so anyhow, i had to blog about this before i forgot. SPEED DEMONS!!!! yesterday night, i was out with akpsi pple at a rather unearthly hour (in my opinion, on a schoolday night), and we were driving at 80mph down el camino real (which is really a 40-45mph road). haha. it was CRAZYYYYY. i also need to tell jackie about this later.
little explanation: my co-sib is chun kai - who happens to be from philippines/taiwan and is currently a senior who's taking very slack classes cos it's his last quarter. he drives RIDICULOUSLY. he hurtles around everywhere (in a manual car, no less) but still, surprisingly, manages to be quite safe.
oh, one of his ways to cut down driving time - when the light turns red and there's an intersecting road, turn right, do a quick U-turn and turn right again and you get out onto the road! this has to be seen to be believed.. he did this last night and my lil sib sabrina was like "u totally just wiggled!" (like off the main road and on again).
i still remember when we went to get gelato for our lil sib and he was eating with one hand while driving (A MANUAL CAR!!!) with one hand. man. and apparently last night he drove from castro to stanford in like 9 mins (the journey normally takes maybe 20mins at a normal speed i.e. keeping to the speed limit).
anyway, so his roommate jon chang (the two of them are really cute & funny) has this really powerful sports cars (its a subaru something or other with a turbocharger and dunno wat else haha reminds me somewhat of jon goh & his eclipse) anyway... so jon was driving last night as well and they decided to race along el camino!
apparently chun kai's car is quite lousy as compared to jon's car but we were racing anyway.. super thrilling. but of course, really not a very good thing to do. and i think they kept slowing down to check for cops. haha. it was ridiculously crazy though..
yeah so last night we had this akpsi big sib-lil sib thing, which i was at first really reluctant to go for cos i really have lots of work to do and all, but i went cos i felt it was my duty to. but it ended up a LOT of fun, we definitely need more social events like that. and so i'm happy:)
daryl's talent is amazing. http://www.upok.net/triskaidekaphobe/TheHeartbeatOfGod/
i really don't know how he managed to come up with the entire song - vocals, backup, the 16+ instruments (or even more? haha). well given it did take a few months to complete.. but still.
actually through fellowship i really see how amazing people's musical talents are.. christina, sicheng, colin, lindsey. i guess it just got brought back to me at chi alpha on wed nights and praise night and yesterday at adelene's house.
anyhow, very glad i got to meet silly ser today.. she definitely says a lot more silly things than i do. >< wish our school was over and i can chill! sigh. really i'm so slack it's shameful.. ser was like "it it were 2 weeks to finals i'd be freaking out already!" and i'm like nyah.. two weeks.. hm. well. they are on semester.. -shrug- i will survive. :p
yay for watching pirates yesterday! although i realized it is a VERY bad idea to have 3 groups of friends there cos obviously i won't get to talk to all of them. anyhow. i didn't even know it was 2h45! that was quite crazy.. stuffed so much into it. but yay for jack sparrow:) and the maelstrom scene was cool:p
my cultural psych class has destroyed the way i look at things now. everytime i see ads/listen to songs/something and it reflects the concept of individualism/believing in yourself/american dream-ish stuff, my mind automatically tells me that's the european-american cultural model playing out right there and i'm like ugh! no! i don't WANT to think about it! eek. right now it's christina aguilera's "voice within" and it says "when there's no one else, look inside yourself". anyway. yes, i feel like it has destroyed my worldview. ignorance is bliss sometimes, really.
anyway my housing for next year is going to be rather interesting. so since we got a pretty good number, we wanted to stay in a row house (better location, food, community feel, but coed bathrooms and less singles/2-room doubles unless you pick the correct places). to summarize: we ended up in this row house which has a GREAT location and great food and everything.. but has 1 room doubles only. sigh! haha. and we thought we weren't going to get in cos this is a bio-themed dorm, meaning a lot of pple can apply to be priority residents (and participaate in the bio-themed events) and most of the priority pple were girls.
