Autumn's end.

Time changes the landscape over, the sun now sets at 4 and the winds are often a blistering cold. Anw, here are the photos of my room after I put up the posters. As promised.

flashes

i miss wisma. i get these occassional images of places arnd singapore flashing before me from time to time, along with feelings of comfort, familiarity, nostalgia. 'high - james blunt' is playing on my itunes now and it just reminds me of wisma atria. all the malls. i miss the multistorey-ed malls that go up to 5 or 6 levels, with everything u could ever need inside them. like a venue of concentrated human activity within one building.

singapore's orchard road, cityhall and marina simply have a flavour and character that're in a league of its own. let me attempt to describe this flavour. perhaps it's the pace at which the sights change so rapidly. while a part of me loathes the memories that get eroded with the physical concrete, the changes seem to embody the phases i myself experience. night time orchard road becomes brighter and brighter with the years and the shops stay open longer. the somewhat pretentious nature of the orchard road culture to replicate and accommodate cultures of the various cities in the likes of american black culture, australian surf culture, bond street's high culture and so much more, is more endearing than loathsome and results in this vibrant mad mix of numerous influences!

but perhaps what's most captivating about orchard road/cityhall/marina to me is the warmth and homeliness it exudes. perhaps it's having figuratively grown up in and with these places that makes me feel so comfortable wondering along wheellock, lido, far east, down pass scotts, tangs, wisma, taka, lucky plaza, paragon, heeren, cine, orchard pt, centrepoint, on to plaza sing, raffles city, city link, suntec, marina sq, and finally, esplanade. and it's knowing exactly where to go to fulfill a particular desire or necessity. plaza sing's yamaha for music scores, cine for the best cinema seats (i wasn't there when vivocity opened), taka for the most winding carpark, esplanade for free live music (kudos to local musicians who're stepping forward bravely and helping to define a big part of singapore's art culture!), cityhall area for 100% sheltered shopping for when it pours, and great food, well, just about everywhere (it's hard to find good food in uk..cheap ones at least. 8 pcs of kfc chicken half the size of the ones in singapore cost me 10 quid. that's $30).

and while singapore's nightlife is limited to a few spots arnd the river areas, who's to complain when shops close at 8 in birmingham, 5 in coventry and london? the angmohs don't understand the joys of shopping and hanging arnd OPEN shops and malls at night. like up till 10-11pm! and that's what i'd say is the most endearing aspect of singapore's city centre. it's not so much the club scene that defines singapore's nightlife (not entirely that is), but the fact that nightlife doesn't just reduce to clubs and pubs. it's more activity in general. shopping, chatting at cafes and restaurants, movies etc. so well done singapore. and keep it up!

prata and chicken madras!

had a dinner that reminded me of home today. went over to lakeside for dinner with weixi-- prata with chicken madras! we were lucky to chance upon that at costcutters, and it turned out a lot better than frozen pratas usually taste back in spore! it actually looked and tasted like the authentic ones the ah nehs sell! and the curry was simply delicious. really really reminded me of singapore's prata. which brings me to how almost everyone around here is going back this dec. well, esp hyan xm mun...all going back for xmas. sigh. i still have a good 2 weeks of dec to fill up before i head down to london to look for jo. what am i gonna do?

it's been a whole day since. and it's all too strangely familiar. i feel i've been here before. the whole one day has past, i can't believe it's really happening. and all the wondering and speculating abt what the other ppl are thinking. wx says both of em talked abt it and complained that i haven't been talking to them today. he told me he 'didn't do anything wrong right?' i've answered too politely too many times. i kept quiet. wx asked told me not to let it affect my decision to stay with him next yr. it won't. loyalties. u just cut away the gangrenous tissue not the whole leg. was weird bumping into her today. caught me totally off guard. small talk. bye. square one. time? we'll see how.

whirlwind

it sucks to have thought that you could confide in someone, only to realise that u couldn't bring yourself to do it cos she's part of a circle of friendship with a loophole in this trust of confidentiality? put simply, u can't have the person u trust to know the inner most depths of your emotions being really close to someone else you're close to? there's got to be a law written on that somewhere.

well yea. i was deeply disturbed by that yesterday, and totally confirmed it today. just as if it was sealed by a kiss. all the bollocks about being able to confide, sorry...i can't do it. disappointment hits you as it shoves all the values you hold on to strongly, out of the window. you're fucking attached. and you fucking know that. so really, it's back to the same rule of thumb that prevails. where relations get complex, stick with the guys. i'm throwing this friendship overboard. so u had too much to drink, so u just broke up. sorry. it's not good enough a reason to be kissing a guy who's attached. even if he initiated it. he's at fault too yea. and i'll run him down tmr. but goodbye. u can't be more than just a superficial friend. there's no room for that kinda complex friendships. i won't allow it.

on a lighter note, it was really great meeting up with alvin liong and weixian!!! i hope u guys had fun at warwick today. esp you alvin! it's been really really long. really felt great meeting you guys. at least i know this isn't one of the meaningless and empty friendships. there's definitely more to it.

the Killers

WOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! i'm going to watch the killers LIVE @ Wembley! got the tickets off ebay last night, and how ecstatic i was!!! Gonna be so psyched up! AHMAD ARE YOU READING THIS??!!! THAT"S THE KILLERS!!!! OUR KILLERRRRRRRRRS!!!

