Signs you’re getting old…

April 10, 2012

The universe has been subtly hinting to me that I’m no longer young… all sorts of cosmic signals keep appearing when I go about doing my normal daily activities!

1. Bought a new phone, not the least bit excited to change its theme nor ringtones (Can you believe it – my ringing tone is the default signature ‘ta la la la, ta la la la, ta la la la LA~’ Nokia tone). (Also, goes for the function and not design of the phone)
2. Has an Ipod touch, but never plays games on it (in case you’re wondering why I have stopped ‘Drawing something’, it’s because they require an update before you can play it and it’s a serious pain for me to reinstall the jailbroken app)
3. Get annoyed when I see grammatical errors and multiple ????? (>3) and !!!!!! in a row. I used to be one of those !!!!!! and ?????-happy people! What happened.
4. See wedding pictures of people my age and remember the times when I thought ‘Weddings are for adults.. they’re adults already that’s why they can get married’, and ergo, I’m now an adult. *Gulp* 
5. You get responsibilities like paying the electricity and internet bills. You don’t get a ‘time-shock’ when you already anticipate something e.g. going to uni, getting a job, but little things like paying the bills have never been part of the whole growing up scenario so they come as a sneaky attack on your age, creeps up to you and yells “ADULT RESPONSIBILITIES!!! Suck it up!“
6. Start liking garlic and onions. This is something I really can’t believe myself – I used to abhor any sort of garlic or onion in my food but now not only do I eat them, I put them in my cooking as well. The advice that garlic and onion is good for your health has finally gotten through after 22 years of my parents and grandparents’ efforts. Well done you smelly little alliums.

Will have more when I come about remembering the cosmic signs. And now, back to work… My right arm is nearly paralysed from the 5-day Easter holiday work marathon.

When one door closes…

March 11, 2012

“When one door closes, another opens”.

… But if you don’t close that door, a new door will not open for you.

Fear makes one hold the door even if it is just a millimeter from becoming shut. What if I can’t get back in? What if the place which the new door leads to isn’t as good as the old? What if no doors open after I close this one?

Like the doors in the pilot plant, if the internal one doesn’t close fully, the external one can’t be opened at all. There’s no way two doors can be opened at the same time.

Eventually, one will get tired from holding the door and that’s when you know it’s time to let go. So why not now?

The One

March 5, 2012

Ok, this is really really a very very random post. As random as an alien farting in space or a cow eating an orange flower.

Anyhow, I was just eating my no. 1 favourite yogurt on earth – Dreamy Lemon from Fresh ‘n Fruity, only available in New Zealand. Everytime I eat this yogurt I feel like I literally become all dreamy. It’s SO SO GOOD…. and I just know it. It’s the one. If I had to be forced to eat just one yogurt brand and flavour for the rest of my life, it would be the dreamy lemon (I once ate half a kg of it at one go before!). And I won’t even complain about it.

Then I thought – this must be how it feels like to know if something is the one! You just know it. Don’t have to ask. You may like this particular thing or person, but you’d hesitate if somebody forces you to make something the one. One simply doesn’t just find or make the one out of many ‘the favourites’. It is on a totally different level of liking something and knowing if something is meant for you.

Unfortunately, this also means that one may not even meet ‘the one‘ in his/her entire lifetime. I would have never eaten the Dreamy Lemon yogurt if I hadn’t come to NZ to study. I liked the Meiji yogurt in SG.. but it’s just not something I would actively seek out to eat you know? There are categories of things in my life which just doesn’t have ‘the one‘ in it… the one bubble tea flavour, the one moisturiser, the one dress, the one place, the one website and of course, how can I forget, the one guy (yeah yeah how can I miss this one out) and so on.

But on the other hand, I do know what my the one food is: Kimchi soup from Marina Square foodcourt; the one song: BoA’s Jewel Song; the one dog: Welsh Corgi …. haha yeah you get what I mean?! One can only wait patiently for the one to appear…

Okay, a random post shall end randomly too. Aliens are done farting.

