oh. i remembered something from winter break. lyd said i used to laugh more. and i think the same goes for her. but then i also remember reading this article which says that pple always look back on the past and say things used to be better then. i think it's true that everything on retrospect has a much rosier glow than when you're in the situation.
anyway. i think i might actually like pwr better than ihum. or maybe i'm already predisposed to hating ihum. esp writing papers. they are the bane of my life cos i can never think of a satisfactory thesis statement. i seem to have a complex about ihum. i hate the prof's constant use of literary words which are incomprehensible. but at least i'm not the only one who finds him fast.
i have very violent tendencies when awakened by my roommate's alarm, i find. last week she was really good at getting up. these few days... i really felt like killing her. i can't remember which day was the worst but today her alarm was set for 6.30 and she didn't want to get up. at least it didn't ring like 8 times or something, but i was in constant fear that it was going to be.
so. i shall take a nap. i sometimes regret doing social dance, 8.45am class is really unearthly even though it's fun (to an extent, depending on the partner and my clarity of mind). i think God didn't let me get my 9am pwr class for a reason. i probably would have killed myself by now if i had to wake up at 8 everyday.
oh! and chris and her cornell friends (yingyi huangyu zhi ern and i'm not sure how to spell the last guy's name) came down yesterday! i'm glad the weather was quite alright haha. although it rained at night. i also don't think i was a very good guide, oops. oh well. and it was so funny when chris decidedly told me that cornell squirrels were fatter. cos it's too cold. anyway, they're a nice bunch and i got to see chris;) sigh i don't want to grow up.
i fully intended to blog before the end of last week. oh well. circumstances weren't favourable. and i forgot what i was going to talk about. so well. oh one thing interested about mid-year convocation for freshmen: they got people (juniors and seniors) to talk about what they went through in freshman year. and then it was all about flunking tests really badly and stuff, and not spending enough time studying. it's so ironic cos if we were to have the same type of thing in singapore, it would be more like "don't spend all your time studying, go and do other stuff" or something like that. or maybe it's just cos this is uni and ccas are really up-to-you.
back from ski trip this morning! the journeying was awful; i could have taken a flight to korea in the time that we took to get to tahoe on saturday. but i'm so thankful that i didn't choose to buy half day ski ticket on saturday cos we got there at like 9pm. and the conditions were terrible, according to those who went. and sunday was so beautiful. i'm also very glad i got to hang out with those paloma pple.. pretty cool. and i wouldn't have thought about going down the mountain run (which is like intermediate) if i hadn't gone with them. actually i think it was ken's idea. anyway, it was crazily steep at some points (and my toe-turn still isn't very good but well) but i think i managed pretty well on the whole!:) esp since it's just my second time snowboarding (the last time was in 01). interesting how i seem to balance better when i stuff my hands into my pocket. maybe that restricts my hands from flailing around or something. but well, keeps me warm too so i'm not complaining.
was also kind of amazing how people go skiing/snowboarding without appropriate pants/gloves.. i'd be scared to do stuff like that cos i'll freeze but i guess i've had the fortune to ski before so i kinda know. oh well. and i'm also so thankful for my bro's ski goggles.. the sun was so bright. am aching rather a bit now though. but it was so fun:) nice to see snow again too.. i'm glad it snowed on the way there and not while we were snowboarding:)
so i think i've finally settled my classes, hope the french class won't be too hard. heh.
flying on sunday after all! yay.. God really provides. it was really rather amazing, cos yesterday I gave up hope and emailed yin nah to ask her to fetch me on saturday, and then this morning my uncle said there was space for me yippee~ also rather amazing the way I got my flights in progression. first it was sq on 6th jan 5pm, then 7th jan 9am, then 7th jan 5pm, then finally the flight i wanted. kinda weird cos when we were leaving for the first time i didn't want to leave on sunday, preferred saturday. and now it's the other way round. ah well.
i must also figure out how to get rid of the dvd i have so boah can get me the limited edition from korea. haha. darn. she's really sweet about it though. this is why US return policy is good, normally it's like 45 days with receipt. and kino is 7 day exchange policy. sad case.
it's been a mad rush! okay not really, but packed enough. tuesday met junming for lunch.. catching up was good.. and met yingling and anna in wisma! pleasant surprise no. 1:) after that i was walking along shaw underpass and met chris and estelle and engsiang! pleasant surprise no. 2:) it's rather hard to bump into people at stanford, and even if i do they're not necessarily people i know well, so i guess it's doubly pleasant now heh.
was supposed to cut hair on wed but shop was closed, so bummed around at home. oh.. made konnyaku jelly and my favourite fried dumplings! munch munch munch. yesterday went to novena sq to eat with christine and rachel. i have no idea why when i come back people like asking me if i'm attached. well it happened at least thrice so i figure that's substantial enough. haha.
anyway it was fun, and also interesting to retrace the familiar walk to the learning lab. really nothing changes. christine was so cute about the card, made the little snowmen stand up and was telling me excitedly "they're double-sided!" and she drew them herself. which is even more amazing cos they're really kinda small (and hard to draw & cut, i conclude)
went shopping and had some problems carrying her present around until i bought stuff at john little's.. the sale is quite crazy. but it's nice to get good bargains. and as usual i was inflicted with indecision and had to come back later to buy track pants/bedsheet. which wasn't such a good idea, cos by the time i went back it was peak hour so all the working people were buying stuff. ah well.
