i'm trying to be excited about school.
but really, i'm not.
perhaps cos i'm worried about studying again; my brain is rusty and i can't even write properly.

when i went to camb i was so excited. about the campus, classes, everything.
now i'm just neutral.
i go around the campus and i don't think 'wow i made it, i'm really here' the way i used to think in camb.
when i buy my notebooks in the bookstore with the stanford logo on them i don't go 'whoa its really stanford'
i think 'ok loh, i'm in school'.

why am i just not impressed?
perhaps cos at the back of my mind i keep thinking that harvard is better (stupid ego).
but being here for a week has made me realise that i really did make the right choice.

1. there is this dance studio complex which houses the dance department. i can cycle there in 12 mins.
2. i can cycle everywhere on campus. i thought i left cycling behind when i left camb, but now i'm back on the bike again. i like the safety of cycling on campus (instead of in a city where the roads are a lot more dangerous for a cyclist).
3. the air here is super clean. all californian cars are required to pass a smog test.
4. there is the largest number of faculty per student in stanford compared to any other sch.
5. everyone in the dev bio department's building knows each other. some the profs even know the first year students (whom they haven't seen since march) by name. i really like the close faculty-student relationship.
6. there is a lot of support in the dev bio department. i chose stanford cos i felt that i would be well taken care of and so far its been true.
7. the stanford campus is really quite pretty. it feels good being in a school that is Rich. the place is Manicured. and there are fountains everywhere. in the middle of a drought.
8. there are so many s'porean grad students here. friends everywhere!


today i went for my first class as a grad student.
'liquid flow: intermediate modern dance'

quite interesting. don't know if i'll be able to commit though- deadline for dropping classes is in oct. so i'll try it out for now.

there was a camp for incoming bio grad students at the big basin redwoods statepark from 18-20 sept.

about 70 people went, and i was driven there by a fellow grad student.


18 sept 09

we left at abt 4 pm, arrived abt 2 hours later.
we were greeted with giant trees at the park HQ so i had to take a photo.


me inside the tree.





we had an entire camp ground to ourselves so that was nice. i brought my own sleeping bag but not tent, so harwin and i invested a lot of energy into procuring one from the common supplies.
and we succeeded!
with winston's help we managed to set up the tent.


our tent!


we had a campfire that night. some of the guys grilled burger patties for us. really quite yummy despite the fact that the bbq grill they used was this common pit that was just part of the campsite and totally not sanitised at all.

then we returned to our tent! rose and i shared the tent; the poor boys had to sleep outside :)



19 sept 09

woke up bright and early.

outside our tent!

the 4 of us decided that there was really nothing much to do.... so we decided to go on an 11 mile hike through the state park.
took us about 5 plus hours.



first interesting tree!



walking throught the forest.



giant yellow slug! its confused. it thinks that it is brown and can camouflage.



eek!



we reached a high point and had a good view.




first waterfall!! cali is apparently in a drought so i guess its pretty good that there is still water in the waterfall. we had lunch there.


2nd waterfall!



more walking..



good view of the super tall redwood trees.



at the end of the hike!!

we were tired and dirty at the end of the 11 miles. there were no showers on the camp site.
but there were showers at a close by site.
so a jap grad student drove us there, only to discover that the showers were coin operated.
so we drove to the HQ, changed our notes for quarters, then drove back to the showers.
25cents for 2 mins. and the water was warm!
not bad.




pretending to hug a tree while waiting for dinner.




we had spaghetti for dinner!

after which the americans went out and bought copious amounts of alcohol and proceeded to get drunk.
but the s'poreans and japanese cleverly escaped the mess before it happened by hiding in our tent and playing games.
we started off with cai quan in english. then in japanese. then in mandarin.
then we played the animal game (from mg!)
then we got bored and learnt 2 new japanese games.
and since we are grad students we had to up the level.
so we played the animal game and the 2 jap games at the same time by switching games once someone loses.
intense.
then we went to bed.

20 sept 09

woke up bright and early.
drank coke (didn't trust the tap water) and had a muffin for breakfast.
went back to campus by noon.


fantastic view of the mountains on the way back.

i've decided to blog again after being MIA for so long.
cos my life has become a bit more interesting and i want to be able to remember all that has happened when i graduate in many years' time.

12 Sept 09

i left singapore for SFO. my family, CG and some church friends came to see me off. i'm very touched cos this is the 2nd time i'm going abroad to study so they really didn't need to. but they did. so sweet :)

my CG also gave me a scrap book. thanks :)



changi T3.

i arrived in SFO at noon on 12 sept. bizzare cos of the time difference.
got the keys to my amazing room. really thank God for this room. it costs a bomb but i love it.
went shopping with some seniors- got the essential things like a duvet and some food.

13 sept 09
woke up feeling super homesick :(
got better as the day went by cos i was distracted by the things we had to do, ie buy more things.


14 sept 09

cooked my first meal in my own kitchen- pasta salad! had to make do with what little i had.





i also bought a new bike. but i didn't get a lock cos of complicated reasons, so i had to store my bike in my room.



bike in the kitchen.

yes i have my very own kitchen!! big enough to fit my bike and then some.
the old kitchen in robinson was shared between 12 people and only had enough space for 2 people to work in.


16 sept 09

cycled around campus with some s'poreans. went to palm drive to take photos with this banner.



17 sept 09
wasn't happy with the bike seat so i went and got it changed!

went on the grad night out after that.
start of Cultural Learnings of America journey.


i learnt beer pong and flip cup!



a bunch of asian grad students in Blue Chalk.