2.0.1.1

January 1, 2012

About 4 more hours to the NYE gathering at Rousong’s house! Will I be able to finish blogging before I have to start getting ready? Nah… highly doubt so. Sorry, so you will only get to read this next year. (Haha, I know, the overused ‘next year’ joke during the last few days of this year ).

I didn’t even blog about me coming back to Singapore and now I have to blog about the events of 2011!? What!!! I’m a lazy bummer. That settles my first resolution of 2012: I will try to blog at least twice a month. Or, blog as soon as something eventful happens. Then again, if I were to blog only every time something eventful happens, that will probably end up being a bi-annual thing since *cough* what could possibly happen in New Zealand that’s blog-worthy?!

I went back to read my blog post on 2010 and it sure put alot of pressure on me for blogging this year’s events. And I quote my last year’s entry (read): “2010 has been the best year EVER“. You tell me how to not stress?! *sweats* Because honestly speaking, although there were bombasticachimichanga changes to my life in 2011, it certainly can’t top my 2010. In 2010, I’ve been sent to both hell and heaven and back. 2010 was more of a testament to my relationship with people and getting the opportunity to forge closer bonds with friends (remember attachment, FYP, tioman trip and MOE days?). 2011 was more of dragging me out of my comfort zone and testing my limit of independence. Not to mention, setting foot in 6 different countries in a year – Vietnam, Bangkok, Hong Kong (& Macau), Philippines, Taiwan and New Zealand! (Come to think of it, I didn’t blog about my trips either.. :O ! /chokeslam self)

(… at this point I have a feeling this’ gonna be a looong long post)

Alright, maybe I didn’t have as much fun, laughter and insanity in 2011 as in 2010, but many of the events of 2011 were life-changing and changed my outlook on life. Not trying to sound like I 看破红尘 or what, but keep reading, you’ll know what I mean.

Shall blog the events in chronological order again:

January

Don’t think there was anything special in January, except busy applying for my NZ visa, doing health checkups (yeah I still remember that drop dead handsome radiographer in Mount Elizabeth X-Ray centre!) and basically nua-ing in my level 22 office with Ali on the other end of L22 and the L5 teabreaks.

February

Chinese new year celebrations! And moving of my office from Buona Vista to Habourfront!

Thankfully, I did blog about these two events (CNY and ELIS) so I shall not repeat describing them again here. But one thing I must mention again – Haiya, last year, I cleaned my house for weeks before CNY because I thought my classmates were going to come visit. In the end also never come! So this year (and n years after this year), you all can forget coming to my new house.

Oh ya I did summarise my February in this post as well.

March-April

I didn’t blog about this, but I think most of you who reads my blog had known about this. My father was hit by a car in Penang while riding a motobike and the situation wasn’t too optimistic then. That was the second time a family member nearly lost his life (first was my grandfather who crashed into the glass door at home and nearly bled to death ; horror of all horrors), and I cannot stress enough on how true the sentence “You never know what you’ve got until it’s gone” is. Because he was hospitalised in Malaysia, I had to make the decision whether to travel down to Malaysia just 4 days before my trip to Vietnam. Although his friends kept reassuring me that he was alright, but you never really know when it will be the last time you’re ever going to see someone.

So really, live each day as if it’s your last! (Or “live each few months as if it’s the last” – it’s more practical) But of course, I hope you won’t have to go through the same anguish as I did just to realise that.

Last day of work at ELIS on 25th March – I’m really glad that I was posted to ELIS out of all the departments in MOE! I loved everyone there who really took care of me while I was there despite my slacking… haha!

Me and my ex-boss Wai Yin~ Still met up with her when I got back from NZ!

And finally…. my long (okay not that long) overseas trip!

Sneak preview of my pictures from Vietnam… Okay I promise I’ll upload them before 26th Mar 2012 (exactly 1 year after the trip) on Facebook with nice descriptions and everything. Seriously – I LOVE Vietnam. Must go before you die.

And the floating market in Thailand (Damnoen Saduak)! I only managed to edit pics from Vietnam, Bangkok and Taiwan. Still have HK/Macau and Philippines….. *faint* I too nearly lost my life in Manila, so again, that’s God telling me he’s giving me another chance to live and love life! I sure hope it’s not the last too

And of course, TAIWAN!!! Who could forget!!? Had so much fun there and great to finally have company after travelling solo for weeks! And sia la, look at that picture, think I was at my heaviest in my entire life! Hahahaha need to diet!