I really think I forgot just how heavy a 20-unit courseload is. seriously. after last quarter. I mean I was recruiting and CS106A (java programming) was driving me nuts, but I think I had much less class time and quite a bit of time to slack around and read books. now it's a struggle to finish my work on time and juggle SEALNet stuff and be able to sleep enough and celebrate pple's bdays (i only mention the last cos the past two nights i've been over at wilbur to watch pple get thrown in the shower. haha.)
and I don't even know how come SEALNet takes up so much time. how do other people handle so many clubs n stuff? man. oh well. it's not other people we're talking about anyway, it's you. and i guess everything in SEALNet is a challenge. coming up with curriculums, getting people involved, evaluation matrices, ..... ahhh. anyhow I am so looking forward to this weekend.. long weekend and ser'll be here! haha i want her to meet so many people it's crazy. probably not going to happen but i guess we'll see..
stupid 9am classes. seriously, i think i'm going to pick classes such that i NEVER EVER AGAIN have to get up so frickin early to go to class.. hope that's possible. so much for being naive and idealistic and thinking yay! spring = nice weather so it won't be so hard to get up! somehow 9am class just gives very little leeway for doing last min work. haha. as bad as it sounds. though technically it shouldn't.. oh i don't know. weird. ok back to silly pwr. i really need a better attitude towards my classes, but 3 weeks ago i was already a little bored with them!
i really should go to bed cos i have to get up to go to church tomorrow. but i feel oddly pensive. maybe cos it's been a slightly crazy weekend so far and ...
i did NO work today. seriously, like, NO work AT ALL. ah well. got up at 930 cos i had to return the DVD for psych class (we had to watch this movie about native americans and it was on reserve at the library but they let me check it out overnight cos i checked it out 1.5hrs before closing and usually the limit is 3 hrs). and then i met grace & co and hannah & bf and gave them a tour (w wangning).
lunch at cheesecake - sooo full! i must really learn to eat less. and the apple crisp was too nutty for my liking, i thought it was going to be more ilke the crumbly stuff. ah well. and the two guys.. manjun (sp??) and timothy.. eat so much! pretty unbelievable.. they just kept on clearing plates. like stuff i/other pple couldn't finish, they'd just polish it off without much problem.
after lunch i decided i was too full and went to bed. and then i got up in time to prepare for jerry's special dinner which dayoung invited me to and had good food again.
preparing was fun though, jackie had this fantastic idea of getting me to bring a cardboard dog along (we were supposed to dress for the theme and the theme was fairytale so i was dorothy fr wizard of oz). but we didn't have cardboard so we printed out a pic of toto (the dog) from wikipedia and tied it onto jackie's stuffed moose/reindeer toy. it was hilarious:p had a lot of fun.. oh and i borrowed jackie's red shoes. sigh. wat will i do without jackie next year! -makes note to sleepover very often-
anyway after dinner (and i had this ice cream-cookie crumb dessert thing, fat fat fat) dayoung suggested going to the testimony show and i was like ok! (Testimony = christian a cappella grp). they were okay but talisman is so much better still.. i'm so biased. ah well.
and then we went straight to watch shrek. which was okay, i think the parodies weren't as funny. or maybe cos i heard beforehand that it wasn't that good so my perception was tainted (similarly for spiderman, but i never really cared for spiderman so that's probably not too valid). i hope pirates 3 is MUCH better. baaa.
ok now i think i shall sleep.
get up, bum around, walk around, eat, sleep, eat, watch acappella show, watch movie. such a bad example, please never do this.
man. yay for staying up to do PWR, at least i have company online. haha. just now cs was up, kiat's up too (cos we're pretty much in the same boat, except that i'm not really rewriting my entire paper, which is nice). and also I really thank God for Jackie, she's probably saved my ass countless times (with regard to having to wake up to do work and not waking up cos I'm too tired/have no more willpower). haha. I can't remember if Tomi did that for me last year, if she didn't it's probably cos I had less trouble getting up I think. but I know I had to go over and poke her sometimes cos she'd have to get up to study and such. us poor college kids!
anyway i suddenly crave fishball noodles. the ones that we used to have wayy back in pri school. yellow noodles and fishball/fishcake! yum. sigh. anyway here's a pic, doesn't really look the same but it's the closest i guess. 
