Sunday morning - I am awake at 7:30am, I have no idea why, because I went to bed around 2am. Technically I can go to dragonboat training, but I suppose it is too late now, plus the time for commuting. So I suppose I shall stick around at home today, and continue my travel planning and sending CS requests, and perhaps even read a bit. It's Sunday man. Although there is still pressure building up I suppose I can afford some rest once in a while. I am trying not to freak out at -42. Tonight I am going for a poetry reading thing with Laura, my CSer from Italy. It is going to be in NTU and is held by a bunch of academics, whose "poetry writing is lesser known" than their academic prowess. It doesn't get nerdier than this.
//11:44am
So I'm doing the planning for Europe. It is rather confusing with all the choices and permutations. I am currently working on the transport connections - on one hand I feel like just getting a rail pass and that would lead us down to figuring out the routes that don't require booking ('coz booking fees apply and I'd like my Eurail pass to cost a nett price instead of all the add-ons), and to figure out what countries I really need to be part of my Select Pass.
I had pretty much decided on getting a rail pass a few weeks back, but today I have been thinking that I actually don't need one. True I would have to figure out every single point to point connection and book it way in advance, which means that I will have less flexibility to deviate from my pre-established route, but then again I don't have so much flexibility anyway because I already have people to meet along the way and it's not like I can just fly off to some random country and spend a few days there. Laura recommended that, but perhaps I will do it the next time I get to Europe when I have less plans. It sounds so fun! Yay for impulse tickets!
But back to the connections. If I don't take a rail pass, the options are blown wide open and I'm then looking at rail, coaches, flights and ferries. If I can I'd like to take a ferry from Tallinn to Stockholm, just for the heck of it. And there are so many different websites to check out, to compare prices, and I have no idea which ones are legit... I mean, can you trust an airline that calls itself Wizz Air? (Insert juvenile joke) I did check if it was trustworthy and the reviews are apparently quite shitty. So should I spend double on another airline that's imaginatively named Smart Wings?
//12:15pm
I just checked Smart Wings' reviews and they seem to be equally crap. Then it led me to check this other airline called Sky Europe, which name I am fine with, just that it filed for bankruptcy last year. A few wiki searches later I ended up looking at Wizz Air's wiki page - and apparently it's rated the "European airline most likely to next go bust". Also it has its own hate site: WizzAirSucks.com (tagline: Miserable Customer Service + Screwed Customers = Wizz Air) I guess they're out. But they were bloody cheap though. The flight that I'm trying to score is Prague to Rome. It seems that Smart Wings is the only way to go, not even Eurolines provides that connection.
//1:22pm
I am contemplating taking off Rome (the sacrilege!) and putting in Vienna instead. For one, I'd probably save on transportation because Rome is kinda out of the way - my original plan was Prague - Rome - Verona/Venice - Zurich. Now if I take away Rome and put in Vienna instead, the connections make more sense: Praha - Vienna - Verona/Venice - Zurich. There's no one in particular that I have to meet in Rome, and Vienna is actually the 6th biggest CS city in the world (the 4th in Europe, after Paris, London and Berlin - all of which I am visiting), which is good for my research... decisions decisions!
//1:36pm
OK recap. The route so far:
Berlin
Prague
Vienna
Verona/Venice/north Italy (Laura - and the Dolomites!)
St Gallen (CS Paella Weekend woot!)
Zurich (possible detour to Strasbourg to find Linda)
Tallinn (Silver + Viljandi Folk Music Festival!)
Stockholm (Because the ferry from Tallinn goes here)
Gothenburg (Marten!)
Hamburg (Val in spirit!)
Paris (Vanessa!)
Ireland - not sure which part yet (Robert + cycling trip!)
London
Berlin
//2:18pm
Am considering taking out Hamburg. Val won't be there anyway, so there's no real point... it might be better to just skip to Paris and meet Vanessa straight away. The more detours I make the more it will cost me.
//3pm
Dates are firmed up, I am starting the connection bookings. So far I have got the flight from Zurich to Tallinn, yes! Next down is ferry from Tallinn to Stockholm, and train from Stockholm to Gothenburg; and flight from Gothenburg to Paris!
//4:28pm
Booked =) There are still many connections to be made but I have to rest for a while. Wouldn't want to book flights when I'm feeling sleepy. Let's see - within an hour I went on a spending spree that made me SGD625.99 poorer, and managed to get:
Zurich - Tallinn (Air Baltic); Tallinn - Stockholm (Tallink Silja ferry); Stockholm - Gothenburg (Swedish railway); Gothenburg - Paris (Air Berlin).
I reckon it's not too bad.
//5:58pm
So before I could take a nap Laura came back and we made an unanimous decision to skip the poetry reading, so we did travel planning instead, for her trip in Malaysia and for my trip in Europe. Quid pro quo ^^ And we found that there's actually a Couchsurfer hosting on Perhentian!!
She's on Skype now with her mum so I am continuing this blog post.
//next morning 10am
I totally forgot to post this blog post. Laura got the Perhentian CSer, she's so lucky =D She set off this morning for her week-long adventure and I'm really glad I'm going to see her again in Italy, because she's such a sweet person and is undergoing a rather similar PhD experience as I am. We had eggplant lasagna and Italian wine yesterday for dinner, and mangosteens, durian and rambutans for dessert.
I have to work really really hard now!! *penuh bersemangat*
Showing posts with label couchsurfing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label couchsurfing. Show all posts
Great Saturday
I'm having two really lovely couchsurfers this weekend, Tom and Chloe from New Zealand, both vegans, and we're having so much fun =D They're really pampering me, buying me lunch this afternoon (Thai/Peranakan vegan food *drools*) and preparing breakfast tomorrow for me, and they're so curious about all the fruits that we have, and we're having vegan conversations again, something that I only have with Val, I can't believe he's coming in about a month's time, yay!!
Val I'm so gonna bring you to the places that we've discovered in Singapore that serves great vegan stuff =D
We had a great session dragonboating today, it was really difficult, long distance stuff, but it feels amazing. Because you're pushing yourself to your absolute limit, and finding out that you could do much more than that. The best moment is when the coach yells "Easy" (lingo for stop), you stop and your arms go limp and you feel an enormous wave of relief and euphoria rushing through your veins. It's the best feeling ever. The harder it was, the happier you feel.
And the funny thing is, I actually enjoy post-dragonboat aching. I really can't explain why. I lie in the bed and turn and my muscles hurt and I go, ahh, there it is. The familiar feeling of muscles marinated in lactic acid. That's how we do it yo.
Anyway, after the dragonboating session I stayed back for their barbecue, I was expecting to eat corn and maybe baked potatoes, but they had vegan sausages! YEAH! First the beautiful lunch, and then vegan sausages - I was so happy. The company was also great, I've paddled for so long and never really talked to most of the people that I paddled with, and tonight I felt like I'm finally part of the community, albeit a community whose members voluntarily stick coins up their butts (well more like using the butt cheeks), walk 2 metres and release them coins into a pail (and the crowd goes wild!!!). Oh yes they had the stupidest games ever. Now I can actually say that I've had a 50 cent coin up my butt. But that is of course no comparison to Ian, another researcher in the team, who managed to put 10 dollars' worth of change up his butt, and do the strut and release repertoire. It was awesome.
