Goodbye to cold weather
Sunday, April 30, 2006
In a few hours time, i'm off to Florida to enjoy the sunny and warm weather which i've missed for the past few months. FLORIDA, here i come! Just went shopping at another factory outlet last nite and spent so much. But finally get to have my shopping spree, and got my whole family something. yayy!!!
I really wanna upload the beautiful pictures that we took at Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. But this takes time and Saranya and Swep are fighting for the laptop too. Hmm, wanted to visit Hershey's chocolate factory... Sounds cool right? It's just like the dreams to visit "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory". The drive is about 4hours towards Philadelphia state and so we dropped the idea.
ok, hope everything is well back home since i can't get updates as frequent as i wish. alright, cya.
â§_____that's all folks_____â§~ [[ 9:55 AM ]]
So far so good
Friday, April 28, 2006
It's not easy for me to blog especially when im travelling and not bringing my laptop along. 4days spent in New York and been to places which i've always wanted to visit. Seen alot and took loads of pictures. the company is even better with Amy, kailin and Daffy. Now the 3 of them lhad left for Vancouver while Sara, Swep and I continue to explore the U.S.
I enjoy the bustling Times Square, the greenery and peace in Central Park, our adventure at the so-called more dangerous area beyong Central Park (no choice since hostels are cheaper there), the solemnity of Ground Zero (Former Twin Towers), the Magnificent Empire State Building that King Kong climbs and the renowned Statue of Liberty. Though i didnt expect New York City to be so dirty and that the transit service to be more complicated than expected, everything else is still way beyond acceptable. oh, i manage to get cheap BROADWAY tix - the one thing that we cannot miss in New York. haha *thanks kailin and daffy for waking up early to queue in the cold.
Photos will be uploaded soon... probably one month later when i consolidate everything. Please make do with text for the time being.
Left New Jersey last night. We were in a small town called Edison. Im seriously running out of clothes, Brought only 2-3 sets for my whole trip. So, went SHOPPING at an outlet mall in Elizabeth. Currently at Reston, Virginia. Will be visiting Washington D.C tmr, though it seems pretty boring. Guess what, will be going to another factory outlet soon. Oh man, i'm going to get a new luggage for this trip.
Alrighty, to be continued . . .
â§_____that's all folks_____â§~ [[ 2:22 AM ]]
Sense of nostalgia
Sunday, April 23, 2006
I've said 'goodbye' to waterloo and is currently in the midst of my journey along the EAST COAST. One semester passed so fast. i still recall how worried i was on my first day in Canada - Greeted by the super duper cold weather, the unfamiliar surrounding, Giselle's family and so the tons of things i have to learn about and adapt. Phewwww, everything was almost over and I'm heading home soon. Indeed, the people i met, the things i've learnt and the independence & experience that i've gained are a total adventure which i will always remember.
The people i live with:
I'll remember how Giselle spent time telling me about her love life, her friends and her day at work and at Salsa. I'll miss the times we cook together. Really appreciate how much she has guided me and teaching me the interesting things that i can do in BORING WATERLOO. oh, making me feel so heartwarming when she invite me to her dad's bday party.
I'll remember how a perfectionist Adam is when it comes to cooking. The baking session, his singing, the song he compose (change in lyrics but the same tune everytime), his friendliness and his jokes.
I'll remember how Jonas can finish 17 large packets of chips in a week and how picky he is (no potato chips, no 'nasty' brands and no BBQ flavour). I'll miss looking at him getting drunk and complaining that he has a "f*cking interview" the next day with his head swaying non-stop.
I'll definitely remember the pet at home called TOM who alw
ays sink into the corner of the couch and watch tv all day.
Lastly, i'll remember the ugliest snowman, the best breakfast which is so filling to last the whole day, the beer-drinkin sessionSSSS and the singings.
The people i hang out with:
I'll remember the movie night and the ice-cream, chips and chocolate sessions(basically total pigging out) with Joo and Sara. *don't tell anyone that we take cakes & ice cream from blk E3*The free dinner on Monday invited by kailin and Dap to WCRI. The house and hostel visitings at the beginning of the semester. I'll miss The snowball fights and toboganning. I'll remember how Swiss tried so hard to pronounce and call himself 'hou zi' (monkey in mandarin). 
I'll remember how the mexican guys teach us salsa and we thought that we are ready to go Flying Dogs(salsa clubs) to embarrasse ourselves. I'll miss clubbing with the gals, the salsa and swing dance experience free trials that we went for.