oh yes it's so annoying to walk about orchard and have people approach you and ask you to 1. donate 2. buy things 3. fill up surveys about something or other. why can't they leave us alone.. ugh.
i finally cut my hair today. my head suddenly feels very light. but again i go through this practically every year, or every two years. heh. and he decided to spray some colour so now i have golden-brown-ish hair! hmmm. oh well. it'll wash off tonight anyway.
how can you miss something that's right in front of you?
ahh. i have five days left here and i don't want to go back again. i'm like missing home in advance. it's so nice to have accessibility to town and different parts of spore. and to have good food. although truth be told i think america's desserts are better, today's andersen's ice cream somehow wasn't as nice as like.. coldstone's. haha. but of cos coldstone's is one of the best so that probably isn't a very fair comparison.
i have no idea how i managed to go out of the house without a wallet today, but thankfully i had $10 in my bag. sad case man. anyway. yes. it is when time runs out that one starts panicking. my french is still half baked! (here i remember my dormmate ed's wise words, although in the different context of me trying to finish my ihum paper,: in a couple of hours it'll be fully baked!)
and i still need to meet pple, and to shop and buy stuff - the shopping part is easy, the buying isn't. suddenly there isn't enough time again. sigh.
so, back to missing home in advance. i can already see myself back in my dorm and getting bored. and missing pple and all. ahhhh. human psychology; reverse psychology. actually i'm not even sure if that's the right word. wanting things you can't have? okay it's time for bed.
after blog surfing i decided it's time for reflections on 2005. time really flies.. partly realise it when i have to move to different classes in church heh. teenagers class was from sec 1 to 4, then young adults class jc 1 - last year, and now we decided to crash the foundation class, which is really for young christians but nvm.
anyway it doesn't feel like a year since we finished A's. i mean i suppose if i did go think about what i've done since then, it has been a year. but other than that, nah. and it's also weird starting school in late sept. heh. it always seemed so right that with the start of a new year, a new school year starts too.
so.. after the mad rush of uni apps and holidaying in sydney, came back to a job! thanks to my aunt.. first taste of how boring working life is, how i felt so cooped up in an office 9 - 5. 9 - 6 to be accurate. so that was january. i actually became rather attached to the place, i can't imagine why, given that the work was so boring, but well. i guess i kinda got to know some of them better nearer the end.
february was chinese new year and slacking around at home, waking up late. CNY, wondering if next year i'd get to miss it. i don't like CNY cos we're not very close to my dad's relatives so it's kind of a chore meeting them. actually it isn't that bad, i did talk to my girl cousins a couple of times. but i still don't like it anyway.
march was results. heh. what a way to open the month. but it was nice to see everyone again. and results were alright, thanks be to God! and relief teaching at RJ.. man.. i'll never forget denise's class. they left me really speechless. not that i normally have a lot to say to begin with, but that was definitely an experience. and the zoo. haha. also definitely another experience.
april was US uni results. another way to open the month. i know i was in a very very bad mood on friday (1st apr) cos i wasn't getting into places i wanted to go. and it didn't help that i was stuck at work at ubi the entire day. but i woke up on saturday to ser's sms and switched on my computer and opened my mailbox to an email i couldn't believe. i really thank God for his blessings. and am thankful that I still could go without a scholarship, even though this is definitely not a very ideal state of affairs.
and there was choir concert, which was cool. and started teaching at NJ. there's another new experience, teaching GP was never something I envisioned myself doing.
may. mid-may, ended my teaching (YEAH..) and flew off to Boston for brother's graduation. i found myself wondering how he could uproot himself from 4 years' worth of living there. but i guess there wasn't really a choice. and also wondering why most of his friends were asian. but now i know.
june. came back in 2nd week of june, left a couple of days later for church camp. that was fun.. i'm so glad i got to know church pple better.. it's amazing (in a bad way) how i got through so many years without talking to them very much. unfortunately i'm very capable of doing such things. hmm. nvm. at least that's addressed.
july. started with learning lab. one of the most interesting things i've ever come across.. and working with younger people was nice for a change. okay well relief teaching would sort of come under that category, but it's kind of different somehow. anyway i was kind of bored until i started annoying rachel, i can't remember when i started that actually but well.
august. also spent in learning lab. besides annoying rachel, there was christine too. although i can't remember when i started that either. and then people started leaving one by one.. i think i was really excited when i saw them online and asked them about how life was. but when it was my turn and i had to tell other pple about how my life was, it wasn't so fun. haha.
september. end of job and crazy times.. shopping consecutive days, meeting pple, ... and that eventful day before i left, spent in sentosa and dinner w my grandpa. so tired i hardly wanted to pack. and the night before i left, when i was near hysterical cos i was so afraid of what i was getting myself into and i had to come online and whine at ser, who did a pretty gd job of counseling me i think;) and then stanford.. a whole new experience.
october. second week of classes, still slacking around, thinking i was very free, and then that first ihum paper which i wrote in two days. i don't think i've ever felt so desperate in my life. well subsequent papers did bring on the same feeling, albeit less intense, but that was still the first time. which was the worst. oh and of cos, birthday! haha. day was rather uneventful but dinner was fun!
