btw, did i mention my cooking is all done via the microwave. hehh. i'm not such a god after all huh. so tina, still wanna eat my food???
anyway, i found a new slave to cook for me today!! muahaha. i'll never go hungry here.

you HAVE gotta be proud of me :) hell, I AM proud of myself haha...je peux faire la cuisine! i can cook! all those back home, you gotta admit that this is an amazing feat for me.

i can make decent things..soya sauce chicken, fried tau geh and beef, cheese baked fish, steamed xiao bai cai above my usual fare of deluxe sandwiches, rice, pasta and crepes heheeheeheehee. and all with casih's sambal belachan! thankewe casih..i love the chilli.

and they're all done without ginger, onions, condiments, spices etc. ç'est à dire: they're healthy, nutritious but instant food. see, i can still retain my busy schedule as a future career woman yet keep my family healthy..ain't that amazing.

k this was when i was still delgated the job of washer woman at cap affaires, but i'm up a level now!!

magical wkend in london

london london..how gd it is to spk english to everybody again! can you sense my excitement haha. and not only that, i gotta meet rachel!!! (hugz..i'll see you in s'pore at sok's room again ok..we'll get wasted again :D) wheee..and of course, ida too. boy have i heard so much about her and in person, she's just as cool.

playing UK monopoly certainly gets you acquainted with the places in london. and yes, i built a hotel on that piece of land, you passed it, either pay me or go straight to jail. so wonderful to be able to know so much about a place and finally getta see it in person. i walked thru harrod's and tried krispy kreme donuts! i sat on the london eye! i walked along the river thames! i watched a musical with an original london cast! NOT..but i'll be back for you Chicago! but the coolest thing has gotta be the night life in london. man, it's way more hip than paris. the buses run 24hrs and the girls dress in full power even during winter..they make the winter hot.

so it started out on friday morning at 0530h. ran from utc to the gare because of someone :P missed the train by a few seconds. took the next train, reached paris and ran to the eurostar departure gate. made it......phew. anyway it's true, he's casanova and he wrote love letters all the way on the eurostar.

then when we got to london, our dearest realised he forgot to write down the address of our hostel, so we spent only about 6 hrs finding for a place to stay grinz. it was fun, walking up and down the streets of london. and the british are so friendly! so much better than the french. then met rach for dinner and that was day 1. well it was enough adventure for one day.

(1st) big ben and the parliament house as seen from the london eye.

(2nd) london eye at night. so romantic............. :)

(3rd) grp shot. cs, ida, me, thiago.

(4th) the topmost view from the eye. oh come on :P see i'm not scared to show!

(5th) gate of buckingham palace. or is it fu**ingham palace??

(1st) tower of london. where prisoners were kept..(i think)

(2nd) grp shot by the moat of tower of london.

(3rd) grp shot on tower bridge. ah fong, vincy, mancy, ray, jd, ida, cs, me, thiago.

yupp these were the macau and hk pple that ida was travelling with, so we went touring with them. language overload man; first french, then now english and sometimes mandarin and now cantonese!! woh. so me and thiago felt so left out. sigh at least i had a partner! heh. aniwae i promise you guys more photos, of rachel, of trafalgar square, of greenwich observatory, of westminster abbey etc.

to be continued..

Belgique & Luxembourg

wohh..i haven't been blogging for so long! i'm having withdrawal symptoms man. these 2 weeks has been really really hectic..

went for rugby training on monday, so fun! the girls strip in front of everybody and bathe together..wow. haha. i'm fine with that but i was trying hard not to stare. i don't feel so bad anymore, with my big butt and hips and tummy, apparently this is how the female's body is meant to be! yay. then tues was the soiree brasilienne and fri left for Belgium & Lux after school.

i went with connie, a canadian-hongkee..studying at uwaterloo as well! *hey ju, your counterpart!* it was cool cos t'was just the 2 of us, everything was done chop-chop. first up was brussels. we reached at 11pm so we went straight to the hotel. I WAS SO STUPID! i forgot that i booked the rm for 1 person only and so only 1 person can show face at the reception. we ended up having to get 2 rms and paying €50 more. dammit.

(left) bande desinee. many of such on the walls, artistic. (centre) mannekin pis, the most famous monument in brussels. it's so tiny. apparently it embodies the free spirit of belgium. (right) view of brussels.

belgium is famous for its beers..oh man, 12% alcoholic content! tastes so good. and it's chocolates (godiva, leonidas etc) what a sin, i couldn't stop eating those damn chocs. and waffles!! many waffle stands everywhere in the city. also they're famous for mussels and rabbit in beer sauce haha. so unique that me and connie just had to splurge €50 on dinner. -sheepish grin-

(left) chocolate liqueur! 17% alocoholic content! (far left) a typical beer shop. oooooooh. lugged 6 bottles of beer in my bag, wanted to buy more but too heavy! oooooooh.