May

After months of preparation, it is finally the month to fly off to New Zealand! :O

I still remember the day I had to leave… but if I had known I was going to be back in December I wouldn’t have been so sad that day!! But when I leave in February this time it’s really gonna be a much longer goodbye since I only bought a one-way ticket back to NZ… hopefully I can stopover in Singapore for a couple of days if I’m travelling to an overseas conference or something!

And as for my life onwards in NZ, I have blogged about it sporadically so you should know what it’s like!

My home-staying days with the McCleans~

June

Thank god for the juniors who came 2 weeks after I did!

You know how much easier it is to talk to people when you are in a group with other people you know??

Because I don’t actually need to work in the PD lab & pilot plant so I never really had the chance to talk to Warwick (PD lab manager), Garry (pilot plant manager) and Jeremy (destruction manager)…haha but thanks to the juniors who are very 熟 with them, I just joined in the fun to get to know them :P

The picture was taken at Steve’s house after a bbq!

And thanks to the juniors (and Momo~ <3), I got to travel around Palmy/NZ with them to places like Hawkes Bay, Manawatu Gorge, Windfarm and horseriding etc.! Couldn’t have chosen a better time to go over… since I was really really really really slack for the first 8 weeks or so there haha! ‘Adjusting to the environment’ is always the best excuse to use

July-Nov

My life there in NZ probably came to a standstill, a routine everyday…. just like everyone else in Singapore! Wake up at 7, bathe, walk to school (love this part), the occasional bumping into Prof Archer while walking to school, go school, type type type, run rheometer run run run, talk to juniors, go gym, watch running man and/or HIMYM, go home, sleep……… What can I say! It’s comfortable, but it’s boring!! No shopping! (My expectations of shopping is very high: shopping = falling in love with an apparel once every 5 minutes) I hardly find anything I like in The Plaza (the one and only shopping mall in Palmy)…

And my boredom probably peaked after the juniors all left! No more noisy PD lab, no more cakes from Jeremy, no more extruded snacks to eat, no more outings on weekends, and worst of all, no more SINGLISH!!! OTL Finally the homesickness kicks in like a flu bug which have hibernated for months.

Something exciting did happen in August though! IT SNOWED IN PALMY!!! It was just that one magical day… Too bad I didn’t have a car then else I would have driven to Aokautere side to take more pictures!

And skiing! Wheee! My new found love! Can’t wait for next year’s snow season when me, Ivana and Hayley will get to go to the intermediate ski slopes for lessons.

Before I know it, my contract at the Atawhai hostel ends and I gotta get my ass to Wellington already!

Another mild change-of-environment shock. I forsee myself going back there for more work anyway so the next time i’m definitely more well-prepared!

(… Anyway thanks to smartphone I can still continue to blog on the train ride to Telok Blangah)

December

It’s time for the last month of the year again! Where people start to clear leave and party like they’ve been nuns for the past 11 months. No need to say, December is my favourite month of the year!

Birthday – Christmas – New Year!

But this year is slightly different: Home sweet home – birthday – Christmas – New Year! In consecutive weeks no less … No wonder December went by so quickly!! :O Been meeting everyone and anyone who can meet up with me PZ, Massey classmates, Poly 大娘 clique, Waiyin, Kim Pong Yong, Crayson and Peter! And it turns out that I know more people than I thought I did! Ha… Who says I’ve got no friends ah?

Anyhow, I wanted to surprise my classmates and PZ with my return! Asked all my friends in NZ not to post anything on my FB, have to keep spinning (AND remembering) lies on my whereabouts… So much preparation work!! IN.THE.END?!? I only managed to surprise PZ because the one and only person whom I told I was coming went to tell the rest I was coming back in order to make them meet me for dinner!!! So pek chek!! Although i appreciate his help for helping to organise, it really caused me a much bigger disappointment then telling everyone beforehand I was coming back. Sad! Shall not be so adventurous next time already!