oh and zhixiu the silly giraffe is here! how fun. i think i should be able to get to see him on wed.. hopefully. tmr (or today, really) is ridiculously busy. after pwr i have to come back and work on my music introsem presentation, then my art midterm proj (i'm drawing llamas! haha)
okok my goal is to finish this at 7 (i.e. in 3.5 hrs time) so i can get another 2 hrs of sleep, we'll see. blaaah.
i don't really know what induced me to take on this happy mode of oh-i'm-not-going-to-sleep-on-mon-night-and-write-my-pwr-draft, but it was definitely a BAD idea. man. it was so torturous to sit in class on Tuesday I really wanted to die. Thankfully I came back after introsem and took a nap (which extended past what it was supposed to). My alarm rang at 6pm but I turned it off and only awoke when Jackie asked me "Aren't you supposed to be in class?" and it was 7:40pm. ah well. (my art class is from 7 to 9 pm). and then I was like crap! My longstanding fear of sleeping thru my phone alarm and missing class has come true! eek. but then I figured my body just wouldn't take it (and I really felt very weak, hence the 'flopping around like a jellyfish' part of my nickname on msn/googletalk.
so i gave up and slept 9 hrs last night. yay! but today somehow still kinda tired. and it's going to be a long night. well i guess not THAT bad but given that it's already 1am and I need to put together a decent introsem presentation in case I -do- have to present tomorrow, a peer review (which shouldn't be TOO bad since I've already read Janet's paper), figure out leadership curriculum stuff, response to my Psych reading. oh great. that's the list.
anyway I screwed up my econ midterm. but at least my draw number was good! 338! yayy! maybe we can go on a row house or something.. not sure yet. anyway the housing draw is like a lottery.
1. you form a group (of people you wanna live/room with)
2. you submit your application online
3. they assign you a number
4. according to your number you choose where you want to live
5. they assign you your residence
6. you go for in-house draw (to pick exactly which room you get)
you have 2 preferred years - meaning that you get lower numbers and hence better housing preferences. the numbers for draw range from 1 to 3000. 1 to 1999 = preferred, 2000 - 3000 = un-preferred. and if you get '1' you pretty much can choose to live anywhere.. of course there're more desirable residences depending on wat u're looking for. row houses are the party places but they have better food (but also smaller windows for mealtimes) other places are less social/more quiet (ie my current dorm) etc
anyway we got 338! which is pretty good:) and i was very happy cos i was praying that we'd get a good number, couldn't face having to live in horrible places. and comparing that with my lousy econ (which was really my fault anyway), i think God was trying to teach me that some things I still can make up for (i.e. i NEED to work on that financial econ class, the irony) and sometimes i need a wake-up call, but other things he'll bless me as he sees fit. like draw numbers which i have no power over! yay. well i suppose that might be stretching it a little but given the range of emotions i went thru (angry/annoyed/sad/despondent abt my econ to ecstatic about housing) it just came to mind.
okay. work. work work work.
why is it that i always feel bad after home calls. or certain sealnet meetings. i guess they remind me of things i want to forget but shouldn't be forgetting. hm. and then after that i'm rather unhappy with the state of things but i don't want to be. man this is complicated. nevermind.. go and study.
hmm. this is rather sad. just now jon was asking me whether i'd decided when i'm going home and that i should go home earlier. besides the obvious fact that i still have school, i suddenly had no inclination to go home! which is a little peculiar cos i think usually at least the food will be some sort of an incentive. or seeing my family or friends. (and you see how food comes first, i'm such a bad person). i wonder. if this is a start of being distanced from home. i was like right now 17 hr flights don't seem particularly desirable.
haha. i'm in another one of my crazy moods. i just told jackie i want to bring some piglets to pwr class tmr instead of my 2 written responses to my research sources. then i'd throw them around and people will scream! haha. man. i think next year dayoung is going to think i'm nuts if i do that to her.. we'll see.
quote of the day. i slept from 11:30ish to 4am cos i was too tired but i still had pset + paper to write. (and it also doesn't help that jon called me up at like 11:40 and i was so puzzled and, as usual, wondering if it was time to get up already) so i was online at 6:30am and my brother IMed me and asked "why're you up so early? trying to beat the breakfast line?" haha. i love my bro. he's such a silly pig.
