** reminiscence **

the end of reading week
Monday, February 27, 2006

Sunday(the last day of my break) started off with an american breakfast prepared by Adam and his girlfriend, Melissa. Thanks for invitin me to the sumptuous 'breakfast' at 12:30pm though im still asleep. Have been trying very hard to catch up with Joo for the tv serial show - ALIAS. it's such an exciting show! Jennifer Garner's body is damn WOOOoooowWw and Michael Vartan looks so cool and suave. oops. Wrong focus! but reali, i wonder why i didn't hear about that show in the past. Finished 17episodes in 3days and all ready to conquer the entire season 1 by sunday night. But careless saranya didnt burn episode 18 for me... so spent the whole night surfing the net and chatting. What a boring sunday night because my 'pecan-pie-baking' appointment is cancelled!

It seems like a long while since i walk to school because of the reading week. I was greeted with heavy snowfall when i reached campus. Having nothin better to do, i began snapping pictures of every corner which i passed by. My poor camera is feelin so naked because i dropped the casing. I foresee lotsa scratches coming up. :-(

ok, got a lousy grade for engine professionalism. im dead! shan't think abt it now. currently in jOO's room, all ready to catch my episode 18 before i head home to complete the season...

â§_____that's all folks_____â§~ [[ 1:00 PM ]]

~the BLUE side of the story~
Sunday, February 26, 2006

So far, it seems like im only talking abt the fun and happy times that i have during this Student Exchange Program (SEP). Well, at times you really do miss home and the familiar faces you see in Singapore. And it's always at this time, i have the sudden urge to call home which makes my night seems better --> enough for a good sleep. and so i did...

Anyway, Sometimes i wonder what's the point of planning and being organized. Things always crop up and your whole itinery is gone! The past 2nights haven't been that great. Friday night was supposed to be a "Pink-Birthday-Party" for giselle's fren. So i invited joo and sara over and we were all ready for the theme. But Giselle came back with a shockin news that one of her classmates, Cat, had met with an accident on her way to work. It's really a serious event and it's a near-death experience for Cat. This is One other reason why we shouldn't like winter. The roads are slippery and the vision for driving is bad. The accident happened because the oncoming vehicle skidded and knocked onto her car. It's not as simple as i mentioned but im not sure of the details. She's only 20 and hafta face with the mental and physical pain after the accident. Hope Giselle spent quality time with her to cheer her up and show her the necessary support. *Pray for her*

Saturday night wasn't that great either. Was supposed to go bubble tea, followed by a baking session with the gals. Jokes sometimes happen at the wrong instant and this time round, it caught Joo. Shan't go into the details but basically, she walked away after sara and i teased her which relli shocked me. ok, this is really my 1st time handling this. We didnt get anythin done for the night but im glad everythin is fine now. We still love you, joo!

I wouldn't say SEP is a bad thing because of all the new experience of livin alone, being more independent, missin the familiar homeland etc. Still, at certain times, you do hope that you can be involved in the numerous outings of your frens and family soon. CHAMAYS, PROGISTICS, The Perfect Combo ... I really treasure each and every of this friendship and appreciate all the attention paid to this blog. Thanks for the concern!

â§_____that's all folks_____â§~ [[ 2:21 AM ]]

**The Bombers**
Saturday, February 25, 2006

I made my virgin visit to "The Bombshelter Pub" aka "The Bombers". This is another pub located within the campus and almost every Wednesday, there'll be a long queue of clubbers. Drinks and food are sold at the place at low prices. There's a surprise concert on the wednesday which i went. Ads are all over school and the catch is "tix sold out twice". Giselle and i expected long queue but probably it's bcos of READING WEEK and many people went home to visit 'THE FAMILY', there as no queue at all!

We were welcome with a band called "Transit" which wasn't exactly good. Mayb just bcos it's too noisy for me. I hate heavy metal. The band members look so punky and the only female member is indulged in her own world of 'ecstasy', nodding and shaking her head real hard like she's 'possessed'. Ok, it's just that i don't know how to appreciate. Well, bouncing so hard throughout the whole performance might be a good workout for them. *yet, im always impressed by drummers*

My housemates(Jonas and Tom) order

ed this gigantic plate of nacho chips with different kind of dips. Guess it's one of the signature dish of the bombers and cost abt $13 cad. All thanks to them that i get to try it. Nice~ Hmmm, normally university of waterloo students visit that place to dance n drink but on the when i went, there was no dancing at all. Poor joo, she was dressed-to-kill with her sexy top. After she realized that she's overdressed, she dare not take off her thick coat - drowned in her own perspiration.

