jingle bells
the best thing about christmas is the boxing day sale. haha. not really lah, although it does make life more exciting. well, i really enjoy being home in singapore for christmas, and spending it with family and close friends. Once again, my family had a potluck cum gift exchange dinner. it was a very singaporean christmassy spread though, with lontong, bak kut teh and chicken rice. my favourite part was the little cardboard christmas tree, lovingly made by my 11-yr old cousin, decorated with handmade ornaments and surrounded by the various to-be-exchanged gifts. =) yay. christmas gives me such a warm and fuzzy feeling.
then it only got better as i met vin, vee and ckw for a cosy christmas countdown/chat at Swisshotel's Introbar. Originally planned to go Cityscape (fantastic views of the city), but changed our minds after finding out about the $40 charge. At midnight, crackers were popped and we had a little water fight with the waterguns hidden inside. We walked out $20 poorer, but refreshed and happy, with multicoloured paper crowns on our heads and a big smile on our faces. but the night was still young, and at ckw's home in "very central" Hougang, we watched The Santa Clause 2 and played mahjong all night long. what a way to celebrate christmas. =)
It would have been nice spending x'mas with him, that's like the only special occasion that we ever get to spend together. well, we'll just have to make up for it in future. =P but it's nice to know that we're both enjoying ourselves, he in New York, and me in Singapore.
we finally got in touch again...guess my family just never told me he called, and he didn't know to try the hp. well, i'm just glad he's safe, and that all this time i was thinking of him, i was never too far away in his thoughts either.
Wednesday, December 25, 2002
Sunday, December 22, 2002
killing me softly
wonder what's up with him now. Haven't heard anything in a while, and it worries me sick. Is he in germany, or the US or on his way to singapore? sadly, i have no idea. I tell myself to have faith and that he will call soon. but the hours go by, and i get more and more restless. i understand that his airtickets are all unconfirmed, and on standby, meaning that he has to be at the gate before knowing if he's on the flight. and i suppose i've been out, and i just got the hp yesterday. maybe he called, but i didn't know. but i'm so sick of maybes, so sick of telling myself he's okay, so sick of telling myself to trust him to call, and so tired of fighting all this frustration and disappointment.
wonder what's up with him now. Haven't heard anything in a while, and it worries me sick. Is he in germany, or the US or on his way to singapore? sadly, i have no idea. I tell myself to have faith and that he will call soon. but the hours go by, and i get more and more restless. i understand that his airtickets are all unconfirmed, and on standby, meaning that he has to be at the gate before knowing if he's on the flight. and i suppose i've been out, and i just got the hp yesterday. maybe he called, but i didn't know. but i'm so sick of maybes, so sick of telling myself he's okay, so sick of telling myself to trust him to call, and so tired of fighting all this frustration and disappointment.
Thursday, December 19, 2002
trading spaces, changing rooms
mood:
what do you think?
a nice blast of humid, hot air. The first thing to greet me upon my arrival at Changi. yippee. The flight was not too bad. i rather enjoyed the turbulence...the kind that jiggles your cup (filled of course, with orange juice that threatens to slosh all over you) around the tray. It reminds me that i'm somewhere high above the clouds, sitting in a huge hunk of metal powered by uncomfortably tiny engines. Looking out of the window at night, the whirring man-made engines look strangely 'unnatural' against the sky and the blanket of clouds. Like they shouldn't be there at all. It's a miracle, i think, to be on a plane with 200 hundred other people, thousands of feet in the sky. And surreal, to have the stars shining down on you, unwaveringly following you across cities, countries, continents and oceans, as though they were guiding you to a final, safe destination. Well, that's what i tell myself at least. And the rainbow. As the plane left Taipei, i was staring out of the window, wanting to arrive in Singapore real bad. And then suddenly there it was.....not a tiny, faint now-you-see-it-now-you-don't rainbow, but a huge big in-your-face rainbow, the kind that you want EVERYONE to know about. It formed a very pretty multi-coloured halo. i remember thinking: Richard Of York Gave Birth In Vain = Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet. Hmm.. how do you remember the colours of the rainbow? Yar. that settled me down a bit, and i conked out for the next 2 hours. =) i sat next to someone who knew some berkeley friends, and who was headed to singapore to visit his girlfriend. good conversation, pretty much by chance since we both made some seat changes. So, time flew by and he got to see my baby bolster and my ugly sleeping face. poor guy.
