*759 - the butterfly effect

If you think about it, everything is so serendipitous. Life events are like little particles in random Brownian motion; one insignificant event randomly leads to another, which leads to another, and another, and anothernothernother, and finally to an event that is so gloriously significant that all those insignificant events that lead up to it can't be called insignificant anymore. And you look back and think to yourself, what if I hadn't been there at that precise moment in time, in that exact spot, looking in that direction, doing this or not doing that, wanting this or needing that? And what about that other event that led up to this one and set it up just the way it was? Just one little kink in that chain of events and things would have careened off into a totally different universe of possibilities. It has to be God who has been guiding that crazy complex impossibly thick network of possibilities into the one beautiful string of events that is my life as it is.

*758 - canto style congee

... And I did it! I made myself porridge. (Ref: below post.) Together with little turkey meatballs (to mimic the pork meatballs Mummy puts into her porridge), century egg, salted egg, and a dash of sesame oil.







Note to self: one cup of rice feeds me for two meals if it's steamed rice, but one cup of rice feeds me for about four/five meals if it's congee. Omg. Congee overload sitting in the fridge.

*757 - flu

With the 700-ish likely swine flu cases at Cornell (and rising, each time I check), it makes me mildly worried about my really intense flu-like symptoms at the moment, but since I don't have a fever, I'm more concerned about the fact that I have so much work to do but am suffering from a woolly brain, aches and chills, and severely congested passages and just want to go back to bed. And I can't quite afford to miss classes.

(Later)

Update: I've been awake today for a grand total of maybe six hours and need to go back to bed soon. I did five hours worth of homework (but haven't finished), had three cups of tea, and made apple sauce, even though what I really wanted was Mummy's porridge.

On the bright side, illness is temporary and even though one might feel like (*$!@^(!$ with the flu, one will always feel better in a matter of days and all the (*$!@^(!$ will soon be forgotten.

:)

*756 - showers

Steaming hot showers are my prelude to a new state of mind.

For example, from "ooh, sale, let's add 20 items to cart at urbanoutfitters.com" to "time to get serious with the work".

(Insert "have to blog about shower epiphany" somewhere along the transition.)

*755 - waking up in the wrong house

The pleasantest thing that can happen when you wake up confused, dizzy, and dry-contact lensed, not in your own home, after a night of drunken revelry, is the discovery that you are, in fact, in your neighbour' house, and only need wobble up one flight of stairs to return to your own bed and sleep in till 4 pm.

Perhaps the only photograph I took of our Swine Flu Prevention Party was this photograph of our bar menu:



Swine flu. The latest trend in town. Our guests were greeted by a box of masks and written instructions: "MASKS REQUIRED. We'e serious." Who knew that wearing those masks would be so uncomfortable, particularly when you have to fuss around with taking them on and off for each drink? It's no wonder that everyone had a mask in pocket or dangling off one ear by the end of the night. Still. It was fun.

*754 - matcha madness (aptly named by YH)

Matcha Madness #1: matcha and chocolate swirl cake
Baked by big Evelyn (me) and little Evelyn, photograph courtesy of little Evelyn, wild expression of ravenous delight courtesy of the housie.







Matcha Madness #2: matcha shortbread cookies
Baked by big Evelyn in the midst of a most harrowing week, when she should have been getting her life in order, rather than baking cookies. Received thumbs up from the Food Science housie.













Nomnomnom all gone, what next? :D

*753 - coiffure

Yesterday, I had an old friend shake my hand and ask me for my name. And then, eyes widened and voice an octave higher, "Evelyn?? You cut your hair!!" Granted, it was dark, it was crowded and noisy, and we were drunk, but still! The funny consequence of getting a dramatic haircut that has occurred uncountable times these past few weeks in Cornell.

I enjoy both long and short hair in two very different ways. They both give me extremely different looks. I'm rocking the short hair but I kind of miss the long hair now and then. Hm!