november. big game and thanksgiving week. i never want to watch another football game. heh. thanksgiving week = catching up on sleep, getting a bike (finally! the way i can survive without things there is amazing) corteo!!! ahh. and gilroy.
december. end of quarter, where has time gone? dead week with primal scream every night, finals, and time to come home! yay. i like being home. but all the same, it's time to go back and conquer the world. okay i have no idea why i put that last bit in, it just sounded nice. sometimes i wonder how to refer to stanford. "stanford"? "california"? "back there"? heh. more like second home or something. i wonder.
it's been a really interesting year though. hope this year'll be better!
it's been another week! ahh. i still haven't gotten round to doing much math or preparing for french much. this is very bad.
today was 413 (plus jane) lunch. we're missing so many people! i wish peiying n jiahui were back. and chim. and ting. and lijia. and horrible lyd who pang seh-ed us. okay i'm sure there're somemore pple i missed out.. not thinking all that clearly, it's past my bedtime:p but anyhow it was still good.. we got a round table! round tables are my favourite:)
i think there must be something rather wrong with me, i always feel like i'm waiting around for people to shop cos nothing in the shops interest me very much (even though i am in quite dire need of clothes). maybe i'm just too picky huh. i have also discovered that pam likes very happy-coloured clothes. and she is very loathe to spend money on clothes. haha.
pam's sister had very good timing too. so i wasn't left alone waiting for yingheng to come. food republic is quite cool.. but i guess all these high-traffic area food court places are more expensive than normal. anyway. the balcony is quite a cool place! besides the smoking and watever. and yay i got to eat my oreo cheesecake at tcc! lalala. i think tcc is a nice place. the only problem being that it closed at 10.45, but i guess at least that's a reminder not to miss the last bus/train. oh and we saw zhuanghui and someone else there. hmm.
anyhow i had a good day, surprisingly my feet didn't hurt that much:) now, to persuade myself to do what i came back to do, amidst all the activities coming up, half of which do not have a confirmed date yet. ahh i can't believe i only have a week left. i don't want to go back to horrible dorm food. and the feeling of being cooped up. which reminds me i haven't really confirmed my courses. and my pwr!! how?? wat if i don't get my satire:(
nvm, first weekend is ski trip, i shall be happy:) albeit probably rather broke. ooh ser paid me today, i am rich(er). i'm proudly announcing to everyone about how i arrived home with 55cents (US) in my wallet and a debt of $2:)
it's been a week since i've been back! man, two more weeks and i've to go back and study. groan. i'm too slack here for my own good. but i thank god that my results for this term were alright. hopefully next quarter i can manage my time better.
anyway, so on monday i met fiona (who was half an hour late grr) who also claims she's in the bottom half of medicine. heh i'm sure i don't envy her having to remember all the bone names and wat not. though she'll probably have a more meaningful career hmm. i need to figure out my life.
tuesday met darryl n kaiping. my five year old buddy will never grow up. or maybe NS will make a difference. but well it's always good to keep the kid side of you. if not you forget how to imagine, how to laugh, how to be silly. perhaps love was the first chinese musical i've seen. and i didn't really like it that much. i somehow don't think chinese songs are suited to musicals. or i might just be biased. besides that the story was kinda complicated, and not very developed plot. i think i can be very critical when i don't like little things. very much prefer my innocent steps show.
wednesday met rachel. woah, she can really shop. awfully picky about what shirt to get for her bf. so cute, must get the perfect present. but i guess i can empathise with that since i'm so picky too, just not about buying bfs presents. haha. ooh and we had sashimi. yumyumyum.
thursday met pam! she hugged me so hard i had problems breathing. she went bungee jumping in NZ! so cool! and she was so enamoured with NZ scenery her phone was full of pics of trees and flowers and such. oh, she was also squealing over her baby niece (or someone) while i remained relatively unaffected. but again pam has always been so mommy-ish, even to me.
and we watched narnia! that was good. although lucy didn't even seem the least bit startled when she backed out of the wardrobe into narnia for the first time. i think i didn't picture anything in my head when i read the book cos for once when i saw a screen adaptation of a book i wasn't thinking "i didn't imagine it that way". or maybe i've just learnt to accept a movie for wat it is.
so today was the first day in days that i stayed home. not that i accomplished very much. and i should really get down to writing york's appeal letter but i'm feeling so lazy. i should also be revising french for the placement test but... i miss my playlist. maybe i should've brought my mac mini back heh.
ohh! on wednesday i bought my dvd and was very happy (although not so happy when i watched it and realised they didn't have the deleted scenes, sigh:( director's cut!! which costs like $60 including shipping! argh and i don't even know if it'll have eng subtitles for extra features, sigh somemore)
anyway my dad decided that it was a good show too, so the nxt day (thurs) he called me during lunch to ask if i wanted "april snow. it's a korean show! original dvd only $20!" and i'm like yeah, i saw it in the shops, but i have no idea wat it's about. it's funny cos 1. my dad suddenly became so enthusiastic about korean shows 2. he usually doesn't buy original dvds
now i can understand why candice was infatuated w korean dramas, namely autumn in my heart & winter sonata. i think korean shows in general are addictive. esp cos they know to put good looking young pple on screen. man, i sound so shallow. but like chim says (but in an entirely different context), works of art eh?
