Status: Engaged! :)))
Time to revive blog?
Test test.
Sunday, March 23, 2014
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Vietnam 04/09/2011 - 10/092011
Day 1
Early morning flight at 8am. Airport at 6am.
Tiger Airways. First time going solo. It was on the plane where I really
actually started planning my entire trip based on the photocopies of pages from
the Lonely Planet. Arrived Hanoi at about 1030am Hanoi time. It is 1 hour
behind Singapore. Asked the Tourist info on how to get to 91C Hang Ma Street,
the address of Hanoi Hostel. There happened to be another person, Kiah, from
Australia who was making her way to the same hostel. The taxi fare quoted was
USD30. On hindsight it was really pricey, but we shared the cab so it was USD15
each. Ouch. Still pricey.
Checked into Hanoi Hostel, met Steve, another
Australian, who's been working around Vietnam for quite awhile now. First meal
in Vietnam was bun cha - bbqed chicken pieces in broth, and you dip these thick
beehoon and raw vegs into the broth, take them out and eat them. Street food.
Walked abit around Hanoi old district, went to the market, where people thought
I was Vietnamese, and they spoke to me in Vietnamese, and expected me to
translate it to Steve. :S
Booked my return night train ticket to Lao
Cai, where I'd change to a bus to Sapa. Cost: 930,000VND. 6-beds in a cabin.
Spent the afternoon walking around more of Hanoi old district. Attended evening
Sunday Mass at St. Joseph's Cathedral. Tried walking to the train station to
prepare myself that night. Left for Sapa the very same night. Night train at
2140h. I was on the lowest level of the 3-beds-on-1-side. I was taken aback
when other passengers sat on my bed before the train took off. I guess it was
normal for them. Just carried on my stuff. The sleep was relatively peaceful,
save for a few bumpy instances.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Friday, October 29, 2010
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Thursday, July 01, 2010
All of a sudden, I decided to read the blog of a friend this morning. Reading the blogs of some of my old friends makes me feel melancholic and very sentimental all of a sudden. And that's like when I'm on the other side of the world, but I can't really get to know what's happening in their lives. A part of me decides to move on, but everyone who's been through it knows that some special memories with certain people will always remain. Whether or not the other party feels the same way is another thing. It's just a pity some things don't work out. We always wonder why. I choose to believe God has a plan; then again, I get impatient at times and wonder. Even listening to songs that remind me of our times together will stir the emotions in me. Many times there's the option to 'escape' through worldly 'activities'; somehow, I always stop myself from plunging too far down. Sometimes I really wish I had something to erase any memory I want to.
Friday, June 11, 2010
I think I know
I've typed down all that has happened during my travels from Niagara Falls to NYC to DC to Miami to Orlando on MSnotepad and when I try to copy and paste, it just doesn't work. Oh well. I'm too lazy to retype everything on blogger. Don't really think anyone reads my blog already anyway haha.
Anyway, somehow or rather, I don't know what is this I'm feeling.
Signing off.
Anyway, somehow or rather, I don't know what is this I'm feeling.
Signing off.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Week 1 USA
I hope this post doesn't get too boring because it'll all be about admin.
14/05
Cabbed from home to Changi Airport with cost of $28 =x Ok did the usual checking in and all, then flew to HongKong for transit. Flight from sg to hk was abt 3+ hours. We flew United Airlines. From hk to Chicago, about 13+ hours. From Chicago to Charlotte, another 2 hours. Finally, reached Charlotte at 9pm+. And, due to some screw-ups, some of our luggages were on the next flight, and some ppl missed their flights as well due to the long queues at security, and hence, with all the waiting, we reached the hotel at 1am.
15/05
Walked to Carowinds Amusement Park which was about 20min walk away. It's located on the border of North and South Carolina so we always have to cross the border. Did all the admin at the HR office which lasted one whole day.
16/05 - 17/05
Spent the whole of these 2 days planning for our trip around the East Coast. Went to Walmart on Sunday night. Total Damage: ~$80USD. Stocked up on cup noodles and microwaveable food. bought slippers, court shoes and running shoes. After planning, the total cost of our travels is abt $523USD. Excluding accommodation and food. oh well, i'll earn it back haha. =P
18/05
Left hotel at 0445. To get to Charlotte airport to fly to Newark, and then to Buffalo for the start of our East Coast trip. The plan: Up to Buffalo, Niagara Falls, down to NY, down to DC, down to Miami, up to Orlando, and then back up to Charlotte.
