busy as a town bee

denim jeans are like a mercedez benz- so common you wouldn't bat an eyelid seeing one along orchard road. but my town bee is like a funky cut-up asymmetric top you got from the small shop at far east level one/the annexe at the heeren (haha)- you think you're so damn special for being the ONLY one who has it...until you see another one zipping by in the lane next to you! like in a case of cruel coincidence/fashion faux pas, when you just wanna bury your face in the ground, i need my little buggy to collapse into nothingness in situations like that.

the worst was when i stopped right behind another town bee at a traffic light (i realized too late). it was an excruciating 2 minutes- like being in the line at macdonalds and wearing the same funky cut-up asymmetric top as the person in front. the cherry on top of the melted sundae was the little boy looking out of the other town bee and pointing at me/my car (which happens to be exactly the same as yours excuse me!) boy, didn't you parents teach you not to point at people??!!

hives

i have an outbreak of hives. for the uninformed, those are like mutated mosquito bites/welts that pop up in clusters on the skin. and where else they choose to come up but my face!!

it all started this morning as i was munching off of some spongecake thing for breakfast. one of my cats jumps onto the table and i decide to share some of my spongecake with him (spread the calories baby!). stroked him and probably rubbed my eyes and breathed in lots of tiny furs from his body at the same time. in minutes, my eyes were running like a faucet and i could feel this burning itch just spreading from my eyes to my cheeks. horrors! pink welts just growing all over and making me feel like a scaly fish. my throat starting itching too and i felt like i was about to die.

well almost. because i'm back from the doc's now and i am quite fine except i probably still look like shit from swollen eyes and messed up cheeks. thank goodness i am staying home today.

some things never change

sarah! i don't ever wash my nalgene either. until it gets a toilet kind of stinky, then i run it through the water fountain at the library or wherever i am. haha.

and my room has also been declared 'prostitute' before, but i would like to think of it more as BOHEMIAN ELECTIC, or GLOABL FANFARE, or something else to that effect. haha. right peiru? *wink wink* (remember i'm not so proficient with the *s. haha)

argh, i was planning to take a timely run before heading out for the day, but it started raining as i was posting my last entry and so i decided to post this one because it's not like i have to rush anymore. maybe i can dance around in my room to some latino grooves and hope no one catches a glimpse of it through the un-curtained windows. oooh!

home sweet home

back in singapore and the weather is a lovely kind of sticky. so damn humid it's like you have to constantly be in the shower to feel cool, but i'd so much rather be in the tropics than have my extremities frozen off in cooler temperatures. i hate that i have to wear socks/very thick bedroom slippers around the house, long pj pants, sweaters and have my skin flaking from the dryness. i hate coming out of the shower and shivering my butt off. but there's bad things about being in the heat too. my toes for one, swell up and turn a gross pink. they look like mutated appendages and there's nothing i can do to make them look less fat and inflated unless i wear an icepack in my shoe. that time we went to costa rica for spring break and the minute we got off the plane, my feet started morphing and at once i knew--i'm in the tropics. just like rheumatic people get pain in the bones when it's going to rain, i get swollen/pink feet when the average daily temperature year round is a 28 degrees celsius.

last night i made a mexican dinner for family and some friends. my virgin attempt with mixed reviews. it wasn't anywhere close to big ten, but hey, gimme two or three more tries and i think i might give them a run for their money.

i still haven't had my tau hway since coming back. :(

i also went for my first pedicure ever the other day. the only reason was because there was some promotion going on so it only set me back $16. not too bad coz i pity the people who have to deal with my tropics-indicator feet.

all the girls at home are so skinny it's not funny. but i guess me being bigger is a good thing because then i don't look the same as every other girl on the street (eh, and although they do look kinda cookie-cutterish, i have to say they are all pretty darn hot)--twiggy legs, short short denim skirt with small small tight tight tank top, rebonded/ceramic permed hair with gold/bronze (depending who they support this olympics) highlights. but there are just sometimes, some times, i wish i could just shrink and be like them and feel less like a giant here in my homeland. welcome to liliput.

