#111

Okay okay hello from Pennsylvania, USA. 2 months into the exchange program, 2 months from the end of it. And of course what better time to write here than when I have 2 exams and an essay due tomorrow!! Okay but I just wanted to say something real quick… So yesterday I was indulging in some yummy B&J’s (someone seriously needs to restrain me omg); I was trying to scoop it out and it was really hard. I huff and puff and suddenly a huge chunk comes flying out and lands somewhere on my bed!!!! Now my bed is pretty messy and I was panicking while frantically trying to look for the stupid ice cream because yknow, ice cream melts and all. Thank God I found it after what felt like the longest 30 seconds ever, before it did much damage lol.

So today I was eating ice cream again (I know I know), and this time I propelled it with great force, RIGHT INTO MY RIGHT EYE. Now it is again a pretty big chunk of ice cream and is quite literally a rock. So now I’m sitting here typing with a blurriness in my right eye. I know I don’t sound particularly anxious here but it is indeed quite a big deal, and I really hope it goes away and I don’t end up with permanent blurred vision all because I was a little enthusiastic in having some Strawberry Cheesecake B&J’s. And if you’re more concerned about the fate of the idiot ice cream, then yes, I immediately picked it up and ate it while grabbing my hurting eye. Mmm still undeniably good even after it punched me in the eyeball. Sometimes I despise myself.

Anyway, since I’m here I should probably do an update on life here so far.

But then again I’m a bit lazy right now. And my eye is all weird and stuff. Till next timeee!

#110

“特地做一个给你” cause I ordered right as they were changing to lunch menu.

Really has that freshly made feeling, egg was hot and oozy. And they started playing What a Feeling by 1D and I looked up and the speakers were right above me. And I got a wall to lean on.

Mmm I feel so contented right now. Little things in life, little things.

#109 Europe

In May I went to be a tourist in Europe.

London

Paris

Venice

Florence

PisaGelatooooooo

Rome

Our Airbnb was near the colosseum so we would pass by it at least twice everyday. But of course one day we also went inside like proper tourists. So its where they used to have gladiator fights!!

And one day there was a strike! Something about civil workers and contracts. It was quite a nice strike and there was a marching band and all.

This is such a pretty fountain!!! We saw this on the first day when we came to a junction in a shopping street. I was absolutely breathtaken.

Ruins.

And more ruins. Actually we found that most of the attractions in Rome are actually just left-behind ruins where they build a gantry and charge an entrance fee. Nevertheless beautiful though after a while they all start to look the same.

Aww these lovebirds were kissing awwwwe.

We also went into the Vatican and this bird was probably the most interesting part.

Switzerland – Grindelwald, Lucerne

Mountain day! Took the train up to Kleine Scheidegg. The weather was actually really good although the forecast kept telling us it was gonna rain but it didn’t till the last day.. Guess the dark clouds kept getting pushed back. Also God is really good to us.

This is a dude named Carl whom we met on the train up the mountain. He was alone and asked us if we wanted to hike up the mountain with him. Definitely dangerous on so many levels and should be avoided under most circumstances.

But of course we agreed.

Welppp we didn’t get killed or anything. He was pretty experienced with walking mountains and stuff and was really patient with us. It was funnnn! And he gave us little sled rides down the slopes.  Guess he just wanted some company and we looked harmless enough. Yay for nice strangers!!!

Oh we also drank fresh warm milk out of a cow’s stomach.

The view right outside our chalet. In the evening we sat on the porch outside and had yogurt and fruit for supper and listened to classical music from symphony 92.4. T’was the life.

Aaand thank God for Lucerne! I mean the countryside is really beautiful but after 4 days I really needed some civilisation (read: shopping). And everywhere in Lucerne is just so nice I simply loved walking around in it!

If we were tall and thin.

We explored a mirror maze and it was fun! Exactly my type of fun.

Do you see that’s a pool behind us. Halfway up a mountain. Also you probably can’t tell but we were IN the clouds here. Of course that also meant that when we reached the top of Mount Rigi all we could see was fog.