So that was that. Now that i'm on solid ground and 'home', i feel traces of apprehension about coming back. That strange feeling of having been suddenly displaced, and shoved into this whole new life. I start calling/emailing/contacting friends, unpacking, replacing all the US stuff in my wallet with singapore ones, getting used to the people around you. I feel like a little bird, flittering around and then suddenly returning to the nest it was born, and starting life there all over again. Then, one day, just as it starts looking and feeling more like the home it knows so well, it flies off again, and things change. I know i will start feeling less this way soon. But it's different this time though, coz he'll probably be in New York with the guys, coz he's not around for me to talk to whenever i want to, coz singapore seem that much emptier without him. But i'm not sad or anything. I hope he gets to new york and has a fantastic time. And for me, i can't wait to catch up with old friends, and meet new ones. What's irritating, is having to leave things hanging in the air. Then coming back the next time and trying to pick up from where i left off.
Oh well, no major complaints though. I've spoken to a couple of close friends, and we got all excited about meeting up (sushi buffet and windsurfing, here i come!). Also, i really want to visit my parents in malaysia. Plus, seeing my grandparents' faces light up....priceless. =) yep. don't complain, don't complain. =)
mood:
what do you think?
a nice blast of humid, hot air. The first thing to greet me upon my arrival at Changi. yippee. The flight was not too bad. i rather enjoyed the turbulence...the kind that jiggles your cup (filled of course, with orange juice that threatens to slosh all over you) around the tray. It reminds me that i'm somewhere high above the clouds, sitting in a huge hunk of metal powered by uncomfortably tiny engines. Looking out of the window at night, the whirring man-made engines look strangely 'unnatural' against the sky and the blanket of clouds. Like they shouldn't be there at all. It's a miracle, i think, to be on a plane with 200 hundred other people, thousands of feet in the sky. And surreal, to have the stars shining down on you, unwaveringly following you across cities, countries, continents and oceans, as though they were guiding you to a final, safe destination. Well, that's what i tell myself at least. And the rainbow. As the plane left Taipei, i was staring out of the window, wanting to arrive in Singapore real bad. And then suddenly there it was.....not a tiny, faint now-you-see-it-now-you-don't rainbow, but a huge big in-your-face rainbow, the kind that you want EVERYONE to know about. It formed a very pretty multi-coloured halo. i remember thinking: Richard Of York Gave Birth In Vain = Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet. Hmm.. how do you remember the colours of the rainbow? Yar. that settled me down a bit, and i conked out for the next 2 hours. =) i sat next to someone who knew some berkeley friends, and who was headed to singapore to visit his girlfriend. good conversation, pretty much by chance since we both made some seat changes. So, time flew by and he got to see my baby bolster and my ugly sleeping face. poor guy.
So that was that. Now that i'm on solid ground and 'home', i feel traces of apprehension about coming back. That strange feeling of having been suddenly displaced, and shoved into this whole new life. I start calling/emailing/contacting friends, unpacking, replacing all the US stuff in my wallet with singapore ones, getting used to the people around you. I feel like a little bird, flittering around and then suddenly returning to the nest it was born, and starting life there all over again. Then, one day, just as it starts looking and feeling more like the home it knows so well, it flies off again, and things change. I know i will start feeling less this way soon. But it's different this time though, coz he'll probably be in New York with the guys, coz he's not around for me to talk to whenever i want to, coz singapore seem that much emptier without him. But i'm not sad or anything. I hope he gets to new york and has a fantastic time. And for me, i can't wait to catch up with old friends, and meet new ones. What's irritating, is having to leave things hanging in the air. Then coming back the next time and trying to pick up from where i left off.
