cheem FEM lecture, reading journals for FYP, trying out ANSYS tutorials or gg for weekly meetings w prof and my proj groupmates.

For design proj, fabrication's starting soon. Gotta go down to labs to try making parts into shape, head down to sim lim to check out motors. Tog with my limited knowledge on motors, it's a challenge.
FYP is totally Finite Element language - journals after journals and trying modelling on ANSYS. And when my FEA module prof mentioned about group modelling project today, my heart sank. One more project.

And for each module, I feel like i'm such a SLOW learner, every activity takes up so much time. I'm really tired and this is just week 4... sigh

Kitty number 2!

2008-09-01T21:55:00.000+08:00

Timbre Musicfest @ UCC

2008-08-30T11:49:00.000+08:00

Checked out Timbre Musicfest on Wednesday night with dear. It's organized by Timbre (sponsored by Exxonmobil) and it's FREE~! haha...

Our tickets to the concert

There are quite a few bands performing. Each one lasting bout half to an hour.
The first performance was by Rick Steele from Down Under, tog with uBlues Duo from Singapore.

Interesting thing is, it's a free concert with free booze(Stella Artois somemore!) and free food!
OMG, i never came across such deals before. hahaha... but of course upon exchange with food vouchers which everyone has in their goodie bag.

Dear and I while queueing up for our pizza. =)

While queueing up, another band named Reverie & Rene performed.

I was quite surprised to know one of my coursemate Hanrong is the drummer. Cool~ Recalled them playing a few rock songs and 'Here comes the Sun' by The Beatles.

The next band, Soulfellas, was very very entertaining. They totally brought the mood to a higher level with their colourful and coordinated clothes, and little soul dance moves as they sang.

It's a pity that the courtyard was lighted quite brightly, makes the lightsticks quite redundant. Then everyone's seated down, and nobody really dare to stand up and groove to the beat. Next time they shld dim the lights, pple can go crazy w/o being embarrassed. haha

The last performance is a band from Australia in the theatre. Can't take pics inside. There's a harmonica player who is really lihai! haha.. His harmonica skills is equivalent to pro guitarist manz. When he's playing really really fast, he's body movement is like entering a trance, keep jumping and shaking his head like he's high on ecstasy. lol... We were stunned. really. hahaha... But I really applaud his playing skills. Eye-opener. =D Just feel that their style of playing is really about the same, we got bit bored and started playing w our lightsticks.

I think there should be more of this kinda performances in school (with those freebies of course!) It gets pple high and can relieve stress. woohoo~~

Kitty kitty~

2008-08-24T11:42:00.000+08:00

My mum discovered a new member in my house.

It's not very obvious here...

On a closer look...

Very cute lah! haha...it's only a few days old bah, the eyes aren't even open. I thought there would be more. Cuz cats don't usually give birth to just one kitten right? its mama got scared away by my mum. think it should be back tonight to nurse her baby kitty. =)

Scary 'F's

2008-08-23T07:21:00.000+08:00

Woke up bit early today, like 6am... OK that's not a bit, that's very early. Thing is, I didn't wake up for any purpose. I think I was dreaming about my Fea (Finite Element analysis) module and my Fyp (related to Fea), and the thought of it is so scary I automatically wake up. =( haiz...*nightmare* Saturday le still stress. wth~

July happenings~

2008-08-17T17:33:00.000+08:00

Wah.. didn't post anything for so long le. haha. Tried blogging once or twice, but uploading the pics w/o lan cable cxn just takes forever. Lazy... But still, let me recap what has happened the past month.

8 July
My first outing since I'm back. Dear brought me to eat Kuishinbo! After 5 long months without Jap food, buffet is the way to go manz! hahaha...
Finally together again after so long! :D :D

Some of the yummy food we had :)

We were waiting for the jingle to come on. The one that goes "Dong dong dong! 1 2 3, WE are KUI-SHIN-BO". haha, then they'll annouce some special dish that's limited in number, so every jingle becomes like a food grabbing competition. People will jump out of their seats to get into the queue. The kiasu Singaporean side is inevitably on display. haha... we're no exception. Just had to queue for the lobster man!~~ Gotta make our money worthwhile, hehe :D

Lobster staring at our desserts.

10 July
Met up with my friends for the first time! *happiness* haha... supposed to celebrate SzeWei's birthday. Wensi and I met up first to get her present. Then we went to another Jap restaurant! haha... *jap food overload* but I don't mind :)
This time it's Shokudo at the basement of Raffles City. Not buffet style, but Marche style. The queue was so long! We eventually got our seats and waited for Panda to join us. Von... is... busy AGAIN. haha, no surprise. She had to teach tuition that evening. Thereafter, Wensi and Panda joined me to send my mum off (she went Genting). And after a long phone call, we managed to successfully ~~coerce~~ persuade Von to come to my house for a little gathering. Was nice to see them! :)

11 July
Dear and I talked bout gg to Southern Ridge even before I'm back. I was really excited to go take a look at this new structure that links 3 parks together - Mount Faber, Telok Blangah Hill Park and Kent Ridge Park. Ayez, but unfortunately, kena diarrhoea. =_="

Rest of July...
Went to work at the zoo twice in July. And from then on, I just turned darker and darker. 5 months work of turning fair in UK - totally gone in just a few hours under the sun.

I also met up with my airens! GJ and MT! :D It seemed so long since I've seen them both! Really glad :) Had our usual updating session and coffee at TCC Bugis. I'm always amazed how mt can take double espresso shots. I never tried that. It gives me an impression that it'll be quite bitter and i'll stay up all night long. haha.

Had another really delicious and satisfying Jap meal with Wensi @ CHIJMES :)

22 July
Dear and I went MacRitchie Reservoir at 9am and took a 5km walk to the Tree Top Walk.

And when we reached the end of the walk, we realised to walk back to Thomson that side is another 5km! Totally shag. haha, so in the end we took a long walk out along the main road from the country club.
We were so tired we even wanted to hitchhike on the cars driving out from the club. haha. Weiann insists on stopping Benz or BMW. Everytime he hopes it's a posh car, a taxi or lorry will come along. lol...so in the end it's pure walking. Finally back to civilisation at noon *tired*

27 July
Made a trip down to Marina to visit the F1 Paddock with dear. There was K1 Rally and Carnival that day. There's drifting performances and car dress-up shows. It attracted quite a number of people :)
Dear with F1 Paddock in the background

Showcasing the new Audi R8 - driven by Ironman in the movies :) They only allow kids to sit in while the driver speeds the car down the race track. Ayez, all the fun kids can get these days. *envy*

Cars dress-up show! Really interesting! It's like watching the results of 'Pimp my ride' haha...This is one cool car~

One of my favs...

