THIS IS TOR
I know how you feel about people like The Girl Who Giggled. Thankfully, I am no longer surrounded by such numbskulls, and/or can move away slowly and carefully if I ever find myself their midst. Although I did meet a very interesting girl at a business course we had to go for in Manchester. Didn't get to see the city at all (except a little bit of the Uni campus) but I had a luxurious room all to myself with a TV and ironing board! *gasp* It's funny how your standards get lowered, staying in UK hotels.
So, this girl.
'Howdy!' she said as I entered the room for our little groupwork session thingie. This greeting seemed strange as she was obviously very posh. It could have been her confused effort to connect with the common people such as myself. I didn't have the heart to tell her that she had got her countries mixed up. What else could I say but 'er, hello?'.
'Is it just you?' she replied.
I didn't know, there were meant to be 6 of us but apparently many people had had a rather heavy night the night before and hadn't actually got up that afternoon.
After a pause she said, 'So, what's your background then?'. I forgot to mention that this girl looks like the queen (perhaps a younger version) and was wearing tweed. I didn't know if I was meant to say that I was from the Bishan branch of the Ho family involved in middle class pursuits (I'm afraid), or just that I was from SG.
'No,no!' she said, 'I meant, which university are you from?'
So I detailed my educational pedigree.
'Are you at Oxford next year then?' she was referring to the LPC year that everyone has to do in order to sit their bar exam. We can do this in Nottingham, Oxford, or London.
'No, I'll be in London,' I told her.
'Jolly good.'
Absolute and awkward silence.
Luckily people started coming in and having conversations about houses in the country, and the people who knew the other people in the room, so I could relax. But the majority of my future colleagues are nice or at least ok, from what I've experienced. There are one or two that are just not on the same planet though, for example, one girl is on planet Paris Hilton.
Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against my future colleagues, they just exasperate me very easily.
Friday, August 26, 2005
Just jotting this down, while in school. Have to dash for Lit lect in a bit.
Bloody hell. If there's one thing that I don't like, it's being locked out of class first thing in the morning. Especially when the first period is a lecture and my notes are in class. I do sit rather close to the windows, but I don't have abnormally long arms to reach my stuff (however, have I ever mentioned that my left ring finger is longer than my right?).
Added to that, my class chairman acted like he didn't care, when I asked him about it after assembly. Don't think he liked me interrupting his conversation with other fencers. Well, of course he didn't care; he had his notes with him.
But what I detest most of all is when the person holding the fucking key tag giggles when she discovers her mistake.
Urgh.
Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against my classmates. They just exasperate me very easily.
Bloody hell. If there's one thing that I don't like, it's being locked out of class first thing in the morning. Especially when the first period is a lecture and my notes are in class. I do sit rather close to the windows, but I don't have abnormally long arms to reach my stuff (however, have I ever mentioned that my left ring finger is longer than my right?).
Added to that, my class chairman acted like he didn't care, when I asked him about it after assembly. Don't think he liked me interrupting his conversation with other fencers. Well, of course he didn't care; he had his notes with him.
But what I detest most of all is when the person holding the fucking key tag giggles when she discovers her mistake.
Urgh.
Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against my classmates. They just exasperate me very easily.
Friday, August 19, 2005
Please excuse my previous post, I'm fine. Was just PMS-ing. That's what blogs're for, no?
Just got back from fencing, haven't fenced for a month, by estimation. In fact, I hardly fence at all in the first place. Now my fingers feel like they want to fall off because my hand is so strained. Good thing I'm using a french grip though, because a pistol grip would probably do worse. Couldn't write, when I first put down my blade. Write, as in do Econs MCQ while presiding other bouts. So my TYS has 15 point score matches all over the Labour Market section.
Started on the shadowrun main book some time back, muchly thanks to Wen and his gigantic portable hard drive. Got through the history bit of it, so have grasp of what setting is like. Now I know what Khayce ment by Snow Crash beng a very shadowrun book.
