merry christmas!

the great escape

it's been an incredibly surreal 10 days that i spent in tignes, france. it was my first time to france, first time skiing, and first time seeing and touching (and tasting) snow. out of these 10 days, 2 days were spent travelling to and from france. skiing aside, i think it is quite a feat on its own that we managed to survive the 18hour long coach rides, which were even longer than my flight from home to london! that's 3/4 of a day spent sleeping, waking up with sore necks and backs, talking rubbish, eating junk, getting down the bus from time to time for toilet breaks, then sleeping again and repeating the whole cycle. now as i recall everything, from the frantic panic attacks yahting and i had while rushing our last-minute packing right before the trip, to arriving at tignes and having an absolute time of my life there, i can only say that it was such a phenomenal trip. it was so fun and carefree that i really didn't want to get back to london and end this great escapade.

yahting and i on our long, seemingly never-ending journey to the land of snow

crossing the eurotunnel, which ferries us under the sea to get from uk to france

view of the snowcaps from the coach

after all that anticipation, excitement and maybe even a little bit of fear amidst all that dozing off on the coach, we finally reached our destination! this is us clad in our ski jackets. the temperature was a whopping -15 degrees! brrrrr.

we arrived at tignes on saturday evening, so we only officially started our skiing lessons on sunday. the first day of skiing was not really exhausting, maybe because i was still fascinated by the novelty of it all. we had to scale horizontally up this gentle slope, then practise going down the slope in a straight line, braking, and making turns during our descent. on monday we were split into different groups with instructors to guide us along. i guess we were all pretty slow at progressing, since my group was stuck at the gentle slopes for quite a few days while other groups were already trying out the green and blue beginner slopes. tuesday morning was quite traumatizing because all of us crashed when our instructor brought us to try out the green slope, which was the easiest beginner slope around. i couldn't make any turns at all because the slope was so insanely steep; i lost control and just accelerated straight down before tumbling! with the added injuries and mental trauma on top of our burning thighs and calves, we had to continue practising our turns at the usual place since we were apparently not good enough to take on the proper slopes. but practice makes perfect, and by thursday morning we were sufficiently skilled to conquer the green and blue (which is harder) slopes!

this was taken while i was on one of these chair-lifts that brings us to the starting point of some slope. i love taking the chair-lift because it literally sweeps me off my feet (or rather, my skis) the moment it takes off! previously when we were stuck on the gentle slopes, we had to move up the slopes on our own and the act of going against gravity seriously places alot of strain on our leg muscles, so imagine the happiness we felt when we could finally take this mode of transport all the way up without torturing our legs anymore!

embracing the beauty of this paradise

on friday morning we took the cable car up to Toviere! 2695m!

what a long way we took to get down..

all smiles

with our instructors charles and maurice!

friday afternoon was the last time i skiied. it was such a long arduous journey down, but i felt so accomplished and proud of myself at the end of it! it was really a crazy adventure :D

first we had to take this train-like transportation known as a funicular. it brought us underground and all the way up to..

3032m above sea level!

it was so windy at the top of the mountain. the winds were slapping icy cold snow all over our faces. i couldn't move against the wind at all, and i felt like i would be blown away any moment. strangely though, somehow the chillingly harsh conditions didn't manage to defeat us. i think obstacles really make one tougher. what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger!

we took so long we skiied till the sun set

there were a few points where i fell and earned myself more bruises, but as the saying goes.. no pain, no gain! im so happy i can exclaim "YATTA!" (which means "i did it!" in japanese) at the end of it all!

celebration! with charles, our cool instructor who brings a dictionary around so he can explain himself in english better

maurice who is very humourous and always reminds us to keep smiling

everyday we wake up, eat breakfast, ski, go back to the resort for lunch, ski again, enjoy tea time, shower, eat dinner, then play cards till it's late before we sleep. the routine simply repeats for the entire week. i've grown so used to this lifestyle that the dark and foggy london skies do impose a tinge of gloominess and sense of emptiness upon me now. i miss the pure white snow, the exuberance of skiing down the slopes, the freedom of playing every single day without worrying about anything at all. now that it's back to reality, i'm reminded of the work that i have to complete, the stuff i have to study, and the great distance i am away from home.

