random

the end of one phase
another begins with the waning of the moon
all that remains
are beams of memories
reflections that waver in the water
are they there
or not
were they ever

or but a dream
a dream that is reality only in a frame of space and time
one place becomes real
another but a reflection that is or was

a precious memory that fades with the days
photographs that spark a thought
but never the same this newly formed reflection

from one to another
one web to the next
one comfort to another
one world two lives

who and what remains
where the ships are marked only by
the ripples in the water
or is there an anchor?

Thinking too much before exams.And of all the wrong things too

So I was in the gym today.
And I realised. That some people probably enjoying exercising in the gym more than excersing outdoors.
I for one, generally prefer to swim in a pool, than in the ocean. I guess a lake is ok. And of course I do not like snorkelling in a pool. Nothing to see right? :)

And then I thought.

Man created the gym and the pool because he didnt always have access to the great outdoors.
Not everyone lives near a body of water.
Not everyone lives in a country where the weather is always suitable to being outdoors.
We created the gym and the pool to replace what we could not have. Like creating an artificial environment for animals in a zoo.

Bu the irony is. Some of us now actually prefer this artificial environment. Much like how animals who have been in captivity for a long time can't survive in the wild.

Hmm.

Thinking too much? Call it exam delirium

After Hitch

I have noticed a trend!!!!

Men are starting to need help with their love life (ok, so maybe they always did) but the point is, now there are services to help them!!! Services by men for men to teach them how to date! And its all university based..you don't wait till you start work and feel "old" and "on the shelf" anymore..nip the problem in the bud!

Theres the LOVE CLINIC in Singapore, set up by 3 NUS med students, who by the way, have never dated before. And if you want to see more antics, search for the dating episodes of girls out loud on youtube. Girls out loud is a Singapore tv show hosted by Xiaxue and Rosalyn...

And in UC Berkeley, theres this, set up by 2 Computer Science majors I think (notice the trend here), though from their profiles they do seem more successful with love than their counterparts in Singapore. Then again, it could just be plain marketing. Its is pretting interesting though......
http://attractionessentials.com/

Can someone set up one for my school?

Stop! And smell the roses.

This happened 3 days ago

I feel amazingly at peace with the world.
Kinda cool considering just yesterday I was at an all time low. Maybe its PMS. Yesterday was a terrible terrible day. I couldn't even sleep.

But today.

Today.

Today, I stopped and smelled the roses.
After a whole day of studying in the LSE library I call "second home" now, I went back, somewhat exhausted. But I decided to go out for a walk by myself.

I bought a chicken pie from Kowloon Bakery in Chinatown on Gerrard Street (its actually pretty good) and walked to Leicestor square while eating. The chicken pie reminds me of the Prima Deli one back in Singapore. Other things you can try there are the green bean pastry/ cake, and the banana cake.

Bought a smoothie from Tesco's and sat in Covent Garden on a bench, watching the world go by.




Strolled back home, stopping by Neal's Yard deli to get a herb cheese bread for a pound, take away. And munched on it while I walked back to the hall. By the way, Neal's Yard is a beautiful hidden little area in Covent Garden you should go check out. Its so colourful, and has some interesting little shops. A little bohemian hideaway!

Marvellous.

Life is short. Why Kill?

IN ADDITION (some after thoughts)

Koreans actually were apologetic for it..I don't see why they should be. Isn't it an individual's probem that he is a nutcase? Why should it become a national problem?
I suppose its cos of the Korean Identity, Nationalism thing.... how they have lots of korean pride. Its pretty interesting is it not..a country taking on the burden of someone's crime?
And the poor family too......
Why should Korea apologize? Makes it even more racial/ national.....

If you didn't already read about the Virginia Tech shootings......

Sometimes you wonder why these people go about rampaging and hurt not just themselves but those around them. And those left behind alive. Family, friends, other students..the emotional scar will be there. I cant imagine it happening in Berkeley... I didn't even have a very high level of gun consciousness in Berkeley. Though I am sure it was around..somewhere....

Shattering the idyllic student town. And life.

