虽然我们相识无言中 彼此情谊不深 心灵却相通

HC Night ytd was amazing! :D The food was alright (though portions generous, which was great for hungry people like me. But not good cos we were in glam dresses and not supposed to stuff ourselves silly) but the company was really really what made the night so awesome. So many of the councillors came down from all parts of Europe (Jamie, Kailing, Gloria, Hon) and then Stef, Wenxi and Charm from Oxbridge and then there were the Londoners- Mark, Dawei, Paul, Xun. We managed one whole table, how amazing is that!

Its nice to see changes in some people (cos it was for the better), and that some people havent changed one bit (which is great too).

But the downside to these kinda events is that there are so many people that I kinda know but i dont really know, and I dont quite know what to say after the usual Hi, how have you been or Your outfit's amazing. So I just end up sitting at my table, and talking to the same few people (which is actually, to be quite honest, what i really want to do. After all, i havent seen these friends of mine for what seems like ages.)

Got woken up this morning by Kenneth at 7-ish who came barging into my room, with Mac's breakfast. It was a nice feeling being brought breakfast, and talking to him considering that though we barely live more than 10mins apart, I dont think Ive actually seen him much.

Fell asleep right after Big Breakfast, and got woken up again in time to join my flatmates for Yum Cha at Chinatown. I think amongst the 5 of us, we ordered more than 20dishes. We were literally ordering without thinking much. Added up to 70ish in all for all of us, thats how much we had. But it was def a good meal :D Its been quite some time since I have properly hung out with my flatmates, since I was so busy running about with my family and all.

But it reminded me, how much I really like them :D

Redo Half Blood Prince please!

For a very very long time, I didnt know that I have been insulting myself. I was trying to type my username to log into gmail and I accidentally googled Peish. Only to find out that people only get called Peish when they are arses. And all this time, Ive been happily responding when people are referring to me as the male organ or female dog.

Yesterday was a good day (:
After sending Hing off, I had pancakes from Rider's Cafe in the Saddle Club which actually did serve quite awesome pancakes that came with maple syrup and Mulberry compote. Plus given my appetite, even I found the portion generous. The omelette was apparently pretty good too.
Plus you get to see handsome horses trotting outside and even though its not air- conditioned, the place was cooling and an awesome place to just chill for a good breakfast with your family or friends.

Met the losers for ice skating after that. I spent most of the time getting dragged around by Erns and Lily. Erns goes abit too quickly for my liking. It didnt help that the ring was too slippery and too crowded. But i did manage to walk 2 rounds without clutching on to someone for my dear life. Spent most of the time watching old ah peks trying (a bit too hard) to be graceful, which was both painful and hilarious.
So after flushing the 20bucks down the drain (considering i really didnt skate at all), we headed to do my fave activity- EAT DINNER! ((: And I managed to have a go on Lily's Wii, where I found my love for Wii Boxing. Its good fun, a stress reliever and So this is a not so subtle hint to anyone who has wii boxing to please invite me to your place.

And finally .... it was HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF BLOOD PRINCE. Erns offered me free tickets to the show 'cos some of her friend's friends couldnt make it. I love erns and her flow of free tickets. Her friends were awesome too, real friendly and chatty, saving me from those painful awkward silences.
The movie was good, for a movie. But possibly very disappointing for HP fans. Most of the dramatic scenes in the book was cut, and some details were changed. So it would be very good if you didnt revise the book before the show. Lavender was downright annoying, I hate her bimbo-ness and baby talk and stickyness to Ron. I mean like ...get a backbone man, dont put the female gender to shame. Daniel Radcliffe somehow managed to clean himself up for the movie, Emma didnt look too sophisticated and hot (which means she does represent hermione granger more) and erms Ron, i think he is getting abit too well- built. The movie was too short, I wished they added more scenes into it (and cut out all the unnecessary lavender ones) and could have been alot of more dramatic and action- packed. But it still makes it to the must- watch list. Afterall, how can any Harry Potter (no matter how bad) film be missed eh? (:

Wakeboarding Withdrawals.

Wakeboarding lessons finally ended yesterday, and it ended on a great big bang for me :D I still vaguely remember dreading the last lesson, cos I was just too tired from SnR outing the night before.
But now, I missing it so much. Im going to miss like laughing with those 2 dudes, feeling the adrenline rush each time I learn smthing new, the seabreeze and spray of water in my face, the sun (even though I apply a generous amt of sunscreem on myself) and the pigging out with the boys after each session.
I was complaining about seeing too much of their faces but i think im going to miss laughing at, i mean with, them now. Esp Hing who is going to disappear down there.
Seriously, if not for these lessons, i think that the first month of my hol basically passed with nothing special going on.

So here's jr's graduating video. The 2nd one's funny. Im too lazy to recount it but it is me and Hing discussing how wakeboarding can potentially be a great 把妹 tool. Isnt that what all guys think about all the time anyway? Hahaha.