I will nag about it for an eternity!!!

(… Update: All Westies are late by nearly 30 mins. As usual i’m waiting for people again!! >.<)

Super love what Garry, Hayley and Michelle did to Akachan on my birthday! (Haha although I’m not entirely sure if taking Akachan for a pilot plant cum ice cream making tour was part of the surprise for me) I actually feel kinda bad when I kept saying nobody’s gonna celebrate my birthday for me in NZ! :O

And the very standard birthday dinner + cake at my favourite Korean restaurant in Biopolis~ Can you see Eketahuna in the picture!? Best part is, I’m not all alone in NZ where everyone leaves Palmy and back to their hometown/country for a vacation! :O

Lucky me, got to take a polaroid (main point is that it’s free!) with a super hot A&F hunk on their first day of opening, which is also the day I celebrated my bday with PZ! Haha! Talk about lucky~ *drools*

Apart from going to the common room to nua/work/read articles until cock-eyed everyday, I’ve just been shopping and eating at nice food places almost EVERYDAY since coming back! :O This is exceptional tiring, especially for someone who’s been having a sedentary NZ lifestyle for the past few months. 要老娘的命啊！

Christmas!! Played the gift exchange game again this year and I got $20 Capitaland Mall vouchers! Courtesy of Joreen (the buyer) and WY (the scapegoat)

Oh yah I also dyed my hair blonde again! Yay!

And the finale – New Year Eve countdown + steamboat at Rousong’s house/Henderson Waves… Countdowns just don’t feel right without the fireworks! Lucky me and WY also got to sleep on Rousong’s bed….hehe. Wonder if Ahjumma got fang pi on your bed or not Rousong! Sorry Sai don’t have your face here because I don’t have complete group photo with me!

So how has your 2011 been? Those with a blog should really blog about it – you’ll love reading it again in a year’s time. Those without a blog – for pete’s sake just start one!!

*** I can’t blog anymore; just came back from tonning at RS’ house and haven’t taken a nap yet! :O *soul evaporates from mouth* Will leave my New Year Resolutions for another entry! (If there will be one)

Out of Palmy, into Welly!

November 28, 2011

Okay! Here’s another long awaited blog post from the lost sheep in NZ…!

Update: If you haven’t already heard from me about this, I’m in Wellington now! Now, there has been alot of confusion about my purpose in Wellington by a few people! (Haha, I sound like it’s a big thing that I must absolutely clarify no matter what, but I know to you guys it’s just meh news) So… let me just explain once and for all:

1. I am and will be in Wellington for the next couple of weeks! I’m working with a carbohydrate chemistry team from a research company now, so that’s why I’ve come down to do my work! Massey just doesn’t have all the chemicals and equipment I need for this part of my thesis…

2. Since I got kicked out of hostel accommodation on 20th November, it’s the best time to come to Welly so that I can find accommodation in Welly straight and not pay rent in Palmy while I’m here. And btw, I was super super lucky! Found an accommodation right behind my workplace the same day I got the green light to travel to Welly to work! :O How is that possible?! It’s time to use the phrase ‘Everything happens for a reason’ again, because any earlier or later I would have settled with another accommodation which is further away! Timing -IS- everything!

3. When will I be back in Singapore? 12 January!! Mark your calendars! :P I’ll probably finish my work here in Welly 2nd-3rd week of December, so it doesn’t make sense to shift my flight just 2 weeks early and pay $350 for it. But hey! At least still in time for CNY!

4. When will I leave Singapore? I don’t know!! That depends on whether I’ll miss Palmy, how long I can tahan the crowded trains and buses for, whether I can survive using labs in SP without equipment that only NZ’s Massey has, and maybe someone to pack in my luggage to bring back to NZ?! Hehe okay that has nothing to do with me being in Wellington. That’s still months to go!

