holy shit!! ive already spent 2 weeks in singapore!! * wails loudly* that means ive only abt 8 more weeks here, boo hoo. it just feels so gd and comfy to be at home; not having a thing to worry about, not a weight on ur shoulders, just pure concentration on having fun. how shiok is that?

i still can remember the excitement as i boarded the plane 2 fris ago; i was so excited i cldnt sleep. i watched 6 movies in total, and upon landing, cleared customs as quickly as i could. thankfully they have this counter for sporeans that had quite a short queue. changi airport is really so bright, warm and cheery. e carpets, sofas, plants etc just make me feel gd, but the paris charles de gaulle terminal 1 has this exterior that reminds me of some alien colony. clean yet sterile, modern yet dull.

and contrary to those who felt that there are a lot of changes in spore upon their return, i found almost none. only some ppl have changed. sadly, those things that ought to change seem destined to stay forever e same. im constantly struck by ambivalence in lotsa situations these days, and occasionally its not easy to deal with them.

but it has really been fantastic to meet up with friends and having fun like before. it was as if the past 9 months just melted away amidst all the mirth and banter. i was surprised by one thing, however. before i returned, i expected myself to wax lyrical over every dish i eat, but that exquisite moment has yet to arrive. i gleefully await that day.

for now, its time for bed.

cameron diaz and christina applegate in this movie whose title i forgot, but that scene was so funny haha..





another fake trailer??

phew, am finally done with the initial packing. managed to squeeze everything in without making the luggage look obscenely lumpy.

just 2 more days and i wld be on sporean soil, thereby bringing an end to my being overseas for exactly 9 months. the excitement of returning home only surfaced now; before, i felt numbed abt it all, and i dare say a little sad. sad because ive grown accustomed to the way of life here, and sorry that it wld be here no longer once i return. its inexplicable, this feeling of having settled down, yet being fully aware that upon returning to a familiar place after a mere 2 months, things wld be different. familiar people wld have gone, and new faces wld take their place. a completely new environment to adapt to, and a whole new host of storms to weather through. change cld indeed be very destabilising.

and as this post wld be the last for this academic yr, i think it right to be thankful for having got through it all. it wasnt easy at the beginning, rather it was a downright ball-breaker. whenever i am given to occasional bouts of self-pity, it isnt any more different from agatha christie's fabrication of grieving widows trudging through howling snowstorms. i dun think i can proclaim myself to be invariably stronger on every occasion, but i do know that where my strength ends, the power of God brings me through. 2 Corinthians 12:9 says that "And He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Mostly gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me." it was therefore with an eager heart that i attended my last service last week. what made it even better was that united band came to perform. thank god for hillsong australia, who expanded her reach to kiev and london, and to london for starting services in paris. a mighty spiritual revolution is gg thru this city right now as attendance figures soar consistently over the months. hundreds of souls were saved since the doors opened in sept last year, and i await the day when 'the world becomes peripheral to the church'.

lessons and papers have all been wrapped up, and so its a pity to know that i wld no longer have the luxury of having personal profs, nor the chance to cultivate close prof-student relationships. even sadder still is the fact that when i return, lotsa ppl wld no longer be here. my dutch friend's exchange stint is ending soon and he too, wld return home. and as for my norwegian friend, he had long gone back to denmark... wish they cld be around.





edwin! the dutch-french whom i meet weekly to go out and try new clubs. there goes my kaki for going out on weekdays; be it to club, eat, chill, or watch movies.. this guy just refuses to get onto msn, how annoying. id pester him further hah.





erik! the norwegian-danish fella who can provide for good soul food despite his tender age. haha, and as a side-bonus, i know who to find when i wanna go to scandinavian countries!




and this crazy bunch of americans, italians and mexicans whom i try to go out with on thursdays after lessons. they like doing crazy things like rolling down this hill near my residence, and they taught it each other the word 'wedgie' in their mother tongues. and since my chinese CMI, i told them its 'pi4 gu3 shu3 tiao2'. Hah! they wld be none the wiser. shu3 tiao2 simply becoz wedgies remind me of potato wedges, but that i cldnt name in chinese either, so i settled for french fries instead.

and my profs! i can remember the times when i just spaced out temporarily and feigned absolute attention.. or just nod like an idiot even though i was still slightly overwhelmed with all the info overload. and the perennial horror that gripped me as i stare blankly at the questions tt i had difficulty doing, all while they wld be hmpf-ing and sighing in impatience in e backgrd...





my math prof: Monsieur Jean-Phillipe Nicou. this guy gushes over the elegance of solutions to really complex problems, while i wld be slightly stunned with my mind still in a crazy whirl. he reminds me of ben stiller haha.





my physics/elect prof: Monsieur Xavier Llop, the nicest of the lot. he dresses in haute couture all the time from head to toe, my gawd. gucci, dior, lv, boss blah blah. if teachers can earn that much, i dun mind migrating here just to teach. whenever im bored i wld like to kaypoh look see what brand he's wearing. nv fails to impress me.





my french prof: Mademoiselle Isabelle Irace. argh bad lighting again! i hve absolutely zilch knowledge in photo-taking. anw she shared with me lotsa invaluable insight into the french cartesian mindset, which is interesting. but her immense passion for philosophy, and her weekly hmwk of essays expounding on how it has shaped man's landscape just scare me. shes gonna go to spore soon to teach at NUS high for 6 yrs, as NUS high is recruiting french and japanese teachers. ironic isnt it? she wld be in spore while i wld be here.

last but not least: the sporeans who have mostly been good company. it just feels so natural to speak singlish with them and talk about local issues, as well as regaling each other with racist/phua chu kang dig-nose humour etc.. its a pity i dun have a picture with all e sporeans as there are plenty of cliques again as usual. but at least we're bounded by the common interest in food haha. its really so chinese to have gatherings over a meal, bbq, buffet, potluck, picnic etc.

alright, last min errands to run. and spore in less than 48 hrs, yay!!!

argh this is so maddening!! i hate SIA answering machines and recorded messages. i really cld kill the ppl that transferred me non-stop barely 10 secs into the conversation. wld be put on hold for eternity while aware of my money tick-tocking away. and im getting this aria-esque song stuck in my head after hearing it for several mins. my precious 10 euros of credit blown for just FREAKING EIGHT mins of talktime, and half of it was spent listening to MUSIC and this stupid female-recorded message tt punctuated occasionally with false promises of an agent getting to me SOON. worse still, after wasting so much money, i didnt get a chance to ask for additional luggage allowance; thankfully tho, my seat shld be safely reserved.

it was really 'murder she wrote' each time i hear that voice; that same one voice you hear each time u get to an answering machine. that unmistakable warm yet mechanical tone that tells u to mind the gap between the train and the platform and warns you of closing doors. that unique timbre thats ubiquitous in the world of automated voice mail. and that ineluctable exasperation you get each time u hear it. the woman (prob e one and only) who had seemingly loaned her voice to voice systems worldwide must probably be laughing all the way to the bank with all tt she've earned, and getting kicks out of telling the bank counter person "i wld like to deposit some money please" in that exact recording tone.

in just a fortnight, i wld be back to a land where a sms costs just 5cents instead of 30cents, where a min on hp costs less than $2, and where transport, food and entertainment becomes half-price wahahha. i think e uk ppl wld even be more pleased.

patience.