And yes, the tripod outing with Hing finally worked out last night. And more people turned out than expected. It was great fun, though May obviously looked completely zonked out from school. I think hell like that is going to start for me real soon.
Some of us headed down to Howl to the Moon (a piano bar) after that, and it was great fun! I mean like you have to be able to take loads of dirty jokes and remarks at all your baby- making organs. But all in all, it was a great place to hang out, cos the people there are really talented and entertaining. It was like top class entertainment, in fact I personally prefer it to the only other music place in Singapore that I have fone to, Timbre. And maybe cos we were there on a thurs night, its wasnt crowded-- meaning that conversation was actually possible.

Okay, Yearmates outing tonight and then Losers outing on Sat.
How come I am having so much fun? Expensive fun though :(

Wakeboarding Graduation

Okay, today's wakeboarding session was like awesomely endorphine boosting. Like i knew that even though still cant edge out for more than 45degree and my posture aint that good and that Hing basically still owns me, but being able to do the stuff that I wasnt able to last time made me feel pleased with myself. All in all, it was a great 1 month spent in Singapore. 1 more month to go and now Im racking my brains to find something relatively meaningful to do.

And as usual, I went to pig out with the gents after lesson. And this is perfectly the reason why I AM PUTTING ON WEIGHT WHILST WAKEBOARDING TWICE A WEEK. But today's calorie intake was like TOTALLY WORTH IT. Finally, I have been to The roti prata place at Upper Thomson and it was so orgasmically good. Like it is soft and yet crispy, sinfully satisfying and yet not too oily. The egg in the prata was also not too dry and overcooked, and when it goes with both sugar and curry, i felt like i have momentarily forgotten all my woes and that Im definitely the most blissful person in the world. Okay, i might just be exaggerating a tad bit, but I have been craving good prata for that long a time.

Okay, going to meet the tripod people now. I havent met some of them for so long I might have forgotten their faces.
And i realised secondary to friends, the thing i talk about most is ... food. At least food isnt ranked first right. Hahaha.

Enjoying Life.

Met some of the losers and ern's intern friends for KTV yesterday and it was good fun.
Totally love jumping up and down on the sofa for One Night in Beijing and going completely wild. I love girls' night out like this where we all get to go really crazy and just let my hair down. This holiday has been awesome, Ive gotten to catch up with friends, go crazy and do the things that Ive been missing so much when I was away.

There are days when I just degenerate at home, watch one bad show after another, or youtube crap, blog and FB. Then there are the days when I go wakeboarding and enjoy the sun or swim- things that I def wont get a chance to do when Im back in London. Or else, it just chilling with friends that I havent hung out for ages and ages- sec sch friends, jc friends, random other friends that Ive met from here and there.

I havent had such a useless awesome life for ages. Like having nothing to rush for, and allowing time to just slip from my fingers. The feeling is awesome if not, surreal :)

And i love this:



My current loop song: Taking Back My Love

New Haircut!

Its never Peish if I dont rant about food.
If you are ever in Bugis Junction, you gotta check out Pizzakun which is located in the basement in front of Four Leaves. They sell Japanese Rice Pizza (ie. base is not flour but rice), which come in flavours like unagi, Hawaiian, vege, octopus and stuff. Its quite good really, and pretty to look at.

These couple of days have been good fun for me, despite the fact that I am still jobless and planless.

I finally got a haircut today, after complaining about my bush of a hair to every single living being I see. I kinda got myself some fringe (not bangs though, not as daring as Rae to go to that extent) and straightened the rest of my mane. The final product makes me look about 5 years younger than I actually am (and I already look very much younger/ kiddier than my peers, at least those in London.). But oh well, as i told my hairdresser, hair will grow back eventually.

And i finally managed to get my Mac fixed. Apparently the Ram which the shop upgraded for me was faulty which was why it made this huge beeping sound when I try to turn it on. At least, i have just learnt how to replace my own ram on my own.
Btw, does anyone know if i should get the apple care for about 400 SGD to extent my warranty for another 2 years?

Managed a relatively successful Kinder Bueno milkshake for chinswee and hing yesterday. Either that or they were just trying to please us. Im pretty glad they didnt have to witness the process which me and sharan went through to get it out. But still it was good fun.
Gonna miss those aussie goons loads when they go back. I wish the whole world had winters and summers together at the same time.

Milkshake recipe someone?

I need someone to give me a better recipe to milkshakes other than the usual loads of vanilla ice cream, a little milk and chocolate of your choice and blend it together. I set out with great plans to recreate the awesome Moo Moo Kinder Bueno's but Ive gone through numerous trial and errors today and failed every single time. My brother's saying that it tastes like melted choc chip ice cream, and my mum told me to serve all my visiting friends root beer float to finish up the whole load of ice cream i bought instead of torturing them with my attempts. My maid just cant stop laughing at me :(
And im so sick of seeing all those ice cream, milk and kinder bueno.

Gonna meet up with some of my jc classmates tmr. Having not seen them for eons (in fact some more than 2 years), its nice to see that we have all changed and yet, it doesnt feel like it. Contradictory, but such is life isnt it?

How well do you know Peish?

Finally finished Heroes Season 3, cant wait for Season 4 to come out. Im on to Chuck now. And I'll possibly go on to Bones after this when im sick of sitting in front of the computer screen since I have the DVDs for that series.