Beatles theme~!

Look at how much effort these car owners put into the decoration! Colour-coordinated '70s style

Hm.. what kinda face is tht...=_=

My first close-up with the Singapore Flyer~

Had a cup of gelato :) Oh man... I miss Italy's gelato!!!

Lastly, some of my ongoing collections :)

2008-08-17T00:11:00.001+08:00

Dear's super funky hairstyle =P
taken during his fencing match @ SMU

Fire

2008-08-16T23:04:00.000+08:00

It all started with sounds of wood crakling, breaking the silence of the night. I thought I was dreaming. Then there were loud bangs, like a giant tearing down walls of buildings and hurling them all over.

I heard my mum close her room door. She was up. I looked at my phone...'4.20am?' The noises I heard did not disappear. They were real. I put on my glasses and opened my window. The frequencies of crackling and bangs got faster and louder. Something was wrong.

I walked down the stairs, my mum and brother nowhere in sight. When I reached the living room, my house door was wide open. Outside the gate stood my mum, brother and a small group of Indian workers, staring into the bright orange spectacle ahead. My mum has a look of disbelief written all over her face. I grabbed my jacket and keys and hurried out. Whatever's happening was not good with this amount of attention.

Then I witnessed it. Two one-storey houses at the junction of my street were engulfed in fire. Tall flames reached towards the sky. They were higher than the height of my house despite the house being only a storey high. Behind the brilliant dancing flames, a full moon shone through. Clouds floated in front of the it, as if covering its face in shame of the fate that heaven has bestowed upon this burning house. We were dumbfounded.

The fire was spreading rapidly. Flames were already licking the wooden scaffolding a house under construction next to it. The wind was blowing strong, aiding the fire's fury. Bits of burning wood flickered up into the sky.

My brother told me the Indian workers (from the house under construction) already called the police and fire department. They also saw that the owners had ran out. However, their Honda Civic was parked right in front of the house, and it's too late to move it away. There was this sudden thought that the car may explode. Everyone started to back away from the burning spectacle. Neighbours woke up and joined the crowd of onlookers. A man in his forties with funky mohawk hairstyle came by on his bicycle with cartoon stickers all over. He claimed to have seen the fire first.

"Wah! I saw the fire just now!" he exclaimed in Hokkien. "It was only this big when I saw it", he gestured palm facing each other, from his tummy to his chin. "I thought they were burning joss paper outside so I didn't care". Apparently, this fateful day was the fifteenth day of the seventh month on the lunar calendar, thus any small fire may be easily mistaken as this typical ritual of the Hungry Ghost Festival.

Finally, what seemed like a long wait, a police car arrived. Where are the fire engines?? Then as if my question was answered, 2 firefighters on motorbikes arrived at the scene. Wah... like that will help =_="Neighbours rushed to move their cars away from the huge fire and out of the way of the police. The policemen instructed everyone in my house and the one next to it (we're just 2 houses away from the fire) to evacuate.

My uncle who came over on his bicycle (and typical of his unruly manners... and poor English) bellowed, "Fire car leh? Fire car leh??!"

"They're on the way", the policeman replied.

"ON THE WAY?!!", my uncle repeated in disbelief. Probably the fire was spreading very fast relative to the time which the fire engines took to arrive. Onlookers started to debate on the speed of police and firefighters response. Every minute counts. The police cordoned off all 4 roads of the cross-junction.

Eventually, the fire engines came. Firefighters rushed out, pulling along hoses towards fire hydrants nearby. While doing so, a few firefighters went near the burning house and fired what seemed like powerful shots of water into it. A ladder on the fire engine was elevated and a firefighter spurt water over the flames. Water from hoses gushed out. Firefighters were in action.

I didn't notice how long they took to put out the fire. But by the time we were allowed back into our houses, it was already 5.30am. My brother joked that we can go for breakfast already. But with work and school in the next few hours, everyone just went back to bed.

When I left home at 8am, the police were still around investigating the cause of fire. My poor neighbours. Their car was charred and the front tyres were melted so badly. The house... was just left with brick pillars. Everything inside was charred. The zinc sheet that used to be part of the roof collapsed.

Nothing's left.

As I walked towards the next street, people were doing morning exercises and going to work. They weren't aware of the tragedy that occured just a few hours ago. Life goes on.

A short report of this incident on CNA website

Home :)

2008-07-11T10:25:00.001+08:00

Hey hey everyone, i'm back in Singapore.. since like a week ago. haha.. and yah, my blog is like stagnant. Shame on me. I'm not even halfway through my Easter journeys and I've gone Scotland, Spain and flew back to Singapore (hey~ they all start w 'S') with my dearest roomie w tonnes of luggage + each of our own BIG Green Bag from Tesco. haha...

my loyal froggie, been everywhere w me. haha...

It's good to be home :)

Pitstop 4 - Vienna, Austria

2008-06-07T03:10:00.000+08:00

Vienna is my most looked-forward destination. A little city where the best of all musicians over the world meet for the past few centuries, a place where revered composers lived and brought beautiful music to our ears that was composed a hundred years ago. Vienna... the city of music!

The most well-loved composer in Vienna - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Amongst our plan was to catch a concert. At a place where most people are fans of Mozart, it's definitely a must to watch an orchestra performance. And we were in luck! It's the very weekend (21-22 Mar) when the Mozart Orchestra will be performing exclusively just for Easter celebrations only! And their next performing season is in May. We're in for a treat :D

This orchestra (as researched the night before in Munich) is very special because they perform dressed in costumes during the Mozart era. Yes, those fake grey wigs with pompy curly collars hanging over their chests and white leggings. They also perform in Vienna's most famous concert halls - Musikverein Wein aka. Golden Hall. The Golden Hall is like the epitomy of all music halls. Entirely made of wood in the interior, the acoustics are one of the best in the world :)

While camwhoring w Mozart statue, this lady dressed approached us to sell concert tickets! haha... saved us the hassle of looking for the ticket office. And becuz tickets are selling so fast, we decided to watch concert tht very night. *excited*

Before concert starts, we took some time to explore Hofburg Wein, a palace located in the heart of the city.