augh! i'm so bad at making decisions. like, seriously. :( even the simplest things.. so many things to consider. first housing.. rooming w jackie has been really fun, but it would be nice to try rooming w dayoung too.. and then off campus vs on campus and whether we'll get a good number.. okay that part is really out of my hands. but then i realized how bad unpreferred is... heh.
and then now both akpsi and sealnet have spiderman3 outings. i think i ought to go for the akpsi one just because.. but it's on friday and i know i'll be really tired out on fri by windsurfing heh. and sealnet's is free!! haha. and i kind of already know it'll be more fun, but it IS on sun and i have a 9am midterm on mon. i guess precisely because i know i should get to know my akpsi pple better this is somewhat of a problem. and the timing. aaahh. see! simple things!
maybe it'll be easier if i think in the indian cultural model - dharma! moral obligation. hahaha. yay for cultural psych.
alright i really need to do my pwr paper. it's so hard to find books on cirque du soleil though. hm.
i am so tired!!! i don't even know why, i think it's psychological or something. i've had 5 hours of sleep and it isn't really that bad, so that's why i say it's psychological!! bah. so tired.
it seemed almost prophetic that bible study was about servant leadership and my meeting later was about leadership. not that it really helped though, i was still trying to figure out draw cos i don't think i'm going to go to oxford anymore. i'm kind of glad i know, although i was a little bummed about it cos it would've been nice to go. but i think #15 on the waitlist isn't particularly hopeful, so i'll just get on with my life:)
psych pretty much screwed me over, i think i suck at psych exams >.< i don't want another A- for psych! grumbles. last year it was cos i was pledging but this quarter... can't be. okay sleep. and get up early to do pwr.
i am frazzled. haha. that is the word of the day. and last night. and probably tonight. and tomorrow night. there you go. i did think i did work this weekend! i need to learn to skim my psych articles more efficiently. or actually, take notes WHILE reading them. bah. after 1 2/3 yrs of stanford education, i still haven't mastered that. -shakes head-
and when i'm stressed i EAT. how horrible. at least i have tennis plus windsurfing to keep me in shape (or give me a shape, haha). although i skipped today cos as i proclaimed to jackie last night, i decided studying is more impt than going for tennis! -triumphant- haha.
i really don't think the midterm can be that bad (or so i hope), but after that lousy first paper grade i feel like i NEED to do something about it. so i sat down on my bed and prayed. for strength, for understanding, for wisdom, for guidance in studying, for support to survive and manage everything. yay bible study tonight! :) although actually yesterday while in church i was still thinking about whether i should just borrow cars and drive to my own church when my ride's not around. as much as it's really nice to go to church w the sporean bunch, i don't really like the worship there. too rock-ish for my comfort i think.
okay it's been more than 5mins. last stretch of studying! haha and this when other people have finished their semester/are having finals/will be having finals. the irony.
okay i really should be reading my econ now but i'll get back to it later. cos this was something i wanted to blog about for a while but i kept forgetting!
i can't believe the (sch) year's almost over! :( it doesn't even seem like i accomplished what i wanted to. although i don't really think i had new year's resolutions. and 07 pple are graduating and 08 people are going to be seniors and we're gonna be juniors:| i'm not all that close to 07 pple so doesn't really matter to me as much. but then realizing that the a*star scholars of my batch (cs & jon) are gonna be leaving after next year and the juniors too (yf, jh, shineik, cat, steph, ...) so tragic! well at least ser should be coming so that will be fun:) and there'll still be 09ers around.. although i think more than half the people are going to be abroad at one point or another, not that i see them that often anyway.
and it still doesn't seem like i've found my niche/i've that much of a better idea of what i wanna do. sighh. how perplexing. oh and this random sporean added me on facebook and i had no idea why he'd added me until i realized he's stanford '11. haha. oops. aw little freshmen coming in, but we're all getting old!!! aaah.
a little out of sorts and don't feel like doing any work. it's been a long week. but i say that every week huh... heh. it's an awful feeling to go to class and not want to be there.. but somehow my initial excitement-about-classes has died off as the quarter progresses. which is really really sad!
