phew at last i got down to blogging. i shall just put my homework and other stuff aside for a while. here are the pics of my room for those who have been asking for them, and a lot more too. come to think of it, i really have to look past the chipped edges and old wood in my room and hopefully be more industrious in making it cosier as its really quite spartan now.

and on my birthday last fri, two girls studying in other parts of france came up to paris due to AGM of SSAF (spore stud assoc france) being held the next day. they were graciously hosted by me in my humble abode and guess what they said abt my room? they said that its neat and cosy!! oh my, such tact and euphemisms used are really funny haha! as i celeb my dinner on fri nite at a decent french restaurant ( foie gras is fantastic, escargots are overhyped as gong gongs and la-las in spore taste so much better with the chilli/watever sauce) and had a very filling dinner on sat at the spore ambassador's place (which we adjourned to after AGM at the embassy), i had a very good feast for two nites consecutively. we ate from plates embossed with the spore crest in gold, and the maids working there don 'uniforms' as opposed to the ones we're accustomed to, ie casual home clothes. i salute them for that dinner, i had 3 servings of beef rendang, curry chicken, fried long beans, rice, fried beehoon and lor bak! tho it wasnt exactly fantastic chinese restaurant foodfare, i still ate very well.. yum

but the best was yet to come. on sunday, my french clsmate invited me to her place for dinner! i was ecstatic not because i get to eat another gd meal, but rather, because this signifies a triumph of sort for me over the social barriers that have yet to be broken through and through. for all the bises ( cheeks-touching thingy between guys and girls here) and handshakes (between guys, no make that most guys), friendship at this stage is still stagnant at a 'hi-bye' level. i was thus gratified that noemie ( naomi in french perhaps?) was kind enough to extend an invitation to me. turns out that she and her family lived in spore for 4 years from 1992-96 and her youngest brother was born in spore! they had very fond memories of spore; and during dinner, politics and culture inevitably crept into the conversation. looks like most ppl have high regards for mr lee; and they also commented that spore is such a food paradise. her parents were gushing over jumbo seafood at east coast and RRrroti pRRrata at jalan kayu. i wonder if they have ever been to chomp chomp and other good eateries. i bet they might have stayed put if the weather in spore were cooler and her father did not have work commitments in other countries.

now lets take a look at my room:



hanging clothes all over the place, guess how my room looks like when i come back from the laundry with clothes half-dried from a faulty dryer?



green towel and white socks, comes in handy for cleaning purposes









maps of paris and ile-de-france, my region



my small bed with the filthy blanket..



messy cabinet with food and misc. stuff on the highest shelf followed by clothes



my study table which is horribly cramped




this half of the table is for food stuff



above my bed is this shelf where i can put a little more stuff


ok, now on to my trip to Troyes, which, upon thinking back, was quite fun. pics are haphazardly uploaded in random order.



the canadians singing ' i will survive' in french. raucous yet affable lot, tho their accent is really much harder to decipher



champagne and wine at really low prices. taken while having a wine-tasting tour in a castle in the region of Champagne



my repas gastronomique (gastronomic meal): duck meat with orange sauce ( the actual name, which i forgot, was too long and too pretty-sounding). ambrosia indeed!! the meat is sooooo tender and the sauce complements it perfectly




dessert, good but not that great



this 'curator' of the castle has to wear like this everyday for visitors to chateau de motte-lily? isnt that really troublesome?



gathering in front of the castle for a briefing before entering for wine-tasting



uphill to the afore-mentioned wine castle



streets of Troyes, quaint architecture



the centre-ville, which is the 'happening' area of each ville



one of the buildings in Troyes, lets just say i found that unique, and the guide (lady at the extreme left) was extremely unique-looking too haha



on the coach to Troyes






wine-tasting in one of the chambers



canadians at the back of the coach



nicolas, vice-president of the international club which organised this weekend trip



camille the president!



lunch on the last day






walking up to chateau de motte-lily



candle-light dinner



tree-climbing to get the soccer ball down



champagne! free flow!



storage of gazillions of bottles of wine and champagne



view from chateau de motte-lily



galeries lafayette: 3 extended buildings of 7 stories each for shopping



gare de lyon, where TGVs coming from switzerland,italy,belgium etc stop at






inside the metro, looks like our govt is doing a fantastic job keeping litterbugs at bay



one of the many exits at porte d'Ivry ( this metro station is nearest to chinatown!)



academie nationale de musique, very grand and rite smack in paris itself too, shiok



saw this when i came into the class early for french. is camille french or is she not?



printemps! fellow- rival of galeries lafayette. another energy and pocket-draining adventure awaits the moment i have money to shop.



this metro station is outside the spore embassy, nice..



streets of boulevard saint-germain



rollerblading stunts on one of the side streets beside the seine



last but not least, i have liangsi and sya to thank for such a fun weekend, certainly the best out of my 5 here so far! ok i have to go pack for london and cram in a little more homework now, salut!