Coming up next is the highlight of the night - a band called 'Pilot'. Didnt manage to take pictures as the place is getting crowded. hmmm, im sure The Bombers is more interestin than these. Will visit again on another wednesday...

â§_____that's all folks_____â§~ [[ 3:35 PM ]]

~ The Niagara Falls ~
Thursday, February 23, 2006

Reading week kicks off with a trip to

NIAGARA FALLS. Sara's bro wanna spend time wif his sis and so we seized this opportunity to get a ride to niagara falls which is about 2hrs journey away. The car rental costs $120USD because it's real spacious and comes with this GPRS system to guide us ALL THE WAY to our destination. "Turn right in 0.7miles", "Turn left now", "keep left for 0.3miles", "go straight for 12miles" etc are what we were hearing throughout the whole journey. soooo cool. Had my first McDonald's ever since i came Canada. Sausage McGriddles is yummy!!! Having a gd breakfast is the greatest way to start off the day. Hmm, actually i dun take beef.... dammit!!!

ok, we are

approaching the long-awaited Niagara Falls. One of the seven wonders of the world and friends have been talking abt it. All the signs along the way are making me excited (65km, 58km, 12km...)
The SUNNY weather may look pretty good for outdoor sightseeing but the windchill is no joke man!

toes and fingers are freezing after

15mins of phototaking. Argghhh.. not enough time to capture the perfect shot. We need a break from the terrible cold weather and seek refuge at the souvenir shop nearby . [Rongy, did you find the ducky familiar?] They actually have names on these but your name is too 'unique' to exist on the ducks. Oh check out the range of PLANTERS' products. Im a nut-lover man! haha.. bbq, cocktail, roasted, almond, salted blah blah blah. oooohh!

we headed back to the open for more proper phototaking after lunch! Basically the waterfall is not entirely frozen, though i realli did imagine it to be frozen in the falls to be hanging in mid-air. However, because of the winter and the partial freezin, the falls isnt that rapid. A different kind of beauty i must say! Oh, view from Canada is the Horseshoe while that from the US is the main waterfall. Canada's side looks better in the day while US's side looks better at night because of the illumination (shown later). The mist is beautiful but not nice on pictures. It blocks the entire image of the waterfall behind it.

Before i went niagara falls, Giselle was telling me to visit the casino. Because that time she went and won $100cad on roulette. I walked in, i really couldn't stand the pressure. The minimum bet is $10cad. The brave Joo decided to try her luck with her $40cad. The superstitious me will blame myself when she lose. for standing in a different position or placing my arms in a different way etc. haha. sounded realli silly. so i decided to spend my time at the slot machine while she continues to try her luck. ok fine.. i lost $20 while she won $35. Never try your luck on slot machine unless you wanna kill time. Ok, but at least joo gave me an ice cream treat. im satisfied. wonder why i always crave for ice-cream in this climate.

Then we rushed back to catch the illuminated falls. Looks totally different from the day view. oh man, have to keep turnin my irritatin camera on n off my bcause the battery is running low. So everytime when i turned on the camera, it's just enough for one shot. Can you see the rainbow at the bottom right pic?

So is that all at niagara falls? Just the casino and falls? yeap quite true. SOOOO we headed home after that...
**************************************

3days later, i organized another trip to niagara falls, knowing that swep and her housemates are interested to go too. Also, i know i have missed out something - The CLIFTON HILL - where all the other attractions at Niagara Falls are located. So luckily, we have Josh to bring us there since he enjoys driving. haha. Don't he just look like a driver? Thanks dude! realli appreciate your time and company with us to Niagara. Really apologize for my tonnes of request for phototaking, Mr. camera-man! haha, i guess you'll be scared to go out with us in future.

haha, even forced josh to have his lunch at the RAINFOREST CAFE which i've seen on pamplets. ok, pls be warned that there'll be lotsa of individuual shots because we were splited into 2grps. i didnt wanna catch the falls and spend money on the activities they offered, since it's winter. I shall wait for the ice to thaw in May. so the rainforest cafe is not as good as i imagined. JUst that the whole restaurant is full of trees and moving-fake animals. oh and rainfalls too! interesting designs but not very impressive though the waitress tried to make it sound exciting while explaining to us.

alright... So this is clifton hill. It realli looks like some mini themepark though the place is abit dead. probably because it's tuesday afternoon. I love the ripley's-believe-it-or-not building (bottom right picture)whole structure has fallen ~amazing! They have other attractions like haunted house, guiness world record museum, 4D movie theatre etc. The admission for each is approximately $12CAD. it's not worth the $ so i didnt

go for any. They should have a one-time payment thingy to enjoy all the activities isnt it?