i really hope that God shows me what it is that He has planned for me for next fall. well, actually, summer is kind of more important in a way. yup, summer would be nice. and then fall too. :| ahhh. anyway yes, what i'm going to end up doing during summer???! that dbs test thing was disconcerting. ugh. and fall, was I meant to go to oxford after all or stay back here? both ways I'm sure I'll still have a good time.. but then if I don't go I need to think about draw and that's always a tricky thing. augh. also given that it's nonpriority and nonpreferred. unless I staff next year? hmm. anyway if I need to draw I don't know who I should room/draw with.
weekend! more and more meetings and midterms coming up. oh i think i just need to sleep.. haha. the panacea to all ills. all MY ills, so it seems anyway. yay for borrowing pearline's wetsuit so I won't freeze in the water tmr! :)
albeit my lousy grade for my 2pg written-in-2-hrs-the-day-it-was-due psych paper, this class is really very interesting. so while the prof was lecturing on chinese cultural models today (i fell asleep for a while, but that's besides the point) and it suddenly dawned on me that it isn't necessarily wrong to be collectivist. it seems (to me, at least) that singapore is busy trying to get us all to be more unique and to stand out and be different, complaining that we're all coming out of one mould at the moment and that's bad. but maybe that's cos of the cultural context we come from, that harmony is important and being part of a whole, rather than standing out by doing your own thing, as they call it.
anyhow, i don't even know if that makes sense but i know i always feel the pressure to be different from other people, to find something that distinguishes me. and i suppose that might help me form my identity but really, sometimes it's just stressful. i think in general i've always been very afraid of doing something 'wrong', whether it's not-speaking-up, or speaking-up-and-saying-something-stupid, or not being able to define myself for interviews, or even now during art class, when i don't really know what the teacher's asking for but you can't really be WRONG in art cos it's whatever you want it to be/make out of it. which is kind of nice i guess. the freedom.
it's been a week since i posted! a VERY long week, in fact. sigh. partly cos i got hooked on another korean drama. :| haha. it's even older than full house (2004) too. beautiful days (2001)! i didn't even know lee byeong heon was one of the 'big four' as they call the four most popular korean actors. ahh.
anyway. apart from that. wasn't particularly well this week so that was sort of annoying. and i skipped windsurfing today cos 1) it was cold 2) i hadn't gotten a wetsuit yet 3) i decided i was still coughing and needed sleep. but i didn't really succeed in napping. sigh.
misha is right. i am cynical. and it doesn't help that jackie is just as (or even more) cynical as i am. cos i was telling her that i just don't feel anything. like the virginia tech shootings, i know it's a tragic thing to happen and all, but i can't seem to feel anything. i'm just like okay, this senior killed 33 people.
and then sealnet (or just service projects in general). i know they benefit less fortunate people (or i certainly HOPE so, at any rate) but i also don't feel anything. it's like a disconnect between the intellect and the heart.
and the last thing which i told her, about my drawing class. it's a lot of BS (like lit), the way they talk about oh, how the artist uses the lines to create something.. the curves say something... there was this particular picture which i unfortunately couldn't see any art in, it just looked like a mess of scribbles to me and people were making all sorts of things out of it. modern art, as long as you can crap something out, it's art.
so at this point misha was like why're you so cynical? and it reminded me of wat andrew said about geppers being cynical. so i told her, product of singapore. haha.
find your passion. what passion? i'm too lazy to be at stanford. no, let me correct that. i'm too lazy to be part of this world. it's all the protestants' fault (jackie: "damn those protestants!"), for the work ethic. that work is virtuous. i hate working! i think at one point in JC i did enjoy doing homework. and i guess my PWR paper should be fun since it's on cirque du soleil:) but nowadays i really can't be bothered to do my reading and that's just sad.
when the door is closed i feel like i'm in a world of my own. a world where i can do anything. but when the door opens, reality floods in.
anyway no i'm not depressed or anything. i wonder if this is like a cyclical thing. i know everytime we have one of these sealnet meetings i feel quite sian after that. it is, of course, supposed to do some good and help us improve but nobody ever likes these things. at least, i don't.
i really should go to bed. or get some productive work done. but it's been such a long week i don't feel like either of those two! and i keep having the weirdest dreams. okay they're not really that weird but i'd rather not dream.. dreamless sleep is usually best. at least i don't have to get up at 8 tmr.