Can't quite get through the technicalities of the game though, am beggining to form habit of reading only fluff text. Must be all the fanfic reading I do online, articles in PDF aren't so much different. On the other hand, I've never really liked going through technical bits, it's easier to learn it when you actually play. Like science practical like that.
Went back to IJ this week, to get Angelina's camera from Jenny, for Project Work. The fact that I reognise nearly nobody anymore is more than just slightly alarming. The few that I did were band juniors, who have stepped down. Damned good to see them again. At least the teachers are mostly constant; I said hallo to Mr Chan. Oh hell, I miss my saxophone so much! But fencing is doing a fine job of a replacement, at least. Besides, I really am quite sick of performance arts, at the mo. But honestly, the feeling of walking through the place you've always thought of as your school, only to see strangers in that classic blue pinafoe...
Mailed Eldred. Suddenly I find out that he's got a blog. On friendster no less. And he's on bloody msn messenger too. Utterly contrary to the veiws that he shared with me, while he was still here. He's doing well, and that is always a good thing to know. Which is more than I can say for some of my friends here in CJ.
It's funny how you turn around for what seems like just a moment, only to be suprised at the very odd things that happened while you weren't looking.
Is it just me, or does it seem to rain alot on days when I have Geog lectures? Tuesdays and Thursdays. How odd. In any case, I've taken to bringing a heavy jeacket down to all lectures now, so that I don't keep freezing my ass off, or have my body wanting to shut down/start hibernating. I haven't the faintest idea where the jacket came from, I just found it in the spare cupboard one day. I know it sounds creepy but I think my sister chucked it there before she left. Keyword here being think.
I think I shall go dump my hand in ice water now, so that I can fence tmr. Oww.
Just got back from fencing, haven't fenced for a month, by estimation. In fact, I hardly fence at all in the first place. Now my fingers feel like they want to fall off because my hand is so strained. Good thing I'm using a french grip though, because a pistol grip would probably do worse. Couldn't write, when I first put down my blade. Write, as in do Econs MCQ while presiding other bouts. So my TYS has 15 point score matches all over the Labour Market section.
Started on the shadowrun main book some time back, muchly thanks to Wen and his gigantic portable hard drive. Got through the history bit of it, so have grasp of what setting is like. Now I know what Khayce ment by Snow Crash beng a very shadowrun book.
Can't quite get through the technicalities of the game though, am beggining to form habit of reading only fluff text. Must be all the fanfic reading I do online, articles in PDF aren't so much different. On the other hand, I've never really liked going through technical bits, it's easier to learn it when you actually play. Like science practical like that.
Went back to IJ this week, to get Angelina's camera from Jenny, for Project Work. The fact that I reognise nearly nobody anymore is more than just slightly alarming. The few that I did were band juniors, who have stepped down. Damned good to see them again. At least the teachers are mostly constant; I said hallo to Mr Chan. Oh hell, I miss my saxophone so much! But fencing is doing a fine job of a replacement, at least. Besides, I really am quite sick of performance arts, at the mo. But honestly, the feeling of walking through the place you've always thought of as your school, only to see strangers in that classic blue pinafoe...
Mailed Eldred. Suddenly I find out that he's got a blog. On friendster no less. And he's on bloody msn messenger too. Utterly contrary to the veiws that he shared with me, while he was still here. He's doing well, and that is always a good thing to know. Which is more than I can say for some of my friends here in CJ.
It's funny how you turn around for what seems like just a moment, only to be suprised at the very odd things that happened while you weren't looking.
Is it just me, or does it seem to rain alot on days when I have Geog lectures? Tuesdays and Thursdays. How odd. In any case, I've taken to bringing a heavy jeacket down to all lectures now, so that I don't keep freezing my ass off, or have my body wanting to shut down/start hibernating. I haven't the faintest idea where the jacket came from, I just found it in the spare cupboard one day. I know it sounds creepy but I think my sister chucked it there before she left. Keyword here being think.