The University:
I miss the school which has so much entertainment. I'll remember how "RIDE SAFE" sent me home SAFELY without fail at night. Oh and not forgetting Tim hortons - my favourite place in school. The different interesting events that the school organized, the sudden change of environment as the season changed. Woohoo...
::Most importantly::
i do miss home already - The warm and sunny island, my family and my friends... oh, and the food... fried kway tiao, Hainanese chicken rice, rojak and satay.. blah blah blah. ok, im going home soon...
â§_____that's all folks_____â§~ [[ 1:08 AM ]]
University of Waterloo (UW) ok, off to the States now.. will keep updating as much as possible.
Saturday, April 22, 2006
Have been trying to collect pictures of the campus from beginning of the semester, hoping to cover things that i find interesting. 
ok, let's start from my favourite place: Student Learning Centre (SLC). They have this area called the"TURNKEY DESK" which operates 24hours a day. You can basically get Snacks, greyhound and movie tix, drinks and almost any information you need from this "reception counter". Check out the sign 'We ain't never closed'. So cool. And sometimes, they do give out freebies such as recipes, drinks etc. heehee
Right beside it is a booth which i always visit at night. RIDE SAFE. The best-service-ever that a campus can provide, especially when i live at Pulau Glenelm (Glenelm island). Haha. Walking to school for 30mins everyday is quite a chore. Alright, im just lazy but i can't imagine walking back in the cold winter nights. So how does RIDE-SAFE help? From 8:15pm onwards, the van will run hourly to send you right to the door step. What a welfare for the students. Woohoo. And the drivers are students whom i think are quite well-paid. *Shaikh, this job is so suitable for you. Get to drive a van and get paid*. Oh, in fact many of the cafeteria and most services in school employ students from UW. I heard the minimum wage is about $7cad per hour. I juz realized how lowly paid i was back at Venezia.
My earlier entry has mentioned that the SLC has arcade and a club for UW students to get some booze. Let's see what else they have. Secondhand book store. The textbooks here are really freaking expensive. So we have to pint our hopes on the used bookstore to get a cheaper deal. A new book is necessary if you can't find the desired one a the store. But hey, you get to sell it back at 80% of the cost price. So it's not too bad afterall. My greatest regret: Should have taken some of my textbooks back in Singapore to sell here. Good $$$.
They have this big screen where they play movies or sometimes used for UW GAMING which is organized about once a month. Warriors weekend, events, exhibitions and bazaar are all held at SLC. Lotsa study areas and even microwaves are situated here. Most people here packed food to school. Some are simply a total health-freak. There was once which i looked to my right was somebody who's biting raw carrots, to my left was yoghurt and peep right in front of me was somebody eating raw celery. Ok great, and i'm heading to get my ice-cream of the day.
Oh, and the FOOD BANK is really to help out students who can't afford groceries. While those who are better off will actually donate. Such humanitarian is simply amazing. *the school seems like a charity organization, always givin out things*. haha
I still remember the first time when we saw sunlight in canada during the winter. Winter is really gloomy and the brightness reali makes us happy. Couldn't wait for winter to end and now that it has ended, i miss the snowy land...
â§_____that's all folks_____â§~ [[ 12:39 AM ]]
US trip confirmed . . .
Friday, April 21, 2006
ok, took so long to decide where our destinations will be. We decided to take greyhound (bus that brings us across different parts of canada and US). This will sound really insane after i tell you the duration of the journey. 3wks to spend in US but due to long travelling time... we have limited places that we can cover. Irritatin Greyhound change their policy for unlimited-passes. The price increment is almost SIN$200. So we decided to cut down on the places we wanna go and get individual tix instead of unlimited pass..
So the more-or-less confirmed plan to travel parts of the EAST COAST goes like this:
Set off on 23rd Apr 2006
1) University of Waterloo, Canada --> Niagara
yeap, going back again to see the 'unfrozen' falls and take the ferry to be in the MAID OF THE MIST
2) Niagara --> New York (10 hrs journey on Greyhound)
3) New York --> New Jersey --> New York
4) New York --> Washington D.C (4hrs 20mins on Greyhound)
5) Washington DC --> Virginia --> Washington DC
6) Washington D.C --> Daytona Beach, Florida (17 hrs on Greyhound) hope i get to sit on a real daytona-car and not those simulators in the arcade ... *doubt so*
7) Daytona Beach, Florida --> Miami Beach (7hrs 30mins on Greyhound)
8) Miami Beach --> Orlando (5hrs 40mins on greyhound) yeappi, Orlando is where all the themeparks are. You name it, they have it. Disney world, universal studio, Ripley's Believe or not, Wet and Wild etc. But the admission is freaking expensive. but then agn, since im all the way there... haha..