Take me back ):

#108 Hello from Italy;

Ciao.

#107 stuff

So Zariya happened two weeks ago. I was in three pieces – Prahasana, which is like a broadway-ish comedy piece, Samatva, classical piece about equality, and Tathastu, the usual energetic bollywood which was also the finale.

Prahasana! I really enjoyed this one.

It was a pretty crazy journey. Really really tough but definitely a new experience for me. One thing ive really missed these few months tho are mechola practices and cell cus my saturdays were all taken up by zariya. I actually have never been to cell once since the split from Tuxedo ):

And then the next saturday after Zariya we went for Holi at sentosa!! We arrived and checked in our stuff then went to buy the colors. Then we went into the dance arena and started smearing each other with color and people were pouring and spraying water on us while we danced. The music was great, mostly bollywood and I recognised a few too. Got kinda high on the music and atmosphere and the inner party girl in me was unleashed LOL. What can I say I looove dancing!!!

These pair of shorts will never be the same again.

After we left Dhwani’s friend Hersha (?) drove us back to her house to clean up, then I went home to shower and went out for dinner with the family. I didnt realise I was so tired I slept like 11 hours that night.

Oh oh okay this was Ivy’s choir concert at the esplanade. It ended at like 10 so we were waiting for her to come out, and we wanted to go out but it was pretty late and we might miss the last train home. So we decided last-minute to stay over at her place. Didnt bring change toothbrush milkey nuthin’. Her mom dropped us at macs to tapao and we went back to eat, then played PSYCH!! Hahaha. Then we watched this stephen chow movie called Mermaid. It was nice and quite retarded but I was nearly falling asleep near the end. Ivy already went to sleep after like 30 mins she was so tired from choir and everything. The movie ended at almost 4am, then the guys started watching these lame vids and I was so tired I went to sleep. Next thing it was 8am on Good Friday, everyone woke up and we watched couple of vids then went for brekkie at the coffee shop. And we went back and had something like a jamming session and played a little PSYCH again. Then my parents picked me at like 1pm, went home and napped for 3 hours.

We danced the opening segment for the easter services yesterday. So there was this part where Zhi Ai and I were supposed to each hold one side of this purple cloth and tear it, to signify the tearing of the veil. But we didnt manage to practice the actual tearing beforehand. During the actual performance…. the cloth would not rip!!!!!! So zhi ai and i were on stage tugging at the thing for like 3 seconds which felt like forever. Thank god we had decided on a plan b so she let go and i ran off with the whole thing. It was exactly as i had feared!! Well the second service we used an already torn cloth that was taped up, so that worked better.

Later this evening I’ll be going for evan’s 21st. Yay my first ever 21st bday! Next one would be shankari’s hehe can’t wait.

#105

Prayer.

I don’t know, I’ve been having weird feelings about it lately.

Two days ago I was at J333 (church prayer meeting) and I watched people standing around in groups, head bowed, and it struck me for the first time its a kinda strange thing we Christians do.

Now don’t get me wrong, I really do believe in prayer and I’m always thankful we have such a direct means of talking to God. But that’s just it – sometimes it doesn’t feel like a natural conversation to me.

I’m talking about corporate prayer, the kind where we gather in a circle and sort out our prayer agenda before hand. Who prays for what, possibly discuss prayer pointers. And the prayer might start with a Dear God, thank you for -something-, then commit the issue to Him, quote a relevant bible verse, seal with an Amen, done.  Prayer sent up to heaven. But that’s not how a natural conversation works, is it? Ah you know what? It feels like I’m given a specific topic to write a paper on. Introduction, cite a reference here and there, may not really feel strongly about the topic but just write anyway. If prayer is simply talking to God, why do we state obvious things and make obvious requests like they actually make a difference to an all-knowing, all-powerful God?

I get it, prayer is not so much because God needs to be told what to do, but to edify ourselves and affirm each other. Perhaps it’s this that doesn’t quite sit well with me, because it instead feels like we’re just trying to reassure ourselves. Everything is just so… intentional.