ho ho ho! but tis the season to be jolly! i just realized it's christmas eve today. have a merry christmas everyone! i hope it snows in london soon!

taking a break from sizing dna framents

i felt this sudden wave of excitement when i realized that i'll be seeing my dajie and bro in less than two weeks! i can't wait i can't wait i can't wait! :D

it's raining outside now. there's slight thunder and lightning, and i can hear the sound of falling raindrops despite having my earphones on. im listening to sunyanzi's 我也很想他, and this familiar voice never fails to make me feel at peace. somehow her singing, the piano playing in the background, and the shower of raindrops outside seem to be orchestrated in perfect harmony. moments like this make me feel as if the earth has stopped moving, the clocks have stopped, and everything has come to a standstill.

而夏天还是那么短，思念却很长..

is it raining in singapore too?

lost and found

originally i wanted to blog about thorpe park, my birthday, nottingham games, and how much fun i had. but today has been quite a sad day. i lost the bracelet my aunt made me for my birthday, i lost the cute blue baking mittens i brought from home, and i missed my stop on my way home and had to freeze all the way back because i didn't have my gloves with me.

however, just when i braced myself for more suay happenings, i realized how life can actually be so wonderful at times, especially when you least expect it to be. many thanks to my ex-colleagues for making my bad day not so bad afterall! when i received their parcel with my birthday present and a card with all their blessings, i felt so much better :) im also very thankful to leefeng for walking around lillywhites to help me search for my bracelet, and twinnie for talking to me on msn when i reached hall today. maybe sometimes all of us need to lose a few things before we find other important things in life!

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woollen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with string,
These are a few of my favorite things.

Cream coloured ponies and crisp apple strudel,
Door bells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles
Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings,
These are a few of my favorite things.

Girls in white dresses and blue satin sashes,
Snow-flakes that stay on my nose and eye-lashes,
Silver white win-ters that melt into spring,
These are a few of my favorite things,

When the dog bites,
When the bee stings,
When I'm feeling sad,
I simply remember my favorite things,
And then I don't feel, so bad.

[edit at 9:33 PM] i just came back from a shower, and guess what happened! while i was happily rinsing off all the foam and soap from my body, i found my fingers stuck to the shower head's hand set. of all places, my hand was grabbing the area on which someone spat chewing gum! it was still fresh and sticky. eewwwwwww. i was so horrified and terribly disgusted. oh my goodness, even i myself felt like laughing at the absurdity of it all. this is really the ultimate. i think i better coop myself up in my room for the rest of the night, lest the sky falls on me the moment i step out onto the streets. or worse, i may just get to bump into the legendary mosquito man today! im pretty certain that with such luck today, anything and everything can happen.

happiness is

1) when you look at a photo and laugh out loud as you remember how you and your friends conquered a 205-feet high structure with an acceleration from 0 to 80miles/hr in 2.3seconds

2) receiving the cutest card from a dear blue freak who is also stranded overseas

3) when you find joy during practicals on dna gel electrophoresis. the triumphant feeling you get from loading dna samples into agarose gel is sufficient to make you forget that you have 4 3-hour practicals crammed within a week.

4) sighting cotton candy clouds in the sky; suddenly all the unhappiness in the world seems to disappear

5) bittersweet: it is when you feel so excited that someone's birthday is coming soon, yet so sad that there will be no more movie marathons this year, no more cheek-pinching, no more chatting till the wee hours of the morning.

6) when you can feel love from miles and miles away, and know that everyone at home loves you alot, misses you alot, and wishes you all that you hope for, all that you dream of, and all that makes you happy.

and there is sweetness in the laughter of all the stars, and in the memories of those you love

7) when life gives you plenty of reasons to smile, because sometimes rushing essays, enduring tiring long days in school, knowing some of your friends are sad, and going home under gloomy skies that start darkening at 4pm make you forget that you actually don't need a reason to be happy.

