28th Nov 2007 - What Mommy said...

It’s nearly the end of the week. School has became a little more relaxing now that I’ve finished some of my assignments, so there isn’t a need to go for some labs, thus freeing up some spare time for myself. Anyway to the lads in Singapore, good luck for your exams! It should be over in approximately a week I reckon. I didn’t intend to blog, but upon request from my Mom, I’m as such obliged to do so(remember I’m a filial son?). So here it goes…

(Some Background Information)
rosalind says:
the gala dinner yesterday nite was very grand
rosalind says:
it was emcee by this MTV girl, i think. her name is sonia mc.... something.
åien@ted says:
how was e food?
rosalind says:
they had the beauty world cast on plus the singer george chan
åien@ted says:
who's george chan
rosalind says:
food was so so, a 4 course dinner
åien@ted says:
beauty world?
rosalind says:
it's a singing and dance troupe
rosalind says:
this george was also featured in some of the mag like 8 days, and others mag dealing with mtv

(And now, the reason for putting this on my blog)
rosalind says:
at the dinner your daddy said mummy looked beautiful tonite
åien@ted says:
haha
rosalind says:
all the male guests wore jackets /tie or bowtie. most lady guests wore long evening gowns
rosalind says:
mummy just said thank you.
åien@ted says:
then what did u weaR?
åien@ted says:
cheongsam?
rosalind says:
put what dad said on your blog so he can remember what he say?

(Sidetracking now)
rosalind says:
åien@ted says:
icic
åien@ted says:
u have a gown? haha
rosalind says:
last min managed to hunt down one + a $100 shoe + evening bag.
rosalind says:
dad and me were giggling like small kids, you know
åien@ted says:
icic
rosalind says:
cos he said his christian dior jacket managed to see daylight for the 1st time
rosalind says
I wore a blue gown

rosalind says:
me, after so long, dressing to the nines since uncle peter's wedding
rosalind says:
the only thing missing is a big blue stone like the sapphire in the titanic
åien@ted says:
...
åien@ted says:
u all crazy or what
åien@ted says:
talk until so excited
rosalind says:
so i hinted to dad that the next thing is a pretty necklace
rosalind says:
what, u not happy for mum?
åien@ted says:
happy .. really happy.. give me more money pls
åien@ted says:
never worn a gown before?
rosalind says:
the last time i wore a full gown was my own engagement dinner
rosalind says:
so u know how long ago, right
åien@ted says:
because after that u got fat
åien@ted says:
hahahaha
rosalind says:
right
rosalind says:
then all my old gowns cant fit

NB: Certain text has been omitted or edited to protect the confidentiality of the writer and all those involved. Any resemblance is purely coincidental.

24th Nov 2007 - Sleepless in Durham

It has been 10 days since I last blogged. These 10 days were mundane, nothing much worth mentioning. I did a little catching up with my international friends this week, since I haven’t seen them for the past 3 weeks or so. It’s always nice to set aside some time to catch up with friends, in a way, reckon it’s a little luxury in itself? This warm and fuzzy feeling of being surrounded by friends… and being abroad all alone actually accentuates this warmth. I tried to go on a “money” strike for the past 2 weeks, and its success was lukewarm. Despite cutting back on my daily spending, grocery shopping really upset my “grand” plan of saving money. Haha, I don’t even know why I’m talking about this, think perhaps there isn’t much to write on? Anyway, just suddenly changing your lifestyle can push one to the brink of insanity! Hee, perhaps I’m exaggerating but it’s not easy to do so especially when you’re already not living in luxury all the time.

Yesterday, I was so wrecked when I went for my laboratory session. I was so tired while walking down to my venue and out of the blue, I thought my vision became blurred. I saw fine whitish specks in the air and I thought to myself, is the air so dusty? I looked around and I saw there was construction going on about the area, thus leading me to the conclusion of “dirty” air. Surprisingly, about half an hour later, my laboratory room was filled with squeals of delight and wonder. It was snowing outside! Haha, my British friends asked if I’ve seen snow before and upon finding out that I haven’t, one of them brought me outside to “play” with snow. I felt like a small kid once again, like in the movies where children get so fascinated by snow. It was only snowing lightly and for a short period of time but I did manage to catch some snow =)