so now my dad is busy watching some korean vcd series he bought on thurs. this is so funny. like how pam was telling me about her parents getting hooked on some 70-episode korean drama and feeling so out of sorts after they finished watching the entire series. haha.
oh! i have also finally finished class quotes. very amazing achievement, all thanks to my extreme boredom during the weekend. unfortunately i think if i send it to the teachers everyone is going to kill me (with the possible exception of serene)
either there's still something wrong with my sleep cycle or i slept too much on the friday i came back. woke up at 7 yesterday, 6.30 today (also partly thanks to ser's 5 smses, leaving me wondering why someone was sending me so many msgs at such a weird time).
church was certainly interesting, the first two adults I saw didn't even realise I was back even though I greeted them, until my mom told them. I don't know what it is about Campbell COC singing.. maybe cos ken the songleader is good. -shrugs- bible class was actually better than expected heh, cos I seem to remember most bible classes being not particularly useful, but it was otherwise.
it's a weird feeling. it's so easy to get used to being back, i don't seem to have a real craving for any type of food, i'm just like, okay, we can eat something else today, and slip back into the old routine. maybe that's thanks to sean & co. who save us from lousy dorm food once a week.
well anyway gonna meet fiona later yay! that should be fun. hopefully I can find the stuff I wanna buy.. oh and it's so nice to not have to convert and think, man, this is so expensive. haha.
oh and suddenly it feel so slow driving on expressways here. 80km/h vs 80miles/h. oh!! yesterday when we were going for lunch, there was this pathetic poseur in a sports car trying to show off his speed and zoom around, but kept getting stopped at traffic lights. haha. sports cars are useless here la.. where're you going to speed to? my dad was saying mahathir said if you drive for too long (or sth like that) you'll end up in the sea. haha. rather true.
my dormmate is getting kicked out cos 1. he saw someone setting stuff on fire and didn't stop him, 2. staff don't think he's a gd member of the dorm. that's kind of harsh though.. hm. and the guy who set the stuff on fire (a junior i think) is getting kicked out too. hmm. it's amazing the things which happen..
on another note I was so bored (and lazy, didn't feel like preparing for french placement) that I decided to finally finish compiling class quotes (i'm still not done, but there's definitely progress made) and I kept laughing so much. I realised I hadn't had so many laughs in a while. besides the dinner/lunch with the council (of the wise) the weekend before finals. anyway actually lack of laughter happens quite often, but i think it's only with good friends that i really laugh. cos we're so comfortable with each other we can say the most ridiculous things and it doesn't matter.
i'm home! ahh. i got out of the airport and was like.. wahh.. hot. haha. it's nice to be home though, although i miss my mac and my screen rofl. but i'm glad i no longer have to jump into bed. and i can wear shorts without freezing! but i need the fan instead if not i think i'll melt. ahaha.
didn't sleep much on the flight back cos there wasn't any need to. (vs going to stanford, international orientation started almost immediately) so i spent most of today sleeping. touched down at 12.35am, got to the gate at around 12.50, got out around 1.10am and then went to report baggage damage. they're so much better than SFO SIA la.. there they just shoved a piece of paper at me telling me that they're not responsible for dents.. here they said they'll come pick up the luggage later to fix it.
oh and i watched this show about dance on the plane (innocent steps) and i'm so addicted to it now. and i found out that the actress acted in autumn in my heart! no wonder. she's quite cute though. the good thing is that the main actor n actress are good looking! haha. watching shows without eye candy is very sad. well of cos they have to be able to act too la. i am going to buy the dvd. hope it won't be too ex:| and apparently it came out in spore in aug! ahh. i should've watched it. oh well.
i got the german ihum, wasn't too sure if that's a good choice but in the end i decided i shall stick with it.. but i dunno about section. now i have a 5.15pm one which is not very good in a way. hmm.
alright time to go back to sleep.. haha i came home and pottered around until 3.30am then i got up at 7am and went back to sleep at 9.30am until 7pm or so. unless my watch was wrong, which is quite possible cos it keeps slowing down which is really weird.
yay! i finished econ. ladida. and i had a nice lunch:) i wonder how come the food's better today.. either 1. it's finals week or 2. the pple who're cooking today are better. workers are on strike today to demand better retirement benefits/other benefits today. apparently it's more for the hospital workers, but they're just showing solidarity so dining workers are on strike too. oh well. and then it was so funny, cos we were eating lunch and one of my dormmates was like, the pple today are so polite! we should keep these guys man. haha. oops. i was thinking the same thing when i saw the better food today. but of cos maybe it's just better cos it's finals week.
yesterday's lunch and friday's dinner were hilarious, but i'll recall the quotes another time. oh and last night i had such a terrible night.. apparently it's not just me cos my roommate felt the same way. i tried to sleep at 10.30 cos i wasn't thinking anymore (this happens oh so often) and then i kept having the feeling that i wasn't really asleep, but i refused to look at my watch cos i knew i'd panic if i saw the time and think "oh crap, its (watever time) already and i'm still not asleep". and then i woke up at 12, then 2.45, then i can't remember if there were any other times. and it was so hot, which was weird. normally i'm quite comfy under my comforter but last night it was HOT. oh well.