Other than American dramas, my most recent entertainment is the "How well do you know blah-blah?" on FB. Its hilarious looking at your score on how low you score for the quiz on someone you thought you know knew so well. For one i got 1 out of 10 right for Boobie's quiz, and she's like my first friend in RGS or smthing? Rae was also saying that her twin, who is possibly more than her BFF, couldnt ans so many of the qns from her quiz as well.

Its funny really, cos someone who possibly knows what makes me tick and what to say when Im down in the dumps and bawling my head off, probably doesnt know what flavour of ice cream to offer me. Its interesting how when you get to know someone so well, you tend not to pay attention to the small stuff.
But i dont blame them cos my quiz is hard, its like choosing between what I like/dislike more compared to the others. And i probably exaggerated when I say smthing like this is my fave, cos I probably mean one of. I guess to know all the answers, you probably have to know me from way back. 'Cos its seems like i dont really change my preferences over the years. My absolute favourite/ un-favourite starts from the distant past hehehe.
So yes, i happen to like old friends more.

Im back old friends, please please please text me at my old number or drop me a msg on FB. I wanna meet up for kopi siew dai, gow somewhere, anywhere.

Food Food and More Food!

The Real Greek is real good ((: - You should really have a go at it if you are in London 'cos its going at 50% off DAILY (if you register with them, which wont take you too much time- check out the promos tab on their webbie).

I think im getting more adventurous with food nowadays, and im starting to appreciate western/ Mediterranean, actually basically non- chinese cuisine that ive been incredibly dependent on. Thats of course not saying that I dont miss food from Singapore. I think Singapore food really owns. There is just such an incredible variety that its hard to get bored of them all.

Anyway, me and yush had:
1. Chicken Souvlaki
2. Feta Bourgioudi (Melted feta in an onion and tomato sauce served with crostini for dipping)
3. Whitebait
4. Kataïfi (Angel-hair filo pastry with pistachio nuts) along with Chunky Strawberry Icecream
I personally enjoyed the desert most cos it is the most "greek-y" thing to me, and it had such an interestingly pleasant taste, not too sweet but yet enough to make it a very satisfying dessert. And do have it with icecream, i find that it brings out the taste!
I enjoyed the feta tremendously as well, and im finding that im starting to appreciate cheese alot more, which reminds me of edward and his awesome cheese fondue (i think i might just crash his house sometime if possible).
The souvlaki was good, but not out of this world. But of course you should have it if you are there- I mean, how can you not have kebabs! The chicken was grilled right, neither too hard nor too raw, and the sauce and bread was pretty good too. But comparatively, i prefer the others 'cos they are just more special :)

And best thing was our bill only added up to 10quid in all (and im super stuffed now, and you know i do eat alot)! The price cuts are prbly the only good coming out of the recession :x

And since we are on the topic of food,
Cafe Rouge is a potential place for a good dinner out too.
The atmosphere's great and the food is pretty good. I was at the Holborn branch on thursday with some of the medics and the staff were friendly and nice (unlike Prezzo).
I had some seafood stew thingy (called Marmite smthing, and i only remembered it cos the food discription totally didnt sound like yeast extract despite its name) and leeched off most of Jean's mussels. Both dishes were verrrryyyyyy satisfying and delicious. Im def going back there again to have more of their menu ((:
Its not as cheap as Real Greek, averaging at about 7pds per person if you have smthing of the "higher range" like the seafood stew or mussels, but if you choose pasta and its kind, it cld be about 4-5quid which is pretty good value.
The only downside being that their 2for1s run from Sun- Thurs only.

So here's how I'll rank the 2for1 deals:
1. Zizzi's (maybe cos i was in an italian craving that day and it was my bday when i had it)
2. The Real Greek for the value
3. Cafe Rouge for the food
4. Belgo's (Beat the Clock!)
5. GBK- some burgers are super awesome, some are just normally nice
6. La Tasca- quality depends on the branch, and i love their Sangria!
7. Prezzo- overrated! though atmosphere was nice.
8. Pizza Express
9. Tootsie's
10. ASK
11. Wagamama (yes i actually like this pseudo asian more than Strada whoops)
12. Strada
13. Giraffe
And i wont comment on Bella Italia cos I had it a long time ago (though it wasnt a pleasant experience).
And i never knew I had so many of them already :x Which is bad cos i also have to been to quite a few more than once.

So that leaves me with:
Chinese- Dim T
Indian- Masala Zone
Morrocan- Souk Medina
Brazilian- Las Iguanas
of the 2for1s which i hope to try :)
Hope the offers will still hold after my exams in May!

-

Finally, today kinda concludes the term cos we would only be returning for 1 wk of intense cancer bio after easter break, and we all kinda got a little nostalgic and aww during PDS session. I brought some Mochi for my PDS mates and tutor to try and most of them found the texture funny. I cant imagine why they dont like the taste of it though (since its mochi! Btw, im missing the green tea mochi donut i had in thailand). We singaporeans own when its comes to being adventurous with food. (Ok maybe the chinese wins with their choice of exotice meats and .... indgredients.)