So today was great. I know that I'll have to work really hard tomorrow to make up for lost time, but I don't really care now with all the post endorphin and alcoholic high. Hope your Saturday was good too.
Val I'm so gonna bring you to the places that we've discovered in Singapore that serves great vegan stuff =D
We had a great session dragonboating today, it was really difficult, long distance stuff, but it feels amazing. Because you're pushing yourself to your absolute limit, and finding out that you could do much more than that. The best moment is when the coach yells "Easy" (lingo for stop), you stop and your arms go limp and you feel an enormous wave of relief and euphoria rushing through your veins. It's the best feeling ever. The harder it was, the happier you feel.
And the funny thing is, I actually enjoy post-dragonboat aching. I really can't explain why. I lie in the bed and turn and my muscles hurt and I go, ahh, there it is. The familiar feeling of muscles marinated in lactic acid. That's how we do it yo.
Anyway, after the dragonboating session I stayed back for their barbecue, I was expecting to eat corn and maybe baked potatoes, but they had vegan sausages! YEAH! First the beautiful lunch, and then vegan sausages - I was so happy. The company was also great, I've paddled for so long and never really talked to most of the people that I paddled with, and tonight I felt like I'm finally part of the community, albeit a community whose members voluntarily stick coins up their butts (well more like using the butt cheeks), walk 2 metres and release them coins into a pail (and the crowd goes wild!!!). Oh yes they had the stupidest games ever. Now I can actually say that I've had a 50 cent coin up my butt. But that is of course no comparison to Ian, another researcher in the team, who managed to put 10 dollars' worth of change up his butt, and do the strut and release repertoire. It was awesome.
So today was great. I know that I'll have to work really hard tomorrow to make up for lost time, but I don't really care now with all the post endorphin and alcoholic high. Hope your Saturday was good too.
The Curious Incident of The Missing Couchsurfer
This morning I walked out of my room, and my couchsurfer was missing.
Initially I thought that he was in the shower, but he wasn't - then I thought maybe he'd left to get breakfast and would be back later, before I went out, because he doesn't have the keys. Then suddenly, from the corner of my eye, I identified a void in the living room. His luggage was gone. He had left. The mattress and the sheets were neatly folded up. The fan however, was still spinning merrily.
I was quite filled with disbelief. This man waltzed into my place, spent two full days sticking around in my living room watching TV with a perpetual scowl on his face, and left without a word. Not even a note. I checked. In the kitchen was his bag of half-eaten oats, and his bag of half-eaten goji berries （枸杞子）, proving that I did not dream up this incident of an ungracious couchsurfer.
A lame excuse on a note saying that he had to leave suddenly would suffice. I mean it's not like I'm so pumped up about sharing my living space with a guest that makes me feel uncomfortable. Well obviously the discomfort was mutual, but I swear I was trying to be hospitable. It's hard to be cheery and sunshiney when your positive vibes are sucked into a whirlpool of negativity and spat back at you. And yesterday, after being stood up by another couchsurfer, I was just in no mood to be smiley and nice. If I wasn't pounding on my keyboard I would be pounding on someone else's face.
But I guess it's good. At least tonight I can go home at whatever time I want, and when I get home I can sit in front of the TV and zone out. Hopefully the next CSer that I'm having, who's coming on Friday, will be worth the time and hospitality.
Data collection has ended, by the way. Well the last two guys were supposed to be my respondents, but obviously those didn't turn out. So from now on it's just hosting for fun. At least it will be, if the streak of negative experiences end. Which I'm sure it will.
Peace out.
p/s. I'm also pretty sure that he didn't have access to the Internet between the short time after I posted the previous post, and the time when he left. So it couldn't be because he saw the previous post, freaked out and left.
Initially I thought that he was in the shower, but he wasn't - then I thought maybe he'd left to get breakfast and would be back later, before I went out, because he doesn't have the keys. Then suddenly, from the corner of my eye, I identified a void in the living room. His luggage was gone. He had left. The mattress and the sheets were neatly folded up. The fan however, was still spinning merrily.
I was quite filled with disbelief. This man waltzed into my place, spent two full days sticking around in my living room watching TV with a perpetual scowl on his face, and left without a word. Not even a note. I checked. In the kitchen was his bag of half-eaten oats, and his bag of half-eaten goji berries （枸杞子）, proving that I did not dream up this incident of an ungracious couchsurfer.
A lame excuse on a note saying that he had to leave suddenly would suffice. I mean it's not like I'm so pumped up about sharing my living space with a guest that makes me feel uncomfortable. Well obviously the discomfort was mutual, but I swear I was trying to be hospitable. It's hard to be cheery and sunshiney when your positive vibes are sucked into a whirlpool of negativity and spat back at you. And yesterday, after being stood up by another couchsurfer, I was just in no mood to be smiley and nice. If I wasn't pounding on my keyboard I would be pounding on someone else's face.
But I guess it's good. At least tonight I can go home at whatever time I want, and when I get home I can sit in front of the TV and zone out. Hopefully the next CSer that I'm having, who's coming on Friday, will be worth the time and hospitality.
Data collection has ended, by the way. Well the last two guys were supposed to be my respondents, but obviously those didn't turn out. So from now on it's just hosting for fun. At least it will be, if the streak of negative experiences end. Which I'm sure it will.
Peace out.
p/s. I'm also pretty sure that he didn't have access to the Internet between the short time after I posted the previous post, and the time when he left. So it couldn't be because he saw the previous post, freaked out and left.
TMD Pissed Off
The heat in my neck is slowly spreading upwards to my ears and to my cheeks.
When receiving my couchsurfers, I usually take the trouble to reach there a little earlier or just on time, because I know waiting makes people nervous, especially when they are waiting for a stranger that they've never met before. And I usually give people allowances for being late, simply because this is a foreign land to them and they don't have any idea how long it takes for them to get to Pioneer, even though I make it known that this is pretty far from the city centre. The worst late case that I had was 45 minutes. Most people, when they are late, are late for about 15 minutes.
I just spent the last hour waiting at the MRT station, and I gave him a full hour, with the expectation that he would turn up. He never did. I left the MRT at 8pm and reached home at 8:25. He had left me a CS message at 8:20 saying "are you waiting for me?" and "sorry about this, the plan have change a little bit", that he's staying near the airport now, and that he'd like to meet for coffee or tea instead.
I'm just really worked up because he put it really nonchalantly and even had the cheek to ask me if I'd like to meet for coffee or tea instead. If the plans changed, he should have let me know before 7pm, and not at 8:20pm, when I got back from the train station royally mad, but somewhat worried if he was stranded somewhere with no means of communication. In Singapore. Yeah right. And he was supposed to reach Singapore about 8am this morning, so there's no question about flight delays, unless it was delayed for a full 12 hours. Fuck him. FUCK.
