Unpolished Gem

I just want to say. It's GREAT to be home. I was playing down all expectations but back home, everything.... everything just felt so right. It was almost as if i've never left... very surreal. Like some kinda time machine just zapped me off to London for a few days (which in fact was 9months) and here i am, back home again. To the warm, familiar and happy faces of Family. It didn't take much, but in the few hours i've been back, i know they love me very much and so do i them. And, actually i miss them more than i think i did.

Really hate to see Ivory Coast go!!! Damn, it's sickening when crap teams like England (I really like Beckham though, he hasn't lost any of his charm ... now he has the softer more fatherly feel... drools, the way he talks to the kid... awww MELTS) go through so easily and those who really deserve it get kicked out, unrightly so! At least Angola held Mexico to a draw, way too many close shaves for them though, well, it's time an African team got lucky anyway. Argentina is kicking some ass man, heh, hurrah to Messi! Oooh, finally went for a haircut and i loook like a pirate now. But i like it. Just to keep you in suspense!!!

Woah... Mediterranean food is good stuff man. They had this amazing salad that was tasty yet healthy... there was avocado, brocolli, cucumber, very fine bean sprout, this rice tasting thing that looked like clumps of pomello and goat's cheese and some magic sprinkled on top that made my eyes twinkle and my ears wiggle :) And the spanish sausage and sweet potato was really good too. And best of all, to all my weight conscious friends, the dessert is SUGAR Free. Can't imagine a chocolate tart that's sugar free... but i found out that they used fructose instead... duh, there had to be some form of sweetener! Still, it's supposed to be healthy. Interestingly, the whole restaurant was filled with LADIES. Such a girl power restaurant. Those men who were there were with their girlfriends/wives. Maybe it's the world cup effect, or maybe it helped that the French manager is such a good looker ;) No lah, it's a health conscious ladies restaurant. I would go again, anytime...

World Cup is such a joy! Italy made its appearance today against another African team, Ghana. The first half hour i was really scared for the Azzurri, the Ghanians played with no fear, no inferiority complex, as if they've taken part in every world cup when it was their debut match! But the Italians showed what they were made of, got about their business, and won it. The Italians were definitely the better side, but i do feel sorry for Ghana, thought they deserved at least one penalty. Football isn't the fairest game afterall. Watching soccer on BBC is so entertaining i tell you. Especially today's match analysis, they invited Marcel Desailly who was originally from Ghana and of course he was supporting Ghana, and the other guy kept arguing with him that it shouldn't have been a penalty yada yada yada and Desailly wasn't pleased at all. It was hilarious the way he argued... "Marcel, i don't care how many World Cups you have won with France, the referee was ...

I've been meaning to write this for some time but i could never get my butt to sit still enough at the blogger home page. Afterall, there is always tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow. The xxx number of days i have in London, probably more than most people. On the eve of shifting my stuff out of this little nest of mine, i look around and realize that i actually do like this make shift hole/semi pigsty (Mum wouldn't be pleased, but she wouldn't be here to see either, muahaha). How ironic, at a point when the room at its messiest and dirtiest, all the dust floating around in the room when the afternoon sun shines through (It's freakin' hot now, the room and everywhere else, it's almost like home! Can't believe the day i actually sweat has come). Soon, no more swipe cards, no more going... "SH**, I locked myself out of the room!" immediately after i close the door behind me, no more having to change for 20p coins for laundry. I'm so glad i changed...

Look at HF!!! Even the angmohs don't wear tubes. You go girl! The site of many artistic shots...! Check out the short skirt! I sound like some cheekopek. HAHA! Lelong Lelong! Fresh Raw fish anyone! Yummy OYSTERS!!! Brownies. Cheap and good!

I'm absolutely in love with life at the moment. Watching DVDs (settled my butt enough to watch Chocolat, good stuff man, the blissful look of those people who sank their teeth into the chocolate and Binoche's cooking should be sufficient reason to brush up my cooking skills... but alas, i have no chef hands...can't believe i survived 9 months eating my own terrible cooking half the time :(, which reminds me that Da vinci code sucked... wasted my money man, Tom Hanks super doesn't fit the role... SO OLD! And the plot was way too thin, injustice injustice!) Listening to Tao Zhe, pretending to sing falsetto like him and bobbing my head. (Which reminds me about how my Chinese has deteriorated to such a low standard, i feel funny speaking it, i can't write beyond Pri. 6 Chinese words, i ought to slap myself... It was really funny how mich and shihui were giving ali and me ting xie and i failed miserably! You think listening to Chinese music will help?? It's such a pi...