Oh well, no major complaints though. I've spoken to a couple of close friends, and we got all excited about meeting up (sushi buffet and windsurfing, here i come!). Also, i really want to visit my parents in malaysia. Plus, seeing my grandparents' faces light up....priceless. =) yep. don't complain, don't complain. =)
Tuesday, December 03, 2002
Sunday, December 01, 2002
post-heaven
it never seems to get any easier to say goodbye. I wish that time would stand still for a moment, and allow us to lose ourselves in each other without having to contend with the distractions of reality. This week has been wonderful to say the least. I must admit, that it was initially a little strange placing my hand into his, and a little unnerving opening up my heart so completely once again. But in no time at all, all that we have shared together these past few years came flooding back and my poor heart once again felt the familiar warmth of having someone to love, and the joy of being loved in return. It just felt so right, being together. I miss holding his hand...and playing our crazy 'seow ah' silly look-scratch hand game, taking silly pictures in the museum, brushing teeth while jostling for space over the tiny sink, laughing over our abominable german conversations. Yep, it's been more than three and a half years, and things have only gotten better. We accept the little oddities and quirks, and have learnt to share and trust each other completely. We do have our odd quarrels, but that doesn't change the fact that we're still very much in love. yesh, in love...that describes us pretty well. We still feel giddy with every "i love you", and feel warm and tingly with every hug, we laugh together, with and at each other, and we hold hands more than anyone else in the world (or so we think). hmm..i wish i was back in london by his side...no matter how dreary it may be compared to sunny san francisco. i suppose the next time we'll meet will be spring break..which seems like an eternity from today. it's irritating how little time we get to spend together...but we're zai right? thanks for sending me to the airport today...remember..we're ausgezeichnet, ya?
it never seems to get any easier to say goodbye. I wish that time would stand still for a moment, and allow us to lose ourselves in each other without having to contend with the distractions of reality. This week has been wonderful to say the least. I must admit, that it was initially a little strange placing my hand into his, and a little unnerving opening up my heart so completely once again. But in no time at all, all that we have shared together these past few years came flooding back and my poor heart once again felt the familiar warmth of having someone to love, and the joy of being loved in return. It just felt so right, being together. I miss holding his hand...and playing our crazy 'seow ah' silly look-scratch hand game, taking silly pictures in the museum, brushing teeth while jostling for space over the tiny sink, laughing over our abominable german conversations. Yep, it's been more than three and a half years, and things have only gotten better. We accept the little oddities and quirks, and have learnt to share and trust each other completely. We do have our odd quarrels, but that doesn't change the fact that we're still very much in love. yesh, in love...that describes us pretty well. We still feel giddy with every "i love you", and feel warm and tingly with every hug, we laugh together, with and at each other, and we hold hands more than anyone else in the world (or so we think). hmm..i wish i was back in london by his side...no matter how dreary it may be compared to sunny san francisco. i suppose the next time we'll meet will be spring break..which seems like an eternity from today. it's irritating how little time we get to spend together...but we're zai right? thanks for sending me to the airport today...remember..we're ausgezeichnet, ya?