Brugges, touted as the venice of belgium and untouched even by the 2 world wars. so beautiful!! i'm coming back here for my honeymoon :P

we met 2 american girls on exchange to spain and went touring brugges together, on the riverboat tour. the river traversed most of the city centre and passed beautiful cottage houses which were built by the river! so pretty and so quaint :) but their road names are damn stupid, like Dweersdtraaat..why the hell do you need so many vowels together. how do you pronounce that man. the language here is flemish and the artist Jan Van Eyck who did The Arnolfini Marriage was from here! i loved his works.

this is luxembourg. it's a small lil country just a lil bigger than spore and about as rich. apparently rich countries find that construction and redevelopment is a must, so cranes will always be present to ruin the skyline in photos (above) just like in spore urgh. the middle of the city is a valley. all pictures taken of the valley.

AND I'M ON MY WAY TO LONDON WHIS WKEND!! WOOHOOOOO! told these 2 wks is gonna be hectic :P

[disclaimer: fyi the post on long dist relationships is not about me! anyway, thankewe you guys for being so SO concerned haha..but don't worry ok.]

ok so i haven't properly introduced my lil home to you yet.
(far left) my room, view from the door. it's on the 5th floor..again. why am i always condemned to the top floors! in ntu and now in france..urgh. heh it's a blessing in disguise tho, the rooms are way newer, compared to eg venus' room haha.
(top right) the view of the courtyard from my window.

this is Roberval, nice and cosy for one person. there are other residence universitaires like clos des roses, which are much bigger than mine, so parties, gatherings and my cell grp are always held there. the background of the photos of my parties are usually in the rooms of clos des roses, eg chez willian. but if there are gatherings in roberval, it's always at the pantry hehh sad huh. but it's the pantry where i always meet new pple from the level and get to practice my french! btw a cashier commented that my french was good for a beginner muahahaha.

well, i pay €101 /mth for roberval (after lodging discounts!!!), that's half the rent of clos des roses. so i'm happy, i getta save for travelling. tho we hafta pay €4 for laundry (washing & spin dry) but with free soap powder. also, the walls are really thin. and it's a bitch cos MANY hostelites sleep before midnite..like what the hell man. so my frens hafta tolerate complaints from their neighbours if they bathe or make too much noise after midnite. well, i am blessed with a great neighbour haha..altho i've only talked to him once. he's my toilet mate as well, can you believe it, a guy for my toilet mate. but it's not that bad, they won't go rape anybody.

anyway, each country gets to host a party at the university pub, Picolo (the principal of UTC decided to ban drinking in pic! like sheesh, what's the whole point of a uni pub then) and last night was the brazilian soiree. hehee..packed with loadsa fun.

the boys. am i happening or what. fabio is on my right,really nice guy! aniwae i think i look really good that nite grinz. (don't puke)

(top right) confetti! it was like Nice's mardi gras all over again. made my whole room a mess after.

look at Mika, the german. he stands a head taller than all. his parties are awesome btw.

the asians. with our friendly french mentor, celia. and the girl b/w alwin and me..jane, korean. such mesmerizing eyes, hor alwin :P he's so sweet. koreans have 'vday' on 14th mar where the guys give sweets to the girls. and jane got one, from him. awww.

the other china hahaha. it's bicycles there but rollerblades here, tho it's a tad bit cooler than cycling. but a new pastime nonetheless! to pass our pathetic, love-less, aimless lives. (that sentence was for someone else not me :P)

in aid of andy, those blades are truly horrible to blade in, for debutants that is. no control, no brakes..how cool is that. but for us, beginner blades would suffice. it beats walking anytime. i'm so sian of it. we hafta walk everywhere here cos it's way too cold to be stationary for 20 min (or more) to wait for the bus. and today, the ultimate, andy and cs bladed to and fro from carrefour! that's a 30min bus ride away. haha -clap clap- an accomplishment.








(4th pic) notice how much the height difference is?? another reason why i like wearing blades muahaha.

(left) pretty girl! sarah, she is.
yepp yet another soiree pour jouer les cartes cette fois. chez willian/joaquim/andre.
(top left) willian, joaquim, marcello. -wink wink- think they're hot?


but we singaporeans are famous for the thing we do best, mugging. haha. we are wet blankets, tous les temps.

tomber amoureux

many many things have been happening in the course of almost 2 mths -- love found, love lost, friendships built, friendships ruined, friendships rebuilt again, misunderstandings, misinterpretations, longings and wishes that come to pass, and those that don't.

it's so easy to immerse oneself totally into smth here, cos there are no restrictions, no ties that bind. and yet it can go so wrong sometimes.

one love (or is it lust? haha) flourishes against all odds but is brought back down to reality by invisible bonds. yet it still ploughs on by sheer determination and i'm so sure i'm gonna see it work out well. haha. i'm cheering for you on the sidelines! i'm not gonna tell you to stop and think. i guess you've heard enough of that.

and yet another, not as much luck as the previous, but still being constantly jabbed about it, tho nth concrete has been happening or probably will ever happen. but nth from home holds them back, only one party. oh c'mon..can't you see!

and the third, boy is it going well for them..it's as though the rest of the world doesn't exist anymore! haha love does make the world go round huh, or in this case, makes the world ard them disappear. but what a bore..for the rest that is.