A series of 'Spot-me!' photos. hehe

This one is hard, can spot Sista?

There he is :)

After tonnes of camwhoring, we realised that we're at the BACK of the palace. lol... Now this is the front - Hofburg Palace again. haha

In front of Hofburg Palace is Heldenplatz, just a big open space with horse carriages lined up along the roads

Sidetrack - this car is really small and cute, see how the person in squeezed inside. hehe

I love this picture :)

Onto Volksgarten...

This statue funnily appear in front of this Pantheon-like structure.

Sista as usual =.=

To the left of Volksgarten across the road is the Parliament House.

An interesting sign between tram carriages

Headed for dinner at a pub-restaurant recommended by our hostel. It has a very interesting concept cuz everything inside is about measurements!

Me and my Gordon Bleu - Breaded chicken w ham and cheese *YUM*

JY & his ___________

Yisi & Sista ordered the same - Weiner Schnitzel. Sounds so fanciful like some exclusive Viennese food. Turned out to be Swensen style breaded chicken. lol

Off to Musikverein Wien - Golden Hall! And my cam batt went flat =.= *Arghh!* Just as I was bout to see the highlight of the day :S This theatre is just amazing! It's exactly how I thought nobles and aristocrats used to attend orchestra / opera concerts... the interior is MAGNIFICENT! *Jaw drop* Statues and borders of columns in gold, ceiling painted with classical art figures and hanging down from there are 6 sparkly chandeliers. OMG. It's just a sight to behold.

Proud of our tickets :D

Inspired...but incomplete

Concert starts! I'm quite surprised the atmosphere is very casual and jolly, not formal and artas kind. *happy* They played the popular compositions of Mozart...

Totally awed by the choir singing in 'Requiem'. Get goosebumps as after effects and... i can't describe it. Everything's perfect!

Observe how expressive the conductor is...

Not forgetting Eine Kleine Nachtmusik = A Little Night Music - pretty different from my interpretation when I played on piano. But this is really good!

Piano Sonata No. 11, Alla Turca = Turkish Rondo - Vivacissimo style, really cool :D

End of concert...
Ceiling decor at the lobby

Ys took a pic w Beethoven which I didnt :(

But enjoyed the evening very much!

Somehow, I just have in mind to buy the bust of Beethoven and place it on top of my piano. My sixth sense tells me Vienna's the place to get his bust. And so my quest for Beethoven's bust begins in Day 2 of Vienna! =D

randomness...

2008-06-05T17:43:00.000+08:00

31 May = last day of lessons
1st June = Welcoming exams with open arms....*sian*

2nd June - YEAY~! Astro paper down! ahaha... Lufbra dinner outing @ Toby Carvery :D
Toby Carvery - British restaurant nearby that serves English dinner buffet. But buffet here means free-flow of vege, not meat. muaha... what more can u ask for a GBP5 buffet :P

A very excited Jared W. hahaha

The meat - Hand Glazed Ham, Turkey n Beef - can choose which one u want

Variety of free flow veges - peas *yew!*, broccoli, cheese cauliflower, boiled n roasted potatoes, parsnips, unknown vege, carrots... etc.

See Hwei, Shiwei & I queueing up :)

Ahaha, these 2 pics seem to form the full pic of the meat carver. Carve meat for u from whole, tht's why it's called a Carvery.

SEe the big piece of dough-like thingy- it's called 'Yorkshire Pudding'. Not our notion of a pudding as dessert tho. But its crispy n nice with the filling and sauce.

5th June - haiz exam sianness. started doing e wuliao w my roomie. hahaha

Back to mugging...=.=

My misses...

2008-06-01T21:53:00.000+08:00

It's the exam period now in Lufbra, which is gonna last till 20 June. Then thereafter, one last trip out to Spain and heading back to my deeply-missed home in Singapore on 4th July. Knowing that I'll be home in a month's time just makes me look forward to boarding the plane back even more. I miss so much back in Singapore.
My friends...

my dear since sec1 - ws

von aka. whiny :P

sw, panda

airens :) sanba session soon?

JC peeps - miss all e jokes n laughters

ah-huat: glad to know everything's OK now :) stay strong!

gj n zx, rmbr those times in band? :) (oops, this pic dun mean 2 show tht gj's taller)

ME Jazz - when's our next Sentosa trip?

qu ni de - dreaming away as usual - n hope ur bday was fun :)

Yishun comm! All the best for PAH08 ok? *JIAYOU!* :D

Most importantly, i miss my family...

mum & grandparents

my family

my cousins

Of course not forgetting my dear

1 more month! Can't wait to see everyone :)

Birth of a Star

2008-05-31T23:40:00.001+08:00

Astro exam' coming up in 2 days time... yawnz. the notes are full of chunky words i didn't understand. BUT, came across this short clip that made everything so much easier to visualize. youtube's a pretty good learning tool afterall :P

You made my day, dear!

2008-05-27T23:30:00.000+08:00

I've been waiting for this parcel since last week, and it finally arrived!

Dear has sent me a handphone pouch after I told him mine spoilt. And together with it... is my birthday present!

It came bit late, but it's the best birthday present ever! I'm really surprised and touched at the same time :)
Thanks love *hugz*

Zugspitze, Munich - the extremes

2008-05-27T00:38:00.001+08:00

We woke up at 5am, all geared up in our winter clothings, to catch a train to the alps called Zugspitze. It's the highest peak in Germany - 2964m! When we reached the station, there are a few stalls opened for breakfast. Outta all the sandwich stalls, we went for Leberkas! lol... can't get enough of it =P

In the train early in the morning.

Sunrise :)

The weather didn't look too good when we were about to reach. Kinda gloomy up there..

JY & Sista taking pics

Snow, snow and more snow~!

That's where we're going! Right up to the peak!

Look at the amount of snow accumulated on the branches!

Taking a tram up to Eibsee, which we will then change to cable car to go up to Zugspitz

Foggy skies and thick snow

Upon reaching Eibsee...