tomorrow i'll be a happy me! lalala
hmm, so now it seems that primal scream happens every night. last night i came back from the shower to see my phe (peer health educator) and a couple of guys leaning out on the balcony shrieking. haha. i didn't hear it on tues night though, maybe i was in the shower or something. i'm using up all my plasters, there must be something wrong with my hands cos they keep getting cut.
and it's so odd that suddenly fall quarter classes are all ending. like for jc and the last two years of sec sch, we had two years before we had to say goodbye. and i just realised there's no more ihum lect (yes!! ahaha) or section (yess!!! even though my section's rather amusing). and no more introsem (okay, i shall stop typing the same thing; basically all the classes are finishing up). i guess it's less sad, but no bond. although my introsem prof says we're going to have reunion nxt quarter haha.
ahh. i suddenly thought of gerald durrell. i need one of his books! bah. stupid math is driving me nuts. and i suddenly thought of how it's so weird to live two types of lives. one at home with family, one here in dorm with friends. anyway. i wish i had hello panda. but i'd just gobble it all up. and maybe it isn't such a bad thing having all finals on one day, then i can hurry up and go home! ahaha. and laugh at the rest. hopefully every quarter's this good, but i wouldn't count on it. (there are bad points too though, like having to cram everything this week).
i'm falling into exactly the trap i know i shouldn't be falling into. it's so true the way the other pple in my introsem say that they start analyzing things as being fixed/growth mindset heh. and they know wat's the wrong/right response and try to change it. but it doesn't always work.
and something i realised during bible study. it's kind of weird how i just seem to realise things during church/bible study. but anyway. it is the same thing. i can't blame it on the fact that our culture is different or whatever, it was just the same back at home. it's just that i momentarily forgot about what happened in rj/at church. or maybe it was just an easy excuse. the same feeling of having nothing to say, feeling awkward, ... and it of course doesn't help that my mom was asking me just now how, has my personality changed? and i'm like, haha, no. which reminded me of the whole point why my parents agreed to send me here in the first place even though it's costing them a hell lot of money. maybe i'm just being impatient or something, i don't know. sometimes i think it depends on my mood. but i always have the feeling that something isn't as it should be.
maybe that's why music is so good. immerse myself in it and forget (or try to) everything else. nothing else matters at that moment.
there're always two sides to a problem. when i'm unhappy, i see the bad side. when i'm neutral/happy, i see the better side. that just goes so much for religion too actually.
oh dr dement came to talk at westflo. he says that the ONLY cause of fatigue is sleep debt. i find that curious. okay, like dennis said, i guess it is intuitive, in a way. but on the other hand it doesn't seem possible that there can be only ONE cause. still very interesting though. and he says sleep is sleep, it doesn't matter when you take it! that just goes against everything i've ever heard. weird. i mean, he did say sleep should coordinate with circadian rhythms, which is probably a big part. right i don't even think i'm making sense anymore.
back to preparing for introsem presentation.
oh.. a few of my favourite things from www.demotivator.com. first seen on sean's computer! haha. this is one of the times when i wish i were using windows then i can d/l their free trial screensaver. but this was to cheer myself up while feeling blue just now. there're a few more i like, but can't be bothered to upload. one can't have too much of a good thing. haha.
hahaha there was so much noise outside and i was wondering what in the world was happening when I realised it was midnight and it's dead week. primal scream! rofl. darn. i think i should have shrieked somemore. i'm the one who has to spend the week studying cos all my finals/papers are on the first day. but anyway it was still hilarious:D sometimes i still can't believe i'm here.
let me quote from some website or other
"The Primal Scream takes place every quarter at Stanford during the week of intense studying that precedes final exams. On Sunday, at the stroke of midnight, hundreds of undergraduates all across campus lean out the windows of dorms and libraries to vent their anxieties in one enormous, collective yell."
anyway. i went for this musical called "into the woods"! it was really lucky cos my dormmate had extra tickets and were giving them away (!!) wow. and the theatre isn't even a huge one or anything.. I mean I guess the cast wasn't the original broadway one but still. they're pretty good. even though I feel guilty for not doing work:| and had to leave int'l dinner early.
and then saw the nutcracker on saturday.. at the war memorial opera house. man i didn't know it was going to be so posh..
http://sfwmpac.org/gallery/gallery.html#wmoh
forgot to bring my camera sigh. how was i supposed to know that there'll be anything worth taking!! ahh. and there was this pastry confection thing made by fairmont - a model of a huge house and a nutcracker doll and polar bears and various other animals.. all made out of chocolate/biscuit/sth! it was awesome.. okay not that it was really pretty or anything but it was definitely cool. I can't find a picture of it though:( darn. maybe i should ask the rest if they took a photo of it.
pity that the seats that we got as a dorm (okay, more like as a hall since it was the whole of westflo) were kinda pathetic.. very very near the top of the entire opera house, which is really far up. I guess one can't expect too much for paying $5 haha. it was still fun though.
can't believe the quarter's almost over.. a's seem so far behind but it still doesn't feel like december. pple were saying that they don't feel like it's dec cos there's no snow, but i think for me it's the idea of having started school in late sept that is just weird.
