I AM A STUDENT AFTERALL

Whew. It's been relatively quite a long time since I've blogged cos I had three mid terms in these past two weeks! Gosh. Only my third week here and I have mid terms!!!! Bleh.

But whatever. I have two more coming up. And a few papers that I don't wanna think about right now. Haha. Alot of things have happened in these kinda hectic two weeks though! Went to an Anglican Church Service at Renison College, Chapel of St. Bede. It's truly and eye opener. Only 12 ppl at the service, and their service book is like four times the size back in the church I attend. And it's filled with 'thine' 'thy', 'thou' etc. And no singing praise, cos the pianist was on honeymoon. Wahaha. I thought that was so sweet. Scott, who brought me to this service commented, 'where else can you be able to say 'peace' to everyone in the congregation?' I really liked it there. It's filled with warmth and love and this entrancing quality of peace that allows you to truly feel that everyone was there just to seek God.

Chinese New Year came and went, and me and Cindy, Joo, Cat and Sara went for a little lunch feast at Chinese Legends. YUM. Fried rice is made of proper rice too! LOVELY.

That's all for now. I promise more juicy updates later. ;)

Caribbean Night aka SLEAZEFEST

Once again, a wordy post from me without pictures. Went to Bombers with my girl friends for a Caribbean party!

And goodness. I never seen so much sleaze in my life. You see dirty dancing at clubs in Singapore, but nothing compares to this. WAH. butt grinding all the time. everywhere. You see a girl dancing alone, shaking her butt and the guys take it as cue to place themselves behind her butt and dance very closely to her. but of course, it could be like a caribbean tradition or something, but i still felt uncomfortable looking at it.

Especially when you see strangers dancing so intimately together, when you know what is in store is just a meaningless one night stand. Ah well. Interesting incidents but I won't blog about it. haha. you guys gotta ask me :)

TOBOGGANING

OH MAN. I had the most fun today. Besides the fact that I had to study for two tests, I went tobogganing with friends from WCRI.

Tobogganing to the WRCI-ans is basically rolling down a snow covered slope on a tray. And there are many variations. You can go down on your belly, you can go down as a train, you can link arms and go down, and you can even make a little ramp at the bottom to propel you upwards into the air for that split second.

Bottom line: IT WAS A HECK LOT OF FUN!!! Okay, besides the fact that i was under dressed (SEVERELY UNDER-DRESSED. I couldn't feel my toes, legs, face, or hands) the whole accelerating down the slope thing was exhilarating. I mean seriously, you guys gotta do it for you to understand it man.

And I need to thank Tony for being such a gentleman for warming my hands and head, in however gentlemanly way possible. and Walter, for lending me his gloves and allowing me to toboggan down in a train with me although the first time i flattened him and the second time my boot hit his face. For Meghan, who was just so brilliant to talk to. For Daphne who lent me her gloves for a while and being my company when we both couldn't get up the slope again. For Anita, who did her virgin toboggan with us. And Jason, who was nice enough to give me help so many times when i couldn't make it up the slope. And who can forget, Pierre. For dragging me down the slope again, splattering snow all over my already frozen face, and slapping his socks into my mouth (and for what reason, i just cannot fathom) [how's that for sarcasm dude??] haha. I love you guys. :)

PS: No pictures though. it was at night and too cold. I was so sure my fingers were gonna drop off soon, together with my toes. haha

PICTURES GALORE

I shan't post much words for reading in this entry. Just pictures. and more pictures. ;) It was a great time at Toronto, and one that I'll never regret going for. I've learnt more about myself and others and most importantly, WE HAD A BLAST!!!!

At Joanne's House, posing with her collection of care bears. She kindly put us up in her aunty's house! Thanks SOOOOO MUCH!!

Me at the most beautiful restaurant in Toronto, with the most picturesque view and the extremely brilliant service. AH. the view. Gosh. the view. Just takes my breath away and allows me to pause and consider the greatness of His works.

And this sweet waiter is the reason why I think customer service here rules. Real nice man. Think his name is Fred? oopsy. I really suck at names. argh.

Us in front of a yellow school bus that brought us to Toronto. It's like an authentic yellow school bus. THe one you always see in Hollywood movies!