We've to walk from the tram station to the cable car station bout 200m away. And I realised... stepping on snow is very treacherous. IT's SO slippery and I almost fell a few times. lol

Cable car station to Zugspitz

When all of us are about to board the cablecar, JY realised that he had lost his pass! Then all of us got out and frantically seach the snow-covered ground for his ticket... and I almost slipped a few more times =_=. But good news! We eventually found the ticket right at the entrance of the cable car station and JY was EXTREMELY relieved! cuz a new ticket will cost him another 30+euros i think.

So off on the cable car we go!

When we reached Zugspitze stop, we practically cannot see anything! There's like a blizzard outside and everywhere you turn, all you see is white.

Blizzard...

This viewpoint will be the highest point on the peak where you can see one of the greatest scenery ever! But with the blizzard...

hahaha... all white. the wind is so strong, i think i breathed in and ate ice non-stop. =.= I can't open my eyes. With so much snow, you can only identify me from my RED beanie. haha

that's how deep the snow is

Sista laughing @ Kenny. duno why...

We went in and decided to wait for the blizzard-like weather to subside...

Using the internet. Excitedly called my mum to tell her i'm gg skiing too. haha. While waiting for time to pass... we went to buy postcards from a little souvenir shop at the cable car station. There's even a mailbox there lor! Damn cool... imagine the postman coming all the way 2964m up just to collect mails. lol.

We made our way to rent skiing equipments!

This is just the ski boots. There's still the skis which we have to step hard down to click our boots onto it. everyone geared up! and out into the snow we go!

*cannot see!*
aha... i can't even open my eyes. lol.. the wind is still blowing furiously, it's freaking cold (i'm wearing 5layers) and the snow is GLARINGLY white! no wonder skiers always wear goggle-like shades.

Sista trying to ski

There's YS! and JY... he had some experience skiing before, so he disappeared. lol
Blizzard again...

I'm sure it would have been more fun if we knew how to ski. Problem is there's no one around to teach us cuz there's lack of manpower in the ski rental shop. So we had to try on our own. And skiing in this kinda weather for beginners like us is EXTREMELY difficult. I take a few steps up, and next thing i know, i'm sliding backwards. haha... sO after a few tries, i decided to camwhore first. lol

JY's down, YS's trying to find his way, and Sista staring at em.

and JY's up and skiing again!

After some time, managed to pick up a bit on skiing. Can move myself, had to trudge up the slope with so much effort and slide backwards again the next moment. But, YS and Sista kept encouraging me to go up to the top...(see below)

And we did! I'm so glad I made it... damn shag, almost died. but it's worth it!

It's surprising how strong UV rays are up there. Sista got a good tan. lol

Tried on a diff kinda beanie @ souvenir shop

We returned the skis and headed back down. It's one of the last trams to leave, so it was very crowded inside. After all those extreme effort skiing, I was really hungry. Can't help taking my sandwich out to eat.

The view on the way down :)

YS wanted to take a pic of himself in the tram. But somehow, the rest of us unanimously joined and posed behind and pretended nothing happened after he took the photo. lol

Had a good laugh, and continued to camwhore

Came to a stop, back to where we were to take a train back to Munich city centre

What a tiring day... after all those physical exercise @ Zugspitze, we were quite stoned even after shower. Headed out for cheap Doner Kebab dinner before gg back to plan for Vienna.

Glokenspiel

2008-05-26T23:14:00.001+08:00

Pitstop 3 - Munich, Germany

2008-05-25T23:15:00.000+08:00

After Prague, Ben and Hazel split up with us and headed for Krakow while we went back into Germany to Munich. Just before we left, Hazel & Ben gave me a small notebook as my advance bday present ^.^ I've been looking for a notebook to log my Easter travels. Thanks guys!

On the train ride from Prague to Munich. It's still snowing! hehe..

I became pretty inspired and started sketching and writing and my notebook.

This is the view outside our tiny train cabin :)

We safely arrived in cosmopolitan Munich on 18 March and settled into one of the best hostels ever - WOMBATS! If u're ever travelling in Europe, always try Wombat. It's clean, prices are good, and every checkin comes with a free drink at their hostel bar. woohoo~!

Well, we didnt have much plans on the day we arrived. So we decided to explore the main city plaza, Marienplatz and headed to Hard Rock CAfe (HRC) to take a look. Oh, btw, HRC will appear quite often from now on. haha... Cuz I always to each city's HRC to buy their pins. So I'm aka Pinhead. heh..

As night falls...

Glokenspiel

Finally arrived at HRC, and I'm totally fascinated by the size of this restaurant and the souvenir shop is really cool! They've got guitars by various rockstars hung on their walls all over.

And another cool find in HRC...

because...

"rock on!"
On the way back to hostel ZZzz... we passed by this guy busking along the streets on a grand piano! I have no idea how he managed to move the huge instrument there, but his 'Moonlight Sonata' performance definitely caught my attention.

very impressed with his playing, so i bought his cd containing collection of Rachmaninov, Chopin, Beethoven, Mozart and Strauss. He autographed my CD and I even took a pic w him.

Me & Daniel Stenway

Back in the hostel, some beer before we ZZz...

19 March
The next day, we woke up to yummy Wombat's buffet breakfast! Being on budget, I showed my kiasu Singaporean side *ashamed* haha.. dabao sandwiches for lunch. :D
Thereafter, we met in the lobby to go for a Free walking tour in Munich :)

Stop 1 - Karlsplatz / Stachus. Surprisingly, the locals only know this plaza by its second name. It's a city centre-cum-shopping plaza - and I mean shopping like Orchard Road. haha!

Stop 2 - Frauenkirche
This is the tallest building in Munich. It used to be a monastery brewing beer. Very interesting hor? Monks drinking beer. haha... they did it because they drink beer whenever they're fasting. So they're so well-reputed for brewing beer that the Pope asked for a sample to try. The beers is sent over during summer, so it turned bad when the Pope drank it. and so he commented "Ah.. it's good to drink this as punishment for your sins." lol... That's why beer can be continued to be brewed there :)

Interior of the church

"ugh~!! Somebody save me from this woman! *chokes*"

Stop 3 - Marienplatz
This it the street connecting from Karlsplatz...*shopping shopping shopping*
Here stands the Glokenspiel of Peterskirche! This gothic church has bells ringing everyday during noon time, and thus its name Glokenspiel. Probably this is where the name comes from for the instrument Glockenspiel. heh..