yay! we vacuumed our room today, it's so nice and clean:)
oh for the first time (i've been resisting this as long as possible) i wore three layers (instead of two). at least i didn't freeze in church. and also for the first time in the long time i had brunch at my dorm (and poor jon had to walk back to wilbur haha:p) cos sean was busy so we didn't go for lunch (which is also fine, since i'm still quite broke)
ooh my roommate just played mariah carey's "all i want for christmas is you".. it's so nice. anyway. one of my dormmates just knocked on the door and said, "i'm collecting donations for alcohol on friday". [friday there's this huge party at west-flo] and i just stared at him and was like "wat?" and he laughed at me n said that was the cutest look he'd ever seen. uh. okay. i certainly didn't know looks of stupefaction could be cute. but anyway i was quite puzzled as to why he was going around asking for donations when they're already using $500 out of dorm funds for the party!
i can't listen to christmas music now or i won't do my work! sigh. but i think christmas music is very happy and nice:) and christmas is my favourite time of the year! the whole atmosphere anyway. bells and cheer and pretty decorations and ... ahh. it reminds me of chorale xmas songs too though haha. have yourself a merry little xmas and oh.. i've just forgotten the name of that other song. ugh. when i remember i will put it in. it's so annoying!! i can see the score in my head, and the notes, but i just can't remember the lyrics.. gah.
and it reminds me of bellagio! and 'O'! ahh. and hearing "carol of the bells" at the famous fountains of bellagio which also reminded me of ri/rj xmas concert. i wish i could watch "O" again without having to pay more insane amts of money. i think it cost US$150 that time as it was. ugh. best seats though.
okay better get back to work. dunno why i'm suddenly feeling stressed. maybe cos all my finals are on the first day, meaning everything has to be done by then. ahh!
i'm awfully awfully awfully sleepy! waking up at 4.30am for shopping is no joke. thanksgiving sales galore! haha. i think the grad students went crazy at gilroy.. i'm happy with what i got! yay. even though i didn't buy that much stuff. was happily wearing my new jacket (okay, having to wear it in my room cos i'm cold is not happy, but having it at all is happy:) wahaha. and i'll have to wash the jeans before wearing. but well. yay!
i'm happy tonight cos i've sort of finished math hw (finally!) okay i only had a couple of questions but it's done. except for a few questions which i shall have to ask chuansheng haha. and pam emailed! yay! haha. i should really email more people so i can be happier more often.
anyway while waiting for the grad students to finish their shopping me n kiat were stoning at the cafe.. I don't know why I suddenly want to go home so much. I guess it's cos it's thanksgiving week and everyone else gets to go home and we can't. I mean it's good to stay around and have some peace and quiet but it's different. and I wonder what I'll think when I'm back home.. maybe I'll wish that I was back here. the grass is always greener on the other side eh. but no doubt it'll be interesting.
although, like i was telling kiat, i can foresee myself having to answer tons of "how's stanford?" and etc.. i think i should like prepare a speech and just press replay whenever the question comes up. but actually I don't even know what to say. I can't say things like "it's really great!" cos well, yeah it is great sometimes but other times it isn't great at all. and I hate saying things I don't mean. actually sometimes it's really contradictory. this is the -strive-for-balance-side of me coming out. i can even analyse myself now, this has got to be chuansheng's fault. he always does that.
so, i think it'll definitely be interesting. going home for a while with a new perspective. and also increased mobility and good FOOD!! ahh. and CHEAPER prices!! okay. clar is becoming very aware of money after realising she is very low on funds, which wasn't (and isn't) supposed to happen so soon.
but once i go home i think i won't want to come back cos it means i have to do work. but again if i do take my fun courses then it shouldn't be so bad, hopefully. i am unbelievably lazy. i don't want to study, don't want to work, ... and i won't want to leave my comfy room! (with no alarm clocks!) although actually i believe i've heard my mom's / bro's alarm clocks before. it's been a nice week with a temporary-single room, but i guess it'll be nice to have everyone back nxt week.
actually i'm so sleepy. but i decided i must wax lyrical for a while on the joys of cirque du soleil. watched corteo today! sorry jane for ditching you but well.. since i had a ride back and a ticket with sporeans.. heh. it really seems like providence that i decided to ask if any of the others wanted to watch cirque du soleil today and then daryl happened to remember that zhihui said they were going down this week and they happened to be going today! if that makes sense.
i was soo happy while watching the show. unfortunately it only lasted during the show. i guess when it ends, it ends. but anyway.. the first act reaffirmed the feeling i had when watching O.. that they have so many characters on stage/things going on that it's hard to decide where to look. i suppose one learns to ignore the periphery. i think they made wonderful use of the theme.. like turning beds into trampoline-ish things! okay maybe that isn't so original but it was still great anyhow:) and the performer on the aerial straps was one of the strongest i've ever seen.. awesome!
oh and there were two "horses"!! haha. i was also very happy when i saw them. like, i was meant to see this show. anyway this show was really quite different from the rest.. when i walked in and saw the screen with the rich opulent setting i was like wow.. i've never seen this before.. and the costumes were very different too. prettier, in my opinion:) the other cirque shows i've watched tend to have kinda more garish costumes (except O)
there was this fantastic flamenco-rhythmic gym act.. okay it wasn't really flamenco but they had red spanish-looking dresses so well. anyway they're fabulous! when i saw them i was thinking how lijia would've loved it.. and peiying too.. actually i was just thinking everyone should have come with me, they would have enjoyed it. oh and i realised cat 3 seats, if you get the front few rows, aren't so bad, but the problem is watching the performance from the side.. i don't know if it looks just as good as it should from a different angle. and as it was our seats were slightly blocked by the light-post.. so at the beginning i was kind of annoyed by it, but wat to do.
