canadian. for a while.

Home.

2006-06-29T12:57:00.000-04:00

It's been about three weeks since I touched down in Singapore.

After three weeks, things have finally begun to settle down, and finally, I really begin to feel the slow wind-down of the engine, and finally, I can perhaps breathe and sigh, "I'm home."

Things have been quite a whirl since I got back.

Emotions have also been on an (unwilling) roller-coaster ride. Or rides.

But I'm really home.

Home.

HOME.

Mm. Helps when you type it out a few times.

I'm reading some of my friends' blogs and I'm amazed by what they've been up to since they got back. Where did they get all that energy from?

Anyway. It's a quiet night. Feels like a lulling boat on a dark, empty ocean. Clear moonlight, and loads of little stars. Pregnant with a huge, suspended breath.

Good night. ;)

[Will try to update about the backpacking trip in Europe soon.]

I Am Cookie Monster!!

2006-06-28T12:22:00.000-04:00

Hi Cookie!!

You Are Cookie Monster

Misunderstood as a primal monster, you're a true hedonist with a huge sweet tooth.

You are usually feeling: Hungry. Cookies are preferred, but you'll eat anything if cookies aren't around.

You are famous for: Your slightly crazy eyes and usual way of speaking

How you life your life: In the moment. "Me want COOKIE!"

The Sesame Street Personality Quiz

I'm BACK!

2006-06-07T12:56:00.000-04:00

Hi hi!

I'm BACK! :D:D

Will update soon. This is JetLag week. :D

MUACKIES~!

Later peeps. :)

Greetings from Quebec City!

2006-05-10T20:18:00.000-04:00

Hey hey!!! Sorry for the super long absence.

After the arrival of Q, everything has just been in a huge whirl. First we zoom-zoomed off to my residence, stayed one night, and zoom-zoomed off to Don and Grace's place the next day, stayed a couple more days, and zoom-zoomed off to Toronto, followed by Ottawa, Montreal, and now we are in Quebec city!!!

Hahaha. Internet access is highly limited (or slow), so I will only be updating very, very infrequently. This is just to let everyone know we are okay, having fun, and everything has been lovely. :):)

I'll try to put up a countdown for home soon. :D:D Leaving Quebec city tomorrow and heading back to Don and Grace's, so...

Till then!! :):)

(Typing this on FRENCH KEYBOARD on a MAC system is pretty trying. SO APPRECIATE IT YOU GUYS!! :D )

ONE DAY!!!

2006-04-27T17:24:00.000-04:00

OMG I can hardly sit still and wait!!!

Once I get back, I'm going to occupy myself, go and sleep, and VOILA it's FRIDAY!!! Then I'm gonna pack up ALL my stuff, clean up my room, arrange everything nice and tidy for my darling's arrival! I'm gonna play some music to keep my company, AHHH yes play the CD my sister got for me (HUGS!) and spend some quiet time.

OH MY GOODNESS I FORGOT to say. Because I extended my stay here for one more week, we have to do work duties. DO YOU KNOW I HAVE TO CLEAN UP THE COMMON ROOM!?!?!?!? It has I think TWO WEEKS OF GARBAGE in there, and I HAVE TO CLEAN IT UP!!!! (Because the previous DM didn't do his job, APPARENTLY).

I am so MAD!! Growl. I kinda knew it would happen... but still!!! :( Gah.

Anyway, the thing is, after I sleep tonight and wake up tomorrow, my next waking moment will be to SEE MY DARLING AT THE AIRPORT!!!!~ YAY!! :):):)

It's a looooooooooong way to the airport, but I hope I've got everything settled. *keeps fingers crossed* I realized I get very stressed up about travel plans and everytime I think of them I get a splitting headache.

Yes, Grace! I finally realize the true reason for my headaches. I didn't tell you guys about my headaches right? Yah. When I was writing my Canadian paper, I had such a huge headache I really kinda blanked out. I think that's because I studied too much and worked too hard that week (wrote three essays and two exams).

Then when I went over to their place for the weekend, the headache persisted and only went away after much TLC (Tender Loving Care!) from Don and Grace. Haha. On Monday I had to think about my last essay again and also the VIA Rail stuff, and made sure I had all the Canada travel plans settled, so the headache came on again.

NOW, I've been sitting at this computer in the Davis Centre (DC holds one of the few libraries on campus) for about three hours. Sending emails to make sure I've got the Toronto stuff down pat (so I won't get lost on Saturday!!!). Mind you, it's a three-hour PLUSPLUS journey to the airport!!

And also, I've been checking out potential accomodations for our Europe tour. Whilst the Canada trip is nice and ready, Europe is pretty much UNPLANNED. We've got the Railpass, and my birthday in Venice, but that's about it. Hahahahahaha.

Yups. So after looking at all that, and worrying about every damn thing, I am having another headache. Hahahaha. Yay. But typing all that out now I feel much better. :):)

I MISS MY PAPA AND MAMA, LISA AND CHARLIEBOY!!!! *sniffles!!* Sending you all loads of HUGS and KISSES ok!! *muacks muacks!!* :)

Alrighty. I'll be heading back to my room now. :):) Later~~! :)

Blank.

2006-04-26T20:36:00.000-04:00

I am finally DONE. DONE FOR GOOD FOR WATERLOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hahahhahhahaa. Finished my last essay. It was very super sloppy but I really, really just wanted to get it done! And now it is! Hahahah. Oh well. I tried my best. So. :D

It's end of Wednesday!!

Been at Don and Grace's house over the weekend and stayed till today. Don and Grace are like my very own Canadian family. :) Don says I put on weight, though. :( Sobs!!!

It's been quite a crazy weekend, actually. Planning for our Canada mini-getaway is so tedious. GAH. But baby will be here ON SATURDAY!!!!!!! And he will write his last paper later (Thursday evening, SG time). YAY! :):):)

I can't wait for him to finish his exams and arrive. :):)

Panic

2006-04-20T20:12:00.000-04:00

I am panicking.

I realize that I have taken the internet in my room for granted.

These past four months, I have come back everyday to an surety of internet. I have come back to my perpetual online status on MSN, the assurance that I am always connected to the rest of the world, the assurance that I can get my emails anytime and all the time, the assurance that I will see my family online as soon as it's evening here.

I have woken up everyday to the assurance that my baby is online, doing his work, waiting for me, watching me sleep. I have woken up to the warmth of his voice, the reassuring presence of "Charles" and "Q" with the little green button by their names, telling me they are online, telling me as soon as I click the little green telephone, I will hear their voice. See their faces.

Have my daily, necessary, dose of home.

Oh. My. God. Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow morning, I will no longer have this privilege. The person will come and collect the modem in the morning. And I will truly, truly feel, the meaning of alone. No longer able to click and access the world, to ease my anxieties, to have and hold, my family, and my sweetheart.

This is finally, finally, what is bothering me. I have an exam tomorrow, but I cannot study. I cannot bear the feeling. I am dreading it, as I have never dreaded anything else in my life.

Do you know the story of children and their daemons? They have an eternal bond between them, that ensures eternal companionship. They will never be alone. As soon as they are separated, they will each wander around, lost, souless, and finally, they will die away.

I am being paranoid, of course. And 'melodramatic', as some would have it. How will Don and Grace find me? What a ridiculous question, of course, my better sensibilities tell me. They will find me as they always do.

I am so afraid. I am afraid of how I will feel in that instant I hang up on Skype, knowing it is the last one I will ever be able to make from my room. Oh. Hold me, someone. I am afraid I will feel so cut off, so amputated, that I will frantically grasp onto any means and ways I can find to get back 'online' again.

How can I study for my paper in this state?

Oh, God. Come, dear Lord. Please.

I am so afraid.

Dear Grace, please come and find me soon.... I feel alone already.

I am trying to be brave, but I am so afraid.

:(

sobs.

Hoh Yeah.

2006-04-20T17:59:00.000-04:00

I finished another essay! Muahahhahaha. The one where my prof asked me to rewrite--It's Done!

It was rather tedious, but now it's done! YAY!!!

Left ONE exam and ONE essay! La la la. :D

Tomorrow is Canadian Lit. I'm not sure how to feel about it. :( I've always enjoyed most of the books in the course, and grinding them into my head for examination purposes seem.... strange? I don't know. Makes me uncomfortable. :(

Sigh.

Pray that I can still take pleasure in these books whilst preparing them for the exam... :) AMEN!

*happy!* Hee! :D

[Picture: Easter egg painting! Thanks to Emily and Cheryl on Easter Sunday. :) That is specially painted for Mr.BoyfriendDearest. Mainly cuz it's blue. Haha.]

YAY!

2006-04-20T01:26:00.000-04:00

YAY! I finished another essay! It was later than I planned, but nevertheless it's done now! And I really think this is the most ambitious essay I've ever written. Hahah. Feels like I wrote a mini PhD.

Ok. I'm exaggerating. But seriously, you know, or at least, I know, when I've written a blast of a paper when at the end of it, I feel light-headed, my vision is woozy, and my body is aching.

And then you just wanna go, Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah........... It's done. Smiles. Beams. ^______________^ Grin silly. Whatever. Hahaha.

SO HUNGRY. YAY! Shall take the rest of the night off. :):) (Or whatever's left of it, hahaha.)

[Picture is fresh from the oven! Taken after I finished the paper. Grinning stupidly. Hahaha. :D]

Almost Done!

2006-04-18T22:13:00.000-04:00

Just came back from my second last exam! This is the first time ever I completed all the essays and even left early! Hahahahhaa. That is simply because I don't have enough to say.

Oh well! That's over! Yay! A big load off my head! I'm telling you, Critical Theory is not easy ok. The materials are so damn hard to digest. Just pick up any Hegel or Irigaray or whatever--you'll see what I mean. :D

Done, done, done! :D:D Yay! Only ONE more exam (on Fri) and TWO essays left!

Ok, technically, three essays. Because even though I completed one on Monday (SO HAPPY!), my Postcolonial prof just emailed me to tell me to rewrite that essay. So. The math would have been 3 - 1 = 2 + 1 = 3.

Never mind. I won't let it get me down. It's the last days, and I'm gonna give it all my bestest best shot. :D:D La la la!

I even bought Egg Fried Rice to pamper myself. Hahaha. :D

Alrighty. Later, peeps. ;)

[Picture of tulips that Grace arranged for Easter brunch on Sunday. The tulips are pretty, eh? Hee.]

Happy Easter!

2006-04-16T17:00:00.000-04:00

I'm back! :)

Had a MOST lovely time at Don and Grace's; but I hardly got any work done. Haha. I SUCK!! Now it's back to REALITY for five days (almost) before it's all over for good.

JUST 2 Exams and 3 Papers, people!! And then I'll be free like a chippity-chirpity birdie bird bird! :D

La la~

Waiting for my darling to wake up now... MMM. :) *I will be positively squealing once that nifty counter hits TEN days left.* ^_____________^ Hee! :D:D

Okie. Shall be getting things in order and getting myself back into groove, baby.

Happy Easter, people!!

On Good Days

2006-04-13T13:03:00.000-04:00

Sometimes, on Good Days, I do feel I have the potential to be pretty cute.

[*In my daddy's big, comfy jacket*]

On such days, when I look in the mirror, I might also feel like this:

[XenaCatharinaRoarrr. Don't mess with me, Evil Essays--I kill with my steely gaze.]

Hahahaha. :D

Off to Guelph for the weekend! It's Easter! Grace is bringing me for another haircut "in readiness for Q's arrival". Hahaha. Also, we'll be having HOT CROSS MUFFINS!!! Remember the nursery song, 'Hot cross buns, hot cross buns' or something? Hahaha. And we're also gonna do some Easter Egg painting with Emily! *happy and excited*

^__________^

Will be back on Sunday~ Don't miss me! :D

Feelin' Dumpy

2006-04-11T17:47:00.000-04:00

Nah. That's how I feel now, ok?!

Fat and dumpy ugly and incredibly unattractive.

Swepna lost weight, ok. Why is it that I must put on weight?!

'Nuff said. GROWL. :(

ME Day!

2006-04-10T17:57:00.000-04:00

Yay!!! Three papers down, two to go!! So happy! Hahaha. The Romanticism paper today was kinda like my after-this-take-a-break point; so whilst I was really preparing hard for the paper, I was also looking forward to it so much!!

It's like during the whole week, everytime I feel super stressed, or depressed, or tired, or burnt out (trust me, I did!!), and just wanna give up and concuss on my bed, I told myself, Monday! Monday! Monday! Hang in there, and you can rest all you want on Monday after the paper!!

Hahaha. Everytime I wanna take a break, or just take a breather, I tell myself, 'Not now, MONDAY!'. I even prepared a delicious dinner today as a treat for myself, and Haagen Diaz Cookie Dough Ice-Cream!! Planning this little treat kept me going man. :D:D

It's tough, ok? Too many books to read and authors to cover, and so little time and energy.

So after my paper, I booked an appointment with the school health centre (I really don't know what's up with my skin, and I want it to clear before *muacks muacks* comes!! Haha.). And I got myself a nice Timmy Horton's lunch, and I was off to the mall!!!

Haha. After trying on various tops and bottoms, and going into every store that looks affordable, and even though I didn't buy much (air freshener, water, cushy socks, a couple of toiletries, and a secret top hahaha :D), I'm feeling so ^__________^ ! It's the walking around, not the splurging, understand? Haha.

Oh, and the best part is, I found a pair of shoes that are absolutely gorgeous. They are gorgeous because they look gorgeous on me, and they add extra inches to my petite frame, AND they're SO COMFORTABLE!!!

But. It's $49.99. :( The sales person said they'll have a different sale next week, so I'm gonna keep my fingers crossed and hope they're on sale next week!!

Actually they didn't look all that appealing on the shelf; but the pair I originally went to check out didn't work out, so I was like, ah, what the hell, just try lah. Hahaha. :D So you see! It's always good to try different/new stuff--you never know what might just work for you! :D

So happy! *bounce bounce* Hee. Gonna whip up a storm with my neighbour too, for dinner (she's Persian/Canadian, and a superb cook). :D

Hooray. Today is ME day! Self-declared. No work today, just good food and music and a much welcomed good night's rest. ;)

Later, peeps. ;)

For Charles!

2006-04-07T21:04:00.000-04:00

Hi Charles!! Look what I got for you!

Isn't it the biggest slice of pizza you've ever had?! ONE SLICE! And I've already had a couple of bites, so it was actually slightly bigger. Hahaha. I KNOW you'd have loved this! :D:D It's like Whopper Pizza. Hee. :D I take like half an hour to finish one slice. Hahaha.

My busiest, craziest, craziest time is over. I've had so little sleep the past few days. Colossal paper on Thursday; Shakespeare exam on Thursday; Victorian exam today morning...

Remember I whined about the Shakespeare exam making us write too much? Well I thought that was bad; until TODAY's exam. Get this right: Today, in two and a half hours, we have to write FOUR essays. Either four essays, or three essays + ten quotations.

Craziness.

Anyway after the exam, I found out that a lot of the students didn't finish all the texts as well--what a relief! I thought I was the only one. Haha. BUT, the difference is, they did read up on the texts.

And this is so astonishing and, I don't know, great to know? The people here (at least the ones I spoke to), they SHARE their essays! Like they email their essays to each other so that they'll learn more. So for example this girl she didn't read Arnold per se, but she still knew enough for the exam because she read the essay that her friend wrote on Arnold; and her friend conversely knew about Ruskin because she had sent her the essay on Ruskin. I mean, How Cool is THAT?

At the risk of making a huge generalization, I want to say having been here for these three months, I feel that this is the kind of study-environment here. Most of the people I've met tend not to 'horde' information (though there ARE a few who do, but they're just a handful, as invariably there will be).

And 'after exam conversations' are different too. Even if you're not one who indulges in after-exam conversations, I'm sure you can relate to those squealings and OMG THAT WAS SO BAD and UGH I'M GONNA FLUNK IT sentiments RIGHT AFTER the exams. As soon as the invigilator says, "Ok, you may go", there's that kinda frantic commotion.

Maybe it's just my program, maybe for others the above scenario is the same; but that's not how it works here. If they discuss the exam, they are frank about it. That means, if they think they wrote a good paper, they will say they wrote a good paper. And when they discuss the content of their papers, they are confident that what they wrote was good, or at least exam-worthy.

Sometimes I feel like that after my exams too, but I'm almost never ever say "I felt good about that exam". I wonder why? Is it because I am afraid that if I say "that was good" but I get a lousy grade back, it'll kinda be "?????" ?

I don't know. It's just different here. The workload might not be light (no!), but it definitely feels better. So strange.

Warzone!

2006-04-06T21:54:00.000-04:00

Check it out: The WarZone of Essay Writing.

The colossal paper that's been giving me colossal headaches, the GRANDMOTHER OF ALL DISGUSTING PAPERS is DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

YAY!!!!!

For intimate details, email me. Hahah.

Anyway, my exams started today. Uh. I didn't know we had to write 2 essays??? O_o

Well. We're supposed to identify six out of eight quotations that were taken from the plays, identify the speaker, the dramatic context, and explain its significance thematically and/or stylistically. Then write two more essays. See? All that in two hours? Haha. Needless to say, I couldn't finish.

OH WELLS. There were people who left early though?! Bah.

Not sure how to feel now cuz on one hand I'm super bouncyhappytiggerlydelirious about finishing the COLOSSAL paper, but on the other hand I still have a 9am paper tomorrow. Torn in two extremes!!

Supposed it wouldn't make much sense to you, unless you are/have been a student like me. Muahahaha. :D:D

Ok. SMILES! :D

**OHHH. I just realized the my lovely countdown (SO PRETTY!!) is also extremely smart?! Did you know that it automatically adjusts itself to whatever timezone you're in?! :D Just change your computer clock and refresh this page; you'll see what I mean!