i really am going to try not to have 9am classes every single day anymore. never again! :( sobs. or maybe i just need to be more disciplined about sleeping early. but you know, that hardly happens in college unless you have great willpower. which i don't really possess all the time.
art class is fun, get to sit around and draw stuff. i don't think i succeed all that well, but it's not too bad. there simply isn't enough time, though, i never really thought about how much time it takes to draw something. really admire megan & emilyn.
oh yes, and so while carrying my huge poster board & drawing block i lost control of my bike handles and crashed into a jolly little bush. it was a rather spectacular crash (although less so than a couple i've witnessed this year) and this guy came over and was like "are you okay?" while i really felt like cursing & swearing cos my knee felt like someone had hammered it with a lead pile, but i gritted my teeth and was like don't worry, i'm fine.. just lost control..
and i sat by the roadside and fumed for a bit. more like trying to bear the pain, but there you go. and the crowning glory: a caterpillar (one of the many infesting our lovely campus during this season) found its way onto my jacket. i should be glad it didn't get UNDER the jacket. eek.
hopefully my knee will be alright for windsurfing tmr, i really shudder to think wat'll happen if this waterproof spray thing doesn't work. probably will end up shrieking my head off!
bleah. anyway i feel remarkably unmotivated (as usual), it being the weekend and all. but dad's coming to visit for a couple of hours on sat (and fix my bike basket on, haha).
i shall take a leaf out of christina's book and post the sealnet flyer!! apply for projects if you're interested!:) it was an AWESOME experience.. so much fun. 
WICKED!!!! haha. I am so blessed. So on Thurs afternoon I was at Meyer Library at an iMac G5 clearing up my mail cos it was reaching the limit soon apparently.. and then Kara (one of my dorm staff - focus assistants - cos my dorm is humanities-themed, so these FAs are in charge of humanities events) emailed me to say someone dropped out of the Wicked trip so I get to go!!! ahhh. and it's so great that I didn't have anything on Friday/today (well I was supposed to help with some AKPsi thing but whatever.. haha). and also that Steph (one of my other FAs) cashed my check and I never did get the $ back from her cos of rather weird circumstances.
but anyway.. so I got to go!!! yayyy. and it's even better cos I didn't get to watch Wicked in Chicago. Although maybe the front row seats may have been better in a way (we were nearer the back and the LA Pantages Theater was kind of big I think). But it was SO good.. the actress/singer playing Elphaba (the Wicked Witch) had SUCH a powerful voice.. man. Eden Espinosa. her alto voice is very rich and her sop voice is pretty powerful too. it's just such a pity that 1. the CD is of the original cast and 2. doesn't capture the power of the voices (i'm assuming the original cast was as good or even better). I guess being IN the theater and actually hearing the reverberations and stuff makes a huge diff. but the songs are still nice!
and I got to see LA! sort of, the traffic was so bad we didn't really get to walk down Rodeo Drive. And we only paid like $25 per person for everything.. cos our FAs got some grant (i.e. lots of subsidy).
It was rather exciting though, the musical ended about 4:50pm and we had to drive to the airport/return rental cars and our flight was departing at 7:25pm. so Kara was like "we all have to RUN as soon as the performances ends, okay?" anyway we got to the airport in good time.
We also got to visit Steph's house which was frickin' awesome!!! it is HUGE. actually, all the houses there are huge. and she has like every music instrument there is. okay maybe not, but 1 normal piano, 1 grand piano, 2 guitars, 1 drum set, 1 mini-cello, 1 violin (i think), .... and a pool.. and this really cute little cocker spaniel puppy. i wanted to steal it. and her mom/dad cooked SUCH GOOD FOOD. i haven't had such good kalbi in a while. i feel like home cooked is so much better. maybe cos more time to marinate or something. anyway i had like 4 pieces. yumyumyum. and sprinkles red velvet cupcakes ooohhh.