Am at Newark-Liberty International Airport now!! awaiting flight transit to Buffalo. The weather doesn't look too good, hopefully it'll clear up!
14/05
Cabbed from home to Changi Airport with cost of $28 =x Ok did the usual checking in and all, then flew to HongKong for transit. Flight from sg to hk was abt 3+ hours. We flew United Airlines. From hk to Chicago, about 13+ hours. From Chicago to Charlotte, another 2 hours. Finally, reached Charlotte at 9pm+. And, due to some screw-ups, some of our luggages were on the next flight, and some ppl missed their flights as well due to the long queues at security, and hence, with all the waiting, we reached the hotel at 1am.
15/05
Walked to Carowinds Amusement Park which was about 20min walk away. It's located on the border of North and South Carolina so we always have to cross the border. Did all the admin at the HR office which lasted one whole day.
16/05 - 17/05
Spent the whole of these 2 days planning for our trip around the East Coast. Went to Walmart on Sunday night. Total Damage: ~$80USD. Stocked up on cup noodles and microwaveable food. bought slippers, court shoes and running shoes. After planning, the total cost of our travels is abt $523USD. Excluding accommodation and food. oh well, i'll earn it back haha. =P
18/05
Left hotel at 0445. To get to Charlotte airport to fly to Newark, and then to Buffalo for the start of our East Coast trip. The plan: Up to Buffalo, Niagara Falls, down to NY, down to DC, down to Miami, up to Orlando, and then back up to Charlotte.
Am at Newark-Liberty International Airport now!! awaiting flight transit to Buffalo. The weather doesn't look too good, hopefully it'll clear up!
Tuesday, May 04, 2010
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Ode to the Nice Guys
This rant was written for the Wharton Undergraduate Journal:
http://www.stwing.upenn.edu/~jenf/writing/rant04.html
"This is a tribute to the nice guys. The nice guys that finish last, that never become more than friends, that endure hours of whining and bitching about what assholes guys are, while disproving the very point. This is dedicated to those guys who always provide a shoulder to lean on but restrain themselves to tentative hugs, those guys who hold open doors and give reassuring pats on the back and sit patiently outside the changing room at department stores. This is in honor of the guys that obligingly reiterate how cute/beautiful/smart/funny/sexy their female friends are at the appropriate moment, because they know most girls need that litany of support. This is in honor of the guys with open minds, with laid-back attitudes, with honest concern. This is in honor of the guys who respect a girl’s every facet, from her privacy to her theology to her clothing style.
This is for the guys who escort their drunk, bewildered female friends back from parties and never take advantage once they’re at her door, for the guys who accompany girls to bars as buffers against the rest of the creepy male population, for the guys who know a girl is fishing for compliments but give them out anyway, for the guys who always play by the rules in a game where the rules favor cheaters, for the guys who are accredited as boyfriend material but somehow don’t end up being boyfriends, for all the nice guys who are overlooked, underestimated, and unappreciated, for all the nice guys who are manipulated, misled, and unjustly abandoned, this is for you.
This is for that time she left 40 urgent messages on your cell phone, and when you called her back, she spent three hours painstakingly dissecting two sentences her boyfriend said to her over dinner. And even though you thought her boyfriend was a chump and a jerk, you assured her that it was all ok and she shouldn’t worry about it. This is for that time she interrupted the best killing spree you’d ever orchestrated in GTA3 to rant about a rumor that romantically linked her and the guy she thinks is the most repulsive person in the world. And even though you thought it was immature and you had nothing against the guy, you paused the game for two hours and helped her concoct a counter-rumor to spread around the floor. This is also for that time she didn’t have a date, so after numerous vows that there was nothing “serious” between the two of you, she dragged you to a party where you knew nobody, the beer was awful, and she flirted shamelessly with you, justifying each fit of reckless teasing by announcing to everyone: “oh, but we’re just friends!” And even though you were invited purely as a symbolic warm body for her ego, you went anyways. Because you’re nice like that.