It’s different when I’m praying alone for whatever is on my mind. If some world situation has been especially troubling, I might talk to God about that. Which raises the question- should we pray only for things that we are passionate about? Because I know, that’s pretty self-centered; christianity isn’t just about me as an individual. But elsewise, it just feels like I’m going through the motions.

Now, I know many people are really prompted by the Holy Spirit and truly feel for what they are praying for. When they pray you really feel their sincerity. But for me, in corporate situations at least, it’s mostly uninspired prayer. It’s just how I personally feel at the moment. I don’t even know if any of this makes sense, maybe it’s just a phase. I’ve had a lot of phases.

#104

This week (week 2) of skating I started learning outside 3-turns. I find that everytime towards the end of a session I start to get into the groove of things, but by the next session I tend to have lost the momentum and take a while to get comfortable again. So  by the end of my last session (Friday) I was starting to get moving 3-turns for both sides, but we’ll have to see how much I retained when I go back tomorrow. I’m probably gonna start trying backwards crossovers too; currently I can sort of awkwardly pick up my right foot while gliding on my left while holding on to the barrier, but I can barely glide on my right. It’s weird cus when I first started Right was better than Left, especially for outside edges and forward crossovers, but I guess due to the skating direction of the rink I got to practise Left more and now it’s overtaken Right.

#103 明知道

Thank you God for not giving me what I asked for but what I really needed.

So I’ll be honest here, last year there was someone who was both the best and worst thing to happen to me in 2015. Well anyway stuff happened, which I realise was God protecting me when I was too weak to walk away. Though I’m sorry to say that in the end, pride, not God, was my motivation for doing so. For sure it hurt like crazy when I did; I always knew it would eventually. And now it’s been a week; 3 days since closure, but it somehow feels way longer than that. I still find myself slipping back into memories and hypothetical scenarios and wondering… a lot.

Anyway, life goes on; it’s 2016 and God’s timing is perfect. I had one new year resolution that I umm, already broke… It was to be a good student and go through the notes before each lecture. Well, I’ll keep trying I guesssss.

Today I had an 8am lecture where we learnt about blood. I like physiology modules. After that Nessie and I went ice skating and I bought the 3 month pass, so I guess I’ll be spending some free time there. Fell on my ass and it still hurts now. Came home unbelievably tired, crashed before heading back to school for dinner with Cru people and Impact.

So I have a problem. Ever since Canada I’ve been waking up at 6/7am no matter what time I sleep!! 8am lecture today? Not even a struggle; I was up at 6am -.- However its really annoying because I always end up super tired by midday. Stop it body! Speaking of body, it’s telling me I could really use a bag of dried mangoes now. Yes, at 1.14am. And it’s been dried mangoes for the past few months now. Thank you hormones.

#102 A month in Canada

7-13 Dec; Vancouver
Mao and I met my cousin Joel at the airport, cabbed to the hotel and went for lunch. After that Joel and I went to walk around while Mao took a nap; we explored Gastown, Chinatown and went to the Christmas Market. The next day we biked to and around Stanley Park, then visited ScienceWorld and Animal Body World. It was so interesting. Then the next morning Mao joined us and we went to Granville Island in the morning, before cabbing to UBC where she had her own program. Joel and I visited the Museum of Anthropology, walked around some garden then caught the sunset at wreck beach (WHICH IS A NUDE BEACH but it was too cold for people to get nekkid I guess…). Next 2 days they both had arrangements so I was out and about on my own. Found a gem in an ice rink in robertson square where admission is free and skates are rented at $4.00!!! After skating I toured downtown, walked along the beach during the sunset. Next day I took the seabus up north to Lonsdale Quay, then a bus to Lynn Canyon park. From there I walked back to the Lonsdale Quay market, stopping along the way for lunch and shopping.

 

May or may not have dashed toward the playground and jumped onto the swing…

On the last day we rented a car and all three of us went up to Whistler mountain to check out the village and ski slopes. Saw snow for the first time in my life!!!