speaking of olympics, i just found out that the president of the olympics committee this year is the athletic director at the university of michigan. woo hoo. GO BLUE!

restless

hoorah! hoorah! just a coupla hours more to frrreeeddoommm. give myself a pat on the back since i'm not planning to toss that flat cardboard headgear or wear that oversized cloak. aye, graduating is just one of things. just ONE of those things. like what do you do right after? as for me, i am getting my well-deserved eel tempura and whatever trashy rolls i can lay my hands on. and maybe get a strawberry margarita at charley's, see the last of my roommates and go back to pack my life up. kind of a bittersweet feeling--leaving everything and everyone i know here probably never to see them again unless serendipity falls upon us.

labour pains

aye, once in a while i must take a breather from work. and since everyone is asleep and my sms is not working by a cruel twist of fate (along with a 170+++ phone bill this month which i plan to dispute and my newly replaced phone whose sim function cannot be unlocked), i have to resort to pouring my complaints to the ever patient computer screen. ARGH!!! why why why do phone problems have to happen right when i really really need to be studying?? today i have spoken to at least 6 different customer service people at t-mobile, they must think i'm the CEO's spy doing my weekly rounds to see whose job will get outsourced to india.

but i have to hand it to them. they never once raised their voice even when i morphed into a huge bitch demanding that my sim be unlocked because i am "going to be in a foreign country for 3 months and you cannot expect me to roam for that whole time unless you're paying for it!!!"

on a happier/maybe sadder note, the other thing i will miss about ann arbor- WHOLE FOODS. oh glorious supermarket that has made me aspire to greater things like become a cheese guru. i will miss the regular sample of aged gouda that greets me at the entrance and the artichoke spinach dip sample before i hit the check out. i will miss the raspberry yoghurt pretzels and organiz dried mango at the bulk food section that have taken me through countless all nighters. (i have to pay that tribute to nutella crepe too)

well, what to do? it's a trade off between hippie-organic-gourmet grocery and noisy, smelly wet markets, and right now my utility from the latter is much higher. aye i need my fix of tao hway.

the end of days

it is 7pm and i still have not started studying for economics of crime. and i am less than halfway through politics of the EU. i am bloody screwed and am crossing my fingers that the econ exam is multiple choice so i still have luck of the draw on my side. eeps! but until then, this will be the last all-nighter (out of no choice of mine) i ever pull for a long time.

other than that, today has been quite a good day. for some sick sentimental reason, i think i am going to miss this place. i have grown to love this little town some people call a 'city' (god forbid).

so i am on a mission to fill myself with the food i am going to miss. haha.
it began this afternoon at rendezvous, my favourite little cafe where they've never heard of quality control. everytime you order something there, it's guaranteed to be somewhat different from the last time you had it. today, like every other time, i got the nutella crepe (what else?). it's almost like they knew this would be the last of my rendezvous crepes, because today's was perfect- liberally applied nutella oozing from the crisp yet tender crepe. yummy.

then for dinner i had to go to big ten burrito. the skeptics have tried and been converted and that speaks for itself.

tomorrow i will have japanese at totoro. it's my comfort food to reward my soon to be very tired body. not that i can't get rolls at home, but really, they never come at this size packed with so many yummy things. spider roll, dragon roll, philadelphia roll, cobra roll, mexican roll, eel tempura roll... haha, i guess i'm a fan of all this trashy jap food because i don't appreciate the pink, cold, uncooked stuff. so fill up the rice rolls with grilled eel, friend shrimp, crispy crab, spicy sauce and deep fry the whole damn thing.

but for now, it's back to studying.

two days

my economics of crime final is tomorrow but i haven't come close to starting yet.

what brings two together and keeps them that way. the only sustenance is a little respect and true understanding of the essence of the other.

going to make cous cous with dried fruit for lunch today. as you can tell, i am trying to use up everything i have. a feast fit for a king/queen. you'll see.

refugee

this is the time of limbo. my lease has officially ended and i have to crash at my friend's place for the next few days before i take off -woohoo!!- and i still have that darn paper to write and two more exams to take. oh when will this agony end? it's always hardest towards the end because you know it's just a matter of time but you still have to bloody slog it out.