i can't remember if i said this before but i know why i like cirque du soleil! when they have more than one person doing the same routine/watever, they're always perfectly synchronised (okay it doesn't always happen all the time, but the large majority is gd enough) and that is just wonderful. i think i like perfection too much. enough to pay insane amounts of money for it. blah. i need to be rich.
and the juggling acts.. the pple dropped the stuff once but they tried again and did it perfectly.. i don't know if they staged it or it really happened, but i think we clapped all the more louder when they succeeded. reminds me of introsem heh. it means more when they didn't get it right the first time but managed to the second. maybe it shows that they're still human, contrary to what we may think:p
i just remembered. my two complaints: 1. not long enough (1.5hrs with 30min intermission) 2. soundtrack not out yet
alright i'm too sleepy to say anymore.. alcatraz was certainly interesting.. and i'm quite sure there were no woman prisoners, haha. and then when we heard christmas songs being played in mac's.. i'm like.. why're they playing that?? it just puts me in a holiday mood such that 1. i don't feel like doing work 2. i want to go home and slack. okay i guess they're about the same, but well. and then wandering into borders to browse around.. the feeling of actually being in town as compared to confined to palo alto/stanford.. that was really good. i think i complain too much. time to sleep.
i am now feeling very poor. i shall revise my outlook on life and become a miser. (well, starting from after tomorrow since i'm going to watch cirque du soleil yay!:)
anyway i visited woonteng's blog and found this horoscope-thing. think it's partially accurate. ser will agree with the high standards part eh? haha. oh speaking of which the new harry potter show.. i think i'm learning not to judge shows by their books but for what they are. even though while i was watching the show i kept remembering details that they left out. i'm just prone to nitpicking. the actors have really grown up.. kinda interesting.
horoscope from: http://www.alabe.com/freechart/
Rising Sign is in 20 Degrees Capricorn
You are practical and reserved but very ambitious. An achiever and a hard worker, you respect success. Older looking and very serious as a youth, things lighten up and you relax more as you mature. You have a serious view of the world as being a difficult place to be in. Very envious of those who seem to have an easier life than you have, relaxation and play do not come easily. It is important that you had abundant parental support as a child so that you do not feel lonely and isolated as an adult. Generally, you have a good, earthy sense of humor that can carry you through when times really do get tough. You are purposeful, self-willed, industrious, realistic and responsible.
Sun is in 15 Degrees Libra.
Very sociable, you enjoy being with others and definitely prefer not be alone. Warm and affectionate, you go out of your way to make others like you. You despise ugliness, for you being surrounded by beauty and harmony is a necessity of life. You prefer fine clothing, an attractive home and pleasant surroundings wherever you are. Your refined tastes apply to music and to art as well. At times, you are very indecisive you waver and falter when forced to make a choice because you have the ability to see both sides of any question. The positive part of this is that you are very fair-minded and can be trusted to settle disputes. Your greatest challenge is to take any one- on-one encounter and make the most of it.
Moon is in 27 Degrees Sagittarius.
An idealist, you prefer the grand, the beautiful, the good and the noble. You get very disappointed when your high expectations in life are not met. Very curious by nature, you enjoy traveling and learning about other peoples and cultures. Try to avoid your tendency to ignore the small but important details of living. You are independent and free, and you want others to be that way, too. Optimistic, buoyant and cheerful, others like to have you around. You have an incessant desire to learn as much as possible about metaphysics, religion, philosophy and any other broad, deep subject. Your life tends to be punctuated by bursts of energy and frenetic activity.
Mercury is in 07 Degrees Scorpio.
You are a born investigator. You are fascinated by secrets and mysteries and unanswered questions of any kind. When you become upset or angry, your emotional reactions are overpowering -- reason and logic disappear in an uncontrollable passionate outburst. You tend to keep your thoughts secret and bottled up and this makes others regard you with suspicion. It is not that you are trying purposely to be evasive, it is just that you would rather not deal with the explosions and hassles that often occur when you reveal your true feelings and opinions. Your sense of humor tends toward sarcasm and irony.
Venus is in 19 Degrees Scorpio.
Your feelings about others are deep, powerful, intense and complex. When you like someone, you do so totally and obsessively if you do not like someone, they do not exist. Your faithfulness and loyalty to your lover is unquestioned, indeed at times it is too much so -- you get so possessive that you almost smother your partner. At times, your feelings are kept deep within you and, because they are so complex and intense, they frighten you -- this is the way that you try to ignore them. But the more you try to do this, the more explosive things get when you eventually do express them.
Mars is in 00 Degrees Aquarius.
Your ideas and opinions are usually inventive and original, but sometimes they are merely eccentric and offbeat. You are altruistic -- you will work hard for the attainment of group goals, as long as they meet your high standards. You tend to resent traditional authority figures because you think that your ideas are better thought out and more valuable than theirs. Very idealistic, you are a rebel WITH a cause!
Jupiter is in 14 Degrees Pisces.