Haha. :D

My whole body is aching like bleagh. Arms ache, back ache, headache. Anyone has after-~~colossal~~-papers symptoms like that too? :X *snorts*

OH MY GOSH!!

2006-04-04T22:19:00.000-04:00

The SWEETEST surprise EVER. EVER EVER EVER!!!

I'm SO HAPPY NOW. :):):)

Yay!!

See what my brother and sister made for me?!?

*AHHHHHH*!! *Swoons!!* "Created with LOVE!!"

^__________________^ SO HAPPY!!

They surprised me by putting it online where she knows I check religiously everyday! :):) Hee! When the page loaded, and I saw the picture-banner, I thought it was a new quiz she took or something... and then I saw the little caption:

"SURPRISE for SISTER! MEOOW!"

and I was like, MEOW!!! Hahahha. :D

GRINS GRINS GRINS GRINS! :):)

Thank you darlings! I LOVE YOU!!! :):)

MUACKS!!

Hee. Yay! Got new inspiration to write my essay(S)! :) Thank you!!! *HUGS!*

*bounce bounce bounce*

^_____________^

Here's to three of us! Yay! :D Hee.

[It's not the best picture we can take; but it's the best so far. CHARLES LAH. Always make funny faces. Growl! Hahaha. :D]

Can't wait till I see you two again. :):) MUACKS.

Blank.

2006-04-03T22:52:00.000-04:00

I feel kinda bah about the Critical Theory essay that I submitted. I mean, I read Foucault and Bhabha really, really thoroughly, in order to grasp what they're saying, so that I can make my case. I just feel shitty when the amount of work I put into the paper doesn't actually come through IN the paper. Like when I write my Canadian essay, or my Romantic essay, or Shakespeare, or whatever, I read the text like super thoroughly, making tonnes of notes, and I end up only using, what, 30% of them? Sometimes I wonder if I'm taking the longer route for my essays. I really think I've nailed exactly what and how it works for me when it comes to essays--but I really wonder if it's the most efficient way.

Bah. I'm so drained from these papers. At this point, exams almost seem like a welcomed relief. I know I'm probably just saying that, but seriously.

Sigh.

To cheer myself up, I decided to take the time to cook dinner. And by 'take my time', I mean, take my time. I took almost an hour--mostly because I was staring blankly into my boiling pasta. I wasn't even excited about it. I looked at the bubbling yellow strands and all I could think of was that I want to go to bed. Bah.

When my appetite suffers, you KNOW I'm probably in a dismal kind of state. It probably means a huge part of me just wants to sit and mope, sink into the bed or sofa and space out.

SIGH. I feel so bad that I'm still owing my Romantic essay and Victorian essays. Two of my favourite classes--and I'm missing my papers for them. BAH. I can't even write them now because I've got the --

Blah. I don't even wanna say it. I really ought to stop feeling so bitter about the course, but I'm still in a state of disbelief that I actually took and am still taking and not done with the course. How can such a thing happen? Seriously.

Oh well. Some happy things happened today, actually, and I honestly wanted to blog about them. I tried to work up the excitement that they deserve, but the heart (or mind?) is weak. Hahahaha.

Okays. I'm gonna take a shower and hit the bed. Maybe I'm lacking sleep. :)

Good night, people~!

Because!!

2006-04-02T21:31:00.000-04:00

Nah.

Why?

Be-ca-ause?!

La la la~

Ha ha ha~!

And a lot!!! *Boom!*

And my favourite!

Ok enough.

. . . . . .

. . . bleagh.ughz. . . highlystressedlah, can?! . . . .

*sniffs*

Here: For you deprived ~~people~~ teens+youths who spend-too-much-time-with-books-and-school and who don't know what this is all about, here's a [LINK].

And [THIS] is for LISA and CHARLES!

Hahaha. :D:D

Ok. Essay!!!

[Got a SURPRISE to blog about, but that's a treat for after-my-essay-is-done, ok? So you guys have to wait as well. Muahahaha. *evil laugh*]

[Ok. Enough. *hysterical laughter* hee hee hee. Ok ok OK!!! Enough!! My goodness.]

*ahem*

Growls.

Ugh.

Bleah.

Fortune Cookies & Countdowns! :D

2006-04-01T18:20:00.000-05:00

Wheeee!! I like my countdown counter!! So pretty and nice!! :D:D

And look what I've got for you guys too!

Fortune cookies!! Hahaha. :D:D They're such a big thing here.

It doesn't show up properly on my page though... cuz the words are black and my background is black. I tried to change the background colour but it doesn't work. Oh well!! Just click somewhere in that box and you'll have a fortune! :D

Nah. Give you, lah. :D Have fun~!

It's APRIL!

2006-04-01T15:45:00.000-05:00

It's April, darlings!! That means:

- Exams are here!
- Papers have to be handed in!!

But!

- Don and Grace are back! (YAY!)

Check out the picture! Grace and I made these graham cookies the last time I went, because the church was having a luncheon thing and Grace offered to bring these yummy cookies.

[Graham cookie squares. Topped with condensed milk and pressed down
with apricot, cranberry, and semi-sweet chocolate chips! *beams*]

AND!!

- ONE Month from now, I'll see my SWEETIE again!! *happy!!*

ANDDD!

- I'll be home soon!! *muacks!*

I've ran two-thirds of this SEP race, and now I've only got one-third more to go.

I sound like this is such a chore, right? Haha. It's not. It's just that I wish a little of home was with me. I'll have a little of that in a month, though. After all, Home is where the Heart is. *blush* Hee. :D Yay! :)

Gonna try to get started on my Critical Theory paper, due on MONDAY. Gah.

[No time to mope. Will mope another time. Hahaha. :D]

Keys in the Wall

2006-03-30T22:45:00.000-05:00

I remember when I was young(er), my teacher used to make us keep a book of 'useful phrases' for compositions. That is assuming you read voraciously and is acutely aware of unique expressions.

The problem with these useful, neat little phrases is that often, they're pulled out from books written by 'Westerners', so a lot of things actually are only vaguely comprehensible, or comprehensible as far as your imagination takes you.

Well one of these neat little phrases that sound mildly pompous is, "cobalt sky". Like, first of all, "cobalt" is such a pompous term that only arty-farty people use--you know, the way they throw stuff like 'burnt sienna', 'ochre', 'vermillion', 'ultramarine', 'chrome yellow', 'lemon yellow', 'turquoise', 'mauve', 'crustean blue' around. (Okay, I made the last one up. But there is a blue that starts with "p", I know. Haha.)

[Digression: If you want to know what "cobalt blue" looks like, just go and pick up a small pot of paint in any art shop. Hee.]

As I was saying, I've never figured out why my pot of blue paint is called "cobalt blue" or where the expression the "cobalt sky" came from. I mean, "cobalt" is actually an ELEMENT? Like its

Symbol is actually 'Co' and its
Atomic number: 27 and its
Atomic weight: 58.993 and lo behold it's actually a
Light grey transition element.

Ok never mind. To cut this dumb preamble short, I just want to say that, I've never seen what I felt to be cobalt blue skies until now.

Check out the blue in that picture. It's that blue EVERYDAY now. On extremely clear days, where there's not a cloud in the sky, you can spot planes in the air. If you're lucky, they'll leave white trails behind as they fly.

What can I say?

B-E-A-utiful. That's what.

I've never seen blue like that before. Know that song?

I love spring. :)

Spring

2006-03-29T18:22:00.000-05:00

So I think Spring has officially arrived. The temperature has been positive for a few days, but you never know with Canada's erratic weather.

When I was walking to school yesterday I saw bunches of crocuses sprouting up from the ground. These flowers are usually planted in winter and when they bloom, it's a sign of spring.

I saw them outside my lecture hall, and I just stopped and marvelled at these hardy little blooms. I've been here for three months, I thought to myself, and am now seeing the change of season. Wow.

It's pretty surreal. One day you realize it's green everywhere now, and all the white has gone, and you wonder, where to?

Anyway... this picture is a picture of my pot of crocus. Given to me when I went to Grace's church (which I have yet to blog about!). It was actually only for the choir members, but this guy saw that I was looking at them, and he gave his to me, saying I'll probably take better care of them than he would. Haha.

Mine bloomed before spring though, cuz I left them in my room.

Sigh. I feel so uninspired for my Canadian essay. Sucks.

Think it's probably because it's the last week of school. I really don't feel like doing anything. I cannot believe I still have 6 sucking essays to write. Blah.

But my favourite professors have been most, most, most gracious. They have offered to extend my deadlines. I feel a little less constricted now, knowing I have a little breather. But postponing it = procrastinating = hovering cloud during exams = no complete release after exams.

CAN YOU BELIEVE IT'S END OF TERM ALREADY?!?!?!?!?! I don't know how is it that it felt like the longest and the shortest time at the same time.

I will write the Canadian essay today. Growl.

Whatever LAH. *puking face* Grossness~!

Haha. :D

Three Mini Downs

2006-03-26T21:58:00.000-05:00

Oh!!! And I must also say, I finished the response papers for The Tempest (ENGL 363, due Tuesday), Cause Celeb (ENGL 322, due Thursday), AND the mini presentation for Bonnie Burnard (ENGL 318, due tomorrow).

YES! YES! YES! Even though they're so tiny pieces of work, I feel SO happy!

Tomorrow I will plan my Canadian essay hopefully, OR write the Victorian essay. I will also research/plan the (blah) Postcolonial essay. Photocopy readings. Look through secondary sources for Romantic essay. Read some Foucault OR do a detailed draft for Victorian essay.

I CAN DO THIS. I know I can, because I'm not alone. :)

[Beautiful, isn't it? Taken from Don and Grace's backyard door.]

And The Love Comes In

2006-03-26T21:24:00.000-05:00

Yeah, all of a sudden, overnight, Literally, the love starts coming in. After all my whining and bemoaning are done. Haha.

I feel better today. Finally talked to my darling.mr.boyfriend. The time difference is just so damaging; finally we had a little proper time for each other. For that little while. :)

And also, finally my sister and brother replied online. Yay. :):) I wanna talk to them more more more! :(

And suddenly everyone replied my emails. Fish, Ling, Moose, and even *gasp!* Don and Grace sent me an email!!! They are on a cruise and it's SO HARD to get internet? I can't wait to visit them again. :D

It's like suddenly, everyone 'arrived'. Haha. Even my PMS went away, cuz the M arrived, too.

That's the way, people. Keep the lurve coming in.

That's I feel now, the picture: Can't. Get. Enough. ^__^ yay!

I think one thing that I pray I'll always remember is that, for those who are overseas, no attention is too much. I pray that I'll always remember this so that I will give attention to whoever will be overseas in future, because seriously, it can get so, so, so... quiet.

I miss you, momma, papa. And Charlesy boy, and Lisa girlie. And Q.

*hugs*

Smiles

2006-03-25T17:01:00.000-05:00

I'm ok. I think the clouds have gone, and it's slowly getting sunny again.

:)

Hee.

I guess I must just have faith that I'm not the only one in charge here, if at all. :):)

*hugs to all at home!*

Oh, I have also decided to do this a picture a day thing. Haha. Well. Maybe not a picture a DAY, but per entry.

Keeps me happy. And gives me something to smile about. So.

Here's the start of a Picture a Day Keeps the Blues Away! ;)

PS: I don't know how to put captions for the photos?? Can someone tell me how?? :(

The Thing With Me

2006-03-24T22:10:00.000-05:00

is that I'm always excited about going away. Leaving home. The prospect of going away from The Family is always thrilling.

Yah, At First.

I've come to realize that the thing with me is that, I'm seldom sad to go. When I reach wherever, I seldom miss home/get homesick there and then. I've always been quite ashamed and guilty that I DON'T miss home in those first few days or first week.

I'm starting to realize that how I operate is that, my nostalgia just builds, and builds, and builds, and builds. Until at the end of the trip, however long, I am just begging to go home NOW PLEASE!!!

Sometimes I don't realize it too. Only when I actually come into contact with The Family will it all undo me and leave me bawling for home.

There was this once, I went for a 9-day Outward Bound School (OBS) course. It wasn't even out of Singapore--just offshore Singapore. We had absolutely no contact at all with anyone for those nine days, except on the last day. During those nine days, I had a blast. I had so much fun with my watch (i.e. group). I even felt good to be 'away from all that' and like, this is so rustic and nice and blah blah blah.

BUT! That was so naive of me. Hur hur. On the last day, the MOMENT I called my family and heard my momma's voice, I started bawling right there in the middle of the canteen.

And all my momma said was, "How are you, baby? Are you good? Everything ok?"

"Hi mommy..!! I'm ok.. I'm (*sniffles, sniffles*), mommy... (*bursts into tears*)--"

Hurrrr. Right there and then I wanted the crummy little boat to take me back immediately!!

Haha. Yah. So I think that's how it is with me. I could go on and on, but the MOST IMPORTANT point that I'm trying to make here is,

that,

I MISS MY FAMILY AND EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING MORE AND MORE AND MORE AND MORE!!! *bawls*

Sigh. It's almost the end of March. Soon it'll be almost three full months since I last hugged my momma, my papa, my lil' silly sis, and my act-tough lil' brother.

Do you know how much accumulation of 'missing them' there is in THREE MONTHS??? :(

When my family and grandparents and uncle's family and Mr.Darling came to see me off, all the *ahem* grown-ups thought I'd definitely cry at the departure gate, being the emotional crybaby that I am.

But I didn't. I was quite surprised myself, actually. Now that the truth about how I operate is out, (!)

I think I will cry when I land in Singapore.

Hahaa. I'm quite sure. Hahaha.

I think going away from your family and people you love are hard enough. Now, when I am facing such an enormous amount of work, their absence is so much more pronounced.

I miss the noise my momma makes in the kitchen that lets me know she's around. I miss hugging her in her soft sweater and sleepwear and bidding her good night.

I miss the coming-in and going-out of my sis and bro as we mug together in the study room, even though it's so disruptive sometimes (haha).

I miss the all-nighters the three of us will pull together, looking forward to a midnight party feast to keep us going, and then settling down again to face the books. I miss teasing my brother with my sister that he always concuss halfway.

I miss working until midnight and knowing that my papa will be coming home; I miss listening out for his key in the door, the quiet rattling of the lock. I miss the midnight snacks he'll sometimes bring home.

I miss the sniffs my papa will give me when he comes back. I miss my momma's hugs. I miss their smiles.

Haiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii.

Cannot. Must. Stop.

Hurrr. Sobs.

Canada is fun. It's quiet where I am. The pace is relaxed and leisurely, compared to Singapore, where you'll feel breathless just looking at people. I like the independence I have, and the new stuff I constantly see everyday. The wintry air turning spring, the plump squirrels scurrying around and around, the academic atmosphere...

But I miss home.

Home.

Savour that. Like warm semi-sweet chocolate in your mouth.

*sniffs*

With Don and Grace gone, too, it's that little bit harder.

I can't wait for Q to be here. :)

Grossness

2006-03-24T14:30:00.000-05:00

I have so many %$@&^%$&%$-ing things to do!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

stay calm. stay calm.

stay calm. stay calm. stay calm.

stay calm. stay calm. stay calm. stay calm.

It's beginning to read like, 'say clam', isn't it.

ARGHHHHHHHHHHH. Grossness! Where got people have 6 papers to write, plus 2 response papers, in TWO WEEKS?!?!?!??!?!?!? WHERE GOT!? WHERE GOT?!?!?!

Bah. Bah. Bah!!!

Sobs.

Still... Around.

2006-03-24T01:40:00.000-05:00

I'm still around. And this blog is still alive. It's just that I have no inspiration to blog. No mood. I go to school and see beautiful snapshots in my head, and is mildly sad that I don't have my camera with me.

Maybe it's the workload finally taking a toll on me. Been feeling sad, sorry, and blah, and trying to ignore it. Sigh.

It'll probably be better once the term is over and exams are pending.

Sucks. I really hate that stupid class.

The Blues

2006-03-18T20:45:00.000-05:00

So much is happening back home. I just wish I were there for my family, my cousins, my aunties and uncles. Seems almost egocentric, isn't it? But I want to be there for them, if only to let them know they're not alone.

I never knew how much could happen in just a mere, what, three months?

So it's beginning to ring true--how your 'old' world seems to be going through the whole four seasons whilst you're away.

Don't change too much, too fast, darlings back home. Wait for me. I'm coming home soon.

Today, I feel tiny. Small and vulnerable. A little squeaky voice protesting, please!

Living on a shoestring. Scrooging and saving. Kicking myself for that thoughtless splurge. Then swiftly swivelling back to comforting myself, that the scrooging all week balances out the splurge.

I could live on cereals the whole semester, if milk wasn't so expensive. Haha.

Here's a tip for everyone who's down, or blue, or just feel like, . . . <--that. Play some chinese songs. Most are extra sentimental and add just that tad more melancholy.

Have some instant noodles to feel more sorry for yourself.

Indulge in some neurosis, crying, staring into blank space, not hearing everyone around you.

Then, then, you will start to feel better.

Here's a wry smile for you. :)

**Update:

How apt. My brother just jio-ed* me to play GB*. Yay. I feel loved already. Haha. I miss my brother too. Sobs.

*jio-ed: to "jio" means to ask along, or invite. The '-ed' is for past tense.
*GB = GunBound

Feelin' Blah

2006-03-18T18:05:00.000-05:00

It's one of those days.

Feeling a bit out of groove, a little out of touch, a little off-balance.

Nothing appeals to me. I'm not even excited about chocolate.

You know--all the ingredients needed to add that touch of melancholy and blueness and blahness to the day.

Sigh.

Go away, blues. It's Saturday.

I need some lurrrve. :(

Sobs.

Everyone just feels so faraway now.

I think this is called: I miss my family.

And I miss him, too.

:(

It's FRIDAY!!

