it's been 40 days....

This trip has been really long. The longest I have been away from home, from Singapore.

In 2 hours, I will be making my way to the George Bush Airport, board my flight and head home.

hmm... actually, I am feeling quite sher3 bu4 de2 about leaving. I like the working culture and the environment here. I really feel that if I had continued to stay here, I would have learnt plenty more. To be even more frank, I like the life I have here. My basic needs have been paid for by the company, like food, lodging and transportation. I will certainly miss everything the comfortable life now. I think what I miss most would all the independence I have here. It can get very lonely but I can deal with that.

I am not normally like that leh... somehow, the whole day today, I have been feeling sad. zzz...I hate that attachment feeling that I developed to someone or something. It is difficult to let go sometimes....

stress

I usually blog when I am stress. It is a form of escapism for me.

I think this trip is proving to be more stressful than I really thought it might be. The combination of homesickness ("Find Me A Singaporean" makes me cry leh...), loneliness, stress at work, stress at shopping, stress from the singapore office is giving me sleepless nights. I cannot sleep well when I am worried. I know that very well. Thus, I get very angry when someone tries to ruin my relaxed state of mind before my sleep. Point is I have been very lethargic. Exercising could only help me to escape for that few moments only. I kept pondering, worrying and thinking about everything lately. WTF. I totally miss being an offshore drilling engineer, at least I don't need to mull over so many things at one go.

I am really just a very simple person. ARRGGHH!!!

PS: it didn't help that someone close to my mum just passed away as well. Lung cancer. I have known him for nearly 20 years of my life. He's a good man. RIP, Uncle Robert.

my 1st pair of 5.10

Wah lau.. I have been wanting a pair of 5-10 rock shoes since I first started rockclimbing in junior college. *count*count* 8 years ago? zzz.... old liao.. My first pair of rock shoes, I got it only when I was in uni year 2. I almost got a 5-10 from a senior but it was seriously too tight. *sigh* since I only had an 80 dollar budget, I had no choice but to buy a pair of "spider" instead. This trusty old spider last me for 4 years liao... hahaha....

and so in I'm in the US now.... and I have been surfing rei.com for a few days liao. I decided to go to one of the outlets for a look since it was only a 10 min drive away from my work place. WAHAHAHAH... so nicely, I managed to find 2 pairs of shoes going at below 70USD!!!! MadRock vs 5-10!!!!!!! hahaha... I tried both. But the 5-10 still beat the madrock handsdown... hehe....

I am so excited to use it can!!! wahahaha... where's the boudering gym in houston!?!?!?!?!?!?

because of this pair of unbudgeted shoes, I am not going to buy any more clothes for myself during my stay in US liao. hahaha... =P

WTF Dinner...

On Friday night, I went dinner with my big boss and his wife. It was my 1st time eating with such a "proper" person. I have only heard tales about her throughout my last 3 weeks. They deemed her as a proper English woman and warned me to be at my best behaviour.

and so I went along with the boss after work on Friday. His house was totally unlike what I had imagined. I was assuming that his house would be the low-key type, typical American deco and all. I WAS WRONG. It was classy. Really. THe paintings on his walls are collector's antiques. Those kind of 16th, 17th century oil painting costing millions of dollars... MY GOSH... *jaw drop* The moment I entered, the sound system was playing modern classical. The clock was antique as well. The curtains had delicate embroidery on it siah....I looked at myself... wah lau.. I went in jeans and tee shirt can... zzz.... and she, with a HUGE diamond ring on her finger, was dressed in a black dress. *faintz* Water was served in a proper water glass, snacks consisted of a bowl of olives, a bowl of berries and a bowl of chips. They kept insisting that I should take sparkling water,not plain water as well... wah lau.... I am an oilfield hand leh....

I wished I could crawl into a hole siah...

okay lah.. she was really hospitable and nice otherwise....

Then we went dinner...

She really knows her dining etiquette really well.... From the moment we stepped into the restaurant, she told my boss on which side of the table he should sit liao.

Mistake number 1: I didn't realise that the waitress was behind me and she was pushing in the chair for me. I sat down and was really shock when I saw her. *Faintz*

Mistake 2: We were chatting and I was drinking water from the glass. Then, it went clink clang hitting my plates!!! I didn't look where I was placing my glass.

