*455 - bathroom mafias

I'm so glad for Thursdays: I've only got 2 classes, which start at 11.40 and end at 2.40. Phew!

Talked to dearest Boyfriend#2 Liru briefly last night as she discovered that her laptop had a microphone! Unfortunately, it was noisy on her side, and I don't have a voice, so we stopped after a while. Hahaha.

My throat's even worse than ever today, and in addition to me only being able to croak (which is a problem when you're trying to be participative in class and the professors can't hear you), I'm getting phlegmmy. Haha. Oh well, all lost voices find their way back eventually, right?

Anyway, I was trying to make a point: I miss my friends in Singapore!! Especially so because I talked to BF#2 yesterday and looked at my "friends" photo folder on my computer. Miss having those few close friends, those who wouldn't judge you despite all the nonsense that you do, those who would stick by you even in your dreams (Justinnnn ): too busy with army to talk on weekdays!!), and not forgetting those who would pretend to be Bathroom Mafias with me in the swimming pool shower stalls with our supercool shades, superadvanced machine guns, and supersleek, um, lycra suits.





(Ambushhhh on an unsuspecting Maddy!!)


(Watch your rear)

*454 - overdue: day #1 in NY

Jon & Huilin Thanks! One day I'll try Elmo? Hahaha.
Shirin I'm good!! Shall drop you an email when I have the time (:
Eunice So have you tried the recipe? :D
Smaddy I MISS YOU I shall put up our hilarious swimming pool bathroom photos another time!
Weicheng YEAHH I can't believe it as well!! Haha! Sam showed you pictures? Where where I want to see also hehee how's dance?
Small Evelyn By that time I will be Laundry Expert so you can ask me hehe!
Sheryl Therapeutic indeed, and you get loads of yummy stuff at the end, what's not to love! (:

-

Remember how I was just complaining about how the temperature dipped to 8 degrees and I was freezing to death?

Well, the Ithacan weather lived up to its name (ie. erratic) and today it's 35 degrees. HAHA. That's even worse than Singapore and I'm sitting here at my desk, without a fan, not knowing whether to open the windows and get cooked in the warm breeze or keep the windows closed and suffocate in the relative coolness. (It's really just relative - it is by no means cool in here.)

Edit: And it remained scorching until suddenly in the middle of dinner, it started POURING so hard with lightning and thunder and billowing winds and swirling sheets of rain and all that jazz, that it reminded me very much of the crazy snowstorms in Korea only that it was rain instead of snow, and we were so shocked at the sight that the friendly waiter came back to ask us what we wanted about 5 times and also to tell us that in all his 4 years of being here he had never seen such a storm. Which ended within the next few minutes, actually. And today, the next morning, is nice and cool but kind of overcast. Hahaha. End weather report.


So, lessons began on Thursday and I have 2 assignments due on Monday. I'm pretty much terrified because I really have to study CONSISTENTLY now and the whole chionging at the end of the year thing isn't going to work here. This semester I'm taking micro-economics, business computing (as in, computers and technology), managerial communications (with the most reputed prof around, if you get a C in his class it's no surprise, omg my GPA help), organisational behaviour and interpersonal skills, human development, dean's distinguished lecture series (business attire on Fridays!), and PE (of all things, whitewater kayaking HAHA yes I know it's funny and so intense, everybody please keep me in your prayers I think I might drown otherwise).

Ok I meant to put up photos today but only got around to editing a few and I have to go in a jiffy, so here they are:

Saying our sad goodbyes at the airport :'(
(And notice how delighted GH is to see me go)


I'm doing Tubby's trademark pose, ask him to show you.


What Nat and I did in the EIGHTEEN HOUR PLANE RIDE: eat (bad food), sleep (well not really for me), watch movies (I watched Paris Je T'aime, Blackadder, Shrek 3, Very Stupid Jap Show about boys synchro swimming, and Premonition), play games (I learnt French, and played too much tetris).


Beautiful view! And check out the pretty crystals!


We flew over the Artic!! So gorgeous!


Touchdown! So much luggage.


In the car, with Nat's supersized luggage wedged between us. We have greasey hair.


The next morning in the hotel bathroom.
(Fear not, that is just Evelyn and her morning hair.)


Um yeah, that's it. Hahaha. Gotta go!


(By the way can someone, anyone, let me know what my photos look like: too contrasted? Too saturated? Too dull? Too dark? Just right? I can't tell on my screen at all!!!)

*453 - shoppinngngngngng

A Very Quick Post before I run off to do my laundry again.

I'm thinking of ordering something from Forever21 - does anyone (in Singapore) (or US, even better) want anything from the site? I want to share shipping! Of course, you will have to pay for shipping from here to Singapore and I have no idea how much that will be but if you trust me, I will find the cheapest way possible.