Access to guns...another problem? Guns can kill. duh. Tell Bush that.

Overdue Easter Egg, Gray's Anatomy and Cheap tickets to NY

I was watching Gray's Anatomy (my 2nd time watching TV since I got here!!!) with Kumiko and Gladys yesterday as we ate our 1 week overdue Easter Egg. Yes, I succumbed and bought a 5 pound easter egg with Kumiko, all in the spirit of Easter!! (overdue but hey I ate too much junk last weekend..need to spread the unhealthy food out) IT WAS YUMMIE. and so pretty!

Belgian Chocolate! Pretty Packaging..


Kumiko looking all happy as she picks her "poison" (death by chocolate?)


Little Chocolate in Big Chocolate egg!



Anyway, in the episode we saw, a woman's fiance was diagnosed with a heart problem They were like...40s? And then cos she couldn't handle the pressure, she broke off the engagement. What a @##$. It makes me so cynical about the ideal of love.

But. On the other hand.
How many of us would care for a sick man lying in his bed for the nest 10 years of his life? IF we were only engaged? OR even if we were married, how much love does it take for us to do that? X amount to get married X+Y amount to make a huge sacrifice? It reallly got me thinking...... Such a complicated issue. How does one consider emotions and rationality on the same page?

And on a lighter note. I'm booking my plane tickets for New York in summer. Or thinking/ trying to. I've been getting terribly indecisive these days. Must be the wonder of the internet. haha. FLEXIBILITY is the name of the game nowadays!
www.flyzoom.com has 129 pound one way tickets to NY!!! sO CHEAP! Its a Canadian budget airline. Go check it out if you have plans... BUT the downside is. You have to pay 3 quid for headphones (fine by me) AND I think baggage limit is 20kg.
Total price comes up to about 260 pounds.

I coulda gotten roundtrip on a proper airline..Air Canada for 240 pounds with one stopover..but indecisiveness kicked in and after 12 midnight the price todays is 340 pounds. AAHHHHH
This is why people who plan ahead tend to be rewarded with cheaper air tickets, hotels etc etc

Entering the mid 20 crisis

WHAT CRISIS????? you're only in your 20s!!!! Still so young!!!!!

I swear the mid 20s crisis exists. Its a point in your life where you feel that:

1. You're too old to party anymore. No more energy!

2. ____ (in this case St Paul's Cathedral), is so beautiful and you wish you had someone to share it with. Not just look at its beauty by yourself (and take a photo cos its so pretty), which is what I did
3. You just wanna be a pig and laze around at home zzzzz

4. Even travelling is getting tiring....


So. WHY???? What happened?!?!??!?!?!?!!
I was discussing this with my friend in Stanford...he is 24 and he feels like he isn't exactly at a good point at his life. He feels he will never find someone cos he wants a girl who speaks Mandarin and hes in USA, school (PhD) is starting to get tough..
My girlfriends (the single ones) and I constantly wish we had someone to share things with.

I think its the problem of going past the age of 21. 21 was like woohooo!!! I'm officially an adult (kinda) in the eyes of the law, if NEVER in the eyes of my parents.
22 was like...ok, one year past 21. I'm definitely "old".
23 is like..oh shit man..A few months before I start work
I can't qualify for the STA Student Travel Card in 3 years time, 4 years before I join a dating agency. -looks around- AND 2 OF MY CLOSE FRIENDS ARE ATTACHED! I'll never find someone.
my parents are older.. my sister is starting to look like my age..

AND WHAT GAVE I DONE WITH MY LIFE? 23 x 2= 46. I have lived 23 years, another 23 will go by just like that. and i havent done anything!?!??!?!?!?!?

I am just plodding along on the normal, "normal" course of life. School. Work. Marriage. Kids. Death. ok. Grandkids before that.
Is that what I want? Not like I can make a change till I am about 28 years old.. o my gawd..28...