and well for others, distance is a major minus point; one will never know lond dist relationships until they try. problems remain unsolved. partners remain uncontacted. and then they drift so far till they fall off the platform of love.

but all's not lost in some cases. they remain happy :) like________haha.

aniwae more pictures, as requested!

haha GUESS WHO!

accounts! specially for mom.

haha..my expenditure thus far, as of 9 Mars. it is...how should i say......interesting. =P

groceries and meals: ~€212.50 (includes supermarketing and university restaurant lunch coupons)
trips and shopping: ~€917 (includes 3 trips to paris, trip to Lyon etc and the coming trip to Italy)
accomodation: €468.40
sch books and sch insurance: ~€125 (notes, housing insurance, students' assoc and sports fee)
2 calling cards: €65
outings, parties: ~€47.20
miscellaneous: ~€26 (stamps, medicine, laundry)

camera and 256mb SD card: €218.90
specs: €235
air ticket: €654

okay, don't scream so loud. i can here you from here. oui, c'est ça, mais ce augmentera tres bientot! i.e. 它非常很快将增加! j'avais essayé et je vais essayer diminuer ma dépense :) mommy, go translate that!

ohmygoodness. it's now not a good thing that my room is right opposite the toilet. a whaft of shit-smelling air has drifted right under my door and into my nose. it's really bad! and man, you can't imagine what you find (or don't find) in toilets here..no sanitary napkin bins, no other bins, no mirror and apparently, condom machines are more impt..

c'est nulle

oh man, l'emploi de temps is a bitch..what's wrong with the system here! oh wells, i so can't be bothered. wrong mentality but i dunno what i'm thinking anymore, my brain's screwed up. i'm tired. i need zoe life.
ce n'est pas necessaire, mais je me trouve toujours dans cette situation...ENCORE. je suis vraiment dépendant? je dirai moi-meme: sois fort!
this entry's ridiculous. some photos to make up for it heehee. :P


(top) snowman!
(left) clockwise from top left: felipe, jorge, rodrigo, leo, edvan, ricardo, thiago, me, joaquim.








chun seong with tina! and me (extra heh). cocobanana the night before louvre. slept 2 hrs before catching the 8.08am train to paris. man, horrid. but the louvre made up for it all.







cupid with venus in his arms.
oh i love louvre, the louvre heehee. but cannot take photo so sad. it's so big; 3 wings, sully, richelieue and denon with 35000 art works altogether. ancient egyptian civilization - mummies and sarcophages and all. pre-classical archeological finds. french artists and italian artists. and of course jaconda, the mona lisa in denon!!
we were so tired, after slping for only 2h. me and lydia fell asleep on a sofa, so paiseh. so.......


....we rewarded ourselves with a proper french dinner in a proper french restaurant, steak and dessert. pas de bouteille de vin though haha.

the past

only when it leaves, will it come back. and when it does, it will return fast, knocking you off-balance, taking you away from reason. perspection and interpretation, the aspects that make you so mysterious, so endearing, it draws me away from the truth and reality. but i'm careful of what i wish for, for it may just come true. it can't be controlled and it makes me a fool cos wishing for the past is silly, for the past is alluring only because it's in the past and it lives in a perfect world in your mind. you can never be sure, cos the grass is always greener on the other side, but truth is, Now's the best time in your life. creating influence, being an example, being you. it will be mundane, but life is a routine and life is a journey and the journey is in your hands. do not worry for tmrw, for tmrw will worry for itself. He took care of your past and will take care of your future and He will never give you a rock as bread or poison as water. you are His creation, special in every sense, superior in every way and possessing unique wisdom from above that no other can have. that's the beauty of it all, so be sure of yourself and never doubt your capability. we are empowered from on high. and i cherish all that's happened, is happening and will happen and never regretted one moment..thank you. :) here you go.

urgh

what the hell. blogspot ain't picture friendly AT ALL.

Lyon, Nice and Marseilles

the reunion of the NTU GIP pple in the tram of Lyon. trust me, this trip was one helluva lot of trouble to realize.

haha but man, was it worth it..at least now i know snow sports ain't my cup of tea. but, i still fared well better than most muahaha. nope i shall not boast here :P

at the northern alps, valmoral. -sorry venus, i needed a negative example.-

here, all set to ski, tall and proud (top right), mais toujours comme ça (left). hehhehhehh.

vieux Lyon up on the hill overlooking nouveau (?) Lyon (left). check out a REAL amphitheatre (above), acoustics are really really good..smth rgs tried to copy in a very small scale..look at how tiny we are here.

the carnival at Nice (the place), a nice carnival of floats for mardi gras. beautiful and so festive! we were carrying our bagpacks and probably the only few asians around, so we kena-ed the most streamers and confetti. angmohs are so friendly, the festive season for them is literally for everybody to enjoy together. i love that spirit. singaporeans are this way as well, but with way less festivals and reasons to celebrate. bought the party hat and a mardi gras mask haha.

specialty food of Nice, socca. Nice (the place *snigger*) has nice, beautiful pebble beaches. cote d'Azur was nearby but i'll visit it another time during summer.

Marseilles, it's a port and it was really hot..we were sweating even with one layer! i really really miss the sun.