Sleepless in Durham has become something of a common “theme” for me now. Being unable to sleep well at night took its toll on me. I have become something like a walking zombie, with my friends rubbing it in… “you always look so tired”. However, I still managed to impress people. I kid you not, everyone was so surprised when I styled my hair for the 1st time since arriving in UK. They all complimented that it looked good and asked if I did go to the salon for a haircut or went there to style my hair which I obviously didn’t. My mom said that I would come back with a pony tail, so I have to be filial and do so accordingly! Actually, the reasons why I didn’t bother about my hair were laziness, lack of hair styling wax (haha, I only had a ¼ of tub left, so I had to use sparingly) and lastly, there wasn’t anyone to impress. Maybe I’m lying but I did tell someone before, if I don’t look good now and yet I manage to attract people, isn’t it all the more better? So when I start to groom myself again, haha she would be so impressed!

Tonight, there’s an Arabic party going on at the postgraduate college. I was invited by my tutor to attend the party and it seems pretty fun. After all, I’m in UK to receive exposure and experience the various cultures of the world right? Not going would be utterly rude haha… alright, I’m just giving myself an excuse to attend. Yup, I’m kind of looking forward to it since the past 10 days were quite horrible… Next week would be packed with more activities though it means having to spend more money =(

Lastly, this Taiwanese drama “转角遇到爱” that my friend recommended me to watch was delightfully and absolutely entertaining. I would highly recommend it to anyone who understands Chinese haha! This show kept my loneliness at bay as I lived through my palate-less week. I feel that my life is like a stage, or rather like a drama. Is this what I hope for, to live life in a fantasy setting, reconstructing the numerous scenes that can supposedly only occur in movies? If I had a wish, what would I wish for? If I could, I would want my story to not only unfold but to also conclude as in a drama. Hopefully in time to come, my days would be filled with florid moments… and memories... of 她&他.

14th Nov 2007 - A fantasy week filled with the fireworks of life

The whole of last week, weekend and weekdays inclusive, was nothing short of magical for me. The days seemed to be devoured quickly with the passage of time. Perhaps it is due to the impending winter, or was it due to the special moments which I shared with others?

Probably the highlight was on Friday whereby I played with fireworks for the 1st time in my life. It’s actually pretty similar to what we do in the army, like laying trip flares and firing off some explosives. Mixing around with a Singaporean crowd once again brought back a sense of familiarity. The usage of Singlish combined with Hokkien words and phrases reminded me of typical army days. Anyway, we managed to set the sky ablaze by the numerous and thunderous fireworks and it was quite a sight! Haha, not only that, we managed to shoot some of the fireworks into one of the colleges accidentally. We were firing them off by the river banks and across the river was one of the colleges, so due to the strong winds, some of the fireworks didn’t fly up high into the sky but instead, across the river into the colleges. Imagine if you’re showering and you see something bright heading towards you? However, doubt they’re any windows in the toilets anyway…

After the fireworks, both Singaporeans and Hongkongers went to Varsity, which is a bar, for drinks. We had some friendly competitions such as a “boat race”. People would queue up in a line and finish off their drinks, turn by turn, in one go. The first line to reach the end and finish their drinks wins the “boat race”. Well, being army trained, we Singaporeans managed to do Singapore proud by winning both the Durham HK society team as well as the Newcastle HK society team. Guess this is the result of going through army?

Following the drinks at Varsity, my friend came over to join me. I was really impressed by her that night. She was looking gorgeous and she made me felt so underdressed. I still have no idea why she dressed up and put on make up that night when we were just meeting for drinks. The night went by very pleasantly, in fact, pleasant isn’t the correct word to use but I just can’t seem to find the words to describe it. I could only say, it was as though the night was laced and sprinkled with wonder dust… and the remnants of the wonder dust remained through till Monday. It was, yet another wondrous weekend, which no words could aptly describe. Probably any description would not befit the days that passed so heavenly!

Last Tuesday was the first time someone cooked for me, besides my maid, and I was really surprised by it. I really appreciated her cooking for me because I was sick. It was really nice and sweet of her to do so. She even prepared honey lemon water for me as it would soothe my throat and she didn’t allow me to go back till I finished the cup of honey lemon water. Haha, she also gave me her honey and lemons so I could make it myself. But, I didn’t do so because I was just too lazy to prepare the drink. I told her that I would drink if she prepared it for me! Hehe, cunning me… You know, it was strange that she suggested cooking for me on Tuesday because I actually intended to cook for her on Wednesday because she was flying off. She beaten me to cooking for her by a day earlier, and she had no clue that I wanted to cook a meal for her. Is this a case of serendipity?

