*462 - orientation photos

The past week was pretty hectic, sleeping at 4 am and 5 am on two days, and waking up at 7 am the subsequent days ... There have been a million assignments due, and I'm in the midst of the prelim season: one last week, one this week, two the week after. I think.

I'm really really thankful that God has brought me through all of that in such an awesome way. Giving me strength for each day and putting amazing friends in my life and blessing me in every way possible.

Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?
Matthew 6:26

It's incredible the way He just drops things into my lap. It's not that I don't have to work to get things done. But the thing is, doing work doesn't feel like toiling and labouring to me, because He really helps me to enjoy my work and study smart without all the stress. Even staying up till 4 am rushing my business computing assignment out was super fun because I created the cutest powerpoint presentation I've ever created in my life, and because I had great company (thanks Henry!) and a great calzone which we ordered in at something like 2 am hahaha.

What I've been doing apart from studying: a lot of completely random things like lying on Libe Slope watching the starless cloudy skies, online shopping to a horrifying degree, frolicking through cornfields, dancing three times a week, spending hours (and many many moneys) in a quaint little bead shop making jewellery, learning to fold extremely complex origami (a rose that took me one hour!!), going shopping at Woodbury from 8 am to 9 pm (ok, so that included 3.5 hours drive there and back), skyping with Justin :D, etc etc etc. Life's been good. And thank God for all the friends who do these random things with me. (:

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Soooo, one month after I took the photos, I finally decide to put them up! Here are some photos from orientation week, hahaha.

McGraw tower
(I need to go up to the top and watch the chimes master at work one day!!!)


This is how people here advertise.
Instead of posters, they draw on the ground with chalk.


Nicholas looking at a feather boa at a dump-and-run sale!


The lovely view outside my window.
(Hahaha ok that was just orientation week, it's just normal bins now.)


Tweet


Agape! The church I'm settling down in (:


Picnic on the grass


Zhiwei and Darren


GIANT pizza party!!!


A few of my favourite people :D


Making sushi!


Ju and Ketat and sushi.
Look at the joy in my eyes.


WILL YOU JUST LOOK AT THAT BOWL IN FRONT OF (HAPPY) SIXIANG??
What a gross-looking pile of, um, icecream.


My room!


Trying to show how big the empty space in my room is haha.

*461 - brr x 2

It's friggin 0.5 degrees C tonight. And my radiator is not working *KICK*

Froze to death last night, even wearing socks and wool slippers and shorts and fleecey pants over and a tee and a giant hoodie with the hood up, AND with my fleece gloves on which made me type soimet5hing likjer trhis because my fingers were so fat. Hahaha hilarious!

The reason why I haven't done anything about my faulty heater is because it keeps giving me false hope. It actually gave a cute little gurgle last night after I fiddled around with it. But nothing happened. I just discovered a new knob so I'm waiting to see if anything happens now.

*460 - brr

Weather report: High of 15 degrees C, low of 4 degrees C. 30% chance of showers.

Hahaha. I woke up too early cos of the cold, and now I'm shivering at my desk wearing pants (hastily pulled) over my shorts and a hoodie over my tee. Thing is, it looks deceivingly sunny outside, so I'm not sure if it's just my room. Every day stepping out of the dorm is an adventure because you never really know the weather until you venture outside and I'm either thinking "dammit should have brought a thicker sweater" or "it's pretty warm, I should have worn the miniskirt instead".

(And American punctuation requires you to place the fullstop, or period as they call it, inside the quotation marks, but that really makes no sense to me.)

*459 - summary of my school life!

School life is definitely not as bad as I made it out to be initially. I think it was just the first week or so haha. It's going to get worse, I know (MY PRELIMS START NEXT WEEK OMG OMG) but for now I'm slowly easing myself into academic life again. It's not awesome but it's not all bad either.

Managerial communication has been great actually, despite the "OMG YOU HAVE PROF SNOW I'M SO SORRY FOR YOU" scare, and although I'm not a good writer I'm doing decently well. That is, relative to the scores he normally gives for the first few assignments (typically D's and C's I hear). Hahaha.