Beautiful Stockholm from the sky. On the way out of Stockholm city centre to the airport. Absolutely tranquil. The water looked almost glassy. Posers! I had a sunglass urge! This large swing we took, i love this picture! The swing was right beside the river so it felt as if we were flying over the river. Cool! Free-fall -- almost! Theme park! Kids once more :) But we realized that we were way too old for themeparks! Squeezing with the little kids and screaming like teenagers! Vasa (Ship) Museum. This ship was lifted out from the coast just off Stockholm like 50 years ago, almost in entirety. It sank in the 1600s. Nordic Museum Outside the Nordic museum which explained the Swedish way of life. Out-of-place Chinese Pavilion which the King built secretly for his wife as a birthday surprise hundreds of years ago. No idea why a Chinese pavilion though. Outside this Guard tent. We saw many guards and everyone wanted a guard each cos they were rather good looking, on our way out, we discovere...

Sweden's awesome! It's a feel-good city ( i can actually imagine myself living here (minus the freeezing weather)), courteous people, excellent food (better than London anyways! well fed throughout the trip), pretty architecture, hips shopping, beautiful people, spotted our fair share of Orlando Blooms and eye candies, Scandinavian hunks haven't failed to deliver! Better than the French or the Italians, i think from what i've seen so far, the Welsh are the least desirable (oops!) I want a Swedish boyfriend! And it helps that they all speak English, not in the heavily accented Brit way, easy-going, just the way i like it. Well, when you put 5 girls in a group on the prowl, you get raging hormones, shy giggles, lots of eye exercises and breaking out into Chinese whenever we were sizing someone up. I shall let the pictures do the talking. I love Stockholm! Sometimes, it scares me that i feel so at ease living a life of my own. Just 2 weeks ago, hf and nat asked if i was lo...

Alas, it has ended! Barely have sufficient time for myself! To sit, stone, reflect and think about what has come and gone in the last eight months. But, it's good to be kept busy for now, i'll have more time after i come back from Sweden (yay! With 4 other lovely girls, i'm sure it'll be a blllllaaassstttt!... we must seduce those hot and hunky Swedish guys okae!) Oh, and i must announce my coming of age. Because i finally clubbed here!!! Fiona, i know you're disappointed! But at least i've done it!!! Even my mother was surprised that it was my first time! Haha! It was really fun!!! Really let my hair down!!! Yeah, literally too cos my hair is soooooo long. Woohoo! And i drank a tequila shot and some Bailey's shot and was still perfectly sane at the end of the whole thing! It's great when you go clubbing and you don't know the people i think, cos it's so embarrassing to dance infront of people you kinda know but don't know! I really hate the ...

I was so nervous i was lsing 15 minutes before the paper. And i was like s***! No time! The questions were manageable but i still managed to screw it up. I had 20 minutes to finish one essay! How cool is that! But it's okae, strangely, i don't feel that upset. In fact, i felt really happy when i was writing the card to my teacher on how i screwed up the exam! I still like IR alot. It has transcended the "I hate the subject because i don't do well in it stage" And of course i still like my teacher alot. One more exam to go!

Apparently, eating pork makes you smarter. (notice the irony) I had many different forms of pork today before being told that it makes you smarter. Hopefully, it will help to give me the streak of genius i need to survive tomorrow. Also, Chilli is the reason why most Singapore girls are flat chested. ( After 4 of us successfully devoured 4 bowls of chilli) Because according to a keen observer, other Chinese girls are more busty. The Chinese guy sitting opposite me is gross. He burps unabashedly. He wears ear plugs that looks like he's been wearing for years, it's out of shape, faded and damn dirty looking. Wah lao! The Jap guy sitting beside me has a nose problem. He rubs his nose so hard and makes that ew ew mucus sound. Very strange people indeed. If my IR teacher were 10 years younger, i would have a crush on him. It's just exams... It's always about your own expectations, you're not accountable to anyone effectively. Noone's going to scold you if you screw...