And right now in my living room is another CSer who's been staying since two nights ago, and we do not get along at all. I've tried to be nice, I've tried to be understanding about him being ill with asthma, and I do get it that asthma is really difficult, because my sister had really bad attacks when she was younger. But my sister did not have a No Smiling policy, which was what I inferred from the constant scowl on his face - come on mate, how much energy does it take to smile?
(Tim if you're reading this, this is what I feel. I don't feel comfortable in your presence. And I definitely didn't like it when you raised your voice at me at the supermarket the other day - I felt that was uncalled for, it was like you were interrogating me in public and it was embarrassing. Also I didn't appreciate the snarky comment that you're not going to die in my apartment, when I was only asking about your health and trying to be nice in general.)
It is times like these that I feel that CSing is mentally draining, when I have to put up with insensitive people who take me for granted, or do not put an effort in to be a good guest. I don't mind it when we don't click, because not everybody can. It's just that when people act like bastards and just leave a bad taste in your mouth. And you keep telling yourself, that maybe this is just a case of cultural differences. Maybe he's just too sick to behave in a socially appropriate way. Maybe he didn't have the means to contact me until 8:20pm.
Yeah. And maybe they were bastards.
I don't know. I'm just pretty drained and feeling quite disappointed at the double whammy of negative experiences that I'm having. I mean I've had such great experiences till now. But I'm truly and well depressed with the situation at hand.
=(
When receiving my couchsurfers, I usually take the trouble to reach there a little earlier or just on time, because I know waiting makes people nervous, especially when they are waiting for a stranger that they've never met before. And I usually give people allowances for being late, simply because this is a foreign land to them and they don't have any idea how long it takes for them to get to Pioneer, even though I make it known that this is pretty far from the city centre. The worst late case that I had was 45 minutes. Most people, when they are late, are late for about 15 minutes.
I just spent the last hour waiting at the MRT station, and I gave him a full hour, with the expectation that he would turn up. He never did. I left the MRT at 8pm and reached home at 8:25. He had left me a CS message at 8:20 saying "are you waiting for me?" and "sorry about this, the plan have change a little bit", that he's staying near the airport now, and that he'd like to meet for coffee or tea instead.
I'm just really worked up because he put it really nonchalantly and even had the cheek to ask me if I'd like to meet for coffee or tea instead. If the plans changed, he should have let me know before 7pm, and not at 8:20pm, when I got back from the train station royally mad, but somewhat worried if he was stranded somewhere with no means of communication. In Singapore. Yeah right. And he was supposed to reach Singapore about 8am this morning, so there's no question about flight delays, unless it was delayed for a full 12 hours. Fuck him. FUCK.
And right now in my living room is another CSer who's been staying since two nights ago, and we do not get along at all. I've tried to be nice, I've tried to be understanding about him being ill with asthma, and I do get it that asthma is really difficult, because my sister had really bad attacks when she was younger. But my sister did not have a No Smiling policy, which was what I inferred from the constant scowl on his face - come on mate, how much energy does it take to smile?
(Tim if you're reading this, this is what I feel. I don't feel comfortable in your presence. And I definitely didn't like it when you raised your voice at me at the supermarket the other day - I felt that was uncalled for, it was like you were interrogating me in public and it was embarrassing. Also I didn't appreciate the snarky comment that you're not going to die in my apartment, when I was only asking about your health and trying to be nice in general.)
It is times like these that I feel that CSing is mentally draining, when I have to put up with insensitive people who take me for granted, or do not put an effort in to be a good guest. I don't mind it when we don't click, because not everybody can. It's just that when people act like bastards and just leave a bad taste in your mouth. And you keep telling yourself, that maybe this is just a case of cultural differences. Maybe he's just too sick to behave in a socially appropriate way. Maybe he didn't have the means to contact me until 8:20pm.
Yeah. And maybe they were bastards.
I don't know. I'm just pretty drained and feeling quite disappointed at the double whammy of negative experiences that I'm having. I mean I've had such great experiences till now. But I'm truly and well depressed with the situation at hand.
=(
The World is Just Awesome
(Dialogue)
Astronaut 1: It never gets old, huh?
Astronaut 2: Nope.
Astronaut 1: It kinda makes you want to...
Astronaut 2: Break into song?
Astronaut 1: Yep.
I love the mountains,
I love the clear blue skies
I love big bridges
I love when great whites fly
I love the whole world
And all its sights and sounds
Boom-de-ah-da, boom-de-ah-da (twice)
I love the oceans
I love real dirty things
I love to go fast
I love Egyptian kings
I love the whole world
And all its craziness
Boom-de-ah-da, boom-de-ah-da (twice)
I love tornadoes
I love arachnids
I love hot magma
I love the giant squids
I love the whole world
It's such a brilliant place
Boom-de-ah-da, boom-de-ah-da (repeating until fade)
***
My favourite song right now. This is such a sorry excuse for a filler post, I know, I've just been really busy at work and when I'm at home I'm zoning out in front of the TV, cooking and replying emails. I could get used to this life. Anyway, my Indian couchsurfer stood me up so I was free this week, but I've got five couchsurfers (all confirmed) coming next week and it's going to be crazy good fun =)
Updates might be few and far between as I try to cram in as much academic writing as possible. Eyes on the prize! Boom de ah da boom de ah da boom de ah da boom de ah da
Dancing in a snow globe.
Blogging and singing along to Joshua Radin's Winter, in an uplifting, swaying manner that KF would have considered inappropriate for a rather sad song. I remember with fondness that he used to shake his head at me crooning happily at depressing ballads. But what can I do if I just enjoy singing so much that the corners of my mouth turn up, automatically, while I belt out song after song?
***
My roving mind also has me looking at my Google Calendar for January and anticipating all the Couchsurfers that will come (four girls! Yeah!), and I'm also contemplating the courses that I'm sitting in for. At the same time I am watching a HK drama with my sister. At intervals I am cupping my face, in a physical representation of "The Scream", exclaiming "好奸啊！！！" (English: Hou Gan Ahh!!)
***
I'm reading a new paper on tourism and identity. Getting inspired. Writing notes. Making a timeline in my head on when I'll finish the first draft of my confirmation report. It will happen, it will happen!
***
I'm meeting Woei in the afternoon. Looking forward to some inspiring conversations. We have an annual talkathon when we meet and just spill our guts to each other. Last year we talked for 18 hours straight. I think this year we'll probably not, since our older bodies can't stand all-nighters any longer. But we're also one year older and wiser and therefore the quality of our conversation will be even better, like aged wine.
***
I remember the sound
of your November downtown
I remember the truth
A warm December with you
But I don't have to make this mistake
And I don't have to stay this way
If only I would wake
***
So many snowflakes. So little time to observe each and every one of them, that I choose to dance through them, creating little whirlwinds, kicking up a blizzard, laughing! For the moment now is the only moment, worries are of no use because I will face challenges when they come, and I know I will prevail, and there is nothing left to do right now except to
Dance, dance, like you can change the world!
***
My roving mind also has me looking at my Google Calendar for January and anticipating all the Couchsurfers that will come (four girls! Yeah!), and I'm also contemplating the courses that I'm sitting in for. At the same time I am watching a HK drama with my sister. At intervals I am cupping my face, in a physical representation of "The Scream", exclaiming "好奸啊！！！" (English: Hou Gan Ahh!!)