Monday, November 11, 2002
*grumble*
why does everything seem to be going wrong these 2 weeks? it's not the homework or projects that i have piled up...but just the fact that i can't seem to get through a day without something going wrong. why??? can't wait till thanksgiving...then i can slip my hand into his and wish all my worries away. *sigh*
why does everything seem to be going wrong these 2 weeks? it's not the homework or projects that i have piled up...but just the fact that i can't seem to get through a day without something going wrong. why??? can't wait till thanksgiving...then i can slip my hand into his and wish all my worries away. *sigh*
Friday, November 08, 2002
rained in
I've spent everyday this week in lab...need to relax. the semester is drawing to a close, and i can hardly believe it. On one hand it means i'm alot closer to the thanksgiving trip to london, and to going back home....but it means also that i have to rush all the work that's expected of me in the next 2 weeks. I'm taking my research for units this semester, and so i feel so much more obligation to perform good experiments and obtain sufficient results. Yet up till now i've only managed to run 4 experiments...and am still stuck with gene expression. I still have to do protein assays to get good all rounded results to write up on in my final report (which will be graded). I feel like there is so much work to do in so little time. But it's my fault. I get distracted so easily..and some days i just don't wanna come down to lab at all. Hopefully things change with this horrible weather, because on sunny days i'd very much rather be out in the sun than in lab. i don't know how i'm going to do grad school like this. it requires a whole lot of dedication and focussing wholly in research. It is a full time job. And as of now i cannot see myself being indoors from 9-5 everyday...hopefully the year off will help me decide what the next step in my future will be. bah. i hate RT-PCR. it should be called Really Time-consuming Painfully Complicated Reaction instead. *tear hair out*
and the rain. the rain scares the hell out of me. At the lab where i work, the richmond field station, the winds are horribly strong. For the entire night, i sat alone in lab, listening to the howling wind, waiting for a reaction to complete. When i finally got out, i was so worried that my car had been blown away. okay i'm stupid. anywez, it was fine...but i found a boat...yes, a canoe...lying about 10m from the car...in the middle of the road. how exciting... wonder what i'll find tonight. *sigh* Sometimes i wish that he was nearby, and around to comfort me and make things better. The past 3 days have been hard...with conflicts arising here and there....the storm, blackout, a botched experiment....and what makes it even harder is having to constantly check the clock to make sure it's an okay time in Germany before i can call him and pour my heart out.
What Breed of Hamster Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla
took this test to destress...courtesy of die fee.
I've spent everyday this week in lab...need to relax. the semester is drawing to a close, and i can hardly believe it. On one hand it means i'm alot closer to the thanksgiving trip to london, and to going back home....but it means also that i have to rush all the work that's expected of me in the next 2 weeks. I'm taking my research for units this semester, and so i feel so much more obligation to perform good experiments and obtain sufficient results. Yet up till now i've only managed to run 4 experiments...and am still stuck with gene expression. I still have to do protein assays to get good all rounded results to write up on in my final report (which will be graded). I feel like there is so much work to do in so little time. But it's my fault. I get distracted so easily..and some days i just don't wanna come down to lab at all. Hopefully things change with this horrible weather, because on sunny days i'd very much rather be out in the sun than in lab. i don't know how i'm going to do grad school like this. it requires a whole lot of dedication and focussing wholly in research. It is a full time job. And as of now i cannot see myself being indoors from 9-5 everyday...hopefully the year off will help me decide what the next step in my future will be. bah. i hate RT-PCR. it should be called Really Time-consuming Painfully Complicated Reaction instead. *tear hair out*
and the rain. the rain scares the hell out of me. At the lab where i work, the richmond field station, the winds are horribly strong. For the entire night, i sat alone in lab, listening to the howling wind, waiting for a reaction to complete. When i finally got out, i was so worried that my car had been blown away. okay i'm stupid. anywez, it was fine...but i found a boat...yes, a canoe...lying about 10m from the car...in the middle of the road. how exciting... wonder what i'll find tonight. *sigh* Sometimes i wish that he was nearby, and around to comfort me and make things better. The past 3 days have been hard...with conflicts arising here and there....the storm, blackout, a botched experiment....and what makes it even harder is having to constantly check the clock to make sure it's an okay time in Germany before i can call him and pour my heart out.
What Breed of Hamster Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla
took this test to destress...courtesy of die fee.
Friday, November 01, 2002
trick or treat
or 
?