and because this is my blog, i feel like i can trash talk here. i am sick and tired of unchivalrous and don't-fucking-know-to-take-initiative guys. guys who just don't know how to zo lang (as philip and i would say and laugh). today R came to help me move some stuff into storage and G was with him. naturally i asked for their help in moving my tv. thanks guys, sorry to bother you. G: ehhh, no problem--lunch ah! and he was not joking. i did buy them lunch without a thank you at that! not that i wouldn't have, but what has happened to some good old chivalry and goodwill? has it come to this--helping someone out in exchange for something. wtf man. and an i-banker to boot! wah, earn so much money, kiss so much ass but can't carry some boxes for nothing? perplexing. or maybe i'm just not their damsel in distress. but still, wtf.

i'm putting up old pictures to escape from doing my work. i actually wrote an entry earlier but for some reason it could not post and i'm damn pissed off because my computer is waging war against me today. so is my cell phone because it decidedly froze on me for a good 30 mins and when i went all the way to the store to get a replacement, it chose the moment i stepped in to normalize relations and make me look the fool. it's the final week syndrome.

a week to go

oh one week left before i set foot on that sunny green island. i know i've said this so many times but i have to say it again--i can't wait!! for the next five days (you're spared two because i'll be on the plane) you'll hear me proclaiming my misery at being here having to finish up with the last of school i'll ever have and my excitement in flying 21 hours to get home. it has been 8 months and two months back is just too damn short.

i have no more food left in the fridge from many nights of having people over to help finish up all the crap that was in there. made meals of random things and i think i will make a good mother. (you know how mums are just good at making use of all leftovers) but i kept a bunch of broccoli so i can steam and dip in ketchup. yummy. i also fry tofu to have with ketchup like we used to at keppel lian. ;p

on the topic of tofu, hippie and rtr, how about we have a tofu luncheon since we are all crazy tofu gobblers? see how creative we can get with that soft white curd. haha.

ok enough rambling for now. back to the paper about roma minority.

a week to go

oh one week left before i set foot on that sunny green island. i know i've said this so many times but i have to say it again--i can't wait!! for the next five days (you're spared two because i'll be on the plane) you'll hear me proclaiming my misery at being here having to finish up with the last of school i'll ever have and my excitement in flying 21 hours to get home. it has been 8 months and two months back is just too damn short.

i have no more food left in the fridge from many nights of having people over to help finish up all the crap that was in there. made meals of random things and i think i will make a good mother. (you know how mums are just good at making use of all leftovers) but i kept a bunch of broccoli so i can steam and dip in ketchup. yummy. i also fry tofu to have with ketchup like we used to at keppel lian. ;p

on the topic of tofu, hippie and rtr, how about we have a tofu luncheon since we are all crazy tofu gobblers? see how creative we can get with that soft white curd. haha.

ok enough rambling for now. back to the paper about roma minority.

mine will be different

jenga-jenga-jenga

never the way we plan

brunch at the flea market.

tomboy chic. feminine rebel.

panera

another weekend at panera. wonderful place because they have free wifi and coffee refills and best of all whole foods is across the parking lot. woo hoo! i am a self-confessed supermarket junkie. and just a week left before i'm up up and away! oh my fatty sisters who are not so fat anymore, i can't wait to see you guys!!!

but for now, back to the paper about the roma minority in hungary. i actually love writing papers and doing all this socio-political research because it makes me feel a little less bad about not keeping up with current events. haha.

revenge of the WART

i have this wart growing on my index finger of my left hand. it's getting really big and ugly but after many treatments of collomack, i guess its worst days are over. but it's still there, slowing getting bigger and bigger- somedays i wonder if it will take over my whole finger and my fingerprint will look like a cauliflower (that's the medical description of warts btw!). so collomack wasn't potent enough to kill the wart and i went on another mission to find the ultimate wart buster. i found WARTNER in the village apothecary and i bought it because it was the most expensive wart medication and i thought damn this wart is high maintenance!