Plus, he brings us donuts and apples for breakfast on Monday mornings ;)



Business computing has been alright I guess, I don't like learning about bits and bytes and CPUs and the nitty gritties in using Word or Excel (there's so much more to it than you can imagine) but heck, I'll survive. Spent the entire day yesterday sulking over the B that I got on my first assignment though, I GOT B OMG EW, but that was good in a way because I was so disgusted with myself that I zoomed back to the library after dinner and studied (well, about half the time maybe) until about midnight haha.



The above picture sums up what Raina and I think of Organisational Behaviour. I mean, the fact that we were taking photos smack in the MIDDLE of class shows something hahaha. Well it's not too bad though cos it's a lot of common sense and group projects, rather than plain mugging.



This next picture also sums up the extent of my boredom during Human Development lectures (my distributive elective). Doodle doodle. The subject itself is intriguing and I must confess that I actually do enjoy all the video clips she shows us of cute babies doing a variety of things, but the prof is just ... b o r i n g.

Microeconomics in the Service Industry is fun because the prof is hilarious. (And I think I kinda like economics.) The prof brings beer (Guinness is his downfall) into every single example, and all his little jokes that he embeds into his speech so discretely that if you aren't listening carefully you probably won't realize exist crack me up so bad just that no one really laughs out loud so I have to snigger silently to myself every time and this sentence needs a few commas,,,,.


(Inshita, Chae, Raina)

And then there's the Dean's Lecture every Friday, for which we have to dress up in business wear and listen to industry leaders talk about their experiences. It's usually pretty fascinating and it makes me wonder if I'll ever work my way up there like all these Hotelie graduates (who were once sitting in my seat) did. And they serve coffee and cake after that ;)



And lastly there's Raina and I'm so glad that I have a friend like her (: I also think that Statler's really pretty, and has good food, which is fortunate because I'm going to be spending the next few years in it heh.

Ok THE WEEKEND IS HERE AT LAST and I should not be sitting in front of my computer any longer :D

*458 - emo musings

It's slightly funny in a heh, heh, heh sort of way, how I've next to almost discarded (figuratively) everything that happened. It's kinda brutal, definitely unpleasant, but totally necessary. To me.

To be honest I'm pretty surprised, no, shocked, at how toughened and unfeeling I've become. Every good memory? Discarded. Every bad memory? Mostly discarded. What's left? Pangs of guilt and shards of shame. Not much, because I think about it as little as possible, but still there.

The ultimate irony: what I never take off from around my neck. Because it's expensive (haha), and pretty, but really, nothing more than that.

Such a bitch - but why bother pretending to be nice, or sentimental, or conjure up happy memories, when all I would be doing is lying to myself? I honestly did the stupidest thing I could ever have done in my life, and all I gained was the knowledge never to do something like that again.


EH I'm not emo don't worry, it was just a passing thought, just that it came out VERY depressed-sounding. Haha life's been good. And Ketat's on his way here, gotta run!! :D

*457 - Day #2 and PREPARE

Work hard, play hard. Simple philosophy, but so hard to go by! The very fact that I'm blogging at this moment is a very clear reflection of my downward spiral into doom.

The past week was kind of rough. I stayed up until 4 am once, and 5 am once. But it was all in good fun, and I'm still alive today so (: Gotta get ready for church in a while, then it's off to the library to mug till the day is over. Friday was spent in someone's apartment eating pizza and drinking margaritas with the dancers, and then meeting the FCS peeps for a quick worship session etc, and then off to Chairman Mao's place again to play Settlers WHICH I WON, and then having heart palpitations into the wee hours of the night as I debated how much money to risk in my latest business venture.

