Monday, September 25, 2006

It's NOT a Fish Tank

Look CLOSER! It's not a fish tank, but it's pretty close! Not close enough for a prize though. Sorry, SSATO, Truly Amazing, and Fun Man. What it is is a 24/7 live feed to the Scripps Aquarium at UCSD. It's now a tradition within my dorm to keep the live feed on 24/7 too, so that we can see the fish any time. It's got to the point where my roomie is naming the fish that he recognizes...

Nuts.

Sunday, September 24, 2006

Party!
Saturday night was great! There was a welcome party held at Tanya's (bottom right) apartment to welcome all the Singaporeans and Malaysians in UCSD. I almost didn't go, because I didn't like the idea of an exclusive organisation based on nationality... but what the hell!
Met quite a random mix of people. Only one Malaysian, whom I remember meeting. So many names that I can't remember now, and I always feel bad about this. But I'm so terrible with names and I can't help it. No matter how hard I try, names slip from my head like greased eels.
I remember these few people I met for the first time: Margary (?), Ee Tsin, Don (and I forgot Don's elder sister's name, damn... ), Han Liang, Keira (?), Ivan. Interesting people. I remember meeting two Indonesians (what were they doing there?), a brother and sister pair, named Don and (I forgot). Met an interesting girl who was an exchange student from Melbourne University, doing a double major here, and she had a cute tongue piercing and black stockings. I remember these, but not her name...
The food felt really local, which I miss terribly. Everybody brought food, or brought a joke. The party ended with me telling my giraffe, elephant, aeroplane joke. I should have thought about the joke before hand, because I made a mistake and I said the elephant came before the giraffe, and I had to change the joke quickly while telling it, but I think I pulled it off.




Tanya proclaimed I was a 'flirt' during the party, which I am quick to deny, cause I certainly don't think it's true. She, Keira and I went to the International House after the party for MORE parties. International House is really a vibrant community, as it houses so many international students, mostly exchange students: Germans, Danes, French, Japanese and more. Wow, I was really impressed by the cohesiveness and vibrancy of International House. It felt amazing, just mingling and mixing with representatives from so many countries. It's impossible to replicate this feeling in any other kind of party - this curious mix of intellectual excitement and pride and sense of belonging. Wow.

I met a Dane Christopher (Kristopher?) who proudly proclaimed that the Danes drank the most in Europe. Of course, I HAD to enter a drinking competition with him. We drank his Jack Daniel's while being scrutinized by the group surrounding us. In the end, I got very pleasantly high, but not drunk. Certainly, I impressed people with my alcohol threshold. For the rest of the night, I was walking and talking with this pleasant buzz and feeling of lightness in my being. I loved it. This doesn't happen often enough. THAT has to change.
I feel it. It's starting to happen. I feel like I'm being sucked inexorably into the vortex of college life. Slowly and surely, I'm feeling more and more comfortable with my surroundings. I think it's going to be fine. More than fine, actually.


Friday, September 22, 2006

B.U.F.F.E.T. Part 3
I was wondering why I didn't have a picture of Cheryl and I in my digicam and NOW I know why. Cause it was in Fun Man's digicam!!
Well, sorry this took so long, Cheryl. It's just scandalous that you don't receive the recognition you deserve until now. After all, you planned and organised B.U.F.F.E.T. with me!

Also Presenting: A Very Proud Moment in Fun Man's Life

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Rabbits!!!

I love this place. Any place that rabbits can co-habitat peacefully must be a good place to live in for anybody.

Geisel Library

Looks can be deceiving. This 'road' is only 1 metre across, and the 'trees' are knee-high.


The Courtyard

X-box, Gamecube, a tonne of games from my room-mate Colin. But take a look at the screen on the bottom left hand corner... What do you think that is? I promise a reward for anybody who can guess what that is. I kid you not.

Take a Look
My residence hall

A Knight in Shining Armour (a not uncommon sight)...

Welcome to The Castle


Monday, September 18, 2006

Mist on Campus

Amazing. I walked out of my dorm and found the campus covered by mist. It was my first time seeing anything like this, and as usual, I got pretty excited and went back in to take my digicam. The first two shots couldn't quite capture what the mist looked like, but they do show what my residential area kinda looks at night.

Then, I accidentally left on my flash by mistake, and the results were fantastic! Take a look at this one! It's already on my wallpaper. Something to make even Ray jealous! Tell me if you want it for your wallpaper too, so I can send you the image unresized :)

Sunday, September 17, 2006

B.U.F.F.E.T. Part 2 (read part 1 first)




The coooolest gang from NJC. Cool then. Still as cool as ever. From left, Jun Nan, yours truly, Remus the Man, Peck Teng. Approach the last guy for financial advice. I kid you not.