***
I'm reading a new paper on tourism and identity. Getting inspired. Writing notes. Making a timeline in my head on when I'll finish the first draft of my confirmation report. It will happen, it will happen!
***
I'm meeting Woei in the afternoon. Looking forward to some inspiring conversations. We have an annual talkathon when we meet and just spill our guts to each other. Last year we talked for 18 hours straight. I think this year we'll probably not, since our older bodies can't stand all-nighters any longer. But we're also one year older and wiser and therefore the quality of our conversation will be even better, like aged wine.
***
I remember the sound
of your November downtown
I remember the truth
A warm December with you
But I don't have to make this mistake
And I don't have to stay this way
If only I would wake
***
So many snowflakes. So little time to observe each and every one of them, that I choose to dance through them, creating little whirlwinds, kicking up a blizzard, laughing! For the moment now is the only moment, worries are of no use because I will face challenges when they come, and I know I will prevail, and there is nothing left to do right now except to
Dance, dance, like you can change the world!
I have this silly grin on my face.
Might be the Estonian liquor that I shared with Yuen and Skinny David. It's really good and I'm sorry that we've finished it, but I'm glad I shared because they both liked it very much.
My eyes are half-shut, I'm rather sleepy, but I'm just too mellow and idyllic to move my lazy butt to go take a shower. I'm just feeling really contented and smiley and probably look like an idiot grinning at my computer screen with no apparent reason. Luckily Housemate David is doing his thing in his room.
Patrick left today and did all these little things that were so sweet... he washed the sheets and disposed of the recyclables, and left a note on our white board saying that he left gifts for Housemate David and I. So although I had guests over (the usual suspects - Yuen, Skinny David and Tony Twentytwo and his girlfriend), for about ten minutes I was bouncing around the house excitedly looking for the presents, like in a treasure hunt. Then I found them - a quaint little Middle Eastern rug, and also a handmade green shawl from Nepal! *rubs face on the soft shawl and feet on soft rug* *grins like an idiot again*
Gifts that I have got from my CSers: a thank you card, five yards of Nigerian tie dyed cloth, a bar of Swiss chocolate and a passport mug shot, a little golden brooch saying "Malaysia Truly Asia", two miniature bottles of Estonian liquor and a block of mango ice-cream that somehow tastes like durian, a Middle Eastern rug and a handmade green shawl from Nepal. Unintentionally left behind are a pair of Nigerian pants, a Swiss German book on Bali and a tube of Slovakian toothpaste.
And although I am doing research, I'm also having a wonderful time, trying to make sure that everyone feels comfortable and taken care of, because that somehow makes me feel good. Maybe it's my motherly instincts coming into place. Interviews have become somewhat of a pleasant side product, and maybe it's because of the holiday season I haven't been stressing out too much about the theoretical aspect. I'm just going to stick to interview transcribing, and leave the head cracking to next year.
Right now I'm chilled out, just bopping to Lenka's The Show. This Friday I'll be making my way up north, to a primary school gathering/sleepover in Malacca, and then back to KL, where I will meet everyone finally =) Woei, LL, Mel Sim, everyone!! The thoughts of them give me warm fuzzy feelings, it's been such a long time since I've seen all these people that I really care about. Maybe I will also meet up with Silver before he takes a flight from KL to Vietnam.
So if I haven't stressed it enough yet, I'm happy. And stinky. I should take a shower now.
My eyes are half-shut, I'm rather sleepy, but I'm just too mellow and idyllic to move my lazy butt to go take a shower. I'm just feeling really contented and smiley and probably look like an idiot grinning at my computer screen with no apparent reason. Luckily Housemate David is doing his thing in his room.
Patrick left today and did all these little things that were so sweet... he washed the sheets and disposed of the recyclables, and left a note on our white board saying that he left gifts for Housemate David and I. So although I had guests over (the usual suspects - Yuen, Skinny David and Tony Twentytwo and his girlfriend), for about ten minutes I was bouncing around the house excitedly looking for the presents, like in a treasure hunt. Then I found them - a quaint little Middle Eastern rug, and also a handmade green shawl from Nepal! *rubs face on the soft shawl and feet on soft rug* *grins like an idiot again*
Gifts that I have got from my CSers: a thank you card, five yards of Nigerian tie dyed cloth, a bar of Swiss chocolate and a passport mug shot, a little golden brooch saying "Malaysia Truly Asia", two miniature bottles of Estonian liquor and a block of mango ice-cream that somehow tastes like durian, a Middle Eastern rug and a handmade green shawl from Nepal. Unintentionally left behind are a pair of Nigerian pants, a Swiss German book on Bali and a tube of Slovakian toothpaste.
And although I am doing research, I'm also having a wonderful time, trying to make sure that everyone feels comfortable and taken care of, because that somehow makes me feel good. Maybe it's my motherly instincts coming into place. Interviews have become somewhat of a pleasant side product, and maybe it's because of the holiday season I haven't been stressing out too much about the theoretical aspect. I'm just going to stick to interview transcribing, and leave the head cracking to next year.
Right now I'm chilled out, just bopping to Lenka's The Show. This Friday I'll be making my way up north, to a primary school gathering/sleepover in Malacca, and then back to KL, where I will meet everyone finally =) Woei, LL, Mel Sim, everyone!! The thoughts of them give me warm fuzzy feelings, it's been such a long time since I've seen all these people that I really care about. Maybe I will also meet up with Silver before he takes a flight from KL to Vietnam.
So if I haven't stressed it enough yet, I'm happy. And stinky. I should take a shower now.
Ma armastan Eestimaa ja Euroopa
I'm chilling out on the couch, typing absently while watching TV, alone in the house. Housemate David is not in, Patrick my American CSer is out having dinner with some other CSers, and Silver my Estonian CSer just left.
It has been a really good weekend. Silver and Patrick came on Friday, we hit it off instantly, and the whole weekend felt like a sleepover with old friends. It's amazing how one day you're complete strangers, and the second day you are cooking pancakes together like you've been friends forever. It just feels natural, albeit in a surreal way. *checks fingers* It's just really fulfilling to have stimulating conversations that last forever, people who really get you, and understanding that the feeling is mutual that you want to keep in touch and take the trouble to make plans to fly halfway across the globe to see each other.
As I host more and more people, it seems that my trip to Europe next summer becomes more and more inevitable. It's like a painting that every CSer from Europe adds a few strokes to, it gets more and more colourful, vivid and real. Swiss CSer Stefan had talked about an annual CS Paella Party that is held in St Gallen, Switzerland every mid July. I was thinking quite seriously about going, and then now we have Silver telling me about this folk music festival held in Viljandi, Estonia, every end of July.
So Silver and I pored over the world map and fantasized about a two-month romp for me around Europe, starting in the UK (because I'd probably be flying Air Asia haha), to Switzerland for the CS Paella Party, Poland to meet Kasia, Estonia for the folk music festival and to meet Silver at his countryside home, over to Sweden to see Marten, then Germany for Val, Holland for Robert, and finally back to the UK to fly back to Singapore. Subject to deviations and detours.