2006-03-17T18:30:00.000-05:00

I had coffee with my Victorian Literature professor today. It was a hard-to-come-by coffee, ok! Why? Because it took nearly 3 hours of waiting time!! :S:S

Well. He's so busy. But he is SUCH A NICE GUY!! He's one of my favourites. Hah! :D

Also, I made a new friend in the Victorian class. She's actually in a lot of my other classes, and she really stands out because she's so tiny. Oxymoronic, I know. She has this amazing hair and oh-my-gosh her eyes, too. But I've never dared to befriend her because she exudes that really snobbish air. Just that aloof-too-cool vibe. Plus she has that Vogue-expression on her face. So it's not exactly the most approachable aura she gives.

On Wednesday I finally mustered up the courage to smile at her. (Gee, I sound like a desperate, smitten guy. Hahahah.) And she actually smiled back!! (Oh, yes, definitely sound even more like a poor infatuated guy now. Eeeks!!)

Yeah well, I was telling Mr.Boyfriend that I made a lot of friends by skipping classes. 'Cuz 'hey... were you here last class? Only because I missed it, and I wondered what he covered?' is such a brilliant excuse to strike up a conversation. Hahahahhahahaa. *guffaws*

And it's true! Most of the people I approached are so nice. (Well, obviously you don't go knocking on the wrong doors in the first place, yeah?) They are willing to share notes here and actually fill you in in detail about what went on in the class. Of course it's never as good as if you had actually attended the lesson, but it far surpasses those cursory, oh, yeah, he talked about the relationship between XX and YY in the book, basically.

Like, Oh, ok. What about????

OHhhh, you know, the usual. (Proceeds to give some vague nonsense about, bigass themes like redemption, betrayal, entrapment etc. that really doesn't say anything specific.)

-_-

Really.

Where was I. Oh, yes. So me and my 'new friend' got to chatting a little, and she told me she's not doing so well in this other class we're in, whereas she was doing good in Victorian... etc.

I do feel good that we kinda 'broke the ice'. Cuz it's like we know we're in each other's classes, but we've never really went beyond knowing. Haha. So it's good.

Whilst waiting for my professor, too, I met his PhD student, Faith. She has a mild British accent. (Yes, I'm a sucker for British accent cuz it oozes aristocracy. Muahahhaha. Ok. Yes.) And this is the ?? time that someone told me, "Your English is very good."

I don't understand why they say that?

Plus. I'm from SINGAPORE. S-I-N-G-A-P-O-R-E, people. Not China!!! Ugh.

Anyway, Faith and I hit off really well too! She just became a grandmother, and she showed me her little baby grand-daughter's pictures as well. LOVELY!! This year is actually her 40th anniversary too?? Like WHAT A COINCIDENCE. This year is also Don's and Grace's 40th year??

@_@

Oh, she's actually marking papers for another Shakespeare class too. And she gave me some pointers about my way-overdue Victorian essay.

Isn't it so cool to have coffee and a little chit-chat with your professors and people like Faith? :D

At the end, we exchanged emails. (Emails are really big here, I gather.) So I think I've got another friend. Yay. :D

LASTLY, I forgot to say. I bought the wrong muffin today. I wanted raisin bran, but I took carrot spice instead. I mean, Carrots and SPICE? Erm.

Just not my cuppa tea. :X

It's not as awful as it sounds. Just that, um, I'm not at THAT level yet. I've only recently upgraded to Raisin Bran. Haha. :D:D

Okie. I saw a fabulous magazine that is THE magazine for my sister, I think. Will get it soon!!! Hahahaha. Not gonna tell you what it is about though. It's a little surprise!! Nahaha. And feelin girlie, I also bought a girlie magazine for myself. Yay!

I'm lovin' my Fridays. Hee.

Alright. Gonna snuggle up with some frivolous reading. :D Tata!!

"Come Home Soon"

2006-03-15T18:58:00.000-05:00

Ahhhhh! Right now I'm trying, TRYING, to do my Shakespeare essay... and I'm listening to this song and I just want to cry!!!

BOOHOOO!!! Sobs!!!

Here!! I couldn't help it--I HAD to look for the lyrics!! :(

*

It's been two days and I'm missin' you already
Never really thought you could mean
So much in such a little time

Think about the nights when I'm lyin' in your bed
With my chest resting your head
Now that you're gone I'm here to stay

Chorus:
I think I'm fallin' down. Down! Down! Down!
With a bad case of love. Love! Love! Love!
I think I'm falling for you. You! You! You!
I think, I'm falling in love!

When ~~you're~~ I'm back all I wanna do is hold you
Have a blast even though there's nothing to do
Hold you close and look you in the eyes

So just come back and I'll tell you how I feel
Never knew how easy you could steal
My heart I miss you ~~come home~~ fly here soon

(Chorus)

I think, I'm fallin' in love
I think, I'm fallin' in love

Bridge:
Cause I know that you won't be home when I call you
You're in ~~England~~ Canada now, I hope that you'll be home soon
Cause I know that you won't be there when I call you, NOW
[Hahahaha. This is so funny. Too much like our Skype-sessions. Hahaha.]

(Chorus)

I think, I'm fallin' in love
(slow) I think, I'm fallin' in love

*

"Come Home Soon" by PUG JELLY!

*

When I was staying on-campus in NUS, I only went back during the weekends. And one day, my sister (a total music junkie!!) sent me this song, telling me I HAVE TO LISTEN TO IT because it's what she wants to tell me.

Every Sunday when I go back to my little room in Prince George's Park Residence (PGP), she says that's the song that's playing in her head. Or somewhere during the week, when she misses me, that's the song she plays on her computer.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!! NOW I'm so faraway, no weekends to even countdown to... This song just reminds of her and makes me miss her so much!

Then I think about it, it also reminds me of Mr.Boyfriend! See, I even crossed out "come home" to "fly here" soon. Hahaha. Because my lil sister can't fly here, even though she wants to, so that's for Mr.Boyfriend. :D

Haiiiiii.

Sending mama, papa, xiaomei, and charlesy-boy loads of hugs!! XOXOXOXOXOX!! :):)

And a *muacks* for the boyfriend, too. Hee. :D

Wedding Banquet

2006-03-14T16:30:00.000-05:00

Yesterday it was just like spring had arrived at our door.

Today, though, the weather is absolutely crazy. The wind is going mad at 41km/h. UGH! But the snow is back. Ok. Well.

Um.

I'll try to appreciate it more. Haha.

Anyway. The point of this entry is to complain.

I MISSED MY FIRST WEDDING BANQUET!! SOBSSSSSSSS!!!

My sister gleefully told me that they, that is, the WHOLE big family, went for my uncle's wedding last weekend. When I heard it, I was so shocked! I mean, I didn't even know he was dating?!?!?! And suddenly he's married?!?!

0_0!!

Yeah.. so they all went for the wedding banquet... without me!!! HOW CAN!!! Sobs!! I was so looking forward to attending my first ever wedding banquet, as in like, of people I know, and in this case it's even better because it's a family affair. And I totally missed it!!

Let me tell you why family wedding banquets are important to me, ok. Here's the lowdown!!

I'm the ELDEST both for the maternal and paternal sides of my family. And both my parents are the eldest of their family--that makes me the ELDEST of the ELDEST. The next in line would be my sister and my cousin (they're the same age).

NEXT!! All my aunties and uncles are married with kids already. So I've carried all their babies and they're all now growing up. That's thirteen of them.

Technically, I still have three single uncles left. Because of some generation thing, I've grown up with the impression that they are like my elder cousins, instead of my uncles, because our ages are quite close. In fact, the youngest of them has only recently graduated from Nanyang Technological University (NTU)!

SO. DO YOU GET IT?? The only ones left to 'get married' before me are my three young uncles. ONLY THREE!! Unless my sister gets hitched and gets married before me, that's only three family weddings before my own!

I DON'T WANT!!!!! I was so looking forward to these weddings, occasionally hounding my momma about whether my 'uncles'/cousins are dating yet. Hahaha. And now, see! Finally after such a long wait, one of them gets hitched and married, and I can't witness it.

BOOHOO! :(:(

It would have been so fun to attend the banquet together with all the other kids! It's like a big family affair thing. And I'm really, really into my big family thing. I mean we're all so close, it would've been like a fun gathering of sorts, plus all that celebratory happiness and ughhhhhh!!

I've always been quite envious when I see my parents or grandparents getting invitations to go for their friends', colleagues', or whoever's wedding. Ok, maybe I'm just young and frivolous, and yah I forgot also about the angbao-element, but I just think it's so cool. I've always wondered, sigh! How come I cannot go?

And now I finally can, like I'm finally 'of age' and 'of relevance' (haha), and I didn't.

Oh well.

I know I was missed, though! Haha! My san-yi actually lamented to my momma that, oh man! Why isn't Kai-ning/Bao-bei here!! What a pity!

Haha. Yay! :D

Oh yes. I also heard from my momma and sister that having witnessed this wedding, and watched my uncle's wedding video, my evil cousins are plotting and coming up with evil schemes for MY marriage. They range from 'accelerating the prospects of me getting married', to the actual ceremon(ies), and the various evil stuff they're going to do to my guy.

I also gathered that it kinda helps that they now have an actual person, a REAL target, to keep in mind whilst they are plotting.

HA HA HA. You little evil imps!! You're reading this, right?! Nahahahhaa. You won't get to zhen3* me lorrrr. Nahahahaha. You think I won't *AHEM* assert my authority in my puffy-gala-pompom wedding dress?? No, don't be mistaken. A puffy-gala-wedding-dress won't make me demure hor. *wink*

Hahahahaha. :D

Ok. Enough. Hahaha.

Congratulations to my uncle/cousin, Zhiqiang jiu-jiu!! May you and your lovely bride have a blissful and wonderful marriage!

祝你们有个幸福美满的婚姻！早生贵子，白头偕老！

*zhen (3):
Means something like, to sabotage, mess up, make life miserable or difficult for someone. It may refer to harmless fun/mischief, or it may be malicious.

Please Don't Do This!!

2006-03-12T14:37:00.000-05:00

Oh. And I HAVE to blog about this. I had the most horrific and traumatic night yesterday. My worst, WORST nightmare just forced its way into this wintry reality. What is the absolute worst nightmare that can happen??

Run outta food? Zehrs' just bus ride away.
Too cold in your room? Heating down?? Just bundle into a furball.
Bad hair day? Please, wear a toque!
Feel fat? Just cover up the mirror.
Outta money? HOW CAN YOU RUN OUT OF MONEY ON EXCHANGE?!?!?! BAD PLANNING! BAD BUDGETTING! NO DISCIPLINE! Serves you right!! (Stop. Stop. Stop. That's the result of too much anxiety that I'd be in that position.. but. Ok. Stop. OK BABE SHUT UP ALREADY. Hahaha.)

Ok, ok. Seriously. This is the absolute worst.

My laptop died.

DIED! Switched off! Blank screen! Blue screen! "Disk Failure. Hit any key when ready."!! Kaput! Non! Ke belakang pusing!

Oops. Return of the NPCC-repressed training. MuaHahahaha. Sorry. Um. Yes.

SO my computer died. LIKE OMG!!! My first thought was, OMG please, you really, really can't do this to me, my darling lappie!! Please!! And then it was: I'm SO cut off from the world now. I can't talk to Mr. Boyfriend or my family! HOW, HOW, HOW!!

What happened was: I was talking to my sister, when suddenly my laptop starting making this horrrrrrid sound, like something was stuck in the fan. I switched it off, and the next thing I know, it absolutely refused to start.

I tried to take it apart (hahaha) but I only managed to open up the keyboard area. Was too scared I might rip the keyboard out so I didn't pull too hard. (Yeah, right. Those who know me know what is my 'pull too hard'. Hahaha.) Managed to see the fan area and it's pretty clear, except for little dust bunnies. Blew it a little and snapped the keyboard back into place.

Tried to reboot again. And that sound came back. I was so traumatized! It sounded like my lappie might just spontaneously explode and combust ALA cartoon-style.

It's the weekend, so my unit is deserted except for me. I ran to look for my floor manager to get a screwdriver. He wasn't in his room!!

I found him in the common room watching "The Mummy" and I completely sounded like a distraught-damsel-in-distress-OMG-please-resuscitate-my-laptop-please!!

Haha. I'm telling you. It's totally absurd. My lappie has as much PMSy angst as me, ok. Like when Prateek (my floor manager) came to my room to take a look, this *AHEM* lappie of mine booted up JUST FINE. No funky noise, no blank screen, nothing. I even got to log in!!!

Can you believe it!!

It absolutely felt like a Plath moment. -_- ||

Haha.

Well. As soon as Prateek left, though, it promptly died on me again. Like. WTH!!! I showered it with XOXOXOXOXOXOX and it just refused to reciprocate my love.

UGH. I went hunting for Prateek again and was so embarrassed that I keep interrupting his show.

Eventually, my lappie decided to honour me with an acknowledgement of its alive-status by giving me a blue screen that said "Begin dumping of physical memory".

OMG LIKE WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT MEAN?!?!?! What are you "dumping"?!? And what the hell is "physical memory"???

Um. Yes. Computer illiteracy is embarrassing like that. ;)

Haha. Anyway I decided to migrate my lappie-resuscitation project into the common room where Prateek's good-natured charming vibe might rub off my PMSy laptop. But no. My princessy laptop just continued to throw its ballistic tantrums.

While "The Mummy" was regenerating itself and going nuts with the beetles and sand and whatnot, I was willing my laptop to PLEASE don't do this to me. Hahaha. It was a Matilda moment, know??

Yeah, it took me for a little ride when it sputtered for a moment, even let me log in, and whilst I was transferring the files to back it up, it promptly winked at me and collapsed back into oblivion.

Finally, finally, finally. I've never been more happy to hear the awful startup ting-ting-ting-ting sound of Microsoft Windows. YAY!!! I very gingerly plugged in the USB port and transferred the files ONE-BY-ONE. So afraid was I that my lappie will complain I'm making her work too hard!

Haha. Yes. Traumatic. Seriously!!

*Kisses my laptop* MWA MWA!!

My darling laptop is princessy, diva-ish, erratic, pouty, but it is my absolute precious. *mwa mwa!!* Thank you for coming back to me. *mwa mwa!!*

Hahaha. Ok. Thank God. Yay.

*Hahh....* Sigh of relief. :):)

Middlemarch

2006-03-12T14:07:00.000-05:00

is a colossal novel of George Eliot. Apparently a must-read for all Victorian literature scholars.

ANYWAY.

It's MIDDLE OF MARCH!!! AND SPRING IS (almost) HERE!!

It's like suddenly, overnight, the snow is all gone and the sun is shining and suddenly you see grass and pavements everywhere.

:(

It's kinda sad. IT'S ALWAYS LIKE THAT ISN'T IT!!! Always missing something when it's gone--and complaining/not appreciating it whilst it's here.

Sigh.

An Ode to Snow!!

Yeah. When I'm feeling more poetic. :P

Extreme Makeover Grand Plan

2006-03-04T14:33:00.000-05:00

When I made the decision to go for this Student Exchange Programme (SEP), I had a lot of Grand Plans for myself and how this SEP thing would totally change my life and how I'd step back in Changi Airport a BrandNewMe.

One of my Grand Plans was to get in touch with myself again. I found that I have a lot of these expensive tendencies--to get in touch with myself. Be by myself. Get some independence. You know, all that stuff.

In high school (or junior high, in Canadian terms), I was very excited to move into the Nanyang Boarding House (it's really just a hostel; but my school is pompous with names like that. Haha.). It was my first taste of being away from my parents.

In university, I was extremely inclined to stay on campus. It's not so much for the socializing and partying, but more for myself.

This is actually the first time I'm away from my family for 5 full months. When I stayed in the boarding house and on campus in NUS, I always still see them on the weekends.

It's always been a secret wish of mine to move out and get my own apartment. I've always dreamed of growing up, packing my life up, and moving out on my own, for a few bachelorette years, before I meet the One, and settle down, and get married and have to live with The Family for the rest of my life. I always feel that such a move would help me shape and find who I am, who I want to be.

I still think so, actually. It's not that my famiily restricts me--no, nothing's further from the truth. But it's just that the solitude would allow yourself to HEAR yourself more. Everything you do is for yourself--all your choices: what to eat, what to wear, when to do laundry, what kind of detergent to use, fabric softener or not, air freshener or not...

It's a little like playing Lets-Pretend: you can try on and ditch as many different personas as you want when you're alone. And finding one that FITS you, the way you want.

I still stand by all that because I feel that, the first move into the Nanyang Boarding House really made some lasting ripples in my lifestyle. For one, I was introduced to jazz, new age, and opera music. It's a radical departure from the teensy, angsty pop songs I would have subjected myself to.

Also, I found a new way to negotiate my wardrobe. It made me realize what kind of clothes are more ME. This is of course more pronounced in university, where you finally shelve those uniforms for good. I found a style that I like and I stick to. Moving away from my family into a little room for myself helped me to better anchor who I am, and this in turn gave me fresh ways to come back even closer into the midst of my family again.

Now, again, I found that one of the motivations for SEP is this need to be alone. In my more rational moments, I think it an expensive indulgence. But I always feel that I have so much more to offer the people around me, especially my family and loved ones, when I come back from such 'escapades'.

Oh, what was I saying. Oh, wow, what a long digression. Haha. OK, let's get back to my Grand Plan. Hahahah.

So I wanted to 'be with myself'--in a way. When I applied for accomodation, I was constantly swinging between wanting a roommate and not wanting a roommate. I finally decided to go for 'wanting a roommate' simply because, I could do with some girlie company, and we could have some girlie fun.

Well, I got what I wanted when I say I want to 'move out'. I got a double-room that I have completely to myself--no roommate. Even as I enjoy my solitude and independence, and the smell of my new air-freshener, I do miss the smell of the sun, the smell of home.