Stop 4 - on to Viktualien market
This local market sells alot of local produce.

and there's an entire row of butcher stalls! An interesting observation - not tht i'm trying to stereotype - but the butchers look so much as how a cartoon wld portray them to be! Big and chuuby holding a huge butcher knife in his shop with meat and sausages hanging over the counter. haha

huge variety of hams and meat and sausages and what have u..
Our guide greatly encouraged us to try this local dish called 'Lerberkas'. If u're in Munich, you definitely have to try this! *yUm!*

looks ordinary, but the taste is amazing! It's a traditional Bavarian breakfast - super thick ham with hot crisp bread and sweet mustart sauce. *heaven*

Stop 5 - Hofbrahaus aka. Palace Beer House
All I can say is - Big Bavarian Beerhouse! Big is an understatement even. It's as big as a huge ballroom for weddings! And I love all the decors on the walls and ceilings. The atmosphere was just magnificent! With a band playing live, people drinking beer in the afternoon, all jolly and drunk. no not drunk. Totally Oktober Fest - Music, Beer and Meat. haha... welcome to Germany manz!

Pple buy their own Steins. Steins are these HUGE huge beer-drinking mugs. And here, they'll lock away their stein. After this stop, we decided to come back for dinner *wootz* So more of Hofbrahaus aka. HB later! :D

Stop 6 - ?
I dunno where we are. lol... after HB, I'm totally into the mood of eating and drinking German style. haha... so..

if i'm not wrong this guy is Emperor Maximilan. and the background is National Theatre.
But i remembered this interesting fact brought up by my guide. Notice all the statues with someone on a horse -
1) 1 hoof off the floor = injured in battle
2) both hoofs off the floor = died in battle
haha.. so next time u can just say "see! this person died in battle." w/o even knowing his history. aha~

The rest of the places are 'blank' to me. Totally can't remember... tht's the consequence of blogging so late after travel. haha. Anyway, enjoy e architecture!

Theatiner Kirche

AFter the tour, we took a nice stroll to Hofgarten. The weather was freezing! haha.. and as usual, nothing much to do, we camwhored!

Freezing cold weather = SNOW!!!

Snowflakes falling on his head...

sista attempting to eat snow =_=

Enjoying the snow and vastness of the garden :)

=_=

Mr. Orange jump attempt :D
I'm pretty glad we've got 2 photo-pro peeps in our travelling gang. haha... cuz both of them got tripods! YAY~ always nice to take group pics w everyone in, w/o the need to ask other tourists to help us take (which is usually CMI), and have loads of fun fooling & jumping around!

Laughing off failed jump attempt

Jump attempt II - still CMI
P.S. Sista's floating again - landing of 'tian wai fei xian'

We're jumping so many times, it's quite paiseh w onlookers. haha, so ended up just being normal. hehe

Back to Glokenspiel area scouting for souvenirs.

Witch

can see me?

Another group pic :)

sista feeding himself to the fish and his kiddy master

We wanted to get train tix to Zugspitz the next day, and yet we're afraid that HB will be full house. (as advised by our guide to go early to get seats). So we split up, JY & Derek went to chope seats @ HB, while YS & I went back to train stn to buy tickets. On the way to HB after purchasing our tickets, we witnessed some protest gg on...

After bout a week of travelling, we're no longer keeping up with the news. Apparently this sorta Tibet protests are quite common in Europe! During our travels we also saw some other mini protests on this issue. It's only later into our Easter trip then I found out bout the Tibet issue with China.
Anyway, it snowed again! haha... the snow in Munich is start-stop-start-stop. Everytime it snowed i'm so thrilled. haha. macham some suaku person who hasn't seen snow before.

and it's really hard to capture falling snow.

Arrived @ HB!

HB Coaster

1.0l beer all to myself! muaha...

Sista rox. he had 2 mugs. lol

YS and his beer

YS's dinner order - pork knuckle! zhu jiao~.. almost there la. haha

JY turning red after drinking

While we're still there, a Spanish old lady who couldn't find any seat sat beside JY. haha.. he looks super paiseh. lol

Derek & I with the band behind

A better view of the band. Sista, being the camwhore tht he is, wanted to take a pic with one of the ladies selling pretzels in HB. Thing is, alot of them are aunties. haha... and finally someone young / chio came along, he jumped on the chance to buy a pretzel and requested to take a pic with her. cunning rite...haha

If u click and enlarge the image, u'll notice that her smile is very mian qiang. *shakes head @ sista*

After a real satisfying dinner and Beer house experience, we stumbled outta HB drunk. haha.. no lah, none of us did. Derek & YS kept complaining that JY's kinda high and i'm in a very dreamy state =.= I'm NOT lor... I admit after drinking i just wanna konk out and Zzz.. but i'm not dreamy lor. So if YS posts on his blog saying tht i'm very dreamy, rmbr hor...I'm not lor. hahaha.. i'm just tired! muaha...

kk.. wah v long post. next day we're gg skiing~ woohoo! look out for next post :D

A weekend homestay

2008-05-09T16:38:00.000+08:00

Well, haven't had time to update my blog. I'm just lazy. haha... and with courseworks and presentations coming up, it gives me more reasons to slack on blogging. hee... So I'll just update briefly what has happened so far - which is quite alot =_="

First up, HOST UK. This is a homestay programme most of my exchange mates signed up, including myself. We're all allocated to different homes of locals to have an insight to their everyday life and of course, interact with them. MY roomie hazel and I were sent off a house amongst the fields in the tiny town called Ludford village, half hours drive away from Louth. Heard of this place before? Neither did we. haha... tht's what homestay is bout! Locals bringing us to un-touristy places and the real life of Brits. :)

Our host was Caroline, who has 2 dogs - Brandy and Ruby, 6 hens and 1 cockerel, 2 guinea pigs, alot of birds. haha...all in her really mini farm in the backyard.

ever-so-lazy Brandy

Hyper Ruby - just 1 yr old pup who loves to jump around when excited

Mini backyard

the chickens turning up in full force

very cute birds she has :)
I'm a dog lover, so got quite a number of pics with her doggies. hehe...