Photo credit
And I know, if I make it a goal, it will become true. That is how I went to New Zealand, that is how I went to the States, and that is how I will go to Europe next year. Full speed ahead for the confirmation report, and seriously figuring out the budget that I need. And I just checked - Malaysian passports don't require visas to get into any European countries. Is that true, guys?
So yeah. Summer plans are in place, Val's coming and we're going to Sarawak in March, and I figure next year's going to be a very busy year with all the work and travel. I'm pretty happy actually. I miss everyone that I'm going to see, I want to go hiking with Kasia, I want to see Marten if he's gotten rid of his dreads, I want to drink beer and cook with Robert again, I want to share so many stories with Val, I want to go to do organic farming with Silver... and all the reminiscing! We'll have so many things to talk about, the good old days when we travelled together, the amazing sunrises that we saw, the funny people that we met, names of places and animals, the running gags, the stupid games that we played! And I can't wait to give big bear hugs to everyone when we finally meet again.
Soon, I promise. Very soon =)
It has been a really good weekend. Silver and Patrick came on Friday, we hit it off instantly, and the whole weekend felt like a sleepover with old friends. It's amazing how one day you're complete strangers, and the second day you are cooking pancakes together like you've been friends forever. It just feels natural, albeit in a surreal way. *checks fingers* It's just really fulfilling to have stimulating conversations that last forever, people who really get you, and understanding that the feeling is mutual that you want to keep in touch and take the trouble to make plans to fly halfway across the globe to see each other.
As I host more and more people, it seems that my trip to Europe next summer becomes more and more inevitable. It's like a painting that every CSer from Europe adds a few strokes to, it gets more and more colourful, vivid and real. Swiss CSer Stefan had talked about an annual CS Paella Party that is held in St Gallen, Switzerland every mid July. I was thinking quite seriously about going, and then now we have Silver telling me about this folk music festival held in Viljandi, Estonia, every end of July.
So Silver and I pored over the world map and fantasized about a two-month romp for me around Europe, starting in the UK (because I'd probably be flying Air Asia haha), to Switzerland for the CS Paella Party, Poland to meet Kasia, Estonia for the folk music festival and to meet Silver at his countryside home, over to Sweden to see Marten, then Germany for Val, Holland for Robert, and finally back to the UK to fly back to Singapore. Subject to deviations and detours.
Photo creditAnd I know, if I make it a goal, it will become true. That is how I went to New Zealand, that is how I went to the States, and that is how I will go to Europe next year. Full speed ahead for the confirmation report, and seriously figuring out the budget that I need. And I just checked - Malaysian passports don't require visas to get into any European countries. Is that true, guys?
So yeah. Summer plans are in place, Val's coming and we're going to Sarawak in March, and I figure next year's going to be a very busy year with all the work and travel. I'm pretty happy actually. I miss everyone that I'm going to see, I want to go hiking with Kasia, I want to see Marten if he's gotten rid of his dreads, I want to drink beer and cook with Robert again, I want to share so many stories with Val, I want to go to do organic farming with Silver... and all the reminiscing! We'll have so many things to talk about, the good old days when we travelled together, the amazing sunrises that we saw, the funny people that we met, names of places and animals, the running gags, the stupid games that we played! And I can't wait to give big bear hugs to everyone when we finally meet again.
Soon, I promise. Very soon =)
Redbull 4
CS References I may leave:
- He didn't do the dishes. I punched him in the face.
- He was a nice person but very quiet. He only said "Ja" and "Nein" and occasionally "Affe".
- She drew a mural on my wall of aliens invading the earth. My wall scares me now.
- She had a five-feet rule. I respect her need for privacy but mostly the tazer that she held.
- He dreamt that I violated his innocence. I did not. He continued to dream.
- They fought and she threw his wig out of the window. I could have been fined.
MIA
My apologies for not updating in a while. Along with my lost hand phone and my university barring MSN I disappeared from the virtual world for about a week. I liked it actually. Coupled with the fact that I had two Swiss CSers over, it was like travelling, in the sense that you're cut off from connections and you're hanging out with other travellers. Also, since I finished my paper earlier in the week I wasn't worrying about work that much which made the week relaxing. Therefore Monday blues struck hard today.
Things that I have learnt over the past week:
I think I'm tired and I need a break, and I'm really looking forward to going home next weekend. But before that I'll need to finish all the interview transcriptions - I have three now, about five hours of data to transcribe. Another two guys will be coming this week and I will have five interviews in total before I call it a day. With five interviews I will have enough of data in my hands to look at for the time being I guess.
I think I like ska. The happy beat is the only thing keeping me from going into a full-blown monday blues depression. Over the weekend I went to the city and caught two live swing bands with Yves, and yesterday after coming home he sat me down and ran me through some nice ska bands that he liked, and the philosophy of the working class behind the music, and the picture of the big black guy who played the bass with his teeth. I was intrigued, but we couldn't find any video of him doing it, Yves saw him do it live.
Well I should get to my first transcription - Tope from Nigeria. Also means that I need to turn off the happy ska music. Will leave you with "I lost my phone" from Open Season, a Swiss ska/rock steady/reggae band.
I lost my phone, lalalalalalalalala.
Things that I have learnt over the past week:
- that Suspicious Looking Men really exist (we saw one on the MRT - black baseball cap, big dark glasses, huge droopy fake-looking moustache, black bag)
- a brief history of ska and skinheads (not the neo-nazi kind)
- how to flip a crepe in a pan
- that you can eat a crepe twice fallen on the floor with no medical implications
- that Singapore's National Museum has an impressive collection of audio stories but not much artefacts
- how to say "monkey" in German - "affe"
- that I should refrain from asking people if they're gay or if they'd like to be. I mean sometimes I just get gay vibes from people and I just want to check if my gaydar is working, it's nothing personal or insulting. Also you never know if you might unwittingly help someone sort their sexuality out and change the course of their life. But I shall refrain in the future because it pisses people off.
- Qwerty keyboards on cell phones are just a pain in the ass. Why use a gazillion keys when you can use only 12?
I think I'm tired and I need a break, and I'm really looking forward to going home next weekend. But before that I'll need to finish all the interview transcriptions - I have three now, about five hours of data to transcribe. Another two guys will be coming this week and I will have five interviews in total before I call it a day. With five interviews I will have enough of data in my hands to look at for the time being I guess.
I think I like ska. The happy beat is the only thing keeping me from going into a full-blown monday blues depression. Over the weekend I went to the city and caught two live swing bands with Yves, and yesterday after coming home he sat me down and ran me through some nice ska bands that he liked, and the philosophy of the working class behind the music, and the picture of the big black guy who played the bass with his teeth. I was intrigued, but we couldn't find any video of him doing it, Yves saw him do it live.
Well I should get to my first transcription - Tope from Nigeria. Also means that I need to turn off the happy ska music. Will leave you with "I lost my phone" from Open Season, a Swiss ska/rock steady/reggae band.
I lost my phone, lalalalalalalalala.