Well, it’s nice to have a change in environment because Palmy was getting a little too run-of-the-mill… but that means I have to be dragged out of my comfort zone and plonked into a new, unfamiliar environment again… :’( Six months ago, with nobody here with me in Palmy, I managed to survive …then six months later, all alone again! Worst still, spending my favourite month of the year, December here! Maybe I should just travel back to Palmy during the holidays or something

It’s true that you never know what you’ve got until it’s gone. I had a perfect picture of life in New Zealand painted.. but alas, nothing gold can stay. Yes… the scenery is pretty, people are nice, pantry is awesome with free drinks and milk, but one part of me will always remain hollow (not entirely due to lack of shopping). Sometimes, I miss the friends and family in Singapore so much I always end up with sleepless nights…. Sigh. Whatever happened to the old me?! Never knew I could be so dependent on companionship, or maybe work just isn’t hectic enough to distract and numb me from the various loneliness.

And now my friends in Singapore are mostly attached, getting married, getting HDBs… and then it will be another 3 years before I can actually even start finding somebody… oh dear. How not to be depressed! You know how in a restaurant everyone’s orders come one by one except yours…then you start to panic whether they have forgotten your order?! Then one waiter walks towards your direction, you think it’s yours, then he walks away and puts it on another table.. oh…I know this scene too well; it always happens to me!!!Even on the airplane! Yes it’s this kind of feeling now! Dear God, please don’t forget me!  难道我真的寂寞寂寞就好？到底哪里做错了。。

Ok la, enough emo-ing! Just have to let off some emo-steam and everything will be all good to go once again I am very grateful for what I have now; even having friends to miss and friends who miss me is good enough! Better get started on analysing those results or KG is going to start nagging at me soon… !

Pictures!!!

How many of you guys miss wearing a lab coat?! :P Work here is hectic…but there’s always time for pictures! It’s like practically 8 hours of lab session in organic/AP chem lab every day man! Tiring!!! Tons of pipetting, vortexing, heating and what not! But the best part is I get to play with dry ice, yay!

The Hutt River, where I live along…

At Woburn train station! Finally…..TRAINS… something absent in Palmy!

Welly by the harbour~

…괜찮아요…

 

Do you miss me? :)

October 18, 2011

Hello people….!!! Were you excited to see my automatic ‘blogged’ tweet on twitter? I know I haven’t blogged for ages (yeah yeah since the ski trip, and I’ve even gone on a second ski trip already), because there really wasn’t anything to blog about after the juniors left.

Cooking? You see my tweets about what new stuff I’ve been cooking/baking, and for some mysterious reason my camera’s always low batt when I have something awesome to take a picture of. Like the cheesecake I made! Okay for show-off sake I shall list them down here!

Food

• Thai red curry
• Tom yam soup (from Tom Yam soup cubes….wahahaha not proud of it at all)
• Indian butter chicken
• Kimchi teriyaki tuna fried rice (this was seriously out of the world, anyhowly made somemore)
• Fried carrot cake
• Jjapchae
• Gyoza
• Japanese curry (I really cried a bucket while making this cause I used about 12 onions)
• Ddeokbokki

Baked Goods

• Fudge brownies (not those cakey types, which is more sinful yet heavenly~)
• Lemon yogurt cheesecake (tried to make cheesecake because alot of people I know loves cheesecake – but I don’t!! So see, I’m so nice.)

Okay managed to find a picture of my fried rice before adding in the tuna! Seriously all the pictures of my food are inside the wok decorated by an ugly spatula… Because once it’s done I am too hungry to take pictures and focus more on eating 

Still have loads more recipes to try out!! Kimchi pancake, bread pudding (PZ your favourite!), kimchi sushi (the only thing I ever really made in SG), tiraimisu, soto ayam, baked salmon, pad thai, custard pudding, cream puffs…. oh god!! Really wanna cook these stuff for my friends and family when I go back… nothing more satisfying when people like the food you cook! But sponsorship for ingredients will be appreciated. HAHA.

So yup, been busying myself with watching ‘How to cook/bake xxx’ videos on Youtube, looking for ingredients all over the supermarkets and asian grocery shops, and making a big mess in the PD lab while cooking Other than that, been just bored, Bored, BORED.