... in words. Damn... can i just declare my IR dead. Saturation and then i try to do essay outlines and it all sounds so yucky. Boohoohoo. i need more time time time!!! OMG... i'm really going to screw up IR... i just know it!!! I can't even memorise the points properly. This is killing meeee! And i'm eating such crappy food now. I'm never ever stepping into subway/wrights bar or anything that has to do with BREAD once the exams are over. How How How. Pulls hair, stamps feet, shoots ceiling, punches fist in air. K.O.

I guess i'm not that unfortunate afterall! The passport is ready for collection! Phew. How my fate changed in a day. Funny how it was always taken for granted. Now... 2 days to the start of exams. Oh, man. Liberation awaits. I can hardly wait. I've had enough of studying... I just want to run outside and breathe nice fresh air instead of stale recirculated air indoors, lie on the grass and picnic. What am i doing indoors when the weather outside is SO inviting. AWAY and OUT with the exams. NOW i say!

~@"~£#:?"" The Swedish embassy just told me that I can't travel to Sweden on a Document of Identity (DOI) in case my passport isn't ready by the time i'm leaving. Oh, i'm so pissed ~@!##?&*^% What's wrong with the keys anyway, doesn't even look like i'm spouting all the bad words. I even backspaced the "badwords" just to make it look badder. Argh. Why Why Why. Please SGP passport, i neeeeeeed you. More than anything else NOW. Can they just HURRY UP. I'll bawl like a baby if i can't go!!! Damn Jinxed! I hate not knowing that i can't control my own fate.

Hello! Lest you think i've disappeared, i'm actually still kicking, messing and alive! The books have sucked alot of my energy but alas, it's just exams... a ritual we've gone through, year after year. Inspite of all the late night muggings, i'm still glad for things like eg Florrine who goes home with me in the wee hours, as we attempt to "laugh" very loudly so that the robbers wouldn't dare to come near us "yeah right!", for eating Benjys dinner in the Brunch Bowl, and friends whom i know would be available for dinner anytime. Makes the mugging less of a chore :) There are so many things to be grateful for, so many things to look forward to after the exams... I can't wait to go Spain! I can't wait to slack around, watch all the drama serials whole day long, movies, go shopping in all those markets we've been talking about, just stay in, chill, read a book! And most importantly, HOME awaits. Let's take it one step at a time, ...

Yeah! I'm damn suay i tell u, the passport app didn't go through cos my hair was covering half my right eyebrow in the photograph!!! I'm so pissed! The application takes a month, meaning that there might be a chance that it won't be ready by the end of exams!!! WTH!!! And they only do collection of apps once a week on friday... delay even more. I'm dead!!! I'm gonna be stuck here!!! This is driving me nuts. And no one will travel with me cos everyone's zaoing imm after exams. WHAT AM I GOING TO DO!!! This sucks!!! And i just took passport photograph again... this time i tied up my hair but the blardy machine's like running out of ink. It still looks fine to me but Crap, if they're gonna be fussy... Wah lao, i have to go to the embassy again. This should NEVER have happened!!! Pukes. Anyway, i'm starting to Panic for the exams... and library is getting a little too crowded for my liking. This is BAD.

Firstly, THANK YOU for all the Birthday wishes, calls, presents, cards, surprises. I couldn't have asked for more. I know all of you miss me (HAHAHA! don't roll your eyes!... come on, admit it! I know i'm very thick skinned), yeah, i miss all of you too! TRUST ME... time will pass so fast you wouldn't believe i'll be back THAT soon. What would i do without you guys??? And to everyone who took time off from studying just to celebrate my birthday with me, i'm really touched, happy that i've made so many good friends here. And i'm really looking forward to spending the next 2 years with all of you. Oh, i've just discovered the best kinda fats ever. The kinda fats you actually enjoy eating. DUCK FATS. Rocks.

Bring on the mugging man. Today i tried very hard to get my IR in order but i spent more time trying to organize all the notes, looking for books etc etc etc = in short, unproductive. As we all know, being the muggers that we are, unproductive days suck. Boo boo to any more unproductive days ahead and cheers to our newfound alliance. Flor, we rock! haha! (don't tell anyone what we're doing, they'll really laugh at us and start calling us names)

Who knows? A wisdom tooth is g r o w ing! Don't know why, i just believed i was immune to it! Now, my tongue keeps flipping backwards to touch THAT tooth. Been a long while since i last did that, the last time was in Secondary school, when the last of the milkies came out. Hopefully it gives me some wisdom for the coming exams. Actually, i just hope it doesn't hurt! Or start pushing all the other teeth until everything gets out of shape! How frightful!