Friday Nite!

Alright it's been a rather crazy friday night. After dinner, it was down to politics revision w/o any thought of going anywhere that night. But who knew I'd be persuaded to go for 'the weekend' at the union! But yea it was pretty fun..met the hongkees there again after the previous night of getting to know them. They're a really fun bunch to be around..Alright..here're some pictures!

Screwed up sleeping cycle

My timetable just opens grounds for a screwed up sleeping cycle. It really isn't my fault. hahahaha i promise. What with the following: Mon 1100-1800; Tue 1600-1900; Wed NOTHING!; Thu 0900-1000 and 1200-1400; Fri 1600-1700.

It's just too tempting to sleep in till late on most weeknights and turn in only in the wee hours. Which is what's been happening the past few nights. Studying into the night is pretty conducive, when everyone's asleep and in the absence of the potential of some activity happening somewhere! Then there's going down to Leamington Spa's 'Evolve' last night. That atmosphere was INCREDIBLE! ok get this. they play ROCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YES!!!! their house music plays ROCK amongst other genres like dance and retro (thank goodness nothing like mambo, though mambo is good for when u feel like being spastic with a group of friends). Singapore should so totally adopt this. Imagine how high i got when the killers' 'when you were young' suddenly came on! rock is really and incredible genre to play at clubs. it's so psyched up! i don't get why Singapore hasn't thought of this earlier!! btw, i still haven't really experienced the intense dance/trance music that xm and jo were trying to intro me to...you reading this girls?!

Oh and i got three posters! They're pretty interesting ones. Got them for a bargain of 5quid in total.. That's S$5 per poster! Will post some pics of my walls soon. Alright. gotta settle lunch now. you all take care wherever you are! Cheers!

When You Were Young -- The Killers

You sit there in your heartache
Waiting on some beautiful boy to
To save you from your old ways
You play forgiveness
Watch it now ... here he comes!

He doesn't look a thing like Jesus
But he talks like a gentleman
Like you imagined when you were young

Can we climb this mountain I don't know
Higher now than ever before
I know we can make it if we take it slow
Let's take it easy
Easy now, watch it go

We're burning down the highway skyline
On the back of a hurricane that started turning
When you were young
When you were young

And sometimes you close your eyes
and see the place where you used to live
When you were young

They say the devil's water, it ain't so sweet
You don't have to drink right now
But you can dip your feet
Every once in a little while

You sit there in your heartache
Waiting on some beautiful boy to
To save you from your old ways
You play forgiveness
Watch it now here he comes

He doesn't look a thing like Jesus
But he talks like a gentleman
Like you imagined when you were young
(He talks like a gentlemen, like you imagined when)
When you were young

I said he doesn't look a thing like Jesus
He doesn't look a thing like Jesus
But more than you'll ever know

And hopefully i'll get to see them live in london in feb! this song makes me start to miss home, and how i won't be going back to the same house again. uproot.

London Photos Cont.

Victoria where we stayed (hyan & xm's place)
Sunset on the thames! Pretty shot eh?
Buildings along the thames
Amanda our guide, us and the London Eye
The Big Ben
Staking out Downing Street
Chanel Lamposts
My hosts and I
Our appreciation lunch for hyan and xm

Back from London!

WHAT A WEEKEND! and i've finally finally been to London. It's like one of the cities everyone dreams of visiting since young. all of modern history, power, influence centred around that city (and some others)!

and there's really no better way to visit London than to stay in the company of close friends! thanks again hyan & xiuming (and jianli) for putting us up at your place. it was really lovely meeting u girls again in uk (weird considering the transposing of ties and familiarity to a foreign context), having simple yet thoroughly enjoyable meals with u two (hope u two enjoyed the lunch as much as i enjoyed cooking it [tog w/ yeemeng] for you two)!

for ahmad and shaun, you two have got to try clubbing in London! it's immensely fun and full of energy! totally opposed to the stale and mundane undertones of clubbing in singapore. the intense atmosphere outside the clubs are attest to the magnified hype within the clubs. short of giving way to hyperbole, pure energy just intoxicating you not only with the sights and sounds of the places, but with the uninhibited people whose defences don't border on paranoia and self-flattery! though there is a high tendency you might mourn the demise of your cash. haha!