[Mav, why is your pink "Panty" doing here?!haha. they have a kiddish pink panther ride too!]

visited Hershey store. Thought that they'll show the making of the chocolates but to my disappointment, it's just a store selling all hershey'S products. They even have apparels like aprons, caps and tees, items for fondue and chocolate-maker. oh i saw the biggest chocolate bar.(bottom right pic) which costs $45cad. Can imagine an addition 3kg, pimples-outbreak, sore throat, fever & nose-bleeding if i finish the whole thing myself.

Coca cola store is interesting too. With lotsa coca-cola's posters and aPparels So tempted to get the monopoly-set.

Guess there's really so much you can do at Niagara falls so i headed for the factory outlet. has always been wanting to visit one and i finally did! Tommy hilfiger, Levis, Espirit, MEXX, Guess, Nine West, Nike etc. Almost alll my favourite brands are there. Spent about 2.5hrs there but Didnt get things for myself but happy to get 3pairs of jeans for mummy, daddy and brother. yayy! mission accomplished.

ok, time to head back for some night scenery. This time round, i took it from another side. Apparently, that's roughly what the US's side will see. The bridge at the far end is known as the

RAINBOW BRIDGE. So if we were to drive across it, we'll be in USA. haha!

ok,though im super-inconfident to drive, i eventually tried to do so for the last 2km since it's late and there're not many cars. Indeed, i turned into the wrong lane because of the right-hand drive. haha. ooops! we were stranded on the road for 3hrs bcos we lost our way. The lack of streetlamps made the whole journey so spooky. hehee! Still, it's kind of adventurous and i foresee that my US trip will have more of such things.

ok, a few more pics of 'frozen' niagara falls!

â§_____that's all folks_____â§~ [[ 12:28 PM ]]

with giselle in the brown box
Wednesday, February 22, 2006

i've never dreamt that i can feel so warm in this winter... haha. yayyy!!! went sauna with Giselle (make full use of the school's facility) at night. I'm glad that i chose to have a younger landlord. 3months ago, i'm still in a dilemma of whether to choose a younger landlord or an older one after screening so many options and down to the last 2. haha..

Giselle is so chatty that you'll never feel bored talking to her. She talks about everything and anything, from simple things to unforgettable flings. haha. Well, i really appreciate her company wheneva im at home else i'll still b stucked in my bedroom and only my bedroom. And so, we talk so much(as always) in the sauna, till the place is going to close.

Glad to know, my phototaking obsession is gettin into her. The first few days when i was in canada, she'll give me a puzzled look for taking unnecessary pictures. Now, she'll either ask if i brought my camera or she'll say "oooh, you could have taken pictures of the sauna". heehee.. i can realli influence man! alright, now both of us are hungry in the middle of the night.

operation in-search-for-food shall begin now!

â§_____that's all folks_____â§~ [[ 2:42 AM ]]

My SUPER-belated post for WARRIOR'S WEEKEND
Monday, February 20, 2006

Sometimes, the school organizes funny events to spice up boring university life. Especially the clubbing places in School, they have functions and parties almost once every week. About 2wks ago, the Student Learning Centre (as i said earlier on, it's like our NUS indoor central forum) was holdin some activities and the event is known as WARRIOR'S WEEKEND - held about 1-2times a month. Every warrior's wkend has different activities and movie screening. Posters were pasted all over the school and the "FREE CHOCOLATE FONDUE" and "FREE kisses-rose" caught our attention. So joo, sara and i decided to take a look since we had nothin to do at village 1.

We walked to the 'receptionist' and was told that if

we show our WAT card (matriculation card), we'll be given 10chips for Monte Carlo 'Casino' and coupons for the freebies offered that night. Cool... The chips were kept well in my pocket before i proceeded to the 'flower-making' table. We used the hershey's kisses as rose buds, straws as stem and green tape for the stem-wrap. Some guys were frantically making a big rose (grabbing more kisses and form a big rose bud), to surprise their gals later.