Me at the Bata Show Museum. I realized the only reason why it's called the BATA shoe Museum is not the fact that it shows how Bata shoes have evolved, but the entire history of shoes and the different cultural and historical influences on the design of the shoes. Perugia, Ferragamo, Miller are just a few names of the designers that have made a difference to shaping of our shoes now. Never heard of them before right?? Neither have I. haha. And the person who opened this museum is the wife of the Canadian guy who started the BATA shoe chain. She did it cos she realized that she had too many shoes with her. haha.

CHECK this out. I really wonder how one actually walks in this shoe. I think the person's calves will be very toned after a few mins. Haha. Designed by Perugia.

And these!! Shoes that cover all the way to the thighs. What the. haha. Must be super difficult to wear. and can even be used for pants? Problem comes when you have to take off your shoes when you enter the house. wahaha. Designed by a lady but can't remember her name!

Korean food!! Joo can speak Korean so nicely! ARGH. Makes me wanna learn. She sounds sooooo cute when she says it. Not like she's not cute when she doesn't lah ;)

All of us at Eaton Centre (Without Daffy cos she was taking the picture! and Swep too cos she had to collect her coat!) This was after my church service which I attended with Joanne. The North Toronto Baptist Church. I like the service. and the Message. Preached from Acts 17 and partly 1 Cor. Will blog more about that later. These pictures are PART ONE. more coming up!!

TORONTO!

Now currently at Joanne's House, whose Aunty and Uncle have kindly put us up for two nights! It's a beautiful house. And I think my words will not do it justice. it's the longest house I've ever seen (and reminds me soooooo much of uncle jeff's House in Sydney). Pictures will be out soon. OH YAR. The house has a JACUZZI. KAO. HOW COOL. And it faces Lake Ontario. WAH. downside of it is that we have to walk up a little hill to get to the house. Well, the scenary more than makes up for it.

And tomorrow, we're gonna set off on our little walk of downtown Toronto. okay. Little is a bit of an understatement but well, it'll be worth it with the grand finale of the walk ending with dinner at the 360 degrees revolving restaurant on top of CN tower, the tallest freestanding structure in the world. And we'll be visiting the Bata Shoe Museum tomorrow. haha. can you believe it! BATA shoe museum! Buy And Throw Away! They actually have a museum. Shows how belittled this brand is in Singapore eh?

Well that's about it for now. I'll need the rest for tomorrow man!!!

Feed Faith and Doubt will starve to death

RS 101: Religion and Popular Culture
During this lesson, a very interesting notion popped up, as proposed by joseph Campbell. He says that all religion is essentially the same. The notion of religion is universal because there are certain universal needs in everyone of us human beings.

Interesting. But so misleading. I agree there's a basic need for this in everyone. But not every and any religion works, at least, in a the most objective manner I can muster, you cannot subscribe to every religion in the world. He made it sound like you just grab a bit from this religion and a bit from there, and voila! You have your own religion you can subscribe to. So appealing. But so wrong. It's like too easy a way out ain't it?

Well, that's my personal opinion, based on the assumption that i understood what Campbell was saying anyway. It did make me quite incensed when he proposed that reincarnation, divine birth, death, resurrection is seen in most religions. And it set me thinking: What makes Christianity different anyway? Well, GRACE. And if you don't know what that is, You gotta experience it first.

Well off this topic, I have gotten quite an impression of the kinds of students in UWaterloo. Like in my Music 100 class, there's this guy who fell asleep and in the midst of doing that, fell off his chair. HAHAHAH. amazing. he was so cool about it. like it was nothing at all, while everyone was like controlling our laughter. And even the teacher just basically ignored it. And there's two girls in my class who seem to think that speaking in Cantonese means that they are inaudible, just because they know majority don't understand it. I'm like HUH? the class has started, the prof has started talking and they still continue their conversation in the same volume. SHEESH.

And in my PHilosophy class, there's this guy who's simply amazing. he waltzes into class and sits himself down, and barely 20s into the lecture, he answers the prof's question when I haven't even registered the question the prof was asking. Crap man. and he does this ALL THE TIME. Makes me feel like a retard.