I think I shall go dump my hand in ice water now, so that I can fence tmr. Oww.
Thursday, August 18, 2005
THIS IS TOR
Do you know what else? At the Malaysian restaurants here, you can't have white chai dao kuei because they only have black chai dao kueh in Malaysia and they refuse to do a special one for me. Can life get any more miserable? Think about it. Can you imagine not having eaten white chai dao kueh for a year?
My obsession with proper, wholesome food is considered very strange here. And chai dao kueh is healthy compared to typical london food, which consists mainly of soggy sandwiches, greasy kebabs and MacDonald's. For some reason, the junk food here tastes a lot worse than in SG and the portions are also a lot smaller. (I tried a few fries in the name of research so that I can say I know what I'm talking about, despite my principled objection to MacDonald's.) Actually, most of the time people just don't eat. As in, they go to a pub straight after work for 'after work drinks', and then stumble home pissed at midnight (on a weekday). On weekends, dinner for most people my age means grabbing a burger while waiting in line to get into a club at 10:30pm. Before that, during the normal dinnertime hours (7-9+), everyone's at home or at another bar getting steadily more and more drunk, until they get thrown out of the bar and sober up in the cold night air. Then everyone stumbles around trying to find a club, perhaps stopping at an off-license to get more beer/alcopops in order to try and stay pissed while waiting in the queue to get in.
A weekend night in London is drunk people carousing around trying blearily to find a club 'they know is around here somewhere'. But don't get me wrong, I do go out, just to nice, non-sleazy places where one can have a drink with friends in relative comfort, hopefully without burning a hole in one's pocket. Urgh, I sound snobbish now. But what I really am trying to say is...
As I mentioned, no one actually has dinner properly here. My English friends are constantly amazed by the fact that I go to the supermarket and buy groceries like raw fish and meat, because it's usually pasta or microwave food for them. But then most of my classmates don't really live in London. They go home to their parents' houses in other parts of the country every few weekends and have proper food then (ie roast beef, meatloaf, typical ang moh food etc.). I, on the other hand, can't bloody go home whenever I want.
So I have to cook my own mee pok, laksa, etc. Did you know that a vital ingredient in mee pok is the pork lard? You know, the small crispy thing that no one eats because it is too fattening? Well, mee pok tastes like a pale shadow of itself when you don't cook it with that pork lard. And I can't bring myself to buy or make that because it is too fattening. Damn! Damned if I do, (cos it's fattening) and damned if I don't (cos it doesn't taste as nice).
People don't even have proper lunches! Everyone eats sandwiches at their desks and some may go out for a smoke and a coffee, but no one goes and sits down at a table and orders food. Since there aren't any hawker centres here, you can't do that without spending quite a lot of money at restaurants. And if you want a healthy option, there's only sushi, which costs quite a lot here (as it does in the rest of the world, even Japan. Except Union Square in New York though).
So to anyone who is thinking of studying/working abroad, I say, go to America! Go to Australia! Do not come to London/the UK. Because if you are a true Sgean, life will be quite miserable for you. Especially if you like white chai dao kueh.
I am very poor thing. Feeling very sorry for myself.
Do you know what else? At the Malaysian restaurants here, you can't have white chai dao kuei because they only have black chai dao kueh in Malaysia and they refuse to do a special one for me. Can life get any more miserable? Think about it. Can you imagine not having eaten white chai dao kueh for a year?
My obsession with proper, wholesome food is considered very strange here. And chai dao kueh is healthy compared to typical london food, which consists mainly of soggy sandwiches, greasy kebabs and MacDonald's. For some reason, the junk food here tastes a lot worse than in SG and the portions are also a lot smaller. (I tried a few fries in the name of research so that I can say I know what I'm talking about, despite my principled objection to MacDonald's.) Actually, most of the time people just don't eat. As in, they go to a pub straight after work for 'after work drinks', and then stumble home pissed at midnight (on a weekday). On weekends, dinner for most people my age means grabbing a burger while waiting in line to get into a club at 10:30pm. Before that, during the normal dinnertime hours (7-9+), everyone's at home or at another bar getting steadily more and more drunk, until they get thrown out of the bar and sober up in the cold night air. Then everyone stumbles around trying to find a club, perhaps stopping at an off-license to get more beer/alcopops in order to try and stay pissed while waiting in the queue to get in.