I was envisioning a new wardrobe-style too, again. Haha. Like, experimentation with makeup, was one of those stuff. I packed mascara because I had ambitiously thought to go for a smoky-eyed-chick look--another latent desire: I've always LOVED the smoky-eye look. But seriously I can't pull it off, lah, cuz there's not much to smoky-eye about with my single eyelids. Haha. Oh and there's the new clothes--like, maybe try something I don't usually go for... etc.

Besides that envisioned wardrobe-overhaul, as I call it, another GRAND PLAN is to get a major body-overhaul. This one is more serious than the wardrobe-fling. I had serious plans to go to the gym and work out everyday, and I was on the verge of signing myself up for Pilates too, and I would have, if they had not been so painful for my pocket. Like I had plans to work out religiously, twice a week, run some miles and miles, and finally I want to arrive at the land of Flat Tummy and Toned Thighs.

Also, I had instore for myself a religious-overhaul. I was serious about setting myself down to finding out for about this relationship with God and imagined that I'd come back totally, transformed.

More importantly, one of the things I MOST looked forward to on this SEP is sitting in a majestic library perusing those ancient books of literature. I wanted to be surrounded by the dignified silence of knowledge and books, hear the rustling of pages of fellow readers, and perhaps the quiet footsteps of the librarians. I imagined finally being a serious student of literature: thinking meaningfully about the books and the issues they raise, turning these over carefully in my head.

Well. It's March, and my final verdict for myself is: So Much For Idle Fantasies and Idyllic Ideals.

First, the wardrobe-overhaul is really out of the question and completely irrelevant now because 1. I cover everything I wear with my jumbo purple coat anyway and 2. everything here is Made In China and 3. nothing here inspires me to try anything new, wardrobe-wise.

Second, the Lose-Weight-Tone-Up Grand Plan? It has ALWAYS failed. Hahahah. And I really cannot haul myself up to bundle up and walk to the gym in this bloodycoldweather whatwiththe WIND.... Blah. Really. But I know I'd be so satisfied after a good run. It feels good to get all that toxin out.

Reading this made me feel better too!

"Before you take my cue and try some similar diet, I guess I should mention that even with my gym workouts and 150 sit-ups a day, I don't feel any different. I don't think I've lost much weight. This is gonna take some time. But I have WILLPOWER of STEEL, and with God as my witness I will plough my way through fire and high waters to the promised land of Flat Tummy and Toned Thighs."

-taken from the blog of law student currently in Uni of Bristol, England.

THIRD, the library fantasy. In a nutshell that just plummeted into the pits because why? There is no 'majestic', 'castle-looking' library here. My mistake--should have gone to England for that. Haha. There is actually a campus that has stone buildings--that is the University of Western Ontario, but that's in London, Ontario.

Consolation is: the library here is just as fantastic, looks aside. The main library here has TEN levels. It's quiet. Students don't hog books. They don't talk in the library. And the most orgasmic feature of the library is this!!

There is no limit to the number of books you can borrow

AND!

There is no limit to the number of renewals you want to make

AND!!

You can place a 'Recall' for a book that's borrowed out and a 'Hold' for a book that's still in the library, to make sure it's there when you go.

I love it!!! Hahaha.

Where was I. Oh, yeah, my Extreme Makeover Grand Plan(s).

Gone with the hogs, really. :D

Come to think of it, it's not all that big a matter. I've got new body wash and body lotions to pamper myself with. Plus I went shopping yesterday and got a brand new outfit that I'm going to wear when I pick my darling up in April.

Speaking of which, I must say that all my Grand Plans were made in view of my singlehood.

Who'd have thought I'd fall in love, and fall so hard? *BIG SMILE* Haha.

April! That's next month!!!

GASP!

I'm so excited!! Hahah. About him coming AND about picking him up in my brand new outfit. YAYYYY! :D:D

Oh I forgot--another 'overhaul' I wanted was to get some long, luscious locks. Volume, baby, plus length. That went out the window, obviously, when I succumbed to getting myself a Canadian Haircut. Hahah. :D:D

When I'm in good moods like that, I tell myself that with all the fabulous food Don and Grace spoil me with, Abs and Toned Thighs can wait. Hahahaha.

Ok. What a bloody long ~~entry~~ ramble. Hahah. I got MOST carried away. But I know you loved it! So! *grins!!*

Later~~~, dudes!

A Dozen Roses For....

2006-03-04T13:34:00.000-05:00

It's a lazy weekend. Lazy because I'm lazy, not because there's nothing to do. Haha.

Anyway, I was blog-hopping and chanced upon this blog (the feel-good kind that I like to read when I'm in a frivolous mood), and she directed her readers to this radio programme.

The radio programme is from Minneapolis apparently a long time ago. The segment is called "Love me, Love me not" and basically callers can call in and get the host to call their partner and do a kind of, spotcheck/fidelity test on them. Reminds me a lot of something they had/have on Perfect 10 98.7 FM in Singapore, actually. Like when they spring a surprise on the person.

So what happened in this segment is this woman called in. The host, Andy Savage, chats with her a bit. He finds out that she and her boyfriend are very much in love and he has given her absolutely no reason to suspect he's cheating on her. "Oh, then it's going to be boring... but we'll humour you, ok?" he actually said.

He calls her boyfriend, Greg, up and tells him they've picked his namecard out of a fish bowl and he's won a dozen roses to send to whoever he wants. Just give us a name and address and we'll do the sending.

Sounds good, eh?

But here's the catch. Or the twist to this story. Like, really, it was like, "Oh MAN....!! Oh my gosh...!!". Haha.

Nah, here. Click THIS to listen to what Greg says. ;)

Latest Fad: Johari Window

2006-03-02T21:35:00.000-05:00

Soooooo. Wanna do this for me?? Haha. :D

Here's what this is all about first:

(taken from Wikipedia)

A Johari window is a metaphorical tool intended to help people better understand their interpersonal communication and relationships. It is used primarily in self-help groups and corporate settings as a heuristic exercise.

Terms selected only by the participant, but not by any of their peers, are placed into the Façade quadrant, representing information about the participant of which their peers are unaware. It is then up to the participant whether or not to disclose this information.

Terms that are not selected by the participant but only by their peers are placed into the Blind Spot quadrant. These represent information of which the participant is not aware, but others are, and they can decide whether and how to inform the individual about these "blind spots".

Terms which were not selected by either the participant or their peers remain in the Unknown quadrant, representing the participant's behaviors or motives which were not recognized by anyone participating. This may be because they do not apply, or because there is collective ignorance of the existence of that trait.

Basically it opens a window with some words that you can click and choose to describe the person.

Go on! It sounds more complicated than it really is. Give it a whirl for me! :D

Click here: http://kevan.org/johari?name=canadiancat to try! :D

National Pie Championships

2006-02-28T22:05:00.000-05:00

I just watched the National Pie Championships on TV!!!

The championships are actually being held in Florida, and there are SO many many many different types of pies!!! Nut, berry, citrus, chocolate, silk (what the hell are silk pies?!?!), apple... and loads more I can't remember.

They are SO good.

Some of them had cookie crusts instead of the normal pastry crusts. Some tried to innovate with creme cheese and peanut butter. There was an extreme apricot pie, a chocolate mousse pie with marshmallow toppings, cherry pie...

One woman made a lemon pie with cookie crust and almond flakes, the filling is layered with creme cheese and lemon cooked with sour cream.

Some added caramel to the apple filling for apple pies. One woman added maple syrup. She also had a pumpkin pie made from her homegrown pumpkins. Judges were full of praise for that pie... I wanna eat some too!!

Pie!!! The word has such a nice ring to it, no? :):):)

Where's My Acorn?

2006-02-28T15:47:00.000-05:00

[Above: A brownish-grey squirrel. They are very common here.]

Have you ever seen squirrels this plump? These little creatures scurry all around the campus and they are so cute and rotund. But recently the weather must have proven too cold, for I haven't seen them in a while. I love their tiny paws.

Bears aren't the only animals that hibernate in winter. Raccoons do, too. I'm looking forward to seeing them in Spring!

Not that keen about skunks, though. Haha.

It's been two months in Canada.

When I willingly left homeground and bounded abroad, I expected to plunge into a totally different place. I must say I was slightly disappointed at the beginning when it seemed like I had left Singapore only to find myself in a place not so different from Singapore. "It's all the same," I remember lamenting sadly.

But slowly, slowly, I'm noticing the differences. It's in the little things we do, what we eat, how we eat, how we travel, how we talk, how we shop, what we buy, ... It's in all these and more, that lie the differences.

I feel like I've finally settled in. Like, really settled in. I no longer feel like a stray thread sticking out of the tapestry, but actually feel like I'm part of the fabric.

Oh, sure, little things still give it away. Accent, the way I sometimes am on the verge of stepping out without my coat, possibly even my mannerisms.

But I feel like I've finally settled in. No longer fretting and widening my eyes at missed buses, which class is where, whether I talk funny, possibility of no or skimpy dinner...

I think it's called, I've settled into a routine. Found my yin/yang position, so to speak. Haha.

Took two months!! Kinda belated, I think. It's hard to imagine that two months later I'm going to leave all these and go home. I wonder what part of Canada will stick with me beyond the first month of touching down, and what part will fade away, back into this part of the world.

I'm quite excited to find out. ;)

Tale of Two Cities: Part II of III

2006-02-26T18:28:00.000-05:00

Ok, folks, here it is. The much-awaited and waaaaaay overdue Part II. Keep in mind this is ~~TWO~~, no, sorry, THREE weeks ago. ;D I told you it's way overdue. Haha.

Anyway, previously on Part I, I talked about the traumatic bus ride to Guelph. That was Friday. In Part II, now, I'm going to tell you all about what happened on Saturday! :)

So on Friday night, Grace asked me if I wanted to visit the Guelph Market on Saturday. And I said, yeah, of course! What I was actually expecting was a WET-market-market. You know, where you get fresh fish and shrimps and poultry and stuff. It wasn't particularly thrilling, but I did wanna see what a market in Guelph, or Canada, is like. So what if it's gonna be, not so appetizing first thing in the morning?

Then Grace told me it's more of a socializing thing. Well that was totally way-out for me. Gossip and socializing in a wet market??? Wow. *raise eyebrow!!*

So on Saturday, we woke up early. Or rather, Grace woke up at the unearthly hour of 6-something, 7-something, and I woke up at (my unearthly hour of) 8am. We had a de-e-licious breakfast of scrambled eggs, swedish rye bread-cracker, bacon, and a bowl of mixed fruits, including strawberries, oranges, and grapes. At about 9.30am, we were off to the Guelph Market.

Boy, was it different from what I imagined.

Check this out!

[Above: Guelph Market Scene!]

Ok, I know. The picture is slightly discoloured but you get the idea! Those are brocolli in the foreground, pumpkins, and carrots. Check out that overturned wooden basket! It has completely no use except to sit there and look pretty. Who'd overturn a basket like that for decorative purposes in a market?!?!

[Above: Spanish Onions.]

If I'd appeared even mildly CBC (Canadian-born Chinese), the sight of those spanish onions absolutely gave me away. I squealed involuntarily at the first sight of them because I have never seen onions THIS huge. One spanish onion is the size of my two fists!!

[Above: Apples!]

I know you can get apples anywhere; but apples in those baskets? With EVERY apple looking SO good? Na-Uh. You get those in the Guelph Market. ;)

Anyway, I finally found out what 'Granny Smith' apples refer to. I have a very good recipe for baking an apple pie at home, but the only problem was the terms in the recipes. As with most of these recipes, they're in Western terminology, so ingredients like 'Red Delicious', 'Granny Smith', etc. just sound like Greek to me. Until now! Yesterday I was at Zehrs (a grocery store) and I saw 'Granny Smith' pointing to those green apples. I felt like I won Bingo! or something. Hahaha. :D

Ok, end of digression. Onward!!

[Above: Shelves of loaves of freshly baked bread from Toronto.]

I took this picture on the way out and by that time most of the bread are gone. I've always loved the sight of fresh loaves of bread. They're ~~puffy~~, oh, sorry, pOOOfy, round, and they look and smell so divine. Mmmmmm.

When you buy bread like these, they cut it on the spot for you. They'll pop it into the cutting machine there. I suppose it's to give people the option of having sliced-bread, or whole loaves.

[Above: More vegetables! Red peppers, normal onions and ginger, capsicums, cucumbers.]

[Above: Crocus.]

Now this is why the Guelph Market resembles even less of a wet-market. They sell potted plants like these too! Loads of tulips, crocuses, geraniums, and a whole host of others I can't remember. A real vibrant riot of colours!

[Above: Novelty stuff. Aromatic candles, etc.]

They also have stalls that sell other novelty wares. Above are aromatheraphy stuff--candles, scented incense sticks, quirky pots, etc.

Along the way, you can also buy clothes, earrings, necklaces, prepared-on-the-spot donuts, sausages... Plus at the other end of the market there's a corner selling photographs of Guelph. There're some really artistic shots, some really good shots, and other ordinary shots. And that's where the GOSSIP and SOCIALIZING table is. *wink*

Here's the gang!

[Above (left to right): Terry (Grace's brother), Sheryl (or Cheryl??), Sheryl's friend, their daughter Emily, Anastasia, and Grace.]

At this end of the market, there is a place where people can sit and chat and have a cup of coffee, or something to eat.

You can't really see the resemblance here, but Terry and Grace REALLY look alike!!! They have the same clear, bluish-greenish eyes, and the same nose.

The Friend, as she introduced herself, :D, is a really funny character. She has a loud, hearty laugh, and she is just SO full of good humor. Haha. It is SO infectious. ;)

And we were just chatting and 'gossiping' (well it's not really gossip-gossip, just, catching up on who is doing what and etc.), when Anastasia came in. She was all flushed and perspiring. And you know why?

Because she had just ran in from Toronto!! TORONTO!!!! My Gosh!! When I heard that my jaw dropped, though I tried to remain composed and inconspicuious. Hahaha. Well, her svelte and trim figure says it all, eh? ;)

We found out also that she just got engaged. Her fiance walked in later too, and Sheryl said, "This is the guy she's going to marry. And we all approve." Burst of laughter, and it was just such a good moment.

[Above: Another picture, taken by Anastasia, so I can be in the picture!]

I haven't told you about Emily. She's younger than me, and Grace and Sheryl told me she never ever wakes up to come with them to the Guelph Market, since... since she grew up. You know, we wanna sleep in!!! YAY for sleeping in!! :D:D And Guelph Market is a weekly kinda thing for Sheryl and Terry, so.... we wanna sleep in!!!

Ok so bottomline is: Emily made a rare appearance that Saturday! :):) Grace told me it's because she wanted to meet me, (I'm sure it's because Grace has me on her lips ALL the time. Haha.), that she wanted to put a real person/face to that online blog. This online blog, pardon me. So, I'm really honoured. Thank you, Emily! :)

Oh, and Don and Grace has Emily's pictures all over their fridge, too, so I'm always reminded of her. Pity we didn't talk very much. I didn't really think she was there specially to see me, but if she were, I was sorry we didn't talk more.

Anyways. After the Guelph Market, we were going to drive back to Grace's house because we've got a girlie hair appointment at noon. But we were walking out and I saw this castle-lookalike building. Grace told me it's an armoury.

[Above: Side-view of armoury.]

These pictures are especially dedicated to CHARLES! This armoury reminded me SO much of those RTS games (Cossacks, Stronghold, Age of Empire series, etc.etc.) that he plays; when I saw it, it was like the game came alive for me, like, OMG, I'm looking at a building in the Game.

Apparently this armoury is not like a locked-down place--they're still using it now to store, well, arms. ;)

Here're more shots!

[Above: Front-view shot of Armoury.]

[Above: Full-frontal shot of Armoury.]

After this, we went home. At the garage, Grace decided to drop in next door to see if we can bring the doggie over for a while.

A little background: The dog's name is Scholtzie. Grace and Don looks after him whenever their neighbours go away for holiday. On most Saturdays, Scholtzie also comes over for a while. He absolutely loves Grace. At the sound of Grace's voice, he goes positively nuts. He scampers around, like his paws can't move fast enough, jumps up and down excitedly, wags his tail like you wouldn't believe it, and he is just SO excited. It's almost like he's going to hyperventilate from all that excitement.

Don tells me Scholtzie just loves to be scratched. He will just sit there allllllll day if you scratched his head and rubbed his back.

Well I think if someone gave me a backrub, I'd stay in that spot all day too. :D:D Haha.

Anyways. Ladies and gentlemen, meet Scholtzie!

AWWWwwwwww! Isn't he just the Cutest little doggie EVER??? He looks a little sad in this picture, because it's just before Grace takes him back.

More Scholtzie shots!!

He is the best little dog ever. When Grace let him out into the backyard to run around and take a little sniff down the hedge of the fence, because he loves the smell of rabbits and little animals, he bursts out of the door. When he scrambles back into the house, he'll stand obediently and good-naturedly on the cloth Grace has placed on the ground so that Grace can wipe his little paws before he runs around the house. HE WILL ACTUALLY STAND THERE and wait patiently for Grace to come!!

And, he won't jump on the furniture too. Grace has a special blue cloth for him that she puts on the couch. When he sees the blue cloth, he goes mad. And he'll just stay in the blue region when he's carried onto the couch! Isn't that just amazing? He is just adorable.

Scholtzie is the most affectionate dog EVER. And he has the softest fur. Like plush toy, but better. Jeree!! Don't you just love him???

And it's time for our girlie hair appointment! :) Grace wanted to get her bangs trimmed, and I needed a trim all over. We went to New Images.

Meet Danielle, my hairdresser, the daughter of the owner Kevin and Donna.

[Above: Danielle, in pink, and me.]

Danielle is really sweet. And she gave me a good trim and I had bangs a little like hers.