And and and .... i finally visited the HUGE SAINSBURY'S in camden today, after goodness how long of being in london (yes, im very ashamed for myself). I bought like loads of chocs and easter eggs for people and im sooooo looking forward to giving them out ((((:
Whats so awesome abt this place is that it is actually CHEAPER than the sain's we have in town. Loads of things go for XX% off, and 3for2 or half priced or 2for1. Basically, its bigger better and cheaper. Im so going there to do weeklong grocery shopping next time!

Meanwhile, HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE.
This blog might be abandoned soon as i leave for an exciting easter!

Peish's 21!

This blog has been abandoned for way too long 'cos:
1. I havent had internet at my place till recently when i found out how to use Roamnet (which is like UCL's free wireless). I refuse to buy internet from school for my hall.
2. I have had too exciting a life (at the expense of work of course, which i will try to catch up in easter ... hopefully somehow someway)- Dublin and Bday celebrations.
3. Ive been sleeping way too much. I was out last night at 7pm and up at 7am, which is ridiculous really (esp when my workload continues to pile up).

Anyway, turning 21 is nothing very special really. I dont feel any different, not even the typical "I feel older." (I have already accepted the fact that im old considering all the protaganists of the dramas I watch are younger than me.)
But still i did manage to spend my 21st in a way which i would have lived- with family, or those whom i would consider so in London.

Basically, my bday started off with a 3day 2 night escapade to Dublin with Yush and Dj, and it def rocked. I'll talk more about this later (when the pictures are up- I dont have net now cos Im typing this on the bus on my way to the hospital.) It was loads of fun and loads of GREEN. Sometimes, i really wish that i was born 1 day earlier, so that my bday would be St Pat's Day and loads of Green (((((: Now we are making plans for Turkey in Summer yay!

My big day itself was spent battling and screaming at kids who have become way too chummy with us, which was nice in a way. And it was really heartening seeing how some of them can actually hold a rather basic mandarin conversation now (: One of them even gave me a box of chocs for my bday (of course, not knowing that i hate chocs ... though i plan to not waste it and regift it whooooops.)

After which was the highlight of the day- DINNER WITH THE COUNCILLORS (or at least those who are in London- Paul Mark Xun Stef). I love Stef to bits when she makes the nice extra effort to make the pilgrimage down to London on my day yearly (even when she has to head off first thing the nxt morning to France for skiing). And Paul, for baking me a green pandan cake which turned out really well (tsk tsk babe). And Daddy and Mark, for just being there, and those people who know them both, know how they can make any event a happy one (: It would have been nice if i could spend it at home with family, but this also means that i get more than 1 bday celebration!

Im going for Prezzo with Rae and Miche and Bonny today and quite looking forward to it, heard that the food there is not bad ;) I love the 2for1 deals!

Im looking forward to making plans for summer. As of now, Im thinking of going down to Turkey with Yush and Dj, some of Europe with Prisc (yes she is coming to Europe!) and Berlin with Stef. Awesomeness (((:
But of course, this would be after battling the much dreaded end of years :(

Advice for buying a Digi Cam!

Im supposed to be moving house this afternoon, but the problem being that my roomie is still asleep, and its rather difficult to do anything major without making a din, so ive decided the next best thing to do would be to do laundry (and wait 1h for it, cos the machine is nuts and spins your clothes for 3 cycles instead of 1) and blog.
Im feeling a tad worried now cos Jon wont be able to make it after 2pm, so i would have to move alone if my roomie doesnt wake up soon. Either that or i will just move in batches, but that would be yet another hassle. I just cant wait to get this over and done with.

That aside, Ive a query for discerning camera users, cos im thinking of getting a new digital cam. Im not too fussy about it, just something that allows me to take decently nice pictures on my trips and I would be quite happy with it.
After Paul told me that he got his 10MP Canon off Amazon at 150quid, Im inspired to get one (my previous one died after someone dropped it during my thailand trip).

Canon PowerShot A470 7MP Digital Camera
Specs are as follows:

• Body material metal.


• 7.1 mega pixels.


• 3.4 x optical zoom.


• 4 x digital zoom.


• 2.5in LCD screen.


• High ISO auto digital anti-blur solution.


• Face detection - 9 faces.


• Continuous shooting - 1.9fps.


• Red eye reduction.


• SD, SDHC, MMC, MMC plus, HC MMC plus compatible.


• 32Mb memory card supplied.


• Movie capture with sound.


• Maximum ISO range 1600.


• 15 scene modes.


• Pictbridge compatible.


• Accessories included in box - wrist strap, 32Mb memory card, AV cable, Interface cable, User manual kit.


• 2 x AA batteries supplied.


• Weight 165g.


• Size (H)5.51, (W)10.48, (D)4.07cm.

I read a few reviews online and most say its relatively good, plus its going at Argos for about 50quid which I think is relatively reasonable. But i dont know if I should just go about getting a better digi cam instead? Advice anyone? Or any recommendations? (:

Or does anyone knows if Samsung cameras are any good? Cos they go for quite competitive prices too.

Or this: Sony DSC H10 (my current fave option, after looking around for a bit.)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sony-Cyber-shot-H10-Digital-Camera/dp/B0017ODWJ4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1236427602&sr=1-1


-

I met up with Paul finally, after I dont know how long, even though we stay like streets away from each other.
Time really flies when you are with good friends. Cos the next time i checked my watch it was like 5hrs later? We went at about 6.30pm and were the last customers to leave, only just as GBK was about to close. We did try to see how many neighbours we outsat, and obviously won all of them, including a (relatively) big birthday party gang.