Wish I could spend more time in LA but nevermind.. next time! And then I shall visit Desirae and Esther too :)
spring break! man i can't believe it's over and spring quarter is starting soon.
link to photos are at the side..
anyway, quick recap of spring break:
SAT (Mar 24) got to chicago o'hare int'l airport late, flight was delayed. and then i was still figuring out my housing for that night! oops. i really will make it a point to get stuff like that done earlier next time. seems like i always have problems with housing. anyhow, after many phone calls back and forth to various long-suffering pple (including jiunwen & junwan) i ended up staying with jessica pan.
which is so funny cos when we were in sec 1 we were all like ooh! house capts! and then i end up staying with one of them. but she's really nice and funny and very hospitable, taking in some random kid (i.e. me) for the night.
SUN (Mar 25) umm. slept in (really not such a good idea) cos i was kind of sleep deprived from the two late nights after finals ended.. watching some hilarious korean movie w jackie and then matchpoint w dayoung.
had lunch w jason, he is so funny.. was muttering about how he could still handle taxis (on the road), just cut them off, but buses.. another story altogether. saw his apartment which had a really nice view except for these two high rise buildings which obscured parts of the lake michigan view.. the lake is so pretty!
went down to wai keong's apartment and saw aud! yay. haha. haven't seen her in a while. me & chim agreed the two of them are kinda cute together though:p
then jason dropped me off in campus, i was walking around and met gerald (and fellow frosh) for dinner and saw his dorm.
MON (Mar 26) original pancake house w aud n chim! yumyumyum. i love that place. but it's the sort of place you can visit only so frequently. made fun of exhibits at art institute (i think chim was rather disconcerted by my irreverent attitude at first), walked around downtown chicago and discovered this lovely choc cafe called moonstruck! it is SO cute. ahh. met megan for dinner, she brought us to grand lux cafe, a sister company of cheesecake factory. followed megan home.. i like evanston! i guess its more like stanford than uchicago.. more suburban.
TUES (Mar 27) met jiunwen and her bf at panera bread (haha! the company which i sort of analyzed!) i liked their iced green tea and raisin scone. yumyum. anyway, jiunwen had to rush for class so her bf gave me the tour of northwestern instead (i was so amused, really). northwesstern campus is really pretty.. a little like a park! also visited the baha'i temple (an architectural wonder, so it looks) and then the weather suddenly CHANGED and i froze. boo. i knew i should've worn shoes. but the awesome weather the past few days caught me off guard. played settlers at night w wk & hui leng, it was rather amusing although not as crazy as the monopoly game we had during thanksgiving
WED (Mar 28) wandered into downtown for the morning, did some shopping (YAY! i'm shopping deprived) and then left for UIUC. it's kinda weird cos i was really looking forward to UIUC when i first landed in chicago, but then when it actually came to it, i wasn't so enthusiastic anymore cos i realized it means my break is ending! sigh. but anyway, junwan decided to bring us along to her SSA film festival thing - they were screening 'be with me' which had SO much food - i'm like, you definitely know this is a Singaporean movie. haha.
it was so nice to see everyone again though.. got to see pple's dorms, cars, houses (jon's & zhixiu's apartment is ridiculously clean and neat - it has definitely motivated me to do something about the state of my own room, although how successful that will be is another thing altogether). and junwan's apartment is really so social! although as me & chim decided, there is a price to pay since they can't do work until after midnight. haha. they've such a nice sporean community i'm almost jealous.
THURS (Mar 29) sent chim to amtrak station, she didn't want to get back to chicago late at night.. toured UIUC w junwan & fiona. and met zhixiu on the way. lunch at jon's fav korean restaurant.. i think it's kind of nice that they have a street of restaurants. but i guess that caters to apartment-living pple. um. walked around, i heard about some of their ridiculous stories (they want to buy josh a live chicken or a huge inflatable one for his bday!)
LEX to airport. it came late, and i was wondering if i would have to find another mode of transport to get myself to the airport. not that it mattered in the end, since my flight was delayed. and i got to use the lounge yay star alliance gold:D then my flight was overbooked so i ended up w a free hotel stay, free roundtrip ticket within US, economy plus exit row seat (which probably has as much leg space as first class yeahhh) for the next morning. woohoo!
tahoe trip today was rather screwed up i think. had trouble trying to please everyone yesterday, colin dislocated his shoulder today, slopes were kinda slushy. definitely the last time for this season..