Oh, did i mention that this particular warrior's wkend was around Valentine's day and so they have an activity called SPEED DATING... Unlike in Singapore, we'll be so embarrassed to join such activities, or rather some may not even support the idea. But over here, there's a long queue of students who want to try out the speed-dating. Objective: a chance to know more frens in campus and si

nce the activity seems interesting enough, why not? damn... i still couldnt make myself do it. What if i realli know someone who has a car? then i dun haf to spend so much on transport. haha. nahz... i headed for the free chocolate fondue and mango mocktail. Guess eating is more exciting. muahahaha.

ok, no time to waste. The gambling queens need to show their power. We settled on the blackjack table. haha, we almost lost everything and so we told the dealer(who's also a student), "why don't you give us some chips. if realli finish losing everythin, we'll have to leave the table and you'll have nothin to do for the night (because there's not many ppl interested in the 'casino')". yayyy, he gave us about 5more chips. Then we indeed made a comeback. The chips will allow us to enter a lucky draw.

The school can be so lively on a saturday night...

â§_____that's all folks_____â§~ [[ 7:19 PM ]]

What can i do on a lonely sunday?
Sunday, February 19, 2006

This particular Sunday is boring because Sara and Joo went London (another part of canada) to visit a fren and heard that the area is famous for clubbin. I can't join them bcos i have a make-up class of 2hrs on monday. Dap and Kailin went to Montreal, Quebec & Ottawa for 9days and i didnt want to go bcos i thought that was too long a trip so decided to go for a 3D2N one next wkend. AND SO, my sunday will just be at home and vacumm my room.

Only Adam was at home because he needs to study and his girlfriend is at toronto for the wkend. So he started playing the guitar and i always like to get people to play "last kiss" on the guitar. I actually recorded a video clip of his performance but i don't know how to upload to blog. Anyone can guide me? His voice is pretty good so you can enjoy a 'good' show. haha. Adam plays so many instruments (piana, saxaphone, guitar, drum blah blah blah).

Then we started talking about drums and guess wat, we tried to find suitable pots and pans to get our drumset ready. Big container, baking tray etc is what you need to get the beat going. ok, i have psycho-motor problem and make a fool of myslef.

Then i was so excited that the parcel from Singapore has finally arrived. ok, then i was shocked as i look closely because i have to pay for the parcel i received. Oh no... they actually tax the things that was sent to me. Paid a total of $37cad (includi

ng tax) for the sleeping bag and the wind-breaker. Shaikh ah, why send me another sleepin bag? then i have to pay for the other one that you guys had sent me? ah-dui.... Now i must realli start to stinge already. bread and water for the next month. Just remember that whenever you send a parcel over, underdeclare the amount, so at least your fren receivin will have to pay lesser. Still, it's nice to receive something though it's even better if i dun haf to pay. I'm so looking forward to the progistics' contribution... *cross my finger*... hope they don't tax me too much for the SLEEPIN BAG again. Arghhhhh. Thanks for the chocolates. Luckily it was not declared to the post office.

ok, shall see what i can do for the rest of my sunday. Have a great week ahead!

â§_____that's all folks_____â§~ [[ 4:08 PM ]]

MID-term's results
Saturday, February 18, 2006

Glad that midterms are over and so, im looking forward to reading week. Oh apparently, the reading week in canada is like a holiday after midterms. Unlike in Singapore, reading week is supposed to let us study for mid-terms.

Because of Satisfactory/unsatisfactory modules for exchange students, grades are therefore not impt. So a passing grade will be the ideal marks to get. Another good thing is, saranya was tellin me that the school doesn't use Bell curve. So that means if u get 50, means u pass (even though the whole class might score more than 80-->no moderation).. weird!

Luckily for geotechnical paper, it was easy so tt's why i can leave earlier(mentioned in earlier entry) bcos i was super hungry. Got 82% for it & was elated. But the mean score was 81% +/-16% (deviation).

ok, then i got 66% for my transit planning paper. only studied the night before and gotta finish the test as fast as i can rush off to study for engineering professionalism which was totally untouched(the paper is on the same day and in 3hrs time). This time round, the mean is 72%. oops! Heck, just passed will do right? heehee! So it seems like the students normally score above 70%.

P.S. ok, i juz got back from niagara falls. heehee.. will upload the pics when i finished collecting the pics from Sara and Joo. My irritatin camera died on me agn...

â§_____that's all folks_____â§~ [[ 9:03 PM ]]

One of the FEW good things you get during winter
Friday, February 17, 2006

As usual, i was rushin in the mornin to leave the house n head for sch. Saw Adam in the livin room watching tv.
Adam: Where are you going? Don't you know there's no sch today?"
Me: hahaha... realli? you know wat? for a moment, i almost believed you.
Adam: You think im joking? now put your bag down and have some beer.
Me: huh? you must be kiddin
Adam: now follow me. i show u on the webpage.

ok, and this is what shown on the university homepage

Hurrayyyyy!!!! yayyy!!! freezing rain rocks. HAHA!Then my bunch of housemates really know how to make full use of their free day. 2of them walked to the nearest supermarket to buy groceries as they have the urge to make pancakes and a sumptuous brunch. It's really rare to see guys discussing about the best way to cook a certain dish, what are the flavours missing in a particular dish, telling a girl (me) what is the right way to cook. I'm embarrased with myself but then i'm learning. Y must all good food come consecutively?! As adam was saying, we had so much food that it's

equivalent to tw0-and-a-half brunch for 4ppl. Fruits, eggs (12 sunny-side up), sausage, bacon and pancakes.