ON the good side of it, it makes my classes more interesting. Hah. I have one last class before I end for the week. and then it's TORONTO for the weekend!!!! And More pictures for those who actually read my random haphazard thoughts. ;)

SNOW!!!!! It finally snowed today! YES LAHHH. Movie night tonight too!! Watched Lemony Snickets: A series of unfortunate events (Watched it like 3 times liao. BUT! it's the company that counts :)) I just love the circularity of the show, the feeling of deja vu and not quite. And the sweet Sunny! She steals the show with the 'ga' and 'goo's.

Anyway, I'm staying over at Village One tonight, Saranya's Room. I'll keep this short, cos I wanna sleep!! More posts later heh. :)

The girls who went KTV together. Well, I'm not in the picture cos, I'm the photographer!! haha. I'll post pictures of myself soon. If I can get hold of them!! 

Volleyball warmup. It was intense man! 

This was taken at the supper we ate at Pizza Nova. Wasn't the best lah. But I liked it. BBQ sauce goes well with Pizza! nothing beats the Fish Burger from Fong Seng though. haha 

The March of the Penguins

Dreary weather it was yesterday, where there was freezing rain. Gosh. And it's no joke you know, it's really FREEZING rain. It freezes up on the pavement and makes it so difficult for you to get to class! I was slipping andsliding all my way to class (but this has nothing to do with the shoes I was wearing, every one else was also doing the same!) Seriously, i think my ice skating skills have improved since yesterday.

And I tried playing a bit of volleyball yesterday! YAYYY. But not compeititively of course (I don't know how to serve). But it was still fun, just cos everyone's so encouraging. (And I still think my reason of having bad depth perception is better than being made fun of when you were young!!!! xP)

Then I went to check out Fubar which was just down the street. Made new friends!! John, Zach, and oops. I can't remember the third guy's name! It was a tues night and I think it was relatively happening for such a night. The beers were cheap!!! $2.50 for one. Woohoo. Well daphne did turn tomato red, although she insisted that she wasn't drunk. Maybe just having a buzz.

AND.... we're going Toronto this weekend!!! and i've got quiz next week. Two on one day. Have to bring books to cram man. BLEH.

SUN, WIND and FOOSBALL

Let me try and put to words the essence of the nature of 'cold' here. You wake up and you see the sun and no snow and you think, 'Hey! Today's quite a warm day!' BUT THEN, you step out of your room and you're like 'OH CRAP. It's -10degrees.'

AND it's not just the fact that the stagnant air is so cold. It's the WIND. They have something called WIND CHILLs over here, which is informally measured in degrees celscius and it gives you the illusion that it's way colder than it actually is. And today, it was set at -18 deg. So there you are, walking toward your lecture hall, dressed for the -10deg weather when a gust of wind hits you, and guess which part of your body that affects most: THE FACE (cos it's the only place where you can't put layers of clothing on, unless you wanna look like a bank robber). And it takes 10secs of the wind before your face numbs over, and you arrive in your lecture hall with the incapacity to speak because your facial muscles just don't seem to be moving.

After the lecture, at 600pm, the sun had already set, so there wasn't even the warm comfort of the sun's rays to warm me up and I headed back. WITH THE WIND BLOWING DIRECTLY AgAINST ME. Needless to say, I entered into the servery with a face completely numb and couldn't even smile at my friends and had to rush upstairs to thaw my face before i could properly present myself to the people. haha. (AND OH! This is the first time my face turned red. HEAR THAT?? red!! It's amazing. I'm so happy.)

And i had my virgin game of foosball after dinner. WOOHOO. I'm seriously trying lots of stuff that I wouldn't have if I were back in NUS. The atmosphere here is just really more accepting I think. Well, I joined Brandon (who's absolutely BRILLIANT at this game. Besides the fact that he is over 6 foot [yes bro, that's taller than you] he's in very very very good shape. And when he goes for goal, you can't even see the ball. You only hear the 'clank' sound that comes when the ball goes into the hole and feel the whole table shake.) and though he's so good (he won like a few games one against two) I managed to make him lose. wahahhaha. Handicap match for him man. But he wasn't like peeved or anything and gave me a high five. Highest high five I've ever given anyone before.

AND NOW, I'm all psyched up for studying. OR NOT. haha. I'm TIRED TIRED TIRED. But i'll persevre and try!! Don't worry lah you guys, I'm only here to pass my modules. :P (and this is the exact mentality that will make me fail. So i'll just go study. but seriously, I don't study this much back in NUS anyways). haha

And this is how it looks like when it's covered with snow. BRRRR. looking at me makes me feel CCCOOOOLLLDDD. 