Boston
Enjoying my last moments in Hilton (Where Rich People Stay) and its free lobby Internet, beyond this point it will be roughing it out with hostels and couches and homelessness! Big fluffy pillows (all four of you) and bouncy bed, I will miss you all. I have not managed to get accommodation in San Fran yet, it seems that CSers are really busy in the summer and my one-CS-request-at-a-time policy really is not efficient enough to get me someone that will host. May have to send multiple requests this time. The reason why I'm not doing multiple requests is because when I tried it in Bangalore, I actually got 3 people agreeing to host and I had to turn down 2... and it felt kinda bad.
O good people of Bangalore, bless you and your couches and Tejas and Vineet and Alysha.
But desperate times call for desperate measures I guess. Things will turn out well and I shall stop stressing about it. There are more important things to stress about like the imminent presentation that I have to do in a topic that I have no idea about. I am resenting this presentation because it deprived me of a chance to go to a hippie festival that some CSers were going to this weekend =( And it's not even my presentation, I'm doing it as a favour for a friend. Good karma, good karma.
Boston CSers! I established contact with this guy Tony before my trip, so we met up and had a couple of drinks with his friend Kate, on Thursday. Being rather socially inept when sober, I was rather quiet for the first tenth of the evening until they plied me with sufficient beer for me to crack my first joke (about Tony playing the tambourine with Led Zeppelin) (hey it rhymes!) and things just took off from there.
And yes it was the first tenth of the evening, because the evening lasted tilllate wee hours of the morning 9am the next day. We went from the bar to Kate's boyfriend Brian's restaurant, where we met up with another two equally crazy guys Andrew and Ian, had some more beer and this amazing pizza-like thing that had cheese and peach on it, from Brian's kitchen. Yummm. And they are such funny people! By this point I was laughing so much that my cheeks hurt. I haven't laughed this hard in ages. At 2am when they needed to close and we were literally asked to leave, we decided to go to another place to drink Andrew's bottles of wine stashed in his backpack. (Don't ask.)
This other place I shall keep enshrouded in mystery because it is potentially incriminatory. It is very cool, has an elevator to the roof and a secret bar in the basement, that's all you need to know. Played the piano and looked at the birds in the cage and tried to get the in-house jukebox to work and played foosball and looked at Malaysia on the globe and went to the rooftop to look at Boston at night and fixed cocktails in the secret bar and woke up completely hungover in a huge luxurious bed the second morning.
When I left the place with the warm Bostonian morning sunshine in my face, I was momentarily disoriented. It was a surreal night.
Yesterday I didn't do much but try to recover from the hangover and comfort my roommate who apparently had spent the night yelling at her husband on the phone when I was out getting pissed. Oh yes I have a roommate in Hilton (Where Rich People Stay) because being the broke grad student that I am I can only afford half the luxury, even when I am reimbursed. She's very sweet, another grad student that I got connected with through the conference roommate matching system.
When I managed to drag myself out of bed at about 6pm, I took a walk to Washington Street where Kate told me had some kind of art gallery night, but I couldn't find it so I ended up walking to Chinatown to look at all the Chinese people. I would put up some pictures that I took en route but my camera's not with me right now. I think I have to go now for the presentation. Urgh.
Oh and my poster session went okay. Not many people were interested in the research because it was about Malaysia, and a prof walking by told me that he had no idea where Malaysia was. Sigh. Gotta run!
O good people of Bangalore, bless you and your couches and Tejas and Vineet and Alysha.
But desperate times call for desperate measures I guess. Things will turn out well and I shall stop stressing about it. There are more important things to stress about like the imminent presentation that I have to do in a topic that I have no idea about. I am resenting this presentation because it deprived me of a chance to go to a hippie festival that some CSers were going to this weekend =( And it's not even my presentation, I'm doing it as a favour for a friend. Good karma, good karma.
Boston CSers! I established contact with this guy Tony before my trip, so we met up and had a couple of drinks with his friend Kate, on Thursday. Being rather socially inept when sober, I was rather quiet for the first tenth of the evening until they plied me with sufficient beer for me to crack my first joke (about Tony playing the tambourine with Led Zeppelin) (hey it rhymes!) and things just took off from there.
And yes it was the first tenth of the evening, because the evening lasted till
This other place I shall keep enshrouded in mystery because it is potentially incriminatory. It is very cool, has an elevator to the roof and a secret bar in the basement, that's all you need to know. Played the piano and looked at the birds in the cage and tried to get the in-house jukebox to work and played foosball and looked at Malaysia on the globe and went to the rooftop to look at Boston at night and fixed cocktails in the secret bar and woke up completely hungover in a huge luxurious bed the second morning.
When I left the place with the warm Bostonian morning sunshine in my face, I was momentarily disoriented. It was a surreal night.
Yesterday I didn't do much but try to recover from the hangover and comfort my roommate who apparently had spent the night yelling at her husband on the phone when I was out getting pissed. Oh yes I have a roommate in Hilton (Where Rich People Stay) because being the broke grad student that I am I can only afford half the luxury, even when I am reimbursed. She's very sweet, another grad student that I got connected with through the conference roommate matching system.
When I managed to drag myself out of bed at about 6pm, I took a walk to Washington Street where Kate told me had some kind of art gallery night, but I couldn't find it so I ended up walking to Chinatown to look at all the Chinese people. I would put up some pictures that I took en route but my camera's not with me right now. I think I have to go now for the presentation. Urgh.
Oh and my poster session went okay. Not many people were interested in the research because it was about Malaysia, and a prof walking by told me that he had no idea where Malaysia was. Sigh. Gotta run!
My happening weekend.
I just realized that the pictures I took were in 6MP quality and they're like 1.4megs each. Lazy to upload. So you'll just have to take my word that yesterday me and Jia Ling went to Punggol to take pictures of some lalang field. Yeah, like WTF right, we probably have lalang all over Malaysia but since we're in Singapore, we do what the cooler Singaporeans do and take an MRT to the furthest station of the Purple Line and take artsy pictures of wild grass.
This picture is taken from this forum. Yeah I know it's heavily photoshopped and you can see the HDBs from afar, but one can imagine. So me and Jia Ling, filled with romantic notions of lalang fields and purple skies, equipped ourselves with my dad's camera and her school camera (since we got both our cameras stolen in KK), met at 7:30am and went all the way to Punggol to brave the elements.
Actually it wasn't half bad. The weather was very fine, and because Punggol is mostly flat and empty land, the breeze was just fantastic. We trekked right across a lalang field - I was fine because I wore long pants and did not use my arms too much to fend off the lalangs, but Jia Ling got scratches all over - only to find out that there was a huge ass road just about 50 metres away from our haphazard zigzag lalang route. And Punggol is almost uninhabited (well - by Singaporean standards), which is a super plus point for anywhere in Singapore, as we were the only two crazy people taking syok sendiri pictures by the grassy bank of a pretty much empty road.
There's a house there called Matilda House which was erected since 1902 but now it's deserted, fenced up by the authorities for conservation purposes I guess. It's actually quite pretty if you ignore the ugly fences around. Also Punggol is near the sea, though we opted to go to the beach some other time because it was noon already and we were hungry. Then we took an LRT just for the heck of it, and had this aerial view of Punggol's many flat blocks of grass, which, with a sinking feeling in my heart I knew would be dominated by HDBs very soon. Why else would they build a huge (and I do mean HUGE) MRT building and the LRTs if they weren't expecting a large population? Sigh.