Last but not least, we have to travel all the way from Florida to University of Waterloo and catch our flight 1day later...This takes us more than 35hrs on Greyhound. Yeah, it sounds absolutely crazy...we'll flood the whole bus with vomit...
So inlcuding Canada and my Europe trip, i had travelled and will be going to travel about 16 regions/cities in 5months. woohoo.
ok, now the bad news:
Poor Ju (who is a korean) had forgotton all about the need of visa to enter US. Happily headed towards Philadelphia but got kicked back to Canda at the US-border. She's all alone at the custom and hostel. ultimately still hafta travel all the way back to University of Waterloo. I would be so helpless and lost. Well, at least she get to see a real-life rapist at the custom when she was somehow being 'locked up'. *kidding* BUT this is reali disappointing for the rest of us who planned to tour together. Clubbing, tanning and shopping...the amount of time she spent to plan was wasted, the mood that was built up but yet not being able to experience it and all the booking cancellation fee are too much to be handled in 1 night. . .
â§_____that's all folks_____â§~ [[ 1:29 AM ]]
My Saturday at Saint Jacobs
Monday, April 17, 2006
Instead of studying for exams, i keep getting distracted. and so last saturaday, i Finally get to go Saint Jacobs!!! Giselle was telling me that the farmer's market sell interesting stuff and lotsa maple products. I really hafta grab some back home man! else, i don't know how to answer my mum. Thanks to Clarissa who accompanied me though she mentioned that she has been AWAKE only 6 hrs a day after her tough project.
The crowd is amazing and the sunny weather is gooooddd(except for the irritatin strong wind). The surprise is: There's a factory outlet there!!! ok, shall control myself and stay focus... i'm only getting maple products!!! don't spend unnecessarily...
We joined the queue to buy Apple fritters. Yum yum.. it's heavenly... There are lotsa freshly baked bread, chocolates, handy crafts and meat products etc selling indoor. Those outdoor includes fresh fruits and vegetables. Oh, and also Different stalls selling similar products --> Maple syrup and butter. I hope the ones i bought are authentic! hehe. I love such market. It's a great place for sunday family outing.
The factory outlet is not exactly fantastic. I'm waiting for the better ones in the States.. HOPEFULLY!!!
p.s. Kylie, i almost lose the Ray Ban. It fell off the shirt and i didnt realize. Guess what?! i went back to find all the shops and saw it lying on the ground. Phheeww.. Sorry...
â§_____that's all folks_____â§~ [[ 8:59 PM ]]
i need all the luck ...
ok "great"! tomorrow is my 'transit planning and operations" exam and i don't have much things to study and i still have the time to blog.. why???? because i didnt want to spend $126 cad on a freaking textbook. I can buy so many bottles of maple syrup with that amount of money.
There's only 1 pathetic copy of that book in the library and it's only available for a maximum of 3-day loan. Arghhh.. and the earliest i can get it is one day before the exam. So i tell myself, alright, since i only need to pass, just rely on class notes (which i have skipped quite anumber of lessons) and cramp myself with as much information as possible the day before the final paper.
Woke up early this mornin to get the book when the fellow who borrowed before me, rather pay the overdue-charges than to return it on time. Arghhhh... Wish me luck for tmr's paper man... i pray for miracle. With the mid-term and the assignments, i'm still far from a passing grade... Help...
â§_____that's all folks_____â§~ [[ 12:09 AM ]]
the LUNCH that i had longed for
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
The best thing that can happen when you are on exchange in a westernized country, is to enjoy home-cooked chinese food. So thanks to Chen Juan, Zhang hua and Weizhi for inviting us over to their house. It's meant to be a potluck but since we can't cook as well as the hosts, we shall bring snacks, drinks and ice cream. 
She cooked chicken-rice but without the chicken (just the flavouring on the rice. Singaporeans, you should know what i mean), curry chicken, garlic bread and "fo shou gua"(direct translation: Buddha's hands melon - one of their hua's dish). Joo and i brought onion rings too. oh and soup of the day: "Guang Dong Bao Tang" (ermm, basically some oriental soup. Everything is so yummy... We really feel at home man! Who cares about exam?!?!? haha...
