WOOHOO!!!!! Here's a little teaser on what's been happening.. enjoy!!
Here in Winter Wonderland

Setting off on the 31st of Dec, I arrived at Changi Airport at 330am and proceeded to check in with Daphne, my roomie. I think that the understanding of what was gonna happen to me still hadn't sunk in yet, so the anticipation that I was going to get to sit on an airplane just overhwhelmed all other emotions.

Pastor Simon, Lin and Jix came to see me off! It was then I realized that Christmas service was the last service I was going to attend with the GCCC congregation till 5 months later, and I felt a twang of sadness that I was to go find another Church to settle into and 'start all over.' Jereme came too, with his friend (CRAP. I forgot her name! But i know she's from KL!). They had just came from MOS and I was touched that they actually came to see me off. Heard from them that MOS is worth a look, and I made a promise to go check it out when I get back (and hopefully the novelty of it would have worn off the Singaporeans by then and I wouldn't have to queue some insane queue to get in). At 5am, I entered into the departure gates and hugged all my family members goodbye. No tearful farewell this time, but I was sure that my mom sounded like she was gonna weep like a baby! hah. I'll always be the one she cannot stop worrying about (and rightly so, I realized upon reachint Toronto that I've forgotten to bring a few things: water bottle, shawl and i'm sure the list will grow longer as I settle into my hostel.

Me and Daphne boarded the plane at 6am and we were off! The NWA has improved since the last time I sat in it. There was personal entertainment for every individual (the Airbus 330 or something like that) and I watched Wallace and Gromit there. Unfortunately, I fell asleep halfway, only to wake up and discover that I didn't wanna watch it all over again for the parts I missed. I then went straight to reading The Order of the Phoenix. It was this state of constant sleepiness and wakefulness and eating and reading that I arrived at Narita, Japan. That took about 7h and we smoothly transitted to sit on a plane that would bring us to Detroit, Michigan. The flight here was longer and there was no personal entertainment!!! Grrr. I had to settle for more reading and ended up barely sleeping, and sorely exhausted after the flight. The customs there was terribly strict! I got detained for questioning cos apprently there have been many forgeries of the Singapore passport recently, and they suspected I was one of them. ARGH. And I recently went to renew my passport.Sheesh. I did make an acquaintance with this lady who had a beautiful daughter (who also happened to have a sore on her butt and was pretty grumpy) They were extremely inefficient in the questioning (well, couldn't blame them, it was New Year's Eve!) and me and Daph rushed like mad thinking we were late for our transit flight to Toronto, when actually we blurly (if there's such a word) thought the Singapore time was US time (Singapore is 11h ahead of US). We were early incidentally and entertained ourselves by watching CNN.

The flight to Toronto was quick and smooth, and we arrived at 330pm, in extremely cold conditions. (-4 degrees) When we touched down at Detroit, i was amazed to see it covered in snow, but THEN i saw Toronto, which made Detroit look like slush city and Toronto, winter wonderland. It was way cool, just like Narnia under the rule of the White witch. It's one thing watching snow on screens, and another to feel snow falling on your face and seeing it coat the streets. I was blown away. All of a sudden, i felt a certain sense of intrusion into this beautifully white city, yet when I stepped out of the airport, I never felt more accepted and part of the landscape. Another cool thing was that I had breath mist! WOOHOO. It was really really cold though. And I was wrapped nicely from head to toe. Me and Daph went to check in first at Wyndham Bristol Hotel before going to pick up Saranya, Swepna, Trang, Cat and Cindy, after a nice and HUGE dinner at Lone Star Texas Grill (Their service was excellent. The waiter there epitomized the notion of customer service man). They took a long time (something about having to declare an apple. haha) and by the time we all settled in our rooms, it was 1030. We wanted to go to countdown at downtown east but Cat couldn't join us as she wasn't feeling well. I was extremely tired but I decided that such a chance only comes once in a lifetime and I better grab it since I'm here! We met Ali, who drove us there (squeezed 6 of us in his cab!) and he reminded me much of Ali G. haha. But he told us to call him Ali Baba. We went to City Hall and joined in the celebrations. There was a fireworks display which was sadly not very interesting, but everyone was so much in a celebratory (and drunk apparently, all of them seemed like they were excessively happy and jovial and vulgar. heh) mood so we didn't care.

This over-enthusiastic guy came over to wish us all Happy New Year and we just attempted to join in the fun and blend in. We then took the Subway and Bus 58 back. SO exhausting, but extremely fulfilling day. I mean, how often can one boast of seeing two dawns, one sunset, snow falling, and slush in just ONE day?? I just need to have more sleep now to prepare for what's coming tmr!

In WCRI

I checked into my hostel accomodation today, but not before having a fulfilling breakfast at Tim Norton's Cafe. I had a Maple Dip Dougnut and I must say, it's comparable to the doughnuts I had in Sydney (Crispy Creme or Krispy Kreme I'm not sure).

Tran and Cindy were both living off campus and renting apartments/rooms but the rest were more or less nearer the University. My room isn't the best (I think Village One was not bad!) but I'm content with it. I mean, it's not like i paid top dollar for it or anything! heh. Somewhat similar to Temasek Hall I guess, with block meetings and I even had to sign up for duty! haha. Let's just hope they have enough sense to not bother me to do stuff! I'm here to ENJOY. I don't wanna get too involved and not find time to travel and experience other new things.

And to do all that, I need to get sufficient rest. And that's why i decided not to go out for a steamboat dinner tonight although it was really tempting! I slept a bit, for about 2h and went to shower. The heating system here's really good and i had a really hot and long shower. And tmr, I'm going shopping! At the Conestoga mall, so many things I need to get! SIM card, shawl(s), beanie, trenchcoat (if they are nice and cheap), toiletries bag, laundry basket, socks, boots (pretty ones) etc. I did manage to get a look at a mini shopping area near my hostel, known as The Plaza, but being New Year's Day, most of the shops were closed. We did have lunch cum tea at this Chinese eating place called 'Chinese Legend' and we ordered a meal for one, which could have fed four. haha.

Sorry for the sudden shot of updates. I have to pay for my internet access here!! Argh. I miss TH man. Was working out the internet admin to see whether I could get it at a cheaper rate or kope from others who have. haha typical Singaporean behaviour.

Anyways, I finally did manage to get some wireless internet for the moment, but will be applying for an internet line soon!

Pictures will be uploaded next time when I have a more powerful connection.

PS: you know how they always call Singapore a culture hub? a multi-cultural society? Compared to Canada, I really think that description is loosely used. I mean, can you find people from Trinidad, Mexico and Arabia there?? This place is amazing!