Mistake 3: Warm bread came first. You know being typical Singaporean. I just peel my entire bread and spread buttern on it and peeled bits by bits to it... wah lau... WRONG METHOD!

Mistake 4: Apetizer came. We were sharing. I was damn smart. I waited and observed which utensils they were using first... then my boss cut the stuff with a little spoon. Then I used my little spoon to scope this cheeese croquette. AND I USED THE LITTLE TO FEED MYSELF DIRECTLY INTO MY MOUTH....argh!!!! by the time I realised it was too late...

Mistake 5: Salad came. Wah lau... I just totally don't know how to eat salad lah... my utensils were all over the place...Instead of pouring my sauce, I dipped my veggies in instead.

Mistake 6: Main dish came. Aiya... I was totally not in control of my steak at all. sianz.... then today I found out from Ray that for American dining, One's supposed to cut the meat, lay down the knife, change the fork to the right hand, then simultaneously put the food into your mouth while pulling your napkin to chest level. WAH KAOZ! SO COMPLICATED!!!

I was totally damn sianz by the whole ordeal till I just totally decided to skip dessert. kns...this is a total WTF situation that I got myself caught in. *sigh*

That concludes my need to attend etiquette lessons ASAP when I get home. This was not the first time I totally fumbled at a dinner since I started working. Most of the time, I had people like James and Js to accompany me. I was alone this time and totally nervous siah...

Wah lau.. who says engineers no need to socialise one...

And I am going to throw away any clothes that appear too old & too comfortable to wear.. basket.. being caught in such situation on such last minute notice is no joke at all.

I am so going to get into trouble.....

I have been worrying about it since the start of my trip.... I have cancelled my holiday to florida because of it as well. I am so going to be dead... so very dead.

from this angle, it didn't look like I had bought a lot....

but closer.... all these paper bags are filled to the brink.... with clothes, shoes, bags... my gosh.. disgusting.....

And I have only got a 28" luggage bag that weigh 27kg at changi airport before I left sg.... I need to get another trolley bag siah....

2 more weeks..... 1 more weekend of intensive retail therapy.....please please... let my total load be less than 40kg....

Segovia- Day 10

The alteria train that took us to segovia..

The Aqueduct...

for size comparison...

The Alcazar..

"Glue" sniffing... wahhaah.. no lah.. I was smelling the latest perfume scent that a lot of brands are currently marketing...


The ham croquette at Cafe Zahara

Paella & Carbonara

Apparently some drama opening at our the theatre below our hostel...

We headed out of Madrid to this little city called Segovia... Only for 1 reason. Shanli's insistence that we must visit the Sleep Beauty's Castle... "=_= okie lah.. give her a bit of credit it was nice..hahaha...

It’s a fact that Walt Disney used Segovia's fairytale Moorish fortress as the inspiration for his famous Sleeping Beauty castle.

There was another attraction which is called Aqueduct of Segovia. It is a tower that was mythically built by the devil. hahaha... that's the nonsense that lonely planet gave... In fact, it was built at the end of 1st to early 2nd century BC by the Romans to bring water from the Río Frío (Cold River)(about 18 km away) to the city, requiring an elevated section in its last 1 kilometer (0.6 mi) from the Sierra de Guadarrama to the walls of the old town.

Highlight of the day was dinner.... we promised to have a good dinner on our last night in every city that we go to... and so we went to cafe zahara for dinner.. *SLurp* by far one of the best dinner we had in spain.. the ham and cheese croquette was heavenly!! then as usual we had a paella and a plate of pasta.. hehe...

Madrid- Day 9

The outside of the bull ring...

The bull fight poster for the season...

I cannot resist not putting this up. But I really love the flowers outside the museum..

The Prado museum.. it was a free entry day, thus the long queue...

Us, freezing in the f**king rain... it's damn windy as well.... and the 4 euro puncho....

THe madrid bull ring!!

the morning was a trip to the flea market. It was quite a disappointment even though it was supposed to be Europe's biggst flea market. It was not as colourful as I have imagined. Didn't buy anything at all as well....

Then we excitedly went to buy our bullfight tickets for the night. Damn cheap.. only 5.90 euros....which was cancelled because of the bloody rain... they make us buy a 4 euro poncho for NO REASON siah... freeze in the rain for a long time as well... kns...