Brandy basking in the warm sunlight

Hm... tht's what buddies do tog =P

Both of them hounding neighbour's pet bunny. haha

Now into our host's cosy lil house

Living room

her window in ther living room, overlooking the fields

Hazel & I in the dining room - took this in the middle of our lunch

OUr room. Caroline prepared to separate bedrooms for us, but Hazel & I decided to share a bed.. hehe...

Morning view over the field of greens - refreshing

Well, bcuz of our host's background - she's a widow and participates actively in many community activities, she didnt have time to personally cook food for us when the organiser was telling how good a cook she is. I was really looking forward to a cosy homecooked meal like a mini family gathering with our host. I just tried to convince myself that she just didnt have time for it, and probably the weekend we were there coincides with her busy schedule.

This is because, the first activity we did was to attend an AGM meeting with her in a pub. So Hazel and I just walked around to take some shots. The pub is just beside a town church, which is just beside her house.

Interior of pub

the pub owner collects coasters from all over the world!

Hazel looking out into the graveyard in front of the church

Next, she brought us to her friend's birthday party - which was the highlight of the day. It's actually her friend's mum's birthday, but she was invited and so brought us along. Her friend is more well-to-do and her house was very warm and nicely decorated.

We all sat the her patio which looks out to her garden. Look at the lunch feast on the table! The entire occasion was like a family gathering cum high-tea session. haha... her friend's uncle and dad will tell us casually bout their days in army back in WWII and how Singapore was just a passing stop for them when they were moving on to HK. haha... Her friend even mentioned that Singapore is an exotic place for them to travel to, and she showed us her 1984 pics when she was in Haw Par Villa! haha... Makes me wonder whatever happened to our famous Tiger Balm Park.

As the typical English lifestyle, tea was served after meals. haha... no, not tea and scones. Just nice warm English tea in small lil' English tea cups to sip from. After that, we walked around her mini orchard across the road.

On Sunday, we were invited to her friend, Mandy's house for a typical English Sunday lunch. It's supposed to be dinner, but because Mandy's hosting 2 other students who needs to leave after lunch, she thought it'd be a good idea for us to gather before they leave :) So, Caroline decided to bake some desserts and we chipped in!

Hazel cutting strawberries while i arranged it... and TADA!

Strawberry flan cake! :D
Caroline also made a super yummy apple crumble which I only had a spoonful from Hazel's plate :S
Before going to Mandy's place, Caroline took us on a spin around the fields. We spotted some cows along the way :)

After another sumptuous lunch at Mandy's place, we headed down to an English beach! Woohoo!~

It looks quite different from the typical beach resorts kinda beach bcuz this is actually an estuarine environment. haha.. cheemo, i just asked Hazel how to spell tht word. Estuarine is where the river enters the sea. haha.. learnt a new geog term :)

Cute boy walking along the beach.

Alot of families will come here during the summer.

there's even a beach tram! and what's a day at the beach without ice-cream? :)

After a long day out, we're back at Caroline's place doing what English does best. Drink tea!

Nosy hens ...

Finally, what I was looking forward to. A nice homecooked meal prepared by our host. Well, in the end, it's nice of her bringing us to their friend's place to have really feastlike English meals. I still think it's the best when we can just sit down to have a meal prepared by our host :)

A last pic with our host Caroline :)

On the way back, fields of grapeseed plant flowers bloom...

Come to think of it, this homestay was pretty interesting afterall. It was more fun for Hazel cuz Caroline was very knowledgeable in Geog stuff, so they've got alot to talk about. Well, I just listen and learn and have a good time :)

First sight of snow!

2008-04-30T01:12:00.000+08:00

The day the four of us, YS JY Derek & I, bid Hazel and Ben goodbye, it snowed. It started as what looks like specs of dust flying around, so we were quite skeptical. It's coming end of March, we thought it's Spring and won't see snow again.

Then suddenly, all these white specs started falling faster and faster and I heard someone shout from behind - "It's snowing!!!".

Well, it stopped for about 10-15mins later, but heck. I just saw snow falling from the sky for the first time in my life! Nice :)

Prague - a Czech day

2008-04-30T00:17:00.000+08:00

On the last day in Prague, we decided to do everything Czech - Czech food, Czech souvenir hunting, Czech marionette performance...

Early in the morning, we headed to Kava Kava Kava again. haha. Just had to go back to the hot choc the others ordered the night before.

Then went back to the Easter market beside the Astronomical Clock Tower. We tried this snack called "Langose". It's a large piece of dough (which I can't finish) with tomato sauce and cheese spread over it. I think Hazel and Ben started first, when we saw em eating... we just gotta try it. Then gradually it became a Czech food trying session in the market. hehe...

Yisi and I each having a piece of Langose, which i eventually couldn't finish and had to share w other guys :P

Strawberry & banana covered w choc...

which Yisi cannot resist :)

JY having a huge hotdog for breakfast

Deep fried bread sticks covered with cinnamon and sugar - super-duper yummy! haha...

After that we walked back to Charles Bridge again. Yes, AGAIN. sorry to kp bringing you to Charles Bridge, haha.. actually wanted to catch change of guards outside the palace, but cuz were lazying around in Kava, and taking our time to try Czech snacks, we missed it. One of the end towers of Charles Bridge is accessible to visitors i.e. you can climb up the tower to get a panoramic view across the river. We found out that we gotta pay, and being students on budget... we took photos from openings of the tower along the way up. hehe.

the tower on Charles Bridge where you can go to the top

Crossing the Charles Bridge to the Castle...

Up to the top with a really nice view of Prague Again...

somehow the 3 of us just look spas in this pic.

Ben trying to act cool in his aviator shades =P

There's a lot less visitors to Prague Castle cuz it's a Monday.

And amazingly, weekdays DO make a difference. The day before, you'd have to queue at least an hour to get into the Gothic cathedral. Monday - nobody! This Gothic church looks impressive on the outside, and the stained glasses are really pretty.

view of gothic cathedral from outisde

Gargoyles perched on the edges are characteristic of gothic cathedrals. They're not to scare pple or devils away, there really there to drain water off cuz the mouth of gargoyles are pipe openings :)

As night falls, we indulged in Czech dinner! Found a restaurant at the top of the hill, and the view overlooking Prague was breathtaking.