Wenhao! Thanks for coming! Every member of the Legs deserves a special mention.


Ray, thanks for being a Ray of Light in my life. Wow, you really turned up at the airport to give me a CD of photos and videos that didn't work ahaha

Just kidding, the CD works fine. I think you were just trying to scare me!

Wow, Wendy, I've never had someone skip studying for a Prelim exam to come for my party. Not only did you have two papers on the day of my party, you had a Physics paper the next day! Thanks Wendy! Not to forget Nina, who was there all the way!


That cup I'm holding is the infamous rice pudding made by Super Cheryl. Cheryl, I loved it! That and the 'Ugly on the outside, Beautiful in the inside' chocolate cake you made! Btw, you should totally name it just like that, it's a cool name for a cake. Awesome, Cheryl. I hope it becomes a tradition that any party I have the opportunity to organise will have your stupendous talents to grace, beautify and sweeten the occasion.


Remus the Man mixes Handball with Floorball for explosive effect. Rodney's so scared just looking at him that he shrinks away.

Last words:

I shan't forget the guest appearances of Spiderman and Yunqin, and I'm still looking for pictures of the two of you, but I realise it must be with Fun Man. Hope the two of you had fun! No pun intended.

Fun Man, I still don't have your pics! How how how? (and I'm really sorry some people still don't believe your name when you tell them straight to the face, what's wrong with them? ha ha)

Nicole thanks for coming (though for a really short time) to give me the best (and I have to admit, the ONLY) bouquet of flowers I have ever been given. I still remember the scent of the sunflower :)

Only noticeable absence: Superman (no, not me). Hey tell me about the finale of Mr Vogue Singapore. I'm sure it must have been a blast!

To everybody who came, and everybody who wanted to but couldn't, thank you! I'm over in San Diego now, trying to get used to a life w/o floorball, among other things. B.U.F.F.E.T. is only the beginning. Next up: B.O.N.D.A.G.E.


Broke's Unexplainable Farewell Floorball Extravaganza
I'd like to give a shout out from sunny, freezing San Diego to all those who came for B.U.F.F.E.T.!!! All of you guys rock! Thanks all, for those who came and those who helped make B.U.F.F.E.T. possible. Many thanks to my incomparable sisters (drum rolls, please: Charme, Nina, Sasha, Marcia, Laetitia) who helped organise this event. What a fantastic evening, and the most amazing way to send someone off!


The action starts! Balls whiz past at 180 km/h. They strike ceilings. They strike goalposts. Rodney's head t0o. Twice. My head. Twice too. A certain person's you-know-what. Once only. Floorball sticks whack balls, and toes, and hands. Ow. But it was damn fun. Action is fast-paced. Goals aplenty. Special mention to Remus, who has a wicked shot with his back to goal. Sneaky. Even sneakier is Super Cheryl, who waits innocently near the goal mouth, looking really useless until you pass her the ball, then she just slots it in like she slots coins into coin machines. Not to mention she plays floorball like she plays her rugby, tackling people and not caring about where the ball is ha ha ha! That's HOT, girl!








I don't know who started the balloon sucking nonsense, but I bet it was YOU Jinx, after getting sucker punched with a floorball in the you-know-what. I won't forget the interesting special effects I heard that day. It's worthy of a cameo in a Star Wars movie.




Check out Guitar God and his fancy moves with his guitar. Thanks Andrew! Really! I love good music, especially if someone I know is playing it for me. "You and me... ... don't need to write one... ..." - AC.
AC, you're not just a fantastic guitar player, you're a good singer too. And I quote this from a girl who listened to you sing: "your friend Andrew has a really nice voice". Ha ha ha! Next time you refuse to sing because you think you can't sing, well forget THAT excuse!











Chua! Why're you always trying to steal my limelight? I hope I answered that strange question of yours about how 'eating whales and eating dogs are different' well. I tried my best :))

Friday, September 15, 2006



While flying across the Pacific from Tokyo to San Francisco, I saw a breathtakingly beautiful display of cloud formations through my window. It boggles my mind how far into the distance I can see. A vast plain of cotton-candy clouds covering as far as the eye can see. I saw a black speck moving across the clouds in the distance, and I initially thought it to be an insect. Then I realised its movement is too straight, too regular, and it dawned on me that that insect was really a plane.



My first view of San Diego, America's Finest City.


Shiny toy cars glinting in the unwavering sun travel across miniature highways, through a dense network of toy houses and buildings. The people looked like perfect clay micro-models, going about their daily lives. Tiny rivers snake across parched desert-like mountain ranges. It looked like the perfect miniaturised version of the perfect city. Except that everything was real.

I am reminded of that scene in Superman Returns in which Superman brings Louis up through and above the clouds under a moonlit sky.