But really, its so nice to be talking to a friend who is also a kiam pok, and have so similar views on so many things (the only thing we disagreed on during the night was coffee. I absolutely love it, and he hates it. OH well.)
And the nicest thing would be to have a friend like this when you are away from home, in London.

This week has be totally slack and unproductive for me, getting nothing done (but planning trips and buying DVDs and (story)books). But after moving house, im going to start getting my butt off and work abit.
I did a short tracheo course yesterday and Im so totally looking forward to having clinics next yr! Im actually pretty jealous that the NUS people get to start it before me :P

Pictures from Norway!

With my skiing sensei. Yes, now i can go down slopes! Not terribly good, but at least i can brake and not crash into Tellytubbies (my code name for the cute lil Norwegian kids).

At the ski resort.

Yes, i swear the 2degrees in Norway is different from the one in London. I was in 3 layers and freezing my butt off :(

Along the streets of Oslo, where the snow was starting to turn into slush. But still, i think i prefer it to the London drizzle.

The Oslo palace in the background. This street has loads of nice atas cafes, only wished i had more time to check them out.

With Ernie at Carl Johans gate, supposedly the longest shopping street in Norway. I personally prefer Scandinavian fashion abit more :) But its more ex (even more so than London!).

In loads of layers and still freezing.

With my fave travel buddies. This is just in front of the palace looking down at the whole city.

I love the sun and Ernie hates it. What's with Jap girls and looking fair?
Tanned is so much better alright!

Knee Deep Snow.

Loads of pictures in front of the Palace cos it was the only sight we managed to cover.
Basically, we bummed around in the hostel, watched Stuck on You (starring Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear) and the woke up real late the next morning (meaning 12pm) after the hostel owner banged on our doors saying that we have busted our check out time.
Thereafter, we had a huge lunch, snacked along the way and visited only the palace before heading for dinner.

The palace up front. I dont find it too impressive really ;)

FREIA! The maker of Daim chocs and all the awesome candies and whatnots in Scandinavia.

The Cathedral. Our pseudo 2nd sight. But to be honest, we only really walked past it.

Random shots in front of the palace. As with travelling with Erns and Dj, we spend tonnes of time doing rubbish at 1 sight. Even when it's not that pretty :P

One of my ultimately fave shots. Captured the hyperactive me and demure Erns at our natural state. Of course, with the Levi's bags which will appear in most of our other shots.

So after 1 half days in Oslo, we took a train down to Bergen. 'Cos we booked so last minute (you must remember me complaining about booking wrong tickets some time back), it cost us qte abit this time. It was about 571kroners (57pds maybe?) for a 1 way. And this is student fare :(
But really, Norway is so expensive that i convert it back to pounds and still feel the pinch. I dont even think about converting it back to singdollars.

The lake in Bergen which pretty much divides the small seaside town into a few sections. The tiny shopping section, the tiny fish market, the rail station.
(Or maybe thats about what we saw of the town.)

Norwegian kids are insanely cute!
(So are the guys hehe.)

Our 6quid curry and mayo sandwich. The bread WAS AWESOME. YUMM.
(Price was ouch though.)

The seaside. Or what they claim.

Pictures from the bus ride heading for Voss, where the world famous fjords are, though we ended up in Ogga (or was it Odda- I have no idea).

Basically the bus we were on drove up a boat which brought us through some of the Fjords. It was quite a cool ride really.

Absolutely breathtaking scenery from the ship.
But it was freezing out there :x

And here we are, in the boring town.
Its so bad that when we ask the locals what is there to do, all of them said nothing. Omg.

Possibly the only touristy thing we saw that we could take pictures with.

Though it wasnt a fruitful trip (as in not many sights completed), but still i loved it loads. It was relaxing, fun, had loads of good food and scenery (and eye candies), and its nice travelling with friends like this whom I pretty much have a warped relationship with.
All in all, Im glad my intermodule week was well spent.

-

Speaking of which, Im heading down to Dublin nxt wkend with Yush and Dj for St Pat's festival! Its a pity i cant be there on 17th March itself cos Im a good girl who will not pon lessons.
Ryanair is having sales now, so you guys (in Europe/ UK) can think of travelling there too.
(PS. London Luton - Dublin for 4 pounds each way!)

And thank youuuu babe for the green pandan cookies, Im having alot of fun with them now ((((: I appreciate the effort and i really think they taste awesome! (Cant get them anywhere else for sure!)

Ok, back to redoing my essay darn it :x Such is the life of a medic.

Overdued Pictures.

Internet in MIC is finally up, after 2 very long and frustrating weeks!

And so here are some random pictures, others cant be bluetoothed from my phone for some strange reason :x

Lanterns in Chinatown. As with most Chinese, they have this mentality that more is better.


I particularly love that Yeo's sign. Yay to singaporean brands (:

Curry puff (the one on the left) and Part of our Nasi Lemak at Rasa Sayang. Im thinking they call it special curry puff cos the cant recreate the ones they have in Singapore.
The owner apparently owns Inn Noodle at Tot Court too (or so someone i met at SUKA's CNY dinner told me).
Food here is not bad, not fantastic though, but has quite a few Msian and Singaporean dishes. With real spice, not the brit level of spiceness.