On Wednesday, it was my turn to cook for her. I dare say it turned out good enough because she complimented my cooking. Anyway, some background information, she can’t really cook haha, so my cooking’s nicer than hers! But I feel that it’s not the taste of the food that matters, it’s more of the thought and company that matters, with the exception of my maid cooking haha.

I think I basically summed up my entire last week, though I don’t want to go into too much detail… a little imagination or fantasy wouldn’t harm anyone right?

5th Nov 2007 - Wondrous Weekend

Today is my 55th day abroad. Time really flies, having been in the UK for nearly 2 months already. I realized that I enjoy my weekends in UK so much more than in Singapore, so much so that they go by in a blink of an eye. Weekends in Singapore would just be spent on studying, studying and more studying. There wasn’t a differentiating factor between weekends and weekdays back then. Now, you must be wondering why I keep droning on and on about weekends right? Hehe, I had a wondrous weekend. I’m not sure if it’s my nicest weekend in UK, but I daresay I enjoyed it thoroughly.

Although it was a meager weekend, with only 2 days which is stating the obvious, I felt like I’d gone through more than what 2 whole days should encompass. I went to the Metrocentre twice, just to find a suitable winter coat but the stock didn’t arrive, which is really a shame. On my escapades to Newcastle, I encountered a few funny incidents such as a group of very jovial, bordering on the brink of being rowdy, Leeds fans who were on their way to Newcastle. I reckon there was a match being scheduled there, and they were running up and down the train, cheering, singing, shouting and dancing on board the train. It was as though they chartered the train, but they didn’t bother any of the passengers except with the decibels they were creating. That aside, they were indeed pretty comical. It’s something you don’t get to see in Singapore, so I tried to record a video of them secretly, after following my friend’s suggestion haha.

I felt like I was living life in a movie as well last weekend. It was as though I was in a fantasy world where realism had no place in it. I was walking with my friend along the streets in the midst of the night, only to be stunned with sudden loud bangs echoing through the darkness of the night. We gazed upwards towards the sky, only to be greeted by the fabulous sight of fireworks brilliantly lighting up the otherwise gloomy night. Isn’t it like a scene from the movies, where fireworks can coincidentally occur while one is walking along the riverbanks or crossing a bridge, creating such a romantic setting?

Besides being caught in the brilliance of fireworks, I was unfortunate enough to get caught in the rain as well. Haha, not only was it wet, but it was cold as well. However, it was quite a memorable walk in the rain for me. Perhaps it’s my 1st time being caught in the rain in UK or was there another reason? Hehe, shall leave it to your imagination!

Oh yes, I was also pretty unlucky! I actually missed the last train back to Durham from Newcastle. Gosh, I didn’t realize that there was a last train because in London, trains are like running through the night I think? And it was quite a surprised because I was at the train station slightly before 10pm and the last train back to Durham had already left. How irritating and annoying! Thankfully, I approached another couple and asked them about the electronic boards being totally black (i.e. display-less). It was through them that I found out I missed the last train, and so did they haha. With a stroke of luck, this couple also happened to be heading back to Durham, so we ended sharing a taxi back to Durham. It cost 30 idiotic pounds! But thanks to the taxi ride, I received my 1st British pecks on the cheeks, to be exact, it was thrice… and she was pretty as well! My companion could testify to that.

Many other incidents happened throughout this weekend, albeit it was only 2 days. I witnessed someone slipping and falling unglamorously, a British girl coming up to me and asking me for 40 pence at the train station, some British punks who tried to be funny with me, thankfully I managed to walk away unscathed by pretending I didn’t understanding English and ignore the fact they were hurling abuses and insults.

All in all, it was a lovely weekend, with great food as well. Dad & Mom, I heeded your advice to dine at a restaurant haha! I had my 1st Japanese meal in UK and it was surprisingly not bad. Not as good as in Singapore for the price of it, but it was seriously quite tasty and appetizing… Alright, time to collect my laundry though I’m really lazy and it’s freezing cold now. The weather’s crazy today, sigh, I dislike windy days.