I got a wash before the cut. Danielle trimmed off the awful V-shape that my hair had grown into, into a lighter and neater shape. My hair was absolutely fabulous after she blew-dry and used the straightening iron on my hair--but sadly, I can't maintain that look because I don't a straightening iron with me. Sobs!

But it's ok. I still love the haircut. Thanks to Grace and Danielle. ;) And it's growing out nicely now, so I'm happy. :)

While at the hairdresser's, there was news of an impending winter snowstorm. Check this out--it's taken on the way back:

[Above: Icy road, impending snowstorm.]

See? The sky is all hazy and smokey-looking. Really, the whole feeling was just an air choked full of snow and dirt--it's like having a bad cough and trying to suppress that cough but when it comes out it's louder and worse. Yup, that was how the sky pregnant with the promise of a storm felt like.

When we got back it was about... 4-something? I showed off my Canadian Haircut to Don--and men being men, he said he can't see anything different about it.

"It IS different, Don!!" I insisted.
"Where??"
Fervently, I combed and patted my hair and made sure he saw the Canadian bangs I got.
"Ohhh, now I see. Yeah, your fringe looks different. Yeap, you look better now."

Thank you, Don. *beams*

Grace was preparing dinner, and I was in the toliet, when the power went out. This is the blackout I promised to talk about!

At about 5-something, we took out the candles and lighted them. Days are short in winter, so by 5-something the sky was darkening fast.

[Above: Grace and Don lighting candles.]

[Above: Don lighting a candle.]

Being terribly un-tuned-in to a Canadian blackout in winter, I was pretty nonchalant, actually. Blackouts in Singapore only last, what, 10 minutes?? Max??

Until Grace and Don started talking about crawling in together under the blanket in the same bed. And having to call pizza for dinner. And how they may not even have pizza cuz the malls might be out of power too. Because the winter storm has really hit Guelph hard. Then it really, really struck me.

That I'm without power in WINTER. In CANADA. With the winter STORM blowing outside. !!!!

That means, no electricity. Means, the furnace is not working. Means, there's NO central heating!!! In Canada!! Do you know how COLD it gets way up here in Canada???

We had this blackout for 1 hour and 12 minutes.

Haha. Oh well. I didn't really panic. I had a lovely duvet from Grace that'll keep me toasty. :D So I took out my camera, and Don and I had some fun. Hee.

[Above: Potential Candlelight Pizza dinner. I love the fattest candle. :) ]

[Above: Candle in a goblet!]

[Above: Candles curl!]

[Above: Glass-framed flames.
(New tongue-twister. Dare you to say that 5 times as fast as you can!)]

[Above: This is my fat candle. It's so fat it needs two wicks.]

Haha! See, it's all up to you to have fun. *wink*

Remember I said I wanted to tell you why these entries are called "Tale of Two Cities"?

Well, it was so deafening, the blackout we had. If we all kept quiet, we could hear each other's breathing, and the pitter-pattering of the storm outside. Freezing rain, gusts, and the trees were hurled left and right.

Don asked me what I was studying and if it'll be too difficult for him to understand. I told him I was reading storybooks. Haha. We got to talking about Dickens's "A Tale of Two Cities", which I was agonizing over at that time, and I told him briefly about the book.

At that moment, Grace quipped in that when I talk about my getaway to Guelph, my blog will be like a story of Guelph and Waterloo--so that's like a tale of two cities.

Kinda silly, eh? But we were all really taken with the idea, and feeling rather pleased with ourselves about it too. Hahah. Anyway I think it's a good idea, so. Take it or leave it!! xD

And as suddenly as the lights went out, they suddenly came back home.

Phew!! Don decided to have a drink to calm his nerves. He had a foul-smelling something that Grace said I wouldn't want because it's bitter and strong. She had an orange-something that I also cannot remember, also she told me twice.

They asked if I would like something to drink too, and I said no. Because even if I wanted something, I didn't even know WHAT to ask for. In the end, I took Grace's suggestion, and this is what I had:

[Above: White vermouth.]

It's White Vermouth. It's really light and sweet. It's also what they call an imperative--means it's something you drink before meals.

With Don and Grace, I'm learning so much about wine. ;)

Papa! Mama! I'm gonna be a wine connoiseur!! Hahaha! In other words, an alcoholic!! *big grin*

[Above: Happy Grace preparing dinner. She's glad we have the power back.]

I had another picture of Don, but it's poorly taken, so I'm not publishing it here. Don looks green. :(

For dinner, we had grilled beef, mashed potatoes with sour cream and margarine, and a brocolli casserole. Yup, with red wine. I think because it's beef, like red meat, that's why we have red wine? I'm not sure. I think sometimes you just go with the gut feeling. Literally. ;)

I loved the dinner. Plus the brocolli casserole was so good and super easy to prepare! Just pour Cream of Mushroom soup (without water, maybe a little milk) cooked with cheese over cooked brocolli; garnish with salt and pepper and croutons. Stick it in the oven, and voila! Dee-E-licious brocolli casserole.

[Above: Dee-E-licious brocolli casserole!]

And.... a parting shot. My lovely Canadian angels, as Jeremy calls them--Don and Grace! :)

Stay tuned for the last part of Tale of Two Cities! I will be talking about the visit to Grace's church, the lovely people I met, and Ann Wilson who took us out for lunch!

Tata~!

Back from Guelphadise

2006-02-26T17:55:00.000-05:00

Hi!!!!!!!

I'm back from Guelph!!!

I know I haven't even written the promised Tale of Two Cities: Parts II and III, and here I've got new chapters of Guelphadise coming up!! Too much to tell! Too little time!!

Anyways. Just wanted to say I'm back.

I will, I WILL, update about Guelph. Chronologically, ok? :D

Goofing Off

2006-02-18T22:48:00.000-05:00

It's the start of Reading Week!! Yay!

In truth I felt as though Reading Week started on Thursday.. Haha.. Anyway!

On Friday I ended at 1130am (yay!) and met Saranya and Joo for lunch. Then I went shopping at Conestoga Mall! Yay!! I caught the 1245pm bus and intended to come back at... 4pm?

I ended up catching the last bus back. :S Hahaha. 6.15pm only, LAH. Didn't buy much--just shampoo and stuff. Just wanted to take a walk and have some alone time. Hee.

Had a squash game scheduled at 6pm, so I made my way to the Physical Activities Centre (PAC) immediately. Went up and down the row of squash courts and I didn't see them?! Tried to find a payphone to call Saranya, but couldn't find one?!

Ugh. Slightly miffed, I went back to the Student Life Centre (SLC) to access the Internet (because Saranya said she'll email me to confirm the timing).

No emails!! Made a phone call. She didn't pick up. Debated going back. I know that once I go back, there's no way I'm coming out again. Haha. So I tried her phone again. She picked up, and told me, "Why're you there so early? I told you 9pm, what?"

"NO you didn't! We said 6pm in the afternoon, and you said you'll email me, but you didn't!"

"Oh, I MSN-ed you??"

-_- || I wasn't at my computer?? Haiiii.

In the end I went over to have dinner with them. Had a humongous ass-of-a-fish-burger. With lettuce, tomatoes, onions, green pepper, mayonnaise, ranch, and chilli. RANCH, leh. Hahaha. MMMMmmmm! It was so huge I could barely take a bite even after opening my jaw to the MAX. Hahaha.

After dinner we had some time to kill, so we went to play billard. !!! The table is so big?!?!?! And the balls are so small?!?! After about 15 minutes we decided to stop making a fool of ourselves and let the others have the table. Haha.

And it's Squash time!! YAY! We booked the court for 2 hours, and I played for 1 hour!! Wah. Unfit. :D:D The court is free to book; but it's 2bucks to rent the racquet. After 1 hour, I felt slightly tired, but I was still so dry!! The place was too cold to perspire, so it wasn't very nice. I like to perspire and feel the toxins oozing out of me. Feels damn good. But I didn't have that luxury this time. :(

After that we made our way back to Saranya's room. I'm telling you, the wind was SO crazy. We can't even see much in front of us because the wind was blowing all that snow off the ground. Snowsqualls, they call it. We couldn't even walk properly, and we were SO COLD. Decided to run and keep warm. Hahaha.

Oh I forgot to say. After my game I needed a drink, so we decided to go to SLC. Me and Saranya. I was gonna just find a vending machine in PAC itself, but Saranya said SLC is just next door. And guess what? We ran to SLC in our shorts and T-shirts, ok! It was a very short sprint, actually; but when you open that heavy door and the wind comes crashing into your face and body, oh boy, you know how that naked chicken feels in your freezer. What a rush!! Quite exciting, actually. Hahahaa. I was screaming as I ran. :S:S:S:S

Ok so we are back in Saranya's room. Lazed around for a while and tried to recover from that onslaught from the snow and wind. Was debating coming back. But walking in that crazy weather just totally paralyzed me. So after much wishy-washing I decided to crash in Saranya's room for the night.

We watched a movie too! Hotel Rwanda. It's a serious film about a genocide that UN abandoned and nobody knew. You guys should really watch it. Like a documentary but only more emotionally heightened. ;) Not a very good pick for a girlie night, but SARANYA is such a serious goon she didn't have any chick flicks in her computer. None! Zilch! ZERO. Hahaha. Joo and Cindy got restless after a while and then KO-ed. I finished the whole show! I thought the ending was still very pro-UN-America; wonder who made the film.

Anyway, I wanna make an announcement!! For the movie we had popcorn and Cindy's cookies! Her cookies were really good. Yum! But it's the POPCORN........!!! *swoons* The popcorn were popped in the microwave! It is SO COOL.

You buy them in individually packed bags that are flat, and then you pop the whole thing into the microwave and wait. The bag will start to inflate slowly, and then it'll start to pop, and soon you can smell all that OHhhhhhh buttery smell!!! MY GOSH. And once it stops popping, you take it out and open the bag and ooooohhhh it is so good. I'm in love!! I HAVE TO GET SOME, man! Cindy told me they have it in Singapore?!?!?!?! I've never seen one until now.

Uh, what else. Yeah, so we kinda had a sleepover party. Hee. It was such a good way to end the mid-terms and start the break. :):):)

My bio clock is totally whacked, though. Haha. Felt disorientated all day. And my body is aching from all that squash.

I'm so looking forward to the rest of this week. X)

NO CLASSES!!

2006-02-16T09:38:00.000-05:00

After all that loud whining, this is a God-sent!!!

Hahahahah.

So I woke up today and begged those few seconds more in bed, dreading when I have to wake up and do some cramming and go for my classes. etc. etc.

When the radio announced "... ... Waterloo University is closed... Wilfred Laurier..." it didn't quite register.

I got up and Kailin msn-ed me:

Kailin: In Winter Wonderland and losing my mind. says:
Classes cancelled!

cat says:
how come?!

Kailin: In Winter Wonderland and losing my mind. says:
Bad weather

Kailin: In Winter Wonderland and losing my mind. says:
go look at the webbie girl

Kailin: In Winter Wonderland and losing my mind. says:
www.uwaterloo.ca

cat says:
OMG really

Kailin: In Winter Wonderland and losing my mind. says:
hahah yupyup

And here it is!

Oh yeah! Oh yeah! Uh huh! MMMMM MM! Hahahaha. Tell me, where else do you get classes cancelled officially because of bad weather????? NEVER will you get that in Sunny Singapore!

Hahahaa. Yay!

Am going to make myself some gooooooood breakfast. :D:D

[Read the rest of the Waterloo announcement here!]

A Rush of Blood. Or not.

2006-02-15T18:40:00.000-05:00

It is a crazy week!!

Last Friday, handed in Romanticism paper. 7 pages.

Monday. Fret about Wednesday.

Tuesday. Fret about Wednesday.

I spent Valentine's Day fretting about my Victorian mid-term at 9.30am on Wednesday and Canadian paper due at 4pm.

I had a severe case of writer's block on Tuesday and didn't start on my paper until, what, 8pm? Block, block, blockED, until 11pm and I finally had some excuse of a skeleton. Decided to take a break and ended up getting distracted by end of April plans. Hahaha.

Studied for Victorian literature until, uhmmmmm, 4.30am?? Or was it 5.30?? Thomas Carlyle is vulgarly obscure--declamatory, bombastic language, loads of foreign names and historical references... you get the picture.

Overslept until, 8.45am. Latest possible time to wake up!! Haha. I have decided last night, this morning (?!?!) that Brontë's just not going to make it to my study list. Crammed some more Dickens and Carlyle into my brain and hurried to the venue.

Had Romanticism class after that. Less brain drain.

Came back and crammmmmmmmmmmmed for my Canadian essay! It was an overhaul, man, I tell you. By the 4th page I was losing steam.

Time check: 3.30pm. That's when the class starts.

Growl!! I missed class. There goes my attendance points. :(

TOMORROW I STILL HAVE MID-TERM FOR THE SHAKESPEARE CLASS!!! 4 plays!!!

My brain's in overdrive. Fried, man, totally fried. Oh, I just remembered. Have to read another book and submit a response paper for the 4pm class too.

Tomorrow, my brain will just be a flat rock pancake from too much abuse and suffer from the extreme shock of a sudden lapse of non-activity at 4pm. Or 7pm, if the class is engaging.

I AM GOING SHOPPING ON FRIDAY TO REWARD MYSELF!!

TGIF never seem more apt. Haha.

Tata!!

Tale of Two Cities: Part I of III

2006-02-11T13:02:00.000-05:00

I know, I know! This is waaaaaaaaay overdue. Apologies! Remember I'm a student ok--we students have a lot of essays and annoying tests and crabby response papers to write. :D

I have decided to split the Guelph weekend getaway update into three parts, in true saga style! So here it is, Tale of Two Cities: Part I. (Why "Tale of Two Cities" will come later, aye? :D )

Ok. Part I will be about Friday! Get your popcorn and chips, or celery and carrot snack sticks, and get comfy, because this is gonna be a long long loooooong entry.

***
You have been warned!!
***

{{Classes}}

Because I was bubbling with excitement about the weekend, and because I had procrastinated my packing, I slept at the very decent hour of 4am on Friday morning. Woke up, bundled up in layers and buckled up with backpack, and went for my Victorian Literature class at 9.30am and Romantic Literature class at 10.30am. After my classes, I walked around and got a little somethings for Don and Grace.

Thereafter, I met Cindy, Kailin, and Daph to go to her house for hotpot! (aka, steamboat!).

It was a loooooooong walk. I was in my silly boots (as Don calls them), and Cindy decided that she wanna try the railway route.

Railway route! In my silly boots!! @#$%#@$@%!$#@@ !!!!!!! My poor babies.....!!

Well, they were all in sensible tracking shoes, so they sauntered on.

I don't have pictures from the hotpot, so I'll update that another time!! :D

{{Bus}}

So we overestimated our kitchen skills and took tooooo long to prepare hotpot. By the time we all got down to eating, it was 2.25pm. I have to leave at 2.45pm Latest in order to catch the 2.52pm bus downtown to Kitchener in order to catch the 3.30pm Greyhound to Guelph. Seems there's no way I can gulp down all that food, so with most reluctance, I called Grace.

"I'm so sorrrrry, Grace!! We just started eating (etc. etc. etc) so I can't make the 3.30pm bus... Can I take the later bus and meet you??"
"What time is the next bus?"
"Ummmm. I think it's 4? 4.15?"
"Hold on, I'll just check the schedule. (loads up website. wait. wait. wait). What number are you calling from, Catharine?"
"(gives number)"
"Ok, I'll call you back ok? I'll just check this and get back to you."
"Ok!"

Minutes later she calls me back:

"Catharine, the next bus is at 4.15pm. Take that one ok? And I'll still meet you as we have arranged."
"Ok!!! I'm so sorry! Thank you!"
"Ok, byebye!"

So. In order to catch the 4.15pm Greyhound to Guelph, I have to catch the 3.37pm bus from Cindy's place to downtown Kitchener. In order to catch the 3.37pm bus, I have to leave her place LATEST 3.30pm.

I started to prepare to leave at about 3.25pm. Waited for Kailin and Daph. And Kailin's superbly good banana milkshake. Ugh. Looks like I can't make it if I waited any longer. Said a hurried goodbye and ran out of the house.

Run, run, run! It was tough to run in my silly boots with a huge backpack and the wind determinedly rushing at you! Yet, I ran, ran, ran!

Wah, unfit. Out of breath, finally, I brisk walked. Saw the bus coming in from the junction. RUN!!!!!

The bus pulled in.

I ran for the bus bay.

Passengers boarding.

I reached the bus bay.

And.

THE BUS TOOK OFF WITHOUT ME!!!

OMG!!!!!!! NOoooooooo! It just left! Like that! Poof! Into the distance!

I tried not to pull my hair out in complete desperation.

Checked the schedule, even though I knew the next bus was at 3.52pm, and I will never make the Greyhound now, nevertheless, I checked the schedule. Hoping that maybe, Maybe, I had seen the numbers wrongly.

Well, it's 3.52pm alright. It'll reach the terminal at 4.21pm.

Kailin and Daph strolled leisurely into sight. I told them we missed the bus (they wanted to catch the same bus as me). Because they were in less of a hurry than me, they were not terribly ruffled.

But I was completely frantic. I had a sudden brilliant idea. Hitch a ride!!

With that brilliant idea in my head, I moved further down the road and waved like a mad woman to the next oncoming car. It stopped. Amazingly, it actually stopped.

"Hi!! I'm so sorry, but are you going to Charles Street terminal??"
"Charles Street... Oh, no. I'm just going down the street..."
"Oh.... It's alright then, thanks... (attempts megawatt smile)."

I stopped car after car. And car after car stopped for me. I must have stopped about, what, I don't know how many cars. Now, sitting rationally in my room, I cannot fathom where I got the guts to stop those cars in the middle of the road. Haha. Distraught, that's what gave me all that bravery.