I absolutely love this picture of Grape.
nAnd here she is looking quite happy with Nasi Lemak and "Curry Puff". But to be fair, the curry puff was qte good and relatively reasonably priced (by London standards at least). 3 for 3pounds.

At the CNY fair with Rae

Finally I see Mark and Pauline.

With Guotong.



More pictures would be up soon hopefully, now that my internet is working.
And now its time to fix dinner ((: I shall make tangyuan tonight too!

Love it that school's out (again) cos of the snow. Hoping that there would be a snow storm today again!

School's out!

Its official thats schools out 'cos of "adverse weather condition".
Yeahhh, its my first time have classes cancelled cos its snowing too heavily for lecturers to come to class and cos people having the keys to LTs are not around. Awesomeness! Im crossing my fingers that tuts would be cancelled too.
I actually hope tmr would be the same, and hopefully feb intermodule (would be perfect).

Its actually really beautiful outside now, cos everywhere is white and clean and the nights have become brighter cos the snow reflects light (right?), and its too cold for punksters to create a mess and the snow are just floating about gently in the skies.
My phones buzzing nonstop about lectures being cancelled, constantly reminding me of the good news, and im in a (relatively) warm room (wish it was warmer though, but heater's already up at max).

-

I know Stef's anti-blogishment, and hates it when people publish stuff about her, but I hope she wont mind it cos its meant to be a fundraising event.
They were involved in Jailbreak, which was a fundraising event in cambridge whereby participants travel as much as possible without any money, by getting donations or hitchhiking. They then get people to pledge donations depending on how far they travelled.

And here's Stef & Limin's Jailbreak story. (Copied from an email from Stef.)

Dear Friends,

It's been a long two days. Thanks to several kind souls, we have managed to escape from Cambridge:

Distance: 821 miles

Borders crossed: 5

Modes of transport: Car, Boat

Number of hitches: 6

Final Destination: Lodz (pronounced whooge), Poland

If you might be interested, here is our story.

Hitch 0 - we left Parkers Piece at 9am and camped out at Madingley road just after Northhampton with 2 signs - 'a lift please?' and 'for charity'. We attracted strange stares, smiles and pointing fingers. The best was a snazzy 2 seater silver BMW which stopped! The guy wound down his window, got our hopes up, and said 'are you going to Morocco?'. Alas, all that came next was 'good luck' and off he went.

Hitch 1 - a nice guy who heard about jailbreak on cambridge radio picked us up on madingley road and dropped us at the bus stop by the M11 junction.

Hitch 2 - kind cambridge resident saw jailbreakers on her way to M11 and thought us two girls looked 'harmless'. She dropped us at a roundabout about 10 miles away before exiting for her unique 'carpaint' manicure.

Hitch 3 - under the advice of manicure lady who used to hitchhike, we crossed the roundabout to a slip road where some trucks were parked. Trucks are really tall, and that's where signs come in handy. The driver invited us on board when we said we were heading south. Little did we know that he was actually heading to dover, which was our intended destination all along!

Our truckie worked for a delivery company and our truck was en route to Germany, carrying frozen air parts for Airbus. Truckies are friendly. We even found out the exact birth time and date of his nephew and his father. He must have told us more, but his accent was so thick that we got lost in it half the time. He was pretty decent, and even offered to bring us across the channel but trucks were not allowed to take passengers, lest they were illegal immigrants (which apparently flood the B&Bs in Dover). The only dodgy bit was the pictures of nude girls on his window. Hmmm...

Hitch 4 - Martin, our amazing benefactor. He drove us across 5 borders over 17 hours on 6 cans of red bull and about 1 hour of sleep [all this after a night shift at work!]. We met him at the port of Dover ticketing office, which was an uncanny coincidence as the place was nearly empty that Friday noon. We thought he was a frenchman going to France and he thought we were 2 'gorgeous china girls' just wanting to cross the border. Only after we got onto his car did we find out that he was a polish man working in england heading home to bring his family back here. He planned to drive there nonstop through the night, and welcomed us to tag along!

The 2 hour ferry from dover was amazing - it reminded us of the titanic. Casinos, food, an outer deck etc.

Then began our epic journey across continental europe. Martin took us across to Belgium within an hour, and to Holland in another 3 hours. We crossed into Germany shortly after, and got into Poland at about 4am. We treated Martin to supper at a 'gold medal polish food' place called port 2000 Las Vegas. He tried to get us on a truck towards Lithuania by stopping at many truck stops but there were very few trucks on weekends and the drivers were mostly sleeping. We eventually got him to drop us at Poznan as we didn't want to trouble him any further.

Martin was quite a character. His accolades included:

- 3 time EU karate champion (just when we thought we would be safe because we outnumbered him)

- being an ex-convict jailed for 4 years for fighting

- a proud father married for 3 years, with 2 children aged 6 months and 2 years

Some of Martin's quotes:

- His favourite: 'for fuck's sake!' used to express any sort of emotion (his command of english was limited)

- 'I cant believe it! I have two beautiful china girls sitting in my car! I like china girls!'