And if anyone wants to buy anything from a US site and needs my help (because vpost is so annoying) just holler, ok? Or drop me an email! :D

*452 - what a day, and it's only 2 pm

First, stirring at 6 am and getting awoken partially by kiasu Henry at 6.10 and fully waking up at 6.15 by my alarm to sit at my computer and refresh the "add/drop courses" page every minute.

Then, after gleefully refreshing the page about 50 times and counting down to 6.30, just as it turned 6.30, the system crashed.

Then, when it was up again (but moving at a snail's pace), finding out that I didn't have the correct programs to even add/drop courses, and having to call Henry up to add them for me.

Then, panicking over why the course wouldn't be added, but it was in the end so that's okay.

Then, going back to sleep and waking up to a perturbed Sinzy who couldn't get her courses added.

Then, getting a call from the bank telling me that my check had bounced and I had overdrawn by about $4000 to pay my bursar bill. Like omg what the hell, panicked and called home and woke the household up etc.

Then, going to breakfast and eating for so long that the breakfast foods turned into lunch food and Ju & Ketat & I made sushi hahaha well this is the first happy point so far.

Then, walking/jogging/running from Appel to Gannett with Ju & Ketat in the record time of 10 minutes because I was late for my medical appointment. IT WAS SO TIRING OMG.

Then, letting the nurse see my arm where I had my TB skin test done, and nearly dying when she went "Let's see, HAHAHA this is a funny result, oh but don't worry sweetie you're fine, that's all thank you bye!"

Then, going to settle the bank stuff and realising that I didn't have my passport with me. Made a 20 minute walk back to Balch, and a 20 minute walk back. UGH. But got it done at last so I finally have money.

Then, walking to Statler and talking to my advisor but that part's boring. Walked back AGAIN to settle the problems with the other bank account, and walked back to my dorm to put my stuff down and here I am.

In summary: Balch to Appel to Gannett to Cornell store to Balch to Cornell store to Statler to Cornell store to Williard Straight to Balch, or something like that. And it's just a little past 2 pm. Phew.

*451 - domestic woes

Oh, gosh, so hilarious! I just went down to do my laundry for the first time in my life, and I thought it would be idiot-proof but apparently not. I dumped in my clothes, and then, dilemma number 1 - I didn't know where to put in the detergent. Dilemma number 2 - I didn't know how to START the machine. I was pottering around wondering what the heck to do for a long time and it was really embarrassing because I had to call up Nicholas in the end to save me and my laundry. Hahaha.

So now I wait 38 minutes and have a shower in the meantime, and then go down and figure out how to work the dryer.

Nicholas (my Hongkong friend) is so incredibly funny and I wanted to take a video of him so that I can remember him forever but he doesn't let me. And he never even gets the slightest bit angry every time I screech with laughter at him or even when I mimic his effeminate ways right in front of him. I've never met a guy half as metro as he is. So glad to have him and Katie a stone's throw away from my dorm! :D

*450 - balch hall

I don't like how my new laptop looks so washed out, because this means that all the graphics look different and I have no clue if my photos are too bright or too dark or too contrasted or too saturated because they just look ... washed out. How?

Anyway I've been real busy, let me just try to recall a bit of what's been happening:
Moving in,
Eating at dining halls,
Meeting my "big brother" together with the other "siblings",
Shopping at everyone's favourite store (Target),
Walking a lot,
Visiting places,
Going to a state park and dangling our feet in 6 degree water,
Listening to talks and stuff,
Doing a lot of important things like setting up bank accounts and cell phone accounts and credit cards,
Making a lot of new friends,
Skipping everything on the schedule to hang out with the “family” instead,
Having emo nights,
Telephone calls from home and from the boyfriend,
Cheer up sessions with the "big brother",
Shivering in the unexpected 8 degree cold,
Going to the cutest little church in the countryside,
Looking into courses and schedules and academic related things,
Basically preparing for my next 4 years here.

It's strange being the "minority" now, when the Americans get together they just talk amongst themselves about things that I don't understand which tend to exclude us international students. But that'll be ok in time, and I'm super duper thankful for all the Singaporean friends I have (Nat, Yogi), though I haven't seen them in a while, and the other new friends I made like my "family" (HiphopHenry, NiceNicholas, KindKatie, IntuitiveInshita, and don't ask what my adjective is), my dorm friends (Yeung, Raina, Sinzy), and the other randoms who aren't really my close friends but keep me company once in a while.