Happy Halloween!! was thinking of joining the throngs of people having a hella great party tonight down at Castro. but as usual, inertia set in. Besides, i wouldn't know what to dress up as. I remember going there in my freshman year. that was fun. 7 of us, 3 girls and 4 guys, packing ourselves into Rob's car (accord..woohoo!!) and paying a bomb for parking. but definitely, the atmostphere was great. People were dancing, posing, and flashing in costumes ranging from wild to beautiful to just plain weird. but everyone was having a wonderful time. Mm. i'm not a part of this big party tonight, so i shan't say anymore...but i hope that hk, f and the rest of u there right now are having lots of fun! =)
well, staying home is not that big a drag too...came across the sanrio homepage..and fell in love with some of the adorabllingest characters with the cutest life stories. i never knew there were so many. i personally like chu-chu ta-co (somehow i like octopusses), Kokko chan, and many many more. some are just so silly sounding, like Landry the Laundry Raccoon or the Seven Silly Dwarfs....*sigh* really know how to pull at heartstrings la...haha..or maybe i just need to grow up. *grinz*
or ?
Happy Halloween!! was thinking of joining the throngs of people having a hella great party tonight down at Castro. but as usual, inertia set in. Besides, i wouldn't know what to dress up as. I remember going there in my freshman year. that was fun. 7 of us, 3 girls and 4 guys, packing ourselves into Rob's car (accord..woohoo!!) and paying a bomb for parking. but definitely, the atmostphere was great. People were dancing, posing, and flashing in costumes ranging from wild to beautiful to just plain weird. but everyone was having a wonderful time. Mm. i'm not a part of this big party tonight, so i shan't say anymore...but i hope that hk, f and the rest of u there right now are having lots of fun! =)
well, staying home is not that big a drag too...came across the sanrio homepage..and fell in love with some of the adorabllingest characters with the cutest life stories. i never knew there were so many. i personally like chu-chu ta-co (somehow i like octopusses), Kokko chan, and many many more. some are just so silly sounding, like Landry the Laundry Raccoon or the Seven Silly Dwarfs....*sigh* really know how to pull at heartstrings la...haha..or maybe i just need to grow up. *grinz*
Monday, October 28, 2002
cha cha cha
well, it was not really chacha, but salsa dancing that i tried last night. It was interesting...tons of people packed into the Allegro Ballroom in Emeryville, all there to enjoy some rest and relax on a sunday night. But no, it wasn't that relaxing after all. The music was great, but after minutes upon minutes of continuous feet tapping and overhead twirls, i felt like i had just gotten a good workout. Also, it was rather strange dancing with so many random guys. we paired up in a huge circle and girls moved around to switch partners once in a while...yeah, kinda like the girl guides 'New Friend Found' campfire song. so i started off dancing with a fellow UC student...but as the lesson progressed i must have danced with men of all ages, heights and races. T'was a little uncomfortable...which took something away from the dancing itself. Oh well, perhaps next time i'll have to drag someone down with me. Nevertheless i still had a wonderful time, and hmm...i'm kinda inspired to take dance classes now.
haven't written much in the past few weeks. I guess i have to be in the right mood to write (this is why i've never been able to keep a journal). But i've been feeling very happy recently. There are just so many things to smile about. =) School has been good to me. Did surprisingly well for all my midterms (and i only have one round *phew*) and quizzes...which really encouraged me to do my homework more consistently and diligently...for about 2 days. Anyway, i will not complain about work, coz in fact, i'm rather thankful. Then i've been trying out stuff with TBP...like i went rock climbing not too long ago at Berkeley Ironworks. Arms were aching, fingers were sore, and now i know for sure, i have a looooooooong way to go to become a decent rockclimber. but, still fun lah. Although I would have enjoyed it more had i gone with people i knew better....so anyone interested in any of these activities? Also, the weather has begun to clear (*cross fingers*) these couple of days. No more hours upon hours of freezing cold and gloominess. Today's weather is simply excellent. I love tank top weather. think i'll go lie in the sun for a bit now. yay! And finally, less than a month to London...yippee!! we've both been really happy with us for really long now. summer was just wonderful..and the magic has kinda lasted till now. *big grin*
NEW FRIEND FOUND
As...we walk to the left and
We walk to the right
And we walk (3x) all night
With a heel and a toe and a half turn a round,
With a heel and a toe and a new friend found.