People tell me that I am still young. Some of them quite condescendingly, some of them shaking their head. This young punk. Ok, so I am youngER. Not sure about young. haha. I guess maybe its a transition point in my life...from school to work. But I don't know what I want..is giving up one year of my life to try work in another field, that won't have much of an impact on my career for 6 years worth it? How much time do I have? Do I have time to "experience life" anymore? NO MORE summer holidays to do internships in Shanghai for fun, go to HK for some free program...
NO MORE leeway to study and do work when I want.. its 9am-7pm soon! Where my standard of living depends on my performance..though thankfully I am the female and therefore theres less pressure than if I were a guy -phew-

Ok BREATHE

So I am kinda looking forward to work. After all this studying, I want to see how I can do in the supposed real world. And sides, I'm sick of studying. I'm not looking forward to the constraints of work, but I don't mind getting down to it!
I'll have $$ to enjoy life and give some to my parents. (yes i have this crazy dream to buy them a sports car)
And I'm actually looking forward to singapore though I'm sure I'll think otherwise once I actually AM in Singapore. I'll have to build up connections and friends again n all that stuff..arrgghz

Don't get me wrong. London is great. Maybe if my family were here I could stay here longer..another 5 years? 2 years if they weren't. But. Its not the same somehow. I'll never be a real member/ citizen. I can live in my little Asian/ Oriental/ Singaporean community...but then what. Its like creating my own Chinatown! HAHA

Ok. I digress. I feel a lot better. EXAMS!! Here I come to conqueor you!!!!!

Sizing

My friend told me recently... that I was above average Singaporean girl's size. Which he claims is a good thing. BLEAH. Depressing.
Anyway, I thought this might be interesting!

From Bebe, a sexy American brand...


From Esprit..a HK brandFrom Abercrombie and Fitch, an American brand

A "S" at bebe is slightly bigger than an Esprit and a A&F "S"
Its actually pretty interesting how Esprit and A & F have similar definitions of "S"

However, A & F's XL goes all the way to waist 32 while Esprit's stops at 31.5 (waist size)

I actually find this a pretty surprising result because I always thought that Esprit, being a HK brand, would have smaller sizing in general than the American brands. Then again, Esprit is pretty international now isn't it?
ALTHOUGH, the XS in Esprit does get a lot smaller than the other 2 brands...

I tried looking for a size chart for Giordano but you can't really shop for it online..and since theres no Giordano (or its clones Bossini, Hang ten etc) here, I can't compare sizes! However, I would think its smaller. One thing for sure though, the sizes at the shops in Far East Plaza are usually smaller........Remind me not to shop there when I get back till I lose weight... if thats even possible!

Worldwide cuisine?

I always knew that food was going to be imported from somewhere..... I mean in Singapore, we don't grow our own stuff right? Everything's from somewhere else, malaysia, indonesia...even our sand is from there!!!!!!!!!!!

But I suppose its more in your face when its written on the packaging. In the UK, some of the fresh food has "best until" dates on them as well as which country it was imported from. I just noticed that my cherry tomatoes are suppose to be eaten in 4 days time, and they came from the Canary Islands! Exotic or what. I have this vision of a beautiful beach with coconut trees and palm trees, and my little cherry tomatoes growing......next to it on a patch of grass. Totally unrealistic but let me be creative here!!!!!!! (No Innovation and Creativity committee is going to tell me how to be "creative"!)

Even the Chicken proudly declares itself british. "British Chicken", complete with a little British flag. The honey is a mix of European and non- European honey. My honey is mix blooded!!! (Think Pan- Asian...)

I guess its just interesting how international the world is these days.... not just people travelling..FOOD too! I mean, food must have always been pretty international...but still! ITs so cool! My food is from all over, cuisines are from all over, people from all over..and I also have friends from all over! Friends whom I think I Wouldn't be able to keep in touch with if not for the Internet! THANK AL GORE (or whoever pioneered this)

I mean, you are not going to catch me writing long letters or blowing my phone bill to keep in touch with friends from various countries regularly...ok calls maybe (but rare). I'm too lazy and too cheapskate.

Even my blog. Makes me wonder how international it is.... people keep up to date with my life through this....