Well here are some (probably horribly edited) photographs of Balch! I haven't had the time to do anything to with all the photos so these are just a few I randomly picked out of a selection of 10294718652 photos I took of my dorm. I love it, by the way. (:





1. Balch Hall from the side
2. The courtyard
3. The archway
4. Quaint decor

*449 - brr

Yesterday afternoon was so hot but I froze to death last night when it rained ... and today looks set to be chilly with a high of about 21 degrees C and low of 8!! I thought fall had barely begun and was enjoying the sunny weather but I guess the Ithacan weather is as notorious as rumoured.

And I have to run now. So much for an update :P Turned out to be a weather report.

*448 - greetings from balch hall!

I'm here! :D Sitting in my dorm room now, getting used to my new laptop that I just set up last night. The windows are half open and the crisp morning air is wafting in and I'm pretty happy, even though I did wake up at 6 am, and 4 am the previous night, and probably something like 5 before that. It'll probably be a few more days till I work my way to 7 or 8 or something less unearthly.

Maggie Thank you, and hello! (:
Jon Thanks! Gosh, didn't get to catch up with you before I left, apart from the 5 minutes in a cab ):
WJ Hehe I can just imagine you dying here because I can walk across the biggest mall here in about 30 seconds ;)
SMADDY LIZARD I miss you!!
Sarah I miss you tooo. ): Take care alright? If you need anything from the US just holler (:
Weicheng I CAN'T BELIEVE I DIDN'T SEE YOU BEFORE I LEFT!! ): Very upset boohoo. Miss you and Sam and everyone else!
Sandhya Thank you, I'm sure you're having loads of fun settling in too!!
StalkerSharan How could I forget you? :D Thanks!
xY ): I brought your lovely card along with me!
Charity Thanks, I sure will ;) Let me know when you are leaving ok?
Desmond Thanks for sending me off, and for the present/card! (:
Triple grand junior That makes me sound really old! Haha but I still feel young so that's okay ;) Study hard!

Now that that's out of the way ...

I'm settling down great - there certainly are moments where I find myself completely alone and totally lost and that's a very terrible hollow feeling, but those moments are few and far between. There's Nat and Yogi, thank God for them, and a bunch of new friends I've been getting to know.

The campus is really pretty even and my dorm is gorgeous from the outside - the inside is a maze and I get lost about 5 times every day. My room scared me to death at first glance because it looked even more ancient than I expected, but right now I'm loving it because it's becoming more cosy as I decorate it and it's super huge for a dorm. It's even less cluttered than my bedroom at home and I can easily do a little dance in the middle of the room - I once tried to do an attitude pirouette in my bedroom at home and nearly broke my leg.

Right now I'm transferring the 300 photos that I took over the past 4 days into my computer, but I haven't got Photoshop yet or any other image editing software on my computer, heck, I haven't even bought the microsoft office package yet! So here are some photos taken before I left, just for the time being, and because they were waiting in photobucket to be posted anyway. (:

Guess who came over to play DDR (with both mats at the same time) before I left? :D Joel bought the DDR mats, it's kind of fun actually hehehe.



And guess what we baked? Look at the next 3 pictures ...







Have you guessed yet? They are ...



COOKIE MONSTER CUPCAKES!! :D



We brought them to dance as a goodbye present! My last class boohoo ): And Weicheng, I hope you see this, because I baked these SPECIALLY for YOU!! And I couldn't find a way to pass them to you after that ): Take care ok!

A series of monster faces to match the cupcakes.















And to commemorate the last dance class at Jitterbugs and all the happysexypassionatecool times I had there ...






With Marcus. We r so kewl.


The sweet aunties who go for class every week!


Random people at lyrical class striking on-the-spur-of-the-moment poses.


SAM (:



Now I've an hour left to get ready to go out, and that's just about right. Drop me an email okay? (: Missing everyone back in Singapore!!

*447 - tomorrow.

Tonight's the last night. It's so hard to say goodbye. Leaving's painful.

My bags are packed, but I don't know if I'm set to go.

Puffy eyes tomorrow, disaster! Together with my spectacles, crummy aeroplane clothes, backpack, and 2 exploding suitcases. What a sight hahaha.

There are so many things that I could be worrying about. But I guess when it all boils down to this, I've just gotta remember that God's grace is more than sufficient and He will be fighting all my battles for me. "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow." (:

Off I go to sleep! My eyes are so tired from all the bawling haha. If I can sleep, that is, knowing that tomorrow officially marks a new phase of my life. Sounds so dramatic, but it's true, isn't it?


(It's probably far too late for this, but I'll be at Terminal 2 at about 9 tomorrow morning. Flight's at 10.50 am, SQ22. I didn't specifically ask anyone to send me off so if you end up being the only one I AM SO SORRY. Hehe.)

*446 - love

Today is a very special day.

(:

That's not to say that every day with you is not a special day. In fact, every day is so special that Special Days aren't very much more special than Every Day.