Kailin was pretty shocked. She lent me her handphone to call Grace again.

"Grace!! The worst thing ever has happened. I missed the bus!!!"
"What? You missed the bus?"
"Yes! It just pulled away without me!!"
"But Catharine, it's not 4.15pm yet!"
"I know, but it just left!"
"Catharine, it's not 4.15pm yet."

(sudden realization that we are talking about different buses. Haha.)

"Oh, no, Grace, I know it's not 4.15pm yet, but I have to catch the bus to Kitchener, and I missed it!!"
"Ohhh."
"I'm sorry! I'm trying to hitch a ride down. Or get a cab!"
"Ok, Catharine, (she checks the schedule), if you miss the 4.15pm, take the next one."
"When's the next one?"
"5.30pm. Take the 5.30, ok? If you miss the 4.15. I'll meet you at the terminal instead. Listen, I'll do my groceries first, then, and meet you. Ok?"

(Omg we were supposed to do groceries together? Oh no, oh no. I feel so so awful.)

"Ok, ok. I'm so sorry, Grace. This is so bad."
"It's alright. Call me if you do get on the 4.15 though, ok?"
"Ok."

Sigh. In the end, the 3.52pm IXpress bus came. I pleadingly asked the driver if he can make the terminal at 4.15pm. And he stoically, doggedly, lifelessly, said, "No."

Poor guy. I pulled upright and strode purposefully to a seat. I couldn't help looking at him with such condescension. If he had explained to me that he can't, because they have to keep to the schedule, I would have completely understood, and thanked him for wanting to try. But, he didn't. He gave me that lousy, uncompromising, why-should-I-do-you-a-favour "No".

Yucks.

So then I got to the terminal. The long ride placated me. I still harboured a tiny flicker of hope when I reached the terminal, hoping perhaps the Greyhound was still waiting for boarding passengers. I had also made up my mind that I'll take a cab down to Guelph if I missed the Greyhound.

I asked a guard there if the Greyhound was still in. He said it's probably gone. Stupid, right, me. I should've just gone down and checked for myself. Aye, but never mind that.

I was really, quite completely, shattered. I tried to call Grace again on the payphone, but it'll cost me C$3.65. Can you imagine? That's ridiculous. I sank down onto a random bench, and called her.

I tried not to cry.

"Hello, Grace (last name). Can I help you?"
"Grace..... It's Catharine."
"Oh, Catharine! (voice changes immediately). Did you make the bus?"
"No...."

(I cannot help it. My voice broke.)

"I'm sorry, Grace... I missed the bus..."
"But it's not 5.30 yet, Catharine. Can you still make the 5.30?"
"(5.30 sounds eons away) 5.30? Yes, yes, I can still make the 5.30... but Grace, that's an hour away! And you have to wait so long..."

(My voice totally betrayed me. I started crying.)

"Catharine," she said firmly, "it's ok, Catharine. Don't worry about it. Take the 5.30, ok? I'll see you at the terminal."
"Ok... I'm sorry...." (Cry, cry, cry. Really! I should get a grip on myself!)

She changed tactic, and lowered her voice to a whisper, and tried to soothe me.

"Catharine. Don't worry, ok? We're going to have a good weekend. Don't worry."
"Ok... *sniff*. Ok, Grace. I'll see you."

I wondered if Grace knew I was crying, after I hung up. I was really sorry, and I wanted her to know. Anyhow, I sat in the bench limply, a loud, empty roaring in my head.

After a long while, I noticed the girl who's been shifting restlessly beside me. I smiled at her. She smiled back. She heaved her bag. There was an awkward silence.

"My bag's heavy," she offered.
"Yeah?" I smiled.

More awkward silence.

"You're waiting for the Greyhound?"
"Yeah."
"Where're you going?"
"Oh, I'm going to Guelph."
I brightened. "Really?! I'm going to Guelph too! I missed the earlier bus.."
"I know! Me too! You know, the bus pulled out as we pulled in!"
"Really?? Oh man.......... That really sucks."
"I know.... I can't believe it! It left early, you know......--"

And on and on. We decided to get a drink. Chocolate milk, for some comfort theraphy. Haha. And so we got talking and talking. She told me about her family, her brother, her mom, her dad, she lives with her grandma... about school, how she stopped for a year and a half, and had just decided to go back. I told her school's compulsory in Singapore, until you're 12, and you had to pay. She said it's stupid. Canadians get free, compulsory education until the age of 16. She told me she wants to go New York to dance. Modern, jazz, ballet.

Amazing how people can just talk like that.

It was a long ride to Guelph, and I dozed off with the lights from the low-shops zooming past me, and my new friend plugged into her discman, with a CD that she sneaked from her brother.

{{Guelph!}}

I reached Guelph. With fresh worries. Where would I find Grace? How long has she waited? What would we say?

I alighted, forehead furrowed.

And the first person I saw, was Grace, with a big warm smile.

"Grace!"

She opened her arms, and I hugged her gratefully.

After that were just flustered emotions and incoherent explanations, fragmented because some of it got snatched by the wind.

"Oh, wait! You must meet my new friend."

So Grace met my new friend, and we met her mom, and then we said goodbye.

"I was so upset, Grace, just now."
"I know, I could hear it in your voice."
"Really? Oh, I was crying. I couldn't help it."
"Oh, I know..." And I got another hug.

Canadians are so polite! Let me tell you, they won't refer to your crying as 'crying' if you don't refer to it yourself first. They'll say "upset". I wonder if they have a lot of such euphemistic expressions and ways of speech.

Anyway, yay yay. :) So we strapped in and got to her place. Ahhhh. Finally. I feel better already. :)

We had chicken casserole that night. With baby spinach salad, tossed with sliced almonds, pears, onions, and mango chutney dressing. I loved the salad. Yummy!

Don was glad we were home.

Grace asked if I was an early-riser, or do I like to sleep in. I must admit I blushed. Hahahahah. I Like to be an early-riser when I do rise early, but often I just sleep in. Pisses me off sometimes too, when I sleep in too much. :S So I really didn't know how to answer. Haha. I told her I'm fine with both. (I realize I keep telling her I'm fine with anything alot during the whole trip). Don't like that lah, very embarrassing if I say I'm a sleep-in-ner if they're early-risers, or that I'm an early-riser if they sleep in right? I'm good at accomodating. :D:D Haha.

After dinner, Grace and I baked some raisin bran muffins! I really don't like raisin bran--but the muffins were awfully delicious.

Grace showed me my personal washroom, and the room where I'm supposed to sleep. The washroom was perfect and looked right out of the movies, with all the little touches. Grace had put some clean towels that had some of her cross-stich embroidery and I was so impressed. So she showed me more of her cross-stich projects. There was one as big as a painting!!

My room was just as lovely. I had two pillows and a duvet!! A DUVET!!! Wah. I felt so spoiled, and felt slightly sheepish about my own makeshift blanket. Hahaha. Plus Grace also included a peachy-pink house robe for me, and I borrowed a minty-teal-green nightgown from her. Lovely!! I loved the house robe!!

Confession also: I forgot my toothbrush. Can you imagine?!?!?! Luckily, Grace had an extra one--those complimentary airplane toothbrushes. :D

We watched a bit of TV, and they asked me about Singapore exports. I really, really felt like a dumb-blonde then because I was completely clueless. National Education down the drains, man. Hahhaa. I gave some half-baked answers of what I do know, and resolved to find out more so I won't appear so clueless.

Let me tell you, in contrast, Grace and Don really knows loads about Canada and her history. She would tell me of the early settlers of Canada, why some things are the way they are because of what happened in the past, the wheat and corn fields peppered along the way to her place... etc.

And then, we called it a night. I snuggled into the duvet (!!!) (oh, by the way, it's pronounced du-veh), and drifted off to a lovely slumber.

Very long entry, isn't it? But it's mostly all about the stupid bus. Most of the melodrama is all in the bus. Growl!! The buses here are SO punctual. 4.56 means 4.56. The maximum is give or take a minute. But that's about TOPS. :S:S But it's good for planning stuff so... I shall learn to be punctual. Haha. Grace actually said she's just worried I'll miss my flight home. Hahaha. Don't worry, Grace--Jeremy is SUPER punctual. *wink*

Hee. Ok. In Part II, I'll tell you all about the Guelph Market, ARMOURY (!!!!), my fabulous haircut @ New Images, the impending winter storm, and an unexpected surprise.

:D Tata!

Breakfast Menu

2006-02-11T11:26:00.000-05:00

Today, I had:

+ Scrambled omelette with halved grape tomatoes, cheese, black pepper, and a (Huge) dash of butter.
+ Breakfast Muesli Pita Bread with butter and cheese spread.

It's not like I have time to make such a spread all the time.

I feel good! :)

[[A glass of white milk would've been Puurrrrfect. Meow.]]

Night Run

2006-02-11T09:51:00.000-05:00

Friday, yesterday. I decided to skip school. Because I stayed up till 3am on Thursday night fretting myself crazy over the essay I have to hand in on Friday.

I ate my dinner. I took a bath. I ate some snacks. I got ready to pull an all-nighter and hand in a blast of an essay that'll blast my Prof outta her chair because it's so damn good.

I fell asleep. On the table. With the lights on.

Woke up at 4am. Woke up at 5.30am. Woke up at 6something am. The thought that I have to write some inferior crap totally paralyzed me. I cannot hand in inferior work!!!

I wish I could be like Coleridge: making excuses for fragments.

ARGH. I decided to skip school and write my blast of an essay. Had three slices of wholewheat bread.

I know. The actual typing of the essay only took about, what, 4 hours? But, oh, the agony of the whole week!!!

I started the essay before Mr.Q went to bed; and I finished it as he started to wake up. I got paralyzed somewhere in-between.

Finally FINALLY it's done. It's my first draft. I can't bear to read it a second time.

Save. Grabbed my thumbdrive. Pulled on my winter gear. Sprinted to DC. Print. How to Print?!?! Ask. Print. Sprinted to STJ. See the map?!?!?! IT's freaking far. :S:S:S

I ran from the X to the O! It was only 7ish in the evening, but it looked like 9pm.

And then! The doors were locked. MY GOODNESS!!! HOW!!! I tried another door. Locked. BOOHOO.

I managed to find a little way in, and as I dropped my essay into the little mailboxes, I heaved a huge sigh of relief.

First essay. Done! Yay. Hahaa.

I came back and concussed. :D:D

Late Night Power-Up

2006-02-06T23:29:00.000-05:00

I am treating myself to a chocolate bar. Kit-Kat! I take a big happy juicy bite and realized it's all chocolate, I had another big happy juicy bite and realized it's all chocolate again.

My Kit-Kat has no wafers!!!

It's kinda strange because you take a big happy juicy bite expecting some crunch from that crunchy wafer--and then you don't get any. Mmmmmm. But it's chocolate, so I'm not complaining. Hee. :D

Welcome Winter

2006-02-06T17:18:00.000-05:00

Today, I finally got to experience some real winter. It has been chilly-cold all January, with sporadic snowing, and almost everyone just keeps telling me, "Oh, you ain't see nothing yet. This is the mildest winter in years!", or "Oh, this is no winter. This is like spring!", or, "This is really unusual for winter. Usually we have snow 30cm high!".

Well we got THAT today. The 30cm high snow, I mean. :S Whoever's on snow-shovelling duty this week didn't do his job!! I had to wade through all that snow, WADE through, to get to the main road.

And the wind!!! O.M.G. It's crazy. It's so strong, it bites. I think the weather was -6 this morning, but the 45km/h wind made it plunge all the way to -16.

No kidding, I tell you. After half-running, half-shuffling to school (you don't want to run too fast because you'll just slip and fall on black ice!), I got to my Victorian class venue, only to find the whole building in darkness.

I thought I missed the class totally, which wasn't quite right since I wasn't THAT late, so I shuffled over to my professor's office, and the whole building was dark too. The building is such a labyrinth I get lost with the lights on, not to mention now that it's all dark!!

Well, all that wind and snow had caused a power failure in half the campus. Imagine that! And when I was in Guelph, we have power failure for 1 hour 12 min!! No kidding, man!

I was half-debating if I should just shuffled back to my room to concuss, haha, but decided to check out my next class. And it's on. Bleagh. And so was my 3.30pm class. Bleagh. So I camped out in Tim Hortons to get my homework done, and have just waded back to my room.

I had an amazing weekend in Guelph--super eventful. I will update that soon! :D

Feeling Goofy

2006-02-02T18:51:00.000-05:00

I feel so goofy! Hahaha. I've had a long and crazy day. But I'm so bubbled-over with excitement and adrenaline. I'm telling you, it must be the Guelph trip tomorrow. MUST BE. :D:D

I'm going to Guelph tomorrow after my classes end. Tomorrow's my early day! And the girls have planned a hot-pot lunch (aka 'steamboat') at Cindy's place tomorrow, and Joo and Cindy have lugged all that food back (bravo babes!!), so tomorrow we're gonna have a belated CNY get-together.

After that I'm gonna catch the Greyhound to Guelph, where Grace will pick me up and we'll go to their place. I'm gonna be staying over at their place over the weekend, and I am SO excited!! :D:D We are even going to cut our hair together--such a girlie thing to do right? Hahah. So fun!

It's going to be a lovely weekend.

Plus today my Victorian Professor said hi to me at the cafe in the library. [Yes, we can eat in the library ok!]. I was like grabbing a Kit-Kat chocolate bar when someone tapped me on the shoulder and said, "Hi, young lady!" And I was wondering who would call me 'young lady'???

Well I think it's really nice that Professors like say 'hi' and stuff outside of class. Anyway he's a really warm professor--he knows I'm an exchange student so I think he looks out for me in a way. Which is nice, and I don't feel so alienated. :D

I'm in a such a good mood. Maybe I'll go cook some pasta for dinner too. I know I still have the Victorian and Romantic essays due, and I'm still struggling with them, but I'm feeling so bouncy right now, those essays are not getting me down. Hee.

[[I know, right, there's a taboo in saying "I'm so happy now nothing will get me down" because it's uncanny how you will inevitably feel down right after you say that. But, today it's not true. :D:D ]]

Dulness List

2006-02-01T17:47:00.000-05:00

The "Dulness List" is my other name for (Essays)-To-Do-List. It's not a spelling error, Dulness, so go look it up if you're interested.

Anyway, I'm bored. To be more specific, I'm fretting. Because my virgin essay for the University of Waterloo is due. Today. It's not complete. In fact, I've written only a working-introduction and a pseudo-conclusion.

My virgin essay!!! What if I flunk it??? I am so scared my English is too inadequate for all these people here. What if it sounds too, Singaporean.?

Bah.

To cheer myself up--somewhat, anyway--I've done up a Dulness List. That is, a complete list of graded stuff, or stuff that I'll get points for, for this whole semester. It looks formidable and scary, but I am Xena Catharinaroar so I will conquer it!!!

Hahaha. I'm kidding. It's just an ego-booster, to remind myself that I (am going to) accomplish so (freaking) much. :D:D

[[I was going to put 'xoxo, cat', as a signing off, cuz it looks apt here, but what the hell does 'xoxo' stand for??? I'm not well-versed in Western SMS lingo. Sobs.]]

The Next Best Alternative

2006-01-30T18:35:00.000-05:00

That must be the only thing I remember from taking Economics. Haha.

Anyway, because we have had a royally lonely and quiet Chinese New Year so far, a few of us met up for a belated CNY lunch at a Chinese restaurant near campus yesterday. As next-best-alternative. Haha. We went to China Legends, where they have a Meal-For-1 deal that serves enough for 3 girls. Because the girls were terribly famished, we had a Meal-for-3. Initially we wanted a round-table concept where we have a few dishes in the centre, but it's (1) out of radar and (2) even if it is, it'll probably be out of budget too. :D:D

So here we are, at China Legends! (What a lame name too, right?)

[Yup, just five of us. Kailin, Joo, Saranya, me, Cindy.]

We had a Meal-for-3, oh wait, I've already said that. Hahaha. Ok, so it comes with 3 appetizers, 3 entrees, 1 rice entree, and a pot of Chinese tea.

[Above (bottom-up): lemon chicken, fried rice with egg, bbq sliced pork, and thin szechuan egg noodles.]

[Above: the best fried rice I've had so far. In fact, the best rice I've had so far.]

5 of us had crispy wonton, spring roll, hot and sour soup, thin szechuan egg noodles, lemon chicken, bbq sliced pork, and fried rice. I tell you, the fried rice is DAMN GOOD. It's the best rice I've had so far in Canada. Best! Check out the picture above! Tastes just like home. :):)

And here we are pathetically trying to 'lao yu sheng' with the thin egg noodles. Hahaha.

It was a rainy, rainy day. Hated it! But the food was good. Yummmmm. After that we went next door for some yogurt-ice-cream, called Shiver. It's pretty much a mix-n-match thingy, so you can choose the ice-cream flavour, the toppings (like cookie dough!!!, etc.) etc etc. Quite fun! But I was too full to eat anymore so I didn't share with them. Will get it next time though, maybe when he comes! :))

Happy New Year!

Happy CNY!

2006-01-29T16:33:00.000-05:00

It's the first day of Chinese New Year!

Thank you Don and Grace, for wishing me a happy new year, and for sending your love and hugs! :) Most appreciated in this lonely holiday... Haha. But I'm seeing you next week, so that's something to look forward to! :)

I woke up to an amazing crowd of people waiting for me on the other side of the world--my lovely, huge family (6 families + grandparents)!! They watched me wake up!! I talked to them even before washing up... Haha... *embarrassed*

My gosh, they look so celebratory and happy! All dressed up and I could feel all that festive mood emanating from the tiny webcam. :*( HAPPY NEW YEAR my dearests!