- 'Do you like sex?'

- followed by 'you a virgin?!'

- 'you do harsh heroin, no?'

- 'how much do prostitutes cost in singapore?'

We tried to stay awake as much as possible, in fear that he would fall asleep on the wheel. We fed him clementines, red bull, changed cd after cd of polish disco music. Martin was very thoughtful, incredibly sweet, completely harmless, and the one driver who went all out to help us with our quest.

Hitch 4.5 - we approached more than 10 drivers with lithuania plates amongst several truck stops, but they were either sleeping, grumpy, unhelpful, didn't understand us, or thought we were illegal immigrants.

Hitch 5 - after Martin left us, we wandered around a rest stop unsuccessfully, trying to avoid the many dodgy looking truck drivers (we think it might be the eastern european look). We finally found a decent-looking guy pumping petrol who could drop us at the next service station near a big town, lodz. Due to the language barrier, it was a quiet journey as he sped down the highway at 160kph.

Hitch 6 - although we would have liked to keep going on the highway, the quiet saturday traffic and language barrier made us decide to take what was offered - a ride to Lodz city centre. We reached at about noon on Saturday.

In Lodz, we visited the largest mall in poland - Manufaktura. It had amazing architecture, as the reconstructed old town of Warsaw, the capital of Poland. With lightly falling snow amidst a beautiful backdrop of red brick buildings, it was decided to be our landmark of choice for our destination city. We didn't go further because:

- Hitching from the city was even more challenging than the highway! Most people were city residents.

- Lodz was about the same latitude as cambridge, so travelling north or south would not make as significant difference. Eastwards would bring us to Ukraine, which we were warned against...

- We didn't want to be stuck on the road or at a small town when dark well, not knowing how the place worked nor the language. Bear in mind dodgy-looking polish men.

So we spent the next 2 hours building Martin the jailbreak snowman in the middle of a park, as a tribute to our dear friend martin. [Picture attached]

During our time at Lodz, we received a telephone interview from Cambridge Radio! Exciting stuff.

Homeward bound: we took a bus to the tiny Lodz airport, only to find that we were the only ones there. Since it was a low traffic airport, the ticket counter only opened 2 hours before departure. We waited and waited.... only to find that the ticket price was about 4 times what we expected - at £215 per person. We checked all different flight paths from other places in Poland, but they were equally if not more expensive. Germany was cheaper, but it was near impossible to get there through the night, unless we hitchiked again [which we already established was highly improbable and unsafe]. We tried walking around the airport with a cup and our jailbreak documents - all the polish people [even non-scary ones like mothers and grandmothers] thought we were delinquents/beggars and shooed us away or called security. We had no choice but to grit our teeth and pay the money - this would be our gift to charity for a long long time to come. We did manage to get a free ride on the National Express from Stansted, and we reached home at about 1am, Sunday.

Jailbreak was an incredible experience. But it's great to be home. And no, we don't want to quit medicine anymore. :)

At your convenience, please pass to us the following amounts [or your maximum] and we will forward it to Cambridge RAG.

At 821 miles,

1p per mile: ￡8.21[= S$18]

√2p per mile: ￡11.61 [specially for Matt Falder]

2p per mile: ￡16.42

3p per mile: ￡24.63

Also, the results are out, and apparently, we've travelled furthest by land!

The team who travelled the furthest [by flight] travelled 3745 miles to Detroit, USA. Impressive!

Pictures at: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=74919&id=728616862&saved#/album.php?aid=74919&id=728616862

So if you guys are interested in contributing to their cause as well, you could contact them directly, or tell me and I will add it on to the amt Im already pledging to them. (((:

A lot of randoms.

Technically, i should be using my awake and non- tired hours trying to complete all my readings, but once in a while maybe i should cut myself some slack. Something that I had been doing for quite some time actually.

I have been bad by stuffing my face full of good food and snacks and snuggling up in bed with a good book and chilling out with friends. Well, its only fair cos Im missing out on all the celebrations in Singapore :P
(PS. Jeffrey Deaver's Lincolm Ryhme series is not bad really! If you are into thrillers that is. And John Grisham has a new book- The Associate.)

Anyway, Im glad i brought some almond cookies and pineapple tarts back during xmas, and it really is comfort food during times like this. Coupled with Cai Shen Dao MVs ... perfect! Not good for diets, but that word is taboo during CNY no?

Secondly, Im glad I went for the SUKA CNY dinner last night with Rae and Cheryl, even though i was feeling rather reluctant to initially (my mind on the piling work load). I definitely enjoyed myself more yesterday than at the steamboat dinner I hosted at MIC. (I have decided that never would i willingly host sucha big dinner with so many randomers, makes it so hard to talk to anyone in depth, and its so exhausting to be cooking and trying to get everyone started. Sometimes, the host appreciates it when you dont actually wait for her to start? Go on eating first, im pretty sure she'll not only not mind it but will be grateful for that.)
There was Lo Hei (yayy! so much fun, though im not a fan of the dish itself.) and LOBSTER! Awesomeness (((: Although I was on a random UCL and LSE table, I quite enjoyed myself cos most people on the table were friendly and easy to talk to, and i suppose, me and the Grape do have this ability to self- entertain anywhere anytime.
There were my favourite CNY songs blasting througout the night, which i couldnt help but sing and jiggle to. Which was why Grape was saying that if there was ever a CNY club, i might just possibly go clubbing. Im starting to sound cooler by the minute eh?