talk about takeaway high tech- my wartner comprises a dildoh looking compressed can which releases some freezing agent which promises to cure warts the same way it would be done at a doctor's office. the directions also say that after one application my wart will fall off after 10-14 days. it's been like 2 days and i really can't stop checking my wart out to see if it's going to die of suffocation anytime soon.

i wonder how these scientist people invent things like wart cures. i mean, which normal person figures, hey, maybe freezing these outgrowths of skin will make them fall off. why not just clip them off with a huge nail clipper? which is what i did- it made my wart bleed and bleed but only to return with greater vengeance. i swear it started growing at double its usual rate.

oh well, i'll let you in on the twist ending in 14 days.

brainwashed

no offense to this person because i know her from jc, but she has been fucking brainwashed by the PAP. just read:
http://zhimin.diaryland.com/
she is the exact typecast of the PAP/PSC mold and it's gross. i'm worried for us who will be living under the governance of scholars who embrace unquestioningly all that is fed to them by the government.
for some weird reason i'm feeling this political devil stirring up in me.

paiseh

so i've stopped reading the straits times interactive because the life section makes me miss home too much. and ok lah, i am just too lazy to. but dan told me the other day that dpm lee has been crowned PM lee. previously he was chairman of MAS (dan's big boss which is why we were even talking about singaporean politics) but he relinquished that and who took his place? guess, just make a wild guess, dan urged. erm, mah bow tan? nono. then who? i don't know many of them. just guess! erm, goh chok tong?

and for once in my life i am embarrassed for my country.

but i will still clap my hands for the amazing mrt system- so clean! so fast!

in all seriousness though, i really am singapore patriot/fan. but if this musical chair politics continues i might puke from all the giddiness.

back to the straits times index. like 5 out of 9 headlines are about the transition. but they should stop talking about how great a student lsl was or that he was president's scholar in 1970. heck, if my dad was pm, would i be anything less? i'm usually not this politicized (spelling?) but can't see how they can pretend as though singaporeans are politically blindfolded.

eh, let's go out and form an opposition. for those who want to work in the US, come on board because you will be persecuted by the pap then you can seek asylum from the US. perfect.

u-haul, me-haul

yesterday i called nwa just as sudden oh-i-better-make-sure-my-flight-is-confirmed thing, which by the way, i have NEVER done before. and good thing i did because i realized i was booked on a SEPTEMBER 22nd flight out of here!!! it seems a very me thing to do, yet how could i have made such a grave mistake because at the time of booking i must've already been itching to leave here. so anyway, thank god for my quick wits (again!) i changed my flight and brought it forward two days. so now i'll be home the 22nd of AUGUST my darlins! which means i get on the plane on the 20th, which is a day after two final exams.

which also means i have exactly one week to churn out another research paper, study for two exams and haul my ass out of my pig-sty of a house. and this is no mean feat guys because i literally have to wrap my life up here (like those bundles they carried in the chinese kung fu movies) and poof! i'm gone. erased from the memory of this small place that i called home(?) for two thirds of three years. but then i'll be in limbo for 3 days without a home to return to, tapping my fingers and my body hairs pulling out of their follicles impatient to get on that plane.

ooh, the warmth of home beckons and i can't wait. but first, i need to get this paper done. it's due in 30 mins, and i haven't edited and probably won't. i haven't cited anything, and i have to run to the comp lab to get it printed out. oh, and i also have to write another stupid report of what i did for an economics of crime group project by 9am. but i really didn't do anything, so i guess i'll have to just pull something out of my ass in the next 15 mins.

of vegan brunches and vintage dresses

we brunched out at teany http://www.teany.com/, moby's cool hole in the wall vegan tea shop. how lovely. i want that for myself too esp since i'm all into this alternative food and really want to work for a supermarket or something. and sarah, we missed you here. :)
then there was chikalicious. chic and delicious. my girl friend always has great taste. http://www.chikalicious.com/
balthazar another one. alamak. how does one resist a lemon souffle tart at a cafe that transports you from new york to paris faster than the concorde? check it out http://www.balthazarny.com/splash.html
of course i had to buy some really cute stuff. i mean, who doesn't shop in ny right?