Afternoon we headed back to civilization - to Clarke Quay to have lunch. There's this Japanese food court at this place called Liang Court at Clarke Quay and I had a pretty decent Curry Don there, with a really nice Japanese fruity beer from the supermarket beside. Yum =) Then we met Jia Ling's friend Singaporean Irene and went to Chinatown. I know, Chinatown, on the weekend before Chinese New Year, in Singapore. You bet we saw all the population that we didn't see in Punggol that morning. You just have to know that I hate crowds but I'll do you guys a favour and refrain from whining about it. But Irene's a cool chick and I enjoyed spending time with her. She's on a mission to take pictures of all the cows that she can spot, bersempena the Bull's year. Her goal's 60. During the Year of the Boar she took 70+ pictures of pigs, with no repeats. She gets a kick out of making digital collages out of them.
I hung around with the girls till about 5pm, after which I headed to Bugis, another horribly crowded place where you literally get pushed around by the people if you don't walk at a decent pace. Met up with Yuen and Roman there. We went to Arab Street to have dinner, where people actually spoke Malay (yay!) when taking orders, but the place we were at had horrible service so I ended up not eating there. There were some people doing some reality TV shooting (something like The Amazing Race) for Suria Channel, which is a Malay channel, so we hung around and watched a guy puke his guts out while being forced to eat this platter of stuff. And they weren't even seriously gross stuff, I mean there was petai and kacang botol and some cow's tongue (cooked) and some other raw vegetables. Unpleasant but not quite my puke threshold yet - I think I draw the line at raw invertebrates. Before that line it should still be alright.
We walked around the Bugis area a bit, tried to catch a movie but there wasn't anything on, a board game cafe but it had closed down already, so we ended up going back home. I was pretty knackered anyway - I did a fair bit of walking the whole day and I had to wake up early for today morning, to walk the Southern Ridges with a bunch of Couchsurfers.
And so that was what I did this morning, woke up at 7am and went to Buona Vista MRT where I met the other 15+ people to do the 7km walk. It wasn't the whole trail, we missed the West Coast Park but I heard it wasn't anything too grand anyway. Met some really interesting people - a couple of Malaysians (Finally! Malaysians everywhere are so elusive to me, even in Singapore) , some Indian guys who gave me good tips of where to go to in India (Ganga River, Sikkim, Darjeeling, Goa) and where to avoid (Calcutta), some Germans (but of course), and some interesting Singaporeans and some others. Ahh. A walk like this is really great for meeting people because you're on the move all the time and you get to really mingle around doing casual conversation while walking and exchange talk partners after a while. Didn't really take in too much of the scenery because I was too busy talking all the time. Good excuse to go again! I don't think I've talked to so many strangers in a long while now.
Which is why after the walk and lunch I went to Jurong Point for some grocery shopping and said "have a good day" to the cashier who seemed pleasantly surprised. After that I waved to a cute baby who was as expressionless as it was cute, and said hi to a little boy at the bus stop who, after my friendly greeting, fled back to his mum's side and avoided my eyes. I appear to invoke indifference or fear in children.
Came back to Grad Hall, had a dribbly shower and took a good nap. Woke up around 6 and went to Canteen 11 for dinner. Then came back up and watched some trashy American movies. Milo Ventimiglia is gorgeous.
I'm glad to say I didn't do one bit of work this weekend. My legs are immersed in lactic acid though. La di da gonna chill out somemore and then go to bed.
This picture is taken from this forum. Yeah I know it's heavily photoshopped and you can see the HDBs from afar, but one can imagine. So me and Jia Ling, filled with romantic notions of lalang fields and purple skies, equipped ourselves with my dad's camera and her school camera (since we got both our cameras stolen in KK), met at 7:30am and went all the way to Punggol to brave the elements.Actually it wasn't half bad. The weather was very fine, and because Punggol is mostly flat and empty land, the breeze was just fantastic. We trekked right across a lalang field - I was fine because I wore long pants and did not use my arms too much to fend off the lalangs, but Jia Ling got scratches all over - only to find out that there was a huge ass road just about 50 metres away from our haphazard zigzag lalang route. And Punggol is almost uninhabited (well - by Singaporean standards), which is a super plus point for anywhere in Singapore, as we were the only two crazy people taking syok sendiri pictures by the grassy bank of a pretty much empty road.
There's a house there called Matilda House which was erected since 1902 but now it's deserted, fenced up by the authorities for conservation purposes I guess. It's actually quite pretty if you ignore the ugly fences around. Also Punggol is near the sea, though we opted to go to the beach some other time because it was noon already and we were hungry. Then we took an LRT just for the heck of it, and had this aerial view of Punggol's many flat blocks of grass, which, with a sinking feeling in my heart I knew would be dominated by HDBs very soon. Why else would they build a huge (and I do mean HUGE) MRT building and the LRTs if they weren't expecting a large population? Sigh.
Afternoon we headed back to civilization - to Clarke Quay to have lunch. There's this Japanese food court at this place called Liang Court at Clarke Quay and I had a pretty decent Curry Don there, with a really nice Japanese fruity beer from the supermarket beside. Yum =) Then we met Jia Ling's friend Singaporean Irene and went to Chinatown. I know, Chinatown, on the weekend before Chinese New Year, in Singapore. You bet we saw all the population that we didn't see in Punggol that morning. You just have to know that I hate crowds but I'll do you guys a favour and refrain from whining about it. But Irene's a cool chick and I enjoyed spending time with her. She's on a mission to take pictures of all the cows that she can spot, bersempena the Bull's year. Her goal's 60. During the Year of the Boar she took 70+ pictures of pigs, with no repeats. She gets a kick out of making digital collages out of them.
I hung around with the girls till about 5pm, after which I headed to Bugis, another horribly crowded place where you literally get pushed around by the people if you don't walk at a decent pace. Met up with Yuen and Roman there. We went to Arab Street to have dinner, where people actually spoke Malay (yay!) when taking orders, but the place we were at had horrible service so I ended up not eating there. There were some people doing some reality TV shooting (something like The Amazing Race) for Suria Channel, which is a Malay channel, so we hung around and watched a guy puke his guts out while being forced to eat this platter of stuff. And they weren't even seriously gross stuff, I mean there was petai and kacang botol and some cow's tongue (cooked) and some other raw vegetables. Unpleasant but not quite my puke threshold yet - I think I draw the line at raw invertebrates. Before that line it should still be alright.
We walked around the Bugis area a bit, tried to catch a movie but there wasn't anything on, a board game cafe but it had closed down already, so we ended up going back home. I was pretty knackered anyway - I did a fair bit of walking the whole day and I had to wake up early for today morning, to walk the Southern Ridges with a bunch of Couchsurfers.