Thirdly, I wonder if it is was a reward for me staying up late to complete my essay that I was blessed with a good dream last night. Though i cant quite remember it now (we forget 90% of what we have dreamt within 5mins), i remember it to be possibly one of the sweeetest dreams I have had in like say maybe the last 2 years at least? :) It was soo good that when I momentarily woke up, i wanted to write it down. But oh well, having relished in it once is sufficient. I shant be too greedy about it.

I might possibly be going down to Trafalgar Square tmr for the CNY carnival with Grape and Cheryl tmr, hoping that it would be good :) Im hoping that there would be loads of goodies, and happy CNY music to bob to and many a lion dance & fireworks to get hyper about.

HC Night (in about 3weeks) is going to be 2 days before Feb Test :x And im still contemplating very hard whether to go down for it. I really want to, but i dont know if it is a wise choice. Maybe, i should get off the net and work now.

And finally to top it all off,
it's my dad's bday today ((((:
Im wishing that i was home to eat the cake with him hehe. Maybe i should eat one now to symbolise that eh?

It just occurred to me that my entries are getting increasingly random and disorganised. I guess it pretty much resemble my state of mind ... and the state of my work and whatnots.
Oh welllll. Things will work out eventually, wont they? ;)
I hope so.

Wiiiii. Not.

Something i owe the losers, proof that i didnt throw the box away. And im hanging the keychain up there only cos i dont want to scratch it:

Miss you guys!

-

Here's anita showing off that she just got a new wii.

And she's actually not that fortunate afterall. Hehehe.

You can get it from Fractalspin: http://www.fractalspin.com/x/product.php?productid=256
(They have other cool stuff as well. Like mushroom candies hehe.)

Or if you are in London, Anita was telling me you can get if off Forbidden Planet in Covent Garden.
It would really make a cool gift. (From a geek's POV :x)

-

Its CNY in 3 days and i dont feel it at all :( I have no new clothes, not going on a diet to look good that once a year (as i would normally), not getting all excited about angpows and goodies and visiting people (well, there is no one to visit really).

Speaking of clothes, I think i got indirectly told off by my course tutor today (she was technically addressing everyone) cos i was inappropriately dressed for PDS session. I clean forgot (once again) that I had to look vaguely formal and doctor- like cos there are going to be actors for patient simulation sessions. There i was clad in jeans and hoodie and bright red levi's sneakers, and everyone else was in suits and ties and what-nots :x It made me feel so awkward for the entire 1.5h session. But i guess, its smthing that i possibly wont forget to do anymore in the near future.

School's busy, works piling up, essays going to be due, BSC applications are closing soon (though im possibly not doing it nxt year), Feb intermodule in 30 days and life in London goes on and on ... not aware that the other half of the world is celebrating their biggest festival of the calendar.
Sigh.

School and Such.

Im supposed to be in an embryology lecture now, but after being distracted for 2 hours in a pharm lecture, i have decided to break my beautiful clean record of full attendance for lectures. And half the time i dont know what goes on in embryology anyway, my current knowledge stands at the coin purse model. Im actually surprised that Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital's so widely acclaimed cos about 3/4 of the lecture hall is gone during embryo lectures. Well, unless the docs there didnt graduate here, or that we dont need to know embryology for paeds (this i would not know now).

Anyway, I just spent the alt 1.5h in pharmco lect convincing my HK coursemate how awesome Singapore is, and how he has to come visit during summer.
And so this was how it first went:
Him: No offence really, but what is there to see or do in Singapore.
Me: Well, you could come and ... we could go Malaysia.

-

Anyway, Im quite excited about the upcoming Norway trip during Intermodule week, though Im freaking out abit about skiiing. Im hoping that Erns and Dj wont force me up the slopes, and take my lack of finances as a valid excuse hehe. But really, I think the world is fair, cos i dont think i would be able to do trips such as this if I was back in Singapore. And i think im quite fortunate that my parents are very fine with me flying back every holiday. (Yes, im going back in Easter! But i would have to be mugging for my finals.)

-

Yesterday, I met up with Yush for dinner at Baozi Inn in Chinatown, and it was really awesome. Not only the food (the noodles was real spicy, not london spicy, but sichuan spicy hehe.), but also the company. On hindsight, I realised that Yush had conned me into insulting half my social circle. Very sneaky really :P
We did some shopping for ths steamboat dinner afterwards, which totally unleashed my inner aunty-ness. Now i really do understand why my mum goes about comparing prices and buying groceries from various shops, because Im mirroring her now :x But come on, you cant expect me not to bat an eyelid when fishballs are going for 2.20pounds per pack right!

And good news for Singaporeans (esp those stuck here for CNY):

1.00 GBP

=

2.06404 SGD

I shall make my skipping of lecture worthwhile, its time to read the previous lecture hehe.
Its time for some self- discipline.