This post is henceforth dedicated to them! :)

*

(malaysia) 婆婆爷爷: 新年快乐! 祝你们万事如意，天天快乐! 还有，(in Hokkien) xin1 jia1 dua3 tan3 (身体健康)!

(yishun) 婆婆爷爷: 恭喜发财!! 祝你们新年快乐, 财源滚进, 万事如意!

叔叔婶婶, wilson, jeffrey: 新年快乐, 恭喜发财!! 祝你们心想事成, 财源滚进, 万事如意!

三姨! 新年快乐! 祝你永远活泼美丽, 可爱动人! 开开心心, 万事如意!

小姨! 新年快乐! 祝你永远魅力无比, 心境舒阔, 心想事成, 万事如意!

二姨! 新年快乐! 祝你身体健康, 马到功成, 财源滚滚滚滚进, 生意兴隆, 步步高升, 蒸蒸日上上上!

大舅母! 新年快乐! 祝你永远青春美丽, 笑口常开, 轻松快乐, 万事如意!

大舅! 新年快乐! 祝你生意兴隆, 头脑英明, 收复挺胸 (哈哈哈!), 心想事成,步步高升!

小舅! 恭喜发财! 祝你新年快乐, 事业顺利, 步步高升, 一步登天!

小舅母! 恭喜发发财! 新年快乐! 祝你永远美丽开心, 身材迷人, 笑口大常开!

二姨丈, 三姨丈! 新年快乐! 祝你们恭喜发发发发财! 财源滚进, 生意兴隆, 事事顺利!

*

To 比较大的小孩子:

小妹! 新年快乐!! 祝你工作愉快, 假期更愉快! (哈哈!)

李伟, 超超! 新年快乐! 祝你们学业超棒,友谊and cousin-谊万岁!

李义! 祝你新年快乐, 学业突飞猛进 (进Express)!!

靖惠! 祝你新年快乐, 灿烂动人, 身材一及棒, 还有学业进步!

嘉仪! 祝你新年快乐! 在新的学校, 祝你前途璀灿光辉!

祉倩! 祝你新年快乐! 在新的学校, 祝你有一片明朗的天空! 有一句良言要给你: 关于朋友--"天下无不散之筵席"! (Ask 小姐姐 for detailed derived meaning!)

*

全部小孩! Now that I'm here, 小姐姐 is your No. 1 in command! You all must listen to her and make sure you all have a happy, noisy, and no-quarrels new year! Here's wishing you all 新年快乐, 热闹无比!

还有最重要的, 爸爸妈妈!! 新年快乐!! 爸爸! 恭喜发发发发财! 财源滚进! 天天开心! 恩恩爱爱! 妈咪! 心想事成! 天天开心! 舒畅愉快! 永远是我美丽的妈咪!

Ok, wah, so long! Hahaha. I hope I didn't get any of the kids' names wrong!! :S:S If yes please tell me ok! In the chatbox! Don't tell me also can, hahaha, then I won't paiseh. :D:D

Happy Chinese New Year! :):)

Going Bananas

2006-01-28T18:06:00.000-05:00

I just made banana fritters!!

And I talked to my mama today! :) HAPPY. We actually had a mini-family webcamming yesterday... it was CNY eve's eve, so everyone had a half-day off, and everyone was at home. EVERYONE was at the webcam!! :)

I miss my momma, and papa, and sister, and brother. My sister has been so good to me--acquiesing to my troublesome requests of scanning notes etc... *HUG* Thank you, darling! And I miss the smell of my mother. There's just something about a mother's smell that every little kid is bonded to. Maybe it's the time when we're just borned and nestled in the bosom of our mothers. :)

Boohoo. I miss home. And it's not even the end of the first month yet!

My mama told me how to prepare the banana fritters just now as she was preparing the ang-baos* for tomorrow.

As I slowly chewed the banana fritters, images of my home, my momma, she preparing the fritters in our kitchen... they just flashed in my mind and I couldn't read A Tale of Two Cities anymore. It's the familiar smell and taste of those fritters that pull the nostalgia trigger. SOBS.

Mummy! Papa! I miss you! I wanna go home and be their little girl again. :(

Sigh. Never mind. Don and Grace sent me their love and hugs. And it's only a few more months. Plus my darling is planning to fly here! YAY. :):)

Ok, back to my books. I've got 2 papers due next week. :S And a quiz on dialectics. :S Argh.

[*ang-baos: Literally, red-packets. "Ang-bao" is in Hokkien dialect. Typically the elders put money in red-packets to give to the young ones for good luck and blessings.]

CNY Eve

2006-01-28T11:35:00.000-05:00

It's a tradition to have a reunion dinner every Chinese New Year Eve.

I miss my family.

:*(

"Light Snow"

2006-01-25T21:30:00.000-05:00

I feel so blah about writing my response papers for Shakespeare and Postcolonial Literature. Haha. By writing, I mean LITERALLY writing. Been a looooooong time since I last submitted a hand-written piece of work. Haha.

Well, the forecast said 1˚C today, and 'light snow'. With the wind blowing at 30km/h, 'light snow' really means 'wildly-flung tiny drops of icicles hitting you from every direction'. I tried to hide behind buildings when I walk, but the wind will just hit me from everywhere else. Haha. It is *quite* an experience. Especially walking in this wind! WOW. I tell you, it is SO hard to walk. I felt like a frozen snail. The wind might hit me straight front, so it's hard to walk against and into the wind; or it'll hit me perpendicularly, so that I keep going off-tangent.

Luckily I wore my icy-purple long coat today! It's super jumbo, and with all that wind and snow, I don't feel so silly with all the fur-trimmings around the head. :D

Today we had the author of one of our texts come down to talk to us, take questions, and present a reading! SO COOL! The poetry really reads differently now. Suddenly it's not as sombrely violent as I imagined, but filled with a dangerous dynamism that feels forbidden and exciting.

Presenting, George Elliot Clarke!

A little about him: He was "born in Windsor, Nova Scotia. In 1998, Clarke was awarded the prestigious Portia White Prize. He is presently lecturing at the University of Toronto."

He is a very, very humourous man. And he has an enormous, loud, and extremely infectious laughter. He opens his mouth wide open and laughs like it came rumbling out of him. It is SO infectious--even if we weren't paying complete attention or didn't hear exactly what he said, or if it's not even funny--once we hear that laughter, the whole room will laugh. It is so amazing. Hahaa.

And this is him doing a reading from his book:

Oh, I forgot to mention. This is for the Contemporary Canadian Literature class (which I joined 2 weeks late). It is a terrific class and I love it. This reading was done during class time too, with other people who wanted to sit in for the reading joining us. So it really shows that they are serious about letting us have 'first-hand experience from the writer'. I mean if they had scheduled it outside of class time, it probably would've been less sincere--since it'll mean they cannot bear to part with that little bit of their class time.

He signed my text too! Which is his book, so. Hahahaha.

Oh, and then I got to take a picture with him. Luckily I decided to grab my camera with me today! Hee.

After that, I took the treacherous walk back, as mentioned earlier. I shovelled the snow immediately! Felt a little sian* that I just cleared it yesterday and now it's all covered up again. Haha. Exercise for my flabby arms!

With all that after-shovel-rosy-flush, I decided to give myself a little treat... by taking narcissistic pictures of myself!

Tada!

Hahahahaha. Ok. That's all for today. Have to get back to Othello and Annie John.

[Oh, to see what the girls did in Toronto, check out their blogs. I didn't go to Toronto with them, but I will go there eventually! :) ]

Tata!

[*Singlish. Very hard to define. It's a very versatile word that's mostly used as an adjective or verb or adverb or whatever. Briefly, it's a concoction of boredom, lethargy, ennui, drudgery, vexation, and/or annoyance.]

Virgin Snowvel

2006-01-25T00:19:00.000-05:00

For the first time in my life, I shovelled snow today!! Hahaha. Well. I did it all alone. Shovelled the walkway in front of my block and my adjacent block. It was quite fun. I did it at night though. I'm supposed to do it for the whole of this week, so if it snows again I'll shovel in the day. Maybe then I can get some pictures of me and the shovel! Hahaha.

Met Swepna to study today but I only managed to read half my book. :(

Tried to get a haircut today too, in view of the upcoming Chinese New Year, and the upcoming webcam party. Haha. Plus my hair is getting a little unruly and lifeless looking. :( Well. I went to the one in campus at the Student Life Centre (SLC) and it costs $21!!! That is so pricey?? Plus the people there were all so stuck-up and snobbish and cool-aloof-ICY-Princessy. Yucks. I get this feeling it might be because they think I'm from China or something. Needless to say, I didn't get their princessy-priced-attitude-haircut.

I should walk around with a 'Sunny Singapore' tag on or something.

Haha.

Xena Catharinaroar

2006-01-21T20:42:00.000-05:00

I am so proud of myself today! I went grocery shopping (and grocery shopping alone!) and lugged everything back myself!

[Note to self: New York Fries 'The Works' Regular size is toooo much for me. Remember to only eat Small size.]

Look what I lugged back!

[Above:I know it doesn't look like a lot of stuff... but I'm carrying them all by myself! Without a car! On my back! Plus they are really heavier than they look! Hahahaha.]

Includes:
2 1.5L bottles of water
1 tube of honey
1 can of Campbell soup
1 club pack of energy bars (24 bars)--Chocolate and marshmallow flavour!
1 pack of creamy fruit yogurt (12 cups)
1 dishwashing detergent
7 cup noodles
1 bottle of mushroom herb pasta sauce
2 bunches of brocolli (3 stalks each)
1 small bottle of water
1 pack of grape tomatoes
1 pack of mozarella cheese
1 loaf of bread
1 bottle of pancake syrup
1 pack of 2 containers
1 plate
1 pair of scissors
1 roll of clear tape
1 pack of freezer bags

Ain't I amazing?!?!

Plus I missed my stop too, on the way back, so I had to walk the looooooong way back.

I AM XENA!!! Complete with killer-boots!! *evil laugh*

Anyway. I cooked some delicious Spicy Thai rice noodles and brocolli for dinner!

[Above: My dinner! Spicy Thai rice noodles and brocolli.]

Doesn't look so good right? IT'S THE LIGHTING!!!

Notice I didn't remove the long stalk of the brocolli like we usually do back home? (note to mama!) Yah this is how they eat brocolli here--long stems and all. And actually, if you buy only the brocolli crown, it costs more! So silly, right? Can just buy the whole brocolli and chop off the stalk if you don't want it.

Anyway I steamed it the way Grace did it that time. Yes! I spied with my little eye on her cooking! She's good! And it's so convenient too. Yummy. Makes me feel a little healthier. Hahaa.

Expensive Living

2006-01-20T14:30:00.000-05:00

A small packet of Vitasoy Milk costs $1.60 CAD (before tax).

It costs S$0.60 the most.

I had quite a rude shock.

Once in a Lifetime

2006-01-20T13:56:00.000-05:00

The final question really boils down to:

Am I here for a holiday, or am I here for my studies-exchange-stint?

I think it is very important to remember what you are here for.

Anyway, the girls from my exchange group (Saranya, Cindy, Joo, Kailin, Daphne, and Swepna) have all headed to Toronto for this weekend. It's "once in a lifetime, man!".

I don't understand. Once upon a time before I would have jumped at the opportunity, thrown all caution and books to the wind, and scrambled into the bandwagon with them.

"Fun, man!"
"I'm already here Anyway."
"Why not??"

Why not, indeed.

My priorities have changed, I think.

Yeah, well. The words do ring in my head.

"Anti-social."
"Prudish."
"BORING."
"Mugger."
"Social hermit." ... et cera.

I must remember what I'm here for. It was not easy coming here.

I must be strong and courageous, and prevail.

6 Vs 1

2006-01-19T20:23:00.000-05:00

I'm just scrolling through my blog and I realize I have little updates about the fun stuff we've been doing. So to start off, this is going to be about our virgin snowball fight!

One cold and snowy day... We decided to head to Swepna's place. She lives off campus at Thornbush Crescent and here we are waiting for the very infrequent bus:

[Above: Taking random, silly shots. ALL of us took one each. Hahaha. The buildings behind are part of the campus!]

In the midst of posing pretty for a shot, here comes a snowball! PIAK! Saranya gets hit by Swiss! Hahah! Kailin gets a little of it too!

[Above, Saranya and Kailin.]

Finally, we reached Swepna's bus stop. We got extremely excited about the giant mart Zehrs and decided to go in for grocery shopping. Half an hour only! Impossible!!

Here! Check out the row of CANDIES!!! Yes, candies of all shapes and types. Licorice, chocolates, jellybeans, round ones, long ones, fat ones, flat ones.....

[Above: So much candy!]

Well, I took a little long, right, since I had more stuff to buy to stock up for my non-meal-plan room. So they got bored and took a narcissistic picture of themselves!

[Above: Swepna, Saranya, Cindy, Daphne.]

Ok, done! So it's group picture time!! It was snowing too. Light snow. See the orange building behind? That's Zehrs! Stretches and stops at the red building.

[Above: Swepna and Me!]

[Above: Swep, Saranya, Cindy, Me! Check out the stretch of Christmas trees!]

[Above: GROUP PICTURE!!! Hahaha. At the top is Swiss. After the photo, he will smash the snowballs in his hands on us. !!! Followed by the girls: Me, Saranya, Cindy, Daphne, Kailin (pink beanie), and Joo (pert butt!).]

[Above: ANDdddddd... Saranya gets hit by Swiss's snowball again! I'm telling you, there's something going on there, man! Hahahhaa.]

Finally, we reached Swepna's place. She stays with two other exchange students from NUS and their landlord is fastidious about, *ahem*, NOISE. *Oops*. Haha. Look at the diligent chefs at work!

[Above: Cindy, Kailin, and Swep.]

Truth is, only Swep and Kailin and Gayathri were doing the cooking. Haha! Ok lah, Cindy put the beans in the microwave. Lol. Well! Better than THESE people here! Having fun with fries!

[Above: Joo, Swiss, Saranya, and Daphne.]

[Above: Slacking! Me and Joo; Kailin and Me.]

We have had our fill! Oh first, forgot to mention, the KFC here serves WASABI coleslaw!!! And they have NO chilli sauce. They use the mash-potato gravy as sauce. So weird right? Haha. Anyway Swiss was telling us about a funny WASABI commercial. Something about this dude going around saying WAZZUP!!! and walking into a Japanese restaurant and when asked if he'd like some wasabi, he said WAZZZABI!!!

Ok not funny. Hahahaha. Funnier in real life lah! Anyway........! WE HAD OUR FILL! It's now time for SNOWBALL Fight! 6 Girls Versus I'm-Mighty-And- I-Make-The-Meanest-Snowballs Swiss! He asked for it, man!

[Above: It's a warrrrrrr. Roarrrrrrr.]

See the van? That's our 'forge'. We were at the back and Swiss was in front. He looped a snowball at us over the van! Well some of us just ran right in front and smashed him. Muahahaha.

[Above: Me and my snowball!]

Yah, yah. Fighting still got time for pictures right? Hahaha. Check out my unsubstantial shoes!

And then we were pouring snow all over Joo. Hahaha.

[Above: Swep, Saranya, JOO-I'm-Pretty, Cindy, Me, Daphne.]

We then decided that snow looks really good in pictures! Hence we started scooping up and pouring snow over everyone! Hahahaha. Kailin and Saranya laughs in disbelief. Hahaha.

[Above: small Me, exasperated Kailin, funny Saranya.]

I know, right? We look like we're discussing some snowball fight strategy, but we are REALLY discussing how to put more snow on ourselves. Hahahaha.

[Above: Us having a pseudo-snowball fight strategy discussion. Haha.]

[Above: And we are ready!]

See my most beautiful and perfectly round snowball? Hahaha.

And then, OMGosh, we saw the cutest doggie! The owner's walking her dog! See us harrassing the poor doggy:

[Above: Us and Owner and Doggy.]

And here's a close up of the cute doggy! Special note to Lisa: I know you like this! SO CUTE right? Hahaha. But it's not your favourite-favourite, I know. ;)

[Above: Doggy and Joo.]

Well we got tired of chasing each other around in the snow and getting smashed. So we got down to some Serious Business.

Making a snowman!!!

[Above: Swiss and Joo hard at work! Swiss is putting on Snowman's head.]

[Above: Giving Snowman Sight.]

[Above: Yay! The finished, evil snowman! He's evil because he's got red eyes!]

[Above: I have kidnapped the Evil Snowman! SO CUTE RIGHT? He is SO round! Fits snugly in my hands!]

Uh. Everyone was quite amused/shocked when I did this. Cuz they were going back into the house already, and then I think I made a funny sound and then they turned around. Hahaha.

And this is my award-winning shot. Hahahahahahah. Well it's taken with Kailin's camera cuz I forgot mine. :( I found the red berries on a withered tree an incredibly poetic image against the white snowscape.

[Above: Red berries on White.]

Cold and tired. We're back in the house for some thawing. Hahaha.

[Above: Swepna's room. I love her mirrors!]

And finally, this is all of us: :)

[Above: On one side of the table: Shyam, Gayathri, Me, Cindy, Swiss.]

[Above: On the other side of the table: Saranya, Swepna, Cindy, Daphne, Kailin.]

[[Ahem. The time says "8:23pm" but that's the time I started posting. It is now 10:45pm!!! TWO hours! Uploading took soooooooo long. Hahaha.]]

Frozen Chicken

2006-01-18T18:49:00.000-05:00

It snowed today! Snow gathers really fast on the ground and trees... And the wind was SO strong. I could SEE the wind moving (ok, actually its the snow particles that got picked up by the wind and so it looks like the wind).

Yah, really strong. I almost got blown off. Actually I did get displaced by the wind. Woo. Haha.

And the wind is SO cold. And it's so strong, when it blows the snow in your face, it really feels like needles and pins. My thighs were SO cold I really felt like a naked, frozen chicken. Haha.