I tried Czech dumplings. Really different concept from Chinese dumplings. It's nice eating the first one.. when i reached the last one, i was so tired of it cuz they're just too starchy. Well, but it's still a nice meal :)

Some night pics courtesy of YS and JY :

'Don Giovanni' is called the 'Operas of Opera' composed by W.A. Mozart. Since it's specially composed for the Czechs and it's a marionette performance, we had to watch it! Killing 2 birds w 1 stone~ :)
This is the stage of the marionette performance. These marionettes, unlike the souvenir kind sold at shops, are size of 8-9 year old kids. Really big. Just imagine Sesame Street, but these marionettes are controlled from the top. The entire opera was sang in its original language - Italian. The entire performace was quite funny, and puppeteers controlled them very well, injecting humourous scenes in between.

Puppeteers showing themselves at the end of the performance :)

Pitstop 2 - Prague, Czech Republic

2008-04-25T04:33:00.000+08:00

The city of Prague is uniquely colourful and rich in culture and at the same time dark and mysterious when night falls. Czech Republic is one of the city not occupied during WWI and WWII, so most of its architecture are untouched and retained their old splendor. Our journey to Prague started by taking DB train from Berlin. Oh did I mention DB trains are like the best and most efficient in Europe? Even their train stations are huge! macham stacking Citylink in multiple levels :)

This is the bottom most level which we're taking our train.

Our train gg to Prague, aka Praha Waiting for our train + train tracks :)

Checking into our hostel - 6 bed bunk all to ourselves :)

Our first sight of Prague outside our hostel.

interesting toilet :P

View from National Museum

This cross on the grounds in front of National Museum is a memorial for a protestor who burnt himself alive in his protest against Communist invasion

Along the streets of Wenceslas Square

Hazel researched on a well-known cafe called 'Kava Kava Kava' (Kava = coffee). We thought this was the one, so went in to take a look

Aiyo... from the background u can tell it's a SUPER ARTAs cafe. lol... we stared at the menu. Too ex. Walked out. haha

There's 2 Easter markets when we were there. Markets here are much nicer than our pasar malams cuz they decorate up for Easter! hehe... they sell souvenirs, loads of local snacks and food.

Super huge grilling pork

different stalls at the Easter market

VERY PRETTY Easter eggs! Guess what I'm having for breakfast? :P
Super long hotdog! lol... ok i still look v sleepy. ZZzz..

This is one of their very popular local snack. Basically bread rings with sugar on top. We see these kinda stalls repeatedly around the market.

More pretty eggs~~

On our way to Old town square :)
OOoh~...Sex museum. Kinky~ =x

The ever so famous and over-rated astrology clock. I'll show u why later.

Paiseh, i stupidly took the video in portrait. haha. ALOT of tourists will gather around the square to catch the 'amazing' action when the clock strikes the hour: Keep your eyes on the rectangular openings at the top.

This is what makes Prague beautiful. Cobbled streets with buildings neatly packed together side by side, each with their own design and colour :)

Easter Market no. 2

As we walk further on, we keep seeing these puppets:

They're called 'Marionettes'. a form of puppet art. There's Marionette performances too, which we caught on the second night :)

View along Charles Bridge

Finally walked to the end of Charles Bridge. Through this entrance leads us to Prague Castle

When most of the people are illiterate, all they need to do is look at the picture on top to tell em what the shops are selling. Picture speaks a thousand words...

This sells violins...

and this sells horses :)

Road up to Prague Castle which is the highest point...
Then lo and behold...!

Prague Castle gate...

The guard look so =_="

Flag's up! President is in :)

Impressive Gothic church within the castle

The road down to have beer in a medieval pub :D

Walking back along Charles Bridge again

Marionette peformance theatre...and more marionettes :)

Cool antique sight-seeing cars

and horse-carriages

This statue is taken outside the theatre which Mozart first came and performed. Oh, Mozart is VERY well-loved in Prague. And alot of the marionette performances are Don Giovanni - the opera Mozart composed especially for Prague :)

Super cute kid!

Walked back to the Old Town Square to explore the Easter market.

Gingerbread pastry stall

I got no idea why these sheeps and goats are here...

a lady at her stall decorating eggs

This street is called Parizska - Paris Street, where all the really artaz brands are.

cartier...CarTier...CARTIER~

Walked up this hill called Letenske Sady

Charles bridge is the one with many arches and statues

Really huge pendulum/metronome on the peak

Sunset...

Walked back to Old Town Square. haha...we're like walking about in circles.

Anyway, night falls and the market lights up :)

chocolates and popcorns and nuts

and a Really beautiful sunset sky

After that we found the real Kava Kava Kava - offers free internet, free wi-fi, and great coffee :)

Had a glass of iced-choc-machiato before we retreat for the day.

Yawnz...End of Day 1 in Prague.

Hearty Lunch

2008-04-23T20:21:00.000+08:00

Have been cooking since day 1 in lufbra. Now i've honed my cooking skills.. and my forte is frying vege. lol...
Today's lunch, yisi wanted to try frying rolled up egg, while i do my usual :)

my creation 1

yisi added bah-hu~

yisi's creation - rolled up egg with ham and cheese

I added ketchup :)

and made it my creation no. 2!
haha... yisi, derek and jy are totally grossed out. muahaha... *whatever*~

BSB here I come~!!!

2008-04-21T05:23:00.000+08:00

When we were still travelling in London, we stumbled upon this poster.

BSB IS COMING TO LONDON!!! I've missed their concert when they were in Singapore, and as long time BSB fan... I'm gg to catch their concert at O2 Arena! ^.^ Muahahaha. Definitely the next highlight of my stay here. Looking forward! Counting down 24days~ WEee~~

Berlin - Potsdam

2008-04-21T01:01:00.000+08:00

Day 2 in Berlin, we visited this place called Potsdam, further out from Brandenburg (central of Berlin). The area Potsdam is the home of royal family and the main attraction is Schloss Sanssouci. This place is so fantasy like - once u look at the architecture it feels so extravagant and artistic. It's my favourite palace in the whole of Easter trip!

Taking double-decker train to Potsdam! super cool~ haha...