Well, cheers to the next 4 years! God's on our side, so we've got nothing to worry about (:

*445 - the last sunday

Hi, I seriously have a crush on ___. HAHA. Maybe she has a crush on me too. Hahaha.


More photos! :D

I thought Sunday was going to be just lunch, church, and then off to his place for a last meal with his family. Well, it was something like that, except lunch was a Very Shocking Surprise :D


The point of this photo:
1. Justin's shirt matches his (purple) shoes!
2. who knows where my "tube dress" is from!!! :D Haha!


So he brought me here and I was still nonchalantly taking my time, ooh-ing and ah-ing over the architecture and the (real) twittering birds.

And then when we got to the place we were eating, he started stammering at the waitress and I was wondering who on earth made the reservation for him because it wasn't his name or mine or his mum's or etc but ...

VENETIA'S!! Omg I was so so surprised :D And very touched too!


It was super fun and we managed to trick David that Justin was his Pri 1 classmate who sat diagonally to the right of him in class and let him copy his ting xie :D

("Justin? Err I don't remember that name at all ... did I know you by your Chinese name?"
"Wun Kiat."
"Oh ... yeah ... that's a little better I guess ...")


My goodbye card! With their photos and notes behind, and my horrible fish face in front.




So everyone had to do the fish face too, but David wins hands down as Most Spectacular Fish Face.




This was dessert round #10972142. We ate for 4 hours!! Hahaha.

And then it was phototaking time where a bemused/amused Evelyn stood in the midst of the chairs and one by one everybody came to take a photo with her. Haha! I felt like a tourist attraction.


Evelyn: "What's happening??"


I think Wenyang will never grow out of his "naughty boy face" :D


The dear girl who planned this surprise! <3


And the dear boy who conspired with her! <3

I really think it's very very sweet of them! Totally caught me by surprise (: THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH even though most of them won't see this hehe.

Parted ways after the 4 hour lunch and dozed our way back to his place because his parents invited me over for dinner. We were so sleepy! Don't know why! Drank fresh blended juice, plopped onto his bed and fell asleep while he took a shower, got dragged out and made (sleepy) conversation with the parents, was fully jolted awake when they produced an embarrassingly expensive goodbye gift for me (omg omg omg), had sushi for dinner (yes sushi again), played with sparklers (me) and fire (him), sent Justin off to camp, got sent all the way back home again (alone in the car with the parents haha).



So, that was the Last Sunday ):

At least I'll still get to see him one last time on National Day, the day before I leave. Like Just said, hooray for Singapore! :D Justin won't be able to send me off though, which is a good thing actually, because I would just grab my bags and refuse to board the plane if I see him there.

Not counting the rest of today, and Friday, I officially have 2 days left in Singapore. Gulp.

*444 - family and class outing

smaddy YAY cookiemonstercupcakes!
justin we need to get skype accounts!!
venetia omg you sneakysneaky person!! Thank you so much for the surprise <3
sandhya this "goodbye" period must seem awfully familiar to you hehe! Sushi is always good, I had it again yesterday actually hahaha.
sherlene thank you, and I'm sure you'll have fun here (:
jingwen ack I think I have no time to bake for you haha do you want the recipe, you can try it yourself! Streusel is a crispy topping by the way hehehe.

-

Family lunch at the Regent! Pretty good Chinese food, and good family time too.



Coffee flavoured pork ribs. Good stuff.





And this is the ancient family photo - proper and stern and observe how the photo is yellowed with age!! (I think my dad has the perfect I Am The Father look hahaha. Bro and I look like robots though.)

After which we left to get me my crumpler laptop backpack (yes, backpack) which is big and BRIGHT red and very useful for school. I still can't imagine carrying a backpack to school, though that's what everyone carries apparently. Weird!

Met up with the boyfriend who arrived just as we were about to pay for the crumpler (Daddy: "Oh good, Evelyn wants that bag, you're just in time!") and we pottered around town before heading off to Tubby's place. And once we got there, people started leaving haha but anyway there were enough of us left to play mahjong (the most impressive thing I did was to get pinghu hahaha). The ruggers arrived later and when the class left we watched a rugby match where I ate far too much (jasmine rice flossy pork) and concussed on Justin's shoulder 10 minutes into the game and woke up at 23 minutes. On another note, Wenloong can fit an entire orange into his mouth, which is about equivalent to 13 grapes (I have a feeling he actually had space for more). Cabbed back (and $30 cab fares are not funny) and that was pretty much it.

Thank you to 3Q for the sweet card (:





I shall get out the eggs and the butter now in preparation for the Last Dance Class later today.

The Last Weekend is officially over, and I'm scared out of my wits, really. I guess I should start packing, haha.