The nice guys don’t often get credit where credit is due. And perhaps more disturbing, the nice guys don’t seem to get laid as often as they should. And I wish I could logically explain this trend, but I can’t. From what I have observed on campus and what I have learned from talking to friends at other schools and in the workplace, the only conclusion I can form is that many girls are just illogical, manipulative bitches. Many of them claim they just want to date a nice guy, but when presented with such a specimen, they say irrational, confusing things such as “oh, he’s too nice to date” or “he would be a good boyfriend but he’s not for me” or “he already puts up with so much from me, I couldn’t possibly ask him out!” or the most frustrating of all: “no, it would ruin our friendship.” Yet, they continue to lament the lack of datable men in the world, and they expect their too-nice-to-date male friends to sympathize and apologize for the men that are jerks. Sorry, guys, girls like that are beyond my ability to fathom. I can’t figure out why the connection breaks down between what they say (I want a nice guy!) and what they do (I’m going to sleep with this complete ass now!). But one thing I can do, is say that the nice-guy-finishes-last phenomenon doesn’t last forever. There are definitely many girls who grow out of that train of thought and realize they should be dating the nice guys, not taking them for granted. The tricky part is finding those girls, and even trickier, finding the ones that are single.
So, until those girls are found, I propose a toast to all the nice guys. You know who you are, and I know you’re sick of hearing yourself described as ubiquitously nice. But the truth of the matter is, the world needs your patience in the department store, your holding open of doors, your party escorting services, your propensity to be a sucker for a pretty smile. For all the crazy, inane, absurd things you tolerate, for all the situations where you are the faceless, nameless hero, my accolades, my acknowledgement, and my gratitude go out to you. You do have credibility in this society, and your well deserved vindication is coming."
-Fu-zu Jen, SEAS/WH, 2003-
http://www.stwing.upenn.edu/~jenf/writing/rant04.html
"This is a tribute to the nice guys. The nice guys that finish last, that never become more than friends, that endure hours of whining and bitching about what assholes guys are, while disproving the very point. This is dedicated to those guys who always provide a shoulder to lean on but restrain themselves to tentative hugs, those guys who hold open doors and give reassuring pats on the back and sit patiently outside the changing room at department stores. This is in honor of the guys that obligingly reiterate how cute/beautiful/smart/funny/sexy their female friends are at the appropriate moment, because they know most girls need that litany of support. This is in honor of the guys with open minds, with laid-back attitudes, with honest concern. This is in honor of the guys who respect a girl’s every facet, from her privacy to her theology to her clothing style.
This is for the guys who escort their drunk, bewildered female friends back from parties and never take advantage once they’re at her door, for the guys who accompany girls to bars as buffers against the rest of the creepy male population, for the guys who know a girl is fishing for compliments but give them out anyway, for the guys who always play by the rules in a game where the rules favor cheaters, for the guys who are accredited as boyfriend material but somehow don’t end up being boyfriends, for all the nice guys who are overlooked, underestimated, and unappreciated, for all the nice guys who are manipulated, misled, and unjustly abandoned, this is for you.
This is for that time she left 40 urgent messages on your cell phone, and when you called her back, she spent three hours painstakingly dissecting two sentences her boyfriend said to her over dinner. And even though you thought her boyfriend was a chump and a jerk, you assured her that it was all ok and she shouldn’t worry about it. This is for that time she interrupted the best killing spree you’d ever orchestrated in GTA3 to rant about a rumor that romantically linked her and the guy she thinks is the most repulsive person in the world. And even though you thought it was immature and you had nothing against the guy, you paused the game for two hours and helped her concoct a counter-rumor to spread around the floor. This is also for that time she didn’t have a date, so after numerous vows that there was nothing “serious” between the two of you, she dragged you to a party where you knew nobody, the beer was awful, and she flirted shamelessly with you, justifying each fit of reckless teasing by announcing to everyone: “oh, but we’re just friends!” And even though you were invited purely as a symbolic warm body for her ego, you went anyways. Because you’re nice like that.
The nice guys don’t often get credit where credit is due. And perhaps more disturbing, the nice guys don’t seem to get laid as often as they should. And I wish I could logically explain this trend, but I can’t. From what I have observed on campus and what I have learned from talking to friends at other schools and in the workplace, the only conclusion I can form is that many girls are just illogical, manipulative bitches. Many of them claim they just want to date a nice guy, but when presented with such a specimen, they say irrational, confusing things such as “oh, he’s too nice to date” or “he would be a good boyfriend but he’s not for me” or “he already puts up with so much from me, I couldn’t possibly ask him out!” or the most frustrating of all: “no, it would ruin our friendship.” Yet, they continue to lament the lack of datable men in the world, and they expect their too-nice-to-date male friends to sympathize and apologize for the men that are jerks. Sorry, guys, girls like that are beyond my ability to fathom. I can’t figure out why the connection breaks down between what they say (I want a nice guy!) and what they do (I’m going to sleep with this complete ass now!). But one thing I can do, is say that the nice-guy-finishes-last phenomenon doesn’t last forever. There are definitely many girls who grow out of that train of thought and realize they should be dating the nice guys, not taking them for granted. The tricky part is finding those girls, and even trickier, finding the ones that are single.