Ok. Just took some scenery shots today. I tried to take a picture of a squirrel but they run so fast! They're so plump and they run so fast!

[above: various snowscape shots. in campus. SO WHITE RIGHT?? I love fresh snow. Gimme snow over rain anyday, man.]

[above: bicycles in a row! a lot of students ride a bike to school here.]

Oh, and the snow and ice freezes over cars too, so you'll see a lot of these drivers scraping off the ice and snow before they can drive the car. Freezing cold, man, to do all that in the snow and wind! Brrrrr.

Pictures in the Rain

2006-01-17T17:39:00.000-05:00

It was, however, a fantastic opportunity for photography! Yes, I'm crazy, right? I got back to my room, grabbed my camera, and went out to brave the weather just to take photos.

But I think it was worth it. Check it out:

[Icicles formed as water dripped down from the covered entrance]

[Above: Check this out! This is a branch frozen in clear ice! The WHOLE tree was like that!]

[Above: This is from the same tree. Look how the water freezes around the leaves.]

[Above and Below: These are branches from the Christmas trees. It looks like dew right? But it's not. It's really frozen rain.]

[It is rather surreal to touch the spikes to find them round and smooth. Really quite surreal.]

My Canon Powershot is strong and sturdy as it braved the rain with me to capture these delicious shots. Canon cameras rock!

Frappuccino Roads

2006-01-17T16:39:00.000-05:00

Today is a dreary day! I woke up at 8am, later than I intended, and prepared my response paper for Troilus and Cressida, and prepare for my Contemporary Critical Theory quiz. Checked the weather today and it said "-2˚C",which wasn't too bad, actually. Checked the ground and it was clear; the sky was clear; the sun was out. Woohoo, right? Uh, NO.

I happily bundled up with a spaghetti top underneath, a long-sleeve top, my outer jacket, adidas trackpants, and my lovely boots. The heel boots. Gloves. And I set off to run for class.

I ALMOST SLIPPED at the entrance of my block!! Why? Not because I'm highly unskilled in high-heeled-wedged-boots wearing, mind, but because the ground was deceptively clear. Deceptive, why? Because it LOOKS clear, but it's actually all glossed over with ICE. So you can't see anything, right? It just looks like concrete!

I would've changed my shoes, but I was running late, and I had a quiz with the FIERCE Professor, so I just left, thinking I'll be back in a jiffy ANYWAY.

Uh, wrong again.

After my first class, I left for my next venue, only to find it pouring. That was just like, waaaaaay depressing. I didn't have my beanie with me, no umbrella, wearing rather un-warm adidas trackpants... I was like, awww MAN, no!

So it got better--slightly. If you call slushie ice paths better. It is better than glossed over ice paths, cuz you don't slip that easily. And it wasn't my boots, ok. There were people in sneakers and sturdy boots who were slipping as well. Anyway, it's really SLUSH. It has the slushie sound, the slushie crunch, the slushie look, the slushie everything. Plus everything was brown? It was really like frappuccino pavements, man.

Dreary! It was like that the whole day! It got more and more depressing because I couldn't go back after class; I had to go get a book from the bookstore for tomorrow's class. Then I had to go from the Engineering building to Modern Languages to see a Prof to sign my 'course override form', and I got the wrong building so I had to go to Hagey's Hall, and Hagey's Hall's a huge maze, and then I got to go to the Registrar's to submit the form, and FINALLY I can trudge slowly back to my room. With near-frozen thighs. Like frozen chicken thighs, you know. Haha.

I almost slipped so many freaking times, man. Hahahaah. But I am proud to say I made it back in one, unbruised piece! Kudos to me! I am henceforth the Queen of Boots! Hahahha.

Final verdict though: Wind + Rain + Slushie + Ice = I wanna go homeeeee!! :D

[I just read the truth of the matter on Kailin's blog: the temperature today (plus wind chill) was actually -18˚C! + Rain + Slushie + Ice? That is just crazy.

My Grandma

2006-01-16T21:03:00.000-05:00

I just talked to my grandma on the webcam. My grandma is a kindly old lady with a lovely disposition and has the countenance of someone who has smiled through the trials of life. When our faces appeared on the tiny machine, her entire face brightened like a light was radiating from within her. I think technology is amazing, sometimes. It shrinks miles the same time it enhances them. But often, just seeing the other person instantly quells fantastical thoughts that they are at the ends of the earth and are completely uncontactable.

In short, visual sights really make us realize that we are not as far apart as we think us to be. :)

Even though my grandparents and I don't really see each other very regularly back home, my grandma still muses that she misses me. She and everyone.

"我们都很想你。"

I think it's really the fact and knowledge that I am not there in the same country, or not there where I usually am. That is really the reason why they miss us, and why we get homesick, I suppose. Because if I'm right there at home, even if we don't see each other for half a year, the feeling that 'I miss you' will not be as intense as it is now. It is, really, the knowledge that, we are a million miles apart, that sets us off the teetering edge.

Static Shock

2006-01-16T01:07:00.000-05:00

I cannot believe it. The amount of static here is CRAZY.

I just got static shock from my laptop! Tried to touch the touchpad and my finger was only like 1cm away, and the static shocked me!

Just today, alone, I got static from my doorknob like 5 times.

It's crazy! Crazy!

Can someone tell me how to reduce this static-thingy in my room? It's really quite a shock since it goes under your nails at the fingertip. Haha.

!!!

2006-01-16T00:12:00.000-05:00

The stupid dryer in the Laundromat just ate up my quarter!!

...

I shall therefore cheer myself up with a Kit-Kat Chunky! Haha!
*excuses, excuses, excuses...*

Bleached Hands

2006-01-15T23:00:00.000-05:00

Do not ever handwash your clothes after bleaching them. Your hands will feel raw and slimy! Haha.

Today I made Crème de Champignons soup! Sounds so pompous right? Haha. Actually it's just french for Cream of Mushroom. I thought Campbell's so pompous even on their cans.

See my dinner? Haha. One small can of Campbells' Crème de Champignons actually makes two bowls. So that's two bowls of soup, plus buttered toast, plus an apple pie I blatantly took from Kailin's and Daph's severy. Haha. I know lah, looks like breakfast menu instead right? Well, I was trying to finish the bread, since it's 'best before 14 Jan'.

And look what else I blatantly helped myself to:

[Milk! Yes, I had too much juice, hence the juice bottles. Well, they're for omelettes ok, the white milk. :D ]

This is the common pantry and lounging area:

[TV: most times people hang around and watch the ice-hockey matches. One of the windows dropped out once so it was freezing man! Anyway, I only use the toaster; don't know where those kettles have been. Haha!]

[Electric stove, microwave, etc. etc. The stove here is so much more friendly than the one in PGP! Haha. Oh, and there's a normal fridge and a freezer-fridge, too.]

Anyway, things in Canada are usually in both English and French, like how most things are in English and Chinese in Singapore, except sometimes we have stuff in four languages.

Yup. Didn't do much today. Tried to read Troilus and Cressida, but it's s.o.o.o.o.o boring. How many thousand times do people wanna write about the stupid Trojan war???

To cheer everyone up, namely myself, (haha), here're some good-memory-lane photos that bring a smile to my face. :)

[Hoh Yeah! Cousins power! Dawn is a cheeky-photo-narcissist in the making. Hahahaha. Kidding!!]

[Hoh yeah! Mm-MM. Siblings power! Charles is my favourite ~~boy~~ bodyguard and Lisa is my favourite ~~girl~~ teddy bear!]

[And, LOVE POWER. Uh-huh! Me and my favourite boy, and me and my favourite family. They're all in white! Some conspiracy, hmmm!

Ahem. *I'm not the black sheeeeeeeeep!!* Haha.]

Surprise Saturday

2006-01-14T22:12:00.000-05:00

You will NOT believe this. 'Cuz I can't believe it either.

So I had a rough night, right, or morning, rather, since I slept at 6am in the morning? And woke up royally at 1130am. So I woke up, groggy-eyed, and went about my business (read: checking eagerly for emails, *ahem*, going on the MSN, Skype, etc.) and was just having a chat with my friend about some really sticky problem he's having, thinking I'm going to have such a slow, lazy Saturday cooking pasta (finally!) and getting some reading done (finally!) when SUDDENLY! There's this loud banging on my door.

Well I was thinking, "ugh, what? Did my alarm clock wake her up again?? No wait, I didn't set any alarm clock...". So I opened my door, and, Oh. My. Gosh. There stood Don and Grace, looking slightly bewildered and worried and lost.

Don't know who Don and Grace is? Well, here's a digression then: One fine eve of Christmas's eve in Suntec, my sister, my baby, and I, were running around madly trying to get gifts before the stores close. There was a held-up at the escalator and I was wondering what was going on?? Oh apparently there's a lady who's having some trouble with the crawling electronic stairs. There were some people who were trying to help her, and some just walked by (!!!!), but she just couldn't do it. So in the end, I offered my help and she accepted my hand and there we go. So we're just talking, and turns out she's just stopping over in Singapore for a few days. And she's from CANADA. *jump jump*

"I'm going there in a few days!"
"Oh? Where??"
"Ontario, Toronto, I'm going to the University of Waterloo."
"OHH?? Well we live right near by! Like about 10 miles away!" (10 miles?!?!)
"OHHHH?????" *jump jump jump*

So we exchanged contact details, and sent a few emails, and I promised to get in touch once I reach Canada. We had one phonecall and that was it. Things started going crazy in campus, and they had their lives to get on with, so I thought ah, I'll probably visit them during the Spring break or something.

And today, there they were! They decided to just take a drive and take a risk.

In a nutshell, it's serendipity to the MAX.

I can only imagine how I looked to THEM! Dishevelled, groggy, and extremely, extremely surprised.

"Don! Grace! Oh my Gosh! HIiiiiiiiiiii!!!"

It was so exciting. Hahaha. *hug! hug!*

So, they got a view of my unkempt self and my very, very unkempt room, and then they whisked me off to Guelph.

[The drive there. The wind was so strong today, the clouds were moving as though you can feel the globe turning.]

Their house is A-Mazing. It is SO pretty. It was all cream and wood furnish, with mild yellow-lights and, oh, it's so pretty. Like warm apple-pies and fresh vanilla ice-cream.

Grace took me out for shopping a little, cuz they were concerned about my boots and feet. And they were laughing at my snow-shovelling duties. Hahaha. Then we went to pick up some groceries for dinner. Grace was so sweet, you know, she kept asking like, do you want fish? Beef? Chicken? Fish? Ok, what fish? And vegetables? Do you want brocolli? What's your favourite? And baked potatoes? Oh, we could do baked potatoes with butter and sour cream. And dessert? Ice-cream? Mincemeat pie? Carrot cake?

Spoilt for choice, I tell you.

[Buildings in Guelph: typically built from stone. Grace told me it's because the early settlers came and found loads of stone quarries. I think stone is so medieval and Arthurian.]

[And this is the church Grace goes to.]

And check this out, man, this is their basement. It was like a wine-cellar! And actually, Don makes his own wine! And he's got tonnes of awards for them too!

[It's so cool, and they have this huge, huge glass bottles of wine. Behind the small TV. And beside the small TV and microwave is a wine-cellar. Amazing.]

[That's the 'wine-station'. Check out the alcohol-thermometers and mixers. And the turpentine-looking bottles? Those are Don Cooper's personal blend of red-wine.]

[And these above? They're all his blends too. The bottle with the red cap is his very first blend. 1972 or something. Wow-ee.]

And further in, there's a wood-work station. PAPA! Check this out! It's just like the movies!

[The woodwork area]

[Random pieces of wood; knobs on machine]

Don makes his own table-mats kinda thing. Not sure what to call them, but you can use them for whatever, like put a pot of hot stuff on the 'mat' on the table. See? These were made from oak.

[Don and his masterpieces!]

And then, it was time for dinner!

[Check it out! Baked salmon, brocolli, and baked potato with sour cream and onion! Very, very good. Mmmm-MM. And there's Don's blend of Chardonnay.]

I helped Grace lay the table, and I got the forks wrong. *Oops* One was for the main course, and one was for dessert. I gave her two dessert forks! *blush* My table etiquette really needs some work!!

And this was dessert! LISA!!! LEMON MERINGUE PIE!!! (Pronounced, mer-rang). What we've wanted to bake like for forever. Here it is. It's SO dreamily made.

[Lemon meringue pie. All that white stuff's just beaten egg-white and sugar. Oh my, oh my!]

After dinner we went out to Zellers to see if there're reasonably-priced boots. Zellers's this huge mart, huger than Giants, like Carrefour on one floor. And look what I bought!

[Yes! Good, sturdy, CHEAP, Thinsulate, waterproof boots by 3M! 30CAD!
AND super cute doggy bedroom slippers! 5CAD! Grace calls it a 'chou-chou dog'. So cute!]

Grace gave me a set of red hat, scarf, and gloves that she thought will look "really smart on me". They are SO chilli-red and loud! I like! Check it out:

Oh yeah! Hahaha. Es noir mui bien! Whatever that means! Hahah.

And here's to the people who made today so wonderful!

They've been married 40 years. Wonderful, huh? :)

Don and Grace.

[Thank you! :)]

Class Conflicts

2006-01-13T15:59:00.000-05:00

Hai. Looks like I haven’t really gotten all my classes. Due to my own indecisiveness la la la, I now cannot decide which module to keep and which to drop. At the moment it looks like 5 literature classes and a toss between 1 more literature class or an Italian language class. Problem with the Italian course is that there is no friggin’ venue stated, and NUS hasn’t approved, or wouldn’t approve the course unless I can tell them what text I’m using for the course.

While I totally love literature classes, a full semester of pure literature is kinda, . m o n o t o n o u s. :S Plus some of the lecturers (or ‘instructors’, if you like) aren’t terribly exciting. :S

So I kinda want to do a Fine Arts class—you know, drawing, painting, etc., since art has always been a neglected passion of mine. :S WELL. The classes either clash with my literature classes, or they’re full. Means I have to drop some literature classes to take the drawing class—which I might not even get because they’ve got pre-requisites la la la. (Of course, to counter the pre-requisites I can always get the instructor to sign an ‘override form’ but that’s besides the point.)

Argh. And I realized the Victorian literature class is almost the same as what I took already in NUS, so I wonder if I should just do the same stuff all over again. Kinda dry, personally, but great to ‘slack’, since NUS has already approved the module, and I love Victorian lit too. Plus the lecturer is really nice to me.

ARGH.

:S:S

Today’s weather was good! I boldly went out in only a soft fleecy pullover (from AE! On sale! Haha!) plus a spag top underneath, and trackpants, and boots. Muahahaha. :D

Settling Down

2006-01-12T20:31:00.000-05:00

It's been almost two weeks since I arrived in Canada. Things were a bit tentative at first (like most things when you just start, you know), but I'm happy to say I'm finally beginning to settle down properly. At last I'm more acquainted with the campus, the food, the transport, etc.

Let's see, in less than two weeks I've managed to nail:
+ orientation in the campus, without campus map!
+ orientation AROUND campus
+ how the library works!
+ how the bookstore works!
+ where to get food
+ transportation in and around Kitchener-Waterloo
+ gone shopping!
+ gone super groceries shopping in huge marts!
+ gone shopping on my own! to a faraway mall! (and got back myself! at night!!)
+ know how stuff works around my hostel! (there's loads of duties!)
+ done my laundry! (friggin' expensive)
+ done my bank account stuff
+ GOTTEN MY CLASSES!!
+ learned salsa
+ made new friends
+ had a snowball fight!
+ got my internet up and running
+ handed in two assignments (I know, already??!)

Haha. Well I just got back from dinner with my classmate (and residence mate), and we visited this amazing candy shop. I HAVE to go back. It is SO bright and cheery with all those amazing colours! I'll take a picture of it soon and show it to you guys. :)

Painful Paint

2006-01-11T20:02:00.000-05:00

I'm good! I'm good! Woo Hoo! Woo Hoo! Ah ha! Check out the pretty banner! Made exclusively and SOLELY from Paint which was an absolute pain! (Cuz I forgot to bring Photoshop... :S )

Anyway, yeah, finally the blog is done! Haha. :D

I'm good! :D

Hello Canada

2006-01-10T20:24:00.000-05:00

Well, well. This is such an extremely long, overdue post. Should've started this blog at least a week ago!

Well, basically this is kinda like a 'travel journal' of sorts--a lazy way for me to keep a memento of sorts of my exchange programme in Canada, and a convenient way for all you people to read/update yourselves! :)

To start, this was the big send-off at the unearthly time of 2, 3am on the morning of 31st December 2005 (SG time).

My dearest family, grandparents, the ever supportive da jiu and family, and my sweetheart all stayed up for me! Amazing, huh? :)

So on the super long flight, we just ate and slept in the cramped seats of Qantas and British Airways. I think British Airways had much better service, though. :D Check out the foodie pictures!

[breakfast from Qantas: scrambled eggs with some really soggy bread]

[lunch from British Airways: chicken curry with rice, and salmon salad!]

Yup, then we got a looooong transit in London. Walked around, took some silly pictures. The stuff there are SO expensive! Seriously, pounds is really no joke. Something looks deceivingly cheap numerically, like the tag would say maybe 5.99 for a pair of earrings? Uh, yah, 5.99 in Pounds. :S:S Crazy, right. Haha.

So finally we got to the hotel, and this a a view from the hotel room, in the day:

See the snow-covered cars and stuff! We were so excited to be here! Haha. Then we tried to go out for meals, and we realized everything was closed. :S New Year's Day mah.

So the next day, we took the airport shuttle to the university. It's been a week since.

Uh, not gonna update about what's been happening in the first week now lah. The entry is already so long. Haha. Shall backtrack and update again next time. :)

So this is it, then, for now.

Welcome aboard to my Canada adventures!