14-17 Dec; Toronto
Downtown Toronto was 3 days long, mostly sightseeing on my own. There is this huge shopping mall called the Eaton Center where a substantial amount of my cash ended up in… Also checked out places like the CN Tower, St. Lawrence’s market, Railway museum, couple of churches, Chinatown, Shoe museum, Kensington market.

So one day it was getting dark and I was heading back when all of a sudden I couldn’t believe my eyes. Right in front of me was quite literally the prettiest and most magical sight I had ever seen!! It was a real outdoor ice rink; I was utterly enthralled.

The pictures don’t even begin to do it justice.

So the next day, I went to skate there. But it was afternoon and the lights weren’t on yet.

18 Dec- 3 Jan; Missisauga
So after Mao was done with her exchange, my aunt’s family came to take us up to Mississauga where we would stay with them for the rest of the trip. Dad and Nessie also joined us shortly after. One day we went downtown with Jolene and Joel and we did the escape room and went back to Nathan Philips square to skate again. This time it was realllly crowded though.

We didn’t manage to solve it ):

Nothing like ice-cream in the cold…

This was the day we also picked up my other cousin Joanne from downtown. With everyone present there were 11 of us.

In the house we mostly had home-cooked food by my aunt, Joel and Jolene.

I am officially the family fooseball champion!!!!! NO ONE BEATS ME AT THIS.
P.s. they lost this one too.

Visited their church for three services.

Niagara Falls.

27-30 Dec; New York
Took a 4d3n road trip to New York. First day we took a boat ride to see Lady Liberty then went to the 9/11 Memorial and Times Square at night. Day 2 afternoon was Rockefella Center, then we watched the Phantom of the Opera on Broadway. My first experience, I loved it and now I wanna watch more of these but they are so expensive!!

On the way back we stopped by the original origin of buffalo wings. Never liked wings but these were pretty good, I had 6 pieces.

So after that we were in the car driving back when I looked up out the window, and beheld a clearing of blue sky. I’d never ever seen sky so blue; it was like I was really seeing the sky for the first time.

Now I think I understand scenery.

One day we woke up to this.

So after breakfast, we went out to play in the snow!!

Sat by the fireplace…

Now that’s a real winter.

I think the duration of the whole trip, which was about one month, was just right cus right around the time we left I think I had a good balance of can’t bear to leave and can’t wait to get home. Know what I mean? It’s usually too short, always cant bear to leave more than I wanna get home. Anyway the thing I missed most about Singapore was wearing shorts and actually having blood flowing in my hands.

#101

Post-exam glow iz real yooo. Also I drove the new car for the first time earlier this evening!!

November is a pretty great month in terms of music starting with 1D’s Made in the AM! My favs are What a Feeling, Walking in the Wind, If I Could Fly, I Want to Write You A Song and Infinity. I really like Perfect and Love You Goodbye too but their lyrics are kinda… uh, unbecoming.

I love Bieber’s Sorry and Love Yourself too!! And so many nice choreographies have come out of them. Yknow dance really makes me appreciate music so much better. And you can imagine how distracted I got while trying to study hahaaha.

Speaking of which yesterday I discovered Stevie Hoang who is probably going to be my all time favorite musician ever forever!!!! You know how you never like all music from even your favorite artists? Like I probably like 50% of NeYo’s and pushing 70% of 1D’s cause there’s always a handful I just can’t bring myself to like. So as I heard song after song from SH I was waiting to not like one BUTT THERE WASNT A SINGLE ONE THAT DIDNT SOUND GOOD??? I was so utterly blown away that I literally abandoned all other activities (hence proceeding to die in Runescape) and stoned there in blissful disbelief. I think I have struck musical gold; thank god he has like four albums!!

…And well, that’s pretty much all I’ve got to say about music.

  

Soooo… Exams are over but hmm I don’t feel any different. There was no gust of fresh air nor did the sun shine brighter when I stepped outta my last exam. I was wearing a cute dress though so that made me feel extra good…

Whups can’t see the dress.

Omg cant stop laughing at this. Part 2 is hilarious too!