*752 - one of my favorite places

Ithaca Farmer's Market!

*751 - nerves

Talking to daddy makes me breathe easier because I now feel like I am actually capable of sorting out the chaotic mess in my brain in neat, color-coordinated rows (alphabetically, of course). I want to be like my daddy. He's awesomeopossum. :)

I have been surprisingly stressed and nervy of late, considering that today's only the fifth day of actual classes. But hopefully all will be settled and made clear by tomorrow morning and I will be much more at ease no matter what the decision, because tottering on the edge of THIS! or THAT! always makes me upset.

*750 - woe beetide

Part of me wonders what life would be now if things remained as what they once were. Once upon a time, it was a fairytale (in retrospect, always in retrospect). It's been eleven years, it's been five, it's been two, it's been good, it's been odd. No feelings, just curious, slightly pensive.

In other news, a bee randomly stung me on the chest today as I (most unthreateningly!) walked to class. What an unnecessary death! My fashion statement for the day: sweater worn oddly asymmetrically to hide the large red welt on the awkward spot on my chest.

*749 - cheers

If only I could turn back time and relive my college experience! So many wasted months, so many missed opportunities, too much time spent on broken hearts, too little time doing what's important to me. But there will never be a rewind button (and there shouldn't be) so let's bring it on and live it up, aww yeah!

*748 - angular momentum

(by xkcd)

*747 - boeing

(The post number was a just happy coincidence!)



Whoooosh ... I AM FLYING!!

More accurately, I have flown.

Gotta love this photo because it includes a little YY on the left laughing at me and a little Mum on the right laughing at me.

:)

Leaving is always painful, but acclimatizing is always surprisingly easy. I think this little town has become my second home.

*746 - take three

Third time's the charm, so they say. Here goes. I think it is worth a shot.

*745 - shisha

Shisha: an Egyptian hookah used for smoking herbal fruit and tobacco. The smoke is considered to be significantly less dangerous than that from cigarettes, but recent studies show that it can be as detrimental to a person's health as smoking cigarettes.

Oh dear.

*744 - opposites

It just goes to show that everything has two sides; it's just a matter of perspective. Strong-willed or stubborn? Loving or clingy? Confident or obnoxious? Etc.

Rather perturbed. But it'll be ok, I know.

*743 - happy 44th!

At 8.22 pm, according to SGH time on Tubby's watch, we expectantly put down our BBQ chicken wings and gazed out from where we were on the roof, watching the other parties going on in the neighbourhood, all ready to stand up altogether with fist to left breast and tear in eye and holler the pledge ...

... but I think we missed it.

Oops.

I really love my little Singapore, though. It's home.

:)









Very cute to see the entire neighbourhood dressed in red and white, INCLUDING Ipah and EXCLUDING Tubby hahaha. Aww Singapore! :)

*742 - balls

I think this deserves to be documented:

X: go for lunch tgt K
Me: ohh okay yeahh
X: since ur balls not ard
X: i mean
X: boss
Me: HAHAHAHAHHA WHAT

Ultimate typo. That made me laugh out loud in the office. Hahaha ;)

*741 - curry pok version 2

Second try at making curry puffs, in a bid to make them look more curry puffy than the first attempt. The deep-fried version, granted, looks a lot more curry puffy, but the baked versions look cute and shiny and are So Much More Healthy!

*740 - tatty's back!

(Evelyn's theory:
Dancing with one's arms up makes one feel like one is dancing,
even if one is merely bopping one's head or twitching one's feet.)

Mum saw Tatty reappear on my bed.

(Quizzically) "You've been meeting Justin?"
(Grins) "Yup!"

But I'm pretty sure her suspicions were allayed later in the day when ______. Heh.

I can't believe I'm leaving in less than two weeks. Time flies when you don't want it to. What is the future going to bring? In some cases, I know what I want it to bring, but who knows what may happen? In some cases, I don't even know what I want it to bring, so ... who knows what may happen?