What's next after a hearty meal.. ICE CREAM!!! Haagen Daz is rather cheap here. It;s about $6plus cad(SIN$9) for a regular tub. Strawberry cheesecake!!! Accompanied with Ben and Jerry's Fossil Fuel ~~~ Heavenly. ok, time to work our hands on dumplings..<--- my first attempt. Didnt know it's so easy to wrap. Shall get mummy to do some home-made dumplings when i go back.
While waiting to digest out food before we can enjoy the dumpling, weizhi shared his experience of New York. I'm really looking forward for the trip... yeap yeap... in 10days... Wooohooo...Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, factory outlets, Central Park... :P 
Giselle lent me her jacket so that i don't have to look the same in every pictures. hehe.. i love the sunshine jacket but joo and sara said i look like a DUCK... :(
â§_____that's all folks_____â§~ [[ 10:06 PM ]]
from winter to spring . . .
â§_____that's all folks_____â§~ [[ 11:20 AM ]]
How should a 'supposed' STUDY-DAY be?
Saturday, April 08, 2006
Wanted to cramp myself with one more chapter before i return the Psychology textbook to Joo. Borrowed the book from her for a week and i completed only 3chapters out of 9?!
Yeap.. so im all ready to start studying at 1pm. ended up playing 'PUZZLE BOBBLE' online?! ok, what an outdated game. I KNOW!. Then ended up watchin King Kong with Giselle and her friend, Cat. There goes my whole afternoon.
Giselle and i Decided to whip up some random dishes with the ingredients we have at home. So these are our creation: 1) Pasta with creamy mushroom sauce and sausages 2) 'Rojak' (mixing random things together - a kind of dish from Singapore) salad - we added whatever we feel like into the bowl. Eggs, parsley, pasta, salmon and pineapple. Haha.. it turns out quite well. So adventurous. 
And guess what?! before i had my dinner, i juz finished up a donut. Thanks to Jonas' parents who bought them for us in the mornin.
whose turn is it to get a prank this time? ADAM!!! Tom came up with the idea of pushing Adam's bed all the way to the closed-door in his bedroom so he can't enter with the usual way as the door will be jammed. Since his room can be reached from the roof at the car porch, Tom was thinking that he hafta climb his way through to get to his room. Check out the before and after of his room. Great effort GUYS who may be mistaken as burglur if they were to do the prank during the wee hours! but sighhh, Adam came home and broke his way in. The bed isnt strong enough.. what a waste..walked into his room easily... 
Oh check out this trolley of empty beer bottles. yeap, the hard work of the guys at home..
This is how easily i get distracted... no work done for the day at all!!!
â§_____that's all folks_____â§~ [[ 10:44 PM ]]
"Boys and Girls" Party
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Waited so long to get pics fr swep. This event happened on 31st MAr
I went to a "Uniform PARTY" - Boys & Girls- at FED hall. guess this should be the last time clubbing before exam (in fact i only went there twice). I wanted to go when i first saw the poster and i didnt know the girls were interested as well. Yayy!!! I went around borrowing pleat-skirts. In the end, manage to get one from Giselle and another 2 fr my classmate. See which is better? Ive tried my best to look like a school girl? 
The catch is: dress in uniform and get into the party FOR 
FREE. So my costume consists of my own shirt, classmate's skirt and neighbour's tie (but the neighbour looked quite bad in the pic so shall just upload a thumbnail-size). Swep didnt know abt the party till the last min. So the only way that she can look better or 'sexier' is to take off her "LONG JOHN (thermal wear)".
it's the usual practice to take lotsa pic in the rm before partying. haha
Yeap, once again, free drinks from LIZ who work there --> Sex on the beach & Malibu Pineapple (sorry joo, for telling u that we had Pina colada the other time and caused u to announce to the whole world that u like "PINA COLADA"). Met up with other WCRI and Village 1 frens at the club. Kailin tied up her hair like a BUNNY, Joo wore her rabbit-fur hat to look like a Japanese high-school gal and basically, most ppl wore white blouse and a tie for the top.
Joo was called up on stage for a chance to win IPOD nano (winner will b judged by popularity among the crowd). She went into the finals but lost because she didnt expose her mid-riff like the winner did. So now we know... n we (including the 'gayish' Walter, haha) decided to pose for a pic like the one on the bottom right corner-->
overall, we had fun tryin to dress up like a high-sch gals/guys, doing stupid moves & gossiping while dancing. One last pic before we part: "Act-innocent" to suit the theme...