You are at your best when you give of yourself and what you have -- try to avoid being a martyr about it, though. You're a true idealist, but you must learn not to be upset when life does not cooperate with the way you think things should be. Very concerned with spiritual truth and growth, when you practice what you preach, you make an excellent role model for others. You are so devoted to altruistic ventures and concerns that you tire easily at times. It then becomes necessary for you to go off by yourself to recharge your batteries.
Saturn is in 06 Degrees Sagittarius.
Basically quite conservative, you respect traditional authority figures and are very thankful and supportive of the laws and institutions which govern your life. You learn and accept new ideas only after having very thoroughly examined them. Ideals and abstract concepts are important to you only if they can be used in some practical fashion. You are so practical and so orderly that you have natural skills in planning, administrating and organizing.
Uranus is in 19 Degrees Sagittarius.
You, and most of your peers, have the tendency to think that all ideas, customs and traditions from the past are outmoded and irrelevant. You are attracted to radically new ideas, philosophies and religions that will, hopefully, cause sweeping changes throughout the world.
Neptune is in 03 Degrees Capricorn.
You, and your entire generation, will idealize work, practicality and the ability to attain reasonable goals. But, because you will also stress the need to be selfless and giving, you may find it difficult to attain your goals unless you have lowered your expectations on all fronts.
Pluto is in 06 Degrees Scorpio.
For your entire generation, this is a period of intense research and discovery in areas that were heretofore considered mysterious, remote or taboo. The root causes for many complex occurrences will be unearthed due to the intensity and thoroughness of the search.
N. Node is in 20 Degrees Aries.
You're at your most comfortable when involved in group activities outside of your immediate family circle. You delight in getting involved with others in neighborhood civic or political activities, especially if you can be a part of the leadership of the group. Your zeal and overabundant energy bring out your real creativity when you can work toward tangible results -- things that will immediately benefit those around you. You have a real gift for getting the most out of charity drives and community benefits. Take time out between projects though, because you tire out easily and your effectiveness becomes greatly diminished when your energy is depleted. Also, don't even think of trying to get involved at a peripheral level -- you need a total commitment to feel personally fulfilled. Let others bake the cookies and set up the chairs -- you should be the one to tell everyone what to do and when to do it!
after a hectic week.. i'm suddenly feeling very free. just came back from gaieties.. it wasn't really that centred around cal-bashing. plus i didn't think it was very funny/impressive. but the lead singers were quite good. the girls anyway, i didn't really like the guy. reminded me of chicago on broadway though.. that was awesome!:) want to watch more broadways! haha. but i need $$ man. sigh. i'm so tempted to buy cat 1 seats for corteo with jane but i don't know if i should.. or whether cat 3 seats are that bad. blah.
the irony of it all; after the last (which also happens to be the first) ihum paper, i vowed to start earlier so i wouldn't have to stay up till 4.30am on thursday night (or friday morning) to write it, but no.. the same thing happened. i really don't get it.. maybe it's my tendency to procrastinate. or the idea that i can just keep thinking.. and thinking.. and thinking.. until it's too late and there's no more choice! ugh. anyway i'm surprisingly awake given that i slept at 3.45 and woke up around 7.40 (not by choice, i was planning to wake up at 8.40 but i woke up anyway, maybe cos my subconscious mind was telling me i needed to get that paper done) and when i tried to take a nap just now i didn't succeed. but now i'm a bit tired. time to sleep 10hrs!! yeahh..
uh. well. oh.. i've downloaded like half the soundtracks for kA.. i really like love dance! maybe cos of the harp. and the cello. i think those are my two favourite instruments. i want the CD though. US$19.50:| hmm. okay i think i shall go bathe and sleep.
am listening to jay chou's kai1 bu4 liao2 kou3 and it starts off with this airplane noise thingy.. reminded me of 17th sept.. the day before flying here. the day at sentosa, and ending up reaching home so late and going out for dinner and rushing to pack when i was SO tired. haha. and getting scolded for not packing earlier/going out even though i hadn't packed. and now i'm here already it seems almost comic (heh, wolff's favourite word when lecturing ihum) that i was so worried about forgetting to bring stuff.
and then not being able to sleep even though i was so tired (maybe the fatigue wore off) and then waking up with a horror of leaving my home. of not being around, even though it's only for 3 months. actually now that i think about it i still don't like the idea, especially when i'm not going home next winter, hmm. but anyway. it's easy to look back and shrug it off. but that terror was very real. ah well.
also reminded me of the tea/watever at marche with church pple.. when jason came back and was telling us about british slang and the oxbridge rivalry. i wonder wat i'll have to say about stanford-cal rivalry haha. today someone in my ihum section was trying to sell a shirt. it said "cal" in front. and at the back "stanford was too hard to spell" or sth to that effect.
anyway.. i was so amused (and bemused) by the appearance of this email entitled "our humble contribution" in my inbox, with 2 pictures of freezers. one with joel grinning from ear to ear. so, here is the much-loved, well-stocked freezer of the occupants of 2094 yale street. i must make sure i mention that this fantastic freezer of theirs contains "20 lbs of meat!" (not to mention guo1 tie1s and i assume, at one point in time, pineapple tarts)
this is the reason i was at their house yesterday. hahaha. oh.. should have sent me a pic of the shrine too. haha.