A weekend night in London is drunk people carousing around trying blearily to find a club 'they know is around here somewhere'. But don't get me wrong, I do go out, just to nice, non-sleazy places where one can have a drink with friends in relative comfort, hopefully without burning a hole in one's pocket. Urgh, I sound snobbish now. But what I really am trying to say is...
As I mentioned, no one actually has dinner properly here. My English friends are constantly amazed by the fact that I go to the supermarket and buy groceries like raw fish and meat, because it's usually pasta or microwave food for them. But then most of my classmates don't really live in London. They go home to their parents' houses in other parts of the country every few weekends and have proper food then (ie roast beef, meatloaf, typical ang moh food etc.). I, on the other hand, can't bloody go home whenever I want.
So I have to cook my own mee pok, laksa, etc. Did you know that a vital ingredient in mee pok is the pork lard? You know, the small crispy thing that no one eats because it is too fattening? Well, mee pok tastes like a pale shadow of itself when you don't cook it with that pork lard. And I can't bring myself to buy or make that because it is too fattening. Damn! Damned if I do, (cos it's fattening) and damned if I don't (cos it doesn't taste as nice).
People don't even have proper lunches! Everyone eats sandwiches at their desks and some may go out for a smoke and a coffee, but no one goes and sits down at a table and orders food. Since there aren't any hawker centres here, you can't do that without spending quite a lot of money at restaurants. And if you want a healthy option, there's only sushi, which costs quite a lot here (as it does in the rest of the world, even Japan. Except Union Square in New York though).
So to anyone who is thinking of studying/working abroad, I say, go to America! Go to Australia! Do not come to London/the UK. Because if you are a true Sgean, life will be quite miserable for you. Especially if you like white chai dao kueh.
I am very poor thing. Feeling very sorry for myself.
Saturday, August 13, 2005
Tuesday, August 02, 2005
The weather this morning suited my mood perfectly.
I stepped out of Geog lecture (Impacts of Rapid Population Growth in Developing Countries) and the sky was wonderfully overcast. I was just in time to catch that gorgeous pause, the almost audible sigh of the sky as it prepared to pour.
I want to stand on the roof, scream and shout and cry until there is nothing left of me, til the rain finally pounds that message home: you are nothing. You do not matter in the grand scheme of things.
what if what if what if
I have come to hate those words.
I feel blades eating into my flesh; spelling out that one letter I know so well, mine, all mine... and the blood runs in ruby rivulets down to stain my fair skin like ink on paper. Or maybe there is no blood? I am tired of thinking.
The lightning drowns out my rage but not the voices in my head that continue to argue and bicker and-
(Brought to you courtesy of my hormones, inferiority complex and that Unavoidable Thing Called Puberty)
I stepped out of Geog lecture (Impacts of Rapid Population Growth in Developing Countries) and the sky was wonderfully overcast. I was just in time to catch that gorgeous pause, the almost audible sigh of the sky as it prepared to pour.
I want to stand on the roof, scream and shout and cry until there is nothing left of me, til the rain finally pounds that message home: you are nothing. You do not matter in the grand scheme of things.
what if what if what if
I have come to hate those words.
I feel blades eating into my flesh; spelling out that one letter I know so well, mine, all mine... and the blood runs in ruby rivulets down to stain my fair skin like ink on paper. Or maybe there is no blood? I am tired of thinking.
The lightning drowns out my rage but not the voices in my head that continue to argue and bicker and-
(Brought to you courtesy of my hormones, inferiority complex and that Unavoidable Thing Called Puberty)