It’s not that I don’t have friends, (points to ski/road trip buddies Hayley (aka Bernadette) and Ivana (aka Priya) above; I’m Penny by the way), just that you can’t go skiing every weekend or do something really WOW all the time here in Palmy. I’m never gonna complain about Singapore being a ‘shopping’, ‘dinner’, ‘movies’ place anymore because these are precisely the type of activities people do to gossip and bond together. Oh boy. I also blame the mobile service providers here. Where on earth are messages still 20 cents each?! Imagine sending to 5 friends “Free this friday?” and it’d cost you $1 already. And if they say ‘no’ I’m going to personally go find them to refund me my 20 cents. Calls are 89 cents a minute, which is bloody ridiculously stupid. It will probably be cheaper to drive to their house and talk to them.

On the sunny side – SPRING IS HERE! I know, you just wanna sing “春天到来白花开~” RIGHT?! Pretty flowers have been blossoming throughout Palmy and in school, especially the Sakuras! Have never seen Sakuras before and apparently they can be found in NZ as well apart from Japan!!!  So pretty!!! They make my morning walks to school so enjoyable But nothing gold can last, they only stay in bloom for about 3-4 weeks and have mostly gone with the wind already~

Another lovely tree with fluffy white flowers…. Spring is beautiful~!

Apparently Spring is the season when the ducks get all prolific too~ Lots of baby ducklings ‘appearing’ out of nowhere and following their mummies everywhere in a line like this…. so cute!

With dearest Momo before she departs for Christchurch…. It’s really not easy saying goodbye to people! Now I think I’m quite lucky to have come NZ around the same time as them (which funnily, everyone asked me why I was still in Palmy after the juniors left cause they all thought I was with them). Had so much fun horse-riding, gorge-walking, skiing, pub crawling, shopping, gossiping, and eating with them! It was nice getting to know the juniors better as well! Shu wen, Shu jun, Alex, Marilyn, Janice, Geraldine, Chingyee, Sherrilyn, Liang Jue, Julyn, Shannie, Qili, Joyce (Momo not counted because we already very ‘shou’ before she came :P ) it was fun knowing you guys better! And of course, if not for them I probably won’t know people like Warwick, Garry, Jeremy, Hayley, and Enchong that well since I wouldn’t have a reason to appear in the PD lab or pilot plant. They gave me a nickname ‘Collywobbles’ which means diarrhoea in NZ slang btw! So happy! For the first time in my life I actually have a real nickname!!! xD So now I can’t leave Palmy every year during winter because there will be the juniors here… drats…I really hate winter you know

And because I’ve been so bored, I pass time by going to the gym almost everyday!

Monday: Bodystep with Lara

Tuesdays: Generally off days unless I eat 20 samosas or the equivalent on mondays

Wednesdays: Bodypump

Thursdays: Bodystep if I’m feeling fat

Fridays: Bodystep if I’m feeling fat

Saturdays: Bodypump and bodycombat

Sundays: Bodyattack if I’m feeling fat

This only spells doom for Matthew’s air ticket to NZ…..

Hehe the only time I brought a camera to the gym is to take pictures of the juniors doing Bodystep Still can’t believe Chest Hair turned up for Bodystep yesterday! I think I must have dropped my jaws yesterday and left it there at the sports hall…

So yea. That’s all…. yay. Palmy! I must admit I get sick of things/places quite easily. When will something exciting come my way?

Here’s Akaji and a raspberry white chocolate muffin which is the same size as him!

Skiing on Mt Ruapehu!

August 23, 2011

What you should do after watching this video:

1. Ignore my mucus under my nose, because it was a freaking -5 degree Celsius (around there) up there?!

2. Relax, I will explain more about Sheldon Cooper later

—

Pardon for the lack of updates! Juniors’ been having a packed social schedule so that means I’m busy too…. busy skiing, eating, and traveling around that is

After the Hawkes Bay trip was the International Dinner with the 4th Years, Techensoc Ball (which I didn’t go because seriously – not going to spend $70 to buy a dress, shoes, and a ticket for a night of unnecessary partying), Country Pub crawl and  then finally the ski at Mt Ruapehu!!! Been looking forward to it! (But the poor juniors, can you believe they had to go a day before the start of all the presentations?!)