Don't think i've ever shown you the view outside my window.. It's nothing much.. But it serves its purpose quite well.. It tells me how much I need to wear before I go out! Haha. by looking at how other ppl are dressed. 

Ouch, acquired a new bruise today! Seems like I won't be able to get rid of this 'illness' of mine in the same way my sniffles disappeared after I arrived in Canada.

Well.. went to sing Karaoke last night just to see how it was like in Canada to do that. and it's about the same! (DUH.) haha. the English videos still look like they've shot randomly and the featured models in them seem to have been paid $5 for it. It was a good experience though! Cos besides the same main group of us, we had additions to the singing troupe, guest appearances by Walter and Chris! Way to go man! You guys were brave enough to come join us.

(oh the group of us girls tried bubble tease bubble tea before this and we had loads of silly fun standing in the cold with only one layer on (Above and beyond the undergarments of course.) Pictures coming up soon!

And right after that, I went to play Mahjong! Or MJ as they call it. It was cool man. Hearing all the terms of MJ said in the 'native' language, while i was still using plain mandarin. I must learn Cantonese!! and guess what. We played till 630 in the morning. Didn't manage to see the sunrise as we would have wanted, but close enough. and I woke up at 12 for lunch! No bad eh. and Studied in the afternoon.

PHEW. Long two days it's been. I might just turn in early.

Me, celebrating NYE at Downtown Toronto! 

MURDER MYSTERY

Well, I didn't really dress up as a movie star, and I went in like slippers, cos I thought it would involve alot of walking around. i must say, the social committee really put in ALOT of effort into this. There was Champagne, beer and appetizers, setting the perfect scene for a typical dinner party.

Then we were given like information about ourselves, and secrets that we had, and money to bribe ppl for their secrets. Hmmm. I suspect that I was one of those characters (in fact, I could be the only one) who had NO part to play for this msytery. As in, I was just like some character that was completely uninvolved in any sub plot or main plot, and the only use I found myself with was the fact that I was supposed to be best friends with the murderer. Haha. And I didn't even know she's the murderer, cos she didn't even know herself. I thought the ppl should have allowed the murderer to know that he/she was the one, so that she could try and scheme her way through making ppl not know she was the one. But well, the thing was complicated enough with 3 sub plots and 1 main plot. haha.

[I think TH should do this some time! And church too! if the youths are Onz enough.]

Nonetheless, besides the fact that they couldn't weave me into the storyline properly, I did make a few new friends and put a few names to a few familiar faces I always see but don't always greet. It was cool too, that the ppl tried their best to come dressed up in according to their role. The was Jason, who came dressed up in a suit and had a comb as an accessory, and yeap, he was an anchorman. It was brilliant! He speaks like one too man!

So anyway, after that, me Cat and Daph had a little girl talk and we went to play cards! haha I ended up as asshole thrice i think, cos I think I might have been too nice when i was in 'power' and gave the person i was trading cards with too good a card. but oh well! We had good fun, though there were a bunch of us who kept on landing up in the same roles. *ahem* haha. Tmr, going to try and find sneakers so i can play badminton/squash!

SALSA!!!

Just came back from the Flying Dog, this Salsa club in Waterloo. It was SOOOO FUN. Not that i could dance salsa. need to apologize to Angel, who was dancing with me most of the time. And Saranya too! For embarassing them on the dance floor. Although, Angel being gentlemanly said i was AWESOME. wahhaha. Oh well!

It's a nice place. Didn't manage to take to pictures though! But it's really cool, cos it wasn't smokey (no one's allowed to smoke) and I did find out that i have to use my PASSPORT to get into clubs here. Sheesh. which blithering idiot will bring a PASSPORT to a club?? Diao. So well, i'm gonna like make a copy of it and bring it next time if we're going. I'll take pictures next time!

Made a few new friends, Dan, from Israel and he was giving me pointers to actually get citizenship in Canada. WAH MAN. I don't mind man. MOM, DAD you want?? wahhaa. We'll see. ;) That's all man. I'm going to sleep. Till the next time! I HAVE NO LESSONS TMR!!! WOOHOO. YES LAHHHH.