â§_____that's all folks_____â§~ [[ 1:18 AM ]]
Maple Syrup Festival
Managed to grab a tix to Elmira to celebrate "Maple Syrup Festival". Have been wanting to buy lotsa maple-related products and try a pure maple syrup. Yeap, finally had the chance. Thanks to Saranya! Woke up at 6:30am in the mornin on 1st Apr, to catch the 'school bus' from campus to Elmira. Started off with the long queue for pancakes. Had 2 large-sized pancake with maple syrup which i thought was too sweet.
The weather lately is indeed unpredictable. It's super windy that day and i was underdressed. My jacket looks warm but in fact, the material used for the sleeves actually makes the hands cooler. What kind of design?!
then we went to this crowded lined up with different kinds of stalls (something like 'pasar malam' in Singapore). Check out the interesting food they are selling --> maple syrup directly from sap, jumbo sausage, apple dip, apple dumpling (which looks like mashed potatoe), all kinds of maple products (ranging from syrup to popcorn and to burger), Gigantic turkey drumstick, maple taffy and assorted lollipops.
We are really so cold that we decided to join the sugarbush tour, in order to get some warmth on the bus. It brings us to where the sap are collected. We sat on a truck with hay-seats that bring us deeper into the 'forest'. First thing that catch our attention is the way they are making popcorns that are for sale. Is that the traditional way to do it? P1080561.MOV
It's so cheap and yummy. 
We didn't give up any opportunity to warm our hands.
back to the stalls to get maple syrup only to realize tt i dun have enough cash. arghh, only manage to buy 1 pathetic bottle. What a waste! Better not let me know that it's more expensive elsewhere. Apparently the pancakes have digested and we are in search for food agn. The funny thing is ... we have craving for cup noodle. 2 other reasons are: we seriously need to warm our hands and we didnt bring enough $. So Joo and i spent the last 45mins before the meeting time at a convenient store to enjoy our cup noodle.
Went back to sch and stayed in JOO's warm and cosy room for an afternoon nap of almost 5hours.
â§_____that's all folks_____â§~ [[ 1:17 AM ]]
'celebrate' is a dangerous word
Completing a 1800words essay (by the way, it's my 4th essay for the term) and givin slight contribution to my group-project essay, together with an exam...All by the same day!!! wHAT THE HELL. sO I Just spent my entire weekend on these (ok, excludin the few hours of chatting, outing and chilling out). But still, this is crazy.
So happy that one paper is down and that means my U.S trip is drawing nearer. Yayy.. Walked into the house and saw the 'whole family' in the living room and shouted, "Yayy, one paper down. Essays cleared. I can CELEBRATE!". Oh nooooo, this word is dangerous. So my housemates started repeating "celebrate"... "oh celebrate"... Adam walked to the shelf which looks like a mini-bartender counter to grap a bottle of ZAMBUCA. *hmm, but i only meant to celebrate by watching TV. haha
"Cindy, you are going home in a few weeks. Gotta drink with us".
Yes i do agree. ok, shall do so since (1) i reali felt liberated and (2) I'm feeling hungry. haha. They wanted to let the alcohol catch a flame but maybe it's already 2months old. It failed. I had to finish the tiny shot nevertheless. Yucks.. taste like some kind of spice.
so never use this word so casually next time. haha kiddin... thanks for offering the 2month-old drink!
â§_____that's all folks_____â§~ [[ 1:04 AM ]]
April's FOOL day
Sunday, April 02, 2006
This is the most original and whackiest prank i've ever seen on April's-fool. but fortunately, im not the victim. I came home that night, stepped into the house and got a REAL SHOCK. First instinct: did i walk into the wrong house? First i scan though the shoes on the floor. yeap, my boots are there! then i took one step forward and peep into the living rm. Phewww.. the faces are familiar.
Guess what Adam and Jonas did to Poor Tom who was out drinkin with his frens. They moved all the furnitures from his bedroom on the 2nd storey into the living room. The bed, shelves, study table and laundry baskets. In fact, it's EVERYTHING. oh my goshhhh, they actually went though such trouble.
Tom came home late at night when the rest are already sleepin.. i can hear him laughing at himself when he stepped into the house. Sweet dreams in his new room... The next day, he jokingly said that he's enjoying the bigger room and glad that it comes with the TV. oh btw, Tom is like the PET at home who slouch at the same position of the sofa all day to watch tv. Now he doesnt even need to walk up to his room after late-night movies. Happy April's fool day, Tom!
â§_____that's all folks_____â§~ [[ 2:48 PM ]]