i'm like, i don't believe i spent 80 bucks on this top!
peiru: but it's vintage!
me: that just means worn-before!
peiru: it's one of a kind--you'll never find it anywhere else!

so please people, next time you see me, ask me about this vintage top so i can show it off to you, and please please tell me how pretty and unique it is. otherwise i will just drag you to my closet, pull it out and declare to you that it is probably the most expensive piece of clothing i have ever bought for myself.

premonition

and so yesterday i had that premonition of flying over pennsylvania and realizing that i forgot to pack my slick black shoes to wear with my lovely skirt.... well i have a knack for making these things come true because as i was flying over pennsylvania, i realized that while i remembered to pack my killer black heels, i forgot my blazer! so my quick wits to work, i called tc and made him run to the post office before closing to get it fed-exed here. oh thank god for roommates and courier service.

should i

go to sleep for two hours, get up and work on my paper, prep for the crazy job shit and pack for nyc, or should i fuck all of it and just die of panic attack on the plane as it flies over pennsylvania because i have forgotten to pack my slick black heels that go with my lovely skirt i'm to wear to bloomberg?

because there is a small part of me that is anal rententive (and for that, there is preparation H cream. which i happen to have because according to glamour, it reduces cellulite. but i left it in london before i even had a chance to open it) so i think i will sleep for two hours after this and wake up to do the necessary. why do i keep doing these things to myself? for two weeks before this i had told myself to get all this done so i can leave in peace. but these things never happen as i plan.

and i went to the nutritionist today to find out why i am so fucking heavy despite all my efforts at losing weight. and she says maybe my body just wants to be that weight. yup, i just needed someone in a white coat to tell me that.

unks

read like hunks with a silent h. these are the guys who have "uncle potential" full of UQ- uncle quotient. the males we know who you can tell already are going to be damn uncle once they hit 30. you can just see the kids running into them and saying sorry uncle! (rather than kor kor)

you know, the very driven young men about to drive themselves into a wall and midlife crisis. the ones who have suddenly become very serious and mature and want to do everything right. the ones you know will develop a beer belly and nag their wives for nagging them. but i fear the more i describe (and i have tons of lucid details) the more toes i will be treading on (maybe even my own). so i will stop because i think you all know what i'm talking about.

inadequacies

for all the weight i have (unfortunately, the scale i bought read the same as the one at the gym. wtf man. i think the weighing machines of the world are somehow conspiring against me), there are many more inadequacies.

first of all my need for instant gratification. i bought a cup of iced green tea to cool off on a hot day. within the time taken for me to get to this blogsite, all 750 ml of it has been transferred from the table to my gut. (ahh, that explains why i'm heavy!) yup. everything in front of me has no chance of escaping my mouth. hahaha.

but back to instant gratification. the other day we went to meijer to stock up on groceries. and i just had to open the pack of mini graham teddies. no sorry, cannot wait til after i pay. it just doesn't taste the same you know.

reminds me of a funny joke faye made one time. we were grocery shopping again (that's about the only fun thing to do around here really) and i took a bag of cherries. and of course i have to dip my fingers into that bag of succulent deep red fruit. i even very shamelessly grabbed an extra bag (you know the pull and tear type) for the seeds and stems as i planned to eat my way through at least half of the cherries by the time i was done. i cajoled faye into joining me (and trust me, doesn't take much to convince her haha) and when she asked where i disposed of the seeds, i pointed to the extra bag. she exclaimed, "wah, you even have a pit stop?!!" pit stop. get it?? hahahaha.

jinxed!

sarah!! it's those topless photos of us when we were ten or so. they have jinxed us for life!!! captured us in the form we are to remain for the rest of our lives! haha *wink*

and so i weighed myself today and i think there must be something wrong with the weighing scale in the gym changing room. or at least that's what i like to tell myself. so i went off to target to buy an electronic scale hoping it might bring some happier news. and if it doesn't, i'm returning it tomorrow. the joys of US consumerism!