:) my essay is done! killer week is ending! and hyde park at night is actually very beautiful :D

today is my 25-hours day!

daylight saving time has ended, and it feels strange to know that london is now one more hour behind singapore. it's quite funny knowing that everyone adjusted their clocks one hour backward after 2am today (which instantly became 1am), and it somehow makes me think that turning back time isn't impossible afterall. if all of us reach a consensus, isn't it possible to make our happy days longer, and the sad ones shorter?

once again, when i rewind the video in my mind to the point when i last blogged, so many sights and sounds hit me that i suddenly don't feel like blogging anymore. haha! but then again, i know how sian diao it feels to visit people's blogs and get greeted by the same old entries again and again, and i've decided to be nice to those who visit my little mushroom every now and then! :D

13th and 14th oct: weekend with huixuan and hongzhen

we visited the british museum

and left our mark on the guest list

in the museum, we took photo with venus' butt

before we set off to borough market where we had raclette (melted cheese with potatoes) and paella (rice with seafood) for lunch!

then we went to the famous london bridge, which was quite a disappointment. don't you think it resembles the tuas causeway?

and we visited the tate modern art museum and tried appreciating the beauty of art. my favourite art piece is The Snail, which depicts the arrangement of pieces of brightly-coloured construction paper, and embodies how life goes round in one full circle. sounds so abstract right!

then we walked over to the tower bridge, which is so much prettier!

at the end of the day we cooked our own dinner at hx's hall! that's the crunchy cabbage that twinnie and i cooked, and hx's fabulously yummy fried rice!

the next morning we went to st paul's cathedral!

and with that i concluded my little adventure with my dearest buddies!

sigh, blogger takes so long to upload photos. im so tired of waiting, shall continue blogging another day! currently im still extremely full from the dinner my hallmates and i attempted to cook using leftovers from yesterday's steamboat session..

loggorhea

knock knock! i am finally here! sorry this update came so late. every day i return back to hall feeling so exhausted and drained i just brainlessly surf the internet, play with facebook, and randomly chat to people over msn. it has only been two weeks yet so many events have happened, and i have so many words to say. is this what loggorhoea feels like? loads of nonsense bombarded with utter incoherence. let me attempt to find the right words to describe everything that has happened so far.

farewell with lots and lots of love
i realize i've yet to thank all those who have touched me in one way or another before i left sunny singapore for loony (just for the sake of alliteration, but saying the weather here is loony is such an understatement) london! thank you for all the presents, the letters, the cards, the smses, and thank you to those who came down to the airport to send me off. right on my desk now i see ze's photo frame, the calendar from cihan yihan mavis, my sack of chieh-up mushrooms, a mushroom lamp from yeehwee (i was so sad when i couldn't bring my blue mushroom lamp over! but now i've got a red one greeting me every single day) and so many little mushroomy things and presents from my beloved friends.

on my noticeboard i have pasted so many photos of my family, and i just spent an hour today affixing photos and cards from all of you. it felt so sweet listening to the cds from my bridge friends; half the time i was just laughing out loud in front of my computer, the other half of the time i was extremely touched by how thoughtful they were to have come up with such an awesome concert for me. i remember what a baby i was when i cried so badly at the airport before entering the gates, and then how huiwen's card made me tear again when i read it on the plane. after i settled down in hall and played the slideshow cihan made for me, i cried again. but i know those were tears of joy, not of sadness! so to whoever reading this, thank you for making me happy and i love you!

hall life
it was quite terrfying when i had to settle down alone since i'm the only singaporean staying at this hall of residence. but i think such circumstances only make a person grow stronger. i am slowly learning how to venture out alone and find my own bearings in this foreign land.

this is the exterior of my hall! i stayed in a twin room that was really spacious and comfy for more than a week! i had the whole room to myself because my roommate's visa was rejected. in the end she couldn't make it here to london at all and i had to move to another twin room in my hall. my new roommie is from liverpool, england, and she's really sweet. i'll post photos of how she looks like soon.

the collage above shows my previous room - big and nice and warm and fuzzy! the new room now, which is shown in the second collage, is not bad either, maybe just a teeny weeny bit smaller than my original room. the bottom left picture is my night view from the window!

the area i stay in is near oxford street, which is something like singapore's orchard road (maybe at least 20times longer), so it's really convenient for me whenever the need for shopping arises. my hall is near supermarkets and grocery places too, so i can get food any time i want to if hall food fails to satisfy me! by the way, these days i've been eating so much, which explains why my msn personal message is permanently "omg so full so full so full". everyday i keep on eating potatoes. i'm pretty sure the chefs at my hall follow a "1001 ways to cook potatoes" cookbook for every meal they prepare. potato wedges, whipped potato, mashed potatoes with pie, french fries, scrambled eggs with potatoes, baked potatoes.. that day i told ying2, the only kind of potatoes that has yet to appear in their menu is potato chips! oh my goodness im really turning into a potato soon!