Headed to the Prado Museum after that. I think it is one of the biggest art gallery in the world. Very modern...nice...as usual no photos allowed..haha..

Spain Day 7 & 8

Guess what it means???

The 1st street protest that we have seen all our lives.....

DAMN COOL RIGHT?? HAHAHAH...

Us, fighting with all the men to get our tickets into Estadio Bernabeu

Ha!! half hour in the sun later.. our tour begins...

The players that have walked through the doors of Real Madrid FC..

A shelf of the many trophies that they have won over the years....

OoOpS....Ronaldo's boots..hahaha..

In the VIP box...

Damn cool right.... hahahaha

The team bench... Recaro seats leh.. siao siao...ahahaha

Damn excited to see some hot bods in the changing room!!! hahaha....

huh..nobody...

With much excitement, we marched into Museo Reina Sofia!!!!

Day 7 at spain was a transit day. We took the Altaria train up north to Madrid. Yes!!! The capital of spain. Nothing really spectacular happened on the train lah. But the hostel that we were staying in Mucho Madrid was really good. It totally deserved to be the hostelworld's top hostel of the month. hahaha...

Day 8. Definitely one of the most exciting moments of my Madrid stay!!! We went to to Estadio Santiago Bernabeu aka Real Madrid FC's stadium!!! wahahahha... we initially wanted to try to get football tickets for the match between Real Madrid and Seville but failed. Then we tried to take the stadium tour in the morning but it had some logistical error and asked us to return only after 2pm. Sianz... so basically we walked around Madrid quite a bit lah.. and WE WITNESSED OUR 1ST STREET PROTEST. It was the ministry of justice that was protesting for more pay and better benefits lah... but f**king sheltered kids like us who have never seen a thing like that before were jumping up and down like a rabbit trying to take all the photos and videos..haahaha

The stadium tour was quite fun. Get to see the old trophies, read the history of Real Madrid FC, see the satdium, see the team's changing room etc. hehe....

After the stadium tour, we went to visit the world famous Sofia Reina Art Gallery... wahahaha... it was a really tiring tour which we didn't manage to complete. But it was one of the more enjoyable tour because of a certain artist. hahaha... His pictures always, mostly only have black dots. Black dots as eyes, lines, symbols, sun, moon, etc... hahaha....too bad can't take pictures lah.. otherwise, you would have been equally amused as well.

Virgin Ride

omg omg!!!!! I have just had my virgin ride on a CONVERTIBLE!!!!! hahahha..... my boss just took me out to lunch on his wife's Lexus Convertible can!!!! He drove it with the shade down somemore..... wahahhaa... so cool right?? I will post the picture later siah..... hahahaah.... =P

on love...

I have finally got to spend a day by myself. Shut myself in, lie in bed and do nothing. hahaa... heck the museum lah. I will godowntown next week bah.

Was too tired...

I have just finished watching 恶作剧2吻. It is not the end of thing series yet!!! wah lau.... thanks leh. Actually, it lead me to wonder if Gong 2 would be coming out soon. hmmm..

I like watching those drama series. Made me laugh and cry like nobody's business. Yeah, I happen to be one of those girls who will just cry and cry once the tap is turned on. =PpPp loser right?? aiya, I just simply go with the flow of the movie or drama. Like a horror show, I will scream and hide behind my hands or if I am at home, I will just jump up and hide to the toilet to hide. haahahah....I think I am one of those very predictable people. I wear my moods on my face most of the time.

I have been thinking lately. You know next time I wanna marry someone who's as nice as my buddy, as smart as my boss and as stern as my dad. WAHAAAHAHHA... where did this shocking revelation come from? *shrug* pluck out from the air??? hahahaha....I also remembered I used to want to marry a romantic, a spanish, a french, an italian, a passionate person or and was even crashing some guy that I have seen a few times on the mrt. hahahaha.... silly right?? Don't believe? Will show you some extracts from my past....

"I am supposed to be reading my Newsweek right now. But I have this really distracting incident in my head that refused to go away. So I thought maybe I should write it down and perhaps it will go away.