And this is a picture of all ofus when we first had a little trip out to the mall when we arrived. If you look at my other pictures, you'll notice that we've started to dress more 'fashionably' than comfortably cos we've all gotten used to the weather. :) 

Well this is a long overdue picture of me when i first arrived at WCRI, when it was all still snowy and all 

This is how WCRI, the hostel I stay at looks like now. It's like Spring weather in mid winter. SO weird. haha. But good for tropical ppl like me! 

The Game of Handball

Well, I participated in a game of handball today, the rose among the thorns. Got thrashed, but had alot alot alot of FUN!!! It's not like the European Handball we play in Singapore (and in TH), it's like just the simple throwing of a tennis ball against the wall, where everyone goes in order, and tries to hit the ball against the wall (with one bounce off the floor first) and the person who goes next trying to return it. The person is out when you are unable to return the ball or the ball hits the wall before it hits the ground. It's like squash without the racquet, and enclosed room.

So there we were, in the midst of winter, playing handball (it's supposed to be childhood game) and we had loads of fun. The lingo is hilarious, you've got balls that are 'waterfalls' and balls that have 'funny bounce' and balls that do 'pockets'. Can so imagine little kids doing that man. WOOHOO.

So this was as close as i could get to actually perspiring in Winter. haha. And OH! I'm participating in some muder mystery game tmr. And I'm the role of a MOVIE STAR. Well, that shouldn't be tooo difficult. I'll see what i can come up with. haha. THIS IS TOO FUN MAN.

Just a few pictures of me with my friends.. haha. well can't expect too many pictures for now, cos I'm an exchange STUDENT not tourist. haha. And my major is Psychology, and not like Touring. Although i wish it were!

And a picture of the biggest chicken pie i've ever seen, though it doesn't look great here.


And there's me and Daffy, my roomie!! :)

MUSIC 100: Understanding Music

I don't know whether it's psychological or anything, but classes here just seem more enjoyable and more interesting. Had my lesson for MUSIC 100 at this special college for music stuff (Conrad Grebel College) just now and I never felt more 'moved'. Just my little way for saying I felt emotionally enaged during the class and really feel like I've learnt something from someone who knows more than me.

People here seem to have no problem interacting with the lecturer and with the entire class. We were told to do quite stupid things, like pick up a pen and start conducting, and everyone just does it. I wanted to take a picture of it, but alas, I was too busy having fun conducting quadruple time that I didn't. heh.

And walking away from the class, I felt like I've really experienced music, know a bit more about Haydn and Tchaikovsky. And also found out the Kitchener has a concert hall that has the best acoustic in the world. I'm so going there man. But have to find out how to get there first. haha

Oh yah. And I'm amazed that there seems to be no apparent restrictions in who can take what classes. I mean, there's actually a computer Science guy in my Psychology Counselling class. How come NUS doesn't have that?? I guess even if they did, I wouldn't take some computing class. haha.

Well, just a random rant about how much I don't really miss the education over in Singapore. But I still do miss home!! and Tao suan. haha. ok ok. I know. i'm harping too much on tao suan. I can't help it man. I have craving!!

A typical lecture/classroom setting. took this at my RS101 class. It was a very fun lecture, where questions were shot thick and fast and the environment was friendly and interactive. I didn't really participate though! You guys know how quiet I can be. haha. 

This is how UWaterloo looks like on a day when snow has melted and when it's sunny. Love it.

Just walking to and through the campus from my hostel is an experience. I mean, besides the fact that I'm cold and usually walking quite fast to warm myself up, I do quite a bit of soul-searching and thinking while walking.

Like just last night, after completing my Religion and Popular Culture course (Which ended around 845pm at night), I made my way back alone and thought about where I am now (not just physically, but mentally and spiritually) and I think that really shook me up to really consider a few things that I've thrown to the back of my mind, whether consciously or subconsciously, for the whole of last semester.

It was a hectic semester, new faces, new friends, and new responsibilities. And I started to question a few 'what-ifs' that could have happened back then. And compared it to my now. And I think I wouldn't have changed anything. I mean, it's not to say that I couldn't improve further, but all the lessons learnt then have shaped a bit of what I am now.