there're people from all over the world here! i've never even heard of some of their countries before. it has really been eye-opening, meeting all these people, talking to them, trying to learn and find out more about them. despite the communication problems (their thick accents, slangs and my occasional singlish which slips out), it's nice interacting with my hallmates. digress: i know this cyprus girl who is a 10nov baby too! so far we've had this welcome drinks party where i've mingled with some of them, and we also had a warden's buffet where i totally pigged out while talking to people. sometimes it gets a little tiring, especially when i try to remember their names, where they're from, their colleges, the courses they're taking, and which block of the hall they're staying in. the novelty of making new friends and opening up to new people does wear off, but im glad that at least i don't feel lonely over here. there are people for me to talk to when im eating breakfast and dinner, there are people for me to talk to on my way to school and when i am in school, and there is always the special bunch of people for me to talk to when i go on msn and skype :)

so you see, hall life is almost perfect for me - i have a nice room set with bedsheets and duvet all prepared for me, warm and friendly hallmates, and most importantly, catered food! so why am i the only singaporean here? simply because.. ta dah! my hall is light years away from school! i have to walk through hyde park everyday before i get to school. i take about 35 minutes? 25 minutes if i walk really fast, and 20 minutes if i take bus. so far i've been meeting up with some other singaporeans/malaysians at wilson house (an imperial hall that is 5 minutes away from my hall) before embarking on my long long, journey to school. sometimes i leave hall with khai ming, this malaysian guy staying in the same hall as me, if his lectures start at the same time as mine. im really grateful for the wilsonites, in particular, yahting, mark and leefeng! without them i don't think i'll ever find hyde park as beautiful as i perceive it now.

school
i've been enjoying my lectures! maybe it's the lecturer, maybe it's the subject matter, or maybe it's because i've found some innate passion towards biochemistry in me, but it's been really exciting delving into the fundamentals of the chemistry of life! okay i know this seriously sounds geeky, but i'm not the only crazy person thinking this way. my other coursemates agree too! im relatively happy with my course apart from the shock i got when i saw quantum mechanics in biological chemistry. i almost died when i saw that wave-particle duality thing and all those quantum physics graphs in my notes! why is it so impossible to escape from the evil claws of physics?

biochemists! the girl on the left is leefeng, a malaysian who stays at wilson house! the guy on the right is xuekun, fellow singaporean doing the same course. we usually have lunch together after 2 hours of lectures in the morning!

mark and yahting. our thrilling once-in-a-lifetime experience in the 'casino royale' lift in one of the buildings in imperial! can you sense how nervous and tense we felt at that instant? i swear we weren't doing anything illegal!

places and events
i can't believe i'm barely halfway through my recount of my first two weeks in london! shall let the pictures speak the words for now.

the splendours of hyde park:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=16735&l=c3019&id=576831789

natural history museum! yahting and i had such a great time there we're going to visit it again!

chinatown at leicester square! i've been there countless times within this span of time. everytime i go there i seem to have eaten duck. i tried the roast cantonese duck with the wilsonites, peking duck with vincent (yes i met up with vincent in london!) and chris (my hallmate from hongkong), and the day before i had some "crispy aromatic duck" with huixuan and twinnie!

london tour organized by imperial singsoc! we went to the icons of westminster - the london eye, big ben, river thames, trafalgar square, leicester square, covent gardens.. at the end of the day we had dinner at nando's and stuffed ourselves full with roasted chicken.

rcsu freshers' ball at zoobar in leicester square: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=17100&l=41e42&id=576831789
don't we look really high and happy!

alright im really tired! i think this must be the longest blog entry i've ever posted. i don't think anyone will have the time and patience to read on too.. anyway i just came back this afternoon from a fabulous weekend with twinnie and hx, will update again when i'm energized! i don't know when that will be though! hopefully soon :)

hello from london!

i can't believe my hall is so efficient! i got almost instant internet access once i checked into my room. i haven't met my roomie as of yet; she'll be moving in tomorrow! anyway my room is really nice and cosy! orangey cheerful-looking bedsheets and curtains. will post photos and update properly soon! this is just a note to say that im safe and sound in london! take care everyone :)

sunday is family day!