Hazel & I @ Potsdam station

Some sights we see along the way to Potsdam :)

Super funky Derek~ hahaha..

Finally entering Sanssouci :)

SCHLOSS SANSSOUCI!
Sad to say... our guide to Potsdam was very lousy. haha... So i only know the main palace is called Sanssouci. all those that u see above, i got no idea what they are. Only know the green coloured house is called Green House and it's under UNESCO heritage site. haha... but still, other architecture are beautiful :)

Since the guide tour was pretty lousy... this means it's time for camwhore! ^^

This place is just huge! vast! We thought we're finished with the palace and decided to walk another path away. It led us to even more discovery and another magnificent palace!

Chinesisches Haus = Chinese House. Easy right...

Just trees and sunset... *dreamy*

Alas, end of Potsdam. What's for dinner? In Germany, of course sausages are a MUST! hehe...

Pitstop 1 - Berlin

2008-04-18T16:59:00.000+08:00

The jouurney of our 4.5wks Easter trip begins in Berlin, Germany (Pitstop number 1). We started out with 6 pple altogether - Hazel, Ben, Yisi, Derek, Jinyang and myself :)

I would say this Easter trip began way before we even stepped into the plane. It all started w all the planning, bookings, printing of hostel maps and realising that German trains are on strike!!! haha...Germany is dominated by this train company called 'DB Bahn'. I think part of the subsidiary train co (the U-Bahn) is on strike. Luckily, it didnt affect us because the S-Bahn is up and running :)

Talk about war history, I think no other place in the world can beat the country of Germany. (except, maybe... China) No wonder it's a dreamland for history students. In these 3 days in Berlin, I've learnt so much about its history and had so much emotions for this city. From Kings to revolutions, Hitler, Nazi, WWI & II, communists, suppression, spies, holocausts, Jews... All wrapped up into story of one city. It's A-mazing.

walking under the tracks of closed down U-Bahn due to strikes

Grabbing breakfast :)

One thing you'll realise when u reach Berlin, is the amount of graffiti one can see. It's practically EVERYWHERE. on trains, subways, walls of buildings (which u can never understand how those pple can reach those places). Nice ones, ugly ones, illegible ones. haha...

This is an example of a nice one :)

Oh yeah, always look out for free tours :) Stumbled upon this brochure for Free Walking Tours (they run based on tips). First stop was Butenburger Square.

Brandenburg Gate

The Quadriga - which Napolean stoled and after Germans beat the French, put it back on Brandenburg Gate.

The hotel which Michael Jackson dangled the baby boy out of the window. (rmbr tht incident??)

A statue in Brandenburg gate

Reichstag - Parliament House

Our guide with the Jewish memorial in the background.

This memorial for Jewish Holocaust victims was designed such tht they look like tombstones, yet they aren't. When you walk through, these stones will gradually tower above, and everywhere you look when u're inside, it's the same. Supposed to make one feel the fear, lost and loneliness of the Jews when they were deported.

The spot where Hitler committed suicide.

Large overhead pipes to drain swamp water away from a construction site. Berlin's a marshy swampland.

Builing scarred with shells and bullet holes from WWII.

More graffiti

Communist propaganda drawings on what used to be SS(Nazi army) HQ. Now the building is the tax office.

Berlin Wall as viewed from East Berlin - thus the bare walls

The trabi-Safari. When the communists barred everything that demonstrates democracy, they came up with their own brand of cars called the Trabi-Safari. Made up of cardboard and plastic, and runs on mixture of oil and gas. Max speed 60-70mph. Now, any tourists can rent any one of these to go about Berlin.

The West Berlin wall

BOO!

Charlie Checkpoint - the famous checkpoint on West Berlin side where many East Berliners tried to bypass.

think this is a theatre.. haha

Opera house

TV tower and the Dom on museum island

In the Neue Wache - commemorates victims of war and tyranny

Over to museum island... the Berliner Dom

Camwhoring on museum island :D

Hazel and I sharing a tub for shower.. hee

Perverted Ben =_="

oops! naked butt

Love these series of statues :)

Hm.. let me identify those shoes - pointing at the TV tower, that's me. anti-cw: Derek, Jinyang, Yisi :)

Neue Wache

Germany flag :: Berlin flag

Berlin Bears!

See any difference in both traffic lights? haha.. the one in front is called 'Ample Man'. Can only be found in East Berlin :)

Reichstag + Camwhore

There's a glass dome which is open to the public which is directly over the parliament house. Whenever politicians are having parliamentary sessions, all they need to do is to look up, and remind themselves that it's the people of the country that have the say, not dictatorship.

Yisi

Derek and his funny poses :P

Architecture within the dome...

Memorial for all the victims who tried to escape from East to West Berlin.

I think Berlin is a city not only for sightseeing, it's a city where you can actually feel for the people both past and present because of the rich history. For the people who fought hard for revolution, for the innocent victims of atrocities carried out by Nazis... and finally the liberation of iron-fist of east Berlin. It's all these political transitions, grandeur of buildings & monuments, emotions and freedom that makes Berlin a really beautiful place. :)

Birmingham :)

2008-04-18T06:56:00.000+08:00

While we're still on our weekend trip, Hazel and I decided to drop by Birmingham for shopping spree~! haha... so I shun bian met up with Xixian who's doing her SEP at Birmingham Uni :)

First time taking a train within UK.

View of the train tracks at Coventry Station

Hazel taking her seat on the train :)

Reached Birmingham! :D

Biggest mall in Birmingham - Bullring

Within the mall, there's a Jellybean corner at the basement. Once we're down the escalator we saw this HUGE bull made up of jellybeans! And of course Easter's round the corner, there are loads of cute pastries and cookies on sale :)

Taking pics with Xixian and Hazel :)

Krispy Kreme! Have heard all the wonderful stories from Yvonne bout it, and it's my first time trying! haha.. excited :)

Donuts are really great! I think it's better than Donut Factory leh.. haha. *Donut craze* Anyway, we bought a dozen back for the rest to try in Loughborough. Overall, had a have wonderful time with Hazel and Shiwei in Coventry. Squeezing on Ben's bed and slping on the floor.. haha... loved the peace and serenity and vastness at Warwick Castle, girls' talk on the bus we thought we boarded wrongly. It's all memorable, thanks girls! ^.^