I saw someone on the train just now. Nope, I don't know him, but I know enough that he is from my school. Seen him around since I was year 1. He was alone. Our eyes met. Acutally, we saw each other a couple of times before. Each time, just for a short while.I like the way he look back,maybe that's why I remember him. He saw his friend walking past. I like the way he pat her shoulder. Then he called out her name and said hi. I like it too. He was standing at the in-betweens of 2 carriages . They both proceeded on and found 2 seats. I quite enjoy stealing glances at him while I was talking to him. Opps! Hope Alwyn didn't catch me beo-ing him. hmmm...we can't say beo here 'cos he looked back as well. haha....

Everytime I see him, I would always take a second look to make sure it is him. And half the time he will look back one....hahaha Usually, I would just forget about the whole thing. But today, it is different. I found myself thinking about it.

AIya, if only I have half of Candy's kind of guts, I would have gone up to say hi. Aiya, too bad, I don't.....Maybe next time, I will try to smile. Cannot stand myself!!! Going to be 21 and still so po ma...Well, can't blame me, he is only that perfect because I don't know him. Shouldn't try to spoil the whole image I have of him..."-Aug 2004

"Life's in a mono of late. Can't blame. I am a student with exams round the corner.

Lately, the gang's been "talking" about passion. More precisely, living with passion. Without passion, we would be this thing called a zombie. Passion gives us colour in our face. Passion brings us friends. Passion makes you aim for the impossible. Basically, passion shapes all of us.

Interesting philosophy that they were writing about on email. hahaha....I have my thoughts about it too. Frankly, if one ever asked me, I do idolised passionate people. Passionate to the extreme till they are sometimes call weird. Seriously, a nerd is just another passionate person. I realised that one can find happiness in living passionately. Because if you live passionately, you are oblivious to the opinions people have on you. It is a strange connection I must say. To be so, one must first be able to let go at will. If you heard people calling you nerd, u never take it to heart. Because that's your interest. Your life would be empty without it. And if you find people who understands this thing that you are passionate about, wouldn't it be like the greatest happiness you would ever find? Probably that's why like-minded people likes to congregate together.

There's being passionate about life. I love the spontaneity that life offers. The chances and opportunities that one is being entitled to. Initially when I started year 4, I was filled with mixed feelings. Loneliness was particularly scary then. Most of my friends have graduated. It was really lonely everyday. I used to have people to hang out with, to catch up with even during a 5 minutes break. Then I realised, I totally like my life now. It is lonely but the freedom I enjoy is endearing. I can do whatever I want without having to care if it matters to anyone. I mean, I can really be who I am and live my life as passionately as I want to. Example, if I realised I can't concentrate in school today because I am thinking of buying that pair of shoes, I can just leave school and go shopping. hahahaa....yeah, alone. It doesn't really matter anymore because if I don't try to live my life the way I want it, I would not be happy.

Of cos, there's always this other connection about living with passion and being irresponsible...hahhaa...you know what I mean, don't you?

Oh well....lunching with weiyang. Have to go!!!

To end it all, here's something...think about your day today...

"Have you lived well today so that if you suddenly die, you have no regrets?"- OCT 2005

Damages at Outlet Shopping

and so...

I got my rented car on Friday evening. It was almost scary to be at any junction... cannot decide which lane to turn to... aiyo.. very difficult to do right-hand drive leh.... *sigh*

anyway, I took it to outlet shopping today with me. hahahah....I totally underestimated the drive time. It's like a freaking 60 miles away from my place!!!!! *faintz* so it's an hour drive in a car not made to drive fast.

It's 10 times worse than driving my dad's nissan. The speed limit here is 65 mph (104k/h) and somehow, it seems like 65 mph is the actual minimum speed. I was all the way on the slowest lane. It is too noisy to drive any faster. Either it only has a 4 gear gearbox or zero noise insultation. I tried going above 75 mph (120k.h) and it feels like I am about to fly in the car liao... hahaha...

OTHERWISE... shopping was GOOD!!! I have incurred substantial damage to my wallet liao...there's goes my 2 weeks of allowance liao... sianz.... but here are the pictures!!!!

my damages..... anyway, I realised that guess clothes fit me super well siah.. hehe...

Stockyard at Fort Worth.... the old cowboy town...

my suite!!!

It's damn cool with a separate living room and kitchen siah....