may this be forever.

needless to say, my last sunday here was spent wholly with my family! in the morning we went to west coast for our usual sunday brunch. i had my wanton mee, the rest ate their porridge and carrot cake. it was so ordinary i felt as though we will continue eating like this coming sunday, next sunday, the sunday after next, and for all the sundays of my life. after that we went to visit the monkey tree at jurong west. it's quite amazing how the contours of the bark form the image of two monkeys basking side by side. my dajie believes it has to be some spirits at work, but i guess im still skeptical about it. perhaps it's all just a coincidence made sense of by human perception? my mama is the funniest. she thinks there might be people who secretly carved them out in the middle of the night. well it isn't all that impossible.. anyway, we went home after that so that i could finally start on my packing. i managed to settle the clothes, yes! im done with the most bulky and tricky part of packing! had lunch at home with dajie and bro. my parents da bao-ed so many curry potatoes because they know i love eating them. in the evening we went to this family ktv place called "the one" next to cineleisure! juncheng and bernie kor were there with all of us too. everyone sang quite a bit, then erjie and bernie kor kept forcing me to drink glass after glass of beer so that i'll get drunk. i can't even remember how many glasses of beer i downed. after my parents, dajie and bro left, i was dragged to this pub to drink some more! craziness. my erjie claimed she was trying to prepare me for the wild side of london. hahaha. in the midst of drinking, erjie said she'll miss me so much, and she said she'll take care of papa mama. in my hazy state of mind, i couldn't respond normally. at that point in time, i was sober enough to register what she said, yet not sober enough to let the tears fall. what a strange feeling, to feel the comfort and sadness all entwined together.

i have parents who sing karaoke ever so adorably; the thought of them clasping their mikes and singing "十五的月亮" never fails to make me smile. i have a father who taught me how to live life with a "don't worry, be happy" attitude. countless times, i was able to shoo my blues away, because i know that with papa around, i will be fine, and everything will be okay. i have a mother who bought an incredible number of packets of "essentials" for me to bring over to london. i have no idea why she bought so many. those are more than enough to last me for 2 whole years overseas, but the sight of that big plastic bag instantly makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. i have a dajie whom i squabble with daily over matters so trivial i can't even bear to list them down here. but she is also the one who treats me to movies and good food, the one who helped me get my laptop, who vacuum-compressed my clothes for packing, who attempted to carry me when i had leg cramps while running, and who keeps telling me she'll miss me when i go. i have an erjie who made me drunk to make sure i learn how to keep myself safe in london. i seldom see her around at home, because she's always so busy with work, but she has never stopped caring for me. how can i forget the sense of loss i felt when she left for canada for one year, and that happiness in the air when we received letters from her. i have a bro who taught me how to watch tennis; even im surprised by how much ive learnt from him. he gushes on and on about arsenal, he hogs the tv when he plays winning eleven, he hogs the computer when he's obsessed with maplestory/online football manager. most of the time, i listen to him talk about soccer and i can't recall anything from our conversations. what adebayor, what jose mourinho. i listen to him talk about school, his classmates, his teachers, and the funny things that happen. he always bugs me on how to do this physics question, how to solve that maths question, and he threatens me that he will eat takopachi in front of the webcam to gek me. so annoying, but so indispensable he'll always be my lovable bro.

family = father and mother (and dajie erjie bro) i love you

lowly's quote from the movie Annie says it best:
how lucky i am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.

blues

yesterday i sent two of my best friends off, and i couldn't help crying when they left. among everyone there, i had the least reason to cry, but the sadness i felt was so overwhelming it was quite inexplicable. perhaps it was because i have this feeling it wouldn't be as easy to meet them in uk, especially since twinnie will be in nottingham! maybe i should be thankful that the two of them are in uk instead. we're afterall still in the same place. and hopefully, near enough!

i had the shock of my life when someone asked me whether i'm flying next friday. while talking to my erjie yesterday night i realized i only have one last saturday and sunday here. and while pouring milk to drink, i noticed the expiry date stated on the carton is oct 12. what? i wouldn't even be here long enough for the milk to go bad. :(