empires and foot stools

what do the above two share in common? well, the ottoman, that's what. aiyah, as you can tell i'm damn bored. reading about EU expansion (i didn't put it off til tomorrow morning! hoorah!) and some historical stuff and the ottoman empire was mentioned. since the ottoman is like the coolest piece of furniture to have around nowadays according to the fab five and HGTV, i think i shall commit to researching why the ottoman is named ofter an empire if it truly was.

weak

today i found out about xiaxue's blog thanks to philip kor han wei (reuben: i've heard that name before man...wah, high profile sia). she is one funny lady. smart ah lian and so unPC and un poser. no need to pretend "i only listen to lounge and chill out" (hotel costes, cafe del mar etc etc). how many people left like that on this earth? i mean, when i decide to snoop around on friendster, all of the profiles try too hard to be alternative cool (fave movies: fight club, taxi etc etc. you get the drift yeah). so now like even though i do listen to chill out lounge and what not, i don't dare tell anyone anymore for fear i become categorized alongside every other friendster/pretendster. alamak.

and so i also refuse to be a friendster. i mean, why the heck do you wanna tell people, hey add me to your friendster list! and write me an insincere testimonial that will stroke my ego and make me feel like you're my best friend. but maybe i have such cynicism for friendster because i am afraid that i will have NO friends. like everyone else has what, 500 friends? but maybe i'm terrified that after 6 mths of starting an account i will only have 10 friends and 1 sad insincere testimonial. so i have decided not to subject myself to such self torture and pretend that i'm above all this "autograph book for the post primary-sixers".

and i mean, if my sister gasped when i told her about my blog, i really can't bring myself to join her network in friendster. it's like me trying to squeeze back into my sec one scgs uniform. analagously, imagine how annoying it is when your mom tries to blend in with your friends and wears the red or dead platforms that were oh so in when we were in sec two.

but of course, since even my boyfriend is on friendster, i should not slam it so much. i have to admit it is quite fun to surf through the different networks of friends and gossip about people along the way. i especially enjoy reading those who like to create for themselves a sexy/horny/i am so hot internet persona. even more so if you know these people and you know (or think) that they are far from what they describe themselves to be.

okok, but i should stop being so mean and judgemental. or at least stop putting it in my blog right? not such a good image to project. but being nice is that last thing i want to be described as anyway. i mean, when someone is nice, it's usually because he/she is nothing else. all anyone can say is oh, yeah, he's a nice guy. damn. worst insult one could ever get. might as well say, yeah, he's quite a one-dimensional figure. nothing much to him. but nice guy overall.

okok, i'm rambling on and on because i don't want to read about EU expansion. maybe i'll have an early night and do it tomorrow.

patch of green

you know how once the snow melts and the sun peeks out of the billowing clouds the ang mohs will scramble out in their sandals and shorts and other scanty things and suddenly you see them sprawled all over the lawns where the grass is growing.
so one fine spring day dan and i decide to do the typical couply thing and go for a picnic in regent's park. walking into the regal park grounds, i'm scouting for a good place to park (no pun intended) ourselves for a few hours. you know, must be somewhat sunny somewhat shady, nice view and crisp, clean grass. i looked all around me and all of it is so manicured. and i'm still looking for a good spot but really, it's all grass right? all the same--so what's the difference between the patch right in the center with the fountain and carefully pruned bushes and the narrow strip of green separating the concrete pathways? dan pulls me along insisting that i shouldn't be silly and we should walk on looking for a good open spot. after two minutes, he gives up too. we can't be bothered to find our way into the middle of the park where i'm sure there's like a rolling meadow-like patch of green and picnickers abound with their annoying pets and babies. actually it's because we found that meadow-like patch before, but it was at night and we somehow stumbled upon it and didn't memorize the route to it. so we get lazy and settle for the narrow patch of green along the sides. you know, those where the benches are, and behind is an endless row/wall of tall shrubs and in front is the pathway for walkers.
yup, so a patch of green is just a patch of green wherever you go. i mean, from the photo below it looks like we were in that meadow-like area anyway.
another moral: take good photos.

regents park, london