So here I am, with a new semester, at a new place, new faces, new friends, new responsibilities, and I know I want to make the best of my time here!! And I know I want to have made a difference to the people I meet and will be meeting.

On a less serious note, here's a few pictures on FOOD. My favourite topic. Too bad they don't have Tau Suan here. Or else, it would have been almost paradise. Hah.

BEFORE AND AFTER (Beef Pho)

Picture of all of us with the DC building. It's the building I pass by everyday when I go to school. Reminds me of LEGO!! haha. 

Love this picture to bits. We all look so happy and content eating! 

Artistically taken, but not by me unfortunately. Courtesy of Cat! 

Snowflakes on Cat's Shawl

You know, all the things you sing about snow is ALL TRUE. Snow glistens under light, becomes fluffy when forming on the ground and is pretty. I mean, look at the nice crystals they actually are. Brilliant work of nature.

On another note, yesterday was really packed with activities. Going to Swepna's house, we managed a mini snowman (which had red berries for eyes cos that was all we could find, and was evil-looking) and had SNOWBALL FIGHT!!!! Cindy makes the best snowballs. I lose steam halfway and my snowballs become snow fluff, which weren't very effective. haha. But nevermind, I did have loads of fun just trying and getting snow all over myself. It was cold no doubt, but so immensely enjoyable (maybe just for the fact I will never get to do it Singapore). I did try my hand at cooking (though relaly minimally, was like helping them open cans of soup cos they didnt' know how to do it. and stirred the soup a bit. hahahahah)















Well, we got back and I had to serve people with food. Got to get acquainted with more people which was always an interesting experience and after that, it was SALSA!!! We learnt it from Angel and Luis, and they were SOOO good (by my standards that is) I learnt a few turns and I got exasperated by the fact that there weren't enough guys to go around so I was learning the guys' moves. And when I was actually dancing with one of the guys, I was the lousiest partner a guy could have cos I was too domineering. haha.


Well, I managed to fulfill my shopping stuff at the Cambridge Centre mall (which took like three buses to get to) and got boots at 17 dollars!! SIS: they are your size so you can wear them in Singapore. I can wear them here cos i'm wearing thick socks. THANK ME!! ahahah) The malls in Canada are mostly alike so it was just like the Conestoga mall again. I did manage to catch a glimpse of the famous ice wine (ontario's the biggest ice wine producer in the whole world) but that was in the mart near Swepna's place. I'll definitely be getting one bottle back home for Daddy to try!

Well that's as much as I'll update for now. I need to prep for school tmr! Guys, do leave me a tag/comment so I know who to get souvenirs for. wahhaha. ;)

Just a little picture of me with a snow covered landscape. More of such pictures will come later, but I'm extremely exhausted from today's events, so I'll update you guys later. A little preview: we had lunch (we tried cooking!) at Swepna's place in a neighbourhood (that seriously looked very desperate housewife-ish like) I did serving food duty at my hostel place and we had salsa and a bit of Caribbean dancing. Most of all, IT WAS SNOWING. It's a real different experience seeing snow on the floor and being snowed upon. Trust me. The latter, ROCKS.  

SOMEONE TEACH ME TO DO TAG BOARD!

I didn't go to the Library as I intended because although it LOOKS warm and sunny, it's actually SNOWING and quite cold. I thought I should do my readings in my room. I did eventually read a bit, but most of the time was spent talking to the people who are in the same block as me and online chatting with my friends about what to do next and catching up on the events that are happening in Singapore now.

Which appears to be quite a bit!! I wanna be up-to-date!! Just a little time spent away and so many things have happened! You guys ah. Tsktsk. So happening woah. haha. Alrighty, i'm gonna formally start mugging. Like a true blue Singaporean (Looks at jingkai) haha.

And for the 'silly' girl out there, please take care of yourself! Don't burden yourself out too much!

For my sis, bro and parents. Gosh I think I truly understand the meaning of homesick man. Feeling inscure without you guys nearby!

For other people i have yet to mention, the ppl here may be nice, but you guys are nicer lah. Miss you all man.

Oh, we have two choices of soup every lunch and dinner. haha. here's my favourite. THICK RICH CREAMY mushroom soup. You can see a bit of a chocolate muffin in the top left hand corner. YUM YUM