So, until those girls are found, I propose a toast to all the nice guys. You know who you are, and I know you’re sick of hearing yourself described as ubiquitously nice. But the truth of the matter is, the world needs your patience in the department store, your holding open of doors, your party escorting services, your propensity to be a sucker for a pretty smile. For all the crazy, inane, absurd things you tolerate, for all the situations where you are the faceless, nameless hero, my accolades, my acknowledgement, and my gratitude go out to you. You do have credibility in this society, and your well deserved vindication is coming."
-Fu-zu Jen, SEAS/WH, 2003-
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Friday, April 16, 2010
"I don’t pretend to know what love is for everyone,
but I can tell you what it is for me.
Love is knowing all about someone,
and still wanting to be with them more than any other person.
Love is trusting them enough to tell them everything about yourself,
including the things you might be ashamed of.
Love is feeling comfortable and safe with someone,
but still getting weak knees when they walk into a room and smile at you. ”
— The O.C.
but I can tell you what it is for me.
Love is knowing all about someone,
and still wanting to be with them more than any other person.
Love is trusting them enough to tell them everything about yourself,
including the things you might be ashamed of.
Love is feeling comfortable and safe with someone,
but still getting weak knees when they walk into a room and smile at you. ”
— The O.C.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Sometimes you just have to run away
I just can't wait for my US trip to materialise. I need to get away.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Tuesday, April 06, 2010
bits of reflections
1. sometimes, what we envision as the perfect scenario just doesn't happen. more often than not, we settle with smth different from our expectations. =)
2. true friends stay with you when u're down, even after they've already shared their opinions. they won't leave u alone and say, "i already told u so"
3. new life means letting go of everything that is of the old. what awaits us is smth beyond our expectations. if only we let go.
4. it's possible to simply shut the door. just do so gently. don't slam it.
2. true friends stay with you when u're down, even after they've already shared their opinions. they won't leave u alone and say, "i already told u so"
3. new life means letting go of everything that is of the old. what awaits us is smth beyond our expectations. if only we let go.
4. it's possible to simply shut the door. just do so gently. don't slam it.
Breathe
Ok. I'm finally quite settled. Doing lotsa admin stuff since sunday nite:
1. Packed my room in hall, which actually just looks messy cause of the loads of food on the table and the unfolded clothes on my bed haha. but the food is neatly arranged and clothes folded and stuffed away.
2. Handed in FYP second draft to prof. he hasn't gotten back to me. i hope he's accepted it and not give me last minute to make changes.
3. EE4902 reports are the same as previous years. YAY :D i can use the sample reports.
4. Singtel bills, Citibank bills are paid, either online or at AXS machine.
5. Forms for US visa application are done.
6. Past year papers are printed.
7. Changed the spocket and chain of my bike, sent my bike for vehicle inspection, extended insurance coverage, awaiting to renew road tax.
8. Topped up 'V-power racing' at JB.
1. Packed my room in hall, which actually just looks messy cause of the loads of food on the table and the unfolded clothes on my bed haha. but the food is neatly arranged and clothes folded and stuffed away.
2. Handed in FYP second draft to prof. he hasn't gotten back to me. i hope he's accepted it and not give me last minute to make changes.
3. EE4902 reports are the same as previous years. YAY :D i can use the sample reports.
4. Singtel bills, Citibank bills are paid, either online or at AXS machine.
5. Forms for US visa application are done.
6. Past year papers are printed.
7. Changed the spocket and chain of my bike, sent my bike for vehicle inspection, extended insurance coverage, awaiting to renew road tax.
8. Topped up 'V-power racing' at JB.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
End of the Road
This time, it really is the end of the road. No more. More details soon hopefully. But as long as the both of us know what's goin on, that's good enough for me.
I see the silver lining in everything that doesn't work out
I see the silver lining in everything that doesn't work out
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