Talking about Jonas' grocery-list...
1) tomatoes
2) romaine lettuce
3) Chips - 17packets and half of them must be LAYS.
4) Cookies

Oh cookies. so i suggested that they should bake themselves. Actually i have wanting to bake for quite some time and glad that Adam supported my idea. "Jonas, take the cookies off your list. We are gg to bake!"... haha, now the list got even longer.. They need to buy flour, brown and white sugar, baking powder, eggs, butter and chocolate chips.

In the afternoon, the guys wanted to make snowman. They even analysed the quality of the snow before deciding to make it. So impressed. They enjoy rolling the snow into balls so much and ended up havin too many. So they just keep piling and piling till there are 5segments. Trust me, the one at the bottom is real heavy. Even with the effort of 3guys, they still have difficulty lifting it up. But you know what, that's the slimmest and ugliest snowman i've ever seen. They insisted that the snowman must drink beer and so they stuffed a bottle of beer into the head -> a total manifestation of themselves.

ok, the weather is too cold to stay outside for long and so we went in and start to work on the cookies. Chocolate chip cookies. So yummy. Adam is such a perfectionist and demanded that all the ingredients used must b fresh and he took care of every detail.

This fellow always have silly ideas. Wanting to build a ramp with the snow tt leads all the way to the 2nd level so he can climb up to his bedrm(he's totally serious abt it), making an ultra-big cookie with the leftover bit, add vodka into salsa sauce and pancake mix, catchin those stray squirrels outside the house to keep as pets, setting up a trap in jonas room so that when he opened the door, the whole mattress will fall on him etc etc. Wonder how his girlfriend can take his nonsense.

OVERALL, a great day at home! Looking forward to wkend!

â§_____that's all folks_____â§~ [[ 12:30 AM ]]

Our valentine's day!!!
Thursday, February 16, 2006

ok, this happened 2days ago... After my last mid term paper, we headed for operation 'singles-night-out-potluck-party' at WCRI. Alright, all except daphne who's attached. but it's ok, we'll excuse her for the night and let her join us to bring in some 'boyluck'.

The night before valentine's day, joo and i helped saranya to spread some love to her neighbours from Village 1. She bought winnie-the-pooh cards and pasted it on their doors.

ok, our gathering always end up with playing of 'number-game'. I'm sure progistics know what is it. Is it me or the parties i've attended. It always end up wif soooo much leftovers and we really have to force ourselves to finish it. Ok, so the list goes: nuggets (40), fries, chicken and beef pies (12), cake, potato and egg salad, pizzas, macaroni n cheese and tidbits. Oh no, 2nights of really overloaded amount of is not doin any good.

Hey check out my hair. Sara bought ribbons and so we decided to 'act silly' for the party and request everyone to do smtg with the ribbons. I tied it on my hair with the help of sara's neighbour Mandy. We woke her up in the middle of her sleep and pleaded for her help cos we did it realli badly.

So we have a cake cutting session which i don';t know for what reason. haha. then joo, sara and i bought out things that we had prepared for the gals. Sara's glittered-Hearts with hersheys kisses, Joo's nicely decorated paper plates when all the materials are stolen from the pantry (economical and sweet gesture) and my blank letter with personalized envelops. For my case, i adopted the orientation practice. haha, too used to sports camp. I requested everyone to write a short note for everybody. Dap keep writing funny things like "cindy is candy, candy is cindy". ok totally out of point but gd effort gal. i know u r tryin to start a poem.

Anita(dap and kailin's neighbour) came over to join us and she's so keen to join us for number-game bcos her stomach is still empty. But we are totally not game for it already<-- too challenging. So, we decided to play with sparkles in the cold. ok... pretty fun but it lasted less than 10mins and we are too noisy. There are ppl havin midterms the next day but heck.. it's valentine's day and my midterms ended. haha....

ok, that's how singles spend their valentine's day in a foreign country.

â§_____that's all folks_____â§~ [[ 11:07 AM ]]