and it was really nice exploring london with amanda as our guide! thanks again girl! it was really nice of u to come out on such short, no...IMMEDIATE notice!!! i half expected the reply to my facebook msg to come a couple days later saying 'so sorry we couldn't meet! call me next time u're down in london!' but no! the sms came the next morning! cheers! it was a really enjoyable afternoon talking over lunch and walking about the famous sights in town! looking forward to seeing u next time i'm in town again, and at the KILLERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

returning to warwick does curtail a sense of anti-climax to the extremely eventful weekend. had to force myself to pick up my bags and hug hyan goodbye (regretably i didn't know xm was rushing home to say goodbye!). but it's really whet my appetite my girlfriends...i'll be returning to London for west end, more chanel lamp posts, rat burgers, BREATHTAKING ARCHITECTURE, friendly bus drivers who position buses nicely by the side of the church for a photo and so much much much more. really hope i'll meet more friends then. jo, abiel, chonglin etc etc. i can't wait! for now, i'll just leave u guys with photos from this trip. cheers!

My Tocil Room!

For those who are curious about how my room looks like...

Pictures as promised!

On the menu: Black pepper cod w/ ginger. Streaky pork with potatoes, stir-fried beef with asparagas and mushrooms.

Yeemeng and our German friend. Had a nice exchange on the cultures and politics in both our countries.

Me and the food we cooked!

lamb chops and crisps

today was a wasted day, safe for good lamb chops and crisps. ym and i headed down to coventry with the intention of getting me football boots and gloves. but safe for a lunch of lamb chops and crips (the lamb chops wasn't exactly our lunch, but it looked good) at nandos, it was unfulfilling.

the street style shopping (as opposed to bullring mall style) in coventry city centre really sucks. things just aren't concentrated enough that u can head to a mall directory and shop objectively. pretty much walked aimlessly in the hope of bumping into sports shops. shall head to cannon park tmr to look for those items.

OOH! tmr ym and i are heading down to london after american football! gonna be putting up with hyan and xm! and we're staying there for the rugby match btwn england and the allblacks (GOOOOOOOO KIWIS!) and thereafter for guy fawkes fireworks! exciting! hahah hope the londoners will be free to entertain us and show us arnd. this is gonna be the most exciting and eventful weekend since i got here (free from work that's due in the following week tt is)

also, i've finally got myself up to date with the US aired one tree hill episode. so sad for brooke. she's so messed up cos of the whole lucas thing. sigh. anw, guys, do visit them at one tree hill road (somewhere behind wheellock place)! say hi to them for me! =)

p/s i still owe u guys photos from last night's fantastic dinner with our new german friend.

weekend no.1

yes most of you prob know that i have two weekends every week. ok that doesn't make sense does it. end of the week means the next half of the week is actually next week and not a second half beyond the first end of the week because the end of the week is not a divider within a week but the end of the week! so let's call it having 3 day weeks (don't ask me where sundays count). so today was the end of the first 3 day week within everyone else's 7 day week. which meant last night was the 'friday night' of my 3 day week. and it was spent like how i usually spend friday nights in spore. totally wasted it. on sing soc elections. really the only thing that came out of that for me was to watch ppl take a society that's supposed to generate fun and relaxation, and turn it into some avenue for really serious political debate. gawd. let's just choose ppl who's fun and creative. that'll do the trick. u don't have to keep bombarding candidates whom u don't like with questions nonstop just to dissuade others from voting for him!

unbelievable how that lasted for 4 hours! FOUR flipping hours! wth! congrats suiling anw...she's now president of sing soc! i suppose by know she'd be contacted by the honourable leaders of our country to receive directions on how to maintain overseas singaporeans deeply rooted to our home away from home!

ok i'm rambling...i realise that. i'm tired too. today was just alright i suppose. not much of a weekend i'd expected. felt really bad for having disturbed my flatmates till 3am when the bunch of sporeans came over and made hell lotta noise. practiced math for tmr's math test, and then went for american football trg. haha that was kinda fun...except when the ball hit me straight in the eye cos i didn't have a helmet on. exclude the TERRIBLY biting and numbing cold too. i definitely need gloves and boots. playing defense is quite fun. getta crash into ppl. hahaha. the guys are really friendly too. which puts me in a dilemma for this sat. i gotta go for the training at 12. but i wanna go for the windsurf trip. ugh. haven't windsurfed in ages! argh. what should i do what should i do. I"M REALLY SORRY THIS IS SUCHA BORING POST. i'm just really tired and rambling on and on. and someone scolded me for not updating often enough so here i am. sigh. please make my day tmr and let me score for the math test.

OH! EVERYONE mark out on your calendars! RUGBY MATCH ON SUNDAY btwn ENGLAND AND THE ALL BLACKS! GO ALL BLACKS!!! don't let the english tarnish the game any further!

it is getting really cold around here. reports say tmr it's gonna hit sub-zero
that'll be interesting. smth doesn't feel right.
dammit
why
i don't know.