Slept and woke up 5 hours later for lunch (strictly speaking, breakfast) with Ju, who then ran with me in the rain carrying my printer and stack of plain paper back to Balch, and then I dried myself off and hopped into Henry's car and we went on our adventure to Elmira, stopping on the way to prance in the cornfields, and getting VERY lost on the way back, but we made it back in less than 2 hours I guess (before midnight!)

The days before were something like study in library with Gary, have dinner with Gary, study again with Gary :P And other random things like having donuts for Snow's morning class, running back to my dorm and back to school in my heels because I left something in my room, randomly studying in the library between classes usually with Katie and Inchywinchy (not on purpose but we generally end up meeting by chance), lunches in the same place everyday with Raina (good lunches though), too many buffet dinners with Katie, working on too many assignments, doing way too much online shopping, and I need to end this sentence because I'm going to be late for church.

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Well I typed that yesterday morning, and I was about 2 minutes late to meet Joseph/Joshua in the carpark but the others were later sooooo ...

Haha! Well I do hope that this won't make me late this morning because being even 1 minute late for Snow's 8.40 class is not a good idea at all.

Now for a few photos from New Jersey to PREPARE at Cornell.

Egyptian statues at Princeton


They're called the IVY league for a reason


Funny pictures: In the first one, I pose gleefully for the photo.
However you may observe that the next step I take will cause me to fall off the edge.
Hence the embarrassed laughter in the 2nd photo.


Headless statues


Bibimbap (at the restaurant which said "Crap stick" on the menu, ie. Crab stick)






In Cornell, attending PREPARE:

My trolley-load of shopping


Imagine my horror when I walked in to my room


Going with the whole antique feel


It's good that I have a sink, but ...


Guess what this is? Not a prison - it's the elevator!!
It's like titanic; You open the door, open the gate, slam both shut, and press the button.


My "family" <3 Big brother Henry and siblings Nicholas Inshita Katie.


The most touristy photo ever, in Collegetown.


Libe slope


I LOVE THIS SQUIRREL


In the male bathroom together with Yeung and Nicholas HAHA
Check out the water pump thing, no faucet!


Clock tower. I love the chimes.


At one of the parks






Yeung! (She's from HK and Korea!)


6 degree water, no wonder he's hesitating


TOO MANY PHOTOS AND I NEED TO GO

*456 - gorgeous

I am blogging sporadically, without any chronological sense. Soon, I will find the time and start from the beginning.

Just came back from studying in the library with Gary! So studious!
Before that, laundry again.
Before that, lunch and church at Bethel.
Before that, skype session with the boyfriend :D
Before that, the official setting up of the mini fridge! Thanks to Henry! Because I was too much of a weakling to even lift the fridge out of its box!
Before that, grocery shopping with Henry! Milk and cereal and bread and spreads and grapes and juice. Going to get fat heh heh heh.
Before that, shared 12" subs with EJ, Jisam, Heidi, yumm.
Before that, freezing my ass off at the very beautiful park.
Before that, flipping patties and chicken wings at the BBQ.
Before that, dance auditions (I got in!!) :D
Before that, drinking bubble tea and playing GUITAR HERO at Marvin's place with Kenneth, Joseph, Marvin. I really suck at that but it was so hilariously fun. Slept at 3 am that night.
Before that, going to Buttermilk Falls (doesn't that just sound lovely) with Gary for the Taiwan association thingy hahaha pseudo Taiwanese who can't even speak Mandarin!
Before that, my horrible 8.30 to 4.30 day at school, in business attire and heels (and all the way until 3 am actually).
Some time before that, Chinese food with Gary.
Some time before that, Okenshields with Henry.
Some random time in the middle of all that, Riesley with Ketat and Ju.
Some extremely random time in the middle of alllll that, taking photos in class and silly self-timer photographs around school with Raina. <3
Before that, I don't know already.
It's actually easier to think backwards, you try.

-

When you walk past such beautiful sights on the way to school everyday, there is no question in your mind about why they all say "Ithaca is Gorges".



And there is also no question in your mind about how amazing an artist our Daddy God is.

(:

*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! (:

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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.