I’ve been dilligently uploading photos on Facebook okay! See, I am capable of uploading pictures before they expire.

Anyhow, you must have known that it snowed the other day in Palmy! SNOWED!!! How rare is that?! So now it’s just more snow on Mt. Ruapehu! The fluffy white stuff which makes unicorns jump!

Developed a love-hate feeling with skiing after that day! True I ended up spending more time putting on the skis and sitting on my butt on the snow, but all things awesome comes to those who wait. (Not really wait but practice in this case). I’m just surprised I didn’t bend my knees backwards or gotten disfigured by the skis at the end of day. I’m gonna go skiing with the next 2 batches of juniors, and stay with the beginners’ zone to practice!  Oh ya btw, did you know we all spent $94 just for a half-day ski pass and equipment rental?! Not exactly the cheapest sport around huh. And unfortunately I paid $94 to fall down and lick snow~ Ah…  (I also kept having replays of all my various pattern falls before sleeping that night )

BUT! I still must insist it was fun!! Come visit me in NZ during winter and we can go skiing together!!

Okay, as for Sheldon Cooper, that guy’s a PhD student who went skiing with us and talks just like Sheldon Cooper!!! Can’t believe I’d actually find a Sheldon Cooper in real life. Now I finally know how Penny really feels 

 

 

Random NZ musings

July 31, 2011

Feeling totally ennui-ed today, for which I’d like to fault PMS for.

In any case, I’m in my office now, supposed to be doing some work (voluntarily came to office, unlike some people I know who has to work on Sunday unwillingly, nanny nanny poo poo~) but blogging doesn’t really come under ‘doing work’ huh.

Anyhow, some random facts/events of Palmy life!

1. Visited Hawkes Bay over the weekends with the juniors, went to wineries, honey farms (actually just the shop section of the farm) and a chocolate museum/shop. To tell the truth, it wasn’t very fun because there were no real grapes to see in the vineyards (grapes are more scared of the cold than I am), the chocolate was expensive, and we didn’t get to see the bees do their honey magic live action. But still, a great getaway nonetheless. Plus, Coli* Brow* was the driver .

2. Been super hardworking (god knows why) these few weeks, leaving office at 9+ p.m. everyday. Ahhh~ the power of living at a walking distance from school. Never in my whole life, not even bloody kindergarten, was my house within walking distance to my school. In fact, my kindergarten was already nearest to my house and it just progressively got further, and further… and fuuuurrrtherr away~ Anyway, work is actually quite enjoyable when you’re not rushing to meet any deadlines!!! (OMG did I just say ‘enjoyable‘?!)

3. Still far from attaining SPG status

4. Am starting to get occasional Bubble tea craving attacks

5. Been going to the gym a crazy number of times!! Need to stop exercising so much because my appetite seems to be proportional to my activity level

Am going to stop here for now, because it’s time to go to the PD Lab kitchen to prepare for the international dinner with the 4th years and juniors!!!

Atawhai (Ata-phai, not whai)

July 15, 2011

Just arrived!

And finally unpacked!! Say hello to my new home for the next 5 months!

Oh ya, forgot to give you all my new address!

For letters/postcards thinner than 1 cm, you can send to:

Unit No. 6
Keiller Place
Palmerston North
New Zealand

For anything thicker than 1 cm, pls send to:

C/o The Residental Services Office
Cnr University Avenue and Rehab Rd
Turitea Campus
Massey University
Palmerston North
New Zealand

NOW the real fun begins!

July 9, 2011

After 7 weeks, I’m finally MOVING!!!