And so that was what I did this morning, woke up at 7am and went to Buona Vista MRT where I met the other 15+ people to do the 7km walk. It wasn't the whole trail, we missed the West Coast Park but I heard it wasn't anything too grand anyway. Met some really interesting people - a couple of Malaysians (Finally! Malaysians everywhere are so elusive to me, even in Singapore) , some Indian guys who gave me good tips of where to go to in India (Ganga River, Sikkim, Darjeeling, Goa) and where to avoid (Calcutta), some Germans (but of course), and some interesting Singaporeans and some others. Ahh. A walk like this is really great for meeting people because you're on the move all the time and you get to really mingle around doing casual conversation while walking and exchange talk partners after a while. Didn't really take in too much of the scenery because I was too busy talking all the time. Good excuse to go again! I don't think I've talked to so many strangers in a long while now.
Which is why after the walk and lunch I went to Jurong Point for some grocery shopping and said "have a good day" to the cashier who seemed pleasantly surprised. After that I waved to a cute baby who was as expressionless as it was cute, and said hi to a little boy at the bus stop who, after my friendly greeting, fled back to his mum's side and avoided my eyes. I appear to invoke indifference or fear in children.
Came back to Grad Hall, had a dribbly shower and took a good nap. Woke up around 6 and went to Canteen 11 for dinner. Then came back up and watched some trashy American movies. Milo Ventimiglia is gorgeous.
I'm glad to say I didn't do one bit of work this weekend. My legs are immersed in lactic acid though. La di da gonna chill out somemore and then go to bed.
So long suckers!
I've gotta pack as usual. So far I have accomplished dragging my backpack out of its drawer and smiling amiably at it.
Hello backpack my old friend! Looks like we're flying off tomorrow. Would you be a dear and pack yourself? No? Hey don't use that tone with me young man. Fine! Be that way.
The customary procrastination before packing. Ahhhhhh. The smell of freedom. *sniff sniff* Doesn't smell like anything in particular but is still intoxicating no less.
What I've been up to lately. Reverse chronologically - got interviewed by someone from The Straits Times (only the most important paper in Singapore) on Couchsurfing this evening. She'll notify me if it gets published, i.e. it's still in the early planning stage. This morning had the last exam of this semester!! Wahahahaha! Yesterday got to know from a very reliable source that my homosexuality group project got A. Wahahaha!! Sometime this week I went to see Dr. I and got the results of my other term paper, A+ =D Conference conference!! Sometime two weeks ago got an invitation to review a journal article from the Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, my first ever invitation to do that! (I even emailed the editor to see if there was a mistake in identity =_=)
What I'm going to be up to for the following month. Chronologically - here's my itinerary for Kota Kinabalu, thanks to dear Nex!
Sat 22 - Reach KK at night
Sun 23 - Market in the morning, depart for White Water Rafting by 9am, return to KK by 3pm, transfer to Weston Wetlands
Mon 24 - Weston Wetlands
Tue 25 - Weston Wetlands, return to KK by evening
Wed 26 - Bamboo Festival in the morning, then explore KK in the afternoon and laze around the beach in the evening and watch the sun set.
Thu 27 - Island hopping (back to KK by 4:30pm), departure in the evening
Then I'll fly home =D Spend a week or so in KL =D Book launch on the 5th. Conveniently missing the date for my half-marathon... sigh... yes I am feeling stupid now, 3 months after enrolling myself for that half-marathon. Yeah I'm a lazy bum and I screwed up =( After a week in KL come back to Singapore. Stay put for the rest of December to revise the term paper for submission to conferences and journals, do my research on PhD and sneak in a little French here and there.
Yeah so. Looks like I got a pretty full plate for the time being. But yes. Freedom feels good!!!
Looks like there won't be any packing done today. If you're lucky there may be another packing post tomorrow =D And behold - the longest label list ever:
Hello backpack my old friend! Looks like we're flying off tomorrow. Would you be a dear and pack yourself? No? Hey don't use that tone with me young man. Fine! Be that way.
The customary procrastination before packing. Ahhhhhh. The smell of freedom. *sniff sniff* Doesn't smell like anything in particular but is still intoxicating no less.
What I've been up to lately. Reverse chronologically - got interviewed by someone from The Straits Times (only the most important paper in Singapore) on Couchsurfing this evening. She'll notify me if it gets published, i.e. it's still in the early planning stage. This morning had the last exam of this semester!! Wahahahaha! Yesterday got to know from a very reliable source that my homosexuality group project got A. Wahahaha!! Sometime this week I went to see Dr. I and got the results of my other term paper, A+ =D Conference conference!! Sometime two weeks ago got an invitation to review a journal article from the Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, my first ever invitation to do that! (I even emailed the editor to see if there was a mistake in identity =_=)
What I'm going to be up to for the following month. Chronologically - here's my itinerary for Kota Kinabalu, thanks to dear Nex!
Sat 22 - Reach KK at night
Sun 23 - Market in the morning, depart for White Water Rafting by 9am, return to KK by 3pm, transfer to Weston Wetlands
Mon 24 - Weston Wetlands
Tue 25 - Weston Wetlands, return to KK by evening
Wed 26 - Bamboo Festival in the morning, then explore KK in the afternoon and laze around the beach in the evening and watch the sun set.
Thu 27 - Island hopping (back to KK by 4:30pm), departure in the evening
Then I'll fly home =D Spend a week or so in KL =D Book launch on the 5th. Conveniently missing the date for my half-marathon... sigh... yes I am feeling stupid now, 3 months after enrolling myself for that half-marathon. Yeah I'm a lazy bum and I screwed up =( After a week in KL come back to Singapore. Stay put for the rest of December to revise the term paper for submission to conferences and journals, do my research on PhD and sneak in a little French here and there.
Yeah so. Looks like I got a pretty full plate for the time being. But yes. Freedom feels good!!!
Looks like there won't be any packing done today. If you're lucky there may be another packing post tomorrow =D And behold - the longest label list ever:
Confirmed.
I reach Singapore on the 23rd of July. Matriculation and a welcome tea will be held on 24th and 25th. If nothing else happens I shall flee back to KL after that.
Oh yeah. I forgot to mention in the previous post that Asa, Val and I picked up two Nepalese hitchhikers when we were in Semenyih. Time to return the love!
Couchsurfing all across Europe. That is one of my dreams. And this dream I shall postpone for 3 years to get the PhD out of the way. I will study hard, real hard, to make sure that the postponement will be worth it. ^^^
Tomorrow I am taking Val for a KL public transport tour. He will leave the day after, back to the land of "Ich möchte Brot, Speck, Ei und Wasser, bitte" (<-- that's me ordering bread, bacon and eggs and water in German =D)
I will miss Val. Good times. Jawohl!
Oh yeah. I forgot to mention in the previous post that Asa, Val and I picked up two Nepalese hitchhikers when we were in Semenyih. Time to return the love!
Couchsurfing all across Europe. That is one of my dreams. And this dream I shall postpone for 3 years to get the PhD out of the way. I will study hard, real hard, to make sure that the postponement will be worth it. ^^^
Tomorrow I am taking Val for a KL public transport tour. He will leave the day after, back to the land of "Ich möchte Brot, Speck, Ei und Wasser, bitte" (<-- that's me ordering bread, bacon and eggs and water in German =D)
I will miss Val. Good times. Jawohl!
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