well, it was not really chacha, but salsa dancing that i tried last night. It was interesting...tons of people packed into the Allegro Ballroom in Emeryville, all there to enjoy some rest and relax on a sunday night. But no, it wasn't that relaxing after all. The music was great, but after minutes upon minutes of continuous feet tapping and overhead twirls, i felt like i had just gotten a good workout. Also, it was rather strange dancing with so many random guys. we paired up in a huge circle and girls moved around to switch partners once in a while...yeah, kinda like the girl guides 'New Friend Found' campfire song. so i started off dancing with a fellow UC student...but as the lesson progressed i must have danced with men of all ages, heights and races. T'was a little uncomfortable...which took something away from the dancing itself. Oh well, perhaps next time i'll have to drag someone down with me. Nevertheless i still had a wonderful time, and hmm...i'm kinda inspired to take dance classes now.
haven't written much in the past few weeks. I guess i have to be in the right mood to write (this is why i've never been able to keep a journal). But i've been feeling very happy recently. There are just so many things to smile about. =) School has been good to me. Did surprisingly well for all my midterms (and i only have one round *phew*) and quizzes...which really encouraged me to do my homework more consistently and diligently...for about 2 days. Anyway, i will not complain about work, coz in fact, i'm rather thankful. Then i've been trying out stuff with TBP...like i went rock climbing not too long ago at Berkeley Ironworks. Arms were aching, fingers were sore, and now i know for sure, i have a looooooooong way to go to become a decent rockclimber. but, still fun lah. Although I would have enjoyed it more had i gone with people i knew better....so anyone interested in any of these activities? Also, the weather has begun to clear (*cross fingers*) these couple of days. No more hours upon hours of freezing cold and gloominess. Today's weather is simply excellent. I love tank top weather. think i'll go lie in the sun for a bit now. yay! And finally, less than a month to London...yippee!! we've both been really happy with us for really long now. summer was just wonderful..and the magic has kinda lasted till now. *big grin*
NEW FRIEND FOUND
As...we walk to the left and
We walk to the right
And we walk (3x) all night
With a heel and a toe and a half turn a round,
With a heel and a toe and a new friend found.
Thursday, October 24, 2002
*sigh* those americans...
a london review on some website, by an american (surprise surprise):
To your left. To your left. To your left.
I'm fairly certain that the British proclivity for doing everything to the left is not just a product of Tony Blair's government. I recall hearing about this driving on the left thing even when Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister.
So, to all the other cultures, most without nuclear weapons and a Hostage Rescue Team that could abduct our political leaders and steal off into the night without detection, who continue to say that the U.S. is a big problem to the world for sticking with the English system of measurement -- despite even the English having hurriedly tossed it aside like a prophylactic wrapper before an elevator interlude -- I say look at those same English. Most of the rest of the world (civilized and otherwise) drives to the right. We board escalators to the right. By gosh, we even tend to walk to the right on crowded sidewalks. Being different for the sake of being different isn't cool... it's annoying. And it's un-American. Fix it.
a london review on some website, by an american (surprise surprise):
To your left. To your left. To your left.
I'm fairly certain that the British proclivity for doing everything to the left is not just a product of Tony Blair's government. I recall hearing about this driving on the left thing even when Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister.
So, to all the other cultures, most without nuclear weapons and a Hostage Rescue Team that could abduct our political leaders and steal off into the night without detection, who continue to say that the U.S. is a big problem to the world for sticking with the English system of measurement -- despite even the English having hurriedly tossed it aside like a prophylactic wrapper before an elevator interlude -- I say look at those same English. Most of the rest of the world (civilized and otherwise) drives to the right. We board escalators to the right. By gosh, we even tend to walk to the right on crowded sidewalks. Being different for the sake of being different isn't cool... it's annoying. And it's un-American. Fix it.
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