Been homestaying with a lovely family, the McCleans, but unfortunately it’s not my ideal type of lifestyle! Although they don’t impose anything on me, and frankly speaking I can still have all the freedom I want even in a homestay, but there are just restrictions which nobody says it but you know it’s there. Like joining them for dinner because it’s more polite to. Making them save your dinner in a microwave is 1) indirectly saying they’re your cooks and 2) why the hell would you wanna eat cold-food-turned-hot-by-the-microwave?! So because of that, I’ve been going home at either 5 (mostly) or 6 p.m. Which is a HUGE problem because at 4 p.m. I’m like “hell yeah I’m finally getting out of the after lunch syndrome time to work! ” and by 4.30 – “hell yeah I’m going home in 1/2 hours’ time let’s just relax and go on twitter/facebook! ”

And in any case, the last bus which goes to my current homestay house leaves at 6.10 p.m. How to go home any later than that?! (Too lazy dangerous to bike because it gets dark at around 5.30)

I still remember looking for various accommodation options back in January, and homestay was like at the bottom of the list. Homestay = Kid = Loser. HAHA okay not loser but you know, like you’re not independent enough. Which part of me looks like I’ll 乖乖 be in a homestay? But thankfully, I’m quite a good actress (Bui will agree with me on this) so even if the food stinks I can still look like I’m enjoying it. Not that I’ve had any stinky food so far, but just sometimes, they don’t exactly agree with my picky palates.

E.g. Having museli every morning

What I say: “Yup I like cereals! Need milk for calcium.. ”

What I mean: “Er.. yah, cereals like Milo, Koko Crunch and Honey Stars *cries*..not dry patchy oats”

And YES I’ve been eating museli every. single. day (except those days when I had that dizzy sickness) so I’m going to pig out on a McDonald’s hotcake brekkie on Monday. And the ang mohs don’t have the tradition of eating heavy lunches. In fact, their lunch is so light I think I feel faint  just 2 hours after my lunch, which is usually a sandwich or leftovers from dinner last night. Tuna sandwich, ham sandwich, tuna with tomatoes sandwich, ham with lettuce sandwich, oh yay today’s tuna with pepper sandwich! *Confetti*  But dinner’s mostly good stuff! Had like oven roasted chicken, roast lamb, beef casserole, ham and egg pies, tarahiki fish with cous cous, salmon… yummy stuff man! I always console my pathetic breakfast/lunch with the dinners. But at least I’m going to start forcing myself to cook!! Watch out for the next MASTERCHEF!!! Muahaha~

And where did the theory of “Eat breakfast like a king, eat lunch like a prince and eat dinner like a pauper” go to?! This is almost the reverse of it!! So no more of these in the hostel. Gonna eat cereals (my kind of cereal) at night and better stuff for breakfast and lunch. AT LEAST an egg for lunch please. Okay, now there’s a seemingly big loophole in this homestay food theory – if I don’t like to eat food provided by them, I can just opt for the accommodation without food option right…? That’s technically true, but I’ll always feel paiseh to put my stuff in their fridge! And what if you need the pots? Are you gonna buy your own plates? It’s just much easier to do these stuff if other people who live with you are on equal standing with you – i.e. they rent the place too. So who’s to say I can’t put my durian in the fridge or smelly socks in the toilet!?

But overall I must say the place has been good. The room is big, I have a toilet to myself, and I can have my one-person-karaoke on Sundays when they go to church and I’m home alone. NOW you know why those videos were taken on Sundays? :P And I’ve met loads of interesting people (their friends and/or neighbours) who come around for dinner, or going to their houses for dinner and listening to them make insightful conversations. NO gossiping I tell you, they just discuss about things like as if they’re in a meeting  Also did some things which would be impossible without a homestay e.g. Heather brought me to the Palmerston North Boy’s High school concert!! Was damn fantastic… all the boys were so talented, can feel my SPG-instincts kicking in even though they are younger than me *slurp*.

In anycase, a homestay life is totally the opposite of my Massey common room or life in Singapore. I NEVER ate by the dining table, I NEVER had to say grace before dinner (actually I only close my eyes and wait for them to say ‘Amen’), I NEVER left school at 5 or 6 p.m. because that’s the bloody peak hour and I don’t wanna die at Jurong East Station being trampled by all tiongs and banglas and nasty Singaporeans), and I NEVER said ‘Good Morning’ to anyone when I wake up in the morning (okay it’s a good habit to have, but it’s not Singaporean). But I’m glad I had the chance to homestay! Homestay, hostel then flatting!!! Saying hello to “I can walk home in 10 minutes” and “I can goddamnit decide what I want to eat” days!!!